This is a new Tenchi Muyo! fic.  It is in no way related to Bushido Muyo!, my 
other fic.  As you already know, it is on a western theme.  Even so, I have not 
changed any of the names involved in the storyline.  The locations, although 
they are described in a purely fictional way, have the same names as their real 
life counterparts.  Have fun reading!

  By the way, Tenchi Muyo! and all the characters contained therin are the 
property of Pioneer and AIC.  So, I give up all claims that this is all my idea.
The theme and story are mine, but the characters and their personalities are 
not.  So, should Pioneer or AIC get their hands on this, I ask them not to sue 
me into oblivion.  All right?  Let's get going!

********************************************************************************

				  Saddle Up, Tenchi!
					   by
				Jeremy "Kraken" Acord
				azhrei701@hotmail.com

		Episode 4

Tenchi saw the ball aproaching, and drew a bead on it in desparation.  
Everything became for him a slow, deadly ballet.  He raised his right hand to 
steady his left, forgetting that the wooden gun was still there.  The two 
barrels, iron and wood, in parralell, He failed to notice that there was more 
than one trigger between the two guns.  When he pulled both triggers 
simultaneously, he didn't know what he had just done.

A blue flash sped forth to meet the oncoming ball of destruction.  The 
Patterson's bullet passed the two masses of energy by to strike Ryoko in the 
right shoulder, throwing her off balance.  When the blue and orange lights met, 
it seemed for an instant that time stopped.  Tenchi saw the whole scene then.  
Mihoshi and Kiyone covering their eyes, Ryoko spinning off her feet.  Aeka, 
strangely calm, the air around her shimmering.  Despite the violent setting, it 
seemed almost peaceful.

Then there was a shattering explosion, a bright flash, and Tenchi was enveloped 
in darkness.

					   ***

Tenchi awoke in the cold night air, staring at the firey sunset sky, fading off 
to the west.  He began to sit up, and became aware that nearly every part of his
body hurt.  He grunted in pain, but struggled into a sitting position despite 
this.

He soon found himself surrounded by three women.  Aeka was kneeling to his right
and putting a hand behind his back to steady him.  One of the lawwomen, the dark
haired one, was straightening a bandage that partially covered his left eye.  
Her fingers came away red.  

The blonde woman was leaning forward to look in his face, and didn't seem to be 
doing anything to help the other two.

"Ugh." Tenchi said, tasting blood in his mouth.

"How are you feeling?"  The blue haired woman asked.

Tenchi swallowed hard, and looked over at her.  "I now know I have no problem 
feeling pain."  He chuckled, then winced.  "I was beginning to wonder."

"You're a special person, Tenchi, but you can still feel pain." Ayeka muttered.

"What?"

The kneeling girl folded her hands in her lap and sighed.  "This will take some 
time to explain and even longer to understand, I'm afraid." She said.  "To begin
with, you, Tenchi, are not entirely human."  She then waited for this to sink 
in.

Tenchi didn't hesitate.  "Humans as a species have a great track record for 
wreaking mass death and destruction upon their own kind.  I'd say being human is
somewhat overrated."

"This is no time to be sarcastic." The woman on Tenchi's left said.

Tenchi turned to her.  "Miss, what is your name?"

"My name is Kiyone."

"Kiyone, I've chosen to just accept what I'm hearing for now.  I'll deal with 
the more mind-rending aspects of this later."

Kiyone cocked an eyebrow at him and frowned, somehow creating a mixture of a 
puzzled and worried expression.  "Why not deal with it now?"

"Because I don't think I have the time to." Tenchi replied matter-of-factly.  He
looked around him.  "Hey, where's Ryoko?"

The blonde whom Tenchi had deduced was Mihoshi pursed her lips.  "Um, we left 
her in town..."

Tenchi lurched forward.  "Huh?"

"Well," Mihoshi began, "When the townspeople got angry at us, they chased us out
of town, and we left Ryoko behind."

Seeing that he was still wearing his clothes, Tenchi stood.  "Damn." He said, 
looking back towards the dim lights of Kyoto.  "Now I have to go get her."

Kiyone guffawed.  "Not a chance.  You're not going anywhere."

Aeka grabbed Tenchi by the elbow.  "Tenchi!  Ryoko, Mihoshi, Kiyone and I all 
came from other planets!  Ryoko is the galaxy's most wanted space pirate!  Why 
should she be rescued?"

Tenchi looked her in the eyes.  "If we were run out of town, it's more than 
likely that a lynch mob has formed.  I don't want her to die."

"Were you listening when I told you she was the galaxy's most wanted criminal!? 
Trust me, it won't be a great loss!"

"I have two things to tell you.  One, it doesn't matter if she's Vlad the 
Impaler; I'm going to go and get her.  And two, that isn't a lynch mob I see in 
the streets over there.  That's a witch burning."

"But still-"

"Do you know how much it hurts to burn to death?"

Aeka's brow furrowed.  

"And anyway," Tenchi continued, "she thinks that I was on your side.  I won't 
let her die under that misconception."

Tenchi scanned the ground, and his eyes fell upon the wooden gun Tenchi-ken and 
Joeseph Hammerman's Patterson revolver.  He strode over, showing no sign of 
being in pain, and picked up the Patterson.  Not bothering to check if it was 
loaded he started to walk toward Kyoto.

"Wait, Tenchi!" Aeka called.  She picked up Tenchi-ken and ran over to him.  
"Please, take Tenchi-ken with you." She pleaded, clasping it in both hands.  

Tenchi put a hand on hers and gently pushed it down.  "I don't need that kind of
firepower for this." He grinned, "They are, after all, only human."  With this, 
he strode out into the darkness.

Aeka watched after him untill she could no longer distinguish the boy's body 
from the surrounding blackness.  

"Excuse me, Katsuhito," Mihoshi said, "Who is Vlad the Impaler?"

********************************************************************************

I really have nothing to say here.  I guess that I've run out of things to say, 
other than my stories themselves.  Oh well, have fun with the next episode.

-Kraken