Chapter Four: The Legend of the Starlight Stones

Ryoko flew ahead of everyone else who were proceeding on foot stopped in mid air as she her nose caught something that brought her to a terrified halt.

No. She thought. She then flew faster then before and followed the scent as it grew stronger she soon came to the exact area where Mayuka had mentioned and once Ryoko was there, she found herself hurtling towards the Earth. She crash and skidded but was able to bring herself to stop as her eyes went numb in fear as she saw the figure embedded into the large tree and was not moving.

Ryoko closed her eyes and opened them several times to try to convince herself that this all an illusion that she wasn't seeing what she was seeing. Her bottom lip quivered uncontrollably as she slowly crawled her way to the figure.

"T-Tenchi…no." She whispered as she brought herself closer. Getting closer and closer, she could see his eyes wide open and his mouth slightly gaped.

A cascade of tears erupted from her eyes as she darted forward and clutched at Tenchi's bloodied clothes.

"TENCHI! NO! TENCHI! WHY!"

Her voice carried all around, echoing for what could be miles. Ryoko buried her face against Tenchi's chest and sobbed loudly.

"N-No."

Ryoko slowly turned her head and saw Ayeka, Washu, and a terrified Sasami stop short.

"H-How?" Washu's face was plastered in fear as she looked at the horrible image.

Ryoko continued to sob, not answering and Ayeka seemed to join her as she fell to the ground clutching it as tears swelled in her eyes.

"Daddy! I brought them over like you asked!" Mayuka's voice carried and her footsteps could be heard, approaching.

"Mayuka…" Ryoko said, her eyes wide, she then made an effort to get up to stop her but Sasami already turned around and dashed back taking Mayuka by the hand, turning her around, and then leading her away.

"Sasami? Where's Daddy?" Mayuka asked, curious as to she wasn't being allowed to go further to the place.

Sasami bit down on her bottom lip, trying hard not display the emotions she was feeling or to give any hint that Mayuka might pick up on and discover that something was wrong.

Sasami closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, just before opening them.

"T-Tenchi's…left to…find out more about that pretty necklace you found, Mayuka." Tears finally began to form in Sasami's eyes.

"Will he be back soon?" Mayuka asked, worried now that she was seeing Sasami crying.

Sasami quickly wiped her hand on the sleeve of her tunic and nodded.

Mayuka didn't ask anymore as she continued on with Sasami back to the house.

Back at the site, Ryoko was now consoling Ayeka who didn't seem to want to stop crying abd was, now, shaking uncontrollably. Washu was examining the area and bent over when she had found the two halves of the gem that Mayuka had mentioned. She noticed crude lettering in the form of scratches on the surface, bringing them together formed its sentence.

"Where good ends, evil begins." Washu said outloud. She sighed and let the two items drop as her inquisitive mind was left hanging due to her sadness. When the two halves dropped, one rolled on its side and then stopped and wobbled near Tenchi's hand. Washu looked over and found the finger tip of Tenchi's hand was bloodied and that the ground beneath it had been roughned as if touched. Curiosity overcoming her sadness, Washu moved over to Tenchi's hand and, after raising it up, she discovered a message.

"Ryoko! Ayeka! Come take a look at this!" She called as she stood up.

Ryoko carried Ayeka over who was finally getting ahold of her sobbing. The two looked down to where Washu was pointing and saw, scrawled on the ground in his own blood, Tenchi had written one word.

"Kagato." Ryoko said aloud with wide, scared, eyes.

Sasami put Mayuka to work helping with lunch while Washu informed Funaho, Misaki, and Katsuhito, the latter who had came over later in the morning to visist with the two women; of what had been discovered near the site.

All three of them had unreadable faces; Katsuhito had his eyes closed and seemed to be in deep thought.

Ryoko, naturally, had changed from sad to furious, as she now knew who was responsible for killing Tenchi, but also for Tsunami not resurrecting him again.

"I mean, what's her problem! She did it before when we fought him, why not know, again!?"

No one in the room answered and even Sasami looked to the floor ashamed.

"Don't you even dare think to blame yourself, Sasami." Ayeka said, her eyes still red from crying. "You're her vessel, not her owner or commander. This isn't your fault."

Sasami didn't comment but still looked to the floor. Misaki, squeezed her hand affectionately.

Washu, who had been absent, returned from the lab wiping her hands as she sighed.

"Well, I have him in a containment chamber. Using his data, the machines can operate his white cells and repair his body in a short amount of time. The problem still remains as to how to bring him back. Since Tsunami seems to be absent, I'm guessing she wants us to fix this ourselves."

Ryoko growled out of contempt.

Sasami looked up, "But what about Kagato? Isn't he going to come after the rest of us?"

The room grew quite once more as all seemed to have had that thought on their minds as well.

Ryoko looked around, "Where is Mayuka?"

"She's getting lunch ready with Ryo-Ohki." Sasami said.

"Does she know about her father?" Asked Funaho.

Everyone, minus Washu, Misaki, and Katsuhito; looked at Funaho in surprise, if not startlement.

Washu held up a hand to the chatter that was soon to follow, "Relax, they've known before they even came here, it's alright. No, Lady Funaho, she doesn't know."

"It'd be best if she didn't, not until we can bring him back." Misaki said, speaking for the first time since the news had been announced.

"How are we, exactly, going to do that?" Asked Ayeka, "If Tsunami's leaving this all up to us?"

Katsuhito, who hadn't spoken, turned to Funaho. "Do you think the 'Starlight Stones' might work?"

Funaho sighed, "Yes, maybe."

"'Starlight Stones'?" Sasami asked, looking between the two of them.

Katsuhito sighed and then looked towards everyone, "Long ago, on Jurai, the Emperor's son grew ill and died in the middle of the night. In grief, the Emperor brought his still son to the founding tree, Tsunami, pleading for its mercy and to bring his son back to him. The stars above twinkled and dew from the founding tree glistened as it came down from the tree's branches. These droplets came down on the late Emperor's son and in a blaze of light, brought him back; the founding tree had granted the Emperor's wish." He looked to Ayeka and Sasami. "That son, soon became our Great Grandfather."

The room filled with murmurs of awe.

Katsuhtio continued, "The Emperor, after his son had been restored, had the remaining dew drops gathered and formed into two stones. These stones had the capacity to restore the life of any who are of Jurian blood. They have been used for over a millennia until they were stolen during the time of Ryoko's attack on the planet."

Ryoko scowled, "I didn't take em!"

Katsuhito nodded, "Indeed you did not. The thief remains anonymous ever since."

"You think if we could find these stones that we might be able to bring Tenchi back?" Asked Washu.

Katsuhito nodded, "Possibly. If we were to find them, we would have to use them at night when they're most effective under Jurai's starlight."

The room once more grew quiet and was soon broken when Ryoko stood up and slammed her fist against the table.

"Well, what are we waiting for, then? Let's find these rocks and get my Tenchi back!"

"And how do you suggest we start?" Asked Washu, "You heard the man. We don't even know who the thief is, nor where do we know where they are."

Ryoko sat back down, crossing her arms.

Funaho raised her hand, "I may know of something that might be able to help you all. Washu?"

Everyone soon crowded around Washu's terminal in her lab as she did a multitude of punches scans and button pressing. She soon came to a log-in screen in alien language and Funaho, standing beside her, whispered into
Washu's ear. Washu, then, did another round of pressings on her keyboard and then a separate screen appeared showing a recorded image of the events of the day Ryoko had decimated the Planet Jurai.

Everyone watched and several minutes into it, Funaho leaned forward and said, "Stop."

Washu froze the image and Funaho pointed to a distant figure entering a room on the outside courtyard.

"There," She said. "This is the thief who came into our chamber where the Starlight Stones were held."

Washu brought the tiny person to a larger state behind them and to a more life-size view.

The person had his or her face hidden by a tightly wrapped face. He/she stood taller than anyone yet was slim and there wasn't anything that stood out from their view until Ryoko pointed at the person's wrist.

"Ah ha! They're a Kreegert!"

"A what?" Ayeka asked, confused by the name and startled by Ryoko's outburst.

Washu zoomed in on the wrist and showed that there was a tiny tattoo above the hand of two birds holding a pair of jewels in their beaks.

Washu sighed, "Well, A Kreegert is a contract-thief, hired at an unbelievable price. Usually, those who hire them are those from royal families, wealthy families, or pirates. They're very good about their work and make sure that no trace is left behind. Judging on how we were able to find this, this Kreegert was sloppy."

"Where do these 'Kreegerts' come from, Little Washu?" Asked Misaki, looking at the image.

Washu shrugged, "Nobody knows, however, there is a bar on the planet of Delmekia, near Jurai, that they frequent."

"So," Ayeka said, "If we can find one of these Kreegerts, maybe they could tell us where there comrade is and they could tell us where the Starlight Stones are!"

Washu nodded, "It's possible."

Ryoko clenched her fists and grinned, "Hot damn! Let's go then!"

Ayeka looked around, "Has anyone seen Sasami?"

Sasami was sitting down next to Tenchi's chamber pod, brushing her hand against the surface of the glass, just over his face. Her eyes were parched and her cheeks were slightly moist from previous tears. She closed her eyes as her mind went that particular time and moment the two of them were under Funaho, nestled next to each other, sleeping soundly.

Sasami wished with all her might that they could have that moment and more like it. She wished, even more, that the dream that accompanied that evening could become a reality and that she and Tenchi could live their lives together.

Opening her eyes, Sasami was, once again, faced with the sad truth that this wasn't going to be a reality anytime soon. Not as long as Tenchi was...

"Sasami?"

Sasami turned her head, slightly, and noticed Ayeka standing at the entrance. Sasami turned back to Tenchi as she could hear her sister's approaching footsteps.

"Why did this happen?" Sasami asked. "Why him, of all people, did this happen. By the same demon, no less." Fresh tears cascaded down her cheeks as she began to cry once more.

Ayeka sat down next to her sister and took her and cradled her in her arms all while 'shush-ing' her, gently.

"This isn't the end, Sasami. We think we might have found a way to save Tenchi." Ayeka said.

Sasami's tired, red eyes opened up and looked eagerly at the still figure of Tenchi residing in the chamber pod.

To be continued…

A/N: Well, I know this is rather short and that its starting out slow but it'll pick up in the next chapter. I need to write some notes on how I want this to proceed here on out, so it may take awhile longer than usual. But it will be done!

Q-n-P