Introduction and Disclaimer
I know, I keep saying I'm not going to write sequels :S

This fiction is intended as a sequel to Hawk of Jurai, but a lot less complicated. (Which is a good thing. Hawk worked out, I think, not too badly overall, but it was a heck of a pain to write at times and keep constant through so many plots and characters and things going on. We are, after all, talking more than 200,000 words in total across the three parts. Yeeks. Gone With The Wind eat your heart out.).

It's set six months after the conclusion of Hawk, so dust has settled in some areas and not in others. I did it this way because I had a theme I wanted to open the story with – and hopefully it's going to work out, even if the Juraian element of Tenchi Muyo! characters are somewhat in cameo for the most of this tale.

Like with my other stories, this has a TU foundation. There are some already existing OVA themes involved, although nothing that couldn't exist within the confines of TU. And this story is going to drag in characters from outside the TU continuity again, remodelling them slightly to fit the TU framework. The idea's there in my head - hopefully it will work out. So I'll be up front with it from the start. Hotsuma is in this story. Why? Because, when all is said and done, it's on it's way towards being a pirate story. And Hotsuma's a pirate with a penchant for Ryoko. ;) Nuff said? Nuff said.

This is a very random idea, designed to tie in with one of the more obscure (and oftimes ignored!) themes of TU, and to focus in on a few characters rather than many spread far and wide across the Universe like Hawk did. Well, everyone can use a brain break, especially me. It also does homage to my pet Tenchi movie in some respects, Tenchi Forever - although with a quite different twist. And Hotsuma, how you've never seen him before. It's also a very Tenchi and Ryoko story - for which I make no apologies, because I like Tenchi and Ryoko ;).

As before - although I don't think they directly will apply much - my butchered OVA/TU royal Jurai family rules still exist in this fic. And it IS a continuation from Hawk of Jurai. We're still in a Tenchi x Ryoko pairing zone. And I think that's pretty much all I need to say!!

Oh yeah. My caveat. Slight artistic licence that needs to be mentioned. On careful study of Kagato Jurai in Tenchi Universe, he seems to like changing his eye colour. But since he does have goldish eyes in at least some TU scenes, I've chosen to keep that as his eye colour in my writing. Well, he does say Jurai's magic can do anything...;) And since I'm TU/OVA meshing and Kagato from the OVA has yellow-gold sclera also...it seems to fit very nicely. :) Humour me, ne?

Usual legal bumf (copyrights etc) apply :) Oh yes, and the story is dedicated to the aforementioned anonymous Tenchi fan and her good friend Brian, who can help to wile away a long and rainy working day ;)

Synopsis

There are some in the universe that claim a leopard can't change it's spots. Once ordained a space pirate, then a space pirate you are for all eternity. Your blood is your bond, and through that bond the life of freedom outside the law can never fully leave you behind.

In the depths of space, darkness seems to overcome even the most ingrained of bonds. But when Ryo Ohki is drawn into dangerous territory on a return trip from Planet Jurai to the Earth, little do any of her crew imagine what is lurking out there in the bleak. For Ryoko, it's just another trip through chartered territory, and, as pirate ships loom on the horizon, she takes a short cut through the dangerous, cluttered area known as the Sargasso Sea - the ship's graveyard which is said to hold the souls of the space dead as well as the rusting remains of their crafts.

Caught up in a vicious battle of ships across this cold terrain, Ryoko finds herself for once on the wrong end of the fight, as the pirates, resentful of her turn-tail attitude seek to hunt down the one who betrayed their kind. As the smoke clears, Ryoko struggles to come to terms with what has happened, even as she finds herself pulled once more into the world of brigands and cuthroats as she seeks both answers and a final, bitter revenge.

But even her newest ally has secrets, and things are not always what they seem...

THE DEAD SEA

A Tenchi Muyo! Fanfiction
by
VRAIEESPRIT

Chapter One

Deep Space.
Some years earlier.

"One more for the road?"

The swarthy bartender eyed his customer keenly, taking in her sharp, amber eyes and her cheeky, impish features even as he rolled the shiny coin between his fingers. As she gestured for a refill, he was quick to oblige, knowing that where gold glittered so readily, there was always likely to be more.

"You had good luck today." His comment was a statement, rather than a question, but his companion nodded her head, turning to glance across the busy, bustling bar as if seeking a particular companion. At length she turned back to him, shrugging her shoulders.

"Not bad." She agreed airily. "For a warm up act, anyway. It was easy pickings, Jiro. The Galaxy Police are getting soft...I didn't even pick up a vapour trail this time. Not till I was well out of their path, anyway. They're just not a match for Ryo Ohki and I - they should accept it and give up. The higher the reward they put on my head, the more incentive I have to evade them. It's all a game, and they're losers. They haven't a hope in hell of ever putting me away."

"I'd believe it, too." Jiro commented, amused. "Your drink. I see you've lost none of your edge."

"Why would I have?" Ryoko looked startled. "Jiro, I'm a pirate. It's a blood bond. It's not something you grow out of."

"Well, just thinking about Haki." Jiro said contemplatively, and his companion's eyes darkened.

"Haki is dead." She said abruptly. "And good riddance to him, too. He's old news - long gone. Space dust. I wish people would just forget he even existed. There are new pirates now - people who are stronger and faster and smarter than he was."

"Like you, perhaps?" Jiro scooped up the coin she tossed idly onto the smooth surface, and she grinned, taking a sip of her drink.

"Perhaps." She said, smiling at him coquettishly. "Guess time will tell. He taught me a lot of useful things, you know. But most of it is inbred. This is what I was born to be - to do. What else would I do with my life? Haki wasn't the be all and end all of my career. I have new options now. New freedom without him pulling me back down, making me split profits with him and telling me what we're going to do next. No, the Galaxy Police did me a favour, blowing up that ugly shell of a ship of his when they did. But it just goes to show how much smarter I am than both him and them, you know. After all, I was there, on Karasu, when they attacked. And I'm the one who lived to tell the tale. Funny...isn't it?"

"Hey, I'm not one to criticise a space pirate." Jiro held up his hands. "I just serve the drinks, Ryoko-san. You know that."

"Yes, I know." Ryoko's eyes flickered thoughtfully. "But you do it damn well."

She drained her glass, dumping it down on the slick bar with a thud. "We all have our calling in life, Jiro. This is yours. Piracy is mine."

"Ryoko!"

A voice cut through the bustle of the bar at that moment, and Ryoko turned, getting to her feet as she caught sight of the caller. Jiro followed her line of vision, taking in the tall, well-formed features of a man, maybe ten physical years Ryoko's senior but with a glint of mischief and devilry in his eyes that could match the pirate's own blow for blow. His long blond hair was pulled back from his face in a cascading tail, and the glasses he wore gave him a deceptively respectable look, but Jiro had known Hotsuma for many years, and he knew only too well the kind of man he was.

"You're late." Ryoko greeted her companion with a raised eyebrow. "You were supposed to be here a half hour ago, Hotsuma - what happened? Did you get chased?"

"I never get chased...not seriously." Hotsuma dismissed it with a careless gesture, casting Jiro a casual smile as he did so. "Usual, Jiro. Neat."

"With pleasure." Jiro nodded his head, bending to carry out his customer's orders. As he did so, however, he observed the two pirates, a thoughtful look in his eyes as he glanced from one to the other. So Ryoko had not wasted time in replacing her successful raiding partner. Somehow he wasn't surprised - Hotsuma was as ambitious and as manipulative as Ryoko was herself, and he was sure that, as a team, they might make a formidable hunting pair. As he looked closer, a speck of red on the sleeve of Hotsuma's outfit made him realise the official nature of their relationship, and almost automatically he found himself scanning Ryoko's hands for the matching wound, gratified by the faint reddish stain that had seeped across the fabric of her glove. So, he mused, they weren't just raiding partners. They were blood-bonded, too. Sworn to raid together - for as long as that may be.

"You did at least get the information we need?" Ryoko was speaking now, resting her chin in her hands as she gazed at her companion warily. Hotsuma nodded, eyes glinting behind his glasses.

"When have I ever let you down, my princess?" He bantered back. "Of course I have. We're all set. Tonight we show everyone exactly what we're capable of. They're still chanting over the demise of Haki...they seem to have forgotten that he wasn't the only pirate out in Deep Space."

"The sooner they forget about him, the better." Ryoko said flatly, dismissing the name with a careless flick of her fingers. "Listen, Hotsuma. I've been thinking about this. I want to take Ryo Ohki. Gai'En is too conspicuous - and too big. Ryo Ohki is small and fast and she moves much more easily through space patrols. We'll have a much better chance of making a clean getaway if we leave yours here and come back for it when the chaos has died down."

"We'll see." Hotsuma looked thoughtful, scooping up his drink and taking a healthy swig. "Maybe you're right - although Ryo Ohki has her limitations. And you say my craft is distinctive - but Ryoko, everyone knows Ryo Ohki. If I didn't know better, I'd think you wanted this crime to have your stamp on it, when it gets as far as the Galaxy Police. After all, you do like adding hits to your rap sheet."

"Maybe I do." Ryoko looked unrepentant, flashing him a winning smile. "It's all in a day's work - but it doesn't count unless I get a hit."

She gestured to his glass with a shrug.

"Are you done? We ought to be making tracks."

"I'm done." Hotsuma drained his glass, bowing his head mock-reverently in her direction. "After you, my lady."

"After you, my lady." Ryoko mimicked, but there was playful amusement in her expression and Hotsuma laughed, grabbing her by the hand.

"You're just not used to being treated like a lady." He said lightly. "Perhaps things are going to change, now we're flying together. Haki might not have realised it, but I know you're more than just a pirate, Ryoko-chan. You're brilliant, and so am I. Between us we'll make his bones turn in his grave...his legend will be dust before the year is out."

"He's already dust - space dust. Why not his legend, too?" Ryoko snorted. "Come on."

She cast a grin at the bartender, offering him a wink.

"Till next time, Jiro." She said amiably. "I know you never object to our coin, whenever we come to call."

And in a flash they was gone, flickering and blinking out like a shadow as the pirate woman practiced her dark arts once more. Jiro sighed, lifting the empty glasses and moving them to be washed. Ryoko's black magic and sharp wit were legend already across space - trained by the greatest pirate who had ever terrorised the universe, and with a flair and spirit all of her own. Somehow he knew that Hotsuma was right. Things would change - the universe would bow before them, or be forced to kneel in terror at their feet.

He smiled, scooping up Hotsuma's coin and flicking it up in the air, catching it deftly in his hand and glancing it over.

"One gold piece is as good as another, she's not wrong." He murmured. "Good business for them is good business for me and I won't complain about that!"