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War Of Shadows	By : TurtleNinja Category: +S through Z > Samurai Jack Views: 3353 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Jack, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 16
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I did not sleep well that night, awakening periodically to make certain that Chimitsu was still there in her bed. Moonlight streamed in through the windows, illuminating the bed and making the Elemental sleeping within seem even more delicate. It almost looked as if she could disappear at any moment.

She appeared to be sleeping soundly, although I doubted that she was sleeping as well as it looked. I kept my katana close at hand, even though she had said that Aku's forces could not reach us here. I was not about to take any chances, not with her so weak and emotionally drained.

Occasionally, I would awaken to the sound of a soft sob, but stayed still, letting her be. All this time, she had been full of sorrow because of her loss and now it had finally caught up to her. She had always seemed delicate, but now she seemed downright frail, as if she would shatter under any more emotional weight.

The first light of morning peeked through the windows, casting an eerie glow about the room, yet Chimitsu did not stir. I wondered what we would find when she awakened. Would she be stronger, would she be weaker, or would she remain the same? I watched tiredly as the light began to fill the room, waiting for the Elemental to stir.

After a few agonizing moments, she finally did stir, rolling over onto her side to face me, stretching like a cat. She did look a bit more energized, but was still so very frail. The emerald eyes slowly opened, not as cloudy with emotion as they had been the previous day, but they were not as brilliantly piercing as they usually were.

"Ohayou." I said softly.

"Ohayou."

"How do you feel this morning?"

"Better, actually. I don't feel so weak and tired, but..."

"But?"

She sighed a little as she sat up, bringing her knees up into a hug. It was then that I noticed a number of large, white feathers littering the bedsheets.

"I'm still losing feathers. My powers are still drained."

"How can that be? You have rested for an entire night and part of an evening as well."

"I think I've overdone it this time. I shouldn't have made that last teleport, but I had no choice. We couldn't have escaped that place on our own safely."

"What does that mean, then?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't think I'll be able to stop the feathers from falling now. Last night, I thought that if I rested, they'd stop falling, but now I know that there's nothing I can do about it."

I set my katana aside and sat on the bed next to her, pulling her into a gentle hug.

"I am sorry, Chimitsu-chan. I really am."

"I know. It's not your fault. What's done is done, there's nothing we can do about it but accept what's happening."

"Do you want to wait another day and see if the loss stops?"

"It won't matter if I wait one day or several. My feathers are going to continue to fall until I've lost them all. We can't stop it."

"There must be a way!"

"I'm afraid there isn't. I know for a fact that it can't be stopped."

"You have lost your feathers before?"

"No, not all of them, but I've come close enough to a full drain to lose a few. This time I've gone past the point where I can drain myself and stop the feathers from falling. I'm sorry."

I sighed a little and held her close, wondering what to do next. She still seemed so frail that I did not dare to push for the teleport into the city. I would wait for her to make the decision to go or not, knowing that another teleport could easily accelerate the loss even further.

She leaned against me weakly, her body feeling almost weightless. Her eyes were no longer clouded, but there was absolutely no emotion left in them either. It was as if I was holding an empty shell and the spirit of my dear Wind Elemental had disappeared somewhere in Aku's fortress.

There had been no change at all. She had not grown any stronger since the night before. Her feathers were still falling and it seemed that her power was dying with the loss somehow. Did this mean that this was how an Elemental died?

"Chimitsu-chan..." I began.

"Don't feel sorry for me, Minamoto-kun. I'm not dying. Weakening, maybe, but I'm far from dying. Takes a lot more than the loss of a few feathers to kill me."

I watched as she pulled away from me and stood, straightening her white and green robes. A few more feathers fluttered to the ground and for a moment, with the first rays of sun shimmering through the window, she looked almost transparent. I quickly rose to my feet, intending on grabbing ahold of her before she vanished completely.

Indeed, there was something she was not telling me, but she continued to avoid it. Once again, she shoved the pain she was feeling back into the depths of her heart, all for the sake of continuing our mutual quest. A part of me wished that she would just take the time to mourn before her sorrow killed her, but knew that she was not about to do that until everything was over.

Just like myself, I realized.

"We'd better go. We don't have much time to waste up here in hiding." she said.

"Are you certain you are strong enough for this?"

"I have enough power for a teleport, so don't worry. I wouldn't be making an attempt if I didn't have the power. To make a teleport without enough power could be deadly. You'd end up far off track, depending on how much power you were lacking, or even further away from your destination than intended, which would only waste the energy and time."

"I see."

Somehow, I felt that she was lying a bit, but not enough to the point of endangering us. With a sweep of her hand, her bed was remade and I furrowed my brow, not liking that. She used her magic too freely sometimes, especially when she did not have the power to spare to do such frivolous things, but I was not about to say anything to an Elemental that had seen more of history than I ever would.

"Shall we?" she asked.

I blinked and looked at her, seeing her extend a hand in my direction. For a few moments, she looked like her old self again, cheerful and even perhaps strong enough to recover the lost power. But was it just a mask or did she really feel cheerful again?

Slowly, I took her hand, feeling her wrap her arms and wings around my back as the cool energies swept us away. I held onto her, feeling momentarily dizzy as we made the jump, shivering when we had reappeared. Her wings unfolded, then refolded against her back as she released me.

"Are you all right?" I asked quietly.

She looked at me, her entire body trembling for a few moments before her legs gave out beneath her, sending her tumbling to the pavement before I could catch her. Instantly, I knelt at her side, seeing her face pale, a cold sweat beading on her cheeks and brow. She could hardly hold herself up on her hands and knees, shaking all over with the effort.

Liar, I thought. You did not have enough strength to do that.

Quickly, I scooped her up and looked around, wondering what part of the city we had arrived in. With all these tall buildings and the alien language written in lights, it was hard to tell. Everything looked the same to me.

"Go straight ahead." she said softly.

I looked at her, seeing her weakly gesture towards a building directly in front of us. I did not argue with her and hurried inside, finding it to be a very opulent hotel of some kind, with people moving about in the lobby, including what appeared to be butlers. Ignoring the surroundings for the moment, I hurried over to the desk, gently setting Chimitsu down on her feet, letting her lean on me while she took care of the arrangements.

I could not understant the language that was being spoken, but from the tone of the manager's voice, it seemed that he knew Chimitsu quite well. Soon, we had our keys and she guided me towards a set of gilded elevators. This was more than I was used to, but if this was where she had meant to go, then it would be safe for the moment.

She leaned on me weakly as we stepped inside, the doors closing behind us. There was a uniformed man standing by the controls, standing almost like a soldier. I watched him carefully, wondering what he was there for.

"What floor, sir?" he asked.

"Uhm..."

I looked to Chimitsu, who handed me the keys.

"8th floor, very well sir." he said when I showed him the number on the key.

Up we went and soon, I realized that the elevator was made entirely of glass but for the doors. We could see a great deal of the lobby and the surrounding floors as we went up and the people walking about. It was almost unsettling to watch, but still quite fascinating.

Finally, we came to the floor we had been heading for, the doors sliding open as soon as they had stopped. I gently nudged Chimitsu through, pausing only to thank the operator before looking for directions to our room. I wanted to scold Chimitsu for using some of her magic to create the money necessary to stay here, but I had no money of my own and the only other alternative was to stay on the streets.

That was not an option. It was much too dangerous to sleep out in the open, exposed to the bounty hunters and other minions. I simply could not do that when Chimitsu was in the condition she was.

I led her down the plush, carpeted halls until we reached our room far from the elevator and main traffic of the building on this floor. I could see now why she chose this place to hide in. Not only was it right there when we had appeared, but it seemed quite safe and inconspicuous.

I took the key and opened the door before leading her inside, momentarily ignoring the luxurious surroundings until I could get her to one of the two beds that were in the room. Immediately, she flopped onto the bed, feathers falling out in clumps when she landed. Over half of them had fallen out by now, her wing tips beginning to show now.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

"I'll be fine, just very tired."

"You do not look so well, Chimitsu-chan."

"I'll be fine, trust me. Go make sure that none of the feathers fell outside to make a trail up here after us. Please."

I hesitated, not wanting to leave her alone, but not wanting to leave a possible trail for Mad Jack and Ekirei to follow.

"I will be right back. Please...hang on, all right?"

She nodded weakly and I reluctantly retreated from the room with a key in hand, heading back down the way we had come, looking for feathers. I found a few as I made my way back to the elevator and down to the lobby, relieved to find that she had only lost a few. She had to have been holding her power back long enough to get to our room so we would not be found. No wonder the feathers fell out in clumps when she sat down.

I turned around and headed back, keeping an eye out for any sign of my double or Eki. I shuddered at the thought of the voluptuous Elemental double and the lust for me that was very clear in her eyes. I tucked the feathers into the sleeve of my kimono as I neared the door, my key in hand. I paused one last time, looking around carefully, then headed inside.

Chimitsu was curled up in her bed now, feathers scattered around her. I set the few I had down near the table before heading over to sit next to her, reaching down to brush a few strands of hair out of her face. Her eyelids fluttered open and she smiled weakly at me.

"Everything ok?" she asked.

"Seems to be. I only found a handful of feathers so you must not have dropped very many until you got in here."

"That's fine. Just didn't want to leave any abnormally large white feathers out in the open for our doubles to find and trace to this room. They'll probably find us in the city anyway, but at least without the feathers, it's one less clue they can follow."

"You look exhausted. Perhaps I should go find some food."

"No, don't leave. It's all right."

"Chimitsu-chan, when is the last time you ate?"

"Does that really matter?"

"Yes. You may not starve to death as I would, but clearly, you not eating is not helping your fading energy reserves."

She sighed a little, her wings fluttering slightly.

"I'm really not very hungry and it doesn't affect my energies that much anyways. My powers only drain when I use them. I need rest, not food."

"Very well. We rest then. But no using your magic to conjure up any more money or using your powers for anything so frivolous."

"Without money, how will you get food?"

I sighed a little. Usually I hunted, but when I was in the city, sometimes I was forced to steal if I could find nothing to hunt. It was not anything I enjoyed doing, but it was a lesser evil I was willing to commit for the sake of survival.

"I will find a way."

She sat up and lightly pressed her fingertips to my lips. A few feathers fell from her wings as she moved, but I was more focused on her eyes and face than her wings at the moment. I could see her contemplating what I had said, knowing that she had likely guessed what I had in mind.

"Don't. Your leaving here will only leave you out in the open and you know that I can't fight right now. If we separate for too long, there's a chance that they'll take the opportunity to attack. If you need food, I can conjure just enough money and you can call down to room service for something."

"But, Chimitsu-chan..."

"No buts. It doesn't take much energy to do that. You'll need food and perhaps after I've rested, I'll feel up to eating something."

I hesitated, contemplating this.

"All right, but just this once. After that, no more until you have rested, eaten, and recovered."

"Fair enough."

With a gesture, a small purse appeared on the table. Even this simple gesture seemed to drain her and she sighed, leaning against my shoulder. Her wings hung limply from her back, feathers periodically falling to the sheets as I held her there, noting how light and weightless she seemed now.

Was she really going to disappear when all her feathers and her wings had gone?

Finally, she pulled herself away and curled back up on the bed, slowly drifting off. I debated using the money to find food, but I did not know how to use the telephone to call for this room service she had mentioned. Oh well. I would simply ask her tomorrow when she awoke and felt well enough to tell me how to do such a thing.

I went around and turned off all the lights and made certain the door was closed and tightly locked before heading over to the unoccupied bed. Chimitsu appeared to be sound asleep, yet I still moved as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb her. I set my katana down between the nightstand and the bed before removing my kimono, folding it up and setting it down on a nearby chair.

I watched Chimitsu for a few moments before pulling back the blankets on my own bed and curling up. Instantly, I sank down into its warm plushness, almost melting at the feeling of such luxury. I sighed softly and snuggled under the blankets on the soft pillows, fighting sleep in order to relish every second of the softness, knowing that I would not get a chance to feel it again anytime soon. But, eventually my exhaustion won out and I drifted off surrounded in a warmth that was not unlike my mother's embrace that I remembered as a child.

Okaasan.....
- 16
- 17
- 18
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War Of Shadows