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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
- 18
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Two days later, I awoke in the city in a hotel room high in a towering building. I rolled over and looked across the gap between the two beds to where Chimitsu lay, sound asleep. The city was still dark with dawn only an hour away, yet I could not sleep any longer. I felt restless, like something was going to happen today.

For a short time after she had slept that first night and half a day, she looked as if she might actually recover in full. The feathers almost stopped falling from her wings and she even looked a bit cheerier. But once she had made the teleport into the city, she immediately weakened once more.

We sought immediate shelter in this hotel so she could rest, but it looked almost futile now. Her wings were almost bare now, with only a few feathers left in them. The others lay in a pile by the desk, having rapidly fallen out after her teleport.

I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed, sitting there, watching her sleep. It was a miracle that she had slept at all, but I knew that once morning came, she would be awake and that we would likely see her lose the rest of her feathers today. I sighed inaudibly, glancing at my katana where it leaned against the nightstand, then over to where my kimono lay folded on a chair by the desk.

She had been so strong, remarkably calm and clearheaded, even through the high-strung emotions I knew she had to be feeling. I had never once considered a teleport, much less to her castle. All I had been thinking about was getting her and myself out of there, away from Mad Jack, and all in one piece.

For her to have taken swift control like that after being through so much, I could not begin to imagine how she could have done it. Anyone else, myself included, would have been a cauldron of panic and fear after coming so close to such a violation. Certainly not in any condition to think straight like that, even if she had panicked when we had rematerialized.

The only thing I could think of to explain such a reaction was to think that perhaps this had not been the first time such a thing had happened to her. As unsettling as it was, it was possible that, in her long life, she had been raped before. Perhaps many times, enough that it still was terrifying when it happened, but also to where it was nothing new and she was able to recover faster than anyone else.

It was not something I cared to think about.

I glanced back to Chimitsu before standing and quietly padding over to her bed, gazing down at her sleeping form. Slowly, I lowered myself down to sit next to her, reaching up to gently brush a few strands of hair off her face, waiting for her to stir. But she never did.

Another feather tumbled off her wing, fluttering into my lap. I picked it up and sighed softly, setting it aside. She curled up a bit in a ball before her eyes slowly opened, clouded with sleepiness and depression. She yawned a bit before rolling over, looking up at me.

"Ohayou." I said.

"Mornin'."

"How do you feel?"

"No different than yesterday. Lighter on the back. Gonna lose the wings today, I fear."

"Seems that way. I am sorry, Chimitsu."

"Don't be. Not your fault they're fallin' off."

I furrowed my brow, watching her as she lay there. Indeed, she looked depressed, likely about the wings, but she seemed oddly indifferent considering what she had gone through just a few nights before. I would have guessed her to be more anxious, paranoid, especially considering Mad Jack looked exactly like me.

Perhaps she had indeed been raped before. After all, she had lived far longer than I ever would and there were eras and places where women were not respected by their men in the least. Certainly it was logical to think she had seen such places and eras before and suffer a few rapes from overwhelming numbers or in younger days when she was not as experienced as I knew her to be.

I sighed a bit, watching her sit up. There was a knock at the door and I headed over to answer it, finding a well-dressed man standing there with a tray. I looked at him curiously, wondering what he could be doing here so early in the morning.

"Uhm...can I help you sir?" I asked.

"Your breakfast."

"Breakfast? I am sorry, you must have the wrong room."

"This is room 894, is it not?"

I blinked, looked at the number on the door, then back to him.

"But we did not order any breakfast."

"I received a call from a young lady asking that breakfast be brought up to this exact room at this exact time."

Chimitsu hurried up to us, tying her robe, and took the tray.

"Ah, yes, that'd be me." she said, handing me the tray while getting some money out of her purse to pay him.

I blinked, watching her pay him quite handsomely before taking the tray, and retreating inside. The man disappeared down the hall and I watched him for a moment before closing the door behind myself, turning to Chimitsu. She had seated herself at the table, uncovering fruit, eggs, meat, and some sort of pastry on the tray.

I walked over and sat down across from her, giving her an odd look.

"What is all this?" I asked.

"Breakfast. Eat up."

"Are you going to eat anything? There only looks to be enough for one here."

"It's yours. Elementals don't need to eat, remember?"

"You need your strength."

"I don't have to eat to gain my strength."

"I am not going to eat a bite until you agree to eat something as well. You are not doing yourself any good by not eating."

Her face fell and she sighed. She knew that I was not giving any room for arguement.

"I promise I'll get something later in the day, ok?"

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I promise, Jack. I'll eat something later today after we leave."

"All right. Make sure you keep that promise."

"We Elementals don't make promises we don't intend on keeping."

Satisfied, I ate my meal, watching her carefully. During the course of the meal, the rest of her feathers fell from her wings, littering the floor, although she did not seem to notice. I finished my meal and sat back, seeing a deep sadness in her eyes as she sat there, her white and green silk robe wrapped around her slim form.

"Will you be all right?" I asked.

"I'll be fine."

"You seem so melancholy...you know I worry."

"Not much I can do about the wings. I'll get over it, y'know?"

"If you are sure."

"I'm sure."

I nodded and scooped up my kimono and katana, disappearing into the bathroom to change. I dressed carefully, tucking my katana into my obi once it had been tied and stepped back outside. Chimitsu, however was not in the chair where I had left her. Instead, she was kneeling on the ground, holding her broken, bald wings.

I hurried over and knelt down next to her, pulling her close as she sobbed quietly. Something felt different about her, but I could not tell what. I could only watch as the wings and pile of feathers melted away into nothingness as if she had never had any to begin with.

"Oh, Chimitsu-chan..." I whispered.

She whimpered quietly and nuzzled my shoulder, sighing heavily.

"It's done then. They're gone. I can't get 'em back."

"It will be all right."

"I hope you're right. Without them...I really am nothing."

"Shh...you are not nothing. You are Chimitsu, the Elemental of Wind, and have been of more help to me than anyone here. Do not let yourself think otherwise, eh?"

She sighed and looked up at me, a sad smile on her face.

"I know. I just can't help it."

She paused and then slowly rose, reaching a hand out to me. I took it and slowly stood, watching her expression.

"Let's go into the city. We can't stay here too long or they'll find us. I'll get some food while we're out before we leave, ok?"

"All right."

She headed out the door and I followed, pausing only to slip into my zori. She led me down the hall to the stairs, hurrying down so fast that it was almost difficult for me to keep up. I followed as close as I could, hurrying down the stairs after her and out the back way into the city.

I had traveled many places in this world known as Aku Earth, but I had to admit that the city was the one I disliked the most. Noisy, crowded, and prime hunting grounds for Aku's bounty hunters and anyone wanting to make a buck from taking my head. I felt more vulnerable in the city than I did anywhere else.

Chimitsu's robes changed shortly before we reached the ground floor, turning into a green blouse and white skirt as we dashed out the door. I was mildly surprised, but it did suit her quite well. Down the alley we went, disappearing into the heart of the city where all the restaurants and taverns were.

People were all about as usual, but there was a hostile air in the city that had me uneasy. I had my left hand on my katana, ready to draw it if necessary, although I hoped that I would not need to do so in such close quarters. It would be all too easy to miss and strike someone else in a crowd like this, if I could even draw my blade at all.

I stayed as close to Chimitsu as I could get with people on every side of me, not liking this one bit. I had been in the city several times before and it never seemed so crowded and noisy before. People always moved out of your way on the streets, but now, it seemed that they were not about to move.

Chimitsu made her way over to an open spot in the crowd on the sidewalk near a building that had yet to open this morning, leaning against the wall to catch her breath. I followed, staying close to her, keeping alert, but also worried about her health. Something was very wrong with her, but she was apparently not about to tell me what.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

"I think so. Just so crowded out there. I've never seen this city like this. Something's got 'em all stirred up into a frenzy today."

"So it would seem. It feels so hostile here, not like last night when we arrived. It was quiet then."

"Agreed."

"I think we are in danger here, Chimitsu-chan. I have a bad feeling about these crowds. Both of our doubles have something of a connection to us, or it would seem, and I think they may have followed those connections to our location here."

"You mean they've stirred up the crowds into a feeding frenzy to look for us?"

"Something like that, yes."

"Damn. We'll have to cut this trip short, then, and get the hell out of here. Do me a favor, Minamoto-kun?"

"Yes?"

"Try not to get hurt."

"Eh? Why?"

"I don't think I can heal you right now. My powers haven't regenerated enough for that."

I furrowed my brow, finding that odd. She had rested for at least a night, if not longer, so why was it that her powers had failed to restore enough for a healing if I got hurt? I decided to not argue as she stood, stretching a bit as if she was testing out some sort of new power.

"Look! There they are!"

Chimitsu looked over and I turned in surprise, hearing a voice call out. A small crowd had gathered around us, almost boxing us in. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I backed up in front of Chimitsu defensively, debating on whether or not I should draw my katana on a group of civilians or try to make a break for it.

"You sure that's them?" another asked.

"Oh hell yeah. No mistaking Samurai Jack and the Wind Elemental. She ain't got her wings, but it's still her."

"Lord Aku's gonna pay us handsomely for those two...get them!"

I swallowed hard as they closed in around us, moving uncomfortably close to us. We would have to make a break for it and get out of there before they swallowed us up and kept us from moving at all. I pulled my katana from my obi with my left hand, grabbing one of Chimitsu's hands with the other, holding tightly to my wrist.

"Nigero!"[1] I cried, slamming the hilt of my katana into the chin of the nearest pedestrian, trying to force them back in order to run.

I pulled Chimitsu along, shoving people aside, making no time to be polite when our lives were at stake. I caught sight of Chimitsu slamming the heel of her palm into the chin of a rather large man that had tried to tear her away from me, also odd, although I did not have to contemplate it for long. It would have been so easy for her to bring up a wind to cut a path for us as she had done before, but for whatever reason, she had not done so.

We finally broke free from the crowd and I pulled her along, hurrying down the street as fast as we could go. They were not far behind us, the ones who could run after us. More and more people joined the group and I began to wonder if the whole city was after us.

Sooner or later, we would have to lose them somehow. We could not keep running forever, even if we did make it out of the city and into the desert. We would have to rest sometime soon, but it did not seem like this crowd was about to let us do so. I would have to do something to slow them down and quickly when Chimitsu looked so worn out and sweaty.

I took a turn down an alleyway and pushed her ahead for a few seconds, turning to quickly slice a support holding some crates up alongside a wall away, creating a pile of debris. They would have to turn around or take the time to climb over if they wanted to have a chance to catch us. Upon sheathing the blade again, I took Chimitsu's hand once more and took off running out the other side of the alley, panting, looking around cautiously.

To either side, a crowd was coming toward us, full of angry townspeople out for blood to make a quick buck. I groaned inwardly, looking for another escape route. Traffic ahead of us, mobs to the left, right, and rear, and nothing to climb onto to go upwards on. I swore softly and tucked my katana back into my obi, pulling Chimitsu close so I would be able to defend her better.

"Jack..." she said quietly as the mobs closed in.

"Stay close to me, Chimitsu-chan. It looks as if we are going to have to fight our way out of this one. Whatever happens, do not slip out of my reach, understand?"

"I'll try."

"Do not just try. Just do it."

She pressed closer to me, looking genuinely frightened, which was more than a little odd for an Elemental. I chose to ignore it for the moment, preparing to draw my katana and force a few of them back, my muscles tensing with the anticipation. Just a few more seconds....

The first wave closed in and my right hand quickly went in the direction of my katana. Behind me, I could hear Chimitsu struggling, even landing a few blows as they encircled us. Before I could draw my blade and do anything to force them away, they pounced on us, grabbing my arms and legs.

My katana was torn from my hand and I roared in frustration, swearing profusely in Japanese as I fought, trying to break free. Yet, for every one that I threw off, three more pounced on me, pulling me back away from the direction Chimitsu had been in. When I finally did catch a glimpse of her, it seemed that she was having the exact same difficulties I was.

On occasion, her elbow or the heel of her palm would connect with a face or chin, but she, too, was pulled back away from me. Damn! They were going to try to separate us and it looked like they were going to succeed. In one last desperate attempt, I pushed against my captors, lunging forward with a hand outstretched towards Chimitsu's. For a brief second, our fingertips brushed, and then I was swept away back into the mob, being carried away dizzily.

"Chimitsu!"

The sea of hands and arms carried me away into the depths of the city, finally depositing me unceremoniously to the pavement. I groaned and caught my breath, relieved to have finally stopped moving, although I was not out of the woods just yet. Just a few inches from my face were a pair of black, steel tipped boots that were more than a bit familiar. Looking up, I came face to face with my double.

A momentary wave of ice cold panic raced through my chest as my eyes locked with his. Memories of our last encounter raced through my mind, seeing him tear at Chimitsu's gown, hearing her scream for help. I had been so helpless then and if he had come back for her, while she was separated from me, then I was helpless to protect her now.

"Good morning, Minamoto." he said a second before his fist connected with my jaw.

My head spun dizzily from the blow and then...darkness.
--------------- [1]"Nigero!"= "RUN!"
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War Of Shadows