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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
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Upon opening my eyes, I once again found myself in the realm of nothingness, alone, but apparently safe. I did not feel dead, but I did not exactly feel alive and well, either. No doubt, I had slipped into unconsciousness while my fever-wracked body healed itself and a feeling of unease crept into my chest as I realized that time was running out.

There was no telling what sort of havoc Mad Jack and Ekirei could be wreaking on the planet while I hovered here in limbo, not knowing what was going on outside my own body.

I pulled myself to my feet, finding that my obi had fallen away somewhere along the way again, leaving my kimono hanging around my shoulders. Once again, my katana was missing, leaving me unarmed and vulnerable, a feeling I was not entirely certain I liked. Without the sword and the magic it held, there was nothing I could do to stop Aku if he decided to attack me within my own mind.

A cool breeze drifted through the mists, ruffling my hair about my face, neck and shoulders. I shivered and looked around, realizing that I was not alone. There was somebody else here, a powerful presence just like Himoto's, only it was different.

There was a warmth about it, but also a playfulness. It was almost as if the presence had the innocence of a child about it, a youthful gentleness. Softly, I could hear laughter on the breeze, like the sound of children playing without a care in the world and I relaxed a little, realizing that this presence meant no harm.

Slowly, I turned around, seeing a woman standing there. Her appearance was very dark and earthy, her skin tanned by the sun, matching her black hair that was wound up ornately. Her eyes shimmered with a mischeviousness that hardly matched her otherwise serious appearance.

She was dressed in an simple yukata from head to foot in the color orange, save for the dark green obi. Earrings in the shape of leaves dangled from her ears, almost down to her shoulders, and in her hands, she held a simple wooden fan.

She was as beautiful as Himoto had been, if perhaps in a less-elaborate way, but still beautiful nonetheless. A warm aura surrounded her, full of joyful innocence and happiness, much like what I felt whenever I was in the presence of children. I relaxed, feeling reassured by her appearance.

Could she be...?

"Hello." she said softly.

"Hello. Are you...possibly...."

"The Elemental of Earth? That would be me. My name is Chame."

I gave her a formal bow and she chuckled as she returned it before reaching out to take my hands in hers. They were warm and soft, innocently hiding a strength that I could feel radiating from her beneath that playful, childlike exterior. I felt safe near her, as if she could protect me from Aku if he thought to attack, even though she was dead.

"I knew you'd be coming soon, Jack. A pity we don't have time for a game before I send you on your way. Oh well. Perhaps there will be time for such things later. I suppose you're wondering how I'm here when our little sister told you that we're all dead but for her." she said.

"Somewhat, but I have already met Fire. Are you here to give me a message as well?"

"Not so much a message as an explanation and to activate the power of the Earth Point."

"Very well."

She knelt down on the ground and I knelt before her, watching her carefully. There was something about her that was so unlike the others. She was so carefree, so innocent and playful like a little child. She would rather play a game with me than be serious, but we both knew that neither of us had time for that.

"You are everything we had been hoping you'd be. Strong, handsome, pure of heart, everything that's to be expected of your bloodline." she said.

"Chimitsu said something about my family bloodline being favored by the Elementals. Is that what you mean?"

"Not only is your family bloodline favored by us, it is protected and nurtured by us. If Himoto has been able to activate the Fire Point and attune it to you, then I shall have no problem attuning the Earth Point to you and the energies within you."

"She did not seem to have any problems, no."

"Perfect. Please, give me your hands. There's little time to waste on this before the demon finds out what we have done."

"Finds out?"

"Shh. I have no time to tell you. You'll just have to trust me."

Without hesitation, I gave her my hands, feeling a similar warmth flow through my veins as I had felt when Himoto had done this. A warm, orange glow enveloped our hands and I could feel the power growing within me. Another power that I did not know I had welled up in my heart and my mind, giving me knowledge I never thought possible.

It was an incredible feeling, almost as if I was one with the Earth itself, yet still a tiny, lone person all in one. Words I did not know I could speak formed in my mind and heart, a long-forgotten language rising again from the depths of history, ready to make itself heard once more. It was almost overwhelming, but I had already been through this once and was ready for such a powerful feeling running through my body.

"Oh yes...you are indeed the one. You can restore everything to order from chaos." she said, slowly withdrawing her hands.

"The one?"

"Yes. The one of your family's bloodline with the purest of hearts. You are the one that the demon can never break, never corrupt, no matter how hard he may try."

"Aku?"

"Yes, him. I see you've already seen his true form."

"His true form?"

"Yes. The form that you know him to have is just a shapeshift. No shadow demon is that strong, not by a long shot."

"Then why does he have that form?"

"It's just a shift, a cover to terrorize the people of this world. If they saw his true form, they wouldn't be as frightened of him. A powerful, shapeshifting shadow demon is more terrifying than his true Elemental form, no?"

I paused, thinking back to the form I had seen in my vision and in Himoto's memories. It was true that he was less intimidating in that form than in his usual demon form, so it did make sense that the people were easier to rule so long as he had the form of a shadow demon about him. They were more terrified of this supernatural being's wrath and such fear would not be accomplished if he looked like any other human male.

Even so, he still carried that aura about him. I had to wonder why I had not seen it before, that powerful aura around him that was so similar to that of an Elemental's. Of course, that was before I had even known of the Elementals and had no aura to compare his with. Slowly, it was all starting to make sense.

"I would suppose so. The people here would rather run from a terrifying demon than another person like themselves." I said.

"Indeed. That's why Aku keeps that form. Shapeshifting isn't his only power, though."

"He has more?"

"Oh yes. A great deal more."

"In addition to his shapeshifting and the teleportation power that is standard with each Elemental, he carries greater power as the Darkness Elemental, the opposite of Light. That's why the five of us can't do a thing, why it all rests in your hands."

"Elemental Law. Yes, Chimitsu explained this."

"But she did not have time to tell you every power he has that we know of."

I sat back, realizing that it was true. Still, she had managed to tell me some of his abilities. Frightening abilities that explained much of what had happened to me since my arrival here in this hellish future.

"Not all of them, but she explained a few." I said.

She paused, gazing at me, before smiling. Clearly, this pleased her, making her job much easier, having less to tell me than she would have.

"Ahhh, there was time for some of his minor powers. That makes my job a tiny bit easier. Yes, she explained his ability to slip in and out of shadows and to give life to a person's dark side, but he has more than that, much more." she said.

"The timewarp spell?"

"No. That wasn't part of his powers, although it seems he has learned it illegally. He can give life to shadows, sending them out in the form of minions, bounty hunters, whatever he chooses. So long as there are shadows, there will always be something he can breathe life and his will into. He can also send out parts of himself, pieces of darkness from his very soul and can place them into inanimate objects or create bodies with them. All of these things can be destroyed with your blade, but he knows of the purity that you hold and has given these things the power and knowledge that he holds, making them strong enemies that will be difficult to beat."

"Difficult, but not impossible."

She smiled a bit and took my hands, looking them over. She studied them carefully, running her fingers over the palms and knuckles and up to my wrist, not minding the roughness in the least. I watched her for a moment before daring to look at her face, being absorbed into the warm chocolate eyes, seeing a distant sadness in them behind the genki[1] expression she wore.

"Ah, yes, the fighting spirit of the Minamoto clan. I expected nothing less from you. But...our time is up. There is nothing more I can tell you without jeopardizing everything." she said.

"But..."

She reached up and lightly pressed her soft fingertips to my lips, halting the sentence before I had a chance to finish it. She still smiled, even though I could see that she was fighting to keep the tears from welling up in her eyes or spilling down her cheeks. I did not understand why she was so sad except that she had to leave, although I had a feeling that was not quite the case.

"Yes. You will see my memories as well. Chimitsu doesn't know how we died, nor does she need to know. Her heart is already heavily burdened with the sorrow of knowing that she could not help us." she said.

"Then I will bear the burden for her."

She looked at me with another almost sad expression in her eyes before she took my hands again, pressing her palms flat against my own. Once again, a strong burst of power rushed through my body, keeping me from pulling away. It was just as intense as it had been when Himoto had done this, but I was ready this time and closed my eyes tight, holding on tightly as our hearts became one, allowing myself to be drawn within the depths of her memories...

As my eyes snapped open, I found myself in a simple mountaintop castle in a garden filled with trees, grasses, and flowers. Water ran from a small falls and down along an aqueduct to the garden, flowing through it before flowing off the side of the castle wall. It was then that I realized that this castle had been built into the mountain itself.

This castle was very much in tune with nature, melding so perfectly with it that you almost did not know that there was even a castle structure there. I looked around, trying to find Chame. Silently, I walked towards the water, stepping into the stream, but finding that I was not at all wet when I climbed out on the other side. Curious.

At each corner of the castle, there stood a dragon statue in some sort of orange stone, shining with the fading sunlight. It was an absolutely breathtaking sight to behold, as if all of Nature itself had built this place for its mistress and guardian. I felt as if I could stay here forever in this natural sanctuary, a rare jewel in such a modern and mechanized world.

It was then that I finally saw her standing on the edge of the castle in a short kimono that came to about mid thigh, her hair down and flowing free, kept back out of her face by a simple orange bow. She looked almost sad, not as playful and cheery as when I had met her a few moments ago. My heart ached to see her like that and I walked over to put a hand on her shoulder in comfort, only to watch it pass right through her.

Of course, just like the last time, this was a memory and she could not see me any more than I could stop what was about to happen, much to my dismay and frustration.

Slowly, she turned, looking in my direction, almost straight through me.

"You've finally come. It's about time. I've been waiting." she said.

I turned around, seeing Aku standing there in his Elemental form, bisento in his hands at ready. This time, his hair was completely down, the tips just barely brushing the floor, his black eyes holding a dark emptiness to them as he looked at her. He was no less frightening than the last time I had seen him and a part of me was relieved that he could not see me, either.

"Then you know what I am here for, Earth Elemental." he said.

"Of course."

"Hand over the Earth Point, then."

"I can't. You're too late, Aku. It's gone, along with the Fire Point to its next destination."

"I see. Then you know what I must do now."

"Death? Of course. I must die here today if things are to be restored. If I don't die at your hand, then the path to rebirth will never be taken."

She closed her eyes and stood there, the wind ruffling her hair and robes, looking at peace with herself, her surroundings, and her destiny. I looked to Aku, then to her, wondering if she was going to fight him or let him take her life. She must have known, just as I and Aku had to know, that she could not destroy him.

I watched her carefully, seeing her look so meditative, yet I could feel an aura of great power rising in the area. For a moment, I wondered what it was she was going to try to do. Suddenly, a bo staff made of fresh hardwood appeared in her hands and she went into a fighting stance.

Of course...the earth itself was lending her its power to defend herself, even if it was ultimately futile.

I cannot say I wanted her to fight right then, knowing in my heart before the battle even began what the outcome was going to be. She was going to die, likely as cruelly as Himoto had, and it was not so much watching her die, but knowing that Aku had done it without regret or hint of conscience, simply doing what he needed to do to achieve his goal. If I could have stopped this battle, I would have, but I knew, with a great deal of frustration in my heart, I could not.

Aku's expression remained emotionless as he readied his bisento, coldly studying his opponent. I watched as they circled each other in the dirt, wondering, like the last time, who was going to attack first. This time, however, it was Aku, lunging in to strike her down with his bisento.

Chame dropped onto her back, causing him to overextend his strike, and used her bo and her feet to toss him up into the air. Backwards he went until he crashed into a flowerbed, covered from hed to foot in multicolored petals of all shapes and sizes, a sight I would have laughed at if not for the seriousness of the overall situation. Aku covered in pinks, blues, yellows, and oranges, indeed.

He rose and stood ready again before making another charge at the defending Elemental. I tensed, wanting to leap in and attack, but knew that I would pass right through him if I tried. Somehow, it would not have mattered, not when my katana was not at my side, leaving me without the one thing I had that could hurt him. Damnit all, anyways!

She blocked and caught her bo around his bisento before flipping him to the ground with a twist of her shoulders and hips, an impressive move given her tiny size. However, before she could back away or make another attack, his heavy, booted foot swung up, catching her in the chin and knocking her over. I gasped and took a step forward to see if she was all right before realizing that she would be fine and that once again, I was but a spirit here and could do nothing to help her in any way.

I watched frustratedly as she rolled out of the way of his next strike and got to her feet, wiping at her mouth.

"You've improved a bit there, Aku." she said.

"Actually, I have improved quite a bit, but thank you anyways."

They charged at each other again, Aku going for a low strike towards her knees, Chame leaping up and kicking him hard in the back of the head, loud enough to make a sharp cracking noise. I winced as he fell forward onto the pavement, watching as Chame came down with a stabbing motion with her bo. At the last second, he rolled away and swung up with his bisento, the blade tearing across her chest.

I stood there, watching with my hands clenched tightly at my sides, wishing desperately that I could help her fight him, painfully knowing that I could not. If I had only known about this when it had happened, then perhaps I could have prevented this cruel fate from befalling the beautiful Earth Elemental.

She screamed in pain and swung up with her leg, belting him hard in the face and backing him across the pavement. Over and over again, the two weapons met and I could only watch helplessly as they backed into the stream and out the other side again, soaking wet. Chame swung around and slammed one end of her bo into his chest, which would have snapped the sternum of a mortal, but only backed him up even further.

I hurried through the stream and to the other side, panic rising in my chest as his bisento came down, snapping her bo in half. She used the broken ends like swords, blocking his next few strikes until the ends were useless. I swallowed hard as I watched him ready himself for the final strike, realizing that the fight was over as quickly as it had begun.

But Chame had an ace up her sleeve that neither of us was expecting.

Instead of letting him finish her off, she held up her hands and several vines shot from the surrounding flora, wrapping themselves around Aku's body.

The bisento fell from his hands to the pavement as the vines bound him tighter and tighter. She knew she was going to die, so why was it that she was fighting so hard to keep him at bay? I could not understand why she fought him so hard unless it was simply a matter of dying in battle with honor. I could understand wanting to go down fighting, being samurai as I was.

"You are only wasting your time, little Elemental. You know you cannot possibly hurt me, much less kill me." he said, struggling against the vines.

"I know, but this is something I simply must do."

"You are only prolonging the inevitable."

"Actually, Aku, you're the one prolonging the inevitable, but do as you must. It won't change a thing."

He struggled a bit before the vines all wilted and crumbled to dust, much to my and Chame's shock. She took a step back and attempted to summon more vines, only to have those die off as well. A third attempt was halted and then reversed upon her, Aku's magic causing her own attack to turn against her. I could only watch as the vines snaked around her body, lifting her into the air.

I reached to my hip for my katana, only to remember that it was not there. Damn. I could not do anything without it and nothing with it. This was all a memory. I had to keep in mind that it was nothing but a memory, a thing of the past, and there was nothing I could do to change it.

Yet the playful Elemental was more clever than I had given her credit for. Quickly, she recanted the spell and the vines dropped her, retreating quickly away back into the ground. She fell hard and got to her knees painfully, too slowly to avoid Aku's next attack.

I dashed forward in another attempt to warn her that Aku was attacking, frustration rising in my chest as I knew that once again, it was futile for me to try. I simply could not help it, the instinct to help those rising up to fight against Aku too strong for me to ignore. I did not care in that moment that this was all a memory that would play out whether I wanted it to or not, I simply wanted to stop Chame's death.

In a flash, Aku had his bisento in his hands with the handle pressed against her throat, choking her. She reached up and grabbed ahold, trying to break free, but he was too strong for her. My breath caught in my throat as I watched helplessly, knowing that she was going to die very quickly now.

No doubt, she knew it as well.

"Go ahead, Aku. Finish it. You've already once broken Elemental Law and set things off balance. Might as well finish the job because you know you can't stop what you've gone and started. Go ahead and try, but you'll NEVER get the Star of the Elements." she said.

With a flick of his wrists, he snapped her neck with a crack loud enough to make me wince. He pulled his bisento away and she toppled down to the ground facedown amongst the flowers. He stood and straightened, squaring his shoulders as he looked down at her coldly.

"We shall see." he said, disappearing.

I walked through the flowers and knelt down next to the fallen Earth Elemental, reaching down to lightly brush away a few strands of hair as tears of sadness and frustration burned beneath my eyelids. The wind passed through the garden, cold and emotionless, gently pulling a white rose from its broken stem, carrying it until it landed on Chame's back. Even nature itself was mourning its fallen protector.

Even as I knelt there, all I could think to myself was why? Why did she and Himoto have to meet such cruel ends at Aku's hands? Was it because they were protecting the Elemental Points and the only thing that stood between Aku and possessing them? Or...was it...something more?

"Chame..." I said quietly, my voice almost breaking.

I bowed my head, letting the tears quietly spill from my eyes, dropping down onto Chame and the lone white rose resting on her back. I had long considered it ignominious to allow myself to hate anyone, even Aku and Mad Jack, but Aku was pushing my limits of tolerance. To kill two women for the sake of the magical talismans they held, all for the sake of increasing his already immense powers...

A split-second later, a flash of light burst from the white rose, momentarily blinding me. I could feel myself being pulled away from the castle and struggled to stay put, even though I knew it was futile. Two Elementals down, two to go, and I was still so very weak...

Slowly, my eyes cracked open again, and this time I could see Chimitsu in full, holding up the Star of the Elements. Both the Fire and Earth Points were glowing red and orange, respectively, and she was looking at them in puzzlement. Strange, indeed, but I was beginning to understand what was happening to the amulet and myself.

"Now the Earth Point's gone all orange." she said.

"Aye. First the Fire Point, now this one...what d'you s'pose is causin' it?"

"I don't know...the Elemental Points aren't supposed to activate like this."

"What do you mean, lass?"

"They can't activate...because my sisters are dead. We're supposed to be alive to activate the powers held by the five Points."

I tried again to move, only able to slide my arm off my chest and to the soft bed. Neither of them seemed to notice, both apparently transfixed by the glow emanating from the Star of the Elements. I wanted to say something, to get their attention, but I found that I could not, too weak to move. If only I could get enough breath in my lungs...

"Chame..." I forced out, my voice sounding hoarse.

Chimitsu turned towards me, her eyes widening when she saw that I was awake, but I could already feel myself slipping away again. My eyes briefly met hers, seeing the shock in them before they slid closed. Once more I found myself drifting in the haze of my mind, awaiting the arrival of the next Elemental and her accompanying memories.
--------------- [1] genki: cheerful, lively
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War Of Shadows