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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.

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With a sharp gasp, my eyes snapped open and I jolted upright, finding myself not in Hirame's dojo, but in a bed. Instantly, my body protested the movement, sending me into a coughing spell as I flopped back onto the pillow. Every inch of my body throbbed with pain, but I was awake and alive and that was more than enough to prove to myself that I had survived Ekirei's blue orb.

A few seconds later, I felt a pairs of hands gently hold me down while another pair slipped a plastic mask over my face. Within moments of this, the coughing stopped and I found that I was able to breathe more easily. I gave a groan and looked up through misted eyes at Chimitsu, seeing her worried, yet relieved expression.

"Chimitsu..." I whispered hoarsely.

"Take it easy, Jack. You only just pulled yourself out of that coma."

I looked at her confusedly, still feeling groggy enough to not understand what she was telling me.

"Coma?"

"A deep unconsciousness. You slipped into one when Eki hit you with that orb. It's something that happens when one's body needs to recover and cannot expend energy with wakefulness."

She sat down on a nearby chair, smoothing out her gown and fluttering her wings into place against her back. Her sharp emerald eyes sparkled with happiness and relief, making her appear more cheerful than the last time I had seen her in Aku's dungeon.

"It's so good to have you back, warrior." she remarked.

I shifted a little on the bed and looked around as best I could, not daring to move so suddenly again. Mechanical devices of all shapes and sizes surrounded me and the bed I lay upon, some beeping periodically while others hissed with the sound of passing air. Overhead, a bag containing some sort of clear fluid hung from a gleaming steel hook, from which extended a plastic tube that led down and into my arm.

My body ached all over, right down to my very bones and I felt more than a little bit warm with fever. I had survived, yes, but just barely and still had a long way to go before I was ready to fight again. There was no telling how long it would take and I grumbled inwardly at the thought of being delayed longer than necessary.

"It is good to be back. Where am I?"

The other set of hands reappeared, gently removing the mask from my face now that I had stopped coughing and was breathing easier. I had not realized that the other person was still in the room and slowly turned my head to see who it was. Who I saw was someone I had not seen in many, many months, but was happy to see nonetheless.

"Extor?"

The short, bespectacled scientist set the mask on a tank with one hand and turned off the flow of air coming from it with the other. Slowly, he turned to face me, smiling although I could see that he, too, had been very worried about me. He pulled the rubber gloves from his hands and tucked them into a pocket in his lab coat before sitting on the edge of the bed near my feet.

"Yes, Jack, it's me. Your lady friend brought you here some time ago to see if I could help you recover. Wasn't much else I could do but keep you here under full monitoring until you either recovered or expired." he replied.

"Expired?"

I furrowed my brow, mildly shocked at his words. I had known from the few times I had flickered in and out of consciousness that I was in bad shape after the fight and from the orb, but had no idea how bad it had really been until now. Indeed, it truly had been a matter of life and death while I was being visited and encouraged by Chimitsu's sisters.

"I'm afraid so. You see, the disease that you were inflicted with is a deadly one with no known cure. Most people lapse into a comatose state and eventually just expire without any knowledge of ever being sick. Somehow, you've pulled yourself out of it, but you're a long ways off from being in full health again."

I was not certain what to think or even to say at that point. I felt better than I had when I had last fought to stay awake, but from the way my body ached and burned with fever still, I knew he was right. I had no idea that what Eki had infected me with had been so deadly and felt a little bit dizzy as I mulled that thought over to myself.

"So it would seem. How long until I am able to continue on my way?" I asked.

"We're not entirely certain. It could be anywhere from a couple of days to another week. Never have we seen someone recover from this illness."

I sighed heavily, relieved to know that I had survived such an illness and did not fall as Eki had likely planned. Unfortunately, being the first meant that without a predecessor, Extor had no idea how long it would take me to recover, which did not help to ease my worries about getting back to my quest.

"I did not exactly have a choice. If I had allowed myself to die, everything we have fought for would have been for nothing. Then what would have happened to you, Chimitsu, and every other good and decent person in this hellish world?"

Extor paused and set aside the mask he had been holding. I could tell that he was in awe that I had managed to survive the illness, despite how he tried to hide it. No doubt, to a scientist of his caliber, my survival and impending recovery was an impressive feat to be carefully monitored and recorded.

"Hmm. Yes, well, the mind is known to hold a certain level of control over the body so that may very well have done it. For now, however, you must rest or you'll never fully recover. And to help ensure that your body has no ill effects from the disease..." he stated.

He reached over and picked up a plastic tube filled with a pale blue liquid that had a long, thin needle at the end. I shifted a bit, not at all liking the look of it or the thought of what he was going to do with it. He turned back to me, squirting a bit of the liquid out the end of the needle.

"Hold out your arm, please, Jack." he requested.

"What do you plan to do with that needle?"

"This is just a booster to keep you from falling ill again. It won't hurt that much."

I did not move, not at all liking the idea of being poked and prodded with even the smallest of needles. I had never been poked with a needle before and had no idea how it was going to feel, making me hesitate even more. He looked a bit irritated at this and sighed softly, lowering the hand holding the needle to his side in frustrated impatience.

"C'mon, Jack, you of all people afraid of a little bitty needle?" he asked.

"Then stick yourself with it."

"I would be happy to oblige to that except I'm not that one that's just recovering from a serious illness. I've given and received these shots before plenty of times, I know what I'm doing."

Reluctantly, I allowed him to take my arm, watching nervously as the needle came closer and closer to my arm. I swallowed hard, feeling the sweat bead on my forehead as it neared my skin. I did not want to watch, but could not manage to pull myself away from the sight of that needle coming closer and closer to my arm.

"Jack, look at me." Chimitsu said.

I quickly turned my head towards her voice, momentarily startled and wondering what she wanted. Before I could react at all, she leaned in and kissed me firmly, effectively distracting me from the small pinprick I felt as the needle slid beneath my skin and into my arm. I returned her warm, gentle kiss until Extor had finished with the shot, the needle pulling from my arm and a bandage being stuck over where it had been.

"Well, I suppose that's one way to get 'im to take a needle." he remarked with a chuckle.

"That was very tricky of you, Chimitsu-chan." I chided gently.

"Yes, but it worked, didn't it?" she replied smugly.

I shook my head and looked over to Extor, who was putting the various medical instruments away. I did not have the heart to argue with her, especially over something so trivial and had enjoyed just a little bit anyways. I shifted a little uncomfortably as I watched Extor, becoming aware of small electrodes stuck to my chest and wondering just how many of those instruments he had used on me while I was unconscious.

The thought was not a pleasant one, to say the least.

"I think I shall leave the two of you alone for awhile. Make sure he eats and rests, Chimitsu." he instructed.

"I will." she replied.

"Thank you for your help, Extor-san." I uttered quietly.

He gave a smile before retreating from the room, leaving Chimitsu and I alone in the lab. It was quiet, the only sound coming from machines that had been hooked up to my chest, making quiet beeping noises every few seconds. I shifted again, wishing I could be rid of these cold, emotionless machines, but knew they had to be there for a reason and did not complain.

"How are you feeling?" Chimitsu asked quietly.

"Still tired and weak, but better. I can actually speak to you now instead of slipping in and out of consciousness."

"You have no idea how relieved we are, Jack. You had us worried for a very long time. We weren't sure if you'd ever pull yourself out of it or if you'd end up losing the fight and expire."

I watched her shift a little in the chair, fidgeting with her gown's hem a bit in the uncomfortable silence. I could see the concern in her eyes surfacing now, realizing that she had been forcing the cheerfulness I had seen earlier because Extor was there. I did not like the change and decided to try and bring back some of that cheerfulness to her lovely features.

"Heh. Takes a lot more than illness to kill me." I joked.

She smiled faintly, sighed softly and took my hand, pressing a feather-soft kiss to the palm. Somehow, I found this gesture to be quite loving, almost erotic, and watched her with interest as she released my hand. Realizing what I had been thinking, I felt my face heat up and quickly pushed the feelings away, knowing that I had no time for them when there were more important matters at hand for me to think about.

"I suppose I owe you a bit of an explanation, huh?" she asked.

"Depends on the explanation, Chimitsu-chan. I have a number of questions that are currently left unanswered that I must know before continuing with this quest."

"Like what?"

"Tell me, how did you do what you did in Aku's dungeon? I thought you had lost your wings. I remember watching them disappear at the hotel shortly before we were separated. What happened?"

She gave me another fleeting smile before pushing her chair over towards the foot of the bed and sitting down again. I watched her from the pillow as she picked up my left foot and put it into her lap. She inspected my toes for a moment before gently lifting the foot by the heel and using her other hand to massage the arch with her fingertips.

Immediately, I closed my eyes and sighed, my body relaxing at such a delicious feeling.

"Ahh, yes, that." she murmured.

She sighed a little and gently ran her fingers over the ball of the foot she was holding.

"They did disappear altogether, yes. We both saw that happen with our very own eyes. What I didn't tell you was what would happen if I lost them completely."

She glanced down to the foot she was massaging, pausing only to nervously push a wisp of hair back over her ear. I could see in her eyes that it was not something she wished to experience again, noting the concentration in her eyes as she tried to focus more on the massage than the memory of what she had been through. I could feel the hand cradling my heel tremble a bit, though she tried to steady herself before I noticed.

Remembering what Eki had told me moments before Chimitsu-chan had come for me in the dungeon, I realized that she did not have to finish her answer. I already knew what she was going to say, even though she did not know that I already knew. It was apparent that the thought of Ekirei cruelly telling me to break my spirit had not crossed her mind just yet.

"You would lose your power and become human." I finished for her.

She paused and looked up at me, her eyes showing surprise and perhaps a little bit of confusion.

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"Ekirei told me while they had me down there in the dungeon. I suppose she was trying to break me, trying to keep me from hoping that anyone would ever come for me there."

She looked at me for a few seconds before looking down to my foot again, her hands once more massaging ever so gently. There were a few moments of silence as she thought about what I said, contemplating the possibility of her dark twin doing such a thing. All this time, she had not considered that I might have already known about what happened when she lost her wings and that was why I was asking how she regained them.

"I see," she said. "Yes, it's true. When we left the hotel to continue on our way, I was indeed as human as you were. My clothes melted away into human clothing to fit in with the fact that I no longer had power and couldn't wear the Elemental robes anymore. It was why I couldn't fight with magic, why I used what little martial knowledge I had to try and escape the crowd."

"If you lost your wings, then how did you get them back when you were human?" I asked confusedly.

She looked up again and I saw a spark of realization creep into her eyes as a knowing smile crossed her rose-colored lips.

"By all means, I shouldn't have my wings and my power back, but I think I simply pushed myself on and forced myself to recover." she replied.

"What happened after we were separated?"

"I'm not sure what happened to you, but the crowd dragged me away into another part of the city, where I was finally able to escape and fled to the Highlands. I tried getting Duncan's help, but he wasn't there. His wife wanted me to wait for him to return, but I couldn't wait. She said I was foolish to go alone and powerless, but I couldn't stay behind when you were out there in need of help."

I stared at her in awe, impressed at her bravery in terms of her fighting her way through to Aku's fortress after me without her powers. I knew of few people with the guts to put their life on the line for me like that without powers, Duncan being among those few. I felt mildly betrayed at the thought that he had not come with her to help get me out, knowing that he had not been home when she had taken off, but had not heard that he had followed her.

"I thank you for coming to my aid, Chimitsu-chan, but...Duncan did not come to help you in getting me out of that dungeon?" I asked.

"It's not that. I did eventually persuade her to let me leave the castle and try to find you. She said that she'd let Duncan know where I'd gone and that you'd need help as soon as he came back. I left then and it wasn't until I got you out of there that I found he had come with most of his clan to help fight for you. He was more than a bit upset to know that he'd missed most of the action, but they did help protect us long enough to get here."

I sank back on the pillow a bit, feeling a bit foolish for thinking that the best friend I ever had in this hellish world would have forsaken me in my hour of need. He may not have been there to help Chimitsu from the start, but at least he had helped guard her as she got me to safety. A little help was better than none, after all.

"Is he here?" I asked.

"Yes, but he has to return to the Highlands soon. The clansmen went on ahead of him, but he doesn't have too much time left to stay here before he must return home to take care of clan business in Scotland."

I shifted uncomfortably again, my very bones aching and the sheets had become damp with sweat from the fever I was still feeling. I was tiring, but still needed to have my answers before I would allow myself to sleep again. I forced back the uncomfortable, almost nauseating feelings, and shifted into a more comfortable position.

"I see. I will see him when I can then. But honestly, Chimitsu, I do not understand how your wings regenerated when you were powerless." I pointed out.

She chuckled and flashed a smirk before switching to the other foot.

"If you can pull yourself from a coma, then I can regenerate my wings from beyond the point of when I'm able to. I desperately wanted to save your life, to bring the world's only hope back from under the nose of the demon and his minions."

"Even if you did not have any power?"

"Even if I did not have power, yes. I would rather die trying to save you than leave you in the hands of Aku."

I watched her massage my foot for a few moments before remembering where I was and that she was not the only one who had put her life on the line by helping save my life.

"What about Extor?" I asked.

"He didn't know what was going on at the time. Nobody else had known what had happened in the city. He only found out when I showed up at his doorstep with you and the clan of Scots, needing his help."

"I see. I owe you a great deal, Chimitsu-chan."

This was the third time she had saved my life and while I may have repaid her before, I was not certain I would be able to do so this time. It was one thing for her to save my life once, even twice, but three times was extraordinarily lucky. I did not think I would be able to do enough to repay such a triple fortune.

"You owe me nothing, samurai. Friends carry no debts, especially friends as special as you." she replied with a faint smile.

She massaged my foot for awhile in silence, moving her fingers about the arch and gently moving her thumbs in circles about the arch. I sighed contentedly at her expert touch, feeling almost disappointed as she lowered my foot back to the bed and reached over to pick up a bowl of stew that had been sitting on the table near the bed. I was reluctant to accept, not feeling as hungry as I was anxious to know what had happened while I was in that coma.

Yet Chimitsu would not allow me to go without food, so I relented, allowing her to feed me. I ate quietly, wondering how long I could have been in that coma. It had not felt long at all, perhaps a few hours or a few days, but the way Chimitsu and Extor had spoken, it seemed like it had been much, much longer than that.

"Tell me, Chimitsu, how long was I unconscious? It does not feel like I have been asleep for very long. More like a series of small dreams throughout a single night." I stated between bites.

"Well...you've been out longer than just one night. It's been about a month since we left Aku's fortress."

I choked on my stew in shock at her words. An entire month?! By the gods, how could I have been out of the fight for that long? It was unbelievable to think that I had been out for such an amount of time. Chimitsu gently patted me on the back while I tried to catch my breath.

"A month? How could it have been a month?" I asked once I was able to breathe again.

"Comas are like that, Jack. Some people are in comas for several years before they either come out of it or their families determine that they never will and have their life support removed."

"By the gods...what on earth has happened out there in my absense?"

Her eyes darkened with a heavy sadness and she looked away, not wanting to face me. She set down the stew and I realized that something was gravely wrong. Chimitsu would not have reacted that way if everything had been all right out there.

Besides, with Mad Jack alive and well, it was too much to hope that everything would be all right long enough for me to recover like this. There could have been plenty of things for him to do with me temporarily unable to stop him from causing pain and suffering for the innocents of this world. I hated to think of what he and Ekirei could have done in that time.

The two of them could have laid the planet to waste or sought out the few friends I had in this world and caused them suffering in my absense. Some could have even been killed if this was how long I had been gone from the world around me. The very thought was more than I could bear and I could see the same registering in Chimitsu's eyes.

"Chimitsu-chan...what is it? What is wrong?" I asked.

"Perhaps you'd best see for yourself."

She picked up a slim plastic device and pressed a button, turning on the television set with a soft click. She flipped her way through the channels until she had come to a stop on a twenty-four hour news station that I had seen on occasion before and knew from Duncan that I had been on before amongst wanted criminal specials. It did not matter where the reporters were stationed at, something was gravely wrong in each place.

"Another estimated three thousand lives were claimed by disease spreading through the northern region of Europe. Some say the plague is reminiscent of the Black Death..."

I swallowed hard, feeling absolutely sick to my stomach at the sight of the ghastly report and quickly squeezed my eyes. I tried to force down the rising nausea in my chest, but to little avail. The images were still burned into my eyes, the words echoing in my mind what Ekirei had been doing while I was out of action.

Three...thousand...lives....all wiped out by the vengeful angel of death and destruction. All because I could not be there to stop her and save them. Slowly, I opened my eyes, gazing back upon the set hanging from the ceiling.

"Across the globe, religious groups are gearing up for what they say will be the end of humanity. With large scale wars in parts of every continent, some former skeptics say they are beginning to believe..."

I squeezed my eyes shut tight again, clenching the blankets tightly in my hands until I thought I would tear them for certain. I thought I had felt helpless before, but now the feeling of despair and hopelessness washed over me in waves until they had torn through my very soul. This...this all had to end and it had to end as soon as possible, before more innocent lives were lost to Aku's whims.

Once again, I reluctantly opened my eyes, staring at the screen through blurry eyes.

"Reports from the Western Hemisphere confirm that the northern governments are on the brink of collapse. Efforts to bring down the cost of food have failed, and coalition efforts between those governments have done nothing to stop the panic that is spreading as food shortages reach epidemic proportions. Gasoline and oil companies have shut down and people are confined to their homes, able to do little more than wait and starve. With food a luxury that most civilians cannot afford, many say their is no hope in sight."

I swallowed hard as Chimitsu turned off the screen, closing my eyes in another vain attempt to force out the images I had seen and all that I had heard. So many innocent lives, needlessly laid to waste by Mad Jack and Eki and for what? Because Aku had wanted to draw me out to destroy me? Because he felt like it?

My heart ached at the thought of why they could possibly commit such atrocities without batting an eye.

"By the gods...all those people, Chimitsu. They are destroying all those innocent lives for no reason at all."

"I know, Jack," she murmured sympathetically, reaching up to brush a few strands of hair out of my face.

I reached up and pushed her hand away, feeling absolutely furious. Sympathy and inaction would get us nowhere and do nothing for those people out there that were being tormented by the emissaries of the very demon they were trying to please. Damn that Aku for tormenting innocents like this when his battle was with me.

There was no reason at all to bring them into this, none whatsoever.

"When will it end?! How many more must die before he ends it?!" I cried frustratedly.

"I don't know. The news has been like this for nearly two weeks now. Some stations are even calling it the apocalypse, the end of the world. It's not just here, either. Even in other countries, the news is the same. I received word from Duncan's wife not that long ago that even in Scotland and the Isles, there's pain and suffering."

"There is no reason for it, Chimitsu-chan! His fight is with ME! These people have done nothing but bow down to his wishes, give him everything he asks that is humanly possible, but now he destroys them! Why!?"

"I wish I could answer that for you, pure one, but I can't. Aku's the most fickle, unpredictable being that I've ever known and with something that chaotic, you can't possibly figure out what it's reasons for doing anything are."

I clenched the blankets tightly in my hands, wanting to hate Aku for all this torment, but also hating myself because if it were not for me, these people would not be suffering so. Perhaps they would suffer some, as was to be expected under Aku's rule, but not like this. It was all because of my very existence that the Dark Elementals were causing such chaos, suffering, and pain.

"I must stop this." I growled, moving to get out of bed.

"No!"

Chimitsu quickly stopped me, pushing me back onto the bed. I tried to push her away, but she would not let me, using every ounce of Elemental strength that she had to keep me where I was. I growled softly, warning her to step aside and let me pass.

"Chimitsu-chan...please...get out of my way." I hissed through clenched teeth.

"You know I can't do that."

"You must! People are dying out there!"

I attempted to get out of bed once more, but she forced me onto my back, pinning me still to the bed I was laying in. I did not like this one bit and fought her with all my strength, ignoring the monitors and protesting wires, trying to wrestle free. Yet she was stronger and I was unable to move much, stuck in bed no matter how much I hated it.

"Don't be a fool, Jack!" she snapped. "You will fight bravely and die very quickly and that's just what Aku wants!"

I lay there and stared at the sheets, swearing under my breath. It did not matter that I was in the presense of a lady, I did not know what else to say or think in that moment. It was frustrating to know that people were suffering and dying and I could do nothing to stop it, that I would be confined to this damn hospital bed until I was deemed ready to fight again.

I could tell by the look on Chimitsu's face that she was not about to let me up, ready to push me back down the moment I gave any sign of making another attempt to get up. Despite how I downright hated waiting while others suffered, I knew that she was right and finally relented, allowing my body to relax. Aku would love it if I ran headlong into battle, injured and in anger, a perfect target for him to tear apart and dash everyone's hopes to dust in one foolish moment.

"Damnit...this cannot be happening. I cannot take time to be sick, not now of all times." I moaned frustratedly as she let me go.

"I understand and sympathize, Jack, really I do, but Eki and Mad Jack are done playing around with us. They know that you're recovering and they're going to be relentless whenever we decide to stick our necks out. We must choose the time to do so wisely."

I felt her slip her arms around my shoulders and leaned into the embrace, trying to keep myself from breaking down in tears in her presence. If only there was something we could do, it would ease my pain and I would feel much better. I would not feel so restless and agitated if I knew that their suffering was eased even just a little bit.

"Is there nothing that can be done to help them?" I asked.

"I'm afraid not. I can only heal injury and if I were to try and heal all the injuries that have been inflicted out there, it will mean my death. In no way do I have enough power to heal so many wounds."

"Then what about me? Can you not heal this sickness?"

"I can't. If I could, I would have long before this started. My power is only for injuries. I can't heal illnesses. I'm sorry, Jack, but that is the one limitation to my power."

I lowered my head and sat back on the bed, looking at the stew as she slowly pulled away. I had lost my appetite by now, feeling absolutely sick to know that so many people were suffering at the expense of my very existence. Yet Chimitsu was not about to let me do anything without food in my stomach and fed me spoonful after spoonful of the stew until I had eaten it all. When I had finished, Chimitsu took the bowl and set it aside before tucking me in, wrapping the warm blankets around my shoulders.

"Rest now, Jack. You'll be able to fight soon enough." she said, leaning down to kiss my forehead.

I sighed and curled up as she left, trying to shut out what I had seen so I could get some decent rest. If I ever wanted to face the shadow demon himself, I would have to regain my strength. With another heavy sigh, I closed my eyes and let the warmth of the blankets carry me away into another deep sleep.
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War Of Shadows