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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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I looked back to Chimitsu as soon as the portal had closed, likely taking Ekirei to yet another part of the world to spread hellish destruction. But I could not think of that. I could not dwell on the fact that there was no possible way that we could keep up with them. I had to keep moving. Twice now, the Dark Elementals had struck people close to us, never intending on facing us, but only to threaten. A demonstration of their power.

If that was a mere demonstration, as Ekirei had put it, then I feared to think of what a full show of power would be like.

"Minamoto-chan..." she began

Chimitsu's voice snapped me out of my trance and I nodded. I knew that with the appearance of Mad Jack and Ekirei, the other Dark Elementals would not be far behind. The question now was, which one was going to rear their ugly head next?

"I know. We must find the next one...but where? Where would they think to strike next? I do not exactly have many friends and allies here in this world."

"Well, what friends do you have?" she questioned. "We have already seen what he has done to the children and to the tribe. Besides the Scots, who else could he go after?"

I sighed softly, not as concerned about Duncan and his clan as she was. I had fought alongside them plenty of times and knew that if they could handle Aku, they could easily handle a Dark Elemental. But there were others who were not warriors by trade that I had to worry about more.

"Extor."

"Not likely. I shielded his place. I knew his place with its technology would be needed. I wouldn't have sent the tribe there if I thought it wasn't safe."

That was a good enough answer for me.

"All right. Let me think here..." I struggled for a moment, concentrating hard. "The Canines, the Woolies...among the few I first met here. Triseraquins near the northern oceans."

"Anyone else?"

I tried to think, wracking my brain for anyone else who could have possibly helped me in these past months. More often than not, I travelled and fought alone. Most people were too afraid of invoking Aku's wrath to dare to help me.

"I once met a group of astronauts, but they have gone home. I do not know where their home is. Same for the Imakandi. They are far out in space." I said.

"And we can't get to anyone in space. Others?"

"A lava monster Viking, but he...he perished. Three monks who encouraged me to the top of Fatoum, if I knew where they were."

"You won't. They were phantoms, Jack. Asagi sent those three out to help you."

I paused for a moment, only partially surprised. Considering that Asagi's temple was in the mountains, I was not entirely surprised that those three monks were phantoms created and sent out by her to aid me, nor was I surprised that Chimitsu was aware of them. They did belong to her sister, after all.

"I am sorry. I cannot think of anyone else who has helped me. I will not ask any children to fight. I will not allow them to bear the burden I wear and have worn since I was their age. They need to be children and they need their families."

I winced at the bitterness in my own voice before Chimitsu continued.

"You mean the ravers?"

"Yes. They are just children," I told her softly, silently swearing to myself that Aku would not ruin their childhoods, even if he had ruined mine. "I know they and their families would stand up to Aku if I asked them, but I shall not. They are at peace now, they are not targets, and they need not know further violence and danger."

"Fair enough. Was there ever anyone else you helped that we could find?"

I shook my head slightly.

"I am sorry. I cannot think of anyone I know of that I have met," I told her, glancing up with a sigh. "I rarely ask for help when Aku wants my head as bad as he does. I do not wish for anyone to suffer for my sake."

Chimitsu leaned against a tree with a hand at her chin, a thoughtful look upon her face. She was considering our options, but we did not have many. There were only so many people that Aku would have reason to go after for helping us.

"All right. Hmm. Well...we have already taken care of the Tribe and Extor is safe. The Scots should be fine. I don't think anyone in their right mind would want to face a castle full of hot tempered, battle-ready Scotsmen."

"That leaves the Canines, Woolies, and Triseraquins," I concluded.

"Which would be closer?"

"I do not know," I admitted. "I never kept a map. I simply kept wandering from place to place, trying to stay out of Aku's clutches."

She hmmed softly, trying to think of who to try to see first. I watched, trying to figure out where we were, but I had no clue. This world was vastly different than the one I came from and I had no possible way of keeping track of what place was where. It was why I was so surprised to find myself back at the ruins of Edo* when I first met Chimitsu.

"Shit!"

I stared at her unladylike curse and turned to her. Her eyes were wide.

"Chimitsu-chan?" I asked cautiously.

"No time," she growled. "I feel them. I sense another one on the move."

I did not have time to ask how she knew or which one, her arms and wings quickly wrapping around me in a teleport. My head spun as we reappeared, still not used to teleports and she had performed this one before I had a chance to prepare myself for it. Yet it has served her purpose.

I held onto her for support as I regained my balance. Opening my eyes, I looked around, recognizing the landscape. She had transported us who knew how many miles to the land of the Woolies. But it looked vastly different than how I last remembered it.

When I had last left the Woolies after their liberation, they had begun rebuilding, replanting, their crops looking prosperous and healthy. Now it looked sickly, only a few grains on the heads of their wheat, a handful of apples on the trees. The buildings remained, but there seemed to be a feeling of despair in the atmosphere here as Chimitsu and I approached.

I was half expecting an attack to drop out of the sky at the urgency with which Chimitsu had brought us here. But we had no trouble entering the village. It seemed oddly quiet. I could not place the smell that hung in the air, but as forboding as it was, I was grateful it was not the sickly scent that accompanied Ekirei. Still, it sent chills down my spine the further Chimitsu and I went into the village.

*grrrrruuuumble*

I looked down at my stomach, surprised to hear its angry rumblings. I knew I had eaten before we had left Extor's, but it felt as if I had not eaten a thing in several days. Chimitsu had appeared unaffected, passing a banana my way, only to watch it shrivel to half its size before our very eyes. I blinked, eyes widening as I came to a dead stop, staring at the fruit in my hand.

"Did you see that?" I cried.

I noticed that Chimitsu was also staring at my hand. She nodded mutely, her eyes slightly wider than usual.

"I saw it, but what the hell caused it? That fruit was healthy when I picked it from the tree on the way into the jungle."

I nodded. And yet the minute she gave it to me here, it shriveled up like it had been starved, stunted.

"How odd," I mumbled absently.

"Something tells me I'd better not take any food and water out or it'll suffer the same fate as that banana."

I nodded and gave her the banana back, watching her tuck it away into her pack, which disappeared once more. We proceeded towards the city square, looking around for any signs of life, wondering which Dark Elemental had struck this time. I kept my katana close to my side, watching carefully, keeping alert for any sort of attack.

My stomach growled again, louder this time, and it almost hurt that time. I felt as if I was starving, desperately needing food. Chimitsu was still unaffected, yet I felt hungrier and weaker the closer we came to the square.

"There's been a spell cast here." she said.

"You feel it, too?"

"That and I hear your stomach growling louder and louder with each step we take. It's not Ekirei or MJ here."

I nodded in agreement.

"It does not feel like them. It feels...different."

She nodded and we approached the square, finally spotting the Woolies and an odd creature in a tattered cloak. I was not certain what it was, whether it was male or female, human or otherwise. Yet I felt that whatever It was, it was the cause of this starvation here.

The Woolies all looked starved, weak, yet they appeared to be protecting something or someone with their large bodies. The creature under the cloak reached out, a starved, bony hand, trying to beckon them closer. Yet they kept their bodies between the creature and whatever or whomever they were protecting.

I could hear Chimitsu draw her nodachi behind me, wondering what she was planning. Quietly, she unfurled her wings, taking a few steps ahead of me, holding the blade in a ready position, clearly ready to strike. Her legs bent, muscles coiled like a spring, wings out ready to give her gliding power.

And without a word, she sprang forward, the large blade out, slicing through the air towards the cloaked creature. The Woolies remained in place and I reached for my katana, ready to fight if necessary, even though I had hoped to avoid it for the sake of my old friends. They were weak with hunger, unable to move out of they way if they got caught in the crossfire and that was the last thing I wanted to have happen.

I watched as Chimitsu moved in, seemingly agonizingly slow.

At the last moment, the cloaked creature disappeared and Chimitsu's blade bit into the cloak and the dirt, but not the cloak's owner. The Woolies looked quite surprised at her sudden appearance, but not as shocked as I was to see what was under the cloak as she reappeared a few feet away from where she had stood a moment ago. She was...human, I suppose, but was about as attractive as a corpse.

Literally, she was all skin and bones, pale, her tattered peasant dress several sizes too large for her. Her hair was messy, thin, and her eyes were sunken in, just like her stomach, to the point of seeing her backbone through it. Chimitsu turned towards her, emerald eyes sparking dangerously, wings flaring out protectively.

"Ahh, at last you come," she rasped. Her voice sounded like the crackling of dead leaves. "I was wondering how long it would take to draw you two here." she said.

"Nanimono da?"[1] I asked.

"I am Hideri, the Elemental of Famine. Feeling...hungry?"

At that time, my stomach tightened painfully, as if I had not had a bite of food in, well, longer than I had ever gone without. I felt weak, sick, even woozy. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I attempted to figure out what to do. I certainly could not fight when my stomach was in such agony. I felt as if she were ripping my insides apart.

"Let him go."

The pain paused in its uphill climb and she glanced towards Chimitsu, eyeing her carefully before finally releasing me. I fell to my knees, relieved to feel the intense ache subside, yet I still felt weak and hungry. So that was her power, why everything here looked so sickly and starved.

She had the power to invoke starvation.

"I see my power doesn't affect you, Chimitsu." she rasped again. Her dry, scratchy, sandpaper voice was starting to grate on my nerves.

"Of course not. So do you plan to stay to fight or are you going to run away like Ekirei and Mad Jack did?"

She did not move and did not react to the statement.

"As I recall, MJ didn't quite run away."

Her words were spaced carefully, with no hint of tone or inflection to them. She sounded like death as much as she looked the part.

"But he didn't stay, either," Chimitsu reminded her.

I gave brief thought to how this Elemental knew of my encounter with Mad Jack, but did not dwell on it. Still on my hands and knees, I was preoocupied with thoughts of pulling myself to my feet.

"Now are you going to face us after you called us all this way or are you going to turn tail and run like the coward you are?"

She seemed to consider this for a moment. Her face remained expressionless, but for a sadistic, twisted glint in her dark, sunken eyes. For a moment, I thought she was going to take up Chimitsu's challenge and fight. But instead, she summoned her cloak back to her hands, wrapping it around herself to hide her starved looks. I struggled to my feet with my hand on the handle of my katana, ready to strike if she made any move towards the Woolies again.

"I've got my orders, little angel," she rasped. "Otherwise I would stay. And rather enjoy making you watch the little ones suffer. But now that you have arrived and we've been introduced, I must go. Until next time, little ones..."

She whipped her cloak around herself, spiralling it until both she and it had vanished. I quietly swore in Japanese, watching as Chimitsu sheathed the nodachi on her back between her wings again. That was the third Dark Elemental who disappeared without giving us much of a fight.

But they were not showing themselves for the sake of a fight and I knew it. They were simply making their presences known to us and giving us a taste of things to come. That sort of cowardice, I could not tolerate.

The air began to clear as it has when Eki had left the jungle, but the Woolies and their crops still looked incredibly starved.

I straightened and released the handle of my katana. If only I had been able to help them sooner, prevent this from happening. I walked over to Chimitsu as the Woolies began to break apart clearing a path for me towards whomever or whatever they had been protecting.

The fight was over and they knew me well enough to trust me to see what or who it was they were protecting. They may not have been samurai, but if something or someone was important enough to lay down their lives for, they would. That made their trust of me extremely precious.

"Hello, Jack, old chum."

That cultured accent. I would know that voice anywhere, just as I would know Duncan's. But I had never expected to see the little blue dog and his two friends here. The last time I had seen him, he and his companions were continuing their excavations in search of a link to their past.

He sounded weak and shaky and from the looks of his ribs sticking out through his blue fur, I could tell that they had been starved as well.

"Rothchild! What on earth are you doing here?" I asked.

He sat leaning against his two friends, his safari hat hanging lopsided off one ear and his monocle was missing. If the Woolies had not moved aside, I would not have known he was there. Granted, he was shorter than both myself and the Woolies to begin with, but the starvation made him seem even smaller.

"It's actually quite a long story. To make it short, we sought out the Woolies when Hideri struck a little over a month ago." he told us sadly.

I squeezed my eyes shut tight, forcing back the pain that burned in my chest at the thought of Hideri going out at about the same time Mad Jack and Ekirei did. They all knew. They all knew I was down for the count and unable to come to help.

In knowing that, they had gone and attacked those who had helped me, whom I had helped, even the innocent children who believed in me. I tightened my grip upon the sheath of my katana, feeling my hand shaking in the horror of what I realized was happening. One by one, they were going after those we cared about, tormenting and destroying them, all because I continued to elude Aku.

For a moment, I considered simply turning myself in so that it would end.

"A month...all while I was in a coma..." I whispered.

He blinked, speechless for a moment, as if he could not believe that I could be so severely ill.

"You, Samurai Jack, in a coma?"

Chimitsu came forward, resting a hand on my shoulder.

"Long story. Put it this way, my dark twin, Ekirei, has the power to inflict illness and shot him with a blue orb in our last fight, keeping him unconscious for the duration of a month. It's why he and thusly myself, did not show up sooner to help. We couldn't do anything at the time." she said.

"Forgive me." I said quietly, unable to hide the regret in my voice.

Even though I was certain that the trembling was from his starvation, I could see the overwhelming grief of losing most of his people in his eyes. The heaviness in my chest seemed to expand and swallow me up completely. I knew that I could have done more, but it did not change the fact that I had failed to save them. It was my fault.

Rothie forced a weak smile in an attempt to bolster my spirits, but it did not help much and soon fell again.

"Oh, come now, chap, what's there to forgive?" he asked sadly, defeatedly. "It wasn't your fault that this happened."

"But I certainly could have prevented it."

"Balderdash! You didn't make that creature attack and starve us and you certainly couldn't have done a thing to stop her as sick as you were when they attacked."

I flinched at his harsh, snapping tone and sudden glaring spark in his eyes. He was angry with me, but I failed to understand why. How could he fail to see that I was just as much at fault as the Dark Elemental? I clenched my fists at my sides in frustration, trying very hard not to snap back at him, but it was quite difficult.

He just could not understand that because I had not been more careful, not tried my best, countless Canines and Woolies had died at the hands of the Dark Elemental. I snapped around so quickly that several of the Woolies nearby took a startled step back and Rothie himself flinched at the suddenness of the motion. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and heard the strain in my voice as I struggled to keep my emotions in check.

"Yet it is because of my very existence here, my contact with you, because you all helped me...that Aku has sent his minions out to cause all this suffering!" I cried tensely.

Despite his weakened state, Rothie's eyes narrowed and I could see the determination to fight within them.

"And we would gladly help you again. If we must suffer a little to see to it that Aku's tyrannical rule falls, then we will gladly do so. Those who died, they died fighting for what they believed in and that's their duty," he chided gently. "None of us see it as a problem. It's a risk we're willing to take. You're important to us, Jack, but our entire civilization doesn't hinge on the deeds of one man. It depends on all of us."

He managed to pull himself up to his feet and slowly walk over to me, resting his hand upon my shoulder. Slowly, I glanced up at him, seeing the firm reassurance in his eyes.

"Our suffering isn't important. What's important now is that you are here and you are our hope for survival. You couldn't have arrived when this started, but that couldn't be helped, it wasn't your fault. You are only human, Jack, and only one man. You couldn't help us then, but you certainly can help us now. Do what you do best, samurai."

I sighed heavily, slowly opening my eyes to look at him and the others. They had suffered a great loss, all on account of helping me, even being associated with me, yet they smiled. They were happy to see me, still called me their hope for survival, even though Aku had taken many of their lives, just to get to me.

"How...how many have been lost?" I asked quietly, casting my gaze back to the ground.

"Now, now. You need not know that. This is a war, Jack, and casualties are inevitable."

My head snapped up and I glared at him. I had trained for twenty years to become a warrior and I did not need to be protected from the truth of just how many had been lost. It was painful, but unfortunately could not be avoided and I could not take it any longer.

"Damnit, Rothchild, how many have died because of me!?"

The tears welled up in my eyes, flowing freely as I slammed my katana into the ground at my feet. I stood there for a moment with my hand clenching the handle so tightly that my knuckles turned white before I suddenly released it and wheeled around in an attempt to choke back the emotion that rose in my throat. Chimitsu stood a few feet away with a concerned, sympathetic expression on her face, neither speaking nor moving.

I could not stand this pain, knowing that my friends were suffering, dying, because Aku wanted me dead and because I had been unable to defend them. Faultless as I may have been, it was still more than I could bear.

Rothie finally gave a heavy sigh, removing his ruined hat and scratching an ear.

"What you see here...is all that is left of us and the Woolies."

I felt as if I had just been punched in the stomach. The very breath in my lungs was gone.

I fell, dropping to my knees beside my sword. My soul clenched tightly, twisting in an agony of cramps more painful than anything I had ever felt in my natural body. My eyes closed and I rested my forehead against the hilt of my blade.

Tears stung viciously at the backs of my eyes, licking like flames of a wildfire at my emotions. Oh, how I wanted to give in and really cry, to mourn the lost and expel this grief that was consuming every part of me. But I could not.

Not before my friends and Chimitsu. As it was, I coldly forced the tears that I had allowed to fall to stop in their tracks, even as they trickled from the corners of my eyes. With cold determination, I shut off my emotions, refusing to allow myself the freedom to show how much this all tore at me.

"I am sorry," I apologized emotionlessly. "I wish I had been here. Perhaps had I been here, they would not have died so needlessly."

There was a moment of silence before I heard Rothie's approach. I was too numb to look up or move, let alone push him away. Only when I felt his hands on my shoulders, did I even try to look up at him and meet his gaze.

"What's done is done. We can only pick up the pieces and move on," he told me reassuringly. "No amount of tears or praying or mourning will ever bring back those she took away from us."

I stood. He was right. They were gone. Just like the children and the tribe, they were dead. And they would not be coming back for any amount of sorrow.

"Chimitsu-chan...a portal, please," I requested, hearing the ice in my voice. "We need to get them to safety."

Without hesitation, she opened a portal to Extor's, motioning for them to hurry through. I kept my gaze to the ground, unable to meet any of their eyes as they walked through. Once the last Woolie had passed through, Chimitsu closed the portal once again before walking over to stand beside me.

"Minamoto-chan..." she murmured comfortingly.

"I cannot waste any more time. We have to continue on."

She quickly drew her hand back from my shoulder, startled at my tone. Even I was startled at the sharpness in my voice. She lowered her arm to her side and nodded, reluctant to push me to continue with our task.

"All right, if you feel like doing so."

I whirled around to face her.

"It is not a matter of whether or not I feel like it, Chimitsu!" I snapped, feeling my grip tighten on the hilt of my katana, my hand shaking. "Right now, if it was up to that, no, I would not go anywhere. I would turn and head directly to Aku's, give him what he wants so that this suffering ends."

She blinked, a look of stunned confusion on her face. I could read her thoughts, and yes, I knew full well what I was saying. But death, at this point, seemed almost a welcome escape.

I felt my strength waver, the bitter tears stinging again, but I blinked them back, lowering my head again. My voice dropped and I could hear the ice in my own tone as I forced back the sorrow threatening to overwhelm me again.

"But I know that if I do that, the suffering will never end."

I watched her, not blinking, slowly feeling the emotion die as I set my heart and mind on a single goal.

"I cannot die with such a dishonor upon my soul. I have no choice. We have no choice. We are the only ones left to gather up those willing to fight and lead them against Aku."

I sheathed my katana, turning away from her as I looked over the abandoned village.

"We cannot rely on our emotions, Chimitsu-chan. There is only...honor and duty now."

I spared her the briefest of glances and saw that she looked as if she was ready to cry. This was as hard on her as it was me and probably doubly hard for her to push her emotions aside because she was a woman. But I had no time for sympathy at that moment.

"Jack, don't be so hard on yourself," she pleaded softly. I could feel her hand upon my shoulder as my eyes surveyed the death and destruction around us. "You're doing all that you can, doing your best. Don't shut yourself off from feeling pain or emotion. They wouldn't want you to do that."

I did not answer her. She stood back, curling her wings against her back, looking at me. She may have been right, but my emotions had to be pushed aside until I could afford the luxury of releasing them.

"Take me to the Triseraquin City." I said softly.

Without another word, she wrapped her arms and wings around me and in a fluffing of white feathers, we were off.
-------------- [1]"Nanimono da?"= I meant this to come out as "Who are you", but when I look at it, I think it's actually "What are you?" Heh. Take your pick. It can go either way. :P
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War Of Shadows