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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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AN: The song in this chapter isn't mine. It's from the anime movie "Ninja Scroll", though who sings it, I haven't a clue. I just know what anime it's from. I did take the time to find the lyrics and translate it though. :P

After a few moments of being safely curled up in Chimitsu's healing embrace, I felt my wounds close completely and my energies return in full. Slowly, she let me go and we stood, looking to where Mad Jack's katana had fallen. It lay there and had not turned to dust as Eki's nodachi had upon her death.

I furrowed my brow and watched as it disappeared at last, fading away into nothingness like its owner. I took in a slow breath and sighed, knowing what we had to do now. We had fought all this way up through the ranks of Aku's elite Dark Elementals and now only the demon himself stood in the way of attaining our goal.

Taking in another slow, deep breath, I looked to Chimitsu and nodded. There was no need for an exchange of words when we both knew what had to be done now. Sheathing my own katana at my hip, I followed her through the corridors and up to the top of Aku's fortress to meet with the demon himself.

No doubt, he was going to be in his Elemental form and not wasting his magic in a shapeshift, meaning he was going to be in his most powerful form. It was going to be a difficult fight, I knew, but with two of us, it was not going to be as bad as it could be. So far, I had not needed to use the Star of the Elements and wondered if I ever would.

I silently berated myself for doubing the necessity of the amulet I now wore around my neck. Of course I had not needed it thus far, not when I had been fighting Aku's creations and not himself. They were obviously far weaker than I knew him to be and easily defeated, unlike the demon himself as I remembered the many previous battles with him.

Chimitsu walked silently beside me with her nodachi sheathed upon her back between her wings, looking relatively calm considering the battle we were about to head into. I could see in her eyes, though, that she was very nervous, perhaps even more nervous than I was. Of course, she had every right to be when the last time she met up with Aku, he had nearly torn her wings right off her back.

No doubt, it was not a memory she cared to think about.

The closer we neared the demon's lair, the more of a heavy, thick, evil aura hung in the air. I did not like feeling such an overwhelming sense of evil, but we had to pass through it to get to its source. I was all too familiar with this particular aura, having felt it many, many times before whenever I had drawn near to where Aku had been lurking.

Oddly enough, the only time I had failed to sense such an aura was when he had taken the form of Ikra. Perhaps it had been because I had not been expecting it and that I had assumed she was helping me as she had appeared to be. Nevertheless, it was the one and only time that Aku had ever managed to fool even the most acute of my senses.

It did not take us long to reach a large room that was filled with fiery orange and red rock structures, much like the one I had first battled him in before he sent me to this future. There was a deep pit stretching at the edge of a rock cliff, but he was nowhere to be found in any form. I furrowed my brow and found this to be rather odd, knowing that he would not have kept us waiting, but would have been ready for us by the time we arrived.

I came to a stop and looked around cautiously, waiting for him to launch an attack out of nowhere at us like Eki had, but none came. This room was heavy with the presence of evil, thick and choking like some sort of sickening fog, but still no sign of the demon. I began to get an uneasy feeling about this and briefly considered waiting to fight him another day away from his home turf, although it was a foolish thought that I quickly cast aside.

"Chimitsu-chan, I..."

I paused before I could finish the sentence, finding that Chimitsu was nowhere to be found. I knew that she had been at my side just moments before and could not have gone very far, but she was not within sight. Slowly, I drew my katana from where it hung at my hip, knowing that she would not have gone into hiding without telling me so, which meant that the demon was indeed here and had somehow spirited her away before I had realized she was gone.

Every muscle in my body tensed as I waited for the inevitable attack, trying to force down the growing fear that Chimitsu might already be dead. A sickening feeling tightened in the pit of my stomach as I thought that we had fought so long and hard, only to lose her now before we had begun the real final fight. Before it had overtaken me with fear, I forced it back and steeled my nerves, knowing that even if Chimitsu was lost, nothing would be gained until the demon was destroyed.

A shrill, unearthly cry came from behind me and I wheeled around, coming face to face with Aku himself. I instinctively blocked with my katana as its dark twin came down from over his head and pushed me back a few feet. I was mildly surprised to see that he was not in his Elemental form, but the usual demon form I always faced.

It was strange, but I had expected him to take his more powerful Elemental form when fighting this final battle with us.

His attacks were powerfully relentless, jarring me with each strike that slammed into my katana as he forced me back towards the edge of the cliff dropping into kami-only-knew-where. It was not a chance I wanted to take and I let him push me back before pushing up and slamming the hilt of my katana into his chin. He roared in pain as he stumbled back and I furrowed my brow, finding this strange as well.

Since when was I able to hurt Aku in any form with just a single punch?

I decided to ignore it since I had not really been able to ever hit Aku with a punch before, only struck him with my katana. If my enchanted blade was able to hurt him because of my purity and Elemental influence, then perhaps even a mere punch would hurt him just as much. Again I struck, sending him a few feet back and keeping myself away from the edge of the cliff that was certain death if I ever allowed myself to fall over it.

Before I was able to leap forward and bring my blade down upon him, he regained his wits and brought his katana up to block. Sparks flew violently, even moreso than in the last battle with Mad Jack, showering the room like a fireworks display. Metal scraped against metal as we pushed against each other, our blades crossed between us as we glared into each other's eyes.

Pure hatred reflected back at me from those black eyes as we stood there in a standoff, both of us trying to push the other away. He was enjoying every minute of this, of knowing that he had stolen Chimitsu from right under my very nose while I was looking the other way. I had not seen her since moments before we had stepped into this room and I began to wonder where he could have taken her so quickly.

"What have you done with Chimitsu?" I snarled at him.

"Your little angel?"

"You know who I am talking about."

"You should never have taken your eyes from her, samurai. The moment you did, she was mine for the taking and you will never see her again."

This was more than I could bear and I shoved him back as hard as I could, following with a quick snap kick to his face. He hissed loudly between his teeth as he fell back before swinging around with a spinning roundhouse that just narrowly missed my face. I instinctively ducked back before rushing in with my katana again.

Over and over again, our blades met, sending sparks flying across the room each time from the sheer force of our blows. My heart pounded in my chest with the ferocity of the battle, striking at him with lightning speed over and over again. He was strong, yes, but he somehow did not seem as strong as I had thought he would be.

Perhaps it was just my imagination and he did not seem as strong because I had the power of the Star of the Elements within me, boosting the Elemental power I naturally had within my spirit. It made sense, after all. The last time I had fought him was before Chimitsu and I had even met and long before I had harnessed the power of the Star within me.

Knowing that that had to be the reason why Aku did not seem so strong this time, I dashed in again, slashing furiously with renewed strength. His face contorted into an expression of frustration and rage and he returned the attack with as much ferocity as I dished it out with. I snarled as his blade clipped me along the upper arm, but ignored the pain in favor of countering the attack.

Several times, I drew slashes across his body, watching as they regenerated themselves sluggishly. There was no typical sound of burning as I struck him, but so long as the wounds closed slowly from the clash of essences, then that was enough for me. I was not entirely certain that I would be able to get in an opening long enough to make a direct hit, but perhaps I would be able to slowly wear him down instead, strike by strike.

He circled me carefully, his eyes calculating my next move as we watched each other, holding our blades ready. With a hiss and a sudden half-step forward, he swiped at me, trying to bait me into attacking first. I tensed, but did not fall for it, making my own careful feint in hopes that he would think I had fallen for his faked attack.

A snarl curled up around his sharp fangs as he swiped at me again, a little closer than before and I felt the breeze of the strike ruffle past the underside of my forearm. I furrowed my brow, but did not try to make another swipe at him, knowing that this little game could go on for a very long time, time that the others outside did not have to spare. Instead, I circled carefully, waiting for the right moment to leap in and strike while he was still focusing on these mind games.

The moment he made another slash at me, I dove in and slashed in a sideways strike, cutting him diagonally from hip to shoulder. It was not fatally deep, but it was enough for blood to trickle down before the wound closed itself shut. He pressed a hand to his chest and stood there for a moment before spinning his katana around in his hand and advancing again.

I knew that I had struck him hard enough to slow him down, but with that regenerating ability, it would take me a long time to stop him. I knew that from personal experience. No matter how many times I could hit him with my katana, he would either keep coming back or eventually run away like a coward whenever it began to get overwhelming for him.

This time, however, I knew that he would not be running away when he was as tired of this cat and mouse game as I was.

I waited for the strike to come, knowing in my heart that he was going to finish this fight with a sword duel and not with magic tricks. It was a very rare show of honor for him and probably as close as I could get to honor where Aku was concerned. However, he was hardly one to be underestimated and he thrust out his hand palm first, throwing a wall of pure energy at me.

Head over heels over and over again, I flew through the air, spinning dizzily from the blast until I impacted with the ground. I bounced a few times and rolled along on my side until I came to a stop near the wall. I pushed myself to my feet and took a brief moment to shake away the dizziness before pulling myself back up onto my feet.

Looking back towards Aku, I saw him smiling sadistically at having thrown me across the room like a ragdoll and tightened my grip upon the handle of my katana. I tensed, watching him for a moment before dashing in with a roar, slashing furiously over and over again. Sparks flew violently as our blades met, left, up, right, down, left, up, right, down, left, left, over and over again.

I pushed him back against the floor towards the edge of the cliff, although I knew that dropping him into the pit would not kill him. I brought my katana down upon his blade with another roar, pushing him back until his heels were just inches away from the edge. I pushed down with all my strength, panting hard, feeling the sweat trickle down my face and neck, feeling pure fury boiling in my veins and driving me to fight him even harder.

"Why...do...you...not....die?!" he snarled.

"Never! Not until this planet is free!"

He roared and swung violently at my head, forcing me to block. I barely managed, and the force knocked me over onto my back. He wasted no time in jumping in to strike while I was down, but I had no intention of falling to him so quickly.

I rolled to the side as his katana bit into the ground and rolled back, swinging up with a hard kick that snapped his head back and nearly landed him on his rear as he had done to me. He stumbled back and I leapt to my feet, swinging at him while he was trying to regain his balance. A loud roar of pain cut through the air as my katana slashed across his arm, sending a few drops of black blood onto the floor before he swiped low, cutting me across the top of my thigh.

Ignoring the sting and hot trickle of blood that followed, I gave another roar and slashed at him again repeatedly, tearing a long cut across his chest. He snarled and growled low in frustration before taking another violent swipe at my head. I ducked this time and felt the ribbon holding my hair back in its topknot fall away to the floor, leaving my hair to fall about my bare, bruised shoulders.

He grinned nastily a second before my blade tore along his leg, bringing a howl of pain from his lips and a hard punch to my jaw. I hissed through my teeth as my head snapped to my side before spinning around with my katana in hand, almost cutting him in two. If he had not leapt back, I likely would have.

I could see that he was tiring now, perhaps even panicking, but stubbornly refusing to not run this time. That was fine with me. I did not want to have to wait for him to appear again or chase him about this forsaken planet of death and destruction.

If he faced me down in this fight to the death, then it would do us both a favor and save us the trouble of hunting each other.

The Star of the Elements bounced against my chest repeatedly as I slashed at him again and again, feeling faintly warm against my bare skin. A quick swipe nearly struck the thin chain that held it around my neck, but by some miracle, it narrowly missed it. My collarbone, on the other hand, was not so lucky and I felt another warm trickle of blood make a trail down my chest.

My muscles ached and my heart pounded furiously in my chest, sending the searing adrenaline pulsing through my veins. Yet, even with all that, I could feel myself tiring with each moment that ticked by. Chimitsu's healing powers could only heal my wounds and regain part of my strength from exhaustion, but not all of it.

I was going to need some rest very soon and there was no possible chance that Aku would allow it. This fight had to end as quickly as possible and I knew it. If I failed to end it now, then I would wear down faster than I did before and I would be left defenseless before my worst enemy at the worst possible time.

We pushed apart and I stood there, panting heavily with exhaustion. My katana felt like a dead weight in my hands and my arms trembled with the effort of simply keeping the weapon held in a defensive position before me. The two of us stared at each other for a few moments with our weapons raised before us, knowing exactly what we had to do now.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as we ran towards each other, bringing our blades back for the final kill. This was going to be it. One of us was going to die here today, right now, the very moment we collided and I prayed silently to the kami that it would not be me.

I felt as if I was watching myself from the side while instinct took over my body as we drew within striking distance of each other. My hands seemed to move of their own will as they thrust forward, ramming the blade of my katana into his stomach almost up to the hilt. For a brief second, there was nothing but silence and our eyes met for a fleeting moment before his expression changed to one of pure shock and surprise.

I felt a moment of relief and triumph when I realized that I had managed to run him through first, but it was shortlived when I saw his face start to melt into something else.

Slowly, Aku's face melted away, revealing that it was not the demon I held impaled upon my katana, but my very own dear Chimitsu-chan instead. Her nodachi was held overhead and her face frozen in a dumbfounded expression of shock and astonishment. A sickening feeling of horror at the sight of my katana buried in her midsection closed around the pit of my stomach, turning my blood to ice as I tried to speak, but found my words frozen in my throat.

For one agonizing moment, our eyes met, and I could see the brilliance of the twin orbs of emerald begin to darken. I took a couple of shaky steps backwards away from her, pulling my katana with me, finding that my hands were refusing to obey my mind and let go of it. I swallowed hard at the sickeningly wet sound that followed, feeling helplessly frozen in place with shock.

"Ge...Genji..."[1] she choked out, almost too softly for me to hear.

I took another few steps back, the shock slowly giving way to panic and dread as Chimitsu-chan's nodachi slipped from her hands, clattering noisily upon the stone floor. A wet gurgle escaped her lips along with a thin trickle of blood before she collapsed to her knees and then to her side, the blood slowly pooling beneath her. Normally, such a wound would have been easy for her to recover from, but when she had healed a previous wound like it, plus my injuries from fighting the five Dark Elementals, her magic was strained and it was impossible for her to heal herself quickly enough this time.

Ice cold horror seemed to choke off my air as I realized that my beloved Chimitsu...was dying.

I stared at her fallen form for a second, barely acknowledging the fact that she had just spoken my real name, much less the shadow that was slowly growing just beyond where she lay. Slowly, it took the demon form of Aku, who held the dark twin of my katana at his side. Twisted delight and malice sparkled in his black, demonic eyes as his gaze fell upon the fallen Chimitsu and he began to laugh hideously in sick victory over the last of the Light Elementals.

"At last! The last of the Light Elementals has finally fallen and I owe it all to you, samurai!" he cried triumphantly between peals of laughter.

Slowly, the shock and horror of realizing what I had done began to melt away into stinging sorrow as I stared at Chimitsu's crumpled form. My katana slipped from my hand and clattered to the stone as I hurried over to her, kneeling down to cradle her gently in my arms, trying to see if there was still some hope that I could save her. She felt light as a feather, almost as if she was not there at all, her lifeforce rapidly fleeing its wounded mortal form.

Hoshi wo michibikanai ka(The stars do not show)
Yowaru wa hajimatta akari(Light has begun to weaken)
Nanimo iranai kimi ga(Nothing is as necessary as you)
Waratte soba ni ireba ii(Laughing at my side and if you listen good)

Ever so slowly, her eyelids fluttered and she looked up at me, her breaths coming shallowly between her full lips. The lively sparkling of her eyes was fading rapidly, but even in her dying moments, she still had incredible strength within her tiny form. Weakly, she reached up and caressed my jaw with her left hand, smiling faintly.

I reached up and gently took her hand in mine, swallowing hard as I felt the stinging ache of despair rising in my chest.

"Chimitsu-chan....yurusu..."[2] I choked out through the raw emotion that tightened in my throat.

"Genji-kun...there's...nothing for you to be sorry for. Neither...of us...knew what was happening until...it was....too late. Aku....cast an illusion....on us both."

"I...I do not understand..."

"We...saw each other...as Aku. He...projected himself onto us...so that we would see...the other as him...and...kill each other for him. You shouldn't...be sorry for the mistake. I should be the one...sorry for...not recognizing....his spell sooner. Heh...now...I guess....I'll pay for my mistake."

Tooi natsu kutai de(The distant summer wants to come in)
Aruita hamabe suwari(And sit on the beach it used to walk)
Okizari ni shita yasashisa go(Having left for giving kindness)
Hiroi atsui yo(It's spacious and deep)

Her breathing became even more labored then and I felt the panic rising in my throat again. She was slipping away so fast and there was so much I wanted to say to her, but could not find the right words. Aku continued to watch patiently with a twisted gleam of enjoyment in his eyes, causing a spark of hatred to ignite in my chest and mix with the sorrow I was feeling.

"Chimitsu-chan...onegai[3]...do not talk. Stay still. Let the energies do their work." I begged quietly.

"It's...too late for that...and we both know it. My energies are...too strained...to repair the wound. It's time...for me...to be reborn and...the Light Elemental Circle...restored to its proper course."

"Do not say that. There is still time for..."

Her hand slipped from mine and she lightly pressed her fingertips to my mouth, hushing me. I gazed down into her eyes, blinking away the tears that threatened to roll down my cheeks at the sight of her gently shaking her head at my words. I did not want to lose her, not now, not after all we had fought so hard together to accomplish.

Daremo ga tooku de barado(Everyone is in the distant ballad)
Kyou mo kitteiru(And listening today)
Samayou kokoro wo dakiyoseru(So that the wandering heart embraces)
Kaze no you ni(The wind)

I could no longer speak, the emotion choking the words off in my throat before I could say them. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly before the tears fell and turned my head slightly to kiss her palm. She was growing so light and her skin was becoming cool to the touch as she slipped further and further away from me.

More stinging, painful sorrow burned in my chest as I remembered what I had said to her just moments before we had set out into battle. A promise that I had sworn to keep no matter what and had been broken by the hand of the demon we had sought for so long. A part of me felt that it was my fault, too, that the promise had been broken, but it was too late for regrets now as I quietly remembered what we had said to each other...

"I hope we make it out together." she murmured to me, leaning up for a warm, desperate kiss.

"We will, Chimitsu-chan...I promise you that."

We had sworn to each other that we would both make it out of this fight alive and see this world free together, but now it seemed that Fate had sought fit to prevent it from ever becoming reality. I slowly opened my eyes and gazed down at her, seeing tears in her darkening emerald eyes. And still, despite the sorrow and pain she had to be feeling, she still smiled.

Hitori dake mitsume(Only one person stares at)
Muzukashii samashiteiru(The difficult awakening)
Jidai ga kawatteku you ni(The next era is changing so that)
Kokoro wa kawananai(The heart is not carried away by a current)

Despite her fading lifeforce, despite the demon laughing hideously all the while, I could still feel a warm benevolence from her. It was this gentle kindness that had drawn me to her and was also what made me fall so passionately in love for the first time in my lonely, isolated life. Even though these past few months had passed so quickly, I could no longer imagine life without her at my side, smiling cheerfully at almost everything she could find to smile about in life.

With each second that ticked by, I knew that she would soon be gone and I would lose my chance to tell her one last time just how much she meant to me, even if I had difficulty in telling her before. I would not falter this time, even if it was the last chance I had, and I leaned down, kissing her tenderly as the tears trickled from her eyes. She lightly responded, just barely brushing her soft lips against my own, hardly having the strength left in her for even one last fleeting kiss.

"Chimitsu-chan...ai shiteru..." I whispered as we slowly broke apart.

"Minamoto-chan...eien...ni....ai...shite...ru..."[4]

Our eyes met for one last brief second before her eyelids slipped closed and her head lolled to the side as a soft sigh escaped her lips. Her hand slid from my face and landed in her lap with a quiet plop as the last of her lifeforce slipped away. I gazed at her limp form, hoping that she would open her eyes again, but I knew that they had closed for the last time.

"Chimitsu-chan..." I whispered hoarsely, pulling her tightly against my chest.

I pressed my face into the soft strands of gold silk that had gathered at her neck when she had fallen, muffling a quiet sob that I could no longer hold back. A single, solitary tear slipped down over my cheek and disappeared within her hair, but I refused to allow any more to fall. She began to feel lighter and I tried to hold her tighter, but realized that her body was fading away into a swirl of white feathers that danced about a ghostly breeze and then disappeared altogether, leaving me there on my knees in anguish.

Daremo ga tooku de barado(Everyone is in the distant ballad)
Kyou mo kitteiru(And listening today)
Samayou kokoro wo dakiyoseru(So that the wandering heart embraces)
Kaze no you ni(The wind)

Aku's laughter finally died away as I rose up on my feet, blankly staring at the spot where Chimitsu had fallen. Tears welled up in my eyes and I swallowed hard as I bent down to reclaim my fallen katana, knowing that there was one last thing that had to be done, no matter how much it hurt to think about her now. I tightened my grip upon the handle of my katana as the tears began to fall freely and began to let the sorrow consume me, feeling an anguished cry begin to rise in my chest.

"CHIMITSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!"
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[1]Genji - A reference to the Japanese classic, "A Tale Of Genji". This is my take on what Jack's real name is. Minamoto is his last name. His first name is Genji. Chimitsu gasped out his real name with her dying breath.
[2]"Chimitsu-chan....yurusu..." - "Chimitsu-chan...forgive me..."
[3]"Chimitsu-chan...onegai..." - "Chimitsu-chan...I beg of you..."
[4]"Minamoto-chan...eien...ni....ai...shite...ru..." - "Minamoto-chan...I...love...you...for...ever..."
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War Of Shadows