Young Samurai: The Way Back Home

Notes:

Important note: this story covers what happens after Jack finally leaves Japan. It also includes references to previous books and the ending of the final one, so if you haven't read the whole series, DO NOT READ THIS if you don't want it to be spoiled.

I know I haven't released anything for a while, but that's about to change. I'm no longer working on my other stories, but intend to stick with this one for a while.

I do not own any characters from the Young Samurai series, only a couple of OCs that may appear along the way. The first of a planned trilogy, this is set after The Ring of Sky, when Jack, Akiko and Yori are on their way to England. But can Akiko and Yori handle life on the waves for two whole years?

Chapter One: Casting Off

Japan disappeared with the sunset. Jack Fletcher looked back at the country that he had lived in for the past four years. As the islands faded away into his memories, he thought of his guardian, Masamoto Takeshi, and his friends Benkei and Saburo. He wondered whether they were still watching his ship disappear into the distance, or if they had already turned to make their way home from Nagasaki to Kyoto. He remembered how difficult the journey had been for him and his friends the first time. Then again, he had been on the run from the Shogun himself with half the country on his tail. Jack was a gaijin, a foreigner, from England. Having been shipwrecked off the coast of Japan four years ago, Jack had spent the last year of that time crossing the country in a bid for the freedom that the port of Nagasaki had promised. The first three years had been spent training as a samurai warrior at the Niten Ichi Ryū in Kyoto.

Those first few years had been Jack's best in Japan. He, along with his best friend Akiko and adoptive brother Yamato, had trained under Masamoto's instruction to be formidable samurai. His thoughts turning to Yamato, Jack felt a sudden sadness well up inside of him. Yamato had been killed by Jack's nemesis, Dragon Eye, at the Battle of Osaka Castle. He had thought the ninja had perished too, but as he had discovered, Dragon Eye could never die. This was because Dragon Eye didn't have a true form. When one "Dragon Eye" died, the next most skilful in his clan took up the mantle where he left off, inheriting the mighty sword Black Cloud.

Because of Dragon Eye, Jack had lost almost everything. His father had been garrotted by the ninja on the day of his arrival in Japan, and at one point he had even stolen his father's rutter. The navigational logbook was Jack's last connection to his father, and his only chance of getting home. Without the rutter, Jack would have no idea how to get back to England. Thankfully, he had gotten it back.

His side having lost at the Battle of Osaka, Jack had said goodbye to all his friends and set off by himself for the journey to Nagasaki. Daimyo Kamakura, who had then become the Shogun, banished foreigners and Christians like himself. Even while trying to obey the Shogun's orders and leave the country, he had samurai and dōshin alike on his trail, ordered to bring him in dead or alive. All Jack wanted to do was get to Nagasaki and take a ship home, but the Shogun had other ideas. With samurai at every corner, Jack had been forced into the Iga Mountains, where he had been kidnapped by ninja and subsequently trained in their ways. Making a lifelong, if unexpected, friend in the ninja girl Miyuki, Jack had fought with the ninja to defend their homeland. Unfortunately, it was one more battle he couldn't win, and the ninja village was destroyed.

Leaving the ninja to recover high up in the mountains, Jack had continued with his journey until he ran into some trouble with a group of thugs, who had beaten him in a surprise attack and stolen all his possessions. With the help of a drunken ronin and a girl thief named Hana, he had recovered his possessions, including his swords, black pearl and the rutter. Coming next to a farming village, Jack had found himself fighting against the vicious bandit Akuma. Alone, he wouldn't have stood a chance, but a handful of his friends had caught up with him, as well as a few new ones. Miyuki and his school friends Yori and Saburo then joined him on his quest. Together they battled the bandits as well as the pirates of the Seto Sea before finally reaching Nagasaki, where Akiko had caught up with them as well. Unfortunately, there was a conflict and Miyuki hadn't survived.

When Jack had finally reached Nagasaki, news had come that the Shogun was no more and daimyo Takatomi had taken his place as Regent. As a friend to Jack, the Regent had pardoned him and his friends, meaning he was free to stay in Japan. But he still had to get home to his sister.

Faced with two lonely years at sea with only the treacherous Captain Spilbergen for company, Jack had asked the impossible question of his friends: to come with him. Saburo and Jack's guide, Benkei, had declined, but Yori accepted in the hope of broadening his horizons and Akiko joined him too, refusing to break the bonds of their friendship even for her newly re-discovered brother, Kiyoshi.

Yori now stood to his left, Akiko on the right. He looked at his friends and knew he would enjoy the following two years with them. But he also wondered whether it was truly right to bring them with him. Akiko and Yori were his closest friends, but he knew they would struggle in England. Not only did the way the English may greet them worry him, but also how difficult it would be for them to adapt to British culture. Jack recalled how difficult it had been for him to adapt to the Japanese culture at first. In Japan, the streets were clean and everyone was polite. Back in England, filth and disease plagued the streets and everyone seemed to be a drunkard searching for a fight. Given his way, Jack would gladly have stayed in Japan, but besides his banishment, he had to get back to his sister. With only an elderly neighbour for company, Jess Fletcher was left home. Jack wondered where she was now. She could be in a workhouse for all he knew. Or – dare he think of it – dead.

Jack had finally left all the suffering of Japan – Dragon Eye, his rival Kazuki with his Scorpion Gang and the Shogun's samurai – but now he faced another two years at sea. After all he had been through, the journey home would seem safer, but Jack knew otherwise. Leaving Japan alone would be fraught with danger, with ninja pirates at every turn. Once he was out of Japan, he would have to deal with the Portuguese, the sworn enemy of his country. Even on a Dutch ship, he knew he would have to fight his way home. His journey had only just begun.

"Jack, are you alright?" Yori asked, his small voice filled with concern.

"Why wouldn't I be? We're going home, aren't we?" Jack replied with unconvincing calm.

"You look concerned," Yori looked him in the eye as if appraising him, and Jack marvelled at how similar Yori was to their old Zen Master, Sensei Yamada. After the Niten Ichi Ryū was closed by the Shogun, Yori had become Sensei Yamada's apprentice, leaving the life of a samurai behind to become a monk. But that hadn't quite worked out for him, and fate brought him back onto the path of the warrior. As Masamoto had once said, the path of the warrior is lifelong.

"I was just thinking about my time in Japan. About everything I lost." Jack admitted.

"You miss her, don't you?" Yori asked sympathetically. Though he hadn't said her name, Jack knew Yori was talking about Miyuki. He gave Yori a silencing look, and he took the hint. Akiko looked questioningly at them. As Yori knew all too well, Jack and Akiko's bond went just above the lines of friendship. As Yori had pointed out, Miyuki had similar feelings for Jack. To talk about her in front of Akiko wouldn't be wise. He wouldn't have felt comfortable about it at any other time either. But now he was with Akiko and Yori at the beginning of a new adventure. Nothing that happened before mattered anymore. There was only Jack, Yori, Akiko and the future.

The silence they lapsed into was suddenly broken by a hoarse shout from a crewmember in the crow's nest, "PIRATES!"

So, that's chapter one. I apologise for the lack of action so far, but I had to recap the original stories for the benefit of any reader who hasn't read them but liked the look of this story. Feel free to review, and don't worry: I can handle criticism. In fact, I welcome it. Without criticism, I won't know how to improve. I hope you enjoyed it, chapter two should be up in a short while.