This night was a dark night. The moon shined down a sinister emerald glow and the various creatures of the night continued their various songs as a warrior clad in green walked briskly through the woods. This warrior, known by few as Ashi, was brought into this world and raised with a single purpose in mind: to kill the Samurai. Under the cruel eye of her mother, she was conditioned, both physically and mentally, alongside her sisters, to destroy one of the most infamous and terrifying warriors alive, Samurai Jack.
That was her one and only goal since. A goal that took her and her sisters from a wet forest, to an abandoned temple where the group suffered their first casualty at the hands of the Samurai, to a frozen tundra where all, but one of them was dispatched, in quite gruesome fashion. Remembrance of the loss of her kin troubled Ashi greatly, but she knew that the Samurai had only done what he did out of self-defense. It likely would have troubled her a great deal more if not for the fact that she wasn't allowed to bond with her sisters under the strict regime of their mother, who thought emotional bonds were a form of weakness.
Her subconscious mind still screamed at her even after he had saved her life by unwillingly dragging her from the belly of a great beast. Kill the Samurai! Kill the Samurai! Make him suffer for the glory of Aku! But, she just could find it in her to do so from that point onward. His actions inside of the beast as well as his display of compassion toward the smaller, weaker creatures of the world had showed Ashi that there was much more to this person than her mother had lead her to believe, and that there was likely a lot more to her idol Aku than she thought as well.
They soon found themselves breaking into a factory to rescue the children of a destroyed village that they had come across. Ashi had found herself captured by the factories overseer and was subsequently tortured with torrents of electricity shot from his hands. Not for information, but only for the pleasure of this sick fiend. While the overseer was recharging, she happened to look up at the display monitors to see that Jack was being swarmed by the children they were after, obviously under the influence of this sick bastard, but Jack refused to use any sort of fighting ability that would significantly endanger any child in his reach.
"Would'ya look at that! Righteous fool. After everything, he still can't hurt an innocent!" said the overseer with a dark chuckle.
That was it. The goodness of Jack might as well have been carved into her very being in that moment. Ashi found herself trembling with rage at the thought of someone so pure of heart and noble being spun into the very evil that she now saw Aku for. Her rage allowed her to break free from her binds and ensure that the sadistic overseer would never harm another innocent, child or adult, ever again.
Ashi, now free of the darkness that choked her mind, body, and soul, continued through the forest, clad in her new garments made from the various plants found in the forest. She had scrubbed the very darkness from her own body, a darkness that had marked her ever since she was a little girl. She rejected her purpose and found a new one: to find the Samurai and help him in any way she could and she wasn't alone. Through looking for Samurai Jack, she encountered many beings whom he had touched through his travels. From large, furry creatures to experienced bowmen and even a legion of people that looked to be close to her age all claimed that they owed their lives and livelihoods to this noble warrior, the Samurai.
After being directed by a short, cloaked figure. Ashi could feel that she was approaching Jack's location. But she could also feel that something was very off. The air felt stale the further into this part of the forest she walked. The darkness radiated from every tree, but this wasn't the darkness of Aku. No, this was a much more universal and primal darkness. Ashi knew in her heart what all of this could mean for Jack, but she refused to pay the thought any mind.
After crossing a river, she came across a set of stone steps. Something beckoned to her, letting her know that who she seeked was just beyond. She was greeted by the site of tombstones. Tombstones too numerous to count, stretching in all directions. A sickly green aura resembling that of the moon radiated from the cemetery, choking the narrow pathways that twisted through the tombstones, like a maze. Despite the nagging feeling in her head telling her not to, Ashi pressed forward. She knew Jack was in here and she knew that he was in danger.
She didn't have to go far into the cemetery to find him. She gasped lightly when she saw him, but quickly smiled upon realizing that she had found Jack.
"Samurai?" she called to him.
The smile quickly faded when she took in the sight before her. Jack sat on his knees, motionless. Eyes closed with a razor sharp katana laid at his knees. Whatever was going on here, Ashi knew it couldn't have been good.
"Jack?" she called out again.
A horse whinnying in the distance quickly caught her attention. She looked to her left and noticed a huge, armored figure astride a massive horse, armed with a variety of weapons. The hulking mass of armor rode up next to Jack and dismounted his horse. Ashi knew that this warrior was not of this world when he glided toward her without his feet ever touching the ground, as if he was some sort of reaper.
"You may witness, but you cannot proceed any further." Stated the warrior in a voice so cold and hoarse that it seemed to steal the very heat from Ashi's blood.
"Witness… what?" inquired Ashi.
"The end." the warrior coldly replied.
Ashi continued watching, fear slowly gripping her as four more ghostly warriors ascended from their graves, surrounding the Samurai, who had still not moved an inch.
"Great warriors of past, I welcome you." bided the lead warrior, unsheathing his katana.
"This samurai has failed his purpose and has accepted his fate." stated the warrior, bringing his blade to a ready stance over Jack.
All of the surrounding warriors watched, unmoving as Jack finally reached down and picked up his own katana. The cold, unfeeling gazes of the ghostly warriors seemed to burn right through Jack. Jack turned the blade into a reverse grip in his hand and raised it above his head. Ashi's eyes widened with shock and horror as the realized what the Samurai was about to do.
"Stop!" Ashi screamed, sprinting toward Jack.
She was only a few feet away from him when the head warrior knocked her away with the back of his hand. Ashi fell back onto a headstone with a loud crack and a grunt as the headstone gave beneath the force.
"This does not concern you. There is no hope." said the warrior.
"No." said Ashi, bringing herself to her feet. "Hope lives! It is everywhere! I've seen it! Everyone you have touched! The people you've helped! You saved them!"
"ENOUGH!" bellowed the warrior.
The warrior charged at Ashi with great speed, furiously swinging his katana with Ashi dodging his blows. She could hear the rampant crashing and crumbling of rock as the blows that didn't hit her hit the headstones instead, sending bits of rock flying in all directions. The warrior raised his weapon over his head and brought it down toward Ashi with an animalistic amount of force. Not having enough time to dodge, Ashi took a piece of broken headstone from the ground and used it to block the brunt of the blow. She grimaced as the warriors blade bent the headstoned at a 90 degree angle before it gave completely, burying her in its rubble.
"Hope is a fleeting sentiment." said the warrior. "Your failure is real. You must face the consequences or continue to bear the guilt of your dishonor for all eternity."
Jack was visibly trembling at the point, his grasp on his weapon so tight that his knuckles where as white as chalk, beads of sweat pouring down his face and brow.
"Jack! Don't listen!" Ashi yelled toward him, excavating herself from the rubble pile. "You're being misguided! I've seen it! You've saved countless innocents!"
Ashi took to her feet once more.
"But most of all, you showed me the truth!" Ashi said as the warrior lunged at her again, swinging his blade with a burning anger and a cold precision, trying his best to cut the young woman down. Ashi delivered a swift kick to the warriors head, briefly stunning him.
"You made me see that there's so much more to me than I knew existed!" Ashi pleaded with Jack as the warrior recovered and continued his attack on her.
"You made me way more than what I was!" Ashi continued, trying her best to steer Jack away from this fate he was speeding toward while dodging slashes and lunges from the warrior at the same time. She dodged a couple more slashes before the warrior grabbed her by her upper torso, his large hand easily able to wrap around Ashi's tiny frame.
"The hope you gave me saved my life!" Ashi screamed, straining against the grip of the warrior. The warrior than threw her with a great amount of force into another headstone, the stone crumbling against the force.
"Death follows in your wake. Men. Women! CHILDREN!" bellowed the warrior to Jack. Jack was on the very edge. His self-loathing and frayed sanity constantly whispering to him to do it. To end his torment and, by extension, the torment of all those he comes across. "Even the one person who cared enough to come and attempt to reason with you hates you, deep down. You killed her family, after all. Stole her very childhood away from her just by BEING!"
That did it.
Ashi already had a rebuttal for the warriors claim, but it was too late. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Jack gave one deep breath and used all of his strength to plunge the blade deep into has abdomen. Blood spewed from the wound and his mouth as he recoiled from the blow before falling down onto his side, blood pooling under his body, now seemingly lifeless.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Ashi screamed, her eyes wide, tears welling up as she sprinted toward Jack again. The warrior looked at Jack's still form then nodded toward the other ghostly warriors before all of them descended back into the ground.
Ashi fell to her knees beside Jack and cradled his head in her arms, desperately looking for any sign of life in his face. Jack still had a sliver of life left in him, however. With great effort, he opened his eyes again to see Ashi's tear-laden face starring back down at him.
"You shouldn't have come, young one." whispered the Samurai. "You could have been killed as well."
This just made Ashi weep even more. Even when he was on the verge of death, his concern was still centered on others.
"You fool." Said Ashi through her tears. "You've done so much good for people! Why?"
"You don't understand." whispered Jack. "I have been the cause of so much despair and suffering in the world. I have failed in my mission and abandoned my family to death at the hands of Aku. This is the fate I deserve."
"No!" screamed Ashi. "I've seen the force for good you are with my waking eyes! You have the love and admiration of so many different people! Would you really abandon them all to their fate here under Akus rule? Would you really abandon… me?"
Jack felt a stinging in his eyes as he drank in Ashi's words. He realized then that giving in to his despair was possibly one of the biggest mistakes he had ever made. Ashi could see the tears forming in his eyes and could tell that his heart had been changed.
Ashi tore one of the long leaves from her skirt and began tying it around Jack's wound as tightly as she could.
"What are you doing?" Jack weakly inquired, consciousness becoming harder and harder to hold on to by the second.
"By my entire being, you are not dying here. Not like this. You've already saved me more than once. Now let me save you." stated Ashi. She knew he would need advanced medical treatment, but the bandage should at least keep him alive for the time being.
The last words from Jack's mouth before losing consciousness both flattered and amused Ashi, despite the dark environment and situation.
"I like your hair… and dress."