Disclaimer:

This story is based on the cartoon 'Samurai Jack'. I do not own Samurai Jack or anything associated with the show. That honor goes to the folks at Cartoon Network and the shows creator, Genndy Tartakovsky. The only thing I do own are all the original characters portrayed in my story. So to recap, Samurai Jack and all related characters and places © Genndy Tartakovsky and Cartoon Network, All original characters and storyline © Adriana Limon (Nanas, IceDancer).

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Notes

Still really appreciate those who bare with my not posting as often as one should… but I needed to fix the story a bit, and I ended up putting myself into a corner. But no worries…the corner has opened, so on with the story.

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Unclouded Truth: A Tale of Fate

By: IceDancer

Chapter 9

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It was cold the following morning. The sun was hidden behind a layer of clouds, and a light fog fell across the horizon. Jack and Ikaya hadn't spoken since the night before nor did they look at each other. They just continued down the dirt road, side by side without a word between them.

It had been three days since they had visited the Oracles Palace and with all that happened Jack felt that he deserved an explanation from Ikaya, especially since it seemed to him that she had an idea of what had gone wrong.

He looked over at her every now and then and each time her face was expressionless. She stared down at the ground in front of her while they walked, a small bit of her bruised skin showing while her cape covered the rest of it.

Jack was about to speak when a light rain began to fall. He looked up at the sky, when he felt a soft nudge on his shoulder. He looked down to see Ikaya holding his straw hat.

"Here…" she whispered, still not lifting her head making it hard for Jack to see her eyes through the hair that fell over them.

"Thank you," he replied, putting it on.

Ikaya turned and continued down the road. Jack caught up just as they came to the small village they had been traveling to.

The streets were narrow and empty while the rain continued to fall harder down on the old buildings and dirt roads. The faint lights and chimney smoke coming from the small houses were the only sign of life.

Jack turned to Ikaya again, her clothes and hair were now soaked. Large drops fell from the ends of her arms and strands of her hair clung to her shoulders and face.

"Ikaya…" Jack said, moving closer to her.

Ikaya stopped and looked up at Jack, who placed his straw hat on her head.

"Thank you." Ikaya whispered, her face still expressionless as she turned away from him.

"That is enough!" Jack said, placing his hand on her shoulder so she couldn't walk off.

"You must stop this, I know you must have much going through your mind but if you know why you lost control at the Oracles Palace I feel that you must be honest with me if we are going to continue on together!"

Ikaya looked up at Jack, her expressionless face was now strewn with pain. Jack sighed and stepped back, taking his hand off of her shoulder.

"I am sorry, Ikaya. I should not have lost my temper."

"No," Ikaya said, "You have the right to be angry. I should have told you before we left my forest."

Ikaya closed her eyes and took a long deep breath. Jack could tell that what she was about to tell him wasn't easy for her, but just as she was about to speak they were interrupted by a voice coming from one of the houses.

"Ikaya?!" the voice said, followed by the sound of tools being dropped to the ground.

Jack and Ikaya looked to where the voice was coming from and saw an old woman standing within what looked to be an open blacksmiths shop.

"Ikaya, is-is that you?" the woman said, placing her hands over her chest.

The two looked at each other, none quite sure exactly what was going on.

"How do you know my name?" Ikaya finally said, walking closer to the woman.

"Oh, my dearest, it is you!" the woman shouted, running out into the rain to Ikaya, giving her a strong hug.

"Oh, Ikaya, you've grown so much. I knew it, only one person could have hair that color. Quickly, come out of the rain, both of you." the old woman said, taking Ikaya by the hand and leading her into the blacksmiths shop, Jack following closely.

The woman led the two into the shop and through a door that led into a small house behind it. Unlike the shop, which was made out of bricks that been blackened over the years, the house was made of wood and had a warmth to it.

"I swear, I never thought I would see you again!" the woman said, her eyes filling with tears.

"Almay," came a mans voice from one of the rooms, "Almay, who are you talking to?"

"Willam," said the old woman, "Willam, come see who's come back to us!"

An old man hobbled into the room, stopping in his tracks when he saw Ikaya.

"My stars! Ikaya, no it can't be!" he said, walking up to her and taking her hand, "Ikaya you've grown into such a beautiful woman"

"And she's brought herself a companion." Almay said.

"Hello, my name is Jack." Jack said, bowing.

"Please," said Ikaya, "I don't mean to be rude, but how do you know my name?"

"I forgot, you were so young…" said Almay, "Ikaya, you were born here."

Ikaya's eyes grew wide. She could feel every muscle in her body going numb, disbelief falling over her face.

"Ikaya, sweetheart, are you okay?"

"I was born here?" she repeated.

"Yes," said Willam, "I still remember the day your mother and your father came to us, on a night much like tonight."

Ikaya looked around, not knowing whether or not to run or simply to believe what the old couple was telling her.

"Come Ikaya." Almay finally said, taking her by the hand, "I'll find you some dry clothes to wear while yours dry off, Willam, please take Jack to do the same."

Willam nodded.

"This way young man." he said, gesturing for Jack to follow him into one of the other rooms.

Almay lead the still shaken Ikaya into a small room that, although it was clean, looked as if it hadn't been used in years. A large chest stood in one corner while a fireplace sat on the wall adjacent to it, a large mantel full of pictures above it. A bed was pushed against the same wall and the window was on the wall to the right of the bed.

Ikaya walked toward the mantel above the fireplace and began to look at the pictures that rested on it. Unknown faces smiled back at her from times long passed when she stumbled on a fading picture of a young man and woman looking deep into each others eyes.

"Beautiful picture, isn't it." Almay said, looking over Ikaya's shoulder, "My, that was taken so long ago, look how young Willam and I once were, ah, well here you are sweetie, an old dress of mine for you to wear."

Almay took out the same dress that was in the picture from a the chest. It was simple, a brown dress with white trim along the middle and the ends of the skirt and sleeves, two long strips of cloth came out of the sides so it could be tied around the waist. Almay placed it across the bed and smoothed it out a bit before turning to leave the room.

"Thank you," Ikaya said, still not sure about all that was happening.

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Jack stepped out from the room he had been lead to wearing an old button up shirt that was once white, but was now aged to a faint yellow color. The dark brown pants were more comfortable than he thought they would be, but the closed work boots would take some getting used to.

"See young man, I knew you were the right size for my old clothes." Willam said.

"Um, yes, I thank you and your wife for your kindness." Jack said, folding up the sleeves so they went just passed his elbows.

"Oh think nothing of it," Almay said, placing a bowl of soup on the table just as Jack sat down, "I'm just glad that Ikaya is still alive and well."

"Thank you…" Jack said, stirring the soup in front of him, "was Ikaya in any danger?"

The old man and woman looked at each other.

"You see, when her parents first arrived, about a week before Ikaya was born, her mother told me that they were being followed by something that wanted Ikaya, even before she was born." Almay said, placing a basket of biscuits in the middle of the table.

"They were being followed? By what?" Jack asked.

"We don't know, she said that she could sense something near them, everywhere they went it was there. Evil is the only thing she could say when describing it." Willam said.

"The poor dear was even too afraid to sleep at night. She could feel whatever it was hovering over her, reaching for the baby." Almay said.

"And what of her husband?" Jack asked, fully interested in their story.

"We asked him if he knew what she was talking about but he was never one to talk." Almay said, placing two more bowls of soup on the table, "Kalveh never let on that he was worried for Kousetsu and their child, but we could tell he loved them both very much, especially after Ikaya was born."

"Was that his name?" Ikaya said, walking into the room from the dim hall.

"Ikaya, come and have some soup and biscuits, you must be hungry." Almay said, faint surprise forming across her face.

Ikaya sat down at the table, her hair was pulled back into a loose bun which she fiddled with in an effort to make it tighter.

"Was that his name?" Ikaya repeated.

Almay's face softened again.

"Yes, your fathers name was Kalveh."

"Kalveh…" Ikaya whispered to herself, a smile forming on her face while taking in a spoonful of the soup.