~*Chapter Three*~
"K.. Keiko?" He whispered weakly, his strength nearly depleted. He thought he had heard Keiko's voice while he was out there on the battlefield. Could it be that he had died out there? 'NO! I can't be dead', his wearied mind thought, 'I need to defeat Aku, I can't leave Toshiro alone! No!!' He weakly groped for his sword, and at not finding it there, he was near convinced he was dead. 'No... father... Keiko... please forgive me..." He weakly muttered.
"Jack," he said, his voice shaking slightly. He went to his side and put a hand on his shoulder, and pulled some ancient smelling salts from inside his gei. He waved them gently under his nose, and leaned the magic blade against the wall. "Jack, be calm, for you are safe," he said, sitting down beside him. "We are all victorious; you need not fear...I am safe; the women are well; the demons are gone..."
His eyes weakly opened to see Toshiro and his sword, he was alive. He breathed a little easier, "Thank Kami," then winced at what pain seared thru his body at that small effort. He mentally chastised himself for his weakness, he had no time for this. He made a weak effort to sit up but the pain refused, sending him back down with a groan.
"Here, let me aid you," he said, his voice a bit softer. He pulled out his cloak and retrieved some salve and some weak sake. "Here, drink this. I'll fix up your wounds," he said, and started to gently move graceful fingers over the wounds, spreading the salve over them and praying that he did not harm him more. His dark eyes were no longer hard, but soft and careful, intent upon his work. Strands of sweaty black hair hung about his face, suddenly not so harsh, save for the sweat and smal scratches. The sword that hung at his side was sheathed, but his face was saddened. "I failed you...I could not protect you as I had vowed to do...I have shamed my father and shamed you...I know what I must do..."
"Domo," Jack whispered as he drank the sake, filling him with warmth. The savle cooled the harshness of his wounds, but nothing could soothe the sadness in her voice. "No," he whispered, "You didn't fail me... or my father... you did... everything right. Don't blame... yourself..."
"But that's just it, Jack," he said, and stood, stepping across the room. His back faced him, and suddenly he spoke, her voice true and firm...and different. "I'm not myself! All this time I have been deciving you!" He looked at his hands, calloused but not so calloused from the use of the sword, and suddenly, he reached up, pulled the ribbon from his hair, and let the long ebony strands fall down his back.
Keiko turned sharply and met his eyes. "I am not myself...I haven't been for many years..." Her face was truely apologetic now, her dark eyes saddened and firm. "These women made me understand...In the face of adversity...I shouldn't fear what society has bred into me..." She went to her knees and bowed her head, tears rimming her eyelids. "Forgive me, my prince...I know I should be punished for betraying you as such..."
Jack was stunned. Toshiro... his best friend for weeks on end, the one who had restored the peace within him by simply being there, was in actuallity... Keiko. His childhood friend; all this time, she was there. She had carried the locust with her wherever she went because part of his spirit was there, helping her on. She, who risked her life just to help him, who coudn't bear it now that he was in his condition. Biting back his pain, he lifted himself off the bed and onto to Keiko's level. He lifted her head, and nearly cried out at what pain and sorrow was there in her eyes. Tears threatened to come, but he held them back, "Keiko, what you have done for me is not an act of deceit, but of loyalty. You risked your life to help me, to help our people. You learned the sword and challenged Aku to help me, because you care. That's nothing to punish, but only to commend." He embraced her and let his tears fall.
It was strange...to be embraced in peace after all those years of war and pain; hate and strife. His words were true, she knew deep in her heart, but still, it pained her to think that she had not been able to aid him in his most dire time of need. "But because of me; because of my foolish blindness, you are wounded..you shouldn't even be up," she said, pulling back slightly. "Go on..lay back down...at least let me tend to you now..." She stepped away from his warm arms and helped him back to the comfortable bed upon which he had previous laid. She pulled up a seat beside the bed and pulled her long hair behind her back, letting it rest against her spine. "So much time has passed..."
"But you are here with me, and that is all that matters." Jack said, staring up at her. "It's not your fault, in the past I often got myself into tight scrapes such as this. You're rallying of the women saved me from certian death."
She smiled faintly and looked out the window at the small town. Only part of it had been destroyed; most of the wouned men would be well, and she smiled. "Yes...and the town as well...I thank you for not condemning me...I have heard much of your travels, Jack...of how you had been tricked by women pretending to be something they were not...and then by me. I have a feeling though that I am the only one you've known for...centuries, I suppose you could say," she replied, finally letting a smile play on her fair face.
You're the only one that I could fully trust. Ikra and Josie, they turned on me after convincing me we were friends, nearly leaving me for dead. It got down to the point where I couldn't trust anybody, everybody was after me for the money Aku placed on me, and all women were something to avoid all together. At least you did what you did because you care about me, you didn't want to see me hurt. The others... they played upon my igorance and innocence."
She smiled. "Yes..Yes, I care," she said, nd reached out, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Deciet is Evil's most powerful ally; I will not play on what you do and do not know..not any longer," she assured him, and handed him his sword. "Here; I beleive this belongs to you," she said, her voice growing soft.
"Domo," He said, taking his sword. Sleep threatened to take over his weary body, but he refused to give in. "Keiko..." He whispered tenderly, reaching out for her, but it was too late, he had given in to the temptation of sleep.
She smiled as he fell into sleep, and turned her head to note the several children that were gathered at the door, peering in at their greatest hero. Smiling, she stood and walked over to them, kneeling beside them. "Hullo there," she whispered, and put a finger to her lips. "Come in, but you must be quiet, Jack is resting," she said, and sat down, letting them come in and stand before her. They looked at her quizzically for a moment.
"Who are you?" one of them finally ventured, looking perplexed. Keiko chuckled.
"I am Samurai Jack's good friend, Keiko," she said. "If you wait a bit, he should awaken. But for now, you'll have to put up with me," she said with a charming smile. "I'll answer any questions you might have; well, depending on if I know the answer or not," she said with a smile, and beckoned for them to sit down.
The children were somewhat disapointed, they wanted to talk to Jack, but since she was his friend she should be fun to talk to. "When did you meet him?"
"How did you guys come to the future?"
Keiko laughed gently and grinned. "Well, I met him a long time ago; when we were both about your size," she said with a wink. "We were chasing locusts; not unlike the ones I'm sure you see around here in the summer!" She went on to tell them all about chasing locusts and the origami. "In fact, Jack has the little origami locust right now, though I'm not going to go hunt for it while he's sleeping," she said with a smile. "As for the future..." she sighed a bit. "I'm sure you all know about Aku. Well, when Jack and I were all grown up, Jack went to go try and freeour people from AKu, because he had taken over and made us all his slaves. But, in the last throws of battle, Aku tricked Jack and sent him here. The same thing happened to me, except that went to Aku to find Jack. I knew I could never beat him without that sword," she said, pointing to the blade that Jack had near him. "And here we are!"
Unknowing that Jack was slowly regaining consciousness, she got a slightly excited look on her face. "I could tell you a few stories about Jack that I've heard but you may not have," she said, her eyes gleaming with a great, almost motherly quality to them as she heard the unanimous cry for another story. She laughed warmly and started to tell the stories she had heard with great enthusiasm and expression, making sure that her voice changed with each different character for effect. There was a great laugh when she impersonated Aku's haughty laugher as best she could, and she let a beautiful grin play on her lips as she watched the children's different expressions.
'Stories about me?' Jack thought. 'Oh no!' There were some tales that didn't need to be told twice, especially to her. Fortunately she only told them of some of his better adventures. He smiled as the memories flew back to him: the apes that taught him how to "jump good"...
" 'I no fly, jump good.' " The man the apes adopted, now equipped with the self-defense moves Jack had taught him and his tribe. 'Not even the predators hunt their little ones anymore, not with how well they fought the red apes.'
She continued on with her stories, this time about...
'Warriors that came out of baskets?? Oh the Marauders... what trouble they were...'
"What do you mean Jack's blade couldn't slice thru them?" Asked a worried youngster, eyeing the mystical blade at Jack's side.
Jack smiled inwardly, 'Don't worry, I just needed some help, and where modern technology failed, the ancient spirits aided me.'
But the next tale...
'THE ZOMBIES?! Where Aku nearly...' Hiding his movments, he tried to get a good measure of Keiko's face as she led up to that part. 'Did she give up on me? Accepted my near defeat as I had?' He couldn't tell, her face only grew more excited as she led up to the climax, putting the children on the edge of their seats. When Aku had pinned him down, one of the girls cried,
"Jack!! No!!"
And when it was revealed that Aku could not hurt the samurai with his own sword, one of the boys started jumping up and down, shouting, "Ha! You can never defeat Jack!"
Keiko grinned and laughed. "Exactly what I thought when I heard it! Then he took the sword from Aku's grasp, he rolled away from Aku.." she trailed off anf finished the tale with a great flourish, leaving the children cheering, though softly for fear of awakening their hero. "Of course, when I met him, he was wlaking into a tavern full of bounty hunters. I had been looking for him for months. and to see him there before me out of nowhere was..." she paused. "A very welcoming sight. Of course, the bounty hunters would not hear of Jack escpaing with his head on his shoulders. Of course, I could never let that happen, and we fought our way out of there, and here we are!" She finished with a bright smile upon her pretty face. She chuckled smoothly as she finished. "I'm so glad you enjoyed the stories."
The kids nervously chuckled as they beamed up at her, their newest hero next to Jack.
"Children!" A women entered the room. "What are you doing here? You mustn't disturb the samurais. Look at Jack, he's trying to sleep!"
"But Mama..." One of them protested.
"No buts, now you come with me." She shoved them out of the room.
"We'll be back," The boy promised as he was dragged out the door.
Jack secretly smiled, and, after standing slowly and silently, he embraced the unaware Keiko from behind. "What a knack you have for illustrating stories..."
The sudden warm embrace from behind caught her off guard, and years of combat had trained her to always be wary of a foe from behind. She almost spun around and attacked had it not been for the soothing words that fell upon her ear. The look of anger melted suddenly away and she smiled modestly, turning her head slightly and looking at him from the corner of her dark eyes. "It has been too long, and you, my dear warrior, should be resting," she chided with a smile, turning to face him and drawing herself to her full height to gaze at him directly in the eyes.
"Do not worry, I'm fine, your tender care has ensured that." He put on his gei and slid his sword behind his belt. "I'm ready to leave and continue our journey."
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"K.. Keiko?" He whispered weakly, his strength nearly depleted. He thought he had heard Keiko's voice while he was out there on the battlefield. Could it be that he had died out there? 'NO! I can't be dead', his wearied mind thought, 'I need to defeat Aku, I can't leave Toshiro alone! No!!' He weakly groped for his sword, and at not finding it there, he was near convinced he was dead. 'No... father... Keiko... please forgive me..." He weakly muttered.
"Jack," he said, his voice shaking slightly. He went to his side and put a hand on his shoulder, and pulled some ancient smelling salts from inside his gei. He waved them gently under his nose, and leaned the magic blade against the wall. "Jack, be calm, for you are safe," he said, sitting down beside him. "We are all victorious; you need not fear...I am safe; the women are well; the demons are gone..."
His eyes weakly opened to see Toshiro and his sword, he was alive. He breathed a little easier, "Thank Kami," then winced at what pain seared thru his body at that small effort. He mentally chastised himself for his weakness, he had no time for this. He made a weak effort to sit up but the pain refused, sending him back down with a groan.
"Here, let me aid you," he said, his voice a bit softer. He pulled out his cloak and retrieved some salve and some weak sake. "Here, drink this. I'll fix up your wounds," he said, and started to gently move graceful fingers over the wounds, spreading the salve over them and praying that he did not harm him more. His dark eyes were no longer hard, but soft and careful, intent upon his work. Strands of sweaty black hair hung about his face, suddenly not so harsh, save for the sweat and smal scratches. The sword that hung at his side was sheathed, but his face was saddened. "I failed you...I could not protect you as I had vowed to do...I have shamed my father and shamed you...I know what I must do..."
"Domo," Jack whispered as he drank the sake, filling him with warmth. The savle cooled the harshness of his wounds, but nothing could soothe the sadness in her voice. "No," he whispered, "You didn't fail me... or my father... you did... everything right. Don't blame... yourself..."
"But that's just it, Jack," he said, and stood, stepping across the room. His back faced him, and suddenly he spoke, her voice true and firm...and different. "I'm not myself! All this time I have been deciving you!" He looked at his hands, calloused but not so calloused from the use of the sword, and suddenly, he reached up, pulled the ribbon from his hair, and let the long ebony strands fall down his back.
Keiko turned sharply and met his eyes. "I am not myself...I haven't been for many years..." Her face was truely apologetic now, her dark eyes saddened and firm. "These women made me understand...In the face of adversity...I shouldn't fear what society has bred into me..." She went to her knees and bowed her head, tears rimming her eyelids. "Forgive me, my prince...I know I should be punished for betraying you as such..."
Jack was stunned. Toshiro... his best friend for weeks on end, the one who had restored the peace within him by simply being there, was in actuallity... Keiko. His childhood friend; all this time, she was there. She had carried the locust with her wherever she went because part of his spirit was there, helping her on. She, who risked her life just to help him, who coudn't bear it now that he was in his condition. Biting back his pain, he lifted himself off the bed and onto to Keiko's level. He lifted her head, and nearly cried out at what pain and sorrow was there in her eyes. Tears threatened to come, but he held them back, "Keiko, what you have done for me is not an act of deceit, but of loyalty. You risked your life to help me, to help our people. You learned the sword and challenged Aku to help me, because you care. That's nothing to punish, but only to commend." He embraced her and let his tears fall.
It was strange...to be embraced in peace after all those years of war and pain; hate and strife. His words were true, she knew deep in her heart, but still, it pained her to think that she had not been able to aid him in his most dire time of need. "But because of me; because of my foolish blindness, you are wounded..you shouldn't even be up," she said, pulling back slightly. "Go on..lay back down...at least let me tend to you now..." She stepped away from his warm arms and helped him back to the comfortable bed upon which he had previous laid. She pulled up a seat beside the bed and pulled her long hair behind her back, letting it rest against her spine. "So much time has passed..."
"But you are here with me, and that is all that matters." Jack said, staring up at her. "It's not your fault, in the past I often got myself into tight scrapes such as this. You're rallying of the women saved me from certian death."
She smiled faintly and looked out the window at the small town. Only part of it had been destroyed; most of the wouned men would be well, and she smiled. "Yes...and the town as well...I thank you for not condemning me...I have heard much of your travels, Jack...of how you had been tricked by women pretending to be something they were not...and then by me. I have a feeling though that I am the only one you've known for...centuries, I suppose you could say," she replied, finally letting a smile play on her fair face.
You're the only one that I could fully trust. Ikra and Josie, they turned on me after convincing me we were friends, nearly leaving me for dead. It got down to the point where I couldn't trust anybody, everybody was after me for the money Aku placed on me, and all women were something to avoid all together. At least you did what you did because you care about me, you didn't want to see me hurt. The others... they played upon my igorance and innocence."
She smiled. "Yes..Yes, I care," she said, nd reached out, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Deciet is Evil's most powerful ally; I will not play on what you do and do not know..not any longer," she assured him, and handed him his sword. "Here; I beleive this belongs to you," she said, her voice growing soft.
"Domo," He said, taking his sword. Sleep threatened to take over his weary body, but he refused to give in. "Keiko..." He whispered tenderly, reaching out for her, but it was too late, he had given in to the temptation of sleep.
She smiled as he fell into sleep, and turned her head to note the several children that were gathered at the door, peering in at their greatest hero. Smiling, she stood and walked over to them, kneeling beside them. "Hullo there," she whispered, and put a finger to her lips. "Come in, but you must be quiet, Jack is resting," she said, and sat down, letting them come in and stand before her. They looked at her quizzically for a moment.
"Who are you?" one of them finally ventured, looking perplexed. Keiko chuckled.
"I am Samurai Jack's good friend, Keiko," she said. "If you wait a bit, he should awaken. But for now, you'll have to put up with me," she said with a charming smile. "I'll answer any questions you might have; well, depending on if I know the answer or not," she said with a smile, and beckoned for them to sit down.
The children were somewhat disapointed, they wanted to talk to Jack, but since she was his friend she should be fun to talk to. "When did you meet him?"
"How did you guys come to the future?"
Keiko laughed gently and grinned. "Well, I met him a long time ago; when we were both about your size," she said with a wink. "We were chasing locusts; not unlike the ones I'm sure you see around here in the summer!" She went on to tell them all about chasing locusts and the origami. "In fact, Jack has the little origami locust right now, though I'm not going to go hunt for it while he's sleeping," she said with a smile. "As for the future..." she sighed a bit. "I'm sure you all know about Aku. Well, when Jack and I were all grown up, Jack went to go try and freeour people from AKu, because he had taken over and made us all his slaves. But, in the last throws of battle, Aku tricked Jack and sent him here. The same thing happened to me, except that went to Aku to find Jack. I knew I could never beat him without that sword," she said, pointing to the blade that Jack had near him. "And here we are!"
Unknowing that Jack was slowly regaining consciousness, she got a slightly excited look on her face. "I could tell you a few stories about Jack that I've heard but you may not have," she said, her eyes gleaming with a great, almost motherly quality to them as she heard the unanimous cry for another story. She laughed warmly and started to tell the stories she had heard with great enthusiasm and expression, making sure that her voice changed with each different character for effect. There was a great laugh when she impersonated Aku's haughty laugher as best she could, and she let a beautiful grin play on her lips as she watched the children's different expressions.
'Stories about me?' Jack thought. 'Oh no!' There were some tales that didn't need to be told twice, especially to her. Fortunately she only told them of some of his better adventures. He smiled as the memories flew back to him: the apes that taught him how to "jump good"...
" 'I no fly, jump good.' " The man the apes adopted, now equipped with the self-defense moves Jack had taught him and his tribe. 'Not even the predators hunt their little ones anymore, not with how well they fought the red apes.'
She continued on with her stories, this time about...
'Warriors that came out of baskets?? Oh the Marauders... what trouble they were...'
"What do you mean Jack's blade couldn't slice thru them?" Asked a worried youngster, eyeing the mystical blade at Jack's side.
Jack smiled inwardly, 'Don't worry, I just needed some help, and where modern technology failed, the ancient spirits aided me.'
But the next tale...
'THE ZOMBIES?! Where Aku nearly...' Hiding his movments, he tried to get a good measure of Keiko's face as she led up to that part. 'Did she give up on me? Accepted my near defeat as I had?' He couldn't tell, her face only grew more excited as she led up to the climax, putting the children on the edge of their seats. When Aku had pinned him down, one of the girls cried,
"Jack!! No!!"
And when it was revealed that Aku could not hurt the samurai with his own sword, one of the boys started jumping up and down, shouting, "Ha! You can never defeat Jack!"
Keiko grinned and laughed. "Exactly what I thought when I heard it! Then he took the sword from Aku's grasp, he rolled away from Aku.." she trailed off anf finished the tale with a great flourish, leaving the children cheering, though softly for fear of awakening their hero. "Of course, when I met him, he was wlaking into a tavern full of bounty hunters. I had been looking for him for months. and to see him there before me out of nowhere was..." she paused. "A very welcoming sight. Of course, the bounty hunters would not hear of Jack escpaing with his head on his shoulders. Of course, I could never let that happen, and we fought our way out of there, and here we are!" She finished with a bright smile upon her pretty face. She chuckled smoothly as she finished. "I'm so glad you enjoyed the stories."
The kids nervously chuckled as they beamed up at her, their newest hero next to Jack.
"Children!" A women entered the room. "What are you doing here? You mustn't disturb the samurais. Look at Jack, he's trying to sleep!"
"But Mama..." One of them protested.
"No buts, now you come with me." She shoved them out of the room.
"We'll be back," The boy promised as he was dragged out the door.
Jack secretly smiled, and, after standing slowly and silently, he embraced the unaware Keiko from behind. "What a knack you have for illustrating stories..."
The sudden warm embrace from behind caught her off guard, and years of combat had trained her to always be wary of a foe from behind. She almost spun around and attacked had it not been for the soothing words that fell upon her ear. The look of anger melted suddenly away and she smiled modestly, turning her head slightly and looking at him from the corner of her dark eyes. "It has been too long, and you, my dear warrior, should be resting," she chided with a smile, turning to face him and drawing herself to her full height to gaze at him directly in the eyes.
"Do not worry, I'm fine, your tender care has ensured that." He put on his gei and slid his sword behind his belt. "I'm ready to leave and continue our journey."
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