A Samurai Jack Fanfic
By Laura McDaniel
Toshi's Tale
Toshi looked up at him and smiled, "Good morning, Jack! How was your sleep?"
"I slept quite well. I again thank you for your hospitality."
"Glad to be of service!" Toshi grinned. "I'm cooking some rice for breakfast. I know it's not much, but it's all I can afford. I made you some green tea if you'd like some." She poured some tea from a chipped kettle into a teacup that was also chipped and handed it to Jack. He took it from her and then she said, "Please, sit down."
Jack sat cross-legged next to Jill and sipped his tea. It was still warm and he could see the steam rising from it into the cold, morning air. He looked out into the village and watched as the world seemed to come alive with an array of colors and sounds. There was a market square in the center of the village where vendors had set up stands to sell their goods. Jack strained to see what was being sold, but it was too far away.
"If you want to go elsewhere while this is cooking, that's fine," Toshi said. "I would've started earlier, but I expected you to sleep longer than you did. Of course, I wouldn't have to worry about the time this is taking if I could actually afford some modern technology, but this is all I have." She stirred the rice with a wooden spoon and nodded, "It should be done soon, though."
Jack looked to Jill and inquired, "I don't mean to sound rude or ungrateful, but why do you live in such poor conditions?"
Toshi smiled and replied, "Well, Jack, that's why I wanted you to stay longer. After the surprise I gave you, I feel I owe you some sort of explanation. I'd explain now, but I'd rather not have you listen to my long story on an empty stomach...even though I'm well aware you're used to going many days without eating."
Jack nodded and went back to examining the village. This time, he noticed smaller details. The other houses, like Jill's, were metal-plated, but most of them were larger and better kept. Then he noticed that the village seemed to be built in the shadow of large piles of rubble. But before he could give much thought to where the rubble could have come from, Jill said, "Ah, it's finally ready."
Toshi dished rice onto two chipped plates and handed one to Jack, along with a pair of chopsticks. "I made those chopsticks myself," she said proudly, "but I've yet to figure out how to use them properly."
Jack set his teacup next to him and put the plate in his lap. While Toshi dished out some rice for herself, he skillfully picked up his chopsticks in his right hand, tucking one stick behind his thumb and holding the other like a pencil.
"Oh, so that's how you use these things!" Toshi exclaimed as she picked up her own set of chopsticks. She watched Jack pick up a few bites and eat them before she tried it herself. The first time she tried using them, the chopsticks slipped right through her fingers. "Drat!" she exclaimed. Jack stopped eating to see what was wrong. Once again, she picked up the chopsticks and tried to pick up some of the rice. This time, she pinched her middle finger with them. "Ouch!"
"I think perhaps you should loosen your grip and move your fingers up a bit. They're too close to the bottom," Jack observed.
"What do you mean?"
"Here, let me show you." Jack set his plate next to the teacup and examined the way Jill was holding her chopsticks. He patiently reached over and adjusted her fingers. He let go saying, "Try that. Also, you only to move one of them."
Toshi inquisitively looked at her fingers and then nodded, "I'll try to remember this." Slowly, she lowered her hand and picked up some rice. "Hey! I've got it!" However, as she tried to get it to her mouth, she dropped all the rice she was holding. "Spoke too soon, I guess," she smirked.
Jack chuckled and picked up his plate again. "Perhaps you should try picking up something larger to begin with. Rice is a bit difficult to start with."
"Well, I'm not really hungry anyway. I'll eat some later with a spoon!" Toshi exclaimed, setting her plate down next to her. "You can go on eating, though. I just think that I should tell you my story now. You've already shown that you're curious about me."
Jack nodded affirmatively and stated, "Yes, please begin. I think that your story should answer some other questions I have."
Toshi turned around and stared into the while they leapt and danced. When she collected her memories, she began telling her story, her voice quiet and reflective.
"It might be hard to believe, but the land this tiny village sits upon was once the site of the large city of Kemui. A complicated system of highways built on bridges twisted through the heart of it. Over the highways, there was an area for flying vehicles to travel. Under them was where pedestrians were supposed to travel, but the columns that supported the bridges made it difficult to navigate and people hardly walked, anyway. The air was so thick with smog that there were times when it was impossible to see anything next to you, much less in front of you. There were small residential houses towards the outskirts of town, but most of the buildings were skyscrapers. Supposedly, building upward took up less land than building outward, but nonetheless, there was little space between the buildings. They were so close together that I'm pretty sure that if you looked out some of the buildings' windows, all you could see was a room in the building next door. It was a noisy, grimy, smelly place, but it was my home nonetheless." She paused for a minute and added, "Of course, while most of the children were content playing on the cracked sidewalks within the city's boundaries, I spent most of my time playing by myself in the forest that I met you in. But guess who put those days to an end?" She turned to Jack for an answer.
Jack was puzzled by the sudden interruption, but answered, "Aku?"
"Bingo," Toshi replied. "The demon himself. It happened when I was a very small child; I couldn't have been older than three or four. I was sitting on a branch of the highest tree in the forest when I saw great clouds of smoke rising from the city. It didn't alarm me because there was always a thick, brown cloud of smog hanging over the city. But what I saw was thick black smoke leaving the city at an alarming rate. Something was wrong! I jumped out of the tree and ran to the city as fast as I could.
"What I saw was horrifying. Flames were falling from the sky and most of the buildings were burning. Water was steadily pouring from the specially designed fire helicopters, but they could do nothing to stop the flames from spreading. The highways were slowly collapsing and the flying vehicles were fleeing the scene at an alarming rate. Some people were crying, others were screaming, still others were looking on in disbelief, and others were trying to escape the city. I screamed at the top of my lungs, hoping my parents would hear me, but my voice could not be heard through the chaos. I cried as I pushed my way through the crowd all the way to the building where I lived. I saw my parents among a large crowd gathered around the building. It looked like they were about ready to help hold a hose some firefighters were connecting to a nearby hydrant. 'Mommy! Daddy!' I whimpered.
"'Toshi!' my mother shrieked as she ran out to embrace me. 'What are you doing here? You were probably safer in the forest!'
"'I saw the smoke coming from the city while I was in the forest and I went to see what was going on. Are they going to be able to put out the fire?' I asked.
"My mother shook her head and replied, 'It doesn't look good. There's just more fire than we can handle and nobody knows where it's coming from.'
"Then, I heard a low cackle coming from a distance. I broke away from my mother to see what it was. Perched on a streetlight, I saw a large black bird with a green beak and eyes that flamed red. It threw back its head and laughed louder, and pretty soon, every person left in the city was staring at it. Suddenly, it grew larger, and then it changed its shape, revealing that it was Aku himself! He had stretched himself out so far that he was towering over the city. 'Fools!' he hissed. 'While you were making your city great, you thought not of me! Despite the warnings I gave you, you failed to sing my praises or create images in my likeness. You have shunned me, so now I will take some of you to pay the price.' Suddenly, beams of light streamed from his eyes and enveloped my parents and the other people they were standing with. In an instant, they were gone. There were gasps and shrieks from the other people watching, but Aku bellowed, 'They will return after they have spent time in the Pit of Hate learning to respect me. As for the rest of you: You may take as long as you need to find a way to pay tribute to me, but I will not return those I have taken until then.' At that, he disappeared in a swirling mass. The fire instantly stopped after he left, but the buildings he'd scorched were still in ruins.
"This village was built little by little after the disaster. They brought in tractors and pushed the rubble aside, but opted to live more simply, hoping not to catch Aku's eye. It seems to have worked for the most part, but I still see bounty hunters around every so often. As for me...Well, even with my parents gone, I had a few friends in the village, but I never trusted anybody enough to stay with them. I stayed in a tent made from an old sheet for the longest time, until a family friend, who also happened to be an architect, helped me build this shack from some metal we found in the rubble. I make money to feed myself by doing odd jobs for anybody who needs help. I've learned to adjust, I guess."
At this point, Jack had finished eating his rice, and he quietly set the bowl down next to him. There was silence, until he asked, "I've only one more question: Why do you want to be like me?"
"I told you last night, Jack," Toshi sighed. "But, I guess I should be more specific. I was always such an idealist, despite the wretched life I was living, but that all changed about a five months ago. I finally snapped. I admitted to myself that I lived in a tiny shack with no decent furniture, that I was sick of eating rice every day, and that I couldn't stand being so cold at night. I thought about building a better house, but that wouldn't help me. I needed to escape, even if it was just in my mind. In the past, I'd done so by reading—I was hyperlexic, you know—but that wasn't quite good enough anymore. I wanted to live my dreams. Oh, I went crazy! I decided to imitate you because, like I said before, you actually have a chance to overthrow Aku. I worked as a maid in a seamstress's house for a month in return for this robe and I helped a carpenter for another two months in return for my geta and 'sword.' I accepted no other payment, and still live off a large bag of rice I bought earlier this year. To make it last, I hardly eat. And for what? I go out in the forest just about every day and play like a little child. I pretend I'm Samurai Jill and that I'm going to free my parents from the Pit of Hate...wherever that is. And to think I actually met you," she giggled, for the first time in a while. Then there was silence.
Toshi looked at Jack almost pleadingly, waiting for some sort of reply. Despite the fact that she'd just giggled, she appeared on the verge of crying. Jack swallowed hard and said, "I'm sorry all of that happened to you."
"It's...OK, Jack. Really." A tear ran down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away. "Oh, it's the smoke from the fire. I guess I should put it out now that we're finished eating." She dumped water on it like she had the night before and then sighed, "Well, I guess you should be on your way. Despite the fact that I desperately want to go with you, I am aware you'd be better off without me. So please, take leave, and continue your quest."
Jack stood up, but was reluctant to leave. It was obvious that Jill needed help, but he wasn't sure if he could do anything for her, even though she seemed determined that he would. He took a small, leather pouch from his sash and set it in Jill's hands. She shook it, and realized it was the small amount of money Jack carried with him. Shaking her head, she stood up and gave it back to him. "I told you, Jack, that's not really what I need. Now go!"
Jack put the bag back in his sash, and nodded slowly, indicating that he understood. Slowly, he turned around and prepared to exit the village. Jill turned to watch him go, but suddenly gasped, "Oh no!"
He turned back around and quickly walked back to the girl's side. "What is it?" he asked, sounding worried.
"Bounty hunters," Jill whispered to him. "I know they'll recognize you right off hand. I suppose the fact that we're dressed alike might throw them off for a while, but it's still too dangerous for you to leave now."
Jack followed Jill's gaze and saw two strange fuzzy red creatures with beady black eyes looking in their direction. The creatures did not look very dangerous, but they were heavily armed. "I can deal with them," Jack said, drawing his sword. He prepared to charge at them when Jill screamed and grabbed at his wide sleeves.
"No, Jack. A fight is the last thing this village needs! If anything happens, Aku might return. They haven't finished carving the giant statue of him, so his huge ego won't be satisfied, and who knows what would happen then!" She let go of Jack's sleeve and took a deep breath. "Stay here, Jack, I'll handle this."
Jack was confused, considering that Jill had only a wooden sword, but for some strange reason, he did what he was told and watched as the girl walked over to the bounty hunters.
"Hello there!" Jill said to the creatures. "You're bounty hunters, aren't you?"
"Yessss!" one of the creatures hissed. "And you look oddly like one of our targets."
"You sure about that?" the other creature asked, glancing at the digital wanted poster of Jack he carried. "Aku's awfully worried about this guy and his sword, but this person has only a wooden sword and sounds awfully like a girl."
"True," the first creature said, "but it takes a lot to upset The Great Aku. I suspect that this Samurai is a tricky character. This is probably just some disguise he put together."
"Oooh, you saw right through me, darn!" Jill said, stomping a foot. "I guess you're just going to have to take me to Aku!"
The two creatures exchanged confused glances and the first one asked, "Aren't you going to put up a fight?"
"Of course not!" Jill exclaimed. "I'm awfully tired, and I've misplaced my sword, so I figure I might as well give up."
"I'm not so sure about this," the second creature mumbled.
"Shut up!" the first one snarled. "I know this is him, so we're taking him to the All Powerful Aku. No matter how we acquired the Samurai, it will please Aku."
"Well, OK," the second creature said, taking out a pair of handcuffs and fastening them on Jill's wrists. "Guess we'd better get going." Each creature took one of the girl's chained hands and started to march her off to Aku's castle.
Jill looked back momentarily and shouted, "I'll be OK, Jack! Don't worry about me!"
"Shut up!" one of the creatures said, kicking her on her left leg. "Don't make us shoot you!"
Jack watched in horror as they disappeared from view. Even though he wasn't sure what to make of Jill's sacrifice, he knew she was in serious trouble, and he felt his duty to rescue her. He sheathed his sword and followed the trail of footprints that the two creatures and Jill had left. Nothing was going to stop him, not even Aku himself.