A Samurai Jack Fanfic
By Laura McDaniel
The Mountain's Call
Jack had been training Jill for a little less than a week when he had the vision. In the vision, he saw himself standing at the base of a tall mountain. Humbled by the mountain's size, he craned his neck to get a better look at it. Shielding his face with one hand and squinting somewhat, he was able to see that its snow-capped peak seemed to be above the clouds. When he noticed how jagged its gray stone surface was, he sincerely hoped he didn't have to climb it, even though he wasn't afraid to. Looking down again, a small dirt road leading to a small hut at the mountain's base caught his eye. Though he wondered why he didn't notice the road or hut before, he decided to have a closer look. He walked quietly to the hut and knocked on the door, but nobody answered. Overpowered by curiosity, he pushed on the door, and stepped back some when it opened. He didn't want to disturb the hut's inhabitants -- if there were any—but at the same time, it seemed to be beckoning him to enter. Finally, he slipped off his geta went inside.
The inside of the hut was fairly quaint, though not as quaint as Jill's shack. The floor was made of wooden planks and there were decorations on the walls. On one wall, there hung three suits of armor and three swords that didn't look much different from the one Jack carried. On another wall, there hung a tapestry that looked strangely like the one Jack's father, The Emperor, had shown him as a boy. He turned away from that tapestry to and noticed that three ancient-looking Yamabushis, or Japanese mountain monks, were meditating in the center of the room. He noticed that each of them wore a small black hat tied on with a white band, which indicated that they were all senior monks who had been studying for years. Jack had never met a Yamabushi before, but having some knowledge of meditation, he knew better than to interrupt them. He instead looked at the walls again, this time noticing two, strangely ornate double doors in the back of the room. He curiously reached for one of the doors' golden handles when a voice called, "Do not open those doors, Samurai."
Jack turned back around and noticed that one of the monks was walking over to him. The samurai clasped his hands together and bowed respectfully, recognizing the man as an elder. "You need not bow to me," the monk said.
"I am sorry," Jack responded, as he straightened up again. "I just thought that I..."
"There is no need for apology, either." The monk stepped closer to Jack and stated, "I know why you have come here. It is because you wish to help a girl you met. Her name is Toshi Okugi, but she calls herself 'Samurai Jill.'"
"That is correct," Jack replied, not even wondering how the Yamabushi knew that.
"Well," the monk said, with a faint sigh, "I am afraid that her situation is going to be difficult to resolve..."
"I know that. And she knows it as well."
"You do not understand!" the monk exclaimed. "My two colleagues and I are immortal. Aku has not tried to change that because he does not know of our existence. We devote ourselves to quiet meditation and study, but we are also trained in the arts of war. Our power is great, but we are not gods. In other words, we are not omniscient." He paused for a moment while Jack wondered what the monk was getting at. "We know of Jill's plight and we know her heart is pure, but we don't know how much of a samurai she really is and we will not craft her a sword until we do. If we are to assist her, she must first endure a test held in the mountain's inner sanctum, which lies behind the doors you were about to open. You could easily find another weaponsmith, but no sword created by mortals will serve her as the weapons we craft."
"What sort of test is it?" Jack asked.
"A difficult one. A painful one. But only she can know the details for she must face it on her own. Your father had to endure the Mountain's Test as well, but Jill's will not be the same as his because they are different people and the test is very personal."
"Is there anything she must do to prepare for the test?"
"There will be combat involved, that much I will say, and the skills she learned from you will help in that regard. However, that is not the entire test. The rest of it cannot be prepared for because it is a matter of what is inside her." The monk smiled and added, "Well, in addition to that she must get here. I'm afraid only so much can be done via dream communication!"
"Then...how is she to get here?"
"If Samurai Jill is to claim her sword, first you must unravel my words," the Yamabushi recited.
"A riddle, I assume," Jack said. "Alright. I am listening."
The monk continued with a poem:
"Seek ye first the Forest's Eyes
In his domain, the mountain lies
Stand next to the Lake of Sacred Dreams
At the end of the winding stream
And tell him what it is you seek
For only he can show you the way .
There is no more that I can say."
Jack just stood there, looking puzzled, and the monk smiled. "Share the vision with Jill. I think she will be able to figure out what the rhyme means. But for now, I bid you farewell. Morning is nearing. I wish you both the best of luck."
Then, the dream faded.
Jack opened his eyes and looked over to Jill again. She was still sound asleep. They'd been waking up early for training for the past few days, so he decided to let her be just once. While the rhyme the Yamabushi had recited was still in his mind, he took a bamboo chute and wrote the words in the mud near the streambed. He hoped Jill would know what it meant and that she was prepared for whatever the monks' test brought her. He had confidence in Jill, but he couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive about what the monks' test involved. Deciding that cleansing himself might calm him some, he bathed in the stream while Jill slept. He'd tell her about the vision when she awoke.