A Samurai Jack Fanfic
By Laura McDaniel
Ichi, Ni, and San
"We do live on the mountain," one of the monks replied, somehow overhearing her even though she'd whispered. "Just not quite in the way you're expecting. You'll see soon enough."
Jill stopped in her tracks turned to Jack somewhat apprehensively, not sure what to make of the power the monks obviously possessed.
"Do not be afraid," another one of the monks said. "We shall not harm you."
Jill looked ahead again and continued up the path. Once she arrived to the spot where the monks were standing, she bowed respectfully, but remained silent.
"We are grateful you were able to make it," the third monk said. "We were uncertain if you would arrive, even after we sent Jack the invitation."
"Well, I'm here," Jill said, smiling nervously. She looked around the area and asked, "But just where is here?"
"I cannot really tell you that," the first monk replied.
"Is it in the forest?"
"Not really. That is just where we chose for it to appear when we made Obuza-ba-kō our gatekeeper. Its real location is far beyond here, but nobody can see it even there," the second monk said.
"So...am I really at the mountain, then?"
"Yes. It's just not in the forest," the third monk answered.
"Oh," Jill blinked.
"At any rate," the first monk said, "my name is Ichi and my colleagues are named Ni and San."
"What creative names!" Jill whispered
to Jack, who gently nudged her, indicating she should be quiet. Smiling
only slightly, Jill turned back to the monks and said, "So tell me, when
can I begin this test you have arranged?"
"As soon as we give you the tour of the mountain's inner sanctum,"
Ni said.
"Come, let's go inside," San stated while he pushed open the hut's
thin door and held it open. All three of the monks stood by and let Jack
and Jill enter before them. Then, they entered in their usual order: Ichi
first, followed by Ni, and at last, San.
Having seen the hut's interior before, Jack didn't look around
much, but Jill did. The tapestry of the monks forging Jack's sword quickly
caught her eye. "Is that your father, Jack?" she asked.
"Yes, it is," Jack answered. "In fact, I'm fairly certain that
it's the same tapestry that hung in the palace when I was a boy. I just
don't know how it reached the Yamabushis' hands." He turned to the monks,
waiting for an explanation.
"Ah," Ichi said, as he walked up to Jack and Jill, "that is indeed
the same tapestry."
"We salvaged it from the palace before it was completely destroyed,"
Ni added.
"It was when Obuza-ba-kō was just a small dragon. He bravely flew
in and distracted Aku while we took what of the tapestry we could," San
continued.
"But, Aku saw the creature and swatted him like a fly."
"The dragon fell to the ground, and when went to heal him, that
is when Aku spotted us." but Aku spotted us."
"Not wasting any time, we made ourselves invisible and magically
transported the Obuza-ba-kō to our mountain where we healed him," San
completed.
Listening to the three monks take turns telling the story confused
Jill, but Jack understood perfectly. "I thank you saving the tapestry.
It is a good reminder of my past and the purpose of my quest."
"I just wish we could have done more," Ichi said with a sigh. "We
never had much power, but Aku's rise made us even more powerless than
before."
"These days, there is little we can do, " Ni sighed. "We mainly
just hide here and hope Aku doesn't somehow find out where we are."
"Yes!" San exclaimed. "Just imagine what would happen if he learned
just how we craft weapons similar to the ones that Jack wields."
"Speaking of weapons," Jill said, anxiously tapping her bamboo
chute on the ground next to her.
"Ah, yes," Ichi said, "the test! My goodness, I think after living
all these centuries, I'm becoming forgetful!"
"Sorry to rush you. I'm just a bit eager to get this over with."
"Hmm...you're eager? That's not the first emotion I'd expect somebody
about to undergo a difficult test to feel!"
"Well, I'm not eager in the sense that I'm excited," Jill explained,
"it's just that I feel it is my duty to take this test and earn a sword."
"Hmm...a strong sense of duty, then, is it?" He then turned to
the other two monks and commanded, "Ni, make note of that! San, open
the door! It's time we went to the Inner Sanctum!"
Ni quickly produced a parchment scroll and a quill pen from nowhere.
While he took note of Jill's strong sense of duty, San opened one of
the ornately decorated doors Jack had wanted to open before.
"May I go in this time?" Jack asked.
"Yes," Ichi replied. "Well...at least upstairs to the forge. You
still can't go where Jill must go. Not even my colleagues and I can
go in there!"
Jill cringed slightly at how ominous that sounded, but she made
certain that it wasn't noticeable to Jack or the Yamabushis. "OK, let's
go." She slowly stepped inside the door, and Jack followed close behind.
Ichi, Ni, and San went in after them.
The area behind the door looked like the interior of a massive
cave. It was only lit by a pair of torches, one on either side of the
door they had just come through. On the left side of the room, across
the hall from the door, a rickety, spiral staircase made out of wood
wound upward. It went on for so long that the top was not visible from
where they stood. On the left side of the room, there was another set of
ornate double doors, and across from them was another set of doors.
"That," Ichi explained, pointing to the doors in front of them,
"is the entrance to the Chamber of Trials, which is where Jill will endure
the test. The doors on the other side are where she will eventually leave
the Chamber once she completes it. I'll explain more about the actual test
once I show you the forge. Now, up the stairs."
Jack and Jill proceeded up the stairs, followed by the monks. After
climbing up them for a few minutes, Ichi sighed impatiently, "Oh, enough
of this. We hardly take the stairs, anyway." He waved a hand, and then
a cloud appeared right there on the stair well. Ichi, Ni, and San promptly
sat on it. Deciding to follow the monks' lead, Jack and Jill sat on the
cloud as well. "Off we go!" Ichi declared, and then the cloud started carrying
them to the top of the stairs.
"Being immortal has so many perks!" Ni commented.
"You guys ever heard of escalators?" Jill asked.
"Yes, but this is so much more fun!" San declared. "Besides, we
like to live only by natural means."
Once the cloud had carried the five of them up the stairs, they
were in the monks' forge. Jack and Jill got up and stood by the cloud.
When the monks rose, Ichi clapped his hands and the cloud disappeared. "Now,"
Ichi said, "I need to explain what will be going on up here so you can
understand why the test is so important."
"I'm listening," Jill said.
"Start the fire, Ni," Ichi commanded. "San, start getting our tools
and material together."
Ni promptly walked up to the anvil in the center of the room. Rubbing
two stones of flint together, he created a small spark that he used to
light a fire underneath the anvil. Jill noticed that the smoke appeared
to be exiting from a hole in the ceiling, which, she realized, was actually
a crater in the mountain's peak. San began gathering a wide array of smithing
tools as well as a large piece of some sort of metal that Jill couldn't
identify because it gave off the most unusual glow. Ichi took the metal
from San and showed it to Jill. "You see, even though you will not be able
to receive your sword until after the test is complete, we must start forging
it now because of the nature of its enchantment. Its properties are not
determined simply on how well you completed the test, but how well you
perform during it. This metal reacts to certain aspects of your
overall performance – such as your fighting style, the decisions you make,
and your emotions – to create a unique blade that matches your specific
needs. Anybody else can use your sword, just like you used Jack's to escape
from Aku, but it won't be nearly as powerful in anybody else's hands."
He paused for a moment and added, "Of course, I think that the makeup of
your sword will probably be similar to Jack's because of the way it reacted
to you that time."
"Speaking of Jack's sword," Jill asked, "why didn't he have to
complete the test? And why can he use it so well if it was forged for
his father?"
"A good question!" Ichi responded. "Instead of the test, Jack endured
many years of training before he was allowed to lay his hands on the blade.
Several times during the course of his training, we examined it and made
minor changes to its magical makeup, but never its physical condition.
That was the agreement we made with his parents many years ago."
"Oh," Jill said, nodding. "And, petty as it may sound, I'm wondering
what my sword will look like."
"We really don't determine how the blade will turn out. In fact,
once the metal is melted, it becomes invisible until it cools," Ichi
answered.
"Then, how do you know you're working on it?" Jill asked.
"We can still feel it," Ni answered.
"That's highly unusual..."
"Magic often is!" San responded with a chuckle.
Jill laughed as well. "I guess you're right." Then, she gazed around
the room and asked, "Is that all I need to know here?"
"I believe so," Ichi said, scratching his beard.
"Then, I wish to get started on the test now."
"Very well then," Ichi nodded as he made the cloud appear again,
"I'll take you back downstairs." He turned over to San and Ni and called,
"Start melting the metal. I'm counting on you not to mess up while I'm
gone!" Turning to Jack, he said, "You can come with us to wish us luck
and look at the first stretch of the Chamber of Trials, but after that,
we must take you right back up here."
"I understand," Jack replied. Then, he, Jill, and Ichi sat on the
cloud and floated to the bottom of the stairs.