When they once again entered the main room of the temple, it had been cleared of all villagers. A large straw rug had been dragged in and unrolled across the floor. Daniel's eyes fell upon Senichi, who was standing barefoot and shirtless on the mat before the dais.
The archaeologist approached the mat, shucking his jacket and pulling off his shirt. He toed off his shoes and pulled off his socks, bowing once to the goddess before stepping on to the mat. One of the samurai approached him with a sword, and Daniel grasped the hilt of the katana, lifting it slowly. The blade was much sharper than his own, and it had clearly been well cared-for. It was also slightly lighter than the blade he practiced with. The katana he owned on Earth had been weighted to help him build muscle.
Sam, Jack and Teal'c were led by the guards to one side of the room, where they would be kept under watch for the duration of the fight.
Senichi turned to Daniel, and called in a low voice which nevertheless carried through the room, "I give you time to prepare yourself."
Daniel bowed, and moved to the far side of the room, out of sight of his friends and the guards. There, he carefully stretched out his muscles. Then, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, he began to work through the first kata, slowly and efficiently. As he fell into the rhythm of the movement, he felt his anxiety slipping away, his focus centering only on himself and his weapon, the feel of the rippled blue steel in his hands. He sped up through the second kata, and then stopped.
Taking a breath, he opened his eyes and breathed deeply, slowing his heart. Moving out from behind the pillar, he focused on Senichi, catching the other man's eye. The two men moved to the middle of the mat, and stood side by side in front of the priestess. As one, they bowed to her, and to the golden statue. Turning, they bowed to each other.
They moved apart, backing away, and each assumed a particular ready stance. Daniel stood confidently; feet securely planted and weapon at the ready.
The priestess shouted, sharp and short. "Hai!"
Senichi immediately lunged forward, and Daniel turned out of the way, flicking his blade out to catch the priest's side-cut, aimed for his abdomen. He pulled away and swiftly attacked, his slashing movement deflected slightly by Senichi with a skilled motion.
They moved back and forth across the mat, exchanging cuts and slashes, deflections and parries in a dizzying blur of honed steel.
He jumped back from a trap, but not quickly enough. Senichi had set up a clever attack, disguised within small motions of the blade. He felt a sharp sting across his abdomen, and knew that a thin line had been cut in his skin. The priest drew first blood.
Daniel felt his focus narrow. His world consisted of nothing. The only noise was that of the air within his lungs. The only thing he saw was his opponent. All he could feel was his body, responding effortlessly to the demands of the fight.
Back and forth, forth and back. He pushed forward relentlessly, searching for an opening. Cut, cut, cut, feint - there it was! Daniel thrust the tip of his blade forward, even as Senichi angled out of the way. They were both bleeding now.
Disengaging, feeling the breath whooshing in and out of his lungs, Daniel quickly moved back. He and Senichi each circled warily, regaining their breath for a moment. Daniel was the first to recover, and the archaeologist jumped forward in a complex attack, his mind fixed upon the movements of Senichi's blade.
Without a conscious thought or decision, Daniel made a sacrifice move. Even as he felt Senichi's blade bite deeply into his upper left arm, he closed with the priest and twisted his blade up and out.
Senichi's bloodstained weapon flew from his hand to embed deeply into one of the interior wooden columns. Daniel's blade was a mere inch from his throat.
The fight was not yet over. Daniel gazed deeply into Senichi's face, and the priest nodded slightly. In one swift, strong move, Daniel slashed his blade, severing the priest's head from his body.
He jumped back as Senichi's corpse dropped to the ground, feeling the warmth of blood on his face and chest. Swallowing down bile, Daniel moved to the priestess and sank to his knees in front of her, bowing his head. He placed the blood-spattered katana at the foot of the dais.
Sound returned to him, yet the only noise in the shocked silence was his own harsh panting. Despite the distortion of time he had felt, the fight had not lasted long. Daniel closed his eyes, waiting for the priestess' pronouncement.
After several moments, her voice carried through the still air. "You walk the path of Bushido, and in the name of honor, have fought and bled for the right to the lives of your companions. In this you have prevailed, and I entrust their care to you."
Daniel looked up, then stood shakily and bowed. A samurai approached him, holding Senichi's weapon; still smeared crimson with the archaeologist's own blood. The man knelt, extending the sword over his head to Daniel on open palms. Daniel respectfully picked up the weapon, and bowed once more to the priestess.
Then he turned to his friends, walking over to where they were sitting. The guards bowed to him, and departed.
Daniel looked at the three sitting before him. Sam's amazement was palpable, concern for him shining out of her eyes. Teal'c, as ever, was inscrutable, but Daniel thought he could detect a hint of approval in the Jaffa's stoic visage. Jack . . . . Jack's incredulous look of open-mouthed astonishment might have been hilarious if Daniel hadn't been dizzily wondering if his risky move had severed an artery.
He took a deep breath, then another, calming his racing heart. "Daniel Jackson?" inquired Teal'c carefully.
Daniel nodded. "I'm okay," he croaked, slumping to his butt. The sword dropped from nerveless fingers as he put his head between his knees, trying his hardest not to throw up.
Someone - Sam, probably, was rubbing his back comfortingly. Daniel heard the noise of a guard approaching, Jack snapping at him, and then there was a sharp sting in his arm. Daniel jerked away, and then heard Teal'c murmur reassuringly, "We are simply dressing your wound, Daniel Jackson."
He nodded against his knees, feeling a bandage being tightly wound against the deep cut.
"Daniel, are you hurt anywhere else?"
Jack. Jack wanted to know if he was cut anywhere. Daniel raised his head and moved back to brace himself against the wall. His teammates were in a half-circle around him, and it appeared that all their belongings had been returned to them. An open first-aid kit sat on the ground between Sam and Teal'c. There was also a bowl of water and a cloth.
Daniel reached for the bowl, ignoring all else. Squeezing the cloth, he wiped his face, grimacing at the ruby stains that appeared on the white material. Dunking the fabric once more in the water, he mopped off his torso.
Clean of Senichi's blood, the only other wound revealed was the thin cut just above his beltline, which Sam dabbed with antiseptic. Daniel hissed out a breath at the stinging, and picked up his shirt. The cut was shallow enough to leave open, but without knowledge of the bacterial toxins of P5Y-362, Sam insisted on bandaging it.
"We're free to go?" Jack asked, the first thing he'd been able to say since Daniel began to fight. The archaeologist nodded. "Then let's get the hell out of Dodge before something else happens."
Daniel pulled on his shoes, socks, shirt and jacket as the rest of SG-1 painstakingly pulled on their vests.
Arming themselves, they stood looking sidelong at their packs, before Jack briskly picked his up and said, "What're we waiting for? Let's blow this popsicle stand!" They helped one another gently settle the packs onto their abused backs, and Daniel picked up Senichi's sword.
"What do you need that for?" asked Sam, eyeing it warily.
Daniel said lowly, "Everyone who sees it will know the outcome of the judgement, and won't try to stop us."
Jack nodded. "Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card. Let's go, campers!"
They proceeded slowly out of the temple, but were halted by a youth before they could leave the sacred precinct.
He bowed to Daniel, who inclined his head. "I am Kiyoshi," he said quietly. He was no more than fourteen. "The Lady Nozomi, Priestess of Amaterasu, has directed me to lead you back to Izanagi's Eye."
Daniel blinked.
"Say what?" asked Jack.
The boy looked confused. "You told the priestess that you were from south and east of here, from the great stone circle. You called it a - "
"Chappa'ai," Daniel supplied tiredly.
"Yes," the boy nodded. "It is known to our people as Izanagi's Eye. Do you not wish to return?"
"Yes, we do," Daniel replied, before Jack could come out with a snide comment. "We would be most grateful for your guidance."
The boy nodded, and then turned and began to walk, clearly expecting SG-1 to follow.
"Two days on this planet, and we've already gotten into and out of a death sentence," Jack mused. "We might even make it back on time. That's gotta be some kind of record."
"Indeed," Teal'c returned. "Although I do believe Sergeant Siler will be displeased. He placed a substantial amount of money on the belief that this mission would extend to a week's time."
Jack chortled, and Sam grinned. The running pool hadn't put any faith in the recent trend of milk-run missions that SG-1 had pulled. Many of those who bet on some of the more outrageous occurrences insisted that this streak of monotony was a fluke, and couldn't last long. Knowing SG-1, Daniel thought wryly, they were right. Kiyoshi glanced back at the bantering comrades, and Daniel saw a look of bemused puzzlement cross over the boy's features. He snorted lightly; SG-1 got that reaction a lot.
The relieved banter continued for several miles, until the weight of the packs pressing on battered flesh caused the discomfort to escalate. Silence, broken only by the occasional pained grunt, prevailed.
It was mid-afternoon when they set out, and by nightfall they had covered nearly seven miles. When Daniel asked Kiyoshi the distance to the 'gate, he was assured that they would not travel as far as they had en route to Hokkaido. There had been as near as Daniel could figure it, almost a twelve-mile detour from the Cave of Amaterasu that would be cut out of this journey. The village of Hokkaido itself was roughly twenty-three miles from the 'gate.
Jack insisted on maintaining their pace, once Kiyoshi assured them that there were no nocturnal predators that would pose a threat to them should they neglect to camp in a secure area with a fire.
The miles passed slowly, each member of SG-1 locked into his or her own thoughts. By the time dawn pinked the horizon, they were all dragging, their movements sluggish with pain and exhaustion, coupled with a slight lack of food and water.
Seeing Teal'c chewing, Daniel belatedly remembered his own stash of power bars, and pulled one out. Seeing the curiosity on Kiyoshi's face, he offered the boy a bite. The youth gobbled it down in delight, sweet foods being a rare commodity for most people, available only to the wealthy.
Trying not to think about the distance they still had to go, Daniel blanked his mind, relying on instinct to alert him if anything was amiss. The sun was high in the sky when they sighted the 'gate, and Daniel smiled in relief.
"Kiyoshi," he called, attracting the boy's attention from where he was eagerly questioning Teal'c. With the rising of the sun the boy's wariness had melted away, and he was tenaciously questioning SG-1 about everything. Despite their ragged state, the team indulged him, Jack even ruffling his hair before kindly telling him to "get lost".
The youth trotted over to him, and bowed. Daniel sighed. He hadn't been able to get the boy to drop the formality with him, though Kiyoshi seemed comfortable with the other members of the team. "Thank you for leading us to Izanagi's Eye," he said softly. "From here, our journey will be far. You may return to your village and assure Lady Nozomi that we have returned to our lands."
The boy nodded, calling a farewell to Teal'c, who smiled and inclined his head. Without looking back, Kiyoshi trotted off the way they had come, and Daniel heaved a sigh. One less problem to worry about.
Feeling a tension headache rising as he contemplated the upcoming debriefing, Daniel rubbed his temple and followed the rest of the team, who were already down on the plain and making their way toward the Stargate.
Less than an hour later they had reached the DHD, and as he dialed home Daniel felt apprehension weighing him down. Placing his hand over the activation crystal, he moved punched in the IDC and waited until all his team had preceded him through the gate. Taking one last look around, Daniel straightened his shoulders and stepped through the wormhole.
- - - - - - - - - - -
(grins mischievously) I honestly had no idea that the last chapter ended on a cliffhanger of sorts - no, really, I didn't! I hope you enjoyed the fight - it was really hard to get through, surprisingly. Thanks and candy to all who reviewed!