The Samurai's Companion

Chapter 3: A Dog's Life

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."

-Mark Twain

"..."

There was a long pause of silence after that declaration.

Rothchild was the first one to break the ice. "Jack! I see, that's quite nice! So simple yet it seems to fit, but who am I to comment? Well then, Jack! This is Evelyn Atwood. Evelyn Atwood, this is Jack." He spoke so fast and without taking a breath that Evie could barely squeeze in-

"Please, call me Evie."

Was his name really Jack or did he just come up with that on the spot? Evie couldn't help but wonder. The way he dressed, looked, spoke and behaved was so Japanese that him having a name that wasn't was completely out of left field. But then again... there were three talking dogs sitting right across from her, so perhaps she was overthinking it.

"I hope that this does not come off as an intrusive question, but were you sent into this future by Aku as well?" Jack asked her.

Evie shook her head and shrugged, "no. I just... sort of... accidentally... walked through a portal and ended up being stuck here. Why would Aku send you this realm?" She sat next to Drifus who welcomingly made room for her.

Jack sat down as well. "Because I am the only one who is capable of vanquishing him." That was quite the bold if not arrogant claim. Evie's eyes stopped at Jack's sheathed sword which he had strapped to his hip. His hand was clutching the handle tightly as if itching to act on his words. "I cannot allow for his evil a chance to fester and infect the entire world."

"It feels pretty infected already," Evie gave her two cents. "You can't even see the stars from here."

Angus sighed, "and I'm sure he plans to spread his vileness through the stars as well."

"No!" Jack lifted his head and his eyes were determined. "I must return to my own time so that I might undo Aku's evil reign before it envelops the Earth." He clenched his fist tightly, "this ageless demon must be stopped."

Rothchild practically jumped at those words. "Oh, I'm so glad we agree on that point which actually brings us back to our proposal. You see, we are archaeologists trying to dig up the remains of our ancestors to find out more about our past. It was only a few years ago that we discovered that our ancestors walked upon their legs and their arms!" He spread his arms in example as if to say 'can you believe it?!'

Jack and Evie unintentionally shared a look. This was all just too weird.

"Th-that's incredible!" Evie forced on a smile for the dogs. "You must be quite proud of such a discovery."

"Oh, we certainly are! But..." the smile left Rothchild's face as he grew solemn.

Drifus continued for him, "then, one day, during our excavation, we actually stumbled upon rare jewels."

"And that's bad?" Evie asked, not understanding why.

"Aye," Angus nodded. "These jewels ended up being a key source of power for Aku."

"So he enslaved us to forever dig up his jewels thus stifling our excavation of our glorious past. Which is why we need you!" Rothchild grasped Jack's sleeve pleadingly.

Jack looked down at the dachshund with a troubled frown, "but what can I do?"

"With your tremendous skill, you can break us free from the grasp of Aku! And we can escape in secret to again continue to discover our history."