The Samurai's Companion

Chapter 7: To The Stars

"Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the Universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up."

– Stephen Hawking

Jack and Evie walked several days and yet the forest seemed to have no end. Evie wasn't an outdoorswoman. At first, it was a fun experience, getting to camp beneath the stars and listening to the peaceful sounds of nature. But it didn't take long for Evie to wish for a roof over her head and a nice soft warm bed for her to sink into. Oh, and actual plumbing! The young woman was desperate for a proper toilet!

Evie scratched at the mosquito bites that covered her neck and hands. She enviously glared at Jack, who the mosquitos conveniently seemed to ignore in favor of her. He looked perfectly at ease in the forest, as if this was something that he did everyday.

The blonde young woman did her best to not complain, because honestly- what good would it do? But occasionally she would let out a sigh or two when they have been walking for a particularly long time or a frustrated whine when they had to find a way across a ravine.

Once again, it was rather difficult to strike up a conversation with Jack and to be honest, it started to bother Evie. She understood that he was a man of a few words, but considering that he was her only sole companion during this journey- it made the adventure rather dull.

"Hey Jack, we should talk about something," Evie tried one evening as they camped around a fire.

Jack rotated a chunk of wild boar meat on a spit over the flames. He looked up at Evie and said, "Very well. What do you want to talk about?"

"I-...I'm not sure."

Crickets chirped as the awkward silence filled the air.

Evie began to sweat as Jack silently turned the rod. Good grief, did she have to be the one who always came up with a topic? Usually when she did, it ended up becoming a one sided conversation about her touring Japan and her failures in ballet class when she was a young girl. Both were subjects that Jack had very little to comment on. "Umm... what do you like to talk about?"

Jack considered her question before saying, "anything that you want to talk about is fine."

Evie was half tempted to faceplant into the ground. "That's... very kind of you, Jack- but I think that the things that I like to talk about are probably things that you don't understand most of the time."

Jack looked sheepish and kept his eyes trained on the fire. "Forgive me. Ever since I was a young boy, I have traveled all across the world and was trained in combat from different masters. I have always been surrounded by other men and have little experience with conversing with a lady." He pinched at the meat, checking if it was ready.

"Oh," Evie looked down at her folded hands, her fingers playing over her knuckles. This made things much more clear as to why Jack was so difficult to talk to. He didn't know how to speak to her. "Well, that's alright. I'm not that much of a lady. Besides if you'd like, I would love to hear about how you traveled the world. Where did you go? Seeing how skilled you are, you must have learned a lot!"

Jack smiled at Evie and the ice between them began to melt. He told her about how Aku had escaped from the seal that his father had placed years ago. He told her about how his mother had grabbed him as a child and took him out to sea where he was placed on a merchant's ship.