The Way of the Warrior - Chris Bradford [89]
Realizing Yamato had little strength remaining, Jack had to get him down fast.
‘Let me help you. Take your right foot off…’
‘I can’t…’ said Yamato in a feeble voice.
‘Yes, you can. Just drop your foot and place it on the little ridge below you.’
‘No, I can’t… it’s too far…’
‘No, it’s not. Trust me, you can do this.’
‘What do you care anyway? You stole my father!’ said Yamato viciously, the swiftness of his anger breaking his paralysis.
‘Stole your father?’ said Jack, bewildered.
‘Yes, you! Before you came, everything was all right. Father was finally beginning to accept me. I was no longer in Tenno’s shadow. Then you stole him –’
‘I didn’t steal your father. He adopted me! It wasn’t as if I had a choice.’
‘Yes, you did. You could have died with the rest of your crew!’ said Yamato with unbridled hatred.
‘Well, you would have been killed by that ninja if it wasn’t for me!’ retaliated Jack.
‘That’s exactly what I’m talking about. I could have died a honourable death like my brother. But you went and saved me! I lost face because of you!’
‘You Japanese and your sense of pride!’ shouted Jack in frustration. ‘What is it with your “face”? I saved your life. We were… friends. If I’d wanted Masamoto for a father, I could have let you die then. I don’t want your father. I want my father, but he’s dead!’
‘Well, maybe I should be dead too!’ said Yamato grimly, looking to the submerged rocks below him. ‘You have the sword. The glory is all yours. My father will never recognize me now. I’ve betrayed him. Whether you want Masamoto to be your father or not, he is yours!’
With that, Yamato jumped.
39
THE APOLOGY
‘No!’ screamed Jack, snatching for him, but Yamato disappeared into the white swirling curtain of the waterfall.
Jack scrambled down the rock face and leapt back on to the butai. He pushed past several pilgrims who had gathered on the wooden deck and were intrigued by what was happening.
‘Can anyone see him?’ demanded Jack, peering over the rail and into the churning waters below.
‘No. He went under the waterfall. He hasn’t come up yet,’ said one of the pilgrims, eyeing Jack suspiciously.
‘He’s probably hit the rocks,’ said another.
Several more people emerged from the Hondo and ran over to look.
‘Hold on, there he is!’ shouted a pilgrim, pointing to the rocky pool.
Yamato briefly surfaced, gasping for air, then was immediately caught in the current and sucked back under.
‘Hey, that boy has our Jade Sword!’ cried one of the monks emerging from the Hondo’s inner sanctum. ‘Seize him!’
Jack glanced over the edge. He judged the butai was at least as high as the yardarm on the Alexandra, but he had seen sailors fall from greater heights into the ocean and survive. Could he make it?
‘Stop him! He has the sword!’ urged the monk.
Without deliberating any further, Jack leapt from the butai.
The air rushed past and, for a brief moment, Jack felt weightless, almost at peace. He caught a glimpse of Kyoto through the mist before plunging into the freezing waters.
The impact knocked the breath clean out of him and he swallowed large mouthfuls of water. Kicking hard against the weight of the sword, he broke the surface and retched several times before regaining his composure.
Jack looked around for Yamato, but he was nowhere to be seen. Taking several lungfuls of air, Jack dived under the swirling waters.
He swam towards the waterfall but still couldn’t see any sign of Yamato. Rocks loomed out of the murky waters and eddies pulled at Jack, threatening to hold him under forever.
His lungs reached bursting point and he was about to head back to the surface when something smooth brushed against his hand. Blindly, he grabbed for it, dragging the object towards him. He got an arm round the dead weight and kicked with both his legs, driving them both upwards.
Jack and Yamato broke the surface as one, only to be carried over the lip of the rock basin and down the gorge with the raging river.
Jack could hear people shouting as he tried