Jack drifts downstream, unconscious and bleeding badly. He's swept over a waterfall and finally wakes up, and swims to the surface. Using a log as a float, he drifts onward. Jack hallucinates a frog warning him that they're coming. He tries to kick forward but passes out.
That night, Jack wakes up standing on the shore. He realizes that the Daughter's knife is still in his chest, and staggers into the forest. Hallucinating, Jack sees the dark warrior following him and continues on. He finally seeks refuge in a cave and pulls the knife out. Jack passes out from the pain and collapses.
Later, Jack hallucinates his demonic past self telling him that he's survived worse. He figures that Jack is shocked over the first human being that he's killed, and asks if Jack can kill the other Daughters when they find him. he wonders if Jack wants the Daughters to kill him, and Jack insists that it isn't.
The next day, Jack wakes up when he hears footsteps approaching. He holds up the knife and prepares to attack... and the blood-covered wolf enters the cave. Jack stares at the creature and then passes out. He dreams of himself as a child playing in the carriage as his parents look on. Warriors kill the guards and call the Emperor out, and the Emperor goes to face them. Jack watches through the door as he tells the warriors to leave and survive or stay and face their destiny. The Emperor kills them all, leaving Jack's face covered in blood.
Jack wakes up and uses a twig to stitch his wound cut. The wolf comes over with a dead bird and the two fighters eat, sharing their food. Jack applies a poultice to his wound, and the wolf licks at the wound to clean it and then licks its own wounds. Jack tosses water on the wolf's wound, but it barks at him. The fire goes out and Jack shivers with the cold. When he wakes up later, he finds the wolf curled around him and the samurai goes to sleep.
The next day, Jack sits outside the cave. His wound and the wolf's have healed. Satisfied, the wolf leaves.
In the past, the Emperor cleans the blood from young Jack's face. They both glance at the Emperor's blood-covered sword, and the Emperor tells Jack that the actions he takes are a reflection of who he is and he can't hide from himself.
Jack remembers his father's lesson and stands up to face the world.
The six Daughters smash out of the ruined temple and bringing out their dead comrade with them. They remember the High Priestess' teachings that death are failure and leave her corpse in the dirt. They dive into the river and swim downstream after Jack. The Daughters find his trail of blood and follow the river. The women finally camp for the night and one of them climbs into a tree to stand watch. The next day, the Daughters continue on following the blood traces. They go ashore and approach the cave, and are surprised when they see a deer for the first time. A buck approaches the deer and the Daughters assume from its Aku-like antlers that it's one of Aku's servants. The two animals rub noses and the Daughters have no idea what the animals are doing.
Finding more blood, the Daughters realize that they're close and draw their weapons. Jack addresses them from the shadows, echoing his father's words and saying that they have chosen their path and now they must either leave or stay and face their destiny. One Daughter says that their destiny is his death, and tell him to show himself. Jack repeats what he said and warns that their actions are a reflection of who they really are.
The snow falls and Jack kills one of the Daughters. Ducking in and out of the snow, Jack kills another Daughter and runs off. The other four chase him and he turns to face them. They attack and he faces all four of them, avoiding their attacks and killing another one and taking her club. The three remaining ones attack as one and Jack barely deflects their attacks. Wounded, he smashes them apart and continues fighting until he's exhausted. He runs, maintaining his guard, and leaps across the trees.
Finally there's nowhere for Jack to run as he comes to the end of a branch. He tosses away the club and prepares to fight bare-handed. One Daughter charges and Jack tosses her off the branch. The next one comes at him and he knocks her off with a single blow. The last Daughter, Ashi, throws her chain and Jack catches it. She swings at him and kicks him off the branch, and they both fall off. The chain wraps around the branch and they swing at each other. Jack finally kicks her mask off and swings up to the branch. The Daughter vows that she will kill Jack eventually and promises that Jack will die. Jack releases the chain and the Daughter falls to her death. The branch breaks and Jack falls into the void.
Written by Gadfly on Mar 26, 2017