I was watching Princess Mononoke for the umpteenth time, when I finally got the inspiration for writing a fanfic about it. A few days and a couple granola bars, and the result is the page you are viewing right now. I kind of like it, mostly because of the twins and San. Perhaps the latter seems slightly OOC, as in jerk-ish, but maybe you'll tell me that in a review (hint, hint)...? Oh, and I own nothing, everything goes to the brilliant minds over at Studio Ghibli and perhaps the greatest director of all time, Hayao Miyazaki. Akira Kurosawa is a close second. By the way, I received a notice detailing a few similarities between this story and another, Parenthood by Seth's Lover. The parallels are rather eerie, but I didn't copy anything. Anyway, I'm just blabbering on, just forget about me and enjoy.
Forest's Rebirth
Dawn broke, the sun's half-awake rays flooding and bathing the land in a mix of orange, yellow, and red rays of light. And, as the sun rose, so immediately a pair of girls emerged from their cave, laughing and rolling and tumbling around in the grass, mock fighting each other, albeit with a tone of airy happiness.
Fairly soon, their parents emerged from that same cave. "Kaya, Moro," their mother called out. "If you don't stop fighting and get in here this very instant, I'm not going to give you anything for breakfast!"
The twins looked at each other, then began to sprint back into their home, pushing and shoving to get in first. At this point a single mass of flesh and furs, the two rolled onto the rock surface, one on top of the other. They broke apart, stared at each other, then broke out laughing again. Their mother, however, was not amused. "Honestly," she sighed, "I'm getting more gray hairs by the day. If you're so energetic this early in the morning, why don't you two go gather some berries?"
"Yes, mom!" the two answered in unison, running back outside with the agility of wolves, leaping from one rock to the other in the sea of grass, disappearing into the forest beyond and leaving their parents with one of the rare moments of peace and solitude they got after having children.
The man sat on the cave floor, his forearms resting on his knees, sitting in a cross-legged position and smiling. "You know, San, you shouldn't be so hard on them. We were all children once, though the time between varies from person to person."
San looked down at her husband, a mix of playfulness and exasperation playing at her lips. "It's been ten years since the struggle with the Spirit of the Forest, I would've thought that you'd have at least gotten a bit less forgiving. You're still as soft as ever, Ashitaka," she teased, allowing herself to fall back onto the furs on the floor next to him.
"And I thought that you'd have softened up a bit," he retorted, taking his right arm and pulling her close. "Motherhood never did suit you." Not being able to think of a retort, she settled for sighing and snuggling up to him. "If you get so tired with them, then let me handle them once in a while. You can go off and hunt, and I can play Mom."
Whatever San was about to say next was interrupted by the girls bounding in at top speed, almost crashing into each other as they skidded to a halt and crashed down on the blankets, spilling the contents of their package of leaves out into the bowl their father had produced from the corner of the room. "We got those berries," Moro exclaimed happily, her sister nodding in agreement. "Can we eat soon? I'm hungry."
"After all that running around, I'm not surprised," San muttered, inspecting the contents of the bowl. "How many times do I have to say this? The blue ones with white spots are good, but the white ones with blue spots are poisonous."
The girls leaned in for a closer look, staring at the two berries their mother held in her hands. Noticing the difference, Moro spoke up. "You know, Mom, it was all Kaya's fault. I said not to, but she was being stubborn and took them anyway. I had nothing to do with it."
Kaya sat up in indignation. "She's lying! It's the other way around! She took all the berries she could find! Each and every single one! She even took some from the Iron Town bushes!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Alright, alright, break it up, you two. The sooner you stop fighting and help grind those berries, the sooner you can eat," Ashitaka said, waving his hands and laughing. "Do it fast, and you can get an extra helping of deer meat each." The girls' eyes lit up at the prospect of additional food, nearly pouncing at the bowl and viciously attacking the pulp inside. "Whoever crushes the most gets to ride Yakul on our next Iron Town visit," he added. However, this only served to egg the girls on further.
San stepped back so to not get splashed by the wildly flying berry juices, sighing and crossing her arms, raising her lips to Ashitaka's ear. "See, this is exactly what I meant by gray hairs. I love them as much as you do, but, I swear, they're worse than Kohroku during the winter snows."
Ashitaka smiled back and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Trust me, you're not getting that old. In fact, you're as beautiful to me as when we first met."
She twisted her head to look at him, grinning mischievously. "Yes, but I wish you'd start shaving. If motherhood never suited me, the same goes for your facial hair twofold. It really itches whenever you try to kiss me." His grin quickly dissipated.
"Mom, Dad, we're done!" yelled the twins, leaping over to the large slab of rock toward the back of the cave where the little family ate their meals, sitting cross-legged and facing their parents with angelic smiles.
Ashitaka pulled San close, his arm wrapped around her waist. "Well then, shall we eat?" he asked, smiling. She nodded, and the two walked slowly back to the girls. Following a short prayer to the Forest Spirits, they began eating. Moro and Kaya tore at the food ravenously, even fighting over food in midair with their chopsticks, twisting and attacking the other's. San sighed at her children's antics, poking at her bowl's portion, bored and not hungry at all.
Ashitaka set his bowl down, already finished. "So, girls," he said, attempting to start a conversation. "When do you want to visit Iron Town again?"
The twins lit up, then attempted to chew as fast as they could in an effort to answer without spraying mush all over the place, something their mother would undoubtedly ground them for. "Today, today!" they exclaimed, bouncing up and down in their seats. "Aunty Toki said she'd take us to her secret lake next time we came!"
San groaned. "You remember what happened the last time we went?"
Kaya blinked, then frowned. "But Mom, it was only a minor injury, and he recovered in only about a week anyway! I'll be more careful riding him down the cliff this time, I promise! I won't even grip his fur very hard! Wolves don't get hurt that easy, either!"
Moro laughed at this. "Kaya, he must've fallen thirty feet, and he landed so that you wouldn't get hurt on purpose. I'm surprised he isn't limping. If we go to Iron Town again, you're walking."
San broke the argument as it was breaking out, catching both girls' fists in midair. "If we're going to go at all today, we'd best leave now, or we'll be walking home in the dark, and I'm not carrying either of you back while you sleep this time."
The girls jumped up and down, ecstatic. "Thank you, Mom! We won't sleep this time, promise! We'll go pack right now!" They sped off toward the back of the cave, throwing together various sticks and snacks into their leather satchels. Seeing everything fit to go, they raced back out into the sun, waving at their parents to hurry up.
The couple took each other by the hand, following their children outside. The latter raced down the slope, eager to reach the brook where Yakul and the Wolves rested, their parents following casually. Disgruntled howls alerted the two to the ungraceful awakening of one of the wolves, probably at the hands of one of the twins jumping up and down on its hide unceremoniously.
Ashitaka smiled to himself again. Ten years ago, the forest had been ravaged by the inhabitants of the then-ignorant citizens of Iron Town. But, now, everything was at peace. Iron Town was more prosperous as ever. Kaya and Moro were growing up fast, faster than he would've liked. And the forest, the heart of everything, had grown back, just as it always would, no matter what happened, nourishing the various animals, providing a home for his family. The hundreds of Kodama smiling happily down on the family from the treetops high above were testament to that.
He squeezed his wife's hand softly, and she squeezed back.