Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Princess Mononoke or it's characters.
Chapter 1: Exile
In ancient times, the land lay covered in forests, where from ages long past, dwelt the spirits of the Gods. Back then, man and beast lived in harmony. But as time went by, most of the Great Forests were destroyed. Those that remained were guarded by gigantic beasts, who owed their allegiance to the Great Forest Spirit. For those were the days of Gods, and of Demons.
In lands far to the east of the forest, there was a small but peaceful village. Its inhabitants lived off the land and coexisted peacefully with the forest. On one fateful day that would change a young man's life forever, something evil crawled through the forest, slowly making its way to the village. Not far away, a boy of 17 years of age rode on a beautiful red elk through a series of trenches with a sense of urgency. His name was Ashitaka, and his elk's name was Yakuul. Ashitaka had a fair complexion, blue robes, and his hair tied back in a bun. His bun announced the fact that he was a prince. He encouraged his elk to go faster, and in a matter of minutes he encountered three little girls. They were his sister, Kaya, and her two friends. From his mount, he spoke to them.
"Girls! There's something strange going on. You have to hurry; the Wise Woman wants everybody back to the village at once."
Kaya had something to tell Ashitaka too. "We just came from Jousan. He saw something wrong in the forest."
The other girls chimed in. "The birds are all gone, and so are the animals!"
"I'll go to the watch tower and check with Jousan." replied Ashitaka. "Now you three hurry back home, and be quick about it!"
The girls nodded and ran off. Yakuul galloped with Ashitaka towards a tall watchtower that spiraled into the sky. Quickly dismounting, he bounded up the ladder that led to the top, leaving Yakuul at the base of the tower. Half way up the ladder, he saw a patch of blackness at one spot where his village met the forest. "Something's there…" he mused. He finished his climb and stood at the top, next to a old man. "Jousan, did you see it too?" he inured.
Jousan nodded. "I did. It isn't human." He said gravely. Bellow them, Yakuul suddenly froze and looked at the forest. Then Jousan quickly turned his head and pointed a finger. "Look!" Ashitaka turned. A mass of despicable, writhing black tentacles had charged from inside the forest. It had glowing red eyes, and its tentacles formed legs that it used to propel itself toward the watchtower. Wherever it moved, the grass and trees died in its wake. "It's some kind of Demon!" Jousan exclaimed.
"A Demon?!" muttered Ashitaka, shocked. As Ashitaka was an excellent marksman, he quickly grabbed the bow he always carried and notched an arrow. Suddenly the Demon stopped. A sea of tentacles rose into the air, revealing a giant boar that howled in rage and pain. Then the mass of tentacles descended back upon the boar, and in resumed its charge towards the tower. Below, Yakuul was paralyzed with fright. "Run, Yakuul, run!" When that didn't spur the animal into action, Ashitaka fired a arrow into a post next to the elk, spooking him. Finally Yakuul ran just as the Demon boar slammed into the tower, toppling it. Just in time, Ashitaka grabbed Jousan and leaped off the tower and into the forest, saving both of their lives. After the tower was destroyed, the Demon turned and ran towards the village.
Ashitaka saw that, and he ran after it. Behind him Jousan called out to him. "Prince Ashitaka! Wait! Be careful, that thing is cursed, don't let it touch you!" Upon reaching the spot where the watchtower used to be, Ashitaka whistled for Yakuul. When he arrived, Ashitaka mounted him and chased after the Demon.
By going through the woods, Ashitaka was able to flank the Demon. As it blindly charged towards his village, he managed to pull ahead of it, and he hoped to convince it to go away. "Calm your fury, oh might Lord, whatever you may be, God or Demon, please leave us in peace!"
But even as he was saying these words, the Demon stopped in its tracks and turned around. It had spotted Kaya and her friends. With a roar, it charged at them. Seeing this, Ashitaka urged Yakuul to go faster and pulled ahead of the Demon boar. "Go back! Please, leave our village alone! Stop, please! STOP!" he pleaded. But the Demon continued charging the three girls. To make matters worse, one of Kaya's friends tripped and fell. Kaya stopped to help her friend, and then saw how close the Demon was. Knowing she could not outrun it without leaving her friend, she pulled out a small sword in a futile attempt to defend herself.
Ashitaka had no choice. He pulled up right in front of the Demon and shot it point-blank in the eye with his arrow. The Demon squealed and stopped, charging, and then started pulsating. Before Ashitaka co away, tendrils shot away from the Demon and towards Ashitaka. While Yakuul was fast, Ashitaka could not get far enough away from the Demon. A tendril rapped around his arm, burning it. Crying out in pain, Ashitaka managed to get far enough away from the Demon that the tentacle lost its grip on him. As he turned Yakuul around he notched another arrow. When he looked at the Demon, it was mostly in the shape of the boar, and it looked back at him. Ashitaka fired his arrow straight into its already wounded eye. It stood upright for a moment, than fell down with a enormous crashing sound, and lay there dead. Ashitaka dismounted Yakuul and fell to his knees. The arm that had been touched burned, and it was the most painful sensation he had ever had. Kaya rushed over to him, but just then the Wise Women appeared. "You must keep away from him, all of you. Everyone stay back! That wound is evil. Kaya, pour this on his wound." She said, handing Kaya a jug of holy water. His wound was so hot that the water turned into steam when it hit is arm. The Wise Women walked over to the dead boar Demon, and spoke to it.
"Oh nameless God of Rage and Hate, I bow before you. A mound will be raised and funeral rights performed on this ground where you have fallen. Pass on in peace and bear us no hatred." She bowed to the corpse. Somehow, the dead boar managed to snarl back at her. "Disgusting little creatures. Soon all of you will feel my hate, and suffer as I have suffered …" with that, the skin and muscle melted off the boar, leaving only a skeleton and a mass of evil fluid mixed with blood.
--
That night, a meeting was held with the elders and council members of the tribe, the Wise Women, and Prince Ashitaka. The Wise Women spread out a variety of stones and took readings from them. Then she turned to Ashitaka.
"I'm afraid this is very bad. The stones tell me the boar God came from far to the West. He had some kind of poison inside him, driving him mad. A poisonous hatred that consumed his heart and flesh and turned him into a Demon monster. Prince Ashitaka. Show everyone your right arm."
Ashitaka proceeded to take off the covering that bound his right arm, and what was there shocked everyone. A jagged black and purple mark encircled, climbing almost all the way to his hand.
The people in the room gasped. "What's it mean?" asked one of them.
The Wise Woman turned back to Ashitaka. "My Prince, are you prepared to learn what fate the stones have foretold you?"
Ashitaka nodded: "Yes. I was prepared the very moment that I let my arrow fly."
She nodded back at him. "The infection will spread thought your whole body, bone and flesh alike. It will cause you great pain, then kill you."
One of the council members spoke angrily. "The prince got that wound from defending our village! Do we just sit here and watch him die?"
The Wise Woman spoke again to Ashitaka. "You can not alter your fate, my Prince. However you can rise to meet it if you choose. Look at this." From a pocket she withdrew a circular mound of iron. "This iron ball was found in the boar's body." She continued. "This is what hurt him so. It shattered his bones and burned it's way deep inside him. This is what turned him into a Demon. There is evil at work in the land to the West, Prince Ashitaka. It's your fate to go there and see what you can see with eyes unclouded by hate. You may find a way to life the curse. You understand?
Ashitaka answered. "Yes."
One of the elders spoke. "We are the last of the Emishi. It has been 500 hundred years since the Emperor destroyed our tribe and drove the remnants out our people to the East. Some managed to survive all these years, but the blood of our tribe has grown thinner and weaker with each generation. Now our last Prince must cur his hair and leave us, never to return? Sometimes I think the Gods are laughing at us."
Ashitaka took a knife from his belt and cut the bun of hair off. He gently placed it on an alter.
The Wise Woman spoke one last time. "Our laws forbid us from watching you go, Ashitaka. Whatever comes to pass now, you are dead to us, forever. . . . Farewell."
With that, Ashitaka slowly got up and walked away from the council.
--
After Ashitaka left the council room, he put on a hood and straw jacket. In the middle of the night, he took Yakuul from his stall and prepared to leave his beloved village. Before he could go, a little girl ran up to him. "Kaya, what are you doing here? You know its forbidden." he said.
Kaya rolled her eyes. "Do you think I care about that? I came to give you this so you won't forget your little sister." Ashitaka looked at what she was holding up to him. It was a small dagger on a string that reflected whatever light it could catch in a beautiful manner.
"Your crystal dagger. Kaya, I can't take this."
"Please keep it with you, brother, to protect you." Kaya begged. "You must take it with you, please, I want you to have it so you won't . . . forget."
Ashitaka took the dagger and smiled at his sister. "Kaya, you know I could never forget you." And with that, Ashitaka left the Emishi village never to return.
--
For days Ashitaka and Yakuul traveled to the west, past uneventful valleys and plains. On the third day of journey, though, they cam across a village that was in flames. From far a way Ashitaka wondered, a battle?" As he drew closer, he could see that hundreds of samurai were slaughtering civilians, chasing them down even if they were not fighting. Ashitaka gasped. "No…a massacre."
Suddenly a group of Samurai spotted him.
"It's a warrior!" Ashitaka urged Yakuul into a gallop, and just barley dodged a hail of arrows. As he ran, he saw a Samurai about to stab a helpless woman. He put a arrow in his bow and shouted to the samurai. "You! Stop!" But the samurai did not listen to him. He felt anger welling up inside him. How could these people murder innocent, unarmed people? As he prepared to fire on the samurai, his cursed arm started bulging. My arm. What's happening to me? he wondered. As he let his arrow fly, it hit the samurai's arm and with unnatural strength pulled them off, sticking both of the arms to a tree. As he was trying to make his escape, a pair of samurai on horses saw him.
"Stop him! Hurry! Stop him before he gets away!"
Ashitaka put another arrow in his bow. "Let me pass! I'm warning you!" But obviously they paid no heed to his words, for a pair of arrows whistled past his head. As he let loose his arrow, his right arm bulged painfully again. This time, the arrow that he sot hit one of the samurai in the head, decapitating him. As Ashitaka disappeared into the forest, the other samurai stopped and looked at his headless comrade. "A Demon!" he muttered.
After the battle, Ashitaka went to a small river. He dismounted from Yakuul and took of the bandages from his right arm so he could wash it. As he looked at it, he noticed that the demon mark was getting bigger.