Whispers of the Forest

Chapter 2: Dream

Author: Kintora

It was nearing twilight when my eyes started drooping again, against the dying sun dipping lower beyond the golden horizon. The cold-fire had long since cooled in my veins, leaving me numb all over. My muscles cramped from riding all day, trying to escape as far away into the west as possible. Aside from all the minor scrapes and bruises I received, the arrow wound in my thigh was reduced to a dull throb. Part of the wooden shaft still protruded from my leg while the arrowhead remained embedded. The flesh around the wound was already red and angry, crusted over in dark, flaking blood.

I rubbed my eyes wearily as I fought to stay awake, nodding wearily on Kiba's back. Once we surpassed the boundaries of our home mountain, I'd urged him to slow down from his breakneck pace. His breathing was also labored, having galloped the whole day with barely any rest in between. I buried my face against his thick, furry neck. Without him, I would've been completely lost and alone.

Kiba was now my only friend left. I didn't know if anyone else escaped the slaughter. My friends, Yukimi and Chizuru… I prayed to the gods that they were still alive - that there were other survivors. And that we would meet again one day.

I didn't let my mind linger on their faces. I couldn't let the grief in yet. I had to find a place for Kiba and I to rest, and then I had to make a plan somehow. Gripping the deerskin pouch around my neck, I tried to remember the wise woman's last words. I know she wanted me to keep it.

My forehead accidentally face-planted against Kiba's thick-furry neck again. I groaned miserably, before forcing myself upright. Kiba snorted, halting in his tracks and I slammed into him once more. This time, I didn't even bother to sit up so I lay sprawled where I was against his back. I was falling asleep anyway.

Kiba sniffed the air and found his way to a tiny fresh spring where he lowered himself to the ground. The daylight had already morphed into stark, vibrant colors, quickly fading against the canvas of the star-studded sky. A blood red sunset, which reminded me of the fire and bloodshed this morning. Wind curled over my back, ruffling my straw cloak and pulling my hair loose. Dark, unruly strands swirled around my head, mingling with the unfamiliar black shadows of the forest surrounding us.

I slid from Kiba's back and huddled against his thick hide for warmth. I didn't dare light a fire in case it drew unwelcome company, even though I knew the night would be punishingly cold. Without shelter, I would not make it without my friend. How many nights would we have to spend like this until…

Suddenly, the face of the person I most longed to see flashed before my closed eyes. I choked, stifling the dry sob clawing its way out from the empty hole I felt inside me.

Ever since Ashitaka chose exile, the village never felt the same again. I remember feeling such anger and betrayal towards the village elders. Their indiscriminate, outdated law regarding exile… Our tribe was likely the last pocket of the Emishi civilization. By adhering to the outdated law protecting our secret survival, disallowing anyone from returning after they've left - our culture would be completely wiped out in a few short years.

And those years were shorter than any of us would have thought, I grimaced as I probed my wound again. Unfortunately, the flesh had swollen enough that I would have to cut the edges and give the arrowhead enough space to come out cleanly. With trembling hands, I freed my stone dagger from its sheath. Holding the hard leather between my teeth, I wedged the tip of the blade into the wound.

Stars exploded behind my eyes, as involuntary tears fell. Teeth clenching around the leather, I began to slowly pry the arrow out. The more my hardened flesh tore, the more my hands shook as I struggled not to blackout. Gripping the broken shaft, I pulled. With a sickening squelch, the arrow came away freely as blood gushed forth. Sweat poured from my feverish skin, chilling me to the bone. My arduous breaths remained erratic as I struggled to contain the pain. Shakily, I managed to cinch a length of scrap burlap over it.

When it was over, I leaned back against Kiba and heaved a sigh. I didn't have any medicinal herbs to take, but hopefully I wouldn't need any. Head spinning, I buried my face into Kiba's coarse fur. Cold, hunger, hurt… Things I had tried to ignore threatened to overwhelm me if it weren't for my exhaustion. But I couldn't help letting a few more tears seep out of the corners of my eyes. Kiba didn't seem to mind though as my breathing grew more choppy and I began to gasp. He just turned his great antlered-head to look at me before settling down again, letting me sob into his side.

I thought of Yuuya and the old woman. My friends. The family I had lost. I had nothing and no one but Kiba now. But there was hope, I told myself. Ashitaka had to be out there, and I was going to find him. Then I was going to find a way to reunite our people. With his help, we could reclaim our land and rebuild our home. Before I knew it, my thoughts quieted and I fell into a deep, dark place where not even the stars existed.

Heart pounding, I sat up in the darkness. I could hear the screams of an unknown woman before she was slaughtered. Beside her lay the little boy's bloody corpse, tear tracks caked down his dusty face. His empty eyes stared limpidly up at the sky, then suddenly his neck twisted and those listless eyes snapped to me. They sunk away until only empty eye sockets remained, and somehow, that hollow, black stare was even more piercing and terrifying than anything I'd ever seen.

Why did you run, princess? He accused through cold motionless lips. Coward! Traitor!

No! I got up and ran from him, shivers up rattling up my spine. There was nothing I could do! The wise woman told me so. The wise woman told me so!

But even then... Even then, if I were completely honest… I felt relief. Relief under all that fear, when I left. As much as I had wanted to help, as much vengeance I wanted to exact - I was relieved when she told me to leave. Relieved I didn't have to die. Not yet.

I had been ready to go down in blood and fire, but when I was given even the smallest shred of hope, I'd grasped it with every fiber and sinew of my being. Hanging on that thread, I felt so much smaller and many times more vulnerable and confused. No matter how hard I ran, my feet touched nothing and the dead boy's empty stare stayed, boring into me. Eating me alive. His cracked, red lips seemed to stretch into a smile.

Terror writhed in my chest like a living thing, wrenching my own cries forth with inexorable force. They mingled with that of the disembodied child and woman, swallowed in the death cries of the other villagers as steel and flame ended their lives.

My head swung to the side, towards the hot air pulsing over my face. Breathe, breathe…

Descending again, I trembled as my feet waded through an icy black stream. I couldn't look down. I had a feeling that if I did, I would sink and drown. And there was nothing to hold onto - all around me was darkness. No stray tree branches. Not a single boulder to cling to should I get swept away, and the water was rising. A hungry current clawed its way up my knees and over my thighs.

Something grabbed my ankle and ripped my footing from under me. As the water swarmed over my head, I floundered trying to right myself. But the more I struggled the more leaden my body became until I could hardly feel anything. The darkness around me stirred, and an enormous set of wickedly sharp teeth flashed. Just before the monstrous, razor tipped incisors could clamp over my body, a light passed over my face. Turning towards the distraction, I could see a man's shadowy face - Ashitaka's face - looming over me in the torchlight. His lips didn't move, but he was telling me something. I'm here, Kaya. I want you to live.

Ani-sama!

Gasping, my eyes flew open and I sat up, my chest heaving. My breaths turned to misty clouds in the crisp morning breeze. Despite the cold, the air was tinged with warmth. Looking to the side, I could see the sun rising, lightening the cool dusky blue with a soft wash of sakura pink. A few stray beams filtered through the low hanging branches, touching my face with gentle fingers.

I wiped the dripping sweat from my chin with the back of my hand. My breath slowly evened out as I came fully awake to inspect my handiwork from the night before. The bleeding had stopped completely, so hopefully my wound would heal in time as long as I took care of it. A glinting light caught my attention, and I picked up the unusually shiny object discarded by my side.

How unusual, I thought inspecting the arrowhead. I've never seen such strange craftsmanship. My people only used stone tipped heads, but this one was made of some kind of metal. My eyes widened, remembering the ball of iron that had come from the giant boar guardian. It had turned the god into a demon, driving him mad with unholy vengeance. I didn't know if Ashitaka ever found his answers - if it was all worth it - but it seemed connected somehow. Just where was all this iron coming from? It was a costly metal, and with our methods, we could only produce a few items of such quality.

Taking the other half of the broken arrow from my sash, I reunited the two ends together. The red and black fletching style was unfamiliar, and likely dyed. And the leather sinew bindings were lacquered in a fashion I had never seen.

In my village, the children were raised on horror stories about the Yamato. They wore foreign armor, and they fought in frightening seas of bodies. As their numbers grew, they also adopted our guerrilla way of fighting and created even more deadly weapons. Their numbers overwhelmed all of the indigenous tribes that opposed them. After driving the survivors up into the treacherous mountains of the north, our ancestors stayed hidden away from the Yamato and their petty wars.

So how could they have discovered us? Our living footprint was so small. We never ventured beyond our borders, and made no effort to contact the outside. To engage us after all this time… And to simply exterminate us without even sending an emissary. Something wasn't right.

Or perhaps, I was simply too naive. Perhaps they really meant to clear out their corner of the world and leave no stain of the past to mar it.

Kiba had found his way closer to the spring and now he stood in the pooling water, slaking his thirst. I had barely acknowledged the spring the night before. But now I watched, mesmerized, as gittering water trickled down in a rivulet over a jutted rock.

I was just about to get a drink when I heard twigs snapping behind me. My hand was already grasping the hilt of my chokuto in a white knuckle grip when I realized it was only a squirrel. It paused to look at me before scurrying under the thicket and disappearing altogether. I narrowed my eyes and glanced over at Kiba. He hadn't even looked up from his long drink and merely flapped a tired ear in my direction.

Sighing, I limped over to the water and Kiba came up beside me. I held onto his thick neck as I tested the depth and formation of the rocks beneath me. Cautiously letting go, I stood under the small icy waterfall and let it run its course over my head and body. I scrubbed the ash and dirt off, turning my head up to drink deeply from the falling water.

Taking the leather waterskin from Kiba's saddle, I filled it with fresh running water before climbing onto Kiba's back again. Feeling a little more reinvigorated as we set out, I plotted ways we could forage for food. It was spring, so hunting shouldn't be a problem. For now, we would stay in the forest off of any roads or footpaths to prevent encountering any other people.

As we traveled west, I wondered how long it would be till I'd finally find Ashitaka. I rarely remembered my dreams, but last night, I saw his face and heard his voice. I wanted to believe he was alive and well, but the cursed wound on his arm had been grave. The wise woman made it very clear to all of us that if it was not lifted, Ashitaka would succumb to the hatred corrupting his body and soul. He would have become just like the demon board god, and possibly killed us all had he stayed.

Still, I had been furious when the village elders convinced him to leave us. It destroyed the future for me then, and I had thought we would never cross paths again. After all these years, if he was alive and well…

Heart pounding suddenly, I couldn't help fantasizing how I would meet him again. Would he still recognize me? Would I recognize him? And most importantly, would he even want to return and help me avenge our village?

I shook my head, trying to unseat my doubts. He was my destiny, and I had to meet him again. I was sure of it. Opening the deerskin pouch, I found human hair inside. It had been carefully plaited and coiled, but I knew it belonged to him. The wise woman wanted me to find him, and so I would.