Chapter 2: My Crystal Dagger

Yakkul came to an abrupt halt in his hike up the hillside. Ashitaka was seated comfortably on his loyal steed's back, holding the red silk reins in his callused hands. He knew that if his elk was on edge, then something must have been awry. He listened intently to the whispers of the trees. Ashitaka caught the gaze of a little frowning Kodama at the foot of a nearby tree. Although Kodama were said to bring good luck, Ashitaka wasn't keen on seeing one of the creepy little tree spirits frowning at him. He had to find San, she would know what was going on. Ashitaka heard Moro's pups howling to one another in the distance. He had found that learning the language of the wolves was harder than it looked when San had attempted to teach him. However, he knew enough to know that they were warning eachother of an intruder in the forest. Ashitaka's head whipped from side-to-side. He wasn't quite into the forest yet, but its mouth was close. "Yakkul, let's get going. We have to find San."

As the elk and his rider entered the forest, more Kodama began to appear. Some looked happy to see him, but many frowned in another direction. Ashitaka and Yakkul traveled in the direction the Kodama chose to frown in. Where trouble entered the forest, that's where they'd find San. Ashitaka was well-aware that San could take care of herself, but he wanted to help her if he could. His heart skipped a beat as her voice rang in the air. Ashitaka was closer to her than he had thought; he could make out the words her shouts echoed throughout the forest. "What the hell did you think you were doing traveling through this forest without permission, Human?"

The elk lept through some brush cutting off the path. There they found San straddling a young girl and pinning her to the ground. Her mask hid her face from the intruder beneath her, and her pelt ran down the length of her back. San had her crystal knife at the girl's throat, threatening to slit it open at any given time. "Maybe I'll tell you if you tell me what the hell you think you're doing with my necklace, Heathen!"

"Why you—I'll kill you for that!" San raised the weapon higher only for her arm to be stopped by another's hand.

She glared up at the interference, but then her eyes widened to see a man's hand grasping her forearm. There was only one man who would even bother stopping her with his hands. The girl she had on the ground had suddenly gained enough courage and strength to push San completely off of her and out of the way as she stared into the cool brown orbs that she had longed to see again. "Ashitaka!" Kaya cried out, flinging her arms around his neck and embracing him with a passionate kiss.

The wolf girl was completely enraged! San was about to spear her knife through Kaya's back when Ashitaka calmly pushed the tresspasser away from him. His demeanor was one of patience and tranquility. As San caught the deep brown of his eyes, her fury began to slowly subside... almost as if she had been cleansed of all her anger. This girl was lucky San trusted Ashitaka's judgement or else she would have been dead by now. Ashitaka was surprised to have received a kiss from someone he thought he'd never see again. "Kaya, what are you doing here?"

"I came looking for you!" She said enthusiastically, "The village made me the Princess after you left."

"What?"

"And... well... I came to find you! I'm supposed to return in a year and get married." She breathed heavily and Ashitaka didn't want to know where her thoughts were going, "The only person I'm interested in marrying is you... so I came to retrieve you. You can be King, Ashitaka! I'm so happy I found you!"

Ashitaka was silent. This was bad, this was very bad, indeed. He had hoped that his old life would never return to haunt the life he was leading now, or at least, not until he was a few years older. Ashitaka supposed that was just wishful thinking, though. He should have known better than to expect his past to just dither off. He peered out of the corner of his eye to see San fixated on Kaya. He sighed; Ashitaka was almost certain that she was glaring daggers at Kaya from under that mask of hers. He ignored it for a moment and gave Kaya a light smile. "It's good to see you, too, Kaya. Why don't you join San and I for dinner?" He offered to her politely.

Her eyes sparkled with delight. "They must treat you like a king around here! So where are we headed?"

"San will decide where we are eating tonight." Ashitaka motioned for San to hop onto Yakkul.

Kaya's face took on a look of mild disgust. "Oh, uh, okay. Sure... I'll just follow you guys, then." She gracefully lept onto Ryuuk.

San was irritated with Ashitaka and didn't much feel like entertaining unwelcomed company. Still, she got onto Yakkul's back and waited for Ashitaka to climb on as well. It had been awhile since their bodies had been so close, but he was a little irked that the wolf pelt served as a divider between them. Ashitaka wrapped his arms around her waist. She would have to scold Ashitaka for kissing another female while they hunted later. She was sure he had a reasonable explaination for his actions, and if he didn't she would have to come up with a suitable punishment for him... maybe she would have Tsume wrestle with him... that sounded pretty good to her. Surely Ashitaka would be no match against the short-tempered wolf. Feeling that the silence between them in their reunion had gone on long enough, San asked, "So you will explain all of this to me later, right?"

"Yes."

"What's so special about this crystal, then?" she asked, holding the dagger fondly before hiding it away between her supple breasts once more.

Ashitaka sighed and rested his head at the nape of her neck. Just hearing him breathe so close to her sent shivers up her spine, but she listened to him intently. "I made it as a betrothal gift for Kaya."

San seemed slightly hurt by his words. "You intended to... marry her, then?"

She was still trying to understand the concept of "marriage" that humans often had. The best way Ashitaka had explained it to her was like the courtship between an alpha male and the mate of his choosing. Marriage, then, according to Ashitaka, was the same as being mated for life. Ashitaka made a deep rumbling noise in the back of his throat and then replied, "I did... but who has the crystal now, San?"

The wolf girl decided to take his question as rhetorical and chose to not respond. When she did not reply to him, Ashitaka chose to continue in a hushed whisper, "You have it. If you would have me, I choose to marry you."

She chuckled a little. It was a rare sight for him to see her laugh at all. "I have no need for human concepts of a lifetime bond. To me, just mating is enough to prove that... and you've already proven yourself to me, Ashitaka."

He smiled into the fur covering her shoulder. Spoken like a true daughter of the Wolf God, Moro. Ashitaka could swear that San became more like her wolf mother with each passing day. It was her way of saying 'I love you and I choose to be with you forever.' Of course, her brothers didn't particularly like their union, but they were accepting of San's choice; they respected him like they respected her. In their clan, San was leader of the pack now that Moro was gone, and rightfully so in Ashitaka's mind. But Kaya was not a welcomed guest here, and Ashitaka knew that. He supposed she could stay for dinner and then he would have to take her back to Iron Town—for her own protection. San wouldn't be pleased that he was leaving again, and he knew she was jealous of Kaya. However, he also knew she would rather he leave than have Kaya in the forest.

Kaya watched as Ashitaka rested his head on the wild woman's shoulder. She wondered idly if he was tired. What other reason would he have for leaning on her like that? She decided to shirk off the sight before her and instead focus on what she would do now that she had found her love. Kaya supposed she would take him back to the village with her, but then she remembered that the exile had to last a full year. She then modified her previous thought, deciding to, instead, find a comfortable place to stay with Ashitaka for a year. Kaya blushed and smiled a little inwardly, thinking that it would perhaps be best if she returned to the village with child. At least then, even if they rejected Ashitaka's return, they would still have the "rightful" heir to the throne. Kaya nodded firmly to herself. That was the best case scenario in the worst situation, the best situation being that they just let Ashitaka return, anyway. The trick now would be trying to get Ashitaka to—

"We're here." his voice stated.

She had been dragged out of her thoughts to find him at her side offering her a hand down from the red elk. Her cheeks reddened slightly and she thanked him for his help, taking his hand and sliding off of the animal's back. The woman wearing the ratty clothing was removing the reins from Yakkul's face and began to make her way over to Ryuuk. "No. His stays on." She ordered, referring to Ryuuk's bridle.

San laughed, but this wasn't a cheerful laugh, it was a sick, mocking one. "Don't be stupid. They're brothers, and it seems they haven't seen eachother in awhile. Yakkul wants to show him the forest, and I'm inclined to let him."

Kaya nudged the man beside her, "Ashitaka, do something!"

"San does as she pleases; the forest is hers to protect how she likes." Ashitaka explained to his uptight friend.

Kaya wasn't keen on the idea of allowing her steed to run loose in an area without confines. She supposed Ryuuk needed a little bit of an escape, though. When the thought entered her mind, another one accompanied it; those had been her exact feelings when she left the confines of the Emishi village. In a way, Kaya felt a bit selfish for having thought otherwise in the first place. She cast the thought aside. As long as Ashitaka wasn't bothered by it, then it was fine with her. If he trusted this—San-girl, then she was probably worthy of his trust and therefore, by default, had earned Kaya's trust as well... despite the fact that the savage had nearly skewered her earlier.

"So, where's dinner?" Kaya asked Ashitaka, changing the subject.

Ashitaka blinked a couple times. Did Kaya really expect their meal to be preapred already? He smiled at her, but then asked San to join them. She, grudgingly, did as Ashitaka asked and came over to them. He explained to Kaya that he and San were going to go hunting and that they would be back shortly. "Oh, well, I'll join you, then!"

San growled a little, "No, you won't. I don't trust humans and I don't like you, so you can stay here."

"Two people on foot aren't going to get much out of their hunt with... what weapons do you have? A dagger and a bow and arrows? I think having more people included in your hunt would produce a better catch."

"I have everyone I need."

"Well, I'm not letting you go alone with Ashitaka!" Kaya yelled indignantly at the wolf-girl.

Ashitaka decided to intervene before San lost her temper. "Kaya, our hunting party consists of four; San's brothers are expert hunters and they will be accompanying us. We'll be back shortly with food, just please stay here, alright?"

She sighed. Kaya didn't understand why she wasn't allowed to help them out. However, she reluctantly obliged to Ashitaka's wishes and sat on the ground. Suddenly, two giant wolves appeared from the surrounding brush. Ashitaka mounted one and sped off. San, however, did not immediately disappear into the trees. She sat upright on the back of one of the giant snowy wolves and looked down at Kaya with narrowed eyes. San knew she couldn't see them, but she hoped she would still get her point across. Kaya felt uncomfortable under the watchful and unseen eyes of the warrior woman. It unnerved her to wonder what face hid behind that mask. Still, San looked elegant and fierce all at once, and Kaya found herself in awe and terror. The back of her mind attempted to keep sanity by trying to picture what face the woman held. Was it grotesque? If not, then why wear the mask at all? Perhaps so she would seem more of a threat? What was she, anyway? Some kind of forest God? The over-sized wolves were definitely Gods and yet they came to her beck and call... so what did that make her? Kaya jumped a little when San's harsh voice spoke to her, "Don't leave this spot. If you do, I will know."

Without another word her mount raced away into the dense wood, leaving Kaya stranded and alone.


Ashitaka and Kiba waited for San and Tsume to catch up with them. Ashitaka smiled when he saw them emerge from the trees. They had traveled a fair distance from where Kaya was left behind. San slid her mask up and allowed it to rest on the crown of her head. Tsume rushed toward the unmoving Kiba and San shoved Ashitaka off of the wolf. He had not expected her to attack him and found himself suddenly on the ground. San was on top of him in an instant. He wasn't prepared for her to kiss him with such tenderness. He was completely hypnotized by her hazel eyes; San had him under her spell. "That's for coming to visit me."

Her eyes changed rapidly to reveal an inner loathing and stabbed his chest with the crystal dagger. She saw his face contort with pain, but he didn't try to writhe his way out from under her; Ashitaka simply accepted the fact that San's anger was not to be trifled with, for when it was, she could be deadly. "And that's for kissing another woman! What the hell were you thinking?"

She got off of him and let him remove the knife on his own. He would be lucky if that didn't scar. "She kissed me, not the other way around, San." Ashitaka tried to explain rationally, "Kaya is from a village far away from here and I doubt she has considered that I've found someone else."

"Well that's her own damn fault!" San argued.

Kiba and Tsume decided to lay down in some grass and watch Ashitaka and San's quarrel. They enjoyed watching the two humans fight, mainly because it always seemed that Ashitaka lost. There was also the hope that San would kill him and let them eat him. It wasn't that they hated the man, but rather, they hated when he made San upset. For that, they would be willing to do anything to prevent. They sat silently and watched Ashitaka attempt to repair the broken communication between himself and their sister. "San, listen to me—"

San cut off his sentence before he had a chance to give her a proper explanation, "And what's all this nonsense about becoming a Princess? What, does that mean she wants tea and chopsticks with her meal tonight?"

Ashitaka took a deep inhale of air and then exhaled. He placed the bloodied crystal dagger into San's dirty hands before resting his own hands on her shoulders. They locked gazes and in his, San could see a compelling determination. She would be silent and hear what he had to say, because whatever it was, it had to be very important if Ashitaka was staring at her so intensely.

"Yakkul once told you about me—all about me; my village, my people, everything. I thought I could just leave it in the past, but it seems that my past has finally come back to haunt me. If I don't face it now, it will only follow me like a shadow." He paused and checked to make sure she was paying close attention, "In my reign as Prince of the Emishi, Kaya was my betrothed. It seems that after my banishment the council of elders decided to make her the Princess since the line of royalty had ended with me."

Her brows were knitted together. San didn't know why, but she believed him. She punched his shoulder with all the force she could muster. "No more damn secrets!" she became softer and her voice was soothing, "Now... what are we going to do about your friend?"

Ashitaka rubbed his sore shoulder with one of his hands. San could really pack a punch. "I'm going to escort her to Iron Town after tonight's meal."

"But you only just got here!"

"I know, but I think it's fair for me to assume she's not welcome in this forest."

San had no response for him. He was right, of course, but she didn't want him to leave so soon after arriving. However, she nodded her agreement. It was best he took Kaya away rather than let her roam the forest. "You'll come back, right?"

He smiled, ignoring the sting of the wound on his chest. "Of course I'll come back."

"Right." She said with a new sense of determination as she pulled her mask back down over her face, "then let's go; I don't want her here any longer than she has to be."