San awoke early in the morning. The sun was barely peeking over the mountains when she opened her eyes. She sat up and supported herself on her left arm, making sure not to put any weight on her right. She sighed as she glimpsed at her broken left leg. The splint made it near-impossible to bend her leg, thought it was for the best. Still, she didn't want to remain laying down for too long. There was a wooden crutch leaning against the other side of the room. She glanced once more at her two injured limbs.
"I can make it," She whispered to herself. She planted her left hand and right foot firmly on the ground. She pushed herself up with her left hand as she tried to stand on her only good leg. She practically jumped on to her right leg as she pushed with her left hand. She steadied herself, placing her hand against the wall for balance. She let go of the wall once she gained her balance. She hopped to the crutch with her right leg, keeping a slow pace. When she was in an arm's reach of the wall, she placed her hand against it and hopped close enough to lean on it with her shoulder. She sighed out of relief. She shifted from her shoulder to her back. She took the crutch and placed it under her left arm. She took one step forward with her right foot. She then moved forward with her left leg. She made sure to move the crutch at the same time. It was awkward and the crutch wasn't comfortable, but she was able to move. Seeing as to how she was going to be here for a while, she decided to familiarize herself with Ashitaka's house.
She first examined the bedroom. There wasn't much in the room: a dresser, a mirror, and a futon were the only things in the room. Ashitaka's bow and sword lay atop the dresser. She moved into the main room of the house. In the center was a wooden table with four chairs. A shelf hanged on the wall nearby the table. On the shelf were six clay cups, two tan bowls, and Ashitaka's red bowl. Several sticks were laying across the red bowl. There was a shelf below which had several cloth bags. San could smell dried fish, some vegetables, and rice. Closer to the front door was a couch and two chairs. Several rugs lay on the floor. A washroom was adjacent to the main room. Inside was a basin of water, a tub made of stone, and a bucket of water. There were a few windows in the house, two in the bedroom and four in the main room. Each one was covered by wooden shutters. Overall, it was a rather small house. She felt cramped and wanted to return to the forest. She took a seat on one of the chairs and held her head in one hand. A look of frustration painted across her face.
She sat thinking of where her brothers could be. Ashitaka had told her that there were humans who wanted her dead, but if they were the ones who attacked her she wouldn't be in this house. She doubted her brothers would leave her unless they needed to. Or, perhaps, they weren't able to stay with her. She kept thinking back to the humans they had encountered in the forest. They were smart enough to disguise their scent. They also attempted to camouflage themselves. She began to wonder if they were hunters, like the ones who had helped the humans one year before.
San heard Ashitaka moving around in his sleep. She looked over to see him roll out of bed. He outstretched his arms and cocked his neck from side to side, creating a crack with each snap. He rubbed one hand over his eyes and glanced down at the futon to see if San was still asleep. When he saw she wasn't there, he looked over to the main room. He smiled and waved over to her with one hand still covering an eye. She waved back, though she didn't know what the gesture meant.
"How was your sleep?" Ashitaka asked as he opened the dresser to retrieve his clothes.
"Well, I suppose. Your bed is much more comfortable than where I often sleep," San replied.
Ashitaka went into the washroom to change. San returned to thinking about where her brothers would be. As far as she knew, the humans didn't have any guns. Even if they did, they would have fired once they saw she and her brothers. The unknowing of where her brothers were was disheartening.
Ashitaka returned dressed in his blue tunic and peach colored pants. He walked over to the shelves and asked San if she wanted something to eat. He opened the bags to show her rice, dried fish, and an assortment of vegetables. San smiled, partly because Ashitaka was being so welcoming and partly because she correctly guessed what was in the bags. Ashitaka grabbed a couple of bowls and two pairs of chopsticks.
"Do you know how to use chopsticks?" Ashitaka asked as he paused with the second pair in between his fingers.
"What are those?" San asked.
"Humans use them to eat. I know you don't consider yourself human, so..."
"I'm fine with just my hands."
Ashitaka nodded. He handed San one bowl and told her to choose whatever she wanted. She eyed the food curiously. She didn't often eat fish or vegetables and she rarely ate rice. Still, she thought it would be nice to try and grabbed a bit of each. The fish was mostly white on the edge and very pale yellow in the center.
"I should probably cook the rice outside to soften it," Ashitaka said. San said she was fine with how it was. "Are you sure? It would probably taste better and I can mix everything in. Then again, you probably wouldn't want to use your hands to eat it."
"No, it's alright," She reassured him. He nodded and took his red bowl of food outside to a pot he used for cooking. He normally cooked outside to keep the smoke out of his house, though if it rained he would cook inside. As he was stepping out the front door, he made sure all of his windows were shut. The cooking pot sat next to his house. It was a simple metal pot hanging over a ring of stones. In the center of the ring was coal and tinder. Ashitaka took the pot and filled it with water from the lake. When he came back, he lit the fire and waited for the water to heat up. While waiting for it to heat up, he decided to let Yakul out of the stable. He brought Yakul to the gate and told him that he could go wherever he wanted as long as he was back the next day. Yakul gave a soft grunt and a nod of his head and trotted off into the forest.
As Ashitaka sat outside, he was asked by a few passing townspeople why he wasn't working. His answer was that he was simply given time off. He went inside while waiting for the water to warm up. He noticed that San hadn't eaten much and asked if she wanted something else to eat.
"No thank you, I don't feel very hungry," She replied, "I'm just wondering where my brothers could be."
"Do you know more about who attacked you?" Ashitaka asked as he sat down, "I can probably help you find your brothers."
"I don't know what more I can say other than what I've told you. There were probably five of them, perhaps more. Were there any bodies nearby where you find me? I can't remember if you told me."
"Only you were there."
"Then there were probably more than five. I can't imagine a small group of humans would be able to do anything to my brothers. I can't imagine what they would try to do to either of them. Arrows barely affect them and it would take a lot more than swords to kill them. Do any of the humans here own guns?"
"No; only Lady Eboshi and Gonza can distribute the rifles in Irontown. Even then, there aren't too many."
"Then I guess they weren't trying to kill them."
"Perhaps it was a trap? Maybe they were trying to catch your brothers."
"I don't see the benefit of capturing my brothers unless they wanted them out of the forest."
Ashitaka opened his mouth to more, but he quickly shut it when he heard his front door open. He leapt out of his seat and almost knocked over the table and chair. San snapped her head towards the door with a burning glare. They saw Toki standing at the door. Her jaw was hanging and her eyes were wide. She was carrying a pair of leg warmers.
"Ashitaka, I was just coming over to return these," She said, "I didn't know you had company."
Ashitaka hurried past Toki and closed the door behind her, making sure nobody was looking inside. He breathed a sigh of relief when the door was shut. "Toki, please knock next time," He requested.
"I'm sorry; if I knew that someone was here, I would have. I just heard that you had the day off and thought that it would a good time to return these." She handed Ashitaka the woolen warmers and he bowed. He brought the warmers to the dresser and tucked them away. When he returned, San was still fiercely glaring at Toki.
"Toki, you cannot tell anybody that San is here. You know what some people think of her."
"I know, but... does Lady Eboshi know she is here?"
"Yes; she even said that it was okay for San to stay in my house. Can you please not tell anyone she's here?"
"You won't have any problem with me." She opened the door wide enough for her to slide through. She quickly waved goodbye and flashed a smile as she squeezed through and shut the door behind her.
"Who was that?" San asked as she eased her gaze.
"That was Toki," Ashitaka replied, "She can be a bit eccentric, but she's a good person. She won't tell anyone you're in town."
San nodded, but she didn't entirely trust Ashitaka's judgment. "What was she carrying?"
"Oh, those were just leg warmers I let her husband use for winter. He works as a cattle driver and doesn't own any thick clothing. When winter arrived, I loaned him an extra pair of warmers I had. Anyway, is there anything you want to do?"
"Well, we can't go outside. What do you suggest?"
Ashitaka shrugged. "I usually spend time outside, but seeing as to how we can't do that, I guess we can talk? Maybe then we can figure out something to do."
"Talk? About what?"
"I don't know. All I know is that we can't go outside without half of the town arming themselves. Even if they didn't see you, what then? We can't hunt for anything, swim, and you can't even walk at the moment. Your arm alone is going to take a month or two to get better, so we're even more limited. Besides, it would probably be good for both of us to know each other better if you're going to be here for a while."
"I guess that it would be fine, then. By the way, weren't you doing something outside earlier?"
Ashitaka sat stumped for a moment before his eyes went to the bags of food on the table. He remembered the fire he had outside and quickly excused himself. He dumped his bowl of food into the now-boiling water and began stirring. He knew it wasn't the best way to cook, but it was better than eating everything dry. Once he finished cooking, he returned inside and took a seat across from San.
