Princess Mononoke

Chapter 8: Escape from Cargo

Kaya felt herself become frozen with fear as Cargo's black demon eyes bored into her. It was unbelievable; she had unflinchingly faced a charging demon in order to protect her friend, and yet now… now she was petrified by just a man's stare. But Cargo was no ordinary man; she could see that very clearly by looking into those black pits. Kaya realised that he simply could not be beaten in combat, he was too strong. He was not just an impossible creature, he was an unbeatable creature.

She felt his hot breath on her face as he spoke. "Coward," he whispered, smiling at how pale her face had gone. But that one word sparked rage in the young princess. She, like her brother, prided herself on being calm and composed. However, she still found it difficult to control herself when being referred to as weak or cowardly. The rage allowed her to momentarily break free of the frightened state she was in. Only for one moment, but she seized the opportunity.

Mustering up all her courage Kaya spat in Cargo's face. Even he was unable to stop his surprise showing. "That's a first," he commented, "you're the only person to be forced to gaze into my eyes and manage to do more than just tremble in fear." He wiped the saliva away with his hand, his smile never disappearing. "I'd snap your neck in two, but that would be far too quick and painless. I want to hear you scream for mercy."

As he climbed out of the bath, Kaya desperately tried to free herself, but to no avail, the knots were much too tight. "Ashitaka won't let you or your friends get away with this," she screamed.

Once he was on the platform around the bath, Cargo turned and glared down at his prisoner. "First of all, they are not my friends, and secondly, your brother isn't here to save you this time," he snarled.

Kaya gasped, "How do you know he's my brother?"

With a chuckle, Cargo replied, "I could see in your eyes that you loved him like a brother, so I guessed you and he must be siblings given the resemblance." And before Kaya could respond, he jumped down from the platform and exited the hut. This left Kaya all alone.


A short distance away a crouching San watched Cargo emerge, hidden behind the side of a house. She had seen Cress and Lord Asano departing from it a short time ago, but didn't dare make a move. With Cargo still there, any hope of pulling off a successful rescue was zero. Unless of course he let them escape, though she didn't really want to take that chance.

The water container was in view from where she was hiding, so when she saw Cargo remove the cork and put the wooden tube in place, she realised what he was planning and knew she didn't have much time left to save her friend.

What could she do? There was no chance of her being able to defeat Cargo. He was standing so he could change between looking at the window to looking at the door, which were the only entrance points to the hut, simply by turning his head. Meaning there was no way she could sneak passed him. The young warrior was completely helpless.


Kaya felt a shiver go up her spine as the cold water soaked through her shoes. They probably wouldn't need to drown her if the water was this icy. She'd almost certainly freeze within the hour.

And yet, despite everything, she couldn't help but let her thoughts wander to what Cress had said: "I lost my parents, my sister and my…" and who? And why did he refrain from speaking of them? Was it too painful for him to mention?

There were only two people Kaya could think of who would be more painful to lose than one's parents and sister. His lover, but she was sure that if his lover was murdered he would let people know he was doing this for her.

It was unbearable to consider the other possibility, given Cress's age. Unfortunately, if Kaya was correct, there was no other person it could be.

Another shiver passing through her body brought her back to reality, and she discovered, to her horror, that the water was already up to her waist. She felt fear starting to take over, and her heart began to hammer in her chest. Kaya closed her eyes, took a deep breath and forced herself to stay calm. She knew the faster her heart beat the harder it would be to hold her breath, and so San would have less time to save her.

Few people besides Kaya would have been able to stop themselves going mad with terror as the water slowly inched its way up, higher and higher, while knowing the chance of survival was minuscule. But she didn't panic, Kaya had faith in San. She knew her friend would not abandon her.

It wasn't long before Kaya found she had to stand on tiptoe in order to keep her nose above the water line. She took one last deep breath and let her head fall forward and closed her eyes. Now she was at the mercy of desperation, as she realised how little time was left.

She frantically started pulling on the ropes, but Cargo had made sure escaping from them was impossible without help. All her efforts succeeded in doing were to waste precious oxygen. 'Please San, hurry,' she thought, as a large amount of bubbles burst from her mouth.


A scowl formed on Cargo's face. 'She must be submerged by now, so where are the cries for mercy?' he wondered. 'She's certainly a cut above the rest if she can take being drowned without saying a word. Well, I can't let her die if she hasn't begged me to stop first.' He sat down, leaning his back against the side of the house and shut his eyes.


San stared in disbelief. 'Did he just go to sleep?' She didn't believe it, but had no choice but to make a move there and then. She knew Kaya couldn't have long left.

Without a sound she sprinted up to the window and climbed through, whilst resisting the urge to slit Cargo's throat. For one thing that short delay may result in Kaya's death and secondly she didn't want to go near him out of fear that he may awaken, (assuming he really was asleep to begin with).

What she saw inside the hut made her want to vomit. It had been obvious that they were drowning someone, specifically Kaya, but she hadn't quite worked out how. To kill someone in this way was inhumane. San pulled herself up onto the platform surrounding the bath, and her eyes widened. 'Shit!' she thought when she saw Kaya was completely covered by water. Only the red part of her hat remained dry. The princess of the forest quickly drew her sword.


'I guess this is it, this is how I'm going to die,' were the words going through Kaya's mind as almost all of her remaining air slipped passed her lips. Then suddenly she felt the tension in one of the ropes that bound her relax. She looked to find that it had been cut, and a moment later the same thing happened to the other. 'I knew she'd save me,' thought a relieved Kaya, as she used the last of her oxygen to kick off the floor, pull the top half of her body onto the platform and immediately gasp for breath.

"San?" she said, looking up and waited for her vision to clear. "I owe you my life," She smiled when she saw it was her friend.

"I think we can call it even," San hissed. "Now quickly, we need to get out of here before…" She stopped abruptly when she caught sight of something. Kaya slowly turned her head to see what it was. It came as no surprise to find Cargo smirking at them by the door way. Who else could startle the Princess Mononoke like that?

Cargo chuckled at the sight of the frightened San, and Kaya turning as pale as she had earlier when she'd looked into his eyes. "I could kill you both easily. So…" he began and turned away, "I'm not going to."

This statement almost caused San to laugh. "What?" she exclaimed.

"Killing is no fun if it's quick and easy, so I think I'll toy with you for a bit longer," Cargo replied. "Now go, and don't try anything. I swear if I see you anywhere near Cress or Lord Asano's sleeping quarters I will end both your lives." He then turned and marched out of the hut.

San hopped down to the ground and made her way to the door, but then turned back when she noticed Kaya wasn't following; it appeared she was still trembling with fright. "Kaya?" she called.

"Huh?" Kaya snapped back to reality and instantly regained her composure. "Oh, sorry," she muttered, before climbing out of the bath and joining San.

After that the two girls made their way back over the walls of Iron Town and ran the entire way back to the den. Both ignored the screams of protest from their muscles, they just wanted to get as far away from that monster of a man, and return to the safety of their home.

However, Kaya got one last surprise that night. For when they finally arrived back at the cave, they found Ashitaka waiting for them. Judging by how he had his weapons, he was about to go and look for them. "Where the hell have you been," he shouted. Kaya opened her mouth to reply but at last her strength failed her, and instead she fainted.

San grabbed her, and Ashitaka ran over and carried the Emishi princess into the den. "Why is she soaking wet?" he asked, looking at San.

"Well, er… we went to Iron Town and Cargo, sort of, tried to drown her." San answered, expecting Ashitaka to be horrified, and she was right.

"What!"

"But I saved her, now wait outside. I need to get your sister into some dry clothes."

Ashitaka nodded and left the cave, giving him time alone with his thoughts.

It had been such a shock when he awoke to find them both missing. San and Kaya were the two most important people to him in the world; he couldn't imagine the pain he would feel if one of them died. He had already been forced to part ways with his sister thinking he would never see her again. And San was the girl he loved, he didn't know what he would do if he lost her.

When San called to say she was finished he re-entered the den with a determined look on his face. Now it was time for San's final surprise of the night. Ashitaka walked over to his love and slipped his arms around her waist. "Ashitaka, what are you…" San began, but was cut off by his lips against hers. Her eyes widened for a moment, before she melted into the kiss, and put her arms around his neck. They had kissed before, but never this passionately or for this long. It was passionate, but at the same time sweet and gentle.

Ashitaka pushed on San's back so her body was pressed against his and deepened the kiss. It was bliss for both of them, and at that time all the problems and troubles that had haunted them for the past few weeks were forgotten. All that mattered was that they were together and safe.

It was lucky, or possible in Ashitaka and San's opinion unlucky, that Kaya was there, else it might have been difficult for them not to give into their urges.

They finally broke apart, panting. "I love you San," whispered Ashitaka.

"I love you too, Ashitaka." They both knew how the other felt, but this was the first time either had actually said it in those words. And it caused so much joy for both of them to hear the other say those three magical words.

Blushing San asked, "Why did you kiss me like that?"

"I wanted to thank you for saving my sister," smiled Ashitaka, stroking her cheek.

"Oh you didn't need to thank me for that," San smiled back. "But I'm glad you did."

Unbeknown to them, Kaya was watching through one very slightly open eye. 'Aw, young love.' She thought as she drifted off to sleep.

To Be Continued…