I would like to thank those who reviewed and kicked some sense into me. I have not been wrting well at all but I have fixed the mistakes. It doesn't really change the story but it does go with the setting a lot more. Thank you to all those who gave me that well deserved tap on the head.
Also, the new character is introduced to move the story along (as in the journey to the forest) and to add some lighthearted humor.
The funeral was a new experience for San. She knew nothing of the traditions of humans but she was in for a surprise. Her own mother's death was the only close event that connected her with any sort of arrangement for the dead. She, along with her brothers, had searched for her body and honored her by placing her in the middle of the forest, where she would slowly decay and become one with the forest. However, humans were different. Eriol was laid down on a pyre made of wood and after a few words from those closest to him, he had been set on fire. Chandra was the one who lit the pyre, tears streaming down her face but she was usually quiet, compared to the rest of the townspeople, who's sadness seemed overwhelming. Ashitaka and San had accompanied Chandra to watch the burning of Eriol's body while the rest of the townspeople left to eat or drink. The tables were set with many types of food, the rice had chopsticks stuck in them, something done only at funerals.
After a while, Chandra asked for a few moments alone and they obliged, not that there was anything else they could do.
San gratefully sat on a chair and rubbed her nose. The air was filled with the stench of burning flesh and she felt it was being imprinted into her very skin.
"Don't worry, the smell will subside in a few minutes."
Smiling gratefully at Ashitaka, she nodded.
"Have you attended other funerals?"
Nodding, he quietly sipped his drink.
"My parents' funeral," he said calmly, looking at the dark smoke looming overheard, "I was too young to remember everything sharply but there are a few pieces of the memory."
He turned to look at San, who was looking at him intently. He did not expect pity or even sadness from her. He knew her too well. For her (as well as for him, now that he thought about it) death was only a part of life. No one, not even Gods escaped it. But she did caress his face consolingly. He smiled. Yes, death was a part of life and there was nothing left to do but expect it but such a realization did not stop the pain from losing a loved one. Leaning against her hand, he stayed for a moment before sighing and kissing her hand. He turned to see Chandra walking back towards them, her eyes red and blotchy.
"It's almost done. We just have to wait until the ashes cool down so we can continue."
Ashitaka nodded, handing her a cold drink. She took it gratefully and drunk it quickly. She took the seat next to Ashitaka and watched the flames in the not so far distance. The smell hung in the air, of death and a sense of ending. San was getting a headache. The sun's blasting rays were not helping the overwhelming heat, the bird's chirping was awfully loud, and San could no longer think properly. She wished for nothing but to be back in whose house they were currently staying in. Ashitaka noticed her uncomfortable face and suggested they go into the neighbor's house and wait there. San agreed quickly and even Chandra nodded. They walked quickly, past the many townspeople who were too into their own conversation to notice them. They only thing on anyone's mind was Eriol. Looking at Chandra, San felt bad for feeling so awful. She knew Chandra felt worse than she did at the moment.
They spent the rest of the time there, sitting awkwardly while the other townsfolk shared stories about Eriol. Chandra would join in every once in a while but it was just out of manners. She was not feeling so comfortable as well. In fact, once it had been announced that the ashes should be coll by now, she jumped up and headed straight to the door. Ashitaka and San followed her and noticed that her eagerness soon subsided as she neared the pyre.
All that was left of Eriol was spread across the pyre. There was short bursts of wind but not strong enough to lift all the ashes. Chandra slowly picked some up in her hands, tears running down her cheeks again and into the ashes, marking dark spots in it. She gathered as many of the ashes into a small vase and handed it to Ashitaka. Then, she took a small vile hanging around a piece of string from her neck She put some ashes in there as well before tying it securely around her neck. Turning around, she took the vile from Ashitaka and led the crowd towards a road. They walked for a while, in silence and they soon reached the edge of a small cliff. They were facing a river and here, the wind blew stronger, a big contradiction to where they had just come from. Here, Chandra opened the jar and with a small whimper, she let the ashes fly in the wind. They stood for a few seconds but soon, the villagers returned to where they came, leaving only Chandra, San, and Ashitaka standing there. San walked over to her and patted her shoulder, the only way she knew how to comfort her. Chandra played with the vile around her neck.
"He may be free now but a part of him will always be with me."
Chandra reluctantly accepted their invitation to stay with them. She explained that she did not want to become a burden (since she was pregnant) but they made her see that she truly was not going to be one. Besides, as San so eloquently put it, "That child is not going to pop out anytime soon!"
They set off the same day as the funeral, only because San's brothers were becoming impatient and worried about how much time it was taking to get to the apes. To their surprise, they encountered little trouble leaving town, especially with Chandra.
"I think he's glad to be rid of me," Chandra said once they left town, each of them carrying bags of food and clothing the townspeople had so kindly given them. The two wolves met them outside, followed by Yakuul who happily nudged his master in the arm. They explained all to the animals as they walked ahead, the two brothers shaking their head disgustedly, muttering something about humans and violence. Chandra said nothing as they walked, only that most humans were not so bad. She stared pointedly at Ashitaka s she commented this.
They walked for the better part of the afternoon, getting their old rhythm back quickly. By sundown, Ashitaka, Yakuul, and Chandra rested while San and her brothers went to hunt for some food. Chandra was very curious to see San in her natural way, not at all civilized but wild like her true nature. She got the chance as the chase of a boar got too close for comfort. San usually hunted with her brothers deep in the forest but this one boar had been close to the edge and they had taken that chance. The animal ran wildly, trying to escape and finding no way out of the cage San and her brothers became. Kanha was the first to attack, biting the boar on his back, making him squeal with pain and run. However, the pain made him blind and he ran straight into Kendo, whose jaws clenched around his back. San jumped into action, pouncing on Kendo and from on top of him, she took her knife and with a quick but powerful movement, she slit the boar's throat. Blood ran down her fingers and arm as she raised them in victory. The small wolf family smiled and congratulated each other while Chandra forced back the urge to vomit. Ashitaka was caught between being proud of San and worrying about Chandra. The wolves dragged the bloody corpse over to Ashitaka, who quickly stood up and suggested he left it where it was. Chandra was looking awfully pale.
While the San and Ashitaka started cutting up the boar, the two brothers went to the river for a quick bath. After most of the bloody work was done, San and Ashitaka brought back plenty of meat to cook and eat. The boar's corpse was left to decay in the forest, as San usually left the dead animals to become fertilizer for the trees and meals for countless of insect and animals. After San made sure all the meat was brought over, she too went for a bath and left Ashitaka and Chandra to cook.
Once they were all clean and ready, Ashitaka presented them with a fine meal of cooked meat and vegetables (though the brothers skeptically tried some of the food, they settled for the raw meat). It was nothing fancy as it had been during their stay in the village but enough to sustain them for a while. They talked while they ate, much about nothing specifically but they did learn a few things about each other. As night began to fall, they began looking for a place to rest. They usually stayed near the river, it seemed like the safest place in the forests. Chandra had been a bit skeptical about the situation but she figured they knew what they were doing. After all, they had survived so far. The night overcame them and the world went quiet, except for the crickets and cicadas.
They all settled for the night but none of them could sleep. Too many events had happened, too many things had changed way too quickly. To sleep was proving to be quite a feat so they settled to look at the stars in wonder. They whispered into the night, as if to not arouse whatever beings were sleeping along with them. Soon, the talks of constellations and far away planets lulled them to sleep. Whether they slept peacefully or not was another story.
The rhythm the group settled into was short lived. They traveled for a few days before they discovered (from a few animals living in the small forest) that they were very close to the old ones, as they called it. The old ones consisted of the oldest forest they knew and it contained the oldest tribes of animals anywhere. Getting excited, they prolonged their traveling hours, only stopping when they couldn't see anymore. Because of this, they all grew very tired quickly. It was on a certain night when they collapsed from exhaustion that they met a young man.
The two wolves had not bothered to take a bath and had fallen asleep as soon as they hit the ground. Yakuul had taken their lead and soon fell asleep, almost on top of them. Chandra had excused herself and went for a long bath before she retired for the night. She left San and Ashitaka alone, both were already lying down on the ground, and neither had bothered to put anything under them. They could feel the wet grass and moist dirt but they did not care. Their limbs ached and they're eyes were getting heavier by the minute. They could feel the world slowly slipping away, the sounds of the forest became less, and their vision turned black when—
"Ahhh!"
The sound of Chandra screaming jolted San and Ashitaka back into reality. The two wolves sprung back to life as well and they all ran to see what had happened. They found Chandra wrapping a long cloth around her body as she stepped out from the river. She bumped into Ashitaka as she did not see where she was walking.
"What happened?" asked Ashitaka worriedly, looking at her scared face.
"A man--there was a man in the river."
San quickly walked to the river bank and looked around. She turned around to tell them she could see nothing when she spotted a man in bandages come from behind the,.
"Ashitaka-" said San loudly, pointing behind him. They turned and the two wolves ran towards the man, growling menacingly.
"Woah!" screamed the man as he jumped to the nearest tree and began climbing it, hoping the wolves could not climb. He turned to see them sink their claws into the trunk and spring to the nearest branch. Cursing, he continued to climb until a female's voice called out into the night.
"Leave him be!"
He looked back to see the wolves hesitate and then jump back down. The woman stood under the tree, looking up, obviously searching for him.
"Come down, coward and explain yourself!"
A little angry at being called a coward, he made sure his bandages were put on properly before jumping down. He looked at the group of two wolves, a man, and the two women. He recognized the woman next tot he man, it had been the woman he'd scared in the river. Looking straight at her, he bowed his head.
"I apologize, lady. I did not mean to scare you or look at you inappropriately," he laughed a little, rubbing his hair, "I think I was a little more scared than you were. Not many come so deep into these woods."
"And you are?" asked the man next to the woman.
"Oh! I'm Liseiji, I live in this forest."
The girl nearest him looked at him funny.
"You? You live here?"
Nodding, he smiled at her.
"And you might be?"
"San and these are my—"
"Not to be rude but can we continue the formalities somewhere else? I'm kind of cold."
They turned to look at Chandra, who seemed to be a little annoyed. Smiling apologetically, they nodded and walked back to the camp, leaving her alone to put on her clothes.
"So you are San and you are the guarding of a forest, he's Ashitaka and he's helping you in some sort of quest," continued Liseiji animatedly, thrusting his head at Ashitaka, "and the two wolves are your brothers?"
San nodded.
"Whoa! This is a weird group you got here."
He settled himself on the ground when they reached their camp, fixing his bandages nonchalantly.
"How come you live here, Liseiji?" asked San, interested that he could have survived in the wild.
"I had no choice," he said happily, still fixing the bandages on his leg, "I got kicked out of my town."
"Why?" asked Ashitaka, sitting down next to the wolves who were looking at Liseiji with distrustful eyes.
Waving his hand in the air, as if swatting a fly away, he said contentedly,
"Because of my appearance," he shook his head, " but the real question is, what are you doing here?"
"We're looking for a forest, human," spoke Kanha for the first time, making Liseiji jump a little, "It is supposed to be near."
"Yes, the oldest one around, right?"
The two wolves nodded, surprised that he knew this.
"Yeah, I've heard of it. It's supposed to be near the Southern part of this forest. But I think the hardest task is finding the way out of this forest first."
He laughed heartedly as he said this, obviously enjoying their little discussion. San looked at him funny. She had never met such a peculiar human. He said something about his appearance and he was heavily bandaged and yet, he was no cheerful and happy. She continued to stare at him as he spoke to her brothers directly, not at all scared of them but speaking as if he talked to gods every day.
"If you'd like, I'll help you. I know the forest well, it'll take two days, at most, to get through."
Ashitaka thanked him for his kindness to which Liseiji responded with a happy wave.
"Think nothing of it!"
Chandra came back in the middle of their conversation and settled next to San. She too looked at the man strangely, as if seeing an alien being. Liseiji apologized to Chandra again, happily adding that she was truly gorgeous and should not be embarrassed. Chandra let out an indignant scoff before she announced she was settling for the night. She bid them farewell and went off to sleep.
It wasn't long before Liseiji left them to rest and announced he'd be back by morning. He bid them a happy farewell before disappearing into the night. San and Ashitaka made sure they slept on something comfortable this time but sleep would not come. Finally, San spoke what they were all thinking.
"We've had the strangest things happen to us, Ashitaka."
Nodding, he turned his head to look at her.
"We cannot say we have not had our share of weirdness, then."
Smiling, San agreed with him. She turned to face him and curled up into a ball, pulling on her fur to keep her warm. She closed her eyes and let sleep overcome her.
Liseiji was true to his word. The next morning he was there to wake them up, bright and early. A bit annoyed, San reluctantly got up. She glared at him before waking up her brothers who also growled menacingly at Liseiji. He laughed at the sight of them, not quite believing they had chosen to make this journey when they were so sluggish so early in the morning. After a while, they had everything prepared and they set off into the forest. Even as they began, San could tell this forest might have been small but it was very complicated. Small rivers got in the way, the trees were pretty big and they all looked alike. There weren't any paths, for human or animals. Usually, the forests had well worn paths to the rivers or to the dens of animals. This one had none. San could easily get lost and even her brothers seemed to have a hard time finding their direction.
Liseiji kept up a stream of chatter, telling them everything he knew about the forest, which was quite a lot. It was an old forest, not as old as the ones around them but old enough. He had lived there for a couple of years so he knew his way through it. He had worked as a foreman of construction back in his villages. He made sure the houses built were sturdy and safe to live in, "which is a difficult task when all you have is wood and a bit of clay," he told them lightheartedly.
By the end of the day, he informed them that they were half way there.
"By the end of tomorrow, you guys will be on your way!"
But for that night, they settled again in the woods for a night of sleep. Liseiji accompanied San and her brothers on their hunt, not to join but to watch. He told them he usually hunted small game such as wild rabbits but never big animals. Needless to say, he was more than excited to see San and her brothers take down a wild boar all by themselves.
Once they settled around the fire Ashitaka had made for them, Liseiji told them about the forest they were searching for.
"All I know is that many villages live around it but none of them know much about it," he said seriously, munching on his share of meant, "they all seem pretty respectful of that forests, you know. Many powerful gods live there."
"Do you know exactly what tribes live there?" asked Kanha as he swallowed the rest of his meal.
"Not exactly. It's been said every tribe that every forests contains started there."
They ate thoughtfully, allowing this to sink in. San wasn't too sure about this whole trip anymore. If this forest was as old as Liseiji said, then what were the chances of a human asking for the ape tribe have against the gods? She could no longer afford to run away from the fact that she was a human and many animals distrusted them. There was a small chance that such corruption had not reached this forest since Liseiji said that no humans ever bothered them. Then again, those chances were slim.
Again, they settled for the night. This time it was peaceful and a quiet night. There were no screams and no new surprises. Still, San could not rest. She looked at Ashitaka, who seemed to be fast asleep. She prodded his ribs with her finger and he jerked awake.
"Are you asleep?" asked San innocently.
Glaring sleepily at her, he answered grumpily,
"Not anymore."
She crawled towards him and rested her head on her arms, her face turned to her side, looking straight at Ashitaka.
"You're worried."
It wasn't a question.
Nodding, San sighed.
"We might as well try, San. We've come a long way."
"I know! Still, all of the information is not encouraging."
He turned to his side as well and looked at her. He smiled, something he did often nowadays and usually directed at her.
"You worry too much."
Scoffing, San punched his shoulder. Grimacing, Ashitaka took her playful punch. She laughed at his face, her laughter ringing into the night. She began playing with her necklace, not the one made out of the many teeth lost by her brothers but the one given to her by Ashitaka. She had kept it, of course but it was usually hidden inside her shirt. She made sure it always made contact with her skin, it radiated a small warmth she had come to expect and love.
"I wonder why Liseiji is all bandaged?" she asked to no one in particular.
"I'm not sure. If you ask, be nice about it."
"I'm always nice," said San jokingly, raising her fist to punch Ashitaka again. This time, he caught her hand in his. She smiled at him and raised her hand to his face. She traced the faint line under his left eyes, the scar she had left on him. Feeling lighthearted, she did not fight as Ashitaka propped himself on his elbow and bend to kiss her cheek.
"Stop worrying and have faith in yourself," he whispered near her ear, sending shiver down her spine. She turned her head and kissed his neck. Finding it extremely comfortable there, she pushed him back and burrowed herself in his neck. Her arm wrapped around his torso and his arm did the same around hers.
The dagger lightly burned against her skin.
