It's been a while! Here's an update
"Ashitaka...Ashitaka."
The young man rolled in his sleep. He heard a voice calling his name. He felt...something worse than pain. Something worse than agony. Fear.
"Ashitaka, please."
Ashitaka finally opened his sore eyes to see a canopy of green above him. Reality crashed around him and swept him from the world of sleep. He raised his head from his pillow of leaves and immediately searched for San. He saw her, sitting beside him. Holding a dagger in one hand, the other on his knee. She stared at him for a moment, before murmuring,
"I am feeling alright. Let's carry on."
Ashitaka numbly nodded, and inched closer to her. He stared at her for a moment longer, before getting to his feet and gathering their provisions.
She struggled to stand behind him, not letting him see her pain. But she knew they must leave. She could smell the fear on him, with the wolf sense she perfected as she was raised. She denied what he was afraid about, but did not want to heighten it with her own fears.
But as it was, he heard the thing she had woken him for. It was not the howl of a wolf, or the soothing click of the Kokudama. It was a dreadful noise that made Ashitaka freeze, and turn to look at San.
"San. Do you know what that is?" San did not answer him, but continued to strap on her bag onto Yakul, who stood stiffened and alert. Both knew that if Yakul was afraid, so should they be.
The sound drew closer. It seemed to swirl in the shadows of the trees, avoiding the human gaze. When San had awoken in the night to fiery pain, she had thought it only the wind. But the wind does not linger, it blows in and away, never remaining to haunt in the dark...
The human and the wolf both quieted their thoughts to keep a keen ear on their stalker. San ignored Ashitaka's hand, and climbed onto Yakul from his elegant antler. She despised being vulnerable, especially a human. Although she knew she must accept that she too was human.
As Ashitaka led Yakul from their camp, his heart leapt from the whirring, strangled something creeping in their wake. He found himself remembering the words the wise women had told him when he was young, for fear was ones worst enemy when times are dire. She had taught him to think of life as one of the pebbles she foresaw the future with. They are thrown about down the river, crashing and tumbling in the currents. Sometimes they even chip, and this is when the worst times in life hit us. And soon, we are weathered. We are smaller. But we are smoother and more beautiful then ever. So if you ever feel afraid, remember that the river will keep flowing, and the pain will pass.
Somehow Ashitaka found it difficult to heed her words with a dangerous shadow following his path. The only voice that echoed in his mind was his "humble" monk.
"So you say you're under a curse. Well so what, so's the whole damn world."
What was this curse? Ashitaka wondered as he watched San sway upon the tired elk. Was is sorrow, pain, loss? Was it hate? Was it death?