Chapter 14 - Massacre

"We will need to send someone to collect the supplies. They were supposed to be here by now." Kato said to Hideyoshi, who was sitting down to some tea.

Hideyoshi's brow moved slightly as he smiled. "We may have some time. Lord Oda's army is not too far. Okay, then!"

Ashitaka exited his tent to find Hideyoshi and another soldier standing right outside. San was not with them.

"What is wrong?" Ashitaka said as he bowed.

Hideyoshi smiled. "I am sending you and Kirito-san here on a mission. There is a small village to the north of here. I need you both to enter and ensure that they will be sending their supply caravans to us. It should not take long. Do I have your support?"

Ashitaka nodded. It didn't seem like that hard of a mission. "I will do it."

The two warriors left as soon as Ashitaka had something to eat. He could feel the fish and rice filling him up as he rode on Yakul. The soldier known as Kirito rode on a horse right alongside.

It was mostly awkward silence between the two. Ashitaka was in no mood to make small talk, especially to a soldier he barely knew. Kirito looked to be about the same age as Ashitaka, if not younger.

"Hey," Kirito said out of nowhere. "I've heard about what you did in Odawara. A lot of people are spreading rumors about your power."

Ashitaka didn't respond.

"Don't you think it's an awesome ability? I know what I would do if I had-"

"What would you do?" Ashitaka said, stopping next to a tree. He stared at the soldier, who looked like he had just stepped in something unpleasant.

"Well...I-"

"This power isn't something to brag about. It's more of a curse...it IS a curse." Ashitaka said without emotion. Regardless, it scared Kirito all the same.

"I apologize."

"No one understands the burden I carry..." San might have, but Ashitaka didn't want anything to happen to her. She shouldn't have come along. She should have stayed in her forest with her wolves and her animals...I should have never went to help those boars. I would still be in Iron Town, working on that wall.

"Ashitaka?" The warrior snapped back to reality at the sound of his name.

"Should we get going?" Ashitaka said quickly. Without giving Kirito time to respond, Ashitaka lightly dug his heels into Yakul and pulled the reins. Yakul dashed forward, soon followed by Kirito.

The village was a very small farming community. It looked similar in size to Iron Town. There were humble farmers plowing their fields, children running around, and women carrying vases and boxes. Ashitaka didn't want to bother these people at all with war business, but he was asked to do it.

As Ashitaka trotted through on the back of Yakul, the villagers would all give him scornful looks. They would look at his face, his arm, and either turn away or look on with hatred. The physical pain was gone, but these looks were burned into his soul. Asthiaka had encountered people like this before, and he hoped it wouldn't turn out the same.

Kirito, however, didn't notice the villagers. "Do you think they have the caravans somewhere?" He asked after shifting his weight on his horse.

Ashitaka didn't respond, but he stopped Yakul. There were a group of villagers in front of him, to the sides, and even from behind. He and Kirito were surrounded. Kirito finally took notice, stopping his own horse as well.

"What do you want here?" One villager stepped forward. He was an older man, wearing ragged clothes and a ragged beard. His hands were behind his hunched back.

The man on the horse spoke up. "We are here representing Hideyoshi."

"We don't want you!" A younger man shouted from the crowd. "Your wars are tearing the lands apart! We barely have enough for our own people, so why give it away to you!?"

"And that man!" A woman interjected. Ashitaka couldn't tell where her voice came from. "We've heard the tales. The man with a demon's gift, who kills for pleasure and bathes in the blood of his victims!"

Another voice popped up. "The demon of Odawara!"

Ashitaka's arm throbbed. Surely they weren't talking about him, but he wasn't so sure. The looks on the villagers' faces were fear-driven, no doubt.

Kirito's voice echoed above the murmuring of the villagers. "We mean you no harm! We just wanted to find out if we had your support, is all. We will return to Hideyoshi and tell him to move on, if you'll let us."

The crowd died down, but another voice spoke up. "They mean to raid our village for their food! They'll come in the night, steal our wares, burn our homes, and kill our children!"

"We will not raid you!" Ashitaka said, trying to calm the crowd. He could feel the tension against his face. "We have much bigger things to worry about than common villages." The villagers began to calm down again, to Ashitaka's relief.

However, someone with Ashitaka's voice kept talking. "However, if you don't let us go...I cannot make that promise."

"You mean to threaten us? A common village? Hideyoshi's enemies are starting to seem like our friends right now!" There were too many voices for Ashitaka to count, including the one that was his own. Did he say that? It felt like he did, but he did not think the words.

"Ashitaka..." Kirito looked to the warrior.

The voice spoke again. "None of you will want to fight me. Anyone who tries will die by my hand. Now, let us go."

Slowly, the crowd parted. Kirito took his horse and sped off. Ashitaka began to do the same, but something sharp hit his back. He fell off of Yakul and hit the ground with a thud. The pain in his back remained, stinging right down to the bone.

It was an arrow. One of the villagers shot him with his back turned.

"The other one got away. Should we chase after him?"

"No, let him tell. We can deliver this man to Oda's opposers. They will tear him apart, and Hideyoshi's greatest weapon will have fallen."

"I say kill him now and get it over with!" A burly man approached Ashitaka and picked him up by the head. With one flick, the man's fist began to crush Ashitaka's head. He screamed in pain as everything went black.

Ashitaka's arm began to turn green. In a second, everything stopped. Even the pain in his head and back were gone. He fell from the burly man's grip, but the man didn't follow up. He stood there with his arm out while the others looked on. The hatred in their faces saddened him and filled him with rage at the same time. Ashitaka moved to remove the arrow from his back and pulled out his sword.

One stab and everything moved again. The burly man stood there with a long katana in his gut. Ashitaka turned and removed his weapon, causing the man to fall with a loud thud. The villagers looked on in shock. Ashitaka looked down to see his arm a dark black. It was time.

"Please..." The old man spoke up. "It was just...we can give you the caravans now. We'll give you all of our food, even some good soldiers. Please!"

"That opportunity has passed." Ashitaka said, and in an instant his sword was in the old man as well. The villagers began to run, screaming in every direction, but Ashitaka only smiled.

He ran from one villager to the next, stabbing and slicing through all of them like pieces of meat. Some tried to fight back, carrying arrows or swords or axes. When one man slammed an axe down, Ashtiaka moved his blade and cut the weapon right in half.

For every kill he made with his sword, Ashitaka took another two with arrows. He pulled his bow out when faced with another two men, charging with spears. He let one loose, lodging it right into an eye of one, while he loaded his second arrow and shot it before the first man even realized he was dead.

All Ashitaka could hear were the screams of the women and children. The warrior cut through them all. Men, women, children. It did not matter. Ashitaka knew that someone was moving for him, killing for him. But, he rather enjoyed it as well. The best ones were the those that tried to fight back. They all fell down the same way.

Silence was all that remained after Ashitaka slew the last villager - a woman, only about fifteen years old. She was huddled in the corner of one house, crying as she held the body of her baby brother. Ashitaka didn't want to do it, but something thrust his sword into the girl's chest. She died without a word, falling into her lap.

Blood was everywhere: on the walls, in the water, and on every slain body. Ashitaka's blade dripped with blood as well, the blood of that girl. It got him thinking about San again.

"No." He said out loud, not wanting to think of it anymore. He heard a faint cry, which got him to turn. It came from another building. Another one, Ashitaka thought. He gripped his sword and walked right inside.

As soon as he did, he heard the scream of a little girl. She was in the corner, just like the other girl he had just killed. This one was alone, however. The girl had to have been less than ten years old. She was shivering, closing her eyes as Ashitaka entered the room.

"Please!" The girl squealed as Ashitaka approached. The voice was in his head now.

"Do it."

"Do it. Kill the girl."

Ashitaka stared down at the girl, she had tears on her face and her hands over her head. She had a small pink kimono on. There were flowers on the sleeves. She had another flower in her hair.

"Kill the girl."

The warrior raised his blade over his head. The girl whimpered as she looked up at Ashitaka. She had big, round eyes and a small nose. Her hair was silk as it flowed down her sides. She had long hair for a girl of her age. However, it was her eyes that kept Ashitaka's attention. They were staring right into him, as if pleading with his soul not to take her own. Some feeling crept up inside Ashitaka, and he thrust his blade down.

It stabbed right into the wooden floor, mere inches from the girl's feet. She winced and flinched as the blade moved, but her crying stopped when she noticed she still had her life. The girl looked up to Ashitaka with those big eyes, questioning why she still lived.

Ashitaka himself was crying. He turned away from the girl. I can't do it, he thought. I just can't.

"Kill the girl."

The voice remained in his head, but it slowly faded away. The two just stood there for the longest time.

It was the girl who broke the silence. "Wh-why..." She said. Her voice was squeaky like a child's, and her words carried some sort of feeling that Ashitaka just couldn't take away from this world.

"I'm sorry..." He said, as he picked up his sword. He walked out of the building, not wanting to see the child again. He would just return to the camp...but, what if they found out? Surely Kirito must have seen what had happened from a distance and decided to tell the army. Ashitaka thought to run and find the demon that is cursing him so. If he were to kill it, his nightmare would end.

Instead, Ashitaka heard steps behind him. He turned to see the little girl. When he looked at her, she just stood still as if she were trying to hide in plain sight.

"What do you want?"

The girl just took a step.

"I want..." Her fingers were tapping against each other. "...I want to go with you."

That actually made Ashitaka laugh. "I just killed your village: your friends, your family. Why would you want to go with the man who could kill you too?"

That made the girl look scared, but she just stepped forward again.

"Your eyes are not the ones of the man that killed them." She said.

Am I really going to let her? Ashitaka thought long before sighing.

"Let's go."

The girl followed Ashitaka all the way back to the camp. She stood a good few feet behind him, but when he turned she would always be there. There was no smile on her face, but he could tell she was trying to be confident.

When they returned, Ashitaka was met by Hideyoshi himself.

"Kirito told me everything..." Hideyoshi said. His arms were crossed.

Ashitaka didn't know what to say...one wrong word, and he would be killed for slaughtering an entire village.

"I..."

"They were with the enemy the whole time...They had been giving the Hojo clan supplies before we took over." Hideyoshi said to Ashitaka's surprise. "I should have figured. Well, I'm glad to see you okay. And who's this?" He said as he looked to the girl, but she hid behind Ashitaka.

"Someone from the village." Ashitaka said.

"So you slaughter a village and take a prize." Hideyoshi laughed. "You see, we are one for one, you and I."

Ashtiaka didn't know what he meant, but he soon remembered his own village. He couldn't have felt any more guilty about what he just did.

"Those screams carried as far as here," Hideyoshi continued, leading Ashitaka and the girl to his own tent. "I was going to send soldiers, but Kirito came through the woods. He said they attacked you, so I do not blame you for what you did. War is not pretty at all." He turned to the girl. "Are you hungry?"

She nodded politely.

Ashitaka and the girl ate alone near a fire. He ate his own meal, but noticed the girl scarfing hers down pretty quickly.

"You must be very hungry."

The girl stopped, blushing. She then at her food at a slower pace.

"What is your name?"

She looked at Ashitaka as if he had asked her to jump off a cliff.

"Mi..Mizuki. Mizuki Sayaka." She said with a small voice.

"Mizuki...I am sorry I attacked your village. I would not be surprised if you hate me."

"I don't hate you." The girl said, which got Ashitaka almost choking on his food.

"You don't?"

"My father had that...the thing on your arm. He had it too." She said lightly.

"He killed my mother and my sister, while she was only a newborn. When he was calm, he had the same eyes as you. He would have killed me too, but instead the villagers came and attacked him. He ran away. However, the other villagers just gave me away instead of taking care of me. They said that a child of a demon will be a demon too... I ended up here at this village, working in the fields...I didn't know any of them truly."

"But, I don't hate you." She looked deep into Ashitaka's eyes. "You could have killed me too, but you chose not to."

Just like that, Ashitaka pictured this little girl's entire life. Raised by a demon, saw her family killed just like that, passed around from village to village...

"Please," Mizuki bowed her head. "I want you to...I want you to kill my father, wherever he is."

"I will." Ashitaka said it without meaning. Deep down, he would if he could, but Ashitaka was not going to go off searching for this demon man. It was a demon bird he was hunting.

Either way, Mizuki had a smile on her face. She jumped and gave Ashitaka a hug. "Oh, thank you!" She said with tears. Ashitaka just sat there, wondering if he really would kill him if he had the chance. I hope he is on the other side of this battle, Ashitaka thought. That would make things easier.

"So your name is Mizuki?"

San didn't know what it was about this little girl, but she felt very warmly towards her. She wasn't anything like her brothers or the animals she knew in the forest. She was a human girl, and that made San feel weird inside. It's been a while since San talked to any other humans since fighting Ashitaka. Every day, San would look over to her companion, but he always looked like there was something on his mind. San grew annoyed by it, but soon decided to just ignore him. There was no sense in opening an old wound.

At some point during the day, San was called to meet with Oda. It was a surprise to her that she was was selected and immediately went to the tent.

Inside the tent, Lord Oda sat in a chair at the end of a long table. A map of the surrounding land stretched the entire length, as the others stood around it. Hideyoshi was there, along with Kato and Ashitaka. Other men were there as well, including Mitsuhide. He looked intimidating, even though San was well used to fighting humans from her previous experience. Still, there was something about him that she didn't trust.

Ashitaka looked to San as she entered the tent, but he looked away, placing his left hand on his cursed arm. San could feel the tension brush against her.

"Are you sure this is wise?" Hideyoshi said. "Spreading out our forces might be-"

If Oda was mad, he was good at hiding it. "It will be so." Oda said. He looked very determined as he sat in his chair. He lifted a hand to his cheek.

"Forgive me," Hideyoshi said quickly as he bowed. "How will you handle this?"

"Nagahide will go into Shikoku, Katsuie will go and invade Echigo, and I will be sending you back to try and make peace with the Mori clan, Hideyoshi. Mitsuhide will be accompanying you."

Mitsuhide nodded, as did Hideyoshi. "Very well," Hideyoshi said, bowing again. "I will leave with my forces at dawn. What about yourself, Lord Oda?"

Oda's hands went to his temples. The man looked very tired from what San could see. "I'll be in Kyoto, at Honno-ji temple. After I gather my strength, I'll return to the frontlines to assist you as well, Hideyoshi." His faint smile looked like it hid fear.

The men in the tent disbanded and went their separate ways. San and Ashitaka were about to leave when Oda called for them. "Wait, you two stay." He said, causing them both to turn and bow.

"I've heard of your feats, Ashitaka and San. I am most impressed. How would you like to accompany me to Kyoto?"

"That would be nice, but I would rather serve you on the frontlines." Ashitaka said, still bowing to Lord Oda. The man laughed.

"I insist. I doubt you've seen any finer place! It is very relaxing, which is something we all need at a time like this. My conquest is almost complete; I simply need to finish a few outliers and the unification of this land will be complete." Oda stood up from his chair and walked around the table. He placed a hand on San's shoulder. "How have my daggers been working for you?"

San bowed again. "Very nicely, Lord." She said awkwardly. She wasn't entirely sure how to interract with someone like Oda, so she followed Ashitaka's example. She must have done something wrong, as Ashitaka chuckled under his breath. Oda gave a laugh as well.

Ashitaka's voice seemed to come out of nowhere. "What about the girl, Mizuki?"

Oda turned towards the warrior. "The battlefield is no place for one like her...bring her along. She might find a place with the maids at Honno-ji. Now, get ready. We'll be leaving at dawn as well. There is no time to sit around."

Ashitaka was on his way back to his own tent when San stopped him. "Ashitaka," she started. "Don't do this...we left on this journey together. We have to stay that way." San was looking down as she said it. There was no way she would be able to handle being alone out here, away from all comforts. Even though she had her brother with her, it wouldn't be enough. Not without Ashitaka to talk to.

The warrior only looked down. His hands were trembling. San placed her own right on top of his. "I need you, Ashitaka." She said. That made him look up. His face was very different; the curse had spread enough to make him look disfigured. It was hard to look at, and San knew it was even harder to experience. In an act of instinct, San hugged the cursed man. Ashitaka flinched, but San held on tight.

"San..." Ashitaka finally said. She backed away to look at his face one more time. The purple skin transitioned to his natural skin color abruptly. San couldn't help but look down. Ashitaka backed away and quietly walked away, leaving San alone. She saw the skin return back to the purple tint as he left.

"It won't be like this for long." San said. "At Honno-ji, everything will change. I can feel it."