The journey to the west was no easy one. Mountains, rivers, and giant fields stood in the way of Ashitaka's journey. Whenever it was time to climb a mountain, Ashitaka would have to help Yakul walk up the mountain. If they wanted to cross a river, Ashitaka would have to strip down to his bares and cross the river on foot. The plains of tall grass were the worst for both Ashitaka and Yakul. The grass was so thick, they could only walk their way through. Not to mention the various bugs that would swarm them as they tried to cross.
Yakul galloped his way across the mountain. Below the mountain was a valley with a river. In the middle of the valley was a column of smoke that rose all the way up to the sky.
"A fire?" Ashitaka whispered to himself. They rode their way down the mountain and into the valley. Once they got out into the clearing Ashitaka noticed it wasn't just a fire. There were screams and sounds of battle. "Must be a battle," Ashitaka guessed. He then looked around and saw people running from samurai. These people were carrying children, clothing, and food. One man stopped at tried to fight against the samurai but got killed almost immediately. "No, a massacre," Ashitaka said.
"There! Up on the hill!" A samurai shouted. Ashitaka turned to see a group of samurai charging and shooting arrows at him. Ashitaka gently kicked Yakul's sides and the elk ran forward down the path. With arrows whizzing by his head, Ashitaka pulled out his bow and got ready to draw an arrow. After turning the pass, Ashitaka saw the same group of villagers running from the samurai. A woman fell to the ground and a samurai leaned back with his katana to deliver the killing blow. Ashitaka pulled back an arrow and aimed for the samurai.
"You, stop!" Ashitaka warned. Just then, Ashitaka felt his arm stretch and pulsate. He felt his blood boil and his bones bend out of shape. Without meaning to, Ashitaka let go of the arrow. It soared through the sky with a loud whistle. It hit the samurai's katana, but the force of the arrow tore the man's arms clean off. The arrow flew into a nearby tree and stabled the katana to the tree with the man's arms still grasping the sword. The man only stood in confusion as blood spurted from his stumps. Yakul sped past them, causing the man to fall to the ground. Ashitaka grasped his arm in pain.
"My arm! What's happening?" Ashitaka asked himself. He turned to his right and saw two samurai on horseback. One of them had a bow with an arrow drawn back ready to fire.
"Hurry! Before he gets away!" The samurai behind him said. Ashitaka drew back another arrow and aimed for the samurai.
"Let me pass! I'm warning you!" Ashitaka yelled, not wanting to kill the man. The samurai didn't listen. He fired the arrow at Ashitaka. The young prince could feel the arrow's stream as he leaned back to avoid getting hit. He fired his arrow at the samurai and it hit him clean in the head, removing it from his neck. Seeing as now was his time to escape, Ashitaka disappeared into the forest. The samurai behind the archer slowed to a stop. He looked back at the archer to see a headless body fall off a horse.
"A demon!" The samurai uttered.
They came up to a stream with a tiny waterfall. Ashitaka got off Yakul and removed his leather gauntlet from his arm. A stinging pain followed as Ashitaka put his arm under the water. After the pain subsided, Ashitaka looked at the curse mark.
"It's getting bigger," Ashitaka spoke.
The town was bustling as usual. People walked in and out of the marketplace just like any ordinary day. Some were getting their daily needs, others were simply passing by. Vendors sat outside their shops selling all sorts of things, clothes, fruits, meats. There was even a smith in town selling swords and other weapons.
One monk was sitting at one of these vendors drinking some soup he bought from a young vendor.
"Is this soup or donkey piss?" Jigo asked as he tasted the soup. He looked to his left and saw that a crowd was gathering up. He scarfed down his soup and walked over to see what the commotion was about.
"Will this be enough?" Ashitaka asked, handing her a small piece of shiny metal. The lady looked at it and scowled.
"Hey! What are you trying to pull, this isn't money! Give me back my rice you little thief!" The lady yelled as she shoved the small piece of metal back towards Ashitaka. Jigo pushed himself through the crowd and walked up to the young lady.
"Excuse me, but may I inspect that?" Jigo asked.
"Go ahead," The lady said, giving him the small piece of metal. Jigo studied it for a second before going wide-eyed.
"My God! Why this is a lump of pure gold you silly woman!" Jigo said. A few murmurs could be heard from the crowd around them. The woman looked intently of the lump of metal in his hand. "If it's coins you want, I could pay you for the rice and take this gold nugget off your hands. What do you say?" Jigo asked. He raised up the piece of gold for everyone to see. "Good people! Is there a money changer who can tell us how much this is worth?" Jigo asked. People just looked around to see if any would answer. "No? Alright, I'm just a monk, but I'd say at least three bags of rice, maybe even more!" Jigo announced. Ashitaka simply turned around and left the scene. "Hey, where you going!" Jigo shouted.
"Where are you going? Give me back my gold!" the woman yelled as she grabbed his hand and tried to pry the gold out of his hand.
"Hey what's your hurry? You can't leave now, we've only just met!" Jigo yelled as he ran to catch up with the young prince. After catching up with the elk, he took a few seconds to catch his breath. "We've got your rice and everything's fine," Jigo said with a smile. He looked up at Ashitaka and saw that he had a mask over his face. "Oh, a man of a few words? I understand." Jigo said. The monk looked at the young boy next to him. He wore a red hat and mask which almost covered his entire head. He also wore a giant straw cloak. Jigo simply smiled. "No need to thank me. If anything I owe you. I got caught up in that battle with those samurai. I saw how you dealt with those samurai, where did you learn to fight like that?" Jigo asked. Ashitaka turned to see three people trailing them. Jigo sighed. "I see you noticed we're being followed. That's what we get for waving that gold nugget around. They'll wait until we're asleep, then they'll cut out throats. How 'bout we show them how fast we can run?" Jigo said taking off. Ashitaka soon followed suit. The three thieves simply grumbled and turned to walk back to the town.
The two made their way into a nearby cave. Jigo took off his backpack and pulled out the materials needed to make a fire. Once he got the firing going, Ashitaka dismounted Yakul and took off all of his travel wear. Jigo set up a metal rod for a cooking pot to hang over the fire.
"Hey, kid, gimme that bag of rice," Jigo said. Ashitaka handed him the bag of rice. Jigo got out a jug of water and poured some in the pot along with the rice. After he was done, all that was left to do was wait for the rice to finish cooking. Jigo looked at the young prince.
"You're not from around here, are you? Jigo asked. Ashitaka sat down by the fire with Jigo.
"I've come far from the east in search of a cure from this," Ashitaka said. Rolling up his sleeve to show Jigo his burn marks. Jigo looked at the marks and smiled.
"So that's where you got that strength, you've been cursed by a demon," Jigo said. Ashitaka rolled his sleeve back down, covering the curse.
"I got it from a giant red boar. I followed its trail, but-"
"You lost it. So what? That's life. You see this place here? This was a lovely village when I came a few years back. But there must have been a flood or landslide, maybe even a fire. The only sure thing is that everybody is dead," Jigo said. He reached over and opened his backpack. He pulled out some spices to add to the rice. "There's death and destruction everywhere, whether it be sickness, starvation, or war. The point is nobody cares. So what you've been cursed? So's the whole damn world," Jigo stated. He stirred the rice and lifted some up to his nose to smell. He smiled at the nice aroma. Ashitaka looked at the ground.
"I shouldn't have fought in that battle. Two men are dead because of me," Ashitaka said with a frown. Jigo took out his bowl.
"Don't beat yourself up over it kid, they're samurai thugs, they make a living off of killing people. If anything, you may a saved a life or two," Jigo said. He poured some rice into his bowl. "Hand me your bowl. My point is everybody dies, kid. Some now, some later, all the way from brothel girl to emperor," Jigo said. He filled Ashitaka's bowl and gave it back to him. "I've heard the emperor will give anybody an entire hill of gold if they can find a way for him to live forever. Beautiful bowl, I've seen none other like it," Jigo said. He looked up at the red elk next to Ashitaka. " Have you ever heard of the Emishi people? They're said to ride red elks and use stone arrowheads, just like you," Jigo spoke. Ashitaka simply ate his rice in silence. "Of course they were all wiped out five hundred years ago," Jigo teased. He looked up at the young prince who was trying not to look obvious. Jigo chuckled. "Don't worry kid. I won't tell people where you're from. Trust me I've got much bigger fish to fry," Jigo said. Ashitaka pulled out the iron ball that killed the giant red boar.
"Have you ever come across something like this before?" Ashitaka asked. Jigo picked it up with his chopsticks and looked it over.
"Never have," Jigo responded.
"It came from the giant boar. I'm sure it was that little ball of iron that turned him into a demon and killed him," Ashitaka spoke. Jigo gave him the little ball back to him. The young prince put it back into his pocket. Jigo looked at the boy in front of him for a second, then smiled.
"There's a place high in the mountains far to the west from here. It's where the spirit of the forest dwells. It's a very dangerous place for humans. To venture there is certain death," Jigo said.
"The spirit of the forest?" Ashitaka asked.
"I've heard the beast there are all giants, just as they were in the dawn of time," Jigo spoke. Ashitaka simply kept eating his meal.
The two finished eating and turned in for the night. When sunrise came Ashitaka put is traveling cloak back on and left the cave. Before getting on Yakul and taking off, he bowed towards Jigo. Jigo blinked open his eyes and looked at the boy disappear behind the horizon.
"See you there, my friend," Jigo said, as he went back to sleep.
The river roared as the morning poured with rain. It was so rainy, the mist of the river fog the air around them. Up on the mountain, men were tending to their oxen as they tried to walk up the steep, slippery slope.
"The sooner we get this rice home, the sooner we eat! Let's move!" Lady Eboshi shouted through the rain.
"Coming this way! Wolves!" A soldier yelled. Across the river, on the other mountain. Two giant white wolves ran towards the group. One one of the white wolves was a human wearing wolf skin and a clay mask. Eboshi smiled.
"Don't let the oxen panic! Stay calm! Take up your positions!" Eboshi ordered. Men carrying their fire lances stood ready to fire at a moments notice.
"Keep your powder dry! And wait for them to come within range!" Gonza yelled. Around the fire lances were red paper coverings. The soldiers rubbed the end of the lances with a dry cloth. After they dried the paper they tore the paper off the lances so they could ready their flint. The white wolves ran towards the group without any hesitation.
"Ready...and fire!" Eboshi ordered. The all the soldiers pushed their red hot rods into the lances. The flint sparked its way down into the barrel of the lance. An explosion followed, sending the iron balls flying towards the white wolves. The wolves simply turned back down the mountain, avoiding the iron bullets. The ran back up the mountain for a second pass. "Second round...fire!" Eboshi ordered. Another wave of iron bullets flew at the wolves. They separated and retreated back into the forest.
"That was it? They weren't so big." Gonza asked. Eboshi looked around as if she was looking for something.
"They're just pups, wait until you see their mother," Eboshi said. The oxen mooed in distress and everybody looked around for another oncoming attack. On the ledge just above came an even bigger white wolf. "It's Moro!" Eboshi yelled. She tore the red paper off her musket and ready it to fire. Moro jumped down and bite a man and threw him off the mountain. The wolf ignored the men and ran straight for Eboshi, knocking down oxen and men. "Come on," Eboshi said, aiming her musket at Moro. Men and Oxen ran in panic and the wolf thrashed around. Once she had a clear shot, Eboshi fired her musket. It hit Moro scare in her chest, but she didn't stop her charge. Gonza ignited his lance and a blast of fire shot out. Moro was stopped in her tracks as the heat enveloped her. The white wold stumbled down the mountain. Gonza laughed in triumph.
"We killed her!" Gonza shouted.
"You forget she's a god. It'll take more than that," Eboshi spoke. The two turned and saw the damage that the wolves had done.
"She certainly did some damage," Gonza spoke. Eboshi turned and started to walk up the mountain.
"We move out now," Eboshi ordered. Gonza looked over the cliff.
"What about the men that fell?" Gonza asked.
"They're as good as dead. Let's get the living home," Eboshi spoke.