Mikiri- Part 6-7
A Mononoke Hime/Princess Mononoke fanfic by Aren
[Introduction/Notes]
Feh, the new chaptering system seems kinda convoluted... Ah well. For a more
detailed description, see "Chapter One," which contains parts 1-3.
Mononoke Hime/Princess Mononoke and related characters/events are copyright
Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Original characters and events are my copyrights.
[Six]
San moved to Yakkuru slowly. Worriedly, she pat the Red Elk's muzzle. "Where's
Ashitaka?" she asked. The nervous beast shuddered a bit, spooked, and stared off into the
distance into the lower depths of the forest. "Wh... What happened, Yakkuru..." After a
few moments, Yakkuru began to walk forward and broke into a run back into the depths.
Ookami and Urufu trodded up behind San, and she mounted the older of the wolves as
they followed the elk.
Yakkuru stopped when he came upon the marsh and found Ashitaka laying down.
Going up beside his master, the faithful elk licked at the new gash below his eye,
cleaning out the slowly trickling blood. Urufu came up on the other side, and Ookami
slowed in front, allowing San to hop off. She jumped down and ran to Ashitaka, cradling
his head in her arms as he looked back up at her.
"San..." he said, "I'm all right... It's okay."
"Ashitaka... you're bleeding, what happened?" She looked at the cut across his
older scar. "Did the soldiers attack you too?"
Ashitaka's eyes widened and he pulled himself up. "Soldiers? Damn..." So Eboshi
was really serious... "Didn't she learn two years ago... What was this about soldiers, San?
What happened?"
"We were attacked by men from that terrible woman's city," replied San with
contempt. Ashitaka winced at her tone- it seemed the forest hadn't learned much more
since either. "almost didn't make it. You should have let me kill her when I had the
chance back then after all, Ashitaka..."
"San, no.. Don't say that. Hate won't do anything to help you... We've seen what
hate can do, San..."
"The humans attacked us out of the blue, Ashitaka! If it weren't for that boy in
black, I'd probably be dead!"
Ashitaka's mouth fell open. "Boy in black... Do you mean a boy, wearing black
fur, riding a dark wolf..?"
"That's the one. You seen him?"
Ashitaka couldn't believe it. That kid was the reason for the Tatara-Ba attack...
That boy attacked him... "San... It wasn't troops who attacked me, it was that boy. I'm
sure of it... And he attacked Tatara-Ba, and they thought he was you..."
San just stared at him. "I don't get it," was all she said. She was confused and
shaken by the attack, and now this... Who was he? Without a word, Ashitaka just held his
arms out and San let herself fall into them.
"He mentioned something about the Shishigami's forsaken, San... Do you know
what he's talking about?"
"I... I have no idea..."
Still holding San, Ashitaka looked nervously off into the rest of the forest, where
he could see the footprints of the black wolf trailed off. Where was the forsaken boy
now? And when would he show up again? And what next, what of San and himself?
Everything that had happened two years ago was poised to happen again, and worse... For
this boy. Something had to be done. Was he friend or foe?
"What should we do, Ashitaka...?" San asked, finally pulling out of his warm
embrace.
"We need to find that boy... and soon..." was all Ashitaka said, still not taking his
eyes off of the wolf tracks.
[Seven]
"So Eboshi's at it again, eh?" the short monk said with a degree of amusement
over his rice. "Wow. Well, I'm just a humble monk, but I'd heard she'd already tried for
the head of the Shishigami a few years ago and lost her arm for it. Would've thought that
she of all people'd know to just leave the damn forest alone." He tilted up his bowl and
scooped the rest of the rice into his hungry mouth. He handed over some small change to
the vendor for the rice and a little extra. "Well, my friend, thanks for the rice and the
rumors. Be seeing you!" He picked up his belongings and walked off, his short stature
boosted a little by his tall sandals.
"Well, Jiko-Bou," he mumbled to himself, "looks like you aren't the only one
secretly up to your old tricks... So the lady's after that wolf girl again, that's amusing.
Might have to pay a little visit to Tatara-Ba sometime soon, see what's up." Where there
was a potential for personal gain, be it riches or influence, Jiko was never one to pass it
up. Two years ago had been a failure, but one never knows. "Wonder what's happened
with that boy, too, that Emishi. I bet our paths'll cross again sometime..." The ideas
continued to propagate in his knobby head as he began the trip to Tatara-Ba.
Meanwhile, in the forest, Ame of the Shishigami's outcasts sat on the low
branches of a tree, with his black wolf nearby. With him on the branch was the body of
one of the Tatara-Ba warriors he had felled earlier in the day. He was looking through the
man's equipment for something useful, finding nothing other than a small knife, which he
slipped into a sash running across his black wolf-hide tunic.
"Ame," came a voice from the nearby ground. Kaze's, of course. Ame reached his
right hand down to pat her muzzle gently, occupied with his current task.
"Patience, Kaze," the boy said to the large wolf. "I'm hungry too. We'll eat soon."
He finished searching the body and set it up on a branch a few feet higher than his, to use
the blood later for battle paint. He hopped down the short drop to the forest floor and
mounted Kaze.
"Should we find that Red Elk and eat it?" Kaze asked, her voice becoming
voracious with hunger. Red Elk was a very rare treat for a wolf.
"No, I don't think so..." the boy said. "There's plenty of other stuff to eat here."
"Aw... All right, Ame. If we find the elk later, can I eat it then?"
Ame sighed, laughing to himself. "Sure, sure," he said, extending his arm in front
of him. "Look, there's some deer right there. Let's go!" The wolf charged as its rider
pulled out the soldier's knife. The herd of deer scattered, and Ame pounced on one and
caught it in her teeth as Ame jumped off and threw the knife into another one. The rest of
the herd got off, but two deer were enough to eat for a while. Ame loaded both of the
deer carcasses on the wolf's back and they rode back to their tree. Kaze ate her meat raw,
while Ame prepared a small fire and cooked chunks over it on the edge of his sword.
Their meal was interrupted as Kaze raised her ears. "I hear voices," she said to
Ame, staring off on the direction of the sound.
"Shh..." Ame said, standing up slowly and finishing his current bite of deer. "I
hear them too," he whispered. "Let's wait for them..."
[To be continued, stay tuned...]
[Author's Note]
For more detailed notes, see Mikiri "Chapter One"(parts 1-3).
If anyone wants to contact me, my AIM screen name is Vash60BillionMan, ICQ
number is 39072552, MSN Messenger is pankurokku@hotmail.com(I don't use that for
e-mail
though), and e-mail is john_neal@att.net.
A Mononoke Hime/Princess Mononoke fanfic by Aren
[Introduction/Notes]
Feh, the new chaptering system seems kinda convoluted... Ah well. For a more
detailed description, see "Chapter One," which contains parts 1-3.
Mononoke Hime/Princess Mononoke and related characters/events are copyright
Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Original characters and events are my copyrights.
[Six]
San moved to Yakkuru slowly. Worriedly, she pat the Red Elk's muzzle. "Where's
Ashitaka?" she asked. The nervous beast shuddered a bit, spooked, and stared off into the
distance into the lower depths of the forest. "Wh... What happened, Yakkuru..." After a
few moments, Yakkuru began to walk forward and broke into a run back into the depths.
Ookami and Urufu trodded up behind San, and she mounted the older of the wolves as
they followed the elk.
Yakkuru stopped when he came upon the marsh and found Ashitaka laying down.
Going up beside his master, the faithful elk licked at the new gash below his eye,
cleaning out the slowly trickling blood. Urufu came up on the other side, and Ookami
slowed in front, allowing San to hop off. She jumped down and ran to Ashitaka, cradling
his head in her arms as he looked back up at her.
"San..." he said, "I'm all right... It's okay."
"Ashitaka... you're bleeding, what happened?" She looked at the cut across his
older scar. "Did the soldiers attack you too?"
Ashitaka's eyes widened and he pulled himself up. "Soldiers? Damn..." So Eboshi
was really serious... "Didn't she learn two years ago... What was this about soldiers, San?
What happened?"
"We were attacked by men from that terrible woman's city," replied San with
contempt. Ashitaka winced at her tone- it seemed the forest hadn't learned much more
since either. "almost didn't make it. You should have let me kill her when I had the
chance back then after all, Ashitaka..."
"San, no.. Don't say that. Hate won't do anything to help you... We've seen what
hate can do, San..."
"The humans attacked us out of the blue, Ashitaka! If it weren't for that boy in
black, I'd probably be dead!"
Ashitaka's mouth fell open. "Boy in black... Do you mean a boy, wearing black
fur, riding a dark wolf..?"
"That's the one. You seen him?"
Ashitaka couldn't believe it. That kid was the reason for the Tatara-Ba attack...
That boy attacked him... "San... It wasn't troops who attacked me, it was that boy. I'm
sure of it... And he attacked Tatara-Ba, and they thought he was you..."
San just stared at him. "I don't get it," was all she said. She was confused and
shaken by the attack, and now this... Who was he? Without a word, Ashitaka just held his
arms out and San let herself fall into them.
"He mentioned something about the Shishigami's forsaken, San... Do you know
what he's talking about?"
"I... I have no idea..."
Still holding San, Ashitaka looked nervously off into the rest of the forest, where
he could see the footprints of the black wolf trailed off. Where was the forsaken boy
now? And when would he show up again? And what next, what of San and himself?
Everything that had happened two years ago was poised to happen again, and worse... For
this boy. Something had to be done. Was he friend or foe?
"What should we do, Ashitaka...?" San asked, finally pulling out of his warm
embrace.
"We need to find that boy... and soon..." was all Ashitaka said, still not taking his
eyes off of the wolf tracks.
[Seven]
"So Eboshi's at it again, eh?" the short monk said with a degree of amusement
over his rice. "Wow. Well, I'm just a humble monk, but I'd heard she'd already tried for
the head of the Shishigami a few years ago and lost her arm for it. Would've thought that
she of all people'd know to just leave the damn forest alone." He tilted up his bowl and
scooped the rest of the rice into his hungry mouth. He handed over some small change to
the vendor for the rice and a little extra. "Well, my friend, thanks for the rice and the
rumors. Be seeing you!" He picked up his belongings and walked off, his short stature
boosted a little by his tall sandals.
"Well, Jiko-Bou," he mumbled to himself, "looks like you aren't the only one
secretly up to your old tricks... So the lady's after that wolf girl again, that's amusing.
Might have to pay a little visit to Tatara-Ba sometime soon, see what's up." Where there
was a potential for personal gain, be it riches or influence, Jiko was never one to pass it
up. Two years ago had been a failure, but one never knows. "Wonder what's happened
with that boy, too, that Emishi. I bet our paths'll cross again sometime..." The ideas
continued to propagate in his knobby head as he began the trip to Tatara-Ba.
Meanwhile, in the forest, Ame of the Shishigami's outcasts sat on the low
branches of a tree, with his black wolf nearby. With him on the branch was the body of
one of the Tatara-Ba warriors he had felled earlier in the day. He was looking through the
man's equipment for something useful, finding nothing other than a small knife, which he
slipped into a sash running across his black wolf-hide tunic.
"Ame," came a voice from the nearby ground. Kaze's, of course. Ame reached his
right hand down to pat her muzzle gently, occupied with his current task.
"Patience, Kaze," the boy said to the large wolf. "I'm hungry too. We'll eat soon."
He finished searching the body and set it up on a branch a few feet higher than his, to use
the blood later for battle paint. He hopped down the short drop to the forest floor and
mounted Kaze.
"Should we find that Red Elk and eat it?" Kaze asked, her voice becoming
voracious with hunger. Red Elk was a very rare treat for a wolf.
"No, I don't think so..." the boy said. "There's plenty of other stuff to eat here."
"Aw... All right, Ame. If we find the elk later, can I eat it then?"
Ame sighed, laughing to himself. "Sure, sure," he said, extending his arm in front
of him. "Look, there's some deer right there. Let's go!" The wolf charged as its rider
pulled out the soldier's knife. The herd of deer scattered, and Ame pounced on one and
caught it in her teeth as Ame jumped off and threw the knife into another one. The rest of
the herd got off, but two deer were enough to eat for a while. Ame loaded both of the
deer carcasses on the wolf's back and they rode back to their tree. Kaze ate her meat raw,
while Ame prepared a small fire and cooked chunks over it on the edge of his sword.
Their meal was interrupted as Kaze raised her ears. "I hear voices," she said to
Ame, staring off on the direction of the sound.
"Shh..." Ame said, standing up slowly and finishing his current bite of deer. "I
hear them too," he whispered. "Let's wait for them..."
[To be continued, stay tuned...]
[Author's Note]
For more detailed notes, see Mikiri "Chapter One"(parts 1-3).
If anyone wants to contact me, my AIM screen name is Vash60BillionMan, ICQ
number is 39072552, MSN Messenger is pankurokku@hotmail.com(I don't use that for
though), and e-mail is john_neal@att.net.