Part III
1
The morning was cool as the sun rose over the low sloping hills. Akira was already awake and sitting outside of Ashitaka's house, sitting and looking at the dawn. Ashitaka saw him and sat down beside him. Akira's long hair blew in the gentle breeze. His face was intent.
"Good morning." Ashitaka greeted cheerily.
"What's so good about it?"
"I do not know, maybe how we see the blue sky and sun. We also must take in the fact that we are alive, we could have died in our sleep." Ashitaka chuckled as he said this.
"Hmmm, I suppose you're right, brother." Akira responded.
"I think I am going to take it upon myself to show you the better part of life. I myself had to learn again.You need to forget about the past, and live in the present."
"Well, I hope you do a good job." Akira said smiling. There was a pause between them. There was a slight cool morning breeze that passed over the village. In the distance Akira saw people starting their new day.
"I think we should spend some time together." Ashitaka broke the silence.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Oh, there is someone I want you to meet."
"Someone in the town?"
"No no, a friend that lives in the forest?"
"What kind of person lives in the forest?"
"This person does."
"Why?"
"Because this person likes it in the woods." Ashitaka said smiling. This was rather amusing. "You lived in the forest sometimes."
"True. All right then, I'm up for it. I could use more friends. This person won't try to kill me?"
"I am sure that will not happen." Ashitaka said, standing up. "We should get going."
"Where to?"
"The east." Ashitaka went stepped forward and watched as Akira went back inside the house.
"Where are you going?"
"I need to get something." He said disappearing. When Akira came back he had his Katana tied to the belt on his waist.
"I do not think you will need that." Ashitaka said.
"You never know, brother." Akira replied. Ashitaka simply shrugged and led the way toward the low hills in the east. Akira had no idea where his brother was taking him. He sure hoped it was something worth it. This was family though, he could trust them.
Trust was something that was hard to come by in Akira's eyes. He had been pushed around and betrayed enough in his lifetime to know when to be wary of certain people. The people he saw in the village already made him nervous.
Ashitaka and him walked up the hills, filled with long grasses, toward the forest line. Akira like it outside in nature. It gave him a certain feeling, a feeling of safety. It was beautiful when one took the time to appreciate the vastness before them. It was too bad not too many people did. After they went into the forest a little ways. Ashitaka told Akira to stop and stay there. All Akira saw in the distance was a slight rock formation, perhaps a cave.
"Brother, you brought me to nothing."
"This is something."
"No, it is not. This is a cave. You said you wanted to show me your friend. Your friend is the cave?"
"No."
"Are you well?" Akira asked. Ashitaka just laughed and proceeded forward. Akira waited there for awhile, milling about in a circle, listening to the ambiance of the forest. Akira was not really paying attention when Ashitaka stepped up right beside him. Akira jumped and shouted a little.
"You frightened me." Akira said, then laughed. Ashitaka laughed again too. It was good to laugh.
"Follow me now, brother." Ashitaka motioned Akira to follow him. Akira followed him towards the cave-like object, which was indeed a cave. There, standing to the side, Akira saw someone standing there. A young woman, about as tall as him, with long brown hair and bluish eyes. She was wearing some strange clothes.
"San." Ashitaka began, turning to the girl, "this is my brother." He said with a smile on his face. For a moment, there was a pause between the three of them. The girl was looking at Akira, making him a little nervous.
"Is that you?" She said in a soft voice. Ashitaka turned to her and looked puzzled. The girl walked up to Akira and touched his face. She had a soft hand.
"It is you." She said smiling. "Ashitaka, this is the boy I saw in the forest many times."
"What? You saw me?" Akira sounded surprised.
"Many times, even before I met Ashitaka." Akira's astonishment on his face turned into a frown, then he jumped back.
"Wait! You're that crazy girl that rode those wolves around! You were the one that must have killed my horse awhile back!"
"I did not." San said. "I saw you had a horse but I left you alone, you seemed to be at peace in the forest."
"Then who took my horse? Ronin? Do they actually go into the forest?"
"Calm down, brother." Ashitaka said, patting his shoulder. "I do not think she is lying." Akira took a deep breath and sighed.
"All right, I am sorry. I get a little jumpy sometimes."
"It is understandable." San said smiling. "I liked you since I saw you, you're not like most humans." Akira's face turned to a look of bewilderment. Ashitaka laughed.
"I will explain in later." He said. "Me and San have to go discuss something. You know where the village is though. Why don't you explore around the area?" Akira nodded his head and San and Ashitaka walked off.
2
San and Ashitaka were walking together on the hill overlooking the village. It was a nice day, early in the morning. They were silent for a little while. Ashitaka was thinking of what he would say. He knew the story of his brother. He thought that he should tell San, he knew he could trust her. It seemed to him that she was open to understanding Akira, because in a way, he was much like her. If this was true, Ashitaka thought that explaining would make it easier to understand his brother. His brother needed more people to care for him.
"San?" Ashitaka said. She turned her head.
"Hmm?" She replied.
"You must excuse my brother, he had not had an easy life."
"I could tell." She said. "I didn't know you had a brother."
"I never told you. I did not know we would ever see each other again."
"So what happened between you?" She asked.
Ashitaka went on to explain himself. He told her the way that his father mistreated Akira. Their mother had died giving birth to Akira. Even though Ashitaka and him were fraternal twins, their mother died through complications with Akira. His father always blamed Akira for her death. He was exceptionally hard on him, and beat him quite often. Eventually, Akira left and became a mercenary. He could not take it anymore. When Ashitaka was through, San sat there silently.
"That's sad." She said. "I feel sorry for him".
"Even though we were the same age, he was always the stronger one, no matter what. He taught me many things. I thank him for that."
"Are you going to stay together now?"
"Yes. He'd be glad to help out. Asano's samurai would love to get a hold of this town."
Ashitaka had been busy talking, and both of them did not hear the sound of hooves behind then. Ashitaka turned around and felt a searing pain as an arm connected with his face. He fell over backwards down the hill. San tried to escape, but was trapped by two samurai on horseback.
"That's what happens when you leave your guard down." One of them said, laughing.
"We should have killed him." The other said.
"You know we need him." The other replied back. "But look what we have here, a nice little girl." The both laughed. San stood bracing herself for their attack. She knew what they would do if they caught her.
"Your fault for being in the open." One of the samurai said.
"Hey you! Why don't you pick on someone who has a weapon?" A voice said from behind. All of them looked, and San saw Akira standing close by, sword at ready.
"Who are you?" One of the samurai asked.
"Who I am is not your business. However, my business is what you are doing. You are trying to hurt my friends. I don't like that."
"Go away boy, unless you want to get killed."
"Boy?" Akira said, acting surprised. "Is that what you call a killer?" The samurai had had enough. Both of them charged Akira on their horses, but he just stood there. Right before the first one came, he sidestepped, and slashed up with his katana. It cut deep into the samurai's side. He gave a yell, and fell over backwards. The second samurai rode right past him. He quickly grabbed the fallen samurai's bow, and an arrow, and shot one straight at the coming man. It contacted with his neck, and the man grabbed it, in a futile effort to stop the squirting blood. The samurai made a gurgling sound, and fell off his horse.
Akira ran over to check on San, who came towards him. She looked happy and surprised at the same time.
"You saved my life." She said to him.
"Do you think I would let you die? Even though we just met, it doesn't make your life any less valuable to me." Akira had a very odd way of placing his words. San picked that up. They both then saw Ashitaka climbing up the hill. He was covering his face with one of his hands. Akira ran to him, and grabbed him by the shoulders to support him. Akira observed blood coming from both his nose and mouth.
"Is it broken?" Akira asked.
"I don't think so." Ashitaka replied. San took a look at him.
"It's not broken." She said to Akira.
"It hurt though." Ashitaka said. Then he saw the bodies of the samurai. And looked at Akira. No explanation was needed.
"Thank you." Ashitaka said.
"What is family for?" Akira said, as he bent down and wiped the blood off his sword on the grass. He then put it back in it's sheath.
"Who were they?" Akira asked.
"I'll tell you later." Ashitaka said, pointing to the horses, who were standing still nearby. They needed to go back.
"Are you sure you can ride?" Akira asked him Ashitaka nodded.
"I'll be fine." Ashitaka and Akira gathered the horses and mounted onto them.
"We'll visit you later San." Ashitaka said to her. "Go back to your home, and be careful. They saw you." With that, Akira and Ashitaka started to ride back to the village. San just stood there watching them for a moment. There was something about Ashitaka's brother that made her think. She liked him, but it was not in the normal way. At least from what she thought.