Yuugi Nocahan had been walking for twenty days on end

Unceremoniously, Ashitaka was thrown into a small shed, and he heard a board being placed over the door so he couldn't escape.

As he lay there, some of the more curious and bold villagers peered in through the tiny, dirty window to look at the strange boy that had been carried out of the woods, bleeding badly from wounds in his arm and side.

A few moments later, Ashitaka was surprised to hear a scuffle take place right outside the entrance. The board was removed, and the door flung open, revealing two men trying to keep their hold on an enraged San.

"Just let me go, already!" San said ferociously, bending her neck over to bite one of her oppressor's arms.

"AAH, dammit!" the guard shouted, releasing his hold on San to wrap his fingers around the now bloody appendage. "Fine, just let her go! She won't be going anywhere without him," he said, gesturing at Ashitaka. "Or at least as long as he's like that."

Satisfied, the second guard released San, but had to jump back as she aimed a vicious punch at the man's face. The two men didn't waste anymore time leaving.

Seeing all of this, Ashitaka's mood had brightened visibly. It wasn't ever day he got to see San exert her power on grown men, and she had performed marvelously.

Wrinkling her nose at the door for a moment, she then ran to her friend's side.

"Ashitaka!" she said, deftly rubbing her hands across his body to feel for wounds, "are you all right? They didn't hurt you did they? They weren't even going to let me leave to see you, but I showed them!"

Grinning, Ashitaka put his finger up to his lips and replied, "Yes, San, I'm fine. They took very good care of me. In fact, I have some good news! I-" he paused. "Your clothes!" he gasped, staring at her.

"Oh, these?" San said, bearing her teeth as she stretched the fabric of her garments for him to get a better look. "The women took my old clothes, and they were gonna throw them away, but I threatened to kill them if they did, so they decided to just wash and mend them for me. That's good, cause now I don't have to clean them myself! So then they stuck me in this old thing."

Ashitaka simply gawked. For being an "old thing" it sure made her look beautiful! It was a breathtaking blue kimono, made of the finest materials money could buy, although it was probably stolen from some village by the troops. Still, any normal woman would've traded a day's wage to simply touch it!

"But anyway," San continued, "What were you going to tell me? You had good news?"

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Ashitaka answered with a simple, "Yes."

San pressed her lips together; a sign that he had learned meant she was quickly losing patience. "Well, are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"The good news!" San almost shouted. "What's the matter? Did you lose your sense?"

"No, no!" Ashitaka reassured her. "It's just that…it's kind of hard to concentrate when such a beautiful creature is sitting in front of me," he said. Normally he wouldn't say things like that to her, but just this once, he couldn't resist.

San simply grinned and lowered her head, trying her hardest not to blush. Her attempts weren't in vain, though, for she managed to only put on a mild display of colored cheeks. "Well, thank you," she beamed. "You don't look so bad yourself, by the way," she commented.

"What?" Ashitaka glanced down- and would've jumped up in surprise if he had the strength, and run away! He was wearing a simple towel that merely wrapped around his lower waist, barely covering more personal areas of his anatomy.

"Oh, shit!" he said through clenched teeth, looking around desperately for something to cover himself.

San cocked her head. The only other time she'd heard him say that was when he was still helping in Iron Town, and a gigantic pole fell on his legs, nearly breaking them in two. That wasn't to say that she wasn't unfamiliar with the word, though, as she often found herself using it in many tense situations. She watched curiously as he hurriedly placed the blanket he was laying on over himself.

"Did I say something wrong? I thought it was a compliment," San remarked after he timidly looked back up at her, his face flushed.

"Well, no, I suppose not," Ashitaka muttered. "It's just that…well, normally a boy isn't…that exposed in the presence of a lady," he said, grinning. Apparently, San's sense of modesty was completely different from those of a normal person.

San blinked. "You mean that wasn't an outfit?"

Ashitaka started to laugh, but had to stop as a sharp pain cut through his ribs. "No, San, it wasn't an outfit," he clarified. He was about to continue explaining when he saw something in San click- as if she finally realized what a sensitive state she'd seen him in.

This time, she flushed furiously, and had to turn her head away. "So, uh, about the news?"

"Well," Ashitaka started, glad to be changing the subject, "you know that they had to go inside and clear out the wound, right? Well, while they were prodding around my gut, they found something…a pod, to be precise."

San's head spun around to look at him, her eyes lighting up. "You mean…?" she asked, hopefully.

"Yes, San, exactly. They took it out. There's nothing more to worry about!" he said, holding his right arm up to ball it into a triumphant fist.

San's mouth dropped, and then spread into a wide grin. Abruptly, she stood up and clapped her hands excitedly. "This means we can go back, then! We can go back and be happy together!" she said, spinning around in circles, but finding it difficult in the closed space. So much pent up energy! She needed to let it out, somehow! Eagerly looking around, her eyes locked onto Ashitaka's and she immediately raced over to him again and, trying to be somewhat gentle, grabbed his healthy arm and started shaking it. "We need to get out of here, right now!" she whispered fiercely.

"Easy, San," Ashitaka said, wrapping his arms around her to make her relax. "We won't be going anywhere for a while."

Resigned to have to wait, she leaned further into Ashitaka, enjoying the attention. Then, she curled up next to him and laid her head on his arm. "Well, you hurry up and get better, then, so we can!"

"As you wish," Ashitaka said, glancing up at the window to see the two guards leering at them. Ashitaka chuckled to himself. If they were expecting a show, they were in for a bitter disappointment.

Sighing contentedly, he slumped down further, and (making sure his covering was secure) wrapped his arm around San and curled up next to her to drift off into a meditative sleep, intent on healing. The sooner he healed, the better. Escape didn't seem so hopeless, now! As long as San was actually next to him, he felt like anything was possible. They'd figure a way out of this for sure!

Only a few minutes after Ashitaka and San had dozed off, the lock on the entrance was removed, and the heavy door was swung open.

"Supper for out two sleepyheads," a large, burly man grunted, eyeing them warily as he placed the two bowls onto the ground; an unnecessary precaution, but no sense being careless.

Ashitaka, awakened by the noise, blinked at the man, saying nothing. San, likewise, was silent. At first, Ashitaka didn't know whether he could trust him or not. They were, after all, in enemy territory. But that strange look in the man's eyes…it was almost as if they belonged to a child- innocent, and carefree. Yes, this man was their enemy, but only by circumstance, for Ashitaka could sense genuine concern and friendliness under that gruff exterior.

"Will that be all?" the man asked helpfully. "Be sure and eat that- I hate to see food go to waste. It'll make you feel better, too," he added, "to get some decent food inside of yourselves."

Ashitaka smiled warmly. "Well, we were forced to travel lightly, as you can see. I suppose after we ran out of food, we'd have to resort to hunting, and between the two of us, I don't think that'd be a problem," he said, glancing at San out of the corner of his eye. "We also had a few gold pieces so that we could buy food if we ever got desperate." Since his gold was missing and obviously in the hands of the commander of these troops, he didn't see any harm in saying that there was gold at one point.

"Sounds like you were prepared," the man quipped. "More or less."

Ashitaka chuckled, and San spoke up, saying: "How long have you people been following us?"

It wasn't exactly the best time to bring up a topic like this, and Ashitaka was about to scold San for doing so, but stopped when, to his surprise, the man decided to answer back.

"Oh, boy, a long time. Mind you, not all of the people you see here were following you, but in general, we've been trying to find you for quite some time. I think…I think it took a few weeks for the long distance scouts to report back to Lord Asano, and he, of course, reported to the emperor (who, if you aren't aware, had turned a blind eye in the first place)." The man paused, unsure if he shouldn't said what he just did.

"It's all right," Ashitaka informed him, "we already knew the emperor was aware."

The man's face brightened. "Well, if you say so, young sir! Anyway, since he hadn't ordered the attack directly, there wasn't much point in retaliating and causing a ruckus. He did, however, want to see this person that he heard had almost 'single handedly wiped out the army', although I find that hard to believe, looking at you face to face right now."

"Yes, I'm afraid that was an exaggeration," Ashitaka laughed.

"So are you saying we may not be in trouble at all?" San asked.

"Well," the man said, "that's hard to say. The Emperor simply ordered us to bring you to him, so I suppose it all depends on how upset he was that Lord Asano had been defeated."

"I see," San said thoughtfully, glancing at Ashitaka, who returned her look. It didn't escape either of them that from the way Kiron had spoken to them, the emperor must've been pretty miffed at the defeat. That said, it wasn't too far a leap to imagine that he would simply execute them both on the spot, no questions asked- he was, after all, the emperor. Still, people made mistakes. Perhaps the emperor really was just curious? This put an interesting spin on their situation. They could either risk going to see the emperor, or they could try to escape, which would mean they had tried to evade the emperor's summons- a crime punishable by death. So, on the one hand, there was certain doom, and on the other, half and half certain doom? Of course, he still wasn't taking into account the fact that they had seen a very confidential area of the empire. Perhaps after the emperor had looked at "the invincible warriors", he would eliminate them to protect the secret of that strange village? Ashitaka decided to consult with San later, to see what she thought of all of this. He couldn't very well plan their next course of action without her input.

The man, who informed the pair that his name was Ryoma, didn't seem intent on leaving anytime soon, though. He continued talking on for what seemed like hours about everything that happened since the group had started looking for Ashitaka and San. Although some parts were interesting (like the river crossing that had almost ended up sweeping the entire company miles downstream, leading them to certain death), the bulk of the one-sided conversation was boring. He talking about things that only someone who worked inside the company would find interesting, much less relevant or useful.

After a time, though, he stood up, said good-bye to his new "friends", and excused himself, locking the door behind him as he closed it.

"Wow," San exclaimed softly. "I've never met a human like that before. He sure liked to talk a lot."

"I'm sure he won't be the last one, San," Ashitaka answered. "There are many different kinds of people in the world, and each one is different. You can't just group them all together based on what you saw at Iron Town."

"I suppose," San said slowly. Then she leaned closer to him and whispered: "So, any idea on how we're supposed to get out of here?"

"No," Ashitaka confessed. "I was going to wait until we were alone to discuss it."

For a few minutes, Ashitaka explained everything he had thought of while Ryoma was talking. To San, it all seemed logical, but now that they were thinking on the same level, it didn't make it any easier to figure out a way to escape.

"From what you're saying," San pointed out, "we'd have to escape without the Emperor knowing about it. How in the world could we do that?"

"I have no idea. We might not be able to pull that off, but lets take this one step at a time. How can we get away, firstly- and we don't have to hurry. They're going to wait for me to get a little more healed before they try moving us. Let's take the time to plan this out more carefully."

San nodded. "So, where is this capitol? If it's back towards Iron Town, then I know I could get my brothers to help us."

"Well, you know where Iron Town is, right? Well, we were heading north, and the capitol is to the northwest of the town. So we won't be getting any further away, but we won't be getting any closer, either."

"Oh," San pouted. "Well, what if we wait until they start moving? They'll be more concentrated on their journey than they will be on us, right?"

"That depends," Ashitaka said thoughtfully, "on whether or not we're extremely important prisoners. What are they guards doing right now, and how many are there?"

"Let me check," San said, bouncing up and jumping up to grab the windowsill. Effortlessly, she drew her whole upper torso to the window, despite her obstructive clothing, and looked out. There were only two guards, neither of them looking in the direction of the shed. Most of the other men had apparently gone out on patrol or something.

Just then, one of the guards turned to look at the window. San narrowed her eyes at him, but he only smiled and continued staring at her…San shuddered. There was something uncomfortable about that look…

"Well?" Ashitaka urged.

San jumped down and returned to her position next to her friend. "There are only two guards right now, and most of the other men are gone. If things keep up like this, then I think we should try getting out sooner than they expect, when security is lax."

"Won't they be checking up on me a lot, though?"

"Not if I have anything to do with it," San remarked dryly. "I just act really grumpy, and that's usually enough to make humans leave me alone."

"Sounds dangerous," Ashitaka remarked. "If they catch on, they might separate us, and that would make things difficult."

"Don't you think we should at least try? I want to get out of here as soon as I can and go home!"

Despite himself, Ashitaka couldn't keep his heart from racing as soon as he heard the word "home". He also wanted to go home very badly, but he couldn't let it crowd his judgment.

"But," San added, "I don't want to leave until I get my other clothes back."

"Don't worry. Those aren't good traveling clothes anyway," Ashitaka soothed. Abruptly, his eyes squeezed shut as a sharp pain went through his arm and chest.

"Are you all right?!" San asked, her face hovering near his chest to inspect it. "We need to fix that up as soon as possible." She hung her head and thought for a moment. "If I can let them escort me to the woods, I can find some herbs that'll fix you right up! Well…they'll at least take the pain away."

Ashitaka's eyes brightened. He managed to hide most of it from her, but he really was in a great deal of pain. "Do you think you'd be all right?"

"Are you kidding?" San said, standing up and heading over to the door. "Trust me on this, okay? Let me help you for once!"
"Funny," Ashitaka chuckled as San punched the door several times.

A few seconds later, an older looking woman opened up a tiny peephole in the door.

"Yes? What can I do for you?" she said tiredly.

San had to make herself calm down a bit. She was expecting a male guard, and she was also expecting him to be uncooperative. She was ready to start yelling and being generally unruly, but a woman…"Would there be any way I could go out into the woods to get some herbs for my friend?"

"I'll go and check," the woman said, disappearing for a few minutes.

San looked back smugly at Ashitaka.

"We'll see," Ashitaka said doubtfully. "They haven't said yes, yet."

Just then, the woman came back. "They want to see you before you go. Please follow me," she said, opening the door a little. "Please, don't try anything. I'm sorry to say that if you do, your friend's life will be in danger."

"Don't worry," San said.

The door opened fully, and San could get a clear view of the elder woman. Her face was dark, and her skin wrinkly, but there was a glow in the woman's eyes- like that of fire. "All right, now follow," she said simply, and walked off towards a small group of men huddled around a table.

As they walked by, she caught sight of the hut's guards. The same one she had seen earlier looked up at her and winked.

San quickly turned her head away and tried not to be sick.

"Please, wait here," the woman said, and then entered the little circle and whispered something to the leader.

"Dammit," he mumbled, "why do we get stuck playing babysitter?! How can they expect us to complete our objectives if we have to watch after some guy his whore?"

San's skin bristled, but she remained quiet. Still, she couldn't help but pick up on his tone. These men weren't just sent after Ashitaka and herself? That would explain the lack of security. What could they be doing out here?

"All right, fine, let her go. She'll need an escort, though."

"I'll go," a soft voice said from behind.

Everyone turned to look at where the voice had come from. San almost yelped. It was that same guard, again.

"Good," the leader said, "take her and get o-"

"I don't want to go with him!" San barked.

"What the hell? What for?"

"I said, 'I don't want to go with him!'" San said evilly. The glare in her eyes told everyone that there'd be trouble if she didn't get her way.

"Shit, let her have her way. Somebody else go with her! We have more important things to do!" the man screamed, and then returned to his meeting.

The excluded guard sighed. "I wish you wouldn't think so badly of me. I'm not sure what I did to offend you, but I'm sorry," he apologized.

San looked at him angrily, but in a less hostile manner. A minute ago, if she'd been alone with him, she would've killed him, but now…she'd probably just rough him up a lot. Still, she hadn't expected such a soft voice to come from some army man. It was hard to say because of all the armor he wore, but he must've been young. That would explain his behavior, at any rate. Still, he had looked at her so strangely…"Fine, all right. Just stay away from me, okay?" San quipped, and walked off, followed by her "escort".

"Oh," the leader called, "if you're not back in one hour, your friend is dead, so don't run away."

San didn't even bother to answer. One hour would be plenty of time to gather all of the things she needed.

At exactly the one-hour mark, San was seen returning from the forest, coming to "return" her guard. It didn't escape anyone's notice that San was carrying nothing- the man following her had his arms full of all of the different assortments of plants San had selected. She thought it would be appropriate to humiliate the army as long as she had her chance.

"Just put them in the shed," San commanded, not taking her eyes off of the man in charge that she had met earlier.

Sighing, the soldier stormed off to the shed to do as he was told.

"Being in charge is fun," San said, addressing the commander. "You'd be surprised at how easy it is to tell people what to do."

"How dare you!" the commander barked, standing up. "You disgrace my men and me, woman!"

San simply smirked. "Come over here," she called to her guard. When he arrived and stood at attention next to her, she felt that no more words were necessary to make her point, so she skipped over to the shed where she would mix the herbs to heal Ashitaka. She felt only a little remorse as she heard the commander yelling and beating the guard.

As soon as San entered the shed, she was greeted by Ashitaka's cheerful if somewhat painful laughing. He had heard the whole thing.

"I told you I'd be all right," San said, selecting her plants and, throwing them into a bowl, sat down next to him.

"So what exactly is it?" Ashitaka said, attempting to lean up to get a better look.

"Well, this is a wolf concoction. It's hard for wolves to make, so they don't use it much, but I have an advantage," San said, holding up her fingers and wiggling them. "We call this a rhouba leaf," she said, holding up a bright red sheet. "When you mix it together with this," she continued, showing him about twenty tiny pieces of a peculiar bark, "it makes a pretty potent painkiller. Then, along with all of that (this is one that I made up!)," she added proudly, "you put a few of these things in there, and it makes a really good soother." Ashitaka saw that she was holding what looked like a mint leaf, but he could've been mistaken. Meanwhile, San, it seemed, was enjoying being able to show off her knowledge of herbal remedies. "So," she continued, grabbing a pestle-like instrument, "you just mix it all together! This is the part wolves find difficult," she smiled as she began grinding the mixture into a fine powder. A crisp, tangy scent had now permeated the building. "Now, all we need is a little water," San said, looking around for a jug of some sort. Fortunately, water had been supplied for the two prisoners in a small bucket. Grabbing it, San poured a little of it into the bowl, and began mixing it again until it was a gummy looking.

"All right, now lay down," San commanded. Ashitaka complied.

Scooting closer next to him, San put a little of the mixture on her hand and then looked at the gashes on Ashitaka's chest. To Ashitaka it looked as if she was about to cry just looking at them. Abruptly, she shook of the feeling and then placed a bit of the mixture onto his chest.

At first, Ashitaka almost yelped in pain, but not from the mixture- it was just because of the pressure San applied to administer it.

A second later, the pain subsided a little, and Ashitaka gasped out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

San then applied a bit to his arm, which had similar results. True to her word, Ashitaka hardly felt any pain at all, and all of his muscles seemed to unclench.

After San had cleaned herself off, she sat down next to Ashitaka, and began to bandage him up again.

"Better?" she asked, hopefully.

"Yes, much," Ashitaka said, lifting up his good arm to take San's hand, which he shook gently. "Thank you," he said.

San smirked. "You're welcome! With this, you'll hopefully be able to run in a day or two. Listen, while I was out in the woods, I noticed something- the soldiers can't move very well in that rough terrain with their armor on, and since they can't bring horses there either, we may be able to outrun them!"

"Possibly," Ashitaka said slowly. "But that may not be enough. We have to be so far ahead of them that there's no chance they'll be able to catch up."

"Oh!" San gasped, "That reminds me! While I was out there, I heard some guy say that they had more important things to do that watch us. That must mean they weren't after us, right?"

Ashitaka moaned. "Great, so we just happened to stumble into an area occupied by Imperial Troops. I must be losing my touch."

"Oh, just be quiet and listen!" San said. "So you remember how I was saying that all of the troops were gone? If they're gone all the time, then we don't have to worry about avoiding troops! That's a good thing!"

"But…if they weren't after us, what are they out here for?" Ashitaka asked.

"I don't know, but they must've been notified about us, though. That just means we have to stay away from all troops, but that's easy. Also, if we get far away enough like you said, then maybe we won't have to worry about them following us."

Ashitaka shook his head. What in the world was going on? The Emperor was looking for them, but he had also mobilized a force for some reason. For all he knew, these men weren't the only ones. "San, it really doesn't matter to me," he said, sighing. "As long as we get home in one piece, then I'm happy, and then we can figure out what's going on."

"Right!" San chirped.