Chapter One of Iron: Hime(a prelude, not a prolouge!)
Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Princess Mononoke, I don't know who does but they are lucky. Please also excuse any grammer mistakes you may find. English is not my native language. Gibberish is. One further note before the story actually begins is my computer hates me and gets even in every possible way so if the paragraphs are all screwed up when this is uploaded I apologise ahead of time. On with the story.
The astute lady Eboshi had seen a lot. If you asked her yourself she would say she had seen it all. But she hadn't. She could tell you stories that would make your hair curl. Stories of brutal fathers and heartless courtiers. Eboshi's stories would tell of genuises in the guise of leopards and persistant workers masked as brothel girls. Her stories could tell of a dream that couldn't wait and of the trials it took to reach that dream. She could teach you a lot if you heard her tales. But she won't tell you. So the job is left to me. A mere watcher in Eboshi's earnest campaign.
~~~~~~~~~
The baby was born to the Third Prince Atsyasu and his wife Izumi. The little child defied the natural law and order of things. It had been born a girl. Atsyasu had been very dissapointed with his wife. He of course punished her appropriately. Izumi didn't live to conceive again. Astyasu called his child Asamashii. He brought in a wet nurse to take care of the squealing creature and left for court not to see his child again for quite a time.
Asamashii's wet nurse was a merry little creature called Taneko. She had black hair that was always pulled up in a bun atop her head. Though she was not yet thirty gray streaked her hair. She refused to call Asamashii by her given name preffering the title Chibi-Hime. The baby was afterall a princess albeit a lesser one.
Taneko's own child was a plump little thing named Ruri. Ruri was a year older than Asamashii and positively adored her. She didn't mind sharing her mother with her, although in her mind it was her, not Taneko that was mama to the sweet little princess. Ruri looked much like her mother: tiny, plump and dark.
Asamashii herself was a very bright alert baby. She had big blue eyes that would stare at people for hours. Taneko claimed she was studying people. Assesing their stengths and weaknesses as she silently observed them.
Two summers went by and both girls grew. Vistors would often remark at how comical the little girls were. Ruri was, at three, as plump as she had been at one. She wore her hair as her mother did and dressed in colorful cotton things that she insisted were kimonos. Asamashii whined, begged, cajoled- whatever word you preffered- Taneko into cutting her hair at the beggining of that summer. (Ruri personally thought she looked like a boy.) She wore a man's shirt everywhere she went(which happened to be wherever Ruri dragged her to). Asamashii, though she let Ruri drag her around refused to acknowledge the year that seperated herself and Ruri. Everything Ruri did Asamashii attempted and usually suceeded at. These actions triggered a lifetime in which people would always remark upon how Ashamashii seemed older than she really was.
Life was good. Then Atsyasu returned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the beginning of my story. I am writing this because I like Eboshi. Her life seems like it is something that is worth noting and is a bit more compicated than either Ashitaka or San's childhood. I also must confess now that I got all these names ('cept Asamashii's) from The Tale of Murasaki which is the biography of Murasaki Shikibu, writer of the world first novel:Tale of Genji. Final note(I promise!) Asamashii means shameful.
Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Princess Mononoke, I don't know who does but they are lucky. Please also excuse any grammer mistakes you may find. English is not my native language. Gibberish is. One further note before the story actually begins is my computer hates me and gets even in every possible way so if the paragraphs are all screwed up when this is uploaded I apologise ahead of time. On with the story.
The astute lady Eboshi had seen a lot. If you asked her yourself she would say she had seen it all. But she hadn't. She could tell you stories that would make your hair curl. Stories of brutal fathers and heartless courtiers. Eboshi's stories would tell of genuises in the guise of leopards and persistant workers masked as brothel girls. Her stories could tell of a dream that couldn't wait and of the trials it took to reach that dream. She could teach you a lot if you heard her tales. But she won't tell you. So the job is left to me. A mere watcher in Eboshi's earnest campaign.
~~~~~~~~~
The baby was born to the Third Prince Atsyasu and his wife Izumi. The little child defied the natural law and order of things. It had been born a girl. Atsyasu had been very dissapointed with his wife. He of course punished her appropriately. Izumi didn't live to conceive again. Astyasu called his child Asamashii. He brought in a wet nurse to take care of the squealing creature and left for court not to see his child again for quite a time.
Asamashii's wet nurse was a merry little creature called Taneko. She had black hair that was always pulled up in a bun atop her head. Though she was not yet thirty gray streaked her hair. She refused to call Asamashii by her given name preffering the title Chibi-Hime. The baby was afterall a princess albeit a lesser one.
Taneko's own child was a plump little thing named Ruri. Ruri was a year older than Asamashii and positively adored her. She didn't mind sharing her mother with her, although in her mind it was her, not Taneko that was mama to the sweet little princess. Ruri looked much like her mother: tiny, plump and dark.
Asamashii herself was a very bright alert baby. She had big blue eyes that would stare at people for hours. Taneko claimed she was studying people. Assesing their stengths and weaknesses as she silently observed them.
Two summers went by and both girls grew. Vistors would often remark at how comical the little girls were. Ruri was, at three, as plump as she had been at one. She wore her hair as her mother did and dressed in colorful cotton things that she insisted were kimonos. Asamashii whined, begged, cajoled- whatever word you preffered- Taneko into cutting her hair at the beggining of that summer. (Ruri personally thought she looked like a boy.) She wore a man's shirt everywhere she went(which happened to be wherever Ruri dragged her to). Asamashii, though she let Ruri drag her around refused to acknowledge the year that seperated herself and Ruri. Everything Ruri did Asamashii attempted and usually suceeded at. These actions triggered a lifetime in which people would always remark upon how Ashamashii seemed older than she really was.
Life was good. Then Atsyasu returned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the beginning of my story. I am writing this because I like Eboshi. Her life seems like it is something that is worth noting and is a bit more compicated than either Ashitaka or San's childhood. I also must confess now that I got all these names ('cept Asamashii's) from The Tale of Murasaki which is the biography of Murasaki Shikibu, writer of the world first novel:Tale of Genji. Final note(I promise!) Asamashii means shameful.