Kaya Sees the World, Chapter 15
Kaya was hurtling through the forest, struggling to avoid the various roots and briars hidden in the most unusual places on the ground. In her haste she tripped over a huge oak root and fell, her kimono tearing on a thorny plant. She'd thrown her hand to break her fall, so that was now dirty and bleeding from yet another thorny plant. Annoyed, Kaya stood up and wrapped her kimono skirt tightly around her legs, making her way back to Irontown.
The first thing that shocked her was the silence. It was deadly silent inside; not even a bird's chirping could be heard. Kaya was confused-they couldn't have stopped the bellows, could they? Kaya took off at a run towards a room she had avoided visiting in several months-Lady Eboshi's cabin.
She drew back the cloth door, gasping for breath, and stopped in shock. The entire village was situated in the large room she was facing. All heads turned as one to look at her.
"Kaya, you're here." Matter-of-factly Ashitaka made this statement and stiffly gestured to an empty space. "Sit down."
Kaya obeyed slowly. There was silence. She felt the penetrating stare of her fellow villagers and shrank inwardly, not knowing what was going on.
Suddenly Toki stood up. "This is outrageous," she snapped. "I know what you're all thinking, and you're wrong! Kaya wouldn't have done anything! She wasn't even here when it happened?"
"Then who did?" challenged one of the men.
"I don't think it was Kaya," said another man, "but this is a very grave situation indeed. Nothing like this has ever happened in Irontown, not under Gonza's control, and not under Lady E-"
He choked on the word and there was cold, icy silence again. Eventually Kaya broke it by asking timidly, "What happened?"
Ashitaka said nothing and after awhile gave a disgusted sigh and began to pace back and forth. Kaya eyed him worriedly, waiting for a response. Finally it was Toki who leaned over and said clearly so that all could hear, "As we all know, the men have just returned yesterday on a trip to bring more rice back to our village. There was little that could be procured, due to the poor weather conditions and the storm they encountered on the way back. Yet today, all of the rice that just arrived yesterday is gone."
The last few words resonated in the room, as did Kaya's shocked gasp. It wasn't the lack of rice that bothered her so much; it was the thought that someone in Irontown might actually be stealing. That thought was unfathomable.
"I'm telling you," said an old, wizened man, bent with the weight of wisdom, "The rice cannot be far. It is not much rice, but it still much too much for any one person to carry far."
"I don't care where it is as much as I care who did it," snapped Toki. "We- "
"Toki," said one of the other women gently, "It's all right. There's no need to take that tone of voice-"
"But we've searched all of the village already," cut in one of the men, standing up now. His eye swept all those before him, and Kaya felt heavy and dull with the suspicion that this incident had provoked. "It's not here."
"We can make another trip!" Toki's eyes were blazing as she jumped to her feet. "But we have to make sure that this doesn't happen again!"
Voices were arguing in a web of confusion now. People leapt to their feet and argued; even several fistfights ensued, despite Ashitaka's efforts to keep them calm. Kaya edged away from them, terrified. She had never seen the villagers of Irontown-never seen Toki, Kia, her friends-fight like this. Even Ashitaka was delivering a blow here and there to keep people apart.
"This is ridiculous," said Kia finally. "There's no leadership in Irontown now. When Lady Eboshi was here, everyone was kind and worked hard under her leadership. Even under Gonza's terrifying supervision nothing like this happened. And we trusted each other then!"
Her voice seemed to break, though no tears fell. She stopped speaking, her hands on her hips, glaring at the mess of fighting people. Kaya saw a small trickle of blood dripping onto the floor.
"Why don't we have Ashitaka be our leader?" someone nominated.
"Or me!" shouted one of the men. Toki snorted.
"We can't have a man!" she shouted. "Never forget Lady Eboshi's advice! You can't trust men!"
"You're not a very fit candidate either, now are you, Toki?" snapped one of the men.
Then a voice came out of nowhere, quiet yet more audible than all the rest put together. Kaya, pressing herself tightly against the wooden wall to stay as far away as she could, heard the three words and went utterly still.
"What about Kaya?"
Kaya was hurtling through the forest, struggling to avoid the various roots and briars hidden in the most unusual places on the ground. In her haste she tripped over a huge oak root and fell, her kimono tearing on a thorny plant. She'd thrown her hand to break her fall, so that was now dirty and bleeding from yet another thorny plant. Annoyed, Kaya stood up and wrapped her kimono skirt tightly around her legs, making her way back to Irontown.
The first thing that shocked her was the silence. It was deadly silent inside; not even a bird's chirping could be heard. Kaya was confused-they couldn't have stopped the bellows, could they? Kaya took off at a run towards a room she had avoided visiting in several months-Lady Eboshi's cabin.
She drew back the cloth door, gasping for breath, and stopped in shock. The entire village was situated in the large room she was facing. All heads turned as one to look at her.
"Kaya, you're here." Matter-of-factly Ashitaka made this statement and stiffly gestured to an empty space. "Sit down."
Kaya obeyed slowly. There was silence. She felt the penetrating stare of her fellow villagers and shrank inwardly, not knowing what was going on.
Suddenly Toki stood up. "This is outrageous," she snapped. "I know what you're all thinking, and you're wrong! Kaya wouldn't have done anything! She wasn't even here when it happened?"
"Then who did?" challenged one of the men.
"I don't think it was Kaya," said another man, "but this is a very grave situation indeed. Nothing like this has ever happened in Irontown, not under Gonza's control, and not under Lady E-"
He choked on the word and there was cold, icy silence again. Eventually Kaya broke it by asking timidly, "What happened?"
Ashitaka said nothing and after awhile gave a disgusted sigh and began to pace back and forth. Kaya eyed him worriedly, waiting for a response. Finally it was Toki who leaned over and said clearly so that all could hear, "As we all know, the men have just returned yesterday on a trip to bring more rice back to our village. There was little that could be procured, due to the poor weather conditions and the storm they encountered on the way back. Yet today, all of the rice that just arrived yesterday is gone."
The last few words resonated in the room, as did Kaya's shocked gasp. It wasn't the lack of rice that bothered her so much; it was the thought that someone in Irontown might actually be stealing. That thought was unfathomable.
"I'm telling you," said an old, wizened man, bent with the weight of wisdom, "The rice cannot be far. It is not much rice, but it still much too much for any one person to carry far."
"I don't care where it is as much as I care who did it," snapped Toki. "We- "
"Toki," said one of the other women gently, "It's all right. There's no need to take that tone of voice-"
"But we've searched all of the village already," cut in one of the men, standing up now. His eye swept all those before him, and Kaya felt heavy and dull with the suspicion that this incident had provoked. "It's not here."
"We can make another trip!" Toki's eyes were blazing as she jumped to her feet. "But we have to make sure that this doesn't happen again!"
Voices were arguing in a web of confusion now. People leapt to their feet and argued; even several fistfights ensued, despite Ashitaka's efforts to keep them calm. Kaya edged away from them, terrified. She had never seen the villagers of Irontown-never seen Toki, Kia, her friends-fight like this. Even Ashitaka was delivering a blow here and there to keep people apart.
"This is ridiculous," said Kia finally. "There's no leadership in Irontown now. When Lady Eboshi was here, everyone was kind and worked hard under her leadership. Even under Gonza's terrifying supervision nothing like this happened. And we trusted each other then!"
Her voice seemed to break, though no tears fell. She stopped speaking, her hands on her hips, glaring at the mess of fighting people. Kaya saw a small trickle of blood dripping onto the floor.
"Why don't we have Ashitaka be our leader?" someone nominated.
"Or me!" shouted one of the men. Toki snorted.
"We can't have a man!" she shouted. "Never forget Lady Eboshi's advice! You can't trust men!"
"You're not a very fit candidate either, now are you, Toki?" snapped one of the men.
Then a voice came out of nowhere, quiet yet more audible than all the rest put together. Kaya, pressing herself tightly against the wooden wall to stay as far away as she could, heard the three words and went utterly still.
"What about Kaya?"