See bottom of chapter for disclaimer.
~Chapter 5: Kinjiru~
The decision to incite war was settled later that morning- the next day, the gods would charge into battle against Kaigan and Asano's forces. The reason given by Kuma Tsume was to drive the humans out of his lands, and what better a time than after a new chieftain joins the fray. But San knew what the truth was. She wouldn't have minded if he had come out and said it, but perhaps her love was too expressly forbidden to be mentioned much. Kinjiru, in his calm, effortless manner, had proudly accepted the chance to fight. He hadn't noticed anything wrong with Kuma Tsume's excuse- he seemed focused enough on merely waiting and seeing how things played out. Now and then, San could see by the way he caught her eye that he wanted to talk to her. He was a cat- subtle but definite.
Mid afternoon, San was finally able to find time alone in order to craft a warspear for herself. She had her proper one back at the den, but as it wasn't possible to go and get it before tomorrow's attack, so she would have to make do with what she did have: her knife. Fortunately, as it was double edged, it could serve as an effective spearhead. She searched for some time, dissatisfied with the shorter branches and twiglings that were so common in such a young forest. She needed something of decent size.
She found it at the base of a tree that had been dead for some time; a huge scar streaked down the side, clearly the touch of lightning. That had most likely killed the tree, but there was a wealth of good-sized branches at the base from dead limbs. They were dry, too, and she selected one as big as her forearm and almost as tall as her. She sat back against the tree and began to work.
San used her knife to strip the offshoots and bark off the branch, as well as smoothing it as best she could by cutting off the knots. One end she rounded off to a dull point, the other she split down the branch for about six inches and snapped off half of the split. San then unwound the leather strap on the hilt of her dagger and laid the blade against that end. She rebound the dagger onto the pole as securely as she could, then hefted the spear between her hands to see if it was a good balance. It was.
Just as San had finished inspecting her handiwork, something burst out of the bushes in front of her, and she reflexively stood and raised the spear to a fighting stance. She realized after a brief second it was Kinjiru, who also had a firm grip on his fistknife hilts and was looking as shocked as her. He stood for a second, fists up with his blades in an offensive position before he dropped his hands, put his arms to his side, and bowed.
"My apologies, San of the wolf tribe. I did not know anyone was here. Forgive me for disturbing you." His braid slid over his shoulder and rested across his chest as he stood again. "I shall leave."
"No wait!" San said, dropping the spearpoint but keeping her grip on the pole. "It's fine. I was just...startled. You don't have to go." She wanted to talk to him- find out who he was, what he was like.
"My thanks," Kinjiru said, and he picked the base of a tree about ten feet from San and sat, folding his legs.
San sat back down as well. For all that she wanted to say to him, she was annoyed that she had no way of saying it. She might as well ask him the first question on her mind...
"Have...have you ever...met someone, someone like...us?"
Kinjiru looked at her silently for a moment and dropped his gaze, nervously fiddling with his arm wrappings. "No. I had always thought I was alone in this world. I never knew there was someone else like me. How did you become Moro's child?"
San had long ago resigned herself to having no emotion but hatred for her "parents". "I was only a cub, not yet even able to walk. They were violating my mother's forest. She showed herself, and to try and save their own lives, they threw me at my mother's feet. She pitied me and spared me. She slew them."
Once, when San was about her thirteenth summer, she had gone to see where the bodies of her human parents lay. In their retreat they had tried to flee into one of the small caves. Moro had cornered then and made quick work of each. They had received no proper burial, and San felt they deserved none. She had salvaged what still remained of their possessions, and that was where much of her clothing had come from, including the wolfskin cape. Mother would never have approved had a wolf been killed by a comrade for such a purpose as being worn, but she felt it was a fitting tribute to the fallen wolf that the daughter of a god should wear it. San returned from her reverie, again feeling her old hatred for her human ancestors pound in her head.
"I was raised a wolf, and I am one," San said, almost as a challenge should Kinjiru question her humanity. Kinjiru didn't bite.
"I was also only a kitten when I was taken in by Neko-Goto. He took me from the ruins of my village, which had been pillaged and burned by a war party. I was the only survivor. He raised me; taught me to hunt, hide, to steal. I've always been alone, with Neko-Goto never being around longer than a few days at a time. I have no brothers or sisters."
Kinjiru looked up directly into San's eyes and she realized she had been staring at him. San dropped her gaze embarrassedly. She had something he didn't- an adoptive family. He had been alone virtually his entire life, as soon as he could fend for himself. Both shared the same roots- their own species had damned them to their current lives, and both had thrived.
Kinjiru broke the silence when he said something she hadn't expected.
"Would you like to spar with me?"
San looked back up, surprised. Had she heard right? He was inviting her to playfight, as wolves did? Normally it was an affair of family ties, and rather personal. She had sparred with her brothers many times when they were cubs, but to someone strange...
"Sure."
Kinjiru stood and pulled his mask on, then flipped his braid back over his shoulder. San also rose and pulled her half-mask over her eyes. She flipped the spear up into her hands with her foot, took it in one hand, and bowed to Kinjiru. He did the same. San dropped the spearpoint level with Kinjiru and Kinjiru crouched and crooked his arms in a fighting stance. Cat and wolf circled each other, each waiting for their opponent to make the first move or mistake. San let her instincts flow through her- this was her opponent, her enemy. She would attack, and not wait to be challenged. Such was the way of the wolf.
San dropped the spearpoint down to be level with her knee and dug her feet into the mossy ground, starting a charge. Kinjiru dropped his center of gravity again, leaning with one shoulder forward and drawing back his right arm. About ten feet in front of the cat boy, San slowed herself slightly to get footing, crouched, and leaped at Kinjiru with a howl, spear not aiming for his head to kill as it usually would be but held vertically with the point down so as to be able to block and trip. Kinjiru brought up both blades and grabbed onto the spear shaft with both hands, his arms forcing against San's momentum and his legs pressing for purchase. With neither combatant having use of a blade, it became an odd fight to dodge tripping feet and keep precarious safety from sharp metal.
Kinjiru now forced his way forward, making difficult progress with San fighting for every inch of ground. He focused on pushing with one arm at a time, his wristblades dangerously close to San's facemask, but every time he came near she would jerk the spear shaft to the side, at the same time stepping forward and attempting to hook his leg with hers and trip him. Kinjiru attempted the same tripping tactic to less avail, as San knew the footwork of a close range fight masterfully. This struggle of spear-over- fist fighting continued for several fierce moments, both combatants giving small grunts and yells at each exertion, until finally Kinjiru gained the advantage.
He again pushed forward with his right blade, and as it came close to San's face she again twisted the spear away from her head and moved to step forward. This time, Kinjiru followed the movement, throwing San hard to her left side and letting that step be carried through past its intended point. As San narrowly regained her balance, Kinjiru stepped forward, both blades free, and wrapped one lithe arm around her neck, pulling her into a headlock with the other dagger on his left hand resting behind her left ear. San reflexively let go of the spear, now holding it with only one hand, and gripped Kinjiru's left wrist where his bindings were with her other.
Both stood for a brief second, Kinjiru with the knowledge he had bested San and San with the knowledge that in a real fight she would be dead. Neither spoke for a moment, breathing heavily in the adrenaline filled air. Finally, Kinjiru dared to give a small spoken jab.
"Too fast for you, girl?"
San shouted a cry of vehement protest at being called by a human title and dropped her feet out from under her, putting her full weight on Kinjiru's arm. While she was not exactly heavy, the unexpected movement threw Kinjiru into a snap reflex that caused his to lock his knees to support the weight, and San reached forward with her left leg and hooked her heel around Kinjiru's. She pulled, and he fell forward while she pulled herself backwards. The instant her head was free, she brought the spear up to bear with both hands. Kinjiru, who had managed to break his fall but was still prone, flipped himself over. San thrust the spear against his throat, nicking the flesh and drawing blood- something that signified clearly to Kinjiru that playtime was over.
San was livid. "I'm a wolf! A wolf, not a human! Neither of us is! If that's what you think, that you're a human, I should kill you here and now!" She almost screamed at Kinjiru, her voice keeping that last edge before being a complete shriek that let anyone know she was prepared to kill. She had used it few times, one of which was against Ashitaka. She had meant it then, and had stabbed him because of it, and while he had forgiven her she still had not accepted that she wasn't a wolf.
Kinjiru, behind the impassive blue eyes of his mask, decided to see just how determined she was.
"If you would kill me, prove it now." Kinjiru's feet had come to rest exactly where San stood, and with that challenge he shoved forward hard with both feet against her shins. San couldn't control her fall, which was face first, and she jerked the spear away not an instant before it would have cut through Kinjiru's jugular vein. She loosed her grip on the spear with only one hand and caught herself, landing hard on Kinjiru's chest and knocking the wind out of both of them.
San was shocked by his actions. He was a complete mystery- almost as if he invited the thrill of death. It took San a moment to realize she was actually touching him and she pushed herself away from him with a frantic speed. Again she readied the spear with one arm, point facing him, and backed up on hand and foot to the same tree as before. Kinjiru propped himself up on both arms, and both of them stared at each other from behind their masks with rage uttered only in heavy breaths.
San stood, not daring to break her gaze from Kinjiru, and backed away to the edge of the clearing. Finally, she turned and ran. It was not a retreat, nor was she sparing him defeat. San was leaving both victorious and humiliated, and he was left likewise. Kinjiru sat for a second alone in the clearing and then reached up and wiped the blood off of his neck with his hand. He had made a tactical error in trading trust for learning how San's mind worked. He would have to apologize eventually. She was too unique to let slip away.
~
San ran for at least half a mile, in and out of groves and clearings, cutting through foliage and backtracking over streams, all to leave a trail that would take an age to follow. She finally stopped running and fell to her knees, gasping again for air. The adrenaline that had flooded her in that fight was slipping away, and she was cold with sweat and fear. She pulled back her mask and wiped her eyes and the bridge of her nose. She noticed her skin was stiff as though she was cold- fear had triggered it. Fear at what? Her nearly killing Kinjiru? Something about Ashitaka flashed through her mind- she had stabbed him before, when she was like that. In her rage she wanted to kill him. This time it happened again, and if she hadn't jerked away the spear someone else- a cat clan prince- would be dead. But no...although such a thing was a terrible memory, that wasn't it.
It was...she turned over his actions in her mind. Something she had seen in him had showed her a spitting image of herself. Something she had told Ashitaka.
"I'm not afraid to die..."
Kinjiru had shown he wasn't either. He had almost welcomed the opportunity to prove himself in the face of it; to show that he was unafraid, even if it cost him his life. Had San acted like that? Yes, she realized. She had. And then Ashitaka's voice-
"Don't throw your life away!"
No. She couldn't. She had to keep on living, for Ashitaka. She must keep a level head, even in the fury of battle- such was the way of a leader. Mother would have done so.
"Mononoke Hime," said a stately, reedy voice. San jumped. She knew whom it was, and had been startled by both such an unannounced appearance and the idea that Fukuro was back again. The owl god's unsettling eyes- eyes of death and mystery- were once again fixed on her.
"Lord Fukuro," San replied, turning and bowing, remaining calm as best she could while being on such uneven emotional ground. She noticed she again was holding the spear and her knuckles were white with their grip.
"I wished to speak to you." Fukuro hopped down from a low, thick branch he was perched on. He stood facing San, not more than three spear lengths away. His eyes, again their usual gold, clearly reflected San's face. She stared back at herself with a look of resolved fear. Fukuro was someone she did fear. He was an ally, but was unpredictable and mysterious. She could not trust him as she trusted Kuma Tsume.
"On what matter?" San asked.
"Your eyes," Fukuro said, and his glinted the tiniest bit blue, as if azure dust had been scattered across them and had sunk into that shimmering radiance. "Today you saw with the eyes of a god. If you can see the world through gods' eyes as you see through the eyes of a mortal today, then you may gain understanding of your position that will help you to better keep the harmony of tribe, nature, and council."
"What do I need to know to master this ability, then?" San asked. Part of her wanted to be able to see a world through the eyes of her mother, the other part wished to retain the vision of a familiar world. While it was a beautiful thing to see the world through the eyes of a god, its beauty was dizzying and terrible in its intensity.
"It will come to you in time. Emotion clouds the part of your spirit that lets you see through the eyes of the immortals. You may see best from them as you awake, but as the memories of what you must perform during the day pull you in different directions, you shall lose sight of the vision. Others find that in the face of danger they grow apathetic and cold, and best see then what gods do."
"Others?" San said. "Other what?"
"Humans," Fukuro stated. San's eyes shot wide open. "The rituals of possession have not only been performed as recently as today, you know. In the millennia I have existed as my tribe's chieftain, it has occurred thrice...nay, four times- including you. One male and three females underwent such rituals, although none were nearly as young as you, all came under the same tribal adoption."
Fukuro blinked again and ruffled his feathers. He may have made a mistake- those facts were not tied in immediately with the knowledge of the prophecy. Still, it was pushing it dangerously close. He would leave now, before he could make another miscalculation. Meanwhile, San shook her head, trying to clear her mind so that, out of some fancy, she might be able to use the god-vision there and then. It was futile- she had far too much to dwell upon to try and rid her mind of emotion. Fukuro spread his wings the slightest bit.
"I must go." He said. "I leave you with the knowledge that in time you shall yet harness this ability. It may prove of use to see through our eyes." With that, Fukuro gave a single thrust of his wings and flew into the air, making almost no sound at all. San was left alone again, little better off than before. She had more information, but only more questions instead of answers. She needed to talk to someone, but the one person she did want to talk to was behind bars in the middle of Kaigan. San fiddled with her earring for a moment, again trying hopelessly to clear her thoughts, before she began to walk back to the cliffs of the bear tribe. If nothing else, she was hungry.
~
Seijin Chukoku Ashisutanto was the eldest and most respected advisor of the Warlord Asano, and though bearing the lined face and loose belly of one who has seen many years in the court, was still a sharp mind far past the prime of his life. Today, he was delegating the endless work of managing the entire province Kaigan was located in to several of the younger but more capable assistants. This left him free to attend to a more pressing matter- his warlord's health. Asano was never ill, but his wound- the same he had received from Lady Eboshi- was acting up terribly, and the agony of it had confined him to bed. It didn't help his charge was being extremely uncooperative.
"My lord, if you would just allow me to prepare-"
"Nothing!" Asano hissed through clenched teeth. "I'll take nothing for this! The pain is mine to bear! Leave me at once!"
Asano, as Seijin well knew, was often like this. The wound acted up unpredictably and it was always the same- the warlord was too stubborn to take anything to dull the pain, and Seijin played the fool. For now, he thought, stepping past the massive form of Taisho as he exited, he would wander the courtyards and gardens of Asano's palace, musing about this or that.
He was to accompany the warlord on his next- what Seijin saw as senseless- expedition to oust the Lady Eboshi from her precious nest of Irontown and the iron rich soils beneath. While he could not question his sire's strategy, which was usually flawless, his lord had been acting unusual lately. Perhaps it was his obsession with revenge...such things had been known to drive men mad, and while his previous attempts to remove Lady Eboshi from the picture had been unsuccessful, perhaps he was incapable of seeing that this one would likely fail too. Pain can drive men to terrible things, Seijin mused.
Seijin strode into the main hall and was greeted by a sight he had not seen in the better part of a year, nor had been expecting to see for quite some time.
"This would not be the first time you have again arrived unannounced, unwelcome, and in company of suspicious character, Jiko Bou of the Shisou- Ren. Would you again be here to hire yourself out to kill Lady Eboshi only if my Lord Asano should give a higher bounty than the one she has placed upon his head?" Seijin intoned, grave of voice and solemn of manner.
Indeed, Jiko was not exactly welcome here. His last attempt to get Lady Eboshi killed- by aiding in separating her from Irontown and then stabbing her in the back at an opportune moment- had clearly failed. Worse was that his hunter-killers and men-in-arms, the Karakasa-Ren, had been largely wiped out by the cataclysm in the forest. Jiko Bou, his usual cocky self, stood before a group of forty men, only about a fifth of the surviving groups, now a band fiercely loyal to him, and only him.
"Actually, Seijin, I've come on a matter of a slightly different kind. Is Asano home? I need to speak to him."
Seijin ignored the question. Jiko would get what he wanted, but Seijin would stall. "Impudent as always. You haven't changed a whit since you strode in here last a year ago. I assume your organization hasn't given you reinforcements to recoup your losses?"
"Nope. Had to pick these guys up, dust 'em off, and figure out where to go from there. They're probably the most elite band of assassins, stealth experts, and warriors a man could want. We also picked up a couple of little toys Asano would most like to see. Men, bring forward the case."
A pair of former hunter-killers carried before Seijin an elaborately carved wooden case, long and deep in design. On the top was branded a flourishing seal with a dragon biting its own tail. Jiko gave the case of the box a kick from one of his sandals, and it fell back to reveal no less than a dozen of Lady Eboshi's rifles of the finest design, plundered in the confusion of Irontown. A second, smaller case brought forward by a single porter contained ammunition and gunpowder enough to keep the guns firing for as long a battle as was fought at Irontown against Asano.
"A pretty find," Seijin said, masking the excitement in his voice. Asano would be eager to use Lady Eboshi's weapons against her. "But at what price, Jiko?"
"I'll negotiate that with Asano, if you don't mind. Let's just say it has a little something to do with the boy you've got under lock and key in the courtyard."
"My lord is not feeling himself at the moment. When he becomes available, I shall send for you immediately. Where might I find you?"
"That's the second matter. I understand you have some barracks that aren't exactly in use..."
~
Ashitaka heard the droning voice of Jiko fade away as the stout monk walked with the elderly advisor away from earshot and he leaned back against the wall of the cage. It would seem Jiko was trying to get him out. That was a relief. Still, for now he was caged while the rest of the world went about its business. It wasn't so much that he was suffering greatly from daily beating again ordered upon him by Lord Asano, nor that the low supplies of food and water had weakened his mind as much as his body. The worst part about his confinement was loneliness and boredom. San was somewhere out in the world- had she forgotten about him? Would she break his heart, as that cat god had said? No, Ashitaka told himself. She wouldn't.
He closed his eyes and felt his stomach rumbling and the ache of his shoulders and legs. He wasn't in great shape, he thought. Still...
He looked again at his right hand. There was a sign of hope, if there ever was one. The faint mark where his curse had once been lingered lightly enough that the untrained eye would never be able to spot it. He pulled back on his sleeve and looked at where the curse mark had once been the most prominent- there was still a dark colored scar that wrapped itself several times around his forearm, but it was no longer active. Ashitaka smiled for the first time in what he could remember, and it felt good.
Still, into this happiness crept what Neko-Goto had told him. It was unsettling to Ashitaka, and as he closed his eyes again it took him the longest time to fall into an uneasy sleep.
~
San reunited with her brothers and the god council as Kuma Tsume, Inoshishi, and Taka outlined their plans for the assault on Kaigan. Taka had done some scouting and had determined, with her excellent eyesight, that the wall guards and palace guards changed positions about high noon- thus it would be the best time to attack, when there was still a lax spot in the security of the city. The only real way to get in would be the main gate- Kaigan was impossible to attack from either side effectively. The city itself was located on a very small protrusion into the lake behind it, which connected immediately downriver to the ocean, and upriver flowed for a long distance before reaching the impassible cliffs and waterfalls in the narrows below Lake Irontown. An assault from either side or the rear of the city would be slow and make the bear tribe warriors easy targets for arrows from the city shores. Thus, a frontal assault charging from the forest line only a short two rolling hills away, and some mile or two from the cliffs, would be the best.
San and her brothers, of course, would have their own agenda- rescuing Ashitaka. San already knew where he would be, and after the main gate was bashed in San, Kuroi, and Shiroi would make a run for the palace, stopping only to get rid of anyone in their way. Once Ashitaka was freed, he would join San and her brothers, and they would rejoin the main force. Then the final push would take advantage of the city's location- they would drive the humans into the lake. It would be a massacre fitting to avenge the one the humans had given Inoshishi's boars.
After this war council, in which the plans were approved by the tribal leaders who would be joining the assault- all excluding Risu, who would sit out for being unhelpful in anything other than espionage- San and her brothers left to hunt their evening meal. Kinjiru had not been at the council; he had been strangely absent since San encountered him in the woods that afternoon. San didn't mind. She was still angry at him for being so stupid. Typical of cats.
But now, what Fukuro said was occupying the most of her mind. Other humans, others being adopted much like she, and having undergone the same rituals of possession. She wondered just how long it had been since all this had happened before. Perhaps Kuroi and Shiroi would know. As they left the immediate area of the bear tribe and San climbed onto Kuroi's back, she decided to ask.
"Did you ever know of others who-" San began.
"No," said Kuroi.
"Never," Shiroi agreed. "The first we'd heard of it was from Kuma Tsume. Moro had never mentioned any other children being adopted into tribes. You are the first our tribe has seen, San, and mother never mentioned possession more than once. It's almost unheard of."
"We would have told you if we had known." Kuroi assured.
San's hopes dropped. "I don't blame you." San said, again irritated that there were no answers to the questions she had. "I doubt even mother knew everything. I...saw her."
"In the world of the dead?" Shiroi said. The hair on the back of both of their necks rose visibly.
"Before I woke up. She talked to me. She said I'd see her again."
Neither brother said anything about this. They hadn't died; they wouldn't know what it was like. An eerie silence hung in the air.
"We're going to get Ashitaka tomorrow." San said finally.
"We'll get you in there, don't worry. Remember when we got you into Irontown?" Kuroi grinned.
"I'll say. And a heap of trouble that was." San said, playfully cuffing him on the ear. "You might as well have flung me into the guard." But now she was smiling too. She looked forward to fighting again. She wanted to see Ashitaka.
After several minutes of tracking, Kuroi picked up the scent of deer. The three moved quickly and quietly and after a short half hour of hunting were rewarded with a kill. San ate well, forgetting the previous day's sorrows, because tomorrow would be a day to remember. Princess Mononoke would again fight humans, this time at the head of her tribe.
San finished her meal, wiping her bloodstained hands together in a futile, reflexive effort to try and get the sticky mess ochre off of them. She was used to the smell and sight of blood, but the feeling of it was still unsettling. It connected with too many bad memories: mother's wound, Ashitaka and his, hundreds of dead boars, Lord Okkoto on his way to die...San walked a ways and found one of the many small, wandering streams that trickled through the forest and sat down cross legged. She methodically cleaned the blood from her arms and hands, letting the water rush away with the crimson burden. She then removed her own blood from her face where it still remained, dried and faded from the two days of wear it had gotten. She stopped for a moment and closed her eyes, and listened to the sound of the water, the rustle of the trees in a faint evening breeze, the beauty of a forest in high summer. San had never been meditative- she was always impulsive, fierce tempered, and quick to make an enemy. But here, perhaps, she was in her best of elements. Tomorrow, with the killing, could wait.
San opened her eyes, and she noticed very clearly that the world was strangely colored, as Fukuro had said and as she once had seen. The grass was a reddish hue, like so much of the blood she had washed away. The trees, the leaves- all of it was a scarlet world. San breathed in, the color heightening her usual reflexes, the animal in her responding to the colors, and the world faded back to its normal patterns of greens and browns. Was that what it was to be a god: to not be able to see the blood of your friends and foes from that of the mere world around you? Perhaps that was what had driven on so many gods to fight long after they had spilled all the blood of their tribes over hill and rock.
San picked up her spear and again gently cut her arm, reopening the same shallow wound. She again watched her own essence make its lazy way down to her finger and drop a bead at a time into the stream, which took the burden onwards and away. San stopped the next drop with her hand and gathered the blood from her arm on her fingers, and then traced the three triangles of the wolf clan on her brow and cheeks. The smell of human blood filled her nostrils- she hated the smell. She was wolf, and it was the last true link she had to her roots in humanity. San again stopped the cut and cleaned her hands in the stream, washing away her humanity once again. She would fight as a wolf tomorrow, and nothing more. She would be the Mononoke Hime in battle, terrible, feared, and deadly.
"There will be no forgiveness for the humans tomorrow." San said to herself, thumbing the fine edge of her warspear. "Let them be damned."
Then San laid the spear on her shoulder, pulled the mask over her face, and returned to her brothers. She was ready to fight.
~
DISCLAIMER AND OTHER INTERESTING FACTOIDS TO NOURISH YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF BASIC JAPANESE! (In which I have no skill whatsoever...)
Concerning ownership and character names...
San, Ashitaka, Lady Eboshi, Gonza, the "unnamed" wolf brothers, Moro, Okkoto, Nago (not even sure I mentioned him), the concept of Asano, and everyone else originally appearing or referenced in Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime for you hardcore fans out there) are property of Hiyao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, Miramax, Disney, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, and whomever else they came into contact with along the long and complicated journey to America.
Characters of my own creation include the following, with a bit of background on each for those of you who haven't realized just how much of this is basic Japanese:
Asano – well, I flushed out his personality and physically created him, and you'll be leaning much more about him in future chapters.
Kuroi and Shiroi – I expanded a bit on them (They might be twins but from experience twins are usually different) and gave them names. The names also are a duality in that they reflect personality differences- "kuroi" means "black", "shiroi" means "white". Imagine that.
Taisho – Definitely filched this one from the Jap-English dictionary. Taisho means "general (military), leader, admiral". He is the eunuch general of Asano's army.
Seijin Chukoku Ashisutanto – We'll be hearing of him as Seijin, but his full name becomes "Sage (venerable wise man) council..." I appear to have lost the last word. I'll tell you if I find it. His role is as Asano's chief advisor and councilor.
The gods!
Kuma Tsume – Means "bear claw", and Kuma Tsume is the king of the bears, and you shall see him live up to his name in future chapters. The "action/adventure" this is categorized under gets started now.
Kitsune – "Fox", for those of you out of the loop. Kitsune, as a refresher, is the Fox god, and is generally considered to be a god of magic and war.
Risu – "Squirrel". Simple and effective. Risu is a god of nature and it's perpetuation.
Inoshishi – "Wild boar". The last of the boar gods. Brother of Okkoto and Nago, he is the smallest and least rash of the three.
Neko-Goto – "Cat burglar" or "cat robber". Which he is, of course. He's god of assassins, thieves, and spies. He'll be around.
Taka – "Hawk". One of the two bird gods appearing in the story. She is a god of fierce battle, and is unparalleled in the air.
Fukuro – "Owl". The sage and often silent god who has told San something very important and very true. He is a scholar god, one who fights little but possesses powerful knowledge nonetheless.
Kinjiru- "Forbid", and although technically in the verb form see it as past tense. His full title, Kinjiru Dorobo Oji would be Kinjiru, Prince of Thieves, as San is Princess Mononoke.
...and that's another new chapter down. Now I just have to keep the momentum. I've got big things planned for the plot of this in the future, and you'll probably see some rather startling revelations. Thus ends chapter 4. Chapter five is to be entitled: Kinjiru.
...and the obligatory review request is supposed to go here, but if you've read this far, you're either a diehard who has to finish something even if you hate it or you're someone who likes/loves/is indifferent towards the fic. Drop me a line, I need a bit of motivation to stoke my creative muse.
~Chapter 5: Kinjiru~
The decision to incite war was settled later that morning- the next day, the gods would charge into battle against Kaigan and Asano's forces. The reason given by Kuma Tsume was to drive the humans out of his lands, and what better a time than after a new chieftain joins the fray. But San knew what the truth was. She wouldn't have minded if he had come out and said it, but perhaps her love was too expressly forbidden to be mentioned much. Kinjiru, in his calm, effortless manner, had proudly accepted the chance to fight. He hadn't noticed anything wrong with Kuma Tsume's excuse- he seemed focused enough on merely waiting and seeing how things played out. Now and then, San could see by the way he caught her eye that he wanted to talk to her. He was a cat- subtle but definite.
Mid afternoon, San was finally able to find time alone in order to craft a warspear for herself. She had her proper one back at the den, but as it wasn't possible to go and get it before tomorrow's attack, so she would have to make do with what she did have: her knife. Fortunately, as it was double edged, it could serve as an effective spearhead. She searched for some time, dissatisfied with the shorter branches and twiglings that were so common in such a young forest. She needed something of decent size.
She found it at the base of a tree that had been dead for some time; a huge scar streaked down the side, clearly the touch of lightning. That had most likely killed the tree, but there was a wealth of good-sized branches at the base from dead limbs. They were dry, too, and she selected one as big as her forearm and almost as tall as her. She sat back against the tree and began to work.
San used her knife to strip the offshoots and bark off the branch, as well as smoothing it as best she could by cutting off the knots. One end she rounded off to a dull point, the other she split down the branch for about six inches and snapped off half of the split. San then unwound the leather strap on the hilt of her dagger and laid the blade against that end. She rebound the dagger onto the pole as securely as she could, then hefted the spear between her hands to see if it was a good balance. It was.
Just as San had finished inspecting her handiwork, something burst out of the bushes in front of her, and she reflexively stood and raised the spear to a fighting stance. She realized after a brief second it was Kinjiru, who also had a firm grip on his fistknife hilts and was looking as shocked as her. He stood for a second, fists up with his blades in an offensive position before he dropped his hands, put his arms to his side, and bowed.
"My apologies, San of the wolf tribe. I did not know anyone was here. Forgive me for disturbing you." His braid slid over his shoulder and rested across his chest as he stood again. "I shall leave."
"No wait!" San said, dropping the spearpoint but keeping her grip on the pole. "It's fine. I was just...startled. You don't have to go." She wanted to talk to him- find out who he was, what he was like.
"My thanks," Kinjiru said, and he picked the base of a tree about ten feet from San and sat, folding his legs.
San sat back down as well. For all that she wanted to say to him, she was annoyed that she had no way of saying it. She might as well ask him the first question on her mind...
"Have...have you ever...met someone, someone like...us?"
Kinjiru looked at her silently for a moment and dropped his gaze, nervously fiddling with his arm wrappings. "No. I had always thought I was alone in this world. I never knew there was someone else like me. How did you become Moro's child?"
San had long ago resigned herself to having no emotion but hatred for her "parents". "I was only a cub, not yet even able to walk. They were violating my mother's forest. She showed herself, and to try and save their own lives, they threw me at my mother's feet. She pitied me and spared me. She slew them."
Once, when San was about her thirteenth summer, she had gone to see where the bodies of her human parents lay. In their retreat they had tried to flee into one of the small caves. Moro had cornered then and made quick work of each. They had received no proper burial, and San felt they deserved none. She had salvaged what still remained of their possessions, and that was where much of her clothing had come from, including the wolfskin cape. Mother would never have approved had a wolf been killed by a comrade for such a purpose as being worn, but she felt it was a fitting tribute to the fallen wolf that the daughter of a god should wear it. San returned from her reverie, again feeling her old hatred for her human ancestors pound in her head.
"I was raised a wolf, and I am one," San said, almost as a challenge should Kinjiru question her humanity. Kinjiru didn't bite.
"I was also only a kitten when I was taken in by Neko-Goto. He took me from the ruins of my village, which had been pillaged and burned by a war party. I was the only survivor. He raised me; taught me to hunt, hide, to steal. I've always been alone, with Neko-Goto never being around longer than a few days at a time. I have no brothers or sisters."
Kinjiru looked up directly into San's eyes and she realized she had been staring at him. San dropped her gaze embarrassedly. She had something he didn't- an adoptive family. He had been alone virtually his entire life, as soon as he could fend for himself. Both shared the same roots- their own species had damned them to their current lives, and both had thrived.
Kinjiru broke the silence when he said something she hadn't expected.
"Would you like to spar with me?"
San looked back up, surprised. Had she heard right? He was inviting her to playfight, as wolves did? Normally it was an affair of family ties, and rather personal. She had sparred with her brothers many times when they were cubs, but to someone strange...
"Sure."
Kinjiru stood and pulled his mask on, then flipped his braid back over his shoulder. San also rose and pulled her half-mask over her eyes. She flipped the spear up into her hands with her foot, took it in one hand, and bowed to Kinjiru. He did the same. San dropped the spearpoint level with Kinjiru and Kinjiru crouched and crooked his arms in a fighting stance. Cat and wolf circled each other, each waiting for their opponent to make the first move or mistake. San let her instincts flow through her- this was her opponent, her enemy. She would attack, and not wait to be challenged. Such was the way of the wolf.
San dropped the spearpoint down to be level with her knee and dug her feet into the mossy ground, starting a charge. Kinjiru dropped his center of gravity again, leaning with one shoulder forward and drawing back his right arm. About ten feet in front of the cat boy, San slowed herself slightly to get footing, crouched, and leaped at Kinjiru with a howl, spear not aiming for his head to kill as it usually would be but held vertically with the point down so as to be able to block and trip. Kinjiru brought up both blades and grabbed onto the spear shaft with both hands, his arms forcing against San's momentum and his legs pressing for purchase. With neither combatant having use of a blade, it became an odd fight to dodge tripping feet and keep precarious safety from sharp metal.
Kinjiru now forced his way forward, making difficult progress with San fighting for every inch of ground. He focused on pushing with one arm at a time, his wristblades dangerously close to San's facemask, but every time he came near she would jerk the spear shaft to the side, at the same time stepping forward and attempting to hook his leg with hers and trip him. Kinjiru attempted the same tripping tactic to less avail, as San knew the footwork of a close range fight masterfully. This struggle of spear-over- fist fighting continued for several fierce moments, both combatants giving small grunts and yells at each exertion, until finally Kinjiru gained the advantage.
He again pushed forward with his right blade, and as it came close to San's face she again twisted the spear away from her head and moved to step forward. This time, Kinjiru followed the movement, throwing San hard to her left side and letting that step be carried through past its intended point. As San narrowly regained her balance, Kinjiru stepped forward, both blades free, and wrapped one lithe arm around her neck, pulling her into a headlock with the other dagger on his left hand resting behind her left ear. San reflexively let go of the spear, now holding it with only one hand, and gripped Kinjiru's left wrist where his bindings were with her other.
Both stood for a brief second, Kinjiru with the knowledge he had bested San and San with the knowledge that in a real fight she would be dead. Neither spoke for a moment, breathing heavily in the adrenaline filled air. Finally, Kinjiru dared to give a small spoken jab.
"Too fast for you, girl?"
San shouted a cry of vehement protest at being called by a human title and dropped her feet out from under her, putting her full weight on Kinjiru's arm. While she was not exactly heavy, the unexpected movement threw Kinjiru into a snap reflex that caused his to lock his knees to support the weight, and San reached forward with her left leg and hooked her heel around Kinjiru's. She pulled, and he fell forward while she pulled herself backwards. The instant her head was free, she brought the spear up to bear with both hands. Kinjiru, who had managed to break his fall but was still prone, flipped himself over. San thrust the spear against his throat, nicking the flesh and drawing blood- something that signified clearly to Kinjiru that playtime was over.
San was livid. "I'm a wolf! A wolf, not a human! Neither of us is! If that's what you think, that you're a human, I should kill you here and now!" She almost screamed at Kinjiru, her voice keeping that last edge before being a complete shriek that let anyone know she was prepared to kill. She had used it few times, one of which was against Ashitaka. She had meant it then, and had stabbed him because of it, and while he had forgiven her she still had not accepted that she wasn't a wolf.
Kinjiru, behind the impassive blue eyes of his mask, decided to see just how determined she was.
"If you would kill me, prove it now." Kinjiru's feet had come to rest exactly where San stood, and with that challenge he shoved forward hard with both feet against her shins. San couldn't control her fall, which was face first, and she jerked the spear away not an instant before it would have cut through Kinjiru's jugular vein. She loosed her grip on the spear with only one hand and caught herself, landing hard on Kinjiru's chest and knocking the wind out of both of them.
San was shocked by his actions. He was a complete mystery- almost as if he invited the thrill of death. It took San a moment to realize she was actually touching him and she pushed herself away from him with a frantic speed. Again she readied the spear with one arm, point facing him, and backed up on hand and foot to the same tree as before. Kinjiru propped himself up on both arms, and both of them stared at each other from behind their masks with rage uttered only in heavy breaths.
San stood, not daring to break her gaze from Kinjiru, and backed away to the edge of the clearing. Finally, she turned and ran. It was not a retreat, nor was she sparing him defeat. San was leaving both victorious and humiliated, and he was left likewise. Kinjiru sat for a second alone in the clearing and then reached up and wiped the blood off of his neck with his hand. He had made a tactical error in trading trust for learning how San's mind worked. He would have to apologize eventually. She was too unique to let slip away.
~
San ran for at least half a mile, in and out of groves and clearings, cutting through foliage and backtracking over streams, all to leave a trail that would take an age to follow. She finally stopped running and fell to her knees, gasping again for air. The adrenaline that had flooded her in that fight was slipping away, and she was cold with sweat and fear. She pulled back her mask and wiped her eyes and the bridge of her nose. She noticed her skin was stiff as though she was cold- fear had triggered it. Fear at what? Her nearly killing Kinjiru? Something about Ashitaka flashed through her mind- she had stabbed him before, when she was like that. In her rage she wanted to kill him. This time it happened again, and if she hadn't jerked away the spear someone else- a cat clan prince- would be dead. But no...although such a thing was a terrible memory, that wasn't it.
It was...she turned over his actions in her mind. Something she had seen in him had showed her a spitting image of herself. Something she had told Ashitaka.
"I'm not afraid to die..."
Kinjiru had shown he wasn't either. He had almost welcomed the opportunity to prove himself in the face of it; to show that he was unafraid, even if it cost him his life. Had San acted like that? Yes, she realized. She had. And then Ashitaka's voice-
"Don't throw your life away!"
No. She couldn't. She had to keep on living, for Ashitaka. She must keep a level head, even in the fury of battle- such was the way of a leader. Mother would have done so.
"Mononoke Hime," said a stately, reedy voice. San jumped. She knew whom it was, and had been startled by both such an unannounced appearance and the idea that Fukuro was back again. The owl god's unsettling eyes- eyes of death and mystery- were once again fixed on her.
"Lord Fukuro," San replied, turning and bowing, remaining calm as best she could while being on such uneven emotional ground. She noticed she again was holding the spear and her knuckles were white with their grip.
"I wished to speak to you." Fukuro hopped down from a low, thick branch he was perched on. He stood facing San, not more than three spear lengths away. His eyes, again their usual gold, clearly reflected San's face. She stared back at herself with a look of resolved fear. Fukuro was someone she did fear. He was an ally, but was unpredictable and mysterious. She could not trust him as she trusted Kuma Tsume.
"On what matter?" San asked.
"Your eyes," Fukuro said, and his glinted the tiniest bit blue, as if azure dust had been scattered across them and had sunk into that shimmering radiance. "Today you saw with the eyes of a god. If you can see the world through gods' eyes as you see through the eyes of a mortal today, then you may gain understanding of your position that will help you to better keep the harmony of tribe, nature, and council."
"What do I need to know to master this ability, then?" San asked. Part of her wanted to be able to see a world through the eyes of her mother, the other part wished to retain the vision of a familiar world. While it was a beautiful thing to see the world through the eyes of a god, its beauty was dizzying and terrible in its intensity.
"It will come to you in time. Emotion clouds the part of your spirit that lets you see through the eyes of the immortals. You may see best from them as you awake, but as the memories of what you must perform during the day pull you in different directions, you shall lose sight of the vision. Others find that in the face of danger they grow apathetic and cold, and best see then what gods do."
"Others?" San said. "Other what?"
"Humans," Fukuro stated. San's eyes shot wide open. "The rituals of possession have not only been performed as recently as today, you know. In the millennia I have existed as my tribe's chieftain, it has occurred thrice...nay, four times- including you. One male and three females underwent such rituals, although none were nearly as young as you, all came under the same tribal adoption."
Fukuro blinked again and ruffled his feathers. He may have made a mistake- those facts were not tied in immediately with the knowledge of the prophecy. Still, it was pushing it dangerously close. He would leave now, before he could make another miscalculation. Meanwhile, San shook her head, trying to clear her mind so that, out of some fancy, she might be able to use the god-vision there and then. It was futile- she had far too much to dwell upon to try and rid her mind of emotion. Fukuro spread his wings the slightest bit.
"I must go." He said. "I leave you with the knowledge that in time you shall yet harness this ability. It may prove of use to see through our eyes." With that, Fukuro gave a single thrust of his wings and flew into the air, making almost no sound at all. San was left alone again, little better off than before. She had more information, but only more questions instead of answers. She needed to talk to someone, but the one person she did want to talk to was behind bars in the middle of Kaigan. San fiddled with her earring for a moment, again trying hopelessly to clear her thoughts, before she began to walk back to the cliffs of the bear tribe. If nothing else, she was hungry.
~
Seijin Chukoku Ashisutanto was the eldest and most respected advisor of the Warlord Asano, and though bearing the lined face and loose belly of one who has seen many years in the court, was still a sharp mind far past the prime of his life. Today, he was delegating the endless work of managing the entire province Kaigan was located in to several of the younger but more capable assistants. This left him free to attend to a more pressing matter- his warlord's health. Asano was never ill, but his wound- the same he had received from Lady Eboshi- was acting up terribly, and the agony of it had confined him to bed. It didn't help his charge was being extremely uncooperative.
"My lord, if you would just allow me to prepare-"
"Nothing!" Asano hissed through clenched teeth. "I'll take nothing for this! The pain is mine to bear! Leave me at once!"
Asano, as Seijin well knew, was often like this. The wound acted up unpredictably and it was always the same- the warlord was too stubborn to take anything to dull the pain, and Seijin played the fool. For now, he thought, stepping past the massive form of Taisho as he exited, he would wander the courtyards and gardens of Asano's palace, musing about this or that.
He was to accompany the warlord on his next- what Seijin saw as senseless- expedition to oust the Lady Eboshi from her precious nest of Irontown and the iron rich soils beneath. While he could not question his sire's strategy, which was usually flawless, his lord had been acting unusual lately. Perhaps it was his obsession with revenge...such things had been known to drive men mad, and while his previous attempts to remove Lady Eboshi from the picture had been unsuccessful, perhaps he was incapable of seeing that this one would likely fail too. Pain can drive men to terrible things, Seijin mused.
Seijin strode into the main hall and was greeted by a sight he had not seen in the better part of a year, nor had been expecting to see for quite some time.
"This would not be the first time you have again arrived unannounced, unwelcome, and in company of suspicious character, Jiko Bou of the Shisou- Ren. Would you again be here to hire yourself out to kill Lady Eboshi only if my Lord Asano should give a higher bounty than the one she has placed upon his head?" Seijin intoned, grave of voice and solemn of manner.
Indeed, Jiko was not exactly welcome here. His last attempt to get Lady Eboshi killed- by aiding in separating her from Irontown and then stabbing her in the back at an opportune moment- had clearly failed. Worse was that his hunter-killers and men-in-arms, the Karakasa-Ren, had been largely wiped out by the cataclysm in the forest. Jiko Bou, his usual cocky self, stood before a group of forty men, only about a fifth of the surviving groups, now a band fiercely loyal to him, and only him.
"Actually, Seijin, I've come on a matter of a slightly different kind. Is Asano home? I need to speak to him."
Seijin ignored the question. Jiko would get what he wanted, but Seijin would stall. "Impudent as always. You haven't changed a whit since you strode in here last a year ago. I assume your organization hasn't given you reinforcements to recoup your losses?"
"Nope. Had to pick these guys up, dust 'em off, and figure out where to go from there. They're probably the most elite band of assassins, stealth experts, and warriors a man could want. We also picked up a couple of little toys Asano would most like to see. Men, bring forward the case."
A pair of former hunter-killers carried before Seijin an elaborately carved wooden case, long and deep in design. On the top was branded a flourishing seal with a dragon biting its own tail. Jiko gave the case of the box a kick from one of his sandals, and it fell back to reveal no less than a dozen of Lady Eboshi's rifles of the finest design, plundered in the confusion of Irontown. A second, smaller case brought forward by a single porter contained ammunition and gunpowder enough to keep the guns firing for as long a battle as was fought at Irontown against Asano.
"A pretty find," Seijin said, masking the excitement in his voice. Asano would be eager to use Lady Eboshi's weapons against her. "But at what price, Jiko?"
"I'll negotiate that with Asano, if you don't mind. Let's just say it has a little something to do with the boy you've got under lock and key in the courtyard."
"My lord is not feeling himself at the moment. When he becomes available, I shall send for you immediately. Where might I find you?"
"That's the second matter. I understand you have some barracks that aren't exactly in use..."
~
Ashitaka heard the droning voice of Jiko fade away as the stout monk walked with the elderly advisor away from earshot and he leaned back against the wall of the cage. It would seem Jiko was trying to get him out. That was a relief. Still, for now he was caged while the rest of the world went about its business. It wasn't so much that he was suffering greatly from daily beating again ordered upon him by Lord Asano, nor that the low supplies of food and water had weakened his mind as much as his body. The worst part about his confinement was loneliness and boredom. San was somewhere out in the world- had she forgotten about him? Would she break his heart, as that cat god had said? No, Ashitaka told himself. She wouldn't.
He closed his eyes and felt his stomach rumbling and the ache of his shoulders and legs. He wasn't in great shape, he thought. Still...
He looked again at his right hand. There was a sign of hope, if there ever was one. The faint mark where his curse had once been lingered lightly enough that the untrained eye would never be able to spot it. He pulled back on his sleeve and looked at where the curse mark had once been the most prominent- there was still a dark colored scar that wrapped itself several times around his forearm, but it was no longer active. Ashitaka smiled for the first time in what he could remember, and it felt good.
Still, into this happiness crept what Neko-Goto had told him. It was unsettling to Ashitaka, and as he closed his eyes again it took him the longest time to fall into an uneasy sleep.
~
San reunited with her brothers and the god council as Kuma Tsume, Inoshishi, and Taka outlined their plans for the assault on Kaigan. Taka had done some scouting and had determined, with her excellent eyesight, that the wall guards and palace guards changed positions about high noon- thus it would be the best time to attack, when there was still a lax spot in the security of the city. The only real way to get in would be the main gate- Kaigan was impossible to attack from either side effectively. The city itself was located on a very small protrusion into the lake behind it, which connected immediately downriver to the ocean, and upriver flowed for a long distance before reaching the impassible cliffs and waterfalls in the narrows below Lake Irontown. An assault from either side or the rear of the city would be slow and make the bear tribe warriors easy targets for arrows from the city shores. Thus, a frontal assault charging from the forest line only a short two rolling hills away, and some mile or two from the cliffs, would be the best.
San and her brothers, of course, would have their own agenda- rescuing Ashitaka. San already knew where he would be, and after the main gate was bashed in San, Kuroi, and Shiroi would make a run for the palace, stopping only to get rid of anyone in their way. Once Ashitaka was freed, he would join San and her brothers, and they would rejoin the main force. Then the final push would take advantage of the city's location- they would drive the humans into the lake. It would be a massacre fitting to avenge the one the humans had given Inoshishi's boars.
After this war council, in which the plans were approved by the tribal leaders who would be joining the assault- all excluding Risu, who would sit out for being unhelpful in anything other than espionage- San and her brothers left to hunt their evening meal. Kinjiru had not been at the council; he had been strangely absent since San encountered him in the woods that afternoon. San didn't mind. She was still angry at him for being so stupid. Typical of cats.
But now, what Fukuro said was occupying the most of her mind. Other humans, others being adopted much like she, and having undergone the same rituals of possession. She wondered just how long it had been since all this had happened before. Perhaps Kuroi and Shiroi would know. As they left the immediate area of the bear tribe and San climbed onto Kuroi's back, she decided to ask.
"Did you ever know of others who-" San began.
"No," said Kuroi.
"Never," Shiroi agreed. "The first we'd heard of it was from Kuma Tsume. Moro had never mentioned any other children being adopted into tribes. You are the first our tribe has seen, San, and mother never mentioned possession more than once. It's almost unheard of."
"We would have told you if we had known." Kuroi assured.
San's hopes dropped. "I don't blame you." San said, again irritated that there were no answers to the questions she had. "I doubt even mother knew everything. I...saw her."
"In the world of the dead?" Shiroi said. The hair on the back of both of their necks rose visibly.
"Before I woke up. She talked to me. She said I'd see her again."
Neither brother said anything about this. They hadn't died; they wouldn't know what it was like. An eerie silence hung in the air.
"We're going to get Ashitaka tomorrow." San said finally.
"We'll get you in there, don't worry. Remember when we got you into Irontown?" Kuroi grinned.
"I'll say. And a heap of trouble that was." San said, playfully cuffing him on the ear. "You might as well have flung me into the guard." But now she was smiling too. She looked forward to fighting again. She wanted to see Ashitaka.
After several minutes of tracking, Kuroi picked up the scent of deer. The three moved quickly and quietly and after a short half hour of hunting were rewarded with a kill. San ate well, forgetting the previous day's sorrows, because tomorrow would be a day to remember. Princess Mononoke would again fight humans, this time at the head of her tribe.
San finished her meal, wiping her bloodstained hands together in a futile, reflexive effort to try and get the sticky mess ochre off of them. She was used to the smell and sight of blood, but the feeling of it was still unsettling. It connected with too many bad memories: mother's wound, Ashitaka and his, hundreds of dead boars, Lord Okkoto on his way to die...San walked a ways and found one of the many small, wandering streams that trickled through the forest and sat down cross legged. She methodically cleaned the blood from her arms and hands, letting the water rush away with the crimson burden. She then removed her own blood from her face where it still remained, dried and faded from the two days of wear it had gotten. She stopped for a moment and closed her eyes, and listened to the sound of the water, the rustle of the trees in a faint evening breeze, the beauty of a forest in high summer. San had never been meditative- she was always impulsive, fierce tempered, and quick to make an enemy. But here, perhaps, she was in her best of elements. Tomorrow, with the killing, could wait.
San opened her eyes, and she noticed very clearly that the world was strangely colored, as Fukuro had said and as she once had seen. The grass was a reddish hue, like so much of the blood she had washed away. The trees, the leaves- all of it was a scarlet world. San breathed in, the color heightening her usual reflexes, the animal in her responding to the colors, and the world faded back to its normal patterns of greens and browns. Was that what it was to be a god: to not be able to see the blood of your friends and foes from that of the mere world around you? Perhaps that was what had driven on so many gods to fight long after they had spilled all the blood of their tribes over hill and rock.
San picked up her spear and again gently cut her arm, reopening the same shallow wound. She again watched her own essence make its lazy way down to her finger and drop a bead at a time into the stream, which took the burden onwards and away. San stopped the next drop with her hand and gathered the blood from her arm on her fingers, and then traced the three triangles of the wolf clan on her brow and cheeks. The smell of human blood filled her nostrils- she hated the smell. She was wolf, and it was the last true link she had to her roots in humanity. San again stopped the cut and cleaned her hands in the stream, washing away her humanity once again. She would fight as a wolf tomorrow, and nothing more. She would be the Mononoke Hime in battle, terrible, feared, and deadly.
"There will be no forgiveness for the humans tomorrow." San said to herself, thumbing the fine edge of her warspear. "Let them be damned."
Then San laid the spear on her shoulder, pulled the mask over her face, and returned to her brothers. She was ready to fight.
~
DISCLAIMER AND OTHER INTERESTING FACTOIDS TO NOURISH YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF BASIC JAPANESE! (In which I have no skill whatsoever...)
Concerning ownership and character names...
San, Ashitaka, Lady Eboshi, Gonza, the "unnamed" wolf brothers, Moro, Okkoto, Nago (not even sure I mentioned him), the concept of Asano, and everyone else originally appearing or referenced in Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime for you hardcore fans out there) are property of Hiyao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, Miramax, Disney, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, and whomever else they came into contact with along the long and complicated journey to America.
Characters of my own creation include the following, with a bit of background on each for those of you who haven't realized just how much of this is basic Japanese:
Asano – well, I flushed out his personality and physically created him, and you'll be leaning much more about him in future chapters.
Kuroi and Shiroi – I expanded a bit on them (They might be twins but from experience twins are usually different) and gave them names. The names also are a duality in that they reflect personality differences- "kuroi" means "black", "shiroi" means "white". Imagine that.
Taisho – Definitely filched this one from the Jap-English dictionary. Taisho means "general (military), leader, admiral". He is the eunuch general of Asano's army.
Seijin Chukoku Ashisutanto – We'll be hearing of him as Seijin, but his full name becomes "Sage (venerable wise man) council..." I appear to have lost the last word. I'll tell you if I find it. His role is as Asano's chief advisor and councilor.
The gods!
Kuma Tsume – Means "bear claw", and Kuma Tsume is the king of the bears, and you shall see him live up to his name in future chapters. The "action/adventure" this is categorized under gets started now.
Kitsune – "Fox", for those of you out of the loop. Kitsune, as a refresher, is the Fox god, and is generally considered to be a god of magic and war.
Risu – "Squirrel". Simple and effective. Risu is a god of nature and it's perpetuation.
Inoshishi – "Wild boar". The last of the boar gods. Brother of Okkoto and Nago, he is the smallest and least rash of the three.
Neko-Goto – "Cat burglar" or "cat robber". Which he is, of course. He's god of assassins, thieves, and spies. He'll be around.
Taka – "Hawk". One of the two bird gods appearing in the story. She is a god of fierce battle, and is unparalleled in the air.
Fukuro – "Owl". The sage and often silent god who has told San something very important and very true. He is a scholar god, one who fights little but possesses powerful knowledge nonetheless.
Kinjiru- "Forbid", and although technically in the verb form see it as past tense. His full title, Kinjiru Dorobo Oji would be Kinjiru, Prince of Thieves, as San is Princess Mononoke.
...and that's another new chapter down. Now I just have to keep the momentum. I've got big things planned for the plot of this in the future, and you'll probably see some rather startling revelations. Thus ends chapter 4. Chapter five is to be entitled: Kinjiru.
...and the obligatory review request is supposed to go here, but if you've read this far, you're either a diehard who has to finish something even if you hate it or you're someone who likes/loves/is indifferent towards the fic. Drop me a line, I need a bit of motivation to stoke my creative muse.