A Princess Mononoke fan story
By Jikuuharuto
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this writing except for my idea and my original character, Fuji.
Chapter 3: The Journey Home
WORD OF CAUTION: MILD INNUENDO PRESENT IN LATER SECTION.
Ashitaka awoke and saw San still lying on his rising and falling chest. He put his hand on her head, gently stroking her hair. Her hair felt soft and smooth to the touch. The only time he could truly admire her beauty without her noticing was when she was still asleep.
"San. San, wake up," Ashitaka said, gently shaking San's shoulders. When she awoke, her muscles tensed and she looked at her surroundings before she relaxed, just like an animal would.
"Let's go, San. I'm feeling hungry," he said.
"Are we gonna catch fish again?" San asked, smiling. Ashitaka chuckled and asked her to get off him.
"Why don't we eat some fruit instead?" suggested Ashitaka. San shrugged and agreed, though she was always more like a carnivore. And thus, they went about a small section of the forest, gathering all sorts of fruits and naturally grown food. Once they found that they had enough, they sat in the undergrowth and ate the fruit.
"I never knew fruit tasted this good," Ashitaka said after swallowing a mouthful of berries.
"They never tasted so good before... It could be because my mother brought me up, only feeding me and teaching me to hunt for meat or maybe it's because of the Forest Spirit. It might have made the fruit and the trees grow better after that day," San replied.
"That's possible," Ashitaka said.
"San... You know, I can't keep using this sword forever. It won't last. I need a bow. I don't think the wood here would make good bows, though..." Ashitaka said after he finished his food.
"A bow... I can't help you there. Even if you could find the right wood, there's nothing for your bowstring."
Ashitaka sighed and looked up at the treetops. Kodamas materialised out of thin air, doing their usual clicking sounds. Ashitaka smiled and watched as the Kodamas looked at him curiously, clicking repeatedly.
The pair swam together in the lake just before noon, in their own little world. The people in Iron Town who weren't working gathered to watch as they swam, including Kouroku and Toki.
"My little flower... I wish we could be like them," Kouroku said. Toki placed her elbow on the surface of the palisade and rested her cheek on her palm, then sighed.
"They're so happy together..." she mumbled.
"What was that?" asked Kouroku.
"Oh, go away or I'll break your arm!" Toki snapped. Kouroku did as told and went to get his lunch. Eboshi joined the people and watched Ashitaka and San in the water.
"Heh. He seems to be getting along well with his precious Mononoke. How's the progress on her clothes, Toki?" Eboshi said first to Gonza, then to Toki.
"Oh, it's going fast, Lady Eboshi! We might even have it finished tonight!"
"I told Ashitaka that I'd give him the clothes tomorrow, and that I will. No earlier, no later. Just make sure it's done by tomorrow."
"Yes, milady!"
That night, Ashitaka had a dream different from the ones he always had about his life as it was now. He dreamt that Kaya and a man he did not recognise, though familiar, were riding their way through a forest and across a bridge on one of the Emishi elks. He suddenly awoke and said, "Kaya!" loud enough to wake San. His breathing was faster than normal and this surprised a semi-conscious San.
"What happened?" she asked as Ashitaka fall back down on the bed.
"It... It's nothing. I dreamt of my village," he said, placing his right hand on San's head. San blinked a few times, then snuggled closer to Ashitaka, whose left arm held her to him. She was literally breathing down his neck with her face so close to his. Her left arm stretched across Ashitaka's chest, with her forearm perpendicular to that direction.
Ashitaka wondered if his dream was trying to tell him something, but went back to sleep instead.
At noon, he and San went to meet Eboshi at the lakeside. Toki was carrying an exquisitely decorated box, which contained the clothes made to fit San perfectly. Ashitaka bowed and received the box.
"Thank you, Eboshi," Ashitaka said. Eboshi smiled.
"Take it as a tribute to the forest. We don't want to harm it more than can be helped," replied Eboshi. She turned and walked back to Iron Town as Ashitaka turned to San.
"Let's go. Try your clothes on at home," Ashitaka said. San smiled and took the box in her hands.
Back at Ashitaka's residence, San had already changed out of the uncomfortable blanket-made garment and was putting on the new clothing. She walked out of the doorway and Ashitaka immediately asked, "How does it fit? Does it feel like your old clothes?"
San simply hugged Ashitaka, reminded of the incidents a few weeks ago. Ashitaka held her to himself, comforting her as best he could through silence. Ashitaka felt the urge to turn his head and look in the direction of Iron Town all of a sudden, and turn he did. The sight he saw shocked him. There were two people riding an elk and immediately he suspected that it was Kaya, the mysterious man and the elk.
"San... I have to go to Iron Town and see for myself who's on the elk. Go on Yakkul to your brothers, you'll be safe with them," Ashitaka said. San looked confused and had a slight hint of anger for a while, but eventually she mounted Yakkul. Ashitaka turned and shouted, "I promise you that I'll come for you by tonight!" He then jumped into the lake and swam toward the Iron Town gates.
"I wonder what Ashitaka's up to, Yakkul..." San said. She was talking to Yakkul, but he refused to respond. "Never mind, Yakkul. Just go to my brothers."
At the entrance to Iron Town, women armed with Ishibiya took aim at the elk and its riders.
"We mean you no harm!" the man on the elk shouted. Ashitaka reached the lake and saw that Kaya was on the elk as well. His eyes widened and he immediately ran to her.
"Kaya! What're you doing out here? You shouldn't be here! Why aren't you back home?!" asked Ashitaka. "Don't tell me you cut your hair just to look for me!"
"No, Ashitaka... I was sent by the wise woman to look for you. We aren't going by the old laws anymore, Ashitaka. We want you back and we need a leader," she explained.
One of the women fired a shot and demanded that the strangers identify themselves.
"Wait! They mean you no harm! They are my friends!" Ashitaka shouted. "Please, let them through and give them a place to stay!"
The gates were immediately opened and the group went inside to explain the situation to Eboshi.
"Don't worry, Madam. We won't be long. We're just here to take Ashitaka back home," the unknown man said.
"Take him back home? Why? And where?" asked Eboshi.
"We no longer follow our old customs and we need him back," Kaya replied. "As for where, I cannot tell you."
Eboshi nodded. She put her arm up to stop Gonza from pulling out his blade rashly.
"Bring me back?! But..."
"Where's your heart, Ashitaka? With your home or with someone else?" asked a teary Kaya. Ashitaka could not reply in a way that would please both San and Kaya.
"I... cannot go," Ashitaka said.
"But... It's your home!" Kaya said, hugging him. Ashitaka made no reply. However, once they left the building, Ashitaka demanded the man's identity.
"Have you forgotten your own childhood playmate and good friend, Ashitaka?" asked the man as he pulled the hair covering his right eye back, revealing a scar that stretched downwards across his eye, which was now shut and useless. He then let his hair fall and cover his eye again.
"You're... Fuji! It's been too long!" Ashitaka exclaimed, his expression brightening somewhat. Ashitaka had caused the scar, because he had been training with Fuji and accidentally cut him.
"Much has happened, Ashitaka. Everyone insisted that the old laws be abolished just so that you could come back. Everyone needs and wants you now. You must return."
"I... I must go to the forest. I'll talk to you tomorrow!" Ashitaka said as he pulled on his hood and mask, then sprinted toward the wolves' den. Never before had he run so fast. Thoughts ran wild in his mind once again. Would he return to the Emishi and leave San behind or would he forsake his own home? There was no way that San would follow him to his village. She had to stay to make sure that Eboshi didn't destroy the forest in her absence, and besides that, she hated humans.
"Now what... Where do I go? What do I do? I don't know anymore..." Ashitaka thought as he approached the wolves' den. San and Yakkul were waiting on the rocks for him. San stood up and smiled at him as he approached then ran to meet him with an embrace, but he broke away soon after.
"San... The people on the elk were from my village. They want me to go back, San. I... I know I can't bring you along, but... San... I can't stay here."
San's expression turned from shock to anger mixed with sadness. She punched and pushed him away, then while running into the den, shouted, "Go back to your damn village and help your stupid humans! I hate you all! I hate you! You told me you would never leave me but now you're breaking your promise, you liar! Just go away!"
San's words pained him more than a knife through his heart ever would. He ran after her, but was blocked and pushed away by Takeru.
"Leave, boy, or I shall kill you," Takeru fiercely warned, baring his fangs. Takeshi shook his head, then stared at Yakkul as if to communicate. Yakkul immediately turned around and Ashitaka took this to be a signal to leave. He mounted Yakkul, who slowly trotted back to Iron Town.
The next morning, he and his friends mounted their respective elks, then bade goodbye to the people of Iron Town, heading back to the Emishi village. Ashitaka was staring into blank space, visibly saddened. This continued for a long time, even far away from Iron Town, Ashitaka continued staring into space.
San and her brother Takeshi were hiding in the dense undergrowth, watching the two elks carry their riders.
"Are you sure about letting him go?" Takeshi asked.
"Let him go! He doesn't care about me... He only cares about those damn humans!" she replied not loud enough for the riders to hear. San rode on Takeshi back into the forest.
"What's wrong, Ashitaka?" asked Kaya after a long while of riding past the destroyed village.
"It's... I... Never mind..." Ashitaka replied. For a long time, Ashitaka was silent. Fuji and Kaya had come a long way from the Emishi village, searching for every sign of any industrial work that caused great harm to nature so that they could find Ashitaka.
Meanwhile, back in the forest, Asano and Jigo's men were marching through in great armies, cutting down trees in their search for San and Ashitaka.
Takeru noticed this and went to inform San and Takeshi.
"It's the humans! They're cutting down the trees!" he snarled. "It must be that human boy! He must have brought them here because you wouldn't follow him!"
"No... Ashitaka would never do this to me... He loves me... He would do nothing like this..." she thought. "Who did you see?"
"I saw a potbellied monk and many of his followers. There were also hundreds of samurai marching through."
"It must be that damn human's father and that Jigo..." San replied as she grabbed her spear. "As much as I hate her, we must tell Eboshi. We alone can't handle this army of filthy humans."
Her reluctant brothers brought her to Iron Town, where the women guarding the gate called out to her.
"Heeeyy! Where's Ashitaka?" shouted Toki. San ignored the question and went straight to the point.
"Samurai and monks are on their way through the forest! I believe that they are back for your iron!" shouted San, speaking only half the truth. Asano's main objective was to hunt down Ashitaka and San, but his secondary objective was to acquire Eboshi's iron works.
"I'll tell Lady Eboshi!" Toki said as she put her Ishibiya down and ran towards Eboshi's private garden.
"That Asano... Ready the riflemen and tell the people to be ready to fight. Assemble them and arm them, but wait for my deployment order," Eboshi commanded. She dispatched scouts out to the forest and they returned swiftly with reports of fallen trees and hundreds of samurai marching through the forest not far from Iron Town.
"So she wasn't lying... Deploy the riflemen and make sure for every 3 men there is another carrying an umbrella to block the arrows! Form the ranks as quickly as possible along the paths! Girls, make sure your rifles are loaded and ready! Reinforce the walls and make sure no samurai approach from the lake!" Eboshi approached San, who had remained mounted on Takeshi all this while.
"Princess, if you wish to defend your precious forest, you must co-operate with me, do you understand? I need you and your wolves to gather Asano's men at the top of the hill behind you. Our riflemen will then fire upon them and fall back to the walls, after which the townspeople will come out to hold the samurai back as the girls fire on them. Will you help us?" Eboshi proposed.
"I don't have a choice. I will do as you ask, but it had better not be a trap," San replied as she rode on her brother.
On the plains, Ashitaka suddenly felt his arm twitch strangely and had to suppress its movement.
"I... I must go back to the forest! I cannot go with you, my friends! I must return at once!" Ashitaka said as he turned Yakkul around.
"But..." Kaya started.
"I'm sorry, Kaya. I just... can't go with you," Ashitaka continued.
"Then, at least take these, Ashitaka," Fuji said as he handed his bow and a quiver full of arrows with stone arrowheads to him.
"My father made them, Ashitaka. Now go. Don't keep her waiting," Fuji said.
"What... How..." Ashitaka started as Fuji handed him an Emishi short sword.
"Waste no time! Go!" Fuji instructed. Ashitaka nodded and rode Yakkul back as fast as he could. He wasn't that far from the forest; he could still meet with San before sunset.
"Your trick didn't work, Kaya," Fuji said.
"I know... I just wanted him to go back..." Kaya replied with tearful eyes.
"Let's go home. Ashitaka wasn't supposed to go back anyway," said Fuji. "Were you jealous of the girl he now loves?"
"Yes... But..."
"The wise woman really is wise... She knows many things."
San had lured the samurai and the monks to the hilltop. The archers rained arrows down on the Wolf Clan, hitting Takeshi's leg. He continued running, drawing the attention of the samurai. The samurai drew their swords and immediately dashed down the narrow paths. Little did they expect that there would be riflemen hiding at every corner and in between the trees and that rifle fire would come from Iron Town itself. The armies of samurai and monks were held back, but they continued pushing forward from many directions. The samurai were riding boats towards Iron Town to assault it from all sides. Eboshi had expected this; Asano and Jigo were not great strategists and neither was Asano's military advisor.
San fought alongside the townspeople and ended the lives of several valiant samurai. Their deaths were more honourable than the death of a coward holding a rifle and shooting from afar from behind the cover of a wall. Her ferocity in battle was unlike anything ever seen by the samurai. The enemies they had encountered were not as strong or fierce as San, Princess Mononoke. It appeared that victory against Asano's men was at hand and San fought even harder, but her recklessness got her captured. Several monks grabbed her and dashed toward the hilltop where Jigo stood. Ashitaka was still riding Yakkul and he knew he was nearing Iron Town. He was surprised to hear gunshots, but he continued riding, readying an arrow in case he needed it.
San struggled against the many monks who held her.
"Well, well, well... Look who we have here. I'm not going to fail again, wolf-girl. When you escaped, the shoguns took my thumbs and the emperor removed my right ear. If I fail again, they'll behead me! But if I succeed I'll have double the amount of gold I was initially promised! Now come with me!" Jigo said.
Takeru and Takeshi, cuts everywhere, searched for their sister. They picked up her scent among the stinking humans' scents and the smell of blood and gunpowder and followed it up the path. Jigo and his men were running in the direction that Ashitaka was coming from.
The instant he saw the monks, Ashitaka let his arrow fly. Four monks were instantly decapitated, causing Jigo to flee in the opposite direction. Ashitaka shot an arrow, pinning Jigo's arm to a tree and causing him to yelp in pain. The other four monks held a struggling San and one of them placed a dagger next to her throat.
"Move and I kill her, boy!" the monk threatened. Just then, the wolves pounced on the monks, who panicked and dropped their weapons, then fled.
"You came back!" San exclaimed as Ashitaka dismounted Yakkul.
"I came home," he replied, embracing San quickly. Takeru was still growling, but instead turned and went back to Iron Town's gates to take care of the remaining samurai. He and San confronted Jigo, whose face was showing fear already. He was struggling to remove the arrow from the tree and his forearm, but simply couldn't do so. The arrow was lodged too far in the tree and he had no opposable thumbs to assist in its removal.
"Jigo... You've gone too far!" Ashitaka shouted, visibly angered.
"Kid... I can't go back without the wolf-girl. The emperor will kill me! He's already taken my ear and the shoguns took away my thumbs! I can't even hold my own chopsticks now!" replied Jigo. "Kill me, I'm going to die anyway."
"Where I come from we don't believe in killing if it's not necessary. You can go face the emperor," Ashitaka said as he ripped the arrow out, causing Jigo to yelp in pain and grab his arm with his remaining fingers. San and Ashitaka mounted Yakkul, then rode back to Iron Town down the path littered with the bodies of samurai.
"You fought them with Eboshi?"
"I didn't have a choice. I had to ask the damn woman to help because I couldn't possibly stop an entire army."
"I see," Ashitaka said as he held her the same way he did when he first brought her, mounted on Yakkul, to his residence. "Can you forgive me?"
"Why shouldn't I?" came the reply as San lay back on him, spear in hand, pointing downwards. The samurai seemed to have weakened since the last time they came.
"Why would the samurai attack? Jigo I can understand but why the samurai?" asked San.
"Probably revenge for my punishing Asano's son. He deserved it."
Once again, the people of Iron Town set about clearing the dead bodies from the lake and the path. It was a grim task they had not performed since the last siege on Iron Town. The wolves ran towards Yakkul, to the relief of the townspeople. They were still fearful of the wolves, for they were powerful and fierce in battle, as they had just seen with their own eyes.
Ashitaka felt a feeling of peace flow through him instantly and held San as the wolves approached, Takeru growling angrily.
"I'm sorry, Takeru. I..." Ashitaka began. Takeru shook his head.
"Take care of my sister, or you will find yourself in my jaws. My patience has its limits."
Ashitaka nodded and rode Yakkul back to his residence with San. They dismounted and entered, then San immediately sat on the bed after putting down her spear. Ashitaka lay on the bed, his head on San's lap this time.
"I'll never leave you again, San," Ashitaka assured her. She smiled and cradled his head in her arms, then put his ear to her heart.
"I still can't forgive the humans, Ashitaka... But wherever you go, I'll follow. I don't want to be taken from you or have you taken away..." she told him. "I'm not afraid to openly show how I feel, Ashitaka."
"San..." he mumbled as he sat up. Once again, he hugged her.
"Do you know how much it hurt me to leave, San? I couldn't choose between my village and you, San... I decided to return to my village because my friends told me that I could go back home, but the instant my right arm twitched I knew something was wrong. I came home, San. This is my home," Ashitaka explained. "Please understand, San... Forgive me."
"There's nothing to forgive, Ashitaka... I didn't think carefully about what you said... I thought you didn't care about me anymore now that you could go home," San replied.
"I am home, San."
The day was uneventful and mealtimes were as usual. Ashitaka joined San and her brothers in hunting the forest wildlife and eventually Takeru came to accept Ashitaka. He would never be able to stop the two from being together, he realised. They sat at the hilltop where San first spoke to Ashitaka.
"So, when are you and your mate going to have a family?" asked Takeshi. San kicked him playfully and smiled.
"Stop teasing me!" she said, to which her brother laughed. "I'm not ready."
"You must start soon... Takeru and I have been searching for mates and we're not sure if we can find any to continue the existence of the Wolf Clan. If we cannot, then you are the only one who can, San."
San tickled her brother behind the ears, then joined Ashitaka as he watched the people of Iron Town work from afar.
"They seem to be doing well... I think they won't need me," Ashitaka said, putting an arm around San's back and holding her shoulder to pull her closer to him. The trees that were burnt and cut down had since grown much due to the efforts of the Ape Tribe, but little did she expect them to appear.
Rocks and sticks were tossed at the Ashitaka and the Wolf Clan.
"Apes! Know your limits! Show respect to the Wolf Clan!" demanded Takeshi.
"Wolf-girl brings humans to forest. They cut down trees we plant. Wolf-girl does not care!" one ape said, tossing a rock.
"She is with a human. She only cares about humans now. Wolf-girl does not care about the forest!" another exclaimed.
"Leave, before you find yourselves in my mouth, you chattering apes!" cautioned Takeru, edging closer and closer to the rock formation the apes were on.
"It wasn't her fault! The humans tried to take her away again and destroyed the forest in the process! She didn't want to!" Ashitaka explained, standing up before San could say anything.
"We do not believe the words of a human! Wolf-girl only brings bad things!" one ape yelled from the rock as they dispersed.
"The Ape Tribe hasn't been on good terms with us since that damn woman showed up!" said San, fuming at the mere thought of Eboshi's existence.
"I just want the humans and the forest to live in harmony... It's a great aspiration, but I'll work for it no matter what it takes, San."
Ashitaka amazed San. He was the one caught in the crossfire, standing as an unbiased barrier, always trying to stop the fighting and the arguments and trying to bond the two sides together.
Later in the night, Ashitaka lay in bed with San on top of him.
"Ashitaka...?"
"Yes, San?"
"My brother... He told me that I had to start a family soon. I was..."
"San... Are you sure? Be sure, San... I don't want you to be unhappy."
"Yes. It's hard for them to find mates here, so Takeshi told me..."
Ashitaka held San close to him and whispered into her ear, "Don't be afraid, San."
"I'm not afraid. I'm ready."
That night, Yakkul was awakened by strange noises coming from within the residence. He listened intently for a few minutes until things started to quieten down. Wondering what was going on inside before, he fell asleep.
Inside, San was lying next to Ashitaka, her body facing the bed and her face in front of his cheek with her arm across his chest and her forearm perpendicular to that direction, hand on the bed. Ashitaka heard sniffling and turned toward the source – San. He couldn't see her face in the darkness, but she was smiling. Tears of joy were in her eyes as she snuggled even closer to Ashitaka.
"San, why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?" he asked, worried.
"No... I'm happy, Ashitaka."
He turned more and was face-to-face with her, then went to sleep this way.
Ashitaka awoke the next dawn to the sound of melodious singing coming from outside. He dressed himself, then went outside and saw a lone figure sitting on a tree branch, singing a song so wonderful that he didn't want to stop listening.
Haritsumeta yumi no furueru tsuru yo
Tsuki no hikari ni zawameku sonata no kokoro
Ashitaka slowly stepped toward the tree, but instead stopped and watched as the darkness slowly gave way to the sunlight.
Togisumasareta yaiba no utsukushi
Sono kissaki ni yoku nita omae no yokogao
He could see that the figure on the tree was an unclothed San, but he ignored that fact and simply listened to her singing.
Kanashimi
to ikari ni hisomu makoto no kokoro wo
Shiru wa mori no sei
Ashitaka turned and returned to the residence to get San's clothes. He then walked toward the tree, hearing the last actual sentences of the song.
Mononoke
tachi dake
Mononoke tachi dake
Ashitaka approached as the actually lyrics ended. San continued humming the tune of the song for a while, then jumped down the tree onto the grass.
"San, please get dressed before we speak," said Ashitaka as he handed her the clothing and turned around as San put on her clothes.
"We can talk now, Ashitaka."
He turned around and San immediately greeted him with an embrace. He stroked her hair again with his right hand, saying, "Your singing was astounding, San. I've never heard anyone sing like this before."
"My mother taught me the song. I don't understand the meaning of it that well, but it helps me calm down when I'm thinking too much."
Ashitaka broke the embrace and expressed what he had been thinking for so long.
"San... Our future is uncertain... Anything can happen."
"I'll be with you all the way, Ashitaka."
He smiled and looked at the sunrise.
"It's beautiful, San."
She said nothing, but just held onto him, not wanting to have him leave her.
End Chapter Three
Jikuuharuto: Hey people! Please read and review honestly (and don't be too blunt, I'm just a teenager doing something he likes during his holidays! XD)! Positive and negative CONSTRUCTIVE comments are welcome! Without reviews I won't be able to improve on my writing! Thank you so much for reading! The end of this short story is near...
Teaser line for next chapter:
However, this fairytale ending was not to be.