Secret of the Princess
Chapter 6
San lay shivering in the dirt. Her wolf pelt was caked with blood that poured out of her wound, but at least now the blood had stopped. She looked up at the samurai warlord before her, for once terror dawning in her eyes. Asano spoke.
"I know your father isn't dead. I am your father."
San cringed as if his words were physical pain.
"That can't be! What happened to your samurai honour if you abandoned me?"
Asano scowled as he rested his foot on San's lower right leg. He pressed down, making San wince further.
"Regardless, you're my child. Join me, and we can rule Japan as father and daughter. Your forest will be held sacred and Iron Town destroyed for good."
He walked backwards, leaving San with the cliff at her back, then leant down and offered his hand to her. San looked at him, and tried to force herself to get up. Asano thought she was submitting.
"Come with me. It is the only way you'll survive."
San leant backwards, away from his pro-offered hand. She felt nothing behind her, but the thought of committing suicide like this didn't trouble her. She only wished she could see her brothers and Ashitaka again. She fell sixty feet before her fall was stopped by a half-dead pine tree.
Ashitaka had made good progress up the cliff, which was almost a hundred and fifty feet high. He was just past halfway when he saw San fall off the cliff edge. On seeing the girl he loved falling to her death, time seemed to stand still. He watched as she was snared in the branches of a tree, and called upon all his strength to climb up to her. Pretty soon he was getting close to where she was delicately trapped. He put all his possessions to one side and scaled the tree. At first, it looked easy enough to climb, but half the limbs were rotten and would break away. San was out cold, her face pale and blood all over her wolf pelt. Ashitaka scaled the tree until he was close enough to reach her. On touching her, she seemed to stir ever so slightly. Ashitaka rubbed something from his eyes as he tried to extract the wounded princess from the branches. At long last, he got San onto his back. He felt an ominous stirring, and realised the tree must be in the process of falling. Hastily, he climbed down, barely making it off the tree as it toppled to the forest below. Ashitaka rested on a cliff shelf and waited to see how San would be.
For hours, San's wolf brothers had been searching for their sister, howling at a regular interval. San had got lost before, especially when she was small, and it had been their job to find her, but she hadn't been lost in two years. They were at the bottom of the cliffs, and howled so near to Ashitaka he nearly fell off in surprise. Ashitaka called down to them.
"She's up here! She's badly hurt, we're going to have to get her to the middle of the forest or back to Iron Town."
The wolves growled on hearing San was hurt, but knew better than to direct the blame at Ashitaka. Just as they prepared to try to scale the cliff, a strange scent, unlike any they'd ever smelt before, came wafting over the air. Ashitaka could smell it too, and jerked upright. Unlike the wolves, he HAD smelt it before. Striding towards them in the fading evening light came the Night Walker, the nocturnal form of the Forest Spirit. In an instant, San, Ashitaka and the wolves were back at San's home in the forest. San's wrist was bandaged, and she seemed a lot healthier. Her brothers sniffed at her, making sure she was ok. San slowly began to wake up. Ashitaka was kneeling down nearby. The wolves retreated to the depths of the cave to give San and Ashitaka some privacy. By now it was close to midnight.
San awoke with a start to see Ashitaka kneeling beside her. She forced a smile for him, but it didn't last. She got up and staggered towards the same rock shelf Moro had encouraged Ashitaka to jump off two years ago. Ashitaka correctly guessed what she was doing, and went to stop her. He got there not a moment too soon and embraced San around the waist. She struggled, not wanting to be held back from death.
"Ashitaka, please, let me go. I don't want to live anymore."
Ashitaka stroked her cheek, causing her to stop struggling. She looked up into his eyes, her eyes welling up with tears. Ashitaka stroked her cheek again and pulled her close.
"Shhh, it's ok San. We still have each other."
"You don't understand though. I've been a protector of this forest since I was a child. Now I find out my true father is one of the people who is destroying all that I hold dear."
Ashitaka sat her down on the stone slab. He sat next to her, an arm around her for support. San had never been one to relent, but here she was, emotionally desecrated. She leant up to his ear and whispered to him.
"Ashitaka?"
"Yes?"
"You won't think any less of me if I cry will you?"
"Of course not."
He pulled her in close, taking her by surprise. San blushed a bit, and then started to cry. Ashitaka hugged her as she vented her emotions. All night long, the two sat there together, watching the stars pass them by. An owl called below in the forest, and a slight breeze blew across San's injured arm. She snuggled up to Ashitaka and looked at him. She smiled and traced her finger over his chest. Ashitaka looked down at her and touched her cheek gently with his lips. As dawn broke, they fell asleep.
Back at Iron Town, all the best shooters were being rallied to repel Asano's samurai. A new weapon was going to be tested against the enemy, but it was essential the attack group looked like a food convoy, or the trick wouldn't work.
San and Ashitaka awoke together in the afternoon. Yakkuru was sleeping with the wolves, but there was another deer with them. San gasped as she realised it was none other than the Forest Spirit himself. Before she could speak even, he reached out and touched her wrist stump. In that instant, she knew her mission and her reward at the end of it. If she could kill Asano and save the forest, then her injury would be healed. As she went to thank the god, he vanished before her very eyes. Ashitaka hugged her.
"Good news?"
San only nodded, and sat back in the cave. Ashitaka began to prepare some trout she had left. After a bit of searching, he found some herbs that San obviously kept for medical purposes. He found the right ones, and added them to the cooking fish. San was obviously planning something, but even San's determined mind couldn't ignore the smell of cooking seasoned fish. She looked at Ashitaka and smiled.
"That DOES smell good Ashitaka. I can't wait to try some."
The wolves approached, curious as to how Ashitaka made such fragrant food. Not too much later, and the fish was cooked. Yakkuru had slipped out to graze. Soon, they were all eating the trout. San cheered up considerably as she felt her strength returning.
"Well, we'll still need to keep up an offensive on those samurai. There's a camp near the waterfall where Asano..."
She trailed off, feeling very confused. Whilst every muscle in her body longed to tear Asano apart for crippling her, some part of her wanted to know her father. She shook her head, and got up. Ashitaka looked over at her.
"Are you ok San?"
San got changed and came back out in a purple dress with a white top on over the top. She donned her wolf fang jewellery and tucked a knife into her wrist stump. She looked at Ashitaka and nodded silently. Ashitaka knew better than to press for further answers; San could be unpredictable at times. Last year, he had made the mistake of introducing her to sake, an alcohol recently made. Just two beakers had made her hyper aggressive, and he'd had to beat her in combat to make her calm down. Her reaction to the drink just six hours later had been to show her well-hidden caring side, and she had served him all night long until her brothers distracted her whilst he was forced to knock her unconscious. When she woke up, she'd had no idea of what happened, and accidentally destroyed the rest of the drink.
San walked out of the cave and headed along an almost-invisible path in the trees. The scent of evergreen trees hung in the air, and insects buzzed past. She sat down in a depression filled with moss and soft grass, listening to the birdsong that surrounded her. She gave a sigh and relaxed fully. A mouse came out of its' burrow and looked at her. On seeing the princess wasn't moving, it climbed onto her stomach and ran around in circles. San opened one eye and smiled at the member of the Mouse Tribe. She reached up to the small white and brown mouse and caressed it along the back of its' head. The small rodent squeaked in pleasure and ran further up San's chest. San gave a wry smile as the mouse sat on her chest, and tickled it gently.
"Do you often sit on girls like this?"
The mouse squeaked in response, and ran onto her shoulder, rubbed up against her, then vanished back into its burrow. San lay back in her secret glade and rested for an hour. Only her brothers knew it existed. It wasn't that she didn't trust Ashitaka fully; she just wanted one secret to herself. As she lay there, Moro appeared to her. She made to sit up as her foster mother approached, but Moro shook her head.
"How are you my child? I know Asano told you the truth, so if you want, I'll stop calling you my child."
"No please mother, you've been wonderful to me. I could love no other the way I loved you."
Moro smiled gently.
"Except maybe Ashitaka."
San blushed.
"Yes, I do love him, but he's a human. You were my mother."
"Your wound will be healed when the threat to the forest is no more. But take care my child. Your path ahead is very dangerous."
"I don't fear death. I know you're with me."
"As is Ashitaka. Don't keep him waiting for you now. Go on, back home."
San reached out to touch Moro's spectral form. Moro smiled and vanished, leaving a single whispered word on the wind.
"Go."
San got up and returned to the cave. Ashitaka had been busy whilst she'd been out, and had been fletching several arrows. Before San could ask what he was doing, an explosion from outside caught her attention. A column of smoke rose up from where the road to Iron Town lay.
Koroku, an old friend of Ashitaka's, was helping manoeuvre the new weapon designed by Iron Town's scientists. It was clad in iron, and took three ox or nine men to pull it, but in battle it was invaluable. It worked on the same basis as a cannon, but fired from five barrels at once. The rough iron orbs used as rifle fodder could also be used in the new cannon. So far, it was proving its worth. Spears decorated the front of it, and it was nicknamed 'Lancet' for that reason. Koroku lit the fuse and fired another round of projectiles at the enemy. Hastily it was refilled and the fuse lit again. The samurai who ambushed them had hit hard and fast, but were faltering before Lancet's relentlessness. Another five messengers of death flew into five luckless samurai. The last samurai retreated, and the fighters from Iron Town pushed on towards the waterfall where Princess Mononoke had lost her fight against Asano.
Chapter 6
San lay shivering in the dirt. Her wolf pelt was caked with blood that poured out of her wound, but at least now the blood had stopped. She looked up at the samurai warlord before her, for once terror dawning in her eyes. Asano spoke.
"I know your father isn't dead. I am your father."
San cringed as if his words were physical pain.
"That can't be! What happened to your samurai honour if you abandoned me?"
Asano scowled as he rested his foot on San's lower right leg. He pressed down, making San wince further.
"Regardless, you're my child. Join me, and we can rule Japan as father and daughter. Your forest will be held sacred and Iron Town destroyed for good."
He walked backwards, leaving San with the cliff at her back, then leant down and offered his hand to her. San looked at him, and tried to force herself to get up. Asano thought she was submitting.
"Come with me. It is the only way you'll survive."
San leant backwards, away from his pro-offered hand. She felt nothing behind her, but the thought of committing suicide like this didn't trouble her. She only wished she could see her brothers and Ashitaka again. She fell sixty feet before her fall was stopped by a half-dead pine tree.
Ashitaka had made good progress up the cliff, which was almost a hundred and fifty feet high. He was just past halfway when he saw San fall off the cliff edge. On seeing the girl he loved falling to her death, time seemed to stand still. He watched as she was snared in the branches of a tree, and called upon all his strength to climb up to her. Pretty soon he was getting close to where she was delicately trapped. He put all his possessions to one side and scaled the tree. At first, it looked easy enough to climb, but half the limbs were rotten and would break away. San was out cold, her face pale and blood all over her wolf pelt. Ashitaka scaled the tree until he was close enough to reach her. On touching her, she seemed to stir ever so slightly. Ashitaka rubbed something from his eyes as he tried to extract the wounded princess from the branches. At long last, he got San onto his back. He felt an ominous stirring, and realised the tree must be in the process of falling. Hastily, he climbed down, barely making it off the tree as it toppled to the forest below. Ashitaka rested on a cliff shelf and waited to see how San would be.
For hours, San's wolf brothers had been searching for their sister, howling at a regular interval. San had got lost before, especially when she was small, and it had been their job to find her, but she hadn't been lost in two years. They were at the bottom of the cliffs, and howled so near to Ashitaka he nearly fell off in surprise. Ashitaka called down to them.
"She's up here! She's badly hurt, we're going to have to get her to the middle of the forest or back to Iron Town."
The wolves growled on hearing San was hurt, but knew better than to direct the blame at Ashitaka. Just as they prepared to try to scale the cliff, a strange scent, unlike any they'd ever smelt before, came wafting over the air. Ashitaka could smell it too, and jerked upright. Unlike the wolves, he HAD smelt it before. Striding towards them in the fading evening light came the Night Walker, the nocturnal form of the Forest Spirit. In an instant, San, Ashitaka and the wolves were back at San's home in the forest. San's wrist was bandaged, and she seemed a lot healthier. Her brothers sniffed at her, making sure she was ok. San slowly began to wake up. Ashitaka was kneeling down nearby. The wolves retreated to the depths of the cave to give San and Ashitaka some privacy. By now it was close to midnight.
San awoke with a start to see Ashitaka kneeling beside her. She forced a smile for him, but it didn't last. She got up and staggered towards the same rock shelf Moro had encouraged Ashitaka to jump off two years ago. Ashitaka correctly guessed what she was doing, and went to stop her. He got there not a moment too soon and embraced San around the waist. She struggled, not wanting to be held back from death.
"Ashitaka, please, let me go. I don't want to live anymore."
Ashitaka stroked her cheek, causing her to stop struggling. She looked up into his eyes, her eyes welling up with tears. Ashitaka stroked her cheek again and pulled her close.
"Shhh, it's ok San. We still have each other."
"You don't understand though. I've been a protector of this forest since I was a child. Now I find out my true father is one of the people who is destroying all that I hold dear."
Ashitaka sat her down on the stone slab. He sat next to her, an arm around her for support. San had never been one to relent, but here she was, emotionally desecrated. She leant up to his ear and whispered to him.
"Ashitaka?"
"Yes?"
"You won't think any less of me if I cry will you?"
"Of course not."
He pulled her in close, taking her by surprise. San blushed a bit, and then started to cry. Ashitaka hugged her as she vented her emotions. All night long, the two sat there together, watching the stars pass them by. An owl called below in the forest, and a slight breeze blew across San's injured arm. She snuggled up to Ashitaka and looked at him. She smiled and traced her finger over his chest. Ashitaka looked down at her and touched her cheek gently with his lips. As dawn broke, they fell asleep.
Back at Iron Town, all the best shooters were being rallied to repel Asano's samurai. A new weapon was going to be tested against the enemy, but it was essential the attack group looked like a food convoy, or the trick wouldn't work.
San and Ashitaka awoke together in the afternoon. Yakkuru was sleeping with the wolves, but there was another deer with them. San gasped as she realised it was none other than the Forest Spirit himself. Before she could speak even, he reached out and touched her wrist stump. In that instant, she knew her mission and her reward at the end of it. If she could kill Asano and save the forest, then her injury would be healed. As she went to thank the god, he vanished before her very eyes. Ashitaka hugged her.
"Good news?"
San only nodded, and sat back in the cave. Ashitaka began to prepare some trout she had left. After a bit of searching, he found some herbs that San obviously kept for medical purposes. He found the right ones, and added them to the cooking fish. San was obviously planning something, but even San's determined mind couldn't ignore the smell of cooking seasoned fish. She looked at Ashitaka and smiled.
"That DOES smell good Ashitaka. I can't wait to try some."
The wolves approached, curious as to how Ashitaka made such fragrant food. Not too much later, and the fish was cooked. Yakkuru had slipped out to graze. Soon, they were all eating the trout. San cheered up considerably as she felt her strength returning.
"Well, we'll still need to keep up an offensive on those samurai. There's a camp near the waterfall where Asano..."
She trailed off, feeling very confused. Whilst every muscle in her body longed to tear Asano apart for crippling her, some part of her wanted to know her father. She shook her head, and got up. Ashitaka looked over at her.
"Are you ok San?"
San got changed and came back out in a purple dress with a white top on over the top. She donned her wolf fang jewellery and tucked a knife into her wrist stump. She looked at Ashitaka and nodded silently. Ashitaka knew better than to press for further answers; San could be unpredictable at times. Last year, he had made the mistake of introducing her to sake, an alcohol recently made. Just two beakers had made her hyper aggressive, and he'd had to beat her in combat to make her calm down. Her reaction to the drink just six hours later had been to show her well-hidden caring side, and she had served him all night long until her brothers distracted her whilst he was forced to knock her unconscious. When she woke up, she'd had no idea of what happened, and accidentally destroyed the rest of the drink.
San walked out of the cave and headed along an almost-invisible path in the trees. The scent of evergreen trees hung in the air, and insects buzzed past. She sat down in a depression filled with moss and soft grass, listening to the birdsong that surrounded her. She gave a sigh and relaxed fully. A mouse came out of its' burrow and looked at her. On seeing the princess wasn't moving, it climbed onto her stomach and ran around in circles. San opened one eye and smiled at the member of the Mouse Tribe. She reached up to the small white and brown mouse and caressed it along the back of its' head. The small rodent squeaked in pleasure and ran further up San's chest. San gave a wry smile as the mouse sat on her chest, and tickled it gently.
"Do you often sit on girls like this?"
The mouse squeaked in response, and ran onto her shoulder, rubbed up against her, then vanished back into its burrow. San lay back in her secret glade and rested for an hour. Only her brothers knew it existed. It wasn't that she didn't trust Ashitaka fully; she just wanted one secret to herself. As she lay there, Moro appeared to her. She made to sit up as her foster mother approached, but Moro shook her head.
"How are you my child? I know Asano told you the truth, so if you want, I'll stop calling you my child."
"No please mother, you've been wonderful to me. I could love no other the way I loved you."
Moro smiled gently.
"Except maybe Ashitaka."
San blushed.
"Yes, I do love him, but he's a human. You were my mother."
"Your wound will be healed when the threat to the forest is no more. But take care my child. Your path ahead is very dangerous."
"I don't fear death. I know you're with me."
"As is Ashitaka. Don't keep him waiting for you now. Go on, back home."
San reached out to touch Moro's spectral form. Moro smiled and vanished, leaving a single whispered word on the wind.
"Go."
San got up and returned to the cave. Ashitaka had been busy whilst she'd been out, and had been fletching several arrows. Before San could ask what he was doing, an explosion from outside caught her attention. A column of smoke rose up from where the road to Iron Town lay.
Koroku, an old friend of Ashitaka's, was helping manoeuvre the new weapon designed by Iron Town's scientists. It was clad in iron, and took three ox or nine men to pull it, but in battle it was invaluable. It worked on the same basis as a cannon, but fired from five barrels at once. The rough iron orbs used as rifle fodder could also be used in the new cannon. So far, it was proving its worth. Spears decorated the front of it, and it was nicknamed 'Lancet' for that reason. Koroku lit the fuse and fired another round of projectiles at the enemy. Hastily it was refilled and the fuse lit again. The samurai who ambushed them had hit hard and fast, but were faltering before Lancet's relentlessness. Another five messengers of death flew into five luckless samurai. The last samurai retreated, and the fighters from Iron Town pushed on towards the waterfall where Princess Mononoke had lost her fight against Asano.