Secret of the Princess
Chapter 8
San's wolf brothers lay in the cave entrance, watching over Ashitaka and San. Both had been disappointed to miss a fight against the human invaders, but hadn't argued much, as they had both gone on a hunting foray. Their hunt had gone well, and neither felt like much action. It was late in the morning, and Ashitaka was sleeping. San was brooding over the loss of her right hand, and the eagles were either hunting or adding to their platform- like nests. Already, one of the female eagles was preparing a nest for eggs. The wolves looked on, and then leapt onto the top of their cave, where Moro had so often sat when she was alive. The sun was high in the sky, and it was very warm. Although they usually didn't howl until night, the urge to do so was very strong. Finally they relented, and their high- pitched song carried out across the forest. Then, to their surprise, came a reply, too soon to be an echo. As hard as it was to tell, it sounded as if the one that had answered was a lone female.
At Asano's camp, all hell had broken loose. The Mouse Tribe had descended on their food like vultures onto carrion. All food was either eaten, being eaten or rendered unfit for human consumption. The samurai simply couldn't make much of a dent in the numbers of mice. Some were stamped on, others kicked away, and still others hit by weapons. But still the brown rodents kept on coming. In a mere hour, four months of food had been eaten. Asano was furious. Even as he gave orders to burn the camp down, their tiny assailants ran off as quickly as they'd come. Angry samurai took stock of their ravaged camp. With so little food left, Asano would be hard pressed to maintain discipline. He'd have to either postpone his attack on Iron Town, or speed up his plans to capture the foundry.
At midday, Ashitaka awoke. He stretched, yawned, and looked at where San was sitting, obviously brooding still about her missing hand. He decided not to bother her, as she could be very unpredictable when she was like this. He took up a straight branch and began attaching flights to it. It didn't take long for him to finish making his arrows. With the eagles present, he wasn't hard pressed to find good feathers for flights. He took stock of his arrows, and strung one onto his bow. He pulled the bowstring back to its' full extent, and let the arrow fly out over the forest. He watched as it arced up into the sky, and then fell out of sight. He sighed as he stood there, looking over the forest. He knew all too well how the forest was not invulnerable, despite its colossal size. Behind him, San finally stirred and got up. She packed his arrows into a quiver with her good hand, wincing every once in a while as her severed limb caused a shooting pain. She threw the quiver at Ashitaka's feet. Ashitaka looked back at her, a look of concern on his face.
"How are you feeling?"
San shrugged, not in much of a mood to talk. Ashitaka pressed her for an answer.
"Do you feel any pain?"
San snapped.
"NO, I am NOT in pain! I'm angry Ashitaka! Angry that Iron Town will try to consume the forest again! Angry that my father is a samurai warlord who cut my hand off! ALL my troubles come from humans!"
As Ashitaka made to calm her down, her knife appeared in her hand. He hesitated. She hadn't pulled a weapon on him since the near-death of the forest.
"I HATE people! I hate Eboshi! I hate Asano! I hate YOU TOO Ashitaka!"
San realised what she'd said and stopped her rant short. She sheathed her knife and ran out the cave. Ashitaka sighed. San was taking the loss of her hand very hard indeed. He looked over the forest. In the direction of the foundry, dark clouds could be seen. One of the eagles flew past the opening to its' nest. The two wolves growled at the cloud. The air had gone muggy and it was far warmer than it should be. Something was wrong.
San kept on running as fast as she could. She felt angry at Ashitaka for exposing parts of her that were too human for her liking, yet at the same time she knew she shouldn't have threatened him. Directly or indirectly, he'd never meant her harm, and had always tried to help her. She slowed her pace, and looked around. She was near the rockier parts of the forest now, huge black and grey boulders everywhere. She heard a funny whirring sound, then the world went black.
Koroku was leading the new weapons out on another test run. The men were mostly armed with crossbows and katanas, but at least one had a rifle. The men operating Lancet lit the fuses and covered their ears. There was a bang, and a flurry of projectiles shot in all directions. The samurai then poured on the villagers from all sides, some bleeding from Lancet's shots. The ill-equipped villagers fell under the deadly precision and accuracy of the samurai. Koroku took a blow to the head and fell to the ground. The samurai killed nearly everyone, the only survivors being the men who operated Lancet. They were rounded up and taken away to the desecrated samurai camp.
Ashitaka had killed a foraging patrol and taken everything he could back to the cave. San still hadn't returned, but she'd been known to go off for days on end. Ashitaka was still worried about her, but he was more focused on stocking up on weapons. He looked at the pillaged weaponry he had in the cave. Then he sat back and thought about attacking the samurai in their camp when the Mouse Tribe entered.
Chapter 8
San's wolf brothers lay in the cave entrance, watching over Ashitaka and San. Both had been disappointed to miss a fight against the human invaders, but hadn't argued much, as they had both gone on a hunting foray. Their hunt had gone well, and neither felt like much action. It was late in the morning, and Ashitaka was sleeping. San was brooding over the loss of her right hand, and the eagles were either hunting or adding to their platform- like nests. Already, one of the female eagles was preparing a nest for eggs. The wolves looked on, and then leapt onto the top of their cave, where Moro had so often sat when she was alive. The sun was high in the sky, and it was very warm. Although they usually didn't howl until night, the urge to do so was very strong. Finally they relented, and their high- pitched song carried out across the forest. Then, to their surprise, came a reply, too soon to be an echo. As hard as it was to tell, it sounded as if the one that had answered was a lone female.
At Asano's camp, all hell had broken loose. The Mouse Tribe had descended on their food like vultures onto carrion. All food was either eaten, being eaten or rendered unfit for human consumption. The samurai simply couldn't make much of a dent in the numbers of mice. Some were stamped on, others kicked away, and still others hit by weapons. But still the brown rodents kept on coming. In a mere hour, four months of food had been eaten. Asano was furious. Even as he gave orders to burn the camp down, their tiny assailants ran off as quickly as they'd come. Angry samurai took stock of their ravaged camp. With so little food left, Asano would be hard pressed to maintain discipline. He'd have to either postpone his attack on Iron Town, or speed up his plans to capture the foundry.
At midday, Ashitaka awoke. He stretched, yawned, and looked at where San was sitting, obviously brooding still about her missing hand. He decided not to bother her, as she could be very unpredictable when she was like this. He took up a straight branch and began attaching flights to it. It didn't take long for him to finish making his arrows. With the eagles present, he wasn't hard pressed to find good feathers for flights. He took stock of his arrows, and strung one onto his bow. He pulled the bowstring back to its' full extent, and let the arrow fly out over the forest. He watched as it arced up into the sky, and then fell out of sight. He sighed as he stood there, looking over the forest. He knew all too well how the forest was not invulnerable, despite its colossal size. Behind him, San finally stirred and got up. She packed his arrows into a quiver with her good hand, wincing every once in a while as her severed limb caused a shooting pain. She threw the quiver at Ashitaka's feet. Ashitaka looked back at her, a look of concern on his face.
"How are you feeling?"
San shrugged, not in much of a mood to talk. Ashitaka pressed her for an answer.
"Do you feel any pain?"
San snapped.
"NO, I am NOT in pain! I'm angry Ashitaka! Angry that Iron Town will try to consume the forest again! Angry that my father is a samurai warlord who cut my hand off! ALL my troubles come from humans!"
As Ashitaka made to calm her down, her knife appeared in her hand. He hesitated. She hadn't pulled a weapon on him since the near-death of the forest.
"I HATE people! I hate Eboshi! I hate Asano! I hate YOU TOO Ashitaka!"
San realised what she'd said and stopped her rant short. She sheathed her knife and ran out the cave. Ashitaka sighed. San was taking the loss of her hand very hard indeed. He looked over the forest. In the direction of the foundry, dark clouds could be seen. One of the eagles flew past the opening to its' nest. The two wolves growled at the cloud. The air had gone muggy and it was far warmer than it should be. Something was wrong.
San kept on running as fast as she could. She felt angry at Ashitaka for exposing parts of her that were too human for her liking, yet at the same time she knew she shouldn't have threatened him. Directly or indirectly, he'd never meant her harm, and had always tried to help her. She slowed her pace, and looked around. She was near the rockier parts of the forest now, huge black and grey boulders everywhere. She heard a funny whirring sound, then the world went black.
Koroku was leading the new weapons out on another test run. The men were mostly armed with crossbows and katanas, but at least one had a rifle. The men operating Lancet lit the fuses and covered their ears. There was a bang, and a flurry of projectiles shot in all directions. The samurai then poured on the villagers from all sides, some bleeding from Lancet's shots. The ill-equipped villagers fell under the deadly precision and accuracy of the samurai. Koroku took a blow to the head and fell to the ground. The samurai killed nearly everyone, the only survivors being the men who operated Lancet. They were rounded up and taken away to the desecrated samurai camp.
Ashitaka had killed a foraging patrol and taken everything he could back to the cave. San still hadn't returned, but she'd been known to go off for days on end. Ashitaka was still worried about her, but he was more focused on stocking up on weapons. He looked at the pillaged weaponry he had in the cave. Then he sat back and thought about attacking the samurai in their camp when the Mouse Tribe entered.