Secret of the Princess

Chapter 12

Lord Asano's samurai walked among the defeated citizens of Iron Town. Men, women and children alike were forced to lie facedown in the dirt. Spears and swords were held mere inches above their backs to quell any thought of an uprising. Two Lancet-type cannons were lashed together, providing fire for every angle. Koroku lay near the two cannons, pieces of burning wood all over the place. He glanced over at his wife Toki, and noticed how scared she looked. This in itself was evidence of how much trouble they were in. Even when Princess Mononoke had attacked directly two years ago, Toki hadn't betrayed much reaction. She'd barely reacted any more when Ashitaka had been mistakenly shot through the lung. But now, in the hands of hostile samurai who had every reason to kill her or abuse her, her unworried expression had died away. She was looking worried, and for good cause too. Her faded blue yukata was revealing rather more of her body than she wanted, and the samurai weren't taking any steps to ease her discomfort. Ever since he'd met her, he'd never known her to be worried to this degree. Spurred into boldness by the peril his wife was in, Koroku kicked a flaming brand near him towards the five-barrelled cannons. By sheer luck, the fuses began to burn. He lay totally still as a samurai came up to him, directly in line with one of the barrels of a cannon. The sizzling sound of the flame burning the fuses wasn't apparent at all. The samurai took out his longbow and thumped the end into the dirt right by Koroku's face. It was at that point the cannons went off. Masses of shrapnel caused grievous cuts and wounds to several samurai and killed three, but for the residents of Iron Town, they would end up suffering more. Lord Asano walked into the town, his bloodied katana at his side. He looked over the assembly of defeated civilians and victorious samurai, and smiled.

"Finally, we stand victorious in this iron foundry. But I think it could do with a few changes here and there, don't you men?"

The samurai cheered. Lord Asano drew a line through the hard-packed earth with his sword, and gave orders for a shallow trench to be dug. Not long after, there was a narrow, long trench running from one end of the town to the other. Asano selected a villager, a strong looking man, one of the few survivors from the purge two years ago. The man was forced to stand at one end of the trench whilst a few archers stood at the other. Two children began to cry, calling for their father. Asano gave no sign of hearing them as he ordered the man to turn around. As the man turned to face the archers, there was a whir in the air. Half a dozen arrows hit him with deadly accuracy and astounding force. One hit the luckless man right in the eye, tearing through flesh and even the skull. The man was dead before he hit the ground, blood spurting out from his six arrow wounds. People gasped in shock at the callous murder. Asano looked around.

"Any questions?"

Many samurai laughed at their leader's cold-bloodedness. Koroku lay as still as could be. After a few minutes of laughing, each of which felt like a year, several samurai walked into the pyramidal forge and came out with what looked like very long, thin, metal 'U's'. A samurai approached Toki and turned her onto her back. She was shaking in fear by now. He stretched her left arm out, and began to hammer the metal 'U' over her wrist and into the ground. Soon enough, she was pinned down and unable to escape. At this she panicked totally. As a brothel girl, she'd had a few rough times, but nothing that seemed to come close to this. Many other women were undergoing the same treatment. Eboshi was spared the humiliation. Finally, the town leader broke as another man was put to death.

"Enough Lord Asano. Iron Town is now yours."

Asano smirked.

"A wise choice, for if you hadn't given in, we'd have filled that trench with the blood of your people."

"Not what I'd call a warrior's courage, imprisoning women, terrifying children and shooting hostages."

"Careful, we may have to kill another..."

"OPEN FIRE!"

Deep in the forest, three tigers had appeared from the extreme south. They were golden and black in colour, with deep cyan eyes. One was bigger than the other two, showing one was male, and the other two were either part of his harem or just partners. San suddenly spun around and saw the three big cats crouching outside her home. She smiled wryly, running her good hand through her hair.

"Tigris, it's been years since I saw you last. You were just a tiny little cub then."

The male smiled dangerously, but there was no malevolent threat in his voice.

"What did you expect, Princess, I was just a cub then. And you were very small yourself. This is Corbetti, and this is Amoy."

Tigris indicated the two female tigers. The one named Amoy had five faded scars running over her face, but they were distinctive nevertheless. Other than that, they only differed by their stripes. Thick, bunched muscles suggested power only comparable to San's foster mother, Moro. Ashitaka turned around to see the three massive cats looming over San. Her brothers and their female companion looked unfazed, so he knew they were no threat. As Ashitaka got up, Tigris made a low growl.

"Who is the human boy?"

San beckoned to Ashitaka, and put her wounded arm around him.

"He is my protector and my hero. This is Ashitaka."

She smiled and kissed his cheek. The tigers looked at her strangely. Tigris beckoned Ashitaka aside and spoke to him in an undertone.

"How did you tame her, Ashitaka? When I was here, there was no getting a smile out of her short of a kill. What did you do?"

"I taught her that fighting isn't the only answer."

Tigris looked impressed, then walked to a corner of the cave with Amoy and Corbetti. Here, he lay down, flicking his tail back and forth. Outside, the fragrant smell of flowers wafted into the cave, accompanied by evening birdsong.

"We'll rest here if that's ok with you Princess."

Before San could answer, her brothers stepped in.

"This is OUR cave, why not ask US what is best?"

Tigris looked directly at San's eldest brother.

"We could. But don't you follow what the Princess says?"

The wolves snarled, baring their icy white fangs. San ran up to stop the fight before it could escalate.

"Please, there's plenty of room here. The enemy is in the forest, not in this cave."

Tigris looked at her.

"Why do you hide your other hand these days Princess?"

San looked stung, and went to her bed of furs. Already it was sunset. Ashitaka tried to comfort her, but she wouldn't listen. She didn't erupt the way she had before, but she wouldn't talk either. Tigris looked to her brothers.

"What happened to her?"

The wolves snarled.

"She had her hand cut off by a human who is destroying this forest, and is also her father. Now sleep."

The wolves huddled together and dozed off. The three tigers took a bit longer, but Ashitaka and San stayed awake long into the night. Chrysaetos and the other eagles had padded San's bed with some of their feathers whilst they had talked. Ashitaka piled the furs onto San as a breeze wandered into the cave. San shivered and finally became still. By the light of the stars outside, Ashitaka could tell she was looking at him.

"Ashitaka?"

"Yes San?"

"What'll you do when this battle is over?"

Ashitaka pondered for a while.

"I want to spend more time with you. Just you and me fishing, hunting, enjoying sunny days, things like that."

San smiled weakly as she made room in the bed for Ashitaka too.

"Can I ask you one more thing Ashitaka?"

Ashitaka smiled, leant down and kissed her.

"Of course you can, my forest princess."

"What were YOUR parents like?"