So it begins. With the dawn of a new day, a new opportunity arises for all those looking to change their fate. Some fight for good, others for evil, but all will make their choices here and now. So here's Chapter three. For all those wanting to see some good battles, bear with me. This is where the action starts. Tell me what you think. 

Chapter 3

Can They be trusted?

Sunlight filled the cave, which faced the east, and San begin to open her eyes as the rays shown on her face.

'Morning,' she thought. 'Wow, I've been asleep for at least 12 hours then.'

She stood up, stretched and yawned before reaching for her other fur pelt. As she bent down to get it she noticed a sword laying at the edge of her bed.

'Ashitaka's sword,' she thought. 'Does that mean he is here?' Filled with joy she picked up the blade and ran towards the opening in the cave. As she reached the ledge overlooking the forest, she sensed a presence behind her. Expecting to see Ashitaka, she saw her eldest brother, Rude, lying attentively on the top ledge.

"Good to see that you're up at the break of dawn. The way you were sleeping I thought that I was going to have Reno sit on your head before you would wake."

"Is Ashitaka here?" San asked hopefully.

"No, he is not. Why do you ask? Do you wish he was?" Rude inquired.

"No, of course not." She said, slightly annoyed with her brother's accusation that she wished that a human were here. 'But I do wish he were here,' she thought to herself. "I was only curious because I found his sword at the foot of my bed," she lied.

"Of course you were, San." Before she could make another comment, Rude continued speaking. "I found his sword last night at the pool of the Forest Spirit, and I brought it back because I thought it would be best to return it to him when we visit him today."

"What are you talking about? You want to go see him?" she asked with a slight amount of excitement, but mostly surprise in her voice.

"Last night, Reno and I observed the other humans that attacked the town on the river the other day. They retreated eastward the way that they came previously, but Reno and I believe that some stayed behind. Their stench still lingers somewhere in the forest. So I decided that we should go to the town in which he is staying at and inform him of the movement of his enemy's troops."

"Ashitaka is at the human town, we should not go there. I believe that is unwise to go to our enemies fortress," she said, forgetting her place in the clan.

"Regardless of your personal feelings towards my decision, the decision still stands," Rude said sternly. "As I told Reno, we must look to make allies with the humans, and I believe that Ashitaka is the best human to ask first."

"We cannot trust the humans right away, we must first see that they can respect and stay out of the forest, before we look for allies."

"The other humans who wear the metal from the mountain cannot be beaten by the power of the forest. They are a bigger threat to the forest than that horrid woman and her underlings are. The only way we can defeat them is with their help."

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" San asked apprehensively.

"That kind of question I would expect from Reno, not from you. I thought that you had grown to trust Ashitaka, and that you thought of him differently than you would other humans," said Rude.

"I do," she protested, but then changed her tone. "I just didn't think that you would go to him so willingly."

"The Forest Spirit chose to revive him from near death, he saved you from the town of iron and saved me from death as well. Our mother approved him for you as your mate, and it his her judgment I know that you trusted the most. After he had saved me, I ran with him to come and save you and in the few moments I had spent with him, I saw his heart and his intentions. He cares for you and for the forest, as well as the humans. His loyalty resides only to true peace. That is why he had also helped return the head of the Forest Spirit at great risk to his own life, to keep the balance. However at the same time he will do what is necessary to protect what he loves." San was beginning to blush as Rude continued to speak of Ashitaka. "If all that isn't worthy of my trust, then I truly do not know how he could ever be."

His tone then changed to a more serious sound. "I also want you to understand that now that I am the leader of the clan now and I will also respect you and your judgment, but you must also realize that I will make the final decisions. Now that our mother is gone I will need your help greatly to protect the forest."

"Alright, I understand. It's just after all that has happened, I don't feel we should trust all of the humans so soon. Besides, it is not Ashitaka that I do not trust. Still, I think that allying with the humans after all that they did to the forest and our clan is not very wise."

"I know that we cannot trust all of the humans and I don't know if we ever will, but I do know that our fate is tied to theirs. We must make the first move and get them to understand this fact. Do you agree?"

"Yes." San decided to change the subject. "Where is Reno now? I assume you have him doing something of use." San was worried about her other older brother, for he was the one that she had always been closest with, although she extremely close with both of her brothers.

"I have him scouting the surrounding area for humans, don't worry I told him not to attack any, only to gather information on them and their location and return."

"What would you have me do, Rude?" San asked.

"Ready yourself for travel. Grab your spear and knife, as well as Ashitaka's sword. If we run into these "Samurai", you will need to be ready, but I forbid you to kill any of the town of iron's humans unless provoked. We don't need the war to start again so soon. This is more of a 'diplomatic trip', than a raid, understood."

"Alright," she said sighing. The idea of not killing a single human other than Ashitaka was unsettling. However she must do as her older brother said, he was leader of the clan now. She went inside to grab her spear and knife.

'Do I really want to see Ashitaka so soon, after all that has happened,' she thought, playing with the crystal dagger that Ashitaka had given her? 'I know that he is trustworthy and he cares for me but it is my feelings that I am not sure of. I know I said I care for him but I still have my doubts about how I feel about him. My heart skips a beat every time I think about him but he still looks like one of the people I have been fighting for so long. Still I guess if I can look human and be a wolf, he may not be like the evil ones as well.'

'Oh why am I worrying,' she thought. 'He will be glad to see me, won't he? I know that I will be glad to see him. It has only been a day since we parted but it feels like an eternity. Maybe Rude is right about needing help to save this land, but why must it be the humans we must ask? Other than Ashitaka, I will never trust or even help them all. However, I guess that helping Ashitaka would also help the people of the town. Why couldn't he just live with me in the forest, she thought angrily. Then it all would work out.' Quickly, she began to gather her wares for the journey.

Once her fur cape and ceremonial mask were on, she picked up her weapons and made her way out of the cave. As she reached the outside of the cave she could see Reno running up through the brush.

"Rude, we may have a problem," he said panting.

"Why, what is it?"

"Although I cannot see them, I smell them. There are at least 80 or so humans between here and the town. Because there is only one way to the town from the forest, we are more than likely to run into them if we follow through with our plan."

Rude pondered this new development for a moment. After coming to his decision, he spoke.

"We will still go through to the town, no matter what is in our way. We will just have to move faster than those humans can even think." With that, he stood up and jumped off the ledge he had been laying on the whole night.

"Lets go."

San nodded her head and tucked the sword in her belt along with her stone knife and hopped onto Reno's back. Once on her mount, she pulled her clay mask over her face, tossing back the fur over her shoulder and began the flight to the town with apprehension and excitement in her heart over soon being able to see Ashitaka.

The Hunters become the Hunted

I wonder how long I will have to wait for this wolf princess, thought Tojiro. She better make all the time I spent waiting here worthwhile as well.

Tojiro and 47 of his men had been keeping their eyes on the forest and on the iron works all night long. The other 40 were waiting hidden by the riverbank, not making a move until Tojiro signaled them to attack. His plan wasn't exactly fancy, but it would more than likely get the job done. The latter half of his samurai had moved up too the river bank close to the town during the night and had concealed their position quite well. If the Mononoke decided to leave the safety of her forest, Tojiro and his men would drive her right into the hands of his hidden samurai. After killing her wolf-god brothers, he would then take her hostage, baiting the Imishi to come and save her.

This is my last chance to reclaim my honor, thought Tojiro as he sat attentively in his camouflaged sleeping area. After all that has happened, I am still alive, he thought. I have done so much killing. Why then is god still protecting me, even when I don't deserve it? Still, I wonder if I will survive this task.

Tojiro had always had his doubts about the campaign that Asano had been planning, but he was a soldier, and one that would follow his lord's orders no matter how 'Un-ethical' they seemed. He had been trained to be a great warrior since his early years of life by his father. Strength of the warrior ran strong through his veins. After his father died, he had nothing to stand for except his own survival. Since then he had been making a living off of the lords he had served under, Asano was just the current one. He had nothing left, except his honor and his life.

I would rather die than lose the only thing that I have left that matters to me, thought the samurai. Now knowing what all this is for I really don't mind doing what I have to do. Whether it's one man's reasoning or the next, there will always be battles. However some fight for better reasons than others. If Hirohito captures this town, he will use this iron to build a greater army and throw the land into chaos, but Asano won't. He will try to keep order in the west, and rebellions like the one this 'Eboshi' woman nearly started will be less likely to happen. Eventually this whole island will become under the strong leadership of his lord, and peace will reign with an iron fist and there will be no more wars.

Asano will return to these mountains to retrieve the iron that he had nearly captured with at least half of his real army, thought the samurai. All I have to do is kill one young boy before he arrives after winter and I will be allowed to live.

It's only a little past an hour after sunrise, but it feels much longer than that, thought Tojiro. Then he heard a sound coming from the forest.

This early, he thought as he strained his ears and eyes for the wolf-girl. He then caught a glimpse of her moving past an open area of land near the cliff on the far side. Good, he thought, I won't have to wait much longer. Tojiro signaled to his group of samurai to prepare to move out and they began to mount their horses quietly for the up-coming chase.

The Fire Within

As the sun rose over the mountains and light engulfed the green town, Ashitaka roused himself and rubbed his sleepiness out of his eyes. I guess taking a guard post without any sleep was a bad idea, he thought.

He stood up, stretched, yawned and started to move around his cramped post. He was used to staying up late into the night because of the time he spent with Ji-san back at his former village. Still he had little rest in the last few days and it was beginning to take its toll on his mind and body. Ashitaka began to feel depressed as he thought of his homeland to the east. I wonder how they are now, he thought. He then looked over to the East, where the sun was now passing over the forest and the mountains.

His tower was the only remaining tower on this side of the town, and it gave a full view towards the forest and the mountains to the east, that is why Ashitaka took this post in the first place. He wanted to at least feel like he was looking in San's general direction. To him, looking towards the forest made him feel that San was not so far away. Then, as he finished stretching out, he heard the ropes on the ladder behind him move.

"Good morning Ashitaka," said a man as he climbed up onto the platform where Ashitaka stood.

"Good morning Keno," said Ashitaka, remembering this man as the one who Gonza had called to what remained of the barracks yesterday afternoon. "What brings you to here?" he asked.

"I came to relieve you of your post young one," replied Keno "You have been up here with little sleep and after all that you have gone through you deserve some. What's left of my home is where you can rest for the day."

"Thank you, I am very grateful."

"No young man. It is I who am grateful." Asitaka could tell what this man was about to say before he opened his mouth, but Ashitaka wanted him to speak his mind.

"I can tell you that I speak on behalf of the town that you are like our savior. If it wasn't for all that you did for us, we might all be dead. Even though many of our people died in this last week, it was not your doing. You tried to help us see the error in our ways and bled for us and we still realized it too late. The price we would have had to pay would have been much greater if it wasn't for you." Keno looked towards the town, which lay in utter dismay. Still, he smiled. "It doesn't look so bad with all the flowers."

The sun was still rising, basking the entire town in its light. This made the dew on the flowers shine as the rays of light shown on them. His eyes began to glaze over. "My wife would have liked to see it."

"Thank you for your kind words, and I am sorry for your loss," said Ashitaka.

"Don't be, she died years ago," said Keno.

"I would like to stay and watch the sunrise for a while, my rest can wait a little while longer."

"Of course, here have some water. I am sorry, food is a little short," Keno said as he passed him a leather flask.

Ashitaka graciously accepted the cool refreshment and drank his fill. Food would have been nice but that can wait, right now he was parched.

For the next hour, Ashitaka sat quietly with his friend and watched the red sun rise until it fully passed over the mountains to the east. As it finished, Ashitaka rose and walked over to Keno to give him back his flask.

"Keep it, you'll probably need it more." Ashitaka bowed and slung the flask over his shoulder and proceeded to make his way down until Keno let out a cry of surprise.

"It can't be, look!" he said, pointing out over towards where Ashitaka was gazing earlier. "It's the Wolf Girl!" Keno was about to hit the plate of iron that was used for the town's alarm system when Ashitaka grabbed his arm.

"Look at what's following her," said Ashitaka coolly.

Keno looked just behind the two wolves and the girl to see fifty samurai on horseback pursuing her across the open field. "Samurai! Look there, there are more by the shore." More samurai on horses sprang from hiding near the beach to cut off the wolves. "Forty or so must have hid there during the night. Those bastards. They can't attack the town now, too many people will be hurt. We are not ready for an attack. What are we going to do?" Keno was beginning to panic for he knew even this many soldiers could seriously cause more damage to the town. His spirit sunk as he realized that there was almost nothing he could do. Then Ashitaka spoke.

"Alert the town of the attack," he commanded. "I am going to try and buy us some time." Then, Before Keno could respond, Ashitaka grabbed his bow and quiver, sprinted to the edge of the tower and jumped over the rail onto the rampart of the wall. He then leapt over the side of the wall, sliding feet first down the tall palisade. As he neared the ground, he kicked of the bottom of the wall, lessening the impact of the landing. He hit the ground softly, which was odd despite the height he fell at, and then began running across the ditch where the bridge used to be to get a better shot at the oncoming horsemen. As he neared the field he could hear the clanging of iron behind him, which meant that Keno was doing what Ashitaka asked. Hopefully, he thought, they will be ready for the attack.

I must protect San, was the first thought that entered his mind as he began to draw an arrow from his quiver. He called San's name and waved his hand hoping that she would get the message. She responded be raising her spear and pointing her two brothers in his direction. He notched the arrow as quickly as he could and began to look for a target.

I don't know what I can do, he thought, but I have to try something. The samurai have the numbers and the lead on San, so I have to try and redirect their attention on me. Hopefully she will get to me before they do and we can try to lead them away from the town.

As the samurai came into range, Ashitaka took aim at the one of the samurai that hid near the river. However, as soon as he drew the arrow back to its full length preparing to fire, Ashitaka felt something strange in his arm. The sudden familiar burning pain in his right arm made his arm quiver and his heart sink.

He had previously thought the mark to be gone but now it seemed that it was causing his arm too shake, making it difficult to fire.

"The mark won't let me fire," exclaimed Ashitaka. 'Does this mean that if I fight, the mark will return with full strength? He only thought about the repercussions of fighting these men for only a split second more. He then looked up at the galloping wolves with San on one of their backs. As soon as he did, an arrow struck the wolf that wasn't carrying San in the hind leg, making him stumble. Still, despite the wound, he kept his composure and continued running towards Ashitaka, who then realized what he must do. They were only moments away so he had to act quickly.

"I cannot let anything happen to San or her brothers," he said and began to take aim at the samurai once more. Despite the uncontrollable shaking and the burning pain in his forearm, he regained a bead on his original target and let the arrow fly.

What does the burning in Ashitaka's arm mean? Has the demon mark returned? Will he be able to save San and her brothers from being killed in the cavalry charge of Tojiro's Samurai? One can never see the future but one can have a good idea of what might come to pass. Just remember, no prophecy is unchangeable and destiny is never revealed until the right time. Have faith that those that you trust that they will succeed. Thank you all for reading, R&R plz.