Harry Potter/ Princess Mononoke Crossover.

Spirits of Rebellion

By: Mage-Alia

Chapter 2: Welcome to Iron Town.

Summary: After the death of the great forest spirit one Boar god still lives. In a blind rage and consumed by the demonic infection he passes through a portal into a different world only to find a young boy with an amazing amount of power over the earth. Healed by hope the boar sweeps Harry away to the once great forest to start all over again, against the advance of mankind.

A/N: Someone pointed out that I was spelling the name for Akoto wrong, and that it was Okkoto. Well… that can pretty much be blamed on either one of two things. 1) I was trying to sound the name out and since it's Japanese I got it wrong, or 2) The spelling was wrong in the subtitles for the English version and I made the booboo that way.

It was a strange sight indeed to see a boar walking calmly through the newly rebuilt gates of Iron town after all that had happened not so long ago. It was even more strange to see the usually proud creature bearing a load of its own as it followed Ashitaka toward a makeshift sleeping quarters, separated from the rest of the buildings that housed the villagers. It was where Ashitaka had made his home. A great Red Elk stood nearby watching the procession of its master, San and the boar with curiosity. Working under the stares of the people the two humans helped the third down from the boars ridged back and laid him out just inside the doorway of an empty room that lead out into a grassed area. .

"Who is your friend Ashitaka?" both man and beast alike turned when Lady Iboshi passed the curious audience to stand before them, looking down at the boy. She'd seen rough times lately, the absence of her right arm was all to obvious but the rolled up sleeve of her shirt was displayed proudly for all to see. To her it had become a mark of valor.

"I do not know, lady, but Lord Okkoto bore him from the forests, insisting on his protection. The Kodama call him kin." At that moment the small tree spirit that had been curled in the boy's hair popped out of the shaggy black mass, startling those who had leaned in for a closer look. Okkoto gave a snort and placed himself between the other humans and the boy, laying down with a heavy thud that shook the ground. Lady Iboshi let out a loud laugh at the sight of the boar protecting a human but Akoto grunted in response.

"Do not laugh, the sun is falling, the forest spirit will change soon." His voice held a surprising conviction that stunned both San and Ashitaka. Still they had their doubts even as some of the village women came forward to see the boy.

"Hey, he's kinda cute." One of them exclaimed. There was a groan from the men.

"Last time one of you said that Ashitaka happened!" A gunner shouted from the back of the crowd. Complaints where mixed with laughter as they where all ushered off, back toward the more populated parts of the village, leaving the two youth's, a boar and the Kodama to stare at the dark haired boy that lay there. Resigning themselves to a wait they let him be and did what they had to on their own.

The recovering Village fell quiet as the sun set and eventually people returned to their beds, most with mind's wondering toward the new arrival sleeping within the town's walls. The mentioned child was curled under his blanket, a peaceful expression on his face as he dreamed.

The sky stretched on above him in a veritable sea of stars, emerging from the darkness of the night as the sun of his dreams sank below the horizon, the last wispy remains of its glow fading into the starlight. A breeze ruffled his hair and a smile found its way onto his face as he took in the immense forest that grew right to the edge of the horizon beneath him. Atop the mountain he was more at peace than he had ever been before, even while staying among his friends at Hogwarts.

There was a gentle thud of hooves behind him in the grass but Harry didn't feel the need to find out who or what it was. Eventually the being came up beside him and the glow of the beast invaded on the endless night.

And Harry finally looked.

A wizened old red face grinned back at him with a perpetual smile, looking strangely appropriate on the great golden body of fur that resembled a deer. A forest of antlers reached toward the sky from its head, straighter than should be natural on a real deer, but this being was special. Harry knew that much. The flat nose that was more animal in origin hovered inches from his skin as it took in his scent. Harry offered his hand to it but the being ignored it, looking at his face instead. As it met his eyes Harry felt something stir in the back of his mind. A connection, that hadn't been there before suddenly trickled into life and slowly, something began to emerge from it.

// A guardian…// a whispery voice spoke in his mind, but the teen was to relaxed and peaceful to care. // …you will make a good guardian.// Harry 'hmmm'ed' beneath his breath and his gaze wondered back to the stars.

'What guardian?' he thought absently and the Stag's eyes crinkled as it's perpetual grin grew a little wider.

// …Of the forest.// it spoke in the same omnipresent tone as before although, now it sounded a little like it was laughing at him. // You will be the new guardian, for the new age… a man but not a man to protect the forests for man…// Green eyes lost a little of their glassy expression and Harry looked at it once more.

'…a guardian of the forest?' The question was far more coherent than before, what about his home? Hogwarts?

// You are home.// The scene shifted as the world around him began to change… no… it wasn't changing. 'He' was changing. It was as if someone had suddenly taken away his skin and everything was pouring out all over the place. The mountain was suddenly nothing less than a hill as the wind picked up and blew through the trees that became spotted with white as the Kodama peered up through the leaves, their faces not visible from the height, but the rattle of their chorus audible for miles.

Clatter, rattle, clatter, rattle…

Then, the other noises began.

Somewhere in the distance of the dream a wolf began to howl in time to the rattle of the Kodama and the swish of swaying trees. The denizens of the forest took up the song as the entire nighttime forest began to sing. Beside him, the stag continued to smile even as he suddenly began to spread out across the land, loosing shape and becoming transparent, then, as it melted into the very forest itself Harry felt his sprawling power grow. Then, taking one last look at the moon and the stars he took his first step off the mountain and into the singing forests, humming along to himself as he went.

Beyond the edges of Harry's dream the newest god of the forest remained in human form, his changes slow in the eyes of the watchful boar. The change wasn't so significant as his very form seemed to soften. The sharp angles and protruding bones caused by a mix of malnutrition and an awkward adolescence appeared to melt like heated wax and his entire body began to glow with a new power.

It was the power of the old forest spirit, mixed in with the new. Okkoto felt the faint wave of approval that filled the air around him and the boar new for sure that he had made the right choice in bringing him here. Laying his head down on the ground and tucking his hooves beneath him or close to his sides, he drifted off to sleep.

But as he did the nighttime guards could only watch in awe as a great familiar form made of starlight rose from the forest and began to walk the world once more.

Harry dimly registered the bright sunlight splashed across his face as he began to wake from his incredibly vivid dream. He had wondered all over the strange forest, singing along as he explored. He remembered being so high above everything, but at the same time he felt like he 'was' everything.

It had been disconcerting as it had been pleasant.

"Ugghhhhh…" He moaned as more awareness returned to him and he felt the tired drag of his body. What had he been doing? Slowly he opened his eyes, squinting against the light before they could readjust somewhat and found himself looking at the underside of a rough, thatched roof. He blinked a few times before his brain began to work properly and he mentally went through a list of the places he knew. None of them had a thatched roof. As more feeling came to him he registered that he was tucked under a rather heavy blanket and pushed against it, struggling into a sitting position and taking a better look around.

He was sitting on some sort of mattress laid out on a smooth wooden floor in a small room that was barely larger than the bed he was on. The walls where made of thinly cut wood paneled screens and on one side there was a pair of doors made mostly of paper that had been left open. Beyond it was an area of grass that stopped short at another building. Light flooded down through the open door and the grassy street, illuminating a large hulking form on the ground, just below the step up to the floor. When green eyes landed on the giant brown boar, memories suddenly came flooding back to him. Sirius falling, Dumbledore's prophecy, his anger at everything, the spirits in the woods, the dying boar and how he'd healed it…

Rattle Rattle Rattle Rattle

Harry looked down abruptly and saw a row of little pale green and white Kodama lined up along the edge of his mattress. They grinned at him innocently before pushing to their feet and wondering closer. They climbed up and over him, tugging gently at his hair and clothes with the child like awe, as if they where wondering what exactly he was. They jumped as Harry let out a snort of laughter as one managed to crawl down the back of his shirt. After that he began to extract them all and set them back down on the edge of the mattress before pushing the blankets off himself and getting up.

The first thing he noticed was he had slept in his clothes, the second was that they where now so much smaller. He looked down at himself noticing that since he wasn't wearing shoes the hem of his pants was now well above his ankles. The sleeves of his robes where the same and he wondered how he could have grown so much over night. Absentmindedly scrubbing his face with his hand he turned toward the paper doors and pushed it a little further open, registering for the first time the sounds of people bustling around outside. Edging around the big boar he stepped off the wood floor and down onto the damp earth, only to gasp as a rush of power suddenly shot through him in an nearly intoxicating wave. His feet sank into the grass and suddenly the feeling that he was everything returned. He was hyper aware of every blade of grass, every plant, every tree, every spirit and every life force for miles around.

Eventually the feeling receded somewhat into a dull acknowledgement and Harry let go of the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He gasped for air and as he regained his breath he 'felt' more than saw as the boar was jolted awake by the same wave of power that had just taken him in it's hold.

"Forest Spirit! You have awakened!" The voice of the boar virtually thundered in his ears and Harry winced. He glanced down before making his way toward the creature's head. It stuck its snout into his chest as he crouched down and Harry nearly toppled over. He grabbed the boar's bristling hair to keep himself from falling and managed to get his feet underneath himself before the boar god could do it again.

"Where am I?" He asked after a while as the Kodama tumbled toward them, springing clumsily from the slightly raised wooden floor onto Okkoto's back.

"We are in a human den." The great boar ground out, still somewhat distrustful of his surroundings. "The wolf cub, San, brought us here, with the human warrior. They are convinced you are a human!" He snorted somewhat disdainfully, obviously not thinking much of them.

"But I am Human!" Harry blurted out only to receive what could be termed as a disbelieving look from Okkoto.

"You are the new Forest Spirit! The Nightwalker wondered the land once more, did you not dream of the forest?" Green eyes widened slightly as he recalled the dream again and he stared down at the top of Okkoto's snout.

"How… how did you know about my dream?" His voice was a little strained as he shuffled back a few inches. Beady black eyes focused on him as Okkoto turned his head.

"We all felt it. Your power, even as weakened as it is after your arrival, was still enough for you to take the shape of the Nightwalker." Harry opened his mouth to reply but whatever he was going to say was lost as he heard a soft voice nearby.

"Whereisit?Whereisit?WHERE'SITACHI'SFOOD?!" Harry looked around for the voice but the grassed area they where in remained stubbornly empty. Okkoto snorted an obvious enquiry but by that point Harry had moved away and peered down into the dim area under the floor of the house. "Bigwet'scoming!Mustfindmorefood!Mustfindmorefood!" The chittering voice got louder and louder until Harry finally registered something shooting through the darkness toward him and it was his seeker reflexes alone that allowed him to lash out and grab the thing as it passed. It struggled in his hands, and squealed loudly before it abruptly stopped and Harry got his first good look at it.

"Hnn, A Weasel." Okkoto stated idly as he watched it playing dead.

It was about a foot in length from nose to tail and probably still quite young. It had brownish fur and big splotches of russet all over its back.

It kind of reminded him of Ron in an odd sort of way…

"Aren't dead things supposed to 'not' breathe?" He couldn't help but ask before the Weasel peeked from under his eyelid and chattered nervously.

"You'sanotgonnaeatItachi?" It took a second to decipher the blur of words and the last one threw him for a loop before he realized the Weasel was speaking in the Third Person. Itachi, was its name. Harry gave a mute shake of his head wondering if he hadn't gone mad after all. He was sitting in the grass in a strange 'Human Den' as the boar called it, holding a hyperactive talking Weasel that could have been a more simple minded version of Ron… hold that, an almost exact replica of Ron (mentally speaking), a whole bunch of virtually unheard of Forest imps and a giant Pig he had somehow healed that now insisted that he was a 'Forest Spirit'.

The sudden impact of the whole situation crashed down on him and Itachi gave a horrified squeak as Harry's grasp weakened, dropping him into his lap. The dark haired teen just sagged as the shock he'd been suffering finally wore off and buried his hands into the grass beside him, ignoring the sudden flurry of plant growth that sprung up between his fingers. Itachi, who had stayed where he was, chattered excitedly as a miniature sunflower burst up and squeaked his disappointment when it rotted away before he could touch it.

"My Lord?" The boar began but this time he was interrupted as a human wondered around the corner and took in the sight, blinking before he drew back and took a deep breath.

"HEY! SOMEONE GO GET ASHITAKA! HIS NEW FRIEND IS AWAKE!"

A/N: And that's all she wrote!

Heh, yet another update you probably weren't expecting. First Underworld and now this, I think I'm surprising myself more than anyone else this week.

Anywhooo…

I've been having a lot of trouble thinking about where this story should go. I began to write this on impulse and I didn't have anything really planned for it when I began. Oh well, I'll just continue to bum along and see what comes out. In any case, did you like the new character? Itachi the weasel is going to stick around. He was a stupid forest animal but being so close to Harry when he arrived made him into a Weasel god just like Okkoto is a Boar god… It wasn't much of a change though, he's still kinda stupid… hehehehehe.

Don't forget to review!

Cya