Demon Strength

Originally, this was supposed to be both the massacre and Jigo's introduction. But I thought - I should split them up. So now, Jigo is coming in next chapter.

Went back to chapter one, took out San's markings. Left the other accessories that she had in the original movie (minus the crystal dagger), but just took out the markings, because it doesn't really make sense for her to have them. I mean, the Wise Woman has earrings like she does, but nobody has markings… so why should she?

Okay? So no markings.

I'm a little surprised that this story already has:

Seventeen reviews.

Fifteen favourites.

And fourteen followers.

The story wasn't as popular as that when I first started writing it a year ago. I guess my new writing skills have paid off.

Anyway -

Disclaimer: I do not own Princess Mononoke or any characters thereof. Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki are the proud owners of the fantastic film, while I am just a High School student and am writing this for my own amusement and because I'm shocked that no one else had come up with the idea before me. I only own any possible changes I make to the plot of this movie, the dialogue of this movie, and/or any other things that I can't think of right now.

By the way, I'm just going to tell you this now: since San is wearing those bulky travelling clothes, and she fights like a warrior, it's only natural other people would mistake her for a man. At least, until they saw her face or heard her speak. So, yep.

San rode for days. She rode until she was miles and miles away from the Emishi Village. She rode through vast plains, along mountainsides, passed deep valleys, and crossed rushing rivers. Even night fell, she and Yakuul would continue riding until San felt like she would pass out from exhaustion, and only then would she finally admit defeat and find a place wherever they were - whether it be a forest, a mountainside, or a village (though she stayed out of the villages for the most part on her journey) - for the girl and her elk to sleep for the night. But they were both awake again as soon as the sun rose, and they would begin their journey again.

It wasn't until a week or two after her banishment that, as San rode down a grassy mountainside, she spotted a cloud of smoke rising in the distance. She followed a pathway along the mountain, until she reached the place where the smoke was coming from. It was a town, a simple farming village, with wide rice fields spread out across the land.

Yakuul emerged from a glade of trees that had previously hidden San from view. Now the girl could see what was happening better.

There appeared to be some sort of skirmish going on. Men dressed in armour were running around, carrying long spears and shouting things to one another. There seemed to be some sort of battle going on between the men in armour - Samurai, San realized after a moment - and the normal townspeople of the village.

Is it a battle? San wondered to herself, watching over the spectacle. She turned her head slightly, and was horrified to see several villagers, women and children and farmers, all of them carrying their belongings in bags strapped across their backs, screaming in terror as they tried to get away from groups of samurai chasing them. No… it's a massacre. Her dark eyes narrowed as she saw a man pull out a sword, ready to defend himself from an oncoming samurai. Her eyes narrowed further as the samurai carelessly chopped off the man's arm, still holding onto the sword, and stabbed the farmer with his spear. "Bastards." She hissed under her breath, glaring at the murderers. How dare they… The fingers on her right hand twitched slightly, clenching her bow tighter.

"Look! On the hill!"

San's head whipped around as she heard a man's voice yelling. It appeared that the samurai had finally spotted her. A small group of them had formed at the base of the hill San was currently standing at the top of. "It's a warrior!"

"I'll get a good prize for this!" Another samurai yelled, pulling the string of his bow back before sending an arrow flying straight toward San. Without a second thought, the white-clad girl dug her heels into Yakuul's side, and the elk took off running along the pathway. Arrows flew after her, but none managed to hit their targets. San pulled an arrow out of her quiver and set it into her bow, ready to shoot if she needed to. She spotted a group of villagers running across the pathway far ahead of her, being chased by three or four soldiers. A woman tripped, and while she scrambled unsuccessfully to get back on her feet, a samurai standing right behind her brought his sword down on the pack strapped to the woman's back, splitting it open. The man raised his sword for a second time, ready to kill the woman.

"STOP IT!" San screamed, unable to keep silent for any longer. How dare they! How dare they?! She raised her bow, pointing it directly at the samurai soldier. She was just about to shoot, when suddenly, the place on her arm where the curse was began to writhe and bulge and pulse furiously, almost like the tentacles of the Demon had come back. In her surprise, San let go of the bow's string, and the arrow went flying through the air at unnatural speed.

The arrow hit its intended target - and much more. Right as the samurai had been about to bring his sword down, the arrow had hit the hilt of the man's sword. But, with unnatural strength, the force of the arrow striking its target ripped the samurai's arms off from the elbow and pinned both the sword and the soldiers arms - still grasping the hilt of the sword - against the side of a tree.

The now armless soldier gaped at the sight of his arms detached from his body for a moment while the woman managed to get back on her feet and run away. San and Yakuul then rode right past the samurai, knocking him backwards onto the ground.

San clutched her right arm, watching in horror as it continued to writhe and squirm furiously, as if it had a mind of its own. She bit down on her teeth, working hard to force back the scream of panic that was beginning to build up inside of her. My arm! The mark of the curse was burning like fire, almost as much as it had been when she had first been touched by the Demon. What the hell?!

San turned her head to the right, and spotted two archers chasing her on horseback from across a rice field. San instantly notched an arrow into her bow and aimed at the archers. "You!" She yelled at them, her eyes blazing. "BASTARDS!" All San could think of was the destroyed village, and the killings she had just witnessed. Just how many innocent people had been slaughtered by these - these murderer's? Just the thought made her arm writhe even more.

An arrow sent from one of the mounted archers flew toward her. San dodged it, and released her own arrow. It sailed toward the man who had shot the first arrow, and it sliced through the archers neck, decapitating the samurai. The soldiers instantly stopped attacking the banished princess, valuing their own lives too much to continue. And San rode off, quickly disappearing into the forest again.

Behind him, the archer who had first started following San stopped his charge. He looked behind him, and saw his now headless comrade fall off his horse, blood beginning to stain the dead man's armor. The soldier looked at where the warrior had disappeared, and muttered, "A demon."

-(o)-

Meanwhile, San had rode into the forest as far as she could before she ordered Yakuul to stop. She felt almost completely drained of energy, and they both needed to rest. They both managed to find a small forest waterfall, tumbling over large boulders before forming into a small river.

While Yakuul drank from the river, San pulled off her gauntlets and baggy white shirt, revealing the tunic underneath. Without a word, she traced her fingers over her curse mark, inspecting it carefully. San moved her arm underneath the waterfall, watching as the water washed over it.

After a moment, she pulled it out of the water and stared at the marking. It's getting bigger…

San absentmindedly ran her fingers through her now short hair. Could it be because I attacked those men? San couldn't remember ever before feeling the anger that she had felt upon seeing the massacre. Never before had she actually had a reason to feel it.

"We'll rest here for a while." She said to Yakuul as she sat down on a rock. The elk gave a soft snort, indicating that he had heard her, before continuing to drink from the stream.

San just sat. And thought. She thought of the curse. It seemed to grow whenever she felt anger, or hatred. Which makes sense. San realized, propping up her chin on her fist. It was the hatred and anger of the Boar God that turned him into a Demon.

But she also thought of the massacre. Of the people she had seen mercilessly killed. Of the two men that she had killed, just because she had let her temper get the better of her. Those men had families. And people that cared about them. Wives. Children.

San rubbed her eyes, trying to remove the faint burning that she was beginning to feel. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't. I'm sorry. San thought, wishing that she could have a chance to tell the soldiers families in person, instead of just thinking it. I'm so sorry.

I hate short chapters. I'm sorry.

Jigo's coming up next. Be patient for a little while longer, please?