PLEASE - No one comment on how late this chapter is. I've been dealing with a lot of stuff at school - course selections, IB stuff, projects and tests in pretty much every single class to name a few - so I really haven't been thinking about this a whole lot. I'm sorry its late, but that's all I can say.

I finally managed to work on this when I was visiting Penticton for a few days. You'd be surprised how inspirational not having Wi-Fi can be.

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.

Mon and Sune

The wolves growled furiously at her as she approached. San didn't even glance at them, instead focussed on getting the Wolf Boy off of her shoulders, so she could place him onto Yakuul's back. She made sure to keep on hand on the Wolf Boy's back, as she needed to keep physical contact with him in order to continue giving him her life force. Once, she looked back at the wolves and did a brief inspection, sizing both of them up so she'd know what she would be dealing with if they decided to attack her. The one on her right, who was clawing at the ground in agitation, was slightly bigger, so that one was probably the elder one. The one on the left was the smaller one, though it was still a little larger than the average wolf, and it was shifting in place, moving backwards and then forwards and then from left to right, and occasionally it would snap its jaws.

Let him go, you filthy human! The larger one snarled, shaking his head furiously, but never taking his eyes off of her.

San glanced away from the wolves and up Iron Town's watchtower. About three different riflemen were staring at her, all of them holding rifles. San then turned her head and looked up. Above the gate was a small balcony, and there were six or seven people, both men and women, holding an assortment of spears and rifle's and watching her intensely. She turned back around to face the wolves, and said, very calmly, "He's hurt. Badly. Is there possibly a way we can help him?"

The smaller wolf had apparently noticed San's glances, followed her gaze, and spotted the people of Iron Town watching them. He gave a low growl, before nudging the larger wolf in the neck with his nose. Mon. The humans are watching.

Let them watch! They will see us tear one of their own to pieces! The elder one, Mon, as he was apparently called, roared, opening his jaws and taking a few steps forward. San didn't flinch, instead staring defiantly back at him.

"I want to help him." San stated calmly. "Tell me where we can bring him, and I will help you bring him there."

Mon let out a mocking laugh. Tell me, human, why on earth would I do something like that? His tone made it very obvious that he thought her lesser than him – nothing more than a simple human. Small, stupid and weak.

San was not any of those things, and the implication that he thought she was angered her.

Her eyes narrowed, and she drew herself up to her full height. "Tell me, wolf," she practically spat out through clenched teeth. "Do you wish to see this boy die?"

Perhaps she could have worded herself better. The wolves apparently took this as a threat, and both of them let out growls and opened their jaws, shifting their paws and preparing to lunge at her - most likely to follow through on Mon's promise and tear her to pieces. Yakuul moved quickly, stepping in front of San to shield her from the wolves attack. San felt the corners of her mouth twitch upwards, and she probably would have allowed herself to smile at the elk's protectiveness if the situation had not been so dire. She placed her free hand on Yakuul's neck, stroking his fur as she spoke again. "This boy was shot by a human bullet, and the longer we stand here and do nothing, the more blood he loses and the closer Lady Eboshi comes to regaining consciousness. The only reason he's still alive is because I'm giving him my life force, but that won't last forever. I don't want him to die. Do you?"

Her question hung in the air between the wolves and her. San could practically see the elder wolf physically restraining himself from attacking, while the younger one appeared to be thinking.

If the wolves really did care about the Wolf Boy, the answer would be obvious, and would come shortly.

San did her best not to let the thought wander to the front of her mind, but there was another reason she wanted to save the Wolf Boy so much. She knew that the boy was dying – if they wanted to save him, the most obvious way to do so was to bring him to the Forest Spirit. Even if He didn't save the boy, she would ask Him to save her, and she could leave this godforsaken valley. She would get out of the conflict while she still could. It had absolutely nothing to do with her. Why should she get involved with it?

But if the Forest Spirit doesn't heal me… then what?

San couldn't think about the possibilities of that for very long, as Mon let out a growl of frustration and turned around. Come, human. We'll show you where to go. Without another word, he took off, running away from Iron Town and towards the destroyed forest. He stopped a distance away and looked back, like he was waiting for them.

San sighed, before giving Yakuul's reigns a tug. She walked around the elk, as he hadn't moved from his protective stance in front of her, and led him forwards, away from Iron Town's gate. The younger wolf hadn't run away like his brother had, instead choosing to stay and wait for San to reach him. As soon as San was standing next to him, he came a bit closer to Yakuul and hesitantly sniffed the Wolf Boy's limp hand, before nuzzling it affectionately. Perhaps it was only her imagination, but San thought for a moment that the wolf's expression had changed – from angry and protective to worried and loving. San felt something in her heart twinge a bit as she watched the scene. She looked away, feeling like she was intruding on something personal.

After a moment, the wolf pulled back, and looked at San with something like caution. You say that you saved Ashitaka?

Realizing that 'Ashitaka' could only be the Wolf Boy, San nodded silently.

Thank you, human. The wolf lowered his head a bit. San blinked, slightly taken aback by the odd form of gratitude.

"Don't thank me." She said, shrugging slightly, trying to pass it off as nothing. "I just didn't want to see him die."

It was mostly true, in any case. She really didn't want to see him die, because if he did then the wolves would seek revenge, guns and bullets would be used, and Demons would be created. Countless people would die if he did.

But as long as she was healed, the actual war itself meant nothing to her.

But what if I'm not healed?

San shook her head, refusing to let herself think of that scenario, instead turning her attention back to the Wolf Boy- Ashitaka, her mind instantly corrected her. Now that he had an actual name, he wasn't simply the feral boy raised by wolves anymore – he was more than that. She couldn't exactly explain it, but it was what she thought.

She managed to get Ashitaka into a different position, and once she had gotten onto Yakuul's back, she wound her arms around his middle, pulling his back against her front in the process, and took hold of the reigns. She made sure that Ashitaka was in a comfortable position, before looking down at the wolf. "Your brother is getting impatient." San dug her heels into Yakuul's side, sending him into his gallop. It was fast enough so they could go at a reasonable pace, but slow enough so the Wolf- Ashitaka wouldn't be hurt any more than he already was.

-(o)-

The rocky mountainside was a quiet place, away from the loudness and the gunshots of Iron Town. Tonight was no exception. The only noise was the sound of Yakuul's hooves hitting the ground as he ran across the landscape. The elder wolf, Mon, was leading them, while the younger one – who had told San his name was 'Sune' - ran beside Yakkul, and San was under the impression that it was so he could keep a close eye on Ashitaka. San sat comfortably on Yakuul's back, her grip on Ashitaka never loosening or tightening for even a second. She kept her chin on his uninjured shoulder, discovering that it was easier to see that way than leaning slightly to the side in order to see past him.

Suddenly, something came soaring through the air and clattered against the ground very close to Yakuul. He gave a start and came to a stop so suddenly that San and Ashitaka were nearly tossed off his back. San swore loudly as she was jerked forwards so suddenly, before turning her head around and trying to see what had nearly hit Yakuul.

"What was that?" She demanded, and she only grew angrier when she saw that the thing that had nearly hit Yakuul was a rock. Yakuul could have been hurt! The fact that either she or Ashitaka could have been hurt even worse had Yakuul thrown them off never even crossed her mind.

The wolves seemed angry as well, but for a different reason. Mon had turned around and joined Sune, and both of them were snarling at something behind the group. San's eyes narrowed, and she straightened her back as her eyes followed the wolves gaze and found that they were glaring at a group of shadowy creatures sitting on a large boulder a short distance away from them. San couldn't make out any distinguishable features, only that all of the creatures had glowing red eyes. They definitely had arms, as they were still throwing an assortment of rocks, pebbles and sticks at both her and the wolves.

Ape Clan! Mon roared, snarling at the creatures and looking like he wanted to race forwards and tear all of them to pieces. How dare you show the sons of Moro such disrespect?

Then the apes spoke, and San felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as they did. The way the apes spoke made it sound like they were moaning rather than simply speaking, and they sounded dull and stupid too, incapable of speaking in complete sentences. This our forest.[1]

Give human to us. Another one joined in. San's eyes narrowed even further.

Give us girl and go, quickly.

Be gone! Or my fangs will reach you! Mon snarled.

We will not go. We eat human.

We eat that girl. San's patience was beginning to run out. First the apes had nearly struck Yakuul – which was the easiest way to get San absolutely furious, other than hurting her little sister - and now they were talking about eating her. To top it all off, they were keeping them from getting Ashitaka to wherever they needed to go, and the longer it took, the closer he would get to dying. She could already feel her energy beginning to drain. She had only done this once before, and that had been a long time ago, when Kaya had been almost deathly ill and San had chosen to give her little sister her own energy until the Wise Woman had managed to finish the medicine to save her. San had collapsed immediately after, and it had taken a few hours – about half the day - before she had woken up again.

Yes, let us eat female.

We eat human, and we receive human's power.An ape said. Girl has lot of strength - natural and unnatural. We want power to defeat humans. The other's joined in, murmuring about eating the human girl.

That's why they want to eat me? So they can gain power and defeat the humans?

Give us female. The apes ordered. They were sounding restless again.

Sune opened his mouth to speak, but San had had enough. "Enough!" She yelled, finally losing her patience. "I've had enough of this nonsense! Eating human beings will do nothing to help you – it will just turn you into something even worse! To think that it would help you is just foolishness, and I simply cannot believe the Ape Tribe would have been reduced to this! I would never allow myself to be eaten by you, if I were to be eaten at all! Furthermore," She took a deep breath, struggling to control her growing anger. Don't hate them. Be angry, but just don't hate them. "You nearly hit Yakuul! You tried to hit him with a rock! You could have injured him! How dare you?!" Her voice had nearly reached an absolutely furious-sounding screech towards the end of her tirade, and the wolves were looking at her cautiously. San didn't realize it, of course, but in her rage her hair had begun to bristle and her eyes were practically blazing with fury, making a very threatening image. [2]

The apes were silent for a moment, slightly taken aback by the human girl's anger, but then spoke. We plant trees. Humans uproot everything. Forest not come back.

Human girl does not understand our despair. She human. Is enemy.

We kill humans!

San opened her mouth, ready to yell once more, but someone else beat her to it.

It was Ashitaka. He wasn't awake, but he seemed to be half-conscious, and was speaking so quietly that only those close to him could hear him. "You mustn't give up..." He was practically slurring his words in his half-conscious state, but they could still understand what he was saying. "Forest Spirit is with us... we'll beat them..." His eyelids fluttered briefly, and San blinked when she caught a glimpse of his dark brown eyes before his eyelids fell shut and he fell unconscious once more.

Listen to my brother. You could stand to take a few lessons from him. Sune spat at the apes. He will not give up. The Clan of Moro will fight to the end.

Forest Spirit does not fight. We will die.

Wolf Boy not care. Wolf Boy human.

Enough! I'll snap your neck in my jaws, you damned insolent monkey! Mon roared, and with that, the two wolves charged towards the apes, who scattered within seconds.

Had it been any other scenario, San would have allowed the wolves to chase the apes around for a few seconds longer - but seeing as every second they wasted the closer Ashitaka came to dying and San to passing out, they had no time to waste.

So she placed two fingers in her mouth and gave a short, but loud, whistle. The wolves stopped their attack and turned around, looking at her like they couldn't believe she was telling them to stop. "I don't like them any more than you do," she explained, glaring at the rock where the apes had been only seconds before. "but we don't have time to spare. I'm giving him all my energy, but I can't keep doing that for long. We have to keep going."

It wouldn't do well to pass out before they got to wherever they were going.

Apparently the wolves agreed with what she was saying - however reluctantly - because they returned to her side. Mon took the lead again, and the group took off once more.

-(o)-

"What is this place?"

San felt her shoulders relax slightly as she looked around, feeling a sense of calmness wash over her. The wolves had led her to the forest where she had brought Kohroku and the rifleman earlier (or yesterday, since she had a strong suspicion that it was past midnight), but had brought her to a part of the forest she hadn't seen.

Even if San had seen it, she doubted it would have looked as beautiful during the day as it did at night. The moon's light - the only light they had to see where they were going - shone down through the tree branches, giving the place an eerily beautiful look. Dragonflies, some small and some large, but all of them shimmering with different colours, buzzed lazily about. There were patches on the trees and ground that seemed to be glowing with a luminescent blue light. Kodama's were slowly beginning to appear, in the tree branches above them and also on the ground. All of them were watching the group, completely silent, which was slightly unnerving to San. She had, in the short time she had been with them, grown used to the clicking sound the Kodama's made. But she wasn't so unnerved by it that she couldn't completely relax.

She remembered feeling cold and uneasy when she had reached Iron Town with Kohroku and the rifleman earlier that day, and the presence that had been in the forest suddenly vanishing. But now she felt warm again, and relaxed. The presence was back. She felt as though she had nothing to fear, like something out there was protecting her from harm.

That was a feeling San was completely unknown to. Since her parents death, most of the time it had been her doing the protecting. She protected her village, her sister, Yakuul and herself from any possible threat. Even when she wasn't doing the protecting - such as when the Demon Nago had attacked the village and it had been Chagum to lead the attack on it - she didn't ever feel like she was completely safe.

But now - now she didn't even know what was protecting her, or even if there was anything out there protecting her, and she felt safe. She wasn't sure if she was completely comfortable with that.

This is the pool of the Forest Spirit. Mon growled, looking back at her and glaring. No human has ever set foot here.

It was clear that he thought it should have stayed that way.

The pool of the Forest Spirit? San thought as she looked around. So this is His home, then. Her grip on Yakuul's reigns tightened.

Then the small amount of energy that San had left gave away. She was able to feel Ashitaka tense and hear him gasp before her grip loosened, her eyes slipped shut, and she fell backwards, off of Yakuul and onto the grass, becoming unconscious as soon as she hit the ground.

[1] – I couldn't think of a good way to describe the way the Ape Tribe speaks. I mean, I thought it didn't sound very much like they were actually speaking, it sounded more like they were ghosts and they were moaning the words. So I tried to describe it like that.

[2] – In my mind, both Movie!Ashitaka and Emishi!San are incredibly protective of Yakuul. It really comes out in the movie when Yakuul is shot by the samurai, and I personally think that was a major reason why Ashitaka finally fought them, besides the fact that if he didn't he would have been killed by them. But I want it to come out more with Emishi!San, who isn't as tranquil as movie!Ashitaka and therefore would obviously be quicker to anger than Movie!Ashitaka would be. So in this story – if you harm Yakuul and she doesn't have anything else to do at the moment, you've just made it to the top of her Kill List. Either that, or you are officially on her bad side and you'll have to do a lot to get back on her good side. You can consider this either funny, or heartwarming, or whatever floats your boat.

So, seeing as the original movie didn't really do much to distinguish Moro's wolves from each other - they weren't even given names - I had to come up with their personalities and names by myself. So I guess it's a good thing they weren't given personalities or names, because it lets me use my imagination!

The names 'Mon' and 'Sune' were, if you remember from the last version of this story (if you read it, and I know some of my readers did), taken from a book - Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. They mean 'One' and 'Eight', respectively.

In the brief scenes of the wolf brothers we see in the movie, they act pretty much exactly the same, and you can't tell which is which. So I gave them personalities. Mon is the older one, and tends to be a little bit more brash, quick to anger, and is pretty standoffish, but he still cares about his family very much - he's just so subtle about it you wouldn't notice unless you pay attention. Sune, on the other hand, is the younger one, and he tends to think things through, he's quieter than Mon, he doesn't get angry easily (unless his family is in danger, in which case he's just as dangerous as Mon) and he shows physical affection for the people/animals he cares about better and more often than Mon does. Also, out of all three of the wolves, Ashitaka is closest to Sune.

So that completes the description of the wolf brothers.

Side note: did anyone else notice how the dragonflies in the pool scene - or at least some of them - were rainbow coloured?

This was supposed to be longer - with the whole Nightwalker/Jigo and the Hunters/Forest Spirit scene - but reached the part where San goes unconscious, and I was like - yeah, okay, I think that's a good stopping point. Plus, the original story - this chapter was like 12 pages long, and it included both the above scenes, and the Nightwalker/Jigo/Forest Spirit/Okkoto scenes, while this was reaching roughly 8 pages and we hadn't gotten there yet. So, yeah.