CHAPTER 1
It won't be long until the sun catches up with the moon.
Ashitaka fed Yakul in a hidden spring as the Kodamas gathered around them in droves.
"Good thing you already know your way around here, my friend. I always had to depend on these little ones to pass through this forest," he said while stroking the red elk's chin.
An otherworldly gust of wind suddenly woke their tired limbs.
"Daybreak. Come, Yakul. There's still some time left."
Ashitaka wore navy blue sleeves under a sky blue tunic, a pair of khaki pants, and footwraps made of cowhides.
He got on the great elk and trotted towards the heart of the forest.
It seems the Nightwalker was on the prowl again. What else could explain that powerful wind? He thought. Yes, the Forest Spirit lives, but it is now a harsher being. A thick black ooze covers all entrances to where its sacred island was, and no creature, god or demon, dared to approach it.
Yakul's horns were longer than ever. Ashitaka always thought they represented his age, but this one was particularly excited, today. He knew they were coming to see some dear friends.
Their journey was fairly easy. Yakul knew the path, and the Kodamas gathered like wayward lights. And just when Ashitaka eased his caution, something rustled in the bushes.
Ashitaka instantly straightened his body and heightened his senses, gripped his sword, and braced Yakul.
He looked around. Concentration made him feel the slightest breeze, as if he had whiskers of his own.
But they weren't in front of them.
Out of the blue and from either side, white lightning struck, faster than a flurry!
Moro's children welcomed their human friend by way of ambush.
"By the forest spirit! You startled us!" He cried out.
Then Yakul bobbed him with his horn.
"Oh, you knew? You're really one of them now, aren't you?" The young man felt a little lonely, and at the same time glad.
"What are you doing here, human?"
The gods of the Wolf Clan were still the best and wisest guardians of the forest.
"We've come to pay our respects," Ashitaka said in a firm voice. "Will you grant us entry?"
With a deep sigh, the wolves guided them through their domain and into the sacred realm.
"How is she?" Ashitaka couldn't help it.
"Ugh. It's not that we didn't know the reason you came, but it's annoying now that it's in the open."
"I was hoping for an idea on how to approach her." He tightened his grip on the reigns.
"What, you afraid she'll pounce and eat you?"
"Well, there's that," he joked. "But I am concerned. For her, and both of you, too, for that matter." He was trying to be serious, after all.
"Isn't the answer obvious? She's a wreck... and we're no different."
Ashitaka was silent after that.
The man who worked for peace and harmony between humans and the forest didn't know what to do or say.
"We're here, Ashitaka. Show some respect and get off Yakul."
"How much further?" Ashitaka dismounted and continued on foot.
"Straight ahead."
The wolves bolted on with Yakul and ran through the thick green of the forest. They disappeared within seconds.
"I always thought you wolves were playful at heart," sneered Ashitaka.
Then there was silence.
He closed his eyes and gripped his beating chest.
No danger, this time. So what am I afraid of?
"You will die!" He remembered Eboshi shouting, the Forest Spirit beheaded, and the death that came after.
That day, the Nightcrawler punished the world for what the humans had done. But it never chose who deserved to die. The Forest Spirit was and still is life and death, and its reasons are beyond gods and demons. But take away its life and only death will remain.
And when there is death, there is hate, Ashitaka thought.
How can he redeem himself from that failure? How can he face her?
A sudden brightness shook him.
Then the morning sun shined as though all the prayers in the world were answered. Its glorious rays glimmered through all the corners of paradise - where the gods ruled, and where his love dwelled.
He dared himself to move forward.
The first step took away his fear.
The second took away his worry.
And the third gave him relief.
There she stood, at the center of the everglade, at the center of everything she fought for.
"San!" cried Ashitaka, the outsider.
The Wolf Girl gasped, and touched the small, glittering necklace hanging around her neck.
San smiled, and ran to the other side of the world, "Ashitaka!"
The sunlight chased away the darkness, and for the first time, love was the reason for their embrace.
"I've missed you, Ashitaka," tears rolled down her cheeks.
She still had the fetching red marks on her face, her dangling earrings, her white wolven cloak, and the eastern pendant he had given her.
Ashitaka held her tight, "I missed you, too."
At that moment, he understood - the Forest Spirit never had anything to do with Nago's curse, nor Okkoto's. It was ever only life and death, and nothing in between.
His journey from the East to the West was never one in search of salvation. It was one in search of love.
"And I found it with you, San," whispered Ashitaka. "Thank you."
Author's Note
Episode San is set in Studio Ghibli's world of Princess Mononoke following the events that took place in its story. I have always been satisfied with the movie's ending, no matter how many times I repeatedly saw it. Like some of the studio's other films, the ending is a point where the main characters go their separate ways; but the parting was not made so painful as to prevent the audience from making up their own happily ever after. That led me to my first attempt at creating fan fiction.
I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did making it! :)