Chapter One: The Lone Wolf: in which we see just how deep Mononoke's survival instincts lie and whether or not she can endure an encounter with a patrolling Fire Nation guard.
The war between the humans and the gods was over and yet still the scars from the Night Walkers' rush to claim that which had rightfully belonged to him lingered. The search for any of the remaining iron cores was long and tedious, marked even more so by the tentative pact between the Ape and Wolf clans. Still, she continued with her journey of protecting the forest and all of it's inhabitants, even that of the villagers in the Irontown below the mountains.
Despite the sun beaming down and the sweat slicked down her back she continued running through the forest, combing every last nook and cranny of the trees before her with a care that belied her age. Something seemed off today, and with a quick release of air, she would have to have pinned it down to when she had woken up to her wolf brethren missing.
It all started with a sense of impending disaster. Traveling from one part of the wood to the next was as habitual to her as the suns rising and setting. Yet, once the knot had formed in the center of her core, with its refusal to leave, she knew without a doubt that something was wrong.
Furthering along on her venture through the forest, the trees were much to young compared to the grove that she had previously inhabited. The forest spirits were missing from their boughs. Even the smell of the life that surrounded her was different compared to the scents that she had grown up with.
Looking towards the smoke from the neighboring village where Irontown was supposed to lay, she noticed that that too was much closer than it ever should have been. Everything had changed from one moment to the next. Everywhere she looked, it all pointed to one simple fact.
"This forest, this is not my home."
Eyebrows furrowed she looked towards the looming smoke cloud. The position of the smoke with the height of the trees suggested that it was a half a days walk from where she was, quicker if she ran. Eager to return home she made off in the direction of the village.
Drawing ever closer, she quickly scaled a nearby tree, climbing high into the branches she was able to spot a group of men scouting the perimeter. Spying their odd clothing compared to what some of the others in the village were wearing they had to be a warrior of some kind. Eyeing them as they ambled ever closer, she dropped her mask over face and leapt from the branches.
Landing before the men in a crouch, she watched as they barred their fists and readied their stances.
"Halt!" One of the men shouted. "Who goes there?"
"I am called Mononoke, and I mean you know harm." She stated, "I have travelled far from my home and I need help. How far is the Irontown from this village?"
"Irontown?" the man questioned. "There is no village nearby the valley with that name. Quick now! Are you one of the Freedom Fighters?"
"Freedom Fighters? The only freedom that I fight for is for the sake of my own home. This place is unfamiliar to me."
"Did you hear that?" One of the other men whispered. "If she fights for the freedom of the forest then she has to be with that group of rebels! Maybe now we'll finally catch one, ready yourselves men! Hurry now girl! Lower your weapon or we'll be forced to do so for you!"
"Is that a threat?" San asked," You would dare threaten a member of the wolf clan?" Placing her hand onto her tanto. Darting forward she ran towards the leader of the strange men and almost recoiled in shock, when as he punched the air before him a stream of fire flew from his hand. Throwing herself into a roll, she pushed up onto the shoulders of a nearby man and launched herself back into the protective cover of the tree line.
Making eye contact with the leader of the group once more, she looked over the strange men with their strange armor and even stranger glowing golden eyes. All at once it seemed to hit her.
"This is truly not my home. Where am I?"
Quickly leaping from branch to branch she ran further into the forest. Stopping only once the shouts of the men have quieted and in their place the soft chirping of the cicadas at sunset. Sitting close to the heart of the tree she cocooned herself in the warm fur of the goddess Morro. Even after so many days of her death, the fur was still as warm as when it was gifted to her. Only when she was sure that she wouldn't lose her balance she closed her eyes to drift off to sleep.
Waking up to the sounds of shouts, she quickly peeked out from the hood of her fur. Spotting two people walking between the trees, she realized that they must live nearby this village too.
"I think we found her Long Shot! C'mon! She's gotta be close, right Jet?" The smaller one asked.
"It seems like she might be nearby, look at the leaves and some of the broken branches. She can't be too far. She must have slept in the trees, for nothing else to have been disturbed from her run in the forest." He replied.
Narrowing her eyes brought her mask back over her face and peeked around the trees' trunk.
"Who are you?" She shouted, "and what is your purpose this far into the forest? Do not come any further, I'm warning you!"
"Hey! It's okay!" One of the boys shouted. "My name is Jet and these are my friends Long Shot and this pipsqueak is Smellerbee. We'd seen your fight with the Fire Nation scum and thought you could use our help. So we thought we would come and look for you here in the forest."
"Why were you watching my combat with the samurai of the village?" Swinging herself down to the branches at their level she locked eyes with the boys. "What purpose would that have served you?"
"Listen," Jet said. "We'd seen how you were dressed and the way that those soldiers acted. You're an orphan right? We've seen plenty that look like you and when you used that soldier as a board to jump into the trees we knew you could fight too." Shaking his hand through his hair, "We wanted to ask if you wanted to join our group" he asked.
"Group? Are you the rebels that those samurai spoke of?" San asked.
"Rebels?" Smellerbee laughed. "That's rich coming from the likes of them, this whole valley is our home and we're protecting it from the likes of the Fire Nation. Surely you've seen what they could do to you? Fry you up into tiny, melty, and gooey bits."
"Indeed." San nodded. "Seeing them wield power like that was a surprise, but not one that I plan to make again. Why should I trust you? When I've been placing my faith into human hands, I have never failed to be betrayed. What makes you so different?"
"We're only trying to help," Jet said moving closer to her. "It's okay if you don't trust us, but you can't tell me that you enjoy sleeping out here by yourself being hunted down like a rabbit. We can help you with that."
"Would I be free to go?" San asked.
"Everybody that enters the Freedom Fighters is free to go." Long shot chimed in.
"Most just don't ever find a reason to leave." Jet joked. "We take good care of our own! That's for sure. Hey, you know in all of the excitement, I don't think I caught your name back there."
"The name that I was given by the people in the surrounding village was Princess Mononoke of the Wolf Tribe. You may call me that if you wish."
"Well that sure is a mouthful." Smellerbee said, "Did you have a nickname? Maybe we could just call you Mono-"
"I think not!" San snarled, baring her teeth at the young child. "You may call be by my name or make sure that you avoid speaking to me if you're going to call me by any ridiculous pet name!"
"Hey," Long Shot said softly, placing his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Smellerbee didn't mean any harm."
"But hey," Jet said. "Enough about nicknames! Let's go and show you our home. Luckily for you, it's actually not that far from here. You'll be in for a nice surprise, I bet!"
From that point on they walked in silence, which was something that San was glad about. She didn't really want to stay and sleep amongst these humans for the night, but trying to find her way back home was more important.