Disclaimer: see chapter one.
Night of a Thousand Horses
By ShaggyDiz
Chapter Three: Rise/Fall
Ashitaka stood at the top of the hill, looking into the forests for the Shoujous. He had two of the four barrels of seeds that they purchased half a week ago, along with Lady Eboshi – who felt it prudent to come with the young man on this task – and Gonza – whose nodachi had been fixed when they returned to pick up the seeds. There were several of the women and men from Tatara Ba who had assisted with the carrying of the barrels up the hill, but they had retreated back down to the safety of the town gate. A short distance away, on the other side of the hill, stood San and her brother. Both were wary of being close to so many humans at any given time, despite Ashitaka's assurances that nothing would happen to them. They felt safe at this distance.
San was content tonight with just seeing Ashitaka anyway. Tonight, they had important business.
They waited nearly forty minutes before the trees started swaying more heavily than before, and the leaves began to whisper the arrival of the Shoujous. It seemed to the people gathered that the apes were coming from all around them, but instead were only coming from one spot of the forest. Gonza reached his hand up and took hold of the handle, ready to pull his mighty nodachi from its sheath. Both Ashitaka and Lady Eboshi raised a hand to desist him from doing so. Ashitaka had explained to them that the Shoujous were more interested in hiding and posing empty threats to anyone who they deemed untrustworthy.
"Go away human… you are not welcomed here," spoke a voice from the trees. They saw were it came from, but they couldn't see any of the Shoujou beasts that were hiding within the trees.
"Kind Shoujou, I ask an audience of you. I have something that we should discuss," Ashitaka said. There was a nagging feeling sitting in the back of his head that the apes wouldn't listen. He remained patient as they spoke again.
"No… no audience with you, human… harbingers of destruction to these forests… you wish to do so again."
"We wish to rebuild, but we can't do it without taking some trees. But we have a solution for you to consider, kind Shoujou. We have seeds here, seeds for planting trees. This is merely half of what we have, and we shall get more if we need to. We don't plan on taking much, and what we take, we shall start growing them again."
Ashitaka remained still as he finished speaking. The trees had become quiet for a moment. He was beginning to wonder if the apes had left. The wind picked up some, and as the leaves swayed in the breeze, he finally saw the brightly colored eyes of the Shoujous.
"No… you use our trees to start your furnaces… the human at your side, she is the cause of our lament."
"I have no intention of starting again," Lady Eboshi said, stepping forward to address them further. "I have paid the price for my deceptive and destructive ways, and I wish to bring no further harm to your forest. We wish to rebuild, like Ashitaka has told you." She pointed back to the seeds. "This is our peace offering. Please consider it."
Lady Eboshi moved back next to Ashitaka. "Do you honestly expect them to take this offer?" she whispered into his ear.
"I hope so. I don't think they will. We might have to give a demonstration." He looked over to San. Her face remained expressionless. 'What does she think we should do?' he asked himself.
"No… no peace offering… take your seeds and go… anyone found cutting trees will be killed." Moments later, the trees went silent. The Shoujous had left.
"What now?" Lady Eboshi asked.
"We try again tomorrow. And we keep doing it until they finally change their minds. If we need to, we'll show them an example of our good will."
"Very well. Gonza," she turned to address him. "Get the people at the gate to grab the seeds. We'll try again tomorrow."
"Yes milady." And he was off.
"I'm going to retire for the night. Do what you will until then." Ashitaka bowed to the departing Eboshi. He looked after her, a frown setting on his face. There was a hint of defeat and despair in her voice. It was all they could do for now.
He looked back on the other side of the hill. San was approaching, with her brother keeping his distance. Ashitaka tipped his head in acknowledge to the wolf before turning towards San.
"Was this your expected result?" she asked him.
"Yes… and no. I figured that they would remain stubborn, but I was hoping that showing the seeds would at least convince them otherwise. We'll be back tomorrow to try again."
San nodded. "I still don't like this."
"That's fine." He was about to argue with her about her continued insistence of not liking this situation, but he decided it would be wise not to. The day had been long, and waiting for the Shoujous had run on their patience.
"Go home and get some sleep," San told him. She saw the weariness in his eyes.
Ashitaka nodded. "I will. I shall see you tomorrow." He smiled at her before turning away, slowly walking down the hill towards the gate of Tatara Ba.
San watched every step until he disappeared within the walls of the town. She turned towards her brother, who had walked up behind her. She said no words to him, but instead pulled herself onto his back and gently rubbed his side. Together they rode off into the forest.
The next night they tried again, with no success. Ashitaka wanted to try words again instead of actions, and found that it proved fruitless. His right hand twitched in anger at the expected result. He didn't like it at all.
Ashitaka stood at the forest line. In his hand he held a pouch, filled with the seeds for planting. Tonight, he decided, would be the time to convince the Shoujous that their intentions were good. Behind him on his right were Lady Eboshi and Gonza, with one barrel of seeds this time. On the left were San and her brother. They came to watch, and to assist Ashitaka if he were to suddenly come under attack by the apes.
He called out to the Shoujous and waited.
He didn't have to wait long. "What is it human… why do you continue pestering us?"
Ashitaka held up his hand. "I intend to demonstrate my goodwill towards you." He waited a few moments to make sure the burning eyes of the beasts saw what he held before he squatted down. He dug aside some dirt, making the hole several inches deep, before reaching into the bag and pulling out a handful of seeds. Ashitaka dropped them into the hole and covered it up. Moving several feet away, he repeated the process.
"For every tree we take from you Shoujous, we shall plant two more in their place. We have many seeds for this, so your forest will always remain beautiful and strong."
For several minutes, the trees went silent. Ashitaka and the others took this as a sign that they were discussing amongst themselves the proposition that he had offered them. It was simple enough, and with time, the forest would be renewed with a greater vigor than before. It was his wish to make sure that the forest continued surviving while allowing the people of Tatara Ba to live peacefully.
"No." The single deafening word brought Ashitaka back to reality.
"What?"
"Your act of goodwill is meaningless to us human. Any attempts to take our trees, or to plant any more of your seeds will result in your deaths."
The trees went silent once again.
Ashitaka stared into the trees, confused at first, but the confusion slowly drifted into anger. His right hand twitched violently. "Stupid, cowardly apes," he muttered to himself. A voice called for him, but he did not care. The Shoujous, the stubborn Shoujous had clouded his mind, and there was nothing he wanted to do besides to go and shake every single one of them to their senses. This was good for everyone involved, but the stupid and stubborn apes had given their answer.
A hand came upon his shoulder, and as he turned to see who was unfortunate enough to risk their life for touching him, all of his anger dissipated. "San," he whispered. He came fully around and pulled her into his arms. "The stupid Shoujous… why won't they listen?"
San stood frozen, not knowing what to do at the sudden intimate contact. She glanced briefly towards her brother, who was inching forward, snarling as he did. She mouthed the word "no", and turned back to Ashitaka. Slowly, she brought her arms up around his waist and held him. Her brother took a step back, but still glared at Ashitaka.
"San, why won't they listen to reason? I've showed them my good intentions, and they brush it aside like it's nothing!"
"They're fearful of what'll happen. It's the same fears that I have, but I'm slowly beginning to understand what you are trying to do for these people." She pulled back so she could look at his face. "I will try talking to them again. And you will continue to demonstrate to them that you will rebuild the forest. Eventually they'll come around."
"And if they don't?" he asked.
"Then we'll think of a new idea," she answered him. San stepped out of his embrace and began walking back to her brother. "Get some sleep."
He nodded at her retreating form. Ashitaka walked back to Lady Eboshi and Gonza. "Come on. We'll try again tomorrow." They took the barrel and walked back towards the gate.
San watched them from the top of the hill. "Are you all right, San?" her brother asked her.
"I will be. I didn't know what to do. I never expected that kind of embrace from him." She looked into the forests, not seeing any of the Shoujous, but knowing that they were still there. Were they toying with Ashitaka? She had hoped that seeing this would cause them to change their minds – it had almost completely convinced her – but that's what they were: stubborn.
"We shall return tomorrow brother. Let's go home."
Together they rode off. Neither of them saw the sight that started at the edge of the forest.
The sun burned hot the next day, further adding to Ashitaka's agitation. He felt more uncomfortable than ever. The events from last night continued to play out in his head, and for the first time that he could remember, he was on the verge of giving up. The Shoujous were relentless in telling him and the others that taking and rebuilding was out of the question. He sighed in discontent: tonight was another try.
Ashitaka brought his hand up to look at it. The scarring on it remained the same, and the pain he felt from last night had gone away. "Good," he said to himself. It was a sense of relief that nothing bad happened to his hand. He was beginning to wonder though, why was it hurting whenever he felt anger? Was this the after effects of the curse brought upon him? The Shishi Gami had removed it from him once he died and restored the forest. Ashitaka shook his head. He was a persistent man, not angry. That's what he would do. He would continue going to the Shoujous until they saw reason, that what he was doing for the town was good for them and what they had planned for the forest was good for it as well.
He came out of his home and witnessed a commotion at the wall of the town. There were many of the town's people milling about, all of them looking up at the top of the watch tower where several others were. Lady Eboshi was up there, from what he saw, plus a few other people as well. He couldn't see Gonza.
Ashitaka walked across to the crowd that had gathered. "What's going on?" he asked anyone that could hear.
"Ashitaka, it's you! Quick, let him through to the top!" As the people turned and saw it was him, a pathway opened, allowing Ashitaka to pass through to the ladder. He climbed to the tower, and found himself next to Eboshi.
"What's the commotion about?" he asked her.
She smiled. "See for yourself." She pointed out with her one hand, towards where they had gone to plant the seeds last night. The sight completely amazed Ashitaka. The two places where he had planted seeds at had mysteriously sprouted trees overnight, easily already ten feet in height, and their trunks already almost touching. Branches were flowing outward, some thick and some thin, with leaves already sprouting from them. What startled Ashitaka the most was how unbelievable hot it was, and also the fact that they haven't had rain for nearly a week.
"Do you have any idea why this happened?" he asked Eboshi.
"I have one thought that you might be possibly considering as well."
"The Shishi Gami?"
She nodded. "Go get San. She would know for sure."
"Okay." Ashitaka took off, taking Yakkul with him into the forests in search of San.
San confirmed what was thought an hour later as she and Ashitaka arrived at the new trees, growing another foot in that time span. The leaves had become greener, and the branches continued to expand and intertwine with one another. The two walked up to the trees, and San knelt down to touch the ground.
"It is the Shishi Gami."
Ashitaka nodded. "So what shall we do?"
"Start planting some more," she said to him. "I'll go and talk to the Shoujous again, and if this doesn't convince them, then I won't know what to do."
"They'll be convinced. If their main worry was the trees taking forever to grow back, then they don't have to worry at all. We have to watch these trees to see how long they'll take to get to the full height as the other trees, but looking at how fast these two are growing, we can have a full forest in less than a week!"
San smiled, though very hesitantly. She didn't like how that statement sounded to her. "Promise me you won't cut down all of the trees."
Ashitaka looked at her. "What? Of course, San. That was the intention all along. We cut what we need, and replant those that were cut. I'll make sure Eboshi doesn't restart the furnace again. You just make sure the Shoujous are on our side."
"Very well. I will be very displeased if you go against your word." She gave him one last look, and then she turned away and started back to her brother. In short time, they were off, into the woods.
"That didn't sound very good." Ashitaka turned around: Lady Eboshi was standing there at the crest of the hill.
"She still seems distrustful of this plan. Can you promise me –"
"I've already done so!" she shouted, cutting him off.
"You have, I'm sorry. At least make the promise to her. If she hears it from you, then maybe she'll be more at ease, and maybe more trusting."
Lady Eboshi made no reply. She turned and started back down the hill. Ashitaka looked after her for a moment, and then went and grabbed Yakkul.
"Ashitaka!" Eboshi yelled up to him. He gave her a questioning glance. "I'll promise it to her if she promises not to kill me in my sleep." It was obvious that she wasn't joking.
"I'll talk to her then. Don't expect her to completely change overnight." Eboshi contemplated his words for a moment, and then turned and continued back to Tatara Ba.
And Ashitaka stood alone, shaking his head in discontent. Oh how he wished things to be easier than they were. There was a feeling deep down that things were about to get more difficult for him.
At least, for the time being, some things progressed smoothly.
The Shoujous agreed to the plan after some heavy convincing by San, Ashitaka and Lady Eboshi, and after the trees grew another six feet that day. The growth of the trees slowed down after it got to sixty feet a couple days later, which they thought was due to the essence of the Shishi Gami not reaching as far as it once did. Two days after that, it reached eighty feet, and still showed signs of growing. Four other trees that were planted reached over forty feet in height. With that in mind, Lady Eboshi decided it was time to start rebuilding.
A week after the first trees were planted, the people of Tatara Ba had brought down around thirty trees, roots and all. True to their word, they replanted that amount, and then some. The main bulk of the tree was used in refortifying the walls of the town, while the excess, like the branches and roots, were set aside for other projects, one of which included making bows and arrows. Some of the women took to wood making hobbies, like fruit baskets and chairs and tables.
For that week, things were so busy in the town that Ashitaka had completely forgotten about his nightly meetings with San. They met during the day at times, but it had been too long since their last intimate meeting together. He realized this and asked her to meet with him tonight, which she obliged to.
As the sun fell behind the trees, Ashitaka laid on the grass by the trees that they planted a week ago, staring up into the pink and orange sky. A short time later, San joined him, making a quiet thump on the ground as she sat there, and then eventually she lay down, keeping a few feet of space between herself and Ashitaka.
"Look up there," he said, pointing to a cloud formation.
"What is it?"
Ashitaka studied it for a moment. "It looks like a horse."
San looked at it as well. Sure enough, there was a large cloud set as a body, with thin, wispy extensions that were meant to be legs. Another part of the cloud lumped out to form the neck and head. It was a weird looking horse, but one nonetheless. "It's very interesting," she said after a few moments.
"It's like the horse is riding up to the gods." He stared at it for quite some time, content with everything that was around him. The breeze was comfortable, cooling him down after another hot day. The grass was soft beneath him, despite the fact that it hadn't rained in over a week. And San…
He turned onto his side and looked over to San. He found her imitating his staring of the clouds. She barely blinked as she did so, and Ashitaka found himself staring into her eyes. The last of the day and the cloud reflected in her eyes, mimicking a tranquil mountain lake. He found her quite beautiful at this moment.
"I wonder if everyday could be like this," she said as she continued looking up into the sky. "That we could just lay here and be free."
"Like the horse?" he asked.
She nodded. "The horse is free up there. It can run where it wants to run, and if it gets stuck, it can change into something else. It isn't limited to things like we are." She turned her head to look at him. She had felt his stare for a few minutes now.
"It would be nice to be free like that San. We could live like we wanted to, with no bounds and restrictions."
"Someday it will be. We have our fears and difficulties to face everyday until we do though, and it'll be well worth it in the end." She smiled at him and turned to look at the sky again. Ashitaka did the same.
They remained that way for some time, neither of them knowing for how long. They nearly drifted off to sleep, but eventually they realized where they were. By then, the gap of grass between them was nearly reduced to nothing. There was no embarrassment though; instead, they merely got up, embraced each other for the first time since the week before, and walked away from each other, back to their respective homes.
Unfortunately, they would be free like this just one more time.
The following day, Ashitaka and Gonza rode out to the town where they purchased their seeds. They decided to buy some string for their makeshift bows, and if possible, some arrowheads as well. There were already plans on sharpening the points of the arrows enough so that they could penetrate skin, but with arrowheads, the possibility of penetrating armor increases. If there weren't any in the town, Ashitaka would inquire about getting some sort of delivery sent to them. The string was the primary concern though, and they believed that the merchant town would be able to provide plenty of it.
They arrived at the town around the early part of the afternoon, before the sun reached the highest point in the sky. Clouds had started moving into the area, and there were murmurings that there would be rain for the first time in many days. Ashitaka wanted to be quick about the trip as a result, and hopefully return before the rain started. The dirt roads they would have to take back would nearly be impassable. That was his biggest worry as the two of them moved into town, eventually finding the man who had sold them the seeds.
A brief discussion revealed them the location of a couple merchants who sold arrow string, both at affordable prices. The pair thanked the merchant, and moved on towards the first string seller. As they came close to the small hut of the dealer, there was a small group gathered around a somewhat large tan tent. Ashitaka pulled over to the group and listened briefly to their conversation, learning about a boy that wandered into the village on a horse two days prior. Apparently he had been found with an arrow sticking out of his back, and was lucky enough to get as far as he did alive. Ashitaka also learned that the local doctor had been successful in removing the arrow, but the boy remained unconscious since then.
"Gonza, hold up a moment," he called over to Eboshi's top defender.
"What is it?"
Ashitaka pointed over to the tent. "I wish to learn more about what happened here. Go and buy the strings, and I'll meet you there shortly."
Gonza gave a slight nod and moved on. Ashitaka dismounted from Yakkul and tied him to a post before coming up to the group. "May I come through here and see the boy? I wish to see how he is doing." The group moved aside, allowing Ashitaka to pass through. They continued taking amongst themselves.
Inside the tent, Ashitaka saw a couple of women attending to the boy in the bed. They were the only ones inside the tent. He came forward to the bed. "How is he?" he asked.
"The doctor is worried that he lost too much blood," the nurse responded. "Hopefully he'll awake in a few days. Do you know him?"
"Let me see." Ashitaka came up to the bed and stared at the boy. He was confused for a moment at first, wondering where this boy had come from. The boy, no older than eleven or twelve years, seemed very recognizable to Ashitaka. His skin was lightly colored, much like his was and the hair… the way it was tied back…
"No…"
And suddenly, Ashitaka knew who it was. The name couldn't come back to him, for he had been away for so long, and had forgotten all about it, ever since his "death". But this boy, he knew who he was.
"What is it?" the one nurse asked him.
Ashitaka kept his eyes on the boy as he spoke. "The village that I came from… this boy; he is the grandson of one of the elders. I can't remember his name, but I know who he is. Did he say anything before he passed out?"
The nurse thought it over for a moment. "I don't know. I can't really remember."
"I know!" The other nurse came forward, speaking for the first time. "The doctor said he mentioned 'samurai'… and there was one other word. I think it was 'ambush'."
Ashitaka nodded. He turned to leave, to go find Gonza and tell him about this. As he reached the entrance, he turned back towards the nurses. "I wish to take him with me, if that's fine. We have nurses at Tatara Ba that can watch over him."
They nodded, and one of them said they would go inform the doctor.
And Ashitaka was off, with many different thoughts running through his head.
He settled on the worst one: who would attack the Emishi?
Ashitaka and Gonza returned by late afternoon, when the rains started. They brought the boy with them, held securely by Ashitaka when they came back. They immediately took the boy to the hut for the nurses to tend to him. It was then that the boy mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep.
"This is a good sign. He may be coming to," one of the women said to Ashitaka. "Go get some rest, and we'll get you when he wakes."
He went off, keeping to himself as he tried to gather his thoughts. He stopped at his home and lay down in bed, allowing himself to get a few moments of sleep. An hour later, Lady Eboshi knocked on his door. Ashitaka woke up and greeted her.
"Good news," she said with a smile, "the boy is awake."
The two quickly arrived at the nurse's hut and found the boy in bed, barely awake but his eyes slowly taking in everything. He tried to speak, but couldn't. "Quick, some water," someone said, and in short time, the boy was drinking in small gulps, slowly replenishing his strength. There was some fruit that had been set aside for him, and the boy nodded his thanks.
Ashitaka came forward to the bed, and immediately the boy recognized him. His eyes were full of relief, and also of sadness. "Prince Ashitaka," he whispered, his voice slowly coming back to him. "The village was destroyed."
"By whom?" he asked. The anger was slowly building within him.
"I did not see… though my mother and… and grandmother told me before they… sent me off." The boy coughed deeply, and more water was brought to him. "Some families manage to send their children out… but I don't know how many, if… if any of them survived."
"What did your mother say?"
"She said… samurai were attacking… burning the village. Grandma said… she said she heard one of them shout… they shouted: 'Long live Lord… Asano, future ruler of Honshuu.'" The boy took another drink of water.
"Thank you."
And Ashitaka left.
And the anger in his right arm reappeared.
"Report."
"They found him, my Lord."
"Where?"
"A merchant town, close to Tatara Ba. He took the wounded boy with him," the spy said. "They were quick on their beasts, and unfortunately they weren't unable to capture or kill him or Lady Eboshi's man as well."
Lord Asano smiled. "That's fine. You may go." The spy bowed and disappeared out of the room. Asano sat by himself, imagining the look of grief and anger on the face of the Emishi boy when he learns of the fate of his home. The boy still hardly concerned him, but he knew now that this made him all the more useless. He would grieve and be saddened, and by the time he recovered, it would be too late.
In ten days, the five thousand samurai of Lord Asano would descend upon Tatara Ba. The iron furnaces would be his, and the Ishibiya would return to destroy the emperor.
Everything was going exactly the way he wanted.
Author's notes: um… crap.
That was the way I started my last A/N, back in September of 2005. It is now May of 2007, a full twenty months since the last update. So what have I done since then to cause me not to update anything?
Well, I dabbled a little in actual fiction, writing out a few ideas, and actually doing a JaNoWrMo for 2007 (I ended up with the 50,000 word goal). School has taken up a whole lot of my time as well, though I'm glad to say that I'm doing much better now that I had been four years ago at this time at my first college.
Ah, and I fell in love too.
So the future of this story? I plan on completing it, hopefully before school starts at the end of August. Unfortunately, I have two summer classes to take that will consume most of my time through the end of June, so writing time is limited. Once July comes around though, then I'll get back to writing full time. I intend on finishing a story for once, and for the few loyal fans I have, it will be this one.
I do ask one thing: review for the actual content of the story, instead of leaving me comments of "why'd you take so long fool?" Granted, you can do those, but add something as well. Like it or don't like it, that's fine. Critique me as well, since I sure could use the occasional writing tidbit.
Also, for the couple of reviews that I got for my Japanese words, I'll put something together for next chapter. It is a preference of mine, I suppose. I'd rather not put off people because of my apparent "childish"-ness, so I shall do this.
Pre-reads done by myself, so expect mistakes, if any.