Disclaimer: see chapter one.

Note: story will now be seven chapters. See note at bottom.

Night of a Thousand Horses

By ShaggyDiz

Chapter Five: Light/Dark

The following day, the town spent the early hours mourning over Keigo. Ashitaka and Gonza helped to carry his body on a makeshift gurney and brought him down to a boat at the lake. They placed him inside it and stepped aside, allowing each of the townspeople to pay their final respects. There were some who had gotten close to the boy that were crying bitterly over him. Ashitaka, emotional has he had been in recent weeks, held it within him. He had paid his final respects already to the boy. It also seemed to him as if he had no further capacity to release any emotion. It was leaving him weary and exhausted at times.

He turned and looked back towards the town, up the hill that came alongside it. He saw San there with her brother. She had given her final goodbyes to Keigo yesterday as well. She decided to see him off from here. It wouldn't be proper of her, she thought, to be among the townspeople at this time. They would be apprehensive. Those thoughts of considering interaction with people came back to her, and she shook her head clear of them. "Someday soon," she muttered.

San looked back down at Ashitaka, made eye contact with him, and gave a slight bow of her head. She patted her brother, and they took off. She would come back later, no doubt to check on how Ashitaka was doing.

The viewing lasted for a short time, as people came and went, moving in an organized fashion so that no one would slide off or trip into the water. The embankment was steep, and the rain from the previous day did nothing to help in the traction of the slope. Eboshi had stone stairs set up, which made things easier. She herself was the last to pay her respects.

After she had passed, Ashitaka came up to the boat. There was a blanket of his – one that he brought with him when he left the Emishi village – and covered all of Keigo's body. He stepped out into the water, and with a gentle push, he sent the boat into the lake. The current would eventually take it out to sea.

It was the decision made by Ashitaka last night as they mulled over how to bury the boy. He did not want to bury him in or close to the town. With the impending attack, it wouldn't be right to have his grave be thrashed by heedless samurai. He thought about sending him away, and that's how it came to be this morning.

He took a long look at it, watching as it floated away. He came back on the shore, and took a bow and arrow from Gonza. Behind him was a man who carried a small flaming torch. Ashitaka took the arrow to the torch. The arrow head was tightly bound with cloth and dried leaves as kindling. It quickly lit up, and Ashitaka turned back to the lake, aiming and firing towards the boat. It struck dead center, and second later, the fire spread throughout the boat. The body would be gone, reduced to ashes and releasing the boy completely from the physical boundaries of this world.

It was how Ashitaka wanted it done.

He left the lake with a frown on his face. He was sure that Keigo would be the only one receiving this final courtesy.

This field is familiar…

Ashitaka found himself staring up at the sun. He was comfortable where he was at, and as he looked down, he saw that he was lying on grass. It surrounded him, save for the occasional flower and cherry blossom. The wind blew, making the grass wave and ripple like an ocean. It kissed Ashitaka's face as it came; it made him cool underneath the sun.

He liked it here.

He sat up, looking around for a moment. He wondered where San was at. She should have been around here somewhere. Ah well. She would come later. He looked out in the distance. Several hundred yards away, Ashitaka saw a small village. It was surrounded by bamboo walls, and several towers were erected in the town, stationed at each corner. He saw a couple people within the towers, but none of them saw him.

This village is familiar…

Ashitaka got up and started off towards the village. There was a soft gallop behind him. He turned and found Yakkul riding up beside him. "At least you're here," he said to his mount. He pulled himself up onto the beast, and together they started towards the settlement. As they rode, Ashitaka had the nagging feeling that something was off with this situation.

They continued their slow march, but as they approached, they were not seen. Ashitaka was tempted to call out to them. He was about to when a sudden explosion came from the far side of the walled community. Ashitaka pulled Yakkul to a stop. A second explosion went off, and soon the whole village was in a commotion. "What's happening?" he asked himself. There were shouts of chaos, and of pain, and he knew he needed to get there as soon as he possibly could. He kicked Yakkul, and they took off, rushing as fast as they could to the village.

The commotion continued from within. The sounds of death were soon escaping over the walls. There were other shouts, ones that were unintelligible. Ashitaka wondered what they were as they rode on. Faster they went, but even as Yakkul was kicked on, they appeared to get no closer to the town. Was it some sort of curse or spell that prevented him from getting closer to the town? He didn't know. He continued forward as best as he could, though with each stationary step forward, the cries of panic and pain from the village filled the air. The other shouts slowly started making sense.

"Long…"

Long what…?

"Long live…"

No…

He didn't need to hear the rest to know what it was. Ashitaka stopped Yakkul and stared on. The village before him was his home: the Emishi village. It was the samurai that was attacking the village.

They were Lord Asano's samurai.

Am I reliving this?

He didn't have anytime to think. There was a roar that came from behind him, and he turned to find a Tatari Gami bearing down on him. He saw him, and realized that it was the same one that cursed him months ago. Ashitaka went for his sword, but found that it wasn't there. He had to get away. He kicked Yakkul, but he wouldn't move.

"Why won't you… what?!" He looked down, and saw that he was riding upon a wooden horse now! He did not know what was going on. There was no time to figure it out. A voice called out to him. It was low, filled with evil and loathing.

"ASHITAKA!" It was the Tatari Gami. "ASHITAKA!"

"What? What do you want? Get away from me!" The cursed demon would not listen. He was mere feet from him now.

"ASHITAKA! MY CURSE IS UPON YOU!"

The Tatari Gami suddenly leapt in the air and spread itself wide. The only thing Ashitaka could do was watch as the overwhelming blackness of the demon came down upon him.

And then, Ashitaka woke up.

"Lady Eboshi! Lady Eboshi! Wake up!" There was a frenzied knocking on her door. Eboshi woke up when she heard it. She pulled on her robe and tied it as best as she could before opening the door.

"What is it?" she asked the woman at the door.

"It's Ashitaka! There's something wrong with him!"

Eboshi's eyes opened wide. She strode passed the woman, pausing only briefly to grab her sword. She didn't know why, but she knew that there was a feeling of danger to this situation. She would feel somewhat more secure with a weapon in her hands.

The pair quickly went outside. They found part of the town standing by Ashitaka's home, though at a somewhat safe distance from it. About eight or nine men had halberds in their hands, though they were clearly in fear of what was within the house.

"What's going on?" Eboshi asked as she approached the crowd.

"It was sudden," the lead man said. "Ashitaka started screaming. A couple people approached the house, but were driven back by something unknown. He's still screaming, but the house is shaking as well."

Eboshi nodded grimly. "Whatever it is, we need to stop it. Where's Gonza?"

"Over in the infirmary. He was one of the people who went to the house. Something in there attacked him and knocked him out."

"Damn it." She had to think. The screaming continued on and off, and the house shook even more now. Deciding on a course of action, she turned to a people standing next to her and handed them her sword. She pulled the blade out and brought it forward. Despite her loss of an arm, Lady Eboshi's swordsmanship was still among the best in Tatara Ba. She had confidence in her ability to take down Ashitaka if she needed to.

"Ashitaka!" she called out. "Answer me!"

She got her answer in a most violent way. The door to the house suddenly shattered and splintered in every direction away from the house. Eboshi brought her robe up just in time to block many of the fragments that shot away from the now former entrance. She waited for the dust to settle before pulling her arm down. What she saw filled her with fear.

A hand completely covered in darkness gripped the doorframe. It remained there for a few moments before something new was seen. Black worms. They writhed and squirmed inside of the house. They slapped against the inside of the wall, causing cracks to form on the outside. More screaming was heard from within.

Suddenly, Eboshi knew what it was, and where she saw it from before. "You two! Wake everyone up and evacuate the town now! There is a Tatari Gami here." Recognition formed on the faces of many of those who were present. The two she pointed to – part of the halberd team – nodded in understanding and quickly went off, rushing everyone towards the gate. By now, the entire town had waked up because of the commotion. They too moved as quickly as they could to the gate. Eboshi remained at the house, as well as a half dozen armed men to protect her as well as the escaping townspeople. Her gaze remained on the house. The worms continued slapping against the walls and the surrounding air, further spreading the darkness that it exuded.

"Ashitaka!" Eboshi cried out. Fear still gripped her, but she did not allow it to overwhelm her. Her call to the Emishi prince was calm and controlled.

"Lady… Eboshi…"

She heard the voice. It was filled with pain and agony. He had become the cursed one again. It wasn't a Tatari Gami that she had thought it was originally. It didn't matter. Something had to be done.

"What happened to you?"

"I… don't… know… help me…"

"Can you control it?"

There was a delayed response. Ashitaka came into view of Eboshi and the others. She could see the full extent of the curse. Worms covered most of his arm that had been cursed months before. His other arm gripped hard on it, as if trying to contain the curse.

"Can you control it Ashitaka?" she asked again.

"I'm… trying…" He attempted to bring the worms under control. His eyes shot open as more pain erupted from his arm. He also tried falling back to the house, but he couldn't. The worms had spotted Eboshi, and several of them shot out towards her.

Eboshi quickly dodged out of the way as three of them went by, and she swung her sword up at them. The blade cut right through them, but even as the dead pieces fell off, the ends reformed and turned towards Eboshi. Too fast! She dodged again, barely getting out of the way of the worms. She slashed again, but the same thing happened.

Fortunately for her, the worms retracted back to Ashitaka's arm. It gave her a brief moment to recover, for when the old worms went back, a new set sped towards her. One of the guards cut them down and moved towards Ashitaka, ignoring Eboshi's cry to stop. It was too late, as a worm shot out, snapping the halberd in half and knocking the guard several yards away from the house. He was conscious, but barely.

"Fall back!" Eboshi commanded. The small group quickly fell back, attempting to stay out of range of the worms. Ashitaka saw this and helped as well, moving back into the house. Darkness swelled around him and his home. The worms continued slapping everything they could, with no end in sight. The curse would soon completely take him over.

He didn't want to think of that.

There was a faint cry in the distance, coming from somewhere around the town. Ashitaka barely heard it over the racket he caused. His eyes opened, looking through the darkness and out of the house. His name was called. It sounded familiar to him.

"San…?"

It was her. She stood in front of Lady Eboshi, panting heavily. Had she ran here to help him? Surely her brother must have carried her here. Why was he thinking that? He stared out at her, even though his vision was partially blinded by the darkness surrounding him.

"Ashitaka!" she called out. "Control it!"

He wanted to answer back, but couldn't. He didn't know how to control it. He would end up hurting everyone here. He looked outside again, towards San. A tear rolled down the side of her face.

Is she crying for me?

Somehow, the pain stopped. Ashitaka looked down at his arm. The worms still flayed about, but there was something different about them now. He twisted his arm up. They weren't lashing out as they had been just moments before. He controlled his arm again. Was it San that caused this?

He thought about it briefly. It was her love for him, and his love for her that stopped the pain. That's right. All he had felt was pain. He was the last Emishi. His new home was going to be attacked. Only San took that pain away. She made him happy.

Their love made them strong. He focused all of his thoughts on those positive emotions. He felt the worms retreating, melting back into his cursed arm. It was working. Soon, they disappeared completely. The darkness soon followed.

Outside, Eboshi and San looked on. They were slow to come forward, not knowing if the curse was brought completely under control. Eboshi looked over to the mononoke. "How did you know to come here?"

"My brother felt a wave of darkness wash over him. He knew who it was immediately. We got here as fast as we could."

"Thank you. I'm sure he wouldn't have been able to calm down with us out here with a bunch of weapons."

San frowned. "At least he is calm now." As if to prove her point, Ashitaka slowly came forward, finding himself standing at the doorway. He looked at her and smiled.

"San…" he whispered.

And then he fainted.

Ashitaka slowly opened his eyes. He narrowed them as the light in wherever he was at was exceedingly bright. He wondered if he was outside at the moment. He turned away from the light, finding a dim spot and focusing his gaze there. When he did that, he tried reaching up to rub his eyes. He found that he couldn't. He let out a groan of agitation, as if trying to speak out and wonder why he couldn't move.

"Hey, I think he's waking up," a woman's voice said. There were sounds of people moving around him, and he wondered who was in the area with him.

"Ashitaka?" another woman's voice said; this one was much more familiar than the other one. Ashitaka turned towards the source of the voice, finding nothing but light. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the brightness. Slowly he started opening them more. "He is awake. Ashitaka, how are you?"

He groaned again. His voice hadn't come back yet.

"Take your time. I'll get you some water." Ashitaka groaned in response again. He recognized the voice as San's, and he was relieved to hear it. He wondered if he was out in a field or by her cave. He quickly realized that the other voice in the room was a nurse of some sort.

He was still in Tatara Ba.

"Here, drink this," San said as she returned to the bed. She brought a cup to Ashitaka's lips and tipped it, allowing the water to slowly trickle into his mouth. He drank it all. He smiled at her as she pulled the cup away. San returned the smile, though he clearly saw that it wasn't completely there. It almost seemed empty to him.

"What's… wrong…" he said with a groan. His voice returned, albeit not completely. "Why…"

San brought a finger to his lips. "Stay quiet. You need your strength. You've been out two days. It's by some strange miracle that you've survived this long. The curse has spread."

Ashitaka tried to look down, but again found that the restraints – and his limited strength – prevented him from during so. "Why…" He couldn't finish the question, but San picked up on it.

"It was for all of our safety. Eboshi decided it… and I agreed with her. We don't know if it'll return like it did the other night, but we have to be careful." She paused for a moment, looking over his body. She got up and prepared another cup of water for him. "When you've regained your strength, we'll figure out what to do," San said to him.

He merely grunted in response. San came over with water, and assisted him again with it. She smiled again; this time it suited her better.

"Thank… you…"

She gave no response, save for lightly stroking his cursed hand. It was what she had been doing since he was brought into the infirmary. She left his side only for brief moments, mostly to learn about anything that she could from Eboshi. A makeshift bed was made on the floor next to Ashitaka, allowing her to sleep by him and comfort him in case anything bad was to happen. Her brother opted to remain in the forest for the time being, finding that it would be better to keep an eye on the humans out there while also keeping a look out for the invasion force. It served her interests well. She would have done the same had Ashitaka been injured any other way.

Her trust in humans, while still minimal, was growing. Allowing her to stay with Ashitaka was evidence of that.

"Get some sleep now. I'll be here when you wake up." Ashitaka groaned, and shut his eyes, attempting to get some sleep.

San remained by his side until he did, and then she fell asleep on her own accord.

Two more days went by. By now, a large portion of Ashitaka's strength had returned, as well as his voice. He was more readily able to speak with San. He asked her about the progress that the town made.

He learned a great deal about what was being done. The walls of the town were nearly complete. There would only be one more day of work towards it, and then the focus would shift on reinforcing the gate and the training that the townspeople were undertaking. They had apparently cut all of the trees that they needed, and all of them had been replanted, plus some. They stuck with Ashitaka's plan, although it was clearly evident from what San saw and what Lady Eboshi told her that some of the people had become fearful of the Emishi prince from half a week before. He frowned when he learned about this, but it was only expected.

There was also news of at least one of the spies returning. He offered very little information; save for that the size of the samurai force pushed nearly five thousand strong. Eboshi had simply nodded, and walked away. Ashitaka understood her reaction completely: they were outnumbered by at least ten to one, if not more. Their hope was for the walls to hold. At least this time it would only be an army of swords, and none with the dreaded Ishibiya. Hopefully they had enough arrows to hold them off and force a retreat.

Outside of that, there was nothing more to learn for the time being. Ashitaka was thankful for it and relaxed. He found out once he woke up that he was still strapped to the bed. He looked over to San as she gathered some water for him.

"San, am I allowed to get up?"

She looked over to him. "I don't know. The humans might not like it."

"I don't care. I can't stay here forever, even with the samurai getting ready to attack. I would be pretty useless here."

"I know." San walked back over to him and gave him some water. "Do you want me to ask?"

"No," he said without any hesitation. "I'll leave it to Eboshi to decide what to do with me."

"And if you go crazy?"

"It'll be up to you to deal with me. I'm in control of it now; at least I believe I am."

She nodded, somewhat reassured, and pulled out her blade. It took her a few moments to cut each length of rope – they had used a very thick, tightly wound rope to hold him down – but soon he was freed. He stood up, and was finally able to see how much of his body had been covered by the curse. His entire right hand and most of his forearm was completely covered in blackness. The original curse was there, as well as the scarring that was left behind after it disappeared the first time. From his forearm, the blackness came up in streaks, both thick and thin, up to his shoulder. Part of his upper chest had thin lines as well. There were streaks that lined part of his side. They didn't reach very far. He wondered if it was the snakes on his arm that caused or if it grew directly on his side. It left him puzzled.

"Is there any more?" he asked as he looked up to see her.

"Here." She pointed to the side of her face and her neck. The curse had gone that far up. Ashitaka wondered if it had started from his head and not his hand. It made some sort of sense though.

"The dream…" he muttered.

"What dream?" Ashitaka looked over to San. He hadn't told her yet. He spent a few minutes explaining to her what he saw in great detail, making sure to leave nothing out. Maybe she could connect something to this whole thing that he couldn't.

"Was this the first time you had this dream?" she asked.

"It was, although…"

"Yes?"

"My hand…" He looked down at it, contemplating it for some reason. It started at his hand, which was clear enough. It didn't start from his head, or else the blackness would be thicker up there. "My hand… it hurt at times in recent weeks."

"How come?"

"I felt grief. Sorrow. Anger. I wasn't able to be as close to you as I wanted to be. The destruction of the village and the death of the boy made me unhappy and miserable. The Shoujous' stubbornness made me aggravated and spiteful. All these reasons together must have done it."

San nodded. It was making sense to her. "The boy must have pushed it over the edge then, and allowed it to return."

"Possibly," Ashitaka said. The pieces did fit to him as well. "Of course, this time it will kill me. The Shishi Gami isn't here to heal me."

"Oh."

"Hey…"

"Don't."

"Don't what?" Ashitaka asked.

"Don't make this sound so trivial. You're going to die this time. You make it sound like it's a welcomed event. I don't want to lose you."

"I know." The situation was starting to get to him. He was definitely going to die this time, killed by the curse that returned to him in his depression. He did not know how much time he had remaining. Hours? Days? Weeks? Months? Definitely not years. Hopefully he would survive long enough to deal with this current threat. He looked at his arm again. He would definitely need a miracle.

The silence between the two had started becoming unbearable. "Let's go outside," he suggested. "I want to look at the progress."

"Okay." Ashitaka took a step forward and immediately stumbled. San quickly grabbed him before he completely fell over, managing to hold him up. He looked over to her, his face mere inches away from hers. They both went red at seeing how close they were. He studied her lips. Oh how nice it would be to kiss her right now.

"Ashitaka…"

"Not now," he whispered. "Not here. I want to be away from here."

She looked at him sadly, but understood. "Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere with you… anywhere but here."

"The forest would be nice. We could go there."

Ashitaka liked that. "The lake would be good too. It'll be a nice getaway."

San smiled. It was full, much more than it was two days prior. She kept those thoughts in her head. For now, there was the matter of getting Ashitaka moving. "Come on. Let's go outside."

It took a moment for the both of them to get steady. San concentrated on standing up as best she could before supporting the bulk of Ashitaka's weight. Walking by himself wasn't the best plan at the moment. After being confined to a bed for four days, being able to walk would have been extremely difficult to do. He noted to her that he was ready, and together they walked out of the infirmary.

It was the shock of seeing Ashitaka moving that cause everyone in Tatara Ba to stop what they were doing. Seeing him moving about was one thing, as those that were scared of him were worried that he might snap again. For many others, this was the first time that they had seen how the curse covered him. They were becoming fearful of him, and it showed, as jaws slowly dropped, people started whispering to each other, and others simply backed away. Ashitaka expected it, though he still wished that some of them would at least have been unafraid of what was becoming of him.

Getting away now would be simply wonderful…

"Get back to work!" called a voice from behind the main gathering of people. The crowd parted, revealing a rather steamed Lady Eboshi. It was difficult to figure out whom to be more fearful of at this moment: Ashitaka's curse or Eboshi's wrath? The townspeople quickly dispersed, resuming their work.

"Did you cut him loose?" she asked San.

"She did, at my insistence."

Eboshi looked over to Ashitaka. She paid no mind to his curse ridden body. She had seen much, much worse before the death of the Shishi Gami. "It's dangerous for you to be walking about like this."

"I know. I wanted to get some air," he told her calmly.

"Well, you've got your air. Do you need anything else?" It was clear that she did not want to see him outside like this.

Ashitaka smiled, and it shocked Eboshi. When was the last time he smiled like that? "I wanted to see how things were actually," he said to her. "San was telling me a lot about what I missed." San nodded from underneath his arm.

"Very well." She turned to walked away. She paused briefly though. "Why are you suddenly so jubilant?" she asked him, turning her head back towards him.

"I realized that the best way to control this thing was to remain calm and think positively. It came back because I felt nothing but grief."

"I see." She walked away, causing San and Ashitaka to believe that she understood his explanation.

"Where shall we go to now?" San asked him.

"I –" He was cut off by a new commotion that was occurring. They turned and looked towards the gate. It was difficult to see over the developing crowd. It turned out to be another spy that returned, though with another horse with him. The spy looked to be wounded as well.

"Harima! Report!" Gonza shouted over the crowd while waving a few nurses through to him.

"They're on the move… the samurai," Harima said, his voice coming between pants of air. It appeared as if his lungs were damaged in his escape.

"Whose horse is that?"

"It was Ito's horse… I don't know what happened to him. He stayed… behind to fight. I barely escaped…" He coughed violently and almost fell off his horse. Several people moved forward and helped him down to the ground. A makeshift stretcher was being passed through the crowd.

"Rest easy Harima," Gonza said to him as they prepared to put him on. "I'll speak with you more later on."

By now, Eboshi had passed through the crowd. "Gonza! Meet me in my home. We need to discuss this."

"Milady…" Harima said through clenched teeth.

"Stay quiet. Conserve your strength. You'll need it to survive the night." She laid a hand on him in hopes of calming him down.

"They arrive… in three days…" His eyes closed, though he was still breathing.

Eboshi turned away, walking back to her home.

She knew, much like everyone else would know very soon, that they had little time remaining.

Author's note: I decided that, after careful consideration, this chapter will end at this point. It's a perfect stopping point, launching right into a scene that should have come here. Asano will be back, I promise.

I realize that the plot involving Ashitaka and the return of his curse probably has been done to death (I haven't read very many stories here at all to get a good idea of how many there are). I do hope that the way I'm dealing with it is at least done in an original manner.

So now, this story will be seven chapters. Work will get started on it right away. I have until August 18th to get this done. While my summer doesn't officially end for another week after that date, I will be camping for a week in the Grand Canyon (of Pennsylvania, not that other one), so absolutely no writing will get done.

As it stands, I like how this story is progressing, even if it has slowed to a snail's pace in this chapter. Things will definitely pick up, simply because they have to. As always, read and review.