Tired eyes turned to the piercing slivers of sunlight. Ashitaka, still weary from the poison, reached up and slammed the shutters. He knew that time was of the essence, but he was not ready to head out quite yet. San must have woken up a few minutes before; she had fallen asleep at his side the night before and her futon was now empty. Tiny red blots stained the white cloth bed, remnants of the agonizing gash San received in the fight against the samurai.
"This will sting for a moment," The ishi warned San as he dipped two fingers into a bowl of white paste, "But it should help this cut heal quickly."
The medicine man rubbed the gel-like paste against the tears on San's lips. She didn't even wince during the application; it seemed to tickle more than hurt. Her lips pressed together to spread out the paste. A trickle of blood dripped down her chin, splattering onto her hand. After a quick bow of thanks to the Ishi, she sat next to Ashitaka, crossing her legs and placing her hands on her knees. It was a position she picked up from Ashitaka. His eyes opened only a minute ago, coinciding with the fading sounds of battle.
"How are you feeling?" San asked.
"I'm feeling much better than before," Ashitaka replied, "Thank you for bringing me here. I'm sorry for slowing us down so much."
"There's no need to apologize. We can spare a day or two."
"Perhaps, but we can't spare much more than that."
San nodded and took in a calming breath. Her eyes turned towards the window, gazing at the orange-tinted sky. She could see several of the samurai returning from the forest, their armor stained with crimson blood. Fortunately, they were the men who were sent to defend the village. Another breath escaped San's lungs, this time out of relief. A second battle would be an impossibility. It was as the samurai were withdrawing from the skirmish that San noticed Lady Eboshi's absence, though she couldn't remember seeing her enter the fray.
"It's good to see you're up, Ashitaka," Lady Eboshi said as she entered the hut, "I thought you still may have been asleep."
Ashitaka sat up to greet Eboshi but was silenced when he saw the woman at the doorway. The last time he saw her, she was wearing her usual formal garb with her hair in a tidy bun. Now her blue cloak was missing from her shoulders, blood stained her robe and arm, and her hair hung loose without the support of a knot or pin, falling past her shoulder blades. Her breathing was heavier than normal, a sign of her fatigue from the battle. It must have been difficult for her to fight with one arm.
"Lady Eboshi?" Ashitaka said with bewilderment in his voice.
"I suppose I do look a little different, don't I? You're used to seeing me as the head of a small town, not as a warrior who could do battle with samurai. When I tried to leave, I was cut off by one of the attackers. He must have been aiming for my neck, as when I ducked he cut my hair."
"You managed to fight off one of those humans?" San asked, struggling to believe that Lady Eboshi could fight one of those men, especially with only one arm. The man who San did watch Lady Eboshi kill had no idea she was behind him.
"I've been training to fight with my left arm," Lady Eboshi replied, "It never hurts to be prepared. Now, onto more pressing matters... Ashitaka, do you think you will be well enough to travel by tomorrow?"
"Yes, I should be." Ashitaka replied. He turned to San and said, "We should leave when you're ready."
"I agree. We're doing this for your brothers, after all."
San nodded, still facing away from Lady Eboshi. "I'll wake you two up tomorrow when I'm ready." She said.
Lady Eboshi nodded and left. Perhaps there was a place for lodging in the village. If not, perhaps one of the villagers might allow her to stay at their home. They were a talkative, friendly bunch, reminding Lady Eboshi of the men and women back at Irontown. A breeze caused her to shiver for a moment. In the distance was a large mass of gray clouds. She made a mental note to purchase a new cloak before the three continued on their journey, preferably one with a hood.
As the day shifted to night, the ishi offered San to stay at the hut. His home was located elsewhere in the village, but he trusted Ashitaka and San. She accepted even though it had been a while since she had last slept in a house. The last time it had happened was the night before Ashitaka left Irontown to live with her in the forest. Ashitaka moved to one side to give San room on the futon. Warmth covered her body to counter the chill of the early spring air, radiating from both the blanket and Ashitaka's body.
"How did you get hurt?" Ashitaka asked, referring to the cut on San's lip.
"One of those humans kicked me in the face," San replied, "I think his boots had metal tips." She counted herself as lucky to have all of her teeth in place. For that matter, she considered herself lucky to be alive. But narrowly escaping death wasn't what bothered her. What was eating away at her was the fact that she had to be helped, no, saved, by Lady Eboshi. Despite the fact that San made no effort to hide her disdain for the woman, she still continued to help her. Ashitaka once told San about how Lady Eboshi was grateful for her role in helping Irontown. Perhaps Lady Eboshi was sincere in her desire to right the wrongs of her past. Then again, this was also the same woman who killed Moro, the same woman who helped destroy the forest. Did saving her life atone for those acts? "That woman... Eboshi... she's the one who... saved me." Uttering those words caused San to cringe. An arm wrapped around San as Ashitaka held her close,
"There's no shame in admitting you needed help," Ashitaka said, attempting to ease San's visible distress.
"I know." San remained silent for the rest of the night, beside herself with her own thoughts. She felt like she was changing, though she wasn't sure how. There was no denying that things were very different from how they were only a few years ago. When Eboshi was waging war against the forest, San was ready to die and gladly do so as long as she had the chance to kill her. However, she never forgot why she and Ashitaka set out on this journey in the first place. Her brothers, the two who had helped care for her since birth, now needed her to help them. Her eyes shut as she began to fall asleep, though she gave Ashitaka a quick lick on the cheek as a way of saying goodnight. He returned the favor by kissing her forehead, ending the night with smiles on their faces.
Only minutes after Ashitaka closed the shutters, he felt somebody nudging his shoulders. No doubt it was San, ready to continue towards the temple. He looked up at her to see that the cut on her mouth had already begun to scab over.
"Good morning," Ashitaka greeted as he sat up, "Are we going?"
San nodded. "Eboshi is waiting with her horse at the..." The word escaped San's mind. She knew it was the same place Yakul would stay in at Irontown.
"Stables?" Ashitaka finished for her.
"Yes, that."
Ashitaka nodded. "I'll be there in a minute."
Lady Eboshi said farewell to the villagers as they thanked her and San for helping in the
fight. She thanked them for helping Ashitaka and for their kindness. A new cloak was draped over her shoulders, though it was a slightly brighter blue than her previous one. Ashitaka also thanked the villagers, particularly the ishi who helped to heal him. San remained silent, biding her time as Ashitaka and Eboshi said goodbye. Fortunately for her, it only took a few minutes. With a final wave from Ashitaka, Yakul continued north with Lady Eboshi following behind. They could see the gray clouds gathering in the distance, All three hoped that the clouds would only bring light rain. They weren't prepared for anything worse.
"We're going to have to move off the road soon," Lady Eboshi called from behind, "The mountain pass we're going through is isolated, If there's anything that you think we'll need, now is the time to speak."
"Are there any plants or animals?" Ashitaka asked, 'We'll need to stockpile food if there isn't going to be anything to hunt or gather."
"The mountains are largely barren so food will be scarce. There is a river that we will have to cross before reaching the mountains. We can find food there."
"How far away is it?"
"We can get there in about a day."
"Then let's hurry," San said.
They continued on until nightfall, and by then rain had started to fall. Traveling in the rain was not new to Ashitaka, San, or Lady Eboshi, but the experience was never any less tedious. Their clothes became drenched in the growing storm. The hides on Yakul and Lady Eboshi's horse smelled rancid when they were soaking; San, with her superior sense of smell, held her breath as often as she could. Then there was the chance of one of them getting sick. Medicine was not available to them and they didn't want to turn back to Nejikomi for treatment. Ashitaka and Lady Eboshi's respective cloaks kept them relatively dry. San was entirely exposed to the frigid rain. Goosebumps covered her arms and legs. She began to shiver as the cold continued to bite at her skin, worrying Ashitaka with each involuntary tremble.
"San, take this." Lady Eboshi requested as she rode beside Ashitaka and San. With an outstretched hand, she offered San her blue cloak.
"Don't you need this?" San asked as her eyes moved from the cloak to Eboshi.
"Once we stop for sleep, I'll be warm enough inside my tent. You look like you need this more than I do at the moment."
San reluctantly nodded and took the cloak, feeling shameful as she wrapped it around her head and shoulders. She hated the smell radiating from the cloak. It smelled like that woman, a vile scent which made San want to rend the cloak into ribbons. The odor emanating from the two beasts of burden was less repulsive. Despite the smell, it managed to give San a degree of warm, enough to keep her from shivering.
"Thank you." Ashitaka whispered to Lady Eboshi, knowing well that San would never utter those words to her. She nodded in response, her ever present smile on her face. A razor-thin line lay between pride and arrogance; fortunately, San seemed to walk on the less foolish side of that border. San had a unique personality, one which Lady Eboshi did not wish to see changed. It was only her hatred of humans that Eboshi wanted to reverse. Such a powerful enmity would not change overnight, nor would it change simply through the passage of time. Lady Eboshi knew she had to take action to cure San's venomous animosity. The pains and sufferings she caused the girl in the past could never be erased, only atoned. Those malicious acts were the cause of San's burning resentment towards mankind. In turn, she fought back and caused misery to the people of Irontown, striking fear into their hearts and bringing harm to their loved ones. Yet she never could have helped so many others if it were not for her ambition. Ultimately there was no clear right or wrong, with both sides having contributed to the conflict. An equal amount of disdain from the people of Irontown was aimed at San. Toki and several others may have had sympathy for her, but in the same way that San hated most humans, most humans hated her. Swaying the people of Irontown's opinion of San would be just as difficult as persuading San to drop her loathing of humanity.