The storm would finally end just before nightfall. Crop fields were submerged under rain water. Small puddles had been turned into ponds by the time the weather had calmed. Trees had fallen during the downpour, some due to gale force winds and others due to lightning strikes. Birds began to rebuild nests which had been destroyed. Small animals which lived in burrows had their homes flooded; they were quick to start creating a new place to live. Nocturnal animals slunk away as the sun began to rise.

Lady Eboshi had moved to drier ground before the night's end. She immediately packed up her tent once she awoke. San was close by, though she had not slept. Forgoing a tent, she had climbed up a tree and sat with her legs crossed and her head tilted down. Her eyes were fixated on the dirt. They hadn't moved and she rarely blinked. Eboshi decided to wait a while before calling San down. The two had already lost enough time due to the storm, and though both were distraught that Ashitaka was no longer with them, they had to begin moving again.

After another half-hour of waiting, San hadn't moved an inch. Hundreds of scenarios were running through her head, each one a different way she could have acted to save Ashitaka. Despite her imaginations, reality came back to tell her that there was no way she could have overpowered the current. For a brief moment, she wished that she had followed Lady Eboshi's advice. Her savage side arose when this idea entered her mind. For the first time in hours, her face changed from blank to enraged. Lady Eboshi took a step away as she watched San's eyes narrow and turn towards her. Both of her hands were trembling as one inched towards her knife. Just as her fingertips brushed against the handle of the dagger, San stopped moving. A sigh escaped her lungs as she jumped down from the tree. Water splashed up as her feet crashed into the mud, getting caught in her hair.

"Are you ready to go, then?" Lady Eboshi asked. San was silent for several seconds before she began to reach for her knife once again. Eboshi's hand had been resting on her katana's pommel, ready to defend herself if San tried to attack her. Both women were still as the dark clouds rolled overhead. While Lady Eboshi remained calm, her breathing steady and stature well composed, San was shaking while her heart beat raced. She wished she had continued on her own so she could have been away from that woman. After another minute of the stand-off, San once again let her hand slide away from her dagger.

"Ashitaka wouldn't want me to do this," She muttered. Her chest heaved as she took another deep breath, calming herself so she could try to work with Eboshi. When this was all over, she would return to the forest and never have to deal with her again. "How much longer is this going to take?"

"Not much longer if we keep moving. The river is far from settling any time soon. If you're so adamant on crossing it, try to find a way across. I'll follow if you can reach the other side."

San left without another word, following the flow of the river. As she trudged through the ankle-high water, her ears perked up as the sound of another's footsteps following close behind. She turned to see Yakul tailing behind her with his head slightly bowed. A smile appeared on her face for the first time in over a day, though it was one masking sorrow. No matter how much blame she placed on Eboshi for everything leading up to her outburst, it was her own fault for throwing Ashitaka into the river.

"I'm sorry for what I did, Yakul," San lamented as she brushed his muzzle, "I didn't mean to..." The words couldn't escape San's throat. She didn't want to say that she killed Ashitaka. "You should probably go back home. There isn't any reason for you to go on with that woman and I."

She bowed her head and continued to follow the flow of the river. Yakul remained close behind, his hooves splashing through the mud and water. San couldn't imagine why he would still he following her. He and Ashitaka were close friends and one of them was gone because of her actions.

"Why are you still following me?" San asked in a curious tone while she continued to travel alongside the current. She had expected Yakul to turn and leave. If someone had done something so horrible to one of San's brothers, she would have killed them on the spot. Once more, she turned to face Yakul. Tears began to well up in her eyes. When she realized that she pushed Ashitaka into the river, her mind shut down for several hours. Throughout the night, she had been fighting to maintain her composure so Lady Eboshi would not see her. With only Yakul in the area, there was no point. Her feet began to drag until she came to a full stop. The tears which she had been holding back began to pour down her face. At the same time, she dropped to her knees and began to sob. Muddy water immersed San up to her hips.

Yakul trotted up to San and brushed his nose against her hair. She looked up to him with glossy eyes, amazed to see that he was so forgiving. He was not an ordinary beast, proving himself to be far smarter than most of the other animals in the forest. San wondered if he had meditated overnight.

"Have you really forgiven me?" She asked in disbelief. Yakul grunted and bowed his head in response, his way of saying "yes" to her. One ability San had learned in the forest was how to understand animals that couldn't speak. She had spoken with Yakul before. When they first met, he told her about the village he and Ashitaka came from and why they had left. Between sobs, San promised, "I'm sorry, Yakul. So very sorry. I'll make sure that this wasn't in vain."

It took a great deal of effort to get herself on to her feet, as if she was lifting a heavy deadweight. The fire which had been burning in her since they started this journey had been reduced to embers. Tears were still rolling down her cheeks. Red specks clung to her face, a remnant of the war paint which had adorned her face until a day ago. Yakul walked over to her side and sat down, a gesture telling her that she could ride on his back. San gratefully accepted.

Only half an hour later, San found what she had been looking for. Several large, jagged rocks were protruding from the river's surface. Little more than the first few inches were exposed, but they were wide enough for Yakul to hop across. Mixed feelings clashed within San. On one hand, she not only discovered a way to cross the current, but she had proved Lady Eboshi wrong. However, the fact that the way across the river was so close by made her wish that she had pressed on. Had she continued to search the night before, she would have never gotten into a spat with Lady Eboshi. Ashitaka wouldn't have tried to stop her had she not been so irate. He could still have been with her.

Lady Eboshi waited patiently for San's return, standing with her back against a damp tree trunk. The night before, she had silently mourned Ashitaka's death. No tears were shed but sorrow had stung her heart. She couldn't imagine what San had been feeling when she realized what had happened.

"Eboshi!" A voice called from across the river. Lady Eboshi turned her head to see San pacing back and forth on the other side of the water. "I told you there was a way!"

Lady Eboshi avoided getting into an argument with San. She was still unsure of how the Wolf Girl was feeling. Without Ashitaka to defuse a possible situation, it remained within her best interests to abstain from provoking San. "Very well. Where do I go to cross?"

"Yakul is headed your way. He can lead you there."

Eboshi nodded and gathered their belongings. Once Yakul arrived, she mounted her horse and followed the elk to the rocks San had used to cross. Although Yakul could hop across them, Lady Eboshi's horse was nowhere near as strong and nimble. She knew that enough time had been lost already. In a moment she feared she would later regret, Eboshi dismounted her horse and removed its saddle and reins. The saddlebags it had been carrying were tied next to those dangling at Yakul's side. One minute after it had been freed of its burdens, the horse wandered away.

Yakul's footsteps were heard by San several minutes before he arrived. In the time between his departure to pick up Lady Eboshi and his return, San had been listening for anything in the surrounding environment. Other than the river, all seemed quiet. Even the birds which sang during the morning had kept silent since the storm. No human villages were in the nearby area. She and Eboshi would be alone for a long while.

"Are you ready?" Lady Eboshi asked once she arrived. She hopped off of Yakul. "We can wait for a few more minutes if you wish."

"No," San replied, "There is no sense in waiting any further. We've lost too much time as it is."

In a flash, San drew her knife and lunged towards Lady Eboshi. She was too slow to reach for her katana and soon found a the tip of San's knife dangerously close to her throat. San's eyes were now searing with hatred and loathing, all of which was directed towards Lady Eboshi. One of San's arms restrained Lady Eboshi's, making it impossible for her to defend herself. Yakul's eyes went wide. He could do little to calm San.

"It is your word which started this cursed journey," San growled, "Because of it, Ashitaka is gone."

San pressed the tip of her dagger into Lady Eboshi's neck. No blood was drawn, though the slightest bit of movement from San would easily puncture the skin. Eboshi remained still, glaring down at San with her teeth bared and eyes narrowed.

"If this entire journey turns out to be pointless and my brothers pass on, you'll be soon to follow them." San drew the knife away from Eboshi and released her vice grip. Without another word, she hopped onto Yakul's back. Lady Eboshi brushed off her robes. She counted herself lucky that San hadn't done anything worse, though now she wasn't sure if she could trust her. For the moment, she was still going to help San as much as possible. It wasn't going to be any easier to convince San that she was human, but Eboshi was still confident she could find a way.

"I'm sorry about everything that has happened San," Lady Eboshi said, "You are right, though: it is time for us to carry on. Let us head north."

Several dozens of miles away, a small troop of samurai had landed on the coast. They had been sent by the emperor to find a temple in the south. The emperor, in yet another effort to achieve immortality, believed that inside was something that could finally give him eternal life. What is was remained unknown to him. A scroll with ancient text? Perhaps a special potion brewed by the gods? He had tried many times to attain life everlasting, going so far as to order the murder of a god of life and death.

The captain of the samurai was the last to exit the ship which had transported them. He stood six feet tall with wide shoulders and large arms. Heavy armor protected him from head to toe; only his eyes remained exposed. In addition to a seven foot long yumi bow, tempered steel katana, and sharpened wakizashi, he carried a sword which dwarfed those carried by the other warriors. It was a sword called the nodachi, a weapon rarely used due to its cost and weight. However, the captain was more than capable of swinging the nodachi with ease. Its blade alone was five feet long.

With the ship unloaded, the samurai immediately headed south. They had no map, only a monk to guide their way. As they got closer to the temple, they would have to ask local villagers if they knew of its location. The site of the temple had been lost long ago. Not even the most brilliant of scholars could pin-point its location. Only a few monks around Japan had even heard of it, fewer had a vague idea of where to go. Since the last monk the emperor had worked with was missing, this man would have to do. He led the samurai through a field of tall grass, remaining close to the band of warriors.