Miyazaki owns Moro and the Shishigami.
Chapter 3: Any Sanctuary in a Storm
The farther we floated, the more hope I lost. We could not talk to each other, because both Saria and my own mouth were busy trying to keep us together. Naku was the only one who had his mouth free, but he almost always did not talk. Sometimes, I had to press my body close to him to feel if his heart was still beating. The few times he spoke he asked where Kikyu was. I would not answer. I could not even think about my dear, dead brother. A traditional wolf funeral is moving the body into a special part of a forest for them to decompose and join with the forest. But Kikyu's body would be dragged out to sea, and eaten by loathsome scavengers. After a while, he stopped talking. I knew we had to find a place to get ashore soon, or we would die. Of all my siblings, I was in the best physical shape. On top of that, I only had a few injuries. I also had two wolves to give me body heat in the frigid water. Naku was loosing blood fast, and my little Saria was freezing to death. But with saltwater in my lungs, I could barely breath, much less paddle us to shore. But then I saw hope. We were rounding a bend, and there was a small peninsula that we were floating towards. But my hopes were soon dashed as another current carried us out to sea. For the next few days, I drifted in and out of consciousness. I managed to make sure that Saria was still attached to me, and the rest of my strength was holding on to Naku and looking where we were going. Finally, I spotted a speck on the horizon. We were being carried to it. At first I was overjoyed. But then, to my horror, I saw that while we were approaching land, it was not the same island we grew up on. But in a storm you take any sanctuary you can get. Speaking of storms, I managed to open my left eye, the one that was not submerged in water. The sky was dark, and a storm was brewing. Gathering the last of my strength, I paddled furiously with my hind legs, driving us onto a beach.
I managed to crawl up to where the tide could not reach me and collapsed. I gently removed my jaws from Naku's neck, and I fell down. Little Saria was able to slowly hobble over to me and Naku. I slowly looked over at where Naku lay. He had stopped bleeding. He had also stopped breathing. In a desperate attempt to revive him, Saria started to lick him on the face, trying to get his attention. In mind, I was far more mature then she was. The Forest Spirit had given me that. She was just a pup. She actually thought she could help him. After a couple of minutes she stopped. And then she started to cry. All this time I had not shed a tear over Kikyu. I had not shed a tear when I knew that Naku was going to die. I had been torn up inside of me, but I had not allowed my little, fragile sister see my tears. But then they started flowing from my eyes, both sad and angry tears. Why? Why did he die? Why did Kikyu die? The Shishigami had saved us from the time we were born. Why had fate turned on us? He had made sure we would know our names. We were the ones that made it. And now both of my dear brothers were gone. I also wept for my little sister. She was going to die too. She was almost frozen, and she was sluggish. I too was freezing. My efforts to get us ashore had drained the last of my energy. Saria made it to my side and collapsed. It was too much for me to keep my eyes open. As my eyes closed, I saw the face of the Shishigami. Just like when I was born, my eyes glued together. Was this what death was like? Was I doomed to a hell where the face of the one that had given me false hopes about my family was all that I could see? I felt an urge to bite his damn head off, but I could not move. And then my eyes opened.
I saw the Shishigami standing over me, hooves in the sand right next to me. I looked up into his always smiling face. And then I felt warm. I stopped feeling tired. I managed to scramble up to my feet. He had revived me. As he walked over to where Saria lay, I was overjoyed. But then I remembered. We were not in our forest. He could not be here. He was just an illusion. ((Why do you come back to haunt me! Why!)) I yelled at him.
He stopped and turned to me. He did not talk, but I got an impression from him. He was real. He revived Saria, and then Naku. And he walked away into the forest. Naku came snuffling about, rubbing his nose on by fur, asking where Kikyu was. Tearfully I told him. He was so close to his brother. He buried his muzzle in my fur and cried for a long time. Saria came over to him and licked him on the ear, just as she had done when he was dead. Then the three of us huddled together and slept. Even to this day I do not know if I died or not. But it did not matter. That night, huddled together, I finally understood. Why should the Shishigami be limited to one forest? He was the forest. He was in every forest. And I knew he had a plan for me. But I had done enough thinking. My muzzle still damp from weeping, I curled up tight with my family and fell asleep.