I don't own Princess Mononoke or any of the characters. I only own this story and characters not in the movie.
Moro and her mate, Ookami, patrolled the edge of their territory. Ookami looked at the hot afternoon sun.
"Night will come soon." said Ookami.
"Yes it will." replied Moro.
"The Forest Spirit will soon take on his night for, the Nightwalker." stated Ookami.
Moro looked at her mate.
"What are you hinting at, Ookami?" asked Moro.
Ookami sighed before answering.
"I was hoping to take the pups, to the Forest Spirit's pond. It is still light out, and the Forest Spirit will not become the Nightwalker, until the sunsets." explained Ookami.
"No! Our pups are still too young to see the Forest Spirit. Perhaps when they are older, but not now." snapped Moro
Ookami rushed in front of his mate. Moro growled, and showed her white dagger like fangs.
"Get out of the way, Ookami." growled Moro.
Moro lunged at her mate. Ookami dogged it, and pinned Moro to the ground.
"Let me up, Ookami, before I tear out your throat." yelled Moro.
Ookami dug his claws farther into his mate's chest.
"Not until you listen to what I have to say. The pups are now five, Moro. We should have taken them to the Forest Spirit, after they learned to hunt. You are being overprotective of San. You can't protect her forever, Moro. The only way for the other gods to accept San is if she visits the Forest Spirit, and he gives her a special power." declared Ookami.
"Fine we will take the pups, to the Forest Spirit. Just let me up." shouted Moro.
Ookami released his mate. Moro snarled, and showed her fangs.
"If you ever do that again, I will kill you. I don't care if you are my mate, I will kill you." swore Moro.
Ookami slightly chuckled and bowed his head.
"I wouldn't expect any less of you, Moro." said Ookami.
The two wolf gods ran to their den. They could see their three pups asleep on the den floor. Moro howled, waking her pups up.
"We are going to take you to the Forest Spirit. Now hurry up, we leave now." snapped Moro.
San climbed onto Feng's back. Xin stayed at his older twin's side. The three pups ran after their parents.
The wolves stopped at a lake. A small island with a large tree growing on it was in the middle of the lake.
Suddenly, a deer can into sight. This deer was larger than Ookami and Moro, had a thick brown coat, with a white chest and underbelly. The deer had three toes on each foot. The deer had antlers, making it a male. San wondered how the deer was able to walk through the forest, without getting its hug antlers caught in the tree branches.
The deer walked across the lake. He stopped on the island. For the first time, the deer took notice of the Wolf Tribe. San could see the deer had an emotionless, red, human like face.
The deer walked across the island. Flowers bloomed under his feet, but withered once he raised his foot. Once again the deer crossed the lake, and stopped in front of the wolves.
Ookami and Moro bowed their heads. Feng, Xin, and San copied their parent's actions. San laid her dagger and spear on the ground. Finally Ookami spoke.
"Great Forest Spirit, I present to you my sons, Feng and Xin, and my daughter, San. They have waited a long time, for this day. I ask you, the spirit of the forest, to bless my pups with the gift of the gods." announced Ookami.
San looked towards her mother, as her father spoke to the deer.
"Who is that god mother, and why are we here?" quietly asked San.
Moro quietly answered her daughter's question, and her son's silent curiosity.
"That god is the Forest Spirit, the ruler of this and all forests. We have come here for you three to receive your god gift. The Forest Spirit will give you your gift. He gave me the power to hear the trees, and he gave your father the ability to ignore all, but the most serious amounts of pain. Though our gifts are great, the Forest Spirits gifts are even greater. He can heal any injury, and even greater he has the power to control life and death. Life and death are the Forest Spirit's alone to control." explained Moro.
San and her brothers were even more exited. They wondered what gift the Forest Spirit would give them.
The Forest Spirit finally looked at San and her brothers. The three siblings bowed their heads. The Forest Spirit extended his long neck. He kissed Feng on the forehead, then he kissed Xin's forehead, and finally he kissed San's forehead. The siblings fell on their back asleep.
San awoke with a scream. What had happened? That's right she was at the Forest Spirit's lake, with her parents and brothers. She was to get her god gift along with her two brothers. San could remember the Forest Spirit touching her forehead, then she had been overcome by a warm feeling, but the rest was blank.
The wolf-girl looked at her brothers, who had also just awoken. Moro approached her pups.
"That took longer than we expected. You were still unconscious well past nightfall. Your father and I had to leave you here, before the Forest Spirit took on his Nightwalker form. We have only just returned." explained Moro.
San and her brothers looked up towards the sky. It was well past midday, more like late afternoon. Ookami approached his sons and daughter.
"Now tell us what is your gift, my pups." asked Ookami.
The three remained silent.
"I do not know my gift, father." stated Feng.
"Nor do I." said Xin.
"I do not either." told San.
Moro got her children's attention.
"You must look within yourself spiritually, and look at yourself physically to find out gift." exclaimed Moro.
Feng was the first to try. He could feel his legs where stronger, and his heart was beating faster than normal. Feng thought he knew what his gift was.
Quickly the young wolf ran around the lake (three times), then stopped by his mother. Feng was not the least bit tiered.
"I know my gift. I was given the ability to run for great distances for long periods of time, at full speed, without stopping." stated Feng.
Xin looked within himself spiritually, and then physically. He noticed the scars he had gotten in past fights and the nicks in his ears had healed. Xin instantly knew his gift.
"I have the power to heal my own wounds faster than normal. All my old scars have been healed. This means I can also heal wounds and broken limbs, without using healing plants." proclaimed Xin.
San had no idea what her gift was. She decided to find out what her gift was, later. San bent down to grab her spear and dagger.
Suddenly San noticed long pieces of cut hair, were her spear and dagger lay. She then felt her head. She didn't have long hair anymore. Shocked, San looked into the lake water.
San couldn't believe her eyes. What she saw in her reflection was beyond words. Her hair was shorter (in was cut just above her chin), but that's not what startled San. For on her face were three blood red triangles.
One of the triangles was in the center of her forehead, and she had another on each cheek. Also a blue head band and two blue arm bands, where in her reflection.
San then remembered the dream she had. In the dream she had been fighting a human boy. The boy had been dressed in blue, had chin length brown hair and road on a red elk.
San had fought against the boy, who looked a few years older than her. The boy, using a long knife, had cut of San's hair. San thought he had been trying to cut off her head.
Then San had grabbed her dagger and spear, and some of the triangles on her weapons had jumped of the blades and onto her face. That's when the boy smiled.
He just gave San the blue headband and two blue armbands. He them jumped onto the red elk, and road away. Then San woke up.
San didn't know who the boy was, but she now knew her gift. San ran to her mother.
"I know my gift, mother. I dreamed I was fighting against a human, and all this happened to me. I kept fighting against the human. My gift must have something to do with courage, and becoming a great warrior." declared San.
Moro was shocked, but did not show it. Was it possible that San had had a vision dream? A dream, were something about her future would be reviled.
"San what did this human you fought look like?" wondered Moro.
San tried to remember the human she dreamed about.
"He looked to be a two, or three years older than me. He had brown hair, dressed in all blue, and he fought with a long knife and a red bow and stone head arrows. I noticed he had a purple scar on his left arm. And he road on a red elk. That's all I remember, mother." exclaimed San.
Moro put the pieces of information together. The humans that lived nearby had no red elk, and certainly never used stone arrow heads. They preferred to make their weapons out of metal, not stone. The purple scar, it could have been a demon mark.
"Did this human seem to be stronger than a normal one?" asked Moro.
"Yes he was very strong. It felt like I was about to be killed a couple times. But he just gave me these bands, and left smiling." answered San.
Moro now had the answer. The human must have been under the curse of a demon, but not have fallen captive to it. This meant the human had to be a warrior with a pure heart.
"I think I know the meaning of your dream, San. That human you fought, must have been a warrior with a pure heart. That is the only way if he was not taken over by a demon curse. But humans can never have a pure heart, so the dream meant it was you San. You must become a warrior with a pure heart, to avoid the demon curse that represents disaster in the future." forewarned Moro.
The sun would set in a few hours. The wolves still had to hunt before nightfall, if they wanted to eat. Ookami declared they should leave.
Moro and her mate ran out of sight. San grabbed her weapons, climbed onto Feng's back, and ran after their parents. Xin fallowed his siblings.
The three Wolf Tribe siblings where now true god of the forest.
This is a pretty important chapter. I know I added Ashitaka, but it just made the scene. Comment if you like the story.