Earth and Stone
Chapter Six: A Simple Twist of Fate

Ashitaka opened his eyes with painful slowness. Beside him, firelight danced on a rough-cut stone wall, highlighting the dark outline of a person sitting next to him. His cheek pressed into the soft, earthy-scented fur of a rabbit or some other small creature. He lay on his stomach, and as he tried to rise, he found out why. His head reeled, and his lower back throbbed in a painful reminder of his encounter with the vicious jackal. Despite himself, Ashitaka groaned loudly.

"You're awake." The husky female voice that spoke from above his head sounded awkward, as if she weren't used to speaking in the tongue of men.

Ashitaka let his body relax. Despite the pain, he felt more content than he believed possible. "San-"

"Don't talk." San instructed, and Ashitaka felt something cool press to his head. "You've just stopped bleeding. Your cloth is ruined, though."

Ashitaka couldn't stop a second groan at the contact. "The jackal…?"

"Dead." The cool cloth was removed, and Ashitaka heard the sounds of water sloshing around a bowl before the cloth was replaced again. "Usi-Kai my brother killed the demon."

"My horse… Hiasu, is he-?"

"He is outside the cave. He is unharmed."

"And you?" Ashitaka's voice was softer, more gentle. "Are you alright?"

San didn't answer right away. The small fire she had built was getting low; Ashitaka's skin, bared to the waist, was still illuminated and shining with a thin sheen of sweat. The rough scrap of cloth she had salvaged from his tunic was currently doubling as a bandage over the deep gash in his back; it was stained dark with his blood. The smell of it still lingered over his body.

"You… never came back." San's voice was carefully neutral, and her movements were brisk as she took the bandage off and soaked it in the earthenware bowl next to her. "I never saw you."

"San, I-"

"I didn't care; I never looked for you anyway."

Ashitaka sat up, tears springing unbidden to his eyes from the pain of movement, suppressing a grunt from the effort. He turned around slowly, catching San's hand as she made to push him down again. "I never stopped thinking of you."

"Well, thinking doesn't do much, now does it?" San said savagely. "Now lie back down before your wounds reopen-"

"Damn them, San, I'm trying to apologize!" Ashitaka tightened his grip on her hand, voice hoarse from the ache from his injuries. "I tried to come to you, but I couldn't abandon those people."

"I told you, I don't care!" San spat. "I never expected much from a human anyway; you're no real disappointment." Again she tried to tug her hand away, but Ashitaka's arm pulled her forwards until they were nose to nose, the back of her hand pressed to his collarbone.

"San, I'm so sorry…" Ashitaka's dark eyes reflected the dying fire; the flames seemed to come alive in their depths. San wrenched her gaze away, fighting back the tears that threatened to overspill.

"Let me go!"

Ashitaka's grip loosened and San snatched her hand away, breathing hard. Ashitaka was panting too; he swayed where he sat, head bowed. Slowly, San put her hands on his shoulders and lowered the young man back onto his stomach. He didn't tense beneath her grip like she expected but instead relaxed, submitting to her direction. He lay so still that San thought he had dropped into unconsciousness again save for the soft growls of pain. He had started to bleed from his back wound again; San rewetted the cloth and pressed gently on the cut, eliciting another moan from her charge.

San stood, padding silently over to the small bundle of dried flowers she kept by her sleeping furs. Selecting one with thin, clustered white flowers, San pulled it from its fellows and went back to Ashitaka's side. Carefully plucking off the white petals and stripping the leaves, San put them in her mouth and began to chew. When the vegetation had taken on a paste-like consistency, she spat the mouthful into her hand and then gently dabbed the mixture into Ashitaka's wound. He hissed at her finger's intrusion.

"It makes the pain go away faster," San mumbled. She dropped the stem with its few remaining petals in front of Ashitaka's face for his inspection.

"Yarrow."

"Is that what it's called?"

San could hear the smile in Ashitaka's voice. "Yes. Our healers have gardens full of the stuff."

"Is it… nice in your town?" San's voice was timid, almost apologetic.

"It's nice enough." Ashitaka responded. "The people certainly seem happy enough within its walls."

"Ashitaka…"

"Yes?"

"I did look for you." San turned away abruptly from him, even though he couldn't see her face from his position. "I used to, anyway."

"I am truly sorry, San. I did try to come and see you, I just…" Ashitaka trailed off with a sigh. "I have no excuse."

"Those people… you lead them, now that the she-devil is dead, don't you?"

"Lady Eboshi isn't dead." Ashitaka's voice was slowly becoming more lethargic as he spoke. "She is unwell, but she still lives."

"But you lead the people?"

He hesitated a moment before answering. "I have been guiding them, yes."

San's voice came out muffled as she buried her head in her arms, still facing away from him. "I understand why you didn't come, then."

"San…"

She raised her head and turned to look at him. He still lay face down.

"Can I see your face?"

San hesitated, and then cautiously lowered herself to the pile of furs she had laid Ashitaka on, on her stomach and facing him. Brown eyes stared into brown eyes, one set half-closed with exhaustion. San marveled at the changes in his face from when she last saw him. He no longer retained the trace of boyhood that lingered in his visage; even in relaxation, his countenance remained that of a man. The scar that she knew as her own doing was a line of white in his otherwise tanned skin, and another small scar made a permanent indent at the end of his left eyebrow. A faint line between his brows told of his weary task of overseeing the rebirth of the human's town. The spider-web lines at the corners of his mouth made San slightly jealous; other people had seen the smile that made those lines over the last seven years, not her.

During her scrutiny, though, Ashitaka's lips lifted in a tired smile that revealed a hint of his teeth. As she watched, his eyes closed and his breathing evened out in slumber.

The young woman sighed, eyes soft as she watched him sleep. Ducking her head slightly, San let her forehead rest against Ashitaka's shoulder. His skin was warm, and his steady breathing was soothing. When Usi-Kai returned to the den an hour later, a dead weasel dangling from his jaws, he found her curled up next to the wounded human, fast asleep.

"Lord Ashitaka isn't back yet?-!" Toki's belligerent voice jolted Kouroku from his sleep with a strangled yelp. His wife shot him a glare before returning her attention to the messenger standing in front of their home.

"He went out to see about a jackal that had been hanging around the orchards this morning, and the workers say he went into the forest after it once he arrived."

"And no one's seen him since?" Toki demanded. The messenger shrank back.

"No. Some of the workers followed his trail, and they-"

"Have you gone to Lady Eboshi yet?"

The messenger shook his head. "Not yet, Miss Toki. We didn't want to disturb her-"

"Lord Ashitaka has gone missing! If that doesn't concern the Lady than I don't know what does!" Toki flared. "Kouroku, get your lazy ass outta bed and go with this man to the Lady Eboshi, and make sure he goes straight away!"

Kouroku stumbled from the comfort of the futon and hastily crossed to the door. "We'll find him, Toki my darling," Kouroku promised softly. "Don't vex y'self any further."

"Go on, y'great lump." Toki whispered, pausing to brush Kouroku's stubble-covered chin with her fingertips.

"Sit down and rest. I'll return home when we know more." Kouroku shut the door behind him, and jogged after the messenger. The journey to Eboshi's house was a short one, and soon a maid was showing the pair to Eboshi's chambers.

"My Lady," the messenger bowed, "I am sorry to disturb you."

"Forget the formalities. What is amiss?"

"Ashitaka's been missing since this morning." Kouroku broke in. "He went into the forest after a jackal, and that's the last anyone's seen of him."

"Some men tracked him, and found the jackal, dead." The messenger added. "They reported signs of battle and tracks of a large wolf, as well as hoof prints from his stallion. The stallion has also not returned."

Eboshi settled back into her blankets. "Then there's nothing more we can do for him."

The messenger and Kouroku stared at the regal woman, at a loss for words. Finally, Kouroku sputtered out "Nothing we can do-?" as the messenger cried "He might have been eaten-!"

"Wolf tracks, and I'll bet there were small human prints as well." Lady Eboshi reached for the handle of her pitcher of mead. The messenger quickly picked it up for her and poured the dark liquid into a wine glass. She accepted it with a nod and took a sip.

"The wolf girl has him now, I assume. He's safe, but unreachable."

Kouroku started, comprehension dawning on his face. "Mononoke-hime… Ashitaka called her San."

The messenger wasn't a native of Iron Town, and watched the exchange with a mystified expression on his face. "The Beast Princess?"

"A long, tiresome story." Eboshi took another sip from her glass of mead. "Perhaps, Juko, when a storytelling mood takes me, I'll tell you about the war between men and gods. As for now, however, I suggest that you not send any men out into that accursed forest to search for him."

"I am still confused as to why not, my Lady." Juko murmured respectfully.

"If my assumptions are correct, then Ashitaka is in the company of two lesser wolf-gods and a very fearsome woman who has fostered a hate for the human race for most of her life." Lady Eboshi said dryly. "I doubt a confrontation between our men and that group would end peaceably."

He looked alarmed. "And why would Ashitaka hold such company?"

Eboshi gave a small laugh, which turned into a dry cough. Taking another pull from her goblet, Eboshi glanced sardonically at the messenger. "Love makes a man do strange things. Take Kouroku, for instance. I assume that his charming wife Toki was the woman who persuaded him to leave home in such a rush that he forgot to change from his sleeping attire."

Kouroku gave a squawk of dismay as he realized that he was indeed clad only in an old tunic and a mawashi. "P-Pardon me, my Lady."

"I understand. Toki is probably pacing around at your home, and that cannot be good for her child. Please, go home to her. Thank you for bringing me this information, both of you. Juko, if anything new is discovered concerning our Lord Ashitaka, make it so that I am among the first informed."

"Yes, my Lady." Juko and Kouroku stood and bowed before exiting the chamber, Kouroku pulling down his tunic to cover himself more properly. Lady Eboshi smiled to herself before calling in one of her attendants.

"Yume, summon the head architect Gio for me. If our Ashitaka has gone missing, we must try to fill his place as best as we can. Gio can take over Lord Ashitaka's duties until his return."

The young attendant colored slightly as she spoke. "Do you expect the Lord Ashitaka to be missing for long?"

Eboshi drained her glass and set it by the pitcher. "For his sake, I rather hope so."

End Chapter

For your reading pleasure- a mawashi is that Japanese sort of apron-diper thingy that is kind of like an American whitey-tighty... I didn't find the actual name of the everyday kind off of the Internet, so I had to settle for the name of the diper thing that sumos wear. I thought that the difference wouldn't be too horrible.

I have been slacking off in my posting/writing/updatingness. I hope I am worthy of forgiveness. Thank you all for your reviews! They are wonderful.

Until next chapter (when that will be, I'm not sure…)
Pen