Prince of the Spirits

by bricann

Ancient gods protect the Forest of Life. And one human was taken in as their own. A bit less than a century later, the now humanoid spirit was forced to a human city. He had to learn to blend in. But he also had to keep the truth about him a secret. A secret which he kept from everyone. But eventually, secrets are forced to come out. And in the end, he will have to say goodbye.

16. Coming

A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR PRINCESS MONONOKE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE CREATORS! THE ONLY THING I OWN ARE MY OCS!

Chapter 15: Coming

Akiza, Jack, Crow, and the twins waited for what felt like hours. Suddenly, they turned as Tsukiko ran up, covered in blood but okay for the most part.

"Tsukiko!" Akiza called.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked.

"I'm fine," she answered. "But I need your help getting to Yusei and Okkoto. Yusei is trying to lead Okkoto to the Forest Spirit to help him. But I fear Eboshi and her men are not far behind."

"Can you carry all of us?" Crow asked.

"No, I can only take one of you," Tsukiko answered. "Akiza, you have powers, correct? Mother and Yusei mentioned it." She nodded. "We may need them. Come with me."

"Akiza, you need to let us come with you," Jack told her.

"I can't," Akiza answered. "It's not like you guys can catch up with Tsukiko and we need to help Yusei. If Tsukiko wants me, I'm going. But we can't force her to carry more than one." She got on the wolf, with a bit of help from her.

"Akiza, are you sure?" Leo asked.

"I'm sure," she answered. "I'll be back with Yusei as soon as we find him."

"In the meantime, stay in the cave," Tsukiko ordered. "If anything wrong happens with the Forest Spirit, you need to stay clear of him. For all we know, he could try to kill everything in sight."

"Right," they agreed nervously. Tsukiko and Akiza quickly took off while the others went into the cave.

. . .

Yusei was helping Okkoto towards the Realm of the Forest Spirit. But the boar god was extremely weak and wounded. He could barely even walk.

Yusei told the boar gently, "We're almost to the pool of the Forest Spirit. Just a little farther. Keep going."

Haru and Yusei paused as they heard something. Okkoto suddenly slipped on the rocks and began to fall. Yusei tried to catch him but was thrown a bit and landed against the rocks hard. They heard the noise again. But it was louder.

"Okay, what was that?" Yusei wondered in a whisper. He hurried to the lord of the boar tribe. "Lord Okkoto, something's wrong. We have to keep moving."

Haru came by Yusei's side glaring while Yusei looked in the same direction. The wolf stated, "Something's out there."

"But what? There's so much blood in the air, I can't smell it," Yusei commented. Suddenly, tree branches began to come down from above them. They flipped up and Yusei called, "I should've known it was you!"

The lead ape yelled, "You did this! Because of you, the Forest will die!"

"You're wrong!" Yusei argued and smacked away a branch. "We've all been fighting to save it. This is the thanks you give us?!"

"You bring bad things," the leader retorted. "Bad things come in neither human nor animal."

"What do you mean 'bad things come in neither human nor animal'?" Yusei asked. He flipped as mice began scurrying away in fright.

The apes called, "They're coming! It's the end for us!" They hurried away.

Yusei glared in the direction the mice were coming from while Haru growled in anger. Both of them were tense and ready for anything. They looked a bit closer in the distance to see a bunch of boars appear from behind the rocks. But the boars there were only skins.

Okkoto then began to smell them. "They've come back…" Yusei looked at him in alarm. "My warriors!" The boar began to get up. "They've come back to me from the land of the dead!" He gave a calling. "Forward my warriors!"

"Lord Okkoto, listen!" Yusei called but the boar wasn't. He began to walk towards the Realm of the Forest Spirit. The wolf and human growled a bit as the disguised humans hurried to follow Okkoto. Yusei hurried to try to stop the leading boar, having to run to keep up with the boar. "No, Lord Okkoto! Your warriors haven't come back to you!" He looked back to see the disguised creatures approaching and following. "Those are humans wearing the skins of your warriors! To hide their scent! It's a trick!" The boar continued to hurry to the Forest Spirit. "Don't you understand?! It's just a human trick to get us to lead them to the Forest Spirit!" Yusei had to pause for a moment as the boar lord rammed through a boulder. But the Prince of the Spirits quickly caught up.

Okkoto called, "Come out, Forest Spirit! If you are truly master here, give my warrior the power to slay the humans! And be victorious!"

"Stop, Lord Okkoto!" Yusei tried again. "Please! You got to listen!"

"Yusei!" Haru called. Yusei then noticed how the boars surrounded them now. "They're all around us. Lord Okkoto's done for. Leave him!"

"No!" Yusei refused. "I won't let him turn into a demon like Nago did! Tell Mother that the humans are setting a trap for the Forest Spirit. She'll know what to do." Yusei flinched back a bit as Okkoto ran through another rock and branches. "You have to hurry, or it could mean the end for all of us!" Haru got a bit closer. Yusei scratched his head and bit and urged again, "Go on, now." Haru turned and jumped over the disguises and hurried towards finding his mother.

They came to a small dip in the hill when Okkoto fell weakly. The disguised humans surrounded them and Yusei grabbed his spear, getting ready to defend the hurt boar. He watched all of them carefully. The humans approached slowly and cautiously. Yusei immediately threatened them to stay back. He heard a howl from Tsukiko.

"Akiza…?" he whispered. That's when Okkoto cried out in pain, spitting blood up. Yusei flipped over the giant boar and slashed at the humans to get them clear.

Okkoto whispered in agony, "I burn… The flames growing inside of me…"

Yusei flipped to see dark, blood red growth began sprouting all over Okkoto. He immediately began to try to get them off, telling the boar god, "Fight it! Don't let yourself become a demon!" That's when a large rock hit his head and he was knocked out.

. . .

Akiza and Tsukiko heard another howl as they stood on top of a cliff. "Is it Yusei?" the Signer asked the wolf.

"He's in danger," Tsukiko answered.

"Let's go then!" Akiza stated. She got back on the wolf and they hurried off.

. . .

Yusei began to wake up, only to struggle as he was being carried by Okkoto, trapped by the growth on the boar. Eventually, it surrounded almost all of him, save a foot.

"Lord Okkoto! Stop!" he called. But the boar didn't and got up, continuing to walk towards the Forest Spirit.

. . .

Akiza caught sight of a woman in front of a line of men with guns. In four men's hands was a crate of some sort. Akiza had a feeling that it was for the Forest Spirit's head.

They paused for a moment as they were fired at. They looked at Akiza. The woman greeted, "So there's a wolf girl, too, now, huh?" She laughed. "Did the Prince of the Spirits get you to join him, too?"

"No!" Akiza answered. "He's a friend from when he stayed at a human city, though. But I'm here to help him. But I'm guessing you're Eboshi that they keep talking about."

The woman laughed. "I see my reputation precedes me. What is it that you want?"

"Forget about the Forest Spirit! Its head and blood will not give you immortality! It will only curse you and kill you!" Akiza told him. "There are better things to go after than this! After all, I honestly want for the Forest and humans to live together in peace." She looked at the wolf. "If she's smart, she'll listen. But right now, let's get to Yusei." The wolf took off fast.

They reached the Realm of the Forest Spirit. Akiza got off the wolf. She looked up to see the moon nearly being the time of night that the change would happen.