Chapter 19
The next morning, instead of dwelling on the seemingly-permanent departure of the Pevensies and the reoccurring nightmares of Lucifer and his knife, I took the time to get to know the two newcomers.
Arjuna was the one with a black tail, and now that I saw her in the morning light, I recognized her as a wolf who was in the Hunter's Division of the Narnian Army. She thrived in the deepest of the fight, keen of mind and sharp of sense. Her fighting skills were the stuff of legend in Narnia, which fitted with Archie's personality.
I might as well start with her. I found her at the top of the mountainous Den, looking out over the forest. "Arjuna. It's been quite a time since we fought together."
She turned to me. "It has indeed, Right Hand. From what I can gather, your fighting skills have only improved since we last met."
Her voice was raspy and harsh, but decidedly feminine. I realized her voice reminded me very much of Moro's, and I wondered what San would think of that.
"You've no idea, luv. So, what brought you here?"
She snorted. "Before we start with that, let me assure you of something: last night, Amalia and I didn't allow your brothers to take us as mates, so you can get that idea out of your head at once! Answering your question, it was several things, brother Wolf. The forest I was living in was too close to a noisy family of badgers, and this forest is quite to my liking. I wanted a challenge, and this seemed like a good chance of one. Also, Narnia had much too peaceful borders for my tastes."
I raised an eyebrow. "Righto, but you will have to settle humans now, not badgers."
She let out a chuckle. "Badgers were protected by the Pevensie rulers, not humans. I find humans easier to kill: more body mass, and more prone to fear! Most importantly, knowing a certain attractive male wolf made my choice obvious."
I laughed, and she turned to regard me fully. "I am glad you are a wolf now. You never seemed to comfortable in Cair Paravel, but your loyalty to the Four is as legendary as your martial skills. Being a wolf suits you, Right Hand."
I nodded, knowing she spoke the truth. Despite my adoration for the Pevensies, Cair Paravel had always been too confined for my tastes.
"Thanks, Huntress. I am honored to be one. Breakfast?"
She shook her comely head. "Thank you, but your brother and I already ate."
I frowned. "Speaking of which, where is he?" a massive form pushed me gently aside, it's white tail brushing teasingly along my nose on it's way by.
"Right here, little Brother."
I nodded, after I had stopped sneezing. "Right, I'll leave you to it then."
With that, I went over to Amalia, who looked up from her breakfast, and caught sight of me. "Salutations, Shadow. It has been a long time," She said.
I started, realizing that I knew her better than I had first thought.
She had a voice that was both gentle and smooth, a silky purr that I recognized instantly. "Specter! You never mentioned your real name was 'Amalia!'"
She and I had served together in several engagments, both of us in the Scouting Division of the Narnian Army.
Instead of our true names, we recieved names that would confuse the enemy. Mine was Shadow, ironically enough.
I remembered her as both stealthy and playful, a sly but intensely loyal creature who one could trust. The name 'Shadow' came from her masterful stealth skills.
Smiling, I bowed. "Amalia, we meet again. Sorry for not recognizing you earlier, and I'm chuffed to see you again. I hope I'm not cutting in?" I asked her and Tommy, who was sprawled next to her, the latter having just finished his own breakfast. "Not at all, Little Brother. Amalia was just informing me of your impressive exploits with her in that strange land."
Smiling, I placed a kiss on the female's head, and gave Tommy a scratch under the ears. "Amalia is too modest. I wouldn't as much done if it weren't for her and her fellow wolves."
Tommy lifted his head. "Our fellow wolves, Little Brother," he corrected sleepily.
I nodded, not in the mood to argue. "What's with the sleepiness, Brother?"
Amalia snorted, giving the wolf next to her a nudge with her snout. "We went on a hunt in the early morning, and this beast thought he could outrun me!"
Tommy muttered a few choice invectives, making Amalia and I laugh.
Just then, San emerged from the Den, and into the sunlight. She may have been smaller than me, but that made her no less an intimidating figure. It was a foolish man who considered himself her equal in combat and passion for the forest and her Pack.
She took the place of the couple at the top of the Den, and gestured to me with her head. Excusing myself, I joined her.
"They seem to fitting in well enough," I remarked, smiling at the two new couples.
"Yes, it is such a relief to have them here. But, despite their necessity, they'll need to earn their place, and my trust."
I nodded. "Oh, they will. I'll make sure of it."
We paused a moment to enjoy the warm spring morning, then she spoke again. "You were talking in your sleep, thrashing against yourself."
I swore. "A lot's been on my mind. If you want, I can sleep somewhere else."
Her hands gripped my forearms. "Don't. Remember when I had nightmares after Mother died, you comforted me? Let me do the same for you." I smiled slightly, and nodded.
The memory of her sobbing in my arms was something I couldn't easily forget.
"I wish the Pevensies could have stayed longer."
She nodded in return. "So do I, but they had their duties, and we have ours."
Just then, there was a rustling in the undergrowth about twenty yards from the Den, and out of the brush came lumbering a Panda Bear.
I drew my sword, as the rest of our Tribe joined us on the rock.
San shook her head at me. "Don't bother. He's from the Bear Tribe."
She turned back to the bear. "Stop! What do you want?" San called, as the beast approached.
The bear answered, which was a deep baritone with a gritty quality. "Lady of the Wolf Tribe, human poachers have attacked our mountain Den. I only just escaped to bring word, but I was told to so by my brother. Otherwise, I would have stayed behind to fight them."
San nodded, and turned to me. "See what you can find out. If you find them, get as much information out of them as you can before you kill them. I want to know who did this."
I nodded. "Sound's good to me."
San turned back to the bear. "My brother will help you. He will make sure that justice is done."
I approached the bear. "Lead the way," I said politely.
We traveled south into the mountainous region of the forests as fast as we could, and I realized that he was taking us past where our two battles with Eboshi had been fought.
During our journey, I took the time to get information out of the disraught bear. All I could get was that they used guns, so that ruled out Eboshi.
At least, I think it did.
I thought she had gotten rid of her guns, and I hoped that was true.
Relations between San and Eboshi were piss-poor as it was, and this would only make things worse...if they could get worse!
The Bear's Den was a small cave in the mountain range, and I saw that we had arrived too late. A roar from the bear, and the sight of a freshly-skinned bear corpse, compounded this realization.
The scene was quite bloody, and only served to get me to lose my rag. Looking at a newly-skinned creature can do that to a bloke.
Before I could ask the poor bear for more information, Michael spoke up. "I'll take you to them. They are not far off."
I turned to the disconsolate bear, and spoke: "I'll hunt them down, and I'll get to the bottom of this."
I walked back into the forest, and allowed Michael's power to put me where I needed to be.
The three poachers, loaded with their unearned trophy, didn't see the red colored man wearing a wolf-fur cape appearing behind them as they scurryied away from the scene of their crime, until the man spoke. "You stupid bastards!"
They whirled, struggling to prepare their gunpowder weapons to fire, but the first two fell dead seconds later, as throwing knives ended their lives. The one remaining looked at the two dead men on either side of him, then dropped his rifle, fear overcoming any idea of fighting back.
"Stay back! Please don't kill me!"
The hooded figure chuckled, his voice strangely-accented and dangerously calm. "Why shouldn't I, after the shite you just pulled?"
The man, Oksuto, a career hunter, frowned. "It was only a bear-"
The figure snorted, folding his muscled arms over his chest. "And you're only a bloke: a gutless, rat-faced bloke, who just bit off more than he can chew. Did you really think that you could actually get away with it?"
I raised my eyebrows, as the shaking man drew a small sword. "Stay back, I said, or I'll kill you!"
I sighed. "Oh, come off it! Do you really have to go there? This will make things worse for yourself. Then again, I can't just let you walk away. A question before I kill you: where did you get the gun?"
The man sneered, and picked up the rifle. "Die, murderer!"
Before he could fire, I ended his life with my sword.
"Sodding vultures!" I snarled at the dead men, retreiving my throwing knives.
They didn't deserve a burial, and I was content to let the creatures in this part of the forest take care of the bodies.
A statement needed to be made: poachers and hunters were unwelcome.
I looked down at the three men, and realized that without Aslan or Susan, I wouldn't have ended up so differently. That sent a cold shiver of disgust and fear down my spine, and I left the area with no hesitation.
After giving my regards to the poor bear, I allowed Michael to return me to the Den, carrying the bear-skin with me. The dead bear and the surviving bear had no use for it, but me and San would, especially in winter.
I also took the rifles with me, wanting to know where it came from.
Like I said before: if these were Eboshi's rifles, things would get complicated: San would want retribution, and whatever peace between the forest and Iron Town would be threatened.
"You were too late," San greeted, seeing the bear-skin.
"Nice to see you too."
San smirked, in spite of the situation.
But then, her smirk dissapeared at the sight of the three rifles, and she swelled up in fury, as she always did when thinking about a certain gun woman. "Eboshi! I should have figured."
I shrugged. "I'm going into the Town to find out just that. I suppose you want to come along, and pop in to give Ashitaka a visit?"
And that's just we did.
Leaving the two new recruits to guard the Den, both she and I rode our brothers to the front gates, leaving the two brothers to wait outside the walls, in case they were needed.
After a brief negotiation with the guards at the gates, they opened to allow us entrance.
Ignoring the villager's frightened and suspicious gazes, San entered Eboshi's house, as Eboshi gestured me to the porch, as she sat in a wooden chair, her sword next to her remaining hand.
"My Lady," I said, bowing. Peter and Edmund's lessons on chivalry were second nature to me by now.
She nodded, smiling slightly. My heart quickened at the sight of her crimson lips, and I had to force myself to look away from her lovely visage.
"What brings you here?" Eboshi's smooth voice wasn't helping me concentrate either.
Oh, Cripes, get a grip!
"San wanted to see Eboshi, and I need some answers."
With that, I opened the bear skin to reveal the three rifles. Eboshi's eyes narrowed, as I explained. "Three poachers attacked, killed, and skinned a mountain bear. I killed the mugs, and took their rifles. Are these yours, and were those men under your command?"
Eboshi sighed. "Yes to the first, and no to the second: I sold them those rifles, but I didn't give them any orders. It was not my concern what they did with them. I'm a business-woman, John, and I need the money to fund my new projects. I'm sure you can understand this."
I sighed, and let the rifles rest on the floor. "Yeah, I can. But San's the one I'm worried about."
Eboshi shrugged. "Her lack of education doesn't concern me half as much as her potential for violent behavior."
I leaned back against the wooden wall, and nodded. "I'll deal with it."
Eboshi returned the nod. "I have no doubt of that. I assume the children have left."
Eboshi instantly regretted asking this, as John seemed to sag, and the emotional pain became obvious on his face.
A few seconds later, the pain was replaced by practiced calm. "Yeah. They had to go back. They had things to do back where they're from."
Eboshi leaned forward, and laid her hand on the closer of his. "You will see them again."
Smiling, he took her hand, and laced his fingers with hers. "I know."
She released him a few seconds later, unwilling to go any further. "I see Ashitaka and your sister are getting along. Perhaps we can use them to form a lasting alliance between our two parties."
I grinned, and chuckled. "I don't see why not!"
While all this was going on, San sat next to a sleeping Ashitaka. His features were relaxed and peaceful.
Shyly, she laid a hand on his soft cheek, enjoying the warmth of his skin. She jumped as his eyes opened, and her heart quickened it's pace as he smiled.
"San," he said, his voice steady and deep, like a stream trickling over a stony bed of rocks. Ashitaka's voice was deep and steady, with a calming air about it.
John's was light and slightly more high-pitched, full of energy and wit.
"Ashitaka, are you getting better?"
He nodded. "Yes, San. I'll soon be on my feet. The doctors were astounded that I survived, which is thanks to that little girl and her magic drink."
San nodded. "Lucy healed you, but she has left with her three siblings. They had a kingdom to return to, I hear."
Ashitaka nodded. "I'm glad I got to thank them beforehand. How is John?"
"He's fine. He feels guilty about your condition."
Ashitaka shrugged. "It was not his wish to have harm come to me, so I do not blame him. Neither should you."
San nodded, now feeling foolish at doing so. "I know I shouldn't have, but it was hard not to. He was the reason you came, after all. But I don't blame him anymore," She added, before he could argue further.
"Good. Despite what he says, and what he does, I think he is a good man who loves you."
She nuzzled his cheek, smiling shyly when his breath hitched from the contact. "Then you and him aren't so different," she said, resting her head on his firm chest, feeling the warmth eminating from his body underneath his blankets.
He smelled different from most other humans she was used to smelling: except for John, all humans had the smell of sweat, iron, and gunpowder. John had always smelled of the Pack and blood, while Ashitaka smelled of the woods that surrounded them, a pure scent she wasn't used to.
It was now her favorite scent.
Outside, my conversation with Eboshi turned back to buisness. "She needs to understand that I am cooperating with her, but I need to make money too."
I shrugged. "I can talk to her, but you're playing a dangerous game, yeah?"
Eboshi snorted. "Both she and you have much in common: you are both dangerous killers, are of the same Tribe, and both of you have given me no end of trouble. I don't know why you have to be so difficult."
I smirked at her. "But I'm handsome, too! I'm sure you've noticed, yeah?"
She ignored that. "I also have another problem: a new rival is gaining strength in the East, and it will not be long before he starts interfering in my affairs."
I shrugged. "And the Wolf Tribe cares because..."
She narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Because, if they do, you can guarantee they'll start cutting into your forest. I suggest that you eliminate him before that happens."
I raised an eyebrow.
Point taken.
"If I do this, the wolves will want something in return."
Eboshi nodded. "In return, you wolves can have Ashitaka. As well-meaning and useful as he is, his heart is with that sister of yours. As popular as he is in this town, he yearns for her."
I glared at her. "Ashitaka isn't yours to order around, and neither am I!"
Eboshi remained calm, almost amused. "I never suggested anything of the sort. I am doing this to take care of loose ends. The fact is that, in helping me, you will be helping yourself as well. Wasn't it you who said that we can 'co-exist?' This seems like a good way to start, doesn't it?"
I thought for a long moment. Assassination was what I did best, and getting rid of a potential threat was all right by me.
San was not going to be happy, but she would understand...when I put it in a way that she could understand. The fact that she would be getting Ashitaka would sweeten the deal.
"Fine, I'll get rid of him. How I'm going to persuade San is another matter. I have more scars from our play-fights than I have from past battles!"
Eboshi laughed. "I wish you luck!"
Bitch!
Just then, I noticed that the sun was going over the mountains, disappearing into the horizon. We had been in this village for the whole afternoon.
Excusing myself, I entered Eboshi's house, and saw the couple lying in each other's arms. I felt a surge of affection and protectiveness, and I hated to interrupt, but I had to. Besides, I sensed that San was aware of my presence.
I cleared my throat, and joined them by the bedside.
Ashitaka's eyes opened and fixed on me. "John, you are quite welcome here."
I grinned, and patted him on the shoulder, as San shifted to make room for me. "Hello, mate! How are you, then?"
He reached out, and grasped my hand. My smile widened at the strength in his grip. "Very well, thanks to that little queen. I'm glad I got the chance to thank her. I will soon be able to return to work."
I nodded. "Good. She has her expertise. You'll be right as rain in no time."
Ashitaka nodded. "Tomorrow, I shall be back to work for Eboshi. I would have done so days ago, but the doctors insisted that I shouldn't. They are still in a great deal of surprise that I survived."
I nodded. "Lucy's cordial does have that affect on doctors. Just don't strain yourself, chum. Even the smallest of injuries can become a problem if rushed."
Ashitaka nodded. "Thank you. I would ask a favor of you."
I nodded. "I'm all ears."
"Wipe any self-blame you might be having on my account. What happened was that creature's doing, not yours."
I nodded, after a moment. "Thank you, Ashitaka. I needed that. Someday, I'll do the same thing for you that you did for me. I owe you that much."
With that, I turned to San. "We need to talk."
I was not looking forward to this!
