Foraging for mushrooms outside of the village had been their one escape from the eyes of the elders. The isolated ambience of the whispering fir trees ( togasawara;トガサワラ) only intensified the young pair's feelings.
"Kaya, we need to be careful. What if Michio comes looking?" Ashitaka squirmed beneath the beautiful Emishi girl. He was only half-hearted in his avoidance. She smelled so good. Like daikon and fresh split cedar.
"Aw, whatever happened to my brave Emishi prince? He seems to have been replaced with a fearful rabbit. Why are the gods so cruel?" Kaya tittered as she punctuated her words with wet contact on his neck.
Ashitaka hissed in response. He fought to keep his face from flushing as his stomach flipped, though not upset. There was warmth gathering in his core. His right arm found its way under his promised bride's cloak, coming dangerously close to her tunic's collar. There have been so many close calls recently.
It started in the spring. That was when Aunt Megumi had settled the engagement details between Ashitaka and Kaya. And while it was surprising how quickly the agreement had been made, the two were not strangers. The young prince had known Kaya since they were both quite small. They were Emishi after all.
No outsiders had crossed the northern forest wall in decades. But the village was beyond self-sustaining. There was plentiful game surrounding them, and the Emishi were all absurdly talented at gardening and raising some of the sweetest vegetables in the east. Ashitaka treasured his mother's roasted nagaimo (長芋), a treat worthy of all tastes, not just noble blood. And Kaya found new recipes for her beloved bamboo shoots seemingly every month. Last week, she insisted on a new recipe involving hollowing out the stalks and filling them with rice, beans, and fish sauce. The results were beyond successful, ensuring her own legend in the community.
Something had shifted in their friendship, which was already strong from its childhood forging. As soon as the engagement became set, Ashitaka and Kaya began looking at each other not as boy and girl, but man and woman. Once kindled, those feelings struggled to be contained. Their first kiss had been a laughable affair, at a small gathering at Kaya's when they were still very young. He had stoically thrust his head forward, causing quite the uncomfortable mashing of lips, that left noticeable bruising for days. Ashitaka had taken that embarrassment in stride, though. It was now a fond childhood memory.
As soon as summer had bloomed, the pair found more excuses to walk together, new small talk to make. They most certainly were not seeking hideaways from prying elder eyes where they could stoke something that had been bubbling for years, and that pot lid had only just lifted. She was voracious. He was cautious, stoic still. But he could never turn down the opportunity for their walks.
Kaya was incessant, her caresses and kisses becoming more insistent in tandem. She cooed aloud. They were now rolling beneath a black pine tree, ( kuromatsu; 黒松 ). Needles were surely coating his backside.
"Ashitaka, why are you so serious today? Just the other day, I could swear I caught you looking at my chest wrappings."
"Y-you intentionally let your robe slip as you left the riverbed!" Ashitaka could not keep the blush away from his cheeks. The whole of his toned body seemed to be in a state of gentle burning, his breathing increasing in intensity with each soft smack and brief touch from her.
Kaya gasped dramatically, "My promised husband, I am shocked at these accusations. You will apologize or else!" She rose from his embrace between the conifer roots.
Ashitaka froze, narrowing his eyes. "Or else what?"
She grinned as if she had finally won the game, her finger messing with her topknot. "Oooh. Now you've done it. You've challenged my honor in this most sacred forest. I will call upon the spirits to steal your strength, and then you'll be in my power for the rest of time."
"Kaya…"
"No. You will not change my mind. You have insulted me, your promised bride. You should be ashamed. You will be ashamed, after I'm done with you." Her hands dove inside his tunic, tickling his chest. Ashitaka fought the burst of laughter, but she was too wily.
"No. Please, I beg you. Kaya, we're going to be found out", he wheezed. She had tugged down his collar, and seized his arms, spreading them wide across the floor of pine needles. His right arm was trapped beneath her muscular legs. She was adjusting her position, aiming for supremacy in this duel.
And then her left hand made contact with the outside of his trousers. His very uncomfortable trousers. She touched him outside of his clothes, and his sharp intake of breath could have woken a giant.
Kaya's hand hovered there. Her pupils dilated. Her face softened, but her smile lost its mischief, opting instead for something much more devastating.
"Ashitaka…"
It was whispered like the most sacred of prayers. His heart stuttered to life in his chest. His head was swimming, he found himself suddenly overstimulated.
"Oh, Kaya…"
Her left hand gripped him. Her other hand guided his left hand to her chest.
"I'm not the only one with touching privileges, silly."
His throat felt dry, he was having difficulty passing a lump in his gullet. He glanced to the side away from her piercing gaze.
"I-I know that, Kaya."
Her hand maneuvered over him. The canvas in between creating a feeling of distance that was challenged by her face being inches away from his.
He focused on his breathing. He glanced back at her, his beautiful beloved. His right arm seized, he wanted so much to grip her equally as tight. What would be so wrong with that? It was no sin for promised ones to be this way. And his grandmother had been of no help with her constant talk of how his grandfather had pursued her as a young man into these very trees, like a mischievous monkey, she had described.
Kaya grew visibly impatient. Her hand removed his from her chest and shifted her position again.
"What are you-"
And then he found his hand was outside of her leggings. At the apex of her thighs. A spot of moisture was forming there. All he could hear was the sound of his beloved hitching her breath at his forced contact. She groaned, one of the most lovely sounds he had ever heard from her. Spirits, he loved her so much.
"Ashitaka, please. Touch me."
His heart couldn't take this. He let go. His right arm lifted her whole off the ground. She exclaimed, "Eep!" He squeezed her close to him, his tongue poking past her lips, which she graciously, lovingly accepted, entering her own into the slick conversation. A single groan permeated two bodies, vibrating the forest floor. His fingers massaged at the bridge of her leggings.
"My generous prince." She raised her hand so as to undo her topknot, her chestnut brown hair water-falling around her face.
Ashitaka was losing the thread, touching her where she asked. She was now rummaging her right hand in his own hair, while stroking him below the waist, as he was giving her what she wanted in return. The wind picked up through the spindly treetops, raining a shower of pine needles on the intertwined pair. He longed to strip off the layers separating their bodices and join her in her rapture. This friction between them was at the same time torturous and completely intoxicating.
Kaya mewled in surprise as his hand finally dipped inside her leggings, and sought out the source of her pleasure. In gleeful response, she rutted her hips into that hand, coating it in savory nectar. Not to be left behind, her own hand slid into the folded hem of his trousers.
All the noise in the surrounding forest faded, replaced by their reciprocal songs of teen-aged lust. Their lips separated, inhaling and exhaling their aerated pleasure, recycling each other as they touched. Kaya's hand was gripping the roots of Ashitaka's hair, tugging insistently at each swirl of his fingers below her waist. Ashitaka was maintaining eye contact with her, daring himself not to blink her out of sight.
Minutes flew as their rhythm ebbed and flowed, as the tides against the shore. Kaya keened and pleaded half phrases as she fought to keep pace with him. She first broke the kiss and licked his neck. Then she sucked with vigor at his pulse, bruising his tanned skin. In direct response, his kneading at her tenderness burst with energy, driving her pupils back into her head.
"Ashi-taka, I-I'm so cl-close I–"
At some point she had kicked off her sandals, he could feel her toes flex near his lower spine. Ashitaka's instinct overwhelmed him at that instant. He smoothly leaned past her face and lightly bit down on her left ear.
"Haaaa-" Kaya's whole body drew taut, arched backwards as much as his grip would allow. She looked like a bow, ready to be strung. She silently held in place for so long. His mind raced, wondering if he had hurt her. In her rapture, her grip had relinquished his young master.
Her body shone in the dappled sunlight; the accumulated sweat bright like tiny stars upon her skin. She resembled a statue of a goddess of passion at that moment. His heart clenched inwardly and Ashitaka groaned against her cheek.
After a beat, she whimpered a sinfully loud sigh. Her body melted into his strength. He breathed out, then in, cradling her between his shoulders. He closed his eyes. He withdrew his hand. The scent of pine resin and Kaya coating his hand overtook him in the darkness.
Kaya whispered dreamily, "Ashitaka, what about you?"
Ashitaka awoke alone in the hut. His pants were drawn tight around his groin. A line of tears trailing down the right side of his face.
The river way burbled pleasantly as San and Ashitaka unspooled the thread he had brought with them. He had insisted on teaching her to fish the same way he was back in the village. San had taken the challenge with as much grace as expected. Initially, she longed to impress him with her abilities, but as soon as she was handed the hook and waxy thread, she became frustrated. Ashitaka encouraged her to take it slowly, but she was having trouble with the snood knot. Unused to the delicate, small motions the process needed to pass painlessly, San found herself poked endlessly by the hook.
Ashitaka carefully offered his hand and received a dark glare in response. San was furious, nursing her freshly stabbed digits.
"This was just one of your vile human tricks, wasn't it?", she growled ominously.
Ashitaka worked to suppress a smile. "San, I swear to you that was not my intent. Please let me help and show you how to wrap carefully."
The wolf princess huffed loudly, and shoved the hook and thread into his hands. He barely escaped without stabbing his own fingers. He paused mid-loop and reached out to her, arms outstretched.
Another glare. Though she did slowly settle between his arms. He kept her in a hug. San was not one for wasting time or movement by sitting still, though, and she wiggled free. She was mildly uncomfortable with the concept of human contact, even with him, the one human she clearly hated the least. That was, outside of her own amorous wants with him.
"Why can't I just have my brothers leap in and grab our fish already? It would be done in no time."
Ashitaka sighed. "San, part of the reason human fishing works is the time spent on it. We choose to sit and be patient, hoping for the best. And with company, the time is well spent. At least, that's my looking at it."
San snorted, picking her nose with her pinky. She grumbled something about humans and wasting time.
Ashitaka finally set the line and launched the hook into the stream, finally drawing the attention of the fickle wolf princess. She eyed the cork float, painted whiter than foam, that marked the hook's location with interest, the idle motion almost hypnotizing her. She snuggled close to Ashitaka, her eye-line never leaving the bobbing cork as though a cat eyeing a mousy morsel. Odd behavior considering her upbringing, but perhaps all animals share some similar behavior in the greater run, he theorized.
They sat there, Ashitaka enjoying her currently gentle attention elsewhere, San content for the moment with his company and both appreciating the gentle flow of the waters surrounding. After an hour, they had netted two pair of mullet ( bora; 鯔 ) and starred snapper ( fuedai; 笛鯛 ), San having pulled in all the bounty, she was ready to declare to Ashitaka. He accepted her boast, and was about to kick back and perhaps nap while she set the hook and line this time.
As he laid his head on the gravel, the dream of Kaya reared its presence again. He had not thought of his bride back in the village of his rearing in over a year. Since he had made it to Tataraba, his thoughts had been centered on the people here; San, her brothers, Eboshi, Toki and her family, the deities, and the residents of Tataraba. Kaya had been his only prospect for a happy life before the demonic curse ran into his village and changed his course forever. When he left the village, the thought of partners and future intimacy had all but vanished. After all, he was fairly certain he was going to die before long, and Kaya was so far behind him.
And now suddenly there were two paths before him. Three? It was hard to tell most days. Ashitaka stared at San, herself occupied with the bobbing cork, determining its behavior from afar. His stomach gurgled, rousing him from reminiscence. Maybe a bite to eat would settle his thoughts.
Ashitaka stoked a small fire farther downstream, waiting for the wind to come to him before grilling the snapper over fresh coals, of course prepared in a small amount of oil and salt. Toki had also sent him into the woods knowing his plans with a small pot of her famous fish sauce, which Ashitaka found delightful. In 15 minutes, he returned to San with a fine spread of grilled fish with dipping sauce. She was apparently also starved for attention, near ripping the wooden plate out of his hand and surely burning the roof of her mouth in the process of devouring the sacrificed creature.
"San, easy! Save half for the sauce Toki sent with me."
San chewed noisily, mouth open. Luckily, some morsels were still there for dipping, and Ashitaka proffered the pot to her.
She glanced at him, mouth still filled with ground grilled fish. "To-Ki. That's the cookie woman? The one who spoils me with the tasty stuff?", practically burping out the words.
Ashitaka snorted aloud. "You mean spoils me and you proceed to steal said spoils from my plate, as you're no doubt going to momentarily."
San shrugged, wiping her mouth and picking at her teeth with her fingernail. "Warm food should not go to waste, and you eat so slow. No wonder humans so easily die off. You take so damn long to eat, beasts have all the time in the world to sneak up and kill you. But not me!" She belched and moved to hover over his plate, which still had plenty of perfectly charred meat, savoring the hunt.
"Ah ah ah, you still have food. Finish your plate and we shall see about potential seconds. Try the sauce. Toki makes it special every time." He again offered her the pot.
San pouted. Grumbling, she accepted the pot, lifting the lid. The spices, soy, and scallion scents overrode her grouchiness immediately, drool coursing over her tongue into the pot. She quickly collected her morsels and shoved them, fingers included, into Toki's concoction. She slurped the contents greedily, and made her compliments known with every not quite verbal sound of approval Ashitaka had as yet cataloged in their amblings.
Ashitaka paused over his meal. His thoughts were suddenly alight with the final moments of last night. His measured walk with Eboshi, the stalled confrontation in his hut, and the fraught ending of it all. He cast his thoughts to the mistress of Tataraba who clearly wanted more from him than he had earlier expected to give. He felt San ought to know. But how to approach?
"Why you look so stupid right now?", San prompted, mouth still full.
Ashitaka took that one in stride. He blinked, and looked to San, her eyes moving from his face to his plate.
"Is the food bad for you? Demons in your guts?" She looked as close to concerned as one preoccupied with eating at the moment could, he supposed.
He sighed openly. "No San, my thoughts are elsewhere. I apologize."
San's eyebrows furrowed. She wiped some sauce from her face, licking her fingers as they passed. "But where are they now? Why not with that nice looking fish that looks lonely without sauce outside of your belly?" Again, one track mind at meals. Bless this girl that he has given his away time.
Ashitaka took a moment to plan the talk ahead. He set the plate down, prompting San to place the sauce pot down, with lid intact, as well. He swallowed his hesitation and moved toward San on all fours.
She met him in the same formation, tilting her head at an angle, not really attempting to puzzle a conclusion for herself but prompting him to be open. He could deal with that.
"San, I had a talk with Lady Eboshi last night. We had a tense exchange at my place."
San's mood immediately soured, the calm and serenity food had gifted her traded for raw venom that made itself apparent quickly. "That wicked woman. What does she want with you? Does she resent you for seeing me today instead of continuing to build her vile, stinking human forest?" She reached for the crystal dagger at her neck, something to do with her hands besides clench into oblivion.
Ashitaka sighed and elaborated. "No, San. Not at all. She was more than willing to let me go and see you. Actually, we talked about you in a way." It wasn't a total misrepresentation, as the awkward conversation was prompted by San's existence in his orbit. His eyes paused over the crystal dagger necklace, yet another reminder of the girl he had to abandon when he was cursed by Nago, the demon boar. He winced, sniffling in order to smother the tears that sought exit at the memory.
"In a way? What do you mean? Does she badger you for my weaknesses?" A cheeky smile grew on her face at this. "Well tough! She's not you and she's certainly never going to touch me like you do while we're out here, so she's shit out as the people say." She guffawed in her way, startling a pair of gray herons across stream into premature flight.
Ashitaka allowed himself a brief smile. She was still San. "That's shit out of luck, wolf princess."
She flashed her teeth in victory, pointing at him in castigation. "Whatever, boy prince. The wolf language is superior to yours and so much simpler too. You humans always complicate things when you don't need to. For starters." San moved into his reach, gifting glancing touches to his shoulders. She stared him in the eye. Ashitaka gulped. She moved even closer. Her forearm draped onto his back.
Time slowed. He was lost in her eyes. Her feral, brown as the fallen wood eyes. There was so much he had yet to discover in those eyes. Six months on and off was not nearly enough to delve into her person. They had barely gotten to know each other as of yet. He felt he knew little more than he did when he camped on Moro's lookout one year ago.
San licked her lips, and promptly dropped half of his fish into her mouth.
Ashitaka lightly bonked her on the head with the bottom of his fist. "You cheap beast. Just for that, you get to clean up."
"Ouch. Or I would say so if you weren't so weak for a human." San stuck out her tongue and grinned, beyond satisfied and just brimming with glee. She set to gathering the scraps and licking the plates clean, as she was wont to do.
Ashitaka sighed and recomposed himself. "San. Eboshi wants something of me. I'm not sure how or if I can meet her in the middle. I think that she ..."
San did not stop at her 'cleaning', merely snorting in response.
"I mean, San, she is beyond my abilities to handle. She looked at me with something in her eyes last night. I'm unsure what to do, because I care so deeply for you." Ashitaka tried to keep himself from pleading, but found himself losing that internal battle.
Thankfully, San had finished 'cleaning the plates' and had a response ready. "What, the witch wants to mate with you? Is she in heat already? Didn't know she had any such feelings in her. Maybe all that human weirdness was wrapped up in that arm she lost. Perhaps a bit of Moro got into her with the final bite?" San began to laugh. "Moro rarely found herself in such a mood, but oh the one time she came down with it when I was a scrawny pup, what terrors she gave us all."
Ashitaka knew not what to make of San's mirth at this revelation. He was stumped, to make it plain. The most prominent hitch in the whole of the problem was that San and Eboshi hated each other, they had since San was a child. And San didn't seem like one who would willingly share her toys, less so her love, with someone she so reviled. San had not forgiven Lady Eboshi for the death of Moro and the Shishigami. Which made her current reaction all the more disorienting for Ashitaka.
Ashitaka didn't think it was impossible to love more than one person at a time. That said, it would be difficult to convince others, especially women in human society, that it could be done and with respect for all involved. The crux of success would be on him though, the shared unit among them. He had no viable experience in romance outside of brief moments with Kaya, and a weekend here and there with San. He believed in the healing power of empathy and care, but that would only go so far to heal ashen, salted fields. Ashitaka frowned.
"What's wrong boy prince? Are you just a little lonesome without your powerful wolf princess to provide you with licks and human kisses?" San was standing over him again, a smug grin on her lips. And this time it wasn't food she was craving. He was used to this, within a few minutes of pigging out on the food he provided, her affections would outflank her bestial instincts and coat him in the residue. Part of her atypical metabolism, in all probability.
Ashitaka sighed, completely defeated. He could not best these troubles at this moment, loathe as he was to drop the issue, but there was no getting thoughtful conversation out of wolf princess at this point in the day.
San towered over the seated prince. Her eyes were hooded with that mischief that he was dreaming of just this morning. She pushed him backwards onto the gravel, straddling his waist. San was still mostly unfamiliar with human ways of affection, but that did absolutely nothing to stop her from showering him in whatever she felt like, whenever the mood struck her. She was downright purring in the moment.
San started by pawing at his face. Not caressing as most human women would opt for. She rubbed her hands gracelessly over his jaw and forehead, a confusing approach for romantic asides. Ashitaka was always game for her stumblings, patient as could be, but today he felt up to keep playing the teacher.
"San. I find you fascinating and beautiful always. Can I make a suggestion?" His words were soft, and humble, the accompanying smile the same.
That canine head tilt again, the wolf princess puzzled, but not opposed.
Ashitaka took hold of her hands and moved them behind his torso, below his shoulders. He then instructed, "Move your hands as if you were petting a pup. Or lightly scratching your brothers along the spine." San did so, and he moved to her neck, pressing butterfly kisses into her neckline. San growled happily.
He massaged her shoulder blades, prompting flexes in response to his minute machinations. She was so lithe, but her active life in the wilds had poured her into musculature that could rival a career soldier, which in a way, she was. Moro had indoctrinated her poor, ugly, lovely daughter into the force that defended the forests around from San's own wretched kind. He thought of her absurd stamina as he brushed his hands down her flexing spine. San panted with glee at being touched, Ashitaka had found in previous post-meal dalliances. Loath as she was to be handled by any of humanity, she responded to his first cautious caress with eagerness that had thrown Ashitaka off his approach. But his mothers had not raised him to live in fear, so he dove into these new activities to equal his partner's enthusiasm.
His hands made contact with the pouting muscle of her butt and he reflexively squeezed. The wolf princess stopped her routine and grabbed his face between her elbows, his cheeks pressed so he resembled a snapper such as they had just eaten. Her smile was almost maniacal, a line of drool making its way out of the corner of her maw. She licked her lips, lowering her face until she was all he could see without struggling. A single snarl overtaking him from her lips.
"Take it off."
Ashitaka nodded. San released her captive. He worked at untying his top, a momentary delay in their ritual. As the top fell to the side, San wasted no time splaying her hands across his chest. Her calluses made the action a singular sensation. Starting at his navel, she swooped her hands up and down the abdominals, eventually making it to his pectorals, heaving and at attention. She lowered her mouth to envelop his nipple. He whimpered. She was so wild, but unbelievably tender in quiet moments. But no pacifist. Making eye contact, she raised up and bit down. It was a small pain, but one that trailed pleasing aftershocks in the moment. He bucked his hips, her straddle bouncing in response. She made off with her furs and skins, revealing herself in full to him. She was so beautiful. He had no other words. He had thought so since he had seen her across this same waterway, face streaked in a wolf god's blood.
The sun had just dipped behind the topmost canopy. San snored lightly beside Ashitaka, both still atop the gravel of the riverbed.
"San," Ashitaka murmured.
She grunted in response.
He continued breathing, taking in the great blue sky with its cottony cloud attendants. He wet his lips, dry after their session at river's edge.
"San."
"Shut up, boy prince. Your worries ruin my daytime bliss."
Ashitaka failed to suppress a frown. He returned his attention to the sky. His mind coming down from love and back to the dirty, unsafe world filled with beasts and the evils of men. The river continued its burbling, cheerfully opposing his dark thoughts. In the distance, he could make out the pebbled footsteps of San's brothers, making their way to retrieve her. Ashitaka closed his eyes, but he reached out and intertwined his hand with San's. She tightened her grip. Her pulse was a comfort as he listened to the world move around them.