Princess Mononoke Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Silent Prince, Perfect Collection 1 ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8

Genji and Yume limped their way through the fields of grass until they happened upon a concrete road. Genji sighed in relief.

This is sure to take us to a town.

They followed the road until they saw tall buildings in the distance. The foul smell of smog found their noses.

"The air's not very clean…" Yume coughed, then snorted a rough sneeze. "I feel homesick already."

**I just feel sick.** Genji commented, pinching his nose. **The chemicals here may kill me before my demon scar does. Well, we need to find an inn…**

A road sign told them that the city was called Pare. The whole suburb was bustling as though it was a Saturday night. The sidewalks were crowded with people, the streets were plugged with traffic, and the air was thick with voices, car horns, and of course smog.

Genji looked for a place for Yume and he to rest. Unfortunately, none of the inns or motels would let him have a room. Most called security while others just turned him down before he could reach the front desk. Was it because of his wolf? Was it because of his outfit? He noticed that a lot of the people were staring at him as he and Yume paced up the streets for a place to rest. He even had a bad encounter with a police officer…but managed to convince the officer that Yume was safe to have in public without a leash.

It's all because I'm an outsider, isn't it? Genji growled to himself. My God…everybody wasn't kidding me when they said the outside world wouldn't be very friendly…we might as well forget about a roof over our heads tonight. We can camp on the city outskirts…

"Hey! Weirdo with the wolf!"

Genji looked up to see a strange man waving at him. The man was wearing green and brown robes, and his head appeared to be encased in a saber-tooth tiger skull. The large tusks framed his face perfectly, and hid most of his hair. Yume took a sniff of the air around the man, and relaxed. The tiger priest put his fists on his hips and grinned.

"Oh, the tiger clan!" she identified. "Maybe he can help us!" Genji sighed in relief. Tigers were allies with wolves. So, he decided to talk to the man.

"Now why is a wolf god and a man dressed like a priestess doing all the way out here?" he wondered with a friendly smile. Genji blushed at the priestess remark while Yume did the talking.

"We're traveling to the east." She explained. "And we're tired and hungry…and we were attacked by snake priests!"

"You came from the fields?!" the priest gasped. "Oh man! I can't believe you're not dead! Please, come in! We'll give you whatever you need." Genji followed his gaze with the man's gesturing hand. He was indicating to an abandoned firehouse with a painted banner that read "Temple of the Tiger Gods." Genji nodded his thanks to the priest.

"Thank you!" Yume barked in appreciation.

"Hey, anything for a fellow god. By the way, the names Miyamori Ryusaku. Everyone calls me Ryu. How about your names?"

"My name is Yume." The wolf introduced as she panted. "And this is Genji." Genji bowed in greeting.

"Well, come on in." Ryu invited. "Let's get you two rested up."

/|\

Genji and Yume were given first class Mononoke treatment. Their wounds were cleaned, and the more serious bites were bandaged. They were also given plenty to eat and drink. While Yume gulped down water from a huge bowl, Genji and Ryu were sharing cups of ramen from a huge, steaming bowl the size of a kitchen sink. They were half way done with the bowl when Ryu filled up, but Genji kept scooping noodles from the bowl with his chopsticks and putting them in his cup.

"Genji, huh?" Ryu wondered, watching the boy slurping noodles into his mouth. "You're pretty quiet. Why not start up a conversation? Hey, why so far away from home, Genji?" Genji looked up at Ryu with concern. The boy patted his throat and shook his head. Ryu seemed to get the message.

"Can't talk? Man, that's gotta be hard."

Genji shrugged at Ryu. It wasn't all that hard.

"Is that why you couldn't find a room? Can't tell anyone what you want?"

Genji shook his head, and took out a slip of paper from a fold in his shirt. It read:

"Hello,

My name is Genji DragonLore. I would like a room for me and my wolf please.

Thank you."

"I guess there's no room for Yume in a motel." Ryu scratched his head. "Or they refused service because you look like a weirdo with your mask and fur on."

Genji held up two fingers and nodded. Both reasons were correct. Ryu frowned.

"So, out with it. What are you two doing so far away from your mountain?"

Genji looked to his wolf.

**Yume, can you answer him please?**

Yume lifted her muzzle out of her bowl and licked her lips before talking.

"Well, what happened was something like this…" Then she launched into the story so far. The tale attracted other tiger priests to listen in, and the crowd started to grow with each event told. Not just priests gathered, but other people sheltered at the temple were appearing. As soon as she was finished, most of the temple staff had assembled. Yume was quick to notice this, and she lowered her head to the ground, covering her nose with her paws.

"Too many people…" she whimpered. Genji wrote a quick note to Ryu.

"She's nervous around huge crowds."

"C'mon guys, back to work." Ryu shooed the crowd away. Most of them left. One tiger priestess refilled Yume's bowl of water while a man joined Genji and Ryu to finish off the rest of the ramen. The bowl was almost empty, and Genji was eating most of it. He paused a moment to look at the man joining him and Ryu. The man was wearing a purple business suit, with an undone tie looped behind his neck. He also had a mean, wrinkled face and big lips, making him look like a peach colored frog. Genji felt as though he had seen the man before.

"Mind if I share, gentlemen?" the man asked, pointing his chopsticks at the bowl of ramen. Genji shrugged in acceptance and Ryu nodded. The man scooped up a thick mess of juicy noodles and dropped them into his noodle cup. Then, he looked up at Genji.

"A fascinating story. You may be mute boy, but I bet you have a lot to say. Is there anything your wolf left out?"

Genji shook his head, not thinking of anything.

"How about where you're going?" Ryu asked. "Neither of you said where exactly you're going to find that cure."

Genji and Yume looked at each other.

**What do I say?**

**Might as well tell them, Genji.**

Genji nodded, and scribbled down his response on a new piece of paper.

"To the Emishi wise woman to the east."

Ryu panicked.

"What?! To the ravens?! Are you crazy?!"

"We're desperate!" Yume growled at him. "We don't have a choice!"

"Those birds could kill you, boy." The new man reasoned. "They aren't worth it. Didn't that woman give you that new drug they released a while back? Hemosyrim, I believe it's called…it treats that deadly heart virus that has been going around."

"That's not what he has." Ryu shook his head. The man's unknown identity was starting to bug Genji, so he tugged on the sleeve of Ryu's robe and pointed at the man. "Oh!" Ryu exclaimed. "I thought you recognized him by now! Genji, this is Dr. Yoto Nezu, a Mononoke supporter."

"Hello, Genji." Nezu chuckled, extending his hand. Genji quickly shook his hands, and wrote a message to the man.

"I have seen you before! You were on a TV special about Cell."

"So, they have television on Singing Mountain now?" Nezu wondered with a smile. "Well, much seems to have changed since my last visit."

"Dr. Nezu is a researcher who travels all over the world." Ryu explained to Genji. "He does TV spots on all sorts of things. But he doesn't report on us Mononoke out of respect. See, some of his family members are Mononoke."

"But I decided to be a biotechnology engineer instead of a priest." Nezu continued. "I prefer to study life, rather than worship it. Which reminds me, Genji," the boy looked up as he sucked noodles into his mouth, "how did you survive your attack with the snake priests? Can you give me details as of what happened?" Before Genji could write down the response… "You can speak the language of the Gods, right? So can I. Just look into my eyes and tell me everything."

So, Genji looked Nezu in the eyes and recalled everything he could about the attack. Ryu looked cross at the exchange.

"It sucks that only they can hear it…" he growled. "I dunno how that God language thing works at all…"

When Genji finished, Nezu went into deep thought.

"They all shouted 'Seru?' Interesting…"

"Seru?" Ryu blinked. "Isn't that the Japanese pronunciation of 'Cell?' "

"Yes." Nezu nodded. "It is."

**But why would they say that?** Genji asked. **Cell died a long time ago. Why should he matter to them now?**

"I remember something I heard from the dragon tribe." Nezu began, taking what little ramen remained from Genji's thieving. "They said a monster called Seru attacked a small band of the snake tribe. The priests fought fiercely and bravely, but all of them were killed, sucked away by the monster's deadly tail. They claimed this Seru was send by one of the gods to wipe out the snake tribe. I guess they still think Cell is at large, which is why snake priests are nomadic and have no definite territory."

"Whoa." Ryu gasped. "That's amazing, Dr. Nezu! I didn't know any of that! But why did they call out Cell's name as they ran away from Genji?"

"I think it may have been his eyes."

Genji blinked a few times.

**My eyes? What about them?**

"You've never noticed, Genji?" Nezu asked. "Cell had the same color eyes you did. A lucky coincidence, don't you think?"

Genji flinched at the news. He never thought of that! He did get teased sometimes for his "girlie-pink eyes," but no one had ever thought.

My God…having the same color eyes as the infamous Cell…

Ryu looked into Genji's eyes to see for himself, then looked away in disinterest.

"I wouldn't know." He muttered, picking up the empty ramen bowl. "I've never seen Cell in my life. Well, I'll do the dishes. Genji, you and Yume can go into your room and sleep now, if you want."

"Okay." Yume yipped happily as she got up and shook her fur. "I'm very sleepy."

"Oh, and Genji…" Nezu stopped Genji as the boy stood up. "Before you retire, I have a few things that may help you on your quest. I wouldn't mind giving them to you. If you'll come with me, please." Nezu began walking away. Genji turned to Yume.

**Go on to our room. I'll be there in a moment.**

"Okay." Yume agreed. Genji walked away, following Nezu.

/|\

Each of the temple inn rooms only had a bed and a circular tea table. A candle lighted each room as well. That was all, simple and spacious, mostly to make room for any gods. The rooms of the temple were being repainted from their dull white. Some of the finished rooms were decorated with wall paintings of forests and jungles.

Nezu had a painted room of a tropical jungle. It was also a bare bone room with one bed, one tea table, and a candle. Most of his lab equipment was neatly packed next to the wall and computer equipment was plugged into another wall. Nezu dug through his things as Genji waited by the door.

"Aha!" Nezu cried suddenly, making Genji flinch. "Here it is!" He took out a thickly folded sheet of paper as thick as a paperback novel. "No traveler can go anywhere without some kind of map." He unfolded the paper and showed Genji a long, highly detailed map of the Japanese and Chinese provinces. There were dots to point out cities and towns, and lots of colorful lines that represented roads. Nezu had written on the map with red ink, identifying territories of different Mononoke tribes in the area. There was a road he created with a thick black line that seemed to move away from the other map roads.

"This is a map of the Ashitaka trail." Nezu explained, pointing to the black line. "It's the exact route the Ashitaka took, step by step, to Singing Mountain from his Emishi village. It'll take you straight to the ravens in China."

**China? But aren't the Emishi a Japanese tribe?**

"Well, yes…" Nezu grinned, "…you see, China bought more land from Japan five years ago, and the Emishi territory was part of the purchase. Last I heard, the Emishi are doing well under Chinese protection."

Genji nodded in understanding. Nezu folded the map back up, and handed it to Genji.

"One other thing." Nezu offered. He went back to his supplies, and fished out a strange looking short sword. He came back to Genji and showed it to the boy. The sword was in a sheathe, had a cloth wrapped hilt, and the very end of the handle sported a ring that Genji could easily stick two fingers in. Genji frowned.

**I don't think I can fight with that.** he argued. **I'm not very good with melee combat.**

"Oh no, you don't fight with it." Nezu shook his head. "It's much to valuable to use. This, my boy, is Ashitaka's sword." Genji then marveled at the weapon. The piece of trash had suddenly become a priceless treasure. Nezu placed the sword in Genji's hands, and the boy carefully took it out of its sheathe for a better look. He scowled at the condition.

**You haven't been taking good care of it. The blade is rusted brown, and the hilt is greasy.**

"I found it that way. I have made several attempts to clean it, but nothing has worked. Now, snakes stole this from a Shinto shrine about thirty years ago. It found its way to me last month. I was planning to take it to the Emishi myself…but perhaps you should be the one to take it back to them."

**Me?**

"Perhaps you can trade it for help from the wise woman. I know the Emishi will be grateful to have it back."

Genji nodded, fully understanding. A few years ago, an ancient artifact was stolen from Singing Mountain. It was the rifle the Lady Eboshi carried over six thousand years ago. Like most foreign problems, the theft was blamed on wolf poachers.

Genji slid the sword back into its protective sheathe, and bowed in thanks to Nezu. Nezu bowed back.

"I hope these items help you in your travels, young Genji." Nezu wished. "And I hope your travels will be safe, and your quest accomplished."