Princess Mononoke Fan Fiction ❯ Untitled ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 5

"Well?" Kaya asked her brother as he emerged from the building housing
Eboshi. She noticed that he looked rather pale, as if he was recovering
from some mild shock.

"She might be accompanying us," he said, swallowing slightly. Kaya looked
at him in surprise- she had never seen him this dazed before. "And you don'
t want me to repeat why."

Kaya bit her lip, inspecting him closely. "No, I probably don't. But I
need you to, anyway, if she's coming along."

"If she comes, she will not be entering the village," Ashitaka assured her.
"So you don't need to know. It's better that you don't."

Kaya sighed. "Well, okay... but I got the impression your wolf-girl friend
won't particularly like Eboshi coming along."

"She won't," Ashitaka agreed. "But hopefully she'll allow her to come,
anyway. I don't particularly want Eboshi along, myself, but she has some
pretty good reasons."

Kaya nodded. "Does San have what she needs to travel?"

Ashitaka sighed. "Through the woods, yes. But she doesn't have a bowl or
anything like that for when we go through plains. I was trying to get her
to make one when you arrived."

His sister smirked a little. "Ah, yes- I remember that little scene quite
well. Have you finally managed to wash away all of the clay yet?" she asked
with a mild tone of teasing disapproval in her voice.

"Listen, little sister," Ashitaka growled- a surprisingly wolf-like growl.
"I love San. She loves me. We are mates, and therefore I will not feel
ashamed for our play. If that means I get a little clay on me, so be it."

Kaya blinked. "I was just teasing, brother. I did not mean to offend."

Ashitaka looked a little surprised himself. "Sorry, Kaya. I... that talk
with Eboshi has put me on edge. My anger is not with you."

"Something she said may threaten your relationship?" Kaya asked.

Ashitaka glanced Kaya up and down evaluatively. "I would tell you what she
said, but it is not my place. Know, however, that it was enough to make me
realize again just how precious San is."

"I understand. Perhaps I should set about preparing a bowl for San to take
on this journey- and perhaps you should set about preparing to explain to
her just why you intend to take Eboshi along on this trip."

Ashitaka grimmaced. "Yes, perhaps I should. Thank you, little sister."

* * * * *

"My lady?" Gonza asked hesitantly. "You called?"

"Gonza, you are aware that I'm intending to take a long journey to the east,
correct?" Eboshi said.

Gonza nodded. "Of course, my lady. I was there while you were arguing with
that boy about joining him."

Eboshi smirked. "Yes, of course. But you did not know that I had won it."

"I had no doubts that you would, my lady," Gonza intoned.

"I did," she said. "I'm lucky he agreed. And it's still not certain, as
the Princess Mononoke has not given her approval yet. At any rate, when I
leave I intend to take Toki and her husband with me. I will also put you in
charge- but I will only do this if you promise me something."

"Anything, my lady."

Eboshi nodded. "Do not antagonize the forest gods at all- especially not
the wolves, should any remain here after I leave. If we must ever fight
again, I would prefer they were with us and not against us."

"My lady, I will do my best, but as you may recall they attacked us first!"

"No, they didn't, Gonza," Eboshi said. "I know better than you ever will-
we struck them first. And our continued destruction of their forest
certainly did not help matters."

Gonza nodded. "Very well, my lady. I will not do anything you have not
specifically said for us to do. Hopefully, by doing nothing at all we will
do nothing to provoke."

* * * * *

There was a knock at the door. It opened, and Kaya entered.

"Hello?" the one worker in the building said.

Kaya hesitated. "Hi. I'm... not really familiar with this town- I'm just
visiting. Is this where the kiln is? I have a bowl that needs baking."

The woman smiled in recognition. "Ah, you're Ashitaka's sister. I've heard
about you- yes, give me the bowl, and I'll finish it for you."

Kaya handed the bowl she had prepared to the woman, and knelt down to wait.
"I'm afraid to say we need that done as soon as possible."

"I can get it done in about an hour- which is faster than usual. I really
like the style you used to prepare this one- you and Ashitaka both have very
unusual, very beautiful bowl styles."

"Really? They are in the traditional style of my clan...."

"Your whole clan is rather unusual. Yet beautiful... your brother has
stolen the hearts of every woman he meets, it seems. I think every
unmarried woman in the village- and some who already have husbands- desires
him. Not only that, but he has won the love of the Princess Mononoke- the
wolf-girl who hates all humans. Not an easy feat, I assure you."

"He was always the hearthrob in my village, as well," Kaya laughed.

The woman hesitated. "Did he... did he have someone there? I mean, we all
know that he did not leave your village by choice, but we have no idea what
he left behind."

Kaya grimaced. "Well, he left quite a bit behind. He was the prince of my
village- he would be king in a couple of years. He was the last hope of our
clan to become strong again, and he was trained to be the best at everything
we did. He was our best fighter, our best builder, our best farmer, and was
likely the best-looking man around. Every woman desired him- if he wasn't
my brother, I'm sure I would have, too. But he never returned those
feelings- he was always polite, would always stop to help the women out,
but... I think he desired someone with more fire in them than any of our
village. And San- the wolf-girl- she is likely a dream-come-true for him."
She paused. "I had hoped that he would have regretted leaving me behind,
but-"

"I am sure he did," the woman interrupted. "But he really hasn't had much
of a chance to absorb the impact of his departure from your village- when he
left, he thought he was about to die. Since he's arrived, he's been involve
d trying to diffuse a war, win the heart of a girl who hates all humans, and
help rebuild a town that was shattered by a rampaging god. He hasn't had
time to think about your absense, so he hasn't noticed it as much as he
probably would. But I'm sure he regrets that he's had to leave you."

Kaya smiled up at the girl. "Sounds like you know him pretty well."

The woman flushed. "Um, I... well, I shot him," she admitted. "We and the
Moro clan were at war, and San had attacked the village. He just, well,
marched through our entire populace to where she and Eboshi were fighting,
and knocked them both out. He picked up San, and was trying to leave the
village... and, uh, well, I shot him trying to escape. It was an accident-
I didn't really mean to shoot him, I was just bluffing, but I did. When he
got out, he somehow recovered at a miraculous rate. After the war between
us and San ended, he returned here and, well, he came by to talk to me,
forgiving me for shooting him. We talked quite a bit."

Kaya nodded, smiling at her. "If he forgave you, so will I. And it sounds
like you've got a bit of a crush on him, yourself." The woman turned even
redder with embarrassment. "What's your name, by the way?"

"Kiyo," she said.

"Well, Kiyo... I'm glad to have met you."

"And I, you," Kiyo said, smiling.

* * * * *

Ashitaka was waiting for San outside of the gates when she returned, running
on all fours alongside her two wolven brothers. He'd been dreading this
conversation, but refused to let it show. He would accept the inevitable,
even if that inevitable was San's anger.

"Ashitaka! Are you ready to go? Where's Yakul and your sister?" San asked
enthusiastically.

"We are not ready to leave," Ashitaka explained, "But we definitely need to
discuss something before we go."

San looked concerned, aware from his voice that, despite his calm
appearance, there was definitely something upsetting him. "Is something
wrong, mate?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I suppose you could say that. San, Eboshi is insisting
she come along on our trip."

San's eyes hardened. "No," she snarled.

"I don't want her with us, either," Ashitaka said softly. "I was hoping
this trip would be just us and Kaya there... and then just us back. But I
don't think we can avoid this."

"Why not? Surely she won't be able to follow us! We will be riding, she
will not have a mount...."

"True, though I believe she said that she'd found something she could ride.
However, she has given me several reasons why she should join us. I do not
agree with all of them, I do not like many of them, but some of them I
simply cannot deny," he said.

San was crouching, unconsciously lowering herself into an attack stance.
This almost felt like another betrayal to that... that WOMAN who had
harrassed her clan for years, now. She could sort of understand why he did
not allow her to kill Eboshi- he wanted peace, an end to hatred, and
co-existance between the forest and the humans. But why would he allow her
to join them on a private journey? "What are these reasons?"

Ashitaka could hear the menace in her voice, and could see her anger
building. This was what he had been afraid of, but he had to bear it. "The
most convincing of these are not for me to tell, but there are many others.
For one thing, having her with us will make travel much easier- neither you
nor I are very experienced in the outside world. My village was isolated
from most of the rest of Japan, and I have difficulty dealing with certain
situation Eboshi has been raised to handle."

"She may be useful in that regard," San admitted, "But she is not NEEDED. I
will let her come with us if you can convince me that she MUST be with us."

However, one of her brothers intervened. "Boy, does this have something to
do with that which we were discussing earlier?"

Ashitaka looked at the wolf. He'd actually forgotten about that, with all
of the shock of Eboshi's declaration. However, that made a lot of sense-
Eboshi was one of the four who Shishigami had told him about, and he and San
were two of the others. "I am not certain, but I believe so," he said.

San looked from her brother to her mate suspiciously. "What are you two
hiding from me? What is going on?"

"You will know soon enough," the wolf said. "But it is a matter of grave
importance."

"And as I said, it is not for me to say," Ashitaka explained. "I hate
having to hide things from you, but there are times when it is unavoidable."

San concentrated her attention on her brother. "I may love Ashitaka as my
mate, but he is a human. I cannot trust him to know what is best for us.
You, however, know what this secret is, and you are a wolf. I know I can
trust your judgement... should I allow Eboshi to come with us, for this
reason you cannot say?"

He did not even hesitate. "Yes. While I hate that woman as much as you,
and trust her even less, I believe that if this really does have something
to do with the secret Ashitaka shared with me, this is perhaps the most
important thing you will ever do."

Her eyes continued to dart between her brother and her mate. "Then I will
accept her company. But know I am not happy about this."

Ashitaka nodded. "I was not expecting you to be. I am not happy with it,
either. But I hope you do not hate me because of it."

Ashitaka looked at him, and saw his face. It didn't show often- usually he
wore an emotionless mask that hid every feeling he had, even when they were
expressing their limited intimacies- but every now and then something showed
through. What she saw on his face right then was fear- and a lot of it. He
was actually afraid she would hate him for this.

"I have learned a lot of things about you in the past week, Ashitaka," San
said. "One of them is that, despite being a human, you will never deserve
my hatred. I may get upset, but I will never hate you, mate."

He smiled up at her, visibly relaxing. "Thank you, mate. Now, let us go in
and see how my sister fares with her preparations."

* * * * *

Koroku looked at his wife pleadingly. "Can't we beg off of this? Please?
Just claim that my injuries still need time to heal?"

Toki snorted. "Everyone knows your bones were healed when the Shishigami
died. Now hurry up and keep packing- it's not like we can avoid this, after
all. This is what Eboshi wants us to do."

"But how can she order us to travel with that wolf-girl! I mean, she
terrifies me!"

Toki laughed. "Oh, come on. She's actually pretty nice, she's just a
bit... well, wild. What do you expect? She was raised by wolves, after
all!"

"Yeah, but what about those wolves? They're coming with us, aren't they?"

"I hope so," Toki sighed. "They'll be great protection if any bandits or
rogue samurai try to attack."

"But they're WOLVES!" Koroku exclaimed.

"They're also gods," Toki pointed out. "And for once, there's a pretty good
chance they'll be on our side."

Koroku shook his head. "We've been at war for them for ages. Are we
supposed to trust them, now?"

Toki smirked fiercely. "Well, if we were just with the wolves, I'd say no.
But we're going with Ashitaka. Now, San loves Ashitaka dearly- that's
pretty obvious to anyone who watches the two of them together. San is also
the leader of the wolves- there's a reason we called her the 'Princess'
Mononoke. San would try everything she could to avoid hurting her 'mate' as
she calls him, and I suspect she's intelligent enough to know that attacking
his friends for no reason would hurt him."

Koroku frowned. "In other words, we have to gamble on the feelings of the
wolf-girl and her outsider?"

"It's not a gamble," Toki said. "I knew he was taken that day he broke up
her and Eboshi's fight. I saw him walking to the gate, a hole in his chest
from the bullet Kiyo shot through him. He should have been in great pain,
but he didn't show it. I was terrified- here was this nice boy I'd just
met- the young man who had just saved two lives, one of them YOURS- about to
die. He didn't seem to care about his own pain, though- he just wanted to
get the girl away from here, so she wouldn't be killed."

"Yeah, but he still needed to win the girl," Koroku noted.

Toki laughed. "Koroku, dear, if you haven't realized by now that THAT boy
can't win over any woman he wants, you're even less perceptive than I
realized. Let's just say that most of the married men in this town are
lucky that he's too committed to look for anyone else."

Her husband looked at her in fear. "You wouldn't-"

"Maybe if I was twenty years younger," Toki said, smirking. "I just might
consider trading in a useless man like you for a very useful one like him.
But, well, we've been married how long, now? Twelve years? I figure if I'
ve stuck with you for that long, I might as well see this whole thing
through." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry, dear-
you're safe... as long as you get your bags packed in time for our trip. I
understand we're heading to the place where Ashitaka came from- if we find
more men like him, and you aren't there to watch over me, well..."

"I'm packing! I'm packing!" Koroku said, suddenly hurrying through his
travel preparations. Chuckling to herself, Toki followed at a more sedate
pace. Sometimes, it WAS possible to coax that lazy husband of hers into
doing what she wanted. It might pay to teach San the finer points of the
technique while they were on this trip- the girl didn't need it at the
current stage of her relationship, but she might some day.

* * * * *

"Here's the bowl," was Kaya's greeting to her brother upon his return to his
house. He noted, with some amusement, that a new clay sign announced that
the building was 'Ashitaka's Den' as soon as someone entered the room.

"Thanks," Ashitaka said. "I'd give it to San now, but I'm afraid she wouldn
't know how important it was to keep it safe."

Kaya nodded. "Makes sense."

"I see you've made friends with Kiyo," he noted, pointing to the sign.

"I'd have put it out front, but I didn't want to upset you like I had
earlier today," Kaya said.

Ashitaka nodded, smiling slightly. "I wouldn't mind it if you did. It's
not as if the whole village doesn't know San calls it that."

"How did you survive being shot?" Kaya asked suddenly. "Kiyo said you never
told her."

"Kiyo talked to you about that? She's barely been able to discuss the
matter for me, and from what I've heard she hasn't said one word to anyone
else in the village about it, either."

"I doubt anyone other than you has wanted to talk to her about it," Kaya
said thoughtfully. "She didn't seem to be trying to hide it. And I suspect
she'd be uncomfortable talking to you."

"Perhaps," Ashitaka agreed.

"So, anyway, how DID you survive?"

"San saved me," he said. "She begged the forest god of life and death to
heal me. Even after that, I was very weak- she took me back to her clan's
den and nursed me back to health. Helped me eat and drink when I was even
too weak to chew."

Kaya looked at him oddly. "Too weak to chew? Then how did you eat
anything?"

Much to her surprise, Ashitaka actually blushed. "Um..."

Kaya shook her head. "Never mind. If it embarrasses YOU that much, I'm not
sure I want to know. By the way, where is San, anyway?"

"Sulking," he said. "I managed to get her to allow Eboshi on this trip, and
didn't make her want to kill me in the process, but she's still not happy
about the situation."

"Sulking where? Aren't we about ready to go?" Kaya asked.

"We aren't leaving until tomorrow. Eboshi and her entourage are busy
preparing."

"But where's San?"

Ashitaka pointed upwards. "Sitting on the roof- if it comes out, she might
even start howling at the moon- she did that once before. She may even be
listening in to everything we're saying, by the way- her ears are good
enough."

Kaya sighed. "You know, there are so many things going on around here that
I don't know the whole story for... especially regarding your 'mate' there.
Why is she so... well, wolf-like? Why was this town at war with the forest?
And how did you two meet- all I know is that you were shot after getting
involved in a fight between her and Eboshi."

"Well, I suppose we could catch up while we wait for San to calm down and
come inside to sleep...."

* * * * *

San came down off the roof several hours later- the moon had never come out,
but she hadn't felt much like howling anyway. She noticed the clay sign
resting against a table as she entered the room, but had no idea what it
said- while her mother Moro felt it important she know human speech, there
was never any reason for her to know the written word. She didn't need to
know now, either- Ashitaka could read it for her, later.

Kaya and her mate were still talking as she approached. She had known they
were talking about her, but didn't particularly care. Ashitaka's view of
things was slightly biased, but she'd try talking to her new sister and
explaining how things really happened sometime- probably on their trip, as
it seemed with Eboshi coming along they would be travelling much slower than
they initially thought.

"Hello, mate," San said.

Ashitaka smiled up at her. "Welcome home, mate."

"Hello, San," Kaya greeted.

"It is time to sleep, mate," San growled. It was a tone which left no room
for argument, but it was still delivered pleasantly.

Ashitaka stood up. "Very well- I'll get our bedding."

Kaya realized how late it was and yawned. "Okay, I guess it's late enough.
Where should I go?"

"Go?" Ashitaka asked as he ducked into a small storage room.

"Where should I sleep," she clarified.

"Here, sister," San said.

Kaya looked at her and flushed. "Um, won't that be a little awkward for the
two of you?"

"Why would it be awkward?" San asked. "We are of the same clan."

"But won't you two want your privacy?"

San shook her head. "I will never understand humans. Ashitaka, why would
we need privacy to sleep?"

Ashitaka laughed slightly. "I believe my sister thinks we intend to mate in
front of her. Humans usually feel physical mating is something that should
only be shared between the two mates, themselves." He returned, carrying
enough supplies for all three of them to have something to sleep on. "Rest
assured, Kaya, that San and I are only mates in heart, mind, and soul right
now- until we can sort out some of the issues which remain between us, we
will not move on to anything more. We will do nothing to embarrass you."

"You two are having problems?" Kaya asked, concerned. "I thought-"

"Not problems, exactly," Ashitaka interrupted. "But... well, we aren't
quite sure how this will all work out, yet. San can't deal with living with
humans, especially in this town- at least not for very long. And I wouldn't
be able to deal with living in the forest forever, even if it were for her."

"But she seems to be living here with you right now..."

"I'm visiting," San said. "Maybe one day, I'll be able to stay here long
enough to keep Ashitaka happy, but I cannot now. I've been able to stand
this one week, but I would not enjoy living here for long."

Kaya nodded. "I think I'm beginning to understand. You're planning to try
and split your time between here and the forest, aren't you?"

Ashitaka nodded. "Yes. And if that doesn't work, then I am unsure what we
will do, but we will do something."

Kaya grinned. "Well, I know you don't like Eboshi very much, San... so I
suspect if you can deal with this journey, you'll be able to deal with
living with humans from time to time."

"I hate Eboshi," San growled. "But she is not going to be the most trying
part of this trip. She has decided to take... TOKI with her. SHE is worse
than a hundred Eboshi's!"

Kaya glanced at Ashitaka for an explanation. Grinning, he said, "Toki is a
bit... outspoken. It makes for some remarkable personality clashes between
the two. Reminds me of some of our little fights when we were younger."

Understanding dawned in Kaya's eyes. "Oh- sibling rivalry, huh?"

"They aren't siblings," Ashitaka nodded, "but they act like it."

"I never acted that way with my brothers!" San huffed.

"Yes, but your brothers were wolves," Kaya explained.

"And were male," Ashitaka added, a twinkle in his eye. "No-one can annoy
you more than a know-it all little sister."

"Why, you!" Kaya laughed furiously, taking a swat at her brother. "San, if
Ashitaka is right- and I'm sure he is- then I think Toki is only teasing
you."

"Maybe, but she is STILL worse than a hundred Eboshi's."

Ashitaka laughed, then tossed her a set of bedding. "Come on- it's getting
late. We need to be well rested for our trip tomorrow."

* * * * *

The next morning, everyone intending to take the trip had assembled at the
gate except for San and Ashitaka. Koroku was eyeing the two wolves
nervously as he lead the four horses they were planning to take on their
trip out of the walls of Tataraba. One horse was a pack horse, but the
others were for Eboshi, Koroku, and Toki.

Toki approach Kaya with a smile on her face. "Hello! You must be Ashitaka'
s sister. I can see good looks run in his family. I'm Toki, and this is my
frequently useless husband, Koroku."

Koroku waved and smiled weakly. "Hi."

"Hi. My brother's mentioned you two to me," Kaya returned. "He said you
remind him of me, Toki."

"Hmm... He's had to live with someone like Toki before? Suddenly I respect
the boy quite a bit more," the rather henpecked Koroku muttered under his
breath.

Pretending to ignore her husband, Toki laughed. "Well, I'm rather pleased
to hear that. I've been trying to make him feel at home, and if I'm able to
remind him of you I'm sure I've done just that. So, dear, what was it like
growing up with him, anyway?"

As the two women chatted on, Koroku continued to load up the pack horse with
the supplies necessary for a long journey. Ashitaka and Kaya had refused to
say how long they were expecting the trip to take, though thay had mentioned
it had been a two week-long trip from the last village they had managed to
obtain supplies in to the forest of the Shishigami. Experience had taught
him to always bring twice as many supplies as he expected to need, and this
was no exception. Even if the wolves- well, wolf, since only one of them
was coming and, unlike some people, he refused to consider San a wolf- could
forage for themselves, the humans couldn't, and it would be a good idea to
have some feed for the horses so they didn't have to rely on grass overmuch.

Gonza was in one of his grumpier moods, having been roused from his slumber
several hours before his usual time so that he could attend Eboshi before
she left. Yawning, he spent the increasingly frustrating delay of his lady'
s departure to think of various ways to torture that Ashitaka boy for waking
him up this early.

Eboshi was growing impatient herself. Approaching Kaya, she asked, "Where
is that brother of yours? We were supposed to leave an hour ago."

Kaya laughed slightly. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

It was then San and Ashitaka made their entrance. San was wearing an outfit
similar to Kaya's, though it was made entirely out of white fabric and
looked rather more formal. She looked quite uncomfortable in the robes, and
was looking rather unhappy, but nonetheless they were the most civilized
clothes anyone had ever seen her wear.

"What... is she... are you-" Eboshi stuttered, unable to believe her eyes.

The two wolves were equally alarmed. "Sister, have you forgotten your
heritage?" they demanded fiercely.

Kaya, however, just burst out laughing. "San, don't look so disgusted. You
only need to wear them when we're visiting the burial grounds- my people won
't let you desterb them without them." She paused, looking her up and down.
"For mourning robes, though, they look pretty good on you."

"Mourning robes?" Windrider repeated. Koroku jumped- he was still shocked
whenever one of the beasts of this forest spoke. "Ah, for when you're
visiting the bones of your mates' parents. I suppose that is a good enough
reason to set aside the clothing of your mother- temporarily."

"I don't want to wear them, but if I want to see their bones, I must." She
sniffed. "Stupid human traditions."

"You have to confirm they're acceptable, Kaya," Ashitaka said. "Then, after
San changes back to her regular clothes, we can leave."

Kaya walked over and started inspecting the clothing. She noticed a
distinctive pattern to the stitches. "You made this yourself, didn't you?"
she asked her brother.

"No-one else knows the proper style but you," he explained. "And we both
know you're terrible at sewing."

"Well, they'll pass," Kaya proclaimed. "They don't quite fit her right,
though."

"Best I could do," Ashitaka said. "And I really don't want to keep us here
much longer making changes- you can get a tailor in the village to make
alterations when we get to our village."

"Are you through?" San asked, thoroughly disgusted.

"Go and change," Ashitaka said to her, smiling sympathetically. Without
even looking back, she darted away, running as fast as her two feet could
carry her. "I'd better follow her, to make sure she takes those robes with
her when we leave."

As he walked off at a more sedate pace, Eboshi watched him and sighed. "For
a moment there," she said under her breath, "I thought she was turning
civilized."

"Eh?" Gonza asked, not quite hearing her.

Shaking her head, Eboshi smiled over at him. "Never mind. So, any last
minute questions you have about handling the village while I'm gone?"

"Well..."

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