This story follows Moro, before she has San.
It is still dark when I feel pain on my right ear. I jump up and growl in its direction. I can’t see who is there but I hear the sound of laughing and relax.
“Aiko!” I chasten, “what are you doing?”
Aiko, my cub, simpers up to me, aware of my temper. I look down at her with a fierce glare and raise my paw to discipline, but at the last moment, scoop her up and cuddle her close, tickling behind her ears.
After a while, Aiko’s ears prick up and she bounds toward the opening and lifts her nose. I follow her, recognising a strange scent and soon we are running towards the Forest God’s sanctuary. Along the way Daitaro and Daijiro, my elder sons, join us and together we meet the Forest God as he transforms from the nightwalker to his day-self.
“Forest God, the eastern edge of the forest is alight!” I inform him.
“The northern edge is burning also!” Daitaro tells us.
“And the western edge is about to start!” Daijiro adds.
I hear Aiko mutter something about humans.
The Forest God beckons me forward for private consultation.
“The Lady Eboshi wishes to start a war on the forest. She wants to kill me so that she may own the land.”
“WHAT?”
“Calm yourself, Moro,” he warns me, “we are not to harm her, only make her leave.”
The Forest God gives me a look that indicates he knows something that he won’t share and this gets my hackles up.
“I ask this wolf pack to stop the encroaching threat…” the Forest God is cut off as Daitaro and Daijiro jump around getting excited, “without violence!”
“Whaattt?!” they both call in unison.
“You are not to harm the humans, only force them to leave.”
They both grumble but turn and lope off towards the affected areas.
“No, they need to be taught a lesson!” I tell the Forest God angrily.
“Calm yourself, Moro, lest you end up a demon!”
This comment sobers me and I realise that I am being foolish, risking endangering my family. With a stiff nod, I run towards the eastern edge with Aiko.
As we near the clearing, I stop.
“Aiko, it isn’t safe for you to be here, stay behind the rock.”
“Aww!” she whines.
I give her a look and as she simpers off towards her hiding place, I turn to assess the situation. Trees are slowly starting to catch alight and I can see a few of the humans flapping sheets at the embers to fuel and spread the flames. I could easily rip them apart before the rest join them, but after the Forest God’s warning, I don’t want to risk it.
A rustle sounds to my left and I prepare for attack but it is just a boar.
“Evil,” he mutters to himself and I nod in agreement.
Then, I come up with a plan to make the humans leave without me needing to attack… Them. Quickly, I nip the boar on his tail and he roars in pain and charges towards the humans, trailing blood behind him. He screams in pain as I step forward and with my most menacing voice, I say,
“Leave now, lest this be your fate!”
With a final growl, they all scream and run towards their village, leaving their sheets behind. I laugh at the boar who is just staring at me now.
“Why didn’t you kill them?”
“Because I do not wish to become something as evil and vile as them,” I answer with composure despite the anger still burning through me.
“MAMA!” Aiko screams from her hiding place.
I turn and run as fast as possible to her, leaving the flames to die on their own.
“AIKO!” I yell as I near the rock.
“Mama…” the scream is less loud and sounds very forced.
As I round the corner, I see my Aiko on her side, blood pouring from her mouth and gut.
“I bit her, mama,” she says through clenched teeth, a small smile on her lips, “I bit the lady…”
“Good girl,” I say in a soothing voice, “you’re such a good girl, Aiko.”
“Mama?” she asks as her eyes flutter, trying to stay open.
“Yes, my love?”
“I don’t want to die.”
Unable to respond I curl around her decaying body and say,
“I love you my baby.”
“I love you too, mama,” she says as her last breath leaves her lungs and her body goes limp.
I close my eyes and soon everyone surrounds me: the Forest God, Daitaro and Daijiro, the boar. They are all asking questions but I keep my eyes closed and my body around Aiko’s, keeping her warm, keeping her there.
“Who?” I ask the Forest God in my head.
“Eboshi.”
All I can do is howl in pain.
**3 months later**
I hear a sound in the trees. I sniff… human! Rushing, I meet them with a full-force leap that lands at their feet and with my most impressive growl send them running for the hills. As they leave, they throw something small at me as if it would save their lives. An offering? At first I want to ignore it, my fury still in my throat, adrenaline in my veins, but somehow I can’t.
A soft smell emanates from the package as I inspect it further. A tiny cry escapes and I roll it over with my nose. It unravels and inside I find a human baby. My heartbeat slows and as I look into this baby’s eyes, something runs through my body like an electric shock. Aiko?
I cannot leave her and so I wrap her back up and carry her to my cave. I name her San and teach her all about the war and how us wolves live. Her growl grows more impressive each day and her anger and determination to stop Eboshi rivals mine in ferocity. She is my Aiko. She is my San.
The names I have chosen for the characters in my fan-fiction are all specific to what the character is supposed to represent in the story. The only chosen names were ones that either weren’t in the original Princess Mononoke or who weren’t properly named in the original film.
ReplyDeleteAiko – Little, loved one – because she is Moro’s baby that she loses whom she loved so dearly.
Daitaro – Great first-born son – because he is the eldest of Moro’s cubs
Daijiro – Great second-born son – because he is the second son of Moro