Princess Mononoke

~The Ape Tribe~

Asitaka and the wolf girl rode on Yakul's back in the darkness. As the wolf girl began to regain conciousness, Ashitaka began to lose what she recieved. Finally she woke with a start and gasped as Ashitaka's bloody body fell off the elk. The wolves that were following behind began to try and bite him. The girl scolded,
"Stop it! Leave him, he's mine!"
She leapt off Yakul and crouched down next to Ashitaka.
"His own people shot him... he's dying" she spoke softly.
Ashitaka groaned in pain
"Why did you stop me from killing her? Tell me while you're still alive"
"I didn't want them to kill you. That's why" he managed.
"I'm not afraid to die. I'd do anything to get you humans out of my forest."
"I knew that from the first moment I saw you."
"And I'm not afraid of you. I should kill you for saving her!" She cried out and, grabbing it from its holster, she poised Ashitaka's own sword at his throat. "That woman is evil, and there's no one who can stop me from killing her."
"No. Live"
"That's enough! I'm not listening to you anymore!"
Ashitaka weakly opened his eyes and looked up at her. "You're beautiful."
She jumped back in shock. Her brother growled,
"What is it San? Want me to crunch his face off?"

Just then a rock flew through the air and landed next to Ashitaka. San gasped and looked behind her.
"The Ape tribe. Alright what do you want here?" She barked.
Her brother growled "Apes, how dare you disrespect the Wolf clan."
The leader of the Apes spoke in a deep and disturbing voice,
"This is our forest. The human, give him to us. Give us the human and go."
"You go before my fangs find you"
"We will not go. We will eat the human. Yes, let us eat the man creature."
"Are you crazy?" San exclaimed "Just what happened to make the Ape Tribe act this way? Since when do apes eat the flesh of a man?"
"If we eat the human, we will steal his strength and we will drive the other humans away. Give us the man creature"
"Stop this! You know you can't possess the humans strength by eating them. All that'll do it make you into something else, something worse than human. " San pleaded.

"We plant trees. Humans tear them up. The forest does not come back. If we kill the humans, we will save the forest."
San felt tears coming to her eyes. "You mustn't give up, we'll find a way. The Forest Spirit is with us. Go on planting your trees and someday we'll beat them!"
"The Forest Spirit will not fight. We will all die. Wolf girl does not care. She is human." San gave a grunt of disgust. Her brother growled again,
"Enough! I'll bite your head off you chattering ape!" He ran towards the tribe causing them to scatter.
San called out to her brothers, "Stop! Wait! Come back, leave them alone!"
The wolves returned to her side and she said calmly "You two go on now. I'll stay here and deal with the human."
One wolf nodded towards Yakul, "What about the elk?" And the other said in agreement "Yes... can we eat him?" They both began to pant heavily.
"No, you may not. Go home" She told them.
They stalked away and at once were gone. San looked to Yakul and spoke kindly "Come over here. Don't worry, I'm a friend. Don't be shy, I won't hurt you. I need you to help me carry him. Please?"
Yakul walked over to help his wounded master and the trio continued into the night.