As Life Returns to Irontown [minccino & Hamlowe]

[minccino]

San was puzzled by his explanation. Why create something that looked very similar to a weapon, but not use it as so? She supposed she understood the sentimental value of it partly, if her gift to Ashitaka was of similar purpose. "Mm," she agreed, her smile signifying she understood.

She didn't probe any deeper than that, and instead invited Ashitaka into her humble abode. The interior of it was certainly more personable than the communal den that she had once shared with her brothers and Moro. It was still crude and lacked finer accommodations as one would expect from a human home, but San's touch had added a subtle, feminine charm to the wilderness. It almost looked like she was homemaking.

San had taken seriously to nesting in the past few months despite knowing it was more or less a futile effort. She hated humans far too much to dream of having one as a mate, and Ashitaka, as favorable of a candidate as he was, didn't live in the forest where her livelihood was. She could dream, though.

"Do you like living in the town?" she asked while she stoked a small fire by the mouth of the den.

 

[Hamlowe]

Compared to sleeping rough as an exile, Irontown was a wonderful place to live. There Ashitaka had found more than shelter, he had found community, companionship, something more closely resembling home. Still, though, he had slept there on borrowed bedrolls in a spare room of the forge, warmed by fires meant for other purposes. Now he slept in a wing of Eboshi's keep, but still the quarters he kept never quite felt like his.

Here, though, was a place he had never been before, and yet he felt somewhat, even a little bit, the peace of home.

"It's fine," he concluded, but the looks he gave around the place suggested that he saw an unfavorable comparison between that and this den. "It's comfortable, but...it's lonely. I'm less use in the forges now, and I always worry that they'll repeat the mistakes that nearly killed this forest."

He didn't know if that answered her question, or if he could really answer her question. "This place is nice," he added, as if that were somehow relevant.

 

[minccino]

San tilted her head slightly when Ashitaka admitted that life in Irontown was lonely. She didn't understand how he could be lonely surrounded by so many humans at all times, but she didn't question it. Maybe his version of loneliness was something else entirely.

After kindling the fire, she returned to his side. "Mm, you can stay," she offered. The bedding, or the "nest" she had built accommodated two people, and it was obvious by the faint blush on her face that that the size of it had been intentional. "You won't be lonely with me." It was a complicated solution to a simple problem, maybe. The invitation had always been there, but deep down, even San understood and accepted that Ashitaka belonged to the people as she belonged to the forest.

"But I understand if you need to go," San said. "You're the only good that exists in that rotten place."

 

[Hamlowe]

The offer to stay was certainly tempting--though there were many people in Irontown, and certainly things to do, Ashitaka didn't want to see any of them as much as he wanted to see San. He was not of the forest like San was, but by the same token, he was not of Irontown either. Staying here would miss nothing. Yakul wouldn't mind, for sure. "I'll stay tonight," he said, reaching over to her hand and grasping it gently. "Maybe not every night. Sometimes they do need my help. But when I can, staying out here will be nice." If nothing else, it would be nice to get away from the crowds and the forges, to remind himself of why he'd fought to bring peace between humans and gods.

But there was something else here, or rather, someone, to consider. San would be happy with him staying. Perhaps, even, she wanted him to stay.

"Oh!" He nearly jumped. "I brought some food," he added, giving her hand a squeeze before scrambling out and down the steep slope to where Yakul waited patiently. Retrieving the goods took mere moments, but to return with them took some more effort. He managed with one hand and his feet, using the other arm to hold the belongings. At the mouth of the cave, he uncovered his contributions: six small cakes of mochi and a dozen pieces of meat, the provenance of which was perhaps better left a mystery.