Princess Mononoke and other Studio Ghibli films are on Netflix! I grew up watching them and I've always loved Princess Mononoke and wanted to write a fanfiction about it, but never really got the chance. Rewatching it on Netflix has rekindled my interest in writing the story, so I've decided to go ahead and write it XD

Summary: Ashitaka and his twin sister were the Prince and Princess of the Emishi tribe, with the Elders preparing for the ceremony to make the the heads of the village. When they are cursed by a Demon from the West, they are forced to leave the village and become embroiled in a bitter battle between humanity and Forest Spirits. As they desperately try to stop the needless bloodshed, they run into two humans raised by Wolves...

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Princess Mononoke nor do I make any profit off this

Note: This story will contain OCs

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Twisted Destiny

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Chapter I

In ancient times, the land lay covered in forests, where, from ages long past, dwelt the Spirit of the Gods.
Back then, Man and Beast lived in harmony, but as time went by, most of the great forests were destroyed.
Those that remained were guarded by gigantic beasts, who owed their allegiance to the Great Forest Spirit,
For those were the days of the Gods...and of Demons...

Footsteps reverberated throughout the entire forest as a large shadow charged ahead. Wherever this thing stepped, withered leaves and giant trees shriveled up, dying as the creature continued its rampage unattended. The creature payed it no heed. Only death and destruction filled its mind, driving it into a mad frenzy. Picking up the scent of a human village nearby, the creature changed its course to head straight for it.

Humans were the ones who drove him to this state.

Humans were the ones who embedded a bullet into his flesh.

Humans were the ones who destroyed his forest and home.

He needed, no, wanted to make them pay.

For he was the embodiment of Hatred...

"Aniki, wait for me!"

Ashitaka gently yanked on Yakul's reigns to make his loyal companion stop while he waited for his twin sister to catch up on her own elk. Kotone came trotting into view on the back of Hakul, giving a sheepish grin to her older brother as she did. Ashitaka smiled and reached out to pat his younger twin on the head, gently ruffling her hair while Kotone protested. The two of them wore the distinct blue tunics of the Emishi tribe, with red sashes tied across their waist from which a scabbard dangled containing their swords. Their legs were barefoot save for pieces of blue fabric wrapped around their ankles, with bandages snaking up their arms from the wrist. As the Prince and Princess of their tribe, their hair were pulled back in the traditional topknot as required by the Elders of the village.

The Emishi Tribe were once a proud race of warriors, but their clan was nearly driven to extinction by the emperor of that time around five hundred years ago. Now their village had been relocate far to the east, away from prying eyes and tightly guarded day and night.

"I thought you were with Kaya and the others? Why are you here?" Ashitaka frowned at his younger sister.

"They're just gathering herbs and food for the village. I've already done my share so I came to find you," Kotone replied with a small huff.

He let out a small sigh of defeat.

"Come along then. I was going to check on jii anyways."

The siblings urged their elks forward at a leisurely pace until Kaya came running out of the forest with Sae and Hana.

"Ashitaka! Kotone! Thank the gods we found you!" Kaya said, urgency evident in her voice.

"What's going on?"

"Jii-san said the forest is acting strange. He told us to go back to the village and warn the others," Kaya explained.

The siblings exchanged brief looks.

"Go. Go warn the Elders and everyone else. We'll check on Jii-san at the tower," was all Kotone said as she and her brother raced towards the wooden watch tower near the border of the village.

Jumping off their mounts upon arriving, the two quickly made their way up the watch post but paused halfway when they spotted something moving within the forest.

"Aniki...what is it?" Kotone asked quietly, a sense of dread filling her very soul.

"I don't know."

Making their way up the watch post, they found the village lookout staring into the forest as if in a trance.

"Jii-san, what is it?" Ashitaka inquired, snapping the older man back into reality.

"Something not of this world," was all the latter said.

Kotone stared hard into the darkness of the forest and her eyes could make out wiggling shapes in the distance, shapes that resembled worms of some kind. Then without warning, a massive beast broke through the stone wall that served as a boundary marker for their tribe, crawling its way towards them on four legs. Kotone gripped her brother's arm in fear as she whirled her head around. The creature stepped into the sunlight and the worm-like tentacles immediately flew up in a frenzy, revealing the wounded body of a massive boar beneath as their host.

"Aniki!"

"Yakul, Hakul, run!" Ashitaka shouted.

The elks were frozen with fear as the creature barreled towards them.

Ashitaka released an arrow from his bow at that moment, the impact of the arrow was enough to send their steeds running for safety.

"It's coming straight for us!" Kotone said.

Indeed the demon came right at them with such powerful force, it sent the watch tower crumbling into pieces. Ashitaka grabbed the elderly man in his arms and the siblings jumped into the nearby tree to avoid falling from such a great height. Kotone grunted as she landed roughly on a branch, the momentum briefly stunning her. After regaining her senses, she looked out of the tree and found a mass of tentacle worm-like creatures shuffling around the spot where the watch tower had been. Then four pairs of hands sprung out and immediately the demon headed for their village in the distance.

"It's headed for the village!" she cried in alarm.

"We have to stop it!" Ashitaka said.

The siblings jumped out of the tree with bows in hand as Jii shouted a warning at them overhead.

"The creature is cursed! Don't let it touch you!"

Whistling sharply for their elks to come, the siblings strung their bows and swung deftly onto the backs of their loyal steeds. The two elks easily made their way down the slope of the mountain, until they were right next to the demon. The only thing Kotone and Ashitaka could make out were the gleaming pair of blood-red eyes. Eyes that were full of anger and hatred.

Rounding the corner of the mountain somehow forced the demon to run out right behind the duo, and they shifted their bodies around in an attempt to appease the creature.

"Calm yourself, O mighty lord!" Ashitaka implored.

"There are innocent lives ahead of you, spare us your wrath!" Kotone added.

"Whether you are demon or god, please leave us in peace!" her brother continued.

Exiting the forest with the demon still pursuing them, the siblings urged their elks to run forward until they realized it was no longer following. Kotone spun her head around and realized the demon had spotted her friends and proceeded to change its course to chase them instead.

"Aniki, we can't let it reach the village!"

Yakul and Hakul ran for the demon, putting themselves in danger while the siblings tried to make it stop.

"Go back! Leave our village alone!" Ashitaka ordered.

"Stop!" Kotone added.

Suddenly Hana slipped and fell on her stomach, alarming the siblings as Kaya drew her sword in an attempt to ward off the demon. Realizing their friends were going to die if the demon continued, both of them drew arrows from their quivers and released them at the creature. The projectiles pierced one of the eyes of the demon, sending it screaming in pain as the worm-like tentacles converged on the wounded area.

"Get out of here now!" Kotone shouted at her friends.

Massive worm-like tentacles erupted from the demon and aimed themselves at the siblings. Kotone and Ashitaka raised their right and left arms respectively, wincing in pain as the worms converged on their arms. Ripping their limbs free from the tendrils, both siblings notched another arrow into their bow and took careful aim. The worms were leaving the boar at this point, revealing just how big it was as it roared angrily at them both. They released their arrows right into the same wounded eye, causing the boar to roar in anguish once more.

The tentacles stopped chasing them at that point but the damage was done.

Kotone and Ashitaka grunted in pain as the tentacles melted off their arms, eating away at the bandages that had been freshly wrapped earlier that morning.

The tentacles pooled around the massive boar as it stood still.

Then it fell over with a loud thud.

The boar was dead.

An intense burning sensation prompted the siblings to slid off their mounts and onto the ground as the entire village came running towards them at that moment. Kaya knelt in front of the siblings, worry evident on her face.

"Don't touch it Kaya," Kotone ordered, her face contorting in pain.

So her friend began piling dirt on top of her left arm while her brother did the same to his right.

"Everyone get back!" the Village Oracle said as she was carried into view by one of the villagers.

Kaya stood up as the Oracle handed her a large gourd of holy water.

"Pour this over their wounds slowly child," the Oracle instructed.

Kaya tipped the gourd over the wounds of her two friends. Ashitaka and Kotone grunted in pain as steam rose off their angry red-looking skin.

The Village Oracle went over to where the boar laid and bowed to it.

Kotone couldn't hear what the Oracle was saying but then the boar spoke, and its words terrified her deeply.

"Filthy disgusting humans, soon the same fate shall befall you as it did me, and you will experience the suffering I have went through..."

Then the body of the board melted away until nothing but a pile of bones remained.

Kotone turned her head away from the scene, leaning against her brother for support and comfort.

Later that evening the siblings sat before the Village Oracle and Elders in silence. Bandages were wrapped around their right and left arms, hiding the grotesque scars from view. Kotone nearly fainted in shock when Kaya helped her dress her wound after the battle. No doubt her brother was disturbed by what he saw judging from the expression on his face.

No one said a word until the Oracle finished her divination.

"I'm afraid this is very troublesome news. The stones have revealed this God came far from the West. He carried within, a type of poison in his body, a poisonous hatred that drove him mad and ate away the good that remained. It was this very poison that turned the God into a demon, sending it on a rampage until it reached our borders."

The Oracle looked up from her divination cloth to stare at the siblings.

"Prince Ashitaka, Princess Kotone."

"Yes?" the siblings straightened their backs.

"Show us your arms."

The siblings hesitated briefly, something flickering within their eyes, but were gone almost before anyone could notice. Lifting up their injured arms, the two unraveled the bandages and held out their arms for the Elders to see. Encircling their arms was a long, jagged mark colored in purplish red. The scar reminiscent of the worm-like tentacles that had covered the boar's body. To the others, it must have seem like a burn.

It certainly hurt like one.

Shocked gasps echoed loudly in the room when the Elders saw the marks.

"Hii-sama, what does this mean?" Jii-san asked the Oracle, anxiety clear within his voice.

The Oracle merely stared at the siblings in silence as a small smile spread upon her lips. Kotone never fully understood the Oracle's words and readings even as a little girl. The constant rambling of fate being set in stone didn't sit well with the Princess. Fate was something they could change, why couldn't anyone seem to understand that?

"My prince and princess, are you two prepared to hear what the stones have foretold?"

The siblings were quiet for a mere moment until Ashitaka spoke for the two of them.

"Yes," he said.

Again the Oracle simply smiled cryptically before she spoke.

"The wound will slowly spread throughout your body, taking root within your soul. It will cause you great pain, and will eventually kill you."

Ashitaka and Kotone hardened their expressions solemnly after hearing the Oracle's predictions. The Oracle was never one to sugar-coat her words after all. The two of them had been prepared to hear their fate the moment their arrows flew.

Now the Elders were riled up by the Oracle's words.

"Hii-sama, isn't there any way to stop it?!" Jii-san asked desperately, his heart aching at what the Oracle said.

"The Prince and Princess were cursed only because they tried to save our daughters!" Elder Kohaku, who was Sae's father, added.

"We can't just watch them die!" Hana's own father said, a bitter expression upon his face as he stared at the floor.

As the Elders spoke their outrage and protests over what the Oracle had divined, Kotone gripped her brother's hand in hers. Her heart was crying for her people and at herself for the fate that had befallen her and her brother. All she wanted to do was protect her friends, but it seemed even the Gods were plotting against her by bestowing this curse upon her and Ashitaka.

"One cannot change their fates, my prince and princess. No one can. However, you may rise to meet it if you so choose," the Oracle reached into her robe and brought out a small iron ball for the others to see. "Take a look at this. I discovered it in the body of the boar skeleton, right where his heart was. No doubt it was this iron ball that shattered the boar's organs and destroyed him from the inside. This is what caused the board to become a demon."

The siblings exchanged looks with one another.

"There is something ominous happening within the western lands. My prince and princess, you both may head there and seek out answers. It's your fate to go there and see with eyes unclouded by hate. You may even find a way to lift the curse placed upon you both, do you understand?"

"Yes," they both said without hesitation.

One of the Elders, Garai, then spoke out in a tired, worn voice as he lamented the fate that had befallen the Emishi Clan.

"It's been five hundred years since our tribe was destroyed by the emperor while driving the remnants of our people to the east. Some managed to survive and adapt to living here, but our tribe's blood grows thinner and weaker with each generation. Now our last prince and princess must cut their hair and leave us, never to return? Sometimes, I believe the gods are laughing at us. Taking away our beloved prince and princess whom were fated to rule us, forcing them to leave our tribe forever."

Kotone and Ashitaka turned to the altar at that moment. The two of them took out identical small, red daggers and unsheathed them. Holding her topknot with one hand, Kotone quickly sliced through her hair with the dagger, leaving the rest of her hair dangling around her neck in tresses. She placed her topknot on the table and bowed while her brother did the same.

"Our laws forbid us from sending you off. May the Gods guide your path as you walk, Farewell." the Oracle said quietly.

Both of them got up and quietly left the shrine.

Back within their shared room, the siblings packed their bags with the necessary provisions for their journey in silence. Kotone wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and quickly pulled on a blue tunic that would serve as her undershirt. Yanking on a pair of tan pants that provided her enough room to move around in, Kotone pulled on her pair of straw boots and tied them around her ankles. Next she took out two arm coverings and pulled them on, shielding her cursed mark from view. Her brother wore similar clothing on the opposite side of the room.

"Aniki..."

"I know Kotone. The laws of our village must be followed," Ashitaka said.

Kotone sighed quietly to herself and covered her head with a red hood with a mask that covered the lower half of her face. Slipping her bow and quiver of arrows around her shoulders, and tying her sword around the sash of her waist, Kotone tugged her straw cape around her shoulders and tied it tightly closed. The cape would serve as shelter from the rain and would also keep her warm at the same time.

"Come," her brother said.

The two of them quietly made their way to the stable where their elks were already saddled from earlier. Yakul and Hakul looked up at their masters, snorting quietly as the siblings led them out before mounting up. Most of the villagers were already asleep by that point, so it was relatively easy to slip out without alerting anyone until they saw Kaya hiding behind one of the straw huts.

"Ashitaka, Kotone," she hurried over to them.

"Kaya! You know it's forbidden to watch us leave," Kotone chastised gently.

"I don't care about the laws. I wanted to give you two these," their friend said.

Holding out her palms to the two of them, the siblings could see two pairs of crystal daggers nestled within her palm.

"We can't take these. They're meant for you and your future husband," Ashitaka said quietly.

"I want you two to have them. That way...you won't forget about me and the village," Kaya said, fighting back tears as she spoke.

Kotone and Ashitaka reached down to take up a dagger each in their hands. The latter pulled down her face mask and smiled at her best friend.

"We won't forget you Kaya," she promised.

"How could we forget after all we've been through?" Ashitaka added.

"With us gone from the village, the position of leader falls to you next Kaya. Lead them on the right path, make us proud to call you our sister."

Without another word, the siblings urged their elks into a sprint and the two rode away, never to return to the Emishi village again.

To be continued...

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Celsius Fate~