[It's a good thing he'd been... awake for some days now, trying fruitlessly to make sense of what the Forest and its Deer want from him. This is a different world from his own, he knows (or at least very, very strongly suspects), and most definitely a different time. But he can't help it if his mind still plays its tricks, still makes his body tense and his curse ache with its constant burn, makes his breath catch in alarm (misplaced, maybe... maybe) every time a boar rushes through the town.
There's many of them, but they're smaller than the soldiers he knows-- the old Lord had warned of that fate already. The boar had warned about their next meeting being Ashitaka's death, too
but
these pigs were confused. They ran here and there, ran up to people without intent to charge or gore them with their tusks. Seeing no need to draw a weapon, Ashitaka goes to step between the next boar and its path, question practically tumbling out of his mouth as he does.] Halt! [Which is rude. But he craves the answer, he needs the answer.] Are you of the tribe which pledged allegiance to Lord Okkoto? Let me help you, even if you are.
↞↞ GOOD ENDURES | cw: rapid aging
[Ashitaka isn't shy; not exactly. He's only been preoccupied, hadn't had the time to socialize. He had been on the brink of war. It wasn't strange to have prioritized finding peace with the fact that the war was far enough to, at the moment, be no concern of his. (Which was a lie, of course Irontown and the Forest and the women and the wolves were a concern of his [and Yakul, and San, and-] but what could he do now?) So no, he'd made no peace with it, but he'd tried to understand. And he'd not seen many other Sleepers, he thinks, because of his own attempts to clear his mind.
All of this to say; what's unusual for this town, besides what's obvious, is lost on him.
He'd seen a bright apple, hadn't thought to fight the hunger, hadn't seen a stand in the market struggling to find their apples or a kid asking about their poor, lost apple. So he'd eaten the apple. Some hours later he'd felt stiff and exhausted. Must be from being in this... house, all day.
Hopefully some neighbor had seen a boy begin to make himself at home there, and can call attention to the fact he's grayer. Frail. Smaller. Actually, it's a struggle to even make it to the open spaces-- his lungs are hurting from the effort, and staying on his feet is damn near growing impossible.]
Prince Ashitaka | Mononoke Hime
↞ YOU UNCULTURED SWINE
[It's a good thing he'd been... awake for some days now, trying fruitlessly to make sense of what the Forest and its Deer want from him. This is a different world from his own, he knows (or at least very, very strongly suspects), and most definitely a different time. But he can't help it if his mind still plays its tricks, still makes his body tense and his curse ache with its constant burn, makes his breath catch in alarm (misplaced, maybe... maybe) every time a boar rushes through the town.
There's many of them, but they're smaller than the soldiers he knows-- the old Lord had warned of that fate already. The boar had warned about their next meeting being Ashitaka's death, too
but
these pigs were confused. They ran here and there, ran up to people without intent to charge or gore them with their tusks. Seeing no need to draw a weapon, Ashitaka goes to step between the next boar and its path, question practically tumbling out of his mouth as he does.] Halt! [Which is rude. But he craves the answer, he needs the answer.] Are you of the tribe which pledged allegiance to Lord Okkoto? Let me help you, even if you are.
↞↞ GOOD ENDURES | cw: rapid aging
[Ashitaka isn't shy; not exactly. He's only been preoccupied, hadn't had the time to socialize. He had been on the brink of war. It wasn't strange to have prioritized finding peace with the fact that the war was far enough to, at the moment, be no concern of his. (Which was a lie, of course Irontown and the Forest and the women and the wolves were a concern of his [and Yakul, and San, and-] but what could he do now?) So no, he'd made no peace with it, but he'd tried to understand. And he'd not seen many other Sleepers, he thinks, because of his own attempts to clear his mind.
All of this to say; what's unusual for this town, besides what's obvious, is lost on him.
He'd seen a bright apple, hadn't thought to fight the hunger, hadn't seen a stand in the market struggling to find their apples or a kid asking about their poor, lost apple. So he'd eaten the apple. Some hours later he'd felt stiff and exhausted. Must be from being in this... house, all day.
Hopefully some neighbor had seen a boy begin to make himself at home there, and can call attention to the fact he's grayer. Frail. Smaller. Actually, it's a struggle to even make it to the open spaces-- his lungs are hurting from the effort, and staying on his feet is damn near growing impossible.]