Just a heads up, if you haven't read my previous story (Halting Godhood), it could help to read that story before reading this one so that this story makes some more sense, as characters not presented in the movie along with events that never happened in the film are mentioned in this story. To those who have read it, this is the sequel that I promised at the end of the previous story. I'm still pretty inexperienced at this, but I do my best each time. Lastly, I don't own any of the characters or other part of Princess Mononoke.

It had been several months since the demon known as Kumo had threatened the forest with enslavement and total domination until he was defeated by Ashitaka, San, the humans from Irontown, and the creatures and gods of the forest. While his terror over the land had lingered several days after his death, there were no scars that were left by the demon, except for the reduced number of apes in the forest. The pond which belonged to the Forest Spirit was cleansed not long after the demon's tainted blood touched the water. Where his body had fallen, grass had regrown. The destruction in Irontown which was caused by the apes under the demon's curse had been repaired before the winter months.

It was now late-December. Snow had begun to fall in the region. Ashitaka had never seen snow before since it never snowed in his village before; it usually became colder around this time, but he couldn't recall there ever being snow in the village. He thought it was beautiful to see the hills covered in white, but very quickly found it hard to work or play in the snow. San, having grown in the region, was used to it and wore her pelt to keep herself warm during the winter. Ashitaka decided that he would stay in Irontown for most of winter because he wasn't prepared for the cold. His cloak offered some protection, but not enough to let him live in the forest for more than a week. He had begun alternating living in Irontown for one week and visiting San the next.

Ashitaka was preparing for one such visit to San on a cold winter morning. Snow had covered the streets of Irontown the night before and covered the rooftops in a thin blanket. Ashitaka was bringing his clothes and weapons with him; he would have brought food with him if he had any, but due to the snow, there was a shortage in Irontown. According to Eboshi, there was always a drop in how much food was available whenever winter arrived and the snow came, but it was particularly bad this year since nearly their entire stockpile was poisoned by one of Jigo's hunters when he was trying to capture or kill Ashitaka and San. After he had gathered everything that he needed, Ashitaka went to Lady Eboshi's house to tell her he was leaving for the week. Eboshi gave him her best wishes and continued on with her duty of overseeing Irontown. Ashitaka went to the stables where his red elk, Yakul, was awaiting him. He greeted Yakul by petting the elk's head before he mounted him and rode off to the forest.

For Ashitaka, it was relatively easy to navigate through the forest since he had grown up so close to one. But having never encountered snow before, except for the past few weeks, he had a much more difficult time finding his way in the forest than he would normally. Yakul was also being very cautious; one wrong step and the elk could trip and hurt himself and Ashitaka. The snow was six inches deep at the most and that was downhill. The snow was not as deep as they went up-hill, but they still moved carefully, making a slushing sound as they moved in the snow.

Finding the den was also slightly harder since the sides looked the same as the rest of the hills since snow covered most of it. However, he had been there enough to memorize the path there and was able to find it after some time trying to discern its location among the snow covered trees. He could see a small trail of smoke coming from the cave. Outside he could smell some sort of meat being roasted inside. He realized that he was actually very hungry; he hadn't eaten breakfast and it was already an hour and a half past noon.

Ashitaka didn't tie Yakul's reigns to any trees; he knew that his faithful friend would never leave him, even if there was danger nearby (unless, of course, Ashitaka told him to). He gave the elk a quick pat on the head before he began to climb to the mouth of the cave. On his way up to the ledge, his lost his footing and slipped, tumbling back down to the bottom next to Yakul. The elk playfully nibbled on Ashitaka's hair before the boy got back up and tried again. This time he got to the ledge, which was slippery from all of the ice on the ground. He tried to take a step but once again lost his footing. This time, he slipped and slid to the edge of the ledge. Ashitaka gasped and quickly grabbed the ledge to hang on. Ashitaka looked down below; if he let go of his grip, he would likely die from the fall.

San must have heard him slip or gasp because before he could call her name, he felt somebody grab his arm just as he slipped another half an inch.

"Are you alright?" She asked as she peeked over the edge and looked down at Ashitaka.

"I'm fine," he replied, "but I could use a little help." San pulled up Ashitaka while he used his free hand to help her by pushing himself up. San was eventually able to drag him onto the ledge. Ashitaka moved away from the edge as soon as he was able to get all four limbs back on the stone. "Thanks, San; I'm still not that used to snow or ice yet."

"You'll learn how to manage with it eventually." She said. She led him inside to a fire she had burning. "I usually don't light fires inside, but I can't do it in the snow. It becomes too wet for wood to burn properly." She offered him what looked like a squirrel on a stick, cooked well-done over the fire in the cave. San told him she had already gutted it and had gotten rid of most of the bones inside. Ashitaka took a bite of the squirrel, and then another. It only took him four bites to finish his food, so San offered him another. Ashitaka ate the second one in almost the same amount of time. "Did you eat at all today?"

"No," Ashitaka answered, "I didn't eat too much for the past couple of days. According to Lady Eboshi, the food supply of the town always drops during the winter. Since most of the townspeople are too afraid to go hunting in the forest, they've had to cut back on how much food they offer people and how often. Most of the food became poisoned a few months ago made the shortage even worse, so I usually save mine for later or don't take any so the other villagers can have more." Ashitaka removed his hood and placed it away from the fire. He and San warmed themselves by the open flame as the snow of their bodies melted into water. "I noticed your brothers are absent." Ashitaka said suddenly after taking a quick look around the cave.

"They're investigating a large bunch of broken tree branches further north in the forest. There are too many for it to be from the weight of the snow on the older trees. It also can't be because of the Ape Tribe; they haven't left their spot in the forest ever since the spider demon was killed a few months ago, except for a few who go out gathering food."

"How do the apes fare during the winter?"

"They usually let their coats protect them, but a few of them have blankets they've stolen from humans. They place their young in those blankets to shelter them from the cold. Moro did the same with me until I was older. My brothers' coats are thick enough to let them withstand the cold." San bit into one of the roasted squirrels and ripped the meat with her teeth.

"That actually reminds me of something I've been wondering for a bit now." San stopped biting into the squirrel and listened. "Who is your brothers' father?"

San thought for a moment before replying with, "I don't know. I asked my mother once and she told me that their father was dead."

"Do you know how he died? I thought gods were immortal."

"I always thought he was killed while fighting humans with my sister. I always thought my pelt came from him until Moro told me it came from my sister."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, it's alright. I never knew my sister or my father. It doesn't bother me very much." Ashitaka and San continued talking and eventually came to the subject of snow. San told Ashitaka about how she enjoyed the transition from heat to cold and how she used to play in the snow as a child. "It does become bleak after a while since most of the trees die and the animals sleep for most of winter, but at winters end the forest lives again. It always seems more beautiful than ever when winter is over." San's description of the forest only made Ashitaka hope winter would end soon.

Okami and Urufu arrived just as San told Ashitaka about the snow. They entered the cave and shook the snow off of their fur, getting small drops of water on Ashitaka and San. They had blood around their mouths from something they had eaten. Whatever it was they had eaten, it was a recent kill; the blood around their mouths was still wet.

"Did you find whatever came through the forest?" San asked as she went to get a bowl of water to put the fire out now that there was no meat left to be cooked.

"Yes," Okami replied, "it was a large group of apes from a region to the west. They are distant cousins of the apes which live in this forest. Hello, brother." Okami said looking to Ashitaka. Ashitaka bowed to greet them.

"What are they doing here?"

"They have come here for two reasons," Urufu replied, "the humans in their region have begun to cut down the trees in their forest at a rate faster than what the humans here used to achieve. They are also concerned that their apparent king is becoming careless about the lives of the forest creatures."

"Who is their king?" Ashitaka asked. San dumped the water onto the fire, causing a large puff of ash to rise into the air. Ashitaka covered his mouth with his arm and shut one of his eyes.

"They never said. But they follow his every command, no matter how dangerous it may be. Lately, he has been using the creatures in the forest to lure humans out so that he could kill them. He doesn't always save the creatures he sends out, though, and the amounts which have been dying have been rising."

"Do they know why the local lord has been cutting down the trees?"

"They have some theories," Okami replied, "Many of the apes which came from that region believe that he is preparing for war, though they don't know against whom. Some of the apes believe that he is going to war against another lord over land. The apes here and a few from the west believe that he is going to try and do what the humans here attempted and destroy the forest so he could reap whatever resources may lie there."

"Who is the human who 'rules' over there?" San asked angrily.

"A man I've heard Ashitaka mention once, when we were coming to help you and Lord Okkoto against the hunters." Ashitaka looked at the wolf, puzzled. He did not know any other humans outside Irontown except for the Emishi and Jigo, though he was still in Irontown, serving time in a prison. Urufu turned his head to Ashitaka and said, "I believe you called this human 'Lord Asano'?"