Chapter 1: Relic

Ginko's travels were, for the most part, random, and the intervals from oddity to oddity, peaceful. He thought he'd seen just about everything, and had been just about everywhere. He knew that "odd" pretty much came with being something as odd as a "mushi master." After all these years dealing with the supernatural (and by supernatural, I honestly mean super natural), he was sure that mushi were just about as odd as it got. Perhaps that was why the physical world seemed so foreign to him. But as far as normal went, he was sure this wasn't : the skeleton of a giant boar, set before an altar.

It was definitely a part of the physical world, no mushi at work here. Maybe it was fake? He couldn't be sure. The thing was the size of a small house- whose idea was this? All around it though, plant life seemed to flourish. All sorts of wild flowers, mushrooms, herbs and insects seemed drawn to it. He checked them all, and they were all natural (not to say that mushi aren't natural, but there were no infestations that he notices and no harmful or otherwise noticeable effects on anything around).

He looked down the hill at the small village; even that seemed strange. He'd never heard of it, and it wasn't on the map. And this… thing, just sitting here like it's nobody's business (looking at it a few steps back, it was actually quite beautiful), overall, he wasn't sure how he felt about the situation.

Tired and somewhat uneasy for indistinguishable reasons, he set his pack down, sat by the unusual altar, lit his cigar, and assessed his predicament, in no hurry. Physical or not, there was no easy way to explain the skeleton. There was definitely something supernatural about it, no doubt. In some way or another, he was sure that mushi had to be involved. Maybe it was a new species; something he's never seen before. That excited him. And after his run-in with the "valley of fire" as he called it, learning about new mushi became more and more essential.

But, say maybe it wasn't supernatural. Some time before, he had heard rumors of giant animal Gods in deep mountains and forests- just as they were in the dawn of time- but of course, Ginko just assumed that they were seeing the mushi-lords. Maybe that wasn't so. Maybe mushi were not the only strange there was in the world. He looked over his shoulder, thoughtfully, at the large stone set before the bones – were they the bones of an ancient god? – and found that he did not recognize the words carved on its flat face. … No, he did recognize them. There was a scroll in Adashino's collection with such writing. Writing, of course, that hadn't been used in over five-hundred years, since the Amishi were wiped out. On this note, Ginko took another look at the village at the foot of the valley. It couldn't be…

As he scrutinized the buildings, he noticed two young girls near the gate, watching him. They had their hair up in a way he'd never seen and strange, brightly colored loose-fitting garments. He waved at them, and they quickly retreated back into the village. Cleary they did not receive visitors often. His curiosity sufficiently stimulated, he put out his cigar in the grass, stamping on it firmly to be sure, and started to trek down to the village entrance. The two girls and a small, shriveled old woman came to meet him.

"We do not welcome outsiders," she said firmly, "take this place out of your mind and be on your way."

"I mean no harm," Ginko replied defensively, "I'm a traveling mushi-master, and seek shelter for the night, that is all," he told them somewhat honestly.

The woman looked him up and down under a very scrutinizing eye, a withered old spectacle of a woman. She herself did not look unwelcoming; she seemed more the grandmotherly type, though Ginko was never stupid enough to assume one's character by their physical appearance. But as she looked almost mournfully at the remains behind him, he was sure there was more to this secret place than he could possibly ever know. Regardless, she did not look impressed with him, and he was prompted to speak.

"There's something strange about this forest. All the animals are gone, it's too quiet," he noticed, "Normally I don't mind camping out, but I'd feel much better sleeping in doors, then I intend to head west." It was true. He had intended to head west, curious about all the attention it was getting as of late, and it was certainly too quiet. Since entering the forest he'd seen no sign of animal life, no birds of any kind, no rusting in the bushes, hardly any noticeable bug, really.

"I'm afraid I can't permit it," the woman spoke, "the forest is safe, if unusual. Be on your way, mushi-shi. Or we will force you on your way." Several large men appeared some yards behind her. So It wasn't just him being paranoid, there was definitely something very off. But, Ginko thought, perhaps this was why the place was on no map and why no one spoke of it, so he decided to respect it and turned back into the woods. He wasn't leaving, but he wouldn't go into the village. He camped within sight and made his presence no secret. He sat over his fire with a meal of two-headed fish (the second being a mushi parasite; harmless to humans), contemplating the writing of the altar.

The Amishi were a spiritual people, who separated themselves from the empire, which they believed was corrupt – polluted. They believed that there was dormant evil resting inside mankind, and based their customs to abolish that evil. But what interested Gink about the Amishi was they were all born with the ability to see mushi. Whether or not they understood what they were seeing was another thing. But it was for this reason that most people thought they were crazy, and eventually, for whatever reason, the emperor got fed up with them and slaughtered them all. Their stone arrowheads were no match for the growing army and malicious new weapons, even some primitive guns. Was it possible that after five hundred years, they're still alive, hiding here in the east? After what he's seen, this wasn't the strangest and didn't seem all that unlikely. But before he investigated his thoughts any further, he took his parchment copy of the message on the stone and stuck it into his uro-san cocoon to Adashino for translating.

As he slipped the cocoon back into its proper drawer, he heard a rusting. It startled him, as this was the first time he's heard anything but himself in this forest. As he turned and saw a humanoid shadow he nearly jumped out of his skin. When he saw that it was one of the young girls from the village, he coughed, straightening himself out, "Can I help you, young lady?"

She was one of the girls that came with the elderly woman. She just stood there, by his makeshift camp, anxiously looking from him to her fingers. It was clear she had something to say, but being an outsider, he recognized himself as intimidating. He waited patiently for her to begin, trying to remain casual, but after a minute or so, he prompted her to sit with him by the fire. After shifting her gaze again a few times, she finally sat, took a breath, and began to speak. "Y-… you said that you are going west… right?" Ginko nodded in reply, waiting for her to continue. "Please," she said, gripping her shirt, her shoulders trembling with the anxiety in her tiny frame as she locked her eyes on his face, "Please, you must find my brother!"

This surprised Ginko. Guessing by how nervous she was, in her secret meeting in the middle of the night, he knew that her brother was not away on business. The girl began to tear up, "I'll- I'll pay you! I know it's a lot to ask, but please, I-… I mist know of he's alive," she said, the last work spilling out with such anguish. "He left a year ago," she continued, her nervousness subsiding into desperation, "when we… we were attacked…" Attacked? "My heart keeps telling me that he's dead but I just… I can't… I believe that he is still out there!" her flooded plea finally stopped and she stared at him with a starry-eyed hope, waiting as he took in what she was asking of him.

Silently, Ginko folded his arms and stared at the girl with his single green eye. "Those are red elk, aren't they," he asked, motioning his head back towards the village. The girl, uneasy now, simply nodded. He thought for a moment. This was far more normal a problem than he'd ever been faced with (of course that is how it seemed at the time). Under the circumstances, it might not be normal, but it was far more so than what he was used to. Ginko had saved whole villages plagues by mushi, healed people with incurable diseases (with mushi), and this day he is asked to tell a man to visit his sister. At the same time, he knew it was not as simple as that.

Should he use this as a means to answer his questions about the village? Take advantage of this girl's worry? It didn't seem right, but it sure didn't satisfy his curiosity. In fact, it just added more fuel to his fire. "So let me see if I've got this," he began, rubbing his chin, "You want me to find you brother in the general vicinity of the west, who may or may not be alive, and bring him back here?"

The girl immediately began shaking her head, "No, no, you can't do that… um… " Again, Ginko waited as she sorted out her thoughts. Her brow furrowed.

After another few moments or so and she was still thinking, Ginko offered her some of the fish. Her eyes widened when she saw it and he was relieved to release the crease off her face. She didn't want any, but she was definitely intrigued. Gink told her a bit about the mushi and she listened intently. It was a very pleasant conversation in the woods, even with the eerie silence, the fire kept them calm.

After a while, she nodded, "Mushi. So that's what they're called. Some of us can see them. The wise-woman says that a long time ago, we all could." Ding ding ding! "… My brother could." More silence. The level of awkward for Ginko was increasing. He didn't exactly want to go on a wild goose-chase for someone who may not even be alive.

"Take me with you!"

Woah. What? No! Well, maybe. "That's probably not a good idea-" Brown eyes eagerly begged him, youth jumping from every pore of her scrawny body. "What about your village-"

"Forget them!" She shook her head as if shaking them out of her mind, "They were the ones who banished him!" That's the question: Why? "I don't care about them and their customs, I want to see my brother – I want to learn more about mushi! I- I won't be a burden on you, I'll help you! And when I find him, I promise I'll leave."

Ginko stared back at her, not wanting to douse her flame just yet- it was certainly a very different face that greeted him from the bushes. "… I'm going to have to think about it."

The young woman, Kaiya, returned to the village leaving Ginko to his thoughts. He supposed it wouldn't be so bad. It's be better than wandering around by himself not knowing what to look for. And traveling with company would be a nice change. Really, it would be no burden on him to take in a young, eager apprentice. It was clear that the secluded traditional life she lived wasn't enough for her and granted it wouldn't satisfy him either. He would be doing a good deed.

A moment later, he heard the uro-san ratting in it's drawer. Typical of Adashino to be up at this hour. Ginko pulled out the cocoon and the message inside:

"O nameless god of rage and hate

Pass on in peace

And bare us no hatred

Watch over our prince

Ashitaka"

Well, that's certainly curious. There was a note added beneath the translation: "I don't know where you found this, Ginko, but if you bring it back I'd be willing to pay a high price for it. I'm currently lacking in Amishi artifacts. Happy traveling, friend."