Princess Mononoke : After the War (My Fanfiction-Final)

Lady Eboshi and her folks remained at the Tataraba village in Shishigami forest. She now plans to apologize to Shishigami and other forest gods and seeks a way to harmonize humans and forest gods.

“Taka, do you think Shishigami would forgive us for what we did and let us live near the forest?” asked Lady Eboshi, looking rather serious.

“Of course, ma’am. Past is past, as they say ma’am. I guess we should not dwell on the past, but we have to move forward now,” said Taka with a great determination on his face.

At that moment, all the memories began to emerge back into Lady Eboshi’s mind, leaving her in agony. “All those killings, Taka I truly regret what I did in the past. If I can go back and live again, I will never do the same thing again,” said Lady Eboshi, turning around a bit, so Taka could not see her tears.

“Taka, let’s hurry. We have to be quick and efficient in removing all these debris from the forest. Tell the workers to move faster!” yelled Lady Eboshi. Taka bowed and went off to deliver Lady Eboshi’s command.

“Megumi, have you any news of the messenger boy Ken? I thought he would be here by now,” inquired Eboshi, looking around, as if expecting to see Ken any minute now.
“He has not come back yet, Lady Eboshi.” answered Megumi. “ I am getting worried. Why is he taking so long? He is just delivering the present to Shishigame.”
“Don’t worry, he is probably on his way back, so…” she could not finish her sentence as somebody came rushing to her. He was literally shaking with horror on his face. Lady Eboshi and Megumi sensed at once that something was wrong. “What is going on?” demanded Eboshi.
“You must follow me at once ma’am. This is not very good. Not good at all! Ken is back now, but,” for a moment he fell into silence, but quickly continued. “He is not the only one who came. Moro and San are also here. Lady Eboshi, Ken has been attacked in the forest!” cried the guy.

Lady Eboshi ran outside without hesitation and could not stop wondering what could have attacked Ken. She thought to herself, ‘no, it can’t be happening. Shishigami is against killing, he does not allow any animal to kill a human!’ As she ran, she could see San and Moro standing at the gate of her town. “San! Moro! What happened to our man Ken? Oh my gosh, look at that blood! Is he dead?” she asked, terrified.

“You fool humans,” growled Moro with a look of disgust on her face. “Because Shishigami has forbidden us to kill you people, it doesn’t mean you can come into our world any time you want! Look at what happened to this guy as a consequence!”

“We were able to stop the Earth God from killing him just in time. Why was he in the forest?” San asked Lady Eboshi as she helped Megumi lifting Ken from Moro, who has apparently carried Ken on her back. Bloods on her pearl-white furs were as red as the burning Sun.

Lady Eboshi straightened her back and said, “Like you said, we wanted Shishigami to truly forgive us. We want to live in harmony with animals and gods of the forest. We want do rebuild what we once destroyed. We want to gain their trust. We do want to show them how deep our remorse is and how strongly we want to go back to the time when there was no war or enmity between us.” Suddenly, all became silent that everyone could almost hear each other’s rapid heartbeats.

Moro and San were a bit shocked by the statement. They thought humans are irresponsible and always ready to give up at the first hint of trouble. Deep in their mind started to grow a belief that there could be hope for humans at last.

Town workers and Lady Eboshi worked harder than ever before. Even children began to join the crew and started to rebuild the forest. Lately, Kodamas have begun to reveal themselves more often to humans with curiosity in a positive way. Today, Kodamas can be seen wandering around kids, helping them remove debris from the forest.

Meanwhile, back in the forest, the Earth God Kigigami was resting under a very big and ancient tree, one of very few trees which were not cut off by humans. It was strangely quiet and the only sound he could hear was of a Kodama rolling his head and the sound of himself weeping.

“Kodama, why did the others stop coming to me?” cried the Earth God. He has been feeling very lonely these days; there was no one else to be seen near him these days. He reminisced back his past, where all animals and Kodamas surrounded him, playing, talking and laughing with each other. He and Shishigami used to care for all those creatures so both were very fatherly figure to them in the forest. But the war has changed everything. Seeing the once peaceful forest destroyed by humans invoked his anger towards them. He used to be very happy.
“Do you still think it is because I started to hurt humans? They tried to kill us! We cannot trust them! They are all evil!” shouted the Earth God, who was shaking so badly that leaves on the tree fell to the ground. He thought that although others do not like what he is doing now, they will come back in time and thank him for removing humans from the forest. But deep in his mind, he began to wonder if he stops killing humans, all will go back to being normal and peaceful as before. In fact, he could himself see how the forest was returning to its state before the war. But still, Kigigami was not sure whether humans are genuine and trust-worthy enough to let them into the forest, at least not just yet.

“Lady Eboshi, we are almost near the completion of repairing the forest. Would Kigigami forgive us at last?” asked Megumi.

“Megumi, yes, I am sure that he will finally understand us and forgive us. We just need to believe he will. That is what we need the most right now. Faith, Megumi.” smiled Lady Eboshi at Megumi, who nevertheless looked very concerned.

In the meantime, Moro and San were talking about how to stop Kigigami from making any further mistakes by killing humans. “Mother, I now feel more generous about Lady Eboshi. When I first met her, I could not see any truthfulness within her, but now, it is all different. I can feel how hard she tries to mend what she broke before,” said San, careful not to offend her mother by defending Lady Eboshi. “San, yes. Humans are a lot stronger than I have imagined before. They never give up. I think we should discuss the matter with Shishigami.” agreed Moro.
San and Moro had just got to the road to Shishigami’s dwelling when they met the forest God. “Ah, Moro and San, I am glad I met you. Come with me immediately. Kigigami is about to make a huge mistake. He is on his way to the town to destroy the humans!” yelled Shishigami in a hurry and continued to run towards the town without waiting for them.

Back in the town, everyone was enjoying their well-earned break, not knowing what is about to happen to them.

“Ahh!!! Help me!” shrieked Megumi who froze like an ice when she saw Kigigami standing right before her eyes. It happened so quickly that no one could rescue her from Kigigami throwing her into the sky. “Ahh! HELP ME!” yelled Megumi, but no one could move as it happened so quickly, no one could really absorb what was really going on.

“Kigigami! You fool! You should stop instantly!” shouted Shishigami, appeared from no where, catching Megumi in the sky and landing her safely on the ground. Moro and San followed, breathless. Few conscious workers came running to Megumi and carried her into one of the houses.

“You say the humans are evil, but you are doing exactly what they used to do to us!” Moro yelled furiously at Kigigami, whose eyes were shaking.

“Look at what happened! Can you see anyone around you? What happened to your mind, Kigigami? What happened to you!” shouted Shishigami.

Kigigami came to realise that Kodamas were standing next to humans, hiding behind them so they can avoid his devil-like eyes. Right then, Lady Eboshi came into his sight. ‘That woman, if I kill that woman, it will all end. Everything will go back to normal!’ He thought to himself and started to run at her. ‘Why isn’t she moving? Why isn’t she running away? Why?’ thought Kigigami, as he ran.

“Kigigami, listen. On behalf of our people, I am truly sorry for what we did to the forest. But you should know that we will not give up on gaining your trust back. Even if you kill me now, my followers will not stop trying. Please give us one more chance, please!” said Lady Eboshi, looking right at the eyes of Kigigami, not blinking.

Just then, miraculous thing happened. All Kodamas started to make a shield between humans and the Kigigami. Their innocent big eyes met those of Kigigami. Following Kodamas’ move, San, Moro and Shishigami themselves joined the Kodamas, standing against Kigigami. “Don’t make any more stupid mistakes that you will regret Kigigami. You can stop now!” both Moro and Shishigami yelled at Kigigami. “Fight back the evil inside you! You can do it Kigigami! You can forgive them and give them one more chance! Let’s do that together!” begged Shishigami.

Kigigami was very confused. Something deep in his heart kept telling him to stop but the other side of it kept telling him to do it. ‘You yourself had thought that these people might be genuine before! They are trying their best, do not kill them. Otherwise you will be just the same as them before the war. Don’t make a mistake that you know you will regret.’ ‘Can’t you remember what they did to the forest? They killed your friends! Your home! They are not trust-worthy! They are all liars, liars!’ but the latter voice got weaker and weaker as Kigigami kept meeting the innocent eyes of all Kodamas staring back at him. ‘I cannot do this. I just cannot. I don’t want to be lonely for the rest of my life. I do not want others to think me as a killer or destroyer.’

It happened so quickly. Dark and disgusting smoke began to evaporate from the body of Kigigami. “No! No! You have to kill them! No! No! Ahh!...” smoke vanished in the air as it left his body and it all went silence. Thump. Kigigami fell down powerlessly.

All began to gather around Kigigami to see whether he was alright. “Kigigami! Are you all right? What happened just now? What was that black smoke?” asked San looking very surprised.

“Kigigami won the war within himself. He fought the evil inside him out. That was the evil what made Kigigami so cruel these days.” Moro replied back. “Oh, look. Kigigami is waking up now.”

“Oh no, what have I done?” murmured the weak voice of Kigigami. “Forgive me my friends. I was cosumed by the evil inside me. I’ve done wrong I cannot undo!”

“The Earth God, Kigigami. That is not your fault. It is all mine and ours. We started it. You were just a victim of our stupid mistakes. Please forgive us and let us have a peace with the forest with your generosity.” Lady Eboshi kneeled down before him and said.

“Human, do not worry. I was a fool who thought by killing back humans, I will bring the forest back to normal. And that wrong and evil mind of mine made me more miserable. It will not happen again as long as you keep to your promise.” With a more strength in his voice, Kigigami replied.

It was not a long time to get back to the way it was before the war. Lady Eboshi and workers worked harder and harder to fully regain the forest. Kigigami was not lonely anymore. “Kigigami, you look healthier and happier than ever before” smiled Moro. “Yes Moro. Look around me. Everyone is now here. All my friends are here. Why would I not be happy?” Kigigami roared with laughter, which joyfully echoed in the forest.

The Adventures of Tintin in New Zealand

The Adventures of Tintin in New Zealand

Assignment 1: Fanfiction. Telling the story of Tintin in the different mode of prose fiction and adding a scene and characters.


Act One
It was 1983 and Tintin and Snowy had just arrived in Wellington, New Zealand. They were invited there as guests of the Governor General, The Hon Sir David Beattie, whom Tintin had met in Brussels the year before. Tintin had been fascinated to hear all about New Zealand and the Maori culture, so after much consideration he had decided to take up the Governor General’s invitation and make the journey to New Zealand. He was initially reluctant to travel, as he was having a particularly busy time reporting in other countries. However, the Governor General had been very persuasive in encouraging him and had offered to assist him in any way he could.

Tintin had just collected his suitcase from the airport, and the quarantine officials had released Snowy and together they headed outside. Meanwhile, waiting outside was a group of thugs and their boss was telling them what to do.
“Now listen here you lot. His name’s Tintin – a smug little world reporter guy. Tries to clean up crims and causes havoc wherever he goes. He busted some of my mates overseas and they ended up in the slammer. So grab him and his mutt and shove then into the van as soon as you see them.”
“Right-o boss.”
“That’s them! Quick let’s go.”

As quick as lightening, Tintin and Snowy were whisked into the van and with the screech of tyres were racing through the car-park.
“Hey, what’s going on?” shouted Tintin.
“Shut up and stay down” was the reply.

Then suddenly, CRASH, their speeding van hit the side of a passing police car. Tintin and Snowy took the opportunity to leap out and run to the officers.

“Quick, get those guys! They tried to kidnap me” shouted Tintin.

A trail of thick grey smoke could be seen as the thugs managed to get the van engine restarted and fled the scene to the smell of burning rubber from the tyres. The police car followed with its sirens screaming.

Suddenly Tintin heard two loud bangs. Oh no! This is a nightmare, he thought and so he hit the ground and covered his face. After a few moments he got the courage to look up. The noise turned out to be a car backfiring in the neighbouring car-park. What a relief, he thought to himself.


Act Two
Tintin began dusting himself off, feeling very shaky on his feet. That’s strange thought Tintin, and where’s my passport? Just then a dark skinned man came by.
“Are you okay?” the man said.
“Yes, I’m thank you” replied Tintin. “Just a little shaken. A gang of thugs tried to kidnap me and throw me in their van, but they crashed and luckily I was able to escape but they’ve stolen my passport.”
“Not a very nice way to start your visit to Wellington. I’m Rangi anyway.”
“My name is Tintin, and this is Snowy.”
“Haere mai Tintin and Snowy” replied Rangi. “Do you need a ride anywhere?”
(Just after Tintin and Snowy had landed, they had gone to the airport office and collected a letter from the Governor General’s secretary, advising Tintin that he would be collected at 5 pm and driven to the Governor General’s residence.)

“Thankyou Rangi. I’m sorry to refuse your offer, but my ride will be here shortly.”
“Okay then Tintin. You take care now. Here’s my phone number. If you want to see a bit of the real New Zealand, maybe I can show you round someday? Give us a call sometime.”
“I’d like that very much Rangi.”
“Haere ra Tintin and Snowy.”
“Bye Rangi, and thank you for your help.”
“No problem, see you” and off Rangi strode.

I wonder what that was all about and what do they want with my passport, thought Tintin? I’d better find another policeman and notify them. Then suddenly Detective John Simpson from Wellington Central Police arrived.

“Hello, hello, hello. What have we here? You look a bit worse for wear young man. What’s the problem then?”
“I had just landed and was walking out the building and a pack of thugs attacked me and tried to kidnap me. Fortunately their van crashed into your officers’ car and I escaped. But they’ve taken off with my passport.”
“Oh. I see” said Detective Smith. “You’d better come along with me then. These good-for-nothing young troublemakers cause so many problems around here.”
“But sir”, said Tintin. “Not all young men are like that. I just met a wonderful Maori man, Rangi, who helped me.”
“Well they’re few and far between I can assure you. Come along now and we’ll get you sorted. We’d better get moving before they start forging your details.”

Later at the police station.

“And where will you be staying while you’re here Tintin?” the Detective asked.
“I’m staying with Sir David Beattie and his wife. His chauffeur is collecting me at 5 pm.”
“Oh. I see! How very nice for you! And I’m King Aslan!” he said, roaring like a lion at his own joke. “Are you having an old cop on then Tintin?” The Detective put his head right up close to Tintin and called to his second in charge. “Sarge, get in here now. We’ve got a bit of a nutcase on our hands!”
“No sir. Indeed I am not. Here is my letter from Sir David’s secretary” and he passed it to the Detective who spent a long while checking it out.
“My apologies, young man. You appear to be genuine. I hope you have an enjoyable holiday. You can go now. I will phone you if I have any developments.”
“Thank you and good day” said Tintin, and he and Snowy headed to the passenger drop-off point outside where waiting for him was a shiny black limousine and a burly driver who introduced himself as Russell. Russell stowed the cases in the boot and Tintin and Snowy got in the back seat and they drove to the residence.

Meanwhile, the next morning, the boss of the thugs had picked up The Dominion and read the second page. ‘Famous boy reporter visiting our shores as guest of the Governor General cheats kidnap attempt and escapes.’

“The little snot hopped it! Just wait till I get him” bellowed the boss.


Tintin and Snowy spent three days at the Governor General’s residence having a perfectly agreeable time.
“I’ve probably stayed long enough” muttered Tintin, and he picked up Rangi’s card and phoned him.
“Come on over now if you like Tintin”, Rangi said.
So Tintin said his goodbyes to the Governor General and his staff and he and Snowy jumped into the limousine and arrived at Rangi’s house.

“Great to see you again Tintin. You’re looking much better.”
“Thank you Rangi. It’s good to see you too.”
“Come and meet my family. This is my mother and father, my brother Hone, and, looking very sulky in the corner over there, is my sister Temepara. Excuse her” said Rangi, “she’s had a rough day. She’s really into learning the Maori language and they won’t teach it to her at school. Bit of a hangover from the colonial days I think Tintin.”
“It’s very nice to meet you all” said Tintin.
“Oh yeah, Tem, that reminds me” said Hone. “I was speaking to a bloke today and he said he’d heard there was a brand new kindergarten opening for Maori kids, called Te Kohanga Reo. The staff and kids speak only Maori there! Have you heard of it?”
“No” said Temepara, her eyes widening in excitement.
“And” added Hone, “he reckoned soon there were going to me more Kura Kaupapa like Ruatoki for primary kids and even wanangas, so the older teenagers can continue right through with their university studies in Te Reo Maori.”
“That’s brilliant. Can I go there Mum and Dad?”
“You find out about it and we’ll look into it” was her parents’ reply.
“Why do you want to have separate schools for Maori children?” asked Tintin.
“Well, it’s because since the 1940’s Maori families have slowly moved from their rural homes into the cities and now, as a result, less than 20% of Maori know enough of the language to be considered native speakers. Many don’t even know where their Maraes or meeting places of Maori tradition are, nor have any idea of our culture. So our people have taken steps to try to correct this, and that’s why we are now starting to have these places. We had our first Maori Language Week in 1975 to raise awareness, the same year as we had the Land Marches, to protest at the way our lands were taken by the Pakeha” said Hone.

Later that afternoon.

“What are some of your interests Tintin?” Asked Rangi.
“Oh, I like learning about different art and cultures” Tintin replied.
“Well, why don’t we start with a visit to the art gallery then? I can show you some of our great art works. There’s one artist whose work I’d particularly like to show you. His name is Ralph Hotere and his work is brilliant – quite avant garde I suppose you’d call it. He had a really successful exhibition a few years back in 1979 with his friend, the great Maori poet, Hone Tuwhare. The exhibition was based on Hone’s poem ‘Rain’ and Ralph’s work was called ‘Three Banners with Poem’. Hone was really involved in Maori cultural and political initiatives. Ever since that exhibition, Ralph’s work has been really popular.”
“That would be splendid” replied Tintin. “Let’s be off then.”
But just as they were preparing to leave, the phone rang.
“Is Tintin there?” the voice said.
“Yes, just a minute. Tintin – phone for you.”
“Hello, Tintin speaking.”
“If you want your passport back, you’d better go check your friend’s letterbox” then bang, the line was dead. Tintin told Rangi and they ran to the letterbox and in it was a torn piece of crumpled up paper with words that made no sense at all.
“Give me a few minutes Rangi. I’ll have to try and decipher this”…

Princess Mononoke : After the War

Princess Mononoke : After the War

Lady Eboshi and her folks remained at the Tataraba village in Shishigami forest. She now plans to apologize to Shishigami and other forest gods and seek a way to harmonize humans and forest gods.


“Taka, do you think Shishigami would forgive us for what we did and let us live near the forest?” asked Lady Eboshi, looking rather serious.
“Of course, ma’am. Past is past, as they say ma’am. I guess we should not dwell on the past, but we have to move forward now,” said Taka with a great determination on his face.

At that moment, all the memories began to emerge back into Lady Eboshi’s mind, leaving her in agony. “All those killings, Taka I truly regret what I did in the past. If I can go back and live again, I will never do the same thing again,” said Lady Eboshi, turning around a bit, so Taka could not see her tears.

“Taka, let’s hurry. We have to be quick and efficient in removing all these debris from the forest. Tell the workers to move faster!” yelled Lady Eboshi. Taka bowed and went off to deliver Lady Eboshi’s command.

“Megumi, have you any news of the messenger boy Ken? I thought he would be here by now,” inquired Eboshi, looking around, as if expecting to see Ken any minute now.
“He has not come back yet, Lady Eboshi.” answered Megumi. “ I am getting worried. Why is he taking so long? He is just delivering the present to Shishigame.”
“Don’t worry, he is probably on his way back, so…” she could not finish her sentence as somebody came rushing to her. He was literally shaking with horror on his face. Lady Eboshi and Megumi sensed at once that something was wrong. “What is going on?” demanded Eboshi.
“You must follow me at once ma’am. This is not very good. Not good at all! Ken is back now, but,” for a moment he fell into silence, but quickly continued. “He is not the only one who came. Moro and San are also here. Lady Eboshi, Ken has been attacked in the forest!” cried the guy.

Lady Eboshi ran outside without hesitation and could not stop wondering what could have attacked Ken. She thought to herself, ‘no, it can’t be happening. Shishigami is against killing, he does not allow any animal to kill a human!’ As she ran, she could see San and Moro standing at the gate of her town. “San! Moro! What happened to our man Ken? Oh my gosh, look at that blood! Is he dead?” she asked, terrified.

“You fool humans,” growled Moro with a look of disgust on her face. “Because Shishigami has forbidden us to kill you people, it doesn’t mean you can come into our world any time you want! Look at what happened to this guy as a consequence!”

“We were able to stop the Earth God from killing him just in time. Why was he in the forest?” San asked Lady Eboshi as she helped Megumi lifting Ken from Moro, who has apparently carried Ken on her back. Bloods on her pearl-white furs were as red as the burning Sun.

Lady Eboshi straightened her back and said, “Like you said, we wanted Shishigami to truly forgive us. We want to live in harmony with animals and gods of the forest. We want do rebuild what we once destroyed. We want to gain their trust. We do want to show them how deep our remorse is and how strongly we want to go back to the time when there was no war or enmity between us.” Suddenly, all became silent that everyone could almost hear each other’s rapid heartbeats.

Moro and San were a bit shocked by the statement. They thought humans are irresponsible and always ready to give up at the first hint of trouble. Deep in their mind started to grow a belief that there could be hope for humans at last.

Town workers and Lady Eboshi worked harder than ever before. Even children began to join the crew and started to rebuild the forest. Lately, Kodamas have begun to reveal themselves more often to humans with curiosity in a positive way. Today, Kodamas can be seen wandering around kids, helping them remove debris from the forest.

Meanwhile, back in the forest, the Earth God Kigigami was resting under a very big and ancient tree, one of very few trees which were not cut off by humans. It was strangely quiet and the only sound he could hear was of a Kodama rolling his head and the sound of himself weeping.

“Kodama, why did the others stop coming to me?” cried the Earth God. He has been feeling very lonely these days; there was no one else to be seen near him these days. He reminisced back his past, where all animals and Kodamas surrounded him, playing, talking and laughing with each other. He and Shishigami used to care for all those creatures so both were very fatherly figure to them in the forest. But the war has changed everything. Seeing the once peaceful forest destroyed by humans invoked his anger towards them. He used to be very happy.

“Do you still think it is because I started to hurt humans? They tried to kill us! We cannot trust them! They are all evil!” shouted the Earth God, who was shaking so badly that leaves on the tree fell to the ground. He thought that although others do not like what he is doing now, they will come back in time and thank him for removing humans from the forest. But deep in his mind, he began to wonder if he stops killing humans, all will go back to being normal and peaceful as before. In fact, he could himself see how the forest was returning to its state before the war. But still, Kigigami was not sure whether humans are genuine and trust-worthy enough to let them into the forest, at least not just yet.

“Lady Eboshi, we are almost near the completion of repairing the forest. Would Kigigami forgive us at last?” asked Megumi.

“Megumi, yes, I am sure that he will finally understand us and forgive us. We just need to believe he will. That is what we need the most right now. Faith, Megumi.” smiled Lady Eboshi at Megumi, who nevertheless looked very concerned.

In the meantime, Moro and San were talking about how to stop Kigigami from making any further mistakes by killing humans. “Mother, I now feel more generous about Lady Eboshi. When I first met her, I could not see any truthfulness within her, but now, it is all different. I can feel how hard she tries to mend what she broke before,” said San, careful not to offend her mother by defending Lady Eboshi. “San, yes. Humans are a lot stronger than I have imagined before. They never give up. I think we should discuss the matter with Shishigami.” agreed Moro.
San and Moro had just got to the road to Shishigami’s dwelling when they met the forest God. “Ah, Moro and San, I am glad I met you. Come with me immediately. Kigigami is about to make a huge mistake. He is on his way to the town to destroy the humans!” yelled Shishigami in a hurry and continued to run towards the town without waiting for them.

Back in the town, everyone was enjoying their well-earned break; not knowing what is about to happen to them.

“Ahh!!! Help me!” shrieked Megumi who froze like an ice when she saw Kigigami standing right before her eyes. It happened so quickly that no one could rescue her from Kigigami throwing her into the sky. “Ahh! HELP ME!” yelled Megumi, but no one could move as it happened so quickly, no one could really absorb what was really going on.

“Kigigami! You fool! You should stop instantly!” shouted Shishigami, appeared from no where, catching Megumi in the sky and landing her safely on the ground. Moro and San followed, breathless. Few conscious workers came running to Megumi and carried her into one of the houses.

“You say the humans are evil, but you are doing exactly what they used to do to us!” Moro yelled furiously at Kigigami, whose eyes were shaking.

“Look at what happened! Can you see anyone around you? What happened to your mind, Kigigami? What happened to you!” shouted Shishigami.

Kigigami came to realise that Kodamas were standing next to humans, hiding behind them so they can avoid his devil-like eyes. Right then, Lady Eboshi came into his sight. ‘That woman, if I kill that woman, it will all end. Everything will go back to normal!’ He thought to himself and started to run at her. ‘Why isn’t she moving? Why isn’t she running away? Why?’ thought Kigigami, as he ran.

“Kigigami, listen. On behalf of our people, I am truly sorry for what we did to the forest. But you should know that we will not give up on gaining your trust back. Even if you kill me now, my followers will not stop trying. Please give us one more chance, please!” said Lady Eboshi, looking right at the eyes of Kigigami, not blinking.

Just then, miraculous thing happened. All Kodamas started to make a shield between humans and the Kigigami. Their innocent big eyes met those of Kigigami. Following Kodamas’ move, San, Moro and Shishigami themselves joined the Kodamas, standing against Kigigami. “Don’t make any more stupid mistakes that you will regret Kigigami. You can stop now!” both Moro and Shishigami yelled at Kigigami. “Fight back the evil inside you! You can do it Kigigami! You can forgive them and give them one more chance! Let’s do that together!” begged Shishigami.

Kigigami was very confused. Something deep in his heart kept telling him to stop but the other side of it kept telling him to do it. ‘You yourself had thought that these people might be genuine before! They are trying their best, do not kill them. Otherwise you will be just the same as them before the war. Don’t make a mistake that you know you will regret.’ ‘Can’t you remember what they did to the forest? They killed your friends! Your home! They are not trust-worthy! They are all liars, liars!’ but the latter voice got weaker and weaker as Kigigami kept meeting the innocent eyes of all Kodamas staring back at him. ‘I cannot do this. I just cannot. I don’t want to be lonely for the rest of my life. I do not want others to think me as a killer or destroyer.’

It happened so quickly. Dark and disgusting smoke began to evaporate from the body of Kigigami. “No! No! You have to kill them! No! No! Ahh!...” smoke vanished in the air as it left his body and it all went silence. Thump. Kigigami fell down powerlessly.

All began to gather around Kigigami to see whether he was alright. “Kigigami! Are you all right? What happened just now? What was that black smoke?” asked San looking very surprised.

“Kigigami won the war within himself. He fought the evil inside him out. That was the evil what made Kigigami so cruel these days.” Moro replied back. “Oh, look. Kigigami is waking up now.”

“Oh no, what have I done?” murmured the weak voice of Kigigami. “Forgive me my friends. I was consumed by the evil inside me. I’ve done wrong I cannot undo!”

“The Earth God, Kigigami. That is not your fault. It is all mine and ours. We started it. You were just a victim of our stupid mistakes. Please forgive us and let us have a peace with the forest with your generosity.” Lady Eboshi kneeled down before him and said.

“Human, do not worry. I was a fool who thought by killing back humans, I will bring the forest back to normal. And that wrong and evil mind of mine made me more miserable. It will not happen again as long as you keep to your promise.” With a more strength in his voice, Kigigami replied.

It was not a long time to get back to the way it was before the war. Lady Eboshi and workers worked harder and harder to fully regain the forest. Kigigami was not lonely anymore. “Kigigami, you look healthier and happier than ever before” smiled Moro. “Yes Moro. Look around me. Everyone is now here. All my friends are here. Why would I not be happy?” Kigigami roared with laughter, which joyfully echoed in the forest.

my fanfiction

Mitsuhirato’s story of the Blue Lotus

We had been driving through the big and wild field of Manchuria for some time. Through the car window, I could see the dark field and the silhouettes of mountains at the far end of it in the dusk. Travelling from Shanghai was quite a distance. However, what made us all fall silent was not the tiredness of our journey but the nature of the task we had been assigned for. Sometimes, I wondered why life was so full of conflicts and difficulties. I had gone through too many things in my life; wars, revolutions, political power struggles…, probably because I lived in the time of changes and political turbulence. Moreover, international relations had become so tense and unpredictable in recent years. The sad thing was that this turmoil did not seem to settle down in the near future. The West, especially the U.K and America had become so powerful that they were exploiting the resources from the countries all over the world, which did not have means to resist. The Western countries had done nothing good to the East. They had forced their way into Asian countries with their industrial advancements. It was Japan’s responsibility to save its Asian neighbours from the greedy Westerners. We could not survive as individual countries but we had to get together and collect our resources under the leadership of Japan to compete with them. In the time of difficulty, one had to be strong and decisive and sometimes a small sacrifice was necessary for bigger benefits.

‘Sir, we have arrived at post 123’, said one of the two Japanese sappers.
‘O.K. Let’s get on with it straight away’, I commanded them.
It was still September but the night air in Manchuria was cold enough to give all of us a shiver when we got out of the car. Now we were alone in a big field almost deserted at night and the only thing we could see was leafless trees scattered in a barren field. The moon was not too bright to hide our movements, nor was it too dark to carry out the plan.

The two Japanese sappers were well trained and experienced for this kind of job. They swiftly completed the task in a few minutes and a section of railway was blown off by the bomb they planted. It was inevitable for the benefit of not only my country but also for the ‘far East’. Japan had to have control over China otherwise the U.K. and America would soon grab China, taking advantage of its political instability, and spread their invasion to other Eastern countries. Sometimes, strong measures have to be taken. We need our army present in China. Our plan now was to announce to the world that Chinese rebels had blown the railway off causing many casualties and chaos in the region. This would demonstrate that China was in need of help from outside to keep the law and order. This incident would provide the legitimacy of our army’s post here.

What a country really need for its survival was not its culture or traditions but the advanced, well trained and equipped defence system, and wealth. Through these defence system and wealth, a country had power and influence in the international relationship. Power was everything nowadays, or probably it had been all along. China had a prominent culture and tradition but it lacked a strong defence system and wealth. Now they were suffering because of that.

‘Look, there is someone watching us sir’, shouted one of the sappers, pointing to a person hiding behind a tree not too far away.
‘Get him, hurry!’ I shouted back.
The man, now realised that he had been discovered, began to run away but he could not run as fast as the trained soldiers. He was not able to go very far before being caught by us.
‘Well, who have we got here? Tintin!’
He was hiding behind a tree watching what we had been doing.

Tintin, the Belgian international correspondence, was not someone I was expecting to meet. He came into my life all unexpectedly. Quite recently, one of my sources in India reported that Tintin was meddling with the international drug trade and would possibly interfere with our business as well. Not long after receiving the information I was told that the ‘Sons of the Dragon’ had sent for Tintin in India. The ‘Sons of the Dragon’ was a secrete organisation in Shanghai devoted to fight against opium. They had grown quite strong in the last few decades and were exerting noticeable power in Shanghai. They were gaining strong popularity and support among Chinese, who had become tired of the political power struggles among different political groups for many years. Their international intelligence network was nothing compared to mine but somehow they had knowledge of Tintin and his achievement in India.

Drug trading is one of the most important works we were operating here. It had been a great success with my extensive intelligence network. Without the revenue we made from it, a lot of our operations would be impossible. It was a shame that we could not stop the messenger. My man tried to shoot a dart poisoned with Rajaijah juice, the poison of madness, to the messenger but it was too late. The messenger was able to reveal that Tintin was urgently needed in Shanghai before he went mad. It would have been a simple task and there would not have been any annoyance from Tintin if my man had been a couple of minutes earlier. Since I obtained Rajaijah juice, I frequently used it on many occasions and all were successful except for this one. The poison was so powerful that it could spread along the circulation inside the body once it penetrates human skin and turn people mad in a few minutes. The man was very skilled and experienced with poisoning people with Rajaijah juice however, this time he failed.

Even though their messenger was not able to bring any productive news to them, with time the Sons of Dragons would eventually find Tintin. Therefore I had to contact Tintin before they did when he arrived in Shanghai. The plan was to persuade him to go back to India and solve the situation peacefully. I did not want to give Tintin any unnecessary negative impressions about me nor have any conflicts with him. One of my beliefs was that I should get on with people I meet and be in good terms with them for as long as possible. This was one of the lessons I learnt over the years of political turmoil. One could never predict what a person would become in the years to come. In addition to persuasion, I was also planning to give him a scare so he could make up his mind promptly. I went out to see him at Port Shanghai with his photograph. It was easy to possess his photograph from my network, and I was able to spot him quite easily when he was getting off the boat. He was more a boy than a man, and looked confident and secure, which was rather unusual for a person who had just arrived in a foreign port. Probably, he had acquired this attitude from his numerous trips to overseas as an international correspondence. I followed him to the International Hotel and left my letter with a hotel employee. I said in the letter that I wanted to visit him in the hotel but he replied back to say he would come to my place. His reply made me feel very suspicious about him.
‘Why does he want to come to my place? Does he know who I am?’
‘It can’t be. The Sons of the dragons can’t be that precise.’

Tintin was on time. He came to my place, which was located behind the women’s clothing shop I owned. For the most of people in Shanghai, I was known as a businessman running the shop. It had been established with the start of the International Settlement in Shanghai and had acquired reputation of having good quality and trendy women’s clothes over the years. A good number of people visited the shop each day. Half of them were genuine customers who wanted to buy clothes. The other half came for the purposes related to other operations I was involved in, such as drug trade and intelligence network.
‘Mr Tintin, what a pleasant surprise! It is nice to meet you,’ I welcomed him.
‘Thank you, Mr Mitsuhirato. It is nice to meet you too.’
Tintin answered a little bit awkwardly but he appeared to be genuine and not aware of my true identity.
‘Mr Tintin, you should go back to India immediately. The Maharaha of Gaipajma is in great danger.’
‘What do you mean? I don’t understand.’
‘I have business relations in several countries in Asia and was able to obtain this information. I was concerned so I sent a messenger to tell you to protect him. Didn’t you see him?’
‘Yes, but he was struck by a poisoned dart. He was only managed to say your name and that I was needed here. What’s going on here?’ Tintin looked puzzled and was obviously unaware of what was happening in China.

The Cousin of Harry Potter

It was a beautiful day. Dudley Dursley was sitting in his room, playing his Playstation. He was not in his own house at Number four, Privet Drive, where he had been living for 17 years; where he and his parents had to leave. He was now in a rental house in a small town 4oo mile away from London. He was so focused on the Playstation that he didn’t notice when his mother was out shopping. Suddenly, he heard a smashing sound downstairs. Dudley stopped what he was doing and listened with all his might.

“Mom, is that you?” he asked uncertainly.

But there was no reply. Dudley went out of his room and walked down the stairs slowly and quietly with a stick in his hand. He was a bit frightened. Then he heard someone breaking something in the dining room. He walked quietly towards the dining room. Then he saw it. A man dressed in black and his face was covered by a mask, was putting everything valuable into the bag. He was stunned. It took a moment before he realised that a burglar had broken into the house. He did not know what to do. Then suddenly, even he did not know what made him.
“OI! This is MY house! YOU are stealing!” he said loudly.
Before he knew it, the man turned around and pulled out a gun and pointed it at him.
“Don’t do anything silly.” the man threatened.

So Dudley did not move. He didn't want the man steal anything from him, but yet he could not stop him. But he felt something that he never felt before was running through his veins. He raised his hand fiercely, still holding the stick. Then-BANG! The gun flew out of the man’s hand and something heavy was swinging towards him as something attached a magnet. The burglar was immediately knocked out unconsciously.

He could not believe his eyes. How on earth did he make those things happen? For a moment he considered ‘magic’. But it was impossible, he thought. His cousin had told him that he was a Muggle (non-magical people). How could he have done that? Dudley tried to trace back how it could happen to him? His mind was flying back to the past.

He had a cousin only several months younger than him, who was very different from other children. He bullied him all the time but still he had feared him from the bottom of his heart. His cousin Harry Potter could make something incredible happen without any reasons. Harry then went to a weird school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry since he was eleven, which gave all the explanations of the crazy things because he was a wizard. He had always thought that his cousin was mental. But merely two years ago he was attacked by ‘dementor’ and it was his cousin who saved his neck. Since that he felt a rush of gratitude towards his cousin but couldn't say it. Afterwards, he felt something different growing inside him. He couldn’t say what the difference was, though he could sense it. He became more and more silent and kept distance from his gangsters. He watched his cousin carefully and tried to observe what made him a wizard. He sometimes read the weird books without been noticed. He grew curious and interests towards the weird world. He didn’t bully Harry any more as he used to and began to show some respect to his cousin. It was not just because Harry saved his life from the dementors, but…, he didn’t know why. Somehow something had changed him.

Then one month ago, Harry asked them to leave their house at Number 4, Privet Drive and came to this small town with their names changed. He explained why they must do it because the Lord Voldemort was back and after he was 17 years old, the protection on this house and the members of the house would break. Then the Death Eaters might kill them all. Vernon, his father was so furious that he refused to leave. It was Dudley persuaded his father to go, protected by Kingsley from the Phoenix Order- the guy often appeared on TV, standing beside the Prime Minister of Britain.

On the way to this small town, Kingsley briefly instructed them how to react when there was a risk and how to contact him if he was needed. He said that Harry would not go to the school, but he didn’t know where Harry would go and what he would do. When there was a time only himself and Kingsley in the car (his parents went to buy some burgers), Kingsley said to him: “I knew you were different from who you had been. Maybe you already sensed the strength inside you. Follow the strength and don’t fear it. Use it.” Then he passed him a stick and a book seriously.

Now he held the stick – a wand in fact which he got from Kingsley a month ago. He had the magic power eventually when he was now 17. He was a bit of proud of himself, though still shaky like a leaf. Suddenly he found his mother was standing beside him.
“I didn’t know what happened.”
“It’s all right dear.” said his mother.

Dudley looked up and saw his mother’s face whiten.

“You are just like Harry.” said his mother in a rather tired voice. “Well, you know why Harry is in our house. But you don’t know I once applied to enter the Hogwarts School when I was young. Well I received a letter from the headmaster who refused to accept me because I was a Muggle. I was different from my sister Lily who had the talent but I didn’t. I used to envy her so much that I envied her son Harry as well, who was born as a wizard but you were not.” said his mother. “But still the blood, you have wizard gene. You’re just late matured. Don’t panic. It will be alright.”

That night Dudley couldn’t fall in asleep. He watched the wand again and again, thinking what he was going to do. He opened the book which Kingsley gave him and found it was a thin book about how to concentrate with the strength and sense the tie between kin. He followed the book and tried very hard to sense the tie between Harry and himself. He could feel something but couldn’t really see them.

The next couple of months, Dudley practiced very hard, at school or at home. He concentrated on the book and imagined he had sensed the connection with his cousin.

Then, the day came. Dudley was doing practice as usual in his room after school. He was imagining how he could help Harry, when he felt something fell into his pocket. It was a stone, crystal clear. He held it tightly and felt like electrified. Watching it carefully and closely, he could tell the unusual stone has life – a sort of magic life.

“Where did you come from? What do you want me to do?” Dudley asked the stone. The stone was shining, with light twisting.

Since then, Dudley was bringing the stone all the time. He put the stone in a very tiny silk bag and wore it like a necklace. Now he could sense the tie with Harry. He could tell the mood of Harry from time to time – his worry, his sorrow, his joy, and his despair.

Time passed quickly. One night, Dudley was woken up suddenly. The stone on his chest was burning. He could hear Harry was murmuring: “Where is it? Now I’m ready to die.” He got up immediately, put on his cloth and ready. But where was he going? He didn’t know. He just told himself and the stone that he was ready now. He took out the stone from the silk bag and grasped it so tight that he could feel the pain of his palm. Take me to him. He demanded. Suddenly, the stone was getting red, like ruby, still crystal clear. Dudley felt dizzy when he was suddenly swirling and swirling, dropped into deep darkness.

Dudley found now he was in a scary forest. Silent and dark, the moon was hidden behind clouds. He opened his hand, the light from the stone twisting. Then the stone jumped from his hand and fell on the ground. He heard steps from somewhere. Hiding himself behind a giant tree, he could see the tiny stone shining. Then, he found his cousin Harry Potter walking towards the stone. He found the stone he needed. Dudley didn’t know the stone was one of the three deathly hallows, which was purposely hidden in him - the kin of Harry. When Harry was ready to die, his cousin Dudley would bring it back to him. Both Dudley and Harry knew nothing about this plan – a perfect plan from Dumbledore, who was the former headmaster of Hogwarts School.

Dudley saw how Harry confronted with Voldemort and how Voldemort was killed by the bounce of his own killing curse. The stone together with the invisible cloak and the elder wand – the three deathly hallows together protected Harry Potter from the killing curse and bounced it to Voldemort himself. He knew Harry didn’t see him and didn’t even know he was here to assist him.

“It doesn’t matter” said Dudley to himself. “I understand him now.”

Week 11

Week 9