[This place was not Earth. He knows this logically, though when he is racing along riverbanks and through woods and across rocky outcroppings, he feels as though he is closer to home than he has been since his recruitment. He doesn't miss the irony; here upon the back of the coelacanth, he is perhaps the furthest away he has ever been, divided by time and space and reality. But it is the spirit of the unbridled wilderness, the sense of adventure and danger inherent in creatures lurking in the woods they could only hypothesize with myths and legends. It was his childhood memories of the woods, far away from civilization by necessity, making the line of communication between the village and everything around them seem far clearer, more singular, entirely essential.
In the end, in this and in many things, Ashitaka simply isn't cognizant of it. Though in certain very specific instances he could scrape past something which might seem wise by proxy, he had grown up among people isolated within a country already known throughout the world for its isolation. Concepts of the invasiveness of foreign species brought to near shores were not something he would immediately grasp, though perhaps a short history lesson (in that the designs for firearms were brought to them from foreign lands, aboard Dutch ships) would make him realize far more sharply the truth of what Ryo said.
As it is, however, he isn't as sure. Yes, it is true that this place is completely removed from what they might know, and it was also true that they, as human beings (and... other assorted sentient beings in COST's ranks), were strangers here. He doesn't necessarily think that their very presence is poison, however (though this might be true for some of them, but not all). His opinion seems to be one where nature is fairly toothless. In Ashitaka's experience, that is very much not the case.]
I think it might be foolish to underestimate the nature that we find here. You are correct; mankind has never existed here, so we are a completely new link to this chain. But it is presumptive to think that we are the final one.
[Until recently, men had not been apex predators where he was from. Armed with spears or swords, men could still be overwhelmed by a pack of wolves, gored to death upon the tusks of a wild boar. Not even to consider the great beasts that made up the gods of the forest. Firearms had changed that, but that was within the rules of Earth as they knew it. Perhaps here, somewhere where they had not yet found it, there were beasts that were already by the merit of their own evolution invulnerable to whatever threat they as humans might pose.
They simply didn't know.]
I believe I understand your concerns, however. I do not doubt that some people among us would cause problems to this place, should we stay. But...
[The jaybear by the bank of the river calls out in the silence of his drifting statement, having seen another emerge from the treeline on the other side of the swiftly-moving water. The two now regard one another in a stalemate, the electricity of the confrontation oddly dull from such a distance.]
It was merely a thought.
[A brief pause. The jaybears continue their stand-off.]
no subject
In the end, in this and in many things, Ashitaka simply isn't cognizant of it. Though in certain very specific instances he could scrape past something which might seem wise by proxy, he had grown up among people isolated within a country already known throughout the world for its isolation. Concepts of the invasiveness of foreign species brought to near shores were not something he would immediately grasp, though perhaps a short history lesson (in that the designs for firearms were brought to them from foreign lands, aboard Dutch ships) would make him realize far more sharply the truth of what Ryo said.
As it is, however, he isn't as sure. Yes, it is true that this place is completely removed from what they might know, and it was also true that they, as human beings (and... other assorted sentient beings in COST's ranks), were strangers here. He doesn't necessarily think that their very presence is poison, however (though this might be true for some of them, but not all). His opinion seems to be one where nature is fairly toothless. In Ashitaka's experience, that is very much not the case.]
I think it might be foolish to underestimate the nature that we find here. You are correct; mankind has never existed here, so we are a completely new link to this chain. But it is presumptive to think that we are the final one.
[Until recently, men had not been apex predators where he was from. Armed with spears or swords, men could still be overwhelmed by a pack of wolves, gored to death upon the tusks of a wild boar. Not even to consider the great beasts that made up the gods of the forest. Firearms had changed that, but that was within the rules of Earth as they knew it. Perhaps here, somewhere where they had not yet found it, there were beasts that were already by the merit of their own evolution invulnerable to whatever threat they as humans might pose.
They simply didn't know.]
I believe I understand your concerns, however. I do not doubt that some people among us would cause problems to this place, should we stay. But...
[The jaybear by the bank of the river calls out in the silence of his drifting statement, having seen another emerge from the treeline on the other side of the swiftly-moving water. The two now regard one another in a stalemate, the electricity of the confrontation oddly dull from such a distance.]
It was merely a thought.
[A brief pause. The jaybears continue their stand-off.]
I think I might simply be missing home.