The Path of Water
By Arlia'Devi
Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away in any respect; all rights go to Hayao Miyazaki and associates. I make no money from this.
The Path of Water
By Arlia'Devi
XI: Planning a Grand Trip
Haku went over arrangements he'd made for he and Chihiro's little visit to Sar'onga at his palace in High City. Not that travelling to the High City bothered him as much; it was the fact that he was visiting Sar'onga, the Lord of the Eastern Lands: his superior, to discuss allowing a human to stay in their plains. Haku had an inkling it would not go down very well.
Already, upon seeing kanji of a 'to-do' list of sorts sketched down Haku's wrist in smudged ink, Chase had begged and pleaded and begged some more to accompany the visit. Haku had refused, saying it was best for just he and Chihiro to go on a quiet, simple visit. It wasn't just that, however, and Haku didn't like to admit it, but the idea of him and Chihiro alone… Well, it did appeal to him.
It had been four days since Chihiro's apartment had burnt down, three days since he'd cast the spell that made them so intimately linked that they could sense each other. He had heard the conversation Rin and Chihiro had three stories lower, although he desperately tried not to. The words spoken and the feelings he felt vibrate through her intrigued him; she was still nervous, scared, Chihiro didn't trust him as much as he thought she did. There had been an wave of deep sorrow and heartbreak which coursed through him as he tried to sleep, Chihiro had been presented with the idea that Haku had deceived her. Chihiro wanted to trust him, with everything she had, but they both knew they had a long way to go before that happened.
The spell he'd cast was used for protection purposes, and he limited it to only that. Chihiro knew she could reach him, just by thinking about him or needing him, and that Haku would be beckoned at her call. True, the spell had bad connotations; originally items of value were stolen from enemies allowing tracking, or to keep an eye on slaves, but there was always the bad with the good. True, people were always going to manipulate anything they could get their hands on for personal reasons. Chihiro had been upset when Rin had told her the truth and Haku had assured Chihiro that it wasn't about the magic, it was about the practitioner. It seemed he still he had a way to go to get Chihiro's entire trust, the way he'd acted when she'd arrived hadn't helped the matter. Chihiro knew the spell had other deeper connections, connections she didn't really want to think about or acknowledge that they were there but it was a sense of relief to know that Haku was only a call away.
It wasn't as if Haku needed to use the connection; the link they had forged between each other to gauge her reaction or have an idea of her feeling but humans and their bodies interacted so intimately; even the change in her scent told him how she was feeling, whether it was happy, angry, sad or frightened. Her face possessed an array of expressions, and there was just something about human nature that intrigued him so – despite her scent, whenever Chihiro was nervous she would bite her fingernails, when she was shy or bashful, she would play with her hair, or watch her feet scuff the floorboards. It was so interesting. And of course, when she was embarrassed, the loveliest tinge of red highlighted her cheekbones, Haku liked that the most. Even the thought of it had him smiling.
He still hadn't found the arsonists. Every lead led to a dead end.
Chihiro was down in the boiler room, speaking to Kamaji as he stoked the fires. The soot balls worked tirelessly and she told the old boiler man about everything: the kimono she'd ruined, her parents, the fire, Haku being so nice to her, the spell…
"The only thing you don't seem to have, young missy," croaked Kamaji, "is a job – tell me what it is you're supposed to do?"
"Haku said we'd speak about it after the equinox, but he hasn't as of yet," Chihiro shrugged. "I'm sure he'll mention it sooner or later."
"Perhaps later," muttered Kamaji and drank from his teapot. "You still must visit Sar'onga."
"…Who?" Chihiro frowned, not catching the name the first time round.
"Sar'onga – the Lord of the Eastern Lands, didn't Haku tell you about him?"
Chihiro briefly remembered something on the night of the fire, when she was having dessert with the dragon he'd mentioned the Lord of the Eastern Lands, this Sar'onga… "I think so, isn't Haku just one notch below him?"
Kamaji nodded. "One day, it's said that Haku will become the new Lord of the Eastern Lands."
"He'd love that," Chihiro sniggered. "Supreme power has always been Haku's boot."
Kamaji frowned. "I don't know what you mean by that, but Haku must be planning on taking you soon, otherwise Sar'onga will be very upset indeed that he's been hiding a human on his land."
Chihiro nodded. "How will we get there?" In all honesty, going anywhere with Haku sounded daunting. She hadn't… dare she say, flown in ages.
"Well, you can get there by the train, it's about a twelve hour trip, one way," Kamaji shrugged. "Or you could fly – that turns it into two hours. And Haku, no doubt, will wish to fly rather than fester on a slow, clammy train."
Chihiro nodded. "When do you think he'll want to take me?"
Kamaji was about to answer his granddaughter's question, when suddenly his glasses skipped Chihiro's face, to glance across her shoulder and at the figure standing behind her. "Hello Haku," he greeted warmly. "I was just talking with Sen here…"
"About our impending trip to the High City, I overheard," added the dragon leisurely, as if he wasn't fazed the least about the two individuals talking behind his back.
".. Are we really going?" Chihiro asked Haku lightly, swivelling to meet him. The dragon gave a single nod.
"The day after tomorrow – it has been organised."
"And when did you decide such a thing, Haku?" interrogated Chihiro. "And what exactly is this all about?"
Haku supplied the information readily, guiding Chihiro into the elevator and pulling down the lever. "I was intending on telling you just now, of which is why I came down to the boiler room, only to hear that you and Kamaji were already discussing of such," he tapped his ears behind a sheet of straight, feathery hair. "They are very sensitive you know – why do you think there is thick glass between the top few floors and the rest of the bathhouse?" Chihiro had assumed as such – the glass had been placed out of personal comfort rather than privacy. "I'll accompany you, Chihiro, as you know I am second under command of Sar'onga – I am one of his most trusted, and a powerful individual. If I cannot sway some influence for your stay, then I'm afraid no one can help you – you will have to return home immediately."
Chihiro's chest tightened. Home? She didn't have a home to go to – she'd been kicked out of University by now, lecturers didn't care of personal problems, and she was supposed to be in Rome for six months so her parent's wouldn't get suspicious of her gallivanting around in the spirit realm. Rin and Chase and Granny and Kamaji, and… Haku, they were her family now. The Bathhouse was her home: how could she not stay?
"H-How are we supposed to get there?" was the only concern Chihiro felt strong enough to voice as she and Haku whizzed up the floors.
"I'll fly you, of course," smiled the dragon. "Unless it's raining – then I'll organise an alternate mode of transport. The temperature in the altitudes would be too much for you if it rains."
Chihiro nodded slowly, and suddenly she was on the bath floors – the top floors and Haku pushed her gently out with a hand on her back. He smiled tightly, yet warmly. "Go and find Rin, there is plenty of work to do around, Chihiro. If you keep yourself busy and useful, it may be more reason to let you stay."
Chihiro nodded and toddled off to find said spirit woman. Haku pulled the lever and continued up.
Rin was arguing with a frog when Chihiro found her on the floor below, after being directed by some staff attending to guests on the woman's location. The frog wanted something, perhaps for her to discuss a pay-raise with Master Haku for him, convince of the hard work he'd been doing. Upon seeing Chihiro, however, the frog dropped his argument and grumbled to himself. Rin excused the frog with a dismissive hand and told him in a snarl to get back to work and stop worrying about such inconsiderate, trivial matters.
"What were you arguing about?" inquired Chihiro as Rin fiddled around in a storeroom. She pulled out a new broom.
"Oh," muttered Rin. "Nothing – just the frog was being intolerable. Here," she handed the broom to Chihiro with a wicked grin. "You want to stay so bad then you will work your human rear off to prove your worth. Stick with me, kid."
Chihiro followed Rin around all day, sweeping scum out of baths and her feet squelching against sludge and algae and general filth. "These baths are so dirty," complained Chihiro after slipping in sludge for the third time. Rin laughed.
"Of course they are, Chihiro – this is where the divine come to bathe!" chuckled Rin and continued to sweep away the reeds. "Gods can be filthy you know, just look at Haku."
A low growl came from the hallway, from behind the shoji screens that separated each bath. Said dragon's form appeared, hands filled with a form and a frog jumping up and down at his feet, urging him to read the points of the document he was signing. His emerald eyes narrowed dangerously at Rin, although he meant it all in jest as Rin laughed out loud and continued to sweep. Haku's eyes turned on Chihiro then, as she slipped down to the base of the tub, her legs covered to mid-thigh in sludge.
"What about Chihiro," his voice took on a teasing low and he eyed her playfully. "She's rather dirty."
The human flushed at the innuendo associated with such a statement, although it seemed to me missed by the dragon, who only smiled and went back to his paperwork, walking away with a gentle smile.
"Huh," said Rin, perching her elbow on the tip of the broom. "Someone woke up on the right side of the bed this morning."
"He's always nice," argued Chihiro. "Once I gave him a good speaking to, though, I'll admit…"
"Not to the staff he's not," chuckled Rin. "You should have seen him when he addressed the staff after the fire – he ordered that anyone found not to be at the meeting be arrested and sent to him for interrogation. And then at the meeting, it was like he accused every one of the staff members of starting the blaze. I… I don't know what he'd do if he ever found the culprits, actually, I'd hate to know."
Chihiro gasped. "Do you think he'd kill them?"
Rin shrugged.
"He doesn't have the right to take a life!" protested the human, who, upon declaring that atop a bath, promptly lost her balance and fell ass first into the sludge pooled at the bottom of the dip. "Oh, yuck!"
Rin laughed and grasped the human by the wrist. "You're such a dope, Sen. So, I hear you're going with Haku to High City."
Chihiro sighed. "Haku," she said tediously, realising how very little the dragon did tell her about such an important event. "said he's taking me somewhere, we're flying and that I have to meet Sar'onga, and if he doesn't like what he sees, then I have to leave for the human world immediately."
Rin frowned. "Yeah you will," then the spirit woman sighed. "I dunno if I've ever heard of a human living here, Sen, though I'm sure a lot of them have tried…"
Chihiro took the scrubbing brush up and began to attack a algae laden side of the bath. "Then I'll have to work for my worth," growled the woman. "I am not going back, Rin. I can't. You are my family – this place is my family."
The spirit woman nodded, and when she didn't say anything, she meerly put her warm hand on Chihiro's shoulder and smiled tightly. "You're my family too, Sen."
The next day, and T-minus twelve hours until she was scheduled to meet Haku for their trip to the High City, of which Haku had visited her in Chase's apartment at approximately 11 o'clock to actually discuss in detail their little voyage. The High City was the capital of The Eastern Lands, as far as Chihiro could discern, a grand city and the Lord lived in a large castle in the centre. Chase had begged to be accompanied, in truth, not trusting the dragon enough to take care of the human adequately, but she had been politely refused. This was something Chihiro knew she only needed Haku for, something that needed to be done together; just them.
However, upon going to bed at approximately nine o'clock, despite the kerfuffle of a very busy bathhouse downstairs, Chihiro was greeted with a visitor she didn't really want to see.
"God damn it all," she gritted and shrugged off her soiled undergarments and went under the shower. Upon showering fully and finding a few full boxes of tampons in her suitcase, she could not locate anything to put in for sleep – no maxi pads at all. She had packed in a hurry, and tampons seemed to be the to-go to saviour. She gritted and searched around Chase's apartment – she must have had some bandages somewhere, adhesive gauzes, wound pads… something!
Nothing.
What, didn't the cat cut herself, or anything? How could she have so little medical supplies?
Huffing and rather irked her early night had been so ruined by the inconveient and completely forgotten-about visit of Aunt Flo, Chihiro donned her working garments again, tied her hair into a bun and ran down to the elevator.
Storage, storage, what room was storage? Kamaji told her three rooms up for general storage, and Chihiro thanked the old boilerman before pulling down the elevator lever and going up.
The storage door was locked. Chihiro needed to find someone with a key.
Chase!
Chihiro went to reception, receiving strange glances from everyone and promptly asked for Chase to the reception frog, who snorted and said that Chase was on special customer business, attending to a prestigious god that had visited. Chihiro nodded and promptly asked for the next-in-line in her mind: Rin. Success! The woman was on the top floor, currently doing rounds. Chihiro grasped the spirit woman's forearm tightly, panting from her wild-goose chase.
"Huh?" muttered the woman and waved off the slug beside her. "What's wrong Sen? You look all flushed."
Rin touched Chihiro's hand lightly in a calming gesture as the human caught her breath. "I need bandages, or some gauze or something…"
Seeing how pale Chihiro was, her laboured breathing and the fact that she was asking for something associated with emergencies rather hurriedly, it was natural that Rin only assumed the worst. Worse, the sudden spike in Chihiro's emotions, anger, frustration, need, which had morphed into confusion and now, an inkling of fear, had other things coming…
"Are you hurt?" Rin tugged the girl in closer and inspected her with frantic eyes. "You don't smell hurt – are you bleeding?"
"Of sorts," muttered Chihiro lowly, only thankful they were slightly alone in the private confines of an empty bathing area. "I just need those bandages – can you get me some from the store room? I can't really explain, and I'm not really in the mood to get into it, I just really need those bandages."
But the woman wouldn't give up. "Where are you bleeding from? Your side? Your head? I don't see blood?"
Suddenly, Chihro felt a presence behind her – a presence she had very quickly come to understand as Haku standing behind her. And when his hand grasped her hair tie gently, pulled out her bun and let her hair fall around her face and shoulders in waves of chocolate tresses, she shivered. His hand offered her hair tie silently.
"W-Why did you do that, Haku?" Chihiro asked as the man came to stand beside Rin.
"You show too much skin around these bathing areas, Chihiro," replied Haku levelly. "You should have the back of your neck covered at all times when guests are present at the bathhouse – it's unsuiting of you."
"I… I don't understand – it was only a bun, women wear buns around here all the time," she didn't understand, he felt her confusion vibrate through him. Then her fear, fear she'd dishonoured herself: made a fool of herself and tainted her self-worth.
Haku leant forward then, and gently whispered in her ear. "The back of a woman's neck is very erotic, you know this, Chihiro – our ideals and customs are much the same of your feudal era." Then he smiled softly and tilted the woman's head toward him with a finger hooked under her chin. "Only prostitutes wear their hair as such, Chihiro, and I don't remember assigning you a job as of yet?"
She shook her head no, mortification rushing through her being. That was a rather horrible way of making her remember to keep her hair up, Haku admitted, and he felt slightly bad, but when her reputation was at stake, and when Chihiro didn't really know the dishonour she was causing to her being, he had to be firm.
"Don't be embarrassed," he hushed, eager to quench her horrible feelings. "It's a mistake, we all make mistakes; just make sure you dress a little bit more… modestly around guests."
Chihiro nodded, and suddenly, Rin reminded her of the task at hand by asking, "Haku, is Chihiro bleeding?"
Before such a sensitive nose had time to sniff over her, Chihiro wrenched free of the dragon's grasp and scampered away. "Rin!" she hissed to the spirit woman. Haku sniffed the air.
"It's old blood," he stated calmly and descended on Chihiro, promptly catching the woman around the waist as she dared to evade him again. "What is it Chihiro? Why do I smell old blood on you? I am confused."
Chihiro pushed the dragon away, centring her hands on his chest and forcing him away. Haku had no qualms about letting Chihiro go and released his arms from around her waist. Chihiro growled to the spirit and demanded the bandages again.
"Only if you tell us why!" demanded Rin, who was ever rebellious and nosy. Didn't she understand it was too mortifyingly embarrassing to tell a spirit of one of the most inconvenient and intimate parts of a woman's life? Evidently, spirit women must have had a different kind of reproductive system, because she was sure all women who had the monthly cycle understood the exchange of key words regarding such.
Haku, who sensed Chihiro's embarrassment of such a topic, decided to take a gentlier approach. "We're your friends Chihiro, you should trust us."
"You should trust me," retorted Chihiro. She knew her feeling of being absolutely mortified was being picked up by Haku; he could probably pick it up in her shift of scent. And that idea didn't faze her; he would have been able to tell, hell, anyone would be able to tell she was entirely and wholly embarrassed by this situation... "Trust me that it's none of your concern and that you should just give me the bandages."
"I do trust you, and I will give you the bandages. Answer me one simple question: will it affect our trip tomorrow?" the dragon's brows puckered. His concern now, vibrated through Chihiro's being. It was almost too much, Chihiro had found his emotions, the strong ones, she could detect as subtle emotions from the seemingly-cold dragon – when he was worried, inkling of stress awoke her when she was sleeping and he was working stories below her, fiery anger she'd only known him to have a few times, twinges of happiness when he was free and flying, circling around the bathhouse and the gardens, the air whipping against his mane. As long as he held the emerald drop necklace and she, either the jeweled comb or the bracelet made from his mane, the connection was there. Yet the concern he held for Chihiro almost made her want to weep, the strongest connection she'd ever felt.
She caved.
"Alright, I'll tell you!" growled the woman, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat. She would spare no one in this onslaught of why exactly she needed those bandages. "Once a month, my body," she tried to give only the basics, in hope of not scaring, or scaring the spirits too much. "Prepares itself for pregnancy – the lining of the uterus, a little place inside me where the baby lives, gets thick in order to give the new baby a place to lodge itself so it can grow, but however, when a human woman doesn't get pregnant, the body releases the lining and that's why you can smell old blood, it's simply my body removing excess tissue that it doesn't need."
Haku frowned. "Your body does that to you…?"
"Oh yuck," blanched Rin. "I did not need to know that!"
"Does it hurt you?" asked Haku rather sympathetically.
Chihiro shook her head. "Sometimes I get a sore back, or get dizzy, but usually it doesn't faze me – and my period only lasts for around four to five days; some can last up to a week and be very painful."
"And the only way to relieve this is to get with an offspring?" the dragon frowned. How much exactly did spirits really know about humans? Chihiro frowned – did they really believe all the old folk tales and the titter-tatter they heard through the grapevine?
It was better not to go into details. "Yes," she said simply.
"I cannot fathom what it would be like to desire children once a month," he shot a crooked grin to Rin, who barked in laughter. Chihiro was about to explain that it wasn't like that at all; she didn't get any impulses as such to get with child in a way she thought they were referring to. But obviously they were chuckling at an inside joke, a spirit thing, and Haku found it very funny of Chihiro's 'spiking libido' once a month.
"I'd appreciate if my human nature wasn't the subject of all your jokes," spoke Chihiro and broke the two from their secretive little chuckle.
Haku bowed his head in shame. "Yes, well, we shouldn't joke about something as delicate as this; we should be respectful of Chihiro's needs and differences as a human." Then he bowed lowly, somewhat asking the woman for forgiveness of his slight ignorance beforehand. "I will get you some bandages then, Chihiro." Of course it was something that the human race dealt with easily, that would give Haku the green gills.
"Thanks," she said. "And I'm going to head to bed now."
"Are you in pain, Sen?" asked Rin.
"Slightly," Chihiro nodded and Haku's brows puckered sympathetically. "My lower backs a little sore, it's nothing I've never had before. I just need to rest for a while; I'll be fine in the morning."
Rin still didn't understand but nodded. "Alright Chihiro, well, get better soon…"
Haku guided Chihiro towards the store room and said little more as she rummaged for whatever she found, in Haku's words, 'suitable for her… um, condition'. Chihiro thanked Haku for understanding, which she knew would mean a lot to him: evidently, there were a few things Haku didn't know about humans and human behaviour. This was one of them. Before he let Chihiro go fresh bandages and all, he grasped her gently by the arm and asked if everything was alright.
"I'm going to be fine Haku," she assured with a handful of bandages. The dragon wasn't as convinced.
"B-But… you said you could be in a lot of pain, and you're bleeding and…," his brow had puckered and his emerald eyes had washed over with concern. "I'm just not sure, Chihiro – should we reschedule the trip for the week after, I can pen a letter to the Lord. I don't want you to strain yourself, it's obviously a very delicate time for you-,"
"I'm fine Haku," gently she took his hand from her forearm and placed it by his side, in a calming action. "It's quite common; it happens to every human woman," whispered Chihiro. "But it's kind of private, so I didn't really appreciate the big show and dance we put on for the bathhouse."
He was ashamed then. "I-I apologise, Chihiro. I didn't know."
She smiled, truth, there was no harm done, really. "Just next time, can you take my word for it?"
Haku dropped his head to Chihiro's level, two hands suddenly either side of the wall, beside her head and he leant his weight in. Chihiro stumbled back, her own back suddenly pressed against the storage room door. The bandages were gathered in her chest. "I will, Chihiro, I am sincerely sorry."
Haku…
Haku was looking at her strangely. He was no longer concerned, he wasn't worried, but what was that shining in his emerald eyes?
"H-Haku?" she muttered, her throat suddenly thick with saliva and her mouth dry. "I-Is something wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," he answered too quickly, his gaze fixating. "I just only realised how fragile humans are… how different you are to us. It's fascinating," his hand travelled up to Chihiro's face and very slowly, trailed a finger down her cheek. "You bleed easily, your skin tears," then a smile cracked his stotic face. "You take me by surprise that someone with such a fierce and abominable will can be so… so…" he frowned.
"Delicate?" supplied Chihiro with a squeak. "Is- Is that the word you're looking for?"
"Delicate," he repeated in a husky voice, his breath fanning over his face. "You are very delicate… very soft."
A thick lump was pushed down Chihiro's throat as Haku's hot breath hit her neck. Between the strong arms which were anchored beside her head, the only escape would be to duck under – but with speed like Haku's, no doubt she'd be easily caught again.
"Well," she muttered, gathering up all the courage she possessed at that moment in time. "Now you know not to be so rough with me, Haku."
He nodded, a sly smile crossing his face. "Yes," he replied. "Much more careful, Chihiro – I think you'll require a lot more effort to keep out of harms way."
And then he launched himself up off the doorway and bowed lowly. "I'll expect you at nine tomorrow morning, Chihiro," he spoke gracefully, before wishing the woman well and departing, getting back to bathhouse business as usual.
It took the human a moment, Chihiro evidently snapped back into reality following a group of yunnas laughing at the dazed look on her face and travelled back up the elevator. Following, packing for the trip of which she had been gratefully given a small rope bag for her belongings (lugging an overseas suitcase across the entire spirit world on the back of a dragon wasn't exactly a peachy idea), Chihiro retired to bed while the spirits worked below.
As for her trip to the High City, Chihiro couldn't decide what to feel – there was a myriad of emotions coursing through her right now, but not the one she had most anticipated to feel: worry, nervousness, anxious. Instead, there was calm. A calm which lulled her to rest and try her best tomorrow, a feeling of security in the bathhouse with Rin, Chase, Haku and her family around her, despite the events recently which should convince her otherwise. With that in mind, on the left side of Chase's double bed, Chihiro fell asleep.
Hi there, everyone. I know I usually update on a Saturday, but hell, I'm not doing anything this lovely Friday night and honestly, I have a whole day of shopping scheduled in for tomorrow, so why not update now? As you can see, I did get around to getting internet access. :)
I'd like to thank the reviewers who took this story to it's second milestone of 100 REVIEWS! Woo-hoo! Tell you what, as a reward, I'll include a snippet of next week at the bottom of this author's note. Thanks to all those great people who reviewed. We have...
DSIkitty2224, FlutterbyBella, ..gRaY.x ( who was the 100th reviewer!), Jade Mahoneysuckle, untamed00notbroken, Achlys, Kiara d'Arc Erzsebeth, Alice-Ann Wonderland, ziggy-zee, Virginia Deniard, Paramore-Inuyasha-fan, Silver Sea Mist, Light-Devil, XSnowXPrincessX.
Thank you to all those who reviewed, and I hope to see what you thought of this chapter as well.
Here's a little snippet from The Path of Water, Chapter XII: The High City
-X-
"W-What do I have to do, Haku?" blubbered Chihiro as he guided her quickly and not too gently through a large group of wandering spirits, black body-less individuals that floated and bobbed about. Haku's hand was wrapped tightly around her shoulders.
"Be polite," he replied in a swift, yet gentle tone. The double doors opened with a small creek. "Sar'onga is a very powerful Lord, respect him and the decisions he makes. Bow but not sloppily – keep your hands to your sides and your back straight, bend your right knee and bow. Smile and greet him as Lord of the Western Lands, thank him for seeing you and then do not speak unless you are spoken to. And don't be scared," his hand smoothed down the right shoulder of her kimono in a calming motion. "Most of all, don't be scared, Chihiro."
-X-
Please review!
~ Arlia'Devi