HAKU
Haku found himself perfectly still as he stared up at the massive rock.
Eerie premonition buzzed in his blood as he stood in its shadow.
Because he knew this boulder by name.
"Seki no Taro-san…!"
As if awakened by the name the ground gave a jarring lurch. Chihiro shrank into Suzume with a gasp as Okesa hissed and clung to his arm. Haku, however, stood unafraid as the rock unfolded revealing that it was actually a massive oni. With every slow movement the ogre's body emitted a low growling grinding that echoed unnervingly in the very pit of Haku's chest. It inspired in him an instinctual urge to run. The ground continued to shake as the monstrous chains rang and jingled, pulling taught as the oni yanked on the shackles immobilizing its wrists. Two more chains anchored the oni's neck to the sides of the hill, preventing him from standing. Every link vibrated with a caustic magic similar to the collar he had been forced to wear. All the same, Haku cautioned the others backwards until they were well outside the ogre's range. Blinking granite eyelids that grated like stone the behemoth looked down at them with the flinty obsidian shards of its eyes.
"YOU KNOW MY NAME, LITTLE HUMAN?"
Seki no Taro's voice fell like a cascading avalanche of stone.
He bowed reverently before shouting his answer.
"I am Nigihayami Kouhaku. Do you remember me, Seki no Taro-san?"
The oni's drawn face cleared in loud scraps of stone.
Again the sound of his voice grated on the canyon walls like dragging rocks.
"LITTLE DRAGON… I REMEMBER YOU…"
Haku winced, becoming keenly away of the fact that Okesa was gripping his arm so tightly there would no doubt be a bruise. She clambered to hide in his shadow as the oni lowered his head to study him closely. As he did the ogre's face loosed a cloud of dust as it drew into tight lines of dismay.
"I FIND YOU LESS, LITTLE DRAGON. DID THE FUJO UNMAKE YOU?
Haku shook his head and shouted his reply once more.
"No, Seki no Taro-san. I have chosen to become this of my own will."
Settling back against the stone wall the oni caused a tiny earthquake. Haku rode the rolling ground as the trees on the slopes shook. Drifts of snow and bits of stone poured down the dark edges of the ravine. The oni sighed gustily as if terribly sad.
"IF THAT IS SO THEN GODS ARE DOOMED."
As silence suddenly returned to the frozen ravine Okesa hissed in his ear.
"Who's tha', neh!?"
Haku was careful not to turn, keeping her in his shadow as he explained.
"Seki no Taro is the master of this valley. Yubaba hired him to sway the other oni who dwell in these mountains. Under his command they built the tunnel for her trains. After they finished Yubaba hired them to unload the coal beneath the bath house. Seki no Taro-san and I worked together to make sure the oni did not eat the frogs or yuna."
All at once the oni voice echoed like angry thunder in their ears.
"I AM MASTER NO MORE, LITTLE DRAGON. YUBABA WAS EATEN BY HER GREED. MY CHILDREN DEFY ME AND MAKE MISCHEIF. A FUJO CAME AND TRAPPED ME HERE. I AM COMPELLED TO GUARD THIS PASSAGE. DO NOT COME ANY CLOSER OR I WILL BE FORCED TO KILL YOU."
He smashed his fist against the stone floor in a movement swift so it was stunningly incongruous with his size. The jarring impact threw all of them from their feet as it set the chasm quaking and shuddering. Trusting Suzume to look after Chihiro Haku was forced to accept Okesa's hand as he struggled upright in exhaustion. Slowly, however, the oni turned wistful.
"I BUILT THIS TUNNEL, LITTLE DRAGON; STRANGE THAT I SHOULD BECOME THE GATE OF ITS CROSSING. SOME DAY SOON I WILL BECOME ONLY STONE AND THIS WAY WILL BE CLOSED FOREVER TO BOTH GODS AND HUMANS."
Haku's insides seized with sorrow as he stared up at the dying oni. What a terrible thing for the worlds to loose such a God. All at once Haku was studying the chains with serious intent. Again he addressed the ogre, trying to find some way to shout with reverence.
"If I was to attempt to free you, Seki no Taro-san, would you try to kill me?"
The oni laughed. His slow booming chuckle rolled like thunder.
"OF COURSE, LITTLE DRAGON."
Haku shied as Okesa yanked him to the ground and sit on him like a cushion.
"Are y'nuts, kitten!?"
Staring up at her in utter consternation all the blood flooded his face.
"Okesa!" Haku choked, "Get up at once, Okesa!"
She did not release him. She hissed at him furiously, flattening her ears and lashing her tail. Then she crossed her arms, sat back on her heels, and tossed her head making it clear she would be going nowhere. At once Haku wilted in exasperation before pointing at the train tracks lifting from the stone beneath the oni.
"We need this way open, Okesa! That is the crossing between this world and the next that the train must make to enter Clock Tower Town! It will smash to pieces against Seki no Taro if we do not permit him to move!"
Still straddling his stomach the cat hauled him upright so she could hug his face into the soft folds of her sweater. Vigorously rubbing her cheeks against the crown of his head, making aching head swim, the cat growled even as she purred.
"Aye ain't gonna let yeh get smashed t'dust!"
As his cheeks turned incandescent in embarrassment Haku struggled against the cat's enthusiasm wordlessly appealing to Chihiro for help as she crept into his view. She, however, looked away as her lips twitched. Suzume caught her arm, towing her back to his side all the while cagily examining the ogre. Flashing him an irritated frown, Chihiro pulled herself from his grip, going a little pale as she bowed awkwardly before shouting at the oni.
"Hi, um…! H-how do we get you free?!"
Holding out his wrists the oni made the metal links clang like struck steel.
"REMOVE MY CHAINS, LITTLE FUJO."
Haku stared at the oni's bonds in a loss. A single link was almost the size of his Okesa. How he could hope to cut through these he did not know! Here Chihiro's face wiped with that strange blank expression of understanding he had glimpsed several times before. At once she produced the mysterious box only to plunge her hand inside, addressing it like a person as she made her request.
"Can I have that knife again?"
She blinked, removing her hand only to jolt and shrink as she found Sengen's knife clutched in her fingers. Okesa recoiled from the blade with a violent hiss, releasing him to hide at the small of his back. As Chihiro crouched beside him Haku found himself staring at the new scar on her bare shoulder. He barely resisted the urge to touch it. Though she was no longer smoking he was still afraid she might burn him. Looking back to the knife he flinched as she unsheathed it.
The blade flashed in the dark like a strike of lightning.
Hissing again the cat fled to hide behind Suzume's knees. Both fox and cat looked on in trepidation as Chihiro nicked a small stone. Where the knife scratched it left behind an etched line of fizzling water that spread until the pebble was reduced to a puddle of green smelling salt water. Horrified by the blade's potential Haku scrambled to his feet and backed away. Grimacing at the belligerent sapphire eyes of the dragon on the hilt the wind of his disquiet stirred the frozen landscape. A single scratch could reduce absolutely anything to seawater: flesh, stone, even metal. All at once he found himself looking to the oni's chains even as his blood turned to ice.
"I cannot wield it," Suzume muttered sullenly, "Water will not obey fire."
"I will do it," Haku pronounced the words carefully to keep his voice from shaking, "I am wind and water. Though the ocean forsakes me I have the best chance."
Even as Chihiro opened her mouth to object, Okesa laughed incredulously.
She shoved the fox out of the way to stab a claw in his direction.
"Like hell y'do! Y'cun barely stand! Yeh's shakin' yeh's so tired!"
Haku glared at her frostily not liking to be reminded of his weakness, because he was indeed shaking with exhaustion. It made him doubt himself and the plan he was hastily sketching with each passing moment. Haku did not miss the fact that Suzume was looking on in uncharacteristic silence as if weighing every word spoken. And Haku knew as he glanced aside to Chihiro only to find her frowning that it was not just the cat he strove to convince. Calmly Haku explained with conviction what he fervently prayed would not turn false.
"Between us there are four fans and a flute, Okesa. You will hold Seki no Taro-san's arms. Chihiro will hold his legs. Suzume-san will lull his mind with song. You must hold him long enough for me to cut his bonds."
The cat tossed her hip and crossed her arms as she continued to glare.
"Then wot, neh!? We's oni diner, tha's wot!"
Turning cold as the snow he returned her sullen stare obdurately.
"Seki no Taro will not harm us once the spell of his bonds it cut. Once this way is open we will cross by the main gate and wait for Hayashimi's train in Clock Tower Town. They must pass and we will know it when they do."
The cat blinked rapidly before throwing her hands high to gesture wildly.
"Tha's yer plan!? Y'wann go back there!? Y'almost got killed last time y'went back there! Wot we gonna do when we git there, neh kitten? How's we gonna eat an' where's we gonna stay!? How's we gonna stop t'train anyhow?"
They were valid questions and unfortunately ones for which he did not yet have answers. Haku, however, was not about to reveal the holes in his plan. It became clear to Haku that Okesa was stalling. Strange that it was the cat who sought to coddle him. Narrowing his eyes he saw through her anger and was not surprised to find Okesa was afraid. She was shaking with terror, eyes dilated until her red irises were all but swallowed in the night. His knees shook in sympathy even as he tempered, appealing to her in a small voice as he offered her his hands.
"This is our best chance to save Hayashimi. We know this place and those who dwell within. We must use this knowledge to our advantage regardless of the risk. As before, we go together dear Okesa. Trust me now as I trust you?"
The cat cast about trying to object only to hear the truth in his words. Wilting, she loosed a huffy sigh then turned on Chihiro, making her squeak again as she hauled her down to shoved two fans into the fold at the front of her coat. It was then that Haku realized the oni was watching him with enigmatic obsidian eyes. Again Seki no Taro's voice rolled a quake through the narrow chasm.
"I URGE YOU TO RECONISDER, LITTLE DRAGON."
Haku frowned grimly only to bow unconsciously.
"It is as I have said, Seki no Taro-san. We have no choice."
CHIHIRO
Magic nibbled Sen's palm where she clutched the bells to keep them silent. She frowned deeper and deeper as she studied the red, gold, and silver fans. Trying to whirl one on her fingertip like the cat she almost dropped it. Cringing in chagrin Sen almost gave them back in a panic.
"S'okay, kiddo. Y'don' have t'do it pretty."
Before she could shove the fans into the cat's hands Cinna cut in encouragingly. Flourishing her fans and making the bells ring and chime, the tiny woman sank into a graceful whirl in spite of the frozen dark and the uneven terrain.
"We's jus' holdin' 'im down, neh? Gotta think tha' as y'dance. Like this, neh?"
At once Sen lurched forward like her body didn't belong to her anymore. Unnerved, she moved like a pro following in Cinna's shadow as the cat directed her every action. With each stomping step Sen sank low and firm over her bent knees until it felt like she weighted hundreds of pounds. The matched furling downward strokes of her fans produced a powerfully compelling force. Stunned and enthralled, she watched the cat's every move trying to follow. When it finally seemed like she was getting a handle on the steps Cinna's motivating directions dissolved abruptly, making her stumble on a patch of ice as the cat released her.
Out of nowhere Suzume caught her. The fox was extremely grabby tonight. His frozen fingers burned against her bare skin. Sen winced as a blinding bolt of pain shot from the ball of right her shoulder to the very tips of her fingers. At once they went numb with gnawing soreness that almost made her drop a fan. Stunned by the unhappy reminder of the injury she still carried Sen's insides went cold. It was still kinda hard for her to wrap her brain around the fact that she'd had an arrow in her shoulder not long ago.
But then again, magic wasn't something you ever got used to.
Even as she held in the gasp of pain Suzume saw all the same. So did Kohaku. He took an unconscious step towards her only to back off as Suzume growled at him. Even as Sen's heart thrilled into her throat on a geyser of panic at the sound, that was it. No fist fights. No wind and fire fits. Sen had no idea what miracle had inspired this change of heart. She'd woken up only to find they were tolerating each other's company.
Barely, but at least it was a start.
Suzume turned his back on Kohaku as he kept her arm and towed her close. Bleached of all color save his luminous gold eyes, Suzume looked like a ghost in the night. His dim blue foxfires that set the ice hanging from the frozen walls of the dark canyon glinting like diamonds. In their flickering light she watched his face creased with angry worry. He opened his mouth to command her to go hide in a corner somewhere and stay out of the fight. But he remained silent as she stared back at him defiantly. There was no way this was going to work without her help and she made that plain as she continued to glare at him.
Even though it was a really bad idea Sen was going to dance for Lin's sake.
Suzume's face grew darker and darker as he was forced to reckon with that.
Finally he released her to turn on the cat with a dour frown.
"Keep the arm movements simple, cat," Suzume instructed commandingly.
Cinna tossed her hip at the fox as she hissed.
"Tch! One-two, one-two. Simple 'nough, neh?"
Suzume rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the cat even as she sashayed back and forth at his feet only to bump him with her hip momentarily unbalancing him. The fox threw an irritated growl after her as he skulked away. Cinna laughed after him as she continued to traipse in a circle demonstrating what certainly didn't look simple to Sen. Unconsciously she found herself shadowing the cat again, counting along beneath her breath concentrating on keeping up with the movements so hard she gave herself a headache. Here Sen realized Kohaku was smiling at her from the corners of his eyes. Scorched and windblown, he looked more than haggard in the dark.
Her insides turned to ice as blue glinted in the middle of his chest. Sen scowled at Sengen's jewel here it hung around his neck. It was the same color as the sapphires glinting on the hilt of the knife on his belt. He couldn't draw it unless he was wearing the jewel. The exposed skin on her arm prickled with cold as the frozen air made the star-shaped scar on her shoulder tingle eerily. Folding her fans and sticking them in her pockets, she crept away from the cat so she could sidle up to Kohaku.
"Why do you have to be the one to cut the chains?"
Looking away Sen whispered beneath her breath ashamed for even saying it. She knew why it had to be him. The ogre was really, really old. That meant he was really strong. One dancer wasn't going to be enough to hold him. They were lucky that Suzume was with them. Four bells and a flute was pretty good odds. All the same, it didn't make things any easier.
"I trust you to hold the oni, dear one. Trust me to be swift."
Her head emptied as he hushed the soothing words against her cheek as his hand slide around her waist, pulling her close. Sen tipped her forehead against his shoulder, clenching her eyes shut even as he turned to plant a gentle kiss on her brow. His lips were cold, making her insides shudder, because she could feel him shaking. Even as she tightened her hands on his coat hastily they shuffled apart as the cat called them out.
"Quit canoodlin' kiddies! Let's do this, neh!"
Grinding her teeth, Sen watched as Suzume, Cinna, and Kohaku line up shoulder to shoulder. The fox flexed his fingers along the holes of his golden flute in a blur as the cat furled her red and black fans, practicing a few of her so-called simple moves. Kohaku plucked Sengen's knife from his belt, going Godish as his luminous green eyes turned razor sharp as he studied the chains as if judging the distance. Joining him Sen held her breath as the silence became so intense all she could hear was the thunder of her pulse in her ears. Taking a deep she held it as magic hummed and throbbed in her blood, called up by the Gods beside her. Breathing out she found that strange calm that was beginning to redefine her. It was almost heavy, making her sink lower onto her heels. Her fingers sang and tingled as she took the fans from her pockets. A jolt of electricity shot of her arms as she flicked them open with crisp snicks. Tilting her head back further and further Sen looked up at the oni. Seki no Taro was just sitting there watching them like a stone statue. It was super creepy, but she wasn't scared. She'd seen creepier.
"On my mark," Suzume commanded as he lifted his flute to his lips.
The slow lulling song lifted from his shakuhachi like smoke.
It settled through the canyon like the snow, making Sen sleepy.
She jolted as Cinna began stamping her feet only to ring her bells in counter point.
Jing, jang. Stomp-stomp. Jing, jang.
With every flash of her fans the cat mimed firm downward motions. Sen followed, doing her best to keep up her end of the moving spell. All too quickly her shoulder began to burn. So did her thighs. She'd been sitting on her butt writing for the past six months. The only cardio she'd managed was playing Just Dance on the wii with Michio. But she kept up, watching Seki no Taro from the corners of her eyes only to find herself frowning uncertainly. The oni didn't so much as flinch in response to their song. Snow was beginning to filter from the dark sky as Suzume's melody echoed off the cliffs. White piled on his pate and shoulders.
"Is it working?" Sen breathed between gasped breaths.
"Dunno," Cinna watched the oni with cautious eyes, "Only one way t'find out."
As the cat tossed her head Kohaku darted forward.
He moved so fast Sen didn't even see him.
The only evidence of his passing was his rain scented wind.
It poured across her back as if to pursue him, leaving her shivering in its wake.
Sen gasped as a torrent of water suddenly poured from thin air only to smash against the bare stone. The chains at the Oni's right side melted away as the unexpected river gushed down the ravine. Seki no Taro's fist fell to the ground seconds later sending a bone-rattling jolt ricocheting off the stone. The ground beneath Sen's feet pitched and rolled making her heart thrill up into her throat as muddy water surged around her ankles. But she fought the towing current, keeping time and staring firmly at the oni's feet as she willed them to stay put.
In that same moment a twin cascade of water poured down the ogre shoulders sending a flashflood churning around her feet. Her knees were beginning to shake, burning with exertion and cold even as she forced herself to keep dancing, struggling to keep up as she waded and stomped in the icy water. Suzume's song trilled in her ears, swelling until it filled her head, making her miss the ringing in her ears. Sen faltered as a final surge of prodigal saltwater swelled above her knees. It pulled her over, dumping her face first into the gurgling arctic tributary. Sen gasped through chattering teeth as Cinna's bells rang, dancing her up out of the frozen water. But as she staggered forward she fought to pull backwards as Seki no Taro shuddered violently.
Finally free, the massive stone oni tipped forward.
Ripping free from the wall his absence left it compromised.
As he smashed against the ground on hands and knees the resulting earthquake rocked the entire canyon. Precariously balanced boulders piled on the cliffs above cracked and slipped. They came crashing down in a bouncing cascade of thundering stone. The roar of stone swallowed their song Sen watched in stunned silence as Suzume seized Cinna dragging her aside as a mammoth boulder fell from both lips of the canyon only to smashed into the water right where they'd been standing. She lost sight of them as the resulting wall of frigid mud overwhelmed her. It ducked her head again, lifting her from her feet only to flood her forward into the path of the falling stones. Coughing and struggling to stand, she forced herself up out of the mire as spinning rocks bounding off the ravine walls to splash down all around her.
"Chihiro!"
Her head jerked up as Kohaku shouted her name. Sengen's jewel burned in the dark glowing like a beacon where it hung around his neck and the churning water parted for him as if cut by a knife. He blew past her riding a violent wind, hauling her upright by the back of her coat only to pluck one of the fans from her hands, whirling away never loosing momentum as he dragged her with him. Using hissing lashes of water directed by the singing ringing bell he slapped aside jagged slabs of stone that skidded off the ravine lip right over their heads.
At once escape became impossible as he became consumed by the act of warding away stone. Punching and kicking and leaping in arching twists that blew her mind Kohaku sailed weightlessly through the air as he hurled the cascading curtain of rock away with fierce jets of wind and water. Wind screamed in her ears, tearing at her hair and clothes as bells rang and throbbed in her bloody. Caught in the giddying whirling pull of the churning water at her feet Sen wheeled her remaining fan over her head, making the bells ring commandingly as she directed fist-sized rocks away from him.
The stone listened!
Her insides rang with awe as she caught the rock in the snare of bell song. It batted it aide like a badminton birdie. But her enthusiasm burned to ash as the weight of a much bigger stone punched through the grip of the bell. It had no interest in listening to her song and she was forced to obliterate it with a hastily cobbled handful of fire at the last minute. Red bright fire erupted in the dark in a hissing plume of steam as the stone shattered in a cloying cloud of dust that turned to mud, spraying them with cutting shards of rock and snapping embers. She threw up more fire to save herself from the flying razor-edged flints. Several cut her face all the same proving using fire situation was a very bad idea!
The recoil from the impact slid her across the icy stone. At once she found herself outside of the narrow haven of Kohaku's influence. Even as rocks continued to rain from above he smothered and redirected her feral blaze with twists of wind only to catch her gaze with his burning jade eyes. Throwing up his fan he ensnared her with his bell in the nick of time. Her feet skidded across the icy stone as he hauled her toward him so swiftly her insides seized and flip. Her teeth cracked together as a massive stone smashed in her shadow jolting her off the ground. But as she tipped and teetered he towed her back to center only to overcompensate and unbalanced himself. Instinct surged in Sen's blood as she anchored herself into the stone, pulling him as he had pulled her. Even as he tipped backwards his green eyes flew wide in stunned surprise as she caught him with her bell. Like a cracking whip he jerked back toward her as their bells rang in unison.
They caught each others arms as they whirled like some kind of fun park ride.
Their feet left the ground in the pull of the fantastic momentum.
Clinging to each other, spiraling ear-piercing wind swelled beneath them.
The tornado hurled off the last skittering stones as it surged overhead.
Then the fickle wind dropped them into the frozen shallows as it abated.
And as they floundered the far canyon wall crumbled in Seki no Taro's absence.
Tons of stone dumped into the shallows inspiring another monstrous wall of frozen sludge that leapt up to surge at them. Even as the wave reared, Kohaku catapulted out of the shallows punching his folded hands forward. He spread them in a unassailable motion that split the dirty wave. It surged by only to smash against the wall of stone behind them. The deadly rain of rock began again at their backs as Kohaku spun on his heel to divide again the rebounding wave. Left completely exposed a fist sized stone smashed into his arm with such force it hurled him down into the churning frozen spray.
His scream was swallowed by the bass roar that rolled down from above.
Even as she scrambled to stand in the boiling currents of the water Sen looked.
She watched in horror as the behemoth stones of the shrine cavern buckled.
They teetered then fell like a cascade of monstrous marbles.
Down they fell, smashing the stone torii to power. One demolished the bridge as it bounced off the edge of the cliff. The last rolled right up to the lip over their heads blotting the moon and the sky. Even as rocks roared and the ground trembled, even as a glancing shard of stone cut a jagged gash along her temple in a blinding explosions of pain, Sen threw herself upright. Her body moved of its own accord as she ripped the ribbon festooned handle of bells from the magic box in her pocket. Lashing it high over her head she planted her feet firmly and punched the behemoth rock.
A chorus of bells rang in her ears like a singing silver symphony.
As they did Sen pushed back with all her might and shouted a command.
"Stay!"
The wall of crushing resistance she met collapsed her legs. It smashed her knees against the stone ground hidden in the muddy saltwater sending white hot lances of pain surging through every nerve in her body. Every muscle and tendon in shrieked in exertion as she ground her teeth fighting and railing against the weight of the stone. Her sight grayed and trembled as Sen heaved and pushed until things popped inside her head. Blood poured from her nose as the grinding boulder slowed then teetered to stop. All the same she forced herself slowly back to her feet loosing a dominating shout.
"I SAID STAY!"
It rolled back from the lip of the canyon to perch precariously on the edge as if frightened of the sound. All at once the crushing weight of its presence evaporated from her hands and Sen staggered forward into the moonlight. Stunned and sobbing she stared up at the disk of light peeked through the breaking snow clouds overhead. It glimmered around the edge of the boulder, flooding the canyon with light. Sen stared up at it in amazement only to watch in sinking frozen horror as the lip of stone under the boulder gave beneath its weight. Even as the moon blotted out, even as her dismayed scream was swallowed by the snarling roar of stones, even as the ground jolted so violently she pitched into thin air and landed on her back to cringe in the frozen mud, Sen realized she hadn't been crushed. Peering out from under her up thrown arm she stared through the billowing curtain of thick dust she watched the piled stones arch over her only to remain suspended mid-air. Then she realized the writhing wall of stone wasn't the avalanche.
It was Seki no Taro.
The oni's stone joints ground and grated as he caught the massive boulder like it was nothing, holding it high over his head. He let the landslide bounce off his stomach shielding her from the torrent of pouring rock. Scrambled backwards through the mud she knocked into Kohaku. His hand clamped down on her jacket holding on even as she startled and shied. Sen seized him, shielding him as several massive rocks that crashed down between the oni's legs only to shatter and spray them with more jagged shards of stone. Hastily waving them aside with bells Sen cringed as the mire around them erupted with muddy spray where stones fragment cut mud like knives. Finally the last stones fell silent leaving her ears ringing and her body vibrating the memory of grinding stone.
Then Seki no Taro set the massive boulder down. Sen squeaked in astonishment as the oni moved with deceptive swiftness. The sky hissed as the rock forced the air aside only to make the ground shuddered beneath its weight, making mud ooze and give up water as it sank and settled into the sludge. Then Seki no Taro's granite fingers unfolded right in her face. Sen didn't even have time to scream as she was ripped from Kohaku's grip as the oni plucking her from the ground. Kohaku's shout of dismay was devoured by the wind that whizzing across her mud-caked skin. Her stomach produced an increasingly familiar dizzying flip when the ground disappeared from beneath her feet.
Although his fist completely encircled her waist the oni didn't squeeze or crush her as he brought her right up to his face. His breath blasted her in the face with a smell like the interior of the deepest, darkest, dankest cave. All the while he studied her intensely with the endless corridors of his fist-sized jet black eyes.
"STRANGE… WHEN YOU SPEAK STONE LISTENS."
The oni pronounced in words that made her whole body shake. Terrified, Sen threw her hands high over her head, making her bells ring and jingle harmlessly as she went rigid as a board. They continued to jingle uselessly as she shook from head to toe as the oni's lip peeled up to reveal his sharp granite teeth. All the same she met the ogres gaze and tried not to shriek and struggle. But even as he scrutinized her with his flint black eyes Sen's insides stilled as she somehow knew he wasn't going to hurt her. Slowly curiosity got the better of her, turning fear to awe. She'd seen oni before in Yubaba's bath house, but none compared to Seki no Taro. She cringed as suddenly the ogre laughed in a low booming chuckle rolled in the shattered canyon like thunder.
"LITTLE FUJO, YOU ARE BRAVER THAN YOU LOOK."
"Please, Seki no Taro-san!?" Kohaku pleaded in alarm from somewhere below, "Please do not hurt her!"
The oni was looking down now and his granite features softened fondly.
"DO NO WORRY, LITTLE DRAGON. I WILL NOT HARM HER."
Again wind sang through her hair as the oni lowered his hand. Sen's knees buckled as Seki no Taro carefully set her down. As her feet sank into the sludge she sat in the mud staring up at him at a loss as adrenaline raced through her veins like tracer rounds of ice. Numbly she bounced and jostled as the ground shook with each of the oni's steps. Turning away the ogre shoved the monsters boulders aside, stacking and piling them like kids blocks. Then he parted the thick mud with a single spread of his massive stone palms, clearing a long path from rubble and debris. Out of this he summoned the train tracks from the stone hidden below, beckoning them with the grinding curls of his huge stone digits. Sen shivered violently as the power of Seki no Taro's magic made the very earth shudder and scramble to obey. When he had finished the path was clear.
"GOODBYE, LITTLE DRAGON. GOODBYE, LITTLE FUJO."
Again his voice echoed like distant rolling thunder.
"PERHAPS ALL IS NOT LOST AFTER ALL."
Bowing low, the ogre ducked into the tunnel yawning out of the wall of stone, disappearing away into the dark. Standing shakily as the oni's retreating steps waned into tiny tremors, Sen stared up at the gateway to another world. Out of the mouth breathed the unmistakable bite of magic that belonged only to the Spirit World. It hummed in every cell of her body making the bell in her heart ring a single clear peal of premonition. Again she shivered convulsively as the cold she'd forgotten until now began to seep into her bones making her teeth chatter.
Then the cat tackled her from the side.
Sen dumped sideways into the mud in a harmless chorus of bells.
Cinna was coated in mud.
The only part of her recognizable the flashing red of her irises.
"Neh, neh!" Cinna screeched in a panic, "There's bones pokin' out!"
Then Kohaku's warbling shouts of pain shattered on the canyon walls, glancing off and around the neatly piled boulders. The sound touched her insides like a live wire, making her blood run cold and sluggish in horror. As if drawn by bells Sen lurched to her feet, stumbling on shaking legs toward the sound only to have it silence. Terrified by the sudden quiet she slogged and scrambled on hands and knees through the thick silt as her breath blew from her lips in a white cloud so thick it nearly blinded her. The cat had her around the waist now, half dragging her around the massive boulder Seki no Taro had caught and set aside.
As they rounded it Sen found Suzume crouched beside Kohaku's prone form.
Panic spiked in her blood like burning acid.
Cinna caught her arms down before she could use bells to rip him away.
Because it took her a moment to understand the fox wasn't hurting Kohaku.
Suzume was helping him.
Unconscious in the mud Kohaku was slung awkwardly across Suzume's bent knee so the fox could hold up his right arm. He had torn the sleeve clear off and was running Kohaku's arm between his grasping hands as if trying to pull it straight. It took Sen a second to see that it was bending in the wrong place, halfway down his forearm, instead of at the elbow. Sen dumped to a seat on the freezing silted ground at once sick with horror. She held her breath against the urge to puke because she could hear the hideous cracking of his bones!
The stone that'd struck him early had pretty much smashed his arm. Working with slow determination beneath the pale glow of a single foxfire Suzume coaxed and snapped Kohaku's bones back into place! Holding it up and inspecting it over and again until he seemed satisfied, Suzume let it drop only to unceremoniously shove Kohaku off of his knee into the mud. Then the fox slapped him hard. Kohaku jolted awake only to stare in stunned surprise up at Suzume. At once Sen was struggling in Cinna's grip but the cat wouldn't let her go.
"Simmer down, kiddo," the cat hissed beneath her breath as she anchored her to the ground, "Let'm sort it out, neh?"
Kohaku attempted to scramble backwards only to fold up in pain grasping his arm. Here Suzume caught him by the front of his jacket pinning him in the mud, holding with the burning intensity of eyes as he muttered in a low angry voice Sen could barely hear.
"Favor your arm, dragon. The bones are still newly mended."
Haku stared askance at the fox with a confused expression that spoke volumes.
"Now it is I who does not understand you, Suzume-san."
Glaring irritably Suzume sat back on his heels. He winced, touching a drying patch of blood on his cheek where a falling rock had cut him.
"It is as you say, dragon; none of us will escape this journey unscathed, which is all the more reason that I should go with you."
Diffidently Kohaku sat up cradling his arm only to bow stiffly. The fox snorted derisively, making the blue ball of fire crackle and hiss.
"Save your esteem for someone who cares. I do not mend your ailments out of benevolence, dragon. I will need yours soon enough, and so I put you back together for her sake as well as mine."
Kohaku glanced across the distance as Suzume gestured to her.
His face wiped with longing as their eyes met.
With that his foxfire snuffed out leaving only the moon to light the canyon.
Sen blinked, because in that moment Suzume was gone as well.