"Uh, Zero."Chihiro looked around nervously,"I think we're in trouble."

Zero glared at the spirits all around them,"Don't worry, the only one worth worrying about is the big ugly bear back in the treees, he's the only one stupid enough to attack, even if he did, he'd be dead before he coudl take two steps, wether it be at my hand, Madenso's,"she glanced at the centaur,"or Zeroku's. We're just fine."

"'You are, but she's not."one of the braver spirits, a large deer with the face of a man, approached them,"If one of us doesn't kill her the curse will."

Zero pulled Chihiro behind her,"You lay onr finger on her and Zeroku will destroy all of you. She wishes the girl to live, as does Kohaku."

"Kohaku is dead to us!"a large red dragon with a green mane emerged from the trees,"You know that!"

"Kohaku is alive, Chihiro saw him with her own eyes!"Zero retorted,"If you don't beleive me ask her for yourself!"

All eyes turned to Chihiro and Madenso apporached them,"Is this true, have you seen Kohaku?"

Chihiro nodded,"Yes sir. He helped me save my parents from Yubaba, and he saved me from drowning when I was little."

The whole forest went into a hush and a large blue dragon with a white mane approached them. Her face was worn and old. She set her head on Chihiro's shoulder and inhaled deeply,"She's right, Kohaku's scent is still on her. He's alive."

"No matter!"the first dragon snapped,"He is still dead to us!"

"How can you speak so coldly of your own son?!"the second dragon snapped angrily,"Especially with Zeroku so close, you know how much he meant to her!"

"ENOUGH!"Madenso shouted,"It is clear that this girl is not normal. She has the sight and has gained the trust of our daughter and the twin rivers! Mae, what do you say to this?"

The second drgon looked at Chihiro,"I think we should maek her a guardian, besides, Zero needs a friend. This world is harsh and wicked, and both girls will need someone to depend on. I beleive the girl will make a good guardian."

"Where is Zeroku?"Madenso asked.

"I will find her."Zero bowed lightly,"If even one of you touches Chihiro I swear I'll kill you all!" With that she dove into the river.

For a few minutes everything was quiet, then, suddenly Zeroku erupted from the water, with Zero on her back. The dragon landed on the ground next to Chihiro,"Yes, great spirit?"

"Zeroku, what would you say to taking this child as your guardian?"Madenso asked.

Zeroku smiled lovingly at the girl,"It's better than these pathetic animals, atleast she could keep intruders out of the forest."

"Finally someone with some common sense."Mae grinned,"You are truely Kohaku's sister."

"Then the decision is made,"Madenso walked over and put a hand on Chihiro's head,"from this day forward Chihiro is a guardian Zeroku and her river, as well as the entire forest! She will always be welcome among us, and will be seen as a daughter of Mae and Artine, just as Zero and their true children are! She will be treated with the same respect as any guardian, if not, more! Now, all of you, scram!" Everyone besides Zeroku, Zero, and Madenso vanished into the shadows. "Now then," he turned back to the girls,"Zero, it's up to you to teach and train Chihiro as a guardian, and Chihiro, you are to listen to everything Zero and Zeroku tell you, undersood?" The girls nodded. "Good."With that the centaur vanished.

Zeroku turned to the two girls,"You'd probably better get home, Chihiro, your parents are probably worried by now."

Chihiro nodded,"Yeah, they probably are, but, it'll take me hours to get home."

"Zero?"said girl looked up at the dragon. "Can you take Chihiro home?"

"Of course."Zero bowed politely and took Chihiro's hand.

The two girls began floating, then shoot off through the trees as Zeroku vanished behind them.

Chihiru watched the trees sail by,"Wow."

"Cool, huh?"Zero smiled,"You'll learn how to do this, too, among other thing. You'll have to tell me and Zeroku how you met Kohaku."

"Ok, I will."Chihiru smiled. Within minutes the two girls were on Chihiru's doorstep. "Why don't you spend the night tonight? You can start teaching me and I can tell you how I met Kohaku."

Zero nodded,"Ok, sounds good. I need to get some rest and sleeping out in the forest isn't a walk in the park."

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!"the two girls slipped off their shoes and walked into the living room.

Chihiro's parents were sitting on a large box watching the news. the girls' attention was turned to the tv, where they were making an important announcement.

"World War III has officially begun." Zero and Chihiro sat down on the floor. "Today England and the United states declared war against China, Vietnam, North Korea, and Russia. Japanese leaders are speaking to American Ambassidors as I speak, and, before the end of the month, we two could be involved in this war."

Zero rubbed her temples,'Not again, not another World War! Half of my river was destroyed when they bombed Nagasaki! Thank the gods we'll be on America's side this time.'

Chihiro looked ready to faint,"War? This can't get any worse!"

Suddenly the ground started shaking and several pictures fell off the walls. The shaking ot worse and worse and Zero, only because she dug her figernails into the wood, was the only one who didn't fall over. A sickening crack was heard outside, makign Zero cringe. Suddenly the ground split and began to pull apart, Zero on one side, Chihiro on the other. The shaking was getting violent now, and Chihiro swore she saw lava at the bottom of the crack. Chihiro screamed in fright, hurting Zero's ears even more. all through this, Chihiro's parents hadn't moved, and Zero was starting to worry.

Suddenly, the shakign stopped. Zero pulled herself to her feet and jumped across the crack, which, she guessed, was about twenty feet across. She pulled the shaking Chihiro close to her,"It's ok, shh, it's ok. It's over. It was just Madenso, he's mad about the war." But she knew it wasn't, there was something sinister happening, and it was frightening her, oh, how it was frightening her. Suddenly her attention was turned to Chihiro's parents, woh hadn't budged during the quake. She gently pulled Chihiro up and walked over to them. The smell of blood invaded her nose, and then she knew,"Chihiro, stay here." She walked around the couch to look at the two humans. Both had their eyes and mouth wide open in an eternal scream of fright, and both had long, red swords embeded in their chests. She felt something sticky and warm pooled around her feet. She didn't need to look, it was blood. They'd been dead for hours. "Chihiro...."

The girl walked up next to her, and tears immediately began to fall,"No....." She broke down in racked sobs and fell to her knees in the pool of blood.

Zero bent down next to her and hugged her close,"It's ok, just cry, cry all you want." 'Why, why her, gods, why Chihiro? She doesn't deserve this. She's just a child, she doesn't deserve to lose her parents.'