Bright white lights danced before her eyes. A low, rasping sound hurt her ears and increased the pounding throb in her head. She tried to cover her ears, to block out the sounds and the throbbing, but for some reason she couldn't move her hands or arms. Her eyes wouldn't open.
Suddenly her nose was pinched shut and she couldn't breathe… Had she even been breathing to begin with? Her chin was pulled down and a mouth covered her own. Air was forced down her throat and into her lungs. She tried to take a gasping breath, but just then a blunted force pressed down just below her ribcage, three times. The pressure forced the water in her lungs up and into her mouth. Gurgling helplessly, she began to suffocate again.
Then her head was turned roughly to the side so that the water drained away. Still she couldn't breathe. Again came the pressure to her lungs and stomach, and still more water was forced into her mouth to be replaced with life-giving air. Enough air filled her lungs for her to begin retching. Gently she was rolled onto her stomach, head hanging over the wet banks of the river. Murky water gushed from her mouth like a faucet. Weakly she pushed herself up to her hands and knees.
A soothing, gentle hand rubbed gently upward from her waist to her shoulders, urging the water along, while another hand held her hair out of her way. She heard a soft voice cooing, "Come on, little one. Give the river back some of its water." When the gagging retches subsided, she nearly collapsed into the river again. Her arms shook violently and she wasn't sure how long she could support herself. Weakly she coughed again and tried to push away from the bank of the ravine.
Two strong arms encircled her waist, gently pulling her to a strong shoulder. Tenderly but firmly her cheek was pushed against that shoulder and she reveled in the feel of soft silk. Chihiro closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax, still trembling violently. One hand caressed her back while the other ran through her sopping locks.
"Feel better?" came a quiet, soothing male voice.
Numbly she nodded, still too drained to move or speak. After a few moments of deep, steady breathing the world stopped tilting and tottering and she felt a little better. When she pulled away, he let her.
Chihiro looked upon her rescuer and blinked, certain she'd actually died. The man sitting on his heels before her could be described as nothing but an angel: his crystal-clear baby blue eyes glowed with soft green-gold flecks and white-blond hair fell to the tops of his shoulders in a damp, clingy wavy mop. His face was thin and charming, pale as freshly skimmed milk. A strange mark on his forehead, a pale pink ten-pointed star stood plainly out through his moppy silvery-white bangs. The man was dressed in all black silk, which accented the paleness of his eyes, skin and hair. At his throat was a choker necklace inlaid with an oval-shaped black stone about the size of a child's fist. The stone was veined with milky white and silvery lines that traced swirls in random patterns. The dusk light tinged his face and hands with a faint pinkish glow.
Then he smiled at her, glanced around, then smiled again in her direction. "Do you, uh, drown her often?"
The gentle tone of his voice coupled with his benign smile eased the sting of the tease and coaxed a tentative smile from her lips. "Actually I've only almost drowned twice."
"Only twice?" He adopted a look of mock astonishment. "You drown with the best of them, madam." The angel bowed, then looked up at her and winked swiftly. "How, may I ask, did you survive the previous time, if you'd share your secrets with a humble amateur?"
"I…I was rescued…by the River Spirit." A small laugh bubbled up in her breast, making her chest ache.
"Rescued by a River Spirit? Hmm…" The man rubbed the back of his neck, then smiled and snapped his fingers. "Got it. The Kohaku River, correct?"
At her numb nod, he continued, "I thought so. Only Haku would save a drowning child—he's nicer than most spirits around here."
Chihiro's eyes grew wide and she pulled her hair out of her face. "Do you know him? Where is he? When did you last see—"
"Whoa, Chihiro," he said, holding his hand up. "I'm sorry, I haven't seen him in years. He's just an old friend of mine." He shook his head to emphasize the denial.
"Oh." Head bowed, she stared at the mossy grass. After a few moments, a thought flitted through her head: How does he know my name? She was about to ask that question, when he said, "You're looking for him?" She nodded. "Would you mind if I came along? I'd like to see my friend once again."
Chihiro blinked. "Sure, I'd like the company." She glanced around, then realized that the scenery was totally unfamiliar. I couldn't have floated that far downstream, could I? I shouldn't be far from home… But I've been all up and down this river, and I don't recognize anything. Where am I?
He nodded, then placed a restraining hand on her shoulder when she made to rise. "Sit, Chihiro, you're not strong enough to go anywhere yet."
Sinking back to the ground, she pulled her sopping hair from her eyes again. She held it bunched behind her head for a moment, then realized what was missing. Imploring brown eyes turned upon the angel. "My hair-tie. Where is it?"
He held up his hand. Chihiro was relieved to see the ruby band glint in the fading light against his skin. She held her hand out for it and he dropped it in her palm.
"I'd be very upset if I lost this," she said as she held it in her teeth, using her hands to pull her hair back. As she looped the band around her hair tightly, she explained, "My friends made it for me years ago—spun the thread, wove the cloth, everything—and I've used it ever since. Granny said it would protect me."
"That it has," the angel chuckled gently. "If I hadn't seen the red glinting in the water from a distance, I probably wouldn't have seen you."
Chihiro absorbed that news and sat back on her heels. She blinked, stifled a yawn, and blinked again. Suddenly exhausted, she curled up on the mossy grass and closed her eyes.
"What's your name, anyway?" she asked sleepily.
"Onikisu. Sleep, little one. I'll watch over you." She heard him moving closer and felt his hand brush gently over her hair and cheek. Sighing deeply, she allowed waves of sleep to overtake her and drown her in their blissful unawareness.
It was some hours later when she awoke. It was dark now, the blackness surrounding her nearly thick enough to choke on. Chihiro held her hand up in front of her face, but she couldn't see it. Bright twinkling stars marked the sky, showing her up and down, but that was all she could see. There was no moon.
"Onikisu? Onikisu, where are you?" She kept her voice low and unsteadily rose to her feet. "Onikisu?"
There was a bit of rustling behind her. Chihiro turned around quick enough to catch a glimpse of white, and then it was gone, swallowed up in the darkness as well. "Onikisu?"
A breeze gently tugged at her hair and cooled her cheek. She turned around, but wasn't sure how many times. All she could see was blackness.
"Chihiro?" The familiar voice came from somewhere off to her left. "Chihiro, are you awake?"
"Onikisu? Yes, I'm awake. Where are you?"
"Stay right there, I'm coming." She heard the grass sway and the creek babble, but nothing else. Suddenly he was there, touching her shoulder to announce his presence. Startled, Chihiro drew away, then relaxed.
"Where did you go?"
"Nowhere. Why are you awake?" He took her hand in the darkness and gently drew her back down to the ground. She noticed now that his cloak had been spread out, comfortably cushioning her from the hard ground. "You need your rest," he continued.
"I just woke up. Onikisu, I'm thirsty. Do you know where my bag went? I had some water in there…"
"I didn't find it in the river or along the banks," he said apologetically. "Stay here, I'll be back in a moment."
"But—" She knew he was already gone. With a sigh she sat back on her heels. Now where had he gone?
Nearly half an hour passed before he came back. Once again she didn't hear him, but he was just suddenly there. She heard water sloshing somewhere nearby that wasn't the river.
"Hold your hands out," he said softly. Puzzled, she did as she was told and cupped her hands together, holding them up. A cold, slightly damp basin of what felt like stone was set in her hands slowly to ensure she didn't drop it.
Slowly she lifted the basin to her face and sniffed it. "What is this?"
"Water. Just drink. The river's clean, so don't worry about that."
Thankfully she let the water slide down her throat. It tasted heavenly, crisp and clean.
"You shouldn't need to drink any more water," she heard him say lightly, the gentle teasing back in his voice. "You swallowed half of the river earlier."
Chihiro smiled at that and took another drink of water. "Yes, but you made me throw that back up."
"Yeah, well…"
She laughed and set the empty stone basin aside. Yawning, she curled back up on the cloak. Another piece of cloth was draped over her, this one already warm. This she pulled closer to her and closed her eyes. She felt Onikisu lie down behind her, back to back, and felt him sigh deeply. Once more she let the waves of sleep overpower her and lead her back to unconsciousness.
