Chihiro was completely frozen at the sight of her dear friend, who now seemed to be preparing to attack her. There's no way she would survive, either. The dragon was much larger than any animal she had ever seen in the human world, his teeth huge and sharp, his demeanor was that of a vicious dog. Sakura seemed a lot less tense. "Don't be scared, Chihiro. He can probably sense your fear." Definitely easier said than done. "He doesn't recognize us, and his instincts are to protect himself and his river. He will eventually realize we are no threat to him" Sure, Chihiro thought to herself. If he doesn't maul us first.

Kohaku continued to lurk towards them. Chihiro stood completely still. She knew if she ran, he would only chase after her, and she was by no means quicker than the dragon in front of her. She wondered if she should play dead, she knew this to be a good survival tactic if ever faced with any predatory wild animal she would come across in the human world. She opted to just stand there, frozen, and hope the dragon who she once called a friend wouldn't decide to kill her. Not much she could do if he did.

Once the monster was only inches away from the human, she realized he had completely ignored the nymph beside her. She concluded that he recognized her as part of his river, and Chihiro simply as the human she was who had the potential to harm it. Chihiro remained frozen as the dragon sniffed the entirety of her body. He took a long time to do so, but as he did his eyes softened up and his ears returned to their naturally upright position. He still didn't recognize her, but perhaps he now knew she came in peace. He took a couple steps back from the human and examined her. Chihiro, in perhaps what was a moment of foolishness, reached her hand to the dragon's face. He did not oppose as she gently stroked the top of his head. Eventually the large beast turned away from them and walked to a shady spot beneath a tree, where he laid down in a giant coil and closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep.

Sakura sighed a breath of relief. "He shouldn't be too mean from now on. Just be cautious around him, you never know what can set him off. He doesn't remember how much he cares for you." Chihiro nodded in response, still a bit shocked by the interaction. "I need to see how the other creatures are holding up. I'm not the only one who calls this river a home. Perhaps you should put your things away in his cabin. Keep an eye on him, though. He's better at disguising it, but he's still very ill." Chihiro nodded again, still at a loss for words. Sakura gave her an assuring look before leaving to who knows where to check on her brethren.

Chihiro walked tentatively towards the dragon, not wanting to awake him. While in his human form Kohaku was visibly unwell, he was still an absolutely gorgeous dragon. His scales glistened underneath the sunlight that showed through the leaves of the tree he was resting under, his mane luxurious. His nose looked very dry, which was the only indication he wasn't in good health. Chihiro assumed this couldn't be comfortable, and rummaged through her bag for some of the vaseline she had brought for her lips. Upon finding it, she kneeled in front of the dragon and gently rubbed a bit on his chapped nose. The dragon opened his eyes at her touch and his nose crunched up at the unfamiliar sensation of the vaseline being rubbed on, but he let her do whatever she was doing. Once she had finished, his long tongue quickly wiped away the goop. So much for that.

To Chihiro's surprise, the beast rested his head on her lap and closed his emerald eyes. She stroked his mane, wondering whether she had some magic dragon whispering talent or if a part of him did remember her, or at least knew he could trust her. They stayed like that for a few minutes, but Chihiro knew she had to get settled in. Once she stood up, Kohaku did as well. She ventured to the cabin that stood not far ahead, and Kohaku followed in suit directly behind her. This reminded her of a loyal dog, even though she knew the comparison would bother the dragon quite a bit if there was an ounce of humanity left in him. Once she got to the cabin on top of the hill, she turned towards the dragon. "You have to stay outside, Haku. You're too big to go in. Don't worry about me, get some rest." Kohaku had clearly lost his grasp on the Japanese language along with his former self, because as soon as she entered the cottage, he flew directly inside, almost knocking the human down. While she remained standing, there were a pile of clean dishes on the kitchen counter that weren't so lucky. The dragon headed to the large bed that sat in the back of the cabin, and once he had made himself comfortable he had closed his eyes and continued his slumber.

Chihiro sighed. Kohaku was still very protective before his animalistic instincts took over, but was never this clingy. She decided to let him rest, but did wonder if he planned to take up the bed once it was time for her and Sakura to get some sleep. His reptilian body took up the entirety of the queen sized mattress. She looked around the small cabin. The kitchen was the first thing you'd see upon entering, which was much like one you'd see in the human world. Wooden countertops and an island, which now had broken shards of porcelain surrounding it from the plates the dragon had knocked down while entering. In the middle of the cabin was a bed, and to the left of it there was a desk with a bookshelf that seemed to be mounted to it, full of the old leather bound books that Chihiro had seen so much of these past few days. There was also a restroom that included a smaller bath than the one provided to her at the bathhouse, which she decided she should probably make use of while the dragon was resting, it's been a long day and she was starting to feel a bit grimey.

–

Sakura was starting to lose hope as she walked across the river, searching for any intelligent life that might still be around to no avail. No mermaids, no nymphs, no sprites. What she did find, besides the dead and decaying salmon who populated the water, poisoned in their own homes by the water they needed to survive, was an assortment of rabbits, squirrels and even a small fawn who all succumbed to whatever illness they had caught after drinking from the tainted river. Anything living must've fled after realizing that the water was no longer safe. It was heartbreaking to the nymph, but she knew she mustn't dwell on it. She decided to put her focus towards taking the first steps to heal the river.

Sakura, much like Kohaku, had a bit of magic up her sleeve- all of it came naturally to her and she's never had any formal training, so she wasn't nearly as powerful as the God. Still, she might be able to make some progress. First and foremost, she had to do something about the many animal carcasses that littered the river and its surroundings. She had no chance of bringing them back to life, that magic was far too advanced for her and even Kohaku, but she could at least dispose of their bodies.

She put in her energy towards a vanishing spell that was directed towards the once thriving fish who now floated aimlessly and lifelessly through the current. This took quite a bit of focus from the nymph, as mentioned she was no professional on magic, and she had to focus on all of the hundreds if not thousands of dead fish. She had somehow managed, and now the river was clear of any deceased marine life. "Well done." She hadn't even gotten the chance to fully admire her work before hearing the boisterous male voice behind her, which spoke in a thick accent that she recognized to be Greek.

She turned around to be greeted with a satyr, who must've belonged to the forest the river resided in. The half-deer half-man that stood in front of her towered over the small nymph, making her blush. She was happy to have found any living being in this area, even though satyrs were not river spirits which didn't ease her presumption that everything of this river had either died or fled. Sakura also wasn't particularly fond of satyrs, or any forest spirit for that matter. Satyrs particularly are loud, lustful, often drunken creatures who Sakura found rather annoying. This one at least had a loincloth, many of them weren't even decent enough to cover their nether regions.

"Thank you." said the nymph, hastily walking away from the beast. Much to her dismay, the satyr did not get the message and instead followed her closely from behind. "I'm surprised you're still here, all the other nymphs and sprites abandoned this poor river. What a shame, the water had only just begun to start flowing again just for the waters to have been poisoned." He said all of this with a jovial grin on his face, which peeved Sakura quite a bit. "Do you know what happened? A close friend of mine is very close to the god of this river. It is also my home. It's very important to me that I get to the bottom of this." The satyr burst out laughing at her inquiry. God, she hated forest spirits and their constant joviality. She was sure he wouldn't be laughing if all of the trees in his home were cut down or destroyed in a fire. "A river god with a friend, huh? That's not something you see everyday. Usually those guys just mind their own business." The satyr inspected the river. "I've seen him before. The god you speak of. A gorgeous dragon he is, but he's never around as much as he should be. This might just be his own fault, I've never seen a god care for his territory as little as he does. I do tell you, if the goddess of my forest was as lazy as he is, we'd probably be in shambles, as well." Sakura was starting to become very annoyed with the beast. "You might want to tell your friend to start saying her goodbyes. It's great he somehow managed to survive when the water stopped flowing, but with it poisoned? I'd say his chances aren't looking as good."

Sakura cleared her throat and attempted to stay calm as she responded. "My master is not lazy. He had to occupy his time with other obligations while the river wasn't flowing in order to stay alive, obligations he is still tied to. I will ask you again before I leave, do you know what happened?" The satyr shrugged. "I can't say I remember. Perhaps a night with a beautiful river nymph will jog my memory?" Sakura did not react to this, instead she turned around and continued walking away. "Wait! Pardon my crudeness, perhaps I can help you." Sakura turned around, the expression on her face cold and annoyed. "I can't say I witnessed anything personally, this is all word of mouth. From what I heard, a lowly spirit poured some type of potion into the water. No one recognized him, but he seemed to be in pretty bad shape. Next morning, the fish were dead, and the spirits were gone. That's all I know." Sakura, although pleased that she had gotten new information from the satyr, did not change the harsh expression on her face. He had been of help, but he still annoyed her, and she wanted him to leave. He seemed to understand what she was implying. "I'll leave you be, miss. Good luck with your friend. My name is Evander, glad to be of your service." He bowed at the nymph before galloping away. Damn forest spirits.

–

By the time Sakura had arrived at the cabin, Chihiro was asleep in the bath. It's no wonder, the human had barely slept since she had arrived at the spirit world around three days ago. She entered the cabin to find the shattered plates on the ground and the dragon still peacefully asleep on the bed. There was an indent where he lay, indicating that his weight may have broken the bed frame. She sighed. As much as she was looking forward to sleeping in a proper bed, she didn't mind sleeping by the river as she usually did, she'd just have to avoid touching the water. She opened the bathroom door to find that Chihiro found a sleeping arrangement for herself, as well. "Chihiro?" She woke up the human by shaking her arm as she said her name.

Chihiro was still groggy, but eager to hear any updates from her friend. Chihiro's nudity wasn't something that had bothered either of them, like most girlfriends they had seen eachother change clothes on multiple occasions during their many sleepovers. Sakura explained how all the other spirits had left, the many dead animals she found on her way, and the fact that she had at least taken care of the fish. She also told her about the satyr she found, leaving out her distaste for the fellow spirit as well as his creepiness towards her, and told her what she had heard from him. Although the lack of information they had before was better than the zero information they had earlier, it still wasn't very helpful. Chihiro had wondered when Zeniba would finally arrive, when there was a knock at the door.

Sakura, being the only clothed one in the room, left to answer the door as Chihiro dried off and put her clothes on. Once she was decent, she had walked out of the bathroom to see Sakura and Zeniba sitting at the dining table next to the kitchen, Sakura catching the witch up on her discoveries. There were three large barrels of water sitting by the door, and a container of udon noodles on the kitchen counter. The shards from the broken plates had been cleaned by Zeniba, who scolded the two girls for leaving the mess to lie around. While the tension in the room was still heavy, Zeniba still had a kind and eased demeanor about her. Chihiro couldn't tell if she wasn't worried at all or just good at hiding her concern.

"It seems you two have made some great progress during your time here. I'm confident that we'll be able to figure out what's going on, and find the culprit." Chihiro sat at the table along with the two spirits. "From what I've heard from our dear Sakura, it seems my theory was correct. Most likely a jealous spirit, one who had lost his own home at some point. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if there were other… persuasions leading him to do such a thing." "What do you mean?" Chihiro was genuinely confused. She really couldn't theorize why anyone would do this to her friend. Upon hearing her voice, the dragon who rested on the bed perked up. Seeing this, Zeniba used her magic to lift the lid off of one of the barrels and carefully floated it to his side, without even having to get up from her chair. The dragon lapped away at the water, clearly quite thirsty from not being able to drink the water from his tainted river. "Well, my dear, I don't know if you've noticed but us spirits can be rather cold hearted at times." Chihiro did notice, thinking back to when the dragon she was so fond of so casually mentioned that he was perfectly ok with changing his employees into pigs as a punishment, so long as they didn't end up in the slaughterhouse.

"Spirits can be very mean and vindictive. They will manipulate those weaker and more vulnerable than them into committing atrocious acts for their own personal gain. I'm guilty of it myself, and to an extent, so is your dragon." Sakura looked down at her lap, leading Chihiro to believe that perhaps her friend was not much of a saint herself. "Well," Zeniba stood from her chair, "now that I know it may have been some kind of potion that did the work rather than some unknown poison we may never find the antidote for, this may be a bit easier to resolve than I originally thought. Please stay here you two, I don't want Kohaku to think it would be a good idea to follow us out the door. I suppose I have a bit of investigation to do myself." Zeniba left the cottage in silence, Kohaku finally finishing his much needed gorge of water.

Chihiro felt a bit more optimistic now, perhaps Kohaku would be ok after all. Sakura was not as enthusiastic. "Sakura, what's wrong? Did you hear Zeniba? Things are looking up! The river might end up being ok, afterall!" Sakura looked at Chihiro with a sad smile. "I hope so, Chihiro. But something tells me there's more at play here. If it was just a simple spell that tainted his water, what would the point of that be? Even though Kohaku may not have been able to do much to counter it himself in his state, whoever did this must've known that someone in his life would manage. I think we're all being too hopeful here. Something feels very bad about this." Chihiro looked back at Kohaku, who had fallen back asleep. If it weren't for his inability to stay awake, Chihiro would've never guessed the dragon was as ill as everyone said he was. "So, what do you think is going to happen?" The human questioned. Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "That's not something I can foresee, Chihiro. One thing I miss about the human world is how predictable everything was. I can't say the same for the spirit world." Sakura chuckled at the thought, and then stood up. "I think I need a bath, too. I want to think about all of this for a second, I have to get my thoughts together. Maybe you should get some rest, I have a feeling it will take Zeniba quite a while to return." She went to the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Chihiro rested her head on the table. She absolutely did need to get some more sleep than she had in the bathtub, but how could she? Even with their recent discovery and Zeniba's lack of concern, it felt as though she still had no room for hope. She got up from her spot and sat at the very edge of the bed that Kohaku slept on. She stroked his large head, his eyes opening at her touch. She scratched behind his ears, causing him to emit a loud purr that caught her a bit off guard. She leaned towards the dragon's face. "I miss you, Haku. I know you're in there, somewhere." The dragon leaned into her hand, still purring. She felt tears form in her eyes, and although she usually made an effort to hold it in, she decided to allow herself the luxury of crying. "I love you, Haku. I always have. I don't care if I'm just an insignificant human, I saved you once, and I'll save you again. I promise." The lack of response from the dragon and the fact that she knew this may be a promise she could not keep made the tears roll out of Chihiro's eyes much quicker than they had originally. She wept into the dragon's forest green mane, which was a similar shade but a few hues lighter than the hair on his human head, which Chihiro wondered if she'd ever see again. The human soon fell asleep curled up to the dragon, her face still pressed up to his locks.

–

Chihiro awoke the next morning, the dragon now curled up on the floor in front of the bed rather than in it with her. Zeniba, to her surprise, was still there, now sleeping in the same chair she sat in when Chihiro saw her last. Sakura was nowhere to be found. Chihiro decided not to fret over this, she knew the nymph was self-sufficient enough that she likely wasn't in any danger, and frankly she had done enough worrying this past day to last her a lifetime. She crept to the kitchen, trying not to wake the witch, who's large nose was causing her to snore quite loudly. She rinsed off a ceramic bowl that she had found in the cupboard and poured some of the udon inside it while heating up some water on a surprisingly electric kettle to make some tea, she would definitely need the caffeine boost.

As she waited for her tea to steep, she poked at her noodles. They were cold, but she didn't have the motivation to heat them up on the stove, and Kohaku's cabin lacked a microwave. "Don't play with your food, dear." Chihiro looked up to see Zeniba had awoken from her slumber. "I want to see you finish every last drop in that bowl, I don't care if it takes more effort than usual. You need to eat." Chihiro nodded solemnly at the witch before taking a few bites. Even though it was cold, the broth was quite good, and Chihiro was hungrier than she had thought. She was sure the witch had casted some sort of energy reviving spell on the food, she now felt much more awake than she had before. She went to the kitchen to remove the teabags from her now overly-steeped tea, which was thankfully still quite hot.

She took a big gulp. "I managed to counteract the potion, you know." Chihiro nearly spat out the tea that was in her mouth as the witch revealed this to her. After the shock was settled, she swallowed. "You did? He'll be ok?" "Yes, dear. For now." The wave of relief had nearly brought Chihiro to tears. "Oh, Granny, thank you. Thank you so much." She wrapped her arms around the witch's neck. "I wouldn't be so quick to celebrate, my love. That potion was very easy to evade, too easy, in fact. Either this is the doing of a rather misinformed spirit, or there could be trouble along the horizon. And as you can see, neither Kohaku nor his river have fully recovered." It was true, the dragon still seemed to be very much the same animal he was when she had first arrived at the river.

Chihiro released her hold on Zeniba and sighed. Maybe things weren't looking up, afterall. "Granny, do you mind if I leave you for a bit to step outside? I need some air, and I'd also like to find Sakura." Zeniba gave Chihiro a very grandmotherly smile. "Yes, dear. I should be heading home now, either way. I don't want No-Face to get too lonely, you saw what happened last time." Chihiro smiled, remembering the tirade the spirit caused at the bathhouse the last time he felt a little too alone.

Chihiro said her goodbye's to her granny, and left the cabin to wander along the river. To her surprise and, honestly, relief, Kohaku remained sleeping and did not follow her. She had hoped he wouldn't panic among seeing that she wasn't at the cabin anymore, even in his animalistic state he still seemed to be rather attached to her. She ended up finding Sakura asleep on a large rock that bordered the river, and decided to let her rest, knowing the poor nymph has had just as much of a stressful time here as she had. She strolled thoughtlessly, listening to the breeze flow through the leaves in the trees.

She decided to sit by the river after about 30 minutes of wandering. She stared into the water, which was now much clearer than it was the day before. The current was also moving at a slower, more calm pace. She continued to stare into the glassy waters, until she noticed what appeared to be a black eel swimming much faster than the current. This was the only sign of life she had seen in the waters so far, and she had a feeling there was something malicious about the creature.

She decided she needed to see what this eel was up to. She got up from her spot and ran along with it. The little bugger was quick, but Chihiro had enjoyed cardio quite a bit in the human world, and she was managing to keep up with it. Once they were side by side, without even a second thought as to why this may be a bad decision, Chihiro dunked her hand in the water and grabbed the animal. The creature squirmed around in her hand. It was pitch black in color, and rather hard to grip on to. She turned it towards her so she could see its face. The eel snapped at her, just a few inches too far to bite her nose off with its jagged sharp teeth. It looked like your average eel, but its eyes were burning red. Chihiro felt a sudden burning sensation in her hand, and dropped the squirming beast on the ground in shock. It had tried to wiggle its way back in the water, but before it could, Chihiro had stomped on its head with her sandal, crushing its delicate skull.

Chihiro did not feel great about what she had done. What if this was just a species that did not exist in the human world, who had somehow managed to survive the river's poisoning? She looked at her hand, which still burned ferociously. Her palm was a rosy shade of red, and the skin on it was quite raw. Some blisters were already starting to form. She would likely develop a nasty scar. She looked down at the animal she had killed, it was not a pretty sight. Its brain was oozing out of its eye sockets, its once triangular head now completely flat. Chihiro stepped back from the fish, rather disgusted.

"Chihiro!" Chihiro turned her head to see Sakura running towards her. "What is going on?" Chihiro felt fearful that the nymph would see that she had intentionally crushed a creature of her river and hate her for it, but upon reaching Chihiro's side, the nymph looked just as shocked and confused as she had been. "What is that thing!?" "I-I don't know. I got a bad feeling about it, so I caught it out of the water. It electrocuted me, and I dropped it, and… and I killed it before it could get back in." Sakura knelt before the body of the eel. "Chihiro, I don't know what that is, but it doesn't belong to this river. Maybe Zeniba knows, has she gone home yet?" Chihiro nodded.

Sakura picked the carcass off of the ground and inspected it for a moment, before tossing it full force into the forest. "Whatever it is, it's food for the buzzards now." Chihiro wasn't sure how to react, she still had no idea what it was she had just killed. "We need to check on Kohaku. Maybe Zeniba managed to get rid of whatever was poisoning the river, but there's something else at play here. Come." Before Chihiro could object, Sakura grabbed her wrist and ran with her back in the direction of the cabin.

Upon arriving, they saw that the dragon was now missing. Sakura cursed under her breath, Chihiro still too in shock to react. "Chihiro, I'm going to try to see if there are any more of those things in the river. Whatever they are, they need to go. You should look for Kohaku." And just like that, the nymph had run off.

Chihiro had searched as far as she felt safe wandering. The forest was dense and scary, and she felt if she ventured further into it she may very well get lost. She stared into the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. No signs of any white dragons flying overhead, which she felt he may not have been able to do at the moment anyways. Dazed and confused, she decided to make her way back to the cabin. Wherever Kohaku was, she was sure he would return at some point. She walked slowly along the river to the cabin, dragging her feet as she did so. She wondered if they'd ever be able to save the dragon she loved or the river he ruled over.

She began to notice a figure in a pitch black kimono in the distance, its hand in the river. As she got closer, she noticed the green dragons printed on the garment, as well as the dark olive hair that draped over it. It was him. He was back. Chihiro couldn't believe her eyes. Her walk turned into a jog, and then a full speed run. Kohaku didn't seem to notice her, he was too transfixed in whatever the water was trying to communicate to him. She caught up to him quickly, and tumbled onto his kneeling body full force, pushing him over on the ground with Chihiro on top of him. Before the unexpecting god could process what was going on, she crashed her lips into his.