Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 12: Poison and Frustration

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.


Exterior POV

The dragon stumbled across the bridge, black oil trailing behind her and leaving filmy rainbows smelling of decayed plant matter to stain the wood. Her slender form collapsed, her head barely within the blue curtain separating the entry way of the bath house from the outside. The blue of her scales could hardly be seen beneath the killing film that coated her, and the seaweed that was her mane was browning from the poisons she had been trapped in.

She hadn't moved yet when the bath house came to life for the night. Her shallow breathing was barely noticeable to the panicked worker who found her.

"Help! Murder!"

The worker's cries sent the whole place into an uproar. Answering the screams of terror, our hero forewent the lift and jumped down from the floor he had been on.


Haku:

"What's going on here?"

The words died in my throat at the sight of the ryu-onna before me. I had seen some come in here for healing who were very badly hurt, but this woman was barely breathing.

"We need to take her to the big tub, that oil has to come off. I'll get help after we get her there, if others don't come first."

She was small as dragons went, and I could probably drag her to the tub in this form easily. Of course, to drag any dragon, especially our women, was only done under the direst of circumstances. I'd probably have her mate after my head if I did so. That left me only one choice. Luckily, I was still narrow enough that I could get through here.

Taking my natural form, I lay down and signaled the worker to drape the ryu-onna on my back. The poor thing was so light, that I would have barely noticed she was in position except for the slimy oil that coated her.

'What happened?'

I moved as fast as I could without fearing the poor thing falling off. It hurt inside to see any of my brothers or sisters in such a state. Her labored breathing and slow heartbeats were the only thing that assured me she was still among our living, since she was already as cold as the northern ice. The oil the humans harvested for their machinery covered her scent completely with its own scent, not even allowing me to get a general idea of her clan.

The smell of hot water and healing salts greeted my nose as I carried the tiny wisp into the room the large tub was in. Lin stood up atop the basin edge, monitoring the water level. I thanked Kami for her sharp ears and how quickly gossip spread. Quickly, I brought her into the tub, making sure that her head was draped over the side for air.

At the very weak response to the water, I couldn't suppress a tiny whine. It couldn't even be considered a wince, although the water was hot enough to scald me. The heat and salt began to break up the oil at least, and Lin had already begun to use cloth to remove the oil from her face.

I got out of the tub quickly, as it was not seemly for a young unmated male to be in the same bathing tub as a female unless it was the male's mother. Even then, it could be called into question if the male was older than 100 years old.

I couldn't control the shivers that trekked across my body once I was out. Something about the whole situation was playing on my nerves, like some great disaster had almost befallen me.

"Are you ok, Haku?"

I snorted and nodded, but it was too quickly, Lin didn't buy it for a second.

"Go on Haku, get out of here, grab some of the women and tell them to help me. When I'm done we'll get her to a room. Can you handle the medical, or do you need to let Kamaji do it?"

A vigorous shake of my head and a paw lifted towards myself. I knew dragon physiology much better than Kamaji, and he'd taught me what he knew about healing on the sly, adding to what I had learned from Yubaba about it. Magic users had to know about healing to employ it well.

"If you're sure."

I'd finally calmed enough to take my human shape again, which I did quickly.

"I'm sure Lin."

I ran into some of the women half-way down the hallway. I couldn't believe how they were laughing and tittering, like nothing had happened at all. Just because it hadn't turned out to be murder after all didn't mean it wasn't serious still.

"What are you laughing about! There is a dragon in the big tub dying from oil poisoning! Get in there and clean her up, otherwise if she dies I will hold you accountable for poor response to her emergency!"

That sent them running. Good. They needed a little fear in their lives, they had become too fat and complacent. I must have been louder than I thought, because soon the entire female population had fallen into their proper tasks.

'Why does this one affect me so?'

While they were bringing fresh clothes for scrubbing and all the other necessaries, I had gone to round up what I would need for her, various antidotes and strengtheners. When I looked up, I found Yubaba looking at me appraisingly.

"Is there a problem Yubaba?"

"No, just noticing how far you've come. Good job with her, carry on."

With that, the witch went back to her quarters.

After what seemed like hours, the oil was removed from her person. She had taken a human form after the fifth tub of fresh water, seaweed hair still looking abused and tattered, but at least clean. The small woman was currently resting on a plush futon, and I monitored her each breath, tipping a bit of medicine into her from time to time.

Hours past, then my ministrations were thanked with a soft groan, and she struggled to sit up.

"Not yet, you're still too weak."

Her eyes snapped open, twin pools of wild wetness deep and dark as the ocean's deepest depths. A moment of dazed disorientedness and desperation lapsed as she attempted to piece together what had happened.

"Where am I?"

"Safe."

We passed a moment in silence as I checked the dilation of her eyes, her temperature, and pulse.

"We found you only just barely inside. What happened?"

"I was brewing a storm for the inland. There was an oil tanker. So much oil."

I shivered. It was a sea dragon's worst nightmare. I needed to hear no more.

"You don't have to say more if you don't want to."

"Thank you. Can I see the face of my healer?"

I moved carefully around her so that she could see me, and her eyes widened. I saw hurt and understanding in her eyes, as if she recognized me, and knew I didn't recognize her.

"Thank you again. I - I have to go now."

Somewhere deep inside herself, she found the energy to bolt, the only evidence of her visit the mess that was still being cleaned, and a generous payment piled on the bed. Where she went, I had no idea.

I went upstairs to make my report to Yubaba. I remember that clearly. About half-way through, I must have blacked out, because I awoke on the floor, kneeling, and feeling quite nauseous as if I had gone for far too long without food or water while laboring in the hot sun.

I'm not positive that I truly blacked out though, because I can retrieve flashes, of watching an at first unknown woman, seeing her fall, catching her, and Chihiro's sent of my river and cherries. Yubaba says that I faded from her sight, but why? And why don't I remember more coherent thoughts, instead of just rushed impressions? It felt like I had fallen into some kind of daydream, as if I was being called somewhere. Was that even possible though for a god without his physicality and without worshipers?


Nyuuhakushoku:

The she-dragon took refuge within her mate's mountain while the environmentalists did what they could to clean up the oil-spill in the China Sea off the coast of Hokkaido. She desperately wanted to help, but didn't dare, as the noxious substance was still too much for her to take. Instead, she encouraged the humans who were helping her, lending them whatever strength they needed.

There was one human in particular that helped in her own small way that Nyuuhakushoku found intriguing.

It was a little Miko, deeply involved in a restoration project of her own, who appeared on the human news one day as she borrowed her mate's view mirror to check on the wonderful humans who were gaining her favor. Her speech about the need to stop polluting the environment, even accidentally, and taking responsibility for mistakes, had been very moving. It seemed it was an impromptu speech, as the background was an area that had been freshly dug.

Her cheeks were glowing with health, although she looked a bit put out about being taken from what she had been throwing herself into whole heartedly. When the speech was finished, and the child-woman had expressed her support for the cleaning of the spill, the camera panned back. The landscape was familiar, although altered a bit from the last she had seen it. The Miko gleefully hopped back into the channel working on lengthening it by hand as the machinery was all out of gas again due to budget constrictions.

"Tatsu! Isn't that -"

"Yes. It is. She's done quite well digging him back out considering most of the time there is no money to run the machinery, and they are all volunteer workers. I think the council will be pleased to give him both, don't you? Not much longer until they make the announcement."

Tatsu drew the curtain back over the view mirror, giving his mate a stern look.

"Rest."


Chihiro:

Chihiro felt uneasy for a time while digging. It was like unseen eyes were watching her, studying her, dissecting her. Pausing in her digging to look around, she saw everyone was still busy digging. Looking up to the shore, she swore she had caught the flash of long raven locks as long as his arm twisting in the wind with billowing white sleeves resembling a churning rapid. His hakama had been an eerie blue, a shade she couldn't even put a proper name to only stirring gently in the fierce wind that made the rest dance. Green had woven itself around the hems for both haori and hakama, waves of the sea to fool the eye with movement, and the man had clutched a staff in his right hand, making her think of some wandering priest of days gone by. His jade eyes had captured her, claimed her, and she had a flash of a boat ride, and falling. Then it was gone, and so was the man she could literally see through, like he was merely a holographic projection in those cheesy sci-fi movies Ryu liked. He was a man who hadn't been there, and the odd thought crossed her mind that he had been a projection from someone hidden deep underground as he waited. Why did that give her the butterflies?

It had to be a hallucination. It was long past lunch time, and in her eagerness, she had forgotten to eat yet again. She didn't know why the thought of bringing back the river thrilled her so, but every time she thought of the waters running free to the ocean again, she felt . . . electric. Well, not really, but she wasn't certain she could feel that for a river. Weren't you only supposed to feel that way about boys?

Stranger things had happened though, like the little green snake that liked to follow her around when she walked in the forest. The same little green snake who currently was wrapped around a branch in one of the trees overhead watching the male helpers with what appeared to be distrust, and then glancing worriedly and thoughtfully up river towards the springs that hopefully next year would feed the river.

Her beloved river.

'Gak! My beloved river? Where'd that come from. And why do I keep feeling all hot and shaky every time I think about the river? Come on Chi! Cold showers, ice cold showers. Ugh! Why does that make it worse? Oh, right, the dream swimming with the guy that won't keep his hands off me, and then changes to that dragon and just curls around me watching the water bead on my skin. Ah got it! Dad at lunch-time! Yeach, that helped.'

Her stomach protested the lack of food loudly, an enraged dragon that would not be denied, and she felt a little faint. From behind, a pair of strong arms swathed in mid-length white sleeves caught her before she fell, oddly transparent, and a tantalizingly familiar voice whispered in her ear.

"That's enough, Chihiro. Time to eat."

The voice she had only heard in her most tantalizing dreams, a face and form never quite seen (but certainly felt, and when she found whoever she finally gave herself to, she certainly knew what to expect) had licked its way down her neck to raise goose-bumps down her back and arms, not to mention bringing back the strange watery sensation that had been flooding her being. She turned around to confront the man for daring to catch her, but all that greeted her were two footprints in the earth. She had been expecting a tall male with hair falling about his shoulders like a tiny waterfall, lean and muscular, with a chin that had felt rather pointy. The body had felt very familiar from behind. Now absolutely convinced she was hallucinating, Chihiro went to the mess tent and grabbed some fruit and cold-cuts that had been on ice, accompanied by a big bottle of clear water. And Midol, she could just feel her time coming on. Yeah, it wasn't the other, nah, not thinking about a river.

'Maybe that's it. Ghosts. Supposedly women are more psychically sensitive when they've got PMS. Yeah. Except for the fact that the moon is full and I'm due on the new. Stupid female hormones.'

Exasperated, she drank half her huge bottle, then dumped the rest over her head. The feeling didn't go away. It just got worse.

"Looks like tonight I'm going to have active dreams again. Ryu better not dump water on me though to wake me up, it doesn't help anymore. Just makes me more frustrated. Wish I knew what is going on, but there's no way I'm talking to Ji-san about these dreams, and mom would just want to know if he's a boy from school and when is the wedding."


Yubaba:

Back in Yubaba's office, a tired looking Haku rematerialized before his master, knees buckling as he had taken Chihiro's fatigue away from her.

"What happened boy? Where did you go?"

"I don't know. I was making my report to you . . . then here I am on the floor."

"You don't remember anything while you faded?"

"Flickers. Of a river that isn't."

Yubaba made a mental note to speak with her sister about this. The time for the Council's decision was approaching soon, and this fading of his had become worse. As much as she hated to admit it, she was beginning to worry about the dragon.


Reviewers:

KatsyKat: Tie-ins are what make a universe! Oh dear heavens, I'm writing a universe now? Guess I was more impressed by the movie than I thought.

JessicaKittyDemon: (White Death) Half a box? Well, here's a virtual box of tissues for you.

Red-sakura-wolf: (Courting the River Maid) It was meant to be a one shot, but with other romantic days in the year, I might find something else. Maybe. It depends. (Promises) It's meant to happen before 'Rivers Never Die,' so they don't meet in this one. Just really close.

Oceanic Goddess: ok!

Fyraga: Yes, Haku can be naughty. But at least his intentions were to make her feel better. If he had fully realized it wasn't a dream, would he have still gone in? That would probably depend on how naughty he felt at the time. As I continue researching the old stories though, I begin to see why it wouldn't be good to associate with spirits as romantic partners.


In the office of the author while reading reviews:

The author is currently hung on the wall like some neo-gothic wall ornament, dangling placidly from a deer rack that somebody gave to her for their own obscure reasons. Against the opposite wall, a computer monitor glows uncaringly, a chapter half-finished occupying the screen.

"So you're the one who has been reading my diary. Don't you get the concept of privacy?"

"Yeah."

"So why?"

"It's fun to push your buttons."

"How does your husband put up with you?"

"Chocolates and deep tissue massages. He bribes me."

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR."

In frustration, Haku has pulled at his hair, stopped only by the door bursting open and a big brown river of scale sweeping into the room, a two year old and four year old squealing in glee on his back. They are also bouncing up and down on the poor think like little demons, all wound up on birthday cake.

"Dragon. Dragon. Mama gave us a dragon!"

"Ten, what happened to you?"

"Writer's block plus her eldest's birthday on the 13th."

"And they're still on you?"

"The curse of sugar.Kohaku, if you can get them off the poor guy, it would be a miracle. We all could sleep. When you have kids, never give them chocolate cake. Ever."

"When I have kids?"

"OOOO. Look little brother, another dragon!"

"O crap!"