Promise of a River

By: LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 19: Change and Coping

Rain owneth not ye Spirited Away.


She sat at the table, lost in her own world as she ate her scrambled eggs, stir fried vegetables, and rice. Clouded eyes gazed unseeing on the room, smiling at things only the Miko could know. The heaping plate was emptied without a word, vanishing quickly and yet not even acknowledged as the healthful meal slid down her esophagus and into the abyss of her stomach. No conversation came from her, nor did any pull her out of her dreams.

Silence ruled over the table as her three companions watched her, the only thing challenging the quietude for sovereignity was her humming. A hauntingly familiar tune it was, passed down through generations of Oginos, and one that they had head her practice many a time on the biwa, or singing softly to herself when she thought no one was around.

Ryu narrowed his eyes at the woman seated across from him. She was eating her breakfast, absorbed in her own world, innocent and pure . . . or so it seemed. Something was different about her, the way she ate, the way she moved, the way she smelled, even the way she sat. It was all so the same, and yet, it was as if some part of her had grown.

It was maddening, and he couldn't pin it down. The whole situation was an affront to his dragon's sense of intuitive perception. As if he didn't have enough mysteries trying to figure out how to get his girlfriend how to do the things she promised, now the one constant and steadfast object in her world was in flux. It meant that his BlowingWind would be rather cranky until she herself could pin down the enigma she had as a friend.

"Did you sleep well Chi?"

The question had come out of nowhere from the mouth of his sweet Shaman, causing both the dragon and Miko to nearly leap out of their skins. Well, the dragon anyway. Chihiro just kept dreaming into space as she quietly ate, humming a bit every now and then as she paused to gaze into space.

"Has she been bewitched?"

"I don't think so Koji. But maybe."

"Her serenity is creeping me out. Koji, have you ever seen her like this?"

Indeed, BlowingWind did look very creeped out, used to at least having some help in warding Ryu away from her pickled ginger. She knew that he only did it to bring out her competitive streak and get her to eat, but still, it was on her plate for crying out loud. When sane, Chihiro was always ready with a swift kick to the shin.

"Only once, about nine years ago when she came back to visit me for a week."

"Chi! Queso's running around looking for you in a speedo! Run before he finds you!"

There wasn't even a response. She just kept up her eating, adding a sigh every now and then as she processed the wonderful dream that she could only half remember. When she had awoken from slumber, everything was in order, and yet it was like at the same time something should surely be out of place. It was all so puzzling. What was real and what was fantasy? Did she even know any more?

Having finished her morning meal, Chihiro picked up her dishes and glided into the kitchen to wash and store them. Gentle sighs followed her, so much like a love struck teenager that it was uncanny. Each step swayed the red of her training hakama, swishing about her legs like the water that one wades through. It was as if she had become water, lost in an aquatic world of dreams where the difference between drowning and breathing was only perception.

Koji recognized that walk. His own wife had floated around their home many a morning. Lunging across the table, he grasped the unfortunate being by his T-shirt. The red cotton bunched in his hand like crumbled leaves.

"Tell me my daughter is still virgin and hasn't known a man."

"She's still virgin. I don't smell the presence of a male within her. Let go priest."

"If she's still virgin, explain that walk and expression."

By now, the Priest had pulled the poor dragon onto the table, and looked much like he had when serving in his nation's military. BlowingWind, seeing that there was much male posturing soon to be coming, decided to go and help with the dishes. Even though the old man lived next door, he was often part of their breakfast ritual, and often there was an unavoidable posture or two.

"Dreams again Chi?"

"Hmm?"

Their black cat had narrowly escaped becoming a dish towel as she obviously had her mind in other places. Even while gazing at BlowingWind, Chihiro still seemed to be seeing something else. Or was it some one else? A presence in the apartment around 2 AM the last night had pulled her out of her sleep for a moment, but she was so tired from denying her body that she fell right back into the arms of slumber.

"I asked if you had any dreams last night."

"Oh. Those eyes. I want to find those eyes."

Disgusted at her lack of progress with the daydreaming woman. BlowingWind threw herself back into the sea of battling male hormones.

"How should I know? I don't share her room."

"But you've got the superior sense of smell! Surely you could smell if someone snuck into her room."

"Yeah! But there was no male within her! That's kinda how somebody loses virginity."

"I know that! I'm a grandfather! I have both lost my own and taken that of my wife!"

"Cool it guys. I just talked to Chihiro."

The men paused their glaring match to look at her.

"She's just daydreaming about the eyes she's looking for. Teenage fantasies, let her have them."


Kohaku flopped down on his bed as the sun was rising. He could still feel her, still taste her, and couldn't get the human he was obsessing over out of his skull. He couldn't believe what he had nearly done, with less than six months before he was free to go to her.

It had seemed so right, and yet it was so wrong. He had probably watched her ancestors grow, and here he had almost . . . done that. Whether dream, vision, or reality, it was wrong. Surely spirit and human romantic couplings were against the rules.


As I tried to fall asleep, words from the Fire and Metal dragons wove themselves through my head, prodding out thoughts that I tried to hide from myself. The things that I desired to do with the one who held my heart in her hands.

"You may do what you feel is appropriate with her, as she is a special case. However, you must remember that she is to have her free will. The moment you coerce her, or even think about it, things will be rectified in a most . . . undignified manner."

"As her Guardian, you may allow her to see you. However, you must be careful. You may not tell her outright of what you are to her, she must discover it on her own."

It was enough to raise my hopes, to make me think that perhaps it would be sanctioned, but then I remembered my father's words.

"In return for our kindness, you must agree to keep the woman safe from all harm, and if she does choose to take a mate, whoever he may be, you will allow her to do so. Is this understood, Pup?"

I had to let her choose a mate. Instead, I had selfishly nearly taken her for myself. Since I had been awake and bathing before falling into that dream, perhaps it was only a lust induced daydream instigated by the rains, but I couldn't afford to take the chance. I had failed in guardianship once, I refused to do so again. I needed to keep her safe, even if it was safe from myself. I could content myself with being her friend. I had to. What human in their right mind would take a spirit to their bed?

My body tried to betray me again, but I changed forms before it could. In my original form, there was much less chance that I would fall prey to baseness. I contemplated instead of her beauty her purity and found my blood beginning to cool once more. Grateful for small miracles, I fell into sleep.


In her office, Yubaba gazed into her crystal ball, thinking of ways that she could force the dragon back into another contract. Since he had been given a new river, he would be even more formidable a weapon, and the fact that he was one of the few dragons given a human was something that proved how formiddable he had become. It was also something that she could use against him, a way to toy with his mind and heart and twist him to her will. Yes, it could work against him very nicely, especially given the images that she had seen in her scrying device.

Now, was there a way to call her into doubt in his mind? Or should she try to get the human under her control and so force him to stay?

No, there was no way to call her into question. A look at the young woman left no question as to her spiritual, sexual, and bodily purity. Many images of a few young men being mercilessly beaten into submission played within the crystal. There was a link between the two, probably relaying basic information between the subconscious layers of the two beings, letting them know when something was wrong. In fact, looking back over what was available of her past at this viewing, it seemed that she was instrumental to his well being. She was the one who had been the catalyst for beginning the river it seemed the Council was bonding him to.

Then it was the last option. She must somehow gain control over the little human. The problem with that option was her purity. There was nothing that Sen wanted that she could not get for herself, and she seemed to enjoy that. What was there that little Sen could not get for herself? The woman's lips began to move as she talked to a pale woman behind her.

From the plush red armchair by the fire, the three green heads watched fearfully, wondering what dirt Yubaba would dig up on the human. They knew that if the witch hurt the girl, then the thin thread that kept Haku sane would most likely snap. As the bath house was so very precious to Yubaba, they knew that it would be the thing he turned his anger against, whether there was anyone inside or not. A voice that they had not heard in years floated from the polished crystal.

"Oh. Those eyes. I want to find those eyes."

An image of intense jade green eyes filled the crystal orb, and Yubaba cackled at the image. Instead of the cold indifference or rare flicker of defiance she was accustomed to, the emotions in these familiar jewels run the gamut from childish adoration to base lust. All emotions that she could turn to bitterness and the pain of betrayal, or even that which she craved most, fear. She knew those eyes, and right where to find them. They had defied her for years, silently protesting the treatment of the other workers, smuggling back their tips or retrieving names when he could.

"So. The human is in love with a spirit. Our very own Nigihayami Kohakunushi at that! I just might be able to use both plans after all."

The crone cackled some more at the thought of finally being able to settle properly Sen's debt to the bath house. She knew just the spell to use for this special mission too. Leaving her desk behind, she went behind the screen that hid her most secret books from view. Pulling out a dusty tome, she carefully opened the Black Book, enjoying the quiet scream coming from the binding.

True, the spell was in a book that she had made her apprentice study, so he would know how to counter her. However, it was just that reason that this particular spell would be the best, as if it took hold, it might serve the purpose of calling into question her ability to stay pure. Even if it didn't, then the phantom would be able to get close enough to plant her trademark slug. She would be able to control the humans memories and actions, and with but a word, end the young woman's life. What better way to blackmail him into signing another contract that this threat?

"E ba, A ba, O ba, U ba, I ba. Eba, Aba, Oba, Iba, Uba!"

The words of the chant repeated and rearranged themselves, taking life of their own. The letters poured from her mouth and took the shape of a young man. His pale skin and dark hair made his glittering green eyes seem like two emeralds coldly winking in their malice. With each round of the chant he grew more opaque, although still slightly see through, being a dream phantom.

Yubaba walked circles around her work, surveying her success. The young man stood proud, just like the one that she had copied. Even the hair caressed his shoulders and his face was carefully blank in the same cocky way, and frowning, a sweep of her hand cropped the demon's mane short in the manner that Sen had last seen it.

"Speak boy."

"What shall I say mistress?"

"That will do. Perfect. Your job will be to find Sen and seduce her in her dreams, getting close enough to place this into her. Go as far as you can, take her maidenhood if possible. You will find that you know everything that you need to."

"Yes mistress."

"Go boy."

The young man strode to the window that opened for him, and leapt through it, catching a wave of air beneath his body and riding it to his objective. The man's form wavered, replaced with a fair-sized dragon, a ribbon of white and teal disappearing into the distance.


The day passed, Kohaku sleeping soundly in a world free of guilt, his possession drifting dreamily through her Saturday. When he rose before sunset, he felt as if something was going to go wrong, as if some impending evil had swept its way to what was his and lay in wait to steal some coveted treasure.

As he walked about to check that all was in order, a habit that had developed early on, he went through the things that someone could possibly steal from him. His sword rejected the touch of anyone who did not share his blood, so that could not be stolen. He didn't have much to speak of here that was worth stealing, unless you obsessed over Sen or had a penchant for reading other's diaries.

Throughout his workday though, the feeling persisted. A hundred times the things that he owned must have been run through his mind, but there was nothing. He owned no amulets, as his magic was part of himself. His gold had pretty much all been left to Chihiro, although how that had worked he could not understand. Giving up on it, he focused on his work.

As far as work went, there wasn't much to focus on. He hated this job. For most of the time he had been here, it seemed his purpose was to float around the bathhouse like some lost soul and make sure that everyone was doing their job. It was horrible, boring, monotonous, and he really felt like he wasn't needed. Very rarely did anything go wrong any more.

He missed that. Life was just too slow.

As he finished his rounds and went to catch up on his paperwork, the feeling of waiting dropped. Whatever was going to happen, was happening now.

Rushing so fast that he was merely a stray breeze to the spirits he passed, he ran to his room. At last there was an intruder, and if they had made it to his room then hopefully it was a worthy opponent, instead of just a normal fly. He was beginning to overreact to anything intruding in his room, and it was earning him a reputation that he didn't need. After all, everyone already thought he was some kind of dark magician.

Prepared for anything, Kohaku burst into his room, right hand already holding a glowing orb of water ready to strike. Landing inside the door, he looked wildly about the room . . . to find absolutely nothing amiss.

Shaking his head at himself, he set the orb on his desk, as he needed to fix the door that he had just broke. He couldn't believe that he had just broke his own door for nothing. Best to fix it before anyone knew and started spreading rumors. Or even worse, before Lin decided that he had needed some "private time." Only just the other day had he found a sketch of himself and a woman who was supposedly Chihiro . . . procreating. Lin was going to pay for that, and since the heads knew where she hid her manga, maybe he would work out a little deal of his own with them in retaliation. To think she had gotten someone to post it in the male workers showering facilities though! On the bulletin board no less.

After finally getting the door working correctly, he went back to his desk to deal with his impromptu weapon. Since it was charged, he couldn't just drop it in somebody's water bucket, and he didn't feel like being even more jittery from reabsorbing it. He had to de-arm it first.

Situating himself comfortably on his chair at the desk, he noticed some images forming in the water, and he found himself actually paying attention to them.

As usual, he couldn't see her face, but it was the woman from his dreams. She lay peacefully in her bed, moonlight washing over the blankets that embraced her in their warmth. There was a man crouched next to her bed, watching her thoughtfully. The green eyes shone maliciously in the dark, twin pools of stagnant forest water eager to drown the innocent being now drenched in his deadly gaze.


Satisfied with whatever he was watching, the being began to climb onto the bed with the maiden, an inky pool of shadow obliterating the moonlight that once was there. The dream demon smiled hungrily as he opened his maw to moan one word.

"Sen."

"G' 'way. Sleep'n."

"Sen. Wake up."

Chihiro merely rolled over, pulling the covers up and putting the pillow over her head. This left the Demon of Impure Dreams to frown in consternation. Very few women had ever defied him and just gone further into sleep. In order to accomplish the mission he had been summonded for, he needed her to cooperate.

"Sen."

Eyes still firmly shut, Chihiro reached out and pinched his nearest available body part using her nails, what her hand found was his nose. Believing it to be Ryu for some odd dream-addled reason, though she couldn't fathom why the name sounded familiar, she fought to retain sleep.

"Ryu! Sen doesn't live here, try down the hall before I leave gouges so deep you won't even think about groping 'Wind."

Of course, this caused the demon to pull back, holding his nose to protect it from further harm at the hands of the sleeping maiden. A moment was taken to process the shock at being fought against. Most women eagerly woke to enjoy his caresses, but this one, even though the witch had copied the body and voice of her lover, merely wanted to sleep. Growling in frustration, the demon ripped away the covers and sprang to pounce on his prey.

"You will let me in!"


I am very excited to let you all know that one of my poems was accepted into semi-finalist status for the International Library of Poetry's annual contest. Also, it was selected to be included in their newest collection, Eternal Portraits, which is scheduled to be published this summer! 'Moving On' is to be published under the name Teresa Huddleston-Garcia, so those who want to see it can go to Www. Poetry .com to find it.

Also, a slightly expanded edition of chapter 18 is up at the other site.

Reviewer's corner

Sakura Arielle - Yes, Ryu thinks his dad is stern. Maybe he wouldn't have to be that way with his favorite son if he would be a good boy. (Indignant snort from offending dragon here.) You would think he'd be able to hide in a forest (that's what I had intended for Green, then decided to leave it out), however, Fujiyama turned out to be bad at hiding.

Alaina - Need some Superglue for your bum? Or shall we just see if we can graft it back on?

NitenGale - Glad that your brother is alright, you must have been really scared. Get some rest. Yup, poor ol' Fuji's still around, and Yoru got a li'l present from Lin. And Haku got to poke him with a pole.

Fuji: Rain, we need a word.

Yoruiki: I agree. Did you create me for the sole purpose of hurting me?

Rain: No, I needed someone for the part of annoying kitsune who teaches Lin bad things.

Yoru: Oh. Ok.

Fuji: Was it necessary to almost kill me at the hands of my co-workers?

Rain: You wanted everyone to know you aren't as bad as Ryu makes you out to be.

Fuji: Yeah, but not looking like a weak sop!

Lost-and-Lonely-Pheonix - Maybe Queso was standing behind you, and she was aiming for him.

Kataan - Welcome, welcome, welcome. Glad to see a new face reading the story. Point out where it drags so I can do better (of course, if it's in the details I might not be able to, I like detail).

KatsyKat - Up her sleeve . . . hmm. . . :Grabs Yubaba, pulls out . . . a flame thrower: Well, now that kind of spoils the fireball special effect, so much for that idea. :Tosses her off stage.:

Mooncinder - Thanks.