Rivers Never Die

By LadyRainStarDragon

Chapter 13: Sunrise, Bonding and Plans

I don't own Spirited Away, Great Spirits from Brother Bear, or any brand names that may pop up. This story is just a result of too much psychology research, my cat knocking over a book, and my fascination with spirituality. Professor Arack, I blame you and my cat, but I'm dedicating this to my husband for all his encouragement.

There is no excuse for BlowingWind, Ryu, Ten or Haku's lost spirit piece. That's all me.

Fan fiction doesn't want us to include other's songs. What had originally been here was a version of 'Great Spirits' that I had done from memory, which belongs of course to Disney and Phil Collins. What is here now is a song I wrote just for this chapter, which I will later have set to music. The song is called 'Snake Clan,' and is about the Apache Snake Clan.

(We finally tracked down our records, and this might even just be my clan, if not, then may it honor my brothers and sisters!)

Now, on with the story. I'm escaping while I can.


Chihiro awoke early the next morning. Her dreams had been filled with water rushing through rapids, babbling in brooks, and sakura blossoms drifting past in placid streams. It made her feel a strange longing, and yet calmed her frayed nerves at the same time. Images of herself as a young child by the water had been prominent, and there had always been a hauntingly sweet melody weaving around her the whole night. That was all she could remember though. She shook the last vestiges of sleep from herself, and changed into a soft pink yukata.

As she stepped out of her bedroom, she was met by BlowingWind and the guitar that her father had given her. It seemed that she to was ready to go and greet the sun, even though something appeared to be bothering her. Since they had become friends, they greeted it together. BlowingWind would play some music that had been taught to her by her father, and Chihiro would dance to it. Sometimes, the two would sing the words together as well. It was a tradition that they rarely missed. Walking silently, they headed out the door and to the communal garden.

Ryu had taken up his usual position on the roof, where he could see and yet go unnoticed by the women. He wasn't being a voyeur, merely wanted to keep an eye on them in case anything unsavory happened. He would usually only participate if he was asked to, since this was something very special to them. It made BlowingWind think of her father, and sometimes he was very sure that he saw the man standing behind her. She lit a charcoal, placed it in a burner, and then put a little tobacco on it, wafting it to the four directions and the earth and sky while Chihiro lit a joss stick.

Kohaku had already gotten up, but Ryu had no idea where he was. He figured the poor Kami was adjusting to the human world. He remembered how traumatic it had been for him to get used to what most humans did to the area around themselves. Later, he would find out what had happened to him in the Spirit World. Little did Ryu know that Kohaku was perched in a tree thinking, and waiting for the sunrise.

BlowingWind began crooning as she plucked the strings, and soon Chihiro was swaying to the music. The wind picked up a bit and ruffled their hair. The music picked up pace as the sun came up higher and Chihiro's movements became more sweeping. Kohaku jumped down from his tree and leaned gracefully against the trunk to get a more pleasing view of the performance.

Soon the song ended, and the sun had risen. BlowingWind launched into the song that her father had taught her, Chihiro joining in on the singing.

The sun rising high

Into the blue sky,

Waters flowing pure

make the Clan sure.

As we move on this day

Guide us on our way,

Ancestors take us by the hand

In this near or distant land.

By my Ancestor Kato'ya

and by His sweet Kalinya,

By the Spirits of this place

I overcome all I face!

The Great Spirit encompasses all

The World is Pure, we never fall

They sustain us on this land,

Guide us by our hand.

Ryu couldn't take it anymore, and sat on the edge where he could be seen, keeping the beat on his drum he played in his morning meditations. True, this song was not from his culture, but the message was still pure. He watched as the auras of the two singers began glowing brighter as their ancestors exchanged love and communed with them.

Snake Clan is strong,

Never wield it wrong,

Walk the Way of Beauty!

Walk the Way of Beauty!

The mountains and rivers,

Are our brothers and sisters.

Earth and Sky,

Enfold I.

I remember my relations

In my day's preparations!

Let us do no wrong!

Help us to be strong!

The Great Spirit encompasses all

The World is Pure, we never fall

They sustain us on this land,

Guide us by our hand.

BlowingWind ended with a dramatic riff on her guitar, and then both she and Chihiro closed by bending sharply and low at the waist. "Ready for the day?"

Chihiro laughed. "You bet. It's going to be odd without all that hard manual labor. At least we won't have to eat cold ravioli out of a can for breakfast anymore though!" She turned around to go inside to start breakfast, and froze. They had apparently had another spectator besides Ryu. Her face, which was already flushed from the dancing and singing, turned a slightly darker shade of pink. "Hi."

Kohaku's eyes sparkled in amusement. "I see you rested well last night. I didn't know that you danced or sang, it was a lovely performance."

Chihiro looked down and blushed some more. "Thanks."

Kohaku was becoming puzzled as to why she blushed so often when they spoke. He was positive that he wasn't saying anything embarrassing to her. It wasn't productive to think about that though right now, though. He remembered that they were supposedly moving things today and he had seen how tarnished that statue was. Chihiro needed to eat so that she would have her strength. Lin had told him how little Chihiro would eat while at the bathhouse and he did not want that here.

"You must be hungry. I'll make breakfast. I don't know what this 'ravioli' that you mentioned is, but it does not sound healthy."

Ryu agreed with him. "They aren't, at least not the ones in the cans. All the nutrition is pretty much gone by the time they get to the store. Would you like some help?"

Kohaku tipped his head, and the dragons went off to make a 'real' breakfast, Ryu warning Kohaku about all the 'junk food' available in the world, and how hard it was to keep the girls eating properly. He also muttered about the evils of chocolate and soda and how dire consequences came to any male allowing females to have these items in the form of squealing hyperactive women, sometimes armed with credit cards connected to the offending male's bank account. Kohaku realized that he missed out on a lot of information by having hidden in his river most of the time when in the human world and even more while being stuck in the Spirit World. By the sound of it, he would rather be hiding, it would be much quieter.


The girls followed a bit behind, and BlowingWind began talking to Chihiro quietly in English. "So, why don't you tell me about how you and Kohaku know each other. I haven't heard this story."

"He saved me from drowning when I was three. I'd fallen in the river trying to get my shoe. We met again seven years later when my parents and I were stuck in the Spirit World. He helped me save them."

"Did you develop feelings for him during that time?"

"...yeah. After coming home, for the longest time it felt like there was something missing. Sometimes, I would have dreams, and I'd be by a frog statue with a younger Haku. He was telling me not to look back every time I had the dream. I would be excited about getting mom and dad safe, but it hurt so much to leave him. Later, there were other dreams of him, by a spring feeding a river almost exactly like the one we were at. Strange dreams. But what if he doesn't feel the same?"

"I'm sure he does. He gave you CPR when you weren't breathing, went with you to the hospital, and stayed by your side the whole time that you were unconscious. That dragon only left to tell us that you were ok and to get you some food. I watched him while I played my guitar, and he couldn't take his eyes off you. Now he's making you breakfast. This isn't even taking into account his kiss last night. I think it's safe to say he's rather smitten."

"I don't know, that sounds like something someone would do for a friend too."

"We'll see Chi. We'll see. Why don't we do some of our packing while the guys are cooking? Ryu probably has the kitchen door barricaded or something so that we can't sneak any chocolate. He found and confiscated my stash."

"Oh no! I'd better check mine!"


The men did indeed have the kitchen door barricaded. Well, actually it was just Ryu, having placed the table in front of the door to keep it from opening. Currently, he was trying to find a place to put the two bags of chocolate and two cases of Mountain Dew and Cat's catnip that had a lock on it. Luckily, (or unluckily if you were either of the young ladies) he did manage to find room in the locked pantry he reserved for all things he termed 'junk food'.

Kohaku was happily engaged in making omuraisu (cooked rice wrapped in an omelette) and some miso soup. There hadn't been much in the food storage to prepare other than packaged frozen 'junk food'. He had tried reading the 'ingredients' listed on the back, but it sounded more like a spell to him than food. He'd been lucky though and found some pickles that didn't seem too chemical laden, so they were to be the side dish. Glancing over at Ryu, Kohaku saw him trying to shove in the last bag of chocolate.

"You know that they are going to hurt you for going through their things."

With a last mighty shove, the bag cooperated and the door was locked. Ryu started getting out the plates next. "Probably. But I want BlowingWind to stay healthy, and Chi is like my little sister now. Besides, you really don't want to be around them after they've each consumed a case of soda and a pound each of chocolate. A bloodthirsty demon would run screaming the other way."

Kohaku was doubtful about that, but held his tongue, concentrating on not burning the eggs.

Having put the dishes and utensils on the table, Ryu started looking for the ketchup for the eggs and for the tea bags. "So, how'd you meet her?"

"Chihiro?"

"Yeah."

"She fell in my river when she was little, but I think that I might have known her before that. Her shoe had fallen in, and she was leaning over the side of a boat to get it. All of a sudden, there she was. It had rained a lot that year, so the water was very swift. She would have drowned if I had not taken her to shore. She visited me a lot after that until my river was filled. I did not meet her again for several years. She had been watching a train pass under the bridge at Aburaya."

"Not THE Aburaya run by Yubaba?"

"The same. Her parents ate the spirit's food and Yubaba turned them into pigs. Chihiro had not eaten the food, that is why she was on the bridge. I told her to get across the river before night, but she did not make it. I helped her to get inside and she managed to get a job. But her name was taken away and she became "Sen". After a while, we managed to get her parents free and we had helped each other remember our names. I talked Yubaba into letting her and her parents go, provided she passed a test. Thankfully, she did and got to return to her world."

"Woah. You must feel pretty strongly for Chihiro to stand up to Yubaba. Openly even!"

Kohaku nodded as he brought the omuraisu over to the table and served them.

From Chihiro's room came an enraged bellow, "Ryu, I know you've been in my room and I know what you took."

Kohaku calmly put the skillet down on the table and then in a flash the table was pulled away from the door. The door sprang open unimpeded as Chihiro stalked through it, not even registering that Kohaku was in there. She was getting ready to punch Ryu in the gut (He'd even went through her frillies in his hunt for 'junk') when a voice stopped her.

"I've got a better idea Chihiro. I just found a whole big bag of roast newt. Wanna split it?"

Ryu went white. How had she found that?

Chihiro made a face, but piped cheerily, "Sure! He owes me for what he was pawing through."

"Which would be?"

"Take a guess."

"Those! The unmentionable lacy torture devices we have to wear every day in all their itchy glory?"

"Yup."

"Let's shred his 'dragons make hot lovers' shirt! Then we'll shred him!"

Kohaku processed that, and could only come up with one thing that would cause both girls to turn so red. His eyes became fierce and steely. Calmly he picked his skillet back up, walked over to Ryu (who was still petrified that his precious newt snacks had been found), and soundly smacked him with it.

"Chihiro is MY miko! I definitely do not like the idea of people or dragons going through her 'private possessions.' I do not care how close you are, next time it is going to be more than a skillet. I am only holding back because you happen to be a friend of her's. Go torture your own miko."

He said it so calmly, it was like he was remarking about the weather. Even BlowingWind was scared.

Chihiro's eyes popped open. Kohaku had just hit someone? With a skillet? Ryu was a dragon too? How could he be so perverted then? Wait, her underwear had been mentioned in front of Haku! And described as lacy to boot.

Kohaku turned his eyes on Chihiro, which she noticed were now calm as a spring stream. "Now then Chihiro, shall we eat?"

She could only nod mutely as he pulled out her chair and helped her seat herself. The red in her cheeks was only just beginning to fade away into pink. The smile on his face as she complimented his cooking skills made it fade away even more and some semblance of normalcy settled over the table. Meaning Ryu was trying to steal BlowingWind's miso.

BlowingWind's aura began to flare around her, and Chihiro began to edge slightly away. "Ryu, I'm really not in the mood. I've got an important dream to discuss with everyone, and I'd like to not do it with your head mounted on the living room wall."

"Yes Ma'am!"

That taken care of, BlowingWind stole Ryu's pickle and gave it to Chihiro. Then she passed out the roast newt among Kohaku, Chihiro, and herself. Ryu, of course, pouted.

Breakfast was calm after that, if you didn't count Cat shredding Ryu for having hidden his catnip along with the girls' contraband items. So, after the dishes were taken care of and Ryu got Koji, BlowingWind filled them in on the details of her dream.

"And that's what this Ten character said. Kohaku is only a piece of the God, and if he isn't re-united with the rest of himself he will fade and somebody else will be brought in."

"But how can anybody say that? Kohaku can't be broken, he seems perfectly whole to me."

BlowingWind shook her head as she pulled her hair. "He seems fine to me too, that's why Grandmother gave me a test to give him."

"Did it have anything to do with memories before meeting Chihiro? I do not have them. This theory sounds valid to me and would explain the missing memories. It might also explain a very strange vision I had not so long ago."

"Well that was easy. I fully expected you to flood the apartment or something. I haven't interacted with Gods much. How did you know what the test was?"

"It is just something that has been puzzling me."

Chihiro sat very still, gathering the bits of herself back together. There was a very good chance that the Kohaku she knew was not the Kohaku that would be. As she worried about it, the melody from last night played in her head and soothed her.

"So, it's up to me to heal him. The statue has to be used as the focus and the journey is going to have to be done physically. Looks like we'll be going behind that big rock, and carrying a heavy statue to boot. How are us air-breathers going to pull this one off?"

Ryu was actually being very serious. Something was serious enough to put a use to his adventurous streak. "I've got some scuba gear I could send for. There is enough for all of us who need it."

BlowingWind was surprised. "Where did you get it and where are you keeping it?"

"I did have a life before becoming your protector and harasser you know. You'll find out the other stuff I have when you fulfill a certain promise to me." He tried to keep off the smirk, but it showed through a bit anyway."

Koji harumphed. He had already had his fill of that mountain dragon's ways this morning.

"Enough time for that later Ryu. Once we get everything to the Shrine to take up residence again, you can send for three sets. While you are doing that, the girls will clean the statue."

Chihiro looked stricken. "What will you be doing Grandfather?"

"Well, somebody's got to hound those government slowpokes to send the money that they promised. Once that grant is received, then the large rock can be removed after your return and the river will flow once more. Since you are going to be on this quest, who better?"

BlowingWind clapped her hands. "All right, about time I went on another quest. How long do you think it'll be for those suits?"

"A week tops."


Hidden deep inside the twisting caverns beneath the Sacred Spring, two golden eyes blazed in the dark, waiting for his prey.