Rivers Never Die
by LadyRainStarDragon
Chapter 14: Under the Spring
I don't own Spirited Away or any brand names that may pop up. There is no excuse for BlowingWind, Ryu, Ten or Haku's lost spirit piece. That's all me.
Now, on with the story. I'm escaping while I can.
All the stuff had been moved from their apartments to the Shrine and unpacked. The statue had been cleaned, although it took much longer than it was expected. That task had taken a LOT of scrubbing, and for Chihiro, it called to mind a very large and very filthy tub.
Ryu had called for the diving equipment, and now, they had to wait until 10 AM for them to arrive. Seven days had passed, and Kohaku had even found his missing blanket, although nobody could figure out how it got in Chihiro's stuff.
The past week had been dull. Ryu didn't even dare pull anymore pranks on Chihiro, for which she was very glad. Kohaku had taken over the kitchen, merely waving and saying it was no problem when the others asked if they could have their turn in the kitchen so he wasn't cooking all the time. He liked to cook apparently, and even though the food was simple, it was always healthful and delicious. BlowingWind suspected that he just liked taking care of Chihiro, and often teased Chihiro about her 'boyfriend.' As thanks, she had provided him with a hair tie to use when cooking to hold back his shoulder-length hair. She knew from personal experience how hard it could be to cook if your hair kept obscuring your view.
BlowingWind was very bored. The grounds and buildings were clean. They had supplies packed to take with them, since Kohaku said that once they got through the waterways they would probably encounter dry tunnels that would lead to where they needed to go. Just then, Chihiro walked by, humming a strange melody. She did that often now, and looked like she was trying to remember something every time. Today though, she seemed to be very sad and withdrawn at the same time.
"Still trying to figure out that stat problem from last year?"
"Naw. The one from the year before. Actually, I was leaving to do the shopping for Grandfather. He's been acting a little strange."
"That could be because he still feels bad for cussing out Kohaku. Even though Kohaku has said repeatedly that he understood perfectly and forgave him, Koji probably feels like he did something really wrong. Really, how often do you come across gods in this world anymore, even if they are only minor ones? Especially giving your granddaughter the equivalent of a peck on the check. Makes you wonder what he would have done if it had been a little more, eh Chi."
"Funny. I don't think that's it though. He's been getting calls from my Mom lately. She sounded pretty loud. Today is the anniversary of the best female friend I had before you. Her name was Lily and we'd been friends since we were little. She died because of the illness that most of the young children of my generation got. That was in my 11th year, the year I started miko training. I came down with it several times myself, but always got better."
"Wow, I'm sorry. Um. Did Koji and your mom ever get along?"
"It's alright, it happened a long time ago. If they did get along, it was when I was really little, because I don't remember it."
By the time Chihiro and BlowingWind came back, the equipment had arrived and Kohaku had lunch ready for them. Chihiro was a lot happier after having talked to her friend about what was rattling around in her head. Her eyes grew big at the size of the dumpling Kohaku expected her to eat. It was like he was trying to fatten her up or something. The problem was, why would she need to put on extra fat? She was just about to take a bite when in stormed her grandfather, presumably for a drink of water to cool off.
"That woman! First she encourages my son to work for that awful company that destroyed the river. Now she calls on the anniversary of little Lily's death to express her condolences to Chihiro. When it was the illness from the loss of the river that took her." Having gotten his glass of water, he looked up to see everyone staring at him. Especially Chihiro. He had not expected anyone to be in here, except for maybe Kohaku, who he had always vented to about Chihiro's parents. A thing grandfathers are wont to do.
Chihiro was shaking and her face had gone pale. Tears brimmed, but refused to fall. Instead, she managed to eat her dumpling, and drink her tea. No one moved but stood as though frozen, watching her every move. Kohaku had his arm around Chihiro when Koji had made his entrance, so she took some comfort from that. When she had finished, she looked at Ryu.
"Has the equipment arrived yet for our diving operation?"
Chihiro was using technical terms and sounded like she was back in class. That was not good, whatever she was thinking, it was not happy thoughts. Ryu carefully nodded.
"Good. I'm not losing another friend because of some silly developer's mistake."
After everyone had eaten, they got their bags together and packed the van for the trip to the spring. Koji was driving them. The silence in the van was oppressive. Chihiro was sitting straight as an arrow and refusing to say anything, lost in her own world. Everyone was worried about her. BlowingWind told the rest of the team what little she knew about who Lily was and what had happened. Which wasn't much. Koji filled in the details since he had considered her like another granddaughter.
After what seemed like hours, even though it was only about half an hour, they arrived and unloaded their supplies. Chihiro still seemed upset, but her movements had loosened up a bit. She even smiled a bit as they got into their suits. By the time everyone was ready, Chihiro appeared to be back to her old self.
"So, if you're a spirit too, why do you need scuba gear?"
"I'm a mountain dragon, volcano dragon if you want to be precise. My home is in the magma deep beneath the surface of earth's crust. If we were moving through earth or magma, I would be fine. I just can't breathe water."
"You still look like a goofball."
The breathing apparatus had a radio in it, which everyone had turned on. Kohaku was going to use the water element to hear them and talk to them when needed. Ryu decided to do a test on the radios. "So do you Chi! How about a little wager?"
"You're on Ryu, you know I won't turn down a challenge. What's the wager?"
"If I make it to the rock first, you tell us the whole story about what that was all about. You beat me, I'll buy you some organic chocolate when we get back. Deal?"
"Deal. Better prepare to buy me that chocolate. In a big bag!"
"Oh God, there they go. This better not turn into an 'I dare you' thing." BlowingWind shook her head. "It was such a nice quiet week too. That's what I get for thinking it was boring."
Kohaku laughed. Ryu had forgotten Chihiro was taking the statue, so she would probably get to the rock a bit easier. A little bit of ballast makes for a losing earth dragon.
The dive was quick, and Chihiro beat Ryu just as Kohaku expected. They were surprised to find that the rock had shifted a bit, making the space wider and fairly easy to get through, even with the supplies. If they had looked carefully, they would have seen some fairly fresh brown and silver dragon scales.
Kohaku took the lead, Chihiro behind him as they navigated the water filled passages.
"More than just a little fill is slowing the flow. These waters shouldn't be this sluggish. It's like the Spring God is holding them back."
Chihiro shrugged her shoulders before remembering he couldn't see her from up ahead, but he didn't seem to need a reply. After an hour, the passage branched off. Kohaku chose one without thinking. He was working on instinct. Somewhere, they must have passed over into the Spirit World, because the water itself became luminescent and they could see as easily as if it were day.
"Kohaku, why is the water glowing? It's not radioactive is it?"
"No Chihiro. The Spring God is home, and is expecting us. He's trying to help us reach him faster."
Meeting another branch, they followed Kohaku, who lead them down the lit tunnel. After about 50 yards, they came to a gate, guarded by a young spirit. This spirit was neither male nor female, yet somehow both.
"I deny you passage."
"On who's orders?" Kohaku had to get them through this so that they could change their air tanks. He didn't really want them to have to change them underwater, and he wanted to make sure they still had enough to get them back. He had a vague memory of an air chamber beyond the door, but he had only been here twice since he had met Chihiro so it could be even further.
"It is my job to guard the way to the Spring God."
Chihiro swam to where she could be seen. "We are expected and have been sent for."
The water spirit looked at Chihiro seeing merely a pitiful human who had the gall to approach the Lord of the Sacred Spring.
"Is that so? Who are you then human?"
"Chihiro Ogino, Miko of the Shrine of Nigihayami Kohakunushi. This is my Kami Nigihayami Kohakunushi and our traveling companions. We have been sent for by Ten-sama."
The guard went pale. "My apologies Kohakunushi-sama, I did not recognize you. Apologies, Miko. I will not detain you and your party any further. Beyond is a room where you may rest and refresh yourselves before taking on the next leg of your journey." With that, the guard opened the door and allowed the travelers entrance.
At first, what greeted them was just another passage of water, but Kohaku motioned to go up. Once they reached the top of the passage, the water gave way to air, and there was a beach which they climbed onto. Chihiro collapsed, weak from so much time being supported by the water. As the world stopped spinning, she noticed that the room was a cave, complete with crystals that reflected the light of the water.
"You should eat something."
She raised her head a bit and found a concerned Kohaku speaking not far from her. He held a small sandwich and a bottle of orange juice that he had withdrawn from her supplies.
"But we just ate a little bit ago."
"Kohaku's right, you should eat. That 'little bit ago' was six hours ago. It's 6 PM, and dinner time. We should probably all take a nap while we're here, so that nobody falls asleep swimming."
Kohaku nodded. "I was thinking the same thing."
Before the group, some food appeared, two double occupancy futons and a note written in bold kanji.
For Chihiro and her group.
Make sure that all humans eat some of this.
We don't want any of you to disappear.
He doesn't know you are on your way yet.
Expect some things to arrive that will help you in the morning.
Chihiro was checking her air tank to see how much she had left. "So, anybody care to explain to me why it seems I haven't used any of the air in my tank?"
BlowingWind checked her tank too. "Ok, that's one too many mysteries for me right now. It's right along the lines of Chihiro's rose never wilting in her hair. I'm going to eat, then I'm going to nap." That said, she grabbed a bit of the spirit food, and ate that along with some of her own food. Everyone else ate in silence too. Just as everyone was finishing their meal, BlowingWind spied the futons.
"Well, Chihiro, it looks like you'll be sleeping with Kohaku tonight for warmth, eh?"
"So does that mean I actually get to cuddle with you, dear?"
"Only in your dreams Ryu, my head will be in your lap as you sleep sitting up and that's as far as it goes. Just like the past two years. Unless you'd like to lean against that nice wall over there, and I get the futon all to myself."
Chihiro looked at Kohaku and blushed. "Somehow, I don't think Grandfather would approve of that arrangement."
Ten sat alone in his chambers, contemplating which route would be the best to lead the small group to him. The guard at the first gate had reported there being three air-breathers accompanying the young God, including his miko. It would have been easier for them to just call on Nushi to appear above, except that they didn't have the name he was going by and the fact that he was so dratted shy. The Loch Ness Monster made more appearances to humans than Nushi did in Ten's opinion. And that was one shy water dragon. Come to think of it, he was more shy than Nessie AND Tessie put together.
He decided that he would lead them through the air-filled passages. Concentrating, the guiding light shifted from the waters and into the crystals. Satisfied that his signposts were sufficient, he set about eating his own meal. This, sadly for him, was to be interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in Nushi, I know it's you."
"Thank you Ten. What is this gossip I hear about two maidens accompanied by dragons being in the passages?"
"We'll be having guests in the morning."
"Guests?"
That was a surprise, Ten didn't have guests very often. Female guests were even more rare, as it seemed the ladies just didn't trust Ten in their vicinity. Even Maiden Snake got skittish around Ten. They all thought him just a little over-fertile. There wasn't any festival bringing spirits to the area that would need lodging, so he wondered what was up.
Ten then thought of a brilliant plan.
"Yes. Guests. Would you like to help me greet them in the morning? Their business is very urgent, and I think your presence may lend a calming note to this meeting." Ten would make sure to send Chihiro a stunning kimono to wear in the morning.
"Very well. I just hope that you don't expect me to actually say anything to these maidens."
Ten laughed at that. "Only if necessary. Now go get some sleep, no playing your flute tonight."
As Nushi left the room, bewildered, Ten began to flesh out his plan. He thought that the blue kimono embroidered with a white dragon on its back would do nicely for Chihiro. The foreign girl would need decent clothes too, perhaps the red kimono with gold flames as edging. The men would be no problem, they would have their own clothes. He sent out his orders via his servant who was in waiting and finally got to enjoy his meal.
Nushi had already eaten, so he laid down on his futon. Ten was hiding something from him, and he wanted to know what. He could go and find these spirits, just so he would be more prepared for tomorrow. Suddenly, a wave of tiredness overcame him, and he forgot about the mystery he was working on. Lifting up his hand tiredly, he found himself looking through it briefly before it became solid again.
"I do hope that Chihiro or Kohaku come up with a better idea to mend me than what I have. If he and I disappear, I don't know what my replacement will be like. What if he or she doesn't take good care of Chihiro?"
Exhausted, Nushi fell into a deep slumber, waist length hair splayed out over the futon and a frown etched into his face. Before long, the young Lord was little more than an outline, a depression in the cushion.
Meanwhile, the travelers had finally worked out the sleeping arrangements, which were as BlowingWind had originally suggested, since the men absolutely and loudly refused to share a futon. The fight hadn't been large, but it did amuse the women none-the-less. The men were to assume their dragon forms so that the ladies would feel assured of their continued chastity. This made Ryu happy, as he did get to coil around his girl to keep her warm, and was to her great consternation. He had too many ideas where to put his tail for comfort.
Chihiro was also all wrapped up to keep her human body warm, and was trying to fall asleep when she heard rumbling from Ryu. Looking up, she found she could see straight through Kohaku for a brief time before he became solid again.
"I won't let you go Kohaku. We'll meet up with your other part tomorrow. I'm sure of it."
Kohaku didn't sleep well that night, he merely watched as Chihiro fell into an exhausted slumber. 'I hope that this works. I do not want to leave her unprotected. I do not know what my replacement will be like if we fail.'
While the parties slept, a dark presence wandered the halls, drawn toward the light shining from the Keeper of the River's Heart. The light, that only the shadowy spirit could see, would lead him either to life or death, but for him, anything was better than this less than half existence he had been doomed to have for so long.
With any luck, he could still have his revenge. It would be tricky though, as he had weakened without his body, and the child had grown strong.
The dreaded author's note:
Kohaku had suspected part of him was missing since that episode in his head with the extra signature space, but wasn't sure. His missing memories confirmed it for him though when BlowingWind told about her dream. If he didn't at least suspect something, healing would be very hard. It still might be, as what has to happen inside that statue I won't reveal just yet. Just thought I should clear that up since I was asked about it.
Next chapter: Kohaku and Nushi meet up finally, and we find out why the rose just isn't dying (despite all that it's going through in Chihiro's hair).
