White Death
Chapter 3: River Lilies
Lilies may die, but they always return if the root is kept.
A pale gleam wound her way through darkest shadows far beneath the ground, navigating by the sounds of river and the echoes of its sounds almost more than the weak light from lichen and crystal. She had to step carefully, fearful to disturb any of the hibernating spirits that still lived. So many had already passed on since she was old enough to remember, and the gates were still sealed.
These gates were sealed by their master when he had left the women and children, and the men too old and feeble to fight. So many were down here waiting for the lord to return and tell them that the river waited above for them. They would remain sealed until that day, but the few servants who were awake had no idea when it would be. After all, according to the mirror in the library, their lord had been injured in his Great Battle, and was still recovering waiting to be healed, waiting for the woman who would return the river to him.
She had always lived down here in this dark grotto, for as long as she could remember. The dark was home, and she had only rarely heard of something called a sun through the two old blind caretakers of the place. They had been the only ones of the original staff to not go into the sleep, preferring to stay awake for the return of their Lord and Master. Six years after he had gone and the entrance had sealed, she had been born. As her birth had been after the sweep of the spell, it had no effect on her, just as with the few others who had also been born or hatched in the same circumstance.
Mother had died though, giving birth without assistance and without knowledge. The fish and salamander spirits had found her as a baby on their patrols, and cared for her. Luckily, they knew the spirits that were her parents, both servants of high rank. Father had been a personal servant to the river lord, serving mainly in the mansion of the upper river. Mother had been retained to attend the needs of the river lady, whenever the lord finally took one.
Lily had inherited her position.
The little carp spirit was bound for the shell gates that would give admittance into the citadel of the Fukaikohakugawa. Something called to the eight year old, telling her that today would be the day the gates would finally open once more, allowing more into the deep river realm than just the water life bringing liquid. She had no idea why she felt this.
She just knew.
Vast expanses of delicate white tinged with pink mixed in with pale blue, the twin gates were a wondrous sight to behold, far more beautiful than any ordinary shell. Legend said that the giant oyster youkai had grown in the sea, where all water dragons originated from, and how when the Nigihayami river dragons needed to protect the exterior of their hidden castle that guarded their breeding grounds, it had offered itself. Nothing could penetrate this magic item by force. The only way to come in was if the gates were opened to you, or if you had a strong energetic connection to one of the nobles hidden within.
The pressure of an approach increased, and the fish-child stilled her breath to listen. The sparks no longer flew off of her scales or tunic, so still was she. A fierce roar came from the other side of the gate, triumphant and rejoicing, the Lord of the Grounds announcing his return. On their own, the gates moved, recognizing the current master over Fukaikohakugawa.
A streak of white and teal heaved itself from the water, landing before her on the shelf, shaking to spray crystal drops of the river. Glowing jade stared into the wide sky, and both felt an odd recognition of the other, neither having met face to face. Snapping from her trance but not her awe, the fish bowed low.
"Welcome back, Nigihayami Kohakunushi-sama."
"So you were here all along after all, Lily. My suspicions were correct."
The young spirit cocked her head to the side at her master's choice of words. Why would she not be here? This is where she was born, after all. Where else would she be when she had been here her whole life?
"Yes, I am Lily. I have inherited my mother's position as handmaiden to my lord's bride when he sees fit to procure one."
Being bowed so low, Lily did not see the surprise in her lord's eyes. He had always hoped that he would be able to reunite his Chihiro with Lily someday, but he had not expected it to be like this.
"Then you will be pleased to know that I have chosen a bride. Once I have awoken everyone, you will accompany me to the surface and shall see her. You will either procure yourself, or send messengers for, whatever womanly articles she will need for both here, and in the mansion of the Kohakugawa once that has been reconstructed. Can you handle that responsibility?"
She was ecstatic! Finally there would be a chance to know another female. To procure everything was a large task, but it would be so much fun! She would have to learn about her mistress so that when the bride finally came, she would be well pleased with the selections.
"Yes my lord!"
A shadow worked his way through the memories that lay at rest in the still caverns. So many souls had lain here in hibernation, waiting for the day they could return to the surface, providing they had the fortitude to stay in their living forms long enough. At last, the day had come, and most had awoken already to repopulate the aboveground river. He was making this last sweep himself, worried that there were any spirits that the others may have missed with the general awakening spells.
More had survived without their needed sun than he would have thought possible. It warmed his heart how even in the face of adversity, hope could still be seen. Every sleeping face that he had awoken had the same look of trust, counting on being preserved.
A small smile graced his face, despite the heavy burden that weighed on him. There were those that had not made it, that had not been strong enough. He had taken care of those as well, given them honorable burial after the fashions of their own kind. As their Lord, their lives were his responsibility to preserve in times of danger. He blamed himself for their deaths, for having been too weak to defend his realm better. This was what he needed to do for them.
It had always been that way though, the weak eventually moved on while the strong survived. The responsibility of the strong was to the weak, to sustain them in the hope that they would become strong as well. Strong subjects made for strong territories, and he would need the additional strength once the word got out his bride would be a human. He had many enemies in other territories, some who would want the newly forming river for their own, others who would gladly try to ruin anything that he held dear.
She too was strong though. On her own, she had purified the very demon that had brought him low, no mean task in itself. The problem was that she only seemed to be able to do it in times of great danger.
No way did he want her anywhere near danger. She was to gentle, and needed to be cared for. His mansion would be rebuilt with her needs in mind, but he needed to procure a spirit that he could trust to serve her need. Now that Chihiro was his fiancé, she was a noble, and it would only be right for her to have someone waiting to attend her needs. It felt odd to him, that her childhood best friend would reincarnate as the one who would be her handmaiden.
They would be together though.
While he was lost in his thoughts, he turned down the last hallway to be checked for survivors. There had been the nagging feeling of someone familiar here for years, but until now he could not explore to find out. Ten had kept him bodily sequestered inside the Spring Realm. It had irked him, but his friend meant well.
Here, some mother had left her eggs after spawning to be protected by a sluggish pool of the river. Most had not made it, but two had matured. A boy and girl from the look of it, and salamander spirits at that. He pulled them out of the water, watching them take humanoid forms as he did.
The boy was a comely lad, short hairs spiked around his head, giving the impression of one who was going to be a handful when he woke up. Of course, it could have also just been the effect of years of the river playing with it too. Scales covered the boy's body with metallic sheen, and rose as Kohaku gave him the breath of life, as the spirit's will was flagging. At last, as the child drew breath on his own again and fluttered open silver eyes, the Lord spoke.
"Welcome to the Land of the Living. Go above, find who you are, and be happy."
The girl did not require his intervention, waking on her own to take in the world around her for the first time. The eggs had been laid before the emergency hibernation spell had swept through the castle and breeding grounds, and so it would not be known who the parents were for a few weeks, as the adults regained their memories.
The hairless child stood before him now, not knowing yet what was going on. All she knew was she was a salamander spirit, and that this is where she belonged. Her instincts told her that this was her master, and he would surely give her a name and she could later join others to find a purpose.
"May I have a name, my lord?"
He had given so many names today, so many had belonged here. He didn't want or feel like he needed so many servants, yet this is where they said they belonged. He almost thought he couldn't think of another name, but then he remembered a name that he had once overheard.
"Rumiko."
Leading her through the complex, the Lord of the Kohakugawa told her about where she was, pointing out features of interest as they passed them. At last, they were in the river above, a dragon and a fish riding the currents. While drifting down the river, he did the same as when they were below. Lily had decided that she liked this 'Kohaku' who ran the affairs of the river. He seemed distracted though, as if no matter what he was doing, a portion of him was elsewhere.
Her master kept his word, and often laughed at the little fish's antics in the above river. After a while, the dragon bade her to stop and watch the banks. Lily was in awe, the sun was so bright, and there were so many colors, and the air tasted different . . .
What she found the most intriguing were some flowers that were already beginning to bloom. She recognized them somehow, but she didn't know how. The place in the river that they were at seemed to have been very carefully planned, made far more convenient than the stretches several miles up the river or several miles down. A space of about three miles or so seemed to have been designed with such care that nearly every water feature could be found within it.
Bugs danced on the surface of the water just above her in the dawn, and she could hear singing just over the top of the embankment. Something lively was going on just out of her range of vision, pulling at her and encouraging her to take her other shape and run to see. The lord cautioned her to stay quietly here though, eating the bugs if she wished, but to just stay patient. She would be here soon enough, she came every day around this time.
"Who?"
His enigmatic smile was her only answer. Her wait seemed to take forever, while the lord laid quietly in the currents, resting and drawing his strength together. The spell to awaken those that had gone into their desperate hibernation had taken quite a bit out of him.
Roughly two months had passed in the human realm since Kohaku had returned to his river, and Chihiro had no idea what all he had been up to. Fall was approaching, or to be more accurate, arriving. Already, natural river vegetation was returning, a sure sign that the master of the river had been very busy indeed.
Today, as always when she was performing her duties, she wore the blue and white of her shrine. Also as always, her hair was pulled back and bound up, preventing the mischievous wind spirit from creating a nest in it. That didn't phase the zestful zephyr though, he just blew her clothes around and tried to make it difficult for her to walk. She had a huge plateful of onigiri for the river kami, but she never gave him any.
Obviously, he wanted attention and was more than a little jealous. Kohakunushi made a mental note to trap the other kami in a bag for a while, just to give his miko a break.
The watching fish felt a jolt as she looked at the human, knowing this was the reason the Lord was distracted. This woman was important! She even bore the forming mate-mark of her newly discovered Lord, so what was she doing still above the surface of the river? Should she not be within the river instead of in that strange world above the embracing waters? There was something different about her though. Her Lady wasn't like them.
"What is she my Lord?"
"She is a human. Her name is Chihiro."
"Hello again Kohaku. I wonder what you are doing right now? You must have so much to do, putting everything back in proper order. I can tell by the river that you have been very busy. When will you come back, my Lord?."
As she straightened, the river accepted her offering hungrily, washing up to her ankle instead of only licking her toes as was more usual. Obviously he had been doing something very tiring if he was accepting food that eagerly. He wasn't letting go either.
Here, the wind kami saw his chance for a little revenge. All he was asking for was maybe a smile, or something. Kohaku could have her and do whatever he wanted with her, he just wanted somebody to pay at least a little attention every once in a while.
A giant gust of wind from behind pushed the miko into the water, drenching her. The poor thing sat in the water, trying to piece together what had happened. Angry yells from over the embankment erupted, as the kami had also accidentally sprayed burning tobacco into the resident Shaman's face while she was talking to her ancestral spirits. It didn't take too long before BlowingWind thundered down, brandishing a red string.
"That's it! I've had enough of your pranks!"
He got his attention. He was also now trapped in a knots on a red string shoved in BlowingWind's pocket.
"Did that crazy wind spirit push you into your crush?"
Chihiro blushed as her friend said that the river was her crush. She chose not to answer the question and looked around for a subject idea while she wrung out her clothes.
"Look, the river lilies are starting to grow. They always make me think of my childhood friend. We were the best of friends. I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with her though. Since she 'left,' they have always been my favorite. You know, it's funny. It's like she's right here with me."
Understanding that her friend was very embarrassed and not in the mood for horsing around, BlowingWind allowed the topic change while she washed the ashes off of her face and then dusted her own uniform.
"I understand. There are times where things will just pop up, and I'll be sure that my dad left them for me."
"Life is strange."
"Nothing weirder."
The friends both heaved large sighs as they looked out at the river, both melancholic for reasons unfathomable to them.
"What do you think he's doing 'Wind?"
Her answering laughter was unexpected.
"Mooning over you just as must as you moon over him, silly!"
"Baka."
Chihiro had chucked a tiny pebble at her friend, who just caught it.
"Come on, let's go eat and then see how many chores we can do before the Daily Cheese."
"I wonder if we could make some kind of charm to ward him off."
"There has to be something that will work Chihiro. Be our luck that it's a silver bullet though."
As they turned to head back to the Shrine, a booming voice broke the peace of the morning, and a male form flew over their heads and into the water.
"Cheese be gone!"
As Ryu had knocked the walking hormone out before throwing him, Queso floated down the river while the girl watched the sight. Together, they had the same question.
"Cheese be gone?"
"Well, it worked, didn't it? Come on breakfast is ready. Chihiro, stop flirting with Kohaku so much. You need to eat more."
"I was not flirting with Kohaku!"
"Sure, then why does it look like you went for a swim in your clothes?"
"The wind pushed me!"
"Excuses, excuses. I know better."
Ryu also ended up in the river, courtesy of a very red Chihiro. Kohaku excused himself from Lily, who know knew who her mistress was and where to find her. A wave of water pulled a volcano dragon a mile down river, causing him to miss breakfast.
