Disclaimers Notice: Depends on how many lawyers are within hearing range.
Authors Beginning Note: Now.on with the sequel!
***************
Chapter 2
Letters, Mechanics,
and Dragons
****************
"Chihiro!"
"What?" I yell over my shoulder. Tonight is an extremely busy night, and it has just started.
"We need more towels."
"Didn't you just ask that 30 minutes ago?"
"Yes, but we've already run out." Flinging my hands in exasperation I turn around and look at Yukiko, one of the women Spirit workers.
"Well, has someone been eating them or something? Were have they been disappearing to?"
"They aren't getting washed fast enough. We need more towels because more and more Spirits keep coming for baths." I take a deep breath. She is right; a lot of Spirits have been coming. Ever since Arelinita became Head Mistress of this place, it's been booming with customers. Maybe a little too much.
"I'll go down and see what I can do to help, but until then see if you can't stall a bit." I raced down the halls, of course being polite to those around me, or my head be it.
"Hey, what's going on here, why aren't the bath workers getting enough towels?" I asked the crowd of working girls.
"It's not our fault, the drying tumbler isn't working!" they said exasperated. I grimly nodded and looked them over, but there's someone missing.
"Where is Enuresis?" I ask, hearing a few profundities in the air. Well that was a stupid question.
"She's trying to fix the drying tumbler Miss Chihiro." I smiled slightly. Lately Enuresis has been interested in mechanics. I think it's good for her, but she still doesn't know much. At least her attitude has shaped up a bit. Walking over to the back of the room, I see the big drying tumbler, though why it's called that is beyond me. It's like a huge rope that goes in criss crosses all the way up, and you pin towels on them. Then there is a type of mechanical machine that blows air on them to dry them off. It's actually quite efficient, and the great part is, you don't need to take them up to the bath levels, the machine does it for you as the rope moves. It's complex yes, but it works.or it did.
"Hey Enuresis, what do you think went wrong?" I asked curiously.
"It's the dang machine! Blast the stupid thing to bits! It won't pull the rope or anything, and the switch to turn on the dryers won't work. I think something's caught, and there's a few bad wires." I give a whistle as she appears from behind the big box of metal she was working on.
"There that should do it." She says as she slams the small door to it and pushes a button, but nothing happens.
"I though for sure."
"Let me help you." She looks up at me and gives a jump.
"Oh, Chihiro, I didn't even know it was you I was talking to!"
"Come on, let's get this working." Opening the door to the big metal box, I look at all the wires, pushing some aside
"Oh no! This is not good." I said hitting my head on the solid door.
"Why?"
"Four wires are missing, and you were right when you said there were some bad wires. No wonder the thing won't work. I'll have to go talk to Arelinita."
"This whole place seems to be fallin apart."
"That's a bit of an exaggeration, but yah, there are a lot of mechanical problems."
"Have you talked to Arelinita?" I raised my eyebrow.
"Not yet. Besides Kenta is very busy right now, so I doubt she would even get the chance to talk to him." Enuresis began to blush at Kenta's name, and sighed in impatience. Kenta is the main mechanic of the whole place, and I think that that's one of the few reasons Enuresis wants to be a mechanic so bad, and she's really impatient about being an apprentice. How she got me to be the one to talk to Arelinita is beyond me, but I guess, that's Enuresis for you.
"Tell you what, you keep working on this and see if you can find anything else wrong, and I'll talk to Arelinita right now."
"Well it's about time you thought of getting around to it!" She snapped. So much for being sweet.
"We really need to work on your manners."
"What ever."
"Hmm, you know, I heard that Kenta usually doesn't take on apprentices, maybe it's not worth the trouble."
"No! Please! I really want to become an apprentice!" I smiled inwardly.
"We'll see." I said evilly and left, though not fast enough to escape a few more profound words escape.
"Miss Chihiro! Please come quick! Arelinita requests you to be present immediately!" Said a bird that flew down. One of our newer acquirements to the bathhouse. They're called Buras, but we just call them Messengers. Not only are they fluid in 18 different languages, but they are very reliable messengers in the bathhouse. They don't need to weave through crowds or wait for elevators, they just fly, that and they're as small as sparrows, so they're very good at spying as well. Very helpful.
"Did she say why?"
"No, she just says that you need to hurry." I nodded.
"Thank you. Go to one of the kitchens and tell them to give you a small bowl of rice for all of your hard work." I said smiling. The colorful bird that is perched on my finger bowed and took off. I wonder what would be so urgent that Arelinita wouldn't even tell one of the Messengers? I guess I'll find out as soon as I get to her office.
***
"Who is it!"? Arelinita asked on the other side of the door I had knocked on. Oh boy, she sounds like she's having one of those days. She's probably all stressed about something and annoyed at the 'incompetence' of some spirits at how they do their jobs.
"It's me." I sighed.
"Come in." Oh boy, it's like walking into a dragons lair when Arelinita is like this, it's a good thing I know her so well, or else I might not be in one piece by the time I left. When I walked in I saw her in a new magenta Kimono that matched her dark brown hair, which was half down, while the other half was in a bun on the top of her head, held by two hair chopsticks. She looked really nice, other than the angry, worried, and stressed look on her face as she paced back and forth in frustration.
"Do you want any tea? I can call someone up." Even though it would be her sixth one tonight already. Last night she was so stressed she went through ten whole cups in one hour. I guess being Head Mistress isn't all it's cut out to be, thankfully, I'm only one of the eight Head Workers, though that's only one step below being an assistant head mistress, which is one step from being the Head Mistress, so it takes a lot out of you two, especially when your best friend is the Head Mistress, and takes a lot of her anger out on yelling at you about her stressful day, but I don't mind. She gets so worked up over some of the silliest things. I took a seat across from her pacing form.
"I received a letter."
"A letter, is that what's got you all worked up about?" She shook her head and stopped pacing.
"It came from Ukoria."
"That's the place where you sent Kohaku at to do some more trade negotiations, right? What seems to be the problem now?"
"Kohaku is seriously sick. He has a fever and he looks pale. He's not doing the best Chihiro."
"Wha.but he's never gotten sick.what do they think it is? Will he be all right?" I asked standing up. He's never gotten sick before, so why now?
"They don't really know. They don't have the people that we do to help the sick. That's why I'm going to send you out there to go get him and bring him back here." I nodded. I hope he's all right. It must be hard to be sick for the first time, and to have no one there to help him!
"It's all right, he'll be just fine." Arelinita said perking up.
"After all that he's been through? He's a tough guy. Dragon boy will make it." She said using his old nickname, even though he isn't a water spirit anymore, and can't change into a dragon. Those two are funny, they bicker and act like siblings, and they can hardly stand each other! And yet they know each other pretty well.
"When do I leave?"
"Well, as soon as you can be all packed."
"That soon!"
"Yup, and you'll be taking the train."
"What! But Ukoria is like the 18th stop!"
"I know, it will take you three days travel at least."
"Oh, and we both know how much I love the train ride." I said sarcastically. Arelinita laughed. Yes she knew how much I loved riding on the train as well. I have been on so many train rides helping Kohaku from time to time; I've developed motion sickness from it. Why did he choose to be the Bath House's Ambassador and Trades Negotiator? He could have asked Arelinita for something closer to home here, like a mechanic.but no, he would get too restless, and I suppose I would too. Now if only we could do something about the transportation!
"Okay, do you have the tickets all set for me then?"
"Yup."
"Do you have a messenger? I hate having to leave Keiko with my job so much when I'm away. I hope she doesn't mind me leaving right out of the blue like this."
"I don't she'll mind. She does a good job at it when your gone, though I don't think she could survive doing it full time."
"Yah, you're right. Oh, by the way, I was supposed to talk to you about Enuresis."
"Really now. Has she been causing more trouble?"
"No, it's nothing like that. Um, well. She's actually developed a knack for mechanics, and since Kenta doesn't have an assistant yet, I was thinking."
"That we could let her off chores and make her Kenta's apprentice mechanic. Chihiro, you know we are already short on workers!"
"I know, but I think it will be a good thing for her. She did fix the water pipe in the laundry room the other day, and she wasn't so bad with the broken Dryer Tumbler."
"What! That dryer is down!"
"Um.yah, I guess I didn't mention it earlier.but yah, it's broke."
"Oh no! We don't need this! Kenta and his crew are already up to their heads in work!"
"Precisley why it would be a good thing for Enuresis to become a mechanic."
"Chihiro." She eyed me evilly, as if I had just trapped her. I guess I did.
"Please, just think about it, and run it by Kenta. She'd be really good at it, I know she would, given the right tools and some experience."
"Oh, all right. Hurry up and go on your little train ride already." She said after a moments thought and sigh.
"Thanks Arelinita. You're the best."
"And you thought I wasn't?"
"Well."
"Hey you get back here!" She said beginning to chase me.
"Try and catch me!" I yelled over my shoulder.
"Why you little! Hmph. You're not worth my time." She said crossing her arms, and pretending to be mad as she walked back into her office.
"Good old Arelinita."
***
Ug! Another train ride. Well, at least I get some decant clothes to travel in. These pants are quite comfortable, and so is the shirt. And I do get time to relax.a lot of time.three days worth of time.Aw, who am I kidding. Riding in the same train that never changes, while sitting or laying round in the train that never changes, isn't one bit fun. I've seen all of the scenery too up to stop 23!
"Excuse me miss, may I sit here?" asked and old man, dressed in brown robes, only about four feet tall with a walking cane and.a pet dragon?
"Uh.um."
"Oh don't mind killer. He won't bite. Will ya killer. Yes, ye'r such a good pet dragon." He said rubbing the small red dragons stomach. Then taking a seat next to me. Hmm, it's actually quite cute. The wings are pretty big on him. They look almost like bat wings. Though, the spiky tail is quite unnerving.
"Can I pet him?"
"Why, you sure can. Mind that you don't get too near to 'is tail. When he's happy he likes to swing it in around, which can be quite a nuisance." He said. I kneeled on the floor and looked straight into his soft red eyes. Before I knew it he was nudging me with his snout like a puppy.
"Ah, he's so adorable." I said rubbing his scaly back, which was warm and comforting to the touch, and not at all rough. In fact it was like rubbing a smooth stone that has been in the warm sun.
"Yah, me and him have been good friends for a long time. He's already turned 63."
"What! He's 63? But he looks so small."
"Dragons take hundreds of years before they are big like their mama's and papa's." Wow, I guess you do learn something everyday. I sat back on my seat next to the old man, only to have the little dragon hop onto my lap and curl up like a kitten."
"Oh my!"
"Killer, where's yer manners, get down." He raised his head and cocked it to the side.
"It's all right, I don't mind." I said gleefully.
"I'm sorry miss, I don't rightfully know if I got yer name yet."
"Oh, sorry. My name is Chihiro. And you are?"
"Sameth Tilderbey's my name, but you can just call me old Sam." He said shaking my hand.
"Well it's nice to meet you Sam."
"Do you be travelin alone?"
"For now, I'm going and meeting my husband on the 18th stop at Ukoria. He's sick, so I need to go and see what I can do to help."
"Three days trip from here I'd say."
"Yah, I hate train rides, but it's worth it."
"Say, that reminds me O' the one time a young feller came and tried to steal my cave."
"Really now, why would anyone do a thing like that?"
"Don't rightfully plum know. An odd one he was, he had green hair even, with the greenest eyes. Yup, killer and I took care O' him all right. Ain't he never come back either."
"Green, hair and green eyes? You don't say. He didn't happen to be carrying a walking stick, um.lean and masculine.wearing brown clothes, was he?"
"Why, yes he was, do ya know 'im?"
"I was just asking." I said and let him spin more tales about his travels and the Spirits he came across. Maybe this train ride won't be so bad this time around.
***
Authors Ending Note: So what do you think? Any good? I especially like killer! He's so sweet!
Authors Beginning Note: Now.on with the sequel!
***************
Chapter 2
Letters, Mechanics,
and Dragons
****************
"Chihiro!"
"What?" I yell over my shoulder. Tonight is an extremely busy night, and it has just started.
"We need more towels."
"Didn't you just ask that 30 minutes ago?"
"Yes, but we've already run out." Flinging my hands in exasperation I turn around and look at Yukiko, one of the women Spirit workers.
"Well, has someone been eating them or something? Were have they been disappearing to?"
"They aren't getting washed fast enough. We need more towels because more and more Spirits keep coming for baths." I take a deep breath. She is right; a lot of Spirits have been coming. Ever since Arelinita became Head Mistress of this place, it's been booming with customers. Maybe a little too much.
"I'll go down and see what I can do to help, but until then see if you can't stall a bit." I raced down the halls, of course being polite to those around me, or my head be it.
"Hey, what's going on here, why aren't the bath workers getting enough towels?" I asked the crowd of working girls.
"It's not our fault, the drying tumbler isn't working!" they said exasperated. I grimly nodded and looked them over, but there's someone missing.
"Where is Enuresis?" I ask, hearing a few profundities in the air. Well that was a stupid question.
"She's trying to fix the drying tumbler Miss Chihiro." I smiled slightly. Lately Enuresis has been interested in mechanics. I think it's good for her, but she still doesn't know much. At least her attitude has shaped up a bit. Walking over to the back of the room, I see the big drying tumbler, though why it's called that is beyond me. It's like a huge rope that goes in criss crosses all the way up, and you pin towels on them. Then there is a type of mechanical machine that blows air on them to dry them off. It's actually quite efficient, and the great part is, you don't need to take them up to the bath levels, the machine does it for you as the rope moves. It's complex yes, but it works.or it did.
"Hey Enuresis, what do you think went wrong?" I asked curiously.
"It's the dang machine! Blast the stupid thing to bits! It won't pull the rope or anything, and the switch to turn on the dryers won't work. I think something's caught, and there's a few bad wires." I give a whistle as she appears from behind the big box of metal she was working on.
"There that should do it." She says as she slams the small door to it and pushes a button, but nothing happens.
"I though for sure."
"Let me help you." She looks up at me and gives a jump.
"Oh, Chihiro, I didn't even know it was you I was talking to!"
"Come on, let's get this working." Opening the door to the big metal box, I look at all the wires, pushing some aside
"Oh no! This is not good." I said hitting my head on the solid door.
"Why?"
"Four wires are missing, and you were right when you said there were some bad wires. No wonder the thing won't work. I'll have to go talk to Arelinita."
"This whole place seems to be fallin apart."
"That's a bit of an exaggeration, but yah, there are a lot of mechanical problems."
"Have you talked to Arelinita?" I raised my eyebrow.
"Not yet. Besides Kenta is very busy right now, so I doubt she would even get the chance to talk to him." Enuresis began to blush at Kenta's name, and sighed in impatience. Kenta is the main mechanic of the whole place, and I think that that's one of the few reasons Enuresis wants to be a mechanic so bad, and she's really impatient about being an apprentice. How she got me to be the one to talk to Arelinita is beyond me, but I guess, that's Enuresis for you.
"Tell you what, you keep working on this and see if you can find anything else wrong, and I'll talk to Arelinita right now."
"Well it's about time you thought of getting around to it!" She snapped. So much for being sweet.
"We really need to work on your manners."
"What ever."
"Hmm, you know, I heard that Kenta usually doesn't take on apprentices, maybe it's not worth the trouble."
"No! Please! I really want to become an apprentice!" I smiled inwardly.
"We'll see." I said evilly and left, though not fast enough to escape a few more profound words escape.
"Miss Chihiro! Please come quick! Arelinita requests you to be present immediately!" Said a bird that flew down. One of our newer acquirements to the bathhouse. They're called Buras, but we just call them Messengers. Not only are they fluid in 18 different languages, but they are very reliable messengers in the bathhouse. They don't need to weave through crowds or wait for elevators, they just fly, that and they're as small as sparrows, so they're very good at spying as well. Very helpful.
"Did she say why?"
"No, she just says that you need to hurry." I nodded.
"Thank you. Go to one of the kitchens and tell them to give you a small bowl of rice for all of your hard work." I said smiling. The colorful bird that is perched on my finger bowed and took off. I wonder what would be so urgent that Arelinita wouldn't even tell one of the Messengers? I guess I'll find out as soon as I get to her office.
***
"Who is it!"? Arelinita asked on the other side of the door I had knocked on. Oh boy, she sounds like she's having one of those days. She's probably all stressed about something and annoyed at the 'incompetence' of some spirits at how they do their jobs.
"It's me." I sighed.
"Come in." Oh boy, it's like walking into a dragons lair when Arelinita is like this, it's a good thing I know her so well, or else I might not be in one piece by the time I left. When I walked in I saw her in a new magenta Kimono that matched her dark brown hair, which was half down, while the other half was in a bun on the top of her head, held by two hair chopsticks. She looked really nice, other than the angry, worried, and stressed look on her face as she paced back and forth in frustration.
"Do you want any tea? I can call someone up." Even though it would be her sixth one tonight already. Last night she was so stressed she went through ten whole cups in one hour. I guess being Head Mistress isn't all it's cut out to be, thankfully, I'm only one of the eight Head Workers, though that's only one step below being an assistant head mistress, which is one step from being the Head Mistress, so it takes a lot out of you two, especially when your best friend is the Head Mistress, and takes a lot of her anger out on yelling at you about her stressful day, but I don't mind. She gets so worked up over some of the silliest things. I took a seat across from her pacing form.
"I received a letter."
"A letter, is that what's got you all worked up about?" She shook her head and stopped pacing.
"It came from Ukoria."
"That's the place where you sent Kohaku at to do some more trade negotiations, right? What seems to be the problem now?"
"Kohaku is seriously sick. He has a fever and he looks pale. He's not doing the best Chihiro."
"Wha.but he's never gotten sick.what do they think it is? Will he be all right?" I asked standing up. He's never gotten sick before, so why now?
"They don't really know. They don't have the people that we do to help the sick. That's why I'm going to send you out there to go get him and bring him back here." I nodded. I hope he's all right. It must be hard to be sick for the first time, and to have no one there to help him!
"It's all right, he'll be just fine." Arelinita said perking up.
"After all that he's been through? He's a tough guy. Dragon boy will make it." She said using his old nickname, even though he isn't a water spirit anymore, and can't change into a dragon. Those two are funny, they bicker and act like siblings, and they can hardly stand each other! And yet they know each other pretty well.
"When do I leave?"
"Well, as soon as you can be all packed."
"That soon!"
"Yup, and you'll be taking the train."
"What! But Ukoria is like the 18th stop!"
"I know, it will take you three days travel at least."
"Oh, and we both know how much I love the train ride." I said sarcastically. Arelinita laughed. Yes she knew how much I loved riding on the train as well. I have been on so many train rides helping Kohaku from time to time; I've developed motion sickness from it. Why did he choose to be the Bath House's Ambassador and Trades Negotiator? He could have asked Arelinita for something closer to home here, like a mechanic.but no, he would get too restless, and I suppose I would too. Now if only we could do something about the transportation!
"Okay, do you have the tickets all set for me then?"
"Yup."
"Do you have a messenger? I hate having to leave Keiko with my job so much when I'm away. I hope she doesn't mind me leaving right out of the blue like this."
"I don't she'll mind. She does a good job at it when your gone, though I don't think she could survive doing it full time."
"Yah, you're right. Oh, by the way, I was supposed to talk to you about Enuresis."
"Really now. Has she been causing more trouble?"
"No, it's nothing like that. Um, well. She's actually developed a knack for mechanics, and since Kenta doesn't have an assistant yet, I was thinking."
"That we could let her off chores and make her Kenta's apprentice mechanic. Chihiro, you know we are already short on workers!"
"I know, but I think it will be a good thing for her. She did fix the water pipe in the laundry room the other day, and she wasn't so bad with the broken Dryer Tumbler."
"What! That dryer is down!"
"Um.yah, I guess I didn't mention it earlier.but yah, it's broke."
"Oh no! We don't need this! Kenta and his crew are already up to their heads in work!"
"Precisley why it would be a good thing for Enuresis to become a mechanic."
"Chihiro." She eyed me evilly, as if I had just trapped her. I guess I did.
"Please, just think about it, and run it by Kenta. She'd be really good at it, I know she would, given the right tools and some experience."
"Oh, all right. Hurry up and go on your little train ride already." She said after a moments thought and sigh.
"Thanks Arelinita. You're the best."
"And you thought I wasn't?"
"Well."
"Hey you get back here!" She said beginning to chase me.
"Try and catch me!" I yelled over my shoulder.
"Why you little! Hmph. You're not worth my time." She said crossing her arms, and pretending to be mad as she walked back into her office.
"Good old Arelinita."
***
Ug! Another train ride. Well, at least I get some decant clothes to travel in. These pants are quite comfortable, and so is the shirt. And I do get time to relax.a lot of time.three days worth of time.Aw, who am I kidding. Riding in the same train that never changes, while sitting or laying round in the train that never changes, isn't one bit fun. I've seen all of the scenery too up to stop 23!
"Excuse me miss, may I sit here?" asked and old man, dressed in brown robes, only about four feet tall with a walking cane and.a pet dragon?
"Uh.um."
"Oh don't mind killer. He won't bite. Will ya killer. Yes, ye'r such a good pet dragon." He said rubbing the small red dragons stomach. Then taking a seat next to me. Hmm, it's actually quite cute. The wings are pretty big on him. They look almost like bat wings. Though, the spiky tail is quite unnerving.
"Can I pet him?"
"Why, you sure can. Mind that you don't get too near to 'is tail. When he's happy he likes to swing it in around, which can be quite a nuisance." He said. I kneeled on the floor and looked straight into his soft red eyes. Before I knew it he was nudging me with his snout like a puppy.
"Ah, he's so adorable." I said rubbing his scaly back, which was warm and comforting to the touch, and not at all rough. In fact it was like rubbing a smooth stone that has been in the warm sun.
"Yah, me and him have been good friends for a long time. He's already turned 63."
"What! He's 63? But he looks so small."
"Dragons take hundreds of years before they are big like their mama's and papa's." Wow, I guess you do learn something everyday. I sat back on my seat next to the old man, only to have the little dragon hop onto my lap and curl up like a kitten."
"Oh my!"
"Killer, where's yer manners, get down." He raised his head and cocked it to the side.
"It's all right, I don't mind." I said gleefully.
"I'm sorry miss, I don't rightfully know if I got yer name yet."
"Oh, sorry. My name is Chihiro. And you are?"
"Sameth Tilderbey's my name, but you can just call me old Sam." He said shaking my hand.
"Well it's nice to meet you Sam."
"Do you be travelin alone?"
"For now, I'm going and meeting my husband on the 18th stop at Ukoria. He's sick, so I need to go and see what I can do to help."
"Three days trip from here I'd say."
"Yah, I hate train rides, but it's worth it."
"Say, that reminds me O' the one time a young feller came and tried to steal my cave."
"Really now, why would anyone do a thing like that?"
"Don't rightfully plum know. An odd one he was, he had green hair even, with the greenest eyes. Yup, killer and I took care O' him all right. Ain't he never come back either."
"Green, hair and green eyes? You don't say. He didn't happen to be carrying a walking stick, um.lean and masculine.wearing brown clothes, was he?"
"Why, yes he was, do ya know 'im?"
"I was just asking." I said and let him spin more tales about his travels and the Spirits he came across. Maybe this train ride won't be so bad this time around.
***
Authors Ending Note: So what do you think? Any good? I especially like killer! He's so sweet!