A/N: I wrote the poem in the beginning. Me, no one else. Read and enjoy, peopleses.

River of Amber

Chapter 1: The Ill-fated Party

"River of amber, wash away my tears
Bring back my love to me
For he was a fisherman
Who drowned in your waves
And was washed out to sea
River of amber, please."

Chihiro hummed the chorus to the song she'd written the day before as she tidied up the living room for the party on the day to come. The song was inspired a combination of old folk songs about drowned fishermen and by the memory of a strange series of events that had happened nearly a month before, on the day that she and her family had moved to their new home.

"Oh, Haku," she murmured after singing another verse. "I wonder what happened to you."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Yubaba cries, sending a barrage of random objects toward the upright figure in the center of the room. He doesn't even flinch as a vase explodes in the air in front of his face, sending shards of pottery flying. A line of red appears on his cheek, but he doesn't appear to notice.

"I'm no longer in your power, Yubaba," the boy states calmly.

"I have your name! You're Haku, you hear me? HAKU!"

The boy's face twists into a smile, clearly not an expression that it is used to. "No longer," he says. "My name is Nigihayami Kohaku-Nushi. As it always was."

Yubaba appears to grow bigger, her hair coming out of its bun and fanning out menacingly around her face. The boy still does not move.

"You may have your name back," she threatens. "But I can still control your body." She grabs a bell from the shambles of her desk and rings it. As if from nowhere, dark shapes appear around the boy, binding his hands and feet. He falls to the ground.As he flickers in and out of consciousness, he hears Yubaba's voice grating on his sensetive ears, cursing him and someone named Sen.

Who is Sen? he wonders. Then the world fades to black.

The party was a disaster. Chihiro had been planning on having everyone watch a movie, right up until the VCR went on the fritz and ate the tape. The snacks had been ruined by a jealous cat named Puki, and Chihiro and her guests found themselves sitting around in the living room with nothing to do.

"Hey, why don't we go exploring in the woods?" Hitomi asked. Her idea was greeted with enthusiasm from every quarter except for that of the hostess.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Chihiro began, but no one seemed to be listening. The other girls put on their shoes and headed for the side yard of Chihiro's house, which bordered on the woods.

It wasn't long before the four of them were completely lost.

"Chihiro, I'm hungry," Hitomi whined.

Rumiko swatted at the back of Hitomi's head. "It was your stupid idea to go exploring, genius."

"Guys, calm down," Chihiro insisted, shoving her way between the two quarreling girls. "Let's think about this logically."

"How will that help?" Riei demanded.

"Well," Chihiro began. "I think I know a way to get home from here. It'll take a while, but we'll get there."

"By all means, 'Hiro, lead on," Rumiko stated, using her personal nickname for her friend. Chihiro nodded and led the way through the underbrush. After only a few minutes, they had reached a dirt road.

"Wow, I never knew this road was here," Hitomi said. She started off uphill.

"No, we have to go this way," Chihiro said, pointing downhill, towards where she knew the main road to be.

"Oh come on, Chihiro," said Riei. "We were going exploring, weren't we?"

"Besides, I don't want to go home yet," Rumiko stated. "Home's boring. This road looks interesting."

Chihiro was relegated to the rear of the party as Hitomi lead the way up the hill.

"Wow," came Hitomi's voice from up ahead. Chihiro buried her face in her hands. She knew very well what Hitomi was marveling at. A large red wall with a tunnel cut through it, all of it plaster painted to look like stone.

"Guys, I really think we should go home now!" she said, grabbing Rumiko's shoulder. Rumiko shrugged her off.

"You're such a spoilsport, 'Hiro."

Chihiro had no choice other than to follow as the three in front of her entered the tunnel.