Chapter 6: The Cavalry
"Aren't you going with me?" asked Chihiro, distressed at the thought of jumping into the dark well alone. She was more afraid of Sadako jumping out than Kagome. The radish spirit shook his head.
"I must protect my shrine. But still, these should help you," he said as he pulled out some paper talismans out of his pocket. "Just think about where you want it to go, pray that it gets there, and let it fly," he smiled.
"That's…encouraging…" said Chihiro sardonically, still crestfallen that her companion wasn't going any further than this.
"You should also carry this, as you are still inexperienced at fighting." The Radish pulled out a bamboo water canister on a leather strap. "For cleaning and healing wounds," he said cheerfully.
"Oh that's really encouraging…" sighed Chihiro. She wondered if she was going to live through this next adventure of hers. The daikon spirit patted her gently on the head with the end of one of his thick radish arms.
"There are worse fates than death, child. But I daresay that shall not be your fate. And you never know if you'll be victorious until you try. May the gods smile upon you."
"Well then, let's hope the fortune was right and that's enough to get me where I'm going," she sighed. "Here goes everything," said Chihiro, taking a deep breath as she steadied herself on the edge of the well. Without another word, she jumped into the dark chasm, feet first.
She was waiting to feel the water or hear a splash, but it never came. She just kept on falling! The world above fast disappeared and she was engulfed in cool darkness as the air and stone whizzed by. A bit of panic surged up in her chest as she wondered what she had gotten herself into. But just as she really started to be afraid for her life, there came an opening at the end, a light in the distance. It grew larger as she quickly approached it, and Chihiro almost felt as if she were being resisted; her fall seemed more in control and slower now.
Chihiro finally fell into a tree, twigs and leaves scratching her skin as she was caught by a large, branch. The wind was knocked out of her and Chihiro thought she was about to pass out. Her blurry vision cleared and she was looking up at a canopy of leaves, and beyond that, a bright moon gazing back at her.
Nighttime? asked Chihiro to herself. Where am I? She looked around as her eyes adjusted from being in the temple courtyard on a bright sunny morning in August to a dark, damp smelling forest with thick undergrowth and the full moon hovering above. Wriggling her way out of the clutches of the branch, Chihiro swung down and hung from it, then dropped down to the next lower branch. She reached the ground and brushed the twigs out of her clothes and leaves. The forest was almost completely dark, but for the glow of the moon. It wasn't spooky, though. It felt strangely familiar. In the distance, Chihiro thought she heard the rattling of a train. The words came reminiscingly from her lips like a greeting from an old friend.
"Swamp Bottom," smiled Chihiro. She could make out a little path ahead of her, beyond the undergrowth. Making her way through to the path, she looked both ways. Neither of the directions seemed to be familiar. Which way? she thought to herself. Just then, there was a faint squeaking in the forest. It was getting closer. A cricket? No, it was slightly metallic.
Then, she saw it. A little light heading her way in a slightly bouncing motion. When it finally came into view, Chihiro was very much relieved.
"Lamp! I thought it might be you," she said happily. The lamp bowed in greeting. Chihiro bowed in return. Lamp then turned on its one gloved hand that it also used as a foot to hop on, and hopped back in the direction which it came. No matter how dirty the ground the white glove was always immaculate. She wondered why it wasn't made with feet instead, like a coat rack. Chihiro followed behind it through the forest that was dark but not unfriendly. They came to a clearing where there was a bit of farmed land, haystacks that jutted out of the dark landscape like glowing mounds of pale color, and a large, thatched roof house sitting happily in the middle of the clearing. The stained glass windows were lit warmly from behind by a glowing fireplace. Chihiro felt as though she were Red Riding Hood, visiting her grandmother.
As they approached the picket fence, Lamp took its position at the top of the gateway arch as usual and the door to the house opened to let a ray of warm light reach out across the ground to Chihiro's feet. A familiar 'face' peered out at her.
"Kaonashi!" cried Chihiro in delight. She ran forward to greet her old friend with a giant hug. The dark, shadowy figure with the white mask opened its arms to meet her. She marveled at how it really was like hugging a shadow with some substance; a burnt colored, translucent marshmallow, but not. Chihiro stepped back and looked at him.
"It's been a while, my friend. You haven't changed one bit. I don't suppose time goes as fast here in the world of spirits than in the human world, does it? I suppose that's to be expected if everyone's immortal and all… But where is Granny Zeniba?" she asked.
Kaonashi, who never did learn to speak, gestured inside. Chihiro went inside and found a platter of sweets waiting for her. There was a note on the table that read:
Chihiro,
Welcome back! I have just gone to the station to pick up some other guests. Please make yourself at home. There's a kettle on the stove, and tea so help yourself to the sweets I baked this morning.
Granny Zeniba.
"Well, I am a little hungry," sighed Chihiro. "It was a lot of work falling through that well. I mean, I was scared I wouldn't stop falling, and I was scared of hitting the bottom at that speed," she said. Kaonashi poured a cup of tea for her, gesturing at the sugar pot to inquire if she wanted one lump or two.
"One, please," replied Chihiro. Strangely enough, Chihiro never had a problem understanding her friend.
"I had no idea the well was so convenient. It was as if magic were breaking my fall. I wonder if Granny Zeniba had made it like that?" She shrugged and took a sip of hot tea. Chihiro looked over to the nearby work table and saw a pile of neatly folded scarves and sweaters with price tags attached to them.
"Wow! You really have mastered knitting, haven't you?" She looked over at her friend who was nodding bashfully. "This one's really pretty," said Chihiro as she picked up a light pink scarf that looked like it was woven out of cashmere. Kaonashi took it and wrapped it around the strap of her school bag.
"Oh, I can't take this as a gift, it's too fine. Besides, aren't you selling them?" Kaonashi nodded as if insisting. A refusal would be an insult to his hospitality, so Chihiro gratefully accepted the gift.
"I'll be sure to use it when the weather gets cooler! Thanks!" She took another sip of tea and looked around. "Wow this brings back memories. It hasn't changed one bit." Then, as she was just about to sit down on the dinner table bench, a strong gust of wind rattled the windows. Her heart leapt in expectation.
"Kohaku?" she whispered. Jumping to her feet again, Chihiro rushed to open the door. As she peered outside into the moonlit garden, she saw Zeniba walk up the stone path towards the door.
"Chihiro, child! I'm so glad you've come!" The short woman with her gray hair in a bun (sitting atop an unusually large head in comparison to the rest of her body) opened up her arms for an embrace. Chihiro felt the air being squeezed out of her. Granny Zeniba let go just in time for her to catch a breath.
"You're grown a lot, dear," smiled the witch.
"Hi Granny," greeted Chihiro. "I almost thought you were someone else for a second there." Zeniba nodded understandingly and held out her hands. Sitting in the palm of each of her hands were Yu-Bird and Bo the Rat.
"Hey Chihiro!" said Bo.
"BO-chan!" exclaimed Chihiro peering down at the fat, purple rat.
"I thought you'd recognize me better in this form," he said in a squeaky voice. "I would've come as my handsome self, but now that I think of it, this form travels better."
"Hmph. Bo is being punished by his mother at the moment. But it will wear off in a few," smirked Zeniba.
"What did you do?" asked Chihiro.
"I suggested that maybe she should pay the workers at the Bath House and give them a day off once in a while," he giggled. Chihiro burst out laughing. "No wonder she turned you into a rat!"
She held out her hand and Yu Bird, now, more like the size of a big bug, buzzed a salutation. Chihiro put her nose to its beak in greeting.
"Yu Bird has been like that since you left. Now in his smaller form, he prefers to go along with Bo as opposed to going out with Yubaba," explained Zeniba. "So here are your cavalry, as promised," she smiled.
"Cavalry?" asked Chihiro questioningly.
"Well, yes. The radish spirit sent me a telegram before you arrived. If you're to deliver the statuette back to the dragon lords, I'd imagine you need help. It's a long way to the Singing Sea from here. But first, something to eat." Zeniba pulled out a steaming pot roast from her oven as Kaonashi set the table.
"The Singing Sea?" asked Chihiro. To her chagrin, this smelled much like a quest to her.
"Where the river gods are gathering to make their stand. You need to follow the stream to the river, and the river's mouth opens to the Sea. There you will find the Great River God's palace." Kaonashi opened a folded parchment map and spread it on the table. He pointed a finger to where they were, a small dot marked in strange characters to what Chihiro knew to mean "Swamp Bottom." It was one corner of a larger land mass. A little bit away was the distinct picture of a small, gaudy Bath House, also with strange calligraphy marking its place. She presumed it said, "Yuya Bath House." There were so many other towns and cities on the map and Chihiro wondered what their names were. Kaonashi's finger dragged across the smooth parchment to a stream that flowed into a wider river, and then down to the delta where the river opened up to the sea. In the ocean was a picture of a dragon, much like the picture Chihiro had sketched in the notepad in her book bag. It was swimming towards a finely sketched palace with seven towers and seven spires. Chihiro wondered if its walls were made of fine white pearl that gleamed like dragon scales.
"All the way there?" she sighed as she absent-mindedly stirred her cup of tea.
"We're not allowed to touch the relics, Chihiro," said Zeniba. "I would take it if I could. But alas, I must stay here and watch over my domain, just as my sister is watching over hers. The mischeivous demons are running rampant nowadays. It takes a lot to keep our areas safe." She poured herself a cup of tea as Kaonashi poured out four bowls of soup. Yu Bird folded up the parchment map and put it on top of Chihiro's book bag.
"Besides," she added. "He will need you to bring it there before he is done." A secret smile spread across Zeniba's wrinkly lips.
"What are you smiling at, Granny?" asked Chihiro as she brought a spoonful of potato soup to her lips.
"Your love and affection for him has remained true all these years, despite the lapse in memory," she grinned. "The heart is a strange and wondrous universe unto itself. That's true love for you."
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Chihiro spooning more and more potato soup into her mouth. Her face flushed again.
"Chihiro," warned Bo. "You should stop to breathe in between spoonfuls; you're turning all red!"
Zeniba let out a mirthful laugh. But, in a more serious tone, she added, "He and his brothers are struggling now, Chihiro. They are battling daily and both sides are at a stalemate. Perhaps it was Fate that led you to obtain the statuette. If you had not gotten off that train this morning, you and I would not be speaking now at my table, and you would likely never have seen him again. I trust that your instincts will see you through this," she said gently.
Though her words and tone were kind, Chihiro was not comforted. Was Kohaku fighting even now, as she sat in this cozy house eating a warm meal among old friends? Haste filled her heart and she wanted to begin her journey right away.
"You will leave early tomorrow morning, which is soon enough, dear," said Zeniba, reading the expression on her face. "I can only protect you up to my borders. After that, you, Kaonashi, Bo and Yu Bird will travel on by your own wits."
Though she didn't say it, Chihiro knew that Granny Zeniba was thinking the same thing Radish had said to her before they parted ways; May the gods smile upon you.
Without even realizing it Chihiro reached into her pocket and felt the edges of her fortune paper with her fingers. An unfamiliar sentimentality had made her keep it in her pocket since that evening Kohaku read it to her. Chihiro was a bit unnerved that her Fate was being cast like dice, and she had no idea which way the dice were going to fall. She wasn't much of a gambler. But even so, she hoped Kohaku was still all right, and she was determined to get to him somehow.
As Zeniba and the others were clearing off the table, Chihiro snuck away to an alcove and window. High above, the full moon shone as brilliantly as ever, a pale face pinned against a dark, starless sky. Chihiro pulled the crumpled fortune out of her pocket.
"When the moon is full, receive your fortunate destiny," she sighed. Maybe there was something to this fortune telling business, after all.
Note: Tell me what you think of it so far. God knows when or how I'm going to end this. I hope you all understand all of my obscure references! Sadako is the stringy-haired ghost who died in a well in The Ring (Ringu in Japanese) and Kagome is the heroine in the anime Inuyasha who falls into a well and ends up in feudal Japan.
-Kero (6/25/06)