Written Rivers
A Home Amongst Rivers
Chapter 6: Vacation at Twilight
Chihiro and Rumi spent the first part of the morning taking Rumi's car to a friend's house who would use the car for the week while they were gone. From there, they took the train from Osaka down into the Kumano region into a little town called Kii-Tanabe. Towns flew by as Rumi stared out the window, nudging Chihiro every now and then for Chihiro to look up from her brochure to see houses or monuments before they went out of sight. With Makoto napping at her feet, Chihiro would indulge her friend's wanderings with a smile or a comment of awe before returning her eyes to the brochure of the hiking trail they were about to take. They were on their way to Kumano Kodo, a series of ancient pilgrimage routes that crisscrossed the Kii Hantō, a hiking trail she'd been wanting to go on for a while. It was a hiking trail that was over a thousand years old and would take them to the three Grand Shrines of Kumano. Along the trail there were small villages, minshuku and onsens for sightseers and pilgrims that sprinkled the path, they planned to stop by a few while on their way up and back, many of the places would have some traditional customs that were becoming lost to the modern culture. Chihiro glanced from the brochure to the window where Rumi was pointing at the view of the oceans where birds flew overhead, causing her to smile in awe, wondering what she'd see on the hike to come.
It was late morning by the time they got to the bus that would take them to a small village called Takajiri, where they would begin their official hike. They got off the local bus and pulled out their backpacking gear, Chihiro buckling Makoto's leash to her belt just in case they needed it. Rumi latched her tumbler and other needed accessories to her belt, giving Chihiro the thumbs up when she was ready.
After the girls retrieved their belongings, they started their hike by crossing the Tondo-gawa river, and over to the small village, Takajiri. Chihiro looked up at the base of the trail and saw the first oji ahead of them, a rustic, wooden torii with a shimenawa hanging across the front arching over the main entrance. A cold gust of wind swept through the valley, shaking the leaves and branches in the trees and wiping her hair into her face, pushing her toward the small village. She turned toward Rumi to see if she was still standing beside her and noticed how tense her friend was.
"You okay, Rumi-Chan?" She asked, brushing her windblown, chestnut hair out of her face.
Rumi seemed to be staring at the torii and mountain before her, as if realizing for the first time where they were going. She hesitated, "I'm fine... just a little car sick from the ride…"
Chihiro quirked a brow, her mouth twisting into a suspicious pout. Rumi wasn't known to get motion sick, but she'd been through a lot lately, maybe that was something to do with it. "Rumi-Chan, you don't have to force yourself…"
The Hiiragi seemed to snap out of it as soon as the words passed her friend's lips and she gave a smile. "Stop worrying so much, Chi-Chan. I'm fine, let's go!" Her feet heavy and a bit hesitant, Rumi marched through the torii and into the village area.
Chihiro looked down at Makoto, who seemed to be hesitating as well, not returning the incredulous look she was trying to give him. "You too? Oh, c'mon." She huffed and followed Rumi, Makoto cautiously following.
The path beyond the torii led through Takajiri's little market place, where little stores sold food and souvenirs, causing Chihiro to take note that she'd have to get souvenirs on the way out for her parents. A little way more up the path, they came to the main shrine of Takajiri-Oji, where they paid their respects. They then careened around the shrine and started up the steep trail to Takahara.
The trail began behind the shrine with large stepping stones that had a somewhat steep incline, Makoto trotting just ahead of them, sniffing around and looking back every so often to make sure they were still following. The trail started to go onto gravel roads that went up hill, where the forest lay ahead of them, thin trees arching overhead with bright green foliage that glowed from the sun beyond them. The path under them was crawling with roots from the trees that went over the edge of a low wall of dirt that lined the trail to their left, the roots continuing down a slight hill to their left. Chihiro watched her footing as they went, trying to keep from falling face first into the ground. The girls marveled at the forest around them, taking in the fresh air and smell of the dirt and trees around them. Occasionally, Chihiro would spot little shrines and statues that she'd give bows to as she went. Something inside her felt a draw towards the different the little figures and oji, subsidiary shrines to the sacred shrines they were headed towards. Something about them were familiar and memorizing.
After hiking for a little over two hours, the girls came to their first village that overlooked the forest and the rural farming patches. It was around noon and the girls stopped by one of the family owned restaurants to eat. They ate a delicious traditional meal and sparked up conversation about the area with the owner, an older man that had lived in the area his whole life and seen many types of people come through. He told them of some of the tales of the mountains and shrines and about the traditions that they kept alive in their little rural villages. He advised them on some little places to visit and where some of the best onsens were before they thanked him and left for the hiking trail to the next destination.
The girls' goal was to make it to get to Tsugizakura, about an eight-hour hike if they really pushed themselves, before sundown so they could find a place to stay for the night. The trails weren't all that crowded, they ran into people here and there, but it was a rather quiet and uninterrupted hike. Along the way, they stopped at one of the onsens to relax their body, their muscles beginning to sore from the hiking and carrying of their backpacks. As soon as they had the energy again, they continued their hike.
It was late afternoon when Chihiro began to notice her friends acting strange. It was a good trip so far, but something was definitely bothering her friends. They were starting to look nervously around, Makoto would paw at the ground and Rumi would begin fiddling with a strap on her backpack. Chihiro was leading the group and would constantly catch herself looking back at her friends to see if they hadn't run back to civilization. They're been on haunted hikes, they'd heard the scary stories, they'd heard the legends and the myths of far scarier forests than this, what was so different about Kumano Kodo?
Chihiro finally stopped and turned on her heels with a loud huff. "Would either of you care to explain to me what's gotten into you?" Her hands were on her hips, looking like her mother when she was suspicious of something. And that was a scary thought.
Rumi and Makoto gawked at her in surprise before looking at each other, as if to say, "I'm not talking, you tell her!" The brown and grey dog looked up and studied his surroundings, as if it were more interesting than the conversation at hand. Rumi glared at him then looked to Chihiro, who raised an eyebrow expectantly.
"Chi-Chan… I don't know why, but I've got this bad feeling… I think we should call it a night, it's already pushing 5:30, the sun will be setting soon. Chikatsuyu is not too far from here according to the map. I know it's not the distance we wanted to go but we are definitely not making it to Tsugizakura before night fall." Rumi's brows were knit with a concern that didn't normally come across her face.
Chihiro tilted her head, as if she didn't quite understand what she was hearing. Bad feeling? Call it a night? Who was this girl and what had she done to her friend? Chihiro was usually the one who had to drag her friend into inns or to rest stops, why were the roles suddenly switched?
Before she could retort, a huge gust of wind blew through and the forest came to life. The wind whistled through the trees, leaves scattering around them, the sound of sparrows filling the air, as if to give warning. Vaguely aware of Makoto's growling, Chihiro's eyes cascaded across the green canopy around them. There were no birds.
"No." Rumi let out under her breath.
Chihiro slowly turned toward her friend and froze. "Rumi?"
Rumi's eyes were wide and distant, her arms hung at her side and suddenly, Makoto's growls became a lot more apparent as his eyes darted around them. The birds were only getting louder.
"Rumi!" Chihiro called out in a shaky tone, trying to snap her friend back into focus. Had she lost it?
Rumi's eyes refocused on the Ogino. "Chihiro." Their brown eyes met, and she pierced her lip. "We have to go. Now." Without waiting, she started up the hill again.
Chihiro blinked. What in the world was going on? Before she could fully get a chance to process everything, Makoto barked, causing her to snap to attention and chase after her friend. She blinked again. Since when did Makoto bark at her, she thought at the back of her mind.
The wind continued to blow around them, pulling them up the path as if to help them get to the village. Chihiro glanced to the sun and noted that it was slowly beginning to set. Rumi was right about one thing, they weren't going to make it to Tsugizakura, which was another two-hour hike at best. She knew they weren't going to make it at the pace they'd been going but Rumi was seriously overreacting.
Rumi seemed to have the same idea and looked to the sun, her eyes widened, and she sped up her pace. "No, no, no… this can't be happening…" Her voice was tense and stern.
Before Chihiro could comment, they came to an opening at the top of the foothill and below was the Hiki-gawa River, just beyond the woods beneath them, and across the river was the little village of Chikatsuyu, which was giving a faint glow in the setting sun. Little wooden homes were sprinkled around the village, with trees scattered between. Just on the other side of the river was a stone pillar, the Chikatsuyu-oji. Chihiro stood in awe as her eyes fell on the glittering river. It wasn't a large river, more like an over glorified creak, but wide enough to need to cross with a bridge. She tried to take a moment to take it all in, and catch her breath, but Rumi grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her down the hill and through the woods below.
"Rumi!" Chihiro exclaimed, getting rather annoyed by her friend's behavior. "Will you stop and tell me what's going on?"
Rumi didn't stop and kept pulling her through the woods. "Almost there…" She mumbled.
Chihiro grit her teeth. That was it. She stomped her feet firm in the ground and wretched her wrist free from Rumi's surprisingly strong grasp. Had she been working out, she thought momentarily.
"What in the world are you going on about?" Chihiro practically yelled, clearly irritated. She had never seen Rumi like this, she was definitely putting a lot of Rumi's recent behavior to her family's death, but this was a whole new level for Rumi. Everything was changing, the way she talked, behaved, walked, this wasn't Rumi.
"Chihiro, please, we have to go." Her friend exasperated, trying to reach for her hand again.
Chihiro scowled and pulled away.
"Chihiro." Rumi drawled, looking around cautiously then at the setting sun. "Now."
Chihiro stood firm in front of Rumi and looked out on the horizon through the trees. "Not until you tell me what's wrong." She glanced back questioningly at Rumi with a frown, who looked kind of stiff and agitated, completely different from an hour ago.
"Chihiro." Rumi's tone was a lot firmer, it almost sounded familiar. "We really need to keep moving." She looked Chihiro in the eye and the Ogino flinched at the intense look in her eye, the color in them changing to a dark shade of purple, opposed to their normally mahogany color.
"Rumi… I…" Something felt very off. Suddenly the wind started to pick up again and Makoto visibly stiffen and stood at attention. His greenish-blue eyes scanned the area and he began to make a low growl sound at the back of his throat. Chihiro scowled. "What's up with you?"
"I agree." Rumi said, turning and stalking toward the river, depending on Chihiro to follow regardless of whether she wanted to or not. "We need to cross the river now before anything starts showing up."
Chihiro gawked then stumbled after her. She looked between Rumi and Makoto, who was now following close behind. This was getting too weird, she hadn't seen them like this since the time she found Rumi home alone with some guy.
"Foolish mongrel!"
Mongrel? Chihiro's eyes widened and she looked down to Makoto then up at Rumi. No. No that couldn't be it. That was impossible. But…
Suddenly there was a loud chirping and clicking sound from the trees. Makoto began to growl and bark.
"Dammit!" Chihiro heard Rumi curse under her breath. That's another thing, Rumi didn't curse!
"Rumi?!" She gawked.
The black-haired girl ignored her and started to run. "There's no time, there's no time." She gritted.
"Rumi! You're starting to freak me out! We've been on plenty of camping trips and this is the first time I've ever seen you panic like this? What's gotten into you?" She ran after Rumi.
"There's no time! I didn't realize where we were! We have to get across the river before Ōmagatoki starts!"
"Ōmagatoki…?" Chihiro blinked. She knew exactly what that was but what caught her off guard is that Rumi was bringing it up. She looked at the horizon, the sun was getting closer to setting, it would be twilight soon.
Makoto ran ahead to the wood clearing and started to prance around, seemingly confused, looking from Rumi to Chihiro to the sun and back, and pawing the ground nervously. Makoto gave out a whine and a bark.
"Shut up, mongrel, I'm trying. I didn't realize they were going to sacred grounds and it would take so long to get from village to village." Rumi's voice rasped as she tried to breath.
"Rumi!" Chihiro screamed, causing her friend to flinch and grabbed her by her backpack strap as they flew out of the woods. "What in the world is going on?!"
"Chihiro, I-" Rumi stammered, her earlier tone faltering, but was interrupted by Makoto's howl at the setting sun, causing her to close her eyes in regret. "Dammit… It's too late…"
Chihiro looked around and the wind was blowing all around them and the clattering sound in the trees didn't stop. The clouds overhead blew in, leaving the sky dark as the clouds hid the light of the moon and what was left of the sun from view. This was not normal at all. Just suddenly as it came though, the wind and noise stopped.
"Rumi…" Chihiro started, worried, but stopped when her eyes fell back on her friends.
"This is too soon! We were not supposed to return yet! Why were you not paying attention when they were planning this trip?!" The male voice she'd heard talking with Rumi that day at the apartment was coming from her dog. Her dog was talking. Oh my God, the dog was talking.
"How was I supposed to know that this was going to be sacred ground?! The humans throw the torii up like decoration these days! Am I to assume every single one is real?!" Rumi yelled.
The dog looked astonished. "YES!" He lifted his paw over his face as if to face palm… face paw… "This is why I hate birds…" He muttered.
Chihiro felt like she'd officially and completely gone off the deep end. Yup, it was official. She stepped back away from the scene unfolding in front of her and she felt nothing under her foot.
Makoto stiffened and turned to her as he sensed her fear. "Chihiro-San!" He ran as he watched her fall to the rocks below. Chihiro's voice barely caught up with her as she let out a scream and prepared to hit her head on the rocks or dirt below. Instead she felt the cushion of flesh catch her with a grunt. She opened her eyes and saw the cloudy green-blue eyes that helped her during the earthquake. Her eyes widened, and she let out another scream.
A/N: Suuuuper long chapter! I was on a roll and couldn't stop, I had to legit stop myself with this chapter or it would have gone forever. Haha Please don't expect them all to be this long. ._.
I really kind of like this chapter, it was fun, and I like describing scenery and settings, it sets the atmosphere and far less complex than expressing human emotion, hahaha. Partially kidding. ._.
I hope you guys are enjoying the Written Rivers so far! I given this disclaimer before, I've never been to Japan and am no historian, so all I know is purely book smarts. One day I'll go though. :)
Don't forget to review and thank you to those that have! I will officially update on Fridays and occasionally another day throughout the week. :)
Thank you for the reviews from: Amidstsnow, Firetail Finch, and Prismae!
God bless! KawaChou
