The Other World

Chapter 4 - Fujisan

Haku dropped Chihiro off in front of her home without betraying his nervousness. The air was buzzing with tension. He headed back into the woods, where he wouldn't be seen, and toward the lake. There, he placed his hands into the water. The tremors were stronger in the there; they were amplified by the bowled sides of the lake. Haku closed his eyes, focusing in on the motion of the water as it travelled up his arms.

The wavelets were coming from the northeast. The earth was restless.

Haku slipped into the water, following the current downstream into the bay. He could swim faster in his dragon form then any human could ever hope to, but he detested the necessity of it. Dragons were not meant to be locked into a solid physical form. They preferred to be diffused.

Fish and small creatures exclaimed over his presence as he flashed past. Their master never bothered them so, they complained, as they were caught in the drag and spun through the vortices left in the white dragon's wake. A curious sailfish swam alongside the stranger and inquired as to his reasons for being there. Haku didn't feel like conversation, and in any case the sailfish was soon left behind.

He followed the eastern coastline, swimming far enough below the surface that he looked like a flash of sunlight on the water to any observant humans on boats.

The tremors came more frequently, sometimes so strongly that his teeth chattered from the force of it, but even when they backed away, they didn't disappear completely.

He felt a slow, powerful intelligence surround him, probing at him. What brings you here, young one? the consciousness asked.

"Forgive me, Surugawan-sama," Haku said. "I don't mean to disturb you. I am looking for the source of the earth tremors."

You are Nihonkai's youngest?

"Yes," Haku said.

My regards to your brother. Ask him to be patient. It is not time.

"My brother?" Haku asked. "What do you mean?" But the spirit of the bay had departed.

My brother, Haku mused. Which one? Whatever Surugawan had meant, it wasn't good news. None of the Dragon King's sons felt particularly benevolent toward their youngest brother, when they bothered to notice him at all.

The water turned cloudy and sulfurous up ahead and the source of the tremors shifted to the left. I must be getting close, Haku thought. He followed the smell of sulfur and found where the sulfurous river flowed into the bay. He swam upstream, staying in the shadows as much as possible, trying to keep out of sight.

He had the distinct feeling that he'd been here before. Thirty kilometers inland, he climbed out in the shade of a bridge. He walked onto the banks, as if in a trance. The earth beneath his feet seemed to carry him forward. The fields and trees fell away to reveal buildings and people. He drew stares as he walked through the town - he had forgotten to change his appearance and his clothes were centuries outdated - but he didn't notice.

He walked until the edge of the town where the asphalt became dirt again. There, he fell forward onto his hands and knees and shook uncontrollably, tears falling onto the dry ground, for minutes or hours, until a hand placed on his shoulder made him look up. It was a young man.

The man held out a hand and pulled Haku to his feet. "I'm sorry," he said. "The townspeople told me they saw you walking this way. Can I ... help you?"

Haku took a shuddering breath. "I don't think that's possible," he managed to say.

"I'm sorry," the young man said again. "I know there's probably no comfort for you right now, but please, staying here won't do you any good. It'll be night soon. Please, come to my home. I don't know if you need food, or lodging..."