The Other World

Chapter 6 - The Noble and the Savage

Part 2: When I Decided

When I decided to believe and go forward,

The door opened, and those lights came shining on me.

Let's flap these wings beneath the blue sky,

These linked hands will never be separated.

- Reprise l. 5-8

Chapter 6: The Noble and the Savage

Haku and Risuni followed the adults through the archway, guiding Chihiro together by the arms. Chihiro's skin felt warm on Haku's hand. Her arm felt so fragile, her bones so thin and delicate, her pulse beneath his fingertips quick like a frightened rabbit's, as they walked in the shade of the tunnel. Her elbow was tensed, as if she would run away at any moment. But she didn't. Her timid steps gradually relaxed as she began to trust them to lead her safely through the darkness. Their feet slapped against the stone floor and the sound echoed hollowly in the tunnel around them.

"Where are we?" Chihiro asked, bewildered. "It doesn't sound like the forest anymore. It sounds like..." a low whistle sounded in the distance, "a train station?"

"Not exactly," Haku said. He felt the spell on the Gate awaken to probe them, and then slowly fade away. It could not stop them. She doesn't deserve this! Haku thought. But Fujisan had to go and...

Chihiro hissed in pain and Haku loosened his grip on her arm, worried. "Sorry," he said. "I was just thinking..."

"It's not you," she said softly. "It's just that, my head hurts. Is something wrong?"

"No," Haku said, then laughed quietly to himself at the obvious lie. Her head hurts just hearing the train echo through the tunnel, even with the charmed hairtie around her wrist. Is the charm not working? She can't possibly stay in the Spirit World for long. It's too risky. We can't let her remember. And then he thought, sadly, that she might never remember him the way he remembered her. It doesn't matter, he told himself firmly.

"It's called the Waiting Room," Risuni said, startling him. "We are in the gateway between the Human World and the Spirit World. There's a ferry on the other side that takes travellers to the nearest town, and every night, they wait here for the ferry."

"But how did we get here from the clearing?" Chihiro asked. "There's nothing there, I go there all the time..."

Haku and Risuni looked at each other, struggling for an explanation.

"It's not always visible," Risuni tried. "It's like... remember the parallel worlds from physics?"

Chihiro's face scrunched up in confusion, but she didn't open her eyes.

Haku squeezed Chihiro's arm gently, trying to reassure her. Well. I promised to explain things to her. Where shall I begin? "Let me tell you a story," he said.

As he began, his voice took on the intonation of a chant, and he felt Chihiro's arm relax. It was a ritual she knew, and it brought an element of familiarity to what must have been a very strange place.

"In the beginning," he said, using magic to pull images into Chihiro's mind, "after the first six divine generations retreated from the surface of the earth into the high plain of heaven, the seventh divine generation created Kuniumi, the islands of Japan. At that time, the worlds were one, and the humans and spirits lived in harmony. Mountains rose and rivers were born. The humans worshiped the spirits of the wind, the water, and the earth as kami, or gods, and were looked upon with favor. These kami were the guardians and protectors of the people, and were well loved.