DIDN'T WANNA WRITE ABOUT FORESTS SO HERE IS A SPIRITED AWAY FIC

Long bit of fanfiction I write when I'm bored. Here it is.

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Brown eyes watched the little fish mill about her feet, nibbling on her toes. Chihiro threw another piece of bread into the water and took a deep breath. How long had it been since she left the bath house? Despite the hard labor and trials and tribulations, she really missed all of the people there; Lin, Ubaba's son and pets, even Yubaba herself, Granny, and especially Haku...

Well, his name was now Kohaku, since she remembered he was the spirit of the Kohaku river. But Haku sounded so much more familiar. Of all of her friends, Haku was possibly the only one she could see--if only she could find her way back to the Kohaku river... But it was miles away, far away even still from her old house that she grew up in at the time she visited that river. But her grandparents did live nearby--maybe she could ask to live with them for a while?

Chihiro did like their new home--it was old and had history, but it wasn't like a centuries-old sliding door, tatami mat house. It was designed after the western style, with swinging doors and walls made of brick, covered by wallpaper. It looked just like every other house on the street--its only striking feature was its place at the end of the road. Also, the previous owners had installed a koi pond in the backyard, so Chihiro's father filled it up, got it working, and added goldfish. She often fed them--after all, it was officially her job to feed the fish.

"Chihiro!" her mother called, "Come inside. Time for dinner."

Chihiro stood and turned to face her mother. "Okay," she replied, and walked inside.

After dinner, Chihiro trekked down the hall to her room. Maybe, she thought, I should go back to the bath house and see if he's still there, and I can meet him! The old station was only a few hours' walk away. Surely this lazy weekend day she could go?

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Chihiro had packed all she would need in her backpack--water bottles, snacks, and a first aid kit, just in case. Chihiro's mother had instructed her to take all these things with her, acting the role of the responsible mother.

The young girl made her way across the forests and, in the distance, spied the old train station. There on the horizon it stood, bright red and perseverant. As she made her way to the entrance, she spied the strange-looking two faced stone statue. When she approached, she bowed in greeting, then went on to traverse through the station.

Just like before, Chihiro felt the wind tugging at her heels, stirring up old leaves, sending chills up and down her spine. Before long, she was at the end of the long tunnel, and before her lay a vast field of green

Chihiro sniffed the wind and searched for that familiar food scent that wafted through the air. She didn't find it. Curious, Chihiro ran through the fields, jumped over the brook, and climbed up the stairs.

The buildings were still there, but there was no food cooking.

Maybe it's too early... she thought, and walked down the open street. Maybe someone is here! Maybe Lin is here and she can tell me something!

"Hello?" Chihiro called, facing every building and stand, "Hello?"

"Hush, kid, do you want to wake up every spirit in the place? I swear, sometimes, these children have no respect for the dead."

Chihiro whirled around, searching for Lin, but instead saw nothing. "Who's there?"

"Shhhh!" hissed the voice, and Chihiro noticed it was noticeably closer--behind her. "Keep it down. Are you deaf or something?"

Chihiro turned around and found herself face-to-face with none other than... not Lin. It was a spirit, she could tell, and a girl only a little older than Chihiro herself.

"Who are you?" Chihiro asked.

"Shhhhhh!" She hissed once more, her expression clearly annoyed. "How many times do I have to tell you before you understand? Geez..." The girl then smiled and replied, "I'm Kiku. I'll bet my last sapling that you're Chihiro."

Dumbfounded, Chihiro nodded and replied, "Yeah, how did you know that?"

"Well, not only are you the talk of the town," Kiku said, then winked with a sly grin, "but I had special orders to look for a certain little miss Chihiro. You know, you are the hardest person to coax out of your house. Do you know how many bribes I had to pay in order to get you over here? But I guess that's nothing compared to the thanks I owe you."

Chihiro's expression did not change or waver. "Thanks? But what for?"

Kiku's eyes grew wide. 'What for? You don't remember? For freeing my big brother of that witch's grasp, that's what for."

Still, Chihiro wore a dumbfounded face. Kiku groaned to the sky and decided to be frank.

"Kohaku! You know!"

Chihiro blinked, then moved in closer to Kiku's face. "Kohaku? haku? He's free now?"

Kiku rubbed her temples, looking away from the young girl. "Boy, I knew that you were rumored to be stupid but I didn't think it was true." Kiku turned back to Chihiro with a smile on her face. "Let's start over. Hi, I'm Kiku, Kohaku's little sister. Thanks for helping him out of Yubaba's evil old croney grasp. Let me take you to see him. He's waiting for you."

Chihiro could not believe her ears. She was going to meet Kohaku, easy! Her heart filled with joy and her lips widened into a full grin. "Well, let's go! I want to see him!"

"Finally!" Kiku exclaimed, and her body changed. Chihiro stepped back and gasped. Before long, Kiku was a long dragon, glaring at Kiku with two bright golden eyes. She was notably smaller than Chihiro remembered Kohaku being as a dragon, but what she lacked in size Kiku made up for in beauty. Her scales, while dark brown like tree bark initially, flashed in the light a peacock green color. Her mane from the top of her head all the way to the tip of her tail exploded in cherry blossom pink. Chihiro had never seen such beauty in a living creature--Kiku was all of the beauty of the forest in one breathtaking dragon.

Kiku lowered her head, indicating that Chihiro should climb aboard. Gleefully, Chihiro did, held on tight to Kiku's little white antlers. Before she was sure she had a good grip, they were off.

One thing that differed significantly between Kiku and Kohaku (besides the color and size and obvious sex differences) was that Kiku was much faster. Chihiro found it difficult to keep her grasp on the antlers--it was like trying to hold onto two poles atop a jet plane at top speed. Chihiro could hardly breathe. She spied the ground far below them, growing smaller at a much faster rate than she would have liked. With all of her strength, Chihiro pulled herself up to Kiku's ear and shouted to be heard over the rushing wind.

"Slow down! I'm slipping!"

With that, Kiku did--to a much slower, more leisurely speed. Carefully, Chihiro climbed closer to Kiku's horns, holding tight. With her mind off of saving her skin, Chihiro felt free to look around.

She could see the horizons of the spirit world--all sea, with nothing but the bath house behind them and the train tracks bordering it as landmarks in the vast blue sea. On Kiku's back, she felt like she did when she flew with Kohaku--peaceful, free and at one with herself.

Soon, in the distance, Chihiro could see the presence of trees. Within minutes the trees grew closer and larger than she expected. These trees were humongous! But one tree in particular stood out from the rest. With a thick, sturdy trunk that stretched for what seemed to be leagues, Chihiro could hardly believe that this tree was real.

Kiku flew into the tangle of leaves and branches, careful not to injure herself or Chihiro and landed on a particularly flat and wide branch. Chihiro dismounted, and Kiku returned to her human guise.

"Wow! This tree is huge!" Chihiro exclaimed, gazing up at the canopy of green above her.

Kiku chuckled. "Feel free to look down. If you fall, one of us can catch you."

Chihiro ran to edge of the branch and looked down. The floor was the same as the canopy--nothing but branches and leaves as far as the eye could see. Chihiro wondered if she ground even existed here.

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Will finish later. I've got like... -counts pages- 12 pages of this stuff left.