Haku groaned. He was awake again. How long had he been out this time? He was unsure but the rays of sun pouring from the tiny window above him told him he had slept the bitter night through. He let his head hang again to try and stretch the muscles in his shoulders. He was getting used to the pain. Indeed, his arms, pinned above him, were starting to become numb. For a human this would have been very worrying but Haku knew his body could take care of itself; his stomach wound was almost healed. His head still hurt but at least he was no longer trying to vomit. His lack of strength was entirely down to his efforts on the spells that cut him off from his power. He smiled to himself; it had been worth it; he had seen her.

He had been about to pass out from another session of attacking the weave of the spells that bound him when he felt something give. It was like breathing a tiny amount of pure oxygen after nearly drowning. He gasped, and then to his embarrassment, he panicked. He was terrified that the weave of the spell would try to repair itself at any moment and he would lose his tenuous hold on his power. His heart in his mouth, Haku shoved everything he had at the tiny breach. Of course he passed out, but he did not fail. He did not want to re-establish connection to the water, he knew what would be happening and there was nothing he could do to help it. It was his mate that he reached for.

When he found himself sitting in his own house, he knew he was not really there. He suspected he was in his own mate's mind. The nygel sleeping by the fire made him raise an eyebrow, then again his human did not care what calibre of spirit she associated with; it was one of her charms. He turned and saw her sleeping on the chair next to him. He had sighed with relief; she was fine. She looked a little pale but otherwise she was healthy. That would have been enough for him, but at that moment she became aware that she was not alone within her own mind. He had hoped that he would remain long enough for her to see him. He was given more than he could ever hope for. He got a chance to speak to her. Her face changed when she saw him, it lit up with a euphoric joy that both warmed and humbled him. What had he ever done to be so loved? She had shed tears and promised to find him; he had told her that she was to look after herself and to stay safe. She was so fragile, and there was no chance of her finding him; even he did not know where he was. She would stay safe and in doing so fulfil whatever prophecy she was meant to. She had reassured him she would stay safe; it had been all he needed to hear.

He had woken up, parched and in pain. When had he last eaten? He did not know and he had lost track of the days too.

He jumped as the bolts in the door opposite him rattled back. He had a visitor; that was a new development. Since he had taken a snap at Yubaba he had been left alone. The door opened, scraping the floor and piling up mini sand dunes behind it. Haku winced as the sound echoed around his sensitive skull. In the doorway stood a tall figure, hidden in shadow. While Haku had no access to his power, his other senses worked perfectly well. He could smell the magic running through this spirit; this was no mere jailer, it was too powerful for that. He remained silent, taking in as much information on the spirit as he could. It moved into the cell and the light from the window fell on jet black hair that seemed to devour the light rather than reflect it, was longer than his own, and braided down the spirit's back. Haku met the grey eyes that regarded him with open interest. He still said nothing. The spirit closed the door and then laughed. Haku blinked, feeling confused. It had not been what he expected; the laugh was not taunting or bitter, it was a genuine laugh of amusement.

"Forgive me," said the spirit, still smirking. "But you are a diabolical mess." The voice was low and lilting. This was not the sort of nemesis Haku had anticipated at all. With nothing to say, he remained silent. "I shall have my jailer whipped for keeping you in such conditions, Kohaku," sighed the spirit. "Just because you are my captive does not mean I expect one such as you to live in squalor." He looked around and tutted. "Not even so much as a bowl of water for your comfort. Shadow spirits really have no common sense." The spirit closed his eyes and suddenly Haku was drenched by a few gallons of pure, fresh water falling on him out of the oven dry air. He groaned; he could not help it. He flicked his dripping hair back and licked his lips; it felt delightful to be wet again. He did not question his captor at all, hoping his silence would provoke the spirit. It was the only weapon he had left.

"Your stay here will be of some duration, I'm afraid," said the spirit. "I apologise for not checking on you sooner but I have been exceptionally busy." The spirit crouched down to Haku's eye level. "I must say it is an honour to meet you at last, Kohaku. Had circumstances been different, I am sure we would have much to talk about." Haku glared at him by way of a response. The spirit put its head on one side and frowned, grey eyes focusing on the bonds above Haku's head.

"You've not been idle, I see," he murmured and the grey eyes looked back into the dragon's own. "Though I should expect nothing less; if I was in your position I would be doing the same." A pale, long fingered hand touched the obsidian inlaid cuffs and they flared with red light. Haku could have howled with frustration; days of hard work had just been obliterated. The spells were repaired and reinforced. The spirit sighed and patted Haku on the head as if he was a naughty child. Haku winced and pulled away from him.

"I will have someone sent to dress that wound," said the spirit quietly. He almost sounded as if he was angry at Haku's treatment. "And I will have food brought immediately." Haku yearned to know why he was being treated with such civility. The spirit stood.

"So what did you tell your mate, Haku?" he asked with a sly smile. Again Haku remained silent though he had to bite his tongue; he burned to hurl abuse at the insidious spirit. He was not blinded by the amenable façade. This spirit was dangerous.

"I imagine you warned her to stay safe," the spirit said, as if bored. "You have much to learn about humans, young dragon." The spirit laughed again. "You really think one such as her will be content to stay at home and await your return?" He leant forward, the dark braid falling over his left shoulder. "They are short lived creatures, Kohaku and they lack patience because of that. They also lie very easily." Haku knew he was being goaded. He imbedded a fang in the inside of his cheek to stop himself speaking. The spirit raised his eyebrows.

"You disbelieve me?" he said lightly. "Very well; I will show you." He gestured to the wall and an ornate mirror appeared with a silver clouded surface and a gold work frame. As Haku watched, the mirror cleared. He was shown an image of a train and he immediately recognised his mate. He could only see the back of her head, as she was looking out of the window. There were others on the train; Rin slept across from her and there was a tall red headed man sitting at her feet, arms folded and in deep discussion with Linca who sat on his opposite side. At the back of the train by the baggage was the nygel, looking ridiculously fluffy now he was dry, and very uncomfortable being on the train.

"If she told you she was going to be the dutiful little mate and stay at home, Kohaku, then she lied to you," sneered the spirit. "You claim to love her. If that is so, how could you not know that she would come for you?"

Haku was enraged for a split second, but the emotion soon died and was replaced by worry. His little one was stubborn; she had been even as a child. Of course she would come for him, just as he would for her. He found himself smiling despite the worry that clenched his heart.

"I fail to see the humour in all this," said the spirit crisply. "You must know I intend to stop her if she attempts to gain you back, or impedes me in any way."

Haku knew. Of course he did; that was why he was terrified for his mate, but in an odd way he was proud too. She knew the odds were against her but she was coming after him anyway. Maybe this was all part of the prophecy and she was taking a stand against the dangerous spirit before him, despite all he had done to try and derail her, even before she knew what her purpose was. Haku knew he was here as a way to try and weaken his mate. He wondered why the spirit feared her so; what could a human do that the spirit felt he had to try and break her before she even lifted a hand against him? It did not matter; Haku could not protect her; he had to trust that she would not be stupid and take too many risks.

"She's made you soft, dragon," said the spirit, watching the calm expression settle on Haku's sharp face.

"Probably," thought Haku ruefully. Getting nothing from his captive, the spirit turned to leave and the mirror on the wall vanished.

"Who are you?" asked Haku to his back. The spirit turned and looked at his prisoner, grey eyes amused but cold. Haku cursed himself for speaking but the question was obvious enough and risked nothing.

"I have had many names," said the spirit blandly. "But most recently I have been called Kenshin." Haku's heart stilled.

"I thought you were dead," he hissed, his eyes narrowing.

"Not yet," said the spirit, with a small, joyless smile. The door slammed shut and the bolts rattled home.

"I'm in trouble," muttered Haku. "And Chihiro is in even more trouble."

How could his mate possibly pit herself against one so powerful? Haku resigned himself to having to save her and with a heavy heart started to tug at the spells that held him once more.

"This sucks," muttered Scott, lifting his sodden boot out of the mud. "Literally."

"Take your shoes off then," sighed Rin. Scott eyed the spirit sceptically.

"Ever heard of leaches?" he asked, slightly sarcastically.

The party had got off the train on one of the platforms that did not quite exist in the spirit world. They were frequented by the shadow spirits but to Chihiro's relief this one was empty. There were rumours that there had been a mass exodus of shadow spirits even before the battle for the bathhouse. Something was calling them away from their traditional haunts. The shadow spirits were an enigma even in the spirit world; they rarely spoke to outsiders and their laws, customs and even god were alien to everyone else in the spirit world.

They were heading roughly south to meet the person who had prophesised about Chihiro and her mission; the Old Man of Arron.

They were walking through a flooded part of the plain. Blue grass grew under the water and under that was thick mud. The spirits and water horse splashed lightly through the water. The two humans were soon bogged down in the mire. Scott's combat trousers were covered in grey mud to the knees and Chihiro was worse off, having fallen twice. She pulled at her stuck right leg and left her boot behind in the mud. She cursed and kicked at the water. Linca gracefully skipped through the shallows and retrieved the boot, which was more a lump of grey mud.

"You know, if we keep going at this rate, it will be a month before we get to this old man we have to see," she said reasonably.

"I know that!" snapped Chihiro snatching her boot back. "But what else can we do? We are not gifted with the ability to make ourselves lighter like you."

"Well, I would suggest that one of you ride on old Sniffy over there" said Linca, gesturing over her shoulder in the nygel's direction. "But that would still leave one of you stuck in the mud."

"That's Snaffu, sprite," snorted the nygel indignantly. Both he and Linca had taken an instant dislike to one another. Linca had already twice "accidentally" fallen over and used Snaffu's tail to pull herself back up, making the water spirit snap at her. Of course he retaliated and "accidentally" stepped on Linca's toes. Chihiro had let Rin handle them, being far too preoccupied with her slow progress through the sucking mud. Rin had set about them both with the flat of one of her many knives and now the malice between the two spirits was confined to hateful looks.

"Snaffu can't carry two people," Chihiro sighed. "And I should not ride anyway."

"Why?" asked Linca, helping Chihiro put her slimy boot back on.

"Because she is pregnant, Linca," said Scott, dragging himself up to stand beside the two women. All three spirits looked perplexed.

"Is this one of those weird human reproduction things?" asked Rin, with a frown. "If it is, I don't want to know. I still can't comprehend how you bleed for five days and don't die." Chihiro grinned. It had been the first time she had smiled since seeing Haku. She had not told the others of her visitation; it was private. She had, however, told them that they had to seek out the Old Man of Arron as soon as they could. For a spirit it would be a four day journey. It looked like the humans were already slowing things down.

"Because I carry my child inside me, the motion of a horse can make me miscarry. It's a very slight risk, but with this not being a normal pregnancy, I don't think I should take chances. I think I should only ride you for short spells, Snaffu," she said to the water horse with a sigh.

"Oh," said Linca, her face serious. "I had no idea that it was so fragile. I mean it's inside you; I thought that it was as safe as it got?" Chihiro shrugged and gave Scott a knowing look. He got the message; he had all the same sort of questions and misunderstandings to look forward to. There was no subject too personal or awkward that the spirits were not desperate to learn about. It was flattering in a way; Chihiro was doing her best to learn about them, it was nice they wanted to meet her half way, but it could be very frustrating at times.

"I am not a normal horse," whinnied the Nygel. "You would move less on me than you would when you are walking, mistress! I've had human women ride me before while pregnant; they never came to any harm." He trotted forward, splashing the humans.

"Back foul creature!" hissed Linca. "You're coming nowhere near my sister!"

"Sister!" snorted the Nygel, laying his ears back. "Your blood and my mistress's are not even the same temperature!"

"Enough," growled Scott, his low voice rumbling like a small thunder storm. The entire party stared at him. The placid human normally said very little, so to hear him actually raise his voice grabbed everyone's attention. "Bickering between ourselves is pointless."

Chihiro sighed, very glad she had a large, even tempered human on this quest with her to balance out all the volatile spirits. The tall, redheaded man shifted his weight so he could keep his sliding feet together.

"We have problems that need solving. First, we need to find dry land to camp on tonight, and second, it's stupid that we humans who are mired down are still carrying our own baggage. You spirits are going to have to carry a bit more," Scott said calmly.

"Do I look like a pack mule?" Rin snapped.

"No," Scott countered, "you look like a very strong, able woman who could easily help out a pair of struggling humans."

"Oh, that was good," muttered Chihiro out the side of her mouth. "You're catching on fast." A small smile pulled at Scott's lips but otherwise he kept his face straight.

He slipped the pack from his back and held it out to the spirit woman. Rin's face was a picture. The normally hard brown eyes had softened at the sly compliment but her lips were still pressed together with displeasure at being asked to carry more than her fair share. But it seemed Scott was much craftier than he had ever let on.

"It's a 60 pound pack," he said evenly. "If you can't handle it then I'm sure Snaffu..."

Rin splashed up to him and slipped one strap from her own pack. She grabbed Scott's pack and slipped it over her free shoulder. A quick spell later, the packs bound themselves together across her back. She flicked her long hair over the top of them and gave the tall human a defiant look. Linca and Chihiro were trying desperately not to laugh; how Scott could keep his face so serious Chihiro did not know, but there was a twinkle in his blue eyes that told her that he was close to bursting out laughing. Rin practically skipped away, just to show that she was not weighed down at all by a mere 60 pounds. Giggling silently, Linca reached for Chihiro's pack.

"I'll take that!" Snaffu whinnied, and pulled at the pack with his teeth, lifting Chihiro out of the mud. She hung from her pack, eyes closed, waiting to be put back down. Linca was about ready to burst with rage and her white eyes began to swirl with black.

"I have a better task for you, Snaffu," said Scott quickly. "One much more suited to your many talents." The horse carefully put Chihiro back down. Chihiro handed her pack to the still fuming Linca.

"We need to find somewhere dry to spend the night," explained Scott, bending down to the water horse's eye level. You're the fastest of us and this terrain is no problem for you. I'd like you to be our Scout. It's important Chihiro gets her rest and that means somewhere dry." The horse nickered and snorted in agreement. Scott patted the spirit's neck, treating the dangerous creature as if it was a normal pony.

"I always liked Scottish people," it said, tossing its head and baring its flat teeth. Chihiro knew there was a pair of very sharp retractable fangs hidden in that mouth. Nygels had razor sharp claws too; there was a slight bulge on each fetlock that contained a six inch claw. Very useful for ripping more meaty prey limb from limb.

"I bet we taste wonderful," agreed Scott, beating the creature to the punch line. The horse whinnied with laughter and pranced sideways. Then it was galloping away, kicking up spray as it went.

"I hate that nag," muttered Linca.

"You're just sore that he scared you half to death," chuckled Rin.

"The threat of a messy death on our first meeting does tend to make me dislike him," said Linca.

"Lets get going," said Scott. "Hopefully we will find somewhere before dark."

"We'd better," murmured Rin. "The big things come out to play after dark; a fire will make them keep away but I would not like to be still travelling after sunset."

It was a sobering statement as it was midday already. The humans pushed on, lighter and with renewed vigour. They both knew that they were useless in the dark.