井水不犯河水
jǐngshuǐ bù fàn héshuǐ
Well water does not intrude into river water.
I'll mind my own business, you mind yours.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The surface of the river was like jade.

From its cloudy green color, to its smooth texture. Perfect, unbroken, for the river here was wide and still, almost like a lake, and there was no wind today.

The only ripples came from our barge, as it cut the river's surface. But since I sat at the prow of the craft, before me stretched perfect unblemished water.

Two days ago after Sanli and I had climbed the mountain, the prince had appeared in my room with a small wooden tag in his hand.

"Your pass, my lady. For a grand river cruise. No better way to enjoy the rainy season than by viewing the mountains from the river."

I knew what the invitation was. Another of Sanli's attempts to convince me not to leave. He had been showering me with gifts and special attention lately, as only a prince could.

I had laughingly acquiesced to his request, stringing the small tag beside the wooden rat Zakhar had carved that day in our hide. I had made the chess piece into a charm and now always wore it on a string around my neck.

However yesterday, when Sanli and I had disembarked from his carriage beside the small canal that ran into the Valley, I had found myself regretting my easy agreement to Sanli's venture.

A small barge waited for us, little more than ten lengths long and three across. A cabin sat in the middle, with miniature, shuttered windows that would have been quite charming if not for the fact that they showed how narrow the low room beyond them was.

"Yes? What is wrong with the Swimming Maiden?" asked Sanli, catching sight of my face as he directed servants to load my things onto the tiny barge.

"The Swimming Maiden looks like she will sink at any moment."

"She is perfectly river worthy," Sanli assured me. "A little small, but that will make it more cozy."

And he winked.

And so now a day later I found myself leaning over the prow of the Swimming Maiden, watching the water split either side of us.

"Ao, what do you think of my painting?"

I turned. Sanli sat behind me, beneath a woven straw awning on the deck designed to keep off the intermittent rain. He had decided to try his skills as an artist during the trip, and was practicing painting the scenery around us in the 'washed ink' style.

"Very nice, little prince," I said, looking from Sanli's cloudy grey landscape to the world around us.

There was not much difference really. The cloudy colors of the painting were a lot like the cloudy colors of the real world. A day down stream from Linjing, the river Zhang had widened out so much that the thickly wooded shores on either side of us were distant walls of green. The thick, ruffled edges of trees contrasted with the smooth light green of the river they stood beside, like a different brush had been used to draw them.

Beyond the forested banks, mountains stretched high. But not mountains such as most imagine them. These mountains were more like huge arches of rock, left behind as the river eroded the more fragile parts of the landscape around them. They towered above the waterline, dark grey and green monoliths, shaped by the patient hand of the river.

And above it all the clouds, grey, dark grey, sometimes black, drifted, causing peaks to wash away into nothingness. Occasionally the clouds would tremble, shaking free their rain onto the land below them, setting the jade of the river dancing.

The prince had been right. This was the best way to enjoy the rainy season.

"Don't move, Ao, I am going to paint you next."

I had not planned to move. I lay sprawled across the prow, one hand dangling over side. The tips of my fingers just reached the smooth water, interrupting the glass.

Kageyama stood in the stern, standing beside the tiller. The kitsune leaned his arm along it, steering us down the middle of the river, where ships were scarce. Trading ships piled high with goods from Linjing kept to the north sides of the river where the current was steady and the river deepest. To the south side of the river, ships and barges like our own made their way upstream, rowed by strong-armed oarsmen or pulled along by oxen from the shore.

Those ships, on the south side of the river, would be carrying goods from Zhanghai and beyond. I tried to imagine all the riches of the world contained in their cargo. Hand painted silks and year-forged swords from Wa, strange fruit and sugars from the islands to the south. Spices and muslin and other rich materials from the Simmering Kingdoms, the lands that stretched south of Baihu's mountains. Baihu herself was a native of one of those kingdoms, and had come from there to the Inner Empire long before the fall of the old gods.

"What do you think Ao? Have I captured your beauty?"

I looked away from the ships at the far edge of the river. Sanli held up his parchment proudly. I studied the sections of squiggles and dark lines, trying to decipher my shape. I could make out the butterfly pattern of my robes, but little else.

"I think you should stick to landscapes, prince."

Sanli frowned, looking at his painting once more. "Hmmm, perhaps I have made your head too big."

He returned to his painting, and I leaned further over the side, pulling back the sleeve of my silk robe to let my arm trail through the water up to the elbow.

The water was surprisingly warm. The creamy green did not match the clear blue of my ocean, but the temperature was similar.

Suddenly, there was a hissing, like that of a hoard of insects being let from a jar. It grew louder, the insects coming closer.

Rain.

As each drop hit the river, a crown like ring of smaller drops splashed out from it, splattering across the river. Then the crown blended into the river once more, becoming smooth ripples.

At first I could see the individual drops as they fell on the still river. Then as more and more started to fall, they became lost in the boiling, jumping chaos that the river's surface became.

Sanli started to clear his painting accoutrements to one side. "Here Ao, it is starting to rain, come sit by me under the awning."

In response I stood and tugged off the sash that held my silk robe closed. The black silk was patterned with soft green butterflies, the kind that flutter helplessly toward the moon at night. Their wings matched the water around us.

I let the robe fall from my shoulders, and the butterflies fluttered to the deck. Standing in just my cotton slip, I felt the rain on my shoulders, my arms, my skin.

"Ao, what are you-" Sanli asked, surprised.

But before he could finish, I had stepped over the edge of the barge and into the river.

The jade water closed over my head and immediately it was dark. This was not the crystal water of my ocean, with sunlight filtering through to rest on colorful fish.

But it was still water, and it was warm, and the rain pattering on the surface just above my head beat out a rhythm that soothed my soul.

I twisted my body and dove.

I cut down through the water, just using my legs at first, and undulating my middle so I could snake through the water as I had as a dragon once. But I was no longer a dragon, and swimming such a way was too difficult in my current form, so I gave in, unfolding my arms from my sides and using them to help pull me through the water as well.

The water got cooler, only a length or so down from the surface, and darker. And then cooler, and darker. The rain still beat above, but the sound became dimmer, like an echo.

I knew many humans would be afraid to come this deep, or to swim in the river like this. They would fear becoming hooked by sunken trees, or caught in the treacherous goose weed that was known to grow so thick even ships became entangled.

And then there were the animals. Snakes of poison, long nosed pike. Too many sharp teeth creatures to name, and all hovering just out of sight, eyeing my soft human flesh.

But I was not afraid.

After all, had I not once been a dragon? We were uncontested in the sea. What need had I to fear small unseen creatures? They should fear me. They should hide from me.

I carved my way through the water, not caring what brushed against me, what passed. Not caring that the current tugged me downstream, or to the side. The water was mine, it was my home, I could stay here forever, washing clean of all that had happened to me on land-

Except I couldn't.

At last, lungs bursting, I kicked toward the surface. The rain pounding the surface grew louder, the beats heavier and faster, until I broke the surface with a great whoosh, and the rain was all around me, feeling cool and clean after the silty warm river water.

"You can hold your breath a long time!"

I wiped water from my eyes.

Sanli was leaning on the rail of the barge, indifferent to the rain falling on his head and shoulders. Despite all my swimming, I had surfaced not far from the boat. I guess the current had carried me with them.

"I am not afraid of the water prince. That is why. Fear steals your breath away." I started to swim beside the boat. Thanks to the current, it was easy, and all I needed was to tread water to keep pace.

"Are all dragons good swimmers?" Sanli asked.

"Dalong are born in the oceans. It is as natural as breathing to us."

"What about three and four clawed dragons?"

I snorted. "They are not true dalong."

Four and three clawed dragons were often commonly mistaken as dalong children. In reality, four clawed dragons, although having a body that resembled a dalong, would never reach a dalong's size, and never be able to take human form. Also, unlike true five-clawed dalong, who called the sea home, four clawed dragons customarily were found in lakes and rivers.

Before Yan and the others had taken power some seven centuries ago, it had been common to find four clawed dragons in the waterways of the Inner Empire. Sometimes they would proclaim thmesleves 'guardians' of a stretch of water, much as dalong did with the sea, and charge for use of their waterway. Some had made considerable fortunes, and there were many rich temples and towns built to honor these ancient 'guardians'.

Since the rise of the new gods though, all that had changed. Yan's support for human as equals had meant things such as four-clawed dragons monopolies over waterways had been dissolved. As such many four clawed dragons had migrated to the coast, or left the Inner Empire altogether.

"Do you have any... friends? Who are three or four clawed dragons?" Sanli asked curiously, watching my thinking face.

I snorted. "Four clawed dragons fear my kind. And three clawed dragons are little better than dogs. It is hard to befriend them."

Unlike their four-clawed cousins, who had intelligence rivaling a human's, three clawed dragons' minds functioned similar to dogs', focusing only on food and protecting territory. Occasionally, they could be trained to be loyal pets, but their rarity and ferociousness made this a once a century occurrence.

"Hmm, I see," said Sanli, losing interest in our present topic. He leaned further over the side. "Such a ferocious monster you are."

His mischievous eyes searched the green water for glimpses of my form. "Would you look at that? There's a swimming maiden beside the Swimming Maiden," he said, grinning laviciousely.

I was in no mood for his pointless flirtations. With one hand I sent river water splashing onto the deck.

"Ahh! Ao! My paintings!" said Sanli, scrabbling to protect his art.

Laughing, I submerged once more.

My hair pulled back in the current as I turned and kicked upstream.

When I emerged a moment later it was beside the stern, where Kageyama stood, one arm on the tiller, beneath another straw awning. He sternly looked down at me.

"You promised you would do nothing to attract attention," the kitsune said, eyebrows lowered.

Kageyama had reluctantly agreed to chaperone our river adventure, on the condition we would travel quietly, and without event.

"A small swim is hardly worth attention," I said, idly floating on my back.

Catcalls from the oarsmen on the southern shore made my last sentence a lie.

Kageyama's dark eyes flicked to the river's edge. "Come on out of there. We are almost to our destination."

Sighing I took a breath and dove once more.

I swam under the shallow drafted barge, my hand trailing along the mossy hull to guide me.

I emerged on the north side of the Swimming Maiden, sheltered from the eyes and whistles from the ox herders and oarsmen on the southern shore.

Pulling myself out, I stood dripping on the deck. I reached through one of the low shuttered windows, feeling around for my strip of cotton towel.

"Get dried off and dressed. Appropriately," Kageyama said. His eyes determinedly avoided the transparent cotton of my shift, instead settling on my legs.

Ah. So he is the type of man who enjoys a shapely leg—

"Is that a leech?" Kageyama asked, pointing to a dark oval just above my ankle.

I hissed and almost fell overboard trying to claw the thing off my skin. The barge swayed below me, and Sanli called out worriedly from the prow.

When my nails caught the offending object, I realized. It wasn't a leech. It was an old brown willow leaf.

I glared at the kitsune, but he only laughed as he reminded me once more to dress. "Hurry up, we will be going ashore soon."

*~*~*~*~*~*