Spirited Away 2: Return to the Spirit World

Chapter 19: Polluted With Sadness

Zeniba sensed the presence getting closer the further they went. She wasn't sure what it was, but something was wrong with it. And it smelled bad too! Was it a spirit? A monster? Some other creature that lived in the spirit world? Whatever it was, she hoped it was human friendly.

Best not to take that chance. "Maybe we should go in a different direction." The witch suggested.

Chihiro gave her a confused look. "But the seal is pointing in this direction."

"I know but… there's something up ahead, and I'm not sure if it will tolerate a human." Zeniba explained.

It took a moment for this to register to Chihiro, but when it did, her eyes narrowed in irritation. "I am tired of being judged because I'm a human! Not all humans are the same! Yes, some are bad and destructive, but not all, and not me!" She turned away and stormed in the direction the seal was pointing in. "Come on, guys!" she snapped as she passed No-Face and Yu-bird.

No-Face looked at Yu-bird then at Zeniba before shrugging and following his friend. Zeniba sighed and shook her head. She understood why Chihiro was upset. She had a right to be, what she said about humans was true, but not all spirits understood that.

"Granny!"

Zeniba snapped out of her thoughts and popped out of the 'bird'. "I'm coming, dear." She cried, rushing forward. She raced up the hill to where her companions were. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Chihiro pointed to the figure in the distance. "Look."

Zeniba looked at what Chihiro was pointing and gasped. Not too far away, was a snake. A very large snake. It could swallow anyone of them without even dislocating its jaws. But other than the size, this was no ordinary snake. It appeared to be made of water; very polluted water too.

"Oh my." Zeniba whispered.

"Is that a snake?" Chihiro asked.

"Sort of." Zeniba replied. "It's a spirit. This is just its spirit form. Just like Haku in his dragon form."

"Oh." Chihiro nodded in understanding. She made a weird face and covered her nose. The spirit stank. It smelled like smoke, car exhaust, garbage, and other nasty things she couldn't think of at the moment. "It smells bad."

Zeniba put her finger to her lips. "Shh, it's asleep."

Chihiro shrugged. "So, snakes are deaf."

Zeniba shook her head. "You forget, dear, this isn't your world. And that's not really a snake."

"Right, right." Chihiro mentally scolded herself for being stupid. Of course, things were different. She also noticed that the snake had eyelids.

No-Face gently grabbed Chihiro's hand and pulled her. "Ah, ah."

Zeniba nodded. "He's right. We should go before it wakes up."

"But Lord Okaia said I was supposed to meet two more spirits. One filled with sadness and one filled with anger." Chihiro said. "What if this is one of the ones I need to see?"

"Let's not take chances, dear."

Taking Zeniba's advice, the group slowly moved around the sleeping spirit. It would have been much easier to door if they weren't squeezed between the canyon walls. It was almost like fate deliberately set the spirit right in their bath so the would meet first they were going to have No-Face eat Yu-bird again and fly them over the sleeping spirit, but Yu-bird wouldn't cooperate. So they had to actually squeeze by it and hope it wouldn't wake up.

'Stupid destiny.' Chihiro thought as she slid past the snake. 'Why can't things be easy?'

She didn't have to do this. She could always turn back and not take the path Lord Okaia predicted for her. But she wanted this. She wanted Haku. So she pushed onward.