Author's Notes: As promised here is the first chapter of 'Goku's Moving Castle – Rewritten'. I hope you enjoy this one! I think it's a lot better than the one I wrote all that time ago. I mixed all the three chapters of the original story into one. That's why the chapter is so long, so please don't expect the other chapters to be as long!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DBZ!
Chapter 1
The black-haired woman narrowed her eyes in concentration as she applied the last knot on her hat. With a heavy sigh, she cut the thread and put the newly made hat on top of the growing pile of handmade hats to be sold the next day in her stepmother's hat shop. She winced when she felt the throbbing of her hands after hours of nonstop work. She couldn't stop now; her work was not done yet. She reached for a plain piece of cloth and started all over again. She ignored the stiffness of her hands and the cuts adorning them as she cut, decorated and added the new hat to the heap. She paid the dark sky and bright moon no heed as she continued working. She couldn't get herself to let her shaking hands stop the cycle. She didn't turn when the bell attached on the shop's door rang. She already knew who it was anyways.
"Chichi!" The new arrival called in her shrill, loud voice, "What are you doing in the shop? We're already closed! It's time to go home," When the still-working girl did not make a move to get up or even acknowledge her, the late Ox-King's wife, Chichi's stepmother, walked briskly towards the desk and snatched the hat from between the lady's fingers.
"I said enough!" she ordered, green eyes unyielding, "You deserve to rest,"
But that was it. She couldn't clear her mind to get some rest. She couldn't stop and rest because rest meant remembering and she didn't want to remember. Keep on working, she told herself, cut, decorate and add. She ignored the other woman's words and reached for another piece of cloth. That, too, got snatched out of her hands. The older woman got the cloths out of her reach and crossed her arms, looking meaningfully at her dead husband's daughter. Chichi met her gaze defiantly, her black orbs boring into the other's green ones. Her stepmother finally raised her hands to the heavens in exasperation as she sighed before her face scrunched up in worry when she saw the state of the younger woman's hands. She reached for them, but Chichi pulled them away.
"It's nothing. I'm fine," the black-haired woman said quietly. The stepmother shook her head.
"You always get like this during this time of year," she said equally calm, "Chichi, I know… I really, really know it's very hard on you… but not getting rest will not bring him back," Chichi looked away. The older woman tucked a stray strand of Chichi's dark hair behind her ear.
"Please… just leave me alone," Chichi said before she got up and headed into her room. She shut the door silently behind her.
"Chichi, Bulma told me to remind you that you two were supposed to meet tomorrow. Don't forget," her stepmother informed as she knocked on the door. She ignored the other woman's calls and slowly slumped down so she was sitting against the door and pulled her knees close to her chest. She knew her stepmother was only trying to help. She knew that she was trying to give her sound advice. However, she also knew that that would be hard considering that she didn't even know why she did what she did on her father's death day. She had already come to terms with her father's death. She could never accept it, but she could at least tolerate it. However, she wished more than anything that she weren't there that day. The day he died.
The large man wobbled his head from side to side. In his arms was a little girl, no more than five years old. He searched the area around him as he looked for a safe place to put his precious daughter. He must protect her. That horrid creature is not allowed to come within an inch of his little baby girl.
"Daddy, where are we going?" his dear daughter asked from her place, tucked safely in his arms… for the time being. Just then, a loud roar reached their ears and both father and daughter gasped in fear, "What was that, Daddy?" the girl asked, eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"Don't worry, sweetie-pie," he somehow managed to keep his voice calm and comforting for his daughter's sake, "Your Daddy's strong, he'll protect you from anyone!" he continued, flashing a courageous grin for effect. The dark-haired child nodded her head as she returned his smile with a big one of her own. The father glanced around again. His eyes lit up when he found a tiny space in between large rocks. He nodded to himself, it was well-hidden, and it was spacious enough for a five-year-old.
"You're going to be brave for your Daddy, right Chichi?" he asked as he sprinted to the hideout. He carefully lowered his daughter and placed her inside.
"W-Where are you going?" Chichi questioned, clinging on to her father's big arm, "Y-You're not leaving me f-forever… l-like Mommy did, are you?" The unshed tears threatened to spill and her voice cracked as the man gently but firmly pried the little fingers off his arm.
"No, baby, I'll come back," he grinned again in what he hoped was a comforting way.
"P-promise?" she held onto his much bigger hands once her fingers were pried off.
"Promise," he nodded again, brilliant smile still plastered on his tan face.
"You promised," Chichi said letting go of his hand, confidence returning to her voice. Her Daddy promised that he would be back, after all.
"Now, Chichi, do not get out of this place, okay? Not until you see the sun or I come to get you, okay? Try to be silent, as silent as you possibly could, okay?" her father said in the voice he used whenever he really wanted her to listen and obey. She nodded, "Now I want you to promise me that even if things look bad, you will never, ever give up, no matter what," Chichi did not really understand what her Daddy meant, but she nodded anyways with a confident smile. "I love you, Chichi,"
"I love you, too, Daddy," Another thunderous roar echoed through the area. Chichi almost shrieked before she put her hands on her mouth to stifle it and shut her eyes tightly. When she thought it was safe enough to open her eyes again, her Daddy was already gone. She heard someone panting heavily, letting out wheezing sounds. She thought this person needed some help, and her Daddy always said that she had to help people in need, no matter what. But her Daddy did just tell her to keep hidden. Biting her lip, she decided to take a peek, outside. What she saw startled her and she had to put her hands on her mouth again. There wasn't anyone in need of help out there. Brown fur coated the thing's body, but its chest was almost human, having nothing but skin and strong looking muscles. Its face was also framed with the same brown fur, its mouth open in a snarl revealing gleaming, sharp fangs and allowing saliva to drip. Chichi would have thought it was a normal ape, but its eyes- its eyes were red! Crimson, blood red… and she was almost certain that it saw her. She refrained from whimpering as she heard the sound of pants get closer. She didn't cry out when the creature howled again, this time its roar deafening her due to their close proximity. Chichi slowly turned her head around… and there it was. She pressed herself to the farthest end of the wall. Thankfully, the being's arms weren't long enough to reach her there. She wept, though her cries were drowned out by the creature's loud growls.
"Go away! Go away! Go away!" She screamed at it again and again, "Daddy, Daddy! Help me!" Her calls were answered with a battle cry.
"Over here, you horrid beast!" she heard her Daddy yell from the other side. She let a small smile grace her face. Her Daddy was here now. Everything was going to be okay. The ape-like creature howled again before attacking the newcomer. The Ox-King ran away, and it chased after him. 'That's right, you monster. Stay away from my daughter!' he thought as he ran for his life. Chichi did not peek around the boulder to look out again. She let her salty tears fall silently. Who knew if more of like that thing were crawling out there? She gasped in fear when she felt arms around her, pulling her out of her safe haven.
"No, let go!" she screeched, her eyes tightly shut, as she fought her capturer, scratching and kicking at his torso.
"Hey, hey, it's okay," her captor said gently, "I'm not going to kill you or anything," the voice said as its owner chuckled humorlessly. Chichi chanced opening her eyes and looking at the person; she was surprised to see that he looked… normal. Well, maybe not completely normal because of his weird hair cut and even stranger outfit… and what was even odder was that behind the man, a brown tail was waving back and forth. A brown tail… so much like that thing's tail. Suddenly, a bright light came from behind the tall man and he turned around quickly.
"Oh no! I'm already out of time!" he said, "Chichi, listen, you have to find me, even if it takes you a million years you ha-" The man suddenly disappeared, tail waving for a second before it vanished with the body attached to it. Chichi blinked blankly at the space that he once occupied before she whirled whilst shaking her head and tried to remember how to go home. Surely, her Daddy would still keep his promise and he might even be waiting for her home. With that thought in mind, Chichi ran home with renewed vigor.
Chichi shook her head as if to rid it of the unwanted memories. Needless to say, the Ox-King did not keep his promise that day all those years ago. However, while her father's memory and his last words would forever be cherished deep in her heart, the creature she saw that day would forever haunt her memories with its brown fur, hideous snarl and vicious red eyes. She slowly stood up and stretched her arms above her head. She had to keep busy or else she's going to keep reliving that moment of her life over and over again. She thought it was weird, though, that she could remember everything very clearly, in detail, but she could never for the life of her remember that man's full appearance even though he was weird-looking. The only thing that stuck in her mind was that he had the same tail as that beast, which immediately told her that he could not be trusted. She looked at her bed wistfully, it really did look comfy. She shook her head again and decided to work on her special hat. The one she was making just for herself. Determination lighting her eyes, Chichi set down to work.
The next morning…
Chichi rubbed her stinging, bloodshot eyes and ignored the bags under them when she looked in the mirror. She looked just like a creature out of a nightmare with her hair a tangled mess of black locks and her face as a pale as a full moon. She sighed and changed her clothes, putting on her new hat and remembering to take her purse with her. It was time to go meet Bulma. She exited the house as quietly as possible and made it a point to shut the door equally silently. She knew why Bulma called her up on this day. It was the day after her father's day, and although it was a joyous occasion when her father was alive, all of the usual happiness bubbling up in her chest that day in the past vanished with her father's demise. Now, to her, it was just another miserable day. This day was her birthday. And despite it being hers, Bulma, who was her friend since childhood, gave it more attention and work than Chichi herself did because Bulma thought that it was a very special and important event. Thus, her blue-haired friend always made her do something on this day no matter how ridiculous (she winced as she remembered her fifteenth birthday when Bulma forced her to wear a weird polka dot outfit with a puffy red wig and a red nose, a white flower on her multi-colored one-piece outfit that splashed people with water once she pressed it, saying it would be fun to see how people would react.) that sometimes Chichi wondered why she went along with it every year. Chichi took another turn and stopped. This was weird. She didn't remember any dark alleyways on the way to the café they agreed on. Nevertheless, there it was a dark, spooky alley that reminded Chichi of the ghost stories Bulma used to tell her when they went camping as kids. Adjusting her grip on her purse and her hat's position on her head, Chichi pressed on purposefully, disregarding the scary voices as nothing but mere imagination.
Then, out of the wall, came what could only be described as the ugliest creature Chichi had ever seen… even more so than the being that took her father away. It slowly got out of the wall, green body stretching to reach the ground. Although it had a short stature, its red eyes that had no whites scared the woman. Its hands a lime green and nails more like claws; its head was at least two times the size of its body, and it looked like it was grinning sickly at the dark-haired woman, saliva trickling down its chin onto the ground. All in all, Chichi wondered if the ape-like creature was so frightening and disgusting after all. As if one weren't enough, more and more were produced from the wall that they were surrounding Chichi. One of the creatures attacked her emitting a kind of choking laughing sound, and Chichi responded by hitting it with her purse. She fought her way through in front of her figuring that she could take on a small number of them. Eventually, she saw an opening between them and ran for it. She sprinted down the alleyway until she saw a couple of guards, the sound of choking laughter following her.
"Help!" she screamed, "Something is chasing me!" she stopped in front of them, hands on her knees.
"Calm down, little mouse," One of the guards said, chuckling light-heartedly, "I'm sure that whatever it is that's chasing you will escape once it sees us. You see, we're big, scary men," he said as he flexed his muscles and Chichi refrained from rolling her eyes.
"Careful, you're making the little mouse angry," The other guard joked before his head rolled back as he let out a huge laugh, his friend joining in.
"So how about we go have some tea, little mouse?" Chichi rolled her eyes then.
"Ah, but we were already heading out for breakfast, weren't we, dear?" A voice said as he approached the three. He didn't give anyone the chance to object though as he put his arms around the woman's shoulders and lead her away, Chichi too stunned to retaliate.
"I know you're being followed," the man said, "I also know what you're being followed by,"
"Then, what are they?" Chichi asked, finding her voice.
"All in due time, Chichi," the man said with a bright smile, "Now, I suggest you do exactly as I tell you, okay?" She nodded not paying any mind to the voice at the back of her head that whispered that the man was handsome and a lot familiar. The sound of choking laughter rose provoking Chichi to look back. She almost fainted when she saw the vast number of green things chasing them. The man walked faster and faster until they were running.
"You have to trust me completely, don't let go," he said with a cheerful grin, motioning for her to grab his shoulder.
"How can I trust you completely when I've only just met you?!" the woman asked, "You didn't even tell me your name, but you seem to know mine!"
"Sorry about that, Chichi, but there isn't any time for introductions right now. I promise everything will be clearer once I can actually stop and talk, but you know, they're still after us," Chichi felt around for the ground beneath her with her foot, but she couldn't feel anything, yet she was still running.
"By the way, you're not afraid of heights, are you?"
"Huh?"
"Well, if you are, just don't look down!" But Chichi did. The ground she was trying to feel for earlier was more than twenty meters away from her. That thought alone tore a scream from Chichi's throat.
"Ah, I suppose I should have told you before now, huh?" the guy said calmly while the frantic woman screeched in his ear.
"Don't even think about letting go!" she yelled, grabbing the man's shoulder with such force that he winced.
"Don't worry I won't!" the guy said with a cheerful grin. Chichi looked back down again.
"Don't worry I won't!" the guy said with a cheerful grin firmly holding her while she held onto him tightly. She could feel her hand slipping, so she grabbed onto his hand as well as his shoulder. Was that sweat she just felt on his hand? No sooner had that thought crossed her mind that her grasp started to loosen and she started slipping from the man's grip. Chichi fell down and kept screaming all the way down, the man flying after her as fast as he could… but his speed wasn't enough to rival the Earth's gravity. Chichi shut her eyes tightly before she hit the ground with so much force.
She screamed again, tears springing to her eyes.
"Get me down! Now!" she screamed over and over, begging and pleading to get somewhere safe on solid ground. The man sighed as he slowly descended onto a balcony. Once they touched the floor, Chichi let go of the man and held onto the railing instead, breathing heavily.
"Hi, I'm Goku!" the man said as he pried the woman's hands off the railing so that he could shake hands with her. Chichi yanked her hand out of his and glared at him. Is that any way to thank him after he saved you? Chichi let out a breath before her gaze softened.
"Thank you for rescuing me from those things," she said attempting to smile gratefully at the man.
"Not a problem!" Goku said, "You're Chichi, right?"
"You've been calling me that since you saw me, and now you ask?" she snapped before apologizing politely. Well, at least, I've got the right girl!
"How can you do that anyways?" she asked, "Fly, I mean," she continued when he looked at her questioningly.
"Oh… Anyone can do that!" he said as he rubbed the back of his neck with his ever-present grin.
"Anyone? Can I do it?" she asked, curiosity winning her over.
"Anyone can do it…" he confirmed with a nod, "As long as you believe in yourself, you can do anything!" He nodded again, "By the way, here. Happy Birthday!" he said as he tossed her a box, "Don't lose it, okay?" She eyed the box curiously, slowly opening it.
"How did you know it was my birth-" she started to ask as she shifted her gaze from the box to the man. Except the man was no longer there. She looked at the streets, then, at the sky and found him flying away. Wait… was that… a tail? And suddenly, it all clicked. The man was so familiar because he was the same man from all that time ago! This meant that she shouldn't have trusted him… but he did get her safely here. However, should she trust him and look inside the box. What if it were some sort of trap? Or worse? She gulped and decided to see what it was later. She tucked it into her bag and walked unsteadily to the café.
She made it to the café without further incidents and spotted her friend almost immediately. Her very, very furious, red-faced friend.
"Good morning, Bulma," she greeted politely, pulling the chair opposite her friend and sitting down. Bulma, however, stood up, causing her chair to fall back as she pointed angrily at her friend.
"Good morning?!" Chichi winced slightly at her friend's tone, "It's half past twelve! You made me wait here for three hours! There better be a reason for this, young lady!"
"Three hours? Has it really been that long?" Chichi chuckled lightly before her laughter died down as her friend glared at her. If looks could kill, I would already be dead, she thought, "I'm really sorry Bulma. Something bad happened along the way, I almost got killed, but there was that guy-"
"Guy?" Bulma asked, her mood taking a full turn before her expression turned mischievous, "Tell me about this guy, Chichi, and I just might forgive your tardiness," Thus, Chichi told Bulma about everything. She told her about the ugly, green being and skimmed over her meeting with the idiot guards. She spoke about the man in detail, per Bulma's request, and told her what she thought about him then and now.
"Oh," Bulma heaved a sigh as she leaned back on her upright chair, "Is that it?" Chichi nodded which provoked Bulma to let out a disappointed sigh, "I thought that something would have come out of this… I really would have liked to hear a love on first sight story or something, but oh well…" She leaned closer to her friend and motioned for her to do the same, "Do you really think that he's the same guy? Are you a hundred percent certain?" she said in a whisper.
"Well… he seemed familiar… and really, how many people do you know that have tails like he does?"
"Alright point taken," Bulma sighed, "I think you should open the box,"
"Why?"
"Just an opinion, I don't really know. Why would he do anything bad to you after saving you from those monsters?"
"So how's your work? How's the new job?" Chichi asked as she leaned back in her chair. Noting the change in subject, Bulma didn't miss a beat as she answered and proceeded to tell her childhood friend all about her new job. About an hour later, the conversation was interrupted by a girl's call.
"Oh my God! Look! It's the Moving Castle!" Some of the customers, including Bulma and Chichi, approached the window and watched the mechanical structure as it wobbled past. Bulma's eyes lit up, her scientific side trying to work out just how the castle was moving at all. Chichi, however, watched the thing walk by with dull eyes. She didn't know why people would like something so ugly. Seriously, it was the ugliest thing she had ever seen made by mankind. It was gigantic, the whole covering was dull. Not just in its colors but in its design as well. It had small robot-like arms and legs which carried the entire thing around. Nevertheless, it wasn't its appearance that absolutely mortified ChiChi. It was the sickening thumping of the structure. Every now and then, seemingly at equal intervals of time, the whole thing thumped like a heart would when pumping blood. ChiChi shuddered when she caught a glimpse of the thumping castle. Despite Chichi's deep mortification of the castle, it always seemed to linger around this area, always far away except on one day in the entire year. Only on her birthday does it ever come closer to this town. This amazed Chichi, but it also crept her out, and she couldn't help but ask why? Why does it only come near on her birthday? Why?
"You know, I heard a rumor about the Moving Castle, the other day," Bulma stated seriously, "People say that someone actually lives on that thing. Imagine that, a person living on a moving house!" The castle finally moved away from the café and out of sight of the spectators, so everyone returned to their seats.
"Oh! How could I forget! Today's your birthday!" Bulma exclaimed as she returned to their table pulling Chichi along by her hand. Chichi squashed the urge to groan. This was the moment Bulma would tell her to do some absurd thing because it was fun.
"I couldn't think of anything to do today due to work and all, but I brought you this!" Chichi stopped herself from sighing in relief. Just barely.
"Here you go!" Bulma said cheerfully as she handed Chichi a box wrapped in red paper decorated with white dots, "Happy Birthday! I even wrapped it in your favorite color!"
"Thanks, Bulma!" She opened the box excitedly. And gaped in amazement.
"You like it or what?" Bulma asked with a smug smile on her face.
"But… but Bulma… how did you-?"
"Well, I saw you looking at it a few days ago, and thought I'd get it for you,"
"It's really… expensive though…" Chichi said regretfully, "I can't accept it,"
"If you don't want it, I'll take it back," the president of the Capsule Corporation stated as she shrugged he shoulders.
"No, no, I love it," Chichi said as she hugged her new pink fur-coated purse to her chest. The two shared a good laugh before they bid each other farewell and left the café. Chichi checked her old purse to make sure all its contents were secure. She did a double take when she couldn't find the box the man gave her. She searched around the café, blushing as the other customers and staff looked at her incredulously. I didn't even get to open it… She shrugged and left the café to walk back home. A cloaked figure watched her as she exited and headed home. He opened the box and sneered when he found nothing but a necklace inside. He shook his head as he tried to pry the necklace open. He smashed it against the wall. But it neither opened nor did it get scratched.
"I'll keep this," he said quietly to himself as he pocketed the necklace and disappeared.
-oOo-
Meanwhile, Goku finally made it back to his house. Or maybe the house made it back to him. He smiled as the moving house stopped and waited for him to get in. A green blur was all the warning he had before a creature jumped at him. Goku immediately flew backwards watching as the creature blew up right in front of him, sending him back a few steps. Self-destruct… Goku shook his head as he opened the door to his house.
"These creatures… why were they so close to the town?" A raspy voice asked form inside.
"Don't know," Goku answered the other occupant of the house, "Not only that, they're learning new techniques as well!" Goku exclaimed, "They created an illusion of an alleyway and they came out of the wall!" he nodded and spread his hands out for emphasis, "I didn't know Saibamen can do that!"
"Well, they certainly didn't when we had control over them," The spiky-haired man snapped as he paced back and forth, the house doing the same, "Someone is definitely helping them. No doubt about it," Goku nodded, a little dizzy from the house's pacing.
"Which means we have more enemies, now," Goku commented, "We're already in over our heads and we still have to protect Chichi. What are we going to do, huh?"
"Bring her here," the other replied easily.
"And how are we going to do that, huh, Vegeta?"
"Protecting her is your job, you figure it out," Vegeta answered evenly, "No matter what, you have to bring the girl here, with or without her acceptance, get it?"
"Yeah, I get it, alright…" Goku muttered, "At least, wish me luck," he yelled after his sort of friend. The sound of a door slamming answered him.
"Well, time to get back to work,"
Author's Notes: So how did you find the first revised chapter of the story? I personally like this one better, what do you think? Remember reviews make me happier which means that updates will come a lot faster!