A/N: ^-^ I see the movie twice and I'm already drooling over it. I mean,
really, is this normal? :p guess so. *cracks knuckles* alrighty, then! I
will have to warn you, this is my first ficcy in this relatively new and
small fiction part of FF.Net, so, go easy. But not *too* easy, because I
adore Constructive Criticism (CC) to no absolute end!! :D yeah. So. Go
figure. Also, this is AU for a few reasons ::ahem:: they are, A) Chihiro is
three years older than actually in the movie, yea? That would be twelve or
thirteen, unless I'm mistaken. B) I have changed a few things that the
wonderfully loved creator of Spirited Away had originally. Kk? I'll let you
know what they are when the occasions arise. C) I noticed a few people
spelling Lin's name with an 'r' instead of an 'L' and I've seen people do
'Yubaba' as 'Yu-baaba' too. Again, I've observed things like 'Sen to
Chihiro no Kamikakushi' and etc. I have no idea about those. What are they?
What do they mean? So sue me for not understanding, even though I've got
the double DVD set. Shoot. Shoots 'n ladders. So if anybody might be nice
enough to let me know about those? I'd really like it if somebody did. You
don't have to review if you don't want to, by the way. Even if the entire
world flames or ignores me, I'll continue to waste space on the Web with
this.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Spirited Away. Miyazaki does. *drools all over the wonderful Miyazaki's shoes with wide freakily admiring eyes* dun sue me, all you'll get is an old Easter Egg that I haven't managed to wolf down yet. ^-^ no profit is being made from this.
Summery: in this, our lovely little Hero-ette is not ten/nine, but twelve/thirteen. K? got that? All right. ::cough:: summery. Yeah. Okay. She has escaped with her parents, off to their new home - but Chihiro has no idea what kind of hell she left Haku in. a shadow casts itself over the bathhouse or whatever it is the moment she is gone, and everybody becomes incredibly EVIL. Except Haku, and a select few others, of course. And it wants Chihiro - well, it knows her as Sen of course - and yanks her back rather unceremoniously. It also wants Haku. Hmm. Now, why, I wonder? READ TO FIND OUT THEN, BRIGHT ONE!!! Don't judge this fic by what summery I put in this chapter. I've been known to change my plot multiple times, and I always post the updated plot in the upcoming chapter. So.
Chapters: I'm suspecting around five to thirteen chapters. They may be half a paragraph long to thirty document pages long. I've been known to do both. ^_~
Rating/Pairings: PG-13 just to be safe [or not ~_^] and C/H of course, though I'll put maybe a few other things in too...
Genre: Drama/Action/Adventure/Romance???/Angst?/Horror?/suspense?/AU [Author's Universe]
Prologue Started: 4/21/03 Prologue Finished: 4/22/03
Third Person POV
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.
Ring around the rosies,
A pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes,
We all fall down...
-- -The Black Death
.
.
_________________________________________~*~____________________________ ________
PROLOGUE
.
"Chihiro, stop squeezing, you'll make me trip!"
They broke out of the tunnel and into the light of day.
"What the!" her father ran to their car, time having taken it's toll on it.
"Could this be somebody's idea of a joke?"
"It's all dusty inside, too!"
Chihiro, though, turned back to the dark opening and held her breath. She tried to pierce the blackness with her eyes, but that proved to be impossible.
"Come on, Chihiro!"
She got in the car, and they started to drive away.
"A new town and a new school - you must be worried."
"I think I can handle it," she replied quietly, still trying to see through the dense darkness over her shoulder, out the back window.
Her mother glanced back at her.
"Chihiro-chan, are you okay?"
"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine, mom."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes daddy."
Her parents glanced at each other at her sarcastic tone. "Teenagers."
"Ah, those were the golden years!"
Chihiro sighed and tuned them out as they rounded a bend and a few minutes later left the forest and tunnel behind once turned onto a little-used road. "Here's the road we were looking for!"
Her parents remained blissfully oblivious as to what had happened the last few days. Or had it been weeks? Months? Years? She didn't know. She was just glad to have them back.
Then... why did she feel like bursting into tears?
She didn't know that, either.
No, she did.
Haku.
Twisting around, she looked out the back window in a hopeless cause. They would probably never find that place again. Never.
But then, he *had* promised.
Then maybe he'd come visit her instead?
No, he couldn't leave the Spirit World.
Could he?
Again, her lack of knowledge was enough to make anybody sick.
"Chihiro? I really think that something is wrong. You've not said a word, honey. Do you really miss your friends so much already? Tell ya what, we can call them when we get home. How's that sound?"
"Great, mom. Thanks."
"Don't be so cold to your mother, dear. She only wants to help."
"I'm sorry mom, sorry daddy. Just... one of my friends is moving away too, and I don't know his address or phone number." Well, close enough. She had never been a good liar or one to use synonyms and similes.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe when the new phone book comes out we'll track him down." Her mother closed one eye, then turned back to the front once more.
"Sure." Chihiro could bet a lot that Haku *definitely* wouldn't be listed.
For a long time it was just silence, and she sighed and laid down, like she had before. She shifted uncomfortably when her pony tail got in the way, and she reached up to take it out. She gasped when she realized the band was, and closed it tightly in a fist.
"What's wrong? Why did you gasp?"
"I'm fine. I, uh, laid back on the roses is all."
"All right. We should be there in a few of hours, provided we don't take any bad short cuts."
"Okay. Thanks."
'It'll keep you safe,' Is what granny had said.
Would it do anything else?
.
"Oh, honey, look at that! Rain cloud!" her father said close to a few hours later. Chihiro woke from her dozing state with a small jerk at the unexpected outburst, and sat up, putting her hair back up with the *special* hair binder.
"The skies were baby blue just a little while ago!" her mother replied, craning her neck slightly.
"It's because the sun set, mom," Chihiro pointed out.
"Yes, yes, dear, but look - see it's beginning to rain, too!"
Indeed. The car began to get pummeled by large, fat rain drops. They began to come faster and faster, until soon it was just a steady drum, a roar.
"Amazing! I've never seen rain come down this fast!" her mother remarked.
"Would you look at all of that fog!" her father added, leaning forward, straining against his seatbelt while clicking on the lights at full blast, and the wind-shield wipers, too. "wow! I hope it isn't always like this on the coast!"
"May be," came the quiet reply from the back. Chihiro examined the window, and jumped as something that was much harder and smaller than rain smacked against it. "what was that?"
"A small stone," her mother replied. "the car ahead of us is kicking them up."
"Then why did it hit my window??"
"I'm not - LOOK OUT!!"
They swerved hard to the right, slid a ways until her father got control of the steering wheel, then swerved back onto the road, all the while barely missing a passing semi truck.
"What happened?"
"Nothing happened, dear!" her father sounded rather frustrated. "some jerk just doesn't know how to drive on the right side of the road."
"We could have been KILLED!" Chihiro shrieked, voice rising in pitch.
She had NOT just spent who-knows-how-long trying to save her parents from a bunch of spirits just to lose them to a stupid car crash now that she had triumphed!
"It could be that he couldn't see where he was going," her mother said softly. Softly. Not meant for her daughter's ears. Chihiro nervously reached up and touched her hair binder.
"Perhaps. I think it's best we get home soon, though."
"How much longer until we get home?"
"An hour, hour and a half," her mother replied quietly.
"Well, I think that we should get a room for the night! It's too dangerous!"
"Nonsense, Chihiro. Your father is in perfect control, and we're too close to be wasting money like that anyway."
"NO! mom, daddy, I don't want to lose you!" it had slipped out before she could stop.
Her mother twisted around to look at her, and her father examined her reflection in the rear-view mirror.
That was their undoing.
HONK! HOOOOOOOOOOONK!!!
Chihiro screamed at the top of her lungs as they swerved once again. Except this time, the passing car knocked them, and sent them reeling.
"We're on the wrong side of the road!" her mother called, reaching over and jerking the steering wheel.
"Don't do that! I think I've realized the same thing, too!"
"Don't shout! Don't argue, you'll get us all killed!"
Her parents made the third Mistake Of The Year by looking back at her again.
"LOOK AT THE ROAD!!"
Too late.
This time, however, they were more lucky, and swung into the right lane easily enough. After a tense silence, all three sighed in relief and slumped down in their seats.
"The fog's getting worse," her father grumbled, reaching forward and wiping the window with his hand futilely.
"Let's find a place for the night!" Chihiro repeated.
"I must admit, the idea is beginning to sound nice," her mother agreed in her soft-my-daughter-who-is-in-the-back-can't-hear-me voice.
"No," came the harsh reply. "the next town is too far back, and anyway we're too close to be giving up now!"
"But daddy-"
"I said NO. Now, you two just buckle your seatbelts and relax. I can - and will - handle this."
Again, Chihiro reached up and tapped her band with a finger, just to assure her it was there. She buckled her seatbelt.
"Yes daddy."
She forced herself to calm down and sit back into her seat. Needlessly, her mother glanced at her. "I'm sorry, Chihiro. Your parents have really screwed up royally this evening."
"No. it's okay. I'm okay, you're okay, we're all okay. Right?" she forced her voice to be cheerful.
"Right!" her mother sighed and stared out the window. "The fog seems so thick," she said again in that for-daddy-only tone. "much thicker then I've ever seen it before..."
"We're almost there, right?"
"Don't start that 'are we there yet' crap, Chihiro. Yes, we're almost there."
Chihiro looked out her window, too. She couldn't see anything through the rain and mist.
She wondered what Haku was doing right then. She wondered what they all were doing right then.
Suddenly, her father let out a surprised shout along with her mother, red lights blaring abruptly in front of the car, her parents throwing their arms up over their faces out of reflex. It felt as though everything was in slow motion. Chihro felt - yes, felt - something impact the front of the car, something hard and unmoving, crumpling the front into nothing. Like when you step on a pop can with your foot, in one clean, super-fast stroke. She felt gravity and motion seize control of her body and pull her forward into the crashing, shattering glass, that fell like droplets from a waterfall around her. Her seatbelt held her fast, though, and Chihiro felt painful jerk as she was yanked back into her seat. She was unaware of her screaming the whole time.
BOOM!!! She felt the other side of the car. The other side. something had pushed it into her - something had hit the side.
Horns, screaming, wind howling, and rain. Steady, beating, drumming rain.
Glass. Everywhere, flying without anything to hold it down, bringing forth droplets of blood the same size unnoticingly out of adrenaline filled bodies.
Crash! The back of the car was slammed forward, and Chihiro had the craziest idea that she might die as she was pushed into the side of her father's seat, unable to twist into a rightly unpainful position - she had been sitting in the middle in the back.
And it was over.
All of that had happened in a matter of seconds.
No time whatsoever to regester what had happened.
Though it was obvious. They had slammed into a car in front, and two cars - one on the side, and one behind, hit them head-on, too.
The fog and rain swept into their car, through the shattered windows.
"Chihiro, are you okay?" her mother touched her cheek from where she was pinned - all three of them were pinned, though Chihiro's being the more painful as she was between her seat and her father's, halfway, had reflexively tried to twist out, but had only managed to get in the horrible position she was in now. Her seat belt held her shoulder painfully, defiantly, back. Both she and her father had passed out. Unconscious.
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A/N: I know that sucked, but it'll get better, I promise!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Spirited Away. Miyazaki does. *drools all over the wonderful Miyazaki's shoes with wide freakily admiring eyes* dun sue me, all you'll get is an old Easter Egg that I haven't managed to wolf down yet. ^-^ no profit is being made from this.
Summery: in this, our lovely little Hero-ette is not ten/nine, but twelve/thirteen. K? got that? All right. ::cough:: summery. Yeah. Okay. She has escaped with her parents, off to their new home - but Chihiro has no idea what kind of hell she left Haku in. a shadow casts itself over the bathhouse or whatever it is the moment she is gone, and everybody becomes incredibly EVIL. Except Haku, and a select few others, of course. And it wants Chihiro - well, it knows her as Sen of course - and yanks her back rather unceremoniously. It also wants Haku. Hmm. Now, why, I wonder? READ TO FIND OUT THEN, BRIGHT ONE!!! Don't judge this fic by what summery I put in this chapter. I've been known to change my plot multiple times, and I always post the updated plot in the upcoming chapter. So.
Chapters: I'm suspecting around five to thirteen chapters. They may be half a paragraph long to thirty document pages long. I've been known to do both. ^_~
Rating/Pairings: PG-13 just to be safe [or not ~_^] and C/H of course, though I'll put maybe a few other things in too...
Genre: Drama/Action/Adventure/Romance???/Angst?/Horror?/suspense?/AU [Author's Universe]
Prologue Started: 4/21/03 Prologue Finished: 4/22/03
Third Person POV
.
.
Ring around the rosies,
A pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes,
We all fall down...
-- -The Black Death
.
.
_________________________________________~*~____________________________ ________
PROLOGUE
.
"Chihiro, stop squeezing, you'll make me trip!"
They broke out of the tunnel and into the light of day.
"What the!" her father ran to their car, time having taken it's toll on it.
"Could this be somebody's idea of a joke?"
"It's all dusty inside, too!"
Chihiro, though, turned back to the dark opening and held her breath. She tried to pierce the blackness with her eyes, but that proved to be impossible.
"Come on, Chihiro!"
She got in the car, and they started to drive away.
"A new town and a new school - you must be worried."
"I think I can handle it," she replied quietly, still trying to see through the dense darkness over her shoulder, out the back window.
Her mother glanced back at her.
"Chihiro-chan, are you okay?"
"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine, mom."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes daddy."
Her parents glanced at each other at her sarcastic tone. "Teenagers."
"Ah, those were the golden years!"
Chihiro sighed and tuned them out as they rounded a bend and a few minutes later left the forest and tunnel behind once turned onto a little-used road. "Here's the road we were looking for!"
Her parents remained blissfully oblivious as to what had happened the last few days. Or had it been weeks? Months? Years? She didn't know. She was just glad to have them back.
Then... why did she feel like bursting into tears?
She didn't know that, either.
No, she did.
Haku.
Twisting around, she looked out the back window in a hopeless cause. They would probably never find that place again. Never.
But then, he *had* promised.
Then maybe he'd come visit her instead?
No, he couldn't leave the Spirit World.
Could he?
Again, her lack of knowledge was enough to make anybody sick.
"Chihiro? I really think that something is wrong. You've not said a word, honey. Do you really miss your friends so much already? Tell ya what, we can call them when we get home. How's that sound?"
"Great, mom. Thanks."
"Don't be so cold to your mother, dear. She only wants to help."
"I'm sorry mom, sorry daddy. Just... one of my friends is moving away too, and I don't know his address or phone number." Well, close enough. She had never been a good liar or one to use synonyms and similes.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe when the new phone book comes out we'll track him down." Her mother closed one eye, then turned back to the front once more.
"Sure." Chihiro could bet a lot that Haku *definitely* wouldn't be listed.
For a long time it was just silence, and she sighed and laid down, like she had before. She shifted uncomfortably when her pony tail got in the way, and she reached up to take it out. She gasped when she realized the band was, and closed it tightly in a fist.
"What's wrong? Why did you gasp?"
"I'm fine. I, uh, laid back on the roses is all."
"All right. We should be there in a few of hours, provided we don't take any bad short cuts."
"Okay. Thanks."
'It'll keep you safe,' Is what granny had said.
Would it do anything else?
.
"Oh, honey, look at that! Rain cloud!" her father said close to a few hours later. Chihiro woke from her dozing state with a small jerk at the unexpected outburst, and sat up, putting her hair back up with the *special* hair binder.
"The skies were baby blue just a little while ago!" her mother replied, craning her neck slightly.
"It's because the sun set, mom," Chihiro pointed out.
"Yes, yes, dear, but look - see it's beginning to rain, too!"
Indeed. The car began to get pummeled by large, fat rain drops. They began to come faster and faster, until soon it was just a steady drum, a roar.
"Amazing! I've never seen rain come down this fast!" her mother remarked.
"Would you look at all of that fog!" her father added, leaning forward, straining against his seatbelt while clicking on the lights at full blast, and the wind-shield wipers, too. "wow! I hope it isn't always like this on the coast!"
"May be," came the quiet reply from the back. Chihiro examined the window, and jumped as something that was much harder and smaller than rain smacked against it. "what was that?"
"A small stone," her mother replied. "the car ahead of us is kicking them up."
"Then why did it hit my window??"
"I'm not - LOOK OUT!!"
They swerved hard to the right, slid a ways until her father got control of the steering wheel, then swerved back onto the road, all the while barely missing a passing semi truck.
"What happened?"
"Nothing happened, dear!" her father sounded rather frustrated. "some jerk just doesn't know how to drive on the right side of the road."
"We could have been KILLED!" Chihiro shrieked, voice rising in pitch.
She had NOT just spent who-knows-how-long trying to save her parents from a bunch of spirits just to lose them to a stupid car crash now that she had triumphed!
"It could be that he couldn't see where he was going," her mother said softly. Softly. Not meant for her daughter's ears. Chihiro nervously reached up and touched her hair binder.
"Perhaps. I think it's best we get home soon, though."
"How much longer until we get home?"
"An hour, hour and a half," her mother replied quietly.
"Well, I think that we should get a room for the night! It's too dangerous!"
"Nonsense, Chihiro. Your father is in perfect control, and we're too close to be wasting money like that anyway."
"NO! mom, daddy, I don't want to lose you!" it had slipped out before she could stop.
Her mother twisted around to look at her, and her father examined her reflection in the rear-view mirror.
That was their undoing.
HONK! HOOOOOOOOOOONK!!!
Chihiro screamed at the top of her lungs as they swerved once again. Except this time, the passing car knocked them, and sent them reeling.
"We're on the wrong side of the road!" her mother called, reaching over and jerking the steering wheel.
"Don't do that! I think I've realized the same thing, too!"
"Don't shout! Don't argue, you'll get us all killed!"
Her parents made the third Mistake Of The Year by looking back at her again.
"LOOK AT THE ROAD!!"
Too late.
This time, however, they were more lucky, and swung into the right lane easily enough. After a tense silence, all three sighed in relief and slumped down in their seats.
"The fog's getting worse," her father grumbled, reaching forward and wiping the window with his hand futilely.
"Let's find a place for the night!" Chihiro repeated.
"I must admit, the idea is beginning to sound nice," her mother agreed in her soft-my-daughter-who-is-in-the-back-can't-hear-me voice.
"No," came the harsh reply. "the next town is too far back, and anyway we're too close to be giving up now!"
"But daddy-"
"I said NO. Now, you two just buckle your seatbelts and relax. I can - and will - handle this."
Again, Chihiro reached up and tapped her band with a finger, just to assure her it was there. She buckled her seatbelt.
"Yes daddy."
She forced herself to calm down and sit back into her seat. Needlessly, her mother glanced at her. "I'm sorry, Chihiro. Your parents have really screwed up royally this evening."
"No. it's okay. I'm okay, you're okay, we're all okay. Right?" she forced her voice to be cheerful.
"Right!" her mother sighed and stared out the window. "The fog seems so thick," she said again in that for-daddy-only tone. "much thicker then I've ever seen it before..."
"We're almost there, right?"
"Don't start that 'are we there yet' crap, Chihiro. Yes, we're almost there."
Chihiro looked out her window, too. She couldn't see anything through the rain and mist.
She wondered what Haku was doing right then. She wondered what they all were doing right then.
Suddenly, her father let out a surprised shout along with her mother, red lights blaring abruptly in front of the car, her parents throwing their arms up over their faces out of reflex. It felt as though everything was in slow motion. Chihro felt - yes, felt - something impact the front of the car, something hard and unmoving, crumpling the front into nothing. Like when you step on a pop can with your foot, in one clean, super-fast stroke. She felt gravity and motion seize control of her body and pull her forward into the crashing, shattering glass, that fell like droplets from a waterfall around her. Her seatbelt held her fast, though, and Chihiro felt painful jerk as she was yanked back into her seat. She was unaware of her screaming the whole time.
BOOM!!! She felt the other side of the car. The other side. something had pushed it into her - something had hit the side.
Horns, screaming, wind howling, and rain. Steady, beating, drumming rain.
Glass. Everywhere, flying without anything to hold it down, bringing forth droplets of blood the same size unnoticingly out of adrenaline filled bodies.
Crash! The back of the car was slammed forward, and Chihiro had the craziest idea that she might die as she was pushed into the side of her father's seat, unable to twist into a rightly unpainful position - she had been sitting in the middle in the back.
And it was over.
All of that had happened in a matter of seconds.
No time whatsoever to regester what had happened.
Though it was obvious. They had slammed into a car in front, and two cars - one on the side, and one behind, hit them head-on, too.
The fog and rain swept into their car, through the shattered windows.
"Chihiro, are you okay?" her mother touched her cheek from where she was pinned - all three of them were pinned, though Chihiro's being the more painful as she was between her seat and her father's, halfway, had reflexively tried to twist out, but had only managed to get in the horrible position she was in now. Her seat belt held her shoulder painfully, defiantly, back. Both she and her father had passed out. Unconscious.
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A/N: I know that sucked, but it'll get better, I promise!
