So here's the next chapter, a lot later than expected sorry but my family and I have just moved countries. I have also gone back and edited chapter 1 after looking through it and seeing a whole bunch of mistakes. Anyway here is the second part of the chapter, enjoy.
Arashi (Continued)
The glow of the ring faded slowly, sinking back into the stone and leaving only the shimmering ruby red of the precious jewel. There was nothing but silence as Yubaba turned back towards the bathhouse entrance, gazing with satisfaction at what now looked like a harmless gem. Haku could only stare in shock at the old bathhouse owner who seemed unfazed by the whole ordeal; instead she was focused on setting her jewellery right and checking for any damage to her precious stones.
Haku had never seen magic like what Yubaba had wielded, the aurora of the magic itself had felt different to anything he had experienced and the presence of it had clung to his skin like a fine mist. What she had used bordered on dark magic and Haku was unsure of where she had found such spells as few spirits in the world had the ability to control such a temperamental force. Dark magic was known to be wild magic and as such Haku had never wanted to dabble in its art, it could either become a powerful ally of the caster or consume them in its energy.
Yubaba finally looked up from her hand and saw the group of workers watching, sneering at them a low growl left her throat. "What are you all looking at, get back to work!" Her loud yell broke the large group of spirits out of their daze and they were quick to scurry back inside with Yubaba barking at their heels shouting orders, no guests of hers would see the outrageous state that that vile spirit had left her building.
There was a small scuffling sound behind Haku and he turned to see Lin struggling precariously to her feet. In less than a second he had rushed over to grab hold of her arm, supporting her as the glazed look slowly faded from her eyes. When she finally regained her balance she tugged her arm out of his strong grip and glared at him. "What are you still doing here? Go find Chihiro." With a hard shove towards the end of the bridge Lin turned and shuffled back into the bathhouse with only a slight limp as a telltale for the ordeal. Haku shook his head in disbelief and turned back towards where his purpose lay.
He began to move quickly across the bridge, gathering his magic in preparation for changing his form. He felt the magic begin to rush over him, spreading through his veins and burning like fire waiting to be released. Just as he began to feel the familiar stretching he was stopped short as a small sparrow swooped down and darted in front of his face. He was forced to draw the magic back into himself, pulling it back and closing his eyes to concentrate on pushing the magic back into his core. When he opened his eyes the forest spirit he had enlisted the help of stood in front of him, waiting to be acknowledged.
"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be watching over your charge." Haku hissed as he glared at the spirit that was delaying him. The forest spirits eyes sharpened at his tone and she took a step towards Haku meeting his eyes with a glare of her own, instead of intimidating him it only served to infuriate him more and a low grumbling growl rose from his throat.
"You also told me to tell you if her condition changed so that's what I'm doing. The human has a draining curse on her, it's in a late stage as well and if not removed she will be dead in a matter of days." Haku felt his entire being go still, as if by not moving it would make the news any less true or sudden. A draining curse was serious; it was usually reserved for spirits that had no hope of recovering from injury or illness and the curse allowed for a peaceful passage into death. The curse is only known by a chosen few and while it was a difficult piece of magic to cast it was even harder to cure, no records existed of reversing the spell or any sort of cure as the curse was never intended to be reversed. Haku's thoughts drifted back to what Yubaba had said to him not long ago, she had sent a little 'gift' to help Chihiro on her way and he berated himself for not realizing sooner. Even though he was almost certain on the caster it didn't help on how to develop a cure, even if they were able to get Chihiro back safely and stabilised her condition she wouldn't return back to health and would never be able to without help.
Haku allowed his face to fall into his habitual stoic mask, all emotions slipping from his face as he banished all thoughts of failure from his mind, he would focus on one thing at a time and for now he would concentrate on getting to Chihiro and only then would he let himself think about the non-existent cure. Haku turned his attention back to the spirit in front of him and saw that she was still watching him, red hair brushed back from her face by the gentle breeze. A sudden thought flitted through his mind and his gaze turned suspicious.
"How long have you know about the curse?" As much as he tried he could not keep the suspicion from his voice, the spirit looked taken aback by the question and seemed unsure for a moment. Haku's thoughts were turning more and more vengeful as the seconds ticked by without an answer and he knew that no matter what he tried to tell himself he would not be able to control his seething temper much longer.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp and indignant voice, "I know exactly what you're thinking and you have no right to. I sensed it today and came as soon as I could. It seemed to only have been in place for a short time but with her already in such a weak state the time might as well have been doubled. Since you seem to be set on sparing this humans life your only choice is to bring her to the spirit world, the influence of outside magic will slow the effects." As the last word passed her lips the spirit turned on her heel and walked away, followed by Haku's cold stare.
Now alone on the bridge Haku began to rush towards the human world again, releasing the pent up energy and allowing it to rush through him and extend and stretch his form. As he lunged forward and allowed his clawed feet to part with the ground he hoped with everything he was that he wasn't already too late.
Ahead, unknown to Haku, flew a small sparrow crossing the barrier between the worlds and drifting through the forest that protected the hidden doorway. It flew with familiarity towards the small blue house at the edge of the town and landed carefully on the balcony of the room that faced the forest.
Crisp white snow was falling, glittering crystals falling from the dark sky above that made the air around Chihiro shine and twinkle like a thousand gems. As a particularly bright piece of the frosty ice fell in front of her face she stuck her tongue out and allowed it to fall gently onto it. A small sound of surprise left her when instead of the sharp cold that she expected, a gentle warm washed through her and the liquid on her tongue felt silky, leaving a faintly sweet taste behind.
Surrounding her was a line of trees, their leaves long gone with the warmth of the air and instead were iced with a gentle dusting of the soft white powder. As Chihiro gazed around her eyes rested on a small break in the trees, which left room for a large white house with walls seeming to have a strange sparkling quality that whispered of hidden crystals embedded into them. It was then that she also noticed the dark silhouette that was striding with sure steps towards her away from the house.
The figure kept coming closer and closer and it wasn't long before the identity of the mysterious person was able to be discerned through the continuously falling flakes. It was the dark hair that she recognized first, no different from the day they first met; the eyes were next and confirmed her suspicions as she knew of only one being who possessed such a pure colour - piercing emeralds that were breaking a path through the distance and staring into her own. A warm breath rushed past her lip, sounding suspiciously like the name of the person that was crossing the frosty ground towards her.
Chihiro's eyes wandered over the figure before her, trying to memorise every small detail of the spirit she hadn't seen in years but had hoped to see every day since her departure from his world. As she took in the sight she stilled as she noticed the long blade that rested at his hip. The sword was made of a dark metal that shined and glimmered as if reflecting light, though the sky was still very much a dark steel grey. Haku continued to move closer, his hand shifting down to flutter above the hilt of the sword. Chihiro did not notice this slight movement though, instead her eyes had been captured by his and she watched in horror as his once bright eyes were clouded over and faded to settle on a seemingly endless black.
It was then that Chihiro could hear her instincts telling her to turn and run, get away quickly, her breath caught and adrenaline started to pump through her veins. She intended to listen to what she was being told and to listen well. That was until she realised that she couldn't move, that her feet were stuck to the ground and what she thought was going to be a sweet reunion was quickly turning into a nightmare. She stood frozen, trapped in the clutches of whatever was holding her still and not even able to move the slightest inch away from the monster that was moving towards her. That was what it was, a monster, it couldn't be Haku it couldn't, she refused to think that the creature with only a beast's intent in its eyes was the spirit that she knew and cared for, that was a figure in her childhood.
Haku was much closer now, moving slowly and surely towards Chihiro, each step calculated and strategic but eyes never dropping from where they burned into hers. It was because of this strangling gaze that Chihiro never saw his movements became like a snakes, slow and cautious, weaving and direct. It was in this distraction that she did not notice the white knuckled grip on the hilt by his side, the slight scrape as the deadly blade was drawn from its home to rest balanced in the palm of his hand. What did draw her attention though was the slight glint of light that flicked off the wicked metal, but by then it was already too late, the snake had struck.
Chihiro was released from the imprisoning gaze then, her head dropping down weakly as she used unfocused eyes to look down at her stomach. There, thrust deeply into her stomach, was the sword that had once hung by Haku's hip. Dark blooms of blood were already spreading through the clothing that she wore, yet curiously she felt no pain. Breathe that she did not realise that she was holding rushed softly past her lips as she continued to marvel at the object that was protruding out of her, a sick sense of fascination towards this foreign object. Chihiro lifted her heavy head, it was getting foggy and her thoughts fuzzy, Haku still stared at her with breathing slightly laboured. Haku's eyes seemed to become greener the longer she stared and hope began to flutter in her chest, fighting the continuously growing weakness. Her hope was quickly shattered as the eyes faded back to black and his expression became stone. With one jerk of his arm Haku twisted the sword and yanked it back towards him, releasing it with a sickening liquid sound.
That was then the pain came. Fire raced through Chihiro's veins, burning her from the inside out and released in a blood curdling scream that was too loud in the serene surroundings. She did not notice when she fell back, sprawling heavily across the snow covered ground that still lay undisturbed. The chill of the snow bit into her skin but nothing compared to the burning that consumed her. Slowly the snow became stained red as Chihiro tried to fight away the darkness that was pulling at her, tugging at her consciousness as her eyes became heavy and weak.
Slowly, ever so slowly, her eyes slid shut.
It was with a chocking gasp that Chihro woke from her disturbed sleep. Cold sweat ran uncomfortably down her neck, making her shiver as she sat up on her bed. Her hand unconsciously felt its way across where the deadly wound was moments ago, now there was only supple skin that was completely intact. With a small sigh of relief her hand dropped back to the bed, clenching the sheets in her fist as jumbled images of the dream continued to drift through her mind.
Her eyes felt gritty and sore, her skin was damp and her head felt as if someone had taken to it with a hammer. Chihiro could already feel herself drifting off again as she lay back into her pillows. With her mind too exhausted to do much anything else and the dream already fading she soon again fell into a dreamless sleep, undisturbed by the nightmares that haunted her.
It was because of this that she never heard the soft footsteps by her bed, nor acknowledged the whispered words in her ear followed by the gentle press of lips against her forehead, reminiscent of the way her mother used to. She also never saw the spirit that sat by the wall facing her bed, just watching and waiting. What she did hear though were those whispered words, ones that she would not remember once she had woken, "He will be here soon". These words chased away the dreamlessness of Chihiro's sleep and instead invited the soft tones of a sunlit forest during the warmth of summer days.
The winds were cold and the sharp moisture of the air felt as if it were burning the lungs of the dragon that tore through the air, focused only on faster, faster, get there sooner. The looming clouds still remained even with their master gone and the metallic taste to the air gave away the storm that was building. These poor conditions were slowing Haku down and his frustration was building. Though he knew that the few minutes and seconds he was saving by pushing himself violently faster would make no difference, the guilt that ran through him demanded that he get there as soon as physically possible.
It was as the dragon strained against the wind and the sharp, needle-like rain began to bite into him that a sudden thought passed through. Once he had Chihiro, then what? He couldn't cure something like this, though he prided himself on knowing many things he did not know how to reverse this magic. He didn't even know if it could be reversed. Haku was dismayed to realise that he also couldn't bring Chihiro back to the bathhouse, with Yubaba having her eyes on the whole of the establishment and the strong scent that accompanies humans he doubted he could keep her a secreted away from Yubaba for long. The usually well organised and planned dragon was suddenly struck still by his lack of forethought, as eager as he was to finally get to his long ago friend he did not think through the consequences and what must be done to combat them.
Thinking quickly and willing not to waste anymore time then necessary Haku tried to draw up a solution but was coming up blank. With a roar of frustration he took a sudden dive towards the ground, startling a flock of birds from a nearby tree. The ground was rushing faster and faster towards him yet he didn't slow or stop, instead his eye seemed to take on a glint as adrenalin rushed through him and he heard blood pounding heavily in his ears. At the last possible second he drew himself up and slammed his claws into the ground to stop him from skidding across the damp dirt. His breathing was heavy and laboured from the sudden expulsion of energy, his eyes darting around the place that he had landed.
Swamp land surrounded him with thick trees lining the worn path that now supported deep grooves from his less than soft landing. Haku rarely travelled through the swamps, neither flying over nor passing through which caused a slight disorientation as he tried to gather his bearings. It was only once he actually turned around did he realise where he was. A sweet little cottage stood in front of him, an image of cosy nights and baked goods would come to mind of most but to Haku it brought to mind images that he would much rather forget. He had only met Zeniba a handful of times after the day he had stolen her seal, though she had been understanding of the circumstances behind the theft she had been mistrustful of him. He had visited her a few times after but had never really understood why, every time that he had though a knowing look came over the old witches face. What he did know was that the old witch would gladly take Chihiro's company. Thanking the gods above him graciously for a solution to his problem he slipped back into his normal form and made his way to the cottage.
As he neared the door he noticed that it was already partially open, the invitingly soft smell of warmth accompanied by the glow of a fire drifted out to him where he stood in the rain. Pushing the door open fully Haku stepped inside, closing it softly behind him as he scanned the room. Zeniba sat in an armchair close to the fire, her knitting resting on her lap with her hands folded over the top of it. He was about to walk over to her when a loud crash from the kitchen made him glance over to see No Face bustling around mixing a strange looking black concoction that was occasionally sending out puffs of smoke that seemed to smell of raspberries. As the spirit added a purple powder sparks began to fill up the bowl and spill over the edge, disappearing as soon as they did. A soft chuckle drew his attention back to Zeniba.
"Stardust cake. Considered a delicacy but is just as good for a classic dessert." The witch stated as they both turned to watch No Face carefully measure out more of the powder and tip it into the bowl. Haku gave an impressed hum, the purple powder would have been the stardust that gives the cake its name, a hard to find and expensive baking product created from actual stardust combined with a stabilising agent that allowed it to be mixed into a batter without causing the surroundings to be burnt to ashes, including the user. Zeniba must have gone to a high profile supplier to have gotten her hands on some of the stuff.
"As lovely as it is to see you again Haku, I'm guessing that you're not here for my tea and cake." Zeniba said gravely. Haku shook his head and leant back against the door, crossing his legs at the ankles.
"I'm afraid not, I've come to request a favour from you. I'm returning to the human world shortly and will be returning with Chihiro, I'm sure that you remember her fondly, but I am unable to return to the bathhouse with her and so need somewhere to take her. Unfortunately the circumstances are dire; she has been afflicted with a draining curse for an unknown amount of time." Haku watched as his words took effect on the witch, her forehead creased with worry and her mouth set into a firm line. Zeniba suddenly jumped up from her chair and tossing her knitting to the side she rushed over to Haku. Shoving him roughly out of the way she pulled the door open and started to pull the shocked dragon outside.
"Go, go, go. I'll take care of everything here. Go you stupid dragon." The old woman turned in a flurry and rushed back into the cottage slamming the door shut behind her. Walking back down the long worn path through the foggy swamp Haku once again changed forms and took to the skies. It was then that realisation came over him of the reason why he visited Zeniba all those times, he had known that Chihiro had adored the woman and the woman had adored her just as much, if not more, and so he felt some sort of connection to Zeniba through the shared loss that they had when their little human had left them behind. As the human world approached Haku knew that finally they would have her back, what he did not know though was whether or not she would be alive when they did.
A little shorter than the other chapters but it was the second half of the last chapter though. Next chapter will be up at some point, hopefully soon. Hope you enjoyed.