Ankoku's Point of view

I stood in front of the red entrance to the bath house, so much energy, but my focus was on one energy. The new spirit's. Gliding to under her window I stopped. This was the key to getting revenge. I flew up, and opened the window, letting myself in. The young woman was unconscious. She would live. I made sure of that. She was my key part of the plan. I walked to the bed and stroked her cheek."Such a pretty soul...So young but powerful...You remind me of my sister and me...Sadly, you're mine." I tilted the woman's head back with my fingernail and leaned close to her head."And I'll make sure you do what I want you to do." With that I released it. A shadow so dark that it was a hole, a shadow that carried all sorts of evil and misfortune, a shadow that can control and that I controlled. It wiggled into her mouth and I watched as the black mass traveled down her throat to her heart. The door slid open.A young man's voice sounded."Kamaji, you're sure that-"

I came to see a young man, tall, slender, and strong standing in the doorway. His hair was tied in a hasty ponytail and his clothes were far to formal for him to be a low class spirit. I sniffed."Kohaku."

He glared."Ankoku."

"Nice to see you again"

"Here to see what damage you did?"

"Why no, in fact I'm here to check her condition."

"You can leave before I loose my temper."

I walked towards the window."Yes, I'll do that. Just remember, I'm never gone."

Lin's Pov.

The shadows formed all sorts of demons. They stared at us and we stared back. I cleared my throat."Do we fight?"

The demons parted to allow a huge fat one through. He held out a vile to us and pointed at the river, then he and his followers vanished. I glanced at Yubaba, she was sniffing the vile and throughly examining it."This can purify the river." She announced.

I stared suspiciously at the little bottle."Why would they help us?"

Yubaba sighed."Seeing that this is Antoku that we're up against, Chihiro's illness is only something to scare us and her bigger plan is coming up."

I nodded."Well? Pour the vile in already!" She did, and the river cleared immediately. It became sparkly blue water once more and even the smell vanished.

"Let's go back."

Haku's Pov.

I didn't know what Ankoku had done to Chihiro but it couldn't have been good. I hoped that she'd live...I shook my head. 'Of course she'll live! She's Sen! The determined, stubborn, one-of-a-kind human..no spirit'

I clutched her hand.'Come on Chihiro... You can do it!"

Chihiro's Pov.

It was dark...so dark...And there was static everywhere. I walked a little, unsure of which direction I was going and then stopped.'This is useless.' Suddenly a voice ran out. "Come on Chihiro...You can do it!" My eyes widened. 'That was Haku!'

"Haku where are you!"

I looked around and the static disappeared. The black became white and I saw a figure approach from the distance."Haku! that you?" I ran towards the figure and there he stood. Haku was in front of me, in the ball robes and with a warm smile. I started to run forward and he opened his arms. I crashed into him but he kept his balance, holding me in the safety of his embrace. I looked into his eyes, happy to see him."Haku!..." That's when I noticed his eyes. They weren't that brilliant green that I'd learned to love, they were a stormy gray and red. I backed away, trembling.

"Wh-o are you?"

"What do you mean my love? Don't you know me?"

"Haku would never call me love!"

"Of course I would."

"NO! NO! NO!"

I yelled and ran at him. I threw my weight against the imposter and he fell with surprise. I jumped onto him and started jumping frantically."IMPOSTER! YOU'RE NOT HAKU! GET OUT! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT HET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!" At the last word he exploded. A burst of black ink erupted to evaporate in mid air, forming a rose intertwined with a skull before fading. I sank to my knees. Closing my eyes I tilted my head up.'I'm trying Haku, I'm trying."

Akari's POv.

As we entered the forest, a wolf howled. I shivered."I don't like the look of this place."

Zenniba nodded grimly."Stick close to me dear."

We wove through the forest bramble and I kept my eye on Zenniba the whole time. We were crossing a river when a branch snapped behind us. A growl followed. I turned slowly and there it stood. A wolf around 5 feet tall with long pointed teeth and black eyes. It's fur was messy and gleamed in the moonlight. I cleared my throuat."Uh Zenniba...We've got company..." Zenniba turned and froze,"Don't move."

I nodded'I hope it's just one...' As if on cue, 5 more wolves appeared on both sides of the first one. I muttered bitterly."Great, thanks sooo much fate." The first wolf growled again and I tensed. Without warning it leaped and landed on the other side of us. The other wolves fanned out, trapping us in a circle. I trembled."Zenniba..? What do we do now?!"

Zenniba smiled grimly. "Now we fight."

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I sat on the bank of the river in the clearing, rinsing off the wound on my leg. Zenniba was collecting the plant and I relaxed.'God those wolves were tough'

FLASHBACK-

Zenniba moved first, she grabbed a ball of energy out of the air and threw it at a wolf. That's when all of them charged in. I drew my fire sword and added my energy to make flames appear. Zenniba and I stood back-to-back, covering for each other. A wolf lunged at me and I sliced it's fur with my sword, making a burn and letting loose the smell of charred hair. The wolf charged back immediately along with two other. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Zenniba shooting energy balls like a cannon, hitting the two wolves multiple times per second. I slashed at the wolves. I hit one of the wolves with a stream of fire and it yelped and disappeared. The other two faltered and i smirked."Bring it on."The wolves growled and all I could remember was a blur of teeth and metal. Suddenly pain shot through me and I looked down to see blood gushing from my leg. One of the wolves had managed to get a shot in. I yelled in fury. Wind swirled around me and fire crackled. The air became hotter and hotter until I couldn't tell if I was in a desert or not. I could feel electricity in my hair and my dress was flying wildly around my legs. A ball glowed around my body, swirling with flames and my frustration. Then the world became white.

END-

I came to in the clearing after that and Zenniba told me that I'd incinerated all of the wolves along with any other monster in a 20 mile radius. I smiled at the memory. I hadn't summoned so much energy in a long time, but then again, I haven't gotten hurt in a long time as well. I gently stroked the wound and let fire trickle onto it. It seared at first but then the wound slowly closed. I stood up and went to find Zenniba. Strangely, although I thought the clearing was beautiful, I didn't want to stay. Something about it didn't suit me. I was missing something and I didn't know what. But that something wasn't here.

I remember little of my childhood. But I know that there was someone. Someone that made me laugh and held me when I cried. Someone that never once forgot my birthday, was always there when I needed help, never said a mean word to me, told me stories in bed. Someone that watched the stars with me, and helped me to master my powers, someone that made me breakfast every morning, someone that always had a hand to help me and a smile to give me. I could sometimes remember parts of the someone. A flash of red hair, a twinkle of brown eyes, a glimpse of a smile. I sighed. I was still looking for the someone and I know that I would know who the person was as soon I saw him or her.

Zenniba walked up."I collected the plant. Let's go." I nodded and my wings unfolded."Let's go."

Back at the bathhouse...

The window blew open and Zenniba along with Akari's came in. Yubaba and Lin followed close behind. "The river is clear." "We have the plant."

Kamaji moved forward and took the packet with the plant."Powerful stuff..." He walked over to a cup of water and took out a grain of glimmering plant from the packet. Dropping the grain in, the water became gold. Kamaji handed the cup to Haku and smiled."The rest is up to you." Yubaba shooed everyone out."Give the dragon some space. We'll know if it works soon enough."

Haku watched as the door closed and then tightened his grip on the cup."I won't fail."

He faced Chihiro and began.

Plz review! Hopefully this chapter makes up for the previous shorter one. Any comments are welcomed! :D