Ch 10: The Test

A/N: Well, I was taken aback at all the great emails I got. I want to especially thank RukiaCaelin for her awsome review. I was really touched by her kind words. Well, you all have earned it, so here you go, enjoy!

Legend (to avoid confusion):

Thoughts

Emphasis

"Normal Speech"

Sound Effects

Cat God: YuriFan5 does not own Spirited Away, no matter how much he wishes he did.

YF: Hey! Well, ok it is kinda true, stupid omnipotence.

Chihiro walked slowly through the cave, and it seemed to be just that, your run of the mill cave, stalactites, stalagmites, and all. But I will never in my life forget that feeling I got when I looked at it, I will not underestimate what lies inside. At length, she came to a room lit by torches, and in this room she saw a leonian(1) statue carved of stone atop a raised platform with stairs leading up to it. The flickering light from the torches almost made it seem alive. She slowly approached it, "Anon, I was told to come in her so, could you help me please." she spoke nervously, bowing when she finished. Following a strange impulse, she reached out her hand and placed it on the lion's stone forehead. A blinding flash of light illuminated the chamber. "Chihiro!" Haku jumped up and rant to the entrance of the cave, from which the light had projected. A quick swing of Minako's staff tripped his feet up and knocked him to the ground. "She must do it alone." She said, not even turning from her dinner. "Why do you hold me back? Why must I sit by and watch these things happen to the one I care for!"

"Because it is not your PLACE!" she yelled, slamming the end of her staff into the ground, causing it to tremble, "Learn some respect! This task was set to Chihiro, to see if she is worthy of the Cat God's gift! By helping her you prove her weakness! And in doing so, you doom her to failure!"

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Now," she said, putting down her dishes, "it is late. We should get some sleep, time moves differently inside the cave." Haku looked towards the cave. Please Chihiro, be safe.

Chihiro came to on the floor. She sat up, and looked around. She was in a cave filled with stalagmites and stalactites, as well as about two inches of water as far as the eye could see.

"So, you're awake. What a pathetic waste of space. And to think I was worried that you might actually take MY Haku away from me."

She stood up, and turned to the source of the voice, a girl with a lovely pink kimono with white flowers. She might have even been considered pretty, if not for the terrible aura Chihiro could feel coming off of her. "So you must be…K-K-Kaola-chan."

"And smart to boot, look at that." She said acidly. Kaola flung off her kimono, revealing a martial arts outfit underneath. In her hands were two very unique weapons, Quatar (ka-tar)(2) they were called. A handle with two blades coming off the ends that meet at a point in front, making a triangle. They were a very unassuming weapon, but that was part of what made them so deadly. Quick as lightning Kaola jumped into the air and slashed down at Chihiro, which she jumped to the side to avoid. The stalagmite that Chihiro was standing in front of was cut in two, the top piece sliding down the diagonal cut.

"Great Kami!" exclaimed Chihiro.

"Yes, amazing aren't they? Sharpened down to a wafer thin edge, they can cut through this rock like its paper." Again and again Chihiro barely managed to dodge Kaola's attacks. After a few minutes she started to breathe heavily, and Kaola, standing a few feet from where she leaned against a stalagmite, mockingly called out, "It's no use Chihiro, you can barely move anymore, where as I," she gestured to herself, "haven't even broken a sweat." She launched herself at the stalagmite, hitting it with a flying kick, shattering it and knocking Chihiro several yards away. Chihiro tried to push herself up, but her arms collapsed and she just lay there, gasping for breath. Kaola walked over to her, and sneered down. "Is that it? I should have known as much. I will delight in recounting this to Haku every day of our married lives." She swung down to strike with both quatar.

"No…" she muttered. The thought of Haku suffering forever caused something inside her to snap, like a dam breaking. A new energy flowed through her until she seemed ready to burst at the seams. "Noooooooooooooo!" she cried, her hair tie shimmered, her amulet glowed with a blinding light, and she reached up with both hands and caught the Quatar. Her hands were glowing, and rivulets of blood flowed down them. "What, that's impossible; your hands should have been cut in two."

Chihiro, breathing heavily, yelled, "Leave… Haku… ALONE!!" She yanked them to the sides, breaking Kaola's wrists, turned the blades around towards her, and shoved them both into her chest. Kaola fell backwards, dead before she touched the floor. Chihiro collapsed, all her energy spent, "I'm sorry Haku, I've failed you." Tears ran down her cheeks. Everything started to go black, and this time, she had a feeling that the blackness would not be receding (somewhat like how some old people can tell when it's their last day), I'm sorry.

Haku was letting Mikotah fiddle with hair, when he saw a figure start to walk out of the cave. "Chihiro thank the gods," he exclaimed, springing up and running towards the cave, "it's been three days already and-"he stopped, it wasn't Chihiro, or more accurately, it was a man dressed in a white robe carrying Chihiro in his arms.

"What have you done to her!" by this time Minako and Mikotah had joined him, Minako muttering something about not listening when she explained the time differential. "If you have harmed her I swear…" his body had begun to shift into a dragon, you could see scales on some parts of his arms and the beginning of claws on his hands.

"I WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT ALLOW IT!" yelled Minako, dashing in front of the figure. "I, MINAKO FUSHEGIRI, HAVE BEEN THE DEMI GOD GUARDIAN OF THE CAT GOD TEMPLE FOR OVER THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND FOURTY YEARS, AND I WILL DIE BEFORE I LET YOU HURT NEKO KAMI-SAMA!" She slammed the butt end of her staff down on the ground, emitting a blinding flash; ripples of power could be seen flowing out from it through the grass. She had yanked off her ball necklace, releasing the seal it had contained. Her head had sprouted a pair of cat ears, her eyes narrowed to slits, and her hands had turned into hand like cat paws, complete with hair all the way up her forearm and topped off with a tail.

"Peace my child," said the Cat God, laying a reassuring hand on Minako's shoulder, "we are all friends here. Be at peace, my dragon friend," he said, looking up at Haku with a smile that could soften the hardest hearts, causing Haku to shift back to his human form, "she is alive and well, although not in the same fashion you are expecting." He led them over to their camping ground, where he laid her down with the utmost care.

"Wait, are those cat ears and a tail I see?!"

"Yes I was getting to that. You see Kohaku, the Chihiro you know died during the trial-"

"Then I truly have no further reason to live." He said, his head hanging.

"Peace, peace. As I was saying, the Chihiro you know died in the trial. Her body couldn't handle her own magical powers once they were enhanced by this device." He stated, tossing Chihiro's amulet onto the ground next to her. "But, in overloading herself with her own magic, she was able to succeed in her trial. Thus, she was granted the gift of rebirth as one of my children. She most definitely was a lioness, in her own right. I now present to you, Chihiro Kaola, the Lioness of Virtue."

"But how does this help with the contract?"

"My friend, for one so smart you miss the most obvious things. It said you had to marry a Kaola, not which one."

"But what of the other?"

"Gone, I'm afraid, killed by Chihiro's own hands. Now I must be off, it is not a good thing for beings such as myself to remain in one place with so much power. Oh and Minako," he called out as he walked away, tossing a new necklace over his shoulder, which of course, she caught with precision, "Try to remember to take this one off instead of breaking it."

"Hai!" She called back enthusiastically, slipping the new necklace over her head, changing her back to her… less imposing form. He waved behind his head as he walked toward the cavern, fading as he went. All looked down at the new Chihiro. Haku picked her up, and Minako lead them off. Haku carried her bridal style all the way to the temple.

(1)- Lion like

(2)- Just to avoid confusion later, this is both the singular and plural form

A/N: OK cats and kittens, we are in the home stretch. Hurray! Expect only one or two more chapters. Wow, where has the time gone. Oh well, don't for get to leave me a super duper humongous review.