Yay! Another update already! I think I'm getting better!
So, I'd just like to say, thank you to all my wunnerful reviewers! I was sifting through some old sketchbooks today and found a couple of rough drawings I did…golly, it must have been a year ago. There's one of Hebi and one of older Chihiro. I don't know why I never finished them, but I decided to finish them today. So they've been colored and posted on my deviant account. You can get there by clicking the homepage link on my profile. Later I'll put links to the actual pictures on my profile so you don't have to take so many steps to get to them.
And that reminds me, if there is any fanart that anybody has done or wants to do for this or any of my other stories, I would LOVE to see it! Hint hint.
Today's advice: Don't step in that!
Chihiro had no way of telling how long she had been in that dark room. She had screamed until her voice grew hoarse and she wrenched at her bonds until blood trickled from her torn flesh. However long she had been there felt like an eternity. The time she spent in the cold dark room with her eyes staring unfocused at the stone floor was only interrupted every so often when a dark shape would approach her with stale food or to collect more blood. Chihiro found herself wondering if this was what insanity was. Was any of this even real? Would she eventually wake up back at the bathhouse, or maybe in her old apartment in the human world? But she was reminded of the reality of her situation each time a sharp blade sliced into her skin. She knew that when they cut her it wasn't out of spite. They weren't doing it to torment her. Her blood just seemed necessary to them for some unseen reason. She hoped bitterly that they would finish what they were doing and let her go soon.
"Why are you doing this?" She would croak with each visit. But they never answered. They never made any noise at all. Eventually, she stopped asking and she stopped feeling the bite of the blades.
Somewhere in that eternity, Chihiro was brought out of a doze by an approaching light. This was something new. It was like she was being shown light for the first time. She drew back against her post and watched it fearfully as it came closer. It stung her eyes, and yet she couldn't bring herself to look away from it. Blinded and stunned, she barely noticed when two figures stepped forward and removed the metal cords that bound her wrists. She was hauled to her feet and two short sturdy creatures began carrying/dragging her towards the light.
The light began drifting away and Chihiro's porters followed it through the labyrinth of a cell to a short flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs was a shiny door made out of something like black glass. The door opened and brilliant light spilled over Chihiro, illuminating her captors. There were about a dozen around her counting the two supporting her. All were colors ranging from off-white to taupe. They covered a wide range of shapes and sizes, no two looked exactly alike. But they all shared a common characteristic; they all looked vaguely like plant roots. Chihiro was dragged forwards and she managed to catch a glimpse of her reflection in the black glass door as they passed it. Her hair had partially fallen from her ponytail and it hung limp and greasy around her face. Her face itself was gaunt and as pale as her captors' save for the dark shadows around her cheeks and eyes. This was as much of an assessment on her looks as she was allowed before she was dragged away.
Chihiro began returning to a somewhat normal state of mind as they went along through corridor after corridor. Her arms had been numb from their prolonged imprisonment, now the sudden movement was sending a painful stinging down to her swollen fingers. It was the same thing for her legs. The sudden rush of blood to her feet tingled and turned her legs to rubber. As her eyes began adjusting to the abrupt change of luminosity, Chihiro took in her surrounding. This place must have been a manor or a castle of some kind. It certainly didn't seem to be ending anytime soon. The walls were bare and ominous; the stained wooden floor was barely covered with a moth-eaten carpet that had faint traces of ancient lotus flowers embroidered around the edges.
Chihiro's caravan finally stopped before a set of doors nearly as elaborate and ominous as Yubaba's. One of the gray plant men entered alone, leaving the rest to wait. Chihiro could feel excitement tingling in the air around her which only added to her own nervous tension. The plant spirit returned a few moments later and threw the doors wide for everyone to enter. The doors led to nothing but a black abyss. Having just grown re-accustom to the blissful light, Chihiro began to panic as she was prodded forward.
"NO! PLEASE!" She croaked, "PLEASE! PLEASE! NO!" She could find no other words, her mind went blank when faced with that cold, unfeeling darkness once more. Chihiro dug her heels into the moldy carpet and wrenched her shoulders, trying to dislodge the grip of the two spirits. But even had she not been in her weakened state, the spirits would have been very much stronger than her. Someone, or something, struck her hard on the back of the neck, jarring her with shock and bringing her feeble struggle to an end. They plodded forward.
The abyss turned out to be a large, cavernous room that sank deeply into the floor. Chihiro glimpsed over the edge and saw a number of candles being lit twenty feet below her. To the right was a steep set of stairs. Her party made for this and Chihiro was drug down them, her ankles smacking painfully with each step. When they reached the bottom even more candles had been lit. Hundreds of little flames seemed to float in mid-air. But despite their number, they barely gave off any light.
"Do not be frightened" A deep, gravely voice rasped in Chihiro's ear from behind. Chihiro was too numb to be startled by the voice. The two spirits that had been holding Chihiro upright let go of her and shuffled away. Chihiro was too weak to support herself and vaguely thought that she should be falling forward, but some means of invisible support was holding her suspended in that dark place.
"What are you going to do to me?" Chihiro asked for what felt like the thousandth time. And like the other nine hundred and ninety-nine times, her question was met with silence. Or so she thought. A moment later the hoarse, grating voice began whispering to her.
"Since the beginning of time we have been underestimated, trodden upon, we who supply life to both worlds are seen as weak and hold little power." Chihiro managed to muster the strength to turn her head. In the corner of her eye she could see the spirit who was telling her this. He was more human-shaped than the others, but a long goatee of wriggling gray tendrils covered a rather pointed chin. He was very thin, but didn't look in any way frail. He had a lithe body of a swimmer.
"Who are you?" Chihiro asked. The spirit gave her an annoyed glance. He was obviously about to say more and she had interrupted him.
"I am the head of the clan of rice." He growled.
"You're a rice spirit?" Chihiro asked dumbly.
"Yes. If I'm the head of the rice clan, then I'm a rice spirit!" He sounded very very annoyed now.
"Oh. Okay. Please continue." Chihiro didn't know if it was her time spent imprisoned or the recent blow to the head, but she felt rather as though she were outside her body watching all of this as though it were a ridiculous television show. She almost wanted to laugh but at least had the sense to keep quiet. The rice spirit glared at her, but nevertheless continued.
"We are putting the first stage of an uprising into action, little human. And you should feel honored because you will play a key role in this crucial stage. Or at least your body will. Thankfully, your mind is not necessary." The rice spirit stepped forward so he was now in front of her watching as the final candles were lit. More dark shadowy figures were scuffling around on the ground. Chihiro could smell turpentine.
"Very soon, you will be one of the most powerful spiritual beings in the spirit world. You already have information on all of the most influential spirits, you have ties to them and they trust you. Or at least they will tolerate you until they can trust you." Chihiro began losing focus on what he was saying. Her eyes drifted shut until the invisible hands holding her up gave her a meaningful jolt.
"Pay attention when being spoken to!" The rice spirit hissed in her ear.
"Hmm?" Chihiro grunted.
"As I was saying, your spirit is going to be replaced by one of our seedlings." Chihiro woke up at this, "It took some time to find one compatible with your human body, but we managed. With it in place of you, we will be able to gain our first toehold in our great plan. With the influence of a witch in our possession there is no stopping our progress."
"Whoa-wait. What happens to me?" Chihiro asked groggily. The rice spirit smiled and leaned in close to her face.
"You will die." He said, his eyes widening in emphasis of the last word.
"But I don't want to die!" Chihiro called out to him as he turned and walked away. Thinking about it a few seconds later she realized how dumb it had sounded.
Chihiro floated helpless as the plant spirits bustled around, finishing whatever preparations they were doing. Chihiro's head had cleared a bit and she was able to think more coherently. But no matter what, she could not think of any way out of this. There was nothing she could do. She couldn't even move.
Please! Someone save me! She prayed over and over in her head.
At long last, the preparations appeared to be complete. A candle was placed on the floor and the small flame ignited the turpentine Chihiro had smelled earlier. It was painted on the stone floor in a sort of pentagram. It was a circle with a five point star inside of it. Around the edges were strange marks and symbols that Chihiro didn't recognize, the same signs were scrawled inside the points of the star while the center was empty. Chihiro felt herself lifted in the air. She hovered for a second before floating over the lapping flames to hang suspended straight over the blank center. Chihiro was vaguely aware of a deep rumbling chant of some sort from the spirits around her. She floated in that spot for a second, then she saw movement in the corner of her eye. She glanced over to see what it was and saw a gnarled thing that looked like a cross between a baby and a ginger root floating towards her. This must be the seedling they meant to replace her with. Chihiro began to panic. She wriggled at her invisible bonds and began to scream, but it was useless. There was no way for her to fight back. Chihiro looked around frantically until she saw a familiar face. The radish spirit was standing just to her right, his eyes half closed as he stared entranced into the flame. Chihiro called to him.
"PLEASE! RADISH SPIRIT! PLEASE DON'T LET THEM DO THIS TO ME! YOU'VE KNOWN ME SINCE I WAS LITTLE! YOU WERE KIND TO ME! I THOUGHT OF YOU AS MY FRIEND! PLEASE HELP ME!" Chihiro sobbed to him. She saw his eyes flicker towards her once, but then they refocused on the flames and he didn't look at her again. Chihiro was only a few feet above the hot flames. Her toes were beginning to burn and her lungs were filling with the greasy smoke. Chihiro closed her eyes and wept in pain and fear, her thick tears falling into the yellow inferno. Something cool touched her neck. She opened her eyes to see the ugly wrinkled face of the ginger baby only a few inches from her. Chihiro's screams echoed above the sounds of chanting and roaring fire. The little creature's stubby "hands" began scrabbling at her shirt, trying to paw it open. Her shirt ripped from the collar nearly to her belly-button by the magic of the rice spirit. Chihiro tried to move to cover herself, but there was no use. She couldn't move her arms.
The cool, slimy hands of the baby spirit touched her bare chest right above her heart. Then Chihiro felt the most horrible pain she had ever experienced in her life as the baby's hand began sinking in through her skin. Chihiro screamed and writhed as much as she was allowed. Despite the pain in her chest, she was aware of another sensation. The baby had reached its right hand into her chest, and as it did so Chihiro's right hand seemed to disappear. It was still physically attached to the rest of her body, but Chihiro felt like it was no longer hers. The sensation traveled further up her arm the further the baby reached into her chest. Chihiro's screams doubled. The baby had now entered her up to it' shoulder. It bowed its knobby head and began pushing it in as well. Chihiro's screams abruptly died away as she lost sense of her head. The only way she could describe the feeling was that she was being peeled backwards away from her body.
"Oh! There you are!" She said conversationally to her right arm as she was suddenly reunited with it. The pain had disappeared and the general feeling of being stripped of herself had left Chihiro feeling disoriented and stupid. Chihiro watched in fascination as her left arm began attaching to her. She looked down and could see her physical body floating in mid-air with the wrinkly backside of the baby sticking out of her chest, its stumpy legs flapping madly as it burrowed slowly into her. Chihiro began feeling very offended as she watched it.
"Hey! That's mine!" She called to the baby thing. Of course, it couldn't hear her. Chihiro glowered and reached out for her body.
"I said, that's mine!" She said and shoved her lower torso back into her body. Her body jolted and the baby was shoved back out a few inches. Chihiro hooted in triumph and shoved again, but the baby was prepared and it braced itself. It continued to burrow and Chihiro continued to try shoving herself back into her body, but it was no use. Her head cleared enough to realize her situation, Chihiro began crying again.
"Please! I don't want to die!" She pleaded to the deaf ears of the ginger baby. All that was left in her body were her legs. Chihiro leaned forward and sobbed into the top of her own head. Her lank, dirty hair floated around her face like dark string. Something glittered and sparkled in the corner of her eye. Chihro looked down and saw the purple hair elastic just beneath her nose. I don't want to die. Chihiro reached out and touched it sadly with one long, transparent finger. The baby thing shot out of Chihiro's chest like a cannonball and Chihiro's soul was snapped back into place so suddenly that it sent a shockwave through the room, knocking a few of the plant spirits off their feet. This must have included the rice spirit because Chihiro lost her invisible support and fell downward towards the flaming symbols.
NO! Chihiro mentally screamed as she fell through the hot air. There was a loud whoosh as she landed softly on her feet, the flames extinguishing with a disdainful hiss. There was a general sound of panicked scrambling as the plant spirits began scuttling in the sudden darkness. Chihiro looked around with widened eyes, trying to adjust to the gloom. She became aware of a sound she hadn't heard before. It was a very quiet sound like paper being rubbed on stone. Chihiro didn't even know why her ears would pick that sound out of all the pandemonium, but it seemed out of place. There was a sudden sound of hissing followed by a painful scream. One of the spirits managed to make a light and everything in the cavernous room was illuminated in a soft blue glow that drifted in the air like a flare. Chihiro turned and found herself face to face with the source of the out of place noise.
Hebi wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her to a corner. He propped her against a wall and turned to the spirits that seemed to have finally realized what was happening. The spirits began closing in on them, but their movements were sluggish. They were nowhere in the same league as Hebi. He struck out at the nearest one too quickly for Chihiro's eyes to follow. One moment he was standing beside her, the next he was four feet away with his teeth sunk deep in the spongy neck of one of the spirits. Spells were thrown at him, but they bounced harmlessly from his clothes. It took Hebi only a few minutes to completely dispatch every spirit there, including the rice spirit who didn't seem nearly as powerful as Chihiro had earlier thought. Panting and covered in blood, Hebi turned to Chihiro who could only stare wide-eyed at the carnage he had left in his wake. Hebi wiped his mouth and came towards her with his arms wide. Chihiro fell gratefully into his chest and sobbed. Hebi wrapped his solid arms around her and held her tight.
They must have stood like this for nearly five minutes when the door above them opened with a crash. A great white dragon streamed into the room like a ribbon in the wind and landed on the stone floor. Haku's claws clacked on the hard ground as he fidgeted around, body tensed to fight. Haku took in the gory scene and turned to Hebi and Chihiro. Chihiro wanted to run to him, but Hebi's hold on her was too tight.
"You told me that you could protect her." Hebi hissed. Chihiro looked up at him and saw a look of pure anger and hatred on his face as he glared at Haku. Haku stared at Hebi for a moment, then his body began to melt until standing before them was Haku in his human form. He dropped to his knees in front of them, his face pinched in anguish. Then, to Chihiro's surprise, he began to cry. Sobs wracked his body as he kneeled before them. Chihiro wanted even more than before to go to him, but again, Hebi's grip on her prevented her from moving. Hebi ignored Haku and maneuvered himself out of his black velvet coat while always keeping one arm around Chihiro. As he wrapped his coat around her, Chihiro became suddenly aware of her ripped shirt. Hebi hoisted her off her feet and carried her bridal style up the stairs and out of that dark room, leaving Haku alone, crying in the dark.
Aaaaaaaaaaand…that is chapter twelve! Hope it didn't seem rushed, I tried to drag it out as long as I could. And I hope that it wasn't obvious that I did so. Descriptive writing just gets boring after a while. Lol. Please review! And remember to check out my pictures!
