When all had been said, the five sitting around the small round dining table in Rin's home fell silent. Chihiro gulped down the last of her now cold tea and near slammed the cup back onto the table.
"So... Does anyone... have the faintest idea, on how we are going to get Ryumiko back?" she asked, her voice straining to remain calm. This was exactly what she'd feared would happen to her cousin. She'd waltz right into the Spirit World like her dreams come true and then poof! She'd be in the hands of Yubaba before she could even comprehend what was happening. Granted, her cousin had managed to stay relatively safe for much longer than she'd expected, and gained much more attention from the beings in the Spirit World that she was sure she liked, but nevertheless, she was in the hands of the witch as predicted.
"Well," came the bell-like voice of Yukaoi, "We have a few options. We could form a plan here and break into the bath house to rescue her, ourselves unnoticed. We can try to take out Yubaba, but I have a strong feeling we would have a very small chance of succeeding in such an outlandish plan. Otherwise, we can request help from the Dragon Clan to retrieve her."
At the mention of the last suggestion, Retsu's back suddenly straightened, losing the previous air of guilty defeat and replacing it with a sort of strong-willed seriousness.
"No," he stated, abruptly.
"Retsu, it is an option available and one we must consider if everything else does not work," Yukaoi snapped.
"You know as well as I do that if she is rescued safely with their help, we will soon need to report on what we have discovered about her. When it comes to that, Ryumiko will not be given freedom to decide on her own future. They will use every means required to restore the name of the Dragon Nobles and she will become nothing but a doll, a mere figure-head puppet for their own gain. We will not ask their help," he argued, his voice eerily calm.
Though despite his seemingly frigid manner, Chihiro noted from the way the red-headed dragon had behaved, that he seemed to have an interest in Ryumiko. From the way she had been told, they had spent quite a bit of time together in her absence. Then again, whether it was a romantic interest or simply an interest in the dragon-spirit-disguised-as-human aspect of Ryumiko, she wasn't sure. Maybe a quick chat with the dragon was in order after other matters were settled.
After a short silence, Chihiro clapped her hands once and spoke, "Well then, retrieve her ourselves we shall! Let's get planning!"
Opening her eyelids only to be met with more darkness was not very encouraging for the tired Ryumiko. At least she finally had freedom to move her arms and legs, the invisible ropes finally gone, leaving tender bruises. Sitting up from where she had slept, she rubbed her sore wrists, surveying the damage. It hurt to move her feet and hands but she wasn't rendered incapable of using them. She lifted a hand to the cheek Yubaba had slapped, wincing when her fingers grazed over the dried blood of the long cut that ran jaggedly across her bruised cheek. She scowled when she finished her inspections, mentally cursing the witch while wishing she knew how to control her dragon spirit so she could return the pain tenfold.
She reached out her hands in the darkness, only to find her fingers hitting some kind of wall. Not bound but still imprisoned, she thought to herself disappointedly. For some reason she hoped there was a chance of escaping now that her hands and feet had been freed; as if Yubaba would have been careless with her prisoners.
She gave a sigh of defeat, before a low flicker of light pulsed around her. She blinked, as the light pulsed again, allowing her to vaguely see her hands in front of her, and briefly, the ugly dark ring around each wrist. Ryumiko turned to find the source of the light. Her breath slowed momentarily as she saw what was behind her.
There was a dim light that surrounded a coiled form, roughly the size of a cat curled up on a couch. In the low light that occasionally pulsed brighter, she could make out the snake-like object that was covered in glowing and somewhat transparent scales. On a strange impulse, she caustiously reached out to feel the unusual luminescent pile of ghostly scales. Just as her fingers grazed the scales, it moved suddenly and the glowing thing uncoiled, unfurling out before Ryumiko. A pair of small, yet brightly shining, slitted eyes stared at her, freezing her where she sat.
She recognised those piercing eyes from earlier, when she was still being 'interrogated' by Yubaba. Her heart did not beat as erratically as before, but her heart rate still sped up at the sight of that gaze, and she felt a great desire to be moving about rather than trapped in the small confinement she'd been left in. Tearing her own blue eyes away from the ones that held them, she took a look at what exactly was looking at her. From what she could see, it was what appeared to be a small dragon, like a mini-Haku in dragon form.
Ryumiko watched with wide eyes as the glowing dragon slowly hovered at eye level, then slithered around her shoulders. It was not a ghost, Ryumiko discovered, as it rested its surprisingly heavy body on her shoulders, draping itself around her neck almost like a scarf. Its head however, did not hang limp as it snaked forward to face her.
"What is your name, child in living skin?" a voice asked her. It was a voice that was not loud, nor rough, but it shook her body with the power it held. It was a voice that demanded respect without needing to ask for it, and yet, felt oddly familiar to her, despite the fact she'd never heard the voice before. The words the voice used were strange to her, but she assumed that 'child in living skin' referred to her being a dragon-spirit in a human body.
When she hadn't replied, the voice spoke again, only this time, she saw the eyes of the dragon narrow at her.
"Do not ignore me, girl," it said, a little irritated and dare say with a little hint of a growl. It suddenly dawned on the slightly slow Ryumiko that the dragon was the one speaking to her.
"I-I'm sorry, my name is Ryumiko," she said in hushed tones, hoping that Yubaba wasn't able to hear her. "Who are you?"
The dragon slithered off her shoulders to slide into a coiled heap on her lap looking up at her, "I do not have a name."
"Really?"
"I do not posess a name. Nor do I have need of one," the dragon said in a matter-of-factly tone. "You have the spirit of an ancient dragon in you child. I have not seen a descendant of my brother in centuries."
Ryumiko blinked, what the little dragon said made sense but... "Your brother?"
"Yes. Dragon kind was once split into two, my children, the reptiles with two forms, and my brother's, the dragons without a second form, the flightless dragons. Unfortunately, most of my brother's kind were wiped out by my own. I thought they had all disappeared from this world but-," the dragon paused to look over her. "-it seems a few may have survived."
"Wait... Your 'children'? So you're like the ghost of the first ever dragon? Or Reptillian... whatever you call it," Ryumiko asked, leaning closer to the small dragon in excitement. After all, it wasn't everyday one spoke to the ghost of a spirit. Which was a thought that led her to the questions of how many Spirit realms were there?
Though she was not able to ponder that for long when the dragon replied to her question. "I am not a ghost of a dragon, silly child. I am the source of all dragons' power and existence. I am no single being," it boomed, obviously offended and spitting out the last sentence as if it were abhorrent to be a single identity.
Previous discussions with Retsu and Yukaoi came to mind as she registered its words, "You... You're the Dragon Clan's power?"
The dragon nodded, "Indeed. I am its physical manifestation. You seem surprised to know this."
"Of course I am! When someone says 'dragon power' I don't exactly think of talking glowing dragons!"
"In any case, I wish to return to the rest of my children. Being separated from them makes me uneasy, and being stuck with that abhorrent witch is nearly more than I can bear. I want you to help me escape, little halfling."
"Halfling?"
"Half mine and half my sibling's. Daughter of my daughter and my brother's son. From what I feel from you, I believe your mother was Kinue, though I do not know about your sire," it said, closing its eyes as if trying to remember something.
"I'm only half Noble?" Ryumiko asked, concerned about what this could mean.
The dragon nodded, "It has happened before. Some halfings gain more of my brother's side than mine, which means they have no reptile form, but on occasion, halfings can have some of my reptile attributes. But do not fear child, such halfings are just as powerful as any other dragon, only different in that they are able to use both of our powers to different degrees."
"Stop calling me 'child'. I'm fifteen, I'm not a child anymore!" Ryumiko whispered to the dragon harshly.
The dragon lifted its head and scoffed, "By the standards of dragons, who may live beyond a thousand years, you are a fresh hatchling. Even by the standards of the Living, fifteen is hardly an age of maturity. And judging by the way you argue so indignantly, I would say I am correct in saying so."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Sorry. Just a little... overwhelmed. Discovering I'm not actually human, getting kidnapped, and then meeting a rather impressive being after being interrogated all in the space of a few days is a tad too stressful... So how do you plan on-"
The blinding light of the curtains being pulled apart startled her. Upon being faced with Yubaba's astonished eyes at seeing her and the dragon talking made Ryumiko move instintively in front of the small dragon to hide it from the witch's gaze. Although what Ryumiko didn't expect, was for the dragon to disappear indside of her.
Both she and Yubaba stared wide-eyed as the last of the little glowing tail sunk beneath her skin and vanished from sight. Once it was gone, she turned stunned and horrified eyes at Yubaba. 'Great,' she thought grimly. 'Now she knows exactly what I am... Good work genius,' she thought, wishing the little dragon was there to hear her irritated sarcasm.
'I did what was necessary,' came the voice of the dragon. She looked up at Yubaba, and realising that the witch could not hear the voice, she concluded that the dragon was now, much to her dismay, 'the little voice in her head'.
'Sure... risking both of our enslavement to a psychotic sorceress is necessary,' she argued mentally.
Yubaba however grinned maliciously at her, a smile that promised nothing of good intentions. Her mouth began to form a chant that had Ryumiko nearly quivering in fear of what spell she could be casting.
'Move!' it shouted at her.
'What?'
'Let me handle it...' growled the dragon.
Ryumiko wasn't exactly sure how a dragon of such size and transparency could 'handle' a grotesque yet rather powerful witch, when she felt suddenly disconnected with the rest of her body. Her body moved without her control and as much as she tried, her limbs did not listen to her wishes. It was when she felt her body warm up and her skin feel steely that she realised that the little dragon had taken over the use of her body.
She could only watch on as her body transformed into its Spirit form and her faintly glowing hands reached out to smash through the barrier Yubaba had caged her in. She watched as her body, with deadly precision and speed, slipped past between the witch and the curtains, the dark blue dress she had been wearing since her kidnap whipping wildly like a torrent of water as she ran.
The dragon managed to get her out of the witch's study with a speed she didn't think was possible with her clumsiness, however they did not make it far, as one of the invisible ropes snaked around her ankle, taking her and the dragon by complete suprise. She heard the dragon hiss angrily before she was pulled, or more like dragged, back into the study, where she was faced with one awfully gleeful witch practically seethed with a happiness that made Ryumiko's skin crawl.
"I needed a dragon, bait to lure Chihiro and something disposable. Who would've thought that you would be the one to solve all my problems?"
Chihiro was furious. The plan was so not what she had in mind to retrieve her captured cousin.
"You're not going alone Haku!" she shouted at him.
He met her glare with calm green eyes, "Yes I am, and we've told you why. I'm stronger than Retsu and Yukaoi and you're exactly the reason why Yubaba took Ryumiko in the first place. We can't just let you walk straight into Yubaba's trap."
"I don't give a damn! I'm going!" she retorted, walking straight past him and towards the door. Haku sighed, this was exactly what Ryumiko did not too long ago.
Chihiro was stopped shortly though when Haku turned her to face him, finding that their faces were suddenly very close.
"I will not have you walk blindly into danger," he told her sternly.
Her mouth opened as if she were about to protest but he stopped her with a blunt, "No."
She bit her bottom lip in thought, and deciding that her cousin indeed had a better chance of rescue without her there, she nodded.
"Fine, but I want the both of you to come back. Got it?" she said, poking him in the chest for emphasis before storming back into the kitchen. Without another word, Haku burst out the front door, on his way to retrieve Ryumiko.
Though in spite of her irritation with the dragon, she couldn't help but add her silent wish, 'Please be safe...'
Naww... You know you love him deep down Chihiro! And haha for the little dragon! XD I'll give him a name later. I didn't actually intend for that character to appear but he fit so well that I couldn't abandon him! Basically he was what I imagined dragons to be like, strong, wise but unecessarily proud and short tempered.
And apologies for the long wait as well as not following what the NEXT CHAPTER bit in the last chappie said I would give you... Yeah didn't mean for that to happen!
I'm kinda waiting for Ryumiko to get rescued before I delve into all the ChihiroxHaku fluff... 'cause there's quite a bit of it :3
!ALSO!
I've got exams next week and this update was slow just because I was studying! So after this week... Updates might be faster.
Many thanks to you dear reviewers!
Animala Swan (I think they make a cute couple too! :P Thank you for reviewing!)
Seabreeze27 (YEAH! Thank you for reviewing!)
CatlinP1997 (I've updated! Though you'll have to hang in there a little longer for the rest of the argument! Thank you for reviewing!)
BloodyFantasy (Yay! I'm glad you still enjoy my story and remember it after so long :D)
Solar Powered Pandas (Phew! I'm glad you think that the reactions worked! Hope you liked the update! Thank you for the reviews!)
AnimeRockzzz (Got the pen name right this time! XD Sorry! Must have been on autopilot... Also sorry again for the slow update ^-^" Yeah gotta work on that... Thank you for reviewing!)
KeikoMars (I probably wouldn't intentionally annoy Yubaba either :S Thank you for your review!)
SakuandSyao-CLAMPGirlForever (Thank you so much for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoyed the update! :3)
livelovemusic95 (Yay! I'm glad you liked it and thank you for the review!)
Mysticbreeze327 (Haha! Thank you for the review!)
Mi-chan1991 (Aw come on... it's hard not to jump to conclusions... especially if you're an emotional wreck XD Thank you!)
spirited away forever (Thank-you for review! :D)
Moongirl12121 (AH! Don't break my sink! Hehe, interesting idea *strokes phantom beard*... Thank you for your reviews! :3)
InkWoven (You'll have to wait and see what's in store ;P Thank you for your review! :D)
Review dammit!
Because I need you to wish me luck for my exams!
I'm already procrastinating enough by making this long chapter...
(Inner voice: Then shouldn't you stop relying on the wishes of [nearly] complete strangers and get your butt back to studying?)
(Tigeresssa: ... Quiet you.)
Button is here!
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