Author's Note: Ok, bear with my on this author's note; it's long, but important. First off I would like to say: Gah! Damn you fanfiction.net! DAMN YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, so fanfiction.net deleted all of the reviews I got between the 10th and the 14th, and I'm all sad now. I know I got them, because I have the little review alert thing, so I got e-mails with the reviews in them, they just won't show up on the site. So, here's the deal, I have a favor to ask of some of you…if you submitted a review and it didn't show up, would you maybe mind…submitting it again? Heh, sorry, I know, it's a lot to ask, but I'd really like to see my reviews. It helps me out a lot to see what people like and don't like, the input is really nice. If you have an account with ff.net, you can just go to review history, and the review you left should show up, so…yeah. Of course, if you think it's any utter waste of your time (which many of you may), don't bother; I don't want to inconvenience you.
The good thing is, I saved the last few e-mails I got that had reviews for this story in them, so I still have the reviews left by Lavender-lilacs, Lynnie, and JersyGirl03 saved in my mailbox. Thanks for your reviews you guys. If you guys would like to submit your reviews again, that would be awesome, otherwise I may just cut and past your reviews and put them on the site…lame, yes, but I want to be able to remember everything people have said to me! If my cutting and pasting your reviews isn't cool with you, just e-mail me and let me know or something.
All right, now about my story…since my last few chapters have pretty much been all Haku and Chihiro, I'm including some scenes featuring other characters in this chapter too. I really wanted to give some insight into Yubaba's character, since I think I have her pretty under-developed at this point. And the same goes for Shen. Hopefully this chappy will shed some light on my personal thoughts on them. Rah.
And finally, I will be leaving on vacation on Tuesday, and I'll be gone for about five days, so my next chapter may take a little longer to come out than usual. Of course, if I get home and there are tons of reviews, I might just be inclined to work really hard and update super-quickly. That's right, I'm bribing you. Review! Anyways, onto the story (finally…)
Disclaimer: No own.
~~~
Yubaba rubbed her temples slowly, her cold, gnarled fingers moving in a soothing circular motion. Unruly strands of frosty white hair fell out of her usually impeccable bun, giving her a careless appearance that had the effect of making her look almost as terrible as she felt. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was pursed tightly. At that moment, she would have welcomed death, or a nice vacation, at the very least.
Shen had visited her only a few hours before, asking yet again if he had permission to kill Haku, or "that bastard river spirit," as he so crudely liked to put it. He came in nearly every hour to see her, growing increasingly zealous and anxious each time. Actually, she was surprised she hadn't received a visit from him recently. What she didn't know was that at that moment, he was laying unconscious in the room where Haku and Chihiro had formerly been held, the result of his battle with the river spirit.
When he'd last come in and asked permission to execute Haku, Yubaba had refused him, once again, saying that she was still trying to figure out what to do with Haku and looking at her options, trying to determine what would be the most beneficial move, and other such standard excuses. However, if she was being completely honest, she didn't want to see Haku dead because she had something of a soft spot for him, and for the human girl, Sen, as well. Of course, she couldn't admit that, she could never admit that. In the business world, reputation was all that mattered. She feared that if her employees knew how deeply touched she'd been by watching Haku and Sen together, it would destroy the image she'd tried so hard to create for years. She wanted them to respect her, to be in awe of her, perhaps even to fear her. If the truth were discovered, they wouldn't. She was positive of that. But the fact remained; she couldn't bear to sentence her former apprentice to death.
Yes, she had certainly been livid when Haku had failed to repay her for granting him his freedom. And yes, she had been ecstatic when they had found him in the Dream World and brought him back to the bathhouse, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that although she was most seriously upset with him, she didn't want to see him die.
Shen was an excellent student, with the heart of a warrior, but he had a side that disturbed the old witch. He had a bloodlust, and she feared one day it might drive him mad. Or perhaps he already was mad. Haku, on the other hand, was always a much kinder boy. Under her orders, he'd put on a strong, arrogant façade for the masses and the workers of the bathhouse, but that wasn't who he really was. She saw his true nature when Sen had come into his life. Those moments she saw them together gave her more insight into his soul than her hours of training with him ever had. He was brilliant, certainly, and most assuredly powerful, but he was kind as well. At first she had tried to break him of it, regarding his kind disposition as a weakness or a flaw. In effect, she had tried to make him into exactly what Shen was now, exactly what she most feared. But in truth, she envied Haku his good heart.
Yubaba was torn. After so many years, she had lost herself in her work, forgetting what her life had been like in happier years, years past. She wanted to succumb to her greed, to her anger, to her hatred, but there was always some small part of her, nearly lost amongst the tides of evil that swept through her heart, that reminded her of what she truly was. That insignificant, miniscule part of her soul that showed her all she was capable of being, all the love she was capable of showing, and the good she was capable of doing. The part of her that was more like…Zeniba. Perhaps that was why she feared her sister. Not because of her power and influence, but because she showed Yubaba everything she wanted to be, and everything she so deeply despised all at once. Yubaba's twin sister was like a mirror image of herself, in many ways. And it frightened her.
Haku had done exactly what Yubaba was too scared to do; he'd fought back against the darkness, against the hate and the temptation and corruption of power. He'd become a better person. Yubaba gasped in several quick breaths of air, tears welling in her eyes all the while. She clenched her eyes shut even more firmly, refusing to let those tears escape. Her head reeled as she thought of Haku.
No, Haku won't die today, she thought to herself, perhaps not tomorrow or even the day after either…
~~~
"Oh great," came Chihiro's voice loudly upon seeing the guards standing at the door. Unfortunately, her careless mutter had alerted the guards to their presence and four sets of glaring eyes were now trained onto Chihiro and Haku with interest. She threw her hands up and cupped them firmly over her mouth, completely horrified with herself for her rashness. She had always wished she wasn't in the habit of speaking before thinking, and now she was especially resentful of her flaw. Her mouth was forever getting her into trouble. It was too little too late, though, the damage had already been done.
"Hey, those are the prisoners, I think they escaped," one guard shouted. Somehow he managed to point out the obvious with a look of wide-eyed surprise.
"Oh really, you think so? I thought maybe Shen had just let them out for a little stroll," responded another guard, the sarcasm in his voice far from subtle. He looked over at the former guard with a sneer. They exchanged nasty looks for a moment, seemingly forgetting about the prisoners altogether.
Haku grabbed Chihiro's hand instantly and once again they were running, only this time in the opposite direction, away from the exit. Behind them, she heard shouts of "Hey, come back here!" or "They're getting away again!" and similar pointless comments emitting from the guards. She would have laughed at their incompetence, had the circumstances been tilted more in her favor. As it was, she currently needed to focus on running, not on exercising her sense of humor.
She glanced over her shoulder momentarily and saw that the four guards were in pursuit, but weren't moving very quickly. Each of them was trying to take the lead, and as a result, they spent a good deal of time stumbling over each other and getting stuck side by side, wedged between the walls of the cramped, narrow passageways. Needless to say, they weren't making very good time, and she and Haku were outdistancing them easily. Yubaba's words echoed in her ears, "it's so hard to find good help these days." Chihiro was inclined to agree with the witch on this particular point; these guards were idiots.
Haku rounded a sharp corner, tugging her roughly along with him. She stumbled at the sudden change of direction, but her firm grasp on Haku prevented her from falling, for which she was exceedingly grateful.
"Just a little further, I promise" he coaxed, perhaps feeling badly for nearly causing her to trip. "I know a secret. This next door should be a back exit, it will lead us out, as long as it hasn't been-" he threw open the door "blocked off," he ended with a look of dismay. Chihiro peered over his shoulder, and saw that the door was just that: blocked off. Behind the door was a sturdy wall, a barricade. "I thought Yubaba might have done this, she knows that I've used this exit before. She planned ahead, she made sure there was no way we would escape."
"What are we going to do, Haku?" Chihiro asked nervously as she turned around and looked anxiously down the hallway behind them. She sighed. At least the guards hadn't made an appearance yet. She plopped herself down on the floor in frustration, putting her head in her hands with a mixture of a pout and a fearful gaze on her face. Haku looked down at her, deciding silently that at that moment, she looked entirely like she had when she was ten. He'd seen that look before.
"I don't know, Chihiro," he said with a distraught sigh. He put one hand behind his head and placed the other on the barrier behind the door. He leaned against the obstruction, and promptly fell through, disappearing behind the thick panels. He lurched forward, but only momentarily, and caught himself easily before he came anywhere near to hitting the floor.
Chihiro perked up. "Haku…you went through the barrier! How did you do that?" She paused and furrowed her brow. Slowly, a smile grew on her face and she began chattering happily. "I bet you did magic! This is great! I know you thought you forgot how, but-"
Haku stopped her, "No, I didn't do magic," he paused. Chihiro could plainly hear the disappointment and melancholy in his voice, even though she couldn't see him. "This barrier is a fake, it's just an illusion," he stuck a hand through it as if to prove his point. It was eerie, seeing his hand sticking through what appeared to be a completely genuine, solid wall. "Well, come on." He reached his hand out further towards her. She stared back and forth between her hand and his apparently disembodied one for a moment, and then shrugged. She grasped his hand and closed her eyes before stepping through the wall.
"It's all right, you can open your eyes," came Haku's amused voice. She did so, and saw that she had indeed made it through the apparition, and was now standing in a small, darkly lit room next to Haku. "Right, follow me and stay close."
Chihiro was, naturally, more than willing to do both. They made their way down a long spiral staircase that wound around in a tight coil. After about three minutes, she began to feel a little bit dizzy, but was spared the pain of becoming completely nauseated when Haku stopped. She bumped into him, the consequence of following just a little too closely. They had reached the bottom of the ridiculously long staircase, and were now standing in front of a small wooden door. It was covered in mold and rot, and looked as though it had been neglected and forgotten for centuries.
"All right, we're here," Haku said quietly. He turned the doorknob and opened the door slowly. Light spilled into the dim stairwell, illuminating the faces of the two young escape artists pleasantly. It felt like ages since either one of them had seen the sun. Chihiro stretched, her arms reaching towards the sky as she did so, like a flower in bloom, growing towards the warmth of the comforting yellow sun.
"We made it," Chihiro sighed, enjoying the feel of the tender rays embracing her, "we made it."
~~~
"Hurry!" Lin shouted impatiently. She clenched her teeth together and stared behind her with a fiery expression. She knew it probably wasn't wise to bark orders at a powerful witch such as Zeniba, but she was getting edgy. Chihiro's plan had worked perfectly, the hair tie had certainly done the trick, and now Lin, Zeniba, and even No-Face were rushing towards the bathhouse in the hopes of helping their friend. Well, Lin was rushing, the other two were ambling along, as if they were on a simple stroll. Lin growled in frustration as she looked over her shoulder at them sauntering a good thirty feet behind her.
"Do you want to save Sen, I mean Chihiro," Lin corrected herself, still not used to calling her friend by her true name, "or not? Well?!" She was fuming now.
"Calm down child," Zeniba replied evenly, secretly amused by the look on Lin's face, "for now, Chihiro is entirely safe. Haku is seeing to that. They won't need our help for at least, oh, four more minutes," she said with a dismissive wave of her ancient hand. She was right, of course, at the moment, Chihiro and Haku were just entering the secret exit. No-Face, or Kaonashi, nodded in agreement with Zeniba's statement.
Lin wasn't completely satisfied with the old woman's answer, but slowed down her pace a little. She sincerely hoped her temporary companion was right, she didn't want to let Chihiro down. The human girl had taught her so much about herself, and Lin wanted badly to be able to repay her somehow.
Don't worry, Chihiro, I promised I wouldn't let you down, and I'll keep that promise…even if I have to whip this witch into shape to do it. Lin chuckled to herself quietly. I'll see you again soon, you little klutz.
~~~
Chihiro laughed, delighted to be free of the bathhouse, her prison. She leaped out of the door ahead of Haku and spun around with her arms outstretched and her face tilted up towards the sky. Her face was flushed with excitement, highlighting the naturally rosy color of her cheeks. Haku watched her out of the corner of his eye with a wistful smile. Chihiro felt his gaze on her, and stopped spinning. A light shiver ran up her spine. She smiled over at him, several long strands of hair spilling over her shoulder and covering the right side of her face, partially obscuring it from Haku's view. She pushed them to the side gently, and walked slowly towards the young man. She stopped a few feet in front of him and grinned up at him. The air hung between them for a moment, heavy with silence.
"You know, you're great!" Chihiro exclaimed suddenly, throwing her arms around his shoulders and hugging him tightly as she did so. "Thank you so much, for everything. I would have died in that place if it hadn't been for you. Thank you, thank you."
Chihiro had taken Haku by surprise yet again, and he wasn't entirely sure what to do. She was probably the only person who could catch him off his guard, and, in a way, he sort of enjoyed it. He liked the spontaneity of it, never being quite sure what she would do next. He returned the hug lightly and hesitated for a moment. Finally, he leaned forward and kissed her gently and clumsily on the forehead. Chihiro's face would have shown him her initial shock, and then her happy expression seconds later, had she not buried her face in his chest. Haku enjoyed the sensation of holding her briefly, and then pulled back a little and separated from her.
"Well," he finally said, clearing his throat as he did so, "I guess we should keep going, you know, put some distance between ourselves and the bathhouse, just in case. I don't want to stick around to see what will happen when Yubaba's figured out that we've escaped." He looked up towards the top floor that was home to her office and laughed ruefully. "I almost feel sorry for the guard who has to tell her we escaped, I expect she won't be very pleased."
"Yeah, she seems like the type who might 'shoot the messenger,'" Chihiro replied with a lopsided grin. Haku peered down at her with a confused look, not fully understanding the human expression. "Never mind, it's just a phrase we use sometimes in the Human World," she added with a shake of her head. Haku opened his mouth into a small "O," and then nodded. They exchanged one last, long glance and smile, and were off.
They moved at a steady pace, jogging easily beside each other. Their bare feet hit the earth beneath them steadily, kicking up small clouds of dust as they rounded a corner of the bathhouse. The terrible sight that greeted them quickly destroyed their high spirits.
~~~
The world around him slowly drifted back into focus. His mind and his vision were clouded, like a sea covered in lingering fog after a storm. The tempest in his head had subsided, but the residual pain remained. Shen pushed himself off the ground where he lay with a groan. The river spirit and the girl… he thought to himself. He looked around and saw neither Haku nor Chihiro in the room. They'd escaped. He had no idea how long he'd been out, it could have been a matter of minutes, or hours. After flinching in pain, he growled to himself, his rage boiling in his chest at the thought of his former prisoners, ready to explode. He leaned back his head and let out a tormented scream, trying to push his pain and his defeat out of his mind along with his piercing cry. He'd been beaten, humiliated. He'd failed, and his pride had taken a severe blow as a result. He winced. All that mattered now was revenge. He'd find them both, Haku and the girl and this time he wouldn't toy with them; he'd kill them. Just simply kill them. It wasn't nearly as much fun for him, but at that point he was hardly in the mood to play games anyways.
He stood for a moment, his hands clenched into fists at his sides and his chest heaving with his heavy breathing. Slowly, a cold smile twisted onto his lips. He had a plan.
Shen closed his eyes and let the transformation take over, engulfing his entire being. His form twisted, writhing under the pressure of the metamorphosis. The sound that left his lips was a mixture of agony and hysteria. A scream, a laugh, all in one. It filled the room, echoing off the walls, magnifying, growing in a steady crescendo with each moment that passed. With one final shriek, a thick coat of black hair sprouted from his follicles and covered his body. He bowed his head as his nose became elongated and his nails grew into sharp, glistening claws. When the transformation was complete, he collapsed to the floor, momentarily exhausted, but his icy eyes shone with delight and malice the entire time. A large black wolf sat where the human form of Shen had previously been. But this was still him, only in his other form, his powerful form. In this state, his primal instincts took over, he was a demon, a monster, a destroyer. And he loved it.
Like Haku, Shen was an elemental spirit, only he was a wind spirit, a master of the sky. But he had been banished from the Human Realm, exiled by the gods. He'd been reckless, dangerous and a threat to humanity, and for that, the gods had punished him. They'd sentenced him to spend his days in the Spirit World, to live amongst others like himself, where he would not be able to cause as much damage. No lives would be at risk with him nestled away there. Or at least that's what the gods had planned. They hadn't foreseen Shen's actions, hadn't expected him to seek out the witch Yubaba to teach him and help him grow stronger. It was a terrible oversight. And now they would pay for it, Shen would see that they all paid.
He raised his nose in the air, picking up the familiar scent of his two former prisoners. He let out a long, mournful, evil howl, and sprinted off after them. His muscular legs carried him quickly through the halls of the bathhouse and towards his prey. His fangs glistened in anticipation and his mouth twisted into a smile. This time, there would be no escape for the river spirit.
~~~
Chihiro and Haku gasped simultaneously at the sight that met them, jade and honey-colored eyes flying wide open in shock. An entire fleet of guards surrounded a stunned Haku and Chihiro. Apparently, the guards that had been chasing them earlier had alerted their colleagues and informed them of the prisoners' escape. Perhaps those four weren't so dim-witted after all…Chihiro thought to herself, almost amused by the irony of the situation.
Next to her, Haku balled his hands into fists and tightened his muscles in worry and anticipation. His eyes flashed dangerously, dancing across the wall of guards before him. There were too many of them, far too many for him to fend off, but he had to try. For Chihiro. Chihiro looked back and forth between Haku and the sea of guards that stood in front of them. She opened her mouth slightly and stared at the young man next to her, disbelief clearly written on her face when she realized what he planned to do.
"Are you absolutely crazy?!" she half-hissed, half-shouted, "you can't take all of these guys. You're too weak, you…your ribs!" she sputtered. She looked down at his side with concern.
"Everything will be all right, Chihiro," he replied, facing forward towards the guards and not looking at his flustered companion. His features were set firmly with determination. He tried to keep his voice steady and confident, but the slight waver in it betrayed him. Chihiro knew instantly that he was just as worried as she was. She gulped.
Haku reached out suddenly and grabbed her hand, drawing her closer to him in a protective manner. His form next to her felt horribly cold, as thought the blood in his veins had frozen over. It scared her. She shuddered and released herself from him, taking a step forward and positioning herself between Haku and the guards.
"He can't fight you," she stated, her voice carrying easily through the stagnant air, over towards the guards. She paused. For a moment, there was a hush, a stillness. The voices of man and beast alike were silenced, and even the wind dared not stir. Neither Chihiro, Haku or any of the guards made a move. Chihiro's voice caught in her throat, the words forcing at her lips, begging to be released. Her lower lip quivered imperceptibly under the strain, and finally she opened her mouth again to speak. She paused.
In the back of her mind, she heard a voice, small, nearly inaudible, but comforting and familiar all the same. It told her to be strong, told her that was help was coming, and that soon all would be well. She closed her eyes and let the voice wash over her in gentle waves. It gave her strength. She felt safe, confident. She smiled and opened her eyes again. "He can't fight you right now," she continued, "because, at the moment, you have much bigger problems to deal with," she finished emphatically, staring at the guards.
They looked bewildered for a moment, regarding the girl curiously. Slowly, peals of laughter rose from them as they reveled at the pure ridiculousness of the girl's statement. Chihiro smiled, knowing that they wouldn't be laughing for long. Movement caught her eye, as what appeared to be a simple white cloud descended on the men, casting them into shadow. Closer inspection revealed that it was not, in actuality, a cloud, but rather an enormous fleet of white, paper birds.
The first one dove, colliding with one of the guards and cutting his cheek. He reached up a hand and removed it quickly, staring at the blood smeared on it. He craned his neck backwards and looked to the sky in confusion and gasped. Others mimicked him and looked towards the sky as well. They noticed the birds just in time to start running. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of the enchanted paper birds plummeted down towards them, wrapping the men in a sheet of white.
Haku put a hand on Chihiro's shoulder, "Zeniba?" he whispered. He recognized the attack, remembering, with a wince, the day he had stolen Zeniba's golden seal, and had been assailed violently by the same paper birds that were now defending him. It was an interesting twist of fate. Chihiro nodded her head in response to his question, confirming his theory.
The guards were tearing back towards the entrance to the bathhouse, desperate to escape the wrath of Zeniba's flock. Chihiro and Haku stood side by side and watched the events unfold in front of them in a mixture of fascination and horror. It would have been a beautiful scene, watching the birds dance through the sky and catch the light of the sun delicately, had the situation not been so terrible. Once again, Haku drew Chihiro in towards him, hugging her closely.
"One of my personal favorites," came a cheerful voice from behind them once all of the guards had retreated into the safety of the building. Chihiro and Haku turned around to see Zeniba standing there, admiring her work with satisfaction, with Lin and No-Face in tow as well. She whistled sharply, and the flock of paper birds flew towards her. She waved a hand, and they disappeared from view with a flash of radiant silver light.
"Well, aren't you going to give your Granny a hug?" the kindly witch inquired of Chihiro with a raised eyebrow. Chihiro looked up at Haku, who smiled down at her happily. She planted a quick kiss on his cheek and went sprinting into Zeniba's arms. The old woman received her warmly, smothering her in a motherly hug.
"Granny!" Chihiro cried out, "thank you, thank you so much, I'm so glad you're here! That was amazing, you saved us!"
"Nothing to it, Chihiro, darling. My, it's good to see you again," her face brightened as a smile graced her lips, "you've grown up so much. Not the gawky little thing you used to be, are you? You look beautiful."
Chirhiro released her from the hug and smiled at the woman before her, her eyes shining with the threat of tears. She grabbed Zeniba's hand and squeezed it tightly. Seeing her again brought back so many wonderful memories. With her Granny there, Chihiro almost felt like she was home again, she felt safe, and loved. She sniffled as she thought of her parents and her little brother back in the Human World. I miss them so much…she thought to herself longingly. She looked back at Granny and then glanced over at Lin and No-Face, who were beaming at her. She loved them all so much; she could remember very few times when she had been so thrilled to see someone as she was to see all of them. Chihiro sighed to herself. She had two homes, two families, two sets of people who cared for her deeply. She wished she could be with them both, always, but that was impossible. She could have the happiness and joy of being with one of her families, but only at the expense of leaving the other behind, in a different world altogether. It hardly seemed fair. She shook her head, rubbing one stray tear from her face as she did so.
"Hey, no crying!" Lin shouted over at her with mock anger, "you may make me get a little misty too," she finished quietly. Chihiro laughed and ran over to give Lin a hug. After she had embraced her friend, she turned to No-Face as well, who bowed his head and sighed in greeting.
Haku stood awkwardly in the distance, eyes to the ground and seemingly very focused on his foot, which he prodded the ground with gently. He was happy for Chihiro, happy to see her reunited with the people she loved, but he couldn't help but feel a little out of place. He had a history, a reputation. He didn't think these people would be willing to forgive him of his past crimes very quickly, even if he had redeemed himself. They might tolerate him, put up with him for Chihiro's sake, but he was positive they would never love him the way they loved her.
He glanced over at the happy crowd, but hastily snapped his eyes back towards the ground, feeling as though he was intruding on them somehow. An outsider. He'd always been one, there was no reason this instance would be any different.
Chihiro's eyes wandered away from the grinning faces of her recently arrived friends, falling on Haku's form several feet from where she and the others stood. He looked so dejected standing there alone, like a little boy on his first day of school who hadn't made any friends yet, and had only himself for company during recess. Her face softened and she let out a small breath of air. Excusing herself from her friends for a moment, she wandered steadily over towards him.
"You know, you're part of this family too," she said gently. Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper, but entirely sincere. She put a hand under his chin and tilted it up, so that now he was looking straight into her eyes, and no longer at the earth beneath him. She smiled at him luminously. The river spirit bit his lip and tried to look away from her in shame, but found that he couldn't. There was something about the way she was looking at him that prevented him from focusing on anything else. Gradually, he felt the corners of his mouth turn into a smile. She wanted him there, he could see it in her eyes, and that was all that really mattered.
"Aw, come on, lovebirds, we don't have all day! Let's get out of this place!" Lin insisted, waving her arms spiritedly. Chihiro couldn't help but laugh. She grabbed Haku firmly by the wrist and hauled him towards the others.
Zeniba nodded. "Come, we'd better get moving before my charming sister makes an appearance." With that, they were off.
~~~
Later that night, the group of five found themselves in a small forest grove, several miles from the bathhouse. They were huddled around a small fire that Zeniba had created.
"Zeniba, if you don't mind my asking, where exactly are we going? Isn't this the opposite direction of your house? I just sort of assumed that's where we'd be going, since it would be safe and…" Chihiro trailed off, not wholly sure what else to say.
"Well, normally that's where I'd take you, but I think your young man has other plans, don't you Haku?" Zeniba replied, turning to face him. She folded her hands across her lap, staring at him knowingly. He sighed.
"Yes, something has been bothering me," he began hesitantly. He cleared his throat. "You see, when Yubaba came to the Dream World and captured me, I'm afraid she might have done something…terrible. I think her men may have destroyed everything. I don't know what state the land is in now, but I feel that I have a duty to go back, because I, well I want to make sure everything is all right. It was my home for many years and there are…people that I care about there. I fear for their safety," he finished, his voice dropping to a worried murmur.
Chihiro's eyes widened. She hadn't expected that, but now that she thought about it, it made perfect sense. The Dream World. Of course he would want to see it again and make sure everything was well, it made perfect sense.
Haku exhaled heavily. When he inhaled again, the scent of the burning wood from the fire flooded his senses. It was soothing, despite the difficult position he found himself in. He didn't know whether Chihiro and the others would be willing to accompany him on his journey, and, in truth, he didn't know if he even wanted them to come. He would hate to be responsible for putting them in harm's way.
He looked around at their faces. The flames from the fire licked at the sky and illuminated his companions, giving them all an odd sort of glow. He couldn't be sure what any of them were thinking at that moment, but one thing was utterly certain; he would make that voyage back to the land of dreams, no matter what.
~~~
A dark figure crouched in the bushes on the fringe of the glade that concealed Chihiro and her companions from the outside world. The light from their modest fire didn't penetrate the deepest shadows of the woods, so the wolf that lay there remained entirely hidden from them.
He growled to himself, upset by his bad luck thus far. His hunt was certainly not going as planned. He couldn't attack the river spirit now, not with the witch Zeniba so near by. He was brash, but certainly not so ignorant as to think that he could challenge a powerful woman such as herself. He dug his claws into the ground, imagining mirthfully what he would do to Haku the minute Zeniba's back was turned. For now, he would simply have to wait. Patience was not usually among his (extremely limited) virtues, but for the pleasure of killing his mistress' former apprentice, he was willing to endure the delay.
~~~
Author's Note: Well, there ya have it folks, an extra-long chapter just for you, to make up for the fact that I wouldn't get to update the next one as soon as I'd like since I'm going on vacation. However, as I've mentioned before, reviews are a great motivator *nudge nudge, wink wink* and they just might convince me to really work my butt off when I get back. That's right, I'm begging for reviews! But of course, I will still do my best to update quickly, even if I only get one review. What can I say; I'm having fun writing this. Heh. Also, if you guys get anxious waiting for the next chapter, you could always go read my other story to tide you over… (/shameless plug). I should have the next chapter for that one up tomorrow before I leave! Yay!
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chappy, it was fun, though a little difficult, to write. If you'd like me to e-mail you next time I update, just tell me in your review or get in touch with me at chispa74@aol.com. Thanks, I love you all. Also, I really wanted to do individual thank yous to the people who have reviewed recently, but since ff.net deleted a lot of my reviews (grr!) I couldn't, but I will on the next chapter. Thanks again, adios!