Royal Task
By:~jaded image~
AN:Whaaaaaaaa…*sniff* I'm such a bad person. I left you all on such a stupid cliffie. I'm so stupid….*goes into corner and rocks* Please forgive me for this belated update. I hope you all enjoy it!
Kintora-I like your new name!!! Heehee…lots of guesses….
Razanur-Yay! I love hearing rants. Especially when it's about SA.
Fire Kitsune Goddess-*blink* What? Me…evil?? Didn't know I was capable of it O.o
Leihko-The answer to your question…because princesses are so easy to manipulate!!! MUAHAAHAA!!!!!……don't mind me.
Mayabf93-OK OK OK. I'm UPDATING UPDATING UPDATING!!!
Aldesina-*sigh* It's been so long, I can't even remember how I began my story-.-;…BUT, if you say it's cute, I'll just have to believe you! ^-^
Now…READ ON!!! AND LEAVE ME TO MY LITTLE CORNER!
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Last time…
"Smart move," a sudden voice said behind her. Turning around, Chihiro froze in place.
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Chihiro was face to face with what had to be a god. What she saw was a young man about her age with the most beautiful jade green eyes and dark tea green hair. They stood studying one another for a moment before the young man spoke.
"Well, you certainly look smarter than the other dimwitted dolts that came here. And you're lucky you didn't eat those food, they're reserved for the spirits."
"Sp-spirits?" asked Chihiro, still a bit dazed by his appearance.
He nodded. A raspy caw was heard as a deformed looking bird landed on a wooden post nearby.
"Caw," it repeated as it tilted it's human head. Chihiro opened her mouth to scream but was stopped by the mysterious young man, who somehow appeared right beside her.
"Don't. That's a Yubaba-bird. Yubaba is obviously getting impatient."
"Who…what is that thing? And who's Yubaba?" asked a disoriented Chihiro. Her heart was racing beyond the normal speed and her face was burning red.
Completely ignoring her questions, the jade-eyed youth took hold of her hand and shot out of the food stand, tugging a shrieking Chihiro behind him. The Yubaba-bird flew after them.
It took awhile for Chihiro's befuddled brain to register what was happening. We're…flying? She thought, looking down. The ground was but a blur and the sudden fear of heights caught up with her.
The young man suddenly turned to her. "My name is Kohaku. But you can just call me Haku." Chihiro nodded. Kohaku, sounds like a god's name. And even if he isn't a god…he sure has the looks down. Chihiro blushed and silently scolded herself. This was not the time or place to get romantically interested.
Realizing Haku was still looking at her, she guessed he probably wanted a response. Chihiro blushed an even deeper red that stood out against her pale skin. She was oblivious to the amusement that flashed through his eyes as she stuttered. "I-I'm…" she paused. Should she really give her real name away? After all, he may not look it, but Haku could be some sort of thief or something.
A very nice-looking thief…her mind responded.
"I'm…Sen. Nice to meet you, Haku."
He gave an almost imperceptible nod. After a few seconds of zooming through the air, Chihiro called out. "Hey Haku, just where are we going?"
Flicking his jade-green eyes toward her, their eyes locked. Chihiro vaguely wondered if Haku should really look away from where they were flying…in case they fly into some levitating object.
Breaking their connection, Haku said in a toneless voice. "You're going to Yubaba's bathhouse. She wants to see you."
Confused by his sudden change of attitude, she decided not to pursue it.
"And what if I don't want to go see this…….Yubaba?"
"You don't have a choice."
She huffed and glared at the back of his head. "Tell me who Yubaba is. And why in the world does she want to see me?" She didn't know why he actually decided to answer her, maybe he sympathized with her situation or maybe he just wanted her to shut up. Either way he answered.
"Yubaba is a powerful sorceress. She owns all this land from the riverbed to those mountains. She wants to see you because you have trespassed on her land. Yubaba never lets things go unpunished."
Chihiro paled. "You mean…she's going to hurt me?" she asked, panic evident in her voice.
Haku shot her a look of sympathy.
"No, I don't think so."
Just great, I just had to be kidnapped by a torment-crazy lunatic. She sighed inwardly at her misfortune. And this was just the first day.
A few minutes later, Chihiro noticed that they were slowing down. She saw a bit looming building that must've been the bathhouse. Stopping completely in front of a sturdy wooden beamed bridge, Haku gently set them both back to the ground.
He directed a "come" at her and the two started across the bridge.
Chihiro hadn't noticed before, but now as the two of them walked in silence across the wide bridge, she realized how much time had past. It was late afternoon of her first day on her adventure. It seemed like just a minute ago that she was waving goodbye to her family.
Time flies when you're having fun…She allowed a wry smile as the thought flitted through her mind.
The two youths had entered the bathhouse and Chihiro was surprised to find it busy and full of life. She stood in the doorway blinking as her mind adjusted and excepted what she was seeing.
Frog men rushed to and fro, carrying dishes piled with food, shouting at each other, filling trays with thick towels. Among them were normal looking girls who wore some kind of pink uniform. As she took everything in, she didn't notice the subtle glances passed in her direction from Haku.
There was an odd sort of feeling inside him, swelling up. He summed it up as sympathy for the poor girl. She didn't know what she had gotten herself into.
Suddenly a little frog creature hopped in front of his face, yelling all the while.
"Master Haku! Master Haku, you're back!"
Chihiro paused in her looking around to stare at this new being. The creature continued jumping up and down.
"And you brought the human I see. Blech, it reeks!" Chihiro frowned at this point. It was true that she might not smell too good, after all, sweat and mud don't add up to much of a pleasant aroma, but that was just plain rude.
"Stop jumping and get out of the way. Yubaba's expecting me." Haku commanded, his voice stern and forbidding. The frog finally stopped hopping and Chihro was surprised to see a frightened look appear on his amphibian face.
"O-of course. M-master Haku."
By now, most of the people who Chihiro assumed were workers had stopped and were watching them. Some pink uniform clad girls were whispering and pinching their nose. She couldn't have smelled that bad…
Without another word, Haku took hold of her wrist and pulled her through the crowd toward a lift. Once they got in and Haku pulled down the lever, he gave on last fierce glare to the immobile crowd. That got them moving.
As the lift slowly made its way up, Chihiro broke the silence with a flood of questions.
"Haku what happened back there? What were those frog things? Are you their master? What do they mean 'human'? Weren't those girls human? Do I really smell that bad?"
She looked up at him expectantly and saw mildly surprised jade eyes filled with amusement looking back at her. Flushing a bright red, she averted her gaze. "I didn't think I smelled too bad…"
The young man watched as the human girl in front of him turn a few more shades of red before he suddenly leaned over close to her, taking in a deep breath.
Chihiro jumped a little and she came close to a heart attack. Just what was he doing?
The handsome young man returned to his spot and said in a gentle teasing voice. "No you don't smell bad. Actually you smell like peaches…and human." He added as an afterthought.
"Oh…" came the intelligent reply.
The wooden lift came to a stop and Haku gave her a quick grin before getting off. The two of them walked down a long, dimly lit corridor until they reached a gigantic pair of double doors made of richly colored redwood.
Taking a deep breath and willing her skin color back to the natural pale, she glanced at Haku. His expression was blank and indifferent once again. She was astonished at the rate he could change.
Without warning, the heavy doors swung open and a sinister voice floated out.
"Come in."
Chihiro gulped and followed Haku, this wasn't going to be good…
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YAY! Third chappie done. Now just a billion and one more to go! ^_^ *yawn* Oi…I'm so tired……and it's only 8:33 p.m. Just goes to show how sleep deprived I am. Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW OR E-MAIL ME! I love reading your comments!!! It's my brain food ^.^
~jaded image~