By: ~jaded image~
AN: Ah hah! Guess who's back!! This here is the next chapter, obviously. I just finished watching Princess Mononoke and it re-inspired me to write…not really, but it was a very very good movie that I encourage people to watch. I'd like to thank everybody that reviewed and say…what the heck were you thinking reviewing a thing like this? Not that I don't appreciate it, just wondering. Hope it had nothing to do with the bribing, because this should all be voluntary and have nothing to do with all the marshmallows I'm willing to offer…
Disclaimer: Funny how I forgot about this for the last four chapters *cough* As you know, I don't own SA, that would be Miyazaki's work.
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Haku soared through the sky in his dragon form. He looked magnificent, with his scales reflecting the sun, his beautiful mane flowing behind him. He looked carefree, without a thought to bother him.
In reality all the nagging thoughts crowding in his head were giving him a migraine. He had been flying for more than an hour and still not one clue as to where Riku might be. The spirit world was somewhat like an exact image of the real world. The bathhouse seemed to be the center point of the spirit realm. Surrounding it were forests and great rushing rivers and mountains residing in the background. Little villages were located among the natural growths and he could see the thatched roofs and flapping cloths in the doorways.
Haku didn't bother to glance down at the village he was currently flying over and flew towards a stand of shadowed trees. Landing in a clearing he shifted back into his other form and stood there quietly. With the amount of power Riku now possessed, it should be easy to detect her whereabouts. But he couldn't sense her anywhere. Releasing the breath he had unconsciously held, he sidled over to an ancient oak and sat down.
He needed to rest after a sleepless night and two hours of flying.
~*^*~Back to Chihiro and Rin~*^*~
Chihiro wiped her forehead with her arm. Two straight hours of cleaning and the tub looked as dirty as when they began. She groaned with the effort of scrubbing the scum off the walls. Her day had begun with no breakfast, and having only a fraction of sleep of what she was used to didn't help her situation.
The princess stopped scrubbing and tossed the cloth into a messy pile. "Riiin! How much longer do we have to do this?"
"Keep working, Sen. Where do you come from anyway? It's like you've never worked before." Rin grunted as she shoved a big pile of seaweed out the stall.
"Hey I work too." Chihiro replied in self-defense. She wondered if helping Kasumi dust off the furniture could be counted as work. With a defeated sigh she gestured to her pile of used cloths. "I need another one."
The older woman offered her a dry look. "Then go get one."
"From…?"
"The pile in the basket."
"What…pile? And for that matter, what basket?"
Rin glanced up annoyed and waved a grimy hand near the stall opening. "That basket over…" Her eyes widened as they fell on the empty space where the basket should have been. "Damn…somebody must've taken it. They always give a hard time to newbies."
Chihiro sighed. So it was her fault the basket was taken. Rin saw her crestfallen look and gave her an encouraging smile. "How about you take a break and go wash those cloths down by the river. I'll stay here and clean this crap." Chihiro grinned.
"Yes, sir!" She mock saluted her friend and ran off before she could be hit with a muck ball.
~*^*~Haku~*^*~
Leaning back against the trunk, Haku felt more relaxed than ever. He was never one to just sit back and enjoy his surroundings especially since he was always sent on mission after mission. He yawned and his jade eyes started drifting shut. Maybe he should take a nap…
A twig snapped and he was instantly wide-awake again. A faint scent of flowers greeted him.
"Heh, you've become careless since I last saw you. The great river god dozing in the forest." The melodious voice flowed over his whole body and Haku suppressed a shiver. He scanned the clearing but couldn't find where the sprite was located. Why couldn't he sense her?
A soft thud to his left brought his attention to a slim figure standing in the shadows. "Riku.."
She didn't reply and stood there studying him, he felt subconscious for the first time in weeks. Swallowing in an attempt to detain whatever words were about to come out, he watched as she walked into a patch of sunlight. Her hair was just as smooth and fiery red as he remembered, and her eyes sparkled with an inner light. She was beautiful like all forest sprites are. But to him, she was the most beautiful. Thoughts of Sen-whatever fled his mind and he only had a vague memory of what he was suppose to do. Instead those thoughts were replaced by urges to hug this creature, to have her in his arms again.
Riku smiled in satisfaction as she watched the river god in front of her fall deeper and deeper into her spell. A look of longing had appeared on his face and his eyes glazed over. This was all too easy, the Dragon's Eye had allowed her to easily hide her presence and now reinforced her power. The hypnosis she had placed over him should hold until she could get rid of him.
~*^*~Chihiro and her rags down by the river~*^*~
A soft breeze lifted Chihiro's hair and she closed her eyes, enjoying the wind swirling around her body. She stood before the great river that was dry not too long ago. Gazing across she saw the hill where she tumbled down just yesterday into a neck-breaking landing. Her thoughts skimmed over what happened in the past hours. Unconsciously stumbling into the spirit world, meeting Haku, being employed to work for Yubaba…
Her ears caught the sound of soft girlish giggles coming from somewhere off to her left. A few seconds later and she saw a trio of pink clad girls ambling across the grass in her direction. They stopped as she came into their line of view and studied her dirtied outfit and windblown hair. The middle one smirked and she and her friends stalked over to Chihiro to form a half circle in front of her.
"So…this is the human we've been hearing so much about." Said the girl in the middle. Her long black hair was placed into an intricate braid and she kept twirling the end around her fingers. "What are you doing out here human? Shouldn't you be working the big stall?" When Chihiro didn't respond, her dark eyes narrowed.
"I heard Haku was the one who found you out here, wandering all by yourself. Isn't that right girls?" Her companions nodded vigorously, eager to please. "And just what were you thinking allowing yourself to be found by Haku, of all people?"
Chihiro could hear the immense jealousy this girl possessed. Of what she wasn't sure, but it was there coming straight at her. "I-I'm not sure what you mean."
The girl scowled. Stupid human seemed to think she was above answering her questions. Well that can be fixed. She gestured to her companion and spoke. "Looks like you got yourself in a bit of a mess. How 'bout we help you clean up, hmm?" Before Chihiro could reply, the three girls crowded around her and she was pushed into the cold river. She sputtered and surfaced, desperately gasping for air.
The trio giggled. "Next time you want to get lost, get lost in your own world, human." Then they left a soaked Chihiro behind letting her struggle by herself to climb out of the great river.
Chihiro fumed to herself scraping hair out of her eyes. Never in her life had she been treated like this and she wanted to chase after them and pull at that girl's intricately done up hair. Instead she squeezed out as much water as she was capable of and kneeled next to the dirty pile of cloths. Rin was expecting her back, all she can do is try to forget the incident.
~*^*~Haku~*^*~
Riku gave a wave of her hand and thick roots arched up from the ground to wrap themselves around Haku. He didn't give any sign that he felt thick trunks tightening around him, his face was still a picture of calm and sad longing. She gave another flick of her wrist and the river god was lifted off the ground. The forest sprite smirked. Controlling the trees used to be difficult, now it was second nature to her. Holding out her hand, she ordered the trees to get tighter and tighter…
Haku suddenly cried out in pain. The spell had broken once the squeezing had managed to break some ribs and the searing pain cleared his head. He looked down to find Riku, his beloved Riku, taking so much pleasure from his torture. Hurt and disappointment welled up inside but he pushed them to the back of his mind. Right now he had to focus on surviving, not pitying himself. Summoning a blast of energy he managed to crack the roots binding him and fell unceremoniously to the ground.
"Ah, awake already? Pity, I was just about to finish." She said in an airy voice.
"Why Riku? Why are you doing this?" He had to know, as if his life depended on it. She was never like this with him before.
Riku shrugged it off. "Power is power." Without pausing for him to regain his footing, she gestured to the trees and a flock of leaves drifted from the branches to hover around her. "Good bye, Haku." The leaves charged themselves at him and cut through his robes and deep into his flesh. Haku growled and transformed back into a dragon and flew up into the sky, the leaves following closely behind. He rocketed back towards the bathhouse but broken ribs and deep gashes don't make for a good flight. He felt himself falling and falling…until he landed in a heap right in front of the last person he expected to see.
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So…how was that? This chapter turned out completely different than what I had originally written in my rough draft. A lot longer too…originally there weren't gonna be any bullies to mess with Chihiro..but I thought 'heck, why not? I might as well give her some social acceptance issues coupled with some major jealousness.' Hehe well I hope you enjoyed it. Please do feel free to leave a review and make me a happy little girl. Because we all wanted jaded to be happy right??