What is a dragon?
Throughout history, the air of myth and legend surrounding these magnificent creatures has shifted and churned, aspects changing, motives questioned, and gradually, dragons became feared.
It was not always so, however. From early on, the dragons were known to be wise; the protectors of lore and history. They were respected, revered, and even worshipped in certain cultures.
Time, however, erases everything. No image can endure forever, and in time, the image changed to that of viscous brutes, notorious for stealing the treasures and women of mankind. It became quite a sport to hunt them down and kill them.
From gentle historians to bloodthirsty savages, the mystery of the dragon has endured, intriguing mankind for centuries.
One thing is certain, however. A dragon will guard that which it loves with its last breath. They are the most jealous and possessive creatures in existence.
Chapter 7: Breaking Point
The water was cold. Bitingly, icily, mind-numbingly cold. Nami could feel the heat leaving his body, seeping out into the icy black that surrounded him. Down he went, endlessly drifting deeper into the sea of death. Slowly, he succumbed to the terrible cold, his limbs growing limp.
Suddenly, he felt a splash nearby. Dimly, his mind registered the fact that someone was along side him, holding on and struggling to leave the water. As his head broke the surface, he gulped in the chilly night air, noting that the once pleasant breeze was now sharp and cold. He looked up to see Haku on the dock, holding out his hand to help him up. With a start, he realized that it couldn't then have been Haku who had saved him, and he looked around wildly before finding himself staring into the golden, narrow slitted eyes. . . of a cat.
Albeit, it was a very humanoid cat, possessing the typical two legged, two armed torso. On the other hand, it had the ears and fur of a cat, as well as the eyes and snout. And then there were the claws. He noticed for the first time the wounds where the claws had gripped into his arm as his rescuer had pulled him to the surface.
The cat blinked at him angrily.
"You'd better have a bloody good reason as to why you interrupted my dinner and got me all wet," it said, before turning and stepping back onto the boat. "Well, are you coming or not?" Haku and Nami looked at each other, then followed.
The cat opened the door, and they stepped inside. They found themselves in a cozy little room with a small table at one end set for three. Next to the table was a fireplace with a crackling, welcoming fire roaring away within. The cat handed Nami a robe and motioned toward a door leading out of the room.
"You can change in there. I imagine that you want to get out of those wet clothes as soon as possible." Nami nodded, his teeth chattering, and entered the room, shutting the door behind him.
Haku turned and found that their host had already returned to the table, and was digging into one of the biggest fish that Haku had ever seen.
"Well, are you going to just stand there, or are you hungry?" the cat asked. "You'll notice that I set the table for three, so why don't you sit down and dig in?" Haku blinked, then walked over to the table and sat down.
"I take it you're the ferry… thing?" Haku asked, carefully eying the fish. His host nodded and then looked over at him.
"So, Where is that you and your clumsy friend in there want to go?"
Haku glared at the cat. "Before we do business, I want to know with whom I'm dealing."
"Of course. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Min. And you, of course, are Haku."
Haku paused with a piece of fish halfway to his mouth, his jaw lowered in astonished amazement.
"How do you know me?"
Min gave him a strange look and began to cut into the fish with her claws. "I find it hard to believe that you could have forgotten your first trip across. I take it that your destination is the same?"
"How do you know me?" Haku muttered, his voice growing more and more breathy. Suddenly, he stood up and jumped out of the chair.
"HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ME?" he screamed, holding his head as a series of images flashed through his mind. A storm, a ship, tossing and rolling on rough seas. Himself, throwing a rope to a shadowy figure struggling against the waves. In an instant, it was over and he went limp, falling to his knees, breathing deeply.
"Haku, are you all right?" The voice behind him was concerned, but Haku didn't hear it. Slowly, Nami put a hand on his shoulders, only to have it shoved roughly off.
"Leave me alone. Just. . . leave me alone."
Nami stood for a moment, stunned and hurt, then he and Min left Haku to himself.
Slowly, tears began to roll down his cheeks.
For the most part, the remainder of the trip across the lake was uneventful. Haku kept mostly to himself, avoiding his companions whenever possible. He spent most of the time in the small cabin that he had been given to sleep in, venturing out only for the occasional meal. He was constantly tormented by his lost memories, which seemed to hang just far enough out of his reach as to prevent him from catching them.
Sleeping, unfortunately, was worse than being awake, for when he slept, he dreamt.
He found himself walking through a long, narrow passageway of stone. The damp walls seemed to tower over him, even as they seemed to close in from all sides. At the end, he could see a sliver of light coming from beneath a door. He approached slowly, apprehensive of what he would find beyond that door. Somehow, his instincts told him that there was no way it could be good. Carefully, hand shaking, he reached for the latch, but the door swung open of its own accord, revealing the macabre contents of the dimly lit room.
He screamed.
Inside, several bodies lay flung about the room, their faces twisted into horrific death masks, revealing the fear and agony of their last moments. In his head, their screams erupted, and he could hear the methodical blasts that had made such short work of the family. Their fear and torment raced through him, and his breathing became short, before everything went black, and he fell into blissful silence.
Tonight was no different. After the tense and silent meal, he retired to his chambers, where, exhausted both physically and mentally, he promptly sank into a deep sleep, not even awaking when the cry "land" was heard piercing the night.
So, all I can say right now is I am very, very sorry for the wait. Fortunately, here's the latest update.
And now, I'm going to do something out of character, and answer reviews. I'm hoping this will start to become a common practice.
Varda101- Thank you so much for the complement. And yes, here's the update, even if it IS a little bit late!
Silver-Sanity- Heh, keep being emotional, people will like it. Thanks for reviewing.
Mia- Well, I'm very sorry, but I guess you could consider this a cliffhanger. I guess I just get demented pleasure from watching you people suffer. Hopefully, I've got my motivation back.
Sachairi- Thank you so much for your constant support. Now, if you'd just update your story, I might be persuaded to write quicker!
Heebiejeebie- Thanks for the complement!
Keetra- Yeah, I'll talk to you later. And see! Nami didn't die! That's what you get for not trusting me. Now, I'm hoping you like this chapter better. There's more, shall we say, action, and character development! We find out what Haku's thinking, or rather, dreaming! Yeah, I really love changes to. Absolutely my favorite Spirited Away fic. And yes, you get drunk. You're a very disturbed character. I'm not sure what I'll do with you yet. And don't worry; we'll see a lot more of what Haku's thinking later on. I've got plans, so to speak. Which is why you're last. And thanks so much for looking this over way back when. At least, I think you did. You're my backup beta-reader!
Sara, if you're reading this, you need to get back online sometime. We haven't talked in ages, and I'm starting to get worried that one of those hurricanes did hit you. I know you weren't worried, but unless I receive some info that you're okay, I'm going to pray for you, and hope for the best. So contact me!
By the way everybody, Sara's my beta reader, so much thanks, even though she hasn't been around to do this one, hence the sloppy job. Oh well, guess you can't have everything.