HAIBANE RENMEI:

DER

AUSFALL

DES

FLUGES

A fanfiction.

By

Micheal Gioe

(This is a Fanfiction, so I claim no ownership of the Haibane Renmei Title or any of it's original characters or names, except my own)

-- This is my first FanFic posted here. Everyone here seemed very polite, and very generous in terms of reviews and feedback. I thought I might submit this piece of work I've been slowly chipping away at, although I'm not sure if anyone still reads the tired old Haibane FanFic!--

1 – Fire

Newborn

House of Sin

The intense heat stinging the eyes. The black smoke strangling the throat and vision. A roar like a train as the fire towered high into the sky. Along the horizon, all that could be seen was fire. Dancing, growing, falling fire. The fire that destroyed houses and burned fields, leaving behind only wind and ash. The sky was a cruel blue, holding stars laughing at the Earth as it burned, safe in their heavenly loft. The stars were impaled, however, by a large tower rising from the ground beyond the fire horizon. A dark and ominous sentinel, the tower also watched as the ground beneath it flickered and was destroyed. The tower was shaped like some kind of musical instrument, but it was clearly made of stone. Stone that stayed cold, even with the fire licking it's walls. Etched on the walls all over in gold were the words "Bis Mienen Tod". Now a low cry began to tear across the plains, it's volume overpowering the raging blaze. The cry graduated to a scream of pain.

Now as the screams of what were before pain morphed into short bursts of what now resembled anger, a dim consciousness connected with it's tail to form a loop, thus bringing thought. The recipient of this newly formed consciousness was a girl, who was about fifteen. She opened her eyes slowly at first. She could see nothing but a green and white blur, and hear, or rather feel in her head, the rushing and ebbing of fluids all around her. A sudden sickening thud ripped the girl's eyes open wide. She cautiously looked around.

She could not tell where she was, or why. She appeared to be underwater, maybe in some sort of cave. She would've been dead by now if she was actually underwater, so she figured drowsily that she must be dreaming or she wasn't really encased in fluid. Again the dull thud and a cry. Now the girl was frightened. Someone was coming to get her, she was sure of it.

A great muffled pop came from one of the walls, and a small sound began to fill the place. It sounded like the sucking of air. Another thud, although this time clearer. A multitude of small rifts and lines began forming along the wall, snaking their way up and down. A large crack reverberated. The girl tried to cry out, but only sucked in more harmless liquid. Finally, little bits and chunks of the wall began disappearing, pulled outside. Everything went quiet for a while.

The girl was about to close her eyes to try and rest again when a huge and dark line sprang up the wall of the enclosure, and the walls gave way.

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The girl was barely aware that someone was holding her. She was cold and could tell that she was covered in that strange substance. The person who was holding her grumbled something that the girl did not understand.

"No, it's a girl, do you think hers will be white?"

Then a second person spoke up, but their voice was more muffled.

"Should we go tell Essen?"

"Yeah, of course, but do you think we should stay here and watch her?"

The two people didn't say anything else, but they started walking away. The girl wanted them to stay, she didn't know who they were, but she didn't know where she was either. She tried to open her eyes. It took them a minute to get adjusted.

The girl slowly looked around. She appeared to be in a kitchen of some sorts. A big one. Cold linoleum stung her hands as she propped herself up. A few dim lights were on in this kitchen, and she could see a massive table, as well as a closed door. She should go find those people, ask them where she was perhaps.

She stood, and walked shakily over to the door. She gripped the cold handle and turned it. The door swung open to reveal a long dark hallway, lined with discarded boxes and dust. She might be in a basement somewhere.

The girl heard a low crack, somewhat similar to the cracking of her previous residence. A funny sensation ran down her spine, like someone was taking a cold spoon and running it down the nerves on her spine. Then a sound like paper ripping, only fleshier. And when the girl looked at the ground, she saw a steady pool of dark red liquid running from under her down the hall. The next thing she saw was the hard floor rising up to meet her knees, which made thud when they hit the floor.

Now she could feel it. It felt like someone was prying her very shoulder blades out of her back, and the pain only got worse. She let out a small cry and laid down on the floor.

"Help...someone's...attacking...m" Was all she could get out.

She tried to roll over on her back to see who her assailant was, but when she did, all she saw was ceiling. An incredibly sharp pain made her snap back to her stomach. Tears formed small globs in her eyes and patted to the floor as she weezed sobs. She clawed madly at the floor, trying to reach something to hit herself over the head with, maybe give herself a nap.

"Help! Someone!" She screamed, her voice cracking. "I'm dying!"

The girl was about to ram her head into the far wall when the pain died down a bit. Then a surge of pain shot down her back and she heard a wet and heavy rustling and flapping. She coughed out a low "O" sound and collapsed.

A short brown haired girl walked hurriedly down the dark and damp halls, accompanied on one side by a huge man and a tall, lanky girl with bright, almost orangish red hair. Their wings rustled in the stale air as they hustled down the hall. Their luminescent halos bobbed in step with them.

"So, you're sure she's the one?" The shorter girl puffed across to the lanky girl.

"Perhaps." The lanky girl didn't look over.

"Fel? Are you sure?" The shorter girl repeated.

"I hope she is. The feathers on my right wing are starting to die already."

The three finally reached their destination. Before them in the hall, a mural of deep blood was smeared along the walls and floor. A slim girl about mid height was standing upright, breathing irregularly. Her hair was a dark grey, like a cat's. She wore a cream colored robe that was complimented by lots of blood. From her back dripped two bloody wings, little bits of skin and organic matter clumped on the wings.

"I can't see 'um from here, what color are they?" The large man grumbled.

"He...Hen...Hee" The girl uttered strange sounds under her breath as she slowly craned her neck around to look at them. Her eyes were pale green.

"When did she hatch, Fel?" The shorter girl quietly asked the lanky one.

"She didn't hatch, ma'lady." The lanky girl shifted her weight but kept her stone face. "Not exactly."

"You broke her shell?" The shorter girl's voice rose a bit. "For what purpose?"

"The shell was old and beginning to rot anyway, she would've died in there had I not-"

"Her wings already grew ma'm, this quick even. She had to have been in there a couple days after she was s'posed to hatch." Grumbled the large man.

"Fine" The short girl shook her head. "I don't care, lets just get her wings cleaned so we can see what color they are."

When the girl next awoke, she was in a bedroom of some sorts. It was large, and had a table, and a couple of closet doors, and some other nicknacks and assorted things. She realized that she often woke up to a place she didn't know, and was anxious to ask somebody what was going on. Luckily for her, when she looked over, she was greeted by the face of the lanky girl she had seen earlier. The girl's thin hands were dabbing a brush in a bowl of water.

"He...Hello." The girl managed to squeak out.

The other girl stopped and looked over at her. A small smile appeared at the corner of her lips, but it faded.

"Have a good nap?" She asked slowly.

"Who are...you?" The girl managed to get out. In her throat, she could taste rusty blood.

"My name here is Felson, but you can call me Fel." The thin girl again showed a tiny smile. It didn't look forced, but it looked like that was all she could do.

"Are you a...bird?" The girl dreamily said.

On the back of the lanky girl were a pair of pitch black wings, like crow's wings.

"No, no." A flash of anger came over the girl's face, but then it was gone.

"What are you doing?" The girl tried to sit up, but it felt like someone was sitting on her back.

"I'm brushing your wings. If I don't, then we can't see how pretty they are." The girl's face remained the same.

"Wings?" The girl tried to turn her head back.

She thought she saw something, maybe, sticking out of her back, but it was dark in the room, so it could've been anything. That's when she realized she was wearing just a cream gown, and the top half of it had been undone. She bolted up and pulled the gown tight around herself, backing away slightly.

"What?" The girl's eyebrow raised slightly. "Did I hurt you?"

"Where are my clothes?" The girl shouted.

"Clothes? I don't think you had any when you came in." The girl looked around the room slowly, then looked back at the girl.

"Here, I'll tell you what. I'll give you a name so you won't feel so scared. Would you like that?" The thin girl cooed like someone trying to convince an animal to eat from their hands.

"I have...a name." The girl shook her head.

"Okay, tell me what it is, then." The thin girl gave a wide, low smile.

"It's A...an...a...al...Mi...I...I don't know." The girl cast her gaze at the floor. "Maybe it starts with S...Sa...So...S..." She looked back up at the girl, horrified. "Why can't I remember it? I know I have one!"

"Calm down, you're gonna hurt your wings." Came a voice from the door.

There stood the shorter brown-haired girl, carrying a slender book under her arm.

"Who are you?" The girl was starting to feel cornered.

"My name's Essen." The girl advanced into the room.

The girl called Essen sat on the floor next to the bed. She flipped through pages of the slim book, and hummed a bit.

"Are you done cleaning the feathers?" Essen called to Fel without looking.

"No. I'm almost done though, and we should be able to see their color when I fix the lamp."

"Oh, it's gone out again?"

"Yeah. Damn this stupid building."

"Okay, so, NewGirl. Yes, you. What happened in your shell dream?

"Shell Dream?"

"Yes." Essen looked up. "The only dream you ever had here that you can remember.

"The one before I cracked your shell." Fel leaned in a bit.

"Uh, yes...I do think I had one." The girl chewed her bottom lip a bit.

"Well, in my dream, uh, all I remember was fire, and things burning."

"Were you burning?" Essen asked in a low tone.

The girl was startled. She thought for another moment.

"No, I don't know. I might have been."

"Anything else?"

"A tower...maybe."

"Okay, but it was mainly about burning, right?"

Essen flipped through some more pages. She stopped on a page and hummed some more.

"Okay." She stopped. "Brennen means burning, roughly. So that's your name, Brennen."

"Brennen?" The girl thought some more for a moment.

"Yep. Not the prettiest name." Essen nodded. "But Hell, it's cooler than mine." She chuckled a bit and looked up at the new Brennen.

"Essen...sounds okay." Brennen tried to give a smile.

"Maybe until you translate it. It means 'Eating'."

"What book is that?" Brennen pointed to the book.

"I think it's a dictionary. All the books around here are written in this language, whatever it is." She held up the book, with peeling letters that read "AUF DUETSCH"

"So you're named for your Shell Dream?"

"Right."

"Where am I?" The girl looked about again.

The room she was in had a small singular door that lead to what looked like a balcony. Moonlight streamed in from outside, casting pale light on the rest of the room. The floor was wooden, and had a big rug covering most of it. The walls were paisly and had a few random pictures hanging on them, but no people inhabited the frames. Only paintings of vast blue and buildings.

"You're in what some would have called "The Old House." But, nowadays, with things the way they are, we call it "The House of Sin." Some may even call it "The Haunted House" because of noises late at night and such, but it's not that bad. Not the house itself anyways. It's some kind of mansion with a whole Hell of a lot of rooms, and it looks like it's been added onto a lot.

"Don't forget the town." Fel added as she brushed.

Somehow the brushing of Brennens supposed wings soothed her a bit, like someone brushing her hair. She looked back again. Yes, she did have wings after all. She would have to tell everyone back home. Home?

"Can I go home?" Brennen quickly snapped her head to Essen.

"If you can swim."

"What?"

"Nevermind her." Fel leaned around Brennen. "I'm sorry to say that you cannot leave here. Unless you can tell me where you live."

"No."

"There then."

"How's the wings comin, Fel?" Essen went back to reading the book.

"They're done, let me just adjust this lamp here." Fel got up and began tinkering with it.

The lamp clicked, and clicked again. Suddenly the room was bathed in a warm light. Fel looked over at Brennen, then stopped dead. Her eyes fixed on Brennen's wings. Her eyes widened, then her eyebrows bent in the center, and Fel's lips started to quiver.

"Is...Is something wrong?" Brennen sat up a bit.

"Fel?" Essen looked up from the book. "Move, I can't see."

Felson covered her mouth, and strangled sobs could be heard.

"Felson, what is it!" Essen got to her feet and came to Felson's side.

"Her...Her wings...They're dark grey!" Felson lowered her face. "We're going to die here. She's Sinbound too, she's not the White Wing!"

-- Okay, so "White Wing" sounds all cheesy and made-up, right? Well, don't worry, it'll get...oh, spoilers, right...Anyways. Um, some Housekeeping notes before I get flamed for mixing up the Haibane Renmei Universe. I do NOT speak any lick of Japanese, and I don't want to pretend to by slapping on some memorized dime-store Japanese names. Don't get me wrong, Japan is great and all, but 1. I don't know the language enough to do it justice, and 2. Story Reasons.

You might figure out why I changed the language of the story, the town, and the Haibanes themselves later, or I'll probably just tell you.--

I hope you enjoyed. Please read on, Review, or some combo of the two.