I'm back everyone! It's less than a month too! Anyway, as part of my ramblings I shall comment on the new rule that ffnet has come up with (namely the review replies ban). I think it's kind of stupid…like, some people can't be bothered clicking the 'reply' button for every review. Oh well, who am I to complain?
Other ramblings: I write her name as 'Rin' since you would write it that way in Jap. I haven't watched the movie in a while, but I think they pronounce it as Lin anyway. But Rin looks better!
On with the chapter!
Chapter 18
The next day (or at least Rin thought it was) Oukami came bouncing in and waking each of them up in his annoyingly cheerful manner, informing them – amongst other useless scraps of rambling nonsense – that today they were leaving and that months had already passed in the spirit world.
Rin looked carefully at Oukami. He gave no indication of remembering their conversation that seemingly took place a night ago, so Rin decided not to bring it up. He could keep his secrets.
They moved out of the protective barrier that encircled the place and flew a short distance before Oukami opened another portal, leading to a small clearing surrounded by tall thin trees with few branches and crackly shrubs.
"Where are we?" Chihiro asked.
"Don't know," Oukami said carelessly, after shutting the portal behind them. "Look, is there any safe place where I can drop you guys off? I have something to do."
The three of them exchanged glances. "Well…" Kohaku began, "Zeniba's cottage might do." They nodded in agreement.
Oukami however looked torn between disbelief and laughing outright. In the end he settled for a smirk, saying, "That old witch? Big-nose number two?"
Chihiro turned on him and said angrily, "She's really very nice, you know."
"Then she must have mellowed out a bit since I last saw her. She and her twin used to run the bathhouse together, both being such power-hungry hags." He nodded smugly, seeing their shocked looks on their faces. Then he slipped into his wolf form and yipped impatiently.
Zeniba looked up from her sewing. "We have visitors, Kaonashi. Let them in, will you?"
"Uh," he nodded, gliding over to the door, just in time to see the dragon and the wolf shimmer into their humanoid forms. He nodded to them, opening the door a little wider.
Zeniba rose from her seat, smoothening out her puffy blue dress she always wore. "Haku, Chihiro," she greeted, then looked questioningly at Rin, who bowed deeply and introduced herself. Then Zeniba shifted her attention to the last visitor. Her eyes narrowed, recognising Oukami. "You've changed your form again," she said contemptuously.
Oukami shrugged. "I got tired of my old one." Then he brightened. "You've changed too. It must be a good story," he smirked.
"Not really," she disagreed, a hint of warning in her voice.
"It sounds good anyway." He then pointed to the door and looked expectantly at the other three.
"Hey!" Rin said indignantly. "We can stay if we want to!"
"No, you'd better go," Zeniba said. "Kaonashi, you too."
After a moment, they all nodded briefly before filing out the door. Oukami waited until the door clicked shut, then sat down at the wooden table and grabbed a slice of cheese on a plate nearby. To Zeniba he said, "Let's hear it."
Outside, Chihiro, Rin, Kaonashi and Kohaku all had their ears pressed to the window at the side of the house, the last of which looked disappointed as the faint crackling of a magical barrier was erected. "Zeniba's put up a spell to prevent us from eavesdropping," he told them.
"Well, break it down, Haku!" Rin ordered. "What's she hiding from us?"
"I don't know, but I'm not going to try and eavesdrop. Zeniba won't like it," he said calmly. Then he turned away, walking towards the grassy open meadow.
Rin glared irritably and shouted after him, "But what if it's something important?"
Kohaku looked back with a faint smile, his soft words carried on the brisk wind. "I respect her privacy."
Rin stared, mouth half-open to say something more but nothing came. Then Chihiro brushed her shoulder as she walked past. "Come on," she beckoned. Then she broke into a run, following Haku, which left Rin to huff and complain half-heartedly about his apparent laziness to Kaonashi.
Oukami wolfed down the cheese, it really was very nice.
"So yes, he was just an ordinary worker at Aburaya, and he made me realise how wrong it was to take someone's real name away, amongst other things. Then I gave him his name back, as well as the other workers' names, and he got his power back. Unfortunately, well, you know what happened next." Zeniba looked out the window, remembering.
Oukami paused in his munching. "You mean my sensei?"
She nodded. "I was actually very happy when I heard you killed him," she said, not seeing the shuttered look in Oukami's eyes. "Though," she continued, "after you started decimating villages and powerful spirits my opinion of you dropped a fair bit."
Oukami roughly grabbed another hunk of cheese and tore his teeth through it, frowning.
"But, you seem to have stopped that past-time of yours now," she observed.
"I got better," he said shortly.
Zeniba nodded. "It's not wise to learn from a demon, or to kill one either. Especially if they're powerful. Seems like you found that out the hard way." She smiled slightly, then changed the topic, "So how did you end up with Chihiro's friends?"
"Oh." He pulled out of his reverie, mentally berating himself. "Your twin asked me to capture the dragon for her, though I decided that they were more exciting so I stuck with them instead."
Zeniba nodded. Through the window she could see Kaonashi and Rin wandering aimlessly around the meadow, and Chihiro and Haku lying side by side, watching the clouds travelling across the endless sky. After a moment of contemplating, she said, "You know, they're made for each other."
"Who?"
"Haku and Chihiro."
"Yeah, I know. That's why I'm going to do them a favour." Zeniba gave him a questioning look, so he elaborated, feeling that she deserved an explanation no matter how small it was. "I'm going to those stuck-up Great spirits to ask them if the human can stay, here in the spirit world."
"Becoming less of a demon, hmm?" She cast an amused glance at him.
"Maybe," he replied evasively, rising from his seat.
"Haku's already asked them," she added.
His hand stopped on the doorknob. "They said 'no', didn't they?"
Without another word he left, walking around the cottage until he reached the side which faced the meadow. He leant against the cool stone wall, thinking and watching the four of them enjoying themselves. Slowly his focus was drawn to the dragon and the human lying amid the grass, pointing out certain clouds to each other and laughing occasionally. He could see the pure, genuine delight they had in each other's company, something he could barely remember himself doing. Now, he could only guess, and hope, that he was once like them. And the worst thing about forgetting those innocent days was that he had no one to blame for it, no one to blame except for himself for turning into a demon.
Disgusted, he pushed himself off the wall and blurred into his wolf form. He had been acting strange lately; maybe flying would clear his mind of unnecessary, sentimental thoughts. He just needed to keep moving forward.
Through the sparse clouds he could see the green dissolving into wasteland. The Five Pillars were looming quickly in the distance. Oukami had some idea of what prank he would pull on them this time, though part of it would be improvisation as well.
Hovering above the huge sandstone structure with thick clouds between them, he readied the first part of his plan, his tongue lolling with laughter at his ingenuity. The only drawback to his pranks on the Great spirits was that they knew it was him doing it, but they didn't know what he was going to do. That was the best part though.
From below, it seemed like the clouds jetted thick streams of fire that set alight the sandstone, turning it into a roaring furnace. Over the blaze Oukami could hear the cries of surprise as the spirits hurried to put out the blaze. Setting fire to stone was one of the best tricks. He grinned, readying his next step.
Once Mizu Kami had watered down the structure completely so that it was satisfyingly wet, he unleashed a bolt of lightning which zipped through the water, and hopefully electrocuted them. From what he could hear, that part of the plan worked too. Then he got an idea.
He added thick, dense fog to the surrounding area before dipping towards the cracked, dry ground, changing back as he did so. With the help of compressed air shaped by his hands, he sliced his way underground.
On the platform, all five spirits were completely peeved, muttering to themselves and twitching ever so slightly from the after-effects of being electrocuted. They looked frequently up at the sky, trying to gauge when the next attack was coming. They had all been taken by surprise by the first attack, not to mention that burning stone was completely unexpected, and had subsequently fallen into the trap that ended up with them looking like they were now.
"Where is that demon!" Inochi Kami seethed while fixing the charred holes in her flowing dark green dress. "I swear I'll kill him this time!"
"That's my job," Shi Kami said darkly.
Suddenly the platform they all stood on vaulted inwards, and they all toppled in amidst the rubble except for Kuuki Kami and Shi Kami who were quick enough to fly out.
Atop the pillar, Oukami waved down at them before descending into a helpless fit of laughter. The looks on their faces was priceless.
"Tsukioukami!" Chikiu Kami raged. "Get down here!"
Oukami couldn't reply, almost out of breath from laughing so hard.
Suddenly an earthen fist connected with his stomach, knocking him off the top of the pillar. Oukami gave a silent yelp of surprise, plummeting out of control towards the ground and landing with a hard thud on his side. He rolled over once and lay still.
"Maybe you killed him?" Mizu Kami asked hopefully while peering through the fog for any movement.
"I hope so," Chikiu Kami grated.
"But I doubt it," Kuuki Kami said. "Besides, killing a demon like him is a very bad idea."
They floated down and gathered around him at a safe distance, watching as he groaned and pushed himself up to a sitting position, testing his joints for broken bones. Luckily for Oukami he was unscathed, though his head and left shoulder hurt terribly. Glaring at them all, he growled, "What was that for?"
Chikiu Kami glared back, shouting, "What was that for?" He jabbed an angry finger at the smouldering ruins.
"It was a freaking prank!" Oukami yelled back. "What were you trying to do? Kill me?"
"Yes!" he roared.
Oukami rubbed his throbbing head. "Well…thanks," he retorted sarcastically.
"So what did you come here for?" Inochi Kami demanded. "Just for one stupid, failed prank?"
"It wasn't really a failure," Kuuki Kami gestured around at the destruction, "but it was stupid all right." Oukami couldn't help but agree.
"So?" Mizu Kami prompted.
"Oh, right." Oukami forced a grin. "I just dropped by to tell you about that human, like where she is so you can send her back."
Five sets of eyes regarded him suspiciously, and Inochi Kami voiced what they were all thinking. "From the rumours we heard, we thought you were helping the dragon and his human, opening illegal portals across our world."
Oukami laughed, though it did nothing to ease the soreness in his side. "So that tricked you too? Well, that was one of my elaborate pranks. I can't wait to see their expressions when they learn I planned this from the beginning," he chuckled.
"So…the whole thing was one big prank?"
"Yep!" Oukami widened his grin.
"And we're supposed to trust you?" Shi Kami asked dubiously.
"Hey, I'll get her myself if you like. However," he added, crossing his arms, "since I'll be doing you a favour to rid the stinking human of this world, all of you must promise that you won't attack me – and this includes random times like when I'm sleeping, it gets really annoying to deal with you. Anyway, no attacking for at least another five hundred years. Deal?"
Suspicion dissolved to pondering, and finally they agreed. "Deal."
"Cool. Now I'll just get going…" he trailed off as he picked himself up, wincing as he did so.
"Kuuki," Chikiu Kami said suddenly, "go with him."
"Me?" she asked incredulously.
"You have to make sure he doesn't run off," Inochi Kami said, mockingly conspirational.
"I know that!" she snapped. To Oukami, she grumbled, "Come on."
They flew in complete silence, late afternoon stretching to sunset, and sunset to nightfall. At last the small cottage came into view, lit only by the lamp that hung in the thin archway outside. Kuuki Kami swooped down and landed on it. The lamp below her began to squeak in warning, but she just gave it an irritated look and silenced it with a wave of magic.
Meanwhile, Oukami had nosed open the window and stealthily slipped inside. Carefully masking his presence, he changed back and tiptoed over to where Chihiro was sleeping peacefully. He knelt next to her and touched his fingers lightly to her forehead. A soft green light flared, then died away quickly. He moved to pick her up, but then thought of something. Pressing his palm to her forehead again, he murmured a few words before a sharp purple light sliced through the inky darkness before slowly fading away. It really wasn't his style to say the spell out loud, but he needed that one to work perfectly.
He slung Chihiro over his shoulder and turned around, when suddenly a distinctive voice yelled on his right, "Hey!"
Oukami didn't wait. He flew out the window and rocketed to the sky, not looking back to see Rin's angry, shocked expression. He reached Kuuki Kami who hovered impatiently beside a small portal that was hidden in the clouds. "It leads to another portal, and that one will lead to the human world," she explained, taking the unconscious human from him and flying through. Oukami followed close behind.
They emerged in a boulder-filled area with blackish soil that completely covered the ground, right beside a vertical cliff that looked like it used to be a waterfall. Pressed against it was a large portal, with Inochi Kami and Shi Kami standing side by side. Shi Kami shut the portal they had just come through while Inochi took Chihiro, just as she stirred.
"Where are we?" she asked Oukami, taking in her unfamiliar surroundings. Suddenly she was wide awake and twisting out of the Great spirit's arms. "What's going on?"
Inochi took her wrist firmly. "We're returning you to your world."
"What?" Panic began to build up inside her as Inochi pulled her towards the large portal. She fought the spirit, straining to release the steel grip on her arm while shouting, "I don't want to go! Haku, he – I want to stay here!" Her voice rose frantically.
"You're not a spirit," Inochi said calmly. The portal's entrance loomed closer.
"So?" she cried, digging her heels into the unyielding rock. "You can't do this! I belong here! With Haku!"
"He doesn't want you," she lied through her teeth.
Chihiro shook her head violently in denial, feeling like she had been thrown into a nightmare. "No, he does, I know it! Ask him yourself!" But Inochi Kami didn't slow her pace, and Chihiro turned desperately to Oukami in a last-ditch attempt.
He allowed himself a small smirk as he looked on from behind Kuuki Kami and Shi Kami. "Dragons lie all the time," he answered her unspoken question.
"I thought you were our friend!" she screamed, feeling shaken, angry and frightened all at once as the reality of the situation was finally hit home.
"Demons don't have friends."
That was the last thing she heard before the thick darkness smothered her.
I'm still not happy with that last little section with Chihiro. Is it too quick? You guys tell me!
Now, before you all disappear, I'd like to thank all my reviewers! Fourteen reviews for that chapter! Thank you everyone! And a special thank you to Keetra for being very very helpful!
One more thing. I want to change the title of this story. So, all you guys can give me titles and I'll decide which one I like best by the end of the story! Start sending! (Actually, does anyone want to keep the current title?)