A.N. - Alright, so first, thank you to everyone who has been following this and for your patience, I probably wouldn't even have attempted to continue this story without your support. Secondly, since it's been so long since I've updated this fic, I must remind everyone that there are darker and more mature themes within this story, hence the rating. Saying this, I still intend for this little story to have a happy ending, and there will be nothing too terrible which I've seen in other fics that make me stop reading them. Also, the chapters will be shorter than some of my other works and I'm not entirely sure how long this story will be either, but I hope it's enjoyable. Again, thank you all.

Brewing Trouble

Yubaba landed in front of the rustic cottage, unwrapping herself from her cloak. She listened and looked around. It was too quiet. Her instincts had been right then, something had happened to her sister. Her thoughts were cut off as others appeared in the clearing. There was a tree spirit, tall and willowy, a centaur whose long horse snout snorted in aggitation, a radish spirit whom she thought was one of her regular customers, and a wolf who was one of the lesser earth spirits. Yubaba frowned. Someone was missing, someone she'd hoped would come, despite their past. Perhaps it was for the best. "Thank you all for coming," she greeted the spirits. "I've asked for your audience because I believe something has occured, some evil has attacked my sister's place and I mean to find out what it is."

There were murmurs, but only the centaur spoke up. "Why should anything that happens to you or your sister concern us?"

Before Yubaba could answer, a wind picked up and she smiled. So, he had come after all. Everyone braced themselves as a large white dragon with a brilliant green mane and emerald eyes landed amongst them. Once still, the dragon form shed to reveal a young man. His dark, shoulder length hair was tied back, and his olive eyes were sharp with suspicion. "What is the meaning of this, Yubaba, and why are we at your sister's house? Are you trying to steal another one of her relics?"

Yubaba sighed, she knew this wouldn't be easy, but she had to try. "No, you daft dragon. Why would I ask you to be here if I were trying to take anything of hers? I know you won't believe that I've changed in any way, but after... Well, the whys of it don't matter, but none of that is related to why I've asked anyone to come. I believe my sister is in trouble. Haven't you noticed that she hasn't even come out to greet us, Kohaku, or are your senses blind these days?"

Kohaku cocked his head and sniffed the air, then frowned. "Maybe, but then yours are not working properly either. Your sister isn't even here. However, there is something else, some other presence that was here recently which I've never smelled before."

The wolf came forward and smelled the air as well, then growled lowly. "That's because you're too young to have encountered one before. It's demon scent that you're catching. And there was someone else too, someone with dark magic."

"Well, now isn't this a surprise," a voice came from behind everyone. They all turned to find Zeniba, Yubaba's twin sister standing there. "Yubaba, I never thought you'd visit me in a thousand years. Kohaku, it's been some time hasn't it? Who are the rest of these spirits and what are you all doing here?"

"Zeniba!" Yubaba exclaimed, "I'm so relieved that you're alright. Someone has attacked your home. I felt the intrusion because of our connection, and I asked for the help of these spirits in order to figure out what occured."
Zeniba's eyebrows went up. "I thought I sensed something but I was in the land of shadows and all my magic was dampened. Let me cast some spells, hold on." Zeniba made some gestures, then gasped. "No-Face!" She ran inside, and everyone else followed her, curious. Once inside they saw that Zeniba was looking at a spirit who seemed to be frozen in place. He looked like a white ghost.

"I don't remember that No-Face monster looking like that," Yubaba commented.

"That's because he didn't," Zeniba replied grimly. "And he wasn't a monster, he was just influenced by the greediness of your bathhouse. However, we have a huge problem now. Whoever was here has separated his dark side from his light side and taken the dark side of him with them."

"It must have been a warlock," the centaur said lowly. "Only a warlock could do such a thing."

"So we have a warlock and a demon on the loose?" The tree spirit asked.

Zeniba shook her head. "No, the warlock will be controling the demon, so it will only do what he tells it to do. But we need to find out where this warlock went and what it wants."

The wolf turned to the young man and asked, "Kohaku, right? I'm Garote. Let's sniff this warlock out together."

Kohaku nodded. "Agreed." He then transformed back into a dragon and they headed out.

After some time, the two spirits stopped in the middle of a clearing in the forest, where a small garden lay. "What is this place?" The tree spirit wondered, almost reverently. "It feels magical."

"That's because it is," Zeniba answered. "This is a gateway, one of the few into the human world."

Kohaku's head shot up at that, his nostrils flaring. "What could the warlock possibly want in bringing a demon into the human world?"

"Nothing good, that's for sure," Yubaba snorted.

"No-Face is my assistant and as such, I am responsible for him. I must go after this warlock and get the dark side of No-Face back," Zeniba proclaimed.

"I'm going with you," Yubaba stated. "No one messes with my sister and gets away with it, except for me."

"I will be going as well," Kohaku said. "We must protect the humans from whatever plans this warlock has." Zeniba smirked. She knew the real reason the dragon wished to go, but she wisely didn't say anything. The rest also volunteered to help.

"Alright then, I'll open the gateway. We have no idea where this gateway will open up to on the human side so we'll have to be careful and not be seen."

Meanwhile, in the world of humans, the peace of a Japanese garden in the middle of a park was disturbed when two figures stepped through, into the night. One of the figures was cloaked as he strode confidentally forward, while the other was tall and shadowy. The cloaked figure chuckled. "I did it. Finally, after all this time I can get my revenge on the humans who desecrated my home! And you, Kaonashi, will be my instrument of revenge. Ever since I witnessed what you did in that witch's bathhouse I knew you were special. That fool witch doesn't even know who I am, doesn't remember when I was a guest at her business. And her sister is no better, no match for me. These humans won't have a chance."

The shadowy form was silent for a minute, then spoke and his voice emanated darkness. "I'll help you, if you help me get what I want."

"And what is it that you want? Tell me and I will help you."

"The girl. She gave me poison, turned me good again. I will rip her apart."

"Then the girl you shall have. If you can give me a name, I will find her."

An evil grin split the monster's inky face. "Sen."

The twin witches had led the group through the gateway, and they had spent most of the night searching for the warlock and No-Face. It was a lot harder to get the scent of them with all the human smells in the air. "This place stinks," Garote commented while the others agreed. The tree spirit, whose name was Ikashi, held her hand over her bark-covered nose. The radish spirit, Ruto, shrugged, the only one seemingly unaffected.

"How does she live here?" Kohaku muttered.

"Humans are used to the world they exist in," Zeniba said quietly, by his side.

A small smile graced his face. "You've always known, haven't you?"

Recognizing that it was a retorical question, Zeniba chuckled. "I miss her too, though probably not in the same way you do." After a moments hesitation, she asked, "How bad is it?"

He became tight lipped again, but still replied. After all, if anyone could help him, it was the nicer of the sisters. "I've been having these...dreams. They've become more intense lately, and I don't know what to do."

"Ah, that would be the dragon in you. You can't deny your instincts, Kohaku, no matter how hard you try. You and Chihiro created an inseparable bond when you were young. Even though the love you shared was that of childish innocence, your dragon self attatched and sees Chihiro as your mate."

"Isn't there anything I can do?"

"Yes, you need to find her and claim her as your own, otherwise you might die of loneliness. Dragons mate for life, and the lack of your mate will bring you only sorrow."

"What if she doesn't feel the same way, though? It's been several years, and she might not have any memory of me."

Zeniba placed her hand on his shoulder. "I can't say that she remembers right now, but I'm willing to bet that either way, she will remember when she sees you. You have to try, and since we're in the human world, you should find her when we're done dealing with this mess of a situation."

He nodded his appreciation. "Thank you, Zeniba. You're right, I've been putting this off for too long. I want to see her again, I want to hold her, and I want to belong to her as I want her to belong to me. Now let's go find us a warlock."