OKAY! Re-cap time! Just 'cause I think we've gotten well into the story, it's time to simply and quickly make sure everything makes sense :) You can skip this if you think you've got the gist of things!
Ryumiko, Chihiro's sixteen year old cousin found the Spirit World and is currently living with Rin and kind of, sort of with Haku as well. Ryumiko isn't able to leave the house because of Yubaba and a paranoid Haku.
Haku and Rin, after freeing themselves from Yubaba, were cursed by said witch but neither they or Zeniba, know what the curse really is. All they know about their curse, is that a human who has been to the Spirit World once before can free them and has the ability to bring down Yubaba, who is currently taking over the Spirit World. Haku and Rin believe this fits Chihiro's description.
Ryumiko has met Retsu and Yukaoi, two dragon siblings from the Dragon Clan, the race of dragons who share the same source of power. This power has mostly been stolen by Yubaba, and the Dragon Clan's oracle foretold that a human with black hair and blue eyes can defeather. This looks eactly like Ryumiko but it clashes with what Zeniba has told Haku and Rin.
Yubaba, in order to protect herself, has closed off the entrance to the Spirit World so that spirits can only go in but can't get out, thus Haku couldn't go to find Chihiro. Humans can still get in and out of the barrier, which is why Ryumiko could enter.
Ryumiko still doesn't know about the Dragon Clan and their prophecy, she simply still thinks that Chihiro is the only one who can save Haku and Rin. Concerning Retsu and Yukaoi, she just thinks they're just helpful allies inthe Spirit World.
When Ryumiko coerced Haku into letting her have a 'dragon ride', they discovered that Ryumiko was able to control Haku's dragon form. Yukaoi, then told them about the Dragon Clan's forgotten history, where there were once two dragon species. The two types were Reptillian, the kind of dragon that Haku, Retsu and Yukaoi are, and then the other dragon was called a Noble, who watchd over the Reptillian species. Over time, the Nobles and Reptillians formed companionships with each other, and the Noble dragons, who could not fly, rode upon the Reptillians. Because of this, the Nobles were nick-named 'wings'. (Hence the title of this story X3)
Eventually, there was a rebellion and the Noble race of dragons were wiped out, however Yukaoi believes it possible that Ryumiko could be a long lost descendant of this race. They have just considered the possibility that when Ryumiko was an infant spirit, she was taken out of the Spirit World and into the Living World, where her spirit was placed into the deceased body of Ryumiko's 'parent's baby, and thus lived like a human without knowing. Ryumiko doesn't know what to make of this, but Yukaoi points out that if she really is a long lost descendant of the Nobles, then she won't be able to leave the Spirit World, due to Yubaba's barrier.
Chihiro, who in the meantime has been at college, has a few more days until her flight backhome to help her mother find Ryumiko. Chihiro knows her cousin's whereabouts, but is pretty peeved that she has to go back to the Spirit World to find her. This is because she was trying to forget about the Spirit World (and namely Haku who couldn't coe find her for eight years) and was about to successfully move on but then this happened. Let's just say, Haku's going to get slaughtered if he doesn't watch himself.
I hope that helps anyone who was confused up to this point!
Ryumiko slumped back into her chair in shock. So now, it wasn't that she shouldn't go back home to find Chihiro, it was that she probably couldn't go home. Maybe ever. She swallowed a little before speaking, "If... If I am a Noble, how can we tell? I mean, as far as I know, I don't have any powers."
Yukaoi pursed her white painted lips in thought. "I don't know. Maybe this twin of Yubaba's you spoke of might know how," she said, the last sentence aimed at Haku.
"Zeniba is also a powerful witch, but I don't know the full extent of her abilities," Haku explained.
Retsu glanced at Ryumiko. Her head was lowered slightly and her blue eyes fixated on the ground. He could see her knuckles turning white as she gripped the edge of her seat forcefully, as if she was keeping herself from falling.
"Then it is probably worth trying to see what this Zeniba can tell us. Besides, it will be a good excuse to see the rest of the Spirit World from the back of a dragon, don't you think?" Retsu said, directing the question to Ryumiko in hopes of raising the girl's spirits. He knew the girl was not an indoors person, he'd listened to hours of her trying to convince Haku of that fact.
Ryumiko lifted her head to meet Retsu's. The red dragon was relieved to see colour return to the girl's hands as her grip loosened on the chair. The blue eyed girl shook her head violently, surprising the dragons in the room. Once she stopped shaking her head, she slapped both her cheeks before standing up.
"Right, this is no time to feel upset! Time to go see Zeniba!" she declared. Though outwardly she looked like she was brimming with renewed confidence, she was frantically trying to work out for herself if she was really a spirit.
Haku sighed as he saw her making her way to the door. He stood silently and quickly went to pull Ryumiko away from the exit.
"Haku! Let me go!" she grunted, futiley trying to free herself from the dragon's grip. Ignoring her protests, he flung her over his shoulder to make things easier for himself.
"We'll leave in the morning Ryumiko. For now, it's better that you get some rest after everything today," Haku stated calmly, now somewhat used to her escapist behaviour.
Everyone heard a door open, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps that echoed through the small room. As the footsteps got louder, Ryumiko felt Haku's hold around her tense up. Before they knew it, the kitchen door slammed open to reveal one exceedingly angry Rin in her nightgown. Her furious brown eyes widened at the sight of Retsu and Yukaoi, before they settled on Haku, who nonchalantly let go of Ryumiko, who would've fallen to the ground if a certain red dragon hadn't caught her mid-air.
"Do you know... how late it is?" Rin growled, her eyes shadowed in the dim light.
When Haku didn't respond, Rin only got madder, "I was in the middle of a particularly goodnight's sleep, when you, Ryumiko and whoever these people are, barge in for a little 'chit-chat' at such an ungodly hour! Do tell me why these people are in my house before dawn, Haku."
"They are informing Ryumiko and myself of valuable details," Haku explained.
Rin raised an eyebrow, "Couldn't they have done that in the morning?"
Yukaoi stood and bowed to the furious woman, "I see that we have rudely intruded on your premises, we shall leave for now. Farewell."
Haku raised a hand, "You don't need to leave."
Rin huffed, "I don't have the resources or money to house this many people Haku!"
"Kohaku, I do believe that we should-" Yukaoi was interrupted before she could finish.
Haku huffed before fixing a determined gaze at the woman, "Rin. This is important."
Rin studied the look in the dragon's green eyes before waving a hand and heading back the way she came, "Fine. Do what you want, I don't care anymore. Just don't wake me up again... ever."
Ryumiko giggled at the bickering two before deciding that she felt rather exhausted as well. "Well, where are they going to stay Haku?" she asked.
"I can not stay, I have business elsewhere this evening but I thank you for the offer," Yukaoi said smiling.
Ryumiko turned to Retsu, "What about you?"
Gold eyes met blue momentarily before Retsu looked away, "Well, I've always hung around the area for the past couple of days, so it shouldn't make anymore of a difference staying closer than I usually do."
Closer to what? Ryumiko wondered to herself as Retsu went to say goodbye to Yukaoi.
It had been decided that Ryumiko, Haku and Retsu would all sleep in the same room, as Ryumiko refused to let their guest sleep in the kitchen, as Haku had suggested.
Ryumiko had offered Retsu some sheets off her bed for him to sleep on, but the red dragon kindly declined. Haku made a cold remark that dragons didn't get as cold as humans did. The blue eyed girl smirked at Haku's comment before using it against him.
"Well if that's the case, you lend him some of your sheets, seeing as you're a dragon and 'don't get cold easily'," Ryumiko ordered. Retsu raised an eyebrow at Haku as the white dragon harshly shoved a couple of blankets in his direction.
Once all three had settled down, and Ryumiko thought the other two were asleep, she sat up in bed and turned to face the full moon. It looked so much different from the ground as she remembered flying alongside it on the back of Haku. She sighed blissfully and got closer to the windowsill, being careful not to get too close, thinking about the evil crow-thingie from the last time she got near it.
She smiled as the moonlight hit her face. She was glad that the moon was still the same even in the Spirit World. She knew she wouldn't be able to stand living the Spirit World forever if there was nothing familiar to her. If she really was a spirit of course. She sighed again, but with a more defeated tone to it. It wasn't like she was completely opposed to the idea, being some kind of extinct dragon somewhat sounded intruiging to her imagination, but it felt like someone had told you you were actually a squirrel in human skin... it was just hard to take in, even if it was still only a possibility.
She glanced at Retsu, asleep on the ground next to her bed. His red hair was unbraided and in a mess about his head. When asleep, he lost the kind of unapproachable air about him that he usually held. She studied his serene face and fancied touching the red mass of hair that framed it. It looked soft and silky, and not to mention quite vibrant in the darkness, as if it gave off it's own radiance.
Her hand inched closer to a lock of hair that had strayed closest to her. She was millimetres away before she noticed two bright golden eyes staring at her. There was a brief moment of dead silence as a vivid pink journeyed across Ryumiko's cheeks.
"What are you doing?" Retsu asked quietly. He observed as her hand twitched nervously and her eyes drifted towards the window.
"Well, I - er - you see..." Ryumiko gave a scowl as she couldn't find any excuse to justify what she was doing. "I was going to see if your hair was really as soft as it looks," she mumbled in embarrassment.
The dragon raised an eyebrow, to which Ryumiko assumed that Retsu viewed her like a child. She was surprised however, when the red dragon sat up and leaned his back on the side of her bed, tilting his head back ever so slightly with his eyes closed. What is he- ? Is he letting me-? Ryumiko wondered.
She tenatively reached out a hand and gently stroked the dragon spirit's head. She was surprised when she noticed that his hair was more smooth like scales rather than soft like fur. She jumped a little though when she saw golden eyes staring at her intently.
He was fascinated by the enormous curiosity she held for each little thing. He noticed it the first time Yukaoi had left her clothes to wear in the morning, when she had more interest in observing the dress than she did wearing it. Then he remembered the way she savoured the sunlight by the windowsill, before she was attacked of course. And now he had watched, curiously himself, as she ran her fingers through his long hair, carefully memorising the feel.
"Does it live up to your expectation, Miss Ryumiko?" Retsu asked, genuinely interested in the thought processes that lead to her curiousity in his hair.
Ryumiko blushed a little deeper. "It wasn't exactly soft... It kinda felt like scales... I guess," she answered. What on earth am I saying? she thought inwardly.
Retsu gave a soft 'hmm' before Ryumiko felt a hand pat the top of her head. She was wide-eyed as she took in the dragon's pale arm that was stretched up to rest on top her head. When he brought his hand back down, he closed his eyes and gave a crooked smile to no-one in particular. "Yours however, is as soft as it looks," he said quietly.
There was a short silence, before Ryumiko remembered a question she'd been meaning to ask. "Hey? Why do you keep appearing out of nowhere to save me? You said a while ago that you were in the area for something."
Retsu thought about answering her question, it wasn't that big of a secret anyway. He remembered Yukaoi had told Haku not to tell the girl they were protecting her, but that was just Yukaoi being unneccessarily mysterious. He didn't know why his sister played around with people's heads but he couldn't be bothered explaining the entire Dragon Clan's activity to Ryumiko at this hour.
"Maybe Haku will tell you in the morning," he said, evading the question.
The girl sighed as she laid back on her bed again, "Oh how wonderfully cryptic..." she stated, sarcasm lacing her tone.
"May I ask you a question?" he requested, lying back down on his make-shift bed.
Ryumiko raised an eyebrow, "Sure, go ahead!"
"If you do turn out to be a noble, would you stay?" Retsu asked.
She gave a bitter laugh, "Depends on how Yubaba's feeling about opening the barrier..."
"If it stayed shut?"
"Then I'd have no choice but to stay."
"If it were opened?" Retsu questioned. He argued to himself that he was asking her intentions should she be found to be a Noble, to report back to the Dragon Leaders, but he couldn't dodge the fact that he was genuinely interested in the girl's actions.
Ryumiko was silent for a bit. "To be honest, I'm not sure I could manage ruling the entire race of dragon spirits. Plus I'm pretty sure there will be dragons who don't approve of having a non-flying, non-'reptillian' dragon as their sole leader. But we'll see when the time comes."
"Chihiro?" a voice called out to her, pulling her out of a day dream.
"Huh?"
She looked around before her eyes locked with Allen's eyes. Chihiro bit her bottom lip when she saw the expression on his face. She was painting No-Face in the courtyard, before her thoughts had wandered off to the Spirit World again. It would be only a couple days more until she would return there again. Allen sat next to her on the grass, facing her picture of No-Face.
"It's like you paint another world entirely," Allen breathed as he took in the painting.
You have no idea... Chihiro thought to herself.
"Yeah, I made up a lot of stories when I was little and told them to my younger cousin... her parents were always on business trips so she stayed with us a lot," Chihiro half-lied.
"This is the cousin that ran away?" Allen asked, remembering that Chihiro had cancelled their date because of this.
Chihiro nodded silently. It remained silent for a few awkward moments before Allen spoke up, "So what is the story behind this guy?"
She gave half-smile before explaining No-Face to the boy. When she was done, he grinned at her, "That's what I liked about you, you have such a huge imagination! What about that one?"
Chihiro frowned, "I only painted No-Face."
Allen pointed to a thin white figure behind No-Face, "This one. Is it a dragon? It's got the same green eyes as the kid you painted last time."
Chihiro twitched, finally seeing the dragon Allen was talking about. Allen missed her expression however, as he changed the subject, not really looking at her.
"Listen. I thought about it... I like you and all, I mean you're beautiful and talented. I don't think you're as interested in this relationship as I am... I don't think it'll work out, sorry," he said, half-mumbling.
Chihiro was ready to explode in rage, they hadn't even had one date because of her concern for her family and he was already giving up? So much for a normal life.
"That's okay! Thank you for telling me honestly," Chihiro replied with a false, sweet smile as Allen smiled back and said his good-bye to her. When he was gone, furious brown eyes settled on a painted dragon. That's it! You've got lots of explaining to do! she mentally growled at Haku.
Elsewhere, Haku felt a cold shiver down his spine.
Yeah there wasn't much plot in this but hey! RETSU-NESS! Best figment of my imagination ever... And we see more of Chihiro! Poor Haku, he's gonna get slaughtered...
SO MANY REVIEWS! *bliss* I LOVE YOU GUYS! TT^TT
Many thank-yous to:
FoxxyNeko (Thank you for reviewing! :D)
Moongirl12121/Zuma12121 [not sure if it was the both of you or not X)] (I'm glad you like this story aswell! I have a problem of making dense characters don't I? :(
Haku-lover24411 (Thank you for the compliment and review! I hope the re-cap at the beginning helped with some of the confusion!)
LadyCavalier (I'm very glad you enjoy the story so far! Thank you for your reviews!)
Mysticbreeze327 (Thank you for reviewing and I'm glad you liked the chapter! Though I've got a few more twists yet to come :D)
SeraphicUrbi (Thank you for the review :D)
Laugh. While. Crying (Haha true, but Chihiro has yet to get to the Spirit World x3 Thank you for the review!)
Mi-chan1991 (Hehe, more twists coming your way :D Yeshh, the plot bunnies were on a rampage X3 Thank you for the review)
InkWoven (O.o you're right! So many commas! Thanks for pointing that out! Also thank you for the review! I'm glad you still like my story after so long :D)
I loved getting reviews from you! Why?
Because
...
I'M JUST OBESSESSED OKAY?
PLEASE? The button is here!
You know you want to press it :)
l
v