Chihiro sighed for the umpteenth time that next morning. The plan so far was going well on their side, the four of them, Rin, Retsu, Yukaoi and herself were travelling to Zeniba's, while they waited for Haku to hopefully return with her troublesome cousin. He had been gone since the previous afternoon and still had not returned, leaving her worrying for both her cousin and now her first love. She sat on the back of the red dragon, wondering if she could engage in conversation with Retsu, since Yukaoi and Rin were flying pretty far away from them at the moment and she needed something to distract herself from worry.
"So..." she started. Retsu turned his head slightly so that she knew she had his attention. "It seems you and Yumi have spent quite some time together huh?"
He nodded his head slowly.
"I hope she wasn't too much trouble..." she mused quietly, to which she felt the dragon rumble beneath her. It took her a while to realise that he was laughing.
"She was? Sorry, she tends to get overexcited about things. You mentioned back at Rin's home that you were asked to protect her. I wanted to say thanks for that." And she was genuinely grateful that there had been someone watching over her cousin in the time that she was in the Spirit world. Chihiro didn't know what would have happened if Ryumiko had been left to wander the Spirit world alone... actually she didn't want to know.
But to her surprise, Retsu snarled softly at her thanks. Chihiro frowned at the reaction.
"What? Can't I thank you for taking care of Ryumiko?" she asked, trying to work out what was wrong with him.
He gave his head one definite nod and kept growling, leaving her wondering why she couldn't thank him. Then realisation hit her.
"So just because you got caught off guard once, you think I shouldn't be grateful for any of the other times you were there to prevent my cousin from danger? Besides, from what I hear, I'm the one to blame. Yubaba wants me, not Ryumiko. It's not your fault the hag wants to use Ryumiko as bait to get revenge on me, right?" Chihiro said, waiting intently for some sign from the dragon that her words got through to him.
Retsu stopped growling, but the grimace remained on his scaled face. Sure, he knew that it was the human on his back that Yubaba truly wanted, but he still felt that he should've been able to prevent such an attack. After all, he'd been trained as a soldier for the Dragon Clan for the most part of his already long life; stopping a witch from kidnapping the one he was ordered to keep safe, even with the majority of his power stolen by said witch, shouldn't have been a challenge... Though he didn't get far into his thoughts when he was hit softly over the head, an action that he remembered Ryumiko doing once when he had stopped her from further torturing Kohaku.
"No!" scolded Chihiro sharply. "It's not your fault! Plus, Ryumiko would kick me halfway across the world if I let you keep thinking that you've let her down or something. And if you won't listen to me then both of us are screwed."
The edges of Retsu's mouth turned upwards into a small smile. He could picture Ryumiko doing such a thing, worrying about them instead of herself. He sorely hoped Ryumiko stayed safe without anyone there to help her.
Chihiro on the other hand, sorely hoped that Ryumiko returned unharmed so that she could kick her cousin's ass herself.
They remained silent until they reached Zeniba's. Chihiro had a brief reunion with the kind sorceress and No-Face before she remembered the less cheerful factor of her missing cousin and the dragon who had rushed off to retrieve her. For half an hour, she sat silently outside, watching the skies for any sign of a white dragon before Retsu decided to join her.
"They won't be back yet," he stated simply, golden eyes studying the human next to him. She indeed looked strikingly similar to Ryumiko, but she herself was very different to the girl he was missing. Where Ryumiko was unswervingly curious, Chihiro chose to leave be or simply ignore. Ryumiko was both easily distracted and filled with determination, Chihiro was more focused, and even though she shared some of that unmitigated determination with her cousin, she was noticably easier to be persuaded of otherwise.
In response to the dragon's words, she sighed, "I suppose... I just wish I could see that she is okay."
Retsu followed her gaze, though he knew nothing of particular importance was to be seen, "Then our wishes are mutual."
Chihiro gave the dragon a quick side-long glance, taking in the expression on his face, "So it seems. About this 'Dragon Clan' business, why were you and Yukaoi sent to watch over Yumi? I mean if she was supposed to help your people defeat Yubaba, wouldn't they want to keep her with them to protect her?"
Retsu quirked the side of his mouth upward slightly. "The Dragon Clan were uncertain of allowing a mere human into the ongoing workings of their business, even if that human was their saviour... such is the cautious pride of dragons. They sent me to watch over Ryumiko as I was deemed the most-" he paused to think of the right word. " - qualified to take care of her, and I believe Yukaoi was sent to take over the diplomatic side of things, as her nature is a peaceful one."
Chihiro grinned at the hedged question, "What does it mean to be the 'most qualified'?"
Retsu frowned a little. Should he tell her, he would have to make sure the information was not divulged to Ryumiko. He was still waiting for her to guess what kind of power he held on her own, and if Chihiro told her, then the game would be lost. He turned to the human at his side and spoke, "If I tell you, will you promise to not tell Ryumiko?"
She raised an eyebrow, "Why?"
He gave a half-smile, "Because she is supposed to guess on her own."
To this, Chihiro returned the smile, "Ah. So you figured out she can't resist a challenge?" He nodded slowly. Chihiro in turn, gave her promise to keep the dragon's secret until Ryumiko was able to work it out on her own.
It was at this point, that Yukaoi learned that it was far too late to try and steer her brother's interests away from Ryumiko. She didn't know how he'd gotten attached so quickly, but Yukaoi knew that Retsu had already set his sights on the girl, even if he didn't know it himself yet. And yet there was still one fundamental problem with all of this, dragons chose partners for life.
Which meant that if Ryumiko returned affections towards her brother, they will potentially have to face the wrath of the Dragon Clan in order to stay together. Even so, that was only if Ryumiko reciprocated Retsu's feelings, and Yukaoi did not want to deal with a brother whining over a heartache caused by an ancient instinctual behaviour in the future. Yet again, the white hair dragoness was faced with two difficult decisions at once, only this time did she fling her hands up in the air in a kind of surrender and decide to stay out of her brother's business.
She knew she had played the role of protective older sister for quite some time, but now, Retsu was more than able to decide on things for himself... The need for her to relinquish control, was not easy for the dragoness to submit to but she obliged anyway, silently promising to watch over the two with everything that was within her power.
'Shackles,' Ryumiko thought dryly, glaring at the plainly visible, and annoyingly itchy metal bands around her wrists and ankles attached to chains that tied her to the ground and a chair that was more uncomfortable than she thought possible. 'What kind of witch needs shackles?'
'I would not think it unusual for one to keep a sturdier set of holds incase a stronger foe requires capturing, child. Though I do admit that these are particularly-' the dragon paused, trying to think of a word to describe his distaste for the bindings. '-odious.'
'Huh?' she asked, not having heard the word before.
'Hateful,' the dragon rephrased, clearing her confusion. There was a slight pause in their conversation as she futiley attempted to pull the shackles off her arms with her human strength. Yubaba enchanted the shackles to prevent her from changing into her spirit form, leaving her for the most part defenseless, with only a dragon co-inhabiting her body for company. Though the thin metal chain that Zeniba had given her was unable to be stolen by Yubaba, it proved ineffective against the thicker metal bands.
'Can I give you a name?' she asked, giving up on the metal covering her right wrist for about the fifth time and hoping for another topic to distract her from her mitigating circumstances. 'I can't just keep calling you, 'you', or 'The reptillian power'.'
The dragon seemed to hum in thought, before inquiring, 'And what name would you deem fit to call me by?'
It was then the girl's turn to think, 'What about Akinobu?'
The dragon was silent for quite some time, and Ryumiko thought he disapproved, until he mused, 'Hmm. Not displeasing... better than other names my children have deemed to call me by...'
The seething tone with which the dragon mentioned the 'other names', had her wondering what amusing names had been conjured up over the centuries.
'What other names?' she inquired politely.
The dragon seemed to growl a little in irritation, the memories appearing to resurface old wounds to his pride. 'Some of the worst ones were, 'Sir Giggles' and 'Mr. Slithers'.' A tiny smile broke through Ryumiko's attempt to keep a straightface.
'They could have been worse you know. They could have named you 'Princess Sparkles', or something really effeminate,' she told him, to which he huffed as if to tell her they were just as bad.
'You may call me Akinobu,' the dragon declared.
'Can I give you a nickname? Akinobu's a pretty lengthy name,' Ryumiko asked, though the answer was given no thought.
'No. No nicknames,'Akinobu growled. 'Nicknames are the reason I ended up with 'Mr. Slithers'.'
Her brief but amusing reprieve from her desolate situation was broken when Yubaba strode into the room, a feral grin coating the wrinkles of skin on her face. The witch seemed to study her with glistening brown eyes, searching her for something. It was when she took a piece of paper that looked suspiciously like a contract, that Ryumiko rolled her eyes.
"I'm not going to sign that," she told the witch as if that was obvious.
Brown eyes glinted. "I know that you won't sign a contract. That is why I've made a special one, just for you," Yubaba said, seething with twisted excitement at the mention of a unique contract just for Ryumiko.
As the witch showed her the contract, she blanched in horror. The contract didn't need her to sign anything, it just needed anything that was a part of her. Something like -
"Blood or even your spit would suffice, as long as it's fresh. And once the contract is complete your body, along with that power that is hiding in you, will belong solely to me, for the rest of your days... unless I decide otherwise of course," Yubaba said, the edges of her mouth practically reaching from ear to ear as she began stalking towards her.
Seeing the small blade the witch held in her other hand caused Ryumiko to panic, frantically trying to get as far away from her enemy as much as possible. The chains did not allow her to get far, the furthest she could get being pressed up against the back of the chair she was imprisoned against. As the shining silver of the knife drew closer, she tried to stand and run with the chair chained to her, but the chair too, was chained to the ground, and she only gained a few meagre centimeters of distance. Now even Akinobu was anxious to help her get away from the witch, battling against the enchanted shackles in an attempt to change her out of human form.
'Run! Get out of me!' she tried to tell the little dragon, hoping that he could get away from being forcibly enslaved along with her.
'I can not. These shackles prevent me from releasing the slightest ounce of power,' Akinobu stated defeatedly.
Hearing the sorrowful tone in the dragon's voice, she stopped trying to free herself. It was as if suddenly all hope had been stripped from her. She could not escape, even with almost all the power of the Dragon Clan. She could not talk Yubaba out of it, she would not listen. Even if the others came to rescue her, it would be too late. The blade in the witch's red painted talons inched forward to her throat at a pace so slowly that she believed Yubaba was purposefully sadistic.
When the cool edge of the blade rested at the base of her neck, she drew a deep breath to ready herself. Readying herself for becoming a slave for the enemy, possibly for thousands of years, an endless cycle of emotional and most likely physical released her breath shakily and closed her eyes, right before a loud crash resounded and the ceiling caved in.
She heard Yubaba shriek angrily and felt the cold metal disappear without piercing her skin along with bits of ceiling in various sizes pelting her body before she opened her eyes. To her surprise, all she could see in front of her was white. As her mind calmed down slightly, she was able to recognise the teal fur covering the marble-like scales and the low threatening growl that he emitted towards Yubaba. To her enormous relief, help had come just in time, in the form of one very incensed Haku.
There was an indignant cry from the witch followed by a strange noise, before Haku uncoiled from his protective circle around her and slammed his tail into Yubaba. As the witch flew backwards from the force of the blow, Ryumiko noticed bits of shredded paper flying in the wind created in the rush. She gave a gentle smile as she realised that Haku had torn up the contract.
She didn't have long to think about this, as Haku in the meantime made short work of the shackles by clawing the chains off the chair and out of the ground before grabbing her, flying back out of the hole he had created upon entry into the blinding sunlight. She still had the metal around her wrists and ankles, some with thick chains still attached, but she was free.
When they were at a safe distance from the bath house, Haku set her down on a small field, before changing back into human form. He didn't utter a sound as he ripped the shackles off her limbs and checked her wounds. He started by checking the obvious damage done to her wrists and ankles, though his mouth tugged upwards into a snarl as he inspected her bruised cheek and the jagged cut across it.
Ryumiko sighed impatiently as the silence continued, "Can we just go home, please?"
Haku seemed to give her a slight frown before responding, "Clearly you haven't looked in a mirror recently."
She raised an eyebrow, "Why?"
He debated about telling her now, but then chose to let her see for herself, "You'll see when we get back to Zeniba's."
And without another word, he changed into a dragon, and lowered his body to the ground so she could climb on. As she reached a leg over his shoulders, she felt a dull pain spread from her foot to her waist, and lingered there even as she sat on Haku's back. When she leaned forward to grasp his mane, her fingers felt numb and useless, though she managed to get a good hold. Haku took off into the air, and her entire body began to feel heavy and sore.
Her eyelids especially seemed to have a mind of their own as they shielded the rest of the world from her eyes, causing her mind to become foggy with exhaustion. Before she let herself be swept away by dreams, she heard Akinobu whisper to her, 'Sleep well child.'
And letting herself drift off, she fell into a sleep that she knew would not end until a desperate need for hunger roused her. Haku noticed as she slumped against his back slowly and her breathing slowed into that of one who slept soundly. He too slowed down slightly, so as to not wake her up by moving her around too much. Chihiro was not going to be happy with her cousin's current state, but at least he had made it in time before anything worse had happened.
He could only wait now. For Ryumiko to heal. For Yubaba to take up her revenge... For Chihiro to forgive him.
Chihiro and Retsu had remained seated in front of the cottage for a good portion of the day, waiting for some sign that things were alright for Ryumiko and Haku. It was well past midday when brown eyes caught sight of a familiar white line in the sky writhing towards them. Never letting her gaze move from Haku, she gently tapped Retsu's arm with the back of her hand to gain his attention. As soon as golden eyes settled on the same thing as what Chihiro had seen, he immediately rose to his feet though remained on the ground. When Haku got closer, Chihiro was able to make out the image of a body on his back, and anxiety built up when she could not see her cousin moving. Retsu noticed it too and dread filled his thoughts. As soon as Haku had landed a few feet away from the cottage, the two appeared almost instantly at his side.
From the sudden jolt off the dragon's landing, Ryumiko's sleepy grip on his mane loosened, her body sliding off Haku's scaled back and into the arms of Retsu. The golden eyed dragon wasted no time as he leaned his head closer to the girl's limp body, checking for signs of life. Hearing the steady beating of her heart and the slow even whispers of her breathing, he relaxed, letting go of a breath he didn't know he was holding.
Chihiro, seeing the other dragon's relief, felt calmed herself. Though she wouldn't have said that her cousin looked perfectly fine, she was overjoyed that Ryumiko was safely returned and very much alive. She watched as Haku changed back into his human form and asked Retsu to carry Ryumiko inside. Once they were left outside, she sank to the ground.
"She's alive," she whispered, almost disbelievingly. Although she had been sure her cousin was okay, something in the back of her mind told her that things may not be as positive as she had hoped. She was slightly startled when a hand rested on her shoulder, but brown eyes looked up to meet green and she calmed. Chihiro bit her bottom lip before she spoke.
"Thank you Haku, for bringing her back," she said.
Haku held her gaze as he helped her back to her feet, "You do not need to thank me, I brought her back out of my own volition."
Chihiro scoffed lightly in annoyance as she turned heel and strode back towards the cottage, muttering, "What is it with dragons and receiving thanks?"
Yukaoi watched as her brother laid a sleeping Ryumiko onto a mattress laid out in their room, with more gentleness than she'd ever seen him show in his lifetime. She could see the mixed expressions cross his face as he cradled her head tenderly before slowly lowering her down onto a pillow. Relief that she was back, concern for her injuries, anger at Yubaba for inflicting them after taking her away, guilt for not being able to stop the witch, and the most prominent of all, whether Retsu realised it or not, was the great care he handled her with, as if she would break or disappear from him again if he wasn't careful, probably from his ever growing interest in her.
Retsu scowled fiercely at the marks on her wrists, mottled dark rings surrounded by angry red flesh and long red lines where it was clear that she had tried to claw off what ever was binding her, stood out against her pale skin. Similar wounds were around her ankles as well, the only difference being the occasional graze dotting her leg. Though when his golden eyes travelled back up to her face, his lips curled into a snarl as he glared at the blue and black welt coating a jagged cut on one side of her cheek, caked with dried blood. Without thinking, he lightly traced the line across her face as if the feather like touch could erase its existence. Suddenly his hand was pulled away from her face by Rin.
"Alright you big reptile, unless you're gonna help me bandage her up you can go help Zeniba knit or something," she ordered him, letting go of his arm. He took note of the bowl of steaming water in her other arm and the towels floating in the water. When he didn't leave, Rin moved past him and knelt down by the side of the bed, handing the dragon a warm wet towel.
"Here, use this to clean the bruises. The skin is irritated and starting to look like a rash, so you want to wash off the dirt or anything that might be making it worse," she ordered as she herself started on cleaning the blood from the girl's cheek.
Rin smiled as she saw the dragon hesitate before sitting down and started dabbing away at Ryumiko's wrist like a small boy taking care of a wounded bird. Though judging by the paleness of her skin and the exhausted sleep she seemed to be in, Rin figured this bird wouldn't wake for quite some time.
AH! Finally finished this chapter! I'm so so so sorry this took a month for me to complete and publish! I really don't have any other excuse other than I just didn't write for a long time! But exams are over, I did pretty well if I do say so myself and holidays are here! So with any luck updates will be faster but reflecting on all my previous promises, I can't guarantee anything :S
Anyway, she's finally outta there! Oh! And if you're interested, this chapter was inspired by the following song. It's absolutely gorgeous although if it's not your kind of thing that's fine but I love it to bits. You can listen to it on Youtube dot com, with this on the end : /watch? v=gBL3 3HGu 2cU
(Remember to delete the spaces!)
Many thanks to you dear reviewers!
Elly (Thank you very much! I'm happy you liked the last chapter :D)
WildCroconaw (Thank you so much for your review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last!)
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Spastic Treehugger (Finally updated, hope you enjoyed this one too! Thank you for the review!)
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FanFactor1996 (She's saved! :D Thank your for your reviews!)
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Viper'sGirl (I'm glad you like Retsu too! Sorry I took so long to give you the next chapter but thank you so much for reviewing!)
Mr. Anonymous/No name (Not gonna lie, I think so too ;3 Thank you for your review!)
AnimeRockzzz (No Ryumiko can't return to the human world :S But you'll have to wait and see what happens ;P Oh! And I took inspiration from your name suggestion Kino to get Akinobu :D Thank you for the help and for reviewing!)
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spirited away forever (Thank-you for the review! Sorry about the wait...)
InkWoven (Sorry for the lateness, this time it was inexcusable procrastination... I nearly started NaNoWriMo but I only discovered it half-way through the month and by then it was too late :( Anyway, Here's the update and I hoped you liked it! Thank you for reviewing :D)
Review!
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