Hey everyone! This is going to be my first long fanfic.
(This story has nothing to do with my other one.)
I also won't be updating too often because I'm working on other stories as well…
DISCLAIMER: Obviously don't own anything out of the movie. Same for all other chapters.
Rin admitted that she was more than a little sorry to see Sen leave. First, she once again had no helper, and more importantly, two, she was beginning to miss her strange, human nature.
She had weird tastes too. Who would have liked Yubaba's henchman in the first place? But when she saw the two of them together, she realised that it was no accidental or casual flirtation. Kamaji had called it 'love'.
Love. It was almost an alien concept to her, but not quite. She had heard of the word, of course. But she had never experienced it. Well, maybe she had, but that was probably a long time ago, something in her past that she couldn't remember.
Damn you, Yubaba, for stealing our names.
Pulling herself back to the present, she showed her fat, duck-like customer the tub, grabbed a tag and latched it onto the rope and tugged it. She waited for the tap-like thing to come down and then she yanked on the rope. The supposedly 'good-for-you' dried worm salts mixed in with the water poured into the bath.
Suddenly there was a huge explosion that shook the bathhouse. Then a flash of light came from outside, and panicked customers and workers started running in every direction. Rin abandoned her fat customer and ran to the nearest window.
She gaped at the sight before her. High in the velvet night sky was Yubaba, pelting high-energy fireballs at a boy with greenish-brown hair. The air around them was alive, sizzling and crackling noisily. Rin squinted at the boy, trying to make out who it was. Then she realised.
"Haku?" she said aloud.
Haku was dodging most of the fireballs, but occasionally he was forced to raise a shield that was barely visible against the dark sky. Then he went on offensive, striking out with a strange liquid-blue substance, but Yubaba simply waved it away and launched her next attack.
"C'mon Haku!" Rin whispered, her fingernails digging into her palms. Suddenly she wondered when she had taken a friendly liking to him.
More and more customers and workers had come to the windows, and they were watching the intense magic display in awe. It wasn't often that one saw something like this.
Yubaba was forcing Haku further and further away from the bathhouse. Then she quickly threw fireballs in every direction, producing a hazardous crossfire. Haku raised the shield again, but Yubaba sent a spinning disc of orange that sliced the air towards him. Haku knew that disc was powerful enough to go straight through the shield so he flew out of the way, but not quickly enough. The disc brushed against his left arm, burning his skin. He clenched his teeth to prevent himself from crying out. The last thing he needed was Yubaba knowing that she had gained an advantage.
Then she let loose a powerful green, sizzling bolt. Haku knew better than to block that, so he dodged again.
Yubaba smiled with glee. The boy was tiring and she could see he was trying his best not to show it.
What a stubborn dragon.
Haku counterattacked, thrusting his right hand out. A black bubble enveloped her, but only for a moment.
Then a brilliant flash of pure white light lit up the sky. It was one of Yubaba's favourite tactics – both a defensive and offensive at the same time. The spell was meant to blind someone temporarily.
Seeing the flash from Yubaba, Rin threw up her hand to protect her eyes from the blinding light. When the light dimmed, she lowered her hand, but bright colours were still flashing in her eyes, and she couldn't see anything for several seconds. When her vision cleared, she saw that several unlucky spirits around her were still stumbling around and banging into walls.
Rin quickly looked out the window, but all she saw was Yubaba heading back to her home on the top floor, her expression unreadable.
Haku had disappeared.
Please review!
And if anyone would like to suggest some names for Rin's real name (like Sen's real name is Chihiro etc.) please do!
Other familiar characters will be coming along soon, don't worry.
Reposted 22/11/05 to remove review responses