Spirited Away Fan Fiction ❯ The Ebb of Time ❯ Prologue To The End ( Chapter 1 )

Author: Dragosun

Date: 28/10/05

 

Notes: If you have any queries you can mail me at dragosun@hotmail.com

Also I am currently in exams until 18/11/05 so if I don't get back to you or don't put up the next part of this story just get onto me and I'll try harder, but no promises.

 

Disclaimer:

 

Everyone knows I don't own the rights to spirited away, and I could change my story to be still awesome and not include any part of Spirited Away but then I'd have to change section so....

 

I don't own the right to Spirited away...

 

There now no one can sue me and you all can enjoy a story inspired by Spirited Away. Onto the story…

 

 

 

 

The Ebb of Time

 

 

Chapter 1: Prologue to the End

 

 

 

In the depths of a forgotten castle a lone boy trudges down a cold and dusty path. As he brushes away insect webs and the thin layer of mist that blankets his surroundings his sight doesn't avert from the darkness that consumes the end of the hallway. His eyes had adjusted to the black of the room to allow him to see but feet in front of him, and the walls to his sides. He begins to wonder how the inside of this place could be so desolate as if no soul had walked where he did now for eons.

 

 

He so vividly remembered looking down onto the citadel from the surrounding mountain tops. How it looked at first light, and again in the purple light, as the day died away, which matched the shimmering pearlescent coloured walls. It was not overly decorated, other than the colouring, yet the basic design seemed to compliment its beauty. As he had closed in on the towering structure, and walked across the small streams in the adjacent fields, the feeling he had experienced. He remembered how it had seemed to call to him, not allowing him to sleep until he was within its walls.

 

 

“Uh…” Lost in his own chain of thought he had forgotten the injury inflicted upon him by the guardians of this place. Beads of sweat clung to his face, slowly dripping down his neck. His tattered white shirt clung to his torso, held in place by even more sweat. He clung to his arm as if to prevent it from falling off and joining the dust. Crimson blood seeped through his fingers leaving a definitive trail along the white marble floor. Ironic that if he chose to, he could use it to find his way out, but then he knew that there was no turning back.

 

 

Constantly scanning behind him for a hint of his pursuers, he took a breath of relief. Eyes where his only useful sense now, sight being blurred by the mixture of sweat and blood that traversed his face. His heart's pounding had become deafening, and his body had gone numb from a combination of the blood loss and air's icy touch. Yet he dared to hoped, maybe he had lost them. His thoughts betrayed him. As if a jinx on his behalf, the sound of footsteps and chatter echo above the silence in the distance.

 

 

The frightened and injured boy, calming himself with all his will, surveyed his surroundings. He had been walking this path for over an hour, not stopping to even tie his wounds, and yet the surroundings gave no hint of an end. Now thinking about it, he didn't remember passing a single door or exit, the walls lined with nothing but cracks and ancient lamp's, whose fuel had long expired. Out of the shadows, but one hundred metres away, a figure seeped out of the shadows. Eyes of burning yellow light where now staring straight towards him, steeled with grim intent. The yellow orbs began to bob up and down, as the owner began to slowly walk forward. He had to keep moving.

 

 

He continued down the hallway, still scanning behind him, unable to pry his eyed away from those of his pursuers. They seemed to have not yet noticed his presence, although they searched, or they would have picked up their pace by now. Minutes pass as he made his way down the path, now making sure to avoid the rubble from the roof and walls that littered the ground, fearing any noise would grab their attention. That was something he didn't want, not when he must be close to his target.

 

 

The next few minutes drag on like a lifetime. He wondered if this was what it felt to be like on your deathbed, knowing the end was coming and struggling for just on more minute. With his eyes still fixed on the yellow eyes, which had seemed to get closer, he failed to notice that the architecture of the hall finally changed. The walls bland features had been replaced by groups of strange lines that intersected and diverged at a pattern only the creator could have seen. As if reacting to his presence, the lines begin to move, their pattern changing and intertwining with he groups adjacent to their own. The movement caught the young boy's eyes. The hairs on his neck began to rise as and ominous feeling washed over his entire being. The pattern instantly flared on revealing the entire hallway. With the cover of darkness gone, he had no cover from the beast that sought him.

 

 

His spirits lifted. Not twenty feet away, an intricate archway stood, surrounded by more of the patterns. The road to freedom.

 

 

“Finally, after two years of searching I'm nearly there” His voice barely made a whisper as he spoke.

 

 

Almost as if in reply, the guardians roared in his direction. Their forms had always been covered before this moment, now he could see what had chased him over the last hours. The guardian's forms reminded him of werewolves. Their entire body cloaked in coarse black fur, except their chests which showed nothing but flesh which hinted at well developed muscles. There mouths, protruding from the rest of their face, revealed sharp teeth, which he deducted, would be able to rip through an arm in a single motion. But what stood out most of all were their eyes, plain yellow orbs that sent chills up his spine.

 

 

Not again, he thought to himself, as their attention averted to his presence. The beast erupted into a tremendous howl, throwing its head backwards, its arms extending outwards in an arc. Thick blades shot outwards from the forearms of the beast, ripping through its skin. It was armed and coming for him. He knew quite well that if it caught him before he could reach the archway it would all be over. He knew quite well that he didn't have enough strength left to stop the owner of those massive blades, now gleaming in the light. His pace quickened as he stumbled towards the arch, as if, to even turn and once again look into the eyes of the wolf-like guardian would surely spell his doom.

 

 

“Just another moment” His rasp voice reassured himself. He could feel it's breathing getting closer with every stride. Then unexpectedly, it was over. He was still being pursued but that no longer mattered. His eyes opened wider than they had for hours, and he stood tall as if he was miraculously healed of all his bodily wounds. Before him lay what he had searched for these last two years. He stepped beyond the archway, whose surface rippled as his fragile body stepped through.

 

 

“I'm coming Chihiro”

 

 

“Mom…”

 

Rain awoke to the soft sound of his best friend's voice, as he had many times as of late. He stood up out of his bed, an assortment of towels that Huroko, his friend, had laid next to her bed. With his keen sense of hearing he heard someone approach from beyond the oak door that separated the small room he was in from the rest of the world. Knowing it was time for her to awaken, he began to nudge her awake.

 

“Mom” The little girl repeated herself as the top of her smooth brown hair appeared from beneath the green bed covers. Her emerald eyes dimmed as she saw who she was talking to. She knew she shouldn't be disappointed seeing Rain, he was her most valued friend in the world, but she so desperately wanted to continue the dream she was having of her parents. They had died in a horrific car accident two years earlier and their voices were almost forgotten to her young ears. Rain nudged her again knowing that if he didn't, she would be day dreaming about them again when she needed to get ready for school.

 

 

There was a creak from the floor outside her room, followed immediately by a knock she had come to expect. She thought it was weird the way Mr Misaku knocked on her door at exactly the same time every school day, but then she had more important to think about this morning. After she had changed out of her sky blue night wear and into her school uniform she strolled over to Rain, who had taken it upon himself to rest in front of the doorway while he waited. Unexpected to him, she began to brush his coat down, a treat he got when she was in a pleasant mood. When she had finished they both strolled beyond the door into the hallway of the small apartment, heading towards the kitchen.

 

 

Side by side they both entered the small kitchen, where she was greeted by Mr Misaku. Compared to other men his age, he was quite a small man. His face was clean shaven, which matched the spots on his head in which his thin black hair has completely receded. His face bore a gentle smile which complimented his features. Nodding at Huroko to acknowledge her, he continued to eat his meal of oats. Huroko prepared her own bowl of oats, and when she had finished, sat down on the two seated table. Mr Misaku broke the silence.

 

 

“I'm going to give you a lift to and from school today Huroko. There has been talk of a storm later today and I don't want you to get caught in it.”

 

 

“That's not fair; you know how much Rain hates cars!” Her pale face became brighter than the cloth on the breakfast table as she disapproved of Mr Misaku's judgement.

 

 

It took him a moment to realize his mistake. Today was the one day in the school year where the students where allowed to take their pets to school, he had forgotten.

 

 

“Then he'll have to stay at home. It would be better anyone, if he were to get caught out in the rain his arthritis would start playing up again.”

 

 

Although he sounded like he was in charge, he knew quite well that he had lost this argument. It had been this way ever since he had adopted two years ago. She wasn't a spoilt child but she did care for her loyal husky, Rain, more than anything in the world. When it came to him she would fight to the end. He would never understand this concept, especially since Rain was the direct cause for her parent's death.

 

 

For the next ten minutes silence deafened the room, until eventually Mr Misaku folded. He just couldn't stand to have Huroko mad at him; they were all each other had left.

 

 

“Ok I give up, just make sure you come home quickly after school.” He was rewarded with this comment by a smile and a grateful look from Rain. He truly wondered sometimes about Rain, as if he knew exactly what was happening around him.

 

 

When Huroko had finished eating she left the apartment and started to make her way towards school. She was quite lucky that all the children in her class were allowed to bring a pet from home this time of year. If it had been in the winter time not only would Rain have had to stay home due to his hip arthritis, but also she would have to trudge through a foot of snow until she got onto the street, as no one ever bothered to shovel the snow away from the door and steps of Mr Misaku's house.

 

 

After ten minutes of following the rays of light that lay on her path, she found herself at the front of the school. It was at this point that she kneeled down and attached a leash to Rains collar. She knew that Rain disliked leashes of any sort; this is why whenever they walked side by side he never wore one. She treated him more like a human than a pet. However, Rain wouldn't be allowed on the school premises without one. Surprisingly Rain allowed Huroko to do so without a fuss, as if he knew what was going on around him, but then he was always like that. It was this reason that Huroko felt such a bond with him, because he may be a dog but he always knew what she was thinking.

 

 

“Hey, Huroko is this Rain?” Huroko looked up to see the familiar face of Ms Kairi, her teacher. She knew Rain's name from all the stories that Huroko wrote in her spare time about adventures they would have together when they grow up.

 

 

“Ms Kairi, did you read my latest story on the Spirit World?” Huroko always wrote about different things and different people but always in the same setting. She had been intrigued by the Spirit World since she could remember, ever since her mother told her about it in a bedtime story. Her writing was just another thing to keep her close to her mother and so she shared them with only her closest friends.

 

 

“It was another fantastic read” She embellished “I'm waiting on your next one, but you better hurry and get to class before me or you'll be late.”

 

 

The day started as it always did, she had Maths first and Spelling, the only exception was that she had the company of Rain, who was now lying asleep under her school desk. When the signal for lunch arrived, Huroko awoke Rain and they both proceeded outside onto the school playground. Huroko found a quiet spot for herself to sit, as she always did, so that she could continue her story.

 

 

Not long had passed before she was interrupted. A taller girl her age approached and before Huroko had noticed, snatched the writing pad from her hands.

 

 

“So what do we have here, squirt?”

 

 

“Give it back!” Huroko desperately fought for her beloved note pad, but to no avail. The girl was much larger than her. She had been in this situation many times before and never won easily.

 

 

Rain rolled over, disrupted once again from his peaceful sleep. Looking up he saw Huroko jumping up trying to reach her pad which now lie just beyond her reach, in the hands of a taller girl he didn't recognize. Rain instinctively sat up and barked at this new face, which had caused her to immediately stop tormenting Huroko.

 

 

“Oh, sorry Huroko, I didn't notice you finally had a friend to talk to” The girl remarked sharply. She gave up and walked off, knowing her words had hit home.

 

 

Later that day it was Huroko's time to show off Rain to her classmates. Huroko slowly got out of here seat, accompanied by Rain and a glare from the taller girl hat had disturbed her lunch break. Just as Huroko began to speak, the long anticipated bell rung to signal the end of the school day. This didn't bother Huroko, now that she thought of it; she didn't want to share Rain with anybody in the classroom anyway, besides Ms Kairi.

 

 

The pair started the ten minute journey home, hoping that the clouds that had built up during the day would hold their contents just a while longer. Huroko often used this time to reminisce about new plots for an upcoming story and today was no exception. She found herself crashing to the concrete after tripping over her own shoelace, a trait she was renowned for at school. With as much dignity as she could muster she sat up and looked around, hoping no one saw the display that had played out on the footpath. A glint caught her eye, a photo on a half torn piece of paper.

 

 

“Another one missing.” Huroko had half come to expect this. Over the few months six girls her age had gone missing around Japan. It made her wonder about picking up her pace and getting home faster, and not because of the storm. As if an omen, it began to rain heavily as soon as she stood up. Knowing she had only two blocks left until she would be at Mr Misaku's House, she started to run.

 

 

“Rrrrr….” Behind her she could hear Rain growling, and as she turned she noticed his ice blue eyes looking beyond his white facial hair to become fixated into an alley on her side of the street, teeth bared. She could see Rain's fur darken as the water soaked him. His chestnut brown coat turned dark brown and had it not been for the water running down his chestnut back and off his white stomach fur, it would have surely been standing up. In the back of the alley Huroko could now see what Rain had initially seen, a shadow twisting and writhing next to an industrial dumpster. The shadow then turned to face them, its shining eyes filled with greed, almost as if it was boring into Huroko's very soul.

 

 

“There you are…” It spoke directly into their minds in a deep and disturbing tone. Fear was pasted onto Huroko's face as the figure, still hidden by the darkness of the wet alley, began to contort and change shape. The figure leaped out of the alley, revealing itself as a large sabre-toothed cat with razor sharp teeth and claws to match. It would have reached the frightened Huroko in a single bound had Rain not valiantly intercepted the beast mid flight. It was however to no avail, even if Rain's arthritis wasn't slowing him down, due to the cold weather, he still wouldn't have matched the beast which was now 3 times his size.

 

 

He was quickly thrown aside by one of the beast's mighty claws and started walking towards Huroko, with steps that shook the very ground beneath her. She began to think at speeds comparable to computers, wondering how this could be and how nobody was nearby. Then she noticed why, the emergence of this beast had distorted the space around her. Cars where moving along at a snail pace on the road, and street side lamps where bending, among many other things. She also noticed faint images of what looked to be people phasing in and out of her surroundings.

 

 

But even then she wasn't fast enough. Before she knew it she was swept of her feet by the beast, which didn't seem to want to kill her, at least not yet anyway. She no longer had power over any of here motor functions, whether from fright or the tight grip the beast had her in she didn't know. The half formed people around her looked at her with sheer terror in there faces. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was her best and most loyal friend, Rain, staggering from his injury, his breaths shallow and rasp, chasing the beast in an effort to save her.