Author's note: Lucky Number 7, and the last challenge for Forthrightly that I answered is this one. It was inspired by the movie "Highlander", and by the story "A Thousand Years" by Hardly Fatal (formerly cinnomongrrl) here on ff dot net. This was originally posted to my LJ on 04/23/2007. This one is also my other 'adult themed' story, and is geared towards readers over 18. Sorry kids, if you're not old enough, don't read it. Period.
(Inazuma-- "lightning")
Disclaimer: My eternal appreciation and deep bows to Brian May/Queen, the brilliant vocals of Freddie Mercury (RIP), and for Hardly Fatal's story for being the inspiration in this songfic. "Who Wants to Live Forever?" can be found off of the CD "A Kind of Magic", (c) 1986.
I don't own Inuyasha, character or story-wise. He and his story are owned by the talented Rumiko Takahashi and her affiliates. I don't own the story "A Thousand Years" either. That is owned by Hardly Fatal. This story, however, is an original from my mind. I'm receiving no $$$ for this; it's for enjoyment only. My payment is your reviews. Enjoy!
WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER?
"Kami! Where in the Hell do they keep coming from?"
She spat aloud to herself as she ran to a clearing, hoping to gain a little leverage to turn and face her enemies. When she was comfortably clear of the forest line, she turned on her heels and readied her stance, her sword held out in front.
The swarm of demons was not far behind. They burst thru the forest's edge, a mass of screaming mouths, razored claws, and gnashing fangs, eager to sink into the soft flesh of their quarry.
But this quarry fought back. This one had a sting to it.
She braced herself strongly to the ground, and gripped the handle of her sword.
They want no holds barred? Then, I shall give it to them! So be it!
Holding her sword fast, she focused her energies and called.
"Inazuma! I call upon your power!"
The sword responded to its mistress' command, and a blaze of lightning screamed forth towards the horde. A pink hue surrounded them, encompassing them, penetrating them, until all movement within this melee' cease, and exploded into vapors.
She collapsed to the ground, eyes remaining focused in case one had gotten thru and survived. The sword pulsed with her energies, but soon calmed as she did.
The threat was gone. For now.
She took in a deep breath, and sighed. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her left shoulder, near her collarbone, ached.
She ignored it. For now. But not for long could it go unnoticed...
::clap! clap! clap!::
The sound of slow applause came from the tree line. She whipped her head towards the source, but saw nothing. Only the applause.
Then, a voice, a distant mist from her past, spoke.
"It would seem that you have finally mastered your sword."
"Show yourself, and come meet your fate!" she challenged back as she sprang to her feet. She was not about to be a sitting duck, and would rather meet an enemy head on, face-to-face.
"My fate, eh? Very well, then." the voice called back.
A rustle of low hanging branches slightly to her right gave way, and a figure came forth. The sunlight gleamed brightly off of something and into her gaze. She held her sword out in front, and squinted against the glare.
"Lower your sword. I am not your enemy." it said.
"I take no chances!" she said defiantly. Her eyes had adjusted enough to make out an image of something. She could tell it was tall, and it was wearing armor. This would prove to be a challenge, indeed.
The voice then spoke something she would never have guessed in all her travels.
"You know full well, to not parry a sword against me, Green Child."
What? She gasped. There was only one being who had ever dared to call her that name in such an intimate way... but no. It could not be him.
Or could it? She squinted her eyes to obtained a better look.
"My Lord--is it you?" Her ears now did play a cruel trick as her eyes did, for it could not be him.
He was dead. Or at least there were rumors of such...
The form stepped forward a bit more, and the sunlight withdrew its glare.
A being of white, clad in armor, his honeyed eyes stared back into her storm-grey ones. She blinked, and shook her head.
No, it cannot be you...
"Do you not trust your own eyes?" the voice asked, and she knew then. It was his form. It was his voice. But some demons had learned to mimic, even take the forms of others. She had to be certain, beyond all doubt.
"Kiba?" It was her pet-name for him, a name of endearment.
"Hai, it is I."
Her center dropped like a lead rock. But the rumors...
"They said you were dead. They said..." her voice trailed off. She blinked back hopeful tears that were threatening to fall.
"As they did tell of you. Yet, here we both stand, even now, Midoriko."
It was him! The Inu no Taisho. She lowered her sword and gaped, still not trusting her eyes or her ears. He reached out his arms, welcoming her into them, and she could not refuse. She ran full force into him, gripping her arms around his back as he encircled her with his.
"It IS you! It is YOU!" she cried into his chest as her arms wrapped around him and clung to his heirloom pelt.
It had been five years since she had seen him last, and she had missed his company.
He hugged her slightly snug against him. Even though she had grown into a fierce warrior, and (dare he say it) a beautiful woman, she still had the heart of the child he had met all those years ago in the forest.
Thought it was but a blink of an eye to him, he had missed her company as well.
There's no time for us,
There's no place for us,
His mind flashed back to that last night that he saw Midoriko.
The Lord and his Lady Wife had argued that night.
The subject? Whether or not a human should remain in the castle of youkai, for one, and if said human should remain "in such familiar terms" with the Lord of the West.
Midoriko had known the Inu no Taisho from when she was a child, long before the Lady Hikari came to be his Lady Wife.
Midoriko was a trusted friend and liaison, a go-between, for humans and youkai, and the guardian of his firstborn, Sesshoumaru, heir to the Lands of the West, before the full onslaught of war had began.
They both tried to retain the peace in the lands.
They both had tried hard to shut out the growing feelings they had for one another over the years as well.
It had reached its breaking point in tense whispers and hushed lies.
Until the night that the Lady took it upon herself to discover the truth.
The Inu no Taisho did not lie to her.
It was a political marriage, and he was within his right to obtain a concubine if he wished.
He may not have been honorable about his feelings in their union, but he was honest.
The Lady decided that it would be better for her to return to the cold of the North, where it would be "warmer to her", than to remain here in the cold, barren emptiness of his heart, where a human resided.
Since their son, his son, showed no love for his own mother as well, she had said that the boy was "better off with his father".
His son had heard everything, and had taken out his anger and hurt on Midoriko, letting loose his poison claws on her forehead when she tried to comfort his tears.
The Inu no Taisho tried to explain that his son was only trying to push her away in his hurt, and that is was an accident.
Midoriko took it personally, and had left the Lands of the West for good that night. She had not been seen for years, and only rumors of her had been heard of in the recent months since then.
What is this thing that builds our dreams,
Yet slips away from us?
"Come," he said. "I know of a safe area where we both can rest, and catch up on old times."
She smiled back at him as he released her, and together they walked thru the clearing to its other side.
A more familiar scene unfolded around them, and as her eyes took in the surroundings, she knew this area to be the place where they had first met, all those years ago.
It seemed forever to her, as an adult, thinking back to then. But back then, as a child, she thought she could live forever...
Who wants to live forever,
Who wants to live forever...?
It was here that she had met him, as a child, running away from her 'demons' in the form of childhood bullies, and had gotten lost.
It was here that he had met her as well, running from 'his demons' in the form of responsibilities as the new Lord of the West after the death of his own father...
A mere scrap of a child that held no fear of him, only curiosity because he was a youkai, and who held an inner power that matched the storm clouds in her eyes.
A newly made youkai lord, who, by all intents and purposes, would have killed her on the spot, but instead showed curiosity and compassion.
"Do you remember when we first met?" Midoriko asked. Nostalgia had risen in her mind as she sat under a tree.
The Inu no Taisho had his back turned away from her as he spoke.
"How could I forget? Though the years have changed so much around us, we have changed little. Here, is where we first saw each other, under the light of the full moon. Right there is where you were, as you sit even now, under the very same tree. Here, is where I stood, and now again, when I heard your lost cries."
He turned around to face her, and she could have sworn it was the same scene over again, only played out in daylight.
"Time changes us in appearances, but not in our souls." he offered.
"You sound as if you speak of Fate. It was you, who told me as well, that Fate does not exist, save for that which we make our own."
He sat beside her, and turning to face her, leaned in.
He was free now, free to tell her what lay in his heart after so long.
He was so close that he could hear her pulse quicken in her breaths.
He titled his head to the side, and grinned slightly.
"Was it your Fate, or your choice, that sent you away from my Lands that night?"
But she offered her own question to his flirtatiousness, and a tête-à-tête had begun.
"And was it your Fate, or your choice, my Lord, to place the mark upon my collar, even if only to stop the bleeding from my wound?"
She had reminded him of the other scar that she bore.
The scar sat at the juncture of the left side of her neck and shoulder, just above her collar bone.
She had broken the bone in a hunting accident, and he had found her, at the bottom of a gorge, bleeding profusely.
Without thinking of the consequences of such a thing, he had licked at her wound to slow the bleeding.
He did what was necessary before taking her to the one being he knew of that could mend a break.
Ironically enough, it was this same being that had taken that broken bone of hers, and had forged it into the sword that now sat beside her.
There's no chance for us,
It's all decided for us,
He lightly traced his claw over it, and as her breath hitched, he whispered to her ear,
"Does it matter?"
They both were reminded of that day.
It was this same forearm he touched her with now, that he had offered to her to bite thru the pain when her broken shard of bone was being removed, that same arm also bore a mark. Her mark.
Though his leathered gauntlet covered it at the time, she had bitten down so hard as to draw his blood.
She had made a blood bond as well.
She removed the leather gauntlet from his forearm and traced her fingertip over it, sending a shiver thru him as well.
She closed the space between their lips, and whispered back,
"It matters not."
Although they both bore each other's marks, and although they both tried to hide the marks during his marriage to Lady Hikari, Midoriko and the Inu no Taisho were mated in every sense except one.
They could not deny the feelings either one had for each other now.
Their lips met in a fiery blaze of long-held passion.
He nipped lightly on her lower lip, and drew the tip of his tongue over its fullness as she parted her mouth.
He dance his tongue inside, lingering it upon hers, savoring its taste and feel upon his own.
She reminded him of the Cherry Blossom trees in bloom.
Clean, sharp, and sweet.
He, to her, was like warm honey.
Soft, lingering, and seductive.
Their hands became separate entities, grasping and tugging off armor, weapons, and clothes until there was just air and the aura of wanting between them.
Their lips never left each other's touch for very long until she found her back against the heirloom pelt that he had laid on the grass, and she gazed into a pair of bright red eyes.
He looked at her quizzically, and tried to recall if she had seen the color of lust in his eyes before.
Her pupils were dilated from desire, and not of fear, as she reached up to run her hand thru his silver locks.
"Midoriko, I am not so far gone as to stop myself right here, should you wish it." Though he hoped she wouldn't wish as such.
She smiled. "Were you thinking of stopping, my Lord?"
With that, she pulled him into another kiss.
As she did, he found his need for union within her as they joined.
He held fast to a slow rhythmic move, not wanting to hurt her, and still not certain of how strong she was.
She responded with sighs and moans that drove him closer to frenzy, and for him to realize that humans were not at all as fragile as they seemed to be.
She had surprised him. He grinned.
He parted from her lips, brushing the tip of his tongue along her jaw line, down the length of her neck and to his mark at her collar.
She gasped, digging her fingernails into his shoulders as he flicked his tongue over his mark, kissed it, and sucked the flesh in gently to his mouth.
If she already was his mate, he was going to mark her correctly.
He lightly dragged the points of his fangs over it until it bled again, and the sweet, sharp metallic tang of her life-force danced across his tongue.
She ran her hand down along his forearm, bringing the underside of it up to her lips to place her own searing, wet kisses upon her mark.
He flexed his claws of that hand against her head, and into her hair, as it drove him to move faster.
She placed her teeth upon the scar of his forearm, and bit down.
He ushered a low growl of pleasure as he stopped briefly.
Glancing sideways, he noticed a small droplet of his essence trickle out of the corner of her mouth.
She had succeeded in breaking his mark as well. He was impressed.
He moved within her in ways that could not be described, for to put such a feeling into words would be impossible.
As they neared completion, an explosion of bright colors swirled around them, dancing behind their closed eyes, and invaded their minds.
To the end, he did not falter.
To the end, she kept up with his pace.
To the end, their bodies silently begged for more.
Together, they slipped over the threshold and into oblivion. The sensation was like floating within.
This world has only one sweet moment
Set aside for us.
They spent several days by the stream together.
They talked about their hopes, their dreams, and their fears.
One fear he had was a rumor of his borders being encroached from the North, where the Lands were held by Ryuukotsusei.
The Inu no Taisho wondered if his former Lady Wife was behind it in some way, as she did not leave on a good note from his Lands.
It was widely known that Ryukotsusei held special favor for the Lady Hikari...
She wore a small favor from him on her marriage day to the Inu no Taisho.
It was white, and bore a single black circle within.
The Crest of an ancient family. The Crest of Ryu.
Midoriko had her fears as well, hearing rumors about his borders to the South.
She had seen in her visions a white banner, bearing the crest of a single black circle in its center.
That crest belonged to the House responsible for the massacre of her village as a child, and the death of her parents.
She had silently patrolled his borders during her absence from his Court, and had intercepted a messenger hurrying to the South.
He carried with him a missive bearing the seal of the North.
The Crest of Ryu.
She had uncovered a dangerous plot to overthrow the Lands of the West, and a determined vengeance was now her driving motive.
"My Lord, I must speak now of... troubled items."
Her voice was slightly strained, and her pulse raced.
He smelled it on her scent, and it was not normal for her to hold tension.
She feared nothing, this he knew of her.
"Midoriko, why do you turn your gaze from me?"
Who wants to live forever,
"I know who it is that threatens your Land's borders to the North, for it is a force that is now a threat to your Lands in the South. It is the same force that is responsible for the destruction of my village and my family as well."
He held his thoughts silently as she continued.
"This force carries with it a white banner, bearing a black circle in its center."
She turned her face to him, and a shiver ran down her spine.
"The Crest of Ryu. The ruler of which, is Ryukotsusei."
His eyes narrowed. "He would dare? Even after I had signed peace-treaties when I wed Lady Hikari? He gave up his holds on the Northwest, the borders between ours, in that signing! I will have his head, and when I am done with that, I shall claim his teeth for my next sword!"
She breathed deep. There was still more.
"Ryukotsusei does not act alone. A new force from the South has allied themselves with him. A Ryu as well. He is known as Mimizu no Okii--the Great Worm."
He said not a word as he processed the knowledge. But he was not ready for what she said next.
"I must face him, and I will conquer him. But... I... will also die."
"WHAT?!"
There was a surge of youki from the inu youkai, and for a moment, Midoriko held in her memory an image his enemies must have seen as their last.
The Inu no Taisho's eyes ran crimson, the stripes along his cheeks ran ragged, and the surge of youki had started to transform him as deep feral growls came from his throat.
"I have seen it, in visions. It is my Fate--no, my Destiny--as a miko, and as a warrior..."
"You will do no such thing! I will face the both of them and I will kill the both of them!"
"Kiba," she knew her endeared name for him would calm him down.
"The missive I intercepted, the forces plan to attack at the same time. You cannot be two places at once."
"And you are now my mate! I would kill anyone who even so much as dared to cast a longing glance at you!"
He raged, as his body started to transform.
She grabbed him, and held on so tight that she thought her own arms would break.
Who dares to love forever,
"I am your mate, and I will love you forever. But I also know that you have loved another."
He started, his youki surge slowed, and he returned. He stared into her eyes with an unreadable face.
"How...?"
"A village not far from here, gave hospitality to me when I rid it of a lesser youkai while in my departure. There lives a mortal hime."
A lull settled between them, and she continued.
"She spoke of being loved by a man so ethereal, that to look upon him was to cast a look at the moon itself."
He closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath.
"Her name is Izayoi, and she carries within her a child. A son, my Lord."
She knows... he sighed. He would rather have had her to be with his child, but the Fates chose to give him Izayoi instead.
When love must die?
As he opened his eyes, a solitary tear fell from her eye, and lingered on her cheek.
He furrowed his brow, confused at the sadness that seemed apparent on her face, yet was not present in her scent.
He gathered her in his arms, and as he kissed her sorrow away, he surrendered his soul with her touch.
But touch my tears with your lips,
Touch my world with your fingertips,
They parted the next day,
And we can have forever,each vowing that they would meet in the next life,
And we can love forever,
and cursing their own destinies that each lay ahead of them .
Forever is our today.
She offered him the name of Inuyasha for his unborn son. It was a name that would remind the child of who was his father, and of who he would be. He accepted it, and vowed that he would tell Izayoi.
He returned to his borders of the North, where he met Ryukotsusei. The battle was fierce, and bloody. The Ryu had slashed open a fatal wound across his body that he would have no chance of healing from. To make certain of death, Ryukotsusei had tore open his neck.
Who wants to live forever,
She had returned as she vowed to his borders of the South, where in a limestone cave she met the Mimizu no Okii. She managed to hold him there for seven days and seven nights, but it would be her last battle. Her sword had been broken after the first night, and her miko powers were fast depleting. As the Great Worm sank his jaw into her flesh, she reached deep within herself, and focused.
Who wants to live forever...?
At his last breath, the Inu no Taisho sealed Ryuukotsusei to a mountain with his claw.
Before life had ebbed completely, he called out to his beloved...
At her last breath, Midoriko, the Green Child, gathered the last remaining pulse of her powers, sealing the soul of the Great Worm with hers in a fusion of brilliance.
Before life had ebbed from her completely, she called out to her beloved...
"Forever is our today,"
They died together, if only figuratively.
Centuries later...
A shining orb was discovered lying on the floor of the limestone cave in which it had burst forth from the miko's chest.
A testament to her life.
Centuries later...
A half-youkai lad would face and defeat his father's greatest enemy with a sword he barely knew anything about, in hopes of surpassing his ol' man. A testament to his life.
Though time changed their appearances, their souls met again, and lived on...
Who waits forever anyway?
Fin