Forest
Song by System of a Down
Walk with me my little child
To the forest of denial
Speak with me my only mind
A lone tree, one of many in what the nearby townspeople call "Inu-Yasha's Forest," but this one seems special, different. Could it be the long strip of missing bark, almost as if the tree had been bespelled? Could it be the small holes in the center of the trunk… arrow holes? Could it be the mystic aura about it, that feeling of importance you feel simply standing on it?
Or is it the fact that this was the spot of two fateful meetings, all of fifty years apart? One between a noble priestess and a half-demon after the treasure she guards, who may have had more in common than they initially thought. One between an average schoolgirl and a fierce entity trapped in a spell for fifty years who became close companions. Could these two meetings be interconnected somehow?
Walk with me until the time
And make the forest turn to wine
You take the legend for a fall
One, a priestess, Kikyo. The fates have either cursed or blessed her—no one is sure which—with a mystic gem, one demons lust after with uncontrollable greed. The Jewel of Four Souls, as it is known. But she doesn't complain, she merely does her duty, protecting such a treasure from the forces of evil. Not a rebellious bone in her body. So, could she really help it when the half-demon she had been fending off… suddenly attracted her? When such a noble priestess, as some might say, fell from glory, and all for a mangy dog demon, not even of full demonic blood? Her decorated legend… could it stop from taking such a fall?
You saw the product
Why can't you see that you are my child
Why don't you know that you are my mind
Another, nothing but a modern girl, no different from the billions of others in the world, Kagome. But something tempting, something precious to many, pulses inside of her. Though unremarkable from the outside, this girl is no less than a priestess. So why? Why did she end up traveling with but a half-demon? And why? Why did history repeat itself, as hatred melted into tolerance, tolerance into friendship, and that into something even more? Could she stop it herself? Was it Kagome's doing that rekindled such a love? Or was it the fates that caused the same fifty years in the past?
Tell everyone in the world, that I'm you
Take this promise to the end of you
Walk with me my little friend
Take this promise to the end
It is not only their physical appearances that resemble each other so, but something spiritual, deep inside of them. A combination of what the fates have in store for them, and vice versa. If they try hard enough, could they break free from this tragedy-in-the-making, caused twice, fifty years apart? If they tried? If they wanted to try? And that leads to another question; Do they honestly want to? To break the bond between them… and with a halfling of dog-demon blood?
Speak with me my only mind
Walk with me until the end
And make the forest turn to sand
You take the legend for a fall
And through it all, is it true that such an unremarkable tree should be the physical embodiment of the connection between a very unordinary priestess and a very ordinary schoolgirl? A tree with such history having witnessed love, betrayal, rebirth…. And perhaps and endless cycle of the same; Love, betrayal, rebirth, love, betrayal, rebirth… will it continue? Or will fate's shackling bond be ripped free, stopping the tragedy once for it all? And will it all ride on their shoulders—both of their shoulders to take this legend for a fall?
You saw the product
Why can't you see that you are my child
Why don't you know that you are my mind
Tell everyone in the world, that I'm you
And if it does not… what will ensue? Will it be a tragedy of global proportions, or will it only involve two for eternity—a jewel's guardian and a half-demon after it? Will it be necessary for each reincarnation to accept it, or will that be the finishing blow, sending fate's plan deep into the underworld to let such a child's destiny unfold as it wishes? And the biggest question of them all, still hanging like an undecided blade held over one's heart, will this tree witness it all? Is it the true victim?
Take this promise to the end of you
Take this promise for a ride
You saw the forest, now come inside
Or is it the perpetrator, standing so unremarkable in this forest? Does it do the harm, rather than only watching it? After all, this is the location. The location where an innocent half-demon was killed for a crime he would never commit, and the location where he was reborn, a meeting occurring for the second time? Is this the legend… and will it fall?
You took the legend for its fall
You saw the product of it all
No televisions in the air
No circumcisions on the chair
And am I the one to witness it? To watch eternally until fate releases its malicious hold on them—her—both the same and different? And will it release now, will Kagome drive an arrow into this tree's shaft, ripping it to shreds? Or will it continue? Forever? A twisted game of fate's creation?!
You made the weapons for us all
Just look at us now
Why can't you see that you are my child
Why don't you know that you are my mind
Tell everyone in the world, that I'm you
Take this promise to the end of you
And will we ever know…?