A/N: Howdy folks! Here it is, the long awaited reboot/rewrite/update (whatever you want to call it) for my beloved In Dreams.
I must confess, when I went back and re-read the chapters that I had posted, I cringed a bit. I've since realized, going through a lot of my old writing, just how much I've matured and developed as a writer. Maybe some will say not much, but I think definitely enough to warrant deleting the old story and starting fresh, which is how this has come to be.
Anyhow, I don't want to dwell on the past. We shall look to the future - the thirteen remaining chapters of this story, in fact - and see where they go. I hope you like them; if you're familiar with the previous version of the story, then you might recognize some things. If you're not, well I hope you like where this story takes you! One way or another, please let me know what you think in a review! Questions, comments, concerns and of course criticism are always welcome.
Much love.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I don't own InuYasha.
Chapter 1
Kagome's Dream
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This world will never be
What I expected
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Kagome jolted out of her sleep with a shudder, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest as she sat up from her pallet. A chill ran down her spine as the cool night air was allowed into her sleeping bag, revealing that she had sweat through yet another set of pyjamas.
Another nightmare… she shuddered, pulling her damp hair off the back of her neck. Unbidden, another shiver shook her shoulders.
Shifting to reach under her pillow, Kagome pulled out a small leather-bound book sealed with a thin cord. Opening it carefully, she grabbed the small pencil that rolled out from between the journal's pages and began scribbling down her disjointed memories of the dream.
Lately, startlingly vivid dreams were ripping her from a deep sleep regardless of what she was dreaming about. Given what she saw on a day-to-day basis, she couldn't fairly say that they were all nightmares, but they were certainly not all good.
Looking down at her haphazard scribbles, she frowned at her penmanship. The light of the moon was often enough to read and write by, but usually she was worked up enough that her notes were illogical when she read them back in the morning. This time, though, she remembered.
She remembered because it was a dream she'd had before—one of smoke, fire, and screams.
A loud crack reverberated through the night, startling Kagome out of her light slumber.
Pulling herself into a sitting position, she wearily rubbed at her eyes as she tried to focus on the source of the sound that roused her. Blinking to clear her vision, the first thing Kagome noticed was that the usually soothing moonlight that drifted through the reeds covering the door was absent.
The second thing she noticed, as she rose to her feet with a small groan, is that she was alone in the cabin. Highly unusual, as their group often remained in close quarters when they travelled. She recognized Kaede's hut, the well worn wood a very familiar sight.
What was unfamiliar, however, is the smell that assaulted her nose. The acrid scent of smoke hit her like a wall as a breeze lifted the reeds that served as a summer door to the hut.
The burning of wood was not a smell that she was unfamiliar with, but a churning sensation in the pits of her stomach told her that's not all she was smelling…it wasn't just wood that was burning.
The last piece of the puzzle fell into place as sparks drifted lazily into the hut with another waft of smoke.
There was a creaking groan, and another crack echoed through the night air—the shuddering of the supporting beams that held the roof of the hut next door aloft. An answering crack followed, before a woosh of the hottest air Kagome could ever remember feeling, leaving her face numb and feeling like her lips and her eyebrows were peeling off.
The village was on fire.
Somewhere in the night, a villager screamed.
This marked the fifth time in a month that Kagome'd had the same dream.
Every time it was the same. The crack, the smell, the heat, the scream.
After one, came another. And another.
Kagome shook her head, the empty cries echoing in her head like a haunting song. She didn't want to hear them when she was awake, too. It was bad enough her brain concocted them when she was asleep.
Realizing that any chance of sleep had left her yet again, Kagome took a quick glance around her at her slumbering companions. Shippo and Kirara were snuggled up comfortably by the dying embers of the fire. Miroku and Sango had separate pallets, but there was a time Kagome remembered that they were set up much farther away than they were now. InuYasha, unsurprisingly, was dozing lightly in a tree nearby and just out of the ring of failing firelight.
Their silent guardian, Kagome knew, wouldn't sleep deeply and so she took great pains to slip on her sandals and grab her sleeping blanket from her own pallet as silently as she could. Wrapping the blanket tightly around her shoulders, she collected her dream journal and headed out into the forest.
This campground was one they'd frequented before, many times. The river was only a short walk away, and at this time in the summer, the water was warmed enough by the sun during the day that during the night, it never truly returned to an uncomfortable temperature. Resting her things on a flat outcropping of river rock, Kagome knelt at the riverside and scooped a small handful of water to her face, dampening her cheeks and the back of her neck.
Crickets chirruped merrily from the other side of the riverbed, content to dance under the moonlight in the safety of the reeds. Somewhere, an owl cried into the night, silencing the melody of the bugs for a moment. They paused as if to listen, before returning to their song.
Kagome folded the blanket neatly to use as a cushion, and settled herself by the river. Reaching for her journal, the moon here seemed even brighter as if it were curious to see what she would do next. Cracking the book open, she looked at what she had written, before adding to her notes.
Isn't it strange how nature is a reflection of the unspoken within us?
Kagome looked at her words and then out into the depths of the river. It answered with a sigh, a quiet gurgle its sound of easy agreement.
A river is like a person, she thought. Anyone. A person so beautiful and alluring on the outside, but beneath the surface, so tumultuous and…
She glanced down at her last words on the page.
"Red eyes…"
…dangerous.
Reaching gingerly for the last barrier between her and the horrors of what awaited her outside, Kagome paused. The screams were multiplying—some were nothing more than mere moans on the wind, but others were shrill and sharp, crying out for help.
Extreme heat was prickling her skin as the last barrier was pushed aside, and Kagome's mind seemed detached as it noted that her hands were likely going to be burnt by the end of this night. Stumbling outside, the smoke was much thicker and instantly filled her lungs. Blinking her weary eyes, they struggled to focus on the bright lights that lit up the night sky.
Flames crawled up and down every building, some already reduced to charred, glowing skeletons. The hut beside her was a fireball, the embers being picked up by the wind and greedily latching onto the roof of Kaede's abode. Her friends weren't inside, so Kagome moved forward into the village, searching.
The villagers were nameless, faceless, but familiar all the same. They rushed about in a panic, screaming for their children, loading rickshaws and struggling to save what they could from the hungry blaze. Chickens were flapping about frantically—some were caught, either by the villagers or by the flames—others were trampled.
No one lifted a hand for another. Nothing, it seemed, was sacred anymore.
Another crack ripped the night and Kagome's attention was drawn by the hut at the edge of the lane, one of the largest of the village. The wood beams holding it up were some of the oldest but strongest in the village, and it hurt to see it crumble before her eyes. With a final groan, the roof collapsed to the ground, sending up plumes of smoke and embers into the night sky, dancing like false stars.
The heat washed over her like a second explosion, forcing her to raise an arm to her face to protect her eyes. As she blinked away tears and smoke, her gaze focused on the pillar of smoke left behind by the hut, watching in morbid surprise as a shapeless silhouette appeared from its remains.
The figure moved, unhurriedly, several steps away from the debris and placed a small bundle on the ground. A young woman scrambled to her feet, not pausing to thank her saviour, and ran from the flames and into the night.
Kagome moved towards the shadowed figure, her heart beginning to pound in anticipation.
He was here.
She didn't know who he was, but something inside of her told her it was him.
She'd been waiting.
She'd dreamed of him, so many times before.
The figure stood there, still as a statue, waiting for her to approach.
The man with red eyes.
Every dream, like a sick joke she couldn't escape.
It didn't matter if it was a nice dream or a bad one, always, always, she found them.
His deep red eyes, watching her from the shadows.
Sometimes they scared her. An uncomfortable sense of dirtiness, a shiver of dread down her spine.
Sometimes they entranced her.
A shapeless cloak surrounded his body, obscuring everything from view and repelling the sparks. A high collar stretched up, covering the lower half of his face. A broad straw hat sat atop his head covering what little else remained from her purview, protecting him from the ashes that drifted down from the sky like a poisonous snow, littering the night. The only thing that was visible were his eyes, a deep glowing red that shone through the night, inwardly lit by the reflections of the flames that swayed around them.
Kagome took another step forward, more hesitant this time. The man was mere steps away, but something about the last few feet seemed so… final, somehow.
A pale hand extended from the depths of his shapeless cloak, allowing the fabric to ripple and reflect an odd cloud pattern.
"Come."
His voice was deep and commanding. His unspoken words echoed eerily through the night.
Be done with this place, and away.
She paused again, considering, looking at the chaos that surrounded for. Her heart was torn.
This was what she'd waited for.
This was what she'd dreamt of.
This was what she'd craved.
This was what she wanted.
Turning back to the red eyes who studied her carefully, she moved forward and placed her tender hand in his.
Red eyes flashed, morphing as her own vision darkened and slipped away.
The sweet trill of a bird to the morning sun snapped Kagome out of her reverie.
Five times in a month… she mused, rising to her feet and gathering her things. With a sigh, she turned to follow the little path back to her campsite, lost in thought. That dream…
Red eyes, and the dancing flames that burned within them.
It scared her.
Flames crawled up and down every building, some already reduced to charred, glowing skeletons.
It excited her.
As she blinked away tears and smoke, her gaze focused on the pillar of smoke left behind by the hut, watching in morbid surprise as a shapeless silhouette appeared from its remains.
What did it all mean? Who was the man with the red eyes? Was he coming to take her away?
A pale hand extended from the depths of his shapeless cloak.
She knew she had a job to do, but they were just dreams after all. It was ok to dream—
"Come."
In the morning, that's all they were.
"Yes…"