Author's note:
As for now, I'm just not sure upon pairings so it's undecided. Anyway, I wish you to just enjoy the fic as it progresses. Ja.
xXAries KnightXx
Chapter 1
Pale ivory like skin were marred along with magenta strips upon his cheeks and other place that was unseen by the eyes as it is followed by a Prussian blue crescent shape moon upon his forehead that is easily seen through parted silver bangs. Long waist length silvery blue hair sprawled behind him in a cascade of silken waterfalls as they followed along the curved of his back and down to his rear. Supple with hardness that was truly male align his slender and almost feminine like frame that suited the handsome yet beautiful face of Sesshoumaru.
The said face of the said person turned to gaze out the window of his chamber room, the glass plane cold to his skin as he rested his cheeks lightly against the transparent object. He sighed as he then pulled the silken yukata he wore closer around him, his arms also then coming to cross before his lithe chest. Propping one elbow up, Sesshoumaru glided his clawed fingers through his silver locks that hung loosely down his back, pulling them over his shoulder as he idly twirled them in his fingers.
His mind had been wandering as of late, his body becoming restless and seemingly growing more restless by the minute even though his face belied nothing of what hid below his true exterior. Amber gold eyes narrow slightly as they focus upon the flakes of the snow that had suddenly began to disperse from the sky above. The chill of the winter season casting a white hand over the Earth as everything is then covered in white.
Minutes passed as he stood there before the window, watching each minute flying by while everything is now immerse in white, the perfect picture of innocence and purity. The world was suddenly so very quiet, not a sound was made, not even that of those who inhabited his home. He didn't mind though, the silence. It was something he always wanted, and now that he had it, it was more than welcomed although his mind still troubled him with unwanted thoughts. They were the thoughts that were even more surplus than ever.
Eyes closing for a brief moment, he lowered his hands and pushed himself off of the window, his body straightening as he turned away from the view and walked towards his bed. Lying upon the soft mattresses, he silently allowed his body to sink comfortably upon it and wished that it would take all his troubles away. It perplexed him dearly as to why he was thinking in such a way, allowing his mind to wander so. He was always in control or as much as he willed it be, but at the moment, he felt--- detached, disoriented. His body silently yearned for something he did not know for sure what it was.
Sesshoumaru felt a sense of vulnerability, being exposed to the world as they see him for who he truly was. The emotions that lay deep within that none seemed to be able to see, that helplessness that surged through him when he was placed into a predicament that he himself could not determine the outcome. Even though he showed all the face of feign indifferences, a false facade, a stoic feature and unrevealing emotions, there was always a fragile figure beneath it all. He wondered who could see it but knew that none would. It was better so for others to be ignorant of his true self.
A soft sigh escaped him as Sesshoumaru hugged his arms tightly around himself, his eyes drifting closed then due to weariness as his breathing began to even out. Sesshoumaru drifted slowly into slumber even though his mind continued to turn in his head. Those thoughts seemed so simple now; a mere deluded thought on his tired mind as they then finally drifted away for another time to pondered upon.
The ebbing of time slowed, seemingly as if stopping time itself as the taiyoukai fell into the realm of dreams, his chest steadily raising and falling with each breath that his weary body took. The world outside seemed to slowed as well, everything settling as the demon rested, the birds that had yet to migrate sheltered themselves into any nook they could find that will proved them the warmth that they sought. The squirrels finally stopped in their scurried to find their acorns and nuts as they hid within the gap of their trees, burrowing themselves deep within to respite for their days work.
Resting. Yes, it was a time for rest. Everyone and everything resting as the snow continues to fall around them.
Two days later Sesshoumaru found himself leaving his castle, this time alone without the company of his retainer, Jaken, his ward, Rin, and his dragon, Ah-Un. Sesshoumaru was dressed in his usual attire of his kimono that consisted mostly of the color white with red honeycombs and flower crest at the collar, sleeves and shoulder. Below he wore his Sashinuki hakama and his footwear consisted of flat pointed ankle-high boots. On top of it all he wore armor just like that of his father, including one spiked pauldron over his left shoulders that attached to the upper section of his cuirass. Around his waist, he wore an intricately design yellow and blue obi and finally, most noticeable of all is the long fur boa that resides upon his right shoulder, intertwining there and flowing down his back and towards the ground. Tucked securely upon his waist were his swords, Tenseiga, the sword given to him by his father, and Tokjin, the sword forge from the fangs of Naraku's evil incarnation, Goshinki.
Soft leather boot treaded lightly upon the snow covered ground as Sesshoumaru made his way through the mildly dense forest, small flakes now falling slowly from the heavens as they lightly clung to his hair and gathered upon the ground. No purpose at all to where he was heading, he aimlessly wander about, his feet seemingly having a mind of its own as he continued on, heading deeper and deeper into the forest.
Ash and oak surrounded him, their barren branches once filled with radiant green leaves rattled softly as the wind picked up, tussling snow that were lodge upon their branches upon him as he passed. Hawthorns, no longing bearing their fruits seemed so empty and plain, their flowers no longer blooming in the cold temperature of winter; the only thing visually seen were the thrones that were place upon its branches. Small sounds of lesser youkai scuttling about through the snow caught his meager attention as sleek and sender red kitsunes trailed about, searching for last minute gathering of food before winter storm brew in. Even the snores of the hibernating bears that inhabited the nearby caves could be heard so through the echoing silences of the forest.
His foot made small crunching noises upon the snow covered ground, his steps only halting as he found himself in the midst of a clearing, the blue and partly cloudy sky above clearly visible to his amber eyes. He slowly lifted his head upward to gaze at them, his eyes then showing a sense of contentment. His body relaxed, the restlessness from long before slowly ebbing away to the calmness and serenity of the place, the little niche he so happened to find.
His head still lifted, the bangs upon his face parted to fully reveal his amber gold hues as he slowly lifted a hand upward, the sleeve of his kimono slipping down to reveal his ivory pale skin that were marred by his magenta strips, spreading and curving up his arms. Claws gleamed in the morning light, a glistening sheen upon its polish like surface.
It was like a sentimental act, as if reaching for something yet unattainable. "I seek and yet I do not have." His voice held no emotion that was unfathomable for another to decipher. So dreary and lonesome it was and yet it phase him not, the simple sound familiar to his ears. Lids slowly slid over his golden orbs, blocking his sight of the sky as he lets his senses reared around him, spreading and taking in the surroundings that encased him so. Seeing as the silences no longer ensued, more sounds filter to his sensitive ears, his pointed appendage twitching at ever little sound, even the rustling of his silken kimono a he lowered his once raised hands to his side once more.
The sound of a single crane taking off into the sky he could hear, its gleaming pink wings spreading with a whoosh as it lifted itself from the ground, the flapping of its wings beat like that of the heart, thumping with each push it made as it gain the height it needed to finally be able to soar in the open skies. Sesshoumaru opened his eyes then, gazing upon that never ending blue above him as he watch the silhouette of the crane passed through his line of sight, the image so far and yet so clear to his demon eyes as he could clearly etch every detail of the bird with just one glance. The delicate lining of its feathers, their pink hues glistening with sleek and slender form as it glided in the air, with the wind as it headed for someplace warmer, someplace it could survive through the coldness of the winter storm. The single figure of the crane was soon joined by many other of its kind, all the same and different in their own way.
Sesshoumaru saw no more use to gaze at them so as the cranes, one by one, disappeared over the horizon of which the sun had so carelessly not so long ago peaked out from. His bangs fell to shadow his eyes once more, his head lowering as he then turned away, his feet once more taking flight as he walked across the snow covered ground and heading into a direction that he knew not of where it would take him.
"I seek and yet I do not have," he said, whispering more like as repeated his words from before, his soft voice echoing through the forest.
I need and yet I also want. It continued on in thought. What I need is easily to obtain, and yet, the things I want, longed for and desired, I cannot reach. The boundaries of which I wish to take a step into, I find myself not being able to do so. What I seek, I no longer know and so, for now, I will head into a path that has been undecided for I, myself, cannot decide. His figure slowly became shadowed as he headed into the denseness of the forest, his step taking him into a path that even the morning light could not touch.
"Will the kami decide for me?" His last spoken words as he then vanished from the views of others, more so from the view of a single presence that had lurked deep with the unfathomable reaches of the shadows that Sesshoumaru himself could not reach. Gleaming crimson eyes watch as the taiyoukai disappeared; those crimson and blooded orbs that held a sadist look upon them so. A grin, more so like that of a smirk formed upon his lips, pink tongue then darting out to lick suddenly dried lips as a plan formed within his churning mind. The sadistic thought turned, processing and developing into something for the unknown future that is to come.
A sinister laugh resounded through the enshrouding darkness that only engulfed him so; it was a darkness that even the light of day could not even pierce through the shadow that held so much malice and destruction, so wantonly evil that it held no place in the natural darkness of the world where the moon shines its light of calmness and serenity.
The evil and yet beautiful face of the man who laughed so, the laughed that sent shivers down ones spine, rattling even the dead bones so as they shifted about within their graves, faded away into the shadows of which it came, dispersing as he allowed his own darkness to fully engulf him, taking him back to his stronghold where he can ensure that his plan be laid right and be extracted to its true intent.
A young woman, seventeen in ages or perhaps even older by the look of the delicately fine lines that were etch upon her face, giving her the look of maturity and deep understanding of the world around her, sat upon the rock near the bed of a frozen pond. Long, curried ebony tresses flowed down her back, stopping midway between her waist and neck as they wisped around lightly in the soft wind. Almond eyes with orbs of the warmest and deepest of brown accented her face that was soon followed by her soft round nose and pouting pink lips. A white turtle neck alpaca sweater adorn her slender frame, the fabric fitting snuggly upon her as it showed off her womanly figure, even if said person were obliviously to the small fact. Hip hugging white jeans with loose leggings accented from the curves of her hips and down her legs as she stood, her skates adorned feet touching the soft snow beneath.
Kagome wobbled slightly as she took a step forward, placing one foot upon the iced pond; an act of wanting to assure herself that the pond was indeed frozen and that it wouldn't break anytime soon. Giving herself a sigh of relief, she placed her foot firmly upon the ices which only lead to act of utmost clumsiness as said foot skidded forward and causing said person to loose what balance she had manage to muster and fall unceremoniously upon the ground, her body laid sprawl halfway upon he ice and snow.
Giving herself an exasperated sigh, Kagome slowly sat up, her hair now lace with small flakes of snow, the white of it contrasting with her ebony lock just like the outfit that she adorned. Not bothering to shake the snow off, she pulled her knees to her chest, her arms coming to wrap around them and her chin coming to prop upon them in a rather dissatisfied and most definitely disappointed way.
"Kagome no baka," she silently murmured, hating herself dearly at the moment on the fact that it was her idea who had wanted to learn to skate. Her friends had encouraged her to do what she wished, although what else were they to say when they did not even know what skating was or how it was done, nor the fact as to why one would want to skate upon ice. Kagome's modern ways were always a perplexity to them, to those of the Sengoku Judi but sometimes, her perplexity were of usefulness.
Now, as Kagome sat there upon the snow covered ground, she pondered upon the fact as to why she wanted to ice skate and here, in the feudal era of all places. She knew she could have done it at home, but, for a reason she found unexplainable, the idea of skating here was much more exciting, the naturalness of it seemingly--- excitable. Maybe that was not the best of reason although with an added reason, it could be render more explainable; the only problem would be as to what that added reason was. Kagome thought that if she was to think even more on the fact alone, she was going to give herself a major headache, a headache that could possibly cause her to loose what little cool she had left. She supposed she should be grateful for the meager fact that she was alone, her friends thinking that it was in their best interest to do so.
Giving another exasperated sigh, Kagome closed her eyes as she burrowed her head into the crook of her arms, a pout forming on her lips as she gave up on the thought of reasoning with her muddled mind. The only and worthwhile conclusion she could think up of was the fact that there was nothing else to do than do something out of the ordinary which skating, in Kagome's opinion, was out of the ordinary enough seeing as for one, she had never skated in her life.
Shard detecting, at the moment had to be put on hold due to the fact of the snow and the storm that every one seem to know was coming. A two week break for the shard hunting group seemed simple enough if one were to subtract an arrogant and self centered hanyou and an overly perverted monk with a wavering hand. Kagome thought again and wandered as to why she did not just return home and spend her break with her family but only coming to the fact that said family had surprisingly left on a vacation to the Caribbean and only telling her so with a simple and overly short note.
'Oh Kagome dear,' the letter had simply stated out and continuing with words that had caused her to roll her eyes and sigh; 'Please do forgive us dear for not being here when you are and for not being able to spend the Christmas holidays with you as a family but we have been planning this trip for a while now and since we knew that you would understand we left without you.' Kagome could hear her mother words so clearly when she had read the letter, her happy voice was never something that someone forgets so easily. 'Foods are in the fridge and your Christmas presents are in the closet. Do take care dear and if you want to spend it in the feudal era, please do for we don't want you to feel lonely.' It ended thus and that one line had been a major trigger in Kagome's mind seeing as she was definitely feeling lonelier than one would have thought.
Everyone had someone and it was true to the point. Miroku, even through his lecherous way, will always have Sango by his side for he loved her dearly just as much as she, him. Inuyasha, aside form his arrogant and overly ignorant ways had Kikyo, even if she no longer bear a human body and now harbor a deep hatred for the hanyou. Even Shippo who had grown so much over the years they had been together had found someone, more so a group of kitsune of his own kind to spend his winter with. They had accepted him whole heartedly and the little kitsune had been overjoyed to be with his own kind again after the death of his kin.
Lifting her head, she gave a weary smile at where her thought seem to be heading, a soft laugh then escaping her chap lips. She was happy for them, even for Inuyasha with his now one sided love for the dead miko. Her past time crush no longer a crush but that of having him as a mutual friend whom she could trust and confide in, even if they argue over the most of nonessential things just like her thoughts at the moment which were nothing but meaningless worries and they needed no more time to be wasted upon.
Hand raised, she silently raked her fingers through her hair, pushing them away from her face as the light accented upon her. She sighed again, her eyes then leveling before her as she gave a heated glare at the frozen pond. For the moment, hopefully at least, her worries were once more directed towards her infamous feet that seem to make it a habit for her to fall and also at the pond that seem as if it does not want her to be skating upon it. She knew it sounded rather ridiculous but who was to tell her otherwise and reprimand her for her overly strange behaviors. To prove a point, she quickly stuck her tongue out, directing it towards the pond and then returning it to her mouth, a small giggles than managing to escape from her.
Silently congratulating herself upon her bold behavior, she slowly came to a standing position, her feet wobbling as she found her balance once more.
"I'm going to skate," she mumbled quietly. "Definitely can't leave a job incomplete." Her words were true enough. She had decided to do this and so, she was going to learn as much as she could learn no matter how little it was she'll learn in her clumsy process.
"I can do this." She placed one foot upon the ice.
"I can do this." She placed her other foot upon the ice.
Kagome opened her eyes, they somehow becoming closed when she had started to move her legs. She blinked at first, not all so sure if she was actually standing or not as she glanced down at her legs. Yes, I'm standing but it seems so impossible, she thought, feeling too excited for her own good. As if her words were a jinx to herself, her legs began to wobble, her legs shaking as she then toppled back once more, her butt landing upon the snow with a loud thump.
She wanted to cry, throw a tantrum more likely so she could hit the ground with her fist like that of a baby when it was in a fit.
"I'm not going to cry," even if my butt does hurt. She gave a small sniffle, her lips quivering slightly as she pouted. Fingers clinched, she reached down and literally yanked her skates from her feet, tossing them then unceremoniously upon the snow beside her. She stood up then, her feet bare except for her sock, and kicked at the snow as they landed upon her skates.
"Bury, bury, bury," she whispered with a vengeance, forgetting all she had said before of not leaving task incomplete. She kicked away to her hearts content until the snow was pile midway to her waist, her skates completely buried under it all. Her lips twitched, a laugh bubbling in her throat. Hand reached up to hold them over her lips, muffling the sound of her laugh as she sat upon the snow once more, legs crossed before her. Her laugh dying down to a soft giggle, she propped her elbow upon her leg and her chin upon her raised palm. Glancing wearily at the pile of snow, she mentally came to the conclusion that she was definitely not cut out for skating.
Sighing, something of which seemed to be the fifth or sixth time for her to be doing, she reached forward, her hands then gathering a handful snow as she packed them together into a neatly form snowball and then placing it down beside her. The same process was then repeated many more time, and to how much, Kagome had lost count when she had reached the number of twenty. As her hand then began to feel rather raw and most certainly cold, she stopped, gazing down then at the pile of snowballs she had managed to produce.
"Now what am I suppose to do with snowballs," she wondered aloud as she then picked one and tossed it behind her. A soft thump was heard, a sure sign that it had impacted into a tree even if she were not to glance behind her, which she didn't. Ten more times she did so, and all manage to land with a soft thump; ten more followed suit with the same result.
Five more; thump.
Six more; thump.
Seven more; thump.
Eight more; thump.
Nine more; thump.
Ten more; splat.
Splat? Kagome thought. Now that was most definitely not a tree.
Slowly, she turned to look at what she had managed to hit, a small mouse like eep emitting from her throat as her eyes landed upon what or more likely, who, she had manage to hit. Her brown orbs widen considerably as she gazed up, and up, at the person who face was covered in the snow that she had thrown. Kagome gulped, rather loudly at that and she was sure that the person before her could hear it. Wanting to turn her body fully to face said person, but all she had manage to do was become tangle with her crossed legs and fall face forwarded into the snow.
"Fuck," she cursed, more so at her clumsiness as she pushed herself off of the ground, standing then so could fully face the man before her. A weak chuckle emitted from her slightly parted lips, as she quickly dusted the snow from her hair and face, her hand then coming to rub the back of her neck in a sheepish way. She bit her lips then, watching the person before raised a hand to lightly dust away what was left of the snow upon his face. She watched as he blinked, one time, two times, and then stopping as he raised his eyes to Kagome's own, his amber orbs lock with her brown ones.
She watched then as he also opened his mouth to speak, that is, before closing them as if he was pondering on what to say.
"Eto---," Kagome cut in through the resounding silence that engulfed them although she did not manage to finish her train of thought as he silenced her with an elegantly raised brow.
"Woman," he began then. "Tell me what is that you are trying to do?"
Kagome looked at him with a raised brow of her own, clearly not expecting the question that was asked.
"Well now, you see, Sesshoumaru------."
And so she began.
xXAries KnightXx
Author's Note:
Meh. I feel so accomplished in being able to write this much. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did in writing it. Ja ne.