Alright guys, you know me, a bubble of inspiration. So this time, I'm going for Drowning in the Sun epic (which if you ARE a die-hard InuKik fan, you probably have read a jillion times). So lots of big words, trying to go for a writing sytle a 'lil different from mine, and completely different from the typical stuff out there. Of course, since I'm reading DITS while I'm writing this, there's going to be some similiarities. I'll spare you the excuses, but to keep everyone up to date, a short list: writing music, compitions, poems, Vihart on Youtube, Japasese history, dreaded finals, religious disputes (as of right now, I'm in the middle of all Eastern ideals) writing letter to random people, trying to be better, yaddda yadda. Alright…lets set the mood:
-No my friend, darkness is not everywhere, for here and there I find faces illuminated from within; paper lanterns among the dark trees.
Enemies
There is no greater sorrow than to recall in misery the time when we were happy.
The hanyou had breathed his life in the obscure shadows; he had lost hopefulness of sovereignty long ago. The exclusion he had faces from the only two worlds he knew of were unbearable. And for almost no reason at all. Nothing he could help. No reason at all.
"Mother?"
"Yes love?"
"Why..Do they look at me so strangely?"
Her beautiful mother's smile broke; she did not answer. She simply held her child close to her.
Pleading for an inspiration of light to protect him, and that beacon never came.
Until now. The Shikon no Tama. It gave excessive supremacy to those who had it in their hands. It would have the power to thrust him from this never-ending life of pain and exclusion, into the powerful throne of a full-fledged demon. Ironically, the beacon of light Inuyasha thought he found was not the true. The light that would save him was the priestess to which the jewel was bound.
The first time he had laid eyes on the miko, Kikyou, was unfortunately on the night of the newfangled moon. He watched her from the tree he was perched, satisfying on the sight of her. At this time, however, he knew not the power she possessed. If only he had known, as he cursed later, then he could have without difficulty taken it from her. Or so he thought.
As she gazed frontward, he noticed a few things. First, she was a priestess. And she was strong. She stood panting, a dangerous glint in her eyes, looking out warily. And second, out of all of the human girls he had seen, she was by far the most exhilarating. The miko was exquisite, there was no doubt in his mind, and his throat had run dry at the first few seconds.
"I can sense your there. There's no point hiding from me."
Shit.
"Keh."
"The Shikon no Tama will not be taken from me. Is that not what you are after?"
"Never heard of it."
A soft sigh, with a mote of relief was heard. Her cool voice radiated throughout his body, the calm tones fascinating him. How could a human voice be so appealing?
And then…her face turned to him, giving him a full frontal view.
"Then leave. Come close to me and I will kill you."
Her hair was held up loosely, strands curtaining her face, a rich, clear milky complexion. Her brown orbs, though they held ferocious vigor had a slight softness to them, a deep loneliness that was waiting to be touched and it breached itself in the hanyou's heart. A lonely heart so much like his own. Her physique was amazing, even after such a fierce fight; her spirit had not given way. But that was not to be said about her stamina…
The whole forest seemed to watch her fall to her knees, she fell in two distinct motions, as he observed. First, she fell gracefully to her knees. Never had he seen someone die so…beautifully. He had slain countless demons and humans (which he suddenly regretted), and they had always left this world in the most hideous ways possible. But she…
Inuyasha pondered whether to go down and catch her, but in the time of thought, her eyelids had drooped, and in a second motion she plummeted down into a puddle, and the splash brought him out of his musing of holding her. He jumped down from his tree and ran to her. Carefully and cautiously, he lifted her in his red-clad arms. She was so very warm. He wanted to never let her go.
She's some priestess…
Kneeling down he turned her over, letting his eyes drink her in again. The dirt on her face was gently washing away, the true color of her face becoming visible, and he kept in a gasp.
She was truly a beauty to behold.
"There are confessable agonies, sufferings of which one can positively be proud. Of bereavement, of parting, of the sense of sin and the fear of death the poets have eloquently spoken. They command the world's sympathy. But there are also discreditable anguishes, no less excruciating than the others, but of which the sufferer dare not, cannot speak. The anguish of thwarted desire, for example."
There is one pain I often feel, which you will never know. It is caused by the absence of you.
"So you're the one who was hiding in the shadows the other night."
He wanted to tell her how beautiful he thought she was, cover her in warm flattery. He was trying to confuse himself. But, he already knew, hints of awareness coming in from the back of his mind. Inuyasha would still try and tell himself that he only wanted the power. But such was now not true. He wanted to say it was the jewel that drew him to her. The jewel. The power.
"Tell me, why didn't you attack me?" she notched an arrow. He winced. Had heard stories of her power; that her strength rivaled that of his brother. Inuyasha would like to see a battle between her and his brother. He wondered who would win.
"'Cause I don't play dirty."
An amused look fleeted across her face. He wanted to make her smile. Cursing himself, he banished the thought from his mind. Unsuccessfully.
"I see."
He growled, "Give me the jewel!"
Her smile faded. His spirit broke. Arrow. Tree. Miko. Hanyou. Pinned. Same story. Nothing new.
It continued on for a few days. He had even shown some more integrity by allowing her to shoo Kaede to safety while present.
What would it take? For things to be quiet?
Quiet like the snow.
"Stop coming after the jewel, hanyou."
"Don't call me that, you bitch!" he tried to wiggle, the arrows gave no way.
Kikyou frowned, "Then tell me your name, and I shall never call you hanyou again."
He seemed to consider this for minute then switching gears.
"Why do you never finish me off?" he screamed in rage.
Kikyou flinched. She really didn't know. Was it the pain in his eyes? He was an outsider. He belonged nowhere. The jewel was the only thing… She turned.
"I have no wish to waste my arrows. I say it once more hanyou. Stop coming after me."
Inuyasha couldn't do that, as he found out later. He was already, undeniably and irreversibly – addicted.
"Inuyasha!" he blurted. Kikyou stopped, quarter turning, to glance at him slightly, "My name is Inuyasha."
She turned.
"I'll remember that…Inuyasha."
Inuyasha. She liked that.
Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get, it's what you are expected to give — which is everything.
"Kikyou. Give me the sacred jewel!"
A series of short snaps and twangs, and he was up against the tree again. Inuyasha glared at his, a primitive growl sounding from his throat. She really wished he wouldn't aim such guttural noises at her.
"Bitch!"
She frowned, "There's no need for that. It's you who keeps coming after the jewel. I should be the one shouting curses." she pointed out.
Inuyasha had never heard her curse. It just seemed … beyond her. She was so unalloyed and untainted. As close to purity as you could get in a human being.
"Stop shooting me with your damn arrows!" he really hated her frown, but this was his façade, just as she hid behind hers.
"Stop coming here." she retorted coolly.
"It ain't me! It's hard not to find you! That stinky demon scent on you is the easiest scent to find!" well…the statement was partially true…in face, more than anything, the hanyou found her scent to be alluring.
Kikyou looked at him strangely, and frowned.
The scent on me, huh?
Wherever you go, go with all your heart.
Kaede had always known her sister to be cool and collected. Everything she wanted to be. She could still remember the day when the demon slayers arrived. The rain poured down from the black gourd of the sky, there footsteps had a playful splash to them. And the light from the jewel drew her to it.
The Shikon no Tama. Kikyo had told her the story. A tragic tale, of the priestess Midoriko. She had spent her life, battling demons, they kept coming. It must have been terrible. To never stop fighting. The more she thought of it, the more Kikyou seemed to be like Midoriko. Incredibly strong, unparalled beauty (yet with never to chance to be loved), kind, calm, perfect but always fighting. Kaede did not want that for her older sister. She wanted her to have a life of happiness and not of blood.
Kaede watched her dream slowly come into reality, though in the beginning she really didn't know why and when.
"Sister Kikyou?"
"I'm going for a bath, Kaede. Stay here, I shall take you for one tomorrow."
"A bath?" Kaede found that a bit odd.
"Well, I am a priestess, it's important that I stay clean." she spoke, "And some demons have a very strong sense of smell."
"Oh."
Some demons…it must be, that silver haired young man that approached her. She thought he was okay. Yet, still she wondered why he was not killed…
Another day found her and the hanyou in the forest. He was resting up upon a tree, the leaves playing their rhythms all around him. She had to admit, he was a peaceful site, though the green and red did not make much of a lovely contrast. Her quiver was around her waist, and she made no motion to remove it to shoot. An odd peace. Strange.
"Inuyasha."
"What? I ain't doing anything!"
The miko donned a surprised yet amused expression. He scratched his nose, opening an eye to glance down at her in an irritable fashion.
"Not going to try and take the jewel today?"
Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and jumped down, "Is that a challenge?"
Kikyo frowned and didn't back down at all, "Not at all. It just seems…unlike you."
"Keh." he folded his arms up and closed his eyes in a sense of pride, jumping back into his tree then making no motion to move.
She found herself enjoying his presence, and simply gazed up at the sky. He's changing, she mused. Changing for the better.
Kikyou noticed his heated gaze and though it made her uncomfortable at times, it made her feel…wanted. Not some angel sent to destroy, but a young woman to desire. Everywhere she went, he went. She didn't mind, though it unnerved her slightly when she went to bathe. It was a bit reassuring, she felt a bit pretty, like the other women her age. Kikyou had learned to ignore his aura as a threat, and rather perceive it as something that was always there, like how the sun always accompanied the stars (though they rarely got the chance to meet each other). It was relaxing, as she got used to it, to let her guard down. For as he had proved before, he would let nothing happen to her or Kaede.
"Sister Kikyo!" Kaede huffed, running towards her.
"Inuyasha, he-" Kikyo tensed, should she have kill-"he saved me!"
"What?" she blinked.
Kaede nodded, "Mistress Centipede, she came up from the well, she was going to capture me, but Inuyasha saved me. He said he was only looking out for the jewel but I think that's a lie."
Kaede watched her older sister's eyes light up.
"Is that so? That's something he would say."
There is dignity in suffering; nobility in pain; but failure is a salted wound, that burns and burns again!
The sakura blossoms left its tree to float down. Kikyou couldn't help but smile.
The sunset was coming down on the waking world. Blooming like a flower, were rivets of light, orange hues, red, yellow…and amber. Amberish gold. They complimented his skin nicely, she concluded.
Never in my 18 years of living (if one could call the blind duty so much) had I seen such golden eyes. Even as the sun embraced the world the hues could not compare to the depths I saw.
Inuyasha gave me a light the Shikon no Tama could never bless me with. I am strapped down by the chains of duty, the cold cruel metal pressing against my skin. He is the warm liquid fire that douses the pain. Its strange that I think such thoughts. The few weords we had exchanged were as enemies and not as friends.
His eyes grew softer, at I at the small differences I notice scowl. Should a priestess notice the minute ocular differences in an enemy? At this point I concluded it was not normal at all, but normall…I have long since crossed that line.
Inuyasha had a certain pride about him, when he walked, it seemed to shake the earth. He had a charisma about him. It seemed to draw me towards him. When we were in the hit, Kaede told me her thoughts. Compared to the other man in the cave, she told me Inuyasha was very cute.
"I think he's a nice guy, sister. He's just…"
"Volatile?" I offered.
"Volatile. A little volatile. He's a nice addition."
Later I would wonder, a nice addition to my life? That was certainlty true. A nice addition indeed.
It had been a week since his last 'attack' on her to retrieve the jewel, and the peaceful hanyou lay sleeping, no longer disturbed by her aura and scent.
She had been granted the sight of him in the morning for a few days now. He was a handsome man, though she would never admit. She found him quite appealing.
His hair was rough and wild, but she enjoyed it swaying in the wind, and the two locks in the front were rather cute. But if they were cute, then his ears…she wondered if maybe one day he would let her touch the appendage. She could imagine the silky velvet under her cool fingers. Kikyou shared these thoughts with no one, lest her 'tainted nature' be exposed to the villagers who idealized her. But not the hanyou. Inuyasha was refreshing. A warm, amber breath on winter's day of duty.
What passion restrained, like a love kept secret and silent.
I found it harder every day to not look out for her, not dream of her voice, and her scent. No, she wasn't a drug. She was Kikyou, and she was beautiful.
Kikyou was kinder than I thought, but I suppose from my point of view as the demon, she might have appeared a bit crude. She really was kind, she was wise for her age, and she loved to tell the children things. On occasion, she would just be walking through the forest floor, and she would just stop. And it was simple things like this that really entranced me. Kikyo would just stop and listen. She would listen to the heartbeat of the world, and the rhythm of life, and while she watched, I learned from her. Life was simple. Simplicity was pure and good. And that's what she was.
Her eyes were this deep sea of brown. I could have sworn I saw bright stars crashing in there depths, but I really hadn't gotten the chance to stare at her very often. I think she noticed me watching her. I really don't think she minded though. She wouldn't say anything. Another thing I liked about her. Kikyou let me be.
On warm days, where the road was sunburned and the grass threatened racing deer to shrivel up and turn unedible, she would tie her hair up. Two locks in the front always loosened themselves in the front of her, and a simple loop in the back. Pulling he hair up, it seemed like she was gathering the material that feminine splendor was comprised of. And when it was cold, and the air wanted to freeze and the sky, but they held it in, when it was cold she would let it down. River of silks dreamed down her back, she looked so much more mature. I thought her hair was one the parts I liked about her the best.
I really shouldn't harbor such thoughts for her. But to whisk them away would be torture. The jewel seemed insignicant, though the lingering thoughts of power launched itself in my mind, afflicting me, asking me, questions after questions. I had to accept a few things. I could not get the jewel from her. She was too powerful. I was intoxicated by her presence, and I could tell. I was falling. Falling very hard.
I really couldn't help it all. The rare instances that pulled me down harder, was when she smiled. She didn't smile with her eyes, like I liked her too. It was alluring nonetheless. Her smile woke the world, it was sad, and it tugged at my heartstrings.
Kikyou's smile touched the four corners of the earth, the world which was too tainted for her purity to remain.
A.N:
Alright guys, I am currently looking for a beta reader…so if anyone wants to give it a shot, drop a review. And even if you don't wanna, drop a review anyhow. The next chapter shall be Friendship, may or may not be romantic fluff, not sure yet. I'm gonna try to keep at 3,000 words. I was planning on doing 4 chapters, but I don't wanna stick to DITS too much, so we'll see I guess. As for how its going to end…my muse ell decide. Somehow. It looks like things are going to end normally though. Thanks for reading, R and R! Reviews very much appreciated.