Luna Silvereyes
A Wound Unhealed
Khiinli and Tama both held onto the handlebars within the capsule as they flew through time with the speed of the wind. Tama had his eyes shut tightly and he felt as though he were going to be sick.
" Khiinli! Stop this thing!" he yelled.
" No! We must return to your time and warn everyone of the kikuurama!" she cried.
Finally, just as Tama was beginning to black out, the capsule seemed to slow down. Khiinli sighed and released her hold on the bar. " We have arrived." She declared. Tama shook his head. " I am so dizzy." He moaned. Khiinli shuffled to the hatch and shoved. Tama turned around and helped. Together, they managed to get the hatch open and it swung against the back of the capsule with a bang. Tama scrambled out and flopped down onto the ground, gasping. Khiinli, who possessed more self-composure stepped out and folded her arms. She glanced around amiably while Tama regained himself. He sat up and spat out the grass he'd inhaled. " Okay." He grumbled. " Where the heck are we?"
He turned to look at the capsule. His face froze as he saw that it had completely rusted over, as though it had been victim to the elements for many, many years. Khiinli noticed this. " Time capsules are only useful once and then they are immediately affected by whatever time period they arrive in. In this case, our capsule has been presumably sitting in this grassy plain for many centuries, it seems. We are stuck here, in the past." She said with a sense of triumph in her voice. Tama shot her a look of irritation. " Okay. I'll skip that part. You mentioned that we have to warn everyone of the what's-a-hoosit. How are we supposed to do that?"
" I have set the coordinates to match those of the people I wish to inform. They are within a mile of here."
She started off into the forest at the edge of the plain. Tama jumped up and hurried after her. " But wait! Khiinli! We are just a couple of kids, how are we going to survive out here?" He paused. " Oh no! I'm beginning to talk like you!"
" Tama, I am a failed kikuurama." She said smugly.
" But you said your powers would destroy you."
" I never said I could not use them." She said with a smile. She raised a hand and snapped her fingers. Instantly, the ground around him began to shake and rumble and before he could blink, he was sucked into the earth up to his head in quicksand. Khiinli came over and squatted down beside him. " I am not as weak as I seem. Woe come to those who would mess with us." She said. She turned and continued on. Tama heaved himself out of the earth and hurried after her.
What have I gotten myself into?
Kaede tried her hardest to pry information from the irritated demon as he did his best to ignore her. But his nature was to destroy that which irked him, and he knew that Kaede was far stronger than he was when she wanted to be.
" Sesshomaru, has Saeka said anything yet?" she said again. Sesshomaru faced away from the old priestess. She wouldn't stop badgering him. Since he'd accepted Saeka and the new life he'd been forced to adopt if he wanted her to stay, he'd grown tamer. That and the fact that now, his daughter was missing and his powers were still on the fritz thanks to his icy plunge into the frozen river. This little factoid angered him to no end.
" Sesshomaru. I understand how ye are feeling, but brooding about it isn't going to help. Ye and Saeka have got to end this. Ever since Miharu left, things have only gotten worse. Don't ye want them to get better?"
Sesshomaru turned cold eyes on the old woman. She didn't even flinch. His eyes narrowed and he sighed. " Where did she go?"
" To a stream to get something to drink, I suspect. Ye should follow. Ye have to talk to her and set things straight."
Sesshomaru turned his gaze to the trees above. They were so thick together it was impossible to see the sky. He slowly got to his feet. He started off into the forest to find Saeka. He normally hated taking advice from humans, but the old woman was right. He wanted things to go forward instead of backward, and his constant bickering with Saeka was only making things a lot worse. There were times like this when he wished Rin were still around. She was always so cheerful. She could brighten up a day easily. But she was lost somewhere in time and he'd never see her again.
He vaulted easily onto a fallen tree and stared around him. Her scent was near. She was in the north direction. He hurried forward.
After awhile, the unmistakable sound of a small stream making its way down the mountain to a larger body of water. He followed that sound until he found it. It was a tiny thing, barely larger than a python. But if Saeka were indeed getting a drink, then it would suit that purpose. He began to wander along the bank, keeping his eyes alert for movement.
Suddenly, a gentle sound met his ears, coming from further down. He crept forward and shoved a fern aside. He saw Saeka. She was sitting on the bank of the stream. She was singing softly.
" Ogni notte nei miei sogni, Li vedo. Li ritengo, Quello 'e come so che, accendete. Lotano attraverso, la distanza E spazi fra noi, Siete venuto, mostrarli che accenda."
Sesshomaru didn't understand a word she was saying, but it was mystifying. He didn't know she could sing so well. She still hadn't noticed him. He straightened up and cautiously approached. She whirled around, halting the song. Somehow, he felt saddened that she had. She glared at him. " Oh, it's you." She said icily. He stared down at her. " Saeka, you've been gone a long time. I was—"
" What? Elated? Happy that I was gone?" she snapped.
" –Worried." He concluded. She made a noise of contempt. " Well, bully for you." She snapped back around.
" Are you going to return soon?"
" Yes." She muttered blandly.
Both fell silent. Sesshomaru looked at the river. " What were you singing just now?" he asked.
" You heard that?" Saeka asked with mild surprise. He nodded. " Yes. I don't know what you said, but I didn't know you could sing so well."
She glowered up at him. " There's a lot about me you don't know." She hissed. She turned on her heel and bounded away, leaving Sesshomaru to ponder on what she had just said.
" Saeka." He murmured. He headed back the way he had come, no closer to healing the wounds in his heart than he had been when he started out.
Kaede was the only one awake when Saeka finally returned. They had all been traveling for the length of the day and all were exhausted, even Sesshomaru. But tired as he was, he was the last to fall asleep. Kaede heard Saeka's footsteps in the soft snow and said nothing as the demon girl sat down wearily beside the embers of the dying fire.
" Good evening, Lady Kaede." She murmured.
" Good evening to ye, Saeka." Kaede replied. " Where have ye been?"
" Out and about. Clearing my head and trying to get somewhere."
" With what, may I ask?"
" With me and Sesshomaru." She whispered. She glanced over at her companion. He was sound asleep against a tree. She turned back to Kaede.
" Why are we drifting apart?" she asked. " It seems like not too long ago that I couldn't imagine life without him with me. Now, I'm entertaining thoughts of leaving him."
Kaede nodded and hummed. " It's normal for ye to feel this way. Although I have experienced things of the sort, I have never agreed to a commitment. Even so, I understand." She said. Saeka stared into the glowing ashes. " Kaede, I want to remember that I love him. But, it's just so hard. Ever since we found Miharu, we've been arguing more and more to the point of nearly killing each other. It's only the Tenseiga that saved me from him."
" What do you mean?" Kaede asked with genuine surprise. Saeka sighed and hugged her knees. " When we were fighting on the ice, and his claws were at my throat, I felt like I was truly going to die by the only one who cared about me. That was when I noticed the Tenseiga begin to act funny. It began to glow and that glow moved to the ice. The ice cracked where it had touched. Tenseiga broke the ice to save me from Sesshomaru."
" I have never heard of the sword doing anything like that." Kaede said admirably. " Tenseiga must truly have a mind of its own. It must want to help repair the damage with you and Sesshomaru."
" I hope so." Saeka said, trying to hide the tears in her eyes.
Khiinli and Tama trudged through the vast forest. Khiinli seemed to know exactly where she was going, and for the first few hours or so, Tama believed her. But when they passed the same giant oak tree they had come across a half hour ago, he knew that she was as lost as he was.
" Khiinli, you have no idea where you're going, do you?"
" As a matter of fact, I do not." Khiinli said proudly, as though it were a good thing. Tama groaned. " Come on, Khiinli. I have to rest. I wasn't put through all of those weird experiments like you were." He muttered. Khiinli sighed exasperatedly and sat down. Tama literally fell to the ground and began to doze. Khiinli watched bemusedly. " Ordinary humans are such strange creatures." She whispered as she watched him sleep.
Miharu stared at the target before her. This was just like it had been back at Banodyne, only this time she destroyed the machines simply for the pleasure of it. As the first android came at her, this one more advanced than the robot ever was, she stunned its circuitry with a single well-aimed kick and bounced back. Landing catlike, she summoned the light whip and slashed viciously at the metal framework of the android, slicing bits of metal from the surface of its armor. The android wobbled back and she came at it again, lightning fast, lopping off the metallic head and kicking it across the room. The body of the android slowly fell to the ground and Miharu raised herself to her full height, anticipating the arrival of the next, more powerful opponent.
" Very good, Yaazi. A few more ought to be enough for today." Drasmond's voice came on over the P.A. Miharu had recently learned that the word, Yaazi meant beloved one. In this sense, it was being used to describe the whole of Malsshinyor's feelings for her, the long-awaited kikuurama. She grinned and jabbed at the air with her fist. " Bring them on! I want to perfect my art!" she cried. Drasmond, up in the control booth nodded and pressed a button releasing the next android.
" Try this one." He said.
A larger android, this one equipped with laser stunners approached. She narrowed her eyes and beamed wickedly. " Perfect. It is composed of a complex steel network and cables running to its power source in the heart, which is a 44DC decimal pump with a radial booster." She announced. Drasmond nodded again.
" Yes, Yaazi, you are doing splendidly. That is indeed the type of heart the android has. But why don't you open it up and check to be sure." He said devilishly. She cracked her knuckles and grinned in anticipation. " With pleasure!"
The android opened fire and she easily bounded up and out of the way, only the tips of her silver hair being scathed only slightly by the lasers. She extended her claws and raked their poisonous tips across the back of the android. It began to emit what sounded like screams as she skidded to a halt and came dashing up to slam into the head of the android. Finally, as it came crashing down, she slashed her claws through its chest and ripped out its still throbbing mechanical heart, holding it up to show Drasmond. " The heart of the android is indeed a 44DC Radial Booster!" she exclaimed triumphantly. Drasmond clapped his hands.
" Absolutely brilliant, Yaazi." He said approvingly. " But you still have to unlock your full power. Soon, you'll be battling not only androids, but off-world prisoners as well."
" Hurry up and grade my excellent performance, Milord. I can already feel their blood slick on my claws." She said gleefully.
Meanwhile, Tobias, still in the cells deep within Malsshinyor awaited his fate. He had been sentenced to die at the hands of the kikuurama herself. This was supposed to be a great honor. But he felt betrayed and frightened instead. He and Miharu had been something like friends the day that the Kichiiwa lords came in to fetch her. She had already passed through the stages of transformation and she was beyond help now. She was designed to kill and would live for the feel of blood on her hands, the so-called thrill of stealing the life from a body, the look of fear in the victim's eyes just before she ripped their still-beating hearts right out of their chests. The very thought made him shudder. But his death toll wasn't for several weeks yet, maybe even months until she could unlock her full potential as the Demon of Death.
" Miharu. Don't forget me." He whispered into the darkness. Only his own voice came back to remind him of his bitter loneliness.
A/N: This isn't the last story you realize. There's still two more books after this one. One of those said books is completed and the other is still in completion. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. This book is good I hope. Kinkatia certainly seemed to think so. She's read the whole series already and she's reading the entire thing all over again! But this whole thing was inspired by her stories, so I HIGHLY suggest you read them. Especially my fav's, Sesshomaru's Son and Only For Her. I guarantee you'll adore them.