Chapter 1: Where You Belong
With one condemning slice, Naraku's thorny arm plunged into her right shoulder. The sound of pottery shattering splintered through the air. It was all over. It was all over.
Kikyo felt her body falling, falling... Images flashed through her mind. Inuyasha. Why should memories from her life resurface when all she lived for was death? Why couldn't she ever move on?
So Naraku sent her off again? An indiscernible smile slipped across her lips. She closed her eyes. Finally the miasma engulfed her with a faint splash. The bubbling magenta river foamed about her body, disintegrating it. With the last of her spiritual energy, she expelled the remaining souls in her body.
She felt sorry to leave. She meant to at least take Naraku with her before she died again. She had left Inuyasha and his friends with a nearly impossible task. Kikyo hoped the village children would be alright. She had left them so quickly. There was never enough time.
Something touched her arm. Kikyo's eyes popped open. The water was cold and dark. She could feel again. Something bumped into her side. Kikyo tried to swim, but her arms tangled into a large mass of somethings.
Kikyo was surprised when an overwhelming urge to breath squeezed inside her chest. She inhaled despite her will and chocked on the putrid water. She struggled and shoved her way through the mass of cold entangled parts about her.
She broke surface and opened her eyes. She gasped for air and coughed at the smell and taste of sulfur. The sky was a hazy carmine red. The water around her was a cloudy black. And in the water all around her, floated countless bodies. Their sallow faces and milky eyes evoked a deep nausea in Kikyo. Their ivory bodies were naked and bumped sickly against each other in the soft current like trillions of drowned people just bobbing in their watery grave like buoys. Kikyo grit her teeth and fought her way through the corpse infested water to the shore.
She stood to her full height on the rocky beach. The sand and rocks were stained vermillion. A volcanic hot wind scorched her bare flesh and rippled through her long midnight locks. Standing there naked, on the forefront of the end of the world, she could only blankly stare at the miles of shoreline to the east and west of her. Hundreds of people staggered to the shore. Each stumbled onto the beach by themselves. Large gaps of nothing separated all of them. Some scrambled up the treacherous rock bank, while others slowly hauled themselves up. She alone stood there, bare and unafraid, and marveled at the sheer mass of it all.
The river behind her was more of an ocean. It stretched as far as the eye could see, but it was most definitely a river. For their were oceans here too; she had seen them...
Kikyo ascended the shore, scraping and cutting her hands and feet on jagged rocks as she went. Her body bled again. At the top of the shore, an immense desert rolled out in front of her. The large flat vermillion plain seemed to blend in with the horizon that only differed in color by a shade of red. The skyline at the horizon rumbled and thundered in a great storm. Her face remained apathetic as her feet padded lightly against the baking red earth into eternity.
Kikyo ignored the ache in her stomach as she grew hungry for the first time in months. She needed to find food, clothes, and shelter. After walking for miles upon miles, the land dropped off before her. She stopped before falling into the giant canyon. Just below were villages that scooted along the edge of the drop off. Kikyo carefully crept down the rock face. The worst thing about a fall here would be that she would live through it. Kikyo managed to climb down to a ledge, but the rest was a completely flat steep drop.
Thunder cracked overhead and Kikyo hesitantly looked up. The storm from the horizon loomed above her. Kikyo grimaced and started down the impossible cliff. She clung to the side and then with an agonizing slip, her fingernails scraped over the smooth rock face. She lost all grip of the wall and fell. Her dark hair flew above her in the air and the air flowed over her from beneath. Her hands and fingers dug into the smooth rock next to her, but she only scraped her hands worse.
A sick crumple and Kikyo hit the floor. She felt her right leg twist painfully and left elbow jam. Her hip cracked and her head slammed against the ground. Her body bruised a deep blue black and she shakily tried to get up. The fall was about seventy feet, but it could have been worse. Kikyo tried to focus on getting to the nearby village. The pain fired up her legs and erupted in her head, but she knew if she stalled, the rain would come.
Even though Kikyo had left hell for an extended time, she could scarce forget the horrors. This rain, would melt the flesh right off a person. It was acid rain in every sense. Unable to stand, Kikyo started dragging her body toward the village with her arms. Exhausted and starved, she somehow managed to pull herself inside an old shack just as the rain began to shower the dusty ground.
Inside sat a man, a demon. He had beautiful green eyes and long flowing yellow hair. He did nothing as she entered and settled herself on a mat. Kikyo pulled her knees to her face as she sat and contemplated where she would go next.
"Do you have any clothes I could use?" she mumbled to him, though she kept her eyes straight forward and did not look at him.
"A priestess..." he commented with a calm and smooth baritone voice, "I think these will fit you very nicely" He held priestess robes, the exact type Kikyo normally wore. Her eyes slowly turned to look at him and scrutinize his offering. He was obviously a very powerful demon. He had the ability to conjure items at will and sense a wide range of powers.
Kikyo relinquished an arm to accept the clothes. He did not move. His clear eyes just stared intently at her as she withdrew the items.
"Thank you," she said quietly. She slipped them on soundlessly and then inspected her wounds. After doing her best to take care of them she rested her head. The strange demon offered her food and drink which she accepted. Her dry mouth gratefully finished off the water and the food wasn't bad either. Though she was skeptical of the demon and suspected he would try something eventually, she ignored him for the time being.
The night went by slowly, but she never felt his eyes leave her. She desperately needed the rest. When she awoke, she was surprised to notice her wounds healed. He must have done it. Yet more suspicion built up inside of her. However, she didn't let it show outwardly.
Kikyo stood up and thanked him earnestly for his help. She bowed and went out. She knew he was watching her, even as she left the hut. She could feel his presence.
As she passed the other villages on her way down the canyon she heard villagers whisper to each other.
"We have to get out of here. I heard he's coming tonight"
"You mean the great dog?"
"Yes, the beast was sighted near here."
"Yes, he must be nearby. Look at all the strange travelers who have passed by just recently."
Just then a crowd of screams erupted behind her. Kikyo swerved around to see a great demon burst out of the red earth. It was a great colorless worm. It had a giant shiny oval head, jagged mandible, six small pointed digits, and a large grubby body. Kikyo turned on her heels and ran with the crowd down the canyon. The worm would be too big for her. With all these people running about her, it was likely that she wouldn't be able to purify him properly.
A push from behind and Kikyo fell forward and began to tumble down the path into the canyon. As she hit a wall, she finally came to stop. The worm suddenly broke through the ground before her and hurled down at her. Kikyo threw up her arms and expelled a great deal of power. The worm's body reduced to smoke and it's outlines slowly drifted away with the breeze. Kikyo pulled herself up, breathing heavily. She couldn't afford to keep doing that.
Kikyo continued down the path, phased. Something was happening just ahead. A congregation of demons and humans milled about. An occasional explosion suggested some sort of battle was taking place. Whatever it was, she knew she couldn't avoid it. She needed to pass through here if she'd have any chance at reaching safer ground.
Suddenly an enormous cat demon shot out of the canyon and swiped its claws at her. Kikyo flew into the wall behind her with a painful smack. She scurried to her feet, but she could see it would be too late.
"Ha ha ha! Just try it, priestess! You're so funny when you are confused."
"Who are you?" Kikyo glared at him.
"The great panther demon" he smiled. "I knew you would be more amusing than the others."
"You were planning this all a long, from the moment you let me stay in your dwelling."
"If you can call that planning," he laughed. With that his razor claws ripped her chest open. Her kimono ripped and blood spirted out. Kikyo fell to the burning ground, gritting her teeth in pain. She rolled herself to the side to help prevent further attack.
"Gotchya!" A feminine voice rang out as a swirl of slicing swords whipped through the air. A flash shot through the air across the panther demon's throat and chest. His eyes bugged as he grasped his chest, only instead his body fell backwards into the canyon in two pieces.
Out from the side a feminine man with short, drawn up hair, a sword draped over his shoulder, and a lavender kimono emerged and stood at the edge where the demon had fallen off. He smiled innocently and then turned back around. His face immediately dropped as he beheld Kikyo.
"Oh, no way!" his voice rang with fear and disbelief. "It's that scary dead priestess again!" He ran off like a shot down into the canyon. Kikyo pulled herself up, confused. That man had just fled from her. Did he know her? Should she know him?
Author's Note: Hey everybody! Hope you like it so far. Please review. I love feedback. Thanks!
Also, I don't own Inuyasha.