She must have loved flowers. After all, which small girl did not love the gentle beings?
The dead daisy held tightly in her hand was also another indicator. Brushing aside her dark bangs, she allowed a brief moment for grief's door to open.
An unknown child lost forever to her parents and all who loved her; now lay dead in the dark forest.
She had been walking towards the river for her nightly ritual, cleansing herself of the day's journey. Somehow, this nightly privacy always gave her time to clear her head, for her to really feel without needing to think. To always think about how to feel was awful. Here, she could think with freedom.
Freedom of thought.
Ironic.
Walking along the dark path, the leaves beneath her crunching, she tread carefully, not wanting to trip over something and break her ankle. She could hear Inuyasha's reaction to THAT piece of news.
You're so damn clumsy! Can't you even walk? Kik-
Swallowing that mouthful of hurt, she pushed that thought away. Thoughts on Inuyasha always made her feel like she was rubbing salt into her fresh wound. Her thoughts were cut off brutally when she broke into the clearing.
No, no…
Slowly, a step at time, she approached the small figure. Her knees gave way as she fell in an ungraceful heap on the ground.
She was a very pretty girl.
Dark haired and fair. Freckles covered her cheekbone and her face was also smudged.
Dark blood marred her hands and the dirty daisy she had been carrying. Her kimono was torn and she could see the ravages of the body. Feeling sick, she tucked the kimono in, hiding the gruesome sight of her hanging intestine and gore.
The sick feeling passed and sadness was left in its after wake.
Sadness for this unknown girl hidden far away from her family.
She must have gone to look for flowers or maybe she had been lured here by the spring brook. How long had she been lying here, dead and uncaring?
The ground was hard but she struggled with it, bending it to her will. Kagome Higurashi was no weakling.
Grimly, she dug on, using her bare hands and the stick. When a hole deep enough had been dug, she gently carried the little girl and laid her down inside. In the moonlit night, she could make out the tear streaks.
She must have been so frightened. To suddenly feel the warm gush of your blood and not understanding the creature who broke her. To be left all alone here, in the dark, as you grew weaker and weaker. To wonder "why me?" and never receive enlightenment. To hang on and pray to be saved. To have cried all those useless tears for something you couldn't understand. To be so alone when you were dying.
No one deserved to die all alone, least alone a child. A wandering youkai or a human? Blood lust in human beings were more frightening than in a youkai.
Kneeling by the fresh mound, she placed a small flower there. Placing her palms together, she softly mouthed, "Rest in peace and may your soul find eternal peace…"
Kagome looked back once as she left the clearing, dirt stuck in her nails and smeared on her knees. The grave looked so lonely. One more life gone in this harsh but beautiful world.
And as Kagome turned to walk to the spring, a fleeting thought passed through.
I hope she wasn't scared.
Life was indeed a fleeting dream.