I don't own Inuyasha, only the villagers and that witch are the creations of my own mind XD
This is based on my previous story 'Settlement'. It's not necessary to read it first, but I will be glad if you will, it's just one chapter so it won't take you long. This is not sequel, but the stories are connected.
Chapter 01 - The Curse
6 years ago
"Lord Sesshoumaru! Are you sure it's safe to go to that forest?" Jaken bothered me with this question all day, so I ignored him and continued in my way. Said forest was now right in front of us.
'Forest of Nightmares.' I thought to myself. It's said, no one ever returned from here alive. Human or demon, it makes no difference. No wonder Jaken was so scared, but for me, there's no reason to be concerned about it. It's, with no doubt, doing of some demon, which will be no match for me if he will dare to step into my way.
"Lord Sesshoumaru! Please, don't leave me behind." I entered the forest without hesitation, unlike Jaken, who stopped right on the edge and refused to continue. I didn't care if he will follow me or not and soon his crying voice faded away.
After a while of walking I reached some old woman sitting in the middle of the path with her back turned to me.
"Get out of my way." I ordered. At first there was no reaction, but then she chuckled and turned to me.
"I know what your worst nightmare is." She laughed evilly and her voice made me flinch.
"What are you?" I asked. She wasn't a demon, but she wasn't even a human.
"You dared to come into my forest and now you'll pay for it." That voice again. Why does it have such effect on me?
"We'll see." I stated and ripped her apart with my claws. She didn't even try to dodge it and her head, now lying on the ground, started to laugh.
"You cannot kill me only with your claws. I am embodied nightmare and by this you sealed your fate. From now on you will live in your own nightmare." She continued laughing even when the parts of her body started to dissipate and when the last part of her body disappeared and her laugh fell silent a strong light blinded me and a sharp pain running through my whole body knocked me down.
I opened my eyes only to allow another strong light to blind me again. It was just the sunlight and my eyes adapted to it very soon. I wanted to get up, but my body was too heavy. Why am I so numb? And this place, it's so strange. I can't smell anything around me and the noises, they are all so low, like if I was under the water. No, that's not it, it's different.
I managed to sit up and my eyes fell on my hands. But it wasn't my hands, these were human hands. The wind blew a strand of my hair into my sight and my eyes widened in realization and fear. I looked at that black strand of my hair, and then noticed, that even my clothes changed into ordinary human. This can't be true, it must be just a nightmare.
"Nightmare." I whispered and recalled what that woman told me. 'From now on you will live in your own nightmare.' I closed my eyes and tried to convince myself that this is not real, but my senses told me the opposite. I sighed and stood up. I had a dry throat so I set out to the near pool.
The reflection on the surface made me stiffen for a second and I had to calm myself down by taking a deep breath, before I was able to get water in my hands and drink. I sat on the ground again and leaned against the stone.
I was aimlessly walking through the forest. It was already two days since I became human. How I hate only to think about it. I leaned against the tree. My body was so weak. I didn't eat anything from that day and I didn't get much sleep either. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about how hungry and tired I was.
"Hey man, are you alright?" I heard a male voice. I didn't pay much attention to him, until I noticed him stand right next to me. I opened my eyes and looked at the man in front of me. He seemed to be just an ordinary villager.
"Did you get lost?" He asked. I didn't take the trouble to answer him and started to walk again.
"Where do you think you're going? There's nothing in that direction." He stepped in front of me and made me stop. I sighed. He's right, I have no idea where am I going. This forest looks still the same, no matter where I go.
"Let me take you to our village. It's this way, not far from here." He pointed in the opposite direction than the way I just wanted to go. Am I really going to accept help from human? It probably can't be helped. I can't even tell which direction I should go and if I will stay like this, I would have to find some place where to stay anyway.
"Well, I won't force you if you don't want to come, but I guess you must be hungry and our women are great cooks." He stated unconcernedly and set out in the direction of the village. He went slowly, as if to allow me to catch up with him and I had to admit, that he is really good in convincing the others to do what he wants.
I followed him keeping a short distance between us. He didn't say or do anything, but I noticed that he smiled, when he confirmed that I am walking behind him. Soon we reached the edge of the forest where he stopped and waited for me to catch up with him. I didn't stop beside him, as he probably expected and instead continued walking without a pause. I knew he smiled again and the rest of the way to the village we went side by side.
"Akihiro, you're back!" A few women who noticed our arrival came running towards the man, who brought me here.
"Who is he?" One of them asked pointing at me.
"I don't know." He shrugged. "He probably got lost in the forest and I found him there a while ago, though he didn't say a word all the time." The women now gathered around me.
"Poor guy, he looks so enervated." One of them said and before I could even figure out, which one it was, another one grabbed my arm and dragged me somewhere.
"You must be hungry, but you're lucky, we just finished cooking." She smiled at me and soon we entered one of the huts. What's wrong with these people. They don't know me and still, they're doing their best to help me.
"Don't be shy, you can eat as much as you want." She put a bowl in front of me and when I didn't move, she continued. "But if you don't like my presence, I can leave." She suggested and without waiting for my answer, she smiled and left.
These people are really strange. I took the bowl and started to eat. It didn't taste bad at all, but it only made me feel worse, because it proved that I am really just a human now. I finished eating, laid on the ground and closed my eyes. I didn't expect to fall asleep, but to my surprise, I did.
"Look, he's sleeping." A woman voice woke me up. She tried to whisper but for some reason she was so excited that her voice would have awakened the dead. Why is she so excited anyway? Did she never see anyone sleeping?
"That's a good sign. Let's go, so we won't wake him up." The man, Akihiro I guess, said. I heard silent rustling and then everyone was gone. 'Too late.' I thought to myself and sit up. I felt much better now, but not only better. I felt stronger, not as strong as I am used to be, but much stronger than the last three days. Was this only temporary? Could it be, that my powers are returning?
I sneaked out from the hut and from the village. I knew they would have tried to stop me, so I didn't want them to notice me. I stood on the edge of the forest and watched the village. The noises and scents started to returning to me and soon I was back to my normal self.
"Now you are going to pay for these three days, witch." I growled and set out in the direction of the Forest of Nightmares. I reached that place in no time and saw Jaken who slept leaning against the tree. He must have sensed my presence, because he woke up and his eyes filled with tears.
"Lord Sesshoumaru! You are alive! I thought you was dead! Please, forgive me my doubts! I wanted to follow you, but I was so scared! Shall we leave this horrible place now?" Jaken cried running around me fiercely.
"That's enough Jaken! Wait here!" I ordered and headed in the forest again. Now I won't let that witch to fool me again.
"Lord Sesshoumaru! Please, don't leave me here alone again! You were gone for three whole days! Please, don't go in!" He cried again.
"Stay here. I'll be right back." I tried to convince not only Jaken, but even myself. That witch sure is dangerous. To think that she made me suffer from human weaknesses for three days. Unforgivable.
I met that woman on the very same spot as before. I stopped a few steps from her and waited for her reaction. I knew she will notice me soon enough.
"It's you again!" She turned to me with anger in her eyes. "You should be dead right now." She stated firmly and I smiled.
"I am not going to waste my time with a mere puppet like you again." I went around it and continued on my way. As I expected, it can't move from it's spot. Another puppet appeared in front of me not long after that.
"Stop right there and return to where you came from, while you can. If you keep going, I will send another curse on you and this time you won't make it alive." She tried to threaten me.
"If you could do so, you wouldn't have wasted your time with these useless efforts to stop me." I said calmly and kept walking. The one, who's controlling these puppets must be somewhere nearby.
I reached a small hut. 'This must be it.' I thought to myself and entered.
"How dare you! No one ever get so far!" The same woman as before yelled at me, but this one was real.
"Your curse isn't working anymore and it seems you can't use it twice at one person." I stated.
"It's impossible, how did you get rid of my curse?" She paused and then smirked. "No, it's still there. You just overpowered it for a while, but once it will gather enough power, it will start to work again." She watched me cautiously and probably guessed my intentions of killing her.
"Even if you kill me, it won't disappear, so now I am your only chance to free you from that curse." She added smugly.
"Are you going to take it off?" I asked unconcernedly, but she responded me only with her evil laugh.
"Then we have nothing to talk about." I ripped her into pieces and left the hut. So this is not the end? Will I become a human again or did she just try to save her life by telling the lie? It seems that only time will show the truth.
"Lord Sesshoumaru, I am so glad you've returned. Are we going to leave now?" Jaken cut into my thoughts.
"Yes, we're leaving." I stated simply and I heard him sigh in relief
A few more words about this story.
At first I only wanted to write the story 'Settlement' in Sesshoumaru POV (this is planned for chapter 3) and add some explanation. But when I started to write this, it was too long for only one chapter and I've got more ideas about what could occur under these conditions (for now, I have ideas for at least 5 more chapters) and I kind of started to enjoy to write in Sesshoumaru POV. But the fact that I enjoy it doesn't mean that it is good, so please let me know what do you think about it. Both criticisms and praises are welcome ;).
One more thing. Don't ask me, why did he go into that forest in the first place. I have no idea, but it isn't important. XD