"In the face of grave defeat I heard cries for mercy.
No barrier of self control, no innocent composure.
Abusing love and like a child inflicting pain upon itself
When the calling finally comes…well there will be no one waiting."
-VNV Nation 'Entropy'
Chapter One: Fractured Compassion
Iridescent sprinkles of diamond dust were scattered across the velvet cobalt horizon, sparkling from beyond a line of dark clouds that were beginning to roll in, thunder reverberating distantly with the approaching storm. Winds flowed balefully through the trees, limbs and leaves snapping as they caught the malign end of nature's bluster. The deplorable weather a minor reflection of the tempest of emotions inside the heart of the young girl running through the woods, completely ignoring the first drops of rain as they mingled with her own bitter tears.
It was the only thing the broken girl could do in the circumstances, the burning in her legs kept her from curling into a ball and wishing she never existed, never found this feudal world that had wounded her spirit.
Her face was amazingly wet for the sprinkling sky, soaked with her tears long before the heavens had begun to spit on her. Mahogany eyes barely open and blurred as she dashed haphazardly, half-crashing as much as running through the lush forests of ancient japan. She could taste blood mixing with the salt on her lips after one of her more painful encounters with a thorn bush, the dozens of small cuts burning as they mixed with the rain and tears surrounding her.
She didn't care. She didn't give a damn about any of it. The fact that she was running further and further from anything she was familiar with, that she would be in danger if she happened into a dangerous area of the woods. She almost hoped that some monster would come and end the pain the shattering of her heart had caused. Whatever pain her body would go though was pale in comparison to the deep gashes her soul was suffering.
Her breath was getting heavier, the constant running and sobbing getting to be hard on her already shocked body. She wasn't about to let something like her lungs screaming for air give a moment's pause in her mad retreat, it was as if the pain was somehow numbed by what she'd been forced to witness.
She needed to run, to do anything to tear her mind from that cruel scene of her first love's body entwining with Kikyo. His lips locked passionately with those of that insufferable creature, something that she had been cursed by being born a reincarnation of…the way he had curled his arm protectively around her…an embrace that she would never again share…
"He never even moved to chase after me…"
She closed her eyes to push out more tears, shaking her head as she continued to push herself as hard as she could, half-sobbing between strained gasps of air. If she blacked out, at least it would be a temporary reprieve from the anguish of her lost love. She ignored the stitch in her side, the flames in her lungs, the needles in her thighs knees and ankles, she'd lost both shoes sometime back but they weren't important enough to slow down for.
She fought the weaknesses and pain in her body as best as she possibly could. Kagome just knew she needed to run, to get as far away as possible from that boy and his betrayal. Escaping the only way she could from the cruel situation.
The cliff came much too quickly for the devastated girl to realize, the sudden sensation of freefalling after her long flight from the village had left her without even the breath with which to scream as she fell into a dark oblivion below her.
She closed her eyes, somehow it was the reprieve she'd been praying for. Even if she had to go out of the world unheard…it wasn't a world she wanted to be a part of anymore…not without Inuyasha…
ooooo ooooo ooooo ooooo ooooo ooooo ooooo
It would have already been dark with the new moon not offering any light, with the extra clouds from the passing storm it was almost black in the rural area of the forest. A high pitched grumbling coming from the tiny imp trying to find his way along the poorly lit floor while his young ward crept along behind him, looking around curiously when she wasn't watching him hop up and down from stubbing a toe or muffling a giggle when he started to whine about babysitting her.
"Rin…don't wander off!" He immediately ordered when he felt her let go of his robes. "You troublesome girl, you'll get lost in the dark like this if you get too far. Don't waste lord Sesshomaru's time just wandering around."
He seemed accustomed to being irritated at the child with him and unlikely to be anything else for some time. His complaints were interrupted by broken curses as he tripped over a root sticking a few inches from the ground and landed in a tangle of vines. His animated struggles and the fit of rage that followed only seemed to further his entanglement, the light innocent laughter of Rin only mocking the poor position he'd ended up in.
"Do you need help getting free Master Jaken?" Her cheery voice was never far below her bubbly surface, not realizing how the offer would be taken.
"I don't need help from the likes of you." Jaken snapped back irritably, concentrating so the staff of two heads would open and the fire would curl into vines, getting him free but making him squeak when it caught on his robes as well.
The imp rolled around the ground in the wet grass to put himself out, stopping and jumping up still smoking when he heard Rin let out a frightened squeal…putting himself between her and where she was staring wide-eyed.
"It's Kagome…" the girl barely spoke in a whisper as she continued to gape over her small guardian's shoulder. "…is she okay Master Jaken?"
"No. She looks like she's dead." Jaken replied heartlessly, poking the tangled broken body of Inuyasha's priestess with his staff.
The gasp of the child was followed shortly by a slam on the imp's head. Sesshomaru standing behind the pair as he joined the two near the scene, golden eyes taking in just how heavily damaged the priestess was.
One of her legs was obviously broken and likely more than once, settled in ways it shouldn't be able to bend with the vines tangled around it and her body, holding her up from the ground. Her arms were both bent behind her so far that it was immediately noticeable that both were dislocated and one was curled so far around her body that it likely had several complex fractures of it's own. She had blood along her whole body from where part of one of the branches that broke her fall had pierced deeply into her left side, one of her ribs was showing and blood had exploded from the injury, still bleeding a little though it had slowed considerably from the initial pour. Dozens of other cuts and bruises covered her whole body and the right side of her face was so heavily bruised it would be a wonder if her brain had survived such a massive impact fully intact. The fact that her breath was coming - even shallowly - was a miracle, even Lord Sesshomaru had a twinge of pity for the amount of pain she would be in once she woke in such a state.
"She's still breathing!" Rin announced, relief flooding her voice once she noticed that. "She's alive, we need to get her help…without a doctor she might die!"
"Rin, Lord Sesshomaru has better things to do than come to the aid of some wench of that half-breed." Jaken frowned at her assumption that his great lord would lift a finger to aid the human. He always knew that protecting Rin was a little strange but she really needed to learn better manners if she planned to survive being close to demon society.
"Jaken." The single word from his lord shut the imps mouth before he could continue his chiding of the young girl.
The dog demon almost seemed to radiate his own gentle light, a trick because of his white garments and silvered hair but something that only added a mysterious attraction to his already grand stature. The fluff that was his tail curled and flowed in the gentle winds that were now blowing, swaying in unison to the soft ebon hair of the upside down and still unconscious Kagome. Amber eyes staring at the woman as he mentally catalogued the many injuries she had incurred. She smelled so heavily of blood that any other aroma's were being lost in the almost overpowering coppery scent. He stared for a time without expression before he turned to walk away.
"Lord Sesshomaru?!" Rin called after him in childish protest. "We need to help her! We can't just leave her here. She'll die!"
He resisted the initial urge to sigh and paused in his steps, though didn't turn to glance back.
Just what was Inuyasha's female doing here in such a state? Did she get separated from the rest of his group and they were simply unaware of her invalid state. He glanced upward to where she had to have fallen from, having to admit that the fact that she was alive at all was impressive for a mortal. He didn't need anymore difficulties but she'd offered him aid during the final battle with Naraku. He knew he didn't really owe her anything but that he would never hear the end of it from Rin if he did leave her.
For his ward's piece of mind if nothing else he could carry her back to his estate and have a servant tend to the many wounds. If she didn't survive then at least his young ward wouldn't constantly remind him of his failure to attempt.
His mind made up the girl was cut down by a swift series of slashes, the indifferent demon lord allowing her body to settle on his shoulder, ignoring the blood staining the white silk of his kimono. Her eyes were still swollen from tears he managed to scent only after he'd taken her so close, the salty aroma lost amidst the copper scent from the blood. It added to some small curiosity of how she'd ended there without her companions looking for her…he didn't scent anyone else nearby, though he would have the chance to ask later if the desire so touched him.
She was still unconscious for the moment, though it likely would be a shock if she woke up to the wounds she had and Sesshomaru carrying her. Though with Rin there staring at him he could lower himself to the simple act of transferring her back to his home and assigning a healer to look after her.
"But…Lord…she's just a human…Inuyasha's little…" Jakens surprised protest was cut off when a single golden glance instantly silenced him. The imp still staring in annoyed disbelief of what he was watching but too afraid to invoke his lord's wrath. Though that didn't stop him from worrying that at this rate he would end up being babysitter to a second girl if she didn't die.
"See…told you Lord Sesshomaru wouldn't just leave her." Rin proclaimed proudly to Jaken, standing up straighter and sticking her tongue out at him. "You don't know him at all."
"Why you…" Jaken started to retort but then had to jump up and grab onto Sesshomaru's long tail as he took off into the sky, floating on a cloud that flowed into existence beneath him and Rin at his will. The vexed imp hanging on for dear life as they sped through the air toward the west.
End Chapter
Author Notes: For those reading this that are unaware, this is going to end up being a different version of my fiction Shattered. It is starting in much the same way because there will be a point where it varies from the original story and I thought it a good chance to work on some of my existing descriptions. This will be a fiction with Kagome and an Original Character (Rimida), though there may be hints of Sesshomaru/Kagome at times.
I think I write better when I'm sad. Which is a sad thought!
-Aura
P.S. Thanks to all the support I had to begin this with the intention of finally bringing Kagome and Rimida together after my previous fiction. All my reviewers from there really helped me finally decide to work on this one.
