Kitsunu's Stage: Chapter 1
The scent of her half demon blood soaked the air around her, the smell sickening even to herself. Her face was of great beauty but currently portrayed her twisted agony as she leaned against the base of a large old tree. Blood stained the soil around her along with her black cloak, where the wound was becoming worse. Her side was torn open revealing a huge gash that looked as though she had nearly been impaled. Her cloak was clipped with a small medal at her neck, and the clips continued all the way down to her waist where the cloak parted revealing her black and gray pants and black combat boots. A belt was tied around her waist containing assorted items, including a holster for a blade, which was attached around her thigh with a piece of leather. She carefully covered the wound trying to stop the increasing blood flow. She was currently wearing long white gloves, which were stained heavily with her dark blood. Her face was lightly flushed as the poison slowly spread from the mouth of the wound. Her midnight black hair remained still; it was knee length and silk-like as it was positioned in an odd style, one very similar to Sailor Moon's. Her faintly red demon-like eyes scanned her surroundings intensely. If she was found now, her chances of victory were slim. She knew a mere human would have died hours ago, and although she was indeed born a human, she was no longer classified as one.
"Damn you Naraku, this poison is sure to stay with me, and this wound," she thought as the blood flow started to cease lightly. She knew in the morning she would be able to travel again, if she took many precautions. The pain and the overriding scent of her own blood dulled her senses. With the sun now gone from the horizon and the moon vividly shinning down on her, as she winced again. She had experienced worse pains before, but this poison was making it hard to breathe. She shut her eyes tightly as she straightened up against the tree's base "This is scent is making me sick." She thought her demon senses unable to sense anything other then the stench of her own blood. Her already naturally pale and frail skin was slightly less colored. "I can't fall unconscious," she thought, still gripping her side. She then let go for a second as she ripped the sleeve of her cloak off and pressed it to the wound as the blood flow slowed to a trickle. She had remembered it clearly as her vision began to haze. She had been attacked by no other then the wind sorceresses Kagura, a minion of Naraku's. Similar to Kagura, this girl who appeared to be no older than 18, was an experienced sorceresses, but she had been attacked without warning and now, she regretted it greatly.
A monk wandered through the forest that night; he had been awakened with a start from the most realistic dream, and the ominous presence of Naraku himself. His jet-black hair was short and pulled into a very small ponytail; his bangs ended just before his brows. He wore a stern expression over his handsome yet serious face. He, like any other monk, wore the monk's cloth, a black kimono robe, with a dark purple slash tied at the chest and extending down to his ankles. He held tightly in hand a golden staff, a defensive weapon to which he had become accustomed. His name was Miroku; he constantly traveled with a group of people who, like himself, hated Naraku beyond any other. He continued on his way he sensing a minor evil in the area. He continued in that direction. The girl who had been in his dream had been extremely beautiful, but he was sure he had never seen her before. Perhaps a trap laid by Naraku to lure him away, but in his dream the girl was near dying, and this is what kept him going. The rest of the gang had gone their separate ways until Kagome had returned from her era. She supposedly lived in the 'present' day Japan, where as they lived in the Feudal era. He continued as he heard a faint noise. The wind rustled through the trees and bushes creating an eerie silence as he stopped walking and looked in the direction from which the small sound had come from. He was sure he had heard it and sped up in that direction as he then came upon the blood stained ground and looked up in the clearing. There leaning up against a huge tree was a maiden, the exact one from his dream. He had only gotten glimpses of her, but he was sure of it, it was her. Her eyes were closed as she flinched slightly and reopened them, a golden glow emanating from them. She saw him, such a monk, she had never seen before. She pulled out her dagger with much struggling; she appeared so weak she could barely even lift her dagger.
" Name yourself." She said, firmly breaking the silence, but the pain of her wound had escaped in her voice, and she breathed deeply never taking her eyes off him, scanning him several times. Miroku gazed down upon her and replied,
" My Lady, please I am known as Miroku, and I would cause no harm to such a beautiful maiden as yourself…I only wish to help." he cautiously took a few steps closer cautiously and knelt at her side. She gazed up at him, usually she never trusted a soul, but it was something in his eyes that had trapped her into trusting him. She had never felt that way about any mortal, or demon, for that matter. His charming smile had calmed her down as she sheathed her dagger with much hesitation. " My, my, these wounds are serious, I must ask that you allow me to carry you back to the village where I've been staying at. There's a priestess there who can take care of these wounds for you. But for now…" He said his voice trailing. He took off the top section of his purple slash and ripped a good part of it off and carefully wrapped it around her abdomen stopping the blood flow the best he could for now. She nodded she would have blushed, but her face was already so flushed from the poison she was still experiencing. No one in this era had ever offered a helping hand to her, nor had they seen anything more in her than her almost demon-like eyes, he seemed to not mind, or notice.
He slowly lifted her up in both of his strong arms. He did this with such care that he caused none of her wounds any more pain, and the poison did not spread from its current location. She became comfortable in his arms receiving his warmth as she was held into his body. She closed her eyes feeling safe. She had never once trusted any one this closely. What was so different about this monk, Miroku, she didn't understand. He noticed that she had closed her eyes yet she had not fallen asleep, and her breathing was still slightly irregular. He was amazed that she had survived such a wound at all. It looked nearly fatal. He broke the silence between them as he asked softly
" Would it be too much to ask of your name, my lady?" He asked smiling sincerely.
She found herself looking away from his enchanting smile, "I am known as Kitsunu," she answered using a very expressionless tone.
" Kitsunu," he repeated, " That is a very beautiful and unique name. " He walked at a normal pace holding her up with little effort, so it appeared. He then asked "Also might I ask, how did you obtain such ghastly wounds?" He wondered. Curious to if she was attacked by Naraku, or knew of him at all, or if this was yet another trap.
" I was attacked, by a minion of my most hated and formidable foe," she said flatly, her eyes remaining closed as the night sky twinkled with millions of stars and the night grew dimmer. " I'm not sure if someone such as yourself has heard of such a demon, or if I should even mention his name, but, the demon calls himself Naraku." She said revealing more to him, than she had to anyone else. His eyes narrowed slightly.
" So, it was Naraku. He was here. But, what business would he have attacking such a fragile woman, perhaps there is something I am missing here," he thought as he answered, " I have had my confrontations with that very same demon." He didn't push the matter any further, after all she was wounded, she must have wanted to rest. After taking such a wound, speaking of such a terrible demon was not a good conversation, so he remained silent. After remaining silent for a while, she fell asleep in his warm arms, his kind eyes watching over her. She felt safe for once in her life, and she had even slept dreamlessly, which was a thing she had craved for years.
She awoke in the room of a small hut. She was under blankets and her wound had been treated. The poison had seemed to have been cured, and was out of her system. It was not even a factor any longer, but her wound still healing slowly. She sat up and looked around. To her right, leaning against a wall of the hut, was Miroku. His head was tilted down and his eyes were closed, his staff leaning against his shoulder, as he appeared to be sleeping. She looked at a window to see the sunlight pouring down on the floor in front of her. She scrunched her knees up into her body and sat up on her futon.
Miroku didn't move but broke the silence as he stated,
" You're awake, and I am certainly relieved. I was becoming fearful that your injuries had gotten the better of you." He then perked up slightly and smiled reassuring her that she was safe. She then realized she was in the clothes of a Miko, different from the ones she had been wearing meaning… her cheeks began to take on a light red, noticing there was no one else around. A very elderly woman then pulled the mat hanging over the door to the side interrupting her train of thought; she was wearing the same attire.
" Are ye ok? Those were some serious wounds ye had, but I did the best I could tending to them," She said. Kitsunu slowly stopped blushing and sighed in relief, realizing there were other people here, and it most likely wasn't Miroku who had changed her clothing while she was unconscious.
" Thank you." She replied as she then bowed slightly still sitting on her mattress.
" I am the priestess Keade," She said introducing herself, " ye be, Kitsunu as Miroku said, Aye?" She spoke while tending to the fire that kept the room warm.
" Yes…" She answered blankly, "Why are these people being so kind to me, I have never met such people in this era," she thought glancing at both of them. She than smiled lightly
"Thank you both for your generosity. I should be leaving. I don't mean to cause you any more trouble," she said as she slowly stood up, her wound not making that much of a difference, for it had healed a great deal. Miroku stood up beside her.
" Please Lady Kitsunu, stay here, I cannot help but fret that possibly your wounds are too dire for you to persist on your journey," he said, taking her hand in both of his.
She noticed how concerned he actually was about her. She felt a certain anxiety about staying. She then noticed the lonely look in the monk's eyes; this had convinced her " If its not too much trouble." She said, her voice trailing.
"Not in the least," he replied. Keade then nodded and went off on her way out of the hut. She had business as a priestess, and she had jobs to attend to. Miroku and Kitsunu both sat down together. He noticed her glancing at his right hand. She sensed an odd aura coming from it, what it could have been was beyond her. She noticed he wore a sleeve going up the arm and pray beads wrapped all the way around as if concealing something. Miroku then broke the silence, holding his right hand in his left in front of his body.
"Recall when I said I knew of Naraku?" he asked now in a serious tone. She answered with a simple nod, noticing the stern tone of voice. He continued, "This is a wind tunnel, a void, in my right hand that sucks in anything in its path. It was given to my grandfather who fought with Naraku several different times, on their last battle, his hand was pierced through with scroll and the air void as been passed down to me. Eventually I will be sucked in to the wind tunnel, unless I can defeat Naraku. Once he is dead, the curse will be broken."
" You mean, your going to die…?" She asked sounding worried. He took her hands in his again. " My lady, you are concerned for my well fare?" He asked looked down at her.
" Well…yes…I mean you did save me," she answered slowly.
" Then would you consider," He paused. Did he really want to ask her that question? He then put her hands down " Oh, Never mind," He said sighing. Why he had not been able to ask her the question he asked all women was beyond him. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. She looked at him dumbfounded. He then looked at her, her wounds had healed so quickly… and her eyes, could she be? But, then, that might be enough to ruin all his hopes and dreams. "May I ask something of you? Why did Naraku attack you?" He asked curious to her relationship with Naraku. She looked to the ground next to them. She said nothing at first; she had never told any one her past. She then started,
" A while ago, my soul was fated to be imprisoned so my body could be used as a shell for a more powerful demon. It's said that my soul was too large to be imprisoned, but I think I was just lucky, and I escaped with most of my soul still intact, although some of it had been imprisoned." She pausing she then continued, "A demon was able to take possession of the part of my soul that was missing, however. That's were I obtained these demon like eyes of mine, and I became weaker to its power over me. I held it off for the longest time. Then the Jewel of Four Souls was spilt into hundreds of different pieces. I started collecting them, sure that other demons would use them for nothing but their evil doings. I had trained hard those years to become a stronger fighter and person in hopes that I could return to my original human form. I collected quite a few, and Naraku became interested in taking them from me using the most devious way possible. Being the innocent fool I was, I believed him when he told me he could free me from my half-possessed state and in turn all I had to do was give him my shards of the jewel. Naturally I did, wanting freedom more then anything. He cursed me with this amulet…" She removed it from under her Miko's shirt. " It did the opposite of his promise and strengthened the demon within my human body. I now still possess my human form but I was gifted demon abilities, which has become a useful attribute, but sometimes I am unable to control my human state, and lose it to a demon form of myself. Soon my soul will be lost completely. That is why I must kill Naraku, before I can allow that to be resigned as my fate." She sighed as she finished her agonizing tale.
Miroku blinked. The pain she had gone through to be where she was today was incredible, and like himself, she was cursed and her time would soon be up.
"So you're not a demon… And can once again become human?" He asked
She nodded, smiling softly, and then added
" And so I'm forced to wear this vulgar necklace until I can destroy him myself, although it is becoming clear will be harder then I thought. " She said flatly Miroku signed in relief, she wasn't a demon, and he then smiled
"At least I'm not the only one forced to wear jewelry bearing a curse." He smirked. He then stood up offering a hand so she could as well " Why don't we travel together? I'm sure we have a better chance if we work together." She took his hand and smiled as he heaved her up.
" Sounds ok to me, if you're sure you want to risk traveling with me." Miroku nodded. He wanted to travel with her, and he could see all of the things that had happened to her had changed her. He wanted her to be happy again, and he wanted to be with her.
Both Miroku and Kitsunu walked to the outer reaches of the village when Keade caught up with them.
" Miroku, do ye think it wise to leave now, for InuYasha and the group will be worried about ye," Miroku shook his head. His mind was set, and he was going with Kitsunu.
" Just tell them not to fret, I'll catch up with them soon enough." He answered.
"Well, ye take care of ye self. " Keade replied as she waved, they were off. Soon they had left and had entered the forest, that in which Kitsunu had been attacked in
"I suggest we go to the place I was attacked first. With my abilities and I might be able to get some of Kagura's blood." Kitsunu said as she continued walking. Miroku looked at her,
"You mean to say you fought Kagura?" She nodded. "She must be more powerful then I thought," he thought scanning over her again. Kitsunu smirked,
" I wounded her as well. In fact, I can smell the blood already, it's near." She then came to the clearing and saw the bloodstained earth exactly as she had remembered it. She looked around. Most of it was her blood, from her abdominal wound. He then spotted an area in the reddish brown dirt that was stained with Kagura's blood. She bent over taking a handful of the earth. Miroku watched intensely as she did this. He had been standing right behind her and now had a perfect position to… no, he couldn't do that, he had to resist temptation. But, the urge was irresistible, and as fate would have it, he reached over and fondled her behind. Her eyes widened in shock as he did this, she was so surprised by the randomness of this perverted movement. She lost her balance, falling forwards into the dirt. She shot back up as quickly as she had fallen and faced him.
"WHAT KIND OF MONK ARE YOU!?" she screamed, her eyes gleaming with fury and clenching her fists in rage.
" Ah-heh heh." He muttered messaging the nape of his neck, an anime sweat drop forming. She then slapped him hard across the face.
"For Buddha's sake, keep your hands to yourself." She grumbled as she knelt back down to the patch of earth where Kagura's scent was, making sure her behind was far out of reach. He sighed. He had done it, and although he knew he had upset her, he had enjoyed it, as usual. Trying to make amends he knelt down next to her and looked at the ground in her gloved hand.
"Is that Kagura's blood?" he asked leaning most of his weight on his staff in his right hand.
" Indeed it is, and I think I can track her scent from here," She replied, dropping the soil and standing up. She looked at Miroku who had stood up with her.
"But, wouldn't have Kagura escaped on her feather, as she usually does?" He asked looking back at the crimson soil.
"Would have," She said as she flicked her fingers. In between her index and middle finger were the two feathers Kagura used as transportation, the ones she had positioned in her hair, " but I managed to pilfer these in our confrontation."
Only a short way farther into the forest wandered a gravely injured Kagura. She hadn't managed to make it very far, as she had rested trying to heal her wound, but Naraku hadn't healed it. Kagura had failed him again; she hadn't at all obtained the jewel shards Kitsunu possessed. She held the tattered kimono barely covering her wound, which began at her shoulder, and went across her upper chest and ended right before her other arm. The wound had only stopped bleeding a little while ago, and she had lost a lot of blood. Her black hair was still barely pulled back, pieces of it escaping its position and trailing down her neck. Her colorful kimono still covered all of her upper body, but was torn enough to see the direct path of the wound she had been given.
" Damn that Kitsunu for taking my transportation feathers! Now I'm stuck here with this damned wound! It's actually enough to kill me…if Naraku decides to let me die," she thought as she continued slowly on her way, limping slightly from the wound.
Kitsunu was on her way following the dimming scent of Kagura's blood, Miroku followed close behind. He watched her with pity, she was so beautiful, yet she was forced to handle such pain, and her fighting skills as far as he knew, were amazing. She glanced back at him and caught the pitiful look in his eyes.
"Wh-What is it?" She asked a little perturbed by his stare.
" Huh, nothing," he said, it was quite obvious he was lying, but she didn't force the matter. He then changed the subject.
" Are we close?" She shook her head in disappointment
" We still have ways to go before we catch up with her." She replied. He then seized this opportunity to get closer to her and took her hand in his as they walked, praying she wouldn't take it back or reject him. Although, the way he had touched her before, however, there was a good chance she would. Her cheeks became a light pink as she realized he was holding her hand as they walked side by side. She wanted to keep her hand there but something in the back of her head told her otherwise, "You can't get close to anyone. Remember what has to be done." It echoed through her thoughts as she took her hand from his. She used it to causally brush the bangs out of her eyes, and then looked up at the sunny noon sky.
" It's a beautiful day isn't it?" she asked in a cheery voice, flashing a fake smile.
Miroku sighed heavily, placing his hand back at his side, the other around his staff as he replied in the best undefeated voice he could possibly manage,
" Indeed, it is wonderful…"
She felt bad. She had wanted so desperately to let him hold her hand, and she could tell she had hurt him. She looked at him sorrowfully as his eyes were closed, and they both continued. Little conversation had been exchanged as she realized how close they were to Kagura. She sped up a little
"Come on, she's close!" Kitsunu said as Miroku caught up with her pace. She stopped at a clearing, there she was, her fan tightly clenched and closed in her right hand, the other over her wound. Kagura instantly noticed the monk, and the fact that Kitsunu's wound had basically healed where hers was getting the better of her. She let out a noise of disgust as she snapped open her fan with a loud FWAK breaking the silence.
" Kitsunu, I see you have caught up with me, and the monk with the hell hole as well." Her wound then cleanly sealed itself up; "Naraku is giving me another chance I see…" she thought and felt renewed, the wound gone. Kitsunu tensed, ready to fight, her dagger had already been drawn, and she gave it a good flick and it transformed into a long one-handed blade with ancient text running up the side of the sharp and fresh metal.