A Higher Realm
I
The night was a study in stillness.
Even the breeze had abandoned its customary journey through the leaves of the trees, and there was no sound from the population of the forest. The skies were a swirling mass of clouds, purple and dark, escalating the sinister nature of the situation. The chill of the still air rose with every second.
It was as if the very Earth was taking a deep, deep breath.
The silence was shattered abruptly then, as, accompanied by powerful gusts of wind, the clouds congregated to form a swirling vortex. Lightning erupted from that vortex, striking the ground. The ground heaved. Lightning struck again, and one could immediately realise that what was happening was not normal, not by a long shot.
Lightning never struck the same place twice.
The place where it struck finally crumbled, and slowly, something rose out of it, surrounded by a blue aura. It was the decayed remains of a demon hand. After that, one by one, more parts rose out of the pit, each in various stages of decay. Then, with a thunderous roar, the enormous skeleton of the mysterious creature emerged, small avalanches of rocks, soil and even trees sliding down its sides.
The swirling vortex of cloud in the sky lowered itself closer to the ground, surrounding the hovering excavations like a huge hurricane. The speed of the winds increased further and further, until it had reached a crescendo, before slowing down altogether. A brilliant light shone from the eye of the hurricane, only to dissipate abruptly, along with the clouds. Once more the night was deathly silent; once more did the Earth stop. The remnant of the spectacular phenomenon was surprisingly small – the creature didn't seem to exceed even five feet, with short, knobbly legs, a thin torso, two long arms terminating with dexterous, claw-tipped hands… its appearance gave no absolutely no relation to the gargantuan proportions of its origin.
Then the creature raised its head, and smiled.
The stillness suddenly grew even more profound; the silence screamed the scream of those tortured for a lifetime in the deepest pits of hell…
And the darkness smiled along with it.
"Keep quiet!"
The hurried whisper and an outstretched arm stopped Ginta and Hakaku abruptly in their tracks. Well, one should say, the hurried whisper and crashing into the outstretched arm, for that was they did, running full tilt as they were. The wind knocked out of them, they complied with the whispered order, too winded to do otherwise.
Soon they had joined their leader in crouching behind some bushes, apparently waiting for something.
"You needn't have stopped us like that, Kouga," Hakaku complained after some time in a low voice. "We might've broken a rib or two…"
Their leader rolled his eyes. "You're demons. Your ribs don't break that easily."
"Maybe, but…"
"Sssh. Do shut up for a while."
Ginta and Hakaku exchanged confused glances, but didn't dare speak another word. Kouga seemed to be in a trickier mood than usual, and they didn't want to incur his wrath more than they could help. They waited for some more time, before a vague grunting sounded from the distance. A welcome smell hit the wolf demons' noses, and Hakaku's eyes lit up. "You're brilliant, Kouga!" he cried out, scrambling to his feet. "Let's…"
"Shut up!" Kouga growled through gritted teeth, pulling his lieutenant down roughly. "You'll scare it away if you do that, moron!"
"Oh." Chastised, Hakaku returned to his crouch.
"I suppose we wait for it to come here, then…" Ginta's eyes sparkled.
"Then, we get our first whole meal in three weeks," Hakaku finished with a grin. "Excellent."
"Don't be so premature, you two," Kouga whispered with an amused smirk. "As the elders say, 'don't count the frog-demon spawn before they hatch'."
Ginta scratched his head thoughtfully with a clawed finger. "I don't think it was 'frog-demon spawn', Kouga."
"Yeah," Hakaku supplemented. "I think the saying has more to do with birds…"
"Shut up already, you two," Kouga interrupted, annoyed. "It's coming."
Kouga was soon proved true: a fat, hair-covered boar soon entered the area of foliage they were keeping an eye on, grunting quite happily, oblivious to its potential diners hiding among the bushes. It bent its head down and pulled at the grass with its mouth, settling down to some peaceful grazing.
Kouga motioned the other two to split up and hide in positions around the boar, so it had no chance of escaping. Mouths watering, Ginta and Hakaku acquiesced readily. Soon everything was in place – nothing could stop the three wolf demons now from capturing that deliciously fat boar and devouring it for dinner.
The boar grunted in satisfaction, tearing off the grass with renewed vigour.
They were so close now… any moment, and it would all be theirs… calf muscles tensed in preparation to leap… claws itched for a chance to dig into boar hide... breath caught in chest, they executed a silent mental countdown.
Four… three… two… one…
"Die, animal!"
The boar's surprised grunt preceded the moment where it was surrounded by a ball of fire, and it crashed into a nearby tree. The fire dissipated, and the smoking, neatly roasted corpse of the boar was all that was left. Kouga, Ginta and Hakaku jumped out of their hiding places in absolute bafflement. What just happened…?
Still gaping, they were interrupted by a very obvious way to draw attention, behind them.
"Ahem."
They turned slowly to face a diminutive frog demon, magic staff in scabby hand. Kouga's bafflement turned to pure anger. "Jaken," he growled. "So you were the one who killed our boar, eh?"
"Your boar?" Jaken snorted. "Hardly. You hesitated for too long, and you paid the price. That's all."
"You have real guts to speak to Kouga like that, frog-demon," Ginta said, scowling fiercely at Jaken. "We could tear you apart right now and here…"
Jaken raised his staff. "You will face the flame, if you dare try!"
Kouga and Jaken glared at each other, before they were interrupted by a young female voice and the sounds of footsteps against the leaves, coming toward their direction. "Jaken?" it said, sounding louder and louder as the female came closer and closer. "Where are you? Did you catch it?"
"Rin," Jaken murmured. Soon, the foliage rustled and a young girl emerged, no older than eight or nine years. A smile lit up her face as she spotted Jaken, but almost instantly faded away as her gaze shifted to rest upon Kouga and his lieutenants. Kouga's frown grew deeper. What is this human girl doing with Jaken?
"Ah, Rin," Jaken said, turning toward her. "I have captured the boar – there will be plenty to eat for tonight."
Rin nodded, moving closer to Jaken. "What are they doing over here?" she asked, pointing toward the wolf demons, a tremor of fear in her normally cheerful voice.
"Oh, they are nothing but nuisances," Jaken said derisively. "Let's get going with the boar; I'm sure Lord Sesshoumaru will be coming soon."
At this, Ginta's and Hakaku's faces paled. "Sess- Sesshoumaru?" They clutched at each other, trembling.
Kouga's only reaction was to roll his eyes. He really didn't care whether it was Sesshoumaru or not, but suddenly, his curiosity peaked. Sesshoumaru was the most cold-blooded demon he had ever met; so what was he doing with this little human girl? Suddenly he felt like he didn't understand the dangerous dog demon at all, and he was sensible enough not to jump into fights with something he did not understand. Amazing how different Sesshoumaru was from his mutt brother, Inu Yasha…
A spark of hope lighted in his mind briefly, before it was extinguished by the sight of his two 'trusted lieutenants' cowering like idiots. Kouga sighed. "I think it's about time we left."
Everybody present, Jaken and Rin included, stared at him in surprise. Obviously they had expected him to fight with Sesshoumaru. "There's no point in arguing with fools," Kouga said, turning away. "It's not like we can never find other prey to catch."
With that, he was gone, the dust of his speedy departure rising into the air. Ginta and Hakaku, sighing as if burdened with all of the world's problems, started running after their leader, with shouts of "Kouga! Wait up!"
Rin gave an almost audible sigh of relief, and smiled at Jaken. "Okay, then. Shall I call for Ah-Un?"
Just as she raised her fingers to her lips to give the whistle for Sesshoumaru's two-headed steed, Jaken interrupted her. "Rin," he said. "Tell me: you don't like Kouga, do you?"
Rin turned and stared at him, inclining her head in a thoughtful angle. "Kouga? I don't know… I don't hate him, if that's what you mean."
Jaken frowned, and prodded unconsciously at the boar carcass in an impatient gesture. "No, that's not what I meant."
She shrugged. "Well, what am I supposed to say? He killed me once, yes, but I really don't hold it as a grudge against him. I try not to think about it anymore. Besides--" She suddenly smiled. "Besides, when I'm so happy with you and Lord Sesshoumaru, why should I think of such dark things, anyway?"
Jaken only rolled his eyes, and Rin, assuming that the conversation was over, proceeded to whistle for Ah-Un. The frog-demon immersed himself in his thoughts.
The answer which he had just got from Rin was nothing more than he expected, of course. So just why did he ask the question? Had he been expecting something different? No, of course not. As unfortunate as it was, he had got to know Rin quite well, from all the months of travelling with her. She was a simple child, very easily pleased. Just a small acknowledgement of her presence from Lord Sesshoumaru – a grunt, a word, sometimes even a small smile – sent her into transports of delight, which would accompany her for the rest of the day. Jaken had been quite amused by it.
Of course, he hadn't been so amused when his conscience drew parallels between him and the same behaviour.
But the point was, she was easy to understand – even for Jaken, who simply didn't bother to understand 'petty humans'. But there was something there within – something his subconscious was subtly hinting at – that Jaken was sure even Lord Sesshoumaru didn't understand.
And he didn't like that at all.
Solitude.
A precious thing, it was – especially for Kouga, and he'd learnt to treasure the rare moments of peace that came by in his life. The starry midnight sky was spread above him, tempting to him to just lose himself among the stars and forget the humdrum of his life for a few blissful moments. But he couldn't do that, he knew – there was just too much to think about, especially now.
He glanced at his side to see his two companions lying on the grass, mouths agape, snoring loudly. The fools, he thought affectionately. Leaning against the tree he was setting next to, Kouga closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander freely, collecting and fusing disjointed thoughts.
The picture that almost immediately popped into his head was that of Sesshoumaru, and then of the little human girl who accompanied him – Rin, as Jaken called her. Trying to get over his disbelief over the fact that Sesshoumaru allowed humans to travel with him without killing them, he focused on the little girl instead. Her young face – her eyes – was hauntingly familiar…
Then he remembered, as memories entered his mind, almost grudgingly. The day he had first met Kagome… the last time his wolves had feasted upon human flesh… the screaming villagers, torn to pieces by demon claws… a little girl with a limp, who tried to escape… the little girl whom he had ordered his wolves to chase and kill…
He suddenly opened his eyes, the blood draining out of his face. The girl was supposed to be dead! How could she have survived to meet Sesshoumaru…? Had his wolves lied to him? No, of course not. They were bound by blood loyalty to the pack leader, such that they could never, ever lie to him – and they had informed him that they had killed her. And yet, only earlier that day he had met her, alive and well! She didn't smell of death and decay, like some resurrected corpses did – she was a living, breathing human being, alright.
Then how…?
He ran a hand through his hair, trying to regain control of himself. He was being silly, surely – he had seen stranger things happen before, so why did this girl have such an effect on him? No, it wasn't the fact that she was still alive, he decided. It was something else – her eyes. When she had looked at him, with those huge, brown eyes of hers, wide with fear and painful memories… guilt had made its presence felt within him, crushing his heart with its enormous weight. Maybe he felt like this, he mused, because those eyes looked a lot like Kagome's.
But it went deeper than that.
An emotion – elusive, intangible, indescribable – had flickered between them that moment, and Kouga had suddenly felt deep dread – a dread, he realised as he leant against the tree, that even he hadn't recognised then. There was a greater power at work here, and he didn't know what it was. It wasn't Naraku; it wasn't the Sekhioutai, it wasn't like anything he'd ever faced before. He didn't know its intentions, he didn't even know whether it existed or not. His lips set themselves into a determined line as he stared at the night sky.
But he wasn't going to rest until he found out.