I Hold Your Heart in Mine

"Where are we going?" Miroku asked while following Inuyasha.

"Well I am going on a walk to calm MY nerves." the irritated hanyou replied emphasizing him in a solitary term.

"Why?" the monk not noticing Inuyasha's obvious desire to be alone.

"Well…" Inuyasha paused to scan his surroundings. The land which the land lord owned was bordering a vast forest that hid mountains deep in the heart of its green depths. Sango had been graciously taken in for the night so she could recover from the wounds she had received from a previous battle. Shippo stayed behind to help take of her. "I need to get some fresh air and get away from you and Sango. I'm sick of hearing her scream at you because you can't control your lecherous hands!"

"Well if that what you want then I'll leave." Miroku whispered while he turned away obviously hurt and trudged to the lord's manor and disappeared behind the vine colored trees.

Inuyasha continued to walk getting farther from the manor and closer to the ancient mountains. As he walked he noticed a smell. It was faint, but still noticeable among the leafy, woody odor of the forest. It was strange, sweet, floral, and unlike anything he had smelled before. Where was it coming from? More importantly, what was it? He was going to find.

Meanwhile

Miroku had finally reached the door of the manor. He saw out of the corner of his eye Shippo struggling to carry a wooden bucket full of water from the river conveniently flowing across lord's land.

"Need help?" Miroku called out to the little fox demon as he turned toward him and started to walk in that direction.

"No." Shippo groaned. Miroku followed him as he walked into Sango's room. Shippo placed the bucket not far from the head of the cot that Sango was laying on.

Sango opened her eyes and thanked Shippo for the water and drank some. Miroku, seeing Sango for the first time since Inuyasha had carried her bloody limp body to the lord, had noticed that Sango looked a little frail in the bandages that covered her torso and arms despite her usual strong composure.

"What's the matter Miroku?" asked Sango noticing the concerned look that was pasted on his face.

"What? Oh! Nothing." Miroku replied quickly hiding his worry with a smile. "I just was thinking about Inuyasha."

"Where is Inuyasha by the way? Shippo inquired just noticing that the white haired half demon wasn't there stomping around and hitting him in the head.

"He walked off towards the mountains. He…," Miroku paused for a second not wanting to repeat the real reason Inuyasha left, "He just needed some fresh air I guess. He should be back by tonight."

"Ok." Shippo replied, "We should leave Sango is asleep and we should let her get her rest."

"Alright let's go and get something to eat. I'll treat you to some Raman." Miroku said as they walked out of her room.

Trees blurred by at frightening speeds as Inuyasha was being pulled towards the strange new scent. He didn't understand it yet but he felt that he just had to follow the smell. Curiosity racked at his brain forcing him to find the source of the tantalizing perfume. As he came closer to the smell he accelerated in speed. He eventually found himself at the base of the mountain, a little winded, but forcing himself to breathe deeply. He didn't want to miss one breath of the perfume that continued to fill him up with its sickly sweetness. He looked up at the steep cliff that loomed above him and hoped that whatever he was to find at the top was what he was looking for.

"Nothing to worry about." He said reassuring himself, "If it's a trap then I'll fight till I win and go home." But then he paused thinking out loud, "What will I do if it's not a trap?"

He shook his head trying to rid himself of any doubt. With one more deep breathe he bounded up the cliff. Taking massive leaps from rock to rock gaining altitude as he went.

"God I never thought it would be this high." He said as he paused to catch his breath. Wondering how long he had been climbing he looked at the sky. It had only been about an hour but it seemed like time had slowed to a crawl. The anxiety made seconds seem like minutes and minutes seem like hours. After a few minutes he continued to climb to the peak.

Somewhere deep inside it waits. Hoping for a redeemer to pull it out of this prison that it was put in many years ago. All it can do is sleep going from one nightmare to another. It cries and screams for relief of its beautiful cage surrounded by jewels and treasures. But it would trade it all for the "one" to show up and bring it back what it's missing. So there it waits, among its unwanted treasures and never ending nightmares. And there it will continue to wait for what seems for like an eternity. Will it ever end?

"Finally" he breathed as his hopes rose. The intoxicating fragrance had never been so strong. So strong, in fact, his mouth was watering and his muscles were tensing.

"Where is the source of it?" He wondered while looking around and finally noticing a cave at which the fragrance seemed to radiate from. He couldn't understand how such a sweet perfume could come from a dark dank cave. And despite his instincts screaming at him to not go in, he walked in, hypnotized by the perfume.

As he walked deeper into the cave and into the heart of the mountain he realized the uneven rocky walls suddenly became glassy smooth. As he stopped to take a look at it he found that it was glittering from jewels that were embedded in the glossy black stone.

As he continued to walk down the glittering black path his light source started to diminish. So as to feel his way around he put his hands on the velvet stone. After what seemed like an eternity Inuyasha saw a faint light that kept getting brighter as he advanced forward. Immediately he picked up his pace. He couldn't wait to see clearly colors again. Suddenly the path came to an abrupt stop. The light came in a thin line across the floor showing that there was something blocking the path.

Putting his hands in front of him feeling the obstruction. It had intricate designs in it and he soon figured out that it was a wooden door. He continued to feel around looking for a knob that ended up not being there. So he simply gave the door a great push. Suddenly a blinding yellow light poured in.

back at the manor

"Where is he?" Shippo asked nobody in particular pacing back and forth through Sango's room.

"He's probably sleeping in the trees." Sango answered back calmly. But, deep down inside she was getting nervous too.

"Yea you know how long it takes him to calm down. He sort of blames himself for Sango getting as hurt as she did." Miroku remarked trying to calm the little fox demon.

"But, but why?" Shippo questioned, "You guys fought as hard as you could… and Sango will be fine! AHHH!! HE IS SUCH A BLOCKHEAD!!" He yelled.

"Calm down Shippo. He will be back. You can yell at him then okay." Sango said in a motherly tone. Only then did Shippo calm down and sat down next her. "Okay let's go to sleep. It's been a long day and we need to get up bright and early."

"Sango, you won't be better by then so we will stay for a few more days okay." Miroku piped in. "But I do agree it has been a tiring day and we should all get to sleep."

"Alright." Shippo agreed yawning. He lied with Sango and they both fell asleep.

After Miroku was sure they were asleep he went out and sat down in the grass, looking for Inuyasha. Worried he might not show up at all.

After a minute or two of readjusting his eyes Inuyasha started seeing things perfectly clear. He was in a room that was bigger than the lord's whole mansion. The wooden floor was covered with human bones that were cracking and crumbling to dust. And the red-brown stone walls seemed to breathe. As he continued to look he noticed a huge stone statue of a snake with its wings outspread made out of the same black glittering stone that paved the pathway he had just left. It also looked as if it was breathing but when he walked toward it and it ended up just being stone.

"Nah… it couldn't be," he assured himself, "my imagination is getting the better of me that's all."

He continued to walk toward what appeared to be another door. Suddenly, he heard a hiss from behind. As if his body was acting of its own accord he turned around and gasped.

In front of him was a large, coiled snake. Inuyasha froze as an immediate action. He kept looking at it and noticed that the snake was extremely beautiful and yet something about its beauty disturbed him. It's scaled were the deep velvety black color of the stone it once was, which, contrasted to the snow white color of its belly. Inuyasha had a sudden urge to touch the snake and see if it was a satiny as it looked. But he continued to stand as still as possible hoping the snake would not see him. Inuyasha, for the first time, looked into its eyes and despite the snakes breathtaking beauty its eyes were menacing. They were solid black and barely visible against his skin. The only thing that drew the hanyou's attention to the reptiles eyes were the stunning sapphire blue pupils that were cut vertically across them. Its huge leathery black wings were slowly flapping. But Inuyasha could still feel the slow rhythmic pulse of the wind that they were blowing toward him. Suddenly the snake tensed and sprang forward mouth gaping open.

Tell me what you think for it to continue