Inside a clean apartment, consisting of two
bunks and a bathroom, a boy sits in a man's lap. The
boy tugs drearly at the man's sleeves.
"When will we go home, father? I miss home." His voice is rough, though calm, from crying, and a recent trail of tears streaks down his cheeks.
The man sighs.
"Soon enough, after we get to the blue planet and tell everyone back home what we see. Why do you want to go home so much Sesshomaru? I thought you didn't want to go back after all the children in school made you cry."
Outside the window, stars fill the black expanse. A shining blue sphere shimmers in the cold space.
The boy leaves his father's lap and traipses out the door into the plain-carpeted hallway. The room is left in silence as the man leans back onto the bunk and falls asleep.
4 days later....
'All personnel are to report immediatly for disembarking... All personnel are to report immediatly for disembarking... .' A loudspeaker blares into all the passengers' ears, causing commotion.
"Father? Where did you go?" The boy from before cries into the crowd, futily looking for his father. There is no response, and eventually he is shoved into a landing pod with a mass of loud passengers.
'I hope Sesshomaru isn't too lonely in the civilian's pod... but i couldn't take him with the research team. At least he isn't in danger.'
The boy's father, now donned in white lab coats, makes his way to the more calm, sophisticated pod meant for all research personnel. There were only six of them. The doors close, the floor jolts, and the blaring loudspeaker annouces detachment of all pods.
Thrown into the atmosphere of an alien planet, the pods tumble across the sky. Below them, a barren wasteland littered with burned alien aircraft awaited them. The man braced himself as the pod jarred roughly, marking their landing. Without further ado, a fellow scientist opened the hatch and met the glaring sun. A cloudless sky, a burned desert... it seemed as though life was a mere memory of this ancient battle field. The boy's father slung his survival rations over his back and followed the rest of his companions into the tundra.
"I can't believe it. Didn't reports say that this spot was a lush rainforest?"
"That was only 139 years ago. Climate changes this dramatic should take millions of years."
"I say we scale the area and search for signs of life. Stop speculating; it could just be a navigation error."
The crew hesitantly began their search, though it seemed pointless. They didn't go far untill they found a nearly drained lake. At the bottom, a malodorous brew of tar and decaying matter met their noses. Hundreds of gigantic drain pipes, neglected and deteriorated, emptied more sludge into the dead water. Not far away, an abandoned city loomed over the sickening sight. Ghostly buildings, pale with age and shattered with time, cryed out to the sky. The man dropped his backpack, and stared at the sight.
"I... can't believe it."
The boy cryed, shivering in his metallic, protective garments. Their pod had just tumbled down a hill, leaving the passengers jostled and impaired. While everyone was regaining their balance, he crept up to one of the escape hatches. A sharp white sun met his eyes. The pod had stopped at a giant gate in the hillside, held closed with gears and a wheel. A worn road led up to the gate, and where it came from he was not certain. He scampered up to the wheel, grabbed the handle, and struggled to open it. Suddenly, the proven flimsy wheel broke off the mechanism and clattered to the burning sand. The boy sat on the ground where he had fell, and frowned at his dillema.
"Sesshomaru! What are you doing? Come back here!" An escort hired by his father called out to the boy. "That's dangerous. Get away from there!"
The civilians had started to exit the pod, each having a canteen and a backpack. Three of them were argueing, making the atmosphere tense.
"What do we do now? Wait here till we use up our water and rations? We need to find a suitable camping spot now. With fresh water."
"No way, the main computer back at the ship is contacting out pod now, there will be information sent to us telling us what to do. Just be patient."
"How do you know! I bet the signal was disconnected the moment we fell down this damn hill."
"Isn't there someone here that will listen to reason? We must waste no time in finding a place to sleep, if there isn't fresh water we will all die in a matter of days. These canteens only hold so much."
"What's the big problem? Just wait for the pod to get the information from the main computer."
Sesshomaru, taking advantage of their occupation, started to claw at the giant gate. His nails, like his fathers, were razor sharp and despite his age he was strong. He sliced the gears aside and made his way under the crevice he made.
Inside, it was dark and dry. The argument was muted, the sun washed away. The dusty, smooth metal floor bit like ice into his fingers. Groping for a wall, the boy crawled on all fours into the darkness.
"I... can't believe it."
The crew stood in silence, in awe, in fear. Whatever had caused this destruction must have caused the climate change, the all thought. Nodding to eachother, they all marched into the shadows of the ruined towers.
They saw skeletons, dismembered debri, and windows full of ash. In the middle of the most broad street, a vault entrance lay. The dust was brushed away all around it, and many footprints were leading in and out. Fresh trash, empty boxes and cans littered the area behind it, clashing with the dusty, ancient ruins.
As before, the researchers exchanged glances, looking deep into eachother's eyes. After a minute, the father of the boy cautiously appraoched the vault door, and placed his gloved hands upon the cold metal handles. Some of his fellows drew a sharp breath, others froze in a cautious stance. The door was slowly eased open ,making the cool air within it hiss as it seeped into the arid surrounding. Two long ladders, seeming to go on forever, peeked out of the two sides of the tell-tale sign of life.
The scientists braced themselves, then after a mutual nod was passed around started to descend into the dubious darkness. Forever it seemed, they inched closer and closer to the destiny that awaited them. The farther the went, the smaller the halo of sunllight above them became. Instead, glaring orange artificial light steamed below them, forming harsh, elongated shadows of themselves above.
The only sound they heard was steps on hollow rungs, clutter of uncertainty on ancient, time-tempered metal. As they progressed, the soduim light became bright, overpowering. Their eyes had time to adjust though, thanks to their slow method of descent. At last their sore feet met reassuring ground.
The motley crew gazed momentarily at what lay before them. The ladders ended abruptly at a well cleaned linoluem floor. The foyer-like room was long like a hallway, and the low cieling gave them all a newly-awakened sense of claustrophobia. At the end awaited two thin doors, guarded by a lone sentinel. It was an alien, very young and frail. It bore no markings or special adaptations, merely two legs and a pair of arms with soft, clawless fingers. The face itself was not at all intimidating, and it's aura was weak and blunt. Obviously not the cause of the destruction. Of course this was only an assumption crafted from first impressions, and would soon be proved to not be the case.
The queezy silence was broken by interrogative sounds from the alien at the other end of the dimly lit, low roofed hall.
"Halt! State your names and motive for intruding in our peaceful haven!" (AN: at this point you guys realize that human's are the aliens, i just wanna clear up that the youkai don't know what the heck they are saying. i'll make all english spoken words italics, okay?)
"Hold on, we don't mean any harm... ."
"Wha... ?"
The boy's father turned to his fellows, turning away from their dilemma.
"It is obvious we won't be able to communicate, but how else will we be able to learn about this place?
"Can I mention that a sample of an intelligent species would prove very useful in laboratory experiments?"
"Let's not make enemies on the first day of arrival, Arisu."
"Well, at least we should figure out a way to calm it down."
By now the guard had started to approach, slightly disgruntled and quickening his pace every step. "Who are you? Where do you come from?"
Arisu stepped foward, unsheathing a gun and motioning her fellows to step back.
"Inu, get in contact with the mothership and download some translation software. We don't have much time."
The boy's father, Inu, responded dubiously. "There is no way we would be able to achieve that kind of connection over 200 feet underground! Forget about it."
"Just try, okay?"
"Alright, but I'm not promising anything."
Inu turned away and started to take out his communicator. He was fumbling with it and didnt look up untill he felt a cold ring pressed to his forehead. He froze, wondering if it was a better choice to stay put or flee. But before he could do anything, Arisu had taken action.
"Withdraw your weapon!" Arisu held a deadly dart gun in her right hand, and with the other hand she motioned to the alien to back away. The alien, in fear of Inu's communicator, had pressed the mouth of his gun to Inu's head. He pulled it back, watching Arisu's gun closely.
"I've established contact... somehow. I'll download the software right now."
Arisu sighed, and put the gun away. "Thanks, Inu. How long will it take?"
"Pretty soon, in fact," Inu paused for a moment. "It's done. Here's the USB plug."
Inu handed Arisu a long, pronged cable that three of the investigation crew connected to a small, rectangular port on a band wrapped around their elbows.
The young alien's language suddenly became garbled. His quickly paced noises of fright and confusion were jumbled into a fairly comprehensive mix of expressions, pictures, and colors.
"Where do you come from? Why are you here?"
Arisu stepped foward, clouded in a haze of images. She told him that they called themselves youkai. She showed the alien the planet they called home, and the ship they had ridden here, and that they were scientists, only interested in research. Then the alien bowed, smiled with relief, and stepped foward.
The alien was of a race called humans. The humans had been waging a terrible war, where civilians and soldiers alike were hiding in vaults. The bombs that were used had made the surface lifeless and toxic. This particular human was named Miroku, and was an orphan. His father had died a couple days ago in a recent attack to their vault. He was 8 years old.
"I don't really think who attacks who is important anymore, for there is no reason to fight. Maybe there used to be one but... We are all dying, and the only ones who remember why were alive hundreds of years ago." He seemed distraught and sad. "Please, take off your armor and come inside. I wouldn't be suprised if the rest of you weren't as lucky as to find a vault. Most likely a poisonous end, I'd guess. There are radiation pools everywhere."
The six youkai shed their thick protective armor and followed the little human into the long tunnel behind the giant vault door.
Sesshomaru's pupils stretched and squeezed, adjusting to the musty shadows. His soft hands met sharp rock, breaking the skin more than once. Two large propulsion weapons lay covered in dust, and expired explosives littered the floor. As his sight improved, he saw three skeletons, each with many holes in the skull region. The walls were covered in charred indentations. He broke into a cold sweat, impairing his balance and stumbling on his own arms. He clumsily tried to find where he had come into this graveyard, though to no avail. The crack he made before was around a corner, and the little light that leaked through it did not reach his sun-thristy eyes. Panicing was all he could do. He yelped, whined, and clawed at the rough concrete walls. Outside he heard the other civilians respond to his cries, though they could not find him.
Suddenly, an infrared lamp above him came to life. The already disturbing scene became nightmarish, bathed in the bloody light. He looked at his mangled hands; the blood trickling from the gashes appeared black like tar. A moment after the flooding of red, one of the walls slid aside to reveal a chrome door and two alien creatures decked in black armor. They mumbled strangely, in words Sesshomaru did not understand. Without warning the alien on the right grabbed Sesshomaru's sore shoulders and hoisted him over his back. He effortlessly held the infuriated boy still as he marched through the door and into a cold, bright hallyway.
"Let me go! Let me go! I... I hate you! Let me go!"
He sunk his small, razor sharp teeth into the alien's clothes, gnawing at the armor and clawing at his back. After maniacally flailing his arms for what seemed an eternity, he decided to give up.
A harsh hour later, he was shoved into a crumbling cell flooded with brackish water. He got on his feet, clambered to a corner, and silently weeped. Another guard came to watch over him, glaring through one-way goggles.
"Father... ."
The guard immediatly marched off to speak with his master, about the stray boy he had imprisoned. The master's room was dingy, old, and plain. Two gigantic guns, polished and shining, were hung on the deteriorating wall. The master sat browsing a pornographic website at a piecemeal computer. As the door opened and the guard entered, he immediatly closed the window and started up a spreadsheet program.
"What is it, soldier? Make it quick. I'm a busy man you know."
The guard stopped a few feet in front of the desk, and cleared his throat. "I have succesfully captivated a young boy, he was looking in places he shouldn't. I have evidence to prove he was traveling with the enemy's caravan; I heard their voices behind our gate. What do you want me to do?"
The master furrowed his brow. "How old is this boy?"
"If my assumptions are correct, only 7 years, sir."
"Good. Get him a bunk and a uniform, soldier. He starts training in three days. We must take advantage of his young naive nature, before long he'll be a good contribution to our elite."
The guard left in a hurry, eager to carry out his orders.
AN: okay, what do you all think? i'm going to make this so cool, you'll see. inuyasha comes in during the next chapter im afraid, just hold on. then we can start the dramatic mushy stuff and hot and heavy one on one action! oh yeah. the whole 'dreamcatcher' title will make sense later. dont worry. stay tune for the next chapter!
"When will we go home, father? I miss home." His voice is rough, though calm, from crying, and a recent trail of tears streaks down his cheeks.
The man sighs.
"Soon enough, after we get to the blue planet and tell everyone back home what we see. Why do you want to go home so much Sesshomaru? I thought you didn't want to go back after all the children in school made you cry."
Outside the window, stars fill the black expanse. A shining blue sphere shimmers in the cold space.
The boy leaves his father's lap and traipses out the door into the plain-carpeted hallway. The room is left in silence as the man leans back onto the bunk and falls asleep.
4 days later....
'All personnel are to report immediatly for disembarking... All personnel are to report immediatly for disembarking... .' A loudspeaker blares into all the passengers' ears, causing commotion.
"Father? Where did you go?" The boy from before cries into the crowd, futily looking for his father. There is no response, and eventually he is shoved into a landing pod with a mass of loud passengers.
'I hope Sesshomaru isn't too lonely in the civilian's pod... but i couldn't take him with the research team. At least he isn't in danger.'
The boy's father, now donned in white lab coats, makes his way to the more calm, sophisticated pod meant for all research personnel. There were only six of them. The doors close, the floor jolts, and the blaring loudspeaker annouces detachment of all pods.
Thrown into the atmosphere of an alien planet, the pods tumble across the sky. Below them, a barren wasteland littered with burned alien aircraft awaited them. The man braced himself as the pod jarred roughly, marking their landing. Without further ado, a fellow scientist opened the hatch and met the glaring sun. A cloudless sky, a burned desert... it seemed as though life was a mere memory of this ancient battle field. The boy's father slung his survival rations over his back and followed the rest of his companions into the tundra.
"I can't believe it. Didn't reports say that this spot was a lush rainforest?"
"That was only 139 years ago. Climate changes this dramatic should take millions of years."
"I say we scale the area and search for signs of life. Stop speculating; it could just be a navigation error."
The crew hesitantly began their search, though it seemed pointless. They didn't go far untill they found a nearly drained lake. At the bottom, a malodorous brew of tar and decaying matter met their noses. Hundreds of gigantic drain pipes, neglected and deteriorated, emptied more sludge into the dead water. Not far away, an abandoned city loomed over the sickening sight. Ghostly buildings, pale with age and shattered with time, cryed out to the sky. The man dropped his backpack, and stared at the sight.
"I... can't believe it."
The boy cryed, shivering in his metallic, protective garments. Their pod had just tumbled down a hill, leaving the passengers jostled and impaired. While everyone was regaining their balance, he crept up to one of the escape hatches. A sharp white sun met his eyes. The pod had stopped at a giant gate in the hillside, held closed with gears and a wheel. A worn road led up to the gate, and where it came from he was not certain. He scampered up to the wheel, grabbed the handle, and struggled to open it. Suddenly, the proven flimsy wheel broke off the mechanism and clattered to the burning sand. The boy sat on the ground where he had fell, and frowned at his dillema.
"Sesshomaru! What are you doing? Come back here!" An escort hired by his father called out to the boy. "That's dangerous. Get away from there!"
The civilians had started to exit the pod, each having a canteen and a backpack. Three of them were argueing, making the atmosphere tense.
"What do we do now? Wait here till we use up our water and rations? We need to find a suitable camping spot now. With fresh water."
"No way, the main computer back at the ship is contacting out pod now, there will be information sent to us telling us what to do. Just be patient."
"How do you know! I bet the signal was disconnected the moment we fell down this damn hill."
"Isn't there someone here that will listen to reason? We must waste no time in finding a place to sleep, if there isn't fresh water we will all die in a matter of days. These canteens only hold so much."
"What's the big problem? Just wait for the pod to get the information from the main computer."
Sesshomaru, taking advantage of their occupation, started to claw at the giant gate. His nails, like his fathers, were razor sharp and despite his age he was strong. He sliced the gears aside and made his way under the crevice he made.
Inside, it was dark and dry. The argument was muted, the sun washed away. The dusty, smooth metal floor bit like ice into his fingers. Groping for a wall, the boy crawled on all fours into the darkness.
"I... can't believe it."
The crew stood in silence, in awe, in fear. Whatever had caused this destruction must have caused the climate change, the all thought. Nodding to eachother, they all marched into the shadows of the ruined towers.
They saw skeletons, dismembered debri, and windows full of ash. In the middle of the most broad street, a vault entrance lay. The dust was brushed away all around it, and many footprints were leading in and out. Fresh trash, empty boxes and cans littered the area behind it, clashing with the dusty, ancient ruins.
As before, the researchers exchanged glances, looking deep into eachother's eyes. After a minute, the father of the boy cautiously appraoched the vault door, and placed his gloved hands upon the cold metal handles. Some of his fellows drew a sharp breath, others froze in a cautious stance. The door was slowly eased open ,making the cool air within it hiss as it seeped into the arid surrounding. Two long ladders, seeming to go on forever, peeked out of the two sides of the tell-tale sign of life.
The scientists braced themselves, then after a mutual nod was passed around started to descend into the dubious darkness. Forever it seemed, they inched closer and closer to the destiny that awaited them. The farther the went, the smaller the halo of sunllight above them became. Instead, glaring orange artificial light steamed below them, forming harsh, elongated shadows of themselves above.
The only sound they heard was steps on hollow rungs, clutter of uncertainty on ancient, time-tempered metal. As they progressed, the soduim light became bright, overpowering. Their eyes had time to adjust though, thanks to their slow method of descent. At last their sore feet met reassuring ground.
The motley crew gazed momentarily at what lay before them. The ladders ended abruptly at a well cleaned linoluem floor. The foyer-like room was long like a hallway, and the low cieling gave them all a newly-awakened sense of claustrophobia. At the end awaited two thin doors, guarded by a lone sentinel. It was an alien, very young and frail. It bore no markings or special adaptations, merely two legs and a pair of arms with soft, clawless fingers. The face itself was not at all intimidating, and it's aura was weak and blunt. Obviously not the cause of the destruction. Of course this was only an assumption crafted from first impressions, and would soon be proved to not be the case.
The queezy silence was broken by interrogative sounds from the alien at the other end of the dimly lit, low roofed hall.
"Halt! State your names and motive for intruding in our peaceful haven!" (AN: at this point you guys realize that human's are the aliens, i just wanna clear up that the youkai don't know what the heck they are saying. i'll make all english spoken words italics, okay?)
"Hold on, we don't mean any harm... ."
"Wha... ?"
The boy's father turned to his fellows, turning away from their dilemma.
"It is obvious we won't be able to communicate, but how else will we be able to learn about this place?
"Can I mention that a sample of an intelligent species would prove very useful in laboratory experiments?"
"Let's not make enemies on the first day of arrival, Arisu."
"Well, at least we should figure out a way to calm it down."
By now the guard had started to approach, slightly disgruntled and quickening his pace every step. "Who are you? Where do you come from?"
Arisu stepped foward, unsheathing a gun and motioning her fellows to step back.
"Inu, get in contact with the mothership and download some translation software. We don't have much time."
The boy's father, Inu, responded dubiously. "There is no way we would be able to achieve that kind of connection over 200 feet underground! Forget about it."
"Just try, okay?"
"Alright, but I'm not promising anything."
Inu turned away and started to take out his communicator. He was fumbling with it and didnt look up untill he felt a cold ring pressed to his forehead. He froze, wondering if it was a better choice to stay put or flee. But before he could do anything, Arisu had taken action.
"Withdraw your weapon!" Arisu held a deadly dart gun in her right hand, and with the other hand she motioned to the alien to back away. The alien, in fear of Inu's communicator, had pressed the mouth of his gun to Inu's head. He pulled it back, watching Arisu's gun closely.
"I've established contact... somehow. I'll download the software right now."
Arisu sighed, and put the gun away. "Thanks, Inu. How long will it take?"
"Pretty soon, in fact," Inu paused for a moment. "It's done. Here's the USB plug."
Inu handed Arisu a long, pronged cable that three of the investigation crew connected to a small, rectangular port on a band wrapped around their elbows.
The young alien's language suddenly became garbled. His quickly paced noises of fright and confusion were jumbled into a fairly comprehensive mix of expressions, pictures, and colors.
"Where do you come from? Why are you here?"
Arisu stepped foward, clouded in a haze of images. She told him that they called themselves youkai. She showed the alien the planet they called home, and the ship they had ridden here, and that they were scientists, only interested in research. Then the alien bowed, smiled with relief, and stepped foward.
The alien was of a race called humans. The humans had been waging a terrible war, where civilians and soldiers alike were hiding in vaults. The bombs that were used had made the surface lifeless and toxic. This particular human was named Miroku, and was an orphan. His father had died a couple days ago in a recent attack to their vault. He was 8 years old.
"I don't really think who attacks who is important anymore, for there is no reason to fight. Maybe there used to be one but... We are all dying, and the only ones who remember why were alive hundreds of years ago." He seemed distraught and sad. "Please, take off your armor and come inside. I wouldn't be suprised if the rest of you weren't as lucky as to find a vault. Most likely a poisonous end, I'd guess. There are radiation pools everywhere."
The six youkai shed their thick protective armor and followed the little human into the long tunnel behind the giant vault door.
Sesshomaru's pupils stretched and squeezed, adjusting to the musty shadows. His soft hands met sharp rock, breaking the skin more than once. Two large propulsion weapons lay covered in dust, and expired explosives littered the floor. As his sight improved, he saw three skeletons, each with many holes in the skull region. The walls were covered in charred indentations. He broke into a cold sweat, impairing his balance and stumbling on his own arms. He clumsily tried to find where he had come into this graveyard, though to no avail. The crack he made before was around a corner, and the little light that leaked through it did not reach his sun-thristy eyes. Panicing was all he could do. He yelped, whined, and clawed at the rough concrete walls. Outside he heard the other civilians respond to his cries, though they could not find him.
Suddenly, an infrared lamp above him came to life. The already disturbing scene became nightmarish, bathed in the bloody light. He looked at his mangled hands; the blood trickling from the gashes appeared black like tar. A moment after the flooding of red, one of the walls slid aside to reveal a chrome door and two alien creatures decked in black armor. They mumbled strangely, in words Sesshomaru did not understand. Without warning the alien on the right grabbed Sesshomaru's sore shoulders and hoisted him over his back. He effortlessly held the infuriated boy still as he marched through the door and into a cold, bright hallyway.
"Let me go! Let me go! I... I hate you! Let me go!"
He sunk his small, razor sharp teeth into the alien's clothes, gnawing at the armor and clawing at his back. After maniacally flailing his arms for what seemed an eternity, he decided to give up.
A harsh hour later, he was shoved into a crumbling cell flooded with brackish water. He got on his feet, clambered to a corner, and silently weeped. Another guard came to watch over him, glaring through one-way goggles.
"Father... ."
The guard immediatly marched off to speak with his master, about the stray boy he had imprisoned. The master's room was dingy, old, and plain. Two gigantic guns, polished and shining, were hung on the deteriorating wall. The master sat browsing a pornographic website at a piecemeal computer. As the door opened and the guard entered, he immediatly closed the window and started up a spreadsheet program.
"What is it, soldier? Make it quick. I'm a busy man you know."
The guard stopped a few feet in front of the desk, and cleared his throat. "I have succesfully captivated a young boy, he was looking in places he shouldn't. I have evidence to prove he was traveling with the enemy's caravan; I heard their voices behind our gate. What do you want me to do?"
The master furrowed his brow. "How old is this boy?"
"If my assumptions are correct, only 7 years, sir."
"Good. Get him a bunk and a uniform, soldier. He starts training in three days. We must take advantage of his young naive nature, before long he'll be a good contribution to our elite."
The guard left in a hurry, eager to carry out his orders.
AN: okay, what do you all think? i'm going to make this so cool, you'll see. inuyasha comes in during the next chapter im afraid, just hold on. then we can start the dramatic mushy stuff and hot and heavy one on one action! oh yeah. the whole 'dreamcatcher' title will make sense later. dont worry. stay tune for the next chapter!