She looked into the disgustingly murky water at her reflection. With a sigh, she swiped at the water, not willing to accept the truth of herself - of what she had become. She was hideous, she knew. She was still the same person, though outwardly...she had changed. Glancing about at the scenery, it wasn't too hard to distinguish why.
Her once beautifully smooth skin had formed a sort of indestructible rock that seemed to grow from the open pores on her skin. It was jagged and seemed to grow like stalagmites from her body. It stretched around her head, covering her left eye - sealing it shut - and racing across her forehead. It framed around the left side of her face in patches. It sealed her lips and left nostril shut. It was a wonder how she was even able to breathe. More patches could be seen running down the left side of her neck, across her shoulder and down her arm. It tore at the remnants of her once nice, clean uniform. It covered almost her entire left breast, tearing her shirt clear open for all eyes to see - if there only were any. Her shirt, though in shreds, barely covered the right side of her chest and part of her stomach. As it reached her hip, it seemed to retreat back to patches before settling into smooth skin once more on her left thigh.
She glanced over at the cause for all of her troubles. She wondered how they had grown so close to each other. Or at least partly. Enough to keep themselves at a truce and protect each other from the other dangers of this world.
His once-ruby red eyes now dull were nearly covered with that same stalagmite-like rock. It obscured his vision, leaving him partially vulnerable to the dangers that seemed to constantly surround them both. The rock, like hers, grew around his face in patches, down his right side instead of his left. It disappeared beneath his clothes, now stretched to the brink of tearing because of the rock.
"You are beneath yourself, woman," he said to her.
Unfortunately, her response was rather lacking thanks to her unnatural impairment currently growing across her face. The best she could really do was glare at him and blow outwardly with her nose.
Such was the life of the party. This place - this land was dank and dusty. It was utterly dull and lifeless. It was so unlike Earth and all of it's creatures, all of it's living things. And it was so dark. Since the first time they each had set foot on this musty ground, there had yet to be even a small speck of brightness. It was always like a low-lit moonlight that seemed to cover the entire world. What resembled trees looked more like burnt sticks. The same could be said for a weed or plant. The ground looked scorched, ranging in hues of black, grey, and smoldering blue. Everything - plants, rocks, trees - everything seemed to blend together with those same hues making it hard to distinguish them from another.
There were no houses...
There were no people...
It was just them, and only them. The one man she despised with all of her heart. The one who terrorized so many people from their home-world. And yet...
He was all she had.
It was such a cliché... Not that it mattered much in this place and time. She had even...on more than one occasion...fancied herself with the hated half-demon that she had the misfortune of being companions with. Of course, it was only during those times where she was truly going mad and the only thing to pass the time was to fantasize. He had spoken to her many times, and despite her despise of him, she was grateful to have him there, if only to share in the wonderful abyss they called Bleak.
Yes, Bleak was a rather depressing place, one that she was sure no creature ever wanted to reside. Yes...and she was stuck here. Forever, it would seem.
The sky had flared into a beautiful array of different shades of oranges, reds, and yellows. There were, perhaps, a couple of stars just beginning to twinkle into existence for the creatures of the world to admire. The air was crisp and cool, sure to give those who weren't properly protected a nasty little virus, referred to and well-known as the common cold.
As the sky grew darker, a rather large group that had come to unite as one for this night, waited with anticipation of the battle ahead. A leader and his wolf clan, a Lord and his rather small faction, a Miko and Hanyou with their own division; all had set aside their vast differences to partake in this event.
Everyone was ready - it was time, and they all knew it. Everyone watched with bated breath, just waiting, anticipating the enemy's next move...
It was days like these where he missed his first surrogate mother. After she disappeared all those moons ago, so had his hopes and dreams of keeping her with him forever had. His happiness seemed to fade after that day, and ever since, he was moody, broody, and oh-so-negative. Not that he meant to, it's just how his demeanor had happened after so long.
After he separated himself from the group, a female demoness took him in, ready to train him to perfection. It was only until he had found her true plans were to mate him that he decided that he had to get out, fast. That's when he stumbled upon Sesshomaru.
By this time, he was about as tall as the demon lord's chest. Yes, demons age at a faster rate than humans, but it takes a while for a demon to sprout - or so he had learned. He had learned of the fox' history, had learned of the many different tribes around the world, and was even being trained by Sesshomaru himself to one day be in charge of his army. He was going to be a proud successor because he was one of the only ones to be trained by Sesshomaru himself. Everyone else was trained beneath his subordinates that had been hand-trained.
He missed her...Kagome. The first female to ever take him in and baby him like a child after his own parents had passed on to the after-world. The only person he would ever consider as a true, caring parent and friend. He wished he could find her. He wished Inuyasha had given up on the search - and it was thanks to Kikyou that he finally stopped looking for the little woman. He had felt so disheartened; he had been so sure that Inuyasha would find his surrogate mother, and in his own way, Inuyasha had tried to console him. The only thing is that he didn't want to stick around Inuyasha - vowed he would get stronger and find her one day, even if it meant dedicating his life to the notion.
Granted, that was all in the beginning. He occasionally visited the monk and the slayer. He watched them have children, he watched them grow old and got to see their grandchildren. He had grown to be a great friend to the slayer village. Eventually, Kirara ended up without a master, and ended up going with him because the village had grown skeptical after she had picked up one fo the village children by the collar of their shirt because she had gotten too close to some extremely dangerous weapons. He ended up taking her right then and there after he witnessed her being shooed away.
Now she was his traveling companion and the two of them kept each other safe. Eventually, he caught wind of Inuyasha. Although he hated the actions from his half-demon friend, he actually was grateful to hear that he was joining Sesshomaru at his palace. He also heard that Kikyou passed away. He wasn't sorry in the least for the clay pot had caused so much heart break for his friends. His surrogate mother in particular.
Now, here they were, nearly two-hundred years later...
"Master Shippou," one of the palace maids said with a knock at the door, "Lord Inuyasha and Lord Sesshomaru would like to discuss something with you in the library within the hour."
"Thank you, that will be all," he said with a wave of his hand and stood. He took one last look outside at the green, grassy field that seemed to stretch for acres upon acres. For a moment, he imagined her...Kagome. Her standing in the field and chasing both himself and Rin.
Poor Rin...she had succumbed to disease such a long time ago, it seemed. She was a rather close friend of his. When he had heard she had been taken out by a poison disease because she was affiliated with demons, he had nearly lost himself. Or rather, he did for a time, but not so much to lose control of himself.
Shaking himself from his thoughts, he went to go see his surrogate father - Inuyasha - and his uncle in the library.
He was moody, he knew that. Today marks the day that Kagome left with that corrupt bastard who dared call himself a half-demon. He despised even being of the same species as the vile hanyou.
He remembered when it first happened - that black hole, as Kagome called it one time, had sucked them both in. He had been too slow to save her, but it didn't mean he couldn't keep his pack safe. He knew that he had to keep from anyone else getting trapped in that thing, and just when he had secured everyone...he watched her fingers sink slowly below the surface of the purplish black sink hole that had appeared from out of nowhere.
For nearly two weeks he had searched and had always gone straight back to where it happened. He always felt that she was still alive, still there. He didn't rest, perhaps for maybe a few moments before he was back at it. It wasn't until Kikyou decided enough was enough that she managed to pin him down so he could get some rest. It had forced him to accept whatever fate had in store for the girl. He had sobbed for what felt like hours after that. He loved her, he truly did...just not the way everyone thought he did.
He was so broken-hearted, and when Shippou had decided to leave, it nearly tore him in half. He all but ignored Sango and Miroku. He watched them grow old and die, just as Shippou had. He even sat back and watched as Kikyou began to deteriorate, though at a much slower rate than any human. She remained on earth for quite some time, and she had even told him that she was tired. He let her go, only because she told him to.
It was about fifty years after the initial static charge that had set him off. He had visited the place he had last seen the girl from the future - her "resting place" as many called it - and had felt it. It was like lightning, he could taste it on his tongue. Spicy almost. He ended up sniffing around the area for forever before deciding it was just his imagination. However, fifty years after that, he had visited again, but this time, he hadn't been the only one there. Sesshomaru had been there because for some reason, the static was much heavier than it had been before. The air was thicker, and you could definitely tell something was there.
And just like before...it vanished without a trace.
Now one hundred and fifty years later since Kagome's disappearance, the charge was in the air and it was coming intervals. He was sure if Sesshomaru hadn't said anything about the pattern, it would have flown directly over everyone's heads.
He missed her, he truly did. He missed her laugh, her smile. The way she use to send him reeling into the dirt. The way she kept him guessing and trying to figure out what the hell was on her mind. He missed her stupid need for a bath every day. He had loved hearing her soft snore at night. Everything about her had given him the comfort he needed to keep on going, even while he had nothing.
He only hoped that this plan of Sesshomaru's was going to work.
He had done plenty of study for this. He noticed the change in the intervals. When Inuyasha had noticed the static charge in the air nearly a hundred years ago, it set off an alarm in the back of his brain. He had somehow managed to connect it with the human girl's disappearance. The fact that the static charge was centered specifically in the area she had been swallowed into that black hole in the ground was of no coincidence to him. He had a theory that if the static charge was strong enough, he just might be able to get his hands on Naraku's throat once and for all. Granted, the half breed had been dormant for quite some time - a hundred and fifty years to be exact - but it didn't mean he had forgotten the hanyou's treachery.
He was definitely going to find his arch nemesis, and he was positive that once he found him, the girl should come along just as well. That is, of course, if she weren't already dead.
They were standing at the site. Their hair was standing on end and everyone was so tense, it probably could have been sliced in half with a sword. Speaking of...
Sesshomaru was the first to draw his. The electrifying feeling in the air was so defined, he could taste it on his taste and smell it all around them. Following his leads, his half-brother and surrogate son drew their swords, ready to perform their skills.
Their goal was to get so much energy to gather in that area that the portal that had swallowed the hanyou and the girl up would reopen and spit them out. That is...if they were in the area...all they could do was hope that the girl was alive and well on the other end of the portal. With no more thoughts flowing through their minds, they raised their swords together and gather the energy in the atmosphere...
I have to say that this story had been bothering my brain for God-knows-how-long. I feel like it needed to get OUT. I've wanted to get this story out in the open since last year, but I could never figure out how I wanted to write it...There are so many ideas I have for this story - I can't wait to see how it turns out!
In case anyone was wondering - my other stories that I have yet to finish...I don't even remember where I was in them. I have a problem with trying to the finish stories. There are a bunch of people out there who are just aching for me to finish them, and I just haven't gotten around to them yet. . Sorry everyone for such a long delay! I will also be updating my profile soon, so be sure to check it out!