Chapter Two:
The sky was clear, a perfect fall day.
Dark clouds rolled in from the distance, moving fast across and swallowing up the sky in its gloom. The eeriness of it ripped away the peace of that cool and beautiful sky.
Thunder rolled.
Lightning flashed.
The two danced upon the sky, creating such a symphony that could only be accomplished by nature.
The blackened masses drew themselves over a village, as if they had planned to do so. The wind began to gust, and the rain threatened to, at any moment, unleash its fury upon the people.
Women hurried their children inside, clicking their tongues at the whines and protests of the playing children. The men gathered up their tools in the fields, quickly returning to their homes.
Wind blew.
Rain fell.
There was then a sudden calm. The winds stopped in motion. The thunder ceased, along with its brother lightning. Beams of yellow hope peeked through the dark clouds. Thinking that it was over, the people emerged from their homes, glancing up at the sky.
The clouds moved again and changed their shape. An obsidian funnel slowly touched the ground and in a whirlwind, dissipated. There appeared a demon, ferocious and terrifying in its look. But to the poor villagers, who would only have a chance to look upon it, it would only look like a shadow, bringing to them a red and gruesome death.
"Demon!"
This was continuously shouted throughout, horror filling the very souls of the people. For they all knew that this would be their end. But in a futile attempt, they fought back, shooting their arrows and throwing their spears. The metal simply bounced off of the agile demon.
One by one the men were killed off, leaving now only the defenseless women and children who were huddled in their homes, the places they thought was safe.
The demon lifted its immense paws and crashed down upon the wooden roofs, crushing the people inside. Some did survive, but as they tried to escape, were ripped to pieces by fangs or by claws.
Once the demon finished what it came to do, once there were none left to kill, a pink scar on its chest pulsed with a dark energy. Giving a roar of rage and pain, the demon flew up into the air with a mighty pounce, uplifting the dirt below its feet, and disappeared into the clouds.
"A storm?" Inuyasha asked, mostly to himself, when he saw darkness veil the sky above.
"Looks like it." Kagome answered him, humming as she walked along side of her friend.
Shippo, perched upon the human girl's shoulder, gave a comical snicker. "What's wrong Inuyasha? You afraid of a little thunder?" As soon as the fox demon poked fun at the man, thunder clapped, causing Shippo to yelp and press himself into Kagome's thick hair.
"Heh!" Inuyasha laughed with amusement. "Who's afraid?"
Kagome frowned. "It's not funny, Inuyasha!"
"Sure it is." He snorted back at her.
"I-I'm just a little kid, ya know?" Shippo said shakily, trying to defend his honor.
Inuyasha opened his mouth, an eye twitching, as he began to speak, and lifted up a hand to smack the annoying child. But a voice rose over the sound of his own voice.
"Help!" A man cried. "Help me please!" The villager's wrinkled face was vexed with fear, pain and agony, and his taut cheeks were stained with the many tears that had spilled from his wide eyes.
"What is it, old man?" Inuyasha asked with a glare, ticked off immensely.
"Please. My village…" The man was too out of breath to speak clearly.
"What happened?" Kagome asked with worry clear in her voice.
The man broke down in sobs that choked him, surprising both Kagome and Inuyasha. "I had just left! I wasn't even a minute's time away when it attacked." The sobbing man brought shaking frail hands to his ears and pressed his palms against the lobes, as if still hearing the blood curdling screams of the villagers. "It was terrible…a terrible creature of death."
"It must have been a demon." Kagome said, head now tilted in wonder.
"Yes. A demon." The man answered.
"Demon huh?" Inuyasha cracked each knuckle on his hand and then bore his claws. "Looks like this day won't be such a waste after all."
"Bring us to your village, sir, if you wouldn't mind going back." Kagome said, still harboring the small frightened fox demon on her shoulder as she spoke.
The man happily did so.
When they arrived, it became clear to three of them just how devastating this attack had really been. A lot of houses were no longer standing in place. Only splinters, strew out in piles over the soft square patches of earth remained. The houses that were still standing were on fire, collapsing even as they came near. The smoke from the large flames, along with the dirt still settling, thickened the air like a fog. But that wasn't the worst of it. Bodies of men, women and children alike were thrown out all over the blood soaked ground. But none of them would be recognizable, as they were ripped to shreds.
"Oh Inuyasha." The frightened girl turned and buried her face into the strong chest of the demon, her hands tightly gripping the fabric of his outfit. "What would do something so horrible? These poor innocent people…."
The angered Inuyasha looked around with narrowed yellow eyes as he tried to make out the scent of the demon. He hated creatures that killed for sport more than any other. This one would definitely pay for it.
"You. Old man." Inuyasha said to the surviving villager. "What did the demon look like?" He wouldn't have had to ask, but all the auras around him were muddled together.
Smoke. Blood. Death. Earth… Plum? Dammit!
He couldn't figure out what was what.
"It was a large demon, taller than the trees. It looked like some kind of bakeneko. It had black fur, the darkest black you can imagine. And its tail was unusually long…for a bakeneko at least."
"So a big cat with black fur?"
"Aye." The man, who had calmed down greatly, looked down in thought. "It had a white tipped tail actually, and a scar on it chest. It was shaped like…kinda like a spider of some sorts."
"A spider shaped scar?" Kagome cut in.
"Yes. Strange, isn't it?" The man asked.
A gentle breeze passed Inuyasha, coaxing him to walk away. His nostrils filled with a certain scent, something familiar to him.
This scent…
Bright and keen golden eyes, wide with uncertainty, slowly moved left to right and back again as an image was placed before him, playing in his mind. It was a woman. She was wearing a purple kimono covered in swirling pink patterns of butterflies and blossoms. Her back was facing him, and her hair pulled away from her neck, showing off porcelain skin and smooth arches. Her head slowly turned, her hair flowing gently as it followed. Inuyasha. He heard her say.
A sweet voice.
And then it was gone.
He didn't get to see her face.
"That's strange." He muttered to himself.
"What's strange?" The high pitched, annoying voice of Shippo asked, breaking off the sudden tranquility the demon was feeling.
"Oi. Get off of me." Inuyasha picked the child up by the back of his collar and hit him in the head with a closed fist.
"I was just asking a question!" Shippo cried out, flapping his arms and his legs as he struggled to get free of the hold he was in. "Kagooooomeeeee!"
The hanyou let go of Shippo, who scurried away to sit on Kagome's shoulder. He tugged on the green collar of her uniform, pointing a small finger at Inuyasha.
"He hit me!"
"Well you deserved it." Inuyasha turned his back to them and crossed his arms.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome put her hands onto her hips and frowned. "What are you doing? What have I told you about hitting children?"
"Heh!" Inuyasha stuck his nose up into the air. After that, he didn't hear anything that was being spouted off to him. His attention had once again been caught by the soft scent.
It's like…the scent of white plum blossom.
His mind was flooded with her image, just as before. She was a dream of his past.
Who are you?
Her face was never revealed to him. His memory wouldn't allow it to be shown.
"Are you even listening to me? Inuyasha?" Kagome huffed and walked in front of the demon, on her toes. "Inuyasha!"
Inuyasha turned from her again, eyes closed and lips turned downward in a stubborn pout. "Tch. Come on Kagome. It's almost dark and we have a demon to kill." He was very much looking forward to doing so.
