okay...so...how to break it to the gang that you have a wife...well...almost wife...that you presumed was dead almost 700 years ago...and finally found her...hmmm dilemna...i have no idea how to write this...i donno whether he should tell them straight out...or if he should not say anything...hmmm...well...if i don't know...you'll just hafta find out...by READING!
The couple was snapped out of their tender reverie by the ever wonderful InuYasha gang. Sesshomaru's hand dropped to his side, and he looked over to the group, whom all looked extremely confused. InuYasha, of course, looked...pissed.
"What the...what the hell is your problem Sesshomaru! First you go out of your way to steal my opponent, and then..." He was cut off by Sesshomaru.
"She is no longer your opponent," he stated. Everyone was confused, even Valandil.
'Wha?' she thought. Her brain didn't seem to want to work after all of the information she had absorbed in the passed hour or so.
"My ass! Who're you to tell me who my opponent is!" He began stalking toward Valandil, a transformed Tetsaiga in hand. Sesshomaru stepped into his path.
"If you take so much as one more step towards her in such a hostile manner, I will kill you. That is no empty promise, little brother," Sesshomaru said. If looks could kill, man. It finally clicked for Valandil, and her hands made her way to her warm cheeks. He was protecting her. So he cared. InuYasha scoffed.
"Like you could really kill me," and with that, he stepped around Sesshomaru and went to attack Valandil. The stroke he took with his mighty sword was stopped by Valandil's forearm. InuYasha's sword shook with effort as he tried to break through Valandil's awesome strength. Valandil, however, was paying absolutely no attention to InuYasha.
'Why would Sesshomaru just let him attack me like that? I guess he really must not care,' Valandil thought. What she failed to realized that InuYasha wasn't just shaking to try to attack her, he was shaking because he was trying to keep as still as possible because Sesshomaru's Tokigin was pressed against his trachea, drawing a trickle of blood for the tiny bit of pressure Sesshomaru was putting on InuYasha's skin.
"What the hell Sesshomaru? I don't get it? Who the hell is this bitch?" InuYasha asked rather rudely. Sesshomaru increased the pressure on his sword, thickening the nervousness in the air. Before Sesshomaru could answer, there was a cry of pain. Valandil fell into a crouching position, holding her injured shoulder (which she used to block the Tetsaiga). Out of instinct, Kagome and Sango quickly came to her aid since Sesshomaru was currently occupied trying to keep InuYasha from dumbly attacking Valandil (thus attacking his woman and the demon slayer).
"Hey I'm Kagome, and this is Sango," Kagome greeted, and Sango greeted her as well. Sango spoke next.
"I need to open your yukata to check your wounds, is that okay?" she asked. Valandil nodded. She couldn't examine the wound as well as someone with eyesite could, and she hadn't been injured this bad since she had been blinded. Sango loosened Valandil's obi, and brought down her sleeve enough to see her gaping wound, making sure to keep as much modesty as possible with the lecherous monk lurking around.
"Oh my," she gasped. Sango, as an expert demon slayer had seen many demon poisons in her lifetime, but none that corroded as fast as this, nor left as much damage. Left untreated, it could take many months to heal and leave horrific scars, even for a strong, healthy demoness.
"We need to get you to a spring, a hot one preferably, so we can wash the poison from your wound," Sango said, helping Valandil stand. Valandil smiled and waved it off.
"Oh, that won't be necessar-"
"Nonsense. Even a demoness will have horrific scarring from such poison if the wound isn't treated," Sango insisted. The two girls practically dragged poor, wounded Valandil away from the boys. Of course, after Valandil gave up her protesting, she had to lead them to the nearest hotspring (since they had absolutely no idea where they were dragging Valandil off to). Valandil led the two girls to what seemed to be bathing heaven on earth. They had gone through a dark thicket of trees and came to a secluded area where multiple springs, varying in size, shape, and temperature lay. Valandil chose one which was filled with a waterfall from a particularily hot hot spring, which lay adjacent to another spring, this one slightly cool in temperature, so the spring in which both waterfalls emptied was exceedingly refreshing and relaxing. Sango first instructed Valandil to put her wound under the hot waterfall to disinfect the wound, and then place it under the cool waterfall to soothe the flaming wound. Valandil follow her instructions a small smile playing on her lips. Kagome reached into her bulging yellow backpack and pulled out her first aid kit.
"Okay, I'm gonna bandage your wound, okay?" Kagome asked, expecting an "okay" from the demoness. This time Valandil was able to get a word in edgewise.
"Before your attempt to heal my wounds anymore, could you let me handle it for a few minutes?" Sango and Kagome looked at eachother.
"Well, okay," Sango said reluctantly, "but don't you go making it worse." Valandil circled around the area for a few minutes, feeling over some of the plants in the area.
"Aha," she said, holding a purple leaf in her hand. She placed it over the large gash in her arm, and a golden light emitted from the plant, engulfing her wound. When the light was gone, so was the leaf, and so was her wound. Sango's jaw dropped. Never in her life had she seen such a plant.
"Wha- How? How come you didn't do that earlier?"
"Well," Valandil said, "I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't let me."
Since the women were already there, they decided to bathe in the hot springs, testing each one, looking for the one that suited them the best. After going through them all, they chose the one filled by the two waterfalls.
"So, Valandil, right?" Kagome called out to the demoness who, instead of taking a bath, decided take a seat on one of her favorite perches which happened to be a ledge made from a rock jutting out from the center of the waterfall, though only a few yards away from the waters surface. There, the falling water and placid water of the spring, creating a mist that eventually evaporated and left behind heat. Needless to say is was a pleasent place to sit. Valandil turned her head to acoknowledge Kagome, the white of her eyes piercing straight into Kagomes sapphire orbs. Kagome, suddenly feeling nervous with the blind gaze of the mysterious demoness on her, lost whatever smooth sentence she had planned on saying, but instead stuttered as she searched for words.
"Well...er...do you...erm...know Sesshomaru? I mean are you, um, friends?" Kagome paused. 'Wait. Does Sesshomaru have friends?' she thought. Valandil considered the question, looking skyward in reminisence, then she shifted her legs so they were beneath her and her gaze now down in her lap.
'What do I say? I should tell the truth, about the engagement. But what if Sesshomaru doesn't want to marry me anymore? I am blind afterall. He seems like a different person all together anyway. What if Sesshomaru is already mated to some other demoness? Maybe a human? Would the love of my life who I have waited for for so long be gone for good?' Unbeknowst to the demoness, as her thoughts collided and some of her worst fears reared their ugly heads, a single tear meandered its way down her face. To the average passerby, the tear would merely look like a drop of water splashing upwards, freeing itself from the mass of frothing water. However, as Sango interrupted Valandil's inner debate, Valandil head whipped towards the girls, cause her bangs to rush away from her eyes, showing the extra-glossiness of her white orbs from the precense of her salty tears.
"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," she said, smiling up at Valandil. Kagome nodded in agreement.
"Exactly. You take all the time you need to get comfortable with us, and if you don't even want to tell us...then...well, that's okay too," Kagome said matter-of-factly. A small smile played on Valandil's lips, and she laughed, feeling silly for getting all emotional over a simple question.
The girls quickly decided to head back to the camp before the men ended killing eachother and somehow burning down the forest as well. When they reached the clearing where the boys were, they didn't even find a camp. On one end of the "camp" Sesshomaru leaned against a tree, his eyes closed, seemingly ignoring everyone else, yet when Valandil entered the area, he opened an eye and fixated it on her. On the other side of camp we find InuYasha up on a tree branch, occasionally running his hand over the bruise forming on his broken cheek, wincing if he pressed on an especially tender area. And finally, we find Miroku and Shippou attempting to make a fire. Attempting as in trying to get a hold of the sticks that keep running away from them, squeaking teasingly as they ran circles around the exasperated pair. As they entered camp, Miroku stopped chasing after the little twigs, and fell onto the forest floor.
"Damn...sticks," he mumbled as they ran across his chest and around his body, squeaking along...squeak, squeak, squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak. The silence (well, besides the squeaking) was broken by the chiming laughter of Valandil.
"What, may I ask, is so funny?" Miroku asked, the usually patient monk turned edgy by the relentless uncatchible squeak monsters. Valandil successfully swallowed her laughter, yet a large smile stayed plastered on her face as she approached the testy monk.
"Well, shoo shoo," she began, waving her hands at the little twigs, clearing them away from Miroku and holding out a hand, which he gratefully took, "why would you continue to chase around them when they have made it plenty clear that they do not want to be part of your camp fire. Secondly, well, scat, I don't know. You got yourself into a silly predicament over a silly campfire. Let me take care of it." She walked past Sesshomaru, out of the clearing. She went over to a large tree and bowed. She then put her hand on the old, twisty tree and began to whisper to it. The group watched her with interest, all but InuYasha.
"Feh, what's talking to a tree gonna do? Besides prove that she is some crazy, blind wench?" he said loudly, gaining a glare from Sesshomaru and a "sit" from Kagome. Valandil then backed away from the tree, bowed again, and stood there, erect and alert. Suddenly her hand shot out and she caught a perfectly cut log and put it in the crook of her arm. Another fell, and then another until she had enough wood to last them all night. She turned to them smiling.
"Lucky for us, most of the trees in the forest are kind enough to share." Valandil then clear a place on the forest floor and placed a circle of rocks around said area. She then stacked the logs within the circle. Shippou then stepped forward.
"I guess I can start the fire, seeing as I have fox fire," he said, all to happy to think he was assissting the beautiful demoness. Valandil knelt next to him.
"Mind if I help to. I mean compared to the fox fire, mine isn't much but," she started. Shippou waved dismissively.
"Well, I guess if you really want to, you can help. I mean, my fox magic is the greatest, most..."
"Great," she said, "let's get started then." Both demons stepped a small distance away from the fire. Shippou let loose his magic.
"Fox fire!" he yelled, lighting some of the kindling aflame. Valandil stepped up to small flame, and put her palm out to it.
"Um," shippou said, "I don't think it's big enough yet to heat the area just yet." Valandil turned towards him and smiled. Then, a fantastic flame shot from her hand into their little hearth, engulfing the wood in a high, red flame.
"Whoa!" Shippou exclaimed, "How did you do that? Are you a fox demon too?" Valandil shook her head.
"No, I'm not. I am the daughter of a demon that can control water and a demoness that can control fire," she said.
"You mean you can control elements?"
"Yes," she said nodding.
"But why control both water and fire?" Kagome asked, "Why not just fire. Fire is powerful enough. Water doesn't seem that...well..."
"Well, I can't really help the fact that I control both, it was just how I was born, but think about it. Every living thing on this planet has water in it. Every single one. In theory, if I can control water, I can control living things."
"I've never thought of that before," Sango said.
"Speaking of water, would you boys like me to show you the way to the springs now that we have made our fire?" she asked. Miroku nodded.
"Yes, I would be very grateful for a hot bath." Valandil turned to leave their camp when InuYasha landed in front of her, cutting her off.
"We don't need you to show us the way to the springs. We can find them ourselves. Come on, Miroku!" he said, grabbing the monk by the sleeve and dragging him into the darkness. Valandil turned to Sesshomaru, who she noticed had not moved from his spot leaning against the tree.
"Aren't you going to go?"
"No," he said simply. After a few hours the boys returned, more dirty than before. They obviously had no luck in finding the springs. Valandil let out a snort, and InuYasha sent her a dirty look. InuYasha went over to her, and sat on his haunches, intentionally invading her personal space, but she just remained as she was, unfazed by his attempt to aggrivate her.
"Cut it out InuYasha," Kagome yelled. Valandil turned her face towards him so they were nose to nose, her white eyes level with his amber ones. Unable to hold her eerie gaze, InuYasha turned his attention to the fire.
"So who are you anyway? What are you doing here anyway? And what business do you have with Naraku?"
"Well, I am, as a said, the daughter of two powerful demons who resided here in the west. When I was around 13 in human years, Naraku attacked my home and killed my parents. One of his demons blinded me. He took the form of my betrothed to try to fool me so he could kill me since his minion failed to do so. I ran into this Forbidden Forest. I would have rather faced a death in this forgotten place than by the hands of the loathsome host of weak demons." she said, trying to shorten her history as much as possible.
"We were all betrayed by Naraku as well," Kagome said. "You said you had a fiance. Did he ever come to find you? Who is he?" Valandil's heart did a flipflop as she thought of the powerful demon behind her, the intensity of his gaze burning holes in her back.
"No one. He was no one," she said, feeling Sesshomaru's gaze lighten. She felt slightly guilty for not admitting that Sesshomaru, was in fact, her fiance, but the what if's began to flood her mind. "Anyway," she continued, "I need to avenge my parents death. When I find him, I will kill him."
"Well then," Sango started, "Why don't you travel with us. You can get Naraku out of your forest, and it will be easier to defeat him if we attack him together. Besides, we need to be led to where he is, and we heard rumors that he was residing in this forest." Valandil nodded.
"I know where he is. I will take you to him. But it will be a long journey." After discussing the matter further, the group decided that it would be in their best interest to go to sleep now and get an early start in the morning.
Once she was sure everyone was asleep, Valandil tiptoed out of the camp in the direction of the hotsprings, so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't even notice that Sesshomaru was no long present in the area. Once she was at a safe distance from the camp, she let a sigh come loose from her lungs. What a day she had had. She deserved a nice, hot bath. Once she reached the springs, she stripped off her clothing, hanging it over a tree brach. She waded into the water, her muscles instantly relaxing as the steamy water hit her skin. She quickly went underwater and resurface, then leaned back, hoping to feel cool, smooth stone behind her back, but itstead, bumped against something hard, yet soft and warm. A familiar scent hit her nostrils and as she turned, her hands met a hard, toned chest, the chest of noneother than...
"Sesshomaru."
omg, do you know how long that took me to write that...god i wish it could be better, but i had a hard time with it when i thought...if he's been in her forest, how come she didn't go after him yet, so i just went with she was on her way anyway...so review...and tell me what you think...i would make the chapter longer but i hafta go to bed.
sorry my updating has been slow. schools in and i have no time to just sit and write anymore...thankfully...the rulers of taking away writers block and giving me time met up and thought i deserved to have some time to jot my ideas down...so review! yay!
Love, Peace, and Water Polo,
Phish
