Disclaimer : Inuyasha's characters don't belong to me.
Warning : If you hadn't read or watch entirely Inuyasha's manga or anime, this chapter contain lot of spoilers!
EmikoSakura27 : Thank you so much for your kind words !
Chapter 10: Sadness
The night was falling quickly. Auriane who was a little bored, could hear Jaken grumbling in his corner while Rin was telling Ah-Un all the stories he had missed. Her gaze settled on the Taiyoukai who was walking ahead of the group. Biting her lips, she wondered if she could try her to have a civilized conversation with Sesshomaru, the youkai of few words.
At first, thinking back to the events of the morning, she preferred to be keep out of the limelight, not knowing how he would react toward her. After a few minutes, the temptation was too strong. She quickened her pace to reach Sesshomaru and asked him, "Sesshomaru where are we heading?"
A shrill voice responded instead of the Lord, "Stop bothering the Lord with your stupid questions!"
The woman growled low. She could feel a terrible want to kill sizing her, but to her frustration, when she turned around to hit Jaken on his head, he was already running behind his Lord.
Curious, she listened the imp talk and sweat drop, "My Lord may I ask where are we heading?"
"Jaken this is just what I said slack brain!" The human told him outraged.
"We are looking for the sorceress and Naraku." Sesshomaru answered interrupting their quarrel.
Slowly, Auriane saw Jaken turning his head toward her who sent her a mocking grimace. Knowing the toad and his love for rocks, she decided to surprise him and offered him one delicately right between his eyes.
In the middle of the night, Rin was fast asleep on Ah-Un's back, cozy and warm under the blanket the woman had wrapped around her, while the group was still advancing. They arrived in the middle of a thick forest when Sesshomaru ordered them to stay there.
Jaken and Auriane weren't complaining. They were so happy to finally being able to take a break! Around the small fire Jaken had lit, the human cooked some food in a pot.
"Do you think Lord Sesshomaru is gone after Naraku? Or the sorceress maybe?" The toad aked Auriane.
"I have no idea why he left us here…" She answered.
"You are so useless pitiful human! I wonder why I even asked you! You know nothing." The toad said arrogantly.
"Jaken! You don't seem to value your life tonight! You should watch your tongue cause i think that I have a furious desire to eat toad legs!" The woman menaced.
"You wouldn't dare nasty woman!" The imp huffed. His high pitched voice made Rin groan in her sleep.
Auriane gave his food to the toad before starting to eat what was in her pot. Looking toward the child she said, "We will leave some food for her if she wakes up."
Jaken was happily eating when he saw the woman next to him spitting her food on the ground. With a little smile at the corner of his lips, he suddenly ran away the moment Auriane rushed toward him like an hysterical woman. His fun was stopped when she jumped on his body. "It's not my fault I promise!" The toad justified.
"Who else could have done it? Huh Jaken? Since you just ruined my supper with your stupid joke Jaken, i'll have to feast on you!" Auriane caught him by his neck and added, "Finally no, I think i have a better idea!" The woman reached for her pot containing her ruined food and poured the content inside Jaken's mouth, forcing him to swallow.
"What are you doing Auriane-chan?" Rin questioned her sleepily.
"Oh, don't worry Rin. While you were sleeping, Jaken just had a curious envy to eat food mixed with stone and a little bit of earth tonight." The woman answered, "I am just fulfilling his wish! Are you hungry?"
Dawn was making its appearance, but oddly, no noise was heard apart for the toad's snoring while the birds and insects were mutes. A deadly feeling sent shudders along Auriane's spine, waking her up with a start. Looking around the camp, she saw that she wasn't the only one awake. Ah-Un was looking intently toward the part of the forest in front of them. Something inside her guts urged her to flee.
"Rin, Jaken! Time to wake up!" She said while packing their belongings before throwing her bag over her shoulder. She was helping Rin to mount on the dragon's back when a dark and suffocating aura came their way.
"My, my, it is not a way to welcome a guest!" A male voice was heard behind a tree.
Jaken walked toward the voice and stopped at the edge of the camp holding his Ninjoto in an offensive manner, ready to use it if the intruder dared to approach. "Who dares to cross the territory of the Lord Sesshomaru, will perish in the flames of my Nintojo!" The toad menaced.
They heard the laughing voice coming closer, "I am Dosan and I do not fear fire little toad." A tall effeminate man emerged in front of the little group.
Jaken tensed, "You are Naraku's puppet! I can smell him on you!"
"Woaw! Great perspicacity! I am blown away by such clairvoyance!" Dosan replied while eyeing the woman.
"What do you want excepted to make us loose our time?" Auriane asked him.
Taking a nonchalant pose the youkai informed them, "I am here because I have the authorization to come and play with the pack of the repugnant dog Lord." Pouting he added, "Sadly, i am only allowed to just kill one member of this ridiculous pack." Then suddenly he was laughing hysterically, "But I already made my choice! It will be the woman! I love women's screams while I torture them!"
Auriane walked to Jaken, "I am under the impression he is a little disturbed."
"Shut up woman didn't you hear that he wants to kill you?" The toad growled at her.
"Sesshomaru-sama will come to save us ugly monster!" Rin exclaimed from Ah-Un's back.
Dosan roared of laughter, "Your Lord is busy far away from here. I have all the time I want to play with you dear little girl!"
"Jaken, go on Ah-Un! Right now!" Auriane said feeling the danger. If the Lord couldn't make it here in time, she'll have to make diversion, even if she wasn't able to kill Dosan.
Seeing that the petrified Jaken wasn't listening to her, she caught him in her arms and run toward Ah-Un. Placing him in front of Rin she said, "Ah-Un! Fly to your master!"
"Where do you think you are going toys? I didn't have the time to play with you!" Dosan exclaimed mockingly.
The moment Auriane saw the youkai taking his strange crooked sword to raise it toward Ah-Un, she called her axe and sent it fly right into his ribs. Dosan was shocked by the burning pain caused by the axe. Not letting the time to the weapon to invade his body, the youkai disappeared under the woman's eyes, making the axe fall loudly on the ground. He reappeared treacherously behind her and gave her a hard kick on her back. Taking back her balance right away, she turned around freeing her gauntlet's blade to deeply cut his cheek.
They were facing each other. Dosan was becoming more and more excited. He loved it when his prey resisted him. Roaring, he released a violent attack of energy toward the young woman. Auriane saw the attack coming and thought she would not survived, but sudden and powerful wind propelled Dosan's attack to the side, making him miss his target. "Damn it!" He roared furiously. He wanted to throw a second blow of energy but he saw the woman disappearing inside the mini tornado created by the wind. A few seconds later, he was left alone in the former camp. "How has she done it?"
Auriane's head was spinning dangerously. When she sought to stabilize herself, clinging to the first thing that came to her hands, she was surprised to feel soft clothing. Opening her eyes, she was shocked to see none other than Kagura and that they were seated on one of her giant feather.
"Yo human, long time no see!" Kagura said without turning around.
"Kagura? But what are you doing here?" Auriane was stunned. She was the last person she expected to see.
"I can take you back if you wish, but you'll not survive long." The youkai laughed.
"Whatever, thank you." An uneasy silence settled between the females. Auriane nervous, didn't understand Kagura's behavior, even though she couldn't feel any malice coming from the youkai. Trying to break this uncomfortable silence she said, "So, earlier, were you just passing through and decided to come save a human or…"
Kagura cut her, "I was on my way to freedom, when the wind told me about Naraku's puppets intentions to keep the Lord busy while one of his humans would be killed. I just came to investigate and saw you. From my point of view, you were in a fucking shit down there. You wouldn't have last long." She had hoped that if she saved the human, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha would accept to help her gain her freedom.
"Well thank you again for your intervention. Even though I'm still wondering why you would help me." Auriane stopped herself a moment, realizing suddenly Kagura's words. "Your freedom? Did Naraku free you?"
"No, I escaped, flying away." Closing her eyes with sadness the youkai added, "He still has my heart."
Feeling the youkai's pain, the human was profoundly touched by her sadness and hope. The woman didn't have words strong enough to comfort Kagura so she used the only thing she thought could do to help the youkai. Kagura was uneasy the moment she felt the human circling her arms around her, but when she felt her aura soothing her, cradling her, she couldn't help the small smile crossing her red lips. It was such a foreign feeling to just feel… Kagura felt compelled to talk, to confess things to the girl, like her worries, her hopes and what she will do the day she get back her freedom. Auriane would have never thought that one day, she would be in this kind of situation with Kagura. But here she was, talking friendly with the youkai, telling her things about her life. It was strange but at the same time it felt so natural.
She was taken back to reality by the last enigmatic sentence of the youkai, "It's funny to think you have been closer to the Lord that i'll certainly never be."
'Does she has feeling for him?' "What do you mean?" The woman wondered curiously.
The youkai didn't have the time to answer. The women were petrified by Naraku materialization in front of them.
Hearing his first words, Auriane tried to make Kagura go away, clutching to her desperately she said in her ear, "Please, don't listen to him! He's lying Kagura! Please we should go away!"
Through her aura, she could feel the hope rising into the youkai. Her hope for freedom was so strong that she didn't know how to convince Kagura to go away to stay alive, "Are you listening to me Kagura? He will kill you! Please we'll find another solution but don't listen to him!"
Kagura was imprisoned between two emotions. She wanted to escape like the human wanted, but she also wanted to believe Naraku came here to give her back her freedom so desperatly.
Once her decision was made, she caught the human by the arm and threw her overboard, not forgetting to send one of her feather under the girl, ordering it to fly away, far from Naraku.
Auriane was screaming for Kagura to follow her. She had felt Naraku bad intentions toward his slave, but Kagura took her by surprised at the last moment. She couldn't see them anymore. She had to make this feather land so she'll be able to find a way to go back there as soon as possible to try to help Kagura. While clinging tightly, she put all her weight on the front of the feather and felt it move toward earth, slowly at first, then increasingly rapidly. Seeing the ground coming closer at high speed, she panicked. Heart pounding, she unsuccessfully tried to put back her weight at the rear of the magic feather to slow her fall.
"Ohhhhh noooo! I need a fucking miracle! Right now if possible!" She screamed desperately. How could she help Kagura while being dead?
The shock was brutal. She was violently ejected from feather. Her body did hit the ground and slid as if she was just an inarticulate rag doll. She dared not move, her body was still in shock of the collision. But soon, when the events passed through her bruised head, she felt a dark oppression inside her ribcage, "Kagura!" She thought to have screamed her name, while in truth, in her conditions, she could only murmur words. Something was wrong, very wrong, she had to get up and look for the female youkai quickly. She began to try to get up with difficulty, her ears were buzzing so she didn't hear the multiple footsteps rushing toward her.
Once she raised her head to look around her and to see where she was, Auriane was stunned to see Inuyasha and the rest of her friends running in her direction. First, she felt an immense joy to see their faces, until her heart recalled Kagura. Joy leaving place to despair…
"Oy! What happened to you wench?" Inuyasha asked her alarmed when he saw her bruised body.
"Stop insulting her while she's obviously under shock Inuyasha!" Kagome roared, turning her worried eyes to Auriane she asked, "What happened to you Auriane? Aren't you supposed to be with Sesshomaru?"
"Keh! I can feel Naraku not far away!" Inuyasha growled, "What did the jerk do to you? He keeps giving me reasons to want to kill him this bastard!"
Sango and Miroku were leading Auriane toward Kirara gently while she exclaimed, "Kagura! He's gonna kill Kagura! We have to help her!"
The group tensed at the news. Looking at each other silently they agreed with their eyes they had to interrupt Naraku's plan and save Kagura at the same time.
"Auriane go on Kirara, You, Kagome on my back!" The hanyo said, urging Kagome to be quicker. He will not let Kagura die by the hand of the bastard.
Sango sat behind Auriane so she could steady her for the run. Kirara and Miroku were running behind Inuyasha who was tracking the youkai and the hanyou by their scents.
After a few minutes of run, Inuyasha suddenly stopped the moment he detected something dark at the other side of the forest. He knew his brother was there and at first, Kagura too, but he could feel her scent dissipating slowly… He had to make a clean breast and learned what happened over there.
The group gasped at the sight of the Lord alone in the field of flowers.
"Where is Kagura?" Shippo asked to no one in particular, with the innocence of a child.
Dismounting Kirara, Sango helped Auriane and Shippo to come down, then replied with regrets in her voice, "She isn't in the living world anymore Shippo." The little kitsune looked down at his hands, trying to hide his sadness.
The group followed Inuyasha who hastened to go interrogate his brother. Auriane listened to the brothers through gritted teeth. She felt like she had failed Kagura in some way. She hadn't been able to save her like she did for her. 'I am a failure' The woman thought angrily.
"Did Kagura suffer?" She heard Inuyasha's voice.
Auriane's eyes were glued to Sesshomaru's back. She could feel odd feelings coming from him. Opening her senses wider, she observed that he didn't know how to feel about these new foreign emotions himself, after watching Kagura die before his eyes, but deep down, he was affected in some way by her death. She soon cut herself out of him, feeling she was intruding into his personal grief and watched him leave engrossed in his own mind.
The young woman took a small flower in her hand and looked at it with watery eyes. She hadn't known Kagura for long, but the youkai who at first was an enemy, turned to be her savior. She had felt her deepest desire, this irresistible want to be free and died trying to realize her dream, protecting her from their deepest enemy at the same time. Taking a deep breath, she smiled slightly, comforting herself on the thought that Kagura wasn't alone when she passed away. Sesshomaru, the Lord Kagura certainly had feelings for, was there to watch over her. Looking at the immense field, she placed the small flower inside a paper to keep it in her bag when a light and soft breeze brushed against her face…
She couldn't believe how many things happened since that fateful day, as if Kagura's death was the start of the end of Naraku. These few weeks took place so quickly with so many battles that they were exhausted. Fate had spared nothing to them, like the pain of losing loved ones, the pain of love, the pain of battles and doubts.
Their encounter with the youkai Ryujin and the blacksmith Toshu helped Inuyasha to increase Tessaiga's power while aspiring the scales of the dragon. But it wasn't enough to kill Moryomaru even by joining forces with Koga! The same evening, they had their first encounter with the new incarnation of Naraku, Byakuya who appeared in front of them, informing them he was only there to observe, but the gang knew they'll see him again very soon…
Soon after their second encounter with Moryomaru, Naraku inflicted a huge loss to the group. Kikyo sacrificed herself to save Miroku from the hanyo miasma. Although Kagome did everything in her power to save the priestess, it hasn't been enough. Kagome had fought her own heart to obtain the bow which would have been able to save Kikyo, but Naraku was there in the shadow, waiting the good moment to act and he succeeded, even if in the end, he had been push back by the association of the two priestesses who had joined their forces. For the short time Kikyo had been in contact with Inuyasha's pack, she had managed to prove them her infinite goodness. Her death wounded them deeply and even more Inuyasha, who has been unable to protect his first love from the pain she had been through.
Naraku reserved them again a tragic battle against Kanna, during which he hadn't hesitated to sacrifice her. However, before dying, Kanna gave a important information to Kagome, showing her the small portion of light that was in the Shikon no tama. The light that could cause the end of Naraku.
Inuyasha's pack and Sesshomaru's pack survived numbers of events thereafter. During the brothers 's battle against Shishinki, they learned their swords came from the same blade. After defeating their enemy, thanks to a complete Meido, Sesshomaru challenged Inuyasha in a battle to see whether or not he was worthy of wielding their father's fang of destruction. Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga's powers merged after Sesshomaru made his brother break Tenseiga. This moment did marked a new beginning for the two brothers. Inuyasha had become stronger, more mature to be able to master a power such as Meidou Zangetsuha. While Sesshomaru became mature enough to abandon his resentment, his desire to own Tetsusaiga, which was the only real average to become more powerful.
Before finally arriving to face Naraku for the final battle, they had to face the dark side of the Shikon no Tama, Magatsuhi for the first time. Sesshomaru who was fightingt against him without a sword, has been wounded and made prisoner of the body Magatsuhi, which allowed the Taiyoukai to surprise everyone when he discovered his own sword sleeping inside him. The fact he had finally given up Tetsusaiga, allowed him to acquire his own powerful weapon, achieving his fantasizes to surpass his father.
They thought they could breathe again when Naraku's body was destroyed. However, they barely had time to celebrate their victory when Kagome was swallowed up by the Meido, created by Byakuya when he slashed her across the back with his blade, while they were fighting Naraku just a few minutes ago. They all watched stunned Inuyasha using his Meido Zangestuha to jump into the darkness after Kagome, hoping he will be able to save her.
Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Auriane took turns to watch for their return tirelessly. When the woman returned for the first time in the village to rest, Auriane had the strange surprise to see Rin and Jaken around Kaede's fire.
"Hey! Rin, Jaken! Aren't you with Sesshomaru?" The woman said sitting next to them, while Kaede offered her food nicely.
"This is all your fault!" Jaken exclaimed spitting food on her face in the process. "Sesshomaru-sama left us behind to go… I don't know where!"
"Well I don't see how it can be my fault stupid imp! Maybe he couldn't stand your stench anymore so he had to take a break from your incessant lacrimation!" Auriane answered imitating his cries comically.
Rin was laughing at her friend antics while Kaede told Jaken to shut up before he even had the time to roar his anger at Auriane. Sometime later in the evening, when Rin and Jaken were fast asleep, Kaede asked her, "Aren't you tired? You should be asleep already. Care to tell me what is on your mind?"
Auriane smile at the old sympathetic woman, "I think I'm too worried to find sleep, just like everyone else I think." She said thinking about her three other friends waiting outside.
"The well disappearance not only means that Inuyasha and Kagome are blocked somewhere…" Kaede looked at her in the eyes and added, "It also means that you are forced to stay in this world."
Closing her eyes, Auriane answered, "Actually, my head egoistically tell me there is no hope for me to go back into my world, but my heart prevents me from moping. My heart is so focus on Inuyasha and Kagome's welfare that I can't pity on myself. Right now, I just want to see them coming back, or just know that they're safe somewhere. But… but we don't know where they are and it worries me so much! It's eating me inside!"
"I understand child." Kaede said placing a hand on Auriane's shoulder. "I'm sure they will be alright. Inuyasha is stubborn enough to make sure of that."
Auriane laughed at the true words of Kaede, looking at her she asked, "What are you doing?"
"Well, since you can't sleep, you may do me a favor and go bring food to the other three outside who can't sleep either!" Kaede said with a big smile while she prepared pots of food inside a basket. She knew it would occupy the young woman's mind.
"I'll be happy to help you!" The woman said.
It was a clear and soft night. Auriane was walking toward her friends with the basket of food in one hand and two blankets in the other one. The conversation was of course about their two missing friends and what they could do to help them if they didn't came back.
"Kaede said she trusted Inuyasha stubbornness to save Kagome and find a way back." Auriane said in the midst of the conversation, while unconsciously reaching for her necklace around her neck.
Seeing her frowned Sango asked her, "Auriane-chan is something wrong? You seem preoccupied."
"I lost my necklace. Certainly when we were fighting Naraku…" She felt like she was losing everything suddenly. First her two friends were missing, sucked in by the Meido, then the well, her only ticket to go back to her world is also missing and now the precious gift Kotaro gave her was lost!
"We will help you to find it Auriane-chan!" Miroku said wanting to cheer her up.
"Don't worry about it Miroku, i don't want to bother you with this." Her friends had enough on their mind. She didn't want to bother them for a necklace.
After dinner, Shippo began to doze. The poor kitsune was exhausted by all these fights and emotions.
Shippo tried to insist that he was alright and didn't need sleep, but Auriane said, "Get up kitsune, you have to get your strength back for the moment they come back. Whose gonna annoyed Inuyasha if you're too tired?" The woman finally managed to convince to follow her to Kaede's home.
Auriane got up at dawn to have time to look for her necklace before going to take her turn of guard. She had just arrived in the fields which were under Naraku's spider body, when she felt him coming out of the forest. Without turning to Sesshomaru, her searching eyes glued to the ground, she attempted to make a civilize conversation, "Patrolling?" Not receiving an answer she thought, 'Of course no answer. Talking to my ass would be more productive!'
Thinking back to what happened to him previously, she started to talk to him, without expecting any answer, "I'm really happy for you. You've finally found out that the most powerful power was in you. And you even get back a new arm! Really that was an amazing sight to witness! So, how does it feel like?"
She was truly stunned when she heard his deep and calm voice, "Satisfying."
She didn't know why his voice had a calming effect on her nerves. Forgetting a few seconds what she was looking for, she turned to him and looked at Bakusaiga. This sword was really magnificent, perfect. She didn't know why she felt so compelled to touch it, but refrained herself to do so. She still valued her life. "Bakusaiga is truly perfect." She said raising her eyes to his.
The Lord ignored her words, his golden eyes burning into hers. The moment he started talking, he turned his gaze toward the fields, "You are not in the safety of the village."
At first, she felt like a child being scowled, but she chose to tease him, "Are you worried for my safety Milord? I am surprised that you care!" Seeing his displeased look at her words, she laughed and added, "I was just looking for my necklace."
"They said the priestess came from another world and she could travel to this Era by the missing well." Sesshomaru said. She started to understand where he was going with this conversation. "Are you from the same world?" He questioned her.
Knowing she didn't have any reasons to hide the truth from him anymore she answered, "Yes I am. But it's not really another world. It's more like we come from 500 years in the future."
She saw him raising his brows at her words. Apparently, he wasn't expecting this. Looking at him, she felt like he wanted to ask her a lot of questions but didn't voice them. Feeling the first rays of sun caressing her cheeks she realized it was time to go replace her friends. She'll come back later for her necklace. She excused herself before walking away, "Well Sesshomaru, it was a pleasure to have a deep and passionate conversation with you, but I really have to take my turn of watch."
The Lord stayed there unmoving. He had felt her sadness when she had mentioned the necklace earlier. He found it strange how humans could become attached to simple objects. Walking away, he thought about why he was still there. Rin and Jaken needed rest and he admitted to himself that he was also curious. He was just curious to see if his brother would succeed. He was a hanyo, so of course he had human feelings, but he also had his father blood in him and two days ago, just like their father, he sacrificed himself to go save his human. He wanted to know if he will succeed at saving her and come back alive, not like their father. So he let Rin and Jaken rest in the human village while he occupied himself by killing youkais who tried to approach the village. This morning, he had felt the onna leaving the village and followed her, wanting to know where she was going. So many things happened since they were travelling together and now he just had the first answer of so many questions concerning the woman. The reason of her and Inuyasha's priestess oddity was because they came from the future by a well. He thought these information were worth of his curiosity.
Auriane and Shippo were joined by Sango and Miroku in the early afternoon. The four friends were waiting for a miracle in silence when they saw a column of light appearing in front of them. They stood up with hope in their heart when they saw the bone eater came back at its original place. They were shocked to see only that Inuyasha was coming out of it. The hanyo informed them quickly that Kagome was safe with her family before rushing toward the forest. His friends looked at each other, satisfied for the hayo's return and by the fact Kagome was alright. But they chose to leave Inuyasha alone respectfully, knowing he was certainly affected by the fact that Kagome wasn't here with him. After enjoying their dinner, the gang went to sleep, their heart worrying about the hanyo who hadn't showed up since his return.
Auriane couldn't sleep, without thinking she let her feet guide her toward the well. Kaede told them the well was sealed since the return of Inuyasha. Her mind was ingesting that she may be condemn to never go back to the modern world. Without being aware of it, she felt hot tears flowing from her eyes.
"We will find a way." She heard Kaede's voice.
"I don't think that I have as much faith as you about it Kaede." The woman answered.
"Come, we will watch the stars together." Kaede put her hand on Auriane's back, pushing her away from the source of her sorrow.
"This well took us so much. It took Kagome away from Inuyasha and my modern life away from me. But I think that I'm too tired to hate or to be angry." Auriane told her friend while they were walking.
Kaede was about to answer when they spotted Inuyasha sitting on the grass. The women, took place near him silently and looked at the stars. No words were heard for a very long while. Inuyasha was the first to break the silence after what seems to be an eternity. The women listened to him talked about what happened without interruption. Through his words, they could feel the hanyo sadness but Auriane could feel something else inside him. She could feel hope. She felt inside of him, Inuyasha hoped that he would see the love of his life again. The woman felt his determination to believe it deep inside of her. Looking at the stars, Auriane made the wish to see Inuyasha and Kagome finding their way back to each other. She really desired with every pore of her skin to see them reunited for good. They deserved it after everything they had been through.