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(-) "Sesshoumaru" – 'The Path to Destiny' (-)
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(Sometimes the essence of life; to have, to want, to hold, to love, to feel and to cherish, is a gift that not all receive. It may be found by means of a simple truth or an obvious realization, but only a few have the power to find it in others - PurePower)
Chapter 11: The Gift of the Essence of Life
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Kikyo's long hair was thrown up as her head went slanting down, but because her left leg had been on secure footing she was able to twist herself and just barely grab onto the edge of the path with both her hands. She held onto the two edges that were now revealed because of the missing rock in between, but her hands had jerked hard when they halted her body from falling. All the muscles were pulled, and they were screaming in pain. The expression on Kikyo's face though remained the same: blank. They could both be so stubborn sometimes.
Then the edges began to give way as well. From the corner of her eyes she saw Sesshoumaru standing there, quiet and unmoving. She would be damned if she asked him for help, especially not after what he had done this morning. She strained her muscles and tried to lift herself up, and it was working, but then the edges gave way. She slid down the mountain, loosening small rocks and sending them tumbling down before they broke into smaller pieces as they collided with it. In a desperate attempt she was able to grab hold of a rough protrusion of cold hard rock that was untidily sticking out from the mountain wall. Now her hands had absorbed double shocks. It was too much. Looking up at her shaking fingers, she could see Sesshoumaru standing over the edge, only he was not looking at her. Instead he was looking at the great forest that stretched out behind her. She was still angry, and still as stubborn as ever. She noticed her fingers start to lose their grip. First one finger failed, then another, and another, and the weight was too much for the rest of her fingers to bear. They released their grip on the rock, sending her falling down the mountain.
She fell horizontally. The mist that hung around the mountain slowly hid her form. She wore the same expression on her face and she saw that Sesshoumaru still had not looked at her. He turned and walked away, disappearing out of her sight.
No emotions except for anger ran through her. She would never see that cruel demon again.
The air rushed through her. Her hair and parts of her clothes fluttered in the wind. She would not close her eyes this time, unlike the last time she had expected to die when she faced off against Sesshoumaru under the Cloud Tree. She just fell.
A blur of white appeared beside her, leaving a trail behind it. It wrapped itself around her waist, first slowing her speed and then coming to a complete stop in midair. She realized with a start that she was being held up by the end of Sesshoumaru's fury pelt. The pelt just held her in the air. Her hair fell to obey the laws of gravity. The wind was strong around her. The pelt did not move.
Kikyo frowned. Then with a lurch, the pelt shot back up, carrying her with it. It moved so very fast. Faster than when she was falling. So fast that she could not breathe. She saw the edge of the path where she had fallen approach very quickly. She was carried over it and, with a flick, held right in front of Sesshoumaru. Her feet dangled in the air. He simply stared at her, his eyes level with hers as she was held up by the pelt. The length of arrow separated them. She narrowed her eyes some more, but Sesshoumaru's remained his usual cold suns.
"So Miko, you finally decided you want to live. Quite an effort you made to pull yourself back up," Sesshoumaru said nonchalantly.
Silence. Only the howling of the wind made itself aware.
But it was impossible for Kikyo to keep quiet. The way he judged her, the way he looked at her, something inside Kikyo just had to talk, even if it was just meaningless babble. It had to let him hear her voice. So the words just came out, and it came out meaningfully.
"I decided I wanted to live when I blasted that water demon," Kikyo yelled in anger, her cheeks flushed. "It was my need to live that helped me survive his whirlpool attack and destroy his dark power. So what the hell do you mean by saying that I finally decided to live now, after all this time!"
Sesshoumaru smirked. "You humans are so oblivious to what you do, and even more so to what you have accomplished. Foolish girl. What helped defeat that demon was your purification power and nothing else. It was acting on its own well before we saw the demon, and did the same when the demon was about to kill you. It had absolutely nothing to do with your want to live, your desire to live. It simply had nothing to do with your will."
Kikyo stared at him wide eyed. Her fingers relaxed their grip on the fury pelt. She looked at him with confusion that was very apparent in her eyes. Was he trying to confuse her? No. He had no reason to do that. She just did not understand what he was trying to say about her. The nausea caused from the ride back up made her dizzy, but she shook it off. Her face turned to normal, but the doubt remained in her eyes. What was he trying to say to her?
Were all humans this ignorant, or was it just her, Sesshoumaru mused, seeing the questioning look in her eyes. He held back a sigh, "Back there, when you were hanging from the edge, that is when you were fighting to stay alive, that is when you truly decided you want to live." Sesshoumaru began explaining. He hated talking too much, but it seemed that her near death experience would be wasted if she did not learn or realize what could probably be one of the important things she will learn about herself and her life. "Your powers could not help you, I would not help you. All you had to rely on, was yourself, the strength of your heart, and the undeniable urge to survive, and you did just that. You gave it your all, perhaps even more, finally letting out your true will to survive, to live. And I am certain the anger you felt against me only served to give you more strength, and that is what helped you grab onto the rock the second time. Do you understand?"
Kikyo felt mesmerized and she looked it too. Everything the Taiyoukai had just said washed over her in a serenade wave of realization. She had been struggling to stay alive and her every fiber had burned and struggled to keep her body from falling, and to keep her away from death's black hand. She did not have any power to help her. The pain that had seared through her entire upper body had made it impossible for her to concentrate long enough to summon her silk serpents and her purification power was utterly useless against a mountain. It was sheer determination that had helped her hang on for as long as she did. The anger. The anger that plagued her. The anger that she felt towards the Taiyoukai. It had turned into fury, numbing her senses, numbing her pain, and giving just enough of a burst of strength to grab on the second time.
She remembered what the figure that stood before her had said that one night, 'anger is a strength'. She suddenly felt a warmth rush through her body. Tt was not power. It was not magic. It was her blood, blood that relished the thought of being able to course through her body, pumping her heart and keeping her alive. Joy spread like a vibrant force of energy, drenching Kikyo with that simple pleasure called happiness. At long last, for the first time in her life, in all her lives, she was set free. Now she really did want to live and looked forward to the future -a thought that she cringed away from in the past. She was finally ready to accept and explore the infinite possibilities of the future. And she owed it all to the Demon Lord's simple observation and comments. Inwardly she sighed at what the demon had just done to her, the affect he had had, the impression he had left, the gift that he had given her. Studying his countenance she knew that he had no idea that he had just freed her from a prison that seemed to have a key but no door. He had blown through every wall -the walls that she built up to make her forget that she was the undead and when given life that she was not wanted still. Shattered everything and ripped apart the iron that had bound her. Crushed everything that seemed to hold her back, and now …he stood before her, totally oblivious to he had done. His words of steel, like a sword that existed in the realm of the minds, melted by fury and forged by the wisdom he seemed to possess in overwhelming abundance, had first cut her down leaving her vulnerable and now filled her with her the truth of her own actions and desires, finally making her truly whole.
How could a Youkai cut through the messes of life and get straight to the core, seemingly with the ease of picking a flower? It was just inhuman, Kikyo thought, looking at his stoic face. He did not even know what he had done for her, and he called her ignorant. Hm! He certainly was out of the ordinary, even when he was acting like nothing but a cold demon hell hound. If you only knew Sesshoumaru. The anger that had burned for him since that morning dissipated into nothing. She cursed him in secret admiration. How could she stay mad at him when he just made her realize that she had gained the greatest aspect of life; the want to live it…
"Yes, I understand," she finally replied, softly, from the bottom of her heart, filled with gratitude and after a long, long time, perhaps even the first time, joy!
Her words seemed to echo softly throughout the land, as the wind carried it away. It was always pure melody to hear words from a heart of joy. For the first time, Kikyo smiled at Sesshoumaru in all honesty, holding nothing back.
Like a dying flame being given air to ignite again, pure radiant sunlight cut through a patch in the dark storm clouds, and shone on the beautiful Miko and the handsome Prince, like a spotlight, making their features stand out. To their eyes, everything around them seemed dark. Only the being in front of them seemed to be illuminated. The fierce winds instantly died out, morphing into a gentle breeze, as more rays of sunlight cut through the dark clouds, creating patches of clearly visible green trees glowing with their natural green in the darkened forest below. Soon enough all the storm clouds completely disappeared. If at all possible it seemed like the white and blue skies were softer now than in the morning.
For a moment Sesshoumaru forgot himself and saw the traces of what humans referred to as angels surround the woman before him. With her uninhibited smile and how the thick long sleeves of her haori almost seemed like wings as the sunlight sharply reflected off the white material as it rippled in the light breeze, she really seemed like a Tenshi. She has never smiled before, Sesshoumaru thought seriously. She looked like a different person. Strange how it unnerved him and yet projected a sense of warmth. She did on occasion fascinate him, for a human.
The fury pelt set Kikyo down gently, and unintentionally, teasingly unwrapped from around her waist, before settling down behind Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru's right eyebrow arched upwards at hearing the human Miko's reply, as if surprised that she was able to grasp the point. He decided it was time to resume the climb up the mountain path, thinking strongly that there had been enough distractions already.
Kikyo realized that Sesshoumaru might never realize how much his words had affected her, and also that from his point of view he was just stating the obvious. She looked away from him as another small smile escaped her lips, and she closed her eyes and looked down and to a side, a small plan forming in her mind. She felt him take a step and walk past her. Not this time, Taiyoukai. With that Kikyo reached behind with her right hand and took hold of his arm, over the white, silk sleeve. Since this was still day, it was a dangerous thing to do. Immediately he let out a slight growl. But the day had already been won. She did not let go, and she stood with her back to him.
"Thank you Sesshoumaru, for saving me," She said softly, almost in a whisper, and then let his hand go. As the Taiyoukai made his way up the path she whispered again, "In more ways than you know."
Sesshoumaru heard this, and Kikyo thought he might. He mused over it for a few moments before thinking it pointless and again set his concentration on the path before him.
Kikyo glanced back at him, wondering if she had successfully distracted him for even a second. She knew she had when he stopped walking and stood still. Soon though he was walking again, and the complete living being that was the Miko turned around and followed him with pride.
A good while later Sesshoumaru came to a stop.
"What is it?" Kikyo asked from behind him.
He did not reply immediately. Instead, from where he was, he turned to face the wall of the mountain, even though the path continued further up the mountain. "We are here."
Kikyo looked at the hard, blank mountain wall. Was she missing something? But if she had learnt anything for sure about Sesshoumaru, it was to never doubt his word. With a grating sound, a large section of the wall was lifted up and inside. Two porcupine demons in their demon form approached the two visitors. They bowed before showing them in. They were led along a narrow passage way and into a small room cut within the core of the mountain itself.
The guards stayed back as Sesshoumaru and Kikyo made their way forward. The room was lit by torches that were placed along the lengths of the walls. At the other end was an unbelievable sight. A demon, looking a lot like Totosai except for the fact that he was completely bald, was sitting at the other end, only he was sitting on his beard. His thick yellow beard was very long, and was folded in circular layers beneath him for several feet, giving him a good height even when sitting with knees bent and legs crossed. Kikyo forgot her manners and stared at him a while before being brought out of it by the form of Sesshoumaru moving in front of her and heading towards the old demon. When they were standing a few feet from his mound of beard they noticed that his eyes were still closed.
Sesshoumaru flexed his claws. Hearing the sound Shirinousai first opened his left eye, and studied both of them, before opening his right, and scrutinizing them further. This greatly irritated Sesshoumaru but he did not show it.
"Ah, Sesshoumaru Sama, Kikyo Sama, welcome to my humble abode," Shirinousai greeted with a smile. "Strange weather we've been having. I trust you had a pleasant journey?"
Nobody answered him.
"Of course, straight to the matter at hand. This may take a while to explain so you should make yourselves comfortable. "
"Get to the point old man. I do not like being delayed," Sesshoumaru said calmly but commandingly.
"You're just like your father Sesshoumaru Sama, always wanting to get straight to the point," Shirinousai complained, in a huff. "Well then, this is how the legend goes…"
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