Okay people, I'm seeing that you're skipping this so I'll explain something. THIS. PART. IS. IMPORTANT! It's as important as The Torture, so READ IT PLEASE! Otherwise you might be confused. Actually, all of them are important so read all of the parts!
The sun was slowly sinking on the forest, painting the sky in colors of orange, red, and blue. The trees were slowly darkening, which meant that youkai were out on the hunt.
Emiko crept across the forest. It wasn't hard to spot her with her hair, so she moved faster than the human eye could follow, dodging around trees and leaping from one spot to another. However, it wasn't the human eye that was following her.
"Die hanyou!" the snake youkai yelled, lunging at her.
Emiko whirled around, grinning. Perfect. Now I can see what the problem is. she drew out Fireheart, swinging it skillfully, "Come on scum! Try me."
The snake youkai attacked and Emiko slew it quickly with one thrust. Stabbing Fireheart in the ground, she sank down on her heels and watched it carefully. The blade was sharp, and the jewel still glowed, but the flames around it were weak. They throbbed sadly, their energy low. Resting her forehead against the jewel of the sword, she whispered to it. "Hey. What's going on huh? You're out of sorts and I need you to stay strong."
The sword pulsated once in response to her voice, but did nothing more.
"Sword still weak?" a voice asked.
Emiko looked up and saw Cynder stepping out from the trees, the last rays of sun hitting her hair and making it shine golden and her eyes to sparkle. Then the sun faded and her hair turned white blonde once more.
"Yeah. I dunno what's wrong. It's never done this before, never."
"Do you think it's dying?"
Emiko shook her head firmly, "No. My father said that one day it would become its true form, not that it would die."
"He said that it would become its true form when you realized what he wished for you." Cynder reminded.
"Oh yeah. So?"
"So maybe you should try to figure out what your father wanted."
"I don't know that. Believe me, I've thought about it before and I don't know."
"I think you will."
"How can you be so sure?"
Cynder smiled, "Just a gut feeling I guess." she turned and started walking back to the
camp, "Come on back when you're ready. Don't expect me to save you dinner though."
"Meanie!" Emiko called playfully.
"Yes I am." with that, Cynder disappeared.
Emiko sighed and stood up straight, sheathing Fireheart, "Well. I guess I'll make my
way back." Keirsha landed on one arm and she started walking, taking her time and enjoying the moment of freedom. I love the group and my onaway, but sometimes the quiet is nice. I know she does this too, and I can find my own dinner.
About an hour later, Emiko returned to the camp. The gang was sitting around a fire finishing the last of dinner. Sango waved as soon as she spotted her, "Hey! Come on over, we saved some for you!"
"Oh? I thought Cynder was eating it all?" Emiko teased.
Cynder sat back with a satisfied sigh, "I thought about it, but I'm not mean."
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, "If I was the one who was late, you would've eaten my dinner in a heartbeat!"
"Yeah, so? You don't count."
Inuyasha sputtered in indignation, "I... what?! I should count!"
"But you don't. Not in my world."
"Well this isn't your world so..."
"Really? I thought this was Cynder's world." Emiko said, "Huh! That's weird. Kagome, isn't this Cynder's world?"
"Hmmm, yep, I'm pretty sure it is."
The others nodded, "I agree."
"Definitely is."
"What other world could it be?"
Inuyasha growled at their innocent faces, "Teme..."
Cynder locked eyes with him, her devil grin spreading slowly across her face, "Inuyasha, isn't it my world?"
He sighed, "Fine. But only cause I'm being nice."
"No, it's only cause he'll get his butt kicked if he doesn't." Emiko murmured, loud enough for him to hear.
"Hey!" he attacked her.
She sprung lightly to a tree as Cynder leapt up, "No one attacks my onaway!"
The two tussled as Emiko let herself down and stood by Miroku, "She was begging me to do that."
"Agreed. She wanted a fight."
"Can you expect anything different?"
"Nope."
Smiling, Emiko sat down and ate her dinner, watching the show.
"You guys are killing me!" Inuyasha finally yelled and stomped off.
While he was gone, Cynder sat, looking at his dinner. A slow smile spread over her face and she picked up his fish. She put it in her mouth, left it there for a few seconds, and then put it back on his plate. The group grinned as her plan dawned on them. Shippo, who never got what they did to Inuyasha, stood up and went off to answer Mother Nature's call.
Inuyasha came walking back after a few minutes and sat down warily. Cynder put on a puppy face and held out her hand, "Look, I'm sorry I fought with you. Let's call a truce for the night at least."
Inuyasha was immediately on guard, but Cynder's sweet face was too much for his poor little heart. At least, that was what Emiko was thinking as he nodded, eyes softening, "Alright. For tonight."
"Shake on it?"
He nodded and they shook hands.
Afterwards, he reached for his dinner and ate slowly, unaware of the group shaking silently as they suppressed their mirth. At that moment, Shippo came back, stopped, and looked at Inuyasha, eyes wide, "Inuyasha! Did you just eat the fish Cynder claimed?"
Inuyasha froze, "N...nani?"
"Well she put the fish in her mouth and put it back so she claimed it, right?"
The group burst into roars of laughter as Inuyasha turned a crimson red and whirled around to face Cynder who was sitting with an innocent look on her face, "CYNDER!"
"What? I did it before our truce so you can't do anything." she said smugly.
Inuyasha was shaking with rage, but he could do nothing but sit tight, smoke practically coming out of his ears. Emiko watched, shaking still with laughter. Yeah, Cynder could always make her feel better. For a while, her fears were forgotten as she laughed and joked with the gang.
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Sesshomaru stood atop a mountain that was flat, looking out across the range. Jaken, Rin, and Ah Un were behind him, watching anxiously. He unsheathed Bakusaiga and watched as hundreds of demons came streaming out from the caves below, eyes red with battle lust.
"Bakusaiga!"
The demons screeched as they were evaporated. But, unlike when he first got his sword, the energy was low. The green and gold only got halfway through before fizzling out. However, it was enough for the demons to turn tail and flee. Sesshomaru sheathed Bakusaiga and strode from the cliff without a word, a sure sign that he was angry. No, not angry, wrathful. His own sword was not working the way it should, and he knew it. Something was wrong, it seemed tired. Striding quickly, he thought deeply about the problem. Totosai. I will pay him a visit and he will tell me the answer to my problem. That part I am sure of.
The next morning, Inuyasha woke up early. He was still steaming about the fish incident and so he had payback all ready to go. He snuck over to Cynder who was still sleeping. For one second, he was hesitant in waking her up, she looked so peaceful. Then, he remembered her innocent face last night and growled softly. He picked her up, leapt to the river and heaved her in with a huge splash.
Emiko woke up with a jolt, hearing the splash and running over to the river. Cynder was slowly sinking with Inuyasha smirking proudly. Emiko caught a wink from Cynder and breathed a small sigh of relief. Then, she marched over to Inuyasha and punched him.
"Hey!" he fell on his butt, "Teme..."
"What the hell are you doing?! Cynder can't swim!"
Inuyasha looked over and saw only bubbles where Cynder had been. He froze. He had expected her to wake up and start yelling at him, "But, but..."
"No buts!"
At that moment, the rest of the gang came running over. Shippo skidded to the edge of the river, "What's going on?"
"Inuyasha killed Cynder." Emiko snarled.
Shippo looked up at Inuyasha with big eyes, "What?! Inuyasha... why... why would you do that?" he started crying.
Inuyasha stammered and looked over at the river. Did I really kill her? he ran over and dived in without a word.
After a few minutes of waiting on the river's edge, Inuyasha emerged towing Cynder. He pulled her up onto the bank and sat next to her, "Cynder? Come on, wake up!"
Cynder didn't respond.
Inuyasha leaned close to her face, checking for breathing.
At that moment, Cynder's eyes shot open and she punched Inuyasha in the face so hard that he went flying to the other side of the river.
"WHAT. THE. HELL! Why were you so close to my FACE?!"
"I was checking to make sure you were still alive!" Inuyasha shouted back.
"Geez, can't you take a prank? Of course I'm still alive, I can swim you dolt!"
"But...but Emiko said..."
"And you believed her? Nice one by the way." she murmured the last part to Emiko.
"Always a pleasure." Emiko gave a mock bow.
Cynder stuck her tongue out at her and turned back to Inuyasha, "Now, say you're sorry."
"I will not! I was tricked!"
"Well fine then, you're staying on that side of the river!"
Inuyasha growled and prepared to leap across.
Cynder shifted into her wolf form and growled louder, sitting sentinel on that side of the river. Inuyasha huffed with irritation and sat down, staring fiercely at her.
"Come on. They're gonna be there forever." Emiko said, ushering the rest of the group away, "Oh and Shippo, sorry for making you cry."
"That's okay. If it's for getting Inuyasha, I'll do it more often." Shippo grinned.
Emiko grinned back, "We are teaching you well young pupil."
A few hours later, Emiko went over to sit with Cynder, "You gonna let him over yet?"
Cynder snorted and sent her a picture of Sesshomaru being nice. Emiko took that to mean, When Sesshomaru helps someone.
"Well technically, he already has..."
Cynder growled.
"Okay, okay, I get it. You're not letting Inuyasha across."
Cynder gave a satisfied look and lay down, nose between paws, staring intently at Inuyasha.
Inuyasha tried not to make eye contact. When Cynder continued, he stood up, yelling, "Alright! I'm sorry! Now, can you let me across?"
Cynder sent him a picture of Naraku. Liar.
"What? I am sorry!"
"No, I don't think you are!" Cynder finally called back, reshifting.
That was what Inuyasha was waiting for. He pounced, landing on Cynder with a growl. They wrestled, with Emiko watching, leaning against a tree.
Finally, Inuyasha pinned Cynder to the ground, "Ha. I win."
Cynder raised an eyebrow and kicked upward as hard as she could.
"OUCH!" Inuyasha yelled, voice several octaves higher.
Cynder pushed him off her, and strolled over to Emiko as Inuyasha lay curled in the fetal position.
"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" Emiko smirked.
"Did not."
"Oh you sooo did too."
Cynder snarled and Emiko laughed, "You're not going to win this argument so easily Cynder. Years from now, I'll bring it back up, and you'll say that you did."
Cynder sighed. She won arguments with Emiko most of the time, but sometimes Emiko would leave it unfinished and bring it up weeks later.
"Shene baka." Cynder growled and walked off, Emiko's laughter in her ears
After an hour, the group was ready to start off again. The sky was cloudy, so most of the group was wary and silent. Well, most of the group. Emiko and Cynder loved the gray sky. Emiko got teased about it by Inuyasha, but she replied that the gray sky meant more imagination. She thought better when it was like this. The sun made her strong, but also a little crazy. For Cynder, it energized her. She was leaping around acrobatically as they walked. Emiko was quiet, but in a peaceful way. After a few minutes, she started singing an eerie, but beautiful song.
A farmer there lived in the north country
A hey ho bonny oh!
And he had daughters one, two, three
The swans swim so bonny oh
These daughters they walked by the river's brim
A hey ho bonny oh!
The eldest pushed the youngest in
The swans swim so bonny oh
Sister oh Sister pray lend me your hand
A hey ho bonny oh!
And I will give you a house and land
The swans swim so bonny oh
I'll give you neither a hand nor glove
A hey ho bonny oh!
Unless you give me your own true love
The swans swim so bonny oh
Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam
A hey ho bonny oh!
Until she came to a miller's' dam
The swans swim so bonny oh
The miller's daughter dressed in red
A hey ho bonny oh!
She went for some water to make some bread
The swans swim so bonny oh
Father oh Daddy here swims a swan
A hey ho bonny oh!
It's very like a gentle woman
The swans swim so bonny oh
They laid her on the bank to dry
A hey ho bonny oh!
There came a harper passing by
The swans swim so bonny oooh
He made harp pins of her fingers fair
A hey ho bonny oh!
He made harp strings of her golden hair
The swans swim so bonny oh
He made a harp of her breast bone
A hey ho bonny oh!
And straight it began to play alone
The swans swim so bonny oh
He brought her too her father's hall
A hey ho bonny oh!
And there was the court assembled all
The swans swim so bonny oh
He laid the harp upon a stone
A hey ho bonny oh!
And straight it began to play alone
The swans swim so bonny oh
"There does sit my father the king"
"A hey ho bonny oh!"
"And yonder sits my mother the queen"
"The swans swim so bonny oh"
"And there does sit my brother Huge"
"A hey ho bonny oh!"
"And my dear William sweet and true"
"The swans swim so bonny oh"
"And there does sit my false sister Ann"
"A hey ho bonny oh!"
"Who drowned me for the sake of a love"
"The swans swim so bonny ooh!"
She stopped and saw the gang looking at her, stunned.
"Oh sorry. Was I annoying you guys?"
They shook their heads dumbly. Cynder laughed, "She loves that song. It's very pretty."
"You sing one." Emiko said.
"No!"
"Why not?"
"Cause I don't feel like it!"
"Do it."
"Nope!"
"Pleeease? The rest of us want to hear you sing. Right guys?"
They all nodded, grinning. Strangely, it was Inuyasha who came to her rescue, "Leave her alone. If she doesn't want to sing, she doesn't have to." he walked past her and added in a low murmur, "I would like to hear you sing though."
Cynder cocked her head and smiled, "Well, if you're going to admit it..." she started singing softly.
*Aaaah awawawawa awowowow
Bonfires dot the rolling hillsides
Figures dance around and around
To drums that pulse out echoes of darkness
Moving to the pagan sound
Somewhere in a hidden memory
Images float before my eyes
Of fragrant nights of straw and of bonfires
And dancing till the next sunrise
I can see the lights in the distance
Trembling in the dark cloak of night
Candles and lanterns are dancing dancing
A waltz on All Souls Night
Figures of cornstalks bend in the shadows
Held up as the flames leap high
The green knight holds the holly bush
To mark where the old year passes by
I can see the lights in the distance
Trembling in the dark cloak of night
Candles and lanterns are dancing dancing
A waltz on All Souls Night
Bonfires dot the rolling hillsides
Figures dance around and around
To drums that pulse out echoes of darkness
Moving to the pagan sound
Standing on the bridge that crosses
The river that goes out to the sea
The wind is full of a thousand voices
That pass by the bridge and me
I can see the lights in the distance
Trembling in the dark cloak of night
Candles and lanterns are dancing dancing
A waltz on All Souls Night
I can see the lights in the distance
Trembling in the dark cloak of night
Candles and lanterns are dancing dancing
A waltz on All Souls Night
Cynder finished her song. It was a beautiful and haunting song and she had sung it so that everyone could see what she had described clearly. Inuyasha shook his head to clear it and interrupted the silence, "Wow, that was really good, but we have to go."
"Inuyasha, you're being... nice." Emiko said, "What's up with you?"
"Your guys' dang songs are what." Inuyasha muttered but Emiko was right.
Wow, he is nicer. Maybe we should sing songs like that more often. Cynder thought.
They hadn't taken two steps, however, before the world exploded around them.
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Sesshomaru approached Totosai's home. Totosai was trying to put a huge bag on his three-eyed cow. Unsheathing his sword, Sesshomaru swung it, "Bakusaiga!"
The energy came streaking out, fizzing out inches from Totosai's now wide eyed face. He pressed himself against his cow, "Oh, Sesshomaru! I was wondering if I would see you."
"If you knew about my problem than you should have told it to me the day you fashioned a sheath for Bakusaiga."
"Well, I was wondering if you would have that problem, but it seems that my fear was correct."
"You are right about one thing. This you should fear." Sesshomaru growled, advancing toward him.
"No no, wait!" Totosai held up his hands pleadingly, "I know the answer to your problem."
Sesshomaru stopped, "And? What is the answer?"
"Well, uh, it's something your father said, the night someone was born. Now, I have a very important call, urgent, so I must be going."
With speed that you wouldn't have expected, Totosai, hopped aboard his cow and shot into the sky.
Sesshomaru watched his receding figure, thinking. The night someone was born. Who? The only time I talked to father when someone was born was when Inuyasha was born and... he narrowed his eyes. Emiko. What does that mean?
He growled in annoyance and sped up after Totosai.
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Emiko groaned and opened her eyes. She was surrounded by boulders and bits of trees. Trying to sit up, she gave a small cry of pain. Looking down, she saw a chunk of wood sticking deep into her side. She pulled it out, wincing, and stood up shakily. Stumbling around, she found Cynder lying not to far away, still unconscious. She stroked her onaway's brow, calling softly, "Cynder. Come on girlie, wake up."
Cynder winced and opened her eyes. Shaking her head, she sat up. Emiko checked her over while she looked around, seeing a few gashes, but otherwise, she was okay.
"What happened?" Cynder asked.
"I dunno. Let's find the others." Emiko said.
Cynder nodded and Emiko helped her up. They searched until everyone was at least discovered. Sango and Inuyasha were both buried under huge amounts of rocks and debris. Luckily, both of them were close enough to one another that the group could sit in the middle and talk.
"Okay, so, what all happened? Does anyone know?" Cynder asked.
The group shook their heads.
"Oh, I think that would have been me." a deep, feminine voice said.
They whipped their heads around.
A youkai was standing on a pile of rock a few yards away from them. She had dark tanned skin, curly, short black hair that went to the back of her neck, and blue eyes that faded to red around the pupils. She had shocking green eye shadow and a black wavy tattoo on her forehead and wore basically a black bikini with black leggings. She was pretty, but those eyes had no emotion what-so-ever. Killing them would do nothing to her. Emiko suppressed a shudder as she realized that this youkai had absolutely nothing to lose in tangling with them.
"Who are you?" she asked carefully.
"I am Kazue. Who are you to trespass on my territory?"
"We did not mean to, we only wish to move on without harm."
"Emiko, what are you saying?" Cynder hissed, "We can't back down without a fight."
"Yes we can Cynder. She has nothing to lose. I don't think she cares if she dies or not and powerful or no, a person like that is more of a threat than anyone. It's like a zombie. They're harder to kill, but yet they want to be killed."
"And here I was thinking it was just a female Sesshomaru." Cynder grumbled.
Kazue looked at each one carefully, "I do not believe you. I sense resentment and anger in your hearts. You wish to fight, whether it is me or someone else. I do not allow fighting in my lands. Give your weapons to me until you pass out of my land, and I shall return them at the border."
"But what if our enemy is in your lands?" Miroku asked, "He will fight and we must fight him."
"I was not able to catch the spider hanyou. Whom I cannot catch, I cannot control. You however, I can. Give me your weapons or suffer the consequence."
"I am sorry Kazue, but we can't give you our weapons. They are very dear to us." Emiko said.
"Weapons are not things to hold onto and trust like a toy. They are dangerous and crafty. You cannot have feelings for weapons. If you cannot accept this, then you will die." Kazue said and held out her hand, palm up.
A huge rumbling sounded and the ground behind her burst.
"What on earth is that?" Cynder gasped in horror.
It was enormous, a huge, metal, snake like thing with a mouth made of gaping metal teeth and metal spines. It made a weird shuddering/growling sound and looked toward them as if it could see them.
Inuyasha froze in terror. Never in their quest had they experienced something like this. The metal monster made a clicking sound and looked toward Kazue. Her dead eyes seemed to deepen in depth as she nodded, "Kill them."
The monster screeched and plunged towards them, trapped and nowhere to go.
To Be Continued...
*This piece was inspired by and imagery of Japanese tradition which celebrated the souls of the departed by sending candle-lit lanterns out on waterways leading to the ocean, sometimes in small boats; along with the imagery of Celtic All Souls Night celebrations, at which huge bonfires were lit not only to mark the new year, but to warm the souls of the departed.
(What a coincidence huh? Saw this while writing down the lyrics)
