Spider, Part Twelve
"Observations"
by Vega
The sun was hot.
I know that sounds like a ver ridiculous observation. Of COURSE the sun is hot.
But when you have nothing better to do than lay on your back and stare at the sun, mark it's progress across the sky, and lick your parched lips in memory of stories of River Nymphs and Apollo, it seems to be a fairly astute observation.
That's what it all boils down to, really, doesn't it?
The sun was hot.
I was very uncomfortable, too. That fact had made itself known to me quite early on as well. There was a twig under my thigh, a sharp pebble sticking into the small of my back... the upper half of me was laying on grass, so while it was course and itchy it was infinitely better than the beaten mountain path that my hips and legs were jumbled across.
I was going to die.
That was astute observation number three.
I was already bleeding, and badly. From gashes on my arms and legs, from the slap Naraku had laid across my cheek that had split my lip, from the long scrape on my shins and the heels of my hands when I had been tripped by Kohaku's picks. From... down there.
Bruises were forming, I could feel them - trimming the abrasions on my knuckles from where I had tried to punch him, around my broken toe, from where I had tried to kick him. The burns on my right arm had begun to bleed freely again, looking for all the world like lava flowing from between the charred remains of my cooled-rock skin.
I could feel the light breeze ruffling the torn socks against my toes, ticking in a way I couldn't fix. My kimono lay mostly open, the folds wrenched apart from my frantic struggles, although the sash at my waist was miraculously still in one piece.
My scalp prickled where Naraku had pulled out a small handful of hair. That had been mostly my doing: he had me by the hair, like some sort of wench, and I had jerked away.
I didn't think any of my ribs were broken, despite the low gurgling sound every time I took a deep breath, but I couldn't be sure. They did hurt. A lot. One of my eyes was swelling shut already, and my lip held a lovely goose egg that I could peer at if I looked down my nose.
My ear was throbbing. He had ripped the shard earring out of the lobe and I could feel the blood drying stickily on my neck, could hear the low buzz of the insects that the scent of rotting flesh and drying gore attracted.
Yes. I was going to die.
Compared to where I was, though, that didn't seem all that bad.
I would never have to smell sandalwood again.
~~~
I didn't get worried until I heard the howling.
It was well after sunset and I had surprised myself by remaining alive long enough to see it.
I knew that I had been left here to die. Naraku had said as much.
"You're pathetic and worthless and do not merit the waste of poison it would take to kill you. Do you find that amusing?" It was not a non sequitur. He had asked that because I had been laughing hysterically at the time. "I am going to leave you here. Right here. The wolf youkai roam these lands, Ashirinu. Vicious killers. Perhaps they are your ancestors, hm? You're going to be ripped apart by your own kin."
Then he reached down and pulled the earring out of my earlobe, robbing me of my power to understand Japanese speech. And simply as all that, he left.
It struck me as very James Bond Villain at the time. But upon reflection, and I had nothing to do all day BUT reflect, as I couldn't possibly move if I had wanted to, that this was another of his sadistic little games.
Beat the shit outta me and leave me to be torn apart - once more staining hands that were not his own with innocent blood. He used his servants to fight. He used Kohaku, had tried to use Sango. He had worn other people's forms to trick and trap and destroy and now he was letting these wolves finish me for him.
Fucking coward.
That's what Naraku was.
That's what I had screamed after him.
He had not turned back. He had not cursed at me. He had not even given me the middle finger. I don't even know if he had understood me. He just kept walking, giving absolutely no indication that he had heard me at all.
The day had passed with agonizing slowness and now night was here... and so were the wolves.
Moving slowly, painfully, I managed to pull my left arm up to rest my hand over my abdomen. There I felt the low thrumming of the half of my Shikon Shard.
Yes, even though I was about to die, I had, in a way, won.
I still had part of what he sought. And he would never know that he had let it slip through his slimy fingers.
The thought made me want to laugh, so I did.
It hurt like hell and before I could do anything about it, the pain pulled a blanket of unconsciousness over me.
The last thing I was aware of before I fainted completely was a wet nose snuffling at the blood on my thigh.
"Observations"
by Vega
The sun was hot.
I know that sounds like a ver ridiculous observation. Of COURSE the sun is hot.
But when you have nothing better to do than lay on your back and stare at the sun, mark it's progress across the sky, and lick your parched lips in memory of stories of River Nymphs and Apollo, it seems to be a fairly astute observation.
That's what it all boils down to, really, doesn't it?
The sun was hot.
I was very uncomfortable, too. That fact had made itself known to me quite early on as well. There was a twig under my thigh, a sharp pebble sticking into the small of my back... the upper half of me was laying on grass, so while it was course and itchy it was infinitely better than the beaten mountain path that my hips and legs were jumbled across.
I was going to die.
That was astute observation number three.
I was already bleeding, and badly. From gashes on my arms and legs, from the slap Naraku had laid across my cheek that had split my lip, from the long scrape on my shins and the heels of my hands when I had been tripped by Kohaku's picks. From... down there.
Bruises were forming, I could feel them - trimming the abrasions on my knuckles from where I had tried to punch him, around my broken toe, from where I had tried to kick him. The burns on my right arm had begun to bleed freely again, looking for all the world like lava flowing from between the charred remains of my cooled-rock skin.
I could feel the light breeze ruffling the torn socks against my toes, ticking in a way I couldn't fix. My kimono lay mostly open, the folds wrenched apart from my frantic struggles, although the sash at my waist was miraculously still in one piece.
My scalp prickled where Naraku had pulled out a small handful of hair. That had been mostly my doing: he had me by the hair, like some sort of wench, and I had jerked away.
I didn't think any of my ribs were broken, despite the low gurgling sound every time I took a deep breath, but I couldn't be sure. They did hurt. A lot. One of my eyes was swelling shut already, and my lip held a lovely goose egg that I could peer at if I looked down my nose.
My ear was throbbing. He had ripped the shard earring out of the lobe and I could feel the blood drying stickily on my neck, could hear the low buzz of the insects that the scent of rotting flesh and drying gore attracted.
Yes. I was going to die.
Compared to where I was, though, that didn't seem all that bad.
I would never have to smell sandalwood again.
~~~
I didn't get worried until I heard the howling.
It was well after sunset and I had surprised myself by remaining alive long enough to see it.
I knew that I had been left here to die. Naraku had said as much.
"You're pathetic and worthless and do not merit the waste of poison it would take to kill you. Do you find that amusing?" It was not a non sequitur. He had asked that because I had been laughing hysterically at the time. "I am going to leave you here. Right here. The wolf youkai roam these lands, Ashirinu. Vicious killers. Perhaps they are your ancestors, hm? You're going to be ripped apart by your own kin."
Then he reached down and pulled the earring out of my earlobe, robbing me of my power to understand Japanese speech. And simply as all that, he left.
It struck me as very James Bond Villain at the time. But upon reflection, and I had nothing to do all day BUT reflect, as I couldn't possibly move if I had wanted to, that this was another of his sadistic little games.
Beat the shit outta me and leave me to be torn apart - once more staining hands that were not his own with innocent blood. He used his servants to fight. He used Kohaku, had tried to use Sango. He had worn other people's forms to trick and trap and destroy and now he was letting these wolves finish me for him.
Fucking coward.
That's what Naraku was.
That's what I had screamed after him.
He had not turned back. He had not cursed at me. He had not even given me the middle finger. I don't even know if he had understood me. He just kept walking, giving absolutely no indication that he had heard me at all.
The day had passed with agonizing slowness and now night was here... and so were the wolves.
Moving slowly, painfully, I managed to pull my left arm up to rest my hand over my abdomen. There I felt the low thrumming of the half of my Shikon Shard.
Yes, even though I was about to die, I had, in a way, won.
I still had part of what he sought. And he would never know that he had let it slip through his slimy fingers.
The thought made me want to laugh, so I did.
It hurt like hell and before I could do anything about it, the pain pulled a blanket of unconsciousness over me.
The last thing I was aware of before I fainted completely was a wet nose snuffling at the blood on my thigh.