I think everyone will be happy to know that this chapter is WAY longer than the previous ones. Sorry for taking so long, I really messed up on the last chapter… It's the new moon not full moon!!! Gomen and thank you E.L.E.G.A.N.T!!!!!!
STORY: BED OF THORNS CHAPTER: 6
The petals of the roses shimmered in the sizzling pot until all the colors merged into an unpleasant shade of murky tan. Repulsive odors expelled from the concoction encircled endlessly in the air around them.
Sango and Miroku tried to hold their breaths, but only succeeded in turning various tones of green. Shippo was not as determined as they were, and before long, he scampered outside to heave up his morning dish. Kaede seemed to be unaffected, and she continued to stir the mixture scrupulously, making sure every last drop of it had been thoroughly mixed.
Inu- Yasha sat in the corner, Tetsusagia in one hand, and his face towards the wall. Whether it was because of the smell of the brew or because of deep thought, the others could not identify exactly, for his face was hidden in the shadows of the room.
He could feel his youkai supremacy slipping away as the moon set, distant and faraway, and in a complete circle. He gazed at it, taking in its alluring light, and a thoughtful look crossed his face. Inch by inch, the moon edged to a hidden corner of the indigo sky, and with it, Inu- Yasha felt his sharp claws dull, and his white hair deepen into a dark black.
I wonder if Kagome's looking at the new moon too…A low sigh escaped from his lips. Silence reined the room, and even Shippo had a melancholy look on his face. Kaede stretched her stiff limbs, and straightened them as she slowly helped herself up.
"Tis ready." She said simply, glancing behind her back at Inu- Yasha. She calmly gestured a hand towards the stew.
It brought Inu- Yasha out of his dream state. His eyes instantly bulged as he took in the foul odor and color of the stew. "You mean we have to eat that?" Sango and Miroku nodded in unison, while Kaede raised an eyebrow.
"Ye wants to rescue Kagome, correct?"
Inu- Yasha's disgusted expression faded into one of determination. His head lowered, causing his hair to cover his eyes. That's right. I have to do anything in power to accomplish my task…to find Kagome.
He took a deep breath and his head snapped up. Without a word, he marched loudly towards Kaede, and then roughly dumped some of the pot's contents into a crude wooden bowl. As his companions watched in fascination, Inu- Yasha poured the assortment into his open mouth and swallow, looking as though he was about to breathe his last. He cringed, as finally his taste buds dispersed the last of the flavor.
"It's okay, I guess," He spoke out with great difficulty, his voice low and flat.
Miroku and Sango stared at him, their faces wearing skeptical expressions. Although both unconvinced, they too picked up a bowl of their own, and transferred some of the stew into the bowl. Both grimacing, they gulped the herb mixture down.
Immediately, as the last drop disappeared from their lips, the space behind them began to rapidly pull all surrounding air together, churning and swirling until before, where there was a bundle of sticks, there now was a huge mass of dark empty space, forming an abyss of some sort. Strong winds originating from that hole began to pull, and sucked in all objects within range.
Miroku was barely a safe distance away. "It's similar to the Air Rip in my hand, although this is slightly larger." He exclaimed, his hand tightly gripping a securely fastened wooden board. Nearby, crouched by the entrance, was Sango, her boomerang firmly wedged in the ground, and Kiara safe in her arms.
Inu- Yasha growled impatiently. "Well come on! We haven't got all day!" Inu- Yasha shouted with an air of annoyance, and he boldly stepped a foot into the void, and was instantly overcome by the forceful current.
Miroku sighed, and tried to grin, and only succeeded in making his mouth look lopsided. "Here goes nothing." He hesitated for a brief second before his foot crossed the safety boundary. Then he too, was sucked into the powerful void.
Carrying Kiara, the last of the three waved half- heartedly at Kaede and Shippo. Then, instead of being pulled into the wind tunnel by force, she willingly leaped into the hole, and in an instant, she was gone.
Shippo ran up to the border ine; not close enough to be pulled in by the winds, but close enough to feel his hair blowing towards the center of the hole.
"I wish I could've gone."
A hand patted his shoulder, and he lifted his head to see Kaede smiling down at him warmly.
"There remains a small portion of the brew left inside," she offered, her eyes twinkling.
Shippo laughed weakly, and feebly shook his head. "It's okay. I think I can do with out."
***
The scenery had changed all too quickly. One moment he was in a warm, cozy hut; the next in a blanket of darkness. His eyes strained to see his surroundings, but it was as if he had gone blind. All he could make out was black, black, and more black. Inu- Yasha whirled around, as if to catch even the smallest glimmer of light, but none appeared to aid his eyes.
Inu- Yasha felt himself get frustrated, and he groped around frantically, any solid object would be comforting. His fingernails scraped at the blackness maliciously, and just as he was about to give up the last of his hopes, his fingers brushed against the softness of cloth, and his human nose barely made out two familiar scents.
"Inu- Yasha! Was that intended?"
Inu- Yasha's ears pricked up. So, he wasn't the only one, here, in the midst of solitude. He felt a prick of his hope return back to him, and crawled down on all fours, his nose eagerly sniffing the ground (or at least it appeared to be the ground). Then he remembered he was still a mortal…
"Miroku? Is that you? Where are you and Sango?" Inu- Yasha called out loudly, uncaring how noisy he was, now that he knew his companions were in the same complicated situation as he was in.
There was no answer. Inu- Yasha's heart began to thump. Had his mind and nose deceived him? Was he starting to go insane? He was about to mouth a silent, frustrated scream in the depths of the abyss when a small click was heard, and Inu- Yasha was suddenly aware of a bright intense yellow light staring at him eye- to- eye.
"WAGHHH!!" In a flash, he scrambled blindly backwards, tripping clumsily over his kimono, and resulted in falling flat on his face.
When his eyes regained their sight, he saw Miroku smiling nervously at him while Sango was staring at Miroku with uncontainable frustration.
"Miroku, what in the seven hells was that for!?!" He snarled irritably, his courage flowing back to him. He struggled to recapture his gruff and bored composure, and casually stood up. Unfortunately, a small flush snaked its way onto his cheeks. He, Inu- Yasha had been afraid of a mere object.
Miroku took note of the reddish tone on Inu- Yasha's face, but only grinned. The light penetrating from the device was greatly aiding their vision greatly.
"Miroku? Didn't you hear my question? And where did that…that…thing come from?"
"Well," Miroku looked pleadingly at Sango for assistance, but she only gave him a dirty glance. Obviously, he still wasn't forgiven for the *accidental* feel during the first few moments in the darkness.
"You see, one night, about the time I first joined you, Kagome and Shippo, we were sleeping peacefully in a forest when I was awoken by some rustling in the bushes. Fearing for Kagome's safety, I left the safety of my rest to-"
"No doubt you were about to do something perverted!" Inu- Yasha muttered moodily, interrupting Miroku's sentence.
Miroku glanced to the right of him, and saw Sango's hand tightly clench on her boomerang, and he felt his knees weaken. Nevertheless, he had to continue.
"Anyways, while walking towards her sleeping figure, I caught notice of some peculiar object sticking out of her bag. After examining it closely, I decided it looked too dangerous for a girl like Kagome to keep. So I carefully removed it, and it has been in my safe keeping ever since." He finished grandly, his face wearing a proud expression.
"Ha! I bet you were going to pawn it, only you forgot about it!"
Sango, who had been rather quiet all this time, finally spoke up.
"Um…does anyone have an idea to as where we're heading?" Inu- Yasha and Miroku paused from their oh- so- friendly conversation to stare at her blankly.
Where were they going? Inu- Yasha silently questioned himself. Here they were, absently moving in some unknown direction. He himself hadn't even been aware of his feet moving.
The three were quiet, each pondering to him or herself. Only the soft thuds of their footsteps were heard in the wide vast space. But wait a minute, Inu- Yasha thought, if there was an echo, the place had to end somewhere.
If he had been in his youkai form, this would've been a piece of cake. Inu- Yasha rubbed his cheeks in utter frustration.
Tap. Tmp. Tip. Tap. Tmp. Tip.
The three pairs of feet corresponded together, sounding much like a chorus. Inu- Yasha suddenly shivered, and a tingling feeling ran down his spine. When had it gotten so cold? He felt a numbing feeling in his feet and fingers, and had a strong urge to wrap his arms around his shoulders and bask in its warmth.
His eyes seem to blur, and the prospect of being lured into undisturbed slumber seemed oddly tempting. His eyelids sagged, then struggled to open again. It was clearly a losing battle. He was doomed to be in this desolate wonderland. Just as he was inches away from submitting to the numbing, freezing cold, his inner conscience spoke up.
What about Kagome?
Inu- Yahsa's mind perked up, and his golden eyes flickered with new spirit. Kagome! I have to rescue her! Yet, if I don't get out of this place soon, I'll freeze to death!"
His head moved sideways to glance at his companions. They too, seemed to have the same problem. Overcome by the impenetrable zero- degree temperature, Sango and Miroku looked close to toppling over, while Kiara, who was nestled in Sango's arms, looked lifeless, and her eyes gave off a glassy stare.
If I don't come up with something, those two will lose conscious! His thawing mind frantically tried to think of something. Miroku and Sango… That's it! In all Kagome's gossiping, hadn't she hinted that something was going on between those two? Well, maybe she had announced it, but he hadn't really bothered paying close attention to her babbling at the time. Those matters bored him.
He also highly doubted that Miroku and Sango had a relationship other than a grope- and- slap one, but it was worth a try. Still, how was he supposed to use that piece of information to save them from the complicated situation they were trapped in?
Inu- Yasha ran this thought through his mind several times, and just as it started to seem redundant, a devilish smile suddenly danced on his lips. This clearly indicated that some sort of plan had hatched in Inu- Yasha's mind.
"Oi! Miroku!"
A half- asleep Miroku lifted his head and looked dully at Inu- Yasha.
"Yes?"
"So how did it go between you and Sango last night?" It was as Inu- Yasha planned.
Miroku's drowsy eyes blinked furiously before he fully digested Inu- Yasha's little comment. In an instant, he was right back to normal, but his eyes were somewhere between confusion and curiosity.
"Last night?" Miroku struggled to remember what supposedly had happened the night before, and failed to regain any memory of it at all.
Miroku's mouth seemed to want to burst out with a multitude of questions, but instead, his head jerked toward Sango, his aura radiating with inquisitiveness.
"Sango," he said in a slightly quivery voice, "Do you…ah...know what happened between us last night?"
It was amazing how one little sentence could produce such a large effect in such a small period of time. Sango's face transformed into a shade of bland white, yet on her cheeks was a newly formed blush. Her ears, before a nice peachy color, had deepened into the color tomatoes turn when they're ready to be picked.
"I…what?" Her eyes moved back and forth, focusing on the surrounding dark while her confused mind sorted things out. Had she done something inappropriate with…Miroku the night before? But if so, why couldn't she recall a thing? Her forehead crinkled, and she squinted her eyes, as if that would make her remember.
"Sango? So did we?" Miroku didn't even try to conceal the eagerness in his voice.
*THUMP* On top of Miroku's head a bump was starting to swell to the size of a tennis ball.
"If I did anything indecent, you probably had something to do with it! I bet you got me drunk! Is that it?" Sango jabbed an accusing finger at Miroku.
"Why Sango! I'm simply shock-"
"Save it! Did you or DIDN'T you?"
Inu- Yasha watched as this unfolding entanglement took place right before his eyes. It was funny how the two were fighting when in reality this "affair" had not even existed. His friends were SO easy to manipulate. Inu- Yasha could barely suppress a laugh that was threatening to escape. His face turned bright red from the pressure. Eventually, however, it became too exhausting.
"BWA HA HA HA!" The sound instantly escaped as soon as all resistance disappeared, and Inu- Yasha's burning ribs felt like they were about to split open from laughter. He did not notice a long pause from Miroku and Sango. They turned their heads stiffly, and fixed their eyes on him. Sango's hand stroked her Hiraikotsu with a strange calmness, while Miroku seemed to be gripping his staff more tightly than usual.
"INU- YASHA! How dare you!"
Inu- Yasha stopped shaking with amusement long enough to see his two very very angry friends towering over him, their weapons raised in a murderous position.
Heh. My plan worked. Now to lure them in!"Catch me if you can!" He yelled, and started running while he taunted them. Sango and Miroku each felt a few degrees angrier, and fumed. How dare Inu- Yasha question their capability of following! They almost immediately raced after him.
"Inu- Yasha! How dare you take advantage of my fantasies and turn them into lies!"
Sango turned toward Miroku in disbelief, though her pace did not slow down any.
"That sick notion that Inu- Yasha made up was in your fantasies?!!" She shrieked in a voice filled with so much incredulous and frustration that it was almost inaudible.
The comment from Miroku fueled her anger more, and Sango's pace quickened. Miroku ran alongside her, though his reasons of anger were not the same as hers. The previous silence and numbness was forgotten. Inu- Yasha kept smirking and laughing at the same time, still way ahead of his two furious friends.
Suddenly, he noticed a small circle of light not far off. It seemed to grow in size and expand with each step he took. Inu- Yasha's eyes widened in amazement.
"Hey, you two!" he turned and yelled excitedly at Miroku and Sango. "It's the opening!"
Miroku's mouth fell open in surprise, and Sango let out a small gasp. She had never thought they would ever escape from the dark prison in which they were captive. Both forgot to be angry at Inu- Yasha, and instead, ran excitedly until they were right beside him.
The circle of light seemed to move closer and closer until one step, and the environment changed again. It transformed from pitch black space to a bright and lively open air market. As soon as the last of the three was completely situated outside the tunnel, the black hole vanished, as abruptly as when it had first appeared in the hut. Miroku clicked a small button on the lighting device, and the light melted away.
"I got to ask Kagome about this mechanism next time," he muttered to himself.
Inu- Yasha's eyes almost went blind from seeing so much bright intense colors after staring at black for so long. His eyes caught reds, magentas, bright yellows, creamy lavenders, as well as a variety of different tones. It was breathtaking. Suprisingly, the colors came from bunches of flowers surrounding them. Around the market that the three were in, were customers purchasing, and merchants selling. Oddly, most of the products sold were flowers- and not just any kind of blossom- they were roses.
Inu- Yasha had never seen so many hues of roses in his life. Sure, he had seen lavender ones, but never sky- blue roses. This place was definitely the Rose Dimension for sure, which meant…Kagome was here somewhere.
Miroku and Sango looked around in awe too; so many roses had never surrounded them either. Inu- Yasha pricked up his ears to try to catch some pieces of information as to where Kagome might be. Hopefully, the local people spoke the same language.
The two women settled next to him seemed engrossed in their gossip, and did not notice Inu- Yasha staring at them with his full concentration.
"Sasaki, did you here?"
"Hear what? Tamura, stop being such an old fuss, and tell me!"
"Well, it seems the prince is looking for able servants for his intended."
"Intended? Oh! You mean that girl he captured from that other dimension!"
"I wonder why he had to choose a girl like that. She is said to be rather temperamental. I believe the young girls here are much more obedient and composed."
"That girl- I keep forgetting her name. What was it again?"
"I believe it's Kagome. I wonder what the prince sees in her."
Inu- Yasha looked up. Kagome! That woman had just spoken her name. There was no doubt about it. That bastard of a prince had Kagome in his grasp. Still, there was now a glimmer of hope. A light giddy feeling developed in Inu- Yasha's stomach, and he couldn't help smiling- even if Miroku had just began flirting with one of the girls at a flower stand.
"Sango! Miroku!" He turned his face to them, and beckoned to the two energetically. "I know where Kagome is!"
he saw the expressions on their faces transform into joyful smiles, and they walked towards him, all three of them satisfied at the new lead.
As their feet started on the path to the castle, Inu- Yasha glanced up at the blue afternoon sky, and gazed at it peacefully. The clouds above seemed to shift and move together to form a shape. The shape seemed to melt into a face. A face with beautiful auburn eyes and raven hair. Inu- Yasha smiled wistfully, and trudged on.
***
Inu- Yasha's Lesson: No matter the time, place, or DIMENSION, Miroku always manages to find a girl to flirt with.
***
A/N: I don't think I can fit Sesshoumaru into the story…gomen. I do really like him and all, but he doesn't really fit into the plot really well. And for Sango's boomerang, I wasn't sure about the spelling, so I did the best I could. If it's wrong, please tell me the correct way. Arigato! Also, for Kaede's speaking, I'm not really good at old English…
Next chapter is where Kagome and Inu- Yasha meet! REVIEW TO FIND OUT!!!! ( when I update that is)