Rosa que al prado, encarnada
te ostentas presuntuosa
de grana y carmin banada:
campa lozana y gustosa;
pero no, que siendo hermosa
tambien seras desdichada
(Red rose growing in the meadow,
you vaunt yourself bravely,
bathed in crimson and carmine;
a rich and fragrant show.
But no: Being fair, you will be unhappy soon.)
-Juana Ines de la Cruz, 1651-1695
Chapter 4- In The Garden of Good and Evil
With the slight breeze picking up, the fireflies had drifted closer to their wooded home, and Kagome found herself emerging out of a barrier of weeds and into an overgrown footpath of stepping stones, curving around through an archway of interlocked sakura tree branches. What seemed like merely another wild area, an overgrown garden, probably worse than the rest of the castle complex, was actually clearer. No weeds were tangled in the grasses at her feet, or in the beds of tightly coiled flowers that lay delicately on the edge of the narrow slope. Invisible crickets chirped in the dips of the earth, and fireflies danced in the open spaces, twirling and setting the sylvan glade alight with their quiet ballet. With the cool breeze stirring, they had retreated here, and Shippou, apparently overcoming his fear of the sleeping people, had chased them down.
Looking back and forth on her path, she didn't see any disruption to the lay of the garden, evidence of the kitsune or the hanyou crashing through. "Inuyasha? Shippou?" she hesitated, then repeated, louder, "Inuyasha? Inuyasha, where are you?"
"Kagome?" the answer was muffled, and then there was a rustling noise as some hanging willow branches were swept aside by a sweep of Inuyasha's arm. Looking irritated, Inuyasha emerged from a thicket, and before the loose leaves of the willow veiled the area behind him again, she caught a glimpse of moonlight on water. The sound of crickets and the thick heaviness of the air muted the sound of small waves lapping at the edges of a pool. Frustrated, Inuyasha yanked a couple twigs out of his hair, tossing them aside. There were too many damned flowers all over the place, stinking up the air and plugging up any scent trail Shippou would have left. It was the same way through the rest of the castle, and it bothered him already. "I don't know where the hell he went," he began to say, then hesitated, seeing an oddly soft look cross Kagome's face as she glanced around their surroundings. "Kagome?"
Her eyes looked distant, and she could feel her skin begin to prickle slightly, though not unpleasantly. There was a mystical air to the garden, and she could feel it soaking into her, flowing through the cool currents of damp air. The air seemed more like breath than wind, as though the garden of flowers were alive, a slumbering person as well, and the calm of the place was its sleeping aura, and the fireflies that aura's divine glow. She placed a hand to the red knot of her green collar, and it felt oddly warm through the fabric. "Isn't it beautiful?" she asked him, her voice somewhat distant, echoing as she looked around the weblike trees, ornamented with the stars between their branches, hung like icicles on evergreens.
"Kagome?" he repeated, looking at her suspiciously, ears twitching as he grew more curious and slowly edged closer as a small smile formed on her face. She was acting weird.
"I think it's okay," she began, taking a deep breath and answering him at last. "This place...it feels different from the rest of the castle. It feels so empty there. I almost didn't notice it. This place...it feels different. Almost..." she shook her head like she was trying to understand the cascade of floating magics that were pressing past her. Hesitantly, she reached forward with a hand, and at the last moment, snapped out her fingers in a loose cage, catching a glowing firefly within them. Inside the web of her fingers, it settled down, having so abruptly found a place to rest. Kagome's smile broadened as she opened her hand, cupping the insect and letting its light flow up into her face and eyes, casting them in pale gold. "Almost glowing."
He blinked at her, standing there smiling and holding a cup of golden light in her curved hands, a similar display laid out in the darkness behind her, holding the multitude of shadowy places in the trees at bay. It poured from her fingertips, glowing, golden, lighting her face and touching the strands of her hair, warming her eyes, reflecting, glowing, illuminating. Breathlessly glowing. It seemed as though she could light the world with such a shine, touch it and cast away the shadows that cover the spirit. The fireflies were like candles, shining, dimming, only to glow again more brightly, divine and natural and ethereal.
Here was silent. Far away, quiet, distant, safe. Glowing. She lifted her hands, as the fireflies beyond her twirled, darting away and returning to illuminate her. She seemed so delicate that way, something that should be kept safe, protected. And yet...he could only see it, the magic she was sensing, as beautiful as it must seem to her. This place was different from the rest of the castle, though it did not feel so glowing to him. Rather, it felt heavy, thick somehow, though he could see what she was sensing on her smiling, gentle face. Maybe it was because she was a miko, or a human. It was possible this place just didn't like youkai, and so excluded him from understanding whatever aura it was she was feeling.
She saw a slow scowl form on his features and tried not to laugh. Always typical. "Inuyasha, did you ever catch fireflies when you were little?" she asked him, snapping his attention away from whatever dark thoughts he was starting to get.
"What does that have to do with..." he started, then stopped as Kagome grabbed his hand, gently brushing the insect on her fingers into his palm. He stared at it, blinking for a moment, suddenly awkward over the fact Kagome was supporting his rougher hands with hers, and now he held the glowing light. She made him curl his hands around it, and gave him a warning as she stepped back, letting him hold it on his own.
"Be careful. They're fragile, so don't squish it or break its wings."
"Oh," he managed, looking at the little creature as the light died away again. It began crawling around, and somehow, he found himself fighting off a grin. It was stupid to think about it, but the damn thing tickled when it moved. Shaking himself to snap out of it, he looked up to see Kagome slowly working her way down the path, and after a moment, stand on her toes and reach up into the air, gently clapping her hands and claiming another glowing firefly. Golden light unfolded in her hands as she drew them close to her again, and she suppressed a light giggle as the insect legs ran over her delicate skin, tickling.
"You know, when I was little, Souta and I would try to catch these around the trees at home?" she told him, half stating, half questioning, as she backed deeper into the garden, deciding that they really should find Shippou soon, as peaceful as this was. The hanyou was still staring at the insect he held, occasionally glancing at Kagome from under his eyebrows to see what she was doing, walking slowly and talking distractedly to the bug more than to him. "They like the trees, and water. I think I heard somewhere that the lights are supposed to be some way to help them find mates. But I was just little when I heard it. Sometimes kids make stories up," she sighed, tossing her hands lightly into the air and sending her trapped firefly back into the night sky. It hovered for a moment, then the light disappeared into the stars.
That was not a story he had heard. As a child, he had only been told: fireflies carried the spirits of the dead. They were souls of those long gone, floating and hovering, reminding those living of the shortness, though perhaps also the beauty, of life. Not so unlike the out of season sakura blossoms that were blooming further down the path, their pink and white petals not yet drifting to the ground in a soft, warm snow. They seemed beautiful, but holding it seemed different when he thought about it that way. It drained away the beauty somehow, even though Kagome seemed so very alive among them. He cast aside the firefly in his hands, not as gently as Kagome had, though not hard enough to harm it. It disappeared into the weaving willow fronds, leading to the pond he had passed, seeking out the water.
She looked back at him again, watching him discard its glow. Her smile faded, though grew resigned. "We probably should find Shippou, though. I think it's okay here, but he might get lost even if he found the path in the first place."
With a silent nod, Inuyasha started forward, and Kagome fell into step beside him.
On the far side of the garden's pond, Shippou was among the slumbering flowers, which seemed to be about his height when he knelt down. Stretching around a bend of the watery pool, many colored flowers grew, their colors haunting in the darkness of the night, light given and reflected a bit more strongly there from the pond. It's moonlit reflection shone upward into his face, flickering with the breeze brushing the surface and distorting the otherwise mirror smoothness of the water. It was this way that Kagome and Inuyasha found him not too many minutes later, eyes locked on the plants and bending down while nodding emphatically, as though considering something of grave importance.
"Oy! Shippou! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Inuyasha shouted as Kagome broke into a light run for the last few lengths of their walk, hurrying over to the kitsune, who was scurrying up to greet them and waving his hands, opening his mouth to speak, but cut off by Kagome as she bent down beside him, scolding.
"Shippou-chan, you shouldn't run off like that! It's not safe out here by yourself, you know that!"
"Yeah, but," he protested, pointing at the flowery display of pale yellow beside them, "look what I found! It's all right," Shippou said, turning back to the flowers encouragingly. "Come out again. Kagome won't hurt you, but Inuyasha might step on you if he can't see you."
"Oy!" came the sharp, immediate protest, followed by Inuyasha stepping forward threateningly, an arm out to grab the kitsune, who squeaked and began to back away.
"Osuwari."
Splat.
"Bitch!"
There was a rustling from deep within the shroud of closed chrysanthemums, and she tried ignoring Inuyasha's furious shouting behind her to see what was emerging. Slowly and almost shyly, something peered out from within the darkness of the shielding blooms. Settled within a cup of pale yellow petals, there emerged a tiny body, no larger than a thumb. Hair the shade of a raven wing fell smoothly down her back and over her bare arms, cascading into the many layers of petals which curled around her tiny half human body.
A moment later, a pair of glittering, bright
emerald eyes opened to look into her own.
~o~O~o~o~O~o~o~O~o~o~O~o~
And so the second fairy tale is introduced.
There are references to several fairy tales
in here, some more blatant than others...Sleeping Beauty is obvious,
and the second one will be making itself known in the next chapter. Rather
than a European fairy tale, the next one is Japanese.
Has anyone out there ever gone out to catch
fireflies? Mm, brings back memories of warm, late summer evenings.
I know the chapter is short, but I wrote this
fic in spurts. Bear with me a bit longer, ne?
~Queen