Here's the actual story stuff.^_^ And no, there is no Kikyo here.^_^ Muahahaha! Okay, so I know you guys want to know or, if you think you know, make sure why Inu Yasha held Kagome with his fangs like that (he never ACTUALLY bit her.^_~ Well... you know what I mean.). Sorry, but not this chapter. Aren't I evil? It'll some somewhere later.^_^ As for the Kohaku VS Gohaku thing, I like Kohaku more so I use that okay? Heh, it reminds me of Spirited Away.^_^ I LOVE that movie! As for the rest, I think I like ghost stories far too much.^_^; lol Even though they aren't really ghosts per say... anyway, you'll see.^_^ lol
On another topic, I saw this shirt that was kind of funny, but it SO reminded me of Miroku! Lol The shirt said "WARNING: The person wearing this shirt will make a pass at anything that moves. If you are not approached there can be only one reason; YOU UGLY!" Heh, it's kind of cruel, but I thought of all of the times Miroku has hit on a pretty girl and gotten her sister instead.^_^; lol Poor guy.
Lastly, to all of the new readers, welcome, and to everyone reading the fic in general, thanks sooo much!^_^ I love you guys!^_^
Now, on with the... um... fic... I guess.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters in it. If I did I'd be rich, but I'm not... and if I had lots of money I'd probably spend it on anime anyway so pleeaasseee, don't sue me.^_^ lol
Oh, and as always,
_= thoughts *_* = sound/ italicized "_" = speech
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Memories of the Present
Chapter 17: Living Death
"AAHH!!! YOUKAI! Run!"
"Not my baby, MY BABY!"
"Hurry, attack while we can! We can't let it escape; not this time!"
"It's destroying the village!"
"Run! Everyone ru... AHH!!!!"
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"uummm...daddy..."
Inu Yasha looked worriedly over his shoulder, The dream again?
Kagome lay asleep against Inu Yasha's back. When he had come back from his hunt that morning, they had eaten and left, continuing on their journey. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened that day, well, despite the scene that took place before sunrise, and as of yet, neither Shippou nor Kouga had mentioned anything about what had taken place, but for each their own reasons. As the group moved forth, Inu Yasha carried Kagome, his rhythmic movements and soft steps quickly putting her to sleep, where she had stayed for close to an hour and a half now. In that time, they had made their way into the mountains. It was still early morning and the chilled air made it that much more difficult to breathe, but they were running out of time. The demon must be found.
Taking in their surroundings, Kouga informed them that there should be a village up ahead. Inu Yasha turned forward as if nothing had changed. He was worried about Kagome; those dreams she'd been having since the new moon really concerned him, but damned if he was going to admit that to anyone else. It was only a matter of minutes before the town came into view, but what they noticed the first was a dark air that seemed to surround it. Then again, what didn't have that these days?
"Can you sense it?" Miroku looks to the others, grasping his staff a little more firmly. They nod and continue on. Unconsciously the hanyou tightens his grip on the curled form against him. They were all on edge.
The village was a wasteland, or so they thought. As they entered the gates they saw a thriving town before them. To their right was a small group of huts. They looked newly built, though some were damaged. Everything glistened as if it had rained recently, yet the ground was completely dry. To their left, fields seemed almost to reach towards the sun as they disappeared over the horizon. People walked around happily accomplishing their daily tasks, and a small group of children, maybe four in total, played a simple game near one of the huts. Shippou's ears perked up; he wanted to play.
Coming up to the largest house in the village, Miroku put together his usual speech to see if they could have a free room for the night, but, looking around, this time he feared that it may indeed be more than just another speech. A man came to the door; by the way he was dressed he was obviously the lord of this mansion. The door opened without a sound and the man beckoned our travelers in. Kagome opened her eyes and grudgingly pulled herself from the heaven of her blissful slumber. She peered over Inu Yasha's shoulder and saw the man walk without a footstep, without a sound. She then looked around the rest of the village. It looked peaceful enough, the people going about their duties and daily routines, the children playing, but there was an eerie silence.
"Inu Yasha," she whispered as softly as she could, "can you hear it? There's no sounds, not even that of animals or the wind." He nodded and took a deep breath. Taking one last look around, they entered the mansion and followed this strange man.
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"It was not always like this," the parchment read, "we once had a peaceful village. Our mothers played happily with their children and work was done as it had always been done. Through the window to your left there was a forest, though I'm sure you can still see it now. Look there, through the window, what do you see? A little girl with auburn hair, cut to her shoulders? Is she wearing a light blue kimono and dancing, playing in the tall, vibrant grasses that roam this small oasis of forest? I suppose she is still there; she has been for fifty years. Do you also see three butterflies, one white with black spots, the other two brown? Do they flutter around her face as she tries to catch them with no luck? Of course you do; you see them as I did. That was my daughter." With a look through the window, it is seen that the parchment read true. There was the girl, the grass, and the butterflies. The skies beyond the house begin to darken and rain begins to descend upon the village.
"And through the other window I suppose you see a woman hanging white clothing out on the line and her husband fixing their tattered roof. He was the finest craftsman we had. The rains had just come when it happened." Through the other window a woman began to panic and quickly took down her laundry. Her husband, they assume so from the letter, came down from their roof and helped her, then ushered their children inside, away from the downpour.
"There is not much I can tell you of this land. If I could speak I would explain what has happened, but my time is running short. I can only say that there is a demon here, the bestower of living death. A contrast you say? Yes, well, you'll soon see, or hopefully, you won't. Look around our village at the life that once was. Do it while we are still here, fore I pray that you may do away with this demon, and we may be free at last. My time has run out. Please, who ever you may be, stop this from happening to another; protect yourselves and the ones you love, as I have failed to do. I pray for your good fortune."
"It has no signature."
The young miko holds the scroll as if it would bite her. Slowly, she begins to put it back on the table from whence it came, but soon no longer has that choice, as the once solid document fades into nothingness and slips between her fingers, dissolving on the ground. Shocked, she gasps and turns away finding none other than the mansion's lord in the doorway. He had returned with two of his servants, and now looks towards the group sadly. He watches the little girl playing through the window with grief-stricken eyes and lets out heavy sigh. Though none of the group can hear it, they can tell that it is full of longing and anguish; his features reveal that, and much more. He then snaps his fingers and the servants bow. All life in the mansion is gone, and emptiness has taken its place.
"Well, that was weird." All turn to Kouga who is leaning nonchalantly against the left wall.
Miroku clears his throat, "I suggest we do as he asked and see the village. Maybe it can turn up some clue as to what happened here."
Sango nods, "I agree houshi-sama, but we shouldn't go alone."
"Ahhh, true. Inu Yasha can go with Kagome-sama and Shippou-chan. I'll go with you Sango... oh, and Kouga of course. We don't know what's going on so we have to be careful."
"Right."
"Right."
"Right."
"Right."
"Feh."
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"Sango, are you cold?" Miroku undoes his outer robe and hands it to her.
"No houshi-sama, but thank you." She happily takes it and puts it on anyway. As his scent fills her nostrils, the young woman begins to calm a bit, and pulls the robe more closely around her. Kouga had left them to check out a suspicious hut ten minutes ago and had yet to return. His absence was unnerving to say the least and the fact that he, a full demon, would take this long to check out a hut, well, it was putting them both on guard.
"This place is creepy. It's almost as if it we are surrounded by a shroud of misery and sorrow, but the scenes here are so peaceful." She shudders and he nods.
"I've noticed." Their steps stop at a small hut as they look towards the sky and watch the rain fall.
"It's odd, seeing rain and not being able to feel it." All of a sudden a little boy runs out of his house and over to some of his friends. As he runs, his short, black hair comes untied and his bright blue eyes sine with joy. His little sister chases after him, but falls and scrapes her knee. She sits up, snffling, her dark hair matted to her face in the rain, she starts crying. Hearing her, the boy turns and begins to head back to the mousy little girl, another of the group following. Sango hurries over and, tenderly, tries to pick the girl up, but her hands phase straight through her. Startled, the demon huntress backs up and looks as the mother is exactly where she had stood, now picking her daughter up off of the ground and bringing her back into the house. Shaking, Sango looks down. Her hands are tainted with blood.
The little boy runs into the house, trailing his mother and sister. His friend stops in front of Sango and turns towards her. His face hidden under his bangs, he grabs her leg and says the first thing they had heard from someone of that village, "I'm sorry." The little boy looks up to her, dark bangs falling from his face.
"Ko... Kohaku?"
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"Sango?" Miroku walks carefully over to the demon hunter and puts his hand on her shoulder. Her face is contorted in a horrible mix of shock, pain, and sorrow. He shakes her, slightly at first, and then a little harder. "Sango, what's wrong? Sango?" She continues to stare at her hands, mumbling something about blood.
A noise behind him causes the houshi to spin and take up guard. Sango didn't seem very capable of defending herself at the moment and he wouldn't allow anything to happen to her. The sound had come from the hut where the mother, the girl, and the son had fled just a few minutes before. Now a man, supposedly the father, walks out and yells at the rest of the kids in the group, seemingly with no voice. They scatter, heading home perhaps; no one really knows. Then the man, instead of going back inside, turns and walks towards Miroku. He comes closer and closer, the monk raises his staff and prepares to defend himself. Closer and closer, Miroku's eyes widen. The figure walks by him, stops suddenly, and turns, "It is good to see you my son."
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"W...what are you doing?!," the flustered hanyou shouts as Kagome tackles his arm.
"This place is creepy!"
"Oh, so that's why you're on my shoulder?"
She looks towards him curiously and smirks; "You almost sound disappointed."
"I...I... of course I'm not disappointed! If you're so scared, why don't you hug Shippou?!"
"I am." She smiles dryly. They had decided to look around the fields and woods about twenty minutes ago, but so far hadn't seen anything suspicious. Kagome was holding Shippou protectively as he curled into her arms, and Inu Yasha was beginning to get annoyed with the little cub.
Why does he get all of her attention?
"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Shippou says trying to sound brave. His trembling voice gives him away, but he hops down in front of Kagome and crosses his arms over his chest anyway. He was trying to look tough.
Kagome giggles softly and pats him on the head; "Thank you Shippou, you're my hero," she says playfully.
"Keh." After all of the times I've saved her life, you think *I'd* be her hero, but noooooo!!! He grumbles, "stupid Shippou..."
"Same to you dog-boy."
Sending a death glare Shippou's way, Inu Yasha just pouts and folds his arms over his chest in his typical style. At that moment, Kagome could really see them as father and son. She blushes and turns her head away trying to suppress a giggle. When she turns back she stops and looks around; she's alone.
"Inu Yasha? Shippou? Where are you?!" She hunts fruitlessly through a few huts and, without finding anything is about to give up when she sees a red blur out of the corner of her eye. She runs after it, but it runs quickly, much too quickly for her to keep up. "Wait, Inu Yasha, wait! Where are you going?" He only picks up speed and heads down a few more trails. Left, right, left, right, right, left, wait, she stops, he's gone. Completely out of breath, she leans against a wall and sighs. "What's going on here?"
She sighs again, deciding that it'd probably be best if she kept looking. As she begins to walk again, an odd feeling sweeps over her, almost like she's being watched. Thinking she's just imagining it, she moves on, but not without looking over her shoulder every couple of seconds. Kagome, you're just imagining it! Knock it off!
A sound to her right startles her, Wait, there is no sound here so that must be one of the gang! Once again running, her breath quickly gives way to a pain in her side, and she slows down, tripping over something. She looks back; what did she trip over? A shoe?
"Need help honey?"
"Wha...no, thanks, I..." Her jaw goes slack and her eyes burst open, tears spilling forth from within their depths. Heart racing, her stomach flips and she rises to her feet, sodden uniform hugging tightly to a small wound on her leg. "D...Daddy?"
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"Some protector you are!" Inu Yasha bops Shippou over the head with his fist.
"Yeah, like you did any better! You lost her too you know." He pouts and then ducks as the hanyou reaches down to grab him. He laughs and sticks his tongue out when Inu Yasha snags his tail and lifts him up. "Hey, let me go! Let me mummphmm"
"Shhh...Shippou, quiet!" The kitsune bites his hand. "Shit!"
"What's your problem?"
"Keh, what kind of demon are you?! Can't you smell it?"
The fox youkai sniffs the air for a second. "It's a demon, so what? There are probably hundreds out here in the...woah!"
Inu Yasha grabs him and runs. It was no ordinary demon, but Shippou was too little to know that smell. It was the smell of a bird youkai, but not just any. The demon reeked of blood and sorrow. So many humans, so much death; he could smell them all and nearly choked. Not only that, he could hear them all. This place wasn't as quiet as the others had thought. They had human hearing, he didn't. The village moaned and groaned with hundreds of voices, lost souls crying for help. He could barely hear them, but what's more, he could sense them. The village they saw wasn't what they were after. It wasn't real. This demon was one of legend, of magic, one that was thought impossible to exist. It had no name, no soul. It just was.
Coming upon the front gate, Shippou looks up and screams.