Through A Mirror Darkly
and out came the sun and dried up all the rain
and the itsy bitsy spider
climbed up the spout again
-The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Chapter 3- On the edge of foreveR
The village had brightened along with the day; sunlight had splashed its way long the paths between the houses, illuminating more clearly those who had been tended to the long day before. Fires lit from last night were out or smoking remains, lending a slight bit of haze to the sight growing in Kagome and Kaede's vision. Some of the injured men and women were moving, the more mobile of them now sitting up and huddling, either warily looking out at the locals, or murmuring amongst themselves. Some had bowls of food, and a couple of elderly women were doling out rice from one of the houses, scuttling in and out the door like beetles.
A portly woman with a shock of grey hair over each ear was barking commands at two of the men waiting in the bedraggled food line while wielding a large spoon, clearly in charge of the food distribution. At her vehement motions, they grumpily left with the cooked rice they had, an attempt to get more failing. Raising a hand, Kaede waved to her, calling out, "Ohayo, Chikara-obaasan! Have you seen Kikyou-oneesama?"
At her name, Chikara turned from her business with the men, a smile forming on her face at the cheerful greeting. "No, Kaede-chan, I..." her voice trailed for a moment, and a confused look settled on her features, deepening the lines around her mouth. She had seen the miko that morning, indeed, and was about to direct Kaede to the last way she had seen her walking. Though now her dark eyes had settled on Kagome, walking a half step behind, and was wondering why the girl would be asking for her sister when she was clearly standing no more than an armslength behind her. It made the older woman suspicious, and she evaluated the newcomer again. 'Kikyou' had her hair down, hanging loosely instead of being pulled back as usual. Children grew up too fast to her eyes. A year or so seemed to have dropped away along with some worry, revealing a younger face, and she did not carry the weight of a bow and quiver, along with a satchel of herbs. Shrewdly, Chikara looked the girl up and down one more time. They had to be related, the resemblance was astounding. A cousin? There were no more sisters in the family. When had she arrived? Who was new? Many came into the village yesterday, but none completely unharmed and dressed as miko...
Her face relaxed slightly as she set her spoon down onto the workbench, now serving as a table, wiping her hands off on her apron. The strangely dressed one, who seemed so ill at ease in the few moments she had spared to eat the evening before. Now in the long red and white robes of a miko, ah, now that made some sense, though odd. Pity what is not noticed when death and blood are rising around you.
She folded her hands together and bowed politely to Kagome, though addressed Kaede, since it was the younger who had asked her. "I saw the miko-sama head towards Keganin's house. His brother and his family were brought in last night, and he's helping them." Her eyes flicked to Kagome, and inclined her head politely. "Ohayo, miko-sama."
Kagome managed a smile. She was going to have to get used to being called 'miko-sama' by these people if she wanted to pass among them. "Ohayo. I'm Kagome...it's nice to meet you."
"Kagome-sama is going to stay with us for awhile," Kaede interjected helpfully, though now that she had the information she needed, was edging forward to be on her way to find her sister. "This is Chikara-obaasan."
"Mostly in charge of this rabble," the woman added, hefting her spoon again as an argument began to break out behind her, voices rising in pitch. "At least when Kikyou-sama is not here. It was very nice meeting you, Kagome-sama, but I have to..." a clatter and a sharp cry from one of the other serving women distracted her, turning around and wielding her spoon like a baton. "Oy! There's enough for everyone, stop being so greedy!" The wooden spoon cracked down on a hand, starting someone to hopelessly arguing with her.
"Come on. Looks like Chikara-obaasan is busy enough. I know where she means, follow me." Kaede tugged at Kagome's long sleeve, and led her further into the village's interior. Observing carefully now, she noted that there were changes to the layout of the place. Small, but noticeable. A few houses were in different order; there was a spot where a garden was laid out instead of another house. Some were newer, others older, having been torn down and replaced over the next fifty years. Rebuilding kept the place fresh, the homes sturdy, something needed for the troublesome times. Kaede was leading her quickly to one of the older homes, distinctive due to the bits of wildgrass creeping up the sides of the house, and slightly streaked downward from rainwater.
Kikyou was kneeling down at the doorway, two men before her, one kneeling, propping the other up, since his leg was in a long splint, bound together with bright strips of cloth. The injured one was the younger, fewer cares having creased his brow, though the two men were clearly siblings, with the same broad faces and shoulders, their hair slicked back into top knots. The younger was talking, fumbling for words and shaking his head as he spoke, lingering fear still tingeing his voice as they approached. "...came from. There were dozens, at least...more than I could count, flying around and bashing each other. A few of us..." he broke off as the two newcomers appeared over Kikyou's shoulder, and he licked his lips, eyes flitting from one miko to the other. The halt in conversation lifted the head of the older brother, and turned Kikyou around to see their arrival.
She could not help but lift her eyebrows at the sight of Kagome, standing still behind Kaede with her hands clasped, looking for all the world like she wanted to hide in the ground she was staring at. She knew, then, of the similarity in appearance, and Kikyou wondered at that, assimilating it into the store of information and guesses she was accumulating about the stranger. Perhaps that was why she looked so stricken at the thought of wearing Kikyou's own clothing; the resemblance would be more pronounced. Now, though, was not the time for such things. With an acknowledging nod, she turned back. "Please continue, Kossetsu-san."
Shifting a bit, he returned to his tale. "They...they were all fighting, so a couple of us got our bows out, for hunting. I think somebody had some gardening stuff they were waving around, but it was too crazy to tell. Nothing was much good, everything was going up in fire by then, and people started just running. I blacked out sometime during it. My wife got me on a horse...she found it running around wild, calmed it down somehow." He changed positions again, then tried to run a hand through his hair, smoothing it down again with a nervous gesture. He sighed, eyes darting around. "We headed out to the forest for cover...they were all over the plain. Couldn't go that way. Too many." He shuddered.
"Thank you, Kossetsu-san. Your wife is sleeping inside?"
"Yes..."
"She's resting on my pallet," Keganin added, gesturing towards the inside of the hut. "She was fixed up yesterday, just some minor burns. She was up late with Kossetsu."
"You're very fortunate," Kikyou told the wounded man, reaching out and lightly touching his cheek. At the contact, he took a deep breath, and his eyes sagged, body relaxing into sleep. She turned her attention to the elder brother again. "When she awakens, I may need to speak to her. I'd like a better description of the battle itself."
"I'll let you know, miko-sama," Keganin agreed, trying to bow and hold up his younger brother at the same time without dropping him.
"Thank you. Take care."
She stood, backing away and drawing Kaede and Kagome away from the two, the elder now lifting the younger to take inside for a rest. Her eyes settled on Kagome, critically trying to surmise why the girl looked so much like her reflection in a pond. There seemed to be no connection; she did not know her before yesterday. They were not family, so far as she knew. A miko, surely, but still, not all miko looked alike. It was curious, and she resolved to learn more.
"Kossetsu's testimony is somewhat muddled," she said at length, readjusting the quiver on her shoulder. "Though it seems there were many youkai in the area. An unusually large number, and there is no reason they would be drawn there."
"Unlike reasons they'd be drawn around here," Kaede snorted, folding her arms and following Kikyou's train of thought. "Why gather around there?"
"That I do not know. Kossetsu and his wife came in early this morning, after hiding in the wood. There may be more stragglers, or youkai attempting to hunt them down, those caught up in the flight." Her eyes met with Kagome's. "Would you accompany me around the outside of town to search?"
Kagome tried to remind herself that she had to act naturally, as though she did not know these people. There was no logical reason for her to refuse the request. Besides, it would have to happen sooner or later. Just hanging around Kaede wasn't going to stop an interrogation, however subtle. Still, she automatically found herself saying, "Shouldn't someone stay here? A miko? For the village?"
"I'm staying," Kaede told her, as though this were obvious. "Besides, Chikara-obaasan will be bossing everyone around, now that the worst is over. If anything bad happens, I know the route," she finished, breezily referring to whatever pathway she knew Kikyou usually walked around the village.
Forcing what she hoped was a friendly smile, Kagome turned to Kikyou. "Then I guess there's no reason to stick around. Sure, I'll come." Then she hesitated, this time with thoughtfulness. "I don't have arrows or anything with me..."
"We'll have to find you some, then," Kikyou agreed. A moment later, Kaede chimed in that she would ask around as she checked out the village's situation today.
It seemed a bit amazing, the way the two of them worked so fluidly together. Kagome had noticed a touch of idol worship towards her sister from the younger girl, though not enough to keep her from being starstruck. When Kikyou had a demand elsewhere, Kaede seemed to try to find a way to fill the lacking, despite her age.
"Thanks," she managed after a moment, and with unspoken farewells, the two elder miko turned and began to walk, Kagome a half step behind Kikyou, not certain as to the 'route' the older girl usually took. Her last glance at the more familiar village was to see Kaede disappearing around a corner, at a full run.
Green grass that covered the expanse of plain brushed against Kagome's thighs, swishing back the loose vermillion hems of her hakama with the help of the wind. Loosely, she trailed her fingertips across the rough wildgrasses, feeling them prickle her skin as she ranged several lengths away from Kikyou, always keeping an eye on the miko and expecting her to speak. They traced a path parallel to the darkened wood, still shadowy despite the brightness of the day. Every so often, Kikyou would pause, as though listening to the unseen wind, her head tilted to the side and her eyes half lidded. Then her direction would change, almost imperceptibly. Kagome found little rhyme or reason to the slight alterations, though they seemed to be tracing a wide arc, bringing them slowly closer to the lake, the place where the river and the irrigated rice paddies emptied, draining away the still water.
So different, so similar. Same lake, same grass, same scent to the air, of water and wind and clarity just smudged with woodsmoke. Walking, searching, looking to help, but with someone so starkly different than her usual companions. Like, unlike.
It took Kagome a moment, so accustomed to the silence she had become, to realize Kikyou had finally spoken, asking a question. "You decided to dress as a miko instead of your foreign clothes?"
"Ah, yes," Kagome admitted sheepishly, allowing a bit of puzzlement to creep into her tone. "I couldn't seem to find my spare outfit. I'm sure I packed it though."
How long had she been on the trail? Many days would have revealed such a lacking to her already, and yet she seemed to just discover it. Why? "That's too bad. Did you leave it at a previous place you stayed?"
Hearing the query in her voice, Kagome realized she nearly made a mistake, and tried to salvage her previous words, remembering not to stumble in her speech. This was no polite conversation she was having, after all. "That's possible. It was a long trip." It was a very long trip...five hundred years. Or a few meters, depending on how you wanted to measure the transfer.
"I haven't traveled far beyond the borders of this domain," Kikyou told her, eyes scanning the sweeping grasses, shivering in the warm wind. "The village is my home. You must miss yours."
"Yes," she agreed, then slowly tested the information, "Tokyo is long trip from here. I wish I could see my little brother again, and my mother and grandfather." If information was what Kikyou was seeking, then she would give what was enough to keep her satisfied. A nice, normal life with her family in a 'village' Kikyou would never have heard of. Or, at least, this Kikyou.
The elder miko's head turned slowly, contemplatively. "You have a younger brother?"
"Yes." Kagome's smile spread genuinely, thinking of him. "Souta. He's a bit younger than Kaede. He's a bit more quiet than she is though."
"Is he also to be a priest?"
"Well...I'm not sure. Jii-chan would probably love it, if he ever expresses an interest beyond watching him."
Kagome wished she knew what was going on behind the light blue eyes that were regarding her so carefully. Though, she thought, they had softened somewhat with the talk of her family. Her face was still serene, motionless amid the breezy grasses. Then, along with her eyes, her expression softened as well, and Kagome began to realize she had passed whatever test this was. Kikyou believed her words. She was safe, and she tried not to abruptly expel a breath she had been holding. Instead, it became a gasp. "There!"
Even as the word flew from her lips, Kikyou was whirling, an arrow sliding from its quiver, the white fletched bolt slicing through the air with a faint whistle. It sparked at the tip, resplendent orchid light blossoming from the point as it collided with the thickly furred body of an overgrown weasel. Its body hitched, convulsing backward and crashing to the ground with a loud thunk, thrashing once, twice, then lying still.
Kagome's heart was pounding. Her attention wrapped around the conversation with Kikyou, she had nearly not felt its stealthy coming, taking advantage of the high grasses and weaving among them. A moment of inattention. One moment, and under attack.
Kikyou grabbed the shaft of her arrow, yanking it out of the youkai's heart as it seemed to sigh, body turning to ashes and blowing away on the faint wind. "When we return, we'll need to get some of the men to come and cart the bones to the well," she said, wiping the bile off of her arrow on the ground, then sliding it back into her quiver, wasting nothing. Noticing Kagome's pale face, she lifted an eyebrow. "Are you well?"
Shaking herself, Kagome nodded, a hand automatically stealing to her throat, to clutch at the little bottle on its chain. The empty little bottle on its chain. "That...was a good shot."
Kikyou tilted her head to the side, then glanced back at the remains of the youkai, lips drawing to a fine frown as she backed away. "It was well enough. We shouldn't linger here. With this one's death scent on the air, the others will scatter until it is safe to pass this way again. Then the bones will attract them."
The bones were barren, without meat, and Kagome was not sure why they alone would summon other youkai, but she had seen it before. As Kikyou drew away from the creature, she trailed, watching the remains, as though some ghost of it would rise up to strike from behind.
For many more minutes, silence prevailed, interrupted only by the whisper of the wind on the grass. The wide arc they traced around the outer limits of the village land passed from floodplain to rocky soil, hills rising around them gently, covered by weeds, shrubbery and the extended fingers of the forest, reaching to grasp more land. Birches bent in the sky, waving steadily back and forth.
But each step made Kagome more listless. She resisted fretting, and tried to keep her darting eyes searching for signs of youkai instead of seeking out the path back to the Bone Eater's Well. She continued to finger the empty bottle, and a soft rapping noise reaching her ears, from her nail tapping against the glass, an imitation of the usual sounds of shards striking the inside. She knew this land. Though some of the layout of trees had changed, the forest not yet claimed a few more twists and turns of the earth, it grew more and more familiar.
Cresting a low rise, a curve of land became visible, a broad stretch of plain that would bring them back towards the village, should the two miko choose to take it. Before her, a few minutes brisk walk ahead, lay the lake and its river.
To her left lay a cave.
Her hand convulsed around the bottle, and the sudden cease of footsteps alerted Kikyou. Fingers reaching for another arrow, she looked to Kagome, following her wide eyed gaze. She herself sensed no threatening youki in their immediate area, as though it had been drawn away, somewhere else. Her uncertain companion was watching the narrow jaw of a cave with a pale face, unreadable expressions flitting across it rapidly.
Fifty years back. Fifty years. Exactly how close to fifty years? How polluted was the burned out cave of Onigumo? Did it lay empty and peaceful, did it have yet to feel the corrupting presence of Naraku's creation? Or was it foul and black and charred inside? Times...the times, did they match? How closely? When, exactly, was she? Inuyasha hovered around the jinja, Kaede was unscarred, but were they months before Inuyasha was pinned to the Goshinboku? Weeks? Days?
"You're right," Kikyou stated, snapping Kagome back to reality as she began heading quickly towards the cave, her arrow falling back into the rest with a quiet clatter. Frantically, Kagome tried to recall if she had said anything aloud; she was sure she hadn't. Then what was Kikyou commenting on? She scurried after, doggedly stumbling down the pebbly slope, feeling the little stones move into her straw sandals.
Every foot she placed before the other took her a step closer to the cave's mouth, dark and scented with must and earth. It felt like a nightmare, one she could not stop, walking endlessly forward into a darkness at the mouth of hell. When? How far had she slipped in time? Onigumo couldn't be there, that would be...she shuddered, shoving away the dreadful thought. He couldn't be. And if he was? No, he couldn't be. Face to face with your greatest enemy in life, and he lay there, helpless, and not yet an enemy? No, of course not. With what did this time align with? Her sengoku jidai aligned with her world; a day there was a day here.
Kagome's feet ended in the dirt, a broken footpath leading to the cave's maw. Consumed already in the dark, Kikyou's white clothed figure was a grey patch, diminished, then gone. Resting a hand reluctantly on the opening, she placed a foot forward, feeling it slide under the stubbly presence of a burned out torch. Many of the grasses around the cave mouth had been trampled by heavy feet, broken and bent. Iris petals had been strewn under heels.
People had been here within the last couple days, though it seemed they were gone, the footprints a incoherent mess on the dirt path. A shiver ran down Kagome's spine, and she looked into the darkness again, Kikyou's voice echoing eerily from the depths.
"Kagome! Come here, and quickly!"
Run. She wanted to run. Far and fast, flying, running, running away. If she didn't look into the cave, she wouldn't see what she dreaded. It would be put off for just a bit longer; for just a short while longer, there would be no Onigumo in her life. For just a bit longer, there was still no future Naraku, and her hopeful plan to get home would still be simple. The nightmare began to speed up, a hell bent carousel that kept spinning dizzily, refusing to allow her to step off.
She couldn't run away. To where would she run? There was nowhere to go.
Edging forward, she entered the darkness, descending a bit further into the gloom, which suddenly sparked a little golden light, casting away the shadows around the place that Kikyou knelt, hands setting aside a bit of flint.
The light revealed the broken figure of a man, crushed and burned, a charred and tattered tatami mat half wrapped around him. One side had been flung off, evidence of Kikyou's swift inspection to see if he lived. And he did live. In the silence of the cave, a faint rattling noise could be heard, of breath laboriously sucked into and pushed out of injured lungs. Where flesh protruded from the remains of the dingy mat, it was blistered, puckered into red welts striped with purplish black blood streaks. The light of the fire cast the body in a crimson hue, a healthy color that made the man look even more sickly.
The nightmare she feared was a reality, once her sight was filled with the image of the decimated Onigumo. A twist of pity stabbed her, hard. She tried to brush it aside, ignore it. This was Onigumo, this was Naraku. This was Naraku who sought the Shikon no Tama, the Naraku who cursed Miroku-sama, who orchestrated the death of Sango-chan's village, who manipulated Kohaku, who attacked them over and over again.
This was the man that tricked Inuyasha into stealing the Shikon no Tama, and who tricked Kikyou into hating him.
She already feared him. She should hate him. And yet, somehow, in that helpless state, she pitied him. At that moment, if he were conscious, he would know that he would never walk again. Never move again. He was crippled beyond repair, for any era. The scar tissue swarming over him would never completely heal. Caught between sensible hatred and logical pity, she stood at the light's edge, listening to Kikyou murmur steadily as she drew items from her bag, the pungent scent of herbs rising into the putrid stench of piss and burnt meat.
"The swells...lanced...relieve the pressure...willow, here..." she untied one of the cloth bags on a twine and laid the ground grey mass on the ground, quickly reaching for a clay bowl and a nearby rock to grind ingredients. She seemed to realize that Kagome had finally entered, and she looked up at her, pointing to Onigumo. "His burns are severe. I'll need bandages, and water. Here, move that filthy mat off of him."
It felt like ages as she moved forward, slowly reaching out to do as Kikyou bid, pulling the edge of the tatami gently off. Still, several blisters burst at the light motion, and pus began to run from the side, releasing another sour odor to compete with the cleaner scent of herbs. Now pungent, the cut through the stench, though it still left Kagome queasy.
As a new wave of pain cut through him at the ministrations of Kagome and Kikyou, the figure muttered something, little more than a groan uttered through chapped lips.
"You are alive," Kikyou told him, pausing long enough to look down into the man's swollen face. The groan rose again, this time accompanied with a groggy awakening. Lashless eyelids cracked open, eyes rolling for the sound of the quiet voice. The golden light struck his eyes as they finally shifted towards Kikyou, lit by the tiny fire alight just behind her, making her into an illuminated shadow in his vision. She moved, just slightly, allowing his blurred eyes to be struck by that tiny light, but also to see her face more clearly. White skin, sad eyes, cast all in shadows and swallowed by them. Beautiful light, enveloping the beautiful darkness.
He choked, and Kikyou shifted again, forward, pulling his mouth open slightly, not enough to overstretch the contracted skin, but so that he found room in his mouth to move his tongue. The gagging ceased, and the bleary eyes tried to dilate, to meet with the vision before him, but the shifting lightness and darkness confused them, and once again they were closed, and for him the dark was absolute.
Still, though, in the gleam of the tiny fire, as Kagome watched Kikyou move with speed and skill to save a life she did not know was so dangerous, it seemed to her that the face of Onigumo, cracked and pinched though it was, wore, ever so faintly, a smile.
And in her mind she imagined a withered voice whisper, "Ah, I desire..."
Special thanks to Kylara, for telling me a bit about what happens in episode 87 of the anime. Like most of my IY fics, I tend to use a blend of both manga and anime versions. For the most part, I use the anime to fill in what is not mentioned in the manga...or some added scenes here and there. I'm also a bit more familiar with the anime, since I can see that...I don't own the manga, and though translations are wonderful, beautiful things that I keep up on, it's just not quite the same without the full medium of the images.
Don't worry too much about the 'new' characters in this chapter. Chikara turns up again, but the brothers were basically your ordinary Random Villagers. Occasionally, some originals are needed to further plot and give information to Important People. ^_^
Ten points to anyone who can identify the inspiration for this chapter's title! ^.^
Riddle of the Day: If you found Onigumo lying helpless in a cave, what would you do?
Til next chapter, 'The Red String of Fate'
~Queen
Playing this chapter:
Kyrie, Jocelyn Montgomery
Gollum's Song, LotR- Two Towers
Inuyasha OST 2
