Well, here's the next chapter.  I've been trying to decide on a title, and it hasn't been easy.  Making decisions isn't my forte.  Anyway, I think I'll use this title for this chapter instead of the other.  I have an idea…

I'm so tired and I just feel kinda blah.  Maybe this is what being depressed feels like.

Sorry I didn't update sooner.  We went to Fargo this weekend to go to a graduation party.  It was fun^.^

Disclaimer:  I'm not in the mood to write out about how broke and in debt I am.  I'm just too…blah.  I don't own Inuyasha.  Why would you think I did, anyway?  I'd be rich if I did and I wouldn't be sitting at my dad's computer.  I'd be sitting at mine…or my laptop…whichever came first.

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*Let's go back to one of my original ideas.  A slip in fate.  A slip in fate isn't easy to come by.  When fate is defied, a slip forms.  In that time, fate rearranges to compensate for that hole, or slip.  In that time, you have control over your own life.  Everything stops and you have a chance to change your future, for the better or for the worse.  But how can this be?  How can fate have a slip?  There's a one-word answer.  Destiny.  When destiny interferes with fate, a slip occurs.  It's rare, but can happen.  However, no one knows it exists.  We all just assume it's a part of fate.  But in that one moment, you could change your future…and possibly the world's.  Such a responsibility is placed on our shoulders.  We could make or break a few lives in just a few moments.  When a slip occurs, note this.  Fate does not change.  Everything just switches.  Times are changed as to when things will happen, order changes as to the occurrence, but it will all eventually happen.  This is why the future is sometimes uncertain.  Things may seem to happen one way, but a slip occurs and the order changes.  So perhaps everything in life truly is uncertain, even though fate is specific.*

"Well, Yume?"

"Who is it?"

Yume paused with her response and looked up.

"Let me rephrase that," she said.  "Cycil.  I need you to possess a tamashii."

"Oh?  Who's?"

"Miroku-sama's.  I need you to take control of him and use him to kill the others.  Kagome-sama, Inuyasha-sama, Shippo, Kirara, and Sango-sama.  Then have him kill himself as well.  Do you understand?"

"Hai, demo…what if he…"

"He won't," quickly answered Yume.  Cycil nodded her head and then left to go prepare.  "Siria.  You should go and rest.  Let us take care of this."

"Danna…are you sure you don't need my help?"

"If we do, I will make sure to call for you, alright?"

"Okay."  Siria nodded and then walked off into the darkness, heading towards her dwelling to get some sleep.

******

"Kagome-chan, where are we going?" asked Sango.

"We're heading towards that mountain.  There's a village near there that has been having youkai problems.  There may be a kakkera involved."

"And that's why we need to get there as fast as we can," added Inuyasha in a slightly annoyed tone.  They weren't going at the pace he wanted them to.  The journey, so far, had been quiet.  No one had much to say and they weren't about to talk about Siria.  She was already a touchy subject the way it was.  The last thing they needed to do was bring up the fact that they let Siria stay with them while Miroku was out.  He wouldn't be happy if he knew about it.  The housh, however, seemed out of it.  He was most likely contemplating the whole situation.  It was just as blurred to him as it was to the rest of them.  Thinking, however, hurt too much right now.  Things were too confusing.  They continued walking along the trail, heading up towards the mountains.

******

(I remember…

The thickness in the air

And I remember…

The pain that I felt

When I realized no one was there)

It was her again.  That girl, Mikomi Yoka.  She was walking through the forest, her kimono torn and her hair covering her face.  She walked through a foggy forest, not once lifting her head.  She looked like the walking dead, being drained of all life.  In her right hand was a sword, a curved one.  It was covered in the blood of youkai and seemed to be giving off a strange glow.  Yoka walked slowly, dragging her feet, until she disappeared into the deep, dark, forest.

The scene shifted.  It was replaced with a training field for samurai.  Men were training themselves with swords against straw dummies.  They needed to practice in order to protect their village from attacks.  The men weren't the only ones there.  A girl, around the age of 16, was also there.  She wore a familiar brown and black battle outfit and had a curved sword in her hands.  She was training right along with them.  Her long, crimson hair flowed out behind her in her ponytail.  She swung the sword and completely took the head off of the dummy.  The men watched her as she practiced.

"That Yoka sure is something.  She's one of the best fighters I've ever seen, and she's a girl," said one of the men.

"I don't trust her," said another.  "She wandered into this village one day covered in the blood of youkai and holding that glowing sword, bathed in the blood of youkai as well.  She's evil.  I know it.  She'll do nothing but ruin us."

"What should we do?" asked another man.

"When we go out to battle today, we let her die there.  We'll kill her ourselves if we have to."  Yoka cut up another dummy.  The men gulped.

"What if she kills us first?"

"We'll strike her before she can get to us."

"Yoka!" called a woman from the village.  Yoka stopped what she was doing and smiled to the girl.

"Coming, Oba-san!"  She sheathed the sword and ran down to meet the woman.  The men watched and continued conspiring.

A few hours later, they went out to go and meet their enemy on the battlefield.  The men and Yoka walked out onto the field and stood in shock.  Hundreds of bodies were lying on the battlefield.

"What happened?" asked one man.

"Youkai," said Yoka.  As if on cue, some youkai sprang from the forest and began attacking the group.  The men were doing their best to take care of the youkai, but more kept coming.  Yoka took on more than any of them and she was having problems.  Her sword was soon knocked away.  She needed help.

"Koro!" she shouted.  The man who had talked about her turned around.  Yoka was pleading with him to help her, but he wasn't going to.  He didn't care if she died.  He wanted to see it.

"Onegai!" shouted Yoka.  No help would come.  She was on her own.  The youkai in front of her swiped downwards at her, but she jumped back.  However, it wasn't in time.  The claws of the youkai cut her on the left side of her face, making her blind in one eye.  She held the bleeding gash with her left and kept her sword in her right.  Suddenly, the sword started to pulse.  She could feel its energy flowing into her and it began to glow.  It was an eerie glow, one that could only come from a sword that had tasted the blood of youkai and ningen alike.  The blade she got from Shiro on that fateful day.  It was glowing and suddenly, it changed.  It became longer and more curved, the blade tingeing a red color, but not much so, and the handle became black and longer.  She looked at the sword and then at the youkai.  They were afraid, partially.  It pulsed again.

"Shiro-sama no ken?" she asked.  The sword pulsed again, as if reassuring her.  A faint smile crossed her lips.  She allowed her hand that had been covering her eye to drop, letting the crimson blood from her hand touch the cursed sword.  It glowed once more and then the blood was gone.  She placed her hand back on her eye and a glow radiated from it.  When she removed her hand, all that was left was a scar.  She held the sword with both hands and ran towards the group of youkai.  She decimated them easily and the other men just watched.

"Do you see?  That sword of hers is pure evil.  We have to get rid of her."

"Hai."  The men got out their rifles and aimed at Yoka.  A gunshot fired and hit her right in the leg.  Yoka collapsed to the ground in mid leap as the bullet pierced her flesh.  She glanced up at the men.

"Douhsite?" she asked them.

(And I can hear…

All of their painful cries

And I listen…

All I can do

Is keep on asking why)

"You're pure evil, Mikomi Yoka.  You have to be destroyed."  However, they didn't get the chance to fire off another bullet, because they were all suddenly engulfed in flames.  Yoka could hear the screams of the men and it pained her.  She couldn't take that sound anymore.  It would ring in her head for all eternity.  She slowly got up and looked at the oni who had done it.

"That was easy," said the oni.  "The village was even easier."  Yoka's eyes went wide.

"The village?" she asked in fear.

"Yes.  It was easy once we lead you all away.  What a feast we had!"  Yoka clenched the sword tightly, her leg already starting to heal from the gunshot.  She pointed her sword at the oni.

"Kisama…you slaughtered them all.  It's unforgivable!  I'll kill you!"

"Kisama?  What language you have, Yoka.  You and your cursed sword."

"Urusai!"  She ran at the oni, swinging her sword mercilessly.

"Baka.  You're nothing but a ningen.  You can't defeat me."  It evaded her attack, but she quickly spun around and swung her sword, cutting off its hand.  The oni cried out in pain.  "Temee!  You will pay for that!"

(It was a cold, dark night

I was left alone in the rain

But when I opened my eyes

I realized

I remembered everything

It wasn't a dream)

"I may be a ningen, but don't underestimate me.  I've seen more blood shed than you've ever been able to cause.  I'm no longer afraid.  You killed them.  Youkai took my family away and now this village.  It's unforgivable!  I won't allow it!  I don't want to see any more blood shed!  No more!"  The blade pulsed again and began to glow an eerie red color.  She pulled back and swung the sword, sending a red sickle like beam towards the oni.  Her one open eye showed no emotion.  She was merciless.  The oni tired to move, but it wouldn't be able to make it.  The blade was too fast and too big.

"Modokashii," she said blankly.  The oni knew it couldn't evade the attack.  It had to get out somehow.

"I'm sorry!  Forgive me!" it cried out.

"Iya.  Within me…" she started.  The blade was slicing through the oni, "…yurushi nai.  Shine."  Her voice was so blank, but full of venom.  Such a voice was the last thing the oni heard before it was sliced into pieces, which fell to the ground.  Mikomi Yoka sheathed her sword and turned away, walking off into the forest.  'I'm no ningen…not anymore…I'm not worthy…I'm…kotonashi.'  And with that, she disappeared into the forest, leaving behind another life, soon to be washed away in the rain.

******

"Cycil.  It's time.  Do it now," said Yume.

"Hai, Yume.  Demo, are you sure he wont…?"

"I'm sure, Cycil.  He won't.  I'm sure."  She said it confidently, but she didn't want any of this to happen.  Why did it have to be them?  She lowered her head as Cycil began the process.  Cycil, the tamashii no youkai.  A youkai onna that could do anything with a soul.  With the help of Yume, she could get into the souls of people and control them.  That was the plan.  They would use Miroku and let him kill his friends.  It was sweet in a sadistic way.  Naraku would love a plan like this, but not Yume.  Dream weavers weren't evil, just misunderstood.  They did their job with out interfering, but Yume was different.  She had already taken in two creatures, a youkai and a ningen, two bachiatari, walking different paths that both led them to her.  Yume smiled.  She was different.  She, alone, had done things that dream weavers would never dream of doing.  She had become a friend to one of the forsaken, one of the people who had to die.  She frowned.  It was hard not to get close.  They were nice.  But she had to forget.  She had to utter those few, painful words that would end this all.

"You may begin, Cycil.  Kill them."

(A/N Ha!  I was gonna end it here, but…I think I'll keep going^.^)

******

The Inuyasha-tachi was walking on a mountain trail, heading up the tall and majestic mountain.  For once, Miroku was walking in front.  Something had been bothering him all day and he wasn't even sure what it was.  Something didn't feel right.  He began to fall back in the group, letting them all pass him.  He kept his head down.  Suddenly, a surge of pain went through his whole body, causing him to crumple to the ground in pain.  He cried out slightly, causing the whole group to stop and turn to him.

"Houshi-sama," said Sango out of concern.  Mrioku's hands shot up to his head, where the pain suddenly decided to reside.  His body felt numb and the pain was more than he could bear.  He griped his head hard, trying to force out the pain.

'Give in, Miroku.  You can't escape.  It's impossible.'

"Iya," he said out loud.  The voice, along with the Inuyasha-tachi, could hear him.

"Miroku-sama, what's wrong?" asked Kagome.  They were now standing around him.  He looked at all of them and then closed his eyes, the pain surging through him.

'Give in.'  He had heard that voice before.  'Given in, houshi.'

"Iya!  I won't."

'It'll be easier if you give in to me.  Your pain will end.'

"Iya!  You'll kill them!"

'Well, aren't you perceptive.  Just give in.  You can end all of the pain right now.  I've burrowed deep into your soul.  You can't escape me.'

"I can and I will," he said confidently.  "I won't let you.  You can't kill them."  The pain started to disappear.

'Nani?!' asked Cycil.  'You can't!  If you force me out, you'll…you'll…'

"I know what I'm doing."

'You baka, you're going to shatter your own soul if you force me out!"

"Watashi…wakaru," he said.  "Tonchakushinai."

'Iya!' screamed Cycil, but she was gone.  And with that, his body pulsed and he gasped.  It was the last breath of air he took before his eyes became lifeless and closed for good.  He fell to the rocky ground as his friends voices soon faded from his range of hearing.  They were nothing but far off echoes, which soon faded into kyomu.

******

Cycil's eyes snapped open.

"Fu-fukanou.  He…he shattered his own soul.  I don't believe it."

Meanwhile, in her thrown room, Yume's whole body pulsed and her eyes snapped open, wide.

"It can't be…this is…"  She paused and looked around.  "A slip in fate.  How could this have happened?  Miroku-sama…he must have…he…forced Cycil out of his soul.  A slip in fate hasn't happened for nearly 2000 years.  How could it have happened now?"  'How can you defy fate?  If fate has written it as such, then so shall it be…right?'  The darkness in the room seemed to swirl around her.

"Yume!" shouted Cycil, storming into the room.  "What's going on here?  Everything feels different."

"Fate is rearranging itself."

"Nani?!"

"A slip in fate."

"Yume!  You said he wouldn't do that!  You said you were sure he wouldn't!"

"Gemen, Cycil.  He…wasn't supposed to."

"What now?"

"Leave."  Cycil gave her a confused glance and then walked off into the darkness.  'There's still time…I can save him with their help.  We can do this.  Sango-sama…onegai…hear me.'

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Well now, wasn't that fun?  Life is good, yep.  Actually, I feel quite sick.  Not sick as in cold sick, but sick as in…well, it's hard to explain.  It's like excitement to the point of depression.  Everything is just happening to me too fast.  I have a friend in the hospital, school is ending, I won't see my friends, I'm losing a few friends, I have too much left to do before the year is up, I have a song stuck in my head an it is partially the cause of my depression.  Ya know, a song that is just so wonderful and great to listen to that you can't stop and it gets stuck in your head and makes you feel strange when you hear it?  Or is all of this just me?

It's probably just me.  *sigh*.  I actually feel a lot better now.

Thanks for letting me rant.  I'm feeling better^.^

Tamashii –soul

Oba-san –aunt…I think…yeah.

Shiro-sama no ken –The blade of Shiro, or Shiro's blade.  But the way she is saying it, completely in English is, Lord Shiro's blade, in case you were wondering…did I really need to say all that, I mean, did I really?

Doushite –why

Kisama –okay, this isn't gonna be easy.  First off, this is an interesting, word, as I heard from my friend.  It can be one of the greatest terms for respect and one of the ugliest insults ever created.  To tell you the truth, there isn't a direct translation in the English language.  That's how bad it is.  No English word can rival with this Japanese one.  It's not used in civilized conversations, ever.  In fact, in the Inuyasha video game I have, Naraku and Sesshoumaru are the only one's who use it.  Miroku used it once in the show, but I don't remember when.

Urusai –aw, a word commonly used by Inuyasha.  It means shut up.  I like that word^.^

Modokashii –too slow, or not quick enough

Yurushi nai -In this sentence, she says "Within me, there is no forgiveness."  Yurushi means forgivness and nai means there isn't, so translated exactly,  she would say, "Within me, forgiveness there is none" or something like that.  Sorry.  I shouldn't elaborate so much.

Shine –die

Kotonashi –nothing

Tamashii no youkai –demon of souls, or soul demon.

Watashi wakaru –I understand.

Tonchakushinai –I don't care.  It's along those lines.  I'm not entirely sure.

Kyomu –nothingness

Fukanou –impossible

Well, I'll start the next chapter soon.  I gotta go watch a few AMVs.  I suggest watching sick cycle carousel.  Good video.  It's at the AMV music video download site.  There are so many good videos there.  That's the song that's been driving me crazy.

Well, I'm off!

Bye!