Well, here we go:
.
Chapter 2
Missing
She stared grumpily at the wooden floor. She felt so stupid.
What was she doing, crying over a guy? A guy she didn't even like, to make it worse. Kagome rubbed her wet face wearily. This was ridiculous. She was being ridiculous.
That's all she had been doing ever since they had gone here. Cry, cry, cry. It wasn't her. She didn't cry. She wasn't the type of person who would bawl over a guy. Kagome chuckled dryly. If Renko had seen her like this, she would go into hysterics. Telling her that she was being stupid and that crying was never the answer to anything.
Kagome sighed heavily. Renko.
Where was she anyways? Ever since they had left the castle in Avaric, Kagome never saw her companion. Right now would be a nice time to have her company though. Yet, thinking of Renko reverted her thoughts back to the hanyou.
As a darkangel, he murdered, no, worse that murdered her best friend and twelve other maidens, forcefully made her his wives' servant, and threatened and insulted her every time he saw her. He was rude, arrogant, selfish, and haunted her dreams when she was not with him. He destroyed her life, her hopes, and dreams; yet she couldn't find herself to hate him.
Something was holding her back, keeping her behind the line of hate.
Kagome leaned back and rest her head on the arm of the couch she laid on. All of this was really stressing her out. The pointless crying and depressing thoughts were really drawing the energy out of her. She closed her weary eyes and let out a heavy breath.
Suddenly there was crash of something that was bound to be a very expensive antique. Kagome bolted upwards from her position. She whipped her head around, trying to locate the source. Then she spotted a small table that had been toppled over and pieces of what must have been a very expensive vase were scattered on the floor. And underneath it all was a little bearded man who was struggled to get out of the mess.
"Myouga!" Kagome exclaimed when she finally recognized who it was. She hurried over and kneel down to pick him out.
"Ah, thank you, Lady Kagome." Once she placed him down on the floor and he started to dust the dirt off him.
"I never expected to see this soon," Kagome said honestly.
Myouga stopped and looked up at her, perplexed. "And why's that?"
Kagome frowned slightly. "Well, you went to the lorelai's lake, didn't you? I thought it'd take you awhile to come back."
Myouga blinked. "Oh, that's right. I did, didn't I?"
Kagome quickly righted the table and tossed away the broken shards. No one would notice it gone anyways. She knelt down back to Myouga.
"So," she said with a tint of excitement in her voice. "Tell me everything."
Myouga straightened his robes before looking at her again with a confused look. "Tell you what, Lady?"
"Your journey, of course." She was in a need of a good story. "I mean I'm assuming that a lot of things must've happened when you tried to enter the witch's castle."
He blinked again. "Oh."
Was is just her, or was Myouga started to look nervous?
Kagome folded her hands in her lap. "Well?"
"Um, how can I say this?"
Kagome cocked her head to a side. What was so difficult? All he had to do was tell what happened. Unless, he didn't go at all...
In a flat voice, she said, "You didn't go, did you?"
"Well, you know me," he said hastily. "I'm a very busy youkai. But a brave and kind tanuki offered to do the job for me. Such a kind lad he was."
Kagome rolled her eyes. Inuyasha was right to have his doubts about Myouga. She sighed. Great, even thinking of him made her depressed.
"So, how are things here?" Myouga asked.
"Fine, I guess," she answered soberly.
"And Lord Inuyasha?"
"Fine-" She stopped. Should she tell Myouga about his dreams? He did tell her not to tell anyone. Well, screw that. It wasn't like he could stop her right at that moment.
"He's been having nightmares," she finished.
"Nightmares? Of the lorelai, I'm guessing."
"Yes."
"Lady Kagome," Myouga started slowly, his face turning grave. "There was a reason why I came to see you first, before anyone else. Even the Queen."
"Go on..."
"...There's task that you need to do."
Kagome frowned. "What do you mean? I've already done my part. I freed Inuyasha from the enchantment."
Myouga shook his head. "I'm afraid there's more to be done. Do you remember that rime I told to you, at the darkangel's castle? Well, there's more to it."
Kagome sat quietly, waiting for the duarough to recite the rime.
"Well, I don't exactly remember it word for word."
Figures.
Myouga's eyes rolled up as he attempted to recall. "Let's see, I think it started out something about a bride in a temple, going into a fire. And steeds for the heirs, I think it was? Well, steeds have to be found and some special arrows, too. There's also something about a wand given wings and personally, I have no idea what that means. Then, um, there's also something about a gathering of gargoyles and some feast on a stone. And I believe the last part says something about overthrowing a hag."
Kagome gave a deadpan look. "Fascinating."
Myouga looked at her sheepishly. "Well, I don't remember the rime that well but I'm assuming that the lost lons of the West must be found and gathered. That's the most important part I'm guessing."
"Lost lons?"
"Yes. You know each region has a lon, right? Like Pendar has Pendarlon. Well, the lost lons are the lons of the regions that have been taken over by darkangels. After the darkangels took over, those lons disappeared. No one knows for sure what happened to them. Let's see, the cities missing lons are..." The duarough started to count off his many fingers. "Kyoto, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Osaka, Yokohama, and Sapporo. Oh, and Avaric of course."
Kagome frowned. "I thought the lons were killed. The icari didn't kill them when they came into power?"
He shook his head. "No, no. You can't permanently kill a lon. They are always reborn, if so. You don't think Midoriko-sama created the lons so they could be killed easily, do you?"
"I guess not."
"Well, time's a wasting. Best you go now."
Kagome gaped. "Now?"
Myouga blinked. "Well, yes. The witch has already sent out her searchers. She's searching for the lons, too. Apparently, she lost them so we must find them before the witch does."
"Where are they now?"
"In hiding, I'm guessing. But they are the steeds for the heirs, as mentioned in the rime."
Heirs? Oh, how could she be so dense? The heirs of Esternesse were the ones Myouga must have meant. "You mean Inuyasha's cousins."
"Yes, of course. You don't expect Lord Inuyasha to go up against six icari alone with the Avarclon, do you?"
Kagome paused. "Wait, you said a feasting on a stone. In Osaka, isn't there an altar called the Feasting Stone?"
"...Yes."
"There's a veiled oracle there, isn't there?"
"If I'm recalling correctly, yes. To answer riddles and interpret premonitions."
Pushing away the visions of slave markets that started to appear in her head, Kagome pressed on.
"So if I go to the oracle, she could tell me the meaning of the riddle and where the lons are."
Myouga looked thoughtful. "Yes, that's true. She most likely knows the rime much better than I do."
Kagome stood, her shadow towering over the small man. "When should I leave?"
"As soon as possible," he answered. "Now is the best time. Cross the Sea of Dust and from there, I'm afraid you'll be on your own."
She frowned again. "You won't be going with me?"
Myouga shook his tiny head. "I'm afraid not. I need to talk to the Queen and there are some issues I must attend to." He patted her foot. "Don't worry, I'm sure company will find you soon. Now, you should go before anyone notices you've gone."
Kagome nodded and watched as the duarough disappear into the shadows.
She hurried to her apartment and made sure it was empty before entering. She crossed to her trunk and lifted out her long wedding sari. Kagome started at it before tucking it under her arm. She didn't have a definite reason why she was bringing it with her but something told her that it could prove useful later. She then took her favorite yukata (well, it really her only one). It was a light yellow one that she had worn once when she was with the Hikari no Ya. Kagome smiled. The memories there were always good ones.
She slipped the yukata on and reached into the trunk again before remembering that she did not have her walking stick with her. If she hadn't left it in the desert, she'd probably feel more complete and secure.
She shut the lid of the trunk close and tucked the sari more securely in her arms before leaving the room. She hurried down the empty halls and into the garden. Every time she passed a fruit tree, she'd stop and pick some of the fruit and tuck them into her sari. (See? The sari was proving useful already.)
It wasn't too long till she found herself in the Queen's private harbor.
Kagome looked around as she tried to locate Daiki's little boat. The Queen's youngest nephew had been teaching her sailing, how to tack and duck the swinging boom. When she found the boat, she swung herself and her sari into it.
"Kagome!"
Kagome jumped and whirled around. Daiki stood upon the headland, barefooted. He had his boots clutched in one hand and his yellow robe slung over his shoulder, wearing only his hakama. As he hurried over, Kagome noticed with a start that he was sopping wet.
Daiki laughed when he saw the expression on her face. "I fell into the stream carrying Kyo from the festival. He got drunk," He explained. "The others went on. I was on the bank drying my robe when I saw you go by. Where are you going at this hour?"
"Can I borrow you boat, Daiki?" Kagome asked instead of answering his question as she looked seaward.
"Are you going sailing?" He moved to enter the small craft. "I'll go with you." But Kagome stopped him.
"Where are you going, Kagome-san?" he asked, disappointed.
She turned to look at him. "I need to run an errand. Alone. It's very important so I have to leave right away."
"Wait," he said suddenly. "Here, take my robe. It'll help on cold nights. Well, once it's dry."
Kagome laughed as she took it. "Then take this." She passed him the sari after taking out its contents.
Daiki looked at it as his ears twitched, bewildered. "What do I do with it?"
Kagome paused before answering. "Give it to Inuyasha," she said softly and turned away to unite the sail. Well, it wasn't like he'd care if she left anyways. She wouldn't be surprised if he didn't even notice her gone. Why was she even thinking about this? She turned to Daiki suddenly. "Not right away though. I have to be far away before he knows."
There, she did it again. She was acting as if he'd cared. But he wouldn't. Inuyasha wouldn't.
Kagome released the sail from her hands. Daiki caught her hand and for a moment she thought he meant to hold her back but it was only to get her attention.
"Come back soon."
Kagome attempted a smile. "I'll be back before the Avarclon awakens."
I hope.
The wind caught the sail and Kagome took the tiller as Daiki gave the boat a shove. She swung the sail line into the tack and the wind bore her rapidly away.
"Let me go down."
"No."
"She's leaving. I have to get to her before it's too late--"
"Out of the question."
"What do you mean? She's going out to the Sea! It's too dangerous!"
"She'll be fine on her own."
"You don't know that."
"I know that she's not ready for you, nor are you ready to go down there."
"I'm her Guardian. It's my job to look after her. What if she gets killed?"
"She won't, not on the task she's doing. You, on the other hand, will, Renko."
Renko stomped her foot angrily. "What's that supposed to mean? The only thing keeping me cooped up here is you and the rest of the damn Ancients."
Saraneth, the Binder, gave her a hard glare before continuing.
"Your Charter-made body was destroyed and your spirit is in no condition to do anything. Going down would only prove futile."
Renko folded her arms across her chest. "Okay, what happened to me was not my fault. The whole darkangel ordeal was completely uncalled for."
"The point is you are not fit to leave the Nine Gates of Heaven and she is not ready for you. She relies on you too much already." Saraneth waved his hand indifferently. "But then that doesn't make much of a difference since you made that sending and a part of your spirit in it before the icarus destroyed your body, which by the way, is something I have no idea why you did that since it only made your spirit much more weaker than it needed to be."
"She needs a guide."
"And only a guide. I restricted it to only be a messenger of tidings."
"You what?!" Renko hissed through gritted teeth. Her aura seemed to explode with anger, to what Saraneth seemed oblivious to.
"It's in the form you always use, no? That skinny bird?"
"It's not just a skinny bird!" Renko clenched her fists. "But your dim-witted brain just can't comprehend that, can it?"
"What did you just say?" Saraneth said dangerously. He pointed his finger at her. "You better watch that mouth of yours. You should be glad that we haven't replaced you for someone else."
"Yeah, right," Renko sneered. "Whom would you replace me with? I'm the best one you have. There's no one else in the Nine Gates of Heaven that can handle her and you know that. No Guardian here except me has enough powers to compete with hers."
Saraneth shook with anger. "Now listen here, you little--"
"What's going on here?"
The two whirled as a beautiful lady appeared. Her long dark tresses lay loose on her back and her long white robe enveloped her slender body. Her soft gentle face was now contorted in a frown.
Renko bowed low.
"Midoriko-sama."
Midoriko nodded and Renko straightened.
"What is the trouble? I can hear you all the way from the Eighth Gate."
Renko pointed her finger at Saraneth. "Saraneth won't let me leave to go down and do my duty as a Guardian."
Midoriko lowered Renko's hand. "Don't point, Renko-san. It's not polite. And you are to address as Saraneth-sama."
Saraneth smirked triumphantly.
"I'd sooner kiss a Mordicant," Renko snapped angrily.
Saraneth snarled. "That can be arranged."
"Saraneth! Renko-san!" Midoriko exclaimed.
The two stopped short and turned slowly to face the Ancient.
"Really! Now, Saraneth!"
He flinched.
"You need to control your temper! Renko!"
She flinched.
"You need you show more respect to Saraneth."
"I will when he starts deserving it."
"Renko..." Midoriko said warningly.
Renko looked away with a huff.
"Alright." Midoriko smoothed her ruffled gown. "Now, Renko, you are right now to weak to be a Guardian. To send you down would only prove to be pointless." Renko opened her mouth to protest but she cut her off. "You are to stay here until we feel you have fully recovered. And Saraneth, I need you to go into the Eighth Precinct. Ranna and Belager are fighting again."
Saraneth sighed wearily and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Alright."
He padded away but stopped beside Midoriko. He kissed her gently on the cheek. "See you soon?" he murmured.
She smiled and nodded before he disappeared through the Sixth Gate. She turned to Renko. "Why do you always give him a hard time?"
Renko shrugged. "He never gave me a reason not to." With a single wave of her hand, she conjured a cloudy bench out of the clouds that surrounded them. She plopped herself on it. Midoriko glided over and sat with a grace Renko seemed to lack.
"Look, Renko-san, I understand that you're worried about K--" she started but Renko cut her off.
"I know, but that's not the case." Renko stared off to the cloudy distance. "I'm fully aware that I'm not ready to do gown. I know that I'm probably not strong enough to fulfill any duties as a Guardian, even a low-leveled one. But ever since my 'life' here started, everything revolved around protecting someone or something. And even with previous failures, being told that you can't protect your charge, something you've been doing for the longest time, it kinda sets you off in a bad mood. I know it's stupid, but that's the way it is."
Midoriko's features softened. Renko saw it and added hurriedly. "Anyways, it's a good excuse to set Saraneth into an explosive mood."
Midoriko laughed softly and said. "If only he knew."
Renko looked away. "The old bloke wouldn't understand anyways," she said softly, too soft for Midoriko to hear.
Her chest fell in a heavy exhale. She scratched her neck as she leaned back.
She wondered what her charge was doing right at that moment.
Kagome leaned against the tiny mast as she breathed in the tangy ocean smell. Her arms and legs were sprawled over the wooden planks as her face faced the sky with her eyes closed in peaceful content. This was life.
The ocean's waves swayed the boat in a slow rhythm and the clean ocean breeze tangled itself in her hair. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so relaxed. All her worries, fears, and doubts seemed to be swept away by the wind leaving only contentment and serenity to embark upon a journey into her consciousness.
But of course, to her great regret, things like that never lasted that long.
Kagome's eyes snapped when she heard a bird's screeching. Strange that the screeching sounded a lot like complaining.
"I swear to God, if I ever end up doing shit like this again, I'll...I'll...I don't know what, but it's gonna hurt!"
Kagome scrambled to her feet and looked skyward as she tried to locate the source of the noise.
So much for contentment and serenity.
She held her hand over her eyes from the sun's glare. Far off in the distance, a long-billed bird was flying above with great difficulty. The sky was nearly engulfed with her mighty white wings and she was clutching something dark and straight. And she was flying at an very alarming rate.
Kagome stumbled to the floor in attempt to duck the massive object in the bird's feet as she soared past the boat, earning more screeching complaints from the bird ("Aw, fuck! I missed it again! This is like, what? The fourth time, already?").
The bird made a clumsy turn and nearly tilted over as the heavy object slid in her feet. After a third attempt in trying to right it, the bird gave up and flew lopsided towards the boat.
Kagome didn't know whether she should hide or just stand there and watch. But apparently, standing there and watching seemed more interesting. But as the bird drew nearer, the thing in her hold looked more ominous and treacherous. Kagome slowly stepped back as she saw, to her horror, the thing in the bird's clutches was slipping.
The bird flapped her wings wildly as she tried to gain altitude but lost her grip on the object. "Shit!" she cried. "Duck!"
But she was a second too late. Kagome found herself directly under the falling shaft and felt a blow upon her head. The world darkened as her knees buckled and pitched face-forward onto the wooden planks.
A long trail of water followed Inuyasha as he walked down the hall wringing his hair of water. He saw it coming, but he kept on walking forward. He saw the lady with the wet laundry above on the balcony. He saw that she was drying out the laundry.
Stupidity? Nah. He just didn't care. Actually, if she was cleaning out the latrines and he still wouldn't care if she dumped crap on his head. He just stopped caring. About anything, really.
He stopped when a sweet aroma flew into his nostrils. He slowly walked through the door that the smell came from. He immediately recognized it but his face stayed impassive.
He walked slowly into the center where he was surrounded by light colored curtains. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
Her scent. It was all over the room.
It was a unique one. One he never smelt before. Her scent smelled almost like...no, actually it seemed to have a calmer feel to it. He felt peaceful and relaxed. He snorted softly. Amazing how one person's scent could do to him.
He opened his eyes and noticed a bare table. He frowned. Something seemed to be missing.
"What are you doing in here?"
Inuyasha snapped around and saw Daiki leaning on Kagome's doorway, one hand hidden behind his back.
"Just walking around," was his toneless reply.
Daiki sniffed. "Hm, nice scent, huh? It was always fun being with her but she never stayed long. She was always out in the city helping out some poor souls or here, looking for you." He snorted. "She never asked much and was always full of life. 'Cept when she returned from meeting you. She'd put up this big fake smile and act like there's nothing wrong, but you could tell she was lying. You could just tell by her scent."
Inuyasha looked away. His chest felt suddenly heavy.
Daiki shook his head in disgust. "I never understood why she stuck by you though."
"What do you mean?" Inuyasha murmured.
"If anyone said shit about you, she'd stand up for you." Daiki let out a dry laugh. "Surprised us all really. No matter how much you hurt her, she wouldn't let anyone hurt you."
Inuyasha blinked, his surprise could only be seen in his eyes. "Why?"
Daiki shrugged. "Don't know."
Inuyasha stared at his youngest cousin for a few moments before moving towards Kagome's balcony. Once he stepped outside, the ocean breeze blew through his long white hair. Inuyasha folded his arms across his chest and looked seaward.
"You haven't notice?"
Inuyasha shot him a side-glance. "What?"
Daiki snorted. "You don't feel anything's missing?"
He blinked and pointed at the bare table. "Yeah, didn't there use to be a old vase there? Looked like an antique?"
"My God, Inuyasha!" Daiki threw up his hands in frustration. "How could you not have notice?! I didn't tell you because I thought you would've noticed, but it's been two days and you haven't said a thing!"
That was when he saw what Daiki was hiding behind him. It was a thin long cloth, folded in Daiki's tight fist.
"What's that?" Inuyasha snapped.
Daiki held the sari in front of him. "It's Kagome's."
Inuyasha's breath caught in his throat. His chest felt light suddenly with a sense of urgency. "What's it doing with you?"
Daiki tossed it to Inuyasha. "She gave it to me two days ago. She went out to the Sea, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha's eyes snapped up from the sari he held in his hands.
What?
"Alone."
His grip on the sari tightened. "What?"
As he shoved past him, Daiki barely caught Inuyasha's words. "That idiot!"
Inuyasha shot past the twins, Shinta and Shinji. The idiot! What was she thinking, going out to the Sea? Alone, especially!
Shinji's ears twitched in annoyance when Daiki appeared from Kagome's quarters. "Daiki, what happened? Inuyasha just past us--"
"--Shot past us--" Shinta cut in.
"--As if--"
"--He got bitten by--"
"--a horse--"
"--Again."
"Care to explain?"
Daiki blinked. He hated it when those two did that. He turned to the direction Inuyasha went and smiled.
"He's finally opening his eyes."
End of Chapter 2
AN:Okay, I know the whole part with Renko and Saraneth was really confusing, except a little less for those who've read Garth Nix's books. But either way, really really confusing. But never fear, all shall be explained sooner or later. Be rest assured, in this story. ^_^
So no cliffhanger, right? Well, not really. It's not - well...so maybe it's a bit of a cliffie. Okay, so it is--Oh, shut up.
