The Horrid Cries of the Nothing Woman
Chapter Ten
Inu-Yasha ran as he had never ran before, Miroku was close at his heels. He smelled for the woman as he ran but he quickly remembered that he was only human this night, he cursed the fates . . . at that moment Sheya was no doubt already fading into the demonic realm . . . soon she would no longer be human but a nothing woman . . .
Once her soul was changed . . .
He felt like such a fool. Why hadn't he recognized it before? The signs of her depression! The signs of her slipping into the realm of her own darkness! Kagome had been on his mind, he admitted to himself. Her injuries. Her pain. The emotions of Sheya had been so powerful, so strong, that Kagome fell ill because of them . . .
He should have recognized that too . . .
And now the kind hearted soul of Sheya was alone in the dark woods as the night thickened . . . spiraling into death . . .
He remembered the nothing woman . . . what they become . . .
The pain they felt . . .
The loneliness that consumes them . . .
The isolation that would drive her to consume others to fill the void . . .
The terrible, ghastly void . . .
Sheya had not run into the village as he had thought . . . she had gone into the woods where the Athema had taken Kagome, a guard had seen her pass . . .
She had been chasing a child into the darkness . . .
A child? A child that was no doubt an apparition from the hells, he had said.
From the hells . . .
Hopefully they were close to one another. Though Inu-Yasha still didn't understand what kind of help Sheya would be to them. So distraught over losing her son, how could she think of anything else? Maybe Miroku and Kaede were wrong about their need of her?
Maybe they only said that so that he would go after her? Miroku couldn't find the girl on his own, and neither could that old woman. It was he who had to go . . . it was close to daylight so it was not long until he became his hanyou form once again . . .
It was he who understood demons better than they . . .
It was he who had previously dealt with what she was in danger to become . . .
But then again . . . Sheya had survived the Athema . . .
And Inu-Yasha knew that if she had turned and he had not at least attempted to help, it would have been a guilt that would have ate at his conscious for a long time . . .
Miroku stopped suddenly, raising his staff to stop Inu-Yasha . . . "Shhh, do you hear that?"
"Adahan . . ."
The voice echoed in the night . . . Inu-Yasha quickly recognized it as the woman . . .
"Aaaadaaaahaaaaaaan . . ." her voice seemed so far away . . . so desperate . . . "Adaaaaahaaan . . . don't leave me . . ."
She was crying out into the night . . . Miroku and Inu-Yasha exchanged frightened glances as they took off in the direction the voice came from . . . the East . . .
"Do you suppose we'll get there in time?" the Monk questioned near out of breath, not slowing and not complaining.
Inu-Yasha didn't know, but for her sake and theirs, he hoped they did.
But if only he weren't human!
If only he had his sense of smell!
His hearing!
His speed!
His power . . .
Something fluttered through the canopy of the trees directly above them.
Inu-Yasha stopped dead in his tracks, glaring up into the darkness. If only he could smell . . . he felt so vulnerable . . . so useless . .
Miroku noticed as well, holding his staff defensively in front of him. "What was that?"
"I don't know . . ."
The leaves above them rustled again as . . . whatever it was . . . watched them, curiously . . . silent . . . like a predator . . .
"Could it be the Athema?" the Monk muttered angrily to himself, his grip grew tighter . . .
Inu-Yasha clenching his fists, grabbing at the hilt of his dull sword . . . ready for anything . . .
The branches above them creaked in the dead silence . . . the distant cry of Sheya interrupted the tense moment for a flicker of a second . . . her voice faded . . . Inu-Yasha was torn . . . What was he to do? Go after the woman . . . or face whatever it was that hunted them?
Threatened them . . .
His heart climbed into his throat . . .
The creature moved again . . . ever so slowly . . . light reflected from shining eyes somewhere from above . . .
Sheya's voice crept through the night again . . . the stranger froze . . . the branch no longer creaked for weight no longer shifted . . .
It couldn't be the Athema, Inu-Yasha realized quickly to himself . . . the Athema was not a solid being . . .
Not a solid demon . . .
Inu-Yasha strained his weak human ears to listen for it again . . .
It was only the sound of the wind that hissed through the leaves and the fading cry of the woman that was heard . . .
*** Thank you for all the reviews – they were very helpful. Please leave more. More. MORE!! Bwhahahhahaaha! Okay – I'm strange, my bad. Hope you liked this chapter, more is on the way – of course. I would neeeeever leave y'all hangin for long! cough as long as you review . . . bwhahaha!***