Scroll Four: Nightmare
Kagome took a deep breath, letting the refreshingly clean air fill her lungs. The weather in Sengoku Jidai was, as always, perfect. The grass and plants were a lush, vivid green and held their leaves, still moist with dew, proudly over the families of chirping insects and creatures that called them home. As she climbed out of the sacred well, its boards rotting with age though by some mystery it was still as sturdy as ever, and sat down on its edge resting her chin in her hands and watched as a tiny butterfly with wings a shade of gold that could rival even the glow of the sun or the hue of a dog demons eyes and for a moment found herself wondering where her own hanyou companion was.
The question faded from her mind almost as fast at it had come and she paid no attention to it. She shifted her backpack into a more comfortable position on her shoulders. It was fuller than usual, loaded down with an array of gifts and foods for her feudal-age friends, but surprisingly felt as if it hadn't gained an ounce of weight. Her only concern as she made her way towards the priestess Kaede's village was that they wouldn't like the lunch she had spent all morning to carefully and painstakingly make for them - and she had the burns to prove it after the stove had attacked her that way.
As she walked there was a shift in the weather, the brightly-shining sun dimmed and fell behind a cloud causing a thick sticky silver fog to arise from the dampening ground, making it seem like she was walking through a realm of flickering and ever-changing shadows. She heard a rustling from the bushes behind her and whirled around, reaching instinctively behind her for her bow as a series of thoughts invaded her mind. Demon? Bandit? Or possibly.. Naraku? The sudden darkness had stirred a sense of panic in her chest and she felt her heartbeat quicken.
The figure soon came into view, no longer blurred by the mist and she immediately recognized his silver hair and scarlet fuku, waving her hand eagerly in the air to catch the attention of the hanyou and shouted a greeting. "Inuyasha!" She dropped the backpack from her shoulders and ran to his side, a smile playing across her lips. He didn't acknowledge her presence at first, his eyes remaining averted to the ground and this made her worry. She tried again, "Inuyasha.?"
This time he looked up, though something about him didn't seem at all right. He didn't seem to recognize her, though the first thing he noticed was her human smell, a smell that stirred repulsion and disgust in his stomach. His eyes looked cold and void of any emotion save a deep-rooted bloodlust and loathing towards her. Kagome's eyes widened and she reached forward, touching his arm and then hugging him. She needed some kind of reassurance that he was real, that nothing had changed him and that the Inuyasha in front of her was still the same Inuyasha that she had fallen in love with over the time she had come to know him, despite him being the most stubborn obstinate pig that roamed the earth. Her vision blurred as she buried her face in his chest and murmured.
"Inuyasha? Whats wrong? It's me." She felt his muscles tense and she threw herself further against him, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Inuyasha in turn grabbed her by the arms, his claws digging painfully into her flesh and threw her to the unwelcoming ground. She landed on her knees, a wave of raven hair falling into her eyes as she choked back tears. He stepped closer, flexing his claws as his eyes shot daggers at her.
"Don't you dare, even for a moment think that I would tolerate a disgusting worthless human like you. Your touch.. even your smell makes me want to retch. You and I are strangers. you try to be the one that I love but you are not Kikyou! You're dead to me." He spat.
Kagome was speechless for a minute but choked out a scream as his claws tore into her chest, unable to do anything but watch helplessly through eyes clouded over with tears.
"No.no.no.NO!" Her mind screamed, managing to form a word through dry sobs. "Inuyashaaaa!"
He paid her no attention. No sign of a conscience or any remorse, just someone she had trusted so deeply walking away with her life and never looking back. "INUYASHAAAAAA!"
Kagome's scream pierced through the dead silence of the night with increasing volume, tearing one silver-haired hanyou from his restless sleep. Inuyasha awoke, startled, and an immediate sickening feeling of worry settled in the pit of his stomach like the plague. He jumped out of his bed and sprinted down the hall to the room she was sharing with Sango. Within seconds the locked door [ Why would the door be locked? Don't ask me, I'm only writing this fic.] was torn from its hinges and Inuyasha was standing over her bed, his heart pounding. His eyes came to rest on her sleeping form, safe in her bed and he heaved a sigh of relief. For one of the first times in his life he had been genuinely scared. Why was it that this human was the only one that could frighten him with just a scream? He ran his claws through her curtain of raven hair and gently shook her awake.
"Kagome? Are you alright?" he asked quietly, trying not to wake the sleeping youkai exterminator. She stirred and opened her eyes slowly, blinking as she adjusted to the light.
"Inuyasha?" She didn't move for a moment, then wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer to her, burying her face in his chest. She dug her fingers into his robes, her eyes burning with tears, touching him until she was satisfied that he was real and Inuyasha looked down at her with a startled expression. "Inuyasha it's you right? It's really you?" She cried into his shirt. He pulled her into his arms, resting one clawed hand behind her head gently and whispering words of reassurance.
"It's me.. are you alright? What happened?" he persisted.
"I.I just had a nightmare."
"What about?"
"It's not important." The words came almost too quickly and Kagome flushed with embarassment under his suspicious gaze.
"Kagome, you were screaming my name. I think that deserves an explanation." He paused and glanced at Sango's bed before looking back at her. "We're just lucky no one else woke up."
Kagome looked away, curling the blanket tightly in her fingers as her cheeks burned a deeper red. Quietly she whispered to Inuyasha what she had imagined, leaving out a few inicriminating lines and struggling to keep her voice steady. Some secrets she still wasn't ready to reveal to him. He listened silently, his expression softening as he heard about her visions.
"Kagome. you know I would never hurt you right?" He asked softly. Kagome;s voice caught in her throat and she nodded against his chest. Inuyasha held her close and murmured a few more soothing words.
"It's okay now, you're safe."
Kagome couldn't hold back anymore and choked out his name, crying into his arms. She had been so sure it was real. She had felt the embrace, the pain, and the betrayal so vividly that it couldn't have been a dream.
"Go back to sleep Kagome. You need your rest.. and we have to get an early start tomorrow." She nodded and laid back down, wrapping the blanket tightly up to her throat as if it gave her an extra sense of security. Inuyasha turned to leave, but she stopped him.
"Could you.. stay here? Only until I fall asleep." He 'feh'ed, traces of the normal Inuyasha showing through.
"Kagome, nothings going to hurt you. You're old enough to fall asleep on your own. You're not a whelp."
"Inuyasha, please?" For a moment their eyes met and he noticed how frightened she really looked and nodded slowly in defeat.
"Fine." he said, sitting down in a soft plush chair in the corner of the room to watch over her.
"Oyasumi, Inuyasha." She sighed. The room fell silent and soon the only sounds he could hear were hers and Sango's slow, rhythmic breathing as she slipped into a deep slumber. Soon enough, he had been lulled to sleep as well.
On the other side of the room came the quiet sound of triumph of someone waiting for their chance to act. Something slithered across Sango's bed and a shadow was cast over her sleep, but it moved on and nestled itself into her bags. It's chances with the young miko had been ruined but it had been unable to penetrate further into her mind anyway - her soul was too strong. However with one lost chance came a new victim. a hanyou. An intriguing prospect. And with that thought a soft menacing laugh broke the silence and fell to rest, waiting for its next chance to strike as it nestled into its hiding place in the taijiya's bags.
Kagome took a deep breath, letting the refreshingly clean air fill her lungs. The weather in Sengoku Jidai was, as always, perfect. The grass and plants were a lush, vivid green and held their leaves, still moist with dew, proudly over the families of chirping insects and creatures that called them home. As she climbed out of the sacred well, its boards rotting with age though by some mystery it was still as sturdy as ever, and sat down on its edge resting her chin in her hands and watched as a tiny butterfly with wings a shade of gold that could rival even the glow of the sun or the hue of a dog demons eyes and for a moment found herself wondering where her own hanyou companion was.
The question faded from her mind almost as fast at it had come and she paid no attention to it. She shifted her backpack into a more comfortable position on her shoulders. It was fuller than usual, loaded down with an array of gifts and foods for her feudal-age friends, but surprisingly felt as if it hadn't gained an ounce of weight. Her only concern as she made her way towards the priestess Kaede's village was that they wouldn't like the lunch she had spent all morning to carefully and painstakingly make for them - and she had the burns to prove it after the stove had attacked her that way.
As she walked there was a shift in the weather, the brightly-shining sun dimmed and fell behind a cloud causing a thick sticky silver fog to arise from the dampening ground, making it seem like she was walking through a realm of flickering and ever-changing shadows. She heard a rustling from the bushes behind her and whirled around, reaching instinctively behind her for her bow as a series of thoughts invaded her mind. Demon? Bandit? Or possibly.. Naraku? The sudden darkness had stirred a sense of panic in her chest and she felt her heartbeat quicken.
The figure soon came into view, no longer blurred by the mist and she immediately recognized his silver hair and scarlet fuku, waving her hand eagerly in the air to catch the attention of the hanyou and shouted a greeting. "Inuyasha!" She dropped the backpack from her shoulders and ran to his side, a smile playing across her lips. He didn't acknowledge her presence at first, his eyes remaining averted to the ground and this made her worry. She tried again, "Inuyasha.?"
This time he looked up, though something about him didn't seem at all right. He didn't seem to recognize her, though the first thing he noticed was her human smell, a smell that stirred repulsion and disgust in his stomach. His eyes looked cold and void of any emotion save a deep-rooted bloodlust and loathing towards her. Kagome's eyes widened and she reached forward, touching his arm and then hugging him. She needed some kind of reassurance that he was real, that nothing had changed him and that the Inuyasha in front of her was still the same Inuyasha that she had fallen in love with over the time she had come to know him, despite him being the most stubborn obstinate pig that roamed the earth. Her vision blurred as she buried her face in his chest and murmured.
"Inuyasha? Whats wrong? It's me." She felt his muscles tense and she threw herself further against him, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Inuyasha in turn grabbed her by the arms, his claws digging painfully into her flesh and threw her to the unwelcoming ground. She landed on her knees, a wave of raven hair falling into her eyes as she choked back tears. He stepped closer, flexing his claws as his eyes shot daggers at her.
"Don't you dare, even for a moment think that I would tolerate a disgusting worthless human like you. Your touch.. even your smell makes me want to retch. You and I are strangers. you try to be the one that I love but you are not Kikyou! You're dead to me." He spat.
Kagome was speechless for a minute but choked out a scream as his claws tore into her chest, unable to do anything but watch helplessly through eyes clouded over with tears.
"No.no.no.NO!" Her mind screamed, managing to form a word through dry sobs. "Inuyashaaaa!"
He paid her no attention. No sign of a conscience or any remorse, just someone she had trusted so deeply walking away with her life and never looking back. "INUYASHAAAAAA!"
Kagome's scream pierced through the dead silence of the night with increasing volume, tearing one silver-haired hanyou from his restless sleep. Inuyasha awoke, startled, and an immediate sickening feeling of worry settled in the pit of his stomach like the plague. He jumped out of his bed and sprinted down the hall to the room she was sharing with Sango. Within seconds the locked door [ Why would the door be locked? Don't ask me, I'm only writing this fic.] was torn from its hinges and Inuyasha was standing over her bed, his heart pounding. His eyes came to rest on her sleeping form, safe in her bed and he heaved a sigh of relief. For one of the first times in his life he had been genuinely scared. Why was it that this human was the only one that could frighten him with just a scream? He ran his claws through her curtain of raven hair and gently shook her awake.
"Kagome? Are you alright?" he asked quietly, trying not to wake the sleeping youkai exterminator. She stirred and opened her eyes slowly, blinking as she adjusted to the light.
"Inuyasha?" She didn't move for a moment, then wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer to her, burying her face in his chest. She dug her fingers into his robes, her eyes burning with tears, touching him until she was satisfied that he was real and Inuyasha looked down at her with a startled expression. "Inuyasha it's you right? It's really you?" She cried into his shirt. He pulled her into his arms, resting one clawed hand behind her head gently and whispering words of reassurance.
"It's me.. are you alright? What happened?" he persisted.
"I.I just had a nightmare."
"What about?"
"It's not important." The words came almost too quickly and Kagome flushed with embarassment under his suspicious gaze.
"Kagome, you were screaming my name. I think that deserves an explanation." He paused and glanced at Sango's bed before looking back at her. "We're just lucky no one else woke up."
Kagome looked away, curling the blanket tightly in her fingers as her cheeks burned a deeper red. Quietly she whispered to Inuyasha what she had imagined, leaving out a few inicriminating lines and struggling to keep her voice steady. Some secrets she still wasn't ready to reveal to him. He listened silently, his expression softening as he heard about her visions.
"Kagome. you know I would never hurt you right?" He asked softly. Kagome;s voice caught in her throat and she nodded against his chest. Inuyasha held her close and murmured a few more soothing words.
"It's okay now, you're safe."
Kagome couldn't hold back anymore and choked out his name, crying into his arms. She had been so sure it was real. She had felt the embrace, the pain, and the betrayal so vividly that it couldn't have been a dream.
"Go back to sleep Kagome. You need your rest.. and we have to get an early start tomorrow." She nodded and laid back down, wrapping the blanket tightly up to her throat as if it gave her an extra sense of security. Inuyasha turned to leave, but she stopped him.
"Could you.. stay here? Only until I fall asleep." He 'feh'ed, traces of the normal Inuyasha showing through.
"Kagome, nothings going to hurt you. You're old enough to fall asleep on your own. You're not a whelp."
"Inuyasha, please?" For a moment their eyes met and he noticed how frightened she really looked and nodded slowly in defeat.
"Fine." he said, sitting down in a soft plush chair in the corner of the room to watch over her.
"Oyasumi, Inuyasha." She sighed. The room fell silent and soon the only sounds he could hear were hers and Sango's slow, rhythmic breathing as she slipped into a deep slumber. Soon enough, he had been lulled to sleep as well.
On the other side of the room came the quiet sound of triumph of someone waiting for their chance to act. Something slithered across Sango's bed and a shadow was cast over her sleep, but it moved on and nestled itself into her bags. It's chances with the young miko had been ruined but it had been unable to penetrate further into her mind anyway - her soul was too strong. However with one lost chance came a new victim. a hanyou. An intriguing prospect. And with that thought a soft menacing laugh broke the silence and fell to rest, waiting for its next chance to strike as it nestled into its hiding place in the taijiya's bags.