Foreigner By: OtakuSailorV
Chapter 22 Part 2
Where I left off last time. ............................................................................ ....................................................................
Heather groaned at the headache that was eating away at her head. She rubbed her head irritably & looked around her. "Damn." Hisui was on her lap, having the same problem as her master, despite the fact that she had had no beer. She opened her eyes blearily to see a fuzzy picture of some one watching her. The furry blob divided into 2 separate beings before her eyes. One was silver & the other was a brown-ish yellow. She groaned again. "Hikari! I think she's awake now! And her breath smells awful!" Called the small brown blob in an all too familiar voice. Heather tried to rollover to find she was sitting up. A pair of long legs appeared in her line of vision. She followed the legs up until they connected to a body, which connected to a neck, which connected to a head. The face on the head was angry or maybe concerned? Heather's head lolled to one side. She put a hand on her head & pulled it back so she could look forward. "Does anyone know what a hangover is?" She asked the tiny blobs that had yet to take form. Heather was stunned when they turned into 2 tiny kitsune with bright smiles on their faces. "Does that mean your drunk?" Shippo asked. Heather shook her head, an action she regretted. "No, it means I was drunk yesterday." She said & tried to stand. Her legs turned to jelly. "Whoop!" She cried as she fell to the ground. Her knees had buckled & thrown her down like a rag doll. Sesshoumaru watched from the doorway. Heather stood back up. She swayed as she reached into her back pocket & pulled out a bottle that read something in English. Hikari took them before Heather had time to open the bottle. Heather looked around helplessly for the bottle but her loss of vision was growing. The floor swayed, her head throbbed, and she felt like she was going to puke. "Heather's hangover helpers. 'Sure to make you feel better'." Hikari read what had been scrawled on the bottle. "Is this legit. medicine?" She asked her friend shoving the bottle in her face. Heather smiled dreamily & grabbed for the bottle. "Yes, we Dragon Clan members can create medicine that can cure anything by just thinking about the problem & wishing for it to stop." Hisui said through a throb of pain that racked her tiny skull. Hikari handed the pills to Heather. She opened the bottle, reached inside & pulled out a glowing orb. It was blue in color but it seemed to be changing its shape, texture & color all at once as it moved through the air. Heather put it on the tip of her finger like a contact. With careful movements she brought it to her forehead & started to push it toward herself. It slid easily into her forehead with out any sickening noises. Hikari was stunned when the blood shot eyes cleared. Heather's face started to look normal, & her breath lost the reek of foul beer. She smiled warmly at her friend, speech seemed to be hard to do still. She pointed to the door. "I'll wait for you outside." She said. Hikari nodded & watched her as she disappeared. With a sigh Hikari walked back toward Sesshoumaru. Saisei was watching them from a table. He was unable to move thanks to Heather drugging him the night before. He watched helplessly as Sesshoumaru put an arm around Hikari & they walked toward the door together. He growled low & tried to move but nothing would respond to his constant commands for movement. With a sigh of despair he tried to call for her, but he couldn't open his jaws. He gave in & decided he would attack when he was able to move freely again. Heather was stunned for the first time to see that the mountain was way in the distance. She suddenly remembered that she was no longer on the mountain with Kouga & the others but in a secluded forest with her other friends. She sighed sadly & rubbed her head. Feeling her own sadness for the first time, she was puzzled. "Why does it hurt?" She asked herself. She touched her heart & felt it throb with pain slightly. She winced & looked around to make sure no one could see her sad look. In the distance, to her right, was the small figure of Rin & Jaken near a pond. Heather ran over to see what was going on. "Wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong!" Jaken shouted swinging his staff at the girl's head. Rin winced & waited for the blow that never came. Heather stood over her, holding the staff in one hand. "What's going on Jaken?" She asked with a slight gleam in her eye. He pulled the staff away. "I am trying to teach this child how to spell. But she is too dimwitted to learn." He growled out. Heather giggled at his displeased look. "Nuh-uh! Jaken is just a bad teacher!" Rin said, crossing her arms. Heather giggled again. "Well, I think Jaken is approaching this wrong." Jaken peered at her with his big bug eyes. "How so?" He asked. "Some people are visual learners." Heather bent down & pulled some candies from the air. "Alright Rin." She said laying one to one side & one to the other. "If I have one candy, & you give me another, how many candies do I have?" Rin looked at Heather as she pushed the two candies together. "Two." Rin said poking at her lip in hopes of receiving the candies as a reward. "I am not teaching arithmetic!" Shouted Jaken. Heather simply smiled at him though. Turning she grabbed a pen & paper from the air. Jaken watched her put it on a rock & scribble out Rin's name in Japanese then what he guessed was English. "Rin, this is your name in Japanese, & this is your name in English. I want to see you copy the signs that I used Ok?" Rin nodded & picked up the pen. Heather watched her scribble down a few funky lines she could make out as different letters. Rin smiled & held up the paper with the curvy lines on it. Heather could read it if she looked real close but it wasn't that great. "Very good." Heather said patting the girl's head. Rin smiled & showed it proudly to Jaken. "That is not very good! It isn't even pretty good! You can barely read it!" He shouted. Heather shook her finger at him. "Rule 1. Always praise the student when they can do something. Rule 2. She's just learning how to do this stuff, chill out. She'll get better at it." Jaken huffed. "Rin, can you do this as homework?" Rin cocked her head. "'Homework'?" She asked. Heather nodded. "You do it every night before you go to bed or whenever & soon you'll be able to do it without the paper with your name on it in front of you." Rin beamed. "Rin can do it." Heather smiled at her & handed over the candies. "Good girl."
Kouga ran up the mountain at the crack of dawn. He would have sworn that he had heard someone singing or at least music. When he reached the top he found that no one was there. "Heather?" He asked but remembered that she had left the day before. He sat down on the ledge & found himself deep in thought. 'I will be back in three days time, after tomorrow.' The words rang in his ears like the sound of the machine had when she left. He sighed, feeling a deep sadness in his heart. He was shocked to have felt it. It was so sudden, & was immediately covered when he had stopped sighing. He brushed the hurt away & tried to think of other things. He tried & tried but nothing but Heather's smiling face came back. A brief flicker of Kagome smiling at him flew through his mind but no matter how he called, the picture of Kagome didn't return. Heather, sitting on the ledge looking sad. Heather, giving him a thumbs up. Heather, throwing the spear. He stood up, hoping that the pictures would go away. He smiled to himself dreamily when a picture of Heather running ahead of the demons came into focus. A flicker of motion caught his eye. He grabbed at a red ribbon that was tied to a bush in a large bow. He took a sniff of it in his hands. It smelled of lilacs, he noticed. Heather had smelled of lilacs too, was this ribbon hers? He looked at it closely. He had never seen her wear a ribbon in her hair. Turning it over he found an inscription. "I will return in three days time. If you are reading this then you are looking for me too early." He read aloud. At the bottom of the scrawl was Heather's signature. He sighed again. Her face re-entered his mind. He couldn't help but feel sad & happy at the same time. He had never felt this way before. "Am I.?" He asked himself but decided not to finish the statement aloud. 'Am I in love?'
Heather's mind raced with pictures & memories, she tried to block them down so she wouldn't stop walking & lose the tour group but it wasn't working. They were in an old abandoned garden. Sesshoumaru had explained that it used to be Lady Unmei's personal garden when she was alive, when she had died no one took care of it. In the middle ran a shallow stream that was so clear you could see every pebble. It ran directly from the mountain, Sesshoumaru said, & was Ok for drinking. Inuyasha remembered hiding in the gardens before. Hikari kept looking at things, touching them & mumbling things to herself. Heather was slightly worried for her friend. Whenever she would go near her she could see the empty look in her eyes. 'Like she's in deep thought or remembering something from a long time ago.' Heather thought to herself. Hikari walked by another tree that stood by the pond outside of Sesshoumaru's room. Her eyes unclouded for a brief moment. Heather could see the bewilderment in her eyes. Then they reverted back to the milky, zombie look. Shiro on the other hand seemed to be normal. Heather could only see the back of him but he was not letting off an bad vibes so she dropped the thought that Hikari was sick. Shiro however was acting just as Hikari. His ears drooped as he stared into space. Rin patted his head & his body became suddenly alert. He looked around him in a dazed way. In front of Rin, Hikari was looking around in the same way, as if she had been woken from a dream. Rin noticed only slightly but paid it no mind. The tour ended at the biggest waterfall that Heather had ever seen. A rainbow passed in front of it as the water fell in great, white, gushes. At the top a row of exotic plants lined it. "It's like an amazon waterfall, only without the amazon!" Heather exclaimed. Hikari smiled at her. "That's GREAT way to put it! ' an amazon waterfall without the amazon'." Hikari mimicked. Heather gave her a slight punch on the shoulder. "You know what I mean, smart ass." Hikari laughed. "Yeah. I just like to torment you." They looked at the clear pool of water at the bottom. You could see every fish that swam in it. There was a large tree limb submerged in it too. Heather noticed the moss that had grown on it, the pool was older than it looked then. Sesshoumaru talked on of how his father had made it when he had first come to live in the castle that now stood finished. Heather was more interested in the tropical plants that would surely die in winter. "How do you keep these alive?" She asked him. Sesshoumaru nodded at the plants. "This part of the property never receives snow at all." Heather was stunned by the thought. "Why only here?" She questioned. "When my father built it he wanted the beauty to last all year round & set up a magic barrier that keeps the snow off." Heather nodded & straightened. "That's cool." She said. "Is the castle that Lady Unmei lived in still standing?" Hikari asked in a dazed way. Sesshoumaru nodded. "Is that where you want to go next?" Hikari nodded. "I guess I'd like to see my mother's house again." Inuyasha said thoughtfully. Myoga jumped down from his shoulder. "I'll stay here for a little while thank you." Everyone bent with angry eyes at him. "Is something bad going to happen that you're going to conveniently forget to tell us about?" Inuyasha asked him, fangs barred. "N-no Lord Inuyasha! I just want to stay here among the warm plants while you take to the chilling air." Everyone straightened back up. "Feh."
Kagura was having a hell of a time finding information about the girls & Sesshoumaru. Even information on Inuyasha's whereabouts were hard to find. So far she had only pieced together that both Kikyo & Kachiki had died. Kagome had been present but had done nothing in the matter. It appeared that Kachiki had killed Kikyo when she had arrived to find Kikyo trying to kill Kagome with her sacred arrows. She had happened to find a travelling merchant & had scared him into telling her what he had heard of girls with strange powers. He had nothing to tell but that a large group of demons & their human wives had passed though his village several days before, almost a week ago. Kagura cursed & went off with the little news she had to Naraku. Would he be angry that Kikyo was dead, or would he be glad? He was hard to figure out sometimes. She narrowed her eyes as she passed though the purple barrier around his castle. "Stupid humans."
The house seemed to be abandoned, & for many years too. It smelled of rotten decay & wet wood. Inuyasha looked around inside at a familiar room with Kagome. Sango & the other's had entered the main room & were looking at old pots & other things that robbers had not looted. "It was too close to the kingdom of a demon lord for them to take much. So many things are probably still here." Sesshoumaru said. Heather picked up a sake cup that was painted on the outside with a delicate scene of flowers. She took it over to Hikari. "I have this hunch that this might be yours, but that's silly right? Right?" Hikari took the cup in her hands & stared at it with wide eyes. "This." She turned it gently in her hands. Heather touched her gently on the shoulder as she bounced back to reality. "Yes, I think this was hers at one time." Heather gave her a puzzled look. "It's Hana's." Hikari whispered. Heather put her hand to Hikari's forehead. The whole affair with Hana flipped out & stunned her. "So that's it." Heather said, eyes wide, mouth open. "Wow. Reincarnation." She murmured. "I knew Kagome was but." Heather shook her head. "Hey, let's find your room!" She said & grabbed hold of Hikari's hand. "Where is it?" Heather called over her shoulder. Hikari's eyes blurred. "It's." A flash of the halls in their original look flashed in her memory. She was running with Unmei pulling her, asking the same thing. 'Where is it?' She shook her head to clear the image. "It's this way." Hikari ran to a room that's door was closed. She wandered inside, pushing the crumbling door aside. She looked around the room. It was like the room had never grown a day older than when Hana had died. It was in perfect condition, the roof above the room wasn't even stained from the rains. Heather gasped. "Wow, a spell this strong must have been cast by a demon." She looked at the things with wide eyes, it looked as if no one had touched a thing, and nothing in this room was stolen! Hikari picked up a small plate that was painted with the same picture of flowers. "This.this is.Hana's room." She said. Her eyes were glazed as she walked around. She touched several different things in the room. "Magic has conserved this room through the years.demon magic." She finally said. Heather smirked. "Well no duh! I could have told you that!" Hikari didn't even move. "Was it you, taiyoukai?" Heather turned to see Sesshoumaru standing behind her. "Hey, when did you get here?" He didn't even notice the question as he passed her. "Yes, after Hana died, I came & preserved her room. I scared away all the looters & robbers that had come to see if the stories of Unmei's families death was true." He put a hand on Hikari's shoulder & her eyes reverted back to normal. "What? Dizzy." Hikari whirled & almost fell over. Sesshoumaru caught her. "Whew, so this is her room huh?" Hikari asked, not seeming to notice that she had been acting strangely. Sesshoumaru watched her looked at everything over again. "Awesome." She breathed, touching a sword that hung on the wall. "She never did use this one?" Sesshoumaru shook his head. "It was merely for decoration." Hikari nodded & went on. Kagome ran in. "Hey, we found Lady Unmei's room, & this cool pond outside too!" Hikari followed her out the door. Sesshoumaru followed, after Heather. The room was as preserved as Hana's but it wasn't as bad as the other rooms. Wallpaper peeled on one wall. Outside the doors was a large pond that Hikari gazed at queerly. "That's the one she fell into the first night she came here." She pointed to the pond. Sesshoumaru nodded, only it wasn't as big & there were fish in it." Miroku picked up a long set of green prayer beads that had blended into the grass. "These fell like new. Do you know them Sesshoumaru?" The demon shook his head. "I have never have seen a human that carried prayer beads in this household." Miroku put the beads back on the ground. "I see." Was all he said. Hikari suddenly looked up at them. "Hey Heather, I suddenly remembered what I was trying to ask you." Heather walked out the door. "Yeah, what is it?" "I heard in the news that a school shooting happened in America somewhere. It was some other state though so I didn't think to call you. What happened." Heather's face had gone an ashen gray. "It was." She said but she seemed to be trembling. She took a deep breath. "I was at that school." Hikari looked at her friend in horror. "No way! You're kidding me." Heather shook her head. "I was with a tour group, you know for college. Well, Janie went with me." Hikari nodded. Everyone was else was completely lost, the two girls were speaking in English. "They were having school as usual so, you know we didn't think much of the boy when he had a large lump in his pack. We were halfway down the hall before we heard gunshots. We took cover, everyone did. We waited in a room until we heard his footsteps & shells being let loose." Heather stopped for a breath, to make sure her tears didn't escape. "He came in with his gun ready, there were others too. About 6 boys & one girl. Janie was well hidden in a cupboard with only the tiniest crack open for air. I was under a desk. I stood slightly, ready to take them if they planned on firing, only thing was that Janie didn't know about my powers. They pointed their guns at me. I raised my hands as if in surrender. They seemed to believe it, but that girl.she was crazy. I must have reminded her of someone because she laughed & shot at me. I was able to dodge them but I heard the closet door open. I didn't look at her but I could tell that she was still inside, the sound of feet had not come yet. I was so distracted that I was almost hit. Then.I saw another girl behind me, she laughed crazily & sot at me as I turned." Heather stopped, looking at the ground. Hikari touched her shoulder. "Go on." Heather's cheeks were stained with tears. "They shot Janie. She jumped in front of me when the girl pulled the trigger & was shot. She didn't die but I felt so horrible, I hadn't even tried to raise even a slight barrier for her." More tears streamed down her face. Hisui was deep in sorrow too. Water leaked from her eyes & her whole body drooped. The shiny black coat seemed to dull. Hikari took the dragon from the rock she was sitting on & held her. "We'll talk about the rest later. Anyway, what's going on with your brother?" Heather seemed to become slightly happier. "Colin is doing fine! But there's one problem." Heather trailed off rubbing her head. Everyone else could understand them again. "What?" Hikari asked, worry filling her mind. "He's 6 now & he won't shut up." Heather grumbled. "I've tried everything, duck tape, threats, I even carried out one of them! He doesn't seem to get that I need quiet once in a while." Hikari giggled. "What was the threat that you carried out?" She asked. "I told him that if he didn't keep quiet I'd shave him bald." Heather laughed at the expression on Hikari's face, everyone else was staring at her too. "I've got a picture, here." Heather pulled out her wallet & displayed a horrified looking boy with only a few blonde hairs on his head. "I thought about polishing it but he woke up." Heather shrugged. "Didn't he attack you when he woke up?" Heather laughed at that. "Are you kidding me? He's only up to my hip & nowhere near my strength. I held him back with one hand. But it was fun to try & get pictures of him when he thought I wasn't around." Sango looked at the picture. "That's mean." She said Heather laughed. "no, it was funny. But it grew back by the next day. I told him if he bothered when after I had told him to leave me alone again I would do it again but he didn't seem to mind since it grew back so quick." She stuck the wallet back in her jeans pocket. "Didn't your mom & dad get mad?" Hikari asked, knowing Heather's parents better than anyone. "Heck no. They did tell me not to do it again, but they spent the whole day trying to help him conceal the hair. Then Chance put whip cream on his head with a cherry & we got a picture of that but I forgot to bring it." Heather had returned to her usual, spunky self & had seemed to forget about the school shooting for the moment. Kohaku was watching the water with a tiny bit of interest. The old castle made him remember Naraku's & he hated thinking of what he had done to his sister. But she had forgiven him because he was under Naraku's spell! Wasn't that enough for his guilt to decrease? No, there was something else. He had not overcome the void himself. Everytime it took him he had only been paralyzed with fear. He was no use to this group of brave travelers! Did they only keep him with them because it made Sango happy? He sighed & dipped a stick in the water. He could feel the sadness overtake him again. Hikari had warned him not to think of sad things to the point that he felt an empty hole in him. What was she had said? "You are stronger than you think, don't let yourself be ruled by the demons of fear, you are stringer than them." The words echoed in his ears. He sighed again. 'Strong?' He, Kohaku, was strong? Was she sure? She was a dragon after all, could she tell that he was harboring some power that Naraku had wanted to keep in case of emergencies? The Shikon Shard in his back! Of course, they had not taken it out yet! But why? Was it still dangerous to his wounds to take it out? Would he die? He tensed at the thought. He heard soft footsteps behind him but paid them no mind. Rin plopped down on the grass beside him. "What is Kohaku-kun thinking about all by his self?" She asked, her eyes looking sidelong at him. "Hi, Rin-chan. I was just thinking about how the Shikon Jewel shard is still in my back & how Hikari had said that I was stronger than I look. I was thinking maybe it was because I have the Shikon Shard that I have become stronger." He wasn't sure if Rin could understand what he was saying, how old was she anyway? Six? Seven? He picked seven, maybe she did understand then. "Hikari-san says that Kohaku are very strong inside. That Kohaku are fighting an endless battle inside himself, & Kohaku is winning against Kohaku's fears. She says that to be able to fight one's inner demons & not show sign of it is very strong willed person. She says that Kohaku will make a great fighter when Kohaku fights off all the bad memories that plague him." Rin tried to remember word for word what Hikari had mentioned to Sesshoumaru & Jaken only night s after she had released Kohaku from the void. Kohaku bent his head & a slight smile crossed his face. "I'm surprised you're not afraid of me Rin-chan." Rin gave him a curious look. "Should Rin be afraid of Kohaku? Kohaku saved Rin, Rin is not afraid of Kohaku." Kohaku smiled & his eyes watered slightly. "Thank you Rin-chan. I thought that maybe I was of no use to the team because I was afraid of what would happen if I drew a weapon. Then I started thinking that maybe the others were afraid of the same thing & that they only kept me around because of my sister. I thought that you might be afraid of me because I had tried to kill you, or Kagome for the same reason. Or even Sango & Kirara." The words came out in sobs. Rin put a small hand on his back. "Kohaku shouldn't cry. Kohaku is not alone anymore & Kohaku is not hated by anyone." He smiled at her. "Thank you again, Rin-chan."
Another long chap. Kohaku is fighting his 'inner demons' or the memories of attacking his sister & the others keep haunting him. In steps Rin, ready to comfort while the others are investigating the house further. (Very big.) Naraku & Kagura are still trying in vain to capture information on the whereabouts of the IY gang, Kikyo, Kachiki, & how the IY gang got back. They won't find many clues soon though. Meanwhile, up in the mountains, Kouga is startled with a revelation, while the words in his head. 'I will return in three days by the next sunset.' Is he in love with Heather despite his thoughts that Kagome is the only woman for him? "Damn that half breed! If he were dead it would make the whole situation less troublesome!"
~ OtakuSailorV
Chapter 22 Part 2
Where I left off last time. ............................................................................ ....................................................................
Heather groaned at the headache that was eating away at her head. She rubbed her head irritably & looked around her. "Damn." Hisui was on her lap, having the same problem as her master, despite the fact that she had had no beer. She opened her eyes blearily to see a fuzzy picture of some one watching her. The furry blob divided into 2 separate beings before her eyes. One was silver & the other was a brown-ish yellow. She groaned again. "Hikari! I think she's awake now! And her breath smells awful!" Called the small brown blob in an all too familiar voice. Heather tried to rollover to find she was sitting up. A pair of long legs appeared in her line of vision. She followed the legs up until they connected to a body, which connected to a neck, which connected to a head. The face on the head was angry or maybe concerned? Heather's head lolled to one side. She put a hand on her head & pulled it back so she could look forward. "Does anyone know what a hangover is?" She asked the tiny blobs that had yet to take form. Heather was stunned when they turned into 2 tiny kitsune with bright smiles on their faces. "Does that mean your drunk?" Shippo asked. Heather shook her head, an action she regretted. "No, it means I was drunk yesterday." She said & tried to stand. Her legs turned to jelly. "Whoop!" She cried as she fell to the ground. Her knees had buckled & thrown her down like a rag doll. Sesshoumaru watched from the doorway. Heather stood back up. She swayed as she reached into her back pocket & pulled out a bottle that read something in English. Hikari took them before Heather had time to open the bottle. Heather looked around helplessly for the bottle but her loss of vision was growing. The floor swayed, her head throbbed, and she felt like she was going to puke. "Heather's hangover helpers. 'Sure to make you feel better'." Hikari read what had been scrawled on the bottle. "Is this legit. medicine?" She asked her friend shoving the bottle in her face. Heather smiled dreamily & grabbed for the bottle. "Yes, we Dragon Clan members can create medicine that can cure anything by just thinking about the problem & wishing for it to stop." Hisui said through a throb of pain that racked her tiny skull. Hikari handed the pills to Heather. She opened the bottle, reached inside & pulled out a glowing orb. It was blue in color but it seemed to be changing its shape, texture & color all at once as it moved through the air. Heather put it on the tip of her finger like a contact. With careful movements she brought it to her forehead & started to push it toward herself. It slid easily into her forehead with out any sickening noises. Hikari was stunned when the blood shot eyes cleared. Heather's face started to look normal, & her breath lost the reek of foul beer. She smiled warmly at her friend, speech seemed to be hard to do still. She pointed to the door. "I'll wait for you outside." She said. Hikari nodded & watched her as she disappeared. With a sigh Hikari walked back toward Sesshoumaru. Saisei was watching them from a table. He was unable to move thanks to Heather drugging him the night before. He watched helplessly as Sesshoumaru put an arm around Hikari & they walked toward the door together. He growled low & tried to move but nothing would respond to his constant commands for movement. With a sigh of despair he tried to call for her, but he couldn't open his jaws. He gave in & decided he would attack when he was able to move freely again. Heather was stunned for the first time to see that the mountain was way in the distance. She suddenly remembered that she was no longer on the mountain with Kouga & the others but in a secluded forest with her other friends. She sighed sadly & rubbed her head. Feeling her own sadness for the first time, she was puzzled. "Why does it hurt?" She asked herself. She touched her heart & felt it throb with pain slightly. She winced & looked around to make sure no one could see her sad look. In the distance, to her right, was the small figure of Rin & Jaken near a pond. Heather ran over to see what was going on. "Wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong!" Jaken shouted swinging his staff at the girl's head. Rin winced & waited for the blow that never came. Heather stood over her, holding the staff in one hand. "What's going on Jaken?" She asked with a slight gleam in her eye. He pulled the staff away. "I am trying to teach this child how to spell. But she is too dimwitted to learn." He growled out. Heather giggled at his displeased look. "Nuh-uh! Jaken is just a bad teacher!" Rin said, crossing her arms. Heather giggled again. "Well, I think Jaken is approaching this wrong." Jaken peered at her with his big bug eyes. "How so?" He asked. "Some people are visual learners." Heather bent down & pulled some candies from the air. "Alright Rin." She said laying one to one side & one to the other. "If I have one candy, & you give me another, how many candies do I have?" Rin looked at Heather as she pushed the two candies together. "Two." Rin said poking at her lip in hopes of receiving the candies as a reward. "I am not teaching arithmetic!" Shouted Jaken. Heather simply smiled at him though. Turning she grabbed a pen & paper from the air. Jaken watched her put it on a rock & scribble out Rin's name in Japanese then what he guessed was English. "Rin, this is your name in Japanese, & this is your name in English. I want to see you copy the signs that I used Ok?" Rin nodded & picked up the pen. Heather watched her scribble down a few funky lines she could make out as different letters. Rin smiled & held up the paper with the curvy lines on it. Heather could read it if she looked real close but it wasn't that great. "Very good." Heather said patting the girl's head. Rin smiled & showed it proudly to Jaken. "That is not very good! It isn't even pretty good! You can barely read it!" He shouted. Heather shook her finger at him. "Rule 1. Always praise the student when they can do something. Rule 2. She's just learning how to do this stuff, chill out. She'll get better at it." Jaken huffed. "Rin, can you do this as homework?" Rin cocked her head. "'Homework'?" She asked. Heather nodded. "You do it every night before you go to bed or whenever & soon you'll be able to do it without the paper with your name on it in front of you." Rin beamed. "Rin can do it." Heather smiled at her & handed over the candies. "Good girl."
Kouga ran up the mountain at the crack of dawn. He would have sworn that he had heard someone singing or at least music. When he reached the top he found that no one was there. "Heather?" He asked but remembered that she had left the day before. He sat down on the ledge & found himself deep in thought. 'I will be back in three days time, after tomorrow.' The words rang in his ears like the sound of the machine had when she left. He sighed, feeling a deep sadness in his heart. He was shocked to have felt it. It was so sudden, & was immediately covered when he had stopped sighing. He brushed the hurt away & tried to think of other things. He tried & tried but nothing but Heather's smiling face came back. A brief flicker of Kagome smiling at him flew through his mind but no matter how he called, the picture of Kagome didn't return. Heather, sitting on the ledge looking sad. Heather, giving him a thumbs up. Heather, throwing the spear. He stood up, hoping that the pictures would go away. He smiled to himself dreamily when a picture of Heather running ahead of the demons came into focus. A flicker of motion caught his eye. He grabbed at a red ribbon that was tied to a bush in a large bow. He took a sniff of it in his hands. It smelled of lilacs, he noticed. Heather had smelled of lilacs too, was this ribbon hers? He looked at it closely. He had never seen her wear a ribbon in her hair. Turning it over he found an inscription. "I will return in three days time. If you are reading this then you are looking for me too early." He read aloud. At the bottom of the scrawl was Heather's signature. He sighed again. Her face re-entered his mind. He couldn't help but feel sad & happy at the same time. He had never felt this way before. "Am I.?" He asked himself but decided not to finish the statement aloud. 'Am I in love?'
Heather's mind raced with pictures & memories, she tried to block them down so she wouldn't stop walking & lose the tour group but it wasn't working. They were in an old abandoned garden. Sesshoumaru had explained that it used to be Lady Unmei's personal garden when she was alive, when she had died no one took care of it. In the middle ran a shallow stream that was so clear you could see every pebble. It ran directly from the mountain, Sesshoumaru said, & was Ok for drinking. Inuyasha remembered hiding in the gardens before. Hikari kept looking at things, touching them & mumbling things to herself. Heather was slightly worried for her friend. Whenever she would go near her she could see the empty look in her eyes. 'Like she's in deep thought or remembering something from a long time ago.' Heather thought to herself. Hikari walked by another tree that stood by the pond outside of Sesshoumaru's room. Her eyes unclouded for a brief moment. Heather could see the bewilderment in her eyes. Then they reverted back to the milky, zombie look. Shiro on the other hand seemed to be normal. Heather could only see the back of him but he was not letting off an bad vibes so she dropped the thought that Hikari was sick. Shiro however was acting just as Hikari. His ears drooped as he stared into space. Rin patted his head & his body became suddenly alert. He looked around him in a dazed way. In front of Rin, Hikari was looking around in the same way, as if she had been woken from a dream. Rin noticed only slightly but paid it no mind. The tour ended at the biggest waterfall that Heather had ever seen. A rainbow passed in front of it as the water fell in great, white, gushes. At the top a row of exotic plants lined it. "It's like an amazon waterfall, only without the amazon!" Heather exclaimed. Hikari smiled at her. "That's GREAT way to put it! ' an amazon waterfall without the amazon'." Hikari mimicked. Heather gave her a slight punch on the shoulder. "You know what I mean, smart ass." Hikari laughed. "Yeah. I just like to torment you." They looked at the clear pool of water at the bottom. You could see every fish that swam in it. There was a large tree limb submerged in it too. Heather noticed the moss that had grown on it, the pool was older than it looked then. Sesshoumaru talked on of how his father had made it when he had first come to live in the castle that now stood finished. Heather was more interested in the tropical plants that would surely die in winter. "How do you keep these alive?" She asked him. Sesshoumaru nodded at the plants. "This part of the property never receives snow at all." Heather was stunned by the thought. "Why only here?" She questioned. "When my father built it he wanted the beauty to last all year round & set up a magic barrier that keeps the snow off." Heather nodded & straightened. "That's cool." She said. "Is the castle that Lady Unmei lived in still standing?" Hikari asked in a dazed way. Sesshoumaru nodded. "Is that where you want to go next?" Hikari nodded. "I guess I'd like to see my mother's house again." Inuyasha said thoughtfully. Myoga jumped down from his shoulder. "I'll stay here for a little while thank you." Everyone bent with angry eyes at him. "Is something bad going to happen that you're going to conveniently forget to tell us about?" Inuyasha asked him, fangs barred. "N-no Lord Inuyasha! I just want to stay here among the warm plants while you take to the chilling air." Everyone straightened back up. "Feh."
Kagura was having a hell of a time finding information about the girls & Sesshoumaru. Even information on Inuyasha's whereabouts were hard to find. So far she had only pieced together that both Kikyo & Kachiki had died. Kagome had been present but had done nothing in the matter. It appeared that Kachiki had killed Kikyo when she had arrived to find Kikyo trying to kill Kagome with her sacred arrows. She had happened to find a travelling merchant & had scared him into telling her what he had heard of girls with strange powers. He had nothing to tell but that a large group of demons & their human wives had passed though his village several days before, almost a week ago. Kagura cursed & went off with the little news she had to Naraku. Would he be angry that Kikyo was dead, or would he be glad? He was hard to figure out sometimes. She narrowed her eyes as she passed though the purple barrier around his castle. "Stupid humans."
The house seemed to be abandoned, & for many years too. It smelled of rotten decay & wet wood. Inuyasha looked around inside at a familiar room with Kagome. Sango & the other's had entered the main room & were looking at old pots & other things that robbers had not looted. "It was too close to the kingdom of a demon lord for them to take much. So many things are probably still here." Sesshoumaru said. Heather picked up a sake cup that was painted on the outside with a delicate scene of flowers. She took it over to Hikari. "I have this hunch that this might be yours, but that's silly right? Right?" Hikari took the cup in her hands & stared at it with wide eyes. "This." She turned it gently in her hands. Heather touched her gently on the shoulder as she bounced back to reality. "Yes, I think this was hers at one time." Heather gave her a puzzled look. "It's Hana's." Hikari whispered. Heather put her hand to Hikari's forehead. The whole affair with Hana flipped out & stunned her. "So that's it." Heather said, eyes wide, mouth open. "Wow. Reincarnation." She murmured. "I knew Kagome was but." Heather shook her head. "Hey, let's find your room!" She said & grabbed hold of Hikari's hand. "Where is it?" Heather called over her shoulder. Hikari's eyes blurred. "It's." A flash of the halls in their original look flashed in her memory. She was running with Unmei pulling her, asking the same thing. 'Where is it?' She shook her head to clear the image. "It's this way." Hikari ran to a room that's door was closed. She wandered inside, pushing the crumbling door aside. She looked around the room. It was like the room had never grown a day older than when Hana had died. It was in perfect condition, the roof above the room wasn't even stained from the rains. Heather gasped. "Wow, a spell this strong must have been cast by a demon." She looked at the things with wide eyes, it looked as if no one had touched a thing, and nothing in this room was stolen! Hikari picked up a small plate that was painted with the same picture of flowers. "This.this is.Hana's room." She said. Her eyes were glazed as she walked around. She touched several different things in the room. "Magic has conserved this room through the years.demon magic." She finally said. Heather smirked. "Well no duh! I could have told you that!" Hikari didn't even move. "Was it you, taiyoukai?" Heather turned to see Sesshoumaru standing behind her. "Hey, when did you get here?" He didn't even notice the question as he passed her. "Yes, after Hana died, I came & preserved her room. I scared away all the looters & robbers that had come to see if the stories of Unmei's families death was true." He put a hand on Hikari's shoulder & her eyes reverted back to normal. "What? Dizzy." Hikari whirled & almost fell over. Sesshoumaru caught her. "Whew, so this is her room huh?" Hikari asked, not seeming to notice that she had been acting strangely. Sesshoumaru watched her looked at everything over again. "Awesome." She breathed, touching a sword that hung on the wall. "She never did use this one?" Sesshoumaru shook his head. "It was merely for decoration." Hikari nodded & went on. Kagome ran in. "Hey, we found Lady Unmei's room, & this cool pond outside too!" Hikari followed her out the door. Sesshoumaru followed, after Heather. The room was as preserved as Hana's but it wasn't as bad as the other rooms. Wallpaper peeled on one wall. Outside the doors was a large pond that Hikari gazed at queerly. "That's the one she fell into the first night she came here." She pointed to the pond. Sesshoumaru nodded, only it wasn't as big & there were fish in it." Miroku picked up a long set of green prayer beads that had blended into the grass. "These fell like new. Do you know them Sesshoumaru?" The demon shook his head. "I have never have seen a human that carried prayer beads in this household." Miroku put the beads back on the ground. "I see." Was all he said. Hikari suddenly looked up at them. "Hey Heather, I suddenly remembered what I was trying to ask you." Heather walked out the door. "Yeah, what is it?" "I heard in the news that a school shooting happened in America somewhere. It was some other state though so I didn't think to call you. What happened." Heather's face had gone an ashen gray. "It was." She said but she seemed to be trembling. She took a deep breath. "I was at that school." Hikari looked at her friend in horror. "No way! You're kidding me." Heather shook her head. "I was with a tour group, you know for college. Well, Janie went with me." Hikari nodded. Everyone was else was completely lost, the two girls were speaking in English. "They were having school as usual so, you know we didn't think much of the boy when he had a large lump in his pack. We were halfway down the hall before we heard gunshots. We took cover, everyone did. We waited in a room until we heard his footsteps & shells being let loose." Heather stopped for a breath, to make sure her tears didn't escape. "He came in with his gun ready, there were others too. About 6 boys & one girl. Janie was well hidden in a cupboard with only the tiniest crack open for air. I was under a desk. I stood slightly, ready to take them if they planned on firing, only thing was that Janie didn't know about my powers. They pointed their guns at me. I raised my hands as if in surrender. They seemed to believe it, but that girl.she was crazy. I must have reminded her of someone because she laughed & shot at me. I was able to dodge them but I heard the closet door open. I didn't look at her but I could tell that she was still inside, the sound of feet had not come yet. I was so distracted that I was almost hit. Then.I saw another girl behind me, she laughed crazily & sot at me as I turned." Heather stopped, looking at the ground. Hikari touched her shoulder. "Go on." Heather's cheeks were stained with tears. "They shot Janie. She jumped in front of me when the girl pulled the trigger & was shot. She didn't die but I felt so horrible, I hadn't even tried to raise even a slight barrier for her." More tears streamed down her face. Hisui was deep in sorrow too. Water leaked from her eyes & her whole body drooped. The shiny black coat seemed to dull. Hikari took the dragon from the rock she was sitting on & held her. "We'll talk about the rest later. Anyway, what's going on with your brother?" Heather seemed to become slightly happier. "Colin is doing fine! But there's one problem." Heather trailed off rubbing her head. Everyone else could understand them again. "What?" Hikari asked, worry filling her mind. "He's 6 now & he won't shut up." Heather grumbled. "I've tried everything, duck tape, threats, I even carried out one of them! He doesn't seem to get that I need quiet once in a while." Hikari giggled. "What was the threat that you carried out?" She asked. "I told him that if he didn't keep quiet I'd shave him bald." Heather laughed at the expression on Hikari's face, everyone else was staring at her too. "I've got a picture, here." Heather pulled out her wallet & displayed a horrified looking boy with only a few blonde hairs on his head. "I thought about polishing it but he woke up." Heather shrugged. "Didn't he attack you when he woke up?" Heather laughed at that. "Are you kidding me? He's only up to my hip & nowhere near my strength. I held him back with one hand. But it was fun to try & get pictures of him when he thought I wasn't around." Sango looked at the picture. "That's mean." She said Heather laughed. "no, it was funny. But it grew back by the next day. I told him if he bothered when after I had told him to leave me alone again I would do it again but he didn't seem to mind since it grew back so quick." She stuck the wallet back in her jeans pocket. "Didn't your mom & dad get mad?" Hikari asked, knowing Heather's parents better than anyone. "Heck no. They did tell me not to do it again, but they spent the whole day trying to help him conceal the hair. Then Chance put whip cream on his head with a cherry & we got a picture of that but I forgot to bring it." Heather had returned to her usual, spunky self & had seemed to forget about the school shooting for the moment. Kohaku was watching the water with a tiny bit of interest. The old castle made him remember Naraku's & he hated thinking of what he had done to his sister. But she had forgiven him because he was under Naraku's spell! Wasn't that enough for his guilt to decrease? No, there was something else. He had not overcome the void himself. Everytime it took him he had only been paralyzed with fear. He was no use to this group of brave travelers! Did they only keep him with them because it made Sango happy? He sighed & dipped a stick in the water. He could feel the sadness overtake him again. Hikari had warned him not to think of sad things to the point that he felt an empty hole in him. What was she had said? "You are stronger than you think, don't let yourself be ruled by the demons of fear, you are stringer than them." The words echoed in his ears. He sighed again. 'Strong?' He, Kohaku, was strong? Was she sure? She was a dragon after all, could she tell that he was harboring some power that Naraku had wanted to keep in case of emergencies? The Shikon Shard in his back! Of course, they had not taken it out yet! But why? Was it still dangerous to his wounds to take it out? Would he die? He tensed at the thought. He heard soft footsteps behind him but paid them no mind. Rin plopped down on the grass beside him. "What is Kohaku-kun thinking about all by his self?" She asked, her eyes looking sidelong at him. "Hi, Rin-chan. I was just thinking about how the Shikon Jewel shard is still in my back & how Hikari had said that I was stronger than I look. I was thinking maybe it was because I have the Shikon Shard that I have become stronger." He wasn't sure if Rin could understand what he was saying, how old was she anyway? Six? Seven? He picked seven, maybe she did understand then. "Hikari-san says that Kohaku are very strong inside. That Kohaku are fighting an endless battle inside himself, & Kohaku is winning against Kohaku's fears. She says that to be able to fight one's inner demons & not show sign of it is very strong willed person. She says that Kohaku will make a great fighter when Kohaku fights off all the bad memories that plague him." Rin tried to remember word for word what Hikari had mentioned to Sesshoumaru & Jaken only night s after she had released Kohaku from the void. Kohaku bent his head & a slight smile crossed his face. "I'm surprised you're not afraid of me Rin-chan." Rin gave him a curious look. "Should Rin be afraid of Kohaku? Kohaku saved Rin, Rin is not afraid of Kohaku." Kohaku smiled & his eyes watered slightly. "Thank you Rin-chan. I thought that maybe I was of no use to the team because I was afraid of what would happen if I drew a weapon. Then I started thinking that maybe the others were afraid of the same thing & that they only kept me around because of my sister. I thought that you might be afraid of me because I had tried to kill you, or Kagome for the same reason. Or even Sango & Kirara." The words came out in sobs. Rin put a small hand on his back. "Kohaku shouldn't cry. Kohaku is not alone anymore & Kohaku is not hated by anyone." He smiled at her. "Thank you again, Rin-chan."
Another long chap. Kohaku is fighting his 'inner demons' or the memories of attacking his sister & the others keep haunting him. In steps Rin, ready to comfort while the others are investigating the house further. (Very big.) Naraku & Kagura are still trying in vain to capture information on the whereabouts of the IY gang, Kikyo, Kachiki, & how the IY gang got back. They won't find many clues soon though. Meanwhile, up in the mountains, Kouga is startled with a revelation, while the words in his head. 'I will return in three days by the next sunset.' Is he in love with Heather despite his thoughts that Kagome is the only woman for him? "Damn that half breed! If he were dead it would make the whole situation less troublesome!"
~ OtakuSailorV