Authors Notes: Hey, Everybody! (Hey Dr. Nick!) Here's the next chapter!
Ready and waiting for your beautiful reviews!
Shadow Play
Kagome slowly woke, felling groggy and disoriented. She opened her eyes and looked around at her surroundings. Or at least tried to. All she could see was mist. Cold, damp, mists. With that thought she realized that she was in her thin nightgown (it was a warm night at the mansion), which wasn't a very good choice of apparel when you're walking around in clammy evaporated water, completely lost. Eventually, she ran into, literally, a break in the monotony of whiteness. After making sure her nose wasn't broken, Kagome checked out what appeared to be a big glass wall, extending in all directions. Inside, she could see a some faint shadows, obscured by the mist. As Kagome focused on the shadows, though, the mists cleared away, revealing a scene that gave her a distinctly creepy sense. Inside were Inuyasha and herself, appearing to be arguing about something. But that wasn't what gave her the creepy sensation. Beyond the simple fact that she was seeing a duplicate of herself that wasn't Kikyou, after all. It was the fact that what they appeared to be doing kept repeating. Inuyasha would say something to Kagome, look confused, and say something else. The Kagome would look angry, shout something at Inuyasha, he would go splat, and she would walk away. Then Kagome would reappear in the same spot she started in, and the scene would recommence. Beginning to get angry watching someone pretend to be her, Kagome began shouting and pounding on the wall, but stopped when she heard a familiar voice beside her. "It won't do any good, they can't hear you" It was Shinmyouko, standing there in the freezing mist, wearing a very bright and cheery lavender kimono with pink cherry blossoms on it, quite different from her earlier ensemble of black. "And how would you know?" Not answering the question, Shinmyouko began an obviously rehearsed speech, if the way she was staring off into space and spoke in monotone was any indication. "I am here to guide you. The telepathic demon, the one know as Ishin, has commissioned my body from my most honorable father in order to give you this glimpse of your life as it truly is, and not as your biased mind thinks it is. You are living in Shadow, hidden from the light that is truth. Ishin does in fact hold a Shikkon shard, but is not currently willing to give it to your small group. She has spent a day observing all of you and has deemed it that, while you may have goodness in your hearts, your actions betray a danger that could lead you to use the shard for malicious purposes. Therefore, she has devised a test. "Both you and Inuyasha, as the leaders of your team, have been taken into this dimension. While you are not transported here physically, you are here in the mind. In front of you is the test you must pass. You must figure out what this symbolizes, and then must figure out a way to fix it. Otherwise, you will not be the recipient of the Shikkon shard, and another will get it, if Ishin deems them worthy, that is. Ishin will be giving Inuyasha a similar test, but not on the same subject. It has been a thing he has been worrying about for the past few days, and Ishin wants to give his worries a tangible form. Now, I leave you. If you want me, then call, I will come." With that, she left. Kagome looked back at the scene, still puzzling over why she and Inuyasha were repeating their actions, with no break from the monotony.
~*~
Inuyasha looked at the sight before him, confused about the images he was seeing. The explanation Shinmyouko had given wasn't exactly very satisfying to his curiosity (she had just left, after giving him a similar speech to the one she gave Kagome). There he stood, with Kikyou next to him, a little too close for comfort. He remembered this happening, just a few days ago. The night when she had kissed him. It wasn't exactly a memory he wanted to relish. Then he saw Kagome from behind a tree, looking at both him and Kikyou. Inuyasha's eyes widened, he hadn't known Kagome had seen that. She began running. Following that was a scene of her crying while cutting vegetables. Suddenly, she smiled and held up a finger with a slight cut on it, dripping blood. So far, this had made little no sense beyond the fact that she had seen him with Kikyou and then ran home to cry, which was fairly obvious. What was with the cut, though, blood had nothing to do with the state that Kagome was currently in. Remembering something his mother had once taught him when trying to solve problems, Inuyasha began free association with blood. Lets see, red, bleeding, heart, pumping, salty, overpowering, flowing. and continued this for several minutes while Kagome was puzzling over a different and yet similar problem.
~*~
Using a crystal orb from within Shinmyoukos father's mansion, Ishin was carefully watching the hanyou and the human, hoping that these two would be the ones to pass the test. She knew of their love for each other. Anyone with two eyes would see it, but apparently that vision has surpassed these two star-crossed lovers. So, she gave them a little push. Instead of giving them a test of strength as she had given Kikyou, or a will as she had Naraku, Ishin devised one which would force them to talk to each other in a way which would reveal their true feelings. Now, if only they could get passed the test, then the hard part, the ending of the old and beginning of the new, could begin.
Shadow Play
Kagome slowly woke, felling groggy and disoriented. She opened her eyes and looked around at her surroundings. Or at least tried to. All she could see was mist. Cold, damp, mists. With that thought she realized that she was in her thin nightgown (it was a warm night at the mansion), which wasn't a very good choice of apparel when you're walking around in clammy evaporated water, completely lost. Eventually, she ran into, literally, a break in the monotony of whiteness. After making sure her nose wasn't broken, Kagome checked out what appeared to be a big glass wall, extending in all directions. Inside, she could see a some faint shadows, obscured by the mist. As Kagome focused on the shadows, though, the mists cleared away, revealing a scene that gave her a distinctly creepy sense. Inside were Inuyasha and herself, appearing to be arguing about something. But that wasn't what gave her the creepy sensation. Beyond the simple fact that she was seeing a duplicate of herself that wasn't Kikyou, after all. It was the fact that what they appeared to be doing kept repeating. Inuyasha would say something to Kagome, look confused, and say something else. The Kagome would look angry, shout something at Inuyasha, he would go splat, and she would walk away. Then Kagome would reappear in the same spot she started in, and the scene would recommence. Beginning to get angry watching someone pretend to be her, Kagome began shouting and pounding on the wall, but stopped when she heard a familiar voice beside her. "It won't do any good, they can't hear you" It was Shinmyouko, standing there in the freezing mist, wearing a very bright and cheery lavender kimono with pink cherry blossoms on it, quite different from her earlier ensemble of black. "And how would you know?" Not answering the question, Shinmyouko began an obviously rehearsed speech, if the way she was staring off into space and spoke in monotone was any indication. "I am here to guide you. The telepathic demon, the one know as Ishin, has commissioned my body from my most honorable father in order to give you this glimpse of your life as it truly is, and not as your biased mind thinks it is. You are living in Shadow, hidden from the light that is truth. Ishin does in fact hold a Shikkon shard, but is not currently willing to give it to your small group. She has spent a day observing all of you and has deemed it that, while you may have goodness in your hearts, your actions betray a danger that could lead you to use the shard for malicious purposes. Therefore, she has devised a test. "Both you and Inuyasha, as the leaders of your team, have been taken into this dimension. While you are not transported here physically, you are here in the mind. In front of you is the test you must pass. You must figure out what this symbolizes, and then must figure out a way to fix it. Otherwise, you will not be the recipient of the Shikkon shard, and another will get it, if Ishin deems them worthy, that is. Ishin will be giving Inuyasha a similar test, but not on the same subject. It has been a thing he has been worrying about for the past few days, and Ishin wants to give his worries a tangible form. Now, I leave you. If you want me, then call, I will come." With that, she left. Kagome looked back at the scene, still puzzling over why she and Inuyasha were repeating their actions, with no break from the monotony.
~*~
Inuyasha looked at the sight before him, confused about the images he was seeing. The explanation Shinmyouko had given wasn't exactly very satisfying to his curiosity (she had just left, after giving him a similar speech to the one she gave Kagome). There he stood, with Kikyou next to him, a little too close for comfort. He remembered this happening, just a few days ago. The night when she had kissed him. It wasn't exactly a memory he wanted to relish. Then he saw Kagome from behind a tree, looking at both him and Kikyou. Inuyasha's eyes widened, he hadn't known Kagome had seen that. She began running. Following that was a scene of her crying while cutting vegetables. Suddenly, she smiled and held up a finger with a slight cut on it, dripping blood. So far, this had made little no sense beyond the fact that she had seen him with Kikyou and then ran home to cry, which was fairly obvious. What was with the cut, though, blood had nothing to do with the state that Kagome was currently in. Remembering something his mother had once taught him when trying to solve problems, Inuyasha began free association with blood. Lets see, red, bleeding, heart, pumping, salty, overpowering, flowing. and continued this for several minutes while Kagome was puzzling over a different and yet similar problem.
~*~
Using a crystal orb from within Shinmyoukos father's mansion, Ishin was carefully watching the hanyou and the human, hoping that these two would be the ones to pass the test. She knew of their love for each other. Anyone with two eyes would see it, but apparently that vision has surpassed these two star-crossed lovers. So, she gave them a little push. Instead of giving them a test of strength as she had given Kikyou, or a will as she had Naraku, Ishin devised one which would force them to talk to each other in a way which would reveal their true feelings. Now, if only they could get passed the test, then the hard part, the ending of the old and beginning of the new, could begin.