One more chapter to re-do, and then I can actually update! (too bad my homework has fallen to the wayside..)
*disclaimer* One night I had this dream that I was a Japanese manga writer and I was wildly popular. One of my most successful creations was called "inuyasha." In fact, it was so successful that I was famous and considered a genius by many.
Then I woke up.
It wasn't true.
Out of the Waves
Chapter Five: The Rescue
"I have got to get me one of these!" Miroku cried, looking down in wonder at the blur of trees below him. The messenger from Arysis had arrived at Esliad on a giant demon cat, one like Miroku had never seen before. He had at first been expecting to have to walk to Arysis, which meant at least half a day wasted, and by the time he would have gotten there, there would be nothing he could do.
That was no longer an issue. Miroku patted the side of the cat. Sure, it had taken a couple of falls and a lot of chocolate to get a ride, but it was worth it.
Now he was faced with another problem. Once he got to Arysis, how on earth was he supposed to find the Guardian? Hakori had said her name was Sango.
Miroku shrugged and grinned. All he had to do was go in there, kill a couple of youkai, play the hero, get the girl. It was simple.
Suddenly, the cat began a descent into the thick woods below, and Miroku wondered vaguely if demon cats ever ate people.
"Arysis is only five minutes away, Cat. What are you doing?"
He was ignored.
They landed softly and Miroku dismounted and looked around. "So. Nice forest. Can we keep going now?" He turned to look at the giant feline, but it had disappeared.
Fantastic.
He heard a noise behind him and as he turned to look at what was there, he felt a blade pressed against his throat.
His day was quickly going down the drain.
"Who are you?" a girl's voiced hissed in his ear.
"Well, I'm a roguishly handsome young man of seventeen years. My name's Miroku and I like classic literature and long walks on the beach." He stopped as the blade was pressed harder against his throat.
"What are you doing here, houshi? Where did you come from?" The girl asked cautiously.
"I come from Esliad, and I'm here to be a hero." He felt the pressure on his neck relax and he turned to find a beautiful girl standing before him. "See, I came here riding this enormous demon cat, but it appears I've been ditched. Care to help me out?" The girl looked at him warily, then relaxed.
"Kirara." She said.
"What?"
"The cat. Her name is Kirara." She motioned to the small cat perched on her shoulder.
Miroku eyed the little cat and shook his head. "No, my cat was like this, but more." He spread his arms as far as they would go. The girl continued.
"I am Sango, guardian of the soul of Arysis. I'm assuming Hakori sent you?"
"Yes, yes. Hakori sent me, to find you, actually, but you've just made it wonderfully easy for me. Make kitty here get big again and we can head back to Esliad right now. Not bad for a morning's work."
Sango shook her head. "I can't go to Esliad yet. I have to go back to Arysis and help my people. I have to find my brother."
"Sorry, but my orders are to find you and bring you back to Esliad. We need to get that shard somewhere safe." He said, pointing to the shard hanging around her neck. Sango grabbed the necklace anxiously.
"I know that, but I have a duty to my people. They need my help right now."
"Your duty is to protect that shard, and that means coming back to Esliad with me."
Sango looked at him angrily. "I'm going back to Arysis. I can make it to Esliad on my own, when I am ready." She turned and began to walk in the direction of Arysis. To her dismay, Miroku began to follow.
"I've never been one to argue with a pretty girl," he placed a hand on her shoulder, walking with her, "and I would love to accompany you back to Arysis until you are ready to come to Esliad." His face remained innocent as his hand began to slip lower and lower. Sango shrugged.
"Whatever." And lower. Sango's mouth dropped in surprise. "PERVERT!!" She stalked angrily ahead into the forest, leaving Miroku on the ground, the perfect imprint of her hand across his cheek, not altering the happy smile on his face. Maybe this day wasn't so bad.
*
"In the year 2224, life on Earth had reached its max. Its population had become too much for the planet to sustain, and the entire ecosystem fell apart. By 2226 only an eighth of the population remained. Earthquakes, floods, never-ending storms and other natural disasters continued to plague the earth. Many fled to distant planets, and it is rumored that some survivors established colonies that still exist today. However, as cities, empires and entire countries continued to crumble, it was clear that something had to be done to save humanity.
On the eve of 2227, twelve mages of different parts of the earth came together to find a way to save what was left of humanity. Their names were Titania, Alereal, Shonto, Lentar, Esliad, Arysis, Cryan, Nalhar, Narkia, Tanli, Ristanta and Shira." Here Kagome broke off. Those were the names of the temples here on land, and the shards of the Shikon, but Shira she did not recognize.
Inuyasha sighed, obviously annoyed. "Do you really find it necessary to read that entire cursed book out loud?"
He had been woken up early by an eager Shippo, who apparently could think of no better way to wake somebody up than by dumping ice cold water on them. After this rather rude awakening, Inuyasha had gone to Kagome's room, expecting to have to wake her up. Upon entering her room however, he had found Kagome, looking rather ridiculous in her borrowed clothes, completely entranced by a book in her hands.
She said she had found the book in her room, and at the time Inuyasha had been curious. Now he was feeling violent.
He and Kagome had been traveling for a little over two hours, and the girl had yet to stop reading passages from that damned book.
"Well girl? Do you?" Kagome gave him a blank look, and then went back to the book, hardly paying attention to where she was walking.
"The twelve mages had conflicting ideas on how to save their people, and before long, the group had been split into two factions. Titania, Alereal, Shonto and Lentar voiced that they should use their powers to bring humanity into the ocean, as life on land was becoming too dangerous. All the others, with the exception of Shira, wanted to use their powers to create one stable world on land, and protect that one world while leaving the rest of the earth to its own fate. Although all twelve mages were good-hearted, the two groups argued deep into the night, and violence was about to ensue when Shira, a princess of a land long lost, stood up. She proposed that Titania, Alereal, Shonto and Lentar create their underwater world, and the other seven create their haven on land.
From her robes Shira pulled a single, shining jewel. She explained that that jewel was her soul, captured and contained, but flawlessly preserved. In order to save the world, all of the other mages followed Shira's idea, and made what has become known as the Ultimate Sacrifice. All of them gave their entire beings into the jewel. Shira then split the jewel into two pieces; one piece containing the seven souls of the land, called the Raston, and the other, the Shikon, containing the four of the ocean. Shira gave the jewels to the last survivors of Earth, telling them that only in a time of the most severe need should the two pieces be united, for it was then that the twelve would be freed from their voluntary prisons to again help the human race. Then Shira herself was absorbed into both pieces."
Kagome paused. She had never known that much about the Shikon jewel. In the Oceanic World, its power was taken for granted. She closed the book and placed it carefully in her bag. She knew that many of the answers to her questions lay within its pages.
Inuyasha looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Unintentionally he had begun to listen to Kagome's words, and despite of himself, he was curious to find out what else he had never learned before. He looked up at the sun, and realized, to his dismay, that while listening to Kagome read he had let their pace drop. Inuyasha knew Miroku could hold his own against a couple of youkai, but it must have been more than just a couple to bring an entire temple down.
"Come on, wench. Put that damned book away and keep up. I don't need your slow ass holding me back."
"Jerk." Kagome muttered, and hurried to catch up.
Suddenly, great gusts of wind began to blow, and the trees started to creak and bend and break. From the top of the trees descended a girl with a proud smirk on her face.
"Kagura." Inuyasha said under his breath, and pushed Kagome, who fell, rather ungraciously, behind a large fallen tree.
The girl stayed hovering a few feet off of the ground and spoke in a scornful voice, "Well, if it isn't my favorite hanyou. What are you doing out here all by yourself." Obviously she had not seen Kagome.
"It's none of your business, bitch, but since you're here, I might as well kill you now, so I don't have to do it later." Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. 'Kagome, stay behind that tree!' he pleaded silently. She still didn't know everything about the youkai on land.
"And he's not all alone." Kagome stepped defiantly out from behind the tree. Inuyasha slapped his forehead.
Great. Now he was going to have to protect her while trying to kill Kagura.
Much to his surprise however, Kagura's eyes widened in shock and the winds died down for a moment.
"It can't be." She whispered softly, so only Inuyasha's ears could pick it up. Kagura quickly hid her shock, but Inuyasha didn't miss the tremor in her voice.
"My fight with you, Inu-chan, is not here. I will see you in Arysis." The winds blew violently, and Kagura disappeared.
Inuyasha spat. Something about Kagome had scared Kagura. He looked at the girl, who looked just as bewildered as him. What was it?
"And that would be…?" Kagome asked, looking at him.
"Kagura. One of Naraku's creations." Kagome nodded.
"We should hurry to Arysis. If she's going there, we should be there to help Miroku." Kagome said. She punched him lightly in the shoulder. "And next time, how bout you don't push me into a tree."
"Feh. You would have only gotten in the way." Kagome stared at him angrily.
"Why you…" she began, but Inuyasha cut her off.
"Stop wasting time, wench. Let's go." She bit her tongue and followed.
*
Within another hour, Kagome and Inuyasha had reached Arysis. Kagome looked around at the devastation. A house in front of them was on fire. Kagome paused.
Fire? How did she know fire? Something tugged at her memory, something important, dancing just along the edge of remembering, but she shook her head and continued forward.
"Is this how things always work in your world?" she asked Inuyasha, her bright green eyes slightly dimmed by the horror around her.
"Not always. Sometimes there is peace. Keep going."
Suddenly the house in front of them began to collapse. Kagome jumped back as she heard a scream coming from inside.
"Oba-san! Please! Wake up! Somebody help us!" Kagome ran towards the house, but before she could enter Inuyasha grabbed her arm.
"What are you doing?" he demanded furiously, "trying to get yourself killed?"
"We have to help them, Inuyasha! We can't just leave them in there!" Kagome made an effort to pull free from his grasp. "Let go!"
"Not you. I'll go.
My clothes are made from the fire rat.
I won't get burned. He turned
and ran into the burning building.
Kagome stood, watching him go. As soon as
he was out of sight, she followed. She had never been one to stay behind.
The first room of the house was filled with
smoke. Kagome coughed, her eyes watering. Where did Inuyasha
go? And where were the people? She hurried down the hallway and
jumped in surprise as part of the ceiling fell in. She kicked open a door
on her right and there before her was a small child, crying hysterically beside
an old woman. She had to get them out.
Kagome ran to the little child's side. It
was a girl, her dirtied face streaked with tears.
"Sweetie, don't cry. Hurry. We have to get out of here." Kagome
took the little girl's hand. "Come with me. I'll get you out
and then come back for your Oba-san."
The girl nodded her head and followed Kagome out
of the house. As soon as the little girl was safe, Kagome ran back into
the house. "Now where was that room," she muttered to
herself. She put a hand to her forehead. Her eyes were getting hazy
and why was the room spinning? A beam fell from the ceiling, and Kagome
fell to the ground unconscious.
*
"Onee-chan! Ready or not, here I come!" Kagome cried as she ran through the hallways, her small feet making
loud noises in the quiet hallway. She stopped running and tip-toed
silently into a room with floor-to-ceiling windows, edged in large
curtains.
"Gotchya!"
she yelled, pulling back the curtain, but no one was there. She ran back
out of the room and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, her face flushed
with excitement and her eyes sparkling, her black hair long since fallen out of
the fancy style her mother insisted on. "Onee-chan,
where are you?" Kagome ran farther down the hall. She was
beginning to get scared. Onee-chan usually came
out by now.
Kagome sniffed the air. Something smelled
funny. Was something burning?
Suddenly she heard voices coming from a room
down the hall. Kagome snuck into the room quietly. Her mother and
father were standing there arguing with a man. Who was he?
"There's no way you can get away with this Naraku, destroying us will make no difference."
Her father was saying. Get away with what? She wanted the man to
leave.
"We'll see about that, Keiichi."
The man held his hand up and Kagome watched as her father flew backwards and
struck the wall.
Kagome leapt forward, a cry already halfway out of her mouth when some one grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth. She looked back and saw it was a youkai, but for some reason she wasn't scared. She knew that this demon was different from the others. She recognized him as a lord of some lands to the west, and she knew that some people didn't like that her parents were friends with him, but Kagome didn't know why.
He had children too, two sons…
Kagome and the demon made their way quietly towards the exit, but she didn't miss the man her father had called Naraku taking the lives of her parents. Silent tears poured down her face as Kagome followed the dog youkai out of the castle.
Kagome looked back as flames engulfed the home that she knew she would never see again.
Suddenly Kagome found herself on a small boat in the middle of the ocean, the waves towering far above her. The youkai lord looked about anxiously.
"Kagome," he said, his voice soft, but she could hear it over the sounds of the storm, "you must live. Somehow you must survive. Your parents…" he paused. "I know you are probably too young to understand what is happening, but someday you will be needed. There is a prophecy about you. You and my son,"
In a blur of motion and the loud screeching of youkai, the demon was cut off. Kagome looked up fearfully. The Inu lord leapt into the air and began fighting off the attacking youkai, but even Kagome could tell that he didn't stand a chance.
From the midst of the battle emerged the man Kagome had seen kill her parents. He laughed at the demon lord, and she noticed that all the other youkai backed away. The man and the demon began to fight, but it soon became evident that her friend was losing. Suddenly he stopped fighting and looked down at Kagome.
"Kagome," he said, his voice tired but urgent, "remember Inuyasha. Live, and remember." A light began to shine from out of the demon, so bright that Kagome looked away.
A huge explosion capsized the boat and Kagome fell into the tumultuous water. As she sank deeper into the depths of the ocean, Kagome could still see light from the power emitted from the youkai lord, and then there was only darkness.
*
Inuyasha paced anxiously outside of a closed door. He had told her to wait behind. But then, he should have known that Kagome wouldn't listen to him.
Inuyasha had gone into the house and searched for the people inside. He had gone into a room and found an old woman passed out on the floor, so he had picked her up and begun to walk back out when he stumbled upon an unconscious Kagome.
Now he was at one of the few remaining buildings in Arysis. The old woman, Kaede, had woken up shortly after he brought her out of the house, and was now taking care of Kagome in the other room. Kaede's grandchild, Tora looked just as worried as Inuyasha.
Wait a minute. He was not worried. It was her own damn fault, not listening to him and traipsing into a burning building as if she had been around fire all her life. Inuyasha snorted. He knew that was impossible.
His ears picked up the turning of a doorknob and Kaede emerged from the room. Inuyasha leapt at her.
"How is she, hag?"
Kaede looked at him with an amused expression on her face.
"Oh, she's fine, boy. Just sleeping now. She should wake in a little while. But if you could be so kind as to not wear a hole in the floor, I'm sure my neighbors would appreciate it."
Inuyasha growled and went into Kagome's room. She didn't look too good. Her white hair had soot in it, and there were black smudges all over her face. Before he knew what he was doing, Inuyasha reached a hand out to Kagome's face and rubbed away a smudge.
He pulled his hand back as though he had just touched a hot coal.
What am I doing? I only met this girl yesterday. I'm not even nice to people I've known all his life! He thought frantically, This has to stop. Inuyasha backed away from Kagome cautiously. She whispered something in her sleep, and his eyes widened in surprise. His name? Was she dreaming about him?
Suddenly Kagome woke with a start and sat straight up, her face wet with tears, and she tried frantically to remember the fleeting scenes from her dream. She looked about her in confusion. Where was the ocean? Kagome looked at Inuyasha and it all came back to her. The fire, the little girl, her grandmother.
"Did you find her, Inuyasha?" she asked anxiously.
"Who?"
"The old lady! I went back to get her, but now I'm here."
"Feh. Of course I got her. I told you I would." Now that Kagome was awake, Inuyasha forgot about his worried thoughts just moments before. "Stupid girl. You nearly got yourself killed. Do you know how much trouble I would have gotten in with Hakori? Next time do as I say, not as I do, wench."
Kagome bit back her anger. That big jerk! She clenched her fist.
Kaede entered the room and chuckled to herself. Mere moments before she had been watching the most worried hanyou imaginable. Quite the change in attitude.
"Inuyasha," she said, "kindly leave me with Kagome so I can check how she is doing without you here to distract us." Inuyasha snorted and left the room. "So Kagome, you gave our hanyou quite a scare for a while there. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, thanks to you." Kagome smiled
"Now I don't actually have to check anything on you, but I do have a gift for you, in thanks for saving me and my granddaughter." She pulled a string of rosary beads out of her robes. "They aren't for you to wear, my dear, but you'll find they will make things a little easier with that hanyou." Kaede chuckled.
Alright. That was enough time to check her condition. Inuyasha thought to himself, and burst back into the room. He felt something land around his neck, and he looked at Kagome, who merely smiled and said one word.
"Sit."
*
"First we must stop by Kaede's house," Sango was explaining, "She's the wise woman of Arysis, and if anyone can help us, it would be her."
Miroku nodded and continued to follow Sango, enjoying his view from behind. His cheek had a permanent hand print on it, and he could still vaguely feel the pain of the last slap Sango had delivered him, but he always knew lechery came at a price.
They came upon the burnt remains of house that looked as if it had only recently been extinguished. Sango gasped. This was Kaede's house. It couldn't be.
"Tora? Kaede!" she called out. She would never forgive Naraku for this.
Sango felt something grab her legs from behind and she looked down at the dirty face of Tora.
"Onee-chan!" The little girl cried. "Where have you been. Oba-san and I made new friends!" She giggled. "They're funny."
"So you both are alright?" Sango asked, the relief evident in her voice. Tora nodded. She looked at Miroku and her eyes got wide.
"Onee-chan, is that your boyfriend?" she whispered to Sango. Miroku grinned.
"Only in his dreams, little one," Sango replied dryly. "Now where is Oba-san and your new friends?" Tora giggled again.
"They're inside. Oba-san gave them a necklace that makes the doggy fall down and then he says bad words!" Miroku laughed.
"That would be Inuyasha and Kagome. Come on Sango. You can meet my friends from Esliad."
*
"Sit."
Whump!
"Sit!."
Whump!
Kagome laughed. She hadn't had this much fun in ages!
"Sit." That's for calling me wench.
"Sit." That's for thinking I don't know how to do anything.
Inuyasha looked ready to kill.
"Aw, look. She's already taught him a new trick." Miroku grinned as his friend growled at him. "Hello Kagome. Having fun?" She nodded happily.
"Miroku," Inuyasha growled threateningly, "Don't make me hurt you later."
"But of course, my friend." He turned back to Kagome. "I'd like to introduce you to Sango, guardian of the soul of Arysis. Sango this is Kagome, Kagome this is Sango. On the floor over there is Inuyasha." Kagome smiled at Sango.
"Kaede has given me this wonderful rosary for Inuyasha. I can't thank her enough." Inuyasha stood up, attempting to hold onto the little dignity he had left.
"Feh."
"It's nice to meet you," Sango said politely. "Before we go to Esliad I'd like to organize a few of the townspeople to find other survivors and start to reconstruct the city." Kaede stepped up.
"I'd be more than happy to help, Sango."
"Us too." Volunteered Kagome.
"Speak for yourself, wench." Kagome looked at Inuyasha threateningly. "Fine." He muttered. He had to find away to get that cursed necklace off of him.
"Well then!" Miroku said, clapping his hands. "Let's get to work!"
*
"Naraku, I swear! That girl is going to be more valuable than we thought. That kind of power…" Kagura trailed of. She was more frustrated than she let on. She had seen the girl herself. The similarities were too much, not only in looks, but in the aura of power around her. She massaged her temples. Arguing with Naraku was like trying to swim with cement blocks tied onto her feet. In a pool full of sharks.
"Kagura, don't argue with me. I want that girl dead. I wanted her dead days ago. You and I have both read the prophecies. If she is who I believe, you can't even begin to imagine how vitally important it is that she and that obnoxious hanyou are destroyed as quickly as possible. Find them. Kill them."
"Couldn't we capture her and bring her to our side?" Kagura was willing to try one more time. Sure it was easy to issue the orders. 'Find the insanely powerful girl and her violent demon companion and kill them.' No problem.
"Don't argue with me, Kagura! Kill them, or I'll kill you. Now go!"
Kagura clenched her fist. "Of course, master."
*
Sango sighed. It had been a terribly long day, and she wanted nothing more than to flop down and fall asleep. That rock on the side of the road was looking rather inviting. "We can go back to the temple now. I have some mats we can sleep on."
The rest of the group nodded tiredly. They were dirty, hungry and exhausted. Sango grinned a little as she made her way cautiously through the remains of her beloved city. Even in the darkest moments of her life, Sango tried to find something good. She stumbled on a rock and Kagome held her arm to steady her. She and the strange white haired girl got along wonderfully, and Sango was glad to have another female companion to distract Miroku now and then, though she didn't miss the low growls and the dirty looks that Inuyasha sent his friend when he bothered Kagome. The new friendships helped her more than they knew.
Living in the temple and having the prestigious title as Guardian had caused Sango to lead a rather lonely life. She frowned and fought back tears as she though of Kohaku. After their parents had died, she and Kohaku had been closer than ever. To have him taken away was almost too much for her to bear.
"So Kagome, tell me about Alereal." She said, more to get her mind off of her brother than to start a conversation.
Kagome brightened visibly. "Oh it's wonderful there Sango. The buildings are all this shining white color and everything flows gently in the currents and it's quiet and peaceful all the time." She paused. How long had it been since she left Alereal? Nearly two days. How were her mother and father? And her people? Somehow she had to get back to them and help. It was so frustrating being on land. Her powers worked a little differently, and she had hardly had a chance to use them at all. She felt so useless.
Kagome hardly noticed that she had stopped talking and merely followed Sango, carefully putting her feet in the same spots as her. Sango stopped and Kagome bumped into her, surprised. She looked up and saw that they had arrived at what had once been a beautiful temple. It was much smaller than the temple of Esliad, but friendlier in a way.
"Home, sweet home." Sango said fondly, but unable to keep the sadness from her voice. "There are some rooms below the main floor of the temple that Naraku didn't get to. We can stay there tonight, and set off for Esliad in the morning."
Darkness seemed to cloud around her vision and Sango shook her head. She couldn't remember the last time she had been so drained.
She lead the weary group through the hallways of the temple until they entered a room that contained only a sword plunged into a rock.
"What's that?" Inuyasha asked, his ears perking up at the sight of a weapon.
"That's Tetsusaiga. It's a sword that was given to Arysis by a demon lord many years ago. He did my city a great favor in defending us from an attack, and we hold this sword here in his honor." The darkness was clouding her vision again and she really didn't feel like explaining the whole history of the sword. "Basically it fits that old legend of the sword in the stone that could only be removed by the one person it was made for. As you can see, many youkai must have tried today." She indicated to the charred remains of the youkai who tried more than once to remove the sword.
"Can I try?" Inuyasha asked. He wasn't one to ask permission to do things, but even he could feel the sacred aura around the sword.
Sango shrugged. "Sure. But it's not my fault if you get charred like the rest of them." Honestly. Couldn't boys think about anything but weapons?
Inuyasha slowly approached the sword, uncharacteristically nervous. It's not like he was afraid that he would get hurt. Pain had never really been an issue with him. But he felt as though he had seen that sword before, as if it was an old friend. He placed his hands on the hilt of the sword and pulled upwards, the sword sliding out without complaint. Inuyasha looked back at the group and grinned. Sango's jaw dropped.
"How-?" Inuyasha shrugged.
"What was that demon lord's name?" He asked.
"He told us to call him Inutaisho, leader of the dogs."
Inuyasha nodded. "My father."
Kagome opened her mouth as if to ask a question but Inuyasha sent her a look that silenced her. "Let's go." He sheathed Tetsusaiga in the scabbard that hung on the wall and walked back to the group. He exchanged a look with Miroku and then followed Sango as she continued on through the temple.
Inuyasha did not know much about his father. He knew that he had been a powerful youkai lord, but when Inuyasha was four years old, he had disappeared, leaving him with his mother and conceited brother, Sesshoumaru. This sword, the Tetsusaiga, may prove to supply Inuyasha with some answers.
Finally Sango lead them down a flight of stairs into a small room with several blankets and a few boxes of food.
"Ah, sleeeep!" Kagome cried happily, grabbing a blanket and a pillow and falling asleep immediately. She had been lifting rocks all day, trying to find anyone alive who was buried in the rubble. Her powers had helped her locate them, but she hadn't been able to figure out how to levitate correctly out of the water.
Inuyasha snuck a glance at Kagome to make sure she was alright. He knew that today had been hard on her, but he didn't want anyone else to know that he was concerned. Inuyasha looked once more at his sword, then took a blanket and a pillow and lay down, his thoughts plagued with questions about his father.
Sango looked warily at Miroku who was standing beside her with a fiendish look on his face.
"Looks like there's not much room for us, my dear. We might as well share a blanket and conserve space."
"In your dreams, buddy." Sango snorted, and proceeded to make a wall out of the cans of food. "I sleep on one side, you sleep on the other." Miroku chuckled. He could be trusted a little bit more than that, but he was too weary to argue.
"I understand Sango, we should wait until we know each other better." Satisfied with the blush that colored Sango's face, Miroku lay down on the floor. Sango turned of the lights and followed suit, and lay down, safely protected by the wall of cans. "Good night, my beautiful guardian." The darkness hid Sango's face as her blush deepened.
"Good night, houshi."
*
When Miroku woke he couldn't tell whether it was night or day. He glanced over and saw that Kagome and Inuyasha were still sleeping, though it looked as though Kagome was having a bad dream. He poked his head over a can of tomatoes and saw that Sango was missing. Well, better go look for her.
The light coming up from the eastern horizon dazzled Sango's eyes and glistened in the tears that threatened to spill out of her deep brown eyes, highlighting the flecks of red. She turned her face downwards and took a deep breath. She was standing at the entrance to her temple, the steps dirty and broken. Her life had taken a complete turn, but that was no reason to feel sorry for herself. She had three new friends to help her and she was sure that somehow she would be able to save Kohaku.
She raised her face defiantly to meet the rising sun and she felt the darkness in her fade away as the glittering rays of sun intensified. Light began to hit every part of Arysis.
Arysis. Her city. Even in all the chaos and destruction, it was beautiful. She would not let her people down.
"Gorgeous sunrise." Sango's breath caught in her throat. She turned and saw the familiar monk robes of Miroku and nodded to him.
"You should have seen one when the city was whole."
"Stunning, no doubt." Sango nodded. Silence ensued, but it wasn't awkward, and Sango felt that they could stand there forever and never have to say a word.
Miroku glanced sideways at Sango. She was as exotically beautiful as Kagome, but in a very different way. Strong and proud, but still not completely sure of her center.
"We should probably go wake up Inuyasha and Kagome. Hakori is probably already worried about us." Miroku turned to walk back into the temple.
"Miroku," Sango started. The monk turned around and looked at her expectantly. "I will defeat Naraku. I won't let him get away with this."
Miroku smiled a sad, small smile. "I know, Sango."
*
She was having that dream again, but it wasn't as coherent as before. The images were sharper, but there were more of them, bombarding her all at once. She was looking into a mirror, but her reflection moved without her.
Or was she the reflection of someone else? Lights flashed so bright she felt she was going to go blind. Naraku's face laughing at her.
Falling deep into the water.
A light surrounding her.
Not dead, but not quite alive. Her reflection, or was she the one reflecting?
Where was her sister?
No, she didn't have a sister, only a little brother, Souta, back in Alereal.
Naraku's face, his deep evil eyes staring into hers, as if he was reading her soul.
Hands gripped Kagome's shoulders and she screamed, sending out as much energy as she could muster.
She looked around at the stone walls of the room, breathing heavily. On the floor next to her lay a singed hanyou, twitching slightly. It had been a dream, just a dream.
Kagome poked Inuyasha tentatively. He wasn't going to forgive her for that one. "Inuyasha?" Poke, poke.
"WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO DO GIRL? KILL ME?" Kagome jumped back in surprise as Inuyasha exploded. "I was just trying to wake you up!"
"Eh, heh, heh. Sorry, Inuyasha." She really hadn't meant to do that.
"Feh." He stalked angrily out of the room. Kagome smacked her forehead. Way to start off the day, genius. She looked up as Miroku and Sango entered the room.
"Sheesh, Kag. What did you do to piss him off that badly?" Miroku laughed at the expression on her face. "Come on, we have to make it back to Esliad as soon as we can."
Kagome followed Miroku and Sango out of the temple. It wasn't her fault she was having crazy dreams that scared her half to death. It's not like she meant to nearly kill Inuyasha. She returned the glare that the hanyou sent her way. This was going to be a fun trip back.
Suddenly the winds began to blow fiercely around the temple. Kagura appeared, grinning wickedly.
Kagome groaned. Just what she didn't need. She glanced at Inuyasha who was already in a battle stance. At least she could have a chance to prove that she wasn't completely worthless.
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ah, now I can get to writing a new chapter!
You know the routine! Review!!!