Author notes: The final scene in this update (and the second scene in the
next update) can be a little confusing. The reason for that being that I am
trying to use what I know from English class to develop a literary effect
(I think it's called dramatic irony but I'm probably wrong or at least
partially wrong). The scene should be less confusing if you continue on to
read to the end of Chapter two, section two.
War of the Necromancers
The lone bee flew over the great expanse of water and forest. Its target finally coming into view, a large castle complex, cloaked in a deadly miasma. The bee quickly penetrated the purple vapor, in a hurry to return to its master. Once within the castle walls the insect flew through the bamboo reed curtain and into the lord's chamber. Once inside it glided towards the tall, dark haired sitting against the wall in the corner of the room. "I understand." Naraku said to himself after the bee had transmitted what it had seen. "So it was the monk that left the group." He said as he gave a small, calculating smirked. "My plan is falling into place."
************
The great beast violently shook its two heads in protest as its master tied it to a post in the bustling desert town. The endless expanse of parched, burning heat filled their line of sight for days in all directions, sparse for this walled mining community.
Nestled above a reserve of fresh underground water, the town served as a support line for the laborers in the nearby iron mine. The smell of market place spices and human perspiration rouse in the paralyzing heat of the sun, irritating Sesshoumaru's sensitive nose.
"Stay her Jaken. You will have trouble blending in." Sesshoumaru said as he followed Miroku into the bazaar, a large bag of goods thrown over his shoulder.
From this distance Miroku could hear the laughing, bartering and idle chitchat of the people that spent their idle days enjoying themselves in the pleasure of the market place. As the two walked onto the main grounds of the market the conversations stopped, focus instantaneously shifting to the foreign duo.
Feeling the tension of so many eyes on them both Miroku and Sesshoumaru tensed. "What can we get for these?" Sesshoumaru harshly asked as he dropped the sack over his shoulder onto the ground, spilling the finely polished weapons, precise metals and rare silks out across the bazaar grounds.
The chatter and noise immediately reemerged as the entire populace raced towards Miroku and Sesshoumaru with their goods in their hands to barter.
"I must give you credit monk," Sesshoumaru said, "blackmailing that castle lord before we left Japan was a good idea."
"Yah," Miroku agreed as a small smirk spread across his face, "If we have to travel across continents we might as well travel in style. Remember though, we only want to trade a small fraction of this stuff. See if you can get some local currency."
Once a few minutes had elapsed, Sesshoumaru packed up his unsold goods. Having sold a few jewels, a sword and a sheet of raw silk to the highest bidders, he walked with Miroku through the bazaar grounds towards a small restaurant a few hundred paces away, the sound of many gold coins jingling inside his money pouch.
"I'm starving," Miroku commented as he searched around the restaurant for a place to sit. Finding an unoccupied table on the outside balcony, Miroku looked over at the other patrons and mimicked the way they placed their legs over the strange, wooden pieces of furniture. Feeling slightly awkward sitting with his legs hanging down, Miroku motioned for Sesshoumaru to join him on the opposite side of the table.
"Can I serve you two gentlemen?" the thick bearded restaurant owner asked, his rosy red cheeks visible under his dark facial hair as he made a large, exaggerated smile.
"Yes, nothing fancy, just some fish and rice." Miroku responded.
The large smile on the restaurant owner's face began to dissipate as he realized he could not fulfil the request. "You see sir," the man argued, "Rice is rare in these parts, and fish, fresh fish is one of the most expensive things on the menu."
"Fine then," Miroku said in surprise, "I had no idea that people ate so differently here. If you do not eat rice and fish, then, bring what you think would be the best. I don't really care about the price."
"Of course sir, is there anything that I can get your friend?"
"I'm not hungry." Sesshoumaru stated, trying his best to be friendly, although he wasn't.
"Ok sir, your meal will take some time to prepare. If you like you can take a short walk around town. I will have your food ready when you get back." The man extended a superficial grin.
"Shall we take our leave?" Miroku asked Sesshoumaru as he stood up from the chair and looked out into the busy street. Out of the corner of his eye Miroku saw a frantic young woman race out of her home.
"Can any one help my baby!" the woman called out as she ran onto the bazaar grounds in desperation. "My child needs a healer!" Without time for Sesshoumaru to react, Miroku ran out into the street towards the distraught woman. Knowing that Miroku intended to help that useless human mother, Sesshoumaru sighed and briskly followed Miroku as he dashed into the woman's home. Was this how the rest of their journey was going to be like, Sesshoumaru thought to himself as pushed open the curtain door to the woman's simple, mud brick home. He regretted agreeing to let the weak hearted Miroku follow along, such petty annoyances of human compassion were tiring for him.
Sesshoumaru entered the room to find Miroku crouched over the body of a small, dark haired girl not much older then Rin, she reeked of the smell of fresh death.
"This girl is already dead," Miroku sighed as he lifted his fingers from the girls pulse. "All I can do for her now is to pray for the safe departure of her soul to the after life."
"Nooooo!" The woman sobbed as she threw her body over that of her deceased daughter, her tears dripping out of her eyes and splashing onto the girl's cold checks.
Miroku knelt beside the girl's body and whispered a short prayer before getting up to leave. As he rouse to his feet he looked at Sesshoumaru's emotionless face and for the first time Miroku realized just how inhuman he was. Miroku knew that Sesshoumaru had the power to bring that girl back to her mother however from the cold glare in Sesshoumaru's eyes Miroku knew that he shouldn't mention anything. If he spoke up it would only give the woman hope. Then it would break her down even further when Sesshoumaru refused.
"Let's go Sesshoumaru." Miroku said, the spark of joyful clairvoyance gone from his deep gray eyes. Sorrow and gilt had almost filled Miroku's gentle heart as he turned his back to the weeping woman. He felt ashamed because he knew that the girl could be saved, he felt ashamed because he knew that it was beyond his control to influence. This is what tore apart at Miroku's sense of being.
Sesshoumaru could not follow Miroku out of the door, he could not ignore the pulse of Tenseiga, he could not ignore the weeping of his sword. With a few short paces Sesshoumaru was standing over the body of the girl. With a quick but gentle motion he pulled the woman off of her daughter and drew his sword from its scabbard, striking the dead girl with a clean, precise motion. Sesshoumaru stood firm as the morning mother frantically beat against his body, distraught at seeing him hack away at her daughter's flesh.
"Mother," the girl said as she lifted herself up.
"My baby!" The woman cried as she turned and threw her arms around her child. "Thank you." She said through her tear muffled voice.
"I'm surprised at you Sesshoumaru." Miroku said from the doorway, a smile back on his face. "I didn't think you had such compassion in you."
Without speaking Sesshoumaru walked past Miroku and out the door. I guess I had him all wrong, Miroku thought to himself as he watched Sesshoumaru stride out into the midday sun.
*********
Inuyasha was not impressed as Shippo and Rin ran in circles around his legs, playing their little games. Inuyasha was even less impressed when Shippo jumped on top of his head to avoid being tagged. Kagome let out a small laugh as she watched the expression on Inuyasha's face when Shippo started swinging on his long silver hair. In a burst of annoyance Inuyasha grabbed the small fox and flung him hard into the ground.
"That was completely unnecessary!" Kagome yelled at Inuyasha while Rin stood over the dazed Shippo, and tagged him.
Away from the playing of Shippo and Rin and the arguing of Inuyasha and Kagome sat Sango. She was leaning with her back against a single tree that had invaded its way into the open grass field that overlooked the sea. Sango stared out across the glistening blue water towards the point where the sky met the ocean. She knew that China was across the sea, she knew that was the direction in which Miroku was.
And so she sat there, as she had sat there for days now, thinking about him. She wasn't angry anymore, she wasn't even sad, she just wanted him back. Deep down she had hoped that she meant more to Miroku than that, that some how his life revolved around her, but she always knew what kind of a man he was, what mattered to him.
She couldn't help but blame herself for his leaving. Perhaps if she had shown him how much he mattered to her he wouldn't have chased after that other woman, perhaps he wouldn't always be chasing after other women.
Kagome suddenly stopped paying attention to her argument with Inuyasha and looked over at Sango. Why is she always staring into the horizon like that, she thought to herself. I bet she's thinking about Miroku, although she'd deny it if I asked. I have no idea how she must feel, Miroku leaving so abruptly like that. What am I saying, I know exactly how she feels, Kagome thought as she looked back at Inuyasha. It's the same way I feel every time Inuyasha chases after Kikyo.
"Why do you look so sad all of a sudden?" Inuyasha asked Kagome.
"Oh it's nothing," she responded as his words pulled her out of deep thought. "I was just thinking about things," she said as she leaned close to Inuyasha and hugged him.
Inuyasha was confused at the sudden change in Kagome but he didn't resist when she placed her arms around him. Funny how women can have such mood changes, he thought. One minute they're biting your head off and the next they have their arms entwined with yours, I guess that's just part of the mystery and the wonder about them.
Feeling better Kagome raised her head to look up into Inuyasha's eyes. She never understood how his yellow, menacing glares could be so soft at times, so passionate when his words were not. "I think that Sango wants to be left alone with her thoughts for a while. Let's go back to the village," she said as she forced her eyes to unlock with Inuyasha's. "Common guys, lets go."
As the group began their walk towards the small fishing village Sango continued to stare out into the sea, the shade of the tree covering her from the rays of the midday sun.
"What do you think has Sango so rattled up?" Shippo asked as he walked along side Rin.
"Sango was closer to Miroku than any of us." Kagome said. "It's only reasonable that she would be the one most affected by his leaving."
"I hate to see Sango waste her tears on that jerk. I doubt if he's even thought about her once since he left." Inuyasha sulked.
The group had just entered the fishing village as Inuyasha had completed his sentence. The villagers bowed and smiled as the group walked through the street. Shortly after Miroku had left, Inuyasha killed a demon that had been terrorizing the village. In gratitude the village chief offered Inuyasha to stay the night, and then the day, and then two days. Before anyone noticed they had stayed nearly a week, the village not wanting to let go of their protector and Inuyasha in no hurry to start traveling again.
"Quick, I heard they took him to the fishing hut down by the docks!" A male villager frantically yelled to his friend as they ran past Inuyasha.
"I heard he was barely concise when they found him! I wonder how he got out in the middle of the ocean like that!" The other villager yelled.
"I wonder what they're talking about." Kagome said as she chased after the two, with Inuyasha, Shippo and Rin close behind her. "They went this way." Kagome said as she made a sharp turn between the closely packed houses and ran towards the small fishing hut that was now surrounded by concerned onlookers. As they entered the shack their breath froze. Resting on a mat that had been placed there for him lay a starved and dehydrated young man, his raven black hair crusty with sea salt.
"Miroku." Sango whispered to herself as she appeared in the doorway.
War of the Necromancers
The lone bee flew over the great expanse of water and forest. Its target finally coming into view, a large castle complex, cloaked in a deadly miasma. The bee quickly penetrated the purple vapor, in a hurry to return to its master. Once within the castle walls the insect flew through the bamboo reed curtain and into the lord's chamber. Once inside it glided towards the tall, dark haired sitting against the wall in the corner of the room. "I understand." Naraku said to himself after the bee had transmitted what it had seen. "So it was the monk that left the group." He said as he gave a small, calculating smirked. "My plan is falling into place."
************
The great beast violently shook its two heads in protest as its master tied it to a post in the bustling desert town. The endless expanse of parched, burning heat filled their line of sight for days in all directions, sparse for this walled mining community.
Nestled above a reserve of fresh underground water, the town served as a support line for the laborers in the nearby iron mine. The smell of market place spices and human perspiration rouse in the paralyzing heat of the sun, irritating Sesshoumaru's sensitive nose.
"Stay her Jaken. You will have trouble blending in." Sesshoumaru said as he followed Miroku into the bazaar, a large bag of goods thrown over his shoulder.
From this distance Miroku could hear the laughing, bartering and idle chitchat of the people that spent their idle days enjoying themselves in the pleasure of the market place. As the two walked onto the main grounds of the market the conversations stopped, focus instantaneously shifting to the foreign duo.
Feeling the tension of so many eyes on them both Miroku and Sesshoumaru tensed. "What can we get for these?" Sesshoumaru harshly asked as he dropped the sack over his shoulder onto the ground, spilling the finely polished weapons, precise metals and rare silks out across the bazaar grounds.
The chatter and noise immediately reemerged as the entire populace raced towards Miroku and Sesshoumaru with their goods in their hands to barter.
"I must give you credit monk," Sesshoumaru said, "blackmailing that castle lord before we left Japan was a good idea."
"Yah," Miroku agreed as a small smirk spread across his face, "If we have to travel across continents we might as well travel in style. Remember though, we only want to trade a small fraction of this stuff. See if you can get some local currency."
Once a few minutes had elapsed, Sesshoumaru packed up his unsold goods. Having sold a few jewels, a sword and a sheet of raw silk to the highest bidders, he walked with Miroku through the bazaar grounds towards a small restaurant a few hundred paces away, the sound of many gold coins jingling inside his money pouch.
"I'm starving," Miroku commented as he searched around the restaurant for a place to sit. Finding an unoccupied table on the outside balcony, Miroku looked over at the other patrons and mimicked the way they placed their legs over the strange, wooden pieces of furniture. Feeling slightly awkward sitting with his legs hanging down, Miroku motioned for Sesshoumaru to join him on the opposite side of the table.
"Can I serve you two gentlemen?" the thick bearded restaurant owner asked, his rosy red cheeks visible under his dark facial hair as he made a large, exaggerated smile.
"Yes, nothing fancy, just some fish and rice." Miroku responded.
The large smile on the restaurant owner's face began to dissipate as he realized he could not fulfil the request. "You see sir," the man argued, "Rice is rare in these parts, and fish, fresh fish is one of the most expensive things on the menu."
"Fine then," Miroku said in surprise, "I had no idea that people ate so differently here. If you do not eat rice and fish, then, bring what you think would be the best. I don't really care about the price."
"Of course sir, is there anything that I can get your friend?"
"I'm not hungry." Sesshoumaru stated, trying his best to be friendly, although he wasn't.
"Ok sir, your meal will take some time to prepare. If you like you can take a short walk around town. I will have your food ready when you get back." The man extended a superficial grin.
"Shall we take our leave?" Miroku asked Sesshoumaru as he stood up from the chair and looked out into the busy street. Out of the corner of his eye Miroku saw a frantic young woman race out of her home.
"Can any one help my baby!" the woman called out as she ran onto the bazaar grounds in desperation. "My child needs a healer!" Without time for Sesshoumaru to react, Miroku ran out into the street towards the distraught woman. Knowing that Miroku intended to help that useless human mother, Sesshoumaru sighed and briskly followed Miroku as he dashed into the woman's home. Was this how the rest of their journey was going to be like, Sesshoumaru thought to himself as pushed open the curtain door to the woman's simple, mud brick home. He regretted agreeing to let the weak hearted Miroku follow along, such petty annoyances of human compassion were tiring for him.
Sesshoumaru entered the room to find Miroku crouched over the body of a small, dark haired girl not much older then Rin, she reeked of the smell of fresh death.
"This girl is already dead," Miroku sighed as he lifted his fingers from the girls pulse. "All I can do for her now is to pray for the safe departure of her soul to the after life."
"Nooooo!" The woman sobbed as she threw her body over that of her deceased daughter, her tears dripping out of her eyes and splashing onto the girl's cold checks.
Miroku knelt beside the girl's body and whispered a short prayer before getting up to leave. As he rouse to his feet he looked at Sesshoumaru's emotionless face and for the first time Miroku realized just how inhuman he was. Miroku knew that Sesshoumaru had the power to bring that girl back to her mother however from the cold glare in Sesshoumaru's eyes Miroku knew that he shouldn't mention anything. If he spoke up it would only give the woman hope. Then it would break her down even further when Sesshoumaru refused.
"Let's go Sesshoumaru." Miroku said, the spark of joyful clairvoyance gone from his deep gray eyes. Sorrow and gilt had almost filled Miroku's gentle heart as he turned his back to the weeping woman. He felt ashamed because he knew that the girl could be saved, he felt ashamed because he knew that it was beyond his control to influence. This is what tore apart at Miroku's sense of being.
Sesshoumaru could not follow Miroku out of the door, he could not ignore the pulse of Tenseiga, he could not ignore the weeping of his sword. With a few short paces Sesshoumaru was standing over the body of the girl. With a quick but gentle motion he pulled the woman off of her daughter and drew his sword from its scabbard, striking the dead girl with a clean, precise motion. Sesshoumaru stood firm as the morning mother frantically beat against his body, distraught at seeing him hack away at her daughter's flesh.
"Mother," the girl said as she lifted herself up.
"My baby!" The woman cried as she turned and threw her arms around her child. "Thank you." She said through her tear muffled voice.
"I'm surprised at you Sesshoumaru." Miroku said from the doorway, a smile back on his face. "I didn't think you had such compassion in you."
Without speaking Sesshoumaru walked past Miroku and out the door. I guess I had him all wrong, Miroku thought to himself as he watched Sesshoumaru stride out into the midday sun.
*********
Inuyasha was not impressed as Shippo and Rin ran in circles around his legs, playing their little games. Inuyasha was even less impressed when Shippo jumped on top of his head to avoid being tagged. Kagome let out a small laugh as she watched the expression on Inuyasha's face when Shippo started swinging on his long silver hair. In a burst of annoyance Inuyasha grabbed the small fox and flung him hard into the ground.
"That was completely unnecessary!" Kagome yelled at Inuyasha while Rin stood over the dazed Shippo, and tagged him.
Away from the playing of Shippo and Rin and the arguing of Inuyasha and Kagome sat Sango. She was leaning with her back against a single tree that had invaded its way into the open grass field that overlooked the sea. Sango stared out across the glistening blue water towards the point where the sky met the ocean. She knew that China was across the sea, she knew that was the direction in which Miroku was.
And so she sat there, as she had sat there for days now, thinking about him. She wasn't angry anymore, she wasn't even sad, she just wanted him back. Deep down she had hoped that she meant more to Miroku than that, that some how his life revolved around her, but she always knew what kind of a man he was, what mattered to him.
She couldn't help but blame herself for his leaving. Perhaps if she had shown him how much he mattered to her he wouldn't have chased after that other woman, perhaps he wouldn't always be chasing after other women.
Kagome suddenly stopped paying attention to her argument with Inuyasha and looked over at Sango. Why is she always staring into the horizon like that, she thought to herself. I bet she's thinking about Miroku, although she'd deny it if I asked. I have no idea how she must feel, Miroku leaving so abruptly like that. What am I saying, I know exactly how she feels, Kagome thought as she looked back at Inuyasha. It's the same way I feel every time Inuyasha chases after Kikyo.
"Why do you look so sad all of a sudden?" Inuyasha asked Kagome.
"Oh it's nothing," she responded as his words pulled her out of deep thought. "I was just thinking about things," she said as she leaned close to Inuyasha and hugged him.
Inuyasha was confused at the sudden change in Kagome but he didn't resist when she placed her arms around him. Funny how women can have such mood changes, he thought. One minute they're biting your head off and the next they have their arms entwined with yours, I guess that's just part of the mystery and the wonder about them.
Feeling better Kagome raised her head to look up into Inuyasha's eyes. She never understood how his yellow, menacing glares could be so soft at times, so passionate when his words were not. "I think that Sango wants to be left alone with her thoughts for a while. Let's go back to the village," she said as she forced her eyes to unlock with Inuyasha's. "Common guys, lets go."
As the group began their walk towards the small fishing village Sango continued to stare out into the sea, the shade of the tree covering her from the rays of the midday sun.
"What do you think has Sango so rattled up?" Shippo asked as he walked along side Rin.
"Sango was closer to Miroku than any of us." Kagome said. "It's only reasonable that she would be the one most affected by his leaving."
"I hate to see Sango waste her tears on that jerk. I doubt if he's even thought about her once since he left." Inuyasha sulked.
The group had just entered the fishing village as Inuyasha had completed his sentence. The villagers bowed and smiled as the group walked through the street. Shortly after Miroku had left, Inuyasha killed a demon that had been terrorizing the village. In gratitude the village chief offered Inuyasha to stay the night, and then the day, and then two days. Before anyone noticed they had stayed nearly a week, the village not wanting to let go of their protector and Inuyasha in no hurry to start traveling again.
"Quick, I heard they took him to the fishing hut down by the docks!" A male villager frantically yelled to his friend as they ran past Inuyasha.
"I heard he was barely concise when they found him! I wonder how he got out in the middle of the ocean like that!" The other villager yelled.
"I wonder what they're talking about." Kagome said as she chased after the two, with Inuyasha, Shippo and Rin close behind her. "They went this way." Kagome said as she made a sharp turn between the closely packed houses and ran towards the small fishing hut that was now surrounded by concerned onlookers. As they entered the shack their breath froze. Resting on a mat that had been placed there for him lay a starved and dehydrated young man, his raven black hair crusty with sea salt.
"Miroku." Sango whispered to herself as she appeared in the doorway.
