Chapter Five:
"All that we see or seem,
Is but a dream within a dream"
(Edgar Allen Poe)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In the blackness of Naraku's fortress, Rin sat again before her captor, who focused his piercing red eyes onto Rin and said sadistically,
"You are afraid of me aren't you, my dear girl?" When Rin did not respond to Naraku's interrogation, he rolled his eyes, and said with a spiteful tone,
"Do I inspire fear in you?" Then Naraku, with his keen ears heard a whisper, and a hushed cry,
"Sesshoumaru-sama." Rin simply begged, as if the name was a shield from Naraku's hateful conversation. Naraku was puzzled by Rin's simple cry and rebuked her meager defense,
"Rin, your beloved Sesshoumaru will not come to your rescue." Naraku said very simply. This had caught Rin's attention, and she looked into Naraku's eyes and beheld the terror within them. Her lips continued to tremble, but more noticeably. A sneer crossed Naraku's features as he saw his attack was now working.
"Yes, he will come, but he will not be able to save you. He is only falling into a trap." Rin's lips not only trembled, but her eyes were now opening in fear,
'Will he really leave me?' Rin asked herself. And as she saw Naraku's malicious grin, she knew her fate was sealed. Letting out her fear, Rin cried an agonizing cry of sudden loneliness, and Naraku grinned, achieving his goal.
"I am done with the girl." He said, and a vassal helped Rin into her cell, where her fear would grow.
Day's warmth began to disappear as darkness grew upon feudal Japan, and Sango had yet to overcome the loss of her brother. Silently, Miroku's arms encircled Sango's waist as he lightly pressed his lips to Sango's neck. But his assistance did not stop Sango's falling tears, as she stood above Kohaku's grave.
"Why?" Sango said silently, unaware, it seemed, of Miroku's presence. Miroku did not respond but began to withdraw from Sango, in hopes she would heal on her own. Yet, before Miroku could entirely withdraw, Sango clung onto him with the intense ferocity brought by loss.
As Sango cried on Miroku's chest, he rocked her within his embrace and soothed her fears with his mere presence. Kagome tore her eyes away from this scene; it was far too private for her eyes.
"Feh! Kagome, we gotta stop this dallying!" Inuyasha rebuked loudly. However, Kagome was not in the mood for his complaining and said very simply,
"Sit boy!" Inuyasha shrieked as he was brought to the ground by Kagome's command, rising swiftly, he demanded,
"We can't sit around and wait for Naraku to get stronger!"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted, and then vibrantly explained, "You are so heartless! It hasn't been two days yet and your demanding Sango muster her strength, while her heart is still broken!" Inuyasha didn't seem to listen to Kagome's argument as he strode up to Miroku and said proudly,
"Miroku, I don't care what you do, but find a way to pull Sango together. We can't wait forever to get Naraku." Miroku glared at Inuyasha with harshness and rebuked,
"What do you expect me to do Inuyasha? Her brother is not yet dead two days, and her soul is wounded. I am a mere priest!" Inuyasha fehed, and walked away from Miroku.
Sitting silently beside Kagome, Inuyasha looked out into the distance, and observed the disappearing clouds. Then he turned to see Kagome's lips in a tight frown.
'Sheesh...I hate it when she's like this...' Inuyasha thought. Kagome, noticing his stare, demanded tensely,
"Inuyasha, what are you looking at?" Inuyasha, being very immature, looked away from Kagome and retorted, he thought wittily,
"I'm not looking at anything." Heaving a sigh, Kagome stood and walked away, unable to tolerate Inuyasha's normal behavior.
Kagura's keen eyes searched the fading horizon as day came to a close, sensing unease in the winds; she delved further into her power.
'Something in the skies is not right! The winds seem perturbed and angry. They brew a storm.' Kagura thought as her keen senses read the tumultuous jet streams about her.
"Kagura-san!" Sesshoumaru yelled, as he noticed her thoughtfully grave face, "what is wrong!" Kagura, looking back at Sesshoumaru from her feather said warily,
"An evil storm brews, and this seems not to be the making of Naraku's sorcery. Nature has found its own evil, Sesshoumaru-san." Looking towards the sky, Sesshoumaru concurred with Kagura's thoughts as he said forebodingly,
"Indeed, Kagura-san, I noticed the brewing evil as well. Would you consider it wise to stop the journey for a short while?" Kagura gazed forward at the skies, and stated arrogantly,
"If you deem the storm worth worrying about, Sesshoumaru-san? I myself have flown through many storms of this kind, all of them with malicious and cruel intent, but I have survived them." Sesshoumaru glared at Kagura, but not with any true harshness, rather, with curiosity.
'Has she truly ridden in such turbulence? She is indeed proud, but can pride also bear itself as true when it is a falsehood? I shall test her.'
"Is it Naraku who led you through such storms and darkness, Kagura- san?" Sesshoumaru asked Kagura. Kagura looked back at Sesshoumaru from and said heavily,
"Sometimes the interference of Naraku was the case, but at other times the turbulence came from within me," Kagura added, "The storms which Naraku created proved deadly if one does not have the ability to master them, but the storms from the angry wind gods are not meant to be trifled with by any being, demon or mortal."
"So it would be your counsel to wait for brighter skies?" Jaken loosened his hold on the reigns of Sesshoumaru's chariot, and hoped silently,
'I don't want to ride in this storm, if what Kagura says is true.'
"Hai, that is my counsel, Sesshoumaru-san." Kagura stated matter-of- factly. Jaken was so glad about Kagura's decision he completely let go of the reigns, and noticed too late as the chariot began a violent dissension.
"Oops," Jaken murmured dully as Sesshoumaru, Jaken, and the rest of the chariot fell to the earth. Chasing after the falling chariot, Kagura cursed,
'That irritable toad!'
Inuyasha was finally pleased as Sango was seemingly ready to journey again, and they could finally continue on their seemingly never ending quest for the sacred jewel shards and hopeful defeat of Naraku. While Inuyasha did not see Sango's silent suffering, Miroku and Kagome both saw she was holding onto her sanity by a thin strand of rough twine.
"Sango, are you alright?" Kagome asked with compassion as she put her hand on Sango's slumped shoulder. Shaking away her coming tears, Sango said,
"Of course I'm fine." Kagome just nodded, thinking to herself,
'No you're not, it's not likely that you will ever be again.' Boisterously, Inuyasha exclaimed,
"Well Sango, it's good your okay now! The best remedy for anything is revenge, eh?" Sango glared coolly at Inuyasha, and stated,
"Will it bring Kohaku back? Even if we killed Naraku, what would we achieve besides an extra life taken on our hands." Inuyasha was genuinely confused and demanded,
"What do you mean? Of course revenge is a good remedy!" Sighing heavily Sango just turned away, and stated proudly,
"Whatever you say Inuyasha, but either way, we better get going." Now, not only was Inuyasha puzzled, but Kagome and Miroku were as well. They stood for a moment in obscure silence as they observed Sango hoist her heavy boomerang over her shoulder. Miroku, being highly concerned for Sango's welfare asked Sango,
"Are you sure you're ready, Sango?" Sango turned toward Miroku and said somberly,
"It is not a question being ready, Miroku. If anything it is a question of doing what I must do to ensure Kohaku did not die in vain." Miroku nodded quietly, he could hear the pain interwoven through Sango's somber voice, but he knew that she could wait no longer in her pain.
"If you insist, Sango." Looking back at Miroku, Sango told him through her eyes that she would be all right. Miroku nodded back, and smiled reassuringly as he searched for the sun in hopes that it shined again in Sango's eyes.
While the chariot of Sesshoumaru descended toward the ground at an alarmingly fast rate, Sesshoumaru managed to disentangle himself from the falling chariot and landed safely on the ground. The chariot landed violently, trapping Jaken beneath the wreckage.
Shortly afterward, Kagura landed quietly, and, with overwhelming concern asked,
"Sesshoumaru-san, are you all right?" Sesshoumaru was slightly taken aback, but knew better than to think what he had so long suspected.
"Hai, Kagura-san, I was quite lucky that I had a soft landing." For a moment, Kagura smiled gently, than reverted to her arrogant self, exclaiming,
"Good, Sesshoumaru-san— "Kagura would have said more but a loud rumble from the wreckage of the chariot distracted her as Jaken attempted to remove himself from the pile of rubble.
"How could I have been so foolish!" Jaken complained bitterly. Sesshoumaru looked over at Jaken, who struggled beneath the rubble and demanded coldly,
"You fool." Jaken quivered as a result of Sesshoumaru's coldness, and again, fell underneath the rubble.
' Pathetic,' Kagura thought with bitter amusement, while Jaken struggled to free himself from the wreckage. Then, Kagura shifted her eyes from Jaken to Sesshoumaru and asked,
"What shall we do now, Sesshoumaru-san?" Staring off into the distance, as if he were calculating it, Sesshoumaru answered,
"Kagura-san, I assume we will find alternate transportation." He sent Kagura a teasing glare, and she nearly gasped.
'Is this another emotion besides coldness!' her thoughts exclaimed, yet her voice remained regular,
"Hai, you have a very good point, Sesshoumaru-san. We are not mere mortals, it will be simple to find transportation." Nodding in agreement, Sesshoumaru continued to stare off into the distance, hoping his keen eyes would catch a glance of Rin, or he would hear her laugh.
Kagura observed this with great sadness,
' His heart seems to be a part of that girl's, I hope the tricks Naraku holds up his sleeve will not break Sesshoumaru and the girl's heart. I know what that demon is capable of...' she thought as the winds picked up about her.
A grin now accented Naraku's features as he saw his servant, Kagura, and observed a new emotion in her heart and mind.
'Is it kindness I see in her eyes, and affection in her heart? She looks at Sesshoumaru with compassion! Odd indeed, but Kagura, my testy servant, your softness and warmth can be used as well. Be wary!' Relaxing his mind, Naraku sent another vision into the head of his rebellious servant.
Kagura felt a dark force of deep purple and black invade and take hold of her mind, and in an instant her head was flooded with images of crimson and steel. The flash of a mirror, a glimpse of cold steel, and the sparkle of a Shikon shard echoed cruelly in her mind. Dull lifeless eyes that belonged to a girl with dark hair and a checkered orange and white Kimono, with that same mirror nearby! A crimson-stained image of a tall demon-lord with long white tresses, as a Katana hacked mercilessly at the demon-lord, drawing blood with every strike! A dark haired woman with vivid red eyes who stands gagged and chain, bruised and broken, grunts in pain as a Shikon shard of obedience enters deep into her body by a man with a smirk and drawl. The man says cruelly,
"This is your fate! You will not escape, Kagura! You will always be my servant!"
Back at his lair, Naraku smiled wryly, glad that his message had been so well received,
"This shall leave an impression," he said with amusement. Directing his attention to another group, whose sorrow had been the work of Kagura.
"So Sango, "he said aloud, "It is whispered you seek vengeance for the one who took your brothers life. Here I give her to you, tear at her as you may like!" Naraku whispered an order to a hell insect,
"Alert Inuyasha and the fools who follow him to your presence, than lead them to were Kagura now recovers." Upon receiving his orders, the insect departed and did as he had been told.
Long after the vision had been abolished, Kagura sat in deep mortification, unable to purge the vile images from her mind. This proved to be a great distraction, for Kagura did not sense the shift in the winds or detect the scent of Hanyou. Suddenly, a boomerang ripped through the forest where Kagura sat, and she narrowly missed the well-thrown weapon, but could seemingly not evade Tetsusaiga's wanton throw!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The End (of chapter 5)
Rissi's Recourse: Well, I hope you liked this chapter...I actually had it done on Thursday (or some day like that...) and ff.net was being an arse about it....grrr...anyways....my next chapter should be up....erm...sometime...ja sometime...
"All that we see or seem,
Is but a dream within a dream"
(Edgar Allen Poe)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In the blackness of Naraku's fortress, Rin sat again before her captor, who focused his piercing red eyes onto Rin and said sadistically,
"You are afraid of me aren't you, my dear girl?" When Rin did not respond to Naraku's interrogation, he rolled his eyes, and said with a spiteful tone,
"Do I inspire fear in you?" Then Naraku, with his keen ears heard a whisper, and a hushed cry,
"Sesshoumaru-sama." Rin simply begged, as if the name was a shield from Naraku's hateful conversation. Naraku was puzzled by Rin's simple cry and rebuked her meager defense,
"Rin, your beloved Sesshoumaru will not come to your rescue." Naraku said very simply. This had caught Rin's attention, and she looked into Naraku's eyes and beheld the terror within them. Her lips continued to tremble, but more noticeably. A sneer crossed Naraku's features as he saw his attack was now working.
"Yes, he will come, but he will not be able to save you. He is only falling into a trap." Rin's lips not only trembled, but her eyes were now opening in fear,
'Will he really leave me?' Rin asked herself. And as she saw Naraku's malicious grin, she knew her fate was sealed. Letting out her fear, Rin cried an agonizing cry of sudden loneliness, and Naraku grinned, achieving his goal.
"I am done with the girl." He said, and a vassal helped Rin into her cell, where her fear would grow.
Day's warmth began to disappear as darkness grew upon feudal Japan, and Sango had yet to overcome the loss of her brother. Silently, Miroku's arms encircled Sango's waist as he lightly pressed his lips to Sango's neck. But his assistance did not stop Sango's falling tears, as she stood above Kohaku's grave.
"Why?" Sango said silently, unaware, it seemed, of Miroku's presence. Miroku did not respond but began to withdraw from Sango, in hopes she would heal on her own. Yet, before Miroku could entirely withdraw, Sango clung onto him with the intense ferocity brought by loss.
As Sango cried on Miroku's chest, he rocked her within his embrace and soothed her fears with his mere presence. Kagome tore her eyes away from this scene; it was far too private for her eyes.
"Feh! Kagome, we gotta stop this dallying!" Inuyasha rebuked loudly. However, Kagome was not in the mood for his complaining and said very simply,
"Sit boy!" Inuyasha shrieked as he was brought to the ground by Kagome's command, rising swiftly, he demanded,
"We can't sit around and wait for Naraku to get stronger!"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted, and then vibrantly explained, "You are so heartless! It hasn't been two days yet and your demanding Sango muster her strength, while her heart is still broken!" Inuyasha didn't seem to listen to Kagome's argument as he strode up to Miroku and said proudly,
"Miroku, I don't care what you do, but find a way to pull Sango together. We can't wait forever to get Naraku." Miroku glared at Inuyasha with harshness and rebuked,
"What do you expect me to do Inuyasha? Her brother is not yet dead two days, and her soul is wounded. I am a mere priest!" Inuyasha fehed, and walked away from Miroku.
Sitting silently beside Kagome, Inuyasha looked out into the distance, and observed the disappearing clouds. Then he turned to see Kagome's lips in a tight frown.
'Sheesh...I hate it when she's like this...' Inuyasha thought. Kagome, noticing his stare, demanded tensely,
"Inuyasha, what are you looking at?" Inuyasha, being very immature, looked away from Kagome and retorted, he thought wittily,
"I'm not looking at anything." Heaving a sigh, Kagome stood and walked away, unable to tolerate Inuyasha's normal behavior.
Kagura's keen eyes searched the fading horizon as day came to a close, sensing unease in the winds; she delved further into her power.
'Something in the skies is not right! The winds seem perturbed and angry. They brew a storm.' Kagura thought as her keen senses read the tumultuous jet streams about her.
"Kagura-san!" Sesshoumaru yelled, as he noticed her thoughtfully grave face, "what is wrong!" Kagura, looking back at Sesshoumaru from her feather said warily,
"An evil storm brews, and this seems not to be the making of Naraku's sorcery. Nature has found its own evil, Sesshoumaru-san." Looking towards the sky, Sesshoumaru concurred with Kagura's thoughts as he said forebodingly,
"Indeed, Kagura-san, I noticed the brewing evil as well. Would you consider it wise to stop the journey for a short while?" Kagura gazed forward at the skies, and stated arrogantly,
"If you deem the storm worth worrying about, Sesshoumaru-san? I myself have flown through many storms of this kind, all of them with malicious and cruel intent, but I have survived them." Sesshoumaru glared at Kagura, but not with any true harshness, rather, with curiosity.
'Has she truly ridden in such turbulence? She is indeed proud, but can pride also bear itself as true when it is a falsehood? I shall test her.'
"Is it Naraku who led you through such storms and darkness, Kagura- san?" Sesshoumaru asked Kagura. Kagura looked back at Sesshoumaru from and said heavily,
"Sometimes the interference of Naraku was the case, but at other times the turbulence came from within me," Kagura added, "The storms which Naraku created proved deadly if one does not have the ability to master them, but the storms from the angry wind gods are not meant to be trifled with by any being, demon or mortal."
"So it would be your counsel to wait for brighter skies?" Jaken loosened his hold on the reigns of Sesshoumaru's chariot, and hoped silently,
'I don't want to ride in this storm, if what Kagura says is true.'
"Hai, that is my counsel, Sesshoumaru-san." Kagura stated matter-of- factly. Jaken was so glad about Kagura's decision he completely let go of the reigns, and noticed too late as the chariot began a violent dissension.
"Oops," Jaken murmured dully as Sesshoumaru, Jaken, and the rest of the chariot fell to the earth. Chasing after the falling chariot, Kagura cursed,
'That irritable toad!'
Inuyasha was finally pleased as Sango was seemingly ready to journey again, and they could finally continue on their seemingly never ending quest for the sacred jewel shards and hopeful defeat of Naraku. While Inuyasha did not see Sango's silent suffering, Miroku and Kagome both saw she was holding onto her sanity by a thin strand of rough twine.
"Sango, are you alright?" Kagome asked with compassion as she put her hand on Sango's slumped shoulder. Shaking away her coming tears, Sango said,
"Of course I'm fine." Kagome just nodded, thinking to herself,
'No you're not, it's not likely that you will ever be again.' Boisterously, Inuyasha exclaimed,
"Well Sango, it's good your okay now! The best remedy for anything is revenge, eh?" Sango glared coolly at Inuyasha, and stated,
"Will it bring Kohaku back? Even if we killed Naraku, what would we achieve besides an extra life taken on our hands." Inuyasha was genuinely confused and demanded,
"What do you mean? Of course revenge is a good remedy!" Sighing heavily Sango just turned away, and stated proudly,
"Whatever you say Inuyasha, but either way, we better get going." Now, not only was Inuyasha puzzled, but Kagome and Miroku were as well. They stood for a moment in obscure silence as they observed Sango hoist her heavy boomerang over her shoulder. Miroku, being highly concerned for Sango's welfare asked Sango,
"Are you sure you're ready, Sango?" Sango turned toward Miroku and said somberly,
"It is not a question being ready, Miroku. If anything it is a question of doing what I must do to ensure Kohaku did not die in vain." Miroku nodded quietly, he could hear the pain interwoven through Sango's somber voice, but he knew that she could wait no longer in her pain.
"If you insist, Sango." Looking back at Miroku, Sango told him through her eyes that she would be all right. Miroku nodded back, and smiled reassuringly as he searched for the sun in hopes that it shined again in Sango's eyes.
While the chariot of Sesshoumaru descended toward the ground at an alarmingly fast rate, Sesshoumaru managed to disentangle himself from the falling chariot and landed safely on the ground. The chariot landed violently, trapping Jaken beneath the wreckage.
Shortly afterward, Kagura landed quietly, and, with overwhelming concern asked,
"Sesshoumaru-san, are you all right?" Sesshoumaru was slightly taken aback, but knew better than to think what he had so long suspected.
"Hai, Kagura-san, I was quite lucky that I had a soft landing." For a moment, Kagura smiled gently, than reverted to her arrogant self, exclaiming,
"Good, Sesshoumaru-san— "Kagura would have said more but a loud rumble from the wreckage of the chariot distracted her as Jaken attempted to remove himself from the pile of rubble.
"How could I have been so foolish!" Jaken complained bitterly. Sesshoumaru looked over at Jaken, who struggled beneath the rubble and demanded coldly,
"You fool." Jaken quivered as a result of Sesshoumaru's coldness, and again, fell underneath the rubble.
' Pathetic,' Kagura thought with bitter amusement, while Jaken struggled to free himself from the wreckage. Then, Kagura shifted her eyes from Jaken to Sesshoumaru and asked,
"What shall we do now, Sesshoumaru-san?" Staring off into the distance, as if he were calculating it, Sesshoumaru answered,
"Kagura-san, I assume we will find alternate transportation." He sent Kagura a teasing glare, and she nearly gasped.
'Is this another emotion besides coldness!' her thoughts exclaimed, yet her voice remained regular,
"Hai, you have a very good point, Sesshoumaru-san. We are not mere mortals, it will be simple to find transportation." Nodding in agreement, Sesshoumaru continued to stare off into the distance, hoping his keen eyes would catch a glance of Rin, or he would hear her laugh.
Kagura observed this with great sadness,
' His heart seems to be a part of that girl's, I hope the tricks Naraku holds up his sleeve will not break Sesshoumaru and the girl's heart. I know what that demon is capable of...' she thought as the winds picked up about her.
A grin now accented Naraku's features as he saw his servant, Kagura, and observed a new emotion in her heart and mind.
'Is it kindness I see in her eyes, and affection in her heart? She looks at Sesshoumaru with compassion! Odd indeed, but Kagura, my testy servant, your softness and warmth can be used as well. Be wary!' Relaxing his mind, Naraku sent another vision into the head of his rebellious servant.
Kagura felt a dark force of deep purple and black invade and take hold of her mind, and in an instant her head was flooded with images of crimson and steel. The flash of a mirror, a glimpse of cold steel, and the sparkle of a Shikon shard echoed cruelly in her mind. Dull lifeless eyes that belonged to a girl with dark hair and a checkered orange and white Kimono, with that same mirror nearby! A crimson-stained image of a tall demon-lord with long white tresses, as a Katana hacked mercilessly at the demon-lord, drawing blood with every strike! A dark haired woman with vivid red eyes who stands gagged and chain, bruised and broken, grunts in pain as a Shikon shard of obedience enters deep into her body by a man with a smirk and drawl. The man says cruelly,
"This is your fate! You will not escape, Kagura! You will always be my servant!"
Back at his lair, Naraku smiled wryly, glad that his message had been so well received,
"This shall leave an impression," he said with amusement. Directing his attention to another group, whose sorrow had been the work of Kagura.
"So Sango, "he said aloud, "It is whispered you seek vengeance for the one who took your brothers life. Here I give her to you, tear at her as you may like!" Naraku whispered an order to a hell insect,
"Alert Inuyasha and the fools who follow him to your presence, than lead them to were Kagura now recovers." Upon receiving his orders, the insect departed and did as he had been told.
Long after the vision had been abolished, Kagura sat in deep mortification, unable to purge the vile images from her mind. This proved to be a great distraction, for Kagura did not sense the shift in the winds or detect the scent of Hanyou. Suddenly, a boomerang ripped through the forest where Kagura sat, and she narrowly missed the well-thrown weapon, but could seemingly not evade Tetsusaiga's wanton throw!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The End (of chapter 5)
Rissi's Recourse: Well, I hope you liked this chapter...I actually had it done on Thursday (or some day like that...) and ff.net was being an arse about it....grrr...anyways....my next chapter should be up....erm...sometime...ja sometime...