Prologue: An Undecided Turn of Events
By Raven Stanse
The claw pierced the flesh of the youkai now pinned beneath the deeply purring demoness, "Yes, absolutely frightening." Her voiced dripped with mockery and sarcasm as she continued to burrow her talons into her prey's skin. Crimson beads welling into pools around her knuckles as she persistently tormented her victim who quivered with fright beneath her. He screamed wordlessly while his vision wavered in and out between shades of green, brown, and lastly black. His life wrenched from him by the demoness straddling his swiftly deteriorating body. Her cold laughter echoing through his ears haunting him into oblivion.
Purring with a satisfied smile lingering over her glistening lips from the blood-letting, she gingerly removed her fingers from the corpse. As she did so the silence that hurried over the death of the demon became filled with a wet, suctioning sound that heralded the entrance of the soul-takes.
"Very Well…"
Her murmured response to the shadowy figures edging towards her latest toy now nothing but a shell of that which he once was. She rolled off the quickly cooling body, licking her clawed fingertips as she did so, power filling her mouth with a tingling sensation that worked its way down her throat. Lying with her blood splattered cheek against the damp grass, she lazily watched the youkai's soul wrestle violently as it was catered off to the underworld.
The sun slowly slid over the horizon, offering its warm rays to the landscape beneath it. A sliver of light made its way through the partially opened door of Kaede's hut. Lengthening with the height of the sun it crept across the mat to trickle over the black strands of hair before heavily settling over the girl's closed eyes. Behind her shut eyes, roamed her restless gaze in a startling flurry of movement before snapping open to the burning sensation caused by the light pouring into her dark eyes.
"Aaaiieeee!!"
Inuyasha opened his eyes with a start, his dog-like eyes flattening against his skull at Kagome's ever-loud wake up call, or rather, shriek. "What?!"
Rubbing her eyes she mumbled, "Nothing, just bright.." Shippo, upon hearing her scream, was alert as any demon fox could be under those circumstances, yet even he rubbed his eyes before stretching with a yawn. His bright orange tail tickled Miroku's nose in mid-stretch causing the monk to sneeze and instinctively squeeze what he held in his hand, a piece of fabric that happened to be part of Sango's kimono.
"Aahh!" Whack!
"What was that for?!" demanded the monk as he worked his jaw, a bright red impression developing on his cheek from where Sango had righteously slapped him with her open hand. "Pervert," was all the indignant Sango could manage as she sat up with her arms folded under her chest, a heated glare sent at Miroku who cowered back from the sight. Meanwhile, Kagome brushed her hair trying not to laugh at the spectacle that almost always occurred every morning. Shippo bounced over to an apparently dozing Inuyasha and yelled in his sensitive ears with his innocent expression of helpfullness.
"Hey! Wake up!"
The hanyou scowled while gritting his teeth, "I am awake!" Picking up the fox's tail between his claws he flung him through the air backwards. "Waaaa!" shrieked the tiny cub before Kagome caught him and yelled the magical words, "Sit boy!" WHAM! Inuyasha became one with the floor, scrambling to pry himself off the ground to no avail.
"Why are you always so mean!"
"Stop doing that wench!" cried an aggrivated Inuyasha before Kagome put one of her free hands on her hips, "Argh!" She seemed to be highly irritated as well with Inuyasha as he got up dusting off his outfit before she said, "Sit boy!" [Wham!] only to have him face first on the floor once more.
"My name is Kagome, or have you forgotten? Its Ka-go-me." Frustrated she walked out with Shippo riding on her shoulder, Sango and Miroku having forgotten each other as they watched Inuyasha pry himself off the floor cautiously. "Women," they all heard him mutter before he left the hut. Kaede walked in a few minutes later and surveyed the damage, "Inuyasha hath been bad company once more, ne?" At Sango and Miroku's nod, the old miko continued, "If ye be hungry, ye needst hurry dressing. Come when thou art ready." With that the old miko left her hut to allow them to dress. Sango blushing faintly while Miroku inched over only to receive another slap before he could touch her. "Don't even think about it, monk."
The villagers crowded around Kaede, bursting to report their latest knowledge of a youkai in the forest with the hopes that Kikyo's reincarnate would help slay it. All at once, they began to talk trying to be overheard by each other before Kaede silenced them.
"Now, what be the problem?" the patient old miko asked the man nearest her.
"A youkai, its been sighted in the forest by the God's Tree."
"Hm…" replied the thoughtful woman before another villager spoke up, "What are we going to do! What if it comes here for the Shikon Jewel?"
"Lady Kagome will save us!"
"Yes, Kikyo's reincarnate will protect us and the jewel!"
"But what if she fails?" wailed one man, "All our faith in one small girl?" he shook his head in doubt.
"The lady Kagome hath a strong soul and she is the guardian of the Shikon Jewel, do ye not think she can protect ye?" Kaede eyed the man dubiously. The man quieted, stepping behind a neighbor to avoid the deep-set frown from the old miko. "Now, what of this youkai, what hath been done?"
"N-nothing….yet!" stammered the men, each glancing at the other.
"But, that doesn't mean its not coming here!" cried another.
"Aye… I will speak with Lady Kagome." The villagers nodded slowly recounted the appearance of the mystifying youkai that inhabited the forest by the God's Tree.
Oh! He's so insensitive sometimes. He doesn't care who he hurts, thought Kagome as she pet Shippo, who had come along with her only to doze off in her arms. I know he doesn't like me, I'm just his jewel shard detector. Kagome kept walking from the village, the cool air brushing along her forehead and neck as she continued to walk off her frustration. What did I think, he's half demon, he hates his human side. He thinks being nice is weak… but… he's nice to Kikyo. Why not me? she chided herself, Because, you're just her reincarnate, nothing else. She fought with herself once more, Then why doesn't he use her to find the jewel shards? She was so deep into her thoughts that she quickly found herself lost in the vast forest, dismayed she slowly turned in circles, the daylight glittering over the shards hanging around her neck. The demon fox tucked away in her arms, asleep for now.
Kagome shivered, I shouldn't have walked off like that without my bow and arrows…what if a youkai finds me? She lightly tapped the shikon shard around her throat, drawing unwanted attention to herself was always her best talent. She couldn't sense anything around her, but that didn't mean there wasn't a youkai nearby who didn't hold a jewel shard.
Sango and Miroku sat with Kaede to break their fast, inquiring about Kagome, Inuyasha and Shippo once their drowsiness had worn off. The old miko merely shrugged and bowed her head over her food offering a prayer of gratitude, to that which had sacrificed its life in order to sustain her own. She commented after gathering a piece of bread, "Perhaps, Kagome and Inuyasha need time to adjust with each other. Shippo was on her shoulder when she left."
"Adjust? Adjust to what?" the monk asked, spooning a bit of mead into his bowl and dividing a bit of bread between him and Sango, who took it with a firm blink. She quickly glanced at the space between them with narrowed eyes.
Whack!
"Ow!"
Sango glared at him until he moved away from her side, "Much better," she muttered beneath her breath, waiting for Kaede's answer.
"Lady Kagome bears a strong similarity to my poor sister. Did not Inuyasha believe she was Kikyo at first?"
"What does that have to do with it? Inuyasha's as cold as his brother SesshouMaru."
"Ah…then ye do not know of their story…?" began the old woman before she recounted the last fight between her dead sister Kikyo, now the walking corpse, and the present Inuyasha.
"A long time ago, when I was younger, my sister Kikyo was the guardian of the Shikon Jewel. Inuyasha knew of this and sought to take it from her but my sister refused to let him have it…time grew on and the two spent much time with each other. My sister asked Inuyasha what he desired the jewel for…To be a full demon, not a hanyou.' Kikyo wanted to purify the jewel and make a wish so that she could live a normal life…but she wanted Inuyasha to be human not a demon. As time continued, Inuyasha appeared to love Kikyo.. until Naraku threatened their peace and made each believe the other had betrayed them. At that, Kikyo sealed Inuyasha to the God's Tree before dying. The Shikon Jewel was burned with her…"
"So, Kagome's Kikyo's reincarnate, which means, Inuyasha might like her as much as he did Kikyo?"
"So it would seem Miroku…so it would seem.." was all the old miko would let on.
Lavender eyes beheld the land with the scrutiny of an incredibly cold heart, the warmth of the sun falling upon her pale skin battling mightily against the chill it held only to lose. For once, the light could not overcome the darkness that laid in wait beneath the beautiful shell it had cloaked itself in. A rustle through the trees distracted the pale eyed beauty that leaned casually against the trunk of the large sakura tree. Its blossoms carried off by the breeze to drift lazily around in gentle swirls.
"Who are you wench?"
Lavender eyes focused upon the golden cat-like orbs before them, narrowing faintly at the term "wench" directed at her. One lovely brow arching without a reply as if to suggest the question, "Wench?" Her pursuer had been following her since she entered the Western Lands, a territory supposedly owned by the Demon Lord.
The golden-eyed male youkai stared at the lavender-eyed form before him, her hair swaying on the breeze to frame her face. Disgusted, he stepped towards her running his hand over the pelt on his shoulder, a small creature holding a staff scrunched up his face in a scowl, "The Great Lord Sesshoumaru ask you a question wench, though why he doesn't bother to kill you now is beyond me."
"Jaken."
The creature bowed his head to his master, "Yes, my lord?"
His answer was a backhanded swat that hurled him into a distant tree, the birds residing in its branches flew off in several directions filling the quiet forest with the loud squalling of feather-bound creatures.
"Who are you? I will not ask again woman."
With a lazy eyed glance at the male youkai, she pushed herself gracefully from the trunk and stepped forward with a soft purr, "Or what?" Her taunting half-smile infuriating him as she moved with a grace that could only mean that she was a youkai. Her features were lovely to behold if he hadn't of been so irritated that a mere woman was defying him. He flicked out his clawed hand to wrap his fingers around her throat only to be thwarted by her agility in avoiding him. His eyes narrowed, returning his hand to the pelt, stroking the white fur. The demoness stroked her black tail while watching him with a gaze that continued to taunt, "Is that all? 'The Great Lord of the Western Lands' can't even catch…me."
When Sesshoumaru turned to reward her defiance she was no where to be seen, his thoughts turned inward leaving his face impassive like always. Those golden orbs flared with curiosity and distaste at the youkai that further eluded him as he roamed his territory.
My, how fun it was to irritate the resident lord…her lips twitch sweetly, a cover for her devious and highly dangerous side as she skipped through three tree tops, hunting for her latest victim of boredom. Her hair strewing wildly behind her occasionally caught on a branch before she yanked it free, her lavender eyes taking in the territory with a touch of amusement. This trip could be enjoyable.