Things are about to happen, I swear. Hehe, I love this story so much. It's like my baby right now. That and this other one I've started…but I can't post that until I finish posting Center Stage, which I actually have finished. Bwahaha, all those people asking what happens…it's been done since July. Yesssssss. Maybe I'd just post the rest all at once if I wasn't still really bitter about the "nedz mo inu/kag kizn 4 id 2 b gud" reviewers. And don't think I'm exaggerating, because I wish I were. Sigh, onto my story.
*****
Something Is Real
Part 6
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Kagura sighed as she rolled a stone between her fingers, tossing it at the barrier that sparked pink and white in a random pattern of outspread lines. When the sparks dissipated, she bent down to find another stone in the still dim hours before dawn. Kouga was, of course, still asleep, but she had been unable to find rest for more than a couple of hours herself. Her mind was still swirling in a sea of doubts and fears. Did she want to be free? Certainly she did, it was what she had always hoped for.
"Fire flowers." The calm voice caught Kagura by surprise, and she stood straight up, looking around for the source of the words.
"What?" she narrowed her eyes in disbelief as her gaze managed to discern a familiar figure emerging from the forest. She was clad in priestess robes, and she carried a bow at her side with arrows strapped in a quiver over her shoulder. Her long, dark hair was pulled back from a cold, pale face with a length of white ribbon tied low in the general style of Shinto shrine maidens.
"In China, they have chemicals that they mix together and light on fire." Kikyo seemed to be explaining not her sudden, unwarranted appearance, but instead the meaning of her words. "They explode in the air, creating a colored light display that can be most impressive. I do not remember what they were called, but the word is written as fire flowers."
"What are you doing here?" Kagura elaborated her question. Kikyo was an admirable and respectable woman, but that did not mean Kagura was going to trust her sudden appearance as something good. "Are you after me?"
"That's an impressive barrier." Kikyo continued on as though Kagura hadn't spoken at all, stepping closer to the youkai woman who was now feeling distinctively threatened. Kikyo was definitely not a person to be taken lightly, dead shell of a miko or not. "Naraku must have put much thought and effort into acquiring it specifically for you. Are you flattered that he would go to so much trouble for your sake? Like a bird in a cage."
"How did you find me?" Kagura tried again, but Kikyo was bending low to pick a plant of some sort. Kagura couldn't quite make out what she was doing until the woman stood again and was holding some sort of purple flower that Kagura thought was vaguely familiar, though she didn't know the name of it.
"These are common enough." She told the other woman, or perhaps she was talking to herself now. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Kagura to tell what Kikyo was up to. "Have you ever tasted one?"
"No, I don't eat flowers." Kagura decided to go along with wherever it was that Kikyo was taking the conversation.
"Good thing. They're poisonous." Kikyo smelled the flower with a delicate gesture of her hand toward her nose, and Kagura quirked an eyebrow in curiosity.
"What do you want?" Kagura asked, utterly confused.
"I think the question you should be asking, little bird, is what do you want?" Kikyo let her hand drop, still holding the flower between two slender fingers.
"What do I want?" Kagura shook her head, trying to make sense of the other woman's words. "I want you to start making sense."
"You serve Naraku, not questioning his orders or his methods. You follow every word he says to the letter, and so why would he place you here?" Kikyo seemed to be considering this. "Here with the youkai who wants you dead so badly…as though Naraku were trying to kill you. But why would he do something to his detachment unless it became apparent that no matter where the body was created, the soul is your own? Perhaps Naraku is feeling betrayed, as I was once so long ago."
"Are you saying you're like Naraku?" Kagura guessed, still rather confused. Hadn't Kikyo betrayed Naraku as well already? That was why Kagura admired the woman, for her ability to escape such an ill-fated partnership without any damage. Not that there was much damage one could do to a dead person, but still.
"No, I believe that I am much the same as you." Kikyo told the youkai. "Trapped inside my own heart, although you are trapped by a man we both despise. Am I wrong?"
"What are you going to do about it?" Kagura wanted to know.
"My dearest wish is to see Naraku suffer for what he has done and to remain forever in the hearts of those I have loved." Kikyo told the other girl. "What is yours?"
"My wish?" Kagura asked, and Kikyo nodded slightly. "To fly free in the wind."
"That is very innocent and sad at the same time." Kikyo closed her eyes. "Eat the flower." She lifted her hand, and it went through the barrier with no problem whatsoever. Of course, she was not a youkai. She was not really a human, but she was still not a youkai. She was as beautiful and horrible as the flower she held, and Kagura took a step away from her.
"Why?" Kagura wanted to know as Kikyo stepped straight through the barrier. She would not force Kagura to eat it, would she?
"It would be better to die than to seek a dream that is so very difficult, wouldn't it?" Kikyo's eyes were so very sad, but Kagura realized that they had always been that way. Why had she never noticed? And what was really in Kikyo's past to make her so terribly mournful and mysterious? Something to do with Inuyasha, she was sure, and yet Naraku would never tell her the truth of the woman's past.
"Maybe." Kagura admitted, reaching for the flower. Wasn't this what she had been hoping for? A way out of everything…a way to forget the anger in Kouga's eyes, the pain in Kanna's, the fear in everyone when they see me. Why is no one ever happy? I have only death to bring, and it would be fitting and just if I were to die here in such a stupid way.
If it were me, I'd kick his ass.
Kagura hesitated at the sound of Kouga's voice in her head, telling her what he would do in her place. He doesn't know how horrible life is when you have never known freedom and can only envy others that simple joy…and yet, he is so strong. Is it because he is free? Or is it because he sees the world in a different way than me.
You look normal when you smile like that. Like a normal person.
What do I usually look like?
Like you hate the world.
Would he take the flower? No…I know he wouldn't. He's too stubborn to let himself die over doubts and fears and not being able to reach his goals. Kouga would just try harder and get stronger until everything was possible for him. That's the kind of person he is. Kagura sighed and dropped the flower, letting her eyes follow it's decent to the ground.
"Why do you linger?" Kikyo asked after a long moment of silence.
"Why do you?" Kagura replied, and Kikyo actually smiled at her. It was almost odd to see.
Like a normal person.
"If you escaped this cage, where would you fly?" Kikyo asked her, the smile still lingering on her lips. "Naraku would find you no matter where you went, and he'd kill you."
"I doubt I'm at the top of his list." Kagura rolled her eyes, letting her posture relax slightly. This was not as hostile as it had seemed at first. But why? What had just happened?
"He would not let you escape." Kikyo insisted.
"But I'd die free." Kagura answered, pride gleaming in scarlet eyes. Kikyo considered her for a moment and nodded, raising a hand to her lips and closing her eyes in concentration. Kagura thought about asking what she was doing, but sincerely doubted the pale miko would tell her anyway, so she remained silent until a stone just a short distance from her shimmered and seemed to become less real.
An illusion…but what is it hiding?
"A barrier like this is not hard to create if one can find the correct youkai and control it long enough to plant it in the proper spot." Kikyo spoke, opening her eyes now and slowly setting up her bow, nocking an arrow almost casually. "The trouble is that such youkai are grounded in camouflage and do not like to move. Also, they are exceedingly rare and difficult to come across. They do serve a very effective purpose when trying to imprison or torture youkai, but there is a flaw to this barrier. Like any youkai, it can be killed if it is purified." With that, she released the arrow and the shimmering stone began to pulse wildly until it exploded, and Kagura was disgusted and surprised to find bits of blood on her kimono. Kikyo blinked at her momentarily and spoke once more. "I must be going."
"Wait…what did you just do?" Kagura wanted to know, and in answer, Kikyo bent down and handed her a small stone.
"I expected you to take the flower." Kikyo told her. "But you dropped it. I am impressed, though I might have allowed more fire flowers. They were rather pleasing to the eye, weren't they?"
"You…what?" Kagura blinked again before it hit her. "I'm…free."
"Fly away, little bird." Kikyo turned to leave the way she had come. "To wherever you can die free."
"Wait!" Kagura turned and looked at the cave. Kouga was in there, asleep still, and she somehow was hesitant to leave him when she had no idea where they might meet again. Maybe next time I see you, you'll try to kill me again. But until then, I will think of us as friends, in my own way. Kagura bit her lip before whirling to chase after the priestess that had just disappeared into the woods, feeling a surge of power as she moved. The barrier isn't sucking my youki out anymore. My strength is returning. But will it save me?
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Kouga woke up and stretched inside the cave, feeling strangely refreshed and invigorated, even though he hadn't eaten anything since the night before last. Standing up, he noticed something felt odd. And something smelled odd. My nose…it's stronger than before, like my youki's back almost…
"What's going on, Kagura?" he stepped out of the cave and looked around for the wind user, but was shocked to see that the only signs of her were a few patches of dried youkai blood on the ground and a fallen flower that still had her scent on it. "A flower…and all this blood…it's not hers, is it?" But that was ridiculous. Someone like her was too stubborn and obnoxious to die when she had help nearby. Would she call to me, though, if she needed it? Even if it meant she might die if she didn't call out? He wasn't sure, and the whole situation seemed strange. And then there was the return of his youki…
Sitting down on a rock, Kouga picked up a pebble and rubbed it between his fingers, seemingly enjoying the play of the light as it fell through the layers of leaves above his head. But as soon as he felt he was ready, Kouga threw the pebble sharply ahead of him and stared at the spot where the barrier was. Or at least, where it had been. "What the fuck?" Kouga was mystified when his pebble didn't pause and flew in a straight arc. Perhaps he had not rubbed it long enough…
"Come on, we've wasted enough time already!" a familiar voice came to him through the woods that surrounded Kouga and the cave, and he pinpointed the direction at once. It was Ayame, at least it sounded a lot like her, and he could certainly smell the wolf girl as well as Hakkaku, Ginta, the wolves, and their new companions.
"Kagome…" he breathed the name as he picked up another pebble, rubbing it hard before pelting it ahead of him. Nothing.
"He's not fucking going anywhere." Another voice, and this one he recognized as well. Inuyasha. Of course the dog turd wouldn't let Kagome go anywhere without him. Kouga threw another rock and watched it fall gracefully. "You said there's a barrier, so don't get all worked up."
"Ayame-chan's only worried that something could happen to Kouga." Kagome's voice came next, just as Kouga took a hesitant couple of steps forward, stretching his arm out and bracing himself. He really did not want to be on the ground when Inuyasha found him. But it seemed as though the barrier had somehow been destroyed…
"That is a reasonable fear, considering the circumstances." The voice was that of the perverted monk who was always trying to grab Kagome, even though Kouga had clearly claimed her. Even he wasn't as impertinent as Inuyasha, however.
"I'm just saying it shouldn't take this long to get from one place to another." Ayame was complaining loudly as she stepped into view with the rest of the Inuyasha-tachi and the wolves behind and around her. "It's just unbearably slow walking everywhere and always stopping to camp and everything."
"If Kagome-oneesan wants to sleep, she can sleep." Hakkaku defended the woman that the wolves all saw as Kouga's mate now that he had claimed her. At least someone took his claim seriously. "Hey, it's here!"
"Kouga! We brought back a lot of people and…wait." Ginta had rushed forward until he realized that Kouga was strolling up the path to meet them. "Uh…Kouga?"
"Yeah?" Kouga was rather confused about how it was that he had just walked through where the barrier should have been, but he figured it was better not to question such good fortune. And now he would not need to accept the help of that stupid dog crap. "You guys were late, so I figured a way out."
"Of a youki absorbing barrier?" the monk, Miroku was his name if Kouga recalled correctly, raised both dark eyebrows in surprised admiration. "I would like to know how you did such a thing…"
"Kouga! You're safe!" Ayame clapped her hands together, looking younger than usual as she began to fawn over him like usual.
"What's it matter, I just did." Kouga insisted, feeling a bit foolish. Kagura had somehow broken the barrier, and then run off like that. Why? Maybe she didn't want his gratitude. Maybe she didn't believe him when he said he wouldn't kill her, but he had been telling the truth. "Now let's get out of here. Naraku's got to be somewhere close, I know it."
"Hey! Tell us where he's at!" Inuyasha stepped forward angrily. "That's the least you can do after getting us to come all the way out here for nothing!"
"I didn't send for you, dog turd." Kouga lifted his chin and smiled winningly at Kagome. "Sorry you had to come so far, Kagome, but it means a lot that you would come when I was in trouble. I'll remember this."
"I didn't…um…" Kagome seemed a bit confused, and Ayame was now pouting in indignation.
"Kouga! I was the one who brought them." Ayame insisted.
"It was our idea, you were just following us." Ginta growled angrily at the girl, and Kouga raised an eyebrow in surprise. He wasn't crazy about Ayame, but he had just assumed that Ginta and Hakkaku liked her. Most of the wolf youkai thought she was quite pretty and very sweet, which was true when she wasn't trying to throw herself at Kouga. He wasn't really happy to see her usually, as it typically meant there was trouble or she was going to harass him and be mean to Kagome. "Anyway, where's that girl?"
"What girl?" Kouga blinked after a moment of shock.
"That's right!" Ayame seemed to renew her attack. "Ginta and Hakkaku said there was a girl in there with you that they could smell. A youkai! Who is she?"
"There's no one else there." Kouga said, not sure why he was keeping it a secret, but still…what would Ginta and Hakkaku think of him if they knew he'd let Kagura go after what she did? After all, there technically was no one else in the cave anymore, so it wasn't like he was lying. Just misleading.
"I knew you got it wrong!" Ayame pointed a triumphant finger at a glowering Ginta. "What kind of wolf can't even smell the difference between a girl and nothing?"
"I'm telling you I smelled her!" Ginta insisted, and Kouga rolled his eyes. He felt sorry for Kagome if these two had been half as irritating for the past few days as they were being at that moment.
"Let's get out of here." He reminded his men of his former order, and Hakkaku ran up to him, while Ginta and Ayame continued to argue.
"You wouldn't know a girl's smell anyway." She told the other wolf. "How would you?"
"How would you?" he shot back, and her jaw dropped in angry shock.
"If I may interrupt." Miroku stepped forward, and Kagome as well as her other companions turned their attention to him. "Kouga, I believe it would be wise if you traveled with us for the time being."
"No fucking way." Inuyasha shot it down immediately.
"Think about it." Miroku insisted. "Naraku is after him, so he will likely come back to get him even if he has taken Kouga's shards. And beside that fact is the idea that with greater numbers, our chances of defeating and finding Naraku increases."
"That's true, Inuyasha." Kagome turned wide eyes to him, and Kouga entertained the brief idea that she might be hoping to spend more time with him. However, he was just as hesitant to travel with Inuyasha as the hanyou was to travel with him.
"Ooh! Can we come too?" Ayame turned to Kouga with wide green eyes and he was momentarily baffled until he realized she must be making a request on behalf of her tribe's fighting force, which was currently reduced to her and about three old wolves. "That's what I was coming for to start out with! Our camp was ruined, and I thought we could just travel with you."
"Hey! What the fuck is this? Since when did I say other people could travel with us?" Inuyasha was roaring with indignation as Kagome attempted to soothe him.
"Like I wanna go anywhere with you!" Kouga shot back.
"I go with Kouga!" Ayame exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air and smiling brightly.
"No way!" Ginta protested.
"If you would only consider it, Inuyasha." Miroku was still trying to get his point across. And on the sidelines, a youkai taijiya, a baby fox, and a large cat youkai watched all of the proceedings.
"After this, can we eat lunch?" Shippo asked Sango, his eyes pleading. "I'm pretty hungry."
"By the time this is cleared up, it'll be well past dinner time." She told him before opening the food bag and handing him a bag of chips. Might as well enjoy the show while it lasted.
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The End (Of Part 6, That Is)