A single sneeze escaped the vagabond's mouth as she covered her nose and mouth with her gloved hand.
She was wet, and now cold. Yet she continued to walk through the damp undergrowth of untamed trees.
Her tangled, damp hair clung to her forehead and neck as though it was something sticky, and the humidity made her sweat. Her brown eyes were heavy from exhaustion, but she would make it to the next village before she would allow herself to eat or rest.
Her muscles were sore from the abuse of walking continuously, while wearing the old fashioned armour that she had worn since the beginning of her travels. Her clothes were tattered, and also heavy from the night's previous soaking. Her sandalled feet were also wet, cold, and muddy, as well as blistered and sore.
A sigh escaped her chapped lips, then she ran her wet tongue against them, trying to return their moisture. Her left hand remained rested on the hilt of a large, sheathed katana that was tied to her belt, and her right hand pushed branches and bushes out of the way.
"Naraku," she whispered hoarsely.
Hearing herself mutter that name alone, fuelled her boy with rage and the energy to move faster through the wild forest. She would reach her destination soon, and only then, would she rest.
Water fell from the branches and leaves she pushed past, soaking her even more. Her pale skin was already soft and moist from the rain, but she didn't seem to care about it. Without warning, she stumbled, then tripped and crashed down into the undergrowth.
A single groan of disbelief escaped her mouth, as she removed herself from her personal mud implant. She couldn't believe her misfortune - everything seemed to be against her reaching her destination, especially Mother Nature.
"Why me?" she whispered as she brushed back her muddy and tangled, damp brown hair.
The cold wind rushed past the leaves towards the mouth, dropping more water atop of her head. "I know!" she screamed after the passing oracle, which howled through the trees in response, beckoning her forwards.
The vagabond sighed as she pressed her gloved hand to her sweaty forehead, but found it strange when she felt heat radiating through the brown leather.
She had a fever - which wasn't good.
Attempting to ignore it, she wiped the wet mud from her face, then continued walking. The immense heat rushing to her head stole her body warmth, making her shiver, and then sneeze once more as she walked.
She cursed her feeble female's body as she continued walking faster, crashing through bushes and stray branches, causing her freezing body to become weak and slow. Her muscles ached and begged her to stop her maddened course and rest, but she refused, she wouldn't allow herself to do that; yet.
She looked up, and saw beyond bushes and trees, the sight of a small village. She felt her heart skip a beat then she pressed onwards.
An hour later, she emerged from the forest, panting heavily and barely able to stand. Smoke rose from the outside of the houses, from pit fires or labouring. She heard the sound of oxen and people, and the sound of the wind whistling through the grass.
The vagabond only took a few steps, when she collapsed into the soft grass, she only remembered the contact before she fell further into darkness.
...
She heard whispering, but it wasn't the wind, it was voices, talking lowly in hopes that she wouldn't awaken by hearing them. Her heavy brown eyes seemed to refuse to open, then with a grunt of discomfort, she opened her eyes.
She found herself staring at the ceiling of wood, the scent of smoke aroused her senses, and she found the strength to sit up.
"You're awake." Came a woman's voice.
She looked to her right, and saw a young woman and a girl by a fire. The woman looked serene; past her onyx black eyes and her night black hair and the dark coloured smock she wore over a white robe.
"Who are you?" the vagabond whispered, almost in a hiss.
"My name is Kikyou, and this is my child imouto-ue, Kaede. Who are you to be a woman clad in samurai armour and armed?" she questioned.
"A survivor." She muttered venomously at this Kikyou person.
"From... ?" she continued to question.
The vagabond began to cough as she covered her mouth, only to realize that she wasn't wearing her gloves, or her armour for that matter. She wasn't even wearing the white robe she normally wore.
"Where are my garments?" she demanded in a hoarse voice.
Kikyou nodded to the far corner to her right. "Your armour and gloves are in the corner. Your robe was of no use anymore. It was blood-stained and tattered, and completely soaked." She told her.
"You dared not rid of it, did you, bitch?" she stood with a spiteful glare, allowing the covers to fall, revealing the strips of cloth that bound her large breasts and the loose, European-style undergarments.
"No. It is right here." Kikyou held it up, showing the thread that she was trying to mend it with. "With some luck, I may prevail to make it complete."
"Do not waste your time." She walked over, the then tore it from her grasp. She held the string up to her mouth, then broke it with her teeth.
"It will only fade more until there is nothing left." Kikyou informed her.
"Then it shall fade in course of battle." She seemed to run her fingers across the blood stains, almost trying to remember something. "And then my blood shall stain it... as dry in ways for my soul to reprise."
Kikyou stared at her hands, then grasped the wooden spoon at her side with her fingers, then she began to stir the contents brewing in the pot above the flames before her. "Who's blood stains your clothes, vagabond?" she looked to the child who suddenly spoke.
"Kaede." Kikyou's soft voice began slightly louder, and then child lowered her head.
"My haha-ue's... and chichi-ue's... as well as my child otouto-ue's blood now stain this robe." She whispered as her fingers gripped the whitest of the cloth. "They say that the way the blood stains clothes, shows how the being's soul had rested or haunted. If it dries dark then the soul is restless and shall wander the earth... yet if it dries faintly, then the soul had faded out from this world, and is now at peace."
"How had your family rested then, vagabond?" Kikyou asking as she continued to stir the contents of the pot.
"None will be at rest until I slay the one whom stole their lives." She hissed, remembering the traumatic events that haunted her memories and sub-conscious.
"What is your name, vagabond?" Kikyou looked at her, and although their eyes did not meet, it felt as though those onyx eyes bore into her wounded soul.
She looked up, and found her Siena pores locked onto hers. She licked her lips, then took a deep breath. "My name is Sango." She told her on her exhale. "And I am looking for a villain that goes by the name of Naraku."
"Naraku and his hoard or mercenaries?" Kikyou asked.
"Hai." Sango stood, then slid the fading robe on, she then walked over to the pile of her belongings, then pulled out a frayed robe, and then tied it around her waist, holding it there loosely, barely covering anything.
She pulled out dark trousers, then slid into them, then she wore lighter, baggy, white pants over those. She then picked up the heavy armour as though it weighed nothing, then she slid her arms under the shoulder pads, then wrapped the body shield around her chest and stomach. After it was secure, she then tied back her hair with a strip of the torn robe, then she put her gloves and slipper-like boots on, then her sandals, then she tied her katana to the red sash she tied around her waist.
"I shall take my leave now, you have my thanks for harbouring this samurai." She nodded, then walked towards the door.
"You should rest more, and fill your stomach, Sango-san." Kaede spoke up once more, although her elder sister spoke her name sternly, yielding her desist. "Although you are strong, even the emperor rests after travel."
Sango smiled lightly; "you remind me of my child otouto-ue, Kaede. However my journey has not ended, yet." She told her as she turned and looked upon her childish face.
"Does not the general rest after one battle, while planning towards the next in the war? Does not the farmer rest after he plants one field, before moving onto the next?" Kaede continued, until Kikyou's pale hand struck her across the face.
"Be silent, Kaede. Your voice has not been summoned to her appeasement." Her dark eyes became fierce with disapproval and disappointment.
"Gomen, Kikyou-nee-sama." She lowered her head, refusing to touch the abused flesh; only an infant would do that, and she would prove at least some sense of dignity.
Sango smiled faintly. "Hai, but I shall not be the one to badger you a moment longer. So I shall find shelter and food elsewhere." She told them, then turned to leave again.
"This is a place for anyone; even a thief, Sango-san. I am a hakushi, so you may rest, and feast until you are ready to depart." Kikyou told her, without making any eye contact as she began to serve the stewed rice into wooden bowls.
Sango's faint smile became a content sigh, then she lowered herself to her knees and sat beside Kaede, then was handed a full bowl.
She would not stay long - she had to hurry and meet Naraku's path sooner than later, and kill him. Only after his blood covered that of those of her white robe, would she be satisfied. Once the pure white became bathed in the crimson of his blood; she would rest finally, and eternally.