I'm really sorry for the long delay. I got a laptop, so I had to get used to everything. Also, I haven't had internet access for a while. That explains where I've been and why I haven't been updating. Also, don't expect as many updates as I did during the summer. School is really important this year, so I have to try especially hard to get A's, which isn't going so well. I need my Junior year to be great. However, thanks to Flex time and my study hall, which usually fall right after one another, I'm going to have time to write at school. Yay! Well, here's the chapter. It's a little shorter than some of my other chapters, but it explains a few things…or just adds to the confusion.
Anyway, onwards!
Disclaimer: Need I say it? I don't own Inuyasha, and if you wanna sue me, you won't get didly. I'm back in debt. Yay me! How long? Until…probably next summer. Also, this laptop is my Christmas/birthday present and possible my graduation present. But I love it^.^ Anyway, you get the idea, right? Don't sue me, cause I don't own Inuyasha.
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The Inuyasha-tachi walked silently through the forest. There wasn't much to say right now. Their lives had once again gotten complicated, but they were used to it by now. Nothing was ever easy for them. Right now, Inuyasha was on high alert. They didn't need to get attacked right now. He looked around constantly, acting almost paranoid. "Inuyasha, relax," said Kagome. "Nothing is going to attack us right now, so stop being so paranoid."
"I'm not being paranoid!" he shouted as he spun around to face her.
"Yes you are," pointed out Shippo. "You've been looking around constantly."
"So?!"
"So you're being paranoid," stated Miroku. Inuyasha shot him a glare and then turned around. He crossed his arms and then continued walking. They had no idea as to where they were going. They were simply walking and hoping to find Siria and her companion, Seidou. However, their search wasn't going well. There was no sent to travel by and no signs that they had been here. The wind was blowing slightly, shifting the trees leaves to the right. They made rustling sound, which only added to the beauty of the forest. It was unlike the dark and misty one they had traveled through before. This one seemed more healthy and beautiful. The rustling stopped for an instant and then started up again. This caused Inuyasha to stop. Kagome nearly ran into him. "Inuyasha, why'd you stop?" she asked. He looked at the trees. The wind was still blowing, but it was different. The trees were leaning towards the left now. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed.
"The winds changed," he said. Miroku and Sango both looked up and noticed it was well. The wind had shifted. Suddenly, the sky darkened and a flash lit up the sky. The Inuyasha-tachi just watched as the forest around them became nothing more than a wasteland, full of burnt twigs and stumps. Inuyasha turned to face Kagome, his eyes going wide. "Kagome!" he yelled. Kagome turned to him and seemed confused.
"What is it?" she asked. Another flash and Shippo fell from her arms, or more like fell through them. Miroku and Sango looked on in shock as Kagome's body became transparent. She looked down at her hands and noticed that she could see right through them. She then looked up at Inuyasha, fear evident in her eyes. Another flash and the land became normal again, as if it was all just an illusion. However, Kagome was gone. They all just stared at where she had been standing.
"Wh-what happened to Kagome?" questioned Shippo.
"Kagome!" yelled Inuyasha, looking around the forest. "Kagome!!"
"Calm down Inuyasha," said Miroku. "We should look for her instead of just calling out."
"Why did Kagome disappear like that?" asked Shippo.
"Come on," said Sango. "We need to find her."
******
Kagome stood frozen to the spot from shock and surprise. She was also highly confused. "I'm…in the well house?" she asked. She looked around. This was indeed the well house at the Higarashi shrine. She opened the doors and walked out into the morning sun. She was completely confused. 'But I didn't go through the well. How did I get here?' She walked up to her house and opened the door. "Tadaima," she said, waiting for a reply. However, no one said anything. She walked in and began to look around. "Souta! Mama! Ji-chan!" However, there was no response from anybody. "They must all be out for the day." She suddenly stopped walking and stood frozen in her living room. 'Something doesn't feel right.' Suddenly, her house disappeared, leaving her in a world of darkness. The darkness swirled with dark colors and she seemed to be standing on solid ground. 'This is just like…Yume's world.'
"How did you get here?" asked a female voice. It had a certain harshness to it that made Kagome uncomfortable. "Answer me, onna. How did you get here?"
"I…don't know. I just appeared here."
"Masaka! Tell me how did you find this place? No ordinary mortal can come here. Tell me!"
"Just who are you anyway?" asked Kagome, getting frustrated with the voice.
"I'm…everything."
******
"Kagome!!!" shouted Inuyasha for the hundredth time. They were all running through the forest, looking for Kagome.
"Inuyasha!" shouted Sango from her position on Kirara. "Kaede's village is up ahead. Maybe we should look there."
"Why would she be there?" he shouted back.
"It never hurts to just check," said Miroku. Inuyasha turned his head back around and began to head towards Kaede's village. It was only a few minutes later that they came upon it. Inuyasha ran towards the well instead of the village. They all followed him. Suddenly, the world around them vanished, leaving them in darkness. Sango's eyes widened. "This is…" she said quietly. Miroku turned to look at her. "…Just like Yume's world."
"Kagome!!" called Inuyasha as he continued to run further into the darkness.
******
"What do you mean you're…everything?"
"I am alpha and omega. I'm the beginning and the end, the first and the last. (A/N yeah, I don't own that either. It's from Xenogears. I just think it sounds cool^.^). You can't escape from me, for I am everything. Now, tell me onna, why is it that you came here? How did you find his place?"
"I just appeared here, okay? It's not like I tried to get here. I didn't even know this place existed."
"Do not lie. It's impossible to get here on accident. How did you get here?"
"I don't know!"
"Masaka!" A bright light shot out from the distant darkness, heading right for Kagome. "Temee! You shouldn't be here! Now, Shine!" Kagome screamed and closed her eyes.
"Kagome!!" shouted the voice of a familiar hanyou. Inuyasha ran towards her and picked her up, jumping upwards and out of the way. Kagome opened her eyes and gave a relieved smile at her savior.
"Inuyasha!" she said happily. He landed on the ground and set her down.
"Daijoubu, Kagome?" he asked.
"Hai," she responded.
"Kagome-chan!"
"Kagome-sama!" Kagome turned to see her friends ride over to her on Kirara.
"Kagome!" shouted Shippo as he jumped into her arms. "We were so worried. What happened to you?"
"I somehow ended up back home, and then I ended up here."
"How did all of you get here?!" shouted the female voice angrily. "No normal creature is able to come here without my permission. How is it that all of you managed to come here?"
"Keh, like we know!" shouted back Inuyasha. "Kagome just appeared here, so it must have been your fault!"
"I would never bring the likes of you here. Tell me, how did you find this place?"
"We just did," said Inuyasha.
"Just what is here?" asked Miroku.
"This is my world. This is a world between time," she said to them, sounding proud for some reason.
"A world between time?" questioned Shippo.
"So that's how Kagome-sama was able to get here," said Miroku, realizing the truth.
"What do you mean? How?" questioned Sango.
"Kagome-sama is originally from the future, so she managed to come here after being brought back to her time."
"So are you saying that what happened in the forest was some kind of time slip or something?" asked Inuyasha.
"Exactly," said Miroku. "Because Kagome-sama can travel through time, she has to pass between it, so she was able to be brought here."
"Kuso!" shouted the woman. "That's impossible! Even if she can travel through time, that doesn't explain the rest of you coming here!"
"Inuyasha can go through the well also," explained Miroku, "so he can come here. However, that doesn't explain the rest of us."
"Exactly," said the voice. "Therefore, you must all be destroyed!" Ghostly white hands began to appear all around them, stretching out from the darkness. "I won't let any of you get out of here alive." Inuyasha drew his Tetsusaiga as the hands approached, but they suddenly stopped. Everyone stared in surprise and confusion. "I can feel it," said the voice. "So you've all been to a dimension like this before, have you?"
"How…did you know that?" asked Miroku.
"I can feel it. I feel the kiseki of the dream weaver Yume. It's here. Which one of you has it?" Inuyasha poised his sword.
"Just who are you?" he asked the voice. Realization soon hit him and he narrowed his eyes. "You're the one who keeps sending that baka Shiro after us, aren't you."
"Could anyone else do it?" asked the voice in a cocky tone. "I am the only one who could do something like that. It was I who raised him from the dead and put him under my control. He never would have listened to me otherwise. He was too worried about that baka temee Siria. I used him to enslave Cycil. Her youkai instincts are taking over once again and she will soon be the devil of the hateshi that I knew so well." Inuyasha growled deeply with hatred.
"Kisama! You can't mess with their lives like that!" he yelled.
"I can and I will, for you see, I'm everything."
"Urusai!"
"Now, who has the kiseki?" The hands all disappeared except for one. It moved around, as if looking for the stone. It soon stopped in the direction of Sango. "That's right," said the voice coldly. "It's you." The hand shot towards Sango and there was nothing she could do. It was just too fast.
"Sango!" shouted Miroku, moving in front of her. The ghostly hand went right through his chest and his face twisted in pain. Two more hands shot out from the darkness and grabbed him around the throat. They began squeezing. "Houshi-sama!" shouted Sango, trying to get to him, but a barrier kept her out.
"Baka," said the voice coldly. "Now you will die." Miroku could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness. However, an arrow hit the outstretched arms, completely destroying them. The hands around Miroku's neck disappeared and the one through his chest did as well. He fell to the ground and Sango was instantly at his side. He was gasping for air and clutching at his chest. There was no hole in his chest, but he was in extreme pain. Inuyasha watched all of this and then turned his angry amber eyes to the darkness.
"Kisama! I know you're out there! Show yourself!" There was no response. "Fine then, I'll make you come out!" He raised his mighty sword high. "Kaze no-!" Suddenly, the darkness disappeared and they were standing in the middle of the forest, near the well. Inuyasha blinked in confusion. "…Kizu?"
"What just happened?" asked Shippo. "Was it all just an illusion?"
"Iya," said Miroku as he painfully stood up. "That was no illusion."
"Inuyasha-sama!" shouted a familiar, yet slightly annoying voice. Inuyasha looked to his shoulder.
"Myoga-jiji?" he questioned.
"Myoga? What are you doing here?" asked Shippo.
******
"Yoka-san?" questioned Seidou. Siria turned to him.
"Nani?"
"Is everything alright? You seem distracted."
"It's nothing," she reassured him. "I just thought I felt a change in the winds again."
"Okay then." He turned back around and they continued walking. Siria turned to the sky. 'Shiro-sama…I will find you.'
******
'Strange.' A man stood in a grassy meadow, the sun setting behind him. The day had gone by quickly and within that time, a few strange things had happened.
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" called Jaken. He ran up to Sesshoumaru, but didn't say anything when he saw the look on his master's face. Sesshoumaru was in deep thought. The wind was blowing, tossing his long, silver hair. 'That's the second time the wind has changed today. What could be causing it?'
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" called a young female voice. A little girl ran up to him and Jaken, a smile on her face. "Look at the sunset! Isn't it wonderful?"
"Rin, now isn't the time for that," snapped Jaken. "Sesshoumaru-sama is busy right now."
"Ikuzo," said Sesshoumaru simply. He turned around and began to walk down the hill.
"Hai!" said Rin happily as she followed after him. Jaken sighed and followed as well. Sesshoumaru was still thinking about the incident. 'The wind feels different today. What could this mean?'
******
"I'm so glad I was able to find you," said Myoga. They were all sitting near the well now, listening to Myoga. "I felt a change in the winds and I knew something was wrong. The air feels different."
"I've felt it too," said Inuyasha, crossing his arms. "And look. The day's almost over."
"Just how much time did we spend in that place?" asked Kagome.
"What place would that be?"
"A place in between time," explained Sango. Myoga seemed shocked and afraid.
"In between time? How could someone have that kind of power? No one can create a world like that," he said.
"But we were there," said Shippo. "There was a woman there who was speaking to us."
"She must have created it."
"Of course, you baka. Who else would have?" yelled Inuyasha in frustration. Myoga thought this over for a while before coming to a conclusion.
"She's using the power of kiseki stones," he said. "That's the only way she'd be able to do that. However, there's more to it than that. In order to use the stones like that, she would have to have incredible powers."
"She's also the one controlling Shiro and Cycil," said Kagome.
"Shiro? As in Kumori Shiro, the young lord?" asked Myoga.
"Hai," responded Kagome. "You know of him?"
"He was the wielder of the Toukengai, a sword forged by the hateshi known as Suteki. She was the first hateshi. Only she could forge a sword like that. It has a mind of its own at times, but if it's in the hands of Kumori-sama, there's no telling what may happen. However, I do know this. If he holds onto that sword, we're all in danger. He must have been brought back from the dead in order to be here."
"He was," said Miroku. "That woman told us that she was the one who brought him back."
"Just who is this woman?" asked Myoga. "If she can raise people from the dead and create a world between time, then she has to be some kind of spiritual being."
"There was something she told me when I asked her who she was. She said that she was alpha and omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last."
"But that doesn't make any sense," said Inuyasha. "No one can be both at the beginning and at the ending."
"It's possible, depending on what she's talking about," said Myoga. "I do know this, however. You can' let her get Yume's kiseki. If she has all the kiseki, she'll have more power than anyone. I believe her goal is to control time itself. She already seems to have a good handle on that."
"It's getting late," said Kagome. "We should stay with Kaede-ba-chan for tonight."
"I agree," said Sango, standing up and stretching. "Even though the day passed quickly, I still feel tired." Shippo yawned and Kagome picked him up. They all stood and began to walk towards the village. Sango fingered the kiseki around her neck. 'I won't let her have this, no matter what. Yume entrusted this to me, and I won't let her down.'
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He…I had to add Sesshoumaru in. I couldn't help myself. I had been debating whether or not to put him in and I decided to, although I don't know how many appearances he'll have. Anyway, confusing or what? I'm running myself in circles here trying to decide what to write about. This whole time thing is a little hard, but I think I have a pretty decent plot line now. The Inuyasha-tachi will run into many more problems and Miroku will be tortured more. I have to torture him. It's hard not to.
Anyway, here's the short glossary.
Tadaima –I'm home
Masaka –it's impossible
Onna –woman
Kisama –this is an interesting word. It doesn't have a direct translation, because there isn't an insult bad enough in the English language to use for this. Kisama is a very insulting term that can't compare to the insults that we have in English. Also, what makes it so interesting is that this is one of the biggest insults, but if it's used differently, it can be the highest term of respect. A contradicting word, ne?
Hateshi –fate. I use his to refer to the dream weavers. They are called fates, thus the word hateshi.
Suteki –the first hateshi. She was the one who originally controlled Cycil and who cursed Siria. Her name means dreamy, as in a dreamy state of mind.
Well, that's all for now. I'll write more as soon as I can.
Ja^.^