Kikyo's Journey

Disclaimer: . . . . . Pepper stick.

Chapter 2: Soul Skimmers

The chains on my feet clinked together as I walked toward the putrid river. Tying my hair into a long ponytail, I took the nearest bucket and began throwing the water over my shoulder, the impact making sizzling sounds behind me.

This began our daily routine in Hell. For some unexplainable reason the Shas-Was, what the strange demons like to call themselves, wanted us to pour the dirty water onto the boiling surface. I remember my days in the world above, where people believed that Hell was the place of utter torment, pain, and horror. It was quite the opposite. This place was the place of work, pain, and tiredness. And in some ways, they were much worse than what was believed of Hell. Some are so tired of the labor that they wish they could die, only to remember that they were already dead.

And that is the worst feeling in the world.

Continuously I threw the water over my left shoulder, not right. You had to be careful not to let any of the liquid fall upon you, for it is like acid amongst the fragile skin of a mere human. Ashes covered my body head to toe. So is everyone else.

We never sleep. It's impossible. To be able to sleep is to live once more, and it happens every so often. Some people do sleep, like the little girl I grew very fond of. She smiled at me and whispered, "I'm so sleepy. . ." and just like that, her body disappeared. No one knows what it means, with the exception of myself. That girl, Kazume, became one of the lucky few to become one with the Earth. She lives right now, in the very winds that fall in between the blades of the grass.

How lovely.

I felt a quick jab against my ribs as I stared up into one of the Shas-Was faces. "Stop dreaming," he muttered, slapping the whip against my back, "Keep working." I stared blankly at him, not feeling the pain at all. As I turned and continued pouring the water over my shoulder, I made sure I had poured some of the liquid on the monster.

"Aye, do not mind him, Lady Kikyo," a woman beside me murmured. "He is like the others, just doing as they are told."

"I will try not to," I replied, continuing with my work. In Hell, we only exchange a few words to one another, for what can we say? Complain how hard it was? No, there is no need for that. We can't give the monsters the satisfaction of knowing how miserable we were. So that ended our discussion, sweat pouring down my face.

It makes me wonder who the person who controlled these demons is. At times, I wondered of little Kaede, how old she was, and how her life was coming to. Of course I wonder where the Shikon Jewel had gone to, but it was the least of my worries at the time. And sometimes, more than I wanted to, I thought about Inu-Yasha.

Suddenly a snake-like animal floated by me. I stopped what I was doing and stared at the creature in surprise. Its friends looked at me as well, their skinny little legs twitching with excitement. Placing my bucket down to the ground, I held out a hand towards the animal as it settled on my palm, its tail moving as smooth as silk. How incredibly light this snake was, I marveled. The others glided towards me as well, circling around my body.

"Ah, 'tis the Soul Skimmers," one man whispered, staring at them with beady eyes.

"Soul Skimmers?" I repeated as I petted them, curious.

"They are friendly creatures," a little girl answered quietly, watching, "always coming in and out of the living world to bring down lost souls."

"Seems as if they have grown fond of you," the woman from before murmured, throwing a bucket of water over her shoulder. She winced as a drop of the liquid flew to her hair, burning a few strands.

I stared at the creatures with a half smile as they wound themselves around me. "Soul Skimmers. . ." I whispered. They made a small clicking noise at me, as if to signify their friendship with me, for all eternity.

How lovely.

To Be Continued. . .

So that's how I believe Kikyo first got the Soul Skimmers. If the anime or manga actually said another way about that, sorry. I didn't read all the volumes. I need to read like, 12 and 8 or something. That's all.