Chapter 4: Intercept
Kikyo stepped into the dark forest. Sighting her target in a tree fifty paces ahead, she aimed, drew her bow, and let the arrow fly.
*THUMP*
"Aaaaaah!"
*CRASH*
…………..
"Aaaaah!" Who?Why?Where? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! Ow…my ass hurts. One minute I'm sleeping peacefully in a tree, the next minute I'm eating shrubbery! Looking up, I see the cause of my rude awakening: an arrow, right next to where my head was.
"Oh, hi Kikyo."
"Good evening." She stands above me, and I pull myself up.
"You couldn't have thought of an easier way to wake me up?"
"It wasn't difficult." She says quizzically.
"Yeah, for you." I say, rubbing my sore ass. "So what's going on?"
"I'm not going on, I'm staying. For good."
"So the people accepted you?"
"Yes, I will make my living tending the children of the village while their parents work in the fields or in their homes."
"Babysitter, huh? Well there are worse jobs." I say, thinking back to my two-year tenure as cashier in my hometown's grocery store. Don't ask.
"I will teach the children as much as I am able, and protect them while in my care." Am I dreaming, or do I almost hear excitement in that monotonous voice? Kikyo is truly happy. Oh great, more pressure not to screw up.
"Since I am staying, I will not be able to see you anymore. I hope you understand; I can't be seen with a youkai. I would lose what I have gained. You will have to travel on without me."
"What am I supposed to do? I need to get back home, and I can't do that on my own."
"There are many wise people in the world. They would be able to help you more than I."
"Whatever you say. So this is goodbye then?"
"Yes. Goodbye." She turns and walks out into the inky blackness, leaving me alone. I wait until she is gone. Okay, Showtime!
…………
Kikyo's soul cried out with need. Normal people would simply say that they were hungry, but Kikyo was miles from normal. She didn't need to satisfy bodily appetite, since she didn't quite have a body. Her entire existence depended on her tiny sliver of soul and to keep it alive, she fed on the souls of the newly dead. That was where she was headed: dinner.
…………
I can smell Kikyo's presence nearby. Not only that, I sense the other key players in the coming fiasco. In the village to my right, down the forest path, a little girl has stirred from her bed. She witnesses her good friend and teacher taking a midnight walk towards the outskirts of the village. Intrigued, she takes a forbidden walk herself. She follows Kikyo.
Two others are also up when they shouldn't be. A boy training to be a priest is awake and alert at the command of his master. He waits outside as his master readies himself, then emerges from his home. He waves the youth forward and they set out with purpose. The boy, to gain learning from his master, the master, to protect his people. Seikai walks on, ready to destroy any threat to his village.
Of course, I can't let any of these people reach their destinations. If that happens, game over. My reconnaissance complete, I leap into action, swiftly and silently moving through the forest toward my first objective.
I stop in the bushes next to the forest path near the village. Kikyo just walked past a minute ago, so I should be far enough away to avoid her senses. Here comes the first interloper: the strong little girl named Sayo. She is moving from tree to tree to avoid being spotted by Kikyo, but she doesn't know I'm there. She sneaks past, silent as a mouse. When she is a few feet past me, I emerge from the bushes.
"Hey you." I say softly, trying not to scare her. I hope there's nothing in my voice that marks me as youkai, but I sound human, don't I?
The girl starts and turns around, suddenly afraid. There's that sweet smell again, but I bite the bullet and try to ignore it.
"Who are you?" she asks meekly. A shrewd smile comes to my lips, but I hide in the shadows to mask it, as well as my stripes.
"A friend of Kikyo."
"Kikyo-sama's friend?"
"Yes. Now what are you doing out of bed so late? And wandering around the woods no less? It's dangerous, since there's no snack that youkai like more than a cute little girl." My voice is calm, but Sayo's is full of fear as she responds.
"Oh no! Kikyo-sama is out here, and I was scared, so I followed her. Am I in trouble?"
"I don't know… I'm going to have to tell Kikyo, and she won't be happy to hear that you've been bad…"
"Please don't tell her! Please?" She's standing in front of me, begging. This is too much! I hope I don't burst out laughing.
"I don't know…Kikyo worries you know…" I'm still smiling, talking in a semi-singsong voice that my parents used on me when I was younger.
"Please don't tell her! I'll be good!"
"Will you go back to the village?"
"Yes!"
"Will you go back to your bed and go to sleep?"
"Yes!"
"Alrighty, I don't see why we can't work this out. It's a deal."
"Oh! Thank you! I don't want Kikyo-sama to be mad at me."
"Okay. Good night."
Sayo begins to walk home, but I suddenly smell Seikai on the breeze. This is the other interloper, the one who tries to kill Kikyo, but loses his own life in the process. If he dies, there will be no way that Kikyo will be able to stay. He must be stopped, but he also must be allowed to live. Even though the guy is too stupid to breathe. But wait, there's more: I've got to convince him to let Kikyo stay in the village. Kikyo, Walking Dead Chick. Oh yeah, no sweat.
Seikai and his apprentice are walking on another path parallel to this one, toward Kikyo. God, I hope she hasn't started dinner yet! I creep down the path a ways and peek out into a clearing next to a shimmering lake. There, in the reflected moonbeams, stands Kikyo, her flowing raven tresses blowing free upon the breeze. Across the still waters come her pets, sleek youkai serpents laden with souls. They surround her, brush against her, release their cargo into her waiting hands. She breathes in each ectoplasmic morsel with a detached ecstasy, speaking soothing words to each before it passes into her throat. She continues with several more, the youkai circling around her like a perverse Lazy Susan, and finishes with a sigh.
Now I realize the truth, something that even a youkai transformation and near devourment could not convey: I'm not in Rochester anymore. Now I see that I am in an alien world, but more importantly it's not my world, and everything I thought I knew can take a one way trip down the hopper. My mind fills with a sense of otherworldliness that grips like a frigid vice, and it becomes hard to breathe. In spite of my newfound power, I feel alone, afraid, and pretty damn small. I feel, no, I know, that I'm not in control anymore. Now, more than ever, I am in the hands of omniscient Fate, adrift in the currents of destiny, with no end in sight.
My sense of displacement only increases as a dark figure enters the small clearing.
"Can you not reach Nirvana?" Seikai says. Kikyo continues to face the waters as she replies.
"Can't you simply pretend you never saw this?"
"No, I cannot." Their simple banter continues until Seikai moves to strike, raising his mystic artifact which quickly begins to glow with power. He screams his intention to the rising winds: to send Kikyo into the next life. The ball glows brighter as the glowing radiance shape shifts into a small, shadowy serpent. A Dragon. It darts forward in full obedience of its master's wishes, circling Kikyo and binding her hand and foot.
Now I have to move. One more second, and Seikai will die. Look at that fool, grinning like victory will soon be his! He has no clue who he is dealing with. It sickens me to have to save this waste of life, and it sickens me more to know that I'll have to inflate his gargantuan ego to do it. But the time for thought is over! I have to move now!
My legs don't so much as twitch. My muscles don't fire. My nerves are dead as a disconnected power line. Suddenly I find myself, at this critical moment, unable to act. My mind screams to move, to destroy the Dragon, to free Kikyo, but there's one problem: the Dragon.
Its eyes are glaring at me, boring through the bushes and into my soul. That's why I can't move, but why? The thing is a youkai, in a sense, but at the same time completely unlike any creature I've ever seen. The smell is strange; it's virtually nonexistent! All I detect is a trace of bitter smoke.
The creature squeezes harder, but Kikyo is still unaffected. More than that, she is beginning a counterattack of her own. The Dragon doubles its efforts, but in vain. Kikyo is breaking free.
But so am I. Without the interference of the mysterious Dragon, there are no intangible chains to bind me.
Kikyo's body ignites with holy fire, and the Dragon's body starts to bulge, then break. Then, complete destruction.
Scales, head, and one ill-fated claw are violently sent forth. Seikai watches his approaching Fate.
If this were a regular world, the claw would sink itself into his neck, and Seikai would breathe his last, after cursing Kikyo's existence. Kikyo would respond with a wordy 'I told you so.' Sayo would emerge, fear and accusation in shimmering eyes. The last vestiges of Kikyo's humanity would be burned away in the slow-cooking fires of guilt and remorse, and her last hope of salvation would drift away on an eternal wind stream, never to return.
Would, would, would. Guess what people? This isn't a regular world, and I won't see an innocent woman's life taken away from her without her consent. Kikyo has never been in control of her own life. Her death, her sadistic resurrection, her life as a miko, her unlife as a corpse and later an almost-youkai…all were out of her control. Today, that cycle ends. I may be a creature of nightmares, but I have not fallen so far as to embrace my new identity. I revel in fear, but I will fight to purge all shadows. I love battle, but I will fight for peace. I hate humans, but they are my comrades. Kikyo saved my life, twice, and such favors stand little chance of being repaid. For this reason, I will save her soul.
Muscles clench and adrenaline flows. My body, a missile of flesh, blasts the undergrowth away in a blazing rush. My feet pass through the grass so quickly that a furrow doesn't appear until a second after. Winds chase me as I rocket toward the point of intercept. I leap, dig my feet into the ground and raise my hands to stop the arm of Destiny.
The claw sinks into my hand and stops dead. Bits of flesh strike wetly against my shirt and slide down, leaving crimson slime trails. I pick one off and absently toss it aside. That explains it: this was a kind of ghost-youkai, a Dragon long dead and living as a servant to white magik.
"Quite a handy trick, monk."
"Yo…youkai! Monster! Prepare to die!" The staff crashes down, landing neatly in the palm of my left hand. I grip it tightly. "Let go, beast! Go forth from this village! Kill no more!" I wrench the staff free, and the monk is out of tricks.
"You fool. I don't want to kill you, and I don't want to hurt the villagers either. I just want you to shut your fat mouth and open your eyes. In case you haven't noticed, I just saved your life, pal."
"Monster! Beast! You will not be allowed to live!" He is still ranting, but has sunk to his knees and sits plaintively on the ground. The poor wretch has seen a lot tonight, more than he really wanted to. That makes two of us.
"You came out here tonight, bravely, to destroy the enemies of this village. Yet what you think is an enemy is really the greatest friend you can have. Honorable Seikai, this humble miko only desires peace for your people and will work tirelessly toward that end. With her near, your sacred duties will be easier, and this will only mean a better life for all those under your watchful eye. I humbly beseech thee, allow the miko called Kikyo to stay in this village for all time, and perform her desired tasks." Oh Gawd! I need to hurl! This is like a culmination of all the sucking up I've done since the day I was born, and I think I've pulled something!
"Please, master Seikai, respond." Come on you retarded old fool, say something!
"The miko known as Kikyo is not of this world. She does not belong here."
"All she wishes is a place to lay her head. Even the dead do not wish to be alone."
"Why has she chosen us?"
"Your village is full of life, yet it is far from the world. She can live here, tend her people, and not be discovered. Her past will finally stay behind her. Can you give her that? Such blessed peace?" *HACK* *COUGH* Can't hold out much longer…
"I will do what is best for the people," he says in a sickenly paternal tone, "If Kikyo wishes the same, then she is my ally. Yet mark my words, miko, if you harm even the smallest of my watch, or reveal your nature of death to anyone, this battle will be repeated. Good night." The monk turns steadily and walks swiftly back toward his home. He will trouble us no longer.
Whew! What a…I don't know quite what that was, come to think of it. I'll say one thing: I've changed. That simple fact is now frighteningly clear. I went against all instinct and emotion to repay a debt, save a life, and set one lost soul on the path of healing. I find myself staring at the alien sky. I wonder now, exactly who I have become? I have taken an interest in the lives of others and put my own neck on the line, and it doesn't even seem like a big deal! A few fleeting days, and I feel as If I've lived ten-thousand years, for all the changes that have occurred.
I am broken from reverie by an alien sound, disturbing in its reality. I turn slowly toward Kikyo, who has crouched down on the grass. Her back is turned to me, but I can hear her still. Kikyo, stone-faced, dark-eyed paragon of mystery, is laughing. Not the sickening snicker that chills blood, and makes smiles and hope fade, but an uplifting ring that warms the heart and conveys the end of a long night. It is a lilting, giggling cacophony that makes me grin in spite of myself.
"Kikyo? Are you okay?"
More giggling, and she rises to her knees, her long tresses hanging low on her face. I go to my knees in front of her. I hope the chick hasn't snapped after all the work I did to free her!
But she's anything but insane. Her chin rises, flowing freshets of pure black slip away, and I am staring at the face of a woman I thought I'd never meet. The woman that didn't exist until this moment. The real Kikyo. Her eyes flash with new emotions: love, kindness, mercy, hope…and happiness; complete, undiluted joy. Those pure, lovely eyes lock onto mine, and her feelings force themselves into the darkest corners of my heart, lighting my soul like the Rockefeller Christmas Tree. It is an invasion, but it is most welcome.
White, clean hands reach to my face. "Silly, foolish youkai child…I told you to leave and you came back. How disobedient…" She smiles warm and deep. I am paralyzed with its light, and can barely stammer out nonsense.
"You are youkai, yet you have given me a greater gift than all of humanity could give. I have a true home where no one will hurt me, and I owe it to you. Fear not, whatever you owe me has been repaid in full. Sweet, sweet child…" Before I can react( not that I can do much anyway) her long flowing sleeves drape themselves over my shoulder and her fingers brush my neck, then pull me forward. Our foreheads are touching, and her scent invades me. It is intoxicating.
"You are my friend now, forever. You will never be able to alienate me. From now until the end, ask whatever you need of me. If you are hurt, I will heal you. If you are dead, I will raise you. If youkai stalk you, I will slay them. I am only sorry that there is one thing I cannot give you: my heart. For it belongs to another, forever. Yet never hesitate to come to me, Eric. You are a part of me now and always."
"Kikyo…"
"No talk…please accept this…" And her body shifts, and my body shifts, and our faces close the gap, and our lips touch. Her scent washes over me again, and the taste of her flesh ignites my entire system. I'm kissing a dead girl, yes, thank you for noticing, I already know this! Yet for this brief moment, I only care about the girl in front of me. That's all she is now: a woman, not corpse or spirit or walking dead, but female. She can live now as simply that, and she's off to a great start!
Finally she draws back, and I am taken completely by surprise at the utter contentment in those eyes.
"I must go now. Yet I wonder if you would like to stay?"
"No, you were right before. People are scared of youkai, and the last thing I want is for you to lose your home for my sake. I am happy because you are happy, and I will leave you that way."
"Eric…always remember me."
"I will, Kikyo."
"I wish you luck on your journey. May the gods assist you in your quest."
"Thank you."
"No, thank you. You have the blood of a youkai, yet your heart is of an angel. Go in peace."
Together, we rise. Our hands touch briefly, and then Kikyo walks back down the long path to the village. Alone, truly alone, for the first time, I turn toward the gentle waters. To the right of the placid pool is a small foot path of worn vegetation. It could lead to a road, virgin forest, or nothing at all. Or it could lead to answers. I cannot look behind me, only forward. I'm on my own. Stepping forward, one foot in front of the other, the trip of a lifetime has begun with a single step.