Refer to chapters 1-3 for disclaimer
rubychik09: Yes, I did use real people's names in the last chapter. Mrs. Walsh is a real PE teacher. By the way, my friend Dusty, who Keia's based on, has a total of five names, and she can spell them all in a row really quickly. It's quite amazing(annoying) actually.
Chapter 4: When You Play With Fire
Sesshoumaru was mad, to put it mildly. Of course, no one could really know for sure, but it was just a feeling. I mean, he kept looking at me very evilly. But then again, what else is new?
"I cannot believe this," Valen said as we followed Sess back to the cave.
"At least you had a few days to get used to the idea. I just fell in here without any warning. Literally," I responded truthfully.
"Is that thing really a tail?" Val asked me in a whispered, presumably so Sess wouldn't be able to her. It didn't work very well.
"Yes, it is. Now will you two please be quiet," he growled. Damn super hearing.
Val glared at his back and started playing with her necklace. 'He really is an evil, insensitive jerk.'
"I know," I whispered back.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"You said, 'he really is an evil, insensitive jerk.' I was just agreeing with you," I explained matter-of-factly. What a baka.
"No, I didn't. I just thought that. Did you read my mind? Did you hear what I just thought?"
"No. Wait try touching your pendant again. You were touching it when I heard your thoughts." It could work.
'Can you hear me now?'
'Yes. Omigod. This is so cool! We can talk about Sess without him hearing. Oh, the beautiful possibilities,' I thought.
Valen rolled her eyes. 'Onna no baka."
I though-growled at her. 'You're calling me the idiot? I mean, look who's talking hentai-kin.' I used the Japanese word for 'pervert-girl. That always makes Val mad. There was no exception this time.
"Why you!" she yelled aloud before proceeding to chase me. It was becoming a routine- I insult her or Miroku, and she chases me until I take it back.
"I take it back! I take it back!" I screamed as Val choked me. When she heard that statement, she let go of my neck.
"Will you two stop fighting like animals and start acting like civilized demons?" Sesshoumaru requested, clenching his fist.
Val and I both stuck out our tongue at him and flipped him off at the same time, like we'd read each other's minds. But we hadn't- we've just been friends for a long time. Luckily, Sess had started walking again and didn't see us.
The rest of the walk was relatively boring. Sess kept going at an inhuman (almost demonic) pace, while Val and I struggled to keep up while communicating telepathically. It was so fun: we were dissing Sess, and he didn't even know it. Ha-ha. When we finally arrived at the little cave, there was a little surprise.
"Sesshoumaru-sama! You're back!" a little girl about eight years old piped while rushing to Sesshoumaru. Yes, it was Rin.
"Hi, Rin," I said, smiling at the child. She was even cuter in person! 'I wonder if Shippou is this cute here.'
"Who are you?" she asked Valen and me.
"I'm Kariko and this is Valen. We're friends of Sesshie here," I replied, noting with satisfaction the evil glare Sess gave me. I know I was pressing my luck, but it was so fun.
"Are they humans?" Jaken inquired as he stepped out of the cave. Unlike Rin, he was even more ugly in person. My poor, poor eyes.
"Do we look human, baka?" Val shot back. Then, she seemed to realize the stupidity of that question. "I mean, we might look human, but we're not. We're demons. At least, Kariko is. I haven't gotten a chance to use my power yet. But when I do, I'll be more powerful than –him-," she pointed to Sess when she said this, who looked like he seriously doubted anyone could be more powerful than he could. "It could happen." Val had also seen the look.
'I will be –so- much powerfuller than him,' Val tele-told me.
'Ya, me too. But there's no such word as powerfuller. You mean more powerful,' I corrected.
'Whatever. You know what I mean. I will, though. I wish a Chikusho demon would attack so I can finally prove it!'
'Be careful what you wish for. I had a demon attack me, and it wasn't fun. Well, actually, it was, but that's not the point. Or is it?'
'It was the point, and I want to fight! Why is everyone staring at us?'
I looked around. Sure enough, Sess, Rin, and Jaken were staring at us as if we were aliens. I guess seeing people looking as if they were talking without any sound is pretty weird.
"What?" I asked. I didn't want them to know that Val and I could speak mind-to-mind. It should have been our little secret.
"Are you practicing you're facial expressions? If so, then please do it at a time when nothing important is occurring," That was Sess, duh. Who else could sound that bored, like he couldn't care less about what was going on?
"Who in their right mind practices facial expressions? We were…"
'Don't tell them,' I mentally warned Valen. 'This could be useful later if we don't let anyone else know about it.'
'Fine. Just let them think we're crazy,' Val said, uh, thought as she shot me an evil glare.
'You are crazy, hentai-kin. Almost as insane as… Miroku.'
"TAKE IT BACK!" she yelled as she knocked me to the ground. Then, she put her foot on my throat with a deadly look on her face.
"I take it back," I said in a sheesh-don't-take-it-so-personally tone. She lifted her shoe off my throat. Ah, fresh air.
"What are you talking about?" Rin asked in a confused voice.
'I guess we have to tell them,' I thought to Val.
'Ya, you do it.' There's gratitude for you.
"Well, you see, we can talk to each other mind-to-mind. The pendants we have allow us to do that, I think," I explained.
"Interesting. The prophecy doesn't state that the demons can communicate telepathically," Sess said.
"Well, we can. Get used to it, Fluffy," Valen responded.
"What did you call me?"
"Uh, she meant to call you Sesshoumaru, but was thinking about her cat, named Fluffy. Simple mistake." I always have to clean up after Val's mistakes. It's just not fair.
"Hello, Sesshoumaru. It's been a long time, hasn't it?" I turned around to see a woman walking towards us. She had green hair and eyes, and her skin had a partial green tint to it. Normally that would look disgusting, but this youkai was beautiful. She made me feel a little ashamed of myself. I quickly got over that, though. For some reason, she seemed a little familiar.
"Keia, what are you doing here?" Sess asked.
'Oh. My. God. That's why she seemed familiar!' I thought.
'What do you mean?' Valen asked.
'One of my best friends at Pontiac, named Keia, looks almost exactly like her! Well, except for the green features, of course.' This statement just received a stunned silence.
"I was just passing through. I will leave if you wish," Keia replied to Sess's question. She turned her head to show rows of red rose petals going down her hair. When she turned back to look at me, I saw my friend's necklace. It was a beautiful necklace- an emerald heart with wings on a gold chain. American-Keia had gotten it when her grandmother had died. "Who are they?" she asked, looking at us.
"They are the two demons the prophecy spoke of. The one with the black hair is ice, the other one with the red hair is fire," Sess answered.
"I see. And why are –you- with them?"
Before Sess had a chance to answer, another youkai came crashing through the trees. This one didn't look so friendly. With eight legs and eight eyes, I'd have to say it was a spider demon. Just my luck.
'I'll handle this,' Val thought. I didn't object. I wanted her to fight it, and by the looks of it so did everyone else.
Valen stomped up to the demon. Then, she growled at it. I hope she wasn't trying to intimidate the spider, because that would have been very pathetic. In response to her, uh, growl, the spider barred its fangs and crawled closer to Val.
'Try touching it and telling it to burn,' I suggested. She got the message, but didn't have time to reply. Instead, she dropped to the ground when the youkai charged at her. Then, she grabbed its leg and apparently willed it to burn, because that's what it did.
'Thanks,' Val thought as she quickly moved from the path of the fire. When she was sure the demon was dead, she stopped the flames.
"Impressive," Keia remarked when she saw the great amount of…nothing. Valen had succeeded in burning all traces of the demon.
"I know! I mean, thank you," she said, smiling to herself.
"This place is a demonic hot spot. We should go somewhere else," I suggested.
"I agree," Rin said.
"Fine. We'll leave if we must," Sesshoumaru growled as he walked away.
"He isn't one to give much notice, is he?" Valen asked.
"No, he isn't," Keia answered with the hint of a smile on her face. 'Do they like each other?' I asked Valen.
"Do you two like each other?" Val asked my question aloud to Keia.
"We used to. Sesshoumaru and I were to be mates, but something happened," she began. 'Fluffy has a fiancé?' I wondered to myself. "Then, one hundred years ago, a great war erupted. The Lord of the South became greedy and wanted Sesshoumaru's lands. He sent the largest army ever known to invade the West. My father was that Southern lord. Naturally, he didn't want me to become mates with Sesshoumaru. After the war ended eighty years ago, the West and South have been at each other's throats. I was afraid to come back here because of that. My father died last year, and I came here to propose a treaty between the West and South."
"Fun. Do you think Sess'll go along with the whole treaty thing?" I asked while getting over the effect that the story had on me. It was kind of sad that Sess and Keia were torn apart by the demands of war. Maybe now they would be able to live happily ever after. That would be too simple, though. And –nothing- is ever simple.
"I hope so. I'd hate to go to war with him again."
"So, do you still have feelings for him?" Valen asked innocently. Ha ha. Her being innocent. Ya right.
"No. If I acted like I did, then I was just remembering the past. What life was like a hundred years ago." Keia sounded really sad when she said this, like she regretted something.
After that, we continued to walk in silence. Just as the sun was setting, we came across a village. Sess told Jaken to take Rin back to his place in the West, and said Val and I could stay in the village overnight.
"Why aren't you coming with us?" I asked.
"That is a village of demon exterminators. I have no wish to engage in useless fighting right now," Sess answered. Wow, I thought he –always- wanted to fight.
"Won't they exterminate us? We are demons, after all," I pointed out. I was a little bit offended.
"You look like humans. Keia and I don't. Now go, and come back at sunrise," he ordered. 'Why is he making us leave?' I thought.
'Apparently, Sess thinks we're too weak to fight a humongous demon if one attacks,' Val answered as she began to walk to the village.
'Why are you going? Don't you want to prove him wrong?'
'Yes, but not right now. That spider took a lot af fire power to kill. I feel weak.'
'Fine, then," I replied, following her. I wasn't feeling too strong right at that moment, either. Not that I would ever admit it, though.
I was nervous about entering the village. Even if Valen and I did look human, we weren't. I was scared that the villagers would know this, though I wasn't sure that they could figure it out. Val and I were new to the whole demonic powers thing, and we might accidentally use them That would be a dead giveaway that we weren't human. Unless the villagers were –that- slow. But then again, they could be like Sango and only kill evil demons. I was about to find out, because we had just walked into the village.
"Hello. Welcome to our village. May I ask your names and business?" We were greeted by a woman with long brown hair and a white kimono with pink flowers on it. Ugh, pink. I hate pink- it's the color of the devil. Still, she seemed nice enough.
"I'm Kariko, and this is Valen. We were just looking for a place to stay for the night," I replied.
"Where are you going?" the woman asked.
"We don't know. We're just sort of wandering around, trying to find demons. We are dedicated to protecting people from dangerous youkai," Valen answered.
"Really? You'll fit in, then. This is a village of demon exterminators. My name is Kaiho. You can stay with my husband an me," she offered.
I nodded. Kaiho then led Valen and me to a small but nice hut. She showed us what had to be a guest room, and then proceeded to give us a tour. When we reached the kitchen, Valen's stomach started growling. I know this simply because anyone located within a five through tem mile radius of her stomach would have heard.
"Would you like something to eat?" Kaiho asked. Val nodded her head a little too eagerly in response. The villager then started cooking soup for us. It tasted great, but nothing is as good as Campbells.
Suddenly, just as we were about to finish our soup, screams were heard from out side the hut. "Demon attack. We'd better go," Kaiho declared, racing out. Valen and I didn't know what else to do but follow, though she seemed mad about having to leave her soup. We wouldn't be able to fight, but if we had to we could easily kill the youkai.
When we saw the demons, my jaw dropped in shock. I could not believe who the demons were.By the looks of it, neither could Val. Of course, she was busy staring at the monk.
"Inuyasha?" I asked as I stepped closer to the hanyou.
"Yeah. What do you want?" I, of course, did what any other crazed Inuyasha fan would do- ran screaming up to him and tackled the demon. I think he was a –bit- surprised by that.
"Omigod! The doggie ears are SO ADORABLE! They're even better in person! I just want to tug them!" I screamed. Then, I tugged on said doggie ears.
Kagome was just standing there looking at the scene, Miroku and Shippou were laughing their asses off, and Sango was in the same state as Kagome. Miroku wasn't laughing for long, because Valen rushed up to him and started more hugging madness.
The monk, of course, had to ruin my best friend's moment br groping her. I had calmed down a little by then, so I saw the whole scene. The next second, I heard a slap.
"HENTAI! Still, I've always wanted to do that. Oh! Can you show me the Kazaana? That would be so awesome!" Valen exclaimed, eyes wide in anticipation.
"Are you insane?" Miroku asked, his face still red from the smack.
"Maybe sometimes, but right now I'm just exited to see you! I love you! You are so much better than Inuyasha." Valen made a fatal mistake.
"HE IS NOT! My guy is way better than that pervert!" I screamed at her.
"Miroku may be a perv, but at least he's sensitive, unlike that jerk," she countered, pointing at Inuyasha.
When Inuyasha started to object to being called an insensitive jerk, I kicked him This was my battle. I growled and narrowed my eyes at Val, and she did the same. . I guess we both saw the expressions on each other's face, because we started laughing simultaneously. I know Val looked retarded, and I guess I did too.
"They really are crazy," Shippou observed. I just then noticed the little kitsune standing by Kagome. He –was- even more adorable in person.
"What is going on?" Kaiho asked in a severe tone. "Do you two know these people?"
"Not technically, but we know of them. I am a devoted Miroku fan," Valen answered, staring at the monk. I was still tugging the doggie ears, so it was pretty obvious that I was in love with Inuyasha.
"How do you know of them?" Kaiho wondered aloud.
"We're from the same place Kagome is, and we read about them in books," Valen said.
"How did you get through the well?" Kagome asked, confusion in her face.
"Dunno. We just sort of fell through," I said. Kagome nodded to show she understood. We couldn't tell them the truth, now, could we?
At that moment, Sesshoumaru and Keia came walking in. Aww, I didn't know he cared. Oh, screw it. It was probably Keia's idea.
"Sesshoumaru." Inuyasha growled.
"I have no patience for you right now, half-breed. I've come for them," Sess replied, looking at Valen and me. I was a little intimidated by him.
"I don't care what you have or don't have. I won't let you hurt anyone," Inuyasha said, drawing the Tetsusaiga. I smiled- he can be so cute when he's angry. Still, I couldn't let Inuyahsa start fighting again. It never ended well.
"It's okay, Inuyasha. Sesshie here has been helping us," I explained.
"Sesshoumaru doesn't help humans," Inuyasha replied.
"That's not entirely true. There was that one time when he brought Rin back to life. And we're demons, not humans. Deal with it." Sometimes the best way to talk to Inuyasha is with force.
Inuyasha just glared at his brother, who glared back. Then, Sess spoke. "Come. It's time to leave," he ordered.
"Do we have to?" Valen whined looking at Miroku. I felt the same way about leaving my guy.
"It would be best if we left now," Keia replied, glancing nervously around at the demon exterminators. I could tell she was a little worried that they would start attacking at any moment. I was more concerned about leaving Inuyasha than some –puny- humans.
"They may be demons, but I'm not letting you take them anywhere," I was offended by what Inuyasha said. He continued. "They stay with us."
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"How were you so sure we were the demons from the prophecy?" I asked Inuyasha, who was sitting across from me.
"You weren't human, and your clothes are even weirder than Kagome's." he replied. At the comment about her clothes, Kagome stood up.
"It's my school uniform, and it's not weird. Sit, boy!" she yelled, and he fell flat on his face. Val, Keia, and I simultaneously started laughing. What else could we do?
It was a rather awkward situation- Inuyasha and Sess were getting along. Gasp. Well, not perfectly, but they hadn't gone homicidal. Completely. We were all sitting around a fire, since Val had wanted one. I was sitting next to Kagome, who was by Sango. Inuyasha and Sess were as far away from each other as possible. We were talking about…everything. Inuyasha had known about Valen and me- Kaede had told hin about the prophecy a couple of days ago. She had sensed something, and guessed that we had arrived. Kagome persuaded(sat) Inuyasha to come and help us, and that's when we met them. Right now, I love my life.
"Will you stop doing that!" Inuyasha exclaimed. What was he so worked up over?
"If you stop insultin me," Kagome countered.
"Keh." Inuyasha sat back down in a more comfortable position Val and I just laughed more. It was –so- hilarious. Inuyasha glared at us.
"Well, it was funny. Especially after you insulted our clothes," I said, defending Valen and myself.
"It was pretty funny, Keia laughed. I silently thanked her for her support. Inuyahsa just crossed his arms and looked away.
"Anyway, what are we supposed to do exactly?" I asked, deliberately changing the subject. And I was actually wondering about that.
"The prophecy stated that two demons would come at a time when the world was in great peril. Together, they will defeat the ultimate evil youkai and preserve the world for another 500 years." Sesshoumaru explained. He sounded like he was quoting a textbook.
Keia said what I was thinking before I could. "That still doesn't explain what they have to –do-. AS in, how are they supposed to stop the demon, not what the prophecy says. Stop quoting books and think for yourself." Wow. She got two of my thoughts out in the open. And, as an added bonus, Sess looked like he would have killed her, if not for their past. It must have taken a lot not to.
"Books are better informants than the trees, Keia. At least I don't waste my time talking to flowers," Sesshoumaru countered in his usual monotone.
Keia looked like she was about to explode. " I may talk to flowers, but they know more than you'd think. And at least I'm not made of ice! I have actual emotions!"
"That's why I am stronger than you, Keia. Your kingdom will fall, and I'll be the one taking over. Your "emotions" don't allow you to accept things for what they really are. You're weaker than humans." Sesshoumaru shocked me. How could he talk to Keia like that? I thought they were in love, and now he is threatening her lands. Jerk.
I decided that it was time to butt in. "At least humans don't become extinct in the near future." I know –I- am a demon, but I still considered myself a human. "Youkai are only legends, things people mock on Halloween. Whatever you know about demons, Sesshoumaru, will be of no value. At least Keia is doing something that will benefit the world in a few years. Nothing you do will matter. Your life is pointless." I finished in an icy tone that would rival Sess's.
Sesshoumaru walked over to where I was sitting. I immediately stood up. I was too angry to be intimidated by him. Grr.
"What makes you think you can talk to me like that? You may be the demons from the prophecy, but prophecies can change. If what you said was true, then I really wouldn't care if the world was saved or not." He drew Toukijin, and pointed it at me, looking like he intended to use it. That's when I became scared. I also didn't feel like fighting then, so I did the smart thing.
"I don't have time for this right now," I said, stalking off. Sess didn't even follow me. How sweet is that? I walked for over ten minutes, then stopped in front of a tree. Then, like a perfectly civilized person, I started kicking and punching it. When I finished, I climbed the tree. I needed to sing.
Catch me as I fall
Say you're here and it's all over now
Speaking to the atmosphere
No one's here and I fall into myself
This truth drives me into madness
I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away
If I will it all away
(chorus)
Don't turn away
Don't try to hide
Don't close your eyes
Don't turn off the light
I'm frightened by what I see
But somehow I know that there's much more to come
Immobilized by my fear
And soon to be blinded by fear
I can stop the pain if I will it all away
If I will it all away
(chorus)
Fallen angels at my feet
Whispered voices at my ear
Death before my eyes
Lying next to me I fear
She beckons me shall I give in
Upon my end, shall I begin
Forsaking all I've fallen for I rise to meet the end
I omitted the last verse or so because I felt like it. I love that song. It's my favorite Evanescence song ever. I love the words, but I usually don't listen to it at night because of the creepy Latin chanting.
I was glad nobody came to find me. I needed to be alone and calm down. But it was too hot for comfort, so I lowered the temperature. It was easy, actually- freezing air was similar to freezing other things, but a lot easier. I yawned, and closed my eyes. Sleep was my second best anger management skill- hitting things was much better. With that thought, I fell unconscious.
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-Valen was arguing with Sess by the fire. She was yelling about how demons were idiotic and stupid. I couldn't understand the exact words, but I could easily tell that he was mad. Sess obviously said something really evil to offend Val, because she started screaming.
"I HATE YOU! YOU DESERVE TO BURN IN HELL!" As she finished, the trees erupted in flames. The fire formed a ring around them, reaching –extremely- high.
"What the hell did you do?!" Inuyasha yelled, looking at Val accusingly.
"I…I don't know. I was just angry."
"You stupid idiot! You don't even know how to control your powers! How the hell are you supoosed to help us?" Inuyasha was being a real jerk.
The flames were too high for Inuyasha or Sess to jump over, and Keia looked like she was sick. The humans were just staring at the fire. I expected Kiliala to transform, but she was unconscious. I guess she didn't like heat. It did not look good for them. –
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I woke up with a headache. The cause of it was clear enough- I had fallen out of the tree and hit my head on a root. My poor head. I didn't worry about it too much, because I needed to get back to the campsite- I had to prevent the vision.
I'm no track star- it usually takes me fifteen minutes to run the mile. But that night I ran faster than that one dude who won the Olympics in August. I had motovation- if I didn't get there in time, my friends would die. Though would that really be such a bad thing? Joking.
I felt sick to my stomach when I saw the fire. It was huge. I doubted anyone could survive that. Except someone who's immune to fire, however.
There's an idea! 'VALEN!" I mentally yelled to my friend on the other side of the fire. 'Come here!'
'How? I…I don't know how!' she sounded way too panicked. She would need to calm down if my plan was to work.
'Just walk through. I don't think the fire will hurt you,' I thought, telling her my theory.
'You THINK!!! That's not very reassuring, Kariko."
'Would you rather burn to death without trying anything?' I tried my best to reason with her. Apparently, she took what I said to heart, because she appeared a moment later.
"I guess my idea worked," I said.
"Yeah. But what do we do now?"
"Try calling the fire back, like when you fought the spider."
"IT's so much bigger, though," she said. Only then did I notice her tear-streaked face.
"Listen, Val. If you don't try, then everyone in there will die. Miroku will die. Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Sango, Kagome, and Shippou will die. It's just a fire- you can handle it."
Valen nodded. Then, she cancentrared on the fire, but nothing happened. I guess she was still way worked up. I don't blame her- the fight with Sess was still fresh, and she was really panicking. Plus, the temperature was high, and people's tempers are always worse when it's hot. Oh, another idea.
I cooled the air around us. In theory, it was supposed to calm Val down so she could stop the fire. It worked. The fire slowly disappeared as Val brought it back. I, for one, was relieved. Everyone was alive for now- other fights could wait till later.