Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi, (not me), created InuYasha.
Strange Interlude
Chapter Eleven
*
Birds chirped harmoniously. The trees blew gently in the morning breeze, the sun had just risen, and a teenage girl was sleeping blissfully in a cave.
She had fallen asleep quite easily, despite all that had happened. Her body and mind were just so tired; she couldn't help but to sleep.
It would still be a few more hours before she would get up and greet the new day. Maybe she would sing a few songs and sneak down the mountain and go exploring.
SLAM!
The wooden door burst open, banging against the stone wall.
Jennifer sat upright, suddenly very awake and aware. Standing in the doorway, arm outstretched, was Sesshomaru.
"Get up, Wench!" he shouted.
Jennifer stared back at him with puzzlement and fear.
"I said, 'Get up!'" he repeated, much quieter than before.
Jennifer got to her feet. The cold air met her skin and she shivered. She bent down to grab her blanket.
"What's this all abo---?" she began.
"No speaking," he commanded, coming farther into the room.
Sunlight streamed over him. Jennifer could see his emotionless face more clearly.
Her expression remained puzzled. She stared hard at Sesshomaru wondering what in the world was chaffing his butt.
"You lost the bet we made last night, so I have come to seek repayment," he said.
{The bet?} she thought, {Last night was a bet? What does he mean by repayment?}
"You are now nothing more to me than a slave." He spoke without conviction.
{Wait, was I ever anything more?}
"Now, get started! You have a lot to do."
***
My hand gripped the rag and soaked it in the wash bucket. I brought it out and scrubbed viciously at the wall. The wall, being rough stone, did not accept my frustrated attempt to clean it and in turn only ruined my rag.
I wondered...Why exactly was Sesshomaru making me clean the cave. This morning he sounded awfully mad, but his face was vacant. How could what happened last night affect him so?
I sighed as another hole was ripped in my washrag. Annoyed at the impossibility that was this task, I threw down the rag and with my forearm, wiped away my sweat and the hair that had fallen from my ponytail.
I looked out toward the brightness of day and peered through the sunlight at the outside world.
It was such a beautiful day...
I turned back to my bucket of dirty water and torn rag. It was going to be a long day...AND I had a whole house to clean.
It took a couple of hours but I finally finished cleaning the walls of the main chamber and had started to clean the side rooms. I wiped down the empty room on the far right. I dusted all the armor and weapons of the second. I was about to enter the third when I came to a realization.
There, right in front of me, was the door to Sesshomaru's room. This door, though only a simple wooden door, was the gateway to the mysterious and almost holy abode of my keeper, Sesshomaru. Through all my stay here, I had only twice even come near the place--when first I had arrived and I was exploring, and that one time Sesshomaru had allowed my entrance.
It was here that I was faced with a dilemma. To go in, or not to go in, that was the question. Sesshomaru had given me instruction to clean the entire house. Wouldn't that give me excuse enough to go in?
I decided that it was permission enough. Besides, there was always the chance that the door would be locked. So I put my hand to the door and to my surprise it moved and opened.
The oil lamps suddenly lit as if anticipating my entrance. I gasped and shuddered, then cautiously entered the room. I knew there was no need for me to be hush-hush about it, but, being the holy place that Sesshomaru's room was, I couldn't help but fear getting caught.
Memories of that day and his story rushed back to me as I walked down the long hallway. How Sesshomaru's magic had turned on the lamps, the strange behavior he had exhibited during the retell of his story...
The story...I had never given that story much salt. Did what he say happen really happen? So strange was his story, and so different.
The hall widened and the familiar smell of Sesshomaru rushed to my nose. Nothing in the Sengoku Era smelled good. Everything stunk and was dirty, but this room smelled so...nice.
I decided to take a moment to rest. I moved to his great bed and making sure none of my wet clothes would defile his sheets, I sat down.
This was all too much. I've been here, what, two months now and I've already almost forgotten my life on the other side. Two months is a long time to be away; I wondered what the others were all doing without me. I wondered what my friends and family back home would say when they heard the news.
"I'm sorry Ms. Reeves. We lost your daughter to a well in Japan."
I could only imagine the reaction. My mom would die of a broken heart. But what if they knew I was here, in the past? What would they think then? Jennifer in the Feudal Era. Now there was a thought Haley and my sister would love...
I looked down at myself--a crappy cloth apron over an already filthy silk dress. (Why'd I have to get all that fancy stuff? I cursed myself.) Some cool trip this has been!
I let my eyes wander around the room. The tapestries, the furs were all as I had remembered it.
I stretched and stood. Well, that was nice, but it was time to get back to cleaning.
I reached for my bucket and gazed at the water's murky surface, hoping to see my reflection. The water glared blankly at me.
Now how was I going to clean? The water's too dirty! I felt a slight tingle in my arm as I reached down into the wash bucket.
The instant my fingers touched the cool, brown water my shoulder spasmed and the dirty water began to swirl around in the bucket. It began to dissolve, and a few seconds later, became clear.
My reflection stared back at me in disbelief. I reached into the crystal clear water and pulled out the rag, to ring it out and check for dirt. It was still torn, but its water also ringed out clean.
Could it be that the jewel shard in my arm had purified the water?
I did not doubt it. I had almost forgotten about the little pink gem on that small-banded ring that rested in-between my shoulder blade and collarbone. I had almost forgotten Kenji, the man who rescued me from bleeding to death and putting that jeweled ring in my shoulder. And as impossible as it seems I had truly forgotten that that wound was given to me by Sesshomaru himself.
I pulled down my sleeve and felt around the scar where the once gaping hole had been. Amazing how that was all that was left
But I thought...if the jewel was magical--both cursed and blessed, dealing out pain and medicine, then how in the hands of a mere human could its strength be used?
I pondered this question until I finally gave up searching for an answer and instead moved to experimenting with my power. Would not my cleaning be eons faster if I could control the jewel's power?
I had to find out, so I walked over to the nearest wall and touched it with my left fore finger. I concentrated on the stone and willed it to be clean. Only after a few seconds of nothing happening was I on the verge of giving up. I sighed and removed my finger from the stone gray wall.
Having resigned myself to manually cleaning the wall, I bent down to grab the shredded rag. Upon standing upright, my eyes did a double take as I noticed a strange white mark in the center of the wall. It was in the shape of the finger that I had just removed.
It was strange that I had not noticed it when I had removing my finger it was--as if it had just appeared. The mark was clearly that of the imprint of my finger, so I determined that the jewel shard had to have done it.
I moved closer to touch the mark--to test if the area had really been cleaned. The fingerprint-sized area suddenly grew and spread over the wall.
Startled, I took several steps back and watched the jewel's magic work. It took less than thirty seconds to cover the entire wall. The dull gray stone was transformed to a brilliant white.
Amazed at my newfound ability, I went about the rest of the room, touching the walls and floor, watching them slowly turn clean and white.
I came to a stop at a door in the back of Sesshomaru's great room. A thick tapestry hung over the doorframe. In curiosity I moved the deep-red tapestry aside and found a whole other room beyond it.
A small amount of light from the main room shone through and with that I found the lamp. I lit it and as the room became easier to see I was surprised what was before me.
It was a closet! A gigantic closet filled with rows and rows of draped clothing. I noticed some white and a little bit of red. I walked up to one of the racks and pulled one off.
I nearly laughed. They were all the same white and red shirt and pants Sesshomaru always wore. It seemed like something out of a cartoon-- the ones where the characters wear the same clothes and have closets full of them.
Continuing to hold the shirt, I walked farther into the closet and picked up a pair of his long pants.
Yep! All the same! The strange guy...
I held out the outfit of his in front of me. It was kind of nice, and it was soft to the touch--Sesshomaru sure did look nice in it!
A smile curled up my face. I wondered how I might look in it. I giggled and blushed at the thought of me in another man's clothing. ((Think dirty...))
Without a further moments hesitation I threw off my clothes and slipped on his.
So soft and loose...
Finding a sash, I tied up my pants and went out of the closet to a find a mirror to look myself over in. I found a full-length mirror on the other side of the bed.
Hey, I look pretty cute. I twirled around real fast and watched the long, wide cloth flow about me. The legs and arms were a little too long, but the flowy bulk looked kind of graceful.
Part of me became satisfied with having tried on the robes and wanted for me to take them off. But Sesshomaru wasn't going to be home for at least four more hours. Why not have a little fun?
Tucking in my sleeves, I marched out of the clean, white room in the dark, gray main chamber.
I sighed at my previous attempt at cleaning and with one touch of my left index finger the dull gray/brown wall before me became a spotless white wall. I smiled at my newfound ability and skipped merrily through the house, cleansing the cave walls and floors and I went. To get the ceiling I jumped up to touch a low-hanging stalactite. The 'white' ran up the tall spire to the enormously high roof above me.
I watched all the different 'white' movements converge together, making the house totally clean.
"There!" I panted. The hours I would have spent cleaning was reduced, but at a great price. The magic had really taken a toll on my energy, and I felt really weak. I went to sit down.
Now that I was done with all my 'chores' I could do whatever I wanted.
But, when I started to think of my options, I came up practically empty.
What could I do? I was a prisoner here.
Suddenly feeling very depressed, I got up and wandered out of the cave to stare at the outside world, from which I was condemned never to visit again.
How I wished I could be anywhere other than here! How I wished I had never jumped down in the well in the first place!
I sat at the mountain's edge and let my feet dangle off the side.
Why had I been so stupid? This was nothing like I had wanted to do in Japan's Feudal Era! I wished I could go home.
{I'm so tired...of this...of this monotony,} I thought. {I feel like I could go to sleep forever...}
...
{At least I'm in Sesshomaru's clothes.}
Snuggling onto my side, I buried my face into the folds of his/my sleeve. Legs still dangling off, I began to dream of home.
~!@#$%^&*()_+~!@#$%^&*()_+~!@#$%^&*()_+~!@#$%^&*()_+~!@#$%^&*()_+~!@#$%^&*() _+~!@#$%^&*()_+
A/N: SO SORRY it has taken this long. I'm ashamed of myself. I've had a lot of stuff to do...I've to get re-settled and had lots of schoolwork to get used to. It didn't help either that I got Final Fantasy X for Christmas; I've been playing that instead of typing fanfiction and taking care of my other responsibilities.
I got a bonsai for Christmas too...He got dehydrated on the first day! The window in my room gets the most sun and my poor bonsai went dry and lost most of its leaves. (It's and Austrian Cherry, and not the traditional Japanese bonsai you guys may be thinking about.) He's feeling better now, though. He's got some new leaves and is enjoying his spot on top of my bookcase.
Well, China was totally awesome. I went with a group of 9 students from my Chinese class and two teachers. We spent three weeks living with host families in a city on the southern coast of China near Vietnam. It was called Beihai (translation: North Sea) I had lots of fun. We went on scheduled day and field trips, and sometimes went to class with our host brothers or sisters. School is very different from the way Americans do it. They start school at 7:45 am. first is morning Exercises, then classes commence until noon. At noon the students go home to eat lunch with their families and take a nap. (INSTITUTIONALIZED NAP TIME!!!!) They return to school at 2:45 pm and classes continue until 5:30 pm. Then, the students go home to have supper with the family. After that the high school students usually return to school for night study which can last until 10:30 pm. They are very dedicated to their studies, unlike most Americans.
To make a long three-week story short I had lots of fun with my friends in Beihai. Made some awesome friends who loved anime. Shoutout to Vivi! Got a lot of souvenirs and partied hard in Beijing (Note to Jenny/DIT: and you thought the alcoholic eggnog bit in the Cousin was crazy fun!)
Please Review, and thanks for being patient with me. I can't promise anything, but I'll try to type out the next chapter as quick as I can.
A chapter for Miroku's Mask may go up soon too. I haven't found page five yet, but I remember what happens well enough. Once it's up you all should definitely read it. It's hella hilarious! Once all four chapters are up, I swear you'll bust your gut reading them.
~Thanks so much~
Trinity-33
*
Strange Interlude
Chapter Eleven
*
Birds chirped harmoniously. The trees blew gently in the morning breeze, the sun had just risen, and a teenage girl was sleeping blissfully in a cave.
She had fallen asleep quite easily, despite all that had happened. Her body and mind were just so tired; she couldn't help but to sleep.
It would still be a few more hours before she would get up and greet the new day. Maybe she would sing a few songs and sneak down the mountain and go exploring.
SLAM!
The wooden door burst open, banging against the stone wall.
Jennifer sat upright, suddenly very awake and aware. Standing in the doorway, arm outstretched, was Sesshomaru.
"Get up, Wench!" he shouted.
Jennifer stared back at him with puzzlement and fear.
"I said, 'Get up!'" he repeated, much quieter than before.
Jennifer got to her feet. The cold air met her skin and she shivered. She bent down to grab her blanket.
"What's this all abo---?" she began.
"No speaking," he commanded, coming farther into the room.
Sunlight streamed over him. Jennifer could see his emotionless face more clearly.
Her expression remained puzzled. She stared hard at Sesshomaru wondering what in the world was chaffing his butt.
"You lost the bet we made last night, so I have come to seek repayment," he said.
{The bet?} she thought, {Last night was a bet? What does he mean by repayment?}
"You are now nothing more to me than a slave." He spoke without conviction.
{Wait, was I ever anything more?}
"Now, get started! You have a lot to do."
***
My hand gripped the rag and soaked it in the wash bucket. I brought it out and scrubbed viciously at the wall. The wall, being rough stone, did not accept my frustrated attempt to clean it and in turn only ruined my rag.
I wondered...Why exactly was Sesshomaru making me clean the cave. This morning he sounded awfully mad, but his face was vacant. How could what happened last night affect him so?
I sighed as another hole was ripped in my washrag. Annoyed at the impossibility that was this task, I threw down the rag and with my forearm, wiped away my sweat and the hair that had fallen from my ponytail.
I looked out toward the brightness of day and peered through the sunlight at the outside world.
It was such a beautiful day...
I turned back to my bucket of dirty water and torn rag. It was going to be a long day...AND I had a whole house to clean.
It took a couple of hours but I finally finished cleaning the walls of the main chamber and had started to clean the side rooms. I wiped down the empty room on the far right. I dusted all the armor and weapons of the second. I was about to enter the third when I came to a realization.
There, right in front of me, was the door to Sesshomaru's room. This door, though only a simple wooden door, was the gateway to the mysterious and almost holy abode of my keeper, Sesshomaru. Through all my stay here, I had only twice even come near the place--when first I had arrived and I was exploring, and that one time Sesshomaru had allowed my entrance.
It was here that I was faced with a dilemma. To go in, or not to go in, that was the question. Sesshomaru had given me instruction to clean the entire house. Wouldn't that give me excuse enough to go in?
I decided that it was permission enough. Besides, there was always the chance that the door would be locked. So I put my hand to the door and to my surprise it moved and opened.
The oil lamps suddenly lit as if anticipating my entrance. I gasped and shuddered, then cautiously entered the room. I knew there was no need for me to be hush-hush about it, but, being the holy place that Sesshomaru's room was, I couldn't help but fear getting caught.
Memories of that day and his story rushed back to me as I walked down the long hallway. How Sesshomaru's magic had turned on the lamps, the strange behavior he had exhibited during the retell of his story...
The story...I had never given that story much salt. Did what he say happen really happen? So strange was his story, and so different.
The hall widened and the familiar smell of Sesshomaru rushed to my nose. Nothing in the Sengoku Era smelled good. Everything stunk and was dirty, but this room smelled so...nice.
I decided to take a moment to rest. I moved to his great bed and making sure none of my wet clothes would defile his sheets, I sat down.
This was all too much. I've been here, what, two months now and I've already almost forgotten my life on the other side. Two months is a long time to be away; I wondered what the others were all doing without me. I wondered what my friends and family back home would say when they heard the news.
"I'm sorry Ms. Reeves. We lost your daughter to a well in Japan."
I could only imagine the reaction. My mom would die of a broken heart. But what if they knew I was here, in the past? What would they think then? Jennifer in the Feudal Era. Now there was a thought Haley and my sister would love...
I looked down at myself--a crappy cloth apron over an already filthy silk dress. (Why'd I have to get all that fancy stuff? I cursed myself.) Some cool trip this has been!
I let my eyes wander around the room. The tapestries, the furs were all as I had remembered it.
I stretched and stood. Well, that was nice, but it was time to get back to cleaning.
I reached for my bucket and gazed at the water's murky surface, hoping to see my reflection. The water glared blankly at me.
Now how was I going to clean? The water's too dirty! I felt a slight tingle in my arm as I reached down into the wash bucket.
The instant my fingers touched the cool, brown water my shoulder spasmed and the dirty water began to swirl around in the bucket. It began to dissolve, and a few seconds later, became clear.
My reflection stared back at me in disbelief. I reached into the crystal clear water and pulled out the rag, to ring it out and check for dirt. It was still torn, but its water also ringed out clean.
Could it be that the jewel shard in my arm had purified the water?
I did not doubt it. I had almost forgotten about the little pink gem on that small-banded ring that rested in-between my shoulder blade and collarbone. I had almost forgotten Kenji, the man who rescued me from bleeding to death and putting that jeweled ring in my shoulder. And as impossible as it seems I had truly forgotten that that wound was given to me by Sesshomaru himself.
I pulled down my sleeve and felt around the scar where the once gaping hole had been. Amazing how that was all that was left
But I thought...if the jewel was magical--both cursed and blessed, dealing out pain and medicine, then how in the hands of a mere human could its strength be used?
I pondered this question until I finally gave up searching for an answer and instead moved to experimenting with my power. Would not my cleaning be eons faster if I could control the jewel's power?
I had to find out, so I walked over to the nearest wall and touched it with my left fore finger. I concentrated on the stone and willed it to be clean. Only after a few seconds of nothing happening was I on the verge of giving up. I sighed and removed my finger from the stone gray wall.
Having resigned myself to manually cleaning the wall, I bent down to grab the shredded rag. Upon standing upright, my eyes did a double take as I noticed a strange white mark in the center of the wall. It was in the shape of the finger that I had just removed.
It was strange that I had not noticed it when I had removing my finger it was--as if it had just appeared. The mark was clearly that of the imprint of my finger, so I determined that the jewel shard had to have done it.
I moved closer to touch the mark--to test if the area had really been cleaned. The fingerprint-sized area suddenly grew and spread over the wall.
Startled, I took several steps back and watched the jewel's magic work. It took less than thirty seconds to cover the entire wall. The dull gray stone was transformed to a brilliant white.
Amazed at my newfound ability, I went about the rest of the room, touching the walls and floor, watching them slowly turn clean and white.
I came to a stop at a door in the back of Sesshomaru's great room. A thick tapestry hung over the doorframe. In curiosity I moved the deep-red tapestry aside and found a whole other room beyond it.
A small amount of light from the main room shone through and with that I found the lamp. I lit it and as the room became easier to see I was surprised what was before me.
It was a closet! A gigantic closet filled with rows and rows of draped clothing. I noticed some white and a little bit of red. I walked up to one of the racks and pulled one off.
I nearly laughed. They were all the same white and red shirt and pants Sesshomaru always wore. It seemed like something out of a cartoon-- the ones where the characters wear the same clothes and have closets full of them.
Continuing to hold the shirt, I walked farther into the closet and picked up a pair of his long pants.
Yep! All the same! The strange guy...
I held out the outfit of his in front of me. It was kind of nice, and it was soft to the touch--Sesshomaru sure did look nice in it!
A smile curled up my face. I wondered how I might look in it. I giggled and blushed at the thought of me in another man's clothing. ((Think dirty...))
Without a further moments hesitation I threw off my clothes and slipped on his.
So soft and loose...
Finding a sash, I tied up my pants and went out of the closet to a find a mirror to look myself over in. I found a full-length mirror on the other side of the bed.
Hey, I look pretty cute. I twirled around real fast and watched the long, wide cloth flow about me. The legs and arms were a little too long, but the flowy bulk looked kind of graceful.
Part of me became satisfied with having tried on the robes and wanted for me to take them off. But Sesshomaru wasn't going to be home for at least four more hours. Why not have a little fun?
Tucking in my sleeves, I marched out of the clean, white room in the dark, gray main chamber.
I sighed at my previous attempt at cleaning and with one touch of my left index finger the dull gray/brown wall before me became a spotless white wall. I smiled at my newfound ability and skipped merrily through the house, cleansing the cave walls and floors and I went. To get the ceiling I jumped up to touch a low-hanging stalactite. The 'white' ran up the tall spire to the enormously high roof above me.
I watched all the different 'white' movements converge together, making the house totally clean.
"There!" I panted. The hours I would have spent cleaning was reduced, but at a great price. The magic had really taken a toll on my energy, and I felt really weak. I went to sit down.
Now that I was done with all my 'chores' I could do whatever I wanted.
But, when I started to think of my options, I came up practically empty.
What could I do? I was a prisoner here.
Suddenly feeling very depressed, I got up and wandered out of the cave to stare at the outside world, from which I was condemned never to visit again.
How I wished I could be anywhere other than here! How I wished I had never jumped down in the well in the first place!
I sat at the mountain's edge and let my feet dangle off the side.
Why had I been so stupid? This was nothing like I had wanted to do in Japan's Feudal Era! I wished I could go home.
{I'm so tired...of this...of this monotony,} I thought. {I feel like I could go to sleep forever...}
...
{At least I'm in Sesshomaru's clothes.}
Snuggling onto my side, I buried my face into the folds of his/my sleeve. Legs still dangling off, I began to dream of home.
~!@#$%^&*()_+~!@#$%^&*()_+~!@#$%^&*()_+~!@#$%^&*()_+~!@#$%^&*()_+~!@#$%^&*() _+~!@#$%^&*()_+
A/N: SO SORRY it has taken this long. I'm ashamed of myself. I've had a lot of stuff to do...I've to get re-settled and had lots of schoolwork to get used to. It didn't help either that I got Final Fantasy X for Christmas; I've been playing that instead of typing fanfiction and taking care of my other responsibilities.
I got a bonsai for Christmas too...He got dehydrated on the first day! The window in my room gets the most sun and my poor bonsai went dry and lost most of its leaves. (It's and Austrian Cherry, and not the traditional Japanese bonsai you guys may be thinking about.) He's feeling better now, though. He's got some new leaves and is enjoying his spot on top of my bookcase.
Well, China was totally awesome. I went with a group of 9 students from my Chinese class and two teachers. We spent three weeks living with host families in a city on the southern coast of China near Vietnam. It was called Beihai (translation: North Sea) I had lots of fun. We went on scheduled day and field trips, and sometimes went to class with our host brothers or sisters. School is very different from the way Americans do it. They start school at 7:45 am. first is morning Exercises, then classes commence until noon. At noon the students go home to eat lunch with their families and take a nap. (INSTITUTIONALIZED NAP TIME!!!!) They return to school at 2:45 pm and classes continue until 5:30 pm. Then, the students go home to have supper with the family. After that the high school students usually return to school for night study which can last until 10:30 pm. They are very dedicated to their studies, unlike most Americans.
To make a long three-week story short I had lots of fun with my friends in Beihai. Made some awesome friends who loved anime. Shoutout to Vivi! Got a lot of souvenirs and partied hard in Beijing (Note to Jenny/DIT: and you thought the alcoholic eggnog bit in the Cousin was crazy fun!)
Please Review, and thanks for being patient with me. I can't promise anything, but I'll try to type out the next chapter as quick as I can.
A chapter for Miroku's Mask may go up soon too. I haven't found page five yet, but I remember what happens well enough. Once it's up you all should definitely read it. It's hella hilarious! Once all four chapters are up, I swear you'll bust your gut reading them.
~Thanks so much~
Trinity-33
*