Love beyond the Western Lands
Chapter 17: Kirei's Motives
4 days later…
Riko, Sesshoumaru and Kikyou chatted as they walked down the snowy winding roads. However, Kikyou was still occupied with Kirei and did not speak much of the way. "What confuses me," Kikyou thought as she walked, "is how Riko could not sense that Jaki… is Kirei a youkai of nihility like Kanna (Remember in the episode where Inuyasha and the group met Koharu and then could not sense any youkai until the saw Kanna? Kanna is a youkai of nihility, so she did not have a scent and could not be sensed.)? Her Jaki… her Jaki was not heavy like Naraku's… so what could she be?"
"Kikyou?" Riko said. "Are you alright? You seem quite occupied." "No, I'm fine," Kikyou said, smiling. "Oh…" Riko said. "I'm… afraid I have not been quite honest with the both of you. I… I'm a tennyo (Heavenly maiden)."
Sesshoumaru and Kikyou's heads quickly perked up. "HUH?" they exclaimed. Riko chuckled. "Uh heh heh… I'm a tennyo… a youkai tennyo." "Wow," Kikyou said. Sesshoumaru was silent. They soon chatted on how Riko became a tennyo. "A youkai tennyo," Riko said, "is very unusual. For many youkai tend to have a craving for killing, so therefore, there are not much youkai that are tennyos."
Soon, they came upon a man and a woman. "Give me your money!" the man yelled, grasping a dagger. "N-no! I… I don't have any!" the woman screamed. "Give me your money!" he said again, menacingly. The woman tried to flee, but her long hair was grasped by the man. "AAIH! N… no! LET ME GO!" the woman screamed. Sesshoumaru spoke up first. "Hey!" he yelled. "What is going on here?" "Go mind you own business, greenhorn!" the man said. Sesshoumaru sped behind the man. "Who are you calling greenhorn?" Sesshoumaru whispered dangerously. The man flinched and spun around, holding the woman like a shield and held the dagger to her neck. "D… don't hurt me!" he stuttered. "Or… or you'll have this woman's death on your conscience!" "No! Please!" the woman screamed. Sesshoumaru scoffed and smirked. He cracked his knuckles and claws stuck out even more. He raised his hand to strike. Riko and Kikyou dashed towards the man and woman. Riko did a chop to the back of his neck. Kikyou paralyzed the man from moving. Sesshoumaru then put his hand down. The woman was dazed.
"Miss, what did you owe this man?" Kikyou said, as the man continued to curse. "I… I did not owe him anything!" the woman said. "He was my close friend I met in my clan." "What clan are you from?" Sesshoumaru asked. "The Moritamo clan (Again, this stuff is made up)," the woman said. "I am Karu Moritamo. This is Toma Moritamo." Kikyou smacked Tomo on the face.
"Tell me, Toma," Kikyou said. "If you are her close friend, why did you attack her, demanding money?" But then, Kikyou sensed something. Toma began to cackle. "What you don't know is that I am the son of the Moritamo clan's leaders, Tomoe Moritamo and Kamaro Moritamo. This wench has been taking our money, and not returning it!" "That is not true!" Karu exclaimed. "I only asked for money once. It's just that I had not paid all of it back yet." "Well, here's what you can do," Riko said. "Why don't you go back to the clan, Toma? Then Karu can go to the nearest village, get a job and then go back to your clan." "Yes," that's a good idea," Riko said. "But, how are we going to do that?" Sesshoumaru said. Kikyou smiled. "Simple." She got up and slung an arrow on her cherrywood bow.
"Karu," Kikyou said. "Stand before me. I assure you this arrow will not harm you." Karu stood in front of Kikyou as Kikyou aimed. "Arrow of teleportation," Kikyou said. The arrow pulsed. Another bow appeared in Karu's hand.
"W-what's this?" she asked curiously. "That bow will be another person to fire at you takes you back to the Moritamo clan. Just concentrate hard on where you want to go. Get ready to catch this arrow!" Karu gasped as the arrow soared. She caught the arrow just before it pierced her shoulder. "Wow," Karu whispered with amazement. With a flash of light, she disappeared.
"Let's continue on," Kikyou said. The three began to walk, but Toma's agitated voice stopped them. "HEY! HEY! BAKA DANA (It's pronounced Dah-nah, not day-nah!)!" he screamed. "ARE YOU GONNA JUST LEAVE ME HERE!"
Kikyou walked back to him. Everyone thought that Toma was going to get hit by Kikyou's bow or smacked by her katana's flat side, but she did neither. She knelt beside him and held out two fingers and brought them to his forehead. She tapped it lightly as Toma's body turned into a ghostly blue-gray. He began to close his eyes. "That should shut you up for a while," Kikyou said. She got up and got back to Sesshoumaru's side. They began to walk. She turned looked over her shoulder and saw she forgot something crucial. Kikyou turned around and waved her arm. A darker shade of blue-gray blew off Toma's body like a cloak of dust.
Meanwhile, in Naraku's castle…
Kayorei woke up in the middle of the night. Naraku was asleep in a futon close next to her. "I should check up on Aoi," Kayorei said. She got out of the futon and put on her silky cloak. She walked over to her makeup table and picked up a red spike choker and put it on. "This'll protect me from Aoi," Kayorei said as she slid her tanto in her obi. This one was a little longer. She made towards the door. Naraku stirred in his sleep. Kayorei smiled and continued to walk down the stairs. "Aoi's power is growing day by day, night by night. If the shard gives her more power than we expect, she should have some sort of enchanted jewelry which can restrain her."
When she reached the dungeon room where Aoi was held, she took a small stone from her cloak's pocket. Aoi had the same glow, only it was not as dark. The black hovered around close to Aoi's skin, slowly turning gray and the purple was thinning out. Aoi was asleep… or was she? Kayorei walked 5 feet in front of Aoi. She tossed the stone with good strength and grace. It bounced off the walls as it hit them, and through the links of the chains. Before Aoi even woke up, the stone stopped. It hovered in the air. Aoi's eyes flew open. Anger and hate rested in them. The stone crumbled into little pointed pieces.
"Just what do you think I am?" Aoi said, as the points sharpened. "Some foolish girl who shall just follow your little group? Well, your wrong!" The stone tips sped at Kayorei, but were never able to reach her. "W-what?" Aoi said, aghast, raising her head higher. "Perfect," Kayorei thought. Three of the sharpest yet small tips soared directly back to Aoi. The three hit her neck. "AAIGH!" Aoi shrieked. The tips sunk in. "Ugh… Naraku… he told you to do this?" "Wrong, Aoi," Kayorei said. "I did this of my own accord." She gave a low laugh. "Do you feel empty, Aoi-Chan?" Kayorei said, walking closer to Aoi. Kayorei read Aoi's thoughts immediately. "Now that you think about it," Aoi thought, "I do feel blank..." "Ahahahaha," Kayorei giggled. "So it was been going on even as we speak…" "What!" Aoi said, thrashing. "What is?"
"Calm yourself, greenhorn," Kayorei said, clenching a fist. The shards in Aoi's neck glowed black. Aoi screamed from the sudden pain. "After that shard has been inserted in you," Kayorei began, "your heart has been growing smaller by the day as it is growing bigger in Naraku's powerful hands. In 3 months, your heart will already be in his hands."
Aoi could not believe what was just said. Kayorei smiled and bowed. "Good night," she said mysteriously, but cruel and walked up the steps. As she closed the dungeon door, she heard sniffling and two tears sliding down Aoi's face.
Meanwhile, Kirei was in the village…
Kirei crushed some herbs and seeds together with a pestle and mortar. "That woman," she thought to herself. "She sensed my Jaki… but… Riko… how could she not sense it?" Kirei finished grinding and added 10 drops of water and stirred it together, making it an earthy smelling paste. She sat at her mirror, reflecting back her beautiful navy hair and shimmering blue eyes.
Kirei began to put on her makeup. "I must kill her," she said softly to herself. "In 5 more months, I will need to seek a new vessel to reside in, and I love this one the best. That woman… Kikyou… she seems quite beautiful…" Kirei smiled cruelly. "…Yes… I will take her body after she dies…" She began to cackle.
Kirei walked over to a rack which held a black katana. "This…" she thought in her head. "…is my ultimate weapon. The beautiful Jaki that surrounds it powers me so much. My life is this katana's Jaki… it can't be purified or I shall be wiped off the face of the earth and this vessel will return to its neutral state." Kirei picked up the katana. It glowed the most gothic shades. The Jaki surrounding Kirei suddenly intensified. "I have made my decision: 1 week from now, Kikyou shall DIE!" she thought.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha and the gang seeking a new shard…
A huge spider youkai spat out it's spinnerets at the gang. Sango leapt up into the air. "Hiraikotsu!" she yelled as she tossed the bone-boomerang. It sliced one of the legs off then sliced off two more as it came back. Kagome slung an arrow. "Please let it hit!" she pleaded. She shot the arrow and it soared to the youkai's red eyes. It shrieked in pain. "It hit!" Kagome said triumphantly. Shippou jumped in the air. "FOX FIRE!" he yelled. Blue fire appeared and landed on the youkai, making him flinch. Miroku ran in front of the now wild youkai and threw his staff. It stabbed in the head. "TETSUSAIGA!" Inuyasha screamed. He jumped into the air and swung Tetsusaiga. A golden glow emanated from the slash in the spider youkai. "There it is!" Kagome exclaimed. She pointed to a shiny pink speck. Sango caught it and handed it to Kagome. "Thanks, Sango!" Kagome exclaimed. She then looked at Inuyasha, whose head was bowed.
"Inuyasha still had a huge impact from that battle," Kagome thought. "When will he get over it?" "Kagome," Sango said. "We should get going." "Hmm?" Kagome said. "Yeah, okay." "Move out!" Miroku yelled.
It was nightfall and snow fell once again on the group of three. Kikyou put up a barrier that would keep everyone dry from the snow. Riko conjured a fire that can still burn in wetness. Sesshoumaru had returned form hunting and brought back a deer. Kikyou skinned the animal with her powers. "I'll make a blanket out of its fur," Kikyou thought. "Riko," Kikyou said. "Can you please cook the meat? And give me the bones please." "Of course, Kikyou," Riko said, smiling. She began to roast the meat over the fire. Kikyou finished cleaning the skin just as Riko gave Kikyou the bones. Kikyou put the skin in her mental memory and got up. "I will be going to the creek to wash the bones," Kikyou said. "I'll be right back." Sesshoumaru nodded and took out Toukijin and began to polish it (Once again, stuff is made up).
Kikyou arrived at the shore of the creek. She levitated the bones and bathed them in the creek. After bathing them, Kikyou dried the bones with a warm aura. Then, she blessed them so the deer shall rest in peace. She walked back to camp and buried the bones. After having a delicious dinner, they decided to sleep. Sesshoumaru slept close to Kikyou and Riko slept in front of the couple. But the restful sleep they thought they would get never came. A cold, rough, strong wind swept up. The three immediately woke up.
The fire that warmed them went out. A strong shot of wind landed a few yards in front of them. When the winds were thinning out, Kikyou saw a familiar face in the twister. "Kirei," Kikyou thought. "The Jaki is stronger than ever…" The winds have totally dispersed. Kirei drew her katana. "Die, Kikyou!" Kirei yelled.
To be continued…
