Okay, kiddos, here's chapter four. I must say, the chapters will come along much faster when summer starts. For now, I only get time to write between classes and papers and play practice and whatnot. It sucks, but what are you gonna do? On the bright side, I was accepted to the University of Hawai'i for next year! I'll be a bonified Hawai'i girl yet. Now if someone could just teach me to surf...
Thanks again to Sashlea, she is fantastic.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
~ Romancing the Stone
Trees surrounded her, and it was raining, droplets throwing up fine mist as they hit the earth. Despite that, it was eerily silent. The only sound was a chord that hummed through the air, something familiar but nameless. It was night, and the shimmer of the full moon created a path in front of her. Naturally, she followed it.
It led to a woman all in white. She stood calm and serene, just waiting for Kagome to reach her, smiling slightly. The moon focused its luminosity on her in a single beam. As she came closer, Kagome realized that the woman wasn't wearing white, but that she was white. Not a trace of color touched her anywhere. She was dressed in traditional armor and had long, straight hair to her waist.
"Hello Kagome." It wasn't so much a voice as music shaped into words. Kagome had never heard anything like it.
"Hello."
"Let us talk." The woman held out a hand and Kagome took it. Instantly she was on a beach with the ocean water rushing over her bare feet. It was still night and still raining, and the woman was pointing out over the water. "I have something that you're going to need."
Something twinkled at her through the dark and drizzle like a star, and she felt something smooth drop into her hand. She looked down to see a pink jewel, slightly larger then a marble, sitting in her palm. The jewel glowed and put off heat, warming her fingers. She looked back up at the woman.
"That is the Shikon no Tama." The woman moved forward to lay her colorless hand over Kagome's, sandwiching the jewel between them. The stone flared at the contact. "It will protect you."
"From what?"
The woman smiled again and moved away. "You have a destiny Kagome, and unfortunately, adversity is a part of that destiny."
Kagome was confused, but in the slow and insignificant way of a dream. "Who are you?"
"Midoriko."
Kagome sat up abruptly and felt the stitches pull in her skin. It was still dark outside, and her own harsh breathing filled the room. Shaking her head firmly, she took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.
"Strange…" What kind of a dream was that?
Her shoulder was stiff, but healing. It had bled through the bandage sometime in the night, and she was going to have to change it herself to avoid any awkward questions.
When she swung her leg over the bed to get up, something caught in the sleeve of her nightshirt and pulled around her neck. She reached up with her good arm and her fingers met a chain that hadn't been there when she'd gone to sleep. She pulled on it and dragged out a small, round stone that hung at the end, throwing pink rainbows across the far wall.
The Shikon no Tama.
~
The scroll was so aged and discolored, Miroku was afraid to touch it, lest it crumble to dust under his touch. Everyone else was off tending to the wounded and catching up on some much needed sleep. Kohaku's attack had prompted the teachers to suspend classes for the next day, in order to give everyone some much needed recovery time. Miroku couldn't have slept even if he wanted to, despite the predawn hour.
"So, this is what he was after?"
Sango nodded at him and carefully rolled the scroll back up. "Have you ever heard of the Shikon No Tama?"
"No."
"It was a magical jewel that amplified the power of anyone who owned it by ten. It disappeared at least a hundred years ago; but, while it remained on this earth, my village protected the jewel. This scroll contains the secrets of the jewel's nature. If this scroll fell into the wrong hands, someone could re-create a similar stone for their own ends. I took it with me when-" She cut herself off abruptly and turned away from him, busying herself with putting the scroll back in the locked chest in the corner of the room.
Miroku was no fool. He understood Sango was not ready to talk about what had happened with her family, or about her brother. "So, are you hungry?"
~
"I need your help." Inuyahsa's eyebrows rose in surprise, but he merely stepped aside to let her in.
Kagome didn't know what to do and since Kouga was still with their Highnesses, and she sure as hell wasn't about to go to Naraku, the only person left that she could think of was the dog youkai. So, she had retraced her footsteps from the night he had showed her home after kidnapping her. The room he lived in was in the back of a bar called "The Sengoku Jidai," and she could just hear the drunks breaking out into a round of "I Am Henry the VIII." She entertained the idea of saying something about it being awfully early in the day to start drinking, but decided against it.
"What's wrong?" He sat down and sipped at an ale that was on the table in front of him and her mouth quirked.
Kagome slipped the chain over her head and dangled it out in front of her. Inuyasha stopped cold and stared at it, entranced. He stood up and reached out clawed fingers towards the swaying jewel. As soon as they brushed the stone, it flared and immediately burn blisters arose on his fingertips. He drew his hand back with a hiss. Apparently, the Shikon No Tama didn't like youkai. Or maybe, it just didn't like Inuyasha. "Where did you get that?"
"I…don't know, really. I woke up and I had it." She didn't want to tell him anymore than he needed to know. After all, Inuyasha was a thief and he stood right in front of her, drooling over the jewel like he wanted nothing more then to rip it from her grasp. "Do you know what it is?"
"I know what I think it is." He snapped. He was suddenly radiating hostility, and she couldn't understand why. He paced the room, seemingly mumbling to himself. He gave her a few aggressive frowns before he grabbed a coat and pulled open the door. "Come on. We're going to visit someone."
She looped the chain back over her head and followed him out the door and onto the road, avoiding the apple merchant who was just setting up on the corner. Inuyasha spoke without turning to face her as he resolutely continued marching ahead, bypassing several groups of people.
"What happened to your shoulder?"
The question caught her off guard and she stumbled a little. She had been so preoccupied with her strange vision and the sudden appearance of this seemingly magical stone that she had forgotten all about her injury. She rubbed the bandage self-consciously. "A boy in my class went a bit insane and attacked me."
He turned his head enough to look at her from the corner of his eye. "You were the boy Eshi kicked the crap out of?"
Her eyebrows lowered and she huffily crossed her arms as best she could. "I wouldn't say he 'kicked the crap' out of me." He snorted and turned back to face the road. "Anyway, how did you know about that?"
"Girl, I am the Head of Thieves. I have spies all over the kingdom, never mind the castle."
"Oh." The thought had never occurred to her that people could be spying on them. In fact, she was shocked that Inuyasha had such a broad authority. Then she realized that she actually had no idea what a Head of Thieves was. "What is it that you do exactly? I mean, besides stealing."
He laughed - a genuine laugh. "I'm the leader of this city's underbelly. Thieves, murders, they all answer to me." When her mouth fell open, he smirked. "Even a corrupt society needs structure. That's why it's so important for me and Kouga to work together." It was obvious from the tone of his voice that he didn't enjoy working with the Prince. "He runs the honest and rich, and I rule the not so honest and richer. We have to work in tandem or else everything falls apart. A kingdom can't fight itself."
He didn't say anything else and neither did she. They continued on for about a mile down the road, the buildings becoming smaller and more spread out, till Inuyasha stopped at a cottage at the edge of town. She headed toward the front door, but he shook his head and moved towards the side door, trampling unceremoniously through a bed of flowers on his way. She reluctantly trailed after. He rapped sharply four times, and someone audibility shuffled around inside for a few moments before answering the door.
It was an elderly woman dressed in commoner clothes. She looked to be around sixty years old, and the smell of tea herbs emanated from her as she glanced down at her ruined garden and smiled cordially at Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha, I see ye felt the need to destroy my flowers again." Her warm, brown eyes took in Kagome in her training armor. "Trying to corrupt the Prince's new recruits now, are ye?"
Inuyasha pushed past her insolently, dragging Kagome after him and into the house. "As if I'd waste my time." He let go of Kagome, flopped onto the floor and crossed his legs and arms. The woman followed his example, a bit stiffly, and knelt across from him. Kagome stood awkwardly to the side, unsure. The woman poured herself a cup of something had had just been heating over the fire and looked up at Kagome.
"Can I get ye something, lad?" She opened her mouth to answer, but Inuyasha beat her too it.
"She's no lad. Kagome's a girl, and anyway, don't offer her anything. She'll only take advantage of you." There was a beat of silence before that sunk in. The woman had the grace to look shocked, and Kagome was mortified. Inuyasha just sat calmly like he had said nothing at all. Before anyone could do anything else, Kagome swung her leg back and kicked him sharply in the ribs.
"Ow! Bitch, what the hell?!"
"You can't just go around telling people that! It's a secret!"
"Gods." He snarled, rubbing his side. "It's just Kaede. I've known her since I was six!"
"Well, I met her four seconds ago. I don't even know her name!"
"Are you def, wench? Kaede! Her name is Kaede! I just said that. What's wrong with you?!" By now he was on his feet, and both were nose to nose, screaming at each other.
"Don't call me wench, and I didn't come here to put myself at the mercy of yet another person! And what do you mean 'take advantage'?!"
Kaede sighed and spoke a word that Kagome didn't understand. When Inuyasha opened his mouth to retaliate, no sound emerged. She tested her own voice and found that she, too, was mute. So Kaede was a Miko. The old woman stood up slowly, mostly for dramatic effect, and smiled.
"Are ye finished?" They both glared at each other, but nodded sullenly. "Good." She said another word, and Kagome waited a moment before clearing her throat loudly. Inuyasha practically threw himself back onto the floor and huffed like a toddler.
"Just show it to her already, so we can get this over with." Kagome was so worked up it took her a moment to remember what he was talking about. When she did, she took the jewel out from underneath her tunic, removed the chain from around her neck, and held it out to the woman.
"Gods be with us." Kaede gasped. She took the jewel, and examined it in her withered hands. "Where did ye get this?" Her eyes met Kagome's with a peculiar intensity.
"I had a dream, and when I woke up, it was around my neck."
Kaede moved over to a stack of books and riffled through them for a few minutes before selecting one. Kagome turned and looked down at Inuyasha, but he just narrowed his eyes at her and looked away. Kaede came back with her chosen book and opened it to show Kagome. It was a picture of a warrior, a woman, with straight black hair to her waist and wearing traditional armor. The woman from the dream.
"That," said Kaede, noticing the shocked expression on Kagome's face, "was Midoriko. She was the last of a group of female riders that served under Prince Kouga's great, great, great, great grandfather." Kaede closed the book, and sat back down across from Inuyasha. Kagome followed suit and sat facing the other two, but her eyes never left the older woman. She wanted to know what was going on, and it looked like Kaede could give her at least some of the answers. "The women were called The King's Riders. They were all Mikos and they traveled the land slaying youkai like Inuyasha here."
Inuyasha snorted. "Everyone always assumes all youkai are evil or some shit. It's just another form of racism is what it is."
"Aye," said Kaede agreeably, "but that's a discussion for another time. Two hundred years ago, a great and true evil arose. A youkai who'd built a vast army against the king in his attempt to take over the kingdom. Naturally, the Riders went up against that army, and they succeeded in killing every last warrior. Unfortunately, every one of the women, save for Midoriko, perished. She alone survived to face the leader." Kaede paused to take a sip of her tea and to pour Kagome a cup. "A great battle ensued between the two, and it lasted for four days and nights. Finally, Midoriko was able to trap the youkai inside her spirit, but she in turn was trapped. The two souls were forced from her heart in the form of the Shikon no Tama." She held the jewel out to Kagome and the girl took it reverently.
"So, Midoriko is inside here? Right now? Trapped with that youkai forever?" Kagome held it up to her eye, as if expecting to see two figures inside, battling each other.
"Aye, she is trapped, but not forever. The Shikon no Tama gives anyone who possess it power. Because it's equally made of one good and one evil soul, it depends on who owns it. Should an evil youkai posses the jewel, they would very well become all powerful and take over the land. But," she paused to make sure that Kagome looked up into her eyes, "if a good soul should take possession, then infinite good can come of it."
Inuyasha grunted and both women turned to look at him. "This is ridiculous." He growled spitefully, but didn't elaborate.
"What is your problem?" Kagome demanded. She crawled over to him and put her nose inches from his. "You've been acting peculiar since I showed you the jewel. As in, very, very unbalanced."
He looked into her eyes for a moment and then looked away. "Keh."
"Never mind Inuyasha." Kaede waved her hand in his direction dismissingly. "He would like to take possession of the jewel for his own ends. He wishes to become full youkai."
"What? What do you mean full -"
"Excuse me, hag!" Inuyasha exploded before jumping to his feet and storming over to loom above Kaede, "Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. We came to ask about the rock and now we know. We're leavin'!" He grabbed Kagome's good arm and yanked her to her feet before dragging her towards the door.
"Unhand me!" Kagome struggled in his grip, but it was of no use. Inuyasha was stronger and she was inevitably hauled away. She decided it was time for a little trickery herself. Kaede wasn't the only one with wits.
"Ow! OW!" She cried out and went limp in his grasp. Inuyasha immediately whipped around and let go of her arm.
"What? Did I hit your shoulder?" He looked so guilty that she almost felt bad for faking her pain. Almost. Kagome broke into a grin, and before he could grab her again, ran to the other side of Kaede, sat down, and anchored herself to the floor by wrapping her leg around a nearby table leg.
"There. Kaede, go on. What about him becoming a full youkai?"
"Hag, if you utter one word…" He let the threat hang. Kaede smiled at him, obviously used to such treatment.
"Inuyasha, don't ye find it unfair that you know Kagome's secret, but that she has yet to learn yours? Secrets that may well ruin ye both, should they emerge to light in the public's eye."
"No! I don't! I didn't ask to know about that wench!"
Kaede turned her back to Inuyasha to face Kagome. "Inuyasha is a hanyou. A half youkai."
"Godamnit!" He yelled, and stomped over to sit down again.
~
The dining room wouldn't open for another few hours, but one of the perks of living in a school of magic was that you could make some powerful friends.
"Thanks Shiboki. I owe you one."
The taller student winked at Sango and punched Miroku in the arm playfully. "You bet your ass you do. If Myoga knew what I was doing for you two, he wouldn't let me graduate for another year." His green eyes twinkled affably. "Just wash my robes for the next two weeks and we'll be even."
Miroku shook his hand. "Deal."
Miroku pulled out a kitchen chair for Sango before stepping backwark into the cooking area. "What would you like, m'lady?" He asked with a bow in her direction. "We have eggs, bread and cheese, slabs of some kind of meat that I'm sure I could do something creative with…"
"Eggs, please."
He went to work and Sango leaned back on the chair and closed her eyes, affording Miroku a very nice view of the graceful line of her neck. He cracked a few of the eggs without looking at them, dumped the contents into the heating pan, and tossed the shells into a nearby trash container. The noise caught her attention and she lifted her head to look at him; and, caught him staring, but he didn't look away. She flushed, and tried to look anywhere else.
"Miroku, why are you here?" When he raised a questioning eyebrow at her, she elaborated, "I mean, why do you want to become a monk?"
"Well, it's just something I've always wanted." He shrugged and whipped the eggs lightly, "That connection to something more powerful then yourself… it's all consuming. I've always wanted, needed, to lead a life of servitude." She nodded vaguely in response, and stared off into space. Her eyes looked glazed and he couldn't tell if it was because of the early hour or something else.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Well, there you go. I know how the story's going to go, but I love to hear predictions, so feel free to take a guess. Holy crap this thing if fun to write. ;)