Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its beloved characters… (damn it!) -- o well. I do however own the storyline of this story.
The Season of Mayleaves
By: AnimeAnne
Suiren Village is renowned for two things, its beauty… and its curse.
The old village was covered with fresh, lush, delicious foliage. It had beautiful cobalt blue lakes and rivers, and spring green rolling hills that stretched across its horizons. When the green fingers of spring touched the earth, orchids, irises, daffodils, lavender, tigresses, and water lilies bloomed large and bold. When autumn came, Suiren village collected the sweetest and juiciest fruits and nectar to be found on earth.
Ironic, that the most beautiful village in the land was also bestowed with a most evil curse.
The time was growing near; the village saw that 100 years would quickly complete. If one sat near the shade with the elders of the village, one could hear their anxious talking of what is to come.
"There is only one moon's cycle…" one elder would say wearily.
"Yes," answered another sadly, "I hear that the Youkai has grown even more vicious than before."
Another would sigh, and ask sadly, "I wonder which girl shall suffer the demon's wrath this time…"
Kagome waded on a shallow end of a slow flowing river. She wore a plain rice colored kimono, and her waist length hair was twisted into a loose braid that fell limply over her right shoulder. It was such a nice morning. The sun's rays felt gently warm and the water felt soothingly cool. Spring had arrived. Kagome could smell the different scents of flowers around her.
She used one hand to lift up her kimono just above her ankles, and the other to find that precious water herb she had smelled.
Kagome began to grope around the area, searching for the right texture of the leaf she was trying to find.
It wasn't easy being blind and also the most powerful healer in 32 villages. After a few minutes of searching,
'Aha! Here it is!' Kagome thought as she gave a satisfied smile and gently placed the water herb in a glass jar. This valuable herb, as Kagome had learned, was used to neutralize a few hundred types of poisons. The herb was only found in a time period of one month in spring, and in very rare places. Luckily the vegetation around the village was quite various, making Kagome's job as a healer much easier. Satisfied, at gathering the herb she needed, Kagome made her way slowly out of the river.
She took in a deep breath of air, inhaling the sweet smells of flowers, herbs, grass, and honey.
'Irises are in full bloom now' Kagome thought quietly to herself. She walked along the familiar river bank carrying a woven basket and the jar inside. She picked up on the faint smell of a bunch of irises and plucked a few blossoms, and she put them back in her basket as she wondered what color they were. Perhaps lavender or white.
She began to head home as she entered into Inuyasha's Forest, having no idea what fate had in store for her...
Sesshoumaru had not fully recovered from fighting a hundred thousand venomous wasps when he felt a poisonous whip leave a long gash from his upper back to his lower abdomen..
He staggered back a single step, as he contained a hiss of pain. His molten gold eyes bled, crimson.
His entire back tingled. He knew the poison was sinking in already. Sesshoumaru however showed none of its effects. He stood up to his full intimidating height and said in a voice as frozen with the deepest venom,
"Who dares cross my path?"
A maniacal laugh echoed within the darkness of the forest. It was only a few hours before twilight.
Its voice rang,
"Sesshoumaru, have you forgotten so soon?"
The voice echoed, spinning about the Taiyoukai.
The proud Taiyoukai gave a dangerous smirk.
"It is only you… Naraku the hanyou."
A shadow materialized in front of Sesshoumaru's tall form. Naraku's robes were a poisonous, dark violet. His black grime colored hair swept down, shadowing his face. There was an unsettling contrast of light and dark between them.
Naraku's eyes glinted with a secret malice.
"I don't believe you are in the position to insult me Lord Sesshoumaru." His voice gave only a hint of mockery when he emphasized "lord."
Sesshoumaru could have well passed for a statue, as his face turned stonier as ever. Neither his face nor his eyes showed anything as his gaze was directed at Naraku.
"Do you know what poison is in your body right now?" Naraku asked, smirking.
Sesshoumaru remained silent.
Chuckling to himself, Naraku responded,
"It is a poison that has only one cure, but the plant to neutralize the poison is one of the rarest of plants on earth. If a human's fingertip were merely to touch even the tiniest tip of it, he would die in a matter of seconds of going through a phase of pure agony." Naraku paused to steal a glance at the proud Youkai. Again, he saw no expression.
He continued,
"Of course, only the creator would have the cure. That, would be me. Now, Lord Sesshoumaru, don't make me beg for your assistance. If you are willing to cooperate, I would gladly give you the cure."
'How dare he treat me as if I am merely a servile being. The damn hanyou needs to be taught a lesson.' At this point, Sesshoumaru let out a low dangerous growl, and his claws cracked with every little movement of each joint. Naraku was not lying, he could tell. Poison had never affected him. This one however, had already taken some effects on him. His vision was beginning to blur, and the toxin in his blood made his body ache miserably with thunder jolts of searing pain.
Naraku's eyes gave a fleeting glint of fear before he eased into a twisted smile.
"I see…" Naraku said and taking in the obvious hint that the Taiyoukai would not cooperate. "You were always a proud one Sesshoumaru. And your pride shall undo you. We could have made an impeccable team. However, since you have chosen that path, there is nothing more for me to do than to leave you to your painful death. I'm sure we'll meet again one day in the burning pit of hell, my dear, Lord Sesshoumaru."
With one last glance at the Dog Demon, Naraku gave a swish of his midnight black cloak before vanishing entirely.
Silent moments passed before the Taiyoukai finally decided Naraku had truly gone. Sesshoumaru staggered back, leaning onto a broad oak tree for support, he let out a low hiss of pain.
"Dammit…" Sesshoumaru staggered again. Perhaps his only hope was to get back to the castle as quick as possible. But the youkai's legs and body would not obey. The forest, now as he perceived it was only blobs of green and earthy browns.
Sesshoumaru continued to journey helplessly through the thick forest. Daybreak had already come. The sun's light providing some guidance. He cursed as he stumbled, with his sight becoming blurrier and blurrier.
Pain shot throughout his body, and the bleeding from his cut would not stop. Angered and frustrated, his amber eyes had turned a crimson red.
His movements suddenly felt vague, and his movements slow, like he was floating instead of moving. He had to stay awake. He had to find Rin. Where the hell was that fucking frog when you actually needed him.
Dark spots began to form in his vision. Suddenly, he could see a figure in front of him. He could barely see anything. It must be a trick of the eye. The figure was clad in all white. She had long black colored hair that fell to her waist and held a basket of lavender colored flowers. A halo seemed to form around her, making her look like she glowed with gold.
Dark spots were quickly filling his vision, he no longer felt his movements. For the mere moment in time Sesshoumaru perceived this creature, he felt a strange floating sensation, and an odd feeling of being at peace.
"an angel?" he questioned softly to himself, before collapsing with a 'thump' on the soft moss of the forest.
Kagome hummed softly to herself as she walked towards home. She felt the warm sun's light scattering across her hair.
She sighed softly as she frowned slightly.
'If only I could see the sun once again…and the flowers…'
Well it was said that mayleaves could help the blind slowly get their sight back…
Kagome cheered up at the thought as she touched the jar of mayleaves in her basket.
Her sensei had once mentioned that grounded mayleaves that were eaten every month for one year could cure mostly any disease or disability.
But mayleaves were rare, not to mention, close to extinct. They never grew in patches, and only bloomed in one month of the year. Kagome had already gathered mayleaves for almost a year's supply. Tomorrow would be the last day of May, and her last day to gather all the leaves she needed. It had taken so long for her to gather all those leaves…
Kagome smiled, "perhaps this is the year that my sight will be back.
How she yearned to get her sight back. She had never wanted anything more. She wanted to see the sunsets, and sunrises again, the stars twinkling above her, the moon casting her ethereal light, the beautiful landscapes, and the people. Her cheeks were blushed a soft pink as she thought of Inuyasha. Did he still have those stubborn gold colored eyes? And that silver hair? Did his cute ears grow out? Was he still—
Kagome suddenly heard a rustle of bushes from beside her. She turned towards the sound, and a moment after heard a large 'thump.'
She jumped slightly, her heart beating faster than usual. What was that! She sensed a vague aura, a sign that told her that the… thing… animal or man was near death. She cautiously stepped towards it, holding her breath to see if it would attack.
The aura was silver, but she could only sense it vaguely. She knelt down beside the lump or what ever it was.
And gently and slowly, she reached out to touch the thing. Her fingertips touched the softest fibers, hair, she figured. The thing, as far as Kagome could tell was lying face down.
She turned the figure over with much trouble since it seemed to be quite heavy. For some reason, the aura that it gave off reminded Kagome of the color of Inuyasha's hair…
Well, the thing seemed to be humanly shaped, half alive, and in deep need of a healer. And lucky for this person, what better healer to stumble upon but the great Kagome Higarashi! Kagome smiled to herself as she checked the person's pulse. She couldn't help but notice that the person's skin was the smoothest thing she had ever touched. It was close to well… youkai perfection, again author sighs reminding Kagome a little about Inuyasha.
The pulse was definitely weak, the weakest pulse Kagome had come across for some time. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
Her body stiffened and eyes widened in surprise as she realized something truly amazing.
'This thing must be some sort of demon.' Kagome accurately deducted.
There was no way a human would survive that many different kinds of poisons in one body.
'What happened to you?' Kagome wondered as she continued to check the body for wounds.
Her purifying power allowed her hands to run across the deep long scar across the demon's abdomen. Even in unconsciousness, the demon let out a low growl telling Kagome that the wound was severe.
Even with demon powers the wounds would take at least two weeks to heal.
If the poison isn't taken out soon, there would be no chance for the wound to heal, and thus no chance for the demon to survive.
And furthermore, what could neutralize hundreds of poisons at the same time?
Kagome let out a long sigh once the thought hit her. That would mean she'd have to give up—
'Snap out of it Kagome! This person's life is more important than that! Don't be selfish!'
Kagome knew what she had to do, but did Kami have to torture her this way? She knew she shouldn't be selfish but she had taken so much time and effort! Ten years of effort! Gone! Wasted! Kagome could not help it when drops of tears rolled down her cheeks.
The only plant that could neutralize that many poisons at a time was the mayleaf.
Looks like her blindness would have to wait…