Chapter 1: The Chosen are Found
"Kohakuuuuuuuu!!"
The forest echoed with that call, bouncing from tree to tree. Her pretty pink mouth frowned in a scowl, and dark thin brows lowered. She stepped over roots carefully, making sure to keep quiet and listen for her annoying little brother. Too bad Kilala hadn't come today; she was really fed up with this little game of his.
"Kohaku! Come on! Father said no more than three hours practice!" Sango hollered into the trees, listening as it echoed once again down the mountain slope. She should have known he'd want to practice in the forest, it was his favorite hiding place. And now that he was hidden, she'd trek through hell to find him. At this moment, she hated him. Sango paused, frowning at the deciduous forest canopy, looking for any shift in shadow that was unusual. She shifted her mighty weapon on her back, and squinted at the branches. That boy just had to make this harder didn't he? Her grip readjusted on the curved shaped bone, and then an idea struck her.
She grinned up at the canopy. "Alright Kohaku, if you insist on playing this game...Hiraikotsu!!"
Sango pulled back the curved shaped bone, bringing the other end into her view with how far she pulled back, and flung the weapon with a grunt of effort. The bone flew through he air spinning, slicing down branches and foliage in its wake, and just as it rounded to come back to Sango, she heard a squeaked of surprise. Sango jumped and caught her weapon with ease, landing not too far from where she heard the squeak.
"Come on Kohaku, your cover's blown. Time to go home."
"awww, Ane-ue! You cheated!" a boy of maybe twelve came from the wreckage that Sango caused, covered head to foot in twigs and leaves, spitting some of it out. His attire was somewhat like Sango's, black cat suit of a shiny material, armor on both shoulders and shins, the middle too, though Kohaku's was a bluish green while Sango's was pink. Tied in his teal sash around his waist was an over sized sickle blade with attached chain, and it jingled as he made his way from the debris. The boy glared at his sibling as she giggled. "Its your fault father's gonna yell at me for be dirty."
Sango hefted Hiraikotsu over her shoulder again, and patted Kohaku over the back, "don't worry, we'll just say I was extra hard on you today."
Kohaku snorted and crossed his arms, pointedly ignoring her. But when the welcome warmth of her arm slung over his shoulders suddenly disappeared, Kohaku looked back. Sango stood frozen the spot, eyes wide and sickly pale. "Ane-ue? Ane-ue, daijoubou desu ka?"
What was this feeling? This tingling along her spine? This clammy feeling that had a slick cold feeling to it along her skin? This cold sweat snaking down her back and coating her palms? What were these feelings?
"Something's coming..." she breathed and looked to the sky. Kohaku, worried and confused, followed her gaze, but found nothing amiss. All he saw was the sun filtering through the tree's green leaves, the wind rustling them as it passed. He turned back to Sango, whose jaw had opened slightly, and she was breathing heavily as the feelings increased.
"Ane-ue, nothing's..." he paused, and cocked his head to the right. It sounded like something was burning, sizzling in the distance...and it was coming closer.
The forest around suddenly dimmed slightly, and Kohaku looked around alert as Sango remained fascinated with whatever was coming, staring blankly at the sky. The sizzling sound increased, rising to a crackling din, and Kohaku gasped as a bright green light tinted the sky. He looked to Sango and back again, and realized that the sound was coming towards them. He plowed his sister to the ground.
"Ane-ue get down!"
His yell was over shadowed by a rushing sound like rolling boulders, and the ground not too far from them suddenly exploded in a wave of dirt.
&--------------------------------------------------------------&
"hup!"
The dull colored ax came smashing down, slicing the log in two down its length. The spilt wood fell tot eh ground with a clatter, and another log was placed in the formers. A second passed, and the same process happened over again.
He wiped his brow, and hefted the ax over his shoulder. That should be enough to last the night, and then he could go out tomorrow for more, then later hunt for some game. His golden hues lifted to the bright sky, the sun falling through gaps in the trees that surrounded him and his little accommodation. It looked to be about midday right about now, and there was still time to spare. He'd have to go hunting later, deer season was at its peek. And along with deer came wolves, lexes (they stalked and killed the fawns), and cougars. Perfect for gaming season. He'll go in an hour, find a few deer for hide and meat, for him and in town.
Inuyasha sighed as he looked back down at his axe, and leaned it against his cutting stump. Sukasa has been asking for some good venison for a couple days now, and he'd gladly oblige. No one in his or her right mind would turn down the prospect of her famous venison stew. Not that he had to pay for it...Sukasa seemed more...cheery with him than others, and her excuse was, "oh you worked so hard for this bowl! just eat and shut up."
So cheery wasn't the word, but it was different from the way she treated her other customers at the tavern. But he better clean up first, no need to give the animals forewarning with his sweaty smell. Inuyasha itched at his restrained snowy white hair, and scratched the back of one ear. He sighed again as she headed to his little cabin, log wood walls and smoking chimney have all the effect of a homey warm place. His mother had made it that way. He stopped and paused to look upon his home, one that he and his mother had worked so hard to make for themselves. It mostly had been his mother though.
He had been nothing but a baby when his father died. His mother told him that Chichi-ue had died protecting them, and nothing else. It made him sound like a great lord or something. Pft, fat chance of that. He was nothing but a dirty hanyou who lived by himself out in the Forever Forest, his mother having died some years ago when eh was nothing but thirteen. His eyes involuntarily glanced to the right of the cabin. It might not have been the fanciest of burials, or been officially prayed upon by a priest, but Inuyasha had dug it himself, and he had cried in his prayers. His mother would have smiled.
"Come on, man, get going," he chided himself, and lowered his brows in frustration. He wasn't supposed to be sentimental. If he was to make it in the vile land, he couldn't show weakness. That was another thing; he didn't get how a man so dark and evil as Naraku could be Emperor of this land. There were true stories of the man's evil, where he had personal torture rooms, rape rooms, secret (not anymore) slaughters of villages how didn't pay taxes in mass. It made Inuyasha's blood boil from head to toe, and eh found himself tensing his fist to strike something. He had no doubt either that Naraku had something to do with his father's murder, the chances were too high. Naraku had Humans and Demons under his thumb like bugs, and he could crush them at will.
But Inuyasha calmed himself. He wasn't no damn bug. No, no, he was a scorpion, and he was going to survive that fucking freak's reign of terror. Hell, he'd stop the beats himself if he had to.
Inuyasha's dog like ear twitched, and he whirled around. There was nothing there. He started fidgeting in place for no reason, and eh found his skin was starting to crawl. What the hells? The crawling turned to tingling, the tingling to needles, and soon enough, Inuyasha felt his skin was like fire; burning internally and itching like hell. He kept looking from hand to hand, down at his feet, but found no reason why he should be feeling this way. He let out a shuddery breath as the burning increased, and he felt his eyes drawn to the sky once again. His vision blackened on the outside, and all his sense seemed to focus on one spot. He felt a pressure on his mind, inside his head, and had this feeling something was coming his way. His ears twitched forward, and he picked up a hissing sound, the scent of charred something wafting to his nose. He blinked once as a red dot came into view, then yelped and bounded away as that dot was suddenly 20 feet a away. He turned in the air and watched wide eyed as the ground exploded in a fiery cloud almost right where he had been
&--------------------------------------------------&
This was too precious, and she wasn't about to have it taken from her that easily. The demoness looked over her shoulder and saw nothing, but she kept running. No telling what Naraku's men could do. Even when she had spent so many years in his reluctant service.
Kagura's kimono was ripped and tattered, but it didn't matter. She had gotten away, just like she had always wanted to. And he couldn't find her, not anymore. He ahd no way of finding her. Her ruby clear eyes took one more look over her shoulder, her nose twitching slightly to take a sniff. No guards, no demons, no hunters. She was home free. she stopped and stooped to her knees, doubling over to pant heavily, the sweat dripping from her nose and brow. She did it. She escaped. She was free.
Kagura looked up and through the trees, almost willing any person out there who was trying to get her to show up. Cause then she'd know if she was safe. Kagura took a few more breaths, then unwrapped her arms from around her, unclenching the parcel gripped against her chest. All those years, all the torture, all the mocking, and now it was finally over. She'd be free of him forever, and be free to live her own life. As sunlight filtered through the shadows around her, the thick brush of undergrowth giving her some protection, Kagura unwrapped her parcel from its bloody, dark stained cloth and bit her lip. Her heart. No longer was it in his hands, no longer did she have to pain when he felt like having a sick laugh.
This was her heart, from now till forever, and he was never getting her back. Kagura swallowed her nerves, her hands shaking a bit as she realized what she had to do. The only way to put her heart where it belonged...was to eat it. She flinched as it pulsed weakly in her hands. If she did this, she'd be free, free as the wind...
With out hesitation, Kagura dug her fangs in and ripped a piece of her flesh from it, taking greedy bites and smearing the blood over her lips. Bit by bit, the organ was taken in hurriedly, sliding down her throat, making her gag, as she was never use to raw meat. Though those few times...her hands blood covered, Kagura shoved the last of it in her mouth and she swallowed with out chewing (she just couldn't), and felt the slick tissue slid down and into her. She coughed a few times and dry heaved, willing it to stay down. She wrapped quivering hands around herself, and waited...for anything.
Heat exploded within her, making her gasp harshly as her chest constricted in pain. It was like a little creature was crawling into her empty chest, making a permAnent nest for itself, and shifted till there was no more pain. Her body settled with a relaxed droop, and she realized something. She could feel her pulse. For the first time in her creation, Kagura had a pulse. And she smiled, the amazing feel of actual tears pouring out her eyes, sliding down her face in hot trails. She was crying! And...and she felt happy! She was alive!
Her head snapped up at the sky as her new feelings sharpened dramatically. There was a cooling under her skin, and a feeling of lightness...like the wind... her head whipped back and forth as the brush around her darkened, and she feared she might have been found after all. But the sound of hissing, crackling drew her attention skyward, and her eyes widened when a faint blue objected was heading straight for her area. Kagura scrambled out of the brush and dodged behind a tree just as she felt the ground shake with the impact.
Thunder roared in her ears.
&--------------------------------------------------------------&
Sigh...to be him. it was just so hard. Take care of his chores, be vigilant, honorable, and a wise monk...find a fair lady to bear his child...
(A/n: you all saw this coming....)
But of course, luck was never on his side. And some said, Miroku was the luckiest there could be. Yeah right, how lucky could he be? He has a void in his right hand, a drunk for his mentor, a father who died right before his eyes, and another hand that had a mind of its own.
Oh happy days.
Miroku ran a hand though his short bound hair, his square jaw set firmly. The rosary on his right hand clicked as he fisted it, the cloth of his cuff rustling. His near violet blue eyes scanned the surface of the lake, just down the way from the temple. For near twenty years he's been training and living at that Buddhist temple, looking for something that might relieve the pain he had. But it didn't. Nothing did. The knowledge that he was eventually going to die (maybe in the next couple years), brought back the sharp reality he tried to escape.
Sigh...to be him.
Miroku patted the drying purple robes next to him, washed and cleAned before he too bathed. They weren't quite there, but they would dry all the way on the way back. Besides, sand from the lakeshore was getting places he didn't want it to. (a/n: imagery!!) He took a second to stare down at those robes. The deep purple of his under robe, the lighter color of the giant sash that went across his middle and shoulder. Beside his robes was his staff, gold head and rings jingling when he picked it up to play with. This for a Buddhist monk. Just like his father.
He couldn't remember much of the man; Mushin his mentor seemed more likely his father than guardian (though the man might as well be his drunk uncle). His mother he had no memory of, for she had died in birth. Blurs would sometimes enter his mind during meditation, but there was no face to put to them, and a muffled voice in his memory. But he remembered one thing all too clearly. The day his father was sucked into his own void, having not broke the curse in time.
As the black hole crept up his father's arm, taking everything in its wake, he remembered deep brown eyes turning back to look at him, safely secured in Mushin's arms, and yell to him, "live my son!!"
After that, Miroku bared the pain of hearing his father's last anguished scream before there was nothing left but a hole in the ground. The wind had died down, and everything stilled. Then the curse came upon him, and he screamed as a hole was ripped into his palm.
Miroku shook his head from his musings. Best not to think of that, nothing came of it. He rubbed a tired temple. Maybe he'd go into town, get some sake, feel the nice cooling effects of alcohol running through his system. Flirt with pretty young maidens. Sounded like a plan.
He stood and dusted sand from his knees, arching his back and stretching lean muscled limbs (a/n: again with the imagery!!) as he groAned in relief. He had been sitting there too long for his own good. He needed a walk to loosen up, and walking back to the temple would not only do that, but relax his mind as well. He needed that as well. It seemed as if his mind troubled him more often these past few days, and no matter what he did, he couldn't shake it. His meditation was constantly disrupted by his thoughts, and so he grew more frustrated as to the reason why this would be happening. He sighed as he scrubbed a hand over his face, stretching the features dramatically as he pulled on his skin. He could really use that sake now.
As Miroku bent to grab up his robes, he paused. When eh was sure it was nothing, he continued, and paused again. What in the name of Buddha...? He stood up slowly again, eyes scanning brightly lit trees surrounding the lake after the shore, glancing over crystal water as he turned his head. For the funniest damn reason, he felt as if something was amiss. His dark orbs rose to the sky, and he squinted to examine if there was. Mentally chiding himself for being silly, that was when his eye caught something up there, twinkling faintly. His head cocked to the side, and his squinted more, trying to but a shape to the shine.
It became brighter and brighter, growing larger in size, and his eyes went wide when he realized a blue ball of fire was heading straight for him. He tensed and took a step back, only to trip on the sand. He fell with a grunt, but snapped eyes back up to the sky, and let out a little scream when he saw it was even closer. Scrambling the best he could, Miroku failed to get up but scampered away, backing and backing until there was just no distance between the object and earth, and it came sliding down along the shore, cresting the waves that lapped from the lake. It was still heading his way, and he saw that it was moving too fast to avoid. He closed his eyes tight, and hoped to every god that he'd make it out alive.
&------------------------------------------------------------&
"Rosemary."
Her delicate hand plucked the said herb from it natural sprout in the meadows, and added it to her basket. Her bare feet took a few steps and she bent to look closely upon another at the meadows edge. She smiled.
"Mint, I love mint." She took a few twigs of mint too, taking one twig for herself as the rest went in her basket. She placed the twig between rosy lips and chewed happily, the fresh bit of mint filling her mouth and its nice scent wafting to her nose. She pushed back little wisps of raven hair as the wind passed, and her peasants dress ruffled slightly about her bare legs, the grass tickling her ankles.
It was a beautiful day out, the wind was cool, the meadow in full bloom, the sky clear of all but little puffs of cloud, and all sorts of woodland creatures making noise and buzzing about her head. And using the excuse she was collecting herbs was just what she needed to explore it.
Kagome took a few hops and came into the meadows with the perfume of wildflowers greeting her. She turned her face up the warm sun, and out stretched arms to circle wide she spun. It just felt so good! To be out, and about, not to worry of sickness, village ailments, pressing injuries. Becoming a healer wasn't all fun and games she had learned. It wasn't about saving people's lives, or miraculously healing someone. It was hard work, and often time's things got worse before they got better. And something's just never got better.
Okay she came out here to relax and be happy, not depress herself like she was prone to do. Though it was hard at times. Being the healer was sometimes a role she didn't have t play. But she had been sent to Keade for that purpose and she was to fulfill it. Keade, bless that old woman. She might be short, tough looking, and had only one eye, but she was a softy to the core, and wise in her wisdom. Her old teacher was her village's Priestess and healer, the seclusion and small size of the place not requiring much of that of the outside world. For it was laid deep in a valley between two mountains, the only outlet out of the mountains a gap for the river that ran through, and to avoid floods, the village was set on the higher walls of the valley. But near the bottom was the most beautiful field of flowers and herbs, surrounded by woodland. She loved it here.
She wondered how her family was doing. And the rest of her village was doing. She sighed a bit, and sat right down in the middle of blooms, dress flaring around her. She needed to become a healer...for them. Hers was smaller than this village, sickness and illnesses plaguing them like locusts on fields. No one knows when the last healer lived, and since Kagome showed the brightest talent for learning, she was sent for her village. Not that Keade minded that she just arrived on her doorstep and asked to be taught, it was just that...well...Kagome didn't know if this was what she was suppose to be doing.
Ever since she was a child, she felt as if she would do something great with her life, maybe be a heroine of stories, or a wise mage how stopped wars or something. But a healer? It was just Though Keade seems to think different. She says Kagome has a "hidden gift" that needed to be brought out. That needed to be refined and used to Kagome's will for the good of people every where. Okay, so Keade exaggerated, but no one said she didn't have a "gift." She didn't know what it was, or where it comes from, but at times, she can feel it. How she can just walk in a room, and tension seeps away, and once frowning people were smiling and jesting with one another. Or when gardening, another little gift of hers. Plants seem to come alive at her touch, and grow better than before as she cares for them. Timid animals will spot her, but neither move nor look away, but not out of fear. Kagome once had a deer follow her after coaxing it, getting to pet its coarse coat and having it take baby leaves from her palm. Birds will land outside her window knowing she will feed them, and she often felt she was glowing with some hidden light. She had been described many times as graceful, beautiful, and ethereal in a way. Of course, it was mostly village boys wishing to win her graces who said it, but it was still flattering.
Kagome sighed and laid back, petals flying up as she flopped down and stared up at the sky. Her deep blue orbs lazily gazed upon bright blue sky, and she smiled a little. She'd have to go back soon, Keade still had many things to teach her. And she had many things to learn still. Butt hat didn't mean she couldn't day dream a little. She closed her eyes and relaxed. Her mind flooded her eyes with color, and she imagined blossoms springing u from the ground, splaying deep colored petals in her face, and the pungent smell of nectar filled her nostrils. Now she was running through the field, hands whispering over stroking silky flowers, and she laughed as she turned her head. And there at the end of the meadow, was a shadow. She cocked her head, but didn't hesitate, and started jogging leisurely towards it. She smiled as it came closer to view, and she saw it lift a hand to her. She reached out and ran faster, reaching...reaching...
Kagome sat up with a gasp, eyes wide open. Something was wrong. She could feel it. She head whipped about, and she shivered as tingles went down her spine. She stood to shaky legs and tossed about, looking for anything that could have her on alert. Though she saw nothing. She blinked as the air dimmed, and she raised her head to look up. She gasped as a white ball of light headed straight down upon her. She screamed, and jumped out of the way as the spot near her exploded with a blast of light.
&-----------------------------------------------------------&
Kikyou lowered her looking glass, and breathed a sigh of relief. Her sense heightened again as they came back, and she became aware of the crackling of the fire beside her, and the sharp smell of incense that had opened her mind to search for them. She jumped as a soft hand shook her shoulder. She turned to find her followers anxiously waited for her word. Ashita had been the one to shake her, and she was looking to Kikyou with hopeful eyes. Kikyou didn't disappoint her.
"They have been found."
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::okay.....so it didn't go away. But im working on chapter 51 as we speak, and edo wont be too far off after this. I just...have phases I guess. Please don't be mad!!
SO's:
Secret-punk-ricker16: thank you for reading!!! I love it when people read
Drake220: LMAO! That was pretty good, and yeah, I guess I don't. I just love detail I suppose. But not too much. And thank you!!!
Ashleyandyar: thank you so much!! Come back now, ya'hear!!
