6

Shinsei Wa Kuragari-Blessed Darkness

Link stepped into the Lost Woods soundlessly as an autumn leaf to the waters' surface. The woods hadn't really lived up to it's name, as Link casually turned corners like he was in his house. He found himself quickening his pace every so often. There was just something about that woman... Her face... Her eyes... Her skin... He knew her from somewhere... But he just couldn't put a finger on it. It made his head hurt.

'Why do I know her?' He pondered.

He continued to walk through the forest as the faeries fluttered a silent greeting to him and flashed past.

"Hey!" A small voice called from deep within his hat.

Navi was rapping on Link's head like a steel door, making a small clunking sound with each beat of her small fist. Link blinked and took his hat off to peer down at the glowing orb of spiritual wit.

"Yeah?" He stopped walking, just enough to listen. Though, he wondered why he was listening to her now, when every time she did that in the past, when he did often need her, she was either ignored or shoved back into Link's hat. This much, he had grown to feel bad for.

"Well, um... I was just wondering Link.. Who was she?" She said in a tiny voice that echoed, as it became very quiet amongst the forest... Not a rustle.

Link looked down in thought, staring directly at his mud caked boots.

"I-I don't know Navi..." He replied in a voice that was low and very unlike his usual bright and bubbly adolescent voice. Navi watched as his blond brows furrowed.

She fluttered her wings and stretched her pale blue legs. Navi flapped her delicate wings and flew to Link's face, brushing his cheek softly with her beautiful pale fingers. Her eyes wondered to the far off look on his face.

"What troubles you, Link?" she asked, concerned for her long-time companion.

Link looked up slowly to the path ahead of him. He needed to get that water and no matter how much he hated it, now, he decided to ignore her question. The pond wasn't far from here, and with time, he would soon have the potion. He shook his head and put his hat back on, flipping the end back, then, finally taking a long stride forward.

Kagome stirred uneasily in her half-conscious state. Dreams and dark things invaded her being while she attempted to force them from her body. Images...memories...or was she just sleeping?... Was she just dreaming?... Faded images were falling in rhythm with her frail heartbeat and coming to her in painful visions...

Inuyasha...

Miroku...

Sango...

Shippou...

Kirara...

Mama...

Grandpa...

Souta...

Ayumi...

Yuka...

Eri...

Where were they? She tried calling out to them... but no sound left her throat. The pain of losing where you were in this world was becoming unbearable now. She needed to get out. She needed to reach the light at the end of the tunnel... Kagome's body told her that she had been sleeping for centuries, but her mind was regaining more and more consciousness as the time went by. The more she got, the more she remembered. The more she remembered, the more she regretted. The more she regretted, the worse she felt. She needed someone there beside her to reassure her that everything would be okay... because the haunting feeling that crept through her was eating away at every last hopeful thought like a famished beast.

'Inuyasha...' She forced her body skyward and began moving slowly forward

Step.

Step.

Slowly...

Her legs and body began to regain strength and she squinted against the gales. Her legs pounded heavily on the invisible dark earth.

Quicker now...

She shook the voices from her head and lifted her knees in a paced walk.

Faster...

Kagome looked to the skies and squinted against the blinding darkness. Her legs picked up speed and the echo of her tapping feet against the cold ground reverberated along the walls. She began to jog at a moderate speed, hearing the slap of her calves against her thighs.

Run...

'Why?'

RUN!...

She upped her speed and panted with lost breath, but still continued forward. She sprinted at breakneck speed through the chaos inside her mind and she stumbled for words, lost in the fog. Tears flew from her eyes and followed the gushing winds behind her, in sparkling farewells. She tripped on the unknown, but caught her balance and ran... ran... ran... and called... and ran..

'Inuyasha... where are you?' She thought feebly.

'Inuyasha...'

'Inuyasha!' She coughed and gasped for air.

Inuyasha!'

Kagome ran, blindly, frantically through her fogged mind, trying to sort her memories of him. If only his name was enough to make her heart warm and her hopeful feelings return, even if it was so slightly, she was willing to risk everything to see him again. She ran and ran and ran, screaming his name over and over. The shadows crept nearer and nearer to her, constricting her body and her legs, pulling and whispering haunting, undecipherable, words to her. The darkness called her... beckoned her... reached for her... until, she finally fell in defeat, fresh tears cascading down her face. Sobs shook her body and her cries echoed loudly throughout the cold, empty gloom.

She curled up, sobbing and shaking, gasping breathlessly... uncontrollably, as the black fog lifted and pooled around her body, breathing uncomfortable cold over her, that flowed like water through her skin, giving her goosebumps. Kagome took a deep breath and linked her hands over her head, uncurling her legs so they were joined together, and moving into a full body stretch.

'Leave me alone! You cannot reach me you foul beast!' she shouted, hearing the echo all around her. Her body became warm and she could see light coming into her visions. In seconds, her power exploded from within her...

The black fog roared as purple light seared through it. Kagome's heartbeat pulsed and the darkness fell away with her power.

In Kagome's visions, she saw a tree house.

'Where is it?' A woman whispered

'The... the tree house was... in a village... a village full of tiny children. They all are so small...'

'Who are they?'

'I...I don't know... I don't remember...'

'Yes you do Kagome. Try to remember... you know them..'

'No! I don't know them! Who are you... wh... where am I?'

'Please Kagome, wake up... wake up and try to remember... you know who they are... you know where you are...'

'NO! No I don't! I am so lost... I... I am in darkness somewhere but I don't know where!'

'No Kagome... you are in the chasm of your mind... but you will wake up soon... everything around you will not be the same, but... you will learn to love...' The woman's voice faded.

'NO! Wait! Don't go! Please... tell me what to do! Where am I going? Please! Don't leave me alone!' she screamed desperately within her mind.

'You will see with time Kagome that... ever... ything... will... come... toge... th... e... r... then... yo... u... will ne... ver...be alone...' Her voice echoed throughout the chasm and flew all around Kagome and filled her with the needed strength.

Kagome's mind closed and she fell into a sweet sleep...

Link wandered to the farthest edges of the forest and sighed with relief. He had finally arrived. He sat upon a rock and took his shoes from his feet, rubbing them. He also took the time to finally take his hat off and brush the sweat from his forehead. It had been so long, he had forgotten that the spring was so far away. Navi swirled around him and whispered to him like a crazy teenager. He finally had to shove her away to tend to his business. He gathered the water and filled it in a cup made of crisp birch bark twined together with wisteria brambles.

He played a tune on his ocarina and swirled his hands over the cup. He felt the cup grow warm beneath his fingers. He called Navi over and she shoved herself beneath his cap. Link laughed and began his long walk back.

Navi began giggling uncontrollably, shaking his hat around, which annoyed Link greatly, as he moved his head side-to-side to keep it on his head. He grumbled and snatched off the hat and peered down into the green hole.

"And just WHAT are you doing?" he bellowed, staring down at the glowing faerie.

Navi stood up.

"W-Well, I w-was just er... um... I don't know?" she giggled and laughed sheepishly, smiling innocently up at him.

Link raised an eyebrow at her and shook his hat, ridding himself of her. He glowered at her.

"Now you can fly all the way back... Do you know how much I wanted to crawl under someones' hat and rest on the way there?"

Navi slumped and began lifting herself from the ground, hovering just above grass level. 'That spoiled brat!' she thought dourly, crossing her arms and huffing. She turned her head and stomped as loud as she could, crunching the thin grass beneath her feet.

Link turned to gaze over his shoulder and roll his eyes skyward at her behavior. He sighed and stared forward while still talking to her.

"Why can't you be mature, Navi?" He glanced back at her a moment then took a sharp turn and continued on his journey.

"I don't know LINK! Why can't you let a poor defenseless faerie such as myself rest on your head?" She stopped, realizing how rude that sounded. Not to mention, bratty, which is what she was accusing Link for.

Link merely laughed sarcastically, "Oh, ha ha! Defenseless... yeah... right." he paid careful attention to the mug, which was gradually growing colder and colder as time and arguments went by.

Link stared down at the ocarina gleaming brightly beneath his belt loop. An idea sparked within him, it grew and grew and grew until it was a roaring inferno of discovery. He slapped his forehead.

"No, DUH! I could have used my ocarina this whole time! He stopped and fiddled with his belt loop to retrieve the magical instrument. Link felt the tiniest of bumps against his calf and he looked down to a greatly surprised faerie. He smiled down at her, and leaned down to pluck her from the ground.

"Hold on..." He played a boisterous sound, flipping his fingers, to and fro, and feeling whips of magic as they surrounded him in a thin blanket. Green wisps of soft and tender power covered him, until the only thing left was the rustle of the trees and a faint glow. And then... He was gone.

Link's eyes closed as the cool warmth swept him up and kissed him all over. Green forest and grass were whipping by and the faint view of his house was filling his senses. His heart raced as his adrenaline pushed through his body at the feeling of falling cleanly and lightly through the sky like a free feather.

His feet eventually reached the soft earthen ground.. The green magic circled him once, twice, three times, until it at last fell away with the wind, leaving the fine trace of glowing power around Link. He reached out to it so slightly, but soon realized the folly, and put his hand down.

Mug still in hand, he stared up to the doorway of his house. He began ascending the ladder, keeping a firm grip on the warm mug of steaming honeyed liquid. Foot by foot he climbed, until his feet planted firmly on the floor of his house, where he stood face to face with the woman.

He quickly ran over to her and looked into her tranced eyes, placing the mug safely on the nightstand. He waved a worried hand over her face. His thumbs ran under her eyes as they swept the flowing tears from her face.

'She still cries...' He sighed regretfully.. He should have never left her side. Link's eyes bore into hers. He knew this woman... her eyes lay open and filled with confusion and sorrow.

Link shook her softly, beckoning her to wake, knowing that she needed to be awoken.

"Miss... Please... wake up..." No answer...

"Miss...c'mon..." he shook her shoulder and ran a thumb across her cheek, feeling the warm liquid form a droplet on his finger. His eyes followed the tear as it slid comfortably down, farther, into the gentle slope of his palm. He watched with awe as the tear settled and began glowing a fluorescent purple and the energy flowed within his hand making him gasp. His hair flew askew and he glanced back at the woman lying there unconscious on his bed.

'So this is what its like...'

"...to live among a goddess..."

/

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Kagome-Inuyasha09