Well now I'm getting further into the story and its getting more and more interesting for me as well! I really hope I get more reviews soon! Please read this! And my discussion on this story in my profile too.
Enjoy!
momoROSE989
Chapter 13: Desire
"EWWW!" Rin shrieked, clinging to Aun for dear life, "They are all over the place!"
Dead human corpses were lying all over the ground.
"I THINK THAT ONES LOOKING AT ME!" she cried, holding onto Aun tighter.
"Silence Rin," Sesshomaru ordered, "You are annoying me."
She covered her eyes so she did not have to look at them anymore. She did not like to see other people who had died. It reminded her of her family. Jaken sighed and rolled his eyes.
Hanako stared into the eyes of the many skulls around her, as if staring into the very darkened holes of death itself. It captivated her, taking her breath away.
She had no fear of death, for she had once been suicidal.
"You should not fear them, Rin-chan," she said, still gazing at the skeletons, "They were once people as well, just like you and I." She walked up closer to one body huddled up in a corner, a dead, bony hand gripping a doll. She pointed it out to Rin. "This one was once a little girl, perhaps about your age. Would you ever want someone being afraid of you?" Rin shook her head. Hanako smiled. "Then why do you not think of it that way? They also were once alive." Rin eased her tense shoulders. Maybe they weren't as creepy as she thought.
Sesshomaru turned his head. He thought it amazing that such wise words could come out of Hanako, who was always so naïve.
Hanako continued walking alongside Aun, when she suddenly eyed something shiny coming from a stand, which was still being guarded by a dead body with clothes that were ripped to shreds. She leaned backwards to get a better view of the object: a necklace.
She stopped in mid step. It was an adorable little necklace, a pink ribbon with fringes on the ends and sides, and a silver little jingle bell attached to it, almost like a cat collar of some sort. She loved it. She stared admiring the object for several long moments, not noticing that everyone else was already far ahead.
Sesshomaru could not hear her footsteps any longer, so he turned around to find her stupidly standing in the middle of the slaughtered village staring at something. He walked up behind her. Rin and Jaken watched him, confused at where he was going.
He watched her staring at the collar, realizing that she wanted it. "If you want it so badly, then take it," he remarked. She jumped slightly, surprised by him being there. She shook her head. "Don't mind me…" she said, "Go on ahead I will be there in but a moment."
"Aren't you even going to take the collar after you wasted so much time staring at it?"
"No. That would be stealing."
He looked around at the dead humans that lay scattered about the ground. "They've been dead an awful long time. I don't think they'd mind."
She shook her head again. "Its okay. I'm not that materialistic."
He walked over to the stand and got it himself. He brushed off dust and wiped the jingle bell until it shone. He handed it to her and walked back to his place in front of everyone else. He once more began to lead the way.
Hanako stood in her place, dumfounded. What had that been all about? Was the necklace some kind of present from him or something? She looked down at again and smiled.
A present! A present from Lord Sesshomaru! She thought excitedly. She ran to them to catch up. Rin watched with curiosity at Hanako's new object as Hanako daintily tied the silky pink ribbon around her neck. She straightened the bell in the front and tugged the ribbon into a bow in the back. Rin smiled. "That looks pretty, Hanako-chan!"
"Thank you," she said. It was the prettiest thing she had ever owned. She would never take it off. She would wear it as a symbol of her loyalty to Sesshomaru, since he had given it to her in some way, even though he probably hadn't meant it like that. She grinned.
Sesshomaru turned his head slightly to look at Hanako. There she was, smiling her trademark smile, with the necklace. He felt satisfied with his own actions at making her happy, and turned around again. He began to feel it again: this strange feeling that would overcome him whenever Hanako was around. His heart soared.
He listened to her voice as she spoke to Rin, their chatter filling his ears. He had always felt comforted by the sound of her voice, its soft, quiet, and whispery tone that almost seemed to sing, even though her singing voice sounded completely different from her speaking voice. He did not know why he felt so comforted by her voice, but he did. Everything about her seemed to cause him to react so strangely.
He felt someone gently tapping on his back. He turned his head once more.
Hanako stood behind him. His heartbeat quickened. "Yes?" he asked, trying to hide it.
"I never did properly thank you, Lord Sesshomaru, for the necklace I mean."
He felt it again; the feeling. His chest felt so warm…
She smiled a smile that stole his breathe away. "Thank you!"
He couldn't think of what to say. He turned his head away from her. He knew if he looked at her any longer, something would happen. There was something that went along with this strange feeling that he wanted to do, but he could not quite put his finger on what this something was. But he feared whatever it was. He did not like feeling such things for someone else.
"You are welcome" was all he managed to spit out, even though there was so much more he wanted to say. He listened to her footsteps as she trotted back next to Rin. He took a deep breath. He had just realized he had forgotten to breathe.
The feeling of warmth soon converted into a pain in his chest, a wanting of some sort, desperation. What did he want?
A scent filled the air: mortals. He cringed at the stench.
Over in a clearing was a pond with many trees drooping over it. Mortals were gathered about hanging things on the braches; parchments. The parchments had things written on them. He squinted his eyes at one the one that was closest to him.
"I wish to become a great samurai" it read.
…What the hell?"Ooooh!" Rin called happily, "I want to hang one up!"
Hanako looked at the trees. "What are they, Rin-chan?"
"You write a wish on parchment paper," she began, smiling as if remembering fond memories, "And you hang it up on the trees around the pond. The pond is supposed to be magic or something, I don't know. And maybe it will come true!"
Hanako's eyes widened. "I want to!"
"Can we go hang one up, Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked with pleading eyes.
He nodded.
Rin hopped off Aun and Hanako followed, both of them fluttering to the clearing. They picked up pieces of parchment. Rin began to write something in messy handwriting that no one would probably be able to read, but if the pond was magic then maybe it could. Rin took a string and hung up her paper on a far branch.
Hanako sighed. "What should I wish for?"
Rin shrugged. "I don't know. What is something that you really really want?"
She thought deeply. She had always wanted a cat as a pet, but that was too simple. What was something she wanted more?
Her thoughts caused her eyes to shift position. Her gaze landed right on Sesshomaru, standing tall and handsome, impatiently waiting for them to come back. She couldn't write she wanted him, could she? No, that would be wrong. It was disrespectful enough that she had feelings for him, but to put it in writing for all to see would be worse. Because she was a slave…
The idea made itself visible in her mind.
She began to write as neatly as possible on her parchment. She had never fully learned to write, so it wasn't very good, but it said what she had wanted it to say. She hung it up next to Rin's, just above the water of the pond.
Speaking of Sesshomaru… she thought. She took an extra parchment and tucked it into her kimono. She thought maybe he wanted to write down a wish too, and maybe she could hang it up for him. The thought made her get over excited, and she accidentally knocked another parchment into the pond. Oops… she thought as she bent over to pick it up. The water rippled to her touch as she retrieved it. As the ripples cleared, it revealed something to her: a reflection. Her own reflection. But somehow, it did not seem like her own. She gazed into her own eyes and there was something there. The same look of death that she had seen in the skulls, the same ongoing darkness in the eyes that would grab you in and never take you out. She moved her face closer.
A skeleton. A corpse. Her reflection had turned into a blue corpse. No hair, eyelids sagging, lips gray.
She shrieked and backed away from the water, still on all fours. She caught her breathe. Something deep inside her heart made her thankful to be able to breathe…
She looked down at the water. A cold feeling of evil came over her. Something terrible had happened there. She began to choke. She could not stay there any longer. She grabbed Rin's hand and pulled her away.
"Hanako-chan? What's wrong?"
Her face was hidden by her bangs. "We have to go."
Rin did not question her.
Hanako made her way back to Sesshomaru and Jaken. Jaken was tapping his foot.
"Stupid girls. Why must you take so long?"
"I apologize…" Hanako said, half listening to him, and half drowning in the deep feeling of evil coming from the pond, and what she had seen. She could not get it out of her mind.
Sesshomaru also had noticed the uneasy aura of the pond. She can sense it as well? He thought to himself, amazed that Hanako, who was supposedly a mortal girl, was able to sense it.
Hanako remembered the parchment in her shirt. She removed it and handed it to Sesshomaru. He gaped at it. "Yes? And this is?"
"I got you a parchment. Go ahead, write something!" she said with a smile. Talking to him took away her fear of what had happened at the pond. She knew that no matter what, he would be there to protect her.
"Heh," he remarked coldly, "You actually think I would take part in your childish little game?"
"It's fun," she said, "It's fun to be childish sometimes!"
"I'm sure it is…" he mumbled.
"Isn't there anything you want?" she asked, coming closer to him. Her body heat made him shiver. The feeling was getting stronger.
"And you think hanging up over some pond will help me get it?"
She laughed. "I don't actually believe it, Lord Sesshomaru! It's just innocent fun! Now… are you going to make me write it for you?"
He snorted. "There is nothing I want. I'm perfectly content with everything I already have," he stated.
She sighed. "Okay then, Lord Sesshomaru," she said, "But remember this: If you ever think of anything, you can still hang it up."
"Ah yes Hanako… I'll remember," he said sarcastically. He guessed that by tomorrow he would forget. He took the parchment anyway, and put it with his sword around his waist. Why not?
"We are going now," he said while walking away from them, knowing that they would follow. And they did.
Sesshomaru had one thought on his mind, and strangely, it was what Hanako had wished for. He squinted and peered back to where she had hung her parchment. He had sharp vision so he was able to read from a great distance. He found Rin's, and then saw Hanako's:
"I wish to be free."
The words pierced his heart.
(…)
Naraku watched from afar.
So I see that she still recognizes the events that took place here… he thought, but isn't there anything else that you know? You did stay here for many years after all…
"Naraku," Kagura asked, "What is it that you plan on doing with her? I thought she forgot everything. Isn't that why you got rid of her?"
Naraku smirked. "She is acting as a toy in my plot for Sesshomaru's downfall. I will say no more than that."
"Downfall?"
"Yes."
She snickered. "I don't think Hanako the Powerless could fight Sesshomaru," she laughed, "She isn't capable of that power that she was supposed to have because she forgot everything. She is worthless."
"She can do… other things."
Kagura realized what he was talking about. She began to laugh more.
"Sesshomaru doesn't become emotionally attached to others, especially not mortals, or whatever the hell you would call her. Your plan will never succeed!"
Naraku said nothing in response. He was not in the mood to wage a pointless argument with Kagura. Especially since he was right and she was wrong, and she was too damn stubborn to argue with.
"How do you control her anyway?" she asked. She knew little about Hanako, the experiment that had been growing in a room in Naraku's manor.
Naraku smirked, feeling most pleased to demonstrate. He reached into his shirt and took out a small red pearl that looked as if it was glowing. She had seen it before.
"It is quite simple actually. Sit back and enjoy the show!"
Kagura watched Hanako walking.
Naraku held the bead upward. With his nail, he made a scratch along the bead's surface.
She watched the events take place before her eyes.
Hanako clenched her chest and bent over in pain. She knelt down, her body failing her.
Naraku put the bead between to fingers. He squeezed it tightly.
Hanako put her hands around her neck. She couldn't breathe. She felt her life slipping away…
Rin jumped off of Aun to help her. "Hanako-chan! Hanako-chan! What's wrong!" she shouted. Hanako tried to speak, but nothing came out of her throat. "Lord Sesshomaru! Hanako-chan is having a heart attack!" Rin shouted in tears, "Hanako-chan!"
Sesshomaru whipped around and picked her up off the ground. He shook her slightly, thinking she might be having a seizure of some sort. Hot tears streamed from her eyes, her entire face cringed in pain.
Sesshomaru's chest was pounding with worry. Jaken joined in trying to shake her awake again. "Girl! Wake up! Snap out of it!" he yelled to her. She let out a cry of pain.
Naraku laughed at all of them. He had enjoyed watching her suffer. It was just the right thing he had needed to brighten his day. Kagura's eyes widened.
Naraku cackled. The way everyone was gathering around her amused him. It amused him that they all had no idea that they were falling dead into his trap…
Kagura almost felt badly for her. She's almost in the same position as me…
Sesshomaru tilted her head upward, still cradling her on his lap. "Hanako! Hanako!" he shouted. Rin began to sob in mourning.
Jaken hit Rin. "Shut up! You are only making things worse!"
Now Hanako's veins were bulging from her neck. Sesshomaru's eyes widened from this sight. He had no idea what was happening to her, but it sure wasn't a seizure.
Naraku let the bead go from his grasp and tucked it back in his shirt.
She took a deep breath, all of the pressure suddenly leaving her. It had been as if someone was squishing her chest.
She opened her eyes. Everyone was staring at her.
Rin smiled through her tears. She hugged her. "Hanako-chan! You're alive! You scared me so much!"
Jaken pulled her away from her. "Give her some air!" he scolded Rin again. She wiped her eyes, feeling very relieved.
Hanako blinked a few times, regaining full consciousness. "Wh…what was just happening to me…?" she said, her voice quivering. She was terrified. Her entire body was shaking.
Sesshomaru looked down at her. With his one arm, he sat her up still in his lap. His arm was around her now. He stared down at her, checking her over, making sure she was okay. The more he found out about her, the more she fascinated him. She hid many secrets, secrets that he was curious to find out. He had always known from the very beginning that she was hiding something, but she showed no sign of it. But it was more than fascination he felt; he felt fear, fear for her. Fear that it might happen to her again.
Whoa! she thought, I'm in Lord Sesshomaru's arms!
"Rin," he barked, "Let Hanako ride Aun for a while."
Rin nodded. "Yes, Lord Sesshomaru."
Sesshomaru scooped her up; easily carrying her light body with one arm, and set her down on Aun. She had liked being carried by him.
He returned to his usual place in front of everyone. They all began walking again.
Sesshomaru had reacted so strangely then. He shook away his fear of her death from his mind. He had been more afraid than ever then, afraid that something was going to happen to her. He never wanted anything to ever happen to her. It must be something that came along with that feeling…