Chapter 5: A Break and Neyoko's Shikon Truth
Neyoko walked over the biggest hill yet, quietly, and alone. The group had stopped a few miles back, but something pulled Neyoko's senses so she kept going.
The demonic air was growing stronger. Neyoko felt better now, after she had been apart of that fight.
A few minutes passed before Neyoko caught sight of yokai traces. The grass was severally squashed, and there were several spots where the ground showed a few ditches. 'Baka yokai, if it made that many ditches,' Neyoko thought with a small smirk.
Not far off, there was a small a small group of trees, like an oasis. The tracks led to the place. Neyoko followed carefully, trying to mask her presence as best as she could.
It had taken her a while to get to the trees, the distance being far greater than she had believed. As Neyoko suspected, the trees encircled a pool of water.
The yokai was at the rim of the large puddle, the water at its feet seeped away red. It had been washing its last prey? Yes, Neyoko was able to smell the blood now, as well as see the diluted substance in the water.
She caught a glimpse of the corpse. No wonder ningen needed a Makai, Neyoko thought. The figure was mutilated, but it had been feminine, most likely vulnerable and unable to defend herself.
Neyoko switched her attention to the despicable creature. It was at least twice her height, making it around 11 feet tall. The yokai was a light green color and hairless.
Neyoko snuck closer, intentionally rattling the foliage that had taken root there.
The yokai turned, startled. And Kami (God) was that thing ugly! It looked around stupidly, and turned back to its task, having seen nothing.
Neyoko sighed, rolling her eyes. Was that thing blind and dumb?
Something hard pelted the yokai on the shoulder. It jerked around quickly. The only thing it saw was a young girl with black streaked red hair. No weapons to speak of. The yokai smiled, having found fresh meat for the second time that day.
But...the fresher one's eyes actually looked dangerous. Either that, or it was a trick or the setting sun.
As soon as the yokai realized it would have a second meal, it charged. A single punch would suffice.
Neyoko jumped inches before the thing made contact from the ground. She ran up its arm. It tried to strike again. Neyoko jumped a second time, finishing off by kicking the vile creature's head. It staggered.
Neyoko landed gracefully on the ground, unscathed. She smirked before tuning and running off in the direction she had come from.
"You won't get off easy for this bitch," the yokai chased after the fleeing form.
Neyoko was able to avoid the yokai easily. She allowed it to catch up now and then, then she dodged, attacked a couple times. Then she ran some more.
The fourth of fifth time, Neyoko noticed an odd mass of energy in the yokai's stomach area.
Could that be what Kagome was talking about? A Shikon shard? Neyoko wondered hopefully.
Neyoko stopped for a moment, gathering a small amount of energy into a fist.
The yokai went to punch, but the hit never landed. Neyoko had easily breaking through the thing's guard and let the energy hit the things demented heart with her own punch. The yokai hit the ground backwards, the weight making the ground tremor. Then, it disintegrated.
However, the extra speck of energy remained. Neyoko found it lying in the grass, a pitch black diamond jewel, innocent as could be.
Instantly, there was an urge to pick the fragment up, and run as far away from the group as possible. But her ningen instinct fought back.
Kagome had said it was important, so Neyoko knew she couldn't leave it behind.
Reluctantly, she picked it up.
A sharp pain streaked through her hand. Neyoko almost dropped the jewel in surprise. Neyoko looked at her hand. Nothing seemed wrong, but the pain was spreading.
She grimaced before she began walking.
A few minutes passed before an ancient memory arose in the back of the thieves mind.
Neyoko had just been a kid, barely able to know what was going on around her.
The night was dark, darker than usual. Shadowy shapes entered, unknown in scent. Slowly, blood slipped across the floor, glimmering evilly in the flickering firelight.
Her mother held her close as screams tore the night. Something was pressed into her hand. "Take this," the woman whispered. "Take it, and live."
The memory Neyoko screamed as the woman who was her true mother was torn away from her and killed.
The scream was what brought Neyoko back to her real life. She was fifteen again, and ningen.
Neyoko looked around frantically. It was dark, the stars shinning brightly as if to spite her. The sun had already set as she walked on, lost in an apparent memory.
Now, she was kneeling on the ground, empty hands clasped at her chest. She looked around again, and found the small jewel at her knees, innocent, but black.
Evil thing, the thought flickered across her mind.
Neyoko knew she didn't want to make any more contact with the cursed artifact; it screwed with her mind. She ripped off the hem of her shirt, picked up the gem, and wrapped it within.
The pain she had when she touched it, lessened by several notches.
Neyoko stood up, the world spun. She closed her eyes, trying to steady herself. Neyoko felt horrible, like she had been ran over by a truck or something.
The jewel seemed to whisper to her, like the figure in the dream. Her mind could use the jewel. Her mind was still a yokai. The pain would be gone. She could be free, powerful, and invincible.
Neyoko shook her head. Never had she wanted anything like that. suddenly, she felt feverish, lost. Well, directionally lost was quite common for her, but this was different.
Neyoko's thoughts wandered as darkness crept in. How far did she have to go in order to rejoin the group? The darkness consumed her, and she welcomed it. It seemed so easy to do, to let go, even for a little while.
Sango began to worry. Neyoko had left the group not long after they had stopped, which was a short while before sunset. Now, an almost full moon rose in the sky
"Kagome, what kind of business could take so long?" Sango asked quietly.
"Isn't it obvious? The little thief can't break her habits. History repeats itself," Inu Yasha snapped. What was Sango so worried about anyways?
"Or maybe it was something else. She is a yokai killer and I think I felt a Shikon shard just a moment ago. It was coming towards us, almost as if we were its intent. But now, its faint, and it stopped," Kagome interjected.
Sango picked up her weapon. "I'm going to look for her. Something's nagging at me and I can't ignore that."
"I'll come with. If there is a Shikon shard, I should know. And I don't want anything to happen if you touch it, Sango."
Kagome followed the yokai exterminator. On top of being specially trained to kill evil yokai, Sango was also taught to track them.
"I believe it was a yokai coming towards us. She may have a better sense about them than I, possibly even you Kagome," Sango mused.
"Or maybe, Neyoko found the shard and was bringing it back to us. A spoil of war," Kagome said. Her instincts told her that's what it probably was, which worried Kagome. Would Neyoko be able to handle the Shikon shard? Or would it appeal to her yokai side?
The two girls walked a quarter of a mile before they found Neyoko.
The red head looked as if she had just decided to take a nap. She was laying on the ground, right arm extended, hand balled into a fist. Neyoko's head rested on her left.
Sango knelt and turned the girl over. The movement caused Neyoko's fist to open, revealing an ebony glint from within a cloth.
Kagome gasped, but realized that there was a little bit of pink in the Shikon shard as well. Nonetheless, she snatched the shard quickly. The inky surface instantly turned into a crystalline pink. She put it in the ever diminishing whole in the Shikon no Tama. There were only a few more fragments to collect.
Sango had resituated herself, Neyoko on her back.
"How is she?" Kagome asked, her voice full of concern.
The two girls started walking back. "I didn't see any wounds. Her temperature is a little high, but other that that, she could have just decided she didn't want to keep walking and fell asleep. Neyoko didn't wake up though, when I tried."
"She isn't full yokai, so she can touch the Shikon without being consumed. But, she isn't full ningen, either, so the shard called to her. So, she was in utter confusion."
The three girls got back to the site where the rest of the group was waiting. They had decided that Neyoko was a good ally to have around.