The Daughters of Cerberus
Chapter 3: Three heads, three Different paths
Last time:
"HEY! THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Yuka screams, obviously NOT looking forward to leaving her family behind.
"It's the rules."
"RULES SHMULES!" Kiki yells, "WE'RE FAMILY! YOU DON'T SEPARATE FAMILY!" she argued. Kouga remained silent and sighed,
"Try explaining that to the elder. He wouldn't listen to me, so what makes you think he'll listen to you!" He yells at the girls, Yuka looks to the ground and shuffles her feet… Yumi and Kiki look to each other, then to Yuka, "I'll give you a few minutes to say your goodbyes…"
"Yuka…" Yumi begins, Yuka turns to her and her sister, "We'll see you again, ok?" Yumi advances towards Yuka and gives her a large hug. Kiki looks away from her sister, trying to act like she didn't care… but was falling apart inside…
"Kiki?" Yuka inquires, tears filling her and Yumi's eyes, Kiki keeps looking away until she gives in and breaks down on Yuka's shoulder.
"WAH!"
"It's ok sis… I'll see you soon, really." Yuka comforts, Yumi puts a hand on Kiki's shoulder and pulls her gently away from Yuka. Both girls straighten up and turn to Kouga,
"Ok… thanks for the few hours of… um… fun Kouga." Yumi appreciated and extended a hand towards Kouga. Kouga stared at it for a while before shaking it. Kiki waved a hand and hugged Yuka once more. Kouga held Yuka back and escorted Yumi and Kiki to a clearance over the ledge.
"Now, stay still" Kouga instructs and returns to Yuka, ready to charge. Yumi and Kiki under stand his next move and close their eyes. "I'm sorry…" he mumbles before charging at the girls, Kiki and Yumi begin to whisper to each other,
"I guess we're not the Daughters of Cerberus anymore…" Kiki mumbles sadly,
"Yeah… I guess now were just… two thirds of a beast…" Yumi mumbles and holds Kiki's hand, the two wait for the impact. It comes, hard and swift, sending them hurling over the cliff and into the water below…
'Bye Yuka, Kouga… Kouga… if I die and you EVER hurt Yuka, I will haunt you 'til the day you die…' Kiki thinks, hoping her telepathic sister picks up her thoughts…
'Like he could.' Kiki hears in her ears…
"Yuka…" Kiki whispers as she and Yumi fall into the raging river below.
Now:
Yumi's POV:
Kiki and I were bashed, tossed and hurled by the raging rapids as we were swept further down the river. We slammed into rocks, grazed the stony bottom and sliced our skin on roots and shells. Kiki and I held our hands tight, fearing our separation. By now, Kiki and I were ripped from head to toe. Letting fresh blood wash away from the slices in our bodies. I felt dirt make contact with my wounds, I hissed and stiffened as the pain grew. Kiki tightened her grip on my hand as grime filled her wounds as well. We were scared: scared of being separated and scared for our lives. Suddenly, a large impact hit the back of my head and I fell unconscious. Darkness floated me through the river to places I could only imagine.
Kiki's POV:
I held on tight to Yumi's hand. The pain was killing me! I felt Yumi's hand slip away from mine. I open my tight shuteyes to find her unconscious and bleeding at the head.
"YUMI!" I cry as water fills my tired lungs. I choke on the liquid as it crawls further down my throat. I'm scared. I'm losing Yumi AND I'm choking! I feel Yumi's hand slip away at my fingertips, I cry out again, "YUMI!" I cough and choke as more water escapes into my lungs. I large rock beneath me scratches at my bleeding back and snags on to the back of my shirt. I yell out in pain and I feel Yumi's hand slip away. "YUMI!" I cry out once more… I know she can't hear me now… she's too far away. I cry as the rock slowly releases my shirt and the currents wash me up onto the shore. I grab the edge of the river and pull myself out. I was panting hard, my breathing uneven due to the water in my lungs. I look around me, my vision hazy. I slow my breathing and collapse on the edge.
I had always loved the water… but the flow of the river wasn't going to stop for me… or Yumi…
Rin's POV:
I woke up on Ah-Un's back and stretched my legs. Barely a minute passed and I was bored… I looked around to find Sesshomaru-sama asleep leaning on a tree and Jaken-sama poking sticks on the fire. I run over to him and beg him to play with me. As usual, he calls me a troublesome and pesky human… then he cracks and lets me play with him.
"Lets go down to the lake!" I say, Jaken immediately protests,
"NO! Sesshomaru-sama told you never to go to anywhere on your own!" I giggle.
"But you're with me silly. So I can go!" I state as I drag him down to the river. I slip and slide in the mud and occasionally throw mud clods at Jaken-sama, he looks really funny when he's mad. I then decide to wash off and put my feet in the water. Suddenly, this weird chunk of cloth floats by and snags on a rock. Jaken-sama and I stare at it, I reach to it to pull it onto dry land. As I hold it in my hands, I find to be dry… even though I had JUST pulled it out of the river…strange… "Jaken-sama…"
"Yes Rin?"
"This thing…"
"It appears to be a very strange bag, young Rin"
"Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay… this bag… it's… dry…"
"That's not possible young Rin: It comes fresh from the water, so it HAS to be wet. Strange human…" I get angry,
"I'm serious Jaken-sama! Feel for yourself!" I hand the heavy and chunk bag over to Jaken-sama. He too is surprised by its unusual dryness. He begins ranting on about how it's cursed and throws it to the ground. I sigh inwardly and pick it up, "Jaken-sama… it's not cursed…" I get bored of his chanting and ranting and go sit on a rock, holding the bag in my arms. I admire the river and its flow… the view was amazing… Sesshomaru-sama would enjoy it too! I stand to go and retrieve Sesshomaru-sama when something catches my eye… a reasonable amount of red water flowed in our direction. I question Jaken-sama. He waddles over to me and looks to the water before freaking out,
"OH MI LORD, RIN-SAMA! THAT'S BLOOD!" I felt pale,
"BLOOD!" I shriek, and then a figure comes in to view, a reallypretty and very wounded woman lying on her back with very ripped clothes floating down with the pool of blood. "JAKEN-SAMA! LOOK!" I scream and the two of us pull the woman on to the riverbank. I rip the hem of my dress to use as a bandage for the woman's head; though it wasn't producing as much blood as the other wounds, it's a dangerous wound. I see her going pale due to blood loss. I begin to get frantic, and run towards camp, Jaken freaks out,
"RIN-SAMA! COME BACK!" he yells, I keep running though the bushes and yell back,
"JAKEN-SAMA! STAY HERE WITH HER WHILE I GO GET-"
"While you get who? Rin… what are you carrying?" a calm and emotionless tone comes before me…
'Sesshomaru-sama…'"Oh… never mind this Sesshomaru-sama, PLEASE HELP US!"
"Save you from what?"
"WE DON'T NEED TO BE SAVED! A LADY DOES!" Sesshomaru-sama raised an eyebrow, "There's a lady down by the river that's really hurt! She's bleeding so much she's gone pale! We need to save her!" Sesshomaru-sama didn't reply, he just stood there… 'Is he really planning on leaving the woman to die? If he saw her condition- WAIT! THAT'S IT!' I begin to run towards the river, motioning Sesshomaru-sama to follow, "THIS WAY SESSHOMARU-SAMA!" I yell, he follows… slowly… eventually we come to the river to find Jaken freaking out and the woman bleeding through failed bandage attempts. Sesshomaru narrows his eyes and walks over to the woman, Jaken halts immediately and begins bowing,
"S-Se-Sesshomaru-sama, Rin-sama found this woman floating in the river. The color in her skin indicates that she is very much alive, but dying due to blood loss." He finishes, failing to hold in his worry. I disguise mine a little better, but Sesshomaru-sama probably senses it too. This woman is bleeding a lot; I didn't know we HAD so much blood in us and still have much more to go. Sesshomaru draws out his Tensaiga,
"Stand back." He orders and lowers the sword to the woman's head. She begins to glow a very pretty green and her wounds seal up. Clean blood that remained on the bank returned to the lady and color was restored to her face. I sigh in relief,
"Few…"
"Who is this woman?" Sesshomaru inquires emotionless as always, I shrug. Suddenly, the woman stirs.
"Argh…" she groans as she props herself up on her elbows. She sits up and begins messaging her temples,
'Wow, her nails are long. Pretty too.'
"Urgh… Kiki, remind me pulverize that friggin' wolf when we get back…"
"Who's Kiki?" I question, the woman snaps her eyes open and turns to us. She continues to stare and I wave.
'She has pretty eyes too. They look like grapes in the spring'She suddenly gets to her feet and looks around frantically,
"Kiki?" she asks no one, looking around, she turns around and I get the shock of my life… SHE HAD A TAIL!
'So THIS is the youkai I sensed earlier…'
'She's a youkai! Just like Sesshomaru-sama!' She spoke again,
"Kiki! KIKI! Kiki this isn't funny! GET OUT HERE NOW!" she yells, worry streaming across her face as she searches around the area frantically. I step forward,
"Who are you looking for?"
"My sister Kiki…" she replies as she continues her search. I look to the ground, well… try too when the odd bag interrupts the view of my feet.
"Um… lady?" I question, she turns to me, "Is this yours?" She nods and gently takes it from me.
"Thanks, um…"
"Rin!" I smile happily, she returns it and bends down to my height,
"Yumi. Nice to meet you." I look to the bag,
"Um, Yumi-sama, when I got the bag from the river, it was dry. Why's that?"
"This bag is water proof." Sesshomaru-sama, Jaken-sama and I stare at her. "What?"
"How's that possible Yumi-sama?"
"I'll show you." She bent down to the river and scooped up a handful of water. She then returned to the bag and poured the water on it… the water just formed little bubbles and slid off.
"Wow…" I state in amazement, she smiles,
"It's not that cool, but everyone has their own opinion I guess." She lifted the bag on her back and stood up. Sesshomaru-sama spoke up,
"Do you have any other attire?" he questions, not tone in his voice… as usual…
"What do you mean?" Sesshomaru-sama point to the river and the woman takes a look at her reflection: her wavy long hair remained in a ponytail but her black shirt was ripped at her shoulders and under her stomach. Her lower half was ripped as well… If Sesshomaru-sama were a pervert, he'd be all over her by now. She stared at her reflection and sighed,
"Well… there goes mum's shirt…" She sighs again and nods to Sesshomaru-sama, "I do have a kimono in my backpack, I also have a dress… but that's it…" I couldn't help but wonder what this 'dress' was.
"What's a dress Yumi-sama?"
"I'll show you if I decide to change into it… speaking of changing, where do I change?" All four of us, Yumi-sama included, remained silent… none of us really DID know where she could change in private, other than in a human village and we ALL know Sesshomaru-sama is NOT, I repeat, NOT going to go visit very soon. I take her hand and lead her to the bushes; she seemed uncomfortable with the idea…
"Don't worry, I'll stand guard!" I smile, she smiles back in gratitude,
"Thanks Rin. I owe you one-" suddenly, Jaken-sama speaks up,
"Does that mean you owe Sesshomaru-sama as well?" He was silenced by a kick in the head from Sesshomaru-sama.
"Huh?" Jaken-sama lifts his head from the dirt,
"Sesshomaru-sama saved your life just now, how else do you explain your ripped clothing?"
"Enough Jaken." Sesshomaru-sama silences. I flinch along with Yumi-sama who blinks.
"You saved my life?" Yumi questions, narrowing her eyes in question, Sesshomaru-sama doesn't respond, only returns the glare.
"Well, technically… Jaken-sama and I did too…" I state, she looks to me too and blinks,
"What exactly happened to me?"
"Jaken-sama and I found you bleeding in the river." A zap of realization comes to Yumi's face and she feels her right arm were deep cuts once were,
"How did these heal so quickly?"
"Sesshomaru-sama used his Tensaiga to heal you. I didn't know people had so much blood in them!"
"Technically Rin-sama, she's not people, she's a youkai." Jaken-sama speaks up.
"Same thing-"
"Not really… by the way, what's a Tensaiga?" Yumi states before Sesshomaru-sama could snap at me.
"I didn't mean it that way, but either way, you're a youkai in human form, so you're people right?" She nods and I continue, "Tensaiga is Sesshomaru-sama's sword." She raises an eyebrow,
"Your joking… isn't a sword supposed to do the opposite of healing?"
"Sesshomaru-sama's sword does both!" Yumi glared in doubt,
"Both…"
"Both" I confirmed. There was silence for a while,
"Well… I'm going to change now…" with that, Yumi bolted into the bushes and I began guard duty. I summoned Ah-Un and told him to eat anyone other than Sesshomaru-sama or Jaken-sama who came passed him.
Yumi's POV:
I rushed into the woods and opened my bag. I began digging through my things until I came across my kimono: It's sea blue with a slightly bluer tint to it and the kimono has a pattern of swirls on it. The obi is plain silver so the kimono doesn't make me look like a fragment of some little kid's imagination. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful, but if the obi had swirls… It would be a little much.
It's not very…ok, how can I explain this… It's very uncomfortable changing in the jungle with loads of other people around… or THINGS around. So I change as fast as I can: I remove my weapons and shoes then rapidly take off my shirt and flip skirt before scrambling into the kimono. This took a matter of seconds, I'd have to say about five or ten or so. I fixed my obi and gently pulled the hair trapped behind my kimono free. I then began feeling very uncomfortable… then it hit me: I needed room for my tail. So, I used my claws to cut a hole in my tail area and my tail popped through with ease. I wagged it around for a moment or too before running my fingers through my hair. I noticed that it was dry even though I had just come out of a river… odd… it must've dried when I was talking to those guys.
'I don't really know what to think of all of them just yet… that Rin girl is totally adorable! That Jaken thing is a worry wort and Sesshomaru's push over… Sesshomaru himself… hmm… So far he saved my life, which I'm very grateful for, but… he seems so… cold.
He treats Jaken like trash and doesn't bother to thank him. That's cold… very cold…WHAT AM I THINKING! The man saved my life, I shouldn't be bad mouthing him!
Urgh… this is annoying… I need Yuka, maybe even Kiki.
Damn… I'm judging these guys like that guy from American Idol, I'm supposed to be grateful… I need to do something for them… sometime.'
I slip on my socks and emerge from the trees… and come face to face with the BIGGEST Komodo dragon I had ever seen, and to top it all off, IT HAD TWO HEADS! I shrieked and fell backwards as it attempted to roast me. I roll out of the way and go into combat mode… but when I look up, I find Rin petting the dragon and explaining how I was the one he was supposed to be protecting. The thing nodded and both… they? Turned to me,
"Yumi-sama, this is Ah-Un. He's a two headed dragon."
"Dragon. Awesome! Can I pet him? Or is he going to fry me like an egg?" Rin giggled,
"Sure you can pet him!" I walk over to Ah-Un and stretch out a hand to pet his left nose. I felt the scales on my skin… IT WAS SO HEAVENLY! It's a million times nicer than snakeskin, and it's softer than cashmere!
"Wow… I thought dragons were supposed to have the toughest skin in the world, but his feels softer than cashmere!"
"His skin IS one of the toughest in the world. It's almost impossible to penetrate but rider friendly."
"Oh." I react in amazement. I go to the right head and give it an equal amount of strokes before turning to Rin, "Shall we be off?" Rim smiled,
"Sure!" We were about to go underway when Rin spoke up, "You look very pretty Yumi-sama; blue really suits you." I turn to her and smile,
"Thanks Rin, but I bet you say that to just about anybody." I joke, Rin shakes her head frantically,
"NO! I only say it when I mean it Yumi-sama. You look really pretty in that kimono, almost as pretty as you." Rin flattered, I began blushing,
"Aw. Rin, you're so sweet!" I kneel down and offer her a hug, she leaps into my arms and giggles. I reach into my pack and give her a lollipop, I show her how to eat it then she, Ah-Un and I returned to Sesshomaru and Jaken… Rin was a little sugar high though… how am I going to explain this to Sesshomaru-sama? I could give him a lollipop too, I guess…
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, WHAT DO YOU THINK X3
Don't worry, I didn't forget Kiki... but her part isn't coming up for another few chapters because I think I'm biased with Yumi. I drew her first in human form and I love it.
The story was already going to be Sesshy centric, but Yuka and Kiki are going to have their fair share...well... maybe not totally fair wink
PLEASE R&R!