When Night Falls
Disclaimer: Oobelee-boobelee. That's French for "I don't own Inuyasha".
First off, I'd like to thank all y'alls for yer patience. I recently got a job washin' dishes one Fridays and Saturdays, the days I normally write on! As if school wasn't enough. Anyway, It shouldn't effect the turnout... seeing as I've been takin' two weeks recently anyway. I'm sorry 'bout all this, I'm gonna really buckle down and start crankin' this baby out. Anyway, reviews.
Ninalee-chan: Good points regarding the anime? Man... I didn't realize I was capable of intelligent thought...
Veglma: Happy self as usual? Good. Well... I don't want to give it away for you, so I can't tell ya! Yes... Sesshomaru generally causes a problem.
xcrossmeheartx: Actually... I can't drive yet. I'm close, though!
Dark Angel: This chapter has some good Ramen action in it! You should like that.
medlii: Heh heh... don't patronize me... please... Yeah... as for Sesshomaru... I made a mistake in the description. If you're up to date with the manga, you should be able to figure it out!
Amylovestakuya: Thank you!
TUF STUF II: Sorry... this chappie ain't to actiony either, but the next one will be!
Crystal Promise: Haha... I already talked to you 'bout that!
xXBeautiful DisasterXx: Toe? And Inuyasha is always an Ass.
Anyway, thanks to all of you! Here's the chapter and I'll try to hurry up with the next one!
Chapter 17: Heavy Fuel
The dark waves of the northern ocean loomed before them. They had made it. The wave of relief that spread across the Inu-tachi was apparent to even the most ignorant of people as they set up camp and lit a fire. Shippo had fallen sleep almost instantly, his young body exhausted from the constant traveling and partly from boredom. Not even Kagome had had much time to entertain him over the past days. They now sat around the flickering flame, staring into its depth. No one needed to ask what the silence was for. They all new that by this time on the next day they would either be victorious… or dead. Miroku scanned his companions. Kagome was staring into nothingness, her large eyes reflecting every amount of light the fire ejected. Her face was oddly emotionless. Miroku knew she had a habit of that. When happy, Kagome was perhaps the most exuberant (and somewhat annoying) being on the planet. But when she was sad or anxious, she did not show it. She became like stone, her usual upbeat nature completely drained from her body. Inuyasha's eyes were narrowed as he intently watched to movements of the flame. Despite hi usual brutish nature, Inuyasha had capacity for deep thought, but Miroku could still see the small smirk on his face. He was never able to resist a good fight, he was looking forward to it.
Sango intrigued him. Well, Sango always intrigued him. Possibly because he played such close attention to her every movement he had gotten her entire psychology down, and he new when she was acting out of the ordinary. And right now, she was definitely acting oddly. Usually, she avoided his gaze at the fire. Something he never understood, but whenever his eye caught hers, she would tend to quickly look away. Miroku had once believed he saw a blush on her face whenever she did this, but he was now smart enough to know it was just the light of the fire on her perfect cheeks (not those cheeks, get your mind outta the gutter). Today however, he turned to find her staring directly at him, yet she did not avert her gaze. She didn't even show a sign that she acknowledged his. Miroku watched her for a second, trying to figure out if she was actually staring at him, or just into the space that he happened to be occupying. Finally, he decided to ask.
"Sango, is something wrong?"
Sango instantly woke from her reverie. "Huh?" she blinked.
"I asked if something was wrong?"
"Wha? No… why?"
"Well you were staring in my direction and…"
"No, Houshi-sama, nothing's wrong."
Their conversation roused to Kagome, who piped in, "Why don't we try fishing?" She reached into her book bag and, pulling out the last cup of ramen…
"No!" It was instantly swiped out of her hands by Inuyasha, who was now cradling it to his chest like an infant. "No way are you using the last of the ramen to try and catch some stupid fish!"
"Inuyasha…" Kagome warned.
"No!" Inuyasha took off running.
"Inuyasha! Get back here!" yelled Kagome, jumping to her feet with the others and darting after him.
Inuyasha kept running, ramen held way out in from of him. None of his pursuers had the speed to catching the fleeing Hanyou, but there was one weapon they had that Inuyasha had forgotten to take into account…
"Inuyasha… osuwari!"
Inuyasha instantly fell flat on the ground, causing a giant crater in the dirt. Slowly, the others approached before peaking in cautiously. Inuyasha sat on his haunches in the hole, the cup clasped in his hands.
"Inuyasha, give me the ramen," growled Kagome, holding out a hand.
"No…"
A vein instantly popped up in Kagome's head, but that was quickly remedied when Miroku whapped Inuyasha over the head with his staff, causing the Hanyou to fall backward and the ramen to be flung up the air, where it was intercepted by Kagome. As the three tuned and walked away, Inuyasha inched himself along the ground in a crawling fashion before lifting one wavering hand into the air.
"My precious…" he hissed.
Kagome turned slowly to look at him, one eyebrow arched. "What did you say?"
"Nothing."
"Good."
And so began a long and dramatic story of death and suffering… The Lord of the Ramen!
Erm… wait a minute, getting off topic here. Anyway, so it was destined that the precious ramen be used to catch lowly and slimy fish.
Unfortunately, the ramen worked much less than they would have liked, and at the end of the hour they had caught only two small fish. Inuyasha's impatience, for once, seemed to work for the better as he, getting tired of waiting for a fish to bite, flung himself into the water and came up holding strongly onto a squirming fish. With a grunt he flung it onto land before submerging once again in search of more. Kirara transformed into her large form and joined him, pulling fish out of the water much like a bear would catch salmon swimming upstream. It was not long before they had a decent pile of the sea creatures, which they all watched anxiously as the fish roasted on sticks over the fire.
Once they had eaten, they settled down to sleep feeling full for the first time in a week. Miroku found a rock to prop himself up against before nodding his head forward and allowing sleep to overtake him…
Had he known that the same nightmare would assault him, he probably would have opted to avoid sleep once again. Yet, for the second time in a row he woke up in fear. He breathed deeply while wiping the sweat off his face with his sleeve. Resting his had back against the rock once more, he stared out at the ocean. Instantly he felt himself begin to calm. He watched quietly as the small waves came rolling in, before breaking apart on the rocky shore. A cool sea breeze refreshed his hot skin. The sound the ocean produced was incredibly soothing and he sat in silence, perfectly content.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" came a dreamy voice from above him.
Jumping in shock, Miroku scrambled away from the rock, before turning around to see who it was. A seemingly normal man sat with legs crossed on the rock. He was dressed in a pure white robe. His bright blue eyes stood out against the dark sky while his flowing blonde hair danced around his face.
"Who are you?" asked Miroku.
The man decided not to answer, merely staring out at the ocean before finally speaking again. "You now, I had a sister once."
Miroku calmed, not sensing anything wrong with this person. "What about her?" he asked, trying to sound polite, though he knew it came out strained.
"She loved the ocean. More than anything in the world."
"Oh… what happened to her?"
"She was killed. Murdered actually."
"That's horrible…"
For the first time the man's eyes towards Miroku. His thin eyes narrowed slightly as they caught his. "Quite," he said simply. "Won't you joining me?" he asked, placing a hand on a space on the rock next to him.
"Sure…" Miroku answered cautiously. Standing up, he made his way over to the man before sliding onto the rock next to him. "Who… are you anyway."
"I am a traveler," the man spoke once more in his somewhat detached voice, "a man void of home or family."
"Hmm…" Miroku made a guttural noise, his eyes shifting to the ground. "I know how that feels."
"I see…" the man's piercing eyes watched him for a moment. "Let me see your eyes, boy."
He didn't know exactly the point of it, but something told Miroku he could trust this man. Slowly, he turned his head until he was looking directly into the eyes of the newcomer. Almost instantly, one of the man's pale hands shot up and caught his cheek, furthering Miroku's nervousness.
"You have seen… felt so much pain…" he whispered.
Miroku wanted to turn away, but for some reason he couldn't. It was as if this new man was reading his very soul. The man had his eyes closed now, but his hand did not leave Miroku' cheek, His head bowed slowly forward. They sat like that for what seemed like many minutes for Miroku. He could literally feel every emotion he ever felt being pulled from his heart and into the hand of this stranger before finally…
"Gah!" the newcomer yanked his hand away, as if he had been burned.
"What's wrong?" asked Miroku.
"You… you have some of the most disturbing emotions I've ever experienced."
"Yes… well loosing your entire family to a curse set upon them by a maniacal Hanyou, a curse that can claim your life at any moment will do that to you."
"Nobody should ever experience such things…"
"I used to say that to… but then I realized that everyone can't be happy. I just happened to be one of those people, and I got over it. Besides, surely my companions have emotions just as strong…"
The man snorted. "I've already read their emotions."
"Huh? When?"
"When they were sleeping, one night ago."
"One night? I was awake, I didn't see you."
"You almost did. You woke up while I was trying, as you did now."
"Well why didn't they?"
"Wake up? It's simple really. Or not so much… anyway. You keep your emotions much more guarded. As I was withdrawing them your mind started processing the into a mental image. To warn you these emotions were emerging. I was only able to read them now because you willingly allowed me."
"My nightmares…"
He nodded. "You've experienced so much pain that your mind has suppressed these things so deeply behind a mask of joy and… perverseness. But I warn you, monk, the mask has to come off sometime so you can take a breath. It's good to keep a positive attitude, but sometimes you just have to let out your emotions, or they'll only build up until you explode."
Miroku couldn't help himself. He felt the warm tickling sensation as a tear fell down his face. This man… whoever he was, had an amazing effect on him.
"See? It feels good, doesn't it? To cry?"
Miroku nodded slightly, to appease him more than anything.
"That's what intrigued me so much about you," the man continued, "That a boy with so much pain would seem to be the happiest of you. You're friends… Kagome has no real reason to be sad. She may be jealous of Kikyo, but deep down, she trusts Inuyasha. Speaking of whom, Inuyasha has experienced pain much like all of you. But, even though he would never admit it, being with you guys make him feel good. It makes him feel wanted, something that he's never known in his life. Unlike you, who have to constantly worry about them for if your Kazaana were to open. But also, Inuyasha has a very large ego, and that helps him some. The kitsune, Shippo, who lost his parents, has found a new mother in Kagome. And then… there's the taijiya. As you know… she lost her entire family, village, had her brother enslaved by the same man who tricked her. But she shows her emotions, Miroku, and that's what I want you to understand. Every time the waters build up, she opens the dam, instead of you, who build the dam higher. That way her emotions come out little by little, unlike yours, that would come out in one gigantic rush of depression. But there's also something else she has, you know what that is?"
Miroku shook his head.
"She has you. I felt her emotions, Miroku. Can you imagine the happiness she felt when you asked her to live with you? Finally she had a family again. Someone she knew she could turn to when she needed something, anything. That's what you are to her, Miroku. You are her family. And I think once you realize this, you'll be able to handle your own emotions much better."
Miroku stared at the ground in disbelief. Eventually, he answered in a weak voice. "Who are you, really? And why are you so interested in us?"
The man sighed. "Follow me, and take off your sandals." He stood up and began walking towards the ocean. Miroku did as he was told and rushed after him. The stopped at the shore so that the water rushed over their toes as they gazed off towards the north, knowing what awaited there. "I'm not going to lie, Miroku. My name is Tamashii, and I was sent to kill you."
End Chapter 17
For those of you who don't know, "Tamashii" means "soul".
My next chapter should be in 1-2 weeks, depending on whether or not I have time to work on this. So until then, review!
Next Chapter: The Inu-tachi face one of their most difficult battles yet... but is it with Tamashii?
Review please!