Pairings: Inu/Kag Mir/San Sess/Rin
A/N: T.T I'm SO sorry! Agh…well, my B-day was on the 23rd, so I guess I'm only four days late…that's good, right? (Nervous laugh)
Dark side of the moon32: Ah, you bring up a great point which I had expected to be asked many times. Ironically, you are the first to point it out. O.o I wonder why…
ANYWAYS! About the Sess/Rin pairing, well, I'm working it out. I'm planning on this fic to be a series, about three to four fics on different aspects, yeah? So, I figured that I'd wait till the third fic to actually work on the romance. At the moment, it's more like hero-infatuation on Rin's part, child-adoration on Sesshomaru's. Get it? Got it? Good.
On with the chapter!
x.
Chapter 27
x.
Shourai wasn't all that special on a whole; actually, he didn't consider himself any value period. He wasn't very well known, except to those incredulous few who lusted after power. He didn't know much about the world around him, though when asked a certain question, he couldn't very well refuse or lie, either. It was both his blessing and his curse.
Now, Shourai was acquainted with the Ten, though he didn't have any special powers of his own. His appearance made him look like a small dragon who tried to morph into a human, but failed and was formed into a half-human, half-serpent creature with no distinguishing points as to what he originally was. His dark brown skin allowed him to blend in with the dark rocks of his cavern-like home deep within a special group of mountains high in the north. Next to nothing was able to live that high up, except for the few dragons able to handle the lack of oxygen. The Ten was no exception. Sure, they would be able to live as long as they wished up here, but they wouldn't be able to survive comfortably, nor find anything to hunt, kill, or mate with.
Shourai appeared to have a serpentine head, a human-like body covered in mud-colored scales, clawed hands and feet, a tail outstretched behind him. Wings were draped around him, horns uprooting out of his temples, dark, ruffled hair leaning out of his head, reaching his lower back. His dark eyes seemed to search through anyone's soul, as if feeling around for a certain trait in those who came to seek him.
The dragon-human-demon creature found that feeding wasn't a mandatory concept of his life, though it was fun (and he did so quite often) and found that lounging around in his cave gave him more time to ponder his vast knowledge of the world. He couldn't very well use his powers for his own benefit, only if another asked him. Strange, really, as he never exactly knew anything until someone put in the form of a question. Even he couldn't comprehend his extents of power, though from time to time, he was able to access bits and pieces of it.
Suddenly, a flash of light filled the back of the cave, forcing Shourai to turn to see a single pink feather drifting down to the ground. Turning upon the small, fluffy object, Shourai plucked it off the stone floor and held it to his eyes between two carefully sharpened talons.
"Well, well," he said, his old voice hoarse and grating. "It seems I'll be having a visitor soon enough."
x.
Kagome continued her meanderings, though turning up little in return. She swore that she had trekked this entire area a dozen times, yet she turned up with nothing of value, other than a lungful of dust and her legs covered in ash, turning them charcoal-black. She inwardly cursed; those stains would take days to clean out.
Sighing, she wondered aloud, "What could Nali have wanted me to find? At this rate, all I'll seem to find is a way to turn myself into a walking piece of coal…"
Frustrated, she took a couple of glances around, slowly at first, though they soon became frantic jerks of her head. She had to find some sort of clue, something that would help her out of this twisted mess she'd somehow gotten herself into.
Suddenly, her eyes came upon something peculiar. The strange sight made her stop and stare, not exactly registering what it was before her. At first, she thought it was a corpse, though she was quickly mistaken. The corpse-shaped pile of ashes seemed to be shaking slightly, small beams of light slowly making their way to the surface of the pile. Running over to the small blob, she realized that it was larger than she had first thought. From where she had stood, it resembled the size of a small child, though looking upon it now, it appeared more to the likeliness of a dragon just smaller than Nali.
Though it disgusted her, Kagome kneeled down in the ashes and began sifting through the shaky black dust, coughing when she accidentally kicked up ash into her lungs, crying out when some stuck itself into her eyes. Finally, she managed to reveal what was making that soft glow of light.
'…What is this?' she thought to herself, picking up what looked like a feather. However, it was larger than an ordinary feather, reaching about a foot in length, the form as perfect and flawless it seemed unreal. The color was a light pink, the light emanating from it an equal shade in color. 'A…feather? What good can a feather be?'
Suddenly, the light grew stronger, and eventually, turned into a violent shock of blinding pink energy. The light soon engulfed Kagome, not even letting her divulge the gasp that was curled away in her throat. By the time the light had faded, Kagome had disappeared.
x.
The room began to rumble as Sango and Miroku huddled together on the same, seemingly larger ocean-blue tile. They took a small glance around the room, taking in their surroundings. The place, as endless as it had appeared earlier, seemed to have expanded. Now, where they had known to be walls no longer existed. It was as if the walls had been forced backwards, creating a larger distance between tiles. Looking across the room, there seemed to be no walls at all. Instead, there was a pathway made up of even more colored tiles. All of them seemed to be leading to an altar that appeared no larger than the tips of Sango's fingers from where they stood. The path looked to be longer than a mile, though Sango guessed it was even longer than that.
"What do you suppose we do now?" Miroku asked, even though he knew very well that Sango hadn't a clue. Turning his violet eyes upon her, he continued, worry resounding in his voice, "Tell me Sango, and be honest: are you sure you're all right?"
Though feeling heart-warmed by his concern, Sango had no choice but to lie. Shaking her head, she replied, "I'm fine, Miroku. Just fine." He seemed to believe her, but even so, helped her to her feet. She didn't mean to fib, really, but she didn't want him to worry for her. 'Please,' she thought, 'just worry about yourself. I'll be fine; don't get distracted because of me.'
Glancing around, they finally made a move, jumping from one tile to the next, surprised when they didn't disappear beneath them. Slowly, they began to make their way towards the narrow pathway on the opposite side of the arena, hoping that that would lead them out of this twisted game.
x.
When the blinding light diminished, Kagome finally found the courage to slit her eyes open a notch. When she had touched that feather, this wasn't exactly what she had been expecting. However, after taking a glance towards her surroundings, she wished she hadn't seen the feather at all.
Apparently, she was on a high mountain peak, its rigid walls steeper than a building's. Kagome forced herself not to look down, but couldn't help but lower her gaze towards the misty bottom; she couldn't see what lay below, other than that it would most likely kill her if she fell. Picturing this unwanted image, she backed away from the ledge hurriedly, accidentally tripping and falling on her butt in the process.
Turning her head, she looked behind her, where a vast cavern lay. Head tilting in curiosity, she picked herself up and hesitantly took a few steps inwards. There was what looked like some sort of long, twining grass lying in a thick, slightly matted pile to one side, giving Kagome the impression that someone actually lived here. To the other side, to her shock, was a wall completely scorched; the black marks sticking to the cavern wall like glue.
Even worse, now that she looked closely, bones of all sizes littered the floors, the largest of them all placed in the very back of the cavern. It looked almost as large as herself, or perhaps even more gargantuan. The ones by her feet were crushed and broken, though were much smaller than her own feet.
"What is this place?" she asked herself, fear evident in her eyes. Whatever creature lived here seemed to enjoy whatever they ate, and she didn't want to stick around to see what exactly ate them all. And yet, she didn't want to try to climb down a mountain that was steeper than a straight line and probably a couple times larger than Mt. Fuji itself.
Suddenly, a hoarse voice cut through her thoughts. "This is my home, girl, what does it look like?" Letting out a shriek, Kagome jerked around, backing away from the black silhouette towering over her at the entrance to the cavern.
"Who…who are you?" Kagome asked tentatively as the creature stepped forwards. She distinctively heard the large thumps of feet, the scraping of talons on stone, the swift dragging sound that sounded like more than just a tail to her.
Finally, the creature was distinguishable, and Kagome nearly gasped. The thing standing before her didn't look human, but it didn't look like a demon either. The head of a dragon, narrow and angular, its elongated neck attached to an almost human-like body. The arms were muscular with sharp claws on the ends, the feet held talons sharper than any sword. Wings sprouted out of his back, though tattered and worn from so many years of living. A thick tail dragged along the ground behind him, along with what looked like a large ox demon. His entire body was covered in small, glimmering scales, each the color of thick mud.
Each of these qualities didn't seem to make him any more human than the dead ox he carried, yet when Kagome saw his eyes, that's what made her positive. Those dark, amethyst eyes seemed human to her, even if they were narrowed to fit in with the serpentine head they were attached to. They loomed down at her, as if taking in her awkward appearance; that wouldn't surprise Kagome, as her odd clothing made almost anyone stop to stare.
After what felt like an eternity, the dragon-man finally replied, "I am Shourai." The tone was the same: deep, hoarse, rough. It gave Kagome slight shivers listening to the grating note, but she resisted the urge to shake. Sighing, Shourai took a few steps forward, the dead animal scuffling the ground behind him.
Shourai passed by Kagome, finally resting on his bed of hay. Next, he tossed the ox into the charred wall as if it were a sack of potatoes, watching it fall to the ground like a rock. Suddenly, to Kagome's disgust, he opened his mouth, where glistening white fangs could easily be seen as a couple inches long, and blew heavy waves of molten fire upon the poor creature.
As the smell of burning flesh hit her nose, Shourai finally turned his head, as if noticing her for the first time. "The visitor Nali had mentioned must have been you, correct?" When Kagome didn't respond, his eyes narrowed slightly. "What's wrong, human? Don't they teach you manners down below?"
Kagome snapped out of her stupor, only to squeak out rather hastily, "Sorry!" She ducked her head in a bowing motion, not only in respect, but out of embarrassment.
The dragon-man guffawed in answer. Peeking upwards, Kagome blinked a few times, trying to register what exactly was so funny. "You're an interesting guest; in fact, I think you may be the first in a couple centuries. No matter. Now, I expect you want me to answer a question, right?" He glanced over expectantly. When the schoolgirl before him once again stayed silent, he shrugged. "Can't make up your mind, eh? Well, I can't blame you; the world needs so many answers, but may only ask one question. It's a hard choice, girl, so make it count." In another bout of flame, he continued to cook his next meal.
Kagome grimaced as the flames licked at the meat against the wall. Still, she gulped down her fears and managed to ask, "Sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about."
Shourai gave an incredulous expression. "What kind of human are you? If Nali sent you here, I'd expect you to at least know what kind of creature I am!" Kagome winced at the harshness in his voice. Shourai seemed to realize this and calmed down. "Sorry, girl, but I've been irritated for a while now. Anyways, I'm a Wish Bringer. The title's clearly over exaggerating my powers, as I can grant wishes as much for me as for anyone else. All I can do is answer a question, ONE QUESTION." He roared, emphasizing his point.
In two strides, he leaned over and poked the steaming ox with one claw. "Just right…" Kagome heard him murmur, and no sooner had she heard so that the sound of crunching bones reached her ears. She tried to tune out the sounds of ripping flesh and fangs tearing through skin and muscle, but it was kind of hard.
Eventually, the gobbling stopped, and Kagome dared herself to glance towards where Shourai was, once again, laying atop the bed of hay, a decapitated ox head in his hands. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried her best not to gag.
"Anyways," Shourai continued, his mouth full of cooked meat, "as I said, each person is allowed only ONE QUESTION. Otherwise, my powers won't work, see? However, if it does work, then I'll be able to answer ANY question you can come up with. Anything, whether it be 'bout future, past, present, your love life ("though who would wanna know about that?" he added), anything. It doesn't matter to me, but sometimes, there are things I just can't answer."
Hearing this made Kagome's heart flutter slightly; so this was what Nali had wanted! Feeling the excitement begin to pour out her, she blatantly ignored the smell of charred meat, or the voracious appetite of the Wish Bringer in front of her, now assumed to be twisting off a particularly chewy piece of lower jaw muscles.
"Oh, one more thing," Shourai suddenly broke in, interrupting Kagome's thoughts. "Be careful how you word your question. Just a hint."
Kagome nodded, and began to ponder how to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
x.
"Sango, look out!" Miroku shouted, shoving Sango out of the way of a nasty blow, the energy ball crashing into the tile that the demon slayer had just been standing on moments before. The globe of energy immediately incinerated the colorful platform, reducing it to cinders.
Eyes widening, Sango thought, 'Holy crap, this'll be tough…'
Sango and Miroku had been jumping from one tile to the next, hoping to make it to the other side of the arena and to that narrow pathway before anything else had happened. Unfortunately, that hadn't been the case. They had only made it about halfway when more demons had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Though the tiles they were leaping to and fro on didn't seem to change at all, the demons' intelligence had leapt skywards. One resembled a large, mutated bird, which shot chi balls out of its gruesome, drool-covered beak. Small, but razor-sharp teeth glinted every time it opened that yellow mouth, sending chills up Sango's spine. The group of demons included an ogre, like before, a massive centipede demon, and a lower-level sorceress. Each were essential, giving a balanced variety of monsters.
Take the ogre, for example; it had strength, but no brains. Thus, the centipede came in; the intelligence of a centipede demon wasn't anything to laugh at, though it strength was pitiful; it's only real power was ambushes, which were sadly lacked in this enclosed, open space. Then, there was the bird, which provided eyes above the entire arena, allowing it to spot anything the adversaries had planned. Finally, there was the sorceress; though low-leveled and inhuman, she possessed powerful defensive magic, and with the ogre defending her as she cast her spells, the four demons made an excellent match-up.
"Have any bright ideas, Miroku?" Sango asked, jumping away for a brief moment to avoid the sudden swoop of the bird, its talons managing to cut into her shoulder. Hissing in pain, Sango gripped the wound with her hand, fingers digging into her black uniform. Though the wound wasn't deep, it managed to break the skin and draw blood, the crimson liquid running along her fingers.
"Sango!" Miroku called, whipping out a few sutras hidden in his cloak. Tossing them towards the bird, they were easily washed away by the sorceress' weak, but effective water spell. "Damn it," he cursed, rushing over to his lover's aid. Grabbing Sango from under the arm, he half-dragged him along with him, trying not to wince when she grunted in pain underneath him.
He could hear the demons slowly tracking them down, and he knew that he wouldn't have the strength to continue this on much further. His violet eyes softened, and he pressed forwards; they were only a small ways away from the pathway. He prayed that that would finish this twisted game for good.
"Miroku, let me down!" Sango's complaints reached his ears, though he ignored them. "Miroku, please!" more pleading. He gritted his teeth, and pushed her voice away from him; it was no use, though. "I can move on my own, Miroku, stop pushing yourself!" By the hurt tone of her voice, he could tell there were unshed tears in her eyes. Knowing how much pain he was putting through her, he couldn't help but feel the need to cry, too. Yet, he crushed these wants as well; he had to do this.
Pushing all of his strength into this final move, he thrust the woman in his arms forwards, the demon slayer landing none-too-gently upon a tile right on the beginning of the narrow pathway. As Sango called out to him, he whipped around, yanking the beads off of his right arm.
"KAZAANA!" he shouted, thrusting his arm forwards, starting the cursed process of the wind tunnel for which his greatest enemy thrust upon him since before his birth. The demons screeched in agony as their bodies were dragged towards the black hole, warped to fit into the enclosed space, and soon, died as they entered the black, empty vortex.
However, just as Miroku had expected, from not far off, new demons sprouted, this time, appearing to have increased in strength as well as in numbers. Hastily, the monk turned again, aiming his wind tunnel towards the demons reappearing, having them being sucked up into his cursed arm.
Chancing a glance backwards, his eyes widened; Sango was still laying there on the tile, looking at him with a hurt gaze. "Sango, what are you doing, run!" he shouted over the high winds his curse produced. Numbly, she shook her head, tears welling up in her beautiful chocolate eyes, though never once falling. "Sango, you have to!" Again, that numb reply. "Please!"
Suddenly, a pain coursed through his arm. Crying out in shocked agony, he jerked his gaze down to his arm, where his arm was slowly turning a sickening brown-black color. 'Damn…poison…' he thought through gritted teeth as he tried to block out the pain. He could numbly hear Sango calling to him once more, but her voice was soon overcome by the pulsing in his ears, his blood pumping so loudly he was surprised no one else could hear it.
In fact, he wasn't surprised when a stinging sensation flooded his right shoulder. He didn't realize he was screaming until he ran out of breath. Forcing the air into his lungs, he crouched on his knees, the tile beneath him becoming a pool of crimson. His eyes flickered on and off, colors and darkness clouding his vision as he blinked hastily. Finally, he saw her; his hazy gaze landed on Sango, who shouted at him. He couldn't understand what she said, but he was always a good guesser.
"Sango…" he managed to utter. Even if he was too far away, he knew she could hear her.
Time seemed to stop for her. That one name sent her heart into a world of pain; seeing her love mere yards away from her, pouring blood onto the ground, his arm doused in poison. Yet, for some reason, she couldn't move. Her body seemed paralyzed, and she didn't know why. No matter how much she willed her body to move, she couldn't move a single muscle.
"I'm…sorry…" were his last words. His violet eyes seemed to cloud over as he slowly began to fall. The actions seemed to go in slow motion, and Sango finally felt her tears reigning freely down her face. This couldn't be happening….it just couldn't be…
As Miroku fell into the unending abyss, she screamed his name, long and hard.
TO BE CONTINUED……