Protector
This chapter is dedicated to darkflame1516 for actually noticing and asking why I didn't have a quiz question last chapter and for entertaining me throughout the week! We had a fun time emailing each other back and forth! We just kept chattering on and on and on…until either of us had to leave. I hope you're well now, Jen-chan!
Zhi yao zhun bei hao ming tian de wei xiao (As long as I prepare tomorrow's smile)
Wu lun zai tian ya hai jiao (Wherever you are, to the ends of the earth)
Xiang xin ai zong hui qian fang bai ji ba ni xun zhao (I believe love will cross all barriers and find you)
Ke neng ta zhong yu ming bai ni you duo hao (Maybe she's finally realized how good you are)
Xiang hui tou, chao ni ben pao (And wants to turn back, run towards you)
Zhi yao zhun bei hao ming tian de wei xiao (As long as I prepare tomorrow's smile)
Dang ni xiang yong bao (Whenever you want an embrace)
Ai zong hui chu qi bu yi qing qing qiao qiao lai dao (Love will always turn up quietly, unnoticed)
Ye xu zai sheng ming li de mou ge zhuan jiao (Perhaps, in a random corner of your life)
Ling yi ge ren hui gei ni mo ji xiang tong wei xiao (Yet another person will give you the exact same smile.)
- Ming Tian de Wei Xiao (Tomorrow's Smile), sung by Fish Leong (also known as Liang Jing Ru) Translated by me, because I do speak Chinese as my second language.
Chapter 19: Ming Tian de Wei Xiao (Tomorrow's Smile) (The title's in Chinese, by the way, if you didn't know.)
Kagome tossed restlessly, face reddened. The necklace, which had been replaced around her neck, reflected the lamplight, flickering golden in the dancing shadows. Her arms were splayed out, and her eyes were open, although they seemed to recognize no one. Sesshoumaru sat in a chair brought in by Ikaru, and concentrated on the book in his lap, occasionally glancing up to check on the miko. Shiruka stood by her bedside, brows knotted in concern. Ikaru stood outside, on guard. Kiria had been sent back to rest until Luria returned with news.
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"Kirara, go sloooooower!" Luria screamed as the fire-cat zoomed on her way after listening to the unicorn's directions. Kirara huffed and went faster, if that was possible. Luria hung on, fingers entangled in Kirara's fur tightly. Her long golden tresses were borne out behind her on the rushing wind, and her tilted cat-like green eyes were half-shut in an effort to keep the dust out.
As Kirara continued gliding onwards, Luria murmured a curse and wished that she had brought a coat along. Abruptly, she swallowed hard.
"Kirara, I'm going to throw up…" she moaned.
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"Kagura, are you done with your missions?" Kariyu asked, opening the door to her room silently. Her head shot up instantly, and she rose to her feet. "Yes, my lord," she replied respectfully, curtsying gracefully.
"Use a message bird and have it deliver your letter to Kanna. I have another job for you in mind," Kariyu ordered. She nodded in acquiescence.
"What can I do for you, my lord?" she asked, kneeling on the floor at his gesture as he relaxed into a cushioned armchair. Lifting one hand, he lazily began to run his fingers through her silky ebony locks.
"I want you to bring me… a soul," he cooed melodically. "Whose?" Kagura questioned, trembling within herself.
"Bring me… Inuyasha's soul," he caressed the top of her head lightly. Kagura's mind spun.
"The barrier…" she offered token resistance.
"I have a few things for you to get rid of it, mate," Kariyu sighed out patiently. He handed her a small container containing dozens of black widow spiders, and a glowing orb of demon energy. She stared at them, puzzled, as he smiled.
"This is all you will need."
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"Jun! Jun, are you there?" Luria called hoarsely. Her throat ached after throwing up the entire contents of her stomach after the wild ride with Kirara. She could have sworn that the damned cat had actually looked amused as it observed her hack up everything in an undignified manner.
The face of a mild-mannered rabbit youkai appeared at a window on the second storey of the small house. "Come on in, Luria-chan," she shouted down. Luria waved back, and pushed the woven curtain covering the door aside, entering unsteadily. Kirara followed, tails waving merrily.
"What can I do for you today, Luria-chan?" Jun asked as she measured a portion of a suspicious-looking liquid out into a spoon. She hesitated, before tipping it into a cup of emerald green acid. Moments ticked past, and then Jun was covered in stinking black soot. Luria could only stare unblinkingly, as Jun grinned sheepishly. "Umm… oops?" she offered hopefully. Luria shook her head, grinning wryly.
"I've got this new friend, she's been poisoned with the Draca Cor," Luria came straight to the point.
"Ah, I see. Well, I would love to help you, but I'm afraid I can't. You see, the Shinketsuchi leaves I have are too old, and are only good for experimentation purposes. Their vitality is no longer there, and they are ineffective for healing," Jun grimaced, shaking her head.
"Is there anything you can do at all?" Luria asked hopefully.
"Well, I can attempt to devise a potion which can restore the victim, but I would need time, at least three days if you are lucky, and I would need sterilized materials, more space, assistants, samples of the Draca Cor in her body and access to many rare herbs," Jun hazarded.
"Would the Castle of the Crescent Moon be suitable?" Luria pressed.
"More than so, but isn't the lord there-" Jun was cut off by Luria clapping her hands in joy.
"The one who needs help is Sesshoumaru-sama's personal guest," Luria explained.
Jun nodded in comprehension. "Well, I'll just need a few minutes to gather my things, and then we can leave," she began to bustle about the room, grabbing up things like measuring spoons and a workbook for herself.
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They arrived astride Kirara at dawn the next day, Luria frantically clinging to Kirara's mane and desperately trying to extract a promise from Jun to make her a healing brew so she could resist the urge to throw up. Jun was giggling behind a hand, her pointed ears twitching in amusement.
The guards at the gate hailed them as they drew nearer, and waved them straight in.
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"Sesshoumaru-sama, this is Jun, my friend, who has agreed to try and help Kagome," Luria gestured towards Jun, who smiled and bowed politely, painfully self-conscious in her simply-styled cotton blouse and patched skirt.
"There are things I will require to start work," she said, glancing about speculatively.
"All will be made available to you. Kiria will be sent for, and she will assist you," with that, Sesshoumaru walked out of the room as Jun blinked.
"Anyway, Luria, are you going to help me?" Jun asked, turning pleading eyes on her friend.
Luria gulped. "Umm… do I have a choice?"
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"So, anyway, I've managed to distill the poison and list out its ingredients, as written on this sheet of parchment. As Luria said, the most prominent and dangerous ingredient is the Draca Cor, followed by many other small poisons mixed together to form something very potent. I have the antidotes to most of the small ones separately," Kiria informed Jun, who nodded, copying the ingredients down speedily into her workbook, with quick, practiced strokes of a brush.
"Then, I'll get to work. I've prepared a list of herbs that I will want to try… could you arrange for these to be brought here, please?" Jun requested. Kiria agreed immediately.
Jun set to work quickly, as hardworking as a bee.
Fine, hollow tubes of wood were used in place of the modern glass test tubes. The wood was brushed with a veneer of inflammable paint. Kiria's set looked barely used, whereas Jun's set was battered and dented. Each tube was filled with a different mixture, and Jun rubbed her eyes in frustration as variation after variation failed to produce the results she required.
If the potion she mixed had any effect on the Draca Cor, the colorless layer of poison would float to the top. She was trying to have it expelled through the pores of the skin, to be wiped away every few minutes, rather than passed naturally out of the body. Sweating it out was faster, and the poison would have less time to wreak havoc on Kagome's immune system.
Jun growled as she crossed out recipe after recipe from her workbook. The two assistants nearby worked furiously, taking the mixtures she had no use for away to be disposed of properly.
Jun sighed as she began to try a new page. This one was more unusual, infusion of holly wood and tulip root, along with leaves of the haddock plant, ginger and ginseng fruit. As she observed the changes taking place, she discovered that the poison sank to the bottom of the tube, rather than floating to the top. She marked the recipe as one which needed alteration but could still be considered in the running, then moved on.
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After two days, Jun came to Kagome's room, bags under her eyes. A vial of bright green medicine was in her hand, and her hair was lank and straight.
"You look like a panda," Shiruka said bluntly.
"Thanks ever so. Now, give this to her while I pour her a glass of water," Jun said tartly, handing him the vial. A pitcher of water stood on the bedside table, almost empty. She went to tip out the last bit of it, handing it to Shiruka when he had finished forcing the medicine down her throat.
Her condition had remained much the same in forty eight hours. Her eyes were clouded over, and she couldn't recognize anyone. Even if her eyes were open, she seemed to be asleep. Her limbs were sticky with sweat, although Kiria and Luria came in everyday to give her a sponge-bath. Fever spots still raged high on her cheeks, and she could only digest the simplest of liquids and plain porridge.
'How long will it take for me to produce a suitable cure?'
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Kagura made the journey to the cave again, albeit somewhat unwillingly.
As she entered, the bright cyan glow of the barrier fluctuated. Glancing down at the container of spiders in her hand, she discovered that they were shining with a poisonous green light. Shuddering, she opened the box and let the arachnids spill out.
With quick shuffling of limbs, the spiders climbed on to the surface of the barrier and skittered over to form a perfect grid, each of them spaced apart equally. Kagura winced at the sound of scuttling legs, and released the demon energy orb. Blankly, she stared at it.
Exactly what was supposed to happen now, anyway?
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A/N: Em… the next update will probably be later… (I need to study Math! I'm failing it!)
So… yepp, not my fault.
I know I wanted to thank someone or something like that, but I forgot. /laughs/ I'm getting senile! Wow.
Uhh… crap, I really don't remember a thing.
Beta read by kibou hope.
Next question:
Name the four Inuyasha movies. (Also on point system.) Japanese and English titles, please!
23.02.2006:
One of the founding leaders of Singapore, Mr. S. Rajaratnam, passed away yesterday at 3.15pm, at the age of 90. He would have turned 91 this Saturday, and he died because of heart failure. Rest in peace.
Kyasarinyume07.