Golden Eyes
This story is told mostly by Sesshomaru and may have many variations from the original Inuyasha series. (Ummm, call it a might have been.)
Disclaimer: Inuyasha and co. do not belong to me
Scroll one: The mysterious woman who calls herself death; Nirakumi"I think I shall perform another test."
As I spoke these words I drew tenseiga, the worthless sword that that my father left me. Powerful it may be, as Totosai said, and capable of saving hundreds in one sweep, but still worthless. The tenseiga flashed in the moonlight, and I harnessed its power to perform the test. With the tenseiga in my grip, reality seemed to fade out of my perception; the only thing that had substance was the body that lay before me. I began to see pathetic looking beings crawling over the small body of the human girl, a body smelling of blood, wolves and death.
As I stood there I realized that the girls' soul had not yet left the bodies vicinity, and was hovering nearby. I also realized that the creatures hovering over the body where there to collect the soul.
So, I could perceive things through the tenseiga. It was a pensive thought. In fact nothing seemed to exist inside time anymore
The dim glow of the suns last rays were both eternal and non-existent, though I knew it had been just under the horizon as I approached the body. I began to wonder why I was going to the trouble to save such a pitiful being. An image flashed across my mind, a vision of the girls smiling face after I said she didn't have to answer my question, smiling at me, of all things. She had smiled, even though she had been beaten severely and was obviously still in pain. I had absolutely no reason to care; yet still, the image of that smile was there.
Still not sure why I was doing this, I adjusted my grip on tenseiga and raised my arm, my one remaining arm thanks to my younger sibling. With a slash so quick the sword was a blur in my hand; I brought the sword down and created an incision of blinding light and energy along the girls' body. The messengers of death cried out in sickly voices as they sprang away from the body, disintegrating into nothingness.
I knelt and supported her body, studying her resurrection; the light seemed to be fusing her soul back into her body while healing the wounds that had killed her, wounds that had been inflicted by wolves. I was dimly aware of Jaken exclaiming in surprise at what I was doing, but tuned him out, as the light gave a final flash and closed the rift tenseiga had created, I focused on the now live girl supported by my arm. She opened her eyes and looked up at me incomprehensively; plainly not aware that ten seconds ago she had been dead. She stepped back, as I got to my feet she continued gazing at me, mute as ever.
As I turned to head deeper into the woods, I sheathed the tenseiga with a sharp click, the test was completed and the girl was capable of surviving on her own. After all, from the looks of her she had done so most of her life. All I could hear of her was slight breathing for a moment, then the soft pat pat of her bare feet on the ground. It was unsurprising that she was following me, but I had hoped it would turn out other wise.
Jaken continued to exclaim over the unlikely-ness of what I had just done, apparently unaware that I was walking away. He was old, and had been my servant for a very long time, so one would think he would be adjusted to my mannerisms. As soon as the thought came into my head, I wondered if I actually had any mannerisms, or if my usual habits even applied in this situation. As a rule, I do not have a set pattern of behavior, aside from the hobby I have made of trying to kill Inuyasha, but I myself could not explain my actions on this evening. Jaken, having run out of things to say about my unusual behavior finally caught on that I was walking away. He began running after me, squawking;
"Wait for me lord Sesshomaru!" Before shutting up.
As I walked I reflected upon what had just transpired, more to the point, I thought about the reasons and consequences of my actions. In saving the life of a human, I had done something completely unexpected in relation to who I am, and what I was. And now I had a human child trailing after me, why I was letting her was another mystery to me. My mind then jumped to the only possible external influence that could cause me to act this way, the tenseiga and its humanitarian powers. Why had my father left me this sword? The darkness of the woods deepened, and I began to rely on smell and sound to guide me more than my sight.
Why did you make me save a human, tenseiga? The darkness swallowed me completely. I heard somebody sigh as if I had spoken out loud, but it came from neither Jaken nor the small human, it came instead from somewhere to my right, a womans' clear high voice shattered the silence of the night
"You know your being an idiot right? You really shouldn't blame inanimate objects for your feelings that you don't understand, it's not healthy." Puzzled, I turned to the direction the voice was coming from, why hadn't I smelled her or heard her breathing? There was a flare of light and a woman appeared, holding a flame in her hand.
"Because I didn't want you to of course." She said.
I jumped, not physically but mentally; the bitch was reading my mind!
"Now that's not very nice is it? Of course I'm reading your mind." I began to feel annoyed, who the hell does she think she is?
"I think I'm death, well a minor incarnation of the underworld at least. You know, you really could start insulting me out-loud at the very least, telepathy gives me a head-ache." I gave up trying to puzzle out if she was telling the truth, or what death would want with me if she was, and instead took her up on her suggestion of talking out-loud;
"Do you have ay idea who you're talking to?"
"Of course I do, you're Sesshomaru lord of the west and a bunch of other titles I could really care less about. You don't think I go around the woods calling random people stupid do you?"
Jaken decides to pipe up "why you insolent little…" he does not finish his sentence however, as at the same time I kick him for being an annoying little toad, she says;
"You stay out of this."
"Ok." He slinks back behind me with a meek face and a lump on his head, he then remains quiet. Meanwhile the woman was really starting to get on my nerves and I have begun to consider whether or not it might be worth my time to kill her.
"You must be either very brave or very stupid to insult me, bitch."
"I have a name you know, it's Nirakumi."
"So that's what deaths name is." I scoffed. She shook her head
"I've said it once and I'll say it again, you really are an idiot."
I decided I'd had enough insults from her, and she didn't even struggle as I flashed behind her and ripped her back open with my talons, ripping through the tough tissues of her heart, the poison on my talons causing her blood to smell rancid. The flame she was holding went out as she fell limp to the ground, blood soaking through her fine black kimono, causing the fabric to glisten darkly in the moonlight. I exhaled through my nose to get the smell out.
Only when I saw her coal black eyes as she lay there on the ground did I pay attention to what she looked like, nothing about that gaze seemed to say she was dead, and it was like staring into an abyss, a glimpse into some private hell where you're dreaming about a fall that never ends, only it's not a dream, they truly were the eyes of death living. An involuntary shudder at those eyes made me realize I was being over imaginative, I began to study the rest of her face and, over imaginative or not, I avoided looking into those eyes again.
Her face was long and delicate, and framed by strait clipped side-locks of waist length red hair, the back of her head done in elaborate loops on top then fanning out from where she lay. With curved pale lips, high cheekbones, a prominent nose, and her eyebrows arching finely over those coal black eyes, she had an ethereal beauty. Her skin was parchment white and contrasted her black silk kimono and silver patterned red obi, the intricate silver flames done on one of the sleeves as well.
Her look was not that of surprise, but of alert intelligence, and this was eerier than her eyes. I had sensed her strength; she was almost as strong as I was, so if my sudden movement had not surprised her, why had she not fought back? Killing was never something I had given much thought to, just another way to get what I wanted, and it's not like I've ever gone out of my way just to kill someone (except Inuyasha). But looking at the expression on her face, I began to think I shouldn't have killed her.
I turned from my study of Nirakumi, feeling incredulous; was I actually feeling sympathy for the annoying creature? First I saved that human and now I was feeling remorse, I really was going soft. Questions about the self proclaimed death floated across my thoughts as I stared into the darkness. Why, if she was truly death, did she die at all? And for that matter, who takes death to the afterlife? I smiled grimly at the last one.
I turned to signal Jaken that I was ready to leave and noticed the girl I had saved had fallen asleep under a nearby tree. Thinking I might be able to go without her following me, I turned back towards the darkness, yet something stopped me from continuing. I sensed strength of will in the girl, something that is rare in humans so young, rare in humans in general.
Why had she been saved? Perhaps the tenseiga compelled me to, but something Nirakumi had said came to mind, in fact the first thing she had said "…you really shouldn't blame inanimate objects for your own feelings…" my own feelings? Definitely an amusing thought, but still there was that strength.
I walked over to her and, despite myself, picked her up and carried her, letting her sleep in my arm as I made my way through the forest to my mount, leaving the body of the enigmatic Nirakumi behind me.
For several days after, I proceeded to ignore the girl completely, having delegated her care to Jaken. However, it soon became clear that she was not going to let me ignore her. On the first day she found a bamboo stick, and after close examination of the bamboo she proceeded to chase Jaken around the glade we had stopped at, hitting him solidly in the middle of the head with unfailing accuracy whenever he lagged behind. Finally, out of preservation of peace of mind, I put a stop to it. On the second day she kept a relatively low profile, but had somehow managed to reacquire the bamboo I had taken from her, so that whenever Jaken came near her she poked him with the stick.
The third evening after I found her, I was lounging against a tree, using my fur cloak to make my seat more comfortable, reading a scroll of spells I had appropriated from a nearby temple. Something moved beside me, and when I looked up from the scroll, the child was sitting with her back against my leg, tilting her head back to stare up at me with her large questioning eyes. I looked down at her, trying to make her go away; the look I was giving her was one that had sent grown men fleeing for their lives, yet the thing just smiled at me, a very odd smile due to my perspective, and started clapping her weak little hands. I felt exasperation I didn't let show, I kept my face blank. I went back to reading, hoping she'd go away if I ignored her.
As I read I thought about my strategies, this recent battle marked the third occasion in which I had attempted to kill Inuyasha. The first and second times I had been after tetsusaiga, but after it became apparent to me that the sword had chosen my brother as its master, I went to Totosai so that he might forge me a blade to rival tetsusaiga. The old man had fled, seeking Inuyashas' protection. How pitiful!
I had failed three times now because I underestimated my brother; and all three times he's managed to take my arm off, it was obvious to me that my arm is my weakness. Of course, Inuyasha had cut off my real arm in our first battle over tetsusaiga; it now resided in our fathers' tomb, which was located in Inuyashas' right eye. If I could catch Inuyasha off guard, I could retrieve it; as long as I am alive it won't decay. However Inuyashas' strength had increased dramatically since our first encounter, it would be difficult to hold him against his will; it would be easy enough to kill him, but if he was not alive when I delved into his eye for fathers' tomb, the tomb would collapse. If I did decide to go after Inuyasha to get my arm back, the attack would have to be well planned. The tetsusaiga had been a tempting prize, but a useless one to pursue, so I might as well retrieve my arm. There was a movement at my side once again; the child had not gone away yet; in fact she had fallen asleep, slumped at my side. Annoying creature! I decided not to do anything about her, however; instead, I let her rest and went back to my musings.
That I could not touch tetsusaiga without a human arm frustrated me to no end; why had my father, a powerful demon lord, chosen to leave the sword that destroys to my stupid half-breed brother?
A familiar scent was on the wind but I could not recognize from where I remembered it, so I pushed it out of my mind and did not allow it to disturb my train of thought.
I couldn't even touch the tetsusaiga the first time I saw it, and then I had gotten careless and allowed Inuyasha to slice my arm off with it. I suppose it was sheer luck that he had discovered how to use it so quickly… or maybe not; that wench that hangs around with him does mean a lot to him, she's also a power to be reckoned with. Proof of this was that she had evaded death at my hands twice, had once managed to fight back, and she had been the one to draw the tetsusaiga. All in that pitiful little group seemed to hold some form of loyalty to her. She was the key, she was his strength and his weakness; threaten her and he starts to fight decently, but capture her… Suddenly everything fell into place in my head, and this time, I will not underestimate my brother. I allowed a faint smile to show on my face. I might even be able to get a decent arm out of the deal.
Something tickled my forehead.
"Whatcha reading?" said a voice belonging to a woman I thought silenced forever. I looked up in the direction of the voice, I narrowed my eyes; Nirakumi was hanging upside down from the tree branch above me, her hair is what was tickling my forehead, impossible! This time I really did jump at her appearance; I jumped up and back, the child still sleeping on the ground. I acted instinctively; I lashed out with my energy whip and effectively cut the tree down. There was a groan and a rustling sound as the tree crashed to the ground, falling away from me. The impact sent up clouds of dust and leaves, reducing visibility, but I heard a snap that I knew was not a tree branch and I smelled blood.
But the fact was; I shouldn't smell Nirakumis' blood, I had left her dead in the forest three days ago, and it was impossible that she was here and, a few moments ago, alive. She was dead! And now apparently, she was dead again. Was this an illusion? No it couldn't be, she had a smell, and I could smell her death. I could also detect a faint smell of the damp forest floor clinging to her; which would logically suggest that this was the same person.
Another smell tickled my nostril, the smell of the slowed metabolism of sleep; the child had slept through a tree falling down next to her? I was becoming further and further intrigued about that small being, but I realized that I was also feeling a sense of relief that she was unharmed. This bothered me; why was I growing so attached to a human? I pushed it out of my mind.
The dust was settling, and my vision was becoming sharper. That is to say I could now distinguish two lighter shapes against a big shape that was apparently the tree. The dust settled further, and I could see the girl sleeping on the ground right were she was when she fell asleep. I walked to the girl slowly, warily, keeping a close eye on the once again deceased Nirakumi. I paused and knelt by the small human, checking to see if the crash had disturbed her sleep whatsoever, I noticed without surprise that it had not.
Nirakumis' body was laying several feet away, stinking of blood. As I approached the body, I noticed that her neck was bent at an odd angle, but the smell of blood was not from the broken neck, it was from the large tree branch that was protruding from her abdomen. Various internal organs had been pushed out of the body, and pieces of flesh and guts dangled from the splintered end of the branch. The blood was beginning to pool around her corpse.
The scene was rather messy, I admitted to myself, not as messy as the carnage that usually happened when armies of mortals tried to stand in my way, but still rather messy.
How the hell had she gotten here? But I knew the answer; she had told me herself, she was a deity of death. She would not need a relic like the tenseiga to resurrect herself, I had not believed her words, and I was still skeptical, for how often does one meet a goddess? I made my decision; if she turned up alive again, I would let her live. If not, well, it would be one less annoyance.
Before I left, I removed the branch that had impaled her and laid her body out flat on the ground. I would give her some acknowledgement, even if she were apparently dead. I was not really sure why, but I suppose dieing twice was enough reason to acknowledge any body, even if they are annoying when alive.
I heard Jaken come bounding up behind me; he may be annoying, but at least he was respectful. I turned to him;
"It appears that our belated acquaintance Nirakumi decided to drop in unexpected. Do not disturb her body."
"Of course, lord Sesshomaru, but how did she get here?" I did not answer; I decided it was time to leave
"Wake the girl, we are leaving."
"Yes lord Sesshomaru!"
I was a swirling essence, a mere form of thought, and I was confused. I knew that the reason I was confused was that most of what I was resided in the broken body below me, and I knew I had to fix that body in order to end my confusion, because the only scrap of what I was I knew, was that my name is Nirakumi.
Fix the body.
That was my objective, and then I would be whole again. I drew on a power that was me and outside of me, a power that was not easily explainable, something that shone with a crystalline radiance. This power was so pure and gentle, such a benign magic, that it was like happiness was a tangible ocean. It was like a mother, it would care for me and love me and make everything right. Drawing on that power I, whatever I was, began to mend the body. I plunged into the body on a molecular level, I made things right, I made every thing right, just like that power. I eliminated infection, I repaired the damaged cells, I purified and made new blood. But I was outside the body as well, I re-grew the tattered skin, I repaired the punctured and ripped organs, I mended bones, and I even fixed and cleansed the garments that the body wore. I made it so it was perfect and whole again.
But wait! No, it wasn't whole yet, there was something missing, something terribly important. The body wasn't alive, it was just a body, and it had no spark of life. I had to make the body live! If I didn't I would be confused and lost forever!
I went into the body, it was my only option; I fused myself into it to give it access to that benign, crystalline power that infused me, to make the body live and to end my confusion. I tapped that beautiful power and gave it to the body, my body.
I opened my eyes, feeling rather disconnected; dieing does that to a person, even if that person happens to be me. I was also exhausted, this was the second time this week, that I'd had to use my soul like a, like a… modern welding torch for lack of a better term. I sat up and dusted myself off. Up until a month ago, I had been completely non-corporeal, and it was damn easier than having a body, because without a body I was all places and all times at once. Unfortunately, for the experiment I was conducting, a physical form was necessary.
I grimaced at the memory of lost feeling I had before resurrecting myself; another unfortunate side effect of the experiment was the need to restrict how much of what I was left the body, if my entire self left at time of death, I would probably lose steam and stop trying to perform the experiment due to the discomfort of having a body. But hey, whoever said being the goddess of death was easy?
I got up and stretched the kinks out of my muscles.
I had many names and many aspects, but Nirakumi is what I had chosen to name this body, I had not a clue what the name meant, but I thought it sounded rather nice. I knew that unless my experiment succeeded, nobody would remember my newest name or aspect if you will, and even if I did succeed in accomplishing my goal, it would be an aspect known by very few mortals. In other words, what I call myself does not matter, what matters is that I conduct the experiment.
I inhaled deeply, taking in the fragrance of the sap on the tree nearby, and the smell of the clean air in general. I looked up at the sky, letting the sun finish reviving me. That was one of the few good things about having a body; I could feel the warmth of the sun.
I remembered that when I perceived things in my non-corporeal state the sun had a presence and an awesome amount of energy, and plants and trees existed, but until I created a body for myself I had never felt the suns warmth, or smelled the plants and trees. But it also worked the other way as well; I felt unpleasantly cold at night, and decay and filth stank all the worse because I knew there were better smells.
Instead of lying on the ground again, I suspended myself in midair. I leaned back, crossed my legs and put my hands behind my head, completely at ease.
I had chosen to make my body demonic in nature, as I wasn't about to put up with a body that had the limited strength of a mortal. So I had all the faculties I needed to function reasonably well; excellent eyesight, keen hearing, good sense of smell, and reasonable speed. The only thing I had chosen to tone down was touch, because, while the sun might be nice, pain was not something I wanted to feel any more than necessary. Of course when I say toned down, that is to say human level.
I began to float in the direction I knew Sesshomaru had gone, finding his trail was not a problem, it was catching up that was the trouble. Every time he killed me, I had to resurrect myself, and that took time, time in which he travels further and further away from me. Both times he killed me I had been expecting it, I would have killed me too. But it was what had had to be said, it was part of my experiment. But the fact that it is necessary still doesn't change the fact that I hate dieing, or the fact that time was infernally bothersome.
I continued to float along after his trail, switching in mid-air from the reclining position I had taken to more aerodynamic posture with my arms outspread. The wind caressing my face felt cool and refreshing after being dead for five hours. Yep, I thought as I flew along Sesshomarus' trail, having a body definitely had its ups and downs.
Upon our arrival at my palace, I saw to it that my servants where aware that Nirakumi might be expected, and that I was to be notified immediately if she chanced to turn up. Of course I did not tell them her exact name or how she would be arriving. In all probability she would arrive wherever I was in the palace, without the servants being any the wiser; Stealth seemed to be her specialty.
I walked through my palace, heading for the inner rooms, when I felt a tug at my hair. I looked back and down, preparing to kill whatever it was that had pulled my hair, but stopped my self when I saw that the girl had several strands of my long white hair clutched in her fist. There was absolutely no sense in killing her; it would have been a waist of energy to use the tenseiga to bring her back only to end up killing her again. She gave me a tremulous look; the kind of look that the young of any mortal species seems so good at.
"Jaken."
"Yes lord Sesshomaru?"
"See to it that the child is fed and bathed properly."
"Of course." He did not ask where he was going to find human food in a demon palace, but he would find something. Jaken was resourceful and respectful, even if he was sometimes annoying. Jaken is my servant after all.
Jaken departed with the girl in tow, she was starting to fuss as he led her away, and began to tug at his grip on her wrist. As I watched them round a corner and walk out of my line of site, a palace servant approached me. I thought perhaps he might have news of Nirakumi, but as it turned out, he was just there to give me a report on how the palace had faired in my absence.
After hearing the report of affairs, I retired to my personal chambers to read. I had read so much during my lifetime that it was becoming hard to find new scrolls, but there was always some interesting scroll documenting a forgotten artifact or some unnamed spell, possibly even a detailed account of a recent battle, ready for me in my personal library.
First removing the armor that I always wear abroad, I looked around my rooms. A fire was already crackling in the hearth, located on the northern wall; it was modeled after those I had seen in Europe. It provided warmth and extra light in addition to the enchanted globes that hung from the ceiling. Two large bookshelves where located one on either side of the fireplace which was set into the only solid wall in the palace. A large window on the western wall, looking out into the courtyard provided ventilation, and a small table was located at the center of the room, along with mats to kneel on. Wall hangings depicting the exploits of various demons hung at even intervals along the rice paper walls, and directly across from the fireplace, were sliding doors that led to my futon.
A noise behind me caused me to turn and face the small human, who, even though I had told Jaken to arrange for her care, had managed to slip away from the little green man, and had been following me as I made my way to my chambers. The girl did not say anything, she never did, but she put her hands in the air and jumped as if to say surprise. I did not allow the amusement I felt to show on my face, she was truly a comic creature, and she continued to surprise me with her actions, even if I was not particularly surprised at her appearance.
Instead of reacting to her antics I turned and retrieved a scroll from the small library by the hearth, and a heavily brocaded cushion from the pile in the next room.
Throwing the cushion unceremoniously in the corner, I sat down on it, propping my back against the wall. Before I got the scroll open however, the girl came and sat in my lap! I looked at her coldly, wondering why I put up with this insufferable child. She began making faces at me. I was getting annoyed now.
"Child, you are trying my patience. Cease you behavior now." She stopped making faces at once, and did not move; in fact she was stock-still.
"What are you doing now?" I said in a quietly dangerous tone. There was a soft whoosh of wind and a womans voice by the window replied
"She is ceasing her behavior." I looked up at the voice; unsurprised that Nirakumi had arrived without notice. She looked exactly the same as the last two times I had seen her, even the fabric of her kimono looked untouched by her two violent deaths. Actually there was one difference, a wicked looking scythe hung diagonally across her back, gleaming with silver hues that might rival the moon, and probably did, when I thought about it. Placing the scroll beside me, I acknowledged her.
"I was wondering when you were going to arrive."
"Yeah well, resurrecting ones self takes a bit of time. I trust you're not going to kill me again? I really am getting tired of that."
"No, I want some questions answered."
"How nice." She replied mockingly. Ignoring her tone, I continued;
"What are you after, Nirakumi? I am rarely surprised by anything, yet you have managed to do so twice."
"Oh, so you're not surprised to see me tonight?"
"I was skeptical, but no, I was expecting something like this to happen after you appeared at the tree." She raised an eyebrow.
"Am I that predictable? I'll have to start being more random."
"Is that a threat?" I asked.
Of course even if it was a threat, there was very little I could do about it. Killing her would not solve the problem, for the obvious reason that she would just come back.
She ignored my question and looked around the room, then seeming to spot the girl, who was still not moving. She crossed the room, not appearing to actually walk; more like a serpentine glide, and picked the girl up out of my lap. Nirakumi held the girl above her head with both arms, gazing up at her.
"Now this, this is a piece of work, no one would know she has been dead at all! That sword of yours is truly something."
"This sword," I said as I drew tenseiga,
"Is a useless relic of my father."
"Hah! If it's so useless, why did it choose to save you? You know that's the reason you survived Inuyashas' attack." I didn't ask how she knew about that; it had indeed managed to keep the wolfs fang from killing me, but even the tenseiga could not have helped me had Inuyasha actually been trying to kill me. I gazed into the fire, keeping my face impassive.
"Inuyasha is a weakling hanyou" I sheathed the tenseiga.
"Even when I have tried to kill him on several occasions, he could not bring himself to kill me, no matter how much he hates me." She shook her head with disbelief
"And that's a bad thing!"
"It is when he is trying to get stronger."
"You make it sound like you actually care whether or not he gets stronger, Sesshomaru." She said in an innocent tone.
"I despise Inuyasha. He and his mother brought dishonor to my fathers' name. If he gets stronger perhaps the dishonor will not be so deep."
"Sheesh, talking to you makes me glad I'm not a demon." I smiled faintly, just the barest curve.
"Unless I am very much mistaken, you are a demon." She looked startled, and then tilted her head thoughtfully.
"You do have a point there, I did choose the form of a demon" She brought her legs up and sat in mid air, still nodding thoughtfully, Nirakumi seated the girl on her knee, the girl grinned at Nirakumis' performance. I was surprised as well, but chose not to comment on her behavior, however I did want to know what she was up to. She fiddled with a strand of her red hair and gazed at the girl in her arms, as I opened my mouth to speak. But before I said anything, she started talking.
"Yes, yes I know, why have I been stalking you, right? You've already asked that. The reason is that I want you to allow me to tag along with you wherever you go, nothing more, nothing less." I was hard pressed to keep my face calm at that, why should I allow this annoying woman to follow me around! I stood up and gave her my best imperious glare. She put the girl down, set her feet squarely on the ground, and looked at me back. It was amazing how tall she could make herself look considering she was maybe 5 '4'.
"Don't give me that stiletto stare, Sesshomaru, you know it won't work on me. And before you refuse, know that I will follow you whether you like it or not, it will just be easier on you if you allow me to tag along with no questions asked." I considered her statement; I knew she was not lying, and she would follow me. She was following me already; and the enmity if a goddess was not something I particularly wanted.
"I suppose there could be worse things than being on speaking terms with death." I kept my face carefully impassive; she would get no more of an agreement from me. I turned to the eastern wall, the entrance to my rooms. There was a familiar scent drifting through the door for quite a while now.
"Jaken, come and tend to the girl as I instructed you to an hour ago." There was a thump outside, like the sound of somebody falling down due to surprise. Jaken had been listening at the door for the past five minutes. A few seconds later, a very flustered Jaken entered the room. Nirakumi gave a derisive snort as he pushed the girl out of the room, squawking numerous apologies that the girl had escaped him.
As the sliding door shut behind him, Nirakumi turned to me with an incredulous look;
"Is that what you're calling her, the girl? You really don't put much store in sentiment, do you? You know you could have given her a name and she would have answered to that the rest of her life, but you go around calling her the girl!"
"Sentiment is a weakness." I was feeling angry, who the hell was she to lecture me!
Despite my anger, I kept my face as emotionless as ever. She continued to berate me.
"Sentiment is not a weakness! When are you going to learn that being truly strong requires strength of heart as well as physical strength!"
The scythe glinted dangerously in the firelight as she gestured with her hands
"For your information the girls name is Rin! How thick headed can you be!" I knew killing her would do absolutely no good, but goddess or not, she was stepping over the line. I had no desire to continue trading insults with her.
In one fluid movement I was in front of her and bringing back my claws to cut her throat. But I was caught off guard when her scythe was in her hands and parrying my attack, I had not even seen her move. As she brought her scythe back and raised it in a warning gesture, I stepped back, lowering my hand.
"Heh, so you can fight." Oh she could fight, and she had much quicker responses than I anticipated. She looked at me with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"I advise you not to underestimate me again; it could lead to… complications." She said the last word with emphasis
"Never forget that I am death, and am capable of much more than you are aware of." She paused to turn her head to the window, her red hair glinting with the fires light, making it appear as if she had liquid fire rippling smoothly over her shoulder. She turned back to me
"And you really must stop killing me Sesshomaru, It is very uncomfortable when I die." She slung the scythe back over her shoulder. The dangerous look gone as soon as it came, but it did reveal one thing to me; she was much stronger than I had first assumed. I could no longer take her lightly.
I decided it would be wise to change the subject back to the matter at hand:
"If you wish to follow me, you must not interfere with my actions. If you do interfere, I will find a way to kill you so you don't come back." She looked amused at the sudden change of subject.
"Ha! You're free to try, that is if I do interfere, which I have no intention of doing." She paused and looked at me straight in the eye, forcing me to either look into that unnerving black gaze, or to look away, which I could not allow myself to do. She smiled and continued.
"However, I do intend to offer advice, I do not expect you to take it, but neither do I expect you to discard it offhand. In other words; don't ignore me." As she looked around the room, I rested my chin on the back of my hand in a casual action. I was getting bored with this conversation; it was becoming trivial.
"If you truly wish to follow me and make a general nuisance of yourself, we depart in the morning."
"Why not tonight?"
"I have not slept in five days."
"Ah." She replied
I turned and opened the door to the next room, preparing to go to my futon. Nirakumi made a gesture of protest;
"Hey, wait a minute! Are you going to assign me rooms, or do I have to sleep in a tree?" I faced her and allowed a faint smile to creep across my face; I imagined it must have looked rather evil.
"I suppose you have to sleep in a tree." I stepped into the next room and slid the door shut behind me, leaving Nirakumi with quite an indignant look on her face.
Thank you for tuning in for the first chapter of Golden Eyes
Next time: does Sesshomaru like cherry blossoms?
Will Jaken get kicked again?
And is Sesshomarus entire family lousy poets?
This and more in the next overdone edition of Golden Eyes