Scroll two:
A twist of fate; the bone eaters wellI awoke slowly, not quite letting myself wake up, just floating in that half conscious haze. Two enormous brown eyes seemed to swim up in my vision, and I felt an odd prodding sensation on my forehead. Even so I, refused to wake up fully; I may not need sleep often, but when I do sleep, I don't wake up easily.
I felt a pressure I had not been aware of leave my chest, and the sound of a small body walking across the room to the door. I rolled my head languorously to one side and saw through the haze that the door was partially opened. A startling clanging noise like the sound of metal clashing together coming from the next room woke me up fully. I sat up and looked around my chamber, the door was slightly ajar, and I could see through to the next room. Sunlight fully illuminated it, causing some of the relics I kept on the table to glint as if they had their own internal light.
Rins' scent was on the air, and I could hear her rustling in the next room. How had she gotten in here? And why had she been poking my forehead? I knew the brown eyes I had seen while semi-conscious where hers. That girl was becoming too resourceful for her own good.
There was another crash from the next room, what the hell was Rin doing? From here it sounded as if she was playing with my armor, possibly even tenseiga judging by the noise she was making. But she wouldn't even be able to lift the tenseiga, let alone draw it.
Trying to keep from yawning, I stood up, managing to keep my usual grace. One thing I had learned in my quest for power was to never show weakness, even when you are alone. And sleepiness counted as a weakness. This was something that my father had told me as well, one of the few things he had actually taught me. I jolted myself out of this train of thought; it was unpleasant to dwell on, of course the only sign I gave of this sudden track change was a slow blink. I turned to investigate the adjacent room.
As I opened the door further, there was a loud thunk and a splintering sound; not quite as startling as the clangs of metal I had heard, but slightly more ominous. I viewed the following scene with my prided impassivity, though that's hardly what I felt; incredulity would be a more apt description of what I felt.
Rin was sitting next to a pile containing my armor, tenseiga, and the wooden rack I had placed them on; the rack was in pieces. It became apparent to me that she had pushed my armor off the rack, the first clang, followed by the tenseiga, the second noise. And to top it all off, the rack itself, how she had managed to splinter it into the many pieces it was now in was beyond me, but I was coming to expect odd things from her.
I was also coming to terms, reluctantly, with the fact that Rin was yet another tag along who was going to follow me whether I liked it or not. The girl showed so much determination, that I had no doubt that if she truly put her mind to coming with me, that there wasn't anything I could do to stop her, short of killing her. And that, as I had already said would be a waist of energy. A thought tugged at the edge of my mind, saying that I was making excuses. Excuses for what? I pushed the thought aside.
Speaking of tag-alongs, where was Nirakumi? I could not smell her anywhere within the palace complex. Feh!
First things first, I reached down and disengaged Rin from the mess she had made of my belongings. As I picked her up and set her away from pile of armor, swords and wood splinters, I looked down at her coldly, sincerely wondering why I had been concerned that she might have hurt herself. Rin looked right back up at me.
I did not feel entirely annoyed by the situation, I also felt a trace of amusement; that such a small creature like her could manage to be so destructive had to amuse someone like me.
Feeling refreshed from the brief respite of sleep, I was now fully awake. And had business to attend to, so amusing or not, I had no desire to baby-sit Rin. She was still looking up at me as if expecting me to amuse her. I had no intention of doing anything of the sort.
I reached into the pile she had made and retrieved my armor; strapping it over my front and securing it with my yellow and purple sash, tying it carefully and checking to make sure the knot was secure. I looked down at my missing arm dispassionately; reaching over I pulled my kimono sleeve through the looped shoulder guard, allowing the sleeve to hang freely.
I sorely missed that arm, and my plan to find it would make Inuyasha pay for taking it. I would retrieve my arm and then I would kill the little bastard.
Rin had not yet moved from where I had set her, and she did not move when I stooped down to pick up tenseiga. Securing it through my sash, I wondered, as I had on countless occasions before, why I kept it with me, and once again I could not find an answer. It vexed me that I was coming up with so many unanswered questions, I had enough in my life before, and I did not believe I need anymore.
I glanced at Rin once more; she was yet another unanswered question, her entire being was a question about the state of my soul. But today I was not looking for answers, so she would have to be dealt with.
We looked at each other for a moment before I reached down and gripped the neck of her kimono, as I hoisted her up she smiled and clapped her hands, not struggling at all. So with her still grinning and clapping her hands, swinging in my grip like a kitten in its mothers jaws, we set off through the corridors.
It took no effort on my part to locate Jaken, I found him directing the cleaning of the reception hall. Still hanging by her collar, Rin had stopped clapping and was watching the cleaning with great interest. I approached Jaken from behind, walking quietly like I usually do. He had not yet noticed me as I began tapping my foot behind him. The servants did notice me however and went to attention. I continued to tap my foot as he yelled at the cleaners to speed up. Finally my patience wore down; I set Rin in front of him, stating
"I assumed that you would know better than to dismiss servants whom I have called to attention Jaken, or do you need another lesson in etiquette?" the look on his face as he half turned, half jumped to face me was extremely amusing, as it was something akin to abject terror. I allowed my lips to quirk upward in a faint smile; people have a tendency to run when I smile, at least, people that know me have a tendency to run. It's the cliché that says; smile; it will make people wonder what you're up to. As expected, the look on Jakens' face deepened to a look of animalistic panic, and I could smell it as he broke into a cold sweat. An extremely satisfying reaction
I had to give him credit though, it must take something for him to still be here at my feet; a lesser creature probably would have run. He hopped anxiously from foot to foot, trying to apologize.
"M-my Lord Sesshomaru! Please forgive me; I-I was not aware of your presence! I-I would never…" I cut him off
"Are you saying that I am not worthy of notice?"
"N-no my lord what I meant was …" I cut him off again by stepping on him; I didn't feel like listening to any explanations this morning.
"Take care of Rin, see to it that she does not bother me, and I will not ask why she was allowed in my rooms." I walked away without a backwards glance, but I knew Jaken relaxed as I turned; he was relieved to have gotten off with only a simple reprimand. As I exited the hall I heard him scold Rin under his breath;
"Why the master keeps you around I will never know, but since you're staying you better start behaving. You've already caused me enough trouble. Don't run off again."
The truth be told, I hardly blamed Jaken for the girls behavior, she was, after all an independent being. But if allowing him to think so might inspire him to watch her more closely, then so be it.
As I made my way down the hall, and passed a banner of a crane encircled by a crescent moon much like the one on my brow, a scent on the air caught my attention. It was the delicate fragrance of the sakura blossoms. It had been what felt like a long time since I had visited the grove while it was in bloom. It was unusual that it felt so long to me, I rarely ever felt or noticed the turning of the year. The scent was like an invitation to walk in solitude, a chance to collect my thoughts without the distractions that had plagued me since my recovery from the injuries I had suffered from the steel-cleaving fang.
I would visit the cherry grove before I leave, if Nirakumi wanted to talk to me before I left she would have to find me, I was not going to search for her, even if I was curious as to were she was.
The trees surrounded me as I closed my eyes, breathing in the scent of this ancient grove. It had been old when I was a child, two hundred years ago. I reflected upon the feeling of the time that had elapsed since I last saw this grove in bloom, how unusual it felt to notice time in a seasonal manner again. The blossoms fell around me thick as snow, as if the tree's wept. I had never cried, it just wasn't something I had ever cared to do.
The last time I truly remembered a season was seventy-five years earlier, in this same grove in fact, or perhaps grave would be a better term. I looked again at the falling blossoms; in my mind they had become tears, and the trees wept for my mother. The blossoms changed in my mind to the snow they so resembled, taking me back to that winter, the last season I ever really took note of before now.
In my memory I ran, not for any distinct reason, just to run. I sped through the trees, my hair flowing out behind me as the snow flecked my face. I wore no armour, only the white and red raiment that I favored. I took a large bound before jumping high into the air, through the tree branches, which were now in the lifeless-ness of winter. I continued to rise into the air; I had leapt high enough to find the illusion of flight. I looked up, the snow swarmed down around me in random and enchanting patterns. When I began to descend I brought my arms up as I prepared to land. My long sleeves as well as my hair, twisted violently in the air behind me, but I held my arms spread out and slightly bent. I landed on my feet, sending flurries of snow into the air. As it settled once more, some of it clung to me.
I continued through the trees, I did not run again though. The center of the grove was close, and running did not suit that place. Flickering lights danced among the limbs as I approached the pool in the center of the cherry trees.
I did not get my first glimpse of the water until after I had passed through the finely carved gate of stone through the trees that surrounded it, even in winter; the hedge of trees is too close knit to see past. The water was a perfect blue, and was untouched by the falling snow. The pool refracted light that came from nowhere, so that stars shimmered in the deep, and the trees around it seem to move with glittering light. I sat down beside the water my back against a tree; looking into it, I reached out and brushed my fingers over its surface. Though the air was cold enough for the pool to have been ice, the water was barely cold to the touch. As the ripples from my touch spread over the pool, words raised themselves up on the surface.
Here lies the honored lady Kia,
Where the stars drink deep
And the immortals sleep
The moon will shine on a night of forever
The sun will depart from the world of nether
The key to a heart
From a world apart
What was lost will never be found
The end of a life so profound
As I read these words, I felt an emptiness I have never quite explained. My mother had been dead for five years, and I thought myself at peace with her death, yet, whenever I read those words I feel that emptiness. I stood, taking one last look at the pool that marks my mothers grave before leaving through the gate.
The snow continued to fall upon the bleak trees, oblivious to fate.
The memory faded and the snow became drifting cherry blossoms once more. The scent of the fresh spring air brought me to my senses as I walked through the grove, crushing the delicate blossoms underfoot. I had told Nirakumi that sentimentality was a weakness, but know I found myself making my way to the marker in the center of the grove
There was no distinct path, so the lush grass that poked through the cherry blossoms underfoot was thick and springy. Looking at the ground was a jarring sensation, the pink and green colors mixed in a chaotic, yet subtle pattern, and the sakura trees surrounding me created a sensation as if I were floating in a world not quite within the limits of reality.
As I grew closer to the pool, a burst of wind whistled through the trees, causing my hair to float out on the wind, gusting to one side in a violent manner. The fur that adorns my shoulder rippled slowly in this vengeful breeze as well.
The gates of the cherry hedge consisted of two strong pillars taller than I was as I am now, and were decorated with spirals and kanji, spells for safe passage into the other realm. The question of whether or not my mother actually had made it there was unimportant; Nirakumi would probably be able to tell me, but the answer would be trivial. Not even the tenseiga could bring my mother back.
The lights of the stars in the water still flickered through the trees; will 'o' the wisps of half seen light. The true vibrancy of the light is always somehow contained in the crystalline waters. No sakura flowers floated on the waters surface, though they littered the shore around it. The pool was a little less than six feet wide, and almost round. The light flickered through the water and up against the upper canopy, as the branches, now laden with the spring's efforts, closed in over the pool. The effect of false twilight this created would have been enchanting to someone else I suppose, but it made little difference to me.
I bent and retrieved a small stone from the side of the pool; I stood and tossed the stone gently into the air, caught it, then skipped it along the waters surface. As the ripple spread and the stone bounced over the pool, the words of the marker appeared, embossing themselves upon the sparkling blue water. I gazed into the water, not really reading the words, just looking at the shinning starlight that glinted in the deep.
A voice, resonant with the intonation of
"Rest in peace." Startled me out of my contemplation.
Nirakumi now stood beside me, having managed another stealth approach that would have been impossible for a lesser being. Her face was solemn, devoid of the slight hint of laughter that was usually present on her face when alive. In fact without that hint of mirth she looked as she does when dead. She held a black rose in her hands, her long fingers holding the flower with delicate elegancy.
I stood rigid, my annoyance that she had startled me once again building up inside. She did not look at me at all; she considered the rose contemplatively as she twirled it slowly in her hands. She seemed absolutely absorbed in the texture and pattern of those black petals. Nirakumi looked up at the pool, then held the rose before her in a slow gesture, before dropping it gently onto the water. It hit the surface with a sound like a drop of water echoing through a cave, and then in an almost deliberate movement, the stem sank beneath the water. The rose floated on the water for a moment before being dragged down under the surface after the stem. Instead of continuing it's descent into the star-flecked waters however, the black rose stopped just under the surface, as if some invisible thread supported it.
I was seething; not letting my anger show on my face was becoming increasingly difficult. So instead of lashing out at Nirakumi with my anger, I turned and walked away with slow and deliberate steps, Nirakumi remained alone and in silence as she gazed at the black rose she had left on my mothers' grave.
I followed the trail of crushed grass I had made on my way through the grove, intending to make my way back to the palace. While I strode along the incidental path, I tried to conquer this sudden and unreasonable surge of anger that had almost overtaken me at the pool. Annoyance at Nirakumi I could understand of myself, but where had such irrational anger come from? It had been a long time since I had felt that I could not control my emotions, I did not strive for a complete emotional lockup, but this anger was absurd! The objective was not to let emotions make me act without thinking. Yet just now Nirakumi had made me angry, angry to the point were I had almost acted on that anger.
I continued walking in silence, when I heard a stir in the grass behind me. For once, I heard Nirakumi as she approached, I did not turn to see her, I knew by her scent and sound that she glided gracefully behind me. I continued to walk through the grove, trying my best to ignore her. I did not succeed well in doing that, she had a very imposing presence, and it was hard for me to willingly drop my guard against someone as unpredictable as her.
There was a respectful silence between us, a quiet so deep that it seemed that the silence stopped my progress toward the palace, it felt almost permeable. As I halted I heard her stop behind me. She sighed heavily;
"Why are you mad at me?" Finally, I turned to face her;
"If you know I am angry, you should know why." She gave me a disparaging look
"Sesshomaru, you better than most should understand that body language can say much more than facial expressions, I don't need telepathy to tell me you are angry at me."
I turned away from her again,
"I am not sure why I am angry." I told her. This was a great admittance on my part, but I did not want to be caught in a lie.
"May I speculate?" she asked. I gave her a piercing look over my shoulder, but she continued;
"Sesshomaru, you see yourself as wholly evil, correct?"
"Human terms of right and wrong are irrelevant. I see myself as a demon, and act accordingly." I said
"Then in human terms you see yourself as evil." Nirakumi paused to sweep her hair back over her shoulder before she continued
"I believe the reason you are angry at me is because you are not as nasty as you'd like to think you are."
This made absolutely no sense to me, I was who I was, the demon lord of the western lands, I needed no guises. And how would being nice cause me to be angry?
She had more to say on the subject however, and so she proceeded
"Let me explain… there is no good or evil, no definite black and white within you, but you have deceived yourself into thinking other wise, that your soul is black. But despite your self deceivance, your soul is painted by the shades of gray, just like mine, and just like your brothers."
I turned to face her fully, brandishing my talons.
"Do not liken me to my bastard brother again, Nirakumi. He is an idiot I intend to be rid of."
She appeared to ignore me; however, she did not mention Inuyasha again.
"The point I am trying to get across, Sesshomaru, is that in that moment when I left the rose at the lady Kia's grave, you saw me solely as the one who took your mother from this world, and you are right. You felt that when I left an offering to the dead, I was desecrating your mother's grave."
"What reasons have I to care about my mother's grave?" I protested coldly
"And before that, why would it matter to me that you're the goddess of death? Even if you personally escorted her to the next realm, why should I care?" I brought my hand up to my face, running my fingers idly through some strands of hair that had fallen over my shoulder.
She shook her head and picked her legs up off the ground, an interesting operation the end of which resulted with her reclining in midair, her hands behind her head. She turned her head to face me as she continued in a bored tone that grated on my nerves;
"If you do not care, then why are you continuously drawn to her grave? Sesshomaru, whether you will admit it or not, the lady Kia was the only person who ever showed you affection when you where a child, and you still mourn her. Because you cared about you mother, even if it was only on a subconscious level, so you were angry at me for doing what I did.
Even though you don't know it, your soul resides in the twilight, neither dark nor light"
She put her feet back on the ground and walked past me on her way to the palace, leaving me alone with my thoughts amongst the cherry trees. The questions of my soul grew deeper as I stared into the falling blossoms. I may not have been looking for answers today, but it appeared I was going to get them, whether I wanted to or not.
As I left Sesshomaru mulling over the psychological mess I had just made him aware of, I wondered if it would really make a difference. When I thought about it, I decided that it wouldn't matter in the slightest to him. He has such a vibrant personality that telling him the reasons for his actions would not really have changed him. His behavior has been backed up by some very strong convictions, and I wasn't sure if I could ever make a difference.
But did I really want to change him? An interesting question, and unfortunately, despite my earlier purpose, I did not have an answer. Sesshomaru is who he is, his personality may be violent, but he has a quality to him that is not quite like anything I have ever encountered. The flame of his mind is unique, and I was not sure if wanted to extinguish it by making him change who he is.
Something in his silent and dangerous demeanor, something in the hidden tragedy that flickered in his golden eyes every now and then, that not even he was aware of, makes him just as unreadable as he finds me. The lady Kia had warned me of something to this effect, but I had not listened.
Kia was an interesting piece to this puzzle, possibly even a key piece. Having not known her during her life, all I could say was she had a surprisingly beautiful soul… as far as demons go. It had been an understatement to say that she had shown Sesshomaru affection when he was young, she had truly and deeply cared for him. Of course being a demon, she hadn't been crazy about humans, but she was not too happy about Sesshomaru blaming Inuyasha for his father's next choice in mates either.
The palace loomed up ahead of me, and I could see Rin playing upon the steps, obviously awaiting Sesshomaru's return. I continued to approach, watching her play with a leather ball, it was then that the idea came to me; I would take Sesshomaru through the well, show him what humans will achieve in the future. I would invent some crazy reason that would be acceptable to him of course, but it might just allow him to see both sides for once. Allow him to see that humans will not always be so pathetic as they are in this era, and that despite his assumptions, they do have potential.
I decided the only way to find out what my words meant to Sesshomaru, I would have to tune into his thoughts. I began to climb the steps and as I cast out in search of his mind, a throbbing sensation began in my temple. The headache I get from using telepathy had only been worsened by the fact that I had spent a miserable night sleeping in a cherry tree. I supposed I could have found my own room in the palace, but when the master of the palace tells you that he's not going to give you a room, its best not to sleep in that palace, even if you happen to be a goddess. Thinking back to the night before, I realize I probably shouldn't have given him ideas, when I said "or do I have to sleep in a tree" but it had been intended as sarcasm. Honestly!
Nevertheless my head was pounding by the time I located him. I gave a start as I realized that he was right behind me. I spun around, unable to hide the fact that he had surprised me. He gave me one of those sharp looks that I was becoming accustomed to, and in his cold quiet voice, said;
"So you're surprised to see me? You have no right to look angry about it, you have surprised me often enough that it's only fair."
I felt color creep into my face and saw a glimmer of grim satisfaction in his eyes that he had managed to unhinge me. I struggled to regain my composure. If he was going to make it into a contest, so be it.
I put on my best maniacal grin and decided on the best tactic to approach the subject of the well to him. The blunt approach would probably work best at this point
"I think it would be a good idea to take a stroll in the future."
Though he displayed no outward surprise at what I told him, I could tell thatgot his attention. I could see the curiosity warring with scorn in his eyes, eventually curiosity won out. See, he's not completely cynical.
"And how do you propose to do that?" he said it with an accent on the how.
"Have you ever wondered how your brother's companion came here?" I asked.
"Do you always try to make your points with questions?" he countered, ignoring the mention of Inuyasha.
So much for trying to be a teacher.
"You want it spelled out? Fine, be that way." I said with a look of petulance on my face. "Deep in the forest near Keades' village resides the bone eater well. The villagers used to use it to get rid of the bodies of slain demons, like a magical waist disposal unit…"
He shifted his stance on the step ever so slightly; as if he wanted to ask what a waist disposal unit was, but remained silent. I continued.
"So the villagers would dump the bones in the well, and poof! The next day they would be gone. Hence the name bone eaters well.
The villagers never really investigated what happened to the remains, trying to leave well enough alone, I suppose." I grimaced slightly at the pun I had inadvertently made as I spoke.
"However, after Kegomei fell through the well to this era it became apparent that the remains were displaced in time."
"So, one can use the well to travel in time." He concluded
"If you happen to be a demon, or a human with shikon shards." I corrected
He reflected on that information before responding.
"Why do you feel going forward in time would help me?"
"Because Kegomei goes home every week or so, and Inuyasha doesn't stick around to protect her after she goes home. And if your plan is what I think it is, it will be easier to capture her there when she lets her guard down."
I waited and let the information sink in, Nothing ever showed on his face, unless he wanted it to(the ultimate poker face) so I had no way of knowing whether he would listen to me or not. Even if I did know, or I decided to use telepathy, there was nothing I could do about it, at least not in accordance with our agreement.
My heart sank as he began to walk past me towards the palace doors without responding. He stopped just before the great double entrance. I focused my attention on him, wondering what else he had to say. He addressed me without looking back.
"What assurance do I have that I can trust you as a guide through time?" I felt a surge of relief, like an invisible hand releasing my solar plexus.
"You have the oath of a goddess." I replied.
"Perhaps." Was all he said before he disappeared into the shadows of the palace.
I didn't know whether to be insulted or relieved; probably both.
Well that wraps it up for this chapter. Please keep in mind that in the manga, Rin did not talk at first. That is why she has yet to say anything in this story
Next time: is Sesshomaru completely sadistic?
Will Nirakumi ever shut up?
Am I just wasting my time writing this?
…
Hello, is any body out there?
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Hello?
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I feel alone all of the sudden.