A big thank you to ShawKoh1989, Allie, GiR, Seek, Laliberte, and InuIsMine! For reading and reviewing! To GiR: Shh! You might spoil it! :) Well, so far the signs point to yes, and the truth will be revealed in the next couple of chapters. InuIsMine!, I found a website that claimed those were the Japanese terms for the colors, but I don't know if it's completely legit. Oh, and the bird symbolizes what she admires and would like to be.
Naraku sat in the early morning haziness. The sun would be rising. Breakfast would soon be served. How splendid. He sat in his usual corner, watching the clouds turn a salmon pink before becoming gold tinged. As always, he shied away from the sun. Not because it would burn him in any way, but because he preferred the darkness to the light. In the darkness, he could lurk, plot, and be who he really was.
He had sent Kanna to her room now. He wondered what her fevered mind could be creating now on those blank sheaves of paper. Which is another reason he sent Kanna. Kagura couldn't be trusted to report anything factual. Some may call it obsessive, but he called it extensive detailing.
And in the dimness he waited. He would introduce Mizoshi to his new friend. Right now, he was curled up comfortably in his palm. Naraku hoped she would like him.
Mizoshi awaited her fate. Currently, she sat sedately on her bed, waiting for a familiar tall, dark, male shape to fill the doorway. Instead, a short, white, female shape came walking through. An incarnation. Kanna. Without being told, Mizoshi rose from her position.
"Naraku-sama requests your presence at breakfast this morning."
"Of course, but may I change first?"
The girl was adamant. "He requests to see you immediately." Her strange black eyes flicked over to Mizoshi's painting drying quietly on the floor. Wordlessly, Kanna swept over to it. "You created this piece?"
"Yes. Last night."
Kanna gazed at the large sea green bird with curving talons and flaming gold eyes. However, where Kanna saw only an outline of an unrealistic winged animal, Mizoshi saw much more. She saw herself.
"Very skilled use of color, yet the beak is a bit misshapen and the wings aren't detailed enough," she critiqued.
Frowning, Mizoshi let the comments bounce off of her. It had been a while since she picked up a brush. "So, Kanna. I am to meet him directly?"
"Right away. You are dressed appropriately enough." Kanna peered at her, then at the painting, then at her again.
Let her think what she wants. Mizoshi flew at the door to leave the off-putting, emotionless incarnation behind. Did Naraku mean to own everything inside her head? Did he wish to know what she constructed from the depths of her imagination? Did he want to own that as well? Certainly not. She would run away first. Gasping in revelation, she nearly stopped breathing. Run away? Could it be accomplished? More importantly, would he ever let that happen? No. There was no magical escape route. If there were, Kagura would've discovered it already, and she was a wind sorceress. She herself was a weak human hybrid.
Resigned, she approached Naraku. He was waiting for her in the gloom: the purple of his robes barely distinguishable from the inkiness. Saying nothing, Mizoshi took her place at the usual table. She couldn't decide whether to initiate a conversation or not. Should she speak only when spoken to? Mizoshi could tell from the intensity of his crimson eyes that the good-hearted generosity he'd been cultivating all yesterday was nothing but a melting memory now.
"Good morning, Naraku-sama." She tried to keep her tone as sweet as sugar.
"And a good morning to you too, Mizoshi," he positively leered.
What had she done to displease him? Naraku seemed to be in a testy mood. She had best tread carefully. "I wanted to thank you for my gift, Naraku-sama. You have undergone great pains to provide me with such fine painting supplies on short notice."
"You're welcome, Mizoshi." His voice was mild though his demeanor was icy. "Yet, I have something else to bestow on you before food is served."
"Really, Naraku-sama! You have given me far too much!"
He chuckled. "Actually, I was only considering lending him to you."
"Him?" All pleasantries and formalities were forgotten.
Naraku removed his hidden, cupped hands from his lap and opened them in the sunlight so she could see what was nestled there. Mizoshi nearly jumped up in sheer terror when she recognized what it was. "Naraku! It's a spider! An ugly spider! Please, take it away! Please!"
He glared heatedly. "Don't shout."
"But, it's a huge black spider! It's the biggest I've ever seen in my life! What if it's poisonous?"
"He is," Naraku assured her.
Her lips trembled. "Do you aim to slay us both?"
"No. Here. Take him." He held out the spider.
If only there was some hot tea she could throw at the spider to kill it or on its handler to bring him back to his senses. Was Naraku beginning to torment her like he did with Kagura? "I will not hold that spider," she stated firmly.
Naraku shrugged. "I thought you were kind to every creature you came across."
"It'll kill me."
"I mentioned it was poisonous, but I didn't say the venom would kill you."
Mizoshi glanced at the fearsome predator. Fangs protruded under many tiny red eyes that were clustered together in a fuzzy black body. Eight long legs covered the span of Naraku's two large hands put together. It was hideous.
"It's so revolting." She couldn't repress a small shudder.
"That's enough. Spiders are neither ugly nor revolting. As long as you treat them with respect and acknowledge them for what they are, they'll have no reason to attack. A spider has the same amount of grace and beauty a peacock has."
She was not so sure about this comparison.
"So, are you brave enough to hold him?"
"What if it bites me?" Mizsohi bit her whitening lip.
"He won't."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because I told him not to."
He was serious. Deadly serious. Cringing, she forced herself to touch the spider. Its fuzzy abdomen felt soft. She then tried to pick it up with trembling hands. All of a sudden, the spider reared back and showed its fangs.
Naraku shook his head. "He doesn't trust you. All right, open your hands wide and remain perfectly still; if you want to go through with it, of course."
Willing her two hands to remain flat, she waited for Naraku to put the arachnid on her skin. Soon, she found herself holding the poisonous thing. If it dared bite her, she would crush it. Meanwhile, her "host" witnessed the scene with approval.
"See? He just wants a warm haven like any other being."
Mizoshi peered at the spider and then at Naraku. There were similarities between the two. Both possessed night-dark hair and eyes redder than blood. Also, both were a bit sinister and reclusive. Did he identify with the huge arachnid?
Reaching over her, Naraku held out his hands. "I'll take him now."
More than happy to be rid of it, she eased the arachnid onto his palms. The spider disappeared into Naraku's curtain of shadow. She was shivering in relief.
"Where did you find him?"
"He comes and goes as he pleases."
"You mean…you let him roam free in the castle?"
"Oh, yes. This place is home to many stray spiders."
She couldn't discern if he was joking or otherwise.
"Tell me, Mizoshi. Are you afraid of insects?" Naraku smiled thinly.
"No, but for spiders, I make an exception."
A strange hostile glitter entered his eyes. Before anything more could be spoken about the matter, Kanna shuffled in bearing a plate and a pot of tea. She set her load down, bowed, and trundled back outside. In front of her were boiled eggs and a bowl of rice. Beside that platter was a single plum. Another nutritious meal; a meal Mizoshi vowed to eat every bite of. She needed to keep her strength up.
"You know, you shouldn't fear the spider. Or me," his voice floated out of the dark.
How could he refer to himself in such a fashion? She was bewildered by this assessment. "Why not?"
"Fearing the spider is a fear of the unknown. You should explore every creature, no matter how innocent or evil they appear. Birds can peck too, Mizoshi."
"Yes, but birds stay close to the morning sun."
"And night must inevitably fall," he drawled.
Squinting through the dimness of Naraku's shadowy corner, she decided not to even reply and instead took a bite of egg; trying not to imagine thick, black-fuzzed legs brushing against her calves.