52 REVIEWS! WOW! THAT MAKES ME HAPPY! YESSSS! 0
Peopleses, in manga 21 it says that all the servitors are dead from being exposed to the shield's poison. Phooey to that. I DON'T CARE! You notice all the corpses Kagura brings in are in armour. Therefore they are not the scrub-the-floor-and-cook-the-dinner types. Yanagi kept her people to the center, how's that? They all stayed far enough away from the shield itself that they're fine! Does that work? Pretend with me? Even though there are dead people not in armour in this one panel…. :scowls at manga received for birthday: Now I have to wonder what else I've missed! Grr, I wish we got television reception so I could watch the anime, or else that the translators translated faster. :throws tantrum: OK, I'm better now. We can move on.
Disclaimer: I disclaim everyone here ensconced, if ensconced is even the applicable verb, and this world. I also disclaim the name Trisak, since it properly belongs to him and not me!
medlii: Heh. Devoured by Shayanui. They didn't know it was unlikely! Hee, he actually plays them pretty well! I do my best at keeping them involved…. Fact is, my writing is so much more involved in the characters than the plot it gets annoying sometimes. Oh, it did remind you of them? Hee, I did it well. Always fun to play on a cliché. It was nice of Shippou! I thought he was making fun of the houshi! Yes, eight pages is a happy length! Thank you! Heh, she's not so 'great' this chapter, I fear. Meh, she's such a busybody. I might end up with fifty anyway, if I can't figure out how to end it! O.o Shayanui doll…. Looking like Inuyasha or Miroku…? Or maybe it's one of those altering action figures with the funny helmets and rotating heads with two faces on….
biggest anime fan: Yeah, we did make that up together…. In point of fact, what we did was sit around on my bed with me being Kileb and her being Naraku, and I tormented him a bit, and the bagpipes and a lot of the rest of that discussion is directly from there. Heh. It was fun. O.O Kileb fan…. He'll be happy….
Kileb: Why, of course she likes me, Trisak old bean. What's not to like::preens:
Trisak: I'm the wrong Trisak, you don't know me. And you're evil, that's what!
Kileb: Evil? Oh, that hurts, Trisak, that hurts. I'm wounded. Look, punch me, I bleed.
Trisak: You do not! Now be quiet, this is my review reply, you're not supposed to be here.
Kileb: Going, going…. See you later, fan girl. :flashes peace sign at baf:
OK. :is happy::is happy some more: I update now! Love you lots and lots!
Trisaksmom: Heh, thanks, mom. Yeah, he'll probably put in another appearance or so…. O.O Kileb's a Mary Sue? Yeah, I like the curlique thingy too. We already discussed all this, so hasta la vista, and vivé my birthday cake, since you're frosting it as I type this!
Ganheim: :gulps: …has returned? Does that mean you don't think it's been funny for a while? But thanks. I can't believe it…all these quotes in the review and you say nice things…. To get such a criticism-short review from you…wow. I know I must have done a good job. As to the bagpipes, they actually originally came from Syria, doncha know, so I was thinking more along the lines of a set or so coming east from there a while back, and one of the demons who became Naraku learning how to play, and it just stuck…. Heh, I'm weird, I know. OK, I'll work on that paragraph. And, sorry, but it's good to know it, right? Aw, poor kanji victim.
Gem Gamgee: Eeeek! I've been squee'd again! But this time I didn't get CHOMPED afterward. Or, wait, was the squeee a set of bagpipes and not a killer rabbit? Oh, well. Cookies for being my fiftieth reviewer! Yays! And, oooh, ICE CREAM! And you got it to me on my really-truly birthday, too::Goes faint with astonishment at all the nice things Gem says: T.T such kindness…. Sniff. Wow, I need a tissue….
Äerie went through the forest, to where Kikyou was advertising her presence so blatantly it made the girl sigh. She could tone it down a little bit. Of course, Kikyou thought she was the most powerful thing in existence…she should really tangle with Sesshoumaru some time. See who came off the better.
"Kikyou," she said, looking up through the leaves at her. What was it about trees and her? Had she had this tree fetish when she was alive, too?
"Where is Inuyasha?" Kikyou asked her.
"Looking after Kagome," Aerie replied, hoisting herself into the tree and beginning to climb toward the miko. "You have got to learn to control your temper, Keeks. I understand why you might be jealous of her, but you've already taken a lot away."
"Why should I be jealous of Kagome?" Kikyou asked, grey eyes hooded. "She has nothing I do not. Excepting life." Aerie raised her eyebrows, coming to rest on a limb beside Kikyou. She sat straight and swung her legs, looking askance at the miko's draped posture.
"That seems like a good reason to be jealous right there. But that's not what I meant. You once told her that she was you, and that there need be only one of you in this reality. I think you were right, Kikyou. She's the girl you could have been. She has a joy to her, a softness, that you never had. She treats everyone as an equal. You might have been her. If you hadn't had the care of the Shikon no Tama, if you hadn't had no parents to care for you, if you hadn't had to grow so…hard." Aerie smiled slightly. "True, there are a few ways I'd prefer to be you, like not being so silly about some things. No one would ever call you a ditz. But you broke your last pair of rose-colored glasses a long time ago. She has the chance to be happy, still, and you…don't. All you can do is make other people sad."
"Inuyasha's life is mine," Kikyou told her with an air of cutting straight to the heart of her argument. Aerie shook her head.
"Oh, Kikyou. His life is his own."
"I will not be pitied," Kikyou said, fingers of ice curling through her voice.
"Let him go. The heart of loving someone is being able to let them go. You can only hurt him now, Kikyou. Are you really this selfish?"
"If I were selfish, I would have taken him and gone long ago. I remain only to banish Naraku from this world."
"Yes, your lovely duty. You are dutiful, Kikyou, and you spent your life in service, but…. You never really respected anyone." She looked at the miko sadly. "Never respected anyone, never allowed yourself to care. I know why you did. And I never said you were evil. Though that might come, if you spend too long here in the temporal worlds, which aren't yours anymore. I can already see it happening. But…." She shook her head. "You look after everyone, Kikyou, in your own way. And everyone always looks to you, adores you, loves you. But who looks after you? Who can you look to when you're sad or frightened? There is no one. There's never been anyone. And you will never admit to those things." Kikyou looked at the girl. Who was she, to presume to understand her?
"Be silent," she commanded, using the same method of silencing that she had used on her reincarnation. Aerie ducked.
"Nuh-uh, Keeks. Don't try that on me. Kagome might have just as much power as you do, but she's never had any training. I've had training myself and inherited quite a lot from an…inhabitant of mine."
"Do you harbour a demon?" Kikyou asked, her eyes narrowed. Aerie chuckled.
"Ooh, that's rich. Trisak would love that one. Except not, since it's his Lady you just insulted. No, I harbour no demons, my lady. Kikyou," she said, leaning forward on her branch, "You've always fought your humanity. That's why you cared for Inuyasha at the first, because you both did. Once, you wanted to melt his heart. And your own. You wanted to be free of your burden and be only a woman. You were right. I know someone else who fought his humanity. He fought it tooth and nail. And he won." She shook her head. "Except you can't win a battle like that. He killed himself, that day. Killed his hope and his heart.
"Inuyasha was healing, Kikyou, before you came back, and even now…even now, he is coming to accept himself. All of him, except for the bloodthirsty part. He's growing used to the weaknesses and strengths of humans and to the limitations and powers of youkai. He is both of them, and for the first time in his life since his mother died he has people who will allow him to be. Kikyou…." The priestess turned away. "Kikyou."
"I don't care," the dead woman said. "I don't care, do you hear me?"
"Oh, Kikyou," said Aerie sadly. Then she seemed to cast away her sadness and smiled. "Well, it was nice meeting you. I'm Aerie." She bowed from her branch. "I hereby volunteer my services as Inuyasha's bodyguard from all demons, ghosts, and goblins. Make a note of that. You fall under heading B." Kikyou glanced at her, not trusting this change of mood.
"You are strange," she remarked.
"This from a dead woman?"
"You are not of this world," Kikyou added.
"Neither are you," retorted Aerie. Kikyou was silent for a long minute, then she said softly,
"I will think on what you have said." Aerie smiled and clapped her on the shoulder.
"That's all anyone could ask," she said, and then slithered down from the tree and vanished back in the direction of their encampment. Kikyou looked after her for a long time, a solitary figure high in a tree, with silver eels undulating around her.
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When Aerie got back to the tachi, they all looked at her expectantly. She went over to her blanket, picked it up, wrapped it around her shoulders, and sat down beside the fire with a groan.
"Well?" growled Inuyasha when she made no move to speak.
"Eh? Oh. I found her. She wanted to know where you were. I lectured her a little." She seemed distracted.
"What did she say?"
" 'Where is Inuyasha, Why should I be jealous of Kagome, Inuyasha's life is mine, I will not be pitied, If I were selfish, I would have taken him and gone long ago, Be silent, Do you harbour a demon, I don't care, I don't care, do you hear me, You are strange,' and 'I will think on what you have said.' " Recited Aerie in one long breath. Everyone blinked at her. "Uh, she said it all broken up between my little soliloquies," she explained. "You know, after I explained why she might be jealous, she said that Inuyasha's life was hers, after I told him his life was his own she said she would not be pitied, so on." Her brow furrowed. "Actually, I think I might have missed a few sentences of hers, but close enough. She doesn't talk much, does she?"
"So she wants me," Inuyasha said. Kagome looked, as usual, slapped by his obsession with the dead woman. She pulled away from his protective embrace. He didn't seem to notice.
"Unless she was here to kill Kagome, why else would she be hanging around? But she isn't hurt. Perhaps she has information." Aerie shrugged. "Or maybe she's killed Naraku and wants to take you with her now, but I doubt it. She probably would have come in here and rubbed it in Kagome's face, not to mention not sitting around listening to me." She bit her lip. "I'm sorry, I'll shut up now. She makes me unhappy. Always has. But I suppose she isn't really evil. Just very, very confused. Kinda like Inuyasha trying to kill Kags. Only worse."
"I thought you said you were shutting up?" Inuyasha grumbled. "I'll be back in a minute, Kagome," he promised, turning to her. Startled, she met his eyes. He held her with them for a long moment, and then vanished into the trees.
"That's the first time he's remembered I existed before running off to her," Kagome said softly. Aerie went over to her and gave her a sudden hug.
"You mean a lot to him, Kags. Remember it." She turned away. "I think I have to be alone," she remarked. "I'm in a mood to meddle with things, and I know if I keep at this I'll only become obnoxious." She vanished in the other direction than Inuyasha had.
"She's right, you know, Kagome-chan," Sango said. "He'd die for you in a heartbeat."
"Oh, stop it," Kagome said sadly. "Let's all just go to bed." They went back to bed with a minimum of excitement, after Sango glared Miroku into moving his bedding back to its previous position ten feet from her own. Shippou snuggled down beside Kagome, and soon the clearing was filled with the steady sound of sleepers breathing. Inuyasha reappeared only a few minutes after they were all asleep. He surveyed his friends, not even posting a sentry, so sure that he would be back soon to watch over them that they didn't feel the need to. He leapt into a tree only a few yards above their heads and crossed his arms. Wouldn't want to disappoint them. He wondered where the last, infuriating pack member was.
Aerie wandered through the forest, aware that there were bad things in these woods, but fairly confident that she could take them on – with warning, anyway. And if she shouted, someone would come help her, probably. That was a very nice thing to know. Something grabbed her shoulder. She hadn't even heard it coming! She spun, swinging her fist to connect with whatever it was, opening her mouth to shout.
Then she stifled both blow and cry.
"Trisak!" she said, giving him a quick hug. "You're here! Did everything turn out alright back there?"
"Things are fine," he said, grinning. He was only four feet high, but hovered about a foot off the ground with wide, dragonfly-like wings. Chestnut-brown hair fell in curls over one merry green eye. "It was you I worried about, but now I see I shouldn't. Going to take me on bare-fisted, huh?"
"Don't think I couldn't, pretty boy," she replied with a laugh.
"You couldn't," he assured her. "And, why, I feel so insulted! She said I'm pretty!"
"Shut up," she directed. "How long can you stay?"
"Only a little while right now – I was just checking up on you," he replied. "But in a few days I should be back, and then I'll be able to stay for a while." Her face fell slightly, but then she shrugged and put on a smile again. "'Kay. I'll see you then. Now, listen. And for heaven's sake don't make a stupid joke?" He paused to consider for a moment.
"Even one about cheese?" He asked. She clouted him over the ear.
"Be serious for two minutes? Kileb's here." The grin fell of his face like melting butter.
"Really?"
"Really. I had to fight him. He's not like he was, obviously, since I could face him down on my own, but he's here." She explained the whole thing, and he rubbed his forehead.
"Wow," he commented. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect you to run into him. I knew he'd gotten away, but…."
"And you know what the worst part is?" Aerie demanded. "The worst part is that he won't believe I'm me! He just keeps calling me by her name and talking to me like I'm her! I hate it." Trisak smiled at her.
"I don't blame him for getting confused. You sound so much like her sometimes." He told her. She looked away.
"Whatever. It still drives me nuts. So that's all. You can go now."
"Yes ma'am, whatever you say, milady." With a buzz of rainbowed wings he was in the air.
"Don't call me that," she said softly after him. She felt angsty, tragic, and put-upon for about three seconds as she watched his departing figure, and then he smashed into a tree branch and was knocked to the forest floor with a crash. "Klutz!" she shouted at him. He attempted to ignore her with dignity while freeing himself from a large wild rose bush, then flashed her a peace sign and was gone. She headed back to camp, shaking her head. The idiot.
Kagura leaned against a wall in the hallway of the castle. Naraku had sent her away; apparently he was tired of her making comments. Or perhaps it was the way the redhead seemed to keep making a fool of him, and he was tired of her being there for it. After all, the more amusing things she was present for, the harder he would find it to frighten her. She shuddered almost imperceptibly. Kami, how she hated him. One of the few remaining servants who had come with the castle was approaching. A girl. With a plate. What the...
"Kagura-sama," said the serving-girl, offering her some kind of pastry. Food? Since when did the servants bother to feed their demon overlords? She took it without interest and bit in. Her teeth found the object buried in it with a crunch. What was this? She pulled it out. The object flopped absurdly, broken in half and pouring crumbs. It was a fan. There was a fan in her food. One of her fans…. The wind witch glanced at the serving-girl, who was suddenly standing straight, as though she considered herself Kagura's equal. "Kagura," she repeated. "As you can see, I am an excellent thief."
"What-"
"I stole that from you myself." The girl's dark eyes were as blank as Naraku's ever were, though she did not exude the same menace. Simply a wary, slightly complacent regard, like a wolf pack's. Kagura regarded her back from under her heavy lashes.
"And you tell me this…why?" she asked dryly. "Most thieves don't feed the loot to its owner." The girl smiled.
"Because we can use one another's help, Kagura." She said. "I can get your heart for you." Kagura started.
"How-"
"I know everything that goes on here, Kagura Wind-Daughter. You want to be free."
"I will be free." Kagura retorted, before biting her lip. She should not speak so freely under this roof.
"He's talking to Kileb," the young ningen woman assured her. "He's busy. Very. I am Yanagi. Do we have a deal?"
"A deal?" Kagura repeated. Yanagi rolled her eyes.
"A deal. Yah. I steal your heart for you, you get us out of here."
"It won't be that simple."
"Nothing is simple. I have a plan."
"Are you sure they will do as you wish?" Naraku asked, surveying Kileb's new additions to the castle staff.
"Very sure. Are you sure the boy will do as you wish?" Kileb replied. Naraku's nostrils flared.
"Sure enough." The five slave warriors, four new arrivals and Kohaku, stared unblinkingly ahead of them at the other end of the room, awaiting orders. "He does not wish to remember that he killed his family." Kileb nodded.
"Ah, very nice tactics. But I have to ask – why this boy in particular? True, he knows how to swing sharp things around without chopping off his own head, but…."
"His sister walks with Inuyasha," Naraku explained. "She is easily neutralized by mobilizing him."
"Inuyasha," Kileb repeated, "That would be the hanyou, yes? I want another try at him. If the rest of them hadn't shown up when they did, I would have had him where you have the boy." Naraku shot him an envious look.
"How do you do that?" he asked. Kileb flicked his fingers as if dismissing a compliment.
"Centuries of practice. Now come, let us be off," he said, making for the door while doing the Cottoneye Joe.
"Off?" asked Naraku, ignoring the dancing.
"Certainly. Surely you don't want to stay here in this rank hole of yours while they do the legwork." Naraku could not quite say Yes, he did, that was the usual way he did things, so he forewent the kugutsu and followed Kileb out of the 'rank hole.' The beginnings of a smile actually found their way onto his face. This could be very…amusing. Very amusing indeed.
Kileb was singing. Naraku studiously ignored him.
The dawn arrived with a minimum of fanfare from everyone who didn't have combs growing out of their heads. Chanticleer's cries to greet the morning were not heard in the forest where our heroes had bedded down, but they were sufficiently roused by the sound of Inuyasha, who had not slept for three days, falling out of his tree. When everyone had woken up and the muddle of limbs that was Inuyasha and Miroku was sorted out with a minimum of bruises for the houshi, Inuyasha and Aerie were both there. Neither offered any information, and no one asked. The tachi was pretty good like that.
"So where are we going?" Aerie asked Inuyasha once everyone was set.
"We're looking for a landmark," he admitted grudgingly. "I don't know the space around here all that well."
"Now you tell us," she grumbled. "Well, Kaede's village is right where Tokyo is going to be, which means southish, which means…aw, forget it. I don't know what I'm talking about. Do I?" she asked Shippou.
"How'm I supposed to know?" he replied.
"I don't know. How are you?"
"I don't know."
"Well, neither do I."
"STOP IT!" Sango shouted, appearing to fight the impulse to bang her head against a tree. Everyone turned and stared at her.
"Are you quite alright, Sango-sama?" Miroku asked.
"Yes, I'm fine," she replied. "I just have this feeling…well, that something's coming." Everyone thought about that for a moment.
"Well, nothing we can do about it until it comes," Inuyasha declared at last. He turned around. "Let's go." They went. A few minutes after they started walking, Aerie dropped back to walk beside Kagome, who was at the back due to the weight of her immense backpack, which she had not asked Inuyasha to carry today, even though she really couldn't handle it without her bike.
"Kags?" she said hestitantly. Kagome didn't look at her. "Kagome?" Kagome continued to act as if the dirt they were walking over were the most fascinating thing on the planet. "Kagome, look. I know I have about the tact and social grace of a tarantula, but I don't mean any of it badly! I'm sorry if I offended you the other night. Will you please stop giving me the silent treatment?" Kagome at last looked up.
"It's okay," she said, giving a slightly halfhearted smile. Aerie breathed a sigh of relief. She hated it when people were mad at her. "So was there anything you wanted to discuss in particular?" Aerie shrugged.
"Not really, I guess," she admitted. "It's just, I feel like I know you so well, and it would really suck for you to hate me. Well, maybe not hate, because you're so nice I'm not sure you even hate Naraku sometimes, but you know what I mean."
"Modern idiom," Kagome supplied.
"Exactly," Aerie agreed. They shared a smile.
"It's nice having someone from the same century along," Kagome remarked.
"Mm," Aerie said. "I've only been here for eight days, haven't I? It seems like so much longer."
"Mm," Kagome agreed.
"I haven't seen…. I mean…." Aerie trailed off. Saying that she hadn't seen Kagome studying as much as she had expected was probably a bad move, in all kinds of ways. "That is, I always heard that Japanese students were very strict about their studies."
"Well, not everyone is," Kagome cautioned, "But yes. I've got my books in here," she jerked a thumb toward the yellow monster on her back, "But I've been kind of distracted these last few days. It isn't always quite this bad," she added. "I mean, usually Inuyasha doesn't get captured, and we don't get into battles quite that bad all that often. Although Inuyasha does get himself torn up a lot, I suppose."
"Oh, I believe you," Aerie assured her. "But don't think I'm going to get scared away just because you guys are the trouble magnet of the millennium. I've seen worse." Kagome gave her a quizzical look and Aerie suddenly shared Sango's urge toward head-banging. Baka! She thought. Then, Hang on – I'm thinking in Japanese now? She shrugged mentally. Whatever. They walked in silence for a moment. "You know," Aerie remarked, realizing something after a bout of mental calculating, "In two days, it will be my fifteenth birthday. I've been away from home for two hundred eighty seven days." She sounded wistful, and Kagome asked,
"Should we have a party?" The question had the desired effect. Aerie smiled, albeit a little shakily.
"A party. Yeah. That'd…that'd be nice."
Then, suddenly, Kagome felt the strangest presence. She had a sudden image of a hawk in a cage, beating wildly against the bars with its wings, yearning for freedom. She turned toward it to see three people leap from the trees behind the tachi, landing in silent file. She made a small sound of surprise, and that was enough to alert the others.
The newcomers were tall and fair, with hair like cornsilk, and it was impossible to tell their gender. They were dressed identically in long grey tunics and hose, and low grey boots. One bore a strung longbow in his hand. Their faces were nearly identical, with pale skin, and they were very, very empty, and very sad. Their ears had points. They looked like lost souls from across the world and a few centuries past. That, or like a weird cross between Halloween and Christmas decorations.
Inuyasha growled.
"They look like Sesshoumaru," he said. "I don't trust them."
"What sort of youkai are they?" wondered Miroku. Aerie shook her head.
"Not youkai," she said, voice strained. "Faerie. Elves. Fey. Sidhe. Whatever you like. And they're his."
"What?" said Sango.
"I thought they'd rescued them all," Aerie groaned.
"Since you know so much, wench, what are they here for?" Inuyasha demanded. Aerie smiled mirthlessly.
"They're going to kill us, of course."
Mwahahaha! Yes! A cliffie! I'm happy! And although I know I made you wait a long time, I was busy. Sorry. Also, I'm beginning to think I ought to list roleplaying as a vice…. And I once again achieved eight pages, although they aren't as good an eight pages as last time. So feh to all complaints! Heehee, yes, I was a bit hard on Keeks, and I'm not done with her yet, but Aerie has issues with her, see? She did her very best to be nice.
Kikyou: Hold it right there::pulls out large scroll and unrolls: You, TrisakAminawn, are hereby arrested on charges of character defamement and being an unformidable opponent.
TrisakA: What!
Inuyasha: Translated, that means because we don't like you and you're a pushover.
TrisakA: H-hey! No fair! I'm in charge here, and anyway, I demand the right to summon my bengoshi and remain silent!
Sango: We wish!
Aerie: Get her!
TrisakA: Ah! Aerie! Not you, too::goes angsty: Aerie, why? Why?
Aerie: Because you kept claiming I abused you with chainsaws and things, and you stopped speaking to me after I wouldn't do exactly what you wanted in this story. I resent being demoted!
TrisakA: I-I'm sorry, Aerie! I didn't mean it that way! Really! C'mon! Be nice::is backed slowly into corner: Come on! Trisak! Aghenu! Somebody!
Trisak: Oh, alright, but only if it doesn't involve hurting Aerie or Kagome.
TrisakA: Kagome?
Trisak: She's nice. She gave me some forsythia.
TrisakA: Do they even have forsythia in Japan?
Entire Angry Character Mob: SHUT UP AND LET US ARREST YOU!
TrisakA: :shaking head: Oh, people, don't make me do this….
Mob: GRRRRRR!
TrisakA: Hey, that's what my math teacher always says! Anyway…Trisak, get out of the way quick…shazam::uses ultimate Sakusha power:
Inuyasha: Shit! I'm a chicken! Bawk!
Kikyou: Ah! Not a - Bawk! A chicken! Sakusha girl, this is so demeaning….
Miroku: Bawk! But…I wasn't even part of the mob…this isn't fair….
Shippou: Whaaaa! I don't like being a chicken! Bawk!
Aerie: And on top of - Bawk! That, how are we going to do the next chapter if we're all chickens!
TrisakA: Oh, I'm sure I'll have you all back to yourselves on schedule. Or beware::threatening music plays::Exeunt:
Kileb: :wanders onstage after everyone else has left, locates baf, and waves at her: See you later! And that's not a threat!