~~~OK, I can hardly bend my fingers, I haven't got more than four hours of
sleep per night in weeks, I haven't even thought about where the hell this
plot is supposed to go, but I've been told I HAVE to update. So here's
another chapter pulled straight out of my ass. Don't blame me if it's shit
:) ~~~
Kagura fluttered back into consciousness, accompanied by a throbbing ache in her back, and a sharp pain in her chest. The causes of both were immediately obvious: during her tumble from her feather, Kagura had crashed helplessly through the jagged tops of the fearsome trees that comprised this nearly impenetrable forest. All things being equal, while some branches tended towards the horizontal, others grew nearly vertical, and it was upon one of these that Kagura found herself gracelessly impaled. She hung there, high above the ground, her back arched painfully in gravity's pull.
This just wasn't her week.
Kagura blearily tried to focus on her predicament, but whatever spell had been on that arrow still hadn't worn off completely yet, and her brain remained fogged. It hurt to try to think, even. Almost as much as it hurt to try to move. She wasn't even sure how long she'd been hanging here. Experimentally, Kagura tried to raise her head. It wasn't the world's greatest idea: the slight movement sent tearing pains through her chest as the branch she encompassed damaged her further. Worse, it looked as though her body had tried to start healing Around this foreign object in her gut. She was just going to reopen everything if she moved one iota more. Naraku must be really pissed to have left her here for this long.
Ah well, there was no help for it. Since Kagura couldn't actually die, each second spent here did nothing to hasten her end -- rather, it just prolonged what could be an eternity of suffering. Kagura sighed, wincing at the jagged pain of broken ribs and half-healed lungs. Right. Action. Though she couldn't focus properly on the offending branch Kagura reached up and seized it with both hands. The rough bark was still slick with her blood, gore, and the contents of her pierced gut. Ugh. Well, at least it'd cut down on friction.
Stifling a groan, Kagura heaved, hauling her prone body up the penetrating branch by the strength of her arms alone. She could feel things internally ripping and shredding as the branch worked its way loose. The bark bits lodged in her liver would surely take Months to work their way out! Mentally, Kagura cursed the undead priestess for doing this to her. Nevertheless, it was her own weakness and stupidity in getting herself into this predicament that she cursed the most.
At last, the deed was done. With the last of her strength, Kagura snapped the branch beneath her, and, as she fell; yanked the remaining jagged end from her body. Twisting with a catlike grace, even in her pain and weakness, Kagura managed to land, with not too many more scrapes and bruises, on her feet, on a large horizontal branch. She was too exhausted to move further. She would wait here until hr body had healed and her vision cleared. An involuntary shiver was quickly replaced with as bark of hatred as she considered the consequences of this action. Her master was likely already furious at her; a further delay in her return would only worsen the punishment she was sure to receive. But at this moment, she didn't care what Naraku had in store for her -- all she wanted was sleep. Curling around her torn and bloody kimono, Kagura made herself as comfortable as she could, and nestled there against the bole of the tree like some injured bird.
-----
Elsewhere in the twilit forest, Kanna made her silent way towards the aura her mirror had shown her. Though she moved as silently as the moon rising in the east, Kanna could not have been considered a creature of stealth-- rather, she glowed a cool white, like the moon: a desolate and lonely beacon lighting the shadowed depths of this lifeless wood. The analogy would have been completely lost on Kanna, however. This silent demoness cared nothing for trivialities like symbolism or beauty. In fact, it might be argued that she cared for nothing at all. Stoic and composed, she padded down silent paths, like some other-worldly spirit or ghost; just the shell of a body really; hardly any soul animated this petite frame.
A fitting opponent to face an undead priestess who possessed only fragments of a soul herself, one might say. But they'd be wrong to think that.
Kanna's power was in her mirror, and in the mental and spiritual manipulations it could perform. But how could she use it to steal Kikyo's soul, when Kikyo wasn't even its rightful owner. And how could she paralyze her with fear, if the scenes that played in her mirror were so much less awful than the reality Kikyo had seen -- and felt -- in hell? There was just no way. Perhaps it was good then, that Kanna had no idea that the shard she sought was, in truth, in Kikyo's possession. If she had known, and if she had been capable of more independent thought, she probably would have run back to Naraku for reinforcements, while quivering to the depth of her being in fear.
But again, such was not the case, and Kanna continued her slow progress, unaware of the fate that awaited her at the end of the trail.
-------
Kikyo knew long before she saw the white figure what was approaching her. Her soul catchers had long since informed her-- but even if they had not, it wouldn't have been hard to guess: after all, Naraku only had so many offspring to deputize, and by now, Kikyo presumed that Kagura was safely out of commission. And in these woods, there was no threat But Naraku. And, of course, herself. . . Kikyo smiled a slow deadly, mirthless smile. She wasn't capable of humor anymore -- that is, if she ever had been, in the first place, but still was amused in a way at the thought.
At last, Kanna approached her intended quarry. If her face was capable of expression, it would have registered shock that she was not facing some low- level youkai such as Naraku had expected, but instead the beautiful undead priestess. Now, While Kanna had few emotions, and less imagination, she was still a part of Naraku, and more importantly, there was more of Him in her psyche than any personality of her own. Thus, face to face with Naraku's true arch-nemesis and reason for existence, she couldn't help but feel awed and dismayed by the hatred and the longing that washed through her core. She, Kanna wasn't supposed to feel a thing, so how could such powerful emotions stir within?
Something of this must have shown in her face, for Kikyo smiled at her: a sweet, sad smile, utterly devoid of true compassion.
"Ah, you poor child," She murmured, as if speaking to one of the village children she had used to teach, "Has your master sent you out here alone to face me?"
"Give me the shard" Kanna replied tonelessly, recovering from her confusion. She had a task to do. She couldn't let Naraku down, now matter how much the one shred of independent thought deep within told her to turn and run now before she was purified into nonexistence. Even as she spoke, she was readying her mirror for battle. She didn't think she would have a choice but to try to use it.
"Really, Now. I don't think the Shikon is a toy for such as you." Kikyo chided, "Nor for your parent." Gracefully, she unslung her bow from her back, and stared down the diminutive demon in front of her, "Leave now with a message for Naraku, or die by my hand."
"The shard." Kanna held out one ice-pale hand. Plainly she didn't believe Kikyo's threat. Or at least, that was what she wanted the priestess to believe.
"No." Kikyo frowned sternly and in one smooth move, notched and released an arrow at the same instant that Kanna, with viper-like swiftness, flashed her mirror straight into Kikyo's eyes. . .
Even to an untrained observer, the outcome of this short battle was never in doubt.
To be continued.
~~~There. I updated. Stupid plotless chapter. You happy now? Goddamn, my hands hurt. Now I sleep.~~~
Kagura fluttered back into consciousness, accompanied by a throbbing ache in her back, and a sharp pain in her chest. The causes of both were immediately obvious: during her tumble from her feather, Kagura had crashed helplessly through the jagged tops of the fearsome trees that comprised this nearly impenetrable forest. All things being equal, while some branches tended towards the horizontal, others grew nearly vertical, and it was upon one of these that Kagura found herself gracelessly impaled. She hung there, high above the ground, her back arched painfully in gravity's pull.
This just wasn't her week.
Kagura blearily tried to focus on her predicament, but whatever spell had been on that arrow still hadn't worn off completely yet, and her brain remained fogged. It hurt to try to think, even. Almost as much as it hurt to try to move. She wasn't even sure how long she'd been hanging here. Experimentally, Kagura tried to raise her head. It wasn't the world's greatest idea: the slight movement sent tearing pains through her chest as the branch she encompassed damaged her further. Worse, it looked as though her body had tried to start healing Around this foreign object in her gut. She was just going to reopen everything if she moved one iota more. Naraku must be really pissed to have left her here for this long.
Ah well, there was no help for it. Since Kagura couldn't actually die, each second spent here did nothing to hasten her end -- rather, it just prolonged what could be an eternity of suffering. Kagura sighed, wincing at the jagged pain of broken ribs and half-healed lungs. Right. Action. Though she couldn't focus properly on the offending branch Kagura reached up and seized it with both hands. The rough bark was still slick with her blood, gore, and the contents of her pierced gut. Ugh. Well, at least it'd cut down on friction.
Stifling a groan, Kagura heaved, hauling her prone body up the penetrating branch by the strength of her arms alone. She could feel things internally ripping and shredding as the branch worked its way loose. The bark bits lodged in her liver would surely take Months to work their way out! Mentally, Kagura cursed the undead priestess for doing this to her. Nevertheless, it was her own weakness and stupidity in getting herself into this predicament that she cursed the most.
At last, the deed was done. With the last of her strength, Kagura snapped the branch beneath her, and, as she fell; yanked the remaining jagged end from her body. Twisting with a catlike grace, even in her pain and weakness, Kagura managed to land, with not too many more scrapes and bruises, on her feet, on a large horizontal branch. She was too exhausted to move further. She would wait here until hr body had healed and her vision cleared. An involuntary shiver was quickly replaced with as bark of hatred as she considered the consequences of this action. Her master was likely already furious at her; a further delay in her return would only worsen the punishment she was sure to receive. But at this moment, she didn't care what Naraku had in store for her -- all she wanted was sleep. Curling around her torn and bloody kimono, Kagura made herself as comfortable as she could, and nestled there against the bole of the tree like some injured bird.
-----
Elsewhere in the twilit forest, Kanna made her silent way towards the aura her mirror had shown her. Though she moved as silently as the moon rising in the east, Kanna could not have been considered a creature of stealth-- rather, she glowed a cool white, like the moon: a desolate and lonely beacon lighting the shadowed depths of this lifeless wood. The analogy would have been completely lost on Kanna, however. This silent demoness cared nothing for trivialities like symbolism or beauty. In fact, it might be argued that she cared for nothing at all. Stoic and composed, she padded down silent paths, like some other-worldly spirit or ghost; just the shell of a body really; hardly any soul animated this petite frame.
A fitting opponent to face an undead priestess who possessed only fragments of a soul herself, one might say. But they'd be wrong to think that.
Kanna's power was in her mirror, and in the mental and spiritual manipulations it could perform. But how could she use it to steal Kikyo's soul, when Kikyo wasn't even its rightful owner. And how could she paralyze her with fear, if the scenes that played in her mirror were so much less awful than the reality Kikyo had seen -- and felt -- in hell? There was just no way. Perhaps it was good then, that Kanna had no idea that the shard she sought was, in truth, in Kikyo's possession. If she had known, and if she had been capable of more independent thought, she probably would have run back to Naraku for reinforcements, while quivering to the depth of her being in fear.
But again, such was not the case, and Kanna continued her slow progress, unaware of the fate that awaited her at the end of the trail.
-------
Kikyo knew long before she saw the white figure what was approaching her. Her soul catchers had long since informed her-- but even if they had not, it wouldn't have been hard to guess: after all, Naraku only had so many offspring to deputize, and by now, Kikyo presumed that Kagura was safely out of commission. And in these woods, there was no threat But Naraku. And, of course, herself. . . Kikyo smiled a slow deadly, mirthless smile. She wasn't capable of humor anymore -- that is, if she ever had been, in the first place, but still was amused in a way at the thought.
At last, Kanna approached her intended quarry. If her face was capable of expression, it would have registered shock that she was not facing some low- level youkai such as Naraku had expected, but instead the beautiful undead priestess. Now, While Kanna had few emotions, and less imagination, she was still a part of Naraku, and more importantly, there was more of Him in her psyche than any personality of her own. Thus, face to face with Naraku's true arch-nemesis and reason for existence, she couldn't help but feel awed and dismayed by the hatred and the longing that washed through her core. She, Kanna wasn't supposed to feel a thing, so how could such powerful emotions stir within?
Something of this must have shown in her face, for Kikyo smiled at her: a sweet, sad smile, utterly devoid of true compassion.
"Ah, you poor child," She murmured, as if speaking to one of the village children she had used to teach, "Has your master sent you out here alone to face me?"
"Give me the shard" Kanna replied tonelessly, recovering from her confusion. She had a task to do. She couldn't let Naraku down, now matter how much the one shred of independent thought deep within told her to turn and run now before she was purified into nonexistence. Even as she spoke, she was readying her mirror for battle. She didn't think she would have a choice but to try to use it.
"Really, Now. I don't think the Shikon is a toy for such as you." Kikyo chided, "Nor for your parent." Gracefully, she unslung her bow from her back, and stared down the diminutive demon in front of her, "Leave now with a message for Naraku, or die by my hand."
"The shard." Kanna held out one ice-pale hand. Plainly she didn't believe Kikyo's threat. Or at least, that was what she wanted the priestess to believe.
"No." Kikyo frowned sternly and in one smooth move, notched and released an arrow at the same instant that Kanna, with viper-like swiftness, flashed her mirror straight into Kikyo's eyes. . .
Even to an untrained observer, the outcome of this short battle was never in doubt.
To be continued.
~~~There. I updated. Stupid plotless chapter. You happy now? Goddamn, my hands hurt. Now I sleep.~~~