With Honey and Venom
"What hast thou done to me,
Girl, with the dream in thine eyes?
Brightened the sun to me,
Lightened the skies;
Made there be one to me,
One only sun to me Not in the skies.
What hast thou done to me,
Girl, with the dream in thine eyes?
Darkened the sun to me,
Blackened the skies;
Made there be none to me,
Nor star nor sun to me,
Only black skies."
-"Et Melle Et Felle," Anonymous
What prompts people to fall in love? Is there truly such an emotion so vivid as to allow two different people to come together and care for one another so deeply as to be monogamous?
In my experience, there is no such thing; lust is the only factor in any relationship, and it depends solely on the strength of it to determine whether the two are monogamous or not. So far, there has never been a monogamous couple. The man will stray eventually, seeking out other bed-partners.
Love has never existed in any relationship.
VII...Warmth
"Adele-san!"
I whirled around, startled to hear my name shouted so fiercely. And who would do that, but Sesshoumaru himself. With those inner senses I was just becoming accustomed to, I could feel anger radiate off him in tidal waves, drowning out the malevolent presence of the red-eyed woman. Unfortunately, I had a feeling that the anger was...directed at me.
"So, you've shown yourself, Sesshoumaru-sama," the red-eyed woman chuckled evilly, dancing away from the poisonous yellow whip that shot out of Sesshoumaru's fingertips. I hadn't seen that before! What...what was that?
"Kagura...leave now," the golden-eyed demon snarled, his anger rising exponentially by the minute.
I was scared, really scared, now. Had I done something wrong to deserve this anger directed toward me?
"Hehe, I think not!" The woman, Kagura, dashed forward, and I could just barely see that her path was directed toward me. Without thinking, I dodged toward Sesshoumaru, stumbling into him, causing him to lose his grip on his sword, which was flung into the bushes somewhere. However, the attack I'd thought was coming only turned out to be a sort of chain-cuff, linking my left hand with Sesshoumaru's right. "Now, you won't be able to attack without hurting your precious pet, Sesshoumaru-sama," Kagura laughed, positioning her fan just below her chin, artistically framing her face.
Crap...what had I done? Had I inadvertently caused our deaths? Oh, I did hope I hadn't.
But I didn't get another chance to think. Kagura had whipped her fan about, the wind circling around it visibly. Then, she launched several blade-like wind gusts at us, and I cowered against Sesshoumaru's side, whimpering in fear. But no pain came... Curious, I glanced up and was surprised to see that the wind blades had been harmlessly deflected by a glowing...shield-thingy, some sort of barrier. But, how?
"Dammit," Kagura cursed, raising her arm for another attack.
Panicked, I hopped through the bushes, dragging the light-weight demon with me by the chain. Adrenalin now pumped through my veins, urging me faster, onwards, onwards, onwards! I ran as if the dogs of hell were nipping at my heels, despite Sesshoumaru trying to stop me from running. But, there's always one thing you should never do: never stop a coward from running, especially if they're almost half a foot taller than you.
"Girl! Stop running this instant!" He barked, his order reflected in the torque I wore, which tightened painfully around my throat.
The animal inside me wailed in fear, making me stumble and fall. I barely caught myself with my forearms, and the sleeves of the haori I wore were slashed to bits. I clawed at the torque, gasping for breath, blue eyes wide with fright and panic. Looking up at Sesshoumaru, I saw myself reflected back at me in golden hues: pathetic, weak, cowardly Adele, who had been brought done by a collar that allowed control over me to a person I didn't even know... Oh, gods, I shivered, thinking to myself. I'd fallen so far, so fast...could I even consider myself human anymore?
"Run, run, little human. We'll catch you and take you to see Master Naraku."
At her words, I think I started hyperventilating, because everything got blurry and fuzzy all of a sudden. The next thing I knew, I'd managed to drag myself and Sesshoumaru to the edge of a waterfall. When we'd started out, we hadn't been anywhere near a waterfall! Oh man, I was starting to get a headache...
"Haaa...we have to get away," I said, wheezing for breath as I clutched my chest, trying to blink away the black edges around my vision.
"Girl, we will go back and fight," Sesshoumaru stated, dripping some sort of...poison? like substance over the middle of the chain that bound us together. However, it did nothing but sizzle and fall around the metal. The chain...it looked like it was steel! How?
"Hehe...boo!"
I shrieked away from the sudden appearance of that Kagura woman, stumbling backwards and over the edge of the falls. I dangled for a moment, held up by Sesshoumaru, but my weight pulled us both down, and into the rushing water. I blacked out after that.
A drum beats in the darkness...
"I know this chain is steel, Sesshoumaru-san," I muttered, shivering in my wet and torn clothes. "What that woman...Kagura...said... It's real. All of it...I'm not in my own time..." I shivered, just thinking about who that Naraku person could be.
He glanced back at me, his palpable anger dissipating somewhat. "You...had no idea, then?"
"No idea about what?" I asked, looking at him, hoping I looked pathetic enough to make all his anger go away.
A moment passed, and then he sighed audibly, leaning back against the wall of the cave I'd woken up in. Apparently, he'd pulled us out of the waterfall and into this cave to hide until I'd woken up. I don't know whether or not to thank him, but that would come later. When we were safe.
"You...Your scent has many similarities to Naraku's," he said, watching to gauge my reaction.
I shivered at the mention of the name, not liking what he'd said. "My...scent? You mean, like how a dog can smell out something? Like that kind of scent?"
He nodded. "I did not notice it at first, until after you put on those strange garments beneath your priestess garment. Also, there was a strange marking I saw on your right shoulder..."
"My birthmark," I nodded, trying to ignore the blush that drifted over my face at the mention of that hot spring incident, when I'd nearly drowned after seeing a corpse in the spring. Now that I think about it, that thing really hadn't looked human at all...what had it been? "I can't remember when I first noticed it, but it's pretty much always been there, ever since I was little. It's kind of like a raised scar--a scar that looks like the Roman numeral three."
He ignored that last comment, instead just watching my face.
After I'd stopped talking, I waited for him to say something. Long moments passed, and I grew embarrassed with how closely he was watching me. I'm not comfortable with looking people in the eye for a long time, so I pretty much didn't have good listening skills. After about three minutes with him watching me, I turned my face away, shivering to try and keep my body from going numb.
"Are you...cold?"
I turned back to look at him, nodding slightly. "Yea...why do you ask?"
Another long moment passed before he scooted closer to me, reaching out to tug me close to him by the moon pendant on the collar. "Come here," he said, wrapping his right arm around me, hugging me closer to his chest. When had he removed his armor? "I shall keep you warm until you are well enough to run; then, we shall make our way back to Jaken and Rin."
Blushing, I nodded into his chest, feeling...well, warm and fuzzy. I hadn't felt like this in a long time...not since Daddy had left. I'd been really little at the time, and very, very sick. I can't remember what I'd been sick with, but it had been enough to knock me out for hours at a time. Only, when I awoke toward the afternoon, I found myself being held by my father, a wet wash cloth draped over my aching forehead. He'd just looked down at me and smiled, saying "Hi, pumpkin, how are you feeling?" That was one of the only times that I'd felt safe and secure, and well-loved.
Sighing almost happily, I nuzzled closer to Sesshoumaru, smiling. I was probably still half out of my mind, because of oxygen deprivation, but I felt...really safe and loved, being right here. I can count on one hand the number of times I'd felt like that around a guy, and those had only been with a past boyfriend, or my father. Now, here I was, drowsing and feeling like that with a near stranger.
So far, my trip to Japan has been a very strange experience...but, even with all the bad stuff happening, I would never wish it away, if just for this moment...
End Chapter
Post Scriptum Author's Note: Yea, again, sorry for the shortness. The chapter felt like it should end right there, so I did. -sweatdrop- But, yea, awaffy moment between Adele and Sesshoumaru: what did you think of it? Also, you might have a few questions about the plot so far, so feel free to ask me in your review! -smilesmile- I'd be happy to try and answer your questions! But, no, I won't give you spoilers for upcoming chapters, since I don't even know what's going to happen next. -laughs nervously- In any case, I'll try and type up chapter eight sometime soon (hopefully today or tomorrow). So, yea, ja ne!
