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.


VIII...Stones and Oni


Sesshoumaru was resting by the time I woke. He looked so cute sleeping like that. But, even with the cuteness factor, we still had the issue of getting this...manacle-chain thingy off. I'd only been guessing it was made of steel; hopefully, it was some type of softer metal that could be easily broken...if not melted with acidic green poison. Eep.

As carefully as I could, I lifted the golden-eyed demon's arm over my shoulder and laid it on his lap. I didn't want to disturb the sleeping demon, since that proverb thingy was in my head: "Let sleeping dogs lie," or something like that. Don't really know why that was in my head, actually, but it kind of applied to the mood about now.

So, as silently as I could, I bent close to examine the chain connecting the metal bracelets, squinting in the meager sunlight trailing into the mouth of the cave. The chain had obviously gotten wet, and it was slightly rusty... Hah! That means it was made of inferior metal! Alright! It should be easily breakable now!

Glancing around for a rock, I selected the heaviest one I could lift with one hand. I dragged the chain closer to me, wincing as it rattled in the near-silence of the cave. For a cave behind near a waterfall, it was surprisingly silent. I wonder why... In any case, I aimed for what I judged to be the weakest part of the chain, lifted the rock, and slammed it down, hard.

"GAHHHHHH!" Unfortunately, I'd hit my own hand. "Owwies..." I sniffled, dropping the rock to clutch my pained hand to my chest, curling over it instinctively. "That...was a bright idea," I laughed at myself, wincing every time my hand throbbed.

"What were you trying to do, girl?"

I didn't even look up; I knew who it was, anyways. "Trying to...to get the chain off," I muttered, swallowing past the lump in my throat, trying not to sound feeble.

"By harming yourself?"

"Not really...I aimed wrong," I laughed, sobbing and whimpering a little.

"Let me see it..."

I thought he meant my hand, but when I looked up, he was examining the chain. "Thanks a lot for the concern, Sesshoumaru-san," I grumbled, flexing my fingers one at a time to make sure I hadn't broken anything. Sometimes, I really didn't know my own strength. I'd broken a finger one time by just slamming my fist on the carpeted floor! I was laughing at a joke I'd seen on TV that time...and it hadn't hurt as much as right now...but oh well. That was then, this is now.

"You'll be fine," he said, a tad flippantly. I guess he really didn't care all that much...jerk. "This chain has weakened."

"Yea, 'cause of the water and air, I think. It's a bit rusty...or, that Kagura chick didn't know that metal is weakened by water and air. It's a chemical reaction." He stared at me, probably wondering what I was talking about. Oh...that's right...he doesn't know about atoms, and chemical reactions and stuff... Boy, people in the past may be able to kick modern-day peoples' asses, but they sure don't have a lot upstairs, if you get what I'm saying. "Meaning, the weakening of metal is natural. Everything erodes eventually--hell, even bone! Although, bones tend to take thousands of years...millions, if you count the dinosaur bones... Okay, pretend you didn't hear that," I said, realizing my mistake. I looked at him wide-eyed, hoping to high heaven he didn't believe me. Grandfather Paradox, here I come!

"You are vexing me, girl. Stop," he said simply, rubbing a dainty clawed finger between his eyebrows, as if he had a tic. I wouldn't be surprised if he did; I tend to do that to people. Especially myself. Boy, do I vex me...okay, that's just retarded. I'll stop now.

"Geez...ya know, if you'd let me speak in my mother tongue, I wouldn't have to vex you so much," I said cajolingly, an idea popping into my head. Okay, so I can be a little...well, okay, I can most definitely be manipulative when I need to be...or just don't feel like doing something... A kid gets great practice manipulating people by using their parents as test subjects.

A golden eye glared at me, and I scratched my cheek with my free hand, nervously wondering if he'd kill me. So far, he hadn't, but I wouldn't put it past him now... I think I was working the last of his nerves...or maybe the second-to-last...I hope it's the third-to-last.

"Okay, okay, I get ya, I'll shut up now," I said, reneging on my secret plot to convince him to let me speak English again. "But I do have a few theories on how to get this chain off, but since you want me to shut up, I guess I'll just keep them to myse--"

"Be. Quiet."

"Yessir!"

Okay, he's scary. Officially. I know, I'm a wimp; I'm taller than him by about half a foot, yet he scares me shitless...whatever happened to the weightlifting-enjoying girl I used to be? Gone with my sanity, I guess. Wait...sanity is still here... Okay, gone with my insanity...I think. Wait, let me check.

"Cracker jack shit!"

Yup. Still there.

"What was the point of you jabbing your own hand?"

"Just to see if it still hurt," I laughed, waving my injured hand in the air to cool down the heated pain.

He stared at me, and if he could drop his jaw, boy did his jaw drop! Yea, I do that to people, like the tic. No wonder people consider me annoying when I'm hyper and influenced by my semi-insanity. I'm not really crazy, though, I just call it that. How else can I explain this fangirlism-like reaction to life in general? ...Okay, shutting up now.

"Okay, listen, Sesshoumaru-san," I said, dropping all pretense; it was time to get serious. "This metal is a little rusty, so it's weak. Besides that, the links aren't welded shut at the cuffs," I added, having just noticed this. "Shoddy craftsmanship from up close, even if it IS resistant to acids." He was staring at me. Sighing, I tried to explain in terms that he could understand. "Meaning to say, this chain is resistant to your whip-thingy, but it can be easily pulled apart if we pull hard enough."

He rolled his eyes. Holy crap! I didn't know he was capable of that! "Why did you not say that in the first place?"

"I did," I grumbled, standing up to plant my feet securely, grasping the chain with both hands. "Okay, now, on the count of three, we'll both pull. Right?"

He also stood, nodding, and grabbed the chain with his right hand.

"Hey, you'll need to use your left hand, too, Sesshoumaru-san," I said, knitting my eyebrows in consternation. "Otherwise, my pull might unbalance you."

"I do not have a left hand, girl," he admitted, glaring at me darkly.

Crap...Sore past much? "Ehehe...sorry; I didn't realize...gah! Let's just pull! Ready: one, two, three!"

I pulled, he didn't, and the chain broke apart easily with a loud clang. Unfortunately, it was his end that broke, so I landed on my dignity. HARD. "CRAP! I fell on my ass! You jerk! GAH! Cracker jack shit!" I wailed as I hopped up, rubbing my aching tailbone. That had hurt...really hurt. First my hand, now my ass? What won't I hurt today?

"You are accident prone."

"No shit, Sherlock," I groused, glaring at him. I turned to the manacle still on my wrist, worrying the chain to see if I could break it on my own. "Will you kiss it and make it better?" I asked sarcastically, my dignity having taken one too many falls today.

A silvery brow raised. "How, pray tell, would my kissing your rear end make it better?"

It was my turn to stare at him; kids usually always said that to their moms! What kind of kid didn't say that to their mom? Oh...right...this kind. "Nevermind...asshole."

"I find your insults tiring, girl," he said, turning to walk to the entrance of the cave. "We shall now depart. Come."

If I hadn't been hurting at that moment, I would've thought something really perverted at that word. Well, since I was, I didn't...until later. Then, I laughed really hard, and loudly. But that was way later. So, I followed Sesshoumaru, tugging on the manacle that was still on my wrist; obviously, the golden-eyed demon had bent his off. Lucky bastard.

We walked out from the cave behind the waterfall, and back out into the forest. Of course, we walked quite a bit of ways before the sound of the waterfall faded into the usual forest noises. I wondered if I would see a deer? I've never been up close to one; the closest I've gotten to a deer would be...oh, about ten feet while on a nature hike while at summer camp. Gotta love national parks.

I was getting bored with this easy pace, so I started to hum a tune. It was my favorite children's song, Japanese, of course. It was sung while playing "Oni," an interesting kid's game. You see, when playing Oni, one kid sits in the center of a circle, covering their eyes. That kid's the oni. The rest link hands and dance around in a circle around the oni, chanting out the song. Once the song ends, the oni has to guess who is in back of them, and, if they guess wrong, they have to be oni still. If they guess right, then that kid becomes the oni. I think it'll only be fun if you have a small group where you know everybody's names. But, I still liked the song.

"What are you humming?"

"'Kagome, Kagome,'" I said, grinning at Sesshoumaru. "I've never played that 'Oni'game, but I like the song, don't you?"

He looked at me a moment, his eyes unreadable, before he turned back around, setting off at a quicker pace. "I have never done anything so foolish, girl," he stated tonelessly, and I wondered if Sesshoumaru had had a lonely childhood, much like mine?

Technically, my childhood wasn't that lonely. I had friends to play with, this was true...but none of them ever stayed my friend. The longest amount of time I'd ever kept a particularly friend was exactly three months. I don't know why, but I just...turned people away from me...

"Crap, you made me make myself sad, Sesshoumaru-san!" I whined at his back, pouting.

"I did nothing. It was your own damn fault."

Whoa...he was grouchy...I shouldn't harass him right now; he really might want to cut off my head. I liked my head. I wanted to keep my head. I was kind of...attached to it.

But, something made me stop. I felt another presence nearby, and it felt very much like that horde of demons Sesshoumaru had defeated a while back. Glancing behind us, I paled, but you couldn't see it beyond the light dimming. There were literally hundreds of demons rushing in a mass cloud of darkness overhead.

"Uhhh, Sesshoumaru-san," I called, shakily pointing skywards. I didn't need to look at him to know he would probably be cursing whichever god had done this seven ways to hell. I know I would. 'Cause, you know what? Life's sucking at the moment. Really sucking. Badly.


End Chapter


Post Scriptum Author's Note: Whoo! I've got over 300 hits on WHAV! Isn't that wonderful? Yay me! -claps- In any case, thanks again to my wonderful reviewers, especially to Melancholie. Boy, you're kinda like a beta reader, ya know? Anyways...this may give the plot away a little, but Adele is not a reincarnation, nor is she an incarnation. Sorry to disappoint, but she's more of a...future relative of someone. It's giving a little bit away, but oh well. Gotta love her mysterious past. Also, Adele's dad will be mentioned more and more as we go on, because he's very plot convenient for what I've been planning. -smilesmile-
So, yea, here's a little spoiler warning: Adele is gonna get a trial separation from Sesshoumaru for a while after a battle. -happy grin- I don't usually do that sort of stuff, but everyone's reviews have made me really happy! A happy BGF-chan is a faster writer, remember that!
On a sidenote...for not being your native tongue, you write English pretty good, Melancholie, even if it had mistakes to begin with. And to read it! Wow! I hope I can one day be as good at French as you are at English. -grins-
Much love, my reviewers! My future chapters will be dedicated to the 2+ review readers of WHAV! Nightie-night!
Also, I didn't have to do an all-nighter to write this after all! Go me! Wait...shouldn't I continue on with chapter nine? Whoa...I just realized that this is the eighth chapter. -eyes widen- That means I'm two chapters away from having double-digit chapters... Wow. I've gotta say, this is actually the longest story I've written...okay, it's not; I wrote a 50+ page story once, but a virus ate it. Along with destroying the only laptop I've ever had! -curses not meant for innocent eyes- Anyways...I think a celebration should be in order for the tenth chapter, once I type it up. Maybe a one-shot...or a side story...or maybe just a peek into Adele's past. I don't know. You guys vote on it, okay? Or...give me ideas...whichever floats your boat. Until next time, then. Ja ne!