Author Notes: Err... hi... -ducks rotten cabbage- Okay, okay maybe I am a tad late in updating, ne. -ducks flying tomatoes- Ahhh! I get your point, geez... But it's not totally my fault! Umm... mostly... well, school has been really hectic and I failed one of my stupid finales so my parents nearly blew the roof! (wow, isn't that such a cliche phrase) And I had to figure out my screwed up timeline for this fic... I think I got it right now...
Anyways, I am not overly pleased with this chapter but I needed it as I try to create some sort of plot. :digs under huge pile of undone homework with doodles of chibi Naraku and Sesshou... oh, there's some of Inuyasha too... scribbled all over it: I know I left it here somewhere...
Oh, well I find it later... Hmm, this chap mostly focuses on Kagome and... yeah, that's about all I have to say...
rating: R Right now, it's probably more of a PG-13 but later there will be more blood, gore, violence etc... Don't like, don't read. Simple, really.
disclaimer: Yes... yes... wait... nope... still don't... damn it...
pairing: Naraku/Kagome
Ahh! Thank you so much to all the ppl who reviewed! I love you guys so freakin' much! I don't know what I would do without you ppls... You guys are a great encouragement! Umm... yes... review responses are at the bottom! Arigatou:P
Erm... hai... without further ado...
Thy Soul of Sin
By: DarkRoseBlood
Chapter Three
Night Brings Wicked Demons
Kagome—even if that wasn't truly her name it was better than nothing—padded down the silent halls of the castle, trying with all her ability to not make a sound as she sneaked out of her elegant holdings in search of the kitchens. It was perhaps past midnight and the shadows of night played across the classy halls in an eerie fashion. Of course, she was not deterred in the least by the wandering silhouettes of unknown phantoms, which most of the time were merely a vase or table. So she was certainly not to be bothered, not when her starving stomach growled for the blessed nourishment of food.
Izumi had visited earlier, bringing her a small dinner, but as far as Kagome was concerned, it had definitely not been enough to satisfy her, no matter what the healer said about not over-eating while she was still injured.
So here she was sneaking down the classily furnished halls of some unknown castle that was to be her residence until further notice. Not that the miko particularly minded.
After all, who would really mind living in an elegant shrine castle while being treated like some kind of royalty? Although she was somewhat disturbed by Izumi's new title for her and had tried to dissuade Izumi from calling her 'Lady Kagome' or 'milady' rather unsuccessfully.
The castle was not overly large: only one story, and it stood upon a cliff that over-looked the rest of the shrine and farther below the shrine lay the peaceful village. All the same, the castle was extravagantly furnished with the most classy and expensive accessories and fittings, easily identifying it as belonging to quite a wealthy Lord. Of course, the current Lord was a slightly sadistic half-demon, but Kagome did not mind in the least.
Though she was rather curious as to how Naraku had become Lord of this Temple, but she assumed he had made up some lie to Izumi and villagers, which oddly did not bother Kagome.
However, she had pushed the strange feeling aside when she had ventured out into the lovely gardens outside her room.
Her room had a small porch that led to a beautiful front garden, and on the other side of the luscious garden, vine-warped stone steps led down to the Temple. The whole valley had a rather scenic view that Kagome absolutely adored.
With a small smile, Kagome continued down the quiet halls, her bare feet softly thumping against the wooden floor.
To tell the truth, I really wouldn't mind living a rather normal life as the Shrine Guardian of this Temple, she mused absentmindedly.
Turning another corner, the miko came upon a shoji door and slowly slid it open. She smiled in delight as she looked upon the large kitchen.
Finally.
With a small giggle she hurriedly lit some candles and walked towards the nearest cupboards ready to ransack their holdings of anything edible.
Her pale blue yukata gently rustled as she started to open and close various cupboards, pulling out several items and packages. Gathering up all the items in her arms, she carried them to the counter beside the black, shiny stove.
Wow, this stove is really old-fashioned, she vaguely mused before pausing, wondering where in the world that thought had come from. The stove was actually a fairly new creation, and only the upper-class nobles had them while the commoners just cooked over an open fire.
Shaking her head to clear her mind, she proceeded to chop the various vegetables, then proceeded in salting and seasoning them. Afterward, she stirred all of them in a coal-black pot with stringy white noodles, unknowingly humming to herself.
Soon enough, Kagome had happily sat down on a fluffy pillow, placing her steaming bowl of soup on the low wooden table before her.
Sighing pleasantly as she smelled the tasty aroma of scrumptious soup that wafted into her nostril, Kagome began to hungrily yet slowly devour the steaming bowl.
Her sapphire eyes wandered to the rich hangings draped across the delicate white screen walls. They were elegantly woven with precise care, each stitch communing with the next in perfect harmony.
On every hanging a beautiful women was depicted, standing peacefully beneath a Sakura tree, gazing at the star-filled sky with a wistful look.
These must have been the mikos, who had watched over the Shrine previously, Kagome reflected as she stared at the beautiful women with a slightly longing gaze.
I have this feeling that my life before I woke up unable to remember anything was not as simple as a normal woman's was. But why? she wondered. Why couldn't my life be a simple pleasant one? These... flashes... of my past... they show me such horrible events. Could my life really have been such a hideous one filled with deceit and pain?
The miko sighed, slowly stirring her soup in silent circles.
She despised not remembering where she had come from or any of her friends and family yet... from these flashes that had plagued her she wasn't so sure that she really wanted to remember.
Why couldn't she just live a normal, peaceful life as this Shrine's protector? Why couldn't she be the shrine's miko that fought fiercely against the nasty demons, which often attacked the nearby village, according to Izumi? Why not?
She did not remember anything from her past so why try to? Especially when the miko wasn't so sure the she truly wanted to.
However, despite her misgivings, something told her she still had duties and obligations that had yet to be fulfilled. Duties and obligations that if they were to remain unfulfilled, it would mean terrible pain and disastrous outcomes to those involved and even ones whom were not.
And Kagome did not ever want to cause anybody pain or anguish. All she wanted was peace and tranquility sweeping over the land in a great wave of serenity.
Even though, she had conspired with someone who she did not feel that he was exactly the kindest of people but...
There was something about him... the half-demon Naraku... something... a feeling that she did not understand.
Perhaps, it was because the miko knew that no matter how much she desired peace for the land, it would never come. Some form of evil would always lurk, always hidden from the human eye, yet still forever there. Or perhaps, it was the betrayal she knew she had experienced from someone she had cared deeply about.
Kagome knew she was now not as naive to think that everything in this world was made up of black and white—albeit she had thought that at one time—but not anymore.
No... not anymore.
And she couldn't even remember the events that had changed her from the totally innocent and naive girl she had once been, before her memory loss. Yet... it had been something deep and treacherous enough for her to accept the aid of the hanyou Naraku... someone she knew she had formerly loathed.
And now... now... well Kagome did not exactly know how she felt towards him. Thus far, he had not mistreated her—taunted her, played games with her, yes... but they were not acts that held any malice... just slight amusement and—dare she say it—an ever so subtle teasing?
But that was not the evil hanyou she recalled... yet what exactly did she recall from her flashes? She held no distinct memories of Naraku, so who was she to judge him when she wouldn't have even been able to recall his name if he hadn't told her it...
Naraku...
Kagome's continued to swirl the delicious soup in her bowl distractedly as she distantly seeped into darkness...
Who was she to judge someone when she did not even know who she, herself, was...?
All of her... her... flashes...
Vague ideas... that held no real meaning... except for...
The betrayal and hurt Kagome realized to be true. The betrayal by the traitorous hanyou named Inuyasha. The miko knew somewhere deep within the remaining remnants of her heart the golden-eyed hanyou had shattered, he—not Naraku but Inuyasha—had done the unforgivable. What exactly had he done that had been so unforgivable?
She slid farther and farther...
She did not know. However, it had to be something truly atrocious to not have been able to ever gain her forgiveness again, for the miko knew she was probably one of the most forgiving people in the world.
Yet he had done something so wicked and cruel to never be able to regain her forgiveness again.
He had done the intolerable and betrayed her while Naraku had saved her—true, probably for his own means but...
She still 'allied' with him, so to speak, when she knew she would never again alley with the amber-eyed hanyou...
Stabbing pain... in the blackness of an endless abyss... sinking... sinking... forever sinking...
A shot of scorching pain sliced through Kagome's chest...
Wild crimson eyes chased her... hunted her... she ran and ran... she could not get away... gleaming white fangs had come to devour her... it was going to get her... no, no... she could not escape...
A sharp cry of pain and fear was muffled against the wooden table...
Pitch blackness... it—the demon... it was going to eat her... swallow her... consume her heart, her mind... her soul...
An erratic twitch reverberated through Kagome's body as her dull nails scraped and clawed at the smooth, cool wood of the table... as if trying to flee...
It was there... before her... in the blackness... looming tauntingly... razor sharp fangs dripping with unrestrained hunger... she had lost... she was trapped... no escape...the depraved crimson eyes lunged at her... she screamed...
Unnoticed, a thin trickle of blood dribbled down the miko's chin as she unconsciously bit on her bottom lip...
Torture... kill her... kill her crimson-eyed demon so she would not have to endure this pain any longer... wait... huh... a light... no, not a light... but something... come to rescue her perhaps?
...Scarlet eyes surrounded by a wavy curtain of black that differed from the demon, which ripped her apart... and she felt no more pain...
Kagome awoke with a startled gasp.
What in Kami had that been? It had felt so real... She could still feel those glaring crimson eyes trying to devour her... but what about those scarlet eyes? She didn't think they were the same... no they were not...
With a tired shake of her head, Kagome wiped the dark red blood off her chin with the light blue edge of her yukata sleeve. She seriously needed to get some sleep.
Kagome finished her soup—trying her best to slurp up every last drop—and unfocusedly stood up, her attention still on other matters. She walked back into the kitchen, placed the dirty bowl into the empty dish basin and quietly strolled out into the shadowy hall once more, making sure to extinguish the flickering flames of the lit candles beforehand.
She tip-toed down the, as always, strangely silent hall; ominous shadows tittered across her young but lovely features and pale blue yukata that did nothing to conceal her slender figure as she passed beneath their winding dance.
After many more shadow-filled hallways and misleading turns thesleepy and contently full miko finally arrivedat the familiar shoji doors decorated with painted pale blue and silver Sakura blossoms. Sliding the ornate doors open, she entered her classily styled room and slipped beneath her warm blankets ready to drift often into the blissful release of sleep.
However, before Kagome finally sank into night's divine embrace one last thought floated languidly through her mind than slowly disappeared along with the rest of her musings in the late hours of darkness.
What's more, I do not feel the slightest fear when I look into Naraku's blood scarlet eyes yet a chilling fear settles in my heart when I see flashes of those... those... eyes... that were once a beautiful golden but... no, I do not like those eyes...
Crimson eyes that would devour her...
.
. ... .
.
The lively wind whipped through her pitch-black hair, filtering through every strand in blissful delight. It was cool and pleasant against her pale face as she soared far above the dark forests shrouded in night far below her. It swirled and flowed with her every move, obeying her every command yet it was ever so... free.
That was what the wind meant to her: freedom.
Freedom: an ultimately heavenly theory that she desired greater than anything else.
Something that was there—so visible, so close—yet not, in truth, there at all. It was so beautiful and breathtaking, however, thus far it continued to taunt her, just out of the reach of her clawed grasp.
Freedom.
So glorious this notion of freedom... this belief she so desired that constantly jeered at her, dancing its feral song just beyond her razor sharp nails by a mere obstacle, which she could not overcome.
Naraku.
Oh, how she despised that loathsome creature with all her... heart.
Now, wasn't that sardonic?
It was because of her damned heart that he held in his half-breed claws, she could not escape and relish in her one desire of freedom.
The stars twinkled madly at her, seeming to glare down at the lone demoness gliding along on an enlarged, pink feather that usually resided in her ebony hair. They burned into her heartless soul, mocking her with their freedom she could not possess.
Damn you Naraku, to the deepest depths of all the seven Hells! her mind screamed as she sailed among the ever-moving wind.
So free...
Even when the cursed jewel the Shikon no Tama was not within his vile grasp he still held his taunting power over her!
But... at least... he does not have the jewel... but it is no better in that hanyou Inuyasha's claws who cannot even properly kill Naraku...
The Wind Sorceress grimaced slightly as she remembered the last battle between Naraku and Inuyasha. A very bloody battle and rather pleasant too... especially when her wind blades lashed across the ookami youkai Kouga's pitifully helpless body.
Such a delightful feeling it was to feel his pathetic life slowly leak out of his just-as-pathetic body.
Yet that pleasure would not last long as the battle took an undesirable turn when Inuyasha's wench had struck Naraku with her sacred arrow.
Then the worthless half-breed Inuyasha had slashed at Naraku in his weakened state with that fang-sword of his: the Tetsusaiga.
She remembered regaining her consciousness to a battlefield bathed in the numerous body parts of demons and blood. Naraku was no where in sight, and Kagura remembered catching the scent of Inuyasha and the rest of his ragtag group nearby.
Drenched in near black blood she easily masked her scent and silently spied on the bloodied and wounded group, hearing every word as it was spoken.
A moment of shock had stirred in Kagura's stomach as she heard them speak of Naraku's final destruction. Even the lecherous monk's kazanna was gone from his right palm.
They truly believed he was gone; all of them thought to have finally destroyed the half-demon Naraku who had terrorized their lives for so long.
Well everyone except for, possibly, Inuyasha's half-brother Sesshoumaru, who had aided the ragtag group in the battle against Naraku. The Demon Lord was always the stoic, suspicious, skeptic youkai.
And rightfully so. Perhaps, it was that about him that enticed Kagura so. And as for the rest of Inuyasha's pathetic ragtag troop...
Fools, Kagura thought.
For if Naraku had genuinely existed no longer than she wouldn't have been returning to him, unwillingly mind you, at this moment.
Alas, she was and that meant the stupid inu Inuyasha had not eradicated Naraku. That Naraku still lived, though perhaps not in complete health, yet still alive... somewhere.
And... that he still held her heart in his half-breed claws. He still held her life. He still held her freedom.
Damn him.
Kagura soured across through the vast mountain range far in the Northern Lands following the wretched call of her heart and Naraku. She had been able to resist it for a touch over two weeks—indicating how injured Naraku had been—but the pain had been too great thus determining her fate of returning to the wretched half-breed.
The Wind Sorceress was certain that her white-haired sister, Kanna of the Void, was already by Naraku's side.
She also could sense that Naraku had been severely weakened from the battle with Inuyasha, and that was why he had fled far into the North and deep within the mountains where hardly anything resided except a few villages and vicious youkai.
Not that Inuyasha and his little imprudent gang would come searching for Naraku anyways since they believed him destroyed.
Brainless idiots.
The Wind Sorceress took a sudden dive and silently steadied her feather above a still valley bathed in the surrounding mountains' shadows. With a swirl of pink smoke and wind, she stood poised before the wooden entrance to a large, beautiful—yet somewhat dark and mysterious bathed in the moon's pallid light—castle.
Her layered kimono rippled somewhat in the steady wind circulating throughout the mountains.
A slim, red and pink fan was clutched tightly in her claw, its tip resting on her chin as she surveyed the abode Naraku had acquired. If she dared to think it, the residence looked a little more elegant and... fancier.
Not such as an evil and forbidding place as the last, especially with the exquisite garden, which had begun to bloom on one side of the somewhat large castle. And this house was part of a Shrine that watched over the village below it and generally the rest of the few villages that inhabited the vast snow-covered mountains.
Naraku had never concerned himself with assets such as ravishing gardens or other classy furnishings to equip his castle with before. Nor had he ever taken up a residence in a Shrine where surely mikos dwelled that would sense his aura.
So why now?
Kagura entered the over-extravagant abode and noiselessly walked down one of the many halls noticing many more unnecessary accessories that lay about the hall. She sniffed the air and realized Naraku was not present in the castle, and she sensed Kanna to be somewhere far off on the other side of the large house, but another smell caught the Wind Sorceress's attention.
A very peculiar scent indeed.
This being—whoever it was—smelled like a ningen yet something else accented its powerful scent and aura.
Her sharpgarnet eyes narrowed as she followed the sickeningly sweet scent to its origin. Her figure stopped as she came to a shoji door with pale blue and silver flowers painted across it.
How strange, Kagura thought as her mind reeled over the scent, which came from behind the door. It was rather familiar yet it had changed somehow. She could not place it to any person she knew.
A clawed hand slid open the flower-painted door and the Wind Sorceress stepped inside a lavishly decorated room. The demoness's eyes widened, however, as her vibrant crimson orbs stared at the figure of a ningen woman standing in the doorway across from her.
The figure stood there outlined by the brilliant moonlight, which poured through the open doorway, looking out into the garden beyond. A ningen woman with flowing raven hair and natural, midnight blue highlights elucidated by the waning moon's pallid shine.
The silky blue cloth of the girl's yukata gently swayed in a delicate breeze, which circulated throughout the room, creating an unearthly aura around the mysterious woman.
Kagura's blazing red eyes narrowed as she wondered why this ghost-like ningen would be in Naraku's castle.
And by the looks of it, she was treated like some kind of noble of the household since this gorgeous room must have had to be hers. Furthermore, the pale blue yukata that adorned her petite form was not one a commoner would wear since they would most likely be unable to afford such fine apparel.
Perhaps, Naraku had taken a mistress?
No, that was utterly absurd. Why in the world would Naraku take a mistress?
Kagura knew he neither desired nor needed one. Especially to this ningen girl whose aura vibrated of something abnormal and mystic. ...the glimmering aura of a miko, yet something more... disturbing and forbidding.
Or perhaps, this was an ideal reason to keep such an enigmatic girl.
Though Kagura slightly pitied anyone who was condemned to be the mistress of the malicious hanyou. Of course, that would be after Kagura would have ripped her to shreds.
Why? To cause Naraku hurt—if the hanyou could feel such a thing, that is.
But that still did not answer her question as to who this girl was.
And as if the moonlight-bathed obscurity of an ethereal priestess had sensed Kagura's musings she suddenly turned around.
Angered and bewildered ruby eyes met the striking sapphire eyes of a girl the Wind Sorceress knew very well.
Very well indeed.
"Inuyasha's wench."
End Notes: Hmm? So what did you think? Ne, spot a plot building somewhere in there? Or did you just miss the NarKag tension? Don't worry, Naraku will be back...
As always, sorry 'bout any grammar/spelling mistakes...
Okay, ppl REVIEW and tell me what you thought! I love anything you guys throw at me (except flames, of course, since they are of no use to me) but constructive criticism or anything else is always welcome!
Reviews are food for the starving authoress!
Hehe, I'll try to get the fourth chap up soon... hopefully...
Just pleeeeeeeeezzzzzz Review! I love you forever and ever... at least for pretty long time, heh...
Okay, now onto...
Reviews:
Emerald-Eyed-Faye: Hey, thanx!
Pharaun: Awe, thanx so much! My fic... well written? Wowies...
crypticgoddess: Hee! Thanx a bunches! I so enjoy it went reviewers name some specific qualities they like about my fic:)
Chibi-Midnight-Sakai: Thanx!
DarkAngelBabe: Heh, thanx:)
NarakuYugureHimitsu: I did! I did! Thanx a bunches:P
Skitzoflame: Me neither! Hehe. Thanx!
steph: Sexy? Hmm... never was my intention, but if you think so... Heh. Thanx!
RageofInferno325: Hmm... I dunno, but I have the same problem too... hehe. Thanx:)
ingra-of-mordor: I read your fic and simply loved it! Heh, thanx so much:P
Sano99: Yes, I suppose Kagome is acting a tad rash but remember she really doesn't remember anything or anyone. Thanx a bunches:)
Reality: Thanx, love the name!
demoness of the west: Awe, thanx a bunches! You are far to kind! Smiles:D
Whoa, that took me a long time to write! Thanx so much to all my wonderful reviewers!
Erm... yes... arigatou... and bye-bye for now...
(: DarkRoseBlood
(edit : 9.8.06 : some quick format editing and removal of irritating fangirl japanese)