Inuyasha: Sealed Fates Unleashed
By: Lady JenDragon
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Inuyasha and the characters we all know and love.
Chapter Three
Sunset Lights
Fire burst forth from the end of the stoker in a cloud of red, blue and orange flames. The walls of the cave glowed from the swordmaker's working breath. Another burst of flames issued from Totosai, heating the sword he held red hot. Totosai pounded the blade with his hammer, beads of sweat ran down his elderly face. Sparks flew in every direction.
"So, how is it coming?" Inuyasha asked impatiently.
He paced behind Totosai, stopping every so often to look over the swordmaker's shoulder. The red Fire-rat kimono his mother made for him kept the heat and flames from wounding him. He was growing more impatient, folding his arms across his chest. Inuyasha stopped pacing, tapping his bare foot on the ground. 'That would get the old man going.'
"Don't rush me!" Totosai replied in a strained voice. "I can't keep my concentration if you keep tapping away like that! And quit pacing! I'm getting dizzy."
Inuyasha waived off the eccentric old blacksmith, turning towards the opening of Totosai's cave. He'd heard this old man's going's on for almost four hours. But Tetsusaiga needed to be checked and repaired before he went after Naraku again.
"Yeah, whatever!" Iunyasha lifted his nose into the air.
The winds had stopped carrying scents. It bothered him. He couldn't smell anything, humans or demons. Inuyasha took this as a bad sign. He needed to return to Kagome and the others as quickly as possible.
"The young are so…young!" Totosai yelled out.
He blew onto the sword once more and pounded seventeen more times. 'Yep, that ought to do it for Tetsusaiga. If there was a crack, it was gone now. No way to be sure, though.' Totosai placed Tetsusaiga into the water barrel to cool off.
"Hey!" Inuyasha pounded Totosai on the head. "Finish so I can get out of here!"
"Relax, boy! Sword ain't going anywhere!" Totosai rubbed his aching head, the pain dissipating quickly. "I ain't to be rushed!"
Inuyasha walked over to Totosai, bending over the old man sitting on a block of stone. At that moment, the old sword maker dropped his hot stoker on Inuyasha's foot.
"OOWWW!" Inuyasha yelled at the top of his lungs.
He hopped around the cave clutching the throbbing foot in a sea of bouncing red fabric. Once the pain subsided, Inuyasha growled at the blacksmith. Suddenly, he swung upwards with one hand and brought it down hard over Totosai.
WHACK!
"I SAID I WAS SORRY!" A voice strained.
Totosai rubbed the bump on his head, lying on the floor, knocked off the block where he'd been sitting. Inuyasha hopped on one foot around Totosai, his eyes tearing up. A large blister appeared where the stoker landed on top of his foot.
"The HELL you did!" Inuyasha growled back. "You did that on purpose!"
"I know no such thing." Totosai got onto his block again.
'Inuyasha was far too violent.' Why the Dog General left his youngest son the Tetsusaiga and not Lord Sesshomaru wasn't understood. It was a shame that the power was wasted on the half-blood. His maturity was slow to catch up with him.
"You need to learn some manners!"
"What are you talking about, you old goat?" Inuyasha grabbed Totosai by the collar. "Are you done yet?
Inuyasha wanted to leave now. He'd been away from Kagome and the others for far too long, almost two days, too long for Naraku not to have made a move on the village out of retribution. However, he had to factor in that he'd wounded Naraku to warrant a temporary retreat into hiding to heal. Though Naraku was wounded, not nearly severe enough in his opinion, Inuyasha thought.
Inuyasha blinked. There was something odd about the horizon. It was glistening, like water hanging in the air, reflecting the light off the setting sun. Tiny lights seemed to penetrate everywhere, falling gently down over every inch of the countryside. He opened his hands, catching the gold-like falling lights.
"What is this stuff?" Inuyasha asked softly, his eyes mesmerized by the lights.
The lights disappeared when they touched his skin. Inuyasha clenched his hand closed. He didn't remember anything happening like this in the past. His senses warned him to be extra cautious. Yet, he felt no impending danger. His instincts always detected demons in the area, especially.
Totosai didn't bother to look up from his station, working on breathing. Going over Tetsusaiga took a lot out of him. He'd need a few days rest to recover. Lights appeared before him, glistening with the light from the setting sun. Instinctively, he blew fire from his mouth. The lights disappeared. An uneasy feeling overcame him.
Getting to his feet, he sauntered out to Inuyasha, reaching for the tiny lights with his hand. 'An unusual occurrence indeed.'
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The backpack was ready for their journey tomorrow. It was a lazy day, nothing got accomplished except a little rest and relaxation. Inuyasha took longer than expected, not having returned after almost two days. Kagome leaned back on the floor of the hut, her head on her hands. What would Grandpa come up with to explain her long absence this time? Another bout of the mumps, measles or chicken pox? Or maybe a new strain of the bird flu that wasn't deadly to humans but every other animal in the world? 'No use thinking about it.' There would always be a test waiting for her.
"Well, no point in waiting around. If he's not back by tomorrow, we're going without him." Kagome said decisively.
They'd waited through today for Inuyasha to return from Totosai's. Tetsusaiga must've been worse than they originally thought. Kagome blinked as she heard her name called. Sango was calling her from outside the hut. She just wanted to get ready for tomorrow's journey to the northern valley.
"Kagome!" Sango's voice yelled out. "You've got to see this!"
Exiting the hut, Kagome stopped in her tracks.
"Wow! It's so gorgeous!"
There was no other way to describe it, Kagome stood in awe. It was better than snow falling during winter. But, the gold lights didn't accumulate like snow on the ground. It disappeared when she tried to catch some in her hands.
The tiny gold-like lights hung in the air everywhere, as far as the eyes could see, floating down like feathers on a soft breeze. She extended her fingers to catch a few of the lights floating down around her. And with the sun disappearing, the golden lights appeared as fairy dust against the bright colors of the sunset. It was like a storm rolled through, flicking summer blossom petals airborne, filling the countryside with rare beauty. It was almost magical.
Miroku looked up into the sky for the source. She looked around too, but there seemed no apparent source for the lights. Sango shook her head, suspicious. Perhaps she was being too harsh. Could be one of those odd phenomenons where it only occurs every few thousand years? Like a shooting star. Shippo tried to dodge the lights, running around in circles. KiRaRa took refuge under the corner of the hut to escape the falling lights.
"Kaede?" Sango called out to the priestess frowning at the horizon. "What is this?"
"I do not know, Sango. I have never seen anything like this before." Kaede turned towards Sango and Kagome. "But it worries me."
Both girls were enthralled with the spectacle. Neither seemed bothered that it might be dangerous.
Kaede walked between Kagome and Sango towards the hut, scratching her chin. When the lights had begun, she lost the demon aura's she'd detected in the vicinity. Even with the breeze, all scents seemed to have disappeared. This wasn't a good sign.
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Rin ran around the grassy field, dressed in her orange and white checkered kimono, trying to catch the golden lights falling through the air around her. Both hands were flat as she chased the lights. A loud CLAP indicated Rin's attempt to capture the tiny lights.
Sesshomaru returned his gaze to the Human child. His thoughts were on Naraku's latest retreat. The half-demon continued to elude him. That irritated him in more than one way. The tiny lights in the air were hardly a distraction, though he admitted never witnessing such an event before. This Sesshomaru knew to approach such events with caution.
A look of disappointment crossed Rin's face when she opened her hands to look at the results of her effort. Nothing! 'Where had the lights gone?' Rin glanced around, finding Jakken eyeing her with irritated superiority.
The green demon was Lord Sesshomaru's servant Imp, but he wasn't more than a nuisance to her. Rin typically didn't pay Jakken much attention. Sometimes he offered a story or related some interesting facts of the places they passed. He was always calling her a pain and useless just because she was Human. And here he was the one crying out after Lord Sesshomaru not to leave him behind.
The lights seemed to increase suddenly. Rin diverted her attention, returning to her pointless chase. It was good exercise while they were stopped for the night. She began to laugh joyously, jumping around the grass.
"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin called out. "Look at the lights! Aren't they pretty!"
She stopped to look at Lord Sesshomaru sitting on a rock near the tree line of the forest. He stared straight ahead, lost in his thoughts. This particular section of the forest was uncommonly thick for this time of year. And Lord Sesshomaru stood out against the black and green of the forest darkening for the night. He was strong and reserved, not to mention patient. Nor did he seem interested in the tiny lights hovering in the air around them.
"Rin, be mindful." Sesshomaru did not bother to look at the young girl. "Not everything beautiful should be accepted so easily."
"Lord Sesshomaru, what are these lights?" Jakken asked from beside Sesshomaru.
The toad Imp, wearing brown robes and black hat shifted nervously under his master's unyielding, indifferent gaze.
"I do not know."
There was no change in the air around him. The lights were of no significance to him. However, the scent other demons were not detectable in the air. He previously located a human village east of their location. Now, the scent no longer lingered.
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Naraku sat in the darkness of the room, nursing his wounds. His castle hidden once again from those who sought him. Another battle against Inuyasha and Seshomaru ended in another failure to yield more power.And now these golden lights appeared out of nowhere. He'd been forced to remain in his human form since the lights began. Certainly, these lights were unprecedented in his life-time, but seemingly important. Why else had he not been able to transform?
His wounds were healing faster now when the lights began appearing. Magic was involved.A powerful magic. Opening the door closest to him, he found the tiny lights filling the air more heavily outside as the sun was setting in the west. This was odd indeed, but most helpful.
Naraku left the door open, letting the setting sun shine on him as his wounds healed. He felt stronger every second the lights were shining over his body. Unsure why he felt uneasy, he was safe from Inuyasha and the others for now. He sealed his castle away, hiding his miasma to avoid detection. No one would find unless he wanted to be found.
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The breeze was stronger than normal for this time of year. Trees waved in the blowing wind, the leaves rustling louder than usual. Small animals of the forest had taken cover once the lights began to appear. They seemed afraid of such a harmless event.
Kikyo opened her hand to the tiny, golden lights falling into her palm. Her eyes followed these lights down to the ground that disappeared upon contact. Or so it seemed. She frowned.
"They are not disappearing when they touch the ground." Kikyo turned her face to the sky. "They are being absorbed. I am absorbing the golden lights."
It was difficult to see the actual sky with so many lights in the air. The sun was beginning to disappear over the horizon. The tiny golden lights were dimming with the setting sun.
"What magic is this?"
Kikyo turned on her heel, heading towards the forest. There was road about a mile back that would allow faster access to the nearest village. She had to check on something before she'd believe this was harmless.