Shards of Life
Episode 2
The Family Legend
Sesshoumaru walked silently through the forest, his steps becoming irregular and slow until he stopped abruptly. Jaken trailed a little ways behind him leading Aun with Rin on his back.
"Sesshoumaru sama why are we stopping?" Rin lay half asleep on Aun's saddle but awoke when she felt him jerk to a stop. Jaken on the other hand had been so busy complaining to himself about how loud Rin snored that he barley missed bumping into Sesshoumaru's leg.
"Uh, Sesshoumaru sama …" He ignored them both, lost in his own thoughts.
"That scent, I know it from somewhere. It's Naraku or one of his incarnations."
Sesshomaru headed in the direction of the scent; Rin and Jaken called after him as he walked away.
"Stay here." He commanded, and left them to stare at him from behind.
&
Shippou sighed loudly for the umpteenth time. His past few hours of moaning and groaning were straining Inuyasha's nerves to the breaking point. A light drizzle began and looked as though it might become worse.
"Will you stop complaining already?" Inuyasha yelled
"Well maybe I wouldn't if we didn't have to walk aimlessly around in the rain!" Shippou yelled back
"We're not walking aimlessly okay?"
"Then where exactly are we going Inuyasha?" Miroku interrupted.
"To find Naraku and get the rest of his jewel shards. Where else?"
"And do you know where Naraku is?" Inuyasha stopped in his tracks wracking his brain for something reasonable to say.
His grumbling was all the answer Miroku needed
"In that case I think a rest stop is in order." Said Miroku
"We should at least get out of this rain." Added Sango.
&
Thousands of heavy raindrops sped through the air, shattering upon impact with the ground and soaking everything above and below the earth. Monstrous gray clouds surrounded the sky, blocking the small rays of light that fought to pierce through the violent storm.
Water dripped through creaks of the old thatched hut, forming small puddles of water on the floor. Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Shippou, and Kagome were huddled around the small fire in the center. All of them slept silently through the raging thunderstorm; only Inuyasha remained awake, staring at the fierce yet silent battle between earth and sky.
Kagome shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight peeking through the cracks in hut as she awoke from her slumber. After stretching a bit she found she was alone in the little cabin. She frowned at all the noise comming from outside, not remembering there being many people around. Rickety cartwheels, a horse trotting, children laughing, and various other conversations.
She sat up from the small pile of straw she slept on and walked outside to find her friends, all of them staring at the same thing. An entire village had appeared over night! People carried bundles with things to sell, children tugged on the mother's cloths, various animals ran around and an entire village was now surrounding the small broken hut they had slept in.
Shippou rubbed his eyes "Is all this real?" he asked.
"Either that or we're all seeing things." Miroku replied.
"Then how is itpossible?" asked Sango.
Inuyasha looked around concentrating hard on something
"I don't smell any youkai near." He sniffed the air again.
"We should split up and ask around. Maybe theses villagers know something." Said Sango
"Good idea." They all walked off in different directions wondering around the village, trying to get information. Not too soon had they realized though that such a simple feat would prove to be more difficult than they thought. The villagers refused to respond to any of their questions in fact they ignored them completely. No matter how polite they asked, every person they attempted to talk to would just walk right past them as if they were invisible. Inuyasha jumped from rooftop to rooftop observing from above. No one seemed to notice him. A few would look up and stare at him strangely for a minute but then suddenly look away, like someone who had just been caught looking at something they shouldn't have. Eventually though his impatience got the better of him. He jumped down from one of the huts and landed in front of a young boy whom he grabbed by the top of his shirt. It wasn't until the boy turned around and looked Inuyasha straight in the eye that he noticed he was being held.
"What's going on here!" He demanded from the boy "Where did this village come from and why do all the people ignore us!" The boy just trembled in Inuyasha's hand to afraid to say anything.
"Hey!" Kagome called from the distance "Let him go Inuyasha." The boy scrambled clumsily to his feet, trying to back away from Inuyasha as he did so.
"Don't worry young man, we mean you know harm." Miroku said. The boy looked at them for a moment, as if he was trying to decide whether or not to trust them. He looked to be about 13 or 14 years old.
"Don't worry about Inuyasha, he's harmless." Said Kagome
"For most people at least…"
After the reassurance from the Miroku and Kagome the boy finally seemed to relax.
He stared at them for a minute "Are you all here to do business?" he asked meekly
"No we're just travelers."
He looked surprised "You're the first we've had today."
"Does your village often receive visitors?" asked Sango
"Oh yes all the time. Usually only merchants though." They glanced at each other. The old hut they slept in had been practically in the middle of nowhere. They found it while traveling through a dense forest on the side of a small mountain. It didn't seem like the type of place people could find easily (or at all). It was strange enough to be in a village that seemed to disappear and then reappear over night, but even stranger were the villagers that refused to talk unless threatened, and then claimed that they had travelers going in and out of a back wood village in the middle of a thick forest everyday.
"Oh no, the village gets most of its income from trading and selling." Another shock.
"What does your village sell?" asked Sango
"Many things!" He seemed awfully enthusiastic about being able to talk to someone about this. "From various types of rocks and minerals to-"
"All right all right, enough of all this friendly talk!" Inuyasha stepped forward to face him. "How is it that your village can be gone all night long, and then all of a sudden reappear in the middle of the morning without any of us knowing!"
The boy stared at him uncomprehendingly "Gone? What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb! You know exactly what I'm talking about!"
"Inuyasha I really don't think he knows anything about it." Kagome suggested.
"Yeah, why else would he be acting that way?" Shippou chimed in.
"He's right you know." Added Sango, Miroku just nodded his head. Inuyasha groaned.
"Would you be willing to show us around your village a little? Asked Kagome
"Of course!" He was practically ecstatic and began running ahead of them but then hastily turned back. "By the way my name is Abe Matsuto."
"Nice to meet you Matsuto. That's Sango and Kirara," She pointed to them as she said their names "that's Miroku, that's Inuyasha," He cringed as she said his name, "this is Shippou and I'm Kagome."
"Nice to meet you all." Sango began to reminisce . Her father once told her a story about a village like this. It mined precious jewels and gems of all kinds but also harbored a terrible secret. Over a thousand years ago rumors spread of a stone that wielded incredible power. It was similar to the Shikon no Tama of today except the energy of stone was completely tainted by evil, so much that most humans could not touch it without being completely devoured by its malice. There was once a man who valued power more than his own humanity. In his greed and obsession with the stone he lost his own life in order to obtain it. He wanted to wield an object so powerful that he would be able to control life and death itself. Eventually the stone became so powerful that its malevolence could not be contained in just one area and it spread to every corner of the land. Once it was discovered the stone was then taken by a group of monks and hidden away in a small village surrounded by a dense forest, in hopes that people would no longer search for it. Eventually the village was forgotten and the stone was never heard of again. But that was over a thousand years ago, so she supposed it didn't really matter now.
"Matsuto you said something about selling minerals didn't you?" asked Sango
"Yes our village mines for profit. We look for whatever rock or metal we can find and then sell it or trade it. It's where most of the village's income comes from. If you want I could take you to the very spot where we do most of the digging."
"Wow, that would be wonderful." Said Kagome and he began walking them through the village. Inuyasha, who trailed in back, walked faster to catch up with the rest of them. He was already upset because they had strayed off Naraku's trail (or what Inuyasha believed to be a trail) and now they would have to spend even more time in this strange village. But he kept his temper in check since he wasn't in the mood to get into another fight with Kagome.
"Kagome what are you doing?" He said in a rather loudly "We're supposed to be looking for Naraku not off wondering around in some village." Kagome hushed him, she didn't want Matsuto to hear them and be offended.
"Inuyasha there's something wrong with this place and we need to figure out what it is."
"What for?"
"Because Inuyasha," Miroku stepped next him "whatever is going on with this village could be Naraku's doing so if we figure out what it is we might find a lead to Naraku's location." Matsuto was a little ways a head, waiting for them to catch up. In the midst of their conversation they had unconsciously stopped walking. Once they realized that Matsuto was still waiting for them they stopped talking and began following him again, a little embarrassed at their blunder although Matsuto didn't seem to have noticed .
"Matsuto kun" Kagome called "How much farther do we have to go?"
"Not far, it's just up ahead." He pointed to a small mountain they passed on their way to the village.
As soon as Kagome saw the mountain an odd feeling overtook her. A wave of powerful youki washed through her body and strange tingling feeling made her spine go rigid with fear. But it went away almost a soon as it came.
"What was that?"
Shippou looked from where he was perched on Kagome's shoulder and saw the distressed look on her face.
"Are you okay Kagome?" he asked
She just smiled casually "Don't worry Shippou I'm fine."
Shippou took one look at the mountain and shuddered "This place is really creepy"
"It's right over here." Matsuto said. They climbed up a little man made mountain trail. There was a long dug up path filled with large rocks for proper footing and a sparse group of trees growing along the sides with the branches broken near the trail. It was assumed those were meant to be used as hand holds. It lead up to the top where a group of men where chopping pieces of rock from the mountain wall. They had created a small of cave from all the digging that led about five feet inward. Many of the men had pieces of cloth tied around their mouths and noses to protect themselves from all the dirt and debris.
Walking along the mountain trail they observed the villagers as they worked. Some held a variatey of tools and were using them to pound away at the stone. Others were scattered around the cave doing various odd jobs. A few of them were running around carrying baskets of excess dirt. They also saw some men who, instead of furiously breaking into the rock were chipping away parts of it. It looked similar to smoothing out jewelry.
"What are you doing here Matsuto?" A man dressed in dirty and slightly torn cloths walked out of the cave. He face was so covered with dust and dirt it looked like he was wearing a mask where only is eyes, and mouth showed. He walked towards them at slow and tired pace, carrying something that looked similar to a pickaxe over his shoulder. He voice was low and rough, and the tone of it made him sound as if he were always a little hoarse.
He walked out of the cave and stood in front of Matsuto who was staring at the ground rather guiltily.
"You know you're not allowed around here anymore."
"Yes master, I know I'm sorry." He bent low at the waist bowing humbly to him. Because of this he couldn't see the faint trace of exasperation on the man's face.
"Fine, fine, now get out of here before I have to throw you down myself."
"Yes master." Matsuto ran off the mountain at leaving trails of smoke in his wake.
The man then looked towards Kagome and her friends, unsure of what to do with them.
"And who are you. I don't think I've seen you around here before?"
"Were, um, friends of Matsuto. He met us at the edge of your village, near the old abandoned hut." Said Kagome
He stared at them for a moment, trying to register what she said. "What old hut? I've been around this village plenty of times and I've never seen an old abandoned hut."
She blushed a little, embarrassed that had forgotten Matsuto had said the same thing. "Never mind then."
"Why did you send him away?" asked Shippou. He looked away for a minute, unable to think of an appropriate answer
"Shippou-" Kagome was about to scold him for being nosy when the man interrupted her
"It's alright. You see Matsuto is a bit…clumsy. The last time we let him up here to help out he ended up knocking four men off the mountain and almost collapsing the cave. It took us three days to uncover and separate all the valuables from the useless rocks."
Kagome looked back at where they had climbed up the mountain. She felt a little sorry for Matsuto. He seemed so excited about being able to show them around.
"He must be really proud of it"
"If you're weary travelers then there's an inn close by you can stay at for the night. Their prices are fair so you should be able to afford a room. "
"Either that or Miroku can just con us one" Kagome thought.
The man turned around to observe the other villagers. "Well I suppose since it's getting late I can end my shift now. Since your new and don't know your way around I might as well take you all there myself." He walked back towards the entrance of the little cave but instead of going inside he walked around to the back. They heard some rustling and the sound of metals clinging together. He walked back towards them looking much taller without the weight of tools. He face was clean now too.
"Thank you, we really appreciate that." She bowed slightly to him.
"It's alright." And he turned shyly towards the mountain trail.
They followed him quietly through the village to the inn, which sat at the opposite end of the village. Inuyasha walked next to Kagome
"Let's not stay there to long. I don't like it here."
"I know, but we're only staying until we find out whether or not someone here knows about Naraku."
"Well wouldn't I have smelled him by now if they had."
"Not necessarily Inuyasha." Said Miroku once again
"He could have just passed over the village." Added Sango
"Yeah, and he probably has something to do with what's going on." Continued Shippou
Inuyasha groaned in defeat and continued to walk with them in silence.
&
The sun lowered into the calm evening sky, prepared for a long nights rest. The clouds made light feathery blankets to protect the warm spring nights. The sun's brilliance shone through the inside of the clouds creating a hazy orange glow over the surrounding area. The bright pink horizon formed the opening gateway between the setting sun and the endless rising night.
"So as you can see my good man my friends and I would be happy to offer your inn protection from all sorts of youkai in exchange for one nights stay."
They were all standing outside the front of the inn waiting for Miroku to finish haggling for a free room. The old man he spoke to listened with utmost interest and attention.
"Oh my, well your offer sounds tempting. Hold on, I'll go check with the inn master."
Miroku could see Sango walking looking very irritated and prepared himself for a long lecture.
"Well houshi-sama you've done it again." She said dryly.
Miroku stared at her and smiled "Why thank you Sango, I hadn't realized you had such an appreciation for my talents."
She blinked for a second "That's not what I meant!" A small twitch had formed over her left eyebrow. Did he actually think she was praising him?
"Then what did you mean Sango?" The next thing Sango knew Miroku had turned around and was staring at her intently. She found herself falling into a trance as she stared back into the black depth of his eyes. She could feel them piercing her soul, calming and exciting her at the same time. She felt flushed; her face was burning and yet having him so close sent chills up her spine. She couldn't move, couldn't breath, his beauty was entrancing. Before she knew what was happening his arms wrapped around her waist pulling her close to him. His coolness of kesa was relieving against her heated skin and his slender muscular fingers perched on a strong well-toned hand would have been a wonderful addition to this moment had they not been stroking her backside.
The inn keeper met them outside again to find Miroku rubbing the sore spot on his cheek and Sango standing to the side looking flustered and angry.
"Well you're in luck today houshi-sama. It just so happens there there's been a terrible youkai plaguing the village. Whenever it appears, ghosts and evil spirits come and wreck havoc. If you and you're friends would be willing to rid our village of youkai then we would happily offer you a room."
Miroku looked genuinely surprised.
"What a coincidence eh, Miroku." Said Inuyasha. He, Kagome, and Shippou followed the old man inside. Sango glared back at him and continued to join them into the inn. Miroku followed after.
&
Gray clouds hovered over the sky obstructing any moonlight. The stars, whose radiance was normally capable of outshining even the blackest of nights, were nowhere in sight. The clouds cocooned the skies natural luminosity and replaced it with a darkness that seemed to devour the land. The earth suffocated in a black miasma that consumed everything in its path and the land was soon covered in a blanket of midnight.
The inn was comfortable and big enough to hold quite a few guests, although at the moment it looked quite empty. If there was anybody here now neither Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Shippou, nor Kagome had seen them. They sat scattered across the floor of their room eating the food the inn had provided for them.
Miroku sat near the screen, his foot dangling over the edge and holding a drink.
"I have to say Miroku, even though you did cheat them in order to get this, it is nice to have good food and a warm place to sleep at night." Said Kagome
"I'm glad you approve Kagome-sama, although I think 'cheat' is a rather harsh word. I prefer to think that we were merely offering our services to protect this defenseless inn from any sort of hostile youkai."
"And if there aren't any around?" Asked Sango.
"Then we know were doing our job." Miroku received a glare from everyone in the room and, from the nervous flabbergasted look on his face, he obviously had no other ways to justify his answer.
The old man slid open the door and walked in looking slightly uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your meal" He bowed to them "but some of the other guests are becoming increasingly uncomfortable knowing that the youkai might come. The innkeeper would be very appreciative if you would perhaps scout the area for any youkai. That way we could all rest easy."
Everyone except Inuyasha seemed to think it was a good idea. Convincing him took more time than they expected it to, but with a little prodding from Kagome he grudgingly agreed.
Inuyasha waited outside with Kagome and Shippou. He was still looking a bit agitated about being in the village in the first place, but arguing with everyone wasn't going to solve anything and he knew it.
Sango walked outside to meet them fully dressed in her armor with Kirara at her side. Miroku walked out behind her.
Kagome looked up at the sky. It wasn't unusually this dark at night and there weren't any stars out. She wondered if it was an omen of some sort.
"Are we ready to go yet?" Inuyasha asked impatiently. Everyone nodded in response.
"All right let's get this over with. Sango, you and Miroku search east…" he pointed in the direction they were supposed to go. "And Kagome and I will search west."
"Hey, what about me?" Shippou stood in between them jumping up and down.
"Shippou you go with Sango and Miroku." Inuyasha commanded. He bent down and helped Kagome onto his back.
"We're probably not even going to find anything." He commented
"But it doesn't hurt to look." Said Kagome
"Whatever." And he took off.
Inuyasha glided effortlessly above the tress only landing occasionally so he could regain enough leverage to jump up again, when something grabbed his attention. He sensed a strange kehai in the air coming directly below him.
"Do you feel that?" He asked Kagome
"Uh-huh. Go down a little lower, I think I can see where it's coming from." Inuyasha dropped down from the skies and landed in front of a small statue.
"What is it?" Inuyasha asked.
She walked closer to examine it more "It looks like a shrine, but for whom?" It had offerings of gifts and food scattered around it but they were all extremely old and decaying. Kagome could still feel a little youki of the demon whose spirit this shrine apparently inhabited.
"Could this be the shrine of the demon the old man was talking about? But that's impossible…. What's going on here?"
End of Episode 2
&
Episode 3
Myouga's impromptu descent
Inuyasha and Kagome have discovered some incredible news about the village but with every new bit of information they find something else is left to be unsolved. The village is not what it seems and the youkai the villagers fear has somehow risen again to fight them. But is even this youkai what it appears to be?