Chapter 9 – A Girl Beyond the Looking Glass
Kurama ran as fast as he could to where Katoma and Shelbra sat talking. They looked as if they were fighting over something. Katoma had black water coming from her hands, spreading to her elbows. Shelbra had a mighty wind blowing around her, her eyes an extremely pale blue. Kurama caught the clips of their fight as he neared them.
"You love Inuyasha's half-brother, Shelbra!" Katoma yelled, her fists beginning to shake. "I can love who I want, and if it is Hiei, than so be it!"
"I do not want you to get hurt, Kat!" Shelbra snapped, tears floating down her face, and fading into her blond hair. "He will have to leave, and I don't want to see Sarome hurt, it is obvious that she loves Kurama, and he to her, but, I don't think I could bear seeing you hurt because Hiei had to leave!"
"If he leaves, Shelbra," Katoma whispered. "We don't even know if we can get them back," she turned and saw Kurama, her eyes wide with pain and shock. "Did you hear that?" she asked. Kurama shook his head.
"Sarome's been captured by Naraku!" Kurama yelled.
"Where, Kurama, where did Naraku get her?!" Shelbra yelled, running off in the opposite direction.
"At the waterfall!" Kurama yelled after her. Shelbra ran into Kaede's hut. "Where is Tarja, she might be able to reach Sarome!"
"She left to go check on everything back home," Katoma said, running towards the forest and the waterfall. "Come on, show me where!" Kurama led the way, and once he arrived, he remembered something of crucial value. He dug his hand into his pocket, and pulled out a shell, laced with dried and hardened seaweed. Rose had given it to him.
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They were just about to leave, and Rose and ordered him to stay for a second. Kurama bent down to the water's edge and looked Rose deep in the eyes. She wrapped the necklace around his neck, and whispered a couple words into his ear. "If you ever need to find Sarome, let her name echo in the shell, and you will not be lost, Kurama. If you need to find anyone, whisper their name in the shell. You will not be lost then, either."
"Thank you," Kurama thanked, kissing Rose's head thankfully, before pulling himself up onto Sarome's back. He smiled and nodded to Cornello and Rose. "For everything!"
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He quickly whispered Sarome's name into the shell, and stepped back as it rose from his hand. It busted into a red light, and in it, was Sarome.
She was on her knees, her hands chained to the wall. Her three scars on her neck were bleeding badly, along with a bunch of scratches that were fresh and spilling with blood. "Kurama…" she whispered.
"Sarome…" he whispered back, hoping, hoping that she would hear his voice. She did not. She didn't move, only spoke, as if she was speaking to someone else in that room.
"I do not know where he is…back home, probably," she whispered, crying.
"I do not believe you, Sarome," said a dark voice. It was Naraku's voice, dark and cruel. A purple miasma filled the room, and the only thing Kurama could hear was the dark laugh of Naraku and the painful hacking of Sarome.
"Well, Naraku was definitely here," Katoma said. She finally noticed the shell in Kurama's hand. "Did Sarome give that to you?" she asked. Kurama lied, nodding. Katoma shrugged, and walked off. "She'll find her way home."
"What?" Kurama snapped, turning to Katoma. She turned around, and looked at him, with a smirk on her face. "You are just going to leave her? She is in a castle somewhere here in this world, and I am going to look for her!"
"Oh really, Kurama," Katoma snapped back, equally powerful, "And how is that? What do you think we have been looking for while Sarome and I were here; a vacation spot? No, we were and are looking for Naraku's castle, which, in case you haven't noticed, we haven't found it yet!"
Kurama and Katoma stood there, piercing each other down with hurt eyes. Kurama sighed and ran towards the village.
"Where are you going?" Katoma yelled. Kurama didn't stop, but kept running towards Jin and Touya, letting his voice carry on the wind.
"To fulfill my destiny with Sarome…"