Greetings all! Welcome to the new chapter! Ready. Set. And . . . SQUADALA, we're off!
"Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That's the problem."
— A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh)
"There is nothing to fear but fear itself. And spiders. ~Bumper sticker~"
— Darynda Jones (Second Grave on the Left)
"The world must live. We are only one species among billions. The gods don't love us any more than they love spiders or bears or whales or water lilies."
— Daniel Quinn
CHAPTER START
The night air was cool and crisp: the muggy heat of the day all but dissipated with the rising of the moon. It was late in the night; or early in the day, depending on one's perspective. People and creatures of the day had long since retired from the world leaving the forest teeming with the quiet beauty of the dark hours.
There were two creatures, however, that had broken the order of day into night: two travelers. They passed between the trees in near silence, disturbing little save a single spotted spider who was unlucky enough to have spun his elaborate web at waist height between two large leafy trees that they happened to passed through. One of the two, the one clad in black, had inadvertently walked straight into his masterpiece. The sticky silk had clung to the black outer cloak and the spider along with it.
Time to build a new home.
The black-cloaked home-wreaker paused a moment, murmured an apology to the unseen resident, and began brushing the silky threads from their cloak barely missing the little spider once or twice. It wasn't the first time someone had come and ripped his -the spider's- net to shreds and it wouldn't be the last. Such was the life of and eight legged small one. The arachnid did take a small satisfaction in that this large one had apologized –unusual indeed as he had never heard of any large one that had ever apologized to one of his kind- and it would be difficult for them to remove every bit of his web from their otherwise immaculate black cloak.
Maybe this one will watch where it's going next time.
Once the large one was content with the cleanliness of its cloak it resumed its trek through the woods. The tinny spider crawled up the black fabric, content to let his host hake him to a new and location where he could begin his work anew. It was certainly a lot faster than crawling on eight limbs, and, as he would quickly discover, more interesting.
He took a moment to examine his new traveling companions. The one he wasn't currently using as a mode of transportation was dressed in nearly all white. If the spider knew or cared for the beliefs of those who walked on two legs, he might have thought of them as yin and yang. The one clad in white seemed much taller and larger than the spider's black-clad home-wreaker. By the standards of his kind that might mean the larger one was the female, but since this spider was a particularly old spider he knew that wasn't always the case when it came to large ones. He thought the white one was probably on the tall side when it came to the two-legs, but then again, many things were larger than him and, past the size of one of those furry, chattery things that liked nuts, it was hard for him to tell sometimes.
The black and white pair were saying little to each other; actually they weren't saying anything at all and seemed to be deliberately ignoring the other. The large ones, in his experience, usually made a lot of noise whether they liked one another or not. So, what was the matter with these two? As he was riding on the back of the black one he couldn't see its eyes but he noticed that the white one kept sneaking glances at the black one like it was trying to figure something out. The black one finally broke the silence.
"The trees tell me that Inuyasha and Kagome have reached the east and are preparing their attack. I think it best if we remain just outside the western territory for another day or two. At least until the northern and southern skirmishes are well under way. They will give us the cover we need to slip into the encampment unnoticed.".
"Hn.".
The little spider blinked. Was that all the white one would say? Granted he knew little of the language the large ones used but he was fairly sure 'hn' was not considered a proper word. And whatever the black one had been talking about sounded important enough for a better response.
The black one, however, didn't seem in the least bit bothered by the white one's response, or lack thereof, and continued as though it had been appropriate enough.
"My home is just outside of your territory. We should reach it by noon tomorrow. It is well hidden and few know of its exact location. We can rest there safely.".
"Hn.".
That infernal not-word again! Maybe the white one couldn't talk properly? The spider had heard of such things happening. Maybe that one was dropped as an egg and damaged. Yes, that must be it.
"Have you given any thought as to what your lands contain that Gogenmaru could be after?".
Finally, a question! Surely the white one would respond properly now. . . or not. They walked in silence for several more minutes but the white one showed no signs of answering and the black one showed no signs of irritation at not having been given an answer.
The silence stretched on and the spider briefly wondered if they knew they had a little eaves dropper. Probably not: large ones tended to scream and start flailing when they knew his kind were this close. Odd that they would exhibit fear toward something so much smaller than them, especially when they could easily squish him into a little spider pancake. The little spider moved up to the top of black one's head and started to look a little closer at the forest around them, scanning for an ideal spot to build his next web: nothing much yet.
"There are many possibilities. None of which stand out.".
The spider's attention snapped back to the large ones. So, he could speak. That's good then: parents should take good care of their eggs.
The black one nodded at the white one's response. The spider held on tight: fighting a little vertigo.
"That's understandable. I haven't really given you much to go on. I apologize.".
The black one dipped its head to punctuate the statement and the spider considered making a flying leap to the white one. That one's head didn't move so much.
"You have no reason to apologize to this Sesshomaru. You will know more as we approach, correct?".
"Well, yes, but . . . ".
The black one paused, struggling slightly with how to say something probably.
"I'm . . . disturbed by the lack of information. There is rarely anything I can't find out. It's almost as though . . . as though he knows I'm listening.".
"Is that possible?".
The black one thought for a moment.
"I'd like to say 'no'. There aren't many people who know of what I can do. And I don't believe any one of them would betray me. I can't rule it out though.".
"Perhaps he is just more cautious than most.".
The black one didn't seem convinced but verbally agreed none the less.
"Perhaps.". The black one's head shook again, "But I'm not so sure.".
Alright, enough was enough. That last shake almost sent him flying! That was enough adventure for one night for this spider. Besides, he had just spotted the perfect branch for his new home. It was in a particularly dense section of forest: maybe too dense for large ones to walk through. The spider scurried down the black cloak until he was just above the ground, and then jumped. These two could sort out their problems without his oversight.
Aiko and Sesshomaru arrived at the border of Aiko's home by late morning. It was unbelievably difficult for Aiko to hold back the sigh of relief that had been pushing at her lips from the moment she felt the tale-tell tingle of energy brushing the surface of her skin. It hadn't been a particularly long journey by her standards but it had been a tense one. Normally, she would be enjoying the time spent to get from point 'A' to point 'B': humming happily as she passed tree after tree, letting her spirit brush up against theirs, reveling in the ebb and flow of the forest. But, somehow, she just couldn't bring herself to let go of her inhibitions in the presence of her current traveling companion: a demon who seemed to pride himself in uttering as few words as possible to his company. It would feel so good to be in her own home after the last two days.
As for said silent demon, he was fighting the most unusual of sensations. Something kept telling him to turn around or veer off course. It wasn't a particularly unpleasant sensation: he sensed no danger. It wasn't as though he didn't want to go that way, he just kept wanting to go another way. The feeling had been getting stronger for the past several minutes and at this point he was having a bit of difficulty focusing on following the woman just a few paces ahead of him. Finally, Aiko stopped walking and lifted her hands into the space directly in front of her. Sesshomaru watched, quietly fascinated as her hands moved this way and that over the air. Once or twice he caught glimpses of what looked like threads passing through her fingers. A barrier of some sort, perhaps? Though certainly not like one the demon lord had ever encountered. Sensing her companion's curiosity, Aiko explained that it was indeed a barrier. It was actually made from strands of natural energy gathered from the forest around them. The strands were woven together much like a cloth maker wove silk. Depending on the type of weave and the type of energy used, the bond could be used to heal or even to kill.
She hesitated for a moment and asked, "Would you like to see?". Sesshomaru nodded - a slight dip of his head - and Aiko passed her hand over the air again. It was almost as though a fog had lifted from the air, even though there was no fog to speak of. It revealed a most astonishing sight. Hundreds, upon thousands of tendrils of energy in every color imaginable had been spun and brought together, passing behind and in front of one another, to form a most elaborate pattern. Deep reds and the lightest of blues dominated the weave with accents of light purple scattered about artfully. The whole tapestry had an ethereal quality to it. It was slightly transparent and cast a cool glow on anything it came near. It was absolutely beautiful.
Sesshomaru stood there, silently transfixed, the shock registering as a slight widening of his eyes, no more than a millimeter, but there nevertheless. His sharp demon vision could pick up on every color, shade and hue that flowed and flashed before him, including an entire spectrum that human eyes couldn't detect.
Aiko read the appreciation he emitted and smiled, happy that he liked her work and proud that she could impress the stoic demon.
She explained that the pattern used for this weave was designed to confuse. The casual passer who happened to approach the area of land it protected would feel a strong urge to take another direction. Sesshomaru had felt the extent of its effect first hand. Needless to say, Aiko rarely had uninvited guests.
Aiko waved her hand one last time and the strands began to rapidly unravel. The tapestry-barrier came down and the threads disappeared, or had she just made them invisible again? Sesshomaru suspected the latter. Aiko motioned for the white-clad youkai to follow her as she walked into the small part of the forest she called home.
CHAPTER END
And that, as they say, is that. . . for now. So what do you think of our little spider friend? I giggled like a mad woman the entire time I wrote that part. It kinda got away from me. I had that whole scene figured out a long time ago, but it was completely different. Lol Sometimes I think my stories have a mind of their own and their just gonna go what their gonna do.
Aiko's powers are an idea I've had struck in my head for a looooooooooong time. What do you all think of them so far? I hope it wasn't confusing for anyone. She will be displaying others throughout the story but they will all be based on this idea of weaving natural energies into patterns.
Anyway, until next time!
