AN: Once again, another round of this LITTLE (oh ha) ditty.
mintomintaizawa: Where IS Inu??? I wonder...
CHAPTER 7: INTO DAYLIGHT
The sunset was dazzling, hues of dark blue mingled with the recessing natural yellows of the sun.
"Feh," scowled Inuyasha. He had not stopped scowling from the moment it was well and truly clear that BOTH Kikyo and Kagome had disappeared. Just DISAPPEARED. If ever his mind doubted or questioned his motives or actions towards either of them, now it was reinforced greatly.
What if somehow it was his fault? He knew it was unlikely, but really, it COULD have been. With no one to blame for the sudden vanishing of the two women he cared most about, naturally, his confused brain turned on itself. Come to think about it, in a way, he had caused most of the trouble surrounding those two. If he hadn't let himself, a demon half-breed, get attached to a human priestess in the first place, Kikyo wouldn't have died, Kagome wouldn't have been born, and the Shikon would be whole and purified...
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"What do you think we should do?" Asked Sango.
Miroku simply shrugged. "It beats me. We can't look for the Jewel anyway without Kagome…"
"Ka-Ka-Kagome…." Shippo whimpered, and burst into hysterical unrestrained tears. The little fox demon had had enough of all of this, he didn't understand, and Kagome was gone. He cried harder, thinking about Kagome. Kirara shuffled uncomfortably a bit and came up to snuggle against Shippo till he felt better and settled into simple sniffles.
"Idiot!" Sango cuffed Miroku on the ear lightly. "Did you have to say that, Monk?" Then she sighed, and sank onto the ground. "Where did they go?"
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Directly above them in a tree overlooking the empty battleground, Inuyasha deepened his scowl and tapped his foot impatiently. Why did they all have to break down? As if it wasn't bad enough.
"Oh fine," and with a last fleeting glance at the place where they vanished, he turned around and jumped down before the rest of his companions. "Come on. We'll stay in the area so I can smell her if she comes back, but this doesn't mean we're just gonna give up on the Jewel. What kinda fighters are we?"
He glared each of them down till they reluctantly got ready to walk again, and set off once again on their journey.
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"I guess we could give it a shot…" said Kagome warily, looking over at Kikyo. The last time they had been in this position was in the priestess-devouring cave. Neither of them felt compelled to do it again. Kikyo simply gave Kagome her coldest, most un-alive look, and didn't bother answering.
"Chir-ri." We're stuck here then, commented Yasei, and nonchalantly plopped down on the spot and started getting comfortable.
Kikyo did the slightest eye roll, and wearily got up. "I'm waiting."
"Oh, good!" Kagome didn't feel like this either, but it was either working with the dead lady for a bit, or being stuck with her for an indefinite amount of time in a cramped, cold, dark cave awaiting God-knows-what. And she didn't want to be around Kikyo any longer than necessary.
Standing up, she realised she hadn't the slightest clue.
Kikyo folded her arms across her chest. She had agreed, but she definitely wasn't going to be the encourager in this. Her little copy could just stand there and be useless. Maybe she could try again, doubling the effort this time… But she was still so tired, it looks like she'll need Kagome.
Both adversaries gave each other looks, differing in confidence and manner. Kikyo's was an I-was-here-first-and-I'm-better-than-you, while Kagome's was Can-we-please-just-get-on-with-it?-It's-not-the-hardest-thing-in-the-world.
To break the ominous, stressed silence, Yasei gave a yawn and pretended to get comfortable for a nap. Both pairs of eyes drifted down towards him, and both gave a bored sigh. Kagome decided that since the Ice Queen was just going to be more distant with each second, she was going to have to start this somehow. To do this, she was going to have to play the happy part.
"What do I have to do?" She inquired, looking intently at Kikyo's face, trying to get some eye contact going.
Since Kagome had made the first move, Kikyo decided to cooperate only for the sake of getting out of there. "We could try to break down the barrier by either our arrows, or just throwing magic at it, with our combined strengths." There was a pause. "I suggest the arrows first."
"Yeah, sure," Kagome said brightly. Kikyo briefly wondered how she could sound so chirpy, but then again, she wasn't as exhausted. They stood back, and without planning it, their movements were perfectly synchronised. If there was such a thing as synchronised archery, they would have won the gold. They aimed, stretched the bowstrings taut, and fired. Yasei barely had time to scamper out of the way as once again the cave was lit by the priestess magic. The two arrows flew together, and got stuck into the wall, with electric-like energy sizzling around them as the wall tried to shield them off once again.
Kikyo didn't hesitate. It looked like the wall could be penetrated with just another slight push. Instinctively and without communication, Kagome got the idea and once again the two partners in synchronised archery drew, aimed and fired into the epicentre of glowing magic.
There was a short moment of complete stillness, then with an explosion of light, the grey murky wall cracked, and deteriorated into nothing. The same thing started to happen to the whole cave, until the nearly blinding light surrounded the two priestesses and the sparrow completely.
Slowly the last whispers of the light receded, to uncover what lay beyond the unreal walls: just another plain stretch of forest. Lowering her bow, Kagome gave a little triumphant laugh. Kikyo turned away, and let her hair fall over her face to conceal her victorious grin, before her normal blank expression returned.
"Chiri!" Finally!
Yasei hopped over to Kikyo, and waited till she lowered her hand for him. He hopped on, clambering to his usual spot on her shoulder.
Kagome turned around, a hint of her last smile on her face, and asked, "What now, then?"
Kikyo frowned as she thought about the question. Her frown deepened as she realised they weren't home yet. "We're still not in our world. It doesn't feel like anywhere I've been, or even remotely like it. Normally I'd at least feel Mt Hakurei; its power is so great I can sense it from anywhere in Japan, but here… nothing. Not even the slightest magical force. The trees don't even feel alive." She said this, resting her hand on a nearby tree.
Kagome's smile faded, but she was far from disheartened. "Well, let's see what we can find to eat… I'm hungry. You must be too… Oh, you don't eat, well, whatever."
"No, I'm hungry too." Kikyo said.
Kagome raised both of her eyebrows. "What?"
"I seem to be alive." Kikyo wondered why she bothered.
"Oh yeah… The blood… We should get cleaned up." The two of the looked down at their messy soiled clothes and started organising chores, trying to keep the questions out of their minds; it was all too weird.
AN: I wrote way more than this but then deleted it all, it didn't sound natural, or like Kikyo or Kagome would. In fact, even towards the end here it goes all… weird… Really, really unnatural. As if the words were forced. I hate it when it gets like that, so I don't know how you readers took it, but I sure don't like the last part of this chapter.
Oh yes – my inspiration this time is this wonderful wonderful old-ish book, by OR Melling, (no, I've never heard of her either) called The Hunter's Moon. If you ever feel like you don't have enough to read – see if you can find it.
