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Strangled Time

Chapter 62

Scream it to the forest, he told her. It was what his mother had encouraged him to do back when the pendulum of his moods were still adolescent and untameably irascible—scream it to the trees until the trees screamed back.

And so she did.

Kagome screamed to the rocks and to the valley and to the mountains beyond. She screamed until an echo played in her ears with a circular momentum. She threw her voice so loud and far that she nearly lost it in the chaotic reverberance of a million black birds. And when she stopped the sound kept traveling, her vocal cords thrumming along with the distant bellow even as she gasped for breath.

"Better?"

The priestess coughed on the winter air before releasing her grip on her knees and accepting Saburo's outstretched hand. He helped to lift her down from the stone pedestal she'd been perched on.

"Better." Kagome replied hoarsely once her feet were back on the ground. Then, slowly, her lips twisted to a coy smile. "Actually, yeah. That felt really good."

"Good." Saburo replied with his own crooked grin. "I was thinkin' it might. So, what d'ya say? Wanna head back out on th' road, or do ya maybe wanna have another go?"

"Well, considering we're in the middle of who-knows-where no man's land, we should probably scoot before whatever predators live here think we're an easy meal after all that noise. But I could totally go another round if you're up for a game of chance."

The blacksmith went white. "Scootin' then. Scootin's good."

Snickering, Kagome hefted her backpack and brushed past him, her head far lighter after clearing all the soot and steam from her pipes.

"Well then," She smiled, "let's get scooting."

…

If she'd known just how close they'd been to the Kitsune's traveler village before stopping to rest the night before, they would have likely not bothered setting up camp at all. If she'd known, they would have likely powered on ahead, following the dark and muddy snow-patched road over those final two hills.

If she'd known, they could have bypassed their argument in the woods and landed right on Park Place, without any fear for bear or thief or imp. They would have had a good night's sleep with the security blanket of watchful foxes guarding over them. The pelts would have already been out of her hands and treated in whatever magical ways in which they were meant to be treated. They would have gained half a day and ultimately Kagome could have gotten home to her own time all the more sooner.

In light of all that could have been different had she known, Kagome was glad they stopped when they did-even if a warm bed and a full meal was little more than an hour's walk down the road.

She and Saburo had needed that run-in with the imp because without it they likely wouldn't have argued again, and without an argument they would have never made up. She would have festered on like a volcano, pressurizing internally only to explode in a far more irreparable display. Or worse, she could have gone dormant, allowing her misplaced ire and gangrenous sorrow to form an unbridgeable gap between her and Saburo; a gap that would transfigure itself into regret the moment she appeared back on the correct side of the well with no way to make amends with her friend from the further-back past.

Things were calm between them now, and for that Kagome would have spent a far greater number of restless nights chasing greedy little sprites through the forest.

Yet even knowing that their misadventures in time-wasting weren't for nothing, Kagome still felt a twinge of flabbergasted annoyance the moment they stepped out of the dense forest. They were on the upper ridge of the rocky sloped path that would lead them down into the town with its bustling streets of sweet smelling vendors and tinkering Kitsune. They'd been so close–

Her frustration barely even had the time to bubble before it was popped away by another emotion entirely. Awe. The morning rays of the sun were still pink and orange, casting a blushing hue across the white snow and catching reflective strands of the grey...silver-no, blue haired elder standing beneath the village's archway. Ice blue. How had Kagome ever seen it as being grey? She held as a tall, imposing guardian statuette for all of her four feet of height and as she stood there Kagome caught a glimpse of the woman's truest form.

Sleek and severe. Fierce with hardened scales and flowing fur. Both doe and dragon, steed and beast simmering in an impossible radiance of auroras and frost. No taller than an elk of the northernmost tundra plains and not at all limited in power by the small of her size.

Winter was the Kilin's element, just as surely as that village was under her most generous protection.

The protection of a grandmother, so kind and loving, that extended to Kagome and Saburo both as the elder innkeeper took a bow, welcoming their return to the modest little fox town she called home. And when Kagome rushed forward, down the hill and along the final stretch of the traveler's road, the ancient demoness welcomed the girl into the comfort of her embrace as well.

...

"I see." Ma Kilin mused as she refilled Saburo's tea to the lip of the cup. "So it had been the late Lady Izayoi's final wish that led you to this era. Impressive, that a single spirit could impose such a will from beyond the grave."

"You didn't actually know?"

The demoness smiled somberly while addressing Kagome's confusion. "No one being holds a power so great as to be all-knowing. The knowledge that I hold of the future is as selective as it is finite."

Kagome and Saburo watched as Maki pushed herself up and made her way to a shrine alcove that was set into the far wall of her living quarters. There she retrieved a looking glass, the metal disk tarnished nearly black around the edges yet its brass face polished to reflection with care. "Before his passing," She started, caressing the tips of her fingers across the metal surface, "My husband imbued this mirror with a fragment of his soul, securing within his every memory and every thought."

"In life, his power of foresight had been potent. A blessing when sought for knowledge. A curse when craved for power. At times imperfect, as many prophecies find themselves dependent on the confines of their interpretation. While others were clear, as if they had been written in black ink on parchment. What I have is limited to that which he had seen throughout his living life." With a ceremonial grace, the demoness returned to the table and set the mirror down before them.

Once she was settled back on her cushion, Maki continued. "Would you like to ask a question of him? Be it of times past, between the era of his birth and now, or of that which has yet to occur, your answer may exist within should you wish to know it."

The proposition was enticing. So enticing. Who knew what things that mirror could tell them about the future. Maki's human husband might have seen something important to her story, like what secrets Naraku has up his sleeve or how they can truly defeat him. The mirror probably had information about Toga too, answers to questions that she never got the chance to ask. And yet despite all that, despite each and every question dancing at the tip of her tongue, Kagome knew her answer pretty quick.

"Thanks for the opportunity, but I think I'm going to have to pass."

Maki laid a gentle hand atop Kagome's, causing the priestess to lift her dampening gaze.

"I understand." The guardian Kilin said with a wisdom beyond Kaede's and a warmth that rivaled her mother's love. "Knowledge of any fate beyond your control is a tender burden." The palm of the glamoured elder's other hand fell to stroke the pelts laid out beside them–the skins that once belonged to a good friend. "I respect your decision, young priestess."

After the two women shared their moment of knowing silence, Ma Kilin then turned her attention to the bull in the tea room.

"And you?"

Saburo startled.

"Me?"

Maki smiled. "Yes, young master. Would you like to chance a glimpse at the sun?"

Shifting with the stealth of a bear, Saburo glanced over at Kagome then back down at the unassuming mirror placed at the center of the table. "W-would I even be able to? It's magic, yeah?"

"A magic, yes. However it is not of the sort that would be beyond your current reach."

"O-oh." He stuttered with a flush, earning himself a gold star for the awkwardness he felt at having a woman he now knew to be an extremely powerful demon acknowledge the fact that he was coming into any sort of magic. Once more he looked to Kagome for guidance.

She shrugged. "It's up to you."

Up to him, huh?

Saburo straightened his slouched posture before taking a deep breath. Then he turned back to the demoness offering him a glimpse into the unknown, cleared his throat, and took a blind leap of faith off the nearest waterfall.

"May I?"

...

Wood slid upon wood and clicked shut as Saburo closed the door to the innkeeper's utilitarian quarters that served as her private residence, tea room, and scrying chamber.

"How'd it go?" Kagome asked from where she was sitting against the opposite wall.

Raking his fingers through his mess of a mane, the blacksmith turned to lean against the door frame and face her.

"Bad?"

"Nah." He shook his head. "Just… short." Then he scoffed. "I'm not exactly a big name hero anywhere ya look, so there wasn't a whole ton ta spotlight. Nothin' great, anyway."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

That made Saburo chuckle. He pushed back away from the wall and began down the hallway in the direction of the kitchen. "I thought you didn't wanna know anymore of th' future?"

"Right!" Kagome sprang to her feet, following after him. "You're right, I'm good! Fate and I are taking a little time off from each other right now. Call it an extended vacation."

Her odd phrasing made him snort with a laugh and when she caught up to his side he saw that she was grinning as well.

A grin that faltered when she caught him staring just a moment too long.

"Saburo…" She started, quieter. "You'd tell me if it were important, right?"

The concern in her voice gave him pause, until he remembered just how anxious and on-edge knowing Togashimaru's ultimate fate had made her. It damn near broke her.

He didn't want her fretting like that again over anything.

"Don't you worry Miss Kagome." The blacksmith soothed, breaking her eye contact and continuing forward on a mission to find lunch. "Nothin' I saw was important."

It wasn't a lie.

From his perspective, at least, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't a lie.

...

After a lunch, their baths, a rest, and a well needed second meal, Kagome found herself with Maki once more. This time they took up an unoccupied guest room where the screen doors had been opened wide to the blustering winds and snow kissed rock gardens. Togashimaru's furs were in there, stretched out flat with their newly cleaned suedes facing upwards to dry whatever sweet smelling solution had been brushed onto them.

They were trimmed, neat, less like the morbid flesh Kagome had been tasked with retrieving. If she hadn't known any better, Kagome could see them now as being blankets from a high-end department store, fresh out of the wash and spritzed with a citrus fabric softener. All they needed was some hot-shot CEO's couch to be draped over seductively in an otherwise cold and minimalist condominium.

Unfortunately, she knew better.

"I am familiar with the traditions of Lord Togashimaru's lineage and am grateful that you were able to carry these so far." Maki said before Kagome could tumble too much farther down the blood pond rabbit hole. These will be an honor to craft, as a final testament of my loyalty and gratitude towards his kindness."

"However," she took a moment to breathe in the cold frost. "Before I am able to do so, I wish to learn more about the Great General's children-of those who are to be the recipients so that I may best account for their individualities. Would it be too forthcoming to ask that of you?"

"No, not at all." Kagome reassured with earnesty. Since Ma Kilin already knew so much about the future and treated it with such reverence, there wouldn't be any harm in her getting to know Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha a bit better. "I'd love to tell you about them. Where do you want me to start?"

A smile blossomed on the demoness' aged face, belying the glow of youth that she hid within.

"If you please, start from the beginning my dear, one more time."

Chapter End