Glossary

 

Chapter III: Equals…

 

 He was looking at that damn arrow from more than an hour now. It never seemed to stop glowing with that bright faint pink light that had caught his attention before. Whatever miko had done what was right in front of his eyes, wasn’t stupid at all. If he were to stay here as much as the spell would last, he could bet he’d be there for weeks, even moths. He couldn’t touch the arrow, for it was filled with great purifying magic, but he was sure there was a way to brake the spell. There was nothing he, the Lord of the Western Lands couldn’t do. Especially if a human did it, even if miko.

Humans, as strong as they could be, were stupid, coward and racist. They killed humans and demons alike only to gain power and land. Their kind was miserable to say the least. Even many mikos now were corrupted and had dishonored their shrines. Just like that Kikyou woman had after coming back to life full of hatred and cooperating with Naraku.

Pondering some more on the sight before him and on how stupid humans were he had started to get angry. Why did he care at all? Why was it so necessary to go on this chase? It had never been before. What was supposed to be something relaxing had turned out to be a real mess. And poor his brain wasn’t getting any rest from thinking. Stupid humans, why did they have to live? They all had to die, but unfortunately their souls were reincarnated in some kind of ‘re-birth’.

Wait, re-birth, someone who from death comes back to life- Why didn’t he think of that before. It was so simple. What was used to let’s say, ‘protect’ humans from demons and corrupted beings, could be cancelled by something equal. Just as in war, if two armies have the same strength, it’s most likely they’d destroy each other. No one would win, both would dissolve equally.

Taking out Tenseiga from its sheath he made a perfectly aimed blow for the enchanted arrow; it was sliced in two. All it’s power vanishing from it as if it had never been there. Also the presence of the human from the clearing disappeared.

Smirking evilly, he took the two parts of the arrow and the red cloth in his hand; the chase could now begin.

***

Shit. She was running from one hour now, but all she had done was escaping around in circles! ‘For the gods’ sake I’m only trying to survive!’ Was what she was thinking right now. Putting up such a good plan and then getting lost wasn’t really smart was it? She had to find a way of escape, and rapidly because she could feel the power of her arrow getting back to her.

Remembering about the river she had bathed in before she thought about the ‘oh-so-hated’ geography lessons. Rivers always brought to a mountain or a plain of some sort. So, hoping just even a little that she could escape Sesshoumaru she closed her eyes and relaxed. Focusing on the only thing she knew could save her…the water.

She could hear the birds singing their melodies to the forest, the leaves getting carried by the wind and rustling, even the sound of the people walking on the road a few kilometers by could be heard from the silent miko. One could ask himself what a miko really is to have such keen senses though being human. Truth to be told, mikos and demons are very much alike. Demons are just physically stronger, can track scents and have a longer life, that’s all. In fact, if concentrating, most mikos have better senses than many youkai. Powerful mikos, instead of the sense of smell, have the capacity to feel auras much better. To them physical strength is not that important either, for they can purify any demon from quite a distance, by firing arrows, catching its soul or by dancing.

Kagome had found it. The river was just a few minutes from there and she was pretty sure she could make it before he arrived. She was a bit worried though, she had sensed a small, weak evil aura in the forest. And there was no doubt it wasn’t Sesshoumaru. He was anything but weak; and this aura looked like it was trying to cover itself, and again, Sesshoumaru was not a coward. Could that presence have something to do with her getting lost? She hoped it didn’t.

Finding the river she noticed she was back in that place she had bathed before…and her arrow wasn’t there! A little "Eeep…" escaped her as she sped towards the running water. There were two choices now, North towards the mountain, South towards the sea. Deciding that probably mountains offered better hiding places she headed north. But Kagome wasn’t good in geography, and what looked like north, instead was west.

She followed the flowing water near her, although she was going in totally a different direction of the one the transparent liquid was heading to. The trees were so high they partially obscured the sky in this part of the stream; their branches intertwined making some rays of light pass inside the trees’ curtain and creating an unique scene.

She had given up on running from a long time. If he caught up, which was highly possible, she’d just face him. She had figured Sesshoumaru wasn’t worse than her personal problems- If she was injured or badly wounded she could heal, but she doubted that the cut she had inside would heal anytime soon. She could already feel the stinging of tears in her eyes. She fought so hard to keep them back, that at the end she started crying just for the stress.

‘Why has he done this to me? Aren’t I good enough? Aren’t I strong enough? Is he the one who’s not good enough…for my forgiveness…?’ She thought. She had given up everything for him, and yet e still didn’t care. Even though she loved him more than her life, she still had a little doubt.

Suddenly she could not sustain herself straight anymore and she collapsed to the ground. Embracing herself she started crying desperately, not caring if someone saw her or if a demon attacked. She was just too sad and emotionally tired. She was alone, nobody to comfort her and with a powerful demon lord willing to kill her. It was just too much to cope for a girl like her…

That was how Sesshoumaru found her…

He had arrived there just a moment before, and what he saw shocked him; though he didn’t show it. The miko who had so cleverly defied him, was on her knees crying aloud her sorrow to the forest. When he caught a good sight of her, he realized she was his half-brother’s wench. She surprised him again, his brother always fought so hard to protect the darn human, and now here she was, alone and trying to escape him. Since that was none of his business, he just stayed there and stared waiting for her to move.

Taking in how she looked, he noticed how different she was from all the times he had seen her. Her hair, always so bright and shiny, were now a dull black, she would have looked like dead if not for her shaking shoulders. And again, her normal scent of lilies and lavander was covered by the salty one of tears. What a wierd picture she made.

‘I have to be strong!’ Kagome told herself, she couldn’t die right now, too much was to do and too much had yet to come. This she knew. Trying to calm down her tears she shut her eyes closed for a moment; she knew Sesshoumaru was there, and from quite some time indeed, then why hadn't he killed her already? Well, this all came in handy; she could already hear thunders, which announced the upcoming storm, and some rain would help her…if the kami so desired…

***

Inu-yasha was sitting high on a tree’s branch. Kagome was gone, she had probably seen what happened between him and Kikyou, if not, certainly she had met something scary enough to make her run away. He didn’t regret going so far with his love, but that didn’t mean he had stopped caring for Kagome. She was and would always be like a little sister whom he would protect, and maybe, sometimes, get protected from.

He felt so bad without her around at times like this. Kagome had this strange personality that made bad turn good, she wasn’t scared when he turned youkai, and accepted him like a hanyou. She was the best person he had encountered after Kikyou.

How much he wanted to run after her and see how she was, but Sango, Miroku and the kitsune needed rest, and his mind did as well. His two companions had yelled at him for an hour after Kagome disappeared.

Sango was emotionally destroyed, she had cried for hours and hours incessantly stopping every now and then to gain breath. He could understand her though, she had lost her brother Kohaku because if Naraku, and now her best friend, had disappeared. It must have been a shock for her.

Miroku had been sad as well, even though he was a complete pervert, he did care for Kagome, and apart from this, what made Sango sad, made the bozu sad too.

As for Shippo he had passed out the exact moment he had heard of his step-mum’s leaving. He had been asleep for ages now, never waking for any matter. Even during his sleep the kitsune would cry and call for the young miko.

"You should get some rest Inu-yasha", said a voice from under him.

"So you were awake huh bozu?", said the hanyou a little irritated.

"Yes, I was", replied Miroku

"What do you want?" asked Inuyasha, seeing the glint in the monks eyes.

"Now, seriously Inuyasha, have you done something to Kagome-sama?" said the houshi.

"Humph, none of your business." he said and turned his back to Miroku in a don’t-question-any-more-or-I’ll-beat-the-crap out of you way.

"Inuyasha, Miroku, I think we should start looking for Kagome-chan again, I don’t want something happening to her.", piped in Sango, who’s eyes were red and sore.

"Lets go then", said Miroku.

‘Wait up Kagome, we’re coming’ thought Inuyasha.

"Ka-go-me…" whimpered Shippou in his sleep.

And again they started looking for their dear and lost friend.

***

The girl had stopped crying loudly; the salty scent of tears still lingered in the area, but it looked as if the girl had enough dignity not to cry in front of people, maybe. Her aura though, was pitch back, a sign that she was quite sad and angry. An aura like that would have scared the hell out of anybody. Well, anybody except himself. He wasn’t concerned about this anyway. He wanted to know why she had attacked Rin, even if the girl meant really little to him, no one dared touching what was his. And so, "Wench, you will tell this Sesshoumaru why you threatened Rin’s life." He said it a slow yet in a dangerous way; it would have given the shivers to anything, even trees.

Kagome had snapped out of her daze right after Sesshoumaru’s question. ‘Is he thinking straight?’ she thought to herself. ‘Me attacking Rin?’ She could already feel her anger rising. She had saved Rin from near death and he still had the courage to blame to blame! Was he going nuts? She didn’t care if his voice was threatening, or if he was projecting her death, she would try and get into his stubborn and pride mind that she was supposed to be the good girl in the story.

Calming down a bit she started, "Sesshoumaru, I think we haven’t well understood things as they are. It seems that I haven’t even attempted to harm Rin, let alone kill her. To say the truth I found her half dead in the middle of the forest at night. When she woke up she called for you right away." She said slowly. "I guess she is very fond of you. Anyway, I don’t know if she told you about me, neither I care, but just for you to know, my name is Kagome."

He took a closer look at the woman-child before his eyes. Kagome? Yes Rin had told him about an ‘Angel lady’ called Kagome, but he doubted it was this human. Nothing but her hair matched with Rin’s description. "Answer another question then. Why were you there when Rin was attacked?"

She still had her back to him, but he could understand she was pissed. Her black aura had now a mixed with a dark light blue color and her scent was that of an outraged being. She still surprised him though, why would her anger be light blue instead of red? That was very unusual for a human if even possible, only certain youkai had that kind of aura and they were nearly extinct.

Kagome was so angry now. He still doubted? Well, in fact what she had told him wasn’t much, and somebody who was keeping your back to you wasn’t probably really that reliable in the Western lord’s head. Trying to keep her anger at bait she sat up and slowly turned.

She didn’t fell scared, not even a little, but couldn’t help from keep a frown on her face. "I guess it would be easier for us to talk if I were facing you wouldn’t it, Sesshoumaru-sama?" She stated coldly, all emotions about Inuyasha forgotten, there were more important matters at hand. She wasn’t going to look miserable in front of Sesshoumaru, today and for eternity.

She knew that if she trained hard with her powers, they could’ve been nearly equal, even if in two different ways. As well as this, she had her own pride to keep, even if she didn’t show it often. She wouldn’t back down nor bow to anyone except her parents.

Sesshoumaru was more than surprised now. Her aura was a grayish light blue slightly tainted by black and her face held an arrogant frown. A clear sign she wasn’t going to yield. That was not all though, what had caught his attention were her eyes; they were now a glowing light blue. Her pupils were no long black, but a little bit darker azure than the rest of her eyes. She looked almost like a demon, yet, she wasn’t.

A look like that on a human, a human ‘miko’ none the less, looked out of place. What kind of being was this woman.

Again, he looked at her, she was he only person who had willingly stared at him in the eyes. None had the courage or resistance to do such a thing. Yet, here she was, a pathetic human was looking at him as if she wanted to kill him.

---End Chapter III---

 

------                                                                                                                                                                        ---Chapter IV---