InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ And all else will fade ❯ Of souls and desire... ( Chapter 3 )

Kagome

 

The silence was mortifying.

 

Sango's face was completely rigid, unrelenting, her lips pursed and white at the edges. Inu Yasha had sunk into his usual sulk and Shippo and Kirara were disturbed and bewildered, to say the least. I was beside myself with worry and confusion mulling over the events that had happened in the past few hours. Miroku's disappearance, that strange, evil… thing, whatever had happened to Sango… and we had just continued walking.

 

My curiosity and fear of what I would know while satisfying that curiosity waged a terrible battle within me, eating away at my soul, bit by bit. Drops of sweat cascaded down my brow, and my fingers picked nervously at my bag strap.

 

Finally, after what seemed like forever, I couldn't bear it anymore.

 

“STOP!” I screamed, my emotions tumbling over each other in order to be heard first. Not surprisingly, anger and impatience won the race.

The others turned around to look at me, exhaustion and incredulity intermingling on their faces.

 

“Aren't we going to look for Miroku?” I asked agitatedly. “And would you mind telling me what in hell happened back there with the whatever-it-was?” The latter question I directed to Sango.

 

Sango lowered her eyes and the worry lines on her forehead deepened. She took a breath, as if summoning her courage, and looked as if she were about to speak, when Inu Yasha interrupted her.

 

“The monk is gone,” he said shortly. “There's nothing we can do.”

 

My eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. “What??!!” It couldn't be…! Sure, Miroku isn't what you would call a perfect `woman's friend' (whatever that is) but he had been a good friend nevertheless… I couldn't imagine commencing our journey without the lecherous, wise (?), staff-wielding young monk by our side. Just couldn't…

 

“I'm afraid you're wrong about that, Inu Yasha,” Sango said softly, before I could voice anymore loud exclamations of disbelief and grief. “Heh?” The half-demon shifted his gaze to her. “What do you mean, Sango? How could Miroku possibly be alive? Did you see what that was?”

 

Sango nodded. “But it told me something… that there is a way to save Miroku.”

 

Inu Yasha scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Did it, now? I wouldn't trust it too much, ya know. They are known to be very misleading…”

 

“But this is our only chance. I believe we should take the risk…”

 

My forehead creased in confusion. “Uh, guys? I think you're losing me here.”

 

Shippo gave a short laugh and stepped forward. “Let me explain,” he offered.

 

“Go ahead.”

 

Shippo settled himself comfortably on my bike seat, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on them. “That monster, Kagome, was a Soul-eater; probably the most terrifying that has ever been seen in history.” He paused dramatically, then continued, “Legend has it that Soul Eaters are born out of the intricate complexities of human emotion. It, in its mildest form, is very common among human beings: there are stages when the human feels sadness so profound that soon he feels emotionally numb- and physically weak. That is when the Soul Eaters make their first strike.”

 

“Or depression,” I said, nodding, inwardly smiling at the superstitious labels the Feudal people attached to unexplained phenomena.

 

“But it usually doesn't work for the Soul Eater, for they are destroyed before they can grow- which they do very slowly,” Shippo said.

 

“How- how are they destroyed?” I asked curiously.

 

“Tears,” Shippo said simply. “Crying- showing your emotions out; cleansing your emotional capacity, so to speak, inhibits the Soul Eater's growth, and, consequentially, destroys them.”

 

I looked at the young fox-demon incredulously. When did Shippo learn to speak like this?

 

Shippo smiled sheepishly at me, accurately interpreting my facial expression. “When- when father was alive-” he choked a little, and I gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, “we came across a human who wanted to kill us. We killed him easily enough, and it turned out that he possessed various scriptures. My father brought back one and read it to me: the one about the Soul Eaters.”

 

I nodded. “So. Okay, then. Now we know Miroku's in the clutches of an extraordinarily powerful Soul Eater. How did he get that way in the first place?”

 

Shippo wrinkled his face in thought, thinking back to what his father had told him, ages ago. “As I said earlier, a Soul Eater grows very slowly. Miroku must have been bottling up pretty powerful emotions for a long time, allowing the Soul Eater to feast on them. Now, it has become nearly invincible. It has transported Miroku into his own personal hell: a borderline between death and life.”

 

My eyes widened. Could Miroku really have held back his emotions so long? So long that it would lead him to death? But then again, when you think about, it does seem possible. Miroku had been the one person in our group who never really showed out on his face what he was thinking. His twinkling indigo eyes were always an enigma to all of us, and so were his lecherous ways. But now I realised that they were all just a façade- a screen to hide feelings more profound- deep sadness, fear, lingering regret, even… love?

 

Inu Yasha's voice brought me back to Earth. “So how do we get him back?”

 

Shippo shook his head sadly. “Once he's reached this stage, there's no saving him. Maybe, there might be a way, before Death completely claims him, but there are none that I have heard of.”

 

There was heavy, grieving silence before Sango asked abruptly, “How long?”

 

We stared at her uncomprehendingly.

 

Sango tried again. “How long- before Miroku finally dies?”

 

Shippo shrugged. “Around 48 hours or so,” he said. “Why do you ask?”

 

“Because- because that monster told me how to get him back.”

 

Impossible hope glimmered from within the depths of despair. “How? What did it tell you?” I asked eagerly. Sango bit her lip and spoke.

 

“It- it told me that the only way to bring back Miroku was to find the Leaf of Holiness, which can be found in the middle of the Northern Forests.”

 

I nearly burst out laughing. “You got to be kidding,” I cried. “Leaf of Holiness? What kind of crap is that?!”

 

Sango looked at me coldly. “It's crap that can save Miroku's life.” The chill tone of her voice startled me and I immediately gave up any impressions, however vague, that Sango was joking. “Okay,” I said, automatically putting up my hands in defence. “We'll find it. But, Sango, aren't we searching in the woods, where, um, if you won't mind my observing, there are millions of leaves?”

 

A ghost of a smile twitched Sango's lips. “It is a special leaf; we would know it, or rather, feel it as soon as we see it.”

 

Shippo's ears twitched. “So you're saying we can trace it with our feelings?”

 

Sango nodded. “Something like that.”

 

Inu Yasha put up his hands, his amber eyes uncharacteristically thoughtful. “Wait a second, everybody. We're talking about Soul Eaters here. What if this is a trap?”

 

“You have any better ideas?” Sango snapped fiercely.

 

Inu Yasha, for probably the first time in his life (and that's something, considering that he's half-demon) looked chastised. He bowed his head. “No.”

 

Sango nodded coldly and grabbed the Hiraikatsu, hefting it onto her back. “Seeing that's settled…”

 

She climbed onto a waiting Kirara.

 

“Northern woods, it is, then.”

 

……………………… ;…………………………R 30;…………………………&# 8230;………………………… …

 

 

I would have preferred the mortifying silence.

 

The walk through the dense forest was terrifying, to say the least. Especially with Inu Yasha as my only companion and weird growls and moans sounding from the darkest corners of the foliage… I regretted that I had agreed to split up our group when we had reached a fork. Sango, Shippo and Kirara had taken the path on the right, while Inu Yasha and I had taken the other. I didn't really want to split; didn't want to risk losing another friend, but I had to admit that splitting would make it infinitely easier to find the Leaf.

 

And yet…

 

I had this thick, choking feeling of foreboding that nearly turned my legs into jelly. At certain places, the low, animal growls would intensify into full-blown, blood-curdling shrieks of despair that would have my hair standing on end. The darkness too, grew thicker, with every turn in the narrow path. My stomach and my watch told me it was sometime in noon, but the darkness around me hinted at midnight in the pits of hell.

 

But still, I had Inu Yasha.

 

The hanyou had been rather quiet throughout the entire journey, but the sight of his strong person walking boldly in front of me, was reassuring, to say the least. And strangely… stimulating.

 

Suddenly, something dropped on the pathway ahead of me, and I screamed. It had only been a twig, but it still creeped me out. Immediately, Inu Yasha was by my side, holding me to one side with one arm, while the other reached for the Tetsusaiga. “Kagome!”

 

I found great comfort and… happiness (?) in his voice, at the obvious concern it held. When he had made sure that it was nothing, he turned to release me when I spoke out huskily.

 

“Don't leave me, Inu Yasha.”

 

He froze, his amber eyes wide with surprise. I caressed his cheek and they softened. “Kagome…” he whispered.

 

At that beautiful moment, as we gazed into each other's eyes, I forgot everything: about Miroku, friends, school, home, the Sacred Jewel, Naraku, Kikiyo… everything, except how much I loved Inu Yasha.

 

A hungry desire erupted within me, sweeping into every pore of my being. Right then, everything I had ever wanted was Inu Yasha. Nothing else mattered. A thrill shot trough my spine as I saw the same feelings in his amber eyes.

 

Our lips met in a passionate kiss… our love will grow, shining like a beacon to light up the universe…

 

And all else will fade…