InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Behind Ancient Mists ❯ Chapter 1

 

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of “Inuyasha” by Rumiko Takahashi nor do I own the world as put in place by Saranne Dawson's “Secret's of the Wolf.”

 

A/N: Leaning off of the disclaimer I do however own Jira Nakada, even though he practically dies in this chapter… Oh well so much for me owning a character. I tell you I invent them and then kill them off like that! I'm such an evil authoress. Anyways he will still play a major role in the story despite being dead. (Oh wait… did I just tell you that? Oops. Never mind.)

.

.

.

.

« Behind Ancient Mists »

.

.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Chapter One

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

.

.

.

Inochi. Life. It was not supposed to end like this, nor was it to begin in this way. So many things to be left undone—unsaid, and to have breath cut off from you at such a sudden moment… Kagome shivered at her thoughts as her hands clung to her from the cold. A life just didn't end this way. Here she was, cold and helpless by her uncle's gravesite, shivering. It was as if she held nothing more to do that entire day but stare at those words etched in stone: `Jira Nakada: Great man, father, and teacher. He will be remembered.'

 

Kagome hated those words, for they were so cold and distant. Those words did not tell of the man who had picked her up from school each morning with a smile and a kiss. Those words could not fathom the man who had on several occasions shared a roast of marshmallows by the fire with her and ate ramen until they both felt sick. Those words did not hold his laughter, or joy, or criticism, or knowledge. All these words held were his fate, the unseen words that floated above the stone that could only read: `Jira Nakada: Murder victim number one-hundred and three.'

 

Still, there were some disconcerting points to his murder. He lived in a quiet neighborhood that had until now seen little violence. And the murderer had failed to take either his money or his many expensive antiques. He'd been stabbed to death in his doorway as he returned home shortly past noon.

 

Overcome with shock, Kagome had been forced to spend that day stacking and accounting for all aspects of Jira's home to see if something was not there. As far as they could tell, nothing was—and the police found that very odd for sure. A murder without murder was unheard of, and even so many valuable items had been laid precariously around the home, yet none had been taken.

 

Nakada-san had possessed many things that should have fascinated a thief: expensive vases from ancient Japanese eras such as the Kamakura era and the era of the Warring States, but the most valuable of all The moonlit diamond. Over the years it had been shaped into a necklace, but it had been said throughout legend that the great lord of the Taisho era had it crafted for his future wife, who incidentally died before they could be married. It was a tragic story that Uncle Jira had told everyone close to him each time they visited it. The necklace, however, had been the only item stored away into a locked container that only Kagome and her mother had known the key to. Kagome had never noticed the strangeness of that one item until that moment, but the thought whisked away when the police chief asked if she had found anything. Placing on a fictitious smile, recognizable to only those who know her, Kagome swiftly knocked the case underneath the covered desk with her foot.

 

“Nothing at all officer; the rooms appear unharmed,” she had said. The had man looked questioning at her before dismissing it and calling her back to the car so she could be taken back to the station until new housing could be arranged. The police feared that the man's only remaining relative might be in some danger, being the murderer was still at large. Kagome had accepted the kind offer because she knew nothing else she could do. She doubted any rational reason could explain the reason for her uncle's death, especially a deliberate death. The man had no enemies. Everyone who knew him had loved him. He had held the good fate to own a bright mind in combination with a dry and often unusual wit.

 

Still, that moment had passed and here she was still standing watching the only life other than her own she had ever been close too after her father's death. Through the haze of unshed tears, Kagome watched as the casket was lowered into the grave. Suddenly she hated the ritual. It seemed so pointless. The minister beckoned them forward to throw in the first shovel full of dirt.

 

Many of those that comforted her offered condolences saying that the event was sure to be hard on her, but that it was necessary as part of the reality in dealing with his death. Kagome felt like a small child again even at her age that one should need such representations to prove that he was gone; she knew Jira was gone and in holding back both fear and pity for herself she turned away and walked off.

.

.

.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

.

.

.

Kagome remembered every inch of the cabin like she was eight years old again. Her Uncle had built the place as a summer home and he and Kagome had loved every moment they spent there, especially when it became the only other home she knew other than his apartment back in the city. Out here, in the wild woods was a completely different experience, one that was urethral by its very nature. Out here she could count the many constellations of stars and listen to the owls hoot and the wolves howl. It was for these sounds at night that Kagome did not always find sleep when she stayed, yet it was not because of fright, but fascination. While many she knew had considered the cry of a wolf to be eerie and frightful, a sound, which instinctively brings out the guns, but to her it, had always been awe. Even the distant coyotes and wild dogs called forth this feeling from her. It had become not so much a pastime as a nightly enjoyment, one that was obsessed and awaited upon.

 

The cabin had been Jira's secret place, the place where he had come to reflect and to get away from the many weights upon his shoulders. It was true that she knew the area like her own reflection, but to be truthfully honest the cabin held just as many secrets as the man whom had built it.

Grabbing a box from the back of her car, filled with her Uncle Jira's many books and collectables she made her way inside and, one by one, found places for each of the items. After hours of hard work Kagome fell back into the nearest chair and put her face in her palms; softly she began to cry.

 

“This place is just like it always was and I… but it's just not the same without… him.”

 

In a way, he'd been a father figure, stepping in to replace her real father, who'd died when she was only ten. Still, somehow, their relationship had remained free of any parent-child tension. Instead, Jira had become her best friend: not only the person to whom she confided her humdrum troubles, but the one who listened to her thoughts, who saw the best in her and made her see it as well.

 

Finally stepping up from her spot of resting she went into the kitchen and made to brew herself a cup of honey lemon tea. She had never cared for the drink as a child, but it seemed to help her most, as she got older for stress. Walking into the room again she noticed just how much the room held the aroma of her departed uncle. A faint trace of pipe smoke greeted her, mingling satisfyingly with the stronger odor of wood-smoke. Taking a quick breath in she continued on out to the porch out at the back. Instantly she felt the brisk air hit her and in mix with the hot fluid down her throat Kagome felt calmer at last.

 

“Perhaps this will not be so awful a situation after all. At least I can know that with time the smell of him will fade.” Her smile darkened as she buried her nose over the steam from her cup as she whispered even softer to herself. “I just wish that I wanted it to.”

 

Instantly with her last thought the wind picked up in a sudden gust force and her hair went flying. Kagome sighed deeply that apparently a storm was rolling in and with one look to the quite distant mountains, which seemed to only be a dark haze, Kagome turned to leave. Then her eyes widened, for a strange feeling had come over her, like eyes were piercing through her. Kagome just knew at that moment something was watching her, but what?

 

She turned around slowly, placed her cup down on the railing and with a hand against the corner post as she slowly scanned her surround­ings. The cabin was very remote, situated in the cen­ter of a twenty-acre plot that Jira had bought many years ago. The land was positioned on the border of a large forest. The woods grew close to the cabin in all directions, and now, in the glowing light that was the setting sun, the shadows were already deep ravines into the ground.

 

Kagome watched the woods, holding her breath as she focused in on any possible sound. She listened for the sound of snapping twigs as she strained her eyes to see into the dim woods. Suddenly she saw movement deep in the shadows. She peered intently, but with the light escaping her vision could not clearly make out anything.

She turned her attention back, won­dering if the movement could possibly have been a stray dog. Jira had mentioned wild ones before, but only as far off as the deeper woods, miles off. He had told her that they never came too close to any sort of civilization, even a lonely cabin such as this. Kagome had always doubted that little bit of information, but now she held onto it as the only thread left to her sanity. Kagome would not go to bed believing she was hearing and seeing things, this cabin was eerie enough at night.

 

She reentered the structure if only to put away the dishes and grab herself a heavier coat and like many nights before, Kagome could tell she would not be getting to bed until late. Feeling at bliss she even closed her eyes passed the time when the feeling rushed up her slower than before. It was that feeling she was being watched again and despite all her attempts to ignore it, she could not. She opened her eyes slowly as to scan the area once more.

 

Nil. She saw nothing. The area was silent and still other than the somber hooting of an owl deep in the woods. She was trapped between her inquisitiveness as to what could be out there and her knowledge of her own susceptibility. She thought about going inside to get Jira's gun. He kept a firearm up here, and she knew how to use it. He'd shown her.

 

But her delight in sitting out here had gone. She kept imagining some creature suddenly bounding out of the darkness at her in attack. It did not help that she could feel its presence. Her mother would have called this `intuition,' but this was much more unnerving then any household jinx. She had always held the ability to sense things around her; to this day a friend sneaking up behind her or a car lurching out at her on the streets never frightened her. This—this, however, was different—stronger. She could feel whatever it was; it was right on her and not miles away where she would usually pick up these sorts of things. Whatever it was, it held stealth, inhuman-like at that. What made Kagome shiver even further was that the nature of this `thing' seemed even beyond … well nature itself.

 

Deciding she had witnessed enough, Kagome went inside, turned off the lights and fell into bed for perhaps the first time in eleven years before complete nightfall. Only the flash of a white tail remained in her memory.

 

- - - - - -

 

From beneath the brush of the woods that surrounded the cabin a pair of primitive golden eyes slipped into view, then slowly the head of a wild dog, unusually white and silver. Tiny flecks of its eyes gleamed as they watched the woman retreat back into the doors and the warmth. The creature perked up its ears and tuned its head to watch all lights go out. It's tail swished in anticipation after seeing this; it was as if it was expressing with all of it's being one single message: `Finally.'

 

The dog inched forward.

.

.

.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

.

.

.

So, that's the end to Chapter 1.

Please review if you wish (honestly, you don't have to)! ^.^

~MickeytheMouse