InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bloodlust: Purity ❯ Night Rain ( Chapter 25 )

Chapter 25

Night Rain

 

In Miroku's house, blood colored all thoughts and turned words into silence. Outside, walking through the trees, Shippou did not know that there was panic, could not even scent Sango's danger through the trees, and his attention was on Murasaki. She had dressed in a borrowed yukata of Sango's, white and faintly embroidered with green vines. His eyes followed them, the long curls and curlicues, twists of thread that filled out to fragile leaves and wove in on themselves again. For a while, they walked without speaking, and Murasaki tingled with concern. He had asked her to come with him, to walk with him; she could not understand why.

Hesitant, her eyes flickering up to his face and then away, she tried to ask him the questions that were the cause of her unease.

 

*My own fault. My own, fault, but what else is there for me to do?*

 

"You were - gone for a long time, Shippou."

"Yes."

He still did not volunteer any information, not even a word, and she felt a shiver of fear. The smell of it was sharp and bitter over the usual faintness of her scent. Shippou stopped walking and turned towards her.

"You shouldn't be afraid, Murasaki."

"But you went - to say -"

She stopped, started again.

"Your father. The lord Kinawai - you -"

A second time, she stopped, but he knew the words that could not make their way off her tongue.

"I told them what you told me; but they won't hurt you. As long - as you don't hurt us."

At the open statement, the soft words and their meanings both shallow and deep, Murasaki looked somehow, not relieved, not relaxed, but - calmer. Yes, calmer.

"It - would be wrong, Shippou. I cannot do it."
"Cannot? Death, battle, those are in the nature of youkai. Sometimes I think those things are the nature of youkai.

The green gleam of his eyes intensified, a bright, lime shine in the dimness.

"I am not - what I seem. Did I not tell you that? I did, I know I did -"

"So tell me, what are you? Who are you, Murasaki?"

She looked away from him and shook her head.

"I told you, I serve - her, in the Celestial City. My -sister and I. We are tennyo, heavenly beings. Because once, we pitied her, she now rules over us and all the things that were under our care. Time, she has taken...Time. And now I am here, enfleshed in a demon-body. Yet, it is not that which bothers me, Shippou."

She flushed, but continued anyway.

"I think I am fallen in love with that feeling - that feeling, that came over me when I followed you and leapt out into the dark.”
He laughed, just a little, half-sound half-silence. He could not believe her; he could not deny her.

“Murasaki-tennyo. I see.”

Again, she shook her head.

“No, no, Murasaki is not -”

"Shh! Wait -"

There was a sound, or a scent - maybe both? It was faint, so faint, and he could not identify it or locate it.

 

*Maybe...I imagined it?*

 

He shook his head, looked back at Murasaki.

"Sorry, what were you saying?"
"Someone is here. Someone - aren't they? I know it, even though...I am not used to this body, these senses. You know!"

He shook his head, but she ignored him, her eyes wild, scanning the horizon as if there was something she could see, a something she could find that would prevent....what?

"No, no...I should have known when your brother failed to wake when I intended. She has been watching me, all this time; as long as I am near you and your family, there is danger. She can see you, through me ."

"You still haven't told me her interest, Murasaki. You have not told me why she wants to do my family harm."

"You don't know, you can't see it? You and yours...the most powerful, the most dangerous. What other reason does she need? Without your father to fear the demon council would probably tear itself to pieces. Without the lord Kinawai, it would probably fall apart - without both of them, one or the other is inevitable. No one would be left to put it back together. When the last of the demons are dead, and the world is empty of youkai, this earth will become a paradise for men, a world without fear. So says Akasuki-Kami."

"And what about you? What says Murasaki-tennyo?"

He stood with a finger outstretched; a sparkle of moonlight gleamed off his claw like it would off steel. Murasaki hesitated for the space of a long, indrawn breath and then turned to look him full in the face.

"There is something beautiful in the strength of your people, Shippou, in the strength of youkai. I have seen it for myself, felt it. I do not believe this world will be the same without it; I think...that something vital will be lost, that something will be taken out, not added. But -”

“But?”

His voice projected a strained control, but so did hers.

“But I am only tennyo, not kami. I am only the servant, not the mistress.”

“Correct!”

There was a rush of air behind them, a whistling sound, and they spun as one, their backs to the village now, staring out together into the darkness in search of that voice. Shippou tasted a scent like wind, faint, and fading fast, but he did not need scent to find the source of that word. A tall, thin figure was walking towards them, a woman with a face that was reminiscent of Murasaki's, but with neither youkai sharpness nor Murasaki's own softness.

“Amaya!”
Shippou's eyes darted sideways and down, scanned Murasaki's face as her lips open and closed on the name.

“You know her?”
“She is my - sister. We watched the Celestial City together, before Akasuki came.”
“Akasuki-kami!”

Again, the angry interruption.

“I told her that you were tainted, that you had lost yourself in this...this flesh. I didn't think that it would be this bad, that I would hear your betrayal -”

“Amaya!”

Shippou had not seen Murasaki angry before, but now she was more than angry, more than furious, and the suddenness of it was part of its power. White sparks lifted off her skin, and he took one step sideways to avoid them. His ears had taken in his father's words, and Kinawai's - he had no desire to test any heavenly powers.

"You, you are betraying! You know what she is doing - Akasuki-Leiko! We were to serve, but this, this Amaya? What will you say before the Heavenly Council, tell me that!"

There was a flicker; Shippou saw it, moving like the light of a candle in an unsteady hand - not in the eyes of this Amaya, but behind them, and then it went out.

"The Heavenly Council will be pleased with our work; with the deaths of so many powerful demons."

There were white sparks lifting now from Amaya's skin, too, but Shippou tasted darkness in them, not the pure light of Murasaki's glittering power. Gently at first, and then harder, he found himself laughing, laughing at the thought of such a little thing, this tennyo, causing harm to - what had Murasaki said? - "You and yours; the most powerful, the most dangerous."

It was the first time he had ever had occasion to think of it just that way, but it was true! He, too, was strong, now - he had power, just like his kin.

"Demon! How dare you laugh at the emissary of Akasuki-kami? This does not concern you yet, but beware!"

Amaya advanced slowly towards Murasaki, and he saw the evil intent in her eyes, the ill-will, the urge to hurt. He thought it ugly in her, though he had seen such intentions before and thought nothing of them.

 

*But - as Murasaki says, she is Tennyo. And that should mean - something.*

 

"Amaya, or whoever you are - be careful. I'm not going to let you hurt Murasaki."

She laughed, as if to echo his earlier endeavor, but the sound made no impression. There was a hot flow in his veins, just beneath the surface, waiting for him to call to it. He knew what it was - he had known since he was a kit that there was fire in him, fox-fire. Amaya either could not see that potential, or she was not impressed.

"You will prevent me? Kitsune, you are not even worth my attention!"

Amaya didn't even turn in his direction; all her attention was still focused on Murasaki, the one she had chosen as her enemy.

"I will teach you a lesson, and you will come back with me. Akasuki-kami will know what to do with you!"

Shippou allowed her only one step forward, and then he moved. Not as fast as his father, not as fast as Kinawai, he was still more than quick enough to astonish Amaya; she breathed in, and he was in front of her; she breathed out, and his hands were full of blue fire, bright and flaring.

"Be careful, tennyo. When I was small my birth-father told me stories of the days when gods and demons fought for the earth. And we won! Are you listening? We won!"

The fire raced from his fingers like the threads of a hundred unreeling spools, and the individual threads coiled and snapped around her outstretched arms, her outspread fingers. The faint, sparkling whiteness faded, and died; she made a strangled sound, and he released her and stepped back. He was smiling, but he was still wary; he did not intend to make mistakes.

"You! You dare -"

Shippou heard Murasaki take a step behind him, only one, and then fall still.

 

*She does not argue for her friend? But no. She knows - what is going to happen now.*

 

"Yes. I dare. I would tell you to bring a message to your Leiko, but you are not going to her. You - you are going nowhere."

His emphasis made his intention clear; the blue fire flashed from his hands, a comet-shape of flying death. Where the light touched, Amaya became black dust; it took only a second, like a flash fire in a dry field, but Shippou's eyes recorded every instant of that second. He felt pleasure as hot as the fire, the pleasure of pride - but when he turned to Murasaki, her face quenched the feeling.

"Murasaki - "

"I know. I know, I know, I know - but - but - "

"But she was - your sister-"

"No! That person you killed...that person you killed, I did not know her, Shippou. Akasuki-Leiko - what is she doing, Shippou? What has she done?"

He shook his head.

"I don't know. Come on, Murasaki. We have to go back to the village. I have to tell my father...what I've done."

When he said that, there was another flicker of pride, that warm emotion. Sesshomaru would be pleased, and mother....

 

~=~

From the darkness of dreams she could not remember, Kagome snapped awake with unusual suddenness. Sango was sleeping restlessly; beside her, Miroku sat up, holding her hand, his eyes red and bleary. Kagome stole across the room, and sat down lightly beside him.

“Is she - any better?”
“Teza says she lost a great deal of blood - like I didn't know that. She said...this birth will be harder on her than the others, that the bleeding could start again at any time. For now...she is resting; until the child is born Teza says she'll have to stay in bed.”

“Sango won't like that.”

“No. I suppose she won't.”

"Want some tea?"

"No, thanks. I'm just..."

He shrugged, smiled faintly, a wan, pale smile, and Kagome shivered. For the second time since she had woken, she felt as though something were wrong, off, no longer connected to her. There was an emptiness as of something missing, something forgotten, something...that flowed. But she could not put her finger on it. It was that feeling that had woken her so abruptly; what was it?

“I am going outside, for a while. Call if you need me, Miroku.”

He nodded, but his eyes did not leave Sango's face.

Kagome found Sesshomaru outside, and Kouga, standing with him. She was grateful to see them together, father and son; Sesshomaru seemed to have a calming influence on whatever restless power moved the wolf-spirit in her son - and the girl, too - Murasaki. Shippou said she had helped, too.

“Mate.”

Sesshomaru smiled at her in greeting, and she stepped close, lay a hand on Kouga's arm.

“Kouga, how are you feeling?”

“Better. Much better, actually. That wolf - she did something to me, but I'm not complaining. And that girl, Miroku and Sango's girl - “'

“Kuromi?'

Inwardly, Kagome grinned.

“Yes, Kuromi.”

“What about her?'

“She made tea for me. She said the old miko had showed her how; it tasted...odd, but I feel more awake now.”

“Yes, Kaede had begun to show her some things, before she died. Teza offered to continue her training, but she wanted to live a normal life, have a husband - a mate - and children.”

“Oh. She is miko?”

“She....could be.”

Kagome's attention turned from her son to Sesshomaru, and from him out across the shadowed grass to the horizon. The last of the sunset's red and violet had darkened into night, but his attention was not on the sky. His face had a closed, listening expression that she knew well.

“Is something wrong, mate?”

“Wrong? Not...wrong, exactly. It is not right, either. The land is restless; that power is moving, more than I have seen it since...”

He shook his head, and then again as if that could clear it.

“And I can't think of any reason, Kagome - not unless someone has come there, inside our home, and tried to -”

But he stopped speaking, because of the expression on her face - luminous horror.
“Sesshomaru, Sesshomaru, I knew there was someone...we had forgotten.”

Their eyes met over Kouga's head, and Kagome swallowed thickly.

“Soki. Sesshomaru - we forgot - we forgot Soki. She - she -”

Into her thoughts sprang that bright, smiling face - how could she have done it? How could she have forgotten the girl? If something had happened to the child, the responsibility was hers, all hers. She was the one who had woken her from the long, dark sleep - the one who had given her back life.

 

*And why, if I was only going to let it be taken away?*

Sesshomaru's eyes showed concern, distress at her distress, but Soki had not been his, not like Rin.

 

*No, not like Rin. It is my fault, only my fault. But what do I do now?*

 

She stared past the grass, into the shivering edge of trees as if she could see across the miles, see through them as one sees through a window. In all her years with Sesshomaru, she still had not seen that living power waked to full life; she had never seen what it was that was the danger, but without seeing, she still knew. The promise, the power, floated in the walls and over thresholds, humming with the subtle scent of its own latent stirring.

“I have to go back, mate. I have to find her.”

“She cannot be alive, Kagome. There is no way -”

“It doesn't matter! I have to go - “

“Mother?”

They looked down, both of them at once, at Kouga's upturned face.

“I'll go, mother. If she - if she hasn't - I'll bring her back. I wanted to be alone for a while, anyway. I need to think while I can.”

He smiled quickly, a fleeting expression, and did not wait for their agreement but was off and running, a pale blur that disappeared into the east.

“While...he can?”

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. He had already warned his son; there was nothing else he could do. It was up to Kouga, what would happen...only Kouga could decide. Very suddenly, Kagome gripped his arm and took a quick, short step to stand beside him.

"I'm...afraid, mate."

Her voice was soft, the tone that he always felt just after he heard it - sometimes before.

"Afraid?"

He kept coolness in the word, calming coolness, but it was not enough to ease this particular care.

"Of what is happening around us. Of what has happened to Sango; what if she dies, Sesshomaru?"

"Then she dies."

She flinched away from him, actually took a step back, but he caught hold of her hands and held them very tightly.

"Does it sound harsh, Kagome? I am sorry - I do not mean to be harsh. But she is a mortal woman, human; when her flesh is weary, she will stop, and her legacy is to continue onward through her children."

"You-"

"I know this! The Houshi and I have discussed it - he knew that someday, one of them, both of them would die, and he has worried for you. He knows that your heart is not..."

"I don't want to lose her!"

She came back into his arms and he winced at the sound of cloth tearing, his tunic under her claws.

"Mate - mate!"

Carefully, he untangled her claws and gripping fingers, and wiped away gathering unshed tears.

"She is a strong woman - yes? I do not think she will die without a struggle; I do not think death will find it easy to take her."

Kagome tried a smile.

"You're right, of course. And Miroku - it's so much worse for him. I -"

She stopped; at the same instant, Sesshomaru turned away from her to stare out at the forest.

"What -!"

A bright, white light erupted like pillar of fire, and then was consumed in darkness, smoke with a light of its own, blue and deep.

"Shippou!"

Sesshomaru's eyes lingered, when she turned to look at him; he knew she was right, could feel it in the air.

"Yes. He is strong, now - stronger than I suspected. Come with me, Kagome. Tell me, who do you think could make Shippou angry enough that he would kill them? Who do you think has done that?"
She had no answer for him; she could not think of anyone who might provoke him that way. He was the mildest of her children, the softest in temper even compared to Rin.

"I don't know - I can't think - "

"I will tell you, mate. You think of him still as a child, the kit you found - but he is growing, and his power is grown with him. He is kitsune! You do not think of that."

"But - that doesn't tell me -"

"His strength is for anyone who threatens what is his, now. That is what I am telling you. So, if he is showing that power finally, it is because someone threatens him...or one of us, one of his family."

"Threatens - "

"Yes. So - are you coming, mate?"

He sped across the grass, towards the trees and that pillar of light and smoke, fading now. Kagome took in a surprised breath, and then followed him.
In the midst of the trees, they found a wide, burned space, and Shippou, standing beside the wolf, Murasaki. Blue flame still flickered at the edges of leaves on some of the scorched trees, and the green of Shippou's eyes still flickered with a pulse of the same fire.

"Father - mother - "

"Shippou, what are you doing? Who have you slain?"

Sesshomaru steps were swift and even; he stopped when they were eye to eye and Kagome, too, stopped, struck for the first time by the awareness that Shippou truly had grown - he was nearly as tall as Sesshomaru now, his eyes harder, his features sharper.

*When did that happen?*

 

The moment passed; Sesshomaru and Shippou held eyes, and Kagome noticed another thing that had changed - Shippou's hands were outstretched, holding back the wolf-girl. The darkness that was in Sesshomaru's face, Kagome had seen before, but this time it was all directed at Murasaki.

 

*Why?*

 

"Shippou!"

He swallowed quickly; Kagome saw his throat move, but when he spoke his voice was steady.

"I killed - a tennyo. A tennyo, named Amaya."

Kagome and Sesshomaru drew in a breath together, equally shocked. Sesshomaru's face grew a wide, hard, smile; Kagome stood silent with her surprise.

"Well. I told your mother you had strength; that is enough demonstration for anyone. Why are you protecting this one, Shippou?"

His eyes widened, and the last of the blue flicker died from them.

"Murasaki is - it is true she is tennyo, like the other. But - Amaya came to kill her, for her betrayal. She helped Kouga; she tells me the truth."

"Kouga, hmm?"

At the mention of his son, Sesshomaru's eyes flickered, red and back again, as he focused on Murasaki.

"What do you know about my son, wolf? Or are you tennyo? What could you for Kouga?"

Slowly, Murasaki's eyes lifted until she met Sesshomaru's gaze. He had an uncomfortable feeling, like she was peeling away parts of him, and then she looked away.

"I know he is in danger, honorable lord. Inside him, there is a battle - between the old soul and the new. They are not one - they are not two. It is Akasuki-kami, blending them, the fragile halves. I - gave him sleep, but he slept for too long...and now I do not know if that is good, or bad."

"And you?"
"I am tennyo, honorable lord. I was given this flesh; it does not belong to me."

"The other?"
"Amaya was - my sister. I grieve for her, but she was lost before she came here. It is not the place of a tennyo to take life, not our task - nor can we bear the heavy weight of a life. It would crush us. Akasuki-Leiko has done something terrible, if she could take that knowledge away from Amaya."

"Take away -"

"She came to kill her, father! Please - Murasaki is not -"

"Shippou!"

That tone of Sesshomaru's voice had once been enough to silence him, but not now. The new, bright hardness in Shippou's eyes gained a flinty edge.

"No! She is helping us - I won't let you hurt her!"

The blue flame flickered to life around his feet, swelled up and became a bright aura, encasing his flesh. It trickled across the ground his shadow touched and lapped at Sesshomaru's feet; grey smoke rose where the fire touched his father. Sesshomaru raised a single eyebrow, looked down - Kagome took in a sharp breath but did not move.

"Very well."

Sesshomaru's words fell like heavy stones, and he turned away and took Kagome's arm.

"You are responsible for her, Shippou. I think you are strong enough."

His eyes lingered for a moment on the fragile, smoldering leaves - on the blackened branches and the bare patch of ground.

"There was trouble with the woman and her infant -"

"Sango! Is she alright?"

Shippou took a step forward, tennyo forgotten, and looked at Kagome.

"Mother -"

"She was bleeding. Teza will not let her out of bed until the birth. There will be difficulty because of this, but -"

"She is strong. She'll make it."

"Yes."

"And - Miroku?"

Kagome sighed.

"As well as can be expected. He's been sitting next to her this whole time...eventually he'll have to eat, and sleep, but for now..."

She shook her head.

"I see. Well, maybe I'll sit with Sango for a while and then he'll rest. Are you coming?"

His eyes floated over Kagome and Sesshomaru both; one hand reached back and took Murasaki's hand. Her fingers were limp, and then they curled just a little, holding on. Kagome saw, and smiled, but Sesshomaru shook his head.

"No. We have somewhere to be - and your brother, he is gone, too."

"Kouga? Why did he run off this time?"
Kagome shivered, felt her heartbeat double for a moment of tight, sick, dread.

"He didn't...run off. He is...he is going home, to check on...Soki."

Shippou took a frozen breath.

"Oh - no - "

"I think it is too late, but I am still hoping..."

Kagome's voice was as faint, as fragile as a whisper. She shook her head, tried to dispel the dark, crimson thoughts that were rising high in her mind, and looked up at her mate.

"But you didn't tell me we were going anywhere, Sesshomaru."

"No. I didn't. Still, we are going there - going back."

"Going back - "

"To Totosai. That old fool will take forever with his work if I do not give him some...incentive. You need that bow, mate."

"Oh - I...understand, I guess. Shippou, please keep an eye on Sango for me? Tell Miroku I'll be back as soon as I can..."

Sesshomaru took her hand and pulled her away, and Shippou watched them go, shaking his head.

"He is always doing that - my father. Always running one way or another...and then Kouga's started doing the same thing. Whatever - the reason is."

He thought of Soki, the little girl so quiet among them, she was almost invisible.

 

*That's - odd.*

 

In thinking of her, he tried to picture her face, the color of her eyes, the small smile - he knew what they should be like, but the image would not come.

 

*Odd, very odd. Oh well. I hope - she's all right. Mama will take it hard if something happened to her.*

 

"Shippou?"

"Ahh...what is it, Murasaki?"

He turned to look at her over his shoulder, and saw a pale pink blush painting her cheeks under the faintest of smiles.

"Thank you, Shippou."

He looked away to hide his face, the brilliant grin that he couldn't restrain. What had gotten into him?

 

*I stood up to father - for her. She gives me this feeling, like I am the strongest person in the world - like there is nothing, nothing I could not do - *

 

What was that feeling? Was there a word to describe it, did it have a name?

"Don't worry about it, Murasaki."

"Miyuki."

"Huh?"

"Miyuki. My name - is Miyuki. I meant to tell you...before. Murasaki was the name Akasuki-Leiko gave me, when she gave me this flesh."

"Ahh..."

It fit her; it was truth. He could hear it in her voice.

"A beautiful name. Are you coming - Miyuki?"

She nodded, and followed him down through the trees. Shippou did not let go of her hand.