InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Crescent Moon On The Brow Of The Sky ❯ The Ruin Of A Clay Shell ( Chapter 6 )

HAPPY CHRISMAKWANZAAHANNUKAH! (X-mas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah.)

Yeah yeah. You must hate me, keeping you all waiting like that! But don't hate me! I turned 15 on the 13th of December! He he he! I'M A YEAR OLDER! Sniff... sun rise, sun set... (fiddler on the roof)

My excuse for not posting is this: I'm on one of my inspiration things, for my book... you know the ones... and I have dreamt another strange dream! I will describe it here...

I was driving my mum's red-black van (which is strange, cause I don't drive (15, remember) and it falls into what in my dream is a representation of Bruce Pitt ( this sort of gigantic hole in Ottawa with forest and leaves and dog doo doo and stuff. You walk dogs and bike and sled there...) and I sort of dropped it into the lake. There is no lake there. It goes smaller and I'm chasing it down a fast stream, down a waterfall(turns out I wasn't in the car anymore... lucky). And then I'm teleported to some sort of dark parking lot place and tell my dad... he's pissed... and we fish it out of some sort of sewer thingie with two thick silver ropes tied to the mirrors. Yeah. Then the dream switches to some sort of strange school. My appearance is that of my soul (I believe we look nothing like our souls/dream forms. I don't want to tell you what the dream-form I take while sleeping is but if you ask I might) and I am going through all my grades in school again. Every grade lasts about 10 mins to an hour, depending upon how fast you finish the tests. One test was to paint a picture, I did well (I'm good at drawing, but without a scanner I can't POST THEM! GAH!) anyhoo, I made it to grade 4 before I woke up. Talk about a boring dream. If you want to hear about my other dreams, just ask and I will post them with every chapter. Or not!

Yay, reviews! I'm so lucky! Birthday Presents! I feel so loved!

keosis-chan: You're #1! You're #1! We're # 2! We're # 2!Thanks for reviewing, yet again! Have you reviewed every chapter? Wait a sec... No, but 3/5 is close enough. I appreciate your support! And if you're wondering about what I meant by "story" you asked me to read your Fruits Basket... It was good! Hehehe! I really hope you like this chapter! If you have any questions about it, just e-mail me or put it in a review. That goes for all those with a burning, itchy question! (hmm.... I made them seem like a secret rash...) Loves ya 4eva!

distorted-desire: I'm glad you like the evil twin demons (and think they're sexy! He he he) because they are based off of a character in my book that I love to death. He is also a twin (and also sexy!), but he looks nothing like him. LOVE YA, XOE! Not his real name, just an abbreviation. Ok. Yeah. Sess will not turn romantic AT ALL. Sorry to disappoint those who want him to fall head over heels and get all toasty and mushy with egg nog on top (gah, I hate that stuff... shiver... my twin loves it... yurk...). Yeah, it does get a little tiring. Sess IS someone cold and dangerous, but if you look into his character, you can see that he holds some vague reluctant compassion. Hell, if I was him, I would have killed Jaken a long time ago. Hell, if I was anyone else, all I'd do is sleep and stay up late to watch Inu Yasha and Witch Hunter Robin while eating toast. Mmm... toast... Yeah, I'm sorry to inform you but Inu Yasha is dead, sorry I was vague about that. Thanks for reviewing! HUGGLES!

CherryBlossomLove: Yeah, sorry about the intensity. I want this fic to be angsty and such. I am not a fan of happy endings. To me, happy endings are much sadder than sad, true, unresolved ones. It means, in a book series/TV series/movie series, that the series is truly over. But sad endings can get frustrating, like in a Series of Unfortunate Events. Nope, not just a movie, a book, people! Thanks for reviewing and I promise I'll keep writing! I do have a holiday and a lot of time on my hands!

Jessica: Ooh, another anonymous reader! Yippee! Thanks for your praise on the storyline ("the story's coming along great") because people usually comment on my writing skills. I know I'm awesome, people! I kid, I kid! HUGGLES!

addicted...: Another anonymous reader? Yay! Love ya for the praise! I don't deserve it, really! I'm glad you and all who read find that Sesshy is acting just as he should. He is restrained on a tight leash and won't fall into the homicidal cliched kingdom of OOC. I will make it so, and it shall be done!

Disclaimer: Aww, do I have to? Ok. I do not own Inu Yasha.I own a computer and a jar of mustard but that's it. If I did, I'd make Naraku do a waltz. Despite popular belief, he is VERY graceful and could execute a perfect tango or salsa at ease. He can also break dance. In my world, anyway... Naraku, unfortunately, is unavailable for a comment, though I'm sure he would vouch for me. Here is Sesshoumaru, still tied firmly to his leash keeping him out of the homicidal cliched kingdom of OOC, and has a comment, though:

Sesshoumaru: Let me GO, woman! Let me off of this damned leash!

Kermit:... Never!

Sesshoumaru: Let me GO! I want to have my arm restored and want to heal/save Kagome from a terrible death and fly her to my castle where after she gets better can be a mum for my human kid and there we can reluctantly bond and mate and have children!!!!

Kermit: Hush now child. We stopped listening to you years ago.

Sess: GRRRR!

Kermit: (Gulp) If I survive, I'll write more. But in the meantime, ON WITH THE STORY!

The Ruin Of A Clay Shell

Kagome shivered, awakening after a short shallow sleep, eyes tight and painful with the new light. There, sitting as if he had not moved, was Sesshoumaru, eyelids half-dropped over his eyes. She gasped, seeing the peeking golden colour of the eyes like the first glint of dawn. Upon her gasp, the eyes slowly opened and blazed like suns upon her. She saw them, saw their radiance, and spoke the loved name aloud. "Inu Yasha..."

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, watching her and her actions, every small move she made. He opened his lips, paused, and then said in an untouched, dull voice: "the hanyou you speak of is dead," closed his lips and said nothing more.

He watched as her skin turned all the paler, throwing the blood upon it into sharper focus. The lips upon it trembled, new tears found their way from the corners of the eyes. He watched it, angered by the weakness he saw in her. His eyes blazed with his hatred: his hatred for the human race.

Sesshoumaru was silent, and watching, not giving her the dignity of mourning alone. Not allowing her. He watched her, measuring the weakness in every tear, every sob. Her heart throbbed deliciously with her sorrow, and though he found vague satisfaction in causing her pain, her tears irked him and bored him. Jaken, clutching the Nintoujou, watched her with spite, almost glowing like an ember with his annoyance and hate. Rin clutched to Sesshoumaru's clothes, watching her and twitching with her need to rush to comfort her.

Sesshoumaru watched the dawn's glow linger upon the embers of the fire, and was suddenly filled with the need to leave, to retrieve the sword that glowed ever so brightly and thirstily in his mind. He stood, his movements languid, and brushed dawn-goldened white hair out of his beautiful face, and turned to walk away. The miko's sobs slowed and stopped, watching him as intently as he watched her. "You're leaving me?" she said, ever so softly, her voice thick with tears.

Sesshoumaru stopped. "No," he said, voice, as always, emotionless and cool. For the first time in days the snow was not blowing, and the sun glowed almost hot over them all. "You will be coming with me."

The miko's eyes grew wide and frightened, but she said nothing. She stiffened her lips, and stood, dusting snow off of herself. The strange, unpleasant smell of her blood and her death wafted towards him, and the smell of her unwashed body. He turned his face away from her reek, and began to walk the snowy trail back to where his half-brother lay smug and silent and cold. He could sense her following, her steps shuffling and faltering along the ground. Her steps, no matter how long she walked, only became louder and more uncertain as she stumbled behind him and his laity. He could smell her tears and her reek, both overpowering. His shoulders stiffened with the sudden need to kill her, bring her to death again, and leave her to fester again.

"Where are we going?" She eventually asked, breaking the silence of hours. Her voice trembled and choked with her sadness, and Sesshoumaru did not answer her. After all, was she not a mere human, and undeserving of a response?

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Kagura stood in the arms of the snow-dark tree, awaiting Naraku's new children with spite and rage barely restrained beneath her skin. Her winds caressed like arms around her, bending obediently to the will of her red and white fan. The newly-dead villagers leapt to her beck and call, crawling and dancing blank-eyed out of the coldest of earths. She smiled softly, and so did her dancers, before falling down to the soil once more.

The destruction of this meager human village had been quick, simple, and pointless. The youkai under Naraku's will had rushed like a sea into the village, and like a sea had crushed it utterly. And in the center of all chaos, were the twins, twisting their blades to kill whatever was in their way, devouring the souls of the villagers as they fell. Their hair, raven-black, flew behind them like the banner of death as fire consumed the world around them. The glow of the village's blaze had bruised the sky red, and now embers glowed in the dawn, and human shells littered the earth. Smoke was fading way, like all of her hopes.

Kagura did not know her terrible master's intentions- to bring to life from his misshapen womb twins to do his bidding, to make them cause the death of his dearest enemies, and then to burn down this village where no one could see. Naraku had never given an explanation- he had just disappeared, with Kanna in his lap, to another place.

Kagura spat on the ground that was cold with snow, hating her master silently as his twins came up to her like pretty shadows. They smiled the same smile as Kagura's eyes traveled down to their hands, which were smeared with mortal blood. She sneered back, and whipped her fan, causing their pristine clothes and hair to fly into disarray. They pouted blood-reddened lips.

"Do you know the purpose of this, brothers ," spat Kagura, bitting off the word, "why Naraku has told you to destroy this place?"

"Yes, sister," they said in the same voice, smoothing down each other's clothes. "The clay woman lives here."

The clay woman... Kagura's empty red eyes hardened. "Kikyou. She lives here."

Tsusimaru nodded. "Yes, sister. We have done as father bids, and have killed all, save her."

Kagura felt a strange pang of foreboding. Naraku, unable to kill Kikyou, has yet again driven her into wilderness. Kagura could smell her, clay and souls. The spirits she kept inside her were escaping, burning a trail in the sky. Her wounds were cracks, bloodless. She was running for her life, and failing, as the bit of soul she had stolen from that damned hanyou's wench was beating against its confines.

Naraku was going to win over her, once and for all! Even from far away, Kagura could feel the triumph in him. With an uttered curse, she pulled a white feather from her dark hair and, obeying her will, grew to cup her softly and fly her away.

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The taiyoukai's silent, soft footfalls slowed and stopped, his nose catching the rancid, cloying scent of death and smoke. His companions also stopped, and he heard the miko fall onto her knees in the soft mask of the snow. He turned to her, when she clutched her chest, mouth open wide, trying hard to breathe. He watched her struggle slightly, before opening her eyes wide, clutching herself. Soon, her breathing slowed, as he knew it would, and she began to take small, tentative breaths.

Rin stepped forwards tentatively, watching her master's impassive face before rushing forwards. The miko clutched on the end of her kimono, her knuckles white.

"It feels...it feels odd..." she said haltingly, seemingly abashed and frightened. He could smell the fear upon her, a reek of sweat and feeling. Ah Un walked slowly up to her, and she clutched him with both arms instead. "I feel...someone coming.They...they are calling for me..." She bent and retched, the acid smell of her spittle stinging his nose.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," came her high child voice, tinged with worry, "Kagome-sama is sick. Lord Sesshoumaru, she needs water."

"Silence, Rin," he said, his voice filled with boredom. His charge obeyed, her mouth tightly closed. "Jaken, take her away."

Jaken jerked out of a stupor and bowed reverently, clutching the Nintoujou with both trembling hands. "Hai, Lord Sesshoumaru," he squawked, rushing to Rin and leading her away, Ah Un following obediently behind. The snow swirled in front of their eyes, and then there was trembling silence. Soon what filled it was the miko's frightened breathing.

For a moment, the blazing suns of the Taiyoukai's eyes bored into her shivering frame, silent and cold. "What do you feel?" he asked, but in his smooth tone of voice it could never be called a question.

The miko's eyes widened slightly, and then lowered to her gloved hands, as they always did. "I felt... I feel..." she faltered, and stopped, her heart beating rapidly- he could hear it. "My heart... it flared... and then it hurt so bad." She gestured vaguely at her own chest and then dropped her hand. Her heartbeat slowed as she calmed. She shivered.

"You are cold." He said simply, before tensing as he smelled the pungent aroma of earth, bones, and clay. She opened her mouth to answer, but all that came out was a strangled gasp. Sesshoumaru turned to the dark bars of the trees, searching it for signs of the other miko to appear.

"Kikyou?" The miko whispered in surprise as she saw the priestess enter the clearing, staggering, her spirit catchers drifting and coiling uselessly around her. The white ribbon that tied her black hair was loose, letting strands of it fall darkly about her face. She seemed to shiver, teeth chattering, lips blue with weakness, as she shuffled over to where the other miko sat, unmoving. Kagome leapt up to catch her as she fell. Her strangely-clothed arms closed around her enemy as her pale clay hands clutched her.

Kagome felt a pang of guilt in her heart as she held Kikyou close, murmuring to her as a mother would to a child. She smoothed the hair away from her cool face, and cried.

"Forgive me...Kagome," Kikyou whispered as the last of Kagome's soul leapt back into her. Her eyes widened and dulled as she finally died. "Forgive me!"

Kagome did not move, hot tears flowing down her face. "I forgive you," she said uselessly, as the spirit catchers faded away. She wiped her own tears from her face, closed Kikyou's eyes, and kissed her forehead. "Rest, now that you can."

For a moment, she looked at her hands, bending her head in brief prayer for her once-enemy. Sesshoumaru turned away, calling for his servant and his charge to return to him like fledgling birds. The miko stood, head still bowed, and turned to him, face tearless.

"I am not afraid of you anymore," she said in a trembling voice, and passed him to walk in front of him. Sesshoumaru reined in his wrath, observing how her feet stumbled. She was weary, and would soon fall far behind.