InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Firefly Wishes ❯ Chapter 1 - Desert of Despair ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any part or characters of Inu-yasha with the exception of this fanfiction.

~**~**~

Firefly Wishes

By DBZ Vegeta

Chapter 1 - Desert of Despair

Heat, pain and blinding light burned through my skin and eyelids. And the taste of bitter salt filled my mouth. These sensations filled me, rooting through my consciousness while that part of mind which could think returned to me. Among the tumble of images filling my mind, I could grasp only one, that of a dark hair girl. She seemed to float on the edge of my consciousness. But she had no meaning to me and the flashes of her ebbed away into blackness again.

I became away of my surroundings, of the incredible heat, but under my finders as I moved them weakly, pressed against my face, and scattered across my hair and eyes was a offensive grit that somehow was familiar. Sanity was returning to me, it had to be sand. I was lying on the ground somewhere that was covered in sand. I lifted my head and tried to spit out the sand in my mouth, but my tongue was too dry. With my left hand I brushed the sand from my mouth and then my eyes, opening them. I groaned, covering them against the harsh sunlight that glared fiercely down and tried to sit up. My eyes finally adjusted enough that I could lower my hand from my face. I didn't know where I was.

A thin line of clouds stood out against the pale blue sky, doing little to block the light and heat beating down onto a savage desert that stretched as far as I could see. Waves of heat radiated across the sand, looking like shimmering light dancing across the ocean. But this ocean was of sand, not water. As I turned my head to look around, pain smashed through my body. A lump on my head and behind my right ear was throbbing when I touched it. Drawing my fingers back, I found that they were covered with blood. My neck and shoulders where so stiff, I began to wonder at how long I had been lying in this desert.

Looking around the broad region of sand, nothing seemed to stand out. Well, almost nothing. In the flat, featureless desert, two things caught my attention. One was nearby. A few yards away from me lay a body, its face turned away from mine. The other was a distant hint of green and blue that seem to rise up out to the horizon to meet the clouds. I knew that I had to go in that direction. A sudden overwhelming need came over me, I had to go there.

I clumsily climbed to my feet, and I was instantly aware of the aches and pains shooting throughout my body. My clothing that had been crumpled against my body fell away and sand showered around me. I became aware of a lessening of the heat, and it became almost bearable. A weight dragged from my right hand, I looked down and found a sword. The sword was a tattered and ragged thing, the blade dull and chipped in places. Going to throw it down, I found that I could not. It seemed to speak to me and I could not release it. Looking down at my waist I found a sheath, obviously this was my sword. Sighing heavily I sheathed the sword and looked around again. My gaze came across the other body lying nearby. Stumbling heavily I fell to my knees next to him. I hadn't the faintest notion of who he was, or if he was even still alive.

He wasn't. The stiffness of the corpse as I rolled him over let me know that he had been dead for a long time. It was a man, dressed in black robes. A hole in the center of his chest, caked with dried blood, was the obvious reason for his death. I strange feeling overcame me, as if I should know who this person was. Standing up quickly I turned to leave, tripping over a staff lying next to the body. Bending down carefully, I picked it up, its rings jingling merrily at the movement. Looking back down at the body, I knew that I could not leave the staff behind, I had to take it with me. I wished I could bury him, but suddenly lightheadedness overcame me and I had to lean heavily on the staff to stay upright. I had to go. I had to find water.

For what seemed an endless time I stumbled across the desert. My feet slipping in the sand, threatening to send me to my knees. I had to keep moving. The only thing real in this world of never-ending sand was the haze of green and blue, always ahead of me but never seeming to become nearer. I kept walking, one foot in front of the other, struggling to keep on my feet, leaning heavily on the borrowed staff. I forced myself across the desert. Walking, staggering, falling, struggling to my feet again. Walking, staggering, falling, struggling to my feet again. The cycle continued over and over again. My mind wandered, my only conscious thought was the green and blue haze in the distance and occasionally of the black haired girl that had first popped into my mind.

Walking, staggering, falling, struggling to my feet.…..I collapsed back into the sand and my mind slipped away from me.

~**~**~

Author's Note: This is my first Inuyasha fic, so please let me know what you think and review.