InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart of a Thief ❯ Mark of Flame ( Chapter 8 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I own nothing InuYasha-related and make no profit from this fic.

Chapter 8: Mark of Flame

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Kuromu's eyes widened. Smokey stripes had emerged on Shikaeru's skin, framing her face, while the foremost locks of her hair had turned black. He blinked and suddenly she appeared as she was normally again. The shadows of her hair and face flickered in the dancing firelight and he wondered if he hadn't imagined it, or if his eyes weren't just playing tricks on him. “Kuromu?” she asked, her voice breaking him from his thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering if you would mind staying here while I go talk with Danuko and see if it's safe for you to be seen again?”

“No, I'd be fine here by myself.”

“OK, I'll see you in a while then,” she said, walking towards the entrance they had come in. “Oh, one last thing; it would be best if you just stay in this area and don't go wandering off into some of the other caves around here. They don't call this end of the cave system `the Labyrinth' for nothing. I'll try to be back soon.”

He waved good bye to her as a faint feeling of apprehension settled over him. What if I have to run? I don't know the way back, and if I get lost… He tried to shake the feeling and began looking around in an attempt to distract himself from it. The basin that held the fire sat on a table that lacked the addition of cushions for seating but that had a large wooden chest pulled up to it. Something that looked to be a folded blanket was set on top of it and a few small boxes were stacked beside it. The chest was well worn from years of use and the lock had all but fallen off.

Curiosity crept in where the apprehension once was. He put the blanket on the table and opened the lid a little. The chest was almost empty inside. A spare pair of clothes, a towel, an unused torch, and a small glass bottle lay at the bottom along with a few scrolls. The glass bottle caught his eye and he picked it up to examine it more closely. The glass was a striking cobalt color and seemed to have been made by an excellent craftsman. The bottle was about half full with a clear liquid that, after removing the delicate stopper, he noticed carried the strong scent of sandalwood and lilies. He had never noticed the scent before when he was around Shikaeru and he began to wonder why she had it if not to wear. He replaced the stopper and set the bottle back down at the bottom of the chest before taking out one of the smaller scrolls he noticed looked particularly tattered.

He unrolled the worn paper and watched as a map came into view. It took him a moment before he realized he was looking at a map of the caves. He followed the familiar passages with his eyes and followed the ink to the portion of the cave system labeled as `the Labyrinth.' He figured out what room he was most likely standing in then and tried to figure out which path Shikaeru had taken to get them there. From his memory of their flight from the crowd, he was able to get a vague idea about the turns they had made and the distance they covered and found a path on the map that seemed to correspond to what he remembered. He went onward and noted how the caves began to twist around and become something of a maze. The Labyrinth indeed. There'd be no way of getting out of here if I got lost.

At that moment, the sound of hushed voices reached him. A prickling of fear ushered out his curiosity as he saw the light of torches illuminating the passage leading to the cavern. He grabbed the torch and rolled up the scroll before closing the chest and lighting the torch. He extinguished the fire in the basin as he thought about escape routes. His memory told him to go through one of the doorways on the far end of the cave. His steps were fast but silent as he fled the room and raced down a passage before the others could spot him or see the glow of the torch.

The passage broke off into several rooms and other winds paths. He took the first turnoff he could. Left he made note. The small room twisted to the right and lead off to two openings. He took the one that opened into another room, larger than the first. Right, veer left. He took another right and found himself in a winding passage. He followed it along until it emptied out into a room that looked strikingly similar to one he had just been in. He risked the time to pull out the scroll. He retraced his path and realized his error. He turned around to go back to the last room when he came face to face with Genkotsu.

“There's nowhere to run and hide now, wretch,” Genkotsu said with an air of malice.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't plan on trying to,” Kuromu shot back before lunging for Genkotsu, dropping the torch in the process.

The older boy was taken off guard by Kuromu's sudden loss of a defensive manner. The new offensive strategy he took up had surprised Genkotsu enough that Kuromu was able to give him a solid punch in the stomach before he could move to dodge it. “Bastard,” Genkotsu growled, doubled over slightly, before turning on Kuromu.

Kuromu ducked to avoid a fist to his jaw, but only felt his back slamming into the stone floor as Genkotsu kicked his legs out from under him. The older boy's foot connected with his ribs and he heard a sickening crack as pain shot through his side. He cried out as another blow came to the same place as before, turning the pain into a throbbing fire. He rolled away from the other boy's reach and scrambled to his feet, jaw clenched in resistance to the stabs of pain that came with moving. Genkotsu got to him before he was able to find his balance.

A punch landed on his left eye that sent him reeling and once again, he found himself on the ground. He got back to his feet only to have a foot slammed into his chest. He fell back against a wall, the wind knocked out of him. A fist crashed against his jaw and the taste of blood came into his mouth from a split lip. He was barely able to dodge another strike and still keep to his feet, but as he stepped away from Genkotsu, a sudden silence fell around him. The sound of their steps, the crackling of the torch, the pounding beat of his heart in his ears; all of it was gone. He watched as Genkotsu charged towards him, fist poised to strike. Before he realized what was happening, Kuromu found himself standing over Genkotsu as the older boy began coughing up blood.

Genkotsu shakily got to his feet to return the strike but Kuromu shoved him back against the wall. Kuromu noticed the torch near his feet and he picked it up, the flame casting flickering shadows about them. Genkotsu began to struggle out of his hold but before the older boy could attain freedom, Kuromu had pinned the boy's hand against the wall with the lit end of the torch grinding against his palm. Genkotsu screamed into the silence as the smell of burning flesh rose into the air. “You cannot destroy me, child. I will strike you down if you are foolish enough to try. Take this mark as warning and know that next time it will be your whole body that is engulfed in flame, not just your hand,” Kuromu hissed menacingly as the words of the dark soldier suddenly flooded his mind and forced their way out of his mouth.

Icy fear gripped him as sound came back to the world. Genkotsu's cries echoed through the caves with the sound of approaching footsteps. Kuromu ran as quickly as he could away from Genkotsu towards the exit to the Labyrinth. He pushed past several people before they could catch hold of him as he followed the path that would let him leave the scene of the fight far behind. His hands were balled into trembling fists as he reached parts of the cave system that were familiar to him. But he ran onward still. It wasn't until the chill air of the valley enveloped him and snow-filled blasts of wind slammed against him that he stopped.

The sky above was dark and ominous as he began to shiver. Snow pelted his body, causing him to lose precious heat while the wind swept it away. He faintly noticed voices calling to him. Arms wrapped around his body and guided him away from the frigid weather as a weight was set on his shoulders as a cloak was put over him. Echoes of voices and the dancing light of fire swept around him as the world swayed and tilted. He welcomed the darkness that smothered him next.

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Shikaeru put her hand to Kuromu's forehead. “Any improvement?” Danuko asked quietly.

“No,” she responded solemnly. “It has only gotten worse. First he is chilled to the bone, then next he is burning with a fever.”

“Do you think his dreams have any connection to this?”

“Yes, I am sure of it. When I first got him to the Labyrinth, he had the look in his eyes that I've only seen when the dreams are involved with the situation.” Shikaeru sighed, her eyes closing in exhaustion. “If I hadn't left him alone-”

“Don't even start down that road,” Danuko interrupted. “You did what you had to and what you thought was best. What is done, is done, and you cannot change the past. Don't dwell on those feelings of guilt or else they will haunt you until the end of your days. It was not you're fault, let the remorse go.”

Shikaeru only nodded and looked down at Kuromu. His face was flushed from the fever and mottled with bruises. A large ring of darkness had begun to form around his left eye, and his jaw had swollen a bit around the spot where he evidently had received a sharp blow. She had bandaged his left hand where the skin had been split open from the force of his attacks to Genkotsu. Unease rippled through her as she remembered what Genkotsu had said about the fight. She knew he would twist the facts of the story, but when he said that Kuromu at one point suddenly seemed to blank out and had begun attacking him wildly, she knew that it was no fabrication. She wished it weren't so, but in her heart she knew it was the soldier. If only there was something I could do to help him.

Kuromu shifted on the futon and his eyes opened a little. He started to cough but ended up yelping in pain from the two broken ribs Shikaeru had discovered. She got him some water and helped him sit up to drink it. “Lie back down and rest,” she said softly as he seemed to be trying to get up, still disoriented.

He complied with her words and soon had drifted back into a troubled sleep. He once again stood in the all too familiar mists where he knew the soldier would be. He ignored the shadowy figure on the ground, not even wanting to catch a glimpse of his brother's image. “Where are you?!” he shouted, anger ringing in his words.

Laughter came as Kuromu felt the heat of fire once again nearby. He turned around and saw the soldier sitting upon his dark steed. “Why are you doing this? Why can't you just stay out of my life?!”

“Hmmm it seems as if someone has gotten a little too confident,” the soldier said as fire sprung from the ground to surround Kuromu.

“Enough! I am sick and tired out your sadistic games! Who are you and what are you doing to me?”

“I think you've forgotten you're place, child,” came the soldier's reply as the fire surrounding Kuromu drew closer to the boy.

“Answer me!”

“Silence.” The booming command shook the ground and the fires swept in to engulf him.

He gritted his teeth against the pain and kept a steady gaze upward at the soldier. “I will not be silenced,” he responded vehemently, stepping forward from the flames to stand directly next to the soldier.

“Foolish boy,” the soldier growled, swinging his foot out to kick Kuromu in the jaw.

But Kuromu moved out of the way in time. “I will not consent to be controlled like this,” Kuromu warned. “Be gone!” he shouted, give the soldier's horse a hard slap on the flanks.

The horse snorted indignantly as it danced away from him, head raised defiantly as it ignored the soldier's commands to halt. “Go!” he shouted angrily, taking a few steps forward in an intimidating manner.

The horse neighed loudly, rearing as the soldier tried to rein it in. The soldier spurred the horse forward and it bolted, heading at first straight towards Kuromu. At the last possible moment, it veered off to the side, just missing him. Fire rose in the horse's wake and the angered yell of the soldier rang through the mists as the fire consumed Kuromu.