InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I Choose You ❯ Lord of the Fires ( Chapter 2 )

If you notice any oddities in the storytelling or descriptions, remember, this is all from Inu-Yasha’s point of view. I give no other characters’ input. [until later in the story when I had to use Kagome‘s]     Chapter Two: Lord of the Fires  

Kagome still had not returned. A week had slowly passed, and it was growing obvious that Inu-Yasha needed something to distract himself from the pain in his chest. Even the others had decided it would be best to keep the young hanyou busy. After some debate, they had decided that they should continue on to the temple without Kagome. While they wouldn’t be able to sense the jewel without her, they would at least be able to reconnoiter the grounds and verify the truth of the rumours surrounding the temple.

So they had set off, just the four of them. Inu-Yasha felt the absence intensely, as if he were missing a piece of himself. It simply did not feel right to be searching for the jewel without her. They had been together from the beginning, when she had awoken him and removed the spell put upon him by Kikyou. It was just another proof of her connection to the dead miko…but Kagome wasn’t Kikyou. She was nothing like Kikyou. They shared their appearance somewhat, but Kagome had such a warm soul. Inu-Yasha could not connect that to Kikyou’s icy demeanor.

The trek to the temple was quiet and uneventful. Miroku and Sango walked together, when they weren’t riding Kirara. Shippou sulked alone, mostly, having been warned not to irritate the hanyou by the monk. Inu-Yasha would have been surprised at Shippou’s restraint had he not heard the conversation himself. They seemed to forget that his hearing was superb. As it was, he was not happy with the way they treated him.

They seemed to believe that he was made of porcelain, that he was a fragile vase. They were walking on eggshells. It was true that he had been unusually withdrawn in recent days, but he was not that stricken. Feh! How dare they think he was weak. He wasn’t some weak human, to be hurt by the absence of some foolish girl, a girl who was always so kind…who made him feel calm. He wasn’t some weakling that would ache to have that peaceful scent near him…His heart wasn’t crystal! No…his heart was…

The monk’s shout drew Inu-Yasha suddenly from his thoughts. He turned his head to where the pervert was pointing. The temple loomed up through the forest. It was in a bad state of disrepair, but it was still an imposing sight. Inu-Yasha growled. Unease was filling his bones. He didn’t have the sense that Kagome did, but he was certain that something was wrong. He turned to the monk and saw him shiver.

“Do you sense something, monk? Is there something there?”

The monk shivered again, still staring at the temple. Sango touched his arm gently, for just a moment, but that seemed to bring him to himself. Finally, he turned his sight to the impatient hanyou. “I do not like the feel of that place, Inu-Yasha. I do not think that we should venture any further, not without Kagome.”

The monk winced at his words. Inu-Yasha was instantly incensed. The pain he felt at the mention of her name awakened his anger. He growled menacingly at the damned monk. “If this place is so fearsome, then coming here without Kagome is the better solution, bouzu. We don’t need her, so it will be better if she isn’t here to get in the way. I’m tired of having to protect her all the time!” Inu-Yasha’s eyes narrowed to hide the lie behind a glare. He wanted to protect her always . He would protect her even if she didn’t want him to. “I’m not gonna turn my back on a shard just cause you got scared by some ghost stories. I’m going to get that shard. I don’t need her for that, and I don’t need you either, monk!”

Inu-Yasha turned and stormed towards the temple, trying to walk off the feelings crashing through him. The damned monk just had to bring her up! He didn’t want to think about her. He just wanted to concentrate on getting that shard. He wasn’t going to show any weakness by turning away from the challenge. Not because he was uneasy and not because he wanted Kagome. But even in his pride, he would have stopped if he had paid heed to what he felt as he approached the gates of the temple. He needed to get away from his thoughts. He needed to get away from her.

Inu-Yasha walked right in without hesitation, mind too busy to notice the feeling of dread that enveloped him. Half-noticed by the hanyou, the others ran to catch up with him. As they reached the gates, however, the monk threw his arm out to stop the demon-hunter from entering. Inu-Yasha snorted. Cowards. He continued on, ignoring the shouts of his companions until they faded behind the walls of the temple.

He was alone. Inu-Yasha walked downed the empty corridors, finding no evidence of life. The entire temple had a haunted feel. He could feel something in this place, but it was not a thing he could put into words, and he was pretty sure that it was nothing human, or even youkai. Somehow, Inu-Yasha could feel the way to the central chamber. He was drawn there. Something was pulling him to it, and he would be damned if he wouldn’t find out what it was.

A slight anger was overtaking him as he finally entered a great open room. The ceiling was a high dome that might as well have not been there. It left the whole room feeling entirely too large. Oddly enough, there was a row of trees growing on either side of the main path towards the center of the room. How they grew with so little sunlight was a mystery, but they looked healthy enough. These were not trees that Inu-Yasha recognized…he had certainly never slept in a tree like this! They were regal, almost godly trees, and they bore some strange red fruit that he had never seen before.

Inu-Yasha stared at the trees, feeling a compulsion to taste the fruit for himself, to find out what it tasted like. But he resisted the temptation and slowly made his way towards the center of the room. There had once been a statue or monument of some sort in the central plaza, but all that remained of it now was scattered rubble…no wait, the base had been left, carved roughly into a throne. Inu-Yasha started as he realized that there was someone sitting upon the thing.

What the hell! He hadn’t smelled the man at all. It was if the man didn’t exist! Inu-Yasha glared at the shadowed figure sitting so calmly before him. He was only a few feet away now. He could make out very little of the man’s appearance, save that he was definitely a man. Inu-Yasha bent closer, trying to see deeper into the shadows.

“Welcome, hanyou. I see that you admire my garden.” Inu-Yasha started at the sudden voice. The man before him stood, revealing his unusual height and finally stepping from the shadows that were so frustrating the hanyou. “Don’t be afraid, young hanyou. You have nothing to fear from me. I have no wish to harm you…In fact, I would like to offer you my aid.”

Inu-Yasha made an indelicate sound. “As if I would be fearful of you…I am not some weak human!”

The man smiled, showing his pearly-white teeth. His dark black hair was short save for the long single braid that reached midway down his back. His face was almost elfin in its elegant structure. The man exuded grace…more so than even Sesshou-maru could dream to. “No, forgive me. I should not have spoken so. I know that you do not fear me, hanyou, but do not be hostile towards me, for I wish to help you.”

Inu-Yasha growled low in his throat. Something about this man just didn’t feel right. Then there were the shards. He had almost forgotten about the jewel! In his most arrogant tone, Inu-Yasha demanded, “Give me the jewel, and you will have no reason to fear me.”

The man threw back his head and laughed, a laugh of genuine amusement. The hanyou grew quite furious at this but the man put up a restraining hand while he calmed himself. “I apologize, hanyou…but it is so refreshing to meet someone so direct and confident after so many years. I seem to be doomed to deal with quick-tongued thieves. It was simply amusing to finally meet one so honest…so innocent.”

Innocent! He was innocent! Inu-Yasha was truly growing to dislike this man. “Listen you old fool, I want the jewel, and I want it now. I will kill you if I have to, but I will have the jewel.” He cracked his knuckles for effect.

The man seemed less amused now, but a slight smirk crossed his face briefly at the threat. “Ah, ‘tis a pity for certain, my young hanyou, but the truth of the matter is, is that there are no shards here. Rumours, you know. You shouldn’t believe them so easily. Now, about this help I am offering to you– ”

“What do you mean, there are no shards here! Are you telling me that those rumours were all lies…that there was no reason at all for me to even come here! I do not like wasting my time, human.” Inu-Yasha’s voice lowered to a menacing hiss.

The man threw back his head once again, laughter overtaking him. He quickly calmed himself, as the hanyou prepared to shut him up violently. “It seems that you are under some misapprehension, young hanyou. I am no human. And, no, there are no shards of the Shikon no Tama to be found at this temple. I fostered that rumour to draw you to me, so that I could offer my services to you.”

“You lured me here? Do you think you’ll get our jewel fragments? Is this a trap of Naraku’s then?”

“Please, hanyou, don’t insult me so. I would never associate myself with such a lowly being as Naraku. And I know that you do not have the Shikon no Tama with you, so it would be pointless to try to take it. I merely wish to help. Is that so hard a concept to grasp?”

Inu-Yasha looked at the man suspiciously. “And just how are you going to help me? I don’t need anything that you can offer.”

The man smiled. It was an almost malevolent look. “Oh, I can give you what you most desire, hanyou.” The man strode over to one of his trees and calmly took one of those fire-red fruits. He proffered it to the curious inu-hanyou. “This is what I offer, hanyou. This will give you what you desire most.”

Inu-Yasha stared at the man in disbelief. What he desired most? How could a mere fruit give him that? No! It wasn’t possible. Inu-Yasha took a step back, suddenly looking at the man anew. “Who are you? What are you?”

The man smiled again. “I am the god Taishakan, Lord of the Fires.” End Chapter Two

I always try to end things dramatically. Fits my sense of storytelling.

-Chevalier Mal Fet