InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mika- the Inu Ookami Hanyou ❯ Opal Lake ( Chapter 17 )

Opal Lake

 

In the pre-dawn hours of the next morning, Mika awoke from a fitful sleep. Seeing the slight frost covering her windows, Mika was thankful to have had a warm room to stay in. She quickly rummaged through her duffle bad for her clothes. Once she'd pulled out her attire Mika quickly changed into the thermal bottoms, Levi jeans, tee-shirt, and hooded sweatshirt. Mika pulled her hair back into a French braid, which coiled into the hood of her sweatshirt. She slipped on her hiking boots over her calf high socks, tying them securely in place.

 

Before Mika packed her duffle bag once again in her truck, she applied a layer of foundation, closer to her natural skin color to conceal her facial markings. “Good thing Amy knows more about make-up than I do,” she thought. Mika looked at the marks on her arms once she pushed up the sleeves on her sweatshirt. “Luckily I like my sweatshirts big and baggy. These won't show as much,” she thought as she slid the sleeves down over her strips and grabbed her favorite Cubs hat. Once it was on her head, Mika slid her flannel shirt jacket over her sweatshirt and grabbed all her gear and put in the back of her truck.

 

After she placed the duffle bag in the backseat of her truck, Mika inhaled the clean mountain air. With her heightened sense of smell, Mika clearly identified the mixture of scents to their individual sources, such as lodge pole pine trees, quacking aspen, sage brush and diesel fuel. Smiling to herself as he entered the restaurant, Mika thought, “This is one of the things that I'm going to miss when I return to the Feudal Era, the smell of diesel fuel. Guess that I'm just strange.”

 

She purchased an Idaho State Journal before sitting at the counter for breakfast, down a few seats from a couple of local men. As she waited for her Denver omelet and sourdough toast, Mika looked through the newspaper. She vaguely was listening to the old-timers as the spoke of local news. Once her omelet arrived, she dug in with vigor until she heard the men speaking about the wolf pack that had been turned loose near Duck Mountain.

 

“I hear that they've been stalking some of the local ranches in that area, but since their protected under the endangered species act we can't d anything about it,” one said as he drank a cup of coffee.

 

The other replied, “If I feel threatened, I'll shoot first and take the consequences later. I heard that a fellow was out with his dog when they encountered a lone wolf. He was acting aggressively toward the man and his dog. Fortunately the man was smart enough to have gone out with a hand gun and placed a warning shot at the wolf's paws. The wolf high tailed it out of there.”

 

As the two old-times continued, Mika smiled slyly to herself, thankful that she'd packed her .44 Magnum, despite the fit that Amy threw. She finished her meal and paid the waitress for the food. As she let her truck warm up, Mika scrapped the windows free of frost and then drove to a local gas station. She topped of her truck's gas tank and filled both jerry cans, in case she ran out while out in the back country. Once she'd paid for the gas and a couple litters of Pepsi, Mika pulled back onto US 93 and drove north for about 12 miles. She turned left onto Morgan Creek Road that wound its way through the Salmon River Mountains of the Challis National Forest. As she reached a bit of a mountain pass, the road changed to Panther Creek Road. She drove down this road for a ways until she saw the sign for Opal Lake Road. Mika smiled as she thought of the past fall when she was here with her father. She fondly recalled bringing their popup camper with for a place to stay. “Now I decide to `rough it' instead. It could be worse,” she thought.

 

Quickly she turned up the road that led to Opal Lake. As she took her time going up the road Mika thought of their previous camp sight and the hole that they had to dig for a latrine. As she drove past the old camp sight, she saw the huge rock that they got out of that hole. “Man that took forever to get out. It had to weigh at least 50 pounds. Good thing I don't need to do that this trip,” Mika thought. She drove a little further across the creek that ran down the middle of the little valley. Once she crossed the creek, Mika stopped her truck to look at a downed tree near the creek. As she looked at the tree, Mika relived her first experience with a chainsaw.

 

“Hold onto the chainsaw tight. Remember to hit the bar in front to stop the blade if it gets out of control. Relax and take your time,” her father had said as she started up the Husky. Mika approached the tree with the smell of bar oil burning her nose. As she placed the spinning chain saw blade to the tree, she felt it slid through the tree similar to a hot knife through butter. After a few minutes she had cut a few pieces of tree 18 inches long from the tree, enough for a stool for her and her father, as well as wood for a fire.

 

Returning back to the present, Mika thought, “I at least know that this tree should be dry enough for a decent fire while I'm here.” She shut off the truck as she got out of her truck. Mika approached the tree apprehensively, almost afraid that she'd forget how to cut fire wood. She saw that there was plenty of good firewood left from the tree to last her at least a week. As she returned to the back of her truck, Mika grabbed the Husky and a smaller jerry can of gas. Once she got the chainsaw ready, Mika removed her sweatshirt in anticipation of the amount of exertion that she'd do while cutting the wood. She moved closer to the dead tree and started the chainsaw as she'd previously been shown. In a matter of a half hour, Mika had cut the remaining tree into more manageable pieces. She carried them to the back of her truck, where with an ax she was able to split most of them into smaller pieces. Once most of the wood was either split or left whole and loaded into her truck, Mika looked at her watch to see that it was well past noon. Her stomach growled in anticipation of the steak dinner to be eaten later that night; however it kindly reminded her that she needed sustenance to continue for the day. She rummaged in her rucksack for some crackers and jalapeno cheese packets from her father's MRE stash. While she ate the cheese and crackers with Pepsi she looked up the next obstacle in her journey, a slight climb up the side of a hill to get to the forest above. Thankfully she was glad that her truck was a four-wheeled drive vehicle, or else she'd have at least another four hour drive coming in from the backside, by way of Moyer Creek Road.

 

Once she finished her snack, Mika repacked the Husky, gas can and ax into her truck with the firewood. Turning the hubs on her truck to engage the transmission, Mika returned to her truck and changed it from two wheeled drive to four wheeled. She moved up the hill at a bit of a crawl and was relieved after the few minutes that it took to get there. Carefully she followed the path to a bit of a rock quarry and parked her truck for the night. She exited the truck again and rummaged into her truck for her bedroll and rucksack. Once both the bedroll and rucksack were secure on her back, Mika hiked the last quarter mile to the shores of Opal Lake, and set up her camp. After a few more trips to her truck for her little cooler and firewood, Mika collected stones for a fire pit and started a fire. With a roaring fire going, the sun slowly setting in the west, Mika began to get her dinner ready. She sliced the potatoes and onions into thin slices, piling them with some garlic salt and a little bacon grease onto aluminum foil. She tossed them onto the grill grate that was placed over the fire and waited before throwing her steak on the fire.

 

As the potatoes cooked, Mika looked over the tranquil lake, thinking of what Amy had said about communicating with the spirit or being that plagued her dreams. With the revelation of Naraku being in her dreams, and the medicine man's warning, she knew that Amy was right, that there was more to her dreams than she realized. Once she was sure the potatoes were mostly cooked, Mika threw the steak on the grill, lightly adding a little salt and pepper as it cooked. She returned to her thoughts and memories.

 

As the steak sizzled and sputtered over the lodge pole pine fire, the scent of the cooking meat wafted into the surrounding area. A single nose picked up the wonderful smell. The tongue liked saliva drenched lips as the nose followed the scent. From the timberline, down wind from Mika, the animal quietly approached. About halfway between the food and timberline, the creature of the woods sat on its haunches uncertain of whether it should proceed toward the wonderful smell of cooking steak or return to the safety of the trees.

 

Mika flipped the steak once as she felt the presence of another enter into her range of perception. She flicked an ear toward the intruder, hearing a slight panting sound as well as natural evening nature sounds. Carefully she turned her head toward the intruder on her right, keeping her hand on the .45 Magnum at her hip. With the wind blowing the smoke away from her, toward the creature, Mika was unable to get a clear scent of the animal.

 

Once the creature caught the unmistakable scent of wood smoke, its hackles raised slightly because it also caught the distinct scent of another wolf as well as the scent of dog. Curious as to the creature with the mixed scent, she moved closer toward the fire. As her eyes locked onto the face of Mika, a soft whimper escaped her throat as tears welled into her blue eyes.

 

Mika watched the grey and black colored wolf cautiously approach into the light cast by the fire. Her hand remained on the pistol as the wolf sat about eight feet from Mika. Something about the aura emanating from the wolf eased Mika's mind a bit as she took her steak off the grill. “I'm not sure, but I don't think this wolf is going to hurt me. It's almost as if I know this aura, like it's from Koga, but slightly different,” she thought as she filled her plate.

 

The wolf moved a bit closer, trying to get a better look at the female humanoid that smelled vaguely familiar. As the wolf jockeyed for a better spot to observe Mika, Mika said to the wolf, “I'm not sharing my steak, wolf. I only brought one and I've worked hard for it.”

 

The wolf cocked her head, trying to catch the words the female said. Catching the gist of the comment, she laid down with her head on her paws, watching the female eat the enticing steak. As she watched Mika savor each bit of steak, the wolf noticed the facial markings and claws. Intrigued she continued to observe the female, knowing that this was the hanyou they'd been waiting for. Shortly, she knew, they would be joined by another and the female wolf relaxed a bit, marveling at the presence of her daughter after all these years.

 

As Mika finished her dinner, leaving a bite or so of steak for the wolf, she felt another presence approach from the timber line. Unlike the wolf before her, this presence was one both power and grace. She threw the scraps of meat to the wolf as she observed the man slowly approaching her camp.

 

“If I'd known that this place was so popular, I'd have gone to Bighorn Crags instead,” Mika thought. She moved her hand back to her hand gun as the male came closer.

 

“Hello. May I stop in?” the figure asked, before entering farther into the camp fire light.

 

Mika saw the middle aged man stop near the wolf, almost as if he was approaching the family dog. “Sure. I'm sorry that I can't offer you something to eat. I'd only planed on being here tonight than moving on,” she replied, taking in the appearance of the stranger. His long silvery hair was pulled back into a high pony tail and flowed down his back. He was modestly dressed in Levi's with a flannel shirt and thick down filled vest. When her eyes sought his face, Mika gasped slightly as they came in contact with loving amber eyes, so similar to Inuyasha's and yet sadder.

 

He sat across the fire from Mika on a chunk of lodge pole that Mika had left for a chair. He looked over the girl before him as he thought about his next words to her. “Better get this over with now, while it's still early,” he thought.

 

The stranger looked deeply into Mika's blue eyes as he softly said, “I know why you're here, Mika.”

 

Nearly jumping out of her skin, Mika quickly pulled the .45 Magnum, cocking and aiming it at the stranger and switching off the safety in one fluid motion. “Who the Hell are you?! How did you know my name?” she stammered as she tried to calm her raising heart and lower the raised hackles on her neck.

 

The stranger looked intently into her confused eyes, knowing she could easily read his soul through his eyes. “I know who you are because I'm your grandfather, Inu no Taisho, the former ruler of the Western Lands. Please don't be alarmed. I can understand your apprehension, but would you please put away your weapon. It would do you no good at this time.”

 

Mika searched his eyes and saw only truth. Slowly she returned her pistol to its holster as a number of questions raced through her mind. “How do I know you are who you say you are? Last I knew you were killed over seven hundred years ago.”

 

He chuckled a bit as he replied, “Would you have let me near your camp if I had arrived in armor, haori and hakama, similar to how Sesshomaru is dressed?”

 

Mika cast her eyes toward the fire as she returned the pistol to its holster as she replied, “You have a point. Last time I saw him, I battled him, Inuyasha and Koga at once and it ended kind of badly. I'm sure that I would not have been quite as civil, although I don't think that my pistol would have done more than irritate him, if I was to have shot him. So what do you normally look like? I can tell that this is not it, for you look a bit uncomfortable in that getup.”

 

As he sat on his chair, Inu no Taisho allowed the disguise to vanish and was replaced by armor, similar in fashion to Mika's of shoulder and arm guards, and gauntlet. His breast plate covered most of his chest, yet revealed a white and blue haori and hakama with a red sash. Mika gazed at her grandfather as the disguise revealed his markings of a single strip across each cheek. “Wow, that was an amazing disguise!” she thought to herself, “I need to get him to teach me that so that I won't have to freak out when I go back to Japan.”

 

As if reading her thoughts, he replied, “It's a simple disguise spell, although I'll need to teach you more of a concealment sutra marking for the time that you're going to be traveling. They are easier to do and require a lot less energy.”

 

“How did you…” Mika stammered.

 

“Know,” he said as he completed her sentence. Looking across the fire to the young hanyou, he replied, “I'm connected to your thoughts, through your connection to the jewel shard. With its powers I've been able to become more than just a dream.”

 

At the mention of the word `dream,' Mika's eyes went wide is surprise and shock as she exclaimed, “You're the man in my dreams! The one who saved me from all those demons! But how…how are you here, in the real world?”

 

“You have a unique gift, Mika, to be able to communicate with spirits from the great beyond. Through your dreams thousands of demons have tried to escape across the border of this world and the next. Your link to the jewel shard has drawn a lot of unwanted attention to yourself. When the first dream happened, I thought that it as a fluke, until I saw you with my sons, the demon slayer, monk and oddly dressed miko. I came to your rescue because I knew that if I didn't your surreal death would be your permanent death,” he said as he continued to watch her through the fire.

 

Mika gazed at her grandfather, not wanting to believe what he was saying, and yet knowing that he spoke the truth. “Why…me? Why is this happening? I don't understand.”

 

Inu no Taisho smiled reassuringly at his granddaughter as he replied, “Your grandmother, Sesshomaru's mother, is connected to the dream world like you. However, she lives in a castle in the sky, away from the corporeal earth to which the spirits are bound.”

 

“So basically, what you're trying to say is that because of the jewel shard, and my inherent abilities to communicate with the dead that I'm a prime target for these demons to attack me so that they can live again?” Mika asked quizzically.

 

He shook his head a bit before replying, “Yes and no. You have the ability to communicate with not on the dead, but the living as well as those yet to be born through your dreams. The demons have been drawn to you as the portal to the real world by the jewel shard. Once that is out of existence you will still be able to communicate with others without fear of being used as a portal to this world. Kagome should not have given you the jewel shard, she was being rather foolish.”

 

“So I should go put the jewel shard in my truck?” Mika asked, still in a bit of shock of what she had heard.

 

He shook his head again as he replied, “You don't have time for that right now. A key to your powers is the arrival of the moon. Throughout the night you are able to go into other peoples dreams, pulling them into your own. The strongest time of the month is during a full moon. However, because tonight is a new moon, you'll still be able to reach out to your friends and family because of your bond to them.”

 

As he spoke, Mika realized what he was giving her, and yet uncertain if she was hearing him correctly. “What are you trying to say, Opa?”

 

“I know that you desire the ability to show your friends and family what you are willing to give up in order to return to them. This gift you have in you, but I will guide you because each group is different and the lurking demons are persistent in their desire to live again. I do suggest taking the jewel from your neck and putting it with your pack.”

 

Mika reached for her rucksack and placed the medicine pouch in an inner, secret pocket, hoping that she would be able to accomplish what she wanted with all her family. Once she returned to her place on her sleeping bag, Inu no Taisho said, “To begin this process, you of course need to be asleep. Go ahead and take your boots and stuff off so that you are relaxed. I will guide you through each of the groups that you will need to pull into your own dream. Be careful of the other demons, for they will still attack you, even though you won't have the jewel shard on your person. I can only interfere if your life is in grave danger, as you've seen previously.” Mika took her boots, holster, knife and coat off as she crawled into her extreme weather sleeping bag. She covered herself with a spare wool blanket that she always took on trips as she snuggled into her pillow.

 

Once she was ready to fall asleep, Inu no Taisho reassuringly smiled at Mika. “Once you're asleep, try to envision this place. It will be the focal point of all the dreams. Here you can bring your friends and family without fear of them wandering off,” he said as he added another piece of wood to the fire.

 

“Will I be able to see my mother?” Mika asked, afraid that she may have over stepped her bounds.

 

Looking deeply into her blue eyes, he saw the longing for her birth mother as clear as day. “If there's time at the end, you can see her.”

 

Frowning slightly, Mika asked, “What do you mean `if there's time at the end?' Am I on a time constraint?”

 

“Remember how I said that the moon enhances your powers?” Receiving a slight nod from Mika he continued, “Your ability to pull others into your dreams is only effective with the rising and setting of the moon. With a new moon it's a bit harder to know when that time frame is. As of a half hour ago you had twelve hours. Time's ticking away and each group has its own unique obstacles to overcome before you can bring them into your own dream.”

 

Mika thought a second before she replied, “I wish that you had told me that sooner. Where do we start, Opa? The sooner I get this accomplished, the sooner I can see my mother.” Mika lay back onto her pillow as she closed her eyes, listening to her grandfather's steady breathing and the wolf's panting.

 

Softly he replied, “The easiest dreams to infiltrate are human dreams. Their defenses are primitive and easily circumvented. Now concentrate on a person, envisioning them in your mind. Follow their essence into their dream.”

 

As Mika drifted off to sleep, the wolf moved closer to the duo. Sitting on her haunches near Inu no Taisho, she gazed intently at the old general with her piercing blue eyes. “I'll watch over her Akane. Don't worry; I'll bring her back before her times up. Help me keep an eye on her body so that the hazards of this world don't interfere.” He threw a second log onto the fire, gazing intently at his granddaughter as the wolf lay down next to Mika. Akane laid her head on Mika's chest, listening to her heartbeat. Inwardly she smiled as she watched her daughter.