InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Moon and Destiny: Tsuki to Shukuen ❯ Act 4 ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
I wonder…are my chapters too short? I don't think so. I usually don't read extremely long chapters. Maybe it's because there are not pages and I lose my place often. Oh well…I guess I'll never really know until someone tells me. People probably wonder how my characters look. Well…
Tsuki: Silver hair, puppy ears, and yellow eyes…just like Dad. ^0^
Shukuen: Black hair and green eyes…just like Mom. ^0^
Reichou: Black hair, Miroku's looks, Sango's maturity
Shippou: Pretty much the same, except he has two tails now and his hair is grown out long like
Inu-Yasha
Akumashugi: Albino - red eyes, white hair, ivory skin
On with the fic!
Act 4:
As soon as they came to the village, it reeked death and destruction. Bodies lay randomly in their path and blood was spilled on the dirt road. Some of the huts had been destroyed by fire…or perhaps by something else. Shukuen, Shippou, and Reichou observed their surroundings as the villagers were dragging them as they pulled the net.
“I feel like the catch of the day,” Shippou muttered.
“This is obviously some sort of net woven from a type of plant,” Reichou said, “that deflects magic, like moly. We may as well go with the flow,”
The villagers had dragged them to a large hut. A man stepped in front of the doorway, “Priestess! We have the demons that have defiled our village!”
A woman stepped out of the hut. Her priestess robe was stained with blood from tending to the injured. She looked at the people in the net with slight interest, and then disdain. Calmly, she turned her back to them, “Bring them in,”
Reichou, Shukuen, and Shippou were taken out of the net and hauled inside of the hut. The villagers then left them alone with the priestess.
“What brings you back here, Shippou?” the priestess asked, “I thought you had abandoned us for a better on the other side,”
“I come back once in a while,” Shippou answered.
“Shippou,” Shukuen asked, “who is this woman?”
“Can't you tell?” Reichou said, staring at Shukuen, “That's Kikyo, the most powerful priestess to ever live,”
Shukuen took a good look at the priestess - he had never seen Kikyo before and she was not mentioned around the house. Kikyo, equally, took a good look back at Shukuen. Her face was hardened towards them; who would have thought such a pretty face could look so bland, so unemotional?
“You are of Inu-Yasha's blood,” Kikyo said.
“…how did you know?” Shukuen asked.
“I can sense some demon blood in you,” Kikyo answered, “not enough to be hanyou and not enough to full. It is mostly human, but there is a little bit there and it is dog demon,”
“My sister has more demon blood in her than me,” Shukuen answered, smiling.
“Kikyo, what are you doing here?” Shippou asked.
Kikyo made face, “I am priestess, Shippou. I am doing what I am supposed to do,” She then paused. “Sit on the floor, this shall be a long story,”
Shukuen, Reichou, and Shippou did as they were told.
“A few days ago, the demons in this forest slowly began to disappear,” Kikyo said, “as if they were leaving. The villagers were happy that they were slowly leaving, but…something else was afoot. A little girl was in the woods with her brother. Her brother stumbled onto a cave. It was the same cave where…I had once tended Onigumo, before he became Naraku. In the cave, they found a human man, not much older than you three, consuming demons as Naraku did, except it was even faster and even more brutal.
“The girl and her brother ran to tell the villagers, but it was too late. The demon lay siege to the village. It destroyed and killed, taking no mercy, and attacked day and night. Then, for no apparent reason, it left. The demon stopped coming here and stopped attacking. The villagers returned to the cave, but found no remnants of the demon. He was gone - vanished. The villagers have been on edge since then and they contacted me. They want revenge and they're attacking anything that moves. It is dangerous for you three to be here. You should go back to the other side,”
“Not while this is going on!” Shippou said.
“I wasn't born when Naraku was around,” Reichou said, “but I have heard tales of him from my parents. Could it be that…he has returned?”
“No,” Kikyo answered, firmly, “I saw him die. Naraku may have deceived us before, but he is now truly dead. No, the demonic aura I sensed from the destruction in the village was something…else. Something not truly evil, but not truly good either. It was something…strange. It reeked somewhat of Naraku, but yet it reeked of something else. I am not sure. It may just be a demon with some of Naraku's powers, and yet it may not. Sesshoumaru doesn't-“
Kikyo suddenly stopped; as if she was biting her tongue.
“Sesshoumaru? My uncle?” Shukuen asked, “What does he have to do with this?”
“Nothing,” Kikyo answered quickly, “He has nothing to do with anything,”
“I haven't heard from him in a while,” Shippou said, “I only saw a glimpse of him hanging nearby when Kaede died,”
“He come and he goes!” Kikyo snapped suddenly. She then let out a sigh and headed towards another part of the hut, “Now if you excuse me, I have injured people to attend to,”
“'He comes and he goes'…yeah right,” Shippou muttered.
“She really didn't want to talk about him,” Reichou said.
“What do you think she meant by `he comes and goes'?” Shukuen asked.
“What do you think it means!?” Shippou snorted, “It means that they're just knockin' boots!”
Suddenly, a pot that had been holding water came flying into the room and collided with Shippou's head.
“Do you remember when we weren't married?”
“Yes,”
“And we used to be on the road every day looking for Shinkon shards?”
“Yes,”
“Back then, did you ever think we would be out like this because of our children?”
Kagome looked at Inu-Yasha. She had been driving the car in direction of Sango and Miroku's house, “No, not really. Back then I was too worried about if I was going to live at least until tomorrow,”
Inu-Yasha said nothing. Then he finally spoke, “Kagome, am I bad father?”
“What?”
“Am I a bad father?”
“No! Of course not! What would make you think that way! You're a wonderful father!”
“You're just saying that,”
“No, I'm not. You're a good father. It's just that…raising children can be a little hard to manage, especially children that are unique and special as Tsuki and Shukuen,”
“But how can I expect to be a father when I barely had a family to raise me? My father and mother died when I was young, I barely remember them now. I had to fend for myself all that time. But I feel as if…I'm failing at being a good father. Tsuki won't listen to me and she lies to me so much I can't tell when she's telling the truth. Shukuen listens to me, but I always get the feeling like he's keeping something from me on purpose,”
“Give them some time. It's not easy growing up, you know,”
Tsuki felt Akumashugi's smooth hands slide up and down her neck as he passionately continued kissing her. Tsuki kissed him back, but grabbed his hand as she felt him slowly inching his fingers towards the buttons on her shirt, trying to undo them.
“No,” Tsuki said as she pushed away his hand from her buttons.
“No…?” Akumashugi asked, “What's wrong?”
“I'm not ready,” Tsuki said, “You know that,”
Plain and simple. He knew this, she knew this - so why had Akumashugi been so forgetful lately? Was it that he was forgetting that Tsuki didn't want to `go all the way' with him…or was it that Akumashugi was simply blotting it out of his mind; putting thick coats of paint over the fact that Tsuki wasn't willing to give him her virginity at the moment.
“When are you going to be ready?” Akumashugi asked as he kissed her neck.
`Why are you asking me this? You know why. You should know why. Have you forgotten about that already, Akumashugi?'
“I don't know,” Tsuki answered, “but it's not now. I just don't feel like it's a good time,”
Shippou rubbed the back of his head and glared at Kikyo as she innocently entered the room. Kikyo ignored him and directed her attention to Shukuen.
“Tell me something,” Kikyo said, “how do you control the demon part of you?”
Shukuen seemed to shrink, “…what?”
“Demon blood is very potent,” Kikyo answered, “A drop of it is enough to give strength to human blood. It can spread in one's body and take over completely, especially with half-demons like yourself and the sister you spoke of. So tell me, how is it possible for you to control the demon inside? Have you had some sort of training, some sort of discipline that prevents it from taking over?”
Shukuen curled up into a ball. `Demon blood,' he thought gloomily. He knew about the danger of his demon blood. He knew every since he was small…ever since that fateful day on the playground in the park…
“Shukuen…?” Reichou asked.
…Shukuen was small but he remembered that day all too clear…
“Shukuen…?” Reichou asked.
…and he remembered his rage and he remembered…
“Shukuen?”
…and he remembered the blood spilled on the sandbox…
“SHUKUEN!”
Shukuen looked up as Reichou shook him. Shukuen was shaking all over; it looked like he had just seen a ghost.
“What's wrong with you?” Shippou grumbled.
Shukuen shook his head as he looked down, “…nothing…”
“Ignore him, priestess,” Shippou said, “He's weird. Priestess, there's something I've wanted to talk to you about. Kaede would be a better source but…she has passed on,”
At mentioned Kaede, Kikyo stiffened. Her face hardened and she turned away to tend the fire, to hide the tears, “Be quick about it,”
“Do you know what happened…to the Jewel of the Four Souls after Naraku was defeated?”
Kikyo shook her head, “No, it is gone forever. I knew as soon as Kohaku died,”
“Kohaku…?” Reichou asked.
“Sango's brother. He would have been your uncle, had he survived,” Kikyo answered. She then stood up and looked at them.
“You mean…” Shippou gasped, “…it's destroyed?!”
Kikyo nodded, gravely, “I heard of when Kagome split the Jewel of Four Souls into a thousand shard and I knew it would only be a matter of time. The Jewel of Four Souls is meant to never be separated like that and while the shards may have some power on their own, it is only a matter of time before the power wares off and it is dead and it becomes a piece of glass. Nothing more. Naraku had cultivated a lot of shards over time, but he knew as well that it was only a matter of time.
“You see…Naraku needed those shards for power and without it, he would be nothing. So, he had to act fast. I was not there to see the battle, but I saw Naraku die. And when he died, so did the Shikon shards and so did Kohaku; for you see, Kohaku needed those shards to stay alive. The Jewel of Four Souls is no more,”
There was an eerie silence in the hut.
“I've been having dreams,” Shippou admitted, “strange dreams of a jewel just like the Jewel of Four Souls…except different. It had a different power of some sort, because…I don't know how I know this, but it wasn't forged by priestess like the Jewel of Four Souls was…but born,”
“A jewel born of both darkness and light,” Kikyo suddenly said, as if she was reciting poetry, “A jewel of both sorrow and joy. A jewel tied and created in the blood and flesh of one. A jewel that shall begin the end,” Kikyo paused. “I have seen visions as well of what you speak, Shippou. It is beautiful, but deadly,”
“What is it?” Shukuen asked.
“I do not know,” Kikyo answered, “but I know that is dangerous to both worlds,”
Sango and Miroku lived not too far from Kagome and Inu-Yasha. The parents met in the living room. Sango's eyes were puffy and red from crying too much.
“Where do you think they would have gone?” Miroku asked.
“I don't know,” Inu-Yasha answered, “There's a million different places in this accursed city,”
Sango paused, “…do you think they would have gone to Sengoku no Jidai?”
Everyone blinked.
“Go to Sengoku no Jidai?” Kagome asked, “But the Bone Eater's Well is all the way in the park and wouldn't it be impossible to go back without the Jewel of Four Souls?”
“Impossible, no,” Miroku answered, “but improbable, yes,” He then explained, “Shippou is from Sengoku no Jidai, but he lives here. Sango and I are from Sengoku no Jidai, but we live here and Reichou was born here. Kagome, you are from here, but Inu-Yasha is from Sengoku no Jidai. It might be that people from Sengoku no Jidai who have experience in both worlds can move back and forth. Shukuen and Tsuki, for example, are of both worlds, and can call either place home. The same goes for Shippou and Reichou,”
“But how do we know they're there?” Sango pointed out.
“None of the children are the ones to go partying,” Kagome said, “So they have to `hang out' somewhere where nobody will find them strange looking. Sengoku no Jidai is the perfect place,”
“Maybe we should split up,” Inu-Yasha suggested, “Miroku and I can go to Sengoku no Jidai and Sango and Kagome can go look around town in the car,”
“We would be able to cover more ground,” Kagome sighed, “and if we find any of the kids we can drag them back home,”
“But if we're in two separate worlds, we won't be able to contact each other,” Sango said.
“We'll just have to risk it then,” Inu-Yasha answered, “Sengoku no Jidai should be less dangerous since Naraku is gone,”
“He's right,” Miroku said, “let's go our separate ways now,”