InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Naraku's Expiriment ❯ Maboroshi no Akari ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter 12 ~ Maboroshi no Akari

 

“No, no, no. You have to use both hands.”

 

Another arrow fell to the ground as Autumn struggled to hold the bow in her hands without dropping it. “I'm really sorry. I just don't think I'm cut out to use the bow and arrow.”

 

She tried to get the arrow pulled back against the line, but it flung off into some nearby shrubbery.

 

“She may be right,” Kaede said. “She isn't calm nor collected enough to keep the aim of it true.”

 

“Hey!” Autumn said. “That's not…” Then she sighed, knowing it was true. Even at home, she never could quite get the hang of the bow and arrow in her archery class. Quite the contrary: they suggested that she transfer into the running class to lessen the risk of someone getting injured.

 

I guess the same rule applies here, she thought miserably.

 

Toto-Sai thought for a moment and then said, “I've never known a priestess to be so…hasty. Perhaps she could try to use a sword? It would be more suited to her personality.”

 

“I don't know…wouldn't I be more likely to hurt someone with a sharp pointy stick?”

 

“My swords are better than sharp pointy sticks,” the strange old man shouted. “They are the best in this region, unmatched by no one. There is nothing like them.”

 

He seems pretty confident, Autumn thought.

 

Toto-Sai went to his cart and pulled out a long silver sword. “It isn't the most powerful around, but I don't think want a sword of that power.”

 

“I don't think I would either.” Autumn took the sword in her hands and examined it. It seemed to absorb the light around it, making the blade glow with a light of it's own. Suddenly the sword began to vibrate and hum in her hands. Autumn looked up panicked, wondering if it was going to blow up or something. “W-what's going on?”

 

“The sword has accepted you,” Toto-Sai said. “Try it out.”

 

Autumn lifted the sword and swung it down, neatly chopping a tree stump in half. She stared down at it in shock. “I did that?”

 

Kaede nodded satisfactorily and Toto-Sai said, “Every sword needs a name and the one you hold in your hands now is called Maboroshi no Akari.”

 

“Mystic light?” Autumn asked, startled.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Is it okay if I go try it out for a bit?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Autumn raced off into the forest, eager to start hacking away at more innocent little tree stumps. The two old people watched her go and then Kaede said, “She is destined to be great.”

 

“Hai, yes, but only if she is not lured off the path Fate means for her to be.”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Autumn swung up and another tree stump was chopped in two. Smiling she aimed towards another one, but missed and to her horror the sword was descending towards a rock. Oh now, it'll break! Now Toto-Sai will be mad at me and oh no! She listened, waiting for the inexorable sound of clattering steel, but there was only a sharp ring like a church bell. When she finally found herself willing to look, she saw that the rock had been cut into two pieces.

 

What kind of sword is this?

 

She hit another rock and this one, too, cracked into two pieces.

 

This is sort of fun…

 

Swwwiish

 

Her head snapped up and she looked towards the bushes. There was something over there. Was it the wind? An animal? Or an unfriendly demon? She kept looking, her gold eyes as wide and bright as headlights in the dark until finally she decided that she was just being insane and paranoid and turned around to find a spot to rest.

 

Using a sword is hard work, but I know I can manage it, she thought, as she leaned back against a rock and closed her eyes.

 

WHAM! RIIIIIING!

 

She opened her eyes once more only to see a sword destroy all the rock to the left of her head. “What the…?”

 

“Give me…the shard.”

 

A tall brown haired man was standing in front of her with a narrow nose and gleaming red eyes. His sword was thin and barbed at the edges. One look and Autumn knew that he was an itatchi-youkai; a weasel demon.

 

“You can forget it,” Autumn told him, getting up. “'Cause you can't have it!”

 

“In that case I'll kill you and take it.”

 

He swung and she hopped to the side, with a scream. The sword hit the ground, sending dirt and pebbles into the air. Autumn coughed and tried to see through the dust, swinging blindly in front of her. There was the ripping sound of torn cloth and flesh and an angered roar. “You little bitch…I'll KILL YOU!” Autumn retreated back a few steps and saw that the itatchi-youkai now had a deep gash over his chest. “You little bitch!”

 

“I-I didn't mean to!” she said, knowing it was hopeless. He kept walking towards her, and she noted with revulsion and disgust that blood had colored the fabric a bright scarlet, dripping openly from the wound. How could I…have done that? Sure, he was evil but no one deserves…that. Unknowingly, tears started to fall from her face.

 

She wondered if she could get back to Kaede if she continued backing away slowly. Or maybe she could find someone to help her. That was ridiculous! She was in a forest. There was no one around to help her for miles, probably.

 

Her back hit a tree and she realized that there was nowhere to run. Her attacker realized it too. “Nowhere to go now,” he hissed. “NOW DIE!” He raised his arms and then, an extremely magnified expression of surprise that came across his face. A sword plunged into his stomach and Autumn could see the tip of the blade protruding from his front.

 

Oh God… I think I'm gonna be sick… she thought, covering her face with her hands.

 

The itatchi-youkai fell on the ground and she saw the cause of his death: a tall silver haired youkai, now holding a bloodied sword. He stared at her coldy, and as she looked from the blade to the unfeeling gold eyes, she knew that he was probably going to kill her too.

 

“Please…don't kill me,” she said quietly.

 

He stared at her for a long time, so long that Autumn began to feel uncomfortable. Those eyes seemed able to read her very soul and she began to feel like pinned, like a butterfly to a peg board.

 

“SESSHOUMARU! LEAVE HER BE!” Kaede and Toto-Sai came running. They must have heard me scream earlier. Kaede frowned. “Leave her alone, lord Sesshoumaru.”

 

LORD?!

 

Toto-Sai did not offer any support. Instead, he tried to hide behind Kaede. This only gained the attention of Sesshoumaru's killer gaze and he gave him a disapproving frown that made Toto-Sai squirm. Autumn wondered if they'd met before. Sure, this guy could scare the living daylights out of anyone, but Autumn thought that this seemed almost personal.

 

Sesshoumaru silently sheathed his sword and said, “Not this time.”

 

Not this time? Is there going to be a next time? He'll only kill me the next time we meet? If that was the case, she would probably live the next few days of her life feeling like she was on death row.

 

“What do you mean?!” she asked.

 

He did not answer her, didn't look back. After one last glare at Toto-Sai, he slowly walked back into the forest, fading into the darkness like a ghost. Autumn let out a big sigh; she hadn't realized that she'd been holding her breath.

 

“Child, ye be all right?” Kaede asked. “We heard your scream and thought…” She glanced at the dead demon and said, “Guess we been right…this time.”

 

“I'm fine, lady Kaede,” Autumn said, trying to breathe normally again. “Just a little shaken, I guess.”

 

“I would be too,” Kaede said. “His name essentially means murderer. And where might ye be off to, so quickly?” Kaede asked Toto-Sai, who had been trying to sneak away.

 

“I…uh…just remembered I have some business to take care of,” Toto-Sai stammered. “And I've left my shop for far too long. If I don't return soon, no doubt a group of brigands will come to steal my wares.”

 

“I doubt it be thieves that scare ye,” Kaede said dryly.

 

Toto-Sai did not respond. He merely tied his cow to the front of the cart and went away.

 

“What was that all about?” Autumn asked.

 

“Toto-Sai knows Sesshoumaru personally. He wanted a sword with which he could defeat the tetsusaiga. Instead, he received the tenseiga; a sword of healing. He used the sword to heal his arm and a little human child, I am told, but other than that, it was of no use to him. Sesshoumaru wanted a killing blade.”

 

“So what did he do?” Autumn asked.

 

“He got what he wanted. A demon blade; tojikin.”

 

Even the name sounded evil. She shivered. When she saw Kaede looking at her curiously she said, “It's starting to get cold. Do you think we can go back inside?”

 

“Aye,” Kaede said. “And we'll get those wounds of yours patched up too.”