InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reflections of What Might Be ❯ What Was That? ( Chapter 3 )

Reflections of What Might Be
Chapter 3: What Was That?
~Disclaimer~ I do not own Inuyasha in any way, shape, or form
There was nothing but darkness. She could see nothing, hear nothing, and feel nothing. It was as if someone had taken control of her body and shut down all her senses. *Am I dead?* There was no way for her to tell, except to wait for when her senses would return to her…
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Miroku and Sango were busy keeping watch over Kagome, hoping for a sign that their friend was still all there. Her eyes had closed, and she appeared to be asleep. Her breathing had evened out, indicating that perhaps she was sleeping. Despite their best efforts, the two could not wake their fallen friend. Even Miroku's efforts were in vain, as well as earning him a solid smack from Sango.
"I never thought THAT would fail to get her attention, it never has before." Miroku sighed at his failed attempt.
"I think you're just using her being unconscious as an excuse to grope her," Sango replied dryly, knocking him over the back of his head with her fist. "But I am also surprised that she isn't up yet. What exactly happened to her? She was just standing there staring into the well, and next thing I knew, she was out cold."
Sango was extremely worried at her friend, who had passed out for no apparent reason an hour earlier while they were in the well house.
Miroku noticed a few subtle movements from Kagome, saw her eyes shift back and forth under her closed lids. ~*I wonder what she could be dreaming about…*~
She was dreaming of nothing important really. It was only a glimpse of a future that might happen…
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Kagome found herself standing in the ruins of what appeared to be a city. A strangely familiar city at that...
*Where am I? What happened to me? I was just standing in the well house, right? So why am I here, and how did I get here?*
'All questions will be answered in time, child…' Kagome jumped. A strange voice came out of nowhere. 'You must see what needs to be seen, if you are to prevent this from happening...'
Kagome was confused. "What do you mean, I have to see what needs to be seen? Where am I? What am I supposed to prevent from happening?" she asked to no one in particular, hoping the voice would answer her call.
'Do you not recognize this place?' the voice crowed, 'You should though. You have lived here for most of your life.'
Kagome's blood froze at the sound of that. *What does it mean? Oh, no...* Kagome slowly turned around, after recognizing the apartment building across the street from her family's shrine.
'In fact, your home is right over there…go and see for yourself' the voice stated as it slowly faded away, leaving Kagome to try and figure out what had happened.
*No, the shrine...it's completely gone!*
The shrine where Kagome had grew up in, was no more. Where it had once laid was nothing more that a smoldering crater, obviously destroyed by something with immense power.
*Wait a minute...what's that?* Kagome thought quietly, as she sensed something new in the air. *This is almost the same kind of feeling I got when...* fear grasped her throat, *when Miroku's family was destroyed by those demons...*
"So you've finally figured it out, huh?" A sinister voice snickered. "I do think it's a bit late for that, young miko." How did he know who Kagome was?
"Who are you?" She demanded.
"You do not need to know yet, woman. You will figure it out on your own eventually. You should know that nothing in your world is as it seems anymore. Soon, your world will erupt into glorious war...so many will be lost, lives thrown away by a simple misunderstanding...I guess I should have specified what I wanted them to do instead of just telling them to be creative. Oh well, it's too late for that now." The figure now visible to Kagome.
Kagome shuddered at what she saw and could feel of this being. All she could see of him was the pelt of a white baboon draped over his shoulders, only vaguely seeing his eyes through the blue-skinned ape mask he wore. Even worse was the aura this creature gave off. It radiated with pure evil, it was almost too much for Kagome to handle.
It seems that this being had not intended to let her see him yet, as he quickly leapt back into the shadows. "It seems I underestimated you, young miko. So you know what your enemy looks like...I shall have to be more cautious of your powers in the future." The voice faded and the aura dissipated.
Kagome collapsed to the ground, disbelieving that there could actually be a being that possessed such an evil presence. After what the first voice had spoken to her, she realized that this was Tokyo she was in, all the ruins were of the city where she had lived.
'All is not yet lost child, the well is still intact.' The first voice proclaimed. 'You still have the power to see things that could be averted, you must realize and awaken your powers.'
"But who are you, and where am I?" Kagome pleaded for an answer.
'You are a reincarnation of a great miko, and that is why you have the sight.'
"How do you know this?" Kagome pondered aloud.
'I am merely a spirit that your powers have summoned. You called me here to assist you, even if you do not realize that you had.' The voice replied.
"I did?" Kagome muttered weakly, still not believing what she was hearing.
'You may not believe it, but it is true. You will begin to realize your new powers very soon, and will have to learn to control them on your own. I am sorry, but there is nothing I can do to help you. All I can do is point you in the direction you need to go.'
"Well, which way should I go? I still don't know how I got here, or how Tokyo was destroyed. I..." before she could continue, Kagome was cut off by the voice.
'Tokyo has not yet been destroyed, young one. Have you not realized this dream is what will come should you do nothing? You have the ability to see events in the future. You cannot control when and where you will have these visions, but you should pay close attention to them, as they will help you in your fight to save this world.'
"So, basically I'm psychic, I can see the future, and only I have the power to change the future? Man, my life got complicated since my 18th birthday..." Kagome whined quietly.
'As for the direction you need to head in, you cannot do this on your own. There is one who can help you, and who is much closer than you would believe. He has been trapped at your shrine for several generations.'
"Don't tell me I have to work with a demon?!? They're too unpredictable, especially if he's been sealed up for a few hundred years!" Kagome nearly shouted.
'He is not exactly a demon, but he is not completely human either.' was the voice's cryptic answer.
"Nani? Not a demon, but not human? Then what is he, a woodland creature?" Kagome responded sarcastically.
'If you look at it that way, then he is, in a manner of speaking. He is a hanyou, half inu-youkai, half human. If that is not enough to tell you who he is, then look to your shrine's legends and tales of your grandfathers'. They will point you towards the Forest of Inuyasha and the hanyou you seek.'
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the phone! You're not even going to tell me who or where he is? You expect me to find him on my own?" Kagome cried out, hoping the voice would tell her more.
'All I can say is you should look towards the god-tree at your shrine. There will be your answer to your questions, even if he will be a bit stubborn.' The voice said, as if knowing the hanyou quite well. 'I cannot stay any longer, you have to wake up now and embrace your destiny. Farewell child.'
"Wait! At least tell me who you are first!" Kagome shouted as things began to grow brighter.
'I am Kaede, and was once a miko like you and my sister Kikyo.' Was all the voice said in return, before the world turned bright as a fireball.
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The world was blindingly bright, but there was good reason for it. Kagome found herself lying under the lamp on one of the couches in her house. She shot straight up, not sure whether to be glad that her dream was nothing more than a dream, or that the shrine really was still there, and not just a smoking crater.
Sango noticed her friend shoot up, and quickly dropped to her side. "Kagome-chan, you're awake!"
Kagome was still staring straight ahead, had yet to notice Sango until she had put her hand on her shoulder. "Kagome-chan? Are you alright?"
Kagome looked to her friend, tears welling up in her eyes. She launched herself into her friends' arms and started to cry.
Sango was surprised to say the least. She had known Kagome was rattled by the tree almost crushing the both of them and Miroku, and that she had passed out in the wreckage of the well house, but had not expected her younger friend to start bawling like she was now.
She attempted to calm her friend down, "Kagome-chan, calm down please. Its ok, we're back inside you house. Are you all right? You passed out in the well house while looking at the water in the well. You gave us quite a scare. Kagome-chan, seriously, what's wrong?" Sango was starting to get worried again, as her friend had started to cry harder when she had mentioned the well house.
Kagome finally started to get a hold of herself, but was still partially crying. "Sango-chan! It…it was h-h-horrible!" the younger girl stuttered out, but continued, "The shrine was…was…*sniff* and all of Tokyo…" Kagome trailed off as she remembered the shattered and blasted houses and buildings from her dream. The image that haunted her the most was the crater representing the small hill the shrine was located on.
"Kagome-chan, please calm down. Now, what were you saying about the shrine that was so horrible?" Sango asked, genuinely confused.
*hic* "It was all gone." Kagome answered softly.
Sango felt a small chill go down her spine. "What do you mean gone? Did you have a nightmare or something?"
"It was only a dream…it COULDN'T have been real…could it?" Kagome asked quietly, and stared at her friend with a scared look on her face, tears still running down her face. "The entire city couldn't have been destroyed, right?!?"
Sango's eyes widened at this. This was different from what she originally thought. Whatever Kagome had dreamed had shaken her to her core, and she was having trouble coming to terms that it was only a dream.
"Kagome-sama, what do you mean, 'destroyed'? What did you dream about?" Miroku demanded
Sango was surprised that Miroku sounded so forceful when he asked that. The soft look in his eyes told Sango that he was only concerned for Kagome.
"I saw...I saw Tokyo burning. Houses and apartment were destroyed and falling apart. There wasn't a single person around. At first I didn't realize where I was until I recognized the apartment complex across the street from the shrine." Miroku started to realize where she was heading.
"And you saw the shrine in a similar state, correct?" He guessed at what she saw.
"No." Kagome sniffed a few more times, "The shrine was *hic* completely gone. The hill it was built on was gone also…there was only a giant crater where it should have been! Everything was completely annihilated! The worst part was, there was this evil man, who claimed that he was responsible for it. He had mentioned that his underlings were a bit too excited when he told them to 'be creative and deal with the situation'. That guy was way too creepy…I could feel nothing but pure evil and hatred radiating from him! He also knew who I was, and that I was a miko. He...oh no...I remember now! He said that our world would be thrusted into a war, where many people would die for no reason! And he claimed he was the one who ordered whatever attack that started the war..." Kagome trailed off.
"He was youkai, I'm sure of it." She finished quietly.
That made Sango freeze in place, dread looming over her.
Miroku's face twisted in anger at the thought of a demon ordering others to attack the human population and start a war. Had the fragile peace barely maintained not been beneficial for both sides, or were they just trying to rile up some old anger?!?
"He was so creepy looking too, that white fur…a blue mask too."
Miroku's blood ran cold. He had heard of a new demon rising through the ranks in demon society who often draped himself in a white animal pelt. This new youkai was ruthless and showed no mercy at all towards humans. There was also a rumor out that said the five demons that attacked Miroku's family might have been related to this man in some way, but there was no way to get in touch with him. Even other youkai had trouble meeting him unless he wanted them to get to him.
"Naraku…" Miroku breathed out. Kagome looked at him with confusion in her eyes. Had he heard of this demon before? "Kagome. Did this youkai say who he was? Did he show his face at all?"
Kagome shook her head. "Sorry Miroku-sama, I asked him but he said it was not important for me to know who he was, but only to know that he knew of my powers."
It was Sango's turn to interrupt. "Wait a second, what powers? What do you mean?"
Kagome looked down for a moment, opening her mouth to explain what the dream really was, and what she had found out in the dream. Her dream was really a vision of the future, a future in which only war and destruction ruled. And her job was to try and stop it, while training her powers. She was about to continue, but stopped in mid-sentence.
"Kagome-chan, what's the matter?" Sango asked in concern.
Kagome's only response was, "The god-tree." She then stood up and ran outside the house.
"Kagome-sama!"
"Kagome-chan, wait up!"
Miroku and Sango called out after her. She didn't listen, and ran outside the house and towards the part of the shrine where the sacred 1000-year-old tree had stayed out its life. As well as some rather peculiar roots curling up around the tree as well.
What had Kaede-sama meant by, 'Look to the god-tree, there you will find your first answer. Even if he may be a bit stubborn at times, he is your best chance to help you control your powers.' Kagome suddenly remembered something else Kaede had said to her, but she only just then remembered it. 'Do not forget the rosary, it will help soothe this hanyou and allow you a small amount of control over him. When you find it, you will know what to do with it. Just remember the rosary will work only with a word that will bind his spirit.'
She had no idea what that meant, but as she approached the sacred tree, she could feel something…two something's, in fact. One felt similar to the demon energy she had felt from the evil man in her dreams, but the energy was not warped with hatred and evil. Another was something that felt similar to her somehow. She could see something begin to glow as she focused her thoughts on the energy. The glow was coming from the ground beneath one of the roots under the ground.
Kagome dug threw the ground until she found what it was she was looking for. Wrapped around a root was a necklace made of numerous light purple beads the size of marbles, with four fangs placed around the rosary an equal length apart from the previous fang. When she picked it up, the beads parted from one of the fangs just enough for her to pull the rosary away from the root. As soon as it had cleared the root, it came back together again.
*What an odd necklace. What is even weirder though, is this vibe I'm getting from these roots around the god-tree. What is this?*
Kagome sighed, and put the rosary around her neck as she reached up to the roots. As soon as she touched them, she felt something odd push out from her hand and the root crumpled. The other roots wrapped around the tree also fell away from the tree, disintegrating. Kagome gasped and backed away from the tree, looking up at the young boy stuck on the tree.
*What in the world is this? How could he be…oh gods, he's being held onto the tree by an arrow. That must be painful…wait a minute. He's dead, he must be, or he couldn't just hang from there for who knows how long?!?* Then Kagome noticed something about this young boy. *He has white hair…and his ears are…on TOP of his head? They look like dog ears…kawaii!* the little girl in Kagome cried in joy at this. She reached up to the boy's head and started to rub his ears. She still got no response from the boy pinned to the sacred tree. She heard someone cough behind her, and turned her head to see Sango and Miroku standing there looking at her. Except Sango seemed to be staring slightly away from her for the moment…then Kagome noticed why she wasn't meeting her eyes. Kagome had literally climbed up and was clinging onto the boy so she could get a good feel on his ears.
Kagome blushed and jumped off the boy. "It's not what you think." She said quickly
This got a cute look from Miroku, but before he could say anything else, Sango spoke up, "You mind telling us what this inu-youkai is doing here Kagome-chan?"
"I really don't know." Was all Kagome could think of.
"Then how did you know to come here and look under the roots for him? You seemed to know exactly what you were doing when you un-earthed him." Sango said in an I-don't-believe-you voice.
*This isn't starting off good…* "It was in the dream I had. I was speaking with someone, or their spirit anyways, and they told me to look to the god-tree for my answers. She even said my answer would be a bit stubborn at times, but I never thought my answer would be a dead boy pinned to a tree by an arrow…" Kagome said.
"It is an interesting situation Kagome-sama." Miroku then added, "Do you not feel a bizarre energy coming from this boy?"
"What do you mean Miroku?"
"There is a demonesque aura coming from him, true, but I also sense something else here. To be honest, it feels like the power of a miko is suppressing the demonic energy."
"I thought there was something familiar in the air around here…" Kagome trailed off.
"Would you mind explaining then, Kagome-chan?" Sango's curiosity was piqued.
"Sure. This energy I'm sensing does feel familiar, very similar to my own in fact. It makes me wonder if maybe there's a spell binding him to this tree, but I-"
Miroku cut her off, "Lady Kagome, do you remember when you grandfather told of the story about Inuyasha's forest, and how it came to be known as such?" Kagome nodded, and Miroku continued, "The legend goes that several hundred years ago, an inu-youkai repeatedly attacked the shrine and village near the forest, looking for a jewel of great power. He failed to take the jewel on several occasions, but was never killed, was instead humiliated by coming close to being killed. The priestess that was tasked to guard the jewel felt pity on the inu-youkai, as he was only a hanyou. She even tried to make peace with the hanyou, and they stopped fighting for a short while. Then the hanyou assaulted the village shrine and stole the jewel, and attempted to flea with it. He made it to the beginning of the forest, but as soon as he passed a large tree, an enchanted arrow struck him and pinned him to the tree with a spell, binding him to the tree, essentially keeping him sealed and looking as if he were sleeping. The priestess was fatally wounded during the attack on the village and died, taking the jewel with her into death as to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. The tree where the hanyou was sealed was at the beginning of a forest, which was from thereafter known as Inuyasha's forest, named for the demon pinned to the tree."
"What are you saying Miroku-sama? That this legend might be true? That this boy here might be this Inuyasha?" Sango exclaimed. "This demon attacked a village repeatedly for his own simple greed of increasing his own strength!"
"But my dream said I should trust this boy, that he would help me. We should wake him up." Kagome said after a few moments of silence. "But how do we do that though? We don't know how to break magic spells, or even revive him if he IS dead." She sighed heavily.
"Lady Kagome, I remember something else of this legend. Inuyasha was said to have in his possession an insanely powerful demon sword, which was dropped when he was struck by the arrow. Fearful that another demon might come and take the sword to use it for their own purposes, a priest took the sword and kept it and its power concealed in the shrine, to try and keep it from others." Miroku announced the last of the legend.
Kagome agreed, "Yeah, I remember gramps actually said the sword was still being held in the shrine. He showed it to me once, but I thought he was only bluffing, I mean the sword he showed me was rusted, there were chips missing from it, and it was really in bad shape. Maybe it is true though…gramps yelled at me for pulling the sword out of its sheath to look at it one day. He said not to pull it out it would attract demons. I thought he was only playing around, but now that I've seen this, maybe he was telling the truth."
"Then why don't we go and look for this sword, see what happens when we pull it out?" Sango suggested.
"Sure, why not." They filed off to the storeroom where all the old artifacts of the shrine were kept, including the sword.
~Owari~
~~Sneak Peak of Next chapter~~
The three wandered into the storeroom, looking for the ancient katana. Unknown to them, the wind outside near the sacred tree was starting to pick up…
"Ah-HA!! Think I found it! Oh, wait…never mind, it's only a monk's staff. Wait a minute, this was my father's staff…your family took it from our old shrine? Then, you wouldn't mind if I take this, do you Kagome-sama? It did belong to my father, and I wouldn't mind inheriting it…"
"Go ahead Miroku-sama, it was only sitting in here waiting for you anyways. We were planning on giving it to you eventually." Kagome replied.
After several more minutes of searching, Sango came up with the sword, still in it's sheath. "Kagome-chan, here I found it." She said as she handed the katana to Kagome.
Kagome pulled the sword out of its sheath, and examined the ruined blade. "This thing has definitely seen better days, that's for sure…"
~Back at the sacred tree~
The boy's body pulsed, once…twice…and on the third time he stirred, and raised his head, looking through his bangs towards the odd building.
"She's close, that rotten bitch who sealed me here. Now, it's payback time…" Inuyasha said as he reached towards the arrow that held him fast to the tree…
~Sneak Peak Owari~

A/N: I'd like to give a hearty thanks and I love you to Tina(InuHime), my beta-reader: Thanks for checking this over for me Tina, you know I'm too lazy to do this myself. I don't know what I'd do without you here to help me through this. Arigato Tina, I'll find a good way to show my appreciation, you'll just have to wait to find out.