InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Returning to the Path of Sesshoumaru's Eyes ❯ The Two Messengers ( Chapter 7 )

 

 

 

 

Two boot-clad feet walked calmly onto the cracking, blistering earth. Sizzling was followed by the stench of burning flesh, then was followed by a burst of cool air. The sound of harsh metal sliding against smooth steel could be heard as the great being brought out his sword. The air pulsated and pressed against him, painfully reminding him of the torturous amount of heat he was about to endure. Drawing in a sharp, painful breath, he felt his lungs bursting from the toxic air. He shook his head, annoyed with himself for showing his pain. He looked up with a heavy resolve, his amber eyes fierce and angry. A booming, angry voice called out to him;

 

“Who dares approach the entryway to the afterlife? Leave, before we take you under!”

 

 

“I have come for my father's sword, Souunga. And I shall have it. Take my life, so I may enter.”

 

The chuckling resonated, shaking the walls and sending an avalanche of gritty bolders down to greet him. He kept a careful grip on Tenseiga as he paced surely towards the entrance of his destination, his fierce eyes steeling towards his fate.

 

Today, he would die in the crater of Mount Fuji.

 

 

Rin sobbed as she held the young infant in her arms. The skies mourned with a light, cold drizzle that smacked against the cold earth. Shivering, she placed her head above the child and pressed it closer to her.

 

With one hand holding the child close, she used the other to reach behind her hair, slid her fingers under the chain and pulled her necklace off over her head. Holding the pendant in her hand, she examined it for a moment. It appeared to be made of a mineral similar to adamant, like a crystal. Inside, it glowed a dull purple, illuminating the crystal's crescent moon shape. With a shuddering breath admist her tears, her hand closed around the pendant and she threw it high into the air. She held the child close and watched as the sun traveling from one side of the sky to the other. Clouds passed, the wind whipped her sleeves about, and her eyes drooped. The last thing she remembered was her back falling onto the hard, frozen ground.

 

 

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Aikou-Akan fluttered her eyes open. She had survived, but not for long. When her lord found out about her misdeed she would certainly be killed. She must rest, and leave as soon as possible with her lover. As great as her lord's ability was to sniff out where she had family there, she would at least be protected in the south. With a settled determination and confidence in her plan, she lay back in her sheets and welcomed the black soothing comfort of sleep.

 

 

She tugged at her short kimono, and followed her lord as they walked by the ocean. The pale pink dawn met the crashing waves of the sea, with white mist spraying lightly on her face. She tiptoed behind her lord alongside the sea, the jagged cliffs enticing her to step off and join the sparkling seafoam below. Suddenly, it dawned on her.

 

“I've been here before. This is the coast where Horai Island was.”

 

She watched as the wind blew her lord's hair aside, revealing four marks. They glowed angrily with magicks- reminding Rin of an exposed hornet's nest. Slowly, she watched as the marks turned to one. It was in the shape of the pendant she had thrown…

 

“Sesshoumaru-sama…are you alright?” She quickened her pace to catch up with him. Suddenly she realized that her legs were shorter, her hair was pulled to the side, and she wore an orange and yellow checkered kimono. Was she a child again? Was this a dream?

 

“You're not Sesshoumaru-sama! Who are you? And where am I?”

 

The man turned around. He wore the appearance of her lord, but the posture and fresh emotion on his face was not the demon she knew. “I am a being of the heavens. You have sent for Lord Sesshoumaru, but I have come to tell you that he has moved onto the realm of the dead.”

 

Rin shook with anger. “Why should I believe you? You have already attempted to deceive me.” She folded her arms across her chest and stopped in her tracks.

 

The being held out his closed hand to her. “Because you would've not let me send this message had I come in my true form. But I have something that should be returned to you, as you will have better use for it than I.” His hand opened, the palm facing upwards to reveal the pendant she had thrown into the heavens.

 

Rin gasped in shock. Was this a dream?- Or a vision? She had no idea. Her shaking hand reached forward to lightly touch the crystal. Drawing in a deep breath, she grasped it. Light flooded her vision and she only heard one more thing.

 

“Rin trust your instincts. They will always guide you. It is your destiny.”

 

It was her lord's voice.

 

 

 

Rin walked through the corridor with no expression to be seen on her face. She felt numb to the core. Yet as she walked the halls, no one noticed her filthy hand, scraped knees, or torn clothing. It was as if the unknown loss of her lord's son had silenced the normally vibrant and bustling castle. She mourned the child, failed in summoning her lord, and buried the child alone next to her lord's mother. Yet even with all of this, she still refused to believe this world had lost him. “Sesshoumaru-sama”.

 

She walked past the gossipers, the servant, Jaken, and the stable master who was whispering with a younger servant girl. Her eyes gave him a glare of steel that shook him momentarily, yet after a moment he continued his flirting. Rin shrugged carelessly. “Karma is already in place for Sesshoumaru's cheating wife”.

 

She opened the door to her room and slid it shut. She rang the bell for a bath to be drawn and slid off her dirty clothes, changing into a simple white wool kimono and warm tabi. Tying the knot of her belt, she impatiently waited for the bath that would no doubt take a while to draw. Her eyes gazed at the door adjoining Sesshoumaru's. Fresh tears brimmed as she quietly and hesistantly closed in on the distance between her and the forbidden door. She raised two of her right fingers, breathed in a deep breath, and slid the door aside.

 

It was bright, and full of light from the windows that were open. The pale wood gleamed gold and the screens hiding his tatami mat and futon from view shone with an ethereal glow. This room always seemed so expansive, warm, and inviting, yet never spoke of its owner to her.

 

Rin turned around the screen to glance at the bed. There lay an unexpected sight. In her white and maroon robes lay the wind sorceress that Rin hadn't seen in almost ten years.

 

“Kagura? What are you doing here?”

 

 

 

“Kagura…I know you're there.”

 

She stepped out into the small clearing in the flowering meadow. Sunbeams shone down through the clouds. “I see your nose is good as ever, Sesshoumaru”, she mused inwardly. She noticed the slight annoyance in his eyes when she greeted him so informally. She crawled forward to his figure, and her eyes betrayed her. Her torment, her pain, and her love was clearer, and sharper than the brightest of diamonds. She fell onto her knees, leaning towards his feet, reaching up with one hand to clear her hair up from the back of her neck. Her eyes revealed her true words.

 

“Naraku has returned to me my heart. Yet it is slowly dying. I have never known such pain- please, end it. It would be an honor to die by your hand alone. Let me find peace.”

 

Sesshoumaru obliged. “I will end your pain- for a price. If I die, you will return to life and send a message for me.” He crouched down on even ground with her, looking straight into her eyes. “You are resolved to die, I see.”

 

Kagura nodded. “I have accepted my fate and am ready for the afterlife.”

 

Sesshoumaru stared her down to make sure she was certain, then unsheathed his Tokijin. Grasping the blade by the hilt, he rest the tip in front of her heart. He watched as her face changed into panic as she realized what he meant.

 

“Fulfill your last wish, Kagura.”

 

Her hands shook as she brought them to his strong, muscular shoulders, and braced herself for what was to come. Drawing in a deep breath, she shoved herself forward. White heat consumed her chest, and she saw stars. When her lips touched his, she smiled. Her weak heart failed her, and she felt her lips go numb. With her stiff fingers and last energy, she wrote in the wind:

 

æ„›ç§ã¯æ„›ã— 7;Ÿ

(I Loved You.)

 

 

 

“So you are here to deliver me a message?” Rin asked incredulously. “So he must truly be dead?” She still couldn't believe it. All the evidence that her lord was stacked against her- he was most certainly dead- yet her heart refused to accept it. She stared down at the wind sorceress.

 

“Sesshoumaru wanted me to pass on these. He sees wind in you- You are constantly changing, shifting, free and cannot be contained. Trust your instincts, for they will set the path for not only yourself, but countless others.”

 

Her visage started to fade, and she removed her fans from her obi. She gave the objects in her hand one last longing glance, she placed them on the bed. “Rin, I pass on my powers to you. May they serve you well.” With that, she was gone.

 

Rin stared her a moment after she had disappeared, lost in thought. “Twice today I have been told to trust my instincts. Well, my instincts tell me Sesshoumaru cannot be dead! He can't be!”

 

She looked down at the bed before picking up Kagura's fans. Their unexpected heavy weight threw her off, and she lost her balance. She landed on the bed, sharply inhaling the remnants her lord's scents. At that moment, her heart lurched and she felt very alone in the world. She heard a distant knock in the next room, and she jumped up and skipped to the door. Looking over at the fans, she decided to leave them there for the time being while she took her bath.

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