InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Secrets of the Snow ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha, or anything else for that matter.. Okay, so I own some stuff, just not InuYasha... If I did it would probably suck! lol


Wow! This chapter was already partway done before I started the prologue, but it turned out darker than I had originally thought. I'm working on my holiday story still, and I'm hoping I might be able to push it out by the end of the weekend.


Please ENJOY!


HAPPY HOLIDAYS!


Secrets of the Snow


Chapter One


Crisp white snow fell steadily in the quiet black darkness; the yellow light of the pale moon the only light in the inky night. Small clouds of hot breath floated into the night sky, it was cold out. Snow had been falling for hours now, the once tiny flakes clumping together and hiding the grass and soil below. Everything was hidden beneath the white death and nothing was able to hide from its freezing grasp.


Onyx hair fluttered in the soft breeze, the long tendrils moving freely, pushed by the invisible force of nature. It was more than just cold, the thin material around olive skin doing nothing to stop the trembling and shaking of limbs. Frostbite hadn’t yet settled in, but fingertips were already numb, bare feet stinging to the point of tears. She hadn’t always been so cold, hadn’t always been trembling so horribly where she could barely stand without shooting pain flaring in her muscles.


The black smoke fading into the distance behind her was the only evidence that she was getting further away. It didn’t matter which direction she was going, or the reason why she was leaving, but she needed to get away. She wouldn’t have to worry about any followers because anyone who could or even would follow her was dead or missing.


They had come so fast and nobody even had a chance to fight back. Men, foreign men with long haggard beards, narrowed, dangerous eyes, and weapons that were unknown came on large horses and took what they wanted. At first only few lost their lives, resistance falling quick, and it wasn’t long until these strange men had everything that the small town had to offer and left. Food in the newly acquired wagons, all of the cattle and thick hides of animals used to keep families warm through the long winters. The town was left for extinction.


Pneumonia was the first thing that hit the small town, the old and the young falling ill and their families struggling to help. However, nothing worked. Two-thirds of all who fell ill were buried a week later, the other one-third forced into a few makeshift hospitals as a terrible wave of something else hit. It was an illness worst than the pneumonia taking a strong hold and devouring what little was left.


By the time that word had gone out and help had come to the town’s aid, it was too late. Rotting bodies of children and the old littered the dirt roads, unseeing yellow eyes staring up into the sky and once healthy skin turned blue by the harsh weather. There was nothing left to save, no one left alive and the few that had survived were once again left to die. The people who had come to help had become the bringers of death, burning the homes of the diseased; suffocating the ones who they believed didn’t have a chance with pillows and other methods.


She understood of course, no one wanted this contagious disease to spread and they sought to contain it, but even the healthy had been added to the price of salvation. Part of her cursed the three people who had protected her village when everything began to break out, her saviors leaving before they could do any good, then again, the rest of her was silently glad they had gone.


‘Kohaku,’ the name on her lips was like a soft breeze during spring and it brought hot tears to her eyes as she trekked forward. The boy was the being of her dreams, his sincere and loving brown eyes, his dark brown hair and childish freckles that dusted lightly over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He was everything she had wanted and more when she had first arrived to the rather secluded village years before and until recently life had been perfect.


Kohaku’s older sister, Sango and her partner, a traveling monk Miroku had begun the murmurings of a marriage a month before their departure and though she claimed otherwise, a marriage to the kind boy was what she could only dream about. Plans had been made, loose plans, but the thought of them kept her going, the sticky wetness slipping down her arms going almost unnoticed due to the weather. It was safe to say that she loved Kohaku, loved him like the family that had died around her like the night slipping into dawn and she desperately wanted to begin a family of her own.


She was getting older by the moment, her seventeenth birthday close on the horizon and though she wished for the family she had been denied she didn’t think for one moment that she would make it through the night. She wanted to be at Kohaku’s side, wanted to feel the warmth of his hugs and his shy and chaste kisses and see his carefree smile just one more time if she could. It was childish and fruitless to think about thoughts like that while she traveled randomly in the snow and the night, hell she was lucky if she wasn’t going around in circles, but it was either think about the impossible or give up and die.


The truth was she wasn’t ready to die yet, not when she still had so much more to do, so much to experience and who cared if she lost a toe or all of them--if she could find shelter she could build a fire and she would be okay until morning. None of the living inhabitants of the village she resided in knew she had snuck out during the confusion, during the blood bath and if she had been noticed no one had cared enough to follow her. She wasn’t important enough to warrant attention and she mentally laughed at their arrogance since she was now away from all the bloodshed.


Their life or death mattered, she was positive it mattered to Kohaku, Sango, and Miroku; however, she was selfish and didn’t give a lick about anyone besides Kohaku. He was all that mattered, all that she could even think to worry about and though the callousness in her heart would have normally shamed her all she could feel was relief. She couldn’t forgive herself is she couldn’t find the strength to live long enough to find Kohaku and make him truly happy and if it only cost her was her sense of right and wrong for now then it was a sacrifice she was willing to make for the sake of love. It was better them than her.


The sounds of something charging was alien against the howl of the snow falling and the night air and she wanted to turn and see if it was all in her head, but she knew she didn’t have the time nor the strength for it. Instead she quickened her pace hoping she could reach the trees to hide in until her mind was clear enough to focus on reality. A twig snapped a few feet in front of her and her wide eyes searched for it behind the swirling white blanket. She could have sworn she saw glowing gems of red staring back at her and she bit back a shiver of warmth and something else she couldn’t pin point.


Her feet felt like they weighed a ton and no matter how fast she tried to make herself go, it wasn’t fast enough. The snow was falling to quickly with too much icy whiteness and she stumbled loosing her footing and instead of feeling the wetness of the thick snow she felt a stabbing pain in her right shoulder. Her body convulsed with pain as something tore through her flesh, her muscles jerking and screaming at her in ways she had never felt. She could feel her blood pounding in her ears and she felt hot wetness where the pain was rushing down her form and even though she didn’t want to look, her head moved and her eyes glanced down.


A bloodied arrow stuck out from her chest, the extremely sharp tip laughing at her and hesitantly her fingers touched it, an electric jolt of pain racing through her entire body. She could hear the hoots and the hollering of men somewhere behind her and she wanted to scream in agony and defeat. She wasn’t lucky enough to have left unnoticed, they had seen her and hunted her like the predators they were--they had toyed with her and now they had decided the game was over and it was time for her to forfeit her life.


“Kohaku,” her voice trembled as she carefully touched the tip of the arrow protruding from her body again, her fingers trembling from the cold and the shock.


Those men would do unspeakable things to her when they finally decided to round her up and she could feel the hysteria bubbling up in her chest and escaping her mouth instead of sobs. She was utterly defenseless and there was no escape from the knowledge that she was going to die before the morning, no ifs ands or buts, and she couldn’t even think about begging, couldn’t even manage it if she tried. At least she would die with her pride, maybe not her dignity, but that was okay.


The tears were rolling down her cheeks as she gazed at the trees in front of her, merely yards away and the laughter she couldn’t keep down grew louder, those red eyes glaring at her. It was either die by the hands of man or nature, that she was positive about now and though she would have preferred to leave the world was in by nature’s hands, it was man who was striking her down. Her blood was flowing out of her body and tainting the white snow red, pink and black, the sporadic droplets as promising as rainfall and it had hypnotized her for a moment; however the movement in front of her caught her hypersensitive ears and when she looked up she thought she could see death coming for her and it was a beautiful sight.


A snow storm came out of nowhere, thick walls of it swirling violently and those large red eyes floated like a ghost inside the storm. She could see the outline of an enormous creature, probably some wolf, a beautiful white wolf and she blinked trying to clear her blurring vision. It was as if everything had slowed down to a snail’s pace, her vision going from white to black and back again and the image of the wolf vanished only to be replaced by a lithe and tall being.


Silver hair was straight and still despite the wind, white robes fluttering like the finest silk or the rippling of water and she found her throat dry and closing up on her. It was a slightly feminine face, elegant and pale and for a fraction of a heart beat she wondered if death had been a beautiful woman. No woman could be that femininely gorgeous and yet ooze death and masculinity from broad shoulders and precise and cold amber eyes. Her mind was muddled as he drew closer to her, her bringer of death and she tried to climb to her feet to meet him if her legs hadn’t refused to respond. The cold was taking its toll, she was frozen in place, trembling, her body humming and if her heart had been beating any faster it would have burst from her chest.


“Please--” she whispered to the being in front of her, her now bloodied hand reaching out to the silver hair man in front of her, desperately trying to find and end before the real pain could set it.


Those emotionless amber eyes stared at her, analyzing everything they possibly could about her and she had the sudden feeling that he would walk on by her as if she had been the scum beneath his feet, a disgusting piece of filth that would dirty him and she would have understood. She was bleeding to death in the snow, tainting the crisp white beauty and if he shunned her then she would take death into her own hands. After all, she now had a weapon and though not a very good one, all it took was enough strength to ram the sharp tip into her throat and silence would be peaceful.


Something flickered in his cold eyes and the sword sitting on his hip make an eerie sound as he withdrew it from its scabbard. A relieved sigh escaped her throat as his fingers clenched the well made metal and her eyes closed as strong and long fingers wrapped around her outstretch hand. The touch send chills through her spine, a feeling she had defined as Kohaku’s touch and she immediately felt warmth engulf her. This was the end finally and honestly it felt better than she could have ever imagined.


“Thank you,”



E/N: Sorry that this story is starting so short. I'm only guest-imating about 5 chapters, not including the ending (which is surprisingly already written, even before this chapter). Oddly, the inspiration for writing this chapter was given to me by a few of songs sung by Lady Gaga... When I hear poker face I think Sesshomaru! lol


I also didn't like the way Rin's personality is in this story, it's not like I normally write her, but it's different and I'm all about different right now.