InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shadow's Warrior ❯ Homecoming ( Chapter 1 )

(I had to post this a few times. Sorry for any inconvenience it might have caused.)

This isn't really a fantasy or made up world, but it doesn't stick very well to a single factual time period. The inspiration for the story is in the Wales region during the last years of the Roman Empire. But as I said, this is only inspiration and there are a number of places and times I'm using to write this story

The basic setting of the story is during a short and uneasy peace in an empire too big to care about its far reaching areas. Many generals, whose job was to protect the borders, have instead turned their regions into small kingdoms for themselves. By using the troops to instill fear into the local people, their rule was uncontested brutal.

If you have any questions, comments or want me to explain more of the setting, please leave a review.

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Long, flickering shadows danced across the trees as a warrior dances. Spinning and jabbing is more graceful to an observer than any movements brought on by the quaintest melody of a minstrel.

The night fire sways in a slight breeze as the figure races back and forth seeking perfection. For perfection is the only option, and failure is not even a thought allowed to cross the shadow's mind.

Shadows flicker as a warrior dances, spinning and jabbing across the air. Movements more graceful than flowing water more deadly than a viper's snare.

The fire sways in the late night movements, never stopping a second till perfection is won. For to this warrior it is the only option the thought of failure had never begun.

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Sango walked along the once well set stones of the old trade highway. The road had once been a testament to the great empire but now it lay disregard by any one of importance and so was left to weather time unaided.

She had been anticipating this trip for a long time. It would be good to see the town and the people in it again. It was too bad her goal in the town wasn't a social call.

Sango knew it would be uncomfortable at first, with the pitying glances from people that knew better than to speak to her. To them she was dead, or should have been if they were in her position; what right had she to return to this place after what her family had done? But Sango couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation and nostalgia as she approached her childhood home.

The wind blew around her, biting through her cloak. It was a sharp reminder of how a few weeks ago winter had still had its hold over the land. Now the world seemed dead, it was the time before nature blew its breath across the land and awakened its long sleeping children. It was the time when people were preparing for planting season, watching as the ground beneath them started to slowly thaw. It was a time of eagerness for the new year's growth to begin.

Besides her cloak she had few belongings. Her simple peasant dress and worn shoes gave no hint of the life she at one time had enjoyed. The colors of pink and green on her dress struggled against the dirt worn into them in a need to be seen before they were inevitably bleached away.

The only things she carried were two small bags. One of her bags held a little food, gold and some personal things, but any clothes she had acquire during her absence from the town were left wisely behind for the time being. Her other bundle was her secret and for her eyes and knowledge only.

As the trees on either side of the road started to thin, the first few buildings of the civilization came into sight. They were plain, wooden houses with mud packed smoothly on the outer walls for extra insulation. The houses were not ones for the wealthy, but they were still neat and showed off a new coat of white paint, testament to the pride of the towns' people.

Soon the forest completely disappeared. Taking its place, were rolling hills and fields. A few livestock grazed in fenced areas and now and then Sango would pass a person tending their flocks of sheep.

When she finally reached the entrance way to the town, she walked straight through without pause or hesitation as if no time had passed since she had last been there. Truth be told no matter how different Sango was and felt, the town was so unchanged it made her feel as if no time had passed since her midnight escape two years earlier.

The buildings on either side were crammed two story structures of the same make as the buildings she had passed earlier. They were all neatly painted white and each possessed a large oak door and a few windows with shutters.

As Sango walked farther into the town, the sense that nothing had changed started to fade away as little things started to be noticed. Though the town was clearly well cared for as it always had been, it had obviously hit hard times. Instead of well fitting shutters many houses possessed makeshift and warped ones. The glass on a few of the windows was of poor and cloudy quality. For a town that used to be a wealthy trade center for most of the surrounding country side, these small changes were blatant signs to Sango. The town was not doing well.

The center of the town was seemingly deserted. It was Sunday, and Sango had expected no less of the town. All the people were in the cramped church worshipping a God they thought had forgotten them, being preached to by a man so corrupt that heaven wasn't a place he should have even dreamed about. It had been this way for years and Sango doubted it would change.

She sat down on a barrel at the far edge of the town square and waited for the doors to at last open, freeing the people for one more week of hard labor.

Sango's thoughts started to wander back to the past, and as hard as she tried to keep her mind set on only the present, she found herself remembering a painful time.

It was here she had sat with her father watching the troops. It was on the other side of the square that her family had been allowed to live. She had always to sit here and watch her father work. He was always so powerful and unfailing. Even as she had grown her he had been the guiding light in her life, teaching her everything he could not caring that women should not know how to fight or read.

At last the bells began to ring and the doors of the church opened. The people filed out smiling and gossiping. As they passed Sango caught bits of what they said out of an early learned habit of eaves dropping.

…" did you here about those women? They were caught dressed as men fighting."

"Dear me, I haven't heard. What happened to them?"

"Well they paraded them through the streets with signs saying Amazons hanging from their necks."

"Those poor dears, but they are luckier than those others that were caught just last year, may they rest in peace."

"Yes lucky they were. Just about as lucky as you are that no one has heard you take their side. If anyone heard you talk that way… I'm afraid to even consider it."

Sango shook her head slightly at the conversation. Wasn't that just the way the world was going these days? Innocent people were punished and killed every day but no one would do anything. Everyone was too scared to say anything because they might be next.

The crowd continued to file into the square, some moving off quickly to stuff needing to be done at home, while others mingled enjoying a bit of free time. The soldiers came out after the normal people. The general did not attend mass at the church, but other higher ranking members of the military were there. They stood straight and tall to instill dominance over the town folk. Where ever they went a slight hush of voices always took place.

Sango looked at the soldiers in a reminiscent way. She used to stand with them, always so sure of everything they stood for and protected. Now as an outsider, she saw how terrifying they must have always seemed, but even then they were always more respected than feared.

Scanning over the crowd for faces she might remember her eyes froze over the one person she had been counting on not being there. He was the only person who knew her well enough to realize why she had come back, and he was the only person that would be able to stop her.

Sango needed to get away from the square before he saw her but for some reason she lingered another second looking at the man she so feared seeing her. He was so different, so much older, but his hair was still the color of midnight and his eyes were still a piercing violet. By the time Sango realized she could see his eyes because he was staring at her, it was too late. She couldn't run; she couldn't move; all she could do was wait for him to come over to her.

When he finally made it to where she was standing, he took her hand in his. Still looking surprised as if he was seeing a ghost, he brought her hand to his lips and spoke a name he had thought he never would say again.

"Sango?"

Sango gave a weak smile and tried to act as normal as possible.

"Hello Miroku."

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PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!

Really I'll take anything from questions and comments, to you telling me if you'll read the next chapter of this story.