InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Simple and Clean ❯ Amidst the Clouded Souls ( Chapter 27 )

STOP: Before you read any further, be sure to remember to check out my one-shot called A Tale of the Meiji! It was posted on July 8th or 9th depending on if you read it on MM.org or FF.net, but please, go read it, tell me what you think! Now back to the originally scheduled chapter ^_^:

 

You know, I seriously think whoever is up there really hates me. The day I go in to start writing this chapter, our computer crashes and we have to take it in… a week later, I have nothing done at all. Urgh…why me?! Please be thankful that I even updated as soon as I did. I know I promised you, but I can't exactly help that my computer crashed. >_<;;; (bows) Please don't hate me!!! Now that you are completely sick of hearing me gripe, here's the new chapter:

Recap:

 

The lock to the girl's door clicked open, the screen slid sideways, and a dark nothingness was left. An open void in which Rin wished wouldn't be filled. A cold sweat began to trickle down her back and her heart began to pound in her small chest. The air in the room began to press down on her until it seemed almost impossible to breath. As her breath shortened, her heart began to beat at an alarming rate. The feeling of the room had completely changed, and just when Rin thought she couldn't handle the horrid heaviness, a guttural voice wove its way through the stagnant air.

“Well, this is an interesting development, don't you agree Kanna?” Rin felt something leave her body before she fell heavily to the ground. The blackness devoured her.

 

Chapter 27

Amidst the Clouded Souls

 

Dedicated to,

AkeryouSesshoumarusMate, katluvsinu and UmeElisay (thanks for the adds!)

 

The pale girl, her short, whitened hair falling into her strangely dark eyes, held her mirror in cold, lifeless-looking fingertips. A pale, form detached itself from the crumpled body lying on the floor. It quivered, as if unsure of how to use the evanescent time it had been so strangely pulled into. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared into the surface of the mirror, leaving only a slight ripple to show it had even been there at all. Kanna's finger's tightened briefly on the mirror as it glowed white hot for an instant, before letting it fall to the ground. The noise of the mirror as it clattered to the floor seemed muffled in the dank silence. Kanna looked slowing up at Naraku. Her lidded eyes gave her a sleepy look, and the monotonous tone of her voice seemed to lull her into a sort of hazy reality.

“The mirror…” She said dully, “It took away her life, and yet another still remains.” Naraku raised an eyebrow as he surveyed the girl splayed out on the ground. “You may go now Kanna.” The pale girl looked up at Naraku, a questioning look on her face. I say this because this is what Naraku saw, to a normal person, there would have seemed to be no change in her expression at all. “Leave the mirror here,” He told hem turning to look at the girl on the floor as Kanna left the room, a silent shadow in a multitude of darkness.

When the girl had gone, Naraku bent down and clasped onto the child's face with a cool, harsh hand. Turning it slightly so that he could examine it, he pulled back slightly, shocked. The girl's face was that of a sixteen year-old girl, stubborn, naïve, and young. She had aged, at most six or seven years, when she was expected to age all the way to her death. Naraku knew that he had taken the soul-life from her by way of Kanna's mirror, and he was sure it had been a complete soul, yet the girl had not aged a decade! Naraku raised his brow, slightly worried, yet more than anything, enthralled.

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It is thought that with light there can be no darkness, but that notion should never have existed. It is a common analytical cliché to connect good and evil with light and dark, but if looked at in a different light, that conclusion seems obscure and strange. For with light, there will be shadow, and there is no way to tell there is dark without light to go beside it and compare…If then light is good and dark is evil, there would be no distinction between the two. What would be the conclusion? Good is light with shadow, and dark is darkness with only some light? Then the words “good” and “evil” couldn't be used, for in that matter there would be no pure thing; it would be a mix of light and dark. In the strange side that she was on, Kagura wondered if the clear, pure side that she had thought to have taken might indeed be much more complex between light and dark, good and evil… but somewhere in between.

Kagura knew that by this time the young girl she had so strangely connected with was gone by now, soul ripped from her body unceremoniously, unsuspecting into the cold grasp of her master. What the souls were used for, Kagura nor Kanna knew, and they knew better than to ask. Some things were best kept unknown, for if they were explained it would be too strange even to comprehend. It was easier to do a job if she didn't know the details. Kagura felt that her life was a mess of guesses, never resolved; each thought seeming to fray and disappear as the clues to why she lived became lost in the mist of confusion of her heart.

 

The seven travelers took a last, almost thoughtful look at the old village before heading away from the forest to the mountains beyond. They would search there first for Rin, and hopefully stumble across something or another to guide them back to their own time. It was a long shot, but the only shot that they had. They had no other leads, and each set out with their own feelings of expectations and hope; though underneath those a feeling of dread was curling up, poking it's malicious nose through and wrapping it's devilish tale, to tighten slowly around the traveler's weary hearts.

Each carried a sack of essentials-food, flint, a bedroll-that had been given to them by the headman. “Ration yourselves, that amount can last you a week at most.” He had told them. Though he himself had never been far outside of his own province, he provided the travelers with a rough description of what lay ahead: barren, cold, snowy mountains. Hardly anyone went up there, especially not this early in the spring, and as the headman watched the group depart he heaved a sigh, wishing their fates to be not as cruel as they were destined to.

Leaning slightly on Sango for support, feeling still week after her long sleep, Kagome looked ahead towards the mountains. Blinking, she frowning slightly, squinting her eyes to see clearly. There was a hazy, almost purplish, grey fog curling strangely at the top of one of the higher peaks. As she watched, the fog seemed to swirl and collide, forming whirlpools and eddies, almost as if it was a permanent storm atop the mountain peak. “What is that?” She asked, her voice wavering with a strange emotion quite like fear. Sango glanced at Kagome, then the mountain, then stopped in her tracks. “Miroku…Inuyasha…Kikyo…Sesshomaru…” She said shakily, “You might want to see this.”

Sesshomaru glanced back at the two girls. “It's that miasma on that peak isn't it? I sensed a strange presence in the aura of this area, I believe you may have just found it.” Inuyasha cleared his throat and began to walk again, “Well thank you Obi-Wan Kenobi, next time we need advice on `strange disturbances in the force' we'll consult you.” He huffed, “Now can we get a move on it? I'd like to get home in the next century, thank you very much.”

Miroku ran a hand through his hair, a stray strand casting shadows on his worn face. “I noticed a strange feeling too. I'm not sure if it's bad or good but…”

“We've got to keep going,” Kikyo butt in harshly, “There's no time to debate it. If there's someone powerful enough to give off an aura like that than it certainly might be able to send us home.” She paused, looking to each face. Kagome spoke up, “But-what if that someone isn't…well, you know, too welcoming?” Kikyo's face hardened, “We have no choice, we must take that chance.”

“I'm with Kagome,” Kouga's voice cut in, “This feels like a bad idea… that miasma, whatever it is, it doesn't look too inviting to me.” Inuyasha growled, “Can we go now?”

 

It was strange, the way human beings valued life, and in the strangest of situations would do anything to keep themselves alive, no matter what the cost. It seemed so petty, if the entire world ended, what would you have left? Just a single, solitary life, which in an instant, would end. What would be the point? Naraku mused as he fingered Kanna's mirror, the soul inside exploring its new surroundings with the awkwardness of a fawn trying to stand on its spindly, new legs. It was indeed an entire soul and yet that girl still lay, alive but sleeping, on the floor beside him only slightly older. How had it happened? How could she have more than one soul? And most importantly, could he himself acquire another soul?

Naraku dipped his bony, gaunt fingertips into the mirror. The surface gave way like water, sending ripples dancing across the surface. As he did so, the soul dispersed into a haze of light only to be sucked in by the darkness of the mirror. As it compacted, it formed a tiny spherical object, a crystal droplet filled with the very essence of human existence. It broke the surface of the mirror as though it was a water drop falling backwards. The reflection, or perhaps the spatter of the drop as it fell, dissipated into the mirror. Naraku held the droplet gently with his thumb and forefinger, twirling it between the two. Naraku let it roll off his fingers into a shallow dish filled with other bead-like souls. It seemed to shine brighter, to pulse, among the others. Sneering slightly, the man, or whatever being he had become, picked the girl up in his arms, dully surprised at how light she was, and set her down onto the futon laid out on the floor. He thought it ironic that though the room itself was furnished for such things as sleeping, there was never before a need to use them. Usually his guests didn't stay that long.

As night fell softly over the mountains, blanketing them with the blinking firefly-light of the stars, the search party set up camp. As the others fell asleep, Sango gazed up at those stars, wondering if her mother, father, and brother were looking at the same stars from their window. Restless, she inched out of her sleeping bag and walked a little ways away from the still forms of her companions. Despite the situation they had fallen into, Sango felt strangely comfortable this night. The sounds of the night were not deafening, but they were definitely there, lulling her into a comfortable blanket of the darkness. It was not too quiet tonight, just perfect. Sango laid herself down, finding a patch of cushiony grass, and looked up at the sky, tracing from star to star with her fingertip.

Sango heard the sound of soft, reassuring footsteps behind her, the other persons breathing rhythmically in tune to her own. Miroku settled down beside her and silently intertwined his hand in hers, squeezing gently. A soft, wistful tear ran down her cheek to the grass under her head as a small trail of light whisked through the stars. As the two lips touched, she whished for a place called home.

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^_^ On July 10th will be the one year mark of me updating on fanfiction.net and the 1and one half year mark (approximately) of me updating on mediaminer.org!! Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me this long and especially to all the reviewers and people who have added me to their favorites and the like. Thanks so much! Don't forget to leave a celebratory review and tell me what you think of the how the story is going on a general level and what you thought of the chapter! (I find ways to get you to review for everything don't I...I really am pathetic.)

Reviews:

 

Killiara: Thanks for the insightful review! Inu-baka is kawaii, yes? Lol. I really do like Kagura, and I've always seen her as the tormented soul, so yes, I wanted to portray her differently than a lot of people think of her. ^_^

 

AkeryouSesshoumarusMate: blush. Teehee, you make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I'm so glad that you liked it; you seem like a very happy reviewer! I can't wait to hear more of your opinions. ^_^ I'm relieved that my `way with words' is somewhat understandable. Sometimes I read my chapters over and say, “Did I write THAT?” or “What was THAT supposed to mean…?.” Ah well, my insanity has no bounds.

 

Kouga_Lover_3056(forgot to sign in): AGH!!! Ultra blush. Geez, you guys are being so nice!! -chants Wayne's World Style- I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy!!! Ah, NY and Canada, that sounds awesome… you have to go see the musical Wicked while you're there (in NY)…good stuff. Anyways, I'm sooo sorry about that review -hands pillow over- I pass to you the review softener, may you not get much use out of it ^_^

 

Kotori Susayski: Though I know you didn't review on this story, I feel that I need to thank you for your heartfelt review for my one-shot! Thank you so much!

 

Until next time,

 

Jya.