InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Guardian Cu' ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Cu Cebhfhion 
In which Cu' lingers beneath the God Tree to visit with a golden yellow flower.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Drama / Fantasy | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.05.2010 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.7K | Visits: 165 | Status: Work In Progress
In which Cu' lingers beneath the God Tree to visit with a golden yellow flower.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Drama / Fantasy | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.05.2010 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.7K | Visits: 165 | Status: Work In Progress
The Characters and World of InuYasha belong entirely to the admirable and talented Rumiko Takahashi. I in no way lay claim to them or make any money off of them.
Cu' the Guardian, aka GinCu' is mine, so is his meadow and the plot of this story.
Chapter Seven
A rapid parade of changing seasons passed over Cu' after the tall figure of Lord Sesshoumaru faded out of sight to eventually be replaced by the shorter, plumper form of another frequent visitor to the Tree of Ages. Loitering for only a matter of a few minutes, according to his own unique view of time, the Guardian was well aware that in actuality Earthward had already progressed forward another two decades.
Lazily baking under a high summer sun, the lush countryside lay somnolently beneath a dull blanket of blue sky which was already buttered over with the gray haze of an impending afternoon thunderstorm. That the untouched sleeper had already endured many years in the Goshinboko's keeping was plainly evident by a tangle of thick woody vines that had sprung up long ago to sinuously entwine around his body in a graceful sylvan embrace. The unfaded crimson of his baggy robes peeked out from between thick clusters of dark green leaves like the brilliant red petals of well hidden flowers. Sagging slightly against his right shoulder, the sleeper's innocent boyish face remained uncovered and unchanged, framed by a flowing cascade of light silver colored hair.
Standing contemplatively below him was a buxom, black haired woman attired in the white and red clothing indicative of her vocation as a Miko, bearing a quiver full of arrows across her back and carrying a long bow. In order not to frighten this clearly preoccupied observer by suddenly just popping into view at her side, the Guardian walked around behind the tree before solidifying into his visible form. At the sound of the now corporeal Cu' stepping away from his hiding place she reacted with surprising swiftness by whirling to stare in his direction while smoothly nocking an arrow and readying herself to take the shot at the same time. Peering out of her one good eye, the woman glared harshly at him and barked out her demand, What business have ye here in the forest of the InuYasha?
Cu' sighed inwardly, hiding the sadness he felt over seeing that such a pretty little woman had been so unfortunate as to suffer the loss of one of her flashing dark eyes.
Oh, I am Cu', he replied gifting her with a pleasant smile, Though there are some who know me as GinCu'. I will answer to whichever you prefer Lady Kaede.
His answered startled her. How do ye know my name?
You are Lady Kaede, Miko of the village down by the river, are you not? Disregarding her still drawn bow with it's threatening white fletched payload, Cu' took a few steps over to stand next to the tree. Atop his head a dark gray silk scarf blended almost perfectly into the color of his waist length hair and he wondered what she would do if she realized exactly what it was meant to conceal. 'Shoot your ass point blank in less than a heartbeat,' he dryly replied to himself.
Quickly stepping well back to put some distance between them, Kaede regarded the man's glittering silver eyes with obvious suspicion. Exactly what are ye? She asked warily, her voice low and tight in her throat, Know ye that I shall suffer no Youkai's presence near the village under my care.
Lady Kaede, do you really perceive some hostile aura emanating from me? Then, to demonstrate a complete lack of concern at her unyielding defensive stance, Cu' folded his hands loosely behind him and turned his attention to the sleeper on the tree.
Unable to discern a trace of any kind of aura, Kaede at last lowered her bow though she still held it with the arrow nocked and ready. She watched Cu' closely, puzzlement clearly evident on her features. Though the man before her certainly appeared otherworldly, with his shinning hair slipping like liquid silver over his shoulders and around a face dominated by startling gray eyes, there was nothing radiating from him that struck her as at all demonic. Instead she felt surrounded only by a sublimely calm and peaceful sense of contentment that seemed to have the tall sparkling eyed stranger at it's center.
Who are ye? her voice softened and the draw on her bow relaxed slightly.
Only a traveler seeking unusual sights, Lady Kaede. I heard a tale that here in this land of Musashi there was an ensorcelled Youkai in the forest near your village. This is him?
Aye, but he lies under the spell of no foul magician. Kaede cast her bright dark eye around toward the sleeper. The pull on her bowstring eased even more as the last of her fast dwindling apprehension fled. My dear Sister sealed yon hanyou to this tree with her sacred arrow. The InuYasha was captured by a holy spell and will be pinned here forever in punishment for his vile transgressions.
Really.... What heinous form of villainy could this child of the forest have been guilty of that would merit having his soul condemned forever into Nowhere?
Nowhere? What mean ye by that?
Only that he doesn't appear to be very...well..uh, dead. Leaping up on a root to get closer Cu' placed a hand below the sleeper's nose, then turned and gave her a good-natured shake of his head, Not breathing, so...I guess you could say he doesn't appear to be very much alive either.
The hanyou is rightfully sealed. He'll be of no trouble to anyone anymore. Kaede watched the strange man hop lightly back down and reclasp his slender, long-fingered hands behind his back.
Still..if he were truly dead, his soul would be able to reincarnate. Then he would have at least a chance to make up for past mistakes, would he not? Instead the boy has been consigned to an eternity of unresolved issues. Kaede's one eye narrowed sharply, but Cu' ignored the dirty look she was giving him and continued blithely on.
Yes, that is a sad fate. Since he really isn't dead, his soul cannot return. So it is stuck in limbo. It is Nowhere, With a rueful chuckle, Cu glanced up at the Goshinboko's canopy, rocked back on his heels and muttered loud enough,of course, for the Priestess beside him to hear, That was really a pretty shitty thing your late sister did, depriving him of ever having any chance of spiritual atonement.
Kaede stared at him in open mouthed indignation a moment. How dare ye badmouth my sister! She did exactly what needed to be done, paid him in the coin that he deserved.
Oh? Cu' asked mildly, happy that her anger was up. Getting it out of the way now would make things easier in the future.
The InuYasha ransacked our village in an attempt to make away with the Shikon No Tama, she replied defensively, a suddenly revived ember of long ago rage smoldering deeply within her dark eye. In doing so he destroyed the ancient shrine which used to stand close by this spot in which the jewel was housed. During the attack he fatally wounded Sister Kikyou, thus depriving us of her blessed presence as our village priestess. Are those not crimes enough to warrant his punishment? Who knows what other black deeds he perpetrated on others before coming here to plague us.
And your sister sealed him you say...
Aye, before she died, Sister Kikyou was able to stop him, even though grievously wounded and close to death herself.
What of the cause of all this misery, the Shikon No Tama?
As she requested with her last breath, we burned the cursed thing with her, so that the world could at last be rid of it.
Which explained just how the ever devious Chaos had managed to reach out and scar the lovely Soulchild. Scratching his chin speculatively, Cu' nodded then smiled warmly at Kaede once again.
Your sister must have indeed been a very powerful Miko to create so a lasting spell as she was dying. Idly Cu' reached up and slid a finger down along the arrow's shaft to where it transfixed the sleeper's heart. It would have been far simpler, it seems, just to kill him.
I have often wondered myself why she did not do so, Kaede admitted softly. The power she used in sealing him surely ensured her own death. For thirty years he has hung here like this, while my sister is naught but ashes and charred bones in her grave. Chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully she paused before dolefully adding, It does not seem right that one so pure as my dear sister should be so long ago reduced to dust while such an evil creature as the InuYasha remains whole and untouched by time.
Perhaps he was not so very evil at all. You know why your sister couldn't bring herself to kill him,
even at the end when she believed so completely in his betrayal. His words were as warmly hypnotic as the blanket of calm enfolding her. Cu' glanced out of the corner of his eye at Kaede to see her looking up at InuYasha's peaceful face with a relaxed and somewhat dreamy expression on her own.
Sister Kikyou...loved him, was her simple, almost whispered reply.
Kaede, could so pure a Miko love someone who was truly evil? Cu' inquired casually.
I..I don't know. He was a..a hanyou. Everyone knows such unnatural perversions shouldn't be allowed to live. They are wild and unpredictable creatures having little more than the base sensibilities of an animal and the soul of a beast. Her dreamy look quickly hardened into one of fierce resolve as the old prejudices that she had been brought up to believe reasserted themselves within her conscious thought. He tricked her with the cunning of the animal he was. Gained her trust... Led her to think that he truly cared about her. Then he killed her..
Given his present circumstances it would seem that deep down she did not believe him to be evil at all. Even in the face of what she perceived to be a flagrant betrayal of her heart, your Kikyou was still was unable to kill him.
But..no.. NO! Confusion warred with certainty on her face. Pointing an accusatory finger at the body of InuYasha, she snapped, He murdered her! That is the monster responsible for my sister's death!
...And you saw him strike her down...
No. I was in the village...But I know that he did it..and...she sealed..she..him...
Kaede,as a child you knew this InuYasha. In your heart do you really feel that he was a monster? Exhaling quietly, Cu' strengthened his calming aura, lulling the agitated Miko back into a more peacefully receptive frame of mind. Tell me about him, Kaede. Tell me what you truly remember.
Her face had once again taken on that dreamy, far away look. Without thinking she slid the arrow smoothly back into it's quiver while dropping the hand holding the bow down to her side. Aye, she said in a whisper, I remember him. Whenever Sister Kikyou left the village he was her willing shadow... seemed content to follow her everywhere.... Sometimes, when we went to gather herbs, they would sit in the high meadow and talk.... or at least Sister would talk, he usually kept silent. Kaede shook her head slightly. He was such a wild, shy boy with a rough temper and a rougher tongue....but Sister always could make him find his manners in her presence.
As she reminisced, Kaede's face broke into a smile. He wasn't so fearsome at all around her. All Sister would have to say is, ' Such language, InuYasha ' and he would crouch down with his hands splayed out between his feet and his ears drooping flat against his head like a chastised puppy.
Your Sister was the first civilizing influence in his life since his mother. Cu' chuckled, Living in a cast off and neglected state for a nearly a century and a half a tends to corrode even the best of manners.
What say ye? Why look at him, he was not much more than a boy...
Yes, a boy, albeit by human reckoning a very old one. Stepping closer to the Miko, who was peering up at the sleeper trying to reconcile what she had just learned with what she saw before her eyes, Cu' continued in his soft hypnotic voice, A boy who had been tossed aside, left to make his own way for a very,very long time. A good child, my Lady Kaede, twisted by malignant circumstances into something wild and rude simply because after his mother died...no one wanted him.
With both upbringing and training once more trying to insinuate themselves back into her conscious sensibilities Kaede countered, But he was a hanyou, half Youkai..
Glittering silver eyes gazed steadily into her own, the soothing voice of reason drowning out the the ones of long standing and well rehearsed fears. Yes Kaede, his father was a Daiyoukai, the Great Dog of the West, but his mother was human and so he is as much one side of that coin as the other. He has a loving human heart and Kikyou recognized that not with her eyes, but with her soul. Look not with your eyes my Kaede, but with your soul..You know that InuYasha is not evil...That he did not kill your sister....In your soul, you know.
No, he was not..He could not...but, her steadfast opinion of InuYasha's guilt finally faltered.
Search deeply Miko, you have seen what is truly evil..you remember... Within her mind his voice echoed subliminally like the sound of a light spring rain that comes along on a gentle breeze right before dawn, You recognized it as a small child Kaede. It was not InuYasha who was the evil to be feared...
It was Onigumo, she whispered, tightly clenching her fists at the almost forgotten memory of the burned and broken thief her sister had graciously tended. Onigumo was the name of the true evil.
A couple of tiny brown birds sang out to each other as they hopped from one leafy twig to another high above her head. With it's great boughs soughing in the wind, a few smaller branches let loose a flurry of green leaves that danced around the Miko as Goshinboko roused her from a state of quiet reverie. Glancing around she noticed that it had grown much darker to the north, the rising wind signaling an onrushing thunderstorm which had been leisurely building over the course of a long hot summer afternoon.
Slinging her bow across her shoulder, Kaede grimaced at the thought of getting wet, wondering how close to home she could get before getting caught in the downpour. Appraising her chances with another quick look skyward, she slipped out of her sandals, scooped them up by the thongs and began a very ' unMiko' like sprint for the path back to the village.
Cu' the Guardian, aka GinCu' is mine, so is his meadow and the plot of this story.
Chapter Seven
A rapid parade of changing seasons passed over Cu' after the tall figure of Lord Sesshoumaru faded out of sight to eventually be replaced by the shorter, plumper form of another frequent visitor to the Tree of Ages. Loitering for only a matter of a few minutes, according to his own unique view of time, the Guardian was well aware that in actuality Earthward had already progressed forward another two decades.
Lazily baking under a high summer sun, the lush countryside lay somnolently beneath a dull blanket of blue sky which was already buttered over with the gray haze of an impending afternoon thunderstorm. That the untouched sleeper had already endured many years in the Goshinboko's keeping was plainly evident by a tangle of thick woody vines that had sprung up long ago to sinuously entwine around his body in a graceful sylvan embrace. The unfaded crimson of his baggy robes peeked out from between thick clusters of dark green leaves like the brilliant red petals of well hidden flowers. Sagging slightly against his right shoulder, the sleeper's innocent boyish face remained uncovered and unchanged, framed by a flowing cascade of light silver colored hair.
Standing contemplatively below him was a buxom, black haired woman attired in the white and red clothing indicative of her vocation as a Miko, bearing a quiver full of arrows across her back and carrying a long bow. In order not to frighten this clearly preoccupied observer by suddenly just popping into view at her side, the Guardian walked around behind the tree before solidifying into his visible form. At the sound of the now corporeal Cu' stepping away from his hiding place she reacted with surprising swiftness by whirling to stare in his direction while smoothly nocking an arrow and readying herself to take the shot at the same time. Peering out of her one good eye, the woman glared harshly at him and barked out her demand, What business have ye here in the forest of the InuYasha?
Cu' sighed inwardly, hiding the sadness he felt over seeing that such a pretty little woman had been so unfortunate as to suffer the loss of one of her flashing dark eyes.
Oh, I am Cu', he replied gifting her with a pleasant smile, Though there are some who know me as GinCu'. I will answer to whichever you prefer Lady Kaede.
His answered startled her. How do ye know my name?
You are Lady Kaede, Miko of the village down by the river, are you not? Disregarding her still drawn bow with it's threatening white fletched payload, Cu' took a few steps over to stand next to the tree. Atop his head a dark gray silk scarf blended almost perfectly into the color of his waist length hair and he wondered what she would do if she realized exactly what it was meant to conceal. 'Shoot your ass point blank in less than a heartbeat,' he dryly replied to himself.
Quickly stepping well back to put some distance between them, Kaede regarded the man's glittering silver eyes with obvious suspicion. Exactly what are ye? She asked warily, her voice low and tight in her throat, Know ye that I shall suffer no Youkai's presence near the village under my care.
Lady Kaede, do you really perceive some hostile aura emanating from me? Then, to demonstrate a complete lack of concern at her unyielding defensive stance, Cu' folded his hands loosely behind him and turned his attention to the sleeper on the tree.
Unable to discern a trace of any kind of aura, Kaede at last lowered her bow though she still held it with the arrow nocked and ready. She watched Cu' closely, puzzlement clearly evident on her features. Though the man before her certainly appeared otherworldly, with his shinning hair slipping like liquid silver over his shoulders and around a face dominated by startling gray eyes, there was nothing radiating from him that struck her as at all demonic. Instead she felt surrounded only by a sublimely calm and peaceful sense of contentment that seemed to have the tall sparkling eyed stranger at it's center.
Who are ye? her voice softened and the draw on her bow relaxed slightly.
Only a traveler seeking unusual sights, Lady Kaede. I heard a tale that here in this land of Musashi there was an ensorcelled Youkai in the forest near your village. This is him?
Aye, but he lies under the spell of no foul magician. Kaede cast her bright dark eye around toward the sleeper. The pull on her bowstring eased even more as the last of her fast dwindling apprehension fled. My dear Sister sealed yon hanyou to this tree with her sacred arrow. The InuYasha was captured by a holy spell and will be pinned here forever in punishment for his vile transgressions.
Really.... What heinous form of villainy could this child of the forest have been guilty of that would merit having his soul condemned forever into Nowhere?
Nowhere? What mean ye by that?
Only that he doesn't appear to be very...well..uh, dead. Leaping up on a root to get closer Cu' placed a hand below the sleeper's nose, then turned and gave her a good-natured shake of his head, Not breathing, so...I guess you could say he doesn't appear to be very much alive either.
The hanyou is rightfully sealed. He'll be of no trouble to anyone anymore. Kaede watched the strange man hop lightly back down and reclasp his slender, long-fingered hands behind his back.
Still..if he were truly dead, his soul would be able to reincarnate. Then he would have at least a chance to make up for past mistakes, would he not? Instead the boy has been consigned to an eternity of unresolved issues. Kaede's one eye narrowed sharply, but Cu' ignored the dirty look she was giving him and continued blithely on.
Yes, that is a sad fate. Since he really isn't dead, his soul cannot return. So it is stuck in limbo. It is Nowhere, With a rueful chuckle, Cu glanced up at the Goshinboko's canopy, rocked back on his heels and muttered loud enough,of course, for the Priestess beside him to hear, That was really a pretty shitty thing your late sister did, depriving him of ever having any chance of spiritual atonement.
Kaede stared at him in open mouthed indignation a moment. How dare ye badmouth my sister! She did exactly what needed to be done, paid him in the coin that he deserved.
Oh? Cu' asked mildly, happy that her anger was up. Getting it out of the way now would make things easier in the future.
The InuYasha ransacked our village in an attempt to make away with the Shikon No Tama, she replied defensively, a suddenly revived ember of long ago rage smoldering deeply within her dark eye. In doing so he destroyed the ancient shrine which used to stand close by this spot in which the jewel was housed. During the attack he fatally wounded Sister Kikyou, thus depriving us of her blessed presence as our village priestess. Are those not crimes enough to warrant his punishment? Who knows what other black deeds he perpetrated on others before coming here to plague us.
And your sister sealed him you say...
Aye, before she died, Sister Kikyou was able to stop him, even though grievously wounded and close to death herself.
What of the cause of all this misery, the Shikon No Tama?
As she requested with her last breath, we burned the cursed thing with her, so that the world could at last be rid of it.
Which explained just how the ever devious Chaos had managed to reach out and scar the lovely Soulchild. Scratching his chin speculatively, Cu' nodded then smiled warmly at Kaede once again.
Your sister must have indeed been a very powerful Miko to create so a lasting spell as she was dying. Idly Cu' reached up and slid a finger down along the arrow's shaft to where it transfixed the sleeper's heart. It would have been far simpler, it seems, just to kill him.
I have often wondered myself why she did not do so, Kaede admitted softly. The power she used in sealing him surely ensured her own death. For thirty years he has hung here like this, while my sister is naught but ashes and charred bones in her grave. Chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully she paused before dolefully adding, It does not seem right that one so pure as my dear sister should be so long ago reduced to dust while such an evil creature as the InuYasha remains whole and untouched by time.
Perhaps he was not so very evil at all. You know why your sister couldn't bring herself to kill him,
even at the end when she believed so completely in his betrayal. His words were as warmly hypnotic as the blanket of calm enfolding her. Cu' glanced out of the corner of his eye at Kaede to see her looking up at InuYasha's peaceful face with a relaxed and somewhat dreamy expression on her own.
Sister Kikyou...loved him, was her simple, almost whispered reply.
Kaede, could so pure a Miko love someone who was truly evil? Cu' inquired casually.
I..I don't know. He was a..a hanyou. Everyone knows such unnatural perversions shouldn't be allowed to live. They are wild and unpredictable creatures having little more than the base sensibilities of an animal and the soul of a beast. Her dreamy look quickly hardened into one of fierce resolve as the old prejudices that she had been brought up to believe reasserted themselves within her conscious thought. He tricked her with the cunning of the animal he was. Gained her trust... Led her to think that he truly cared about her. Then he killed her..
Given his present circumstances it would seem that deep down she did not believe him to be evil at all. Even in the face of what she perceived to be a flagrant betrayal of her heart, your Kikyou was still was unable to kill him.
But..no.. NO! Confusion warred with certainty on her face. Pointing an accusatory finger at the body of InuYasha, she snapped, He murdered her! That is the monster responsible for my sister's death!
...And you saw him strike her down...
No. I was in the village...But I know that he did it..and...she sealed..she..him...
Kaede,as a child you knew this InuYasha. In your heart do you really feel that he was a monster? Exhaling quietly, Cu' strengthened his calming aura, lulling the agitated Miko back into a more peacefully receptive frame of mind. Tell me about him, Kaede. Tell me what you truly remember.
Her face had once again taken on that dreamy, far away look. Without thinking she slid the arrow smoothly back into it's quiver while dropping the hand holding the bow down to her side. Aye, she said in a whisper, I remember him. Whenever Sister Kikyou left the village he was her willing shadow... seemed content to follow her everywhere.... Sometimes, when we went to gather herbs, they would sit in the high meadow and talk.... or at least Sister would talk, he usually kept silent. Kaede shook her head slightly. He was such a wild, shy boy with a rough temper and a rougher tongue....but Sister always could make him find his manners in her presence.
As she reminisced, Kaede's face broke into a smile. He wasn't so fearsome at all around her. All Sister would have to say is, ' Such language, InuYasha ' and he would crouch down with his hands splayed out between his feet and his ears drooping flat against his head like a chastised puppy.
Your Sister was the first civilizing influence in his life since his mother. Cu' chuckled, Living in a cast off and neglected state for a nearly a century and a half a tends to corrode even the best of manners.
What say ye? Why look at him, he was not much more than a boy...
Yes, a boy, albeit by human reckoning a very old one. Stepping closer to the Miko, who was peering up at the sleeper trying to reconcile what she had just learned with what she saw before her eyes, Cu' continued in his soft hypnotic voice, A boy who had been tossed aside, left to make his own way for a very,very long time. A good child, my Lady Kaede, twisted by malignant circumstances into something wild and rude simply because after his mother died...no one wanted him.
With both upbringing and training once more trying to insinuate themselves back into her conscious sensibilities Kaede countered, But he was a hanyou, half Youkai..
Glittering silver eyes gazed steadily into her own, the soothing voice of reason drowning out the the ones of long standing and well rehearsed fears. Yes Kaede, his father was a Daiyoukai, the Great Dog of the West, but his mother was human and so he is as much one side of that coin as the other. He has a loving human heart and Kikyou recognized that not with her eyes, but with her soul. Look not with your eyes my Kaede, but with your soul..You know that InuYasha is not evil...That he did not kill your sister....In your soul, you know.
No, he was not..He could not...but, her steadfast opinion of InuYasha's guilt finally faltered.
Search deeply Miko, you have seen what is truly evil..you remember... Within her mind his voice echoed subliminally like the sound of a light spring rain that comes along on a gentle breeze right before dawn, You recognized it as a small child Kaede. It was not InuYasha who was the evil to be feared...
It was Onigumo, she whispered, tightly clenching her fists at the almost forgotten memory of the burned and broken thief her sister had graciously tended. Onigumo was the name of the true evil.
A couple of tiny brown birds sang out to each other as they hopped from one leafy twig to another high above her head. With it's great boughs soughing in the wind, a few smaller branches let loose a flurry of green leaves that danced around the Miko as Goshinboko roused her from a state of quiet reverie. Glancing around she noticed that it had grown much darker to the north, the rising wind signaling an onrushing thunderstorm which had been leisurely building over the course of a long hot summer afternoon.
Slinging her bow across her shoulder, Kaede grimaced at the thought of getting wet, wondering how close to home she could get before getting caught in the downpour. Appraising her chances with another quick look skyward, she slipped out of her sandals, scooped them up by the thongs and began a very ' unMiko' like sprint for the path back to the village.