InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Journey Into the Past, Present, and Future. ❯ The Gold Sun of the East ( Chapter 1 )

The sun had risen to usher in the new day. The sight had been breathtaking and showed great promise of a new blessing during a time where humans and demons coexisted in hatred and fear. However, that did not matter now, it was a new day and every new day should bring forth a hope that one day both races would set aside their differences and learn to live together in peace and harmony.

The cool morning air was more than enough to send delicious little shivers up Shiroimaru's spine. As it was her custom, she had risen before anybody else in her household just to sit at the edge of the cliff, not far from her home, to watch the sunrise. When she had opened her eyes from her slumber, she wasted no time in getting dressed, careful not to make too much noise or she would wake two of her sisters. Before she knew it, she had stole away from the watchful eyes of the palace guards, making her way to her favorite spot at the edge of the cliff before the sun could show its golden face from its bed behind the mountains in the Eastern Lands.

The sight itself had lent her an experience like no other. She was marveled at how cleverly the beautiful sky was divided in an amazing array of blues, pinks, and yellows. Things like this inspired Shiroi to write poetry.

Gold sun in the East

Brighter than a Tenyou's robe

Shining forever.

Shiroi smiled. The haiku she had just composed was not bad, either. She laughed to herself. Her eyes glittered. Today, she was going home to see her father. It had been a long time since. However, she was happy. She would be traveling with her older sister and her baby brother. It was not too long ago that their father had sent them a message, summoning them to return to the palace.

The wind slightly blew, playfully tossing her light hair. It was times like these she enjoyed the most. It was times like these she could be alone with her thoughts and reflect upon them. Lately, it had been difficult to cope especially with her mother who was due quite soon. She and her sisters had been tending to her throughout all these months, making sure she was alright but, it had not been a picnic with her mother's constant change of moods. Mostly, Shiroi was the one taking the heat for practically everything. It was fortunate that her brother had been around to calm the woman's violent nerves. Indeed, he was their mother's most favorite child. At times, this irritated Shiroi but she, also, understood her mother's favoritism since her brother is her only son.

She sighed. Indeed, she could not wait to see her father. At least, she knew he loved her very much.

A Journey into the Past, Present, and Future.

The Scroll.

By Maritza Lara

There was a tragedy. It had been a little over a week since Kikyou's ashes had been scooped into an urn and buried. Due to the love and devotion shown by the villagers for their dead priestess, there was not a soul who did not offer their hearts and home to shelter little Kaede.

The shrine, however, held too many painful memories of that ill-fated day. So, the village elder had decided it best for the child to stay with Reika, the local healer, For little Kaede, this was the best thing that could have ever happened to her since, she and the young healer had formed a strong bond of friendship long before the incident transpired.

Miss Reika, as everyone called her, lived a little ways from the village on the side of a hill near a forest. Herbs and medicinal plants were more abundant in the forest area near her house, making it easier for her to find and collect and prepare cures for anyone who needed it. It had not been long since she had acquired the small house where she tended to patients day in and day out. There was not a moment her services were not needed, which she rendered without prejudice.

Kaede loved Reika's house. There was always something that needed doing. And when there were no patients in need of tending to, Kaede would keep her mind distracted by going through the healer's rare collection of scrolls. From these, she learned a great deal about youkai, oni, and heavenly maidens. Reika was very aware of the girl's rummaging of these old books. She figured as long as they kept her mind occupied, even for a fraction, that was fine with her.

One afternoon, while Reika mixed herbs for an ointment, Kaede entered carrying a scroll under her arm. As Reika grinded the ingredients in a medium sized ceramic bowl, Kaede quietly took her seat right next to the woman and went on to roll out the parchment across the tatami mat. Reika continued stirring without paying attention to what Kaede was doing. The child, in turn, stared at the document with scrutiny written across her face. She cocked her head to one side, then cocked it to the other. Then, her eyebrows furrowed as she struggled to focus her one good eye to make out the characters scrawled neatly and methodically from right to left of the page. She, next, propped her arms across her chest, staring more at the old paper, yellowed by time. Her lips pursed in thought.

"Hmmm?," she let out a little sigh, more of fascination than frustration. She pinched her chin as she studied the exhibit before her. She recognized none of the characters. Could this have been written in an ancient language? She once heard the priests talk of ancient scripts written by ancient people but she never thought that she would be staring at one of them. Was it possible that this was an ancient scroll they talked about?

Kaede diverted her attention on Reika's grinding. For a moment, she observed how the herbs and spices blended together. She saw how Reika would pause and add a fresh herb leaf to the mix and proceeded into grinding it together with the rest. Kaede then looked up at her face. It was calm and peaceful, yet, her eyes showed signs of worry. There must be a patient she was making this for.

Again, her eyes returned to the scroll. Nope, she thought, nothing had changed. She still did not recognize any of the characters. This was hopeless. She huffed.

"Kaede, you seem melancholy," Reika broke the silence upon hearing her sigh.

"It's this scroll, I can't seem to read it," she pouted.

Reika stopped her labor to look at the scroll in question. Kaede kept her sight on the woman's face and noticed that the expression in her eyes had changed, slightly. To Kaede, it was more an expression of surprise that were frozen there for just a brief moment before they went back to being calm. She looked down onto Kaede's face and smiled. Did she just looked spooked?

"Reika?," Kaede uttered in concern.

She answered by placing her warm, right hand upon Keade's head and said, "Not even the most practiced of scholars would be able to discern the words recorded on this parchment. By the way, where did you find this?"

"Are you practiced?," asked Kaede, ignoring Reika's question.

"You avoid the question," Reika recurred.

The girl sighed, surrendering to Reika's pending desire to know. "I found it with the other scrolls," she replied.

"Which ones in specific?," she urged on, calm but stern.

"The ones behind Momotaru and Saiyuki," she chimed.

"I see," she answered, then closed her eyes slightly, as if meditating.

"Reika?", Kaede leaned over, cocking her neck in a certain angle to see if she could see Reika's eyes. "Reika?," she whispered, "You're not mad, aren't you?"

Reika opened her eyes and replied, keeping an air of tranquility around her, "Tell you what. Let me finish mixing these herbs and we can have a look at it together. Is that agreed?" She graced the girl with a smile.

"Yes, Maam!," Kaede exclaimed, excitedly turning her attention back upon the scroll, overlooking the characters one by one. Reika watched her with heaviness in her heart. So young, she thought, and so innocent. It had only been ten days ago Kikyo had died defending the shrine from InuYasha.

Reika had seen it all. The pursuit, the destruction, the agony of betrayal in both their eyes, then Death. Kikyo had died immediately after sealing the hanyou to the Goshinboku. She had asked Kaede to cremate her with the Shikon no Tama. When she collapsed tears were wept.

The beautiful young healer went back to mixing the herbs. There was a man in the next village who desperately needed this mixture to treat his burns, which covered more than a two thirds of his body. Youkai had attacked his farm, the night before, setting ablaze. The poor man only went back inside to retrieve his daughter. She was exactly Kaede's age. He lost everything and now lived under the care of his relatives. It was not until this morning his sister, Maruka, had traveled to the house asking Reika for help.

Just little bit more, she prayed, and the ointment will be done. The man needed it as soon as possible or he could die of infection. She would have to take Kaede along. The village was not that far off but for the sake of the child's legs, she would have to take her horse.

"Kaede?," she interrupted the girl's study, who looked up. "We will be taking a very important journey. A man ails with burns on his skin and if we do not tend to him, he will die."

"Reika?"

"Yes?"

"Can I help?," she begged.

Reika looked into the child's eyes and saw the urgency she expressed to be of some use to her, Reika. The doctor was not certain if Kaede would be able to handle the sight of a burned victim. Nonetheless, against her better judgement, she nodded agreement. Kaede widened her mouth in a grin, exposing all her teeth.

"YAAAAY!," she jumped up with excitement, throwing herself upon Reika, the healer catching her in a loving embrace.

Reika chuckled, encircling her own arms, gently, around Kaede's tiny body. Kaede, in turn, snuggled lovingly against the woman's chest, giggling. Reika's heartfelt laughter, died down to a soft smile. She hugged the child tighter, as if afraid of letting her go. It filled her with such happiness to hear Kaede laugh after undergoing the tragedy that had plagued her, recently. She looked down upon her dark, brown head, her eyes manifesting the pity her heart strongly felt. Suddenly, sadness overcame her. She turned her head to see the world outside.

It was very peaceful.

Kaede, on the other hand, was thinking how warm Reika felt and how good it was to have her holding her like this. Suddenly, it reminded her of Kikyou.

Her sister would always hold her like this when she was sad and whisper words of comfort into her hair. Kaede remembered the warmth of Kikyou's breath on the top of her head and how she loved the feeling of this warmth but hated how it left her a damp spot. She wished for that damp spot right now. And the more she wished for it, the more her soft brown eyes watered. She nuzzled up to Reika evenmore, trying to keep the magic of the moment. She closed her eyes trying to capture the familiar warmth and the image of her sister's face.

When Reika had finally finished with the ointment, she began packing everything up with Kaede's help. Luckily, this had not taken up much of their time. The moment the patient's sister arrived until the moment she left, Reika had managed to prepare some things in advance. She was a stickler when it came to punctuality. She was totally against procrastination which was completely anti-productive. After she had gathered the supplies, she had put them in a corner, where she could easy reach for them, and proceeded into waking Kaede up to help her gather the necessary herbs she needed for the ointment. This was all done in the morning. After they had returned from their scurmage in the woods, Kaede dashed off towards the kitchen to prepare lunch as Reika began preparing the herbs for the mix. It was not until the afternoon she had finally finished and was ready to leave.

While Reika carefully packed a medium-sized jug with the ointment inside, Kaede remembered the scroll. It was still rolled across the floor, keeping Kaede's mind glued with her impending curiousity towards its content. She looked at it from where she stood, which was a good three feet, and wondered if it would be a good idea to take it along on the trip. Reika, for a second, stopped what she was doing upon noticing the child's attention elsewhere other than the chore at hand. She followed, making a mental line, to where Kaede was looking at. Lo and behold, she was staring at the very same scroll she had taken out earlier.

Reika was filled with concern. She thought she had hidden it well enough to not be found. Unfortunately, she had learned over the years that children had a unique knack for finding the unfindable.

"Kaede?," she uttered the child's name with gentle softness that at the same time, possessed authority. Kaede turned her head to face Reika. "Do not dawdle."

"Reika?," a petition was coming, Reika could feel it.

"What is it?," she answered with the same gentle voice.

"Could we…?," she began asking but seemed embarrassed, she bowed her head, avoiding eye contact with Reika, and continued with her question. "Could we…could we take the scroll with us?," she asked it what seemed the whisper of a small rodent.

Reika was silent. She quickly darted her sight upon the scroll in question before landing her eyes back on top of Kaede's head. She did not utter anything or make any sudden move that would alert Kaede to Reika's rummaging. She was, definitely, silent. Kaede figured that she was in thought and was trying to decided whether or not it would be a good idea to risk taking a rare document without the safety of these walls. Those were Kaede's thoughts. In truth, Reika was inwardly sighing. She did not want to disappoint the child by retarding her education but neither did she have great desire to let the scroll out of the house.

Yes, she knew what it contained. However, its secrets could not be revealed, yet. It was too early to be shared and the time was not right. For now, it was for her eyes only. Kaede awaited her answer. She was staring with wonderment in her eye when she saw Reika's eyes staring off into another dimension.

"It is better to leave it here. I do not want anything happening to it," was her answer. Kaede had her eye on the older female when this came out of her momentary trance, glancing down with a smile. "It would be safer."

Kaede let out a sigh of disappointment.

"Kaede," Reika looked at the girl, sternly, " I will have none of that. Now, please, roll up the scroll and place it back where you found it."

"Hai," was Kaede's weak reply.

"Hurry along, we cannot be late."

Kaede turned, practically dragging her feel along the tatami and knelt before the scroll. Carefully, starting at the right side, she rolled the parchment little by little to make sure it was neat and wrinkle-free. Reika bobbed her head and resumed to her work of before. It took a bit of effort since the size of the parchment superseded Kaede's own stature. Nevertheless, due to her determination and her desire to not meet with Reika's disapproval, the scroll was completely and finally rolled up. Pure satisfaction was etched the girl's face for having accomplished such a feat.

Next, Kaede stood up and walked towards the room where the scroll had been stored in the first place. She walked slowly, keeping an eye upon Reika's turned back and confirming that Reika was too occupied, Kaede made a swift detour to her own room, toting the roll ever so securely under her arm. When coming to the entrance of her bedroom, she kept her eye on the light emanating from the room from which she had emerged, making sure Reika did not suddenly decide to surprise her. The coast was clear. Then, carefully and quietly, Kaede slid the shogi that ushered her in her room. With no time to waste, she looked around for a suitable hiding place. She wanted to make sure the scroll would be extra safe and within her reach.

She scanned the room, from left to right, top to bottom for an opening. She went to the closet. She slid open that door to find her pink futon neatly stored away. Suddenly, an idea sparked in her nine year old head. Standing on her tippy-toes, she moved the futon slightly upfront and slid the roll in the space behind it. It took her some bit of effort, again, due to her size but she managed to finally place the thing.

"Kaede?," she jumped slightly upon hearing her name called. She stopped for a moment to listen for footfalls, at the same time, steadying her rapidly beating heart. "Kaede?"

Yes?!," she yelled out.

"What are you doing?," she heard Reika's voice, again.

"Um, I'm getting something for the trip!," she shoved the scroll in. "I'm coming!," she cried as she made sure the scroll was alright.

"Well, please hurry, or I will be forced to leave you," she warned.

She pushed the futon back in its place and slid the closet door shut. "I got it!," she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Outside, Reika prepared the horse. Kaede emerged from the house with the supplies her arms could carry. She set them down as she watched the woman work quickly at harnessing the animal to a small wagon she owned. The process itself was strenuous but Reika made it look so simple. It was pure perfection, everything she did, executed with grace and skill beyond compare.

"You make it look so easy," Kaede uttered in awe.

"What? This?," Kaede nodded. "Well, it is all about rapport, I figure. My father always said I was good with animals and there was noone for miles who understood them as well as I did," she said, buckling the last of the straps to the holster. "There! We are done." She patted the horse, thanking him for keeping still. In return, it nayed its reply with glee. "He is happy."

Then, she turned her attention upon Kaede.

"So, what took you so long?"

Kaede blinked, then swallowed nervously.

"Here!," she held up the supplies, cleverly evading the question. Reika was taken aback for a moment. She smiled and relieved the girl of her burden, placing them in the wagon.

Kaede exhaled relief. That was a close one, she thought.

On their way to the neighboring village, Kaede had asked Reika if it were possible to make a quick stop at the shrine. Reika did not see why not since the child wanted to pray for the man's speedy recovery. So, the healer happily complied. She figured that a miracle or two would not hurt if this man were to survive .

"Reika, are you coming?," Kaede shouted from the second step.

Reika shook her head and said, "You go on ahead. I will wait," she answered, calmly.

"Are you certain?," Kaede cocked her head to oneside.

"I rather not leave Ushi alone," she referred to the horse. "Besides, I am sure Kami-sama would rather hear your prayer than mine. However, if it counts for something, my prayers will be with you."

Reika watched Kaede ascend the temple steps. Before long, all sight of her had vanished over the horizon and she was left alone minding the horse and the wagon. The horse nayed in protest. "I am sorry, Ushi, but you would have to wait." The horse then shifted, showing its agitation. "What is it?" The wagon moved a little in reverse. The stallion seemed to be trying to tell her something.

Reika carefully dismounted the carriage seat to comfort the steed. "What is it?," she asked, petting its velvety nozzle. "What are you trying to tell me?," she spoke closely to his ear, looking deeply into his left eye. The horse bobbed its head indicating direction. She turned her head and realized what it had been trying to show her. From where she stood, under the protection of the trees, she saw an even greater tree that emitted a spirit of pure goodness. It was the Goshinboku.

She looked at it with admiration. It was not hard to see the figure of a young man with silvery white hair fastenly pinned to the trunk of this sacred tree. It was not long ago that she had seen this same young man traveling alongside Kikyou and being to her of great company.

"Ushi, stay here," she ordered the horse with authority that characterized her voice. Never once had she taken her soft brown eyes from her target. The horse obeyed. Reika started off on path towards the figure in a mesmerized state. It was not long until she found herself face to face to the one who had caused the tragedy in little Kaede's life.

To everyone, he was dead, permanently sealed to the trunk of the Goshinboku. Kikyou had used her arrow for that. Reika knew better, though. She knew he was not dead. Instead, he was asleep. For how long? Only Heaven knew. Only Time would tell. Only Time would decide when it would be right for the World to see his eyes opened again. The World would wait.

She stepped closer to the sleeping hanyou. He was so peaceful. It was better for him. There was some hesitation, however, she gathered the courage to carry her hand up to his face, slightly touching it.

"InuYasha," she uttered.

His skin was cold.