InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Middle Road ❯ The Silent Watchers ( Chapter 7 )

Don't own Inuyasha, like you didn't already know.

Kagome walked softly along, the grass around her luminated with the incandescent glow of fireflies. Night had passed, and was slowly shaking off sleep, but she had slept none. A few chirrups of songbirds erupted occasionally from the dark, spectral columns of trees that surrounded her. She had been surprised at how well she could get around, considering she was blind. She had heard and smelt and felt things most people never paid attention to. The only comforts were the murmurings of the wind and the perfumes of rosebuds. A sad sigh escaped from her lips, wordlessly expressing her troubles. Though she could not see it, silent brush strokes of gray meandered across the horizen. A beautiful morning, it would seem, but she could not rise from the depths of her soul, her mind. All the things she had ever said to him suddenly held a great deal of weight. They had, she thought, only pushed him to do this. Convinced it was her own fault, she had multiple times in the night prepared to head back; if Inuyasha was tired of her company, she should go back home. But her cursed heart always stopped her. How she hated that damned heart of hers sometimes.

The others awoke soon after, wanting to get a head start on the day. They gathered their trifles and went into the black of the cave. After an hour, the gentle, filtered light of day had faded, leaving them with a torch that was not likely to last much longer. None of this meant anything to Kagome: she could not even see the sun, much less the pathetic form of artificial light they had brought. She was held with a trammel of darkness, her own imagination was the only color she had and, as of late, that had faded in brilliancy, withering to a dull gray. Though she was handicapped in sight, she noticed that her hearing was improving. In the distant corridors of granite, she repeatedly heard things moving around. They were, of course, phantasms created by her fear of the unknown, or were they?

Miroku followed closely behind Sango, who stood at the head of the group, Shippou and Kirara lollygagged behind, afraid of the dark. Sango stood ready with the Hiraikotsu in position for throwing. She never considered that even if there was something there, she did not have room to swing it around. Miroku had warned her of an evil aura about the place, putting her on her guard. After the torch had gone out, they groped cautiously along the tunnel's walls. Miroku was not quite cautious enough when he grabbed something he should not have, and earned himself a large lump on the forehead. "Serves you right." Kagome had said.

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"More tea, Inuyasha?" The old woman drawled out slowly. Inuyasha looked up at her from his plate, and grabbed another biscuit from the table before him. He carnivorously inhaled his food, he had not eaten in three days. She scoffed, a look of disgust across her face.

"You eat like a dog." He paused, looked up at her, and raised an eyebrow. He struggled to keep from smiling. She kept the same, indifferent countanence on her face. A sloght noise came from the shadows. She looked suddenly to the right, nodding subtly to something in the dark. The scuffle of tiny feet echoed through the cathedral ceilings of the castle. Presently she wished they could get this over with, this mutt was irritating her.

"So," he said, swallowing a mouthful of food. "how does this work?"

"You will take a special..." She searched for the right word. "potion."

"A potion?" Skepticism was evident by his expression. "Are you a witch or something?" She looked pointedly at him, and shrugged her shoulders carelessly. "Or something."

Ignoring her evasiveness, he queried further. "How will it happen?" She answered quickly. "You will lie down in a bed, drink the potion, and I will say a few choice spells over your body." She paused for dramatic effect, "Then you will disapear, going back to the time you designate." She sipped her tea primly. "That's it?" He said. "I mean, couldn't any old witch who knew the spell do this for me." She grunted softly. "Quite right. Only I'm the only 'old witch' who knows it." "And why is that?" "Because I developed it myself." "And if another witch did learn your little secret?" She smiled darkly. "I'd kill them."

*** ***

Two small creatures stole into the darkness, their disfigured, nauseating faces were barely visible in the shadows. They whispered quietly to each other, and climbed into a small tunnel, a hole in the side of the wall. They crept along the tunnel, listening for any sounds. They wore haggard, blue robes, holey and faded, and carried a small bundle on their backs. Suddenly they heard an echo drift like a fog, resounding through the columns of stone:

"Sango-sama, I really didn't mean to." Soon after a loud noise came. "I mean, really Houshi-sama....how could you think of such a thing at this time....and with Inuyasha missing. I thought you had more respect for Inuyasha than that....you're just delaying our search....quit messing around." The creatures crawled to where the people were. One pointed to Kagome, their excellant night vision giving them an advantage. Her He telepathcially told his comrade. The other walked behind Kagome silently, and the other behind Miroku adn Sango. Sango turned in the dark to ask Kagome something. "What do you think, Kagome?" But there was no answer, Kagome was gone.

*** ***

Kagome awoke. The smells of the flowers surrounded her. She inhaled soflty, the perfume of the flowers held her, entered her soul. The whispering, whistling wind blew gently across her face, drawing her mouth upward into a contented smile. Around her she heard the chorus of birds, the solemn gossip of a nearby brook, and the hypnotic creaking of the trees as their waxen green canopy tottered lazily to the left, to the right, to the left, the right, the left, the right, left, right, left, right.....

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Thanks for the reviews, people. I'll try to update more while I have the time. Any suggestions, criticisms, compliments, or anything you want to say, review or E-mail me at Ejecta2248586@aol.com.

Also: if you were wondering, Aidenn(chapter 4) is described as a "celestial paradise". I thought of using the Roman version of heaven/paradise, or an allusion to the Ellesian(sp?) fields, but this seemed to fit better in my mind.