InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Path You Follow ❯ Where to Go ( Chapter 10 )

The Path You Follow

By: EvilNekoEatsYourSoul

Author's note: Sorry for taking so long to update, my life has been a bit hectic lately and it's definitely not a good environment for writing. But here's the next chapter and since things have calmed down a bit here hopefully I'll get back on track with my updates.

Last time: "Aishiteru," she said, turning away and grabbing her bow and a quiver of arrows before walking out of the room to find her friends.

Chapter 10: Where to Go

~*~

There was a salty, slightly pungent smell floating on the warm breeze as it passed through her nostrils. You could practically taste the ocean in the air. As she passed the small huts no one seemed to notice her. Small fishes were laid out to dry, an elderly woman sat cooking over a small fire, in the center of the village children sang and played. She had never been to the small seaside village before but her feet seemed to know the path as they led her towards the shoreline.

Sitting alone on the sand was a little girl. Her eyes were dull with a milky white film over them and she sat perfectly still with her face towards the breeze. As Kagome neared her she didn't move or show any signs of knowing the miko was there.

Oddly enough, as Kagome tread upon the sand she noticed there was no crunch from beneath her feet; no sounds to indicate she was moving at all. But she was getting closer to the lone child. She could now hear that the girl was softly humming, just loud enough to be heard if you were right next to her. The girl's face was expressionless; she stared sightlessly out to the sea. With her shoulders hunched over the girl leaned down to grasp a handful of sand and let it fall as she rubbed the grains between her fingers.

"Michiko. . ." it was a whisper, carried on the breeze. The young girl turned her ear to the ocean. No sounds followed the quiet call. Only the waves clapping against the shore could be heard. But unlike the blind girl-child, Kagome could see that someone approached. The figure had walked straight out of the ocean and as they left the water footsteps could be heard crunching against the sand.

There was no fear in the Michiko's voice as she spoke, "Is someone there?"

Kagome shivered, as the air seemed to drop in temperature as the kuroi miko approached. Koridomi's dark eyes met hers and suddenly Kagome found that she could not move.

"Run," the word left Kagome, but the child seemed not to hear her. The girl's ear still followed the footsteps of the kuroi miko. Michiko neither spoke nor ran, her breathing remained calm and even. Kagome assumed that the child could not hear her and so she fell silent.

Once again, Kagome turned her eyes to Koridomi, who smirked and walked towards the now immobile miko. One thin, pale hand came out to touch her and everything in Kagome's mind and body wanted her to move away, to flinch, to make any attempt to avoid the touch, but she couldn't move. The fingers passed through her and Kagome felt nothing. When Koridomi chuckled, the girl turned to face the two mikos.

With her robes fluttering in the breeze the dark miko kneeled, she placed a hand almost tenderly upon the child's cheek. Michiko stayed absolutely still, she never moved even as a kiss was pressed against her forehead. Then, when her face was held firmly between two cold hands she let her body slump forward. She willed the strength to leave her body and willingly gave in to what she knew was to come.

Koridomi leaned forward, her face coming close to the child's. There was the heat of life against her cold lips as their lips brushed against each other. Before her soul left her body, before the kiss was complete, the girl spoke a whisper. Her last words were, "Gomen, okaasan."

Before she awoke, Kagome saw Michiko's eyes were no longer a filmy white. They were brown, clear and Kagome was sure that if the girl had been alive she would have been able to see.

~*~

There was a single small patch of sunlight from the one window occupying the room. The small square of warm light was near the center of the room and so that's where Rin sat. Shippou was dozing in one of the room's corners.

The young girl's mind had wandered to many things since her initial capture from her Sesshoumaru-sama's home. First there had been a slight fear of the strange youkai who had taken her, and then there had been the terrifying darkness that came with night and the hunger. But with the absence of those things her thoughts became much lighter. It was their third day of imprisonment and still there was no sign of Kagome or Sesshoumaru. That fact did not worry her, nor did it seem to worry her kitsune friend. Both children knew they would be rescued the only question was when.

The other things she wondered about was the reason for her being kidnapped. A year ago she would never have even thought about it, but with her miko training came an awareness of the world around her. Before Kagome had become her sensei she rarely thought of anything other than flowers or Sesshoumaru-sama. It was different now, she had begun her training and learned how to cure sickness and deal with minor wounds. When she had begun traveling with Sesshoumaru she had been kept in isolation from ningens, and youkai had very little use for the art of healing.

Sesshoumaru had been content to let her follow him aimlessly and do as she pleased with very little or no thought. Kagome on the other hand, encouraged her to think things through, to make decisions for herself. So it was that Rin came to the idea that there must be a reason behind her abduction, surely youkai did not just kidnap little girls for the fun of it. But as often happens with children, she became quickly distracted from that train of thought when she heard Shippou make a noise in his sleep.

It was nearing the afternoon and Rin was about to go and wake Shippou since she hated silence and without him she only had herself to talk to. Before she could even stand and pounce on the slumbering kitsune, the door to her cell opened. Again, it was the young blue-eyed youkai who entered the room with a tray of food in his hands.

Smiling kindly, Rin stood. He was a good three or four inches taller than her and she looked up at him and held her arms out to take the tray.

"Konnichiwa!" she greeted enthusiastically.

The youkai paused in his movements for a second, a bit appalled at her bright disposition. On his face he wore a confused look that made Rin giggle. Catching his lapse, he shoved the tray into the small girl's arms and turned to leave.

"Matte!" Rin called out to his back, "stay for a little while."

When he turned to face her, his bronze colored hair came free from its low ponytail and fell lightly around his shoulders. Still facing her, he shook his head and began to back out of the room.

"Onegai, I'm so bored when Shippou is sleeping. . . I'll share some of my food with you. What's your name? Are you a youkai? What kind?"

Although the youkai frowned at her onslaught of questions, he was curious about the ningen girl.

"Kisho."

Rin had placed her tray on the floor and was picking at some rice, she looked up at his first words to her, "Nani?"

"My name is Kisho."

"Oh, I'm Rin."

Kisho sat a few feet away from her, close to the door. His father would be waiting for him to return but he wanted to speak to the ningen girl, or Rin as she had called herself. He was curious to see why his father wanted him to marry this particular human girl.

~*~

There was a certain feeling lingering about the air, it was calm and light-hearted, or at least that is what was going through the small green youkai's mind throughout the day. It had been a long time since Jaken had traveled alone with his lord. He recalled times long before Kagome had come along, and even before Rin's entrance. Had it only been four years ago? It seemed much longer.

His chest swelled with pride when he remembered an occasion when Sesshoumaru had said, "Jaken, you are the only ally I need." As Jaken continued his wistful thoughts of times past, Sesshoumaru walked a few feet ahead of him thinking of the future.

The taiyoukai's mind was still plagued by Kagome. He still had no answer the question at the forefront of his mind, the question being, `To what lengths would he go in order to keep her safe?' And in the end would it really matter? He could keep her alive and well for only so long before the natural order of life took her away from him. She refused to make herself into a youkai, she would probably think about leaving him in order to avoid what seemed inevitable.

There was absolutely nothing stronger than his will, or so Sesshoumaru had once thought. He doubted mortality would stop for his sake, regardless of how much he willed it to. But there had to be a way for him to stay with Kagome without it ending in total disaster; another way besides using the Shikon no tama.

Different possibilities went through his mind as he continued to travel in the general direction of east. He had decided to head to the Eastern lord's estate despite his suspicion that the lord had nothing to do with the kidnapping; it was the only lead he had since the scents had already dissipated.

Several ideas came to mind as he navigated his way through the forest. First, was the thought that some spell must exist to prolong the life of a ningen. It was possible he could seek help from Toutousai for such a thing; after all he had created Tenseiga which could serve to revive the dead so the old smith had to know much about magic. Simply reviving Kagome with Tenseiga wouldn't work since it could restore life but not youth. Then there was the image of another woman that made him stop in his tracks.

Sesshoumaru didn't notice when Jaken walked into his leg. He was thinking about the now dead miko, Kikyou. She had been resurrected fifty years after her death. Clay and dirt had been made into flesh, her spirit had been partially returned and she had looked exactly the same. Could he perhaps find someone who could perform such an act to revive Kagome after she died?

Not paying any heed to his servant, Sesshoumaru resumed walking. Realistically he doubted Kagome would permit such a thing as living being revived and living off of other peoples' souls. He continued to ponder in silence as Jaken mumbled to himself a few feet behind him.

~*~

"Where the hell are we going?"

"I'm not sure. . . I just have a feeling we should go further west, to the shoreline. I had a dream; I saw Koridomi in a seaside village," Kagome said to Inuyasha.

Sango set hiraikotsu securely on her back and turned to face the others.

"But Kagome-chan we're on an island. . . there are seaside villages everywhere."

Kagome nodded, "I know, but like I said, I just have a feeling we should go west."

No one disagreed with her and so they were ready to head out. Kagome didn't think it wise to linger any longer and took the first steps away from the last sight of Sesshoumaru's castle She didn't glance back as they walked further away from what had become her home, they had been traveling for about a day and a half now and the structure was out of sight. As much as possible she tried to concentrate on the task at hand and find a way to get past the kuroi miko's spells, but no matter how much she tried she couldn't possibly banish the thoughts of Shippou, Rin and most of all Sesshoumaru from her mind.

The group fell in silently behind her, Inuyasha not even a foot away from her, Miroku walking beside the hanyou while Sango and Yukiko walked at a slightly slower pace behind them. They had barely begun traveling and yet Kagome's quiet, sullen mood seemed to weigh down on all of them.

~*~

There was a constant screeching that drove her to the brink of insanity, the resounding screams echoed off the walls of her mind and at times drove her physically to her knees. Unfortunately, there was no escape from her own mind, which was occupied by three other entities. It was a never-ending battle of wills to see who would control her body. As it was the timid, soft-spoken Yukiko was often at the bottom of the pyramid of power. The others, powerful spirits that had lived for centuries, easily wrestled control away from her.

Presently, the young woman was in control of her own body but she was beginning to feel the turmoil building within her. It was best to keep her mind blank because when emotions came into play it was easier for one of the spirits to gain control. But for a second she had lapsed in her goal. The silver haired hanyou, Inuyasha had glimpsed back at her. Of course, she had looked away immediately and a blush promptly stained her cheeks. Beside her, Kagome laughed.

But that was all it took. A moment later her head began to throb painfully, Yukiko fell, curling into a fetal position. Tears came to her eyes as she fought to maintain control over her body. But it was no use; she could picture the bars forming around her, saw the thought harden to steel and became trapped in her mind. It was dark and cold and only the sound of two arguing voices could be heard.

"How is it that she can gain control easier then we can?" one of the voices raged.

"Takehiko, calm yourself. There is a reason for this."

A derisive snort, silence and then, "Well, what is the reason? Why can she take control of the body more often than either of us?"

"It is because of the emotions Yukiko is feeling."

"Must you be so damn vague, Chikako?"

Yukiko remained silent, concentrating on the conversation to avoid being detected.

"When Yukiko is feeling emotional than the barriers she created weaken and one of us is able to break through. Each of us fights to be the one to make it through and at the same time Yukiko is fighting to remain in control and that is why it becomes painful."

"That still doesn't explain-"

"Be silent," the voice was stern, Chikako hated being interrupted. "She is a weak spirited girl as you well know. Yukiko doesn't exude much strength, she is in fact physically weak because of her illness and she doesn't think deep thoughts because to do so would remind her too much of her impending death and her bad memories. But, she does feel affection towards those around her and that emotion calls out to Kumiko who is much more caring than either of us. After all, as a healer she is prone to empathy."

"So you're saying that until she starts feeling stronger or move brave than I'm stuck in her abysmal mind?!?!"

"Why don't you ask her yourself, she has been listening," the voice was smooth and calm.

Her voice was soft and unsure when she spoke and she hated it, "H-hai, I'm here."

Despite the fact that they had been kept within her for her entire life, this was the first time she was actually consciously interacting with the spirits inside of her. It was an odd feeling.

"So tell me, what do you think of all this?"

Immediately, Yukiko's spirit pulled away from the other two. `This isn't happening,' she thought.

"But it is happening," Chikako said. Had she control of her body, Yukiko would have cringed. She hated the calm, self-assured, all-knowing tone that Chikako had. Envy filled her and she wish that she could be more like anyone else in the world but herself, that she could be normal and stop running away from everything.

"To end your running you must simply stop moving your feet."

Ignoring the comment, Yukiko drew further away and pictured walls forming around her, encasing her from the two spirits who sought to speak to her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Reviewer responses:

Chibimethos: Soooooorry, I'm trying my best to finish it but things just aren't going my way and of course I want it to be good so I don't want to rush the story either. . . Anyways thanks for the review. ^_^

Aira^o^: You're sorry for the late review, and I'm sorry for the late update. I really love reviews so I don't care when I get them so long as I do get them ^_^ Yes, Kagome and Sesshoumaru are both stubborn which just makes things that much more difficult for them, but anyways enjoy the chapter and thanks for the review.

Jackie: I'm really sorry to keep you waiting for the update. I'm glad you're a nice person who doesn't threaten people to update. . . o_0. As for the update list, I don't know if I have one, and if I do I haven't been keeping up with it… I'm really bad about that. Okay, well thanks for the review and bye.

Riomi: I'm sorry I made you cry (but I'm secretly happy mwahahaha…) It's an ego booster hehe. I'm glad you liked the one-shot and of course I'm sorry for the late update this time. As always thanks for the review.

Tessa3: Thanks for reviewing both chapters, you didn't have to, although I do appreciate it. Hehe, don't give yourself a headache over my story, all will be revealed in time but thanks for taking interest in it anyways. Arigato for reviewing!