InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Time Soul Exodus ❯ Chapter 8: =Dying Village= ( Chapter 8 )

Written by: Zelix

A/N: Sorry it took a while to get this out, my computer crashed so I had to have it fixed… anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that's related to Inuyasha, I do own Arc though and if someone intends to copy him without my permission I'll F*** you up!

"Talking"

`Thinking'

[Check the bottom for details]

*Flashback/Switch in Time or place*

=Used when mentioning a technique, attack or something important=

If this was a TV series:

Opening: Chihiro Yonekura - Butterfly kiss

Ending: Hikaru no go - Bokura no boken

Time Soul Exodus

Chapter 8: =Dying Village=

It was close to mid day now, Arc had been up for a while but had yet to leave the hut he was in since some of his body functions had yet to return to normal… well, it was the first time he had fought such a harsh and long battle for his life so it was only natural his body was still trying to settle in the thought and feeling of all the strain and changes it had to endure during that battle.

His head was clear now though, being able to think clearly was really great since he had so many questions without answers… and the main one was about Kagura but that had to wait for now, since first he needed to focus on the situation at hand here: He was in Kaede's village, he had come through the forest with a little girl from this village and according to her the people of this village have for some reason began to avoid both her and her mother, then these cloaked people… or those the Sumira referred as =Moon Priests=… for some reason, when he thought about them he couldn't help but think about the word "Inquisition", like those people during Europe's dark ages… the ones who killed `witches', `heretics' and all that… hmm, it would make sense though, since the Youkai war must not be fully over yet and it is only natural for people like that to emerge, to cleanse this world of any Youkai stains that are left.

If that was the case, then things might get really ugly really soon… especially if his cover got blown while they were around, he didn't even dread to think what would happen if they noticed anything.

So, to sum it up, these things needed to be accomplished: Firstly, find out more about the `Moon Priests', secondly, help Chizu and her mother, thirdly, find out more about the insects of the forest and lastly, deal with the situation before moving on.

When he finished that line of thought, Sumira entered the hut again, she was holding his Kimono and his swords, it was a good thing that Tetsusaiga's barrier didn't react to humans and Toukiji was harmless to humans while in it's sheath so nothing strange could be seen in them, except that Toukiji could not be pulled out of it's sheath.

She handed Arc his upper clothing back and said: "I took the liberty of washing them, they still held a strong scent of insects blood so I washed it off…" Arc after putting his Kimono and swords back into they're places (For those who don't remember, he keeps his swords strapped onto his back) he said with a nod: "Thank you, I was going to ask for it but… thanks anyway." Sumira then asked with a curious look: "But… those clothes of yours are so… strange…" Arc tensed a bit, he didn't like where this was going…

He asked her with a calm smile, while he was sweating on the inside: "What do you mean `strange'?" Sumira put her hand under her chin before answering: "What I mean is that… they seem oddly durable and… I could swear I felt holy powers in them, the same goes for your weapons, for some reason I couldn't pull one of them out of it's sheath while the other is just a rusty old Katana… yet, I still feel power in them, though I can't place what kind of power it is…" Arc thought fast, this wasn't good, though he was lucky the power of both his swords was sealed so it was hard to tell if it was demonic energy or something else, now though he needed to figure out a lie or something… and fast.

Then something clicked in his head, this just might work: "Ah yes… it is no wonder you noticed something like that… hehehe… you see, these clothes used to belong to my father and he received them from his own father, they are magically enhanced and can easily repel a blow from a sword or an arrow and can even suppress damage from Youkai attacks, not to mention they sew themselves back together if damaged." Sumira then snapped her fingers and said: "I've heard about clothing like that, during the wars, many people wore them…"

Arc thanked the lucky stars for this, now just a little more was needed, he continued: "Yes, my father was one of them, when I began this journey of mine, he gave them to me for protection." Sumira nodded, it made sense to her. Arc then proceeded to tell something about his swords: "As for the swords, the other one that looked like a rusty Katana was also my fathers sword and he received it from his own father as well, it may look like a rusty Katana now but if I someday master it I can bring out it's real form… it's kinda like a test to see if I am worthy of using it, until I can make it transform at will, it means I am not yet worthy of it's power. The other sword… that ones a bit more trickier than the other one…"

Sumira looked at him as he slowly took Toukijin from his back and tried to pull it out of it's sheath, she could see Arc straining his muscles to pull it out but to no avail, after stopping he answered: "As you can see, I have no luck pulling it out… this sword belonged to my fathers half-brother and it's just about as powerful as the other sword I have, though controlling it is a lot more harder… so this seal is also a test, until I figure out what the meaning of the inscription in it means it remains sealed." He put the Toukijin back onto his back and crossed his arms, waiting for her reply.

Sumira thought about this for a moment before asking with curiosity: "Just to satisfy my curiosity, what does the inscription say? I didn't look at it so…" Arc closed his eyes, trying to remember just how it exactly went, when he did, he answered: "Well, it went something like this: The seal of this destructive sword will only be lifted when the heart that is innocent and pure cries out from pain and suffering, when the seal is lifted, the wielder must keep his heart pure or his fate will be sealed." Sumira's eyes widened after hearing that, wow… that was one creepy warning…

Sumira then answered: "So… I take it that sword is not exactly… good?" Arc nodded and replied, of course with a lie: "Yes well, my father and his brother don't really like one another, so they often fought one another with these swords to see which one was superior…" Sumira interrupted by saying with sigh: "Men and they're egos…" Arc chuckled and said: "Tell me about it… anyway, while my fathers sword is more of a… how should I put it, a guardian sword, meant to protect people his brothers sword is the exact opposite of it, it is meant to destroy people and Youkai alike. So it had a lot of negative energy within it and I suppose this scabbards seal prevents it from leaking out… it is a dangerous sword I admit but one day it might save my life… though I sometimes hope I don't have to use it. You must be wondering why I was given two swords I can't even use properly, but these swords aren't just meant to protect me, they are also… in a way, proof and tests that have grown up, since when the day comes I can use them, that will be day I can officially say I have fully grown up."

Sumira listened to Arcs explanations, they made sense to her… though the swords still bothered her… or to be more precise, the sword he referred to as his `fathers sword', she couldn't help but wonder if she knew that sword… she scratched that thought for now, she asked him: "Well, Arc, we should talk more about this later but for now, do you want to rest a bit more or do you want to see the village?" Arc then said with a smile: "Lead the way, I can't stay cooped up in here forever."

*Meanwhile, at the insects nest*

The huge scorpion/spider looking Youkai was pacing around the core of the hive, the eggs around it were glowing gently and pulsing with the life of soon to be born insects… yet, at this moment they're pulsing was no longer increasing, the queen of the hive was not there to give the unborn babies the needed nourishment and energy to grow so they were in a certain state of `stasis sleep' to survive.

Right now, the gigantic scorpion/spider Youkai had received the report from yesterdays slaughter, where this new unknown figure had killed almost a dozen of insects from which most had been warriors too… not to mention they had failed yet again to retrieve the `crystal', whatever that was and because of that… 10 more eggs were destroyed.

As the warrior insect who had reported it to this new… boss, left with fury in it's eyes the scorpion/spider Youkai was left thinking: `What in the name of seven hells is going on? Who is that new figure that has caused the death of almost a dozen warriors and yet is still alive? These insects are deadly, especially in numbers and yet they could not kill this new one… ARRGH! This is taking too long! If I don't find that crystal soon and complete my mission…' It suddenly felt a presence behind it and using all it's six legs it quickly, like blur turned around to see the source of this eerie presence… after seeing it, it visibly clenched it's jaw tightly and emitted a low `kiääh' like sound, this was not good…

A new figure was standing in front of the large spider like Youkai, this one looked more human but was much taller than a regular human, almost a head and a half taller, it was a man who did not wear any upper clothing, leaving his chest bare to the world to see, he wore dark green Hakamas that clearly almost hugged his skin.

He did not have any hair and his eyes were a mixture between deep brown and violet and his skin was unusually grey like coloured, lastly, tattooed around his right eye was a kanji saying: `Stone' while the around the left eye read: `Iron', also, on his stomach there was a Kanji saying: `Life'.

Around both of his arms were massive, dark black coloured chains, they were circled around from his wrists to the elbow. The chains looked extremely heavy, yet his arms moved like they weighted nothing…

He then said to the spider/scorpion Youkai with a smirk: "Well, it seems like you still haven't learned to control that bad temper of yours, eh Kedaru?" This made the Youkai, now named `Kedaru', turn all it's eight eyes red with anger as it shouted back: "What the hell do you want Heitaro!?" The man, `Heitaro' just smirked and chuckled as he replied: "Nothing… I was merely sent here to see if you have been able to accomplish what you have been sent out to do, though from the looks of things, all you've managed to do is to become the king of insect droppings…"

Kedaru bared opened it's mouth and let out a loud howl like battle cry before lunging it's tail directly at Heitaro in attempt to stab him, which ended pitifully. Heitaro had merely sighed and with a quick spin kick he deflected the tail that had been moving fast like a car speeding at 120 Km/per hour… then he merely sighed again and said: "Kedaru, it seems like you're forgetting who gave you the power you have now… but since I'm busy today I won't punish you… yet. Though, unless you produce results in the next 4 days, I will be forced to, how should I put this… `punish' you for incompetence, understood?" Without even waiting for a reply, Heitaro pulled out a weird ocean blue coloured orb and after it shined for a few seconds, it formed a column of light around him and he disappeared without a trace.

Kedaru was seething with fury, damn him! He hated that asshole with all his being… though he was right, compared to him, his own power was like that of a child's. No matter though, once he had the `crystal', he would show that motherfucker who is in charge… he had 4 days, that's more than enough, since now he knew not to underestimate the new player that has appeared, he may have killed scouts and warriors, but would he survive a fight with… a group of `Guardians'? He let out a laugh sounding like a `Khe, khe, khe…' and said out loud: "Stranger, you may have caused me a small slow down in my plans, but your luck is about to run out, too bad, it would have been interesting to see how you fare against `guardians', too bad I'll miss the show…"

*Back at the village*

Arc was thinking while looking at his reflection at the village lake: `So… this is the village where my mother and father first met, I can't believe this was once the village where the Shikon no Tama was guarded and that it had withstood the attacks of almost countless Youkai after it… this can't be the same place, it just can't be…' With that, he lifted his face to look around the village, if his mothers and fathers descriptions about were accurate, then it had not changed much over the 30 years… except that the people here… they were not like he had heard, instead of those who had accepted a hanyou among them and bravely fought off Youkai's, these people were more like… what would be the correct word? Oh yeah, these people were as if suffering from permanent depression or something.

Sumira had shown him around the village and wherever he went, the people were the same: Weak, pathetic and practically preparing to die or something… not even the children were lively anymore… but one thing there was in common, with his empathy abilities, Arc could feel that they all felt both hate and bitterness against someone, a single person if you will… but who?

He had not run into any of those… Moon Priest people… which had made him wonder but Sumira had told him that if they weren't walking around the village looking intimidating like hell, then they were at the shrine were the Shikon no Tama used to be in, they were there whether to meet and talk about something or something else… no one went near that place though, they had been forbidden from doing that.

Sumira had then said she needed to go and check on Chizu's mother to see if those berries he had brought would help her, before Arc could ask the details about her Sumira had said to him to wait at the lake and that she would tell him everything a bit later… which he didn't mind, he needed time to think anyway.

So now, he was piecing together what he had learned so far: `Okay, so about… a year and a half ago things were fine, the insects had not bothered anyone and even when spotted they ignored humans and simply went on whatever they were doing… so no one thought nothing about it, even if the war had not been over long enough yet they had already accepted the fact that insect Youkai lived in the forest and raised no hassle about it, since if they did then the Moon Priests would have been sent here and everything would have gone haywire.'

`That part I can believe, since most of these people in this village are those who lived while Inuyasha, Kagome and her friends, Shippo, Sango, Miroku and Kirara were around… so why raise a hassle when nothing was wrong? But… then about four months ago, the insects had suddenly started to attack people, mostly children for some reason. Some were either abducted or killed and then taken away.'

`The reason for this sudden aggressive behaviour is unclear, though more and more people are starting to believe that the Youkai are simply evil and are attacking because of that. Then, after the first month of this, they decided to summon the Moon Priests, after they arrived, the priests used they're magic to perform a barrier around the village to keep the insects out, which is why I couldn't smell or hear it before. The situation has only gotten more and more worse…what lead them to this… it has something to do with Chizu and her mother… like she said, the people had suddenly began to become cold to both her and her mother, when the priests arrived, they determined her to be `cursed' and that she brought it upon herself and thus they would not help her… has it something to do with Chizu having to different coloured eyes? Hmm… so, this whole mess began four months ago, what happened at that time…? Hmm…'

Arc sat down next to the lake and looked around him, the streets of the village were empty, even if it was almost evening no one was leaving they're huts, yet he could hear them inside they're huts… some were whispering about him, they had heard about him already, a young stranger in a black Kimono wearing two swords had come through the forest with `that' child… `that' child must be referring to Chizu. So some of them were already gossiping about him, his strange hair that was steel grey coloured and his strange accent… not to mention the strange `presence' he had… like he was something more he was letting out… if only they knew.

This village, it had once been the place that his mother and father had called `home' while being here in the past… it was hard to believe that this lively village had turned into something like this, a quiet, beaten and slowly dying village… which was true, since most of the children were taken away by the insects and most of the young men had been killed when they attempted to either stop it or go save them… now, the fate of this village was in the hands of some weird priests who seemed to make the people more scared than the insects did. This was not good, if things were like this then it meant that he wouldn't be able to find out about anything relating to his mate.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Sumira running towards him, she was in a hurry and he could smell and feel stress and fear coming out of her… something was wrong.

He got up as she came near him and said while catching her breath: "Arc… Hurry, you must come with me…" Arc looked at her with concerned eyes and he could already hear the other villagers beginning another round of gossip… he then asked: "What is it?" Sumira looked at him in the eyes and even before she could say it he knew what it was, she said: "It's… it's Chizu's mother…! She…" Arc stopped her and instead said to her with a worried voice: "Take me there, right now!" Without thinking any further, she nodded and began to run back to Chizu's hut and signalled Arc to follow her. Around them, the villager's wondered what the commotion was all about and slowly began to follow those two.

Chizu's hut was at the edge of the village, on the way there, Sumira did not say what was wrong, her breathing was too fast to say anything and they both needed to focus where they were running since the road was rather rocky. Though, as Sumira took a glance at Arc who was running behind her, she couldn't help but think: `There is something strange about him… the condition he was in when arriving here was serious, not to his life but his exhaustion was so serious it should have taken him about 3 days before being able to walk straight not to mention waking up alone! Yet, here he is, running like nothing is wrong… is Arc…? No, he couldn't be a Youkai, I would be able to sense him if he was, he can't be a hanyou either… this doesn't make sense, just who are you Arcerdo?'

To Be Continued…

"My cover is in danger… soon I might have to reveal my identity and my true nature…

Yet, those Moon Priests, I have yet to meet any of them but just hearing about them makes my heart freeze and my disgust to them boil…

… Even with all this, I feel as if though things aren't what they seem…" - Arcerdo Higurashi

Next Chapter:

=Priests and Demons=

A/N: I am so sorry for the long delay, I finally got my muse back into this one and my other fic, not to mention I'm planning a total kick ass level High school Inuyasha fic as well… so, please review if you will, thank you.

- Zelix