InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Welcome To The Machine ❯ The Leper ( Chapter 3 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Ejecta2248586 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Suspense / Supernatural / Occult / Mystery | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.20.2004 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.0K | Visits: 236 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Suspense / Supernatural / Occult / Mystery | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.20.2004 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.0K | Visits: 236 | Status: Completed
Oh, yeah, I forgot. No, I don't own Inuyasha. Big surprise there, I'm sure.
Welcome To The Machine
Chapter III: The Leper
There is a man who lives alone. His only contact with humans is with a young girl named Chikako, for only in the eyes of a child can he find comfort in anything but solitude. This man walks with his neck bent at an unnatural angle, resting the left cheek against the left shoulder. The man with the twisted neck can only use one arm, as his other is merely dead weight. His speech is slightly muffled, and his movements are slow and lanky. He avoids men, and men avoid him.
This is what happens when one crosses The Circle. He had once been one of them, a mystical fanatic following Emi, his childhood friend, blindly in her chasing of the wind across the sky. For all of her condemnation of mankind, she relied heavily upon them. He did not hate men. He did not hate anyone, but he could not be around others. A muscular injury on one side has made him an outcast in his own community. Now he is a hermit, living alone, feeding off the earnings of others. His young friend gathered food for him. Perhaps she stole it, though he hoped not. He hated depriving others of their spoils simply because he could not provide for himself. In the back of his mind, he hoped he could die soon. He will not be a cancer on his own family.
Being alone lets him forget about hating men. All these things ruminate in his mind as he walks in a lop-sided stroll down the street of his village. People, the living statues, move all about, slowly, unhurriedly, like they have since he was a child. So many things have changed since then, so many things have stayed the same. One will notice, upon entering the village, that there are no children, only slaves. The village Zatoichi grew up as a child in had thrived. Harvest were plentiful, herds were healthy and fat, and this small hamlet was an almost idyllic place. But then The Circle had been formed.
Zatoichi had been as much a part of it as any other in the group, though he himself could not recall his reasons. The Circle members blindly followed Emi's desires, absorbing her rhetoric as if she was some kind of Oracle. It was an irony, Ichi thought to himself, that they still called themselves The Circle. Now, they were not a circle, or even a band, they were sheep. Emi had risen to god-like status in their eyes, and Zatoichi faulted them for it. He had been punished for his insubordination. There was the hut he had been looking for up ahead.
Pushing aside the curtains, he crouched into the hut. No need to knock, Suzume always knew he was there.
"Hello, Ichi-dono." A gentle voice said behind a veil of incense.
"Konnitchiwa, Suzume-san. How are you, this morning?"
"Eh," She mumbled, "So-so."
"Why only so-so?"
"I have heard news from Enomoto Akio. He tells me that Emi-chan is dealing in unfair business again." The last phrase sounded like a question.
"Hai, Suzume-san, I fear Emi is becoming even more mired in the delusion that she is some kind of god. This makes her think little of other's benefit."
"What is it this time that I must save my sister from herself?"
"She didn't say. Just asked me about those strangers that came yesterday. She wanted to find them."
"I suppose I'll have to make sure she doesn't kill them or anything."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I think Emi is planning something big for tonight."
"Hnn. The stars tell of a great savior coming tonight. She is called Hotaru, the God-light. The Oracle says the stars tell her that it is to be the night of her arrival, tonight."
"What does this mean?"
"I can't say. All I know is, the legend says that Hotaru travels with a demon."
"A demon?"
"And he is to be called Bodaway, the Fire-maker. If Hotaru is killed, as prophecy says, Bodaway will destroy the earth with his claws. I do not know what this name means, but it comes from a land far away, I am told, across the great seas."
"Tonight she will come, you say?"
"Hai," Said Suzume "Tonight, when the sun kisses the horizon."
"Evening, then."
"Yes."
***
A great bonfire stood in the middle of The Scar. Otherworldly rocks seemed strewn about as if a giant had been skipping stones, and the black mountain at the northern end loomed in the dusk sky. A maelstrom of fireflies danced about the fire's orange halo, fading into the smoke as they rose. Ten wild-eyed, arrhythmic dancers contorted in a circle to a beatless song, their faces covered in a red clay. Into the fire, Emi threw a handful of something, and the flames turned blue. All saw this as a great sign from above. The gods were pleased with their celebration of the Savior, and blessed them with blue fires.
"Ah-tori ah-tori Aah toh vislek. Shi-lai bintun Da!" She yelled into the orange evening. The Sacred cup was brought up to her mouth, and she took it. There was a pinkish liquid in the cup, and the filled her mouth with it. After a few odd hand signals, she spit the water back into the cup, and handed it back to the one who brought it to her. The wild dance was stopped, and all gravitated to the Oracle, Malia, as they now called her. The cup was passed around, and everyone took a sip. Within moments, every one of them began swaying, back and forth, side to side, their eyes rolled back into the head, apparently in the throes of some rapture. And again they danced.
***
"There was once a time when I was a beautiful young woman." Lied Emi, who sat, crouched, looking up at the two strangers.
"What happened?" Kagome elbowed Inuyasha in the side for this, leaving him silent and annoyed.
"No need." Soothed the old woman. "Inuyasha-san, I can honestly say that I do not know what became of my looks. They faded away into wrinkles and liver marks. But worrying over things long laid to rest is only a chasing of the wind. I don't care much about anything anymore."
"You should probably take this back." Said Kagome, holding the ring necklace in her palm.
"Keep it. I've no need for jewelry anymore." A distant look came onto her face. "I'm beginning to think myself worthless."
"Ano...about what we came here for..."
"The scar on your back."
"Hai. Is there anything you can do about it? I'd be willing to find some kind of payment or something."
"No need for payment. After all the human race has done for me, I'd like to return a little on occasion."
***
"Drink this." Emi handed Inuyasha handed Inuyasha a cup. He looked at the liquid inside then sniffed it. He made a face.
"What is it?"
"It is essential to the ceremony. Kagome's scar tissue cannot be healed until all involved have drank from the cup."
Inuyasha sighed. "Whatever." And he drank some.
A small smile apeared on Emi's face, and she took the cup back.
"Kagome-san." She said, motioning for Kagome to come. Inuyasha seemed strangely quiet. Kagome sat cross-legged next to Inuyasha around the small fire, which illuminated the inside of the cave. It was dark outside now, and The Scar seemed eerily deserted.
"Kagome-san, I want you to close your eyes and concentrate on the sound of my voice, the crackling of the fire, the echoes in the cave around you. Become one with your surroundings. Concentrate on every smell, every taste or sensation you experience. Pay no attention to the words I'm saying, just listen to the sound."
So, Kagome closed her eyes, breathed deeply but softly, and did as the old lady had said. The old woman's words were blurring, becoming only a hypnotic murmur from somewhere in the back of her mind. She heard drips of moisture far off down the corridor of stone. She tasted something akin to cinnamon on her tongue as she licked her lips. Woodsmoke and dank humidity were all that she smelled. A tingling sensation at the back of her neck.
"Italnik gwa-tchi do. Ee-estonobine dastilnei-ee. Da..." Meaningless words filtered through her mind.
"All right, Kagome-san, you may open your eyes."
Kagome did so. She looked around. Everything seemed the same. The fire, the cave, the witch, Inuyasha. She looked at Inuyasha. His eyes stared straight ahead, unmoving. He was motionless, almost catatonic. His eyes drooped and he never seemed to inhale.
"Suzume-sama...what's happened to Inuyasha?"
"He has drank of the cup.'
"What does that mean?"
"That liquid is the juice of the food of the underworld. It is the food that Izanami ate when she was killed by the burns from the fire god as she gave birth to him. While in the underworld, Izanaki, her husband, came to fetch her. She told him that she had eaten of the food of the underworld, and could not go with him. The rest is kind of depressing, I must say."
"Almost like Persephone..." Kagome muttered. "But what does this have to do with Inuyasha?"
"Having drank of the juice, he is between the two worlds. The world of the living...and the world of the dead."
"Wh- how can we fix it?"
:"You can't 'fix' it, you can only subdue it. That ring I gave you has a crystal that was taken from a sacred mountain to the north. Put it around his neck, and it should keep him at least partially grounded in this realm."
"I understand...I think, but why did you give it to him in the first place?"
"It is necessary to the ceremony, and it worked. Feel your neck." Kagome felt, and her scar was gone.
"That still doesn't answer my question. Does this happen every time this ceremony is performed?"
"No. Generally, I purify the Sacred Water. I use my powers to weaken the magic of the Water, I did not think Inuyasha-san would need it weakened. I guess I was wrong."
"This necklace, you say, will keep Inuyasha in this world?" She had an incredulous lilt to her voice.
"It should. Put it on him."
"As if he doesn’t' have enough things around his neck already. The rosary, the shikon jewel..." Kagome took off the necklace, and put it over Inuyasha's head.
Emi's eyes widened almost imperceptibly.
...The Shikon jewel...
Welcome To The Machine
Chapter III: The Leper
There is a man who lives alone. His only contact with humans is with a young girl named Chikako, for only in the eyes of a child can he find comfort in anything but solitude. This man walks with his neck bent at an unnatural angle, resting the left cheek against the left shoulder. The man with the twisted neck can only use one arm, as his other is merely dead weight. His speech is slightly muffled, and his movements are slow and lanky. He avoids men, and men avoid him.
This is what happens when one crosses The Circle. He had once been one of them, a mystical fanatic following Emi, his childhood friend, blindly in her chasing of the wind across the sky. For all of her condemnation of mankind, she relied heavily upon them. He did not hate men. He did not hate anyone, but he could not be around others. A muscular injury on one side has made him an outcast in his own community. Now he is a hermit, living alone, feeding off the earnings of others. His young friend gathered food for him. Perhaps she stole it, though he hoped not. He hated depriving others of their spoils simply because he could not provide for himself. In the back of his mind, he hoped he could die soon. He will not be a cancer on his own family.
Being alone lets him forget about hating men. All these things ruminate in his mind as he walks in a lop-sided stroll down the street of his village. People, the living statues, move all about, slowly, unhurriedly, like they have since he was a child. So many things have changed since then, so many things have stayed the same. One will notice, upon entering the village, that there are no children, only slaves. The village Zatoichi grew up as a child in had thrived. Harvest were plentiful, herds were healthy and fat, and this small hamlet was an almost idyllic place. But then The Circle had been formed.
Zatoichi had been as much a part of it as any other in the group, though he himself could not recall his reasons. The Circle members blindly followed Emi's desires, absorbing her rhetoric as if she was some kind of Oracle. It was an irony, Ichi thought to himself, that they still called themselves The Circle. Now, they were not a circle, or even a band, they were sheep. Emi had risen to god-like status in their eyes, and Zatoichi faulted them for it. He had been punished for his insubordination. There was the hut he had been looking for up ahead.
Pushing aside the curtains, he crouched into the hut. No need to knock, Suzume always knew he was there.
"Hello, Ichi-dono." A gentle voice said behind a veil of incense.
"Konnitchiwa, Suzume-san. How are you, this morning?"
"Eh," She mumbled, "So-so."
"Why only so-so?"
"I have heard news from Enomoto Akio. He tells me that Emi-chan is dealing in unfair business again." The last phrase sounded like a question.
"Hai, Suzume-san, I fear Emi is becoming even more mired in the delusion that she is some kind of god. This makes her think little of other's benefit."
"What is it this time that I must save my sister from herself?"
"She didn't say. Just asked me about those strangers that came yesterday. She wanted to find them."
"I suppose I'll have to make sure she doesn't kill them or anything."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I think Emi is planning something big for tonight."
"Hnn. The stars tell of a great savior coming tonight. She is called Hotaru, the God-light. The Oracle says the stars tell her that it is to be the night of her arrival, tonight."
"What does this mean?"
"I can't say. All I know is, the legend says that Hotaru travels with a demon."
"A demon?"
"And he is to be called Bodaway, the Fire-maker. If Hotaru is killed, as prophecy says, Bodaway will destroy the earth with his claws. I do not know what this name means, but it comes from a land far away, I am told, across the great seas."
"Tonight she will come, you say?"
"Hai," Said Suzume "Tonight, when the sun kisses the horizon."
"Evening, then."
"Yes."
***
A great bonfire stood in the middle of The Scar. Otherworldly rocks seemed strewn about as if a giant had been skipping stones, and the black mountain at the northern end loomed in the dusk sky. A maelstrom of fireflies danced about the fire's orange halo, fading into the smoke as they rose. Ten wild-eyed, arrhythmic dancers contorted in a circle to a beatless song, their faces covered in a red clay. Into the fire, Emi threw a handful of something, and the flames turned blue. All saw this as a great sign from above. The gods were pleased with their celebration of the Savior, and blessed them with blue fires.
"Ah-tori ah-tori Aah toh vislek. Shi-lai bintun Da!" She yelled into the orange evening. The Sacred cup was brought up to her mouth, and she took it. There was a pinkish liquid in the cup, and the filled her mouth with it. After a few odd hand signals, she spit the water back into the cup, and handed it back to the one who brought it to her. The wild dance was stopped, and all gravitated to the Oracle, Malia, as they now called her. The cup was passed around, and everyone took a sip. Within moments, every one of them began swaying, back and forth, side to side, their eyes rolled back into the head, apparently in the throes of some rapture. And again they danced.
***
"There was once a time when I was a beautiful young woman." Lied Emi, who sat, crouched, looking up at the two strangers.
"What happened?" Kagome elbowed Inuyasha in the side for this, leaving him silent and annoyed.
"No need." Soothed the old woman. "Inuyasha-san, I can honestly say that I do not know what became of my looks. They faded away into wrinkles and liver marks. But worrying over things long laid to rest is only a chasing of the wind. I don't care much about anything anymore."
"You should probably take this back." Said Kagome, holding the ring necklace in her palm.
"Keep it. I've no need for jewelry anymore." A distant look came onto her face. "I'm beginning to think myself worthless."
"Ano...about what we came here for..."
"The scar on your back."
"Hai. Is there anything you can do about it? I'd be willing to find some kind of payment or something."
"No need for payment. After all the human race has done for me, I'd like to return a little on occasion."
***
"Drink this." Emi handed Inuyasha handed Inuyasha a cup. He looked at the liquid inside then sniffed it. He made a face.
"What is it?"
"It is essential to the ceremony. Kagome's scar tissue cannot be healed until all involved have drank from the cup."
Inuyasha sighed. "Whatever." And he drank some.
A small smile apeared on Emi's face, and she took the cup back.
"Kagome-san." She said, motioning for Kagome to come. Inuyasha seemed strangely quiet. Kagome sat cross-legged next to Inuyasha around the small fire, which illuminated the inside of the cave. It was dark outside now, and The Scar seemed eerily deserted.
"Kagome-san, I want you to close your eyes and concentrate on the sound of my voice, the crackling of the fire, the echoes in the cave around you. Become one with your surroundings. Concentrate on every smell, every taste or sensation you experience. Pay no attention to the words I'm saying, just listen to the sound."
So, Kagome closed her eyes, breathed deeply but softly, and did as the old lady had said. The old woman's words were blurring, becoming only a hypnotic murmur from somewhere in the back of her mind. She heard drips of moisture far off down the corridor of stone. She tasted something akin to cinnamon on her tongue as she licked her lips. Woodsmoke and dank humidity were all that she smelled. A tingling sensation at the back of her neck.
"Italnik gwa-tchi do. Ee-estonobine dastilnei-ee. Da..." Meaningless words filtered through her mind.
"All right, Kagome-san, you may open your eyes."
Kagome did so. She looked around. Everything seemed the same. The fire, the cave, the witch, Inuyasha. She looked at Inuyasha. His eyes stared straight ahead, unmoving. He was motionless, almost catatonic. His eyes drooped and he never seemed to inhale.
"Suzume-sama...what's happened to Inuyasha?"
"He has drank of the cup.'
"What does that mean?"
"That liquid is the juice of the food of the underworld. It is the food that Izanami ate when she was killed by the burns from the fire god as she gave birth to him. While in the underworld, Izanaki, her husband, came to fetch her. She told him that she had eaten of the food of the underworld, and could not go with him. The rest is kind of depressing, I must say."
"Almost like Persephone..." Kagome muttered. "But what does this have to do with Inuyasha?"
"Having drank of the juice, he is between the two worlds. The world of the living...and the world of the dead."
"Wh- how can we fix it?"
:"You can't 'fix' it, you can only subdue it. That ring I gave you has a crystal that was taken from a sacred mountain to the north. Put it around his neck, and it should keep him at least partially grounded in this realm."
"I understand...I think, but why did you give it to him in the first place?"
"It is necessary to the ceremony, and it worked. Feel your neck." Kagome felt, and her scar was gone.
"That still doesn't answer my question. Does this happen every time this ceremony is performed?"
"No. Generally, I purify the Sacred Water. I use my powers to weaken the magic of the Water, I did not think Inuyasha-san would need it weakened. I guess I was wrong."
"This necklace, you say, will keep Inuyasha in this world?" She had an incredulous lilt to her voice.
"It should. Put it on him."
"As if he doesn’t' have enough things around his neck already. The rosary, the shikon jewel..." Kagome took off the necklace, and put it over Inuyasha's head.
Emi's eyes widened almost imperceptibly.
...The Shikon jewel...