The acrid scent of ash and smoke dominated her nose as she peered around
the dark
and gloomy setting of Toutousai's home. She had luckily managed to transport herself
directly in front of some large skull instead of on the lava, not that she would have felt
the pain anyway. But it felt so normal to worry about catching her feet on fire. Hot
liquid bubbled on the murky surface, creating sporadic pockets of heat. While any
normal mortal would have gotten third degree burns from just the heat alone, all she
could feel was a pleasant warmth on her skin. Taking a deep and self assuring breath she
lifted her foot to step into the gaping mouth of the skull but was stopped by a booming
voice from within.
"I DON'T MAKE SWORDS ANYMORE SO LEAVE!"
"Ano...I'm not here for-"
"I DON'T MAKE SWORDS SO LEAVE!"
"But I don't need a-"
"LEAVE!"
She could feel her temper rising at his interruptions and she took a defiant stance, feet
planted firmly on the ground and hands on her waist.
"Now wait a second, I'm not here for a sword because I can't hold one. I'm a ghost and
Midoriko sent me so stop interrupting when I'm trying to explain why I'm here!!!"
A long pause followed, so long that Kagome thought perhaps the old man didn't hear
her.
"Well...why didn't you say so then? Ghosts these days, take all the time in the world just
because they're dead. Slow as a slug if you ask me, in both mind and manner." the voice
grumbled.
Kagome gave a roll of her eyes and entered the skull. It had a dank smell and the walls
didn't reflect the light of the fire on the forge. Toutoutsai was sitting on a ratty old mat
with a pipe in his mouth, smoke curling out like ribbons. His eyes were closed and he
appeared to be sleeping. Kagome walked closer and waved a hand in front of his face.
Her grandfather always seemed to fall asleep at odd moments, perhaps Toutousai was
the same? She gave a startled jump when he opened one eye. The eye casually rolled up
and scrutinized her very closely.
"Hmph, you're not a ghost."
She chagrined at her mistake.
"Erm, a shadow I mean."
The other eye opened and he looked at her even more carefully now.
"Shadow eh? Hmmm."
He puffed on the pipe deeply and smoke escaped out of his nose, giving him the
appearance of a worn out dragon.
"Midoriko sent me here because you had something that would make me more solid."
"I don't have it."
"EHH??!! What do you mean you don't have it?!"
"Don't have it." he said nonchalantly.
Midoriko had told her that Toutousai had a way, perhaps she was mistaken?
"What are you looking so down for?"
"Midoriko told me you would-"
"Heh, you think I'd actually go through the trouble of getting the darn ring?"
"Ring?"
"It would be impossible! Though more possible for me than it would be for her. And
more possible for you than it would be for both of us." he continued, ignoring Kagome's
question and confusing her even further.
"Wait wait, is it a ring? How does it work? Where can I find it?"
"Young people these days!!!! Always asking questions then acting like they know
everything. I give them a century or two before they start shaping up!!" he bursted out
in aggravation.
"Mah mah" Kagome said, putting up her hands in peace. "I was just wondering how
could such powerful and important knowledge ever come into your great hands." she
said in a soothing tone.
"Well, if you really want to know...." Kagome leaned closer and he went on. "I happened
to find it by chance. Of course it was only a story but I never forgot the directions." he
said, tapping his head with his pipe.
"Really? That's so interesting." she cooed.
"Forgot the name of it but there's only one in this world and only a shadow can get it
and use it. It lies in a different dimension that's connected to this world, some small
cave on Heaven Top Mountain."
"Where is Heaven Top Mountain?"
"Great mountain in the west, you can't miss it."
"Thank you for the information, bye!"
Kagome imagined Kaede's hut and soon the pungent scent of smoke was gone and
replaced with the cool and refreshing aroma of forest trees.
"Back so soon? I thought Toutousai would go off on his ghost lecture." Midoriko said.
"He did. Also on how rude young people are these days."
The miko gave a grin.
"He's a nice old man all the same. So what did he tell you?"
"The ring is located on Heaven Top Mountain." Kagome repeated Toutousai's words.
"Heaven Top Mountain?"
She floated to the top of Kaede's roof and balanced gracefully on the edge. She
thoughtfully rubbed her chin while looking at the sky.
"Heaven Top Mountain..." she repeated.
Kagome joined her up there and sat next to her.
"Any idea where exactly it is?"
"I think I remember hearing something about it but I can't remember. It's in the west,
right?" Midoriko's face was turned towards the west, as if she could discern it already.
"Yes."
"Well, let's get floating. The sooner you have it the better, time is pressing close."
"Time?" Kagome blurted out. "Don't we have all the time in the world?"
Midoriko took her gaze from the land afar and looked at Kagome.
"Even the dead have duties."
"I take it that there is some big scheme for me in the future that I'm not really aware
of......again?" Kagome said in an exasperated voice.
"Correct. Come, we must find this Heaven Top Mountain. I wonder why I've never seen
it before."
Midoriko began to race towards the west and Kagome caught up with her with ease.
"He said you couldn't miss it and that it was great." she added.
~One Hour Later~
"This is ridiculous, we've been looking around everywhere and I don't see a great
mountain." Kagome said, her hands up in defeat.
"Hm." Midoriko. "You can't miss it, he said?"
"Yes."
Midoriko slapped her head and groaned in irritation.
"That old man.....I'm betting it's some small hill that he's talking about."
"Can't we ask for directions?" Kagome asked hopefully.
"Who would listen? Perhaps we can look at maps.."
"We can't hold them, remember? And where would we get maps?"
"I know a person who has a very extensive map collection and I have enough density to
at least unscroll maps."
"Who's this person?"
"Sesshoumaru."
"Sesshoumaru??? Inuyasha's brother? He would never let us look at his maps!" the girl
exclaimed.
"We'll do it while he is gone. And get use to him, I have a feeling we might see more of
him later on."
"Wonderful, another cryptic sentence."
"Come, and it's just our luck that he lives near here. See that building over in the west?"
Midoriko pointed at a far off blob in the distance. Kagome closed her eyes and imagined
herself at Sesshoumaru's palace. When she opened her eyes she found herself in a study
and someone walked through her. She let out a yelp and closed her mouth but
remembered nobody could hear her. She turned around to see Sesshoumaru sitting
down at a long desk covered with papers. For the first time Kagome could see an
emotion on his face, a tinge of worry. *What would he be worried about? Naraku is gone
so he won't be bothered by him anymore*
"There you are." Midoriko said from behind her. "I didn't realize that you knew where
his map collection is."
"I didn't."
"Now we'll just have to wait for him to leave."
"He looks busy, I don't think he'll be leaving for a while."
"Hold on, I'll be right back."
Midoriko disappeared and reappeared again after a minute. There was a huge crash and
Sesshoumaru's head snapped up. Jaken flung open the doors and gave wheezing
breaths.
"M-my lord, your chandelier in the dining room crashed and Rin keeps trying to pick
the pieces up with her hands."
He silently stood with an air of impatience and followed Jaken out of the study.
Midoriko quickly took out several scrolls from a shelf and looked through them.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures...I guess." Kagome said out loud to
nobody in particular. "But why a chandelier? What if Rin got hurt?" she asked Midoriko.
"Hmm, not this one. Not this one either. Ah, here it is! It's....it's right near the palace."
Midoriko looked on, ignoring her.
"Good grief, I didn't see any 'great' mountain anywhere near the palace. You were right
about it being a small hill." Kagome said, looking at the map from behind Midoriko's
back.
"Toutousai has a strange sense of humour." Midoriko stated as she rolled the scrolls
back up. She was about to put them away when the door swung open. She immediately
dropped the scrolls and Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. He sniffed the air and walked to
where the scrolls had dropped. Midoriko quickly moved away so he wouldn't feel her
aura.
"Let's go before he starts suspecting something."
"I think he already does."
Kagome followed Midoriko up through the roof and out into the open sky. Dusk was
falling fast but darkness was of no importance to ghosts. There was a small slope of a hill
towards the east, the nearest hill in vicinity. Other than having a few trees there was
nothing 'great' about this supposed mountain after all. With a quick eye Midoriko
spotted the small opening of a cave.
"Do you think anybody else has already gotten it?" Kagome asked.
"Trust me, nobody but you will ever enter that cave." Midoriko stated with confidence.
Kagome was about to ask why there seemed to be so much secrecy hanging around but
stopped herself, Midoriko would tell her when she is ready. For now, she was content to
live....to bear with ignorance for ignorance was bliss. Midoriko gave Kagome a
reassuring smile as the girl reluctantly entered the dark and foreboding cave. From the
size of the hill you would guess that the cave would be quite small but it seemed to go
on for ages. And in a perfect straight line that tiled upwards. Pretty soon, she wasn't
walking upon dark stone but a grayish blue crystal and then the crystal seemed to
changed into what appeared to be sparkling white diamonds. The glitter of the path
didn't hurt her eyes at all but added to the comforting feeling that nothing in this place
could hurt her. Then the cave suddenly ended into a giant cavern that was made of a
dull blue marble. There were no crevices in the walls, in fact, it was completely smooth
everywhere. She blinked at the giant cavern and the disppearance of the friendly
sparkles. But there was nothing in it. She stepped into the cavern and started to walk
around, hoping to find some clue. But when she turned around the opening of the
cavern was gone, nothing but a wall all around. She began to panic and desperately ran
her hands over where the opening used to be, hoping to find the thin line of a doorway
of some sort. Then there was a sound of steady clicking behind her, almost like the
moving gears of some large machine. She slowly turned around to see the center of the
giant room rise up. The stone appeared to be cradling something and she stepped
closer to look. All she saw was a rusty band that had no decorations on it. She picked it
up with two fingers. Was this it? This was the ring that was suppose to give her her a
more physical form? Well, never judge a book by its cover, the same could be said for
this ring. She slipped it on and it warped to fit around her finger perfectly. The cavern
rippled like water and suddenly she was standing outside the cave's entrance. Midoriko
was floating above, looking up at the sky.
"Do you have it?" She asked as Kagome floated up. Kagome stuck out her hand to show it
to her. Midoriko looked at it very closely, even though there wasn't anything on it. Just
a plain rusty band.
"Hmm, try to pick something up."
Kagome floated back to the ground and picked a flower nearby. Her hand didn't grow
through! There was a crack of twigs and Kagome whirled her head to see Sesshoumaru
looking straight at her.
______________________________________________________________
*Hhm, I've got many ideas for this story that I just don't know where to start. I think that's why it took me so long to write this darn chapter. Kagome will find out more about why she became a shadow and why Midoriko isn't telling her some important things later on. Hope you enjoyed and enlighten me with some ideas on the plot, I'm open to anything new and interesting. and for those who are reading my other stories, I've updated all of them as well. unfortunately, I had to take off Trial of the Shikon Guardians because I lost my interest in that story. I thought the plot itself was unique, but I just couldn't think of anyway to get it starting again. Someone else could use the storyline if they want to, I don't mind. But I know I can't think of anything for the story.
and gloomy setting of Toutousai's home. She had luckily managed to transport herself
directly in front of some large skull instead of on the lava, not that she would have felt
the pain anyway. But it felt so normal to worry about catching her feet on fire. Hot
liquid bubbled on the murky surface, creating sporadic pockets of heat. While any
normal mortal would have gotten third degree burns from just the heat alone, all she
could feel was a pleasant warmth on her skin. Taking a deep and self assuring breath she
lifted her foot to step into the gaping mouth of the skull but was stopped by a booming
voice from within.
"I DON'T MAKE SWORDS ANYMORE SO LEAVE!"
"Ano...I'm not here for-"
"I DON'T MAKE SWORDS SO LEAVE!"
"But I don't need a-"
"LEAVE!"
She could feel her temper rising at his interruptions and she took a defiant stance, feet
planted firmly on the ground and hands on her waist.
"Now wait a second, I'm not here for a sword because I can't hold one. I'm a ghost and
Midoriko sent me so stop interrupting when I'm trying to explain why I'm here!!!"
A long pause followed, so long that Kagome thought perhaps the old man didn't hear
her.
"Well...why didn't you say so then? Ghosts these days, take all the time in the world just
because they're dead. Slow as a slug if you ask me, in both mind and manner." the voice
grumbled.
Kagome gave a roll of her eyes and entered the skull. It had a dank smell and the walls
didn't reflect the light of the fire on the forge. Toutoutsai was sitting on a ratty old mat
with a pipe in his mouth, smoke curling out like ribbons. His eyes were closed and he
appeared to be sleeping. Kagome walked closer and waved a hand in front of his face.
Her grandfather always seemed to fall asleep at odd moments, perhaps Toutousai was
the same? She gave a startled jump when he opened one eye. The eye casually rolled up
and scrutinized her very closely.
"Hmph, you're not a ghost."
She chagrined at her mistake.
"Erm, a shadow I mean."
The other eye opened and he looked at her even more carefully now.
"Shadow eh? Hmmm."
He puffed on the pipe deeply and smoke escaped out of his nose, giving him the
appearance of a worn out dragon.
"Midoriko sent me here because you had something that would make me more solid."
"I don't have it."
"EHH??!! What do you mean you don't have it?!"
"Don't have it." he said nonchalantly.
Midoriko had told her that Toutousai had a way, perhaps she was mistaken?
"What are you looking so down for?"
"Midoriko told me you would-"
"Heh, you think I'd actually go through the trouble of getting the darn ring?"
"Ring?"
"It would be impossible! Though more possible for me than it would be for her. And
more possible for you than it would be for both of us." he continued, ignoring Kagome's
question and confusing her even further.
"Wait wait, is it a ring? How does it work? Where can I find it?"
"Young people these days!!!! Always asking questions then acting like they know
everything. I give them a century or two before they start shaping up!!" he bursted out
in aggravation.
"Mah mah" Kagome said, putting up her hands in peace. "I was just wondering how
could such powerful and important knowledge ever come into your great hands." she
said in a soothing tone.
"Well, if you really want to know...." Kagome leaned closer and he went on. "I happened
to find it by chance. Of course it was only a story but I never forgot the directions." he
said, tapping his head with his pipe.
"Really? That's so interesting." she cooed.
"Forgot the name of it but there's only one in this world and only a shadow can get it
and use it. It lies in a different dimension that's connected to this world, some small
cave on Heaven Top Mountain."
"Where is Heaven Top Mountain?"
"Great mountain in the west, you can't miss it."
"Thank you for the information, bye!"
Kagome imagined Kaede's hut and soon the pungent scent of smoke was gone and
replaced with the cool and refreshing aroma of forest trees.
"Back so soon? I thought Toutousai would go off on his ghost lecture." Midoriko said.
"He did. Also on how rude young people are these days."
The miko gave a grin.
"He's a nice old man all the same. So what did he tell you?"
"The ring is located on Heaven Top Mountain." Kagome repeated Toutousai's words.
"Heaven Top Mountain?"
She floated to the top of Kaede's roof and balanced gracefully on the edge. She
thoughtfully rubbed her chin while looking at the sky.
"Heaven Top Mountain..." she repeated.
Kagome joined her up there and sat next to her.
"Any idea where exactly it is?"
"I think I remember hearing something about it but I can't remember. It's in the west,
right?" Midoriko's face was turned towards the west, as if she could discern it already.
"Yes."
"Well, let's get floating. The sooner you have it the better, time is pressing close."
"Time?" Kagome blurted out. "Don't we have all the time in the world?"
Midoriko took her gaze from the land afar and looked at Kagome.
"Even the dead have duties."
"I take it that there is some big scheme for me in the future that I'm not really aware
of......again?" Kagome said in an exasperated voice.
"Correct. Come, we must find this Heaven Top Mountain. I wonder why I've never seen
it before."
Midoriko began to race towards the west and Kagome caught up with her with ease.
"He said you couldn't miss it and that it was great." she added.
~One Hour Later~
"This is ridiculous, we've been looking around everywhere and I don't see a great
mountain." Kagome said, her hands up in defeat.
"Hm." Midoriko. "You can't miss it, he said?"
"Yes."
Midoriko slapped her head and groaned in irritation.
"That old man.....I'm betting it's some small hill that he's talking about."
"Can't we ask for directions?" Kagome asked hopefully.
"Who would listen? Perhaps we can look at maps.."
"We can't hold them, remember? And where would we get maps?"
"I know a person who has a very extensive map collection and I have enough density to
at least unscroll maps."
"Who's this person?"
"Sesshoumaru."
"Sesshoumaru??? Inuyasha's brother? He would never let us look at his maps!" the girl
exclaimed.
"We'll do it while he is gone. And get use to him, I have a feeling we might see more of
him later on."
"Wonderful, another cryptic sentence."
"Come, and it's just our luck that he lives near here. See that building over in the west?"
Midoriko pointed at a far off blob in the distance. Kagome closed her eyes and imagined
herself at Sesshoumaru's palace. When she opened her eyes she found herself in a study
and someone walked through her. She let out a yelp and closed her mouth but
remembered nobody could hear her. She turned around to see Sesshoumaru sitting
down at a long desk covered with papers. For the first time Kagome could see an
emotion on his face, a tinge of worry. *What would he be worried about? Naraku is gone
so he won't be bothered by him anymore*
"There you are." Midoriko said from behind her. "I didn't realize that you knew where
his map collection is."
"I didn't."
"Now we'll just have to wait for him to leave."
"He looks busy, I don't think he'll be leaving for a while."
"Hold on, I'll be right back."
Midoriko disappeared and reappeared again after a minute. There was a huge crash and
Sesshoumaru's head snapped up. Jaken flung open the doors and gave wheezing
breaths.
"M-my lord, your chandelier in the dining room crashed and Rin keeps trying to pick
the pieces up with her hands."
He silently stood with an air of impatience and followed Jaken out of the study.
Midoriko quickly took out several scrolls from a shelf and looked through them.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures...I guess." Kagome said out loud to
nobody in particular. "But why a chandelier? What if Rin got hurt?" she asked Midoriko.
"Hmm, not this one. Not this one either. Ah, here it is! It's....it's right near the palace."
Midoriko looked on, ignoring her.
"Good grief, I didn't see any 'great' mountain anywhere near the palace. You were right
about it being a small hill." Kagome said, looking at the map from behind Midoriko's
back.
"Toutousai has a strange sense of humour." Midoriko stated as she rolled the scrolls
back up. She was about to put them away when the door swung open. She immediately
dropped the scrolls and Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. He sniffed the air and walked to
where the scrolls had dropped. Midoriko quickly moved away so he wouldn't feel her
aura.
"Let's go before he starts suspecting something."
"I think he already does."
Kagome followed Midoriko up through the roof and out into the open sky. Dusk was
falling fast but darkness was of no importance to ghosts. There was a small slope of a hill
towards the east, the nearest hill in vicinity. Other than having a few trees there was
nothing 'great' about this supposed mountain after all. With a quick eye Midoriko
spotted the small opening of a cave.
"Do you think anybody else has already gotten it?" Kagome asked.
"Trust me, nobody but you will ever enter that cave." Midoriko stated with confidence.
Kagome was about to ask why there seemed to be so much secrecy hanging around but
stopped herself, Midoriko would tell her when she is ready. For now, she was content to
live....to bear with ignorance for ignorance was bliss. Midoriko gave Kagome a
reassuring smile as the girl reluctantly entered the dark and foreboding cave. From the
size of the hill you would guess that the cave would be quite small but it seemed to go
on for ages. And in a perfect straight line that tiled upwards. Pretty soon, she wasn't
walking upon dark stone but a grayish blue crystal and then the crystal seemed to
changed into what appeared to be sparkling white diamonds. The glitter of the path
didn't hurt her eyes at all but added to the comforting feeling that nothing in this place
could hurt her. Then the cave suddenly ended into a giant cavern that was made of a
dull blue marble. There were no crevices in the walls, in fact, it was completely smooth
everywhere. She blinked at the giant cavern and the disppearance of the friendly
sparkles. But there was nothing in it. She stepped into the cavern and started to walk
around, hoping to find some clue. But when she turned around the opening of the
cavern was gone, nothing but a wall all around. She began to panic and desperately ran
her hands over where the opening used to be, hoping to find the thin line of a doorway
of some sort. Then there was a sound of steady clicking behind her, almost like the
moving gears of some large machine. She slowly turned around to see the center of the
giant room rise up. The stone appeared to be cradling something and she stepped
closer to look. All she saw was a rusty band that had no decorations on it. She picked it
up with two fingers. Was this it? This was the ring that was suppose to give her her a
more physical form? Well, never judge a book by its cover, the same could be said for
this ring. She slipped it on and it warped to fit around her finger perfectly. The cavern
rippled like water and suddenly she was standing outside the cave's entrance. Midoriko
was floating above, looking up at the sky.
"Do you have it?" She asked as Kagome floated up. Kagome stuck out her hand to show it
to her. Midoriko looked at it very closely, even though there wasn't anything on it. Just
a plain rusty band.
"Hmm, try to pick something up."
Kagome floated back to the ground and picked a flower nearby. Her hand didn't grow
through! There was a crack of twigs and Kagome whirled her head to see Sesshoumaru
looking straight at her.
______________________________________________________________
*Hhm, I've got many ideas for this story that I just don't know where to start. I think that's why it took me so long to write this darn chapter. Kagome will find out more about why she became a shadow and why Midoriko isn't telling her some important things later on. Hope you enjoyed and enlighten me with some ideas on the plot, I'm open to anything new and interesting. and for those who are reading my other stories, I've updated all of them as well. unfortunately, I had to take off Trial of the Shikon Guardians because I lost my interest in that story. I thought the plot itself was unique, but I just couldn't think of anyway to get it starting again. Someone else could use the storyline if they want to, I don't mind. But I know I can't think of anything for the story.