…
The mottled leaves had long past made their commutes to the ground. Ragged bristles attempted to clear up the traffic, but could only scrape off a paper-thin layer. Specs of leaves desperately clung to the sandaled stockings that shifted through them. But no matter how cruelly the broom swung, the leaves would never abandon their soggy little social.
"Foolish leaves…" a stern voice hissed, "what's the point of holding on?" she redoubled her efforts and rhythmically swayed back and forth to work through the matted plant material. After a minute or so, seeing that the leaves were too wet, miserable and stubborn to travel, she uttered a curse and headed towards a small and equally soggy-looking temple. She spied a corner and, after sweeping away the workings of some resident spiders, placed her rudimentary broom there. She stole one more frustrated glance at the fall foliage coating the temple path and said her words of compromise, "Fine, you all can rot together!"
There had been no major skirmishes in that immediate area for quite some time, and the temple's resident priestess was getting a bit aggravated. With no soldiers to treat or lives to save, she had more idle time than she could deal with. She admonished herself for sometimes wishing that there would be more war, but even the scraps of her former conscience realized that the dead ones were the lucky ones. Nothing was there to keep her busy; nothing was there to bury her thoughts in. Nothing wasn't really a helpful thing. So she spent her days tidying up, stocking up on herbs, and weaving bandages. During these tasks, her mind would meander through various memories, ponderings and daydreams. But all of these were undesirable and could only bring pain to her shattered soul. A serpentine beast emerged from the surrounding forest, leaving an ethereal glow in its wake. Its segmented arms clasped around fluorescent plasma. That was one thing that solitude rewarded her with. No reason to hide her true nature. No one was here to judge her wretched state. An existence that perverted every aspect that her religion taught. They couldn't see her, they couldn't fear her, they couldn't hate her. She let out a sigh. What would her teacher say to her if he saw her as such? She shook her head, no point in finding out. Those who trusted and guided her: all dead. Those who love her want her dead. Those who hate her: still alive and kicking quite hard. Another sigh. A slight breeze caught one final descending leaf off-guard and coaxed it to land in her hair. Her hand gently glided up and clasped the intruder. She brought down the straggler, and lowered it to the level of her eyes. Brown, brittle and long deceased, it looked like Death itself touched the leaf.
"Silly thing, you came long after your time ran out," the tip of her mouth twitched slightly, "now that you're not colorful or healthy, no one will glance down to look at you," the leaf vibrated with response, its cracked and rough edges picking up every little brush of wind. She continued, "Instead, they'll take you and burn you, because you're the one making their beautiful fall scenery ugly," her fingers snapped open, letting the leaf course through the air, a gust carried it and whisked it out of her line of sight. She stared intently, before turning and moving back towards her gathering, "Just look at you," she huffed, "talking to leaves!" she roughly plucked up a sprig of green. Luckily, this type of herb could be dried and used later. Many of the herbs she gathered would become useless a week after picking. Such a waste. But she had to be prepared for everything, and that meant even stocking up on perishable things. Another one of her ghostly minions approached her and allowed its cargo to flow into the priestess. Such a waste…
A stinging sensation crept up through her upper body. She stood and twirled to the source of the disturbance.
"Naraku," she stated simply, as if she was naming the different types of herbs she had been collecting.
"Heh," he smirked, "Kikyo, you've been very quiet lately," she tipped her head sideways in response and raised an eyebrow,
"I didn't know my presence would be missed,"
"What are you planning to do?"
"Make you leave," she had no patience for this sort of thing today. She felt too drained. Too depressed. True, she wanted company, but he was the only sentient being she never wished to see.
"Hmph. And here I was thinking you'd be a bit more hospitable," it was obvious he had no intention of leaving.
"Only mortals get that privilege," she explained, "so I'm not making any plans to be a good hostess to you," she seized her basket and started towards the temple grounds. She felt his aura following her, and it made her back itch, "Is there something else you wish to discuss, perhaps?" her head briefly swiveled to the side as she paced forward, but she refused to make eye contact.
"I actually came here to warn you,"
Now she was interested. She decided that the half-demon deserved a bit of attention and spun around, "What brought about this concern for my welfare, Naraku?" she smirked, "What kind of thing, besides yourself, would be out for my life?" his face remained blank. Not one iota of emotion.
The syllables of the name formed on his lips "Inuyasha," She let out an acute gasp. Judging by Naraku's surprised expression, Kikyo surmised that her countenance displayed a bit too much the emotional shock she felt burst inside of her. She quietly struggled to regain her composure before she spoke,
"So he wants to be rid of me, eh?" Kikyo tried her best to bridle her raging sensations before she completely made a fool of herself in front this monster, "Why tell me this, when Inuyasha might be able to destroy me once and for all?" Naraku had already switched back to that unnatural, placid face of his. What kind of sick game was that bastard playing with her?
"Do you really think I'd give that filthy animal the privilege of killing you?" his eyes burned with a certain sheen that she had never before seen in them, "Please, Kikyo, you really do underrate yourself. And of course, if you choose to fight back, I would take great pleasure in seeing you kill him again," That was it. Kikyo's hand reached into the basket, seized one of the rocks weighing down the contents and catapulted it at the half-demon. It shimmered with a terribly bright light as it rocketed forward. What was left of Naraku after impact was swept up into a cloud of his malice. Leaves swirled after him, as if they were giving chase in place of her. His cool, collected voice rang out after him:
"I'll be looking forward to this evening's entertainment…"
"Bastard…" she stammered out, no longer able to reign in her frustration. At least he was gone. A small victory. But a victory nonetheless.
The sun had moved down past the top beam of the Shinto gate at the entrance to the temple, signifying that evening had officially arrived. The wind had betrayed its normal daily patterns by remaining dormant for the dusking hours. Liquid clouds frothed over the saffron sky. The trees had abandoned their leaves completely and their branches stood still, as if they were trapped in some petrified world. Straggling birds rushed to reach their respective nests before their guiding light became dimmer. The weak sun struggled to warm Kikyo's sham body, but its energy was siphoned away by the surrounding network of barren twigs. Her uniform draped limply around her limbs as she knelt in prayer. The small stone icon before her, eroded by rainy and windy evenings unlike the current one, was dedicated to a minor goddess. The effigy's abstract and feminine curves remained intact, but any semblance of emotion had long gone from its oval face. Whoever had looked after this shrine prior to Kikyo had obviously not cared for the patron goddess of widows. Her lips made minute movements as whispering air rushed through them. Prayer beads rattled in her hands, swaying with every little trembling motion her arms made. An apologetic offering was laid at the foot of the statue. For many still and lonely moments she uttered silent respects. An unusual, chilling gust caused her head to perk up, and sent shivers coursing through her. With the advent of the wind came a familiar presence, the one that she wished not to come. She raised her torso and the rest of her body gracefully followed suit. She stood there and addressed the intruder:
"It's rude to interrupt another's prayer," her hands clenched around the beads tightly, "one could be punished by the gods," in one fluid motion she whirled around and faced the arrival.
"Kikyo…" the only word that escaped from the youth's mouth. His eyes drove themselves into the shrine maiden's. His gaze quickly averted when he recognized the subdued hellfire in hers.
"What is it? Why aren't you with your companions?" her hand reached for the bow she had been carefully propped against a tree. "Just in case," she told herself when she had decided to go out and pray. To pray that she didn't need its use. The air was still again, but the winnowed branches still reverberated from the last gust. Small rustles emitted from the fallen leaves as unfortunate twigs struck them. Larger crackles could be heard as uncovered feet sifted through the dead layers. Kikyo quietly noted his approach, his guilty face, and his sword slowly sliding out of its sheath.
"I-I can't let this continue…" he stammered, "you're suffering," his blade fully emerged, transformed by mystical energies. He let it sink to the ground for a moment as he stole another glance at the woman in front of him. The hellfire had no reason to hide anymore.
"So you've come to end it?" her eyes reflecting her injured and searing soul. Looks like Naraku will get the show he wanted. The rest of her face remained still, no iota of surprise, no ounce of sorrow or hurt, just the hatred in those steel eyes. Her hand reached back behind her and brought forth a feathery arrow. The willow bow shot up to greet the arrow and the two merged to become one purpose, "I didn't know that was your decision to make," the fire of her eyes intensified to a raging vision of inferno, "tell me, Inuyasha, what do you do with a dead leaf?" her head tipped up to invite an answer, a tense noise quietly sounded from her strained longbow.
"What do you mean by that?" he stepped back, "That's not the sort of—,"
"Tell me, Inuyasha!" she demanded her voice roared forth, a tempest of rage. A crimson sun began to settle behind her, obscured by dead, spidery pillars.
He saw the seriousness, and it invoked him to respond, "You get rid of it," he said, still confused by the question. He tried to recall his purpose for coming. The mission he had so clearly formed was being warped and malformed in this hellish place. Jagged, burning streaks spanned across the sky, lit by the demonic star growing on the horizon. The ground glowed with yellow and orange daggers he could have sworn that were embers. A demoness, with her bow tightly drawn, faced him. Hate poured out from her features. Skeletal fingers gripped at the worn tape on the wood of the weapon, unnatural tears flowed down from her searing eyes. He had to slay this frightful thing, this ruined thing, this inconvenient thing. It was sullying his newfound life, making it ugly. Kikyo stared back at him, who was he to decide her life? It may be miserable, but it was hers, and hers alone. It suddenly dawned on her that she was free to love, free to hate, free to live as she saw fit. Finally released from earthly burdens. Free of this burden. I shall take no judgment from anyone but myself. I don't care if I make your life ugly. I don't need your pity. I don't need you. I'm free… And in the final deciding moment, she realized what had to be done. Inuyasha raised his blade and faced her. As he began to swing it, he heard this response:
"No, you let it go,"
A/N: Ku ku ku…everyone's so mean to Kikyo-ku. But she's such an uberpnzers character. Anyone who abuses her should be tossed into a pit of trial lawyers. And I haven't given up on the "Isle" I'm just looking for the storyboard for it and I have most of chapter two written and ready for packaging (told ya I was a slow writer). Jup. I'll probably install more little short stories with minimal correlation to this one, so keep your eyes peeled (not literally 0.0) for updates.
…
Valete, mi columbae!
'glomps Kikyo and gets slapped'
Excuse the confusing phrasing, one must do her best when dealing with keyboard ninjas. Hijah! carroty chop Mmmm...carrots.I don't know a thing 'bout Shinto. So don't sue me, sue the corporations. :3
bys da way… im no owning inuyasha, me 2 poor from lawsuits… GIANT SQUID!!!!