InuYasha Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Guardian of Destinies ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

~*~ The Guardian of Destinies ~*~

 

A small figure struggled up the steep path of the hillside. The moon shone brightly, but the night was still dark. No noise penetrated the air except the soft sobs of what appeared to be a boy around the age of fourteen. He had short hair pulled up in a high knot on the top of his head. His clothes were tattered and torn, and he looked to be half-starved. Through the tears of desperation leaking from his eyes, however, the light of determination shone forth.

 

He was almost to his destination, the end of this road for him. At the end, he would find a high standing wall made of beams as thick and tall as the larges trees. He knew that no one there was alive, but he was going there not for life, but death.

 

An hour of time passes, and the boy finds the entrance to what he would see as his death. He couldn't live with the fact that he had killed his father, his sister, and all those people he loved. It was time to end the life of a killer, and he knew it.

 

Walking into the village, the first thing that he saw was that there were graves where none used to be. Buried in those graves, he supposed, were the people that he had grown up with, and whose deaths he had caused. He would pay for those deaths the best that he knew how. Sighing, and continuing towards the weapons shed, he refused to look around the deserted and dead village that had once been his home.

 

Entering the shed, he found, to his surprise, that it had been well looked after in the last few years. Apparently, Sango had made a few visits, and judging from the lack of certain items that had previously been there, she had repaired her own weapon during some of those visits. Walking passed the favored weapons of many of the villagers, and even his own father, he looked for one of scythes that had been his favored weapon.

 

Finding a scythe turned out to be a little easier than he thought that it would have been. There was one on the end of the work table. `Left here for when I should return,' he remembered that his father said that would be his back up weapon should anything happen to his. Walking out of the shed with the scythe, he headed towards the house at the center of the village, where he used to live.

 

The son of the head of the village, that's what he was. He was supposed to be the leader of the village after his father died, that is, until Sango married. She had sworn that she wouldn't marry a man unless he could defeat her, and none in the village were able to. Kohaku smiled at the memory of his father, one morning after watching her defeat another suitor, saying, “I do believe that she is enjoying doing this. If I didn't know better, I would say that this was just a way for her to beat up all those boys who had made fun of her when she was younger.”

 

Kohaku had only smiled and nodded towards his father, for he had known that Sango was enjoying it as proven by her later statement to him, “I hope I have some more suitors soon. It really is a nice way to relieve pent up stress.”

 

“I think father's catching on to you scheme, Onee-chan!” Kohaku had laughed at her while holding her Hiraikotsu as she took her armor off. Smiling sadly at the memory of both his sister and father, Kohaku continued his path towards his previous home.

 

Once he reached the house, he sat on the porch and remembered more. He remembered the first time that he had been given the weapon, `use this to defend the innocent and the weak against evil,' was the command of his father and the oath of the village. He remembered the last day that he had been here, disclosing his fear to his sister who had told him that everything would be all right, and not to worry, she would protect him.

 

A silent tear found its way down his cheek, and he didn't bother to wipe it off. This would be the end of it all, he decided. He wasn't going to hurt any more people. Climbing up on his knees, he clambered into position. Raising his scythe, Kohaku prepared to plunge it into his heart when something stopped him.

 

A voice on the wind said, “Please, don't do that.”

 

Shocked by the voice, and intrigued by the sadness it held, he stopped, and said, “Who are you?”

 

A figure stepped out of the shadows of the house to his right. They had on a long cloak that hid most of their features, but he could tell it was a woman, probably young. “Please, there is still so much to live for, don't end it now.”

 

“I can't continue,” he said, “there all gone.”

 

“There is still one person who wants you to live, and now two,” she spoke gently while walking slowly towards him.

 

“Who would want a murderer to live,” his young voice contained too much cynicism for his small amount of years.

 

“You are not a murderer,” she said.

 

“Yes I am,” Kohaku said defeated. “I have killed everyone I loved, everyone who loved me.”

 

“Everyone?” questioned the girl that now sat beside him on the porch of what once was his home.

 

“Well, no,” he admitted, “my sister still lives.”

 

“And does your sister believe that you killed everyone who loved you?” she asked

 

“No,” he shook his head. “She blamed someone else for it. The person who used me to kill them so that they wouldn't see it coming is who she said was at fault.”

 

“If someone used you,” she started tentatively; “you are not at fault. Did you willingly and knowledgably kill these people.” His only reply was a sharp shake of the head. “Then you cannot take responsibility for their deaths. The person who set up their deaths is who was responsible.”

 

“But if I had not been there…” he started.

 

She interrupted sharply and said, “…Then he would have used someone else. Possibly even your sister.”

 

He stared at her with shock. He had really never thought of this before. Bowing his head in defeat, he said nothing. Usagi smiled under her hood, she knew now that he would not yet take his own life, “You know, Kohaku, your sister is probably worried about you. If you head to Edo, you will find her.”

 

Kohaku nodded in understanding before realizing something. Lifting his head sharply, he said, “How do you…” she was gone “…know…my name?” he whispered the last part to himself.

 

The wind brought him an answer, “…next time we meet…”

 

***

 

Usagi was exhausted. `Geez,' she thought to herself, `making people make the right decisions for a happy ending sure is difficult.' Groaning as she thought of her next bit of destiny doing, she slipped back into her sleeping position with Sesshoumaru's group. She wandered if he had known she left, but decided that he couldn't have realized that she was gone. Falling asleep quickly was not hard for Usagi, but the way she woke the next morning made her regret even more the fact that she had to stay up late the previous night.

 

“Up,” said an imperious voice somewhere above her.

 

Usagi groaned a rolled over, “Five more minutes.” Her sleep deprived brain wasn't working correctly or she wouldn't have said that to Sesshoumaru.

 

“Get up,” this time he added in a poke with the toes of his right shoe to add to his command. The others were already up and ready to go.

 

Groaning, Usagi sat up and said, “You could have let me sleep just a little longer.”

 

“We're leaving,” was her only reply. With one more groan to make her point, Usagi stood up and wrapped her cloak tightly around her. The air was still a bit chilly in the mornings, for summer was not yet there.

 

“Fine,” she said, and with her head held high, she walked off in front of him.

 

Jaken chose this moment to come up to Sesshoumaru and say, “Who did you say she was, Sesshoumaru-sama?”

 

Usagi turned her head slightly and said, “I am Usagi.”

 

Rin ran up to her and said, “Hi, Usagi-san, I am Rin!”

 

Sesshoumaru could make out a smile on Usagi's face as she spoke to the child. He heard her talk to the little girl as if she knew everything about her. She was friendly, and they chattered with each other all through the day. Sesshoumaru listened carefully lest he should miss something important.

 

The day was mostly uneventful for the small group as they traveled through the forests heading due west. Usagi couldn't keep herself from yawning most of the day, though she hoped that she was being discreet about it enough that Sesshoumaru didn't notice. She wasn't sure if he did or not.

 

In the early afternoon, Sesshoumaru called a halt to their march and said that they would make camp for the rest of the day. This received various different reactions. Rin ran off into the nearby clearing to play, Ah Un following, and Jaken immediately giving chase for she had taken his two headed staff with her. Sesshoumaru walked towards a particularly shady tree to sit down. Usagi looked startled, for as long as she had watched him with Rin, she hadn't seen him go slow or make camp early.

 

Slowly walking towards him, she sat down, and was quiet. It was a nice day, and she was content to just sit there and do nothing. She really didn't feel up to talking, and didn't expect that her companion would say anything to her. Thinking of her companion brought to mind one of those little funny things about destiny. Destiny, apparently, took a special interest in this demons destiny, for she had assigned to Usagi Rin, Ah Un, and Jaken, but not Sesshoumaru. She had said, `I think that Sesshoumaru's destiny is best left up to me, but don't worry about it.' Usagi knew that Destiny was just odd like that.

 

So lost in her own meditations, Usagi nearly jumped when Sesshoumaru spoke to her, “Where did you go last night?”

 

In her perfect state of composure, and her articulation skills, Usagi's response made absolute sense, “Huh..?”

 

Sesshoumaru almost sighed in annoyance at her lack of attention, almost. “Where did you go last night?”

 

Understanding, she replied, “I had to go check on one of my other charges, per se. He needed a bit of help to follow the correct path for all involved to be happy.”

 

Deciding not to pursue that subject any longer, Sesshoumaru relaxed a little more and, closing his eyes, said, “Go to sleep.”

 

Usagi stared at his face in shock. Had he realized that she was tired from staying up all night and then traveling all morning? She didn't know what to think except, as Minako would say, `Don't look under the sole of the gift shoe.' Scratching her head, she wondered if that was really how the saying went. Shrugging it off, she relaxed in the soft grass and slept.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, Inuyasha's group was having some problems. No one could figure out why, but the appearance of the strange seemed to affect Sango tremendously. She seemed to have become distant in her musings. This was really upsetting her.

 

Once they had stopped for the day, she had wondered off with the excuse that she wanted to walk alone. She didn't even take Kirara, although they were able to talk her into taking her Hiraikotsu just in case of an emergency.

 

Wondering around the sleeping forest allowed Sango to think of what her mother had told her before she had died. That the first daughter just happened to be her didn't seem to matter to anyone but her. Her father had seemed convinced that she was the one who would reunite the two houses, but she didn't want to marry Inuyasha. That is who the promise had spoken of, but she wasn't the one he was in love with, and she didn't love him. He and Kagome were meant for each other, and she didn't think that it would be right for destiny to separate them.

 

Finding a nice spot in an open glade before a stream, she sat down and drew her knees up to her chin. She sat there for many hours musing over what had been told to her by her father. He had told her that a young girl in a gray cloak had appeared to him one day on his way home from a journey and told him that he would live until the promise had started to come true. This had convinced him that his daughter would marry the second born of the house of the moon.

 

She knew that she didn't want to marry Inuyasha. She hadn't wanted to then before she knew him, and she didn't want to know, after she knew him. She was fine being friends with him, but she didn't want to be anything more. Besides, Kagome was in love with him, and he was in love with Kagome. Now, she knew for sure that her mind had thought that before, and her brain was going in circles over the subject. She sighed and continued trying to figure out what she was doing in front of a stream instead of a fire.

 

A noise from behind her startled her. Caught off guard, she immediately went on the defensive and turned to attack, stopping barely in time, because the one there was only Miroku. Grinning sheepishly at her, he held both his hands in front of him. Absently, she noted that he no longer held the rosary on his hand. Mumbling an apology, she turned and sat back down bringing her knees back up to her chest.

 

Miroku was shocked, the only other time he had seen her like this was when they had helped her bury all the dead in her village. She had been really depressed then also. He decided the polite approach was the best, “May I sit here?”

 

She shrugged, “Sure, no one else is.”

 

Sitting in silence, the two stared up at the stars. A few moments passed, and Miroku broke the silence by starting on a light subject, “Kagome and Inuyasha seem to be getting along better. I wonder if he has spoken his heart to her yet.”

 

Sango let out a small smile before her earlier thoughts intruded again. With a sigh, she said, “I think that Kagome managed to get him in a position where he had no choice.”

 

With a knowing smile, he replied, “Ah! You mean the last time he followed her home.” Sango couldn't help but smile at the recollection of events that Kagome had related to her the previous week in one of the baths that the two women had shared.

 

`After nearly entering hell, I was finally able to get him to talk to me,' Kagome had said with an exasperated sigh. Knowing Inuyasha, Sango assumed that he had waited for her to go to her own world before he spoke to her about what had happened in the final battle a few weeks before hand.

 

These musings brought on other ones. She remembered how Kikyou had tried to make Inuyasha want to travel to hell with her, but he had said that he wanted to stay alive. He said that he was sorry for what had happened, but that he had come to realize that dieing would only be a way to escape. He also made it clear that he had learned this due to Kagome. When Kikyou had realized that he wasn't going to come with her, then she made a rash, and foolish choice as the gates of hell opened for her. She had tried to drag the unconscious form of Kagome through the gates.

 

The jarring motion had woken her friend from the exhausted sleep that had previously had control over the miko's body. She had woken up as the soul stealers had tried to drag her away. It was a near miss, but Inuyasha had managed to keep her from being dragged through the gates of hell, and Kikyou was taken. Kagome had gone home after that, and a day later, Inuyasha had followed her.

 

The silence was beginning to stretch, and Miroku decided to try another subject. “I guess the time is coming for us to separate. Kagome said that there should only be one or two more shards to the jewel before it is completed. I wonder what will become of those two when it is time for her to return to her time.”

 

Sango's eyes turned to Miroku for just a moment, the first she had looked at him since he had joined her, and then returned to the stars, “Only time will tell, but I wish them the best.”

 

Miroku couldn't help but hear a bit of resigned resentment in her tone. It was as if he had confirmed some horribly news. Being tired of dancing around the subject, but not wanting to scare her, he finally decided to broach what was really on his mind, “I wonder what that woman earlier had wanted.”

 

Sango let out a little grin, but their appeared to be no joy in her countenance. “I believe that she came to fulfill a promise made to my family long ago.”

 

“What could it mean, though, that she knew who we all were,” Miroku wandered aloud.

 

“That's easy,” she said. “The woman is the keeper of destinies. You've seen her before, Miroku, you just don't remember.”

 

Miroku frowned in though, “I would believe that had I seen her before, she would have stuck out. She was colored like a foreigner, and her features stuck out.”

 

Sango looked at him and really smiled, “Miroku, the last time that you saw her, none of her features were discernable.”

 

“When did I see her, Sango,” he asked, his curiosity piqued.

 

“She was the figure in the cloak that took Kikyou down to hell,” Sango said, her eyes returning to the heavens.

 

Miroku couldn't help but let out a shiver as he remembered the mysterious person who had walked right out of the portal to hell. They had been somewhat short, but that hadn't stopped them. Wearing a black cloak that covered everything, with a hood so large that nothing could be made out in facial features, the figure was a complete mystery to the group of travelers. Kikyou had yelled and said, `This isn't right! Inuyasha is supposed to come with me.'

 

The figure had said nothing, but raised the scythe with a gloved hand and sliced through Kikyou. It wasn't a bloody mess as one might think, but the doll that had been Kikyou seemed to dissipate with the lack of the soul. All that fell were the few ingredients that had been used to make the doll. Turning away from the group, the person re-entered the portal to hell, and it closed behind the retreating back.

 

“How do you know this?” Miroku couldn't help but ask.

 

A wry smile escaped her lips, “The woman is responsible for many lives and their deaths. Nothing happens that she doesn't know about, and most things happen from her instigation. Especially around me,” the last part had been mumbled to herself, although Miroku caught what had been said.

 

“What do you mean?” Miroku asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

 

“It doesn't matter, my destiny seems to already be planned out,” Sango said, for the first time true bitterness making its appearance in her voice. Her eyes left the heavens and turned an angry glare towards the earth.

 

“Surely she wouldn't force you to a destiny that you don't want,” Miroku said, trying to make her believe

 

“Wouldn't she?” Sango bitterly replied. “Could you just go back to camp, Miroku, I want to be alone.”

 

***

 

Many miles away, the moon looked down upon a group sleeping in a small glade on the outskirts of the western lands. In the midst of the odd group, a woman sat up and looked to the moon. The woman's long locks appeared to be silver in the moonlight, and she seemed to be listening to something.

 

Suddenly, her face took on a shocked look, and she shook her head while whispering, “She doesn't understand. I guess I should have made it a little clearer.”

 

Standing up, the woman walked to the tree line and looked back at the rest of the group. The two headed dragon was curled up around a little girl, and a toad demon seemed to be drooling in a patch of grass next to the dragon. Under a tree on the opposite end of the glade slept probably the most powerful demon to currently walk the face of the earth.

 

Walking into the trees, the small woman whispered something under her breath, and in a flurry of feathers and sparkles, she was gone. Unknown to her, a set of silver eyes watched her departure with something akin to shock when she disappeared.

 

~*~until next time~*~

 

This is the end of the second chapter.