InuYasha Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Miko ❯ A Town of Fear ( Chapter 3 )

MIKO

By L.O. a.k.a. azn_otaku

Crossover: InuYasha and Trigun

##-------##

A/N:

Zephor: I'm glad this is interesting to you. The IY cast will be back and bolder than ever soon enough!

Jallana-Sifirela: Thanks!

Thu6666: I'm sorry this is confusing. I'm going for a little confusion until everything is explained. But please don't stop reading!

Rebecca Rose: Wow, you're certainly enthusiastic! I like that in a person. I'm sorry your computer froze, I hate it when my computer does that. What happened to InuYasha? Well, you'll just have to wait and see! And don't worry, Kagome will remember everyone eventually. I'm glad you think my style is unique! Thanks for waiting till now for the next chapter by the way. And yes, writer's block is a necessary evil....although an incessantly annoying one.

Sharem: Hey, you read this! What do you think? I think you should really continue your own story.

Walis: I guess you lucked out, seeing a fanfic based on two of your favorite shows ne? I love it when that happens, don't you? Anyways, you don't have to wait for an update any longer! Here it is!

Thank you everyone for your reviews, it makes me feel so special to know that I have a posse of my very own! Ahem. Okay, so this chapter isn't as long as some of the others. It was only nine pages on Microsoft Word while the others were like eleven or twelve. I am still encountering the necessary evil known as writer's block. Anyways, I am still very busy with work but I have enough time to write a little bit every now and then. So, expect an update in the next few weeks!

##-------##

"....." Dialogue

[.....] Thoughts

##-------##

Chapter Three: A Town of Fear

##-------##

Knives frowned in concentration.

His fingers lightly traced the thin markings, the dips and swirls of cursive writing. It had taken him almost all night to finish carefully chipping away the rust and whatnot stuck to his newfound treasure but he had been a very persistent man. It definitely showed in the way the necklace was still in one piece. It was probably much duller now than it had been when it had first been made, time will do that to anything living or produced, but the surface was still pretty smooth and the little latch that bound the two halves of the locket was fixed as tight as it had been in previous years.

Feeling his curiosity grow, the man delicately placed his fingers across the latch and snapped it open.

There was now music, a tinkling melody that filled the air as he stared at what appeared to be even more beautiful craftsmanship than the cover of the locket had been. The song was a sad, lonesome tune that seemed to portray the aura of this entire treasure. As if this necklace had seen better times and it was mourning the fact that they were now gone.

[A...picture?]

The painting was miniscule, but it was....there was not other word to describe it... stunning. Every detail captured in the finest of paints and the tiniest of brushes. Each side painted as meticulously as the other.

To the left was the image of a striking young man, a teenager no doubt. But his looks were the very least of what Knives had expected. It was as if the man was not even human! Of course, Knives himself was not mortal but still....this boy looked the part of a demon. He had long white hair, his bangs falling shaggily upon his forehead. Deep amber eyes stared out at you with a look that would bring shivers down anyone's spine. Two triangular dog ears peeked out from his bed of white locks. His mouth was set in a reckless grin, tiny fangs seen sticking out. Even his attire was unusual. Knives had been around long enough to realize that this young man wore what was some sort of old Japanese garment. Probably from what he had heard were the feudal ages of Japan. It was a yukata...as he recalled. The fabric was a supposed rosy color, an old sword hung from his side.

[It was as if he were a youkai....]

That could not be possible. It was true that there were old legends of the youkai in ancient Japan, a land from Earth. But no one he knew, not even Rem, had believed of their existence. Rem was the one who had been from Japan on the Project Seeds staff, she had been the most knowledgeable when it came to old wives' tales and stories of warriors. He recalled those times when he and Vash would lie down in front of the woman they had thought of as a mother, and listen to her farfetched visions of samurai, demons, magical beings, priestesses, and other such types.

[But there is another picture here.]

On the right side of the locket, was the painting of a young woman. To his century old eyes, Knives estimated the girl's age to be about fifteen, sixteen years old. She was merely a child to him, but her eyes held something more. The painter must have been incredibly skilled, to have drawn these two portraits with their emotions and expressions intact. For the girl had the aura of brilliant innocence, such a calm happiness that even Knives felt it from where he was sitting up on his bedroll. The girl's eyes were a misty grey, filled with peace and love. Her personality was almost the exact opposite of the boy who looked to be a demon, who's eyes were full of fire and confidence. This young woman had on what appeared to be an old school uniform, back in the day when the Japanese had been so strict in their education system. When almost all schools were required a uniform for the males and females. This particular outfit consisted of a white, long-sleeved blouse and the typical sailor-like collar. A small red tie hung from the sailor collar. The girl wore a short green skirt, showing off some leg. The picture stopped at mid thigh, so much detail could be used in painting the sweet looking female.

[I wonder what this is.]

Perhaps someone had been carrying the locket when they were in that abandoned ship he had stopped to rest at? It was possible. Of course, it couldn't have been either of the two people in the locket. He wasn't sure of what era the boy was from, but if the paintings were made at the same time, then he could figure out when the two lived by looking at the garb of the girl. Seeing as she was still in a school uniform, Knives theorized that the two must have lived at least two centuries ago. The mortals had lived upon this wretched hell of a planet for a century plus a few years. That uniform of the girl's was probably from a century before Project Seeds on Earth, when uniforms were all the rage in Japan.

So who had brought such a locket to Gunsmoke?

##-------##

Kikyou's hands gently swept away a few vine strands that clung onto several figures. Kagome's beloved ones were trapped in a dreamless sleep, much like the sleep she had forced upon InuYasha, some seven hundred years ago. The foliage had kept them hidden from plain eyesight, when the mortals were still walking upon the Earth. Now that she had no use for the greenery, Kikyou merely amused herself by arranging the moss and vine artistically around the young kitsune, the taiji-ya, the monk, and InuYasha. She had nothing better to do when passing the long years away....except watch and remember.

[My mind will never let those days go.]

She was constantly aware of her duties, of her vow to protect the four upon the Go-Shinboku tree. Her eyes would always see the look upon Kagome's face when she was snatched away by that bastard who had kept her prisoner all these years.

Kikyou knew.

What else would keep Kagome from coming back her to awaken her beloved? She was still alive, Kikyou could feel as much. She knew that Naraku would not let Kagome's soul to rest....not after he had taken the trouble to capture her.

Oh yes, she knew it had been Naraku who had done this evil deed. After Kagome was swept away, Kikyou had managed to jump into the well after her. She did not know what she would find, only remembered that this was where Kagome's aura always seemed to disappear for days. She recalled her body almost flinching with surprise when Sesshoumaru had seemed to materialize in front of her, dragging Jaken and Rin along with him. Her mind had almost screamed with the unrealness of it all, before putting two and two together.

The Bone Eater's Well was famed for its ability to "eat" the bones of demons that had been killed. Her old village, the one that her sister Kaede had tended to, used the well as a trash disposal for any minor demons they had exterminated. No one seemed to question where the bodies of the youkai went after being sent to the well. Kikyou herself never questioned the importance of the Bone Eater's Well.

[The bones had escaped into the stream of Time....]

She had never realized that significant detail until that day that she jumped into the well herself. She hadn't even realized that she was in a different time until the Lord of the Western Lands appeared out of thin air right beside her. She still recalled with some amusement, the looks upon Rin and Jaken's faces when they had stepped out into the light. The things that she had never dreamed possible before were true before her very eyes.

It would have been amazing, had she still been alive to feel the amazement and had there not been such a horrible scene playing out in front of her.

##-------##

"Who are you and what business do you have here in Youkai?"

The booming voice of a stout man echoed throughout the empty streets, surrounding three outsiders. His face was stern, his back stiff and rigid. Deep brown eyes stared straight at Vash, cropped mahogany hair ruffled slightly with the desert wind. It was obvious that this was the leader, the sheriff of the town. His golden star shone brightly upon a worn leather vest, clothes as beaten as his skin from the sun. One could see calluses on the palms of his hands, indicating that this man was not only a leader, he was a worker as well.

"Youkai? ...Is that what the name of this town is?" Vash was quiet for once, realizing the delicacy of the situation. One false move and he would be dead, most likely. Even the children, the small ones with the large frightened eyes, held onto wooden sticks and heavy stones as their chosen weapons.

"This is Youkai, yes. I will repeat myself once more, what business do you have here?"

"....I don't know."

The sheriff was taken aback by this reply, his emerald eyes wandering from Vash to the two Insurance girls. Lips turning into a frown, the man planted his feet shoulder-width apart. He put his fists on his hips as a way of saying he would not back down from a fight, if need be.

"You don't know? Tell me, how did you come across this humble town...Outsider?"

The title he gave Vash....it seemed to informal. As if the man cared not that the Stampede had a name or an identity. As if all outsiders were exactly alike and there was no use in telling them apart, so one name would suit the entire whole of the outside.

"Please Sir, my friends and I," Vash gestured with a wave of his hand to reveal a nervous Milly and Meryl, "Have only just lost our way. We had been walking for hours in the hot sun and we just wished to find somewhere to rest for a few days...."

"LIAR!!!"

One housewife took up the courage speak out. In one hand, she clutched a kitchen knife. In the other, a dish rag. Her normally plump and cheerful face was set in a furious frown, deep blue eyes livid in rage. Rough brown hair was pulled back into a messy bun at the nape of her neck.

"The only reason ANY of you damn outsiders come here is to seek the death of our people!" Her body heaved with the energy it took for such an outburst.

Quicker than a fire spreads in a forest, murmurs began to be heard.

"She right...."

"I say we just kill them."

"It's not unlike anything they've done to US...."

"Let's just hope they have no other family...."

"SILENCE!"

The gossip stopped, just as fast as it had begun. All eyes turned to the sheriff once more, his beard twitching in annoyance. He held up a hand as if to halt any more conversation, and turned his attention once more to Vash, Meryl, and Milly. He relaxed his outward appearance, although Vash was positive that his muscles were still tense with wariness. It was obvious that it was not easy for this man to trust anyone from beyond his hometown.

"If what you say it true, Outsider, then I will uphold your word for the moment. Forgive the people of Youkai, many of us have experienced much pain and sadness from people like you who have not lived here all of your life. It is hard for us to accept anyone new, knowing that they would soon turn on us," His eyes narrowed threateningly, "However, if you choose to follow the path of those before you, and betray us with murder or torture, then we will be forced to kill you. No one else on Gunsmoke knows of our existence, it's not like we fear what any higher authorities would do with us when your disappearance is known. Be warned, Outsider."

The man turned around and looked backward and the dumfounded Vash, "Follow me, you may stay with my wife and I until you see fit to leave."

##-------##

"You're late."

Indifferent stormy eyes met the icy light blue ones of her master. No, his eyes were not blue. They were so light of a blue that they seemed almost grey. Like her own. Except colder. Still, it was better seeing them like this than the blood red they turned into whenever he was irritated or angry.

"I am....sorry."

She did not use her voice often, only when replying to her master's ill-natured comments. There was no need to speak to her targets of destruction, no need to speak to the many servants or soldiers her master had wandering about the large base. The only time she spoke was when addressing her master or when gaining the urge to speak to herself. This was not often so her words were soft from lack of vocal chord use.

[My words mean nothing. I do not need to speak.]

[No one hears.]

[They cannot hear my cries.]

[I am silent.]

##-------##

"This is stupid, why do we have to clean up after some human girl?" The tone of the speaker was bitter, full of scorn as he stared up at the dimly lit tank. The green glass gave off an eerie aura, no doubt a side effect from Naraku's spell. He never did like coming into this room, it gave him the shivers.

"Now, now, Kiba. You know that the master likes this room in particular to be spotlessly clean." Another man, slightly older than the teen was down on his knees with a wet towel. Their orders were to scrub off the red stains splattered randomly on the floor.

"Well I don't see why, this room is just like all the others. With or without the girl." Kiba jabbed his thumb to the tank. He didn't much like looking at the girl himself, she may be a human but her aura never seemed to stop scaring him. She was incredibly powerful, more dangerous than probably the entire base combined. Turning to his older friend, he dropped his rag on the floor to grab some more soap, "You missed a spot, Risu."

"Oh? So I did. But come now Kiba, I know that you know how important the girl is to the master. He may not show it, but she is the key to the future. If we truly want Sengoku Jidai to come back to us, we must take care not to anger Naraku and to clean this room."

"If he cares so much about the damn wench, why the hell does he beat her all the time?!" Kiba emphasized his point by scrubbing the floor extra vigorously, "Look at this mess!"

Risu turned to let his eyes wander the large metal room. Of course there were blood stains on the floor from where the girl bled. His vision stopped at the tank, where the miko resided. From her face sprouted a large nasty bruise on her cheek, spreading to stop at the edge of her nose. She had apparently been beaten on the head, where a trickle of blood flowed from the side of her forehead to dissolve in the liquid that kept her asleep. Her body shone from the odd greenish aura, revealing nasty cuts and bruises over the normally flawless skin.

Risu felt the need to answer his friend, "You know as well as I that the miko heals faster than anyone on Gunsmoke. And she never dies, so the master likes to vent his frustrations out on her."

"Whatever. Let's just get this room clean and get the hell outta here. I hate having to look at her. She so...."

"Unreal?"

"Shut up."

"You're a tora youkai. If there was anything unreal about Gunsmoke, it would be you, me, and the rest of the youkai and hanyou in this town. But...I know what you mean. She does have a weird...nature about her, doesn't she?"

"If you know what I mean, then stop flapping your lips and get to scrubbing."

##-------##

The melody was so sad, full of longing. It was only a small tune, but Knives felt as though there should be words attached to the melody. He closed his eyes for just a moment, rubbing his thumb and forefinger against the etchings upon the golden surface. It was already midmorning and he had not traveled at all. He was still planted upon the bedroll from the night before and the urge to move was slowly starting to rise within him.

[Just a few more minutes....]

He would listen to this sad song, for just a little longer. It was as if the melody pulled him into a melancholy dream.....one that he could not wake up from. His eyes began to close slightly, not wanting to fight back the desire to sleep. This tune...this tune made his heart ache with an unknown emotion. As if....the locket were....crying.....

Knives fell backwards on the mat, his eyes shut tight.

##-------##

There had been blackness everywhere. The kind of black that made you sick to you stomach, knowing something awful had happened there. Kikyou knew the moment she saw the black all around, that there had been a fire. The remains of three people were falling apart from where they had been tied to three separate stakes. It was almost too cruel to watch, even for her. She had seen horrors beyond imaginable as an undead miko living in the time of the Sengoku Jidai.

Stepping back a few steps, Kikyou remembered bumping into the chest plate of Sesshoumaru's. His slanted eyes were fixed upon the stakes as well, though no emotion was shown from those dark amber pupils of his. He had subconsciously placed a hand over Rin's eyes, to protect her from the gory vision just witnessed. Rin was frowning, her pout small and disappointed. Kikyou could remember even the smallest detail of her face, the smudge marks from traveling on the road with "Sesshoumaru-sama" and Jaken. The ragged yukata torn at just below her knees. The worn, cheerful yellow fabric and the small hands that were clutched into fists of protest. Something that her Sesshoumaru-sama could see but she could not had irked her, apparently.

"Ah...Kikyou...and the youkai brother of InuYasha...yes...."

A mere whisper caught the attention of the group standing in front of the well. They had not known to suspect Naraku, although given his recent attempts at torturing InuYasha and his gang, Kikyou should have suspected he would be up to something. She did not normally care for the evil hanyou, as the Onigumo within him would not dare kill her. She had been willing to wait for him to collect the shards of the Shikon no Tama, only to steal them from him at the right moment. But obviously she should have seen that he would be up to something.

[I was a fool seeking revenge. My mind had not been on other matters.]

Flicking a blade of grass off of the taiji-ya's nose, Kikyou smiled bitterly.

They had fought with Naraku, put on the defense immediately after coming through Time. Sesshoumaru had not been expecting a fight, so he was forced to protect his human child. Jaken cowered behind the Go-Shinboku tree, large eyes growing wider from the powerful vapors he saw emitting from Naraku. The man was smiling, clutching Kagome by the hair. She was unconscious.

"Go fetch InuYasha and his pack. He should be the one to defeat that hanyou, this is no business of mine."

Those were the words of Sesshoumaru. Kikyou had recalled looking up at him with her undead eyes, wondering what he could be thinking. She had never really known him, just heard tales of the demon lord of the Western lands. She had known that he was the half brother of InuYasha, but that did not mean that she knew what he was seeing as he stared at Naraku with an unreadable expression. Perhaps she saw a bit of disgust in his eyes for the vile half-breed. Kikyou knew that Sesshoumaru was infamous for despising humans and hanyous alike.

"What will you be doing?" Her earth brown eyes were indifferent, staring up at the much taller demon lord. His dark amber eyes flicked toward her lithe form before staring back at Naraku.

"Staying here. I am curious as to what he is planning to do with the miko." His head nodded towards Kagome.

"Making sure he does not take the girl...?"

"It would only provide a distraction for my brother. It would be a pity if I could not gain the Tetsusaiga as soon as I had hoped just because he was searching for his wench."

Kikyou remembered nodding at the response and, adjusting the bow over her shoulder, she had hopped purposefully back into the hole in the ground. Her mind was not protesting the act of obedience towards a powerful youkai, it was as if subconsciously she knew that she must help her reincarnation...if only this once....as payback for the chance at feeling emotion for a few seconds.

##-------##

A/N: Well? Comments or suggestions? I am slowly working my way through present and past, if you couldn't tell. I write parts as if Kikyou is remembering what was happening before Kagome got kidnapped, and parts from where Kagome is already two hundred plus years old. I really don't know what to say...except READ! And enjoy!

##-------##

JAPANESE DICTIONARY

Yukata - A summer kimono. You know, that outfit InuYasha wears?

Youkai - Demon

Kitsune - Fox. In this case, a fox demon. We all know Shippou...

Taiji-ya - Demon Slayer

Kiba - Fang. Appropriate enough name for a demon?

Miko - Priestess

Tora - Tiger

Hanyou - Half Demon

Risu - Squirrel

Sengoku Jidai - The feudal era in Japan

-Sama - Suffix used for someone you respect highly.

##-------##