InuYasha Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Miko ❯ Wake Up From the Dream ( Chapter 9 )

MIKO

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

Crossover: InuYasha and Trigun

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A/N: Yo, sorry it took so long to update this. I had to rewrite a chapter of "Sunshine" and then get another chapter up and an author's note. So that took awhile. But I got this one out! I hope you're pleased with what I've done. ^__^

Reader Responses:

jessie: What's Miss Independent about? I'm not sure if you'll see this reply since you stopped reading on the second chapter, but ah well. Would you mind explaining, if you read this, what is bad about my idea? I have no idea.

HANDHELD Uber Rei Model 05: Arigatou!

Maia Webmistress: Wow, good review. What do you like about this?

Bladeofthedragons: Thanks! What has been your favorite part so far?

alexz: I think `Miko' is written better than `Sunshine'. That's why I'm getting more compliments with these chapters! Heheh.

VASH THE STAMPEDE: Have you tried registering for a login sn? I have no idea. But anyways, send me the chapters whenever you can, I'll try to get them up as soon as possible. Here's another update! I hope you enjoy.

wheelers_hanyou: Sorry for the wait, I've been really busy! I don't think Sesshoumaru has a big part in here, but I'll try to give him some more time in upcoming chapters!

Karasu Kurokiba: Haha! Thanks for the compliments! I'm really glad people like this. I do try to portray feeling a lot in my fics.

Midara: I really like the sad stories, don't you? It's the sad stuff that really makes an impact on our lives. Thanks for the reading!

Miss_Marilyn69: Thank you for taking the time to read this, I'm glad for every review I get from mm.org!

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"....." Dialogue

[.....] Thoughts

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Chapter Nine: Wake Up From the Dream

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Knives watched the two suns rising in the horizon, his worn brown cloak whipping about his legs from the hot desert wind. He felt the pulsating stop in the palm of his hand, where the locket was still clutched tightly. The light quickly dissipated from the steady beam it had been letting off since the afternoon before. He held up the chain and quickly slipped the warm metal around his neck. It would not do to lose the piece of jewelry at such an essential moment in this adventure.

[Miko...]

He never asked her name. When he had woken up, he was surprised to know that he had felt it was not necessary to name her. It was if he had known her even before they had met. Kindred spirits, two as one entity.

The town was just below him, hidden from view. He stood upon a cliff, looking down at the small buildings and the vast flatlands expanding from the other side. There were people already up, men and women and children. Some were mere spiders while others were obviously youkai, or at least had a percentage of youkai blood. His eye narrowed to get a closer look at a few of the citizens and their odd appearances. It had surprised him somewhat, to see these `abnormal' beings living with `mortals'.

[I will find her here.]

That girl, the slave. He would return to her the locket, along with that, her memories. He felt a little torn by his task, knowing that his miko would fade away should he save this one young woman.

[But I cannot refuse this.]

If he did...

They would_all_fade away.

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"Can't sleep?"

Rin looked up from where she sat at the kitchen table. In her hands was a warm cup of tea, half full. She had been gazing out the window into the darkness before the rising sun, thinking hard. Her black hair whirled around in surprise at the voice.

"Oh! Sess, it's you." She gave him a small smile, indicating that he should sit down across from her. He was wearing a plain white cotton t-shirt, boxers underneath. He eased into his chair, his hair still slightly ruffled from just getting up. Her eyes softened affectionately, pulling a few silvery strands into place on his head.

"You weren't in bed, I just woke up."

"I know...I felt restless."

"I see."

She could feel his golden amber eyes upon her form, and she looked up at him. He didn't smile or give off any other expression, he normally kept a straight face. But she could tell what he was thinking, just by being close to him. She had loved him for so long, her heart could automatically understand his. He was worried about her. And them.

"I was just thinking. You know...about those three. Do you think they'll succeed?"

The three had spent the night in one of the children's bedrooms. They were planning to get up early this morning, to set off for Naraku's domain once more. Rin felt wary of their fate, wondering what would happen should Naraku spot them before they could return the Shikon no Tama to Kagome. Should Naraku come out of hiding...she didn't want to think of the consequences. Everything was laid upon the line at this moment. Something she hadn't anticipated ever since those first fifty years of waiting.

"They have good souls. I do not doubt them."

"Oh, I'm not saying I doubt their intentions. I trust Meryl-san and her friends with the Shikon no Tama and Kagome's life. Still...Naraku is cunning."

Her warm brown eyes wandered from her mate's face to stare out at the sunrise. It was spectacular, as always. The tints of gold hidden within brilliant shades of violet and rose red. However, her heart was still heavy with the thought of burdening her new friends with this crucial task.

"That Vash is not a mortal. I'm sure he would be able to handle Naraku perfectly well. If only to pass on the jewel to Kagome so she can free herself."

"Honto? Your senses are still more refined than my own..."

"He is not youkai if that is what you are thinking. Still, his aura..."

Rin shook her head, "All I got was that he was filled with an incredible power. But then again, a mortal's senses are the weakest of all beings."

Sesshoumaru put a reassuring hand upon her own. She looked up at him with a weary smile, knowing that he felt her pain.

"His aura is still very special. He is an almost immortal, like us. He has lived at least a century, if not more. I believe he had the experience to face Naraku."

"I trust you Sess."

The youkai looked down at her with warmth reflected in his eyes, "I know you do."

Their love did not need to be expressed in words. She was not like those women who needed a confession to tell that her man loved her, she just knew. He had never once looked at another, ever since she had been a mere baby he was watching out for her. Even when he had been a cruel, heartless demon he had always shown her that compassion that most had thought never existed. Even when she had heard stories of his brutality, he would always stay by her side. That was how she knew.

The sounds of stirring were heard above their heads, up the stairs from the room they had lent to the trio of wanderers. Rin's ears perked, listening carefully as she heard Milly-san's voice mumble a good morning to Meryl-san. The two would be down soon, once they had dressed and went about their morning ritual.

"They are up. Do you need to go change?"

She had already been dressed in another one of her cotton yukatas, those being the clothing she most preferred. She pecked her mate upon the cheek before he went back upstairs to get decent, her mind set upon the task of cooking breakfast. Humming quietly, she got out her pan.

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She could tell that it was early in the morning, as not many of the servants were awake when she was brought out of her chamber. Her master wanted her to train, so that she would be better prepared to kill the three outsiders. It hurt her to do so, but she knew that the pain would slowly go away. She just had to numb herself to the hurt, that was all.

The training room she always used had a polished wooden floor so she could easily run through her katas. She slipped on the black silk slippers, feeling the rare sensation of cloth touching her skin. There were two lights on the ceiling, lighting her way as she shifted her footing and raised her bow. Her warm up was done, she would practice her archery. Then would come the weapon fighting and hand to hand combat. Some youkai would always come in exactly two hours after she had begun her workout to be her sparring partner. Naraku demanded the best from her.

[I will numb my heart.]

Her arrows struck dead center, as always. She didn't need her eyes to sense the target, she was too good at her skill. She had too much practice.

Thunk!

As each arrow hit, she hardened her skin just a little more.

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He felt himself wrenched out of the large darkness, his body ripping from the black tendrils. Looking around, he noticed he was in a large field. There was an eternal sun in the sky, lighting up the meadow. Large oak trees sprouted from his right, all kinds of flowers to his left. His golden amber eyes stared at the pink carnations, yellow daffodils, purple orchids, deep blue roses, and the pure white daisies as if in a dream. He supposed that this was still another part of his slumber, if that was what you called it. This was not reality.

"InuYasha..."

[My name.]

Turning around, his eyes searched out the rest of the meadow, to see a girl run up to him from where she stood at the pond. Her long black hair was down, her arms up and waving to him as she crossed the tall grass. She looked just as out of place as he did.

"...Sango?"

"Hai."

She wiped off some imaginary dust from her worn yukata and looked back up to him with a reassured smile.

"I had thought I was the only one here, I came to only a little while ago," She looked about her, "...What has happened?"

"Don't ask me. I just woke up. There's something wrong with all this somehow..."

"Have you seen Miroku? Shippou?" Sango hesitated and then asked hopefully, "...Kagome?"

It was his turn to look a little nervous, "...Iie. I-I haven't seen them. Demo, I don't think that-"

"-Kagome is here? I know. You've had the same dream I had, didn't you? I expect the others as well."

The wind whistled in his ear as he sighed. His trusty Tetsusaiga was bound to his side like always, his long white hair whipping about gently in the breeze. They both knew what dream this was. It was the memories that had been haunting them ever so slowly in their sleep, as if they were living in the exact same moment over and over again so as not to forget how they were pushed into the hopeless slumber. They were finally out of that.

"InuYasha, do you happen to know the way out of this? I think..." Sango tapped a finger to her cheek, "I believe it's the stage before waking up. Kikyou had put us in a sleep you know."

"Hai."

"InuYasha! Lady Sango!"

They turned in unison to see Miroku walking up, his staff jingling in one hand and his other shoulder carrying a drowsy Shippou. The little kitsune looked as if he had just been picked up from Miroku after coming out of the sleep himself. Apparently Miroku had been wandering for longer than Sango had.

"...We're all here."

Miroku looked at all of them with his pleasant smile, his rosary clacking against the warm wood of the staff. He let Shippou shift so that he could see Sango and InuYasha better.

"Damnit, we're this close to being awake!"

"It's surprising we know that we're even asleep."

"Well really, do you think that after we've been dreaming about that burnt shrine for so long we'd honestly expect to see a happy green field right after waking up? This is obviously a dream."

"You are right Lady Sango, as always."

"Feh. Still up to your old ways, eh, Monk?"

"But of course."

"Where is Kagome? I want to see Kagome!" Shippou looked at all of them before hopping down to greet Kirara who had finally found her way back to her master. Sango absentmindedly scratched behind the feline's ear, looking up to the sky.

"I suppose we have nothing left to do except wait until we are given more to work with. That is probably the best choice."

"Wait?! That's the best you can come up with?"

"Don't be such a baby InuYasha."

"What about Kagome, eh? I'm sure she's still with Naraku at this very moment, I can feel it!"

Miroku sighed, patting his hanyou companion on the back reassuringly, "There's nothing else to do for the moment. I agree with Lady Sango, our best option is to be patient."

"Feh!"

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It was a bit harder to sneak into the underground cavern this time, Vash clutched at the Shikon no Tama tightly, his palms sweaty from the tension. Rin had been kind enough to give the three of them protective spells that would hide their auras for the time being. She was not so good of a magic maker, however, the times when she had learned these spells were far off into the distance. So the charm would wear off in a short while.

"She's not in her room, she must be somewhere close by." Meryl stuck close to Vash, her amethyst eyes wandering warily about. She could feel the comforting presence of Milly behind her all the way.

"I think I hear something down that way, let's check it out."

Careful to keep out of sight to any on duty guards, they slowly inched their way towards a door just several yards from Kagome's quarters. There was an open doorway, the sounds of something hitting a wall came to their ears. It was Milly that made her way to the front to get a closer look.

"Sempai, she's using a bow and arrow!"

"Is she? Let me see..."

Meryl looked back behind her before peeking around Milly to see the girl in a traditional miko outfit, her body flowing through the motions of archery. She hit dead center every time, stopping to pull her arrows out of the center after each round. Her eyes still held that dead look, something that gave Meryl the shivers to watch. The girl seemed to turn around for a quick second, as if noticing them for the first time. She jerked back, eyes wide.

"Hello."

She slowly made her way to the back wall, keeping a distance between herself and the approaching Meryl. Vash tried to smile happily, as he had always done before. But for some reason, he couldn't fake the happiness as he normally did. It was as if he knew that the girl would see right through him, like a certain wayward priest had in the past.

Kagome shook her head, as if frightened by the sight of them. Her eyes flickered to Milly, sensing a new aura. Meryl held out her hands to show she had nothing to harm the girl with.

"It's all right. See, I mean no harm." The insurance girl smiled slowly, "I wanted to speak to you. My name is Meryl."

"Vash, nice to meet you."

"Good morning, I'm Milly Thompson!"

"Uhn..." Her voice was weak from not using it very often. She pressed herself back against the wall. It was as if them being there was the last thing she wanted, as if she had tried to forget them and was failing.

"Look, we brought something." Meryl was taking control of the situation, getting the jewel from Vash. He let her do all the talking, as she was the one who had kept her head all this time. He settled for keeping a lookout for anyone who noticed them. His gaze kept shifting back to the two insurance girls and Kagome.

Her cautious stare halted at the Shikon no Tama, curiosity replacing fear. She seemed to recognize the jewel vaguely, although not quite sure from where. She let her legs edge closer towards the two women, holding out a hand.

"Aa-"

She felt her body fall to the floor, in excruciating pain. What was this feeling? Why did she feel as if something inside her was trapped, fighting to get out? The Shikon no Tama had begun to pulsate a white light, the same glow that was coming off of Kagome in waves. She clutched her head in agony, attempting to back away from her `saviors'. It was as she were tied to the tiny orb, and it was sucking her in painfully.

"D-Daijobu ka?" The shorter female ran to her in concern. The closer the jewel was, the worse the pain. She went into a seizure, her eyes hazing over as her body twitched. The taller girl was at her side in an instant.

"Sempai, she's fading! Oh Sempai, what do we do? ...What happened?"

Her mind wondered vaguely how she could understand the foreign words coming from the two girls. As if the meaning transcended spoken language. She cried out and clutched her arms to keep them from lashing out.

"Oy! What are you doing?"

It was the servant coming to help her train. She could not breathe, her mind messed up terribly. She felt him haul her limp form upwards and the presence of the three outsiders faded away. They were gone, escaping before they caught the eye of her master's helpers. She had tried so hard to forget them...

"Bitch! Master told you to keep training, are you lying about the job? Lazy whore!" He slapped her, as if believing that hitting her would help her regain consciousness. She whimpered as the effects of the jewel wore off. The wind came into her like great big gasps of cold air, she tried to focus on the male holding onto her. Her cheek felt the sting of two more slaps, and her head rolled lifelessly to the side.

"Wake up bitch! What do you think you're doing?"

[I don't want to.]

Another slap. Her head rolled backwards. She could feel the eyes of her master upon her form, waiting in the doorway. He was studying her.

[I don't want to! Stop making me!]

[I'd rather sleep, than kill them.]

The glow only grew stronger, as if awakened by the Shikon no Tama. She tried to shut her eyes tightly to the light, but her eyelids refused to close. She had become paralyzed with her pain. Why did they have to come to see her?

[Save me!]

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He felt his hand rap on the wooden door several times, the weight of his knapsack upon his right shoulder. The eyes of the townspeople were upon him, he knew they were wary. But they didn't do anything to the man who looked like he was on a life-or-death mission. His ice blue eyes were hard as he stared straight ahead at the door.

"Hai! Hai! Coming!"

The sounds of shuffling feet met his ears. It was most likely a woman, her voice heard through the few inches of wood separating them. She was talking to another, before he heard the click of the lock.

"Yes? Who is it? Meryl-san?"

His mind halted at the insurance girl's name, but he pressed forward, brushing aside his confusion. He had more important matters to attend to. This was definitely the house, the locket would not stop shaking violently till he reached their front porch. He faced the woman with the chocolate brown eyes and long black hair before he held out his treasure.

"Where's Kagome?"

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Kikyou had hugged each one in turn, stopping finally at the small kitsune. It was her last moment here, she could feel the fading begin. It would only be a matter of a few hours before she was completely gone. With what little strength she had, she pushed herself forward to lay her head against the rough orange hair of Shippou. Like the others, his heart was beating faster than before. They would soon wake up.

[Sayonara.]

Her mind flashed to the young man who had just visited, she tried to smile. There was a constricting pain in her heart. For the first time in all her years by the Go-Shinboku, she had felt the want to stay. She wanted to see his face one last time.

[Sayonara Knives. Until death.]

He never smiled during the time they spent together. But she knew that he would be very handsome if he had. She didn't know how love came to her so easily, it was as if they connected like two pieces in a puzzle. It was that simple.

[I will wait for you to die.]

[Then I will greet you with a smile, and we will be together forever.]

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A/N: I think this chapter was slightly shorter than some others. But I got the point across didn't I? Were the words too choppy or did it flow okay?

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JAPANESE DICTIONARY

Miko - Priestess

Youkai - Demon

Honto? - Really?

-San - Suffix used for respect, or someone older than you.

Yukata - A type of light kimono. Used in summer.

Hai - Yes. Right.

Iie - No

Demo - But

Hanyou - Half Demon

Daijobu ka? - Are you all right?

Sempai - Term used for an upperclassmen or someone of higher status than you.

Kitsune - Fox. Fox Demon.

Sayonara - Goodbye

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