InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of A Life ❯ Journey to Life ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1:

Journey To Life

For as far as the eye could see there were white mists. Nothing in her sweet abyss but white mists. She smiled faintly. She could stay her and rest forever.

"Get up." A soft voice very much like her own commanded, interrupting her peaceful oblivion.

For the first time, Kagome realized that she was laying down. She found it difficult to ignore the voice. It sounding again, more urgent this time. Sighing, Kagome tried to push herself up with her arms but failed.

"Please… Get up!" The voice held a sense of insistence she couldn't understand.

"Why?" Kagome asked in despair, falling again. See wanted to remain where she was, motion seeming impossible.

"You need to get up… if not for me, do it for Inu Yasha." The voice pleaded.

Inu Yasha… Thinking of him gave her new strength and she soon found herself on her feet. It took her a moment to steady her balance, then looked around expectantly.

"Follow me." The voice demanded.

This time Kagome didn't disobey and found with every step she took, she grew stronger. "Where are we going?" She asked. Her mysterious voice said nothing, but instead a girl appeared in front of her. She was almost identical to Kagome, but her hair was wavier, almost curly, and the black locks were short. Her eyes were bluer than Kagome's and she was an inch or two shorter. Kagome's eye's widened. "Who… Who are you?" She demanded.

"My name is Kei. I haven't been born yet… but when you complete this journey, you're soul will become mine." She explained, her voice the same that Kagome had been hearing, except embodied.

"You'll be my reincarnate?" Kagome asked, a shocked expression on her face.

Kei nodded but said nothing.

"Did this happen to Kikyou too?" Kagome wondered aloud.

Kei shook her head. "No." Her eyes clouded in the pain of sorrow. "This soul was allowed to rest longer then than it will be allowed to now. It was giving a second chance then, but now, it must save itself more sorrow."

"What do you mean?"

"There are two possibilities that lay ahead for this soul. One, it will be reincarnated now and you will reach you're destination or else you will be brought back to earth. This path will lead to oblivion, or if you're brought back it will mean despair."

"So if I don't make it, you won't be born?" Kagome asked, trying to steer away from the possibilities in front of her.

"Either way, I will be born. Just later rather than sooner."

Kagome bit her lip and nodded. "What happens if I get brought back to earth?"

Kei frowned. "I cannot tell you what exactly because I don't know myself… except that there will be far less pain if you run." Her face paled. "He's almost there…" Her voice was filled with panic. Her frantic eyes turned to Kagome, "Go! Towards that building in the distance. Don't worry, there are tests he must pass. Reach the temple before he completes them and you will go to your next life unharmed…"

"Whose he?" Kagome demanded, but Kei had already faded. Feeling a touch of the panic Kei had, Kagome began racing towards the temple, which was merely a black dot on the horizon, praying she would reach it before whoever was trying to bring her back could succeed.

Inu Yasha dodged another strike from the skeletal form. Panting heavily, he studied the mummified creature from afar. It's sickly ash skin clutched tightly to its bones, all the muscles gone. In its gaunt face, it's eyes, nose, lips, and ears had rotted away and the remaining skin was tight and clung tightly to the skull. In its empty eye sockets glowed with an unnatural green light. The creature, repairing its wound, charged again. Inu Yasha, heaving the Tetsusaiga away from him, since it did no good against the creature, attacked with his fist and claws. The previous three creatures had each been killed by a different tactic and he had already used the sword twice.

An uppercut knocked the creature away again, giving Inu Yasha another moment to catch his breath. Still it was not enough. The creature righted himself and ran in a loping step, meters covered in every leap, and drove its sword into Inu Yasha's middle. He fell backwards, the sword, still in the thing's grasp, effectively pulled out. Grimacing, he dug clawed fingers into the wound, feeling the wet caress of the blood rather than lifting his head up to look.

Silently, he waited, breathing heavily, for the creature to approach him. His strategy was both to make the creature underestimate him and to save his strength. Hearing the thing coming closer as the pungent scent grew stronger, almost unbearable to his sensitive nose, inhaling deeply as his lungs craving more oxygen from overexertion.

When he knew the creature was mere feet away, he lunged. "Claws of Blood!" The thing flew backwards into pieces.

Crouching, he waited for the creature to regain itself. When it did not, he crept closer to the slice of torso attached to the skull. The unearthly light had died. Inu Yasha dropped to his knees heavily, wishing he could rest, but the scroll had said there was a time limit, although it did not specify how much.

The scroll began to glow gold, drawing his attention away from his unobtainable sleep. Drawing himself to his feet, he reached bloody claws out. As soon as his hand opened towards it, the scroll flew over land to land in his palm. Leaving finger prints of his own blood, he unrolled it to read the new words. The directions he had followed to get there were gone, and in their place was simply written,

Defeated by steel,

defeated by fire,

defeated by wind,

defeated by blood,

You have won our service, continue on and find my likeness, hear my voice.

Dredging up all his remaining strength, Inu Yasha turned his head towards the temple, finally within reach of it. Heaving a sigh, Inu Yasha walked wearily up the steps.

She ran, adding all her remaining strength to her legs, her arms pumping at her sides. She felt him getting closer… she needed to make it… almost there…

A large statue of a warrior holding out a ruby red stone. Inu Yasha paused in front of it. With a loud grating sound, the eyelids slowly rose, glowing with the same unnatural light the creatures had. The stone mouth ground open and a deep bass voice echoed throughout the temple.

"PLACE YOUR HAND UPON THE STONE!" The voice boomed, moving its hand towards Inu Yasha, presenting it to him. He complied, reaching his hand towards the giant ruby colored stone in front of him…

…Kagome huffed, exhausted, yet she couldn't stop. She had seconds left. The temple steps were mere feet away from her. With one tremendous leap, she flew towards them…

…his hand touched the stone…

…a millisecond before her foot touched the step…

…the twin buildings began to rumble. Kagome let out an echoing scream as pain engulfed her. She saw her body begin to glow and clamped her eyes tightly closed. Writhing in pain, she twisted around, feeling herself materialize somewhere else.

"K-kagome!?" A familiar voice chocked out behind her.

Bright golden eyes opened, clawed hands stretched, a pointed nose inhaled deeply, and long wavy white hair, topped with erect doggie ears, framed an expressionless face. Slowly, she turned her head, white bangs flowing with the movement and studied a different face with identically demon features.

Long minutes passed when neither said a thing, Kagome, still in shock, and Inu Yasha, waiting for her to make the first move. Gradually, the emptiness drained from Kagome's eyes, replaced with confusion. Inu Yasha took a cautious step towards her as her eyes turned downward to study herself. Bringing her hand in front of her face, she flexed it tentatively, then clutched a lock of white hair, pulling in front of her face to study. Slowly, her hands reached up to the top of her head and touched her ears, grimacing at the velvet points that didn't belong there.

With a defeated expression, her hands dropped limply to her sides. She whimpered once, then threw her mouth open wide and let out a heart-wrenching scream. Inu Yasha jumped back and held onto his ears, waiting for her to stop. When it became evident that she wouldn't, he moved towards her and clamped his hand over her mouth.

She stopped, feeling Inu Yasha's gentle touch over her mouth rather than his hand actually muffling the sound. She slowly lowered her head and her eyes focused hazily on him. Swaying, her eyes fluttered then closed as she fell. Inu Yasha instinctively reached out and caught her before her head struck the stone ground. Cradling her protectively in his arms, he repelled the sleep he so desperately needed, watching instead over his beloved.