InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Voices ❯ The Other Side ( Chapter 4 )

A/N: This is my last “slow” chapter. Ironically, it is very rushed. Things will really speed up starting in the next one, I personally cannot wait! I try not to write my chapters in advance so that I don't lose interest in the story. Which is why I'm such a slow updater with school and a life, constantly distracting me. Sorry.

 

Also, darn you kokoronagomu [From mediaminer] for seeing ahead into the plot. *Shakes fist menacingly* Stop that! ^_^ Thanks for the reviews though, you can keep doing that, please.

 

So let's get to it!

 

What's that I smell?...is it the budding fragrance of romance?

 

^_^

 

***

The Other Side

***

 

Inuyasha was worried.

 

Even after a very long sleep, he suddenly began to feel tired with this girl around. He had forgotten a lot. His memory was fuzzy in most places, especially life before his sleep. He could remember voices though. Particularly one voice. He remembered an old man, chatting idly to him about things that weren't important like the weather or the aging of his wine. Secretly he had been grateful for the company, to feel that even in the depths of his curse, he was not entirely alone.

 

And then…there was another one. A voice. Soft and gentle and…he could feel her touch, not on his skin but somehow…the fingers grazed him softly, with a tenderness he didn't think he could remember, and suddenly…while Inuyasha slept, listening as the world past him by, he had awoken. And had been angry…

 

Now he had a new voice. She was rather annoying and very stupid, but it was a nice voice all the same. Inuyasha felt his face turn hot when he recalled how he caught the girl in the tunnel. How neatly she had just folded up into his arms and went slack. She was soft and small and quite pretty when she wasn't yelling or being difficult. Inuyasha's nose bathed in that scent again as he carried her through to the other side. He knew that smell…He knew it was important….

 

There was a soft flash, like a light being switched on and off quickly, and for a second Inuyasha could…almost remember.

 

Soft hair. Smooth skin. Red lips…

 

“Why did you betray me, Inuyasha!?!”

 

Inuyasha snapped out of it, his mind shaking off the unpleasant return of a memory. He could feel himself locking it back up, into the depths of his mind where he could not yet return. A shiver rippled up his back and made his hair stand on end. Who was this girl?

 

But the answer kept dodging him…Every time he tried to focus on it, it would slip through his grasp. The answer was there though, somewhere in the depths of his faded memory…remaining at the tip of his voiceless tongue.

 

***

 

Kagome awoke with a scream. She had a nauseating lurch in her stomach as the world flooded back into her senses. She had a few moments of horrible disorientation- who she was, where she was- before everything hastily settled into place and focused. She was dizzy and discombobulated, and suddenly felt something in her stomach rise quickly to greet her lips.

 

She flipped over to her knees and was sick for several minutes. She choked and gasped and breathed hard until finally, her stomach was empty, and she felt a little bit better. Kagome's hand had been leaning against the base of a tree for support, the other gripping an upturned root. She blinked and looked around her unfamiliar surroundings. The tunnel was gone.

 

There was no obvious exit, or to Kagome's assumption a well, to be seen. The tree next to her was the only one there. It was a tall, thin and scraggly tree, out of place in the large open field. It seemed like a forest clearing. Behind her, a long way off, was a bunch of densely packed trees. To her left was a gently slanting slope that led downhill. Everywhere else was open land. Kagome could make out more trees in the distance and…was that a mountain? Just how big was this place? Kagome sighed.

 

She was outside but she had no idea where... More importantly….

 

“Inuyasha?” she called hoarsely. Her voice was edged with fear and nervousness.

 

She was alone.

 

Kagome remembered that even if he was nearby and just out of sight, he wouldn't be able to respond to her vocally. She scrambled to her feet and looked around wildly.

 

“Inuyasha!” she called, spinning around in quick circles. “Inu-”

 

A hand clamped over her mouth and Kagome's stomach knotted up into tight balls of nerves. She fought and kicked and screamed, feeling like she was finally caught in that woman's grasp. There was a sharp intake of air as her elbow connected with a stomach. The hands were dropped from her face and she spun around quickly. She met the face of an irate Inuyasha and nearly sagged with relief.

 

“Stop doing that!” she yelled at him, giving him a smack on the shoulder. Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her and rubbed his stomach pitifully. Kagome noticed that, as well as the faded blood stains on his clothes, his face was clean. He held up something for her and looked away. Kagome looked down to see her water bottle, half full.

 

“I thought you left that in the well,” she said, taking it from him. She noticed that he couldn't fill it all the way due to the large hole in the middle caused by his finger. She turned the bottle so that when she tilted it, the hole wouldn't let the water run out, and drank greedily. The water was cool and refreshing. Her throat was glad for it. When she had quenched her thirst she caught Inuyasha's curious stare, before he quickly caught interest in his feet.

 

“Thank you,” she said graciously.

 

Inuyasha shrugged carelessly and walked around the tree. There was a strange noise; it reminded Kagome of someone slurping a nearly empty cup noisily with a straw. Inuyasha appeared again and was holding her blanket. Kagome realized that this scraggly looking tree must be the exit to the tunnel. She looked down at her hand, which was shaking with instinctual fear, and steadied herself.

 

`He went back for me,' Kagome thought as he looked at her and then quickly looked away, dropping the blanket at the base of the tree. She smiled at him and picked up the blanket, holding it to her chest. She was touched by this small act of kindness.

 

Inuyasha swallowed hard and exhaled loudly. He crouched down in the soft dirt and dragged his finger in the earth writing:

 

Other side.

 

Kagome read over his shoulder and looked around. So this was the “other side.” For some reason, Kagome felt slightly relieved. After that…woman…bug…thing in the tunnel attacked them, she had a fear in her heart that they would end up in some sort of creepy dark world infested with monsters. This place looked sort of…normal…

 

But Kagome was starting to realize that her definition of normal was becoming slightly warped as, once again, she placed Inuyasha back into that category. The image of him covered in blood, glaring angrily, buried itself in her mind. She didn't want to remember it. And she knew that looks could be deceiving, so she wasn't ready to trust this place.

 

“Inuyasha,” she called. He had been busy writing into the dirt. Kagome looked past it for now. “I have an idea.” She smiled at him. “I seem to be able to make my wishes come true. So how about I wish for Souta to appear to us and you can take us back to the well.”

 

Inuyasha shook his head grimly and pointed down into the dirt. His message read:

 

Six days

Blood moon sets

No exit

No wishes

Na-

 

He had stopped writing due to her interruption.

 

“No wishing?” Kagome read the last part aloud. “Why? And what's this about six days and a bloody moon?”

 

Inuyasha pointed upwards. Kagome looked up.

 

There in the sky, more pink-colored than red, was the crimson moon. The sun was no where in sight even though it was clearly daytime. Kagome finally began to understand, even if it was only a piece of this huge puzzle she had found herself in.

 

The crimson moon came once a year for seven days…yesterday had been the first. With each day's passing, the blood color drained out of the moon until it set on the sixth day and came back pearly white the next night.

 

Kagome gulped. For a moment, she could hear Tsubaki chastising her about superstitions. About portals to other worlds and magic powers revealing themselves and all the other absurd things, Tsubaki believed in. Really believed. She had always thought that this little obsession her friend had was slightly silly. But now…

 

Inuyasha had written that if they didn't find Souta within six days that'd be trapped. She eyed the vast lands around her again, noting how the mountains in the distance even appeared to be capped with snow. It would take forever to find Souta if he was here. She forced a smile at him, hoping to ward off the answer to the question she had to ask next. “What happens if we can't leave?” she asked nervously. The answer was so predictable.

 

Inuyasha's look said it all. Kagome really wished it hadn't.

 

They'd die.

 

And Kagome believed that. The woman-monster in the tunnel that had almost swooped down upon them, upon her, with nothing but murderous intention in her eyes, was not some kind of unique one time occurrence. Kagome knew that somehow. She could feel the wrongness from the moment there was blood. She believed Souta was in danger.

 

Really believed.

 

“We need to get my brother,” Kagome said, her voice tinged with nervousness. Inuyasha nodded but before he stood up he pointed back to-

 

No wishes.

 

Kagome read his command and frowned. It was the simplest way. Wish. Get. Go. Yet Inuyasha seemed really irritated with her the mere moment she opened her mouth. She recalled his anger with her in the tunnel after she had wished for new clothes.

 

“But…why?” she asked, almost childishly. They had plenty of dirt for Inuyasha to scribble in. She wanted answers now. She wanted to be filled in. Everything was too confusing. She was starting to generate a million questions and with them came a million fears. Fear of the answer, fear of the explanation, fear of just knowing. But she had to know. No matter how long it would take to explain.

 

***

 

Inuyasha slapped his forehead and brought his palm down over his face. This would take too long to explain. By the looks of it, it would be dark soon. Kagome would learn that there was no sun to set here, and that the moon would always stay above them while day transformed into night and vice versa. Inuyasha could tell by the eerie elongated shadows of the tree and by the way the blue sky seemed to slowly swirl into soft shades of pink and orange on the horizon.

 

This day had practically been wasted in the tunnel, so the smart thing to do now was to find some makeshift shelter for the night and think about where to start looking for this boy tomorrow. The gently sloped hill to their left led down to a small and lazy river where Inuyasha had fetched the water after ridding himself of blood. He wanted to stay close to the river but was still determining if it was wise to head into the forest for cover or stay out into the open for better vigilance.

 

Inuyasha gave up on the prospect of writing out a long explanation of the rules and consequences of this world. He settled for writing:

 

Don't.

 

It would be simple and effective enough for now. Perhaps even this crazy girl would just-

 

“Don't? Is that the best you can do?” she asked, folding her arms. “Until I get a reason to, I don't see why I shouldn't.” she snapped, suddenly angry.

 

He stared at her, eyebrow cocked. Just do it…rip her throat out and get the hell out of here. Why was he even bothering? Why the hell was he caring? He spent a lifetime, a lifetime trying to escape this place, only to get cursed and stuck right at freedom's door. Now he was miraculously up and mobile again and what does he do? Plunge back into hell with the pretty yet stupid girl. If only he could get that voice out of his head.

 

“I wish you could help me out of here”

 

So softly spoken, so sincere…so familiar.

 

He underlined, Don't, for emphasis. He gave an impressive flex of his claws hoping this would satisfy her. By the look on her face, he could tell that it didn't.

 

Kagome uncrossed her hands and placed them on her hips. With the light seeping out of the sky, casting its wayward rays of light behind her, she looked like an angry goddess. One who had changed the sky to fit her foul mood and wore the blood moon as some kind of distorted halo. One who would be bringing down her wrath upon him for not giving her what she wanted.

 

“I wish Souta-” she yelled but was cut off by him tackling her and pinning her to the ground.

 

He wished. He wished at that very moment he could let out this growl that had to stay locked in his chest. He wished he could just get over whatever lapse of insanity he was experiencing and either kill the girl or abandon her.

 

She bucked beneath him and screamed in his face, knocking him off balance and sending a shock of pain to his ears. Unsteadily trying to get to her feet, she rocked them violently and send them rolling down the hill, towards the river below.

 

“I-” Kagome tried but the breath kept getting knocked out of her as she would hit the dirt and have Inuyasha's weight slam down into her before quickly rolling on top. It was all she could do at those moments: breathe before she was knocked to the bottom again.

 

They struggled as they rolled which also seemed to increase their speed. He was trying to pin her arms while she was trying to kick and push him off.

 

They landed at the bottom, right next to the river, Inuyasha on top, Kagome pinned on the bottom. He grinned triumphantly with a touch of malice. Kagome breathed hard, sucking the air back into her lungs. Her body hated her for this second round of abuse after being so nicely healed back in the tunnel. Though Inuyasha seemed to have some beads of sweat, he breathed normally.

 

Kagome was angry. Furthermore she was confused. One moment he seemed totally helpful and such, agreeing to find her brother and getting her water and a blanket, then the next he was a complete maniac. He kept turning down their best solution. Kagome knew that actually having to look would waste so much time. And every second she wasn't looking meant every second Souta was in more trouble.

 

The light had mostly gone now, leaving them in the dark orange glow of the dusk. Kagome's head lolled to the side and she focused on the river next to her, listening to its soft gurgling as the water moved along. She was still trying to catch her breath as the demon boy still had her pinned, she knew it was useless to try and wish now, when he could easily stop her in a number of ways.

 

Pinprick tears came to the corner of her eyes. These were the small tears of frustration, pure and demanding. The words escaped her lips before Inuyasha realized what she had said, before he had time to stop her. “I just want to understand,” she mumbled.

 

Inuyasha's ears perked in panic before he let out a breath of relief. She didn't say the word. They were safe.

 

Kagome gasped. There was a feeling. Like her heart beating out of her chest, like the earth pulsing beneath her body.

 

Far away, very far, there was a sound of glass shattering as something broke free of its cage and raced through the world-

 

Inuyasha felt it too, rippling through him because he was in contact with her. His ears flattened to his head, he bared his teeth.

 

It was small and silver. A tiny sparkling star that crackled with power and purpose-

 

That was it. He had had enough. He was going to kill her. There was no other way now. They had failed regardless.

 

It raced along the hills, skimming across treetops, across water, finding a long and lazy river to follow…there-

 

The pulse subsided and Kagome looked into Inuyasha's face and saw his intent in his eyes. He reached his clawed hand to her, gripping her neck in his fingers.

 

The silver collided with its victim-

 

Inuyasha was violently knocked off of Kagome and into the dirt. He gasped and choked and scrabbled madly at his throat as if he were being strangled by some invisible foe.

 

Kagome sat up quickly and watched him struggle. Fear took over as she watched him kick and squirm violently. She had to help, she had to help him. She scrambled to her feet unsteadily and looked around uselessly, wondering what she could do.

 

She could wish.

 

She could wish and save him.

 

Just as she opened her mouth, Inuyasha's legs shot straight into the air and then collided heavily into the ground. The motion startled Kagome into a brief silence.

 

“Inu…yasha?” she called softly, inching over to where he now lay motionless. She finally got to a distance where she could see his expression.

 

Inuyasha looked completely and utterly pissed.

 

“Stupid girl,” he said, sitting up slowly. His eyes fell on her the moment the daylight had officially gone, setting the world around them in night. Still, his amber eyes were bright and livid. They pierced through her and she had the strongest urge to cower like she did in the well.

 

“Stupid girl!” he screamed at her. The growl was eager to escape from his throat, free at last. It rumbled deeply, frightening and menacing, coming from the deepness of his gut and the darkness of his angry soul. “You stupid, stupid, stupid girl!”

 

***

 

Ok so maybe that's the fragrance of imminent death. My bad.

 

Next Chapter- Field of Voices

 

Z.N Singer- Yes I am an avid reader and a complete bibliophile. My favorite author is Terry Pratchett and I have a stunning collection of his Discworld series. I'm so bad that I love the smell of a new book and wish they would bottle it and sell it as shampoo. I'm also so bad that I need to get glasses soon because I was told that I put a lot of strain on my eyes. Ah well, comes with the territory I guess. Thank you for your compliments and criticism, I'm going to click around your profile one of these days the moment I have a minute not consumed by school or work or boyfriend or story. Not in that order.

 

I really like you all for reading, love you for reviewing, and will cherish you if you are enjoying!

 

Till next time! Hopefully soon next week!