Angel Wings by Zandrellia

Awakening Mysteries

Chapter One ~ Awakening Mysteries

The billowing clouds above opened to reveal the audience's scene. A tiny form, running from the ramshackle lean-to she called home in fright and terror. One of the spectators raised a hand and with the snap of her fingers the child gained a bit of momentum. The others leaned forward, keeping a careful eye on the unfolding events. Mere seconds passed and the howling of wolves could be heard, followed only slightly by the horrified screams of a child. Last moment utterances and cries to those above, those watching her death.

Each of the gods above listened to her pleas and gave a slight sigh as none could grant her this wish. None, other than one, this particular god was not known for his kindness towards humans... still, he felt that she had shown a sort of willpower that few mortals knew and for that he was interested to see how her short life might have continued if she lived. A game, what-have-you, harmless in his eyes and what trouble could a little fun cause? What trouble, indeed? With a slight cough he let out a minor laugh and his eyes lit with what one might call humor before sending his minion towards his plight. Yes, the perfect tool to do his bidding and with no recollection why the game should play out nicely!

His companions had varied responses but the woman who had gifted the child with a boost of adrenaline in hopes that she may survive let out a gasp and frowned. Reaching for a book next to her she quickly began to flip the pages, searching endlessly for something to help the child in the upcoming troubles before they came too soon. Just as the dog demon stepped forward, his toad retainer at his side warily, and raised a delicate eyebrow at the dirty child before his feet the goddess above began an incantation upon the child. In one moment this young human girl, who was seen as nothing more than a bothersome burden by her own kind, was granted two amazing gifts. Life after death through the hands of a ruthless killer... and a guardian angel assigned directly from the heavens above. The demon god looked to the goddess with a sour expression, to which she merely laughed and winked. Games were meant to be played against the proper opponents, after all. It would be interesting to see the end results. After watching the demon leave the girl and her slowly follow they watched a curious tale unfold.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin cried out in joy as she raced, flowers in hand, towards the stoic demon who had not moved or even acknowledged her presence. "Lord Sesshomaru! Look what Rin has found!" She held up the flowers and he turned his head only slightly, giving him more an air of looking down on her in disapproval than of intent to listen or review what she displayed. However, he did glance at the handful of weeds which she so proudly displayed, slowly calculating their approximate time of death in his head before noting that despite her lack of training or previous knowledge she held a rather interesting selection of healing herbs. The others, save for one, were all entirely edible. Perhaps he was not giving her intelligence enough credit. It seemed that humans, even young ones barely outside of infancy, were capable of discovering what could be used as food or medicine. He glanced away from her, eyes back on the horizon without giving any outward display of his thoughts. Rin, for her part, sat on the ground near him in a rather unappealing posture and shoved one of the flowers... the one that was not particularly consumable, into her mouth. After a few moments her face scrunched in what could only be described as disgust and she spat the items out, making careful not to do so towards the demon before her.

Unfortunately for a much smaller demon, he was not so lucky in his choice of positions and sputtered as the weed and saliva mixture was thrown onto his face. "Filthy human; do you have no respect?! This Jaken has been a highly valued retainer of your lord since before you took your first breath!" He ground this out as he reached up to wipe the debris from his nose and mouth, letting off his own disgusted face at how the slimy mess refused to shake free from his hands. After giving in to defeat and wiping the offending weed onto his clothing he looked to his master, unsure what he was looking for. They had done much wandering and little else for the past few weeks and Jaken was starting to feel a bit uneasy. It was not good when Sesshomaru became restless. That usually implied more work for him, potential danger, and the impending ending of some idiot's death. Not that he paid any mind to the death. That was all part of a demon lifestyle. Still, there ran a greater than slight risk that the one dying might be him and Jaken didn't care for those odds. With a cough he spoke. "Lord Sesshomaru! Do you sense something or would you care for this lowly Jaken to search out some information nearby?"

To this Sesshomaru did not even bother to respond, merely began to walk at a steady pace. Rin stood quickly, keeping her flowers in one hand while running after him. As they stepped beneath a rather large tree the clouds broke open and poured rain upon the terrain, leaving Jaken to screech in annoyance and prod at Ah-Un forcefully in an attempt to make the beast move any faster. He hated to assume that his master would plot such childish things but he would not put it past Sesshomaru to have planned that Jaken be left behind in the rain to suffer the effects. Not that he would become ill as quickly as the human, being an imp had a few advantages.

Sesshomaru, for his part, remained silent and settled himself down on the soft grass about the base of the tree, leaning against it for support. Rin deposited her flowers on the ground next to him and crawled over to the edge of the tree's umbrella to reach her tiny hand out into the water and giggle in glee. It tickled! He watched her motions before looking away and considering his next moves. InuYasha was graining ground on the fight against Naraku. He was not certain if he was annoyed by this or, dare he think it, perhaps a little proud of the ignorant brat for his efforts. It was taking him quite a long time, though, shameful as that might be. Sesshomaru's thoughts never once hinted at the fact that he was not accomplishing his goal of conquering the vile hanyou any faster than his half-brother. Of course, their reasons and methods for killing the beast were entirely different. While InuYasha lacked finesse and was merely out for his own delusions the great Sesshomaru was plotting.

Plotting great things, in fact, great things that his father had never bothered to achieve, despite having the power to do so – instead the great inu had gone chasing skirts. Sesshomaru's eyes flashed with a hint of anger and he had to fight off the low growl that escaped him. No. The troublesome curse that seemed to linger over the males in his family would end here and now. He would create a great empire the likes of which none had seen before. Instead of watching demons go about wasting their days like humans they could be put to use, trained, honed and created into warriors as befitting their abilities. Of course, they would be loyal to none other than Sesshomaru. He had seen this in his travels during youth and learned a great deal of what worked and what did not. Perhaps he could even find some use for the more clever of humans. They would be good for menial labor, he supposed.

A voice broke his plans for his own personal utopia and he listened as Rin appeared to be talking to someone. She was not speaking to him as she had always addressed him by name before doing so and if she were talking to Jaken he might fear she'd gone mad... as the snoring lump was asleep. Sesshomaru casually stretched out a leg and kicked the retainer, sending him rolling out into the rain, before looking over to the girl. He watched her, carefully, as she hopped to and fro, laughing out at absolutely nothing. No. Reconsidering his notion he decided that humans were far too idiotic to be of any use. Even his ignorant brother didn't talk to himself. Well, not that he had observed, anyway. Once again his mind refused to point out to him that he was, indeed, having an entire conversation with himself right here in his own mind.

Meanwhile, somewhere not to close but not too far away from the pondering demon sat a hanyou who was now sneezing rather loudly. Kagome jumped, nearly knocking over the boiling pot of water she was about to lift and snapped her head in his direction with a glare. "InuYasha! You nearly made me spill this! If I do... especially if I burn myself in the process... you will have to wait even longer for your ramen!" She sighed, shaking her head and chastising herself inwardly for over reacting. He really had scared her, though. He was so loud all the time! For his part InuYasha was now sitting back, ears drooping slightly and a severe frown on his face. He did not like the idea of having to miss out on his ramen. Not to mention a burned Kagome would mean she'd whine about going home and that would mean less time looking for jewel shards and Naraku and that would mean he'd be losing ground against Sesshomaru and that... the mental train that had quickly begun to pick up steam suddenly derailed and his frown turned to a smile as the lovely scent of shrimp flavored ramen filled his nose.

"Eww... I think he's drooling already!" Shippo declared as he, along with all the others, grasped their cups and held them close while they cooled before them. They all knew better than to think that InuYasha might not steal their food while they weren't looking. He was always hungry and when it came to ramen he was near close to what Kagome referred to as an addict. After she'd described the term they all had quickly agreed. The hanyou was a ramen addict... a scary ramen addict. They all watched with growing horrified looks as the boy quickly devoured two of his five cups before turning to the other three. Suddenly realization dawned on them and Sango, Miroku, and the young kitsune all began to eat their own noodles. Despite how scalding hot it was still.

Kagome, however, frowned and glared at InuYasha once more. "InuYasha slow down! You're going to choke on your food! Can't you eat normally for once?!" She said, never noticing how much like her own mother she sounded. He looked over at her and smiled slowly before giving a lazy shrug and then setting down his final and now empty fifth container. He glanced at the others, noting that they were suddenly finished and then looked over at Kagome who began to shake her head, eyes widening. "Oh-no you don't, InuYasha, this is my food! You already had five!" He grinned and then made to pounce on her only for her to squeak and lean back, eyes wincing closed as she chirped out a quick "Sit boy!" and then let out a sigh as the proceeding cry and thud announced her victory over her would be ramen thief. InuYasha groaned into the ground and the others laughed a little, sipping on what was left of their broth while Kagome enjoyed her food slowly. She leaned back against the tree that was behind her with a sigh. "It's so nice here... so quiet." Miroku and Sango both had bemused looks and just shook their heads. It was anything but quiet around those two.

Rin laughed and glanced up at the pretty woman. She wasn't sure where she came from, or why nobody else seemed to notice her, all she knew was that she had appeared before her soon after Sesshomaru had revived her. The lady had an air of elegance around her and knew so many fun and interesting things that it was easy for Rin to learn how to fend for herself so that she didn't trouble Sesshomaru. In her childish mind the beautiful creature before her must have been another gift from her lord. It did not matter in the end, Rin decided, how the woman got here. Only that she was here now and to make the most of her companionship.

Currently the woman, glancing up at her with deep brown eyes full of laughter, was teaching her about the plants she had picked. She told her why the weed earlier had been so bitter and why the others were useful. Some, Rin learned, were medicines that could help make her better. Others were good for food. The lady also explained that, while the flowers made good food they would not be enough and she would have to find other sources of energy when she could. Rin nodded, listening intently. The woman practically floated over towards the rainy scenery and held her hand out into the rain, looking into the sky above. "Rain is a powerful force. It can heal you and it can harm you. It makes things grow and it drowns things, smothering them from the air and light." She then looked down at Rin and smiled gently. "Remember that all life is a balance. We must maintain that balance in ourselves and in those around us." Her eyes darted towards Sesshomaru, who now appeared to be sleeping... although one could never be sure. Rin nodded, unsure if she completely understood.

Yawning, the little girl went over to the tree trunk and curled up near Sesshomaru but not touching him. Her eyes were wide open as she listened to the rain fall and the beginnings of the beautiful woman's voice as it filled her ears with a song. Slowly her eyelids began to close and with a final little yawn she happily sighed and fell asleep.

The beautiful woman let out her own sigh, looking over the odd companions and smiling lightly. She was uncertain what her place was here, with this child, but she knew the girl must be special to have warranted immediate assistance. Usually the gods were focused on playing games with their subjects, that being their only form of entertainment. It was a rare occasion that a child is allotted guardianship. On top of that, the protection of an angel was typically reserved for only those with great deeds in their destinies. As she went out into the rain, allowing it to fall over her wings, she floated over to the snoring toad demon and hovered above him, protecting him from further rain while her mind wondered just what Rin's purpose was.

Kagome let out a heavy breath before shaking her head. "There's no jewel shard!" With a scream she turned to run, pulling an arrow out from behind her as the boar demon charged towards her. InuYasha rushed at the creature from the right, lifting his sword over his head before letting out a cry and slashing the demon in two. It let out a howl in pain before falling into two pieces. Unfortunately that did not keep it from speaking as it died. Two large beady eyes stared right at Kagome and uttered a dying wish. This particular wish, however, was granted. Even still, nobody in the group noticed a change and they continued on their journey. At least until the sun began to set and Kagome began to fall behind.

The first indication that she was more than simply tired was the sound of a heavy cough. Sango abruptly stopped mid-stride to turn a concerned glance towards her friend. "Are you alright Kagome?" To this the young girl nodded frivolously, giving off the appearance of a child who did not want to admit doing any wrong when their parent had caught them red handed. Her cough persisted, though, and soon she began to fight off long strings of them. Eventually the strain of the coughing became so bad that InuYasha began to carry her, not wanting to lose time but not wanting her to exert any more than she had to.

When they arrived at the village and entered Kaede's home Kagome was pale, coughing heavily and near continuously. It was obvious by the way she was sweating and breathing that she was feverish as well. Quickly the old woman began to work on searching for a cure for the girl's ailment. After careful consideration and attempting many different poultice combinations, powdered drink mixes, and incantations the only thing she could determine was most unfortunate. "Kagome has fallen under a curse. A powerful curse, aimed from a dying demon towards a miko, usually as a last effort to kill the one who has defeated them. It is rarely effective but Kagome has not undergone proper training in order to ward off these attacks." She later told the others as they sat around the fire in her home.

"Stop blabbering useless crap and tell us what we need to do to make her better!" InuYasha growled out from a corner, looking very much like a pouting child. The old woman was used to his ways, however, and knew that his response was not meant to be offensive. He was scared. She sighed lightly and shook her head. To this, his eyes widened. "You mean you don't know?!" She nodded.

"There is rumored to be an herb with great healing powers, one that can abate the curse long enough for the purifying powers of a miko to eliminate it. However, I have never seen it. I have never even heard of where it may be."

The others sat, considering the information, before Miroku spoke up. "Perhaps, it would be likely to grow in a pure or holy place? It would probably be best if we went searching for information." Sango nodded and stood, gathering her things and he followed. They both stopped and turned to InuYasha who scowled before pushing past them and out the door.

A noise was disturbing him.

A peculiar noise, one that he had never heard from the child emitting the horrible sound that was now disturbing his sleep. His right ear twitched lightly and a small tick formed at the corner of his mouth, fangs elongating without his knowing. Eventually he gave up the battle to remain sleeping and opened his eyes to glance down at the girl who was now crouched somewhere near Jaken's form. She didn't appear to be injured. His gaze traveled over her form and then over the surrounding clearing. Nothing had entered within a wide radius of his location. The beasts of the land knew better than to disturb him. So then... why was the child crying?

After another sniff emitted from her nose and she reached up to wipe her face against her arm he stood, indicating that he was indeed awake and available for communication. Surprisingly, although he refused to show this outwardly, she did not greet him as she had every morning since her revival. Even in her mute state she had turned and given him one of her wide grins to acknowledge that she knew he was awake. This time, however, she remained in her position. For a few moments he had considered the possibility that Jaken had died but he dismissed that as irrelevant and not likely. The fact that the imp was snoring still was a good indicator that he hadn't, either way.

Sesshomaru was faced with an unusual situation. He knew very well how to handle many circumstances. Battles? Easily dealt with. Enemies? Quickly slain. Annoying half-wit brothers? Rightfully beat into place. He had experienced so much in his life that he felt rather proud of his ability to take anything that came his way without so much of a blink, as he should.

So what exactly was he supposed to do with a crying girl?

An inner struggle began to mount in his gut and he momentarily tried to conclude that it was likely that he had eaten something which didn't settle. Then his mind immediately dismissed that though as ludicrous. He would not eat something so terrible. Nor did a demon of his stature suffer from something as mundane as indigestion. Therefore his mind said it was obviously some sort of emotion and so... irrelevant. Pushing that aside he motioned to step forward. It was then that she spoke and he was faced once again with the conundrum of what to do. "She's gone, Lord Sesshomaru!" With that single utterance the child fell into another bout of tears.