Something, Maybe, Anything by Roune
Something Maybe Anything
A young Miko stood naked in a small hot spring, the water reached only to about mid thigh. Her hair glittered obsidian in the light of the full moon, her sent of plum blossoms and lavender wafted off her in the gentle evening breeze. Her skin glowed softly under the moon as she stared up at it in a wistfully longing way; her eyes glowed cobalt blue as they shimmered with tears that she never seemed to shed. Her powers swam around her almost like a bluish mist as soft red tendrils of demonic energy entered into the clearing. His powers were distinct, once one had been consumed by them it was impossible to forget no matter how many years had elapsed there was no way to emulate it. He was a roar of thunder where as she was the silent lightening.
They were enemies.
They were comrades.
They were nothing.
They were everything.
She didn't know him and he didn't know her but they knew of each other. They were complete mysteries to each other, which brought them closer together then anything else could have. They were both alone... everything they had was gone. They had been left by different people, in different ways but by the same cause. Their lives wear woven together in different weaves. Their paths were separate. They knew each other, but they had no idea of each other.
He was the moon.
She was the sun.
He was demon.
She was Miko.
"There is no need to sneak around, I'm no longer fifteen. Such attempts at modesty are futile. Sesshomaru." She called out into the seemingly empty forest but as she had long learned the forest was never empty. Seconds fluttered by softly as the one called Sesshomaru stepped out of the forest his white clothes glowed softly in the pure moonlight giving the demon a celestial appearance. His face was as cold and expressionless as it always was, he seemed changeless but appearances could be deceiving. As the Miko had grown to learn, even dirt could look beautiful.
"It seems you have wizened over the years. Kagome." He replied as his eyes glowed iridescently in the moonlight. The soft inaudible sound of the many grains of sand that slowly passed between them was the only thing heard. Still the young Miko stared up at the moon unflinchingly, she may have been stripped of her clothes but she had grown to learn that her Miko powers were truly the only clothing she needed.
In his intense studying of her Sesshomaru grew curious as to what had captivated her attention for so long. Following her gaze he found that the object of her fascination was the moon itself. He stared up into its milky depths, wondering if he could see what she saw but he doubted it. With his superior senses he could pick out every groove that marred its broken surface to his eyes the moon was nothing but an imperfect rock. Focusing his attention back on the Miko he narrowed his eyes in scrutiny.
She was plain.
He was perplexed.
She was nothing.
He was disentranced.
What had he come here for? She was his enemy. Everything was over. He should kill her. He had wanted to kill her. He did want to kill her. She was useless. Everything else was gone. Shouldn't she be gone as well? She was human. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Still his eyes clung to her bare form but he didn't see her, he saw past her into something. Maybe nothing.
He was going to kill her.
She was going to die.
He was the first.
She was the last.
Flexing his fingers he drew forth his poison to there tips and readied himself for the kill. It'll be easy. She won't be expecting it. She must die. She will die. This is the end. Here. Now. It must be finished. She is the end. Useless. Weak. Human. Still she stood there, staring up at the moon. Her hair glistened wet obsidian in the moonlight. His hand stilled at his side. It was late. Tonight was not a night for blood. Tomorrow. She dies tomorrow.
She was a paragon.
He was tempestuous.
She was tranquil.
He was everything.
Blinking, he refocused on her bare form and thought fleetingly of how she could stand so still. Turning away slightly he continued to watch her out the corner of his eye as if waiting for something but decided that it would not come he turned his back to her and began to walk away.
"If you don't kill me now, you will never be able to." She called out to him, effectively stopping him in his tracks. Collecting himself, Sesshomaru turned around to face her. She had lowered her head slightly from its raised position from looking at the moon and gave him a sideways glance. Then slowly she turned her head completely in his direction and lowered her head till it was parallel with the ground.
He was stunned.
She was keen.
He was vicious.
She was humane.
It was a challenge and he wouldn't stand for it. She had to die. Silence had befallen them and with out their knowledge, with out their approval the stars about them continued to circle about them as their place in the universe was lost. His eyes were nothing put slits as he glowered at her yet she returned his gaze with open, empty eyes blinking slowly, deliberately every so often. His aura flared slightly, testing the waters and she returned his test with her own keeping the balance between them.
She was human.
He was demon.
She was Miko.
He was Taiyoukai.
Then he launched his attack. He was at her side in less then a heart beat, his clawed hand wrapped around her throat tightly, not enough to draw blood but enough to keep her paralyzed. Her hand laid upon the side of his face, her Miko powers simmering lightly on the surface.
They were something.
They were anything.
They were opposites.
They were equals.
They stared intently into each other's eyes, the light from the moon created a soft halo around them as time spanned before them. They stood so close to each other that with each intake of breath that Kagome took her breast came into contact with his cold armor, which in turn sent chills up her spine. She kept her body still none the less and her face completely impassive. Sesshomaru tightened his grip gently, drawing tiny drops of blood. In reply Kagome brought forth more of her Miko powers lightly purifying the side of his face. Each kept their face blank as stone as they ignored the pain and focused on their silent duel.
He was forever.
She was fleeting.
He was winter.
She was summer.
Their eyes narrowed, clouding over in ice. His grip tightened, causing rivulets of blood to stream down her throat. Her powers increased clouding his vision slightly with her holy powers. Still neither flinched. The clack of times wings echoed softly in the distance of space as the moon drooped lower in the sky.
Her eyes were glacier blue.
His eyes were frozen gold.
Her eyes were stormy seas.
His eyes were molten lava.
"You've changed." Sesshomaru stated as he loosened his grip, letting go of her he raised his hand to his face and began to lick her blood off his fingertips.
"I tried to change, but I changed my mind." Kagome admitted as she retracted her Miko powers and lowered her hand to her side.
He was old.
She was young.
He was living.
She was dieing.
They remained standing next to each other. Their eyes gazed softly into each other's. Their auras mixed together, shimmering in a lavender haze. They saw each other, but they couldn't see each other. They were consumed by each other yet they could not touch each other. They were a paradox. Finally feeling the chill of the night air Kagome closed her eyes languidly, shattering the silence of spoken words. Turning away she waded through the thigh deep water, steeping onto the bank she turned her back on the demon Lord. Her hair swayed with her movement revealing her marred back to him, the scars glowed snow white in the pure light of the moon.
She was marred.
He was pristine.
She was human.
He was Taiyoukai.
Those scars belonged to him. They belonged to the Shikon jewel. They belonged to Naraku and Inuyasha. They belonged to nearly everything that had come into contact with her. Her body was a story written in a scripture of scars and only she knew how to read them. He watched her closely as she walked around a large boulder that lingered near by. Finding her action to be strange he too exited the hot spring and took a step in her direction but stopped himself.
He was intrigued.
She was unorthodox.
He was jaded.
She was vitalizing.
She emerged once more from behind the boulder, fully clothed in the traditional Miko dress, her bow and quiver hung over her shoulder. She looked strange with out her big yellow pack but time was ever changing as she was. Methodically she made her way back towards him her footsteps measured and precise.
Time was everything.
Time was nothing.
They had too much.
They had too little.
Again Kagome turned her attention to the sky, the wounds in her neck still slowly seeped with blood. Slowly it streamed down her neck, but seemed to disappear beneath the white hem of her haori, unable to stain it. The moon was setting low in the horizon. The sky was beginning to bloom into the lighter shades of morning as time continued to spin round and round.
She saw morning.
He saw tomorrow.
She was the future.
He was the past.
"I had not known the sudden loneliness. Of having it vanish. The moon. In the sky of dawn." She commented, her voice just above a whisper. He was caught off guard slightly by her comment; in turn he too looked up to the sky once more. As he looked up, for the first time he too realized that it was true. But in the same flicker of time it was a lie.
"You speak to one for whom the night has no end." He replied. She too was caught off guard, her eyes widened slightly as she turned to look at him.
He was night.
She was day.
He was evil.
She was good.
He turned away from the fading moon to intercept her gaze. As they stared into one another's eyes she realized he was right. There was no end to the night for him, to the darkness. He was a demon. He always had been and he always would be. But were not even demons allowed to see the light of day? Unsure she continued to look up at him her eyes filled with curious innocence.
She was valiant.
He was gallant.
She was lost.
He was forgotten.
Bringing her hand up to her neck she felt the warmth of her blood soak into the tips of her fingers. Looking down at the hem of her haori she noticed that the blood refrained from staining its pure white depths but continued to trail down her skin.
He was tainted.
She was pure.
He was demon.
She was Miko.
"Uselessly they fall. These blood red tears. For they do not dye these robes in black remembrance." She uttered wistfully as she brought her bloody fingers up to her lips and began to lick the blood off them.
"All tears are useless, no matter in what shape they may fall." He admitted, his voice soft. Again she realized he was right. They were useless. Tears. Like humans, they were all useless.
She was useless.
He was purposive.
She was human.
He was Taiyoukai.
"Reality within the depths of night has no more substance then the lucent dream." She spoke thoughtfully as she continued to stare up into his amber eyes. The light of the sun just breaking the barriers of the horizon made them glow warmly like tepid gold.
"How can you tell the dreaming from the waking?" he asked. She was only human; they lived in their dreams and simply called it their reality. They were all foolish creatures. Even time traveling Miko's could not part from their delusions of grandeur.
He was paramount.
She was adamant.
He was.
She is.
" I can't and for that reason I do not know the road down which I go." She confessed. Still they gazed into each other's eyes, rooting them to the ground. Unmoving they stood together, adding the final threads to their weaves. Finally adjoining them. Many years had passed with many trifles but now finally the fates were appeased.
"I know the road down which you travel. So long as you follow me no sword shall touch you, less it be mine." Sesshomaru told her as he took a step away from her and began to walk into the surrounding forest. Blinking slowly Kagome watched as he walked away, the sun continued to rise as the moon continued to fall in their ever-lasting dance. Still she watched, her face blank as well as her mind.
She was Miko.
He stopped just on the outskirts of the trees; his once celestial robes now glowed like fine silks in the light of the rising sun. He was waiting for her. He was going to be her guide, on her path that had been blocked by the tears that she was unable to shed.
He was Taiyoukai.
Looking up once more at the fading moon she smiled up at it, giving it a nod of thanks she turned to the demon lord and started after him. Somewhere between the border of yesterday and tomorrow between night and dawn another book had been opened. Somewhere something had switched. Turned up side down. Somewhere, someone was laughing.
They were comrades.
They were enemies.
They were something.
They were anything.