I looked over my left shoulder to check if Inuyasha was still there. My eyes set on his silver hair, and sighed with relief knowing he hadn't left me.
Though I had already slept, I still felt sleepy. Maybe this place put me at such peace that it made me tired. Even though it sounded rediculous, it made sense in my mind and I accepted the answer feebly, trying to keep my eyes open.
Even Inuyasha was sleeping, now. He seemed to be perfectly alert before we got here, but as I laid down and gradually grew more at ease, the drowsier he got. It was this field. These flowers. The smell. Something about it was so calming.
I touched Inuyasha's arm, trying to rouse him awake, but he didn't stir. That was odd. He always woke up at the slightest bit of movement. I shook him a little harder this time, but I didn't want to have to call his name. If he was genuinely sleeping, and really needed rest, I didn't want to mess with that.
Instead of persisting further like I wanted to, I stopped. Standing up, I stretched out all of my tired muscles, yawning. Taking in the sights, I felt myself getting light-headed. I was ready to fall over I was so tired. Just like the last time I was here.
When I looked back at Inuyasha, he was gone. There was no trace of him, not even a mark in the grass from where he was laying. He was completely missing. Maybe he was never here, and I was losing it. I was tired, of course I was losing it.
I tried to stumble out of the field, toward the path. But I couldn't seem to get there. My feet dragged heavily across the flowers, scraping the ground, but I could only move a tiny bit, if at all. I was growing sore everywhere from all of my half-witted efforts.
At last, I collapsed back into the grass and orchids, unable to get anywhere. I was frustrated and tired. My only hope was that Inuyasha would eventually find me.
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"Have you seen Kagome?" Sango asked me, walking into the hut.
A flash of worry hit me. "I thought she was with you," She stalked off onto a trail after we talked, but I was afraid to follow her. I assumed she went looking for Sango, or maybe to go take a bath.
"And I thought she was with you!" She was flustered, her face was getting redder by the second.
"Where have you looked?" I asked, her frustration growing on me.
"I checked the Onsen, and asked all around the village. I even looked by the well, but there was no sign of her. Maybe she went home. Did you upset her?"
"Hey! Why do you always assume I did something!"
"Well there's really no other reason she would leave without checking in. Even then she usually says something."
"Maybe she had a test and told Miroku or Shippou to pass along the message."
"No, they haven't seen her either."
"The last time I saw her was near the well. There was some path she was going down, but I didn't follow her. I thought she was just taking an alternate route back to the hut or something."
"If you thought she was going back to the hut, why didn't you follow her?" And angry tone was rumbling beneath her voice.
"She looked like she wanted to be alone! I figured if she was going to go through that much trouble to go to the hut in a different way, she didn't want to walk with me."
"Well let's at least check there, she might still be wandering around."
I nodded and we ran from the hut toward the well. My feelings were everywhere at once. I wasn't sure where she would have gone, and if it had to do with anything she told me earlier. I had a horrible gut-feeling that it was about her harming herself, and that she wasn't as fine as she said.
When we got to the well, Sango asked me where the path I was talking about was. I pointed to the thin dirt path on the far left side that was hardly noticable to the untrained eye. She paled when she followed my gaze.
"I completely forgot about the field! Here I am getting mad at you when I could have just looked here the entire time."
"Keh." I was relieved, but I didn't dare say anything. Even though we hadn't found her yet, it was almost as though I could sense her through the path.
Something was wrong though. There was something off about the atmosphere, and it was coming from that path. It was the aura of a barrier radiating from the trees.
"Sango, I think there's a barrier protecting the path. It's like someone doesn't want us in there."
She gave me an odd look as she walked up and stepped a few steps into the trees. I fought to keep my embarrasment from showing and rolled my eyes. She laughed.
We walked in silence, and the intensity was burning me up. I had to know she was okay. I needed to know she was safe, because otherwise I didn't know what I would do with myself. I promised to keep her safe. But then again, I don't seem to be very good at keeping promises very well.
The trail led off into a wide open field of colourful orchids and tall grass. Even though the field was large, there was no sign of Kagome. She wasn't laying anywhere, and I couldn't smell her. The scent of flowers was overwhelming, though. They smelled a little odd, almost farmilliar, but I didn't know the smell of flowers to save my soul, so that must have just been the way they were.
Sango was becoming frantic, running around through the grass, searching desperately. I knew she had the same fears I did, about it relating to Kagome's harming.
"Sango, come on, let's go see Kaede. Maybe she'll know what to do." I called to her, trying to soothe her mind.
She nodded warily, and trodded back to my side.
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The strong smell was making my head hurt now. I felt like I was shaking, falling, even. The ground felt more prickly than soft.
I tried to open my eyes, but they were stuck shut. I wanted to know how long it had been, and if I needed to get back. The others might have been getting worried depending on how long I had been gone. I would have told them where I was if I hadn't assumed Inuyasha was with me.
Something was tracing lines on my skin. It was soothing and eerie at the same time. Part of me wanted to believe it was Inuyasha, trying to wake me, or maybe comfort me, and another part was wondering if it was someone else.
The fingers lacked the callouses on the pads of their fingertips that Inuyasha had. Their fingers were softer, gentler. Feminine, almost.
"Open your eyes," A soothing voiced called to me, barely audible.
Suddenly, my eyes didn't feel like they were glued shut anymore. I fluttered them open with ease, feeling how light the were now.
Taking in my surroundings, I saw roots of trees hanging from above me, and I appeared to be laying in some kind of dirt cave. A girl who looked to be the same age, if not older, than me, about seventeen, was peering over me.
"I am Hana. I'm the Yousei of this field. Some fields are laced with Yousei remains from when there was a great war between the humans and the Yousei. Many Yousei were taken down by Youkai that agreed to side with the humans, or some that came just out of pleasure, and their remains sank deep into the ground, along with their powers we used to have a long time ago.
"Years passed by before the fields rebuilt themselves and flowers began to grow where the didn't before. Their souls became rampant and bloomed into flowers of all kinds before they withered away, once their souls were avenged or put at rest. The only flowers that remained were the orchids, because those were the families who were never put at rest, for they were all killed. Their flames still haven't died out.
"There is a small village of Yousei near every one of these fields, all across Japan, and the strongest female is appointed to live underneath the field and wait for the 'saviour.' "
I was very confused. She didn't look anything like what I was raised to think a Yousei would look like. I was expecting her to have wings, and maybe even a wand or something. She was dressed very normal, except her eyes were a glowing violet I had never seen before.
"I know what you're thinking, that I could never be a Yousei, I'm too plain. But things have changed since they had when the war happened. Not many Yousei were left after the war, and those who were, were mostly weak and had little if any powers left at all. That being said, it was very difficult to pass on stronger powers to the children they were forced to bear, which is why some Yousei are drastically stronger. We can't read minds, or fly, but we can use the elements to our advantage by creating a massive wave, or burst of flame when need be."
I blinked at her, gaping. What did that have to do with me? Why was I here? I couldn't seem to find my voice.
"Something's been happening lately with the orchids. There must be a demon that's tampered with them, or maybe a dark priestess. They make everyone who set foot in this field unbearably sleepy after more than a few minutes in this place. The souls above me keep crying that this saviour will come and fix everything for them, but I didn't know what they meant."
That made sense now. It was all clear as to why every time I went there, I came back so sleepy that I could hardly move. I wonder if Sango had noticed that, or even knew about any of this before me. No, she wouldn't set me up for something like this.
"And what does this saviour have to do?" I asked shakily, managing to find my voice again.
"The souls keep telling me that when she sees the shrine, she'll know. I don't understand though, because all it is is a shabby door with small plate in front and a half-broken arrow jammed into it."
I could tell by her tone she wasn't exactly pleased to be here. "Are you supposed to be like, a guardian to this place? You look so young."
"I've only been here for a few months. The last girl to watch over this field was here for fourty years before her position was over because of illness. Girls go through training for 14 hard years before finding out who are the strongest of the village power-wise, in preperation for the next person to take over this position. It used to be passed down through one family that usually proved to be fairly stong, but people complained enough and put together this program to make sure it was fair."
"Why do they need to be powerful, just to listen to souls mutter all day?"
"Because only those who still hold elemental powers can sense the saviour the souls mutter about. It takes a strong Yousei to recognize the right miko that comes along."
"So what does all of this mean?"
"It means, miko, that you are their saviour."
Author's Chapter Notes:
This chapter is a bit lengthy, and involves an important piece of history that will fade into a big part of the story. The history isn't exactly perfect, and probably could use some work, so if there's any ideas for improvement, let me know!
Chapter End Notes:
*Yousei- Fairy*