Desert Places by Lady Symone

Desert Places

Desert Places

*** 

Before you read this, I would just like to say Kagome is quite out of character, but it is for a reason. Still, if OOC bother you, this is perhaps the wrong story for you. Second, It has been an ETERNITY since I last posted on any kind of fanfiction site, so while comments and critiques are welcome, please don't be overly harsh!

Thanks, and enjoy! I like to write dark, psychological pieces every once and a while, so here you go! I'll let you all into my desert place!

***

Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast

In a field I looked into going past,

And the ground almost covered smooth in snow,

But a few weeds and stubble showing last.

The woods around it have it--it is theirs.

All animals are smothered in their lairs.

I am too absent-spirited to count;

The loneliness includes me unawares.

And lonely as it is that loneliness

Will be more lonely ere it will be less--

A blanker whiteness of benighted snow

With no expression, nothing to express.

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces

Between stars--on stars where no human race is.

I have it in me so much nearer home

To scare myself with my own desert places.

"Monk."

It was a simple address - no questions, no threats. Merely an observation.

Miroku's legs were quivering beneath his robes, as he was sure the demon lord standing opposite of him was aware, but he was prepared to put on a brave front nonetheless. He began with the deepest bow he could possibly muster before his own address.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, it is an honor," he began. Sesshoumaru kept a blank face, although inwardly he was debating on whether or not to strike the monk down where he stood for disturbing him. However, it must be of great importance if he was risking his life to see him. As loathe as he was to admit it, the monk had piqued Sesshoumaru's interest. "I have come," Miroku continued, "only because the life of one I care for deeply is in danger."

Feeling a deep sense of disappointment at the introduction of what could only result in a trivial request, Sesshoumaru turned on his heel and walked away.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Miroku cried, desperation coloring his voice. "Please, hear me out!"

"No," Sesshoumaru replied, not slowing or even looking over his shoulder. "What do I care whether or not your slayer female perishes? It is a fact of life for humans, and I refuse to play God everytime one in your pathetic crew comes close to death."

Miroku groaned. He had hoped it wouldn't come to this.

"Please!" He cried. Sesshoumaru paused and turned a fraction, to see the human on his hands and knees, head bent in dejection. "Please," Miroku said again, digging his fingers into the dirt, "I beg you. It is not the life of my wife I fear for. It's...Kagome's." Sesshoumaru's lip twitched downward. Kagome? That was the name of the whelp's female. Not seeing this minute reaction, Miroku plowed forward. "She is on death's door. I...we, we've done everything we can, but she won't get better! Ever since InuYasha died-"

"Enough," Sesshoumaru said icily. "I do not wish to hear that half-breed's name." Miroku quivered at the demon lord's tone, but did not move. His eyes widened a fraction when Sesshoumaru's pristine black boot came into his field of view. He shakily raised his head, still on his hand and knees. "On death's door you say?" Sesshoumaru questioned.

"Yes," Miroku replied, trying not to get his hopes up.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. "Why have you come to me?"

"You're the only one who can save her now. She's...to far gone for any human remedy."

"Please do it, Lord Sesshoumaru!" Both man and demon looked towards the bushes to see a child's face poking out between the foliage.

"Rin," Sesshoumaru said, frowning slightly.

"I'm sorry, Lord Sesshoumaru, but please don't let the nice lady die!" Rin took Sesshoumaru's hakama into her tightly fisted hand. "Please!"

"Leave me to my business, Rin. Go find Jaken and ready Ah-Un." Miroku's spirits sank into his stomach. Sesshoumaru was going to leave. It really wasn't that much of a surprise, but he had hoped...."Monk," Sesshoumaru said once Rin was out of sight. "What shall I receive if I aid you?"

Before he could think, Miroku blurted out, "Anything you want, I swear!" Sesshoumaru nodded in acceptance.

"Very well. I shall aid your miko, in return for whatever I desire. If you should go back on your word," Sesshoumaru said, sounding all but menacing, "I will kill your precious miko and your slayer."

"Y-yes, I understand," Miroku said, suddenly realizing the implications of his previous oath. Those thoughts were quickly put out of his mind when he realized Sesshoumaru was going to help. "She's at Kaede's hut, near the Bone Eater's Well." But before the words had even left his mouth, the imposing demon lord in white was already gone.

***

As Sesshoumaru lifted the flap into the small, shabby-looking hut, he heard several small gasps. His nose twitched as he caught a strong whiff of incense. Inside were four occupants: the old woman, Kaede; the female slayer; a small fox kit; and the miko. He took in her appearance. Her skin was much paler than normal - almost a bluish hue - and it radiated the scent of one who was about to pass.

"Out," Sesshoumaru ordered, "and take your ineffectual incense with you." The slayer made a sound of indignation, but was quickly hushed by the elder woman. They grabbed the kit in their arms and hurried outside, past his formidable form.

"I don't know how to thank ye', Lord Sesshoumaru," Kaede said as she went by. Sesshoumaru made no response.

He walked slowly towards the female on the mat. Her forehead was slick with perspiration and he noticed her lips moving, as if she was trying to say something. Leaning in closer, Sesshoumaru could still not make out her words. He took off his boots and swords, keeping them close by, and sat cross-legged in front of the miko his idiotic half-brother had once loved. Her soul was still clinging to her mortal shell. But only just.

Sesshoumaru placed his pointer and middle finger on the crest of the woman's forehead; her skin was cold. Closing his amber-colored orbs, he focused his center. It had been a while since the last time he had entered someone's mind, but he had no doubts he wouldn't be able to accomplish the task once more. Releasing a deep breath he pressed harder on the point between her eyes. He felt her spirit make a week attempt to block his demonic one, but it was easily over come. He now had complete access to the miko's mind.

When he opened his eyes, Sesshoumaru was, least to say, not expecting what greeted them. Remaining still for the time being, he assessed his surroundings.

Cracked earth - as far as his eyes could see. Not a s ingle hint of life or vitality to be spotted. Bringing himself gracefully to his feet, Sesshoumaru thought about how best to contact the miko.

"What are you doing here?" a voice whispered in his pointed ear. Sesshoumaru turned, but he saw nothing but more barren earth. A torrid desert breeze brushed along his long hair and up his arms. It was a female's voice. "You don't belong here," it said. "You shouldn't have come."

"Miko," Sesshoumaru said. "I demand that you show yourself." The breeze laughed softly and sighed.

"As you demand."

The wind picked up, flattening Sesshoumaru's clothes to his sculpted body and whipping his silver stands about. He narrowed his eyes. The ground beneath him gave a low groan. He glanced between his feet to see black ooze seeping up from the cracks in the dirt. It sluggishly exuded, connecting with itself amongst the cracks and spiraling upward in a grotesque-looking horn. Sesshoumaru stepped back and watched it carefully - it was forming in the shape of a large chair.

After a few moments, the blistering sun hardened the sludge into shiny, black stone. The breeze continued to whip around gathering more and more dust around the newly formed chair until a woman's form was discernable. The wind came to a standstill, the dust fell away and Kagome was left, sitting with her legs delicately crossed on the chair. Her bright blue eyes held no emotion, but her lips beheld an amused smirk.

"Hello, Sesshoumaru," she said. "I wondered if I would see you before I died." Sesshoumaru remained silent and calculating. "Forgive my manners," Kagome spoke once more. "Would you care for a seat?"

"No," he said.

Kagome inhaled. "Of course not. Heaven forbid someone should show you courtesy."

"Do not patronize me, Miko," Sesshoumaru growled. "I am here to save your life."

"Please," Kagome snapped back. "Drop the chivalrous act! You and I are both well aware you're no bodhisattva! You're not here out of the kindness of your heart, if you even have one." She leaned forward and tapped the side of her head. "This is my mind, and you play by my rules." As if to emphasize her words, she disappeared in the blink of an eye. "That concept must be torture for you," her voice whispered over his shoulder. He turned, only to see a wisp of dust.

"Your mind is warped," Sesshoumaru said, attempting to ignore the caresses of the breeze. "You have changed." Kagome's angry face suddenly appeared before him.

"Of course I've changed," she spat. "InuYasha's dead," she waved her hand and the hanyou's still body appeared on the desert floor. "I can't go home," the Bone Eater's Well replaced the body. "And now I have to put up with your brilliant psychoanalysis when I'd rather just die in peace."

"You don't have to die," Sesshoumaru noted.

"Of course I don't, but I have nothing else to live for!" Her voice reverberated around the empty plains. She moved in closer to Sesshoumaru. "You know," she said more calmly, "our minds aren't really that different now."

"Miko, you are delusional."

She laughed humorlessly. "Am I? That's rich, coming from you - the ice king himself." She placed a hand on his chest and raised herself up on her toes so her mouth was level with his ear. "Don't pretend Sesshoumaru. It's not becoming of you." Sesshoumaru snarled and grabbed her wrists tightly, throwing them away from himself. She dissolved into the wind again, chuckling sinisterly. "Sesshoumaru, Sesshoumaru," she sang. "You and I are one and the same. What's wrong? Don't like what you see in the mirror?"

"Miko," he growled threateningly. "You have no idea what I'm like." She appeared to his right, holding the hem of her dress up scandalously high.

"I know you have no family, since InuYasha died - like me. Except for Rin," she smiled coyly, "but we both know that's not going to last."

"Miko, if you do not silence yourself-"

"Or what?" she asked playfully. She took off skipping and humming a slow, melodic tune in the opposite direction. Sesshoumaru's eyes followed the trail of twisted weeds that sprang up between the cracks wherever he feet touched. "Someday, something's going to happen to your precious Rin, something that you can't control." Even though she was a great distance away, Sesshoumaru could hear her voice perfectly and it wasn't because of his demonic hearing. "Care to guess?" A growl rumbled in his throat. "No? Very well, I'll tell you," she continued. "One day you'll be walking near a village, and something will catch her pretty brown eyes. It's called a young man. And try as you might to keep her away from him, her mind, body, soul will consumed in the hot, fiery, passions of that which you have struggled so fervently to shut her eyes to." Her hot breath appeared at his neck, but he remained immobile as she finished her story. "One day, Rin is going to fall in love. With a human."

Sesshoumaru lashed out, plunging his hand through her stomach. She simply looked at him with false sympathy as she backed away, his appendage leaving her body with a sickening noise. She covered the gaping hole with her hand and when she brought it back to her side, the wound was gone. She smiled and licked the blood off her palm.

"Is that a little hard for you to hear, Sesshoumaru? Did you honestly imagine her being with you forever? Devoted solely to you for the rest of her short...human life? Surely you didn't - the Lord of all things practical. She'll leave to have her own life with another man, and you'll finally have your long-awaited peace. Live alone. Fight alone. Die alone."

"Miko," Sesshoumaru said with a deep, guttural growl. "Cease this act at once."

Kagome gave a knowing smile. "What's the matter, Sesshoumaru? Are you scared?"

"This Sesshoumaru fears nothing," Sesshoumaru snarled. In the next moment, Kagome's voice was once again in his ear, soft and mysterious.

"You shouldn't be afraid of what's in my mind, Sesshoumaru." Her voice became lower, so much so that even Sesshoumaru's demonic ears had to strain to hear her. "You have your own desert places."

Then, there was silence. An eerie stillness swept over the vast dry lands, nothing moving. Sesshoumaru tried to sense out the miko's presence but she had entirely disappeared. He felt almost frozen, as if he didn't want to disturb the peace.

***

Suddenly, he was yanked back by the navel. When he opened his eyes, he was back in Kaede's hut, looking down at Kagome. He quickly retreated his hand from her forehead when he realized her eyes were open and staring at him quizzically.

"Sesshoumaru?" She asked weakly. "What-what are you doing here?" He ignored her question and gathered his things.

Miroku and the rest looked at him hopefully when he exited the hut.

"She's awake, and will be fine," he said tersely. They sighed in relief. "Feed her."

As he was preparing to leave, Miroku said, "Wait! Don't you want your reward? I said whatever you wanted, you could have."

"You have nothing I could possibly want," Sesshoumaru replied. With those parting words, he melted into the evening sky in his glowing orb.

"I can't believe he did that for us," Sango said, coming up beside Miroku, who was equally flabbergasted. "And he didn't even ask for anything in return!"

"Yes," Miroku murmured. "Very odd. I suppose he was just eager to get back to his own place."