SessKag: Lambent Passions ch02

LAMBENT PASSIONS
chapter two – introductions

Kagome shivered lightly. The early dawn enveloped the whole valley with a cool gust that peacefully swept about the land. The hut, although small and cramped it was, was not immune to the chilly zephyr. Having slept in wet clothes the night before, her current condition was worsened by the absence of fire.

Her current state, however, did not do anything to alter her habitual morning schedule. It was not the first time that she had been deprived of simple wealth: a fire, warm clothes, a futon to sleep on, and food. Outside, the sun started to crawl towards its throne in the sky and bathe the world with its glory. At that moment Kagome’s eyes fluttered open. It was by instinct that her eyes flew to the different parts of the room, vaguely aware about her current location. Finally, she saw the demon who sat noiselessly by the door, his head slightly bowed down and his eyes closed.

The realization that she was in a room with a demon drove her to reflect on the morning’s situation.

She remembered yesterday’s incident. It ended just barely before nightfall; how long did she sleep, then? She recalled succumbing to a dark oblivion and then…nothing. It would be most logical to assume that the demon, now contained in the vicinity of the hut, brought her here yesterday. And decided to help himself with rest in the same room. But that was not the point. The point was: what was she to do?

She was not familiar with this hut in the forest. If she was, she wouldn’t have slept under an ancient tree, subject to all foreign dangers of the night. Oddly enough, she felt security with the demon’s presence, however unwelcome that feeling was.

What do I do now

Kagome shifted her glance toward yesterday’s demon that so humbly slept just beside the only exit of the hut. It was built too small, with nothing but a tiny window opposite her that was currently welcoming the morning rays of the outside sun; it was impossible for her to fit through it.  She found herself trapped in a one-room, four-walled house with a demon guarding the door.

This is great. Just great. He’s sleeping there so soundly, I have no idea what will happen when he wakes up. Do demons have morning moods anyway? Are they cranky or moody in the  wee hours of the day?

A sigh escaped from the girl’s cherry lips. She stared at her clothes; her hakama, still faded, was now a pale green combined with light cobalt while her brown upper garment, an old merchant’s clothing, barely warmed her. Not that she can complain much; the clothes aren’t hers after all.

The demon’s clothes were quite unusual, considering the rarity of a similar fashion in the North. She encountered something similar once or twice and she was aware of a tingling familiarity connected somehow to her past. For some odd reason, she was harboring instinctive hatred towards the demon’s clothes. This was, all things considered, ridiculous.

She was impressed, though, for his hair was still an embodiment of neatness. In the very essence of the word, it seemed that an explosion never hit him. A mane of silver strands flowed freely behind his back, unharmed by yesterday’s events.

Her hand instinctively touched her hair and compared it to his.

She must look awful. Kagome remembered an old couple scolding her for getting into too much scrapes than she herself could count.

I must head home. I’ve been away for more than a fortnight already.

A second sigh determined the course of her future actions. Slowly she tried to stand, using the wall for support. On the floor the room was steady but on her feet it seemed like she was witnessing the revolution of the world. She was aware of the weariness from yesterday, her condition worsened by a night spent under wet clothing. Kagome squinted, trying to focus the revolving image of the room into a steady picture.  After achieving the success of a temporarily satisfactory vision, she walked towards the door.

The motion inside the cramped habitat wakened the demon that was once in a silent slumber.  He opened his eyes and swiftly shifted their sharpness towards the girl who was trying to walk towards the door, her obvious discomfort visible in her strained steps.

“What are you doing, woman?”

There was little difficulty upon defining if the female specimen was “girl” or “woman”. She seemed too young to be considered “women” and too old to be considered “girl”. However, the latter seemed more ridiculous than the former that he decided to address her as the preferred instead.

“I have repaid my debt,” was the curt reply.

Sesshoumaru studied her for a moment, noticing the cheapness of her male clothing. Even from a distance one could notice their poor quality. At the moment, her current appearance was disheveled and dirty, these caused by the incidents of yesterday.

Judging her by her appearance, she looked as if she was a peasant—or a slave. Her face was neither exceptionally beautiful nor disgustingly ugly; her presence brought about a pleasant, relaxing feeling. There was something that disturbed him, however. Amidst all the pleasantries that he perceived from her character (of what he had seen and witnessed and from what he currently assumed), there was a suppressed murderous hatred that her current “self” vainly tried to hide.

“You will not leave the room,” he issued.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking but if you’re meaning to devour me as a morning meal, I would seriously dissuade you from eating me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

She was, he thought, strangely amusing.

“For one, I am malnourished,” she reasoned bravely.

He realized that it did seem like so. She was unnaturally thin, although a few good meals would certainly remedy that.

“And the  other?”

“My aura is not at all that pleasant.”

Ah, so she knew. She was aware of the preferred tastes of some demons. There are a few species that prefer the flesh of humans, especially children. They did not prefer children just because they are “young”. It is true that their meat are tender, more so than those of adults, but if the human species in general was compared to that of other beasts, any human flesh would have a softer density. It does not usually have the tasteless bulkiness of too much muscle, and a few other special characteristics credited only to humans. But what makes children most inviting is that they are not “corrupted”. Their aura, their life energy, and their soul—the essence of  innocence—tastes sweeter than those of adults. It is that distinguishing quality that makes them delectable for some demons.

Of course, tastes differ for every individual. The same rule applies to both demons and humans, as well as other beasts and creatures. What some consider the pinnacle of satisfaction others find absolutely repulsive.

“I was not planning on having you as my main course this morning. You have some other use. Not all demons are greedily gluttonous. I believe you may have formed a disgusting prejudice that all demons want to eat virgins and children.”

She seemed quite puzzled about his statement regarding her being of “some other use” and her expression transformed from one that was bravely defensive into something more careless.

“Well, what use do you have in mind?”

“Woman, you will stop addressing me as someone as low as your level and address me as a peasant should.”

Having been raised in a hierarchical society, she was aware of the differences in their social classes. The command was familiar. How could she forget words that she had muttered since birth? A missing piece from her memory did not erase the fact that the words were too habitual. She felt that it was part of her being, a permanent scar that marked her a servant.

So this demon is from nobility.

“Well then, my lord, what use do you have in mind?”

“You will bring me to the capital.”

“To Seho?”

“I did say to the capital, did I not? I shall not go around repeating whatever I say twice.”

“You said ‘capital’, not ‘Seho’. Where is the repetition in that?”

“Infuriate me, woman, and you may find the consequences fatal,” he furthered it with a glare.

Moved into diffidence by the glare and tone of command, yet still slightly rebellious by nature, Kagome relented but not with contempt. “Forgive my insolence, my lord.”

“Sit down, woman. You are straining my neck.”

Eyes blazing with defiance, she forced herself to sit down. Something in his character, an authoritative force, drove her to do as he willed her to do. His very presence was giving out an unvoiced message that clearly said, “Death will be rewarded to that who will not surrender.”

“You will render yourself useful. First, explain to me the black demon that chased you yesterday.”

“It is an Okoro, an unnatural creature said to be created by the Emperor. The basic reason for its existence is to keep the population of humans that reside in the Emperor’s territory in balance. It could be killed without exploding, if the heart remains untouched by anything that is foreign from its body.”

Her latter statement duly decreased his thinning forbearance. Suddenly he, a demon of higher rank, had become a subject of the human’s amusement.

“I have no time for your petty games. I would suggest you remain in silence and say nothing that is unrelated to my questions.”

She bowed her head, mocking humility. “And what have I done, my lord, to ignite in your most noble soul the flames of anger? I believe my last piece of information still is related to the subject of your question. You did ask me to explain the existence of the Okoros, did you not? Then, my lord, should I not mention the most important piece of information in order to prevent any repetition of yesterday’s ev—“

Angered by the fact that he was a subject of her ridicule, as well as the present grin that widened under the girl’s bowed head, he thrust his clawed hand to the edge of her neck.

“You will remain silent unless I ask you to speak,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper, tone burning with malevolence. “Do not try to abuse the length of my patience.”

She felt the seriousness in his threat. Tempted to apologize for her insolence, she almost muttered words of apology. However, as she remembered his command to keep herself silent unless ordered to speak, she kept in silence. Instead, she directed the gaze of her eyes to the ground, a symbol of submission and request for forgiveness.

Her insolence taken care of, Sesshoumaru recalled the words the girl said. Okoros were made by the Emperor to keep the Northern population in-check. That was how she explained the purpose of their existence. He wondered if it really was all there is to that. He was unsatisfied by her reply. That was the sort of explanation devised to find no fault in a lord’s actions. It was a reason to hide other reasons.

“Are the demons and humans under the Emperor happy?”

Sesshoumaru noticed her hesitation. There was a pause before she confessed, “Not quite.”

He gave no reply. It was obvious that the deceiving grandeur of the North’s lands could not be applied to the state of the lives of his people. He did not like humans and usually would not give them any thought or concern. However, he was familiar with the role of a lord, who rules over two species of life, both demon and human, and it was because of this reason that he matured into an individual who found it necessary to live with humans. There was simply no choice in the matter. Eradicating their species was out of the question. Certainly, each has his own purpose. Demons and humans are symbiotic creatures: both need the other to survive. It was simply unfortunate for the human race that it was demons that possess superior powers.

She was unsure of what to answer. This demon may be a spy from the Emperor himself. Or even from him. This may as well be a trap and she may as well be digging her own grave. But that alliance was questionable. He may just be a foreigner with a secret business that she was probably unworthy to know. Why else would he need her company just to bring him to the capital? He
did not work this way. Whatever he possessed, he took back by his own hands. Not by other’s. What then was there to fear?

“How far is Seho from this valley?” he asked.

“Six days, human pace, my  lord.”

Sesshoumaru contemplated about this piece of information. It would not do him harm to travel for ten more days. As far as he was concerned, he was going to do this step-by-step. And it did not matter if it took him five years or ten years. Achieving his goal was most important.

The girl will be useful. He would direct less attention if he posed as a traveler with a servant than a foreign man traveling alone, subject to suspicion from the Emperor’s spies. She could also remedy his lack of information regarding the Northern territories.

Kagome found no reason to protest in this arrangement. She would simply bring the demon lord to the capital and leave him there without entering. She had doubts about entering Seho. Of her sixteen years of living, twelve of it had been lost due to an accident. Four years she spent in the North, two of it she spent serving a lord of the Emperor.  The last year she spent hiding from him. She could not willfully erase the events that happened during the time that she was under the lord’s roof.

“My little Kagome, run away if you wish. I will let you go. I will not chase you, my little songbird. Why? Because you will be the one who shall run back to me.”

She could feel the accelerated beating of her heart as the words he last mumbled to her ears before she disappeared from the Palace echoed through her mind. Her breathing quickened and terror seemed to threaten her entire being until the sound of the demon’s voice snapped her out of her state of recalling.

“Tell me, woman, what you know of your Northern Emperor.”

He noticed her strange behavior. The girl was trapped in a dream-like state. He witnessed blank eyes that stared into a substance she saw from nothingness.

Kagome was startled by the sudden sound of his commanding voice. Grateful for being snapped out in an unconscious recollection, she answered voluntarily. “The Emperor is an ugly man. Gluttonous, he is a man who finds pleasure in the suffering of others. He enjoys all his riches at the expense of the suffering of others.”

Her description gave him a picture of a fat, rich king. But he knew the Emperor was something more than that. His intuition on the matter and her point of view seemed to clash together. How could a man, someone who had no care in the world but its riches and pleasures, handle a huge network of spies and bring chaos to the Western territories?

Taking a break from this train of thought, he remembered the presence of the girl and shifted his attention towards her. He knew not a man who took in a servant without knowing the servant’s given name. Therefore, before they recommence any sort of journey, he must  know.

“Woman, your name?”

“Kagome, my lord.”

“You may address me as ‘Sesshoumaru-sama’.”

- to be continued -