Mystic Eyes Ch 18

Chapter 18 A Sunflower, Starved of Moonlight

"This Sesshoumaru will not harm you, I give you my word."

She bites her lip in indecision. 'How can I? The trust I've earned will vanish if I say.' "I, I cannot say. It is private. Naraku is twisting the truth. I am not a pretender. I am merely more then I seem. Please leave it at that, my lord." Her fear still grips her.

His anger flared. "I promised not to harm you, what is the problem?"

She quickly disentangles from Sesshoumaru and skirts over to the fire. "You are wa-warm enough. I will make tea now." She stammers, shaking hands pour hot water into two cups. He grabs her wrist and leans into her.

"I will not repeat myself." Tears fill into her eyes threatening to fall.

"You- you promised not to-to hurt me, but not to… judge me. I fear that you will judge me in the worst way without really knowing me." She answers to the ground.

'She fears what I will think of her. She does not know what I already think of her, an honorable and brave human who respects all life. What could she hide that could tarnish that?' He might as well tell her that to relieve her fears. "Aya do you know what I have already assessed about you?" She shakes her head. "You are a strong spirited human, who put others above herself no matter who they are, which seems foolish to me at times, and garners great honor within herself. You are dutiful and stubborn and curious." His hand moves from her wrist to cup her face. "This Sesshoumaru finds you intriguing, beautiful, clean, cunning-" Oh, crap. He's said too much already.

Aya's hand joins his. Overwhelmed at such honesty and his high regard for her she half pounces at him kissing him soundly on the lips. He topples backward with her with lips still locked. The hand at her cheek curls into her hair to the back of her head pulling her even closer. His tongue fights for dominance winning easily. He tastes every inch of her mouth. Without restraint his youki freely explores at its leisure. 'So soft, so pure, so sweet. Aura so soothing so exciting. Female so tangy sweet…'

Aya moans into his perfect licorice hinted mouth, left hand tangling into his long silvery mane. With her pressed on top of Sesshoumaru she can feel his chiseled chest which her fingers ached to roam over when she had them wrapped around him earlier. A fierce rumble reverberates in his chest.

'Female aroused. So warm. Wants to mate.' His youki senses tells him, his mind too clouded with desire to think clearly. Her lips move kissing his chin then down his neck licking and nipping. "My koi." Sesshoumaru growls huskily.

She gasps, her head clearing at once at the endearment not meant for her, and pulls away to look at him. "I'm sorry." Her voice cracks. "I'm so sorry. I, I didn't mean to. I -" The taiyoukai's head clears moments later finding the miko lying seductively on top of him. "I'm so sorry Lord Sesshoumaru," apologizing again and removing herself completely off of him to stand in the corner facing the wall, face red as a beet.

Sesshoumaru gets up as well no longer cold in the least. For a moment not knowing what to do he stares intently at her back. 'It's happened again! And this time it was her who initiated, and like an inexperienced pup I responded!' It occurs to him that this unwanted attraction must be their souls being shared and is confusing his signals to his proper soul mate. For a moment he believed Aya was his true mate. 'That has to be it. I wouldn't be attracted to her otherwise.' Waves of her anxiety pelt him. He retrieves his armor and swords then tells her before he leaves. "Do not worry yourself. It is our bond that caused this, nothing more." Then he is gone.

'I can't believe I invaded his space like that. I'm glad he doesn't hate me for kissing him then. He kissed me out of the blue so we're even I guess. He says it's our interlocked souls causing this attraction?' She sighs. 'I only hope so. I think we are enough at ease with each other to try to reverse this bond. Tomorrow I will try.' She feels somewhat strangely reluctant with that plan in mind. She turns around to see the fire is already out by the spilt tea from the two cups. She gathers her blanket, slides onto her sleeping mat, pulls the Sesshoumaru scented blanket over her head, giving it one deep sniff, and falls into a dreamless sleep.

xxxxxxx

Aya wakes to the midmorning rays coming through the curtain of the eastward facing window. She gets up and prepares for a quick bath in the river. Aya bothers not to respond to any of the friendly hellos on her way to the stream as her mind is deep in thought. Mostly about what happened last night and her self appointed task for today. 'I'll need to get him alone to do that. Once I'm free of him I won't need to accompany him. He'll be pleased, but there is still the courting challenge. Well if I'm not going to travel with him, winning or loosing to it won't matter. However if he should travel with Inu-tachi then it would for I will join their group if I'm not being with Sesshoumaru. I mean traveling with Sesshoumaru. I still want to do my part in fighting Naraku. It will be safer too for that evil one wants me for sure.' A shiver runs up her spine.

'I still cannot believe I lost my composure and kissed Lord Sesshoumaru. The things he said about me were so wonderful.' She arrives to the small private cove for her bath and strips. 'He called me beautiful, no one but Nobu has ever said that to me. And beautiful as a human!' She gently slips into the slow moving currents and methodically scrubs at her skin with her trusty cloth. 'My soul fragment must be effecting him. My humanity is changing him that's it. Yes, and once we're back to normal he's going to revert back to "All humans are disgusting and inferior" attitude. However, I hope I have rubbed off on him. He needs to see that not all humans are worthless and weak.' In the shallows she sits at the silt bottom to lift a foot out of the water to wash between her toes.

'How I miss little Rin. I hope she's fairing well with only the imp for company. Will I get to see her again? I made a promise to come back. I will see go her again. If only to give her the doll.'

She moves to her other foot. 'Burr! If I miss anything from the future its hot baths.' She moves a little quicker in her wash. Even though her temperature tolerance is that of a youkai didn't mean she wanted to stay in the cold river anymore than necessary. 'I should go to Keade to ask to restock my herbal supplies.' Her stomach gurgles then. 'But after I eat.' She finishes up and steps out of the water, dries, and puts on the miko attire that Keade gave her.

Since she woke too late to catch breakfast with the others she cooks up some rice and dried fish in her temporary hut. During this preparation and throughout eating her meal she discovers how very solitary she is sitting alone in the one room building. There is no Inuyasha and Shippo fighting over the last dumpling, no exasperated grumblings from Keade about Miroku's latest attempt to grope Sango, no Kagome to fuss over all her friends, and no overwhelming presence of the inuyoukai aura when he loosely 'greets' the group each morning. She especially felt the loss of not seeing Sesshoumaru this morning. Since leaving the Western castle Lord Sesshoumaru would acknowledge her each morning with a nod, a brief word, or, if she was dallying too long getting ready for traveling, an annoyed glare. Even that small little thing from him she missed it.

"I won't be by his side anymore." Her lifeless words are absorbed by the four plain walls of her temporary abode.

The emptiness grips her insides like the talons of a raptor. She very nearly cries in the plain dwelling. And like a raptor the feeling refuses to release her. She puts down her empty bowl and tries to meditate. 'Life is like a river… a river of cold tears…' She tries again. '…a meadow of purple flowers… with no one there to smell them.' She shakes her head. '…like the sun rising each day to warm the day…and the moon to bare the lonely nights…Damn it!' She runs her fingers through her hair in frustration.

Instead of mantras she focuses on a pleasant warm memory. The first to pop in her head is of her lying on top of Sesshoumaru kissing him. 'No I can't think of him like that. He has a mate already and it won't do to entertain such intimate notions of him even if I have shared several with him. They're completely plutonic anyway.' She does think of the other times despite her mind set. The evening when he saved her from the inu female and called her his miko, the morning after in his bed with his whole body holding her, the ride on Au-Un with Rin giggling in-between them, the time his incredible aura swelled through her, the day she woke up in his arms licking his tail (annoying feline mannerisms that one was), the incredible ride on him in his true form, the soft touch when she was in the tree with him, the kiss he gave her, the kiss she gave him… "Plutonic my ass." Her head cradles in her hands. 'It's all just unwanted ordeals and yet why do I want to feel them again, ache to feel him again?' "Gah! It's pointless!" She picked up her bowl and flung it hard at a wall. It shattered on impact.

Taking deep breaths she shoves down the feelings and the memories into the darkest pit of herself. Finally the lonely ache dissipates but doesn't really disappear. What Aya needs is something to keep her mind and hands busy.

With a hop to her feet she marches over to Keade's hut to ask if she can pick some herbs from her garden. Keade nods in approval. Aya sets to work harvesting what she could. She pulls weeds, adds water to plants, and tends to the larger plants to keep busy and to thank Keade for being so hospital to her. None of the others seemed too eager to leave yet. The whiz of Sango's hiraikotsu cuts through the air in the distance as she hones her skill, scattered words of playful bickering from a hanyou and a girl are heard off in the distance, and a pink floating thing that is Shippo pops occasionally into her peripherals while playing with some of the village children.

'Children… will I have one to call my own?' The tears start to well in her eyes again. She takes deep breaths in the hope of soothing the current plague of emotions. It was not working. For once she calls upon that fragment of the ice lord's essence to put her disarray of feelings back under control. 'Please help, I can't break down at the height of day. You are so good at being in control of yourself.' Her eyes shut tightly in vain to hold back the damn of tears. Her eyes begin to leak and she gives up. Jumping up she runs toward the stream where she had bathed earlier as it was nearby. She crumples to the ground before a pair of midsized boulders and lets her body release the aching tears. 'Why now?' Tremors shake her form and she sniffles. 'I've been alone for fifty years, no more then that, I should be used to it!' Salty water drips off her chin to her red hakama. As an answer she thinks 'it's Sesshoumaru. I've grown accustomed to traveling with him that I've realized how lonely I really am. And now very soon I may be parted from him I find that I will miss his presence by my side and within my chest. I must deal with this. It was always meant to be temporary. It was just an accident of fate that I even found him wounded in that cave.' Her tears start to slow in their trickling. 'Solution… get a traveling companion that's not a guy…he he.' She chuckles weakly.

"What pains you Aya?" Says a male voice, startling Aya from her depressed musings. She gets up off the ground brushing the dirt of her knees.

"My lord." She acknowledges voice cracking and reluctant to turn around and show her damp face.

"Look at me." He orders gently. Taking a deep breath she turns to face him. She forces her watery eyes open slowly gazing upward and stops at his chin. Looking up any higher might loose the tiny bit of composure she has left. "Why is there a strange pain in this Sesshoumaru's chest? Answer." He questions her again with a bit more force.

"I'm sorry my lord. I am rather out of sorts today. I tried my best to control my feelings." Her voice still cracks but does her best to maintain a strong front.

Sesshoumaru is mildly surprised. "It's a feeling? Then why does it hurt so much?" He asks.

"Cause… loneliness hurts," shrugging her shoulders. The two fall silent for unknown number of breaths.

Aya breaks it. "My lord since we are alone I wish to… try to break the bond now. I think maybe there's enough trust between us to try again."

He nods and freely gives his hand to her. Hesitantly she clasps it in her right hand and attempts to focus on Sesshoumaru's spiritual essence.

All she can focus on however is the warmth and feel of Sesshoumaru's hand, the fact that he is standing before her so closely, and the fact he came to her when she was in pain. Her grip becomes tighter and tighter. Without knowing her blunt nails draw blood.

"Aya, is it necessary to wound me during this?" He asks blandly.

She loosens immediately then looks into his gorgeous yellow eyes making her falter. "I'm sorry my lord I…can't concentrate." Her arms wrap around him pulling Sesshoumaru into a hug and throwing him off guard. "I need…let me, for just one moment…let me pretend. Please? I promise to focus afterward. Just give me a moment." Her pleading breath on his chest melts into his heart. The tension eases out of him and carefully puts an arm around her. Aya's black hair feathers the tip of his chin and he holds back the urge to lay his cheek atop her head. However, his eyes do close in strange contentment as her breathing becomes steadier and her aura calmer. She lightly rubs her nose across his chest breathing him in.

'I wonder if this is the reason most humans congregate together, to not feel this pain. It must be different for youkai for I'm quite at ease being alone.' He muses as her emotional ache dissipates. Believing she is as calm as Aya will get Sesshoumaru asks "Why do you not seek out your mate if you do not wish to be alone?"

"Because it's my own little curse as a matchmaker. I cannot see my own destined man." Her eyes open a bit dull from crying and pulls away from his chest. Her voice is stronger but somber. "Thank you for baring my weakness my lord. Its not often I cry like that." She takes her sleeve to dry the remaining wetness from her face. Most of her tears went to the front of his hoari. "Let's try this again." She holds out her hand asking for his. In silence he grasps hers. "You know the drill. Search within my essence for your piece of it and I will do like wise with yours." He nods then feels her aura envelope him.

Sesshoumaru aura pushes into hers gently scoping for the blue that tinged with her pink miko essence. Soon he could see it and no fierce barriers obstructed him this time. Unlike before when he could see the two opposing colors of their souls stand out starkly against each other, this time the borders of their souls blended together into a soft violet. He briefly wonders if that development could cause a problem and reaches out spiritually to take hold of what is his. The blue essence that is his soul begins to flow toward him like thick sap dripping from a tree. However, the malleable fragment proves stubborn to separate from the miko's soul and he pulls harder at it.

Slight pain enters his chest as Aya is having similar difficulties extracting her piece of herself. The pain steadily grows to near excruciating while they play tug of war with their willful souls. Aya releases first breaking the spiritual connection between them. She pants heavy with her forehead touching the top part of Sesshoumaru's armored breast plate. She is internally grateful the pain is dissipating fast.

"There were no barriers. Why did it not work?" A hint of anger laces his question.

"It probably could but the pain is more than I can bare. Do you remember when it happened, how painful it was? Our souls were literally ripped apart and the purplish area is like healed scar tissue. It heals stronger so it would take even more force with more pain to rip it apart again. And even if we were successful there's no guarantee that the fragments will cut cleanly off leaving nothing behind. I had hoped it would not be this strong. It would seem that our fragments cannot be forced back." Aya answers in length.

"So we are stuck like this?" A sneer plainly paints his lips.

"I didn't say that. Calm down," putting a hand on his shoulder. "There is an idea, but it goes against my beliefs and you will not like it."

"What is it?" his tone nothing but demanding.

"You have to become seriously injured again." She looks at the ground as she answers.

"You mean heal me again and attempt to draw out our fragments that way." She nods. "This Sesshoumaru will not purposely wound myself to such a degree. Also you would be in pain as well. Could you handle that and attempt the retrieval?"

"Probably not which is why I said you wouldn't like it. And I won't stand having you injured like that. Sometimes my healing isn't enough for mortal wounds." Sighing in frustration, "I'll just have to think of something else."

"Why can you not link the souls for something like a broken leg or superficial wounds?"

"Because only the feeling of sensing someone mortally wounded triggers the response in my body to link souls and heal them and it has to be the person I'm tending to. I wondered that myself when I first started out and it took years to discover why. It's just how my body works." She answers at length again. "I'm sorry it didn't work this time but I promise to keep trying if you'll let me." She gives him a weak smile. Her hand instinctively goes to rub her pendent just under her hoari like a worry stone.

Deciding its time to change the subject she asks "So what are your plans for courting me this fine day, my lord?" trying her best to be cheerful despite the added complication to their situation, although a part of her is relieved to have the inuyoukai by her side a bit longer.

He too agrees a change in subject is warranted. It would not do to dwell in failure. "The inu-tachi have no plans to move from this place today. What would you like to do Aya?"

Her mouth gapes open. 'He's asking me what I want not demanding me go with him or do something. I guess he does listen to me sometimes. "Um…" the faint sounds of young voices tickle her ears. She smiles for real. "Lord Sesshoumaru, will you come with me to visit the village children?" He nods. "And maybe play with them?" She adds beaming brightly at him. He hesitates but can not deny that bewitching glow to her eyes nor the happiness of her smile. He nods again and offers his arm to take hold of.

xxxx

It didn't take long for the eight youngsters to become at ease with the Western Lord. He sits cross-legged in the fallow earth so as to appear as un-menacing as possible. Aya kneels nearby reaffixing a young girl's tie back in her hair. Several of the children were already fond of the matchmaker so her being near the taiyoukai without fear eased away any of their initial trepidation of his presence. Shippo often played among them as well and since he was a youkai too and already a good friend of the village helped relieve their fears even more.

Sesshoumaru isn't too comfortable with so many young eyes staring at him openly in curiosity. Nor is he too keen on his hair being touched by tiny human hands and his pointed ears being poked by dull fingernails. One brave youngster, the youngest of the bunch, even climbed into his lap and pawed his face markings. The little boy asked how he got them.

"This Sesshoumaru was born with them." He did his best to keep the annoyance out of his voice as he bared the scrutiny of the kids. Aya turns to look at him and giggles merrily at the sight. She could see one of the girls were starting to braid one of his tresses. It was so adorable.

Instead of frowning Sesshoumaru's eyes soften at her. 'She is so happy. Her aura glows with the emotion. She looks so… feels so… encompassing, and it me that's made her happy. I cannot deny it. I like seeing her so. Why? And the scent of her tears earlier made me feel so… unhappy. She was hurting inside but I was feeling sad to see her so.' One of the children squealed when the movement of the end of Sesshoumaru's tail startled her.

"It's alive!" She cried.

Annoyance did show on his face then. "Of course it is. It is part of me." In a rare show of playfulness he swishes the tip of the tail in the little girl's face. She squeals again this time in delight and glomps the end of it and pets it. Aya giggles louder especially at the barely masked expression of surprise on his face.

"Why are human females so fascinated by my tail?" He asks looking at the matchmaker while trying to hold down the embarrassing feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Still laughing giddily, "Because it's so soft and fluffy unlike the rest of you my lord."

"Fluffy?" A devious idea works its way into his lip. In the span of two seconds he wiggles the fluffy tail out of the little girl's grasp, lunges it toward the matchmaker, and coils it around her waist and then around her neck. The tip of it brushes her cheek. She shrieks when his tail lifts her a foot off the ground and toward him a little.

"Put me down!" Aya can do nothing but squirm in the snake like grip. Her hands are bound to her sides unable to pry the soft plushy tail off her. To aggravate matters he twitches the tip of his tail back and forth in front of her nose. She shakes her head away from the tickling hairs frantically in vain. It follows her intensely itching nostrils relentlessly. "Sst- snop, plee- aa ah *achoo!*" The torture stops after her dramatic sneeze. "My lord, you are pure evil."

His teeth show in the biggest smile she's ever seen him wear. A few of the children giggle at the adults' antics. Her nose is slightly pink from the irritation but smiling none the less. "I'd like my feet on the ground now." He finally puts her down and let's go.

One of the boys blurts "Lift me up in the air Lord Sesshoumaru!"

"Me next me next!" A girl exclaims. Sesshoumaru takes on an exasperated look. Giggles erupt again out of the matchmaker. "You have a way with children my lord. Give them what they want. For me?" She sobers for a second in a silent plea. He sighs. Because it will make Aya happy he relents to giving the village children 'rides'.

After an hour Aya figures Lord Sesshoumaru is near his breaking point with the overly curious and rambunctious children, the two bid farewell with the bunch and take a stroll around the outskirts of the settlement. Not too far into the walk she slows down.

"Hold up my lord." She says getting directly behind. Before he can ask she says "Those girls really put a number on your hair." She lifts up and smoothes out a thick uneven braid out of his fine silvery hair. "I wouldn't want your dignity to suffer anymore than it already has." Her gentle ministrations sooth his annoyances of the last few hours.

"You do not have to do this."

"I want to. You were very sweet with the children. Thank you." She starts unraveling a thinner braid that spans the entire length of hair.

"I did nothing." He says blandly.

"No, my lord. You interacted with them and restrained your irritation with them. That is far more than I would have expected from you. And, now I have a memory that I will treasure forever. So I will make your hair perfect again." Neither says another word as she fixes his long tresses under the shade of an evergreen.

After a bit Aya checks her work and tells him it's done. Immediately he misses the pleasant grooming she was doing. Perhaps when this is all over and his mate procured he'll ask Arisu to groom him from time to time. With the added complication of their soul fragments being stuck like glue Sesshoumaru could not be sure how soon he could finally mate with Arisu. 'If Aya were my mate it would not be such a problem. She would be quite acceptable, even if she be human.' He shakes the absurd and idiotic thought away. 'I would not do such a thing. Besides, life is never that easy.'

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That night she lay on her sleeping pad staring up at the plain beams of the hut. 'I must admit Sesshoumaru is doing a damn good job at courting me. If I were his mate I'd definitely be purring by his side by now. I really thought he would be disgusted to be with the human children today but no he was patient and amiable to them. Hmm, I need to come up with something that will challenge his skills, something that will put him on the spot. What though? He's proven he can provide food, he's shown that he could be a passable parent, he's shown to have a spontaneous/fun side… Ah wait I'm missing something really important! He has not proven he can protect me during this. Attacking his brother does not count. His mate will likely consider this and will want to see his prowess in defending others. I know he can defend his own easily. He's the most powerful youkai I've ever met.' She nibbles her lower lip for a few minutes. 'If I were a wayward, obstinate youkai what would I do?' giggling at herself. 'I am one. Maybe I would fight him in a little battle. See what he's made of, except I already know and he would take me down in a second. Oh I wish still had my whip. It's the weapon I'm best at, not that it would matter where he is concerned. I'd just want to give him a good effort. Maybe I'll borrow Sango's sword. Hm, my barrier is pretty good in short bursts to push an enemy away and I am fairly accurate with purifying blasts. I am fairly agile even by youkai standards. Should Sesshoumaru question that perk I can just chuck it up to a unique miko ability. Now how to confront him.' Thoughts of stalking Sesshoumaru during his patrol with her aura drawn in as must as possible and firing a large albeit harmless blast of pink energy at the backside of his head came to mind. She allows herself an evil smile. 'I think by surprise. Yeah, that will do.'

'On to more serious matters, I need to figure out how to safely unglue the bond we have. The barriers are down so we both trust each other to a certain extent. I certainly trust him in my arms.' She thinks sadly. 'I mustn't go down that path. I must remain focused. It's too hard to force our souls apart. When I link the souls for healing I lend a piece of myself to the wounded person or youkai in this case. The will to live is usually too strong for those individuals to care or even realize they are lending a piece of themselves to me. There is no pain or resistance while this happens… because I… freely give it and their soul reciprocates because I believe it knows I mean no harm. It might be just to keep the souls balanced, however what happened with Kagome and Kikyo is different. Kagome retains most of her soul so it might not be a balance. I know not the exact circumstances. With that reasoning the soul must be given freely to the other. Can I freely give the right part back to Lord Sesshoumaru?' Her eyes close to look deep into herself, into her soul. She can vaguely see the blue swirling essence that is Sesshoumaru glow softly in tune with her essence. Her hands move up and cup before her face.

A tingling flows to her fingers and congregates strongly in her palms. Holding it there she opens her eyes to see a faint blue glow permeate through the muscles, veins, and skin of her hands. It surprises Aya never before separating souls within her own body. Looking back into her soul she barely detects a trace of blue among the pink. The two colors are essentially separate. It takes a lot out of her to do it and the two colors merge back together soon after breaking concentration. Her hands collapse to her sides while drops of perspiration coat her forehead and down her neck.

"I can do it." She whispers exhausted. 'I should be able to give it back to him. But will Lord Sesshoumaru be able to do the same? So tiring. It will have to wait until after my 'fight' with him…' the last thought before nodding off to sleep.

xxxxxx

She slept in late again. Really she should stop doing that. However the rude awaking didn't come any easier by the lateness of the morning.

Shippo's tiny hands yank at her arm in urgency. "Aya! Aya! We need your help! Wake up!"

Her limbs cry in complaint as she sits up still weak from her experiment last night. She shakes her head and rubs her face clear of her grogginess. "Wha- what is it, little one?"

"Youkai were spotted just south of the village and Inuyasha, Sango, Kagome, Miroku, Kilala, and Sesshoumaru all left to go fight them!" Shippo rambles off.

"What?" wide awake now. "And they left without me!" She scrambles up to her feet and tightens up her obi.

"Lord Sesshoumaru said to leave you safe here." He explains. Shippo follows her out the door.

"Oh, it's just like him thinking I'm just some defenseless female." She fumes as she starts heading south.

"Wait, wait! It's not why I came to get you!" The kitsune grabs the puffy bottoms of her hakamas to hold her back. "A villager needs help!" His pawed feet nearly drag a few feet when she stops to turn around and address the kitsune.

A woman with wisps of grey painting the temples of her hastily bundled up black hair scuttles madly to her side. "My lady! My dear husband Micha is missing! I haven't seen him since early this morning and I fear he might be in trouble with the youkai attacking nearby. Please help find him. You're the only one left that I believe can fend of a youkai if he is in danger. Keade is far too feeble. I cannot possibl-"

Aya lays a hand on the frazzled woman's shoulder. "I will do my best to find your husband." She assures her. Aya lets her aura expand to search for the one identified as Micha. 'If I remember correctly he's a carpenter and has a slight whimsical feel in his aura.' Someone that feels like it could be Micha "pings" the edge of her senses toward the north just beyond the village perimeter. This aura feels hurt in a bad way. Immediately she darts off to the north. "Stay here Shippo and defend the village!" She yells behind her disappearing quickly into the dense forest.

Not long she spots Micha leaning slumped against a tree bleeding out with a chest wound. With a quick scan for danger she runs to his side. He is unconscious and bleeding low in the chest by some sort of stabbing. It's severe but not mortally severe. She puts a hand to his wound and the other to his forehead.

Halfway through her healing process she feels it. The dark malevolent aura she encountered once before but this time so much stronger approaches. She barely lifts her hands off Micha when something tackles Aya from behind. It knocks her to the ground and Aya gasps for the air that expelled from her. Before she can turn to face her attacker a tentacle latches around her waist and arms and pulls her off the ground. She charges her body with miko energy in the hope that the melodious appendage will loosen its hold. Her meager attempts only seem to incite him further as it bangs her body against the nearest tree and then the next tree.

Aya is getting seriously pissed off. She maneuvers her head and bites heavily into the snakelike flesh. Purple black gas spews out of the bite wound causing Aya to wrench her head back in absolute revulsion both in her nose and her mouth. Eyes bleeding red she lets out a feline roar. Still she cannot see her attacker. She so wanted to see his no doubt ugly face and spit on it. "Let me go, coward!" She screams redoubling her efforts to purify the limb. Unfortunately Aya wasn't at her best when she woke up this morning, and then she used a good chunk of energy healing Micha who was obviously used as bait for her. To make matters worse the tentacle's flesh heals back as soon as she burns the flesh. "Face me Naraku! I'll purify your disgusting innards!" She hisses.

"Ku, ku, ku. And my manly parts as well, I'm sure. I know your feelings for me, but can you still purify when you become a youkai?" The dark voice mocks from behind her.

"What-" barely a word escapes when a second tentacle jabs harshly into her back near her spine. A hot burning pain flows into every nerve in her body. 'Miasma… damn him… my body is… changing to combat…it.' She convulses within his grasp and falls limp with unconsciousness.

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BN: You just hate the readers don't you Kim? Stringing them along like this. I pity the fools. Also Sesshy is a MORON!