Waters of the Night

An Inuyasha Fanfiction

Words by Aino : Beta-read by Katie and Lynn

Disclaimer: Yes, Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan Inc., Bandai and Viz Communications. No, they do not pay me. This is a fanfiction. Do not sue. Thank you.
Rating: R (mostly it fits under PG-13. Just playing safe here.)
Category/Genre: Epic, action/adventure, drama, romance (pairings InuyashaxKagome, SangoxMiroku)
Warnings: Graphic violence, strong language, mature themes (no sex), semi-dark, plot-heavy ::wicked grin::
Timeline & Spoiler Warning: This is a largely independent storyline that takes place after episode 50 of the anime (manga act 182, in tankoubon 19), and it contains spoilers for pretty much the entire series up until that point.
Teaser: A saga of mystery and magic, adventure and love. Inuyasha-tachi are drawn into the primeval realms of feudal Japan, among demons and other, stranger creatures. Kagome must confront her awakening power as the company is faced with dangerous adversaries and age-old treachery.
Archiving: If you're interested, please contact me!
Feedback: Constructive criticism, comments and cheese are accepted with delight.
Note: I will try to keep the Japanese in this story to a minimum, but I will be using Japanese terms that have no clear English equivalents, as well as name suffixes. I will include the glossary for the entire fic at the end of this chapter, since FFnet does not allow non-story chapters. As you read, you can keep this chapter open in a new window and refer to the glossary as needed. Simple enough?

Prologue: Seekings

Greenclaw Vale, Sengoku Jidai

The valley opened through the dawn haze like a yawning maw, cliffs plummeting into the patches of pine, cedar and cypress blanketing the vale floor below. The drop was interrupted only by a ledge of rock running from the treeline into a pass through the bordering mountains and serving as a precarious walkway.

There were no travellers up or down that path, as there had been none for as long as the longest human memory could reach. The common folk of the region knew as well as their lords to be wary of the denizens of Greenclaw Vale, and even more so of the sinister and awful creatures inhabiting the mountains around and beyond.

There were no travellers, no land-bound ones. But those who walked the paths of wind and water, or even more otherworldly ways, might use the passageway on occasion, though even they were wise to tread with caution. Even now a flock of vaguely human-shaped creatures soared among the clouds of mist that night had cast over the valley, their powerful wings carrying them through series of climbs and dazzlingly fast swoops. Bird-like cries sliced the air as they advanced, keen eyes scouring the ascent towards the mouth of the pass.

They were hunting for an intruder who had, impossibly, breached the vigilance of their sentinels, evaded the traps laid thick as the needles of a pine all about the slopes, and escaped with a treasure sealed into the deepest heart of the vale, never to be uncovered -- until now.

One of the airborne trackers swept down, screaming a single word in a high, inhuman voice.

On the path, near to the end of the climb, a lone figure stood, loose, layered garments hanging around a tall frame. She -- if indeed it was female -- was erect and square-shouldered, her head held up, as if she was poised to meet the warrior head-on. She extended one fisted hand, fabric the colours of rust and ochre and bronze whispering with the movement.

The hunter pulled back his spear as he hurtled down from the morning sky. The sun crested the forest-capped mountains to the east, and for an instant he was haloed by the light, the spear in his grip gleaming as if already bathed in blood. His mouth opened into another shriek, the plumes of his wings caught the sun and shone red, starkly defined, blade-like.

His companions circled above, one of them cawing a warning in alarm as he dove for his prey.

She stood facing the incoming attack, eyes glimmering with a scarlet that seemed to reflect the sun-clad warrior. Very calmly and softly, she opened her closed hand.

A bolt of black luminescence lanced from her palm, a swath of darkness across the crisp, empty air. It was a streak of deepest black and yet a wild chaos of all colours from blue to green to yellow to shades that had no conceivable names in any tongues, which flitted into being and away more quickly than the eye could follow.

The light shot outward in a fan shape, terrifying, ephemeral.

He let out a single wail of surprise before the light reached him, closing in on him like a living being of will and intent, twisting into a whirlwind of hues and shapes.

There was a ripping sound not unlike nails dragged along glass, and the winged hunter was consumed by the light.

With keening yells, his four comrades surged downward to converge on the robed figure on the path, completely without cover.

The multi-coloured darkness again struck out from her hand; a rending, moist sound faded away into echoes, and then the sky above Greenclaw Vale was still and empty. The mists rose up in languorous whorls, baring the valley below to the burning sun.

oOo

The sphere in her hand throbbed still, radiating pulses of azure light through her sealing fingers. She slumped down to her knees, drained, but deeply satisfied. Her search had not been in vain.

She cursed her restraining shape, the semblance of form she had been forced to take to accomplish her task. It was mostly a burden, this body of hers, easily fatigued, but it was a guise she had had to don in order to slip through the guard of the accursed bird-man tribe, to conceal her true nature from their mystic sight.

Not that corporeal form was without its pleasures. Touch, for one, was a sense she was happy to possess right then, feeling the smoothness and weight of the orb on her palm, the living heat of it.

Eyes that were flutters of scarlet in pools of shadow traced over the fist-sized sphere, drinking in its inner brilliance, the illusion that the whole orb was a glob of liquid solidified before it would become only a splash against a surface, suspended in time. She had longed for the feel of the jewel against her hand, in the manner one longs for sunlight in a prison beneath the ground, or for a lover's touch and voice after a time spent apart. It made her feel if not whole, at least less lost and alone. And it was the way for her to be whole again.

There was a span in her considerable memory where things grew misshapen, mere nightmarish sounds and visions from swathes of obscurity. Among the few more coherent recollections had been a hint of the trail she had followed to the valley of the bird-people, the trail of the one who had stolen the jewel from her so long ago. But she had been patient, and in the end more cunning than the thief and their kinfolk. She had reclaimed what had been taken from her.

The destruction of the hunters had offered her a taste of vengeance, and she had enjoyed it, but it was not important now. The only thing that mattered was that she now possessed the jewel, after a time spent searching compared to which human lifetimes were flickers of light in dark waters, coming and going in the space of a single breath.

The jewel was still, as if dormant. She could feel strength ebbing back into her borrowed body, and knew that she should not linger. She had destroyed her pursuers, but more would come, and the orb had drawn more power from her than she had believed it would. She would need to master it again, remember how the patterns of its ancient magic were set.

One goal had been attained. Others remained. There was another she would have to pay a visit to, and she hoped to do it before night fell. Even though she was not a creature of flesh and mortality, she was still bound in time, and not without her limits.

Feet stumbling on the path, she forged on, tucking the sphere into the folds of her garments, near the place of her heart. Often she collapsed, weary and disoriented as she was, but always she stood up and pushed away her exhaustion, telling herself it was nothing more than a thing of her mind, a fleeting delusion.

Once she stopped, permitting herself a moment of reprieve, even taking out the jewel, relishing its pulsation of power still untapped.

Her thoughts already reaching forward, into the future, she fumbled in the sleeve of her outer robe, producing three slivers of gemstone. She had been juggling the possibility ever since the trail of the jewel had grown fresher. Now she finally had what she needed to actualise it. In her right hand, a whole, unmarred sphere rested like an eye of night. In her left, three small shards of another glimmered with a lavender light of their own.

The Jewel of Four Souls. Incomplete, shattered by the very one who had been fated to protect it, so she had heard.

The Blackwater Jewel. Sealed away for centuries unnumbered, guarded by beings who, for all the magic in their blood, could not even conceive of the vastness of the power locked into it.

One was hers. The other, she perhaps would not need, if only one thing that she suspected and hoped for would turn out to be true.

Reaching to the core of her being, invoking a drop of her might, she called upon the wind in the pass to aid her journey, only so much as to make her feet step a little easier. There was work to be done, an ally to secure, and, finally, a person to find.

The Jewel of Four Souls had been brought back to the Land of the Rising Sun fifty years after its supposed destruction. It had taken a person of extraordinary spiritual purity to harness the fickle energies of the jewel. Such power way beyond rare, and control of it a covetable thing.

She hurried on, sped by a wind that carried the tang of dead leaves and decay through the summer mountains.

oOo

First draft November 18, 2001
Last revised November 30, 2004
Aino
ricepaperdreams at yahoo . co . uk
groups . yahoo . com / group / ainofics /

Glossary of Japanese Terms

The terms are listed in alphabetical order. I am close to positive that these terms are being used correctly in this story; if you have a correction, kindly drop me a note.

aa: masculine "yes", "yeah"

Akiko: this name can be written with the kanji for "autumn" (aki) and "child" (ko)

Amida: in Sanskrit "Amitabha", a Buddha of mercy; the central holy figure of Pure Land Buddhism (a sect formed in Japan in the Kamakura period)

Benten: one of the seven Shinto gods of luck, and the only goddess among them; since Sango is a wandering, female warrior, it would stand to reason that she would attach some spiritual significance to this particular kami

bouzu: an insulting term for a Buddhist priest; hard to find an English equivalent

-chan: a name suffix literally meaning cute or little; generally used to address children, female relatives or (close) friends, also a common endearment

chichiue: an old, respectful way of saying father

daimyou: a feudal lord, the supreme ruler of a han, a feudal province

dojo: a centre for martial arts training; in this context, indicates a training hall customarily overseen by a samurai family who would be the protectors of a particular school of swordsmanship; refers to both the school and its teachings and the physical building itself

-dono: an archaic name suffix indicating respect; probably best translated as "ma'am" or "sir". More respectful than the default -san, not in use in modern Japanese.

Enma-o: the lord of the underworld in Japanese mythology

furoshiki: carrying cloth; a square of sturdy fabric that is tied into a bag

futon: thick Japanese mattress; can be rolled up during the day -- saves space; in the Sengoku Jidai the word futon means thinner bedding woven of reeds or straw

geta: wooden sandals that women wear with a kimono; nowadays, they are mostly used as a part of the traditional, formal attire

Hachiman: the Shinto god of battle; also a deity of agriculture and a protector of children, his most important task is the defence of the Japanese nation

hakama: wide skirt-pants, a traditional Japanese garment. The garment has slits down the sides from waist to mid-thigh to facilitate movement, and it's tied with sashes at the waist.

hamafuda: another name for the (o)fuda spell papers; "hama" means "purity"

hankyu: "half bow"; the Japanese short bow, Kagome's weapon of choice

hanyou: half-demon (and half-human, at least in Inuyasha's case)

houriki: "power of Buddha"; clerical powers of the Buddhist faith. Miroku typically channels his either through (o)fuda (spell papers) or his monk's staff.

houshi: low-ranked Buddhist monk, often with combat training; I am not terribly familiar with the hierarchy of the Buddhist sects of Warring States Japan, so I cannot be more specific. The original meaning of the word houshi is "teacher of the law".

jinja: a Shinto shrine

kami: god, divinity, or a spirit of nature; according to the pantheistic Shinto belief, everything has a kami, or a spirit.

kannushi: the head priest of a Shinto shrine

kappa: an ugly, goblin-like water spirit in Japanese mythology; kappa can be placated by giving them cucumbers

kariginu: a wide-sleeved samurai hunting jacket; the proper term for Inuyasha's red top. Spread the love, people -- an unholy percentage of this fandom still uses the erroneous term haori. (Yours truly did, too, until some time ago.)

katana: Japanese long sword, upwards of 2 ft in length; the blade is slightly curved and the sword can be used with either one or two hands.

Kaze no Kizu: "The Cutting Wind"; a special technique of the Tetsusaiga (Inuyasha's sword, duh) which can cut down a hundred youkai in one swing. It is executed by slashing through the collision point of the youki (demon energy) of oneself and the opponent and turning the opponent's youki on him or her.

kesa: the outer part of the attire of a Buddhist monk; the length of fabric that is wrapped over the robe

ki: the Japanese term for life force, energy field, aura, spiritual energy; can also mean instinct or emotion in certain contexts; also written as chi, which is the Chinese form

kimono: a word that refers to traditional Japanese attire at large; most commonly means the full-length, robe-like garment that is tied with a wide sash (obi)

kitsune: fox; or here, as in Japanese folklore/mythology, a fox spirit or demon

kosode: a type of kimono, with small, three-quarter length sleeves; Sango's white and magenta garment is an example

-kun: a name suffix used to address people of equal/lower social standing and/or age; more casual than -san, this is applied almost excessively to males, or in modern-day business life to young women

matsuri: Shinto festival; the verb used as a basis for this term translates to "to be in the company of kami and to pay back for services/favours". Kami can mean god, divinity, or a spirit of nature.

miko: Shinto priestess or shrine maiden; literally translated, this word means "god-child"

mikoshi: a portable Shinto shrine; also called omikoshi, with the honorary o-prefix

mochi: a sort of rice cake made from sticky rice that is pounded into flour and steamed into a dough, cooled and shaped into cakes; "in the olden days" mochi were made only for holidays, and they still have a significance in Shinto rites as sacrificial food

mon: the family emblel of a samurai house, akin in function to a coat of arms; mon were symbols samurai wore to declare their allegiance, and they were also used on the battlefield to identify troops

mononoke: vengeful, restless spirit

Musashi: the feudal han (province) in which Kaede's village lies

(o)baachan: "grandma"; a quite familiar, almost endearment-like way of addressing old women, since the -chan suffix is used

(o)babaa: a candid, even vulgar way of saying "old woman" or "grandmother"; the implied meaning can be something like "old hag"

obi: a wide cloth sash used to belt garments

(o)fuda: a strip of paper enscribed with a Buddhist/Shinto scripture, used to ward away evil spirits; Miroku uses these as focus for his clerical powers, such as exorcism

(o)jiichan: "gramps", "grandpa"; a quite familiar way of addressing old men, since the -chan suffix is used; feminine and/or children's language

ojisama: a very respectful way of saying "uncle", given the -sama suffix

(o)jousama: in this case, "lady of the house"; a respectful term used for the mistress of a household

oshou: a high-ish rank of Buddhist priest, the leader of a temple; loosely comparable to an abbot in Christian hierarchy.

ri: an old Japanese measure of distance; equals 3,9 kilometres (a little less than 2,5 miles)

ronin: a masterless, rogue samurai; literally means "wave man", which indicates that ronin were often wanderers and soldiers-for-hire, owing allegiance to no particular lord

ryuu: dragon; it is noteworthy that this word refers specifically to Eastern (Asian/Chinese/Japanese etc.) dragons, not the Western beasts in mythoi of Judeo-Christian (Hebrew) roots

-sama: a very respectful, even reverent name suffix; means about lord, lady etc.

samurai: the warrior/noble caste of Japan in the feudal period; literally means "one who serves", and comes from saburau, a verb meaning "to attend", "to watch closely"

Sankon Tetsusou: "Soul Scattering Iron Claw"; the name of Inuyasha's "bare-handed" attack; can be anything from simply tearing into an opponent to blasts of energy; Viz translates this "Claws of Steel"

seibai: literally, "judgment"; in accordance with best anime tradition, Miroku, too, shouts the names of his attacks, in this case (in Chapter Eight) a discharge of purifying energy channelled through the (o)fuda. Forgive a fangirl for using the Japanese -- it sounds a lot cooler.

Sengoku Jidai: "the Era of Warring States"; the historical period into which Kagome fell through the Bone-Eater's Well, about AD 1467-1568

shakujou: the staff of a wandering Buddhist monk

shamisen: the traditional Japanese three-stringed lute

shikkari nasai: "please hold on", "please don't give up"; a very polite phrase

Shikon no Tama: translates to either "Jewel of the Four Souls" or "Jewel of the Soul Base", depending on how one reads the kanji (writing characters), but I like the Japanese way of writing this

shimewana: a blessed rope of straw, often decorated with ornately folded paper strips; shimewana are used by practisers of the Shinto faith to ward away evil spirits and powers

shitogi: a cake made of ground grain; an old festival food

shouji: a sliding screen/wall panel made of opaque paper attached to a wooden frame; in richer houses shouji were often elaborately painted to give a room a desired ambience

taijiya: exterminator, hunter

taiyoukai: great youkai; the highest of all youkai, these creatures can assume human form, but their true shapes are usually those of beasts -- dogs, wolves, cats, etc.

tanuki: Japanese raccoon-dog; also a creature in Japanese folklore based on this animal. Tanuki are most often described as tricksters and drunkards of a more amusing than malevolent bent.

tatami: thick Japanese mat made of rice straw; in traditional Japanese architecture (and in some modern houses as well) rooms are measured by the number of tatami that can be laid on the floor

wasabi: Japanese horse-radish; has a really pungent taste and smell

yama-uba: mountain hag or witch; an old and hideous woman with sorcerous powers, a recurring archetype in Japanese folk tales

youkai: demon, or a monster of magical nature; the term is rather broad, encompassing other mythical creatures than those that would be easily labelled as "demons", but I think "demon" still is the best English translation

youki: demon energy; correlates with ki, "life force", but means that of a demon

yukata: in a modern context, such as with Kagome's garment in Chapter Two and Three, a light summer kimono; also an informal, robe-like cotton garment that might be worn at home. In the Sengoku Jidai, yukata means a formal, festive sort of kimono not meant for casual use.

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