Dreaming Beauty

Dreaming Beauty

Flora_Winters

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and I’m not making any money here either. I love the anime and the manga. I just wish the video game was better.

Summary: In the beginning, it was funny. It shall all end the same way. A young man becomes immortal and a schoolgirl somehow manages to stumble down an old well. Language, MM, OC, Violence

Prologue

The sweetest song is silence that I’ve ever heard
Funny how your feet in dreams never touch the earth
In a wood full of princes, freedom is a kiss
But the prince hides his face from dreams in the mist

--Heart (These Dreams)


A young man stood before an ancient well. The old stones looked worn from the elements and moss had practically claimed them. It was called the Bone Eater’s Well, for the bones of many a demon rested within its timeless depths.

He wasn’t supposed to be here. His mother had told him stories of how a nasty demon haunted these spooky woods. He would get into so much trouble if he was found to be here.

But, he had been very careful. The old guards were easily fooled. Plus, they were all lazy to begin with and not very fast. It was a bright and sunny day, anyway. Nothing could possibly happen on such a beautiful afternoon.

He would sneak and come here all the time, looking for the demon, which was supposed to haunt the trees. He could never find it. He had even (very foolishly) taunted it into coming out and stealing his soul. But, the demon was always a no show. The only things that haunted this forest were the fluttering butterflies and the chirping birds.

A warm breeze, smelling of wildflowers, tickled his nose and ruffled his feathery soft locks. He blinked his green eyes (very strange), looking to his left, where the sudden breeze had come from. There was nothing to be seen, except for a little squirrel that was playing with an acorn.

He took a seat at the well, resting his slender back against the cool stones. It would be a long walk back to the village and he wasn’t in the mood to head back just yet. There would be chores waiting for him if he did.

He loved the forest. It was calm and peaceful here under the green leaves of the whispering trees. It wasn’t spooky here at all. Lady Kaede didn’t know what she was talking about. Perhaps it was a friendly demon that lived in these woods and paid humans no mind. It could either be that or it could be a very timid and shy demon.

He pictured the shy demon having puppy ears and a perpetual pout. It was all bark with no bite. The picture in his mind made him snort and then he giggled.

“Come out, demon!” He called, just loud enough to be heard. “I would very much like to meet you.”

His only answer was the continued chirping of the birds. Now he was the one who was pouting. He was never going to get to meet the demon that all the villagers feared.

“Oh well,” he sighed, looking up at the blue sky through the leaves that were the color of his eyes.

He watched how the leaves danced to the melody of the gentle wind. A butterfly landed softly on his knee. It had fiery red wings and it seemed to sparkle in the light.

He smiled and closed his eyes. He felt so very, very tired all of a sudden. It was such a warm day. Looking for that demon must have really tired him out.

He slowly opened his eyes, seeing many of the same butterflies. They were fluttering all around him. They were so pretty and they glittered like glowing red jewels with wings.

A sweet smell tickled his nose once more. It reminded him of his grandmother’s jasmine. The little blossoms would only blood at night.

He closed his eyes once more and gently fell over onto his side against the moss covered well. The ground was warm and the grass was so soft. A little nap would do him a world of good right now. The chores could wait. They would still be there when he woke up.

~*~

“Look at him,” a tiny voice giggled in airy delight. The sound was like bells on the wind or little bubbles being popped. “Isn’t he beautiful? We’ve never seen a mortal with such green eyes.”

Many voices agreed with the one who had spoken. It was very true, for they had never seen such golden hair (even stranger) or honey smooth skin before. The boy was lovely to their many eyes.

“Should we take him?” A second voice asked. “Surely he will fade like the flowers if we do nothing.”

All the voices agreed with the second voice as well. Such beauty could not be allowed to fade away into dust and soon to be forgotten memory. They could forge, temper, and make it eternal with their sweet kisses.

The first voice considered what all the voices were saying. The mortal was kind, as well as very mischievous. Oh, he liked that very much. Plus, his beauty was more startling than a sudden boom of thunder and his spirit was brave and adventurous. Not too many boys go in search of dangerous demons in places they’re told not to go.

It had been worth watching him for all these months, testing and judging him. He and his people had fallen for the mortal almost instantly. His kindness was just as great as the harmless pranks in which he played on his neighbors.

“It is decided,” the first voice spoke. “We shall give this beautiful mortal our kiss.”

All the voices cheered like a great ringing of ruby bells.

A fiery glow descended upon the sleeping human. His mortal veins flowed with crimson light. His heart began beating to the same rhythm of many a molten wing.

Green eyes snapped open and they were filled with shining emerald lights. Both orbs were more luminous than twin stars in a night sky. Long, snowy lashes batted twice and those eyes closed once more.

The glow soon left and the young man’s smooth flesh had been bleached whiter than fresh fallen snow under the light of a full moon. His long golden locks were splayed out like a halo of light about his stunning face.

Many voices spoke as one. “It is done.”

The winged voices left the young man curled up at the sleeping demon’s feet. The enchanted arrow was still where it had always been, waiting to be pulled free by a hand (possessing the same spirit) which had put it there.

~*~

It was Lady Kaede who went in search for the strange boy with his frightened mother and grandmother. The three women searched the forest over, even the well, fearing he might have fallen down it and hurt himself. They could find no trace of him.

“Ari!”

“Come out and we’ll promise not to get mad!”

“Speak for yourselves.” Lady Kaede muttered under her breath.

The three women searched for hours until Lady Kaede finally decided to take down the barrier, which hid the half demon Inuyasha from untrained eyes. The tree was mighty and so was the murderous bastard who was enchanted to its ancient trunk. Oh, she hated him. He had taken her sister away from her.

The priestess couldn’t believer her good eye. The boy was here, but how he came to be here, she did not know.

“Ari!” The boy’s mother cried in alarm, racing towards her fallen son.

The woman was struck by an invisible pulse, which knocked her flat on her back. The grandmother quickly went to her side, dropping her wooden cane.

“Oh, dear,” Lady Kaede whispered, walking forward very slowly.

Inuyasha had been pierced to the tree for 30 yeas and nature now embraced him like a wicked lover. It was the young man at the demon’s naked feet which held her attention.

Ari’s body was resting upon a giant tree root. He was being gently caressed by blooming vines. There were flowers in his golden hair. His skin was the color of bleached demon bones. He looked somewhat older, too. But, there was no stench of decay.

“Ari!” The mother cried.

“Quiet,” Kaede commanded. “He isn’t dead. He merely sleeps.”

How had the boy gotten here? Why did he look the way he did? What was this change that had fallen over him? His face was mesmerizing.

A bead of sweat ran down her cheek to drip from her chin. Ari looked to be frozen in time. If she hadn’t known the little troublemaker, she would have thought him a girl from the angle in which she was looking at him.

“What’s wrong with him?” The grandmother asked.

“I…I told him to never play here.”

The aging priestess pushed through the magical barrier as if it were a silk curtain, in order to check the child. His flesh was glacial and felt colder than winter, but his pulse was strong.

She tried moving him, but a vine bit into her wrist like a serpent, causing her to quickly leap back with the speed of a youth. The vines coiled and slithered like vipers. They were protecting the boy.

There was nothing she could do at the moment. The vines would kill her if she tried that again and even her most powerful chants just made them hiss as if they were snickering at her.

A soft boom of thunder echoed in the distance. The smell of rain was on the breeze.

“I can do nothing for him at the moment,” she finally admitted to the grieving women. “But, he isn’t dead.”

“Who did this to my grandson?” The elder asked.

“I do not know,” Kaede answered truthfully. “It is a very powerful enchantment.”

It almost felt godlike.

“Priestess,” the grandmother suddenly cooed. “You’re injured.”

Kaede looked at her wrist, seeing the thorny bite marks. “It is nothing,” she said, quickly wrapping her injury up in her robe’s long sleeve. She just hoped the thorns weren’t poisonous.

The mother was silent and the thunder was getting ever closer. A storm was rolling in.

“The tree will not let go of him,” she told them. “But, I will think of something. I promise you.”

The mother pointed with a trembling finger. “It is that demon hound. He did this to my boy. He craves young flesh.”

“Don’t be foolish,” Kaede snapped at her. “Inuyasha is far too busy running from furry kittens in Hell to have done this.”

She enjoyed picturing that and could hear the rain. It was soon falling on their unprotected heads. It was a gentle rain. The thunder just made it seem worse than it was.

“Come,” she said, offering her hands. “We must get out of this rain.”

It was hard getting the boy’s mother back to the warmth and safety of the village. Lady Kaede tried many things over the next weeks. Nothing worked. The vines were ruthless, even slaying one villager. They snapped and tore him limb from limb. It had been a mess.

Ari remained as he was, sleeping as if nothing was wrong in the world. His beauty bloomed all the more as seasons passed. He never aged a day. The spring thawed him, summer loved him, autumn decorated him, and winter made his beauty something truly terrible to behold.

The grandmother died from a wasting illness three years later and the widowed mother had already lost her mind to sorrow. She drowned herself in a rice pond. She had been very drunk.

The dreaming beauty stayed as he was, sleeping at the demon’s feet, never aging a day. He only grew all the more beautiful.

20 Years passed and that was when the rice paddies hit the modern day ceiling fan. It all had to do with a bumbling schoolgirl stumbling down a well, making out with a big breasted female centipede, and playing scratch the crazy doggy demon’s fuzzy ears.

We’ll get to that shit shortly.

To Be Continued…

A little note from Flora:

Hi, y’all! I have watched Inuyasha from back in the day, and now I’m playing some video game that has really bad dubbing. I do believe it is called Legend of the Cursed Mask or something like that. The voice actors from the anime are all right, but the one for the schoolboy is really lame. It’s like they just flung him into the mix, gave it a good shake, and then told everyone to have fun with the new guy. Don’t get me wrong, the game is entertaining. I just wish it was better. I could do without the characters speaking as well. It gets annoying, hearing the same corny phrases over and over again at the beginning and ending of every battle.

So, I decided to write this. I do believe it is going to be hilarious once Kagome trips down the well. I think I’ll make her a real stoner with lots of attitude. She’ll have to deal with a gay immortal and a crazy dog demon that has a 50 year itch that needs a good scratching.

Y’all please read and tell me what y’all think about it. There will be comedy, angst, more comedy, and the kind of angst that will make you want to slit your wrists and drink. Did I mention blasphemy? Yeah, there will be lots of blasphemy bombs all over the place.

Look out! Y’all might step in some Buddha or trip over vampire Jesus. You know how our “savior” is all about people eating his flesh, drinking his blood, and beating him with whips. The guy suffers from some serious vampire BDSM. That’s what you get when you have a dead beat dad for a carpenter and another one who is far too busy trying to decide who should win an Emmy at the VMA. I wish that bitch would get down off his cross or stumble out of his tomb and bite my neck already. Then I would worship him.

Anyway, I hope you all have enjoyed the prologue. Don’t mind my ramblings. I’ll just go sit in a church and wait for the roof to cave in on me.

Peace, love, and pink fuzzy bunnies for everybody!