When the sun sets... (Open)

[Lady Kikyou]

Kikyo

The Goshinboku Tree , The very place two worlds stopped. Where two hearts were forever broken beyond repair.. This was the place, the one that tore at Kikyo's heart on a daily basis, caused the pain that ate away at her core. She dispised these memories, the flashes of Inuyasha's shocked face when the arrow struck his heart. The rush of crimson liguid pouring from her, and the immense pain she felt as the world around her grew black.

The Miko made her way through the tree's aimlessly, her ebony black hair fell in cascading waves down her back, free from her usual ribbon. Slung across her shoulder was a bow, and resting upon the other a full arrows. Jingling on her neck however was a wire, thin and rather stringy in apperance, though attached to the end of the string resting between her boosums, a quater of the Jewel. Far from being complete, though it was a rather good start. It seemed that with each coming day she found more and more, though she knew Inuyasha and his group were sure to be having the same luck, she couldn't help but worry what was going to happen when there were no more to be recovered. When the two groups would be face to face, against Naraku.

Beside her flew to Shikagami, Floating along like a pair of ghots drifting around her and around tree's. They were the closest thing to friends the Miko had, though they hardly spoke, their company was greatly appreciated none the less. As the Goshinboku Tree slowly came into view, the Miko's steps faltered. Her brown eyes grew heavy with pain as she inched closer, and let a soft pale hand gently touch the bark. There was still an indention from her arrow, and her fingers gently prodded the hole with painful interest. She hated this place, yet at the same time it comforted her. Reminded her of the Pain Naraku had caused her, and gave her the strength to continue fighting till he was destroyed and peace was once again returned to the lands..

The Shikagami slowly fluttered off into the distance, off in search of more soul's to feed Kikyo. To give her more strength as her body grew tired. Only earlier had the Miko battled another power hungry demon, it was a fool to dare challenge Kikyo, and of course his fate was sealed from the beginning of the fight. One sacred arrow and he was down, screaming profanities into the air as the Miko simply walked away. Only using such a small amount of energy had left her feeling exhausted, and slowly beneath the tree her knee's buckled and her back slid along the tree base till her bottom rested upon the earth. Slowly her bow and arrows fell upon the earth, and her hands folded neatly together upon her lap..

Her eye's felt heavy, yet she didn't close them.. You never knew when someone would just pop up on you these days.

[InuYasha]

"Osuwari, osuwari, osuwari," came a dismayed voice. It seemed akin to for hours now he'd been repeating the phrase repeatedly in his head until he'd just started speaking it aloud. Why not? It wasn't like there was really somebody else around. Yes, everyone had departed because he was shunned as being the individual that was intolerable. Kagome had left him with her temper flaring and down the well she went. Miroku, Sango, Shippou, and Kirara had decided to avoid him as well. This had only occurred a week before… too much time for his taste.

Yet it was there that he would hang about right beside the well, looking back down into the shadowy hollow. His arms crossed over a portion of the lumber and his chin rested in the cherry foundation of his kimono that sheltered his flesh. With those silvery ears pricked frontward and that fiery golden gaze looking on, he would linger there to watch, listen, and wait for her to come back to him. Obviously he could have always gone back down the well himself but right now he was almost frightened to. He'd maintain his pledge and give her those ten days.

Time ticked on, never coming to a finish. Time didn't have to wait on anyone. It was the people that would wait on time whether they sought it to be sluggish or swift. This time right now was excellent for him though. He still sought to go but wanted to stay all at once. So there was no rush and no wait for him. All he would have to do was sit there like the devoted dog that he was and only wait on her, that Kagome Higurashi who had one way or another entered his life gradually took seizer to it.

Now his heart would be frayed two ways flanked by two women that were so comparable and yet so diverse Of course his original preference would have been to keep both of them but even his father, the great dog demon, could have never done such a thing. It would always be an option between one and the other. He'd only known Kagome for about four months now. Maybe that was the same quantity of time that it'd taken Kikyou to enter his heart prior to them being torn apart. He'd lost count of months back then.

Reminiscences were all that he was able to present himself of her. There was no Kikyou around now. There was merely the tree, the Goshinboku tree that was less than a mile away from him; maybe half a mile if that. Then there was also the village that didn't venture to far away from the Bone Eater's Well too. In the backside of his mind, he knew that something was recognizable in this forest; a fragrance that he'd branded for such a long time. Yet, he wouldn't permit himself to spotlight on anything else right now. That was the decision that he’d made.

[Lady Kikyou]

Kikyo

A hour may have passed, and the Mikos chocolate brown eyes had flickered closed. Letting her wounds heal as the Shikongami continued to bring her life. As the Shikongami once again departed from their lady, Kikyo's eyes slowly flickered open once again. Her fingers closed around the wooden bend of her bow, feeling the comfort the weapon brought her she calmed a bit. Letting her gaze slowly filter through the trees scoping out any possible danger. Her other hand instictivly sought out the Jewel around her neck, and the pink fragment pulsed beneath her gentle touch.

As she could see her shikongami fluttering through the trees she often wondered where exactly they ventured to. Only the end result was the souls they brought, she couldn't help the pain she felt for stealing so many souls. The white ghost like demons flew from the cover of the tree's, spiraling in awkward circles as they danced in the air together.. A lone hanyau was resting by the Well. Though they paid little mind to him, he was sure to see them.

Slowly the Miko got to her feet, and dusted off her clothing and replaced her bow over her shoulder. It had been sometime sense she'd rested like that.. and it felt as if she'd been asleep for years. Her body was stiff, and she could feel the hollow shell of herself slowly loosening as she moved. With little interest she moved forward, letting only one more soft gaze fall upon the Goshinbaki tree before she went on her way. Unaware that less then a mile from her was Inuyasha. The lover she had yet to see for quite some time. Yet her hatred for him had slowly dwindled, as the truth finally came to her ears. Letting her know that it wasn't Inuyasha only Naraku in disguise.

After some time the tree's began to dwindle, and grow sparse. It was then that her chocolate brown eyes fell upon the silver haired hanyau. Her heart stopped beating, and her breath caught in her throat. The shadow's of the trees would offer her little to no place to hide, and her scent had surely already reached that nose of his. She rolled her shoulders and stepped out from the shadows, letting the warm sun fall upon her pale features and light up her chocolate eyes.. Her lips parted and only one word slipped from her velvety lips "Inuyasha.."

[InuYasha]

How long could a dog truly stay loyal to something and keep its focus to never be distracted by such a force? It seemed like for him it would only be that one hour that he wouldn’t be able to keep his mind set on one goal; seeing Kagome come back and being there for it. No of course there would always be something else that would have to draw his attention away from her. Something else that would have been so important that it could almost control him in an odd sense if one saw it that mysterious way.

Just a single lift of his head was all that was granted as he divvied his attention. His sunlit golden gaze shifted back up towards the sky, watching as familiar creatures whisked by him so effortlessly. Though it truly was like a dance that he’d never be able to do himself. Maybe he was just too clumsy to move so gracefully all the time. Though to keep his place among their ranks, he had a good sense of balance. He used this almost on a daily basis when he traveled from tree to tree, sadly not as quickly as them.

'Kikyou.' That was all that he could think to himself, the only thing that those demons meant to him. No, the day wasn’t supposed to come to a point like this. He wasn’t supposed to be around Kikyou right now. That was what his mind would tell him but his heart would say otherwise. That heart of his that still winced in pain at the very thought of her yet at the same time told him to love her. A clawed hand reached up and grasped his kimono there, in that spot where the arrow had hit him; destroyed him.

That scent rushed through him like a wild fire spreading throughout the forest. There was no stopping his senses from picking it up and registering it through his memory. After a couple of minutes he just wanted to say that she was close. Things never went as planned. The moment his name hit his ears and his mind matched the voice, he knew very well that she was there. There was no point in just trying to call it an illusion. He wouldn’t even be able to reject her very presence because of the hold that she had on him.

Swiftly, he turned to face a past lover. Yet the way he stood it almost seemed like he was trying to hide the well behind him. Hide the fact that he had betrayed her and again and messed with her heart. That cat silted gaze caught sight of her chocolate brown eyes, keeping a lockdown on them. “Kikyou, what are you doing here?” There was nothing else that he could think of to say to her at that moment. It was just the first words that would slip from his mouth. All at the same time, the confusion was there.