A little note: This is for the dokuga_official bi-monthly contest. I was stumped on what to write and had resigned to not participating again, but then I listened to the Game of Thrones soundtrack and BAM! Inspiration! This was heavily inspired by Arya's arc about the House of Black and White, and if you have seen GoT you will probably see some similarities. Haha.
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Rumiko Takahashi, the creators of the anime, or with the creators of Game of Thrones. This is purely for fun, with no profit being made.
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No One
The great hall was always chilly. The ancient stone walls, high ceiling and presence of the Moon Pool created an atmosphere of permanent winter. To the outsiders, being inside this sacred place was uncomfortable, but to the Sisterhood, it was home.
When Kagome had been brought here as a child, she had hated the cold. She was a warm person by nature, and the sun was her solace. But as she had grown and matured under the tutelage of the Sisterhood, she came to tolerate the cold and revere the Moon. Now she was one of them – a Sister. What that meant depended on what people required of her, but to the common folk who feared the Sisterhood, she was nothing but a heartless assassin. In reality she was no one. She was not supposed to even continue using her name. She only clung to her name because it was all she had left of her previous life.
The Sisterhood took everything else.
The large wooden doors creaked as they swung open. Footsteps echoed through the large hall as the stranger approached her. Kagome did not move, merely remained seated by the Moon Pool and waited.
A man appeared in the corner of her eye. Or she assumed it was a man – they were tall and broad-shouldered. And very, very white. Curious, Kagome turned her head slightly so she could see.
It was indeed a man. With magnificent silver-white hair and golden eyes. His pointed ears and tattoos immediately alerted her to his non-human status. She frowned. It had been many years since a youkai had entered these halls. What on earth could he possibly want? Youkai never needed the Sisterhood’s help – they viewed themselves as superior and capable of doing a far better job.
Filing away her curiosity, Kagome looked him properly in the eye, but kept her expression neutral. “What can the Sisterhood do for you?”
Instead of receiving a verbal request, the man held out a white flower. An asphodel. Kagome blinked, and had to bite her lip to prevent herself from gaping in astonishment.
A youkai was asking for death.
Now she was truly curious! Why did this youkai want to die? While Kagome’s experience with youkai were limited, the few she had met had been rather verbal about their longevity and how it was a gift. For a youkai to throw it away in this manner…
Knowing that it was not her job to ask questions, Kagome wordlessly nodded towards the Moon Pool. The youkai followed her gaze, then without much expression tossed the flower into the water and approached the edge. He knelt and leaned over to look down at the water’s surface.
For several minutes, he stared at the water, while Kagome watched him with fascination. Now that she could properly gaze at him, she was astonished by how beautiful he was. The Sisterhood had taught her to suppress her emotions and desires, but as she watched this man she could feel the long dormant feelings awakening deep within her. While the feelings were all foreign, she felt herself wishing she could somehow discover them in depth with him beside her.
A useless wish.
She was a Sister of the Sisterhood. He was a man who wanted to die. Her desires were not important. In fact, they were meant to be abhorrent. And the fact that she had these desires at all were puzzling. He was a stranger! She did not even know his name!
Finally, the youkai sat back, signaling that the visions had ended. Kagome wondered what it was that he had seen. His past? His future? Perhaps neither, but something more abstract? Regardless, she knew she would be leaving this room without ever knowing.
He turned and those golden eyes settled on her. A shiver ran down her spine.
“Who are you?” he asked.
Kagome blanched. She had not expected him to speak, nor ask her such a question. Recovering, she quickly schooled her expression. “No one.”
Her answer seemed to displease him.
“That is not an answer,” he stated. “Who are you?”
“No one,” Kagome said again.
His eyes narrowed in frustration. “Does the name ‘Rin’ mean anything to you?”
Kagome had to fight the urge to ask who ‘Rin’ was. “No, it does not.”
The youkai frowned. “Do you know what I saw in the pool?”
“No. I am a servant of the Moon, but it does not mean I know Her will.”
Kagome was becoming slightly agitated. It was not customary for visitors to ask questions. They usually came, went about their business and left. Or in cases such as these, never left, but left none the same.
“Would you like to know what I discovered in the pool?” the youkai asked.
And so, he surprises her again! Who was this man?
“It is not customary- “
He cut her off: “I saw you.”
Kagome stuttered. He saw her? But that was impossible!
“I-I do not understand,” Kagome finally managed to gasp. “I am no one. A servant. I am not meant to ever appear in the waters of the Moon Pool until my duty is done.”
A strange small smile seemed to linger on the youkai’s lips. “Clearly the Moon has other plans for you.”
Kagome looked down at her hands that rested on her lap. It made no sense. Why had she appeared in his visions? The visions that were meant to settle his attachments to earth and allow for a peaceful passing? How was seeing her meant to calm him at all?
She knew that this was unprecedented, and that she probably should call for another Sister to take over. This was becoming too much of an emotional situation. But her emotions continued to stir, and her curiosity was so very desperate to be sated.
So, she decided to break the rules.
“What exactly did you see?”
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Many years later, Sesshomaru would reflect on the day he discovered Rin’s aunt in the Temple of the Sisterhood.
After his ward’s death, he had been ready to follow. Many centuries walking on the earthly plane had become tiresome, and without Rin’s companionship, there was no reason to continue living an empty existence.
So, he had found a field of asphodels, picked one and entered the great hall of the Sisterhood expecting to never leave it again.
And there he had found her. Kagome. The sister of Rin’s father, who had disappeared when they had been children. At first, she had just been a Sister – a servant to guide him into the afterlife. But when he had dropped the asphodel into the water and looked down at the surface, he had seen it. All of it. How Kagome had somehow got separated and lost from her family at a festival, and had been sent to the Sisterhood when nobody claimed her. He saw her lonely childhood, and how she secretly hated the Sisterhood and dreamed of being free. He knew then that he could not continue with his plan.
He had discovered another reason to live, and she had discovered the person who could make her feel again.
Romantics would probably call it fate. And as Sesshomaru watched Kagome feed the ducks that swam in their pond, a smile of wonderment on her face, he concluded that yes, it indeed had been fate. He would reduce himself to a romantic sap just this once.
As if sensing his gaze, Kagome looked up, her blue eyes filled with far more life than it had been many years ago. She smiled warmly at him.
“What do you see?” she asked him.
“You.”
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Prompt: Discovery