Incunabulum by tenchi no mai
Sweet Dreams
This was written in response to Priestess Skye’s challenge.
Theme: Dreams
Due: August 16, 2010
Required Word Count: minimum 700
Actual Word Count: 1525, story only
Universe: Canon – Feudal Era
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not mine, they are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz Media. Only the plot to this story and my original character, Shun, are my intellectual property. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
‘Italics’ = thoughts and in this oneshot the dream sequence
Sweet Dreams
Kagome sat bolt upright from a sound sleep, quickly slapping her hands over her mouth. Eyes wide, hoping she hadn’t made any noises, she looked around the campsite to make sure she hadn’t woken anyone up. ‘Good, everyone is still asleep.’
After fumbling around in her pillowcase for the small diary, she picked up her flashlight. Confident the light was hidden within the folds of the sleeping bag, she opened the journal to the bookmark. Writing the date on the next blank line, she began to make a record of the dream before it started fading away.
It took her a minute to adjust her thinking, since she was going to be writing in English. The first page was written in hiragana, but all the following ones were in English, printed in tiny block letters. She had resorted to this after she had come back to camp one night after a bath and found Inuyasha with the book in his hand. He had made his usual disparaging comments about what a stupid idea it was to keep a diary of her dreams and she shouldn’t waste her time. However, she felt this may be important, so she kept writing and switched to English since she knew that no one in this era would be able to read it if it should somehow fall into the wrong hands.
This dream was the strangest one yet. Or should she call it a nightmare? As she slowly wrote, the beginning of the reverie was already evaporating like the early morning mist on a hot summer day. ‘Oh, crap! What is the English word that I want to use here?’ Staring at the book that was balanced on her lap, Kagome finally left a blank space before she continued writing. The word would eventually pop into her head and she’d go back and add it in; it had happened like that several times before. She had to get the main points written down lest it escape her entirely.
Hearing a soft chuffing noise and seeing movement off to her side, she stilled and looked over to see Ah staring at her curiously while Un kept blinking his eyes as if he had just awakened. Quickly laying down on her stomach, Kagome smiled as she watched the dragon settle back down. Deciding to finish writing in this position, Kagome picked up her pen again. She didn’t want Ah-Un waking up Sesshoumaru. Peeking in his direction, she saw that he was still sitting with his eyes closed, leaning against a tree on the other side of the nearly burned out campfire.
Pen poised above the page, Kagome continued writing. ‘I suddenly looked down and realized that I was extremely pregnant. This very large belly was filling my lap, as I was being pushed in a wheelchair down a long hallway, past a sign that said “Maternity and Delivery”, and Sesshoumaru was holding my hand.
The next thing I heard was the doctor saying, “It’s a boy! Congratulations, Mrs. Taisho!” Then a few minutes later he said, “And it’s another boy. Congratulations again!” Twins? I had twins? With Sesshoumaru? I could hear the babies wailing in the background, then they were placed in my arms and we were being moved to a hospital room.
Peering closely at the babies, they looked entirely different. The one baby looked exactly like Sesshoumaru, with a soft fuzz of silvery hair and a tiny indigo crescent moon on his forehead. When he cracked his eyes open they were a luminous gold. The other baby had short tufts of brown hair and silvery beige eyes. I could barely see the tiny markings on his skin that looked like leopard spots. Leopard spots? Where did they come from?
The scene seemed to fast forward and the bed dipped on each side as two people sat down on opposite edges. Sesshoumaru reached out and took his son into his arms then smiled at me. The other youkai male then did the same. “Thank you, Kagome, they are perfect.” As I looked at them holding the babies I was overcome with emotion. “Yes, they are. I love you both so much Sesshoumaru and Shun.”
Now here is the really strange part. I don’t know any leopard youkai named Shun. I’ve been thinking about it since I woke up. Most of the dreams seem to be set in my era, yet when I go home, I have never felt any trace of youki, so do I end up changing the timeline, and when this search for the kakera no tama is complete there will be youkai in the future? But to have two mates, or husbands, would be really weird. I’ll have to think long and hard about what this dream can possibly mean.’
Placing the pen back inside the diary and setting the flashlight aside, Kagome put the journal inside the pocket in her pillow and tried to go back to sleep until it was time to get up to start breakfast.
~*~
Sesshoumaru had not been asleep, but he let the little priestess think he was. He had been watching her from his position on the other side of the campfire with his eyelids barely cracked open. It appeared that she had another one of her dreams and had written for quite some time in her diary. He had become interested in and curious about the strange female shortly prior to the time she began having these dreams, but had not acted on the attraction yet. There were still too many unknowns he had to unravel before he could even begin to think about formally courting her. Plus there was the problem named Inuyasha.
The half-breed had come to him with the diary in his hand the night after their fight about it, while miko and the slayer were bathing. Inuyasha had shoved it into his hands and demanded that he read what was written on the second page to him. That, in and of itself, was an interesting revelation. Apparently the hanyou could read a little bit, but now was curious and wanted to know what the rest of it was about. He knew the monk could read, as well as write, and wondered why Inuyasha hadn’t gone to him with the journal.
The answer became evident when he opened the book. The first page was written in hiragana, which was not a problem. However the next page was written in a language he didn’t recognize at first. It took him thinking about it until the next afternoon to realize that it was a version of English with which he wasn’t familiar. The next evening while the miko and slayer were busy preparing the evening meal, he surreptitiously lifted the diary from her bedding and took a walk in the forest to study it.
There was a youkai lord on the continent with several slaves that he claimed were from the other side of the world. They spoke among themselves in a strange tongue. When Sesshoumaru found out that one of them could write, he extended his visit to learn this odd language.
Once he figured out the writing in the mikos’ diary, which didn’t take too long, he had enjoyed reading about her dreams, especially what she called the ‘naughtier’ ones. He had not told the half-breed he now knew what the book contained, nor would he. It was none of the hanyou’s business.
While he watched the miko during the next day, he became extremely curious what she had written about the previous night. She kept touching both her shoulders in the spot where a mating mark would be placed. As soon as camp was set up he once again swiped the diary to see what her dream last night was about.
To say he was stunned was an understatement. The miko had dreamed of being mated to him? As well as to another youkai? Though the part about changing the future was troubling. She and the hanyou both spoke of her time, but not anything that was truly useful. So, as he understood this entry, there were currently no youkai in her time, or if there were they were well hidden. That was something to think about making plans for now, so the youkai survived the ensuing centuries.
The demon lord narrowed his eyes as he thought about the other male. He only knew one male youkai named Shun; he was a snow leopard and was his nawashi with the military stationed at the Western Fortress. He knew for a fact that Kagome had never met Shun, yet she dreamed of him by name and with his correct markings.
Sesshoumaru used his demon speed to return the diary to the mikos bedding, and resumed his seat under one of the nearby trees. He would have to keep a closer eye on the miko to see what information he could tease out of her. He was pulled from his thoughts as the miko timidly approached him with a cup of tea. Was it possible that fate, through her dreams, was pushing her in his direction?
~*~
Authors Notes:
Nawashi – is a rope (nawa) master (shi), and can also be a rope maker. In the 15th century, Japan was immersed in an era of dictatorship and wars, commonly referred to as the Tokugawa period, named after Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616). Even before this period, there existed diverse, strongly ritualized forms of capturing and immobilizing an enemy on the battlefield using a samurai’s ropes. For more information on Hojojutsu or Nawajutsu, which is the traditional Japanese martial art of restraining a prisoner using cord or rope, follow the link to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoj%C5%8Djutsu