Illustrations by (Kawaii) Kitty Kuchiki (ne Nakamura)
Shippo… No!
‘A few handkerchiefs’ ended up being several scraps of cloth discarded by the village seamstresses; but Kagome was grateful to be able to wipe her nose with something other than her shirt, and blow it more discreetly that by putting a finger on one nostril and exhaling hard out of the other. While InuYasha and Shippo insisted the handkerchiefs weren’t necessary, once they tried them, they had to admit they helped. Most of the trip was otherwise uneventful. The old man told them stories of his adventures as a young monk by firelight, saving the more lecherous episodes for Miroku, after the others had fallen asleep.
After a three day hike, the party stood atop a tree lined precipice overlooking a low clearing. Tree spirits circled the clearing and stood almost still – looking like tall trees blowing in the wind. In the center was what looked like an ancient Banyan tree. If the other tree-sprits resembled giant people, the one in the center resembled a humongous spider or octopus – his many limbs and sprawling trunks took root in dozens of places around the clearing.
“That’s the ancient one!” The Elder whispered in Kagome’s ear, but as she looked at the sprawling banyan, she didn’t need to be told. She could sense the sacred jewel, even at her current distance. She was also confident she could make the shot from here.
She drew an arrow and blew her nose one last time, just to be safe. Notching the arrow she slowly stood up. She was no longer camouflaged by the wood, but none of the tree-sprits seemed to notice. Her nose still itched, but a quick sniff was enough to ward off any sneezes for a few more seconds. She drew her bow and took aim.
“hah…”
“Shippo! Shh!” Miroku cautioned.
“HAAAH….” Shippo’s eyes narrowed as he brought a finger under his nose.
“Shippo! No!” Sango whispered.
“HAAAH-AAAAAHTCHOOOO! *sniff* Sorry!” The little fox demon rubbed his nose with his finger as he apologized.
Shippo’s sneeze drew the attention of the sprits, but Kagome was ready and loosed her arrow just as they turned around. Halfway to the target it erupted in purple light. The arrow plunged into the tangle of limbs that made up the ancient tree and found its mark deep with the writhing mass. With a flash of light, the Jewel Shard was ejected. The change in the Ancient one was immediate. What once roiled with anger now stood calmly, looking like it was at peace. They scampered down the embankment to retrieve the Jewel Shard. The trees surrounding the clearing merely looked on.
Kagome picked up the shard, but noticed something was different. She could detect no trace of the anger that had tainted the shard. It felt purified, as if it had been cleansed in a way that she thought only herself or Kikiyo could have done. She felt a rush of sadness as she realized that it was the life force of the Ancient One that had purified the Shard. As she held this piece of life force in her hands, she felt an immediate connection and a thorough understanding of the immense love and wisdom possessed by the ancient spirit. But when she turned to face him, her fears were realized - the Ancient One was dying.
“No! *sniff* No! No! No!” She ran into a jumble of limbs and branches that seemed to embrace her as she lost herself in them.
She heard a voice that was almost as quiet as the wind. “thhhaaaank yoooouuuu chiiiiild…”
Tears started to fall from her eyes “I’m so sorry! Please… *sniff* don’t die.” To her hands it felt as if the tree was actually growing cold.”
She felt something like a hand on her shoulder. She looked back, and up, and saw the tree-spirit that had helped them before. He seemed to smile at her. His voice was still deep and rumbling, but gentle now and lower in volume out of respect for the Ancient One. “This… was the only way… Do not weep child… You have done… a great thing today.”
Again the voice like the wind spoke. "shhhwshshhhhesssshhh," they assumed that was the name of the sprit who'd helped them, "yooooouuuuu… kneeeew… yooooouuuu alooooone saaawww the eeeevil in the traveler clooooaaaked in whiiiiite… yooouuuu aaare wiiiiiise… guiiiide myyyy childrennnn and… accept the stewardship of the sssssacred foressssst... that I passsss tooooo…. yoooouuuu…"
With that final decree the last bit of life left the ancient tree. Kagome broke down, sobbing openly as she felt the limbs grow stiff and brittle around her. She felt a breeze in her hair as the last bit of life escaped. While just a moment ago she felt surrounded by love and warmth, now, sitting within the dead tree, she had never felt so profoundly alone and empty. The other tree spirits bowed in final respect and began to withdraw into the forest.
InuYasha, unfamiliar with the ways of the sprits, perceived their actions as callous. “*sniff* Aren’t you even going to bury him… or something?”
The sprit that had carried Kagome turned to him to explain. “No… He must remain here…”
“*sniff* So you’re just going to let him rot?”
“Yes.” InuYasha was surprised that it was Kagome who answered. “He will go into the ground here… and… another scared tree will grow in this spot… won’t it?” She looked up at the tree-spirit.
“Yes child… Every sacred tree marks a place where an ancient spirit passed on... A tree will grow here that will house the Kodama… And they in turn will bring more life to the trees in the forest…. We will… shepherd that life until the trees’ voices grow quiet… or our own do... We must leave this place… It is sacred now… you should not return here…”
Kagome shed a final tear for the fallen spirit, but as she joined the Shard to the others she carried she felt comforted knowing that a small part of that spirit would always be with her. The journey back to the village was made faster by the tree-spirit’s offer to transport them. While this shortened a three day journey to only one, for InuYasha, Kagome and Shippo, who could not stop sneezing for even a few minutes, it may as well have been a year. By the time they were back the village elder had re-affirmed both of their commitments to the former treaty, and the spirit even forgave the village of their obligation to plant 100 saplings in payment for felling a sacred tree. (Though the Elder still planned to do that anyway.) At the outskirts of the village, the travelers said their good-byes to tree spirit and waved as it went back into the forest.
[EPILOGUE]
After getting a full night’s rest for the first time in days, the six travelers departed the next morning, fully stocked for the journey ahead. Without another jewel shard to follow northward, they trekked back the way they came. This came as a relief to InuYasha, Shippo and even Kirara, who probably could not have endured an extended trip through the forest. And while Kagome was sad that she would probably never see the tree-spirit again she had to admit, with a chuckle as she wiped here nose with a long since saturated scrap of cloth, that there was at least one part of her that couldn’t get away fast enough.
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