InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ 1000 ❯ Part Three: The Man ( Chapter 3 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Striking Falcon 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.26.2008 | Pages: 7 | Words: 7.3K | Visits: 526 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.26.2008 | Pages: 7 | Words: 7.3K | Visits: 526 | Status: Completed
’s Ramblings: Well this is the end, the last chapter. I still don’t have a clue as to which fic I want to resume next, but I am leaning between A Kiss for a Prince and The Breaking Point. I KNOW I won’t be starting anything new until at least 50% of what I have is finished. I hate plot bunnies. Loving the bear though. (picks up combat teddy) Thanks so much for everyone’s congrats. Oh. Was about to fall into describing the joys of wedded bliss. Before I do that we should get on with the fic.
The younger houshi was inconsolable, convinced that it was his fault that his brother had been ambushed. In his grief he heard of the legend you speak and soon disappeared from the shrine and the village. We assumed him to be dead and for many moons it seemed that he and his brother were reunited.
It wasn’t long before we heard of a lone man wandering the four territories, slaughtering youkai as he went. The humans celebrated this unknown warrior, calling him the Youkai Hunter and whenever word came of another of his kills the villagers praised him with songs of his valor. I remember the Lady Miko during this time with a subtle frown on her face during these celebrations. It seemed she knew more about this Youkai Killer, far more than myself or the others in the village knew.
Months later, long after the word of the new human savior spread across Nippon, I wandered into the woods by myself. I was looking for an herb for my sister and was so happy to help that I didn’t realize how far away from the village I ended up until I was standing by the Sacred Tree, the spot where the elder monk died, where Inuyasha would soon be pinned and where I would meet you. The ground at the base of the tree was splattered with blood and gore. Nearby slumped an oni that reminded me of a large dog, a large hairless dog that on its four legs was far taller than I.
It saw me, and before I could get away it raised it’s massive snout and howled. It was deafening and terrifying, but I could not run. Fear gripped me, held on to me and shook free my good senses. The thought to run arrived too late as the monster’s pack, oni that looked exactly like it, emerged from the shadows around us. They surrounded me and I knew that to turn my back on them and run would ensure my quick and agonizing death. All I could do was stand and wait for help to come, and prey that help would come in time.
Soon it came, in the form of the missing houshi. He stepped into the clearing as silently as a ghost, his eyes connecting with mine first before catching the attention of the oni surrounding me. They snarled viciously, their eyes glittering at the threat to their meal. I watched them, the houshi and the oni, and shuddered. They seemed to share the same dangerous look, that animalistic shifting that made me quake with fear.
“You must flee this place,” the houshi said to me. “Run back to the village and do not look back. Do it now.”
I turned and fled, and no sooner had I done so did the sounds of a vicious fight begin behind me. I darted through the trees with a swiftness of foot only absolute terror can give you, until I burst from the woods and came to what I thought would be the very outskirts of the village. Instead I came to the nearby hot spring, the one you visit whenever you are camped nearby. I was confused, disorientated and scared and the sounds of the fight seemed to be coming closer.
Then everything fell silent around me. The fight stopped as suddenly as it started and I was alone, though I didn’t feel alone. Something surged around me, something threatening and vicious and before I could think to do anything else I dived into the murky waters of the spring. I stayed just below the surface, watching through clouded water as a form appeared above the spring. It darted quickly, like a hummingbird, in and out of my view until the distorted face of the houshi appeared on the spring’s edge. His eyes were clouded in black, like a youkai lost to the madness of his bloodlust. He sniffed the air and bared his teeth, revealing a set of wicked fangs. His claws gouged into the rocks bordering the spring in frustration and the swirled marks on his face shifted and writhed like parasites. He grunted sharply and disappeared, and I waited for what felt like forever to emerge from the spring. When I surfaced it was my dear sister standing beside the waters, her gentle features concerned as I scrambled from the waters and told her what happened.
I tell you this child because I want you to think about what you’re planning to do. Once you begin you cannot reverse it and there is the chance that you will no longer be able to be accepted in your own era.
Choose wisely my dear, because there is no turning back.
Part Three: The Man
The library in the Western Fortress was massive, taking up the entire upper floor of the northern section of the fort. From the library’s windows one could see the beginnings of the palace gardens and, yards away, the stone wall surrounding the fortress. The bookshelves created a sort of maze, the rows and rows of knowledge twisting and writhing to end in in walls, windows or other shelves of books. Only one path led to the center of the library and Sesshoumaru’s desk. This place and it’s confusion was Sesshoumaru’s sanctuary and it was rare that he was ever disturbed here. . .
Until today.
He frowned thoughtfully at the scroll in his hand and at the set on the end of his desk. The houshi’s concern brought him here, to scrolls his father, grandfather and his troops stationed in foreign lands. All in all there were three who experienced this legend first hand. The scroll from his grandfather’s time spoke of a human in the northern lands of China, one that his grandfather underestimated when he sent his soldiers to punish a human village responsible for pillaging youkai merchants.
The village was decimated in minutes, with the few survivors begging for mercy at the ancient taiyoukai’s feet. Then one by one his grandfather’s soldiers fell in gushes of blood and cries of agony. The destructive force moved in near invisibility and it took all of the old tai’s strength to subdue the human.
‘His face and hands were marked with what looked like tattoos, but they squirmed on his skin like worms gorged on blood. He snarled and growled like a youkai, had claws like a youkai and seemed to heal with the same speed as a youkai.
‘We thought the village had loosed this creature upon us until the monster snapped on a human unlucky enough to be near him. I slaughtered this abomination quickly, then left the survivors to their own devices.‘
There was another account, one taken a couple of days before his father’s death, which described a youkai’s encounter with a houshi that was under the same affliction. It was the last, a study into the phenomenon that concerned Sesshoumaru. The document was one youkai’s observation of three humans, two with varying levels of reki and the results.
‘It is with a final conclusion,‘ he read as he glanced over the author’s impeccable kanji. ’That, though the transformation is possible, it is also extremely dangerous for the human undergoing the change. The physical alterations and increased strength seem to be beneficial as the human‘s natural abilities nearly double those of your average mid-level oni. It is the catastrophic shift in aura that makes these creatures dangerous, so much so that they become a threat to their fellow man.
‘What worries this ancient scholar is the amount of destruction these creatures can cause, especially those with holy reki to begin with. The developing youki seems to clash violently with the resident holy energy, resulting in automatic combustion upon reach of the 1000th youkai. Without a balancer, such as a strong sealing talisman or charm, the change from human to other is devastating, both to the human and the human’s surroundings.
‘It is my recommendation, Touga-sama, that, without the seal, any human attempting this should be terminated on sight, before they reach their goal and harm others’
‘Wise advice.’ Sesshoumaru returned the scroll to the top of the pile and turned toward the window behind him. His claws clicked rhythmically against the solid surface of his oak desk and he frowned, irritation darkening his mood.
‘It is without question that the little miko dived into this without the proper research,’ he said as his frown deepened. ‘Foolish humans. When will they learn that they are made weak and useless. Still. . .’ His eyes clouded slightly, his focus on the distant horizon outside his window. He could envision the small female in his mind’s eye, her dark eyes sparking in fury as she aimed her weapon at him. She was fierce and completely unaware of here mortality in certain situations. She was almost. . .amusing.
‘It is. . .almost admirable, that she would give up so much for her pack. Loyalty as such is hard pressed to find.’ He sat for a few moments more, then reached toward the nape of his neck. With a deft flick of his index finger he sliced free a small lock of hair. He weighed the strands in his hand and though they were not many, they were strong. These hairs were the weakest part of him, yet they were able to withstand the most well made weapon.
The strands spun golden light across the room, the light filtering through his outstretched claws as he considered his next course of action.
(II)
What a strange sight she made as she entered the small village. . .
Kagome continued along the dirt path leading through the center of the small gathering, seemingly oblivious of the stares of others as she entered the village’s marketplace. The large furry white mass on top of her head shifted and she absently pushed it back to it’s position at her crown. The mass twitched, then stretched out a paw and yawned.
The white cub youkai had taken to sleeping on top of her head of all places. Though it was at times aggravating to keep him steady up there, she found that the small cub made a great hat. Maybe that was what the villagers were staring at, but she doubted it. She would imagine that, being a miko willingly passing through a youkai village, they had seen stranger than a sleeping bear cub.
Kagome approached a nearby stand, one with the most beautiful silks she’d ever seen. Her finger traced along a bolt of blue as dark as midnight and she glanced up when the owner of the stand cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry,” Kagome replied sheepishly. “It’s just so beautiful. Did you dye this yourself?”
“Yes I did, miko-sama, using a rare plant grown near the summit of a nearby mountain,” the owner replied.
“This too?” she asked and reached toward a bolt of varying pinks that looked as if it might be the first tie-dye. She smiled when the owner nodded. “It reminds me of sakura blossoms swirling in the wind.”
The youkai, a rabbit from what she could tell with short auburn hair and bright pink eyes, blushed at her appraisal. “It is exactly what I was thinking about,” the youkai admitted and reached for a female rabbit youkai when she came toward them. “That, and how beautiful my mate looks in their scented breeze.”
Kagome smiled and moved to say more when an ancient aura pushed against hers. She turned just as an elderly youkai staggered toward her, her wrinkled hand tightly grasping the gnarled oak limb she used as a walking stick. Dusty strands of silver gray dragged along the ground behind her and her eyes, ancient and foreboding, pinned Kagome with a single stare.
“What brings you here, Youkai Hunter?”
Those five words sent a shiver through the village, the curious glances of the villagers hardening to hate and fear. Kagome straightened her back and prepared herself for attack but the only sound made after the woman’s declaration was a small snore from the bundle on her head.
“I’m not here to harm anyone,” Kagome explained when they continued to stare. “I found this young cub on the island of the north. He’s orphaned and I’ve heard that this village takes in orphan youkai.”
“Aye, that we do,” the old youkai nodded and approached the pair. The others around them relaxed instantly, thought their distrust remained as Kagome pulled the cub into her arms.
“You seem to care for this little bundle,” the old sage observed while Kgome stroked the bear’s fuzzy back.
“He reminds me of someone I know,” Kagome replied and smiled. “He doesn’t deserve to have to rough it alone. You will take him in.”
Though her statement was more of a command than a question, the sage nodded and extended her arms. Kagome placed the cub into her care and frowned when he woke up and whimpered. “He’s rather attached to you , Hunter.”
“I’m no hunter,” Kagome explained. “I’m. . .doing some good. The youkai I kill wouldn’t hesitate to wipe this village flat.”
“So you’re Lady Protector are you?” the youkai rasped in laughter. “Surely the humans under your protection adore you.”
“I don’t know,” Kagome replied with a wry smile. She gestured to the bear and said, “I know he does.”
“So he does,” the youkai agreed. She rubbed the bear’s fur thoughtfully, ancient lavender orbs distant while Kagome looked on and waited. Finally she took the sage’s silence as a hint for her to go and, with the bear youkai finally in safe hands, she waved goodbye to the rabbit vendor and made her way toward the village exit.
“My Dear!”
Kagome stopped and turned at the village gate, the wind catching her hair to send it flying behind her like a dark wing. Her eyes seemed to glow a steely gray in the sunlight, but in spite of this foreboding image she still reminded the sage of a lost little girl.
“Turn back Lady Protector, while you still can,” the sage called out. The entire village turned toward Kagome at the sage’s beseech. “You mean well but you don’t know the danger you place yourself in.”
“You obviously don’t know,” Kagome replied. “But I’m a trouble magnet.”
“If you continue you will only harm yourself, and the ones you’re changing yourself for. Please, miko, turn back.”
Kagome thought for a moment, her gaze fixed on her boots as she remembered her friends. She missed them terribly and with every thought of them her heart seemed to painfully clench. She loved them all and now, when she was so close to completing her goal, she didn’t dare stop. She needed this power badly. Without it-
“Without it you were just fine,” the sage called out. “You can stop now and go back to the way you were. But you won’t will you. . .”
Kagome sighed and shook her head. “I’m the one that broke it. I have to do everything I can to fix it.”
“Well go on then,” the sage whispered as Kagome walked away. “attempt this ‘only way’ of yours and I will pray for you.” She gazed down at the cub in her arms and smiled. “We will pray that she survives, won’t we little one?”
(III)
The colors of blood and hate glowed in the darkness, his eyes focused on the tiny child and the mirror in her hands. He smiled as the image changed with his will, leaving the woman-child to spy on those she once traveled with.
“If it is one thing I like to see, Kanna,” Naraku began with dark glee. “Its when one tries to better themselves. I once was weak, unable to do anything for myself. But look at me now Kanna!” His laughter was booming and Kagura flinched from her place in the far corner of the room.
“The best part is,” he continued with a grin. “once she finishes and gains this power she’s looking for, she will most likely go on a rampage and kill everything around her.
“Think of the irony when, instead of making it easier on her friends, they end up hunting and killing her! It’s perfect really, and its all because she’s missing that one little piece of information.” He gazed into the glass thoughtfully, his claws softly clicking against the floor underneath him.
“I think we should help her.”
Kagura glanced up in surprise. “We should? But Naraku what if-”
“Naraku-sama, Kagura, in case you are forgetting,” Naraku corrected. His voice was kind but miasma surged, the sudden thickness blinding and corrosive as it smothered any breathable air. “Kagura, follow the Inu-tachi. Lead them when I command you to.”
“Yes Naraku-sama,” she wheezed out immediately. She fled as if the devils of Hell were hot on her heels, running through the hallways of the mansion until she came to the enormous doors to the outside. She took to the sky at the first sign of light and flew away, her feather boat guiding her toward Inuyasha and the west.
(IV)
They were weary, their hearts heavy and every step forward felt as if they waded through lead. Their bones creaked, their stomachs growled and the air seemed to wheeze from their lungs. . .
Yet the hanyou, their flame retardant tormenter (or retarded as the case may be) continued onward, his nose in the air and his ears pointed toward the immediate east.
“Inuyasha if you don’t stop I swear,” Miroku began and sank his staff into the soft earth. “By the Kamis above, I will slap a paralyzing sutra to your ass.” He frowned at Inuyasha’s refusing growl and stepped forward, said sutra in hand as Shippou and Sango gaped in surprise.
“We are only human and if you don’t stop I will make you.”
“Fuck you and your sutra,” Inuyasha snarled defiantly. “We press on and if you don’t keep up I will leave your ass here.”
Sango and Shippou stepped back, careful to keep out of the way of the testosterone that flew through the air. The sutra in Miroku’s hand glowed and his eyes narrowed to slits of deep purple ink.
“Don’t play with me Inuyasha,” he warned, the future warning slipping effortlessly from his lips. “I’m not Kagome. I don’t possess her infinite patience.”
“You know what houshi,” Inuyasha growled and balled his hands into fists. “I’m tired of your crap. Seems like all you do lately is complain. I’m trying to find Kagome, wherever she is, and keep her from doing something stupid. You’re slowing us down and I think you know what she’s trying to do.”
“Is that true Miroku?” Sango asked from the sidelines. “Do you know where Kagome is?”
“No,” Inuyasha answered for him. “But he knows something. Whatdidja say to Sesshoumaru, huh? What’d ya tell him that ya won’t tell me?”
“Aw look,” called a voice above them. The group looked up instantly, Kirara changing to her larger form and weapons unsheathing as Kagura watched them from her feather boat. “I just hate to see such a close knit family fall out this way.”
“Bitch,” Inuyasha viciously snarled and launched the Wind Scar in her direction. The attack was surprisingly quick and Kagura barely avoided it, her boat nearly flipping in the onslaught. She laughed anyway and opened her fan. She uprooted massive trees with a single wave and laughed again as the group dodged the enormous projectiles.
“Come on Inuyasha,” she bantered from her place on the winds. “Don’t tell me you’re going soft without your precious miko toy. What would Kikyou say?”
“You fuckin’-” he was in the air before he could finish, Tetsusiaga ready as he sliced Kagura through. . .
Or would have, if she had not fled.
“Dammit!” Inuyasha snapped angrily. “When I catch that bitch- come on! Let’s go!” He hop scotched the trees quickly, leaving Sango and Miroku to follow.
“Miroku-sama,” Sango began as Kirara raced the wind currents after the pissed off hanyou. “Is it just me, or does this feel like a set up?”
“I agree my lady,” Miroku agreed grimly. “But there’s no stopping him now. It’s best to wait him out, then hope it’s not too late for him to see reason.”
(0)
He watched the little beauty, her head held high and the effects of her Change evident on her face. She still wore her innocence but now she was more elfin, her features delicate. Her eyes, once dark chocolate does, now shifted in amber-gray light. They seemed to see everything and, with her hair high in a ponytail, he could see the slight point at the tip of her ears. They would hardly cause alarm to any other humans, though she may be made fun of from time to time.
It was her aura that attracted him like the doomed moth to the bright flame. Before she was already more powerful than the previous Shikon Miko, the one Onigumo coveted, but now she was walking power, the Shikon personified. The one thing he found disconcerting was the life, not death, that bloomed in her wake. Withered grass greened under her feet, dry flowers bloomed with bright colors and the trees bowed in her wake. It was ludicrous, this welcome of a creature that had slain hundreds of rogue oni and youkai.
It was also counterproductive and most likely hindrance to his plans.
“No matter,” Naraku decided with a confidant smile. “All will go according to planned.” The air around him stilled then warmed and, oddly enough, the scent of lavender came to him on the sudden wind.
“Come on out Naraku,” he heard her call. “I see you.”
He cursed inwardly, but smiled and stepped into her line of sight. “Hello reincarnate. Aren’t you lovely in your new role?”
Kagome’s eyes narrowed but she remained quiet.
“I hear you’ve gone on a hunt. Tell me then,” he said and stepped closer to her silent form. “How is it that, with all the blood you’ve shed, you walk in purity?”
“Perhaps,” she said and stood her ground when the hanyou invaded her space. “It’s because I haven’t hurt anyone that didn’t deserve it.” She frowned when, instead of stepping back at her unspoken warning, he leaned in close and sniffed her exposed ear.
“You reek of power miko,” he told her with a lustful rumble. Her power signature from afar was amazing but up close it and her scent set his blood boiling. Never in his life had anything, food or drink, made him want so badly as the waves that surrounded him from her lithe form. He was horny as hell and the moment he reached down to ‘adjust’ himself was the moment a massive force slammed into his chest with the force of a fast moving train. Contact was brief but he went sailing across the clearing before landing on his back a couple of yards away from the yawning miko.
“Whore,” he growled painfully. The nerves in his back were screaming and his chest burned, the silk around the four inch hole in the center charred and black. He sat up slowly and spat out a thick clump of what turned out to be his own foul blood. He glanced up at a sudden cry, a bloody grin spread on his lips as he watched Kagome. She stiffened almost instantly and in her reaction knew was coming. ’Time for the next part of the plan,’ he said as he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.
He regained his feet just as Kagura flew into view, garnet orbs wide in surprise at the damage coming from her master. Inuyasha burst into the clearing seconds later, his threats and snarls dying on his lips as he stood and gaped. “K-kagome?” he stuttered in surprise as Kirara landed behind him. “Is it really you?”
“My word,” Miroku breathed as he and Sango dismounted the fire neko. “She certainly has changed.”
“Now that all of the players are here, I say we get started,” Naraku said and in a moment was by Kagome’s side again. “Allow me to help you finish, my dear.” He reached for her arm and grasped empty air, then quickly stepped aside as Tetsusaiga’s massive blade landed in the dirt where he once stood. Naraku laughed, his hand coming up as an afterthought to catch the slayer’s far flung weapon.
He tossed it back, uncaring of whether she caught it or it caught her before he turned to Inuyasha. “Look at her,” he said and ducked Inuyasha’s wild swing. “All that time you cursed her, called her weak and look at her now. Look what you’ve done, Inuyasha. Aren’t you happy?”
“I’m gonna cut off your head,” Inuyasha replied with a bloodthirsty grin. “It might shut you up, but you’ll still have your ass to talk through.”
“How. . .vulgar.”
Inuyasha raised his sword high, the coming blow impossible to dodge. He grinned as he brought it down in heavy judgment only to be thrown back by Naraku’s barrier. The evil hanyou laughed as Inuyasha was slammed into the thick trunk of a nearby tree, the force leaving him breathless and spread eagle against the wood’s massive side.
“You disappoint me,” Naraku said as he approached the barely conscious hero. “As if killing me would be that easy. If it were you and your pathetic little band would have done it years ago. I didn’t come here for you anyway.”
He was almost there, his foot raised to crush Inuyasha’s unprotected skull when his airway suddenly closed. The skin of his neck burned and he could smell it, feel it being torn away as he was forced to turn around. The sudden pressure eased and he drew in a breath, the released it in a startled pained scream as something lashed across his face.
“You said you didn’t come for him,” Kagome said from across the clearing, the two fingers of her left hand glowing a soft pink . “Who are you here for?”
“My dear miko,” Naraku replied as he quickly made his way toward her. “I’m here for you. All for you. . .”
His calm approach became a quick jog and Kagome flicked her hand. A beam of energy, lightening fast and bright with holy reki, slapped him again, then slashed deeply into his right thigh. Still he kept coming, ignoring Miroku’s staff and Sango’s katana in his hurry to grasp the miko. Again and again her whip hit him and his blood pattered on the grass but still he pursued her.
He caught her, his head snapping back when she delivered a glowing punch to his mouth. He snarled angrily, his rage nearly out of control. She kneed him where it hurt and his vision went red, mission forgotten as he grasped her by the throat and slammed her to the dirt below. He erected a quick barrier, barely able to enjoy her friend’s cries of surprise when she hit him again, this time catching him in the throat, and spit in his face.
“Let. Me. Go,” she demanded and as dangerous as she sounded she was beginning to panic. Kagome didn’t like this new, touchy-feely Naraku and she hated that, even after being away from her friends for so long, she still didn’t have the strength to fight this monster, this beast who would murder the world.
“What number are you on?”
Kagome glanced up, panic now a full bloomed flower as he glared down at her. Her struggling renewed and Naraku laughed before using his miasma to sap her energy.
“You’re on seven hundred and forty-nine, am I correct?” Naraku guessed and laughed. “Why Kagome, if you wanted to kill your friends you should’ve just asked me. I would’ve gladly helped you.” With that he spit in her face, dark jets of blood from his busted lip spraying her face and hair. She stilled almost instantly, frozen as Naraku laughed and took to the sky.
“Enjoy my little surprise,” he called from Kagura’s cloud then commanded the wind youkai to retreat as quickly as possible.
The others of her group approached her slowly, with Shippou the first to notice as she stood there, her eyes wide and glassy as she stared into the sky. Miroku reached out but Inuyasha was the first to touch her, his fingertips barely brushing against her forehead to wipe the blood away when she gasped loudly, the intake of air sudden and violent as it rushed into her lungs. She started to shiver then convulsed, her limbs akimbo as her seizure shook her hard enough to break bones. She shook for what felt like hours and her friends could only watch and pray for the best.
She sat up suddenly, her friends backing away as she raised her head and snarled loudly. Birds scattered at the explosion of energy from her and she reached out, her eyes crimson and knocked away the first thing in her grasp. Kirara rolled end over end, with Shippou scrambling to catch her as the others raised their weapons in self defense.
“You must stop Kagome-sama,” he called to the feral creature approaching him. “We’re your friends. You will harm us if you don’t stop.”
She looked as if she heard him, crimson fading slightly as she attempted to shake her head clear. She growled in confusion, the first of many blood tears caressing her cheeks before her head snapped up, burning orbs connecting with the holy man as she resumed her advance.
Inuyasha stepped forward and looked back when a snag at his arm stopped him. He gaped, then snarled as Sesshoumaru held him back. “Let me go, fucker. Can’t you see we got a problem here?”
“Naraku has been here.”
“Well duh,” Inuyasha vented furiously. He was terrified out of his mind, not of Kagome or that she would hurt them, but of the possibility that they may have to hurt her, and-”You just missed him. If you go west you should pick up his trail.”
“I am not here for the evil abomination.”
Inuyasha moved to say more, then stopped at Miroku’s sudden yowl of pain. “Don’t have time for your shit Sesshoumaru! I gotta-”
“You will not get involved.”
Inuyasha barked a bitter laughter and snarled, “You can go fuck that. I’m not going to let her do this.”
“You are not strong enough to stop her,” Sesshoumaru replied with a narrowing of his eyes. “You will grab the others and stand back, or I will knock you out.”
Inuyasha snorted in disbelief. “I’d like to see you try that shit, you-” Sesshoumaru held up his hand in passing, a neon green cloud releasing into Inuyasha’s face. He went down like a rock seconds later and the gas dissipated as Sesshoumaru neared Sango and Miroku.
As a child, Miroku once watched a cat stalk a mouse in the halls of his teacher’s home. He watched as the cat darted along, always with the mouse in sight while it placed itself into a better pouncing position. He once wondered what the mouse felt like in those last moments. Now he could honestly say that he knew.
‘What a morbidly funny thought at a time like this,’ he said to himself and quickly raised his staff. She was barehanded, and his staff made from blessed metals, yet it bowed under her tiny fist. She smirked victoriously and was reaching for the front of the houshi’s robes when Sesshoumaru grasped the back of her shirt and jerked her away.
“Foolish humans,” he calmly said as he dragged her toward a nearby tree. “Always attempting the impossible without a thought to the consequences of their actions.” Sango, Miroku and Shippou watched, Kirara curled up and unconscious in Shippou’s arms, as the taiyoukai held her against a tree with his only hand.
“Houshi.”
Miroku blinked, then responded with a hesitant, “Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama?”
“Come here.”
Miroku approached slowly, his nerves and reki jumpy at the snarls and growls coming from the pair.
“Do you know what is going on?”
“No Sesshoumaru-sama, I do not,” Miroku admitted.
“There is a small ring attached to my sash. Release it.”
Miroku did so quickly, a slight “Eeep!” escaping from him when Kagome grasped a fistful of his hair. It was sweaty from his nerves and from the earlier fight, so the strands slid through her fingers. The ring was light and made of a silvery substance that hummed with energy. A section of the ring was missing, and Miroku wanted to ask why when the fur around Sesshoumaru’s shoulders slid down his arm.
It wrapped around Kagome and the tree, effectively pinning her in place while he grasped Kagome‘s leg. “Bless it,” the taiyoukai demanded. He slashed through the denim easily and used a single claw to cut his way to her upper thigh. He turned, his hand open and waiting as Miroku finished and returned it. The ring widened in Sesshoumaru’s hand and Miroku watched, awestruck, as Sesshoumaru forced the ring onto Kagome’s thigh. He closed the ring’s open hole with a small piece a metal he had palmed in his hand and his own corrosive acid.
The ring glowed fiercely, nearly blinding everyone before fading to a dim glow. The red bled from her eyes in rivets and Kagome slumped, then fainted dead away.
“Slayer, prepare the miko a place to rest,” Sesshoumaru commanded as Miroku picked her up. Sango scrambled toward Kagome’s pack and readied her sleeping back, then stood by while Miroku laid their friend’s resting form on her blanket. “Houshi, there is much we must discuss,” Sesshoumaru began as he leaned against his tree. “Wake the hanyou and sit down, because this Sesshoumaru will only say this once.”
(V)
She was a monster.
Just like Naraku.
She stared at her reflection in the water, her eyes like bright coins in the moonlight. She touched her hair, hating the red streak next to her right ear. She wanted to rip it out and the hell with the consequences but knew it wouldn’t solve anything. Tears welled in her eyes as she remembered what she did to her friends, her eyes bright silver and gold pieces of despair.
“Cease your foolishness.”
Kagome whirled around, nearly slipping off her seat on the boulder as Sesshoumaru’s glowing form stepped from the trees.
“Your pack remains unharmed.”
“I nearly killed them today-”
“This Sesshoumaru is aware.” He sat down on the rock beside her and gazed up as if to ignore her.
“They must be so afraid of me,” she whimpered softly. “I did all of this for them. I went through so much to be stronger, not to become a mindless killer.”
“The power you will get used to,” he assured her quietly, his gaze still on the heavens. “and in turn your pack will get used to you.”
Kagome gaped at him, speechless at his attempts to comfort her before good manners finally found her. “Thank you Sesshoumaru-sama,” she replied with a respectful bow.
“They told you about the ring.”
Kagome reached down and touched it, feeling the cool metal against her thigh underneath her pajama pants. “Will I have to wear this forever?”
“Even I do not know that, miko.”
“Oh. Um, Sesshoumaru-sama?”
“Hai miko,” he sighed irritably.
“Why. . .how. . .why did you help me?” Of the hundreds of questions circling her head, that one was the most persistent. From the time she awakened from her forced slumber and all through Sango and Miroku’s explanation of what happened she felt like a complete and utter fool.
How could she not have realized that she would need a sealing charm? The character in Souta’s anime wore ear clips and the last time she was home she watched with Souta as he took them off. Then she thought it was a part of the anime but there was Kaede’s story. She was grateful to Sesshoumaru and she struggled for a way to thank him.
“Because.”
Kagome blinked, his voice startling her out of her self pity. “Because?”
A dark brow raised slightly, but no other answer was given and he returned to his stargazing. Kagome huffed, wanting to be frustrated but couldn’t. This taiyoukai, silent as a tomb in winter, confused her. Why had he helped her and her friends? What did he want in return?
‘Probably nothing,’ Kagome said to herself with a roll of her eyes. ‘He probably thinks he’s too important to take anything from me. Still. . .one good deed does deserve another.’ She propped herself up and, without a warning to the inu youkai, pressed a quick kiss to his striped cheek. She jumped down from her perch and made her way back to camp quickly, only stopping at Sesshoumaru’s threatening growl.
“I bet you want to know why I did that, don’t you?” Kagome replied as she glanced over her shoulder. She smiled and continued on her way, leaving the tai disquieted and slightly miffed.
Then he itched unexpectedly and he reached to scratch, not realizing what he was doing until he was scratching the wrist of his renewed left hand. He stared down at it dispassionately, then back toward the noise of Inuyasha’s camp. Because he had said and because was right. The miko was a mystery to him before but now. . .
“Now she could be quite entertaining.”
(End)
Kagome: So SF-sama, got any ideas for what story you’re going to pick up next?
SF: Nope, but I did have a weird dream a couple of n-
Inu-chan: Just what in the blue fuck have you been doing this entire time you lazy-
ZAP!!!
SF: Jerk. I keep telling him about cursing in front of the kids. What’s wrong with him? How you keep from sitting him to the other side of the world? If it were me, Native Americans would be staring at him by now.
Kagome: Trust me, it’s not easy. Now what were u trying to say SF-chan?
SF: Oh. Well, I fell asleep with my mp3 player going and had the weirdest dream to Kanye West’s song Heartless. You guys were dancing to it, and I mean you guys were throwin’ down. Pop locking, break dancing and I woke up laughing my head off, but it was great.
Miroku: Do you see where this is going Sango?
(Sango nods, then shakes her head in disgust)
SF: So I thought, maybe someone could imagine what it was I dreamed and try to draw it. Anyone who sends me a pic, especially one of Sesshou getting’ down (he was popping his collar in my dream, but that’s just me) can request a chapter. It’s the least I can do and I’ll even post the pictures on my DeviantArt and Dokuga screen names (giving the artist credit of course. Everyone and their mama knows I can’t draw a stick in a tree.)
Shippou: But you won’t make everyone wait will you SF? You’ll pick up a new story soon right?
SF: That’s right little man. But I still have to figure out which one. I’m leaning toward a story I have on Mediaminer, an original that only has one chapter. Who knows though?
The younger houshi was inconsolable, convinced that it was his fault that his brother had been ambushed. In his grief he heard of the legend you speak and soon disappeared from the shrine and the village. We assumed him to be dead and for many moons it seemed that he and his brother were reunited.
It wasn’t long before we heard of a lone man wandering the four territories, slaughtering youkai as he went. The humans celebrated this unknown warrior, calling him the Youkai Hunter and whenever word came of another of his kills the villagers praised him with songs of his valor. I remember the Lady Miko during this time with a subtle frown on her face during these celebrations. It seemed she knew more about this Youkai Killer, far more than myself or the others in the village knew.
Months later, long after the word of the new human savior spread across Nippon, I wandered into the woods by myself. I was looking for an herb for my sister and was so happy to help that I didn’t realize how far away from the village I ended up until I was standing by the Sacred Tree, the spot where the elder monk died, where Inuyasha would soon be pinned and where I would meet you. The ground at the base of the tree was splattered with blood and gore. Nearby slumped an oni that reminded me of a large dog, a large hairless dog that on its four legs was far taller than I.
It saw me, and before I could get away it raised it’s massive snout and howled. It was deafening and terrifying, but I could not run. Fear gripped me, held on to me and shook free my good senses. The thought to run arrived too late as the monster’s pack, oni that looked exactly like it, emerged from the shadows around us. They surrounded me and I knew that to turn my back on them and run would ensure my quick and agonizing death. All I could do was stand and wait for help to come, and prey that help would come in time.
Soon it came, in the form of the missing houshi. He stepped into the clearing as silently as a ghost, his eyes connecting with mine first before catching the attention of the oni surrounding me. They snarled viciously, their eyes glittering at the threat to their meal. I watched them, the houshi and the oni, and shuddered. They seemed to share the same dangerous look, that animalistic shifting that made me quake with fear.
“You must flee this place,” the houshi said to me. “Run back to the village and do not look back. Do it now.”
I turned and fled, and no sooner had I done so did the sounds of a vicious fight begin behind me. I darted through the trees with a swiftness of foot only absolute terror can give you, until I burst from the woods and came to what I thought would be the very outskirts of the village. Instead I came to the nearby hot spring, the one you visit whenever you are camped nearby. I was confused, disorientated and scared and the sounds of the fight seemed to be coming closer.
Then everything fell silent around me. The fight stopped as suddenly as it started and I was alone, though I didn’t feel alone. Something surged around me, something threatening and vicious and before I could think to do anything else I dived into the murky waters of the spring. I stayed just below the surface, watching through clouded water as a form appeared above the spring. It darted quickly, like a hummingbird, in and out of my view until the distorted face of the houshi appeared on the spring’s edge. His eyes were clouded in black, like a youkai lost to the madness of his bloodlust. He sniffed the air and bared his teeth, revealing a set of wicked fangs. His claws gouged into the rocks bordering the spring in frustration and the swirled marks on his face shifted and writhed like parasites. He grunted sharply and disappeared, and I waited for what felt like forever to emerge from the spring. When I surfaced it was my dear sister standing beside the waters, her gentle features concerned as I scrambled from the waters and told her what happened.
I tell you this child because I want you to think about what you’re planning to do. Once you begin you cannot reverse it and there is the chance that you will no longer be able to be accepted in your own era.
Choose wisely my dear, because there is no turning back.
Part Three: The Man
The library in the Western Fortress was massive, taking up the entire upper floor of the northern section of the fort. From the library’s windows one could see the beginnings of the palace gardens and, yards away, the stone wall surrounding the fortress. The bookshelves created a sort of maze, the rows and rows of knowledge twisting and writhing to end in in walls, windows or other shelves of books. Only one path led to the center of the library and Sesshoumaru’s desk. This place and it’s confusion was Sesshoumaru’s sanctuary and it was rare that he was ever disturbed here. . .
Until today.
He frowned thoughtfully at the scroll in his hand and at the set on the end of his desk. The houshi’s concern brought him here, to scrolls his father, grandfather and his troops stationed in foreign lands. All in all there were three who experienced this legend first hand. The scroll from his grandfather’s time spoke of a human in the northern lands of China, one that his grandfather underestimated when he sent his soldiers to punish a human village responsible for pillaging youkai merchants.
The village was decimated in minutes, with the few survivors begging for mercy at the ancient taiyoukai’s feet. Then one by one his grandfather’s soldiers fell in gushes of blood and cries of agony. The destructive force moved in near invisibility and it took all of the old tai’s strength to subdue the human.
‘His face and hands were marked with what looked like tattoos, but they squirmed on his skin like worms gorged on blood. He snarled and growled like a youkai, had claws like a youkai and seemed to heal with the same speed as a youkai.
‘We thought the village had loosed this creature upon us until the monster snapped on a human unlucky enough to be near him. I slaughtered this abomination quickly, then left the survivors to their own devices.‘
There was another account, one taken a couple of days before his father’s death, which described a youkai’s encounter with a houshi that was under the same affliction. It was the last, a study into the phenomenon that concerned Sesshoumaru. The document was one youkai’s observation of three humans, two with varying levels of reki and the results.
‘It is with a final conclusion,‘ he read as he glanced over the author’s impeccable kanji. ’That, though the transformation is possible, it is also extremely dangerous for the human undergoing the change. The physical alterations and increased strength seem to be beneficial as the human‘s natural abilities nearly double those of your average mid-level oni. It is the catastrophic shift in aura that makes these creatures dangerous, so much so that they become a threat to their fellow man.
‘What worries this ancient scholar is the amount of destruction these creatures can cause, especially those with holy reki to begin with. The developing youki seems to clash violently with the resident holy energy, resulting in automatic combustion upon reach of the 1000th youkai. Without a balancer, such as a strong sealing talisman or charm, the change from human to other is devastating, both to the human and the human’s surroundings.
‘It is my recommendation, Touga-sama, that, without the seal, any human attempting this should be terminated on sight, before they reach their goal and harm others’
‘Wise advice.’ Sesshoumaru returned the scroll to the top of the pile and turned toward the window behind him. His claws clicked rhythmically against the solid surface of his oak desk and he frowned, irritation darkening his mood.
‘It is without question that the little miko dived into this without the proper research,’ he said as his frown deepened. ‘Foolish humans. When will they learn that they are made weak and useless. Still. . .’ His eyes clouded slightly, his focus on the distant horizon outside his window. He could envision the small female in his mind’s eye, her dark eyes sparking in fury as she aimed her weapon at him. She was fierce and completely unaware of here mortality in certain situations. She was almost. . .amusing.
‘It is. . .almost admirable, that she would give up so much for her pack. Loyalty as such is hard pressed to find.’ He sat for a few moments more, then reached toward the nape of his neck. With a deft flick of his index finger he sliced free a small lock of hair. He weighed the strands in his hand and though they were not many, they were strong. These hairs were the weakest part of him, yet they were able to withstand the most well made weapon.
The strands spun golden light across the room, the light filtering through his outstretched claws as he considered his next course of action.
(II)
What a strange sight she made as she entered the small village. . .
Kagome continued along the dirt path leading through the center of the small gathering, seemingly oblivious of the stares of others as she entered the village’s marketplace. The large furry white mass on top of her head shifted and she absently pushed it back to it’s position at her crown. The mass twitched, then stretched out a paw and yawned.
The white cub youkai had taken to sleeping on top of her head of all places. Though it was at times aggravating to keep him steady up there, she found that the small cub made a great hat. Maybe that was what the villagers were staring at, but she doubted it. She would imagine that, being a miko willingly passing through a youkai village, they had seen stranger than a sleeping bear cub.
Kagome approached a nearby stand, one with the most beautiful silks she’d ever seen. Her finger traced along a bolt of blue as dark as midnight and she glanced up when the owner of the stand cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry,” Kagome replied sheepishly. “It’s just so beautiful. Did you dye this yourself?”
“Yes I did, miko-sama, using a rare plant grown near the summit of a nearby mountain,” the owner replied.
“This too?” she asked and reached toward a bolt of varying pinks that looked as if it might be the first tie-dye. She smiled when the owner nodded. “It reminds me of sakura blossoms swirling in the wind.”
The youkai, a rabbit from what she could tell with short auburn hair and bright pink eyes, blushed at her appraisal. “It is exactly what I was thinking about,” the youkai admitted and reached for a female rabbit youkai when she came toward them. “That, and how beautiful my mate looks in their scented breeze.”
Kagome smiled and moved to say more when an ancient aura pushed against hers. She turned just as an elderly youkai staggered toward her, her wrinkled hand tightly grasping the gnarled oak limb she used as a walking stick. Dusty strands of silver gray dragged along the ground behind her and her eyes, ancient and foreboding, pinned Kagome with a single stare.
“What brings you here, Youkai Hunter?”
Those five words sent a shiver through the village, the curious glances of the villagers hardening to hate and fear. Kagome straightened her back and prepared herself for attack but the only sound made after the woman’s declaration was a small snore from the bundle on her head.
“I’m not here to harm anyone,” Kagome explained when they continued to stare. “I found this young cub on the island of the north. He’s orphaned and I’ve heard that this village takes in orphan youkai.”
“Aye, that we do,” the old youkai nodded and approached the pair. The others around them relaxed instantly, thought their distrust remained as Kagome pulled the cub into her arms.
“You seem to care for this little bundle,” the old sage observed while Kgome stroked the bear’s fuzzy back.
“He reminds me of someone I know,” Kagome replied and smiled. “He doesn’t deserve to have to rough it alone. You will take him in.”
Though her statement was more of a command than a question, the sage nodded and extended her arms. Kagome placed the cub into her care and frowned when he woke up and whimpered. “He’s rather attached to you , Hunter.”
“I’m no hunter,” Kagome explained. “I’m. . .doing some good. The youkai I kill wouldn’t hesitate to wipe this village flat.”
“So you’re Lady Protector are you?” the youkai rasped in laughter. “Surely the humans under your protection adore you.”
“I don’t know,” Kagome replied with a wry smile. She gestured to the bear and said, “I know he does.”
“So he does,” the youkai agreed. She rubbed the bear’s fur thoughtfully, ancient lavender orbs distant while Kagome looked on and waited. Finally she took the sage’s silence as a hint for her to go and, with the bear youkai finally in safe hands, she waved goodbye to the rabbit vendor and made her way toward the village exit.
“My Dear!”
Kagome stopped and turned at the village gate, the wind catching her hair to send it flying behind her like a dark wing. Her eyes seemed to glow a steely gray in the sunlight, but in spite of this foreboding image she still reminded the sage of a lost little girl.
“Turn back Lady Protector, while you still can,” the sage called out. The entire village turned toward Kagome at the sage’s beseech. “You mean well but you don’t know the danger you place yourself in.”
“You obviously don’t know,” Kagome replied. “But I’m a trouble magnet.”
“If you continue you will only harm yourself, and the ones you’re changing yourself for. Please, miko, turn back.”
Kagome thought for a moment, her gaze fixed on her boots as she remembered her friends. She missed them terribly and with every thought of them her heart seemed to painfully clench. She loved them all and now, when she was so close to completing her goal, she didn’t dare stop. She needed this power badly. Without it-
“Without it you were just fine,” the sage called out. “You can stop now and go back to the way you were. But you won’t will you. . .”
Kagome sighed and shook her head. “I’m the one that broke it. I have to do everything I can to fix it.”
“Well go on then,” the sage whispered as Kagome walked away. “attempt this ‘only way’ of yours and I will pray for you.” She gazed down at the cub in her arms and smiled. “We will pray that she survives, won’t we little one?”
(III)
The colors of blood and hate glowed in the darkness, his eyes focused on the tiny child and the mirror in her hands. He smiled as the image changed with his will, leaving the woman-child to spy on those she once traveled with.
“If it is one thing I like to see, Kanna,” Naraku began with dark glee. “Its when one tries to better themselves. I once was weak, unable to do anything for myself. But look at me now Kanna!” His laughter was booming and Kagura flinched from her place in the far corner of the room.
“The best part is,” he continued with a grin. “once she finishes and gains this power she’s looking for, she will most likely go on a rampage and kill everything around her.
“Think of the irony when, instead of making it easier on her friends, they end up hunting and killing her! It’s perfect really, and its all because she’s missing that one little piece of information.” He gazed into the glass thoughtfully, his claws softly clicking against the floor underneath him.
“I think we should help her.”
Kagura glanced up in surprise. “We should? But Naraku what if-”
“Naraku-sama, Kagura, in case you are forgetting,” Naraku corrected. His voice was kind but miasma surged, the sudden thickness blinding and corrosive as it smothered any breathable air. “Kagura, follow the Inu-tachi. Lead them when I command you to.”
“Yes Naraku-sama,” she wheezed out immediately. She fled as if the devils of Hell were hot on her heels, running through the hallways of the mansion until she came to the enormous doors to the outside. She took to the sky at the first sign of light and flew away, her feather boat guiding her toward Inuyasha and the west.
(IV)
They were weary, their hearts heavy and every step forward felt as if they waded through lead. Their bones creaked, their stomachs growled and the air seemed to wheeze from their lungs. . .
Yet the hanyou, their flame retardant tormenter (or retarded as the case may be) continued onward, his nose in the air and his ears pointed toward the immediate east.
“Inuyasha if you don’t stop I swear,” Miroku began and sank his staff into the soft earth. “By the Kamis above, I will slap a paralyzing sutra to your ass.” He frowned at Inuyasha’s refusing growl and stepped forward, said sutra in hand as Shippou and Sango gaped in surprise.
“We are only human and if you don’t stop I will make you.”
“Fuck you and your sutra,” Inuyasha snarled defiantly. “We press on and if you don’t keep up I will leave your ass here.”
Sango and Shippou stepped back, careful to keep out of the way of the testosterone that flew through the air. The sutra in Miroku’s hand glowed and his eyes narrowed to slits of deep purple ink.
“Don’t play with me Inuyasha,” he warned, the future warning slipping effortlessly from his lips. “I’m not Kagome. I don’t possess her infinite patience.”
“You know what houshi,” Inuyasha growled and balled his hands into fists. “I’m tired of your crap. Seems like all you do lately is complain. I’m trying to find Kagome, wherever she is, and keep her from doing something stupid. You’re slowing us down and I think you know what she’s trying to do.”
“Is that true Miroku?” Sango asked from the sidelines. “Do you know where Kagome is?”
“No,” Inuyasha answered for him. “But he knows something. Whatdidja say to Sesshoumaru, huh? What’d ya tell him that ya won’t tell me?”
“Aw look,” called a voice above them. The group looked up instantly, Kirara changing to her larger form and weapons unsheathing as Kagura watched them from her feather boat. “I just hate to see such a close knit family fall out this way.”
“Bitch,” Inuyasha viciously snarled and launched the Wind Scar in her direction. The attack was surprisingly quick and Kagura barely avoided it, her boat nearly flipping in the onslaught. She laughed anyway and opened her fan. She uprooted massive trees with a single wave and laughed again as the group dodged the enormous projectiles.
“Come on Inuyasha,” she bantered from her place on the winds. “Don’t tell me you’re going soft without your precious miko toy. What would Kikyou say?”
“You fuckin’-” he was in the air before he could finish, Tetsusiaga ready as he sliced Kagura through. . .
Or would have, if she had not fled.
“Dammit!” Inuyasha snapped angrily. “When I catch that bitch- come on! Let’s go!” He hop scotched the trees quickly, leaving Sango and Miroku to follow.
“Miroku-sama,” Sango began as Kirara raced the wind currents after the pissed off hanyou. “Is it just me, or does this feel like a set up?”
“I agree my lady,” Miroku agreed grimly. “But there’s no stopping him now. It’s best to wait him out, then hope it’s not too late for him to see reason.”
(0)
He watched the little beauty, her head held high and the effects of her Change evident on her face. She still wore her innocence but now she was more elfin, her features delicate. Her eyes, once dark chocolate does, now shifted in amber-gray light. They seemed to see everything and, with her hair high in a ponytail, he could see the slight point at the tip of her ears. They would hardly cause alarm to any other humans, though she may be made fun of from time to time.
It was her aura that attracted him like the doomed moth to the bright flame. Before she was already more powerful than the previous Shikon Miko, the one Onigumo coveted, but now she was walking power, the Shikon personified. The one thing he found disconcerting was the life, not death, that bloomed in her wake. Withered grass greened under her feet, dry flowers bloomed with bright colors and the trees bowed in her wake. It was ludicrous, this welcome of a creature that had slain hundreds of rogue oni and youkai.
It was also counterproductive and most likely hindrance to his plans.
“No matter,” Naraku decided with a confidant smile. “All will go according to planned.” The air around him stilled then warmed and, oddly enough, the scent of lavender came to him on the sudden wind.
“Come on out Naraku,” he heard her call. “I see you.”
He cursed inwardly, but smiled and stepped into her line of sight. “Hello reincarnate. Aren’t you lovely in your new role?”
Kagome’s eyes narrowed but she remained quiet.
“I hear you’ve gone on a hunt. Tell me then,” he said and stepped closer to her silent form. “How is it that, with all the blood you’ve shed, you walk in purity?”
“Perhaps,” she said and stood her ground when the hanyou invaded her space. “It’s because I haven’t hurt anyone that didn’t deserve it.” She frowned when, instead of stepping back at her unspoken warning, he leaned in close and sniffed her exposed ear.
“You reek of power miko,” he told her with a lustful rumble. Her power signature from afar was amazing but up close it and her scent set his blood boiling. Never in his life had anything, food or drink, made him want so badly as the waves that surrounded him from her lithe form. He was horny as hell and the moment he reached down to ‘adjust’ himself was the moment a massive force slammed into his chest with the force of a fast moving train. Contact was brief but he went sailing across the clearing before landing on his back a couple of yards away from the yawning miko.
“Whore,” he growled painfully. The nerves in his back were screaming and his chest burned, the silk around the four inch hole in the center charred and black. He sat up slowly and spat out a thick clump of what turned out to be his own foul blood. He glanced up at a sudden cry, a bloody grin spread on his lips as he watched Kagome. She stiffened almost instantly and in her reaction knew was coming. ’Time for the next part of the plan,’ he said as he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.
He regained his feet just as Kagura flew into view, garnet orbs wide in surprise at the damage coming from her master. Inuyasha burst into the clearing seconds later, his threats and snarls dying on his lips as he stood and gaped. “K-kagome?” he stuttered in surprise as Kirara landed behind him. “Is it really you?”
“My word,” Miroku breathed as he and Sango dismounted the fire neko. “She certainly has changed.”
“Now that all of the players are here, I say we get started,” Naraku said and in a moment was by Kagome’s side again. “Allow me to help you finish, my dear.” He reached for her arm and grasped empty air, then quickly stepped aside as Tetsusaiga’s massive blade landed in the dirt where he once stood. Naraku laughed, his hand coming up as an afterthought to catch the slayer’s far flung weapon.
He tossed it back, uncaring of whether she caught it or it caught her before he turned to Inuyasha. “Look at her,” he said and ducked Inuyasha’s wild swing. “All that time you cursed her, called her weak and look at her now. Look what you’ve done, Inuyasha. Aren’t you happy?”
“I’m gonna cut off your head,” Inuyasha replied with a bloodthirsty grin. “It might shut you up, but you’ll still have your ass to talk through.”
“How. . .vulgar.”
Inuyasha raised his sword high, the coming blow impossible to dodge. He grinned as he brought it down in heavy judgment only to be thrown back by Naraku’s barrier. The evil hanyou laughed as Inuyasha was slammed into the thick trunk of a nearby tree, the force leaving him breathless and spread eagle against the wood’s massive side.
“You disappoint me,” Naraku said as he approached the barely conscious hero. “As if killing me would be that easy. If it were you and your pathetic little band would have done it years ago. I didn’t come here for you anyway.”
He was almost there, his foot raised to crush Inuyasha’s unprotected skull when his airway suddenly closed. The skin of his neck burned and he could smell it, feel it being torn away as he was forced to turn around. The sudden pressure eased and he drew in a breath, the released it in a startled pained scream as something lashed across his face.
“You said you didn’t come for him,” Kagome said from across the clearing, the two fingers of her left hand glowing a soft pink . “Who are you here for?”
“My dear miko,” Naraku replied as he quickly made his way toward her. “I’m here for you. All for you. . .”
His calm approach became a quick jog and Kagome flicked her hand. A beam of energy, lightening fast and bright with holy reki, slapped him again, then slashed deeply into his right thigh. Still he kept coming, ignoring Miroku’s staff and Sango’s katana in his hurry to grasp the miko. Again and again her whip hit him and his blood pattered on the grass but still he pursued her.
He caught her, his head snapping back when she delivered a glowing punch to his mouth. He snarled angrily, his rage nearly out of control. She kneed him where it hurt and his vision went red, mission forgotten as he grasped her by the throat and slammed her to the dirt below. He erected a quick barrier, barely able to enjoy her friend’s cries of surprise when she hit him again, this time catching him in the throat, and spit in his face.
“Let. Me. Go,” she demanded and as dangerous as she sounded she was beginning to panic. Kagome didn’t like this new, touchy-feely Naraku and she hated that, even after being away from her friends for so long, she still didn’t have the strength to fight this monster, this beast who would murder the world.
“What number are you on?”
Kagome glanced up, panic now a full bloomed flower as he glared down at her. Her struggling renewed and Naraku laughed before using his miasma to sap her energy.
“You’re on seven hundred and forty-nine, am I correct?” Naraku guessed and laughed. “Why Kagome, if you wanted to kill your friends you should’ve just asked me. I would’ve gladly helped you.” With that he spit in her face, dark jets of blood from his busted lip spraying her face and hair. She stilled almost instantly, frozen as Naraku laughed and took to the sky.
“Enjoy my little surprise,” he called from Kagura’s cloud then commanded the wind youkai to retreat as quickly as possible.
The others of her group approached her slowly, with Shippou the first to notice as she stood there, her eyes wide and glassy as she stared into the sky. Miroku reached out but Inuyasha was the first to touch her, his fingertips barely brushing against her forehead to wipe the blood away when she gasped loudly, the intake of air sudden and violent as it rushed into her lungs. She started to shiver then convulsed, her limbs akimbo as her seizure shook her hard enough to break bones. She shook for what felt like hours and her friends could only watch and pray for the best.
She sat up suddenly, her friends backing away as she raised her head and snarled loudly. Birds scattered at the explosion of energy from her and she reached out, her eyes crimson and knocked away the first thing in her grasp. Kirara rolled end over end, with Shippou scrambling to catch her as the others raised their weapons in self defense.
“You must stop Kagome-sama,” he called to the feral creature approaching him. “We’re your friends. You will harm us if you don’t stop.”
She looked as if she heard him, crimson fading slightly as she attempted to shake her head clear. She growled in confusion, the first of many blood tears caressing her cheeks before her head snapped up, burning orbs connecting with the holy man as she resumed her advance.
Inuyasha stepped forward and looked back when a snag at his arm stopped him. He gaped, then snarled as Sesshoumaru held him back. “Let me go, fucker. Can’t you see we got a problem here?”
“Naraku has been here.”
“Well duh,” Inuyasha vented furiously. He was terrified out of his mind, not of Kagome or that she would hurt them, but of the possibility that they may have to hurt her, and-”You just missed him. If you go west you should pick up his trail.”
“I am not here for the evil abomination.”
Inuyasha moved to say more, then stopped at Miroku’s sudden yowl of pain. “Don’t have time for your shit Sesshoumaru! I gotta-”
“You will not get involved.”
Inuyasha barked a bitter laughter and snarled, “You can go fuck that. I’m not going to let her do this.”
“You are not strong enough to stop her,” Sesshoumaru replied with a narrowing of his eyes. “You will grab the others and stand back, or I will knock you out.”
Inuyasha snorted in disbelief. “I’d like to see you try that shit, you-” Sesshoumaru held up his hand in passing, a neon green cloud releasing into Inuyasha’s face. He went down like a rock seconds later and the gas dissipated as Sesshoumaru neared Sango and Miroku.
As a child, Miroku once watched a cat stalk a mouse in the halls of his teacher’s home. He watched as the cat darted along, always with the mouse in sight while it placed itself into a better pouncing position. He once wondered what the mouse felt like in those last moments. Now he could honestly say that he knew.
‘What a morbidly funny thought at a time like this,’ he said to himself and quickly raised his staff. She was barehanded, and his staff made from blessed metals, yet it bowed under her tiny fist. She smirked victoriously and was reaching for the front of the houshi’s robes when Sesshoumaru grasped the back of her shirt and jerked her away.
“Foolish humans,” he calmly said as he dragged her toward a nearby tree. “Always attempting the impossible without a thought to the consequences of their actions.” Sango, Miroku and Shippou watched, Kirara curled up and unconscious in Shippou’s arms, as the taiyoukai held her against a tree with his only hand.
“Houshi.”
Miroku blinked, then responded with a hesitant, “Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama?”
“Come here.”
Miroku approached slowly, his nerves and reki jumpy at the snarls and growls coming from the pair.
“Do you know what is going on?”
“No Sesshoumaru-sama, I do not,” Miroku admitted.
“There is a small ring attached to my sash. Release it.”
Miroku did so quickly, a slight “Eeep!” escaping from him when Kagome grasped a fistful of his hair. It was sweaty from his nerves and from the earlier fight, so the strands slid through her fingers. The ring was light and made of a silvery substance that hummed with energy. A section of the ring was missing, and Miroku wanted to ask why when the fur around Sesshoumaru’s shoulders slid down his arm.
It wrapped around Kagome and the tree, effectively pinning her in place while he grasped Kagome‘s leg. “Bless it,” the taiyoukai demanded. He slashed through the denim easily and used a single claw to cut his way to her upper thigh. He turned, his hand open and waiting as Miroku finished and returned it. The ring widened in Sesshoumaru’s hand and Miroku watched, awestruck, as Sesshoumaru forced the ring onto Kagome’s thigh. He closed the ring’s open hole with a small piece a metal he had palmed in his hand and his own corrosive acid.
The ring glowed fiercely, nearly blinding everyone before fading to a dim glow. The red bled from her eyes in rivets and Kagome slumped, then fainted dead away.
“Slayer, prepare the miko a place to rest,” Sesshoumaru commanded as Miroku picked her up. Sango scrambled toward Kagome’s pack and readied her sleeping back, then stood by while Miroku laid their friend’s resting form on her blanket. “Houshi, there is much we must discuss,” Sesshoumaru began as he leaned against his tree. “Wake the hanyou and sit down, because this Sesshoumaru will only say this once.”
(V)
She was a monster.
Just like Naraku.
She stared at her reflection in the water, her eyes like bright coins in the moonlight. She touched her hair, hating the red streak next to her right ear. She wanted to rip it out and the hell with the consequences but knew it wouldn’t solve anything. Tears welled in her eyes as she remembered what she did to her friends, her eyes bright silver and gold pieces of despair.
“Cease your foolishness.”
Kagome whirled around, nearly slipping off her seat on the boulder as Sesshoumaru’s glowing form stepped from the trees.
“Your pack remains unharmed.”
“I nearly killed them today-”
“This Sesshoumaru is aware.” He sat down on the rock beside her and gazed up as if to ignore her.
“They must be so afraid of me,” she whimpered softly. “I did all of this for them. I went through so much to be stronger, not to become a mindless killer.”
“The power you will get used to,” he assured her quietly, his gaze still on the heavens. “and in turn your pack will get used to you.”
Kagome gaped at him, speechless at his attempts to comfort her before good manners finally found her. “Thank you Sesshoumaru-sama,” she replied with a respectful bow.
“They told you about the ring.”
Kagome reached down and touched it, feeling the cool metal against her thigh underneath her pajama pants. “Will I have to wear this forever?”
“Even I do not know that, miko.”
“Oh. Um, Sesshoumaru-sama?”
“Hai miko,” he sighed irritably.
“Why. . .how. . .why did you help me?” Of the hundreds of questions circling her head, that one was the most persistent. From the time she awakened from her forced slumber and all through Sango and Miroku’s explanation of what happened she felt like a complete and utter fool.
How could she not have realized that she would need a sealing charm? The character in Souta’s anime wore ear clips and the last time she was home she watched with Souta as he took them off. Then she thought it was a part of the anime but there was Kaede’s story. She was grateful to Sesshoumaru and she struggled for a way to thank him.
“Because.”
Kagome blinked, his voice startling her out of her self pity. “Because?”
A dark brow raised slightly, but no other answer was given and he returned to his stargazing. Kagome huffed, wanting to be frustrated but couldn’t. This taiyoukai, silent as a tomb in winter, confused her. Why had he helped her and her friends? What did he want in return?
‘Probably nothing,’ Kagome said to herself with a roll of her eyes. ‘He probably thinks he’s too important to take anything from me. Still. . .one good deed does deserve another.’ She propped herself up and, without a warning to the inu youkai, pressed a quick kiss to his striped cheek. She jumped down from her perch and made her way back to camp quickly, only stopping at Sesshoumaru’s threatening growl.
“I bet you want to know why I did that, don’t you?” Kagome replied as she glanced over her shoulder. She smiled and continued on her way, leaving the tai disquieted and slightly miffed.
Then he itched unexpectedly and he reached to scratch, not realizing what he was doing until he was scratching the wrist of his renewed left hand. He stared down at it dispassionately, then back toward the noise of Inuyasha’s camp. Because he had said and because was right. The miko was a mystery to him before but now. . .
“Now she could be quite entertaining.”
(End)
Kagome: So SF-sama, got any ideas for what story you’re going to pick up next?
SF: Nope, but I did have a weird dream a couple of n-
Inu-chan: Just what in the blue fuck have you been doing this entire time you lazy-
ZAP!!!
SF: Jerk. I keep telling him about cursing in front of the kids. What’s wrong with him? How you keep from sitting him to the other side of the world? If it were me, Native Americans would be staring at him by now.
Kagome: Trust me, it’s not easy. Now what were u trying to say SF-chan?
SF: Oh. Well, I fell asleep with my mp3 player going and had the weirdest dream to Kanye West’s song Heartless. You guys were dancing to it, and I mean you guys were throwin’ down. Pop locking, break dancing and I woke up laughing my head off, but it was great.
Miroku: Do you see where this is going Sango?
(Sango nods, then shakes her head in disgust)
SF: So I thought, maybe someone could imagine what it was I dreamed and try to draw it. Anyone who sends me a pic, especially one of Sesshou getting’ down (he was popping his collar in my dream, but that’s just me) can request a chapter. It’s the least I can do and I’ll even post the pictures on my DeviantArt and Dokuga screen names (giving the artist credit of course. Everyone and their mama knows I can’t draw a stick in a tree.)
Shippou: But you won’t make everyone wait will you SF? You’ll pick up a new story soon right?
SF: That’s right little man. But I still have to figure out which one. I’m leaning toward a story I have on Mediaminer, an original that only has one chapter. Who knows though?