InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tsubaki's Revenge ❯ Reunion ( Chapter 25 )

Disclaimer: This story is based on "Inuyasha," copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi. No infringement of copyright intended or implied.

 

Tsubaki's Revenge, Part XXV: Reunion

Inuyasha had realized for some time before the explosion that the spells the dark priestess had put on him to nullify his senses of hearing, seeing and smelling did not extend to his ability to sense demonic energy around him. He could smell or feel the snake's youki surrounding him like a rather faint, malodorous fog wrapped around him. He could just barely sense three other faint sources of youki, plus the far stronger source that was both familiar and strange. Tsubaki's, he had realized, her aura glowing mostly with the youki stolen from him.

The wind against his skin, especially his ears, told him that they were moving. He found himself moving his ears, testing the feel of the wind at different angles, if only because they were the only things he could move.

He knew when the youkai came to a halt, and felt fear clench his heart, guessing that they had arrived at the village. He hadn't realized that they were so near, but that made no difference, for he didn't know what he could do. They were in danger, and didn't even have Kikyo to defend them, and he was helpless. They were going to be killed, for no better reason than that they had dared befriend him, and there was nothing he could do! Poisoned, spelled, broken, and so afraid that the thought of even trying to defy the priestess made him want to whimper.

Wrapped up in his fear and dread, Inuyasha didn't notice the barrier going up around the youkai. Nor did he notice his carrier twitch, or sense its growing fear.

But the flash of spiritual power slamming into the barrier startled him, even as the youkai jolted sideways, its own fear spiking. Inuyasha jerked his head backwards, blind eyes snapping open, as he felt the pure, untainted power slam into the barrier again and again. He felt the youki-fed barrier shatter. The youkai's little mind shrieked in pure panic and started to flee. Dark power, mingling youki and tainted spiritual power, pulsed and flared in an attack. Something pure and shining seemed to spread out to meet it—

And then the world seemed to go mad in a storm of energy. The collar pulsed, burning his neck. The youkai holding him radiated pain as well as fear, and vaulted skyward, releasing him, sending him tumbling and falling. Instincts kicked in, and Inuyasha tried desperately to move, to twist his body out of the helpless tumble. More by luck than effort, his right heel hit first, sending agony up his leg. His body still rotating, he slammed onto his bound arms and hands, before rolling over several times, until the ground stopped him. For long moments, there was only the searing pain in his leg and his arms, and his desperate effort to breathe through his nose. Finally, the pain receded enough to let something else crawl into his awareness. He opened his eyes, and realized he could see.

Whatever had caused that 'explosion' had apparently destroyed the active spells on him. He looked around, and saw that he was lying in a sparse forest. He could see a darkening sky, and guessed that the sun must be about down. Lifting his head, he saw nothing but trees and other plants. His nose brought in more information. His ears flattened reactively as he smelled Tsubaki, her smell mingling with snake youkai, and burnt ink and paper.  He smelled two horses, a human male, and Kikyo. Or, rather, the puppet, he told himself, a flicker of fear icing his spine as he breathed in that scent. There was also blood—the man's, he thought.

Inuyasha drew as much air into his lungs as he could, then set himself and tried to force his arms apart and break the bindings. Pain seared through his hands and his arms. He tried to ignore it, grinding his teeth into the gag, but the pain mounted, and his breath and his will ran out at the same time. Whimpering, he relaxed, lungs laboring for air, despair washing over him. So weak he couldn't break simple ropes. No way to escape. Not from whoever recovered first, whether it was Tsubaki or the stranger.  If Tsubaki recovered first, she would destroy the stranger, and then go back to her plan to kill him and destroy the village. If the stranger destroyed Tsubaki, the village would be safe, but Inuyasha would only be able to hope that the human had enough mercy for hanyos that he would simply kill him. But how many humans were even that merciful? After his mother died, until Kikyo chose to talk to him, there'd been no one. No one. And Kikyo was dead.

* * * * *

The mare reared as the calming spell over her shattered. Blinded and mentally deafened by the explosion, Kikyo dropped her bow and hung on for dear life. As the horse came down, knowing the mare was going to bolt and that she'd never be able to stay on, she flung herself out of the saddle. She landed off-balance on her good foot, before going down on her rump. She managed to avoid slamming her head into the ground, ending up on her left side, body thrumming with pain. Panting, she waited for the pain to ebb.

The pain in her left leg subsided, enough to assure her that she hadn't broken anything on that side. Her right leg throbbed, but it was her head that truly stabbed with pain, and not from the physical blow of six days ago. Something had happened, after she and Miyatsu had shattered Tsubaki's barrier. Tsubaki had launched an attack at the same time she had fired, she remembered. She'd seen her arrow swallowed up by the dark priestess' attack, and had had a split moment to realize that Tsubaki's attack would destroy her, before the world had exploded.

What had happened? Squinting against the vicious headache, Kikyo forced herself to sit up. In the fading light, she could see her bow, and several crumpled bodies. With a fierce effort, the miko forced herself to her hands and knees, and then started to crawl towards her bow. Every move seemed to jar her head and her leg, and she found herself alternating between gasping for breath and clenching her teeth. When her hand came down on the bow, she grabbed it and twisted it so that the bowstring was upright. Not pausing to stop, she headed towards the lump that had to be Miyatsu. Arms trembling and sweat dripping off her face, she managed to crawl to his side. He was on his back, the shattered remnants of his staff littering his body and the ground. Blood trickled from his nose, and there were cuts on his hands, his chest and his face, where splinters had cut him. Supporting herself with her bow hand, Kikyo reached for his neck with trembling fingers. To her relief, she found a pulse, weak but steady.

He must have tried something to block or turn back Tsubaki's attack, she realized.  Why that had caused the explosion, she didn't know. Miyatsu had probably saved her life, but at what cost to him?

She looked around again. The dark-robed form lying crumpled on top of a feebly twitching snake youkai was undoubtedly Tsubaki. Cold logic said that she should crawl over to the dark priestess and kill her, before she recovered. But kill her with what? Kikyo thought about what she had. No arrows, no knife. Her bowstring? Her hands? She thought of trying to throttle Tsubaki with her bare hands, and nearly threw up. She was used to killing youkai with her bow. But killing a human with her hands?

A faint sound caught her attention. She brought her head up, looking around. A faint blur of white caught her eye, and she remembered. Inuyasha!

She started to crawl towards the tiny bit of white, still keeping hold of her bow, ignoring her pain, desperately determined to get to Inuyasha. She had to get to him. No matter what else happened, she had to get to his side.

Skirting the dying youkai, she continued to crawl, going as quickly as the dimming light and her leg allowed. He came into fuller view, and it was all she could do not to weep for him. He was heavily bound, arms pinioned behind him. There was no sign of the terrible wound that had nearly killed him, but he was terribly thin, and even in the growing twilight, she could see dark bruises and welts over his chest and legs and upper arms. She could see a dark stain on the gag. What had Tsubaki done to him?

She was fewer than two lengths from him when he opened his eyes. He saw her, and then, to her shock and horror, his eyes widened in fear, he gave a thin, smothered whine, and he began to tremble. "Inuyasha!" she whispered. "It's me, Kikyo! Don't you recognize me?"

His fear didn't abate, and his terror broke her heart. "Inuyasha, it's Kikyo, you remember Kikyo?" she asked him, continuing to crawl. "I won't hurt you—I'll never hurt you." He continued to stare at her with terrified eyes and flattened ears. "Inuyasha, please—I promise, I won't hurt you!"

She gained his side, heart-sick at the way he was shivering. Touching his shoulder as gently as she could, she looked the gag over. "I'm going to try and take off the gag, Inuyasha," she whispered. "It'll be all right—I'll try not to hurt you." Setting down the bow, she leaned over him. The knot on the gag was simple, but so tight that it took her long minutes and a torn fingernail to loosen. Her back and upper thighs were burning from the stress by the time she finished. As gently as she could, she pulled the gag away, having to maneuver it when it caught on his fangs. Sighing, she leaned back. "Give me a moment, and I'll work on your arms."

He didn't respond. Disappointed, and bewildered, Kikyo hesitated, then reached out for his nearer ear. "Remember when Korana wanted to pet your ears?" she whispered, touching a gentle fingertip to the trembling, folded ear. "You wouldn't—"

Inuyasha gave a strangled noise, and with a lunge, sank his fangs into her hand.

* * * * *

Inuyasha withstood the terror as long as he could. He didn't understand why the puppet was crawling, or why she was pretending to be the real Kikyo. He wanted to move away from her touch, even when she started to remove the gag, but he didn't dare. Trying to escape was a cause for further punishment. Trying to resist was a cause for further punishment. He had to take whatever she gave him.

But then she mentioned Korana, and touched his ear; it was in a single moment too much. To have the child's name on his torturer's lips, the child that had been so fearless, who had smiled at him, giggled at him, hugged him, the child who was doomed because of his weakness, and she dared—!

It was not thought or decision, only reaction. He flung his head up and bit the hand, and did not realize he was going to, until after her blood filled his mouth. He stared up at her, petrified, waiting for her to tear her hand away from his mouth, waiting for her to hit him, waiting for her to dig her invisible claws into him.

But she did not do that. She gasped, giving a small cry of pain, and stared down at him, her face sweaty, tears starting to film her eyes. Something in him recognized wrongness in her face. The puppet didn't sweat. It didn't cry. It didn't show pain.

His brain registered the taste of blood. Normal blood. Salty, human blood. Not the sour, inky taste of the puppet's 'blood.'

Bewilderment started to shoulder through the terror. He stared up at the woman, sniffing. It smelled like Kikyo. But the puppet smelled like Kikyo. The woman looked like Kikyo.  But the puppet looked like Kikyo.

A tear began to roll down her face. "Inuyasha," she whispered, "why can't you recognize me?"

Tears. Sweat. Had he ever smelled either on the puppet? He couldn't remember. But this had to be just some elaborate pretense. Didn't it? Kikyo, Kikyo was—

He released the hand slowly, swallowing the blood in his mouth. "Kikyo's—dead," he whispered, still staring at her.

She met his eyes, her own widening slightly, and he smelled her scent shift slightly. Had the puppet's scent ever shifted? "I tried to make it look like I was dead, when I realized Tsubaki had set a spell to lead me in the wrong direction, trying to find you. Her eyes shifted slightly, examining his face. "It is me, Inuyasha. Kikyo. I'm sorry it took me so long."

She sounded like Kikyo, sad and regretful. But the puppet sounded like Kikyo

He didn't dare hope. Not now. And yet, what if it was she? What if, what if Tsubaki had been mistaken? Or had managed to fool his nose into thinking she smelled truthful?

How could he know the truth? How?

Her eyes started to tear again as he only stared at her. "Inuyasha, why don't you believe it's me?" she asked. "What has she done to you?"

He couldn't tell her. He could only try to think of some way to learn what was really the truth. "Tell-me."

"Tell you what?" she asked, when words failed to come.

Inuyasha tried again. "Something ... she doesn't know..."

"She? Tsubaki?"

He stared at her, unable to answer her. She studied him, then sighed and closed her eyes. He waited, terrified with every moment that she would open her eyes, and she would be the puppet, smiling that insane smile, announcing that she wanted to hurt him.

"Do you remember the time in the boat, after the attack that hurt Kaede?" she said finally, opening her eyes again. "After I tripped, and you caught me? You hugged me, and then you said, 'I will become human. I'm not saying this on a whim. I will become human.' You went on and said, 'So you can become an ordinary human, too.' And then, remember? I—I kissed you."

He saw her cheeks warming with a blush, even as fresh tears gathered in her eyes, as her scent shifted and changed, as only a real human—not a puppet—would. He remembered that evening: that beautiful, wonderful evening, when he had been filled with love, peace, and hope. That moment, with Kikyo in his arms, when he had made his decision, to become human, to give up his youkai powers, because what he would gain would be more than what he lost. That perfect evening: that last, perfect, innocent night. Before Naraku. Before Tsubaki. A sob caught in his throat, and tears blurred his vision.

"K-Kikyo..." New pain stabbed him, and he closed his eyes against the hurt. It was Kikyo, but it was too late, even if they escaped. He was broken, inside and out. He would never be worthy of her, worthy to touch her, worthy to love her. He had been too weak to keep a mere mortal woman from breaking him, and to have Kikyo find him now, helpless, broken, shamed—

She gave a little cry of pain. His eyes flew open. "Kikyo?" He lifted his head a little, looking around. Kikyo's back was arched, her hands out at her side balancing a clearly uncomfortable position. Her expression was twisted in a grimace, and a hand was tightly gripping the hair at the top of her head, pulling her back. Inuyasha let his eyes moved up, and whimpered. Tsubaki smiled at him. Her hair was a tangled mess, the scar surrounding her right eye was visible, her clothes were in disarray, but her smile was a triumphant smirk.

"You fell in love with a fool, little puppy," she told him, shifting position slightly, and placing the glowing, half-obsidian, half-quartz knife against Kikyo's neck, with the quartz edge against her skin. "She recovered before I did; she should have killed me while she had the chance. But she was a fool—more concerned for her lover, than her enemy. And so here we are. So tell me, little puppy. Who should I kill first, tomorrow? You, or Kikyo?"