InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tsubaki's Revenge ❯ Before the Edge of Day ( Chapter 29 )

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

 

Tsubaki's Revenge, Part XXIX: Before the Edge of Day

The wounded youkai she'd called back was so terrified at helping transport a miko and the hanyo that Tsubaki was forced to spend most of her concentration on keeping it -and its companion, which was affected by its panic--under control. By the time she reached her destination, only the thought that she might want it for transportation back to her house kept her from killing it out of sheer annoyance. Instead, keeping  a firm grip on her temper, she dismissed the pair and let them flee into the nearby forest, confident that the links she'd fashioned would bring them back at her call.

As they fled, a soft squeak brought her attention around to a small, black-skinned, winged youkai that looked vaguely like a cross between a bat and a worm. “So you spread the dust over the village?” she murmured. It squeaked again, fanning its wings, bobbing up and down. "Very good," she told it. "You may go."
It chittered, its rate of bobbing increasing. Tsubaki smiled thinly at its palpable anger and greed. "Did I?" she responded. "Oh, very well--you may. But just a little--or I'll turn you inside out."

The small youkai squeaked happily, then turned on a wing and dove. Confident that everyone--including the guards--would be asleep and unable to see, Tsubaki summoned her spell-lights, then watched as the youkai settled onto the hanyo's side, dug the claws on the tips of its wings into his skin, and then plunged its jaws ino the raw wound. The hanyo jerked, but did not awaken, and Tsubaki let her smile slide into a smirk. When the hanyo had crumpled, she had been quick to re-bind and re-gag him, before weaving a spell about his mind, cursing him to relive the rapes. The loss of the 'Kikyo' puppet meant she could not directly put him through that torture, but she could make him suffer.  His face was streaked with sweat and tears, his whimpers smothered by the gag. His body shivered and twitched, and his aura was filled with his terror and pain.

Good enough. She turned her attention to the area where she had landed. It was on one side of the village, next to the river near several old trees. The enspelled dust would ensure that the villagers slept until sunrise. When they woke, they would have an unpleasant surprise. She smiled to herself again, then turned her attention to the various bags the youkai had left behind along with the two prisoners. She had work to do.

* * * * *

Kaede had not slept well since her sister's departure. She frequently dreamed of the fake youkai that Tsubaki had put into her mind. Sometimes it killed Inuyasha all over again. More often, it killed her sister, grinning at her as it consumed her sister's body, and she lay helpless, watching. Sometimes, she dreamed of the moment when she'd knelt by her sister's dead body, on the porch of the shrine, begging her to come back to life, only to have her come back to life as a monster. Once, she had dreamed that she had been running towards the meadow, knowing that she had to warn her sister about something, that she couldn't recall. She caught sight of her sister—and of a familiar red- and white- blur coming up behind a smiling, oblivious Kikyo. She'd watched, with utter horror, as golden claws slashed out from that figure's hands, as her sister had staggered as Inuyasha's claws slashed through her shoulder and back, as her sister, betrayed, had fallen to the grass—

That one had scared her more than any of the others.

She started awake from yet another nightmare. Rolling into a tighter ball, she hugged herself under the cover, staring into the darkness. On the other side of the panel, she could hear the even breathing of Satsuki and her youngest daughter. She felt relieved that she had not woken them up with her cries. Satsuki and Yasuo had insisted that she not stay in the hut by herself. She'd had no choice in the matter, but she'd felt bad about how many times she'd been waking other people up. Not she would have wanted to stay in the hut, stinking as it was with malice and hate as well as blood, despite several attempts to clean it up. The hut would need to be spiritually cleansed before it was inhabitable, if ever. She'd even overhead Yasuo and Satsuki discussing if it wouldn't be better simply to burn it down and rebuild; but the absence of Kikyo and the demands of the farming season had put that discussion on hold. They had simply required Kaede to move into the headman's relatively sizeable house, with Satsuki and her unmarried children moving in as well, to provide company and avoid any appearance of impropriety.

Sighing, she set up. She wasn't at all sleepy at the moment.  As if to dispute that thought, she yawned the next moment, and then coughed as something caught in her throat. Clapping her hand on her mouth, she struggled to suppress the cough. Her nose stung, and she sneezed. Ow! She sneezed again. Belatedly, she realized that there was an odd, strange odor in the air: a musty, dusty, smell that held a hint of the wild flowers that bloomed in the morning and died in the
evening.

Sneezing again, she pinched her nose in an effort to stop the sneezes, but that only led to her start coughing again. Realizing that there was something in the air, she grabbed her bed-clothing to use as a shield. The odor strengthened, and her sneezes increased. Dropping that cloth, she staggered to her feet and stumbled to the baskets along the wall. Rummaging blindly through the nearest one, she pulled out a length of cloth and held several crumpled layers before her nose and mouth. The sneezing faded, though her nose was prickled anew by the sharp odor coming from the dye.

Puzzled as to the source of the odor, Kaede walked carefully towards the closest, keeping the cloth to her face with one hand, while she used the other hand to guide her in the lightless house. As she gingerly pushed back the sliding door and stepped out onto the porch, she gave a little sigh of relief, as the starlight gave a tiny bit of light to see by. There was no sign that the moon was up, which meant, if she had the cycle right, that it was very, very late.

Pulling the cloth away from her nose, the girl sniffed carefully, and then reburied her nose as she sneezed. The smell was even stronger outside. What was it, she wondered, as she walked towards the corner of the porch, thinking she'd see if the men keeping watch in the tower had noticed anything. She felt as if she ought to know what it was; something her sister had told her; or something they had met on their travels. It must have been a long time ago, when she was just a little girl, or why couldn't she remember it?

Kaede halted abruptly as a red glow caught the edge of her vision. It was not the glow of a fire, or a torch. Fear nipping the back of her mind, she edged forward to the corner of the building, and looked around. Down the river, still on the village side, just past the last houses, where several ancient trees marked a small field that was occasionally used for grazing the horses, or was used as a mid-day gathering spot during the height of the harvest season. Two red glows drifted in the area in front of the trees. Kaede swallowed in a sudden surge of fright, as a possibility leapt to mind. Youkai! Was that a youkai by the trees?  What was it doing there?

Shivering, the girl watched the glowing points of light. Quite quickly, she realized that the two points could not belong to a two-eyed creature. The points moved independent of each other, and were usually too far apart for even a large skull. It could be two one-eyed creatures, but as Kaede remembered her lessons, she began to doubt it. Kikyo had told her about youkai eyes once, after an encounter with a three-eyed, youkai wolf at dusk. The glowing eyes had terrified the then six-year-old, though it had fled quickly when Kikyo had reached for her bow. Kikyo had explained that most youkai were active mostly at night, and needed to be able to see in the dark. Their eyes were more or less like a cat's, which could also seem to glow at night, when a torch- or fire- light hit their eyes.  A few youkai's eyes did glow even in pitch darkness, but those were extremely powerful, the glowing part of their aura.

If the glows were from powerful youkai, even she ought to be able to sense something, though her spiritual powers weren't very strong yet. Kaede tried to figure out what the lights might be, then remembered her early lessons at the temple where Kikyo had trained. They must be spell-lights. But who would be using spell lights near the village at this time at night? And did the smell have anything to do with it?

The girl froze as the possible answer suddenly came to her. Tsubaki. The dark priestess who had stolen Inuyasha and cast a spell on her to make her think he was dead. The woman who her sister had left to track down. But if that was Tsubaki, where was Kikyo? Biting her lip, Kaede fought down a surge of fear. It might not be Tsubaki. If it was Tsubaki, then surely Kikyo was nearby, too, just waiting for the right moment to strike.

But what if Tsubaki had defeated her sister? Had captured her? Or, worse, what if she had killed Kikyo? What if her sister was dead?

Stop it! She shouted to her panicking mind. Shaking, Kaede tried to calm her panic, breathing deeply. Somehow, she managed to dredge up a meditation mantra and whisper it through the cloth muffling her face. A few repetitions later, and she felt the hammering of her heart slow. After a few moments of thought, she began to edge back towards the door, trying to be as quiet as she could. There was nothing she could do to fight whatever was out there, whether it was some powerful youkai or the dark priestess. What she could do was go wake up Yasuo. He wasn't a priest or monk; he wasn't Kikyo. But he was the headman, and he had already proven that he would listen to her. He would know what to do.

* * * * *

“Thirsty, my dear?”

Kikyo swallowed the water flowing into her mouth, then gasped and nearly choked as pain flashed beneath her chin. Snapping her eyes open, she looked up through the red-lit darkness to Tsubaki's smirking face. “You!”

“Yes, me,” agreed Tsubaki. “How does it feel to be the loser? Don't you regret not letting me have the Shikon No Tama?”

“No.” Kikyo closed her eyes as her head start to pound ferociously.  “What have you done with Inuyasha?” she asked, trying to ignore her sense of exhaustion, and a peculiar unwellness that wasn't quite nausea, and wasn't quite pain, yet somehow both. She tried to concentrate on her miko senses, and failed. "You'd better not have hurt him."

Tsubaki laughed. "You are threatening me? My dear Kikyo, you can't even stand by yourself, let alone harm me. As for your half-breed lover, don't worry, he's not dead. Yet. Take a look."

Kikyo felt a hand grab her chin and force it around. Cracking her eyes open, distantly realizing that she was tied to a tree in an upright position, she stared straight ahead to the area illuminated by one of Tsubaki's light spells. Inuyasha was on the ground a few lengths from her, gagged and bound as before, though with bonds only at his wrists and ankles, rather than the more extensive binding she'd seen before. His left shoulder and side of his face was caked with blood from numerous slashes, while a more severe wound above his right hip still bled sluggishly. His eyes were closed tightly, and even with the distortion of the gag, she could see that his expression was one of fear. His ears were flat against the short bristle of his scalp, and he was twitching and jerking, his body streaked with sweat. Kikyo's heart ached to see him, and she wanted, more than anything, to gather him into her arms, free him of his bonds, and comfort him until the fear left him.

But she could not let her enemy see her inner pain. Moving her eyes, feeling the cold mask slide onto her face, she looked at Tsubaki. Who had, she noted, taken the time and power to cover up her scar. “And the monk?” she asked. “What have you done with him?”

Tsubaki chuckled. “I decided to be generous. I left him underneath a protective ward spell, which will last at least until he wakes up.” She smirked. “I'm not entirely heartless, my dear.”

More than likely, Kikyo thought, Tsubaki did not want to risk trying to control three prisoners. With a quick mental prayer for Miyatsu's safety, Kikyo looked around. Above her head was a weathered, broken stub of a branch, with a peculiar kink before the break that she recognized. Dropping her gaze, she saw several bags on the ground, and her bow and quiver. The quiver was not quite empty, and one of the arrows was glowing.

“Odd arrow, that one,” said Tsubaki. “It's a sacred arrow, but the power doesn't feel like yours. Where did you get it?”

Kikyo eyed the dark priestess. “Inuyasha.”

“What?” Tsubaki snapped her head around. “What kind of nonsense are you talking? He's a hanyo—he can't handle spiritual power, and you know it!”
She smiled slightly at the dark priestess and didn't answer. Tsubaki frowned at her, waited, before shrugging off her irritation. “Keep your secrets, then,” she said. “Here.” She held the tube of water up.

Kikyo drank the water, accepting her body's need for it, though knowing the dark priestess had no good reason behind her offering. She didn't really remember much, after her bow had broken through Tsubaki's shield, except for the sudden pain. But she felt exhausted, as if she had been fighting a youkai swarm many times larger than the one that had attacked the village. Tsubaki must have found a spell to drain her powers, and she could only hope that they would come back.

“I've decided to keep you until last,” commented Tsubaki, pulling away the water. “Since you started all this, by refusing to let me have the Shikon No Tama.” She smirked as Kikyo turned a calm gaze on her. “You'll get to watch everyone else die. That will hurt, won't it? If you hadn't been so foolish…”

Kikyo replied with as cool a tone as she could. “You said you were going to make Inuyasha rape and kill me.”

Something glittered in the dark blue eyes. “We both priestesses, Kikyo; both women. We may be foes, but even I won't do that to another woman.” She turned away. “Not for real.”

* * * * *

Yasuo wouldn't wake up. Kaede thumped back onto her rear end, frustrated. What could she do? She'd done everything she could to wake the headman up, and nothing had worked, not even pouring a dipper of water on his face. The spell was too strong—

Spell? Oh! Kaede wanted to slap herself. Why hadn't she seen that before? The smell in the air must have been some kind of dust or powder, carrying a sleep spell. It hadn't affected her—except for the sneezing—because she did have miko powers, even if they were still weak. There were defenses against such spells, but it required either a purifying barrier that neutralized the dust before it reached the victim, or a healing spell that broke the sleep spell over the individual.
Neither of which she could do. Yet.

Kaede glowered down at her fists, wishing she were older and stronger. With Kikyo gone, she was the closest thing the village had to a miko. And a miko had a responsibility to protect the village. So she had to do something, but what?

Standing up, she made her careful way back to her room. Along the wall, next to the baskets, she found her bow and quiver. Moving the cloth from her face for a cautious sniff, she found that the dust must have settled enough, for she didn't sneeze. But after a moment's thought, she knelt and started rummaging through the baskets for a knife. Finding one, she pulled off the cloth, then measured a wide strip, and cut the fabric until she could grab the two sides and tear it. Folding the shorter width, the girl tied it over her nose and mouth. There would be dust still floating in the air outside, and if she was going to go find out what was happening under those red lights, she couldn't afford to start sneezing. She might be only a little girl, but even she knew that.

The knife went into her obi, and the quiver over her shoulder. Setting her mouth in a stubborn line, Kaede slipped towards the nearest door. But as she reached for the door, she hesitated. How could she possibly think she could do anything against the source of those lights? If those lights were youkai, they'd probably detect her before she could get close, and look what had happened when she'd tried to fight them last time! Her power was so weak that the one youkai she'd managed to hit with an arrow had only been angered. She'd lost her eye, and if Kikyo hadn't turned and fired in time, she would have been killed. And if it was Tsubaki, well, how could a girl possibly defend just herself—let alone the entire village—against a dark priestess?

Kaede clenched her bow with both hands, and fought against the urge to just go back to her bed and crawl beneath the covers, hoping that she would wake up to find it had only been a bad dream. But she couldn't. There wasn't anyone else to find out what was going on. She had to go outside and find out what was going on, even if all she could do was to run to the next village and beg for help. But she had to do it. She had to be brave. Like her sister. Like Inuyasha.

Taking a deep breath, Kaede took one hand off the bow, and slid the door open.

* * * * *

Tsubaki had had to resist the urge to keep taunting Kikyo. The love-mesmerized miko was a tempting target, but taunting her didn't get her other preparations done, and dawn was not that far away. Opening her supplies, she pulled out two stacks of spell papers, a bundle of tapered sticks, and a roll of cord. Tying the end of the cord to the first stick, she stood up and moved to the edge of the bank and fixed the stick in the ground, murmuring a spell as she did. Rolling out the cord, setting the sticks in the ground, she made a rough circle that took in most of the meadow, but excluded the tree to which Kikyo was bound. Tying the end of the cord to the first stick, she made a second circuit, using a second chant, tying the narrow strips of paper to the cord halfway between each stick, murmuring a chant as she did so.  As she neared completion of the circle, she heard a splash from the river. Freezing in place, with one part of her mine holding the uncompleted spell steady, with the other, she called to the bat-winged youkai. It was to investigate the river and learn what had caused the splash.

It responded with a projection of a desire for more blood and youki. Tsubaki repeated her order, and the youkai reluctantly flittered into the air. Finishing the circle as quickly as she could, she straightened, letting her annoyance into the foreground of her thoughts. The lower orders of youkai were so greedy! She had been generous to let the little youkai have as much of the hanyo's blood and energy as it had. She needed all of the youki she could strip from his body when she killed him: letting the little youkai take more would be a waste.  

Waiting for the youkai to return, she returned to her supplies, pulling out an object wrapped in black silk and tied with a silken cord. Untying the cord and pulling back the silk, she examined the contents of the package. The black and silver collar glowed, potent with her most powerful spells. The old collar, which the hanyo was still wearing, had been weakened by the multiple breakages of the spells contained within it. Having gained a better knowledge of the hanyo over the last several days, she had crafted this one. The spells in this collar would not break.

The youkai returned, twittering. There was nothing in the river except water and mortal animals. It projected again its desire. Irritated with it, Tsubaki let a hint of a threat color her response. Squeaking nervously, it retired quickly back to its roost. Deciding that the splash had only been a large fish or frog, Tsubaki dismissed the incident from her mind.  Pulling the silk back around the black and gold collar, Tsubaki knelt by the hanyo's side. Letting her eyes focus on the energies about and within the hanyo, she noted that the curse of nightmares was still active. The spells in the old collar were quiescent. Setting the new collar aside, she touched the old one at the back of his neck and spoke a word. With a small crack, the collar broke into two pieces. Carefully removing them, she set them down on her other side, before picking up the new collar. Careful not to touch the collar with her bare skin, she eased the collar around the hanyo's neck. Pressing the two ends together, there was a muffled snap, a faint flare of red light, and then the two ends of the collar seemed to disappear as they merged together.

The active spell did not react, and the new spells coiled within the collar were clear and sharp-edged, waiting for their triggers. Satisfied with the transfer, the dark priestess touched a finger to his temple and broke the curse. Almost immediately, his body slumped, as the tension ran out of his muscles and his mind escaped into a deeper sleep. She waited a bit to make sure he was going to stay in the state, then leaned over and unfastened the gag. Straightening, she held out one hand, muttering a quick phrase. The ropes binding him fell away, returning to their active form, and wriggling to her outstretched hand, where they reformed into a single, coiled rope. The hanyo whimpered a little, then moved a bit, pulling his arms forward, his body curling into a loose ball. Satisfied that he probably wouldn't awaken until she forced him, Tsubaki gathered collar and silk into one hand, then stood up. She had one more barrier spell to erect, and then all she had to do was wait for sunrise, for her audience and victims to awake…

* * * * *

The river was undercutting the old tree. Kaede didn't know how long she had been clinging to its exposed roots, silently reciting a no-see-me spell. It had only thing she could think to do, when she had slipped on an unseen rock, landing on her hands and knees in the water. Terrified that she'd been heard, the girl had scrambled for the tree roots, pulling herself up, squirming as close to the loose soil as she could. Toes dug into the soil and holding on for dear life, she had concentrated on the spell chant as the only way to keep her fear throttled.

But how long should she wait? Kaede stopped the chant, trying to listen with her ears and her mind, as her sister had been training her. She didn't sense any youkai. But she did hear a voice, chanting softly. A chill of fear ran through her as she recognized it. The voice she had heard once before, rising above the steady thrum of rain on roof. The voice that had loosened her grip on the bow, and then which had sent her into a daze, in which she still could barely remember the voice questioning her. Her sister had identified that voice for her. Tsubaki.

Fighting down the fear and the questions that her mind wanted to scream out, Kaede set her jaw and started to wriggle towards the outside, staying as quiet as she could, being especially careful not to tangle her bow, which she was holding in one hand. Listening and moving slowly, the girl pulled herself onto the bank, not daring to even breathe as she pulled herself up and over. Feet still sticking out over the bank, she waited and listened, then, still hearing the chant, carefully got to her hands and knees, to crawl behind the massive tree trunk. She was close enough to notice several ropes tied around the trunk when the chanting stopped. Immediately, she froze, then, carefully, slowly, began to lower herself, silently mouthing her own chant.

“Do you really think that barrier will stop Inuyasha?”

Kaede jerked as her sister's voice came from the other side of the tree, momentarily losing track of the chant. Her mind wanted to scream in panic—her sister, Inuyasha, why were they with the dark priestess, they must be prisoners, she had to do something—!

Her sister had been training her for over a year, since the first, faint signs of her own miko power had appeared. Kaede relied on that training, stopping the panicked flow thoughts by returning to the chant. She was invisible, she wasn't worth noting, she was smaller than a dust mote, less than a blade of grass, nothing to see, nothing to note. She was invisible…

* * * * *

“Of course it will, my dear Kikyo,” came the amused answer. “You think I haven't been able to take the measure of him, by this time?” There was an unpleasant chuckle. “It's a very special barrier, you know. Someone with pure human blood can get through easily. But it will throw back anything with youkai blood.”

“And the other barrier?'

“Oh, it's more than just a barrier," came the reply. "You'll see when the sun comes up."

Kikyo was almost certain that her sister was behind the tree. Her miko senses had started to return, but even when she was at full strength, she was not able to detect Kaede's yet-weak spiritual aura from more than a few paces away. But her blood-tie connection to her sister insisted that Kaede was nearby, awake, afraid and determined. Fortunately, one of the very first things she had taught Kaede, when the girl's miko powers began to develop, was to master a simple concealment spell. It hid her aura and her scent from most youkai, and would hopefully conceal her from a priestess as well.

But it would help if she could keep Tsubaki distracted.

"Why are you so sure you won't be interrupted before sunup?" she asked, though she was fairly certain she knew the answer. "The village does keep guards in the tower at night." She referred to the spindly, three-legged edifice that rose above the huts of the village, used to watch for approaching danger, where human, nature, or youkai.

"They're asleep, of course," said Tsubaki, pulling a square of cloth out of one of her bags. Placing it on the ground, she then sat down on it, pulling one of the smaller bags towards her. "Surprising how much you can do with a little bit of youki. Moth youkai thought he was going to devour my life—was he ever surprised." Tsubaki chuckled darkly. "Left him alive in return for a supply of poison dust from his little flock." Pulling out a small packet, she opened it to reveal several rice balls. "If you beg, I might be willing to share."

"I'm not interested in your cooking, thank-you."

"Not mine, Kikyo-kun. A rather naïve tanuki cooks for me. Very good cook, too."

Tsubaki bit into a rice ball, turning her head to study the slumbering hanyo. Dropping her voice to a mutter, Kikyo said, trying to not move her lips, "I hope the food poisons your gut, Tsubaki-san." She watched intently, but saw no sign that the dark priestess had heard her. Taking a deep breath as quietly as she could, she whispered, "Kaede, don't try anything, until I say. Keep still, keep quiet. Be ready to cut the second rope from the top."

Kikyo was almost certain that she felt a start of surprise, and was knew that she could rely on the girl's strong streak of practicality to have her order obeyed. She would prefer that she could have ordered Kaede to retreat, but there was nowhere to retreat. And a high chance that she would be detected if she tried.

And the girl's presence might provide a thin chance to defeat Tsubaki. Out of the corner of her eye, Kikyo could see her bow, which Tsubaki had set against the tree, to mock her helplessness. She didn't need to see where the quiver was, with that one arrow, gleaming invisibly with the spiritual power she had pulled from Inuyasha's dying body, the last remnant of power from the vanished Shikon No Tama. One rope, severed at the right time. One shot, one arrow, one chance...

* * * * *

Seated very close to the ring of stakes and cord that held the spell barrier against the hanyo, Tsubaki was munching on her second rice ball when she noticed the hanyo starting to stir. He was sniffing, whining a little. The dark priestess smiled, wondering if the dog spell had affected his sleeping mind, or if the hanyo always acted like that when not fully awake. Digging back into her bag, she removed another small packet and opened it. Taking one of the pieces of dried fish, she tossed it across the barrier. It landed perhaps a foot's-length from the hanyo's head. Snuffling, he used the edge of one swollen hand to push it closer to his face. Tsubaki's smirk widened as she watched him move his head to sniff the length of the fish, before he opened his mouth and licked it. He took a tentative, tiny bite, nipping it off with just his incisors, and began to chew.

He woke up.

Eyes snapping open, reflecting red and gold from her spell lights, the hanyo lunged to his hands and knees, before going back down to his elbows with a wince of pain. Swinging his head around, he spotted her, and snarled, ears flattening against his skull. She gave him a smug look, then glance over and up at the eastern sky. It was brightening, some long, thin tags of clouds beginning to glow red. There was still about enough time to boil water and make a pot of tea, before the sun rose, but she decided it was a good enough time to begin. Folding the packets back up, she returned the remaining food to the bag, tied it neatly, and then dusted her hands off. Standing up, pretending to ignore the hanyo, she stretched, and then checked the tree, noticing that Kikyo was watching her. Turning back to the hanyo, she noted his defensive posture, smirked, and pointed a finger at him.

“White dog.”

The new collar pulsed. The hanyo jerked, eyes widening. He jerked again, and fell on his side.

And then, he began to howl.