InuYasha Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Miko ❯ The Coming Bloodlust ( Chapter 10 )

MIKO

By L.O. a.k.a. azn_otaku

Crossover: InuYasha and Trigun

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A/N: How have you all been? It's been awhile since I've last updated, I actually didn't start this chapter till today! I had a lot going on, as usual. Plus, I had started a new fic and I had another chapter of `Sunshine' to write. So that took up time. But I managed to get this out! And when I had started to write, I had felt inspired so things went by a lot quicker than normal.

Reader Responses:

Midnight Frost: I'm getting a lot of comments like that, I'm really happy that I've improved so much in my writing. And I'm glad that I'm getting reviews that say more than the usual `U r great. Update soon!' thing. Not that that's bad, I just like to know what my readers are thinking! Thanks for putting this on your favorites list!

wheelers_hanyou: I'm sorry that this update isn't soon. But I try, so I hope you don't get mad at me! I like to keep people anticipating the next chapter, but I'm not that great at cliffhangers (at least, I don't think so). So I get happy when people say things like they are kept at the edge of their seats!

Night Hunter: It's a good thing, to get better. Yup, it is. And you don't have to wait any longer, here's the next chapter! Sorry for taking so long.

Maia Webmistress: Completely original! Heh, it's a rare thing nowadays. There's a lot of clichés in fanfiction, especially with the popular series. I'm not saying I don't have clichés in `Miko', I probably do somewhere here, but at least the main plot is different from the others! And I hope the characters sound in character in this chapter as well. Knives seems to be a bit different, I wasn't sure how to portray a Knives-in-love. I mean, how do you go from cold-blooded killer to indifferent superbeing to lovesick man?

iminyourmind: I'm updating, I'm updating! I'm sorry for killing off Kikyou though. You'll see what I mean in this chapter. It's like what Yu Watase said for Nuriko dying in her `Fushigi Yugi' series, she had known this moment was coming ever since the beginning and yet she cried throughout the entire creating process. I didn't necessarily cry, but I was feeling a bit world weary, I must say. The moment I came up with the idea of Kikyou and Knives together, I knew it would end up like this. Gomen! And InuYasha is beginning to wake up (finally) in this chapter!

Nite1: Trigun and InuYasha's storylines are so completely different, it's amazing that I've thought of this idea at all, not to mention the fact that I'm writing about it. I was actually in shock that I could create something so believable. It was really weird. But it works so I'm happy that others see the weirdness too!

Moon Mage Goddess: Wow, you really must like this. I guess that's a bit of an understatement, huh? I'm sorry for putting the update off for so long, check up with my bio to see my various reasons for the long waits! Other than that, all I can do is apologize profusely for my own lack of time management.

skne: Interesting, two reviewers used `tense' to describe my chapters. That's a good thing! Really, I'm glad so many people are reviewing this even though I know that not everyone will think this is a good idea and they'll just skip over the title. But there are those, like all of you reviewers, who try something different and look where it gets you!

river: As I've said to everyone else, I'm just as surprised as you guys that this idea works. I remember daydreaming in class, thinking in my dad's car, laying in bed before going to sleep, sitting in front of the computer...for hours on end I thought of all the little details of the story before actually writing. It think that helped a lot, I had to really go into detail of what had happened to Kagome because the timeline was just too confusing for me to remember. But I'm glad I spent so much time on the fic, I think it really shows through the good reviews I'm getting! And I do tend to write like the post-apocalyptic Trigun style. I like the drama, I guess. I apologize greatly for the long wait for this update!

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"....." Dialogue

[.....] Thoughts

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Chapter Ten: The Coming Bloodlust

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"I don't get it, what happened?"

Sango looked from InuYasha to Miroku, petting Kirara in her lap. They sat upon the tall blades of grass. It had been decided that they could do nothing until they were given more to work off of, and so the group were waiting to either wake up or to get some sort of hint of how to wake up. All Sango knew was that she hated being in this perfect little world, while she felt in her heart that Kagome was hurting. Her cries were heard by all of them.

When neither Miroku nor InuYasha answered her, Sango frowned, "How did things end up this way?"

InuYasha flinched before snapping, "Didn't you pay any attention at all to your dreams Sango? It only played in our minds over and over until I was ready to go insane." He was already irritated with the long wait, he didn't need Sango to remind him of how they ended up asleep in the first place. He wasn't ready to face the fact that he was defeated by Naraku.

"I'm sorry, I was just wondering if you remembered the same things I did."

"You don't need to bring it up!"

"InuYasha," Miroku attempted to placate his hanyou companion, "You're getting too riled up. I know that you hear Kagome's pain the best out of all of us, but that is no reason to shout at Sango. I am curious as to the definite facts myself."

"What is there to understand? We were summoned by Kikyou. We fought Naraku. Kagome was bruised to a point where I couldn't even recognize her face. Her family was_burned_before we got there!"

InuYasha clenched his fists and growled deeply. He focused on calming his temper before continuing.

"We were defeated. Kikyou put us to sleep. Naraku escaped. Kagome is most likely under his `care', and has been for the entire time we had been asleep. WHY THE HELL AM I NOT WAKING UP?!!!"

"InuYasha-" Sango stood up along with the hanyou. She placed Kirara on the ground to sit beside Shippou. The young kitsune stared up at the inu hanyou in mild shock at his outburst.

Miroku frowned before rising to join the other two, "Be still InuYasha! It does no good to waste your energy like this before we face Naraku!"

"TO HELL WITH WASTING ENERGY! I'M A FUCKING SPIRIT! I HAVE NO BODY ENERGY TO WASTE!"

"Then at least remain silent! Once the time comes, I'm sure we will get out of this middle ground. We're probably here because we haven't fully regained our senses just yet. Be patient!"

InuYasha glared at Miroku, the tension high in the air. He clutched at his Tetsusaiga before muttering under his breath, "I just want out."

Sango smiled bitterly, "We understand that InuYasha. The time will come, you'll see."

It was then that the flash of light took them by surprise.

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"Knives!"

Knives whipped around, hearing his name being called out. He was in Rin's small living room, Sesshoumaru sitting on the couch across from him. They had been examining the locket placed on a coffee table for any clues before Rin had gone to open the door. There was a shuffling of feet to indicate several people coming in before his name had been shouted.

Vash stood in the doorway, his eyes wide in surprise. Behind him was Meryl and then Millie, the two took a peek over the Stampede's broad shoulders before Meryl's mouth opened in recognition. She stammered.

"Knives? ...W-What are you doing here? How? ...Why?"

Rin ushered them into the room with a smile, "You know Knives-san? Oh good! I was going to introduce you anyways when you got back. How did your mission go?"

Vash sat down next to his brother, with Meryl on his other side. Rin took her place next to Sesshoumaru. Millie went towards the plush sofa-chair on the wide end of the table.

Vash couldn't help staring at his twin a little while longer before Knives grinned.

"What? Didn't expect to see me?"

"Not HERE."

Rin scooted to the edge of her seat before leaning forward with a bright smile, "Knives-san had a little run in with Kikyou, she was a priestess that had lived in the Sengoku Jidai. Kagome is her reincarnated form, but Kikyou had been brought back to life in the olden days by an ogress. The last we had seen of her was before we set off on the Project SEEDS ships, she had been guarding Kagome's friends until they woke up from their enchanted sleep."

"She's still there," Knives placed his hand on the table to cover the locket protectively, "I had a dream when I found this thing under an abandoned ship and I was transported to present day Earth. The planet healed itself up pretty well in the last century. I suppose without the spiders polluting the land, the progress went a lot faster. I had been taken to that large tree where you said Kagome's friends reside. Kikyou was there and we talked."

"But how did you find your way here? And why did you come?" Meryl looked towards the tall Plant, "I don't understand the meaning behind all this."

Knives shrugged, "I'm here to help. To deliver the locket. What about you?"

"We had been helping Miss Rin too!" Millie chirped, happy to see the group back together again, "She had given us that jewel. We tried to hand it over to that poor girl, Kagome, but she went into some sort of seizure. It was really sad." Her clear eyes turned downcast at the memory. It still gave her the shivers, to see Kagome's eyes roll back in her head and to see that white light radiate off of her as if it were being pulled out of her soul.

"So it didn't work?" Sesshoumaru joined the conversation after taking a break in staring at Knives' necklace, "You couldn't get the Shikon no Tama to Kagome?"

Meryl shifted in her seat uncomfortably before answering quietly, "Iie. We didn't know why she acted as if being near the jewel caused her pain. Before we could figure out what was wrong, one of the guards showed up. Your spell was still working, Rin, so we were able to get out without them detecting our presence."

Rin looked to Sesshoumaru in worry, "A seizure? Sess, is that normal?"

He only stared at her thoughtfully with his chin leaning on the palm of his hand. It was growing dark, another day was ending peacefully. On the outside, there was no mention of Naraku or his assassin. Youkai had no idea that there was a nest of vipers hidden beneath the rocky earth. They were going about their affairs peacefully, it did not occur to them that the danger was just under their feet.

"If I may make a suggestion?"

Sesshoumaru turned to face Knives, his expression unreadable, "Go ahead."

"That miko, you said her name was Kikyou, she had told me that this locket had used to bear a protective spell that would keep Kagome from following the stream of Time until she met up with InuYasha and the others again. She said that Kagome is sort of a blip in Time right now, she's stuck. But when I had picked up the locket, Kikyou examined it and said that the spell was gone. She said that the spell had been absorbed into Kagome's body and Kagome's memories were here in their place. She also mentioned that without Kagome's memories, she would be nothing more than an empty shell. Would that have something to do with it? Perhaps Kagome isn't really the `Kagome' that the jewel belongs to..."

Rin's mouth fell open and she straightened in her seat, "Is that true, Knives-san? If you had heard Kikyou correctly, if that's possible...to not have memories..."

"Demo, aren't there a lot of people who have lost their memory before? There is such a thing as amnesia..." Meryl frowned in thought, playing with the necklace that held the Shikon no Tama absentmindedly. She looked up at Vash and then to Sesshoumaru, "That shouldn't affect Kagome on an intimate level, should it? Shouldn't her soul still be that of a priestess, shouldn't her body accept this thing?"

Rin and Sesshoumaru looked at each other before Sesshoumaru shook his head, "Iie. Events such as this are crucial, for a miko's power is different from that of anybody else's. That is why the youkai of the Sengoku Jidai had feared them so much. The miko would have their power that they were born with, yes; but if they had built that power up for so very long as Kagome had, and suddenly they lost all memory of how to control that power or of who they were..." He frowned in worry, "There have been stories of that happening. Whole towns had been destroyed to the point of there being nothing but a gigantic crater in the ground. If what Kikyou predicts is true, then the fact that nothing has happened to Youkai yet means that Kagome's power has been `put to sleep' in a way, most likely by that very same protective spell Kikyou had placed on her in the first place. Bringing her into contact with the Shikon no Tama again would be like bringing her to a part of her soul that contains the greatest of all her powers, without her memories or her sense of self. She is powerful enough as it is, rumors had it in the Sengoku Jidai that the lady that controlled the Shikon no Tama had the potential to wipe out three towns in less than an hour while breaking no sweat. It's a blessing that the old Kagome had been a gentle soul, one who would not have wanted to kill others."

"...."

The room was silent as this new set of information was digested. Most of them were in shock, having never have met with that kind of ability before. Sure, Vash had destroyed a city...but three of them? It was unfathomable. They would only stare at Sesshoumaru as he picked up the locket containing the girl in question and her hanyou lover. He examined the pictures with great concentration before speaking again.

"This locket...so it contains `Kagome', essentially. This could be a problem. If we don't know enough about the situation, then there's nothing we can do to help her escape. We had already made the mistake of bringing the Shikon no Tama to her once. With her power right now, she could destroy Youkai and all surrounding land with a radius too wide to see from end to end. Bringing the jewel to her just one more time..."

Millie looked at the small orb in her sempai's hand, "Does it have that much power, Mr. Sesshoumaru?"

"Hai. We cannot risk another encounter."

"What next then?" Vash fell back in his seat with a sigh, "Are we just supposed to wait for another clue to come along? If one contact with the jewel had already set her power off, she's probably awakening right now. We don't have the time to wait."

Meryl looked at all of them with hopelessness in her face. She wished that she had been there with Knives, to meet Kikyou and to get more answers for herself. From what she had heard, this priestess was the most knowledgeable out of all of them. She turned to glance at Knives, and realized that he was looking downcast. He thumbed the locket in thought, his mind was probably thinking of some sort of solution. He looked a little torn, as if he was caught in between two decisions that both meant something important to him.

Sighing, the Insurance girl gently placed the jewel on the table next to the table so that the rest of them could look at it as well. She certainly had no ideas.

"Ow!"

"Ara...?" Rin tilted her head to the side in wonder when Meryl's hand shot back as if she were burned. She looked up at her friend with confusion stamped upon her face while the other woman held her hand to her chest in surprise, "...Daijobu ka, Meryl-san?"

"The jewel's burning up! I just put it near the locket and then I felt as if my hand were on fire..."

The room began to pulsate with a white light, similar to that of Kagome's. In an instant, the Shikon no Tama and the locket combined to form a portal. Light bounced off the ceiling and walls, the large well of power began to push everyone back whilst the transformed portal solidified. They watched in awe.

"Sugoi..." Rin clapped her hands, "It's Earth! I recognize that shrine from when I was younger!"

Knives' mouth was open, "It's that tree..."

They had no time to examine the picture any more. As suddenly as the power began to push out, the group felt themselves being sucked in. They were too surprised to fight before the last man vanished into the doorway.

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His eyes watched her as she breathed lightly in her tube. Her body was still glowing, the white light was visible even in the greenish liquid surrounding her. Naraku could see her aura growing by the hour and he knew that it would soon by the time he had anticipated ever since they had arrived on this Godforsaken hellhole.

[She will soon gain her highest possible potential in a few moments.]

It won't be her full potential. For that she would need the completed Shikon no Tama, it was the part of her soul that contained her greatest power. But what she did have now would be sufficient enough to dominate Youkai. Then he would be able to seek out Sesshoumaru and his whore, he knew they were about. He didn't have the strength to go against a full-blooded youkai before, even if he had taken his entire army. They were only a group hanyous and a rabble of mixed heritage. A full-blood would wipe them away like yesterday's meal. But a miko as powerful as Kagome...

[I will conquer Youkai. Then I will take the Shikon no Tama and bring Kagome to her throne. My queen will obey me, as she has for the past two centuries. And together we will bring the bloodlust back to life.]

It was time.

Turning to an attendant that remained with him at all times, he spoke quietly, "Release her. Take her to be dressed and then give her weapons. Bring her to me when you are done."

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The final goodbyes were done, she was fading fast. Her vision grew slightly blurred as what was left of her body began to disintegrate. It would only be a few more minutes.

Kikyou smiled to herself. This had been what she wanted. Now that the time had come, she felt nothing but sadness. Her hand touched the rough bark of the Go-Shinboku. She looked outwards to the silent peace of the shrine. These were the last calm moments before the others would wake up and tear everything down in order to find Kagome.

"Kikyou!"

[...My name?]

Whipping around, the miko's eyes grew. Knives? What was Knives doing here? How did he know her name?

With the man were three others she did not recognize, as well as Rin and Sesshoumaru. They had not aged that much over time. She tried to smile at them before she went on to say her farewell.

In an act that surprised them all, Knives swept her in a hug...barely holding onto enough substance that made up her form. He had to touch her carefully as she was more see-through than the last time he had seen her. She was just as beautiful, though.

"Kikyou...I'm back."

"Hai, Knives."

"I'm...back."

[Don't leave me, Kikyou.]

She felt as if she understood his thoughts, for she smiled into his chest and pulled away. Her eyes held a longing in them that hadn't been there before, she looked at the others before turning back to the man she felt happy with.

"It's time."

"No! No, don't go."

"Gomen nasai..."

"Please!"

The Knives before this incident would have been disgusted at his pleading behavior. His voice didn't betray any of his worry, it was gruff and demanding. But in his heart he knew that if she left, he would be a hundred times sadder than he had ever been in his life. His eyes, the eyes that only she could see, cried out to her and begged her to live a little longer.

Kikyou tried to smile yet again but she's couldn't. Her eyes turned downwards.

"...Gomen."

They heard a shifting amongst the greenery on the Go-Shinboku, the dog ears of that hanyou began to twitch. Knives heard Meryl gasp in alarm as a growl was emitted. He was no longer able to feel his miko, all that was left was her image. With all the strength he could muster up, he willed himself to bury his tears.

"Don't worry, I will wait for you in the afterlife. My heart will be yours, forever and a day." Her soft voice fell melodiously on his ears like a warm rainfall.

"No. Don't."

He tried to stop her, but she looked up at him with a final upward turn of the mouth. She leaned forward to brush his lips with her own. All he could feel was a cold kiss of air, but it was that sensation that pulled him towards her more than ever. Her words rang in his mind like a lone funeral bell.

"Aishi...teru..."

Then she left him.

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She had woken up to be taken away and fitted into her battle gear. There was a feeling of heaviness in the air, she smelled blood. She knew that this moment would be different than the others. The other minor murders. Her heart screamed massacre.

"Your arrows. Naraku's waiting." The neko who had been in charge of her armory handed her the designated weapons with care. The wood of her bow that had once comforted her now felt evil in her hands. She had once thought that this was the only link to her past. Now it was a symbol of her giving her self to the blood that overflowed the world. She would be less than a human after this day. This she knew. She would be nothing more than an animal.

[What is left, Master? What is left of me that you demand?]

She saw Naraku's cold eyes before she saw his feral grin. Her veins turned cold and the white aura that was barely kept back leapt forward as if anticipating bloodshed. The mindless animal within her, the one she could not control, was begging to be released.

This was not her. How could it be her?

[Was I born like this? To reach a point where I would no longer resemble anything but a monster?]

Her mind sobbed in protest. Her body urged her forward. Her heart slowly hardened itself to the hurt. Her chest constricted when she felt Naraku take her hand in his. She let her eyes grow numb to his words. He smiled like she was the woman he had been waiting for all his life.

"My queen. Let us partake in this feast set before us."

He led her gently, as if she were his precious, towards the air above. Today the sky would shine red and the rainy tears would fall like little drops of blood.

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A/N: Does it sound okay? Some of the segments seem a little choppy, but I like this chapter a lot. I think it's one of the most significant chapters in that so many things are coming to a head.

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JAPANESE DICTIONARY

Kitsune - Fox. In this case, fox demon.

Inu - Dog

Hanyou - Half Demon

-San - Suffix used for someone you respect or someone older than you.

Sengoku Jidai - Feudal Era

Iie - No

Miko - Priestess

Youkai - Demon

Sempai - Upperclassman, or someone of a higher rank than you.

Hai - Yes. Right.

Ara - Eh? What? Huh?

Daijobu ka - Are you alright?

Sugoi - Cool. Wow.

Gomen nasai - I'm sorry. `Gomen' is just `Sorry'.

Aishiteru - I love you.

Neko - Cat

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