Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. It would be nice because I would probably be rich but I'm not so…blah.
Chapter 1: Phrase
Glancing out the window of the castle, Kagura watched the wind play with the leaves of the nearby tree. She wished she had that freedom. She slowly drew away from the opening to look around her room. It was modest with a small bedroll and screen set-up for changing. The castle was nearly as empty as the small room with all of the attendants having either run off in fear or dead. All of which was her "creator's" doing. The foul and hated Naraku, oh, how she wished to call him much worse. In her thoughts she could be as free as she wished but, what was the point? After all, he had her heart in his hands and with it he could kill her the instant he felt like it, crushing both her and her hopes of freedom and life. Thus she was here in a barren dead castle, waiting for … something. As is befitting of Naraku, he told her nothing that wasn't necessary save for if she would leave she would die, plain and simple.
The trap had been set; the rumor of the great jewel shards had spread to even the northern regions of the demon lands. It was only a matter of time until their prey arrived. However the first to arrive had not been Inuyasha with his group of human friends. Friends…. No shaking her head she chastised herself, she mustn't think of what she couldn't have, she had to focus on her task of defending the castle.
Pulling herself away from the window she went out to the clearing in front of the castle to prepare for the group of demons that were on the way. They were a rather ragged looking group made of wolf demons from both the west and the north each apparently wanting the power that the jewel shards could grant a demon. Once equipped with just one a demon could gain regenerative powers, immeasurable strength and many other abilities that would quickly lead the owner to the top of the demon food chain.
Once she had considered taking a shard from Naraku to make it to the top of that chain. Only once. He made her regret it almost immediately by putting only a small amount of pressure on her heart. It felt like her chest had been on fire. The pain had been unbearable but the realization of the amount of power he had over her was even worse. All it would take was a pinch to her heart and he would laugh as she withered in pain.
The memory of the pain quickly left her as the winds brought the scent of the wolves. They were coming up over the hill now, prepared for battle. They wore fur clothing like those of the ancient barbarians and their weapons looked to be from that age as well with clubs, axes and the like. It was more of a raiding party than a pack of wolf demons.
Steeling herself for the battle she drew her weapon, an iron fan. It wasn't the fan however that attacked her opponents, it was the very wind. With a single swipe downward the winds she created would turn to blades cutting her foes deeply another and she could form a tornado. For now though, she waited for the pack to emerge over the hill.
Slowly one appeared, he must have only been a scout, as no one followed him. His weapon was a sickle on a chain. His fur a brown like that of tree bark making his job easier as he could blend in with the forest surrounding the castle. He didn't have a chance. She let her arm drop and created the wind setting it after him. He died quickly and near painlessly. She may have had to kill for Naraku but that didn't mean she had to do it his way.
Soon more and more wolves came over the hill, most likely to find their comrade. What they found was Kagura and the lone wolf's body. They went into a rage lashing out at her and she slew them all. During the battle the wolves glared at her not only with hate but sadness. Also there was a hint of reverence. Most odd of all though were the things that were said by the wolves. Things like "Wind Goddess" and "Traitorous God" and other such ramblings being yelled like battle cries as they were killed one by one until none were left.
She left the bodies alone and went to rest so that she could inform Naraku of what the wolves had said but thought better of it and decided to tell him only of the battle. Taking out a mirror from one of the folds of her kimono and replacing it with her fan she looked into the mirror. It didn't reflect her face but instead held the face of a pale, white haired, young girl. "Kanna, fetch Naraku." She spoke softly into the mirror of her sister's. The mirrors were Kanna's weapon just as the fan was Kagura's. With one of the mirrors Kanna could take the soul of any who looked into its reflective surface then she could control their body. With her Naraku had taken over his new castle along with the one that Kagura was guarding now.
Just as she was loosing her patience and about to throw the mirror onto her bedroll the face on the mirror became Naraku's, his face was hard and stiff and yet handsome but his eyes were red and full of spite. All through her description of the battle he said nothing and even once she was done he merely stood there with an evil little glint in his eyes. Then he told her his plan. She was to wait a little longer as Inuyasha was sure to arrive and she was to leave the bodies alone until then. Once they were near she was to reanimate the bodies with her Dance of the Dead and have them attack Inuyasha relentlessly until someone arrived. She would know when the someone was near and that would be her cue. Then the mirror went blank reflecting nothing at all. It was time to do her job.
As she waited she slept a little as she felt that the winds would awake her once the group was near and she was exhausted after using so much energy fighting the wolves. Her dreams were occupied with thoughts of what the wolves said but her mind kept blocking the images so that all she saw was a little boy and girl playing on a hill. Soon however the dream of the family was lost as after about an hour Inuyasha and his friends were coming up the hill just as the wolves had done earlier in the day. Her winds roused her from her slumber. Glancing out the window she scanned the hillside for her soon to be enemies. Except for Naraku's want to destroy them she knew almost nothing about them and had no reason to want them to come to harm.
The first to come up from the hill was Inuyasha and he seemed to be carrying something he found to be very precious as he took his time, soon she noticed that it was the young priestess that traveled with the group. She was very odd. She wore a white top with an olive green cloth over top of it and a skirt that matched the green of the cloth. Following behind them was the demon slayer girl with a large boomerang made from many demons' bones slung on her back, the monk with a staff hanging on to the slayer, and the young fox demon cub seated between them along with a flying twin tailed cat that all of them rode through the air. All in all a very strange group. They all had their reasons however for chasing Naraku. For Inuyasha it was a treachery from the past. For Kagome, it was the shards as she felt it her fault that the jewel shattered to begin with. While for Sango, the demon slayer, it was to avenge her entire village's murder and to reclaim her brother, Kohaku's life. For Miroku, the monk, it was to rid himself of a curse, the wind tunnel that existed in his right hand. The same wind tunnel that was his greatest weapon and his greatest fear. It could suck up anything like a giant black hole but one day it would grow too big for him to handle and would swallow up him as it had his grandfather and father before him. Then there was Shippo, the young fox demon cub, his reason was simple, he wanted to help his friends that had become like his family. Two things that she could never and would never have.
Soon though they would arrive and Kagura wasn't ready for that just yet. Rushing down to the clearing she followed Naraku's orders and used her Dance of the Dead to cause the bodies of the wolves to rise to battle. Then she rushed down a side hall to prepare for the battle that was sure to come.
Once they arrived Naraku's plan was set into action, Inuyasha and Kagome stayed outside to fight the wolves, and Sango and Miroku went inside to fight who they thought was Naraku. As they came closer down the hall Kagura picked up on their words as they spoke to one another.
"Be careful Sango. Although I can tell it's not Naraku it seems to still be strong!" Those words came from the monk and it made her feel pleased that, although she was a cast off of Naraku's at least she still had a strong enough aura to be feared. Her elation went down though as she realized she would have to kill these two. Then again if Naraku thought she was weak enough to be cast off maybe she could get away with letting them go with only minor injuries. Thus when they arrived she only toyed with them, going for their arms and legs, spots that could be easily dodged. Once or twice she went for body shot but only so that she could say she did try to kill them, and so they wouldn't figure out that she didn't want them dead. Soon though her game was over and she fled from the pair to the court yard to end her spell. The winds brought her the scent of the one that Naraku had spoken about. It was Koga, the wolf demon who commanded some of those who had attacked her earlier. He was powerful himself with two shards in his legs that increased his power and speed both. Apparently it had been Naraku's plan to anger him enough to kill Inuyasha for his packs death rather than the true culprit. Her. At the same time she couldn't let herself be caught there so she drew her feather out of her hair and using some more of her magic made it grow until she could sit on it comfortably.
Taking to the skies she saw the battle between Koga and Inuyasha unfold. Koga wanted revenge while Inuyasha tried to explain that it wasn't he who had killed them. That was all she heard as she floated higher and higher into the sky. Soon other words popped into her head, the words of the wolves, and she became lost in thought as she floated upward and to the north. She continued this way until she heard a tiny voice down below yelling something. As she went lower however here chest began to pulse, Naraku was not pleased.