Author's Note: This was originally written for Paynesgrey, as part of the Wayback Exchange.
-x-
Something evil stalked the land. He could smell it, even though he couldn't yet say exactly what form it had taken. It was a peculiar stink, imperceptible to humans but obvious to one such as him. Derided by humans for his tainted, half-demon blood, he could sense what was hidden to all the village folk tucked away in their cozy little huts.
Or perhaps, almost all of the village folk.
He exhaled in a huff, almost amused. Her. Of course. Where else would she be, but walking right into the middle of whatever horror was unfolding just outside the village, veiled by the dark of night?
He moved silently through trees illuminated only by starlight, keeping pace with the solitary figure as she made her way out of the village. It would be hours yet before the moon rose. To human eyes, he would be all but invisible. To whatever was creating that evil aura… he couldn't say.
To the woman he was following, however, he knew his presence would be all too apparent. She might not be able to see him, but she would know he was there nonetheless. She gave no indication of it, but she knew. And he knew.
No matter what was giving off that foul stench, he wouldn't leave her to face it alone.
He trailed her for a long time, keeping off the path and out of sight as she headed away from the village. Even without his powerful senses she moved unerringly toward the source of the smell and the evil aura that accompanied it. But then, Kikyou had never been limited only to normal human senses.
Even in daylight she didn't look any different from the other humans of her village, but she was. It was her difference that made her powerful. And feared.
No ordinary woman could tame the power of the Shikon no Tama. Kikyou did it as easily as putting an arrow through a distant target.
He had met men and women who claimed to be holy before, but none of them possessed anywhere near the sheer, raw power that Kikyou commanded. She could destroy the demon part of him with a touch if she so desired, though her precise control over her abilities meant this would happen only if she wished it. So far, she had never wished it. She, the only person who had ever come close to understanding who and what he was, and accepting that.
If not for her duty to protect the Shikon no Tama, they might have become friends. Or more than that. For all her sharp edges, Kikyou was a lovely woman. He could love her. He exhaled those futile thoughts away, and the ever-present companion to those thoughts: if they could just get rid of the jewel, things would be different. If they could just use its wish-granting power…
It occurred to him that the Shikon jewel might be what had brought this lurking evil upon the village in the first place. Perhaps something elsewanted to make use of its wish-granting power. Kikyou must have considered the possibility as well; it was most likely why she had left the village in the first place. If she could stop it here and now, it would never reach the village to pose a threat to the jewel.
He didn't stay any of this to Kikyou, who had probably realized it before he did. He simply kept pace, keeping an eye from a safe distance as they headed ever further afield from the village, moving unerringly toward the source of the terrible aura. A while longer and the trees began to grow more sparsely, the gaps between them becoming larger. Soon there would be no cover left.
As they drew closer to the edge of the forest, he became aware of a strange rattling, grinding sound in addition to the ever-present stink. It grew louder and louder with each step they took.
Kikyou halted just beyond the last trees of the forest. The land beyond lay before her, lush tall grass to one side, distant fields on the other. And her quarry, straight ahead.
She was afraid. She didn't show it, but he could smell it. And when he moved forward to the tree line so he could get a clear line of sight, at least so far as the darkness allowed, he knew why she was afraid. If he had any sense, he would be, too.
The source of evil aura and death-stench was nothing of the mortal world; the skeleton loomed over the countryside, enormous and ghastly, human in shape but far bigger than any human might ever grow. And it carried a sword every bit as large as it was. He was pretty sure she'd never seen anything like this before. He certainly hadn't, not in all his many years.
She murmured a word. Maybe for his benefit, maybe for her own. Gashadokuro. Rattling-skull.
He'd not heard of such a creature, living outside of human society and youkai society alike, but the name seemed fitting. That bone-rattling sound it made was certainly annoying.
He slipped out from among the trees, went to stand beside Kikyou.
"You've been following me, Inuyasha," she noted. No malice in her tone, nor appreciation. Just observation. Kikyou kept her emotions under tight control. She had to.
"With that thing out there?" he muttered. "Of course I followed you."
Where others might have shunned the implicit offer of assistance from one such as him, Kikyou merely accepted it and moved on. She walked steadily down the path toward the skeleton and did not look back to see if he would continue to follow. She trusted him that much, at least. He sneered at the skeleton—unknown, otherworldly—and hastened after Kikyou.
The gashadokuro faced away from them, so it did not see them coming. If it even could see. Inuyasha flexed his hands, testing his claws. With Kikyou at his side, he didn't anticipate much trouble. If the thing put up a fight, it wouldn't be a long one. Her spiritual power was strong enough to make short work of just about every youkai he'd ever seen her encounter. Except one. Him.
Him, she had not attacked. Him, she had tolerated. Him, she had befriended, at least so far as she had friends.
And she was surprised to find him here beside her as she walked right up to a gigantic skeleton monster. He let out a breath in an amused huff.
As soon as they were within range, Kikyou stopped walking and drew her bow. Inuyasha stopped beside her, suddenly aware of the uncomfortable sensation of her purifying power as it rose to her summons. It made his skin prickle unhappily, and it made the baser part of him want to get far, far away from her before she could destroy him.
And he wasn't the only one that sensed it. With surprising speed, the gashadokuro turned. Its eyes were empty dark sockets in its fleshless skull, but it saw them. He knew it saw them. His hands clenched into fists, claws pricking at his palms, drawing blood.
The skeleton moved toward them. There was no flesh to move the bones, but they moved anyway. Walking in gigantic steps, picking up speed as it went and brandishing that enormous sword.
Kikyou set an arrow to her bow and fired before the enemy could get too close. She was nothing if not a skilled marksman, but in the dark and against a moving target… Her arrow glanced off the knobby bones of the skeleton's shoulder.
Inuyasha had seen, more than once, how Kikyou could channel her spiritual power into the arrows she used in battle. In this way she could and often did destroy youkai without even touching them.
For a tense moment, her arrow appeared to have no effect whatsoever on the skeleton creature. At last, with the uncomfortable sound of bone grinding against bone, the skeleton's arm fell off. Every bone that had been attached at that shoulder fell to the ground, lifeless. With Kikyou doing damage like that, this fight wouldn't last very long. They would be back at the village well before morning, with none of the villagers any wiser about what had occurred.
Moving ponderously now, the skeleton sheathed its sword in earth and crouched to retrieve the fallen bones. It replaced the bones, reattaching them one by one, starting at the shoulder, but the resulting limb was nothing like a human arm. It resembled nothing so much as a dangling chain, and when the gashadokuro affixed a large stone to the trailing end of it, it became a mace. This accomplished, it set the stone to spinning, retrieved its sword, and came toward them again.
Inuyasha looked to Kikyou. By starlight he saw her expression harden as stern resolution took hold. She would slay this beast before it could threaten her home or the sacred jewel hidden there. No matter what it took.
She nocked another arrow. Aimed, fired.
The stone, whirling on a chain made of bones, deflected it harmlessly.
The air turned icy, sending a chill down Inuyasha's spine. Kikyou was not just afraid, he realized, she was getting angry.
Another arrow, another harmless deflection.
Inuyasha bristled, dug his claws deeper into his palms, felt the blood welling up between his fingers, promising power. A few moments more, and the skeleton would be close enough. Too close.
If he were facing it alone, that would be one thing. But he was not alone.
It ceased walking, and began running. Inuyasha crouched, ready to spring. And changed his mind as the skeleton raised its sword and slammed it down directly on top of Kikyou. He threw his blades of blood toward the skeleton, grabbed Kikyou about the waist, and sprang.
Anger flashed across Kikyou's face in the instant before Inuyasha gathered her to him and hauled them both out of danger: he had dared to lay hands upon her. Nevermind that she would be dead if he hadn't.
"Inuyasha," she hissed, unhappy even as he carried them to relative safety beyond the skeleton's reach.
"Yeah, yeah," he retorted. He landed lightly after his great leap, set her down. "I know you don't need my help. But since I'm here…"
She wasn't listening. Already she had focused her attention again upon their foe. A wise decision for a mortal like her. Probably wise for one like him, too, but he spared a moment to be annoyed that she had dismissed him so quickly.
The creature raised its sword again, preparing for another attempt to crush them.
"I'm going in," he told Kikyou.
She said something that was meant to bite, but he wasn't listening. Instead he threw more blades of blood as he charged directly toward the gashadokuro. As he'd hoped, it shifted its focus away from the woman with the ineffectual arrows and onto the half-demon that had just put himself in its way—or at least it seemed to.
It wouldn't be easy to get past the creature's makeshift mace, but he had to try. If he could keep its attention on him instead of on Kikyou, at least he would know she was safe, even if he still had no idea how to stop the skeleton. He supposed if all else failed, taking it apart piece by piece ought to work.
He dove beneath the whirling stone, feeling it almost catch in his long hair, and came up on his feet between the skeleton's legs. Now that he was up close and personal with it he could see it was even bigger than he'd thought. With no good way to strike him from this angle, the skeleton took a step back. Before it could take another, he launched himself into a strong vertical leap and seized hold of its ribs to haul himself upward.
If Kikyou wondered what he was doing, she did not put voice to the question. He couldn't be sure she was even still shooting at the thing. Between the constant whirling sound from the bone mace and the sheer stink of the thing at close range, his senses were nearly overwhelmed. Keep trying, Kikyou, he thought, feeling more than seeing the skeleton's movement as it once more sheathed sword in earth and reached for him with its remaining hand. He hauled himself up the rib cage to stand upon clavicle and shoulder bones.
Inuyasha caught hold of the gigantic, impossible skull with both hands just as bony fingers sank deep into his hair and clothes and gripped hard. How could something without muscle be so strong? He struggled to keep his grip even as the bare bone of the skull resisted every effort of his claws. It wasn't working. He was starting to think he wouldn't be able to behead the thing this way even if he could get any purchase with his claws.
The icy grip bore down, squeezing living flesh and bones, pulling up and out, threatening to dislodge him altogether. His claws raked across unyielding bone as the skeleton at last pried him free and casually tossed him aside. Come on, Kikyou, this isn't working very well!
He managed to right himself before hitting the ground, landing instead in a crouch, ready to spring. A lucky thing, that, because he was forced into a frantic roll in order to avoid being crushed by the skeleton's mace as it came down directly where he had been crouching. It was quick with that mace. Horrifyingly fast, actually. All he could manage for what felt like an eternity was to keep just ahead of it. One slip, one misjudged step, and he would be squashed flat. And then he would be no good to Kikyou or the villagers.
He finally got a break when an arrow, blazing with holy power, smashed into the stone that formed the end of the skeleton's mace. Kikyou's power broke the spell. The stone stayed where it was, leaving the skeleton with a whip for an appendage. This accomplished, the gashadokuro seemed to recall that it had two foes, rather than one. It turned away from him, setting its sights once more on the priestess and her bow.
The sight of Kikyou, alone, facing down the gashadokuro as it retrieved its sword made Inuyasha's blood boil. He altered his course, propelled himself into a sprint, and raced back into the fray. The skeleton was getting too close and Kikyou wasn't giving any ground. If he messed up now, the beast would practically be upon her. He risked a glance toward her and realized she didn't even have an arrow at the ready yet.
"What are you waiting for?" he shouted.
And then he had no more time for shouting, because it took all of his concentration to work at the problem of getting past the skeleton's guard a second time. He wasn't sure it would fall for the same rush-and-dive trick again and didn't want to risk shattering ribs, or worse, on that swinging chain of bones if he misjudged. Instead he veered sharply to the right at the last moment, just managing to slip past the sword as it came down, and then went up tossing blades of blood as he went.
The blades were as ineffectual as his claws, but wielding them at least made him feel the fight was a little more fair. He clung to arm bones, hands and feet and claws scrabbling for a grip against smooth bone.
"Yeah, what now, asshole?" he sneered as the skeleton peered down at him in a mockery of consternation. "Can't grab me with that chain-arm, can you?"
He only realized the gashadokuro had dropped its guard when Kikyou's arrow fell out of the sky and bore down into the skull from above. Unlike his claws, the holy arrow pierced easily through inhuman bone. And probably through whatever was inside that skull, too.
At last Kikyou spoke. "Inuyasha, let go."
He tried, or at least he thought he tried, but the tingling terror associated with such use of her power held him paralyzed. The skeleton was beginning to slump, to crumple; he was vaguely aware of the sound of bones dropping one-by-one to the ground. Kikyou's power was purifying it. It was working. The fight was over.
And if he didn't let go, he would be destroyed right along with the gashadokuro.
Kikyou had incredibly fine command over her power, but once she released an arrow it was out of her control. She could no more put power into the arrow than she could draw any out.
"Inuyasha!"
There it was: her fear laid bare in one word. His name.
The monster was dying. She was afraid for him. Afraid of what her power might do to him.
Inuyasha threw himself back, landing in an awkward crouch a few feet from the pile of bones. He shifted back to sit on his rump, stopping short of sprawling on the ground in relief even though he very much wanted to. He would admit to that later, alone—maybe, if he was feeling particularly reflective later—but not in front of Kikyou.
He stayed where he was while she went over to take a look at the remains of the gashadokuro. Now that Kikyou had blasted away whatever power had given it life, the bones had fallen apart. No more were they clumped to form unnaturally, impossibly large bones. Now they just looked like regular old human bones. A lot of regular old human bones. An awful lot of them.
"Well?" he ventured after a while.
She looked over at him, her expression carefully blank once more. Fear was gone, and with it concern for his safety. That was fine with him. He'd seen both, and the memory would be enough. "Well what?"
"What was it?"
"I told you: gashadokuro."
"Yeah, yeah, but what the hell was it?"
She gestured vaguely at the pile of bones. "Restless, angry dead."
He didn't like the answer, but had a feeling it was the best he was going to get. Kikyou might have known what the thing was called, but that didn't mean she really knew how it had come into being or whether they might be confronted by more any time soon. Though he supposed if there were more such creatures looking about, he and Kikyou had just proved they could handle the challenge.
"There was probably a large battle," Kikyou murmured. "Or a plague. How else would there be this many bones, all at once?"
He hadn't thought about that, and kept quiet.
"I've heard stories," she went on, "about powerful sorcerers capable of reanimating the dead into horrors such as this."
He scowled. "Sorcery? Really?"
"I think it unlikely."
"Whaddaya mean?"
"If a sorcerer were controlling the skeleton, do you think we would be alive and not under attack right now?"
He made a sound that wasn't a word but, he hoped, still conveyed how unimpressed he was by the idea that a human sorcerer might pose a challenge to him.
Eventually Kikyou completed her inspection and came to sit next to him. Not inappropriately close, of course, but near enough that he could have brushed her arm with a claw.
She did not ask if he was okay. She knew by now that, being half-demon, he was made of sturdier stuff than a human man. And it was probably pretty plain to see that he was a little winded, but otherwise uninjured.
Kikyou herself seemed a little tired, too, but he kept that opinion to himself.
They sat in silence for a long time, watching the moon as it began to rise over the distant trees, holding vigil over the work they had wrought. And just being near each other in a way that they could not be, back at the village. That was important, too.
"Thank you," she said after a time. "Without the distraction you provided, that would have been a much more difficult fight."
His heart skipped a beat before her words sank in. No one had ever thanked him for something before. And then—"You saying I was bait?"
She chuckled; the hint of a smile graced her lips. "Not in those words, no."
He grumbled. "I could've killed it."
What she thought of that declaration, she did not say. Instead: "But it was easier together."
Who would have thought? A powerful priestess and a half-demon man, working together to slay a frightening beast. And it had worked. Not that anyone would believe the tale.
Kikyou waited a few minutes more before getting to her feet. The expressionless mask had fallen once more over her face, concealing her thoughts. "We should get back," she said. "The villagers will worry if they find me gone come morning."
For a moment Inuyasha was tempted to argue. He hated seeing her like this. In fact, he much preferred the real Kikyou, the one he kept getting these fleeting glimpses of—the one that used him as bait and then smiled when he was outraged by her audacity, the one that would sit beside him while they caught their breath, the one that was almost human.
He knew she had to keep that part of her hidden and under strict control. If she did not, she risked losing control of her power and of the sacred jewel she was charged to protect.
He knew, but as they set off together down the path back to the village, he chose to remember her smile instead.