DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha; Rumiko Takahashi does. Do NOT sue me, or else you will be permanently labelled as one of those people who embody the reason that we cannot have nice things. Cheerio!
CHAPTER 1: Loose Ends
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"It is time to finish this business with the jewel shards," mutterred Naraku. "And now that I have all of the shards except the ones that Kagome girl has, I will dispose of her permanently. Hakudoshi!"
"I am here," replied Hakudoshi quietly. "So we're finally getting rid of Kagura, that treacherous wench?"
"Maybe," replied Naraku. "She will probably survive this encounter, but she will have no chance to betray me."
"And what about Kohaku?" asked Hakudoshi. "Each day, it seems like your hold on him weakens slightly."
"I have one last task for the boy," Naraku replied thoughtfully. "Though I doubt if he will survive it." Hakudoshi nodded and turned to go, but Naraku stopped him. "There's one more thing, Hakudoshi. I will be going to Kagome's world, where her friends cannot protect her. You will take my place until I return. Protect the infant as if your life depended on it. Because it does." Naraku formed a barrier around himself and leaped through the open window. Hakudoshi watched until Naraku was just a speck in the distance.
MEANWHILE...
"I don't like this wind," Inuyasha muttered. The sky had grown cloudy without warning, and the wind had picked up significantly. Looking up, our heroes saw a menacing black cloud with a strong demonic aura pass over them.
"Perhaps an uneventful week was too much to ask for?" Mirouku joked, but no one laughed. There had been no attacks in the past week, or odd sightings of demons. Until now.
"They're heading for Kaede's village!" Sango suddenly exclaimed.
"I sense a jewel shard!" Kagome said suddenly. It was the first time she had said that in a week. "It's Kohaku's shard!"
Kohaku! Sango would have fainted, if not for the adrenaline rush that was building in her. She had been ready to fight demons almost since birth, but she hated finding her younger brother on the opposite side of the battlefields, his armor streaked with the blood of innocents. "Kirara! Hajji! Let's go!"
They were too late. Kaede's village was completely levelled when they arrived. None of the walls of the houses stood higher than half a meter, and the shrine was gone completely. Bloodied bodies were strewn everywhere, as if the demons had run them through like a large bayonet. Fires burned among the debris. The stenches of smoke, blood and demons were everywhere. Everyone except Inuyasha retched when they saw the carnage.
"Kagome," Sango gasped between projectile vomits, "Can you sense Kohaku's shard?" She bent double, retching again. "Is he still here?"
"I don't--Huuuaeellhhh--" Kagome choked. "I can't sense anything, but the demonic aura is overwhelming."
"Are they--still--here?" Mirouku fought back the bile long enough to say that, but then his stomach redoubled its efforts and he fell to his knees, vomitting.
"S...Sango?" A weak voice sounded through the smoke cloud.
"Kohaku?" Sango suddenly didn't notice the smoke or the stench. Her sole focus was on her brother. "Kohaku? Is that you?" she called. "Where are you?"
"Sango... S-Sango..." said the voice again. He was closer now.
Sango squinted into the smoke, and spotted Kohaku staggering towards the group. "Kohaku!" She sprinted to him.
Kohaku face-planted and did not speak.
"KOHAKU!" Sango shrieked. "Answer me! Where are you hurt?" She cradled his head in her lap.
Kohaku did not move. His body was pale except where his injuries bled freely. His face was whiter than Kanna, and his body seemed lifeless. His eyes were wide and unfocused, as if staring through the sky, through the cosmos... into the afterlife. He whispered something, and tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Don't die." Sango whispered, the tears already welling beneath her eyelids. Her vision blurred slightly, and she wiped her eyes with her wrist.
"Don't...cry..." Kohaku mumbled. His lips barely moved. "Sango... I love--" His eyes widened slightly, snapping into focus for an instant, and his head rolled in her lap. Sango's shriek of anguish and despair could be heard for miles. Kohaku rolled out of her lap.
Kagome was the first to notice the hole in Kohaku's back, between his shoulder blades. Naraku must have removed the jewel shard. But that must mean that Naraku was here in person. Kagome looked around, but she did not sense any jewel shards. But then why would Naraku personally come in the first place? And someone else was missing... "Where's Kaede? Inuyasha, where's Kaede!?"
"How should I know where she is?" Inuyasha replied. "I can't smell anything! There's so much blood everywhere!"
Suddenly Kagome sensed something. It was coming from-- "Inuyasha! The well!"
Kagome hopped onto his back and Inuyasha sprinted across the rice paddies and into the woods. They stopped near the clearing where the well stood. Miasma hung like a thin fog around the well, slowly vanishing into the air. All of the pieces suddenly came together in Kagome's mind, and Naraku-- oh shit. There was no telling what he damage he had done to Kagome's world. Kagome was frozen with shock.
"Snap out of it!" Inuyasha shook her bodily. "I found Kaede!"
Kagome whirled around and spotted Kaede's limp form under the Ancestor Tree. She sprinted to Kaede's side. "Kaede! Are you all right? What happened?"
"Child, Naraku escaped into the well," Kaede said. Kaede sat up and leaned against the tree for support. "Just before he climbed into it, he said something about having all of the sacred jewel shards."
"He's lying!" Inuyasha interrupted, somewhat triumphant. "He does not have our shards!"
"If ye speak the truth," Kaede said. "Then Naraku wants to lure Kagome back to her own world and take her shards to complete the jewel."
Kagome was horrified. "But why would he go to my world? And how did he pass through the well?"
"Child," Kaede gasped, trying to hide the extent of her injuries. "The only ones able to pass through the Bone Eater's Well possess a fragment of the Shikon jewel. Or Inuyasha, of course. If ye choose to pursue Naraku, your friends cannot follow you. It will be you, him, and Inuyasha. No one else." Kaede passed out.