:Disclaimer:
Leiko: Oh, look, another story in which we must say we don't own Inuyasha. Goody.
Akana: I know! Isn't it totally awesome!
Leiko: I forget that you don't understand the concept of sarcasm. Anyway, we don't own Inuyasha.
:End Disclaimer:
This is a story. Duh. It is not a Naraku/Kagome pairing. Eeeeew. I came up with the idea roleplaying with one of my internet friends. It is an odd idea, but I hope you like it. I haven't the slightest idea when I'll update. Enjoy and please leave a review!
Chapter 1, Kidnapped
"Kagome, hurry up!" Inuyasha called. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was leaning against a tree. "We have to find more jewel shards before Naraku does!"
Kagome walked out of the cave wearing a white kimono shirt with red hakama pants; a priestess's outfit. Her hair was tied back in the traditional manner. She regarded Inuyasha with a cold gaze as she retrieved her bow and arrows from beside the mouth of the cave. "It's your own fault that I had to change!" she cried. "If you hadn't made us set out from the village when it looked like it was going to rain, my clothes wouldn't have gotten all muddy! It was only because Kaede let me borrow this extra priestess outfit that I even have something to wear!"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "No one else's clothes got dirty," he grumbled, not expecting her to hear.
"That's because the other's were riding Kirara!" she retorted. Living with an always muttering half demon had sharpened her hearing considerably.
"You're the one who didn't ride on my back like I told you to, idiotic wench!"
"I was riding my bike! SIT!"
Kagome huffed away from Inuyasha's fallen body, then stopped, curious. "Say... How'd your clothes not get muddy?"
"Mph hmpgh gm pf fmph," was his muffled response.
"What?"
He raised his head, slightly dazed from the sitting, and answered, "I took to the trees."
"Oh." Kagome resumed her huffing, going off to find the others with her bow slung over one shoulder and her quiver of arrows over the other. Inuyasha, after pulling himself from the ground, followed sulkily. Kagome smiled as she drew closer to the clearing where everyone was, for she could already hear Shippou's excited squeaks. He was obviously picking wildflowers or enjoying some of the candy she'd given him. This led her to wondering if he'd gone through her bag, which was in the clearing with the others.
Wait a minute, Kagome thought, pausing momentarily before she broke through the trees. Some still stood in her way, so she was unable to see into the clearing beyond. He doesn't sound happy... He sounds... scared! She immediately ran through the last of the trees and gasped at the scene before her. Inuyasha, instantly smelling a foul stench, ran until he, too, saw what was going on.
"Naraku!" Inuyasha growled, immediately unsheathing Tetsusaiga. Sango and Miroku were busy keeping his many tentacles away, but still some of the bits of flesh found ways past their defenses and nicked them on the shoulders and arms. Kirara was on the opposite side of the monster, battling the tentacles by biting and clawing at them. Shippou was cowering in a hollowed-out log, but one of the tentacles ventured towards him and he was forced to run out.
"Kagome!" the young fox demon called, running and jumping onto her shoulder. She could feel his trembles as they both watched the scene unfold.
Naraku, his torso forming in the middle of the writhing tentacles, let out a deep and foreboding chuckle. "Inuyasha," he acknowledged, smirking. "Today is the day I finally put an end to you."
"That's my line!" Inuyasha growled. He ran towards Naraku, slashing away with his Tetsusaiga. Behind him, Kagome grabbed her bow and fit an arrow into it, pulling the string taught and pushing her priestess energy into it. She released the arrow and watched it scream towards Naraku's head, pink energy trailing in its wake.
Naraku caught sight of Kagome's trick and put up a barrier of tentacles to null it. The tentacles were shot through, but they delayed the arrow enough for Naraku to be able to dodge it. He watched, still smirking, as Kagome fitted another arrow into her bow.
Kagome caught his gaze and shivered but thought nothing of it as she aimed her weapon once more at him. This time, she knew, she wouldn't miss.
"Inuyasha!" she shouted, an idea sprouting in her mind.
Inuyasha dealt with a few more tentacles before turning briefly to look at her. Noticing the firey light in her eyes, he knew immediately what she was planning and leapt back away from the fray. "Wind Scar!" he shouted, sweeping Tetsusaiga across horizontally. He watched in satisfaction as yellow beams of light rushed from his sword towards Naraku.
Kagome pulled the string as far back as she could and concentrated all of her priestess energy into her arrow. "Hikai!" she shouted, releasing the arrow and watching as it combined with the Wind Scar to create an inescapeable attack.
The others paused in their individual battles to view the magnificent display of power. They were entranced as the light engulfed Naraku. They figured he might be able to hold out against Inuyasha's attack alone (not undamaged, of course), but against the combined might of Inuyasha and Kagome, he stood no chance. Still, his eerie smirk remained on his face until he could no longer be seen in the brightness of the attack.
Then they realized their folly.
Inuyasha, spluttering curses like a sailor, glared at the wooden loop that clattered to the ground when "Naraku" faded away with the attack. It was but a demon puppet, an image created in the likeness of Naraku. Inuyasha's foot slammed down on the wooden instrument, burying it into the dirt with his heel.
That's when he heard Kagome and Shippou scream.
Everyone snapped their gaze to them immediately only to be met with wind blowing everywhere. Inuyasha, yelling in rage, ran towards them, knowing immediately what was going on. Sango shouted for Kirara, also knowing what was happening and wanting to go airborn to try and stop the demoness. Miroku joined her when she climbed atop the cat.
Kagura was there, smirking down at them all as she floated away with Kagome and Shippou on the feather with her.
Inuyasha ran below, yelling challenges to the air and calling Kagura a coward. He determinedly kept the feather in sight, hoping to catch up when Kagura chose to land somewhere. Even if he had to run to Naraku's castle, he would track Kagura down and save Kagome.
Sango and Miroku rode Kirara high into the sky so they were level in the sky with Kagura and her feather. Kagura swooped low into the forest, twisting and turning, hoping to lose Kirara within the dense branches of the trees. Even if she did that, she realized, Inuyasha would still be below, waiting for her to come just a little bit closer to the ground. No, her best chance was back in the high air.
"Hold on," Kagura warned Kagome without really caring if she held on or not. The feather climbed steeply, Kirara still right behind. Kagura went above the level of the clouds and turned in a different direction. That'll lose Inuyasha, she figured correctly. Now to deal with the monk, the demon slayer, and the cat. She pulled her fan from her kimono and snapped it open.
"Dance of Blades!" Kagura called, turning her feather around sharply and sweeping her fan across the air in front of her. Blades formed from wind buffeted towards Kirara, catching her off guard. The demon cat was forced to dive below the clouds to avoid getting hit, but then she climbed back above.
"Kagome, duck!" Sango called as she threw Hiraikotsu. Kagome obliged, and Sango watched her boomerang's path with alert eyes. She had no doubts that she'd miss Kagome, but she couldn't be sure that she'd hit Kagura. After all, the wind demoness was very tricky and most probably had quite a few tricks up her sleeve.
Sango was right. "You have persistent friends," Kagura told Kagome, smirking. "Maybe this will take care of them!" With a flick of the wrist, Kagura shifted the wind so that Hiraikotsu was thrust back towards them. Kirara ducked low and Sango caught her boomerang, showing plainly her inscreasing frustration.
Kagome was frightened, but Shippou, cowering on her shoulder, reminded her that she had to be strong, for him if for nothing else. When Kagura turned back towards the path ahead, Kagome silently took one of her arrows from her quiver.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Kagura said, turning her head to look over her shoulder. "Unless, of course, you prefer plummeting to your death."
"My friends would catch me," Kagome countered resolutely.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Kagura replied calmly. She whirled her feather around in the air, shouting, "Dance of the Dragon!"
Kirara and her riders were taken completely by surprise as tornadoes suspended in midair appeared all about them. They'd seen this attack before, but it caught them off their guard in mid-air. Kirara had a hard time trying to dodge the tornadoes, made even harder when Kagura's wind blades rushed in at an odd angle. One of the wind blades caught its target, hitting the cat in the chest. Kirara fell, letting out a mighty roar as she did so.
Kagome trembled as Kagura raced through the dissipating tornadoes. "Inuyasha will catch me," she said, trying her best to keep her voice steady but failing miserably. She had her arrow notched in her bow and was pointing it at Kagura's back.
"The half breed hasn't the slightest idea where we are," she answered without even turning around to face Kagome, "unless he's recently acquired the ability to see through these thick clouds."
"Then I won't be caught," the school girl shot back, fire burning in her brown eyes. "I'll fall. It's better than being taken to Naraku."
"What about the fox kit? You know he'd die if you fell from this far up." Kagura inwardly sighed in relief when Kagome returned her arrow to her quiver. She hadn't been expecting the girl to be so bold.
Shippou looked at Kagome. "I-I don't care about my life," he answered bravely, but Kagome just gave him a small smile and a little pat on the head.
"Where are you taking me?" Kagome asked after a few minutes' uncomfortable silence.
"Where do you think?" Kagura asked back, rolling her eyes. "You said it earlier. You're being taken to Naraku. He didn't tell me why, either, so don't ask. He just said to bring you to him alive."
"What about the others?" Kagome inquired. "Are they alright?"
Kagura shrugged. "If they're lucky," she answered. "The cat was hurt pretty bad, so you never know. The humans are hardy enough, but who could survive that kind of fall?"
Kagome shook as she searched for any signs of Kirara resuming the pursuit, but she saw nothing around, and the clouds blocked her view below. "Th-They're not dead, are they, Kagome?" Shippou squeaked, clinging to her shoulder tighter than before.
Kagome shook her head and forced a smile. "Of course not," she answered, sounding more sure than she felt. She looked ahead, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself. Inuyasha, she thought, please, come find me...
She had no wish to face Naraku on her own.
Inuyasha cursed when Kagura flew into the clouds. He skidded to a stop, his eyes searching the sky for any break in the thick clouds. He knew that Kagura wouldn't go the same way once out of his sight; it would be too easy. He felt anger at his helplessness when he watched Kirara with Sango and Miroku on her back fly above to meet Kagura. "Bring Kagome back," he commanded them, though he knew they couldn't hear. He looked around, trying to think of some way he could help. That's when he remembered the jewel shards in Kagome's bag.
He sped back to the clearing and grabbed the bright yellow bag that was lying against a tree. He searched quickly, taking out the necklace with the jar of shards and sighing in relief before putting it around his neck. When he looked up to search the skies again, he caught sight of a paleish yellow figure falling from the sky somewhere far off. "Kirara!" he exclaimed. With Kagome's bag slung over one shoulder, he made his way as quickly as he could to the place where it looked like Kirara was going to land.
"Kirara!" Sango yelled, more concerned with the poor cat's injuries than for her own life. Then she remembered that she wasn't the only one riding Kirara, and she knew that she had to do something or they would all likely die. Kirara, who'd been falling with her back to the ground, suddenly reverted to her smaller form. Sango and Miroku were falling freely towards the trees now. Sango reached up, grabbed Kirara's hunched form, and drew the cat into a tight embrace.
They breached the trees, and Miroku plunged his staff into the nearest one's trunk. The staff only bounced off; the trees were tougher than that. He tried again and this time missed the trunk altogether. Instead, his staff caught in a forked branch not too far from the ground. This slowed him down considerably, allowing him to grab a branch and drop his staff. He held out his hand for Sango's. She released her boomerang and caught his hand, and Miroku swung her atop the branch before scrambling up himself. The two carefully made their way to the forest floor and to Hiraikotsu and Miroku's staff, shaken by their fall.
"Now what?" Sango asked, cradling Kirara's limp body. She knew that Kirara was only unconscious; it would take more than wind blades to stop that stubborn demon.
Miroku was at a loss. "Do you know the way back to the clearing?" he asked her, looking around. "We could wait for Inuyasha to meet us there, then decide what to do."
Sango, too, looked around at their surroundings, dismayed when she recognized nothing. "I have no clue where the clearing is," she admitted uneasily. "Maybe we should just start walking until we find it."
"Or maybe we should wait here," Miroku thought aloud. "There's a chance that Inuyasha saw us falling and is looking for us."
"We can make a signal!" Sango said. "It may attract demons, but we can deal with them easily." She grabbed Hiraikotsu where it'd fallen and casually slung it over her shoulder for emphasis.
Miroku grinned. "Just what I was thinking."
Inuyasha saw smoke from a fire a little to the left of the direction he was running. That's gotta be Miroku and Sango! he thought, grinning at the igenuity of his friends. He shifted his course slightly, making for the fire. Once he found them, though, then what? He'd still have no idea where to even begin looking for Kagome and Shippou. They'd know which way Kagura had flown, but the demoness would've undoubtedly changed course again. There was no telling which way she'd gone. And what would she do with Kagome? The answer was obvious. Take her to Naraku.
This fact alone made Inuyasha's legs pump faster. He narrowed his eyes and let out a small growl as he ran as fast as he could for the fire ahead of him.
Sango tossed a bit more wood into the roaring fire before her. They'd found another clearing conveniently close and had cleared out a small patch in the center. The inflamable dirt had soon been covered with some twigs and branches that Sango and Miroku found. Miroku had found two stones perfect for creating a spark to set the pile on fire while Sango had laid Kirara's body on a little bed of leaves she'd made. Once the fire had been started, they'd just sat back and watched it roar.
Actually, it wasn't really roaring. The pile of kindle was only a bit bigger than that of a normal campfire, but the smoke rising up was sufficent enough to lead the hanyou their way, as was seen by a flash of red that stopped in front of Sango and Miroku.
"Do you know where she is?" Inuyasha asked anxiously.
Sango shook her head. "Kagura could've flown in any direction after we fell," she responded, voicing aloud Inuyasha's concerns. "There's no way we'll be able to find Kagome without knowing where Naraku's castle is. But that's only assuming Kagura's taking her there and not to somewhere else."
"Dammit!" Inuyasha punched a tree, leaving a fist shaped indent on it. "Come on, we have to find that castle". He looked around angrily for a minute, chose a random direction, and started walking in it.
"Hold it, Inuyasha," Miroku said tiredly. "Walking around blindly isn't going to get us anywhere. We wouldn't know where to begin, and if we chose the wrong direction, we'd only get further and further away from Kagome." Inuyasha stopped, fists clenched. "We need some sort of clue as to his whereabouts."
"But I can't just stand here, doing nothing!" Inuyasha shouted in frustration.
"Why do you think he wants Kagome, anyway?" Sango wondered aloud, a bit unnerved at the many possibilities floating around in her head.
"It's obviously another one of his schemes to get his hands on the jewel shards," Miroku said bitterly. "He's going to try and take them from her, and then probably kill her."
Inuyasha's throat closed. "She doesn't have them," he muttered, not for the purpose of being quiet, but because he suddenly couldn't breathe. His head swam at the realization. What would Naraku do if Kagome couldn't be of use to him?
"What?" Sango and Miroku asked at once.
"She doesn't have them." Inuyasha pulled out the small bottle of jewel shards from under his shirt, staring at them. "She doesn't have them. I do."
Kagome's hands were tied together and she was pushed unceremoniously onto the floor of the dimly lit room, landing on her stomach. Shippou skidded off of her shoulder and slid on his belly, stopping a few feet away. He pulled himself up easily, for his hands weren't bound. He was about to turn and help Kagome up when he glanced up at the figure causing the shadow that engulfed him. He immediately regretted it.
Naraku grabbed Shippou by his tail, smirking. Kagome somehow got to her knees with her hands still behind her back. Hearing Shippou squeal, she looked up and gasped. Fear showed as plainly in her eyes as it did in the young fox kit's. "P-Put him down," Kagome commanded in a feeble voice. She swallowed a lump of terror and repeated it in a bolder tone.
"Hand over the jewel shards," was Naraku's reply.
"Put Shippou down!" Kagome shouted, fear replaced by anger. "I'll give you the shards if you'll leave him alone!" What she wouldn't give to have her bow and arrows returned to her and her hands unbound.
"The shards first," he answered sliding his sword from its sheath and holding it threateningly close to Shippou. The poor kid was paralyzed with terror, his eyes shut tightly.
Kagome clenched her jaw. "Untie me, then," she said in defeat. If she didn't do as he wished, she knew he would have no problem slaying an innocent, defenseless child. Naraku glanced up at Kagura who was standing by the door, and the demoness came over and untied the rope that held Kagome's hands together, annoyed at the fact that she'd only just tied them a few minutes ago.
Once Kagome's hands were free, they immediately went up to her neck where she usually wore a necklace with the jewel shard bottle on it. Her eyes went wide when she realized it wasn't there, and she searched inside her kimono's pockets, then in the large sleeves. "I... I don't have them!" she gasped, her mind racing as she tried to remember what she did with them.
Naraku moved his sword so that it rested lightly on Shippou's neck. "Is that so?"
"It's the truth!" Kagome yelled. "Don't hurt Shippou, please!" It disgusted her that she was practically begging Naraku, her most hated enemy, to show mercy, but then again, she would do anything to keep her adopted son safe.
"Then where are they?" he asked coolly, his hand itching to slay the fox kit and the priestess and be done with the whole affair.
Kagome thought as hard as she could, and she suddenly remembered. "My bag... They're in my bag, with Inuyasha and the others," she answered slowly, wondering what fate had in store for her and young Shippou.
Naraku scowled. His scowl crept into a smirk when an idea crossed his mind. "Very well, priestess..." he chuckled. He flung Shippou by the tail towards Kagome, and she caught him, hugging his still shaking body close. "Since this can work to my advantage, I've decided to let you and your pathetic fox live for now."
"Kagura," Naraku commanded, "go fetch the half breed and his band of misfits. Lead them here. I have a plan."
Kagome shivered. Naraku's plans were never good.