Title: …only human.
By: EVL5011
E-mail: Omnipotentevil5011yahoo.com
Chapter 1: The destroyed village
InuYasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku were traveling for what seemed days. They were on the trail of a shard of the Shikkon jewel. From what they had heard, a demon belonging to a large clan had possession of a shard. They didn't know what kind of demon clan they would encounter, but they obviously knew that any demon with a jewel shard would be a threat. "Lets stop and rest, we've been walking nonstop for hours!" cried Kagome. She slowed down and sat down on the soft grass.
InuYasha turned and sneered at the young girl, "At this rate we'll never find that jewel shard." InuYasha stopped and sat down. He patiently waited for everybody to catch his or her second wind.
Sango and Miroku both looked around and watched as the white clouds slowly passed overhead. The gentle morning air blew through Sango's long hair and exposed her beautiful neck. With a perverted glance, Miroku smiled and tried to catch a better look.
"Don't even think about it!" yelled Sango. She quickly walked over to Kagome and InuYasha and suggested that they continue on their quest.
They continued walking and came upon a rather large hill and noticed a village that was smoldering. InuYasha approached the highest point on the hill and realized something. "Hurry up! I smell the strong scent of blood in the air!"
All four of them ran as fast as they could towards the village and finally came upon the entrance. To their shock the bodies of dozens of men and women, who were dressed in heavy armor, were torn apart. Blood and various limbs covered the dirt ground. Many of the small houses were either burnt or badly ruined.
Sango examined some of the damaged houses and found large scratch marks covering the exterior walls. "I think that demon we're after was here, but it seems that it wasn't alone." Sango walked away from the small structure and studied the strange weapons on the ground. The men that lay dead held in their hands large swords made of a very strong metal. Sango suddenly knew who the dead were, "These weren't ordinary men. They were demon hunters!!"
"What? I thought that you and your family were the only demon hunters?" asked InuYasha.
"I thought so too, but I had once heard stories about another family that's been around longer than ours. I didn't think they existed." Sango then noticed a golden crest on the face of one of the houses. She walked over to the golden symbol and found the mark of a demon skull with a sword plunged above it. "This crest…it is them!" Sango placed her hand over the golden symbol and moved back.
"So, are they who you think they are?" asked Miroku while staring at the golden crest.
Before Sango even had a chance to reply, a large spear plunged itself into the wooden wall. The sharp weapon nearly struck Sango and Miroku it not for their fast reflexes. Our four heroes turned around and noticed a single person standing on top of a nearby house. The person was dressed in a black outfit, a matching mask concealed his face and he held in his two hands a katana sword.
InuYasha and Sango both jumped on top of a nearby house and jumped from roof to roof. The two were mere feet away from the unknown person. Suddenly, the mysterious person leapt high into the air and threw multiple metal blades at them. InuYasha and Sango both skillfully dodged the barrage of sharp blades and landed safely.
"Stop! We're not your enemy!" yelled Sango. The young demon hunter looked closely at the mysterious attacker and noticed that his mask covered his entire face, "How can he see?" wondered Sango. Lowering her guard for one second, the attacker jumped towards her and InuYasha and swung his katana sword.
"That's it! I've had enough of this chikusoume!" with that said, InuYasha made a fist and delivered a powerful blow to the attackers chest.
"Ugghhh!" The attacker stumbled back clutching his chest. He fell to his knees and dropped his sword. Underneath his dark clothing was a large injury. The mysterious attacker collapsed and a large puddle of blood began to appear from under him. The dark blood ran down the roof of the house and dripped down onto the dirt.
"How hard did you hit him?" asked Sango. The female demon hunter ran over to the fallen warrior and yelled at InuYasha that he help her bring him down. InuYasha gritted his teeth and felt a bit guilty and brought the person down.
Kagome and Miroku both removed the mysterious persons shirt and mask, revealing multiple injuries. They ensured that the small house that they were in was safe and began examining the young mans injuries. His chest and stomach had large cuts, lacerations, and dark blue bruises. On his back were scars from past battles, Kagome applied a wet cloth on the young mans head and wiped the dry blood.
"How was he able to continue fighting?" asked a bewildered Miroku. "All of his injuries are near fatal, this man can't possibly be human!"
Sango approached the unconscious man and knelt down beside him, "I hope that he doesn't die" prayed Sango. She felt responsible for engaging him and letting InuYasha hit him. "What if he's the last of his family?"
"Don't worry about him too much, he had it coming. He attacked us first, we had no choice but to defend ourselves." InuYasha sneered at the unconscious man and walked away.
An hour had passed… Kagome and Sango both sat by the young man and watched over him. Sango patiently waited for him to regain consciousness. Just as she was beginning to fall asleep she felt somebody grab her wrist. Startled she almost fell back and noticed the young man opening his eyes. To her and Kagome's surprise the man had white eyes, the young man appeared to be blind.
Slowly sitting up the young man spoke, "Where am I? Who are you people?" The young man searched the floor for his sword, which had been taken away from him.
"You finally woke up, it's about time!" InuYasha approached the young man and knelt down beside him. "Now who the hell are you? And why did you attack US?" demanded the hanyou.
The young man moved his head in InuYasha's direction and sniffed the air, "You! You're a demon!" The young man lunged at InuYasha grabbing him by the throat. "You filthy demon! I'll kill you and all of your brethren!"
Kagome, Sango and Miroku both grabbed the young man and tried to get his hands off of InuYasha's throat. The young man had a strong grip and was crushing InuYasha's throat.
"Let InuYasha go! He didn't kill your friends and family!" pleaded Kagome. She let go of the young man and picked up Miroku's staff off the ground. She closed her eyes and struck the man beside the head, forcing him to release InuYasha.
The young man picked himself off the floor and blindly examined the room, "Two females, one male, and one demon." The young man searched his body and realized that all of his weapons were gone. Knowing that he was completely helpless he sat back down and looked down at the ground.
Miroku helped InuYasha off the floor and restrained him from attacking the young man. Kagome and Sango both approached the young man cautiously.
"We're sorry that we attacked you, but InuYasha is right. You did attack us first, now what's your name?" asked Sango.
The young man looked in Sango's direction and answered, "It's Mekura, and I'm sorry I attacked you. But when I smelled that demon with you, I immediately assumed that it was one of the demons that killed my friends and family." The young man looked towards Kagome and gave her a blind stare, "You…you're the one who hit me on the head. What's your name?"
"Its Kagome." She replied. Kagome looked closer at Mekura and gazed into his white eyes. "I don't mean to ask, but are you blind?"
Mekura smiled at Kagome and grabbed her hand, "Yes, I am. I've been blind for many years."
InuYasha pushed Miroku away and walked over to Mekura, "Okay, enough with the fucking formalities. What the hell happe…"
Mekura interrupted InuYasha, "You're a demon correct?"
"Yes and No, I'm only half demon. Why is it so important to you?" asked InuYasha in his usual rude tone.
"I was just curious, what's a demon doing traveling with a group of humans?" asked Mekura.
"That's none of your business!" InuYasha held back his urge to beat Mekura senseless and left the small house. After InuYasha left the room Miroku broke the awkward silence.
"Can you tell us what exactly happened here?" asked Miroku.
"We were in midst of training, as we usually do everyday, when we were attacked by a fierce clan of demons. We managed to kill dozens of them, but their leader appeared and slaughtered our best hunters. We just couldn't defeat him. He possessed a strange jewel that enabled him to shoot flames from the palms of his hands. When we thought that we finally had him beat, he summoned forth a flaming sword and finished off any survivors." Mekura wiped a tear from his cheek and resumed, "I fought him alone and did what I was told never to do with an opponent. I underestimated his fighting skills. He injured me many times until I collapsed, I guess the demon thought that I died and disappeared. I then awoke when I heard your voices in the distance, that's when I first met you."
Sango, Miroku and Kagome took a few seconds to take in everything that Mekura had told them. It all seemed so surreal that a blind man would have enough courage to battle a demon with a shard of the Shikkon jewel by himself.
"What abilities do you possess?" asked Miroku.
"I don't understand your question, what abilities do you mean? That I know, I possess no special abilities other than my years of intense sword fighting and training." commented Mekura. Confused by the strange question he turned his head and faced Miroku.
"Not to be rude, but your blind. You couldn't have possibly fought off any demons in your current condition." Sango knew that no mere person with a disability could fight as long as he did.
"You're young and ignorant, I don't expect to you to understand, but even blindness can't stop a man from sharpening his other senses." Mekura stood up and placed his hand on the wall, "Now, where are my weapons. I have to avenge the death of my friends and family."
Miroku and Kagome both moved away and let Mekura walk by. Kagome followed closely behind him and lead him to his weapons.
"Do you want us to help you? After all, we're after the same demon." Asked Kagome.
Mekura turned and smiled at Kagome, "Yes, I would like that a lot. I don't think that I'm strong enough to fight that demon by myself."
"Sango and Miroku both walked outside and explained to InuYasha what arrangements they had made. They were to rest for the day and leave in the morning. InuYasha was reluctant to have a new person join them.
InuYasha walked back inside and watched as Kagome and Mekura talked nonstop, "Why the hell do we have to let this cripple come with us?" thought InuYasha. "If you slow us down, I won't think twice about leaving you behind." Yelled InuYasha.
With the sun going down our heroes buried the dead. Miroku and Mekura both stood over the graves of the dead and said silent prayers. Both prayed that the souls of the dead would find their way to heaven. Come tomorrow, they would leave the village and search for the demons responsible for the merciless slaughter.