Sango sat by the fountain of water, stroking the cat demon in her lap called Kirara. Her friend Miroku sat near her, watching her with envious eyes. *Will we ever get out of this place?*, thought Sango. Miroku's brow furrowed --he was worried about her. Small splashes of water lapped on her legs and kimono that the villagers brought them. Kirara purred as Myoga the flea jumped into her fur. *Lucky Kirara. Oh, what I would give to be sitting on Sango's lap right now*, thought Miroku.
Just days before, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Kagome, Shippo, and Myoga had stumbled onto the Village of Many Worries. It was a small, troubled village, for a plague of demons had raided it, taking lives and crops with them. It was the doing of a God of Crop, who seemed to have turned to the evil side. The God of Crop had ordered those demons to raid their village and take sacrifices with them to bring demons. Every month, the God of Crop ordered sacrifices from the village consisting of one man, one woman, and two children in exchange for crops and rice. The sacrifices were chosen when the God sent out a black smoke into the village and the people who were surrounded by this black smoke would be sent up to the God. Then the next day, the villagers would see the rice among their fields. It was a horrible exchange, but it was the only thing to do to get food.
"Lady Sango! Sir Monk! The smoke has been sent again! Protect the villagers, please!" one lady called to them. Her clothes were torn up into bits and she wore a veil over her face. Her skin was bruised and bloody.
"Miss?! What happened to you?!" Sango called out. Miroku leaped to his feet and told Sango, "I'll go round up all the people."
"Oh...well, it's nothing. Lady Sango, you must help us!" the woman said, falling to her knees, pleading with her hands folded in front of her, wet tears washing the blood on her face. Suddenly, blood dripped from her mouth. She spit out a lot of it and fell, her rags washed with the puddle of blood.
"Ah!" yelped Sango, surprised. She took the woman and threw her onto her back and carried her near the village, which was near the valley in the Great Mountains of the Demons. *Oh sure, what a perfect spot for pathetic people who fear demons* thought Sango. She turned to face the dark forest and was surprised to see black smoke emerging from the darkness.
"It's here!" Sango hollered to the look out. He blew a horn three times and leaped onto his stallion, which kicked up a cloud of dust into Sango's face. Sango ran, her bare feet bruised from the sharp rocks and glass of the rice bowls. The smoke consumed everything in its path, including small abandoned houses. She could see Inuyasha and the others herding the people into the church. A small girl pointed to Sango.
"Mother!" she yelled. Sango's eyes widened. *I can't give up. or else this poor girl won't have a mother!*, thought Sango. To her surprise the smoke shrunk into a small cloud the size of a cow. It moved toward the village, with glowing menacing eyes, eyeing the villagers and Sango.
She slipped. The woman fell from her arms and rolled down a steep, rocky path. Inuyasha and Miroku hurried to the rescue. Inuyasha picked up the woman and leaped near the church where the little girl embraced her mother. Miroku took Sango in his arms and ran for his life to the church. He wasn't anything like Inuyasha; if he jumped like that, he would surely break a leg.
Safely, he pushed open a gate, a barrier, and a locked wooden door. Sango slipped from his arms as he laid her out onto a bale of hay. Nearby horses feeding on the hay retreated into a dark corner. With the horses' ears pricked, everyone knew that the frightened horses sensed the smoke.
"This woman saved me! She must live!" the bloody woman screamed, pointing to Sango.
"Help us!" the look-out yelled. The smoke was pushing back their wooden door, as the men of the village pushed with all their might as the women dove into hiding places--behind hay, behind horses, amongst the gardening tools, everywhere. It was more like a barn house, actually.
The smoke, smarter than the villagers, seeped through the cracks. Everyone aaahed as the smoke, high above their heads, broke into four pieces, ready to consume it's victims. One of the clouds flew around the lookout, who shrieked in terror and passed out. One of the children victims was the bloody woman's daughter and another, a small, shy looking boy. The bloody woman cried and so did the boy's parents. But there was one other smoke still searching for a woman. The smoke loomed over Sango. And then it came down slowly.
"NO!" yelled Miroku. He ripped the necklace off and thrust his hand in the path of the smoke. But nothing worked.
"WHAT THE HELL! My wind tunnel's not working! Inuyasha!" he yelled. Inuyasha pulled out Tetsusaiga (author note:i think dat's his sword name) and tried vigorously to slice the smoke in half. But his sword went right through it. One of the village's leaders put his hands on Inuyasha and Miroku's shoulders.
"I'm sorry, but its decision is made," he said. He was a wise old man, with a bald head, a mustace, and a long, trailing beard. He was holding a big staff, twice his size. He laid it down beside Sango, who had woken up bewildered, and prayed.
"Old man--" she croaked. "I guess I have to face fate in its eyes now."
"Sango! Why...why you? We dont even belong to this village," said Kagome. She reached out to touch Sango, but the old man slapped her hand away.
"Hey!"
"Do you want to get sucked into this smoke too? It will curse you forever, baka," he said. "It is a sad day about to happen. Let us open the doors so they can go."
"GO?!" Inuyasha yelled. A couple of the villagers murmured in arguement. "You're just going to let our friend walk to death?! What kind of fool are you?!"
"We can not fight them, Mister Half-demon. We have no choice. And the crops are dying out, which means the God is getting impatient...we have to let them go."
"But-" Miroku said, but the man held up his hands. "Miroku, you must understand, too. You are a monk. Things like this happen all the time. You cannot stop death," he said.
"I-I'm ready," said Sango. She sat up. "I'll face death if it helps this village." The door flew open. The smoke dragged the victims toward death, pulling them outside. A gushing wind blew into the church and sucked up a horse. But Miroku, Inuyasha, and Kagome started running after Sango.
"Hey, wait up guys!" yelled Shippo as he hopped onto Kirara (author-oops, forgot to say that Kirara ran home... and shippo&kagome have been quiet...^~) and rode after them. "If you want to save Sango, let us help!"
"Foolish idiots! Curse them! Now God of the Crop will make us pay!" the old man said.
"Don't say that! They are fighting for their freedom! How come we never fight? I say we should be courageous and follow them! Step aside old fool," the bloody woman said. The villagers nodded in agreement and stepped out into the rain. But it wasn't normal rain. It was red, made up of the blood of the victims sacrificed before. This always happened before they start the summoning ritual.
"Crap, I can't stop them," said the old man. "Then I will sit here as long as it takes for them to come back sorrow and weeping. I will lose a number of them to that damn God. I will not perish because I obey."
-------------------
"Sango! Don't leave us! Damn that son of a--" yelled Miroku as he rode on Kirara with Shippo. Inuyasha turned around and smirked.
"Calm down, Miroku. Is that love I see in your eyes?" he said. Miroku frowned.
"Well you love Ka-" he started to say until Inuyasha yelled out, "SHUT UP SHE CAN HEAR!"
"But she's all the way up--" Then Shippo whacked Inuyasha and Miroku with a rock he found on the floor. "Do you want to save Sango or write romance novels?" he said, frowning.
But Miroku and Inuyasha were already focused on the target-Sango. The smoke whipped her out of sight, into the dark forest. Miroku shuddered. "What, you afraid to save your love 'cause of some forest?" said Inuyasha as he snickered. They shot like bullets into the forest.
"Kagome! Get on my back, quick!" ordered Inuyasha. Kagome jumped backward into the air and landed on Inuyasha's back. They sped up, quickly catching the sight of Sango and the others. Miroku looked down at Kirara...
"Can you go just a LITTLE bit faster like them?!!" asked Miroku. Kirara looked up and growled, yet running faster, as if saving her master would throw this mean person off her back.
It seemed like forever until there was a dark castle looming in the sky, casting a shadow above a frozen lake surrounded by hills. The castle had many lighted windows, sitting on a purple cloud, with red rain washing over the pool of ice. "Hold on!" yelled Inuyasha as he jumped high into the air, the wind pressure building, ripping holes in Inuyasha's clothes.
"God, this wind hurts!" Kagome said.
"It does?!"
"Stop acting all macho!!"
Not far behind was Miroku and Shippo, grabbing on furiously onto Kirara's fur as it sped upward, more up than Inuyasha and landed on the purple cloud. They caught up with Sango, who's eyes were droopier, who's skin was thinner, and her hair was white.
"Sango, what--?"
"I don't know...but I think I'm ready. Say bye to the others for me," said Sango. Or actually, she croaked it out as the door opened for the victims. Inuyasha was still flying through the air, trying to catch up.
"What are you saying?! YOU ARE NOT READY YET!!!!!!!!!!" roared Miroku. He almost grabbed onto her shoulders until she was snatched away by the wind. Miroku ran toward the door just as it slammed shut. And he entered a world of darkness. But he could see the victims. All of them were old and looked decayed. They were being pulled to a source of light that revealed a mysterious hallway. The light was lit by torches and like candle holders, were rested in skulls (except candles didn't go in skulls).
"Sango, come back!" *She changed! I know she does NOT want to die just yet*, though Miroku.
------------------------
"You slowpoke! They're inside already!" said Kagome, angrily. She scanned the castle walls.
"Any jewel shards?"
"I'm searching for Miroku, Kirara, and Shippo, you idiot! I dont care about jewel shards! What about our friends?" said Kagome. She searched around the many windows until she got to the top, she gasped.
"I see a shadow! It's Miroku!" pointed Kagome. And indeed, there was an odd, mystic shadow riding what looked like a ferocious dog, obviously Kirara.
"All right, then! Hop on!" said Inuyasha. He carried her to the top window and leaned back, his fist clenched, ready for a blow at the window.
"What if it doesn't work?!" sceamed Kagome. Her voice could only be heard as a scream, due to the fact of thunder and bloody rain clinging tight to their faces.
"HELL YA IT'LL WORK!"
Just days before, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Kagome, Shippo, and Myoga had stumbled onto the Village of Many Worries. It was a small, troubled village, for a plague of demons had raided it, taking lives and crops with them. It was the doing of a God of Crop, who seemed to have turned to the evil side. The God of Crop had ordered those demons to raid their village and take sacrifices with them to bring demons. Every month, the God of Crop ordered sacrifices from the village consisting of one man, one woman, and two children in exchange for crops and rice. The sacrifices were chosen when the God sent out a black smoke into the village and the people who were surrounded by this black smoke would be sent up to the God. Then the next day, the villagers would see the rice among their fields. It was a horrible exchange, but it was the only thing to do to get food.
"Lady Sango! Sir Monk! The smoke has been sent again! Protect the villagers, please!" one lady called to them. Her clothes were torn up into bits and she wore a veil over her face. Her skin was bruised and bloody.
"Miss?! What happened to you?!" Sango called out. Miroku leaped to his feet and told Sango, "I'll go round up all the people."
"Oh...well, it's nothing. Lady Sango, you must help us!" the woman said, falling to her knees, pleading with her hands folded in front of her, wet tears washing the blood on her face. Suddenly, blood dripped from her mouth. She spit out a lot of it and fell, her rags washed with the puddle of blood.
"Ah!" yelped Sango, surprised. She took the woman and threw her onto her back and carried her near the village, which was near the valley in the Great Mountains of the Demons. *Oh sure, what a perfect spot for pathetic people who fear demons* thought Sango. She turned to face the dark forest and was surprised to see black smoke emerging from the darkness.
"It's here!" Sango hollered to the look out. He blew a horn three times and leaped onto his stallion, which kicked up a cloud of dust into Sango's face. Sango ran, her bare feet bruised from the sharp rocks and glass of the rice bowls. The smoke consumed everything in its path, including small abandoned houses. She could see Inuyasha and the others herding the people into the church. A small girl pointed to Sango.
"Mother!" she yelled. Sango's eyes widened. *I can't give up. or else this poor girl won't have a mother!*, thought Sango. To her surprise the smoke shrunk into a small cloud the size of a cow. It moved toward the village, with glowing menacing eyes, eyeing the villagers and Sango.
She slipped. The woman fell from her arms and rolled down a steep, rocky path. Inuyasha and Miroku hurried to the rescue. Inuyasha picked up the woman and leaped near the church where the little girl embraced her mother. Miroku took Sango in his arms and ran for his life to the church. He wasn't anything like Inuyasha; if he jumped like that, he would surely break a leg.
Safely, he pushed open a gate, a barrier, and a locked wooden door. Sango slipped from his arms as he laid her out onto a bale of hay. Nearby horses feeding on the hay retreated into a dark corner. With the horses' ears pricked, everyone knew that the frightened horses sensed the smoke.
"This woman saved me! She must live!" the bloody woman screamed, pointing to Sango.
"Help us!" the look-out yelled. The smoke was pushing back their wooden door, as the men of the village pushed with all their might as the women dove into hiding places--behind hay, behind horses, amongst the gardening tools, everywhere. It was more like a barn house, actually.
The smoke, smarter than the villagers, seeped through the cracks. Everyone aaahed as the smoke, high above their heads, broke into four pieces, ready to consume it's victims. One of the clouds flew around the lookout, who shrieked in terror and passed out. One of the children victims was the bloody woman's daughter and another, a small, shy looking boy. The bloody woman cried and so did the boy's parents. But there was one other smoke still searching for a woman. The smoke loomed over Sango. And then it came down slowly.
"NO!" yelled Miroku. He ripped the necklace off and thrust his hand in the path of the smoke. But nothing worked.
"WHAT THE HELL! My wind tunnel's not working! Inuyasha!" he yelled. Inuyasha pulled out Tetsusaiga (author note:i think dat's his sword name) and tried vigorously to slice the smoke in half. But his sword went right through it. One of the village's leaders put his hands on Inuyasha and Miroku's shoulders.
"I'm sorry, but its decision is made," he said. He was a wise old man, with a bald head, a mustace, and a long, trailing beard. He was holding a big staff, twice his size. He laid it down beside Sango, who had woken up bewildered, and prayed.
"Old man--" she croaked. "I guess I have to face fate in its eyes now."
"Sango! Why...why you? We dont even belong to this village," said Kagome. She reached out to touch Sango, but the old man slapped her hand away.
"Hey!"
"Do you want to get sucked into this smoke too? It will curse you forever, baka," he said. "It is a sad day about to happen. Let us open the doors so they can go."
"GO?!" Inuyasha yelled. A couple of the villagers murmured in arguement. "You're just going to let our friend walk to death?! What kind of fool are you?!"
"We can not fight them, Mister Half-demon. We have no choice. And the crops are dying out, which means the God is getting impatient...we have to let them go."
"But-" Miroku said, but the man held up his hands. "Miroku, you must understand, too. You are a monk. Things like this happen all the time. You cannot stop death," he said.
"I-I'm ready," said Sango. She sat up. "I'll face death if it helps this village." The door flew open. The smoke dragged the victims toward death, pulling them outside. A gushing wind blew into the church and sucked up a horse. But Miroku, Inuyasha, and Kagome started running after Sango.
"Hey, wait up guys!" yelled Shippo as he hopped onto Kirara (author-oops, forgot to say that Kirara ran home... and shippo&kagome have been quiet...^~) and rode after them. "If you want to save Sango, let us help!"
"Foolish idiots! Curse them! Now God of the Crop will make us pay!" the old man said.
"Don't say that! They are fighting for their freedom! How come we never fight? I say we should be courageous and follow them! Step aside old fool," the bloody woman said. The villagers nodded in agreement and stepped out into the rain. But it wasn't normal rain. It was red, made up of the blood of the victims sacrificed before. This always happened before they start the summoning ritual.
"Crap, I can't stop them," said the old man. "Then I will sit here as long as it takes for them to come back sorrow and weeping. I will lose a number of them to that damn God. I will not perish because I obey."
-------------------
"Sango! Don't leave us! Damn that son of a--" yelled Miroku as he rode on Kirara with Shippo. Inuyasha turned around and smirked.
"Calm down, Miroku. Is that love I see in your eyes?" he said. Miroku frowned.
"Well you love Ka-" he started to say until Inuyasha yelled out, "SHUT UP SHE CAN HEAR!"
"But she's all the way up--" Then Shippo whacked Inuyasha and Miroku with a rock he found on the floor. "Do you want to save Sango or write romance novels?" he said, frowning.
But Miroku and Inuyasha were already focused on the target-Sango. The smoke whipped her out of sight, into the dark forest. Miroku shuddered. "What, you afraid to save your love 'cause of some forest?" said Inuyasha as he snickered. They shot like bullets into the forest.
"Kagome! Get on my back, quick!" ordered Inuyasha. Kagome jumped backward into the air and landed on Inuyasha's back. They sped up, quickly catching the sight of Sango and the others. Miroku looked down at Kirara...
"Can you go just a LITTLE bit faster like them?!!" asked Miroku. Kirara looked up and growled, yet running faster, as if saving her master would throw this mean person off her back.
It seemed like forever until there was a dark castle looming in the sky, casting a shadow above a frozen lake surrounded by hills. The castle had many lighted windows, sitting on a purple cloud, with red rain washing over the pool of ice. "Hold on!" yelled Inuyasha as he jumped high into the air, the wind pressure building, ripping holes in Inuyasha's clothes.
"God, this wind hurts!" Kagome said.
"It does?!"
"Stop acting all macho!!"
Not far behind was Miroku and Shippo, grabbing on furiously onto Kirara's fur as it sped upward, more up than Inuyasha and landed on the purple cloud. They caught up with Sango, who's eyes were droopier, who's skin was thinner, and her hair was white.
"Sango, what--?"
"I don't know...but I think I'm ready. Say bye to the others for me," said Sango. Or actually, she croaked it out as the door opened for the victims. Inuyasha was still flying through the air, trying to catch up.
"What are you saying?! YOU ARE NOT READY YET!!!!!!!!!!" roared Miroku. He almost grabbed onto her shoulders until she was snatched away by the wind. Miroku ran toward the door just as it slammed shut. And he entered a world of darkness. But he could see the victims. All of them were old and looked decayed. They were being pulled to a source of light that revealed a mysterious hallway. The light was lit by torches and like candle holders, were rested in skulls (except candles didn't go in skulls).
"Sango, come back!" *She changed! I know she does NOT want to die just yet*, though Miroku.
------------------------
"You slowpoke! They're inside already!" said Kagome, angrily. She scanned the castle walls.
"Any jewel shards?"
"I'm searching for Miroku, Kirara, and Shippo, you idiot! I dont care about jewel shards! What about our friends?" said Kagome. She searched around the many windows until she got to the top, she gasped.
"I see a shadow! It's Miroku!" pointed Kagome. And indeed, there was an odd, mystic shadow riding what looked like a ferocious dog, obviously Kirara.
"All right, then! Hop on!" said Inuyasha. He carried her to the top window and leaned back, his fist clenched, ready for a blow at the window.
"What if it doesn't work?!" sceamed Kagome. Her voice could only be heard as a scream, due to the fact of thunder and bloody rain clinging tight to their faces.
"HELL YA IT'LL WORK!"