Kagome was determined to get to this village despite Raion's warning. She didn't believe him when he said the village was done for. There is always hope, always, and she knew there was still time to save the village.
"Kagome, I don't want to go to this village and I'm not taking you either."
"I need you, Inuyasha! Didn't you hear what Raion said?" She stood stubbornly before Inuyasha.
He scoffed at her words. "I don't listen to stupid cats!"
"Inuyasha," she said as sternly as she could, "Raion said another battle was going to break out because of this sword. We just got out of a battle with Naraku, I don't want to fight again."
"Like I said, I don't listen to stinkin' cats and I'm not letting you go!"
Kagome sighed defeated. Inuyasha gave her the same reaction Raion had given her. They both rejected in helping her destroy the sword and save the village. Sango lightly laid her hand on Kagome's shoulder and softly squeezed it, trying to offer her some comfort. "Maybe they're right, Kagome. You shouldn't try to get near this sword. Maybe this will all sort itself out if we leave it alone. Besides, Raion said he would keep watch over the sword."
Kagome knew better than this. The situation would only get worse, it always does! And Inuyasha would never dare leave her to do anything dangerous alone. She shrugged Sango's hand off her shoulder and reached for weapon. Inuyasha stared at her with disbelief, not understanding why they couldn't get peace after dealing with Naraku's shenanigans for years. For once he didn't want to care for other people but himself, Kagome, and his friends. Yet here she was dragging them into issues again that clearly doesn't need to involve them.
"Kagome, your thinking is not in the right place. You barely slept all night!" Miroku said as he watched her begin her walk alone.
"I'm fine. Shippo let's go!"
Shippo whined but obliged, running to catch up with her. Miroku strode up to Inuyasha and quietly said, "Is it me or is something off about her?" Inuyasha hmped loudly at him.
"That sword looks like it has her possessed if you ask me." Sango said. She slung her own weapon across her and lovingly patted Miroku's cheek. "She's still our friend and we are going to help her out. Let's go guys!"
"Ughhh!" Inuyasha grunted out. "Just one day, one day, can we just not think about helping other stupid people! One day!" No one paid mind to his angry rant and he angrily followed, dragging last behind the group. He just knew this was going to go bad in the end.
Raion chuckled to himself softly as he eyed the group from far away from on top of a tree. He lazily sat at the very top, his back reclined onto the tree trunk as he swung one leg back and forth in the air. A cool gust of wind swept across his face causing him to breathe in and out a deep sigh. He was astounded by the girl's determination and stubbornness. She had no idea what so ever of what she was getting into. The sword was made in hell with bones and teeth from tortured souls and hot melted dirt mixed with fire. When it surfaced for the first time onto the earth, it wasted no time in sucking blood, souls, and rage into it's metal. Whether it'd be from a demon or a human the sword did not leave scraps behind. This is what made the sword so powerful, it knew what it wanted without hesitation. It's always hungry and it's always searching for something to curve it's hunger. When the Hell-hound created the word, she had created it specifically for herself to have all the power from hell. She made sure only a Hell-hound was capable of handling it as she wasn't stupid, any other life form would abuse it's power and ultimately become a puppet for the sword. But there is something that's itching on Raion's mind. Before she had died they had spent time together on a very rare day where there was peace. On that day they hung out by a beautiful lake during the summer. The air was hot, the grass was cool, the birds rested below the tree's cool shadows and softly sang their songs.
"Tell me, dear friend, why are we here again?"
She smiled, at nothing, but still smiled. "Why is it so strange to be away from the battlefields?" She asked him.
His response was to simply stare at her.
"Is it because we don't smell blood and sweat from our enemies and our men? Because we don't hear men scream and cry? Or because the lake in front of us is made of water and not blood?"
"All of the above," he chuckled at her. He sighed and looked at the lake. She was right, it is strange to see beautiful blue water instead of blood. "But...this is not like you."
"What do you mean?"
He laughed nervously. He may be her best friend but she was still his General. He needed to choose his words wisely and carefully. "Well, you are always at the camp ground training and commanding the army. Or at the dojo sparing by yourself. Why did you ask me today to come out here with you?"
She didn't respond to his question immediately. She quietly stood beside him as she gazed out to the lake. After a moment she let out a long sigh and began to bend down. Raion tensed up thinking she was about to fall frontwards right in front of him. But no, she was actually sitting down on the cool grass. It was then he knew something was wrong. He sat down beside her and and pulled her into a hug. She said nothing and let his comfort seep into her. For what seemed the longest time, even longer than their battles, he sat there holding her in his arms. Finally he let her go slowly and watched her as she simply stared down at the grass.
"I've forgotten that grass is green too," she mumbled to herself but he heard her. He chose not to reply to her comment.
"What's wrong?" He asked her.
She closed her eyes and whispered, "I am tired."
He tilted his head a bit, confused. "Then you should get more sleep don't you think? You seemed tired the past few weeks but-"
"I'm not physically tired you moron." She opened her eyes and snapped at him.
"Oh..."
"I'm tired of fighting, Raion."
He chuckled nervously, still confused and not understanding her. "You love to fight. You live to fight! It's your passion and it runs in your blood. Where are these words coming from, Dumplin'?"
"You get tired of fighting...for the last 1000 years I've done nothing but fight and I am tired."
He half understood and the other half he did not. She was the Hell-hound General. She does her job amazingly good. How can she be tired of doing something she's so good at? "Are you thinking of stepping down as the General?"
"Yes."
Her reply was so firm and sure that his breath got stuck in his throat. He blinked and turned to look at something else instead of her. Was there finally going to be an end to the Battles of the Hell-hound? "Dumplin', does your sister know."
"Of course not," she replied, "she's incapable of losing her General, of anything in fact. It's not the right time to tell her."
"If you go I'm going with you."
She smiled slightly and said, "I'd hope you say that."
Another silence swept across them, but this silence was peaceful. Raion wasn't sure if he'd ever feel peace again, but today he finally did. No more fighting...no more killing. Who would then take her place though?
"What about being the Hell-hound? That will never go away, you know that. And your sister will want to stay with your weapon."
"That's never going to happen," she scoffed. "She knows very well that only I can wield Jigoku. And as long am I'm the Hell-hound, Jigoku is bound to me no matter what."
He sighed frustrated. "I don't know Dumplin', this is turning into more of a risky situation."
"Don't worry my kitty cat," she shot her hand out quick and ruffled his hair. She giggled as he leaned away in protest. "Soon, not only I will be able to wield Jigoku. A human shall wield it as well. And maybe then we can all find peace, including my sister."
A human? Raion wondered if she was serious or if she had lost her marbles already. A human will never wield Jigoku, it's impossible! Now she had him completely lost. But, she always knew best so perhaps she already knew exactly what she going to do and what was going to happen. He learned a long time ago not to question her; she is always right.
"Come Raion, we must head back to camp before the men notice we are missing. Soon we will be able to spend more peaceful times together." She stood up from the grass, shook her hakamas pants free from grass and dirt, and walked back to camp. Raion remained on the grass contemplating her words.
A human...will one day wield Jigoku. Could it be this human girl that she meant? Raion sighed as he lost sight of the Miko and her group. He turned his head and gazed into the forest. "Wherever you are Dumplin', protect that Miko and give her the strength to wield that sword." He quietly and swiftly followed the group. He wanted to see that even in death, she would still be right about a human wielding Jigoku.
Kagome could feel the sword's aura pulsing through the air the closer she got to the village. She was so demanding to get there that a roughly three days walk turned into one. By nightfall the village was just a few miles walk from them. And every-time Kagome was being overpowered by the sword, a simple thought of the name Heruhaundo shut the sword out. But the sword was starting to become resistant to the name, almost as if it started to acknowledge that the hell-hound was not truly around.
"Um... Kagome?"
Kagome looked down at Shippo who was trembling. "K-kagome, I smell a lot of blood in the air." He was frighten beyond belief.
Inuyasha scooped Shippo into his arms and looked coldly at Kagome. "He's right, it reeks of it. I'm feel nothing but dread Kagome...and that's not good."
Kagome turned to look at Miroku and he looked pale and deep in thought. He noticed her stare at him and gave a firm nod to her. "I am positive now that the sword is not from here."
Kagome nodded in return and bowed her head in defeat. "It came from hell."
"How do you know that?" Inuyasha asked her.
She walked over and took Shippo into her arms, cradling him tightly. "Because it told me," she said looking deeply into his worried eyes. "Let's go Inuyasha. Raion was right, from here I can feel there is nothing left to save from the village. Perhaps I can go back home and do some research."
"You are a weak pathetic mortal..."
Shippo yelped and buried his face into Kagome's chest.
"I can hear the sword? Is it just me!" Inuyasha said out loud worriedly.
"No I heard it, too!" Sango replied.
"Free yourself from those pathetic fools...Kill them! Come to me and we will kill anything worthless...I will give you all the power you want..."
The demonic whisper could be heard all around them, with horrible screams in the background begging for help. Kagome could see Kirara with her hair standing on her back, Miroku embraced Sango as both were frighten, and Inuyasha needless to say seemed so weak in front her. She knew the sword was seeping dread and agony into Inuyasha, she could see now that it's affecting him just as like it affected her the first time.
"That is it!" Kagome screamed and set Shippo down. "Stay here! I'm going to end this once and for all!" She sprinted into the forest as fast as she could. Only to have a hand grab her arm roughly and stop her.
"No Kagome!" Inuyasha said, pleading her with his eyes not to go.
"Sit Inuyasha!"
He smacked into the ground and without anything holding her back, she continued her run to the village. She had never ran so fast before. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and every breath she took felt like knives scraping against her throat. Her calves began to burn and tire out, causing her to trip on every branch she couldn't see in the dark. Finally after almost thirty minutes of running with short breaks in between, she literally stumbled upon the village and fell onto the ground exhausted. She fell with a big 'oof' and dug her nails into the cold dirt. She could hear thousands of souls screaming inside her head, begging for help to escape. She slowly looked around and saw only death surrounding her. She began to sob knowing she couldn't save the village in time. She closed her eyes instead, not wanting to look at the dead villagers in front of her. She picked herself up from the floor into a sitting position. She took in a deep breath to relax her but immediately regretted it. The air stunk so much of blood that a metallic after-taste was left inside her mouth. She opened her eyes and once again grimaced at the sight. None the less she forced herself to stand up and even though her legs almost gave up, she stood proud and strong. There was no way in hell she would let this sword defeat her. As she carefully walked around the bodies on the floor, the sword began to laugh. It was mocking her and she knew it.
In the distance she finally saw the sword after navigating deeper into the ruined village. The damn sword was levitating in the air and Kagome could not believe it. It glowed a deep red, its black sheath was beautifully engraved with a red wolf engulfed in flames on both sides. It was a Katana, long and thin, with the handle wrapped in a red cloth. How can something so beautifully crafted come from hell, Kagome thought. She balled her hands into tight fists and walked up to the sword. She had so much anger at this point that she could not feel the dread. All she felt was anger...she was angry how this sword murdered an entire village, how it affected her...
She slowly reached out and without warning the sword plastered into her hand by itself. In an instant Kagome was in a dark cave and not at the village. A corpse of bones, almost dust really, lay on the ground. She looked into the skull's empty sockets that were immediately replaced with beautiful deep blue eyes. The skull morphed into the face of a young woman with blue eyes, black hair tied into a low messy bun, directly looking at her. The woman seemed just as shocked as Kagome did. Kagome wanted to say something to her but no sound would come out of her mouth. The woman said something as well but Kagome could hear nothing being said. The woman's eyes moved onto the sword that was in Kagome's hand...her hand slowly reached for it but halfway there, she retreated her hand back. Her fingers rubbed against each other and then removed a bracelet from around her wrist and held it out in the air. Without thinking, as she was already lost in the situation that was occurring before her, Kagome somehow grabbed the bracelet. She watched as the woman smiled, almost as if she chuckled at Kagome, and laid back onto a bed and closed her eyes. The lost contact with her deep blues eyes pulled Kagome back with extreme force. Sure enough she felt herself hit the ground again, this time with more force that caused pain to run through her back. She grunted as she tried to sit up, but she was so dizzy that she chose to continue laying on the ground.
"She lives..."
Kagome's breath slowed as she heard the demonic sword speak very weakly. She began to register that she held the sword in one hand and in her other hand she held a item with string. She bolted quickly into a sitting position...and observed her surrounding. She was in the village again but this time it felt different. Death and blood were still in the air but the demonic presence was not. The sword laid very calmly in her hand, not evening emitting any kind of aura.
"Kagome!"
"Inuyasha!" She responded as she turned to look at him.
Inuyasha's slowed to a walk as he got near her. "Kagome, you're holding the sword!"
"Haha yeah...I am," she said nervously. She stood up and dusted the dirt off the best she could. Then she looked at the sword in confusion, she couldn't get it off the floor!
"What the heck!" She said aloud and grunted as she managed to bring the sword to stand on the tip. "How is it so heavy?!"
Inuyasha laughed and she glared at him, "Don't laugh Inuyasha! I swear this thing is so heavy!"
"That's cause you're a girl. Here let me help you-"
"No!" She screamed and stood in front of it. "If I'm not the one holding it, it's going to break loose again."
"How do you know that?" He asked her.
How did she know that? She remembered the visions she saw and went back to when the woman said something. She had said, "Never let this sword out of your hold for any reason. Find me and bring it to me." In the vision Kagome had heard nothing but the sound was somehow embedded in her memory. "She lives..." She had also heard the heard sword say when her visions were over. She lives...the hell-hound still lives. But the skeleton I had seen...it was her and...
She gasped and looked at Inuyasha. "She lives, Inuyasha!"
"What," he asked confused, "I said how do you know you're the only one who can hold sword? And what's this about 'she lives'?"
"Can't you feel anything different, Inuyasha?" She asked him.
He simply rose one eyebrow at her in response. Sango and Miroku landed on the ground and dismounted Kirara. Kirara transformed back into her small size with a loud meuuw. "Kagome," Miroku began, "you're holding the sword and you're locking it's power away!"
"Kagome...I'm so glad you're ok!" Sango ran to her and hugged her tight. "Don't you ever run off like that again, you hear me!"
"There isn't a demonic presence in the air.. " Inuyasha answered her question.
Kagome pulled away from Sango's hug and said excitedly, "Exactly! The hell-hound lives which is why the sword is so quiet!"
"But the hell-hound is dead Kagome..." Miroku replied.
"Miroku, you know the answer just like I do."
Miroku sighed and nodded his head, "She has reincarnated hasn't she?"
"Yep!" Kagome laughed happily. "All we have to do is find her and get her to destroy the sword."
"Ugh!" Inuyasha groaned loudly. "Just for one day, a week at least, can't we just rest? I'm tired of all this running around trying to find people who are hiding every, single, time!"
"No Inuyasha, we'll rest once this sword is destroyed." She replied hotly to him.
"Hey, Kagome, what's that?" Shippo said as he bounced over to her and pointed at her hand.
She opened her hand and saw the bracelet the woman had given her. As she inspected it closer she noticed a little cat pendant made of metal hung from it. The cat pendant was so old that the silver metal showed signs of rust and contained scratches on it's surface. The string used was made of a blue color and then she noticed something she couldn't believe.
Inuyasha noticed and he walked over to take a look. "What's wrong with it?" All he saw was a bracelet that contained a stupid cat on it.
She balanced the sword against her hip and with both hands she stretched out the bracelet. She shook her head as she looked at it with wide eyes.
"Where'd you get it?"
"The hell-hound gave it to me. When I touched, well when the sword touched me, I thought I had visions." Kagome replied to Inuyasha. "First I was in cave with the hell-hound's skeleton and then I saw her alive in front of me. I really thought they were visions but I actually traveled through time again."
Inuyasha laughed nervously at her. "You're joking right? It's impossible for you to travel through time without the bone eaters well."
"I thought so too, " she said and stretched the bracelet multiple times in his face. "This bracelet contains elastic string, something that doesn't exist here yet. She reincarnated to my time era, 2500 and years later."
