Author's Notes: Okay, I'm back with chapter 2 of Vengeance. Keep reading to find out the outcome of the battle...
-----Chapter 2-----
-Battlefield-
Youkai Inuyasha leaps toward Debirusuke and draws back his right arm, then swings downward at the taiyou. However, Debirusuke catches his opponent's hand with his own right hand, almost in like a test of strength. "Is this the best your youkai power is capable of, Inuyasha?" questions Debirusuke, with a smirk on his face.
"I am going to rip your living heart out!" youkai Inuyasha states, calmly. He then thrusts his left hand claws toward the taiyou.
Debirusuke turns to his left and avoids youkai Inuyasha's claws, then raises his right leg and kicks Inuyasha back. He spins left and swings his left arm diagonal down right-to-left, "Desutsume!" the attack hits youkai Inuyasha and sends him flying back into a cliff-face, his head drops.
"Impossible!" Sesshoumaru states, then turns to Debirusuke and attacks with Toukijin.
Debirusuke parries the attack with Taigaakiba, "You may be a taiyou, Sesshoumaru..." he says, calmly, "But still, what makes you believe you can do what Inutaishou could not?"
"Now, Sesshoumaru..." Debirusuke says, after shoving the other taiyou away. He holds his arms out to either side of himself and adds, "This is your chance! Avenge your mother if you can!"
Debirusuke then avoids a second swing of Toukijin and slashes the Sesshoumaru with Taigaakiba. Sesshoumaru drops to the ground on his knees and his vision starts to blur, "Wh-what is happening?" he questions.
"Taigaakiba's new special ability, granted it from the fang of Menoumaru." Debirusuke reveals, "The ability to drain the youki of any youkai its blade comes in contact with."
Just then, A blade cuts down Debirusuke's back and he turns, swinging his left arm as he does and knocks Sango away, "Sango?" he questions, then thinks 'Of course, She was able to approach me without my noticing as I was preoccupied... a true taiji-ya indeed.'
Suddenly, Before Debirusuke can attack Sango... he's hit from above by youkai Inuyasha's 'Sankon Tetsou' attack. Debirusuke then turns and releases his own claw attack 'Desutsume' at the youkai, knocking him out of the air... just in time to be cut by Toukijin's blade and, before Debirusuke can react, Sesshoumaru thrusts his left hand claws into the side of his chest. Debirusuke quickly uses his own left hand to remove Sesshoumaru's and then lands a right hand punch to the side of his face, knocking him back.
Debirusuke holds his left hand over the area which was poisoned by Sesshoumaru's 'Poison Claw' attack. "!? How!?" he says, as one of Kagome's purity arrows pierces the back of his left shoulder and begins to destroy the flesh around the joint. Then, almost in slow motion, he turns just as the Hiraikotsu flies toward him... and severes his left arm from his torso. And, The taiyou drops to one knee, holding his right hand over the area where his left arm used to be.
"I..." Debirusuke says, "Concede defeat..." then grunts slightly as the pain from his wounds are almost too great.
Sango walks over to the taiyou, "Now." she says, "Tell me. What was it, you were talking about before?"
"Forgive me." Debirusuke replies, "I cannot. You need not know." "However, Sango." he adds, his voice breaking slightly, "I have a... message for you from... Naraku... He says, if you wish vengeance... for your family and clan, come to his castle and face him... alone." he shakely turns and then begins walking away.
"And, Where are you going Debirusuke?" questions Sesshoumaru, gripping Debirusuke's neck with his left hand and lifting him into the air, "We are not yet finished!" tightening his grip on the other taiyou's neck.
"... your mother?" Debirusuke says, straining slightly to speak, "You seek to... avenge her, do you not?"
"Silence!" Sesshoumaru responds, drawing back his right hand and it begins glowing, "I shall kill you Debirusuke!"
"As you wish Sesshoumaru..." Debirusuke says, looking down at the other taiyou, his eyes barely open, "I... do regret the death of your mother... but, it was my job a-as a taiji-ya. Now go ahead, take your revenge..."
"!?" Sesshoumaru is surprised(well, as surprised as he can be) to see a single tear of blood rolls down Debirusuke's right cheek.
"Know this, Sesshoumaru..." Debirusuke adds, "I... can only grieve over lives lost... either in battle, or with honor. Your mother... she died, honorably, to protect you..."
"Hmph!" Sesshoumaru responds, throwing the defeated taiyou back onto the ground and then turns halfway away, "You are but a pathetic taiyou, not even worth my time killing." he finishes turning away and walks off.
A few moments later, Debirusuke vanishes...
-Campsite/Later that night-
Sango's eyes open when she is sure everyone is asleep and she gets up. She kisses Kagome on the forehead and then proceeds to sneak away from the camp. Once she is a distance from the campsite, though, the taiji-ya is confronted by Inuyasha.
"And where d'you think you're going?" the hanyou asks, "You're not thinking of headin' to Naraku's castle, are you?"
"What concern is it of your's, Inuyasha?" Sango responds with a question.
"It's a trap, you know that." Inuyasha says, "You're just gonna get yerself killed!"
"Hmph. If that happens..." the taiji-ya replies, starting to walk by Inuyasha, "Then, So be it. I must avenge my family and clan!"
Inuyasha grabs Sango's arm and steps infront of her, then raises his right hand and does the unthinkable... he slaps the taiji-ya across her left cheek, turning her head to her right. "What are you, Sango, a FOOL!?" he states, gripping his right hand into a fist and releasing Sango's arm with his left, "What about Kagome!"
"Have you forgotten the promise you made to her!" Inuyasha continues, "... forgotten everything you two've shared! Have you even thought about what'll happen to Kagome, if you go and get yerself killed!?!?"
"Perhaps... but, did you, yourself, not make Kagome-chan a similar promise?" Sango questions, "Besides, I must go. And if I do die, you can still protect Kagome-chan, Inuyasha."
"You're right, I'd sacrifice anything to protect her! But..." Inuyasha replies, "Don't you get it, Sango! Kagome... Kagome chose 'you'!"
"I know..." Sango says, lowering her head and closing her eyes. She then draws in a breath and holds it, reaching into her sash with her left hand.
"What're you doin'?" asks Inuyasha.
'Sorry Inuyasha...' Sango thinks, she then holds up her closed left fist near Inuyasha's face and clenches it. The smoke released knocks out the hanyou. Then, The taiji-ya dashes away.
'For Kagome-chan, I must kill Naraku!' thinks Sango to herself.
-Naraku's Castle-
"Naraku!" Sango shouts, upon entering the castle, "I have come! Show yourself, so I can exterminate you!"
"I am afraid that will not be possible, Sango." a male voice, not Naraku's, says as an unknown figure appears, "Naraku has, how shall we say, departed."
"Naraku's... dead?"
"Yes, my dear Sango."
"Then, Who are you?" questions the taiji-ya, gripping the band of Hiraikotsu.
"I? Hmph. Names matter not." the male youkai says, "However, If you truly wish to know... I am a thief and I once knew the man, Onigumo. My name is... alas, names do not matter. Nevertheless, I am no longer a mere human... I have become a youkai." "I am, also," he adds, "the one who set the wheels in motion for everything that has transpired over the past fifty or so years: the birth of Naraku, Kikyou's death, the extermination of your clan of taiji-ya... it all transpired because of my burning the cave where Onigumo had been cared for by Kikyou."
"Then..." Sango says, anger lining her voice, "Beyond Naraku, 'You' are to blame!" she narrows her eyes.
"Correct." the youkai responds, "And, I suppose you now intend to seek your vengeance on myself. However, first, I must reveal to you the folly of your choosing to come here..."
"!?" Sango's eyes widen as visions flash through her mind... visions of her allies, dead. She also sees Kagome dead...
A single tear runs down the taiji-ya's right cheek, "No. Kagome-chan..." she drops to her knees and lowers her head.
"Because you chose vengeance, I was able to kill all of them." the youkai explains, calmly, "Your putting Inuyasha to sleep was, as well, most helpful in my endeavor." "Now, The final curtain rises. And, The final act begins..." he adds, "Let us bring this play to its conclusion." he materializes a katana in his right hand.
Sango raises her gaze toward him and narrows her eyes, practically growling as she stands and throws Hiraikotsu at the youkai. She then dashes at him as he avoids the boomerang, drawing her katana as she does, and swings at him.
The human-like youkai leaps into the air, avoiding the blade, and descends toward Sango's exposed back, "!?!?" he gasps as Sango's katana pierces him, thrust back through her own torso. "H-how did y--" he's cut off as Sango forces the blade further through.
"You took... the life of Kagome-chan..." Sango says, her voice breaking due to the pain from her self-inflicted wound. She pulls the katana free and the youkai's body dissipates as the two halves of the shikon no tama fall to the floor. The two halves roll along the floor and recombine into one as Sango drops to her knees, lowering her head.
"You have avenged the deaths of your family and clan, Sango." Debirusuke says, walking up beside the taiji-ya, his wounds have vanished completely, "You have also saved many lives of the people who live in this era, and of those still to come..." he picks up the shikon no tama, "But," he says, as he lifts one of Sango's hands and places the jewel in it, "What has been the cost of... 'vengeance'?" he turns and walks away.
Sango opens her eyes and looks at the jewel, "Kagome-chan..." she says, as tears begin falling from her eyes and onto the jewel... it begins glowing brightly, "!!!??"
-Bone-Eater's Well-
Sango, Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku, Shippou, and Kirara(in its big form) are gathered around the well, and Kagome is just finished saying her final goodbyes to the others.
"Um... Sango-chan?" Kagome says.
"Yes?" responds the taiji-ya.
"Um..." Kagome stops, unsure how she'll put it, then, "Why don't you come stay in my time, with me?" she asks, "I mean, You... you don't have anything left here and..."
"Kagome-chan..." Sango responds, then glances down at the ground, "I would like that, but... who would take care of Kirara?"
Before either says anything else, Kirara places the top of its head against Sango's back and gently pushes her over beside Kagome.
Sango looks back at the cat-youkai, "Kirara?" she questions, "... are you sure? You will be alright?"
Kirara responds with a light growl, meaning 'yes'. Sango nods then turns to Kagome and smiles, she then says her own goodbyes to the others and the two girls enter the bone-eater's well one last time.
-Higurashi Shrine/Bone-Eater's Well-
Sango and Kagome climb out of the well and start out the exit of the building which houses it.
/Past/
"Now." Inuyasha says, then jumps into the air, "Sankon Tetsou!" 'Goodbye, Kagome...' he thinks, as his claw attack obliterates the well...
/Present/
The well crumbles in on itself and then vanishes as though it had never been there...
-----!!The End!!-----
Ramblings: Well, That's the end of it. I decided to have the jewel be in two separate halves, Naraku's half and Kagome's half(strange, I know). I know, I know, This story wasn't anywhere near as well-written as the previous two in the trilogy, but I think it still came out pretty good, though a bit rushed perhaps. Anyway, Review and tell me how you like it.
-----Chapter 2-----
-Battlefield-
Youkai Inuyasha leaps toward Debirusuke and draws back his right arm, then swings downward at the taiyou. However, Debirusuke catches his opponent's hand with his own right hand, almost in like a test of strength. "Is this the best your youkai power is capable of, Inuyasha?" questions Debirusuke, with a smirk on his face.
"I am going to rip your living heart out!" youkai Inuyasha states, calmly. He then thrusts his left hand claws toward the taiyou.
Debirusuke turns to his left and avoids youkai Inuyasha's claws, then raises his right leg and kicks Inuyasha back. He spins left and swings his left arm diagonal down right-to-left, "Desutsume!" the attack hits youkai Inuyasha and sends him flying back into a cliff-face, his head drops.
"Impossible!" Sesshoumaru states, then turns to Debirusuke and attacks with Toukijin.
Debirusuke parries the attack with Taigaakiba, "You may be a taiyou, Sesshoumaru..." he says, calmly, "But still, what makes you believe you can do what Inutaishou could not?"
"Now, Sesshoumaru..." Debirusuke says, after shoving the other taiyou away. He holds his arms out to either side of himself and adds, "This is your chance! Avenge your mother if you can!"
Debirusuke then avoids a second swing of Toukijin and slashes the Sesshoumaru with Taigaakiba. Sesshoumaru drops to the ground on his knees and his vision starts to blur, "Wh-what is happening?" he questions.
"Taigaakiba's new special ability, granted it from the fang of Menoumaru." Debirusuke reveals, "The ability to drain the youki of any youkai its blade comes in contact with."
Just then, A blade cuts down Debirusuke's back and he turns, swinging his left arm as he does and knocks Sango away, "Sango?" he questions, then thinks 'Of course, She was able to approach me without my noticing as I was preoccupied... a true taiji-ya indeed.'
Suddenly, Before Debirusuke can attack Sango... he's hit from above by youkai Inuyasha's 'Sankon Tetsou' attack. Debirusuke then turns and releases his own claw attack 'Desutsume' at the youkai, knocking him out of the air... just in time to be cut by Toukijin's blade and, before Debirusuke can react, Sesshoumaru thrusts his left hand claws into the side of his chest. Debirusuke quickly uses his own left hand to remove Sesshoumaru's and then lands a right hand punch to the side of his face, knocking him back.
Debirusuke holds his left hand over the area which was poisoned by Sesshoumaru's 'Poison Claw' attack. "!? How!?" he says, as one of Kagome's purity arrows pierces the back of his left shoulder and begins to destroy the flesh around the joint. Then, almost in slow motion, he turns just as the Hiraikotsu flies toward him... and severes his left arm from his torso. And, The taiyou drops to one knee, holding his right hand over the area where his left arm used to be.
"I..." Debirusuke says, "Concede defeat..." then grunts slightly as the pain from his wounds are almost too great.
Sango walks over to the taiyou, "Now." she says, "Tell me. What was it, you were talking about before?"
"Forgive me." Debirusuke replies, "I cannot. You need not know." "However, Sango." he adds, his voice breaking slightly, "I have a... message for you from... Naraku... He says, if you wish vengeance... for your family and clan, come to his castle and face him... alone." he shakely turns and then begins walking away.
"And, Where are you going Debirusuke?" questions Sesshoumaru, gripping Debirusuke's neck with his left hand and lifting him into the air, "We are not yet finished!" tightening his grip on the other taiyou's neck.
"... your mother?" Debirusuke says, straining slightly to speak, "You seek to... avenge her, do you not?"
"Silence!" Sesshoumaru responds, drawing back his right hand and it begins glowing, "I shall kill you Debirusuke!"
"As you wish Sesshoumaru..." Debirusuke says, looking down at the other taiyou, his eyes barely open, "I... do regret the death of your mother... but, it was my job a-as a taiji-ya. Now go ahead, take your revenge..."
"!?" Sesshoumaru is surprised(well, as surprised as he can be) to see a single tear of blood rolls down Debirusuke's right cheek.
"Know this, Sesshoumaru..." Debirusuke adds, "I... can only grieve over lives lost... either in battle, or with honor. Your mother... she died, honorably, to protect you..."
"Hmph!" Sesshoumaru responds, throwing the defeated taiyou back onto the ground and then turns halfway away, "You are but a pathetic taiyou, not even worth my time killing." he finishes turning away and walks off.
A few moments later, Debirusuke vanishes...
-Campsite/Later that night-
Sango's eyes open when she is sure everyone is asleep and she gets up. She kisses Kagome on the forehead and then proceeds to sneak away from the camp. Once she is a distance from the campsite, though, the taiji-ya is confronted by Inuyasha.
"And where d'you think you're going?" the hanyou asks, "You're not thinking of headin' to Naraku's castle, are you?"
"What concern is it of your's, Inuyasha?" Sango responds with a question.
"It's a trap, you know that." Inuyasha says, "You're just gonna get yerself killed!"
"Hmph. If that happens..." the taiji-ya replies, starting to walk by Inuyasha, "Then, So be it. I must avenge my family and clan!"
Inuyasha grabs Sango's arm and steps infront of her, then raises his right hand and does the unthinkable... he slaps the taiji-ya across her left cheek, turning her head to her right. "What are you, Sango, a FOOL!?" he states, gripping his right hand into a fist and releasing Sango's arm with his left, "What about Kagome!"
"Have you forgotten the promise you made to her!" Inuyasha continues, "... forgotten everything you two've shared! Have you even thought about what'll happen to Kagome, if you go and get yerself killed!?!?"
"Perhaps... but, did you, yourself, not make Kagome-chan a similar promise?" Sango questions, "Besides, I must go. And if I do die, you can still protect Kagome-chan, Inuyasha."
"You're right, I'd sacrifice anything to protect her! But..." Inuyasha replies, "Don't you get it, Sango! Kagome... Kagome chose 'you'!"
"I know..." Sango says, lowering her head and closing her eyes. She then draws in a breath and holds it, reaching into her sash with her left hand.
"What're you doin'?" asks Inuyasha.
'Sorry Inuyasha...' Sango thinks, she then holds up her closed left fist near Inuyasha's face and clenches it. The smoke released knocks out the hanyou. Then, The taiji-ya dashes away.
'For Kagome-chan, I must kill Naraku!' thinks Sango to herself.
-Naraku's Castle-
"Naraku!" Sango shouts, upon entering the castle, "I have come! Show yourself, so I can exterminate you!"
"I am afraid that will not be possible, Sango." a male voice, not Naraku's, says as an unknown figure appears, "Naraku has, how shall we say, departed."
"Naraku's... dead?"
"Yes, my dear Sango."
"Then, Who are you?" questions the taiji-ya, gripping the band of Hiraikotsu.
"I? Hmph. Names matter not." the male youkai says, "However, If you truly wish to know... I am a thief and I once knew the man, Onigumo. My name is... alas, names do not matter. Nevertheless, I am no longer a mere human... I have become a youkai." "I am, also," he adds, "the one who set the wheels in motion for everything that has transpired over the past fifty or so years: the birth of Naraku, Kikyou's death, the extermination of your clan of taiji-ya... it all transpired because of my burning the cave where Onigumo had been cared for by Kikyou."
"Then..." Sango says, anger lining her voice, "Beyond Naraku, 'You' are to blame!" she narrows her eyes.
"Correct." the youkai responds, "And, I suppose you now intend to seek your vengeance on myself. However, first, I must reveal to you the folly of your choosing to come here..."
"!?" Sango's eyes widen as visions flash through her mind... visions of her allies, dead. She also sees Kagome dead...
A single tear runs down the taiji-ya's right cheek, "No. Kagome-chan..." she drops to her knees and lowers her head.
"Because you chose vengeance, I was able to kill all of them." the youkai explains, calmly, "Your putting Inuyasha to sleep was, as well, most helpful in my endeavor." "Now, The final curtain rises. And, The final act begins..." he adds, "Let us bring this play to its conclusion." he materializes a katana in his right hand.
Sango raises her gaze toward him and narrows her eyes, practically growling as she stands and throws Hiraikotsu at the youkai. She then dashes at him as he avoids the boomerang, drawing her katana as she does, and swings at him.
The human-like youkai leaps into the air, avoiding the blade, and descends toward Sango's exposed back, "!?!?" he gasps as Sango's katana pierces him, thrust back through her own torso. "H-how did y--" he's cut off as Sango forces the blade further through.
"You took... the life of Kagome-chan..." Sango says, her voice breaking due to the pain from her self-inflicted wound. She pulls the katana free and the youkai's body dissipates as the two halves of the shikon no tama fall to the floor. The two halves roll along the floor and recombine into one as Sango drops to her knees, lowering her head.
"You have avenged the deaths of your family and clan, Sango." Debirusuke says, walking up beside the taiji-ya, his wounds have vanished completely, "You have also saved many lives of the people who live in this era, and of those still to come..." he picks up the shikon no tama, "But," he says, as he lifts one of Sango's hands and places the jewel in it, "What has been the cost of... 'vengeance'?" he turns and walks away.
Sango opens her eyes and looks at the jewel, "Kagome-chan..." she says, as tears begin falling from her eyes and onto the jewel... it begins glowing brightly, "!!!??"
-Bone-Eater's Well-
Sango, Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku, Shippou, and Kirara(in its big form) are gathered around the well, and Kagome is just finished saying her final goodbyes to the others.
"Um... Sango-chan?" Kagome says.
"Yes?" responds the taiji-ya.
"Um..." Kagome stops, unsure how she'll put it, then, "Why don't you come stay in my time, with me?" she asks, "I mean, You... you don't have anything left here and..."
"Kagome-chan..." Sango responds, then glances down at the ground, "I would like that, but... who would take care of Kirara?"
Before either says anything else, Kirara places the top of its head against Sango's back and gently pushes her over beside Kagome.
Sango looks back at the cat-youkai, "Kirara?" she questions, "... are you sure? You will be alright?"
Kirara responds with a light growl, meaning 'yes'. Sango nods then turns to Kagome and smiles, she then says her own goodbyes to the others and the two girls enter the bone-eater's well one last time.
-Higurashi Shrine/Bone-Eater's Well-
Sango and Kagome climb out of the well and start out the exit of the building which houses it.
/Past/
"Now." Inuyasha says, then jumps into the air, "Sankon Tetsou!" 'Goodbye, Kagome...' he thinks, as his claw attack obliterates the well...
/Present/
The well crumbles in on itself and then vanishes as though it had never been there...
-----!!The End!!-----
Ramblings: Well, That's the end of it. I decided to have the jewel be in two separate halves, Naraku's half and Kagome's half(strange, I know). I know, I know, This story wasn't anywhere near as well-written as the previous two in the trilogy, but I think it still came out pretty good, though a bit rushed perhaps. Anyway, Review and tell me how you like it.
