Currently
"One. Two Three." She counted, trembling. "One. Two. Three." Her fingers twitched. Sweat trailed down her brow and her breath came out in ragged gasps. "One. Two. Thr-"
"Don't." Came a voice, watching from the shadows. She stood naked with her milky skin covered in red raised welts of various degrees. Her chestnut hair clung to her neck and back with sweat. Blood had started to pool in areas near her shoulder. She gripped the whip tightly in her shaking hand. "Give yourself a little more of a break. Please." He stared at her intently with amethyst eyes. His short, neat hair in a small ponytail.
He watched her because it was his job. After so long it felt like all he was good for. The strong, powerful, unstable girl would have flown off the deep end long ago without his counsel, but most would.
"How..." She answered, her voice sounding watery. "I still see-" She snapped the whip quickly. The lash made her moan and her voyeur couldn't tell whether it was for pain or for pleasure. He came forward into the moonlight, a frown on his face.
"Please, Lady Sango." He grabbed her wrist gently but she wrenched free with ease. He sighed. "You are suffering-"
"Father's head... Beheaded by his own son. My brother!" She whipped violently at her back and ribs while he watched. "Perhaps I am the most wicked of all... For surviving." He sighed, cutting open an aloe leaf and spreading the soothing gel all over his hands. It was their song and dance. It was their routine. He was used to it.
She turned away from him silently and allowed him access to the cuts and welts forming down her back. He rubbed his hands smoothly all over her afflicted, red skin. She shut her eyes and went numb to the world, if only for a moment. "Miroku," She snapped with her eyes shut. "You're a good hand."
He took the rare compliment with a tired smile. These moments were few and far between. 'She never wants to keep arguing with me when I grab the aloe...' He sighed as she sat on her knees in a meditative state. This usually put her into a trance and it gave Miroku a few moments of free time. "You don't have to punish yourself for something you witnessed. Nobody expects that of you-"
"The Holy Iron Chain Knights don't expect as much?" She was facing him with indignant, brown eyes. He got lost, for a moment, in the stylish pink makeup on her eyelids. It was a surprisingly feminine touch for an explosive, volatile woman. He looked down at her.
"They already think you are the perfect embodiment of a leader." He said cooly. She sniffed pointedly.
"Precisely. And I'll keep being it." She stood suddenly, leaving her full naked form in Miroku's view. He was a holy man and essentially Sango's subservient, but he was a man at heart. He took in the absolute perfect sight in awe as she grabbed on to a light purple kimono, the drapey fabric accentuating her curves. Miroku stood as well.
"Come. Lord Naraku waits." He nodded, following behind her with his head bowed. The lord waited for them in a large, lavish room lit by candles. His expansive five or six layer kimono billowed out over his seating mat. His skin was snow colored and blemishless. His jet black hair was in stark contrast, his lips deceptive full. He smiled warmly at his visitors.
"Sango, my battlefield flower." He welcomed. Both Sango and Miroku stopped in front of him and bowed. "I'm so excited to deliver you this news." He said, leaning back. Sango nodded, a wild look in her eyes.
"I've been... Praying about it." She got on her hands and knees. "The day I would meet my tribe's destroyer." She looked up at Naraku, her eyes glittering with rage. "Please, give me the chance to avenge my ancestors." Naraku chuckled, his voice like velvet.
"Born in the same village as the Shikon No Tama. The only survivor not just of your clan, your tajiya group, but your village. You are the sacred jewel, Sango. The being is none other than Eclipse survivor, half demon Inuyasha." Miroku baulked, his monk robes billowing. Although he did not finish his training in order to serve Sango's every whim his knowledge of religion and spirituality told him whatever they were up against was not good.
He trembled behind Sango, thinking about facing the sources of evil. She stared up at Naraku with unwavering look.
"I do not care what he's survived, he won't survive this." Naraku smiled at the demon slayer's tenacity.
"Reassuring to hear. I'll send all my men with you. Just please, if you can show the restraint, capture him here alive." Sango looked into his eyes. 'Never.' She thought. She smiled.
"Of course, Lord Naraku."
Years ago, post Inuyasha and Naraku's duel
Inuyasha cried out in pain so scared and confused why an adult would take advantage of him this way. He tried with all his might to wrench free but he couldn't. It didn't matter. He was helpless under a grown man's weight, using his power to violate a child. Eventually Inuyasha stopped resisting. He stared, blank eyed, at the wall and counted the ridges in the wood until he backed off and left.
Inuyasha twitched suddenly, realizing he was dreaming in some tent somewhere. He began to move and felt the stiff bandaging all around him. He also felt something against him. A body. He did feel cold and anemic, that's when he realized how bad off he'd been. He turned his head to the side and tried to make his eyes adjust to the darkness.
Barely, in the dark he saw a slender figure pressed against him. A woman's. He noted her distinct but pleasant scent after a while. She was like a generator, so soft and warm despite being a warrior. 'She's keeping me from getting too cold...' He thought, panicking. He wasn't sure what do, but he felt if he woke her up there'd be some repercussions.
He laid flat with a sigh and fell into a restless sleep. He awoke for real when the sun blared into the hut. He sat up gingerly, now alone. He exhaled in relief. He had spent almost no time around women, now didn't seem like a good time to start. He eyed his sword in the corner of the of the room. He struggled to a standing position and grabbed it, finding it much heavier in his tired limbs.
He limped outside, seeing the woman from before. She had just a plain white yukata on then, now she had on full tradition priestess dress. Her kimono sleeves billowed in the wind as she moved gracefully around the encampment. She laughed and waved at the mercenaries as though they were friends. Inuyasha watched in awe.
"H-Hey!" He called out against better judgement. He caught her stare and the serene look on her face was replaced with a hateful one. She crossed over to meet him, intimidating Inuyasha with her walk. Without a word she raised her fist and socked Inuyasha right in the face.
"That was for Hoji and his horse!" She said, stomping right past him. "Onigumo... He wants to speak with you." She took off as fast as she appeared. "And don't think for a second I was there voluntarily to help you. It was an order."
"Damn bitch!" He spat, watching with relief as she retreated. "Don't fucking touch me or I'll gut you!"
"Kikyo... Hit you?" Shippo asked incredulously, peering up at him from Kagome's hands. Inuyasha laughed now, the memory feeling bittersweet. The sun was rising and they were pressing forward after the eventful night.
"Oh yeah. Kikyo wasn't a push over. She was the toughest broad I ever met. And she hated me, then..." He tugged tighter on Kagome and pressed forward. "C'mon, girl. Stop trying to wander." He scolded, looking at her indignantly. She pouted and babbled sadly, melting the anger out of his eye. He sighed and pulled her a little more gently.
Shippo tried to recognize where they were passing through. It was a pretty sleepy area. It seemed like a village was approaching. "Where are we going now, Inuyasha?" His face became much more serious. He pulled Kagome closer to him absentmindedly.
"To drop Kagome off." He said solemnly. Shippo hopped out of his arms and onto him.
"To WHAT? Are you mad?!" He flicked Shippo off of him and Kagome caught him in the air.
"Listen, just for a little while. Look at this," Inuyasha flipped his hair and revealed the brand on his neck. Shippo frowned in fear as both he and Kagome peered at it.
"A brand..." Shippo murmured.
"We are both branded and we draw twice the amount of demons and monsters our way when we're together." He explained seriously. "I need to do some scouting and she would be safer here. I have someone to leave her with..." Shippo studied the grisled hanyou. He could tell it wasn't a light or easy decision to make, but it still didn't sit right with him. 'I hope you know what you're doing...' He thought worriedly as the bounded past a well.
An older priestess was picking herbs right outside the village. She was old with long grey hair and her back was bent, and one of her eyes was covered by an eyepatch. She rose as Inuyasha barreled toward her, the strange girl in tow. 'Kikyo-sama...' She thought wistfully. It wasn't her but the resemblance was uncanny. Kikyo had disappeared in the Eclipse. She was not coming back. But somehow that curious doppleganger had appeared.
"Inuyasha... What took ye so long to come by! Ye just been flailing around..." She nagged, wagging a finger at him. Inuyasha rolled his eye at her.
"Yeah, yeah, woman. You just want this one cause she looks like your little protege." He pushed Kagome forward and she stumbled forward towards the mature woman, babbling contentedly. He was somewhat right but she didn't say anything, patting the girl's head.
"Come now, has Inuyasha been taking care of ye?" She asked.
"Gruuuuu..." Kagome babbled. Inuyasha rolled his eyes.
"Damn bitch, Kaede." He snapped. "I'm the only person taking care of her!" Shippo groaned but he ignored him. "Besides... I kind of need a favor..." He scratched his head as Kaede eyed him suspiciously.
"And what is that?" He sighed, looking to her seriously.
"Please watch Kagome for a little while." She looked at the girl with surprise to see that she had a name. 'But her name wouldn't be Kikyo... Because that isn't who she is.' She sighed.
"Why? Where will ye be?" He stooped down with Kagome who was playing with a ladybug in the grass.
"We're both branded. Demons attack us at every turn. I just want to scout this area before I take her into this situation." Kaede looked around.
"I understand, but..." Her voice trailed off as she watched him stare intensely at her. He snapped to Kaede.
"But, what?!" She closed her eye.
"I feel like she a]should be with ye, it's where she belongs." Inuyasha huffed.
"Just for a little while old woman. Please, I'll owe you big." Kaede groaned, watching Kagome frolic with Shippo in the grass.
"Well. I suppose I can't abandon her. Don't leave her too long, Inuyasha," She looked at him seriously. "Or I wont give her back." He stared in the old woman's face and knew she meant it. He smirked.
"Thanks old hag. Don't keel over and die in the next day or two or she'll wander off and we'll never find her." Inuyasha sneered, waving as he walked away. He turned around and was promptly hit in the head with a rock. He heard Kagome's laughter in the distance. "Oh that makes you laugh..." He grumbled.
Shippo looked up at him. "At least she's laughing!"
Miroku watched far in the distance from behind a tree, barely breathing. 'They are so close...' He thought frantically. Whatever their next move was they had to move perfectly. 'Or we could all die.' This wasn't a normal bounty. He was a hanyou. He was said to have orchestrated the tajiya's demise and destroyed the Slayer's Village. His youkai blood was said to fuel the apocalypse. This would be no ordinary battle. "Eclipse survivor." He said to himself.
He doubled back quickly to make his way to Sango and her men.
"Put your back more into it, Sango!" She beamed up at her father, her hero. Girls her age wanted dresses, candy, and toys. Sango lived, breathed, and died for her father's praise. She wanted nothing more than to make him proud. And if that meant being the best demon slayer on that side of Japan, so be it.
He demonstrated for her and held her massive bone weapon up high. She watched carefully and was certain she'd perfect it sometime. He smiled down at her. "Go and try to show Kohaku." He ordered, the young Sango running off to obey. He smiled as his children played and trained together.
He was hard on his daughter but she was showing a huge amount of potential. The tajiya lived a simple but peaceful existence. The village thrived under the immediate protection of the camp to the north. Neighboring cities were indebted to them as the number of youkai and monsters rose every day. Villages encircling the the land of the tajiya usually fared well. That is until Sango's father found the Sacred Jewel. Also known as a behelit.
Some believed it as myth, others as gospel. Said to be Midoriko's eternal resting place battling the demons within it was a highly sought after relic by humans and demons alike. It was dangerous because it was said to grant wishes, from the benign to the malevolent. In the wrong hands it could wreak havok. But those who were really familiar with the truth of the occult knew otherwise.
"No force on earth, in heaven or in hell can keep the behelit away from it's rightful owner. Few people at any given moment are true possessors of the behelit..."
Her father finding this item ensured their involvement with the law of casualty, essentially dooming them all. It went from priestess to priestess, all fearing the jewel's inherent powers and evil auras. This was actually a good thing because it stopped the forces of bad from being able to track it down. Years passed, and an incredible-priestess warrior riding a black horse had been heard of. Her spiritual powers were grand. She rode in a band of spiders who's leader was campaigning for a kingdom.
They fought for good against monsters, youkai, and barbarians. "A better world is my dream..." Onigumo said as he was steadily promoted by every noble in the surrounding area. Someone thought the jewel would be safest with them. And ordinarily, they'd be right. They had no idea of knowing a true behelit owner was among them. But that was a whole different story.
Some time after that, a wish was made. A wish that would effect the very fabric of everyone's reality. And sacrifices were made. Of monumental proportions. And Sango's family, tribe, and whole village were some of them. Evil spread out like a sickness across the lands after the Eclipse. Monsters and beasts of unimaginable horror sprung at every turn.
The whole band of tajiya had been employed for a routine slaying. They were in routine spirits and started to feel like their restless efforts were making a positive impact on the scary world around them. They hadn't suffered any casualties in years. Maybe this started to breed hubris.
The castle lord was senile and eccentric. He seemed very ill and like he wouldn't be around for long but the tajiya, especially Sango's dad, tried to humor him. Sango followed his example, showing him and the kingdom as much respect as she could. She could tell her kid brother was scared. He was always nervous and this was a big first slaying to go to.
The spider demon appeared after much time. It was docile and very sluggish. The team made light work of it with great spirits. They were laughing and toying with it. Something felt wrong to Sango but she couldn't place what. 'This place wrote our village practically begging for mercy from this demon, but...' It barely seemed capable of snatching children. 'Something, it isn't right.'
She looked around her and struggled to find a clue to what was going on. "Alright, make sure you get it's heart." Someone called.
"It was big but it wasn't impressive..." Someone else commented. Sango turned to see her brother's weapon slicing through the air. In one fell swoop it took her father and her uncle's head clean off. "...Brother?" She whispered, as he continued expertly cutting his family and comrades down. It was as if he'd been exterminating for years. 'He's possessed! Damn it!' Sango thought desperately as he cut each tajiya down.
The kingdom's own soldiers watched in horror and disgust, some vomiting at the gory sight. "What the hell..."
"The tajiya gone mad?!"
"W-Why?! How!" Sango screamed. Miroku struggled and screamed from inside the palace. He was watching the horrors transpire outside unable to help in anyway. 'Damn it!' He thought, pulling against the guards. 'I'd rather die out there for her! With her! It's my purpose!' The guards shook their head.
"No reason to let a perfectly good squire die out there. There's nothing you can do, they've gone rabid!" He struggled against them, tears forming in his eyes. 'No... That can't be it!' He watched in horror as Sango faced off against her own little brother.
"K-Kohaku!" She shouted. She stared into his blank, expressionless eyes. Suddenly, the life had been sucked out of them. Sango couldn't understand how. He flicked his sickle at her and it smashed into her metal mask, shocking the royal guard.
"Your honor..." Said one soldier, his face grave. "P-Please... Let us stop this. S-Something terrible is happening!" The lord smiled and sipped on tea.
"Please. This is an interesting show. Let them figure it out." He directed, a gleeful smile on his face. The soldiers shook their head.
"What's gotten into the lord lately?" With a distraught yell Sango raced forward toward Kohaku, her katana above her head.
"Kohaku, why!" She shouted, slashing at him. He leapt out of her way with ease. 'This was his first extermination... This isn't him!' She thought desperately. She looked around, seeing a tiny thread. 'Spider web! That has to be it!' She looked around frantically for a source. 'It's the lord all along... I knew it!' She doubled around started launching herself toward the lord, her weapon drawn.
"WHY!" She shrieked, alarming the soldiers.
"N-Now she's lost it!" The general cried out. "Wipe her out!" On his order arrows rained down on the battlefield. They launched spears toward her. Mad in despair and and anguish Sango didn't shy away from the weapons. She yelled as the multiple weapons pierced her to Miroku's horror. As if that wasn't bad enough Kohaku's sickle lodged itself in her back as well.
'You...' She thought, her heart snapping in two.
"SANGO!" He yelled for her as she hit the battleground already soaked with blood. She craned her head to look back at her brother who was vomiting on the ground. His eyes were petrified. Traumatized. He was the brother she'd remembered for twelve years of her life.
"Kohaku..." He was screaming and crying, so confused. Why would he attack his sister? His best friend? Why were his mentors and relatives beheaded? His father? The sight was just too much for him to take. He sank to his knees, blubbering like a little child.
"S-S-Sango... No, why?!" He cried out, holding his head in anguish. Tears fell freely down her face as she struggled to crawl to him.
"Kohaku-" Another order of arrows rained down on them. Sango just made it to her kid brother's chest as the arrows pierced them both, sentencing them to death. Miroku watched in disgust, his hand covering his mouth so he didn't spew everywhere.
"No, it can't. They couldn't," He shook his head in disbelief, so confused. He looked at the lord, seeing what Sango saw from the battlefield. 'He's evil!' He jumped up now that he had nothing to lose. "Evil monster!" He shouted, preparing to throw it at the lord. The soldiers drew their weapons and prepared to skewer Miroku before someone else cut through the lords neck.
"Lord!"
"Lord Kagewaki!" They all screamed in horror when the realized the lords son an heir apparent had done it. Everyone fell silent.
"This wasn't the lord, my father..." He said quietly, his voice catching everyone's attention. "Unhand that man. He was right. So was she, unfortunately..." He looked out at the grisly battle scene.
"But-" The young prince pointed at his father's corpse as it transformed. His head became a spider, revealing the youkai's influence all along. Everyone screamed as he slashed at it with a sword.
"I thought my father might be sick but it appears it was far worse... He was in control of everything that happened tonight. How tragic." Sango laid dead on top of her child brother, tragically beautiful even in death. "It is our fault such a thing has happened. Let's give them all the proper burial they deserve." He ordered, disappearing castle. "Oh, and monk,"
Miroku turned around, his eyes blood-shot. "If you have nowhere to go please stay here." He looked at the ground, not really sure what he should do without Sango. 'I failed her...' He heaved a heavy sigh.
"I will assist in the blessings and the burials..." He said before turning and heading to tend bodies. The ground squelched with blood underneath his feet. The tajiya clan had been fine on Miroku but no more interested in getting to know him than anyone else was. Still, he'd seen them every day. He'd assisted their training. He knew them all inside and out and they laid eviscerated in front of this strange castle. It wasn't right.
He approached Sango and Kohaku with trembling hands. Uttering a prayer he rolled Sango's body off her kid sibing's body. He looked at her, she was so beautiful even as a corpse. It wasn't fair, it should've been him. 'This is my fault, Sango...' He thought, thinking of the brand he had hidden in the palm of his hand.
He cried out in surprise when Sango coughed and then gasped desperately. "M-Medic!" Miroku screamed, looking down worriedly at Sango. "S-She's still alive." The lord's son watched from the window with a blank expression on his face.
"What shall we do, m'lord Naraku?" A servant asked behind them. "Finish the boy and that girl off or nurse her back to health?" He spoke after a moment.
"Bring her in. Bring the little brother's body too. Tell her we're going to bless his body since my father possessed him. If she survives,' He turned to the servant girl seriously. "She will take care of the red swordsman."
Sango floated in an out of consciousness as Miroku carried her frantically into the castle. She'd never been so gravely injured on an extermination. She was skilled and strong. Youkai never got the chance to maim her. Not only was it traumatic and horrifying to go through her ego was bruised. She'd been bested in front of a castle full of people. Were it not for revenge driving her she wouldn't even want to live.
She stared hatefully past Miroku's face, her eyes on the sky. She couldn't stop replaying her whole families death over in her head. Over and over again. As she drifted out again her mind wandered to a specific memory.
"The Band Of The Spider?" Sango repeated mere weeks before the tajiya clan met calamity. The slender leader of the small army had a huge helmet on covering his face and piercing, black eyes. Sango felt that she had more muscle mass than him but she knew better than to underestimate anyone. He chuckled softly.
"Yes. I lead my band doing youkai and monster slayings as well as fight wars for villages and cities being pillaged by bandits." Sango nodded knowingly. She found dealing with youkai easier than war with man any day. "A priestess suggested that a spiritual woman in my band look after this..." He showed Sango the sacred jewel, who gasped.
"My father... He found this years ago. Everyone says it was formed in our village." The captain nodded.
"Our priestess, she can erect barriers. She can purify youkai with her hands." Sango looked down seriously at the jewel. "We are all honored but I just wanted to make sure you all would think it'd be a good idea for my band to take on protecting the Shikon Jewel." He inquired. Sango nodded.
"If she's as strong as you're describing it sounds like a good idea." He nodded, pleased with Sango's blessing.
"I want to free human-kind from the torrent of pain and horror and suffering just as you do. That's why you all are tajiya, to protect people from just those things." Sango looked at her feet.
"Somebody has to do it." She answered. He nodded.
"Sango," He said. "Will you work with me to work towards that? Help me create my kingdom free of all those things. Will the tajiya pledge themselves to a peaceful future. My dream..." Sango avoided his intense stare. 'This guy is kind of intense...' She thought, looking at the glowing jewel.
She placed it back into the leader's hand. "We do. The Tajiya will pledge ourselves to your dream." He smiled.
"Sango?!" She was off to herself behind her arm, peaking at a black brand on her wrist. She hid it quickly when Miroku called for her. "Sango, they're close. The village just up ahead." She stared off determinedly into the distance.
"Perfect. Tell the men to get ready."