Denied sleep. Denied food. Denied movement. Inuyasha sagged painfully in his bindings, his chains were pulled tight against the wall and had been for longer than his quivering mind could comprehend. His lips were chapped so bad they were bloodied, dried blood caked his body as every moment of torment was left upon him. The wounds healed, but the blood stayed.
The only clothing he was still allowed to wear was white cloth wrapped around his loins - giving him a false sense of security. But the cloth was so soaked with blood it looked more like his fire rat robes and less like underclothing. And was easily removed.
He shivered, and willed the events of the his nightmares out of his mind. Only once had Naraku set him in the courtyard, striped bare, surrounded by demons. There had been pain, and pain alone he could handle, but the violation… the closeness… he couldn't remember it clearly, and he thanks the gods for that. He'd willed his mind somewhere else, thinking of his friends, his mother, and even the father he never knew.
He was so ravenous with hunger he knew he had to have been captive for quite some time. The others must not have been able to find him. Kagome would come looking for him soon, if she wasn't back on this side of the well already.
Were his legs shaking? They had been, he'd barely had the strength to keep himself standing, and if not for his chains he would've collapsed to the floor long before now. Now they just ached, and were going numb.
Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard the door to his cell open. He didn't even look up until he saw two small feet and a white kimono step into his line of sight.
Kanna stood in front of him with her mirror and the scene that played out before him raised bile into his throat. His friends were fighting Naraku - all of them, even Kagome. They were fighting, and losing. He could tell from their appearance. They were panting, and clutching their own wounds.
Naraku's eyes looked into Inuyasha's through the mirror, and the hanyou knew before it happened, that his friends were going to die. Naraku slaughtered them without mercy, delighting in extending their pain for as long as he could. Twisting their bodies and compelling them to beg.
Their screams of pain were driving him mad, he struggled in his bindings violently, screaming in agony with his friends as he tore muscle and fractured bone trying to get free. It was three little words that sapped his strength, three words that despite barely being whispered had made it through his agony and shattered his resolve.
"Forgive me… Inuyasha…"
The hanyou screamed. The bestial roar shook the stones of his cell room, tears of blood streaked his face mixed with true tears of sorrow. His skin tore as his muscles bulged. The metal plates groaned, and the sutras burst into flames, disappearing.
Inuyasha fell to the floor, panting and bloody on his hands and knees, tears dripping from his face onto the floor. The sound of water beating against the stone was the only sound in the cell. He was free of his shackles, free before the new moon, free before he'd been broken by Naraku.
He was free. He was defeated.
He hadn't been strong enough to free himself when it meant something. He hadn't been able to be there for his friends. For Kagome. He'd let them all down, he'd let the woman he loved die all over again. He should've swallowed his pride and bowed his head to Naraku, he should've done anything in his power to protect his friends, even at his own expense.
He was free, but even as Kanna left, leaving the door to his cell open, he found he couldn't move. His Kimono and his sword, sat out in the hall. Easily within his grasp, but he could not will his body to move. He could not will…
Inuyasha laid on the floor. That's what this feeling was. He'd lost his will.
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Gomen, this one was my shortest chapter. Don't lose heart though, the story's still in progress =3 (I'm evil, but even *I* wouldn't end a story at THIS point)
