"The stench of this place is repulsive. I can barely breathe." Inuyasha raised his shoulder, fists tight with his irritation. The stink of rancid human corpses curdled the air and bugged his strong nose. The shiny floors mirrored his tense face. Miroku clambered after him, his voice echoing along the corridor.
"Let's follow these sounds of the distressed," said Miroku. "And quickly."
"Ah, really? I was looking for the outhouse."
Miroku and Inuyasha hurried down the long hall, skidding often from the slickness of the polished marble.
"Damn! I hate these floors!" Inuyasha said, catching himself on the wall.
"Yes, they're quite-!" Miroku fell flat on his face. He twitched from the floor, seeming to absorb his face, and then he scampered to his feet to catch up with Inuyasha.
The men reached a wooden hut. There appeared to be hundreds, all lined up in a yellow ballroom. It looked unusual to them, seeing rows of village huts dropped in the middle of a fancy castle. The air teeming with powerful smells, Inuyasha threw an arm over his face, wishing he hadn't used his fire-rat top to suppress Kouga's bleeding. He could have used it more than once now. Smoke, ash, flesh, and flames. It all combined to make for a terrible air, but nothing beat the screams. Voices both rusty and fresh with youth called out to them, begging anyone to save them. It sent a firm chill through Inuyasha's back.
"I'm ready to get out of here." He drew out tessaiga. Just as he raised it to blast through the first hut, Miroku grabbed hold of his arm.
"Wait."
Inuyasha shook off his hand, turning an irritated glance his way.
"You want to save these people, don't you?"
"You can't just use the windscar to slash through; you could kill whoever is inside before the charm does."
Inuyasha nodded.
"What do we do, then?"
Miroku grazed a finger across his lip, inspecting the hut.
"I've got it. Climb onto the roof, Inuyasha."
"Got cha." Inuyasha made a jump for the crown of the hut, landing firmly on his feet. The Hanyou crackled his claws with purpose.
"This should be a breeze."
He slashed the roof with his claw and a fraction of the roof blew to bits. Inuyasha bent over to peer inside, immediately jerking his head back to the surface. His eyes welled with tears.
"What the hell, the whole place is full of gas!"
The coughs and shrieks from inside the hut slapped him. He sighed, rising to his feet.
"But here goes…nothing!" he hollered, falling into the opening.
"This pain... is damn….torture."
A voice chuckled from behind.
"As it should be."
Kagome cringed. Her back was turned to the voice, and she was afraid to see who it was. But one thing she did sense were jewel shards. She tossed a glance over to Ginta and Hakaku. They merely turned in their sleep, deeply thrown into their slumber. Trembling with all hopes of backup dulled, she found herself wishing Inuyasha were there.
'Why hasn't he come back yet? He couldn't be in more trouble than I expected, could he?'
Taking a deep breath, she made her decision. She made a grab for the arrows lain at her side, and coiled around.
"Come close, and I'll…"
She drifted off as she saw the vistor. A gold light surrounded a tall man. He looped in and out from the forest surrounding the stream, one moment within the trees and the next standing in the clearing. He stood too far for her make out his features, but one thing she did see clearly were the jewel shards, sparkling bright and tainted in his chest. She counted. Oh yes, just the amount she had lost.
Climbing to her feet, she blocked Kouga with her body. She directed her weapon towards the form, and the bow trembled in her hand.
"You…thing. You stole my jewel shards. Well, I'm taking them back!" She drew the bow back, angling it towards the chest.
"Kagome…don't….you don't need… to deal with this." Kouga attempted to stand, but Kagome used her free hand to nudged him flat on the hillside.
"No way, Kouga. You're in no condition. Trust me, I can handle this." Kagome eyed the glowing figure through a narrowed glare.
'Kagome, you care?' thought Kouga.
He thought over the recent time they spent together. The faint scent of her arousal, The way she did not resist his touches. Then she had fallen asleep holding hands with him, a smile tilting her lovely face. Perhaps her soft heart was opening up to him. perhaps the pity was fading away, turning into something real.
Kagome fired her arrow with such force that it flew on a straight path towards the man, but the blazing purple tip lost its speed as it curved around the hill. It dug into the earth, burning a hole through the ground.
"Oh my, so you're a priestess?" said the man. He emerged from the shadows, the glow following his every move.
"A powerfulone telling from that sacred arrow you so badly shot. You were not trying to hit me, were you? Ah, well. I'm quite excited. This has surely been a blessed evening."
The man pressed his palms together in mock prayer, looking up with a crooked smile.
"great. A nutcase," Kagome muttered, already setting another arrow into place.
The man looked at her strangely, then smiled.
"Do you care for this male?"
The question came so suddenly, that Kagome stepped back. Recovering, she furrowed her brow and angled the next arrow towards the glowing man.
"I'll take that as a bashful yes." The man said, chuckling. "Beautiful. This could be my perfect chance to get the components for a grief enchantment. Hell, I could make you my bride until your body bores me. You're such a pretty whore."
"Sorry, but I never heard of a honeymoon in hell." The voice came from above, a black haired woman flying on an animal diving near the hill.
Sango grazed the sky on Kirara, her hiraikotsu in her stretched arm.
'This man is glowing. This has to be the Go-ruden Sen. I must be careful.'
"Kirara, get lower." she ordered.
Inuyasha saved many from death, but not everyone.
One hut of people were reeled in a poisonous twister, made up from rage. A group of young men were being destroyed by bloodlust. The spell caused them to creep toward one another, eyes wild and ravenous for murder. Several just couldn't be saved, like the maidens and men who were licked to the bones by green flames of envy, much like jealousy feeds on the hearts. Miroku was only able to revive one children from the below freezing sea made of a priestess's shame.
"Well," said Miroku, after praying over the last dead body. "Maybe we should look around the castle. the sorcerer may be is around." He spat the word, his eyes dark with anger, but tired. Inuyasha was burdened too, but for a different reason.
The men left the debris-filled ballroom, shadowed by the surviving men and maidens. Miroku didn't even think to ask one of the women to bear his child. Okay, just one, but stopped there when she turned away in silence. Miroku continued to voice his thoughts with Inuyasha, but the hanyou merely nodded and grunted in response. Inuyasha was not himself at the moment. The shiny floors beneath his feet squeaked, but he heard nothing over his own thoughts.
His mind and heart were gone, back to the one he could never let go of.
'I need to find Kikyo. I must find Kikyo.'
