Hi everyone!
I'm wicked sorry it took so long to get this chapter up.
I had a lot of things to do in the past few days…
But I'm back now, and ready to write even more.
So, here's the very late Chapter 9.
Again, I'm VERY, VERY, VERY SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO PUT UP!!!
At least I know everyone will be pleased with it!
Have fun, and enjoy!
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Chapter 9: Tears of Crimson
Inuyasha growled at the person standing before him now in rage. Why the hell was she looking for him? And for what purpose?
"What do you want, Kagura?" he practically snarled at her.
Kagura's heart was still beating a mile a minute. And ever since Naraku had allowed the joy's of feeling her own heartbeat, this was one of the times where she wished she didn't feel the sensation at all. Since she had received her heart, she also acquired emotions, and right now she knew what she felt deep in her accursed soul.
Fear. And it was for her enemy no less.
She could still see the young miko in her mind. Chained and beaten nearly to death, and her tears refused to stop. She knew her master could be cruel and a flat out heartless bastard, but the form of torture he had evoked on the poor young woman she had known for so long still stunned her. And she still could not bring herself to say anything to the hanyou in front of her.
Inuyasha was becoming more and more angry as the time went by. Kagura was stalling, most likely buying time for her master to move and take Kagome with him. He stepped forward, about to slash her to pieces, until Miroku put his hand on his shoulders, and shook his head.
"Inuyasha," he said very quietly to him. "Take a good look at Kagura's face. She's crying. And that means she has a heart now. I think she came here to help us find Kagome."
Inuyasha almost didn't believe his friend, until he looked at the demon woman in front of him. Her eyes now were completely red from tears, and her breathing was very ragged and quick. She seemed more tormented than anything. So, deciding that if this wasn't a tick, he'd scare her into answering him.
"What are you doing here?!" he snarled at her. His eyes began to flash as he starred at her. "Answer me!"
Kagura's stance altered, and she dropped something on the ground before him. Cautiously, he bent down to pick it up, and when the object was now in his line of sight, he froze.
It was the locket he'd given Kagome on her birthday.
And it was covered in her blood.
He now looked back at Kagura, who had finally stopped crying. As she wiped away the last of her tears, she looked up at him with a glare.
He didn't know how to react to this. Over the years, he had learned that Kagura hated her master, but she had never done anything like this. Go out of her way to help them that is.
"Where did you get this?" he asked, now in a shaky voice.
Kagura looked at the locket, which was now in his possession. Before she had run out of the castle, she had run back down the stairs, and taken the locket off of Kagome's fragile form. She knew how much Inuyasha hated her, along with all of the other incarnations. But she knew bring something with the young woman's blood on it would make him listen to her. She knew what she was doing was stupid, even most likely cost her her life. But right now, she didn't give a damn. Right now, saving the young woman bound and trapped in the dungeon was her goal, and all that truly mattered as well.
"From Kagome," she said trying to sound strong. "It was around her neck."
"And where is she?" he asked almost silently.
Kagura knew by telling him this, that she would be marking her own death sentence. But what was the point in lying to him. He would kill her for lying to him, and Naraku would kill her for leaving the castle to tell him the miko's whereabouts. Either or, she was going to die. So, she decided to do the right thing and tell him the truth.
"She's in the dungeon of Naraku's castle. And I mean the real thing. Not another illusion," she said slowly. "Kagome's in very bad shape. If Naraku beats her one more time, she'll most likely die tonight."
Inuyasha's heart shattered in a matter of seconds. She was being beaten, to death? Could Naraku really force history to repeat itself that quickly? Would he really do that to Kagome?
He would, and he knew the bastard would do anything in his power to make him suffer even more grief if he could. His head suddenly dropped; he had failed her. Kagome couldn't survive unless she was most likely treated in her world. And the only way that would happen would be if he managed to get to her in time.
If that was even possible now.
Kagura studied the hanyou in front of her. Feeling her heart clench once more, she walked over to him. His gaze immediately met hers, and she was very surprised by what she saw in those golden eyes.
Tears.
He was crying. And that was quite a feat from what she knew of the hanyou. He never cried. And that's why she had to be the one to pull him back and give him a reason to have hope.
"Doing that won't save her half breed," she hissed very low so no one else could hear her. "So stop acting like a baby and listen to me."
His eyes instantly turned red, scaring her. She had only seen his eyes turn this color once before. And when that had happened, she had run. Inuyasha only looked this way when his demon blood began to take over, and now without Kagome, his sword was the only thing keeping him from tearing everything, and everyone, apart.
"I'm no baby," he hissed back at her with venom in his voice. "Where is she?"
Now Kagura smiled, she knew no matter how close he was to his change right now, Kagome would come first. So, with that she turned around and started to walk back into the woods where she came from, and made the gesture for them to follow her.
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Kagome slowly awoke from her nightmare. And found she was still living it. She was still chained and standing in the center of the room. Her bleeding had mostly stopped thankfully, but her broken bones throbbed now, and from the looks of things, were turning purple due to excessive bruising.
She allowed her head to hang now in the darkness. How could she possibly still be alive after everything she had gone threw in the past few days? Was it even possible her will to live was still that strong?
"Inu-yasha…," her voice croaked, echoing in the damp darkness of the cell.
It had been almost a week since she had last saw her hanyou. And now she realized how much she had truly missed him. By now, he must be looking for her, right? Or did he come back and just run off with Kikyo again? She really hoped that he was at least looking for her, because if he was with the dead miko, she was surely going to die tonight.
Suddenly, she focused on her chest, being as it was exposed and battered, her eyes widened as she noticed what was missing.
The locket Inuyasha had given her.
It was gone.
As carefully as she could, Kagome found herself looking down, thinking maybe it had fallen off during Naraku's assault on her. Nothing there either.
Now she was frantic to find it. Even though she was in the worst shape she had ever been, Kagome needed to find that necklace.
It was the one thing that had been giving her hope for days now, and she be damned if she lost it. As she struggled with the chains around her wrists, Kagome found herself feeling energized now, like she had a power inside of her that only seemed to grow with every act of resistance she had left in her soul.
Without warning, her chains snapped in a glow of pink light, releasing her from her painful position. As she fell to the floor, she cried out in pain as some of her wounds reopened and her hip made a sickening cracking sound, along with her knee.
Now, she truly was helpless.
Her body must have been too weak to sustain the fall, so it broke even more under the forced impact to the ground. Now, finding herself stranded in the middle of the floor, Kagome looked around, and fresh new tears poured down her face in a rush.
"This is total bullshit!" she shouted slamming her working fist down into the stone floor.
"And why is that?" a sinister voice echoed in the darkness, startling her.
It was Naraku. He was back, and most likely here to torture her even more. But she wouldn't break again as she had before. This bastard would not win. Not this time, and not ever again.
"What do you want now you worthless, vile, piece of shit?" she yelled at the door. "I'm not going to tell you anything, so why don't you just get it over with and kill me already?!"
Naraku laughed, making her bones shiver.
"I'm having too much fun with you, Kagome. And you're blood smells so much sweeter when it's hitting the floor. So no, I'm not going to kill you, at least, not yet."
"Then what the hell are you going to do to me now?" she hissed at him, now seeing his face, but barely.
Without any warning, the door to her cage unlocked. As Naraku walked in, he looked to the chains attached to the ceiling, almost puzzled by the fact that they were now in complete ruin. But then he smiled, knowing what he had in mind now, would be so much better somewhere else anyways.
Roughly picking up her broken form from the floor, Naraku walked out of the cell. Kagome winced and felt disgusted by being in his arms. His aura alone made her want t throw up and run away. But she was helpless right now to do anything. Cold, naked, and in pain beyond measure, Kagome passed out again. But this time, in the arms of her enemy.
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They had all been following Kagura for nearly an hour now, causing Inuyasha to start panicking. She was leading them into a trap, or at least that's what his heart was telling him. And as he was about to ask her where they were going, she suddenly stopped in front of a large lake.
Inuyasha looked around, but saw nothing.
"What the hell is this?" he asked, now getting angry.
Kagura turned to look at him, and rolled her eyes. She knew this was against everything she had been made for, but she wasn't going to allow history to repeat itself, or at least not while she was around.
"This is the back entrance to Naraku's castle," she said simply. "The entire castle except for this part is protected by a barrier. It's how I managed to sneak out and find you guys without Naraku knowing about it. Now, put your weapons away."
"What?!" they all nearly shouted at her.
Kagura tuned to glare at all of them. Being frustrated by her own emotions as it was, she didn't want to explain everything to them like they were mere children. But it seemed she was going to have to do that anyways.
"Naraku's palace is controlled by energy. And the amount of power all of you are giving off, minus the kit and monk, is enough to signal him that you are here. And with the shape I last saw your friend in, a battle is far beyond a good idea right now."
She had a point. So, grumbling the entire time, Inuyasha and Sango put there most powerful weapons away. As Sango secured the cloth tightly over her Hiraikotsu, she stood up and nodded. She hadn't spoke at all really since they had run into Kagura. Mainly because this woman also knew where her brother was.
As if sensing her thoughts, Kagura looked at the Demon Slayer in sympathy.
"I can't let you take him too," she said looking down. "He will die if that shard is removed. And I highly doubt that is what you want."
"If it means he is my brother again, even for an instant before his death, then that's all I care about. Luckily for you though, Kagome is the reason we are here today. So, lets go."
Kagura nodded, as if understanding the young woman's pain. Slowly, she stepped into the water, but her feet did not sink. It was as if she was floating in mid air.
Inuyasha's eyes widened as he followed, and the same thing happened to him. And as he walked, he could feel the wood of the invisible bridge scraping his feet. A few moments later, he felt something land on his shoulder. He was about to attack, but caught the kit's scent of pine trees and maple syrup on his shoulder. Looking at him, he noticed that there was no fear written on his face, like there had been so many times before.
He smiled, feeling as proud as a father would as he looked at him. Shippo really had grown up a lot over the years.
Shippo knew he was scared more than anything right now. But he refused to show it. Right now getting his mother back was all that mattered to him. And if that meant being brave for her, then he would do it. Feeling like he was being watched, Shippo turned his head to his right, and he was slightly startled.
Inuyasha was smiling at him. And it wasn't his normal, half assed cocky smile. This was a real, warm smile from the man he sometimes thought of as a father.
"What?" he asked him skeptically.
Inuyasha let out a low, soft chuckle.
"Nothing, it's just you've really grown up Shippo. I'm very proud of you."
Shippo's jaw nearly unhinged as his eyes popped out of his head. Did Inuyasha just give him a compliment?
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and looked back in front of him. Shippo's blatant surprise definitely brought him back to reality. Now, his mind was focused, on finding the woman he loved with all of his heart.
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Kagome awoke suddenly to a searing pain slashing against her spine. As she screamed out in agony, she could faintly hear the slap of a whip as it hit the floor. The sound made her body shiver and her soul scream out in terror. That's when she heard the laughter of the evil man who was doing this to her.
"I never thought you would wake, Priestess," Naraku sneered. It was obvious the bastard was enjoying this.
Kagome turned her head and glared at her abuser with a deadly stare. But after a moment, he smirked and raised the whip once more, and as it came down, she screamed again as it slashed across her shoulder blade.
Kagome could feel her new wounds to her back pulsating, and the warm sensation of her blood dripping made her almost throw up. She couldn't hold back her tears now. The pain was just so bad that it was forcing her to cry.
"Have you had enough yet bitch? It will all stop… but only if you tell me what I want to know," he hissed close to her ear.
Kagome quickly turned her head and spit in his face. He pulled back instantly and glared at her with hatred in his red eyes.
"Wrong choice," he shouted as he brought the whip back down, only this time, he continued to slash her skin over and over again.
Kagome tried to hold back her screams as best she could, only allowing whimpers to escape her throat, but she couldn't find the strength not to cry. She was going to die, if not from blood loss, then from the pain. As a last cry for help, she screamed the only name of the only person she had thought of for days now. And her voice was heard throughout the entire palace.
"INUYASHA!!!!!!"
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Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks at hearing his name being screamed out in agony. His eyes widened in shock and fear, and even Kagura's gaze shifted as she looked up the large staircase leading to one of Naraku's many whipping chambers.
"Ka-Kagome?" he voice shook.
"Oh no…," Kagura whispered. Turning suddenly as she heard the young woman scream once again, she gave Inuyasha a steady look. "I'm going to go and create a diversion for you. What I need you all to do is hide behind that painting," she ordered pointing to a large painting of a geisha covered in cobwebs. "I'm going to get him out of that room, when I give the signal, run up those stairs and grab the girl, then get out of here. Do you all understand?"
Everyone nodded, except for Inuyasha, who was now ghostly pale. As Miroku dragged him behind the painting, his worst fears were realized as Kagome's scent was mixed heavily with her own blood. As Kagura ran up the stairs, Inuyasha dragged his claws over the stone walls furiously. His eyes flickered red as his breathing became ragged and unsteady. And a he stood there, waiting for Kagura's signal, he wished with all his might that he wouldn't transform. Or at least not until Kagome was safe, and in his arms. Where she truly belonged.
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Kagome had passed out again as her scream faded away into nothing. Her body was virtually ruined from all of the lashes she had received, and now her back was completely raw. As her blood dripped and drained to the floor from her feet, Naraku sauntered over to her, feeling a little better.
"No one spits in my face and gets away with it," he snarled at her still form, still chained to the ceiling by spiked handcuffs. She was bleeding everywhere, and that alone made him smile.
But he couldn't kill her, or at least not allow her to die. So, going against his better judgment, he took the small, black jewel out of his robes, and strung it on a long piece of leather string. As he wrapped it around her neck and tied it in a tight knot, the door opened suddenly.
As Naraku turned around, he found his servant, Kagura, looking grim.
"My lord, someone has invaded the castle!"
Now she had him at full alert. As he rushed over to her, the unconscious miko was left, hanging in the center of the room. Kagura felt her heart clench. She had been right about her master's intentions to the young woman. Looking at Kagome's back, she felt she was going to be sick to her stomach. This was not good. She needed to get out of here, and fast if she were to survive.
"Have you alerted the guards?"
She shook her head.
"I could not find them, my lord," she lied. "And they were not at they're posts when I went to go and get them. It's a demon from the southern lands. He entered the castle from the third entrance in the woods."
Naraku looked her over, not knowing weather she was lying or telling the truth.
"Where did you last see this demon?" he asked her, trying to read her mind.
Luckily, Kagura had been secretly developing false memories, just in case something like this happened. And as Naraku reached into her mind, she fabricated a tall, red haired snake youkai lord, dressed very well and in robes, wandering around the west wing… on the other side of the castle.
Upon seeing her vision, Naraku ran out of the room, making Kagura hold her breath. If he ran back in within the next two minutes, she would know if she had been caught in this lie. When he didn't return, she closed her eyes to find his location; he was looking for the guards, which she had seen drunk in the servants kitchen earlier that day. When he was on the other side of the tower, she quickly ran out of the room.
Upon reaching the bottom step, she gave them her signal. When she made the gesture to follow her, Inuyasha bolted up the stairs faster than any of the rest. And when he reached the room Kagome's scent was so strong in, he stopped in a dead horror, and gasped.
There she was. Chained, naked, and bleeding horribly in front of him. He slowly walked up to her still form, praying that she was alive. When he finally heard her heartbeat, he almost sighed in relief. But that's when he did a thorough scan of her body, and his eyes turned red, and didn't go back.
Her left arm was broken, along with her collarbone, hip, cheek, knee and a few of her ribs. She had claw marks running across the whole front of her chest, stomach, and legs. This torture must have happened the day before or a few hours ago, because her blood had scabbed over in a few places from what he could see. But from the look of her back, this had just happened a few moments ago. His claws gently touched the flesh that was raised and still dripping her blood. And as he did so, he looked at her face.
She had been crying, and the blood from her face had mixed with her tears, creating red stains to run down her cheeks. His now demon eyes began to feel wet, and when he put one of his claws to his face to touch it, he felt his heartbeat jump in panic. He had never cried when his demon nature had surfaced.
When he looked at his fingertips, he was almost shocked by what he saw.
Red, crimson colored tears.
His demon soul was also crying at the moment. And that alone was shocking. When he normally cried, they were human tears. This was very rare, and he felt almost powerless as he looked at her.
"Kagome…" he croaked.
But she didn't move, didn't speak, and didn't even open her eyes to look at him.
As he heard the others finally begin to reach the top of the stairs, he threw his red kimono jacket over her fragile form, as gently as he could not to cause her anymore damage, he broke the chains around her wrists. As her body began to fall, Inuyasha caught her, and held her close in his arms. He began to shake, knowing he had to hurry and get her out of here before she died. So, taking her into his arms, he turned around as soon as everyone else entered the room, gasping out as he had. But it wasn't only because of Kagome nearly lifeless body in his arms, it was because of his face, and tears.
Sango covered her mouth in shock, and backed away into Miroku's arms. Her breathing instantly turned into large gasps, trying not to cry or scream. Miroku gently wrapped his arms around her and looked at Inuyasha, who's tears still poured down his face in a rush of blood red waterfalls. The kit looked up at him, as if asking for approval right now to jump on his shoulders so they could leave quickly. He nodded, and walked forward. When he finally felt Shippo's weight descend on his right side, his lowered his head, and spoke in a cold, emotionless voice that could match his brother's right now.
"Let's go."
As he made his way down the stairs, Kagura followed. Since she had her heart now, she could leave the castle. And after what she had done by helping these people, Naraku would kill her if she stayed. Especially if he knew that they were the ones who had entered his castle. She would be killed on sight.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Kagura took the lead. Followed by Miroku, carrying Sango now since she had blacked out on the stairs, and then Inuyasha, Shippo, and Kagome not far behind. When they reached the secret entrance where they had entered, everyone ran outside, and didn't stop running until they were very far away from the hidden castle.
Inuyasha figured that Kagura knew of the village they stayed in. So he rushed ahead of everyone else. Shippo held on as best he could, knowing why Inuyasha was running so fast. So when they reached the outskirts of the village, he jumped off. Inuyasha stopped and looked at the kit as he rolled in the dirt pretty hard.
"What do you think your doing?!" Inuyasha snarled at him.
"Get her home and to one of those things she calls a hospital," he said as steadily as he could muster. "I can't go through the well, and I can get back to the village from here. When everyone else catches up, we'll go and tell Kaede what's happened. And I have a feeling you won't be back for a while, so just go!"
Inuyasha stood there for only a second, staring at the young demon boy. Shippo really had grown up. Normally the kit would try to make him stop and bring him to the village. Now he was going to wait alone for everyone else to catch up. He bent down, still holding the young woman who had won both of his natures over, and smiled with his crimson eyes.
"Thank you, little one," he said using his endearment for Shippo whenever he felt truly grateful to him.
Shippo backed away, slightly scared, but returned the smile. But before the now demon Inuyasha ran off, he stopped him.
"Wait! This is Kagome's…," he said pulling out her iPod. "I think she'll want it whenever she wakes up."
Inuyasha recognized the small green device, and gently took it into his clawed hand that was free. As he shoved it into his pocket, he returned his hand to the place it had been wrapped under Kagome's legs. As he lifted himself up, he looked down at the kit one last time, then dashed off towards the well. Shippo stood there in silence, and waited for the others t catch up. Knowing that this was his first time really alone in years, he felt only a little scared.
But now that he was alone, he really thought about a lot of things he had never noticed before. Inuyasha had never cried, not even once in his demon form. Did this mean he really did hold feelings for his mother other than friendship? Sure, they all thought he still wanted to die with Kikyo, but he had never cried for her, not once in all of the years they had known him. So maybe something would happen to change that, and the thought made him smile.
"They both deserve each other," he said to himself.
And with that, he made his way back to the village. But he didn't run for once, now he took his time. Everyone would catch up sooner or later, so he truly had nothing to worry about.
Now, all he had to worry about was if his mother would survive.
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As the well came into his line of sight, Inuyasha almost sighed in relief. He was almost there, and Kagome would be safe in here time and get the help she needed there.
"Inuyasha…," a cold emotionless voice called to him.
He stopped dead in his tracks and looked over at the figure who had called out to him.
It was Kikyo.
As she walked over to him, a look of horror ran across her face as she looked at the young woman in his arms, knowing instantly that it was Kagome. She brought a hand up to her mouth as tears actually raced down her face. When she looked back up at him, her eyes widened in horror at his demon markings and eyes. And the stains of red running down his face.
"What happened to her?!" she yelled at him.
"Naraku did this. Not me!" he snarled at her. "I have to get her back to her time before it's too late. Stay in the village if you feel like it and Kagura will explain. She seems to be on our side now since she got her heart."
Kikyo stepped back, but nodded. And that was all he needed to see. As quickly as he could, Inuyasha jumped down into the well. And as the blue light engulfed them in the darkness, he pulled Kagome's unconscious form to his chest, beginning to cry again as he smelled her scent.
"Don't worry love, I'm staying by your side for good now," he whispered to her, knowing she couldn't hear him. "I won't ever leave you again."
And as the light faded and he saw the old metal hanging ladder in the well. He jumped out holding Kagome as closely to him as he possibly could without hurting her even more, and ran out of the well house. When he pushed through the doors and ran out into the courtyard, he sniffed the air.
Her mother was in the house.
Running up to the door, he opened it and ran inside. And when Mrs. Higurashi turned around to see what all of the commotion was, she grasped her heart and gasped at the sight in front of her.
Kagome was wrapped in Inuyasha's red jacket. Dirty, bruised, and bleeding. Her arm hung loosely in the air along with her head. As if she were either dead or passed out. She could visibly see the pain in her daughter's face, and the blood and tear stains on it as well.
When she looked back at Inuyasha, her heart jumped. He had light, purple tattoo's on his face, his fangs were slightly larger, and his claws were longer as well. But it was his eyes, and the look of sheer pain in them that scared her the most.
A his tears of blood fell onto Kagome's cheek and other hand which was draped over her stomach, Inuyasha let out the most strangled noise she had ever heard come from the hanyou's mouth. It was so filled with his emotions that it was almost impossible to hear.
"Help…"
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OO
Well, that came out pretty good.
I promise I won't take as long with the next chapter everyone.
My life is crazy.
So how about I have the next one up before next Friday?
(Groaning)
(Sighs)
I tired.
Well, till next time…
Toodles,
Me
: P
