Miroku stirred a half-hour before dawn, as he always did when bedding in an unfamiliar place, especially out in the woods. He rose and stretched, stifling a hearty yawn with his good hand as he trudged over to the fire he had started the night before. He had to gather fresh kindling and a match from Kagome's backpack, but soon he had another small blaze going. He poured the remaining water from the water bottle into the empty pot and set it on the flame to boil.
I guess we'll have to get more water today, he thought nonchalantly, and sifted through the bag once more in order to find fresh bags of spiced tea from Kagome's time. The future beheld many great and mysterious things, he'd decided once, after she'd told him a little of what lay ahead. The convenience of tea bags were just one small wonder that she'd offered him.
He gave Sango a shake several minutes later, delivering a tin cup, filled with the steaming brew. She yawned, stretched a kink in the nook of her neck as she pushed herself up, and accepted the tea with a half-hearted smile. Miroku took another cup and went to wake Kagome.
He stopped in mid-stride when he realized something was wrong. "Sango!"
It was like turning on a light switch. The demon-slayer bounded to his side in an instant, hand on the hilt of her katana, already half-way free of its sheath, as she came alert and leery of battle. When she saw no threat, she slammed the weapon fully back into its sheath and turned a heated eye to Kagome's bedroll. "Where's Kagome?" she demanded.
"I'm not sure." He turned and peered into the tree where InuYasha had slept through the night. Their half-demon friend was also nowhere to be found. With a heavy sigh, Miroku rubbed at his damaged arm. Having slept awkwardly during the night, it was sore. He couldn't wait until this ugly adventure came to an end. He needed several days of rest and relaxation, something he'd never get out here in the middle of a forest he knew nothing about, especially when four close friends were nowhere to be found. "But, InuYasha's missing, as well."
"They must be together," Sango said. "InuYasha would never let Kagome wander off on her own out here."
"True enough," Miroku agreed. "But, what if it was InuYasha who wandered off?"
A concerned frown settled upon the demon-slayer's wary features. "Kagome couldn't keep up with him if he didn't want her to."
"And she left her backpack. I think we should tidy up camp and try to find them."
It was agreed. The two quickly gathered up the supplies they had used during their stay. Miroku rolled up Kagome's bedroll as best he could with one good arm while Sango dressed into her demon-slayer's uniform, and then they headed west, Miroku in the lead. At first neither spoke. Miroku wondered why Sango hadn't questioned the direction he chose. He decided not to explain. She'd see soon enough. There was really no reason to bring up the source of the demonic aura he felt spilling through the forest, so powerful that Naraku might as well have been standing on his foot.
The two were deep in thought when they came upon their friend from the future, trudging quickly uphill with a distraught look on her face. "Kagome!" Sango called, though she didn't respond. The demon-slayer shared a look with Miroku when she finally reached them, breathing heavily, tears streaking down her face. She fell to her knees before them. They both knelt over her, Sango taking her in her arms and holding her close, knowing that whatever InuYasha had said or done, it had broken her poor heart. She hushed her friend gently. "Oh, Kagome, I'm here. It's all right." She glanced to Miroku, stroking the her friend's lush, dark hair. The monk shrugged. By the look in the poor girl's face, things certainly were not all right.
"He's gone," Kagome mumbled, choking up. She buried her face into Sango's chest.
Miroku nodded, turning west. "He went after Naraku."
Sango glanced up. Kagome could barely manage a nod, but it was enough to show that she understood. Perhaps she had already known, Miroku decided. He stared grimly to the mountain to the west and he tightened his grip of his staff, held in his good hand. Somewhere out there, something dark and ominous awaited. He could feel it. It was Naraku, or a rather nasty reincarnation. One way or the other, that was the one thing that stood in their path. Find it, and likely they would find InuYasha. If they were going to help him, they were going to have to hurry.
He drew a deep breath. "I think we should get going," he said darkly.
InuYasha bounded past the bog and came upon the low, rocky foothills leading toward his nemesis, flexing his claws along the way. He sensed Kikyo—her scent was quite potent here, along the path—but it wasn't the undead priestess he was after. He ignored the scent and raced on, toward the mountain. There was something else out here, as well, a mass of demon both unknown and familiar. He wondered what was going on, but ignored the numbing anxiety that stirred within him. The sheath of Tetsusaiga bounced at his hip, and he tried to focus on that to distract him from the obstacles standing in the path leading to Naraku.
Soon, he took notice of threads of the sticky substance spread about the ground. Each time his feet hit it, they caught slightly in the goo, but he moved just quickly enough, and with enough power, that he was never stuck. He knew if a mortal wandered through here, they were have a heck of a time making their way through the foothills. It was a good thing he'd decided to leave the others behind. Still, he wondered silently, what is this stuff? It's disgusting!
Without stopping to satisfy his curiosity, InuYasha bounded onward. He flexed his claws at his side, the desire to wrench them through Naraku's flesh pulsing through his veins. The stuff couldn't be poison, at least not to him. He'd come into contact enough with his bare feet that if it was, he would have been at least weakened, slowed, in his quest to reach his enemy. The others couldn't be as swift as he was, with or without the goo strung over the foothills. Who knew how they'd respond to the strange substance.
And then, he caught wind of a familiar scent, amidst a sea of stink, and seized his attention. His heart pounded. A friend, he realized without hesitation. The thought made him adjust his course and pick up speed.
I'm comin' Kirara. Just hang in there…
He knew it wouldn't be long before he reached her. The trees here were no problem. Most had died hard deaths and fallen to the weight of the same goo that had been sprayed across the landscape. The thought troubled him. What manner of demon—if a demon at all—had done this? Probably a minion of Naraku, or more precisely, another blasted reincarnation. The thought only brought more rage to the already livid half-demon.
After a short run he bounded over a small grove of trees and descended on a horrific sight that nearly caused him to loose his balance.
Skidding to a halt, InuYasha spun about, wide-eyed, as he watched the display of trapped demons that surrounded the hillside. Beasts of all kinds—wolves, lizards, a panther, insects, and more—were confined by the same goo. Only now he knew what it was.
Spiderweb. Naraku. The knowledge made InuYasha tense.
Where was Kirara?
Before he could locate his friend, InuYasha saw something that made him break out in a cold sweat. The demon tiger? It had to be. He was pressed against the grove a trees, a massive shape against the shadows of the coming dawn. He edged his way toward the shape and grimaced at the two puncture wounds at the things neck. Dead, he knew. Whatever had done this—from the looks of things, a giant spider—had sufficiently done the job he'd been unable to do.
The thing hadn't done InuYasha a favor, he realized as his hand wrapped about the hilt of the Tetsusaiga. He pulled the weapon free and searched about for any sign of danger. He felt it in the air all about him, the grotesque stench of his enemy, lingering above him, permeating the air with its hot stink. Where was the bastard?
"You must be InuYasha."
He swept Tetsusaiga about, bringing his father's fang between himself and the silky-smooth purr. It stood in a mass of dead tree branches, just over him. The shape was not what he inspected. Humanoid in appearance, and naked, with smooth, black flesh. A scarlet hourglass caressed the sleek, black belly. Blood-red eyes glowed with hatred down upon him.
"And that makes you another one of Naraku's sick jokes," the half-demon sneered as he glowered back at her. He brought the Tetsusaiga to his shoulder, steadying himself for an attack. "Let's just get this over with."
A slender smile stretched over the demon spider's leathery, black lips. "So eager to die this day, InuYasha? You are so like the pup Master Naraku has made you out to be."
"Then you also know I've been a thorn in your master's side since the day I knew he existed," InuYasha growled, thrusting the Tetsusaiga at her with a hateful snarl.
"What do you intend to do, then?" she asked in her soft, velvety voice. "Blast me to itty, bitty pieces with your precious wind scar?"
InuYasha scowled. He couldn't risk unleashing the wind scar here. The bitch had Kirara, and who knew who else were trapped here as well. She might even have Shippo. The fox demon had vanished during the last skirmish with the tiger demon the night before, and he was prone to getting himself into trouble. It wouldn't surprise InuYasha in the least if the poor guy had wound up in her sinister clutches. Nor did he want to piss off the forest locals.
What troubled InuYasha most, however, was that this wasn't just any spider.
InuYasha had dealt with a Black Widow demon on one other occasion, and it hadn't ended prettily. This was a particularly nasty demon, whose venom was more potent than any he'd ever encountered. Doesn't bode well for a head-to-head battle, InuYasha thought. This thing could paralyze me if it catches me off-guard. But why did it let me see it before attacking? That was strange enough. Most spider demons were naturally gifted in guerilla ambush tactics. InuYasha thought it would be nice if the demon had simply made an error in judgment in revealing itself to him.
Somehow, he doubted that to be the case.
"This is entirely too convenient," Miroku muttered as he pushed his oar through the water as best he could with one good arm, watching the green murk of the lake beneath them and the cragged mountain looming over the horizon. He'd been pushing with both arms rather painlessly, but he still didn't have the strength he had before the incident with the demon tiger.
"It's not like we have much of a choice," Sango replied, rowing from the other side of the raft. "Just keep rowing."
It had been a strange occurrence in itself to locate a single raft at the edge of the water in a forest uninhabited by people. The demons of the Hollow Wood didn't require a raft to get from place to place along the bog.
Miroku was pretty sure Naraku was guiding them to his den to have a little fun. He knew they had no other choice than to follow the trail. Is it to end here, he wondered, in a world unknown to me and so many others? He couldn't even recall the mountain that loomed in the distance. He knew most of Japan quite well, and he had never seen such a mountain, south of Haranobu's small kingdom. Then again, before they'd left Haranobu and his people a few days before, he'd never been so far to the south.
But why was the Hollow Wood and this mountain nowhere to be found on any maps of the island he had come to know so perfectly over his years? It seemed beyond bizarre.
"Keep your eyes peeled," Kagome said gently, drawing the attention of her two companions. She hadn't said much since she'd found them on the path between the hot springs where InuYasha had left her behind and the campsite from the previous night. It was a relief to hear her voice, even if it was filled with dread. "There's a jewel shard out there. And it's close."
Miroku shared a look with Sango, who nodded. "Right, then," the monk said calmly, and continued to row through the mysterious bog.
"Before I dispose of you, my dear InuYasha, allow me to introduce myself," the Black Widow demon said in her velvety-smooth tone. Her voice was about the only bit of her that he didn't find appalling; though she was slender and feminine, complete with all the right curves that were all the more enhanced by her confident posture, he found the creature as overwhelmingly offensive as any he had ever encountered. Her flesh was black as night and smoother than glass, and shone as if the sun beat down upon it, though there was no sun on this overcast day.
"Well get it on with!" InuYasha growled. "It's not like your name's gonna matter all that much after I run you through with my Tetsusaiga!"
She lowered her head slightly, a bemused grin sliding across those vile, black lips. "Flippant to the last, just as I was told. And little patience." Her head lifted again as a lilting laugh escaped her. "But if you insist. I am Sakura, Mistress of the Chimes of Twilight. Now, InuYasha, I implore you… run me through with big… long… sword of yours." She ran the tip of her tongue along her upper lip as she said it, making InuYasha cringe at the repulsive thought.
"If you're so eager to die then I'll be all too happy to oblige!" The half-demon bolted forward, his weapon raised. Sakura stood transfixed as took aim for her exposed chest. As he came near, he realized that something was wrong. She didn't move; she simply waited, her gruesome smile stretching her lips even wider.
"That's it, InuYasha," she said in a low voice as the red hourglass at the belly of all Black Widow demons appeared. "Rash, as Naraku has said. Come to me now, and face the wrath of my Hourglass Strike."
Without warning, the hourglass on her belly pulsed with a flash of red light and swelled out toward InuYasha, momentarily obscuring his vision. The bloom then exploded as a stream of power lanced through it at light speed, striking InuYasha and, without pause, continuing right on through him to explode against the ground in a burst of white light.
Momentarily, InuYasha stumbled back, one hand clutching his abdomen where the power had struck him. He glared at the Black Widow for a moment as scarlet liquid pulsed through his fingers, but his demon blood began to clot quickly in the wound. Pain was no obstacle… at least, not yet. He stubbornly took Tetsusaiga in both hands and charged again.
If he could get to her, he'd take her head off with one mighty cut. Use of the Wind Scar or the Backlash Wave was out of the question; he couldn't take the risk with Kirara incapacitated, and not knowing whether or not Shippo was near. He was going to have to face this nasty demon head-on, which was something he preferred, but there were setbacks to such a tactic. After all, Naraku still loomed beyond her, in that mountain, and if this demon was only half as nasty as she looked, InuYasha knew it could be a difficult task to take her down.
She'd already struck the first blow of battle, and drew first blood.
Iron Reaver and Blades of Blood, however…
Those were weapons he still had at his disposal, along with the blade of his sword. When it came down to it, his own personal assaults were far more precise than were the techniques of the sword itself. He'd taught himself over the years to deliver those strikes with pinpoint accuracy.
He had to try it, first, without his demonic powers.
The decision made, InuYasha ran onward. He was upon her quickly, though it seemed a lifetime as he swept the blade about, taking aim for her mid-section. The cut itself was executed with demonic speed and precision.
Only after exerting a tremendous amount of power did he realize that he'd swept the blade, however meticulously, through empty air.
Her vile breath singed his cheek when she leaned next to him from behind; a gasp of shock escaped him. A slender, black hand slipped over his shoulder and easily spread his kimono open. InuYasha felt that hand, cold against his bare chest, over his heart. He froze.
"I believe you missed, my dear," she cooed.
Icy panic coursed through the half-demon's veins, not because of the fear of her proximity and how easy it would be to bite him and send her paralyzing venom into his bloodstream, or even at the realization of how fast she had been, how easily she had slipped from his line of sight. No, InuYasha feared only one thing in that instant, and that was the possibility that he was about to lose his battle with Naraku. All it would take for this bitch to bring him down was a small amount of her poison. After all, there was no venom more powerful than that of a Black Widow demon.
He spun about, bringing Tetsusaiga up in hopes to splay the creature in two, but she moved just as quickly the second time. When she reappeared, she stood at his side, in line for a backhanded slash, but before the move could register she snatched his wrist and fixed him with that gruesomely seductive smile she possessed. The tip of her tongue brushed her upper lip as she leaned forward.
"I can taste your fear, InuYasha. Makes me want to taste… everything."
"Give me a sec and I'll let you taste the tip of my Tetsusaiga," he growled.
Her hand, without warning found something else, cupping him unexpectedly at the crotch of his kimono. Her eyes, as black as the rest of her, so deeply black that they seemed to swallow the very light of day, flashed white for an instant as she gave him a little squeeze.
"I thought perhaps this was your more potent weapon," she whispered. "Am I wrong?"
"Get your filthy hands…"
Sakura was not listening. Her hourglass appeared once more with pulsating, red energy. She prepared her Hourglass Strike. InuYasha's eyes widened as the energy bloomed out and then exploded with power as a spike of energy burst through it. There was no pain, surprisingly, as that same energy pierced his abdomen and exited his back just above his right kidney.
InuYasha let out a grunt as he stumbled back, and then lifted a blood-covered hand from his waist and prepared to strike.
She was gone again, only to appear just over his right shoulder. "Foolish to resist me, my dear," she whispered, and then lay her fingers against the exit wound above his kidney, plunging them into the bloody crevasse.
InuYasha's scream echoed across the land.
Kagome's eyes lifted toward the mountain. Somewhere between the place where Naraku waited and this bog they traversed came an inhuman scream that she recognized as that of her very best friend in this life. Tears of panic filled her vision. "InuYasha…"
Though both Miroku and Sango were near, Kagome felt utterly alone.
The half-breed dropped unceremoniously into a pool of his own blood. Sakura lifted her blood soaked fingers to her lips and slipped them into her mouth. She purred in ecstasy. "Delicious." She stepped over her prey, kicking him onto his back; he was unconscious… Pity. Her grisly smile, now enhanced by the gore on her lips and teeth, spread as she lowered to a knee and wiped silver hair from his face to inspect his eyes.
"Handsome, for a mutt," she said softly. "Pity I have to kill you."
A voice came to her, then, a familiar voice that she both loathed and desired. I want him alive. She felt it within her more than she actually heard it.
Sakura smirked. "This is the pest that torments you, Naraku?" she murmured as she continued to inspect that handsome, young face. Hard to believe this half-breed was two hundred years old. "You're so pathetic."
Inject him with your venom, the voice in her head whispered. But do not kill him.
She chuckled. "You want him alive when he embarrasses you again?"
There was a long pause. I have infinite patience, Sakura… but little tolerance for your impudence. Do as I command if you want to live.
"As you wish… Master," she said, though her voice was as foul as the venom she possessed. She lifted InuYasha's hand and sank her teeth into his wrist. In the back of her mind, she thought she could hear Naraku's sinister chuckle.
Now, my pet… I have another task for you.