Alrighty folks, here's the next chapter! But first, cookies to my seven AWESOME reviewers: VampireSiren, wolf girl 4797, Transformers' BABY, Mango-sama, Reader559, karlachan18, and RosesMoon. LOVE YOU ALL! Also, a big thanks to all the people who have already favorited and/or followed this story! ALSO, a HUGE thank you to Mango-sama who has been rereading my story so that she can point out any errors I've made and basically beta read for me. You ALL owe her a thank you! Hope you all enjoy chapter 10!
Terms to know…
Daiyoukai – Great Demon
Youkai – Demon
Hanyou – Half Demon
Miko – Priestess
Taijiya – Demon Slayer
Inu – Dog
Neko – Cat
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Inuyasha, the Inuyasha plot, NOR the Inuyasha characters. I only own my own OC Kaze Hijikata, any other OCs created along the way, and any part of the plot NOT a part of the Inuyasha anime or manga. This fanfic, however, is MINE and I'd like to keep it that way.
Chapter 10-Trust and Determination
With Inuyasha, Kagome, and Kaze/In the Woods…
Even though situations were currently somewhat dire, and the spiritualist was still rather worried about her cousin, Kaze couldn't help but admit to herself that it was quite fun riding on Inuyasha's back with Kagome as the hanyou charged through the woods. "You get to do this all the time?" the raven-haired girl inquired to her cousin.
A bit of a chuckle escaped Kagome's lips as she replied, "Yeah, Inuyasha prefers to carry me around so that we can get places faster."
"Keh! Lucky!" Kaze teased with a grin.
"Hey, Kagome!" Inuyasha interrupted the two cousin's brief exchange, "Are we getting closer to the jewel?"
"Yeah." The young miko replied as her brown eyes narrowed in concentration, "We're almost there."
And indeed they were, as it was only but a couple minutes later that they burst into a small clearing with a barrier surrounded building in the middle.
"Hey look!" the cherry-eyed spiritualist pointed out as she jumped off of Inuyasha's back, "It's Sango and Miroku!"
Upon spotting their companions, said monk and taijiya, who were currently up on Kirara's back in the sky, began their descent to the ground.
"Kagome, are you sure it's alright for you to be up?" Sango asked worriedly as she dismounted the fire neko.
"Don't worry, Sango. Kaze removed the tainted jewel shards from my neck so I'll be okay." The midnight-haired girl replied before asking, "But what's with this barrier."
"It seems to be the work of a dark miko." Miroku stated with a serious look, "Therefore, it can only be broken by another miko. Kagome, do you think you have the strength left to break it in your condition?"
"I can try." Kagome said with a determined spark flickering in her chocolate orbs. Pulling a sacred arrow off of her back, she pointed it at the barrier blocking their path. "Here goes nothing!" the miko stated fiercely as she loosed her arrow upon her target.
A crackling sound was heard as the sacred weapon collided with its target, dissipating the barrier almost immediately. "Nice work, Kags!" Kaze praised her cousin.
"Alright!" Inuyasha shouted as he charged ahead, "Let's go!"
Charging towards the eerie building, the small shard hunting party skidded to a stop as a young woman with silver hair stepped out of the hut. "I see you've made it." The woman spoke in a cruel tone, "Excellent. You've saved me the trouble of hunting you down."
Blood-red eyes narrowed dangerously. For after having had personal contact with the dark miko's aura, the raven-haired girl would know it anywhere. "Let me guess." The spiritualist spat venomously, "You're Tsubaki."
"Correct." The dark miko replied, her voice just as venomous as Kaze's, "And I'm guessing that you're the spiritualist who broke my spell."
"Bingo!" Kaze smirked challengingly, her red eyes holding their own cruel glint in their ruby depths.
Tsubaki's own blue eyes narrowed in annoyance as she glared at the raven-haired girl. "I must admit that I was rather surprised to find myself facing a spiritualist. But in the end, it is of no matter. You shall all die either way. For while you may be strong, I have this." The dark miko spoke confidently as she opened up her palm to reveal an almost completed but tainted sacred jewel.
"Damnit!" Inuyasha cursed, "You've made a pact with Naraku, haven't you?!"
"And what if I have?" she taunted the furious hanyou.
"They I'll destroy you before hunting down and destroying his ass as well!" the white-haired youth snarled.
"Ha!" Tsubaki laughed cruelly, "That's if you can survive me first!"
Suddenly, the dark miko released a whole slew of various lower level Youkai from her body. Hell! There must have been hundreds of them! "Find me again, Inuyasha, and we shall see just who will come out the victor." Tsubaki cackled as she vanished from sight.
"Damnit!" the Inu hanyou roared as he slashed open one of the Youkai, "Letting lose all these lower level Youkai just so she could escape!"
"She's probably trying to buy herself time so that she can merge with the jewel!" Miroku shouted as he too fought off the approaching Youkai.
"Then we need to go after her as soon as possible!" the white-haired youth hissed. He was just about to draw his Tetsuaiga when Kaze stopped him.
"Do not bother with them, and just go." The spiritualist ordered as she turned to face the horde of Youkai heading their way, "I'll take care of this."
Kagome, who was fighting alongside Sango, turned to give her cousin an astonished look, "Kaze, are you insane?! There's too many of them!"
"Cheh! Just who do you think you're dealing with?" Kaze huffed, pretending to be offended, even though the truth was that her body had been severely weakened by forcefully extracting the tainted jewel shards from the miko, "I'll be just fine. So, don't you worry your pretty little head about me. Got it, Missy?"
Even Inuyasha looked surprised, but his shock was for a whole different reason. The hanyou would've thought that the vengeful spiritualist would jump at the chance to wreck revenge upon Tsubaki for hurting Kagome. And yet, here she was offering to stay behind so that they could go on ahead.
As if sensing what the white-haired youth was thinking, the raven-haired girl turned back to Inuyasha and added with a smile, "Knock her dead, Inuyasha. For both me and Kagome."
Golden eyes narrowed with determination as the youth nodded in agreement. "You better be alive when we get back." He warned as he turned to go.
"Pfft! Get outta here, ya pest!" the ruby-eyed girl growled with fake annoyance as the hanyou took off.
"Come on!" Inuyasha ordered to the rest of the group as they took off to go hunt down the dark miko, lest she get the chance to merge with the tainted jewel.
The group, especially Kagome, sent several worried and reluctant looks over their shoulders before finally following cue and taking off after the hanyou; putting their faith in the raven-haired spiritualist behind them.
A soft sigh escaped Kaze's lips as she stood alone in the clearing, facing the masses of different Youkai preparing to devour her. "Guess it's time to get serious." The young woman decided as she placed her middle fingers together in a hand seal. Taking a deep breath, the world seemed to slow around her as her body came to complete stasis, for complete bodily stillness was required to perform this technique. Reaching perfect stillness, her red eyes finally closed, "Spirit projection!"
Instantly, a bright light formed around the raven-haired girl as her spirit was forced out of her body, taking the form of a large dragon as it wrapped itself protectively around her center core. Even with her eyes closed, the spiritualist could still see through the eyes of her spirit. Mentally she smirked, "Come and get me, you fools!" And they did.
Hordes of Youkai attacked all at once as Kaze's spirit dragon fought them off; slashing and sending dozens to their deaths. In her weakened condition, it took all of the raven-haired girl's strength to keep the technique running. Spirit projection, the art of forcing your spirit out of your body and into a physical form, was one of the most advanced and dangerous techniques a spiritualist could learn. It could even prove to be fatal to the user if they used it recklessly or when they were in a weakened condition.
Unfortunately, the spiritualist's condition was just that as a screaming pain suddenly wracked through her body. "Damnit!" Kaze mentally cursed as she sank to her knees, coughing up a mouthful of blood. The dragon surrounding her instantly vanished as the steady flow of spiritual energy supporting it was interrupted. Ill-fatedly, it seemed that the young spiritualist had used more of her power than she'd originally thought when she'd healed Kagome, "Although I never thought I'd suffer a relapse so soon." Suddenly, sheer fiery determination flashed in those ruby depths of hers, "NO! I gave Inuyasha my word! There'll be time for relapses later. NOT now! Right now, I have to FINISH this!"
Painfully forcing herself back up, the raven-haired spiritualist irritably wiped the blood from her mouth before leaping out of the way of an incoming Youkai's attack. Drawing her revolver, she twisted herself around as she blasted it right between the eyes. "Cheh! Looks like I'm gonna have to do this the old fashioned way." The young woman grumbled as she popped yet another Youkai with her concentrated spirit energy, "Two more down, dozens more to go."
With Sesshomaru/In the Woods…
Keen golden eyes flickered brilliantly in the dusk as the Daiyoukai followed his nose towards the scene of battle. He could tell that the dark miko was already gone, but the faint scent of Naraku still hung in the air and was coming from the direction in which Sesshomaru was going. The scent of the female spiritualist also hung heavily in the air and it too was coming from the same direction in which Naraku's scent came. A low growl formed in the back of the Inu's throat; directed at his beast who, once again, was stirring within him upon catching the strange female's scent. Judging from the scent, it seemed that he would indeed be bumping into her once again if he continued on this path.
Suddenly, the scent of the girl's blood floated over on the air. Unnoticed by the Western Lord, he unconsciously picked up his pace upon smelling the human's blood. Now, even more than before, Sesshomaru could feel his beast stirring within; demanding to be released. Why and for what purpose, the Daiyoukai did not know, nor did he currently wish to.
The scent of the young woman's blood grew stronger, causing Sesshomaru to once again pick up his pace; consciously this time. He still had questions in which he wished for the female spiritualist to answer. Therefore, it would not do for her to go and get herself killed. Or at least, that's what he told himself anyways. His beast, on the other hand, seemed to be trying to say something else entirely. What it was, the white-haired Inu did not know. And the Western Lord had no intention of trying to figure it out any time soon.
With Kaze/In the Clearing…
Kaze's breath was somewhat ragged as she dodged another Youkai's attack, simultaneously whipping around and firing off another deadly shot; killing it almost immediately. "Damnit! They just keep coming!" the young spiritualist mentally cursed. Wincing, she briefly kneeled down as she smothered another bloody cough; struggling to keep her relapse at bay. Suddenly, her senses picked up as she felt another Youkai aura. "Correction." She corrected herself, "Another powerful Youkai aura! Just who the hell-"
Red eyes widened in surprise as the answer came to her. Despite the pain she was in, an amused smirk formed on the young woman's face as she quickly identified the mystery aura as belonging to none other than Sesshomaru. "Heh! Well would you look at that." The raven-haired girl mentally laughed as she looked upwards to see the Daiyoukai floating in the sky above, "The little bugger can even fly."
Molten gold eyes narrowed as the Western Lord drew his Tokijin. "Dragon Strike!" he called out calmly as he used one of the sword's main and most powerful techniques.
The ruby-eyed girl watched un-movingly as the blue dragon obliterated all Youkai surrounding her being. "Hmph!" she mentally chuckled before noting, "Looks like I'm gonna owe him for that one later."
Having successfully dealt with the remaining nuisances, Sesshomaru began his descent to the ground. In truth, he was actually rather impressed on how well the mortal female had managed to hold up. For looking around, it would be impossible for the Daiyoukai lord to miss the hundreds of Youkai carcasses scattered around and the majority of them were not from his attack.
"Hey, Sesshomaru!" Kaze greeted Sesshomaru with a smile as he made his graceful landing.
The white-haired lord gave the girl an annoyed but curious look upon being greeted in such a manner. It was the sort of warm greeting you would give to a friend of sorts, not a cold, and all powerful Daiyoukai lord. Narrowing his eyes with suspicion, Sesshomaru once again tried to find some underlying deception behind her friendliness, and once again, he found none. Although, he did manage to detect the scent of pain radiating off of her body, but that was none of his concern. She was alive, and that was what mattered. Blinking once more, the Inu finally answered the girl with a simple, "Hn."
"I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon." The raven-haired spiritualist continued before inquiring, "What brings you here? If you haven't noticed, I'm a little busy to finish that little talk of ours right now."
"That is not why this Sesshomaru has come." The golden-eyed male replied stiffly. "Though our talk is still quite on schedule." He added mentally.
"Hmm…" the young woman raised a curious eyebrow, "Then why?"
Now, usually Sesshomaru would be the kind of creature to inform the insolent wench that why and what he did was none of her business whatsoever. However, for some odd reason that he couldn't place, the Daiyoukai lord found himself answering her all the same. "This Sesshomaru has come hunting the dark miko." The Inu answered calmly.
Interest peeked, Kaze gave him a surprised look, "You're hunting the dark miko as well?"
Strangely enough, and much to his own surprise, Sesshomaru now found himself elaborating his reasoning the raven-haired mortal as well. "Hn." He stated, "This Sesshomaru finds that the dark miko is connected to Naraku. Therefore, he hunts her down to gain access to Naraku's whereabouts."
Now Kaze was really taken-aback. "I don't get it." She stated, giving him a confused look, "Why are you hunting Naraku?"
A low growl left the Western Lord's throat, "That fool attempted to use this Sesshomaru in order to attain his own goals, therefore sullying this one's honor; an act that will not be forgiven by this Lord Sesshomaru."
The young spiritualist dead-panned, "Well, Naraku, seems you've made yourself a lot of enemies in this world. I'd watch my back if I were you."
Well, Mango-sama, you're up! I checked this chapter over several times before posting but it was still written at about two in the morning so there still might be some typos. Anyways, over looking any typos, hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Well, as you can see, Kaze is NOT invincible and I think I'm still doing a pretty good job keeping Sesshomaru in character while still making him show minimum interest (not romantic mind you) in Kaze. Now, please, please, PLEASE review! I LOVE hearing from you guys/girls as you ARE my inspiration!
ALSO, I'm having a poll on my profile for what I should do my next One-Shot on. So, go check it out! (pwease?)
Rock Out!
Kira