(A/N: Here's chapter ten! I hope you enjoy it.)
The Machine Man
Inuyasha was carefully walking on the dirt path near the river. Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and Saya were all incapacitated due to the poison. The latter from lack of being properly 'fed' more or less. The dog half-demon was carrying Kagome on his back while Kirara, in her transformed state, was carrying the Saya, Sango, and Miroku. Shippo stood on the cat demon's head while holding the monk's staff. Kagome stirred a bit in her sleep. Inuyasha had a look of concern on her face. "Are you in pain, Kagome? Just hang on there a bit longer?"
"Don't you worry. It's going to be okay," Shippo said, trying to put on a brave face.
"I've got to get everyone to a safe place. Right away," Inuyasha thought as they continued their journey to fin someplace safe for their friends. Inuyasha and Shippo have moved a great distance, but they still haven't found a safe enough place yet for their friends to rest and heal up.
"Inuyasha, I don't think it's wise to move them any further," the fox kit said, worriedly. "It will make the poison spread faster."
"Yeah, I know that, Shippo," Inuyasha said, slightly annoyed. "I also know that we can't stop now. The moment I left to go chase after Jakotsu, the Band of Seven attacked Kagome and the others. If they know these four can't fight, they are bound to come by and attack while our defenses are down."
"Yeah, but Inuyasha… If left untreated, the poison will-"
"I know that, too, Shippo! That's why I'm searching for a safe place to rest!" Inuyasha's ears twitched, and he immediately stopped. He stared off into the river.
"Inuyasha?" Shippo said, confused on why his silver-haired companion stopped so suddenly. Just then, razor-sharp, disk-like objects came hurling at them. "What the heck are those things?!"
"Shippo! Kirara! Get down!" They did as told and ducked, the disks missing them by mere inches. "It's them. The Band of Seven. There's no way I can fight them now." "Kirara, follow me." They dashed into the forest. "Feh, I bet those flying weapons of his won't be much use in the forest. The paused as they heard a loud 'bang' the next moment. They looked in the air to see giant mini bomb things. "What the…?" They exploded throughout the forest. The forest was on fire. "Dammit. Is he going to blow up the whole forest?" Inuyasha questioned.
"We're done for?" Shippo said in panic.
"Don't panic on me, Shippo. They don't where we are. They are firing randomly." "I have to get these four to safety," the half-dog demon inwardly thought.
An hour later and bombs were still exploded throughout the forest. Inuyasha tried to find the safest place for his friends to rest. They made it out of the forest, fortunately. "Look! A cave!" Shippo pointed out. Inuyasha set them all down one by one in the cave.
"Damn. The poison is spreading fast. At this rate…" He was unsure on what to do about his poisoned friends.
"Kagome… Miroku… Sango… Saya…" The fox kit looked he was about to burst into tears.
"Shippo, stay here and watch over them," the silver-haired hanyou ordered. "And don't even think about coming out."
"What are you going to do, Inuyasha?"
"'Do'? Feh! Isn't it obvious?" He raced out of the cave.
"Inuyasha…" Shippo's face turned into one of determination. "Don't worry! I'll do my best to protect with my life!" Kirara growled softly as she licked Sango's head.
"I'll show these guys who they're dealing with," Inuyasha said as he tried to find the attacker.
By seeing a bright light, he eventual came to an opening, only to see a blade reflecting in the sunlight. "Crap!" Inuyasha cursed, realizing his mistake. "This was a trap to lure me. Oh, no!"
Meanwhile back with Shippo and the others, the cave was being bombed by a humanoid machine man. Rocks were starting fall inside and out of the cave. He was trying to cave them in. "This is bad. Really bad," Shippo said in panic. "We'll be buried alive!" Kirara exited the cave to face this metal man. "Kirara!" Shippo called after her. The fire cat demon growled menacingly before jumping in the air, trying to pounce on the attacker. He shot off a grappling hook from his left hand. She dodged it, but it came back around and grabbed her backside. She was then slammed hard into wall above the cave. She whimpered slightly as she landed with a 'thud'. The fox kit was quivering in fear.
"I'll tear you all into mincemeat," the humanoid robot said in a somewhat robotic tone of voice. He fired off those flying disks of his.
"Wind Scar!" A blast of yellow demonic energy knocked the disks away.
"Inuyasha," Shippo said in slight relieve as said person landed in front of the cave.
"Are you two alright?" Inuyasha asked. Shippo nodded
"Yeah, we're both okay."
"Hey, you freak," he shouted as he turned back to the metal man. "How dare you trick me like that!"
"Inuyasha," the machine man said.
"Keh, you don't look human, so what are you?" the dog hanyou asked.
"I'm called Ginkotsu," Ginkotsu introduced himself.
"Gee, I love to sit down and hear your life's story," he said, sarcastically. "But my time is a bit short right now. So, I'm going to put an end to this!"
"So thoughtless of you to leave your friends to suffer from Mukotsu's poison," he mocked. "At this rate, they won't live past sundown."
"Sundown?" Inuyasha was confused. "Are you serious?"
"But don't worry. I'll make sure you're there to greet them on the other side." Ginkotsu fired off his flying disks while Inuyasha knocked them all away with Tessaiga.
"Kirara, get the others away from here right now!" he demanded. Ginkotsu tried to use his grappling hook again, only for Inuyasha to swing at it as they entered a deadlock.
"Inuyasha!" Shippo called as he flew away on Kirara with Kagome, Saya, Sango, and Miroku.
"I'm counting on you, Shippo." The silver-haired half-demon watched them fly off.
Kirara and Shippo were trying to find a safe place through the air. "Faster, Kirara! We've got to get them to safety!" He glanced around on the ground, but couldn't spot anything safe enough for his friends. "Where am I going find someplace safe enough?!" Kirara glanced around, and spotted a temple. She growled up at Shippo, and then nudged her head towards the direction of the temple. "Oh! A temple! Kirara take us down there!"
Kirara landed on the temple grounds. Shippo hopped off her back, and looked around. They heard footsteps behind them, and turned to see a monk in yellow and purple robes. "Um, excuse me?" Shippo said. Saya began to wake up to see herself on top off Kirara. Shippo was talking to the monk. Despite the friendly demeanor, Saya could see a slight hint of malice in his eyes. This guy was not what he claims to be. She tried to move, but her body was frozen. She tried to tell Shippo to get them away from here, but her voice wouldn't come out and she was still too weak to even talk.
"Shit," Saya thought. Her vision started to fade once more. She used every ounce of willpower she had to dig through her kimono, and pull out a couple of Guimave. "These are my last two. I hope they are enough." She quickly popped them into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. She glanced and around as best as she could, and noticed Inuyasha was nowhere near sight nor could she sense his presence. "Inuyasha, where the hell are you? What are you doing?" That was her last thought as she drifted back to the state of unconsciousness.
Back with Inuyasha' fight with Ginkotsu, Inuyasha was doing his best to dodge the disks while the chopped down trees. There was no opening for him to launch an attack. "Quit jumping around so much," Ginkotsu said, somewhat annoyed. "You don't want your friends to die alone now, do you?" He shot off the razor-sharp disks once again. Inuyasha did his best to block them, but was disk cut him in the shoulder. "Ops! Does it hurt?" Ginkotsu laughed.
"I'll show you what hurt means, Ginkotsu," Inuyasha fired back. He raised his sword up. "Wind-" He felt something stop from swinging his sword. He looked up to find himself and Tessaiga entangled in wires.
In the temple, Kagome started to regain consciousness. She saw Shippo staring down at her. "Kagome…" Shippo said.
"Shippo…tell me. Where are we?" Kagome asked weakly.
"In a temple," he answered. "They gave us shelter. Miroku and Sango are still unconscious."
"What about Inuyasha?" Kagome thought, worriedly.
"You're awake." She looked towards where the voice came from to see the monk standing by the doorway. "I'm so glad," he said, genuinely. "Now just relax and recuperate." The schoolgirl gasped as she saw a shard of the jewel in the monk's neck.
"A sacred jewel shard? Then this man…is one of the Band of Seven?!" she thought, horrified.
Inuyasha's sword was still wrapped around the wires. He tried pulling it, but to no avail. "What are these metal threads?" he wondered.
"I was warned to be careful of that sword of yours," Ginkotsu said. The half-dog demon looked around see the wires everywhere.
"These threads… They're all over the place."
"I'm sure of it," Kagome thought. "He has to be one of them." She struggled to move. "My body…" She tried to speak. She gasped slightly when she couldn't. "My voice…! It's gone!"
"What a pity," the monk said. "I understand you inhaled poison. You really shouldn't have been moved so soon after. All three of them are very weak. They won't be able to get for some time."
"Shippo, please! Don't you see?" Kagome pleaded inside her head. She flinched away as the man wiped her forehead. He smiled somewhat grimly as he placed an incense on the ground.
"You should sleep a little longer."
"I have to get away from this place." Shippo fell asleep. "That smell… Oh, no. I-Inuyasha. Please hurry." She, too, fell asleep.
"Do not worry. I won't let you die right away," the Band of Seven member thought. "Besides, if Inuyasha comes and finds you all dead, I won't get the answers I need."
Inuyasha's arms were being sliced bit by bit by the razor disks as he was unable to move. He dodged on disk…only for it to wrap around Tessaiga and pull on it, causing him to fall over. He was breathing very hard. "What do I do?" he thought as he looked around for some way to attack. "I know I can't use the Wind Scar. So, what can I do?" A smirk then grew on his face. "I got an idea." Tessaiga shrink into its katana form as the silver-haired dog hanyou sheathed it.
"Finally giving up, Inuyasha," Ginkotsu said, snidely.
"You shut up!" Inuyasha retorted. "I'm about to cut you into pieces, so prepare to die." He jumped through the wires.
"You should've stayed down." Ginkotsu fired a gun at Inuyasha, but he jumped and dodged. He even managed to avoid the disks, but still got a small cut on his cheek in the process. Ginkotsu missed him with his grappling hook. He tried to swing his sword, but realized the half-demon was no longer there.
"Up here, creep!" Inuyasha was in the air. "Now, I've got lots of room to give you a little taste of my Wind Scar. It's been nice knowing you. Wind Scar!" He swings his sword down, and a blast of yellow formed from it, and hit the metal man dead on. The blast created a giant hole, which Ginkotsu fell into…buried under rocks. Inuyasha looked at the sky to see the sun almost setting. "I've got to hurry to Kagome and the others." He raced off to find his friends before the sun settled.
(A/N: The end of chapter ten. I hoped you enjoyed! I know Ginkotsu always makes those strange sounds, but I don't want to write them down. They're so annoying, and annoying to write everytime he talks. As I said before, this is an Inuyasha/Saya pairing. Of course, there is going to be a bit of Inuyasha/Kagome moments in the beginning of the story, regrettable, but it will soon lean into Inuyasha/Saya. Mainly after that special moment or moments between the two. Inuyasha and Saya have a love/hate relationship. It's more hate than love right now, but the love will begin to grow. More like bickering friends antagonists towards one another, but soon begin to fall in love with each other. Except…there are some…obstacles along the way. I don't want to start smack dab into their relation, especially, if there's nothing to back it up as of yet. Anyway, please read and review! Give feedback on how this story is going, and see you next time!)