Alice: a new chapter...but still no new coat!
Bella: Alice...don't you think you're going a little too overboard? It is just a coat, after all...
Alice: it's not just a coat, Bella! It was the coat!
A1969: excuse her...she's not over her Dior coat yet.
Kagome: poor girl...she looks depressed.
Bella: it'll go away.
A1969: anyway, thanks to those who read and reviewed the previous chapter! Sorry about being so tardy, guys. I've literally drowned in school work.
Inuyash: then why are you still alive?
A1969: whatever. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
-o-Chapter Twelve-o-
-Simultaneous-
-x-Renesmee-x-
I still can't believe that I'd done it!
It was still so hard to believe that I'd managed to suppress the raging thirst I'd felt...wait till Edward hears about this! I was still exuberant as I made my way towards the Bone Eaters' well. I knew my exuberance was somewhat exaggerated, but I just couldn't help it! I mean, I just managed to overcome my desire, sort of like a heroin addict turning down the drug—that should amount to something!
"Ness?" Rosalie asked, when I got to the clearing. She and Emmett were lounging near the well, while Alice and Jasper were basking underneath the shadow of a few trees. The moment I arrived, they automatically surrounded me. "Why are you here? Where're Edward and the others?"
"Did you find Sesshoumaru?" Jasper asked.
I blinked. "Yeah," I admitted.
"And?" Jasper asked. "Did he say anything about...?"
I flushed and looked down. "Well," I said hesitantly. "It was like this...Edward sent me back with you guys, because he thought it would be better for me...and then...on my way here, I ran into Sesshoumaru."
All the vampires looked at me, their eyes narrowed. "And you're still alive," Jasper said, nodding. Alice whacked him on the head, her blow resounding like a falling tree. "Which is good," he added.
"It's a miracle you got away from him unscathed!" Rosalie said. There was genuine worry in her eyes.
I shrugged. "Well...I sort of...resisted."
Jasper raised his eyebrows. "You resisted...?" There was a faraway look in his eyes, and Alice wrapped an arm comfortingly around his shoulders. I felt uneasy. Jasper—as everyone knew—always had problems with our special diet, more so since he had met Kagome.
"It wasn't easy," I reassured him. "Nearly killed me to do it."
Emmett laughed, and the others slowly joined in. "Anyway," Rosalie said once they had quieted down. "Edward and the others are out looking for Sesshoumaru, unaware that you found him. Very good, Renesmee."
"Is it just me, or does Ness seem to have a knack for attracting trouble?" Emmett muttered. "First, the Volturi, now demons...Yeesh, you take after Bella!" Rosalie hit him unceremoniously on the head, her eyes narrowed.
I felt guilty. Well...it wasn't my fault that my luck turned out to be as bad as mom's when she was still a human...
"Enough of this!" Jasper said. "Come on, Emmett—let's go find Edward and the others and tell them about Ness's little run in." He turned to Alice. "Will you be alright?"
"Of course!" she pouted. "Just make sure you will take care."
Jasper nodded once. "Can you see where Edward and the others might be?"
Alice grimaced. "I can't—thanks to Inuyasha and his demon friends."
Jasper nodded again before turning to dart into the forest, Emmett following closely behind him.
"So Ness—how was it?" Alice asked, perching herself on the well, her eyes fixed intently on me.
I sighed and sat beside the well, leaning my back against the wood. "Hard," I muttered, remembering my earlier confrontation with Sesshoumaru. "More than hard—it was unbearably excruciating."
Rosalie clicked her tongue as she sat down next to me. "How did you restrain yourself?" It was no surprise that she'd ask. After all, she'd never met anyone who appealed to her like Sesshoumaru appealed to me.
I looked up at the afternoon sky, just as a sparrow darted overhead. It was a moment before I answered her question. "It was because of Jake, actually."
Alice looked down at me, directly meeting my gaze, and blocking my view of the sky. "How'd the dog help?" she wondered.
"I kept thinking...if I died, Jake would be despondent. I didn't want that," I explained. "Knowing Jake would depressed...I wanted to protect him from that kind of sadness, so I forced myself to think of Jake while I was with Sesshoumaru."
"It seems that dog has his uses after all," Rosalie muttered, somewhat grudgingly.
"You know, you never really did tell us what Sesshoumaru said about his blood," Alice said.
"I'm sure it would have been an interesting conversation."
Rosalie and Alice were suddenly in front of me in half a second flat. I was suddenly on my feet, my mind racing. He was unexpected. We had no warning, not even of his scent and of his footsteps. Silent as a shadow, and just as menacing.
"You," Alice and Rosalie growled in unison.
My pulse raced as a familiar figure emerged from the shadow of the trees through which Emmett and Jasper had vanished earlier. A figure I'd come to be frightened of...
"Naraku," I said.
-o-Kagome-o-
"Still no sign of that dratted Sesshoumaru anywhere!" Inuyasha complained.
I sighed. It had been the...eighth or ninth time that he had complained. I wasn't quite sure anymore. Inuyasha was walking beside me, his arms crossed, a scowl on his face. In front of us were Miroku and Sango, both of whom appeared humoured at Inuyasha's flustered expression. Behind us were Edward and Bella. Jacob, when he had learned that Edward had sent Ness to the Well, immediately left in order to be where Ness was.
"Try sniffing him out, why don't you?" I offered.
Inuyasha exhaled. "You don't think I've tried that?" He raised an eyebrow at me. "You do realize there're times when he just feels like hiding?"
"Hiding?" Edward scoffed. "Is he a coward that he'd have to hide?" There was pure resentment in his voice.
It was Miroku who sort of defended Sesshoumaru. "Sesshoumaru rarely hides," he said, glancing behind him at Edward. "What Inuyasha referred to was Sesshoumaru hiding both his scent and his aura...sealing it away, if you will, to gain the element of surprise."
Edward and Bella glanced at each other. "Hiding both his scent and his presence," Edward muttered. Bella said nothing.
We fell quiet as we continued trekking through the forest. The trees grew denser, sunlight filtering through the canopy and casting shadows around us. Hidden among the leaves of the trees were sparrows, their incessant twittering the only sound in the forest.
"Why don't we split up?" Shippou, perched on my shoulder, offered. "I mean, Inuyasha doesn't look as though he can stand it anymore."
"Eh?" I looked at Inuyasha. He was wrinkling his nose, which was slightly reddened. "Do you...have a cold?" I felt incredulous.
"Demons don't get sick," Inuyasha snapped. "But something stinks back here!" He glanced pointedly behind him, at Edward and Bella, both of whom chuckled. Strange, Edward and Bella smelled wonderful. To me, at least.
"You don't smell any better, dog," Edward pointed out. "Which is why we aren't breathing." Now that I looked closely at them, their chests didn't appear to be moving.
"Um, how long can you hold you breaths?" I dared to ask.
"Indefinitely," Bella said, shrugging as though it was no big deal. I tried not to let the no breathing thing creep me out. Her golden eyes narrowed slightly. "You know, we really should split up. It's been three hours since we started looking, and still no sign of Sesshoumaru."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" a sneering voice asked.
I gasped and looked up. Hakudoshi and Kagura were hovering high above us, both enclosed in the former's barrier. Hakudoshi was mounted on Entei, while Kagura rode on her feather.
"Hakudoshi!" Inuyasha snarled.
Hakudoshi chuckled. "Yo, Inuyasha," he sneered, his lavender eyes fixed solely on Inuyasha.
"Who are they?" Bella asked.
"Hakudoshi and Kagura," I answered, without looking at her. "They're two of Naraku's incarnations."
Both vampires were silent, their piercing amber eyes fixed on the duo. "Oh?" Hakudoshi said, sounding amused, his eyes focused on Edward and Bella. "These your new friends, Inuyasha?" He chuckled. "Naraku was right."
"What's your business this time, Hakudoshi?" Miroku demanded, stepping forward, tensed and ready.
"We're here to get the Sacred Jewel shard, of course," Hakudoshi said. "That much should be obvious, monk." I reflexively took a step back. I could feel the weight of the diamond that housed the Sacred Jewel shard in my pocket.
Inuyasha drew out his Tessaiga. "Well, you can't have it!" So saying, he unleashed Adamant Barrage at Hakudoshi. Spears of adamant shot towards Hakudoshi and Kagura. There was a loud boom accompanied by a flash of light as the spears of adamant rammed into Hakudoshi's barrier, obliterating it.
"What?!" Inuyasha shouted. Hakudoshi's barrier was still intact!
"Impossible!" Miroku exclaimed.
"Inuayasha's Adamant Barrage should have destroyed Hakudoshi's barrier!" Sango yelled.
"Effective," Edward said sarcastically.
Inuyasha turned to him, rage in his eyes. "Shut up!" he snapped, turning his attention back to Hakudoshi and Kagura.
"Did you honestly think that, with your new friends, Naraku would send us without aid?" Hakudoshi grinned and hand his palm to reveal a stone sized, diamond resting on his palm. It wasn't the fragment of diamond that caught everyone's attention—it was what inside the diamond.
"That's...!" Miroku exclaimed, too overwhelmed to finish his own sentence.
My own eyes widened in shock. Inside the diamond, was a Sacred Jewel shard!
A Sacred Jewel shard...within the diamond? Like the one I had with me...How? Why? What did this mean? What were these diamonds that encased the Sacred Jewel shards? And how did Hakudoshi...no, how did Naraku come by one? The questions were suddenly endless...
"Well, Inuyasha?" Hakudoshi said, tucking the shard into his sleeve. "Hand over your jewel shard. If you don't...heh, well, you'll only be prolonging your agony."
"Come and get it!" Inuyasha shouted. He suddenly lunged into the air, his Tessaiga aimed at Hakudoshi's barrier.
"Heh." Hakudoshi grinned and parried Inuyasha's Tessaiga with his naginata, which phased through his barrier. There was a clang of steel on steel as Tessaiga and the naginata clashed, sending sparks into the air. Entei whinnied, hoping to aid his master in the fight, but didn't dare, not without the white child's permission. "Kagura!" Hakudoshi ordered as another clang echoed throughout the forest. "Take care of them!"
"With pleasure." Kagura grinned and opened her fan, her red eyes glinting maliciously. "Dance of Blades!"
"Watch out!" Sango and Miroku both jumped back to avoid the blast of deadly wind that Kagura unleashed.
Two cold hands suddenly grabbed my shoulders. "Hold on to me." It was Bella. She scooped me into her stone arms and jumped back, away from Kagura's attack. Whoa! In a fraction of a second, Bella landed on the opposite end of the wide clearing and was already depositing me on the ground.
I was going to be sick. That was fast—faster than Inuyasha, even. "You stay here!" Bella said. I knew she was just concerned for my safety, but I couldn't help it—I felt annoyed. She didn't think I knew how to fight, did she? Not wanting to argue, though, I only nodded and watched as Bella sped back towards where the battle raged the most.
Hakudoshi and Inuyasha were still fighting, their weapons clashing vigorously. "Entei!" Hakudoshi said. A second later, the white child leapt off his horse, towards the ground. He exchanged blows with Inuyasha as he landed on the forest floor, his barrier protecting him from Tessaiga. Their blades continued clashing, neither side backing down.
I turned my gaze towards Miroku, Sango, Bella and Edward. The four of them were taking Kagura head on. You'd have thought that they would have taken her down easily, but that wasn't the case—she was hovering in midair, enclosed in a stationary barrier of Hakudoshi's. Hm...Since when did Hakudoshi care enough for Kagura to create another barrier to protect her?
"Dance of Blades!" Kagura shouted. Like Hakudoshi's naginata, her attack went through the barrier, towards Miroku and the others. They easily dodged the wind blades.
"Kirara!" Sango shouted. With a burst of flame, Kirara jumped off Sango's shoulder and transformed. Sango and Miroku mounted her and she flew into the air, towards Kagura.
"Pests!" she hissed. "Dance of the Dragon!"
Miroku and Sango wove their way through the tornadoes that threatened to hit them. "Watch out!" I shouted at Edward and Bella. Kagura's tornadoes were heading right for them!
Edward and Bella glanced at each other and nodded. What the hell?! Weren't they going to dodge...? My mouth was agape as I saw the tornadoes close in on them, but they held their ground.
"Edward, Bella!" I shouted. They held their ground, and were immediately swallowed up by the tornadoes.
"No!" Miroku shouted, his eyes on the swirling vortex.
Kagura laughed. "Arrogant fools! Nothing can withstand the wind...!" Before she could finish her sentence, two white blurs shot from the tornadoes towards her. The blurs rammed into her barrier without effect and fell to the ground.
"We've seen worse," Edward pointed out, glaring up at Kagura as he and Bella landed gracefully on the ground.
"They're...alright," Sango said, sounding somewhat awed.
"Watch out!" Bella warned.
Entei flew behind Sango and Miroku, flames puffing from his nostrils. The demon horse let out a loud whinny and unleashed a jet of flame towards Miroku and Sango. "Kirara!" Sango shouted. Kirara quickly flew higher to dodge the flame. Entei chased them, firing jets of flame at them.
"And just where do you think you're looking?" Kagura taunted as sent more of her wind blades at Edward and Bella. Both vampires easily dodged Kagura's attack. Edward suddenly shot towards Kagura, ramming hard against the barrier that protected her. He was repelled by the barrier and flew through the air, falling gracefully to the ground on both feet.
"That barrier's hard," Edward muttered.
Kagura laughed. "Fools!" she snapped. "Do you think you can break through this barrier? Don't make me laugh!"
Something told me it was time to help. I set down Shippou, who clung to my leg for dear life. I notched an arrow to my bow and pointed it straight at Kagura's barrier, praying that it would be enough to weaken it. Spiritual energy flowed from me to the arrow, giving it a light purple glow.
"Kagura!" I shouted.
They turned their attention to me. I released the arrow and it sped towards the barrier. There was a brilliant flash of light as the arrow struck the barrier. The barrier wavered but, to my dismay, it did not vanish. Guess I wasn't strong enough...
"Now!" Edward suddenly lunged towards the wavering barrier. The moment he came into contact with the barrier, the barrier shattered, reminding me of the moment when I had shattered the Sacred Jewel with my arrow...
"You got her!" Shippou cheered as Kagura's barrier completely vanished, leaving her unprotected.
Kagura grimaced, her glare directed at me. "You meddlesome fool!" she snarled. "Dance of Blades!"
My eyes widened as her wind blades screeched towards me. Panic overwhelmed reason and I rolled to one side to dodge the wind blades, scratching my cheek as I hit the ground. "Leave her alone!" Edward and Bell both jumped towards her, their vampire strength propelling them like graceful bullets towards the stunned wind witch. Kagura willed her feather higher, and it was by a hairsbreadth that Edward and Bella missed her. Both vampires landed gracefully back on the ground, their amber gazes fixed on Kagura.
Kagura, whose own red gaze was still fixed on me. "Dance of the Dragon!" she screeched. I gasped as her tornadoes sped towards me. There was no way I could dodge that...Instinct told me to fire a purifying arrow at the wind, but, like earlier, panic overrode reason and my hands stayed frozen at my side...
"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted. But he couldn't reach me—Hakudoshi was still keeping him busy...
"Kagome!" Miroku, Sango...Even Edward and Bella...
And then, the ground vanished beneath me.
I felt a pair of cold arms scoop me off the ground, cold arms that leapt with blinding and nauseating speed into the air, towards the other side of the clearing, away from Kagura's tornadoes which tore at the trees...
But both Edward and Bella were standing at the opposite end of the clearing, their eyes fixed with surprise on me and my savior, whose arms still held me close to him. I looked up. Surprise and shock coursed through me.
Amber eyes looked down at me with concern. "You alright?" he asked.
"Jasper!"
-x-Renesmee-x-
Naraku's smirk grew as he stepped out of the shadows, his red eyes fixed solely on me.
"What do you want?" Rosalie snarled.
Naraku smirked, his gaze riveting from me to Rosalie. "That girl both of you protect," he said, his gaze fixed on her. "And, perhaps I shall take you as well." There was desire in his eyes.
Rosalie involuntarily cringed in disgust. But her disgust was nothing compared to what I was feeling.
Me.
Naraku had come for me. Why?
As though she had heard my thoughts, Alice spoke up. "What do you want with Renesmee?" she demanded, a protective glint in her eyes. I knew it would be difficult for Alice to fight without her ability to know her opponent's every move, so I hoped it wouldn't come to a fight...
Naraku chuckled. I heard never heard anyone, not even Aro, chuckle with so much malice in his voice. "Do you honestly think that I would impart that kind of information?" he asked, sounding amused.
Rosalie and Alice growled at him. "Ness," Alice said, switching to English, certain that Naraku couldn't understand. "When I say so, I want you to run, got it?"
I shook my head. "I'd never leave you two behind!"
Alice didn't argue. She looked back at Naraku, who regarded us with nothing but amusement in his eyes. He took a step towards us.
What happened next, happened in a blur. If it weren't for the fact that I was half-vampire, I would have missed it. The moment Naraku's foot hit the earth, Alice and Rosalie lunged towards him, appearing as nothing more than two blurs. Naraku smirked, held his arms out wide as a barrier materialized in front of him, protecting him from Rosalie and Alice. Alice and Rosalie rammed into the barrier, but instead of being repelled by the barrier, the barrier appeared to absorb them...
"Alice, Rosalie!" I shouted. Their fists, extended towards Naraku, were stuck in the barrier, as though they were being absorbed. What the heck?
Alice and Rosalie growled, trying with all their vampire might to draw their fists away from the barrier, but it was futile. Naraku chuckled, and to our surprise, he stepped out of his barrier.
"You think you're so invulnerable," Naraku said, approaching Rosalie. He smirked at her as she tried to claw at him with her other hand. "You think that with your inhuman strength and marble flesh that no one will be able to harm you." He leaned in towards Rosalie, his red eyes glinting with pure malice. "Well, it's time for you to discover that there are far stronger things on this land than you." He pulled away from her, and she looked at him with such hate in her eyes, that it made the usually beautiful Rosalie look...ugly.
Naraku smirked and moved away from them. His eyes landed on me.
"Ness, run!" Alice screeched, still struggling to free herself from the barrier.
Naraku grinned menacingly at me as he approached, his stride confident. "You keep away!" I snapped, taking a step back. Fear crept through me as he took another step towards me.
"I don't think you'll run," Naraku said, confident. "Not when your two dear aunts are with me."
He was right. I couldn't leave Alice and Rosalie, despite the fact that every fibre in my body was screaming for me to run.
"Ness, run!" Rosalie screamed, looking back at us from over her shoulder. "Don't mind us, we can take care of ourselves—just run!"
"And leave you two behind?!" Naraku was suddenly in front of me.
I squealed and my vampire instincts kicked in. I dodged his extended hand, leapt easily over him and landed behind Alice and Rosalie. "You idiot, run!" Rosalie snapped, still struggling to free herself from the barrier.
I grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her hand out of the barrier, but to no avail. "Stupid...thing!" I snarled. I suddenly felt something slimy wrap around my waist, drawing me away from Rosalie and towards Naraku.
"Ness!" Alice and Rosalie screamed as Naraku's tentacles drew me towards him.
"Let me go, you creep!" I snapped, struggling against the squishy tentacles that held me. Two more shot out from behind Naraku, grasping my wrists and preventing me from struggling.
"Let go of her!" Alice shouted. "What could she have that you would possibly want?!"
Naraku drew me close to him. So close that our noses were only inches away. "Aside from beauty?" he asked maliciously. "You have an ability that no one else does."
Was he referring to my ability to show others my thoughts? "I doubt I'd be useful!" I snarled, still thrashing. "Let me go!"
"Oh, you'll be useful," Naraku said, "very useful indeed." I had a sinking suspicion that there was a double meaning behind his words, a double meaning that I dare not even analyze.
Naraku chuckled. "Now, you're coming with me."
"No! Let me—!"
But before I could finish my sentence, a russet colored blur shot out of the forest and rammed hard against Naraku. Naraku's tentacles dropped me to the ground as he was thrown towards the trees. There was a loud groan as he crashed against a tree, making a few leaves fall to the ground.
A russet colored wolf stood protectively in front of me, growling menacingly at Naraku. "Jacob!" I exclaimed. Already, the feeling of safety enveloped me. Jake was here—we were saved.
"Just in the nick of time, dog!" Rosalie said. For once, she sounded thankful.
Naraku chuckled as he got to his feet, his red eyes fixed intently on Jacob. "So, this is your so-called protector," Naraku said.
Jacob growled at him, crouching low. To anyone else, a wolf the size of a bear would have paralyzed you on the spot, but for the demon Naraku...he only chuckled, seemingly amused by Jacob's show of bravado. I was suddenly worried for Jacob, and the sense of safety I'd felt earlier slowly evaporated as realization hit me.
Jacob—werewolf.
Naraku—demon.
"Jake, please be careful!" I pleaded.
He turned his great shaggy head to look at me. He snorted, as though my entreaty insulted him, then he turned his attention back to Naraku. Without warning, Jake lunged towards Naraku, his fangs bared. Naraku only grinned, not even bother to dodge. Jake rammed into him, sinking his fangs deep into Naraku's shoulder. Instead of the agonized cry Jake's bite inflicted, I only heard an amused chuckle coming from Naraku.
A second later Jake yelped in pain.
My eyes widened in horror and shock as miasma spewed from the wound Jake inflicted on Naraku. "Jake!" I screamed. Jake was thrown back by the miasma. He fell on the ground, his eyes closed and his legs twitching. He growled softly in agony.
"JACOB!" I screeched. He didn't respond—he was still twitching.
Something inside of me snapped.
Seeing Jacob writhing in pain on the ground awakened something inside of me, something I never felt before...
Rage. Pure rage.
How dare he harm Jacob?!
I suddenly found myself crouching down to my hunting position. I snarled at Naraku, suddenly feeling grateful for the sense of strength Sesshoumaru's blood gave me. His blood pulsed through my system and, despite being a small quantity, it gave me more strength than I could have possibly hoped for.
I felt powerful.
I growled at Naraku as I felt strength coursing through me. Naraku only regarded me with an amused smirk.
"Ness, run!" Alice shouted. I could still hear her struggling against the unyielding barrier.
"Hate me," Naraku jeered. "After all...my miasma will kill your dear Jacob."
My eyes widened and, for a second, I felt more than fearful. I threw a sideways glance at my Jake. He was still lying on the ground, his legs twitching feebly. Getting weaker.
"NO!" Before I could even think, I launched myself towards Naraku. I felt myself ram into his disgusting body, felt the soft splash of acidic miasma on me. Naraku was once again thrown back, but instead of crashing into the trees, he merely landed gracefully on his feet, a malicious smirk plastered on his face.
I growled as I slowly approached him, half-crouched like a vampire stalking her prey. Naraku chuckled again. "Do you feel hate coursing throughout your being, Renesmee?" he asked.
My only response was to growl at him. "Beautiful," he said. "The hate that I feel emanating from you is beautiful." Before I could decide that he was completely psycho, he drew something from the sleeve of his kimono, something small, black, incomplete...
"The Sacred Jewel desires your hatred," he said.
"SHUT UP!" I snarled as I threw myself at him with blinding speed. He only grinned. A small part of my mind asked why he wasn't even bothering to dodge me, but the major part of mind was fixed on one thing, and one thing only...
Kill the wretch that had dared to harm my Jacob.
As I launched myself at him, his tentacles suddenly shot out from behind and him towards me. With lightning speed I jumped over his tentacles, landed back on the ground, and continued to run towards him. I was consumed with the overwhelming desire for his blood in revenge...
More tentacles suddenly shot out from behind him. I stopped and slashed at them with my marble hands. Pieces of slimy tentacle fell at my feet, and I continued to charge towards Naraku.
Something suddenly wrapped around my ankle, something slimy...
I stopped in my tracks and glanced down. Pieces of the tentacles I had cut earlier had wrapped themselves around my jean covered legs, almost up to my knees. Naraku chuckled. "That's what I like about emotions," he said pleasantly as I realized, with horror, what the tentacles were doing. "They blind you, weaken you. And now, you will pay the price—my tentacles will absorb you."
"No!" Alice and Rosalie shrieked.
Pieces of tentacle suddenly leapt towards me, clinging to my arms. I swiped at them with my hands, easily prying them off. Pieces of tentacle fell into pieces on the ground...But the more I cut, the more clung to me, until I felt something different from the vengeful rage I'd felt earlier...
Fear.
These tentacles were going to absorb me...
I desperately cut at them, but the more I cut them, the more they clung.
Panic.
"Renesmee!" Alice and Rosalie shouted in unison. Tentacles clung to my neck, my arms, my legs, my face, obscuring my vision...and then...
Darkness.
-o-Kagome-o-
"Jasper?!"
I looked up at Jasper, who was looking down at me with a guarded expression. Jasper...he had saved me...
"You alright?" he asked again, as he set me down on the ground.
Stunned, I nodded at him. "Stay here!" he ordered as he and Emmett charged into the heat of the battle. Both Jasper and Emmett rushed to help Edward and Bella. I should have watched the fight, but I couldn't—I was far too stunned with what had happened to pay attention to the fight raging in front of me...
Jasper had saved me.
I had always thought of Jasper as different among the Cullens. Among the Cullens, he was the only one who had a hard time with staving off the desire for human blood, especially since he had met me. Every time he looked at me, I always had a feeling of danger, as though he was about to lunge at any second. I had thought—and this thought made me feel guilty—that Jasper was more of a...monster than the other Cullens...
I guess I was wrong.
"Adamant Barrage!" I was snapped out of my thoughts by Inuyasha's voice. I looked up just in time to see Inuyasha unleash a hoard of adamant at Hakudoshi, who only smirked and opened his arms wide, as though welcoming the onslaught.
The Adamant Barrage tore right through Hakudoshi, reducing him to nothing more than a head floating high above Inuyasha. He chuckled.
"Kagura, enough!" he said, looking towards Kagura. The wind witch was hovering high above the ground, making sure that there was enough height to separate her from Edward and the other Cullens.
What did he...mean?
A second later, we knew.
What happened next happened so fast, my human eyes were barely able to make sense of it. Edward glanced from Hakudoshi, his eyes narrowed, trying to make sense of the boy's words. A fraction of a second later, his eyes widened in shock, and he looked at Bella. Another fraction of a second later, he pushed her away from him with all his might.
Bella was nothing more than a blur as she was sent crashing into a majestic oak tree. The tree shuddered and, with a loud groan, it crashed into the other trees behind it. Indignation suddenly swept through me. Edward had harmed Bella...?
But that wasn't the case. A second after he had pushed Bella away, a pink barrier materialized around Edward, Emmett and Jasper, trapping them.
"Edward!" Bella shrieked, her bell voice escalating several octaves.
Hakudoshi chuckled as another barrier materialized around him and Kagura. Edward and the others struggled to break the barrier, but even with their combined vampire strength, it was useless.
"Let them go!" Inuyasha roared as Tessaiga was covered with adamant. "Adamant Barrage!"
Spears of adamant shot towards the barrier that held Edward and the others. There was a loud boom as the adamant crashed against the barrier...all to no avail.
"NO!" Bella launched herself towards the barrier, which proved a wasted effort. She crashed against the barrier and fell back to the ground, landing gracefully on her feet.
"Bella, don't!" Edward said, looking down at her from his prison.
"NO!" she shrieked.
My eyes suddenly widened. My arrows! I quickly notched an arrow to my bow, but before I could let the holy arrow fly, Hakudoshi's voice cut through the afternoon like a knife. "Entei, stop her!"
The fire demon horse, now safe within Hakudoshi's barrier, unleashed a jet of flame that phased through the barrier and towards me. My eyes widened in shock as I felt the heat of the flames hurtling towards me.
"Kagome!" Once again, the ground vanished beneath my feet. But the arms that held me weren't the cold arms of a vampire.
"Inuyasha!" I gasped as he landed lightly on the ground.
"Are you alright?" he asked, setting me down on my feet.
"Yes!" I gasped. "Quick! Help Edward and the others!"
Inuyasha sped towards the barrier, Tessaiga held at the ready. Miroku and Sango were trying fruitlessly to break the barrier.
"Not today, Inuyasha!" Hakudoshi sneered.
Miasma suddenly erupted from Hakudoshi's barrier, wrapping around his barrier as well as the barrier that held the Cullens.
"See ya, Inuyasha!" With a final sneer, the miasma swirled around the two barriers...
And then they were gone. Edward...Jasper...Emmett...gone. The clearing was filled with stunned silence, a silence that, seconds later, was broken only by the mournful voice of an angel in lament, a voice that seemed to pierce through me, a voice that was filled with pain.
"Edward!" Bella shrieked.
-x-Renesmee-x-
I was surrounded by nothing but darkness.
I was trapped, surrounded by Naraku's tentacles.
I could hear nothing. It was as though I had been placed in a sensory deprivation chamber—no sight, sound, smell, sensation...nothing. Nothing but darkness. I couldn't even breathe. Wait...I was wrong...I could feel...I could feel the sliminess of Naraku's tentacles as they tightened their hold on me. I could hear the pounding of my heart, fluttering like the wings of a humming bird.
My heart wasn't the only thing I heard.
Beyond the wall of flesh that encompassed me, I heard something else.
A low growl, and the sound of fleshy tentacles tearing...a second later...
Light!
I gasped for air as I fell through a tear in the tentacles. I felt myself fall to the ground, inhaling lungfuls of air. Something suddenly buried itself in my slime soaked hair.
"Jacob!" I gasped, as I turned my head. The great wolf placed its head lightly on mine, as though it wanted to embrace me. I could feel relief radiating off him.
"How sweet," Naraku sneered I shakily stood up. In the blink of an eye, Jacob was suddenly in front of me, growling at Naraku, his fur bristling in warning.
"Jacob, Renesmee—run!" Alice and Rosalie had both given up struggling against the barrier, and their eyes were fixed on us.
Jacob didn't move. He was still growling at Naraku. He suddenly turned his great head towards me, the message in his eyes all too clear.
"No way in hell am I leaving you behind!" I snapped.
He growled softly at me. "I'd never—Jake, watch out!"
Naraku's tentacles suddenly shot towards Jacob. The next thing I heard was a loud yelp as Jake was thrown off his feet and into the air. "Jacob!" I shrieked as he fell to the ground with a loud thud. The moment I heard that thud, it was as if my heart was slowly twisting in my chest...
"Jake!" I shrieked as I ran to him. I knelt beside him, not caring that Naraku was chuckling maniacally, that Alice and Rosalie were both screaming obscenities at Naraku. All I cared about was Jake.
Jake, who lay motionless on the ground. I placed my both my hands on his warm mane of fur. He was unconscious...No!!! Something like a little fall couldn't knock him unconscious...Jacob lay on the ground, his eyes closed, his tongue hanging out. His breathing...no!!! His breathing was...shallow, labored...
"What did you do to him?!" I shrieked looking at Naraku. I did not get up.
Naraku chuckled as he took a step towards us. "The miasma, of course," he said. In the background, I could hear Rosalie and Alice screaming at me to run away. But I couldn't run—the thought of leaving Jake was unendurable. "His life will be cut short—and so will yours."
Instead of tentacles, long pincer like bones burst from his back, heading with deadly speed towards me. "Ness!" Alice and Rosalie shrieked.
I closed my eyes and buried my face in Jacob's fur, ignoring my instinct to run. I couldn't run—not with Jacob...dying. If he was dying...if he would die...what was the point in living?
I could hear the whiz of air as Naraku's bones rushed towards me. These bones...I was sure they would be able to cut through my vampire flesh, pierce me.
I didn't care.
Jake was dying. If he died, I wanted to die, too...
"Renesmee, no!" Alice's voice...would that be the last thing I heard? I clenched Jake's fur tightly. Jake...we would be together, no matter what—even in death.
Another sound suddenly whizzed through the air. A hiss. The hiss of a blade being slashed through the air. A second later, there was a loud sound, as though knife was cutting through wood...
Death did not come.
"You!" I heard Naraku say.
Huh? Slowly, I raised my head off of Jake's fur, and looked up. My eyes widened in shock.
"Sesshoumaru?!" I gasped.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
A1969: I'm sorry if it isn't so long—it would have been longer, but I felt an irresistible urge to update.
Alice: speaking of urges...
A1969: drop it, Alice—the coat's gone. Someone else bought it already!
Alice: what?! NO! Who?! I'll...!
Bella: you wanna know who bought it?
Kagome: don't tell her!
Bella: of course not!
Alice: you're all horrid!
A1969: anyway...sorry for the late update! Hope you guys review!
