Disclaimer: The characters and world of InuYasha are not mine, they are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. The Alien characters and movies are not mine either. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Author's note: thanks for your reviews Moon-Baby, WhiteKnight and FluffySessho. I hope you continue reading and tell me if or when something is off! To everyone who made it up to chapter 12, know that reviews are highly appreciated!
Chapter 12
The group of young travellers hit the road on the following afternoon, their packages heavy with the rewards offered by the Lord and his son and their appetites satisfied for days. A feast had been set up in their honor and, as they couldn't stay any longer, the Lord had pushed his retainers and maids so hard that by noon everything was ready for celebration. The noble families of the town had been invited, alongside the heroes who exorcised the young princess, and her betrothal to the young son of the Lord had been announced during the grand meal.
"May I say, dear friends, that things truly turned out for the better this time? Now we can go back to tracking our enemy without worrying about how we will eat or where we will sleep for weeks!" exclaimed the monk joyfully, patting the purse hidden in his robes, heavy with coins.
"Feh! If you want my opinion bouzo, I say that all this was too much trouble for what we gained. If you puny humans weren't so fragile, we wouldn't even need this money to begin with. We would do much better hunting our food and sleeping outside in the open!"
"Inuyasha, how can you be so rude? We did great, after all! Without us, can you imagine what would have happened to the poor Ines?" commented Kagome.
"As if I care… At least we wouldn't have had to listen to the insanities that came out of the mouths of these two crazy women!"
"Well, my friend, I have to say that those two were pretty interesting at times, and even eye opening! Yes, it was a real awakening to meet them!"
A loud crack was heard as the heavy, bone boomerang of the youkai slayer met with Miroku's skull. The man faltered in his steps and ended up lying on his back in the middle of the road, unconscious.
"Sango! Wasn't it a little too much? I didn't even saw him grope you!" said the small fox child, perched on the shoulder of the slayer.
"Hear me, wench: I will not carry this lecher around now that you rendered him unconscious! Deal with it!"
The irate hanyou jumped ahead, leaving his friends a good fifty feet behind him.
"Kagome-san, I say he received what he deserves. Let him right there; he will join us when he'll come around. This monk is tough."
As to confirm the slayer's words, the said monk groaned and slowly raised his right hand to the back of his head, palpating the bump that was quickly growing there. Then he opened his eyes, to be faced with Sango's angered features.
"Ow. Am I dead? Is this beauty an angel?"
The vein on Sango's forehead seemed to bulge out of her skin as Miroku closed his eyes again.
"Beautiful angel, would you bear my child?"
She stomped angrily away from the lecher, joining with Inuyasha further down the road, while Kagome helped the monk on his feet.
"You never learn, you idiot, Miroku! Now she is truly angry." The high-perched voice of Shippo resonated in his skull as bells and he massaged his temples, trying his best not to wince.
"Yet, Shippo, I won't go back on what I said. This night was one of a kind."
Looking at him with resigned eyes, Kagome nodded her assent.
"Yes, I'm glad that we stayed and met with Kitana-san. Without her we wouldn't have succeeded, and she would have failed without us all the same. It was a real teamwork! I wonder if we will meet again."
The monk rose and nodded, agreeing with the young priestess before turning to join the rest of their group.
"The expectance of such a meeting brings joy to this humble monk, Kagome-san. That it does!"
Nursing his bruised head, the monk recalled the events that played out on the previous night.
SSSSS
Under the touch of Kagome's sacred powers, the fragment of the jewel embedded in the girl's shoulder emerged from the skin, its deep purple color turning to a pure pinkish white one. She grabbed it and put it in the jar around her neck, before returning her attention to the princess.
It didn't take long for the girl to come back to her senses, Kitana's poison finally reaching the end of its efficacy. Her greenish-grey eyes slowly opened to meet with three pairs of eyes full of concern; a young human girl, a human monk that her hazy mind seemed to associate with danger, and a black skinned female youkai with eyes of pure gold.
"You…"
Her small voice whispered this word, and then her eyes flew wide open.
"Oh no! You… you truly exist! I thought it was all a dream…"
The young girl closed her eyes again, tightly. Puzzled, the monk and miko looked at each other, before returning their focus on the princess.
"Ines, you are not dreaming, not now, not then. You have been manipulated, haven't you?" asked gently a concerned Kitana.
Sango kneeled between Miroku and Kagome, dropping her katana to the ground, and soon Inuyasha himself stopped acting uninterested and leaned forward to look at the girl.
As she opened up her eyes once again, she slowly reached for Kitana's arm. The ebony creature took hold of her arm and helped her to sit, before releasing her.
"I… I don't know… It is so weird…"
She directed her plain eyes to the Buddhist monk sat not far from her, furrowing her brows.
"If she was not a dream, then you are not one either… Did you really hit me with a staff, monk?"
Miroku smiled guiltily, rubbing the back of his neck with his bead-covered hand.
"Well, you see, you were possessed and I had to try something…"
Kitana took the attention of the princess back to her, before she could have the chance to throw a fit of anger toward the monk for his behavior.
"Tell me, Ines … You were not acting by yourself, weren't you? Someone was telling you what to do, is that it?"
The girl's eyes became charged with unshed tears, glistening under the moonlight that entered through her window. She bent her head toward her feet before answering.
"I… There was nothing I could do to stop it… I knew it was dangerous to wander alone to the hot spring and I didn't want to, I was really afraid, but I had no choice. Then when you appeared, I spoke words as if someone else was speaking through my mouth. I am so sorry… I acted like, like a whore! Really that's what I did! But…"
Inuyasha's nose wrinkled with disdain as the salty scent of tears reached his nose.
"But what, Ines?"
The girl turned back toward Kitana's inquisitive and soft gaze.
"But then… I started to like what was happening, and I stopped fighting. I stopped fighting against the thing inside me that made do these things! I… I enjoyed it! I loved it, it was like nothing I had ever felt! It is a bad thing, isn't it? Am I normal? Am I a whore now, am I still worthy? What happened to me?"
Tears now flowed freely on her cheeks, revealing the very tender age and inexperience of the girl. Uneasiness was palpable in the room as Inuyasha turned sideways, his cheeks burning. Kagome and Sango were also blushing, and Miroku seemed to be drinking her very words, his right hand twitching impulsively at his side. Kitana reached for her head, caressing her hairs gently.
"Ines, you did nothing wrong. It is normal to like what we did, it did felt good. It was good. And even if you had fought, you were controlled by a greater power, it was hopeless. Now what we need to know is who did that to you? Who gave you a shard to control you?"
Kagome brought Ines' attention to her as she opened her bottle again to show her the shards. The young princess focused onto them, her brows coming together in concentration.
"I think I saw one of these before, except it wasn't that pretty pink. More of a deep purple or magenta."
Kagome nodded.
"Yes, that's what we think controlled you. These are pure now, they are not dangerous" she added as the princess recoiled from the bottle. "Who gave it to you, Ines-san?"
The girl's frown deepened, as she became lost in her thoughts.
"It's hazy, but I see a beautiful woman with amazing red eyes. She appeared at my window a few days after you saved me from the terrible demons that attacked my party. I think that she spoke of making my wishes come true, I don't remember the exact words that she said, but she was very kind. After that, everything is a blur, except for our time together…"
It was her time to blush deeply as she remembered the intimate moments shared at the hot spring.
"Kagura!" yelled Inuyasha from his corner of the room. "A red-eyed wench, it can only be her!"
The monk was more circumspect though, and calmed his friend with a stern frown on his face.
"Well, Inuyasha, I would not expect Kagura to be the only youkai with crimson eyes around. Although she may very well be the only one able to give away jewel shards, I can't see why she would have done that… If it was just to try and seduce Kitana, she would have removed the shards when the deed was done… But then, what did she do that for? What did she had to gain?"
"I… I think I know a Kagura. Is she able to fly on a giant feather?" asked Kitana, her brows knitted together in concern.
"Yes she is. Red-eyed, with a huge fan that she use to control the winds and lower demons, and a feather to flee when things become too heated for her tastes… You met with her?"
Miroku's brain was working at full capacity, trying to understand the information that was disclosed this night. Kitana looked him in the eyes and nodded.
"She attacked me twice in the past, but I thought that she had given up. It's the first time for weeks that I hear about her."
"So, maybe this was aimed at you Kitana-san? Is that what you are saying? But why? It is an odd way to get to you. Naraku can be very tricky, but I can't figure this one out." Miroku didn't sense any youki from Kitana, meaning that she was probably one of the weakest youkai he had ever met; how she managed to get her hands on three jewel shards and resist their attraction was beyond his understanding. Naraku was interested in power, not in puny creatures except when he could take something from them. But what? It puzzled him.
"Me neither monk, me neither. But it surely changes things, now that I know that she hasn't lost track of me."
This information was very unsettling for Kitana. She was being followed, or had been, and didn't sense it. Or maybe she sensed it, but as she hadn't been in contact with Kagura long enough to memorize her energy signature, she may have mistaken her presence for one of the numerous lower youkai that lurked in the countryside. What was the witch trying to obtain by implanting a shard into this girl? Why use a girl to seduce her? Why a red haired girl who looked so similar to her past love? Somehow it meant that the woman knew things about her that she shouldn't, and it was highly disturbing. She returned her attention to the princess.
"Girl, you have been tricked and manipulated by a foul person, but know that what happened will stay in this room, between these walls, and will not stain your future wedding if you do not disclose it by yourself. I will now take my leave if you allow me to; I have matters to attend to."
The entire group rose, Kagome helping Ines on her feet before turning toward Kitana and gripping one of her hands in hers.
"Thanks for your help, Kitana-san. I'm sure now that the princess will be all better, thanks to you."
"I certainly hope so, Kagome."
With a smile she bowed to the two girls and the monk, Sango, Inuyasha and Shippo still eyeing her cautiously, and left them the same way she came to them.
SSSSS
Sesshomaru was standing on a cliff, his gaze lost amongst the stars and small clouds scattered across the skies. He could hear his followers breathing slowly as they slept, exhausted by their day of walking across the countryside. All day long he pushed them at an unusual speed, pondering if he should take flight so he could move faster. For a few days Kitana's delicate scent came to him disturbingly intermingled with Naraku's one, or maybe Kagura's, only increasing his motivation to find her. Then, for a whole day she seemed to stay at the same location, not more than two days of walking away from him, and he had to fought and reason with himself not to leave his small group and go to her directly. Her travels had been erratic and aimless, her passage littered with numerous corpses that she disfigured and tortured greatly before leaving them to rot. If he didn't know better, he would have said that for the past two weeks his newest companion had deliberately avoided him. But how could she, for with a sense of smell rivalling with humans for its mediocrity, it was not possible for her to detect his whereabouts.
His eyes caught a shooting star, and he couldn't help wondering if another one like Kitana could have fallen from the sky with the star. Her skin as dark as the lost depths of space, her golden eyes like a sun rising to bring light to the darkness, her deadly claws delicately holding a young human child to her chest while they hid from an ugly green kappa, her soft lips that could open up on a kiss as well as on a nightmarish double set of jaws, she was a living contradiction all by herself. Looking in the direction were the star could have fallen, he deliberately turned the other way, decided not to cross path with another creature from space ever again. One was already too much.
SSSSS-
On that very same night, another soul was in turmoil.
Kitana was tired. Sitting upon a low branch in a great tree, she was thinking about what had happened in the last few weeks of her life. Meeting with the group of exorcists at the princess' castle, feeling the warm and welcoming gaze of the strange little priestess upon her helped her realize that she didn't really want to give up on life. What her heart truly longed for was acknowledgement, a true place for her to live in, accepted amongst other beings not as a monster but as herself. It was hard to be truly accepted by others when she herself was having difficulties dealing with her own nature. The rejection she felt when Sesshomaru surprised her while she fed was clearly a sign that she had not fully come to term with herself, as she had thought. For this rejection had not come from solely the taiyoukai, but from her as well.
Sighing, she cursed her fiery temper. If she did not keep it in check in the future it could cause greater harm to her than her hunger for blood, which she felt clearly now. Driven by her anger and desire to die, she had slaughtered every bunch of miscreants unlucky enough to come upon her without ever thinking about feeding. Now that she was ready to move on and needed some sustenance, there was none to be found for miles around, as rumors of a strong beast murdering every criminal in the region was already spreading amongst the community of bandits, thieves and throat-slitters. Not exactly the sort of people to rally against a common enemy, they had deserted the area, leaving for more promising and less dangerous lands.
She would have to resort to eat from a regular youkai or human with a low-level of energy, and it was an alternative that she did not appreciate at all as many of these beings were needed to satiate her appetites. Smacking her forehead in self-loathing, she suddenly remembered feeling a great, ominous energy near a lake she crossed earlier in her travels. Mentally searching for the being that emitted this dark signature, she found out that he was not very far from where she was; and not very far from a certain Taiyoukai she had been trying to avoid either. If she departed right away, she could reach the area in the afternoon and sustain herself. Only after that she would let Sesshomaru come to her, confront him again and wait for his justified anger and judgment.
SSSSS-
A couple of days after leaving the castle of the so-called possessed princess, Inuyasha and his group were walking through a forest, following what was supposedly a shorter way to reach a village they had heard about. From this place came rumors of a murderous lake-dwelling demon that devoured most of the people from the village and every traveller who tried to cross the lake to reach the small hamlet. A demon that these people had worshipped for generations and that never posed a threat before suddenly starting to eat his worshippers and anyone foolish enough to help them. The possibility that this demon had found or received a shard of the sacred jewel was very real and needed to be investigated. Or, as Inuyasha pointed out, exterminated. However the person who told them the way to the plagued village surely never tried his own shortcut, as after two days of walking they would obviously have reached the place have they gone on the main road.
The small forest track they were following finally seemed to orient itself in the direction they wanted to go, when a foul odor offended their noses. Used to find battlefields amongst their travels, with the accompanying procession of scents, insects and other carrion eaters, they covered their noses and continued despite the ever stronger smell. What they came upon, though, was not what they were expecting.
The scene was far from fresh, the blood that soaked the ground underneath their feet had long clotted and insect larvae were thriving in the foul, thick liquid. What was singular was that not a single body was in sight, until they raised their eyes to the higher branches of the surrounding trees. There they found the source of the stench and blood: about five youkai had been exterminated, hung by their guts to the tree branches like sinister Chinese lanterns. Putrefaction was well on its way, accompanied by a cortege of maggots and insects, gas and liquefaction. The flesh of the dead demons looked waxy and bloated, ready to explode under the pressure of the emanations it contained.
Their stomachs barely supporting the sight, the humans, hanyou and youkai passed quickly through the clearing when they were stopped in their retreat by a highly unwanted appearance. The graceful form of Inuyasha's loathed half-brother was walking toward them from the forest ahead, acting like he did not notice the carnage at all.
Inuyasha wasted no time; he unsheathed his Tetsusaiga and pointed it menacingly at the approaching taiyoukai. Behind him, Sango and Kagome also reached for their respective weapons, Shippo hiding behind Kagome's legs, while Kirara took on her larger battle form. The monk had not reacted yet, waiting to see what would unfurl from this unwanted meeting. Menacingly, Inuyasha shouted to the taiyoukai.
"Sesshomaru! You bastard, what are you doing here? Things won't go like last time I promise you, you'll feel the bite of the Tetsusaiga if you come any closer!"
Giving a disdainful look at Inuyasha, Sesshomaru asked him, "Where is she?"
He was calmly sifting through the numerous scents that came to his sensitive nose, no matter how offensive they were.
"Who the hell are you talking about, bastard?" Inuyasha retorted, still brandishing his weapon menacingly at his elder.
Sesshomaru's eyes became slit-like as what little patience he had toward the boy was disappearing quickly. "You will learn your place, hanyou. Do not deny it; her scent is all over you and your companions. You spent time with her recently. Do not dare lying to This Sesshomaru."
Miroku decided to take a more diplomatic approach as he tiptoed slowly to the silver-haired siblings, bowing deeply to the taiyoukai even though he was extremely nervous.
"Sesshomaru-sama, may this humble monk inquire about the identity of the person you are seeking? It would probably be easier to help you find her if we knew her name."
Slitting his eyes even more dangerously, the taiyoukai answered the monk.
"I do not need any help from you, monk; only answers to a very simple question. Where is Kitana?"
The members of the group paused, trying to decide what to answer. Their encounter with Kitana had not been a really pleasant one, but she caused them no harm. Furthermore, they were somehow indebted to her and none of them wanted to see her killed or wounded in a fight against Sesshomaru; not even Sango or Inuyasha, or the little fox child. As far as they knew, it was far from healthy to be tracked by the taiyoukai. Without even talking this amongst them, the decision was taken not to inform Sesshomaru about Kitana's presence in the nearby town a few days ago. What was difficult though, was to avoid redirecting his wrath at them and for that, he had to believe she was their enemy as well as his own. Surprisingly though, it was the young Shippo who tried to lure the taiyoukai away from the one they considered if not a friend, at least a temporary ally.
"Kitana you say?" he said, walking a few steps away from Kagome. He sniffed, disgusted, and added in a disdainful way, "yeah, we met with this whore but Inuyasha gave her a good beating and EEEPP!"
In a split-second the fox child found himself upside-down, peering at a pair of terrorizing golden eyes while his tail was sending him a painful indication that he was being held by the said appendage.
"You will regret your words, fox, for no one will sully her honor with such disgusting words," said the taiyoukai with an extremely cold tone of voice.
"But-but-but-it-was-Inuyasha-who-said-only-a-whore-could-do-what-she-did-with-the-crazy-princess-and-please-don't-kill-me-he-said-two-women-couldn't-be-lovers-it-was-abnormal-please-please-don't-kill-me!"
Everyone was about to engage the dreadful taiyoukai in the defence of their diminutive friend, even though the outcome was clearly not in their favor. Bone-boomerang and arrows were readying themselves, as was the Tetsusaiga. Once again though, it was Miroku who stopped the violence from escalating.
"Please Lord Sesshomaru, allow us to explain. We thought you were somehow ill-intentioned toward Kitana-sama. The young Shippo did not want to endanger her by sending you her way, as she is not our enemy. She has in fact been truly helpful to us in the past days. His words were born from his loyalty to her; as a fox demon he can be cunning."
His eyes were glued to the monk, even though his body and face were still facing toward Shippo, when Sesshomaru retaliated.
"Explain yourself, monk. This Sesshomaru is growing tired of your deceit."
"Sesshomaru-sama, it will be an honor for us to tell you how we met with the great Kitana-sama. However, may I ask that we leave this horrible place before continuing our discussion any further? The scents have a terrible effect on our feeble human noses and makes us confused and unable to think clearly, my Lord," said a bowing Miroku.
Sesshomaru looked at them all for a moment, before letting go of his hold over Shippo's tail. While the fox fell in the mud, the taiyoukai turned his back to his enemies and started walking away from the offending place, not waiting for them to follow him. They wouldn't go very far if they ever did a foolish attempt at escaping him, and he did not considered them a threat to his offered back.
"Oy, bastard! Don't you turn your back on-" "SIT boy!"
They already have had enough emotions for the day and Kagome certainly didn't want another hole pierced in Inuyasha's stomach…
The edge of the forest was very close to the disturbing massacre scene they just left, and soon they reached it. The trees thinned at the top of a hill and gave way to a meadow that became agricultural fields on the other side of a lazy, shallow river. Down beside the river, the group of travellers could clearly see the young Rin, clad in her usual orange and brown kimono, happily splashing water on a desperate-looking and very wet Jaken.
"Rin-chan!" exclaimed a very surprised Kagome, tears of joy making their way to her large blue eyes as she ran down the hill toward the duo. "Rin-chan, you are alright?"
The other members of the group were more subdued. Of course Kagome had told them about the disease that affected Rin some months ago, but they never fully understood what she was talking about and why she was so sad about the young child. Nonetheless they were now pleased to see their friend reassured over the fate of the kid. This young girl was likeable, despite her ill-chosen companions.
The child giggled and bowed to the dishevelled young lady. "Yes Kagome-sama, Rin is alright, it was just a puddle of mud. And Rin is almost clean now; it is master Jaken's turn to bath! Oh, and your friends too, maybe?"
The child was apparently totally oblivious of the reasons why Kagome was so excited. It was obvious though that she was in great health, healthy enough to play in the mud and cover both herself and Jaken in it. Kagome smiled at the young one's words and she looked at Shippo and Inuyasha, answering the child's question.
"Yes, Rin is right, you too guys do need a bath. This mud you are covered with is…" and she made a puking movement to make herself very clear.
"Feh! You forget that my clothes are demonic; they clean and mend themselves up, Kagome. I am not taking a bath!" answered a very grumpy Inuyasha, angry at being humiliated in front of his hated brother, not only once, but now twice in a few minutes.
"Inuyasha! Don't make me say it! It's not only your clothes that are filthy, but your face and hairs too! Don't you remember exactly what was that mud composed of? You will bathe! End of discussion!"
Shippo was already in the river with Rin, both of them now doing their best to drown the now brown, muddy kappa. Inuyasha was not about to let his guard down around Sesshomaru, but he had to recognize that the smell emanating from his person was sickening and he cleaned himself slowly in the river, his gaze never faltering from Sesshomaru's immobile form, a hand on the hilt of his Tetsusaiga.
The taiyoukai was apparently completely ignoring what was going on around him, his mind focused on smelling the breeze. When the tension came back amongst the group of travellers, he reported his attention to them. But before he could learn more about Kitana's whereabouts, Kagome opened her mouth. It was not his day.
"Sesshomaru-sama, I'm so glad that Rin is healed! Would you tell me how you managed to do that? It's great!"
He kept his face completely still, as if he had not heard her questions. Of course, she thought, he wasn't going to lower himself by telling her how he had saved a human child. But she knew he did it, and she was glad.
Sesshomaru let the tension build up again by staring at them, unblinking. His tall form was completely dominating them and soon he got what he was waiting for. The monk started to stutter a watered-down version of their encounter with Kitana, "forgetting" to talk about the heavy-handed welcome they gave her, making a point to depict her as a hero who came to save the day. Sesshomaru had no reaction at anything that was said, except when the monk tried to clumsily hide the reasons why Kitana had come searching for the princess. The taiyoukai had stopped his personification of an alabaster statue and frowned slightly, just enough so that the monk started to sweat profusely. The effects of the change were evident, as Miroku stuttering worsened as he hesitated, rubbing the back of his head with a hand while he tried to conceal his lies by hiding them behind dumb smiles.
"Do not lie to This Sesshomaru, monk. It is clear that we both know of the exact reasons why Kitana deemed necessary to intervene at the castle, and it was not to help you exorcise a demon."
"So, so you know Sesshomaru-sama?" added the monk. "Yes, yes of course you know, of course!" he completed when the eyes looking at him became slits. "It was just a very surprising situation for us all, difficult to accept, to say the least, and I'm surprised, no, not surprised, I am glad that you don't care about that Sesshomaru-sama, yes I am truly glad and it shows your –"
"Monk, stop blabbering insanities. You obviously know nothing of Kitana. If you knew her, her… preferences would not bother you in the slightest. Now tell me, when did she leave you, and do you know where she is now?"
Miroku could not answer, as Sesshomaru suddenly turned his head to the side, a frown on his face; then a gigantic demonic aura reached them all, explaining the taiyoukai's attitude and making the monk, demon slayer and priestess very uneasy. It was coming from downstream of the river.
"G-guys, I think I feel a jewel shard… That way," Kagome said, pointing in the direction of the youki surge. Before the small group could react Sesshomaru had already departed to investigate whatever was giving away that horrific aura. It was not, however, the youki that first caught his attention; the breeze had carried another information to him. Coming from the same direction as the youki, there was a singular, subtle spicy aroma, much stronger than he had ever smelled in the last weeks.
SSSSS
For the first time in a long, long while, Kitana was questioning her abilities. Usually she was very good at detecting the source and measuring the strength of different energy signatures. But now, she was wondering if somehow the atmosphere of this planet could be affecting her capacities so drastically. She would have sworn that the energy she felt coming from underwater was strong when she passed by the huge lake some days ago, but never that strong. If she had known, she would have passed her way, bowing reverently to the thing that inhabited the lake, maybe even honoring his adorned shrine standing by the lakeside by a human sacrifice; or two.
But she hadn't. Instead, she ignored the small inner voice that urged her to re-evaluate her decision and plunged in the water head-on, realizing her mistake only after feeling the full extent of the energy of the creature. If she could have peed in her pants, she would have.
At the bottom of the lake, a snake-like creature was coiled in many circumvolutions, its huge body covering most of the visible lake floor. Her eyes could see nothing of it though; the water was crystalline but light didn't reach even half way down the lake. However, the multiple sensitive heat captors embedded in her head told her about the gigantism of the thing. They signalled to her also that it was much too late to turn tail and leave, as an enormous serpentine head was quickly rising from the depths to meet her.
When her eyes finally distinguished the creature, she was awe-struck. The first thing she distinguished was the jaws, slightly opened upon huge sabre teeth and so large that they could easily swallow twenty full grown humans in one strike. Then there were bony horns that protruded from the side of its head and a long, flowing green mane covering the nape of its neck. To her surprise, she discovered that the beast had a human-like face embedded in its forehead in the form of a mask. Two pairs of red eyes, one small and intelligent, the other terrifying and feral, were fiercely looking at her, and two small arms, each sporting three lethally looking claws, stretched to reach for her as the creature lunged forward.
Shaking herself from her astonishment, Kitana barely managed to leap out if its way only to be faced with another attack from what seemed to be the tip of the monster's tail. Dodging again, she quickly morphed her clothes to enhance her swimming abilities; the ridges of her tail's vertebras elongated and webs of the translucent dark material appeared between her fingers and toes, enabling her to propel herself through the water much more efficiently. It was not only a necessity, but the only way for her to survive the vicious and unbelievably fast attacks from the demon.
She started to swim furiously away from the beast, using all the strength her tail and legs could give her, to no avail; every time she thought she would succeed to reach the shore, her way was blocked by a swipe from the tail, a coil of body or worse, a flash of white fangs and deep red throat. Pushing herself to the maximum of her speed, she barely managed not to be directly touched by the attacks, but the violence of the strikes was such that she was tossed and pushed aside by waves of water every time the huge body brushed against hers.
In her fight for survival, her body found its own rhythm and soon her mind appeared to become overly conscious of everything around her. The iridescence of sunlight upon the great beast's scales, the tiny bits of moss and algae growing in its luxurious mane, even the small aquatic creatures she recognized as tiny larvae of fish and crustaceans became as real to her as the demon. In this trance-like state, panic evaporated as the very reason of her presence in this lake came back clearly to her: she badly needed to feed, and somehow this monster was the closest meal in the vicinity. Turning to face her adversary, she braced herself for the impact against its terrible body. It was time for a change in strategy.
