You know what I do every time I get a review? I laugh. Because I love the fact that everyone is totally on Link's side for this, which is hilarious. I mean, is no one gonna bash me and say I'm making everyone really mean or something? Where are all those really loyal IY fans out there?
Also, guys, I want to point out: he thinks he has to fight InuYasha for Sango's attention and that the demon is after his blood. When you consider that, do you realize how slanted his perception of everyone is? By this chapter and next I'll make it all more clear... of course you'll still be on Link's side when you learn a few things about him, and probably feel even more sorry for him, but that's beside the point I'm trying to make here, lol.
And, I do want to say this: I appreciate how people want to help by giving suggestions, but it's not very useful. One, I already know how I want things to go, and two, even if I didn't, my writing has a mind of its own. Not kidding, everything has already come out a lot differently than I anticipated. Even if I try to incorporate suggestions, chances are, they'll either change, or come out at different times. So, you can keep giving suggestions if you want, but I tell you now that the chances of them actually being used are slim to none. My writing won't use my own suggestions, how can I get it to use someone else's? XD
Okay, I'm going to share just how much I love you guys… and how much I really need a life. I've made a playlist for this chapter. That's right, you saw that right. Go to youtube, search "animenuthead", but filter playlist. The one you're looking for is called "Dodongo Battle PL", it should be under my "recent activities." If not, then just search for playlists. Click on it, and hold it, because for some reason, it starts on the second video. Make sure it's on the first, the one that says "metal cover". Once you read the words "Corrupted Dinosaur: Demon Dodongo", that's the start of the list. Hopefully, it will follow along the chapter well enough. Though I'm not sure if it's just my computer or what, but it seems to keep stopping… whatever, just make sure it plays. :D
That being said, let's get this going!
Considering all of the strange things everyone had seen in the world so far, it really was not that much of a surprise to have gravity affected as well. Every jumper fell at a normal rate from the square opening in the ceiling, but slowed near the last few moments of their descent. The temporary Dodongo slayers landed with little more than a few soft thuds on the ground. They blinked and surveyed their surroundings. To their right was a huge quadrilateral indent in the floor with blackened rocks. The snaking cracks wove like veins through the indented floor, and glowed red hot, and tinted everything orange in the light.
"What happened here?" Kagome could not help but ask.
"Looks like our mystery beast ran rampant," Sango said, "just like we guessed was happening with the mountain quakes."
Everything was broken. Each of the four walls surround them had been cratered and cracked so much that the corners were no longer existent, making it just one large, rounded cavern. The walls had been decimated, and the pieces littered the floor around them. Broken rubble ranged from little pebbles to gigantic boulders that were over four persons tall. The pieces created a makeshift maze of passages among the rubble the travelers were forced to navigate in order to move through the space. They took a few hesitant steps in the quiet to start to work their way through the jagged pieces, though were careful to remain together.
Shippou jumped up onto a rock, and turned to look to his left. Several tunnels had been burrowed into the walls. Each tunnel gaped with their wide soil maws and the kitsune stared a moment into the yawning darkness. The opening was enormous compared to his small body, but the size did not intimidate him so much as the sensation he got as he stared into it. That deep within the well of darkness laid a beast peering at him just as intently. He gulped and turned away to catch up with the others.
Link hoisted himself up onto a stone for better vantage, and he and Navi scanned the room over everyone's heads for the beast they knew to be lurking somewhere in here. Yet the massive piles of rock seemed to be perfect enough camouflage, since there did not seem to be a hint of it. With a bit of suspicion and past experience, Link raised his eyes to the ceiling, and froze when he spotted what he was looking for. Within one of the tunnels, a giant yellow eye with a red iris leered down at him. Four purple points curled like claws around the eye. The eye blinked once, the thick violet eyelids closing horizontally. He drew his sword, unhooked his shield, and went into a defensive stance, and the others noticed instantly.
"What is it?" Sango asked, though she raised her eyes as well. "Above us!" she warned.
"No, behind us!" Kagome pointed to another peering from a tunnel in the back wall.
"We're surrounded!" Shippou realized.
"No!" Navi corrected as she and Link realized the truth. "It's right in front of us!"
The cavern rumbled from a shift, and every fighter turned to the sound of sliding rock. The four claw-like points closed over the eyes with a metallic clink to make a blunted point, before retreating into the shadows of each tunnel. A rock heap near the edge of the cavern shook and swayed. Each piece of debris jumped from the surface and clattered to the floor as a wholly different shape unearthed. From the bottom of the pile swung out a bulky stump that pounded into the floor. One from the other side emerged, and landed just as hard as the first. The final two stumps pounded into the floor, and then all four legs straightened into the muscle pillars they really were. The hefty and tapered tail uncurled to whip out behind the body, giving everyone a clear view of the mammoth hindquarters with leathery skin. Each strike of the bulky legs sent tremors through the cavern as it turned to face them and finally allow a better look. Sickly pale violet gleamed over the massive monster's back in alien scales overlapping down the beast's spine, but they stopped before reaching the belly. As the others saw the profile, they noticed long snake-like appendages almost dragging back from tunnels in the corner the monster had laid. When the stomps finally let the beast face the fighters, they saw the almost triangular jaw line covered in leathery brown skin. However, purple scales overlapped over the top half of the head, just above its nose in a crude helmet, not even allowing normal eyes any visibility. It grunted heavily in the echoes of the cavern as the snake-like appendages finally emerged from the tunnels, and rose to spread over the beast's head. Four trunks of muscle and armor swayed above the reptile, coiling higher and higher until they unfurled completely to tower their blunt points to the top of the cavern. The four points turned to the group before they broke in a cross split, and clinked open to let all four eyes peer down at them. The beast took in a deeper breath, just as the four eyes let out a shattering shriek. The beast roared over the white words: "Corrupted Dinosaur: Demon Dodongo".
Then every single eye honed in on Link, and resealed the scales before they reached out to slam down on him.
Tetsaiga erupted into fire as the wielder catapulted in front of the surprised boy. One of the demon limbs slammed onto the Tetsaiga, and InuYasha strained against, it, holding the blade above his head with both hands to keep it aloft. The other three limbs merely slammed on the rocks around them, since they were too wide to attack at the same time.
"So this is what's been shaking up the mountain, huh?" He ground out.
Navi jingled worried. "This was why we couldn't beat it before! There's too many and they all go after him at once!"
"Heh, now this is more like it," the half-demon's lips pulled back into a cocky grin. "Let's see if we can divide and CONQUER!"
He shoved the limb back, and launched between the space to begin the battle.
"Kilala!"
The demon cat leaped and paused for a second for Sango to mount her, and then cannoned into the air. The two bounded up for the other appendages as InuYasha stayed low from the other side. The gargantuan beast marched slowly forward with the limbs whipping, despite no visible eyes directing them. The two outside limbs focused on the two approaching fighters with surprising accuracy. Kilala had already done battle with this monster and went into familiar evasive maneuvers for the erratic pattern. Hiraikotsu swung to the side and Sango arched her back, before hurling her arm forward and screaming the launch of her weapon. The boomerang whirred through the air but clanged into the stem with a dull thunk and bounced onto the floor. Both she and Kilala gaped in shock.
"How is that possible?" She demanded, just before the stem lashed at them and Kilala jumped to the side.
InuYasha never held still and jumped from boulder to boulder, keeping one step ahead of the demon that tried to impale him. Nearly each rock he abandoned exploded from impact in a shower of gravel nearly a second after he left it. After deeming it far enough away from the others to be distracted, he remained one second longer on a stone, and rocketed above the coil that nearly caught him.
"Eat my Tetsaiga!" He barked, and swung down onto the scales.
Sparks flew from the ringing impact, just before the coil bucked and whipped back to send him flying. The fighter arced through the air and landed into a crouch on the wall.
"Damn," he growled in frustration, before jumping again to avoid the whip plowing into the wall.
Down below, the two innermost snake-like limbs were giving the ones on foot more than a little trouble. Both had honed in on the group of Kagome, Miroku, and Shippou gathered below. The three had already seen what had happened to Sango and InuYasha's attempts, and knew their own strength would do no good head on against the powerful lashes. They turned and ran, side stepping boulders and jumping over rocks to try to get out of range before they were hit, but their chase was made even harder by the fact that the dinosaur that supported the limbs was still on a march for them, keeping the limbs just a bit closer each time.
Each of the appendages were finally distracted, allowing Link and Navi a clear view for the first time, and they gasped when they realized there was a trait they had not noticed before. From behind the crown of the scale helmet unfurled a tiny appendage, this one green. The stem was narrow and green, with a green globe for a head. The lids opened horizontally, and the fifth eye darted around all of the fighters, and kept them in sight, most likely to direct the limbs lashing seemingly at random. It snapped to the watching pair. The boy shoved down the spike of fear and met its gaze and brought out his slingshot. Navi zoomed to the appendage, and Link fired at the eye. It flashed red, and curled in on itself, and closed in pain.
The rest of the limbs opened their scales in order to compensate, and the others took the opportunity. InuYasha slashed down with Tetsaiga upon the eyeball after him, and Sango drew her small sword to slash at the one going for her, just before Kilala made a mad dash for the fallen boomerang. Link jumped from his boulder, hopping until he was in front of the Dodongo and jumped for Kagome, Shippou and Miroku. The two innermost limbs disregarded their chase and had curled inward to spot the pair that had taken out the fifth eye. The fairy rushed forward without prompting, and Link fired through the yellow target to stun the first limb. It reared back with a shriek and snapped up from impact. The second limb rushed faster than Navi could switch, but the Hiraikotsu whirred into the scales and jarred the demon's path. It turned at the distraction, giving Link enough leeway to fire with his slingshot. The yellow ball turned red and snapped back much like the other limbs before crashing into the rocks on the floor.
From the row of four squares across the shoulders of the Dodongo, the base of each limb activated the organic mechanisms of the demon, and retracted the appendages by each row of scales. Then the four claw scales clinked shut, and all the limbs simultaneously dragged across the floor, subsequently budging the rubble along the floor. The steady clanks steadily grew higher in pitch as the trunks of the limbs shrunk the closer they got to the tips. Link and Navi looked at each other in proud relief as they reunited. That was one part taken care of, at least.
"LINK!" Kagome called in panic.
"WATCH OUT!" Shippou cried.
Time stretched in the next few moments for the boy, as though his mind had sped up to slow everything else down. The kokiri and fairy turned their relieved gazes from each other to suspicious surveys behind them. The lizard's gargantuan jaws were so wide it showed off the red ridges of the roof of its mouth, and the hot pink of its tongue. It lifted its head slightly, bringing up the bottom jaw a little more and accentuating the single row of dagger teeth, as it inhaled deeply. As a yellow spark crackled from the dark depths of the thick, meaty throat, Link spun around. Navi dove into his hat to be sure she would stay with him. His short legs did not pump fast enough, but he strained against time to sprint as fast as his body could take him in the maze of rock surrounding him. He saw the three from so far away reached out to him and ran for him, but could not hear what they were saying. He only realized it was because the roar of fire drowned out everything else.
Pain brought time back into perspective. His own jaws stretched like the dragon's, but it was only screams that ripped from his own throat. The geyser of swirling fire captured him completely and sent him flying forward. The walls brushed against his skin and ripped at his clothes to attack him, even when the fire breath died down. He skidded to a rough landing almost two meters from where he was standing before, tripping over a rock about knee-height. Leftover flames licked his sleeves and scorched his skin, and he scrambled up to his feet even as he blindly stumbled and tried to slap out the flames. He was distantly aware of a rumble, and he saw Kagome and Shippou dive for the side, just as Miroku grabbed around his middle and launched them both to the side and against a farther rock, narrowly avoiding a new attack. The floor shook from the dragon mountain rollout cutting through the debris.
"Are you all right?" Miroku asked breathlessly. "Link, say something!"
"Yeah," Navi zipped out of Link's hat, her voice even higher because of the near heart attack she just had. "He'll be okay. Just a little shaken. He's not even beeping, so the damage isn't that bad."
"Link, your arms!" Kagome popped out from behind another rock, and fell to her knees in front of him.
The boy looked to his body, and was just grateful the fire was out, but the bright red along his skin did not look good. It was on his legs too, making it almost painful to lie down like he was now. Though he could already tell from the darker pink and the different kind of sting that one wound was from the scrape against the rock. At least the shield had protected most of his back.
"Unfortunately, we have nothing to cool you with," Miroku frowned as he looked out past where the Dodongo was. "You'll just have to try not to agitate your injuries any further."
Navi jingled irritably as Link looked up to him pleadingly. "Oh, hell no, we're not just staying here! We have a score to settle with that thing!"
"We're playing with fire, here," Miroku retorted back. "That call was far too close. If Link didn't have his shield, he would have suffered a lot more damage."
The boy shook his head and pushed away to stand. "No way," his fairy answered for him. "We can still fight-"
"Stop being so reckless!"
The pair jumped, because it was Kagome that has spoken. They stared at her in stunned surprise. Her doe brown eyes looked to him pleadingly through her tears.
"Please. You're in no condition to fight. We almost lost you."
It felt like a betrayal. Both Miroku and Kagome had been trying so hard to give him support in the past. Of all the people he thought that would encourage him to wait, he never thought it would be these two. Yet her eyes actually made him feel guilty, as though he had done something wrong. He cast his eyes down in surrender.
"Miroku, Kagome!" Sango called, for the Dodongo had stopped rolling, and as it unfurled, the four limbs rose again. "We're going to need a little help here!"
Everyone tensed when they saw the form of the beast rising over the rocks. So it was just a temporary reprieve they could ask for, then.
"Shippou," Miroku said as he and Kagome stood. "You and I are going to have to help distract that thing while Kagome goes for the eye."
"What? Why me?" Shippou cried. "I can't fight that thing!"
"Because at this moment, we need the use of your fox magic illusions. Link, Navi," he turned to the pair. "You have a good eye. Thanks to you, we know where better to attack. Consider your contribution well enough to suffice. Everyone else, let's go!"
The three ran out of the rubble and sprinted down the newly cleared path the Dodongo had left behind. Well, two ran out first. Shippou was frozen in terror of where he was willingly going, before he finally went forward with a desperate battle cry. Link did not run after, but watched sullenly. Before the three could arrive, two limbs focused to InuYasha on the floor, and two went for Sango and Kilala in the air.
The half demon had managed to jump within the maze to get closer to the Dodongo, and swung back his blade. When he released the strike it sliced into the dodongo's rock-like leather skin. It sparked and clanged like metal, but still cleaved the skin and released a spray of blood along its enormous ribcage. Along with the expected roar from the dragon, the weaving lashes of armor caught him in his momentary pause, and swatted him away from the side. While he flipped in midair, the second limb slammed him against the broken wall.
On the other side, Sango took to keeping a hold of Hiraikotsu and using it to bash away the oncoming enemies Kilala could not dodge. Slowly, that became an increasing number. The demon cat's jumps slowed, though the experienced slayer could only tell because she was used to Kilala's usual reaction time. This was not reassuring in the least. Especially when InuYasha's attacked threw the Dodongo into a spiraling frenzy that made the limbs even wilder.
"Kilala," Sango called. "Take us to the ground; we'll take him on foot!"
And then Sango and Kilala fell apart from a stray bash. Link gawked as both Kilala and Sango sailed in opposite directions.
"Sango!" Miroku called.
"InuYasha!" Kagome cried.
"FOX FIRE!" Shippou screamed.
He shot his tiny palm out, and a spiral of teal-green flame corkscrewed wider and wider out of his hand until it reached the pebble-like scales. The tail lashed at the contact and the Dodongo roared and stomped around again to find the annoyance, its focus brought back to the fight.
Sango had managed to maneuver her body to at least land on her feet with Hiraikotsu's rope handle still tight in her grasp. The demon cat bounced on her back and flipped over to skid to a haphazard stop on the floor, so that the top of her head faced them.
"Something's wrong," Navi realized, just as Link ran out to the fallen two-tail.
"Kilala!" Sango called out in alarm, but the dive of a new limb forced her to jump back, and swing down her Hiraikotsu to keep it off.
The demon cat growled low in her throat as she rolled onto her feet, but pushing back up seemed to be a problem, and she collapsed with a whoosh of air and dust. Link arrived beside her, and put a questioning hand on her head. Navi turned green and flew around her body, trying to find any crippling injury, but not finding any blood.
"What's the matter?" The fairy asked her as she turned back to her normal color. The demon cat could only whine at her in response. "Come to think of it, you were acting a little oddly before we got in here too..."
The weight of the pouch on his belt reminded Link of an item, and he reached for the leather flap, but hesitated. Kilala was injured, but... what if someone was hurt even more in the battle? No, he had to wait, it was best to save these.
"Got it!" Came Kagome's shout.
Link and Navi looked up to see the fifth eye closing and ducking down for a temporary retreat. The rounded points of the armored snakes clinked and spread open to let the yellow eyes peer out at everyone. Normally this would be a good thing. Link and Navi stared with horror at Demon Dodongo's half countenance leering straight at them. The pair realized the problem with this, since they were familiar with the monsters in this world falling into a pattern.
"Once those things go down, it's going to roll right toward us!" Navi jingled. "We have to get Kilala out of the way!"
Link stood and frantically searched for an answer. Where could he get her to be out of the way? Most of the rocks were close together and only made narrow winding mazes. He spotted a space that looked big enough to hold the giant cat. The problem was that it was actually toward the monster, but it was all they had. He stepped around to her head, and wrapped his arms around her neck in an embrace, with his head and shoulder shoved against the inside of her throat. Planting his thick boots into the floor, he pushed against the floor, and slid the demon cat like a block.
In the battle, InuYasha diced an eyeball between the claw scales. The yellow flashed red before the armored trunk whipped back and thudded to the floor. Teal green flames of Shippou's Fox Fire burned another, and it curved and snapped away to slam into a pile of rocks. Kagome aimed her arrow, and Sango brought out her climbing hook to take care of the remaining two.
From the direction of the push, the feline body dragged the hind legs inward as though she was curling up for a nap. The gravel and sand on the floor helped her huge body roll along the ground as the boy planted one resolute foot in front of the other. He heaved and grunted the short way until she was finally in front of the space. He ran around to her front, and she rolled onto her feet again to try to crawl up into a stand. Navi turned around, and jingled when she saw what had happened for the others.
"WAIT!" She called desperately, but all four limbs were already down.
The others turned to see what had upset the fairy. Each faced turned to bewilderment. The boy had his shoulder against Kilala's shoulder, and the demon cat was leaning on him for leverage to push herself to her feet.
"What happened to Kilala?" Shippou asked.
The gasp of air from the dragon answered.
"Link!" Sango screamed. "Kilala can handle fire!"
But the boy did not listen, and the yellow glow from the dragon's meaty throat warned the humans to fly. InuYasha bounded forward, this time closer to save him. He halted just behind the boy, and threw up the sleeves of his robe around his body just as the red flames rushed past. The heat teased Link's burns cruelly, forcing his body to go rigid with spiked phantom pains. Link never released Kilala, and held his breath to keep from breathing in the sheer heat. Despite his terror, he knew InuYasha's ability to keep his body from burning. His trust was so strong that when the stream of fire ended, he did not stand in relief for a moment. Instead he took that as his queue to shove Kilala into the space. She plopped into the wider crevice, just as InuYasha heard the dragon rolling into its attack. Kilala reached out with her head, and bit Link's tunic to pull him across her body, and InuYasha dove in after them to avoid the Dodongo rolling past them.
InuYasha stuck his head out to watch the journey. The colossal beast spun down the path again, and even flew past the first starting point. It split through the rubble like water, sending a spray of earth on either side until it crashed into the cavern wall again. As the space shook mightily, the wall it slammed into cracked. Pieces of rock broke away and rained down on Demon Dodongo as it lost balance and toppled to the side.
"Is it gonna do that every time?" he growled out.
"Yes!" Navi yelled and zipped up around his ear. "Why do you think we were trying so hard to get Kilala out of danger, you dumb dog? He follows a pattern just like Queen Gohma. That thing would have squashed her!"
He switched his eyes from her to the green sprawled across the demon cat, and scowled just before he yelled. "So instead of explaining that to us, you go and risk your crazy neck for her sake. You're insane and stupid!" He craned his neck outside of the space and looked down the flattened path to check the Dodongo's actions. "I guess you really do belong with us."
The boy blinked and looked up at the back of the head of the brash fighter, wondering if he had heard right.
"Get to the others and let them know." He stood so he could sheath his sword. "I'll get Kilala to safety."
Link nodded and shimmied back to remove himself from Kilala. He patted between her ears with both gratitude, and encouraging comfort before he went past InuYasha out of the space to join the others.
"Navi," Miroku greeted, "is Kilala all right?"
"I honestly don't know," Navi admitted. "InuYasha will get her out of the way."
"Thank goodness." Sango looked where InuYasha had managed to hoist Kilala over his shoulders. He jumped from the space to find relative safety, and her eyes shone with worry and the scare of what had almost happened without her realizing it. "She's in no condition to fight. If something happened and we lost her I wouldn't..."
"Don't worry, Sango," Kagome put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "She'll be safe now."
Link watched the distraught team members with a sort of curiosity. It was almost the same thing they had said about him, really. He had thought it was because they thought him incapable, but Kilala was more than strong, yet they said the same thing.
You could have seriously been hurt!
… Even being worried about his own well being.
"Look, guys," Navi cut in. "I don't know how it works in your world, but monsters here go in a pattern. What you just saw is what they'll do each time."
"Every time?" Sango clarified. "Are you absolutely sure about that?"
"Guaranteed."
The monster had finally staggered to its feet on the far side of the room. It swayed until it became grounded, and the four thick whips slid out segment by segment as it stomped around through the debris to spot them again.
"Come on," Miroku called. "We have to get it to the other side and give InuYasha time to get Kilala out of the way."
In the 'almost-corner' of the rounded room, the group ran the opposite way along the pool of lava, and in turn, the beast changed its stomp to follow them and meet them on the other side.
"We've already lost one of our edges," Miroku reminded. "Shippou, how well can you keep up your illusions?"
"Uh, I don't think that long," Shippou admitted.
"Hello?" Navi screeched as she zipped to his face. "You have bombs, remember? If you won't let Link have them, at least use them!"
"I can't get close enough to use them!" Shippou argued back.
The group stopped, and the limbs honed in on them, before the scales closed.
"Link, Kagome," Miroku called. "One of you will have to go for the main eye. You're the only one with long range weapons."
"On it."
Kagome picked out one of the few remaining arrows from her quiver. With those things moving as fast as they did, it was no surprise she missed a few times. Link brought out his slingshot, and a nut, only to find he was clean out. He looked to his bag in horror. No, blast it, no! Of all the times- he should have been paying closer attention.
The others split up and ran forward, and Link followed close behind. He would have to be the one to distract a limb and let Kagome fire at the eye. One limb already honed in on the girl, and he ran forward to try to take the brunt. He had a shield, after all.
But the girl brought up her bow, and when the monster made contact, a pink light exploded. Link watched in amazement as the monster reared back from the light. There were black scorch spots on the armor, and the limb was stunned, hesitant to go near her again, and the girl drew her bow. Out of the corner of his eye, Link saw multiple Shippous popping out of existence. He did a double take. There were many clones hopping and jumping around a flailing limb, though it ignored them for the most part to focus on the bigger targets. Which is what let one of the Shippous climb up on the limb, and leap off to jump above the dragon's body. He reached into the bomb bag.
"Raining bombs!" he yelled, and gunpowder rained down on the dragon before Kagome let go of the string.
Dodongo roared in frustration at the sensation while the fifth eye bounced from the multiple impacts. The lids finally closed before the stem burst, and the eye was finally blown off. The moment the points split to reveal the eyes, Kagome released her charged arrow, and one limb lashed up before the top half disintegrated, and it went down. Link brought out a Deku nut, and shot it at the second eye, before running forward, and leaping into an attack to slash with his sword. Sango swung her climbing hook again, and clawed at the eye. Instead of hitting the eyeball, it caught into the crevice of a scale. Not to be deterred, the demon slayer yanked the distracted thing down with several strong pulls to bring it close, since it had already been coming to inspect her. She drew her small sword, and drove the blade into the eye. The beast shrieked and reared back, bringing the demon slayer with it. It whipped, but she held on with admirable determination to try to take it out for good. Right until it finally lashed back to arc her through the air, and slam her back onto a boulder with a cry of pain.
"SANGO!" Miroku screamed.
Link's eyes drew to the sight of their own accord, and his horror spiked for her sake. She released the limb, and with shaky arms pushed against the boulder, until she managed to roll over and slide down the rock, and out of his field of vision. He prayed that she would be all right, even as his anger rose at the beast before him.
The limb after Miroku launched at the monk, and he jumped back to avoid the first strike despite his distraction, and instantly cried out in pain before yanking his foot away from the boiling hot rock. His sandal burned all the way through, leaving the flesh on his sole, and even up his ankle around the bottom half of his calves partially blackened. Damn, too careless. He still lunged forward and slashed with his staff to hit the eyeball, but his foot refused to cooperate, and he buckled right after the swing.
All the limbs clanked into their bundled positions again, and this time Kagome gathered her spiritual energy as the dragon gasped in air for its attack. She aimed for the head and let the arrow fly. It studded into the fleshy ridges of the roof of the mouth and the arrow halted the onslaught. The dragon reared back, the maw partially disintegrating with the arrow. It stomped around blindly, and the others nearby had to run back to get out of the way of the rampaging beast. The massive tail whipped boulders across the cavern, and rocks crashed into more boulders as it spun out of control again. Sango stepped back shakily until she came beside Miroku and hissed as she looked at the beast spinning haphazardly.
"So the few times we do seem to succeed sends him into frenzy," the demon slayer finally swore. "This thing is turning out to be a real pain in the butt."
"Indeed, seems to be a double edged sword," he said weakly, and the pain in his voice was obvious. He remained crouched behind a rock that was only about half of his height, though it was far enough away to be safe for now. "We certainly have our work cut out for us, don't we?"
She looked down to his foot, finally recognizing the smell of burnt flesh, and her eyes went wide. "Miroku, your leg!"
"I grew careless," Miroku admitted. "Not that I'm of much help right now anyway. In such a small space, my Windtunnel is too risky, as is InuYasha's Windscar and Backlash wave."
"Everyone get down!" warned the mentioned half demon.
In one of the higher tunnels burrowed in the broken walls of the cavern, Kilala lay sprawled on the surface, out of immediate harm's way. InuYasha jumped from the high tunnel, and drove his claws into his chest, piercing through the material into his skin. Everyone crouched down just as the fighter whipped his left arm out.
"BLADES OF BLOOD!"
The glinting crimson arcs whistled through the air to rain down on the dragon. Surrounding rocks burst into dust and the ground shook from the deadly rain. Link hit the dirt. The rampant Dodongo stopped spinning. The enormous dragon convulsed spastically with the rapid fire against the thick armor.
"Are you kidding me?" Navi jingled irritably. "Even this guy's blood is dangerous? Give me a break!"
The half-demon fighter landed on the cleared path from the dragon's earlier charge. He drew the Tetsaiga in a familiar burst of yellow flame. Demon Dodongo turned to face him across the expanse of hot rock. The jaw was hanging open oddly, but the limbs still reared back, and focused on the demon threateningly. The good news was: there were only two left. The bad news: There were still two left. The Dodongo turned and began its march around the center to meet him, but the limbs were long enough to lash out at him immediately. With two decisive jumps he dodged both attempts to land on a higher boulder. He brought the Tetsaiga in front in a defensive stance.
"Hey! Get up to the tunnels and get out of here!" he barked. "I can take it from here!"
"Not a chance!" Kagome yelled back, and stood to lean over a rock so she had a better view. "We're not leaving you here!"
"You're gonna get killed if you stay here!" InuYasha retorted. "I can handle this, just get everyone out of harm's way!"
He had to stop, since the limbs lashed out again, this time in repeated motions and forcing him on his toes as he slashed and hacked at the limbs. He kept jumping backwards toward the far wall, drawing it toward him, and further from his companions.
"This is not good," Miroku watched him with heavy eyes as he went up on his one good foot. "If I know InuYasha, he's about to do something incredibly stupid."
"Like that's anything new," Shippou bounded over the rock to join the rest of the group that was gathering to band together. "But InuYasha's handled tougher demons, he should handle this one fine enough."
"He suspects the same thing I do," Miroku explained, and pointed at the back of the beast stomping away from them. "Take a look."
The others followed his line of vision, and watched a moment in confusion, until they saw a little green bulb wiggling its way from the head, until a crown of petals unrolled, and out came the unmistakable form of the back of the eye.
"But, I got rid of that thing!" Shippou argued despite the plain logic.
"Regenerative abilities." Miroku explained. "That's how it keeps coming back to fight us. Unless we can be rid of it in one go, it will keep healing itself. I bet the remaining two branches of the demon will be good as new in a few moments."
"And the only way to ensure that," Sango scowled as she watched the battle unfold, "Is to use the Backlash Wave."
A good swipe of InuYasha's sword forced one of the eyes to recoil, and the limb flew back predictably before falling to the floor. He had jumped back against the far wall, and kept up his guard to slay the final piece.
"But if he does that, the whole cave could collapse and he would awaken the volcano!" Shippou realized.
"That's why he's urging us to leave," Miroku elaborated grimly. "Because he has a better chance of surviving it than we do."
"Come on an' get me, if ya can!"
The sword hacked at the final eyeball, before the limbs retreated back into their scale armor. The flattened road from the previous charge was a long stretch between the Dodongo and InuYasha, but he did not take the time to near it. He waited for the promised fire breath, and the charged rollout that would bring it straight to him. Instead of breathing out the fire as per usual, the dragon rolled into a ball, and barreled toward him in a cloud of dust and gravel.
"Hey, how come it didn't use fire this time?" Shippou asked.
"I don't know," Navi admitted. "Maybe because Kagome damaged it's mouth and it's still recovering?"
"InuYasha!" Kagome screamed.
The Dodongo had crashed into the wall, shaking the ground under their feet and rattling dust from the surface of the cave, but InuYasha had jumped to the side to avoid it. The group buckled from the force of the crash rocking the cavern, even as the half demon landed fluidly in a crouch on a boulder. This time, three limbs rose in the raining rocks, as the forth was still rebuilding itself after Kagome's arrow. The three limbs lashed out as Demon Dodongo slowly stomped around to face the foe. InuYasha jumped from rock to rock, leaping and barreling across to try to get to the eye up top, but the limbs coordinated to take him down every time he came close. He grunted every time he slammed into a wall, or ran into a boulder, but he forced himself up each time.
"He's going to get himself killed like that!" Shippou realized.
"InuYasha!" Kagome called. "Come back! This isn't worth your life!"
"Didn't you hear me?" he yelled back. "Get everyone and get out! I'll be fine!"
No, he would not. Link knew it as well as everyone watching. Either the limbs would beat him to death, or he would have to trap himself in a rain of rock and lava. He did not need to ask of the Backlash Wave to know the result would not be good. InuYasha would get himself killed for everyone else's sakes.
Because of location, the monster and its slayer had their profiles to the audience, like a violent stage play for their benefit. Even the Dodongo's earlier rampage had cleared enough of the rubble in front of them to let them see every painful action without a hitch. His friends watched in torture with the knowledge and the spectacle of their friend destroying himself yet again. It was hard to admit even to themselves that their own limitations would get in the way. The boy just stared in awed confusion.
The first time Link met InuYasha, the fierce fighter held him at sword point. The second time, he hacked away at the Stalchildren with ease and brought him inside castle walls for safe keeping. As they traveled, he saved others where Link had failed. He handled each foe without so much as a sweat, and reminded Link, time after time, just how weak a kokiri was in the face of a demon. That night he stopped Link from going up the mountain on his own was something emblazoned in his mind. He should be happy to see InuYasha struggling in battle, to see his strength not holding up as per usual. There should have been some feeling of vindication.
InuYasha deflected a strike, then swung his Tetsaiga up to block a downward strike, just like the first move he had done to protect Link. This time, the force of the hit sent him to a single knee. Because the limbs were too wide to strike simultaneously, they reared back, and went down in successive hits. The repetitive clanks and sparks grated on the ears almost as much as the grunts of pain. The steady onslaught kept pounding down, digging InuYasha deeper into the ground. Even from this far, it was obvious he was bloodied from a hit somewhere on his temple and his muscles were straining. His arms visibly weakened at a suspenseful slow rate, with Tetsaiga coming precariously closer with each passing second.
Link began to shake in angered grief. It was strange. The more he saw the half-demon's defiant pain, or heard his grunts of impact, the more it hurt him every time the fighter was hit.
"That's weird," Navi said suddenly, quietly, almost afraid the Dodongo would turn on them if she whispered too loud. "Where is all that blood coming from?"
Link glance around the area, and only now noted the splotches of red substance. Shoot, how much had InuYasha been beaten? Though as he looked to the fighter again, he realized the hit was only to the temple. There was no chance it could be that excessive.
"Everyone," Miroku said out loud, "We should seriously consider a retreat," and the admittance from the monk looked as though it had punched him in the stomach just to claw up his throat to get it out of his mouth. "As much as I hate to rely on his luck yet again, we don't seem to have any other options."
"Don't say that, Miroku!" Kagome retorted. "I'm not leaving InuYasha, no matter what!"
"But what are we going to do?" Shippou lamented. "Everything we've tried so far hasn't worked!"
Even though he heard the words, Link paid no heed. His attention focused instead on trying to follow the trail of blood around the room. It was even around them, but no one had been bleeding. Actually, the only one who got hit was-
The boy remembered the only instant when a weapon actually cleaved the Dodongo's hide, and his jaw dropped. All the way in the beginning of battle and it was still bleeding? Why hadn't it healed yet? Come to think of it… the jaw was still hanging as well…
Seemingly having enough, the limbs reached back, and side one swept out and swatted InuYasha from his position. He cried out as he struck the wall. He peeled off slowly and plopped to the floor. and slid to the floor.
"InuYasha!" Kagome cried. She raced out to him, but Sango's hold on her arm stopped her.
"We can't!" The slayer tried to implore. "The longer we stay here, the more dangerous we make it for him. We have to get out now while he still has strength to escape!"
Link shook his head and closed his eyes as he turned away from the painful sight, though it did little to help. Through his boots he felt a shake in the earth, making him more uneasy as he heard the arguments. The Dodongo was not healing, but each strike against it sent it into a rampage that was almost more dangerous. There had to be something, something they hadn't tried, anything at all that would subdue the monster. He refused to believe this was the only way. His mind reeled through everything they had used so far, trying to find the weakness somewhere in his mind's eye, but though his mind raced, his fear made it hard to think clearly. Each crash of stone sent his thoughts scattering, and each vocal grunt made him recoil and lose his train of thought. InuYasha was dying. He was going to die. Goddesses above, give him something to work with! He opened his eyes to try to look again at the Dodongo.
And happened to glimpse at the most unlikely bit of help. To hell with thinking, there was no time.
Everyone turned in time to see him run forward to pluck a bomb flower among the rubble, and sprint as fast as his legs could carry him to the battle. He barreled down the path, pounding his legs into the floor, and forcing his exhausted body onward to the front of the fight. The fuse acted as a deadly timer, reminding him of the consequences of his delay. He had to get rid of the eye again. It was the only way to buy InuYasha time and give him a fighting chance against the limbs. Would it do much? In the end, probably not, but if he ran away now, it would eat away at him for the rest of his life.
InuYasha forced himself to swing up from where he lay among the rubble, and spotted the boy running for him.
"Link, what the hell are you doing!"
He stopped on the side of the eye, and held the bomb over his head. The eye on the head noticed him when he hurled it up with as much strength as he could muster, just as it flashed threateningly. It went halfway as far as he wanted, and landed in the open Dragon's mouth.
Only for it to be swallowed.
His heart plummeted like the bomb as the eye turned fully to him. No, no, was he really so pathetic that he couldn't even throw as far as he needed? Not only that, the damn thing swallowed it like a snack. This wasn't fair-!
The dragon jerked, and a muffled explosion turned the dragon red. It arched in the air and flopped forward onto the floor. The pair blinked in dubious surprise. Even the limbs looked down at the fallen lizard part of the beast, and looked to each other in bafflement, even though the scales were sealed. A jingle caught their attention, since she had figured it out.
"A parasite!" the fairy realized. "It's a parasite feeding off of that Dodongo. That's how it's healing itself. Don't just stand there, take it down!"
The limbs seemed to regain their bearings and screeched at Link. InuYasha pierced his chest to get his claws covered in blood again, and released another deadly blood rain. It shook the limbs with sharp clanks against the armor, and pushed them back. Several arcs managed to sneak through the limbs and sliced the fifth eye, forcing the scales back from the remaining eyes.
"Get the dragon!" InuYasha bellowed. "I'll take care of the demon!"
The boy ran through the opening at the distraction. He drew his sword, and hacked at the head of the Dodongo with a battle cry. InuYasha came in behind him, and swung his Tetsaiga to hack at the demon. The two fighters went into double time on their targets, drawing on an impassioned fervor that only came when the long promised end was in sight. They worked on their targets, each using the experience of their own world to incapacitate their own beast.
InuYasha jumped back and forth to keep the limbs on their toes, before hacking with his sword until they deflected and he went into an almost suicidal rampage to slice down each eye when it came too close. It was a harsh and delicately balanced game of catch, trying to keep all three's attention on him in the desperately needed precious seconds. It was harder when the eyes kept trying to turn back to get to the boy attacking their source, but a leap under their heads and a dice of their eyes managed to keep them at bay. And Link flew into a rage beyond his years.
He released strikes from pent up anger from incapability from fighting Stalchildren, pent up anger at his failure to save Kagome, pent up humiliation from tektites, pent up guilt at Kilala's almost death, and pent up fury at the fatal injury to Sango he could not prevent. The power and emotion of his strikes was matched only by the cry of his shouts. For a moment, the Dodongo stirred, and lifted its head for a bit of coherency. With furious roar, Link leaped high and with a final downward stab into King Dodongo's head, he released pent up determination to prove once and for all that The Great Deku Tree's trust in him had not been in vain, just as InuYasha finally jumped, and plowed his Tetsaiga into the heart of the place of the fifth eye to be rid of it once and for all.
The Dodongo rose again, and let out an ear shattering roar into the cavern. The limbs splayed uselessly around it, and it stomped and stumbled blindly, until it arced and rolled back. They watched its precarious roll into the pool of hot broken rock, and burst into flame.
King Dodongo disintegrated from the flames into a black skeletal silhouette before flaking off into black cinders and ash. The demon parasite's flesh burned from the inside until one by one the scales fell apart and clattered onto the red hot stones, rocking on the curved bump of its structure for several moments. It turned even the very center of the cavern into a rubble infested field, though much more macabre in manner. Dodongo's carcass disappeared completely and in its place stood a shimmering and revolving heart with shining blue lining, like a gem. In the middle point a blue ring of light emerged and spread until it circled invitingly for the weary fighters.
"Jeez," InuYasha muttered when he looked back at Link. "Remind me not to piss you off."
The boy looked up at him tiredly, before chuckling soundlessly at the irony. InuYasha collapsed to his knees, holding onto the Tetsaiga for support. Link and Navi looked over in alarm.
"What happened?" The fairy asked.
"I'm fine," the demon insisted, "Just need a few days rest after that."
Link swallowed worriedly. Of course, after all the hits InuYasha had to take, no wonder he was exhausted. The kokiri held a hesitant hand to help up the half demon. The beaten fighter took a look at the small hand, before looking away, and standing.
"Don't bother. I'm a little too much for you, kid," he brushed off, and sheathed his sword. "Let's just go make sure the others are all right."
Everyone made their way around the rocks toward the heart and light after a few slow moments, since they still had to navigate around fallen scales. Even Kilala had managed to crawl her way over to meet her friends. The lava had coagulated into a solid rock surface that was warm, but nowhere near as lethally hot as they had been. It was like all of the heat had been burned right out of it. Kagome was holding Miroku's arm over her shoulder to be his temporary crutch, and Sango was leaning on Hiraikotsu. Kilala was standing again, but not moving very quickly.
"Well, we're all here," Kagome stated. "How is everyone?"
"Alive, thankfully," Miroku answered simply. "I doubt I should walk on this for a while."
"I'm sore, but I'll be all right." Sango answered. "I'll just have to recuperate and avoid heavy training for a while. I'm more worried about Kilala." She glanced to the demon cat. "I'll have to look over her more thoroughly when we get back to Kakariko."
Link looked to the fire saber-tooth as well, his own uncertainty increasing.
"How about you, InuYasha?" Kagome asked.
"Tch, I'll be fine in a day or two."
The kokiri took a look at each of the beaten teammates, trying to gauge injuries. Who was really the worst off? Kagome and Shippou were fine. Miroku did not seem too bad at first glance, but his foot almost looked like it would be unusable for a while. Sango, Kilala, and InuYasha went without saying. But between him and the heart, he could only help two people. Link looked back and forth between the group, and the giant shining heart uncertainly. Who needed it more?
"Go ahead, Link," the monk encouraged. "You should take it. Those burns could lead to infection if not treated."
He looked to the monk in surprise. But, he was fine, why on earth did he think he should take it?
"You deserve it," Kagome added. "We'd still be fighting that thing if it wasn't for you."
"Yeah, that was amazing!" Shippou exclaimed. "I never would've thought of that."
"A stroke of genius, on your part," Miroku smiled.
Link stared at all them, his mind finally drawing together what everyone was saying: Everyone thought he had thrown it in the Dodongo's mouth on purpose. That was why they wanted him to take it like a prize. He swallowed uncomfortably, and lowered his eyes in shame, though everyone thought it was out of embarrassment.
"Will you hurry up and take the thing already?" InuYasha reminded. "We have to get out of here."
Link jumped and ran to the heart to comply, but he stopped in front of it. No, he would not take it, but who should have it? He liked Miroku, he had done nothing but help him, and so he could take the heart. InuYasha seemed like he could stand fine enough on his own, though it probably was mostly for show. He liked both Sango and Kilala, but which one needed his help more?
"Why are you hesitating?" Navi asked. "You can just heal them in a second."
Link glanced over his shoulder, and held up his hand to block his mouth from sight. She hovered close to his whisper, and then looked at him.
"So?"
He beckoned her closer and whispered again. She listened patiently to his mumble, and then sighed.
"Link, you only need one. She can heal all of them."
His jaw dropped and eyes widened in dawning realization. Everyone watched in confusion as Link took the heart, and instead of the usual jingle, he ran right back over, a huge grin on his face as he fished out something from his pouch. They stared at the sight of the glass bottle, and bobbing pink light.
"Is that another fairy?" Kagome asked as she blinked at it.
The boy uncorked the bottle, and the little pink light flew out to instantly circle him from head to toe. Then the fairy headed toward InuYasha since he was closest and repeated the motion. He blinked and looked down at himself.
"Hey, I'm all better."
Pink glittering magic trailed behind the fairy as she circled around both Kagome and Miroku. They followed her progress in rapture, and the monk watched as a burst of pink magic healed his foot instantly right before his eyes. Even his sandal had been restored. He smiled and removed himself from Kagome, and touched down his foot experimentally.
"I have to say: The more time I spend in this world, the more I appreciate its healing properties."
Sango was more open since she already witnessed the abilities, and was already smiling. She straightened as the light traveled down her body, and flexed her hand experimentally. "Well, I could get used to this."
Kilala roared in appreciation when the fairy encircled even her huge body, and as soon as it did, she bounded forward to Link, and licked his cheek. Navi squeaked and zipped away out of reach, but the boy burst into giggles and hugged her neck fiercely. He buried his face into her thick fur gratefully. Thank goodness she was all right.
Shippou's excited eyes just watched the fairy's journey around him, and rolled his shoulder a moment. "Ha, neat."
"And, now that I can walk again," Miroku pulled out a slip of paper from the folds of his robe, with strange character writing, "I suppose it's time for me to exercise this demon."
Link peered out from Kilala's fur questioningly. Sango caught it.
"You see, the bones of a demon can still carry an evil spirit. If it's not cleansed properly, it can bring misfortune to the place it's in. Or attract other demons."
Link's eyes widened, and released Kilala as he jumped back from a scale by his feet. Those things were cursed?
"Don't worry," Kagome soothed. "We have Miroku on the job for that. He can take care of the evil spirit with his ofuda."
The boy and fairy tilted their heads. Ofuda?
"Demon spirit, be gone from this place and lay to rest!"
The man was standing by the main collections of scales that had been along the Dodongo's spine. The paper in his hand flew out from his hand and attached to the armor. He bounced his staff several times off the rock, jingling the rings in a wordless mantra before bringing his left hand up in front of his face in prayer.
"Hey Link?" Shippou spoke up. "How come you didn't use that fairy before? You looked like you weren't sure at first."
Navi sighed as Link twisted his foot in the rock. "He thought it only worked on one person. Healing Fairies are very rare, so he thought he would have to choose who got it."
"So that's why you hesitated," Shippou realized.
"Link," Kagome put her hands on her knees as she bent down to be closer to his level, "That was very generous of you, thank you."
"I can see why that would deter you," Miroku said as he returned to them, "but it would have been better if you told us that first. If it really did only work for one person, we would have been able to decide amongst ourselves who needed it more."
Sango sighed from where she was kneeling to reach her climbing hook and small sword.
"Link, this is what we were talking about," she said, and walked over to him. "How can we understand what's going on if you won't tell us? You're trying too much on your own."
"It's like with InuYasha," Shippou agreed. "That idiot never asks for help, and almost gets himself killed."
"Hey," he barked. "I do plenty fine on my own, you all just worry too much."
"You see what we mean?" Kagome smiled in exasperation. "He says that even when he almost got himself killed for our sakes. If you don't ask for help, how will we know when you're really in trouble? Then we just have to keep an eye on you to make sure you're all right."
"So..." Navi looked to her uncertainly, "You're saying that if we actually ask you for help sometimes, then you'll butt out?"
"In a manner of speaking," Miroku responded easily. "If you ask for help when you really need it, then we know you understand your own limitations. We've only been trying to help you in a world we don't understand, yet you seem to act as though we cannot be trusted to assist you."
The boy and his fairy shifted slightly in discomfort, the words ringing a little too true to ignore. Now that Link thought about it, at the river the others had been closer and could have helped Kagome faster than him. Or better yet, gotten her out of danger before she was taken. And at the Goron pass, he had not even thought of trying to ask for help before he was overwhelmed, and as a result, almost lost the emerald. And InuYasha really was stronger than he was, and could have gotten Kilala out of the way quicker. He almost got her and himself killed because he was not fast enough.
He had always thought the others just did not think highly enough of him to trust him to stand on his own. Maybe the truth was: he just was not ready to stand on his own.
"Well, what about Shippou?" Navi defended half heartedly. "He's even smaller than Link, but you seem to trust him to go into battle."
"That's because Shippou is a demon and understands battle. Plus we know he'll run away if it becomes too much."
"I'm not a coward!" Shippou yelled out.
"No one's saying you are," Kagome soothed.
"But you," Miroku continued, "are much more like a certain hotheaded friend of ours. Always trying to prove his strength and keep us out of danger at the risk of his own life."
"Tch," InuYasha crossed his arms. "I'm fine now, aren't I?"
Sango was the one that spoke up this time. "But we've almost lost him, several times. If it wasn't for his demonic strength, he would have been killed a long time ago."
"I know that," the demon answered, and he surprised Navi and Link with the sincerity of his words. "I've learned to survive this long on it."
"Then stop trying to do everything yourself!" Kagome answered back, and the two newcomers were surprised by the ferocity in her voice. "Why do you insist on almost getting yourself killed for our sakes?"
Link and Navi watched, absolutely stunned by this discovery of information.
"We've come to rely on miracles with him," Miroku said seriously. "We don't want to have to do the same with you."
The boy looked up to the man, as a hand was placed on his shoulder.
"What I'm trying to say, Link, is that we need you to speak with us."
Link could not look away from him, even when Miroku had basically just told him he needed to live through his worst nightmare.
"We're a team because we look out for each other." Sango agreed. "We can't do that if we don't communicate with each other."
"Link, do you remember how you felt when you saw InuYasha fighting?" Miroku smiled knowingly. "Or when Kilala had fallen?"
The boy gulped, and nodded slowly.
"What you felt made you act without self preservation. Kilala is usually well enough to look after herself. You know InuYasha is a capable fighter, yet you still rushed to both of their aid when they seemed overwhelmed. Even if it meant a risk to your own life. That is what we feel for each other, no matter the circumstances. We have come to expect it for every battle. But I assure you that it never gets easier to handle."
Wide blue eyes looked into Miroku's comforting dark eyes, and Sango's warm chocolate brown. They looked out for each other, but until now he had never thought really thought about what it meant to receive their help. It was only to prove himself, and despite his best intentions, he ended up putting them in danger.
"You're not a demon, kid," came the brisk voice to his side. "If you don't stop acting like it, you won't end up as lucky as me. We don't want to have to see you die."
Now it made sense. They wanted to protect him. It was the same way he had felt when he saw Sango thrashed, and when InuYasha had been fighting. They felt that for each other. And for him. He suddenly felt a surge of gratitude. If they had not done what they had, it would have meant they did not feel as though he were worth risking their lives for. And that knowledge made his heart light and free. If only that knowledge were obvious sooner, then things would be a whole lot easier to understand.
"Well, what do you say?" Miroku said lightly. "Can we try this again? On a better foot, this time?"
Navi sighed dramatically. "Well, you guys really have been doing a good job to keep him out of trouble. And if everything from here on out is going to be as hard as this, we definitely need all the help we can get."
Link smiled slowly and nodded. Sango returned the smile.
"Welcome to the team."
His smile turned into a beam. He twirled on his toes to stroll up to the blue light singing in welcome.
"Link?" Sango called curiously.
"That's our exit," Navi clarified.
"That so," Miroku held his chin and tilted his head thoughtfully. "I was wondering what that was. Well, it certainly doesn't seem dark or malicious."
Everyone stared at the half-demon strutting right up to the portal. He cast one glance over his shoulder at the stunned watchers.
"Well, you heard her. We getting out of here, or what?" he said simply, and stepped into the light.
The blue intensified, and he looked up to the ceiling. His clothes and hair lifted with weightlessness, and his body rose up the column, until his body vanished from sight. The others took one look at each other and smiled, before going up to do the same.
Also, I feel as though I should be honest with you guys here. The reason why this actually took longer than it might otherwise have is because... I started a new fanfiction. Kingdom Hearts.
Yeah, I know, not even the same fandom. Whatever, I liked the idea, and went with it. Combine that with the comic projects I still haven't done, updates are still going to be sporadic. Yeah, be prepared.
So, how'd I do? Was the promised action scene up to par? Was it awesome and amazing? Did it drag? I'd love some opinions and critiques. I've never written such a lengthy fight scene, so had to work with breaks, and fast pace. Did I do it right? :D
