kk here is the next chapter!!
The hidden darkness inside InuYasha
InuYasha came galloping over several hills, and growled deeply when the ugly view of Naraku's new castle came into his sight. He could sense the evil aura all over the place and it sickened him, and he was tempted to leave the cursed area. But then he realised that Kagome was probably inside that castle, all alone...with him.
InuYasha bared his teeth before jumping forward so he was running through Naraku's demonic aura, the scent of a distant miasma never drifting from his nose. He'd come down a hill, and the castle had gone from sight for as far as he could see. He was now entering a small wood that was smoothered in a thick mist. " This wood must be guarding the entrance to the castle! " InuYasha concluded.
Sango and Miroku came flying over the hills on Kirara, and were slightly panicked to find InuYasha had vanished from view.
" Miroku! Do you see InuYasha anywhere?! " Sango yelled through the wind.
" No, and his demonic aura has dissapeared aswell! I can't sense him anywhere! " Miroku yelled back, his eyes scanning the ground for their friend, " Sango! Look there! "
Sango turned her attention to where the monk was looking and was shocked at what she saw. A massive, black barrier was covering a small part of the landscape. The evil emitting from it was truly terrifying, and a faint miasma could be seen scattered around the edge.
" Do...Do you think that's where Naraku and Kagome are? " Sango asked Miroku, shivering at the feel of such a terrible aura.
" Judging by the size of that shield and the horrible presence coming from inside it I'd say it was indeed, perhaps InuYasha has gone through it! " Miroku suggested.
" Let't see if we can then! Kirara, take us down! " Sango ordered her nekomata, as they descended down to the barrier. Upon contact with it though, Kirara bounced back into the air, sreeching in pain.
" Kirara! " Sango yelled as they fell to the ground with a thud. Miroku and Sango were alright but the barrier had done some damage to Kirara.
" Take it easy Kirara, " Sango told the nekomata as she transformed back into her smaller state. Sango held her in her arms gently and turned to Miroku, who was now carefully studying the barrier.
" A terrible magic surrounds this barrier..." Miroku said gravely.
" What do you mean monk? " Sango asked almost fearfully.
" Something...corrupted is causing this...it's not Naraku though...the aura is different...much more concerntrated and stronger...whatever is causing this though, I'm sure Naraku is helping to manipulate its power...it feels sort of familiar..."
Sango looked up at the barrier's walls and then down again and attempted to see through it. That did little good though, the wall was almost opaque.
" Miroku? Do you really think InuYasha is in there somewhere?..." Sango asked.
" I...I'm quite sure he is actually...his demonic aura was here not to long ago...maybe he used the red Tetsusaiga...or maybe he found another way around it..."
" Another way? "
" Yes, perhaps. With Kirara down, we're going to be much slower finding InuYasha though, so we had best get a move on, " Miroku told her decisively.
" Yeah. Let's get going then..." Sango agreed as her and Miroku started to search around the barrier for a possible way in.
with InuYasha
InuYasha had not seen the barrier, nor had he sensed it. He'd simply walked right through it without realising it was even there at all. Kari had seen the barrier, but had been able to pass through it after InuYasha. The neko was keeping hot on the half-demon's trail, not letting him out of his sight.
InuYasha just kept running through the mist, feeling himself getting ever closer to the castle. He gained even more speed.
" Hang on Kagome...I swear I'll get you out of there! "
with Kagome and Naraku
Naraku was slowly backing Kagome up against the wooden door she'd been dragged into. Naraku was giving her a look of pure hatred but also a look of...lust?
Kagome did her best to hide her fear, but to little avail. It felt like Naraku was peering right into her soul, seeking out her deepest and darkest thoughts and fears...
Kagome fell against the door, and Naraku came forward like lightning, trapping her there with his arms either side of her body, snarling at her.
" Look at what you did miko! Look at my face! " Naraku spat at her.
" Wha...What do you what I did? " Kagome asked back innocently.
" Ku Ku Ku...you don't remember?...How tragic...I doubt you remember your past life before either? " Naraku asked with a small but affective smirk.
Kagome just did her best to stare Naraku down, not answering his question. She knew that this could be her only chance to complete her mission, but she had no weapon to do it...She scanned the room frantically, searching for anything she could use to defend herself. A shiny glint caught Kagome's eye from the corner of the room. " My bow and arrows! "
If she could just reach them...
Naraku saw what she was planning and wrapped his arm around her neck, pulling her from the floor and holding her in the air, suffocating her. Kagome choked and couldn't breathe at all. She tried desperately to pry his fingers from around her neck, but it didn't work. She was seeing black...
With a final effort, Kagome brought both of her hands around Naraku's. She squeezed tightly and concerntrated her miko energy. She let it out through her hands as they glowed a light pink. The bright light burned Naraku's skin as he howled in pain. He finally released her.
Kagome fell to the floor, gasping for breath. Once she found it, she leapt to the corner of the room and grabbed her bow and arrows. Naraku, whirled round to her, still clutching his burnt hand. Kagome aimed her arrow at Naraku.
" You..You wench..." Narku managed to hiss out at her.
Kagome's eyes narrowed at him as she took better aim at him, ready to fire when the time came.
Naraku then smirked at her, a mocking glint in his eye.
" You think you can destroy me miko? That's your mission, correct? Pathetic..."
Kagome's eyes widened in surprise.
" How do you know about that? " She demanded.
Naraku's evil grin widened as his hand went inside his kimono. He pulled out a dark, round and glowing half-sphere, tainted by the one holding it.
Kagome gaped. " The shikon-no-tama! "
" Yes miko, do you see? Though thanks to your interference, I have only half of the jewell. However, half is more than what I need at the moment to make you suffer...My hate for you has corrupted this half's purity, and it fuels its strength to my body, helping me to recover what I lost..."
" What...What happened to you Naraku? " Kagome asked as her surprise died down. He couldn't have complete power without a full jewell, but still...
" What happened to me, miko? Ku Ku Ku..." Naraku laughed.
" What's so humerous?..." Kagome demanded.
" You, young miko. Over four months ago, I was almost defeated and left for dead. The power of the shikon-no-tama that had been embedded in my body was almost purified, and I was forced to remove it before I was along with it. I threw it over the edge of a cliff..."
Kagome had a feeling of deja-vu again. Naraku's story sounded familiar to her...
" I fleed the scene, repulsed at the sight of my own body. I went into hiding for a while, before I heard of...some rumours..."
Kagome raised an eyebrow.
" Yes Kagome. Do you remember now? The jewell would never have begun to purify if it hadn't been for a certain someone...the only woman with the power to purify the jewell...and destroy me...you were that woman! "
" What?! " Kagome demanded, caught completely off guard.
" That day, you wrapped your filthy human arms around my body, and fueled your purifying magic to the jewell, as it purified, it fueled power to you...After I removed it, i sent you over the cliff with it...you should have died that day Kagome..."
Kagome couldn't believe what she was hearing.
" Oh how it gave me such pleasure, even in my pain, to hear the anguished cries of your loved ones, one in particular...the one who failed to reach you in time as you fell from the cliff...who failed to save you from your cruel fate...a half-demon I despised..."
" InuYasha?..." Kagome stuttered, speechless.
" Yes, that filthy half-breed and his friends. Have you not wondered why he stopped at nothing to find you when he learnt of your return, while he wanted to keep you safe in that village? Why his friends always looked so sad when you couldn't remember them? Why you wanted to stay with them? Why you felt for InuYasha?..."
Naraku laughed at Kagome's expression.
" You used to love that half-breed, and though he would always deny it, he loved you aswell...he never truly realised it until I almost killed you that day...It must have broke his heart when you came back and didn't remember him or anyone...not even the family you left behind in your own time..."
" My...My own time?!? "
" Yes Kagome. You are not from this time, you come from the far future. You used to travel back and forth between your time and this one, helping InuYasha and his friends look for the jewell shards, which only you and Kikyou could sense..."
" Kikyou? " Kagome thought.
" I quite happily disposed of Kikyou myself actaully, a few weeks before I nearly did you...such a shame really, she would have made a lovely mate..."
Kagome was fuming inside. Naraku had caused even more suffering than she'd first realised. He had been the one to kill Kikyou...he nearly killed her! He was the reason she couldn't remember anything from before! He hurt and broke InuYasha's heart!
This bastard was going to pay...
" After that fateful day, some humans came across the cave I had been hiding in. I'd already come across this half of the jewell, it had floated down river. I used its powers to corrupt them, and they soon succumed to my every wish. They treated me like royalty, gave me this new castle to live in...and in turn I tainted and tarnished their suols to the point they could never return to normal again...being with these weak humans is a small price to pay for the full power I will soon have...I will dispose of them once they have ran their usefulness..."
Kagome gritted her teeth.
" Once I have a complete jewell, I will have absolute power once more, and no one, not even you Kagome, will stop me...You won't live long enough to do so...you will never complete your mission to destroy me and the sacred jewell! "
Kagome had heard enough. She took aim once more with her bow and arrow, and fired at Naraku. It hit him in the chest, but with half the sacred jewell in his hand, the wound would heal quickly. Kagome shot past the pained Naraku, and ran out through the corridor, narrowly missing the men that waited for her. She had to find the other half of the jewell before Naraku did! If she did that she could then destroy it! Then he'd never have full power!
When Naraku had recovered, he sneered sinisterly at the direction in which Kagome had just left. Kagome wouldn't get away from him. He planned to kill her at some point and so get his revenge, but until then she would prove useful in finding the last piece of the jewell.
Naraku then had a thought. He had sensed that half-demon come through his barrier as he had intended. He wanted to make InuYasha suffer almost as much as he did Kagome...
InuYasha was in a swirl of his darkness, and in perfect position for a little offside manipulation...and maybe some reliving of past happenings and present fears...
Narku smirked once again. He brought the shikon jewell half to his chest and closed his eyes. A blue hue surrounded Naraku as he made the conection with InuYasha's soul, whose being had unknowingly been darkened by Naraku's mist and miasma.
with InuYasha
InuYasha couldn't believe it. He'd somehow gotten himself lost in the mist! He'd been sure he'd known the direction of the castle! " DAMNIT! I'm such an idiot! " InuYasha cursed himself.
He was wasting so much time! Naraku could be hurting Kagome! She needed him and he couldn't get there to her! " Just hang on a bit longer Kagome! I will find you! "
InuYasha suddenly felt overcome with a wave of nausea. He nearly fell over, but was able to stable himself against a tree.
" What the hell was that?!? "
The nausea swept over him again and this time he did tumble over, landing on the ground with loud thud. He felt himself starting to pass out from the feeling but he willed his body not to. The overwhelming feeling was to strong though, and he soon fell unconscious.
The last thing he muttered was a single name as he drifted off into blackness.
" Kagome..."
InuYasha's senses awoke before he opened his eyes. He sniffed the air around him, and smelt smoke and...blood? Who's blood?... He couldn't make it out...
InuYasha opened his eyes and finally took in his surroundings. He had to close them again though as thick balck smoke nearly blinded him. He squinted his eyes open a little and brought his hand up to shield them. It was then that he realised he was holding something. " The Shikon-no-tama! "
InuYasha's surprise only grew as he found the scense around him dissapearing and melting into a different one. This time he found himself running through a...village? Past the village...through to a forest...infront of a great tree and still clutching the jewell...
" INUYASHA!! "
A voice sounded as he stopped in his tracks to see who had yelled to him. He turned round and met the eyes of the woman he had hated and loved...
" Kikyou! "
" Die InuYasha! "
Kikyou fired her arrow and InuYasha was pinned to the sacred tree, the jewell flying out of his grasp as pain shook through him from the force of the arrow.
He could just see Kikyou collapse to the ground and reached out a hand to her form as five words ran through his head.
" Ki-Kikyou...How could...?...I thought..." Then InuYasha blacked out.
Now, InuYasha opened his eyes once again. The long forgotten pain he had just relived was still clear in his mind. He kept his eyes closed in hurt. " Kikyou..."
" InuYasha? " A sweet and loving voice called out to him. He finally opned his eyes and looked up to see none other than Kagome staring at him worriedly. She wasn't wearing the prietess garb from before, but instead her regular old school uniform. She looked at him just like she used to, with so much love, compassion, emotion...His Kagome was back!
Maybe everything that had happened before...was all just a bad dream? A distant nightmare?
" InuYasha are you alright? You look pale..." Kagome asked with concern, holding out her hand to him so she could pull him up. He took her hand gratefully and stood looking deep into her eyes. That nightmare had seemed real enough...but the Kagome he knew and cared for infront of him now...safe and well...alive and recognising him!
InuYasha brought Kagome into a warm hug, pressing his chin on top of of her head, drinking in her comforting scent..." This feels so good..."
Kagome looked up at him from in his embrace, a little surprised. Her face broke out into a grin though as she playfully placed her hand on his head as if feeling for a temperature.
" Are you really alright InuYasha? " Kagome asked smiling.
" I'm fine Kagome. Best I've felt in a long time..." InuYasha replied with a rare smile of his own. He followed her back to the camp that had been made near Kaede's village and found Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara waiting for them. He smelt the deliscious smell of ramen emitting from some pots next to the fire. He sat down next to Kagome as she handed him a pot and he slurped at it hungrily.
" This tastes so good..."
" MIROKU YOU PERVERT!! " Sango yelled as she got up and whacked her Hiraikotsu over the monk's head.
" Forgive me my dear Sango but I never know where this cursed hand will wonder to next..." Miroku replied with a perverted smile while innocently waving his hands at her. He then doubled over with a collosal bump on his head from Sango's boomerang.
Kagome, Shippo and even Kirara sweat dropped at the familiar scene, but InuYasha didn't. Instead he smiled at the pair, glad that things were as they should be. Sango and Miroku were be fighting like an old married couple and Shippo and Kirara were silently agreeing that the monk was both a baka and had an almost certain death wish...
But most pleasing to InuYasha was the fact Kagome was by his side. She was just sitting with him, happily musing to herself. InuYasha couldn't help but stare at her. He had never noticed her like this before. The setting sun cast a warm hue over her features and she literally glowed in the light. Her hair blew lightly around her as she tucked a piece behind her ear and then twirled another with her finger.
InuYasha felt so lucky to have someone as kind, brave, beautiful, fiery, loving and giving as Kagome was. Sure they'd get into fights, argue some more and InuYasha would get sat but right now he honestly wouldn't trade it for the world...
Kagome looked at him as she caught him staring and he blushed madly but didn't turn away. Kagome smiled shyly and blushed aswell. She slowly leaned her head on his shoulder and he leaned his head on top of hers. InuYasha drowned out the sounds of the quarelling monk and demon slayer and focused only on the girl beside him. As he closed his eyes in his perfect little world it felt as if it were only him and Kagome, forever by eachothers side...he fell asleep, perfectly content.
InuYasha awoke sometime later to the smell of...fire? Something was definately burning! He shot his eyes open and looked around him. He gasped in horror.
All around him there were trees uprooted, slashed to bits, the village huts lay in pieces dotted around the ground. There were bodies lying around the place everywhere...Women, their children, the villlage animals...
He looked further up on the hills to see that Kikyou's shrine had been completely demolished and destroyed, there was hardly anything left...
InuYasha smelt something else just then that horrified him. He looked down at his hands ro find them covered in scarlet blood...his friend's blood!
" N..No..." InuYasha gasped. He smelt, Shippo's, Miroku's, Sango', Kirara's, Kaede's and...Kagome...
" KAGOME!! " He called out for her, preying this was all just another nightmare and not really happening. He couldn't have done this...
InuYasha found his white undershirt and haori laying in a heap next to a fallen tree. It was covered in blood...
" INUYASHA!! " a voice called to him.
InuYasha whirled round, recognising the voice instantly.
InuYasha's eyes widened in horror as they lay on Kagome's form. She was holding up her bow and arro, ready to fire at him. She had a massive gash on her chest with blood pouring out of it. The fire created a strong wind as it blew around her, lifting her hair and clothes around her body. She had tear trails down her cheeks aswell.
" Please...tell me I didn't do this to Kagome! I wouldn't! I love..."
" InuYasha! How could you do this?!? You've killed all our friends, all the villagers! You destroyed everything! You went after me..." Kagome said as more tears fell.
" Ka...Kagome..."
" I'll never forgive you InuYasha, never! I thought I could trust you! I thought you cared for us! Cared for me...I guess I was wrong..."
" No! Kagome don't do this!..."
" You chose your own desire over peace and look what happened! You stole the jewell and went on a killing rampage...there was so much blood..."
" Kagome please forgive me! I'm begging you! " InuYasha pleaded with her. He could see she was struggling to stand, she was loosing to much blood...
" I can never forgive you InuYasha..."
" KAGOME!! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS! I'M SO SORRY! I...I didn't mean it...I...I love you Kagome..."
" I did love you InuYasha. You know I did...we can never be in this world though..."
" No...Kagome don't! Don't say that please! "
" I...I still love you InuYasha...but after all this...after everything you've done...I...I just can't live with it..." Kagome told him, tears coming down heavier than before.
" Ka...Kagome you said you'd never leave me..." InuYasha said, his own tears appearing.
Kagome gritted her teeth and got ready to fire once more. She aimed at InuYasha's heart.
" I will follow..." She said distantly.
" No...KAGOMEEE!!! " InuYasha yelled as he ran towards her, attempting to bring her close to him and get her to listen to reason.
" It's too late...goodbye...InuYasha..."
She fired her arrow.
