Chapter 19: Rising from the Ashes - Taking a Stand
Inukojo stormed through the castle, slamming doors and brusquely brushing guards and courtiers alike out her warpath. Eventually, she marched straight down to Inukimi's room.
Her sister was handing off a cloak to a servant and looking in a mirror for any sort of imperfection in her hair styling.
"I know you had something to do with it." Inukojo banged open the door and stood in the middle of the room.
"You will need to be a tad bit more specific than that," Inukimi remarked with almost a melodic tone. She reached up to fix an invisible flyaway.
"Tsukiakari and that son of yours are gone. Nowhere to be found in the castle or on the grounds. This has to be your doing." She shook an accusing finger in the sorceress's direction. "You feel threatened because my nephew finally agreed to my terms."
Inukimi moved on to her impeccable makeup, pretending to adjust her flawless appearance. "Why would I be anything but gracious and immensely happy that my bachelor son has finally agreed to a match? On the contrary, I am relieved. I was so fearful that he would take that little human pet as his partner."
Inukojo fumed. "Don't lie to me. We both know that once Sesshoumaru marries Tsukiakari that his inheritance terms will be met and everything you possess will go to him and Tsukiakari, and by extension - me. You don't like the feeling of having power stripped away from you." Triumphant, she concluded. "I'm finally taking back what is mine and you can't stop me."
"Again, why would I have any desire to stop you?" Inukimi daintily brought her brows together and brought out her fan. "That boy is altogether too hard to persuade and you have done it most dexterously. Forcing him into a vengeful state is original, I must say. I am extremely grateful that you've done the work for me."
She swept like a ghost over the floor. "In fact, I am a bit surprised that it worked so well. He is quite taken with the idea - so much so that he was able to overlook your poor acting."
"What?" Inukojo snarled.
"You don't honestly expect any of us to believe that the sword you pulled earlier was the real thing? My son may be a fool, but he is an expert at swords and would have seen through your deception as easily as I do." Inukimi fanned herself.
"But if I will be completely honest, you told me yourself that you had sent that poor wretched dragon girl with the real weapon as a trap. Logically, that sword couldn't be the real one."
Furious at the full scale mockery, Inukojo stomped up to her younger sister. "I will have my destiny."
Her righteous anger was met with a gentille and cruel smile. "Of course. You will receive everything that is fated for you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have matters to attend to." She waved her arm and the door to the room opened without any intervention.
As Inukojo strode to the door, Inukimi could not resist throwing out one last quip: "Now let us hope that your little trick works and sword comes when you call."
She smiled at her sister's confused outrage and clarified: "Come now, the walls have ears. I thought you knew that." And with a final wave of her hand, the door slammed shut.
"Kohaku-kun, you need to lay down. You're still healing." Kagome tenderly pushed the young man back down onto the futon as a roll of sterile bandage wrap rolled onto the floor. "I know this is," and she wiped the streams on her face with the back of her hand, "hard, but we need to get you bandaged or you'll die too!"
"He was supposed to protect her. He was supposed to keep her safe!" Kohaku lamented with a ragged voice, breath catching in his throat, forcing him into a series of coughs and blood splattered the ground again. He curled around his sore lungs, trying to find a way to make the pain as small as possible.
Kagome rubbed his back in small circles and brushed back his bangs. She did not make an attempt to abate her tears as they ran down her cheeks. "I am sure he did everything he could."
A murderous eye glared at her: "Do you honestly think that? Or are you trying to placate me?"
"That is quite enough, young man." Tsukiakari moved between the venomous gaze and the priestess. "You are in pain. You are hurt. That does not give you the right to hurt others. Kagome-san is trying to help you. If you do not calm yourself, I will do it for you." She held up her hand, glowing with a golden light.
Kohaku froze and in that stillness, tears bubbled over to silently roll over his skin. His brows came together and he clenched his teeth, biting back the unspeakable torment in his heart. But he was quiet.
Inuyasha returned bearing Miki and Shinobu, his face ashen and forlorn, for Rin had grown into a younger sister figure for everyone in the village. Her loss was felt no less acutely than when he had sent Kikyo beyond.
Kagome finished wrapping the bandages and then took her children into her arms. "Let's get them through the well. Sango-chan and Miroku-sama will be here soon."
Tsukiakari watched in amazement as strange clothing, wraps, accessories, and items were gathered and loaded into packs with a design unlike any she had ever seen.
"Come on," Kagome coaxed her eldest, "we are about to visit Oba-chan for a while."
At the name, Miki's expression lit up. "Oba-san? We can watch tee-bee? And eat eye scream?" The modern words rolling off her tongue like tiny balls of lead.
For the tiniest moments, Kagome and Inuyasha glanced at each other. If they didn't play this right - if they didn't make it out of this, Miki was going to get a whole lot better at pronouncing those modern words as they became a part of her new life.
"Mama? Papa?" Miki looked curiously between her parents.
Kagome smiled warmly and reached down to grab the little girl. "Yes. But we'll need to make sure Oba-san doesn't spoil you too much. Or you'll turn into a rotten apple." A tickle under the chin got the toddler giggling.
Over the laughter, she asked, "Tsukiakari-san, would you be able to watch Kohaku-kun? And keep an eye out for Sango-chan? We'll be a few minutes."
The demoness nodded and away the family went. They hadn't been gone for more than a few minutes when the next wave arrived.
She watched distantly as the demon slayer and monk came into the house, also tear stained and grave faced. She observed as Sango gently embraced Kohaku and wept. She witnessed the monk trying to remain stoic as his children wriggled in his arms, confused and distressed by the situation. She gave them privacy and headed outside.
Sesshoumaru was gazing into the distance, without an apparent care in the world. But Tsukiakari could see straight through it: the clenched jaw, the slight wrinkles of skin around his narrowed eyes that swept across the landscape.
"Rin-san's death was not your fault." His jaw twitched ever so slightly at the mention of her name, but he remained tight-lipped. "Even if you were charged with her protection, she was her own person, someone who made her own decisions. There is always risk in that kind of freedom."
Silence.
"I will not tell you to ignore the threat that has come before you; such villains must be dealt with." She smoothly turned to face him. "But I urge you not to do this for revenge. Do it to save the land, the people in this world of ours. Vengeance is an empty dish that leaves our souls craving more."
Silence again, but his eyes were more focused and the red tint was back.
Tsukiakari sighed. There was no helping the members of her clan: once they had their mind set on something, there was no swaying them. At least she had tried.
Hearing Inuyasha's return, she started to head back to the house, but stopped on the dirt path. "When you finally meet Rin-san again, ask her if you did the right thing. Let her answer be the one you were looking for."
Back in the house, Inuyasha was giving an explanation to the family.
"Kagome is already on the other side with the old lady. We'll take the kids one at a time. From what we can tell, if one of you is touching me or Kagome, you should be fine."
"Inuyasha, will this work?" Miroku was warily stroking the heads of his children.
The hanyou crossed his arms. "Hell if I know – we've never tried bringing other people through the well before." Realizing that he let his attitude get the better of him, he reached out to put a firm hold on the monk's shoulder. "Kagome believes it will. I mean, it worked for Miki and Shinobu and we bring stuff from the other side all the time."
Miroku gave a nervous smile in response, but was clearly reassured as he stood up and ushered the children out of the house, with Inuyasha following right behind him.
Sango remained behind, dutifully checking on her brother, who had settled into a quiet state, lying on his back, with his eyes closed. The three of them sat, not moving, listening to the wildlife twittering and rustling outside.
Eventually, Inuyasha returned. He helped Kohaku get to his feet and slung the wounded man's arm over his shoulder, with Sango safely nestled under the other. Slowly and awkwardly, the trio moved.
Tsukiakari watched them head over one of the rolling green hills. Not the idle sort, she got to work on cleaning up the house, tidying away items that were scattered on the floor, sweeping away the ashes from last night's fire, and putting boards up over the entryway.
Gone even longer than before, it was deeply late into the morning when at last, she spotted white hair on the horizon. He spotted the house and gave her a brief nod of thanks as she joined him in stride.
Before they reached Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha paused. "You know," he rubbed the back of his head, not accustomed to social niceties, "you could probably go there too. To be safe, if you wanted."
"That is very generous of you, thank you. But one way or another, I need to make amends for what has happened. These demons are targeting not just my family, but this world. I cannot continue to let that happen."
"You're going to fight?" Inuyasha scanned her a bit incredulously, taking in her silken robes, glistening hair flowing down her back, and unscarred skin.
She chuckled delicately, hiding her smile with her sleeve, every inch the perfect courtly lady. With a sweep of her gown, she conjured a cloud that swirled around, concealing her form.
Inuyasha blinked and rubbed his eyes. Now before him stood a warrior maiden, clad in a dark kimono and silver armor, boots and bracers covering feet and hands, hair coiled tightly in braids at the back of her head, and a sword by her side. He noticed a detail on the hem of the sleeves.
"That red mark – Sesshoumaru has it on his robes too." He raised a brow.
She walked past him towards the demon in question. "It is our house crest – every lord or lady of the house has this symbol embroidered on their battle and ceremonial garments. Although I suspect he hasn't a clue."
The two of them joined Sesshoumaru on the hill, under the big tree that had once held a sleeping Inuyasha for decades.
"So what's your plan?" Inuyasha chided. "Are you going to do anything or is Tensaiga taking care of it?"
Sesshoumaru actually growled at his younger brother. "Hold your tongue, brat."
"Brat? Is that how you ask someone for help?"
"I'm not asking for your help."
"Oh really? Then what do you call this? It sure looks like you can't finish the job without meido."
Tsukiakari sighed. "Gentlemen, do either of you know where to find the demons in question? I would elect that we start there. You can debate which of you is less useful later."
Both demons stopped mid insult to look at her in varying degrees of amazement. Neither one seemed inclined to provide any insight in to resolving their dilemma.
"Shall we start with where you encountered them before?" She queried with the patience of a mother on the verge of scolding a pair of children. "I hear no objections." She placed extremely sturdy grips on both of their shoulders and the trio vanished in a swirl of clouds.
Kan laid back on the massive snout of his dragon and juggled Ryuushin in his hands. "So how does that recall trick work? I get that it was able to kill the girl because it had struck her before, but how did it know to return to you?"
"I imagine it has something to do with the wielder. Perhaps the length of time they have been in contact with the weapon. It could be the intent of the sword before the blood tracking began. Or," Pian sat up from his parallel location in a nearby tree, "it could be based on whomever has the strongest will." He held out his hand to call the sword to him.
Kan gripped the sword in anticipation, preparing to resist an unseen force, trying to gauge the inevitable pull…
He relaxed his hold. "You're not even trying."
Pian smirked and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. "Of course. It is infinitely far more amusing to watch you pretend to struggle than to see the actual thing." He closed his eyes and the smirk vanished, returning to the same unsettled expression he'd had ever since that morning when he came out of the cave. "Now stop bothering me. I am almost done devising our strategy to ensure our success."
"Yeah, yeah." Kan cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. "Do you want to share your master plan with me?"
"What did I just say? I will let you know as soon as I have the details worked out. Now be quiet."
What a maddeningly unhelpful response, he thought, as he picked at the scarring on his face. Those cursed dogs would get what was coming to them, they would grovel, beg, and suffer at the feet of their mortal enemies. They would be dealt a terrible hand as soon as Pian was done.
Kan froze and then regarded Pian with newfound reflection. "Hey, Pian."
"What did I tell you?!" His brother's composure unraveled.
"I'm going to take the dragons on a hunt." Kan shot a pointed look at the strategist. "Unless that's going to ruin your beautiful plans-"
"No – don't be stupid. Just go and let me think in peace!" Pian tossed a branch in his direction. "Unless you want to die right here."
"No, I'm good." Kan raised his arms in surrender. "See you later."
His elder brother didn't respond, so Kan took that as a sign of approval. He crawled up top his dragon's head and directed it away from their hiding spot. He slid down the neck and landed next to the other dragon, curled on the ground. It regarded him with a hostile reptilian gaze.
"Don't be like that, you brute. I bet you're just as bored as I am. Let's let off some steam, yeah?" Kan held the dragon slaying sword in front of himself prominently.
The dragon snorted to release a great huff of hot air flow around the small figure, but tilted its head to allow Kan to climb aboard.
"That's what I thought." Kan muttered to himself as he scaled the massive hide. "Now to have some fun!"
"Here, honey." A mug of tea popped into Kagome's view, steaming and frothy. She smiled and cupped the warm beverage in her hands.
"Thank you, Mama" The two ladies of the Higurashi household fondly observed as the combined cluster of children sat with eyes glued to the television set. As the eldest of the group, Kiyoko and Maeko had quickly won the war over the programming lineup, quickly adapting to new technology they had never seen before. Their younger brother swiveled his head between them and Miki, who was also engrossed in the small screen, as though trying to figure out what to do in the situation.
Mrs. Higurashi sipped her tea. "It is good to see you, Kagome."
"Sorry," was the sheepish response. "I meant to bring Shinobu over a bit more frequently than this, but things have been…"
"There is no need to apologize. The important thing is that you are here now and you are safe."
Only a few short hours ago, she had watched as her daughter arrived, distraught, with the children. Shinobu and Miki had been swiftly handed off to their grandmother, but not before Mrs. Higurashi had caught an exchange between Kagome and Inuyasha, one that could very well have been sayonara.
Then, to her surprise, her son-in-law came back with even more people: a young man gravely wounded, and presumably Kagome's closest friends with their small clan of children. Not completely prepared for so many guests, there was a flurry of activity to ensure everyone had food, clothes, and rest.
Now the initial hubbub had settled, yet, none of the adults appeared any calmer. The young woman with the low ponytail and sturdy kimono had been pulled away to fretfully tend to her injured brother. The Buddhist monk was lost in thought in the corner of the living room, standing at attention as though on watch.
And Kagome smiled, but a mother always knows: minds that were miles away, with thoughts of loved ones.
"I can watch them."
Kagome started with wide eyes. "Mama -" She was interrupted by an easy touch to the cheek.
"When we are facing our greatest trials, our friends are what keep us from falling." Mrs. Higurashi smiled. "You don't have to worry about the children. They will be safe here."
"Mama," Kagome whispered, "There is a chance we might not come back."
"I believe you, but I also believe in you." It had taken months for her daughter to finally recount the adventures, the terrors, and the nightmares she had experienced during her time travels to the past. "I remember each and every story you told me. It horrifies me to think of the number of times that I almost lost you."
She rubbed her thumb over Kagome's cheek. "But the important thing, is that I didn't. You always came back. I think that's worth something, don't you?"
Her daughter gave a watery smile and nodded. "Thank you." She went to her friends, gathering them in the kitchen. Mrs. Higurashi followed, preparing to brew another pot of tea.
"I'm home!" A familiar voice called from the entryway. "Oka-san, I need you to sign this permission...slip…"
Sota's voice faded as he dropped his bag and slowly walked past the horde of tiny zombies, eyes glued to their television. He did a quick headcount and checked on his fingers. Definitely not his sister's - at least not all of them. He did spot the pair of black dog ears amongst the group, so Miki was here. Who were the others?
He heard voices from down the hall and peeked into the kitchen.
"Welcome home, Sota!" His mother greeted him and then quickly gestured to their guests. "These are Kagome's friends from beyond the well."
"Sango-chan and Miroku-sama." Kagome explained, pointing out a beauty with long hair and a monk who were equally as surprised as he, but much more tense. If Sota were still in middle school, he would not have been able to suppress his inquisitive nature, but now that he was older, reading the room was much easier.
"Hello," he stated simply and then pointed towards the ceiling. "I'll go get changed and then I'll say hi to Miki."
"Ah, make sure to be quiet. Shinobu is sleeping in Kagome's room." His mother prompted.
With a thumbs up, he stealthily made his way up the stairs and to his room. He was halfway pulling off his uniform when he saw his bed was occupied.
The stranger stared at him, bandaged and cautious. Next to him lay a cat...fox...with two tails…? The creature was asleep and equally bandaged.
"Um," Sota accidentally dropped his tie as he raised his hand in greeting. "Hi - I'm Sota. I'm Kagome's brother."
"I'm Kohaku. Sango is my sister." The stranger started to get up. "I can see I'm intruding; I'll excuse myself."
"No - you're fine." Sota shook his head. "I can get changed in the other room. You stay here and…" Looking over the amount of bandaging, Sota debated what word to use. Was rest appropriate given that much damage? "You can stay here and keep recuperating."
He quickly grabbed his regular clothes and went into his sister's room, careful not to disturb the napping baby. Once he was done, he looked at the blazer and slacks: they really needed to be hung, so he made his way back to his room.
This time, the woman from downstairs, Sango, was tying her hair up and neatly folding her kimono. Upon his entry, a furious battle of whispers and low murmurs stopped. Sota bowed his head, "Sorry, I just need to hang this, but then I'll leave."
Sango finished tugging her armor into place and swiftly bent down to kiss Kohaku on the forehead. "Keep watch over them. I'm counting on you." Then she picked up her katana and briskly walked out the room.
Awkwardly, Sota sidled over to his closet where his hangers were. Out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but notice Kohaku was clenching his fist, clearly aggravated. As he fiddled with the buttons, he put out a feeler. "If you don't mind me asking, do you know what's going on?"
Kohaku whipped his head to the side and glowered. "They're leaving me behind."
"Behind? Are they going somewhere?" Sota paused in his work.
"Just to fight a sworn enemy of Sesshoumaru who happens to possess two dragon daiyoukai that can destroy the country and also murdered my….best friend yesterday." Kohaku spat out the words. "And they're leaving me here, like some sort of invalid."
Hazarding a comment, Sota replied, "You're injured. I think that makes sense?"
He immediately received a biting look. "I am a warrior. Injuries are expected. If it were only injuries they were worried about, then I would be going with them. No, they're concerned that I'll do something I'll regret."
"Like what?"
Now the eyes were dead and cold. "Kill the damned monsters that took away Rin-chan's life."
Sota realized he was way out of his depth. Although the young man couldn't have been more than a few years older than him, they were playing on completely different planes of existence. That said, if there was one thing that modern Japanese society had taught him, and that was how to be hospitable.
"Well, I can't speak to that," Sota said, reaching under his bed, "But I know that when you lose someone, it can help to talk about it?" He grabbed a soda from his stash and tossed it up, watching it land with a soft puff on the blankets. "You don't have to say or do anything you don't want to, but believe it or not, I'm pretty good at listening."
The sun dipped beneath the trees and darkness began to creep along the edges of the world. Pian rubbed his temples. Something was still poking his mind, the distant warning bells calling to him. Still, they should be fine with Ichiryu and Jiryu, the secret pawn that was still in play, and of course the sword.
Time to see how well the slingshot effect worked. He held out his arm to call Ryuushin to his side.
Nothing happened.
Irritated partially that his hypothesis was wrong, but also that his little brother could not be trusted to keep to a time table. He pulled out his dragon scale, glowing. "Kan - get back here now."
"What the hell, Pian? I didn't think you were actually going to pull that stunt."
"If you don't get back here, I will drag you to the underworld myself."
"With what, exactly? The sword that you just tore from my hand?"
"What?"
"It doesn't matter. I'm not going along with your plans anymore. Lay a complicated trap to capture a princess. Fails! Spend a lot of time summoning the massive dragon under the city. Dead! Spend even more time summoning the twin dragons. Bam! I know how that one ends: dead! All because Older Brother is a pissy little scaredy cat-"
"Don't tell me you were planning on attacking them yourself. Out of all the stupid, idiotic, ideas that an imbecile could come up with-"
"As a matter of fact, I was. We're here to take revenge, not skulk in the shadows waiting for them to come to us. We strike while the iron is hot. And don't worry: I'm still going to tear them limb from limb with just the dragons. Who needs that shit sword anyway."
Kan continued as a sinking feeling pooled in the pit of Pian's stomach. Hesitantly, he held up his arm once more and this time, he kept steady.
A minute later, whistling like an arrow, the sword sliced through the air and landed with a heavy thud in his hand.
It clicked.
If the sword could be recalled by anyone, from any distance...there was no reason that the crazy bitch wouldn't have called it back by now, unless she was waiting for the perfect opportunity.
Say for example, when they had summoned the last of the dragons to launch their full scale attack...in one place.
"Kan! Stop right now! You're heading into a trap!"
"You keep saying that, but I think it's all in your head. You've been paranoid ever since we summoned these two, but you don't have to be scared. We have the greatest firepower in the world and together we can take them down."
"Dammit, Kan!"
There was no response after that.
"Kan!"
Pian swore and leapt out of the tree, hellbent on reaching his brother before they did.
"You will release my son's sword to me." The voice was deep and echoing, with the jaw bone clacking as if to fill out the words.
Rin slid Tenseiga out of the hold and spun away. "I think not. I'll have you know, Sesshoumaru-sama gave this sword to me and I intend to keep it!" She paused in a defensive stance.
"Wait - your son's sword?"
"Tenseiga was one of the swords created by my son-in-law for his future progeny." The skeleton extended boney fingers. "I know not who this Sesshoumaru is or how he came to possess such a great weapon, but I do know this: it does not belong in the hands of a filthy, little human!"
It lurched forward, but Rin was able to jump back and roll away in time. Canine teeth and white hair? Check. Belittling hatred of humans? Check. Obsession with overpowered swords? Check. Rin sighed in exasperation. Yup, this had to be darling, Grandpa Inu-something.
"Well, tough luck, for you, O Lordy High and Mighty Inu-King. Your grandson gave it to me and you're not having it." She winced internally: the last thing she wanted to do was turn into a sword-freak too. She revised her words: "I'm happy to help you, if you need it to do something."
"As if I would accept assistance from a puny being like yourself."
"Look," Rin sheathed the sword. "Thank you for pulling me out of a tricky situation. I really do appreciate it. But," she said as she crossed her arms, "you are being unbelievably rude. Although from what I have seen of your relatives - it runs in the family."
"And what relatives might those be?"
"Sesshomaru-sama. Sesshoumaru-sama's mother. I think her name was Inukimi."
At this, the skeleton lowered its sword as well. "Inukimi is my daughter. And you say Sesshoumaru is her son? Who was his father?" The sword was raised again.
Rin put her hands on her hips. Granted, they had all the time in the underworld, but interrogation was unpleasant nonetheless. "I don't know! I'd have to ask Jaken something like that."
"Jaken? The little servant boy?"
"Boy?" Rin choked. That old steward? "Sure. That's him. Out of curiosity, how long have you been...here?" She wasn't sure if he classified as dead or undead, so she left it ambiguous.
The jaw opened and closed a few times. Without warning, the skeleton whipped the blade into a nearby rock and a massive klang rang out as the metal hit the stone. The sword was sheathed with a great amount of irritation.
"Wait - are you unable to talk about it?" Rin frowned. "Like a curse or something?"
Now the figure twitched its head eerily in her direction, clearly not pleased to have to stoop to her level. "After we finished the daiyoukai dragons, …" the jaw hinged several more times until it seemed to find a word that would work, "that demon placed a curse on me." The empty eye sockets bore into her, "The same curse that sits upon your right now."
Rin dropped to the ground. "The same curse that I have?" Kami-sama - the brothers, or rather, the elder brother must have found a way to curse her, even in death. Just as their father had somehow cursed the elder clan leader. She opened her mouth to ask the question, but found her voice constricted. Try as she might, the only thing she could do was gape like a fish gasping for air.
"Stupid human. Only a silly magic-wielder would create a curse that the victim could speak freely about."
Her face darkened. Was she never to be free of them? No doubt the voices in her head were a part of the curse as well. A sickening sensation crept over her skin. She prayed that Sesshoumaru-sama and the others would be able to end the demons soon.
But in the meantime, she would have to exist with the feeling of a foreign entity inside her mind. Downcast, she shot a question over to her new acquaintance.
"Is there a reason you look like that?" She asked as vaguely as possible as not to activate the censorship of the curse.
Rather than answer, the demon reached out a hand again. "You will give me the sword."
"No, I will not give you the sword. You will give me answers." She paused. "Please."
"Give me that sword!" The demon lunged forward, clawing towards the scabbard, but as soon as the digits came within inches of the sheath, crackling blue lighting erupted and charred the bones a smoking black.
"What do you want the sword for?" She asked, protectively covering it, despite knowing that its own native protections were far greater than anything her flesh and blood could do.
If a skull could scowl, that is precisely what the demon would have been doing. "You do not know what you wield."
"I know that Tenseiga has great power in the underworld. That it can kill the demons that come to take away the souls of the recently deceased, that it can bring bodies back to life." She frowned. "It used to be able to create paths to the underworld itself, but I think that power went to Tessaiga."
"Ah, Tessaiga, Inutaisho's other sword. Hungry for power, but never with any great finesse." The echoing voice turned back to her. "But as per usual, you pathetic creatures never understand."
Rin scrunched up her mouth in annoyance. "You know what? I am sick and tired of your family being rude to me. I used to think Sesshomaru-sama was the worst of the bunch, but then I met his mother, and now you. All of you seem to be under the impression that humans are weak, stupid, and nothing!"
She stood up in a huff and jabbed her index finger at him. "I'll have you know that I'm not intimidated by you. You're stuck in here with the same damn curse as me. I'm sorry that you must have been stuck here for a very long time, but that doesn't give you the excuse to be obnoxious. Dead or not, I still deserve a speck of respect."
"And another thing: all of you youkai seem to think you're so great, speaking in riddles and vague commentary. 'This is the underworld, but it's not because it's actually the living world just another time period.'" She continued to rant, not caring that she sounded every part the whining child. "Or, 'You'll never guess what the sword actually does - it only has power in the underworld because it has the ability to cut through time…"
She trailed off. "Oh."
"Are you quite finished, brat?"
Ignoring his question, she murmured. "That's how it works. It's time." She looked up as the cogs in her head spun. "Everything gets banished to this place, this time. It can reverse the time on wounds to bring people back. Then that...thing I encountered earlier, was that also a different time?"
She was never more thankful for the long fireside chats she'd had with Kagome about her experiences. If she had been a simple farmer, her mind would have been spinning.
Grumpily, the demon circled around her, but confirmed her suspicions. "That demon is from a by-gone era, the time before our world. Tenseiga cut a path between the times." Bare bones gnashed and ground against each other. "I thought someone had finally opened the gate to the living world, but instead, I got pitiful, little you."
Rin looked at him incredulously. "Can't we just cut back through?" Who was the stupid one now?
The skeleton head titled, ratty hair falling to one side. "Simpleton. The living world is for the living. No sooner than we'd cross over then we would be sent straight back."
Ah, that was true. Rin recalled the monster telling her that she needed a spark of life. "Then there is no chance of getting back."
"Don't be silly. You can cut holes to the living world, kill a creature, consume its life and then merely repeat the process until your business in the living world is done."
Her mouth dropped open in horror. "Was that your plan? To live off the lives of others while you conduct your 'business'?"
"Females are so squeamish. You're never prepared to do what needs to be done."
Rin leapt up in fury. "It's not being squeamish, it's being a decent person. I would never trade the life of an innocent just for the opportunity to see my friends again. Would I love to be reunited? Yes, in heartbeat. But not at the expense of another."
With a harsh scritching noise, the skeleton massaged its template, to relieve the non-existent pressure building in its long-gone brain. "Trying to reason with such infants is tiring."
"Well get used to it, your highness." She swept her arm at the dark expanse around her. "The way I see it, we only have each other for company until the end of time. Or until the curses run out."
"Oh, I should imagine we will have company soon." It said nastily. "Afterall, your so-called friends are fighting the same demons I did. But unlike me, they will lose."
"You don't know that," Rin barked, trying to make her voice sound more confident than she actually way.
"I do know that," the skeleton stood in front of her. "Now you have two options before you: the first is to do nothing, which will bring you back to your friends that much sooner. The second, is to go back to the living world, we will defeat the enemy, but you will need to make peace with that insipid conscience of yours."
She clenched her fists as he finished. "The choice is nothing: either you can die on the inside, or they can die...for real."
Kan waved a hand over his dragon scale and immediately the fragment's glow disappeared. While he might not be as adept in spells and trickery as his brother, he knew the basics. Silencing their two way communication was trivial.
He stretched the muscles in his hand from where the blasted sword had been torn away. Damn that Pian! Thinking he was so mighty and clever with his games, but when it came down to it, when the decision needed to be made, it had always been Kan.
Kan could be counted on to give the call to attack. And that was exactly what he planned to do.
"Ichiryu, Jiryu, it's time." Surely Pian had some grand scheme to either track down the fools or lure them out of hiding in a carefully hidden trap. But Kan was making the call.
"Attack."
Both dragons inhaled deeply, the furnaces in their bodies heating the air into bright balls of energy and then, without a second command, began to unleash their fire onto the world.
Kan grinned with immense satisfaction. If those inu-wimps had any backbone at all, they would come and face him down.
Sesshoumaru stiffly looked around the stone-filled pit at the blood-stained rocks that had hidden one of the twin daiyoukai dragons. His eyes were drawn to the horizon, towards the trees that lay fractured from a warpath, and beyond that still - where Rin was laid to rest.
"Are you going to help?" Inuyasha scowled. "Or just stand there?"
Sesshoumaru chose not to dignify that with a response.
"Sesshoumaru-san, how were you tracking-"
He interrupted. "Her guard had a device that could track down the dragon princess. We got close enough to track them conventionally."
"Feh." Inuyasha closed his eyes and began sniffing. "If you're going to be useless, then just say so."
"And you believe that acting like a dog is going to help."
"Shut up." Then Inuyasha's entire stance changed. His brows furrowed as he took a deeper breath. His ears twitched back and forth. His eyes snapped open and he shot a worried look at the others.
"They've begun." He set off at a dead run as a trail of smoke started to drift hazily on the horizon.
A far distance away, a tiny green imp collected the last few herbs that he needed. Despite his verbal grumping, happiness filled his tone. It had been such a long time since anyone had asked him for help, and the hanyou's priestess had so kindly requested some spices for that evening's meal.
He had ventured further than he intended and he soon found himself over by the well. It was a strange structure, apparently with the ability to transport people to and from another world. In the days that he had spent with Kagome's family, he had been able to pick up a few details as they prepared to retreat to that land.
His thoughts snapped back to the task at hand. If he didn't hurry back to the cottage, he might be left behind, if they were intending to leave that afternoon. It had already been several hours and he might miss their departure.
Just as he turned to scurry away, a pair of feet smacked him in the back of the head. Dazed, he looked up to see a chestnut-colored tail flipping back and forth. Blinking, he could blearily make out a bit of conversations.
"Kagome, you came back! Where's Kohaku?"
"He is staying on the other side with the children. But what is important is that we need to help Inuyasha."
"Kagome-sama, how do you propose we catch up to them? Inuyasha and Sesshomaru-sama are clearly gone."
"Shippo-chan, could you turn into a balloon?"
"I can, but I can't hold all of you. Not for very long anyway."
Jaken dragged himself off the ground and brushed himself off. "Ahem."
"Jaken!" Kagome whirled around, bringing the fox, demon slayer, and monk with her.
The monk remarked, "We didn't see you there."
His buggy imp eye twitched. "Perhaps you can use Ah-Un." Reviewing their confused faces he sighed and then whistled sharply. "This is the mighty steed of Sesshoumaru-sama. They will hardly be killed by a mere sword."
Sure enough, moments later, the two-headed beast descended on the group, blue demon flames licking against all four feet.
Kagome dropped to her knees and pulled the imp in for a tight hug. "Thank you, Jaken," she whispered. "You have no idea how important this is."
She stood up and the group hopped on the scaled back as dust was kicked up from the dragon launching back into the air.
Astounded, Jaken was frozen in surprise for a minute, watching them soar away. He felt warmth creeping into his heart: there was someone who truly appreciated his efforts, he had helped someone, he had -
He had been left behind again, hadn't he?
"Sesshoumaru-samaaaaaaaa!" He cried in anguish and set off in pursuit of the dragon.
A/N: Don't worry - I didn't forget everyone's favorite character - Jaken! He is definitely one of the most interesting parts of this exercise: I forget him for a few chapters and then have to figure out why he's been missing… Maybe I should make him into a critical element of the plot so I can't ignore him….