AN: Hi there! I'm back!
I did end up going to my professor's memorial last week. It was moving to see it so crowded. And I felt much so better after going, it gave me this sense of having done what I needed to, you know? Paying my last respects, that is.
ladybug02: Thank you! I'm glad you like him! 3
.X: Sorry to disappoint you, but I think both of us knew chaos was just around the corner, right? Sesshoumaru's guts never fail. TT-TT
Darknessdawns: I'm so glad you like it! And I hope he does too!
MirrorFlower and DarkWind: They just need to courage, poor guys! Haha
Last chapter ended with Sesshoumaru leaving after being sent for by Bokusenou. He had a pretty bad feeling, remember that? Well, this is what caused it.
I can't believe I managed to write this chapter in such a short time. And I'll tell you it was NOT easy. LoL
Not really sure I deserve to feel this way, but I'm almost happy with how this chapter turned out. Tell me what you guys think of it, okay? (Sincerely hoping you like it, but if you don't, tell me too, okay?)
I guess that's it. I'll talk to you next time. :)
Read and review. 3
Chapter 29: Fear rising
Kagome was inside Kaede's hut, preparing to settle for the night. She had just come back through the well after spending a few hours with her family.. It hadn't been nearly enough, after so long without seeing them, but she had managed to spend some quality time with all of them and renew her supplies. Her mother had made her promise to visit soon, and she fully intended to make that happen.
She had also tried experimenting with her powers throughout the day, and had found them faint, and her control very poor. She figured probably some light meditation was in order.
Therefore, until the miko's next opportunity to visit her family, she needed to focus on getting better and getting back to work. And so, she was going to bed early. She wanted a good night's sleep so she could wake up at first light in the morning. That way, she could go back to meditating and maybe help Kaede, and so feel at least a little useful.
Yes, that was a good idea. It would make her feel better.
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The young woman woke up with a sudden start. It was dark still, but a few birds were already singing, which told her dawn was just an hour or so away.
The feeling she had, though, was of the darkest nature. Not knowing whether it came from a nightmare or from some outside reason, she looked around. The humans in her group were all sound asleep, as was Kirara. She tried sensing the hut's surrounding, where she pictured Jaken and Ah-Un resting too. InuYasha was nowhere to be found, though.
Trying to feel for some vicious or hostile aura, she found nothing in the village or in its immediate surroundings. Stretching her powers a little bit more, she found her hanyou companion near the Goshinboku. His aura was strange, though, and retracted when it touched hers. And then suddenly, it was gone.
For a few seconds, she could feel or hear nothing. Until, that is, something grabbed a strand of her hair. She froze in place.
"Is everything all right, okaa-san?", a small, muffled voice came from inside her sleeping bag. It was only Shippou, she realized with a sigh of relief. "InuYasha's just outside, isn't he?"
"That he is," she replied after a second. His aura had appeared a few feet from the door. There was something off about it…
"What's wrong with him?," the boy asked. "His aura feels weird."
"I'm not sure, sweetie. I was just about to go out and ask him," she whispered back, trying not to disturb the others.
"Let's do that…", the boy said thoughtfully. "Weird… It's not quite like it was when he attacked Sesshoumaru-sama the last time."
"That's because I'm not gonna attack the bastard this time, runt," he said. Kagome looked at him and shivered. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what, but something was terribly wrong.
It was that feeling dark as night. The same one that had woken her up. Kagome was afraid and she knew it. She could but try to put her own heart at ease with a small smile. "I'm glad, InuYasha," she began. "I'm glad that you understood we can afford to fight each other all the time."
"Eh, I'm not gonna fight anyone, wench," said he. "I'm gonna settle some business."
"What do you mean?", the girl asked.
"Come here, and you'll see," was the answer. She hesitated, every hair on her body standing, suspicion rising inside of her. When he realized she didn't want to come, he threatened, his voice low and vicious. "Come, girl. The kid's not gonna like being around and hearing this."
Kagome sighed. Did she want to go? No way. Did she feel safe about going? Not at all. Did she have a choice? Apparently not.
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Sesshoumaru's feet touched the ground and he started walking towards Bokusenou. He was greeted in a few seconds by the tree's voice. "Good afternoon, Sesshoumaru-same," he said, even before the daiyoukai had reached his clearing.
That was odd… The elder had been his teacher when he was a pup, and usually waited for Sesshoumaru to get closer. Sometimes, he even waited to be greeted first before speaking - which, of course, annoyed the dog demon immensely.
So, hence his surprise upon this early greeting.
He quickened his pace and, a few seconds later, set foot in a small space in the forest where the trees gave way to the greatest and oldest of them all. "Bokusenou," he said, with a nod.
"I am glad that you decided to attend to my request, Inu no Taisho's son," the tree said. "As Myouga will probably have told you, I have found new information on Kage that you might deem useful."
"Speak," said the young lord. He intended it to sound as it usually would. His voice, though, the tree noted, carried not the arrogance the pup always had about him. No. It was heavy with something else. Someone the elder was not ready yet to guess at. He needed to know more about recent developments. That was a conversation better saved for later, though.
"I have an educated guess as to how to kill it," he stated simply.
"Tell me," Sesshoumaru ordered.
Hn. Perhaps here was a chance for Bokusenou to have a clue for his next quest of interest now. How fortunate! "What will you do, Sesshoumaru-sama, once I have given you this piece of information?"
"I will track the Shadow down and kill it," the daiyoukai said. Wasn't it obvious? The tree's games tired him. "Now tell me once and for all, Bokusenou. How is this lowly form of life going to meet its end?"
The magnolia closed his eyes in thought. His former pupil was not going to be happy with what he was about to say. "That is exactly the problem, Sesshoumaru-sama. You cannot be the one to kill Kage." The young lord's eyes narrowed, and he allowed his chest to rumble with a growl. "I know this displeases you, pup, but that is what I have found."
"Speak plainly, elder," said the daiyoukai, who was getting more annoyed by the second.
"I have been thinking and searching for information. Based on what you have told me about your first encounter with the Shadow, I thought it unlikely that Kage could be killed with just any sword. The Tenseiga, though, seemed able to affect it somehow", the tree made a pause. He took a deep breath before going on. "It was then I started trying to find another way. There's no such thing as an immortal creature on earth.
"My roots have heard a rumour about why Kage was gone for so long. It would be related to a sword Midoriko had at the time. Its powers were somewhat similar to your father's fang," Bokusenou said, eyeing the blade at Sesshoumaru's hip with a determined look the inu youkai didn't remember ever seeing on the tree's face. "The obvious difference was the lack of youki in it, which the Tenseiga already had in abundance when your father wielded it.
"You may not have realized it, Sesshoumaru-sama, but the sword has much grown in power ever since it came to your hands after your sire's passing."
"What is it, then, that stops me from using it to kill the Shadow?"
"While you wield it, my lord, is that, the Tenseiga is powered by much youki, and much like your Bakusaiga. While you wield it, however, much like your Bakusaiga, it is powered only by youki. And I'm afraid youki alone cannot defeat Kage."
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Kagome walked behind InuYasha, to his left. Only after leaving Kaede's hut did she notice something. The beads were gone. To say she was wary as he spoke… Well, that was the understatement of the century! "Ya know, something's been botherin' me a lot these days…"
"And… What is it, InuYasha?", she asked.
"You…," he said, stopping, but not looking at her. "You and that bastard of a brother I have. What the hell do you think you're doin' with, eh, Kagome? " Only then did he look at her, his eyes burning in anger. "You ain't supposed to be around him!"
"And who is it I'm supposed to be around, InuYasha?", she shot back. Oh, she had a very good idea of just where he was going with this. And although she was in no way fit to fight him, that did not mean she was just going to allow him to get his way and put them all in a tight spot again!
"Me! And just me!", he shouted. The miko then sensed a small aura coming their way. It was trying to hide and sneak closer, and hopefully InuYasha wouldn't notice it. She did, though. Hadn't Shippou stayed inside? What was he doing here?
She had no time to think on it much, however, as InuYasha grabbed her arm. "What are you doing, InuYasha?"
"Teachin' ya a lesson that's been coming for a long time!", he growled as tossed her at the ground. She hit it with a grunt, and tried to rise immediately from the ground.
For some miracle alone was Kagome able to dodge a sharp claw aimed at her arm. The girl ran, heading for the Goshinboku. She had no idea what was going on with InuYasha, but she felt she needed to get him away from the others as fast as she could. Hadn't she freed him from Urasue? What on earth was this?
He ran after her, and seemed to be having the time of his life in scaring her. He jumped right in front of her, and then allowed her to get away with just a scratch. A far, far away cry of "Sesshoumaru-sama!" barely registered in either of their minds.
Kagome ran like she couldn't remember ever having done before. When they finally reached the clearing around the Bone-Eater's Well and the Goshinboku, it seemed InuYasha was done playing with her. She was tackled against the Sacred Tree head first, and she felt blood rushing down her temple in a fine fillet.
Looking back, the miko saw her friend - or was he a foe? - raise his hand to strike her, claws out. "I'll throw what's left of you in the well, wench. Not even the bastard's Tenseiga will be able to bring you back!", he growled, and as he said this his aura twisted in such a way as would not be believed to be possible. It was so distorted it barely reminded InuYasha's aura.
The girl tried to bring her powers to the surface, but they had not yet recovered fully. It could only produce a thin barrier, which was overcome by a simple pulse from the hanyou's energy. So, she did the only thing she could do right now. She let out a piercing scream.
