Chapter 30
Well it's reaching the end here soon, just a warning for you all. Sorry to say it's gonna be happening but there is another story coming after this so keep your eye out.
Yet again, things seem a bit confusing, but it'll be explained, can't say when, but it will. As for Sonya...
Nah, I won't say anything, spoilers. Hehe I'm so mean, I do love cliffhangers more than I should... Someone once told me I would be loved/hated if I ever made a tv series... I believe it when I read over my stories.
Anyway, I'm just rambling here really, just sorta excited to finally finish this chapter. It took ages to get it just right and I seriously went over it with a critical eye for the past three days, picking out what needed fixing and taking out what wasn't needed.
This WAS about 3,000 words when I started, but a lot of it was repetition and unneeded crap. I wrote some of it while I was half-asleep and ended up with a whole paragraph describing that some rock looked like Naraku's head then went on for another paragraph debating on if it was part of his body or not. I seriously don't know what was wrong with me, but I did have some weird dreams afterwards.
Anyway!
Onward!
-I do NOT own Inuyasha or it's characters
-I DO own Sonya and the plot
~TL S0nya
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Leaving the others behind quickly, Sesshomaru stealthily stalked the male that had taken off with the gem. He would be damned to let anyone take Sonya away from him, anyone who stood in his way would face the poison of his claws without a second thought. Said claws twitched slightly at the thought of sinking them into flesh. Yes, he would feel much calmer once the blood of that demon was spilt and dripped from his claws alone. Nothing else would suffice.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, he picked up speed, his nose filtering out all scents but one. It wouldn't be long now, just a few minutes more. 'Hold on, Wolf.'
The rest of the pack attempted to catch up to Sesshomaru only to easily be left in the dust, literally and figuratively. A soft growl slipped from Inuyasha, irritation evident on his face as he moved faster, already pushing past his normal boundaries. Kirara, carrying Miroku, Sango and Shippo barely keeping pace with him as they bolted through the dark tunnels. Touga easily bringing up the rear while keeping pace with the rest.
"Inuyasha, what do you think he meant?" Sango finally voiced the thoughts that had been running through her head at the moment. "What do you mean, Sango?" Kagome looked over her shoulder from where she perched on Inuyasha's back, her eyebrows pulled together in confusion.
"He claimed he was planning on bringing his father back. How could he do that?"
Touga's low. rumbling growl earned all of their attentions, several gazes flicking over to where he ran easily. "Do you not believe her power even after I have been returned from the dead? I had no body to return to yet I am alive still."
"Does Sonya truly hold that much power?" Miroku spoke up next, his eyebrows pulled together in contemplation. "We haven't exactly seen the full extent of her powers bar a few times. She rarely uses them after all."
Touga snorted lightly and cast a sideways glance at the monk from where he ran beside Kirara. "She uses her power more than you think. Why is it you are rarely attacked anymore, even by lower demons that have no common sense or self-preservation? She casts her net around the camp to keep them away. Even mindless demons have enough instinct to stay away from a twin-tailed wolf and her pack. It is both warning and protection, I doubt she realizes what she does however, considering her constant need to look about the area to be sure nothing is lurking about." Falling silent once more, he let the others think over what he said while they made their way farther into the tunnels, twists and turns making it impossible to find their way back without a highly developed sense of smell.
"We will see when we reach them." Miroku finally voiced to the other's agreement, silently urging the cat he rode on to move faster as the others picked up the pace as well, eager to reach the end where they knew the demon waited with the gem that held their friend's soul.
They lost her once before, and none of them want to deal with that pain again. No matter the cost.
Closing his eyes, Shadouhāto formed a barrier at the entrance of the small cave. It wasn't strong enough to keep them out, he was no fool to believe that. However it would be enough to stall them for enough time to finish what he planned.
Turning back around to face the small altar, he slowly made his way towards it, his eyes taking on a small gleam of anticipation as he stopped in front of the low surface, his knees falling to the cushion set before it and both hands reaching out, guiding the floating gem into it's resting place in the center, a small niche carved into the wood that it slid into easily.
"Now then, dear Wolf. Your reason for being here has come." He whispered to the glowing stone, the faint sparkle of energy dancing across the surface warning his hand back when it drifted forward to touch it. He could almost hear her demanding to be set free.
"Tsk Tsk, have you no honor?" He clicked his tongue against his teeth while shaking his head in mock disappointment. "You know as well as I that you owe me a debt for removing that witch from your body."
'As if! I don't owe you a damn thing after you tricked me!'
An eyebrow arched up in surprise at the sudden onslaught of words echoing in his head. "I did not trick you, I simply did not impart what I had fully planned."
'And you say I have no honor. Feel lucky I don't have a body...'
A soft chuckle issued from Shadouhāto at those words, his head dipping forward at the amusement that wracked his body. "I believe your words, however you have no body now." Reaching out, he picked up an urn the gem sat in front of, his claws tapping against the surface idly in thought as he went over in his head exactly everything that needed to be done.
"While I do not have his soul, his body is intact, and that is all I need." Turning away from the altar, Shadouhāto gazed at the large piece of crystal set into the wall off to his right, red bleeding into his eyes at the sight of his sire. Irritation clouding his features momentarily before he turned back to the gem and cast an amiable smile.
"This urn holds demon saki, from what I have been told, if combined with your power then poured onto my father's body, it will call his soul to him through your power. The Saki merely acting as the glue to hold his soul in place until it binds to the body once again." Reaching out once more, he hovered his fingers above the gem, watching as her power crackled to life once more, stopping just short of his flesh in warning.
"If you desire to be difficult, dear Wolf, that is no problem to me. I will do as I please even if you fight. All I need is your power, and then I will be done with you." Twitching his fingers slightly, he drew the gem from it's place once again, idly watching as another series of sparks raced across the surface and guided it over to the urn of saki then dropped it in, his ears twitching slightly at the soft sound of it falling into the liquid.
A slight disturbance from behind drew his attention away from what he was doing and over to the entrance just in time to see Sesshomaru standing on the other side of the barrier, red bleeding into his eyes at the sight of Shadouhāto. Without a word, he unshiethed his sword and swung it at the barrier, a low growl slipping out of his tight control when it was deflected.
After determining the barrier would hold for a few moments longer, Shadouhāto turned away once more and focused his attention instead on the crystal pillar encasing his father's body. Flaring his power just a bit, he watched with satisfaction as the crystal seemed to melt away, letting the body inside fall to the ground at his feet.
"Now then, Father. Let us see how you accept your life being returned to you." With those words, he knelt beside his father, the urn of sake held out over his body then tipped to the side to allow the liquid inside to pour out and splash onto the clothing, soaking into the cloth and settling onto the cold flesh below.
"Use her powers as a beacon and return." Shadouhāto's power flared slightly in demand while he set the urn aside and stared at the body in front of him, silently willing it to come to life once more. "Return to your body, Father. Then allow me to kill you once more so you may die an honorable death."
'Honorable death my ass.'
The wolf's voice drew his attention to the urn, irritation sparking in his gaze. "Do not speak out of turn, dear wolf. Or you may find your soul adrift without a body or gem to bind it." He hissed out from between clenched teeth, warning evident in his eyes before turning away once more.
'I'm just saying, it makes no sense. It's pathetic how far you're going just to bring him back so you can kill him. Let the dead rest in peace for kami's sake. Or are you so insecure you have to kill your own father to make yourself feel better about yourself?'
"I demand silence!" He roared out, a hand lashing out to knock the urn aside, breaking it easily and watching with some sense of satisfaction as the gem slid across the smooth floor back towards his side.
'You can't exactly silence thoughts. They'll always be there, nagging at the back of your mind, like a worry that won't go away, or a niggling little thought that puts you down, makes you wonder if you're good enough. Are you? Will you? Can you? Always there, never giving you peace until you give up and let it be or simply silence it by killing yourself. It's pointless you know, no matter who you are, how powerful you become, that thought will always be there.'
After speaking her mind, Sonya fell silent once again, allowing the fog drifting in the gem to smother her once more and allow her mind to turn elsewhere, towards happier things such as Sesshomaru and the others while Shadouhāto continued to keep watch over his father's body and Sesshomaru sliced away at the barrier, slowly wearing it down bit by bit.
It wasn't too much longer for the others to catch up to Sesshomaru, their eyes easily taking in the situation before joining in the effort to break down the barrier blocking them out. A single swipe from Inuyasha's red tetsigua, much to Touga's surprise, brought it down, allowing them to pour into the smaller cave and surround Shadouhāto and his father's body.
"I see, I should have realized this would never work. His soul must have passed on without difficulty..."
They all tensed at his words, gazes flicking between son and father worriedly. "You see, I thought he may wish to return, to come back to me... But it would appear he has already been reincarnated or else he would have already come back." Lifting his eyes upward, Shadouhāto cast an amiable smile at them before getting to his feet, the gem rising up in the air beside him.
"However, while I cannot gain my father's power, I can keep hers beside me. This wolf holds more than you could ever hope to accomplish in your lifetimes..." Looking at the now-silent stone beside him, he smiled lightly. "It is a shame she cannot be placed back within her body. Once the spell is completed, it traps her within this stone. And until it breaks, there is no hope for her escape. However..."
He turned to the contemplative Touga, a gleam in his eyes when he realized just what the older Inu was thinking. "If the stone were to break, her soul will be cast out into nothingness, worse than death, never able to move on. Unable to do anything but exist. That would be hell in itself, now would it not?"
Three feral growls bounced off the walls of the cave, making the others in the pack back up a few steps in an attempt to get out of their way as the Inu advanced on the reality demon with murderous intent gleaming in their eyes.
Inuyasha for his sister.
Touga for his own reasons.
Sesshomaru...
"Do not assume we are helpless, filth." Touga growled low, his voice coming out barely more than a rumble in his chest. Reaching out, he snapped his hand around the male's throat, cutting off his air supply before he could react. Turning his head slightly, he called to the others over his shoulder. "Leave now, Inuyasha, take them from the cave."
"Keh, as if I'm going to let you have fun without me." The hanyou snorted, his hand reaching down to rest on his tetsuiga as he shot a glare at his father.
"You will leave, pup. Now." Narrowing his own eyes at his youngest, Touga layered his voice with his power as Alpha, watching with some measure of satisfaction as Inuyasha's ears flattened to his head in submission. "Keh, whatever." With another snort, he turned away and urged the others back to the exit, not even bothering to look back as they returned to the dark tunnel once more.
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