Ch. 92- The Slaying of the Serpent
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
At the village that stood near the lake, the villagers all gasped as they saw the huge cyclones that were whirling toward them...and among them was Taromaru's father, the village headman, who gaped in horror as he saw the encroaching winds.
"Headman! What does this mean?!" asked one of the villagers.
"We offered the headman's son, Young Master Taromaru, as a sacrifice to the Water God!" cried another. "Was he not satisfied with our offering?!"
The headman swallowed the lump in his throat, nervously glancing at the villagers.
'I dare not let them learn that in order to save my son...I sent the Water God a substitute in his head...but now, it might be too late...!'
XXX
Back at the lake, the fake Water God hissed as he revealed his true form: a giant white snake with red eyes!
"What happened?!" Shippo asked as he watched with Kagome.
"The Trident of Amakoi disguised his true form!" Miroku answered. "Without it, he's just a giant beast!"
"Oh, not good!" Inuyasha cried before he was suddenly caught in the serpent's jaws!
"Inuyasha!" Sango cried out as the snake prepared to take him down into the depths, once again.
"Put me down, you overgrown INCHWORM!" Inuyasha yelled as he punched the serpent in the skull, but it wouldn't let go of him, still intent on drowning him in the lake and devouring him whole!
"We have to do something!" Kagome cried. "Inuyasha's in trouble!"
"More than that!" shouted Taromaru. "If this typhoon keeps going, the village will be destroyed and everyone in it will be killed!"
"I could easily calm this storm," the Water Goddess spoke, causing the others to look at her. "Parting these storm clouds is nothing to me. I could do it in my sleep."
"Can you really do that?" asked Kagome.
"Then you must do something, Your Holiness!" urged Suekichi.
"I will gladly do so," the Water Goddess replied, "that is, once the Trident of Amakoi has been returned to my possession."
"That's it!" Kagome exclaimed before she looked to Inuyasha, who was thrashing about in the water with the snake. "Inuyasha! Are you okay?!"
"Urrrgh...!" Inuyasha grunted. "This guy's getting to be a bit of a handful! I can't use the Tetsusaiga with my arm trapped!"
"Quick!" Kagome called. "Throw the trident to us! If you hurry, we can stop this storm! Then you can get your hand free!"
"Got it!" Inuyasha called back before he threw the trident. "Catch!"
Kagome reached out to catch the halberd, but before she could so, the serpent's tail smacked it away, just before it could reach her!
"Oh, no!" Kagome cried. "The trident!"
"I'll get it!" Taromaru exclaimed as he dove in to grab it.
"Wait! Master Taromaru!" cried Suekichi.
Under the water, Taromaru swam as fast as his body was able, trying to reach for the Trident of Amakoi.
'I am the son of the village headman,' he thought. 'If I don't save the village, now, then how can I ever face the friends who were devoured by the false Water God before this day?!'
Before long, he managed to grab the trident and emerged from the depths...but then he gasped as the saw the serpent's long tail headed for him!
"Watch out!" Kagome cried, but it was too late. The boy was soon caught in the serpent's coils, causing him to gasp as he suddenly felt the wind get knocked out of him. Try as he might, Taromaru soon lost consciousness, the Trident of Amakoi still in his grip. The serpent hissed before he dropped Inuyasha, who screamed as he fell into the water, then prepared to devour the boy...but then, just before it opened its jaws to do so, something whirled through the air and sliced through its tail, causing it to screech in pain as it dropped Taromaru. Up in the sky, Sango sat on Kirara's back before she caught the Hiraikotsu in her hand.
"Inuyasha!" she called out. "Save the boy!"
Inuyasha gasped before he quickly nodded his head and dove under the lake, hurriedly swimming after Taromaru, who was sinking toward the bottom.
'This kid might have an attitude problem,' thought the half-demon, 'but he's got a lot of guts, I'll give him that much!'
Just as he was about to reach the drowning boy, he heard a familiar monstrous hiss behind him, causing him to turn around and see the serpent, whose jaws were wide open as it prepared to devour them both.
'I don't think so!' thought Inuyasha as he drew the Tetsusaiga from its sheath and with one fell swing, he sliced the snake along its length, completely in half! The serpent screeched as the top half of its body flew out of the water and towards the sky...heading right toward the village!
"It's...still alive?!" Sango questioned.
'I won't let them get the better of me...!' thought the serpent. 'Even if it takes every last bit of my strength...I will destroy the village and devour everyone in it!'
However, standing on the lake's bank was Miroku, who glared at the beast as he held up his right hand.
"I'll handle the clean-up from here," said the monk as he pulled away the sealing beads. "WIND TUNNEL!"
Soon, the serpent was sucked into the powerful void...never to be seen again. Once it disappeared, Miroku quickly sealed up his hand with a triumphant grin.
"We did it!" Shippo cheered. "We defeated the fake Water God!"
"Yeah, we did," Kagome began as she looked at the cyclones, "but the typhoon's not stopping!"
"Hey!"
The group turned to see Inuyasha swimming toward them with Taromaru in one arm and the Trident of Amakoi in his teeth.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed, relieved to see that he was all right.
"And Master Taromaru, too!" Suekichi said.
Inuyasha sighed as he pulled himself up onto the bridge and took the trident out of his mouth, then looked down at Taromaru, who coughed up water before he tiredly looked up at him.
"Hey, kid," Inuyasha said. "You all right?"
"...Yes," Taromaru nodded with a small smile. "Thank you...Inuyasha."
Inuyasha only smirked and nodded back, then turned to Kagome and handed the trident to her.
"Here, Kagome," he said. "Give this to the Water Goddess."
"Right," Kagome nodded before she held the trident to the Water Goddess. "Here you are, Your Holiness."
"I thank you, child," said the Water Goddess as she held up her hands and touched the trident's handle...and as soon as she did, there was a bright flash of light, causing everyone to shield their eyes. As it dispersed...they gasped as they saw that the Water Goddess had grown into a very tall woman...about nearly as tall as Inuyasha, in fact!
"So that's her true size!" Sango mused.
"Wow...she's pretty!" Shippo said.
"I'll say," Miroku grinned, only for Inuyasha to smack him in the back of his head. "Ow!"
"Knock it off," Inuyasha groused while the Water Goddess held up the trident toward the storm clouds.
"Winds...I command that you part!" she declared, and as the trident flashed...the cyclones suddenly ceased and the storm clouds parted...revealing the shining rays of the sun.
XXX
At the village, everyone gasped in disbelief as they watch the storm suddenly dissipated.
"The typhoon," said one of the villagers. "It...it stopped!"
"...So it did," agreed the village headman.
Sometime after that, Inuyasha and the group returned to the village with Taromaru and Suekichi. It was there that Taromaru conveyed to his father about the Fake Water God and how the real Water Goddess had been usurped. In light of this news, the headman got down on his knees and pleaded Suekichi for forgiveness. The boy simply brushed it off, claiming that Taromaru had come to his rescue.
A while after that, Inuyasha and company left to continue their journey.
"So they left, did they?" asked Suekichi.
"Yes, they have," answered Taromaru. "And I didn't even get to thank them, properly."
'I hope I get to be just like them, one day...'
XXX
Meanwhile, on the road...
"Damn, what a pain," Inuyasha grumbled. "All that hassle and we didn't even get one jewel shard! What a waste of time that was!"
"Oh, come now," said Miroku. "I don't think it was a total waste. We did help a village in need, did we not?"
It was soon revealed that he was riding on a horse...that was pulling a cart filled with the treasures that Taromaru had promised them. Maybe even more.
"...What the hell is all that stuff?" Inuyasha asked.
"Oh, this?" Miroku asked. "Well, after we got back, I was prepared to tell the villagers of the heroics that Young Master Taromaru had done to save the village...but before I could, the village headman bestowed me with these gifts!"
"You mean you blackmailed him, right?!" Inuyasha questioned.
"Does he always do this?" Sango whispered to Kagome, who sighed in exasperation.
"Sometimes, yeah," she muttered.
"I have an idea!" Miroku exclaimed. "How about we sell all these and have us a nice feast to celebrate our victory, eh?"
"Yeah, right, you idiot!" Inuyasha barked. "...By the way, Kagome...seriously, what did you mean by 'know and love'?"
"Oh, my god, Inuyasha, will you PLEASE let that go?!" Kagome questioned.
"Oh, boy..." Sango muttered.
And so, the group continued onward, heading for their next destination.
XD Oh, boy, indeed, Sango my friend.
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