In Time, Death
By Alesyira
Summary: The witch plays a game of fetch.
AN: (previous chapter note, the magic that Kagome recognized was Youko Kurama's, but he probably wasn't there on that particular day, otherwise that chapter may have gone quite a bit differently.)
Pillars
- 1660 -
They emerged at the edge of a grassy field beside a well-worn path leading out of the trees. Koenma's first step landed squarely on an old stick, and the sharp crack as it snapped startled both of them.
"Oh!" a soft tenor voice called from somewhere nearby. "Hello?" A middle-aged male came into sight along the pathway from behind a tree, and his face brightened once he'd spotted them.
Kagome smiled politely and Koenma nodded in greeting.
"Are you on the pilgrimage?" he asked Koenma, gesturing toward the field ahead.
"No," he replied. "We're here because of some troubling rumors."
The stranger's expression shifted in surprise. "Oh. I'm actually looking for a friend that went missing some time ago."
"Do you know if people come through here often on that pilgrimage?" Kagome asked, her eyebrows furrowing with concern.
The stranger nodded. "There's a place of some significance up ahead. Acolytes are meant to travel there and meditate. My friend should have returned from his journey a few weeks ago, but no one has seen him since left the town a few miles back."
"It's not just your friend that's gone missing around here," she said with a frown.
Koenma patted the traveler on the shoulder. "Many lives have been lost. We aren't sure the cause, but it is not safe to linger. You should head back to town for now." The traveler glanced between the two of them with open curiosity and a little bit of suspicion.
She wondered what they must look like to him, just a young couple in simple traveling clothes, lightly armed with a short blade and bow. If there truly was danger brewing, lives being threatened, and people going missing, what could the two of them possibly accomplish?
Maybe if she'd been with her friends, traveling as a team of people ready to take down any and all obstacles in their way, he might not have been so suspicious. But he gave them a funny look and retreated back down the path into the trees, eventually disappearing from sight.
"I feel like that guy may have been the next victim if we hadn't arrived," she murmured, following Koenma in the direction the stranger had indicated.
"One less death for me to process when I get back."
"Oh, right. Here you are, worried about more paperwork when lives are on the line," she said, giving him a dirty look.
"Eh, sorry," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've seen so much death that it just gets a little tedious. I do care, but… not really in the ways that matter to the living."
She wanted to be unhappy with that answer, but he was being practical. It was easier for her to worry about saving lives. She puffed out a sigh. If reducing his paperwork meant the same end goal, she'd take what she could get.
After a few minutes of walking, she spotted partially crumbled pillars at the edge of an old ruin. The stone was weather-stained and scattered with bursts of color from the vegetation growing into the cracks and crevices. A cool breeze whipped her hair into a frenzy, and she pushed the strands from her eyes as she peered around the remains of an old structure. Wide stairs led down into a lower level lined with stones, like some kind of old amphitheater.
"The breach is down there," she gestured below them, frowning with concern as she wondered what might await them in the other realm.
Koenma reached out to touch her arm, and she stopped to look back at him. "This location has had two spirits report that the last thing they'd seen before their death…" he trailed off and pressed his lips together with a grimace.
"Last thing…?" she prompted.
"Big teeth in a gaping mouth," he muttered.
She hummed quietly and nodded. "Alright. We'll go in sneaky."
Koenma sighed. "Sneaky, sure."
She held out her hand for his and dropped a small barrier around them both, but held him back from walking forward with a look of warning. "This will hide us, sight and sound, but please move slowly and don't make any big noises. I am not convinced these things are completely foolproof."
He nodded seriously and followed her down the last few steps toward a conspicuous pair of pillars that were still mostly intact. "It's here," she whispered, watching his expression carefully. He hadn't shown that he had much experience with dangerous situations, and she wasn't sure if she could count on him in a pinch. "Ready?"
He swallowed nervously and nodded again, letting her pull him toward the breach.
They slipped whisper quiet through the chilled passage, emerging in a similar location in Makai. The paving stones here were in worse condition, with scorched pock-marks and half-demolished pillars surrounding the main section. An enormous mound of moss-lined debris was piled a short distance away, like a small, dark tower had collapsed in that spot a long time ago. It seemed like it didn't belong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why.
They cautiously crept to the closest demolished pillar surrounded by countless stone chips. Koenma knelt to make his selections as Kagome stood with her bow drawn, watching for trouble. "I don't get it," she whispered. "I don't see anything big enough to eat humans. I don't see anything at all. There's all this open space."
"Maybe we got lucky and whatever's eating the humans doesn't stay here," he muttered, pushing a large chunk of rock out of the way. "That should be enough," he said, standing.
A muffled shout sounded nearby, and Kagome turned to see that the middle-aged stranger had fallen through the breach and landed face-first on the paving stone.
Koenma choked off a gasp and she glanced at him to find him staring at the collapsed tower a short distance away. She looked for a few seconds to try and spot whatever had caught his attention.
The debris moved.
Great clouds of dust and a few bits of moss fell from the pile as it slowly rose and shook its great body free from slumber. Kagome's mouth fell open.
What she had thought to be chunks of stone were wide rocky scales that covered a hulking monstrosity from head to toe.
"Is this…" he whispered, his voice trailing off into a slight squeak before he collected himself. "Is this something that we can kill?"
Kagome glared at him. "Are you crazy?" she hissed. "That's humongous, and its scales look like solid rock." She looked up at it as it stretched like her cat and opened a cavernous mouth filled with raggedly sharp teeth.
The stranger managed to get back to his feet and looked up in time for the beast to let out a horrendous roar. The man screamed in terror and immediately ran in the opposite direction. She grimaced with determination and drew her bow, aimed ahead of the creature and released an arrow that flared with brilliant pink magic.
The arrow splashed against the dragon's face with a shower of pink sparkles but it didn't slow in the slightest. She pulled another arrow and looked for a different opening. To have any hope of success, she might have to hit it in a weak spot, maybe an eye or its open mouth. Koenma jerked his hand beside her and and conjured a portal under the stranger's feet. He fell in with a shriek that cut off immediately when the opening snapped shut behind him.
The earth dragon skidded to a stop where he'd disappeared, nosing and clawing along the stone in confusion where the human had disappeared. It sniffed with great puffs of air, its nostrils flaring as it tilted its head. Kagome watched, transfixed on the beast as it lifted its nose, sniffing and turning slowly in their direction.
They froze, watching with bated breath as the creature took a step toward them, its rocky snout quivering. She didn't think it could see them, but she wondered…
"In case this doesn't work," Kagome murmured, replacing the arrow in her quiver, "Can you get us a portal away from here just like you did for that guy?"
Koenma's response was a bit strangled. "I'll need another minute before I can conjure a new one."
She reached into his palm and snagged a few rocks. She hadn't practiced this particular skill since Shippo had shown it to her forever ago, but a tiny barrier flickered around the first stone. She swallowed back the dryness in her throat, said a short prayer, then chucked the stone across the paving toward the dragon's long tail.
As it neared the beast, she flicked her fingers to strengthen the attached barrier, and it flared into a bright pink ball of light. The dragon perked up and twisted to watch as it bounced away.
The creature's nose quivered again and it took a hesitant step after the glowing pink until it crashed with a little flare of expended energy. She bit her lip and hurled another one beyond the first, nudging the magic into brightness after it passed the dragon's face. The pale bubble bounced with little sparks and flashes of light as the stone skipped along the paving, and the dragon rumbled out a little roar before it made chase.
Each great thump of its feet shook the ground beneath them as it trundled away, and Kagome bounced with the thrill of excitement that they'd narrowly escaped its attention. "Hurry, hurry," she urged quietly. "Let's get the spells done quickly!"
Koenma scrambled to collect a few extra stones and the two huddled over his palms, charging them before he spelled each one.
The dragon roared somewhere nearby, and Kagome looked up in time to see it snap its jaws around the second rock she'd thrown. She picked up a third and hurled it sparking with magic in a new direction away from them.
The dragon stepped toward it, paused, then looked for where it had come from. "Koenma," she muttered, picking up a new rock to fill with magic and hoping she was wrong.
The dragon took a step in their direction before Kagome tossed a fresh rock, flaring its magic as it neared the dragon's location. Its eyes tracked the arc of the stone as it sailed past, then began moving toward them with more purpose. "Koenma," she urged, standing to ready her bow with an arrow.
"Almost done!" he said, tossing his stones as hard as he could in every direction. The dragon bore down on them with great haste, mere seconds away from their position. As it neared, it opened its mouth wide, and all Kagome could see was a gaping darkness framed with rows of teeth.
She dumped magic into the barrier protecting them and loosed an arrow down the creature's throat just as Koenma to put a portal beneath their feet. Teeth closed around the barrier with a great metallic screech, and from the corner of her eye she saw Koenma falling into the portal as she remained stuck. Her arrow struck home deep within the creature's gullet and flared bright with an answering splash of steaming coppery liquid. The creature screamed in rage, its hot, rancid breath enveloping her with a humid cloud of yuck.
Koenma's hand caught her ankle and tugged as the dragon turned its head sideways and tried to bite through the barrier, but she felt stuck as she looked down with desperation at the escape just out of reach. A single pebble by her toe caught her attention for a fleeting second, and then she realized she was stuck because the barrier the dragon chewed on was focused on her body. As soon as she made that mental leap, the barrier was transferred to the pebble and she dropped through the portal to safety.
Gasping for breath in the cool, clean air, she rolled onto her back in the grass with a sigh of relief. "Ugh, that was close," she muttered. She pushed herself up on her elbows and smiled at Koenma. "Thanks for getting us out of that one."
He shrugged, thoughtfully palming the remaining stones. "You kept it busy long enough to get the job done." He tossed some spelled stones around them. "Although," he added on with a frown, "I don't think any rescue team is going to want to fetch lost humans from that particular location."
She managed a short laugh. "No, I don't think they will."
The man was huddled nearby, covering his face with shaking hands.
She sighed and stood, approaching him carefully. "Excuse me, sir?"
"Kami, what was that?" he whimpered.
"We think that's what has been causing all the people to disappear from around here," she said with a sympathetic frown. "I'm really sorry for your loss."
He shot to his feet, looking at the two of them with a harsh look. "Where did you two go? I followed from the forest, then you disappeared, and then that thing was there! And then you two just reappear from nowhere? Are you luring travelers to it?" he accused, pointing at her with a sneer. "Witch," he hissed.
"What?" Kagome replied, flabbergasted. "No! What's wrong with you?"
Koenma sighed and reached out to the distracted human with a glowing fingertip. A tap against his temple silenced his next words, and he stared at them in confusion.
"He won't remember the last few minutes," Koenma explained. "Kind sir," he said, placing a warm hand on the confused human's shoulder. "There is a dangerous spirit imprisoned nearby," he smoothly lied, guiding the stranger to examine the breach between two pillars. "This place is its prison, and if it ever escapes, it will wreak havoc on any people or towns nearby. I take it you know of people that might be able to protect this place from travelers that might stumble into danger?"
The human nodded, worry spreading across his expression.
"I'm sorry to say that your missing friend may have met their end here. There is little we can do once someone falls into the spirit's prison," he murmured, patting the upset human on the shoulder.
Kagome slung her bow and watched as Koenma talked the human through plans to protect the area from further unnecessary losses.
"Nice," she said once he rejoined her. "Saving yourself some trouble while saving some humans."
"Saving myself from more than just that," he said with a grin, pocketing a few stones before tossing the last with casual flicks. "It'll make sure we don't have more humans falling in, but also they might have some sources that can seal up a new structure to keep any youkai from coming through that gap."
"Okay, good," she nodded with a yawn. "Three down and five left?"
He grinned with excitement.
"You have way too much energy, and I need a nap," she grumbled.
"I've been awake for two weeks!" he boasted.
She briefly closed her eyes with a sigh.
AN: So these have been kind of quick-fire chapters. I've had the general ideas of these 9 scenes (this is #3) kind of sketched out for a couple of months, and getting to write such a nice little variety of adventures is great! very little thinking about anything beyond what's going on in that moment, with only a tiny bit of an end goal in sight (building their friendship and giving Koenma a reason to really hope for more as they meet in later eras)br /
No promises the next 6 scenes will be done as quickly because my vacation has come to an end, but I'll do my best to get through them pretty quick so we can get back to the main storyline.