Hey all! So, quick memo before the next chapter:
As you have no doubtingly have noticed, I've been titling these chapters with names of my own design. However, from this point onward, you will be seeing a mix of the original anime titles, and ones that I came up with in my imagination, as it will become increasingly difficult to come up with titles better (at least in my mind - lol) than the first one...
Ok, that's it! On with the story!
Update (April-May 2020): Chapter edited and lengthened, now with a newly redone scene!
Chapter 5: Encounters of the Half-Brother Variety
A full moon shines down over the lands of Sengoku Japan during a new night, and our attention focuses to a misty area deep within the Edo forests where a lone figure stands atop a stony incline.
This individual is a rather handsome male, standing about five foot nine with a trapezoid build, a fair ivory complexion, knee-length silver hair with curtain bangs framing a curious medium purple crescent moon on his forehead, pointed ears and clawed fingertips (suggesting non-human origins), slanted gold irises with slit-shaped pupils, and amaranth purple claw-shaped stripes on his cheeks that match the ones on his eyelids.
For his outfit, the man wears a red and white cherry blossom kimono, the flower crests being on the sleeves and collar indicating royal lineage, a large boa-like piece curving over his right shoulder, and armor that includes a spiked pauldron over his left shoulder attaching to an upper cuirass, and 'lotus petal' faulds. Finally, on his legs is a pair of white sashinuki hakama that gathered around his ankles, and black ankle-high hakama boots.
His gaze is focused on a tomb site situated atop a distant hill, watching as a wooden staff - decorated with the head of an old man and a previously beautiful woman with black hair on the top half - came floating up, followed by another figure. This fellow is considerably shorter, barely hitting one foot five, and heralds an appearance typical to that of an imp, his complexion a mix of tea and earth green and ears pointed. He has a rounded head with rather large eyes (the sclera pale yellow and slit pupils), and his mouth is shaped similar to a kappa's beak. On his body is a burgundy brown haori with slits in the shoulders, a camel brown hakama, and a small, pointed black hat tied to his head with string.
"Hah, hah, hah, milord, there it is! The tomb that we've been searching for!"
The other figure wanders the imp's way.
"You're sure?"
"Aye, milord. The staff Nintōjō has always lead us without fail. Clearly it must mean this tomb! Hah-hh, allow me to prove it."
The smaller demon starts jogging over to the tomb...only to stop in his tracks as several wolves came lurking...
"Th-This isn't right at all. M-Milord, success, this is exactly as I expected!"
His lord slowly approaches, and the imp quickly darts behind him out of fear of the wild pack.
"N-N-N-Nice, d-d-d-doggies..."
The wolves continue to bare their teeth as the taller of the two males turns to look at them with a cool expression.
"The fang...It is the fang I seek here. Once I possess it, I shall transform myself into a far greater power...Heh, yet why must I explain? My power is what it is; I shall not always be limited thus."
He then smiles faintly as he ponders aloud,
"Can it be that I am afraid, or is it merely that I know not of my limits?"
The fair-skinned man then holds out one of his clawed hands...and it begins to glow an eerie acid green...
"Perhaps, I presume."
The wolves then spring on him, hell-bent on tearing him apart with their jaws...just as a long, whip-shaped beam materializes from his hand, and he begins spinning on his foot in a spiral.
"The fang...It is the fang I seek here."
A final howl from the wild canines rings through the air...before-
(POW)
The whip cuts through them all, their bodies ripped beyond recognition!
...
Whatever remained of the corpses now lays dead on the ground in a growing puddle of blood, while the man turns his attention to the tomb site once more.
"Position the staff, Jaken."
The imp - now identified as Jaken - does as other commands.
"Yes, milord!"
Climbing up onto the roof of the tomb, the imp knocks aside a token piece before planting the staff straight on the stone...A few seconds later, the head depicting a woman suddenly moves, opening its mouth and letting out a raspy scream!
"This time it is the beauty who responds. Do not tell me we've been mislead!...Mm?"
Jaken then realizes his master is already walking away.
"Milord, wait for me! Your humble servant comes, milord!"
...At the same time those two take their leave, it's revealed some of the wolf pack hadn't been slaughtered, already running off to a safer area. Zooming in on the fur one canine, we spot a small entity barely hitting close to a centimeter high, his appearance easily described as a humanoid flea with a sandy complexion, receding gray hair matching shade to his Fu Manchu moustache, and dressed in a moss green haori - styled to fit all four of his arms - with a dark grey hakama.
"Hauh, and here I thought I've seen it all! Whoever he is, Lord Inuyasha will want to know. I must go quickly."
...
...
Moving along to the outside of the forests and to the nearby riverside, we join a large company of soldiers whom were resting up for the night...
"We rejoin the main force on the morrow. Let us feast on this boar tonight, so that we might have strength for battle!"
"Aye, and let us give thanks that we have such a leader to follow."
Another soldier exclaims enthusiastically,
"Lead us to victory!"
The leader grins and replies,
"That I will, and more be signs, hahahaha!"
...Suddenly, a strangled cry of pain emits from the crowd, the cause revealed to be the tall silver-haired figure from earlier whom had just killed several of the soldiers! The leader comes out of the crowd, addressing the camp intruder with a grind in his teeth.
"What's this? Are ye mad?!"
The man just turns to the company leader and calmly requests,
"I need a boat."
"You need a what? Bwahahahaha, before a battle?! And were to give it, are we?"
"Why, yes you are, and now."
The leading solider stops laughing, now understanding that this stranger wasn't kidding nor was he in the mood for jokes.
"(Glare) I think not!"
He then charges at the other with the intention of cutting them down...A move that would be his undoing, for the taller figure swiftly grabs him by the neck and chokes him to death in mere seconds!
(...Crash)
The corpse is then tossed into the river, crushing one of the river boats, much to the shock of the other soldiers.
"Wh-Why you...!"
As the small group prepares to avenge their leader, Jaken's voice cuts in as he emerges from a bushel of pond reeds.
"Eh-Lord Sesshōmaru, I-I-I regret to inform that there are no boats, (turns to the river) oh! U-Unless you count those over there, of course..."
The human soldiers become increasingly defensive upon the imp's arrival, quickly putting two and two together regarding the other male's origins.
"Wh-What is that?!"
"Y-You're not even human!"
"They're beasts. Worse than beasts!"
"Kill them!"
The now properly-identified Lord Sesshōmaru ignores the agitated souls, and turns to address his vassal.
"Jaken. I leave them to you."
The imp laughs menacingly and steps forward just as the soldiers begin to charge...He holds up his wooden weapon, and the face of the old man opens its mouth to breathe out fire, burning all of the humans alive!
"Heheheheh, feel the power of Nintōjō!"
...All that would remain after that powerful attack is a large, cratering pile of ash...
"Hehehaha, they might've been spared, yet such is the arrogance of these lofty samurai warriors, that each and every time Lord Sesshōmaru must teach them a lesson anew!"
Jaken turns his head to his lord's direction:
"Ah, hello, Lord Sesshōmaru? I've done as you asked...Milord, are you there? Wait for me, milord, I'm coming!"
...But just as he begins to rush off to catch up to his master, one of the heads of the staff begins to emit a red glow from its eyes, forcing him to stop.
"Whoa-hoh-hoh, what is this?"
Nintōjō then proceeds to move on its own, turning a bit before settling on a particular direction in their floating pattern...
"The staff's changed position. It must be the fang; it's changed location!"
After informing the other confirmed-by-this-point demon of the new course, Jaken would then be seen floating down river in one of the boats with Sesshōmaru...The imp then timidly brings up a question to his master.
"L-Lord, Sesshōmaru?"
"Yes?"
"M-Mighten we ask, Lord I-Inuyasha where the tomb is?"
The silver-haired male's tone drips with malice as he mutters the half-demon's name himself...
(Whack)
"Whaaah!"
Jaken is then smacked into the river and held down underwater by the pole of Nintōjō. Though his next tone does sound calm, it's clear that the name mentioned did not tweak at Sesshōmaru's good side.
"I would prefer not to think of him."
"F-F-Forgive me...!"
"He is, for our purposes, dead. And wasn't he sealed to a tree fifty years ago?"
"B-B-B-B-But sire, the spell, they say it was removed recently! B-Besides, the staff, it's been acting strange. It's because of Inuyasha; I'm sure of it!"
The physically-looking young lord narrows his eyes a fraction in thought, just as Jaken calls out from underwater,
"S-Speaking of Nintōjō, milord, m-mighten you remove it? I-I-I can't breathe!"
The imp's strength gives out, and he goes floating downriver with a water-muffled wail...
Time Skip
As the morning sun peers over the horizon of the Forest of Inuyasha, we zoom in on the Bone Eater's Well as a certain redhead comes climbing out, ready to start another day in her new mission across time. This round, she arrives a bit more prepared, carrying not just her leather satchel but a new military surplus backpack she had bought a few days ago in accordance to the long journeys ahead. As for her outfit, Coraline is wearing a black form-fit tee under a casual ash gray dress shirt with the buttons undone, acid-washed jeans and black combat boots. Also, her hair is tied into a low ponytail using a dark red elastic.
"Phew...wha' a climb."
And with these packs too...Hah, yet another thing t' get used to.
'Least I'll be guaranteed a good workou'...
As she starts a jog for Goshinboku Village, her thoughts shift to the subject that's brought her back to Edo.
Never though' I'd live long enough t' find out time travel was possible.
Here I am, in a much younger Tokyo, back when the legends and mythical creat'res such as demons ruled the day!
...And t' think, a couple days ago I was jus' livin' life as an adopted member of the Higurashi Family, whom for generations h've been the caretakers of an ancient shrine, with a tree hundreds of years old and a mysterious well-house no one has entered for years...until now.
She comes close to the bottom of the long but low-bearing incline heading towards her destination.
Heh, guess that makes us rather strange to some circles...and me the strangest of all.
The sec'nd I entered that daft well-house, I become the target of Yōkai...or rather, they target the Shikon-no-Tama tha' had been resting quietly within m' body, possibly ever since I firs' drew breath...Thanks to the guidance of Lady Kaede and the other villagers, it's been smooth sailin' so far...but I can only imagine what other souls will soon dare come aft'a the jewel...
And then there's Inuyasha, the half-dog demon I released from the Goshinboku Tree. He doesn' seem to get on well with others, me especially...but I'm not losin' hope yet.
"After all, as long as we succeed in restoring the Shikon-no-Tama, everything will work ou' for the better."
...Still. There's the matter of how Inuyasha came t' be sealed in a comatose tha' tweaks my curiousity.
Kaede said that her sister, Kikyō, was the one whom had done the deed ov'a fifty years prior to now...
The redhead reaches the edge of the human populace as she asks herself,
"But was i' really just because he was aft'r the jewel...or is there more to the events that no one's saying...?"
...At the same time the girl feels the hold of mystery grip her psyche, another soul had just arrived in the village.
(Hop, hop)
Zooming down into the tall grass, that same flea demon from the night before stops atop a rock to catch his breath.
"Haaah, three days I've been walking nonstop. I think I need a rest...hah..."
His ears then pick up on Coraline's footsteps.
"Hm? That sounds like, someone rushing...?"
He turns around, only to be crushed by the redhead's boot!
She herself is unaware...kind-of.
"Huh, that's weird. I feel like I jus' stepped on something...Must be my imagination..."
Continuing on her way, the girl eventually locates Inuyasha just outside the main complex of pit house/cabin-designed huts, lazing atop the branch of a beech tree...
"First Aid treatment? I don't need it; go away!"
"Do so! I saw how you go' injured first hand! Now come down here!"
"Nothin' doin'."
"Inuyasha!"
"Tch."
Coraline sighs at lack of cooperation from the other teen, but wasn't going to give up easy, deciding to switch to a less forceful tactic.
"Okay, lemme try i' this way: if you really aren' injured anymore like you say you are, can you a' least hop down and show me evidence that you're okay? If you do, I promise to stop pestering you abou' the subject."
...Inuyasha's ears twitch, and he focuses his vision down on the insistent human.
"You'll really promise to stop naggin' me if I 'show you evidence' that I'm fine?"
"(Nod) Promise."
Seeing the sincerity in her eyes and noticing no trace of a lie in her tone, the boy reluctantly complies with the logic.
"Hauh, fine, I'll come down."
He drops to the ground in a smooth jump, before walking up to her with an annoyed frown on his face but seriousness in his hazel-gold eyes...He then lifts a hand to his haori, pulling it and his nagajuban down from the left side to show off his bare chest, confirming that indeed, his wounds have healed sufficiently on their own!
"There, see? You happy now? I didn't need your Firs-huh...?"
The half-demon cuts himself off when he feels fingertips softly brush the skin of his torso, courtesy of Coraline who stares at the area with honest surprise and curiousity.
"Amazing. No' even a scar is left...Simply amazing..."
She meets the other's eyes with a small smile.
"...You have an incredible healing ability."
Inuyasha is taken aback, having never met a human this innocently marveled by a rather common demon trait.
What? She's seriously amazed by this?...What an odd girl.
Up in the distance, Lady Kaede was walking with some of the local children down a main path, she having her arm in a sling due to her injury from Yura of the Hair's deceptions.
"Lady Kaede, are you all better?"
"Aye, child, almost all better."
"And you're gonna find all the jewel pieces soon, huh?"
The elder priestess lightly chuckles at the child's curious question before answering,
"Not soon perhaps, but aye. It would help if Inuyasha and young Coraline could like eachother a little more."
One of the children then spots said teens down below the incline and points to them with an innocent smile.
"They do like eachother!"
"Eh?"
The others look that way, and see Coraline conversing with Inuyasha, her fingertips still lightly pressed to his chest.
"So, do all of yo'r injuries heal this fast, or do some take more time?"
"Uh, depends on how deep the wound...You're seriously that fascinated by this?"
"Yeah! I've nev'a seen healing like this before."
The children giggle a bit at the interactions, and Kaede lightly chides,
"Alright, that'll be all, little ones. On ye way now, please."
Hearing the older woman's voice, the teens turn her direction as she wanders to them...
"Mayhaps you two are beginning to get along a bit quicker than first thought."
...They look at eachother, before blushing a bit at the indication, and Coraline takes a few steps back in embarrassment. Inuyasha merely turns eyes elsewhere and dryly mutters with regards to their conversation,
"This is just how I heal; my body's different than yours, is all."
The redhead smiles a bit sheepishly and replies,
"Still doesn' mean I've encountered this scenario before."
Kaede comments,
"For so great a wound to have healed so quickly and not leave no scar..."
"Tch, just because it would've killed a human, don't make it a big deal for someone like me!"
Coraline's thoughts drift to the discreet subject.
He's not all human, but not demon either...To be half and half...
Inuyasha then winces, feeling something bite his skin, and looks down to see something - or rather, someone - sucking out his blood.
"(Sluuuurp, pop) Greetings and salutations."
(...Slap)
The silver-haired youth hits the tiny figure with the palm of his hand, and looks down to see them properly...before remarking,
"Well, if it ain't Myōga the Flea."
Coraline asks,
"Flea, you say?"
If Inuyasha knows 'im, they must be benevol'nt.
The one known as Myōga floats down to the ground, with Inuyasha following after him in a kneel.
"So, what'cha come to see me about?"
The flea demon pops back up 'unflattened' and answers,
"Lord Inuyasha, I've come to-uh, huh?"
He then becomes distracted by a foreign object coming in front of him, it being a magnifying glass which belongs to Coraline...Curious of the new tool (new to him, at least), Inuyasha asks her,
"What's that do?"
"It's called a magn'fying glass, and as the name implies, it can magnify somethin' small so you can see it better. (Looks at Myōga) So, this is a Flea Demon. Interesting..."
...
...
Later on, as the day reaches dusk, we find everyone in Kaede's home as Myōga tells Inuyasha what he had seen with regards to the activities of Sesshōmaru and Jaken (though somehow missing their names...).
"Whaddo ya mean someone's trying to find my dad's tomb?"
"As guardian of his final resting place, I can bear it no longer."
The half-demon sees through the tone in the older full demon's voice.
"So you took off and came here instead."
Ignoring the implication of cowardice, Myōga continues.
"But it's the remains that are important, and they are no longer there."
"Oh? So where are the remains then?"
"Regrettably, sire, no one knows."
Inuyasha rests his cheek in his hand and mutters,
"Some guardian you are..."
Kaede then comments with a serious expression,
"Inuyasha, they say your father was a phantom beast, that the Western Lands were his domain."
"Can't say I remember all that well..."
Myōga gives a description of the said legendary dog demon.
"Your father was a demon among demons, great and powerful. His blood was especially delicious, heheh, and you, Lord Inuyasha, have inherited that from him."
Coraline is deeply intrigued by the conversation.
"Wow, it sounds like he was a great lord!...What of his moth'a? Surely she was among the great as well."
"She was a beauty beyond compare. A true-Doh!"
(Stomp...)
Inuyasha suddenly stood up, and proceeded to dig his heel against Myōga's form!
"Hey! Was that really necessary?"
Ignoring the redhead, the young man goes to leave, turning his head back briefly to angrily reply,
"Just drop it, okay?! She died a long time ago..."
And with that, he's gone...Coraline watches him go, perplexed by his behaviour, before proceeding to assist the flea demon up with gentle fingers.
"Sorry abou' tha', Myōga. I don' know why he-...Wait. Was i', when I mentioned his moth'r?"
Straightening himself up, he replies a bit solemnly,
"Thank you, and, yes, your intuition is correct. Lord Inuyasha has always, preferred not to speak of her..."
...A crackle of embers hop within the dancing flames of the hearth being tended to by Kaede, and the younger woman in the room drifts in thought a moment longer...before making her own way for the outdoors...She eventually found Inuyasha situated in the same tree from earlier (only on a higher branch), and as she quietly approaches the space before the beech, her thoughts fixate on the boy's origins once again.
His fath'a was a demon lord, and Inuyasha carries half his genes...meaning his moth'r, was withou' a doubt human.
She looks up at his form with sadness and empathy reading in her mixed blue irises.
This probably explains some o' his rough attitude...
Is it, possible tha' 'e hates his mother for giving 'im his half-human DNA?
(Flash)
"See you later!"
"Coraline, wait!"
Returning to hours earlier in the modern era, we watch as the only redheaded member of the Higurashi Shrine shucks her surplus backpack over her shoulders as the older blackette calls to slow her steps in the kitchen.
"Akari-sama, I can't, I gotta go."
Akari holds up a larger version of the first aid kit - considered standard-sized - that Coraline had been using.
"Take this. I know you have a lot to carry, but I-"
"I appreciate your concern, Akari-sama, but I'm tryin' to keep i' to the bare essentials."
"Well, you can use it for that friend of yours, the one with the cute ears. Didn't you say he'd been hurt in the shoulder?"
"Uh, (subdued smile) good point. Thank you."
(Flash)
...I suppose I can't really understand the idea of ha'in' your own moth'a anymore than lovin' one.
Not that Akari-sama isn' seen as a mother figure...I just, don' feel the need for one anymore.
"Not since, my own moth'r died when I was bu' a young sprog...I hope his loved 'im unconditionally..."
(...Whoosh...)
"Huh?"
Suddenly, the wind changes pace, blowing up the dead leaves with it...
"Get down!"
Having felt the shift himself, Inuyasha jumps down from the tree, shoving Coraline down to the ground with him. Though perhaps protective in some light, the redhead nonetheless felt a bit put-out as she raises her dust-covered face from the dirt and grass.
"Ugh, really? Little warning would've been nice!"
"Something's coming. Can you feel it?"
"Mm?"
She looks back to the skies above...and spots something floating out from behind the clouds.
"Is that...a carriage?"
No. Not jus' any carriage. Grandfath'a told me abou' these once...
It's the style said t' be driven by the spirits of the underworld.
Inside the said transport, the door flaps away, revealing a woman whose beauty could be enviable amongst the court royals, her waist-length Hime cut hair the colour of black licorice and skin a pale ivory, her lips painted a light cherry blossom pink. On her body is the very elaborate jūnihitoe court dress, the Karaginu being misty rose pink and decorated with flowers of similar design to the Jūroku Uragiku (known as the crest of the Hirohata clan).
Someone's inside...a woman. Has she passed on?
The redhead then feels her companion get up, prompting her to do the same while noticing a stunned look spread onto his face.
"Inuyasha? What is it; wha's wrong?"
"M...Mother..."
Coraline's eyes widen at his response...The court lady in the carriage then turns her head to the teens down below, focusing her dark brown irises on one in particular.
"It is you! Inuyasha...Aaugh!"
The imps that were driving the mode of transport pull at the chains around the woman, causing her some discomfort...
"Mother!"
Despite how alive the other may have looked, the human girl wasn't feeling as convinced, and tries to gently reason with her fellow teen.
"Hold on, Inuyasha. Your moth'a...I realize it migh' look like she's alive, but th' carriage she's riding is no' from this mortal world."
The half-demon barely registers her words, tearing his eyes away from the image above for a short moment.
"Huh?...You mean, (looks back up) that, might be..."
"That's m' best guess...Though, if it is her spirit we're witnessin'..."
Coraline looks back up as the carriage begins to disappear towards the clouds, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"What confuses me is why she's chosen to leave th' underworld. Much as I'd like t' believe she wanted to see you...something doesn' feel right..."
(...CRUNCH)
"Uh-h!"
Just then, an enormous clawed hand reaches out to grasp and crush the transport, leaving only the court lady intact! A set of glowing red eyes then peer out from the cloud cover, belonging to a gigantic oni over a hundred feet tall, with long white-smoke hair, flax-coloured horns, sharp teeth and dark burgundy skin, the only clothing being a muted grey loincloth...
"Oh no!"
"Grrrh, let her go!"
Inuyasha jumps high into the air with the intention of rescuing his apparent mother...However, he's forced to stop his trajectory when something else tries to shoot flames at him, then land back on the ground beside Coraline. The source was none other than Jaken, situated atop one of the arms of the giant.
"Ya missed!"
The imp merely humphs at the boy in the red kimono...before being addressed by a voice from behind him on the oni's shoulder.
"Jaken."
"Yes, Milord?"
"Once we're through, I want him dead."
"Y-Y-Y-Yes, Milord."
Inuyasha looks up, and immediately recognizes the third presence.
"It is you...Sesshōmaru!"
"Indeed. I've quite missed you as well, (sardonic smile) little brother."
The half-demon growls at the snide remark, just as Coraline comes up to his side, shocked by this turn in events.
"Wait, you two know eachoth'r?"
He called Inuyasha his broth'a...They do share a few physical charact'risitcs...but this guy seems more demon...
Oh! Then that means these two are half-brothers!
...But wait...
"(Glare) Are you the one who summoned his mother from the und'aworld? If so, why?"
Sesshōmaru looks Coraline's way come her question, and remarks,
"Ah, a mortal. How interesting..."
"Oi! Don't ignore my inquiry! Necrom'ncy is a serious manner and shouldn' be used so bla'ntly! Even a demon of your status should know tha'!"
Inuyasha glances at the girl in surprise for how boldly she's chewing his older half-sibling out. Similar thoughts ran through the mind of Sesshōmaru's vassal, caught between wanting to glare and wanting to gape at the mortal.
Guh, such impudence from a lowly human!
He on the other hand merely steps over the redhead's attitude as he continues to address Inuyasha.
"Others would be ashamed, but with you, little brother, the girl quite suits you."
One of the imps from earlier then pulls on the chain around the court woman's neck at the demon lord's silent command.
"Rrgh!"
"These, human creatures, I should think you've had enough of them. Or is it a taste from father?"
Another low grind bubbles from the half-demon's throat, while Coraline clenches as her own anger rose.
Who the hell does this guy think 'e is?! Arrogant bastard...
Inuyasha finally answers back, his senses telling him there was more to his encounter than perceived.
"That's not all, is it? You couldn't have come all this way just to tell me that!"
"Be not a fool. I've not such time to waste...The tomb of our father; where must I seek it?"
"Our father's tomb? Why ask me?"
"'Seeing, yet never seen. Protected, yet never known to it's protector.' No other clues are known."
The youth in the crimson red kimono furrows his eyebrows in confusion.
"I got no idea what you're talking about! Besides, even if I did, there's no way I'd tell you!"
"I see. Then you leave me no choice, but to let your mother's suffering convince you."
Sesshōmaru then takes his energy whip and hits the giant oni's face, forcing it to crush its hand harder against the above woman's body...
"Ah! You bastard!"
Though Coraline was worried, putting her observations together along with his brother's timed appearance, Inuyasha isn't fooled.
"Heh, nice try, jerk! She's been dead for years, and we both know it! Like I'd really fall for some stupid trick like that! Even Coraline saw through it!"
"(Small smile) A trick, is it?"
Jaken then exclaims with his own upturn of mouth,
"You're who's stupid! Recalling spirits from the netherworld is a simple task, if you are Lord Sesshōmaru! He was even so kind as to give her flesh, and yet her own son would deny it! How sad to be mother to one such as you."
The woman calls out to Inuyasha again, and he focuses back on her as he tries to weigh the probability.
Then maybe...Yet, Coraline said the carriage is...
I dunno what's true...
"I have come back, Inuyasha...Back from the world of the dead."
The court lady gives out from the strain of the imps pulling on her chains, and the half-demon concludes as he cracks his knuckles,
Whatever the case, I refuse to let my mother's spirit be abused like this!
"Stop hurting her! (Leap) IRON REAVER, SOUL STEALER!"
(SLASH)
Inuyasha claws his way through the wrist of the oni, causing it to cry out in pain as his mother and the hand fall to the ground...Coraline rushes to the woman's side:
"Ma'am! Ma'am, are you alright?!"
I can, actually feel her...Could she 'ave been brough' back as an Ikiryō, a living ghost?
...No, that can't be righ'. Something's still off.
"Coraline! You and her get outta here!"
Hearing Inuyasha's urging, Sesshōmaru mutters,
"I think not," then proceeds to whip the giant again.
"And you...are worthless!"
The oni's face becomes disfigured from the harsh whipping, before reaching its good hand down towards Coraline and the half-demon's Mother, the former using her body to shield the latter...
"Mother!"
The woman's upper body rises from the ground as she cries out her son's name, just as Inuyasha becomes trapped under the monster's palm as it prepares to crush all three of them!...Acting quickly, the court lady invokes an unworldly power that projects a glowing orb into her palms, which the young man lands against...before they all vanish in a blinding flash of light!
...The giant oni moves its hand away, and Sesshōmaru mutters a tad sarcastically,
"What a bother."
Jaken replies,
"Aye, milord, and yet it goes so well. Please, milord, leave it to me."
"This scheme of yours is beneath me. Should it fail, Jaken...you, will die."
The imp yelps before shakily nodding.
"A-A-A-As you will, milord."
...
...
We shift gears now to a misty riverside, just as Inuyasha begins rising from his unconscious state.
"Uh...Uh..."
Once he's fully awake, he notices the area had a pavilion overlooking the clear blue water decorated with lily pads along the edge...He glances to his right and spots an unconscious Coraline laying sideways beside him, before asking aloud,
"This place...where is it?"
"...At the border of the Spirit World."
He turns around, and sees his mother who adds solemnly,
"I must be crossing over it very soon."
He gets up from the ground, a somewhat perplexed but thoughtful look on his face.
"Crossing over?...Oh yeah, right. It happened so long ago, I keep forgetting you're dead."
The woman turns around and begins walking closer to where the pavilion stands, and Inuyasha decides to follow her, sneaking another glance at Coraline's form before affirming that she'd be okay where she is for now...
"Inuyasha, you've...you've become a man, haven't you?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, when you died, I guess I was still just a kid, right?"
"Such terrible, violent days...and you were all alone, with no one to care for you..."
The mother turns to face her son, an anxious and guilt-ridden look in her eyes.
"How can you ever forgive me?"
Inuyasha glances sideways and says offhandedly,
"It weren't that big a deal. I mean..."
"...Inuyasha."
"Huh?"
...As they continue to converse, we jump back to Coraline as she too began to wake.
"Mm...Rrmm..."
When she opens her eyes, she spots the other two souls in the distance, relieved that neither were harmed.
Inuyasha...and his mother...Good. They're both alrigh'.
But as she tries to go and lift herself from the ground so she could join them...she found that she could not!
Nngh...huh? I, can't move...'m I paralyzed?
The redhead's gaze drifts to the water...and a silent gasp escapes her when she sees,
Her face!...She has no reflection!
"Inuyash-. Inu-..."
Oh no. I can't even talk!
Back over with the half-demon, he found himself being softly embraced by the woman who may not in-fact be his maternal parent.
"Mother..."
"Partings are never easy, wouldn't you agree?"
"I..."
Coraline calls out within her mind,
Inuyasha, snap out of it! She doesn' have a face!
...Whoever this woman is, she's not your mother!