Update (October 2020): Chapter edited and lengthened!
Chapter 34: Miasma Mountain
Another few days pass over the untamed lands of Sengoku Edo, and our next destination is a modest shrine house, where a group of men - dressed in an odd assortment of makeshift armor - rest after barely surviving a recent battle against marauders...
"I'm so tired..."
"At least we're still alive."
"I'm a farmer, not a soldier..."
"Right now, I'm just happy to be breathing."
"Which we wouldn't be if not for that priestess...Let's give thanks to her, eh?"
And whom is this miko of which they speak?
...Kikyō, of course.
Once again, the priestess caught between life and death has come across souls in need of healing, to which she would gladly give...One such man laying atop a wicker mat with bandages wrapped around his shoulder and lower torso begins to feel the full effect of her aid, grimacing a bit as he returns to conscious thought.
"Hey, look, I think he's waking up!"
"Good news, you're not dead, heheh. Guess her medicine did the trick."
"Hey, priestess, look: our friend here is alive!"
She turns her eyes away from another soldier with a gauze over his eye, smiling at the good news...However, as she gazes more intently at the man, Kikyō could see that his spirit was not out of the woods yet, seeing a small red-skinned imp on his skull...
She walks over and kneels down beside him, causing the demon to look up at her.
...Still, evil seeks this man's life.
Using her purification powers, the miko touches the imp with her finger, causing it to silently burn to ash...
"Priestess, you okay?"
She refrains from telling the others about the momentary danger, instead smiling a little and informing the ones closest to her,
"Your friend will be just fine. He may even be up as early as tomorrow."
...Suddenly, a progression of true soldiers comes walking to the area...
"We are seeking the priestess called Kikyō!"
They stop in front of she and the recovering man, and a vassal comes walking through the guarding crowd to address her.
"The men tell me of one who tends to soldiers injured on both sides of battle, whose strange magics can even revive those on the brink of death."
Kikyō says to the vassal calmly with a neutral expression,
"I am skilled in no such magics, but only in the Art of Healing."
"We shall hear more at the castle. Prepare to leave."
Seeing no other option, the priestess decides to go with the group peacefully...She's soon sitting comfortably in a palanquin while the vassal tells her of the lord that has fallen ill.
"Lord Kagewaki, master of the Hitomi Clan has been in delicate health since birth. Since his father's death and own succession, his health has worsened. Now he refuses both clan physician, and his nearest vassals."
...Eventually, they reach the castle, which unknown to many is about as real as the 'resident lord'...
"N-None may enter, I'm sorry."
The vassal tries to reason with the nervous guards standing on ceremony.
"But I have brought the priestess who will cure Kagewaki."
"The lord has forbidden entry to anyone. Furthermore, he refuses all visitors..."
Kikyō feels a chill in the air:
I sense a great wrongness...Almost, a veil...
She then begins walking past the vassal and the guards, much to their confusion.
"W-Wait, where are you...?"
She ignores them and continues onward to the young royal's room, brushing back the wicker door and immediately fixating her gaze at the 'lord' sitting on his futon bed.
So he is the one...
He has no life in him...as though he is dead from the neck down...
Kagewaki - or rather, Naraku - stares at the priestess with dotting red-black eyes, recognizing her instantly.
Kikyō...!
The guards then come rushing to the room's entrance, quickly apologizing for their poor skills in following commands.
"We have failed, my lord, forgive us. She has come, despite your orders."
"She claims she can heal you, my lord."
"...Be quiet."
The guards are taken aback, more so when Naraku orders,
"Leave me!"
"Yes, lord!"
They hurry to back off as Kikyō approaches him...
"Tell me your name, now that you've disturbed me."
"My name is Kikyō."
The disguised demon thinks to himself in near-disbelief,
Kikyō is alive. The woman I so trapped fifty years ago...
The woman who died, taking the Shikon-no-Tama with her...
But how can she be...?
...
...
As Naraku began pondering as to how the priestess he killed years ago was once again in front of him, we move onto a village that sat near a mountainside, its residents currently assessing a serious problem...
"What happened?"
"I don't believe it!"
"Over here too, all dried up..."
Apparently, the fields that were once filled with fresh crops for the season have mysteriously dried up to almost nothing...The three men investigating were baffled:
"But how could it happen? We had plenty of rain..."
"It started about a month ago..."
(..Drip, dri-dri-dri-dri-dri-dri-dri-dri...)
"Uh? It's raining..."
But when one of the villagers looks more closely...he quickly finds that this is no ordinary shower from mother nature.
"It's not water. It's red, like blood. (Looks up) What in the name of-?!"
If thing weren't already perplexing, suddenly...a huge amount of numerous demon parts came raining down from the sky, causing the men to flee!
...
...
...
Come the next day, Inuyasha and company arrive in the devastated village, only to learn about this mysterious phenomenon...
"Raining demon parts, was it? How odd."
The headman explains the experience to Miroku.
"It was awful! Not just that, but completely ruined our fields!"
One farmer adds,
"Would that it were only the fields. The old, the young, the weak, so many have become sickened."
The young monk with the rat tail replies seriously,
"I should think so. I am detecting an evil presence in this area. Leave it to me."
Once a full agreement was made, he and his companions would then set out through the barren grass fields to investigate further...Of course, Inuyasha wasn't very enthusiastic over the prospect, his priorities more focused on the grand objective waiting ahead.
"So here we come to save the day, again. Do we have time for this? What about Naraku, huh, or does he not matter anymore?"
"Nobody's forgotten, Inuyasha...but, Coraline's arrow really did him some damage. Even Naraku would be down for a while after something like that...Besides, I've already accepted payments for services rendered, so..."
Coraline looks at Miroku confusingly...until she sees the looped coins in his hand.
"Huh? Ugh, really, dude?"
Inuyasha goes as far as barking,
"You haven't done anything! The paying part don't usually come until afterwards!"
"If you wait, you'll get cheated on the tip."
"Taking bribes..."
"Not bribes, ties."
The redhead shakes her head at the two men with a tired smile...then turns to notice Sango staring at the faraway mountain with intent.
"...Sango? Is something wrong?"
"The miasma. I think it's at the base of that mountain. (Turn) I was just wondering if someone other than Naraku could produce such poison."
Miroku ponders,
"Someone, other than Naraku?"
Coraline looks up at the mountain for herself, thinking,
Hmm...Well whatever's going on, I got an eerie feelin'...
(Slip)
"Oh!"
Her left foot then slides against a rock protruding from the dirt path, and the shift of weight causes her combat knife to fall out of her sheath and into a puddle of demon blood.
(Splash)
"Aw, crap..."
Inuyasha looks at her funny and says a bit sarcastically,
"Keh, nice one, klutz."
"Oh, shut it."
She then goes to pick it up, adding,
"I wonder how it could'a fallen ou', though. M' sheath is zip-loc' tig-Wh...Wha', the...?"
Coraline suddenly pauses, her eyes widening as she observes yet another strange phenomenon: the blade of her knife...was slowly absorbing the blood!
"How, th' bloody hell...?!"
"What is it?"
Inuyasha comes to look, as does everyone else, and they all become as shocked.
"Holy...!" "Huh?!"
"Owah!" "Unbelievable!"
After a few more seconds, the knife had finished doing...whatever the heck it did...
Coraline carefully picks her weapon up, and turns it over a few times in her hand as her mind continues to process what she just witnessed.
"...I see no blood stains...It really did suck up the blood. Bu' how?!"
Inuyasha plucks the combat knife out of her appendage to see for himself.
"Since when can blades suck back blood?! Coraline...what is this thing made of?"
"Um, well according to Sango, i's a mix of earth metal and demon bone."
"What?!"
Miroku is just as surprised:
"But you are from a time where demons have become lost to the ages, correct? How could such a weapon be produced?"
"Well first of all, demons aren't really lost, per say. It's just not alot'a humans are concerned about 'em anymore...or even believe in their existence. As for your second question, I couldn't tell yae even if I wanted to. Shuji - the one who gave me this - doesn't ask questions like tha' when he does his dealin's in weapon trade. He likes to keep i' as discrete as possible, and only focus on getting the best when he can."
"Hm..."
Shippō then asks with a bit of wariness in his tone,
"Coraline, a-are you, still gonna keep that thing?"
Thinking for a moment, the girl then nods,
"...Yes. I know this new development is a bi', creepy, but so far this knife hasn't failed me yet in a fight, or given me any doubts in bein' useful outside battle...Still, I might try researching about this. Maybe my blade isn' the first one of its make to absorb blood."
Everyone nods, though they looked a bit warily at the combat knife as Coraline re-sheathes it...She snaps them back on the more prudent issue.
"Look, we can worry about this lat'a. Right now, we should focus on heading towards that mountain and figure out what the source of that miasma is."
...Meanwhile, back at Naraku's Castle...
"Well, Kikyō? He's beyond your help then?"
The priestess replies solemnly to the elder vassal,
"Yes. I'm afraid there's not much I can do."
"Really? So it is no ordinary illness. You too will abandon him?"
"I am merely a priestess. Mighten I be allowed to leave?"
(...Shoom)
She gets her answer after bowing, in the form of four spears aimed at her body courtesy of the guards...
"You may certainly not be allowed to leave this place. It is the lord's wish that you stay."
As a troubled and suspicious look formed on the miko's face, Naraku lays on his futon, thinking about her.
Kikyō ought to have died.
I'll kill her again, but not until I've discovered her true self.
Tonight, my dreams will become reality, and who better than she to see them.
...
...
By this time, the group of young souls who stand to become Naraku's greatest threat have begun their ascension up the mountain cloaked in miasma...Inuyasha, Miroku and Coraline are seen walking up the path cut into the edge of this tall protrusion from the earth, while Shippō and Sango rode on Kilala's back...The fox demon makes an observation regarding the potency of the toxic fumes.
"The poison's even killed the grass..."
The half-demon says to everyone,
"We're almost there. Whatever's going on here, I don't like it."
The surviving Croft nods in agreement.
"Me neith'r."
They soon come across a cave entrance outlined with wooden planks, and a very low rumbling sound echoes from the inside...
"That mus' be the source of this miasma...An' that sound...Is i' the demon?"
"Kf...Ka-hh, koff!"
It's then that Sango's endurance against the poisonous atmosphere reaches close to its limit, and she falls off of Kilala. Crying out the slayer's name, Coraline rushes to her side just as Shippō hops off of Kilala so the cat demon could shift bat to her dormant form.
"Sango, are you-Oh, of course, your immune system is still weak from before..."
Deciding that it would be best to split up and not endanger the whole group, Inuyasha says to the women,
"Sango, Coraline, you stay here. It's just a demon hum, no sense draggin' everyone along. Miroku, you coming?"
Said monk nods, then says to the little fox demon,
"You seem resistant to the poison, Shippō. Will you look after things?"
"Leave everything to me. (Glance) But promise you'll be careful. That miasma's pretty strong..."
Kikyō's POV
I am now sitting within a cell with a guard posted to watch me, and I sense the foreboding feeling in this castle was steadily growing stronger.
I can feel it. The strong pull of a miasma coming closer...
I call upon my allies, the Shinidamachū to surround the guard, and place him in a transient state...
"Open up. After that, bring me a bow and an arrow."
I need to hurry. I cannot stay here while this aura continues to grow...
An aura that feels very, familiar...
Coraline's POV
While Inuyasha and Miroku head off to investigate the inside of the mountain, I sit Sango down atop a nearby boulder, and help her get her filter mask on. Even so, she was still feeling unwell...
"Yo'r gettin' worse by the minute, Sango. Are y' sure you can stick it ou' up here?"
"I'm okay, but what about you?"
"...I'm fine. The worst I feel is a slight burning in my chest, but nothin' I can't handle."
Which I find a bi' odd...
Maybe it has to do with my soul's mixed nature...?
My ears then pick up on another ring of that low rumbling, and I notice Shippō and Kilala moving a bit towards the cave, though clearly not on their free will.
"W-What's going on in there? It's like I'm being pulled in! Something really bad must be happening..."
I frown with worry:
If only Inuyasha and Miroku weren't headin' for the thick of it...
Still, I'm curious: what could wan' to lure demons?
No POV
While the redhead continues to postulate theories and stifle her growing fears, Inuyasha and Miroku will have made their way well into the cave tunnel, the former using Coraline's flashlight to light the way...
"We must be getting really close now..."
"...Kkf-koff!"
The monk then falls to his knees, becoming a bit overwhelmed by the thickening miasma, much to the half-demon's annoyed disbelief.
"Aw, come on, suck it up. You said you could handle it. What's wrong with ya?"
"I can, and I will. It's just, I have to go a bit slower. Without my training, I wouldn't be able to do it at all...Huh?"
He stops talking when a much louder rumble bounces down their way from the end of the tunnel...
"Something's there."
"Let's go."
"Right, behind you."
...The pair soon reach the mouth of the cave, and look down to see a very large pool of purple ooze with numerous giant demon parts floating around inside!
"Wha-What is that?!"
"Pieces of, demons..."
If things weren't already confusing enough, the ooze suddenly begins swirling around, before a large ogre demon splashes out of it!
"Raaaaah!"
Then out came another demon, which had the form of a giant lizard.
"Gyrrrah!"
The two begin clashing against one another, causing Inuyasha to ask aloud,
"But...why are they fighting eachother?"
The giants rage on with the ogre in lead, oblivious to their small audience...
"There must've been a battle. Hundreds of them fighting and killing and dying...and the loser's body was thrown into here. What's left of their bodies, that is."
"But, there's gotta be a reason..."
(Slam)
Eventually, the lizard demon's head is ripped off, and it - along with its body - sinks into the murky ooze...The pool swirls up the demon parts again, only this time, the more solid bits were directed towards the winning ogre demon, who absorbs them!
Miroku and Inuyasha conclude respectively,
"So the last one standing..."
"Gets to keep all the parts."
Once the process settles itself, we then see that the giant has another head where its stomach is, along with horns on its back like that from the former lizard demon...However, the creature felt hardly any satisfaction.
"Rrrah, I'm still here! The promise was that the winner would leave this place alive! Why have I not yet moved on?!"
Miroku feels the light of realization click on in his brain.
Oh no...then that means he...!
The monster's eyes glow, and it turns to see the pair of eyes that were watching it.
"Unless I am not yet the final winner."
"Not yet, you're not."
The monk tries to hold his friend back.
"Inuyasha, wait!"
"Let go of me!"
The half-demon shrugs off Miroku's hand, and leaps forward to where the monster ogre was. The young man with Prussian blue eyes mentally prays,
I hope I'm not right, but...if I am, then Inuyasha will...!
"Grrrraaaaaahhhh!"
The giant oni expels a cloud of poison, and Inuyasha brings out Tessaiga while shouting,
"You will fight me!"
...
...
Back outside on the mountain's spinning cliffs, Coraline feels her worries reach their limit.
"The boys are takin' too long."
Wha's going on in there...?
"Yes...Let's go."
Sango attempts to rise to her feet, but the redhead stops her.
"No Sango, don't."
Shippō protests as well:
"You're still too weak from before! You'll die in there!"
"Come. We need to move yae down the moun'in. The thickness of the miasma here is only worsenin' your health."
...But as she readies to lead the other young woman down back the way they came...
"Hh!"
Kikyō suddenly appears from out of the smoky miasma, having long escaped the castle and followed her instincts to this place!...Coraline stares at the priestess with a neutral expression, but her eyes reflect the surprise she truly felt.
...Kikyō? What could've possessed h'r to come here?
"So, Inuyasha is here."
"Um, yes...?"
...The priestess turns away from looking at Coraline, and walks past her coolly to head inside the tunnel. Shippō then mutters,
"Kikyō? Isn't that the name of the priestess?"
Fearing that something wasn't right with the undead miko suddenly making her appearance, the woman with dark red hair immediately grabs her weapons before moving towards the cave, much to Sango's protest and Shippō's confusion.
"Coraline, no!"
"You gonna follow her?"
She stops briefly and replies to the fox demon,
"I have to...bu' please, stay here with Sango and Kilala, okay?"
"Coraline...was that woman..."
She nods a bit grimly at the brunette.
"Yes, that was Kikyō...I'm no' sure why she's here, though, but whatever the reason, I have a bad feelin' about it."
"...Kilala."
The cat demon rises to her feet at her partner's call.
"Take Kilala, and please, be careful."
"(Nod) Of course, thank you. If th' air becomes too thick in the next bit, start movin' back down, regardless if we're all back or not."
With that, Coraline and Kilala begin jogging into the cave tunnel...Meanwhile, as Kikyō moves further down the tunnel path, her body began to glow.
...The dead souls inside me are trying to get out.
Are they drawn by the miasma?
She manages to contain them and sustain her own soul, before focusing up ahead.
...But there's another force at work. Could it be the one who lives in the castle?
In the chamber of the cave, Inuyasha and the giant ogre demon had begun their battle, the former leaping off the latter before coming at it with a swing from Tessaiga.
(Slash)
He lands a clean cut through the shoulder and chest, landing on a lower ledge near the pool of liquefied miasma and demon parts.
"Now to finish him off."
...But just then, a cloud of mist manifests and surrounds the demon's wound, reversing the damage!
"Wh-What's going on?! The wound is...closing back up!"
Miroku calls from above,
"Inuyasha, no, sheath your sword; don't fight!"
The half-demon yells back,
"Don't be stupid! I have to! If I don't, I'll be killed!"
"Listen: this is similar to a technique called Fuko! It's how you make a creature called Kudoku!"
"Fuko?! Kadoku?! What the heck are you talking about?!"
"It's a kind of sorcery; you put together lizards, poisonous worms, whatever, then, the one that's left is a creature called Kudoku."
"Fascinating, and your point is?!"
The ogre demon then speaks:
"You're the only one left. Once I kill you, (second head) I will be the winner."
(Fwooooommmm)
Inuyasha dodges an oncoming shot of fire, before using Tessaiga to block and cut through it.
"Here's something else without a point!"
(Slash)
The attack sends the ogre demon to go crashing into the cave wall, and numerous rocks falling on them...Miroku thinks to himself as he continues to watch the action,
He's right, it is pointless.
Unless the spell cast is broken, Inuyasha will-
(...Glow)
"Huh? Who's there?"
It was then that Kikyō arrives on scene, gazing down at the dog demon currently engaged in battle.
Inu-yasha...
Said half-demon feels her gaze, and turns around to see her.
"...Ki-Kikyō..."
That's when the souls that occupied the zombie maiden's body begin streaming outward, having little restrictions to hold them back now that they're so close to the source of the magnetic pull.
The dead souls are, leaving...!
The orbs fly into the ogre demon, and Kikyō figures out what's going on.
This explains it: the miasma...where it's from...
Her strength is greatly exhausted, and she falls forward before Miroku could catch her, while Inuyasha could only stare in disbelief.
But...But why?!
Coraline would be close to finding them all by this time.
I know I saw h'r go this way. I gotta hurry.
...And outside the mountain, a swarm of the Insects of Hell float among a waiting Naraku.
Soon they will come. The demons I sealed in there, beyond counting...
One by one they killed eachother, until the one remained...
The victor, will become my new body.
"...Kikyō!"
Snapping out of his daze, Inuyasha begins rushing to the fallen priestess...But just before he could reach her:
"Hrrrraaaaaahhh!"
(Slam)
"Aaaagh!"
The hand of the ogre demon comes swinging against his body, sending him flying to the ground! He's none too fazed by the strike, and the priestess's name escapes his lips as he mentally preps himself for round two.
Coraline's POV
As I ran down the tunnel path to where I hoped to find Inuyasha, Miroku...and Kikyō, the Shikon-no-Tama shard around my neck suddenly snaps off.
(Ping)
(Mewl...)
"What is it, Kilala? (Turn) Oh shoot, the jewel shard!"
...Just as I went to pick up the fallen shard, I suddenly sense something, off.
Huh? Tha's weird...I sense, anoth'r shard...
There's more besides this one in this cave.
The only question, though...is who's th' source?
I pick up my pace, eventually reaching the mouth of the cavern where Miroku was.
"Kaf, koff, the miasma's becoming thicker with Kikyō's deal souls."
Kikyō?...So she's in there, huh?
Alright, Cora; bes' prepare yourself.
I come to my friend's side as he began coughing again.
"Miroku! The miasma's gettin' to you, isn't it? Damn...Try to stay strong, okay?"
"Coraline..."
Suddenly, Kilala lets out a call before leaping down below, much to Miroku's protest.
"Kilala, no!"
He manages to stop her by pulling her back by her tail, which only confuses me more.
"Miroku, what's going on?"
"There's deadly sorcery at work here, and Inuyasha's about to become a part of the experiment if we don't stop him."
"What sort o' dark magic?...Hang on. I did sense another shard of the jewel a bi' ago...Could this be a ruse of some kind?"
"The miasma's too powerful. We both know what that means: Naraku's involved."
I curse quietly, before noticing that the giant demon's attention was directing towards an unconscious Kikyō.
"She is not human...She too must become a part of me!"
Luckily, Inuyasha rushes into action before the demon could grab her.
"You keep that filthy hand off of her!"
(Slash)
Said appendage is then sliced off...but then, it grows a new one, before slamming it into Inuyasha!
"Inuyasha, no! Stay calm!"
But by no surprise to me, he doesn't heed Miroku's plea.
"No, I will not stay calm! (Turn) I am gonna protect Kikyō!"
...He suddenly directs his eyes towards me, and we stare at one another for a moment, lost in eachother's gaze.
Oh Inuyasha...
Our moment of silence is interrupted, though, when the demon attacks him again, and Inuyasha cuts down with Tessaiga in a counterattack!...Knowing that this battle was going to go on endlessly as long as Kikyō was down there, I decide to take action.
I gotta get 'er outta there.
(Leap)
"Coraline! What are you doing?!"
"What else, Miroku? I hafta rescue Kikyō!"
If I don't, this'll end like it did fifty years ago all over again for Inuyasha and Kikyō...
And as much as the priestess irks me...I...
I care about her.
I climb down to where she's laying, pulling her into my arms.
"Kikyō...Kikyō, can yeu hear me? Are y' able to stand up?"
"(...Blink) You little fool. By coming here, you risk Inuyasha losing you forever."
I was taken aback by her judgement, and as she rose to a stand, I ask her,
"What're you talking about? It's you he's fighting for, risking all tha' 'e has to save you, and yet..."
She turns to me and gives me a look that I couldn't read.
Kikyō...
"Inuyasha, no! Don't kill him!"
I look toward the pool of miasma, and see that Inuyasha was just about done with the demon, much to Miroku's dismay...
(Twok)
"(Turn) Auh! Kikyō!"
Just then, the priestess fires one of her sacred arrows...
(Clang)
It bounces off of Inuyasha's Tessaiga, and flew into the air out of the mountain.
(...POW)
Kikyō...wha'did you do?!
As Inuyasha lands on the ground, the ground suddenly begins to rumble, and a spectral wind shoots out from underneath us all!
"Gah! What's happening?!"
I hear Miroku shout over the gust,
"The spell is broken! The miasma, gone!"
Just as he flinches back, I feel my body being shot out from the ground, along with Inuyasha, Kikyō, and the numerous demon parts!...For a second, I was too stunned to scream...but then, as I rode the wind onto the body of the ogre demon, I found Inuyasha, and reach my hand out while calling out for him.
"Inuyasha!"
"...Coraline!"
We managed to grip eachother's wrists, and he asks me over the wind,
"Are you alright?!"
"Hangin' in there...Hh! Oh crap, (turn) Kikyō!"
I see her not too far in front of us, and I try to call out for her again.
"Kikyō! Kikyō, are you alright?!...Kikyō!"
Damn it, now she's really unconscious...
Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get worse, I then see,
"...Oh shi', don't tell me tha's...!"
"Naraku!"
We approach the waiting demon, and the giant ogre reaches its hand out with the intent on attacking him...
But that proved to be a move in vain.
(Pow)
Just as the clawed hand was about to touch him, Naraku began sucking the oni - along with the other demon parts - into his body!
"Inuyasha! We need t' get off, now!"
He silently agrees, wrapping his arm around my waist before we hop off the doomed horde...As we turn around, we watch Naraku mutate the demon parts into a new body for himself! There was a big explosion of demon light...and the evil incarnate was fully revived...
"You shot him with your arrow, remember? He needed a body, so he had those demons kill eachother and combine into a new one!"
"Tha' son of a...!"
Naraku then speaks, the arrogance as strong as ever in his tone.
"The mountain of mist lured you. You took the bait, and I cast my spell. Hehahuhuh, you could've joined me in here, Inuyasha, if only you had the courage."
He turns his gaze downward to the unconscious Kikyō.
"So this is the woman who restored me to life. I might not have had this new body if not for her."
I glare hard at the demon's implication, feeling strangely insulted for the priestess that he'd think she would ever help him, indirectly or otherwise.
H'r action may've been reckless, bu' we would'a died if no' for her.
"Bullcrap, y' bastard! Her arrow was shot t' save Inuyasha, not t' help yeu, so you can wipe tha' dumb smirk off your face!"
He either ignores me or decides to retort indirectly at me, but either way, Naraku picks up Kikyō and adds to Inuyasha,
"And yet, she is the same woman who followed you in death fifty years ago."
Inuyasha's reaction was instant:
"No. Don't you dare! Don't you dare touch her, not now, or ever!"
But even though his swing is dead on...
(Clang, bzzzzzt)
"Gah!"
Naraku manages to block the Tessaiga! He then releases a cloud of miasma that pushes Inuyasha back further, and makes his escape for the skies with Kikyō in his arms!...Muttering my friend's name, I see a look of pure hatred form on his face, then look to the sky as worry for the priestess's life grows alongside my own spite against the fiend who took her.
...Kikyō...
Grr, Naraku...you're gonna pay for this, jus' you wait!