Chapter 103: The Shikon-no-Tama Maker, Part One
Time has gone on in a steady pace since the re-ignition of the war for the fabled Shikon-no-Tama, a jewel born from the Souls of a powerful priestess named Midoriko, and an equally strong demon of many beastly origins, who battled against one another centuries ago before the Sengoku Era began...
But what happened to the shells of these two beings once the jewel was created? Where are they now?
...It is said that in the Abandoned Village of the Demon Slayers, there houses a limestone deposit cave where the once alive human warriors discarded demon parts deemed unnecessary for their trade, and deep inside, stands an impressive stalagmite statue depicting a beautiful woman wearing samurai-like armour, yet the robes of a spiritual practitioner, bravely fighting off a beast of massive size...
Could she be the priestess in question, this, Midoriko?
...That is what the newest visitor believes, they a young man with shoulder-length black hair tied back into a small ponytail, a black hat, wearing the robes of a scholar, the haori dark blue and patterned with white flowers and a white hakama.
He walks up as close as he could to the statue and compliments to the air,
"How beautiful you must have been when you were alive, Midoriko...Was it that beauty that gave you the power to create the Shikon-no-Tama?"
...The scholar then leaves without another word, adding further mystery to his character and motives regarding the fabled jewel in question.
Time Skip
We catch up now with Inuyasha and company on a new day in Edo, the skies open and clear for the sunshine to stream over the landscape. They're all sitting around a large yellow blanket in a large field of grass near some bushes and a flowering beech tree, having lunch and taking advantage of this break in the buzz of activity that's been ensuing since the disappearance of Naraku.
Coraline, she dressed in a blue cropped tank-top, a black unbuttoned, khaki-style shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, dark blue skinny jeans, and her brown hiker shoes, takes a bite out of her rice ball and muses over how far she and her friends, family and lover have come since the start of their journey.
Gosh...It's almost hard to believe that it's been about a year since I tumbled down that well, and wound up accidentally refueling the fight for the fabled prize that's the Shikon-no-Tama...
Can't say it's been a real prize so far. Sure it's got power, but at what cost?
Many lives, human and demon, have lost their lives, not just in this era, but centuries before that too...
It's certainly not helping anybody that Naraku, the bastard, has possession over a good portion of the jewel.
The redhead looks up from her lap and peers over the people surrounding her, a smile slowly forming on her lips.
But, I guess the hardship's worth it, as long as you have people who will stick with you no matter what.
We've all had our share of trials and tribulations...but they all formed a road that led us to eachother.
"...Deep in thoughts again, sis?"
"Hm?"
Coraline looks over to her right at Besa, he wearing a grey-white buttoned-up shirt with a dark green vest overtop, light blue jeans and black sneakers, and nods while replying,
"Yeah, just reflectin' over time again..."
"Mm, I gotcha."
"Speakin' of time, I can't believe you finally hit sixteen yesterday!"
They turn to Freeman, he wearing a white t-shirt with a sun symbol on it in black, grey skinny jeans and red sneakers, as he added with a smirk,
"So, how's it feel being another year older?"
"(Shrug) Meh, no different than being a teenager of fifteen. Heh, and nice touch with the twin sugar skull candies, you guys; real cute."
"You expected anything less? Cinco de Mayo, hello?"
The twins laugh at their light joke for Coraline's birthday, who just rolls her eyes in amusement...
Note: This is mostly for those who have read my other fic, but in this story, my main OC's birthday is May Fifth, 2002. Just a date I thought would make sense in accordance to the timing when she first fell to Edo. Thank you!
A wisp of wind then blows by, tousling her hair a little and causing Lumos, who was floating around the group in a calm buzz, to accidentally tumble into her red locks.
"(Ghostly moan)"
"Oh! (Giggle) Whoops, hang on, bud..."
As the redhead worked to untangle her Will O' Wisp companion from her hair, Sango comments on this new spout of tranquility while she petted Kilala, who was resting on her lap in dormant form.
"The breeze feels so nice, (Slight chuckle) even if it steers Will O' Wisps off-course..."
Shippo pauses in his eating of two rice balls and makes his own observation:
"It's so peaceful..."
The dog demon of our group, however, wasn't feeling as joyful about this break of activity.
"(Frown) We haven't found a single clue leading to Naraku, and here you are wasting time like this. Hurry up and eat!"
He then proceeds to start scarfing down a few rice balls before washing them down with some large gulps of water from a plastic bottle, making Coraline roll her eyes again, but in exasperation this time. Freeman mumbles with a brow raised,
"Huh. To think he was a bit more relaxed yesterday, now we're back to the on-edge warrior..."
But I guess sis's birthday may have had something to do with it...
Miroku then cuts in with his own thoughts in response to Inuyasha's comment regarding the overall mission, arms folded and looking down with a slightly grim expression.
"To make things worse, demons that were laying low when Naraku was around are now coming out of the woodwork in droves. Things couldn't be more discouraging..."
"You goin' somewhere with this?"
"I'm saying, let us relax and at least enjoy our meal in peace."
Shippo then chides to the dog demon with his own arms crossed,
"You should have a little more sympathy for them, Inuyasha."
"What?"
"Coraline, Miroku, Sango, Freeman and Besa aren't strong like us. They're only weak mortals. (Closes eyes) You're expecting the impossible."
Inuyasha growls a bit at the fox demon, while the three modern teens chuckle a bit under their breaths, and Sango asks in disbelief,
"Did he just call us weak mortals...?"
Besa hms and says with a small grin,
"Not sayin' I'm offended. Mortals are mortals, but I'd like to argue that the strength of humanity is as unique as a demon's."
Freeman nods in agreement, while Miroku says to the youngest demon of the group,
"That being said, it's a good thing you understand, Shippo."
"Huh, what? I didn't say something weird, did I?"
Coraline shakes her head and replies,
"Nope, that was just the grown-up part of your head talking. Nothing wrong with that."
Shippo sighs with some relief, and looks around at everyone before asking to make sure,
"I'm not, wrong, right?"
Inuyasha then sighs with a mixed-in 'feh', and turns his body a little while holding his Tessaiga to himself while muttering,
"What do ya mean, strong like us? (Lies on his side) Go ahead and keep eating then. Wake me up when you're done."
(...Shift)
"Hm?"
He then sees Coraline's face appear in front of his, she laying down near him with a small smile.
"May I join you on that plan?"
"Um...yeah, alright."
So for the next little bit, everyone else would continue to eat their fill while the silver-haired dog demon and redheaded human took a small nap together on the grass. Miroku and Shippo comment again on the atmosphere for the afternoon:
"Clean air and delicious rice balls!"
"And nice weather!"
"That too."
Freeman nods absentmindedly, his eyes stealing a glance at the young couple who were nestled close to one another, Inuyasha's arm draped over Coraline's waist and one of her hands lightly grabbing the sleeve of the dog demon's fire rat robe, their eyes closed with restful smiles, and found himself smiling a bit distantly as his mind drifted over a special someone of his own...
"Hey, bro."
"Huh?"
He snaps out of his daze and turns to meet the green irises of his brother, who smiles at him sympathetically while asking,
"Thinking about Ginta again?"
...Gripping the black glass whistle around his neck, Freeman nods with a slightly sad smile.
"Yeah...It's only been a few days since we last saw eachother, heh, in more ways than one...and I miss him."
Sango chides with a kind smile,
"I'm sure it won't be too long until we run into him and those other two again."
"Yeah, I know. At least we're able to stay in touch through the Yozosume, so that's better than nothin'..."
But it'll be magic again when we can see eachother face-to-face...
A few more minutes of quiet pass...before the swordswoman in our group stirs awake when she feels a familiar buzz of energy.
(Pulse)
"(Blink) Uh!"
No way...was that...?
She quickly moves to a sitting position with a shocked expression, causing Inuyasha to awake and move up with her while eyeing her form in concern.
"Hm? What'sa matter?" Sango was curious too:
"What is it? Is something wrong, Coraline?"
"Hard to say..."
The redhead moves to a stand and narrows her eyes in suspicion:
"I sense something, like the Shikon-no-Tama shards, but at the same time, it's not..."
Inuyasha inquires,
"Well, which is it, Coraline, yes or no?"
"Again, I'm not certain. The pulse is similar, but, with a different rhythm than usual, like something's trying to copy it..."
Hmming, the dog demon gets up to his own two feet and asks with his own suspicions rising,
"Where is it?"
Using her Aura Sight, Coraline narrows the pinpoint and extends a finger out in front of her:
"From the woods, far down there...Uh! And it's coming our way too!"
Zooming in on said woods, we find the same scholar from before running down a dirt path between the thick-branched trees with a frantic expression on his face, his object of fright being a large, raptor-like demon with copper-brown skin, red eyes and sharp teeth!
"You there: Halt!"
The scholar turns back to his front and focuses on trying to get away...when Inuyasha suddenly leaps in from the bushes on the right side of the path!
"Leave that to me!"
So while the dog demon charges off to fight the raptor demon, the scholar moved to the safer distance where the rest of the group was, Miroku and Sango chiding,
"You're safe now."
"It's okay, don't worry."
"Thank you."
Focus turns on the battle about to take place:
"What do you want, half-demon? How dare you interfere!"
Ignoring the threatening tone, Inuyasha turns his head to Coraline's direction to ask,
"Is this guy the one?"
"Yes. He has, something in his stomach that beats like a Shikon-no-Tama fragment..."
Raising a brow at the hesitance in the redhead's voice, the dog demon turns back to the raptor demon and grips his sword's hilt at the ready.
"Sooo, where'd you get the Shikon-no-Tama shard?"
"(Chuckle) Now that you know about my Shikon-no-Tama, you will now do as I say and surrender the human!"
"(Sarcastic) Really? You could surrender the jewel and escape with your life, if you're lucky!"
"I detest such impudence!"
The demon then launches himself into the air at the same time Inuyasha unsheathes his blade, the former adding in a jeer,
"You will regret opposing me!"
The raptor demon then unleashes a cloud of toxic fumes, but that did little to slow the dog demon down.
(Leap)
"Nothin' but hot air!"
(SLASH)
He then slices the enemy into two halves!
"Uuugh! That, wasn't, suppose to happen...!"
...The pieces of the dead demon land on the ground in time with Inuyasha, before attention is drawn to the source of power that flew out from the flesh...The twins, Coraline and Miroku each made their own verbal responses of shock:
"Is that..."
"No freakin' way!" "The Shikon-no-Tama?!"
"Impossible...!"
Inuyasha catches the marble-sized jewel into his palm, before holding it up between his fingers to show...
However:
(Crick, crack...)
"What's happening?"
(SHATTER)
"Auh! Inuyasha shattered the jewel in his hand!"
He heavily disagreed with Shippo's exclaim of surprise:
"You fool, the Shikon-no-Tama doesn't shatter that easily!"
Coraline nodded in agreement:
"He's right, plus, it didn't really feel like the real deal. More like a weaker copy that had good luck in pulsing strong enough to get my attention."
"That's correct: It's only an imitation of the real Shikon-no-Tama."
"Hm?"
Everyone turns eyes to the man in the scholar's robes as he ponders,
"It would seem, there is a demon trying to create a duplicate of it."
Inuyasha asks,
"Huh? What're you talking about?"
"I'll explain, but first, may I, have a drink of water?"
Freeman pulls off his satchel and reaches inside to pull out a jade green, see-through water bottle:
"Here, man. Have some of this."
The scholar takes the bottle, and marvels at its make while holding it to the light of the sun:
"My, how remarkable...Such a beautiful water container..."
Inuyasha tilts his head to the side in confusion from the observation:
What's with him?
...Unbeknownst to the group, there was another demon of more serpentine origins skulking behind a tree, watching them for a moment, before forming a smirk and walking away...
Soon, everyone was sitting on top a circle of boulders in a small clearing just a couple feet away from the main path, opening their ears to the story that the scholar was about to tell.
"My name is Izumo. My family has served as Guujis for centuries."
"Guuji? What's that?"
Shippo, who was sitting on Besa's lap on a boulder adjacent to Izumo, was just as confused as Inuyasha, whom was sitting across the new face with Coraline on his right.
"Beats me."
Said redhead explains the term used:
"It's another title for someone who works as head of a shrine. For example, Grandfather is the current Guuji at the Higurashi Shrine."
"Indeed. So you must be a priestess." Coraline smiles awkwardly at Izumo and says,
"Ueh, kind-of, but not really. It's really more a case of knowledge than actually being a part of the occupation."
Inuyasha gets the conversation back on track:
"You were saying?"
"I began my studies in order to better serve the Gods, and as my thirst for knowledge grew, I traveled to many countries to serve, learn and record."
"I don't care about you or your personal history. Tell us about the imitation Shikon-no-Tama."
Izumo obliges:
"The very purpose of my studies is to learn everything I can about the Shikon-no-Tama."
Sango, who was sitting on a large stone with Miroku standing on her back right, and Freeman laying against the rock while sitting on the grass near her feet, cuts in with her own remark.
"So that's how you knew of its existence..."
"All the universe, everything in life, is created from four spirits."
Miroku catches onto the philosophy:
"Aramitama, Nigimitama, Kushimitama, and Sakimitama. Those are the four. When these four Souls are in synthesis, they become one Spirit, or the Human Heart."
Inuyasha groans in exasperation:
"Would somebody answer my question?!" Shippo meanwhile, couldn't wrap his head around the concept:
"I heard that one before, but I never really understood it..."
Besa smiles down at the fox demon and says,
"Try thinking of that puzzle I brought for you once, except with just four pieces that you need to use to form the whole picture."
"Hmm...Oooh, that helps!"
Sensing that particular rise of frustration in Inuyasha that usually led to a blow up of temper, Coraline grabs his hand to squeeze in a calming gesture before asking Izumo,
"If we could get back to current events, please, Izumo: Do you know where the demon from earlier got that copy-cat jewel?"
"Someone gave it to him." The dog demon urges,
"Who did?"
"It was a demon."
Inuyasha yanks the scholar up by his robes edgily:
"Are you lookin' for a fight?!"
"N-No, nothing of the sort!"
Coraline tugs her boyfriend's arm back with a stern gaze:
"Inuyasha, don't." She then sends a kinder smile to Izumo and asks,
"So why was the demon chasing you, then? You obviously don't have anything on your person they would've been interested in."
"Because I happen to come across some demons and their fake Shikon-no-Tamas."
(Flash)
We see Izumo traveling up a hill in the forest valley near the mountainsides...
"I heard there was a shrine which told the legend of the Shikon-no-Tama, and I made my way to the mountain path...Eventually, though, I got lost..."
He pauses when he meets the tree canopy again, and looks around for his next route, only to find his eyes catching a familiar pink fushia glow...!
(Flash)
"That's when I came upon a demon handing the Shikon-no-Tama, to that other one..."
We now see everyone making their way out of the forest in the direction of the valley that Izumo spoke of in his recollection. Inuyasha then asks,
"Was this demon called Naraku?"
"No. He called himself, Orochidayu. And he said that the jewel was not yet complete, but that soon, a true Shikon-no-Tama would be made, at least that's what he said."
Freeman asks with a worry brow,
"So in other words, there's a demon runnin' loose that's making imitation Shikon-no-Tamas?"
"Unfortunately, that was all I was able to hear."
Eventually, the group makes it to the valley, the oaks and beeches sitting nestled between the large crevice of garnet. Sango would then switch into her demon slayer gear and survey the skies aboard Kilala's true form, leaving everyone else to look around on the ground.
"Strange. I don't sense the presence of any demons." Izumo says to Miroku,
"It was just around here that I came upon the demon."
Inuyasha uses his nose to try and catch a whiff of the scent he was expecting to pick up...however...
"I'm not catchin' any scent of Naraku. It doesn't seem like he's involved in this."
Besa then asks Coraline,
"What about you, sis? Sense any presence of the jewel?"
"(Shakes his head) Nope, nothin'. Not like the first round before was that strong to begin with, anyway..."
She glances over to her left and asks her Will O' Wisp companion:
"Sensing anything unusual, Lumos?"
He bops left and right with a moan that was his own version of 'Nuh-uh', just as Inuyasha scoffs over the situation at hand.
"That's 'cause it's a fake!" Shippo adds,
"It probably doesn't work all that well, either," but Freeman shrugs,
"Either way, it don't make this new problem any less troublesome. (Looks up) Oh, Sango! What'd you and Kilala see?"
She points out in front of her and calls back,
"There's a village over there!"
And up ahead, in the lower valley area, was a relatively large village below a shrine, the huts made from planks of wood, plotted around and near the surrounding forest, and several fields tended to for the next growing season...
But after combing the entire village, everyone meets back up to report similar observations regarding the lack of, people to occupy the land.
"No one's around."
"There's no sign of anyone."
Coraline hms with a finger under her chin in thought:
"Reminds me of what happened in that village the Panther Demon Tribe used to terrorize...Something must've happened to them."
Inuyasha comes leaping in and notices that their temporary addition wasn't here:
"Hey. Where'd that priest go?"
"Hm? Izumo?"
Freeman then points in the direction of the archway path leading to the shrine:
"I think I saw him heading that way."
Meanwhile, atop the steps of said holy structure, Izumo was holding his arms out for the local Japanese Skylarks to land on, being as still and quiet as possible, with a somewhat faraway and peaceful smile on his face...
It was then that Inuyasha comes walking up the stairs with Shippo on his shoulder, and calls to the scholar.
"Hey, what're you doing?"
The birds become startled by the dog demon's voice, and fly off, much to Izumo's disappointment...
"Well?"
"Word has it, that this shrine houses the Deity of Origin."
The eyes of the three turn to the shrine house in question, and Shippo hops off Inuyasha's shoulder to scamper inside for a closer look. He would find that the interior was just as bare as the village homes below, and with broken furniture and pottery strewn across the floor...
"It's empty."
By this time, the rest of the group catches up, and Sango asks Izumo,
"What is the Deity of Origin?"
"There is a legend, that claims the Spirits of Kushimitama and Sakimitama, were born from the heart of this deity."
"Ooh, is that so?"
Miroku adds onto the explanation with his own insight:
"Kushimitama embodies Chi, or Knowledge, and Sakimitama embodies Ai, or Love."
Izumo nods and continues:
"Aramitama, or Yuu, Nigimitama, or Shin. Yuu, Shin, Chi, Ai: These are the Four Spirits that make up the Shikon-no-Tama."
Shippo slaps his palms on the sides of his skull, the information going over his mind and spinning in a washing machine's spiral.
"Uuuh, my head," and he faints back onto the porch of the shrine house...
"Let's save all the talk for later. I'm gettin' a weird feeling from this place, and I don't like it."
Miroku agrees with Inuyasha:
"I think we should investigate a little more around here."
"I'll check just outside the village."
The twins and the girls nod, before the dog demon leaps off to the woods outside the area...
Small Time Skip, Coraline's POV
It's been another half hour since we all began perusing the village again for anything that could tell us what happened to its people, but so far, nothing has offered a good explanation...I exit out another hut with Shippo on my shoulder, holding the door flap open a bit higher to allow Lumos an easy leave while grumbling,
"Shoot, still no clues...Huh?"
I then see that Izumo was basking in the sun rays, looking in its direction with an intent expression...Shippo asks him,
"Uh, what're you doing?"
"I wonder how it is that the sun can be so warm and blinding."
"Who knows? It's just one of those natural things."
Izumo didn't seem to think so:
"Natural? Not to me it isn't...Is something burning on the other side of the sun?"
He holds his hands up to cup around the big ball of burning gas in the sky:
"And, what is the distance from us to the sun?"
Shippo whispers to me,
"This guy thinks up such weird stuff..."
But I smile, knowing that this scholar's pondering, was but the spark of something wonderful for the people of this era.
"Actually, Shippo, he has merit to pondering such thoughts. This is about the time the Renaissance Period in Europe begins, in which many scholars there, here and around most of this side of the world's hemisphere have begun asking those type of questions that open the door to scientific exploration."
He turns to me in curiousity:
"Does that mean there are alot of guys like him in your era too?"
As Izumo wonders,
"Why does the night fall as the days end," I nod and reply,
"Much like Izumo here, my era has scores of scientists and philosophers whom have asked the big questions like 'Why is the Sky blue' and 'What makes the Earth move'. My father is included among such groups of thinkers with his work in Archaeology, though his train of thought took him to the mysteries of life and the connections between mortals and the supernatural."
"Oh, okay..."
We turn back to Izumo, and Shippo asks,
"Say..."
"Yes?"
"Those 'Four Spirits' you were talking about earlier. What do they mean? That Yuu and Shin."
"Do you mean, Yuu, Shin, Chi and Ai, fox demon?"
"Yeah, those ones!"
Izumo almost smiles a bit from Shippo's animation, and obliged with a more detailed explanation.
"Aramitama, or Yuu represents the Spirit of Courage."
That caught both of our attentions:
"That's good. Now we're getting somewhere with all this."
"Interesting...and the others, Shin, Chi, Ai?"
"Shin represents Friendship. Chi represents Knowledge, or knowing the ways of the world. And Ai is of course Love."
Shippo nods in comprehension:
"Okay, that stuff makes sense. That 'mitama'-something you were saying was starting to give me a headache."
I smile in amusement at the fox demon, while Izumo goes on to say,
"Aramitama of Courage, Nigimitama of Friendship, Kushimitama of Knowledge, Sakimitama of Love..."
He moves his stance over to a beech tree as he finishes,
"When these Four Spirits are gathered into one, and Good and Evil are sealed inside the chaos, then it is possible for a Shikon-no-Tama to be created."
While I understood the last parts of his explanation, Shippo's mind became muddled by the extra load.
"Gaah, oh no, there he goes, he's lost me again...!"
I watch as Izumo holds his hand out to the little bird, a Rosefinch I believe the species was, and pondered over what was said.
Hm...Four sides, Good and Evil in Chaos, to meet a singular end...
That sounds more like a way to look at the complexities of the Human Race rather than a jewel...
"Stop, don't run away!"
I was startled out of my thoughts when I heard a familiar voice calling out to another, and turn back to the direction of the path leading to the main part of the village.
"Huh? Was that, Sango?"
Izumo and I hurry back the other way, with Lumos floating ahead of us and Shippo remaining on my shoulder, only to discover Sango chasing after a young lad, he tan complexioned with short black hair that was styled with a bit of bangs over his forehead and a ponytail-like topknot out the back, wearing a very worn outfit consisting of a moss yellow-green haori and gray hakamas.
"I won't hurt you!"
"Stay away!"
I deadpan a little bit and say to myself mentally,
Probably isn't helping that you're riding on a full-formed twin-tail cat demon, Sango...
The boy tries to urge himself on, but was then blocked off by Miroku, who offers a gentle smile and chides,
"We're travelers, not bandits. Have no fear; we won't do anything to harm you."
While Izumo chose to wait by the huts, I went up to their proximity, meeting my brothers halfway.
"Oh! Hey, guys."
"Hey."
"We heard the yelling and came from the fields. (Looks to Sango and Miroku) What's happenin', you guys?"
The boy gasps upon seeing Shippo on my shoulder and backs a step while shouting with a point,
"Stay away, demon!"
My fox demon companion gapes, but Miroku dispels the boy's worries:
"Yes, Shippo and Kilala are indeed demons, but they aren't bad. Why? What's the matter? Did something terrible happen in this village?"
The lad couldn't answer at first, he suddenly bursting into tears and falling to his knees...Besa kneels by his left and places a comforting hand on his back:
"Easy there, it's alright...What's your name, first of all?"
"(Sniff) Sh-Shou-s-suke..."
"Okay, Shousuke. I promise that whatever happened here will not happen to you. We will protect you and won't let any harm come to threaten your being."
The rest of us nod with sympathetic and serious expressions, and Shousuke takes in a shaky breath before starting his tale.
"The, the demons...The demons came, and..."
"They attacked the village, right?"
The lad looks up at Besa with teary brown-blue orbs and nods slightly:
"Everyone was taken away...I was punished for being naughty, and put in the chicken coop..."
He goes on to describe a humanoid demon with serpent features leading a torch-wielding army of others, threatening to burn the village and everyone in it unless they willingly surrender themselves. And it would seem that Shousuke was the lucky soul who managed to elude capture...
As the sun began setting, casting red and yellow over the land and skies, we gathered around the lad as he sat on a small boulder with Besa sitting beside him and holding an arm around his shoulder, as he finishes his tale.
"Everyone was taken away by the demons that night."
"When was this?" He replies sullenly to Miroku,
"About five days ago. I've been hidin' in the coop since that terrible night."
Freeman ponders quietly to himself,
"I thought I heard somethin' in that hen house besides the chickens...(Slight smile) You picked a good place to keep out of sight, kid. Those demons must've been real dumb to not look in there."
Shousuke flashes a tiny smile back as Miroku remarks,
"Well, that answers the question of why the village was deserted..."
"Tell me...what happened to them all? Wh-Why did the demon take my parents away? Why?"
We couldn't find any good words to say to Shousuke, and only stared, before he finally asks that one question.
"What happened? Did the demons eat them?"
I hope for your sake, they didn't, lad...at least not yet.
"No, I do not believe that is the case. If they had only come to eat, they wouldn't have come to take them all away."
I turn to Izumo with some hope:
"You think so?"
"Yes. I don't believe they've been eaten." Miroku and Sango didn't seem to think so either:
"He's right. The demons that did this aren't fools: They know that if they attack the villages and kill everyone, people will hire demon slayers."
"If the demons took them alive, they must have a reason for it."
Shousuke asks with hopes rising,
"You think my parents are still alive then?"
Besa replies,
"Most likely, but we'll need to find them as quick as we can."
Freeman adds while tapping the handle of his hammer against his shoulder,
"We'll also take out those demons for darin' to bring terror to your home."
Shousuke begins sobbing with gratitude:
"I'm so glad...! Thank you...!"
"This won't be easy...It'll be night soon. I hope we can find 'em in the dark."
I half-smirk at Miroku and quirk,
"A little darkness won't be able to stop us, (glance) isn't that right, Lumos?"
My Will O' Wisp partner bops up and down with anticipating moans, making me laugh a little.
Izumo then makes a rather dismal observation of the coming time of day:
"Nightfall...hm...The night cloaks all in darkness. Even the most beautiful creature, is hidden under the black robe."
"Nm? Uh, you, took the words right out of my mouth..."
As Miroku says that, I quirk up an eyebrow at the scholar's statement:
Huh...that sounded more personal than some of his other daily observations...
(Pulse)
"Uh! The Shikon-no-Tama's near!"
I whip my head to my right to where the plains began out of the village, and see a demon with a remarkably-similar countenance to that fake water god we encountered before, leading an small army of other demons! His voice sounded similar too, though with a less emphasized accent:
"What a surprise. I thought I sensed the presence of mortals. I see you have real Shikon-no-Tama shards."
Shousuke exclaims,
"Huah, that's them! They're the ones who kidnapped my parents and the others!"
The demon says to us,
"Surrender now, and hand over the Shikon-no-Tama shards."
Freeman and I move closer to the lad and Besa, the three of us readying our weapons (I choosing my combat knife rather than my sword), and Miroku steps forward while placing his grip on the prayer beads wrapped around his cursed hand. He calls back in a strong tone,
"You're the ones who should be surrendering! So, you're the wicked Orochidayu...Where did you take the villagers?"
"Aah, monk. I've heard many rumours about you. You're the one with the Wind Tunnel in your hand."
"You know about that? Good, then you'll know what hit you."
Orochidayu raises his spear-tipped staff and orders,
"Take him!"
A few other demons rush at Miroku, but he stands bravely before unleashing his power:
"Wind Tunnel!"
(Whoooooosssssshhhhh...)
He easily sucks them into oblivion, before relinquishing his cursed hand and demands,
"Now, will you behave and do as we ask?"
...But suddenly, he lets out a pained gasp and peers down at his hand with worry.
Orochidayu holds out another one of those imitation jewels and explains,
"See, these Shikon-no-Tamas are a collection of noxious demonic vapours."
Auh! Oh no!
Sango rushes to Miroku's side as he leans back a bit on his staff while gritting his teeth in pain.
"Miroku!"
"Rgh..."
"And unfortunately for you, it's toxic to humans." Izumo mutters,
"It's an evil spirit. That jewel will defile the human soul."
...Evil, defile? I dunno about that: Humans aren't exactly all pure to begin with.
I don't make this observation aloud, instead just narrowing my eyes and commenting,
"This isn't good: Each of these demons possess a copycat jewel."
The demons all chuckle at their advantage over Miroku's Wind Tunnel, while he growls,
"Why, you...!"
Sango them tries to land a hit at the small horde using her Hiraikotsu, but they just move aside quick enough in a dodge...I hold up my knife at the ready before calling,
"Izumo: Take Shousuke away from this area!"
"Yes, right away." Besa then says,
"I'll go with them as backup!" Shippo helps with distraction by using his Fox Fire:
"Take this, demons!"
(Fwoom...)
The demons flinch back, giving Izumo and my brother the opportunity to lead Shousuke to safety.
"This way!" "Come on!"
They run through a hut for extra cover, just as Miroku uses a sacred sutra against one demon, and Freeman tries to rush at Orochidayu with his hammer.
"Hrrrrrah!"
(Clang)
But the humanoid serpent demon manages to block him with the base of his staff, before shoving the other back altogether!
"Whoa!"
"Hiraikotsu!"
(Toss, spin...)
Sango tries a second attack with her weapon, but the demons just dodge once again...She comments while catching the boomerang on the rebound,
"You're much stronger than the average demon."
"Could the Shikon-no-Tama be that powerful even though it's an imitation?"
Freeman replies to Miroku as he rises back to his feet after sliding backwards on the dirt from his failed attack,
"Well, there was that crystallized poison that Naraku made into a fake jewel shard a long while back to trick Kōga into dying so Kagura could steal his real shards from his legs. If something like that can be used to mimic raw power, why not a fully-formed version?"
I ponder,
"Still, it doesn't answer the question of how these fakes were created..."
Shippo cuts in with his own words:
"Maybe we should talk about it after they're gone..." Orochidayu then calls to us,
"Now then, give it up. You have no hope."
Freeman jeers back with a glare,
"Says you, creep!"
Miroku grabs hold of those prayer beads again:
"There's no choice but to use my Wind Tunnel again." But Sango protests:
"You can't. It's too dangerous."
"But..."
Just as the demons begin to slowly trudge towards us...I hear the outcry of my boyfriend come from the far right, and turn to see him leaping towards us!
"(Happy gasp) Inuyasha!"
"Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!"
(SLASH)
He takes down a couple of the demons with his claws, and my brother and Shippo greet,
"Good timin', man!"
"Where were you?" Inuyasha replies to Shippo gruffly,
"Aw, save it! How was I suppose to know you'd be attacked?"
I move the fox demon to rest on Freeman's shoulder, before quickly move to give my man a kiss on the cheek and say to him with a smile,
"I'm just glad you weren't ambushed either. Thanks for comin' on good time."
His mouth twitches up a bit and gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze, before turning to face the demons with a glare. Orochidayu then orders two demons forward:
"Tsuchigumo! Ikkaku!"
The first one was a spider demon, ugly face abound, but with only six legs and orange fur all over its back. The second had a look similar to that of the more popular Western Pop Culture depictions of the Devil, tall and red-skinned with good muscle build, but with long gray-white hair, a single horn protruding from his forehead, red eyes, and wore a small navy cloth over his shoulders like a cape, as well as a dark blue toga.
(Ping...)
Orochidayu then tosses each one a fake jewel, which upon contact would make their size double what they were before! But that didn't faze Inuyasha:
"Kuh, don't think that swallowing a fake jewel will make you strong!"
But just as he pulls out his Tessaiga...suddenly:
(Crash)
"Uaaaagh!"
Besa comes flying out of the wall of one of the huts, and falls to his back while losing hold of his sickles!
"Bro!" "Besa!"
He was then followed by an ape-like demon wearing only a red hakama, who had Izumo and Shousuke under his arms!
"Release us!" "Nooo!"
I call after the two as the demon makes off for the forest, and Inuyasha readies to chase after them.
"Oh no ya don't!"
Unfortunately, the demon Ikkaku blocks his way, and charges with his horn, forcing Inuyasha to block with his sword...Sango and Kilala then try to go after Izumo and Shousuke, but are caught in the webbing of Tsuchigumo! The spider starts reeling them in, and I turn to eye Besa as Freeman helps him off the ground, thankfully none too injured other than maybe some bruising on his back after crashing through the wood planks.
"Besa!"
"Right!"
We both tag-team in a charge, he swiping his sickles at the spider's face while I swung my knife at the web to cut it.
"Hah!"
(Snap)
Got it!
At the same time, Freeman rushes to lend Inuyasha a hand after the latter shoves Ikkaku back, the former adding extra trajectory with his hammer.
"Take, this!"
(WHACK)
The demon flies and crashes on top of Tsuchigumo, and with them disoriented, Inuyasha releases his Tessaiga's power.
"Wind Scar!"
(SLASH)
Ikkaku is eliminated, but the top half of Tsuchigumo tries to hang onto life and escape...until he's hacked down by a familiar demon bone boomerang...
"You guys did it!"
Freeman slings his hammer over his shoulder and shakes his head with a frown:
"'Fraid not, Shippo." Inuyasha agreed with him:
"Yeah, the others all got away! Sango! (Points right with his sword) Over there; let's go!"
She nods, and quickly snatches up her Hiraikotsu before taking off ahead with Inuyasha to chase after the demons, the rest of us running not too far behind them.
Hang on, Izumo and Shousuke. We'll find you!
Small Time Skip, No POV
We now cast our eyes inside a deep cave hidden within the mountainsides, where the people of Shousuke's village now lay, encased within large toad embryos!
The demon responsible for their fate, was of course a toad demon, similar in appearance to the one who possessed the body of a lord to devour the Souls of young women (including Princess Tsuyu), but was wearing a mahogany red robe, and spoke in a voice that held no nasal tone.
"Aaah, such delicious looking Souls~..."
Orochidayu then appears with Shousuke under his arm:
"Don't you eat any of them, Gamajiro. Here; take this boy's soul too."
He tosses the boy to the hard-rocked floor, and he stirs awake, only to meet the sight of his captured parents!
"Father! Mother!"
Shousuke rushes to their embryo-encased forms as Gamajiro laughs and jeers,
"Don't worry. You'll be with them soon enough."
The two demons then turn to meet eye-to-eye with a third beast, one who held the features of a humanoid oxen...
"Gyu-Oh. Now then, it's time for us to put your skills to the test."
...Heading back to the outdoors, we see our group traveling along a path in the mountainside, Shippo using his fox fire while riding Kilala with Sango to help light the way now that the cover of night has set upon the land. Everyone else was walking, while Lumos floated around the group as they went, making his body glow a bit brighter to help with their limited sight.
"Are you sure it's this way, Inuyasha?" He replies to the fox demon,
"Yeah. This whole place reeks of blood and demons."
Miroku then asks Coraline,
"Sensing anything, Coraline?"
"Nothing too clear in terms of the fake jewels, but I am catching onto the Aura Trails of those demons from before..."
The group takes a couple steps more, only to stop to the tune of a demon growl, and the redhead warns,
"Guys...a fake jewel's coming our way!"
The ground begins rumbling, and something spurts out of the dirt towards the group, forcing most to scramble out of the way while Inuyasha pulls out his Tessaiga at the ready...
(SLAM)
"Ga-uh!"
But the dog demon was knocked strongly back, landing in the trees that he and others just came out from!
(Crash...)
He of course, is fine thanks to his demon blood, and growls angrily at the new arrival:
"...Bastard!"
Getting a better look, we see that the force was noneother than the oxen demon from a moment ago, Gyu-Oh, with dark grey-green skin making up his lower half while the rest was of lighter shade, hooves for feet, strong-armed clawed hands, which were holding a club, medium-length black hair spouting out the back of his horned head, orange-red eyes, and a snouted mouth with sharp teeth.
Sensing something off with the weapon in the demon's hands, Coraline gets a second look with her Aura Sight, and gasps when she sees several protrusions with a fushia pink glow in the club's base!
"Inuyasha, be careful: The club's been infused with multiple fake jewels!"
"Are you serious?!"
Gyu-Oh then calls to the dog demon with a gruff voice,
"Come on, show me what you got, you foolish half-breed!"
The latter obliges in a charge:
"So what if I'm a half-demon?!"
Inuyasha leaps into the air and tries to slice down on Gyu-Oh, but the oxen demon manages to block the Tessaiga with his club, before spewing out a smoky black cloud in the former's face!
"Grh! A toxic, miasma!"
He's then shoved back, but recovers in a backward somersault, just as Sango tries to strike Gyu-Oh with her Hiraikotsu from the air on Kilala, which was whacked aside like the attack meant nothing!
"Did you see that?!" Shippo exclaims after Sango,
"Whoa, he's strong!"
Coraline brings out ShatterSoul, and takes a turn at an attack, sending a blade of energy at the oxen demon...but even that wouldn't be enough to take Gyu-Oh down, he breaking the ice blue slash mark with his club! While she curses, Inuyasha decides to take his own attacks up a level:
"If there's one thing I can't stand, it's an ugly demon with a bad attitude!"
(SLASH)
He unleashes a Wind Scar, but the power only billows over Gyu-Oh, his body protected by a green barrier of sorts!
The twins were floored by the lack of damage:
"Aw man!"
"Not even the Wind Scar's enough! What is this beast?!"
Gyu-Oh turns his gaze on Coraline's form, as everyone regroups on the ground:
"Warrior...with the Shikon-no-Tama." She narrows her eyes and asks,
"What is it, demon?"
"The Human Soul must be polished too, otherwise, the jewel is no more than a stone."
That caused an eyebrow raise for the redhead:
Huh? What does he mean?
...And why does his tone seem, familiar?
Before she could figure it out, Gyu-Oh raises his club into the air with a roar, the weapon shining with a deadly, sparkling blue light, before he slams it onto the ground hard!
(CRACK, CRUMBLE)
A good chunk of the valley wall breaks away with the crack-up of the ground, and everyone falls inside the crevices, their fates obscured by the thick dust clouds of the burying rock and dirt...!