Hey all, back again, and a Happy Late Canada Day!
Pardon the delay, but you know how it is by now, busy busy with other writes and the intrusion of life (mostly my job tiring me out, lol).
So, before we begin, I'd like to send a special thanks to my PM friend, WolfWitchHuntress1318, who's become a good friend of mine since the early days of joining this site, for helping with the editing process in this latest chapter. Lotsa love and hugs :)
Happy reading!
Chapter 111: The Fears that Fuel True Courage
A new day comes and goes for the people of Sengoku Japan's vast lands, and as the sky begins to fill with the muted shades of yellow and orange signaling the start of the evening, we zoom down to a rather gutted, patchy and dead-ridden forest clouded in a thin mist, where our main travel group had been combing through these last several hours.
Inuyasha was leading the slowed steps with his nose to the ground, trying to sniff out for anything that could pinpoint the direction that lead out of this area, but with little to no success...He pauses when Shippo squats in front of him with an antsy expression.
"Hm?"
"Well, Inuyasha? Have you found the way out of this forest yet?"
He turns away from the younger demon while replying,
"Shut up, I'm tryin' to concentrate..."
But Shippo's nerves were getting the better of him, and he rushes to crouch in front of the older demon again to voice his concerns.
"Y-Yeah, I know. It's just that you've been at it since this morning, and it's getting kind-of dark..."
Inuyasha groans slightly in annoyance, but then notices that the other was trembling a little.
"Hey, how come you're shaking like that?"
Shippo suddenly freezes in mid-jitters, just as Sango says to the monk in her own tenseness,
"Miroku, I knew I didn't like this forest..."
"Yes, I'm sure of it now: We're in a demon's territory."
(...Pop)
They both stiffen with wide eyes when they hear a loud noise break the quiet, which also caused Shippo to jump onto Inuyasha's head with a freaked expression while the other's was fixed into a deadpan...
But it turns out that the sound wasn't anything to worry about, no more than the pop of a bubblegum bubble from Freeman, whom today was wearing light brown jean shorts with a dark green tanktop and black hightop sneakers, contrasting his brother's outfit that was black jeans, a yellow t-shirt and gray hightops.
He sweatdrops with an embarrassed smile as Lumos circled around him in a 'He did it' manner and quirks,
"Heh, whoops, sorry guys."
Besa bops him on the side of his head and scolds,
"Dude, you couldn't have picked a worse time to chew gum if you tried!"
"How I was I suppose to know it would pop that loud?!"
Coraline, whom today wore her hair down, a moss green crop-tank with her red jean jacket, acid-wash jeans and black combat boots, rolled her eyes and called back to them,
"Bros, knock it off," before she froze to a new chill in the air...
"...Everyone, be on your guard. Something dark-ridden is heading our way."
"It looks like we're about to meet the demon that reigns over this forest."
Freeman mutters after Miroku with just as serious a frown,
"About bloody time, I say. I was gettin' tired of trying to decipher dead trees from barely-live ones..."
Sango then says,
"Hopefully, it's nothing we can't handle."
...It was then that a huge swarm of brown moths come fluttering in, engulfing around the group in a large whirlwind! Inuyasha wasn't afraid, though; if anything, it made him all the more motivated for a fight.
"Keh, this demon should be easy enough to get rid of..."
He carelessly tosses the scared fox demon off his shoulder (whom was thankfully caught by Besa at the last second) before drawing out his Tessaiga at the ready.
"Quit stallin' and show yourself! I'm ready for ya!"
A rush of power is unleashed from his blade, which cuts through the turbine of moths in a dusty explosion, before settling to reveal the chuckling figure that was responsible...
"Welcome to my Forest of Sorrow. I am Garamaru."
His appearance was remarkably similar to an old, deceased enemy of the group (including the weapon), but this demon seemed less vain and more serious, his face carrying red markings under his eyes and his black hair less managed.
Miroku mutters in disbelief,
"I don't believe it," while Shippo asks the teen whose shoulder he was settling on,
"Besa, don't we know him?"
"Well...he does look alot like Gatenmaru, but somehow I doubt it's really him."
The moth demon hears his reply to the fox demon:
"Oh...so you know Gatenmaru? He's the bane of my tribe of moth demons. I hear he banded together with some lowly humans, then gotten himself killed by some half-demon."
Inuyasha steps forward with a click of his blade and jeers,
"Keh, a half-demon did kill him, (smirk) the one standing in front of you...It was a stupid ending to the fight, though."
Coraline frowns sadly at such a description, knowing that her boyfriend had an outlook to the event much different from what he was saying aloud...The dog demon points the tip of Tessaiga towards Garamaru and adds,
"I'll tell you this, though: If you're lookin' to avenge Gatenmaru's death, I'll gladly take you on!"
"Avenge? Heh, surely you jest. He deserved to die; I could care less about him."
"Yeah, whatever, buddy. But unfortunately, you're still gonna hafta die, 'cause see, I got a thing about insects!"
Inuyasha then charges forward in a leap to attack, which in turn prompts the moth demon to try and spew light bladed silk at him. The dog demon would easily dodge that, before lunging with a swing to slice at the other, who hops back in their own dodge and sprouts his wings from his back to take to the air...
But before Inuyasha could go after him:
"Agh!"
He whirls around to the sound of his intended crying out, and would find her along with everyone else (save Lumos) being subdued by strange, large orbs of light moving against their torsos!
"What, is, this?!"
"Gh, it's moving!"
Shippo cries out in a struggle after the girls,
"It won't come off; it's starting to go inside my body!"
"M-My power..."
The orb Miroku was fighting enters him, and he collapses to his knees while muttering weakly,
"It's, sapping my strength...!"
The twins do their best to fight back against their own orbs by trying to activate the shielding power of their Seven Light Crystals, but only succeed for a moment...before the forming rainbow sheen shatters like thin glass, and leaving them as vulnerable as the monk!
"Agh, crap!" "No!"
They drop to their knees as Miroku calls out their names, and they curse just as weakly,
"D...Damn, it...!"
"It's, no use; even our crystals aren't, strong enough...!"
Inuyasha grits his teeth in worry and begins rushing over to help his friends and lover, but wouldn't be fast enough to stop Garamaru from diving low to spew out silk cocoons to trap the five humans and two demons! His first priority would then be to try and free the redheaded female:
"Coraline! Coraline!"
But no matter how hard he hacked at the cocoon binding her, it still held strong, much to his horror.
"The Tessaiga can't cut through it!"
He whirls around to the sound of the moth demon's laughter, and the latter comments,
"It's so uncouth to drink human blood. These days, my tribe prefers to devour the heart and soul, engulfed in fear and despair!"
At that note, Garamaru vanishes from sight...Inuyasha then switches to using his claws on the cocoons entrapping Miroku and the twins, but to no avail as the silk heals over...
"Gh! Damn! No, Miroku, don't be so weak! Miroku! (Pivots left) Freeman, Besa, come on, wake up!"
He tries another cocoon, spotting Sango's unconscious form through some transparent silk, and places his palms on top without a care to the poisonous burns that would form on his flesh.
"Sango...you gotta fight!" The moth demon's voice coos through the air,
"Shout all you like...They cannot hear anymore."
The dog demon turns around and spots the Will O' Wisp circling frantically with desperate moans around a cocoon binding an unconscious Shippo and Kilala, before rushing over to help amplify a wake-up call.
"Lumos...Thank god you're still here. (Looks down at the silk) Come on, answer us! Shippo! Kilala!"
"By morning, a part of me shall take over their hearts and souls..."
...Inuyasha backs up and pulls his sword out at the ready, deciding to take a more aggressive approach in freeing his friends and lover.
"I'll use the Wind Scar...It's my only option."
But knowing what scenario would most likely erupt from such a plan of action, Lumos quickly darts over and makes noises of protest to the dog demon while bopping up and down, to which he'd quickly clue in on.
"...Uh! Mm...(Sheathes his sword) You're right. It's useless. The only chance I have in breaking the curse is to defeat him. Lumos, will you help me find that menace?"
The Will O' Wisp bops in a nod, and begins darting off in a direction he sensed Garamaru was, prompting Inuyasha to follow...Meanwhile, the villain of the hour's voice muses in the chilled air towards his victims,
"Now then...I shall create nightmares for you, and you shall feel fear and ultimate despair! Ahahahahahaha!"
Zooming inside each cocoon, we see Coraline, Miroku, Shippo and Kilala, the twins, and Sango ensnared in strips of silk bondage, which would quickly become the least of their problems, within the realm of the mind...
Flashback, Sango's POV
...I remember...back long before that tragic day...
Back when I my kin, my father, my brother, lived a rather peaceful if adventurous existence in our village of demon slayers...
The smile on Kohaku's face as he playfully chased after Kilala, until he would fumble his steps and fall downward.
Father and I would watch from our home, myself laughing a little before chiding like the good older sister I was,
"Are you alright, Kohaku?"
As he waves a reassuring hand, Father took the scene in with a more serious air.
"If Kilala could bring him down so easily, maybe it's too early for him to face battle."
I knew that he was joking somewhat, yet seeing my little brother get back up with a determined smile made me disagree.
"No such thing, Father. Kohaku is already very skilled with his chain scythe."
"Well, I trust your judgement."
"He'll be just fine. And if anything should happen, I'll be there with him."
...If only I knew just how harshly, those words would come back to haunt me, come that horrible night in that damned castle...
If the sight of father and our fellow slayers being senselessly slaughtered by my brother wasn't frightening enough, it would certainly be when Kohaku was slewed by those arrows...The terror in his weakened eyes and voice, was incredibly hard to bear.
"H-Help me, Sango. I'm so afraid..."
"Do not worry...I'm right here wi-"
(TOK)
"UH!"
...The arrows that pierced my back next...almost felt like a bittersweet release from that pain...
A pain, that refuses to leave me now.
End of Flashback, No POV
Within the slayer's cocoon, we see her left hand shift in and out from becoming moth-like, as her lips mumble the name of her lost brother...
The next window to the past, would belong to Miroku.
Flashback, Miroku's POV
To think...it's been so long, since that day...
I remember it starting out with Mushin taking me out of the temple to a brothel, he engorging himself in sake and the performances of those geshias, while I was concerned about the nonattendance of one man in particular...
"(Chuckle) Tremendous fun. So, what do you think? Wears away the cares of the day, hm?"
"...Master Mushin. I want to know why my father isn't here with us."
The way his face shifted, expressing regret, a premeditated mourning...I knew instantly something was wrong, something that no sip of alcohol could disguise.
"Master Mushin?"
"...Your father confided in me that he couldn't bear his fate under the curse any longer."
"W-What does that mean?"
"It's all irrelevant now..."
...I barely needed two seconds to decipher the hidden, awful truth: My father...My father had given up on fighting the Wind Tunnel, and had decided to allow that dreaded curse to consume him whole.
I would watch, helpless within Mushin's hold, as my father disappeared within the abyss...forever...
That same abyss, would eventually pass onto my own hand, and I would become caught under that confounded weight my dearly departed father had to.
End of Flashback, No POV
As the monk became trapped in the depressing feeling of loss and accursed duty, a pair of moth feelers flashed onto his forehead for a split second, as he mumbled for his deceased parent in his unconscious state...
He would not be the only one experiencing a terrible memory regarding a paternal figure, yet in this case, Freeman and Besa's fondness for their father would be nonexistent.
Flashback, Freeman/Besa's POV
More than four years, and not a day goes by where we don't remember the reason for leaving our old home...
Before then, life was pretty simple: Playing outside on that old tire swing in the front yard, smiling and sharing a laugh with neighbours who were like family, and even the feeling of content shared between us and our folks as we sat in front of that beat-up TV set. That was all enough...
Enough for us, at least...But for our so-called father, feelings like that weren't enough.
Feelings were soft and don't relieve much, especially the bigger emotions...like Love...
(Punch, punch)
"Ugh! A-Ah!"
"Freeman!"
When he found out about Freeman's/my feelings about the same sex around our eighth year of living, all hell seemed to rain upon the house every day after that. The old fool came from a more conservative time, and couldn't understand that what he/I felt wasn't a phase, or a sickness.
So...he decided to take out his frustrations in not being able to change for himself or for his son the only way he seemed to know how: Using his fists.
"You, little, priss! Think you can, make a fool outta your old man by liking men?!"
Besa/I tried to help my flesh and blood in any way he/I could, by being there to act as a human shield, heal the wounds, being the emotional support that our weak mom couldn't. She was too frightened by her husband's wrath to get off her arse and help her only sons...
Eventually, it became too much for either of us to bear, and we had to leave it all behind to live to another tomorrow.
It wasn't easy...but it would've been harder to endure, and still is.
End of Flashback, No POV
A shiver passes through each of their dark-skinned forms, and they whimper with an old fear as the tails of a moth fade in and out from behind their bodies...
Our next victim of the Garamaru's probing spell, would be Shippo.
Flashback, Shippo's POV
How is it that one day can start off so well, but end so horribly that you don't wanna believe it's real?
That was how I felt, the day my parents were taken from the world...I was returning through the tall grass from the old tree grove with my arms full of acorns I gathered to show father, a carefree smile on my face.
"Hey, Father! You won't believe it; look how many acorns I found!"
...But the second I emerged in front of my home, those acorns meant absolutely nothing and fell from my hands, as I stared with wide-eyed horror at the sight of those monsters, Hiten and Monten, who killed my folks to get their hands on those...those stupid jewel shards!
I dunno what happened to Mother's body...but the sight of my father's fur around that devil Monten's waist was enough to make me never want to find out...
I just fell to the dirt, frozen with fear and agony, while they walked away...before I cried out loud to the sky above at the loss of my parents.
End of Flashback, No POV
The little fox demon mutters for his father, just as his lower body emits the shape of a moth's abdomen for a brief moment, he too becoming lost to the spell of suffering...
Nothing is known for Kilala's worst memories, but the whimpered growl and flash of a moth's wings above her back was enough to say that the cat demon too wasn't experiencing mercy...
Neither would our last victim, Coraline, whose mind delved back in time to one memory, she had hoped was behind her for good.
Flashback, Coraline's POV
...There's alot of my life before the Bone Eater's Well that I've revealed to my friends, family and lover in this last year.
Experiences that have either been exhilarating or trial-like, testing my capability to live, shaping me into the young woman I am now...
...But there's one piece of my past that I've neglected to speak about, one that still sends a shiver up my spine at the mere flash.
I've only barely managed to push it past my lips in an indifferent blurb, because to go into details...means diving into a very dark part of my self-conscious I hate meeting my eyes with.
It all happened roughly a week before I first reached Japan, several weeks after my skirmish in the French backwoods and the encounter with the Beldam Witch. Somehow, I managed to sneak aboard a plane heading for India with some help from a couple of nameless faces escaping the borders of France...
Getting off at the terminal in Andhra Pradesh, I would find myself wandering the Krishna River for several miles a day, passing from city to village without paying too much mind to the beauty of the lands and culture, remembering my overall goal...
That is, until after I passed the Village of Lambasingi, and found myself upon another with no name to call its own, tiny and obscured from many trained eyes beneath the heavy vegetation of those lands, during a time of crisis that made me almost wished I had arrived in the country during monsoon season.
I had just come over a new hill emerging out of the thick greenery, when my eyes caught sight of a wave of smoke billowing from an area below that was set to flames, quite recently I may add.
If that hadn't frightened me first, the sound of distant gunfire and screams of horror sure did, and before I knew it, I was rushing down the tall hill to see who was responsible...
Like I said, looking back now, a good part of me hates myself for doing just that, for I would have the unfortunate displeasure of running into several individuals who were from the very organization I had hoped to elude for longer: Trinity.
Based on what I could strain from the broken bits of conversation melded within the roaring flames and outcries of the falling dead, this branch of the massive criminal organization had sent a team to this village to uncover a specific idol of sorts that supposingly held a supernatural power. I never did figure out the rest of the details...nor do I ever want to.
The senseless slaughter of those innocent men, women and children was enough to drive such curiousity away, especially when I was spotted by two of those bastards while trying to help a little boy of six or seven get back to his feet to run, and wound up captured together in twine and forced into a little circle with several other survivors to watch as death continued to rule...
Wouldn't be but twenty minutes before a grieving mother had enough and lost her senses, lunging at one of the men and knocking him to the ground with the weight of her body despite her hands being tied back, using her gnashing teeth as a weapon. Her brave act gave everyone the courage to make a break for it, myself a bit slow to start after being pushed back by one Trinity soldier and ordered by gunpoint not to move.
Once he vanished into the smoke, I shakily got off my feet and began my treacherous journey through the dusty paths and flamed, broken huts to find the end of the village and escape, even with the handicap of my bound wrists. I was scared, but determined to not become another statistic...
Then came the point of no return, the moment that would force me to perform one act that no child my age should ever have to choose.
I had paused in my run for freedom by hiding behind a wall of debris, as one soldier crept along looking for stragglers...only to find me. He orders me out of my hiding place, and I obeyed, knowing I wouldn't get far as long as he had that gun. Long story short, we got ourselves into a little brawl, I using a piece of shattered pottery to cut myself free of the twine during a roll on the dirt, before tackling the man to his back, knocking the weapon out of his hands. I scramble to get it before him, but he meets me halfway, before it became a battle of will and strength to turn the barrel towards the waiting victim...
(BANG)
...The fact that I'm able to tell this horrible tale should clearly state who the victor was.
...I felt no such triumph, however, make no mistake. I was so horrified I couldn't even throw up from disgust, as the man coughed up some blood before the light left his eyes, from his Soul...Once the shock wore off, I felt the agony and shame pass through me like a bullet train through tissue paper over what I had done...before my body, my heart, fell into a dead man's numbness. I couldn't even feel remorse...
It didn't stop there, either, for I knew that he was but the start of what I would have to fight through. Again, to keep it brief simply because my mind chose to barely record every detail, that gun in my hands would release more than the one bullet against several Trinity soldiers, killing them.
...It would be sunset by the time it was all over, the village but a burned scar on the lands, their people reduced to a tiny percentage while the rest made up the scattered, charred remains of the dead, mixed with the bodies of the arsonists, none of whom were alive.
I remember, just, standing near a ditch of water just outside the perimeter, dazed and with a bit of craze still burning in my eyes, my body spattered with ash and blood that wasn't mine, twitching from a feeling of fear in what kind of person I had to become in that moment.
...That person...that side of me...is one I never wish to meet the eyes of again.
End of Flashback, No POV
A pair of moth eyes flash over the girl's shut blue, as she writhes with a grimace and mumbles,
"W-Wh...What, have I, done?"
...As these nightmares began to ensue their plaguing pressures on the poor victims, we join the cause, they being Garamaru, standing atop a withered and dying tree as he observes their struggles with a dark smile.
"Suffer...Beyond that suffering, you'll only find endless despair, waiting for you. I'll see to it that all of you get an ample helping of fear and helplessness..."
He then hears the approaching moan of a certain Will O' Wisp, and chuckles before jumping upward to dodge it and the dog demon's sword that followed shortly after. Landing on an opposite tree, Inuyasha inquires with an angered tone,
"What're you doing to torment my friends and intended inside that cocoon?!"
"(Chuckle) I'm doing nothing more than allowing them to dream."
"Kuh, dream?"
"Humans and demons are alike: All suppress their fears deep inside their hearts, fears that can only be released in nightmares...and that is what we moth demons feed on."
Inuyasha didn't like what he heard at all, becoming all the more enraged:
"How 'bout feeding on this?!"
He tries to land another thrust with his Tessaiga, but was blocked and pushed back by the moth demon's hatchet...He lands safely on the ground with Lumos trailing fast to his side, before he calls out,
"Release Coraline and my friends at once!"
"Heh-ha, amusing, half-demon...Your own fear is written all over your face."
"(Growl) I ain't afraid!"
Garamaru thought otherwise:
"Without your friends and human mate-to-be, you're so lonely you can hardly bear it."
"That's a lie!"
(Lunge, clash)
Static forms between the opposing metals, as both demons struggle to throw off the other...
"I can fight fine on my own! It's just...it's just I'm not gonna let you use my friends and my woman as ingredients for your next meal!"
"You're just another big talker..."
The moth demon sneers and lets out a laugh that drops a few octaves, as his face transforms into that of the insect his nature originates, before springing out of his armour to reveal his true form in full, they being a giant, yellow-furred moth with brown/red wings!
"I'll kindly devour your unbearable fear of being alone!"
Inuyasha smirks and calls back,
"Oh no you won't! Watch this! Hrrrgh, (swing) Wind Scar!"
(SLASH)
One thrust of unmatched power from the dog fang was all it took to hack Garamaru to pieces, their body disintegrating into nothing save the head...
"Kuh, now who's the big talker?"
But while Inuyasha sheathed his sword with confidence, Lumos was feeling anything but, sensing danger was still afoot in the atmosphere. He emits the warning red and blue glows while bopping up and down in front of the dog demon in a panicked state, causing the latter to ask,
"Huh? What's wrong? Is he not dead?"
...A dark chuckle resonates through the air, making both stop stiff on alert, before they spot the eye sockets of the dead moth demon emit a dull red glow!
"Think you've defeated me, did you?"
"W-What?"
"Even if you do destroy my body, I shall devour the Souls of your friends and human lover. With their bodies, I shall grow a new body for myself, and when I do, that will spell the end for you..."
We see that in each of the cocoons, the trapped victims were beginning to form those moth features as their minds became all the more lost in their despair and fear, while Inuyasha began to shake with his own worries and anger...
"In essence, you shall be devoured by your former friends and intended mate. That is the fate that awaits you. The very moment you are devoured, you will be truly released from the fear of loneliness."
And with a final laugh, Garamaru's head vanishes in a cloud of ash to await the moment of his rebirth...
Inuyasha whirls around to gaze in the direction of his encased companions and one true love, horrified and enraged by this turn.
"Rgh! The cocoons didn't disappear! What do I do?...How do I get them out?!"
(...Slash, slash, slash, slash...)
He would quickly fall back on his earlier method of using his blade to try and cut down on the silk, careful to not release the Wind Scar, but no matter how many cuts he made, it made no difference since the cocoons would just heal over.
"Rgh! Damn! Damn, you!"
Inuyasha then switches to his claws, lunging forward at the one encasing Coraline while crying out,
"Open up, damn yoooouuu!"
(Slash)
...But that attack would too fail to leave a dent, making the dog demon's insides churn with a multitude of emotions.
"Coraline!...Shippo...! Freeman...Besa...! Miroku...Sango, Kilala!"
Meanwhile, the Will O' Wisp began floating back and forth between each cocoon in his own attempts to cry out for everyone to wake up, sensing deep into their minds to find out what was currently happening in each of their subconscious's, and not liking what he saw...
Sango's Mindscape
The backdrop is a blood red, as the demon slayer and her younger sibling stand apart from one another, she in her full gear, while he was wearing but his regular attire, back turned and limply holding his kusarigama...
"...Kohaku?"
He turns to face Sango with an 'innocent smile' and says to her,
"Sis, you won't believe this: I finally did it!"
"Huh?"
"I slew a demon all by myself!"
"What do mean? What demon?"
A small laugh emits from the young boy...as a spotlight emits behind him, highlighting the corpses of Coraline, the twins, Miroku, Kilala in full form, and Shippo!
Blood drips from the tip of his blade as Sango gasps with horror in her eyes:
"Uh! W-What have you done?!"
"Father's gonna be proud of me when he hears about this!"
...Kohaku's sister would not agree with such thought, shutting her eyes to slow her tears as she bites back a whimper of agony over the loss of her companions...
(...WHACK)
And using her Hiraikotsu, Sango would lunge and kill her younger brother, much to his shock.
"W-Why, Sango...?"
His body falls face-down, and the demon slayer stares down at him with regret and despair welling in her tear-stained eyes, before she rushes to his side.
"Kohaku!"
She holds his body close to her...which would prove to be a huge mistake.
(TOK)
"UH!"
The blade of his kusarigama comes to plunge into Sango's back, freezing her still, as Kohaku turns his head to say in a dead tone,
"...It's your fault, Sango. You never praised me or encouraged me."
With that, she falls hard...
Miroku's Mindscape
The atmosphere is surrounded in a morbid purple, as the younger monk breaks from his mentor's hold to rush onward.
"M-Master Mushin, let go of me!"
"Miroku! Your Wind Tunnel has reached it's limit! You mustn't go anywheeeeere!"
His form fades away in time with Miroku's shifting to the present young man he is, determined to end the curse passed through his family...
"I'll find Naraku! He can't hide from me forever!"
He suddenly stops, when he spots the distant form of the accursed half-demon, who turns his baboon-masked eyes to meet the monk's...It was in that moment, the Wind Tunnel began emitting air on its own, and Miroku fists that cursed hand while muttering,
"...I'm so close."
...But then, the forms of his friends (minus Inuyasha) fade into view, forcing him to try and contain his power the best he can, much to their confusion.
"Miroku, what's the matter?"
"No...S-Stay back!"
"Miroku, what's wrong?" "Miroku?"
"What's up, man?" "Tell us what's wrong."
He tries desperately to deter them from approaching:
"Stop! Stay away-rrrgh-gaaaah!"
But the vacuuming winds became too strong for him to fully contain, and as the atmosphere is wrapped in a whirlwind, his friends are each dragged into the abyss, much to his horror!
"NO! It can't be...! M-My hand is covered!"
The Naraku figure lets out a laugh as he jeers,
"Monk, were you that desperate to be saved, desperate enough to even want it at the expense of your friends lives?"
"You have no right to accuse me of anything! You cursed my grandfather with the Wind Tunnel!"
The winds of his cursed ability grow all the more stronger, making the monk outcry in pain, fear and agony...
Freeman's Mindscape
The sky reflects a dark red-purple, and we find our long hammer-wielder running for his life down an expanse of concrete, away from a shadow that was hunting him down, echoing the familiar whisper-shouts of someone he longed to never see again...
"Where do think you're goin', little priss?!" "Come and fight and like a man!"
"Show me who you really are, you little fu-!"
Freeman did his hardest to ignore the antagonizing shouts, cupping his hands over his ears to block it out, his eyes welling slightly with tears...
(Trip)
"Auh!"
He falls over on his front, and struggles to his knees to pivot his head behind where he tripped...only to widen his eyes in terror when he sees, Ginta, dead with multiple stab wounds in his back!
"No! No, Ginta!"
A dark chuckle resonates, and the shadow the young man was running from manifests into the shape of his father, knife in hand that was still freshly coated in blood, looking at the former with a crazed grin.
"You think you can just run from me, boy? You think you and your bastard brother can just turn your back on what made you?! I made you; I shaped you into who you are!"
Freeman clenches his fists and yells in anguish,
"Shut up; you did jack! You're a murderer, a bastard old man! You only abused me, made me feel worthless!"
(...SLASH)
"UGH!"
...Suddenly, a familiar bone sickle cuts across his back deep, and he turns through midair to see...the expressionless face of his own twin.
"B-Be-sa...?"
...He hits the ground hard, hands outstretched two ways: One to his wolf demon lover, the other to his kin.
Besa's Mindscape
The boy with the cornrow hair would do no better within his own fearful creation: In his case, his twin was already dead, leaving him helpless on his knees to stare with horror at the bludgeoned corpse.
"...No...this-this can't be happening! Freeman...Freeman, wake up! Please, please don't be dead!"
"He can't hear you, son."
Besa stiffens up at the address, and whirls around on his feet to see...his father, occupying a bloodied pipe in his right hand, and a smile that may have fooled others in looking calm, but the former knew better.
"You...you killed him. (Glare) Why?! Why did you take him away?! Why did you hurt him for so long, and felt you had the right to beat your own son to death?! Answer me, dammit!"
"Are you angry because I hurt him...or that you couldn't do a thing to save him this time?"
The boy flinches from the accusation...before tensing with fear when he hears a canine growl emanating from behind him...
"I'll leave you to it."
"Wait, don't you dare vanish, you two-face bastard! Coward!"
But it was too late: The man was gone...leaving Besa to turn the other way to face a force more enraged by his brother's death.
"You, weak, mortal bastard...You let this happen. You let that scum kill my mate!"
"What?! No, Ginta, please, I-"
"Shut up! (Growl) I'll kill you!"
And the dark-sinned boy could only yell in fright, as the anger-guided wolf demon's eyes clouded over red before he lunged fast at the former, sharp teeth pronounced and bellowing a fierce howl...
Shippo's Mindscape
While the air may appear neutral, the mood of the fox demon's dream was anything but: He would find himself on the run across a field from an army of lizard demons that mimicked the one who attacked him and Satsuki back when.
...And even that was the least of his troubles, when he screeches to a halt in front of the evilly-grinning figures of Hiten and Monten!
Turning around would be a mistake, as the lizards loll their tongues out menacingly, before he chooses to sprint down the side while yelling out for help...
Coraline's Mindscape
...As for our heroine redhead...her mind took her inside one of the many frightening imaginatives that were set upon her during those torturous days with the dream demon she conveyed a deal with.
The sky twisted with blackened-red storm clouds over a light purple, while the ground was made of red rust dirt, clouded by a miasma, highlighting brown-black dead trees with sharpened branches, jagged, hollowed-out rocks big and small that echoed with wind gusts which sounded with the screeches of pain and agony. Whether from man, beast or something inbetween, is anyone's guess...
Yet the background was the least of Coraline's problems: Currently, she was trapped in combat with only her bare fists against enemies deceased and alive, each one fading in and out of a singular form to take a crack at beating the poor girl senseless!
Constantine Bishop, Naraku, and Saki Hikiji were the main antagonists, while the air echoed with the voices of Bridget, her cohorts and other young children from the redhead's past, jeering and calling her every name under the sun to further break her self-esteem...
After several minutes of the audio and physical torture, Coraline was finally knocked off her feet, her body sporting bruises upon bruises, and multiple lacerations from blades and bullet grazes.
"Hah...hah...hah, (cough)...I...I can't, go on, like this..."
She gropes around on the ground for anything, anything she could use to defend herself...and her fingertips brush against a cold metal shape which she'd recognize in an instant.
"Uh...!...A gun?"
The girl slowly grasps the weapon into her left palm, and gingerly rose to a sitting position, looking down at the handgun with shaky breaths and a bewildered expression.
"Why...Why this? Why not, my sword or-Uh!"
She would cut herself off...when the mist of miasma thins somewhat in front of her several yards...to reveal the dead bodies of the Trinity Soldiers she was forced to kill back when!
"Rgh! N-No...no, not this again!"
Worse still, was when those corpses began throbbing in and out with the images of the ones she held in her heart with love and care: Family, friends, acquaintances...her dog demon lover...
Coraline lets out a scream of horror as the voices of those three main villains began laughing throughout the atmosphere...with a trace of a certain three-sided demon's own chortle ghosting between the chuckles like a graveyard's whispers...
Inuyasha's POV
"Rrrgh, damn it all! Blades of Blood!"
I kept it up with the relentless attacks, determined and desperate to not give up and free everyone from their silk cages, my main priority being my intended...I land on the ground while crying out her name, and catch a glimpse of her form through the silk, noticing that it was throbbing in and out towards the form of that bloody moth!
No...No!
"Coraline, don't give in! You've got the strength to beat this thing! (Growl) You gonna let some nightmare sap all your power?! I thought you were stronger than that!"
I continue to claw at the cocoon, feeling the pulse of my more demon side screaming at me to free my future mate...Yet, as I paused to catch my breath, I began using that reverse psychiatry trick to see if that would stimulate a reaction.
"Hah...hah...I misjudged you. I didn't think you were the type to give up so easily. If that's how it's gonna be, then I'll defeat Naraku on my own! (Lunge) But don't come cryin' to me with your regrets later on!"
I plunged a clawed hand straight into the cut mark I made before, ignoring the sparks of energy and kept my focus on the woman I love.
"Wake up, Coraline! Wake up unless you want this moth demon to devour your Soul!"
...And if you somehow have a hand in this, Kami, knock it off!
Let my woman go and give her back to me!
I was so close, so close to touching her fingertips, and I swear I saw them inch slightly towards mine...but then that damn cocoon's energies had to throw me backwards!
I slid into the dirt hard...but would not lie down. I staggered back up holding my injured arm, my blood dripping slightly from my claws, just as Lumos comes flying over to release some of his power to heal me a little.
...I just nudged him away, too upset and frustrated to be concerned with my own health.
"Hrgh...Cor-aline...you're not weak. I know you can get through this...Say it...I dare you to say it..."
Gritting my teeth, I then bellow out,
"I DARE YOU TO TELL ME TO SIT!"
...The grounds fall quiet...and just when I was about to drop to my knees in my own despair...it happened.
Sango's Mindscape, her POV
Somehow, I returned to the very forest where Kohaku and I had fought in before during the first wave of his manipulation by Naraku's insidious hands...
And once more, I was poised over his body, my katana in hand.
"I'm going to kill you...then myself. It's my only choice. This is the only way to free you from Naraku!"
The difference this time...was that there was a sign of life in his eyes.
"Sango...why do you have to kill me?"
...Why do I? (Shakes head) No...No, I know why.
I'll kill you, then I'll kill myself. This is the only way to get you back from Naraku...isn't it?
My tears fall as I whisper,
"Forigve me, Kohaku," and I bring down my blade...But then:
(GRASP)
A familiar clawed hand stops me, and I look up to see,
Inuyasha!
"Sango, don't kill Kohaku. We have to get him back alive."
I cringe away from his eyes and mutter,
"I shouldn't stay with you...It only causes everyone trouble."
"Would you quit babblin' and let me talk? It's way better to stick together, and besides, (smirk) I'm pretty good at fighting."
...Inuyasha...
(Blink)
"Uh!"
Miroku's Mindscape, his POV
My Wind Tunnel just kept gradually building in power after...my friends were sucked inside, and I was starting to lose my ground.
"Rrrgh...g-graaaah!"
No...No...No!
But then, a strong hand comes to grip my cursed appendage before tugging me downward, the force somehow being enough to stop the vortex from blowing!
Huh?
"What is it that you're so afraid of?!"
Uh! Is that...
I look up, and met the eyes of a friend I nearly forgot about:
"I-Inuyasha!"
"If you try to use that Wind Tunnel again, I'll tear your stupid arm off!"
He shoves me back and readies to leave, but then says to me sternly,
"Don't you wanna defeat Naraku and break the curse of the Wind Tunnel? 'Cause if that's what you want, then quit wasting time and get goin'!"
...You're absolutely right, Inuyasha.
(Blink)
"Gh!"
Freeman/Besa's Mindscape, dual POV
All I could do, was lie on the ground, weakened by my old man's words and the attack by my own brother/brother's lover, slowing descending into the deep...
That's when I heard, the sound of a spotlight turning on.
"Huh?" "Hm?"
Lifting my head gingerly, I look up, and meet the eyes of Besa/Freeman!
"What-"
"Are you, doin' here...?"
Pushing myself onto my knees in time with him, we both crawled over to eachother, amazed we were seeing one another alive (well, barely) as opposed to earlier. My hand stretches out to lay a palm on my twin's shoulder as he does with me, like we were looking into our own opposite-of-fun-house mirrors...
"...You look like crap, bro."
"Keh, so do you, brother...Did, you also have a meet with-"
"Our former old man? Yep...I, thought you killed me."
"Me? Kill you? That's what I thought Ginta did to me!"
Just as we both shocked ourselves by telling eachother our nightmares (which, somehow have synced; not even gonna try to figure out how), a third familiar voice echoes in a chuckle and says,
"You're both nuts, and look ridiculous."
We dart our heads to the right, and stepping out of nothing to approach us, was Inuyasha, looking at us with a kind but blunt smirk at our injured forms. Once he was close enough, he reaches down and carefully lifts us by one of our arms to our feet while berating our recent behaviour.
"What's with you two? Letting some bullheaded old fool beat the confidence outta ya...That's not the Freeman and Besa I know."
"Huh?" "Wha-?"
"You two left your home with barely anything to hold but the clothes on your backs to make a better life for yourselves, and succeeded. Why are you just letting the past hit you hard now?"
He frowns seriously and adds,
"That man is gone and will never find you again. You've said it yourselves, so toss out his memory and keep moving forward."
We both stared at the dog demon for several moments in awe of his words, remembering having a similar conversation one time before during our early days of travel in Edo...
We then nodded firmly, making him smile in a way that ghosted a smirk.
(Blink)
"Gah!" "Uh!"
Shippo's Mindscape, his POV
I kept running, running to get away from the faces of Hiten and Monten, and that crazy lizard demon, scared as scared can be...That is, until a good friend managed to snap me out of it.
"Come on, Shippo, you can get outta this!"
Uh! Inuyasha...
Hmph. He's right. What the heck am I running for? They're not really here, right?
Forming a determined expression, I whirl around and unleash my power on those wicked demons!
"Fox Fire!"
(Fwooooom)
They let out outcries of pain before they burn away from existence...I land on the ground, proud of myself for standing up to my fears.
"Ha, yes!"
...And I wasn't the only one.
"Keh, hey."
"Huh?"
I turn around to see Inuyasha smiling at me:
"Nice work you did against those demons, Shippo."
I smiled back and replied,
"Yeah," glad that this craziness was all over...
(Blink)
"Hah!"
Coraline's Mindscape, her POV
Trigger Warning: Slight mentioning of Suicidal Thoughts. Read with caution.
After several more minutes of the torturous laughter of my enemies and dead-reckoning images...I was ready to descend into madness, and embrace the waiting hand of death, well, mentally, at least.
I recall feeling my shaky hands remove themselves from my ears after trying and failing to block out the sounds, and my left grasped the handgun again...lifting it up excruciatingly slow to pointing the barrel at...well, I don't think I really need to explain where, now do I?
"M...Make, this...stop."
...But just as my index finger begins to squeeze the trigger, that's when my saving grace arrived.
"...Coraline?"
I froze, and looked up with tear-stained eyes to see my strong-willed, steadfast boyfriend, oddly enough in his human form, looking at me with a most tender concern at my fearful form.
"I-Inu...yasha?"
His currently brown irises soften more at how meek my voice sounded, before he kneels down and gently knocks the modern weapon out of my hand, engulfing me into his arms, practically cradling my body to his.
"Shh, it's alright...I promise you that as long as I'm here, you have nothing to be afraid of...But remember that you're braver than this, Coraline. Keh, don't let some stupid nightmare prove me wrong."
...Gee, don't those words sound familiar.
He pulls back a little and hauls me to my feet but kept his hands on my form, before cupping my cheek and saying,
"I love you, Coraline."
I felt my heart swell with sentiment, which was eating away the pain and agony in that internal organ, and whispered back with a watery smile,
"I-I love you too."
...The mood would then be killed by the return of that shapeshifting menace that's been jeering evilly at me for this last little while, jumping between the forms of Naraku and Constantine. I take in a sharp breath of air and squeeze Inuyasha's hand while warning,
"You should get out of here while the gettin's good. Your human form might be able to take Bishop, but Naraku's a whole other issue!"
"You, fool..."
I blinked with surprise by the descend of tone and growl in his voice, before watching with wide eyes as his eyes flash red while the rest of his form shifted into the half-demon I know so well!
"As if I'd run, and leave you! I'm staying, (unsheathes Tessaiga) and I'm gonna protect you!"
He then lunges at the monstrosity to cut it down...Meanwhile, my attention cuts to the left when I sense the presence of another, their echoing steps making their way to the area, belonging to Saki...
And yet, his form didn't scare me. Not this time. My face fell into a guarded expression as I readied my stance for a fight, reaching my hand up into the air...to catch hold of ShatterSoul as it finally appears to me.
...Inuyasha...with you, I have all the confidence in the world. You fight for me...and I'll fight for you.
We fight for us.
(Blink)
"Oh!"
I awoke inside this blasted cocoon just as 'dream me' prepped to lunge into battle, that fear beginning to erase itself completely as I remembered,
Yes...I'm not alone against this world. Inuyasha has been with me since we first met...
The silk binding my limbs begins to tear at the seams, freeing me and allowing me to draw my combat knife at the ready.
As long as he, my love, is beside me, with my friends and family, no fear shall hold me down for long!
(Sheen...)
I am strong, I am brave...I will not perish!
(HACK)
"Yaaaaaah!"
Using my Aura Power, I channeled my energies into my blade to use against the cocoon, creating a slit large enough for me to climb out as the silk falls prey to the disintegrating strength of my Soul!
...And was but the first to break free: Joining me next was Sango, who used her Hiraikotsu to break down the silk.
(WHACK)
"Haaaaah!"
Then Miroku, using his staff:
(WHAM)
"Rrrrraaaaah!"
Then my brothers broke out using their long hammer and bone sickles to slam and slash away their casings respectively.
(THRUST)
"H-gah!"
(RRRRIP-RIP)
"Rrrrrrrr-hah!"
And finally, Shippo would use his fox fire to break free at the same time Kilala came crashing through to the outside using her claws and her own fire from her transformation to full form.
(FWOOOOOM)
"Aaaaaaaah!"
(FWOOM, SLASH)
"(Rowl)"
Stepping away from the place I was trapped in, the first happy greeting I would get was from my partner, Lumos, who barreled over to me and circled around my form while chirping his moans wildly.
"(Giggle) I'm glad to see you too, Lumos!"
My ears then catch the sound of my boyfriend calling out just as excited,
"You did it! Yeah!"
I looked up and saw he was a bit battle-worn, the right sleeve of his kimono ripped quite considerably, but didn't seem all that concerned about his personal injury, rather majorly relieved we were all okay.
...Inuyasha...Inuyasha.
My eyes began welling up with happy tears to see his face for real, and I ran full-speed to his form and wrapped my arms around his torso tight while being careful not to aggravate his injuries.
"Inuyasha!"
He doesn't hesitate to envelop my shaking body into his own arms, brushing his lips against my hair and whispering soothing words into my ear to calm me down before I could burst into sobs...
We quickly peck eachother on the lips, before he wipes my watery blue eyes dry and chides,
"Hey, no tears, 'kay? It's all over."
"(Sniff, nod) Right...all over."
I smiled as his knuckles gently drag across my cheek, before his focus shifts to include everyone else as he exclaims encouragingly,
"Come on! Let's not waste time gettin' out of this forest! (Gazes forward) That's our way out!"
By that, he meant the strange barrier blocking the main path of this infernal forest that had likeness to a soap bubble's reflection...Inuyasha would then ready his Tessaiga, the colour of the blade shifting to red in preparation to destroy the binding spell.
"Alright, follow me! Wind Scar!"
(SLASH)
...The barrier of course opens up and gradually fades away...but the surprise that struck us was that it took the desolate background with it, revealing the lush landscape we're far more used to seeing in our travels!
"The forest disappeared!"
Freeman was just as flabbergasted as Shippo:
"No way...!"
Besa hms and postulates,
"So then it was all a trick of that creature's make..." Miroku nods and adds,
"More than likely an illusion created by that moth demon."
Sango sighs,
"What a shame. We wasted so much time because of him."
Inuyasha replies,
"Yeah. I won't argue with you there..."
I cast my eyes downward and shiver a bit, muttering to myself,
"Never again...I don't want this to happen ever again..."
I sensed my boyfriend's eyes on me for a moment, feeling a stare of concern, but then moves to face us all with a smug grin.
"While you're on the subject, why don't I remind you how much trouble you'd be in if I wasn't around to save you all the time?"
Hearing his words made me so close to laughing at the irony, but I opt for a smile of agreement that would be one of many among our group directed at Inuyasha. He frowns slightly, likely thinking we thought otherwise, or something:
"What're you starin' at? You got a complaint or somethin'?"
Miroku and Shippo reply reassuringly,
"No, no, we couldn't agree with you more."
"So just this once, we're gonna let you brag."
Kilala, whom had shifted back into her dormant form and hopped onto Sango's shoulder, mews with her own nod, yet these replies didn't sit great with Inuyasha.
"I wasn't braggin'; it was the truth!"
I gently chide to him,
"No need to be defensive, Inuyasha. We're all eternally grateful for the rescue."
My brothers adds,
"Yeah, what she said." "I'd call boasting rights while you're able."
"No, I still don't like his tone! If you guys are as grateful as you make out to be, then would it kill you guys to come out with a little thank you?"
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his attitude:
He's just embarrassed and not used to this kind of response...
Miroku then asks me,
"So, as our representative, will you kindly do the honours, Coraline?"
I nod with a smile matching his:
"Of course."
I began to approach my boyfriend, who suddenly had a worried expression spread onto his face, which was likely due to a bold dare I faintly recall before my nightmare ended.
He really thinks I'm mean enough to use 'that word'...
"...Inuyasha."
He flinches at the ready of an appending doom...which doesn't come.
"Thank you so much for saving us."
I end the thanks by kissing his cheek, which snapped him out of his daze with a twitch of his ears and a slight blush dusting his face.
"(Looks away) Well that sure didn't turn out the way I thought it would..."
I silently laugh behind my hand just as Miroku suggests we all begin moving on to other places.
"Well then, shall we be on our way?"
"Good idea."
"I'm peckish."
Freeman and Besa follow Sango and Shippo wholeheartedly:
"Same here!"
"It's amazing what a little terror can do to your appetite..."
Watching their forms walking off for a moment, I then turn to Inuyasha and take his hand to gently tug along after them.
"Come on, let's go."
"Uh, right. Hey, was that really what you wanted to say?"
I ask in feigned innocence,
"What do you mean?"
"Oh come off it, you know what. I know you wanna say that word!"
"Nope, not even in the slightest. You sure you're not just feeling after-stress?"
"After-stress?!"
His somewhat offended tone made me giggle aloud, and he growls lightly at me...before forming a sneaky smile, and scoops me over his shoulder!
"Aah! Inuyasha!?"
"(Chuckle) This is what you get for teasin'!"
Stunned at first, I quickly began to squirm in his hold with a small laugh and playfully beat my fists onto his back as he started on his way again.
"Put me down!"
"Nuh-uh, not happenin'!"
"Inuyasha, I will definitely say it now!"
"Keh, and you'll come down with me, woman!"
...Damn, he's right.
Letting out a somewhat dramatic sigh, I relax out of my protests and allowed him to continue carrying me, his smugness radiating off his form ten-fold compared to earlier while the air echoes a bit with laughter from the others...But I didn't mind in the least, residing to thinking about what really mattered after this little escapade.
Better to be in the arm and over the shoulder of someone who loves me than someone who wants to kill me...
(Smile) Yeah...I couldn't be in safer hands.