Chapter 21: Whatever it is
"I'll shoot your fucking left arm off next!"
My left arm remains steady with the purplish flames engulfing my hand completely. This isn't like some sort of arrow, where aiming is a little easier. This has a wide girth that can easily hit or lose a spot. And honestly, I have no idea if I am aiming at his left arm because in reality I have no control over this power what-so-ever – but he doesn't know that. Closing one eye, I try to focus on the tiny shard that is lodged in the middle of his bicep, probably where the new hand meets his old arm. When no one seems to move to want to move or do anything, I release the grip on my power behind my hand, and it discharges the purple beam like a gun, blasting it in the direction of Sesshomaru.
In flashes of white, he dodges the attack, and before I know it; the flashes of white are heading straight for me. Stumbling back, I bring both arms to my chest to protect myself, but just as the white is about to get me, Inuyasha comes in and averts the attack with three blades of blood.
"Leave her alone! I'm the one you want!" He shouts, his three blades target Sesshomaru in a way that earns his attention. The full demon is cut on the right cheek but it is hardly anything that can cause any serious harm. He manages to miss all the other blades and jumps out of reach once again. Inuyasha lands in front of me, his hands at his sides and ready to block me if need be.
"Most amusing, you seem so anxious for her safety." Sesshomaru almost chuckles with a small grin on his angular face.
"There is a shard embedded in his left arm, in the middle of his bicep. We need to get it."
"Sesshomaru has never been the kind of opponent that's easy to strike down. You need to stay back and care for Miroku." Inuyasha looks over his shoulder at me with a look of seriousness I have never seen before.
"But I don't have the remedy here!" I don't. No insect remedy was packed away for us, but then again who would have expected this sort of attack. There is nothing I can do for Miroku but to ask him to keep strong until I can get Inuyasha back into the present time to receive a remedy. Sighing, I turn for Miroku but stop when Inuyasha calls my name.
"Keara," he starts, "thanks for your help. Your powers were able to reverse the Tetsusaiga's transformation. Now I am able to defeat him."
Pausing completely, I twist back for him and smile encouragingly. "You got this."
He nods in response with the smallest uplift of the left corner of his lips. I head back for Miroku who just back fisted Jaken in the back of the head. The monk looks ferociously angry despite the pain he is in, that he is even growling through his teeth.
"Methinks your earlier expression was more pleasing to the eye and less menacing to the head!" Jaken cries out, rubbing the back of his head where he was hit.
"Where did you get those poisonous insects?!" Miroku snatches him by the front of his shirt and pulls him in close as he glowers into Jaken's eyes.
"They were given to us by a demon named Naraku, I did not see his face, for he wore the mask of a baboon to conceal himself!" Jaken gives in.
"Naraku!" Miroku yells, with slight surprise in his dark blue eyes.
"It must be the same demon you are pursuing!" Shippo says.
"Where can I find him?" Miroku persists.
"I know not where he is, and even if you were to find him, it would do you no good! It is too late for you, for the poison has taken hold and will soon claim your life." Jaken half chuckles.
Miroku groans once he is reminded of this, sweat drips down his forehead and along his jawbone. This makes me feel useless, there isn't much I can do except for maybe restrict his arm for now, though the poison is already pumping through the rest of his body. Miroku drops Jaken and uses the last of his strength to beat him over the head until the imp is down stuck in the ground.
The monk groans once again, this time, while he twists to lay down on the ground below. Stepping over to his right arm I gently lift it up and take a look at the damage. The arm is still throbbing but not nearly as much, he may be able to last until we can get an antidote from Kagome. "You need to stay strong. We don't have any remedy here on us at the moment." But then it clicks! I remember Kaeda showing me a few different herbs from the woods that worked as slow remedies for poisons. Maybe if I can find some, I might be able to stave off the poison until we can get something stronger!
Searching my surroundings, with the two brothers' fighting behind me, I notice a patch of forest nearest to us that round the stairway. It's my only chance. Standing up, I glare down at the two of them, "Keep him strong, I am going to find some herbs that may help!" Without waiting for a reply, I race to the patch of forest nearby, hoping on my way there, Sesshomaru doesn't feel the need to attack me again. Once in the clear, I search.
The small green plant I need has no thorns and a purple flower that kind of reminds me of a dandelion. There are quite a few herbs in this small patch of land, and lucky for me, this time it is mostly untouched by mankind. Kneeling down I dig through bushes and branches until finally, I spot the exact plant I am looking for. Snatching up the flower I take a good hard look at it to make sure I am not giving him anything worse, but it is indeed, what I am looking for. Standing back up, I push my way through the middle of a bush I am caught in and rush back to Miroku while plucking the leaves from the plant on the way there.
"You need to chew on these leaves and swallow the juices. This will help ward off some of the poison until I can get you something stronger from the present time!" I explain, kneeling down and handing him the leaves. He gingerly takes them from my hand, pops them in his mouth and starts to chew with a bitterness crossing his face.
"Are you sure?" He grumbles. His face is already starting to show more color other than white, and the sweat starts to stop. I know for sure now that I grabbed the right herb and nod in response.
Behind me there is a loud crash, we all turn to take a look to find Inuyasha deep in a human sized hole in the ground with three reddish purple marks crossing his right cheek. Cursing to myself, I stand back up, my fists clenching tight at my sides as I start to see flashes of red again. Surrounding my hands, a purplish flame engulfs them again; raising up my right arm, I release another blast from my palm, breaking the left shoulder piece that encircles his left shoulder. The metal splits and breaks, falling to the ground in pieces.
"Good hit! You broke his armor!" Shippo squeals beside me. But I wasn't aiming. I was just shooting. I got lucky.
"Inuyasha, make her stop. Half demon though you are, the blood of a demon runs in you. Do not accept human aid, even in death."
"Don't try anything, Keara!" Inuyasha yells, standing back up on his two feet again. He leaps over to my side, and places a hand on my shoulder. His eyes are soft, and gentle, regardless of the circumstances. Sighing, I nod and drop my left arm that was ready to shoot.
"Fine, for now." I grumble at his demand.
"Miroku, take Keara and Shippo, and get as far away as you can, go fast! Get Keara out of here and guard her with your life." Inuyasha demands.
We all stare up at Inuyasha with shock, but Miroku nods.
"You will never escape me. I shall destroy you all with a single stroke!" Sesshomaru lifts up the Tetsusaiga; the blade glows a bright yellow light. It is half way transformed but as he comes to swing it, Inuyasha heads for him as quick as he can go, throttling his attack elsewhere from us. The power of the swing still chucks dirt and pebbles at us, and we all cover our faces and heads to protect ourselves, all except Inuyasha, whose managed to grab ahold of Sesshomaru left arm to prevent another attack.
"Why are you waiting, run for it!" Inuyasha shouts.
Without another word, Miroku grabs my hand and pulls me away from the area, we head off in a random direction opposite of Sesshomaru, eventually passing a section of trees that we all end up hiding behind.
From where we are we can just barely make out what either of them are saying, especially Sesshomaru, who talks so quietly as it is. He speaks with a smile on his face, "Very touching, trying to buy time in order to save the lives of your friends!"
With his right hand, Sesshomaru punches Inuyasha deep into his midsection, earning a loud groan from the half demon. We can hear the sound of cracking bones. This isn't right. Why am I hiding? We've fought together all this time, and now he wants me to hide? Haven't I shown him I am strong enough to fight, to purify, to destroy.
Stepping forward, I am immediately pulled back when Miroku grabs my wrist once again. "You need to trust him, Keara."
But it's not trust – it's about protecting each other.
But I pause, when I notice steam is evaporating from underneath Inuyasha grip on Sesshomaru's left arm, and just like that, Inuyasha tears the left arm's wrist and hand off and chucks it to the side with Tetsusaiga safely back in his own grip once again.
"Now the sword is back in my hands!" Inuyasha steps back a few feet, Tetsusaiga at his side and fully transformed.
Jaken runs over to Sesshomaru who seems un-phased by this sudden turn of events, "Master! Without the human arm, you are unable to hold on to the Tetsusaiga!"
However, our small victory is broken, when suddenly Inuyasha falls to his knees and his eyes start to hollow out. Still holding Tetsusaiga, the blades curves down and into the ground in front of him. It appears that Inuyasha has lost consciousness.
"Shit!" I struggle in Miroku grip, but his just gets stronger. The purple light slowly engulfs my arms until they reach my shoulders, the power looks like purple flames flickering off my flesh and clothes.
Jaken starts to head for the blade, earning a warning from Sesshomaru to stop. But as he does, the blade releases a yellow strike that chases Jaken away all by itself. It reminds me of the time, the sword and I, were stuck under that muck. It breathed and vibrated to life. It lived…It protected me. Now it is protecting Inuyasha.
"What happened? The sword attacked on its own accord!" Jaken says in shock.
For a moment, it looks like Sesshomaru is contemplating something but then he turns, and starts off in the opposite direction of us. "We shall leave, Jaken. The Tetsusaiga is presently beyond my reach, so there is no sense in staying."
"I won't argue! After you, master!"
Along with Sesshomaru, the bees start to swarm off, disappearing as Sesshomaru does into the horizon, along with the shard that he takes with him. Finally, Miroku releases me, and when he does, I burst off for Inuyasha, my powers still inflaming my arms just in case Sesshomaru changes his mind.
"Keara, you are alright…." Inuyasha mutters, but without another word, or gesture, he falls flat on his stomach in a puddle of blood.
Kneeling down at his side, I gently brush his bangs from his forehead to see that his eyes are still hollowed regardless of him just speaking. He's still unconscious.
"Oh, Inuyasha…." I mumble, running my fingers along his hair and down his back, as the powers slowly die down from around my arms.
If it wasn't for Miroku summoning his raccoon friend, Hachiemon, we wouldn't be able to fly or walk back to Kaeda's village without needing a few days to recover. I don't think either Miroku, or Inuyasha, would be able to recover with so much needed help of antibiotics and remedies from Kagome's era. The both of them lie on their backs as they relax, probably passed out, on Hachiemon's back, as Shippo and I sit in between them as we converse. The cool air that brushes by as we fly across the sky in very relaxing.
"So, about the hive?" I ask, gesturing over to Miroku. He appears much better than before, thanks to the herb, but he's still clearly in pain and not fully healed. We need to get an antidote from Kagome in order to stop the rest of the poison.
"According to the imp, it was Naraku who lent the hive to Sesshomaru. And Naraku was the one who burned the wind tunnel in Miroku's hand." Shippo states.
And he's the demon we suspect who set up Kikyo and Inuyasha all those years back. Frowning, I sit back a little while holding my knees against my chest.
"Does Inuyasha know any of this?"
"No, he needed all his energy to battle Sesshomaru and this information would have just distracted him."
"Smart thinking. Let's not tell him, right away, okay? We'll tell him eventually when he's recovered."
"Take this," I order; handing Miroku a soda-looking can. It is the antidote Kagome provided for us when Inuyasha hobbled his back to her time for a brief few minutes. I help him pop it open, and gesture for him to drink it. Sitting up against the wall, he ingests the drink with a foul look, but finishes in non-the-less. "Good, that should help."
Grabbing antiseptics, I get up and walk outside where Inuyasha is standing against a tree. I walk over to him and dab the antiseptic on a cloth that was wrapped around it, "Hey, stay still." I demand, and gingerly press the liquid on the wounds on his cheek,
He hisses at me for a moment but doesn't move. His eyes are soft, gentle, like before when he was encouraging us to run away. Which has me worried for whatever he's going to say or do next.
"You've grown so much…." He mumbles, averting his eyes from me.
A warmth covers my cheeks, and I shake my head in response to his comment. "I still can't control when my powers kick in. It is like they follow my emotions."
"Stop that," he says, "You saved me with your abilities. And I'm grateful."
Grateful? He must have been beaten up pretty hard for him to be grateful. Hesitantly, I touch his forehead with the back of my hand, and frown when I notice there isn't any heat radiating off of him. Maybe he has a concussion?
"Don't sleep for a couple of hours."
"Keara, take things more seriously. Things are getting more dangerous by the day."
"Hey, you, stop it." I point a finger at his face and he pauses with his eyes wide. "Your brother doesn't count. And so what, I am stuck here, and you are stuck with me. It doesn't matter how dangerous it is, because we are going to fight this together, and we are going to win. You hear me?"
With his eyes still wide, he nods.
"Damn right," I grumble, turning away from him, but a second later, I find myself being forced back towards him and straight into his chest, when he grabs my wrist and pulls me in. His strong arms, weak from battle, limply hold me against him.
"I was afraid. I thought I was going to lose you. I was terrified."
My heart races against my chest, I can practically taste the movement in my mouth. It is almost all I can hear in my ears, except for his soft voice. He was worried about me…? No one in my life has ever been worried about me. No one ever cared.
Unsure how to respond, I fall into his grip and rest my head just above his chest wound and listen to his heart beat. It is fast, but slower than mine. We stay like this for a few seconds before we both slowly pull away from each other.
"Everything will be fine, Inuyasha. I won't die. I was sent here for a reason, remember?"
He half smiles, and nods once again. "Yeah. Whatever that reason is."
Whatever that reason is….