Chapter 26
"Tonight, the sky is full of stars," Shippo says. He's not wrong. As I lie on my back in my sleeping bag borrowed from Kagome, I watch the night sky. Here, in this time period, there are no lights to blot out the beauty that I can see. They twinkle brilliantly; something you can't see in the city. All three of the boys sit around a fire next to me, Inuyasha the closest to my side. Close enough where I can smell the forest coming off of him. "Sometimes, I wonder which there are more of, stars in the sky, or shards of the Shikon Jewel. Our search is far from ended yet."
If only they knew how many stars there are in the sky. He wouldn't be thinking that.
"Not necessarily Shippo." Inuyasha replies.
"What do you mean?" The fox demon questions.
"The demon Naraku is gathering shards of the jewel just as we are. In the long run, he'll save us a great deal of work. He'll get the jewel shards, and then we will get him!" Inuyasha chimes confidently. "How does that sound for a good strategy?"
It sounds dangerous. If Naraku fooled you once, Inuyasha, he can fool us again. Besides, the more jewel shards Naraku collects, the stronger he will be, I'm afraid. I don't think Inuyasha has considered all the variables.
"With every shard that Naraku gathers, he becomes stronger does he not? In that case, we will never be able to catch him!" Shippo exclaims exactly what's on my mind. "It's obvious our only hope is to find more jewels than he does." Shippo sighs, "Even a little kid like me can figure out something that simple. It makes me wonder if maybe you haven't taken a few too many blows to the head!"
Inuyasha leans over to Shippo with a heavy growl, "Let me try that theory out on you!" He yells.
"What will you do if you gather all the shards of the Shikon Jewel?" Miroku asks.
"What else? I'll become a full-fledged bona fide demon!" Inuyasha sits back down, crossing his legs and arms.
I frown. I shouldn't be surprised that he still wants to become a full demon but part of me – a small part – was hoping that'd have changed by now. Maybe I just got my hopes up. I roll over to my side towards them and watch as they converse.
"Oh? That's what you have planned?" Miroku inquires, though it sounded more sarcastic.
"Nobody wants me to be a weakling, right?"
"Tell me something, when you use the power of the shikon jewel to become a true demon, do you honestly think you will remain as you are now? Can you recall ever having seen a demon that was using the shikon jewel shards for a benevolent end? This is merely a theory, but I believe that those who seek out and gain the powers of the sacred jewel eventually lose their own hearts in the process." Miroku confides.
"Hmph! That may be so, but when did I ever say I wanted to be a good demon?"
"You didn't. But you do wish to protect Keara and thus desire more power. Inuyasha, once you become a full-fledged demon who's to say you won't devour Shippo and Keara?" He questions.
"Why me? Wouldn't you be tastier?" Shippo whines.
"I will have fled long before." Miroku pats Shippo on the head.
Inuyasha sits still, his eyes on the fire as he contemplates what Miroku has said, or at least, that's what it looks like.
Closing my eyes, I try to imagine Inuyasha as a full demon – much like Sesshomaru - I can see stripes on his cheeks but his eyes would be fierce and full of blood lust. He wouldn't be my Inuyasha any longer. He'd be someone else completely. And that's what I am afraid of.
"What?! A girl took the jewel shard?! Who was she?!" Inuyasha lifts a poor middle aged man off the ground by the top of his blue shirt. The man is mostly bald with a top knot on his head, his tiny eyes look frightened and he shakes under Inuyasha's up close stare. "Come on! Answer me!" He shouts when the man doesn't respond.
We're a little passed a small village that has rice paddies taking up the center of the area, in the forest nearby. We just happened upon four men who are carrying hoes and sickles and were busy cutting up what looks like a centipede demon from underneath some large, and thick trees. The trees have been knocked down by their centers, collapsed on the ground like twigs. The three other men are a little away from us, hoes and sickles close in hand as they watch Inuyasha interrogate the man in blue.
"Look! Another demon!" One of the three men yell, pointing at Inuyasha as he speaks.
"Call for the slayers!" Another shouts.
Completely ignoring their cries for help, Miroku walks up to Inuyasha's side and pats a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head at him. "She must have been a demon slayer."
Inuyasha grumbles, dropping the man on the ground and crossing his arms. The moment the man gets a chance; he rushes off leaving the three men behind. One of the three men; a tall gentleman with a gray shirt approaches us. He's shaking a little bit while he stares up at Inuyasha, but he gets close enough for us to hear him when he talks.
"Aye, she accepted the jewel shards as payment for defeating the centipede demon for us."
"That's odd, I wonder what she's going to do with the jewel." I respond, clutching the straps of the yellow backpack to pull it closer to my back.
"Probably get corrupted like the rest of 'em." Inuyasha says.
"She said that this sacred something-or-other jewel originated from her home village in the first place." We can visually see the man calming down the longer he talks, obviously realizing Inuyasha isn't here to harm any of them. The other two men notice this as well, a guy in a blue shirt and another in a green, approach him from behind, nodding their heads to what the man has said.
"Inuyasha, had you heard of the jewels origins?" Miroku asks.
Inuyasha shakes his head, "Not at all."
That's right. Inuyasha only knew the jewel from the time it was being protected by Kikyo – at least that's how the story goes to what Kaeda told me.
It is hard to believe that none of the villagers could tell us where the Demon Slayers' village is, except that it is somewhere in the mountains. We've been traveling for hours in the forest between the mountains, but nothing has popped up. Not even a scent that Inuyasha can follow.
"We must be getting close," Miroku says reassuringly.
I nod in agreement. I search the forest and the top of the mountains at which I can see, and frown a little. There is a lot of space to cover still.
"Let's just find it." Inuyasha grumbles from a few feet up ahead. Shippo clings to his left shoulder as he looks back at us.
"Inuyasha, do you plan on stealing the shikon jewel fragments from the village?" Shippo asks.
"Yeah, what do you think?"
Miroku sighs beside me, shaking his head a little, "Let's just hope they don't slay us in the process."
"Yeah," I nod again. They are after all, professional demon slayers. They could have a contingent plan in eliminating demons like Inuyasha. But if they are human, like the villagers say they are, there is a chance Inuyasha would get his way.
The wind begins to blow in an odd way suddenly; swirling and thrusting the tree tops with ease when before we hardly had a breeze.
"This wind is strange; I don't like it." Miroku and I pause in our tracks and watch the trees as they sway back and forth.
That's when I get the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, like an uncomfortable cramp that lingers. We all look up to the sky and see the moon is lightly covered by clouds but then, coming out from beyond the trees is a massive grouping of demons flying pass the moon.
"Holy shit, look at all of them." I curse. Now knowing where the bad feeling was coming from.
"A horde of demons!" Inuyasha yells.
There has to be hundreds of them. The mass of demons keeps on going, passing and blocking out the moon completely. Ignoring us down below, they head off towards one of the mountains.
"Their very presence is making me ill." Miroku frowns.
"You too?" I ask.
"I smell death. Those demons are charging in to attack." Inuyasha leans down, looking ready to leap off into the distance but he remains still for the moment.
"We should follow them!" Miroku suggests, looking over to me for an answer.
Not sure whether this will be a brilliant idea or not – we can't just let the demons fly off to do harm to whomever they plan on doing harm too. So, I nod in agreement.
It takes us till morning to find where the demons wandered off too. The smell of blood, smoke and death soon catches up with us. A good distance away is a village surrounded by a very tall fence that is broken in some places. Smoke rises from random points in the village, alerting all of us that something is wrong. We look at one another and nod in unison. We run along the trail to the village in hopes to find someone still alive. The closer we get the more we can see. Demons and humans lie dead and scattered about. There are still some small fires burning away at wood roofs and the wooden gates. Could this be the Demon Slayer village?
It is obvious the Demon Slayers fought till their last breaths against this horde of demons because weapons of all sorts lie along the bodies of the dead. The smell is starting to become unbearable, especially as we make our way inside the village.
"The villagers must have battled the demons." Miroku says, just as we come a stop when we pass the wooden gates.
"No mistaking it. This is the very same village of the Demon Slayers we were seeking." Inuyasha replies.
Hearing this has me start focusing in for the shards. If the girl came back to this village it could mean the jewel shards are here, if they weren't stolen by any surviving demons. But as I focus I am finding nothing but the faint cramp of a bad feeling in my stomach. Could demons still be nearby?
"The jewels must have been stolen," I sigh.
"Maybe if we hurry we can catch up with them!" Shippo suggests from on top of Miroku's left shoulder.
Inuyasha shakes his head and looks back at the small demon, "We'll think about that after we've properly laid these people to rest. They deserve that, at least."
I look over to Inuyasha with warm eyes, surprised he even brought burying them up. We've traveled pass many of dead human and demons alike – from war and battles to just small fights and not once did he stop to look at them or pay respects. It's a different side of him I am not accustomed too.
A crash comes from behind of the still standing buildings, scaring me half to death. My hand slaps against my chest as my heart beats fast. Instinctively, Inuyasha throws himself in front of me protectively, his right hand grasping Tetsusaiga's handle.
Out from behind the building walks a large two tailed yellow cat with a black mark on its forehead, black ears, black paws, and black on the tips of its tail. Its eyes are a fierce red, and inside its impressive mouth is the head and neck of an ogre demon. The massive cat demon's growls once it sees us but stops. Its large red eyes gleam as they stare at me. The demon lifts its head in the air and sniffs, its tail wags and it starts to approach us.
"One surviving demon!" Inuyasha pulls out Tetsusaiga and readies to fight.
"Lord Inuyasha, would that be you?" A very familiar nasally voice says, but with no body for us to see it come from. It obviously isn't this demon talking to us. "Down Kirara! These people are not our enemies."
The cat demon drops the demon head to the ground. Flames burst out from the ground surrounding the cat demon before ultimately causing it to disappear. The flames disperse and what remains is a tiny, petite demon in its place. It is adorable and looks exactly the same but in miniature size. The demon sits back, and scratches as its head, popping off a little flake of something. The flake leaps from the ground up to Inuyasha's nose where we can clearly see it is Myoga.
"Ah, how I've longed for this nose!" Myoga says, about to bite into Inuyasha's flesh, but Inuyasha claps his hand against his face, flattening the tiny flea demon against his hand.
"You know this flea?" Miroku asks.
"It's Inuyasha's vassal, sort of." Shippo replies.
"This is the secret village of the demon slayers. For generations, the people of this village have trained and worked hard to dispose of demons. Then it only makes sense that they would be despised by the demons. It is true. Yet it is strange they would choose this time to attack." Myoga says from on top of Inuyasha's left shoulder, as Inuyasha lowers yet another body down a reed blanket. He's been at this for an hour. I watch from a distance, plucking some wildflowers from around the broken gates still able to hear what Myoga is saying from where I am at. I offered to help but both men told me otherwise. "A number of the warriors had been summoned to a distant castle and this village was left with few to protect it. I cannot help but wonder, if those who traveled to the castle are indeed safe."
After Inuyasha and Miroku lie the last few bodies on the reed blankets, they start to dig holes individually for each person. Once each person has been lied to rest, I place a flower on top of their graves. Miroku stands next to me at the grave beside me with his hands together and making a prayer for the dead.
"It's a shame, I'd hope to speak to someone at the village about the Shikon Jewel." Miroku mutters through a sigh.
"Talk to me, Myoga, you must know something." Inuyasha says. Myoga is now sitting on Inuyasha's right shoulder. And Inuyasha stands close behind Miroku with his arms crossed.
"Do I know something? About the Shikon Jewel?" Myoga asks. Placing the last flower on the last grave I stand back up, brushing off the dirt from my red priestess pants and walk over to Inuyasha and Myoga.
"You came here to learn about the jewel, didn't you?" I ask, lifting a brow with my question.
"Yes, it's been troubling me for a great while now. I needed to know more about the history of the jewel. After all, everyone who has come across the jewel has suffered great misfortune. I followed the rumors of the jewel and found myself here at this village. However, there is still one thing that disturbs me." Myoga closes his eyes for a brief second and then reopens them before continuing. "During my journey, a white baboon continually slipped in and out of my sight."
"A white baboon!" Inuyasha shouts, but then his face becomes very serious as he thinks to himself.
This is it. The white baboon is Naraku. And he is close. Closer than we originally thought. Could he be the cause of this catastrophe? I glance around at the broken village. Houses are destroyed, bodies of the demons are left on the ground to wreak up the Earth, the wooden gate is semi broken down, and fire still flickers here and there. Why would he – unless he's after the jewels as well. Our problems might have just gotten a lot worse. If Naraku, who is already a powerful demon – gets a hold of all the jewel shards, I am afraid not even Inuyasha would be able to take him on.
I frown, looking up at Inuyasha very serious expression and wonder what is on his mind. How will we win this?