CHAPTER ONE
Fresh air was a rare commodity for Kagura. As precious as gold. She inhaled deep, savoring the feeling of clean and cool in her lungs. The breeze on her skin was almost heavenly, and she took the time to relish in it; the way it smoothed cool fingers through her hair and ghosted along her cheeks. This planet was uncommon; a temperate climate, enough water and sun to support an agricultural industry that could feed an entire system. She'd only been here once before, and she inhaled the sweet citrus scent that seemed to dance on the wind no matter where you were. Orchards and gardens fat with fruit all throughout the year, a green belt that spanned out for hundreds of thousands of miles across the planet's center.
Kagura supposed that's what had brought them here.
The young human girl―probably no more than eight―and a man that had to be the most unfortunate survivor of the D-MAN trials she'd ever seen. With a sickly green tint to his skin, eyes bulging out of his froggy face, not to mention the fact that the top of his head barely reached past her hip. She'd been told that this would be a dangerous mission, but as she scanned for any other bodyguards she wanted to know when Naraku had started underestimating her this badly.
Speaking of, the Saimyosho in her pocket buzzed erratically. A warning to hurry the fuck up. Kagura sighed and flicked it off.
The green asshole went down with a shriek, a pathetic excuse for a fight in contrast with the girl who screamed and tried to beat her fists against Kagura's hold. The blows wouldn't deter her as she dragged the girl back towards the Rectrix and tossed her inside. She bounced once on the floor with a heavy thunk, and then scrambled backwards against the captain's seat asthe door slammed shut behind them.
"Better strap in, kid."Kagura stepped over her and crawled into the cockpit, starting the engines. The star map to their destination appeared on the window above her as the craft lifted into the air.
"It's gonna' be a bumpy ride."
…
The Kumo waited just beyond the asteroid belt of this system, Kagura navigated through the rocks and debris smoothly, dreading the moment that the Kumo's giant mass would grow from the darkness.
The black metal of it's hull blocked out the stars and was too dark to reflect the light of the nearest sun. An effective camouflage from far away, an ominous warning close up; a sick feeling blossomed in her belly whenever she set eyes on gritted teeth and a white knuckled grip on her controls, Kagura directed the Rectrix towards the docking bay, the Kumo's massive doors slid open for them and she was jumping out of the ship before the door had fully closed. She was ready to make a run to her rooms, but the faces of her welcoming party stopped her.
"Took you long enough."
Unfortunately, they were less than welcome. Hakudoushi watched her with a knowing quirk to his brow that looked too severe on his young face. Beside him, Kohaku stared at nothing, dead eyed as usual.
"My bad," she shrugged, "her bodyguard put up more of a fight than expected."
Hakudoushi looked like he didn't really believe it. Kagura didn't really care.
He gestured with his chin and Kohaku was stepping up and into her ship without even looking back. There was a thud and some rustling before he emerged with the girl's limp body cradled in his arms.
Hakudoushi sneered. "You weren't supposed to kill her."
"She passed out once we left the atmosphere." She had warned the girl to buckle up.
Hakudoushi rolled his eyes. He waved a finger at Kohaku and the two began to make their way towards the exit when Hakudoushi stopped and turned back with a grin.
"Oh, I almost forgot," he said, leveling those creepy little eyes at her. "He wants to see you."
Kagura fought not to let it show, but an icy chill ran down her spine. She squared her face and tried to play it off by turning towards her ship, running her hands over the metal as if checking for scratches.
"Yeah, I'll head up there in a bit."
Hakudoushi let out a snort she wanted to knock him upside the head for. But she kept her eyes on her ship and didn't turn back around until the sound of their footsteps faded, until she was left alone in the docking bay. He was probably watching, he was always fucking watching, but making him wait was her own little rebellion.
The Rectrix had a few new scratches, space debris from that asteroid field most likely. But the white steel of her hull still shone under the flickering fluorescent lights of the bay. A few scratches wouldn't slow her down. Kagura gave her one last pat and sighed. She'd give her a good polishing later.
A shiver ran down her spine and she chanced a glance at one of the cameras hidden in the wires and ribs of the ship. Time to go.
The way was long, but she navigated her way through the bowels of the Kumo with a practiced and detested ease. The recycled, stale air of the ship was suffocating, choking her with its hot stink. The docking bay was lower on the ship, closer to the engines, and if they weren't at anchor coming through this way would feel like boiling alive. Too far from the engines and the walls weren't always thick enough for the freezing temperatures of the void, and there was little here in the way of central heat. Some hallways were barely that, sometimes only a support beam to walk along, all exposed wires and studs that threatened to slice open your skin if you lost your step.
A horror show, the Kumo was a trap even for its crew. She hated this fucking ship.
She held onto that thought, let it fill her, let her hatred for the ship and its captain give her strength and hold her back straight as the doors slid open..
The entirety of the known universe opened up before her. Deserts and tropical rainforests, frozen worlds and cities that stretched for across whole planets, satellites spinning around distant suns―all pixelated and grainy, with a blue tint that made her eyes ache and head throb.
Screens covered nearly every surface, obscuring the windows that had once displayed the stars. Now, hardly any pinpricks of light poked through the gaps between screens. In a corner Kanna typed away on the tablet she was never without, the girl didn't even look up when Kagura stepped inside.
He didn't acknowledge her either, at first, too absorbed in whatever had caught his interest. Hunched over the main monitor, he was cast in a hazy blue silhouette, greasy black hair spilled over his shoulders and his white cloak draped over the bench he reclined on.
She cleared her throat. "...You wanted to see me?"
"You retrieved the girl?"
"Of course." Between the monitors he constantly surrounded himself with or Kanna's hacking there was no way he hadn't seen the whole thing go down himself.
"Was there any trouble?"
"None."
"Not even her guardian?"
"The green guy?" she shrugged. "He went down easy enough."
He shook his head. "No, the other."
"There was no one else." He hadn't told her much about the mission. Retrieve the girl. Kill anyone who tries to stop you. It will be dangerous. That little imp might be dead, but nothing else about it had been difficult.
"Curious." He sounded like he might elaborate, but he trailed off without another word.
Kagura waited, desperately wanting to be excused, but Kanna kept up her key tapping while he continued to stare at the monitor before him. She couldn't make out what it was, his silhouette shielded the screen, but she had only a handful of guesses what they might be. Most of them started with the letter "K" and involved a certain bitch of a cyborg.
She wanted to puke.
He turned then, and she worried that he might have added telepathy to his abilities while she was away.
In the blue light of the screens his blood red eyes were dark, almost black, and made his stare all the more unsettling as he turned all the way to face her. The wires and tubes that protruded from his skin moved with him, dragging across the floor when he stood.
"When he comes for her I want you to stay out of it. I will deal with him alone."
She raised a brow. Odd, he was usually more than happy to throw her to the dogs. "And who should I be avoiding, exactly?"
He paused, as if her question had offended him.
"Inuyasha's older brother, Sesshoumaru."
A real dog then. The name meant nothing to her.
"Is that all?"
He'd already turned back to his monitors, ignoring her. She waited a few more minutes, just to be sure, before seeing herself out.
…
He pressed the Tokijin into motion, the glow of a hundred buttons and the soft light of the stars the only thing illuminating the cockpit. As the ship lifted into the atmosphere, he felt little for the wonder of the universe that appeared before them. Any awe he might have once mustered was overshadowed by simmering fury. It itched in his fingertips and roiled in his belly.
An insult that needed to be made right.
"Uh, Captain," Jaken whimpered through a swollen lip, "shall I set the course?"
He wanted blood.
"Go after them."
With the flick of a switch, they were off.
…
Somewhere far off, an alarm sounded. Warning of an unauthorized boarding.
So he had come after all. She would stay out of it, just as she'd been told, but she couldn't help it if curiosity got the better of her. The halls were quiet, save for the alarm, and once that cut off―someone had probably gotten tired of the noise―it left the halls eerily silent. As if even the ship itself was holding its breath.
Instinct told her where Naraku would be. The only place where he could properly entertain guests. He called it a great hall, but in reality it was no more than a cargo hold, outfitted with all the equipment and gangways that that entailed, cranes and lifts, wires drooping from the ceiling, often dripping stale fuel or expired cleaning products. He kept it empty, exactly for times like this, and yet despite being at the center of the ship it was freezing when she crept out onto one of the upper gangways. Naraku sat down below, waiting, all wrapped up in his white cloak. He did enjoy the pomp and circumstance.
She kept her breathing in check, trying to contain the small plume of fog she exhaled, and waited. She was glad she didn't have to wait long. Her ears perked at the sound of footsteps down below and she held her breath as she watched the
He strode into the room and she felt it. The energy that surrounded him furious and vicious and stifling, tangible in the air, almost warm even as high up as she was. Naraku hardly flinched, just smiled that serene little smirk of his.
"Welcome, Captain Sesshoumaru. It has been a while. I suppose you've come for your girl?"
"I came to find out why someone like you would dare move against me, Naraku."
"Apologies, I knew of no other way to invite you. But I am glad you've come―"
"Spare me the formalities." There was a gun strapped to his hip, but the dog reached for the short sword instead. It extended from it's sheath with a soft clink of steel. A good choice, a gun was too dangerous in a tin can floating in space. Not when that girl was involved.
"Unfortunate." Naraku sounded almost remorseful, but then he got to his feet and let the pelt fall to the floor around him. The wires attached to his torso writhed, undulating, growing, becoming appendages of their own until they were thick enough to elevate him off the floor. Naraku grinned, proud of the spectacle he had made of himself.
Sesshoumaru looked unphased. He lunged forward, sword at the ready, and Kagura could do nothing but watch.
The sword easily sliced through the silicon appendages, leaving them twitching on the floor without a care. He was quick, efficient, and that Sesshoumaru was gaining ground, closing in on Naraku, despite the swirling mass he'd made himself. Three more swings and he was within arm's reach of his main body, and the sword came down swift, embedding itself in Naraku's shoulder―
But where Naraku was weak in certain respects, his upgrades always compensated. For each slice of mechanical skin, another grew back to take its place, and the longer she watched, the harder it was not to notice that those pieces he'd cut were moving towards him.
A jagged piece stuck to his ankle, Sesshoumaru didn't notice, but then there was another, and another, and more until the added weight began to slow him down even as he leapt away. And yet, Naraku hadn't actually tried to land a killing blow…
Ah.
So that's what it was. Naraku wasn't trying to kill him. He was trying to trap him.
If Naraku wanted to continue his little quest he needed stem cells straight from the source. A DNA sequence that couldn't be found anywhere else. Inuyasha's blood was too diluted, corrupted by his human mother. But a full blooded brother? Descendant of one of the most powerful D-MAN bloodlines ever created? Now here was a prize to be had.
Suddenly, the ship rocked. Alarms screamed. Kagura felt the change in air pressure even at the center of the ship.
Someone had breached the hull.
"Kagura." She jumped at her name. Naraku didn't bother to look her way, but the dog spared a glance up at her. "Go greet our guests. And fetch Kohaku and our newest little passenger once you've finished."
Sesshoumaru looked like he might go after her, but a swollen arm of wires stopped him.
"Ah, my apologies, Captain. But we aren't finished here."
Kagura was off and running before the next blow.
The ship continued to shake and rattle as she ran through the halls, but there wasn't the tell tale pop of the hull breaking. They weren't trying to sink them, yet, and it wasn't until she heard the ragged breathing and familiar footsteps that she knew why. She almost ran headfirst into their intruder when she rounded a corner.
"What's up, Inuyasha? It's been awhile."
He leapt back, away from her, and squared his shoulders, one had on the hilt of his sword. "Get the fuck out of my way, Kagura."
The ship rocked again, and they both almost lost their footing. "What the hell are you and your stupid little crew thinking? You know how it ends on this ship. Why bother trying your luck?"
"Shut the hell up!" He leveled the tip of his sword at her. "And get out of my way!"
She didn't have to think about it. The older had been doing well, but added the wild card that was Inuyasha's crew? The odds were in her favor and she wasn't one to pass up a golden opportunity.
"My pleasure." She slid past his dumbfounded face with a pat on the shoulder. He flinched. "Watch out, your brother might not be doing too well and he's in a mood."
"My what―Oi!" she was already off down the next corridor, his voice drowned out by another shockwave. He didn't follow.
She kept going, and suddenly the ship's shaking got stronger, and this time she did miss a step, collided with the wall and only caught herself before she hit the floor. The "guest room" wasn't far, a few more dashes across rippling metal, but when she threw the door open, she froze.
"Where the fuck is Kohaku?!" Or even Hakudoushi? Kanna? She hadn't seen anyone―and inside it was just the girl, tucked away beneath a table in the corner with her hands covering her head, the fruit she'd stolen rolled lazily by her feet. She swallowed. "He said there were people outside. He went to go look―"
Shit. Alarms blared. Ear splitting, if Inuyasha's crew had taken Kohaku―They had no reason to leave the ship intact. Not under heavy fire, and Inuyasha was stupid enough to tell them to let loose even with himself inside. He had a penchant for survival, that one.
Fuck the rest of them. She had to get to the Rectrix.
The girl was still shivering under the table. And what little was left of Kagura's heart clenched.
"Come on! Get up! We have to go." She stomped inside and grabbed the girl by the collar before dragging her out the door.
The lights were starting to flicker, and Kagura knew that the battery would go first, leaving them in darkness. She wasn't surprised when the power cut out, leaving them bathed in the red emergency lights. A bloody color, fitting for their situation.
She dragged the girl through the halls, trying to avoid the outer corridors, only to come up to a dead end. Crumpled steel and loose, sparking wires barred their path to the docking bay and she realized that they stood beneath the cargo hold. She listened for the sound of fighting, screams or the sound of steel slicing through flesh, but couldn't discern anything above the shrieking of the alarm. Maybe Naraku had succeeded, a terrifying prospect, but she would find out later, for now she had to get off the fucking ship.
The only way to the bay meant using the outer ring, a few more minutes away, she only hoped the ship could hold.
She ran faster once they reached the outer corridor, starlight flickered in her peripherals as they ran past the portholes. She thought she saw a shadow out there, waiting in the dark…
The ship groaned, a painful sound and suddenly they were thrown against the wall. The girl screamed and clutched at her sleeves with a white knuckled grip. Kagura felt the pull, the sudden pop of her ear drums that could only mean one thing―Ahead of them she saw the bright red switch, the thick seam of steel that meant an airlock, they could almost make it, but the girl was slowing her down―she gave her arm a yank, til they were even in step again, but the girl was quiet, not even a scream or tears as the ship groaned around them. Only a few more feet til they were in the bay, and then they would―
A shadow appeared, grotesque arm inches from the switch that would save them, but when their eyes met Kagura knew there would be no salvation from this.
No! That fucking bastard mechanic― "Goryoumaru―!"
A grin spread across his face as he pressed down on the lock―the doors slammed shut just as the walls around them crumpled, ripped away, and they were thrown out into the void.
Kagura gripped her tight as the girl screamed, and that, too, was lost to nothing.
…
A/N: The sci-fi prompt gave me the most inspiration for this ship that I've had in months, so here we are, a fic that will probably draw at least a little from all of the SessKagu week prompts. Hope you enjoy it so far.