DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.
Italic: thoughts
-- --: locations
"...": spoken words
~*~*~*~*~: time gap
*...* : noises
-by Kittymui-
Revenge
Previously:
One of the towers was blown into bits and smoke was coming out from the corner
of the castle.
Kagome gasped when she realized that her bedroom was located right below it
and ran as fast as she could back into the castle.
Oh God...oh God... please let Yuri and Kouga be okay... she prayed desperately.
Sesshoumaru...please come back!!!!!
~*~*~*~*~
[AN: Changing our perspective to Sesshoumaru now ^-^!]
--- In the forest ---
This is strange... Sesshoumaru thought as he dashed through the forest.
I have not run very far from the castle, yet Kagome's scent has completely
disappeared from the air...
Then Sesshoumaru suddenly stopped dashing. Wait a minute...something is very wrong here... he realized. Kagome's scent did not gradually disappear from the air...it happened within a split second.
"So you've finally realized it huh?" a female voice spoke from above.
Sesshoumaru looked up at where the voice came from.
A woman jumped from a big feather in the sky and landed softly on the grass not very far away from him.
The woman wore a white yukata with red sakura blossoms embedded on it. She had black hair tied up into a knot with several white feathers decorating it. In her right hand, she was holding a white fan with red flowers painted on it.
"Who are you?" Sesshoumaru demanded cautiously.
"The name's Kagura." the woman replied.
"You are a youkai and you reek of Naraku..." Sesshoumaru growled.
"What a keen nose you have there...but unfortunately it doesn't work too well when the wind's blowing the other way." Kagura smirked as she folded her fan.
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. "You are...a wind-user." he concluded after thinking a moment.
"Congratulations for finding out...but you've realized it too late." she responded and threw a feather into the air.
As soon as the feather reached the sky above the trees the deafening sound of a cannon echoed through the forest, causing a swarm of birds to ascend to the sky, followed by a distant sound of an explosion.
Sesshoumaru quickly turned around. "That's..." ..my castle's direction!!!
he realized, slightly panicked.
"What's the matter Sesshoumaru? Afraid that you might find you most beloved dead beneath the rubble?" Kagura giggled.
Sesshoumaru's ears twitched at hearing this and his eyes flashed red for a second. He slowly turned back to Kagura. "What did you do?" he growled threateningly.
"Taking revenge for the one I loved." Kagura stated plainly. "Your woman killed my most beloved so I'm taking her life to ease my grief."
"I think you should head back to your castle now. Or your love might be killed eventually if the impact had spared her life." she suggested with a grin.
Her amused expression vanished as soon as she saw the smirk on the inuyoukai's face.
"You are truly underestimating my mate." he began. "Some measly army won't be able to kill her. And besides...she would never forgive me if I let you live after what you have done."
The glare that Sesshoumaru was giving her sent shivers down her spine and she took several steps backwards.
Kagura then quickly hid her fear again and forced a grin on her face. "She won't survive this one, I'm afraid." she said as she opened her fan and drew a diagonal line with it.
A strong gush of wind suddenly came from behind Kagura and blew past the two youkai. "Can you smell it now?" she asked.
Sesshoumaru widened his eyes as he recognized the smell that started to fill the air around them. Gunpowder!?
Kagura smirked at seeing his surprised expression. "Yes, it's gunpowder...an army larger than you can imagine and every single soldier equipped with a deadly weapon called a gun."
Sesshoumaru dropped his face until his bangs covered his eyes.
"Oh and have I mentioned the row of cannons that's surrounding the castle from a distance?" she continued. "But I'm sure you have already realized that, haven't you?"
"Are you finished?" the inuyoukai growled without lifting his face.
"I must praise you for your courage to face me on your own...but you will
regret messing with me soon..."
"Be prepared wench..." he threatened as he flexed his claws and looked
up at Kagura with blood-red eyes and slit silver pupils. "...because I
am going to end your chatter once and for all!!"
Without warning, Sesshoumaru suddenly charged at the wind-user with his claw
first.
Kagura was shocked to see the sudden change of her opponent but quickly pulled herself together and jumped away just in time to avoid the attack.
*CRASHHHHHH*
Her eyes widened of shock when she saw the damage that her own body would have
received, had she not jumped away on time.
Sesshoumaru was now standing in front of a flattened pale-green landscape that was still sizzling of the poisonous acid from his claw attack.
What the hell!? He just destroyed a whole group of trees with one claw attack!?!? Kagura thought shocked.
She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw that Sesshoumaru had turned to look at her again with those ferocious eyes that were filled with the desire to rip her apart.
Kagura gritted her teeth. I won't be killed that easily!! Even if it's the famous Sesshoumaru!! she thought determined as she tightened her grip on her fan.
"Fuujin no Mai!!!" she cried and at the same time swiftly swiped the air in front of her with her fan.
A group of boomerang-shaped wind blades suddenly appeared and were sent flying towards Sesshoumaru with great speed.
Sesshoumaru grinned and made a graceful swing with his claw.
Within seconds the wind blades were all smacked aside by a thin pale green whip that appeared from his claw.
Several blades were sent back to Kagura and made her jump aside to avoid them. Dammit!! Is he really that powerful!? she cursed inwardly, landing on the grass again.
--- Back at the castle ---
Please let them be safe!! Kagome prayed in her mind as she ran up the
stairs.
She gasped and widened her eyes as soon as she entered her bedroom.
The wall that stood right in front of Kagome (i.e. the wall from across the doorway) was completely crushed and there were glass shards and large pieces of bricks spread all over the place.
Kagome froze when she saw the cradle that stood near the window before. It was smashed into pieces by the impact and was partly buried under the rubble.
She slowly walked towards the remnants of the cradle and knelt down. Then she noticed several stains of red liquid on the cradle and rubble. B-blood!! her mind screamed.
"No...NOO!!!" she cried as she hugged herself. "T-they can't...they can't be dead..." she sobbed.
Suddenly, a hoarse and weak voice sounded from behind her.
"K-Kagome...sama..."
Kagome immediately turned around to the voice and widened her eyes. "Kouga!!!"
she cried relieved and quickly ran to his side.
Kouga was sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall from across the broken wall. His legs were pulled up and his arms were resting on his knees. There was blood running from a deep cut on his forehead and from the corner of his mouth. His arms were filled with cuts inflicted by the glass shards of the windows and his legs were filled with bruises and deeper cuts.
Before Kagome could ask anything, he already began to explain. "I...I didn't know what happened...but when I heard...the distant sound...I-I knew that there was s-something wrong..." he managed to say.
"Kouga, don't push yourself." Kagome quickly said. "You can explain it later...after I get you out of here...after you recover from your injuries."
Kouga shook his head. "P-please let me finish...Kagome-sama...I-I had to protect Yuri-sama...I promised you..." he continued.
Kagome averted her gaze, for she had already lost the hope of finding her daughter alive.
"S-so...I did..."
She turned to look at him again. "W-what did you just say?"
"I protected...Yuri-sama...she...she's safe..." Kouga explained as he moved his arms to his side and lowered his legs a little, revealing a small white object with red stains.
Kagome widened her eyes when she realized it was Yuri's blanket that was resting on his lap.
Kouga slowly pulled away a piece of blanket and revealed a frightened and teary-eyed Yuri.
Tears welled up in Kagome's eyes as she reached out for the little one and took it from his lap.
"D-don't worry...the blood...is mine..." Kouga reassured her.
"Th-thank you...thank you so much..." she sobbed in reply.
After a moment of silence, Kagome dried her tears and moved to Kouga's side. "We have to get out of here. I'll help you get up." she said as she pulled Kouga's arm over her shoulder.
"Y-you should...just leave me...and go..." he groaned.
"There's no way I'm going to leave you behind. So just shut up and spare you strength for our escape. You're too damn heavy for me to drag you out of this place on my own!" she commanded as she pulled him to his feet.
Kouga chuckled and did as he was told.
Suddenly he felt something an incoming danger coming from the doorway and quickly
moved himself between the door opening and Kagome and embraced her to protect
her.
*POW*
Kagome just stood there in silence as she felt Kouga's body tense. It took her
several seconds to realize what had happened and she looked up at Kouga, who
still had his arms wrapped around her. K-Kouga!!!
She snapped out of her thoughts when an extremely familiar voice started to speak.
"See? That's why I hate youkai!! They're so goddamn unpredictable!!"
N-Naraku!? Kagome thought shocked.
"K-Kagome-sama..."
Her attention was drawn again when Kouga lowered his head and started to whisper
in her ear. "D-draw...your bow...I...I will cover you...until...then..."
he whispered softly as he released her from his embrace and carefully took Yuri
out of her arms.
Kagome pushed back her tears as she took a deep breath and soundlessly pulled an arrow out of her quiver.
"What are you two muttering about?!" Naraku snarled as he still had
his gun aimed at Kouga's back. "Get out of the way youkai!!" he growled.
To Naraku's surprise, Kouga suddenly dropped down to the floor (with his back still facing Naraku), revealing a determined Kagome who had drawn her bow and aimed the arrowhead at him.
"You bitch!! You tricked me!!" Naraku cried angrily and fired his gun at her.
*POW*
At the same time, Kagome released her arrow and sent it flying towards Naraku's
chest.
*BZZZIINGGG*
Then all became silent.
--- In the forest ---
Sesshoumaru jerked his head into his castle's direction. The scent of Kagome's
blood!!! he realized with wide eyes.
"He...hehehe..." Kagura's voice sounded weakly. "M-Musou...I have finally avenged your death..."
Sesshoumaru turned to look at her.
She was lying on her stomach on the floor, in the middle of a pool of her own blood. Her garments were stained with blood and some parts were shred into pieces.
He narrowed his eyes as he watched Kagura exhale her last breath of life.
Her corpse dissipated into the air and drifted away with the wind, leaving only her torn garments and broken fan behind.
Without second thought, Sesshoumaru dashed back towards his castle.
--- At the castle ---
Naraku took several steps backwards of shock.
He wanted to laugh when his eyes fell on Kagome, who was covering her bleeding chest with one hand, but a stabbing pain coming from his chest wouldn't let him.
He slowly looked downwards and saw the arrow that was half buried in his chest. "Hehe..." he began to chuckle as blood came out of the corner of his mouth. "...you're...not...done with me yet...I still have...one bullet left."
Naraku tightened his grip on his gun and aimed it at Kagome again. "This time...I'll make sure I hit your heart!!" he growled.
Kagome frowned. Dammit...my vision...my vision is starting to fail me...
she thought as the room began to blur in front of her eyes. Her gaze shifted
from Naraku to the innocent Yuri, who was sobbing softly in the arms of her
unconscious friend.
For Yuri's sake...I...I have to hold on... she thought determined and reached out to her quiver to draw another arrow. But before she had completely drawn her bow, the immense pain on her chest caused her to wince and drop the arrow to the floor.
*Clatter*
NOO!!! her mind screamed as she realized she had lost her only chance
of survival.
"Too bad bitch...today is not...your lucky day." Naraku smirked as
he started to pull the trigger.
Kagome dropped her bow to the floor and closed her eyes. Sesshoumaru...
*POW...CLASH*
When Kagome opened her eyes again, she found herself looking at a familiar sword
that was positioned in front of her chest. T-Toukijin??! she recalled
the name of the sword.
Kagome's gaze trailed from the small indent inflicted by the bullet to the hilt of the sword and widened her eyes. "S-Sesshoumaru!!" she cried with a hoarse voice as she saw him standing next to her.
But he didn't look back at her, he only glared at Naraku with his fangs bared as she slowly lowered his sword. "You bastard!!" he growled angrily.
"I...I failed...b-but you haven't won yet..." Naraku grinned as more blood streamed out of his mouth and wound. "...my men...will finish...it...for me...I...I'll see...you...both...in...h-hell..."
With that, he collapsed to the floor and died.
Vocabulary:
inuyoukai: dogdemon
Fuujin no Mai: Dance of the Wind-Blades
Toukijin: Sesshoumaru's sword.
INTRODUCTION TO CHARACTERS OF THIS CHAPTER:
Kagura: A female youkai who can control the wind with her fan. She loves Musou very much and never stopped loving him in spite of the fact that Musou loved Kikyou and murdered her. When she found out that Musou was murdered, she agreed to help Naraku (Musou's brother) to avenge his death.
Posted: 9 December 2003
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)
Spelling check: YES