Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, it would star Sesshoumaru and Kagura. Of course, then it would be called Sesshoumaru, and I wouldn't own Inuyasha anyways. (Tan-chan's opinion of course) If I owned Inuyasha, Miroku would be the star and his Kazaana would be MINE! All MINE!! Mwahahahahah..
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Kuso!" Inuyasha stepped in front of Kagome protectively, his Tetsusaiga bared in front of him. He glanced back worriedly, more than a little concerned at how her face had gone completely pale and her foot was place behind her as if she was about to back away. Her eyes were wide and she trembled, only slightly, but enough so that Inuyasha saw it.
"Kagome? What is it?" The words came out gruffly, but Kagome didn't hear it until he repeated them.
She shook her head, clearing her throat, but her voice shook when she responded, "There's . . . something wrong about this fog. I . . . I don't like it."
Inuyasha blinked at her, confused, but turned quickly when Miroku shouted in alarm. The fog was closing in on them quickly. It had surrounded them and was getting closer.
Miroku backed into them slowly. Closing his eyes in concentration, he held his staff up and began making circular motions with it while muttering under his breath. A bright flash lit up the area. The fog stopped, not coming any closer, but not moving back any, either.
Miroku swore as he once again felt that draining sensation. Sweat dripped down his forehead and his hands clenched convulsively. He could feel the fog pressing in on them, his barrier flickering as his power faded. He struggled to maintain it, reminding himself over and over that they still had to rescue Sango. He shoved himself into the barrier, pouring into it all the strength that he was capable of producing.
The fog pulled back slightly and the corner of Miroku's mouth lifted, but his joy was short-lived when the fog lifted and slammed straight into the barrier. Miroku staggered backwards, a roaring sensation in his mind. His eyes rolled into his head and he fainted.
"No . . ." Kagome whispered, her hand fisting at her sides, "No . . ."
Screams echoed in her head, making it pound fiercely, and they wouldn't leave, no matter how much she tried. Kagome closed her ears and eyes tightly as laughter wove its way into her head.
"No," Kagome's head snapped up, enraged that in the midst of the screams someone was laughing, cold and harsh. The joy of causing pain to another. She moved her hands slowly to the sides of her face, fisting them angrily.
"No!" Kagome screamed, her hands snapping out to her sides. She felt a rush and the screams and laughter faded. Kagome wavered on her feet, smiling softly at Inuyasha, who was staring at her in shock. "It's okay now . . ."
Inuyasha stepped forwards to catch her as she fell. Kagome had overdone it again, using her miko powers to their max. The fog blew away, as if by a wind, when she had screamed. All the traces of her power were gone now, but just moments before, the air had hummed with her magic. Inuyasha's brow narrowed in suspicion. Without her miko powers, she felt exactly like a normal human.
He shook his head, lifting both Kagome and Miroku onto his back. Kaede would know what was going on. He shot forwards, towards where he knew the old miko would be.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kagome woke with a start, struggling when she met a resistance to her attempts to get up.
"Come on bitch! Snap out of it!" Kagome's vision cleared in response to the familiar voice.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome blinked rapidly, trying to figure out why her head pounded and her senses felt duller than usual.
Inuyasha removed his arms from where they had her arms pinned to the floor. Kagome sat up, pressing one hand to her forehead when the pounding increased. "Itai . . . " she mumbled, "What happened Inuyasha?"
"You don't remember?" Inuyasha looked very surprised and he was, both from the fact that she didn't remember and from the fact that her miko powers didn't seem to have returned.
Kagome shook her head, wincing at the headache that rose at that movement.
"You used your powers to get rid of that damned fog and you fainted," he explained cautiously.
"Then why were you holding me down?" Kagome's head was hurting too much for her to think at the moment.
"A little while ago, your eyes opened and you started thrashing. You wouldn't wake up and got that from it," Inuyasha traced a small bruise that was forming on the side of her face.
"I see . . ." Kagome glanced around the small room. They were in Kaede's hut, there was no doubt about that and as if to confirm it, Kaede sat with her back to them, tending to Miroku on the other side of the fire pit.
***
Miroku groaned, opening his eyes slowly.
"Miroku-sama, are you feeling any better?" Kagome's concerned frown came into view.
Miroku sat up, forcing a smile on his face. "Hai, arigato," he mumbled, lying through his teeth. "I just need some time alone," he added, emphasizing the word 'alone'. Harsh, yes, but Miroku found himself feeling only a tiny bit guilty when Kagome winced and backed off. His mind and emotions were in too much turmoil to be troubled by something as insignificant as a hurt miko. Instinctively, he looked towards the place where Sango usually sat, cleaning her boomerang. Sango . . . where are you?
"You say this boy's weapon was called the Kougon Anki?" Kaede's voice broke through, interrupting Miroku's thoughts.
Inuyasha nodded, scowling. "He also mentioned something about a Madougu." His eye twitched as he remembered how a kid – a young one, no less! – managed to defeat Tetsusaiga.
Kaede gasped. "Madougu? That's impossible!"
"What's a Madougu, Kaede-obaasan?" asked Kagome curiously.
Kaede shuffled towards a shelf and pulled out a rather dusty scroll. She unfurled it and scanned the page slowly. "I thought so."
"What do you mean by 'I thought so'?!" exclaimed Inuyasha, his impatience getting the better of him. "Eh? Eh? Tell us already!"
Kaede sighed. "First, you need to learn the full history behind the Shikon no Tama. Sango only told you a fraction of it." She sat down and cleared her throat.
"Around five thousand years ago, there lived demi-gods called the Elementals, each possessing a powerful weapon that were known as the Madougu. They managed to exist in harmony for a while, but then, the Fire Elemental and the Water Elemental began to argue. Enraged, the Fire Elemental slew the Water Elemental. This created war between all the owners of the Madougu, and eventually, every Elemental was destroyed. Appalled at what had happened, the gods hid away the Madougu, swearing to never entrust them to anyone again." Kaede shook her head wearily. "I should of realized what happened the moment the Shikon no Tama appeared! How could I have been so stupid?"
"What do you mean, Kaede?" asked Miroku, at the same time Kagome questioned "What exactly are the Madougu?"
"Madougu are weapons that correspond with the user's strength and ability. Take the Shikon no Tama, for example."
"The . . . Shikon?" echoed Inuyasha.
"You mean the Shikon no Tama's a Madougu?!" cried Kagome.
Kaede looked surprised. "You didn't know that? The Shikon no Tama is the Spirit Madougu, just as the Kougon Anki is the Metal." She continued on, ignoring the slack jaws around her. "Anyway, if the owner of the Madougu is too weak, the weapon destroys him. Basically, the Madougu get passed down, generation after generation, until they get reunited with their true masters – the people who are able to draw out, and control, the Madougu's full powers and everything related its element."
"And those masters would be . . . " commented Miroku weakly.
"The reincarnations of the Elementals." Kaede paused, waiting for the rest of the group to process the information.
Three . . . .
Two . . . .
One . . . .
Thunk. Everyone's jaw hit the floor.
Miroku managed to compose himself enough to ask one more question. "Then Koganei is the reincarnation of the Metal Elemental?"
Kaede frowned. "Well, judging by the fact that he's able to control the Tetsusaiga's transformation, I'd say, probably yes."
"What are the other weapons Kaede-obasan?" Kagome asked hesitantly, trying to ignore the throbbing in her head.
"No one but the true masters know. If its master comes near it, the weapon will go to them. But that is not as easy as it would seem. Before the weapon reveals its true power, it will test the master's strength of mind and will. The ones who do not understand what is happening are usually destroyed and the weapon remains ownerless," Kaede slowly began rolling up the scroll. She stopped suddenly, glancing over to Kagome, "What has happened to you Kagome?"
"I . . . ." Kagome stammered, wondering what the old miko meant.
"Your aura does not feel right. Here," Kaede reached out to Kagome, "Take my hand."
Kagome slowly set her hand on Kaede's, her eyes drifting shut as Kaede placed her other hand over the pile. Kaede stiffened, jerking her hands away immediately as if she had been burned. Kagome didn't appear to notice anything, her eyes still closed and her hand still suspended in the air.
"Kagome?" Inuyasha reached out to shake her, "Oi bitch . . . what's wrong?"
"Don't!" Kaede knocked his hand away quickly. Inuyasha glared at her but the old woman's attention was focused completely on Kagome. They watched, transfixed as the young miko's body began to glow, pulsing in time with her heart and gathering in her chest. A small ball of light withdrew from her chest and hovered over her outstretched hand, slowly growing brighter. Now, it lowered slowly, stretching when it reached the back of her hand, to curve around it to wrap around it entirely, encasing it in a brilliant white light. It retracted somewhat, lightening and becoming translucent to show Kagome's hand, appearing to be wearing some sort of glove.
It flashed once, filling the room with a light strong enough to have them all covering their eyes. When they opened them, Kagome sat in the middle of the floor, staring at her right hand in shock. Metal covered the back of her hand, set with a large, amber tinted jewel shaped as a sphere in the center. Four smaller, marble sized ones ringed it. The metal pointed when it reached where her fingers began, it created a new, thin strand to wind up and circle her ring ringer, set with a smaller jewel. A thick band circled her wrist, and small, curved wires clipped the whole thing firmly to her palm. And although it looked like it would immobilize her hand, it turned and moved freely, still allowing her freedom of movement.
Kagome flexed her hand, watching the seemingly thick material flex and bend with her. The jewels that were imbedded in it were eerie, the amber seeming to almost reflect lightning within the swirling orbs.
"Nani?" Kagome's attention switched to her friends who had been asking her questions but she hadn't heard them at all. Kaede walked to her, picking up her hand to examine the new item carefully but could not determine what it was, or how it had gotten there. Even Miroku was roused from his depressed state in curiosity to the situation.
"I cannot tell what it is," Kaede announced after studying the item for a bit, turning Kagome's hand this way and that.
"Perhaps if Kagome-sama removes it, we might be able to take a closer look," Miroku, despite himself, could not resist leaning over to try and tell what had captured all of their attention.
Kagome nodded, slowly wrapping her left hand over her right, as if afraid of it. She tugged gently, frowning when the metal did not move in the slightest. She shifted to get a better grip on it, pulling as hard as she could. But no matter what she tried, it would not budge.
"Oi Kagome. What's taking so long?" Inuyasha asked, lifting one eyebrow at the frown on her face.
Kagome looked up wide-eyed, her voice a whisper, "It . . . It won't come off . . ."
"Nani?!" Inuyasha stared at her in disbelief, "What the hell do you mean 'It won't come off?"
"It is quite simple Inuyasha. Kagome-sama is trying to explain that the item on her hand will mot remove itself," Miroku said dryly.
Inuyasha glared at him for a brief moment, before grabbing Kagome's hand to do his own examination.
"Keh," he snorted, his voice arrogant, "I'll just slice it off."
Inuyasha raised a clawed hand, glancing once at Kagome's completely trusting expression before he shouted, "Sankon Tetsusou!" His claws swept down in golden arcs. For a moment, it looked as if it had worked, the blades clashing with the metal bars, before the entire thing flashed suddenly. The iron claws repelled and everyone ducked when they came too close to their heads for comfort.
The claws sliced through the walls then disappeared.
Inuyasha swore, his eyes fixed on the still glowing metal, "What the FUCK was that?!"
No one answered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sango groaned as she woke, her mind still hazy but she blinked rapidly in an effort to clear it. She soon realized that both her hands and feet were bound tightly. Glancing around, she found that the cave that she was in was unguarded and she was completely alone.
A small trilling purr captured her attention soon enough and she looked over in time to see Kirara walking towards her slowly, a small, but sharp looking item in her mouth.
"Come here Kirara. That's a good girl," Sango cooed to her pet, taking what appeared to be a shattered fragment of glass into her hand. She turned awkwardly, the tiny shard cutting through the rope surprisingly easily. It was the same for the bonds on her ankles. She studied it slowly, noting for the first time what seemed to be the worn handle of an old sword and the short blade that seemed to be made from glass. The entire thing was only about three inches long but when she tested the edge, she found it to be sharper than any of her blades.
Kirara purred again. Sango stood, the small weapon in hand. She half expected someone to come running at her to try and stop her when she left the cave but nothing to that extent happened.
She slid it carefully into her waistband. 'The bastards took all my weapons,' she thought, 'This is all I have.' And she would use it well if she had to.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jap. Translations:
Nani – What
Oi – Hey
-obasan – grandmother (Respectful term for elderly women)
Kuso – Dammit
-sama – Mr./Mrs. (Respectful)
Itai – Ouch
Miko – proper definition is priestess but it can also mean a woman with strong spiritual powers
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Author's Note:
Kei: Oi minna! Really sorry about the delay and all the confusion and stuff. You see, we, that is, me and Tan-chan, created a new account, a joint account and decided to try to post this fic there. But something freaky happened and no one could find out account or story so we just decided to put the story up on my account after all. Oh and incase anyone is wondering, my rewrites for my other fic, The Prophecy, are done and the story is going once again. Ja!
Tanuki: BTW, this is NOT a Flame of Recca crossover, and Koganei will NOT become a main character (although it was REALLY tempting to put in Mikagami *drools*). We just needed someone to kidnap Sango, and I'm too lazy to actually make up a character. The weapons don't belong to us either.
And now . . .
The moment you've been waiting for . . .
ADVENTURES IN MAGIC CHIBI LAND!!!!!!
Last episode, we left off with the gang facing up against a giant COCKROACH!!!!!! *Twilight Zone the song begins to play* What choices will the gang have to make in order to save themselves?? How will Inuyasha fare with only a toothpick?? And will Sesshoumaru step in to help . . . or is he still traumatized from his transformation to a chibi?
Kagome: SIT! SIT! SITSITSITSITSIT!!!!
Miroku: I think that's enough, Kagome-sama . . . .
Inuyasha: @_@
Kagome (grins): This is SOOO much fun!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Sango: Hello?! We have a YOUKAI here!!!
*everyone ignores her*
Sango (sighs): Ahem . . . AAAAHHH!!!! IT HAS A SHIKON SHARD!!!
Inuyasha (instantly recovers): WHERE?
Miroku (blinks): Ne . . . since when was SANGO able to sense shards?
Sango: Eheheheheh . . . ^_^
Miroku (points): AAAAH! It's killing Inuyasha!!! *hand starts inching towards Sango*
Sango: NANI?! *turns around* What are you talking ab – AAAHHH!!! MINI-PERVERT!!! *slap*
Miroku: ^_^
Sango: -_-
Miroku: ^______________^
Sango (glares): *sizzle*
Miroku: O_O
Cockroach: *stomps on Inuyasha*
Inuyasha: x_X
Kagome: *sweatdrop*
Sesshoumaru: *keeps swearing* How the *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* am I a *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* *CENSORED* chibi?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Tanuki-chan (takes notes): Let's see . . . he used *CENSORED* nine times, *CENSORED* eleven times, *CENSORED* three times, and *CENSORED* seven times. That's weird . . . why didn't he use *CENSORED*?
Sesshoumaru: It's part of my past.
Cockroach (bored): HEY!!! STOP IGNORING ME!!!
Everyone: *ignores him*
Cockroach (grumbles): I knew I should of signed up for Roachzilla instead . . . cuter characters too . . . these people are all ugly . . . .
Sesshoumaru: Are you calling me ugly?
Roach: Eep!
Sesshoumaru: You DARE speak this way to the great Demon Lord of the West?
Roach: *backs away*
Sesshoumaru: Do you have ANY idea who I, Sesshoumaru, am?
Tanuki-chan: Yup! You're a chibi!
Sesshoumaru (glares): Omae. O. Korose.
Tanuki-chan: ^_^ You can't hurt me!
Sesshoumaru: Wanna bet?
Tanuki-chan: Touch me, and you'll instantly find yourself in a lemon with . . . JAKEN!!!
Sesshoumaru: O_O
Tanuki-chan: ^_^ Let's see . . . how should it start? I know . . . Jaken watches you taking a bath!
Sesshoumaru: O_O
Tanuki-chan: And then you seduce him!
Sesshoumaru: O_O
Tanuki-chan: And you screw him senseless in a hot spring!
Sesshoumaru: *faints*
Cockroach: *is being ignored again*