A red blur swept quickly through the forest, a black blur not far behind it. It easily dodged trees
and bushes, gave no heed to any creature that was in it's path. It stopped only a few times to
trace the scent of the trail it was on before taking off again, it's speed just as great. It was
on a mission that involved someone unworthy of it's attention. And Inuyasha strongly believed that
Sesshoumaru was unworthy of his attention.
The girl they had encountered with a handful of shards was hard to trace. But she made a mistake in traveling with his brother. Anywhere he caught the faintest scent of that wildflower smell, he also caught the scent of Sesshoumaru. Now both their scents were becoming stronger as they traveled farther east. He was suprised Sesshoumaru let the girl be so careless, but he was more suprised that he would rely on a human girl to gather shards for him. But Inuyasha reminded himself to be greatful that the shards were not going to Naraku.
"Hey, Kagome. Do you sense any shards?"
"Nothing."
"I wonder how it is possible to hide the shards aura. But both her and Seshoumaru's scents are getting stronger. We're getting closer."
Miroku glanced over at Inuyasha as he set his pace to his. "Do you think they are leading us to them purposefully? If Sesshoumaru were to get his hands on a shard and a human arm, he will try to take Tetsusaiga from you again."
"I don't care if they are leading us and I will cut him to pieces if he tries to take Tetsusaiga again."
"Miroku, didn't he say that last time?" Shippou looked into Miroku's face curiously, waiting for an answer.
"I heard that Shippou!"
Shippou covered his head with his hands and let out a squeal of fear. Miroku quickly slowed his pace before Inuyasha could release some of his anger on their little friend. "Best if we hurry Inuyasha. If they find out we are trailing them, they will try to loose us again."
"Then hurry up and let's go!" He quickly sped up, leaving Miroku to try to catch up.
At night, when the winds died down to almost nothing, the river was calm. With nothing to push it's water faster downstream, the water seemed to leisurely float where it knew it would end up. It was at this time of night when the river was the quietest. It was why she chose to perform her ritual on the shore this night of the full moon. She did not need to look up in the sky to see how bright and beautiful the moon was, she had only to glance at the reflection as it wavered in front of her. Stars blinked quietly on the waters surface as well as in the sky. She wanted nothing but nature to calm her.
And she needed to be calm. She could not waste any of her energy on her emotions. Morning would not be an easy so she needed the calm before the storm. She was so close to the village and it was very obvious. There were signs of her ancestors every where around her. Flowers bloomed where they may not have bloomed before, the air smelled sweet and there was not a restless soul to be found. It was exactly how they lived, peaceful and calm. She would use what was around her to become stronger.
In the morning she would make Sesshoumaru fall to her magic. Even if she had to use a shard of the shikon no tama, she would make him fall. He would not get any of her shards, that was the plan from the beginning. She knew everything that had to be done to escape Sesshoumaru and save her village. Now Asami moved into the first step and began her ritual.
"Asami." Sesshoumaru stood in the distance under a tree, slightly hidden by night and its shadow. He found himself watching and thinking of her again. Somehow with her strange behavior, the girl had managed to envoke some emotion in him. The way she smiled at him as if he was the only thing she saw. The way she respected him as if everything around him was unworthy of his presence. She cared for him when he thought she despised him. She trusted him even though he would not hesitate to kill her if she crossed him. Her behavior was dangerous and it was already too late. He felt something for her, towards her. He couldn't decided what it was.
He had decided that now he trusted her even less because he was beginning to feel emotions. That was a problem. If he had feelings, he would be weak against her powers. He did not like weaknesses. So he watched her carefully, studying her, trying to guess what she might do. He wanted to trust that she would not do anything to make him kill her. But it was unfortunate for her that he did not fully trust her.
When the sun rose, Asami did not rise with it as she had intended. Her body was suddenly over come with sleep and despite her will, she gave into it. When she finally forced herself to awake, her head was pounding. But she continued her journey to the village, hoping the headahce would leave her before they arrived. Now the sun was high above their heads and she was forced to sit down as the pain worsened. She could almost feel Sesshoumaru's angry eyes on her as she held her head in her hands. Her magic would never work on him if he did not calm down. Why were things going to horribly?
"Sesshomaru-sama says drink this."
Asami looked up to see Jaken holding a water jug out to her. She turned, looking for Sesshoumaaru only to find that he was no where in sight. Frowning, she took the jug and drank. She wrinkled her nose at the disgusting taste and handed the jug back to Jaken. "Where is Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"He went to see how close we are to the village. He said to wait until he returned and be ready to leave whether your headache is gone or not."
Asami nodded, hoping that Sesshoumaru would not find the village or get some idea of where it was. He would know exactly where to find her once the spell wore off. That could mean trouble for her and maybe even the villagers.
But trouble had already arrived. Inuyasha crashed through the trees, his friends not far behind him. Inuyasha looked pleased with himself and stood gaurd, ready for anything she might try. The girl and the little fox demon sent her a weary stare. Miroku took it upon himself to spark a conversation and walked to the girl, taking her hands in his.
"Please do me the honor of bearing me a child."
Asami blinked then smiled at him sweetly. "It would be my pleasure handsome monk." She pulled her hands from his as he fell to the ground. She laughed, lifting her hand to cover her mouth. "Some monk he is, giving in so easily to his lust. Never has someone succombed to my magic so quickly. It only took a touch and a smile." She laughed again, greatly amused and pleased her headache had disappeared.
Shippou sent Miroku a disgusted look. "Miroku is such a sucker for women." Kagome nodded in agreement.
"Just for that." Inuyasha unsheathed his tetsusaiga, held it out in front of him. "Just for that I won't go easy on you. Give up the shards or I'll rip you to pieces."
"I warned you not to come after me. I have better things to do and plans for these shards. Jaken, take care of them while I catch up with Sesshoumaru."
Reluctantly Jaken step forth, his staff in hand. He lifted it up and brought it to the ground, releasing a stream of fire from the old mans mouth. Asami took this oportunity to take leave and turned in the direction of the village. She took one step when she saw Inuyasha's blade crash down in front of her. She quickly jumped back and landed behind Jaken, then hit him over the head with all of her might.
"You really are worthless."
"Kagome, Shippou. Make sure that toad doesn't try that again. You!" Inuyasha held is blade toward her. "For the last time hand over the shards."
"I am afraid she cannot do that." Sesshoumaru stepped into the clearing and wasted no time in attacking Inuyasha. His whip lashed out, forcing Inuyasha to jump back. Then he rushed at him and began to fight.
Asami watched for a moment as the brothers battled, trying to think of some way to escape. This may be the opportunity she needed to escape. In their distraction, she could slip off to the village with all the jewel shards in hand. But first, she had to distract the girl. She waited until both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha were a good distance away from herself and the girl. When she saw her opportunity, she quickly hurled Jaken at the girl and dashed off into the forest.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha looked over his shoulder at her, glad she was able to move out of the way before Jaken collided with her. "Hey, Sesshoumaru, looks like your friend is trying to escape."
"Is that so." Sesshoumaru stepped to the side as Inuyasha lunged forward. He moved quickly and appeared in front of Asami. As she moved to hold out her hands, he anticipated her attack and lifted his hand. As he was bombarded with flower petals he destroyed them with his poison.
Asami fell to the ground, her hand over her mouth as she coughed from the poisons affects. With half open eyes she saw Sesshoumaru's angry face as it loomed over her. Fear sliced through her as his hand reached out for her, but she was unable to move as his hand tightened over her throat.
"So you would betray me, Asami. Were you planning on giving all the shards to the oni Akazukin? Too bad, now you die as will the villagers." Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at the girl as she laughed. And she continued to laugh even as his hand tightened on her throat.
When she spoke, Sesshoumaru heard another voice mixed with hers. "Foolish demon, the villagers are already dead. But Asami, she is safe with me." Asami stared down at Sesshoumaru, a wicked smile on her face, her eyes empty and hard.
Sesshoumaru dropped her in realization. The girl was a puppet then, much like the ones Naraku used. Though she was being controlled by the oni, it appeared as though Asami was acting of her own free will. He wondered how that was possible but understood the entire scheme. Perhaps through her grief over losing her villagers the oni was able to take control of her body. Seeing her potential, he used her beauty and her magic to collect more jewel shards. But he made a mistake in getting Sesshoumaru involved.
The pouch around Asami's neck loosened and flew into the air and disappeared into the forest. Miroku came too and stared at the girls frightful laughing form as the others did. "Thank you Sesshoumaru for helping her gather more jewel shards. And thank you Inuyasha for showing up. I was starting to think that your brother would never succomb to Asami's magic but thanks to your interference, I found an easier way to get all the shards to me."
"Akazukin. How was she able to appear so real since you were controlling her?" Sesshoumaru stared blankly at the thing that was not really Asami.
"It is a simple matter really. If I had used just my hair to make this puppet, it would have been me you see before you. But I used a fraction of her soul as well as a piece of her hair and created what you see now." He let out a proud laugh. "Say goodbye Asami and return to your body." Her eyes blinked and returned to the original violet color. She looked down at her body as it began to crumble and fade away. She raised her head and focused her sad eyes on Sesshoumaru's. "Forgive me...Sesshoumaru-sama." Then the body was gone and the soul flew into the sky.
A/N: Suprise suprise! The last chapter will have even more surprises. The point of this whole
story shall be revealed and some things will be clarified. Hopefully I can clarify even more in
my Sesshoumaru/Rin sequel. Hope you enjoyed it! Please review and let me know what you think.
