Disclaimer - Characters not mine. I wouldn't be posting here if they were.
The Bargain - Ch 2
The next night found them settled in a small clearing. They had passed a small hut used to shelter farmers as they watched over their crops an hour or so earlier, and Miroku had proposed that they rest there for the night but Sesshomaru had overridden him, insisting that they push on. It was only when the humans began stumbling and tripping in the darkness that he reluctantly agreed to make camp. Or what passed for a camp with neither a fire, which Sesshomaru had forbidden them to light, nor their tents, as they had been too tired to do more than eat a few cold rations and set out their bedrolls.
After the scant meal Kagome chose to stay up while the others sought some badly needed rest. She knew that Sesshomaru needed to hear the story of their last encounter with Naraku, but retelling it wasn't something she had felt able to do with Shippo listening. Now, with Shippo sleeping the sleep of the exhausted, unlikely to wake and overhear, she could do what needed to be done. She settled herself against a tree, dragging her blanket closer, trying to block out the chill of her memories.
"I sensed a Shikon shard near Kamakura. We were looking for it when we ran across a small village." Sesshomaru didn't react, continuing to scan the darkness for any hint of danger, but she knew she had his attention.
"We were asking the villagers for information about local monsters. I could tell the shard was nearby, but couldn't tell what direction it was in for some reason."
Miroku had been attempting to charm the village headman's daughter when a loud roaring accompanied by numerous screams had filled the air. Kagome and Inuyasha had run towards the chaotic sounds to see an immense dragon destroying a Shinto shrine, obviously searching for something. As they drew closer, they could hear him hissing.
"A dragon attacked the village while we were there."
"The girl, the girl, give me the girl," the monster was demanding as he pulled the walls down and the floor up. A terrified priest stood his ground, chanting a spell of protection, only to be crushed when the dragon turned it's attention to him. "Where is the girl?" the dragon roared, turning away from the bloody mess to look for new prey.
"He was looking for a girl. We found out later she had been a priestess at the local shrine, but she died a week before we got to the village."
The dragon's head turned towards Kagome, and for a second she saw the glow of a Shikon shard on his forehead as he leapt at her.
"A priestess!" he exulted as he closed on her, only to be blocked from his goal by a red and white blur.
"Give it up, bastard." That was Inuyasha all right, protective and foul mouthed, all in one violent package. He drew Tetsusaiga, the sword transforming as he swung at the demon, unleashing the Cutting Wind.
"Inuyasha, he has a shard on his forehead," Kagome yelled as the dragon dodged the blow and debris flew around them. She pulled an arrow from her quiver and quickly drew her bow, aiming at the dragon when Inuyasha closed with it, striking with the Tetsusaiga.
"He had a shard on his forehead. He tried to attack me, but Inuyasha got in the way and went after him. He tried to use the Cutting Wind, but it just bounced off the dragon's scales."
The fang's first blow landed but did no damage, merely glancing off the dragon's sturdy scales. The dragon drew back a paw and swung it at the half-demon, batting him across the clearing. Her line of fire was clear, and Kagome loosed the arrow. It was enveloped in blue light as it sped toward her prey. There was a brighter flash of light as it hit, and the dragon staggered. Talking advantage of the distraction, Inuyasha leapt up and used his Claws of Steel to carve the shard out of the dragon's head.
"I shot at it, distracted it. Inuyasha jumped up and clawed the shard out of it's forehead."
The dragon roared in fury and pain. Inuyasha threw the shard towards Kagome before striking at his opponent again and again with his claws. Kagome ran to where the shard had fallen, picking it up without taking her eyes off the battle before her. It was clear within moments that the loss of the shard had weakened the monster and that Inuyasha was going to win easily. Taking advantage of his opponent's new vulnerability, Inuyasha drew back and once more loosed the Cutting Wind. This time it hit it's target and the dragon was sliced to pieces.
"He threw me the shard and kept attacking the dragon. He had it on the ropes pretty quick, and he used the Cutting Wind to kill it."
The dragon dead, Inuyasha came over to make sure that Kagome was all right and that she had the shard. Miroku and Sango joined them. And that, of course, was when Naraku appeared.
"Then Naraku showed up."
"Well, well. Still alive after all this time. How very impressive." They turned to face the unpleasantly familiar voice. Naraku stood applauding in midst of the dragon debris, his elegant kimono a startling contrast to the blood and bone around him.
"Naraku." It was a growl low in each of their throats. Three years of cat and mouse have stirred enmity to something closely resembling hatred.
Inuyasha charged forward, swinging Tetsusaiga and calling forth the Cutting Wind, but Naraku merely gestured with one hand and a blast of wind from above diverted the attack. Shippo, closer to the demon than any of the others, leaped at Naraku's throat only to be cast aside. His head struck a rock as he fell, rendering him unconscious. Naraku gestured again, and a familiar form appeared in front of him, freezing them in their tracks. Sango cried out and stepped forward until Miroku reached out to restrain her.
"Are you pleased to see your brother again, Sango?" Naraku's voice was even smoother when contrasted with her snarl.
"Let him go."
"I can't do that just yet, I'm afraid. But never fear. I promise you that soon he'll be free." There was no visible signal passed, but Kohaku leapt forward, his chain sickle swinging towards his sister and Miroku. Inuyasha took the opportunity to leap at Naraku.
"He had Sango's brother, Kohaku, with him. He ordered him to attack us."
Miroku's staff swept out, tangling in the chain, and he used his strength to pull the weapon away from the boy. Kohaku let it go, switching to throwing a series of darts at the pair as he continued his charge. Miroku and Sango leapt clear, leading Kohaku away from Naraku, hoping to disarm him.
"Sango and Miroku were trying to keep Kohaku from doing any damage without hurting him."
Sango and Miroku were fighting Kohaku, trying to keep him out of the battle without killing him. Somehow, from somewhere, a throng of lesser demons appeared to assist him. Sango used her Boomerang Bone to destroy most of them, but a few slipped through. Within moments, monk and demon hunter found themselves in close quarters with a number of lesser monsters. Miroku laid about with his staff, Sango with her sword. They acquitted themselves well, but when Sango took a chance and retrieved the Boomerang Bone to throw at her brother a demon managed to break through their defenses. It was lunging for an off-balance Sango when Miroku unleashed the Air Rip and sucked the creature in. Unfortunately, before he could reseal the Rip, one of the ever-present wasps was sucked in as well. The bone missed Kohaku. Miroku gasped and collapsed as the wasp's venom poured into his veins.
"Miroku had to use the Air Rip. He sucked in one of Naraku's poison wasps."
Inuyasha attacked Naraku fiercely. Kagome stood at a distance, trying to get enough of an opening to shoot an arrow, but the fight was too unpredictable, and every time she thought she had a clear shot, Inuyasha got in the way again. For a while it seemed like Inuyasha's assault might be succeeding; Naraku had been slashed a number of times and was bleeding heavily. Inuyasha drew back again and used the Cutting Wind once more. Naraku didn't even try to evade it. It connected and he was cut to pieces.
"Inuyasha used the Cutting Wind on Naraku. We thought it killed him."
They were cautiously approaching the centre of the strewn body parts, where Kagome could see the Shikon's glow, when the pieces began to reassemble themselves. But this time, instead of facing Naraku's human form, Kagome and Inuyasha found themselves confronting a huge, multi-tentacled creature. Kagome, further away from the epicenter, managed to leap clear, but a tentacle snared Inuyasha and dragged him toward the revived Naraku.
"It didn't. He reformed into a-a *thing*, about fifteen feet tall, with a *lot* of tentacles. He grabbed Inuyasha."
Inuyasha carved at the tentacles with his Claws of Steel, but whenever he managed to break free of one, another was there to take it's place. Kagome tried to move around Naraku, to get a shot without hitting Inuyasha, but the demon rotated with her, using the half-demon as a shield. As he did so, he chanted something in a language Kagome didn't recognize. She was so focused on her enemy that at first she didn't notice that Inuyasha's hair now shone black under the noonday sun.
"He cast some kind of spell on Inuyasha. A spell that made him human, even though it was daytime, and a week after the full moon."
As he finished the spell, Naraku crushed Inuyasha in his tentacles, forcing a sharp groan from him. The unusual sound drew Kagome's attention, and she was shocked by what she saw.
"Give me the shard, girl, and I won't kill your doggie boyfriend here and now."
"He told me to give him the shard."
Kagome hesitated, unable to get off a shot without hitting Inuyasha. From the corner of her eye, she could see Sango, still fighting Kohaku. Suddenly an arrow flew in from the side, striking Naraku and loosening his hold on Inuyasha, who fell to the ground and lay motionless. Naraku and Kagome both turned to see Kikyo standing at the edge of the clearing, another arrow drawn and aimed at Naraku.
"His life belongs to me, Naraku. You have promised. You may not kill him." Soul stealers drifted agitatedly around Kikyo as the undead priestess confronted the demon who had killed her. Kikyo was not happy.
"Kikyo showed up then. She freed Inuyasha with one of her arrows."
"Greetings, dearest Kikyo. Have you kept your promise?" The voice contained mild irritation, nothing more.
"There are no more shards, Naraku, just the one in your puppet and the one my reincarnation holds in her hand."
"Then I have no more need of you, do I?" Naraku raised a tentacle and swiped at Kikyo, but she dodged and loosed her arrow at the limb, destroying it. Another arrow, this one fired by Kagome, hit Naraku's body and left a gaping wound in his side, breaking off more tentacles. Despite the injury his next attack connected solidly with Kikyo's body, catching her in the midsection, breaking her in half and knocking her bow into the trees.
"He attacked her. We were both hurting him with our arrows. But not enough. He hit Kikyo and broke her body in half."
With Kikyou out of the picture, Naraku summoned Kohaku to stand in front of him, using Kohaku's body as a shield against Kagome and Sango.
"Now, demon hunter, bring me the shard your friend has in her possession, and I may return your brother to you."
"Naraku called Kohaku back to him, told Sango he'd free him if she gave him the shard."
For what seemed an eternity but was really only a few seconds, Sango stared at her brother, and at the monster controlling him. Tears began to roll down her face as resolution settled over it.
"No. You won't. You need the shard in his back to complete the Shikon no Tama." She began to shake and covered her face with her hands, shoulders shuddering as she tried to get herself under control.
"She told him no. He'd lied so many times before she couldn't believe him."
"I'll give it to you," Kagome said, stepping forward, but it was too late. Naraku, angered by Sango's refusal, slashed at Kohaku's back, cutting the shard out. Kohaku staggered for a moment, free and confused and in pain.
"So he took the shard out of Kohaku's back."
"Sister?"
Sango looked up.
"Kohaku." She screamed the name, running towards her brother, catching him in her arms as he collapsed. He died in her arms as she cried over him.
"The loss killed him."
Naraku turned and advanced on Kagome.
"Now it's your turn," he told her, and she stepped forward to face him.
"You won't get away with this," she replied, rage and grief for her friend filling her.
Naraku lunged, tentacles extended to strike, and suddenly Kagome was surrounded by a brilliant blue aura. The tentacles hit it and burned away. Naraku screamed in pain and withdrew. The attack drew Sango's attention, jolting her out of her grief enough for her to grab her Boomerang Bone and fling it at Naraku. It hit him as he retreated, wounding him further. Kagome managed to draw and shoot another arrow. It also hit, burning away more of Naraku's body. Defeated, damaged, Naraku retreated, vanishing into his ever-present miasma. Kagome could no longer sense him or the Shikon he carried, and she knew that he was gone.
"He attacked me then. And something happened. My power. I don't know how, but I made a shield, and when he hit it it hurt him. Badly. Sango and I drove him away."
Kagome ran to check on Inuyasha, who had not yet recovered consciousness. On examining him she discovered that several of his ribs appeared to be broken, and that he had taken a hard blow to his head and was still unconscious. And that he was still fully human.
Before returning to Kohaku's body, Sango went to check on Miroku. Her voice drew Kagome's attention and she looked up to see Sango crying again, this time holding Miroku's hand.
Deciding that Inuyasha needed more help than she could give him right now, but that Miroku might still be saved, Kagome went to kneel by the stricken monk, holding his injured arm in her hands as she concentrated on purifying the venom coursing through his veins. She could sense it fading away under her efforts, and smiled at Sango's obvious relief when Miroku relaxed under their hands. She even managed a small laugh when he groped at Sango's backside.
"Miroku was still alive. I neutralized the wasp venom. He lived."
Kagome returned to sit by Inuyasha, uncertain about what to do. His injuries were beyond her ability to treat, and they were too far from the well to return to her time. After a while Sango joined her, followed by Shippo and a staggering Miroku once they had finally regained consciousness. No one noticed as Kikyo's soul stealers rebuilt her body and she rose to stand near them, her eyes locked on Inuyasha's motionless form.
They built a pallet and used it to carry Inuyasha to the a small hut at the edge of the village intended for use of the sick and dying. For hours they waited for a sign. Near midnight, it seemed they had one.
"K-kagome?" Inuyasha's voice was faint and full of pain. They gathered around him, relieved that he had finally woken.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome's voice was hoarse, hours of crying having taken their toll. "Don't move. You have some broken ribs, and if you move..."
"Don't worry." He told her. "I don't think it matters."
"Inuyasha!" Kagome found that she still had tears to cry. Shippo flung himself against her, sobbing. Beside them, Sango was clinging to a grim faced Miroku's hand.
"Tetsusaiga. Where is it?" He whispered the question.
"Over there." She gestured at the sword leaning in the corner of the hut where Shippo had been guarding it.
Inuyasha turned his head painfully to look at his sword. He looked back at Kagome.
"It's yours now. Look after it." He looked over to the doorway, to where Kikyo was standing. He smiled sadly. "I'm sorry Kikyo. It looks like I'm going to break my promise." The priestess came into the hut and knelt beside him, taking his other hand in hers.
"Inuyasha."
It was too late; Inuyasha had already passed back into unconsciousness. For the rest of the night, they kept a solemn vigil, the silence broken only by occasional sobs.
Shortly after sunrise, Inuyasha died. As his companions mourned, Kikyo screamed out her rage and stormed out of the hut into the woods.
"But I couldn't restore Inuyasha's demon half. He couldn't heal himself. He died."
***
Notes:
Thank to everyone who's reviewed so far. It made me happy.
To answer questions: Kikyo, for your reading pleasure. Will it be Sess/Kag? Maybe, maybe not. I know how part of the next chapter will go, but that's about it. I'm making it up as I write. One thing you *can* assume is that there's probably going to be a fight with Naraku at some point ;)
So this time around we had a battle and two death scenes. Does that make up for the lack of action last time around? Was Inuyasha's death too melodramatic? Or too OOC?
The Bargain - Ch 2
The next night found them settled in a small clearing. They had passed a small hut used to shelter farmers as they watched over their crops an hour or so earlier, and Miroku had proposed that they rest there for the night but Sesshomaru had overridden him, insisting that they push on. It was only when the humans began stumbling and tripping in the darkness that he reluctantly agreed to make camp. Or what passed for a camp with neither a fire, which Sesshomaru had forbidden them to light, nor their tents, as they had been too tired to do more than eat a few cold rations and set out their bedrolls.
After the scant meal Kagome chose to stay up while the others sought some badly needed rest. She knew that Sesshomaru needed to hear the story of their last encounter with Naraku, but retelling it wasn't something she had felt able to do with Shippo listening. Now, with Shippo sleeping the sleep of the exhausted, unlikely to wake and overhear, she could do what needed to be done. She settled herself against a tree, dragging her blanket closer, trying to block out the chill of her memories.
"I sensed a Shikon shard near Kamakura. We were looking for it when we ran across a small village." Sesshomaru didn't react, continuing to scan the darkness for any hint of danger, but she knew she had his attention.
"We were asking the villagers for information about local monsters. I could tell the shard was nearby, but couldn't tell what direction it was in for some reason."
Miroku had been attempting to charm the village headman's daughter when a loud roaring accompanied by numerous screams had filled the air. Kagome and Inuyasha had run towards the chaotic sounds to see an immense dragon destroying a Shinto shrine, obviously searching for something. As they drew closer, they could hear him hissing.
"A dragon attacked the village while we were there."
"The girl, the girl, give me the girl," the monster was demanding as he pulled the walls down and the floor up. A terrified priest stood his ground, chanting a spell of protection, only to be crushed when the dragon turned it's attention to him. "Where is the girl?" the dragon roared, turning away from the bloody mess to look for new prey.
"He was looking for a girl. We found out later she had been a priestess at the local shrine, but she died a week before we got to the village."
The dragon's head turned towards Kagome, and for a second she saw the glow of a Shikon shard on his forehead as he leapt at her.
"A priestess!" he exulted as he closed on her, only to be blocked from his goal by a red and white blur.
"Give it up, bastard." That was Inuyasha all right, protective and foul mouthed, all in one violent package. He drew Tetsusaiga, the sword transforming as he swung at the demon, unleashing the Cutting Wind.
"Inuyasha, he has a shard on his forehead," Kagome yelled as the dragon dodged the blow and debris flew around them. She pulled an arrow from her quiver and quickly drew her bow, aiming at the dragon when Inuyasha closed with it, striking with the Tetsusaiga.
"He had a shard on his forehead. He tried to attack me, but Inuyasha got in the way and went after him. He tried to use the Cutting Wind, but it just bounced off the dragon's scales."
The fang's first blow landed but did no damage, merely glancing off the dragon's sturdy scales. The dragon drew back a paw and swung it at the half-demon, batting him across the clearing. Her line of fire was clear, and Kagome loosed the arrow. It was enveloped in blue light as it sped toward her prey. There was a brighter flash of light as it hit, and the dragon staggered. Talking advantage of the distraction, Inuyasha leapt up and used his Claws of Steel to carve the shard out of the dragon's head.
"I shot at it, distracted it. Inuyasha jumped up and clawed the shard out of it's forehead."
The dragon roared in fury and pain. Inuyasha threw the shard towards Kagome before striking at his opponent again and again with his claws. Kagome ran to where the shard had fallen, picking it up without taking her eyes off the battle before her. It was clear within moments that the loss of the shard had weakened the monster and that Inuyasha was going to win easily. Taking advantage of his opponent's new vulnerability, Inuyasha drew back and once more loosed the Cutting Wind. This time it hit it's target and the dragon was sliced to pieces.
"He threw me the shard and kept attacking the dragon. He had it on the ropes pretty quick, and he used the Cutting Wind to kill it."
The dragon dead, Inuyasha came over to make sure that Kagome was all right and that she had the shard. Miroku and Sango joined them. And that, of course, was when Naraku appeared.
"Then Naraku showed up."
"Well, well. Still alive after all this time. How very impressive." They turned to face the unpleasantly familiar voice. Naraku stood applauding in midst of the dragon debris, his elegant kimono a startling contrast to the blood and bone around him.
"Naraku." It was a growl low in each of their throats. Three years of cat and mouse have stirred enmity to something closely resembling hatred.
Inuyasha charged forward, swinging Tetsusaiga and calling forth the Cutting Wind, but Naraku merely gestured with one hand and a blast of wind from above diverted the attack. Shippo, closer to the demon than any of the others, leaped at Naraku's throat only to be cast aside. His head struck a rock as he fell, rendering him unconscious. Naraku gestured again, and a familiar form appeared in front of him, freezing them in their tracks. Sango cried out and stepped forward until Miroku reached out to restrain her.
"Are you pleased to see your brother again, Sango?" Naraku's voice was even smoother when contrasted with her snarl.
"Let him go."
"I can't do that just yet, I'm afraid. But never fear. I promise you that soon he'll be free." There was no visible signal passed, but Kohaku leapt forward, his chain sickle swinging towards his sister and Miroku. Inuyasha took the opportunity to leap at Naraku.
"He had Sango's brother, Kohaku, with him. He ordered him to attack us."
Miroku's staff swept out, tangling in the chain, and he used his strength to pull the weapon away from the boy. Kohaku let it go, switching to throwing a series of darts at the pair as he continued his charge. Miroku and Sango leapt clear, leading Kohaku away from Naraku, hoping to disarm him.
"Sango and Miroku were trying to keep Kohaku from doing any damage without hurting him."
Sango and Miroku were fighting Kohaku, trying to keep him out of the battle without killing him. Somehow, from somewhere, a throng of lesser demons appeared to assist him. Sango used her Boomerang Bone to destroy most of them, but a few slipped through. Within moments, monk and demon hunter found themselves in close quarters with a number of lesser monsters. Miroku laid about with his staff, Sango with her sword. They acquitted themselves well, but when Sango took a chance and retrieved the Boomerang Bone to throw at her brother a demon managed to break through their defenses. It was lunging for an off-balance Sango when Miroku unleashed the Air Rip and sucked the creature in. Unfortunately, before he could reseal the Rip, one of the ever-present wasps was sucked in as well. The bone missed Kohaku. Miroku gasped and collapsed as the wasp's venom poured into his veins.
"Miroku had to use the Air Rip. He sucked in one of Naraku's poison wasps."
Inuyasha attacked Naraku fiercely. Kagome stood at a distance, trying to get enough of an opening to shoot an arrow, but the fight was too unpredictable, and every time she thought she had a clear shot, Inuyasha got in the way again. For a while it seemed like Inuyasha's assault might be succeeding; Naraku had been slashed a number of times and was bleeding heavily. Inuyasha drew back again and used the Cutting Wind once more. Naraku didn't even try to evade it. It connected and he was cut to pieces.
"Inuyasha used the Cutting Wind on Naraku. We thought it killed him."
They were cautiously approaching the centre of the strewn body parts, where Kagome could see the Shikon's glow, when the pieces began to reassemble themselves. But this time, instead of facing Naraku's human form, Kagome and Inuyasha found themselves confronting a huge, multi-tentacled creature. Kagome, further away from the epicenter, managed to leap clear, but a tentacle snared Inuyasha and dragged him toward the revived Naraku.
"It didn't. He reformed into a-a *thing*, about fifteen feet tall, with a *lot* of tentacles. He grabbed Inuyasha."
Inuyasha carved at the tentacles with his Claws of Steel, but whenever he managed to break free of one, another was there to take it's place. Kagome tried to move around Naraku, to get a shot without hitting Inuyasha, but the demon rotated with her, using the half-demon as a shield. As he did so, he chanted something in a language Kagome didn't recognize. She was so focused on her enemy that at first she didn't notice that Inuyasha's hair now shone black under the noonday sun.
"He cast some kind of spell on Inuyasha. A spell that made him human, even though it was daytime, and a week after the full moon."
As he finished the spell, Naraku crushed Inuyasha in his tentacles, forcing a sharp groan from him. The unusual sound drew Kagome's attention, and she was shocked by what she saw.
"Give me the shard, girl, and I won't kill your doggie boyfriend here and now."
"He told me to give him the shard."
Kagome hesitated, unable to get off a shot without hitting Inuyasha. From the corner of her eye, she could see Sango, still fighting Kohaku. Suddenly an arrow flew in from the side, striking Naraku and loosening his hold on Inuyasha, who fell to the ground and lay motionless. Naraku and Kagome both turned to see Kikyo standing at the edge of the clearing, another arrow drawn and aimed at Naraku.
"His life belongs to me, Naraku. You have promised. You may not kill him." Soul stealers drifted agitatedly around Kikyo as the undead priestess confronted the demon who had killed her. Kikyo was not happy.
"Kikyo showed up then. She freed Inuyasha with one of her arrows."
"Greetings, dearest Kikyo. Have you kept your promise?" The voice contained mild irritation, nothing more.
"There are no more shards, Naraku, just the one in your puppet and the one my reincarnation holds in her hand."
"Then I have no more need of you, do I?" Naraku raised a tentacle and swiped at Kikyo, but she dodged and loosed her arrow at the limb, destroying it. Another arrow, this one fired by Kagome, hit Naraku's body and left a gaping wound in his side, breaking off more tentacles. Despite the injury his next attack connected solidly with Kikyo's body, catching her in the midsection, breaking her in half and knocking her bow into the trees.
"He attacked her. We were both hurting him with our arrows. But not enough. He hit Kikyo and broke her body in half."
With Kikyou out of the picture, Naraku summoned Kohaku to stand in front of him, using Kohaku's body as a shield against Kagome and Sango.
"Now, demon hunter, bring me the shard your friend has in her possession, and I may return your brother to you."
"Naraku called Kohaku back to him, told Sango he'd free him if she gave him the shard."
For what seemed an eternity but was really only a few seconds, Sango stared at her brother, and at the monster controlling him. Tears began to roll down her face as resolution settled over it.
"No. You won't. You need the shard in his back to complete the Shikon no Tama." She began to shake and covered her face with her hands, shoulders shuddering as she tried to get herself under control.
"She told him no. He'd lied so many times before she couldn't believe him."
"I'll give it to you," Kagome said, stepping forward, but it was too late. Naraku, angered by Sango's refusal, slashed at Kohaku's back, cutting the shard out. Kohaku staggered for a moment, free and confused and in pain.
"So he took the shard out of Kohaku's back."
"Sister?"
Sango looked up.
"Kohaku." She screamed the name, running towards her brother, catching him in her arms as he collapsed. He died in her arms as she cried over him.
"The loss killed him."
Naraku turned and advanced on Kagome.
"Now it's your turn," he told her, and she stepped forward to face him.
"You won't get away with this," she replied, rage and grief for her friend filling her.
Naraku lunged, tentacles extended to strike, and suddenly Kagome was surrounded by a brilliant blue aura. The tentacles hit it and burned away. Naraku screamed in pain and withdrew. The attack drew Sango's attention, jolting her out of her grief enough for her to grab her Boomerang Bone and fling it at Naraku. It hit him as he retreated, wounding him further. Kagome managed to draw and shoot another arrow. It also hit, burning away more of Naraku's body. Defeated, damaged, Naraku retreated, vanishing into his ever-present miasma. Kagome could no longer sense him or the Shikon he carried, and she knew that he was gone.
"He attacked me then. And something happened. My power. I don't know how, but I made a shield, and when he hit it it hurt him. Badly. Sango and I drove him away."
Kagome ran to check on Inuyasha, who had not yet recovered consciousness. On examining him she discovered that several of his ribs appeared to be broken, and that he had taken a hard blow to his head and was still unconscious. And that he was still fully human.
Before returning to Kohaku's body, Sango went to check on Miroku. Her voice drew Kagome's attention and she looked up to see Sango crying again, this time holding Miroku's hand.
Deciding that Inuyasha needed more help than she could give him right now, but that Miroku might still be saved, Kagome went to kneel by the stricken monk, holding his injured arm in her hands as she concentrated on purifying the venom coursing through his veins. She could sense it fading away under her efforts, and smiled at Sango's obvious relief when Miroku relaxed under their hands. She even managed a small laugh when he groped at Sango's backside.
"Miroku was still alive. I neutralized the wasp venom. He lived."
Kagome returned to sit by Inuyasha, uncertain about what to do. His injuries were beyond her ability to treat, and they were too far from the well to return to her time. After a while Sango joined her, followed by Shippo and a staggering Miroku once they had finally regained consciousness. No one noticed as Kikyo's soul stealers rebuilt her body and she rose to stand near them, her eyes locked on Inuyasha's motionless form.
They built a pallet and used it to carry Inuyasha to the a small hut at the edge of the village intended for use of the sick and dying. For hours they waited for a sign. Near midnight, it seemed they had one.
"K-kagome?" Inuyasha's voice was faint and full of pain. They gathered around him, relieved that he had finally woken.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome's voice was hoarse, hours of crying having taken their toll. "Don't move. You have some broken ribs, and if you move..."
"Don't worry." He told her. "I don't think it matters."
"Inuyasha!" Kagome found that she still had tears to cry. Shippo flung himself against her, sobbing. Beside them, Sango was clinging to a grim faced Miroku's hand.
"Tetsusaiga. Where is it?" He whispered the question.
"Over there." She gestured at the sword leaning in the corner of the hut where Shippo had been guarding it.
Inuyasha turned his head painfully to look at his sword. He looked back at Kagome.
"It's yours now. Look after it." He looked over to the doorway, to where Kikyo was standing. He smiled sadly. "I'm sorry Kikyo. It looks like I'm going to break my promise." The priestess came into the hut and knelt beside him, taking his other hand in hers.
"Inuyasha."
It was too late; Inuyasha had already passed back into unconsciousness. For the rest of the night, they kept a solemn vigil, the silence broken only by occasional sobs.
Shortly after sunrise, Inuyasha died. As his companions mourned, Kikyo screamed out her rage and stormed out of the hut into the woods.
"But I couldn't restore Inuyasha's demon half. He couldn't heal himself. He died."
***
Notes:
Thank to everyone who's reviewed so far. It made me happy.
To answer questions: Kikyo, for your reading pleasure. Will it be Sess/Kag? Maybe, maybe not. I know how part of the next chapter will go, but that's about it. I'm making it up as I write. One thing you *can* assume is that there's probably going to be a fight with Naraku at some point ;)
So this time around we had a battle and two death scenes. Does that make up for the lack of action last time around? Was Inuyasha's death too melodramatic? Or too OOC?