{Disclaimer: See chapter one. Man, you guys are more forgetful than I am.}
Chapter Seven: Power Unleashed
Kagome awoke with a start, looking around for any sign of whatever disturbed her sleep. The hoot of a distant owl and the calls of other animals in the forest reached her ears. She searched for any signs of danger, taking full advantage of her newly developed abilities and blessing Inuyasha for them at the same time. Finding no sign of danger, she shuddered and stood up, walking to a river bank near the campsite. Kagome sat there for a moment, replaying what Kaede said to her before they left the village.
"You must trust in yourself. You are more powerful than you realize. All you have to do is learn to use that power."
Kagome sighed in defeat. 'I'm always in the way. Inuyasha says so. But if Kaede sees it, the least I can do is try.' She stood up and concentrated, her eyes closed. 'Hm. Maybe it would be better if I imagine this power as something I know.' She thought back to the week she spent at home before this, to a t. v. show Souta was watching.
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"Souta, what's that?" Kagome asked as she walked past the t. v.
Souta barely looked at her as he answered. "Dragon Ball Z, Kagome. Why don't you know that? Its more popular than Pokemon."
Kagome stuck her tongue out at him. "I spend most of my time in the Feudal Era, remember? I can't keep up like I used to!"
Souta waved her off. "It was out before you fell in the well, dummy."
Kagome gave him a nuggie in response as she sat down. After a few minutes, she found herself as interested in the show as Souta. Her favorite character was Vegeta, who was proud, headstrong, stubborn, foul-mouthed…'Why does that sound like a certain half demon I know?' She watched the show the whole week she was home, and asked Souta to tape it so she could see it when she came back.
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Kagome smiled, her eyes still closed, at the memory. She remembered how Vegeta and Goku fought, a mix of martial arts and ki energy. She decided that it might be fun if she could copy some of the moves they did. She opened her eyes and focused her energy to her hands, not knowing what to expect. Her palms started to glow in an area the size of a quarter. She watched as the glow raced down to her index fingers, resting on the tips before glowing with a fierce intensity. She clasped her hands together, her index fingers pointed to the ground.
'Now' she asked herself 'what does Vegeta say before he does his move, the really cool one that looks like a machine gun blast?' It hit her and she smiled. Focusing her fingers to a certain spot on the ground, she breathed in and whispered
"Gatlin Gun."
Instantly a ray shot from her fingers, piercing a neat little hole in the ground. Kagome giggled in her excitement and stopped the flow of energy. She clapped in happiness at her new talent and received the shock of a lifetime. As her hands pulled away from each other, a band of energy flowed between them, arching in front of her. Getting over her initial astonishment, she pushed her hands toward each other slowly, watching the band shorten. She played with it a moment, lengthening and shortening it, changing the arc from horizontal to vertical. Kagome clapped her hands again and the band disappeared, leaving her with two glowing balls of energy in her hands. She took aim at a nearby tree and flicked her right hand. The ball shot toward the tree like a shooting star, punching a hole in the trunk. She practiced a little more with this, getting better with her aim as time went on. As the sun started to rise, she remembered Sango, still sleeping in the campsite. Kagome willed the energy back to wherever it came from and ran back to camp, unaware of an unseen spectator catching a ride in her hair.
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Kagome practiced in the early morning hours for the rest of the journey. In a week's time, they came to the eastern border. On the edge was a large castle, hidden by forest. Sango looked at the stone walls surrounding the compound in defeat.
"Do you think this is it?" Kagome asked from behind her. They dismounted Kirara, who transformed back to the cute kitten she was, and peered through the bushes at the castle. The stone walls were high and appeared to be thick and strong. The only entrance was surrounded by demons, dressed in red robes. They only patrolled the gate, not that it mattered anyway because:
"There is no way we can defeat all those demons," Sango whispered. Kagome was listening to the conversation of the guards, trying to figure out if they indeed had the right castle. Sango sat down beside her, taking the opportunity to rest. Kagome leaned forward, a small smile playing on her lips.
"This is the place, Sango. One of the guards just said something about an ungrateful half breed and his brother he was forced to feed. The half breed tried to bite him. Plus, all they do is argue." Kagome started to giggle, getting a weird look from Sango.
"What's so funny, Kagome?"
Kagome calmed herself down enough to answer. "It turns out the Infimate Rings zap the energy of any demon imprisoned in them if they try to escape. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru have been doing a lot of fighting, and every time they try to get their hands on each other, you can hear the chains rattle, the energy zap, and whoever the receiver was giving off a long list of swear words. Smoke is starting to curl off their hair."
Sango had to laugh at that one herself. She could see the two fighting, slinging insults at each other like mud and trying to choke each other in spite of the chains. She could even smell the smoke. 'Maybe we should leave them in there,' she thought with a chuckle. She stood up and looked at the castle entrance again.
"Well, looks like we needed Kouga after all. How else are we going to get in?"
Kagome smiled at her, something devious written in its intentions. Sango raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that the best way is to take them by surprise. They expect someone to charge the gate, but they won't expect anyone to charge the wall. That sounds good to me."
Sango stared at her like she grew dog ears and a fluffy tail. "You can't be serious. Kirara can't leap that without being noticed. By the time we reach the other side of the wall, we'd be surrounded and captured before we could blink an eye."
Kagome smiled at her again, trying not to laugh at the startled exterminator. She stepped out of the protection of the bushes, motioning for the others to follow her. She glanced at the guards, assured herself that she was downwind and they didn't know they were there, and approached the nearest wall, stopping a few feet from it. Sango scanned the area, wondering if her friend had lost her mind.
"Kirara, be ready to transform as soon as you see my signal."
Kirara nodded and stood between her legs, waiting. Sango looked at them both like they were crazy. "Kagome, didn't I say what a bad idea it was to jump the wall?"
Kagome stared back at her, her smile widening to a cheerful grin. She raised her hand, her index finger pointed toward the stone in front of her.
"Who said anything about jumping the wall, Sango? We're going through it."
Sango eyes widened as Kagome's fingertip started to glow. Kagome patted her leg and Kirara transformed, raising the girl above her from the ground. Sango jumped in front, not exactly sure she should. Kagome's finger hovered over Sango's shoulder, the glow increasing. Sango scanned around nervously.
"Hurry up, Kagome. We can't do this all day."
"I'm trying to make sure I don't accidentally blast Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru as well."
Kagome nodded after another second and let out a breath. The glow was released from her hand and collided with the stone, exploding immediately. Kagome clapped her hands together, the beam of energy separating into glowing balls around her hands like boxing gloves. Kirara burst forward, landing in the courtyard and in the middle of some very surprised, livid demons. Sango unhitched her boomerang from her back, her wrist tense and ready to flick at a moments notice. Kagome surveyed the angry faces around her, her hair blowing in the breeze.
"Ok, Sango. Let's get this show on the road."
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SF: Ok, check this out: I'm posting two chapters again. Push the purple button.