CHAPTER SEVEN

Thrust, parry, block. Thrust, parry, block. It seemed to go on for ever. All this dancing around in circles with the hostile youkai lord was beginning to make me dizzy. And all he ever did was made the same moves over and over, never actually doing anything worth attacking him for. I yawned mentally and ducked as Sesshoumaru's clawed hands came soaring over my head, poisonous claws nearly nicking the top of one of my furred ears.

My vision shifted to the left as a red blur came at Sesshoumaru from behind and was thrown to the ground by his energy whip. I saw the white haired dog prince lift his head slightly before falling back over, his equilibrium leaving him completely.

"Inuyasha!" I screamed, twisting my head toward my fallen comrade. While my attention was preoccupied, Sesshoumaru had switched stances. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the flowing white kimono moving… but it was too late.

Snatch!

Sesshoumaru's claws had swooped down to wrap around my neck. Slowly he lifted me up off the ground, my Goddess Scythe still clutched tightly in my right hand. The dog demon's muscles clenched once, cutting off my air supply and forcing a look of terror to cross my features. Sesshoumaru grinned at that and only squeezed tighter while my grip on my Scythe switched, undetected.

"You insulted me, Sesshoumaru, Youkai Lord of the Western Lands, hanyou bitch. Now you must prepare to die." I felt the muscles clench again as Sesshoumaru's eyes turned a threatening shade of red. I gathered the remainder of my strength and raised the Scythe an inch.



"I may be a bitch," I managed to choke out. "But I sure as fuck ain't no hanyou." And with that I rammed the electrified rod into Sesshoumaru's midsection.

Almost immediately his grip on my throat loosened and I was allowed to fall to the ground, the youkai holding his bleeding gut and howling up a storm. Literally. Black storm clouds rolled in out of nowhere and rain began sheeting down upon us. My vision kept fading in and out, but I was able to watch as a small tornado appeared around Sesshoumaru and swept him away. Within the next instant Inuyasha was at my side, screaming incoherent things at me. I tried to manage a smile but couldn't find the energy. I finally gave up and let the darkness take me.

"Namir... Hey, Namir, wake up..."

I moaned groggily and opened my eyes. All of my friends were hovering over me, save Inuyasha, and they all seemed to be rather relieved that I'd shown some sign of life.

"Hey girl, how you feeling?" I turned my gaze toward Kagome's pale features, taking note of the good looking bruise she had around her forearms and the minor cuts she had on her face.



"I'm... okay," I whispered hoarsely. "My throat hurts pretty fuckin' bad but other than that everythin' seems okay." I swept the room looking for my Scythe. Kagome seemed to pick up on what I was thinking and put her hand over mine to reassure me.



"After you passed out your... scythe, right?" I nodded and she continued. "It kept making this really weird humming noise, like it was angry, and wouldn't let anyone touch it. So, I kinda talked to it, calmed it down, and I set it next to you. Then it did the weirdest thing... it changed shape."



I looked at Kagome as if she were crazy. The Scythe had never done ANYTHING like that before. I glanced around again before speaking. "Where the hell is it now?" Kagome nodded in the direction of the door.



"Over there."

With some help from Miroku I was able to sit up and look behind me, allowing a small gasp to escape my parched and bruised throat.



The Scythe had transformed into a gorgeous burning-gold colored wolf. As I moved, it turned ice blue eyes on me and stood, abandoning its guard position. The beautiful animal approached my spot on the floor and sat, its eyes burning into mine. I raised my hand and cautiously put it on the wolf's head. I instantly felt the connection. This was indeed my weapon.

"Scythe..." I murmered, continuing to stroke its soft golden fur. The tail wagged and it whined a bit before laying down next to me with its head in my lap. At that moment Shippo decided to appear, yet again settling himself on my head.

"I hope you're okay Namir. I was really worried. You didn't seem to wanna move or anythin'. Of course, I dont think i anyone /i was as worried as Inuyasha..." the kit trailed off, his brown eyes wide as a shadow fell over the five of us. Scythe jumped to its feet and growled, white fangs gleaming. When I turned around I could see that the shadow was made by Inuyasha, who only coughed slightly. Kagome and Miroku seemed to get the hint and after picking up Shippo and persuading him to leave by promises of candy, they too vacated the hut. It took a couple minutes to convince Scythe that Inuyasha wasn't going to hurt me and that it would be okay for it to leave too, but it finally caved in and crept out the door, only stopping to give a warning growl to Inuyasha.

"You can come in... I'm not going to decapitate you or anything."

Inuyasha hmphed, walked in, and sat himself cross-legged in front of me. The awkward silence that I had been expecting set in, engulfing both of us. That is, until Inyasha cleared his throat and spoke.



"I'm... I'm really glad you're all right." He seemed embarrassed to say it but from the look in his eyes I could tell it was sincere. I nodded in thanks then thought of something to say.

"You know, I was really scared when I saw you hit the ground. I thought that you might be really hurt and... well... I..." I couldn't think of anything else. My throat had closed and tears welled up in my eyes. Inuyasha's features flickered between emotions of guilt and worry. He moved closer to me and looked me dead in the eyes. His pupils burned into mine and he whispered, "I think I was ten times more worried about you..." right before his lips touched mine.

*~ okay then. that is the end of chapter seven. for those of you who pay ANY attention to this story, I apologize for not writing in so long. I've been battling allergies, my parents, school, and some difficult issues with my boyfriend. but that's all been resolved so i'm hoping that my creativity'll come back and i'll be able to update more often. Ja ne!~*