Chapter Seven: Kagome Captured!
Inuyasha sat above the campfire. It had been three days since Miroku and Sango had left to find information on the Dragon Soul. Kagome had gotten sick the next day and they had stopped early and hadn't moved since. Seven was getting food ready and Kagome was still asleep. She had been doing almost nothing else for two days. It was starting to piss Inuyasha off. "Hey Seven," he yelled "when the hell is she gonna snap out of it?" Seven took a bottle out of Kagome's bag. "Wow she came prepared for everything it seems." He opened the bottle and put two pills in a cup of tea. "Hey Seven you listening to me?" Seven jerked his head up, "oh, sorry Inuyasha, yah she should be up by tonight and ready to go by tomorrow noon." "TOMORROW NOON!" the Hanyou practically screamed "we've been here long enough as it is." Seven shrugged. "Sorry Inuyasha but if we try to go sooner she might get worse and that would put us out for several more days." The Hanyou scowled and stood up on his branch. "Whatever, I'm going for a walk." With that he darted off through the foliage. Seven chuckled and slowly poured the tea down Kagome's throat. She moaned softly and opened her eyes. "I-Inu- Yasha?" she called softly. "Hush now Kagome," Seven soothed brushing some hair out of her face. "He'll be back soon." "Mm-hmm" Kagome moaned softly and fell back asleep. Seven whipped a cigarette out but didn't light it. God she was a hopeless he thought. I wonder how the Monk is doing? Inuyasha dropped back into their camp from the treetops. Kagome was sitting up now with her back to a tree, but it was an improvement. "Took you long enough wench." He growled. Seven swatted him in the back of the head. "What did I tell you about calling Kagome names?" Inuyasha growled "shut up and piss off!" Seven glared at the Hanyou. "So why are you in such a good mood today?" Inuyasha set about feeding himself "I don't like this place." He muttered "it smells like cruelty and pain, both from humans." Kagome shuddered "you mean humans hurting humans?" Inuyasha snorted "don't think you humans are above cruelty, sometimes you're worse than Youkai!" Seven grunted "yeah I know," he looked at Inuyasha "so why did you go out?" "I was trying to find the source of the smell, unfortunately its so heavy in this area I cant pinpoint it." Seven opened his case and drew out a Katana. It had a black sheath wrapped in silver cord. "We had best be on our guard then." He drew out a small package as well and set it beside him, then he shut the case. "You take first watch," Seven said "wake me at midnight." Inuyasha glanced over at Kagome, she was asleep again. "That woman could sleep anywhere." He muttered, then to Seven "I don't need to be relived, I don't need as much sleep as you." Seven rolled his eyes, "whatever Inu- chan." Inuyasha growled. "Don't call me that you jack ass!"
Inuyasha sat alone in the trees. He was starting to get sick from the smell of the place. Everywhere he went he smelt blood and pain. That much he had said in front of Kagome, he didn't tell her some of the scents however. He scratched his ear absentmindedly. What am I going to do about her he thought. He couldn't figure her out from one minute to the next. "God women are confusing!" a loud snap jolted him out of his thoughts. Below him he could see the camp, dull since the fire had gone out. Kagome was still asleep against the tree and Seven. Crap. Seven was gone. Inuyasha sniffed the air and caught Seven's scent, and the smell of his. blood! Inuyasha jumped down to where Seven had been. The ground was soaked with his blood, several gouges in the ground looked to have been made by sword points. A muffled scream caused Inuyasha to turn back to Kagome, hand on the hilt of the Tetsusaiga. Several man sized shapes hovered over her three of them were tying her up.
"Quickly now." One of the men muttered. "We haven't gotten either of the men she was with." Inuyasha growled loudly. "To late to run now." He grated and pulled out the Tetsusaiga. The men screamed as Inuyasha ran for them he slashed down at the closest target. The man screamed and fell apart. Inuyasha turned to the remaining men. They were staring in horror at the Hanyou. "What the hell!" one of then cried. "He's a Youkai!" the men turned and run. They were not fast enough. Inuyasha pursued cutting through one after another of the fleeing men. The screamed as they fell often in two or three pieces. Inuyasha just cut them down, ignoring their screams. It was over quickly.
Inuyasha slid the Tetsusaiga home and turned back to the campsite. He stepped contemptuously over the dead bodies he past eager to get back to untie Kagome. He reached the site minutes after he had left, several things had changed. Seven was leaning heavily on his Katana covered in blood. "Inuyasha, thank God." He cried sinking to his knees. "They came back and took Kagome, damn it I cant believe they did this to me." He tried to rise, Inuyasha ran to his side "hold on you stay here, your in no condition to fight." Seven growled. "They got me three times before I woke up, damn how could I have been so careless." Sweat was pouring down his face. "Go get Kagome, there is still over thirty of them that I saw." He clutched his side in pain "go now damn it!" Inuyasha lowered him slowly to the ground. "Don't you die on me now, I'll be back for you." Seven smiled weakly. "What's this? The emotionless Hanyou sowing concern?" he coughed up blood. "Get the hell out of here, I'll be fine." Inuyasha nodded and darted off.
Seven waited until Inuyasha was out of earshot. He pulled himself up grunting with exertion. "Tonight is a night that will change all things." He muttered to himself. "Souls that seek will burn, Those sought after will be found, Blood will burn away pain, The sword will break under the weight of the blood." He stood and sheathed his sword "being me sucks." He draw his hand over his chest, the stab wounds had disappeared. "To die, to rest, only few are so lucky." He started in the direction Inuyasha had gone, following the smell of hate.
Inuyasha lunged from one tree to another, foliage whipping past as he followed the trail of the humans who had captured Kagome, his Kagome. The smell was getting closer, filling his senses, blood, death, hate, and fear. Fires roared ahead, filling the trees with smoke. Fires that belonged to men. Men who had captured his Kagome. They would pay! Inuyasha landed softly next to the largest fire, only inches behind one of the humans. Too easy. He dug his claws into the mans neck. "Where is Kagome?" he growled. The man he was holding started to scream hysterically and tried to writhe out of Inuyasha's grasp. The camp was instantly up and armed. One of them saw the screaming man and Inuyasha. "Y-Y-Youkai!" he screamed. The men ran off to a large cave away from the fires. Inuyasha ignored them. He tightened his grip on the man he had. "I wont ask again, where is the girl you just took?" the man was shaking fearfully. "I-I-in the c-c-cave." He blurted, "please don't hurt me." Inuyasha growled and smacked the man on the neck; he fell unconscious to the ground.
Ignoring the fires and the unconscious man Inuyasha headed for the cave. All his focus was on the cave before him, nothing else concerned him. The cave was twice as tall as Inuyasha. Torches lined the moldy walls, shadows flickering across to cave floor. The men stood at the back of the cave in a large semicircle. They were well armed and ready to fight, as if it mattered. Inuyasha charged them swinging the Tetsusaiga in a low sweep. He sliced several of the man in half and mover on to the rest. He drove madly through their ranks carving through the men with fury. Blood flew everywhere soaking the floor, the walls, the men, and Inuyasha. Soon the carnage was over; Inuyasha stood panting in the mist of the bodies. He held the Tetsusaiga limply at his side, his eyes were vacant.
Inuyasha scanned the remainder of the cave looking for Kagome. There was no sign of her. He started looking for a door or a crack leading deeper into the cave but could find none. Then it hit him, he couldn't smell Kagome! She had never been in the cave. "Damn it!" he cursed and ran towards the cave entrance. Without warning the Tetsusaiga started to pulse. "What the!" Inuyasha stopped and stared at the sword. It started to shudder and then burst into flames. Inuyasha held the sword away from his face and raised a hand to shield his eyes. The flaming Tetsusaiga then started to bleed. Dark blood poured from the old crack where it had broken before. The blood grew thicker and the blade burned hotter until CRACK! The blade shattered into several pieces sending fragments of itself across the cave. A large fragment struck Inuyasha in the head. He spun around and everything went black.
Kagome woke slowly. Her whole body was wracked with pain. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to sit up. She couldn't see and something was holding her down, she fought the rising panic and suppressed a scream. She tried to loosen the bonds around her hands and struggled against the ropes that bound her. Oh god what's going on? She thought franticly. The last thing she remembered was Inuyasha returning to camp and talking to Seven. After that there was nothing. Crap, what happened? Where's Inuyasha and Seven? Why me?
She was jolted from her thoughts by a rough hand. It jerked her up and tore off the rag that had been blinding her. "Hey there girly." The man leered. His breath stunk and he had very few teeth. The man turned his head. "Hey boys." He called "she's finally up." Three other men came up behind the one that was crouching in front of Kagome. "Good thing Suiga." One of the standers grunted. "The Lord would not like it if she had died, you hit her pretty hard." Well that explains the headache, Kagome thought ruefully.
Suiga shrugged "yeah well she didn't die so piss off." He pushed Kagome back down. "Come on lets get ready to go." The four men turned and disappeared behind some trees. Kagome now was able to look abound. She was in a small grotto in a wooden stall. The floor had a light layer of straw and was lightly blood stained. The smell of the place made her want to throw up. A moan to her right made her lift her head up slowly. "Hello?" she called softly. Another moan was the only response. Kagome slowly pushed herself to the edge of the stall and peered around the corner. She gasped and quickly pulled back shuddering. On the other side of the wall she had seen a girl also tied and gagged. However she was covered in blood and bruises. She had blood stumps instead of hands and her ankles ended in the same way. Kagome fought desperately to keep from emptying her stomach. Oh God help me she cried to herself. She curled into a ball and cried herself to sleep.
Seven ran into the cave where behind the dying bonfires. Inuyasha was lying there clutching the broken hilt of the Tetsusaiga. Blood was crusted on his forehead, the cut already gone. Seven cursed and ran to the still Hanyou. "Inuyasha snap out of it damn it!" Inuyasha moaned and quivered and wiped his forehead and sat up unsteadily. Seven put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "What happened?" Inuyasha opened his eyes and stared at Seven. "Where am I?" he asked. Seven pulled him to his feet. "Wake up boy!" he shook Inuyasha "where is Kagome? Come on boy. Did you find her?" Inuyasha hung his head. "Gone, she was never here." Seven nodded. "I thought so, come on I think I found her trail. "Inuyasha perked up. "You did, let's go." Inuyasha pulled away from Seven and fell to his knees. "Crap, heal the hell happened to me?" Seven glanced around the cave. "Hold on." He dashed around the cave and picked up the fragments of the Tetsusaiga. "Your sword broke, we have to go fix it." Inuyasha shook his head "no Kagome is more important." He started away again this time staying on his feet. "Lets go."
Seven shook his head "sorry Inuyasha but the sword comes first." Inuyasha turned and glared at the man behind him. "Damn the sword, Kagome is in danger." Seven stepped up to Inuyasha and slapped him hard across the face. "Wake up you baka!" he yelled "if you go charging after Kagome without the seal of the Tetsusaiga you are the biggest threat to her, not her captors!" Inuyasha hung his head "sorry, I'm just worried that's all." Seven patted his shoulder "good then, let's hurry."
Kagome was roughly awakened when one of her captors pulled her to her feet by her hair. She screamed in pain before finding her feet. The man laughed and pushed her towards several horses. Six women were already draped across the horse's backs bound and gagged. They all looked younger than Kagome. Th man who had woken her roughly picked her up and tossed her stomach first over a horse next to a girl who looked no older than sixteen. She was covered in bruises and one of her eyes was swelled shut. Her open eye was full of fear and pain. She was shuddering uncontrollably. Kagome tried to relax and comfort the girl wordlessly. The only response was a fearful glance.
The men mounted the remaining horses and started into the forest, pulling the horses with the girls along behind. Several hours passed and Kagome was stiff and numb. The sun was low in the west and the men were arguing over whether to stop and camp or continue on. Kagome had tried to sleep to pass time and relive the pain but sleeping on the horse was almost impossible, even for her. The girl next to her had stopped crying and had just hung there for almost an hour. Kagome was starting to worry if she was ok. She lifted her head with effort, her neck was in knots and it hurt to move. They were at the base on a small mountain, snow could be seen higher up but the cold reached down to where they were. She shivered and sneezed. Where was Inuyasha?
Inuyasha led the way through the fire pits surrounding Toutousai's hut. Seven wrinkled his nose. "This place sure does stink, eh?" Inuyasha growled "you have no idea." He picked up his pace and soon reached the center of the pt and Toutousai's hut. There was a light coming from inside and the ring of the smith's hammer. "Good the coward id home, come on." He strode into the cave. "Hey old man I need some help!" the ring of the hammer stopped. "Who are you?" the smith stared blankly at Inuyasha. Inuyasha sighed. "Damn it, not this again?" the smith stood and tottered over to the Hanyou. "Wait your Inuyasha, where is my sword?" Inuyasha growled "your sword, hey we settled this a long time ago, its mine!" Toutousai blinked and looked even more vacant, if that was possible. "Did we, I don't recall." He looked down and saw the empty sheath. "You fool, you broke my precious sword again didn't you?" Seven stepped up pushing Inuyasha aside. "The sword did not break in battle, it shattered after being used on some humans." Toutousai stared at seven "where did you come from?" Seven rolled his eyes. "You were right Inuyasha, he is a dithering idiot." SMACK Toutousia's hammer came down on Seven's head. "Show some respect you!" he proclaimed. "Inuyasha pushed seven aside. "Listen old man Kagome's in danger and I need the Tetsusaiga, will you help or not?" Toutousai turned, the sword has already been repaired by your fang, if I don't get better material then it wont be easy." Inuyasha growled. "Where the hell can we find better material?" Toutousai shrugged. "Well one person is your brother but that's out of the question." Inuyasha nodded.
"Mind if I cut in?" seven asked rubbing his forehead. Toutousai turned. "You can't help, you could never provide decent material. Seven set his large case on the ground. "I don't intend on being the donor." He opened the case and pulled out the compartment full of Youkai bones. He pulled out a finger bone and a long tooth. "These should be good" Toutousai hopped over and peered at the articles in Sevens hand. "Where did you get these?" Seven frowned, "a long way from here, will you use them?" Toutousai took them and turned them around in his hand. "They are quite powerful, are you sure you want to increase the Tetsusaiga's power by so much?" Seven smiled at Inuyasha "I think he can handle it."
Inuyasha sat outside Toutousai's hut next to Seven. Almost a day had past and the smith was still working. "Damn it what's taking so long?" he thumped his head against the hut. "Can't he go any faster?" Seven yawned and sat up. "The process of repairing that much damage should take a while." Inuyasha glared at Seven "I'm in no mood to be delayed." Seven smiled "good, while we wait I den to tell you about the new powers your sword will have." Inuyasha turned to Seven "what new powers?" Seven leaned against the hut. "Now because of the bones I added the Tetsusaiga will be far stronger than it was before." Inuyasha gestured for him to continue. "The tooth once belonged to a TaiYoukai who could manipulate time, eventually you will be able to slow time around you to such an extent it will be like you moving around statues." Inuyasha was now leaning forward golden eyes intent on Seven. "The finger however is far more powerful and dangerous. It will enable you to move from one place to another instantly." Inuyasha smiled "why would that be dangerous?" Seven glared at Inuyasha "if you use it improperly you could end up loosing pieces of your self or appearing somewhere where you cant survive, like in a wall or something." Inuyasha smirked. "No way that will happen to me!" Seven smiled, "I hope so Inuyasha."
Toutousai emerged just then holding the Tetsusaiga; it looked better than ever. The blade was free of nicks and scratches, and was finely sharpened. The hilt looked as if it had been retied. "Now listen here Inuyasha!" the smith scolded. "This is quite a blade but very dangerous, be careful and try not to break it this time!" Inuyasha glared at him and grabbed the sword from the smith. "Feh! Whatever old man!" he sheathed the sword and started away from the hut. "Come on Seven," he called back "we've wasted enough time already!" I'm coming Kagome he thought clenching his fist, stay safe!
Inuyasha sat above the campfire. It had been three days since Miroku and Sango had left to find information on the Dragon Soul. Kagome had gotten sick the next day and they had stopped early and hadn't moved since. Seven was getting food ready and Kagome was still asleep. She had been doing almost nothing else for two days. It was starting to piss Inuyasha off. "Hey Seven," he yelled "when the hell is she gonna snap out of it?" Seven took a bottle out of Kagome's bag. "Wow she came prepared for everything it seems." He opened the bottle and put two pills in a cup of tea. "Hey Seven you listening to me?" Seven jerked his head up, "oh, sorry Inuyasha, yah she should be up by tonight and ready to go by tomorrow noon." "TOMORROW NOON!" the Hanyou practically screamed "we've been here long enough as it is." Seven shrugged. "Sorry Inuyasha but if we try to go sooner she might get worse and that would put us out for several more days." The Hanyou scowled and stood up on his branch. "Whatever, I'm going for a walk." With that he darted off through the foliage. Seven chuckled and slowly poured the tea down Kagome's throat. She moaned softly and opened her eyes. "I-Inu- Yasha?" she called softly. "Hush now Kagome," Seven soothed brushing some hair out of her face. "He'll be back soon." "Mm-hmm" Kagome moaned softly and fell back asleep. Seven whipped a cigarette out but didn't light it. God she was a hopeless he thought. I wonder how the Monk is doing? Inuyasha dropped back into their camp from the treetops. Kagome was sitting up now with her back to a tree, but it was an improvement. "Took you long enough wench." He growled. Seven swatted him in the back of the head. "What did I tell you about calling Kagome names?" Inuyasha growled "shut up and piss off!" Seven glared at the Hanyou. "So why are you in such a good mood today?" Inuyasha set about feeding himself "I don't like this place." He muttered "it smells like cruelty and pain, both from humans." Kagome shuddered "you mean humans hurting humans?" Inuyasha snorted "don't think you humans are above cruelty, sometimes you're worse than Youkai!" Seven grunted "yeah I know," he looked at Inuyasha "so why did you go out?" "I was trying to find the source of the smell, unfortunately its so heavy in this area I cant pinpoint it." Seven opened his case and drew out a Katana. It had a black sheath wrapped in silver cord. "We had best be on our guard then." He drew out a small package as well and set it beside him, then he shut the case. "You take first watch," Seven said "wake me at midnight." Inuyasha glanced over at Kagome, she was asleep again. "That woman could sleep anywhere." He muttered, then to Seven "I don't need to be relived, I don't need as much sleep as you." Seven rolled his eyes, "whatever Inu- chan." Inuyasha growled. "Don't call me that you jack ass!"
Inuyasha sat alone in the trees. He was starting to get sick from the smell of the place. Everywhere he went he smelt blood and pain. That much he had said in front of Kagome, he didn't tell her some of the scents however. He scratched his ear absentmindedly. What am I going to do about her he thought. He couldn't figure her out from one minute to the next. "God women are confusing!" a loud snap jolted him out of his thoughts. Below him he could see the camp, dull since the fire had gone out. Kagome was still asleep against the tree and Seven. Crap. Seven was gone. Inuyasha sniffed the air and caught Seven's scent, and the smell of his. blood! Inuyasha jumped down to where Seven had been. The ground was soaked with his blood, several gouges in the ground looked to have been made by sword points. A muffled scream caused Inuyasha to turn back to Kagome, hand on the hilt of the Tetsusaiga. Several man sized shapes hovered over her three of them were tying her up.
"Quickly now." One of the men muttered. "We haven't gotten either of the men she was with." Inuyasha growled loudly. "To late to run now." He grated and pulled out the Tetsusaiga. The men screamed as Inuyasha ran for them he slashed down at the closest target. The man screamed and fell apart. Inuyasha turned to the remaining men. They were staring in horror at the Hanyou. "What the hell!" one of then cried. "He's a Youkai!" the men turned and run. They were not fast enough. Inuyasha pursued cutting through one after another of the fleeing men. The screamed as they fell often in two or three pieces. Inuyasha just cut them down, ignoring their screams. It was over quickly.
Inuyasha slid the Tetsusaiga home and turned back to the campsite. He stepped contemptuously over the dead bodies he past eager to get back to untie Kagome. He reached the site minutes after he had left, several things had changed. Seven was leaning heavily on his Katana covered in blood. "Inuyasha, thank God." He cried sinking to his knees. "They came back and took Kagome, damn it I cant believe they did this to me." He tried to rise, Inuyasha ran to his side "hold on you stay here, your in no condition to fight." Seven growled. "They got me three times before I woke up, damn how could I have been so careless." Sweat was pouring down his face. "Go get Kagome, there is still over thirty of them that I saw." He clutched his side in pain "go now damn it!" Inuyasha lowered him slowly to the ground. "Don't you die on me now, I'll be back for you." Seven smiled weakly. "What's this? The emotionless Hanyou sowing concern?" he coughed up blood. "Get the hell out of here, I'll be fine." Inuyasha nodded and darted off.
Seven waited until Inuyasha was out of earshot. He pulled himself up grunting with exertion. "Tonight is a night that will change all things." He muttered to himself. "Souls that seek will burn, Those sought after will be found, Blood will burn away pain, The sword will break under the weight of the blood." He stood and sheathed his sword "being me sucks." He draw his hand over his chest, the stab wounds had disappeared. "To die, to rest, only few are so lucky." He started in the direction Inuyasha had gone, following the smell of hate.
Inuyasha lunged from one tree to another, foliage whipping past as he followed the trail of the humans who had captured Kagome, his Kagome. The smell was getting closer, filling his senses, blood, death, hate, and fear. Fires roared ahead, filling the trees with smoke. Fires that belonged to men. Men who had captured his Kagome. They would pay! Inuyasha landed softly next to the largest fire, only inches behind one of the humans. Too easy. He dug his claws into the mans neck. "Where is Kagome?" he growled. The man he was holding started to scream hysterically and tried to writhe out of Inuyasha's grasp. The camp was instantly up and armed. One of them saw the screaming man and Inuyasha. "Y-Y-Youkai!" he screamed. The men ran off to a large cave away from the fires. Inuyasha ignored them. He tightened his grip on the man he had. "I wont ask again, where is the girl you just took?" the man was shaking fearfully. "I-I-in the c-c-cave." He blurted, "please don't hurt me." Inuyasha growled and smacked the man on the neck; he fell unconscious to the ground.
Ignoring the fires and the unconscious man Inuyasha headed for the cave. All his focus was on the cave before him, nothing else concerned him. The cave was twice as tall as Inuyasha. Torches lined the moldy walls, shadows flickering across to cave floor. The men stood at the back of the cave in a large semicircle. They were well armed and ready to fight, as if it mattered. Inuyasha charged them swinging the Tetsusaiga in a low sweep. He sliced several of the man in half and mover on to the rest. He drove madly through their ranks carving through the men with fury. Blood flew everywhere soaking the floor, the walls, the men, and Inuyasha. Soon the carnage was over; Inuyasha stood panting in the mist of the bodies. He held the Tetsusaiga limply at his side, his eyes were vacant.
Inuyasha scanned the remainder of the cave looking for Kagome. There was no sign of her. He started looking for a door or a crack leading deeper into the cave but could find none. Then it hit him, he couldn't smell Kagome! She had never been in the cave. "Damn it!" he cursed and ran towards the cave entrance. Without warning the Tetsusaiga started to pulse. "What the!" Inuyasha stopped and stared at the sword. It started to shudder and then burst into flames. Inuyasha held the sword away from his face and raised a hand to shield his eyes. The flaming Tetsusaiga then started to bleed. Dark blood poured from the old crack where it had broken before. The blood grew thicker and the blade burned hotter until CRACK! The blade shattered into several pieces sending fragments of itself across the cave. A large fragment struck Inuyasha in the head. He spun around and everything went black.
Kagome woke slowly. Her whole body was wracked with pain. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to sit up. She couldn't see and something was holding her down, she fought the rising panic and suppressed a scream. She tried to loosen the bonds around her hands and struggled against the ropes that bound her. Oh god what's going on? She thought franticly. The last thing she remembered was Inuyasha returning to camp and talking to Seven. After that there was nothing. Crap, what happened? Where's Inuyasha and Seven? Why me?
She was jolted from her thoughts by a rough hand. It jerked her up and tore off the rag that had been blinding her. "Hey there girly." The man leered. His breath stunk and he had very few teeth. The man turned his head. "Hey boys." He called "she's finally up." Three other men came up behind the one that was crouching in front of Kagome. "Good thing Suiga." One of the standers grunted. "The Lord would not like it if she had died, you hit her pretty hard." Well that explains the headache, Kagome thought ruefully.
Suiga shrugged "yeah well she didn't die so piss off." He pushed Kagome back down. "Come on lets get ready to go." The four men turned and disappeared behind some trees. Kagome now was able to look abound. She was in a small grotto in a wooden stall. The floor had a light layer of straw and was lightly blood stained. The smell of the place made her want to throw up. A moan to her right made her lift her head up slowly. "Hello?" she called softly. Another moan was the only response. Kagome slowly pushed herself to the edge of the stall and peered around the corner. She gasped and quickly pulled back shuddering. On the other side of the wall she had seen a girl also tied and gagged. However she was covered in blood and bruises. She had blood stumps instead of hands and her ankles ended in the same way. Kagome fought desperately to keep from emptying her stomach. Oh God help me she cried to herself. She curled into a ball and cried herself to sleep.
Seven ran into the cave where behind the dying bonfires. Inuyasha was lying there clutching the broken hilt of the Tetsusaiga. Blood was crusted on his forehead, the cut already gone. Seven cursed and ran to the still Hanyou. "Inuyasha snap out of it damn it!" Inuyasha moaned and quivered and wiped his forehead and sat up unsteadily. Seven put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "What happened?" Inuyasha opened his eyes and stared at Seven. "Where am I?" he asked. Seven pulled him to his feet. "Wake up boy!" he shook Inuyasha "where is Kagome? Come on boy. Did you find her?" Inuyasha hung his head. "Gone, she was never here." Seven nodded. "I thought so, come on I think I found her trail. "Inuyasha perked up. "You did, let's go." Inuyasha pulled away from Seven and fell to his knees. "Crap, heal the hell happened to me?" Seven glanced around the cave. "Hold on." He dashed around the cave and picked up the fragments of the Tetsusaiga. "Your sword broke, we have to go fix it." Inuyasha shook his head "no Kagome is more important." He started away again this time staying on his feet. "Lets go."
Seven shook his head "sorry Inuyasha but the sword comes first." Inuyasha turned and glared at the man behind him. "Damn the sword, Kagome is in danger." Seven stepped up to Inuyasha and slapped him hard across the face. "Wake up you baka!" he yelled "if you go charging after Kagome without the seal of the Tetsusaiga you are the biggest threat to her, not her captors!" Inuyasha hung his head "sorry, I'm just worried that's all." Seven patted his shoulder "good then, let's hurry."
Kagome was roughly awakened when one of her captors pulled her to her feet by her hair. She screamed in pain before finding her feet. The man laughed and pushed her towards several horses. Six women were already draped across the horse's backs bound and gagged. They all looked younger than Kagome. Th man who had woken her roughly picked her up and tossed her stomach first over a horse next to a girl who looked no older than sixteen. She was covered in bruises and one of her eyes was swelled shut. Her open eye was full of fear and pain. She was shuddering uncontrollably. Kagome tried to relax and comfort the girl wordlessly. The only response was a fearful glance.
The men mounted the remaining horses and started into the forest, pulling the horses with the girls along behind. Several hours passed and Kagome was stiff and numb. The sun was low in the west and the men were arguing over whether to stop and camp or continue on. Kagome had tried to sleep to pass time and relive the pain but sleeping on the horse was almost impossible, even for her. The girl next to her had stopped crying and had just hung there for almost an hour. Kagome was starting to worry if she was ok. She lifted her head with effort, her neck was in knots and it hurt to move. They were at the base on a small mountain, snow could be seen higher up but the cold reached down to where they were. She shivered and sneezed. Where was Inuyasha?
Inuyasha led the way through the fire pits surrounding Toutousai's hut. Seven wrinkled his nose. "This place sure does stink, eh?" Inuyasha growled "you have no idea." He picked up his pace and soon reached the center of the pt and Toutousai's hut. There was a light coming from inside and the ring of the smith's hammer. "Good the coward id home, come on." He strode into the cave. "Hey old man I need some help!" the ring of the hammer stopped. "Who are you?" the smith stared blankly at Inuyasha. Inuyasha sighed. "Damn it, not this again?" the smith stood and tottered over to the Hanyou. "Wait your Inuyasha, where is my sword?" Inuyasha growled "your sword, hey we settled this a long time ago, its mine!" Toutousai blinked and looked even more vacant, if that was possible. "Did we, I don't recall." He looked down and saw the empty sheath. "You fool, you broke my precious sword again didn't you?" Seven stepped up pushing Inuyasha aside. "The sword did not break in battle, it shattered after being used on some humans." Toutousai stared at seven "where did you come from?" Seven rolled his eyes. "You were right Inuyasha, he is a dithering idiot." SMACK Toutousia's hammer came down on Seven's head. "Show some respect you!" he proclaimed. "Inuyasha pushed seven aside. "Listen old man Kagome's in danger and I need the Tetsusaiga, will you help or not?" Toutousai turned, the sword has already been repaired by your fang, if I don't get better material then it wont be easy." Inuyasha growled. "Where the hell can we find better material?" Toutousai shrugged. "Well one person is your brother but that's out of the question." Inuyasha nodded.
"Mind if I cut in?" seven asked rubbing his forehead. Toutousai turned. "You can't help, you could never provide decent material. Seven set his large case on the ground. "I don't intend on being the donor." He opened the case and pulled out the compartment full of Youkai bones. He pulled out a finger bone and a long tooth. "These should be good" Toutousai hopped over and peered at the articles in Sevens hand. "Where did you get these?" Seven frowned, "a long way from here, will you use them?" Toutousai took them and turned them around in his hand. "They are quite powerful, are you sure you want to increase the Tetsusaiga's power by so much?" Seven smiled at Inuyasha "I think he can handle it."
Inuyasha sat outside Toutousai's hut next to Seven. Almost a day had past and the smith was still working. "Damn it what's taking so long?" he thumped his head against the hut. "Can't he go any faster?" Seven yawned and sat up. "The process of repairing that much damage should take a while." Inuyasha glared at Seven "I'm in no mood to be delayed." Seven smiled "good, while we wait I den to tell you about the new powers your sword will have." Inuyasha turned to Seven "what new powers?" Seven leaned against the hut. "Now because of the bones I added the Tetsusaiga will be far stronger than it was before." Inuyasha gestured for him to continue. "The tooth once belonged to a TaiYoukai who could manipulate time, eventually you will be able to slow time around you to such an extent it will be like you moving around statues." Inuyasha was now leaning forward golden eyes intent on Seven. "The finger however is far more powerful and dangerous. It will enable you to move from one place to another instantly." Inuyasha smiled "why would that be dangerous?" Seven glared at Inuyasha "if you use it improperly you could end up loosing pieces of your self or appearing somewhere where you cant survive, like in a wall or something." Inuyasha smirked. "No way that will happen to me!" Seven smiled, "I hope so Inuyasha."
Toutousai emerged just then holding the Tetsusaiga; it looked better than ever. The blade was free of nicks and scratches, and was finely sharpened. The hilt looked as if it had been retied. "Now listen here Inuyasha!" the smith scolded. "This is quite a blade but very dangerous, be careful and try not to break it this time!" Inuyasha glared at him and grabbed the sword from the smith. "Feh! Whatever old man!" he sheathed the sword and started away from the hut. "Come on Seven," he called back "we've wasted enough time already!" I'm coming Kagome he thought clenching his fist, stay safe!