Intro
This is it. The final chapter. The end of something I've been working on for longer than I should have been. Everything has lead up the this point and with any luck, I won't disappoint you. (Don't hate me if I do _ )
Chapter 12
***Part 1: The Beginning of the End***
Sesshomaru's army was ready at the base of the mountain range. They sat still and silent as the carriage holding Lord Sesshomaru and, to what his army though, his servants. Slowly, the demonic oni that were pulling the carriage came to a slow stop.
Kagome peeked out one of the two windows in the carriage at the daunting mountains before them. She knew how cold it would be. Thankfully, the carriage seemed to be temperature controlled, as it were. She looked down for a moment at the bow and quiver at her feet, and built up the courage to pick it up, and be the first to step out of the carriage.
As she reached for the door, however, Jaken smacked her hand away. "You won't be in the main conflict, girl. You have a much more important use ahead of you." The imp looked to Sesshomaru as he spoke such.
"Jaken is correct. You're far too battle green to be heading into the fray. You are a supplemental attacker. Once Barbarossa shows his face, you'll be hitting him with one of your sacred arrows. We can't do that when you're dead, now can we?" Sesshomaru cracked his neck some and grasped the handle of the Tokijin.
Sighing lightly, Sesshomaru stepped from the carriage and walked over by his troops, looking them over and then looking up the mountain. Sango, too, was about to leave, but Miroku was quick to stop her.
"I think you should stay here and protect Kagome, Sango. Bows aren't what we could class melee friendly. If things get a bit...hairy...back here, she could have to depend on you." Miroku smiles some to Sango, showing that his concern was for Sango, not Kagome. He stepped out of the carriage and walked alongside Sesshomaru.
Inuyasha looked at Kagome for a few minutes, and then glanced at Sango. He nodded to them both, and then followed suit, leaving the carriage and standing before the mountains. He already had a tight grasp on the Tetsusaiga, and was ready to fight anything that got in his way.
"Well then...shall we begin our ascent?" Sesshomaru looked to Miroku and Inuyasha, as if he was waiting for their opinion.
"Now is as good a time as ever, Sesshomaru..." Miroku held his staff in a battle-ready stance, while scanning his eyes over the mountain range.
Inuyasha drew the Tetsusaiga from it's sheath and rested it over his shoulder. "We might as well do this before it gets any colder out here..." He grumbled some and held the Tetsusaiga in a battle stance.
"Very well then..." Sesshomaru lifted up a classic strategists fan from his belt up into the air, and then motioned forward. "Forward, my army. Crush all who oppose us." Even in this serious moment, Sesshomaru's voice was calm as ever.
With his quite words, the forces of the great lord Sesshomaru charged forward, scaling the daunting mountainside, drawing ever closer to Barbarossa's iron keep, which was near the peak. The beasts climbed, flew, hopped, and ran up the mountains in an effort to appease their lord.
After twenty minutes of the army's scaling of the mountain, an untimely dark covered the mountains like a thick, oily fog. Moments later, they assembled into tall, lean beasts. They still looked jet black, and without most features, save for horns, gaping maws, and most notable, huge claws. The war had begun.
***Part 2: Pleased Observations***
Barbarossa watched from his iron fortress as his shadow demons did battle with Sesshomaru's more physical beasts. A slight grin crossed his face, for he now knew the full extent of Sesshomaru's army. He was confident that his shadow beasts were far greater in quantity and quality. Turning from the window, and walked back to his throne, taking a seat in it.
"Victory will come soon, my friends..." He was pretty much talking to himself, but, he knew the Gram and Laevateinn were listening. "I give them an hour until they are utterly overrun..." He grinned some and slouched down in the plush thrown, resting his feet on an ottoman.
The shadow beasts that Barbarossa created were shredding any demon they got their claws on. Rarely was it that one of Sesshomaru's minions got an attack off. When they did, however, the shadow monsters were quick to dispel. Agility was definitely a trait of Barbarossa's army, though. They were incredibly fast by both foot and claw.
Several minutes past as the war raged on, but Barbarossa was getting tired of sitting in this fortified keep while his minions did all the work. He was far too used to doing things himself, and was beginning to itch for a bit of action for himself.
Sighing heavily, he walked over to the window yet again. The mountains were littered with corpse and sludge alike. Pulling open the large twin doors to the keep, he called the Gram and Laevateinn to him by merely opening his hands. The twin blades obeyed their master, and flew into his grip, as he stepped out of the keep, watching over his armies.
***Part 3: The Strike***
As Barbarossa stepped from his keep, the Laevateinn let off a resplendent glean across the battlefield. Even though Kagome was looking to the ground, it caught her eye and attention. She knew it was Barbarossa, and now would be the time she had to take her shot.
As she stepped from the carriage, Sango and Jaken stood beside her, waiting to see what could be the final shot. Jaken held an arrow up to her from her quiver. She took it and thread it into the bow, drawing it back. As she begun to aim the arrow, Barbarossa lowered his blade, getting rid of the glare. He was expecting her, as she was expecting him to be haughty enough to just take it.
As the arrow was drawn all the way bag, it began to glow with a bright white, holy light. Kagome let the arrow off after just a second of letting it "charge". It flew through the air with a magnificent glimmer, growing more and more saturated with holy energies. It flew straight and true to it's target. Barbarossa held out his arms, welcoming the attack.
As the arrow flew by, all of the demons, both no Sesshomaru's side and Barbarossa's, began to either fall over dead, or dissipate completely. Kagome had staked everything on this single blow. By putting all of her energy into it, it was giving off so much energy that it was actually destroying the lesser demons constituting both armies.
The arrow struck Barbarossa straight in the chest. Slowly it pushed him back, but, having relinquished so much energy flying through such great distances and destroying so many demons, it had lost quite some bit of it's energy. After a few moments, it was merely a plain arrow, which fell to the ground. It didn't even break Barbarossa's clothing.
With a grin, Barbarossa took a single step, taking back the ground that Kagome's arrow pushed him from. He was completely sure that this was going to be the outcome of the attack. Never once was he actually worried.
Kagome, on the other hand, was appalled that her strike did just shy of nothing. After staring in amazement, she fell to her knees, for the arrow had drained her stamina. Sango quickly scooped her up and placed her in the carriage.
Jaken, a bit amazed by Barbarossa's endurance, ran to the side of Sesshomaru. "My lord...what are we to do now? Our armies are smitten and the girl isn't capable of firing another arrow!"
"Silence, Jaken. We shall do what this was going to come down to the entire battle...us versus him. No armies involved...blade to blade combat." As Sesshomaru spoke this, he started to draw out the Tokijin. However, the hand of Inuyasha stopped it.
"He's mine, you understand? We need to finish this fight...and none of you will interfere. Not you, Sesshomaru. Not you, Miroku. Not any of you." He growled and pointed the Tetsusaiga at Barbarossa.
Sesshomaru and Miroku looked at one another for a moment, sighed, and took several steps back. Inuyasha had made his choice, and there was nothing they really wanted to do that would be able to stop him. He was going to fight Barbarossa no matter what anyone said or did.
***Part 4: Blood versus Blood***
Barbarossa, seeing Inuyasha's blatant challenge, vanished from sight for a moment, and appeared before his youngest brother. "Tell me, boy...are you really this willing to die?" He grinned some and looked down to Inuyasha.
"You should be asking yourself the same question!" Inuyasha screamed out as he swung the Tetsusaiga in full force.
Barbarossa leapt over the fang blade and balanced on the very end of it. He may have been hulking in height, but, Inuyasha was strong enough to keep the Tetsusaiga outstretched, even with Barbarossa's added weight. With a scowl, Inuyasha spun the blade around, causing Barbarossa to jump off, but get hit in the side by the spinning blade.
The edge hit with a resounding thud on Barbarossa's side. Like the strike Inuyasha did before in Barbarossa's keep, it bled only slightly. it would take both harder attacks and more of them to do any real damage. The elder brother grabbed the blade of the Tetsusaiga and, like he had done before, threw Inuyasha away with it.
With great speed, he flew into the side of part of the mountain, but managed to land on his feet. The Tetsusaiga, however, was hopelessly sunk into the mountainside. Inuyasha pulled at it for a moment, but failed miserably at getting it to even budge. Inuyasha turned to Barbarossa with a scowl and dove at him with his claws.
Barbarossa dodged the flurry of swipes with ease, pulling a few random, weak punches of his own. He delivered such only to annoy and enrage the young half demon. it was working greatly. After several minutes of this, Inuyasha was beginning to give into his full demon blood. It seemed that he was in mortal danger, and the blood wouldn't let it happen, as it were.
Barbarossa, noticing this change via smelling the blood, merely pushed Inuyasha back some ten feet to observe what exactly was going on. The change was like it was before; marks like unto Sesshomaru's grew across Inuyasha's cheeks, and his eyes turned blood red, save for the pupils. His claws became slightly longer, and sharper. He was a pure blooded demon once again.
"Well well...a new trick, I see. Think it can fare against me, boy?" Barbarossa grinned some, completely unimpressed with this transformation. He motioned to the floating Gram and Laevateinn, as they then floated back fifty feet, to ensure they stayed out of the fight.
Inuyasha let out only a primal growl in response to Barbarossa's taunts. Reason had drifted from his mind, and only a feral bloodlust remained. Cracking his knuckles methodically, he slowly stepped towards his eldest brother, like a wolf on the hunt.
In a raspy, terrible voice, Inuyasha let out a single word. "Die......" He grinned some after this and flew at Barbarossa with his claws out, ready to tear out his neck like some feral dog.
Barbarossa made a quick step to the side, dodging the attack, but Inuyasha was quick to bounce from his landing and leap at his elder brother once more. Time and again, Barbarossa would dodge and Inuyasha would strike again. In the common eyes of the onlookers, save for Sesshomaru, the battle seemed like almost a blur.
Finally, tired of the games, Barbarossa and Inuyasha locked hands as if in some sort of a power contest. They pressed their strength against one another with everything they had. Barbarossa had a cool, unworried look on his face while Inuyasha was still with a feral grimace on his face. They sat like that for several moments before Inuyasha decided to capitalize.
Sliding his fingers out from Barbarossa's, Inuyasha grabbed hold of his oldest brothers wrists and flipped under and around, between his arms, delivering a double kick to Barbarossa's Jaw. The tall demon was taken aback by this display, both angered and impressed at it.
"Well well, boy...looks like you still have a little fight left in you. Maybe this wasn't just some act of desperation. know you this though, child...there's nothing you can pull out that would be capa-"
He was cut of by Inuyasha slashing at him again and again, like before. Once again, they resumed with dance of Inuyasha attacking and Barbarossa merely sidestepping. While Inuyasha had definitely gained strength and speed, he lost skill. He would attack harder and faster, but with no guidance. No forethought to Barbarossa's dodging.
Watching the display yet again, Sesshomaru growled some and clasped the handle of the Tokijin. "I tire of this game...it appears as if I need to end it..." He sighed some and mumbled to himself.
With lightning speed, Sesshomaru drew the Tokijin and jumped into the fray, swinging his evil blade at his older brother. At this point, Barbarossa was both dodging Inuyasha's clumsy attacks and Sesshomaru's Tokijin. With a growl, Sesshomaru charged up the Tokijin to fire it's powerful energy blast at Barbarossa. At the last moment, however, Barbarossa kicked at Sesshomaru's arm, turning the blades point to Inuyasha. Sesshomaru's eyes opened wide as the blast flew forth, engulfing Inuyasha instead of Barbarossa.
Sesshomaru stood in aghast, not because he may have killed Inuyasha, but because he missed maybe the one real chance he had at defeating Barbarossa. Anything he did to Inuyasha wasn't really a priority to him. Barbarossa looked on to the ground where the blast had hit, which now billowed out a gray, ash filled smoke. He and Sesshomaru both were paused, looking at what was left.
Jaken looked on with a small, nearly invisible grin on his face. He wanted to look appalled at the action in order to avoid attack from Miroku or one of Inuyasha's other friends, but was overall pleased that his master may have finally killed his younger brother.
Miroku looked on in horror at the smoking crater. He knew that Sesshomaru didn't aim for Inuyasha, but if he truly did kill him, he was definitely going to hold him accountable. His fist was clenched tightly around his wrist, somewhat ready to unleash his windtunnel.
Thankfully, Shippo and Kagome didn't really see what happened. Kagome was almost unconscious and Shippo was too busy tending to her to care about the explosion.
Sango, on the other hand, saw it all, but was afraid to say anything to Kagome, in fear of her running out there, risking her life.
Sesshomaru took several steps forward, and looked down in the small crater. Barbarossa looked on from a slight distance, leaning up against a rocky outcropping. He was definitely interested in what happened, but didn't want to get too close to his opponent, which may now be Sesshomaru.
As the smoke cleared, one this was definitely apparent to everyone who could see; the silver haired half demon Inuyasha, brother to Sesshomaru and Barbarossa, and wielder of the Tetsusaiga, was no more. All that remained of this once powerful demon was a charred husk.
Before the smoke could fully clear, Sesshomaru leapt into the crater and then jumped out, grabbed Jaken, and took off with great speed. He didn't want to be there when Barbarossa wanted to fight again.
Barbarossa looked down in the hole to see what exactly Sesshomaru did and noticed that Several teeth were missing out of Inuyasha's jaw. "Sesshomaru wants another sword eh..." He laughed some and turned to Miroku, who was now the only watcher, other than Sango, who was beneath Barbarossa's notice. "Leave. You and your friends. I have no desire to kill you. I've done what I've wanted to no....even if it wasn't by my hands."
As Barbarossa grinned, every ounce of Miroku's energy wanted to snap and attack him...but remembered the promise he made to Inuyasha. He had to get Kagome out of there. He promised and wouldn't let anything stop it. With a heavy heart, and the feeling of dishonor overwhelming him, he turned from Barbarossa and walked over to the carriage where Sango, Kagome, and Shippo were.
"Come...we need to go now." It was obvious by Miroku's tone that he didn't want to leave, and was filled with a need for vengeance. "There's nothing we can do now."
Slowly, Miroku got into the carriage and looked to Sango, who had a tear running down her cheek as she looked to Kagome. Miroku leaned over and kissed Sango. "Now is not the time for mourning..." He sighed heavily and looked forward.
As Sango looked to Miroku, the two Oni who drew the carriage turned and led them back from Barbarossa's keep, as if they read Miroku's mind. As they started leaving, Sango looked out the window for a moment and saw the whole where the Tetsusaiga was jammed in the mountain. Sesshomaru seemingly grabbed it and took off with it as he fled the scene.
As the carriage slowly went down the road, the sun finally reached it's zenith. The battle that seemed to last only seconds was hours long. Barbarossa looked up to the sun and then to the carriage, and sighed some. He looked over to the crater, and stepped up to it.
"Goodbye, brother. It's a shame it had to be like this." He nodded some to the skeletal figure, and began to tread back up the mountain, ready to leave humanity once again, like he was before, before Sesshomaru came to him.
The End
Whew....bout time. Didn't really like where this was going at first...but it turned out OK, I think. I may sequel this if feedback is good enough. Until then though, thank you for reading.
This is it. The final chapter. The end of something I've been working on for longer than I should have been. Everything has lead up the this point and with any luck, I won't disappoint you. (Don't hate me if I do _ )
Chapter 12
***Part 1: The Beginning of the End***
Sesshomaru's army was ready at the base of the mountain range. They sat still and silent as the carriage holding Lord Sesshomaru and, to what his army though, his servants. Slowly, the demonic oni that were pulling the carriage came to a slow stop.
Kagome peeked out one of the two windows in the carriage at the daunting mountains before them. She knew how cold it would be. Thankfully, the carriage seemed to be temperature controlled, as it were. She looked down for a moment at the bow and quiver at her feet, and built up the courage to pick it up, and be the first to step out of the carriage.
As she reached for the door, however, Jaken smacked her hand away. "You won't be in the main conflict, girl. You have a much more important use ahead of you." The imp looked to Sesshomaru as he spoke such.
"Jaken is correct. You're far too battle green to be heading into the fray. You are a supplemental attacker. Once Barbarossa shows his face, you'll be hitting him with one of your sacred arrows. We can't do that when you're dead, now can we?" Sesshomaru cracked his neck some and grasped the handle of the Tokijin.
Sighing lightly, Sesshomaru stepped from the carriage and walked over by his troops, looking them over and then looking up the mountain. Sango, too, was about to leave, but Miroku was quick to stop her.
"I think you should stay here and protect Kagome, Sango. Bows aren't what we could class melee friendly. If things get a bit...hairy...back here, she could have to depend on you." Miroku smiles some to Sango, showing that his concern was for Sango, not Kagome. He stepped out of the carriage and walked alongside Sesshomaru.
Inuyasha looked at Kagome for a few minutes, and then glanced at Sango. He nodded to them both, and then followed suit, leaving the carriage and standing before the mountains. He already had a tight grasp on the Tetsusaiga, and was ready to fight anything that got in his way.
"Well then...shall we begin our ascent?" Sesshomaru looked to Miroku and Inuyasha, as if he was waiting for their opinion.
"Now is as good a time as ever, Sesshomaru..." Miroku held his staff in a battle-ready stance, while scanning his eyes over the mountain range.
Inuyasha drew the Tetsusaiga from it's sheath and rested it over his shoulder. "We might as well do this before it gets any colder out here..." He grumbled some and held the Tetsusaiga in a battle stance.
"Very well then..." Sesshomaru lifted up a classic strategists fan from his belt up into the air, and then motioned forward. "Forward, my army. Crush all who oppose us." Even in this serious moment, Sesshomaru's voice was calm as ever.
With his quite words, the forces of the great lord Sesshomaru charged forward, scaling the daunting mountainside, drawing ever closer to Barbarossa's iron keep, which was near the peak. The beasts climbed, flew, hopped, and ran up the mountains in an effort to appease their lord.
After twenty minutes of the army's scaling of the mountain, an untimely dark covered the mountains like a thick, oily fog. Moments later, they assembled into tall, lean beasts. They still looked jet black, and without most features, save for horns, gaping maws, and most notable, huge claws. The war had begun.
***Part 2: Pleased Observations***
Barbarossa watched from his iron fortress as his shadow demons did battle with Sesshomaru's more physical beasts. A slight grin crossed his face, for he now knew the full extent of Sesshomaru's army. He was confident that his shadow beasts were far greater in quantity and quality. Turning from the window, and walked back to his throne, taking a seat in it.
"Victory will come soon, my friends..." He was pretty much talking to himself, but, he knew the Gram and Laevateinn were listening. "I give them an hour until they are utterly overrun..." He grinned some and slouched down in the plush thrown, resting his feet on an ottoman.
The shadow beasts that Barbarossa created were shredding any demon they got their claws on. Rarely was it that one of Sesshomaru's minions got an attack off. When they did, however, the shadow monsters were quick to dispel. Agility was definitely a trait of Barbarossa's army, though. They were incredibly fast by both foot and claw.
Several minutes past as the war raged on, but Barbarossa was getting tired of sitting in this fortified keep while his minions did all the work. He was far too used to doing things himself, and was beginning to itch for a bit of action for himself.
Sighing heavily, he walked over to the window yet again. The mountains were littered with corpse and sludge alike. Pulling open the large twin doors to the keep, he called the Gram and Laevateinn to him by merely opening his hands. The twin blades obeyed their master, and flew into his grip, as he stepped out of the keep, watching over his armies.
***Part 3: The Strike***
As Barbarossa stepped from his keep, the Laevateinn let off a resplendent glean across the battlefield. Even though Kagome was looking to the ground, it caught her eye and attention. She knew it was Barbarossa, and now would be the time she had to take her shot.
As she stepped from the carriage, Sango and Jaken stood beside her, waiting to see what could be the final shot. Jaken held an arrow up to her from her quiver. She took it and thread it into the bow, drawing it back. As she begun to aim the arrow, Barbarossa lowered his blade, getting rid of the glare. He was expecting her, as she was expecting him to be haughty enough to just take it.
As the arrow was drawn all the way bag, it began to glow with a bright white, holy light. Kagome let the arrow off after just a second of letting it "charge". It flew through the air with a magnificent glimmer, growing more and more saturated with holy energies. It flew straight and true to it's target. Barbarossa held out his arms, welcoming the attack.
As the arrow flew by, all of the demons, both no Sesshomaru's side and Barbarossa's, began to either fall over dead, or dissipate completely. Kagome had staked everything on this single blow. By putting all of her energy into it, it was giving off so much energy that it was actually destroying the lesser demons constituting both armies.
The arrow struck Barbarossa straight in the chest. Slowly it pushed him back, but, having relinquished so much energy flying through such great distances and destroying so many demons, it had lost quite some bit of it's energy. After a few moments, it was merely a plain arrow, which fell to the ground. It didn't even break Barbarossa's clothing.
With a grin, Barbarossa took a single step, taking back the ground that Kagome's arrow pushed him from. He was completely sure that this was going to be the outcome of the attack. Never once was he actually worried.
Kagome, on the other hand, was appalled that her strike did just shy of nothing. After staring in amazement, she fell to her knees, for the arrow had drained her stamina. Sango quickly scooped her up and placed her in the carriage.
Jaken, a bit amazed by Barbarossa's endurance, ran to the side of Sesshomaru. "My lord...what are we to do now? Our armies are smitten and the girl isn't capable of firing another arrow!"
"Silence, Jaken. We shall do what this was going to come down to the entire battle...us versus him. No armies involved...blade to blade combat." As Sesshomaru spoke this, he started to draw out the Tokijin. However, the hand of Inuyasha stopped it.
"He's mine, you understand? We need to finish this fight...and none of you will interfere. Not you, Sesshomaru. Not you, Miroku. Not any of you." He growled and pointed the Tetsusaiga at Barbarossa.
Sesshomaru and Miroku looked at one another for a moment, sighed, and took several steps back. Inuyasha had made his choice, and there was nothing they really wanted to do that would be able to stop him. He was going to fight Barbarossa no matter what anyone said or did.
***Part 4: Blood versus Blood***
Barbarossa, seeing Inuyasha's blatant challenge, vanished from sight for a moment, and appeared before his youngest brother. "Tell me, boy...are you really this willing to die?" He grinned some and looked down to Inuyasha.
"You should be asking yourself the same question!" Inuyasha screamed out as he swung the Tetsusaiga in full force.
Barbarossa leapt over the fang blade and balanced on the very end of it. He may have been hulking in height, but, Inuyasha was strong enough to keep the Tetsusaiga outstretched, even with Barbarossa's added weight. With a scowl, Inuyasha spun the blade around, causing Barbarossa to jump off, but get hit in the side by the spinning blade.
The edge hit with a resounding thud on Barbarossa's side. Like the strike Inuyasha did before in Barbarossa's keep, it bled only slightly. it would take both harder attacks and more of them to do any real damage. The elder brother grabbed the blade of the Tetsusaiga and, like he had done before, threw Inuyasha away with it.
With great speed, he flew into the side of part of the mountain, but managed to land on his feet. The Tetsusaiga, however, was hopelessly sunk into the mountainside. Inuyasha pulled at it for a moment, but failed miserably at getting it to even budge. Inuyasha turned to Barbarossa with a scowl and dove at him with his claws.
Barbarossa dodged the flurry of swipes with ease, pulling a few random, weak punches of his own. He delivered such only to annoy and enrage the young half demon. it was working greatly. After several minutes of this, Inuyasha was beginning to give into his full demon blood. It seemed that he was in mortal danger, and the blood wouldn't let it happen, as it were.
Barbarossa, noticing this change via smelling the blood, merely pushed Inuyasha back some ten feet to observe what exactly was going on. The change was like it was before; marks like unto Sesshomaru's grew across Inuyasha's cheeks, and his eyes turned blood red, save for the pupils. His claws became slightly longer, and sharper. He was a pure blooded demon once again.
"Well well...a new trick, I see. Think it can fare against me, boy?" Barbarossa grinned some, completely unimpressed with this transformation. He motioned to the floating Gram and Laevateinn, as they then floated back fifty feet, to ensure they stayed out of the fight.
Inuyasha let out only a primal growl in response to Barbarossa's taunts. Reason had drifted from his mind, and only a feral bloodlust remained. Cracking his knuckles methodically, he slowly stepped towards his eldest brother, like a wolf on the hunt.
In a raspy, terrible voice, Inuyasha let out a single word. "Die......" He grinned some after this and flew at Barbarossa with his claws out, ready to tear out his neck like some feral dog.
Barbarossa made a quick step to the side, dodging the attack, but Inuyasha was quick to bounce from his landing and leap at his elder brother once more. Time and again, Barbarossa would dodge and Inuyasha would strike again. In the common eyes of the onlookers, save for Sesshomaru, the battle seemed like almost a blur.
Finally, tired of the games, Barbarossa and Inuyasha locked hands as if in some sort of a power contest. They pressed their strength against one another with everything they had. Barbarossa had a cool, unworried look on his face while Inuyasha was still with a feral grimace on his face. They sat like that for several moments before Inuyasha decided to capitalize.
Sliding his fingers out from Barbarossa's, Inuyasha grabbed hold of his oldest brothers wrists and flipped under and around, between his arms, delivering a double kick to Barbarossa's Jaw. The tall demon was taken aback by this display, both angered and impressed at it.
"Well well, boy...looks like you still have a little fight left in you. Maybe this wasn't just some act of desperation. know you this though, child...there's nothing you can pull out that would be capa-"
He was cut of by Inuyasha slashing at him again and again, like before. Once again, they resumed with dance of Inuyasha attacking and Barbarossa merely sidestepping. While Inuyasha had definitely gained strength and speed, he lost skill. He would attack harder and faster, but with no guidance. No forethought to Barbarossa's dodging.
Watching the display yet again, Sesshomaru growled some and clasped the handle of the Tokijin. "I tire of this game...it appears as if I need to end it..." He sighed some and mumbled to himself.
With lightning speed, Sesshomaru drew the Tokijin and jumped into the fray, swinging his evil blade at his older brother. At this point, Barbarossa was both dodging Inuyasha's clumsy attacks and Sesshomaru's Tokijin. With a growl, Sesshomaru charged up the Tokijin to fire it's powerful energy blast at Barbarossa. At the last moment, however, Barbarossa kicked at Sesshomaru's arm, turning the blades point to Inuyasha. Sesshomaru's eyes opened wide as the blast flew forth, engulfing Inuyasha instead of Barbarossa.
Sesshomaru stood in aghast, not because he may have killed Inuyasha, but because he missed maybe the one real chance he had at defeating Barbarossa. Anything he did to Inuyasha wasn't really a priority to him. Barbarossa looked on to the ground where the blast had hit, which now billowed out a gray, ash filled smoke. He and Sesshomaru both were paused, looking at what was left.
Jaken looked on with a small, nearly invisible grin on his face. He wanted to look appalled at the action in order to avoid attack from Miroku or one of Inuyasha's other friends, but was overall pleased that his master may have finally killed his younger brother.
Miroku looked on in horror at the smoking crater. He knew that Sesshomaru didn't aim for Inuyasha, but if he truly did kill him, he was definitely going to hold him accountable. His fist was clenched tightly around his wrist, somewhat ready to unleash his windtunnel.
Thankfully, Shippo and Kagome didn't really see what happened. Kagome was almost unconscious and Shippo was too busy tending to her to care about the explosion.
Sango, on the other hand, saw it all, but was afraid to say anything to Kagome, in fear of her running out there, risking her life.
Sesshomaru took several steps forward, and looked down in the small crater. Barbarossa looked on from a slight distance, leaning up against a rocky outcropping. He was definitely interested in what happened, but didn't want to get too close to his opponent, which may now be Sesshomaru.
As the smoke cleared, one this was definitely apparent to everyone who could see; the silver haired half demon Inuyasha, brother to Sesshomaru and Barbarossa, and wielder of the Tetsusaiga, was no more. All that remained of this once powerful demon was a charred husk.
Before the smoke could fully clear, Sesshomaru leapt into the crater and then jumped out, grabbed Jaken, and took off with great speed. He didn't want to be there when Barbarossa wanted to fight again.
Barbarossa looked down in the hole to see what exactly Sesshomaru did and noticed that Several teeth were missing out of Inuyasha's jaw. "Sesshomaru wants another sword eh..." He laughed some and turned to Miroku, who was now the only watcher, other than Sango, who was beneath Barbarossa's notice. "Leave. You and your friends. I have no desire to kill you. I've done what I've wanted to no....even if it wasn't by my hands."
As Barbarossa grinned, every ounce of Miroku's energy wanted to snap and attack him...but remembered the promise he made to Inuyasha. He had to get Kagome out of there. He promised and wouldn't let anything stop it. With a heavy heart, and the feeling of dishonor overwhelming him, he turned from Barbarossa and walked over to the carriage where Sango, Kagome, and Shippo were.
"Come...we need to go now." It was obvious by Miroku's tone that he didn't want to leave, and was filled with a need for vengeance. "There's nothing we can do now."
Slowly, Miroku got into the carriage and looked to Sango, who had a tear running down her cheek as she looked to Kagome. Miroku leaned over and kissed Sango. "Now is not the time for mourning..." He sighed heavily and looked forward.
As Sango looked to Miroku, the two Oni who drew the carriage turned and led them back from Barbarossa's keep, as if they read Miroku's mind. As they started leaving, Sango looked out the window for a moment and saw the whole where the Tetsusaiga was jammed in the mountain. Sesshomaru seemingly grabbed it and took off with it as he fled the scene.
As the carriage slowly went down the road, the sun finally reached it's zenith. The battle that seemed to last only seconds was hours long. Barbarossa looked up to the sun and then to the carriage, and sighed some. He looked over to the crater, and stepped up to it.
"Goodbye, brother. It's a shame it had to be like this." He nodded some to the skeletal figure, and began to tread back up the mountain, ready to leave humanity once again, like he was before, before Sesshomaru came to him.
The End
Whew....bout time. Didn't really like where this was going at first...but it turned out OK, I think. I may sequel this if feedback is good enough. Until then though, thank you for reading.