Part 11
Naraku's Dilema
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He was slumped against the walls of his castle when Kagura found him. She stayed back, unsure as to what mood the bastard would be in. He was acting strangely.
She watched in alarm as Naraku clutched at his head and hissed. He was gasping for breath and seemed to be in great pain. How this was going to affect her was uncertain so she hung back, as far from his reach as she could physically get. He panted and growled and then turned his eyes her direction. They were black under his heavy eyelids, with no white arround them at all. She gulped and pressed herself to the wall as he stumbled onto his knees.
"Ka-Ka-gura..." he stammered. "Kill...me," he whispered. "Kill me....now!" His eyes flickered back to the normal though slightly red ones of the human who's body he had stolen.
"What?!"
"Now!"
She pulled out her fan and with shaking fingers flicked it open. She was waiting for him to attack her, thinking this was some sort of trick. But, God, how she wanted him dead! She drew back preparing to strike.
Suddenly his eyes went black again and he bellowed and roared so harshly the castle shook, throwing her to her knees.
"You can't keep it from me! It's mine now!"
Kagura looked up in alarm. She did not recognize the voice coming from Naraku's mouth.
"Thank you," the voice said, those stange black eyes looking at her. "Thank you for failing again..." A gleam of pointed white teeth and he was gone.
Kagura climbed slowly to her feet and looked around. He was gone. She rushed into the room looking for the jars that had held the hearts of his children, praying that none were broken. They were intack though knocked over on the floor. She scooped them all up like infants and crooned to them all. She was not sure which was hers so they all held equal importance.
She was still holding them when the first began to shake. Soon they all vibrated and rattled while she looked down in horror. "Oh, God!" She tryed to put them down carefully and retreat, but the first jar shattered as her hand left its smooth surface.
She screamed in rage and panic and felt her eyes fill with tears. "No! NO...NO!"
Some distance away, a new voice was laughing. It sang in the broken and choppy way that children do when they do not know all the words to the song. "Free...free again...killing...going to kill...free now..."
Naraku's form danced a few steps and then said in a serious voice. "Here puppy! Where are you?"
He stepped into the night and paraded around the empty grounds of the castle for a time. "I must get used to this new body. So many things to do and smell..." a russle in the brush made him turn his head. "...and eat!" He leapt after the noise and out of sight of any one who might have been left to watch Naraku's strange behavior.
The castle started to disolve the moment that he withdrew his youki from it. He had plans for all the strength that this creature possessed. Holding together a castle he had no intentions of using was a waste of energy, just as the disattachments and puppets had been. But no more. He was out. He was free. He was going to find the great dog demon that had sealed him in the spirit world and return the favor! For centuries he had been plotting this revenge.
And now, thanks to the appearance of a lone Shikon Shard, he had been sought out and freed from his seal. Now he had a huge chunk of the Jewel, the impressive energies of the new body he controlled and a hunger that only the white dog demon would fulfill.
Laughing in bursts of madness, the monster in a Naraku skin skipped out of the mountains and onto the path that would lead him to his goal. The Jewel called out to its other pieces and he had set up that toad so easily! Before his host had even realized that he was there! Now, he just had to discover which of the three remaining auras from the jewel belonged to his guide, Jaken. That little toad was going to take him right to his prey!
The closest pull of the jewel shards was to the north. Further in the mountains he walked, humming strange and disjointed tunes as he went.
Next Chapter: The Pride of the Wolf Prince in progress!
