Golden Fire
Chapter 19: Kagura and Kanna
The ground rumbled and a strong breeze raced across the field, bending the grass. I smiled as I found myself watching Inuyasha's white hair wave in the wind. Even when battle was imminent, I couldn't help myself from staring.
Sango nudged me and I blushed, but she wasn't smiling. Her eyes were fixed on the opposite end of the field, where the trees were rustling. I squinted and realized they swayed against the wind. Demons swung out of the trees and began to pour from the dark forest. Kagura appeared in the sky and descended on her feather, accompanied by her sister, Kanna, and Kohaku. His eyes were deadened, and I knew he was completely under Naraku's control at the moment. The sisters and Kohaku remained at the far edge of the field watching us with an army at their back.
"Kagome!" called Inuyasha over his shoulder. "Stay by me. Sesshoumaru and Yuki can take the flanks. The rest spread out and get ready."
I nodded and pulled an arrow out of a tightly packed quiver.
"Try not to hit yourself with Dokkasou, wench," Sesshoumaru said to his mate, who stood a few feet away.
"Try to get the stick out of your ass, jerk," retorted Yuki.
I smiled at them. They're words and voices held malice, but their eyes were amused and even playful. He smirked at her as she moved away to the right side of the field. "You two are so messed up," I whispered as she walked past.
"I know," she muttered in return. "It's fun."
"Kagome!" Inuyasha's voice wiped the grin off my face. "Wake up and get your head outta the clouds. We have a fight to win."
Kagura had finally walked up to us, with thousands of demons in tow. "Inuyasha. Naraku sends his regards."
Snarling filled the air, and I recoiled a bit at the savage sound. Even Kouga had his lip curled up, which showed his long, deadly fangs.
"Don't worry, wolf pup," growled the wind sorceress. "I plan to give you special attention." She let her fan fall open and made a sweeping motion.
We jumped away from the wind blades slicing through the air. As I landed face-first into the dirt, I heard the battle begin around me. I lifted myself up, drew an arrow back and let it fly. It purified a large demon about to attack a wolf. He nodded in thanks and plunged into the battle.
I noticed the poisonous insects buzzing around the fringe of the battle, preventing Miroku from using his wind tunnel. I searched for my friend and I found him slicing apart demons with his staff. Next to him, Sango continuously threw her boomerang and fought with her sword until her primary weapon returned to her. I marveled at her skill.
"Kagome! Are you okay?" Shippou jumped up on my shoulder.
"Yes, Shippou, I'm fine. Where have you been?" I asked as I loosed another arrow into the chest of a lizard demon. He immediately dissolved into dust as it purified him. I chanced a glance at the kitsune.
"I was scared," he admitted.
I smiled softly, partly to reassure him and partly in triumph as I purified another youkai. "Don't worry, Shippou. We'll be okay. We've beaten Kagura before. This time we have even more people on our side. But stay with me, okay?"
"Sure, Kagome!" He hopped down stand next to my ankles and began to shoot fox fire at any demon that came too close.
From my position behind the main fighting, I could easily watch my friends battle with the enemy. On my left, Sesshoumaru was tearing up demons easily with his poison claws. They literally melted, and their screams indicated it wasn't exactly painless. Next to him, Sango and Miroku continued to fight side by side. Inuyasha and Kouga were slicing apart dozens of demons at a time. At the other end, Yuki's sword made demons screech as they suffered from Sesshoumaru's poisonous gift.
Kagura and Kanna were hovering toward the back of the battle, watching their comrades fall without moving to help them. Kohaku stood in front of them, holding his scythe and staring at the ground.
Sango caught her weapon after it sliced through a particularly large bear youkai.
"Go Sango!" I cried. She didn't turn to look at me but she nodded her acknowledgement as she let the boomerang go again.
Suddenly, through the mass of movement, I noticed Kohaku's head snap up. Demons parted for him as he sped through the fray, directly towards his sister.
"Sango! Watch out!" I yelled. She halted in mid-launch of her weapon to prevent herself from killing her little brother, who had just entered her range.
"Kohaku!" she called out to him.
He answered by tossing his scythe at her. She dodged and slashed apart a few youkai, keeping her eyes on Kohaku the entire time. I began to tremble with fear. Sango couldn't concentrate on fighting her little brother with the other demons around her. I began to fire my arrows at youkai surrounding my best friend.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Inuyasha rip apart a few boar demons and then jump into the air. He floated above the battle for a moment, focusing his golden eyes on Sango and Kohaku, and then shifted them to me. He landed next to Kikyo, spoke to her, and took up his previous position.
Kikyo backed away from the battle and eventually joined me. "Inuyasha asked me to help you, since you are so concentrated on protecting Sango from her foolish actions. Why is she protecting that boy? She fights him but does not kill him." She shot a demon that had been creeping up on Kouga.
"He's her little brother," I answered, slightly surprised she didn't know this already.
She nodded and continued to fire into the battle.
There was a strangled cry to my left and I looked over to see Kanna absorbing Sesshoumaru's soul into her mirror. I wondered why I hadn't seen her move and then remembered her teleportation ability. He was still standing, which was amazing, but could not lift a hand to help himself. I felt a pang of sympathy for him. I knew the feeling of having your soul ripped out, and the fear that accompanied it. Jaken danced around his master nervously. I realized that he couldn't use his Staff of Heads to burn Kanna if he wanted to keep his lord's soul from being extra crispy. If soul could burn at all, but he probably didn't want to take that chance.
Yuki burst out of the battle with her eyes blazing. "My Lord!" she called. She descended towards him and Kanna. Letting out a battle cry, she swung at Kanna.
"No, Yuki!" I yelled, reaching out with my hand. I had seen what happens when people attack Kanna with normal attacks. Sure enough, the pale, small demon removed a hand from the edge of her mirror and faced its palm towards Yuki, whose battle cry turned to one of surprise. She was repelled backwards by a pulse of energy, into the midst of the enemy youkai, who instantly fell on their new prey.
Immediately, there was an explosion, or at least it seemed to be one. The youkai who had surrounded Yuki split apart, with their blood spraying everywhere. The Lady of the Western Lands sprang up with her eyes glowing once again. Her blue hair and pale hands were streaked with dark red blood. She landed next to me. "Weak youkai," she snarled as she peered at her claws. "Kagome, shoot Kanna's mirror."
Nodding, I aimed my arrow carefully and shot at the disk. It was absorbed quickly.
"Again," murmured Kikyo. "If you fill it with souls, it will break." She lifted her own bow and shot into the mirror. Yuki grunted in approval and bounded back into battle, staring back at Sesshoumaru with barely visible concern.
Between the two of us, Kikyo and I shot about seven arrows into the mirror. Kanna could do nothing to stop us. If she let go of her hold on Sesshoumaru, he would kill her instantly. She attempted to move out of the way, but my aim had become too true, too close to Kikyo's own skill. Finally, I heard a satisfying shattering noise and saw a fleeting look of annoyance cross Kanna's face.
"Oh dear," she said in that willowy voice of hers, as she looked down at the broken surface of the mirror. Souls began to stream out, including Sesshoumaru's. The mist of a half-consumed soul settled over him and he blinked a few times. After a few experimental flexes of his claws he snarled at Kanna.
Before he could attack, I loosed another arrow and hit her in her chest. She fell backwards and shattered much like her mirror. Slivers of silver floated through the air where she had been moments before.
The Western Lord turned to look at me and gave me an unreadable expression, which I answered with a glare of my own. I hoped that it would indicate my message. 'My kill'. She was not any else's to annihilate. She had stolen my soul first and I was the only one, besides Kikyo, with the power to destroy her. Even he couldn't have brought Kanna down without my help. Finally, Sesshoumaru nodded once in acceptance of my claim and faced battle again.
I shook my head in awe at the instinctual urges flowing through me. Evidently, I had been hanging out with Inuyasha too much. Battle really brought out my own inner demons. After a moment, I turned my attention to Sango once again. Apparently, she had managed to knock out Kohaku and had laid him down at the edge of the battle. Shippou stood by his shoulder, throwing out a protective barrier of foxfire. Beyond him and Kohaku, I saw the white and red flash of Inuyasha battling the demons.
Again, I shifted my attention and I found Kouga fighting Kagura. His speed alone allowed him to avoid her wind attacks, but neither seemed to be getting anywhere.
"The wolf is tiring himself," Kikyo said, breaking into my thoughts. She fired an arrow into battle. "His strength and speed are admirable, but not what is needed to defeat Kagura."
"He won't like it if we help him," I pointed out as I watched them clash. Their area of combat was full of small craters where Kouga had slammed down his fist. I turned back to the main battle. It was starting to thin out and I even spotted a few demons trying to creep away. I shot and destroyed a few of them. "There," I muttered. "Now they can't go crawling back to Naraku."
Kikyo lowered her bow. "After this battle, I don't think they would want to, considering he set them up to die."
"What do you mean?"
"Kanna didn't avoid your arrow, and the rest of these demons are weaklings. No one on our side has died. Even the humans have killed dozens, possibly hundreds of youkai in the past hour. I believe Naraku is trying to weaken us with this nonsense before the real battle begins."
After I recovered from the shock of hearing Kikyo utter that many words at once, I let her words sink in. "But that would mean Naraku allowed Kanna to die." I had seen how the evil hanyou had treated her, and it seemed that she had been his favorite incarnation.
"From the way she responded to us shooting her mirror and how she didn't even try to move to avoid your arrow, I think she sacrificed herself. Kagura seems to be a bit more resistant to that idea, of course." She motioned to the continuing fight between the wolf and wind sorceress. Kagura was not easily giving up.
"If this is all true, then we're really screwed," I said as I reached behind my shoulder and felt an empty quiver.
Sesshoumaru walked up to us, with Jaken at his side. He looked unruffled as usual, in strong contrast to his mate, who was approaching from our right. Yuki was still covered in blood and scrunched up her nose as her claws combed through her hair stiff with the sticky red liquid. "That's two jackets ruined," she complained as she peeled off the blood-encrusted duster.
"Now you can dress appropriately as this Sesshoumaru ordered you," he said.
Yuki sighed, rolled her eyes, and began to lick her claws clean of her kills' blood. I grimaced, and thanked the gods Inuyasha hadn't inherited that particular youkai habit.
Like an audience in a movie theater, we silently turned to watch what we instinctively knew would be the last moments of the fight between Kouga and Kagura.
I forced my attention back to the fight. The wolf prince definitely was using a last spurt of energy to try and take out the wind sorceress. He attacked over and over again, not giving her the breadth to even wave her fan. She only had time to dodge his claws.
"Just die!" he yelled as he leapt at her. Kagura narrowly avoided his sharpened nails.
"The wolf is getting smarter," muttered Kikyo. "He's anticipating where she'll jump to, instead of attacking where she was."
And he was. Every attack landed closer and closer to Kagura's throat. Parts of her kimono were in ribbons, but she still held her fan and I knew it was a matter of time before she got an opportunity to use it.
As I was thinking this, Kouga finally landed a powerful punch. Not on Kagura, but the very weapon that would easily destroy him. The fan snapped in half and the wind sorceress gave out a cry of distress. The wolf paused in his attacks to smirk at his now defenseless opponent. "You can't fight me with your claws. Give up now."
"How I wish that was an option." They glared at each other for a moment and then Kagura hesitantly reached up to her hair, arrayed with a few feathers. I tensed, knowing that if Kouga didn't strike soon, she would make an escape. But as soon as her fingers touched the white feather in her raven black hair, she hissed in pain. Her hand moved to her chest and grabbed the front of her kimono.
"What's happening?" asked Yuki. "Why doesn't she fly away like the coward she so obviously is?"
Sesshoumaru smirked and I knew he heard the annoyance in her voice. Kagura probably hadn't been her favorite person, since her attempted seduction of the Western Lord. "Naraku holds her heart. He is not allowing her to flee."
"So he does want her dead," I stated. "Why?"
"I have a bad feeling we'll know the answer to that question very soon," responded Yuki, continuing to lick her fingers clean. She stood, drew out one of six guns that adorned her sides and checked the clip. "I would shoot her, but Kouga needs to do this himself." Malice laced her voice and her eyes glowed blue briefly.
I turned back to the fight and gasped when I saw Kagura throw Kouga into a tree. She had decided to fight to her very last breath then. Her fan lay discarded among the bodies of her fallen comrades. I sniffed and held my head in an Inuyasha-like way. Those two incarnates really had nothing when they didn't have their precious weapons.
Kouga picked himself up the ground and snarled a bit. He lunged again and, before he even left the ground, I saw that this blow would count. But just as his claws came close to her throat, something else happened. Kagura's eyes grew wide and unfocused. She stumbled, clutched at her chest and collapsed to the ground. Kouga landed mere inches from her and bounced away, as if he was afraid that whatever affected her would hurt him as well. Kagura's body sprawled across the ground and I knew she was dead.
Silence crept over the battlefield as she fell. Even Inuyasha, who had been roaming around, killing stragglers, paused and watched Kouga.
"I didn't... I didn't touch her," choked out Kouga, like he had never intended to hurt the wind sorceress. Suddenly, his eyes flared in anger. "My kill has been taken from me! Why have I been denied vengeance?" He yelled the words to the surrounding forest.
I shifted my weight uneasily from one foot to another. That was a question to which we all wanted the answer.
A cold chill swept across the large clearing and I shuddered. I felt a sudden pull on my heart. "Inuyasha!" I called.
The hanyou's head snapped up and came to my side in a second. "What is it, Kagome?" He was still staring at Kagura's dead body and Kouga's angry stance.
"Jewel shards. Dozens of them. Naraku must be here."
"He's been here all along, I bet," growled Inuyasha. "Just watching us and waiting for a good moment to attack."
"Wise observation, Inuyasha." Naraku's chilling voice made me shiver again. He appeared at the edge of the forest near Kagura, wearing his usual baboon pelt. Kouga immediately darted away. The evil hanyou watched the wolf prince move with a malevolent gleam to his eye. "Kagura was becoming such a nuisance and you were taking entirely too long in killing her for me. Forgive me." His last words were laced with sarcasm.
"Why did you let Kanna die too? I thought she was your little pet, Naraku," huffed Inuyasha. Tetsusaiga was drawn and ready, but I knew that Naraku would be taunting us a bit more before the actual fight.
The baboon pelt moved slightly and I guessed that he had shrugged. "Kanna did as any good pet would do and gave herself up for my own advantage."
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Miroku and Sango quietly move Kohaku's body towards the edge of the forest and away from the inevitable battlefield. They laid him down and readied their weapons.
My heart began to flutter. I had no arrows left. Kikyo only had a few and, considering her aim was better, I should let her keep them. My hand rested on my waist, where Yuki's gun was tucked in. Next to it, the strings of a small pouch were taut with the weight of the Orb of Sada. My mother had sewn it together when she saw the fist-sized sphere, and had tied it to my jeans' belt loops. I had almost forgotten about it.
Naraku moved quickly to the center of the field. "Shall we begin?" he mocked as he threw down several wooden objects.
I flinched as dozens of his puppets sprang up. Copies of Naraku and almost as deadly, we had never taken on this many at once. Then again, we'd never had this many allies at once either.
The real Naraku, if it had been him, melted into the sea of mimics. In addition, another wave of demons, accompanied by poisonous insects, poured out of the trees. The youkai looked bigger, stronger and faster than the previous squadron, and I knew that this had to be Naraku's actual army. I groaned. This was not going to be fun.
A/N: I'm sorry about the lack of detail in the fight between Kagura and Kouga, but every scene I wrote came out sounding flat and boring. I think it's because Kouga really doesn't have many interesting attacks. He's speedy and strong, but that's about it. Not really too fun to write. Sorry! (He's still kind of a cutie... haha.) But next chapter will be oriented around the big battle (obviously).
Chapter 19: Kagura and Kanna
The ground rumbled and a strong breeze raced across the field, bending the grass. I smiled as I found myself watching Inuyasha's white hair wave in the wind. Even when battle was imminent, I couldn't help myself from staring.
Sango nudged me and I blushed, but she wasn't smiling. Her eyes were fixed on the opposite end of the field, where the trees were rustling. I squinted and realized they swayed against the wind. Demons swung out of the trees and began to pour from the dark forest. Kagura appeared in the sky and descended on her feather, accompanied by her sister, Kanna, and Kohaku. His eyes were deadened, and I knew he was completely under Naraku's control at the moment. The sisters and Kohaku remained at the far edge of the field watching us with an army at their back.
"Kagome!" called Inuyasha over his shoulder. "Stay by me. Sesshoumaru and Yuki can take the flanks. The rest spread out and get ready."
I nodded and pulled an arrow out of a tightly packed quiver.
"Try not to hit yourself with Dokkasou, wench," Sesshoumaru said to his mate, who stood a few feet away.
"Try to get the stick out of your ass, jerk," retorted Yuki.
I smiled at them. They're words and voices held malice, but their eyes were amused and even playful. He smirked at her as she moved away to the right side of the field. "You two are so messed up," I whispered as she walked past.
"I know," she muttered in return. "It's fun."
"Kagome!" Inuyasha's voice wiped the grin off my face. "Wake up and get your head outta the clouds. We have a fight to win."
Kagura had finally walked up to us, with thousands of demons in tow. "Inuyasha. Naraku sends his regards."
Snarling filled the air, and I recoiled a bit at the savage sound. Even Kouga had his lip curled up, which showed his long, deadly fangs.
"Don't worry, wolf pup," growled the wind sorceress. "I plan to give you special attention." She let her fan fall open and made a sweeping motion.
We jumped away from the wind blades slicing through the air. As I landed face-first into the dirt, I heard the battle begin around me. I lifted myself up, drew an arrow back and let it fly. It purified a large demon about to attack a wolf. He nodded in thanks and plunged into the battle.
I noticed the poisonous insects buzzing around the fringe of the battle, preventing Miroku from using his wind tunnel. I searched for my friend and I found him slicing apart demons with his staff. Next to him, Sango continuously threw her boomerang and fought with her sword until her primary weapon returned to her. I marveled at her skill.
"Kagome! Are you okay?" Shippou jumped up on my shoulder.
"Yes, Shippou, I'm fine. Where have you been?" I asked as I loosed another arrow into the chest of a lizard demon. He immediately dissolved into dust as it purified him. I chanced a glance at the kitsune.
"I was scared," he admitted.
I smiled softly, partly to reassure him and partly in triumph as I purified another youkai. "Don't worry, Shippou. We'll be okay. We've beaten Kagura before. This time we have even more people on our side. But stay with me, okay?"
"Sure, Kagome!" He hopped down stand next to my ankles and began to shoot fox fire at any demon that came too close.
From my position behind the main fighting, I could easily watch my friends battle with the enemy. On my left, Sesshoumaru was tearing up demons easily with his poison claws. They literally melted, and their screams indicated it wasn't exactly painless. Next to him, Sango and Miroku continued to fight side by side. Inuyasha and Kouga were slicing apart dozens of demons at a time. At the other end, Yuki's sword made demons screech as they suffered from Sesshoumaru's poisonous gift.
Kagura and Kanna were hovering toward the back of the battle, watching their comrades fall without moving to help them. Kohaku stood in front of them, holding his scythe and staring at the ground.
Sango caught her weapon after it sliced through a particularly large bear youkai.
"Go Sango!" I cried. She didn't turn to look at me but she nodded her acknowledgement as she let the boomerang go again.
Suddenly, through the mass of movement, I noticed Kohaku's head snap up. Demons parted for him as he sped through the fray, directly towards his sister.
"Sango! Watch out!" I yelled. She halted in mid-launch of her weapon to prevent herself from killing her little brother, who had just entered her range.
"Kohaku!" she called out to him.
He answered by tossing his scythe at her. She dodged and slashed apart a few youkai, keeping her eyes on Kohaku the entire time. I began to tremble with fear. Sango couldn't concentrate on fighting her little brother with the other demons around her. I began to fire my arrows at youkai surrounding my best friend.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Inuyasha rip apart a few boar demons and then jump into the air. He floated above the battle for a moment, focusing his golden eyes on Sango and Kohaku, and then shifted them to me. He landed next to Kikyo, spoke to her, and took up his previous position.
Kikyo backed away from the battle and eventually joined me. "Inuyasha asked me to help you, since you are so concentrated on protecting Sango from her foolish actions. Why is she protecting that boy? She fights him but does not kill him." She shot a demon that had been creeping up on Kouga.
"He's her little brother," I answered, slightly surprised she didn't know this already.
She nodded and continued to fire into the battle.
There was a strangled cry to my left and I looked over to see Kanna absorbing Sesshoumaru's soul into her mirror. I wondered why I hadn't seen her move and then remembered her teleportation ability. He was still standing, which was amazing, but could not lift a hand to help himself. I felt a pang of sympathy for him. I knew the feeling of having your soul ripped out, and the fear that accompanied it. Jaken danced around his master nervously. I realized that he couldn't use his Staff of Heads to burn Kanna if he wanted to keep his lord's soul from being extra crispy. If soul could burn at all, but he probably didn't want to take that chance.
Yuki burst out of the battle with her eyes blazing. "My Lord!" she called. She descended towards him and Kanna. Letting out a battle cry, she swung at Kanna.
"No, Yuki!" I yelled, reaching out with my hand. I had seen what happens when people attack Kanna with normal attacks. Sure enough, the pale, small demon removed a hand from the edge of her mirror and faced its palm towards Yuki, whose battle cry turned to one of surprise. She was repelled backwards by a pulse of energy, into the midst of the enemy youkai, who instantly fell on their new prey.
Immediately, there was an explosion, or at least it seemed to be one. The youkai who had surrounded Yuki split apart, with their blood spraying everywhere. The Lady of the Western Lands sprang up with her eyes glowing once again. Her blue hair and pale hands were streaked with dark red blood. She landed next to me. "Weak youkai," she snarled as she peered at her claws. "Kagome, shoot Kanna's mirror."
Nodding, I aimed my arrow carefully and shot at the disk. It was absorbed quickly.
"Again," murmured Kikyo. "If you fill it with souls, it will break." She lifted her own bow and shot into the mirror. Yuki grunted in approval and bounded back into battle, staring back at Sesshoumaru with barely visible concern.
Between the two of us, Kikyo and I shot about seven arrows into the mirror. Kanna could do nothing to stop us. If she let go of her hold on Sesshoumaru, he would kill her instantly. She attempted to move out of the way, but my aim had become too true, too close to Kikyo's own skill. Finally, I heard a satisfying shattering noise and saw a fleeting look of annoyance cross Kanna's face.
"Oh dear," she said in that willowy voice of hers, as she looked down at the broken surface of the mirror. Souls began to stream out, including Sesshoumaru's. The mist of a half-consumed soul settled over him and he blinked a few times. After a few experimental flexes of his claws he snarled at Kanna.
Before he could attack, I loosed another arrow and hit her in her chest. She fell backwards and shattered much like her mirror. Slivers of silver floated through the air where she had been moments before.
The Western Lord turned to look at me and gave me an unreadable expression, which I answered with a glare of my own. I hoped that it would indicate my message. 'My kill'. She was not any else's to annihilate. She had stolen my soul first and I was the only one, besides Kikyo, with the power to destroy her. Even he couldn't have brought Kanna down without my help. Finally, Sesshoumaru nodded once in acceptance of my claim and faced battle again.
I shook my head in awe at the instinctual urges flowing through me. Evidently, I had been hanging out with Inuyasha too much. Battle really brought out my own inner demons. After a moment, I turned my attention to Sango once again. Apparently, she had managed to knock out Kohaku and had laid him down at the edge of the battle. Shippou stood by his shoulder, throwing out a protective barrier of foxfire. Beyond him and Kohaku, I saw the white and red flash of Inuyasha battling the demons.
Again, I shifted my attention and I found Kouga fighting Kagura. His speed alone allowed him to avoid her wind attacks, but neither seemed to be getting anywhere.
"The wolf is tiring himself," Kikyo said, breaking into my thoughts. She fired an arrow into battle. "His strength and speed are admirable, but not what is needed to defeat Kagura."
"He won't like it if we help him," I pointed out as I watched them clash. Their area of combat was full of small craters where Kouga had slammed down his fist. I turned back to the main battle. It was starting to thin out and I even spotted a few demons trying to creep away. I shot and destroyed a few of them. "There," I muttered. "Now they can't go crawling back to Naraku."
Kikyo lowered her bow. "After this battle, I don't think they would want to, considering he set them up to die."
"What do you mean?"
"Kanna didn't avoid your arrow, and the rest of these demons are weaklings. No one on our side has died. Even the humans have killed dozens, possibly hundreds of youkai in the past hour. I believe Naraku is trying to weaken us with this nonsense before the real battle begins."
After I recovered from the shock of hearing Kikyo utter that many words at once, I let her words sink in. "But that would mean Naraku allowed Kanna to die." I had seen how the evil hanyou had treated her, and it seemed that she had been his favorite incarnation.
"From the way she responded to us shooting her mirror and how she didn't even try to move to avoid your arrow, I think she sacrificed herself. Kagura seems to be a bit more resistant to that idea, of course." She motioned to the continuing fight between the wolf and wind sorceress. Kagura was not easily giving up.
"If this is all true, then we're really screwed," I said as I reached behind my shoulder and felt an empty quiver.
Sesshoumaru walked up to us, with Jaken at his side. He looked unruffled as usual, in strong contrast to his mate, who was approaching from our right. Yuki was still covered in blood and scrunched up her nose as her claws combed through her hair stiff with the sticky red liquid. "That's two jackets ruined," she complained as she peeled off the blood-encrusted duster.
"Now you can dress appropriately as this Sesshoumaru ordered you," he said.
Yuki sighed, rolled her eyes, and began to lick her claws clean of her kills' blood. I grimaced, and thanked the gods Inuyasha hadn't inherited that particular youkai habit.
Like an audience in a movie theater, we silently turned to watch what we instinctively knew would be the last moments of the fight between Kouga and Kagura.
I forced my attention back to the fight. The wolf prince definitely was using a last spurt of energy to try and take out the wind sorceress. He attacked over and over again, not giving her the breadth to even wave her fan. She only had time to dodge his claws.
"Just die!" he yelled as he leapt at her. Kagura narrowly avoided his sharpened nails.
"The wolf is getting smarter," muttered Kikyo. "He's anticipating where she'll jump to, instead of attacking where she was."
And he was. Every attack landed closer and closer to Kagura's throat. Parts of her kimono were in ribbons, but she still held her fan and I knew it was a matter of time before she got an opportunity to use it.
As I was thinking this, Kouga finally landed a powerful punch. Not on Kagura, but the very weapon that would easily destroy him. The fan snapped in half and the wind sorceress gave out a cry of distress. The wolf paused in his attacks to smirk at his now defenseless opponent. "You can't fight me with your claws. Give up now."
"How I wish that was an option." They glared at each other for a moment and then Kagura hesitantly reached up to her hair, arrayed with a few feathers. I tensed, knowing that if Kouga didn't strike soon, she would make an escape. But as soon as her fingers touched the white feather in her raven black hair, she hissed in pain. Her hand moved to her chest and grabbed the front of her kimono.
"What's happening?" asked Yuki. "Why doesn't she fly away like the coward she so obviously is?"
Sesshoumaru smirked and I knew he heard the annoyance in her voice. Kagura probably hadn't been her favorite person, since her attempted seduction of the Western Lord. "Naraku holds her heart. He is not allowing her to flee."
"So he does want her dead," I stated. "Why?"
"I have a bad feeling we'll know the answer to that question very soon," responded Yuki, continuing to lick her fingers clean. She stood, drew out one of six guns that adorned her sides and checked the clip. "I would shoot her, but Kouga needs to do this himself." Malice laced her voice and her eyes glowed blue briefly.
I turned back to the fight and gasped when I saw Kagura throw Kouga into a tree. She had decided to fight to her very last breath then. Her fan lay discarded among the bodies of her fallen comrades. I sniffed and held my head in an Inuyasha-like way. Those two incarnates really had nothing when they didn't have their precious weapons.
Kouga picked himself up the ground and snarled a bit. He lunged again and, before he even left the ground, I saw that this blow would count. But just as his claws came close to her throat, something else happened. Kagura's eyes grew wide and unfocused. She stumbled, clutched at her chest and collapsed to the ground. Kouga landed mere inches from her and bounced away, as if he was afraid that whatever affected her would hurt him as well. Kagura's body sprawled across the ground and I knew she was dead.
Silence crept over the battlefield as she fell. Even Inuyasha, who had been roaming around, killing stragglers, paused and watched Kouga.
"I didn't... I didn't touch her," choked out Kouga, like he had never intended to hurt the wind sorceress. Suddenly, his eyes flared in anger. "My kill has been taken from me! Why have I been denied vengeance?" He yelled the words to the surrounding forest.
I shifted my weight uneasily from one foot to another. That was a question to which we all wanted the answer.
A cold chill swept across the large clearing and I shuddered. I felt a sudden pull on my heart. "Inuyasha!" I called.
The hanyou's head snapped up and came to my side in a second. "What is it, Kagome?" He was still staring at Kagura's dead body and Kouga's angry stance.
"Jewel shards. Dozens of them. Naraku must be here."
"He's been here all along, I bet," growled Inuyasha. "Just watching us and waiting for a good moment to attack."
"Wise observation, Inuyasha." Naraku's chilling voice made me shiver again. He appeared at the edge of the forest near Kagura, wearing his usual baboon pelt. Kouga immediately darted away. The evil hanyou watched the wolf prince move with a malevolent gleam to his eye. "Kagura was becoming such a nuisance and you were taking entirely too long in killing her for me. Forgive me." His last words were laced with sarcasm.
"Why did you let Kanna die too? I thought she was your little pet, Naraku," huffed Inuyasha. Tetsusaiga was drawn and ready, but I knew that Naraku would be taunting us a bit more before the actual fight.
The baboon pelt moved slightly and I guessed that he had shrugged. "Kanna did as any good pet would do and gave herself up for my own advantage."
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Miroku and Sango quietly move Kohaku's body towards the edge of the forest and away from the inevitable battlefield. They laid him down and readied their weapons.
My heart began to flutter. I had no arrows left. Kikyo only had a few and, considering her aim was better, I should let her keep them. My hand rested on my waist, where Yuki's gun was tucked in. Next to it, the strings of a small pouch were taut with the weight of the Orb of Sada. My mother had sewn it together when she saw the fist-sized sphere, and had tied it to my jeans' belt loops. I had almost forgotten about it.
Naraku moved quickly to the center of the field. "Shall we begin?" he mocked as he threw down several wooden objects.
I flinched as dozens of his puppets sprang up. Copies of Naraku and almost as deadly, we had never taken on this many at once. Then again, we'd never had this many allies at once either.
The real Naraku, if it had been him, melted into the sea of mimics. In addition, another wave of demons, accompanied by poisonous insects, poured out of the trees. The youkai looked bigger, stronger and faster than the previous squadron, and I knew that this had to be Naraku's actual army. I groaned. This was not going to be fun.
A/N: I'm sorry about the lack of detail in the fight between Kagura and Kouga, but every scene I wrote came out sounding flat and boring. I think it's because Kouga really doesn't have many interesting attacks. He's speedy and strong, but that's about it. Not really too fun to write. Sorry! (He's still kind of a cutie... haha.) But next chapter will be oriented around the big battle (obviously).
