Chapter 8: ...and now shall come the fall
"The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere." (Jawaharial Nehru)
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Kagura could not speak words strong enough to rebuke Naraku for the grievous sin he committed, but she knew that words were no longer necessary in this matter, at least from her. Naraku could yet speak, and did with an offensive tongue,
"Kagura, you have returned. I am much relieved." Kagura snarled silently at Naraku, who sat upon his deep-red cushion of silk robed in an air of uncouth arrogance. "You are staring at the unfortunate girl I assume. It did grieve me to take Rin's soul. Observe the wetness that remains from her futile tears. She did cry, you know, once she realized that she would never see her beloved Sesshoumaru-sama again. I pitied her, but all harm that came to this innocent youth was caused by your insolent actions." Kagura could no longer contain the hatred with infantile fear; she lashed as a soul lost and in torment that still had life,
"You heartless bastard! You lay the blame for the tainting of Rin upon me! As I recall I died in your service, doing a mission for YOU! It was not my plea to be rescued by Sesshoumaru-san, it just happened that way! And you have the gall to accuse me!" Naraku's grinned only increased at Kagura's vicious words and contemptuously stated,
"Sesshoumaru-san. Is that what you call him? He must enjoy that, Kagura the Wind Sorceress, bestowing the mighty demon lord with a title of honor, and affection, shall I guess? "Kagura now smiled as she stated,
"He is a better man than you! Your bile is black, as is your putrid heart! The blood, which flows through your cursed veins, is of the darkest kind. Sesshoumaru-san is worthy of that honorable title, but you are not. You could not stand in his shadow." Naraku's mouth turned into a hideous scowl as he scolded,
"You insolent girl! You will pay for your commentary, and not just with your freedom. You say I could not stand in Sesshoumaru's shadow, than what I must do is cut that proud Demon Lord down. Yes, that is what I shall do to prove to you, my testy servant, bring the mighty Lord Sesshoumaru to his knees and have him begging for mercy like the dog he is! Does this satisfy you, wench!" Naraku was now standing at his full height and from him a strengthened aura resonated, but Kagura was not intimidated.
"That is like you. Cut down all which stand in your way and convince yourself that you are better than them because you played the dirtiest tricks to obtain victory!" Kagura stated this with an impression of confidence. Naraku anger grew with every stinging word that flew from Kagura's mouth,
"You test my patience! What shall I do to shut that foul mouth of yours?" Naraku felt a chuckle grow in his throat and he laughed sadistically. With a grin of pleasure from Kagura's anger and growing fear a he approached. Kagura grabbed for her fan, and drew the weapon open. Guarding herself from Naraku's onslaught, Kagura sent blades of cutting wind toward Naraku, but it did little good for Naraku's strength had grown, as did his resistance.
Naraku used his newfound speed to evade the winds Kagura created and without a sound encircled Kagura's dainty wrist with his strong and devilish fingers. Tighter and tighter he squeezed Kagura's wrist bone, and against Kagura's struggle he continued to stress the delicate bone. A vindictive face smiled as Naraku heard the bone shatter underneath his strength and his servant grunt in pain, as the bone became little more than jagged rocks in her wrist.
Kagura felt the bones within her right wrist crack into useless calcium and winced as the sharp pain shot through her body, but did not submit to Naraku's strength. Kagura only snarled back and resisted Naraku's wretched touch by painfully attempting to extract her injured wrist from Naraku's grasp. But Naraku only strengthened his grasp while he jerked her destroyed wrist and caused further damage to the ligament. He then hurled the pained Kagura, by means of her injured wrist callously toward the hard wall facing the outside of the palace.
As Kagura tumbled helplessly toward the stonewall she disturbed Naraku's tea arrangement and felt the scalding liquid that sprinkled out of the now shattered tea pot and onto her exposed skin. Her head hit the wall with a loud thud, and Kagura grunted as she tried to stand up from her feeble position. Yet, she was in too much pain to rise; her head sung in pain from the blow. Kagura carefully felt the back of her head and saw blood's slight imprint on her hand.
Blood's mark did not stop Kagura from attempting to rise from the ground, but still she struggled as pain profusely shot through her body. Naraku noticed this will she had to stand, and did not like what it represented, but a bright and wicked idea appeared to him as he thought,
'Kagura wants to stand, does she? I shall assist her then.' Naraku strode to Kagura, who struggled to raise herself, and swiped her injured wrist into his grasp again and painfully forced her to stand,
"You want to stand? You should have just told me and I would have helped you sooner. "Kagura only growled at Naraku's taunt and struggled against his power. "Why do you cause this pain in me? Why do you refuse to lower your pride and submit to my will!" Naraku's anger grew as Kagura said above a whisper,
"I would sooner die again that submit to your will." Again Naraku repeated has he flung her body into the stonewall,
"Why do you cause this pain in me? Why do refuse to lower your pride and submit! "But Kagura said nothing, and it was not the pain from her body or the blood that began to seep into bruises, it was her refusal. "Why do you do this! Get up and meet my eyes with some response! "Naraku's anger only grew at Kagura's continued silence.
Interred with the broken bones and bruises of black and blue, Kagura's pride and defiance did not diminish. It only grew greater, as if the sharp pains that invaded her body gave her strength. Averting her eyes, Kagura was not willing to meet Naraku's demand and this caused him great distress. Naraku ground his teeth and bent over, lifting Kagura from the ground. His hand pinched the nerve on the inside of Kagura's arm that lay just above the elbow. Kagura grunted painfully, but still did not look into Naraku's perturbed eyes.
"You wench! You will obey me!" Naraku screamed and squeezed the nerve harder. Kagura fought to free her arm from Naraku's torment but could not muster the strength. As Naraku threw Kagura she groaned agonizingly when her head made a second, more lethal contact with the wall. Still, Kagura focused her eyes downward, and refused to do Naraku's bidding.
His ire grew as Naraku saw her continued resistance, despite all the bruises and pains Kagura had received. Delivering Kagura a swift and hard kick in the stomach, Naraku grinned as Kagura doubled over in pain and he saw a small dribble of blood for at the corner of her mouth.
"Will you obey me now?" Naraku said confidently, but was shocked as Kagura did not say a word, but pulled herself from her feeble position onto her knees. Naraku repeated, but angrier, "WILL YOU OBEY ME NOW!" To Naraku's unpleasant surprise, Kagura looked up at his contorted face and smiled dully as she said,
"I would rather die." But Kagura fell to the ground and coughed violently, more blood spilled from her red lips and gathered in her hand. Kagura examined the red substance and she realized that she was now her own person and no more a branch of Naraku. This gave Kagura renewed vigor and she slowly sat up, she said with a bloody smile, "I know longer belong to you Naraku. I am my own person. My blood is red, and yours is black. You have no power over me." Naraku was not pleased and grabbed Kagura ruthlessly by the shoulder muscle, he was careful to overdo his strength and felt Kagura squirm painfully from the pressure applied.
Kagura's feet no longer touched the floor, and solely a hard hand pressing her shoulder held her up. Kagura looked into the mean eyes of her creator and said nothing.
"Do you mean to tell me that you are more powerful than I am? That is not possible! You are flesh of my flesh and blood of my blood not matter what color it runs!" Naraku said this as he simultaneously punched Kagura's already bruised face and kneed her in the gut. No longer did Kagura's eyes bear their defiance, they only read pain as Kagura fell loudly upon the ground and fell into unconsciousness. The blood clotted upon the corner of her mouth and fresh supply appeared again. Naraku grinned as he said to the putrid air,
"Somehow, I expected her to show more resistance."
Kagura later awoke, her body racked with bruises and broken limbs. Her arms were held out in an uncomfortable and suffocating position at her side by thick iron chains. All that was around Kagura was darkness and hatred. The feelings of resentment spilled not only from Kagura's wounds that still trickled crimson blood, but also from within the walls of her own barrier.
' Damn that Naraku! He was right after all, for I cannot beat him. I have no potency as Sesshoumaru said, when it comes to facing Naraku. Why can I not succeed and live a normal life? Why can I not love! Must I be bound to this self-perpetuating life of enslavement!' Kagura's thoughts exclaimed as she felt the bitterness she had lost creep into her heart and mind. She felt the poisonous words of death and hopelessness appear again.
"Rin is soulless, and Naraku is now determined to destroy Sesshoumaru- san! There is no hope, and my fate is so uncertain!"
"Indeed, my slave, you are correct. The light has gone out of your life and there is darkness everywhere." Naraku drawled and revealed his form from the elusive shadows. "But Kagura, there is one thing that is more certain than you would expect, your own outcome. "Kagura smiled and retorted,
"Will you kill me? That is like you cowardly." However, Naraku's smile only grew,
"After what you will go through death will be something that you will beg for like a cur! I cannot wait to see it; your pride abandoned for the desire to survive. If you thought I was cruel earlier, your life will be bleaker than my heart!" Kagura's eyes grew wide in fear as Naraku held her close and jammed a jewel shard into her back.
"This will ensure your obedience, slave." Naraku exclaimed sadistically as she Kagura fell again into unconsciousness.
Sesshoumaru waited anxiously for any sign of movement. Two hours passed and he continued to stand in the courtyard. Sesshoumaru's mind was haunted by Kagura's fearful words of Naraku's trickery and malice.
'Kagura has an unreasonable fear of Naraku,' Sesshoumaru thought, rationalizing her words.
~~~~~~~~flashback~~~~~~~
"You do not need to go through with this plan, Kagura-san. I will not be offended if you abandon the mission." Methodically, Kagura turned to face Sesshoumaru and saw, beneath the bravery and pride, the honesty in his eyes.
"But I must, I am obliged by my own reasons. Even if I did wish to escape, Naraku has already seen me and he knows of all the fears and faults that my wary soul contains. Now I cannot turn back." Kagura sadly explained to Sesshoumaru as she withdrew from his glance, not desiring the knowledge of what it meant. As Sesshoumaru began to open his mouth Kagura interrupted him, "You cannot aid me in anyway. This is a journey I must complete and a task that I must do on my own. You know the way to Naraku's fortress now, let me approach it alone."
"That I cannot do, Kagura. This burden is not yours alone to bear. I also have my reasons." Sesshoumaru stated coldly, but also with concern in his voice.
"If you come with me Naraku will know your fears as well! You could very easily be killed. It is better for one to die than both victims be led to slaughter." Kagura pleaded in a calm, proud manner.
"I have come too far. I will not give into Naraku's foul intimidation this easily. He is not a full demon; he is but a hanyou scum. "Kagura looked defiantly at Sesshoumaru, and argued,
"But come no farther! You do not know what lies ahead or with what viciousness Naraku will incorporate into this scheme! I will make sure Rin is safe! I am capable to do that, Sesshoumaru-san. "Sesshoumaru's eyes turned cold as he stated bitterly,
"You are proud Kagura-san, very proud. I've seen the fear that Naraku instills in you and it does not inspire great confidence." Kagura suddenly withdrew from her cause and said quietly,
"That is something I believe should remain hidden! Am I truly that transparent?"
~~~~~~Flashback done~~~~~
Suddenly, Sesshoumaru heard a stirring in the winds and looked feverishly around him. Sesshoumaru saw nothing and returned his gaze to the door that Kagura went through two hours ago, and Sesshoumaru observed Rin's lifeless corpse fall at his feet. Sesshoumaru bent down and saw closely her lifeless eyes. He felt the wet tears that dampened Rin's cheeks with his own fingers. Sesshoumaru's eyes became a fearsome shade of red as his inner demon escaped.
"NARAKU! SHOW YOURSELF!" Sesshoumaru screamed, rage now being a part of him.
Kagura's eyes shot open as she heard Sesshoumaru's enraged demand and then she quickly shut them. Hot tears fell out of her demonic eyes while Kagura heard the disparity in Sesshoumaru's voice. Kagura opened her eyes again as she heard Naraku say mockingly,
"What is it, Milord Sesshoumaru?" With ease Kagura envisioned Naraku's telltale smirk and the cold stare that he was receiving from Sesshoumaru.
"What have you done to Rin!" Sesshoumaru stated harshly, all his notions of proud arrogance had been replaced by the intense hatred of Naraku. Kagura breathed in deeply, trying to calm her wild emotions.
'I must have faith that Sesshoumaru-san will not fail! He is much stronger than I am. No matter what bait Naraku has placed to stifle Sesshoumaru-san's own natural abilities. I must believe that Rin's sacrifice, and my servitude has not been entirely in vain.' Kagura thought frantically.
"I did nothing to Rin. What happened with the young girl was all caused by Kagura and your rebellious actions towards my authority!" Kagura silently cursed Naraku when she heard him repeat to Sesshoumaru what he told her two hours ago.
"You knave! You lie! Rin's condition is your responsibility. I was going to deliver Kagura safely into your possession despite myself. There is no honor in your trickery!" A dagger stung Kagura's heart as she heard Sesshoumaru's response, but she berated herself for this pain. Kagura looked hastily for any sharp object and saw the weapon used by the worthless boy Kohaku.
"This will do fine." Kagura said aloud.
Naraku was enjoying this evening in the most horrific way as he grinned sadistically from ear to ear,
"That was the same thing Kagura said to me. She stated that I had the gall to accuse her of the girl's outcome. Do you know what remains of Kagura? Kagura is now my undisputed slave; there is no hope for her. Do you enjoy that? Kagura once had hope, but you tricked her into slavery. Tell me, what did you do to convince her to fall into my trap?" Sesshoumaru barred his teeth and stated,
"Kagura knew what she was being led into. She sacrificed her freedom for the girl's and you destroyed even that little good she could do!" Naraku now laughed and said with amusement,
"I am glad I have wounded you so, it will not be hard to kill you now. All I need do I add to the wounds."
"You will only dream of such an act. You less than a hanyou, you are a simple creation of recombinant generation." Sesshoumaru drew Tokijin from it's hilt and challenged,
"Fight me Naraku, I will put you in your place!" Naraku sneered as he answered Sesshoumaru's challenge,
"Gladly."
Kagura fingered the handle of the curved blade, and contemplated how the well-made weapon would feel as it opened her throat. She wondered what the blood would feel like as it ran from her throat and her life end.
To be continued in ...chapter 9!
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Rissi's Notes:
LEEETS ALL sing a happy song, happy song, happy song! Wasn't that chapter just fun! For my first order of business I have to thank my great reviewers!
Zero27- As always, I thank you. You are my ever-constant reviewer! Yay for consistency! And don't worry your fluff and good writing makes up for the time lost!
Speak Tha Mind – Here you go! One chapter up and on time ( I hope)
Kagome*the* Haunteress: Enjoy your chapter!
Jillli-chan- I'm glad you enjoyed my last chapter, and I hope you enjoyed this one too! ^__^
Done and done! I had intended to keep this chapter going a bit longer, but I wanted a cliffie! So here its! My cliffie! Enjoy!
"The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere." (Jawaharial Nehru)
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Kagura could not speak words strong enough to rebuke Naraku for the grievous sin he committed, but she knew that words were no longer necessary in this matter, at least from her. Naraku could yet speak, and did with an offensive tongue,
"Kagura, you have returned. I am much relieved." Kagura snarled silently at Naraku, who sat upon his deep-red cushion of silk robed in an air of uncouth arrogance. "You are staring at the unfortunate girl I assume. It did grieve me to take Rin's soul. Observe the wetness that remains from her futile tears. She did cry, you know, once she realized that she would never see her beloved Sesshoumaru-sama again. I pitied her, but all harm that came to this innocent youth was caused by your insolent actions." Kagura could no longer contain the hatred with infantile fear; she lashed as a soul lost and in torment that still had life,
"You heartless bastard! You lay the blame for the tainting of Rin upon me! As I recall I died in your service, doing a mission for YOU! It was not my plea to be rescued by Sesshoumaru-san, it just happened that way! And you have the gall to accuse me!" Naraku's grinned only increased at Kagura's vicious words and contemptuously stated,
"Sesshoumaru-san. Is that what you call him? He must enjoy that, Kagura the Wind Sorceress, bestowing the mighty demon lord with a title of honor, and affection, shall I guess? "Kagura now smiled as she stated,
"He is a better man than you! Your bile is black, as is your putrid heart! The blood, which flows through your cursed veins, is of the darkest kind. Sesshoumaru-san is worthy of that honorable title, but you are not. You could not stand in his shadow." Naraku's mouth turned into a hideous scowl as he scolded,
"You insolent girl! You will pay for your commentary, and not just with your freedom. You say I could not stand in Sesshoumaru's shadow, than what I must do is cut that proud Demon Lord down. Yes, that is what I shall do to prove to you, my testy servant, bring the mighty Lord Sesshoumaru to his knees and have him begging for mercy like the dog he is! Does this satisfy you, wench!" Naraku was now standing at his full height and from him a strengthened aura resonated, but Kagura was not intimidated.
"That is like you. Cut down all which stand in your way and convince yourself that you are better than them because you played the dirtiest tricks to obtain victory!" Kagura stated this with an impression of confidence. Naraku anger grew with every stinging word that flew from Kagura's mouth,
"You test my patience! What shall I do to shut that foul mouth of yours?" Naraku felt a chuckle grow in his throat and he laughed sadistically. With a grin of pleasure from Kagura's anger and growing fear a he approached. Kagura grabbed for her fan, and drew the weapon open. Guarding herself from Naraku's onslaught, Kagura sent blades of cutting wind toward Naraku, but it did little good for Naraku's strength had grown, as did his resistance.
Naraku used his newfound speed to evade the winds Kagura created and without a sound encircled Kagura's dainty wrist with his strong and devilish fingers. Tighter and tighter he squeezed Kagura's wrist bone, and against Kagura's struggle he continued to stress the delicate bone. A vindictive face smiled as Naraku heard the bone shatter underneath his strength and his servant grunt in pain, as the bone became little more than jagged rocks in her wrist.
Kagura felt the bones within her right wrist crack into useless calcium and winced as the sharp pain shot through her body, but did not submit to Naraku's strength. Kagura only snarled back and resisted Naraku's wretched touch by painfully attempting to extract her injured wrist from Naraku's grasp. But Naraku only strengthened his grasp while he jerked her destroyed wrist and caused further damage to the ligament. He then hurled the pained Kagura, by means of her injured wrist callously toward the hard wall facing the outside of the palace.
As Kagura tumbled helplessly toward the stonewall she disturbed Naraku's tea arrangement and felt the scalding liquid that sprinkled out of the now shattered tea pot and onto her exposed skin. Her head hit the wall with a loud thud, and Kagura grunted as she tried to stand up from her feeble position. Yet, she was in too much pain to rise; her head sung in pain from the blow. Kagura carefully felt the back of her head and saw blood's slight imprint on her hand.
Blood's mark did not stop Kagura from attempting to rise from the ground, but still she struggled as pain profusely shot through her body. Naraku noticed this will she had to stand, and did not like what it represented, but a bright and wicked idea appeared to him as he thought,
'Kagura wants to stand, does she? I shall assist her then.' Naraku strode to Kagura, who struggled to raise herself, and swiped her injured wrist into his grasp again and painfully forced her to stand,
"You want to stand? You should have just told me and I would have helped you sooner. "Kagura only growled at Naraku's taunt and struggled against his power. "Why do you cause this pain in me? Why do you refuse to lower your pride and submit to my will!" Naraku's anger grew as Kagura said above a whisper,
"I would sooner die again that submit to your will." Again Naraku repeated has he flung her body into the stonewall,
"Why do you cause this pain in me? Why do refuse to lower your pride and submit! "But Kagura said nothing, and it was not the pain from her body or the blood that began to seep into bruises, it was her refusal. "Why do you do this! Get up and meet my eyes with some response! "Naraku's anger only grew at Kagura's continued silence.
Interred with the broken bones and bruises of black and blue, Kagura's pride and defiance did not diminish. It only grew greater, as if the sharp pains that invaded her body gave her strength. Averting her eyes, Kagura was not willing to meet Naraku's demand and this caused him great distress. Naraku ground his teeth and bent over, lifting Kagura from the ground. His hand pinched the nerve on the inside of Kagura's arm that lay just above the elbow. Kagura grunted painfully, but still did not look into Naraku's perturbed eyes.
"You wench! You will obey me!" Naraku screamed and squeezed the nerve harder. Kagura fought to free her arm from Naraku's torment but could not muster the strength. As Naraku threw Kagura she groaned agonizingly when her head made a second, more lethal contact with the wall. Still, Kagura focused her eyes downward, and refused to do Naraku's bidding.
His ire grew as Naraku saw her continued resistance, despite all the bruises and pains Kagura had received. Delivering Kagura a swift and hard kick in the stomach, Naraku grinned as Kagura doubled over in pain and he saw a small dribble of blood for at the corner of her mouth.
"Will you obey me now?" Naraku said confidently, but was shocked as Kagura did not say a word, but pulled herself from her feeble position onto her knees. Naraku repeated, but angrier, "WILL YOU OBEY ME NOW!" To Naraku's unpleasant surprise, Kagura looked up at his contorted face and smiled dully as she said,
"I would rather die." But Kagura fell to the ground and coughed violently, more blood spilled from her red lips and gathered in her hand. Kagura examined the red substance and she realized that she was now her own person and no more a branch of Naraku. This gave Kagura renewed vigor and she slowly sat up, she said with a bloody smile, "I know longer belong to you Naraku. I am my own person. My blood is red, and yours is black. You have no power over me." Naraku was not pleased and grabbed Kagura ruthlessly by the shoulder muscle, he was careful to overdo his strength and felt Kagura squirm painfully from the pressure applied.
Kagura's feet no longer touched the floor, and solely a hard hand pressing her shoulder held her up. Kagura looked into the mean eyes of her creator and said nothing.
"Do you mean to tell me that you are more powerful than I am? That is not possible! You are flesh of my flesh and blood of my blood not matter what color it runs!" Naraku said this as he simultaneously punched Kagura's already bruised face and kneed her in the gut. No longer did Kagura's eyes bear their defiance, they only read pain as Kagura fell loudly upon the ground and fell into unconsciousness. The blood clotted upon the corner of her mouth and fresh supply appeared again. Naraku grinned as he said to the putrid air,
"Somehow, I expected her to show more resistance."
Kagura later awoke, her body racked with bruises and broken limbs. Her arms were held out in an uncomfortable and suffocating position at her side by thick iron chains. All that was around Kagura was darkness and hatred. The feelings of resentment spilled not only from Kagura's wounds that still trickled crimson blood, but also from within the walls of her own barrier.
' Damn that Naraku! He was right after all, for I cannot beat him. I have no potency as Sesshoumaru said, when it comes to facing Naraku. Why can I not succeed and live a normal life? Why can I not love! Must I be bound to this self-perpetuating life of enslavement!' Kagura's thoughts exclaimed as she felt the bitterness she had lost creep into her heart and mind. She felt the poisonous words of death and hopelessness appear again.
"Rin is soulless, and Naraku is now determined to destroy Sesshoumaru- san! There is no hope, and my fate is so uncertain!"
"Indeed, my slave, you are correct. The light has gone out of your life and there is darkness everywhere." Naraku drawled and revealed his form from the elusive shadows. "But Kagura, there is one thing that is more certain than you would expect, your own outcome. "Kagura smiled and retorted,
"Will you kill me? That is like you cowardly." However, Naraku's smile only grew,
"After what you will go through death will be something that you will beg for like a cur! I cannot wait to see it; your pride abandoned for the desire to survive. If you thought I was cruel earlier, your life will be bleaker than my heart!" Kagura's eyes grew wide in fear as Naraku held her close and jammed a jewel shard into her back.
"This will ensure your obedience, slave." Naraku exclaimed sadistically as she Kagura fell again into unconsciousness.
Sesshoumaru waited anxiously for any sign of movement. Two hours passed and he continued to stand in the courtyard. Sesshoumaru's mind was haunted by Kagura's fearful words of Naraku's trickery and malice.
'Kagura has an unreasonable fear of Naraku,' Sesshoumaru thought, rationalizing her words.
~~~~~~~~flashback~~~~~~~
"You do not need to go through with this plan, Kagura-san. I will not be offended if you abandon the mission." Methodically, Kagura turned to face Sesshoumaru and saw, beneath the bravery and pride, the honesty in his eyes.
"But I must, I am obliged by my own reasons. Even if I did wish to escape, Naraku has already seen me and he knows of all the fears and faults that my wary soul contains. Now I cannot turn back." Kagura sadly explained to Sesshoumaru as she withdrew from his glance, not desiring the knowledge of what it meant. As Sesshoumaru began to open his mouth Kagura interrupted him, "You cannot aid me in anyway. This is a journey I must complete and a task that I must do on my own. You know the way to Naraku's fortress now, let me approach it alone."
"That I cannot do, Kagura. This burden is not yours alone to bear. I also have my reasons." Sesshoumaru stated coldly, but also with concern in his voice.
"If you come with me Naraku will know your fears as well! You could very easily be killed. It is better for one to die than both victims be led to slaughter." Kagura pleaded in a calm, proud manner.
"I have come too far. I will not give into Naraku's foul intimidation this easily. He is not a full demon; he is but a hanyou scum. "Kagura looked defiantly at Sesshoumaru, and argued,
"But come no farther! You do not know what lies ahead or with what viciousness Naraku will incorporate into this scheme! I will make sure Rin is safe! I am capable to do that, Sesshoumaru-san. "Sesshoumaru's eyes turned cold as he stated bitterly,
"You are proud Kagura-san, very proud. I've seen the fear that Naraku instills in you and it does not inspire great confidence." Kagura suddenly withdrew from her cause and said quietly,
"That is something I believe should remain hidden! Am I truly that transparent?"
~~~~~~Flashback done~~~~~
Suddenly, Sesshoumaru heard a stirring in the winds and looked feverishly around him. Sesshoumaru saw nothing and returned his gaze to the door that Kagura went through two hours ago, and Sesshoumaru observed Rin's lifeless corpse fall at his feet. Sesshoumaru bent down and saw closely her lifeless eyes. He felt the wet tears that dampened Rin's cheeks with his own fingers. Sesshoumaru's eyes became a fearsome shade of red as his inner demon escaped.
"NARAKU! SHOW YOURSELF!" Sesshoumaru screamed, rage now being a part of him.
Kagura's eyes shot open as she heard Sesshoumaru's enraged demand and then she quickly shut them. Hot tears fell out of her demonic eyes while Kagura heard the disparity in Sesshoumaru's voice. Kagura opened her eyes again as she heard Naraku say mockingly,
"What is it, Milord Sesshoumaru?" With ease Kagura envisioned Naraku's telltale smirk and the cold stare that he was receiving from Sesshoumaru.
"What have you done to Rin!" Sesshoumaru stated harshly, all his notions of proud arrogance had been replaced by the intense hatred of Naraku. Kagura breathed in deeply, trying to calm her wild emotions.
'I must have faith that Sesshoumaru-san will not fail! He is much stronger than I am. No matter what bait Naraku has placed to stifle Sesshoumaru-san's own natural abilities. I must believe that Rin's sacrifice, and my servitude has not been entirely in vain.' Kagura thought frantically.
"I did nothing to Rin. What happened with the young girl was all caused by Kagura and your rebellious actions towards my authority!" Kagura silently cursed Naraku when she heard him repeat to Sesshoumaru what he told her two hours ago.
"You knave! You lie! Rin's condition is your responsibility. I was going to deliver Kagura safely into your possession despite myself. There is no honor in your trickery!" A dagger stung Kagura's heart as she heard Sesshoumaru's response, but she berated herself for this pain. Kagura looked hastily for any sharp object and saw the weapon used by the worthless boy Kohaku.
"This will do fine." Kagura said aloud.
Naraku was enjoying this evening in the most horrific way as he grinned sadistically from ear to ear,
"That was the same thing Kagura said to me. She stated that I had the gall to accuse her of the girl's outcome. Do you know what remains of Kagura? Kagura is now my undisputed slave; there is no hope for her. Do you enjoy that? Kagura once had hope, but you tricked her into slavery. Tell me, what did you do to convince her to fall into my trap?" Sesshoumaru barred his teeth and stated,
"Kagura knew what she was being led into. She sacrificed her freedom for the girl's and you destroyed even that little good she could do!" Naraku now laughed and said with amusement,
"I am glad I have wounded you so, it will not be hard to kill you now. All I need do I add to the wounds."
"You will only dream of such an act. You less than a hanyou, you are a simple creation of recombinant generation." Sesshoumaru drew Tokijin from it's hilt and challenged,
"Fight me Naraku, I will put you in your place!" Naraku sneered as he answered Sesshoumaru's challenge,
"Gladly."
Kagura fingered the handle of the curved blade, and contemplated how the well-made weapon would feel as it opened her throat. She wondered what the blood would feel like as it ran from her throat and her life end.
To be continued in ...chapter 9!
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Rissi's Notes:
LEEETS ALL sing a happy song, happy song, happy song! Wasn't that chapter just fun! For my first order of business I have to thank my great reviewers!
Zero27- As always, I thank you. You are my ever-constant reviewer! Yay for consistency! And don't worry your fluff and good writing makes up for the time lost!
Speak Tha Mind – Here you go! One chapter up and on time ( I hope)
Kagome*the* Haunteress: Enjoy your chapter!
Jillli-chan- I'm glad you enjoyed my last chapter, and I hope you enjoyed this one too! ^__^
Done and done! I had intended to keep this chapter going a bit longer, but I wanted a cliffie! So here its! My cliffie! Enjoy!