Until The Day I Die
Chapter Two: The Forest of Light
By: Sci-Fi Raptor
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or its characters.
Just in case I messed up and no one got it, Inuyasha has never seen Naraku in person, so he doesn't know what he looks like (same with Sesshomaru).
~
[Day One, Continued]
It must have been some terrible dream. There she was, talking to prince Naraku (Ahh, handsome, brave prince Naraku,) when she was suddenly snatched into the sky. The suddenness caused princess Kagome to pass out. When she woke up, she was shackled to the wall of some house. She looked up and saw a gray haired person in red robes. She also saw the thing in front of her turn to dust. And here she was, leading him to the these shards…
When she saw his red robes, she thought that he was her childhood friend, whom she only knew by nickname, Tamago. It had something to do with a turtle, and she gave it to him when he lost a race with her (one in which she was sure he let her win). But it couldn't have been her friend. He had black eyes and hair. He also had a magical toothed necklace. And finally, he wasn't this mean!
~
The first shard was conveniently located deep within the local kingdom's military area. It was in a castle where a shogun lived.
"Guess that shard really doesn't want me to get it," Inuyasha said. "Myoga, watch the brat while I get it from the castle."
"Yes, master Inuyasha," Myoga said and went on her shoulder.
"Ewww! Get it off of me!" Kagome protested.
"Shut up or you'll get caught," Inuyasha reprimanded her. She complied, and made Inuyasha more confident that he wasn't walking into a trap. As he left the observation point, he could hear Kagome squirm as Myoga was probably trying to suck her blood.
"Halt, who goes there?" a castle guard yelled to Inuyasha as he walked up to the entrance.
"Inuyasha," he said cockily. He decided that these guys would be easy pickings and this would take very little time. He raised his hand, "Iron reaver, soul stealer," he said, ripping the front entrance of the castle to shreds. Hastily, the castle defenders gathered at the front to protect the castle and its lord.
"Move before you get hurt," Inuyasha said impatiently. None of them moved, so Inuyasha improvised. He ripped a tree out of the ground and threw it at all of them. They were all caught by it and it was stacked on top of them. Inuyasha walked in and searched the castle for the shogun. He found the shogun cowering in a closet. And he didn't have the shard with him. In a rage, Inuyasha tore a hole through the castle wall and ran to where Kagome was supposed to be. Only, she wasn't there.
He found Myoga flattened on the ground and put him on his shoulder. Then he sniffed the air. Its fresh, she was just here. He located where she was heading and made chase. In a few moments, he was on top of her. Literally; he had tripped on a rock at the last second. He turned her so that she was facing him and put his face right up to hers.
~
His face was so close. She didn't know why, but she wanted so badly to kiss him. Here she was, a thug on top of her who would probably rape her later, wanting to have him kiss her! He seemed to want to do the same, and he inched forward, holding her head in her hands.
"Myoga, give it to her," he said. She felt his dirty fingers prying her mouth open. Instinctively, she resisted, but it was futile. She felt something land on her tongue. Then she felt a prick and then nothing. She couldn't feel her tongue anymore.
"Try something like that again, and you might not have a tongue to speak of," Inuyasha warned. Then he smirked. "That sedative won't go away for a few hours; careful when you bite," he said and gave her a hard piece of bread. He stood up and picked her up by the shoulders.
"Now, lets start again: Where are the jewel shards?"
"You cou alleath askth nigthly," Kagome sputtered.
"Faster then I thought," Inuyasha said to himself. "What was that?"
Kagome tried many times to say it, while Inuyasha laugh his head off at her feeble attempts. After a few minutes, Inuyasha finally understood that she said 'You could at least ask nicely,' and asked her nicely.
"Can you please tell me where the jewel shards really are so I don't have to slice you tongue off?" Inuyasha said with an earnest face.
"RRRR" Kagome cried in rage, and gave up. She pointed to the northwest and the two started walking in that direction.
Suddenly, Inuyasha cried, "I can't wait any longer!" and grabbed Kagome. She was frozen in fear that she was about to be raped, by a demon on top of that. But she felt his back in front of her and saw that he was carrying her.
"What's wrong, you look like you've seen a ghost," Inuyasha said nonchalantly.
"Warn me next time you do something like that," Kagome said, exasperated.
"I was just trying to speed things up," he said annoyed. "Its not like I'd want to spend any more time then I'd need to with you."
"Hmp," Kagome said like a royal brat. "Head a little more left," she said, breaking the half an hour-long silence. Bored out of her mind, she tried talking to Inuyasha. Even though the scenery was beautiful and she had never traveled this fast, it got old quickly.
"So, what's your name?" Kagome started, realizing she didn't know his name.
"Inuyasha, what's it to ya?" He said annoyed.
"More left," she said, realizing that they were getting off course. Inuyasha adjusted and she continued. "If I'm going to work this closely to you, the least I should do is know your name. My name is Kagome Higurashi, and I'm princess of the Higurashi domain."
"So?" Inuyasha said rudely.
"If you let me go, I can promise you a great reward," she said.
"So?"
"I can make you a rich man…"
"Rrr," he growled. "I'm not a man."
"Rich demon…"
"I don't care who you are, or what you can give me, because once I deliver you and the Jewel to the Temple of Kings, I will probably acquire something I have been waiting most of my life to get."
"Probably? If you take me home, I can guarantee a handsome reward," she said.
"It doesn't matter. As long as I get that far, I'll be happy."
There's no convincing this guy, Kagome thought to herself, realizing he had a one-track mind and finally gave up. She just continued to talk about her life and the demon grunted, as if it were listening.
~
When she woke up, it looked like it was midnight. She was on the ground next to an extinguished fire. She looked up and saw the moon the stars and Jupiter by itself. Inuyasha was sleeping up against a tree with his sword in front of him.
This might be my chance. Kagome thought. She quietly got up and started walking away.
"If you're going to use the bathroom, say at least ten feet away from here," Inuyasha suddenly said as she stepped into the woods, almost giving her a heart attack.
"You're awake?" Kagome managed to say when her heart stopped racing.
"Why else would I have removed your shackles," he said. Kagome unconsciously felt her wrists and saw that he wasn't lying.
"Thanks," she said and left.
"Whatever," he said.
~
[Day Two]
It was early morning when Kagome woke up. The sun was just rising and some birds started chirping. She felt someone staring at her and saw Inuyasha staring at her chest.
"Get those perverted thoughts out of your head," she snapped. He smirked.
"Then you don't care about the worm on the shard," he said merrily. She looked down and saw a caterpillar on the jewel shard. She had made a necklace of it, just because she had nothing else to do.
"Eek! Get it off of me," she cried.
"Do it yourself," Inuyasha said. He got up and got his belongings together. Kagome jumped hysterically, finally getting the insect off of her. Inuyasha looked at her roughed up face and knew he would treasure it for years to come.
"What are you smiling at?" Kagome said testily, obviously not a morning person.
"You should see yourself without the royal get up, you look better," Inuyasha said, and started walking off.
"What was that?" she said and followed him.
By midday, they finally arrived where the shard was located. The three (Myoga had finally joined up after hitching rides from other animals from the Shogun's castle) warily entered a dark forest. They walked towards the heart of it for a very long time.
"The Forest of Light," Myoga finally said. "Legend says that inside there is a mage that protects the Sacred Jewel, a legendary stone that emits a light that can heal living things of many illnesses."
"Then why is it so dark?" Kagome asked skeptically.
"That is an interesting question," Myoga said, "probably with an interesting answer. And I believe we can find out over there," Myoga said, pointing to a damaged temple towards the center of the forest.
"The shard's presence is really intense over there," Kagome confirmed.
"Then lets go," Inuyasha said, upping the group's speed. In about a third of an hour, the group finally arrived at the entrance.
~
The blue ball of light descended from the sky. Its target was nearby. Sesshomaru materialized out of the blue light and landed lightly on his feet. Nearby, a small, dark green creature appeared before him.
"Lord Sesshomaru," the creature started and bowed, "Naraku sends his greetings and is happy to see that you have arrived here as per his instructions."
"Tell him that I am happy to serve," he said unhappily.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that for you today. I, Jaken, must accompany you as you do this task."
"Naraku never told me of this!" Sesshomaru said angrily.
"Master Naraku thought you would feel this way, so he sent this for you," the little one said and gave him a sword inside its sheath. "Its name is Tokygin."
"Tokygin…" Sesshomaru repeated and inspected the sword. He took it out of its sheath briefly and put it back. Then he placed it next to his own sword and started walking. He could see the now dark trees of the forest before him.
~
"Queen Higurashi! Queen Higurashi!" Farleigh said insistently. He had just heard word that the Princess had been kidnapped! After a lot of traumatic searching, he found the Queen on a balcony looking in the direction of the Temple of Kings.
"Queen Higurashi, I've scoured the whole castle to find you," Farleigh said exasperated. He stopped a while to catch his breath and continued. "Queen Higurashi, I have terrible news. As I had feared, Princess Kagome has been kidnapped," he said urgently. The Queen must have taken it well, since she didn't flinch or show any kinds of movement.
"I already knew that," the Queen said.
"Well, then, the good news is that Prince Naraku had come back to his homeland unharmed and he is sending all his subjects the find Princess Kagome and apprehend the fiend." This made her flinch.
"Fiend? Naraku is the Fiend," she said angrily.
"What do you mean, my liege?"
"Kagome's capture was Naraku's doing. As for his 'search parties', even if they exist, they will find nothing. Naraku will keep her whereabouts a secret from everyone except his most loyal subjects. As we speak, his top man is probably after her right now." This news made Farleigh's heart skip a beat.
"Th-th-then we must send in the army to bring her back immediately," he said.
"No," Queen Higurashi said matter-of-factly.
"But-"
"No!" she repeated. "We don't have the strength to invade Naraku's nation and search for her in time." Farleigh looked at her in defeat.
"Then what can we do about it?"
"Nothing," she said bluntly. Then she made a small smile. "We can do nothing but have faith in my son."
"Son?!" Farleigh said in shock. Many heads turned to the balcony.
~
Everything was rotten about the place: the wood was rotten, the plants were rotten, even the air was rotten. And according to Kagome, the shard seemed a little bit different, as if it were being corrupted. Kagome made the first move and led the way. Inuyasha followed with Myoga on his shoulder. The ground was three steps lower then the temple's platform, probably because the forest floor was full of moist stuff that had probably made its way onto the temple and caused its wood to rot. Kagome also noticed that the temple had some kind of drain that was about four foot wide and covered the whole perimeter around the temple.
At the corners of the temple were statues depicting some kind of mythological scene. One was of a forest type god, another a fire type god, yet another a water type god, and finally an earth type god. Each of them was looking towards the center of the temple's roof. There stood a great statue of a dog demon with giant fangs. Even though it was inanimate, the dog statue had an aura of authority and courage around it that made the group look in awe. Then Kagome's foot fell through one of the steps going to the temple's platform.
"Wench, watch where you're walking," Inuyasha said in an annoyed tone. He broke the wood around her leg and gently pulled it out. He grabbed her kimono.
"Ahh!" she shrieked, surprised by the sudden move. "Get off!" she screamed, punching his head. She heard a rip and he moved back.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Inuyasha screamed at her, a large part of her kimono in his hand.
"Whatever perverted idea you're thinking about, forget it," she spat.
"What the hell are you talking about? I was just trying to dress your leg," he said, pointing to her bloody leg. It was then the pain became apparent, her hysteria gone. "Myoga, give her some of that stuff," Inuyasha ordered as he was dressing the wound. "Hell, why are you always banging on me being a pervert? You're the one who's always thinking those thoughts!"
"Well, I'm watching you," she said, blushing when she realized that he was right. Myoga put the sedative into her leg while Inuyasha licked her wound. She was about to protest, but realized that dog saliva had healing properties and didn't want to embarrass herself again. Being that the sedative hadn't taken affect yet, she giggled at the touch of his tongue. He stopped licking her and washed the wound with water. Then he applied a slave and finally dressed the wound. He did it tightly, but she couldn't feel it since the sedative was active. Then he spat over and over and gurgled many times.
"Your leg tastes nasty…" he finally said.
"Well, someone kidnapped me and didn't let me have a bath at all," she said.
"Shut up and move," he said, giving her his shoulder for support. The three entered the temple together.
The temple was bare except for a few scripture hanging on the walls and a pedestal in the center of the room. The pedestal had a red silk pillow on top of it with a black sphere on top of it. Kagome held particular interest in the sphere.
"What do you think?" Inuyasha asked.
"I feel the shard is somewhere inside the sphere, and its becoming more corrupted every second."
"There's something amiss about this sphere," Myoga stated as Inuyasha went on the other side of the sphere.
"I think I know what it is," Kagome said and put her hand near the sphere and it seemed to disappear into it. Inuyasha had a look of horror on his face and instantly pulled it out.
"What are you thinking!" he said angrily.
"It's nothing," she said, taking her hand back, then waving it towards the sphere again. Then she lit one of the candles she saw somewhere and put it up to the sphere. "Notice it yet?"
"Ahh, its so obvious," Myoga said.
"What?" Inuyasha said, seeming not to understand. Kagome put the candle closer to the sphere and it dimmed immensely. It seemed as if it was going out, but the smoke was coming out the candle as it was before.
"As you can see," Kagome said impatiently, not waiting anymore for Inuyasha to figure it out, "this sphere actually absorbs light, opposed to shining light like it's supposed to. That's why you don't see the candle's light being reflected from its surface.
"Oh," Inuyasha said, accepting it as fact. "So how do we get it out?" Inuyasha asked.
"You don't…" a voice said.
"Who's there," Inuyasha said.
"Your executioner," the voice said again. Something shot out of the sphere and landed outside.
"Kagome, stay here. Myoga, stay with her," Inuyasha said and ran outside.
"Hey!" Kagome protested, but he was already outside.
Inuyasha was out in time to notice the thing jump into the muck littering the forest floor.
"Inuyasha," Kagome screamed to be heard "the shard is outside now."
"Damn," Inuyasha said to himself. This is what I've trained for. Now to see if today is the day I die.
The muck took the form of the forest type god's statue around the temple, but its eyes had an evil red glow to them.
"Inuyasha, today is the day you die," the being said simply and attacked. Inuyasha was in the air and landed on its back by the time the creature hit the ground he was standing on. The creature made a whiplash with its body and sent Inuyasha flying. Inuyasha did an iron reaver on it and spilt it into two. The halves revealed the shards location, but they joined as one before Inuyasha could do anything. Inuyasha did a few more iron reavers, attacking the beast or just blocking it when it attacked with long streams of pointy muck. He slashed and fought his way to where he thought the shard was. He ripped it out and the creature collapsed. He went up to Kagome and told her to put it in her hands.
"What are you talking about?" she said, confused over what was going on.
"Just do it!" he ordered, and forced her to put the shard into her cupped hands. "Now clear you mind and meditate," he instructed.
"Did you get hit in the head?" she questioned, but Inuyasha closed her eyes with his fingers and she tried to concentrate. As she waited, she realized that the shard was becoming less corrupt. The more she thought of it, the faster it was uncorrupted until it was clean. "How did you know that?" Kagome asked when she was finished.
"Give me that," Inuyasha said and snatched it from her.
"Wait a second," Kagome warned when she realized he was putting it back into the sphere. The shard was becoming slightly corrupted, but the sphere suddenly lost its darkness and was shining brightly. Then something emerged from the sphere and was uncorrupting the whole forest. When she could see, Kagome realized that it looked exactly like the forest type god statue outside.
"Thank you, Master Inuyasha and Lady Kagome," the being said to the both of them. The being looked at Kagome and spoke: "You may take that dressing off now. The Sacred Jewel of Life's rays have healed your wound." Kagome realized that her leg was no longer thumping and the sedative was gone.
"Thank you," she said.
"Thank you," it repeated. "If it weren't for you, I would never have escaped Naraku's clutches.
"Naraku's clutches? As in Prince Naraku?" Kagome said surprised.
"Prince!" it said exasperated. "More like an abomination that this world should never have seen," it said angrily.
"Kagome, leave," Inuyasha said suddenly.
"But-"
"No discussion. Leave now," he repeated, more strongly this time. Then in a softer tone, "you can come back once I'm done talking with her," he said. She left with no more protests and watched outside. They were talking about something and Inuyasha flicked Myoga out when he realized they weren't alone.
"Did you hear anything?" she asked Myoga when she found him.
"They were talking about you," he said in shock.
"What were they talking about," she said, suddenly afraid.
"I don't know, I couldn't hear," the flea said and landed on her shoulder.
"Touch me and die," Kagome said, just as he was about to take a drink.
"Sorry…" he said and tucked himself into a fold of her worn out kimono.
"Kagome, you may come now," the being said in a heavenly voice.
"What was that about?" Kagome asked, hoping to be put into the loop. The being moved as if to say something, but Inuyasha intervened.
"Its none of your business," he said angrily. He regretted it, since Kagome looked as if she was about to cry.
"Nothing is any of my business, is it? Just as long as I find those stupid shards for you!" she said, running out, hiding her tears. The being looked down to Inuyasha.
"You should be more gentle with her, she is only a woman," the being said maternally.
"It seems you've been cooped up in that ball for too long. She's stronger than you give her credit," he said defensively.
"You seem to invest much into her," it said amused.
"Shut up, I've had enough of you and your kind's bullshit and I'm leaving now!" he said angrily, storming off.
"Wait master," the being said.
"Now what?"
"This is a gift from me to the two of you," it said, and a white diamond (the color of the Sacred Jewel in the temple) appeared before him. It had the forest's emblem on it, a leaf.
"Yes, and I can give it to me lovely wife," Inuyasha said, cracking a smile from the being.
"It wouldn't be a bad idea. This diamond has the power to heal, just like the Sacred Jewel,"
"But…" Inuyasha said, expecting a catch.
"Well, it will only work when your Tetsaiga is in its demon form," it said.
"Then I might as well let Kagome keep it. That stupid sword wont change no matter what I do," he said. "At least it might make her less mad at me."
"There is one thing you didn't try yet," the being said.
"And what's that?"
"You don't need me to tell you. You already know. You've been doing it. Its just a matter of when you will be able to trust the sword enough to use it in battle."
"Inuyasha, Kagome is leaving!" Myoga said, jumping into the temple.
"Well, I gotta leave now," Inuyasha said, leaving. "And remember to tell the others the instant they awaken."
"I will. Goodbye master."
"Goodbye."
~
"What do you mean?!" Naraku said angrily to his minion. But I was suspecting as much. Naraku thought, but then became calm. "Contact Sesshomaru. Tell him there is a change of plans."
~
"Kagome, wait up!" Inuyasha said. She didn't slow down, she just walked faster. "Kagome."
"I found the Jewel and 'I was just trying to speed things up,'" she said repeating the hurtful words he said before. "'Its not like I'd want to spend any more time then I'd need to with you.'"
"Kagome, what are you talking about," he said, and turned her so that she faced him. She was crying.
"I bet you're glad that you made me cry, aren't you. It seems all you want to do is make me miserable. There, are you happy? Naraku is ten times better then you. At least he treated me nicely. But you," she spat the word like venom, "all I am to you is a thing to find the shards, aren't I?" she snapped.
The two were standing still, Kagome trembling. Inuyasha stood there, absorbing what he just heard. His face showed pain. Now you know how it feels. Kagome thought to herself.
"Here," he said, showing her a beautiful diamond. For a brief moment she thought that he was about to say the two words she was wishing so badly to hear. "Obviously you think you can protect yourself. Since you're such a weak human, you can use this if you get hurt. Just stay out of my way."
He wasn't capable of remorse obviously. I'm sorry. That's all he had to say. She felt even worse then before.
"Get on," he gestured for her to take a seat on his back.
"Why?"
"Like I said before, 'I'm just trying to speed things up, its not like I'd want to spend any more time then I'd need to with you," he said in a tone so cold, Kagome was starting to fear for her life. She reluctantly climbed his back as quietly cried to herself.
Why do I care so much? she thought all of a sudden. I'm just his prisoner, right? Inuyasha started speeding out of the forest.
"Die, Inuyasha!" someone suddenly said.