Author's Note- Hi peoples. . .we're back, and with a new chapter. We've
been busy. Projects, demons, and lots of other stuff. . .we have gotten
two Shikon shards lately. . .but that's about it. We still don't own
Inuyasha, but we hopefully will soon. Now, enjoy the fic!
Inuyasha groaned as they set him down. "How do we get rid of the poison?" Amanda asked.
Sigaru stared at Inuyasha for a few seconds. "Hm. . .The signs-which is fever, trembling, shallow breathing, dilated eyes, and black blood from the wound-says it's Skullcap poison mixed with Yage. Yage causes terrifying hallucinations and Skullcap poison is your basic deadly poison. There's no cure for this. He's going to die." He replied. He glared. "And I'm going to kill that woman for killing my rival. That was my job!" he said.
Nobody seemed to notice as Sigaru ranted on about his revenge. Suddenly Miroku's eyes lit up as he grabbed a small book that was lying on the other side of the room and scanned it. "There is a cure to it!" He said suddenly. Everybody looked at him. "We need wivertail grass, basil, whortle root, thistle, bindwood, borate, and coriander." He said.
"What, what, and what?" Kisike asked, blinking.
Miroku repeated the ingredients to the antidote.
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go find it!" Raylin said, getting up and starting for the door.
"Not so fast, Raylin." Bridget said, grabbing the back Raylin's shirt. "We've never heard of most of this stuff in our lives, and we have no clue where it is and what it looks like." She said.
"Then what can we do?" Amanda asked quietly. She glared and stood up. "I'm not going to just stand here and watch Inuyasha die. Maybe looking for ingredients to the antidote is an impossible mission, maybe not. It doesn't matter. If he dies, at least I can say that I tried saving him instead of giving up hope." She said.
Everybody stared at her. Then Shippou piped up, "I can help! When my mother was alive, she was a healer and taught me all there was to know about these kind of poisons."
"Me too!" Kouten said. "My mother taught me about medicinal herbs and such, too!"
"I've heard of these plants, and I know for a fact that they're all in this valley. I can help out." Sigaru said.
"So can I. I do know of the plants used to cure this poison." Miroku said.
"We'll need someone to stay here. Just in case something happens." Raylin said.
"I will." Amanda said. "I'll see if I can maybe get his fever down or something."
"Good. Just remember, be alert and whatever you do, do not go near those ponds."
"Believe me, going near those ponds again is the last thing I'm going to do."
"Alright."
"Remember to be careful, though. When Kagome was alive, she was a very tricky girl. She had and still has miko powers, and now she has youkai powers added to that. She's mad and she may still be in the area. She may come back to finish Inuyasha off." Miroku reminded her. Amanda nodded.
"I will."
Miroku turned to Sigaru. "Now, you say you've heard of these plants; do you know what they look like?"
Sigaru nodded. "Yeah."
"Then we'll need to go in a pairs."
"I'll go with Kisike! We can get the basil and whortle root!" Kouten said. Kisike sweatdropped.
".Little brat." she said.
"I am not a brat!" Kouten said. "Be stormy!"
A little rain cloud appeared over Kisike. Kisike sighed. "Be happy again." Kouten said. The rain cloud disappeared.
"I'll go with Bridget. We can get the coriander and thistle." Shippou said.
"I'll get the wivertail grass and borate and go with Miroku, then." Raylin said. "It's better than going with Sigaru."
Amanda raised an eyebrow. "It's better going with a pervert than an idiot? What kind of logic is that?" she asked.
"It's not logic at all! Logic does not exist! Haha!" Kisike said. Everybody stared at her.
". . .Kisike, I think this would be a good time to tell everyone that you'll be quiet now. . ." Bridget said.
"Never! I want Gabriiii. . ." Kisike whined.
"We're probably going to see him again once we get the flute back from Sekkai." Amanda said.
"Yay!"
"Now get out of here and get those ingredients before Inuyasha dies!"
"Awww. . ." Kisike said. She walked over to the door. ". . .Come on, brat." She said to Kouten.
She and Kouten left, hearing Kouten yell every now and then, "I'm not a brat!" Everybody sweatdropped.
"No other people to stop them, no peace among themselves. . .how long do you think it'll take them to kill each other?" Raylin asked.
"Oh, I'd say about an hour or so. . ." Miroku said. Raylin nodded.
"That's. . .probably about right. Now let's go." She said. She and Miroku left.
Bridget and Shippou walked over to the door. Before they left, Bridget stopped and looked over her shoulder at Sigaru. "You're gonna be all right going out there and looking by yourself, right?" she asked.
"I was all by myself before I met you guys. I'll be fine." Sigaru said, running ahead of them and into the forest. Bridget turned to Shippou.
"Alright, then, Shippou. Let's go." Bridget said. Shippou nodded and they went outside. "Be careful!" she called to Amanda, who was closing the door.
Amanda nodded and shut the door. Bridget and Shippou went into the forest.
***
Kouten looked around. ". . .We're lost." She said.
Kisike sighed. "We are not lost, we're just temporarily misplaced forever." She said.
Kouten looked around. Suddenly she spotted a river. "Hey, look! It's a river! Let's go!" she said, running over to the river.
"Hey, brat! Wait up!" Kisike yelled, running after her. They stopped at the edge of the river. ". . .Now what?" She demanded.
"First we ask how to get back. Second, we gather some whortle root." Kouten said.
She kneeled down and poked the water, creating a ripple of light across the surface of the water. A fish swam up to the surface. Kouten smiled. "Hello." She said.
"Kouten, now's not the time to be talking to fish. . ." Kisike groaned.
Kouten frowned at her. "Shhh! Be quiet!" she said. She turned back to the fish. "Now, do you know how we can get to Inu-Youkai's house?"
The fish hit the water with its tail a few times, creating ripples of light. Kouten nodded. "Uh huh, uh huh, I see. . ." she said. Kisike's eyebrows furrowed slightly and she looked around.
"..Uh. . ." She said, glancing around some more. "I have no peanut butter.." Kouten looked at her. "..Erm. . .Nothin'." Kisike sighed. Kouten shrugged and looked back to the fish. Kisike sweatdropped. "She's talking to a fish. . .why me?"
After a few more minutes of talking to the fish, Kouten stood up, nodded and looked around for Kisike. She saw her sitting under a nearby tree and walked over to her, stood there, then poked her forehead. Kisike leapt to her feet and grinned, pointing to the sky.
"BISCUIT!!!!!!" She yelled to no one in particular. Kouten fell over.
"Whaaaaaat?"
***
Gabriel looked up sharply as he heard someone yell 'biscuit'. He blinked, looked around, and then shook his head. "Oh, God."
***
Kisike grinned. "Nothin." She said.
"You're weird." Kouten said as she walked up a rock, jumped off, and landed in a little patch of purple flowers.
"I'm not the one that talks to fish." Kisike retorted, following. "By the way, now's not the time to be playing in the flowers, brat."
"These flowers are whortle flowers. We need the roots to these and then we need to find some basil." Kouten replied, picking some flowers- roots and all-and sticking her tongue out at Kisike.
"Hey!" Kisike yelled.
"Come on an help me get some of this stuff!" Kouten yelled.
"Okay, okay. . ." Kisike said, picking a flower and making sure the roots came out with it. "Now, let's go."
***
Kagome finally got to a cave that was in the side of one of the mountains in the valley. She walked in, a smirk on her face. She finally got to a huge dome area in the cave where on the far side it began to branch out. In the center of the dome was a small figure. The figure wore a black robe and cloak. He had red glowing eyes. The same figure that Kisike saw. . .
"Well, how'd I do?" Kagome asked cheerfully, setting her quiver and bow up against the wall.
"Foolish girl." The cloaked figure rasped.
Kagome looked up from her things. "Huh?" she asked.
"Do you really think you killed him?" The figure demanded.
"Well yeah." Kagome said. She looked over at him. Her heart sank. "You mean. . .I didn't?" she asked. She frowned. "Oh, come on! He's half human for Pete's sake! The dagger I used was dipped in skullcap poison! That had to have killed even him!"
"Well it hasn't, not just yet." The figure looked over at Kagome. "But that's not all. The four girls are alive too. Why are they still alive?!"
Kagome shrugged. "I don't have a problem with them. Why should I care if they're dead or not? Without Inuyasha, they'll probably just wander around aimlessly and get killed by a bunch of freaked-out villagers or bloodthirsty demon. Besides, I was outnumbered!"
"That's no excuse! I want those girls dead!" the figure yelled.
Kagome glared at him. "Not until I kill Inuyasha. Look, I'm not your slave or anything! If I want revenge or something, it's not going to be by your orders. I am not your personal assassin!"
The figure was silent. Kagome walked over to him. "Hey! Are you listening to me?!" she demanded. She grabbed the hood that prevented her from seeing his face. "Hey!"
The figure's red eyes suddenly glowed bright as black lightning engulfed the girl. Kagome's eyes widened and she screamed as she hovered about five feet in the air, the lightning jumping around her, burning her skin.
Then suddenly, it was over. She found herself lying on the cold floor of the cave, a smoking heap. The figure looked down at her. Kagome looked up with empty eyes.
"You can't. . .make me kill them. I don't want to kill Inuyasha. . .I know I died trying to protect him. . .and now. . .and now. . ."
"And now you're dead. When did all these memories back? Why don't you want to kill him? He killed you." The figure said.
"No. . .he didn't. . .I remember what happened. I remember that it's Sesshoumaru who killed me. . ."
"But it was Inuyasha that wanted you dead and didn't save you."
"He tried. . .he just couldn't do it. . .it's not his fault. Please, don't make me kill him." Kagome begged, tears beginning to stream down her face.
The figure stared coldly down at the girl. Kagome suddenly healed, all the burns and injuries disappearing. "Get up." He said. Kagome shuddered. "I said, get up." He ordered, his voice more forceful.
Kagome slowly, reluctantly stood up. The figure put a bony, wrinkled hand on her face and then brought it away. Kagome stared at him, then dried her tears. She two more teardrops fell, but these were bright red. Tears of blood.
She wiped these away too and glared at him as if nothing happened. "What just happened?!" she demanded. "Why did you nearly burn me to a crisp right now?!"
"Did what. . .?" the figure asked, pretending to be confused. "Why would I kill you after spending all that time and effort to bring you back to life?" he asked.
Kagome blinked. "What. . .I guess you're right. . .I'm not making any sense, am I?"
"No, you're not. Now, you didn't kill Inuyasha and his friends yet. I want you to go out there and do a better job this time. It shouldn't be too hard; Inuyasha's unconscious and weak, and only in the care of the girl that tried chasing you. The others are wandering around the forest, trying to find the herbs that will cure Inuyasha. They're in pairs, and one-the other dog demon-is even alone. I want you to use this opportunity to kill them, what with it being so easy this time. Or is this something that you cannot handle?"
Kagome picked up her bow and quiver. "Please. This is child's play now. They'll be dead before dawn." She said arrogantly, walking out of the cave.
The figure stared after her. 'So, I suppose I made a couple of mistakes when I brought her back to life. The brainwashing isn't permanent; it flickers on and off. I suppose this is to be expected when I'm in this state. I haven't reached my full power yet, and all of this is tiring to me, not to mention frustrating. But those girls need to die, or else all of my plans will be ruined. They cannot be allowed to find out their true power. . .they cannot! I have planned far too long for this. . .far too long. Kagome had better succeed." He said, disappearing.
***
"So, what does the plants that we're looking for look like?" Bridget asked.
"Um. . ." Shippou started. He looked around. "Too dark around here to see. . ." he grumbled. He saw some thistle and grabbed it. "Ouch! Prickly." he whined.
"You okay?" Bridget asked. "Here." She said, pulling the thistle out of the ground. "Ow. . .Okay, now where do we find the coriander?" she asked.
"Well, I'm not sure. . .It looks like moss only with purple flowers on it. We need the stems." Shippou said.
"Hm. . .Well maybe if-" Bridget paused for a minute as she heard something a little far off. "Shippou, did you hear that?"
"Yeah. . ." Shippou said.
"It's coming. . .fast, too. . ." Bridget said.
Shippou yelped as something silver and white streaked by him. Bridget unsheathed her sword (she had gotten a sheath from the last village) and looked around. Sesshoumaru appeared in front of them. "Well, if it isn't the brat and the fairy hanyou. . ." he said.
Shippou hid behind Bridget. "Eep! S-Sesshoumaru. . ." he squeaked.
Bridget glared at him. "What do you want?" She demanded.
"He's just a stupid dog demon and a big bully." Shippou said, trying to sound brave even if he really wasn't.
"I'm here to kill you." Sesshoumaru said to Bridget, ignoring Shippou.
"Shippou," Bridget asked Shippou, "how strong is he?"
"You're FIGHTING him?!" Shippou asked in disbelief.
"Just answer the question." Bridget said.
"He killed Kagome and he's almost killed Inuyasha numerous times and now he's going to kill us!" Shippou said.
Bridget sheathed her sword. "That's what I thought. . ." she said. To Sesshoumaru she said, "Fine. Kill me. But let Shippou go." She said. "I heard your little conversation with Naraku. I know that Naraku wants my friends and I dead for whatever reasons, but you don't really care."
Also, from what I hear, Naraku has a bunch of brainless minions working for him. So go ahead and kill me, but you'll be throwing away your pride in the process. Kill me, and you'll be doing just what he says and be just another pawn, another brainless minion of his."
"Yeah! What she said. . ." Shippou agreed meekly.
". . ." Sesshoumaru stared at them.
"Okay, I'll be quiet now. . ."
Bridget reached down and grabbed Shippou's hand. "Now, this is where we run. . ." she muttered to Shippou. She turned and ran, Shippou still holding onto her hand for dear life and flying through the air with swirly eyes.
"Tree, tree, tree!" Shippou shouted as he saw a tree in front of them. Bridget dodged it.
"Don't worry; I think I have night vision!" Bridget said.
"Well that's good to know. . ." Shippou said, back to being swirly- eyed.
"Hey, is Sesshoumaru following us?"
Shippou looked back. "Um. . .nope." He said.
"Yay! Then I really can use reverse psychology!"
"Reverse psy-what?"
". . .Never mind."
***
Sesshoumaru stood and watched the retreating demons. He smirked and shook his head. "She thinks she's confused me, probably." He said. "She's smart, I'll give her that; she almost succeeded." He turned away and walked into the darker depths of the forest. "Until next time. . .fairy hanyou."
***
"Ahhh!" Shippou yelled. While they were running, Shippou had managed to climb onto Bridget's shoulder.
"What is it?!" Bridget cried, looking over her shoulder while she was still running.
"Turn back! Turn back! We've got to get away from here!" Shippou shouted.
"Is it Sesshoumaru?!"
"No! Worse! It's-"
Bridget and Shippou crashed into Kisike and Kouten. "Ouch. . ." Bridget whined.
". . .Okay, whoever has just crashed into me is going to pay." Kisike said, standing up and dusting herself off.
"I've already paid." Bridget groaned, wincing at the bump on her head. Kisike blinked and helped her up. ". . .Thanks."
"No prob." Kisike said.
"Shippou-Chan!" Kouten exclaimed, jumping up and hugging Shippou until he turned blue.
"Help. . .she's squeezing me to death. . ." Shippou gasped.
Kisike and Bridget both looked down at the couple, blinking. "Uh. . ." Bridget started.
"So, what's up with all the running? You aren't turning into a speed demon, are you?" Kisike joked. (J/N: Yes, I know. . .bad pun. . . ; )
Bridget shook her head. "No. You see. . ." she started. She looked down at Kouten and Shippou. She lowered her voice. "We ran into Sesshoumaru a little while ago. He wants to kill us. We ran."
"You mean you met Fluffy again? Did you get his tail for me?" Kisike asked.
Bridget sighed and sweatdropped. "-.-; No, 'Sike, we did not get his tail for you."
"Awww. . ." Kisike whined. She grinned. "I'll bet he didn't kill you or go after you because he's your boyfriend." She teased.
"Will you shut up?! He's not my boyfriend!" Bridget said, both eyes and cheeks turning red from embarrassment.
"Yeah right. 'I like Fluffy' is written all over your face." Kisike shot back.
". . .You've been watching Yu Yu Hakusho too much. That's Boton's quote."
"Bingo!"
". . .Stop acting like Boton. It's scary."
"Well, she is the grim reaper. And I am Shinigami. So it all works out." Kisike said. She blinked. "I need an oar! And a kimono! A pink one! Hm. . .maybe I can get the oar painted pink. . ." she wondered.
Bridget sighed and rolled her eyes. "Boton doesn't have a pink oar."
"So what? She needs one." Kisike said. "Lets see, then I can get a Gir picture on it. . .I wonder if you need a license for flying an oar. . ."
"I'm sure you do."
"Hm. . .maybe if I don't do the whole oar thing, I can dress up like Duo! Shinigami! I'll braid my hair, steal his hat, and steal his Gundam to fly around in!"
Bridget -.-'d. "Stick with the Boton idea. I think that's more likely to come true than you flying around Duo's Gundam."
"Okiedokie!"
Shippou and Kouten stared up at them. "Adults are weird. . ." Kouten said.
"For once, I agree." Shippou agreed.
Answering machine- *answering machine comes on* Well, how's that? We're still trying to get more written up. . .hey, don't worry, we're working on it. *Kisike's voice comes on* Hey, it's my turn! Okay . . .Hey, I wonder what it would be like to swim in jello. . .oh well. Review. Bye!
Inuyasha groaned as they set him down. "How do we get rid of the poison?" Amanda asked.
Sigaru stared at Inuyasha for a few seconds. "Hm. . .The signs-which is fever, trembling, shallow breathing, dilated eyes, and black blood from the wound-says it's Skullcap poison mixed with Yage. Yage causes terrifying hallucinations and Skullcap poison is your basic deadly poison. There's no cure for this. He's going to die." He replied. He glared. "And I'm going to kill that woman for killing my rival. That was my job!" he said.
Nobody seemed to notice as Sigaru ranted on about his revenge. Suddenly Miroku's eyes lit up as he grabbed a small book that was lying on the other side of the room and scanned it. "There is a cure to it!" He said suddenly. Everybody looked at him. "We need wivertail grass, basil, whortle root, thistle, bindwood, borate, and coriander." He said.
"What, what, and what?" Kisike asked, blinking.
Miroku repeated the ingredients to the antidote.
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go find it!" Raylin said, getting up and starting for the door.
"Not so fast, Raylin." Bridget said, grabbing the back Raylin's shirt. "We've never heard of most of this stuff in our lives, and we have no clue where it is and what it looks like." She said.
"Then what can we do?" Amanda asked quietly. She glared and stood up. "I'm not going to just stand here and watch Inuyasha die. Maybe looking for ingredients to the antidote is an impossible mission, maybe not. It doesn't matter. If he dies, at least I can say that I tried saving him instead of giving up hope." She said.
Everybody stared at her. Then Shippou piped up, "I can help! When my mother was alive, she was a healer and taught me all there was to know about these kind of poisons."
"Me too!" Kouten said. "My mother taught me about medicinal herbs and such, too!"
"I've heard of these plants, and I know for a fact that they're all in this valley. I can help out." Sigaru said.
"So can I. I do know of the plants used to cure this poison." Miroku said.
"We'll need someone to stay here. Just in case something happens." Raylin said.
"I will." Amanda said. "I'll see if I can maybe get his fever down or something."
"Good. Just remember, be alert and whatever you do, do not go near those ponds."
"Believe me, going near those ponds again is the last thing I'm going to do."
"Alright."
"Remember to be careful, though. When Kagome was alive, she was a very tricky girl. She had and still has miko powers, and now she has youkai powers added to that. She's mad and she may still be in the area. She may come back to finish Inuyasha off." Miroku reminded her. Amanda nodded.
"I will."
Miroku turned to Sigaru. "Now, you say you've heard of these plants; do you know what they look like?"
Sigaru nodded. "Yeah."
"Then we'll need to go in a pairs."
"I'll go with Kisike! We can get the basil and whortle root!" Kouten said. Kisike sweatdropped.
".Little brat." she said.
"I am not a brat!" Kouten said. "Be stormy!"
A little rain cloud appeared over Kisike. Kisike sighed. "Be happy again." Kouten said. The rain cloud disappeared.
"I'll go with Bridget. We can get the coriander and thistle." Shippou said.
"I'll get the wivertail grass and borate and go with Miroku, then." Raylin said. "It's better than going with Sigaru."
Amanda raised an eyebrow. "It's better going with a pervert than an idiot? What kind of logic is that?" she asked.
"It's not logic at all! Logic does not exist! Haha!" Kisike said. Everybody stared at her.
". . .Kisike, I think this would be a good time to tell everyone that you'll be quiet now. . ." Bridget said.
"Never! I want Gabriiii. . ." Kisike whined.
"We're probably going to see him again once we get the flute back from Sekkai." Amanda said.
"Yay!"
"Now get out of here and get those ingredients before Inuyasha dies!"
"Awww. . ." Kisike said. She walked over to the door. ". . .Come on, brat." She said to Kouten.
She and Kouten left, hearing Kouten yell every now and then, "I'm not a brat!" Everybody sweatdropped.
"No other people to stop them, no peace among themselves. . .how long do you think it'll take them to kill each other?" Raylin asked.
"Oh, I'd say about an hour or so. . ." Miroku said. Raylin nodded.
"That's. . .probably about right. Now let's go." She said. She and Miroku left.
Bridget and Shippou walked over to the door. Before they left, Bridget stopped and looked over her shoulder at Sigaru. "You're gonna be all right going out there and looking by yourself, right?" she asked.
"I was all by myself before I met you guys. I'll be fine." Sigaru said, running ahead of them and into the forest. Bridget turned to Shippou.
"Alright, then, Shippou. Let's go." Bridget said. Shippou nodded and they went outside. "Be careful!" she called to Amanda, who was closing the door.
Amanda nodded and shut the door. Bridget and Shippou went into the forest.
***
Kouten looked around. ". . .We're lost." She said.
Kisike sighed. "We are not lost, we're just temporarily misplaced forever." She said.
Kouten looked around. Suddenly she spotted a river. "Hey, look! It's a river! Let's go!" she said, running over to the river.
"Hey, brat! Wait up!" Kisike yelled, running after her. They stopped at the edge of the river. ". . .Now what?" She demanded.
"First we ask how to get back. Second, we gather some whortle root." Kouten said.
She kneeled down and poked the water, creating a ripple of light across the surface of the water. A fish swam up to the surface. Kouten smiled. "Hello." She said.
"Kouten, now's not the time to be talking to fish. . ." Kisike groaned.
Kouten frowned at her. "Shhh! Be quiet!" she said. She turned back to the fish. "Now, do you know how we can get to Inu-Youkai's house?"
The fish hit the water with its tail a few times, creating ripples of light. Kouten nodded. "Uh huh, uh huh, I see. . ." she said. Kisike's eyebrows furrowed slightly and she looked around.
"..Uh. . ." She said, glancing around some more. "I have no peanut butter.." Kouten looked at her. "..Erm. . .Nothin'." Kisike sighed. Kouten shrugged and looked back to the fish. Kisike sweatdropped. "She's talking to a fish. . .why me?"
After a few more minutes of talking to the fish, Kouten stood up, nodded and looked around for Kisike. She saw her sitting under a nearby tree and walked over to her, stood there, then poked her forehead. Kisike leapt to her feet and grinned, pointing to the sky.
"BISCUIT!!!!!!" She yelled to no one in particular. Kouten fell over.
"Whaaaaaat?"
***
Gabriel looked up sharply as he heard someone yell 'biscuit'. He blinked, looked around, and then shook his head. "Oh, God."
***
Kisike grinned. "Nothin." She said.
"You're weird." Kouten said as she walked up a rock, jumped off, and landed in a little patch of purple flowers.
"I'm not the one that talks to fish." Kisike retorted, following. "By the way, now's not the time to be playing in the flowers, brat."
"These flowers are whortle flowers. We need the roots to these and then we need to find some basil." Kouten replied, picking some flowers- roots and all-and sticking her tongue out at Kisike.
"Hey!" Kisike yelled.
"Come on an help me get some of this stuff!" Kouten yelled.
"Okay, okay. . ." Kisike said, picking a flower and making sure the roots came out with it. "Now, let's go."
***
Kagome finally got to a cave that was in the side of one of the mountains in the valley. She walked in, a smirk on her face. She finally got to a huge dome area in the cave where on the far side it began to branch out. In the center of the dome was a small figure. The figure wore a black robe and cloak. He had red glowing eyes. The same figure that Kisike saw. . .
"Well, how'd I do?" Kagome asked cheerfully, setting her quiver and bow up against the wall.
"Foolish girl." The cloaked figure rasped.
Kagome looked up from her things. "Huh?" she asked.
"Do you really think you killed him?" The figure demanded.
"Well yeah." Kagome said. She looked over at him. Her heart sank. "You mean. . .I didn't?" she asked. She frowned. "Oh, come on! He's half human for Pete's sake! The dagger I used was dipped in skullcap poison! That had to have killed even him!"
"Well it hasn't, not just yet." The figure looked over at Kagome. "But that's not all. The four girls are alive too. Why are they still alive?!"
Kagome shrugged. "I don't have a problem with them. Why should I care if they're dead or not? Without Inuyasha, they'll probably just wander around aimlessly and get killed by a bunch of freaked-out villagers or bloodthirsty demon. Besides, I was outnumbered!"
"That's no excuse! I want those girls dead!" the figure yelled.
Kagome glared at him. "Not until I kill Inuyasha. Look, I'm not your slave or anything! If I want revenge or something, it's not going to be by your orders. I am not your personal assassin!"
The figure was silent. Kagome walked over to him. "Hey! Are you listening to me?!" she demanded. She grabbed the hood that prevented her from seeing his face. "Hey!"
The figure's red eyes suddenly glowed bright as black lightning engulfed the girl. Kagome's eyes widened and she screamed as she hovered about five feet in the air, the lightning jumping around her, burning her skin.
Then suddenly, it was over. She found herself lying on the cold floor of the cave, a smoking heap. The figure looked down at her. Kagome looked up with empty eyes.
"You can't. . .make me kill them. I don't want to kill Inuyasha. . .I know I died trying to protect him. . .and now. . .and now. . ."
"And now you're dead. When did all these memories back? Why don't you want to kill him? He killed you." The figure said.
"No. . .he didn't. . .I remember what happened. I remember that it's Sesshoumaru who killed me. . ."
"But it was Inuyasha that wanted you dead and didn't save you."
"He tried. . .he just couldn't do it. . .it's not his fault. Please, don't make me kill him." Kagome begged, tears beginning to stream down her face.
The figure stared coldly down at the girl. Kagome suddenly healed, all the burns and injuries disappearing. "Get up." He said. Kagome shuddered. "I said, get up." He ordered, his voice more forceful.
Kagome slowly, reluctantly stood up. The figure put a bony, wrinkled hand on her face and then brought it away. Kagome stared at him, then dried her tears. She two more teardrops fell, but these were bright red. Tears of blood.
She wiped these away too and glared at him as if nothing happened. "What just happened?!" she demanded. "Why did you nearly burn me to a crisp right now?!"
"Did what. . .?" the figure asked, pretending to be confused. "Why would I kill you after spending all that time and effort to bring you back to life?" he asked.
Kagome blinked. "What. . .I guess you're right. . .I'm not making any sense, am I?"
"No, you're not. Now, you didn't kill Inuyasha and his friends yet. I want you to go out there and do a better job this time. It shouldn't be too hard; Inuyasha's unconscious and weak, and only in the care of the girl that tried chasing you. The others are wandering around the forest, trying to find the herbs that will cure Inuyasha. They're in pairs, and one-the other dog demon-is even alone. I want you to use this opportunity to kill them, what with it being so easy this time. Or is this something that you cannot handle?"
Kagome picked up her bow and quiver. "Please. This is child's play now. They'll be dead before dawn." She said arrogantly, walking out of the cave.
The figure stared after her. 'So, I suppose I made a couple of mistakes when I brought her back to life. The brainwashing isn't permanent; it flickers on and off. I suppose this is to be expected when I'm in this state. I haven't reached my full power yet, and all of this is tiring to me, not to mention frustrating. But those girls need to die, or else all of my plans will be ruined. They cannot be allowed to find out their true power. . .they cannot! I have planned far too long for this. . .far too long. Kagome had better succeed." He said, disappearing.
***
"So, what does the plants that we're looking for look like?" Bridget asked.
"Um. . ." Shippou started. He looked around. "Too dark around here to see. . ." he grumbled. He saw some thistle and grabbed it. "Ouch! Prickly." he whined.
"You okay?" Bridget asked. "Here." She said, pulling the thistle out of the ground. "Ow. . .Okay, now where do we find the coriander?" she asked.
"Well, I'm not sure. . .It looks like moss only with purple flowers on it. We need the stems." Shippou said.
"Hm. . .Well maybe if-" Bridget paused for a minute as she heard something a little far off. "Shippou, did you hear that?"
"Yeah. . ." Shippou said.
"It's coming. . .fast, too. . ." Bridget said.
Shippou yelped as something silver and white streaked by him. Bridget unsheathed her sword (she had gotten a sheath from the last village) and looked around. Sesshoumaru appeared in front of them. "Well, if it isn't the brat and the fairy hanyou. . ." he said.
Shippou hid behind Bridget. "Eep! S-Sesshoumaru. . ." he squeaked.
Bridget glared at him. "What do you want?" She demanded.
"He's just a stupid dog demon and a big bully." Shippou said, trying to sound brave even if he really wasn't.
"I'm here to kill you." Sesshoumaru said to Bridget, ignoring Shippou.
"Shippou," Bridget asked Shippou, "how strong is he?"
"You're FIGHTING him?!" Shippou asked in disbelief.
"Just answer the question." Bridget said.
"He killed Kagome and he's almost killed Inuyasha numerous times and now he's going to kill us!" Shippou said.
Bridget sheathed her sword. "That's what I thought. . ." she said. To Sesshoumaru she said, "Fine. Kill me. But let Shippou go." She said. "I heard your little conversation with Naraku. I know that Naraku wants my friends and I dead for whatever reasons, but you don't really care."
Also, from what I hear, Naraku has a bunch of brainless minions working for him. So go ahead and kill me, but you'll be throwing away your pride in the process. Kill me, and you'll be doing just what he says and be just another pawn, another brainless minion of his."
"Yeah! What she said. . ." Shippou agreed meekly.
". . ." Sesshoumaru stared at them.
"Okay, I'll be quiet now. . ."
Bridget reached down and grabbed Shippou's hand. "Now, this is where we run. . ." she muttered to Shippou. She turned and ran, Shippou still holding onto her hand for dear life and flying through the air with swirly eyes.
"Tree, tree, tree!" Shippou shouted as he saw a tree in front of them. Bridget dodged it.
"Don't worry; I think I have night vision!" Bridget said.
"Well that's good to know. . ." Shippou said, back to being swirly- eyed.
"Hey, is Sesshoumaru following us?"
Shippou looked back. "Um. . .nope." He said.
"Yay! Then I really can use reverse psychology!"
"Reverse psy-what?"
". . .Never mind."
***
Sesshoumaru stood and watched the retreating demons. He smirked and shook his head. "She thinks she's confused me, probably." He said. "She's smart, I'll give her that; she almost succeeded." He turned away and walked into the darker depths of the forest. "Until next time. . .fairy hanyou."
***
"Ahhh!" Shippou yelled. While they were running, Shippou had managed to climb onto Bridget's shoulder.
"What is it?!" Bridget cried, looking over her shoulder while she was still running.
"Turn back! Turn back! We've got to get away from here!" Shippou shouted.
"Is it Sesshoumaru?!"
"No! Worse! It's-"
Bridget and Shippou crashed into Kisike and Kouten. "Ouch. . ." Bridget whined.
". . .Okay, whoever has just crashed into me is going to pay." Kisike said, standing up and dusting herself off.
"I've already paid." Bridget groaned, wincing at the bump on her head. Kisike blinked and helped her up. ". . .Thanks."
"No prob." Kisike said.
"Shippou-Chan!" Kouten exclaimed, jumping up and hugging Shippou until he turned blue.
"Help. . .she's squeezing me to death. . ." Shippou gasped.
Kisike and Bridget both looked down at the couple, blinking. "Uh. . ." Bridget started.
"So, what's up with all the running? You aren't turning into a speed demon, are you?" Kisike joked. (J/N: Yes, I know. . .bad pun. . . ; )
Bridget shook her head. "No. You see. . ." she started. She looked down at Kouten and Shippou. She lowered her voice. "We ran into Sesshoumaru a little while ago. He wants to kill us. We ran."
"You mean you met Fluffy again? Did you get his tail for me?" Kisike asked.
Bridget sighed and sweatdropped. "-.-; No, 'Sike, we did not get his tail for you."
"Awww. . ." Kisike whined. She grinned. "I'll bet he didn't kill you or go after you because he's your boyfriend." She teased.
"Will you shut up?! He's not my boyfriend!" Bridget said, both eyes and cheeks turning red from embarrassment.
"Yeah right. 'I like Fluffy' is written all over your face." Kisike shot back.
". . .You've been watching Yu Yu Hakusho too much. That's Boton's quote."
"Bingo!"
". . .Stop acting like Boton. It's scary."
"Well, she is the grim reaper. And I am Shinigami. So it all works out." Kisike said. She blinked. "I need an oar! And a kimono! A pink one! Hm. . .maybe I can get the oar painted pink. . ." she wondered.
Bridget sighed and rolled her eyes. "Boton doesn't have a pink oar."
"So what? She needs one." Kisike said. "Lets see, then I can get a Gir picture on it. . .I wonder if you need a license for flying an oar. . ."
"I'm sure you do."
"Hm. . .maybe if I don't do the whole oar thing, I can dress up like Duo! Shinigami! I'll braid my hair, steal his hat, and steal his Gundam to fly around in!"
Bridget -.-'d. "Stick with the Boton idea. I think that's more likely to come true than you flying around Duo's Gundam."
"Okiedokie!"
Shippou and Kouten stared up at them. "Adults are weird. . ." Kouten said.
"For once, I agree." Shippou agreed.
Answering machine- *answering machine comes on* Well, how's that? We're still trying to get more written up. . .hey, don't worry, we're working on it. *Kisike's voice comes on* Hey, it's my turn! Okay . . .Hey, I wonder what it would be like to swim in jello. . .oh well. Review. Bye!