Reminder! There is character death in this chapter...but, it's not permanent. Hehehe
Naraku Revealed
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Kagome slapped a bug off her arm and trudged after the others. They had been traveling for four days now, and it was getting annoying that the high and mighty Lord Demon had taken it upon himself to keep them going. Kagome would have ignored the stupid challenge he had set, except that he had made it seem as if her limitations as a human were to be expected and he would make "allowances" for her unavoidable handicap. It had pissed her off and she had fallen for the crafty dog's manipulations. Now, he was just waiting for her fall behind...and she was, Damn him! She couldn't really be mad though, she had started the pace by trying to prove him wrong..and now, she was the one at the end of the line.
Sesshoumaru called the rag-tag band to an abrupt halt. "Miko, we are followed."
"Kagome. Ka-Go-Me. I- oh, never mind. I knew that would happen. How far away is he?"
"He is close enough to spread his stink," the Dog Demon replied.
"I can't sense him. I wonder-" Kagome's words were cut off. Her blue eyes widened suddenly. One hand flew up to clutch at her chest as if she were in pain.
"Kagome?" Sango touched her friend's tense arm in concern. Kagome opened her mouth to reply several times but no sound escaped her lips. Her pale skin began to glow enough to be plainly visible in the light of day.
"Kagome!" Shippo made a mad dash toward the dark haired girl. He ran hard into the quickly erected barrier she had set. "Kagome?" the fox kit cried.
"The light flashed brightly, then dimmed until it faded away, leaving the girl standing there, no changes visible on or near her. She patted herself down, examined her skin with exaggerated care and brought the barrier back down.
Shippo launched himself at her, small arms and legs clinging determinedly to her slim form. "Kagome!"
"What happened, Lady Kagome?" Miroku was going to run a concerned hand across her shoulders, but Sango's boomerang intercepted him.
"I don't know. I feel...bigger. But I'm not." she twirled around and poked her own small nose. "That was so strange...almost like I grew."
Sesshoumaru found himself distracted by the short but dramatic spectacle. He, however, was not distracted enough to be unalert to Naraku's nearness. He stalked forward, grabbed the fox child by his puffy tail and threw him across the clearing.
"Eeee!" Shippo squealed, landing in a ball near Rin's feet.
"Shippo! Sesshoumaru, what-" Kagome stared in shock at the composed Lord.
"Jaken, take the young one's to my home."
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama!"
"And Jaken, be sure they get there unharmed."
"Of course, Sesshoumaru-sama!"
Jaken pushed the two children onto AhUn's back, guiding the two heads westward. He ignored the children's protests, allowing Rin to subdue the kitsune's struggles. The kit wouldn't hurt his friend, so Rin was safe enough, but he desperately wanted to run back to Kagome.
"It's okay, Shippo. I trust Sesshoumaru to know what is best for Rin. You need to protect her too!" Kagome tempted the kit into finding purpose in this strange turn of events. "Go with them. I'm counting on you to be strong!"
Kagome's cheerful face convinced the fox to stop struggling. He stayed stiffly on the dragon's back, staring in fear at the woman he saw as his mother. He wasn't naive. He knew something bad was going to happen soon. That is why they were being sent away. But, If Kagome was expecting him to protect Rin, then he'd give his life to complete this task. "Mama..." he whispered as they faded from his sight.
Kagome's false cheer vanished at record speed. She turned icy eyes on the Demon Lord. "If you ever do that again, I'll throw you across the god damned mmmmph!" Sango's hand effectively cut off the remainder of Kagome's threat.
"Do you feel that, Houshi?" the slayer questioned softly.
"Yes." Miroku rubbed his sealed hand. A hard look was predominant over his usually calm countenance. "Naraku..." he confirmed.
"Mmnhnkumm?! Ahhmmnnahhy?!"
"Slayer, release the Miko."
Sango quickly pulled her hand away. "Sorry Kagome."
Kagome rubbed a hand over her face. "Mmm. It's okay, Sango-chan." Her head suddenly shot up. "I sense Shikon Shards!"
"Here he comes," Miroku braced his legs and centered himself between the two women.
"I wish Inuyasha was here!" Kagome said again. "Look! There is the mob..." She fitted her arrow to her bow, determination alive in every bit of her being.
"Be ready."
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"Inuyasha?" Boton found the half dog calmly sitting in the highest branches of a tall tree. His face was pale, and set in tranquil lines, but his eyes were alive with pain. He didn't look at her, but at the puffs of white idly floating across the sky. "Inuyasha...I'm sorry." Boton felt her eyes fill with stinging tears.
She had wanted to spend time with him, but not like this...not because of something like this. She wondered if he would always associate her with Kikyo's leaving now. Would she fall into the same trap as Kagome? Would she be nothing to him but a reminder of what could never be?
"Boton? Was she..."
He paused for so long, she thought he had decided against questioning her, but then he found the right words for the question he needed her to answer.
"Was she angry with me...again? Did she die hating me even more?"
"No, Inuyasha. I think she was...relieved."
He finally turned to look at her, needing to see the truth of those words reflected in her eyes. Boton held his gaze, her oar holding her steady in the air next to him. "She loved you, Inuyasha. Even when she hated you, she loved you."
Inuyasha's chest hurt from holding in the sobs he was afraid to give into. "Will...Kagome...be okay now?"
"Yes. She'll be able to stop fighting to keep the rest of herself together. I couldn't give her back her soul...but a great deal of her energy she was unconsciously using to ward off Kikyo will be free for other uses now..."
"So she's stronger?"
"Ah, no...just not spread so thin..."
He nodded in understanding and turned his face back to the clouds. "Boton, am I a fool?" he asked the ferry girl at this side.
"A fool?"
"To take Kikyo's words to heart. Would it be wrong to believe I can love again...like I did with her?"
"It wouldn't ever be the same, Inuyasha. But, yes, it's okay to love again," she answered. "She even wanted you to."
A single heart rending sob broke from his lips. Boton quickly abandoned her oar for the narrow branch. She wrapped her arms around his shaking shoulders and whispered to him that it was okay to cry. It was okay to grieve.
Inuyasha took her at her word and made good use of Boton's surprisingly sturdy shoulder. Lady Death had a large and soft heart under her pale pink kimono...
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"Oh, God! Look out behind you!"
Sesshoumaru didn't glance at the yelling Miko but spun around to slice off another threatening tentacle. The puppet in front of him was no more then a nuisance, a distraction to what Naraku really had planned.
Toukojin pulsed, it's thirst for blood, any blood, insatiable. Sesshoumaru's control over the blade never wavered, but just as he was aware of Naraku's toying with them, he felt every change in aura the blade portrayed. It pulled vaguely in the direction of the closest source of life that taunted it. He allowed the sword to lead slightly, not relying on its hunger to guide him, but taking advantage of it.
"Sango, left! No, Right!"
A thick squelching sound confirmed that the giant boomerang connected, slicing various lesser demons into pieces. It returned to the slayer's outstretched fingers in one smooth motion. "Thanks, Kagome," she called out.
It was a relatively small attack. The puppet Naraku and a small mob of lesser demons was all the demon spider sent against them.
"I can't feel the shards anymore!" Kagome shouted to who ever was listening.
"What?" Sango hissed. "Is he retreating?"
Kagome paled. "No..." she whispered. She pointed a trembling finger behind Sesshoumaru. The demon lord stiffened and used his nose and instincts to check around himself, since they were the senses with the quickest reactions speeds, before he turned to see what was obviously terrifying the Miko. He sensed nothing. Nothing at all. It was as if there was...a barrier there, hiding something or someone.
It was a trap, as usual. The coward lured them in, worked them up a bit to exhaust them and now, he was preparing to finally make the move he had been planning all along.
"Oh, Kami no..." he alone heard the Miko's soft words. Then, the barrier came crashing down, revealing to him all the sensations that should have plagued his acute senses from the start. The sudden change washed over him in a giant wave. Thousands upon thousands of demons gathered with bloodlust in their eyes. It overwhelmed the dog's nose and mind, leaving him stunned just long enough for Naraku, the real Naraku, to gain a solid blow to the TaiYoukai.
Sesshoumaru cleared his vision, and examined the deep hole in his shoulder. His fingers numbed slowly as he watched in placid fascination as his blood dripped in a rhythmic manner from their clawed tips. That Bastard, expecting Inuyasha had set a trap meant to disable the pup long enough to score a fatal wound. On Sesshoumaru, the wound wasn't fatal, but it was bad. His eyes began to glow an eerie red, a visual mark of his anger. That's when he heard the Miko scream his name.
"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome saw the Inu Youkai falter and face the giant mass of demons the barrier had revealed. Naraku stood in front of them, Kohaku, Kagura, and Kanna at his side. She quickly set one of her last three arrows to the string and let it fly. It arched beautifully until Kagura's wind blades knocked it up enough to send it's glowing form into the mass of bodies behind them. A large number of the youkai turned to dust and ash, but it was not enough to make much difference.
She had two arrows left. Kagome wisely hid one beside her and quickly readied the last. Then, the world became a whirlwind of motion and fear and pain. The emotional Miko lashed out blindly with her purifying energies when any demon got too close, but in the real battle, she was mostly useless.
Kagome knew she was crying. She could feel the wet tracks marking her face and dripping from her chin. She couldn't attack, she had only that one arrow left and she was saving it. She was doing relatively okay protecting herself, but she could not help her friends now, when they needed it most.
She trembled, the overwhelming numbers mocking their efforts. Sesshoumaru held Toukojin in one bloodied claw, intent on breaking through Naraku's defenses. He slashed, jabbed, jumped, swung, lashed, but always, something jumped in the way and saved the hanyou from destruction.
Kagome saw Kohaku move determinedly toward his sister, his eyes blank with emptiness. She gasped, wanting to shout a warning, but was engaged in saving her own neck. Sango, she thought sadly, be strong.
Miroku used his wind tunnel only when no other way was clearly seen. The wasps at their master's command, took advantage of these short lapses when Miroku was given no choice but to rely on his curse as his strength and poisoned him slowly.
Kagome turned back to Sesshoumaru, the Demon Lord didn't even look winded, but Kagome could see lines of strain and pain bracketing his set mouth and the glint of desperation in his golden eyes. The Inu Demon Lord was suddenly thrown from the battle, the sheer numbers momentarily defeating the prideful Youkai. She gasped, her mind refusing to process all the information her senses were giving her.
A horrible cry rang out near by and she automatically turned to ward the sound. "No...No, Don't!" she shouted. "NO!" A large random burst of her energy circled her, clearing the immediate area of danger. Her view was clear and uncluttered of demons and oni's. "NO!" she screamed.
Her world seemed to go black. All her hopes, and naive dreams of the future crashing down around her feet. She ran on the blood slicked earth, trying desperately to reach the scene unfolding in front of her. "NO, MIROKU! SANGO!"
A strong arm stole around her waist. Halting her mad dash in mid stride. She almost purified the owner of the arm until she recognized Sesshouamru's aura. He returned her to her previous position on top of the rocky hill top in one bound, and jumped back into the battle.
Naraku's attention was diverted enough to gain Kagome's utter attention. Something inside her snapped, a dark will that wanted nothing more then to destroy the evil hanyou and everything he was associated with. She had no more faith that even he could be saved. She had no more forgiveness left inside. She grabbed the arrow near her foot, and poured all of her sorrow into it. "Naraku..." she whispered. "I'll never forgive you..." and she let it fly.