Hi again. Sorry about the other long wait for the chapter. FF.net is being an ass again; I couldn't even get on the website for DAYS. Ever since I posted the last chapter, I've been getting '404: Not Found' messages whenever I tried to go on. I WOULD have posted it the next day, but...sigh. Here's the chapter.
Chapter 21: The Gang's All Here
"I have a question," Tobias snarled. The two exchanged some frenzied blows and broke apart again.
"Really," panted Tybalt. "So do I." He leaped high and brought both swords down with such force that the earth shattered beneath Tobias's feet. "You first."
"All right," said Tobias. "How did you get here?" He disappeared into the trees. Tybalt whirled just in time to block an awesome strike from Tobias. Tybalt ran straight up a tree; Tobias sliced the trunk in two with his blade. It crashed with a roar and Tybalt came barreling out. They locked swords.
"An old friend. All I can tell you, now. My question..." He was forced to cut short his brief interrogation as Tobias charged him with all his might and slammed him into the ground. Tybalt slid between Tobias's legs, rolled to his stomach, and propelled himself upward with all fours just as Tobias plunged his sword into the ground.
"Burial or cremation?" Tobias did not press the attack this time; on the contrary, he looked quite amused.
"Cremation. As I have lived, so I will perish. It's an excellent idea." His sword began to glow red, like it had just been pulled from a blast furnace. Tobias's eyes glittered strangely. "You should try it sometime."
Tobias whirled his sword around like he was winding up to hit a baseball. He swung, and a blazing ball of fire whooshed from the tip of the sword. Tybalt bent over fully backwards as the blazing sphere missed him. It hit a nearby tree and exploded into flames. Tybalt stood back up slowly.
"That's a nice trick," he whispered. Tobias extended his sword and spun; launching more and more fireballs; until he was nearly a blur. Tybalt dodged, ducked, weaved, bobbed, evaded, and avoided until the flames blocked him from sight. At last, the forest was in flames around them, and Tybalt was nowhere to be seen.
Tobias halted and looked around. "Where did he go?"
Tybalt dashed out of the inferno, deflected Tobias's lunge with a simple parry, and jammed a oblong, black, metal thing into Tobias's open mouth. He then beat a hasty retreat. Tobias coughed once and pulled the device out of his mouth. Inuyasha cautiously moved in, to inspect it. Tobias held it up in front of his face for a closer look.
"What the hell?" he demanded.
BOOM!!!
The device exploded in his hand. The sheer force of the blast created a minor shockwave, which knocked Inuyasha off his feet and cracked the ground around it. Tobias was flung backwards and smashed into a tree. He got up a second later, turning away so his face was hidden from view.
"A grenade," he croaked in a voice quite unlike his own. It sounded thick, twisted, like he was having difficulty speaking. "Fortunately, the fire did nothing to me. I'm immune to fire while in that state...something he doesn't know, apparently. However..." He turned around. "The bastard put shrapnel in that thing."
Kagome shrieked, and Inuyasha gasped. Tobias's face had been sliced to bits by the flying shards of metal. Some wounds were just little nicks, some had cut all the way to the bone. One of his eyes was jammed shut; there was a reddish-clear liquid coming from it. His nose was an unrecognizable mess. Blood came from his mouth.
"This is nothing," he groaned. "I've been hurt worse before. I just need some time to heal." He spat a mouthful of blood to one side and trudged off in the direction of the lake. "And to wash up," he added. Inuyasha stared at Kagome.
"Jeez...he takes a grenade to the head and just shakes it off. He must be able to stand a lot of pain," Kagome said uneasily. "Do you think he'll be okay?"
"Feh. He'll be fine. What I'm wondering, though, how did that guy get from your time to here? Did he use the well? Did he even know about it? I don't get it."
"I don't know either, Inuyasha. I just don't know." Kagome stood up. "I'm going to-"
"Ah, little brother. How deliciously unpleasant to see you alive, still." Sesshomaru leapt down from a tree to stand in front of Inuyasha. "It amazes me how such a weakling can survive in these harsh woods as long as you have. Especially when burdened by human company..." His eyes lingered on Kagome. "Sadly, I come not to bring news...but to bring death." He extended his energy whip.
"GODDAMMIT!" roared Inuyasha. "First Tybalt, now YOU? Kami...this just keeps getting better and better." He would have continued had Sesshomaru not pressed the attack, sending a long trail of energy whipping around at him. Inuyasha leaped up and swung his sword furiously; the battle had begun.
Kagome watched, frightened. If Tobias were here, they could beat him...why is everyone coming here now?
At the lake, Tobias's wounds were already closing. Hm. Good thing I heal faster when I'm enraged, or I'd be at this all day. As is, I'll be fine in a few minutes...not like the damage was that bad to begin with. He dug a tiny, jagged piece of metal out of his cheek; and another out of his eye. Dammit, this hurts. He splashed some cold water over his face, rinsing away the blood and reviving him.
Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were battling with the ferocity of...well, the ferocity of some seriously pissed-off dog demons. Kagome had hidden behind a stout tree. Sesshomaru had lashed Inuyasha several times, but Inuyasha had inflicted some damage as well. As Inuyasha dodged one of Sesshomaru's vicious attacks, Sesshomaru's whip hit a tree instead and sliced the trunk cleanly in two.
Kagome was watching, apprehensive but not truly afraid. After all, she reasoned, Inuyasha's beaten Sesshomaru all the time in the past, what's to say he can't now? This train of thought was rather brutally ended as something large and heavy collided with the back of Kagome's skull. She collapsed, unconscious.
Some indeterminate amount of time later, Kagome woke up. There was a terrible throbbing in the part of her head that had been hit. She was chained to a stone wall, a quick glance revealed that it was unworked stone; they were in a cave or a tunnel. Looking from side to side, she was amazed to see Miroku on her left and Sango on her right. Their clothes were ripped; bruises, scars, and burns were covering their bodies like grisly tattoos. Sango's head was drooped; she was clearly unconscious. Miroku, however, gave a small grin of assent.
"Ah," he said feebly. "You're awake. Near as I can tell, you've been out for hours."
"What...happened? To me? To you?!" Kagome strained against her shackles; but, predictably, they held. Miroku stared into space, jolted into his memory by Kagome's innocent question.
*Flashback*
An entire village...devastated. People dead everywhere. Don't know what's happening. Me and Sango go to see.
A large, muscular man in gray armor, with a huge sword, slicing people and things to bits. We attack.
He deflects Sango's Hiraikotsu like it's a toy. I bring my staff down on his head; he blocks it effortlessly.
His blank expression does not waver as he pounds me into the ground. I've never been hit so hard in my life; it's a wonder I'm still conscious.
As I look up, Sango gets the same. "Sango!" I cry. I fumble with my rosary beads and let the Air Rip do its thing.
He stands firm in the vortex. "I don't have time for games, monk," he says in a monotone, with a British accent. "Put that silly curse away." His cape whips off his shoulders and is sucked in.
The barest trace of a snarl is evident on his face as he advances on me. "That was my best cape," he says, with just a touch of malice. Suddenly, he is holding me by my throat.
"You will not tell anyone that you saw me. If anyone asks, it was that fool Naraku. If you mention me, I will find you. And I will kill you. And perhaps..." He gestures in Sango's direction. "Perhaps I will kill her as well." I struggle, but his grip is too much for me.
He drops me, and I crash to the ground, unable to move for the pain. "The same goes for you," I hear him say to Sango. "Not a word." He turns to me.
"You have seen what I am capable of. You will not tell anyone. On pain of death."
His armored boot lashes out and hits me in the side of the head.
Blackness.
*End flashback*
"Miroku?" Kagome sounded anxious. "What happened?"
"I...I don't remember...it all happened so fast." Miroku cast a sorrowful look at Sango. "It was probably Naraku, though. It...seemed like something he would do." He coughed. "I don't know how long we've been here, but it's seemed like days."
"What's going on? How did you get here? Who's keeping you prisoner?"
"That would be me." Kagome turned her head to see Kikyo standing there, in all her undead glory. "I found them passed out in the woods. There was a small note attached to her weapon," she added, nodding disdainfully in Sango's direction. "A gift for the living dead. Such a pretty thing would be invaluable in luring Inuyasha here...and now that I have you, we will have such fun together." From behind her back, Kikyo produced a small, severed dragon's head.
"This is an interesting little toy I put together. Want to see what it does?" She squeezed the neck lightly, and a small spurt of flame came out of the open mouth. "I've been using it to make your friends a little more...docile. And now, with you at my mercy, Inuyasha and that other fool gone, I can have all the fun I want." She grinned evilly as she advanced on Kagome.
Elsewhere, Tobias had finally extracted all the little bits from his face. He was nearly healed; only a few small scratches remained.
"I'm feeling much better," he remarked to nobody in particular. He set off for where he last saw Inuyasha and Kagome.
When he arrived, he was stunned to see Inuyasha in a fight with a demon that he figured must be Sesshomaru. Looking around a little more, he realized that he didn't see Kagome.
"Inuyasha?" he called. No response. "Inuyasha?" he tried again. Nothing. Inuyasha was too deeply embroiled in his battle to notice or care about Tobias's words. Tobias considered this for a minute, then decided on a more direct approach.
CLANG!
Tobias added his force to Inuyasha's attack, the combined power sending Sesshomaru flying. He landed beyond sight.
"What do you want?" growled Inuyasha.
"Where's Kagome?" Tobias said simply.
"Don't be so stupid, she's right over-" Inuyasha turned to gesture towards where Kagome was. She wasn't there. "Kagome?" He moved forward a little, and sniffed the air to catch her scent. It was there, but it was old; she had been gone for hours. The fight with Sesshomaru had stretched extremely long...he hadn't even noticed. "KAGOME!" he screamed. He went rushing in the direction of her scent, but stopped dead.
An odd, earthy scent permeated his sensitive nostrils; like clay, almost. His eyes went wide. "Kikyo..." he breathed.
"Kikyo?!" Tobias's expression swiftly changed from puzzlement to fury. "KIKYO! That undead psycho BITCH took Kagome! Right under your fucking nose! How could you not notice something like that?" he shouted. "Well, you're going to help me find her, aren't you?" He walked forward a bit, then stopped. Inuyasha bolted in the direction of the scent.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING??!!" Tobias zoomed after him, catching up after a few seconds. "Trying to leave me behind? Are you so afraid that I'll kill Kikyo?"
"Yes!" Inuyasha roared. "I love Kagome, but I pledged my life to Kikyo! And I won't let you break my promise!"
"Believe it or not, I care about Kagome too! I don't want to find her dead with that zombie standing over her!" Tobias yelled. Inuyasha ran off again, but Tobias was too quick for him. They stopped in a clearing. Tobias's expression softened.
"Look..." he said, coming closer to Inuyasha, "If you take me to Kagome, I swear I won't harm Kikyo. Will you take me now? Or will I have to follow you?" Inuyasha considered this, then nodded slightly. "Good. Let's go, then." They set off, Inuyasha following the scent.
Oooooooh...this does not bode well for our heroes. Kagome's kidnapped and at the mercy of Kikyo! Meanwhile, Tobias can't hurt Kikyo, and neither will Inuyasha...so, when they get there, what's going to happen? Find out next chapter!
Oh, and I almost forgot. I must plug my friend Jamie's story! Plug, plug, plug. It's still on FictionPress.com, still under Poetry: Life: Fantasy, still rated PG, still called "The soothing of a Savage Soul" (exactly like that) and still indecipherable to all but him. Give him a review on your way over! He's already gotten two, and he's very excited. He's not used to getting reviews, you see. I wasn't when I got my first two. So, drop him a line. DO IT! Or I may just have to get tough...how does not posting the next chapter until he gets 5 reviews sound? JOKE! But I could...so review his story.