Right. First off, I know it's been a long wait, but I think it'll continue to be that way for a while. There's a definite reason for this, and I am about to tell you.
See, up until recently, my sister had a bunch of friends come over every day around 6:00 and they would talk and talk and talk and watch TV and such. I couldn't stand it, so from around 6:00 to 7:30, every night for just under a year, I was in my room. I often used this time to write.
Unfortunately, my sister moved away a few weeks ago (she's 18) so now I am a bit of a loss to find time where I can just sit and write. So an update time of just over a week should be normal. It will NEVER go over two weeks unless there are DIRE circumstances. This I promise you. Set in stone and inked in blood.
Anyhoo. This chapter is longer than usual, about 9 pages long, actually. Something happens that I don't think you will expect. But, that's why I'm the writer and you're the readers, right?
I always feel like I'm forgetting something...something that I should put here. Oh well. Should I remember, I'll add it. REVIEWS!
Kai19: Tenseiga's role in all this is yet to be revealed, but it will be eventually. * Yeah, Toutousai looks old and desiccated because he IS old and desiccated. * What Toutousai and Tobias talked about is a private matter between them. And how would Tobias go about adding Marcus's shard to his? Even if he could, would he? It's pretty meaningful to him...would he just use it like a Shikon shard? * Heh heh heh. You wonder about the third sword. All I can say is that I've given you all the clues you need, and it will be revealed eventually. IF, perchance, you DO think you figure it out, email me with the answer. If it's correct, I don't want you spoiling it for everyone if they read the reviews page. Okay? Lovely.
master: Toutousai isn't just a man...he's a demon, and a powerful one at that (in some aspects, anyway). I'm impatient too, I know how it feels. Just don't give up.
Ryguy5387: You did? Hmm...that was probably to my yahoo address, wasn't it? That piece of **** doesn't accept incoming messages. If you can still remember what you wrote, send it to me again at my current email address (garythunder@moreaufamily.us). I'm glad you think so, about the sword stuff.
Jeanne-chan56: A bull IS a cow. A bull is a male cow. Therefore, his bull is also a cow. I've been reading the series online, but it's harder to do when you just have the text and no images. Perhaps I'll find the rest someday. Hope your mom gets better!
Juna: Toutousai is a crazy, crazy old man. Perhaps he's senile. We may never know. All we know is he's OLD and a DAMN good swordsmith.
Hino Mitsukiko: I reached your website (you had left out two 'w's in the hyperlink!) and am reading the translations. But like I said before, it's hard without pictures to refer to. And I know about Houshi-sama, but as you've noticed I don't use Japanese in my story. Except for Tetsusaiga, Shikon, and Kaze no Kizo.
Deamon Freak 2: The action focuses more on Inu, Tobias, and Kagome in this chapter. But for a good reason!
hersheykiss1012: At least I can still keep you on your toes. That's hard to do after you've figured out my writing style with 50 chapters.
Silver Warrior: Older than dirt, that's Toutousai. It's useful how they never said exactly how old he was in the anime, so I can say he's however old I like. It works out great.
Tomoyo Sakura: Then it's good I got you off to a good start with Inuyasha fanfiction. Read some of the others on this site, a few are excellent! Better than mine, at any rate.
Celestra: I haven't read or seen much anime/manga with Sango in it, so nailing down her personality is a bit tough. * Toutousai's just too much fun to ignore. He's a crazy old man who has a giant hammer and a flying bull. What's not to like? * Too many action scenes bog down a story. Which is really going to rear up and bite me in the ass when I get to the FINAL BATTLE. How am I going to do it?
Lunar Inuyasha: Now I can add that to my resume – Makes people late with stories. It'll be a hit.
draca8u: Thanks, thanks, and tubas rule.
STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Chapter 51: A Show Of Force
They watched Toutousai fly off in silence. Kagome glanced at the well but quickly looked away again. It was clear she didn't want to dwell too much on it.
"Well..." said Tobias slowly. "You know now, what we must do."
"Yeah. We need to get moving. We've wasted enough time around here as it is," said Inuyasha, grumpily. He walked over to Kagome and beckoned to the rest of the group. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
"That wasn't what I was talking about, Inuyasha." Tobias drew his sword and approached the well. He leaped onto the rim and pointed his sword down, directly at the ice. "We need to break this ice and get Kagome back home."
"Can you, even?" said Miroku. "The General's power is greater than yours. Can you destroy that seal?"
Tobias looked down. "I can try," he said softly.
"But can you try without harming the well?" Inuyasha jumped up to meet Tobias face to face. "It's bad enough that the well is blocked up, but if you destroyed it..." The look in Inuyasha's eyes told Tobias exactly what would happen. Tobias shivered a little.
"I'm not worried about that. I'm not going to throw fireballs at the well...that's just dumb." Tobias stepped down and walked over to the others. "The one mistake...well, really, the only mistake the General consistently makes is that he underestimates me. I've escaped death several times because he thought my wounds would be fatal or my power too weak to save me. But I pulled through, in the end. Which is why I'm here."
"If the well was opened..." said Kagome, a little anxiously, "We could go back, and hide the shards in the future! The General would never know!"
Tobias shook his head. "There's problems with that, Kagome. First, we'd need to bring back at least one shard to be able to come back to the past, and any shards we have the General will soon take again, when he finds us. Second, if he realizes the shards aren't here and he sees that the well is unblocked, he'll figure it out. He's too smart not to. He'd probably go through the well and take the shards on the other side...and you don't want the General near your family." Kagome shuddered at the thought.
"Why doesn't Kagome just stay on the other side of the well with the shards? Wouldn't that protect her from the General?" said Sango.
"Again, we'd have to leave a shard here for anyone else to get to her," Tobias said. "Besides, if I know the General – and I do – then he'd probably destroy the well just to separate her from us." Tobias fixed Inuyasha with a steady gaze. "Would you be willing to risk being separated from Kagome, for the rest of your life?"
"Fuck that idea," snarled Inuyasha.
"Thought so."
"But wait!" said Kagome. "If the General destroys the well, he doesn't have any way of getting back either."
"He's immortal, Kagome. He doesn't age, like me. He can just wait five hundred years until he reaches the present day." Tobias sighed. "I think that if we DO open the well, we should go through and do whatever we need to do quickly and quietly, and leave immediately after. We don't want the General knowing we've unsealed the well. He might just destroy it next time."
"But still, Tobias..." said Kagome. "Can you even break that ice?"
Tobias turned in Kagome's direction and smiled faintly. "Let's find out," he said softly. He leaped on top of the well and unsheathed his sword, holding it in both hands, as though to plunge it into the ice.
He closed his eyes.
Tobias's sword began to glow. It grew brighter, and brighter. Tobias did not move. His eyes were closed and he was looking up at the sky.
A light wind began to blow through the trees. Tobias's cape fluttered slightly. He began whispering things, so softly that even Inuyasha could barely hear him.
"Sword of Alarion...sword of power...sword of the Three...I need your might...to defeat this mighty magic...give me strength." The sword blazed with a sudden fire, and the air around Tobias crackled as it superheated in seconds.
Kagome couldn't take the heat and stumbled backwards into Inuyasha's arms. They both watched Tobias as he gathered his energy.
Tobias's sword glowed so brightly it cast shadows on the rest of the group. He held it like a blazing brand, eyes still closed. His lips moved slowly, mouthing one word over and over until it became audible.
"Strike."
His eyes shot open and he let out a mighty roar. Raising his sword up high, Tobias brought it down with all his strength.
*tink*
The sword's tip stood balanced on the ice. There was no mark.
Everyone facefaulted except for Tobias, who took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh.
"This is going to be harder than I thought," he muttered.
Night had fallen. Tobias was still at the well, trying his damndest to break through, but making no headway. The others were sitting around the fire. Inuyasha was peeved.
"Stupid idiot thinks he can break through," he grumbled. "I swear, I'll give him two more hours and then we're going. He's not strong enough."
Kagome looked up. "You mean...you don't want me to go back?"
"It's not that," said Inuyasha hastily. "It's just...once we beat the General, that ice will be gone and we won't have to waste all this time. Besides..." He looked away.
"What?" Kagome walked over to him. "What is it?"
"It's...it's just that I don't want you to get your hopes up," said Inuyasha quickly. He continued in a softer voice. "I really don't think Tobias is strong enough to break that barrier. And...I don't want you to, you know, really think he can do it."
"But I do," returned Kagome forcefully. "I do think he can do it. I believe in him." She walked away, toward the well. "You should too," she called back as she walked into the dark wood.
"Feh," muttered Inuyasha. He leaped into a high branch of a nearby tree and stretched out. She's just going to be disappointed when that idiot can't break through the ice. Why does she set herself up for stuff like this?
Kagome slowly came toward the clearing. Tobias was on the rim of the well, in the same position as he was when they had left some hours before. His sword was glowing very brightly, and it took Kagome's eyes a minute to adjust. There was an aura of intense heat around Tobias, making her stay out of his sight. When her eyes finally adjusted, she nearly gasped at the sight that she saw.
Tobias stood, muscles bulging, veins straining against his skin, his knuckles turning white from the intense grip he held on his sword. Trickles of blood were coming from the corners of his eyes as he fought the General's magic. His eyelids were jammed shut and he let out a feral hiss as he strained.
Kagome watched in wonder. He's doing all this...he's going through all this...just for me? He's going to kill himself! But Tobias showed no signs of slowing down. The brightness of his sword increased again, and Kagome heard a deep thrum emanating from the well.
Softly, very softly, almost too quietly to be heard, there was a small crack.
Then there was another. And another, slightly louder. Kagome looked upon the surface of the ice and found it had a spiderweb of tiny cracks in it. She flicked her eyes back up to Tobias's face and saw his bared teeth grinding against each other.
He's going to...I don't know...burst a blood vessel or something! "Tobias!" Kagome called out, but Tobias did not hear her. Instead, he only began to whisper some words.
"Big...Bang..." Kagome stuffed her hand into her mouth to keep from screaming at him. He's going to destroy the well! her mind shrieked at her. DO SOMETHING! But it was too late.
"BLADE!!" Tobias's eyelids sprang open. His eyes, instead of normal, were pure red, red as Inuyasha's when he was full demon. The tip of his sword burned with a fire so intense Kagome could not look in its direction.
With an audible shatter, the ice filling the well splintered into fragments.
Tobias's sword fell inert. Exhausted, he collapsed forward and fell INTO the well. As he disappeared from sight, Kagome's mind was working overtime to process what she just saw.
The well...Tobias...home...HOME! Kagome wheeled around and tore back towards camp. Inuyasha! INUYASHA!
Inuyasha was still sitting in the tree. He could see the light from Tobias's sword casting long shadows over the trees. He gave a "Feh" and turned away. There was no point. He simply wasn't-
The well...Tobias...home...HOME! Inuyasha sat up. He heard Kagome, but she wasn't speaking...what was going on? Kagome? he thought instinctively. Not bothering to ponder the matter much further, he dove from the tree and raced towards the well.
Kagome? echoed in Kagome's head as she ran back to the camp. It was an odd sensation...she had definitely heard him, but she was too far away to hear him talk. This was like...like when she was at the General's sanctum...but there was no time to think about that now.
Miroku and Sango were sitting around, bored. Suddenly, Inuyasha bounded from the tree he was on and bolted for the well. Miroku sat up and Sango looked in his direction. Their eyes met.
"The well," they said together. As Sango grabbed Shippo by the scruff of his neck, the two of them ran for the well.
Inuyasha swooped down and grabbed Kagome from the ground. Kagome shrieked as she suddenly reversed directions at high speed, but she felt calmer being in Inuyasha's arms. The two of them raced towards the well.
They reached the well. Miroku and Sango burst out of the underbrush a few seconds later, out of breath. Kagome wriggled in Inuyasha's grip until she was facing the others.
"We'll be back in a day or two," she said, breathlessly. "Wait for us in the village." And with that, Inuyasha leaped into the well, taking Kagome with him.
Tobias lay at the bottom of the well, not moving.
"Used up a bit too much energy there, old chap," he said to himself. He wriggled a bit. "I don't think I quite have the strength to move." He tried to right himself and failed miserably.
Tobias managed a ragged grin. "But I did it," he whispered. "I broke through. I defeated the General's magic. And I can do it aga-"
He would have likely continued on this course of thought had the combined bulk of Kagome and Inuyasha not landed directly on him, knocking the wind from him and further incapacitating him.
The familiar woozy time-travel effects spun around them as they made the journey forward five hundred years. Inuyasha clung to Kagome, who clung just as fiercely back. Tobias just drifted.
Inuyasha felt hard ground underneath his feet again. The power of the well had again worked its magic. Still holding Kagome, he leaped up, over the rim of the well, and landed nimbly, safely putting Kagome down.
Kagome's eyes widened as she looked at the well-house around her. "My home..." she whispered. Her eyes filled with tears. "I thought I'd never see it again." Suddenly breaking away from Inuyasha, she dashed away, bursting through the flimsy doors and running down the path to her house.
Inuyasha ran behind her, trying to catch up to her and comfort her in this, her moment of need. Vaguely he registered that it was no longer night, but midday. This puzzled him slightly, but there were more important things to be thinking about. Kagome opened the door with shaking hands and ran inside, Inuyasha close behind.
"A little help, maybe?" came a weak voice from the bottom of the well. Nobody heard it.
Kagome's mother was sitting at the table with a cup of tea. She glanced sharply up at the sound of the door opening. When she saw Kagome rush in, she was frozen in her seat with shock. Kagome, crying, ran to her mother and embraced her. Tears filled her mother's eyes as she hugged Kagome back.
"Sota! Grandpa! I'm back!" called out Kagome in a quavery voice. Sota came bowling down the stairs, tripping and landing in a disorganized heap. He immediately sprang up and ran to Kagome, hugging her with her mother.
"What's all this ruckus? Who's back?" came Grandpa's voice from the other room. He came out, clutching a knobbly walking stick. At the sight of Kagome, the stick clattered to the ground, and he crossed the room to hold her with the rest of her family.
Inuyasha peeked his head in around the wall. He saw all of Kagome's family embracing her. His instincts told him that he should go in and hold her too, to comfort her. Unfortunately, before he could make a move, Grandpa spotted him.
He broke away from Kagome with a howl. "You!" he yelled. "You accursed demon! YOU are the one who kept Kagome away from us all this time!"
"What are you on about, old man? I didn't-" began Inuyasha, annoyed.
"You STOLE AWAY my GRANDDAUGHTER! You BASTARD DEMON! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" Roiling with rage, Grandpa stormed out of the room and into his room, where he reemerged with a scrap of paper.
"But Grandpa, he didn't do it, it was-" protested Kagome.
"This!" hissed Grandpa with an evil smirk on his face. "This is it! This is the spell that will BANISH YOU forever!" He brandished the paper. It had some arcane symbols written on it, and to Inuyasha, seemed to be glowing very slightly. "When Kagome didn't return through the well, I knew it was you keeping her. I KNEW IT! And I was prepared."
"But father," began Kagome's mother. "You don't understand. Kagome and Inuyasha are-"
"I worked for days, WEEKS at a time, to come up with this." Grandpa advanced on Inuyasha with the spell. Inuyasha seemed just a little nervous about this one. "THIS is the result of centuries of my ancestors giving me their power! This is the ultimate demon-banishing spell! To get rid of you, to rid this house of your defilement, once and for all!" Grandpa lunged.
"DEMON...BEGONE!!!!"
With all the force he could muster, the old man slapped the spell on Inuyasha's forehead.
Predictably, it had no effect.
"You know, for all that fanfare, one would think it would actually do something," came a dolorous voice from the hallway. Kagome looked over to see a bedraggled Tobias standing there, weakly, clutching the wall for support.
Grandpa gaped helplessly as Inuyasha tore off the paper, balled it up, and chucked it at him. It bounced off his forehead, and Inuyasha snickered.
Kagome suddenly felt bad about leaving Tobias. After all, he DID unseal the well, and we just left him there... She disentangled herself from her family and went over to Tobias.
"I'm sorry for leaving you," she said quietly. "I never thanked you for opening the well. Are you all right?"
Tobias grinned. "I'll live. I'm already starting to feel better. Remember, I heal fast." While this was going on, Grandpa had retreated into his room again, and emerged with ANOTHER scroll. Kagome turned and got a sour look. She marched over and put herself between Grandpa and Inuyasha.
"Grandpa!" she said loudly. "You don't understand. Inuyasha wasn't keeping me on the other side of the well...the well had been sealed. We couldn't get through it. He wanted me to get back..." Inuyasha came and put his arm around her waist. Grandpa gaped.
"Kagome!" he said, shocked. "You...you...you would allow this...DEMON to touch you in this way?" Kagome smiled knowingly.
"More than just that, Grandpa," she said slyly. "Like this, too." She craned her neck up and captured Inuyasha's lips in an intense kiss. Inuyasha was a little startled, but quickly more than returned the favor.
Grandpa's jaw just about hit the floor at this new revelation. Kagome's mother smiled slightly. Sota made a face.
"Eeew, that's gross! Cut it out!" They did not appear to hear him.
Tobias walked over to them. He was still grinning, and had regained most of his composure.
"You know, in most cases, I would say 'Get a room', but you already HAVE a damn room. So I would suggest-" Without turning away or opening his eyes, Inuyasha shot his fist out and caught Tobias square in the nose. The other man dropped like a sack of hammers.
"Inuyasha!" exclaimed Kagome's mother sharply. She went over to help Tobias up. "Are you all right?" she said, concerned. "Inuyasha, why on earth-"
"No no," said Tobias, slightly muffled because of his nosebleed. "I brought it upon myself. I have a bit of a knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Do you have a tissue?" He held his nose to stop it from bleeding too badly.
Inuyasha broke away from Kagome, but leaned his head over and whispered in her ear. "You know, annoying as he is, Tobias is right. You do have a room..." Kagome couldn't control the shiver that went through her at those words. Inuyasha and Kagome set off for the stairs, but Tobias leaped over them and blocked the way.
"Come off it, Inuyasha," he said. "We have a very limited amount of time here. Who knows when the General will start searching for us again? Who's to say that he hasn't put surveillance around the well? We need to get things done. There are more important things than..." He paused, looking at the look on Inuyasha's face, and realizing what he (Tobias) had been about to say. "Ah, shit."
.02 seconds later, Inuyasha was pursuing a fleeing Tobias through the shrine.
"GET BACK HERE AND SAY THAT!"
"I'M NOT STUPID, INUYASHA!" The two of them raced around, eventually heading out of sight. Kagome sighed and turned back to her mother.
"Well, those two won't be back for a while. I think maybe I can-" Kagome's mother interrupted.
"Kagome, who's the General? What's this about spying on the well? What happened while you were gone?!" Kagome sighed deeply. This was going to take a lot of explaining.
It took the better part of two hours for Kagome to fully explain the situation, complete with Tobias's and the General's past, to her mother. She had listened with a steadily more disapproving look the further her story went on, almost exclaiming in dismay when she heard of Kagome's capture. When Kagome had finished, her mother looked at her with a severe expression.
"Kagome, you're not going back there," she said firmly. Kagome was taken aback.
"Mama, you don't understand. The General's strong, but-"
"No buts! It's too dangerous! You could be killed or kidnapped again at any time! Do you know how worried I was, all this time when you were gone? How worried we all were?" Kagome's mother's face softened a little. "I can't lose you, Kagome," she said. "Please, don't go back."
"Mama, I'm an adult now," said Kagome, determined. "I can make my own decisions. If we don't go back, the General will kill everyone in Japan looking for us! Not to mention he might just wait until he can get us here. We have to go back and stop him, before he can cause any more destruction."
"But he's too powerful!" Kagome's mother began to pace. "You said that even Tobias and Inuyasha combined couldn't beat him, so how do you think you're going to stop him? No, I won't have it. You're staying here!"
"And what about Inuyasha?" demanded Kagome. "And Tobias? What are we going to do about them? Inuyasha can't go back to his time without a shard, and I can't complete the jewel if he does!" She blushed a little, but continued to say, more softly, "And besides, I don't want to be separated from Inuyasha. I love him. But he couldn't live in this time."
Kagome's passion grew again. "And what about Sango, and Miroku, and Shippo, and all the villagers and all the people in the modern times? Are you going to just let them die at the hands of the General? Just to keep me safe? This isn't about me, Mama. This is about the fate of the world. And I am going back, to do my part." With that, Kagome walked out of the room, leaving her mother speechless. She sat down and held her forehead in her hands.
"Kagome..." she murmured. "You have a noble spirit indeed."
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So we enter the modern era and almost immediately get stuck in it again. What foibles will Inuyasha and the others have in modern times for two whole days? We can only guess. Well, YOU can only guess. I already know. And I'll tell you sooner if you REVIEW!!!!