Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Inuyasha – not mine. Got it?
Thanks to all who reviewed! Special thanks to Guardian-of-the-night, who always suggests new things! Yeah, I think I'll make this chapter a little longer... but you realize, of course, that that means I'll be posting less... I'm running rather short on ideas for what's going to happen in the story... so if you have any ideas, I'm wide open to suggestions. You give me the skeleton; I'll add the actual body. And the fluff. Can't forget the fluff. Oh, and yes, it's my first fic. Thanks for all the compliments!!!
Forever
Chapter 4: Flight
Mud, dirt, fog, famine... This world was dying to the villages Kagome passed. They were dead towns, or dying slowly. Suffering, tortured cities of women and children. It was no war. It was age, use, and lack of proper nourishment.
She herself was starving. Kagome had scarcely eaten for three weeks. And still she could not find Kikyo. Where was that wretched priestess? Why was it that when Kagome needed Kikyo most, she was never there? Why would the priestess appear when Kagome wanted her least? It was as if Kikyo purposefully stayed clear of Kagome...
A shout.
An arrow.
Blood.
Silence...
Kagome shot a frightened glance behind her. The arrow had killed a villager, taken his life. Kagome approached him, watching the poor man slip from life. Mortality took him. Blood dirtied his leather coat, staining the ground about him.
She stroked his hair. The dead cannot feel, they said. Was it true? Or did they merely await compassion from those living to pass on in peace? Hatred was not theirs to bear, yet the dead most often bore it.
And then she saw the arrow.
It was familiar; the feathers in its end seemed strangely like her own. Kagome spied a piece of parchment wrapped about the arrow, in a hasty hand it seemed.
She grasped it fearfully, malice driving her to unfold the parchment. It was a letter.
Kagome,
You wish to find me? I shall not inquire why. Your business is your own.
But I do wish to know this: Why me? What do you need me for? Surely the living have no use for the dead. Is it Inuyasha? You know his heart belongs to me, Kagome.
Then what do you want?
Knowledge, perhaps, of my past? Spells, scrolls, potions?
Or perhaps you wish to dispose of my dead body, free yourself from my chains.
Whatever it is you wish, I shall learn.
You may also find use for this knowledge: You shall not find me unless I find you.
Till then, fair rival of Inuyasha's heart, which I deserve.
You shall not find me.
Kikyo
Kagome put down the letter and growled. That... that minx! That selfish, arrogant, self-centered brat! She... she lowered Kagome just to bring herself up! And that Kikyo... she dared to mock her?
Calming down, Kagome reread the letter. Kikyo was right, to a certain extent. She did deserve Inuyasha. Kikyo and Inuyasha... they were meant to be. Kagome was out of the picture.
She would have cried then, had her tears not dried already.
Kagome left the man on the ground, and stood solemnly. Clutching Kikyo's letter in her hand, she began to walk on.
She didn't know where the mist led her; if she were lost was beyond her. But Kagome tread her path, blind once more, unseeing. Cool droplets of mist settled on her face, moistening her dried expression.
Why? Why was it her, always left behind? Why had it always been Kagome that watched love come for others, but never caught it herself? She'd not loved before.... But Inuyasha... he was love.
Love...
What a cruel, mocking word. What a harsh sensation. What treachery! What joy... love sang eternal songs of happiness. Of happiness and pain. But in every tale, in every worthy story, there came a happy end. Happiness settled upon all that were pure in heart, and believed in themselves.
What of her?
Was Kagome in a story? It felt so much like a fairy tale... Who was she in this tale? A main character? An insignificant fool? She was important. Without Kagome, the shards would never be found. Without Kagome, they'd not have been made... Without Kagome, Inuyasha would still be pinned to that tree.
Where was her prince?
Kagome, surely, deserved one. Inuyasha? She loved him, certainly, but where her affections returned?
Where was her love?
Inuyasha... her love. Her life. Her only hope, only reason for life. A reason that was fading quickly, like a falling star. It had shone once, brightly in her sky of hope. But for one instant it shone. One moment it brightened her spirits, before fading, falling, withering...
Raising her head, Kagome saw the mist had faded. The clouds subsided before her at each step, and soon Kagome stood before a mountain. She gasped, stumbling back a few steps.
It was Naraku's fortress.
Inuyasha
She'd run again. Fled. But why? What had he ever done wrong?
Kagome... what had he done?
Inuyasha had cut down practically the entire forest in search of her. His efforts were in vain.
Three weeks. Three weeks! How would she survive for three weeks? She needed him, depended on him. But not nearly as much as he depended on her.
She was his light, his air, his freedom. Kagome was his key from an everlasting cage. She was his love. She was his life.
Inuyasha punched yet another tree in anger. It snapped, slowly falling on another. An old tree, groaning under its weight. At least one living thing would not have to suffer any longer.
Kagome
The mountain had no path.
Only small crevasses in the rock aided Kagome in her climb to the fortress above. Every breath weighed her down, beads of sweat forming on her brow as she climbed. Desperately Kagome clung to the unyielding rock, the fortress growing in her mind.
It was the last place she wanted to be.
It was the place where she needed to be.
Somehow, though Kagome knew not how or why, Her worst enemy seemed like the best solution to her problem. It seemed to her that Naraku would help her, aid her where aid was needed. He would help her find her love, her Inuyasha. And taste sweet revenge on Kikyo.
Kagome grasped each rock with shaking hands. She was losing grip. Her feet scrambled to keep hold of the rock, to cling to life. Kagome closed her eyes a moment, breathing deeply. She was far in the mountain now; she only had a quarter of the way to go.
Opening her eyes, Kagome found herself no longer scaling the mountain, but standing before Naraku's fortress. His true fortress.
What had driven her here, Kagome did not know. Nor did she wish to. Naraku's reasoning for magic was often not logical to her.
But he would help. She was sure of that. He knew where Kikyo was. He would tell her.
And she would have Inuyasha forever.
Clenching her hands into fists, Kagome walked into the fortress.
Dark, looming, ominous. Shapes in the darkness, unrecognizable spirits of ages long past, of ages yet to be. The fortress held but one light at the end of that darkened tunnel. A light Kagome held to, a light she followed like her very life.
At length she reached a chamber. Wide, round, nearly hollow. Almost empty. One throne was placed in the center of the room. It was an elegant throne; intricate patters carved into a diamond slab. They were pictures of demons, riders, fire, illusion, and deceit.
But it was not the throne that caught Kagome's eyes the most. It was the man who sat upon it.
Naraku, his long hair untied, flowed gently over his broad shoulders. His cloak was tossed over his shoulder, his feet sitting patiently on the floor. Naraku wore his sash in red, blood red as the sunset. His mouth was firm, mind set. And his eyes were frozen, staring...
At her.
His gaze compelled Kagome to kneel, an action she resented doing. Her head bent unwillingly, bowing to Naraku's might. He stood, and raised her once again with a flick of his hand.
As Kagome stood, the demon circled her, examined her. He stood before her then, and held her chin awhile.
"You came here for revenge." He spoke softly, letting go of Kagome.
Kagome nodded. Her action was a simple incline of the head, barely a muscle stretched.
"On that insolent Kikyo, I presume?" Naraku continued, asking questions so innocently that Kagome almost pitied him. Pity... He was her enemy! She hated Naraku, for all he'd done, for all she knew he'd do!
"You monster..." she growled at him, still frozen by Naraku's magic.
"You came here of your own free will." He shrugged in response. Naraku approached Kagome again, and stroked her chin.
"After all, one as fine as you can hardly resist her fears..."
That... Naraku! How did he dare... touch her, stroke her! That... that demon! That devil!
But that was he, was it not? Naraku knew all...
Why had she come here? Surely Kagome wasn't so stupid, so ignorant as to believe Naraku would help?
"I did not come here freely..." she hissed at Naraku, who stood close to her. Too close for her liking.
Naraku stumbled back, feigned pain on his face. He placed a hand to his heart, as if to imitate hurt. He then smirked rather evilly, expression darkening in a way Kagome feared... and admired.
"You caught me." He said, and released Kagome from his binding spell.
She fell to the floor, unable to hold herself up any longer. Illusions... Illusions! Naraku... she hated Naraku! Or... did she?
No... she thought, I love Inuyasha. Inuyasha...
That name... it seemed so pale, so distant... like a fading echo of the present. Inuyasha... who was Inuyasha?
She no longer had control of her actions. Kagome felt herself moving, saw through her own eyes, but did not feel herself controlling her movements. She was submerged within herself, a ghost, nothing more.
And laughter.
Naraku's cruel, mocking laughter.
Her legs carried her from the fortress. She felt the cool wind on her face, the breeze playing through her hair... but it was not her hand that stroked the hair, not her hand that placed it back behind her ear.
These were not her legs, carrying her back down the mountain slowly, painfully. This was not she.
Then who was it?
Naraku... had he been the one to use her as a weapon, as a puppet, a doll? Had the cruel, heartless demon lured Kagome to him, only to send her back, to torture her as he had tortured Kikyo? Had he locked Kagome away inside herself, only to see what he would do to Inuyasha? Only to hear the words she spoke to him, only to feel his blood on her hands?
He would kill her as he did Kikyo.
He would deceive Inuyasha again.
And it would be Kagome's fault.
Naraku was within her, controlling her. She felt it. She felt his mind lock away her own, letting her to keep but all five senses, nothing more. She had no control of her actions.
Kagome soon began to weep, without tears to diminish her despair.
Whew... that hurt. About 5 pages on word... but the story's rather bad. I was out of ideas... but I think this bad chapter's a pretty good set up to more fluff later! I wanted to see how it would feel to have been possessed by Naraku... and see your own hand kill your love. Poor Kagome... don't worry, I'm planning lost and lots of fluff in the next chapter... as always, review. I know this chapter's crummy, but today's just not a writing day. R&R!