Hyo minna-san!^^ Back with chapter 7…as you can see. I'm very very happy with the feedback I received from all of you…and I'm glad to hear that I haven't written any of the characters TOO out-of-character (one of my chief concerns). Thank you to Phoenix Isis for your constructive criticism…it's very helpful. I know sometimes it's difficult to follow what's going on, but sometimes the pictures in my head are a little difficult to describe clearly (this whole story is actually happening in my head as I write, and all I'm doing is writing it down). I'm sorry about the EXTREMELY long delay with this update…you can blame that on school, and the acquisition of my newest distraction: my Fender P-Bass. -_-;;;
Disclaimer: I'm not Rumiko Takahashi…or Sherwood Smith, Margaret Weis, or Tracy Hickman while we're on the subject. Therefore, I'm only borrowing the Inuyasha characters (and maybe a little inspiration from those authors I mentioned)…I promise to return them all when I'm done!^^ However, maybe one day I will be the frontman for a powerful Metalfusion band, and will therefore be able to BUY ownership…*laughs evilly, and goes off to plan*
…Oh yeah, what I mentioned above about the story "happening" and me just writing it down…that means that I'm in no way responsible for Inuyasha's potty mouth. THAT you can blame on good old Takahashi-sensei.
Now, to what all of you actually give a rat's a** about.
Labyrinth
~An Inuyasha fanfiction story presented by Jurei~
Chapter 7: Voices
The steady light of glowstones illuminated the dark stones of the floors and walls more brightly than Naraku would have liked, and he resisted the urge to shiver. However, it was probably all a matter of adjustment, he supposed, and he turned his attention back to his work.
Before him lay a large stone (most would be more disposed to call it a small boulder), as well as a pitcher of water; a delicate wooden bowl; a small, wickedly sharp amber knife; and two pieces of flint. The dark youkai's pale fingers trailed over the instruments carefully before he picked up the knife and began to inspect the blade.
By now, he was nowhere near as enraged as he had been when his original Scrying basin had been destroyed, and he viewed the event more as an inconvenient setback than anything else. After all, it was well within his powers to create another one, though the process was physically and magically draining.
He huffed, eyes narrowing as he found a nick in the finely honed edge. Once again, someone hadn't followed his explicit orders…it appeared that there would be another addition to the labyrinth's Runners tonight. Truly, it was so difficult to find competent help nowadays…
Not like Sango. The cruel mouth twitched upwards, accompanied by a wicked gleam in the scarlet eyes. It was so much fun to play mind games with the miko, especially when she herself was a half-decent player herself. Her comments in their previous discussions he had found particularly entertaining; if he hadn't known better, he would have found himself doubting his own plans at her words…
The ghost of a grin disappeared. Admittedly, what she had said about Higurashi had caused him a shadow of doubt. Although the girl had no serious miko powers of her own, her bloodline as a descendant of Kikyo the White Miko still made her a frustrating obstacle in his otherwise-perfect plans. It was definitely a possibility that she knew where the Shikon no Tama had been kept, safe and unthreatened, for these last ten years.
The dark youkai scoffed at himself. It was a testament to Sango's mind games that he was even considering the possibility of her words being true. He would have to commend her when he spoke to her next.
The knife slid lightly against the ivory-white skin of Naraku's wrist, drawing back leisurely before cutting sharply across the veins, drawing blood immediately. The crimson droplets ran down the blade and skin to be caught by the small bowl set underneath, staining the polished wood a deep burgundy colour. His eyes followed the flow of the liquid emotionlessly, mentally measuring the amount of blood lost.
As suddenly as he had cut the wound, Naraku pulled his wrist away from the bowl and muttered a few words over the wound, causing it to glow faintly purple before closing and fading until a light scar was all that remained. He then turned back to the bowl, gracefully retrieving a small vial of rust-coloured powder from within his robes. From this he took a pinch and dusted it over the fresh blood contained within the wooden hemisphere. The blood darkened dramatically, turning almost black before flashing rapidly and becoming completely white and opaque. He dipped a cautious finger in the liquid and tasting it on the tip of his tongue before nodding in satisfaction. All was ready.
The dark youkai drew closer to the stone, not bothering to check for cracks; he had already examined the rock three times and found no flaw. Instead, he carefully submerged the tip of his middle finger and, sweeping his long dark hair out of the way, began to carefully draw the first line of the spell's heart-rune.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sango sat hugging her knees, staring blankly at the stone walls that teasingly reminded her of what really held her captive inside this wretched prison. Her brown eyes were distant, almost trance-like in their cast.
Naraku would be arriving soon, and with him her final moments of freedom. She sighed, leaning her forehead against her knees tiredly, the white and red miko robes that clothed her muscular body hanging limply and beginning to show signs of wear and dirt. Even her usually so-carefully arranged hair was coming loose from its ties, though she made no effort to tidy it.
"Hm…"
She looked up, started out of her exhaustion by an unfamiliar voice. Her dark brown eyes searched the room frantically for a moment before coming to rest on the woman who stood just in front of her prison, taking in her appearance at a glance. She was of medium height, with raven hair tied up in a knot at the back of her head, pretty crimson eyes, and the pointed features of a youkai. She was dressed in a fine kimono, dismissing the possibility that she was a servant who had accidentally stumbled into the room on her own. Almost immediately, however, Sango's attention was drawn to her face, which bore an emotionless, bored expression, and the strangely heavy-looking fan that her slender fingers toyed with slowly, perfect nails tracing up and down the wooden edges with practiced grace.
"Who are you?" the miko asked tiredly, her face openly displaying the exhaustion she was feeling. A sleepless night worrying about Kohaku and Kagome (as well as poor Souta who was no doubt out on his own) had left her feeling drained and listless. She was almost certain that, if Naraku were to show himself, she would be quite unable to engage in her usual glaring exercises out of sheer fatigue.
The woman tossed the fan lightly into the air, causing it to spin once before falling neatly into her hand with a snap. "I am the one they call the Wind User…Kagura," she replied slowly, her crimson eyes flickering over Sango's person with a critical gaze.
The miko's mind raced, though she hid her flickering thoughts behind an emotionless mask. Kagura…huh? There was something familiar about that name…ah. That was it: she was one of Naraku's army's top generals…she and another woman by the name of Kanna (for strange reasons of his own, Naraku's leaders were both women, which definitely pointed at some perverse personal quirk in his personality). She was a dangerous youkai, very strong, and had a notorious ability to manipulate the very air to her will. Despite her feminine appearance, she was not someone to take lightly.
With a jerk, she realised that the youkai's gaze hadn't moved at all, and the crimson eyes were still focused on her intently. She met them squarely, albeit tiredly, and sighed. "What is it you want?" she asked, her tone easily wearied.
The orbs did not move, and Kagura remained silent for a substantial period before replying. The corner of her lips twitched upward faintly as she answered slowly, "You are interesting…yes. I think you will do."
Sango blinked in surprise. What was she talking about…? Do? For what?
"What-"
But before she could phrase the question fully, the wind youkai turned her back on the miko and left the room. If anything, this confused her almost as much as the answer had. What was she up to…?
Somehow, Sango got the distinct impression that an important event had taken place, with only her and Kagura as witnesses, though she couldn't for the life of her understand the implications of the dark youkai's actions. None of the players in this game, it seemed, were exactly what they pretended to be…
Including herself.
She shook her head, putting a hand to her forehead as a deterrent to the headache she felt coming on. Things were getting more complicated than ever...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The sidetrack, it turned out, had worked as a shortcut.
Kagome sighed appreciatively. For once, it seemed that they had stumbled on some good fortune…
She clamped down on the thought immediately. It didn't do to jinx things…especially when they needed all the lucky breaks they could get.
They were beginning to run short on water, and when she had asked Inuyasha how far they were from the next Gate, he had merely growled at her angrily, and told her to stop asking stupid question. Typical of him, in any case, though it didn't make her feel any better in the present situation.
She gave him a brief sideways glance before looking back down to the floor for signs of unusual floorstones, just like she had been for the last few hours already. His behaviour had her a little worried: it seemed like he was brooding over something, though she couldn't guess at what held his attention so completely. The hanyou had, of course, blamed her for their little fall first, before shutting up like a clam. Already, she couldn't decide if this was a good or bad thing, though she wished to avoid his ire as often as possible; it was impossible, she had learned, to avoid it altogether.
Suddenly, her hanyou companion stopped short, ears flicking madly while his golden-yellow eyes narrowed suspiciously. Kagome stopped too, looking at him with curiosity and apprehension. Usually, such a reaction couldn't mean anything good for the two of them…
"Wall shift," Inuyasha stated, half growling in reply to the unasked question.
The Runner smacked her forehead into the palm of her hand. Voila. Instant catapult reaction. It was almost like the labyrinth was a living entity that toyed with them purposefully. How else could their present strain of good and bad luck continue like it had?
Already, her ears could pick up the distant sound of rumbling walls. If she concentrated carefully, she could feel the vibrations passing through her feet as a faint zinging sensation that spread through the soles and ran up her calves before fading. And they were getting stronger with each passing moment…
The white-haired youth wasted no such time. Already, he was off, bounding down the passage with the natural-born grace and speed that the girl envied. She shook her head sharply, turning her full attention to the task at hand: desperate, all-out running.
A moment of moving at the pace brought her in stride with the hanyou, a fact that he registered with the tiniest tilt of his head and flicker of amber-gold eyes. As if taking this as a sign of compliance, he increased his speed, leaving her to run behind.
Kagome frowned, barely suppressing the urge to growl in fair imitation of her companion. He was doing it on purpose!
Behind them, the sound of rearranging stones was growing from a faint grating and thumping to a full roar, warning her to leave irritation to a less serious moment. She ducked her head, ignoring the faint stinging on her face caused by her loose hair, trying to increase her speed as much as possible. To her surprise, she succeeded; it appeared that her body was actually beginning to strengthen and adapt to the strange prison.
However, there was something different this time from the last wall shift she had experienced, though it was impossible for her to identify what it was. The shift was moving faster, the roaring approaching at a disconcerting speed. Already, the shaking caused by dropping stones was jarring her moving legs more and more with each passing moment. Inuyasha was still bounding slightly ahead, meaning that she had been correct in her thinking that he was setting his own pace merely to irritate her. All told, if worst came to worst, the only one who could possibly suffer in this shift was the Runner herself. The hanyou could just increase his speed completely and outdistance the shift completely.
Yet he was staying back…could it be that he was doing so for her? Immediately, the girl abolished the thought. If that was the case, he would have just picked her up like he had before and gotten them out of harm's way by now. What was he thinking…?
To her immense frustration, she found that, once again, she couldn't even hazard a guess.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
What's wrong with me…?Inuyasha's ears flicked back, carefully gauging the distance of the shift from his own position. At the present speed that he was keeping, it would be a few moments before the wall-stones would overtake him.
Strangely, he found that the fact didn't hold any emotion for him other than a strange relief. Even a hanyou would be hard-pressed to escape a Second Precident shift unscathed, and even then, only if he tried with every last bit of determination he possessed…
Why am I seeing this…? Why…all these people dying, and my hands are stained with blood…
For a moment, it was just him and the simple decision. He could put up an
impression of trying, to placate the stubborn ego that demanded his victory
over any obstacle presented by this place. He could let go, while still
maintaining the appearance that he had actually put up a fight. Or he could
continue with this strange battle…a fight he found was holding less and less
purpose. Everything had changed…he didn't even really know what he was fighting
for or against anymore, the labyrinth having robbed him of ten years of his
life. Kikyo was gone, having betrayed him first. What was actually left to
fight for…?
It would be so easy…
…And yet, he couldn't. That little piece of stubborn will that had managed to keep burning wouldn't let it be so easy. Plus…
Are these…dreams? Or are they memories…?The sound of running footsteps behind his own brought him back to the present. There was still a chance that he could have the last laugh, and get rid of this strange emptiness inside at the same time. He couldn't give up on that quite yet. The Shikon no Tama was still within his grasp, and he wasn't willing to let it slip through his fingers again.
Do I really want to know…?He leapt.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kagome looked up to see that the hanyou was no longer in front of her. She cursed, ignoring the fact that doing so was something completely out of her usual habit range. After all, the stupid half-demon had just scampered, leaving her to die alone.
Alone being a state of being that she hated.
To her surprise, she felt the pricking of tears at the corners of her eyes. Not for being alone, but more for being afraid. She could already tell that her present pace wasn't going to be enough to carry her out of the shift, and that there was no help coming for her. The feeling of helplessness was, possibly, what urged her to cry most of all. There was nothing she could do to save herself, and she knew it.
Stupid Inuyasha! I thought we had a deal…the shuddering breath she expelled was almost a sob.
…A sob that was suddenly cut short as she felt the almost-familiar sensation of being gripped in powerful arms and her feet no longer touching the ground. She blinked in surprise, gripping automatically on to the bare forearm as the other arm hooked itself under her knees before the air was moving rapidly and the sound of the wall shift gradually fading away.
She didn't have to look back to know who had saved her once again, though she sneaked a swift glance over her shoulder anyway. Inuyasha's eyes were focused directly forward, mouth set in a determined line with his firm chin jutted slightly outward in sheer stubbornness. Their pace was so fast that his usually heavy hair was swept back from his profile completely, leaving it completely unobstructed for the first time.
Kagome's breath caught. There was something about him at that moment that suggested completely untamed and wild beauty…the kind of beauty possessed by predatory animals in the wilderness of the world, such as panthers and wolves.
Immediately, she turned back forward again, cheeks slightly flushed. She wasn't supposed to think like that of him…he was supposed to be the violent, circumstantial guide who she was deceiving into helping her escape the labyrinth.
Deceiving…she barely kept herself from shuddering. It was so unlike her to put her own ends above all else like this…she didn't relish the idea of lying to someone so blatantly. Especially someone who was putting their person through so much on her behalf, and risking their own body to save her time and time again…
Someone she was beginning to trust.
With a start, she realized that the last thought was completely and unblinkingly true. She was beginning to trust Inuyasha.
…Which was dangerous, seeing as at any moment he could tire of waiting for her to "lead" him to the Shikon no Tama and merely abandon her in the middle of the labyrinth to fend for herself.
Even worse, she trusted that he wouldn't do that to her…thus the reason for her hurt feelings when she had thought that he had left her to die in the wall shift.
She turned her face forward, gripping onto his forearm slightly more firmly. It
was definitely going to be more difficult to carry out her original plan now.
Ahead, the passage seemed to break out into a larger room, for which the Runner was grateful. An end to the passage meant an end to the wall shift…soon, they would be out of its reach.
Almost subconsciously, Inuyasha's pace quickened, carrying them free of the corridor in six seconds flat. Kagome felt almost winded by the speed, gratefully sucking in air as the hanyou performed turn in midair, skidding to a halt about ten feet away from the passage mouth.
A mere seven seconds or so later, the re-arranging stones reached the entrance of the corridor, thudding into place with frightening speed. In what seemed like two breaths, the huge blocks had arranged themselves completely into a new passage, one hidden behind a solid stone wall.
The two companions stood in front of what had been a corridor entrance, both breathing heavily. In the aftermath of the shift, everything seemed unusually silent, even or the tomb-like stillness that usually shrouded the prison, broken only by their harsh breathing.
Then Inuyasha let go of Kagome's knees without warning, causing the girl to let out a surprised squeak as she was harshly forced to find her own feet. Barely had she done so when he withdrew his arm, pulling away from her completely.
The girl huffed, turning to him. "Mou, you could have warned me, you know. What-"
Immediately, she stopped, taking a cautious step forward with one hand outstretched. "Inuyasha…what's wrong?" she asked, a slightly worried frown etched on her features.
The hanyou had one clawed hand clutching his stomach tightly while the other massaged his forehead in deep strokes. His whole body was curled into itself, though he remained on his feet, albeit barely. One of his ears twitched at her question, though he gave no indication that he had absorbed what she had said. Instead, he stumbled over to the wall, leaning against it heavily while an expression of pain creased his face.
"Inuyasha!"
Immediately she was at his side, barely refraining from touching him and respecting the boundary that had been obvious even from his moments as the white dog that had accompanied her originally.
He seemed to be unaware of her presence, rubbing hard at his head almost as if it was going to split in half. "Blood…so much blood…" he whispered, more to himself than her, and so softly that she almost missed the words completely.
She moved back, stunned. What did he mean? Her features hardened. Whatever it was, it was hurting him…she had to do something to help.
Her hand on his shoulder was gentle, almost making no contact whatsoever. "Inuyasha…" she said quietly, rubbing his shoulder softly, "Inuyasha…come on. Snap out of it…"
In her worry, she never noticed the light glow that illuminated her hand
momentarily before sinking into the hanyou's shoulder, leaving no trace.
She was beginning to think that her actions had had no effect when he suddenly
stiffened before twisting away from her hand a moment later. His face turned to
look at her, anger flashing clearly in the amber-gold eyes. "Don't touch
me!" he snarled.
The girl backed off, though worry still reflected itself in her eyes. "What's wrong, Inuyasha?" she asked, the offending hand curled into her chest.
He turned away, tossing his silver hair roughly over his shoulder with a shake of his head. "Nothing. Just…nothing," he muttered, almost sulkily.
Irritation crept into Kagome's voice. "That was definitely not 'nothing'!" she shot back, following as he strode away from the wall towards the centre of the chamber.
He ignored her comment, lengthening his stride to carry him ahead of her so that all she would have the pleasure of addressing was his back. If anything, this made Kagome even angrier.
"First, you almost let us die in a wall shift for some strange reason of your own, then you look like you're having a spasm attack of some kind, and then you have the audacity to tell me that it's nothing!?" she raved, glaring at his back with the most penetrating evil eye she possessed. Only half-consciously did she notice that his language was beginning to have a serious detrimental effect on her own.
"The least you could do is just warn me-"
"Will you shut up, wench!?" the hanyou spat at her, turning a blazing death glare of his own back at her, "After all your bitchy whining, you'd think it'd be enough that we actually reach the Second Gate…"
"What!?" the girl exclaimed, thrown off by the comment, "Where!?"
Inuyasha gave her a look that clearly inquired as to if she was the dimmest being in the universe. "Look down, wench," he said tonelessly.
She complied, then did a double-take, letting out a small gasp.
Before them was a circular pit in the chamber floor, roughly eight feet deep. At the bottom, like a shining pool of moonbeams, the gate sat, shifting gently in the same way that the First Gate had. Only, this one was completely horizontal, and at the bottom of a considerable drop…
Already, the hanyou was stepping back, measuring his distance. The girl turned to him immediately, gripping at his arm sharply.
"You don't mean that we're just going to jump down there, do you?" she asked, slight uncertainty creeping into her tone, "I mean, you can land it, being youkai and all, but-"
Inuyasha shook off her grip, emitting a sigh of exasperation. "Keh, weak humans…so much trouble to keep around…" he muttered under his breath.
Suddenly and without warning, he seized her wrist, gripping slightly above the hand with his own, and leaping directly out into the centre of the pit. Kagome had little time to react; even as her mind registered the fact that they were seemingly floating in midair, the slight tingling sensation was closing around her body before completely engulfing her body as the two of them passed through the Second Gate.
As her feet made contact with the stones on the other side, the Runner could not help but entertain one thought:
Even if she was beginning to trust the inu-hanyou, it was incredibly and glaringly apparent that he was a far distance from feeling the same way towards her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That's it, minna!^^ Wow…finished the whole last part in one night! *yawns* As well, hopefully this isn't too much of a let-down after the long delay…nothing extremely spectacular to make it all worthwhile…-_-;;;. Once again, I don't think the next chapter will suddenly materialize itself within the next week or so, seeing as my entire Christmas break will be spent in the worthy cause of helping me regain a regular sleeping schedule.
OMG…that's close to eighteen spelling errors in the last two minutes…I'd better wrap this up fast before I fall asleep on my keyboard.
As you can probably see, the main theme of this chapter (and, maybe the whole fic) is trust…mainly the trust between Inuyasha and Kagome, and the way it evolves throughout the story…much in the same way it does in the manga. (Hopefully, this will be nowhere near as long as round-about as the manga…otherwise we'd be here another four years still -_-;;;). If you guys didn't already guess…Inuyasha is beginning to remember all the things he did when running loose as a demon…if you care to remember, in both the anime and manga, he doesn't really remember his actions when he is taken over by his demon blood (thus, the origin of the idea). Hopefully I've made that clear to all those who would otherwise be asking: "Why is Inuyasha going crazy all of a sudden?" ^^;;;
And…we have come to the Soundtrack of the Chapter…type…thingy. Ah well, you all know the drill…those who give a damn: read, those who don't: scroll.
"Metallica" (Self-titled…also called "The Black Album") ~ by Metallica. Yes, I finally got my grubby little paws on a copy, and finished the whole chapter to the sweet sounds of "The God That Failed", "Don't Tread on Me", "Friend of Misery", "The Struggle Within", and "Of Wolf and Man" (ah…that song will always work so well for this ficcy…^^)
"Master of Puppets" ~ by Metallica…as usual, "Sanitarium (Welcome Home)" et al. This whole CD is on repeat constantly, and I NEVER skip songs on this one…^^;;;
"System of a Down" ~ by System of a Down…mainly the two songs "Peephole" and "Spiders".
"Songs for the Deaf" ~ by Queens of the Stone Age…the songs "Hanging tree", "Songs for the Deaf", "Mosquito Song", and "First it Giveth", mostly.
And that's all that I can remember, seeing as the beginning was written somewhere near three months ago…-_-;;; Ah well, there's always next chapter for an accurate list.
Next chapter is "Chapter 8: Firerat". Three guesses as to what it
means, and the first two don't count…^^;;; This time, I won't make ANY guess as
to when it'll be finished, because it'll probably end up being a blatant lie.
Ja ne till next chapter!
Arigato gozaimasu for reading! *bows* (_ _)
~Jurei-chan^6