Author's Note: Konnichiwa!!! Wow, chappy 4 already. This is really fun! Ok, just to let you know this chapter takes place on the same day as the last chapter! So that means, Kagome is waking up from her coma, Inu-kun is getting hit with a statue, and Rin is being cute (wait, Rin is always being cute)! Also, just to let you rabid Inu and Kagome people know, they're not in this chappy either. Who is? Well you'll just have to read and see! Enjoy chappy 4!!!!!
Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own Inuyasha and neither do you.
The Will of the Heart
Ch. 4: Kaze
The grove stood serene and peaceful in the tepid heat of mid-day. The leaves of the Kaedae tree rustled softly, as the wind gently combed through its slender branches and the little songbirds joyously hopped from tree to tree reciting their own unknown melodies. The whole forest hummed in perfect serenity and sweet tranquility. However, the illusion was to be broken.
"Damn him!!!!"
With the frantic beating of wings, the lingering, little songbirds became air bourne as an earth- shattering voice cut the air.
From the protection of the shadowed trees, limped a young woman. A thick layer of blood and dirt stained the front of the striped kimono she wore and her young face contorted in anger. Two white feathers adorned her ebony hair, in which was carefully tied up in a short, top-knot ponytail. But the most noticeable thing about this particular woman were her lips, as well as her glazed eyes, a deep shade of unsettling crimson.
"He left me for dead, that cursed bastard!"
The woman scowled, her voice was thick with malice and deep hatred, all for one man. The one man that had sent her to hell and back, the one man that she loathed more than anyone, the one man that had just tried to kill her, Naraku.
She collapsed to the ground, to weak and in to much pain to sustain another movement.
"Naraku," she hissed, her mind regressing back to only a few days ago, "damn you to hell."
Flashback
"Please! Please, I have two children! I beg of you, don't kill me!" a woman screamed, desperately.
"Hmpf!"
She looked up just in time to see three spiraling wind-blades racing towards her at full speed.
"AHHHHH!!!!!!"
A large fan abruptly slapped shut.
Standing in front of the gory mess was the same red-eyed woman. On her clear face, she wore a look of complete and utter boredom; totally unfazed by the disseminating pool of blood she now stood at the edge of.
"If you would of given me a better reason, maybe I would've allowed you to live." the woman said nonchalantly. "Your children are probably already dead, by now."
She looked around the bleak war zone that had once been the Higuarashi kingdom. Besides the scattered Youkai army, that ravaged through the remains of slain villagers, everything was still. The once lively, bustling village was now a barren, desolate ghost town.
A cold chill traveled down the woman's spine, while staring at the dead city, but she dismissed it as nothing more than the damp, cool of the darkening evening.
She turned her head, slightly, to the left to see a small child materialize from seemingly nowhere. She was completely white, from her long hair to her sandaled feet. In her hands, she held a round, silver mirror and behind each ear a delicate canna lily rested. She turned her eyes upward towards the taller woman, they held a lifeless gaze within their black, shadowed depths and could make even the bravest shudder.
"Kagura," the girl whispered softly.
"Oh, Kanna. When did you get here?" the woman, named Kagura, asked cooly.
The girl didn't reply but instead turned to look at the inanimate bodies that scattered the ground. Her stony expression never changed, however, as her eyes scanned the endless graveyard.
"No one is alive in the castle," she said after a long time.
"Heh, that's what you get when you bring a Youkai army, thirsty for Ningen blood, in to take care of the job."
As the two woman stared at the waist land, a group of dark clouds began collecting in the sky. They drew closer and closer to the Earth until they were no more than a foot away from the ground. Out of the thick mist, stepped a tall man. His wavy, jet-black hair hung down to his waist and he was surrounded by many wasp-like creatures, called Saimyoushou.
As soon as his presence was known, the large Youkai army began getting to their knees and screaming their loyal war-cries.
The man continued on his way until he reached Kanna and Kagura.
"Naraku-sama," Kanna said, getting to her knees.
Kagura, however, remained standing; staring challengingly at the Youkai Lord.
"Kagura, bow" Kanna whispered mountainously from the ground.
The Youkai woman looked at her sister and was about to object, when she caught sight of the deadly smirk painted across Naraku's pale face.
'If only I didn't value my life,' she thought, as she reluctantly dropped to her knees.
"My Lord," Kagura said coldly, glaring rebelliously from behind her long lashes.
"From the looks of it, our attack was a success," Naraku said smugly.
The now standing Kanna nodded her head silently. "We now have complete control of the kingdom."
"Good! What about the royal family?"
"No word on them yet, my Lord."
Naraku frowned slightly, then turned back to the girl. "Princess Higuarashi, Kagome? Is there any. . ." he stopped. Looking up, he watched as Kagura gently fanned herself. Suspiciously eyeing him as she listened quietly.
He couldn't stand the wind Youkai. She was self-righteous, she was hot-headed, she was crafty, she was everything he hated. But most of all she defiant. He could never tell what she was going to do next. Because of that, he had never, once, revealed plans or secrets to her. Unlike her sister, she was not trustworthy.
Naraku had created her as wind and Kanna before her as void. He had made them his top hench- women and advisors, but he had never expected the rebellious streak that coursed through Kagura. Though he was a million times more powerful than her, she scared him. What she could do with that streak was more than he wanted to think about. But with the war more serious than ever and with so much at stake, he knew that he had to put an end to it, here and now.
"Kagura," Naraku said.
The woman slowly looked up from her fan, meeting his eyes with her own.
"Would you come with me? I have one final task that I would like you to complete, before the day is over."
Kagura lifted a quizzical eyebrow, 'What tedious job is he assigning now?'
"Kanna, stay here," he said, walking off.
Kagura took a step forward to follow, but then froze. Every fiber in her body screamed at her not to take another step, not to go with that man. The way he had said "last task" made her blood run cold. He had something insidious up his sleeve.
Naraku turned around, upon realizing the woman wasn't behind him. He watched her frozen figure for a moment, before letting a smile spread across his face.
Kagura's eyes widened. To anyone else it would look like a regular, friendly grin, but she knew better. That look meant, to disobey was to dig her own grave. That look meant death.
She shook off the horrid feeling, that lingered in her gut, and eased into a steady stride. Lowering her eyelids to an apathetic stare and raising her fan so it was parallel to her lips, she erased all signs of fear from her face.
Before she had barely reached Naraku, however, she felt eyes on her back; burrowing into her very soul. Kagura turned her head around to see Kanna solemnly watching her departure, her face somewhat shadowed. The girl's soulless orbs looked straight at her, calling out, warning her somehow. However, the alabaster Youkai remained silent and slowly disappeared on the horizon.
Across the blood-soaked battle fields and into the still shadows outside the Higuarashi castle, Kagura wordlessly followed Naraku.
"Where are we going?" Kagura finally asked.
The Youkai lord stopped. The cool evening breeze blew his dark hair across his face as he stood perfectly still uttering not a word.
Kagura stared at him from over her fan, she felt herself starting to shake uncontrollably. She had never been afraid of the man before, but now she was petrified. Whatever he was up to, would soon be revealed.
"Kagura," he said finally, "over the years you have been one of my top warriors and have emerged from many battles victorious. However. . ." Naraku turned and faced the woman, "your services will no longer be required."
Naraku lifted his violet orbs and released a toxic miasma into the air.
Kagura's eyes widened as the meaning of Naraku's words hit her full-force. She was lost in the toxic mist and elapsed into a rather violent coughing fit.
"Kuso!!!" she cursed clasping her hand over her mouth and falling to the barren ground. Usually Naraku's disgusting poisons would have no affect on her, but something was different about this one. It was stronger somehow and infinitely more poisonous.
"You tricked me," she coughed, raising her fan up and slicing through the air.
"FUUJIN NO MAI!!!!!" she screamed thrusting two powerful, wind blades straight at Naraku.
The man simply watched as they crashed and broke against his force field. He lifted his hand and sent a blast of swirling energy towards the wind Youkai as a counter-attack.
Kagura looked up and gasped, there was absolutely no place for her to go. She suddenly felt incredibly naive, she should have known why Naraku had led her to this place. So dark, enclosed, invisible; she doubted anyone could even here her agonized screams in a place like this. All she could do was watch and wait for the inevitable.
The energy hit her with full force, sending her spiraling through the air.
She crashed on the ground bloody and drained, however she was unwilling to give up. Pushing her torso off the ground, she glared at him with all the burning hate that she buried inside of her all those years, panting loudly.
"I despise you," breathed, allowing the three fated words to pass her lips.
He simply smiled in reply and whispered, "Your own insubordination was your downfall, Kagura. If you would have proved more trustworthy, maybe I would have spared you."
Kagura's eyes grew wide as her own words, from earlier, flashed through her mind. She broke away from her thoughts and looked up just to see a huge spike traveling from her nemesis and straight through her stomach. She couldn't help but scream in utter horror.
Her whole body shook in pain and as lay on the ground, close to death or unconsciousness, whichever came first.
Naraku walked over to the Kaze Youkai, she lay at his feet, a mess of red and black. Her breathing was slow and shallow and her eyes were merely slits, but even then, she continued to scowl at the man.
"Heh, you still oppose me, even now," Naraku said, lifting his foot. "You aren't even worthy enough to clean my boots, let alone do that." Pulling his foot back, he kicked her in the head.
The woman felt a cold tremor run through her body, she knew she was going to die. In her pain, she turned her blurry, bloodshot eyes to the sky, however, instead of the pale twilight stars she longed to see, it was Naraku watching her intently.
She watched his face through tears, she hadn't known she had shed, what she saw chilled her to the bone. Though her vision was impaired and the shadows had descended across the world, she could see the corners of his mouth bend and his dark eyes shine. He was laughing, he knew she was suffering and he was laughing.
"Goodbye Kagura."
Another blow hit against her body and suddenly, everything was black.
End of flashback
The woman withdrew from her tortured memories. She still sat on the ground in the little glen. The small songbirds had returned to their designated branches and had resumed singing their melancholy tunes.
'He was so sure he had killed me,' Kagura thought, 'cocky bastard.'
She didn't know how long she had lay on that cold Earth, how she had survived was nothing short of a miracle. Upon waking up, she had painstakingly dragged her limp body from the heap of rubble she lay in and walked for hours on end, just to get to the place where she sat now.
'Maybe it's a good thing he thinks I'm dead,' she thought. 'If I can keep a low profile, I just might get my revenge.'
The sound of hoof-beats and sharp male voices drawing nearer entered Kagura's ears. She painfully pulled herself off the ground to face what was coming.
As if on cue, a group of imperial soldiers rode into the forest. They were terribly un-uniformed, with different styles and colors of clothes, but one could tell they were soldiers by merely looking at there shoulders, where they wore the crest of the Inutaisho kingdom.. They looked to be coming in the same direction she had just come in, the Higuarashi kingdom.
They stopped as they reached her. Seven men rode at the front of the large group, however one stood slightly in front of the others, who she guessed must've been their leader.
A long, raven braid ran down the man's back and a star-like mark was on his forehead. He rode a black stallion and in his hand held a huge, finely polished blade attached to a thin, wrapped handle.
"Hey woman,' he called casually, "move, you're in our way."
Kagura stood perfectly still, a poised, calm look on her face, as she gazed at the man. "Am I really?" she asked smoothly. "Then I suppose I must step aside."
She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips into a mocking little smile. Making a point of elaborately opening her fan and lifting it to her face, she made no sign, whatsoever, of moving from their path.
'Men are so stupid,' she thought to herself. 'They think just because they tell a woman to do something, they will jump up and do it. What they don't realize, is that I could kill them all with a single slash of this fan.'
"Hey Bankotsu," a girlish looking man with rouged lips and triangular markings under his eyes said, turning to the man, "I don't think she's going to move."
He then turned to Kagura, "hey you should really move!"
'This is bothersome,' Kagura thought, 'I should get rid of these pesky Ningens, already.'
"Want me to cut her down, Bankotsu?" he asked raising a curved sword and waving it wildely in the air.
The other man only yawned and shifted his weight, obviously bored with the whole ordeal. "Do what you want, Jakotsu, I don't care."
Kagura clutched her fan, ready to unleash it's power, as Jakotsu raised his snake-sword. They were both about to use their weapons, when a voice cut through the soon-to-be battle.
"That's enough, Jakotsu."
The man whirled around to see a whit-haired demon approaching, saddled on a large, two-headed Youkai.
"Oh, Sesshoumaru-sama," Jakotsu said, bringing his sword down.
"What seems to be the hold up," he asked cooly.
"This woman won't get out of our way," Bankotsu said, absently picking his ear.
"Well, why don't you just go around her," he asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Kagura's eyes ventured up to the man's face, meeting his golden orbs with her own. No emotion passed his stoic features as she stared at him, but she found herself entranced with his strong, regal face. There was no doubt he was handsome, with his broad shoulders and expensive robes and Kagura found it a little hard to look away.
From the other side, Sesshoumaru studied the woman. She was definitely a Youkai, he could tell that much without even looking at her and he could see that she had obviously been in a some battle, judging by the condition of her clothes.
"Sesshoumaru-sama," Jakotsu whined, "can I please cut her, just a little?"
Sesshoumaru totally ignored the man as he continued to watch Kagura,
"Who are you? You're obviously a Youkai."
She straightened herself out and looked him in the eye. "I am Kagura, of the wind. And if I'm not mistaken you are Sesshoumaru of the Inutaisho kingdom."
"Insufferable wench!" a voice screamed. "How dare you address Sesshoumaru-sama without a title!"
She glanced down to see a small, toad-like creature, holding a Jintojo.
(A/N: Basically the Jintojo is the "staff-of-heads" )
"Jaken!" Sesshoumaru said sharply.
"Forgive me my lord!" he exclaimed, bowing deeply, "I spoke out of place."
Sesshoumaru turned back, "What kingdom are you from?"
Kagura's fan stopped dead in it's path. She couldn't very well say, "she had served under Lord Naraku all her life" to his sworn enemy.
"I belong to no one kingdom."
Sesshoumaru's frown deepened slightly.
"What would you have us do with her?" a man wearing a light blue bandanna and resting a cannon lightly on his shoulder, asked.
"Leave her be, Renkotsu. We'll continue on our way as planned."
The group slowly moved out, around Kagura, as if nothing had happened.
"Wait!!!!" Before her mind could comprehend what her mouth was doing, she called out to him.
He stopped slowly and turned his head back.
Her mind worked fast, searching for an excuse as to why she stopped them all once more. She had it.
"You are an enemy of Lord Naraku, if I'm not mistaken." she said a little unsure of herself. "And you would do anything to destroy him and put him in his place?"
Sesshoumaru lifted an eyebrow, a little confused.
"What if I were to tell you I have secret information, that could help you finally bring him down?"
"What's the catch?" the man asked solemnly.
A devious smile crept across her face, "the catch is, you must let me accompany you on your way back to your castle and allow me to hide--er I mean stay there as long as I please."
Sesshoumaru eyed the woman suspiciously, not sure if he could trust her or not. "Fine. But you must know now," he said quietly, "if you're lying, I'll be forced to kill you."
Kagura winced and her breath caught in her throat for a second. "I assure you, I'm not lying."
"Let us go then."
"Sesshoumaru-sama!!!!!" Jaken yelled. "Don't tell me you actually believe that low-life woman's story! We can't take her with us!"
"Come Jaken, we're leaving," he said, without answering his question.
'But my lord!"
"Come Jaken!"
The toad stood there shocked for a moment, then scrambled on the back of the Youkai.
A man walked over to the wind youkai, handing her the reigns to a dark brown horse. She took the slowly and pulled herself up onto the steed.
'This might be a good thing,' she thought, 'Naraku would never expect to find me in the palace of his rival kingdom! This way I can hide out for awhile, until I recover.'
Kagura knew deep down, however, that she had flat out lied to Sesshoumaru. Under no circumstances would Naraku EVER give her secret information. She knew absolutely nothing and figured the deviant Youkai liked it like that. She would just have to buy some time with Sesshoumaru and hope he didn't find out her secret and kill her in the process.
The group began moving forward, as Kagura sat awkwardly in her saddle. All she could think of was Naraku. How she would love to see him slowly be destroyed.
'Naraku,' she thought, 'make no mistake of it, I will kill you. No matter what I have to do, I will get my revenge!'
End of Chapter 4
Author's Note: Yea!!!! I hope you liked this chappy, sorry about the delay. If anyone noticed, yes this chappy did kinda reflect the current situation in the Manga. ;;;; Remember to review and I'll personally acknowledge you! Below I answered a few random questions that people may ask. Love you all!!!!! Ja ne!
Her are some random questions-
Q- Are all the Shichinintai appearing in this story?
A- Yes! I already introduced Bankotsu, Jakotsu, and a little bit of Renkotsu (the others were there too but they just didn't talk) they will have more involvement later.
Q- Does Miroku have his Kazaana?
A-No. Because it's too annoying and frankly don't want to deal with it. ;;;;;
Q- I just know I will get this one Is this a Kagura/Sesshoumaru pairing?
A-The answer to that question is YES. I'm warning you here and now that this is one. I'm pairing them up because I personally like them as a couple!!!!! So please, before you go to flame me, remember-------- I WARNED YOU IN ADVANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Q- Is the title of this story an incredibly lame pun?
A-Yes!!! If anyone noticed this, they get a sparkly, happy, magic star!!!!!
Q- Does Naraku control Kagura and Kanna's hearts in this?
A- VERY important! No he doesn't! This story would be really messy if he did.
Finally to my reviewers:
Purity-starz- Thank you so much for reviewing! Reading your review gave me the motivation to finish typing this.
Remix-69er- Thank you for reviewing!!!!!!! I'm glad you like the story!
Kuro-tanuki- Nan-chan! Thankies for always supporting this Fic! What would I do if you didn't encourage me to write? I want to eat an umbrella and a clown hat too!!!!!!
•That's enough for now! I need sleep!