Age of the White Dawn

Chapter 10: I like big…swords

"Inu Yasha!"

The shout had cut through the din of neaks and norifs pressing against the dog-eared hanyou, causing his ears to flatten and his stomach to lurch. It was followed by a flash of white light and then, like the last time he saw that light, nothing. Disconcerted, he sniffed the air before angrily ripping the closest creature he could find in two. He smelt singed skin.
"Dammit! Get the hell outta my way!" He shouted in frustration. "Senkon Tessou!" But his attack did little good and, minutes later, he still found himself surrounded by neaks and norifs pressing against him, spitting poison, biting. He growled and clawed at a norif's face; he hated this. Not only was he suddenly feeling claustrophobic, but for all he knew, Kagome could be dead, reduced to nothing but a charred pile of skin…

The sickening mental image flickered constantly in his mind, and he was suddenly overwhelmed by the need to run off and find Kagome, make sure she was okay. But how? If he just ran, the small army would give chase and that would put Kagome in danger. He decapitated a neak in frustration. How could he possibly get away from the pack of youkai to check on Kagome?

The answer to his question came in the form of a curvy figure standing confidently on top of a sand dune to his right.

"I leave you for one minute and look at the mess you made," Sango's smoky voice teased.

"Fuck you." Inu Yasha growled, too preoccupied with a particularly aggressive pair of neaks to think up of a proper comeback.

Ignroing him, Sango gave a shout and dove right into the middle of the youkai horde, skewering several neaks and norifs onto Hiraikotsu, the two swords she took everywhere, in the process.

Landing gracefully on her feet, she kicked three neaks out of her way before shouting over to Inu Yasha,

"Where's Kagome?"

"I don't know!" He slashed at norif.

"You" stab "don't" stab "know?" kick!

Pant. Punch. "Didn't I just say that? Argh," he elbowed a norif and continued, "Listen, I need to—"

"I know," Sango interrupted, swinging her swords across each other and cutting off a norif's head, "I'll take care of this lot while you go and find Kagome." She waved a sword at him for emphasis "Go!"

Inu Yasha didn't need to be told twice. Smirking, he brought his fist back and punched a path through the neaks and norifs before impatiently leaping over them with an energy he hadn't possessed earlier. Racing up the sand dune, and leaving a cloud of sand in his wake, he braced himself for whatever state Kagome may be in, 'Please be okay.'

With one final leap he made it up and over the sand dune, momentarily silhouetted against the setting sun like some overly dramatic depiction of the archetypal hero. When he landed, and the sand he raised had settled, he menacingly cracked his knuckles…and blinked in confusion.

He could smell Kagome nearby, but she was nowhere in sight. Instead, there was some snobby looking bitch hovering about a foot above the ground on a feather plucked from a demonically big chicken. She gave him an appraising look and sneered,

"So, you're the Inu brat with the katana."

Inu Yasha scowled, "Kami, what's up with people and my damn katana? Whatever, I don't have time for this," he glared accusingly at the woman.

"Oh really? Lose something did you?" she asked, an unmistakably mocking tone in her voice. Absently she began tapping the end of an unopened fan against her palm.

"Whatsit to you bitch?"

"Hmph. Quite a temper there. I was just going to say that, whatever you lost, it's quite precious to you…isn't she?" she added, a cold smile gracing her lips.

"Feh. Save the bad jokes," he cracked his knuckles, "Who the hell are you and what have you done with Kagome?"

"I'm Kagura, and I haven't done any thing to the girl, yet. You just give me that katana of yours and no one will get hurt. We wouldn't want to anger Naraka, now would we?" she flipped the fan open with a snap that had Inu Yasha's ears flattening in irritation.
"Great," he muttered, "First, Naraku sends an oni with a hair fetish, now he sends with one with a fan fetish? I think the bastard has a freak fetish or something," he launched himself at her, claws poised to strike.

"Fool," she hissed, "You dare compare me to that lowly oni? Unlike you, half-breed, I'm a full youkai and," she smiled, stepping off her feather, Inu Yasha's claws missing her by inches, "a wind user." Her fan suddenly tripled in size and a sickeningly delighted smile lit her face at the suddenly apprehensive look in Inu Yasha's eyes.

"What the—" he never got to finish his question. Kagura brought her fan downwards, sending a gust of wind towards Inu Yasha. Puzzled, but suspicious, he at first tried to struggle against the strong wind. All too soon, he discovered that Kagura not only sent a gust at him, but invisible blades as well. He could hear, and occasionally feel as they flew pass him, one or two actually fulfilling their purpose and slicing at his cheek or knuckles.

Before she could bring her fan downwards again, thus attacking Inu Yasha once more, he jumped upwards over Kagura's head. Smirking he shouted just as he landed,

"Claws of Blood!"

With a single sweep of her fan, Kagura easily knocked Inu Yasha's attack away. She smiled her cruel, triumphant smile again at his deflated expression and string of curses. 'Such a simple creature,' she thought to herself, and then a loud,

"That sword is as good as mine."

"Don't be so conceited! Senkon Tessou!"

Sighing as if being forced to perform a tiresome task, Kagura brought her fan downwards to, once again, easily knock the silly hanyou's attack out of the way. Only, this time, something went terribly wrong. Somehow, a part of Inu Yasha's attack managed to survive the blast of wind she had sent it. It then proceeded to punch a hole right through her fan (rendering it useless) and practically shred her shoulder out of existence. To put the maraschino cherry on top of this lovely, bloody, painful ice cream Inu Yasha had so kindly dealt her, Kagura suddenly found the dull edge of the blade she was ordered to retrieve, not in her hands, but pressed against her throat. Yeah, talk about irony. 

"You know, I thought the rusty sword my father left me was useless, but guess what?" He applied more pressure against the blade, drawing blood, "I just found a great use for it."

"Hmph, you're bluffing. If you really wanted to kill me you would've done it already." She jutted her chin out defiantly, her pale face contradicting her disdainful words.

"Well I can't really ask a corpse where Kagome is and what that bastard, Naraku is up to, can I?" he snorted.

"No, you can't. So how about you just ask me yourself." A greasy, patronizing voice joined the, obviously friendly, conversation. The voice came from behind the two and generated identical reactions, yet absolutely different emotions from the pair. Both stiffened, but when Kagura stiffened in fear, Inu Yasha stiffened in recognition and loathing. He whirled around to face him.
"Naraku," he quietly stated.

"Kagura," said Naraku, making it the second time that day that Inu Yasha was ignored, "it appears that you have already failed." Lowering his head in mock disappointment, he fixed his cold eyes upon her own panicked ones. A shuddering, pained cry escaped her lips before she slumped limply against Inu Yasha. He tossed her to the ground.

"Why the fuck are you here, you son of a bitch."

"Heh. Funny meeting you here, Inu Yasha," he murmured politely, as if just noticing the hanyou. His mouth curled into what can only be assumed he thought a smile looked like. "I see you have yet to expand your vocabulary." Adjusting his cloak, he chuckled over some private joke while looking down at Inu Yasha. Looking down because he too hovered above the ground but, unlike Kagura, he received no aide from a feather.

A low growl rumbled from Inu Yasha's chest, "Who gives a flying shit about my vocabulary? Gimme one good reason why you're here before I tear you to pieces."

"My, my. Still violent as ever, I see," Naraku sidhed. "Unfortunately you're in no position to make such demands."

"Like hell I'm not."

"But truly, you're not. I found something that I think is quite precious to you. Actually, she's precious to quite a number of people, heh, heh…" Naraku laughed, sweeping aside his white robes to reveal Kagome crouching at his feet, wrists and ankles bound together. There a shiny burn running from her elbow to her index finger, which explained the burnt skin Inu Yasha had smelt, but she didn't seem to notice; she was too busy pouting angrily at Naraku, who had taken a leaf out of Inu Yasha's book and held a dagger to her throat.

"Kagome!" Inu Yasha ran towards her. He had every intention of ripping her from the bastard's grasp before the dagger did any damage.

"Inu Yasha, no!" The tip of the dagger pressed painfully against her  throat as she tried to warn him, "There's a barrier—"

"Wha?" He smashed painfully against and was thrown back by an invisible barrier about the pair. Lightening raced across its surface, lending the barrier a moment of visibility.

"Ow, shit! Oy bitch, how come you didn't tell me about the barrier earlier?" he whined loudly.

"Uh, maybe because you were too busy running into it!" she replied, scowling.

"Well, why didn't you tell me BEFORE that?!"

"Oh, well I'm sorry. I was too busy trying to spit out the gag Cammando Creepy stuffed into my mouth, you jerk!" she added, her syrupy, sarcastic voice turning dead pissed.

"Bitch."

"I'll say the s-word."

"I dare you to."

"Don't tempt me."

"Lover's spat?" Naraku cut in.

"NO!" they shouted at him in unison.
Inu Yasha snorted, "Enough of this. We're wasting time."

"Oh, I couldn't agree more." Naraku nodded, resting a hand on Kagome's shoulder; she jerked away. Locking eyes with Inu Yasha he began lightly caressing Kagome's cheek with the tip of his dagger,

"It must hurt," he whispered, an eerie, disturbing glow in his eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"When you first saw her, it must have her a lot," he continued in that same, hushed whisper. "They look so much a like. The questioning, reproachful look she's giving me right now, for example. Exactly like hers. But she would never give you that look, would she? Not that sad, reproachful gaze," he shook his head slowly at the stiff Inu Yasha, who was obviously shaken by his words.

"It hurts doesn't it? Knowing what you will do, what you are doing? Only a little now, but oh, it will hurt so much in the end. How does it feel knowing that the last of the Innocence, the only pure thing left in this god forsaken hell-hole will be br—"

"ENOUGH!" Inu Yasha bellowed suddenly, breaking eye-contact with the now psychotically grinning Naraku. "Enough."

"What was that?" Naraku asked, no longer whispering, "Getting a sense of déjà vu, are we?" he chuckled, though Kagome found nothing particularly amusing about their situation. It was just plain creepy to be honest, and "Commando Creepy" was making it even creepier by beckoning to her with one hand.

Opening her mouth to ask a sarcastic, spite-filled question, she closed it again with a loud snap. Her hand felt…tingly; almost numb, except not the heavy numb one usually feels, but a floating numb, like her hand had been softly tickled while vaporizing out of existence. To her dismay, her numbed hand was floating upwards to rest in Naraku's own white, outstretched one. His pale, blue lips twisted into a desperate attempt at a charming smile as he bent down and softly kissed the center of Kagome's palm, causing her to recoil in disgust.

"You know," Naraku mused once had had pulled away, "Fortune telling is a very popular pass time among mortal these days. Palm reading is especially popular, isn't it? Now, someone as busy as I am doesn't have time for such pleasantries, but if I'm not mistake, I do believe that palm-reader associate this line here with the heart."

Kagome watched as Naraku dragged the dagger along some random line upon her palm, the tip sliding easily into her flesh. With morbid fascination, she watched as beads of blood rolled down and off her trembling hand, contributing to the atmosphere as intense and tangible as the invisible barrier surrounding her.

"And this lone over here," Naraku tapped the dagger against another random line on her, now bloody, palm, "is supposed to determine how long one lives. However, I find that the line determining life or death is not so clearly marked, but lies in this general area," Naraku lightly skimmed the dagger back and forth over her chest, finally stopping right over her heart. For a moment, Kagome merely looked at the dagger in disbelief. Then, she slowly lifted her wide eyes up to Naraku's and the gravity of her situation hit her like the revolutionary apple hit Newton.

Naraku was insane. Her fate lay in the twisted, if not pasty, hands of a madman, and, if he chose to kill her, it would be a very slow, painful death. She tried not to shiver. Her one consolation was that Inu Yasha would never let something that horrible happen to her.

"Now here's a dilemma! I'm sure you don't want any more of the girl's lovely blood shed, Inu Yasha, so why don't you be good and give me that katana of yours."

Inu Yasha grit his teeth and bit back a growl. Hostility was only going to complicate the situation, and the situation was already hard to cope with as it was. Of course, he knew what he should do, what he should've already done. The girl was definitely worth a lot more then the rusty katana his father left him. Still, it was quite clear that Naraku would go to great lengths to obtain the seemingly useless sword, a fact that aroused much suspicion. Knowing Naraku, the katana would eventually be incorporated into some devious plot against him. But if he kept the katana, it would basically be sentencing Kagome to death, which was definitely wasn't an option.

Still weighing out his options, he allowed his gaze to wander over to the schoolgirl. She didn't look too good. In fact, her abnormally pale face made her appear almost nauseas. He blinked. Was she…scared? He blinked again. Never in their time together had her face displayed downright fear. Pain? Yes. Anguish? Yes. Anger? Hell yeah. But she'd never been afraid.

She turned her head a little to meet his gaze. For the third time he blinked. Her eyes, they were gray. A light, clear, almost pale blue gray; how could he have failed to notice such startling eyes?

And it was then that he looked—actually looked—at Kagome. It was Kagome being forced to kneel by Naraku's side, Kagome looking to him wide-eyed expectation,  not the little schoolgirl, not the bitch, not the Kikyo-look-alike; just Kagome.

'Confusing,' he reflected, 'but,' he slowly drew the katana out of its scabbard, 'I'm perfectly fine with that.'

Meanwhile, Naraku was growing impatient. Flicking the dagger upwards, he casually made a small scratch on Kagome's collarbone,

"Have you made your decision yet, Inu Yasha?"

"Yeah."

Both Naraku and Kagome held their breaths in expectation.

"…Well?" Naraku finally snapped.

Inu Yasha gave a small, bitter laugh, "I've decided, you can go to hell!" he shouted, running towards them, katana drawn. The barrier crackled to life as he determinedly pushed the rusty katana into it, but despite his valiant efforts, he was thrown backwards into the sand. Pushing himself to his feet, he stubbornly tried again, only to receive the same result.

With Naraku's patronizingly amused laughter pounding in his ears, he probably would've tried again if Kagome hadn't stopped him.

"Inu Yasha, sit!" she shouted, putting a stop to his almost masochistic action. He dutifully fell flat on his face.

"What the hell?" He sputtered, partly in confusion, partly because he had sand in his mouth. "I'm trying to save you here, you bitch!"

"Well don't!" She cried, trying to appear angry, "Just keep the katana, I don't like how you're practically killing yourself for me." Her bottom lip began to tremble dangerously and Inu Yasha could smell something salty…

"Er..well..I don't want your death on my conscious," he countered, rolling his eyes. She gaped at him,

"A-and what's that supposed to mean?! Are you saying that—"

"Shut it!" he growled, "I'm telling you I'll protect you."

Without waiting for an answer, her fell into a battle stance and tightened his already vice-like grip on the batter hilt of the katana. The last words he said were playing over and over in his head, he could feel a foreign emotion suddenly surge through him as he focused on that dagger pressed dangerously close to her bosom, and he could hear something pounding in time with his heart, throbbing, pulsating…

It was a windless day, but somehow his unruly bangs managed to fall into his face, shadowing everything but the small dangerous smirk playing on his lips. Giving no warning, he silently leapt towards them again, katana raised overhead. This time, when he swung downwards and the edge of his weapon met with the barrier, it was no longer in the shape of a rusty katana, but a gigantic sword that sliced through the barrier like a hot knife through butter.

Naraku's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing angrily into two slits. Hissing curses, there was a bang and he was enveloped in a cloud of smoke where he and the unconscious Kagura escaped Inu Yasha's wrath.

************

"You okay?"

Kagome looked up into Inu Yasha's face and smiled. Not because she was okay, she actually felt like shit, but because of the poorly concealed concern in Inu Yasha's eyes,

"Yeah, I think I'll make it. How about you?" She asked, allowing him to help her to her feet.

"Meh, just got a scratch." He looked down at her out of the corner of his eyes, displaying a slightly toned-down version of his trademark smirk. 

"Er, h-how did you do, erm, that?" She stuttered, confused as to why her cheeks were suddenly feeling warm.

"Do what?" he raised an eyebrow.

"That." She pointed to the rusty katana now snug in the scabbard at his side.

He shrugged, "Dunno. It just…happened."

"What—"

"There you are!" Sango's voice called, sparing Inu Yasha from further questioning. He didn't really want Kagome to know that she was the cause of his katana's transformation, that seeing her in danger actually mattered to him. Her little "sit-thing" was bad enough, but if she knew that she influenced him emotionally…he silently thanked the bendela rushing towards them.

"Where have you been? I just finished off the last of those neaks and I saw smoke coming from this direction and—what happened here?" she asked, just noticing Kagome's burnt and bloody state. She glanced suspiciously at Inu Yasha,

"He didn't, you know…"

"What? Oh, no, no!" Kagome said, nervously looking over at an indignant Inu Yasha. "He would never do that. I'll tell you about it later." She added quietly, forgetting about Inu Yasha's canine hearing. Sango nodded, then smirked,

"Judging by that little army back there, you guys tried to make some new friends, didn't you?"

"Nah, it's animal magnetism. They're drawn to us." Kagome replied dryly, gingerly picking at the wound on her hand. "Where were you the whole time any way?"

"Well, other then fighting that youkai army back there, I was looking for the cat. He's a lot more useful then I thought."

"Damn, I guess no cat stew tonight, eh?" Inu Yasha joined in, earning him glares from both females. "What?" he snapped.

Choosing to ignore him, Sango continued,

"I found the thing sitting on top of something that might make our trip across this stupid desert a lot faster."

"Where is it?"

"Well, if you follow me I'll show you. Or," She gave them an amused smile, "Or you can walk three days needlessly on foot."

"Do we have a choice?" Inu Yasha sighed/whined.

"Nope," Kagome winced as she bound the wound on her palm with some fabric she reluctantly ripped from her already short skirt. She smiled at Inu Yasha before hurrying next to Sango where she chatted with her about cats, sand dunes and the desert's hellish heat. Finally, after leading them over a series of large sand dunes, Sango exclaimed,

"Here it is! Hey…where'd the cat go? Ah well," Beaming, she walked over to it and stroked the surface,

 "Isn't this wonderful? We should be out of this desert within hours!"

The pair just stared at it until Inu Yasha voiced the one question on both of their minds,

"What the hell is it?"

A/N: Aloha all. I'm sorry if there were a lot of typos there, I'm kind of being rushed. I'm also sorry for the rather crappy, abrupt ending. I just finished reading the fifth Harry Potter book, so if my style kind of changed don't be too alarmed. Whenever I read something I like, my writing style gets a little warped; it should be back to normal by now though…ah well.  So, yeah, until next time: toot a loo.