Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale
The Ringenkai Plant
Chapter 6: Dead Whispering Winds
The loud crashing waves of a waterfall up in the eastern mountains ran down into the waiting mouth of a wide river below, and the yellow morning sun dawned upon the beautiful rocky environment. The surroundings were nothing but a barren land of dust and rock and a few trees here and there. A faint but still visible rainbow gleamed in the blue skies near the sun, which had appeared not too long after the previous rainstorm had ended. At the very top of the running waterfall, the figure a young man was lightly running about through the stream, sending splashes of water cascading upon the tops of the rocks protruding from the surface.
"Oh, brother. What a total waste of time and energy. And to think we came all the way out here looking for food, and not a single evident sign of a morsel of meat around waiting to be slaughtered." the fit young man said in a low growl like voice. He had short black hair tied into a long wild ponytail in the back, and had ferocious blue eyes, almost like a wolf's. He also wore lightweight armor with wolf fur at the edges that revealed his muscular arms and legs, and on his left side he kept a sheathed sword, but it was rarely used, except for whenever he went hunting. His pointy ears also led to a strong assumption that he was a demon, which he clearly was. His name was Kouga, the young leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe, a pack of demons that survive in their homeland in the mountains by hunting for food and pillaging villages for fun and profit.
Coming to a stop near the edge of the waterfall, Kouga had put a hand over his eyes to block out the burning sun above. Now that his vision was a little more clear, that didn't help for that fact that what he saw below was rather an annoying disappointment. He saw nothing but the barren land and no scent nor sight of any animals he could hunt down for food. The man shook his head, putting his hands to his side.
"Hmph. Just as I thought. There's no way you could ever find a living thing down there. Not even a village to plunder for any type of treasure. Grrr, this is getting on my last nerves." Kouga said to himself, turning around and walking back to the two figures in the distance. They were both sitting on the grass beside the river, laughing and joking about. Kouga scoffed, their cheerful expressions only adding more to his frustration.
"Hey, leader! Did you find anything worth killing down there? You came back mighty quick!" the first man said, who was holding a stick with a piece of twine attached to it. It appeared that he was fishing in the river, but not having any luck. His name was Hakkaku Kibamori, Kouga's left hand man.
"Yeah, but keep in mind, Kouga's the fastest demon alive! Of course he'd be back so soon! Only he'd have a nose for the right rations!" the second man said, sitting cross legged on the grass while smashing two big rocks together in his hands for no specific reason. His name was Ginta Akabu, who served as Kouga's right hand man. Both Hakkaku and Ginta had also wore light armor similar to Kouga's, and they too were wolf demons, but not nearly as powerful as their leader. They usually accompanied Kouga during their hunting escapades, and whenever a fight was brewing, they were always the first to step in line because they were the most efficient out of all of Kouga's wolf tribe. There wouldn't have been any other reason why they were in the high position they were in now. But not even their sharp skills could save them from going hungry in the middle of nowhere.
"Hmph! I'm surprised you buffoons can be so optimistic at a ridiculous time like this. I sure as hell didn't find a damned thing worth noting back there. The entire land is dead, and I can't even pick up a single trace of an animal scent. And just whose bright idea it was to come out here again? They're looking to get a brutal beating, courtesy of me." Kouga said, crossing his arms. Kouga was never necessarily the type to joke around when it came to serious situations such as this, and in earnest, Hakkaku and Ginta feared their own leader when he was like that.
"Ummm...." Hakkaku hesitated, a sweat drop rolling down the side of his face. "It was HIS fault! I said that we should have went WEST, but noooooooo, Ginta INSISTED that we come out here! It wasn't my fault Kouga!!!" Hakkaku accused, holding his hands on either side of his head in fear. Ginta turned around with narrow eyes, angry at being falsely accused.
"Hey!!! No way, you dumbass! It was YOUR idea! I was the one who wanted to go west! They have so much more fish in the lakes there! We could have loaded up big time, too! But thanks to you, we're sitting here starving ourselves to death! If its anyone that deserves to have his ass kicked, its YOU, Hakkaku!" Ginta yelled.
"Don't even think of reversing the roles here, pal! I said it first and foremost, it was all your fault!" Hakkaku said, jumping onto Ginta and wrestling him to the ground. They both rolled over and dirtied themselves up, punching and kicking each other hard. Kouga sighed and walked away from the scene, leaping up onto a huge boulder at the side of the river. He bent forward and rested his right elbow on his leg, staring off into the grassy fields and ignoring Hakkaku and Ginta. He was far too upset to deal with those two, as he had his mind on other manners.
"I don't have to beat those two up. They're already doing a good job of it on their own. Not only am I concerned about finding some goddamned food to get my energy back up, the one other thing that I haven't come to terms of giving up on is finding that demon shit Naraku." Kouga said to himself. He made a fist with his left hand and punched the side of the boulder, creating a huge crack to form from where he attacked it. His blue eyes burned with a fiery anger, as he thought back to half a month ago where he was deviously tricked by Naraku.
"Naraku. The one demon that was responsible for killing my fellow brothers, and the one who sent that broad Kagura to do the evil deed for him. How much I've been wanting to tear them both to shreds with my bare hands, I can't recall how long..."
Kouga's thoughts had transitioned to that particular time just about a few minutes before the memory scarring incident occurred. As he sat in peace inside the wolf demon den, he was doing his best to recover from the wounds he suffered from one of Naraku's flying demons.
Previously, thanks to Inuyasha, the half demon had ended up slaying the demon with one swing of his sword before Kouga himself was about to be massacred into a bloody mess. Not only did was that overly embarrassing to his entire tribe and especially Kagome, he had the sacred jewel shard in his right arm torn out in the process of the flying demons' attack in the mountains. Kouga had no choice but to retreat from the area, knowing that he was at a fault, and Inuyasha was ready to kill him for kidnapping Kagome.
Suffering total defeat and humiliation, Kouga's rest was interrupted by another tribe of wolf demons from the northern lands. At first, Kouga wasn't necessarily open to them since they were of different tribes, yet struck from the same mold, but the news they relayed to him soon after their visit had peaked his interest.
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"Kouga, we've came all this way to bring you this news. Our scouts have been following the scent of those strange flying demons that have been preying on your wolves, and they have reported to us that it led to some sort of a huge castle a few miles not too far from here. In the castle there supposed to be a man believed to have a ton of sacred jewel shards." said a wolf demon dressed in black armor to Kouga.
"Yeah, Kouga! Think of all of those shards just wide open for us to take! We could easily kill the guy holding them and take whatever else he has of worth in addition to the shards. This will make up for all the suffering we had to put up with being killed off by those demons, and the shards themselves could make us even more powerful in terms of strength. So we're going to take our whole pack down there to investigate things." a second wolf demon joined in, a determined glint in his eyes.
"What do you say, Kouga? Will you join up with us? This is a huge opportunity for both of our tribes." the first demon asked with hope.
While Kouga was briefly interested in what they had to say, at the moment he was too tired to think straight nor do anything for awhile. He leaned back against the moist stone wall, his eyes glancing down to the large scar across his right arm, where he lost the jewel shard embedded inside it a day ago. He took a heavy sigh, although he was curious to know who was the one sending those demons. He shook his head, refusing the offer made to him.
"Nah, do whatever you want. I'm just not ready to go out and fight yet, or even walk. Besides, I don't think you'll be needing much help from us if you're only out to take out one guy for his share of jewel shards. Doesn't sound like a hard job to me, anyway." Kouga said tiredly.
"What? Are you sure that you'd rather stay here?" the second demon asked, surprised.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Like I said, how much power could it take? Hell, I would do it alone if I was up to it, but you can clearly see I'm not in the mood." Kouga replied, his eyes closed.
"Well, we won't ask twice. As a matter of fact, a good amount of your pack members were agreeable to join up with us so they can get some of the shards too. I would assume you don't mind if they decide to come along for the pillaging, right?" the first demon queried.
"Well, I'm not going to stop them, they're not children. Fine, take them. But I do expect you not to back out of my pack getting a decent amount of the shards, got it? Or else there'll be trouble, and I don't think you'd want that." Kouga warned.
"Alright, you made your point. We're going to head out to the castle tonight sharp the minute the moon breaks out. Come on, let's get moving." the first demon said to the second, getting up. They both left the place, leaving Kouga and the rest of his tribe inside the cave.
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"Who would have known that would be the most major mistake they could have made that night? I still can't get that horrible sight out of my mind..."
Later that night, Kouga and his men were hanging out by a waterfall, when suddenly one of the wolf demons from the northern tribe came stumbling toward them, suffering from a terrible vertical wound across his chest.. The men ran up to him out of concern, wondering what happened. Kouga tried to hold him up for support, but it looked like the wolf demon wouldn't last much longer, as quarts of blood was profusely running down his wound. He breathed out the last of dying words to the young wolf tribe leader.
"Nnnghhh.... we... stormed... the castle... but... we were caught completely off... guard..." the demon sputtered, blood dripping from his mouth.
"What?! What happened? Who did this to you? What about the others?" Kouga asked desperately and barely taking a breath between each question, as he leaned in closer to hear what the demon had to say.
"Were we attacked... Ughhh... all of us... we were all decimated in one blow, some sort of energy... someone at the castle killed most of us... Nnnghh... don't... know... who..." the wolf demon slowly reached down and took out what looked to be a Shikon jewel shard from his belt, and handed it to Kouga. He coughed up another wave of blood, his eyes becoming hazy.
"Found... this... at the castle... just before we were attacked... Nnnghhh... Hurry... and use this... before everyone else d... dies!!!" the man pleaded. Kouga narrowed his eyes, becoming extremely upset. He gently lifted the man into the arms of another fellow demon, and took a brief look at the shard that he given.
Without even thinking for a second, Kouga inserted the shard into wound in his right arm, and for a moment, he felt a great surge of power rushing through him. The jewel shard increased his strength nearly tenfold, as a purple haze of mist surrounded the shard. All of this combined adrenaline rushing through Kouga's veins only added to his anger, and he was ready to set out to find out what was going on.
"Hey, keep watch over him and help him out!" Kouga said, turning to all of his men.
"But hey, leader! Where are you going!?" Hakkaku asked, puzzled.
"Don't worry about me. I'm going down to the castle to help out the attacking party as best as I can. I'm not about to stand here and let our kind get killed by the asshole who caused this mess! All of you stay here, alright? I'll catch you later!" Kouga said, taking off into a dash that soon turned into a speedy white mini-whirlwind, zooming off into the darkness of the night. Ginta shook his head.
"Man, he can be so reckless sometimes! Maybe we should have all went with him!" Ginta said, still staring in the direction that Kouga ran off in.
"Nah, Kouga will be fine! He told us himself to stay here, and we'd probably all get in the way. I mean, if the whole northern wolf pack was caught in an ambush, who knows what would happen if we all came to the castle also?" Hakkaku responded.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Quick, let's help this guy out before ---- huh!?" Ginta said, as the wounded wolf demon suddenly stood up and had a lifeless stare in his eyes. The blood seeping from his wound was flowing nearly twice as fast, forming a pool of red liquid around his feet.
"Its....... Ughhhh.... too.... late......." the demon said flatly.
"Hey! What's wrong?" Hakkaku asked, unsure of what to do. As soon as he finished his question, he and everyone else witnessed the wound begin to foam and tear in half, causing the wolf demon's upper half of his body to slide off and splat onto the ground. The mere disturbing sight and stink of the dead demon's body caused Hakkaku, Ginta, and the others to turn away in shock and disgust.
"Aghhhhhhhh!!!!" Ginta yelled, his mind flashing to Kouga, who was already miles away from here. "Will... will Kouga make it on his own!? All by himself!?" Ginta thought.
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"Even as fast as the jewel shards in my legs could carry me, by the time I had gotten to Naraku's castle, I was far too late..."
"Oh no... No!!!" Kouga uttered, his eyes wide to the extreme. Upon arriving at the castle, his senses unfamiliar with the new terrain, the young leader had almost stumbled back upon the sight of seeing about thirty members of the northern wolf tribe completely slaughtered in an overflowing ocean of blood and guts, with people of his own tribe laying amongst them. With the apparent dismemberment at an all time maximum, the smell of blood invaded Kouga's sensitive nostrils like a bad plague, refusing to leave until its torturing scent drove him insane.
Never, in all the years Kouga has spent raiding villages and killing anyone who dared to step in his way, had he ever seen so much horror. This was the same horror that he now vowed to no longer cause by his own hands, as the sweet innocence of the young girl he had fallen in love with - Kagome Higurashi - had changed his demeanor. Kouga no longer truly desired to harm others weaker than he and his pack. At first, Kouga could have cared less whenever he would let his wolves feed on the helpless humans after stealing some food and items of value. But now, with seeing his own kind having their lives taken so mercilessly without question, he was even more convinced that what he had previously done for fun, was now wrong by a standard.
Kouga was ready to take his revenge, and the thought of having mercy on the killer never hit him even once. Kouga grinded his teeth hard, his clenched fist raised in front of him. He felt another strong surge shoot through him, which he knew was coming from the shard in his arm. "I can't believe I didn't make it on time... but who could have done this to them all? Who....." Kouga's voice trailed off as he peered deeper into the purple darkness of the courtyard, spotting a lone figure dressed in red and having long white hair, accompanied by a few other people. He didn't have to take a second guess as to who it was.
"Inu... Inuyasha!?" Kouga whispered, surprised to see the dog demon standing directly in the center of the wolf demon corpses, his sword and outfit covered in blood. Inuyasha had the scent of his wolf pack's blood all over him - and immediately, Kouga knew right off the bat that the half demon was responsible for what happened. Kouga's anger shot through the roof as he leapt down from the castle wall.
"INUYASHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kouga screamed, his right fist glowing with a whitish energy field. He zoomed towards Inuyasha, ready to strike him down with a vengeance.
"What ------- Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!" Inuyasha yelled, being struck hard across the face by Kouga. Inuyasha was knocked back a few feet, just before catching himself and landing safely on the ground. Inuyasha gripped his Tetsusaiga, as Kouga stood upright, facing his enemy vigorously. "So it was YOU who did this to my pack!!! I should have known that a dog shit like you would turn around and do something like this to get back at me! For that, I'll kill you and make you die the most painful death your pea sized brain could ever imagine!" Kouga growled, taking another bountiful dash toward Inuyasha.
Inuyasha jumped out of the way of Kouga's attack, which caused a massive burst of energy to erupt onto the ground and form a huge crater where the half demon had previously stood. Kouga kept up a flurry of these Shikon Jewel empowered attacks, but Inuyasha managed to evade every single one of them.
"Just then, that was when that witch Kagura appeared during my scuffle with Inuyasha. She revealed to me that it was all a trick, with Naraku hoping that Inuyasha and I would end up killing each other in our mislead fight. Thanks to her, it was her sorcery that made me think it was Inuyasha that killed my comrades, but in reality it was her..."
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"Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!" Kagura, the Wind Sorceress laughed, slowly approaching Kouga and the injured Inuyasha. "Naraku was right, as always. You truly are an idiot if you were to fall for such a clever trap that easily." Kagura said, holding her white fan in front of her chest.
"And just who the hell are you!?" Kouga said, turning to face Kagura.
"While you may have think you've killed Inuyasha, your foolish barrage has proven you quite weak and gullible to believe everything you see..... Why don't I introduce to you one of my special dances. Namely, the dance of the dead. Oh, what a sight it will be to see you slain by your own fellow wolf demons." Kagura said, waving her large fan across the air.
With one quick motion of her fan, Kagura had used her dark sorcery to revive the dead corpses of the wolf demons. Kouga took a few steps back, realizing that it was Kagura who killed his comrades. As the wolf demons closed in on Kouga, trapping him in a tight circle, the young demon fixated his eyes on Kagura.
"What the!? You're telling me that it was you who killed them??? It makes sense now... with this weird magic of hers to bring their dead bodies back to life, its clear that this bitch was the one who did this... Kagome tried to tell me that it wasn't Inuyasha, but I refused to believe it... Damn it!!!" Kouga said, his body trembling a little. He knew that he would have to live with the shame of mistaking the true killer of his friends for someone else, and it was time that Kouga rectified his wrongdoing by going straight for this mysterious female demon known as Kagura.
Kouga did a spinning kick, knocking away the wolf demons in front of him. He then charged directly for Kagura, ready to strike her down. But in a quick flash, he felt his whole body stop. He tried to move, but for some reason his arms and legs refused to cooperate.
"Wha... what's this!? I can't move!!!" Kouga said, frozen in place. Kagura laughed at the wolf demon's misfortune, opening her fan and hiding the lower half of her face behind the open thin fabric.
"Ha ha ha... Of course you can't. The reason why is because of Shikon Jewel shard in your arm." Kagura said.
"Huh? I don't understand! The jewel increased my strength, so how could it---" Kouga was cut off by Kagura's interruption.
"You fool. The shard implanted in your arm is but a mere fake decoy, made from crystallized miasma, a deadly poison that can quickly make you suffer a slow and agonizing death. Yes, surprising, is it not?" Kagura smirked, watching the emotional despair on Kouga's face.
"What!? Another trick!?" Kouga gasped helplessly.
"And now, this unfortunate little situation you put yourself into provides me with the incentive to finish you off. After I am done carving your pathetic dirty carcass into pieces, Inuyasha will be my next target." Kagura said, her eyes drifting over to Inuyasha, who was still lying inside of the crater that he was punched into by Kouga earlier. Inuyasha's arm was broken, and he was too injured to move. "The perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, if I don't say so myself." Kagura announced, waving her white fan again through the air. Several strong gusts of wind circled around her and swam around the length of the fan, shooting out directly at Kouga. The wind slashes cut Kouga brutally on several places on his body, knocking him down to the ground hard.
"Kyaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!" Kouga cried, his cuts stinging as if he were bit by a snake. Kouga was bleeding all over, the recoil from the attack too powerful to prevent him from dodging another one of Kagura's winds. Also, the fake jewel shard only made the pain twice as worse, as he felt each limb through his body become numb from the miasma poison. He found himself defenseless against Kagura. Blinking more than he could count, his vision had become blurry, with only Kagura's image clear, taking each and every step toward him at a slow pace...
"It all happened in one huge blur. Just when Kagura was about to take the jewel shards from my legs, that was when Kagome had fended her off with her arrows. The next thing I knew, Inuyasha had managed to attack Kagura with that sword of his and eventually Kagome freed me from the poison of the miasma shard by purifying an arrow. Soon after that, I was left alone at the castle, unable to do anything but swear revenge on both Kagura and Naraku for killing my men. It was the least I could do to owe it to Kagome and the others."
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Kouga snapped out of his lost thoughts, once again seeing Hakkaku and Ginta still fighting with each other in the water. It was already close to the afternoon, and he wondered how much time has passed since he started daydreaming. "Hmph, it only seemed like it was morning a few minutes ago. Time sure flies when you're hungry as hell." Kouga said, hopping off of the boulder. He also couldn't help but question how long Hakkaku and Ginta were quarreling.
"You're so damn useless, you know that!!! Man, I don't know what Kouga saw in you to make you his left hand man at all! Boman was twice the better hunter than you'll ever be. It still puzzles me as what you accomplished to get the title you have today!" Ginta yelled while taking some swings at Hakkaku.
"Left is ALWAYS better than right! You of all people should know that! Don't even criticize, because you have the poorest sense of direction I have EVER seen! You were the same one who led us out telling our leader that there we some wild boars out here!" Hakkaku screamed back, ducking and dodging Ginta's punches and kicks. Kouga sighed heavily and shook his head, a vein in his forehead pulsing.
"Hey, you two lunkheads! Its time we got out of here! We've wasted enough hours searching around here!!" Kouga said, waving his arm to the two bumbling buffoons. "I don't even know why I made BOTH of you my left and right hand men. Every time I turn around, you two are either up to some foolishness or you're arguing over something." he said, walking down the rocky path away from the waterfall. Hakkaku and Ginta quickly stopped and followed their leader, still bickering.
"But Kouga, it wasn't my fault!" Hakkaku protested.
"Neither it was mine!" Ginta said. Kouga punched a rock, causing the debris to fly in all directions. Hakkaku and Ginta jumped back in fear, falling into silence.
"Listen, save it, okay!? Forget about finding tonight's dinner. I'm off to continue my search for Naraku. The less restless nights I spend wishing I could strangle his neck, the more I'll better and less agitated. Simply put, you fools, the sooner I find him, the better. So you two can just go back to the den in the mountains while I go off." Kouga ordered, starting to walk back to the forest.
"Hey, Kouga, are you sure about that? I mean, it wouldn't be wise to try and fight on an empty stomach. You might get sick." Ginta said worriedly.
"Yeah, and besides, it really won't be a long trip to the western lands. Might I add, where we ORIGINALLY supposed to go. But we should able to still catch some good healthy meat before the sun goes down, right? So why don't we go back there?" Hakkaku suggested.
"Heh, forget it, Hakkaku. I already have my sights set on finding Naraku's castle, so don't even try to tell me otherwise. Plus, I think I'll stop by a certain group and see how my woman Kagome is doing while I'm at it. Seeing her again is an option I'd highly prefer over stuffing my gut full. Later, gators!" Kouga said, running off into the distance. His body disappeared into a spinning whirlwind as he entered the forest far away, leaving Hakkaku and Ginta behind.
"Um... Kouga?" Ginta called. "Oh, never mind. Its too late now."
"Huh? What's too late? What do you mean?" Hakkaku asked, as Ginta walked back to the side of the river and bent down, sinking his hand into the running water.
"I mean, its too late to tell him I snagged a mighty big fish during our arguement." Ginta said, lifting a large fish that he held tightly in his hand by the fin. The fish flopped around, and Hakkaku's eyes bugged out.
"Ahhhh!!! You mean while you were trying to beat the crap out of me, somehow you caught a fish!? I didn't even notice it, either! Why didn't you tell Kouga before he stormed off?" Hakkaku said. "You idiot! You see what I mean, you can never do anything right. I bet you were the same one who forgot to feed the wolves last week, weren't you?"
"Hey! I forgot okay? Don't get your thong in a bunch! I mean... its not like I intentionally forgot to tell him. Right?" Ginta said, staring at Hakkaku. Hakkaku remained silent for a few moments. He turned and put his hands in the back of his head, whistling softly.
"So... um, do you plan to chase after him and tell him you got some food?" Hakkaku asked casually. Ginta gasped, jumping back with his arms raised.
"WHAT!? Hey, are you kidding me? I may be the guy's right hand man, but I don't have a death wish!" Ginta replied. "Besides, he'd end up taking the biggest share of the fish for himself anyway, so finder's keepers!" Ginta said, walking off with Hakkaku back onto the trail that led back to the mountains.
"Heh heh! Not if a certain little birdie tells Kouga the truth first..." Hakkaku thought, snickering to himself with glee.
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The never ending purple shade of the clouds rained their foul mist upon the grounds of the dreary fortress that loomed in the middle of it. Naraku's castle, its location unbeknownst to many and knowledgeable to few, stood so prominent with an illusion projecting itself to be a reality. The poison miasma was spread across the perimeter of the structure, forming a barrier to conceal itself from would be attackers. But the miasma did allow one person to enter the grounds, as a woman on a large white feather flew through a faintly visible hole within the mist.
It was Kagura, the demon Wind Sorceress. She was the second detachment of Naraku himself, and while every single vessel and vein that had beat within her was the blood of not only hers, but Naraku as well, her motives was different from that of the foul male half demon. However, she had no time to reflect upon her ambition as she landed onto the front steps of the castle and walked through the sliding doors.
Kagura swiftly made her way down the long dark hallways, where she approached the master's quarters. It was there that Naraku quietly sat in the nearly pitch black room, sans for a single candlelight burning brightly at his side. This provided enough light for Kagura to see her master clearly. Kagura took a few more steps into the room slowly, her piercing red eyes flashing. Naraku's evil but serene visage appeared as a reflection in her pupils.
"Kagura... what has brought you back here? Your arrival has come much sooner than I anticipated. I can safely assume that you had detected Inuyasha and his allies as I had requested of you?" Naraku asked, turning his head a little to face Kagura. The orange light from the candle bounced off of Naraku and Kagura's bodies, dancing back and forth in an endless cycle. Kagura tipped her head down a little, trying her best to hold in her violent mannerisms.
"Why, of course, Master Naraku. I've came to inform of some very important news. From what I've gathered not too long ago, Inuyasha has apparently discovered the existence of something called the Ringenkai Plant, a rare little gem of a herb that can be served as an antidote to the poison that Kagome has been infected with. Having dangerous knowledge such as this, Inuyasha would surely hasten the process of finding the plant as soon as possible. Knowing the type of brutish half demon he is, nothing will stand in his way from getting it to save that girl he likes to protect so much." Kagura said softly.
Upon hearing this, Naraku let out a small gasp, the news actually shocking him. His eyes were shaken a bit, but he shrugged it off as not to show any type of emotion relating anywhere close to fear, not around his hated enemies, or even Kagura. Naraku collected himself and turned back to his original direction, gazing into the darkness.
"How irritably annoying to hear all of this. It appears my superior planning has once again been foiled by an unexpected turn of events. I hadn't expected the miasma poison inside the seed of the girl could be so easily countered by the means of a wonder herb. While I can only express my frustration but so much, I have no choice but to continue on with a new plan of my own." Naraku said. "This being turned into a matter I cannot afford to overlook, I now leave you, Kagura, to keep a watchful eye over Inuyasha and the others for the time being. Make it your first priority to make certain that they do not find the location of the Ringenkai Plant."
Kagura no longer could remain silent. Dropping the fan down to her side, she narrowed her eyes, slicing her right hand through the air in a threatening motion to Naraku. "Enough of this! Instead of tending to hide behind ploys, puppets, and influencing others into your control to handle the hardships of your own personal agenda, why do refuse to murder Inuyasha and his party yourself?" asked Kagura, staring Naraku straight in the eye. Her master was clearly annoyed with her useless banter.
Naraku did not respond at first, leaving a heavy silence in the room. Kagura continued, knowing that she held him in a corner. "Why, is it because you are afraid of Inuyasha? Or... could it be that you might not be so highly powerful as you claim to be?" Kagura questioned, gaining the upper hand of the situation. Naraku still did not reply, remaining still on the floor, his eyes unblinking at his own female detachment.
After what seemed like an eternity, Naraku scoffed quietly, closing his eyes and turning away from Kagura again. "Kagura, have you not learned by now? Being the seemingly loyal patsy you are, as a set rule and regulation, you should already be intelligent enough to realize that you should not dare to bite the hand that feeds you. Need I cruelly remind you that I was the one who created you with not the slightest of effort? I can remove you from existence in this pitiful world just as easily in the same manner. As fate would have it, you are a part of me, and as a result you should never think to question my actions nor orders." Naraku warned, his absent gaze falling upon the strange pot that stood on the shelf to his right, with the strange dark object beating inside of it. He put his hand inside the pot, and lifted a small black sphere, holding in his hand the very pulsating heart of Kagura.
"You had best be ill advised that another outburst like that will only bring your one step closer to your death, Kagura." Naraku said. Kagura took a step back, her beautiful face now twisted into an unholy frightful expression. She raised her fan back up against her mouth, attempting to hide her being scared, but Naraku still could tell her reaction from what he just said. Sometimes he loved playing with others' emotions, to watch them cower like lowly peons the moment their death was apparent before their very eyes. Cruelty was only one of the many things Naraku considered to be a fun shenanigan. Whether it was human side or his demon side determining it, no one would ever truly understand what Naraku differentiated between what was proper and what was not, only in his own mind everything was made clear to the world.
".......Y.... yes. I promise not to do anything so foolish again. Forgive me." Kagura pleaded, knocked straight back down to the deep bowels of captivity. Keeping quiet, she said no more, reverting back to keeping her revolting words bottled up on the inside.
"Excellent. Defiance is only restricted to the weak and conquered. Now run along and be a good extension and do as you are told. Take Kanna along with you as you watch over Inuyasha closely." Naraku ordered.
"Yes, master." Kagura said flatly, performing a quick bow and leaving the room, sliding the door shut behind her. She could no longer stand the sight of Naraku, and was glad to have walked through the front doors and leave his unbearable presence and fortress at last. Kagura flew away into the skies on her white feather, exiting through the very same spot in the miasma barrier from where she entered.
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"Tch! My infinite hatred for him knows no bounds! Why has my destiny wrought it upon me to be forced to serve that monster?" Kagura said, riding on her feather high up through the eastern gray skies over a massive land of wide plains. The winds cut through and circumvented around her body, as she willed them aside with her own powers to prevent her from losing any altitude. Kagura was furious with the meaning of her life, seething to the teeth.
"Even though Naraku holds difference between my life and death in his hands, which is my own external heart, no matter how many taunts and threats he chooses to throw at me, I am still able to think upon my own free will. That is one thing Naraku will never be able to control. The mind and spirit of oneself can never be manipulated by the physical actions of another being. I take it that even Naraku knows that, which is why he tries to use my fear of dying as a ruse to keep me under his wing. Having the power to kill me, he would have done it long ago if he was to fear my turning against him. But why does he still prefer to keep me alive?" Kagura said to herself, the winds' being sharper and the climate dropping down to colder temperatures.
"If he cannot do the work of killing Inuyasha, then Naraku is truly a coward deep within the tough exterior he puts out. He claims to have so much power, yet he constantly hides within the darkness of his own abode, splurging in each and every available morsel of power he can steal or muster up. By my own accord, I still cannot help but wonder why he did not kill Inuyasha the last time he had the chance? This was another open opportunity to rid of his enemies but something holds Naraku back. Perhaps it is the desired prolonging of the inevitable he seeks to exploit before he is satisfied with total power, or maybe it is something else. Indeed." Kagura said quietly, her mind wandering with so many questions and no profitable answers.
"But in any case, I should not stress myself with his misdemeanors. I yearn for my own freedom, and the only way that can be accomplished... is if Naraku dies. I don't specifically share concern as for who kills him - but the task must be done, even if I have to pull the strings of everyone involved in this epic battle. Naraku's death and flight to the pits of hell is the only sight I would be so proud to claim bragging rights to have witnessed. I desire not to follow my master's orders - and I would not prefer to harm Inuyasha or any of his associates, as long as it means destruction to Naraku, and for the chains that constrict me to be broken." Kagura said distantly.
About three minutes later, Kagura had come to a stop, and dove down to the open field where the small figure of a young girl waited. The fierce winds blew Kagura's hair and robes aside, and the young girl below seemed to be unfazed by its coldness. Kagura's feather disappeared and attached itself back into Kagura's hair, as she made contact onto the deep grass softly, her bare feet sinking into the green sea. She approached the little girl slowly, giving a little unnoticeable smirk.
"Kanna. So I see Naraku has been playing favorites with his first born, as usual. I gather that he has created a brand new mirror for you." Kagura said, staring down at the girl's mirror, which sported an exotic Japanese design on the outer rim. The glass of the circular mirror, although reflective, seemed to have a whole different reality inside it. The mirror gave off a distinct aura that even Kagura could never decipher, and she wondered what materials were used by Naraku to construct the instrument of terror.
"Yes. A new mirror equals a new and resurrected method to steal the souls of human men." Kanna said, her voice just as flat as Naraku's. Kanna was the very first extension of Naraku, having long white hair that neatly extended down to her waist in the back, with two white flowers pinned to either side of her head. She also wore a sharp white yukata, similar to Kagura's but having not much of a design to it, along with white slippers.
Kanna's appearance was ghost like, where her eyes were nothing but an empty black, her soul being stripped from within. Her pale skin resonated with an illusionary transparency, seeming dead to any normal person. In comparison to Kagura, Kanna appeared to have no soul beneath, and with that, no free will included. With Kagura playing the part of the younger sibling, she had so much more to learn about Kanna. What were the girl's thoughts, were still unknown. Kagura said nothing, still lost in her anger from before. Kanna slowly looked up at her younger sister.
"What is wrong? You act as if you were upset." Kanna questioned. Kagura was surprised that Kanna was so adept at reading emotions. Naturally, she picked that up from Naraku. Kagura shook her head, recognizing the fact that she making herself too obvious, which she didn't want.
"Its nothing. You were just mistaken." Kagura replied softly. Kanna's expression remained unchanged, empty as the heavens in outer space.
"I ask of you again. Is it about our master? Naraku?" Kanna said, sensing Kagura's nervousness. Kagura knew what Kanna was getting at. She wasn't stupid or easy to fool, but Kagura was becoming paranoid that Naraku might be using Kanna to spy on her, and to relay any sort of words that lead to rebellion back to him, albeit giving him a perfectly good excuse to destroy her heart. If she had mentioned a single world relating to plotting against Naraku, her plans would be blown far out of proportion, so Kagura played it silent, not giving her older sister a response to the question.
"And I repeat again, disregard it. Now, onto other matters. We will follow Naraku's orders and follow Inuyasha in order to prevent him from finding any more information on the Ringenkai Plant. I believe I cannot make myself any more clear than that." Kagura said, waving her fan towards her face.
"If that shall be the case, then this means it is a must that Inuyasha be killed." Kanna said. Strangely enough, Kanna sounded as if she was actually sad when she uttered the sentence. Kagura had noticed it, and she began to wonder... did Kanna share the same feelings as she? Perhaps Kanna longed for her freedom as much as Kagura did? It couldn't be possible, for the fact that Kanna has never detracted her own allegiance from Naraku. But as Kagura knew, only time could tell.
"Maybe..." Kagura whispered, staring up at the faint glow of the full moon above. The final gusts of wind harshly blew by the two sisters, marking a chilling conclusion to this night.
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The next morning broke out, and Inuyasha and his friends had continued to travel along to the next village. Kagome was resting against Sango's back, the both of them riding on Kirara's back. Inuyasha, Miroku and Shippo were all walking side by side. Things were different this time however, as the entire group hadn't spoken much amongst each other since last night. The wave of tension was still lingering, and Inuyasha was racked with stress, physically and mentally.
Miroku tapped a pebble on the road aside with the bottom of his staff, being the first to talk. For once, Inuyasha and everyone else was happy to hear that one of them had been brave enough to break the tension that held them down for so long, with Kagome being paralyzed and poisoned.
"Today officially marks the first of the five allotted days. By all means, it is imperative that we find any possible info that may be helpful leading to the location of the Ringenkai Plant." Miroku said.
"Yes, it would be a godsend to us the sooner we know where it is. It'll give us all the time we need to find it in the end." Sango said, holding Kagome's hands around her waist. Kagome was breathing lightly, and not a single word has come out of her since the last battle with Naraku at the village.
"Hey, haven't we been around here before awhile ago? I think we've been down this path." Shippo pointed out, recognizing the lakes and wide crop fields strewn about the hills.
"You're right, Shippo. Kagome and I had came here before, where we met a half demon named Jinenji. This is the same place that was attacked by some demons that were preying on the villagers, and the humans had believed that Jinenji was the one responsible for the murders." Inuyasha said, stopping to take a look at the peaceful lands. He started thinking to himself, where he instantly was hit with an idea.
"What's wrong, Inuyasha? Did you see something that caught your attention?" Miroku asked, also ceasing to stare after his half demon friend. Inuyasha turned back to the others, his arms crossed.
"Heh! You could say that... Now that I think about it, I remember when Kagome and I were searching for herbs when we first came here, Jinenji and his mother were pretty knowledgeable of which herbs were good for medicines and the straight out bad ones to avoid. So are you thinking what I'm thinking? This may mean there's a chance they might know something about the Ringenkai Plant. Well, at least where it could possibly be growing." Inuyasha said, sounding hopeful.
"That's actually a good idea! I mean, seeing how we're close to the place, we should give it a try. At least I hope they might have some useful info for us." Shippo said.
"That makes two of us. Time is of the essence, so we should make haste. Should we not find any leads to the plant, things for us could prove to be twice as difficult as before..." Miroku said, sounding as if he was reluctant to spread any more bad karma to the situation. "As bad as it is, unfortunately we'll have to mentally prepare ourselves for the worst case scenario."
"I sure hope you're wrong about that, Miroku. For Kagome's sake at least." Sango said softly, as the group moved on down the path to the crop fields where Jinenji lived.
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It wasn't long before Inuyasha and his friends found themselves walking up to the small house that stood dormant in the middle of the crop fields, where many herbs were planted by Jinenji, the half demon who was considered inhuman for his unnatural height and size. Just outside of the house, Jinenji could be seen pulling a cart full of fertilizer sacks and shovels. He was hard at work readying the crops for the fall season, and judging from the cold and breezy weather, there was going to be a heavy rainstorm later on.
"Hey, Jinenji! Long time no see!" Inuyasha called out from a distance, waving his hand in the air. Jinenji looked up and saw Inuyasha and waved back in response, smiling. He let go of the cart's handle and stepped up to the arriving group, happy to see them.
"Well, if it isn't Inuyasha. How could I forget the one who has helped prove my innocence to the locals? That is purely an uncanny debt that I owe to you." Jinenji said. Before he had met Inuyasha and Kagome, Jinenji had lived the majority of his life in total fear and discrimination from humans, simply because he shared the blood of a half bred demon and the appearance to further lower the trust of the people who hated him so. But in all of those years, Jinenji has learned time and time again with the guidance of his mother, that the world was filled with the beauty of nature - and that he would only truly find peace if he could find the confidence within himself for who he was on the inside - not on the outside.
Jinenji's appearance was intimidating, for the fact that he had orange skin and was nearly 15 feet tall and had the bulging blue eyes of a fly. But underneath of his muscular and dangerous looking exterior, Jinenji was a kindred yet sad soul with a love for nature and peace. He would never cause harm to even a fly, yet for some his size was easily scared because of the humans that hated him. There were many a night where Jinenji would curl up into the corner of his home while his mother attempted to fend off the intruding villagers, trying to rid the area of the hulking half demon. Jinenji would drown himself in his own tears, wishing infinitely that he was born as a normal human that could live a normal life without being discriminated against for the soul purpose of his existence.
With the nightmare never seeming to end, it had finally disappeared into a void of no return one day when he had met two young people named Kagome and Inuyasha. Much like Jinenji himself, Inuyasha was also a half demon, brave and confident to the core. While Kagome, however, was the first human girl who he could actually converse with. Around her, Jinenji had discovered the long sought after emotion of happiness, which was something he had never experienced before. He was happy because Kagome never showed any signs of fear or disgust. For once, he could be comfortable in his own skin and never worry about being bombarded with hate. From Kagome, he had realized what the fruits of life truly tasted like - and what it was like to enjoy being happy.
And as for Inuyasha, without him, Jinenji would have never gotten the confidence to prove that he could unlock the brevity within himself. One day, a bug demon and her babies were attacking and killing some locals, and the villagers had blamed Jinenji for the murders. However, Inuyasha had found the nest of the bug demon. Soon after the villagers tried to kill Jinenji and his mother in a fit of rage, Inuyasha arrived and helped kill off the baby demons. Jinenji put himself into a struggle with the mother bug, and after a stroke of encouragement from Kagome, Inuyasha, and his mother, Jinenji ended up ripping the demon apart with his bare hands. It was then that it was proven to the villagers that he was innocent, and purely incapable of harming anyone.
After Inuyasha and Kagome left, Jinenji earned the villagers' respect, and it almost seemed as if the world automatically changed. He no longer spent any more nights cowering himself to death, and was not afraid to go outside and breathe the morning air without having rocks or torches being thrown at him. The nightmare had come to an end at last with the chains bound to him broken.
"Eh, think nothing of it. You don't have to owe me anything, so don't worry about it. But we do have some questions we would like to ask you and your mom." Inuyasha said. Jinenji looked down to see an unconscious Kagome on Sango's back, and his face flushed with worry. "Why? What has happened to Kagome? She seems to be deathly sick." Jinenji said, bending down to examine Kagome.
"That is quite the problem, Jinenji. We will explain the whole story once we talk to your mother." Miroku said, motioning to the small house. "I'm afraid it is news you will not like at that."
Just then, Jinenji's mother appeared from the door of the house. The old woman limped over, seeing her son and Inuyasha's group, surprised to see them. "Inuyasha? So, you've come all the way back here? Well, come on in! How is everything lately?" the woman asked. Inuyasha approached her, shaking his head solemnly.
"What? Why you looking so glum? That's a first I didn't expect from you. You're usually looking so tough like you got something stuck up your butt or something." the mother said, raising a frail hand to rub her face. Inuyasha clearly wasn't in the mood for any jokes, as his concern for Kagome grew more and more with each passing minute of the day.
"Hmph... While normally I'd be offended by that, things aren't quite as happy as you'd expect to hear." Inuyasha replied, as the woman ushered him into the house, with Miroku and Sango soon following after.
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"Wow!!! Look at the incredible view from up here! You're so much taller than you seem, Jinenji!" Shippo said, balancing himself on Jinenji's shoulders as he surveyed the fields from a high point view. Kirara was walking alongside Jinenji also, meowing lightly.
"It feels like you're flying, doesn't it? Free as a bird, with no cares in the world." Jinenji smiled, happy to see Shippo laughing, even at a time like this. Meanwhile, Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango were inside the small house, having a quiet talk with the mother. Kagome was laying against Sango's shoulders, her arms braced around the school girl.
The mother was sitting on the floor with Inuyasha, sadly staring at the ground with a plate of food in front of her. Inuyasha had just finished explaining the entire ordeal with Kagome, which is something he wish he didn't have to do for the fact that it only made him twice as upset and angrier than before, although he tried to play it off by not being affected by it.
In the end, though, Inuyasha was doing a terrible job of it, as his true feelings kept coming out with every single word he said. What he was truly worried about now, though, was finding a solution to cure Kagome's poisoning, and he wasn't about to give up until he got some results. With Miroku, Sango, and Shippo right behind him, it was the only thing that continued to give him the confidence to keep on going.
"So, you're telling me that Kagome's been poisoned by a demon? And now she only has five days to live? This is... truly shocking, to say the least." the mother said, nearly speechless when Inuyasha delivered the story. Upon hearing something so horrible happening to a sweet young child like Kagome, it immediately caused her to have a loss of an appetite. What little was left of her dinner was now growing cold, as she had much bigger thoughts to contemplate.
"Yeah... that's about the size of it." Inuyasha said in a low voice. "Ever since yesterday, we've been scourging to find some sort of an antidote to the poison, but even the village's doctor couldn't help. We honestly thought we were going to lose Kagome. Until, however, my retainer Myoga had informed of us a certain plant that might actually help us."
"What's that, you say? It doesn't like you're out of luck just yet. Well, spill the beans. Did you find anything more about this plant?" the mother asked.
"That's exactly why we have come here to begin with." Miroku interjected, leaning against the wall nearby with his staff between his crossed arms. "While Inuyasha's retainer had shared in detail about the origins of the plant and its various uses, we have yet to know the actual location as to where it grows."
"And in addition to that, the plant was previously abundant in many places throughout Japan, but as time went on the weather climates decreased its growth. Its now severely rare in very few locations. That's basically the only thing that's stopping us from moving any further than that." Sango added.
"As much as we'd like to find this plant, the only thing we have no clue to as for where it is. So we were just wondering if you know anything about the Ringenkai Plant at all. At least, we hope you might." Inuyasha concluded.
"That's the name, eh? Rin... genkai..... hmm... I can't recall... While I may have been known to come across all sorts of herbs and plants, this 'Ringenkai' thing doesn't seem to ring much of a bell to me." the mother said, scratching her head slowly. Inuyasha and the others began to frown out of disappointment, until suddenly the mother had a jarring memory come to her.
"Wait! The Ringenkai Plant... I may be old enough be the grandmother of all of you combined, but nothing ever beats an elder's memory!" the mother said, sounding energetic. Inuyasha's ears perked up, and he moved closer to the old woman.
"So, don't keep us in suspense! Stop telling us about how much you remember and tell us what you know!" Inuyasha said eagerly. Miroku and Sango were also anxious to know as well.
"Oh, alright, alright! Hold your horses! Gimme a chance to think here! I couldn't familiarize myself with the name at first, but now I think I'm getting somewhere. Many years ago, approximately ten years after I married my demon husband and not too long before I gave birth to Jinenji, there was a time that I've come down with a nasty influenza due from the cold I was overly exposed to while hiking through the forest." the mother said, the memories of the incident happening all coming back to her as clear as day. She imagined herself sick in bed, her young face brazen with red from her fever.
"I was pregnant with Jinenji at the time, so my getting sick really put a spike in my ability to get around. So naturally I had no choice but to stay home and try to ward off the sickness. But this particular type of flu was not your usual, no siree. Before my husband and I had both realized it, I was literally stuck in bed for at least a week and a half straight, feeling as dead as... well, the dead! I didn't think I would ever recover from it, until my husband had set out to look for some herbs to cure me. He also thought that the sickness' symptoms I contracted were highly abnormal, so he made it his duty by any means to save me." the mother said, picturing another scene of her demon husband leaving the house and setting off into the world.
"At first he had felt guilty for leaving me all alone, but even I knew if I were to get better, he would have to try to help me by any means necessary. And he did... after losing all hope, it literally felt that I was going to lose my life to a mere flu, as strange as it sounded. Until one day, after waiting for him for nearly a week, my husband had come back to me holding a special plant in his hands. He soon ground it up and fed me the remains, while telling me that he had discovered the plant somewhere in the mountains, following a long string of directions from a group of travelers he happened to walk upon while up in the northern lands. To think that he had gone for seven days just to save me, had made my heart melt and I was akin to love him even more than I did when I first met him. The plant had done wonders, and had cured my ailments in less than a mere amount of minutes. I had felt twenty years younger, even while pregnant, I felt like a newborn baby ready to take on the trials of the world once again." the mother said, thinking of her husband. She blushed to herself, wishing that he was still with here today. She opened her eyes to see Inuyasha staring at her, as if he was hit by a 2 x 4. He suddenly burst out laughing a little, unable to contain himself.
"Bwaaa ha ha ha ha!!! If the plant could do something like that to make you feel so young, you definitely could use a dose of the plant NOW, looking the way you do!" Inuyasha remarked rudely. The old lady jumped up, shaking her fist at the half demon.
"HEY!!! I'll have you know that with or without some fountain of youth, I'm still up to par even in my late eighties!!!!! Just because I'm old that doesn't mean most men would still find me to be a stone cold fox!" the mother argued back, with spittle flying from her mouth.
"The Ringenkai Plant could also cure her being delusional..." Miroku thought, a big sweat drop rolling down the side of his head. Sango shook her head, probably thinking the exact same thing. Inuyasha took a heavy sigh and slapped his knee, annoyed.
"Look, I've had enough of reminiscent romantic love stories from the stone age!!! Would you just PLEASE tell us where the hell we can find this plant so we can move on with our lives? I'm getting a fucking cramp in my ass just sitting here staring at this claustrophobic shanty you call a home." Inuyasha irritably said. The mother was angry and wanted to sock the ungrateful little brat with a eighty year old senior punch, but she decided to let it go. She sat back down and groaned.
"Fine, fine. Alright, I'll tell you what you want to know. But after this I want you out of here! Jinenji and I still have some crops to plant, and you're taking up my time." the mother said returning back to deep thought while holding her hand against her chin. "Now, if I recall correctly, I asked my husband some questions about the Ringenkai Plant, and at most he's told me he had found and taken it from up north, far high up somewhere in the icy cold mountains in the valley of Harunai. But it is a very, very far travel to that place from here. I was quite surprised myself such a plant was able to grow in an area with such freezing temperatures, but I guess you could say that is one of the many wonders of it." the woman said.
"Harunai? Hmm, I've never heard the name before. Nor for the fact that any of us have been anywhere that far in the north lands." said Miroku.
"Well, actually, I did hear of Harunai once, Miroku. From my father, specifically. I remember him telling me once about Harunai valley having a huge mountain range laced with ice caps, and that it has a very cold climate and it constantly snows there as if it were wintertime all around. In the very center of the range lies a place called Mount Harunai, and there have been legends telling of its godly height stretching to that of the heavens. Many travelers tried to climb it, but few survived its harsh weather." Sango said.
"Well, if that's where the last of the Ringenkai Plants still grow, then I'm going to do all I can to get it, for Kagome's sake. I know there's a chance that the plant might not even be there at all, but we all have to take that risk if we're going to save Kagome before the fifth day arrives. And then... once Kagome is healed, that is when I will set out to find Naraku and slay him for good." Inuyasha said, his eyes burning wildly.
"Inuyasha, you're not alone. Don't forget we're all in this together, and by all means, we're going to help out to find this plant. I'm definitely determined to do this task." Sango said, staring sadly down at Kagome.
"I agree as well. All in all, it is perfectly understandable, seeing as you want to save the one you love." Miroku said, his eyes closed.
"WHAT!?" Inuyasha jumped up, blushing. "Say that again, monk! I dare you! I'm not in LOVE with Kagome or anything like that! Its just a mutual way I'm expressing! Hell, wouldn't you do the same goddamned thing if any of US were in danger? What's wrong with some friendly acceptance!?" Inuyasha protested, clenching his teeth.
"Well, not that I'm getting at anything, but you're certainly bad at masking your true feelings!" Miroku shook his head, laughing while fending off Inuyasha's attacks.
"Ah, I knew it. Young love. Exactly the kind of thing I went through when I was young." the old woman said to herself, smiling a little.
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Meanwhile, in the village that was only a mile away from the house where Inuyasha and his friends were, a small group of men were working hard on the crop fields. One man grunted loudly, swinging a hoe and raking up the dirt from the ground, creating a small hole. One of the other men stopped digging and took a break, wiping his sweaty forehead with a blue cloth. He sighed and looked up at the sky, narrowing his eyes.
"Hey, did you notice that the sun seemed to have went down early today? Its not even anywhere close to the afternoon yet, unless my mind is slipping and we were working out here way longer than we were supposed to." the man said tiredly, leaning on his rake. The first man continued to dig, lifting up a big clump of soil and dirt and heaving it off to the side.
"Heh, that'll actually be a good thing. So don't complain. Take a look at the clouds." the first man nodded upwards. "We haven't gotten a good amount of rain to water the crops in quite some time, leaving us to do all the hard work and pull out the dry plants. To be honest, I'm sick of doing this. I'll welcome the rain gladly if it'll prevent us another week's worth of digging this stuff up. Besides, it'll do us good for the next harvest. Those tomatoes we grow have a mean kick to their taste this time of year."
"I'd hate to burst your bubble there, but I'm not so sure either." a third man said across from them, who was planting tomato seeds with his gloved hands. "I'd have to agree for the fact that its unusually dark for this time of day. We were only out here for six hours since the sun broke out, but I just find it strange that rain could come so early." he said, stopping what he was doing and turning to look at the trees.
Just then, the clouds above had turned into a dark shade of gray, and the sunlight upon the fields had disappeared entirely. Immensely strong gusts of wind had also started to blow, attacking the trees and causing their branches to rustle hard. The winds were so powerful that the branches began to snap right off due to its intensity, and what was once warm weather had transformed into a phantom like chill. A certain gothic like wave immersed itself over the area, and the men that were working had stopped, realizing that something was wrong.
"This is getting even more strange now! This might be leading up to a bad thunderstorm! The winds out here aren't no joke!" one of the men called out, some gardening supplies flying off into the air from the gusts. Just then, a loud painful cry was heard in the distance.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" a man yelled out in the distance, immediately grabbing the attention of everyone else.
"Wh... what was that? Did someone get hurt?" the first man asked. "Come on, let's go! He may need our help!"
The three men all rushed towards the direction of the cry to the very next field, only to find one of the older workers lying dead on the ground in a pool of cold blood, with large streaks of bleeding cuts all over his body. The pupils of his eyes were blank, giving off a deadly stare to the approaching men, and his face frozen in fear.
"What the!? Its Chang! My lord, it looks like he's been brutally slashed to death!" the second man said, his body shaking uncontrollably at the sight. "W... who could have done this to him!? What the devil is going on here!?"
As soon as he finished his sentence, his question was answered by the sudden yells of other men being killed around the fields, their screams joining together in a deadly symphony of overtures. Out of nowhere, the three men were all surrounded in a deep misty fog, no longer able to even see but as little as three feet ahead of them, their visibility drastically decreased.
"Is everyone ok--- AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" the second man screamed out loud, the pure flow of blood being heard splashing down onto the ground.
"Hey!!! Where did all of this fog come from!? What happened to the others!?" the third man said. "Hello!?! Hel---- URKKKKKK!!!!!!!!" the man uttered his last words as he felt a flurry of sharp objects puncture every aorta of his body, killing him instantly. He tumbled onto the dirt ground, drenched in blood and dead to the world before him.
"What the....??? Where is everyone?!?!" the first man called out. Only he was left alive and alone, his fear raising to new heights. His heart was beating far faster than he could count, and every last nerve he had remaining in him were all shot to the point of being so numb he could no longer know what it was like to experience any kind of escape from an inevitable death. While he may have not known what was happening, he no longer cared, for his only thought was to leave the fields.
He screamed in terror as he broke out in a blind run into the fog that encased him, stumbling and almost tripping over the dead bodies of his fellow workers. But he didn't get very far, neither did his cries for help succeed in saving him. Banging his right foot onto the same hoe he was using earlier, he fell face first into the soil, also impaling his stomach onto an upraised pitchfork. "AUGHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
The man's eyes bulged out, as he felt the tongs of the pitchfork rip through his intestines, the blood running down his worn robes. "H... help.... meeeeee....." the man coughed up a considerable amount of blood, nearly choking as he struggled to say those last words. It was then that two figures appeared before him, standing silently still.
The man desperately reached out his hand, thinking that these two people have heard his plea. "He... help!!!"
However, he was only answered back by a soft female laugh. "Ha ha ha!!! My, my, how sad. I'm thoroughly disappointed that the man last standing had been so idiotic enough to be the cause of his own death in a mere panic of confusion. Too bad, though it does save me the guilt of having killed you myself." the woman said, appearing out of the mist. It was Kagura of the Wind, accompanied by the second smaller figure beside her known as Kanna of the Void. Both of the sisters were fully visible from the mist, staring down at the dying man.
"N... no!!! Noooo!!!" the man said weakly, knowing that they might have been the cause of his friends' deaths. He attempted to try to pull himself off of the pitchfork, but it was far too deeply lodged within him, and deep down, he knew it was all pointless in the end. Kagura smirked, holding her white fan to her face. Kanna quietly held her mirror in her hands, the reflective glass glowing vividly as it was absorbing the souls of the dead workers in clusters.
"Poor fool. Put yourself through less pain and make it easier on yourself to accept your death. But do not fear, for your soul is about to move on to a better place... trapped in the confines of darkness forever, serving to our command for eternity. Your fate is sealed." Kanna said with no emotion, tilting the mirror towards the man. Kagura raised her fan and swung it, delivering a last slash of wind that had decapitated the bound man.
"ARRGHHHHH----ACKKKKK!!!" the man's head flew off into the mist, and his body slumped forward against the pitchfork, a nonstop geyser of blood shooting out from his neck. Kagura giggled uncaringly as Kanna played her part by absorbing the blue soul entrail that left the man's dead body into the mirror. Kanna then lowered the mirror to her side, the glass' shine dimming. She stared forward into the white fog, unblinking.
"I have taken the souls of everyone in the fields and the village. The mirror calls for more souls of the suffering... its only satisfaction for power." Kanna said. Kagura rose her hand and waved it through the air, flicking her fan closed. She smiled evilly, not paying too much concern for what her older sister had to say.
"Whatever the case, Kanna." Kagura replied. "It will not be much longer before Inuyasha and his allies come by this place, and by that time, they are in for a rude awakening... as they will surely die at the hands of the undead." Kagura said, both she and Kanna slowly disappearing into the fog clouds. Once again the dead whispering winds Kagura controlled at her own will blew by in a torrential fashion, joining in unison with the outbreak of an adjoining rainstorm.
The End of Chapter 6.