Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale
The Ringenkai Plant
Chapter 8: The Rescuer in Wolf's Clothing
Kagura's plan had come to an unexpected screeching halt, and she didn't like one bit of the situation at all. Time and time again she felt the heavenly dream that was freedom slip right out of her soft malevolent hands thanks to fate conspiring against her every move. She was trapped with no place to turn yet she continued to suffer living with the smaller glitter of hope that one day she would be able to live the normal life of a woman. A woman that was a demon underneath, but a woman still nevertheless.
And here she was, facing her latest opponent who had literally came storming in to save Inuyasha and his friends from certain doom. Kouga, the leader of the wolf demon tribe, stood poised before her as if he was about to prey on a lost little fawn in the woods looking for its mother. But Kagura didn't know the meaning of fear as she felt that things were still in the green for her. She rose to her feet while clenching her fan tightly, ready in a minute to attack her enemies as if they so much as moved an inch of a muscle.
Kagura's eyes shifted momentarily to her older sister, who remained still at her left. Kanna's eyes were narrowed and she appeared to be upset, her pale hands balled into fists at her sides. But evidently she showed no signs of anything else. Kagura's attention returned to Kouga.
"So Kouga, I see that you're blinded with rage as usual. That's to be expected of you, the typical personality of low class demon rubbish. Needless to say it disgusts me to know that I haven't had the time to make room for a seventh grave. But if you want to join your little acquaintances in death that badly, then I believe that I'm more than willing to do just that." Kagura said softly, her bravery unfazed by the sudden appearance of the young leader.
"Hmph. Talk all you want, Kagura. Anything and everything that comes out of your mouth is just a bunch of nonsense I don't really care for. Either way this day will be ending with me claiming your bloody head to hang up on my cave walls for my fellow pack to feast on when they're feeling hungry." Kouga remarked, cracking his knuckles loudly as the wind blew his pony tailed past his face. The rich black hair tickled his right cheek without abandon, and his eyes continued to be brazen with the mixed emotions of frustration and anger toward the woman who stood in his path.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha and the others looked on at the small banter between Kouga and Kagura. Miroku slowly felt some of his energy returning to his body as the Saimyoushou's poison that circled through his arms and partially his body was wearing thin. He knew if he had accidentally absorbed more of the insects than he originally did, he would probably have had another fearful brush with death.
"Miroku, can you still move?" Sango asked, her own energy back to full strength because of her soul being returned to her body earlier. She helped the monk up again, her brown eyes filled with deep concern.
"Yes, I'm fine for now. Thanks, Sango. The poison is still inside me but its nothing threatening. Had I drawn my rosary much later than my fate would be a most fatal one." Miroku tiredly breathed, as he walked over to Inuyasha's side. Shippo and Kirara soon joined with them, with poor Kagome still slung over the feline's back.
"Shippo! Kirara! Are you alright too?" Sango turned to her other friends, bending down to pet Kirara's furry head. Kirara growled lightly in response, and Shippo was rubbing his head and back.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But... what just happened!? I thought we were nearly about to have our souls taken away from us, so why are we still alive?" Shippo said, until he looked up and saw what was going on. His eyes bugged out in response and his arms began to flail all about. "Whoa!!! Kouga!? What's HE doing here!? Did he come to help us fight Kagura?"
"Whatever your interpretation is, that's about the size of it. Although knowing this joker he's just come to play the fake hero he is just to gain some credibility. Who asked him to come here, anyway? This was my fight until he arrived." Inuyasha answered, clearly upset.
"Inuyasha, he just saved all of our lives. Whether it was intentional or not, this is one time we should be grateful that he came over here at the right time. You can't go on and not admit that we were all on the losing end just a few minutes ago." inputted Sango. All Inuyasha could do was respond with a low growl.
"Who gives a damn about who saved who? I'm not going to stand around and let Kouga take center stage. A fight is still a fight, and I'm going to finish it, I'll tell you that much." Inuyasha leapt off to where Kouga and Kagura were. Sango shook her head for the dog demon's misguided denial.
"Try to negotiate with stubbornness..." Sango stopped herself when she looked over and took note that while Kagura and Kouga were talking, Kanna had used the distraction to back her way towards a small glint of light a few feet away.
"Wait a second, what is Kanna doing? Oh no!" Sango gasped, her eyes widened. "She's going after the mirror Kouga kicked out of her hands! We can't let her recover it!"
"What!? We have to stop her! We can't let Kanna use the mirror on us again, or else we'd be all finished!" Miroku said, about to make a dash for it. But instead Sango grabbed her Hiraikotsu and went ahead of him.
"HIRAIKOTSU! HAAAA!!!" Sango yelled, chucking the weapon into the air. The Hiraikotsu swerved through at a wide 180 degree angle as it cut right past Kanna. Kanna's mouth opened in an o of surprise as she witnessed the Hiraikotsu slam hard into her mirror, shattering it to hundreds of glass and metal pieces.
Kanna tumbled to the ground, her face reverting back to containing no human emotion. She breathed softly as she watched her mirror lay in the barren grass broken into a field of reflective shining glass. "The mirror... has been destroyed." she said aloud, watching the transparent streams of the villager's souls she had taken much earlier after Kagura had killed them. Since the bodies of the villagers were annihilated beyond recognition, the souls officially had no place to return to, floating upwards into the lightly miasma filled sky.
Meanwhile, Kouga and Kagura started to fight, with the wolf demon dashing at an incredible speed directly at his target. Large trails of dust kicked up at the back of Kouga's feet, marking deep skids on the soil as he ran by.
"Ryaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!" Kouga yelled fiercely, being the first to throw an utmost powerful punch at Kagura. However, Kagura swiveled out the way with the grace of a white swan's song, narrowly avoiding the attack at the last possible second. The result of Kouga's miss ended up creating a large tremor quake on the ground, as his fist created a mini dirt explosion. The aftershocks of the tremor extended their reach and barreled at Kagura.
"Oh, you're fast. I'll grant you that, but you're no match for my deadly winds! Haaaaa!!!!" The aftershocks were also just as easily evaded by Kagura, with her returning the favor by waving her fan and throwing three wind blades. Kouga saw the blades coming in from his left, and quickly performed a double back flip out of harm's way as the blades cut down a few trees.
"Hraaaaaaahhhhh!!!" Kouga groaned with might, bouncing off of the trunk of another tree and diving right back at Kagura with his fist extended. His dive was so fast that the downforce of the wind that passed by his body created some sort of a tornado around his entire fist, then moving on to encircle his entire body. It almost seemed as if his rage increased the strength of his attacks, but it wasn't nearly enough to catch Kagura with a direct hit.
"Is that all the power you possess? Come now, I expected more out of you, Kouga. But if you're going to market nothing but ignorance behind all of that anger as a front, then why bother rushing to your death? Oh well. It will only make it the more sweeter to see the delicious sight of your body being torn to little pieces by the razor sharp winds I can create." Kagura mocked, moving out of Kouga's path again as he flew by with the speed of a torpedo.
"Shit! I can't believe I missed such a clear shot! Who could have guessed that bitch could have been any more skilled in combat as the same level as Naraku?" Kouga thought, grinding his teeth. He bombed himself onto the ground sending up another huge wave of debris, skidding into a crouch and instantly spinning around to reface Kagura.
Kouga ran at her again, this time using his speed to transform his whole body into a spinning tornado. Kouga himself was barely a blur as the high velocity of the winds coiled around him like a snake. The torrential hazard was moving to the demon maiden without mercy, and Kagura smirked to herself in a conceited fashion, unfettered by the oncoming danger.
"Still you come at me with the same tactics. Have you learned nothing as of yet? Well this will be the last mistake you will ever make!" Kagura swung her fan five times in succession, creating yet another group of wind blades which shot straight for Kouga
"I HIGHLY DOUBT THAT, WENCH!!!" Kouga yelled, slamming into the first blade and deflecting it the side and destroying a house. The second and third blades however, were successfully blocked and deflected but it slowed Kouga down as the last two blades came at him too fast. Kouga countered it by ducking down and sliding right between the blades, still maintaining his tornado form.
"Hmm, predictable to the last movement! You're nothing but a ridiculous joke!" Kagura laughed, jumping far off to the right for another evasion. Kouga's heart nearly skipped a beat when he realized that he missed Kagura again.
"BLAST IT!!! I can't attack her dead-on no matter what! She'd have to be somehow diverted long enough for me to make an attack on her without her predicting every single one of my moves!!! Useless..." Kouga thought, cursing silently to himself. However, a raised eyebrow was apparent on the young wolf's face as he saw a projectile head straight at Kagura from behind while she was still in the air.
"BLADES OF BLOOD!!!" Inuyasha yelled. Kouga's point of view switched to Inuyasha standing there, a small bloody open wound appearing on the right side of his chest. Inuyasha's hand was drenched with his own blood, as he used to it send sharp blades of the red liquid at Kagura.
"What!?" Kagura said, slowly turning around as she saw Inuyasha's Blades of Blood crash directly into her shoulder and arm, violently slashing her. "AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Kagura yelled in pain. A ripping sound accompanied by the gushing of blood could be heard as Kagura plummeted backwards onto the ground, and the top left half of her kimono was severely cut apart. Fresh demon blood rained down her side like the moderate trickle of a river, and her breathing was dying to catch back up to its normal rhythm.
Inuyasha stood his ground, his wound not affecting his ability to fight. He held his Tetsusaiga defensively, walking out into the middle of the field.
"What was that about turning your back on your enemy, Kagura? You should have watched what you were doing when you made the grave error of trying to deal with this poor excuse for a sheep in wolf's clothing. If you hadn't been so cocky and confident in your abilities, you probably wouldn't be on the ground looking as pitiful as you do right now." Inuyasha commented, wearing a dead serious expression on his face.
"Uhhh.... Nnnghhh.... Damn you....." Kagura said, squinting while trying to stand up. "Who would have... thought that you'd be the one to hit me from behind. How admittedly clever of you..." Kagura said in a very low voice.
Kouga landed right beside Inuyasha, a scratching noise made from the gravel he skid on. "Hey, I had it, okay? I didn't even ask for your help, you stupid dog shit!" Kouga said angrily, his blue eyes flashing. Inuyasha sniffed softly, glaring right back at Kouga in the eye.
"You're one to talk, fuckhead. Why don't you do us a favor, run back to the filthy piece of crap you call a home and back the hell off. It was US who were doing just fine before you showed up. Why brag about how high and mighty you are when you can't even stand a decent chance in a fight? Try using your brain more during a fight instead of acting like an ass, you might actually win a battle for once in your life." Inuyasha shot back.
"Listen, the only reason why I even came here was because I happened to be searching for Naraku this whole time out in the wilderness. And who do I find? I found the sickening scent of Kagura leading way out to this very spot. I refused to rest until I extracted my revenge on the broad for what she did to my brothers." Kouga replied, dusting off his armor.
"Hmph. What well thought out logic." Inuyasha said sarcastically.
"Not only that..." Kouga continued. "After picking up on you and the others' scents, I wanted to see Kagome. You've been taking care of my woman, right? You better have or else I'll be dealing with you soon after I finish killing Kagura."
"What the hell!?" Inuyasha said, a sweat drop rolling down his forehead. "For your fucking information, dumbass, Kagome is NOT your woman. First of all she wouldn't even come close to being insane enough to even CONSIDER having eyes for your mangy wolf behind. While she's not around to tell you that herself, I'll be glad to take you on after this fight. Although obviously the ending result will be quite different with me killing you instead." Inuyasha said in a pissed off tone.
"What!? What the hell do you mean? Not around!?" Kouga said, confused.
"Just shut the hell up and stand aside while I defeat Kagura. I don't have time to explain first grade English to you." Inuyasha said, turning back to the task at hand.
"Heh! Same to you, mutt face!" Kouga replied, drawing himself back to Kagura as well.
Meanwhile, Miroku and the others were watching along, unsure of the outcome.
"I know while Inuyasha and Kouga seem to still have this rivalry thing going on, especially over Kagome, but if they start fighting at a time like this then they both could get hurt! Kagura isn't actually down for the count just yet, you know!" Shippo said worriedly.
"If they continue to fight like this then it will simply distract them from concentrating on the greater importance which is the battle itself. If things get too out of hand then we're going to have to assist Inuyasha." Miroku said, gripping his staff.
"Placing two hotheaded and arrogant demons in the same boat is bound to have its problems, but we don't want the worst to happen at this rate. Kouga could barely hit Kagura himself, but if he and Inuyasha both work together then they stand an excellent chance. Kanna won't pose much of a problem without her mirror at that." Sango said, her eyes drifting over to Kanna who still remained in the same spot, motionless as time itself.
Inuyasha and Kouga stood side by side, tense as Kagura pulled herself off from the ground. She held her still bleeding wound with one hand, and her fan grasped in another. Despite the odds being against her at this point, she remained steadfast and strong, refusing to falter.
"Heh heh heh!!!" Kagura giggled.
"What the hell is so funny?" Inuyasha asked enraged. "Got a bad case of the giggles or something? Because I'm downright awfully sick of it."
"My laughter... is only associated with the fact that the both of you are acting like spoiled little children. And children shouldn't be so brash as to fight over their toys. That will only lead to your downfall." Kagura said softly. "While its a major setback that Kanna's mirror is now broken, nevertheless I will defeat you regardless of what Naraku originally ordered me to do."
"Regardless of what he ordered her to do? Does this mean Kagura had something else up her sleeve when we first came here instead of aiming to take our lives?! Other than the sacred jewel shards we have..." Inuyasha wondered in his mind.
Kagura raised her fan and waved it downward to the ground, causing a simple wave to scatter across the entire width of the field. "My Dance of the Dead will be the beginning of the end to this grand finale." Kagura said, watching the mystic wind automatically resurrect all of the dead villagers. The rotting corpses of the men and women all slowly rose up, their bodies reanimated and poised to attack. Kagura forced the undead on Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kirara.
"Arghhhh!!! Here we go AGAIN!" Shippo said out of annoyance. Miroku and Sango stood back to back, while Kirara and Shippo held their protective ground for the unconscious Kagome.
"I've quite had it with Kagura's games myself, but if we want to survive then we're left to do some serious hack and slash this time around." said Miroku.
"Inuyasha! Kouga! Handle Kagura! We'll take care of the undead!" Sango called out, as she rolled forward and used her sword to decapitate a few of the stumbling zombies. Miroku spun his staff in an arc and cut a number of the pursuers in half, while Shippo used his spinning top and Fox Fire to take care of the enemies on his end. Kirara rammed into any of the undead that threatened to harm Kagome.
"Don't worry, I've got it covered! Be careful!" Inuyasha responded back.
"Enough of this, let's finish this fight now!" Kouga said, storming off towards Kagura.
"Hmph. So be it. I don't mind having a little bit more fun with you two while I draw the last curtain upon this stage of bloodshed. Haaaaaa!!!!" Kagura switched her fan to her other hand and started a multitude of furious wind slash attacks at her enemies, covering the entire field with a seemingly impassable force. Kouga's speed however, was a qualified match no matter how much Kagura could throw at him.
"I know your pattern now, but I'll guarantee you won't be catching me on the wrong end this time!" Kouga said, mixing up his dashes by zooming from left to right. Thanks to this new method he managed to avoid every single one of the blades that Kagura had created. Taking bountiful leaps in between, Kagura took one last huge jump just before one of the blades hit him. Kagura backed up in surprise at Kouga's amazing ferocity.
"What?!?! I can't believe that he's moving twice as fast this time around..." Kagura said, with energy lines zooming past her out of astonishment.
"I got you this time!!! HAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" Kouga yelled, as he did a spinning kick directly into the side of Kagura's face, sending her flying hard directly into the open doors of a nearby house. Her body crashed through at least three walls before she lay finally still. The left side of Kagura's face consisted of a nasty gash with blood caked all over it. Half of her kimono was ripped off near the back, revealing the grotesque spider scar etched onto her back. The same scar that Naraku himself had also shared.
"Ughhhh.... This... is not over yet!!!" Kagura moaned, not letting her fatigue getting the best of her. Her second wind came in as she burst forth with a blast of wind from her fan, making a dramatic explosion from the house directly back at Kouga.
Inuyasha barreled in from behind Kouga, moving close to the wolf demon's speed. "I won't even think to let you get all of the credit for winning this one. Didn't I tell you to back off earlier!? What are you, deaf!?" Inuyasha argued in mid-air.
"Don't know what you're talking about, mutt face! I'm not attempting to win a contest to see who's more popular! Gyahhhhhhh!!! Heads up!!!" Kouga said at a fast pace, dodging Kagura's fan swipe the moment she emerged from the house. While Kouga was unscathed, unfortunately Inuyasha hadn't seen it coming and was struck by the blow in the arm. The wind blade shot up into the air and carried Inuyasha along with it.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!" Inuyasha cried out, landing on his feet and breaking his fall. "Shit, thanks to Kouga's constant jumping all over the place I didn't get a good opening to attack Kagura myself. Should have known he would do something so stupid just to claim a worthless prize of pride. I'm going to have to take matter into my own hands soon enough if he keeps doing this." uttered a frustrated Inuyasha.
"Curse you for interfering!!!" Kagura yelled in anger, blocking Kouga's rapid flurry of punches with her fan. One of Kouga's punches had a recoil so strong that it actually pushed Kagura back a good distance away, causing a small crack to appear on the base of her fan. Kouga stopped and scowled at Kagura with the most historical glare of hatred anyone could have ever seen.
"Kagura. I've only dared to interfere with your plans not only because I ended up helping out Inuyasha and the others, but to relinquish in the moment that I get the chance to spill your blood. Just like you did to my comrades. By the time I'm through with you you'll be nothing but a dead rotting corpse similar to the ones you like to command so much." Kouga accused.
"Oh? Do you even care to back up such a nonsensical statement? You're just as weak as your allies were if you had fallen so easily to my sorcery just as they did. To call yourself the leader of a pathetic wolf tribe is an absolute joke if you have yet to take upon that vow of revenge. While you're busy gallivanting on your pointless rampages, I've simply led Inuyasha here to extract information that's best left confidential to your ears... although the gist is - Naraku intends to have all of die, starting off with the young girl Kagome." Kagura said coldly.
"WHAT!?" Kouga asked, running at Kagura and grabbing her by her blood soaked collar. He slammed her against the ground and withdrew his sword, holding the tip of the blade to her neck. He raised it in the air, ready to strike. "To insult me and my entire tribe... I don't know what you've done to Kagome, but get ready to die the worst possible death you can ever imagine!!!" Kouga lowered the blade, but Kagura only smirked back in response.
"Just like a wolf led straight to the trap set up for him. You've fallen right into my coaxing! Again, you are too predictable for words!" Kagura said weakly.
"What!? What are you talking about, you wench?" Kouga was confused again, as Inuyasha turned to his right and saw that Kanna had been aiming her mirror at the wolf demon from behind.
"What the!?!" Inuyasha was shocked. "But I thought Sango destroyed it! It must another one of their stupid tricks to fool us! HEY, KOUGA! WATCH YOUR BACK!!! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!" Inuyasha yelled at the heated wolf. But it was just two seconds too late, with Kouga snapping his head around too see himself being shot with Kanna's mirror.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!" Kouga screamed. Kanna rubbed the rim of her supposedly replaced mirror, neither enjoying the moment nor taking pity on the actions she was undertaking.
"You were a fool to underestimate us. Now it is time you will pay the ultimate price..." said Kanna in a flat tone. Miroku and Sango were fighting off the last of the undead until Shippo checked up on Inuyasha and the others.
"Gah!!! Um, guys? I hate to the bearer of bad news, but... Kanna has her mirror back!" Shippo gulped, throwing his spinning top on the head of a zombie and grinding a hole into its skull.
"There's no way that could have happened? I clearly used my Hiraikotsu to shatter it into pieces!" Sango curiously queried, stopping once she killed the last undead.
"We've seen it for ourselves, but this must have been another ploy set up by Kagura! I don't know how to explain it myself, but this battle has to end fast or else one of us won't make it with this kind of constant trickery occurring." Miroku said.
Meanwhile, Kouga fell down to his knees as he felt his soul being slowly sucked out of him. The blue energy field held him in a stasis where he could barely move. No matter how much Kouga struggled there was nothing he could do to break out. Kagura slipped out from under Kouga's weakened grasp.
"Ha ha ha! Another entrapment blindly taken for granted. While it appeared that Kanna's mirror was destroyed not too long ago, what you saw was real. However thanks to Naraku's power, Kanna now holds a mirror with the power to reassemble itself no matter how many times it can be broken. This specific mirror's special ability is only strengthened and made capable by the miasma surrounding us, which leads to another plus in our favor." Kagura said. The same miasma that she spoke of blew past her gently, echoing the sound of Kouga's screams.
"Damn... it.... Nnnghh!!!" Kouga breathed. At that moment, he heard a roaring storm behind him. He turned to his left to see Inuyasha surrounded in an aura of cyclone like wind, holding his Tetsusaiga in front him as he rushed for Kanna.
"I've had enough of this crap! Its beyond time that I took back control of the situation!" Inuyasha said, seeing Kanna's wind aura colliding with his as plain as day. He jumped up and slashed his sword into the collision's fissure, and a big flash of light exploded across the field. "KAZU NO KIZU!!!!!" Inuyasha yelled. The Tetsusaiga created the usual five powerful streaks of pure energy that drilled into the ground and brutally knocked Kanna away like a rag doll.
"AYYYYYIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" Kanna cried out amongst the flying rocks. She slammed into the trunk of a tree and the mirror flew out of her grasp. Blood gushed out of her mouth from the impending impact and spilled over the front of her yukata. The light from the Kazu no Kizu made it impossible to see where the mirror exactly landed, but this in turn saved Kouga from the soul stealing demon girl.
"YEAH! Did you see that? Inuyasha just rushed in and swatted Kanna away like a fly! If it wasn't for him Kouga would have been finished." Shippo cheered happily.
"Yes, while that may be true, let's hope that Kouga doesn't continue to act recklessly and end up turning the tides of battle in reverse. Inuyasha wants to finish this battle just as much as any of us, and Kouga is only making the dangers more apparent by getting in the way." Miroku commented.
Kouga was released from the energy hold and hit the ground, grunting loudly. Kagura's tolerance of the battle was higher than normal, and she could no longer contain her composure. She angrily blew Kouga's body away with a wind blast from her fan, her face twisted with bloody cuts, hatred and agony.
"Inuyasha... just when I thought that he could not become more of a pain, he screws things up yet again!" Kagura said, trying to stay level-headed. "I can't let this battle drag on any further than it already has. Now that Kanna's usefulness is expired, I have no choice but to end this on my own."
Kouga slid against the ground and halted right next to Inuyasha, who just gave his rival a nasty stare of disgust.
"You know, you're a real idiot for rushing Kagura like that and not even watching your rear. You're lucky I came in to save your butt just in the nick of time." Inuyasha muttered.
"One should not be so overly critical of his allies. At most you should be grateful that you both get to experience a gratifying death simultaneously. Had it been you and not the wolf boy, Inuyasha the chances of you falling into the same trap would have proved to have the exact same results, am I not correct?" Kagura smiled.
"He's no damned ally of mine! He's just another hot-headed fool who doesn't look before he leaps. At any rate he's ready to get himself killed no matter what the circumstances may be." Inuyasha barked back. "And as far as I'm concerned, I'm far more intelligent and tactical than he'll ever be. What he just did made it the obviously clear to everyone with open eyes."
"Grrr... not of out of the game yet, stupid..." Kouga groaned. He muttered Kagura's name and forced himself to stand, his body bruised a bit.
"So, you're finally done eating the dirt and mustered up the energy to battle?" Inuyasha asked.
"Instead of starting another arguement why don't you just fight!" Kouga snapped back, upset at himself for falling to Kagura's mockery. He knew he had the chance to finish her off but he let his anger blind him.
"Hmph! Fine. But the outcome will still deem me as the victor. Sit back and watch a real fight commence!" Inuyasha said, about to step forward. Kagura narrowed her eyes at the dog demon in return.
"I've had enough of this nonsense! Its time that all of you die once and for all! Hyaaaahhhhhh!" Kagura shouted, waving her fan up into the air in a circular motion. The extremely fast motion of her twirling created a massive windstorm that covered her body in a barrier in the shape of a cylinder. The barrier's field appeared to be impassable with the storm having an exterior of hard glass. A deafening sound strained through the ears of Inuyasha and his company, and at the same time they were slowly being pushed back by the powerful force of the circling storm.
A moment later Kagura spun her fan again, this time causing a large volley of wind slashes to fly out of the spinning mass of air. They randomly scattered about the field at a high speed, placing a threat to everyone who was considered the opposition. One of the blades had missed Shippo by a hair on his head as he was being carried off by Kirara, and Miroku had grabbed Sango and hit the ground, covering her while creating a small shield with his staff.
"I suggest you don't expel all of your energy trying to win. You'll only risk having all of your limbs severed defying my winds!" Kagura said, her voice nearly inaudible due to the sound of the storm she stood in the very center of. However, little did she know she was giving Inuyasha a small window of opportunity to take her down... only if he could figure out how. In the meantime, Inuyasha and Kouga took their jumps around the field, moving out of the way of the wind blades.
"Kagura's pulling out all the stops with this storm of hers. But now that she's stationary, I can see the wind aura that surrounds her. But like the last time, she has the power to control which way she wants the wind to flow. This is definitely going to be a problem if I plan to hit her with the Kazu no Kizu since I might not be able to see the fissure. Only if the barrier's power wasn't so strong, I might be able to chance it and pray for the best in hitting her with the attack. But can I do it? I don't have enough time or the strength enough to perform the Bakuryuuha, but at the same time the Kazu no Kizu may not even be powerful enough to make it past the barrier..." Inuyasha's mind filled with doubt.
"No! I can't start questioning myself at times like this! Its either now or never. But can I do it alone?" Inuyasha thought. The moment he blinked, he heard Kouga approach him from the side. The two warriors exchanged glances of determination.
"Listen, Inuyasha! The only way we can stand of chance of defeating Kagura is by working together." Kouga suggested, his mind somewhat cleared from Kagura's scarring words.
"Hey, I don't need any assistance. Once you start this teamwork crap all you're going to do is go on and fuck up like you did the last time. Practice what you preach, because working solo and working as a team are two completely different subjects. I don't need the help." Inuyasha replied, blocking a wind slash with his sword.
"Neither do I, but this is the only chance we have if we want to break through this blasted storm. Individually you and I both know one of us alone isn't going to make it." Kouga said.
Inuyasha was silent for a few seconds, then nodded. "Heh, you might be right after all. What's the plan? At least, I hope you have one. Because if you don't, I've already come up with something."
"If I'm thinking what you're thinking, then you'd better get ready. I'm going straight for Kagura to distract her, and while that's being done, I'll give you to word on when to use your sword!" Kouga raised his voice over the volume of the tempest. Kouga dashed ahead and punched a few wind slashes out of the way, the dust kicking up behind him.
"This had better work..." Inuyasha said, with himself picking up the pace.
"Ha ha ha ha!!! I would not have believed it with my own two eyes. If I didn't know any better your attention span has been decreasing the longer the fight goes on. What makes you think you will get anywhere this time? Using the same attack twice no less?" Kagura went on.
"Don't be quick to pass judgement on what I'M doing as you're about to die!" Kouga said, charging up all of the strength he could muster up in his fist. He appeared to be as fast as lightning, blazing past the random wind rushes. Kagura broke out into a small sweat when she noticed that Kouga was getting closer and closer to her.
"Oh, I disagree. You will be the one to be permanently disposed of." Kagura retained her defiance. She used her power to will one of the wind slashes to turn around like a boomerang and come hurtling back to Kouga. But the wolf could already sense the oncoming blade from behind because he could feel the increase of air pressure.
"Perfect! This only helps the situation..." Kouga said to himself. He then let out a mighty roar and jumped in front of Kagura's barrier. "KYAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!"
"W... what are you doing!?" Kagura demanded. She let out a surprised gasp when Kouga threw a single powerful punch right into the eye of the wind barrier, level to Kagura's chest. The splash force of the punch sent a shockwave through the barrier, creating an open tear through the wall. This caused the wind blades to shoot out an even more random fashion, and Kagura almost stumbled back. "While I'm impressed that you were able to break through the storm, I'm not inspired by your stupidity!" Kagura said, striking back with another fan swipe.
"Ha, I think you have me confused with yourself! Pretty stupid move to get hit by your own blades!" Kouga sneered and did a somersault back flip, having the fan missed his face.
"What!?" said a confused Kagura, until she looked down and saw the same wind slash that she tried to hit Kouga's rear side with was zooming right onto her. "Ackkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!" Blood showered out everywhere as the blade dug deep into Kagura's right side, cutting past her and sending her sprawling onto the ground. She was so severely weakened by the unexpected blow that the storm of wind she was encased in had flickered like a light. The barrier was beginning to disappear, and Kouga raised his hand to give the signal.
"NOW, INUYASHA! ATTACK!!!" Kouga shouted.
"RIGHT!" Inuyasha said, surprised that Kouga was able to do something right for once. He leapt closer to the area where Kagura was. He immediately gathered up his power and easily spotted her wind colliding with his, and it was easier to see the fissure this time around due to Kouga's distraction. "Time to end this charade!!! KAZU NO KIZU!!!!!!!!!" Inuyasha's yelled, cutting his Tetsusaiga into the visible fissure and blasting away Kagura in massive explosion of light.
"They've done it!" Miroku reported as he and the others shielded their eyes from the blinding white spectrum and dust, and squinted to see the bodies of the undead around them dissolve into a bubbly quivering mass of foam and blood.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kagura screamed as she was driven into the nearby house, the wooden structure collapsing onto her. The Kazu no Kizu's wave dug a thirty foot long trench along the ground after the dust had cleared with heavy black smoke rising from the crater. The miasma itself had also disappeared due to Kagura's loss of control over it, and the air was no longer tainted with the foul stench of rotten decay and death.
The dark gray clouds had slowly withdrawn into nothingness to reveal the setting sun over the horizon in the sky, revealing that it was close to the evening. A flock of birds let a unified caw, passing over the village field and marking the end to another hazardous battle. Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kirara all ran up to Inuyasha, relieved to see that everything was okay.
"Inuyasha, you did it! You guys turned the tables on Kagura!" Shippo exclaimed.
"There was no way she could have gotten away in time without taking some considerable damage. We were worried for a moment back there but you've pulled through fine." Sango said wearily.
"As much as I'd hate to admit it, I wouldn't have been able to do it if it wasn't for the dumbass keeping Kagura at bay long enough for me to attack. But hey, who's to say I would have lost?" Inuyasha scoffed.
Kouga landed on the ground, wiping the edge of his nose with this fist. "Not bad if I do say so myself. It was the only way we could have won." Kouga smirked, making his way back to where Inuyasha's group was.
"Well, its finally over." Inuyasha said, sheathing his Tetsusaiga. When he was about to say something else, he saw Kouga stopping and immediately spinning around and looking back at the area where Kagura lay beneath the rocks and soil.
"Better rephrase that. Its not quite over yet!" Miroku said. Inuyasha and his comrades took off and came over to Kouga's position in time to see Kagura herself rise up from the ground. The once beautiful demon woman appeared to be a complete mess, with her kimono ripped in several sections and soaked with blood. One of her earrings was snapped off and the side of her face was bruised purple and red. Her red eyes were flashing with an ugly fervor of sheer anger and annoyance.
"C... curse all of you!!! I can't believe that I have failed to kill them off. Rather than trying to take simple information I opted to take the harder route." Kagura stammered, feeling a slight pain of shame and regret. "How foolish to be so easily defeated when I clearly had the upper hand..."
"You know, for someone who talks so much garbage you sure have a lot of aggravating tenacity. But that will only make all the more sweeter once I rip out your heart." Kouga announced.
"He certainly has his subtle ways with women." Sango said in a sarcastic tone while rolling her eyes.
"You've got that right." Inuyasha agreed. Keeping his eyes on Kagura, Kouga was about to make a move until she made one last defensive tactic with her fan by sending a hard wind wave at everyone. This gave her enough ample time for Kagura to make her escape. She plucked the white feather from her hair and enlarged it, promptly hopping on and whooshing off into the sunset horizon.
"Sorry to disappoint, wolf pack leader. But even I know when the odds are against me. Perhaps in another time and place you and I can settle our arguable differences. And Inuyasha? Might I add that the same could be said of you. In the meantime, I bid you a most hated farewell." Kagura said softly as she disappeared into the orange hue of the sky.
Kouga, knowingly pissed off as ever, ran over to the rubble and slammed his fist down onto the ground. He stared up at the same spot where Kagura escaped, unable to calm down. "Coward!!! Just like your master, Naraku! Too afraid to face dying when you're at your wit's end!" Kouga yelled up to the clouds.
Inuyasha and his group remained close by in silence. "Blast... and we almost had her, too. It would have been one less demon in our minds to worry about." said a melancholy Sango, staring down at her feet.
"Hey! Look over there! Where did Kanna go? Wasn't she lying unconscious over there just a few minutes ago when Inuyasha attacked her?" Shippo tugged on Miroku's robe and pointed to the tree where Kanna used to be. Miroku followed Shippo's gaze and gasped.
"You're right, Shippo. It seems that Kanna herself has also disappeared too. I don't see a trace of her. She must have escaped along with Kagura as well... and of course taken her mirror along with her." Miroku said with narrow eyes.
"We certainly can count on not seeing the last of them both at this rate. It was a tough battle but we got through it without too much of a problem. But what I do feel bad for is the villagers that were killed by the two sisters. Both Kagura and Kanna are just cowards when things aren't looking their way. I'm just sorry we couldn't do anything to save these people to begin with." Inuyasha with remorse.
"We didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Kagura's trap came unexpected. I don't see any way we could have predicted this at such a crucial time." Miroku said.
Kouga stretched his arm and came back to Inuyasha's group. "While Kagura may be gone, it hasn't been explained to me what happened with Kagome." his eyes falling on Kagome who lie unharmed on Kirara's back. He clenched teeth and pointed at Inuyasha. "Why haven't you been protecting my woman? I ought to beat you senseless for having this happen to her!"
"Hey, shut your fucking trap and LISTEN for a second, will you? Kagome has been poisoned because of a trap that Naraku has set for us the other day. While its really none of your business, Naraku has been plotting to poison Kagome and now that he's achieved that... she'll die within a certain time if we don't find a special plant that can cure her. Also I'll throw in the major fact that Kagome does NOT belong to your and she's not your goddamned property." Inuyasha countered menacingly. "You're better to step off and find yourself an actual four legged wolf to breed with, because beauty doesn't mix quite well with stupidity."
The latter half of Inuyasha's words barely even hit Kouga's ears as the wolf demon found himself enraged at Naraku even more than he did before. "First he dares to kill my brothers and now he attempts to take away the one woman I love?!" Kouga said above a whisper. He bent down and took Kagome's limp hand in his own.
"HEY! What the hell are you doing!?" Inuyasha interrogated. Kouga put his other hand on Kagome's forehead which had felt cold to him. Seeing how horrible Kagome's condition was, he could only say but so many words.
"Kagome... I promise that whatever it takes, I'll take Naraku's head for what he's done to you. I won't rest until I find him and end this ongoing madness." Kouga stood back up, his eyes still falling on the girl. After a few moments of silence he turned his attention to Inuyasha's gang. "While I don't know what you plan to do, I'm sure you'll be able to help Kagome. But as for myself, I'm going to hunt down Naraku and kill him. And don't any of you dare think about getting in my way. No one does this to my future wife and gets away with it!!!"
"Get the wax out of your ears and start facing reality!" Inuyasha shot, raising his fist. "While I don't expect you to join us and I hope you never WILL, you're better off leaving the job of eliminating Naraku to me."
"Heh! Talk all you want. In the end, I will be the one to slay Naraku and claim Kagome's hand in marriage. Knowing how slow you are you won't even be able to sniff out Naraku's scent without looking for a couple of bones to dig up!" Kouga replied arrogantly.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Inuyasha yelled as Miroku and Sango tried to restrain him.
With a mild scoff, Kouga took off to the woods. "Take care of Kagome and don't screw things up, or else I'll be personally coming back for you!" Kouga said as he disappeared into the thick green environment at the end of the village. Inuyasha broke out of his friends' grasp shook his fists, wishing that he could have knocked some sense into the dirty wolf demon permanently.
"And then he woke up!" Inuyasha coughed out. "I bet he doesn't even have a clue on where to find Naraku anyway."
"Um, shouldn't we have been better off asking Kouga for his help in tracking down the Ringenkai Plant?" Sango asked. "His speed definitely would have proved to be as of some use and we could assume that he very knowledgeable of the northern lands."
"Hey, who asked any of you for your opinions? I'm calling the shots here, and I say only we are the ones capable of saving Kagome at all. What good is that wolf to us, lately? Get in one little incident, take out those jewel shards in his legs, and he ends up being rendered completely useless to anyone." Inuyasha boldly stated. "The dumbass can go on ahead and get killed by Naraku for all I care. Right now our aim is to find the Ringenkai Plant and cure Kagome. From now on, no wasting time alright?" Inuyasha walked off with Shippo and Kirara following him.
"I guess that's his way of saying of not wanting to admit he may have needed help." Sango whispered to Miroku while they followed close behind.
"Whatever the case may be, Inuyasha is right. It is best to continue moving on and not worry about anything else. It won't be much longer before the evening arrives, so we'll want to cover as much ground as possible. It will be a ways until we hit the mountains." Miroku replied.
"This is going to be a long search." Shippo sighed to himself, pulling on a strand of his hair.
Inuyasha and his friends all quietly left the village, solemnly leaving behind what was once a small populated area. All was peaceful once again except for a strange presence hanging in the bushes of one of the tall trees. Upon drawing any closer it was actually Kanna who was sitting on a large extended branch, hidden from the shade of the leaves. Her white yukata smeared with dried blood, her blank eyes flashed with the walking reflection of Inuyasha's backside.
"So they do know of the plant's location... now it is only a matter of finding out where exactly does it lie." Kanna said. In her hands she held her newly assembled mirror, which gleamed with the sharpest light and most frightening silhouette of shadowy darkness. Kanna could almost hear the screams of the lost souls that were doomed to forever float in the astral plane, but soon enough turned a deaf ear to the sound of regret and the bad reminiscence of the horrors she has been raised to carry out for as long as she lived.
The End of Chapter 8.