Disclaimer: Why must we degrade ourselves to do this! I think people get our point by now! (Damn you lawyers! Curse you all!) Fine…. I do not have the oh-so-mighty mind of Rumiko Takahashi! But my oh-so-pitiful mind is capable of making a character named Asaki. Cries I'm not worthy Takahashi-sama! bows and grovels
I was reviewing my last chapters and I realized how much I was socializing in my last Author's notes! I'm really a chatter box! Well hopefully this time I'll keep it a bit shorter (unless of course you enjoy hearing my usual psycho babble?). I have nothing as of yet to answer or clarify, but if you see something you're unsure about do ask in the reviews! Please read and review! Umm… nothing more of importance to say…Yup! I'm as happy as a clam! So here's the next chapter and enjoy!
Chapter Eight: A Very Distressed Signal
Sesshomaru ran along a narrow river at such a speed that would be impossible to see from the human eye. The sickening disease of worry that lingered in his heart spread to his stomache, and all around his body. Ever so slightly, Sesshomaru trembled at the thought of Naraku hurting his sister. Why was Asaki such a target to all things incredibly evil? Even he, although the goodness in his heart was slowly growing, still desired power; and even in vain moments he thought of how Asaki could make him more powerful. He still did not know all of Asaki's inherited powers he had not gained himself, he knew she was powerful. Powerful, yet weak. Strong, yet delicate.
At first Sesshomaru thought he was imagining the voice that spoke in his mind, but soon he realized he was not imagining anything. It was Asaki's voice coming to him! She was trying to communicate with him!
Alarmed, Sesshomaru immediately stopped running. Trying to stop at such a force, he skidded along the river bank, picking up dust clouds into the midnight air. Asaki would only do this in cases of emergencies. Naraku must be doing something horrid to her! He knew it!
"Sesshomaru? Sesshomaru! Can you hear me? Where are you?" The distant voice asked him.
"I can hear you Asaki. What is the matter?" Sesshomaru thought back to her. "Are you allright?"
"I'm fine…at the moment," Her tone of voice sounded somewhat exhausted. "I don't know where I am right now. All I can see is that I am in a dark room. I can barely see anything. The one called Naraku brought me here. I won't have much time. I cannot hold him off with my barrier forever."
"Barrier?" Sesshomaru never heard of her using a barrier before. "You are holding him off?"
"Yes, I can make a small force-field…But the problem is, I can't keep it up for long. It has already drained most of my energy, and contacting you is making it worse…But it must be done. Can you smell Naraku's or my scent nearby?"
"I'm on your trail right now. I'm coming to get you and kill Naraku. Tell me, I don't see any buildings nearby. Could where you are be hidden in a hill nearby?" Sesshomaru eyed the black, forested hills on the dark horizon.
"I don't see any windows in this room. Nor are there any doors that lead outside. That could be a plausible explanation…But there could be a trick to it somehow…I..Think…" Asaki's became more distant and spaced out. Sesshomaru knew her energy was wavering rapidly.
"Don't worry Asaki, I'm coming. Just hold off of Naraku for a little longer." Sesshomaru began running again, faster than any arrows or modern day bullets could slice air.
"Naraku, her force-field is beginning to wane," A simple, emotionless, yet even innocent voice came from the little girl all in white. The shoji screen door slowly opened, as a dead silence filled the darkened room.
Asaki sensed a foreboding, malignant aura to the man called Naraku that she hadn't noticed before. His thoughts of bloodlust, killing and corrupted desires choked the room and overwhelmed Asaki. His glowing eyes portrayed pure anger. A wicked, wrathful soul that showed endless pain and suffering. There was no room for mercy in his heart. That was easy to see. Loathing. Pure corruption of the heart that no words of any language could possibly somewhat describe. She could smell death on his body. She could smell the innocent children's blood that lingered, and the fear of the slaughtered people. Did they not torment his dreams? Did these dead souls not haunt his every action? How could even a demon stoop to this? How much innocent blood had to be spilled, and bodies to rot in fields, in order to satisfy his bloodlust and urge for destruction? His presence alone sickened Asaki and made her stomache lurch.
His wicked eyes landed on Asaki's. Oh how those eyes stung like poison. Asaki removed her eyes and winced at his very presence.
At the moment, Asaki was on all fours, trying with all her might to keep her blue force field up. Unfortunately her efforts were failing quickly, as the barrier weakened, fading and thinning. This amused Naraku very much indeed.
"What? No idle comments for me? I'm very disappointed," His eyes glinted with a malicious sense of satisfaction. Asaki tried standing up to face her opponent, but was shaking hysterically from the knees. Naraku saw this and laughed wickedly. "You must be tired, Asaki. That barrier must've taken a lot of energy. I highly doubt you can muster up enough to hold me off any longer." His tone was full of mock sympathy and amusement.
Asaki glared at him. "You damned bastard." She muttered through gritted teeth. "I imagine you take pride in other people's pain very much. Tell me, do you sleep well knowing that the innocent people you mercilessly slaughtered may just come back to haunt you? Do you realize just how much you smell of death? How can you not regret what you do?"
Naraku laughed at her questions as if it were a children's question. "Regret? Innocents? I daresay you are the strangest demoness I've ever met. Not many demons care what happens to humans, and I am one of them. Besides, the blood of the innocent is much more beautiful and tainted. Why should any of this concern you at the moment?" Naraku saw how her breathing became more rash and violent. Her eyes began to loll back and forth, not quite sure on what they were focusing on.
Asaki fell to her knees in exhaustion. Naraku knew this was the perfect time. He chuckled to himself in the back of his throat. He kneeled beside the pale figure and took a good long look at her. In many ways she resembled Sesshomaru and Inuyasha. Surprisingly, there were no marks on her face that a full demon of their family would have. He could smell her fear that she was trying so hard to conceal.
After a long pause, Naraku pulled out a shiny, band of gold. "If I may," He asked teasingly as he grabbed her left hand. Asaki tried to fight back, but was unable to. Naraku took the golden band and slipped it onto her wrist as a bracelet. Almost instantaneously, the gold band shrunk to be skin tight. Asaki cried out in pain, as the bracelet almost welded into her very skin. She tried pulling it off, but it was of no use.
"Funny how the mind can be corruptible; even a demoness'," Naraku told her in an almost dazed voice. "The bracelet will not come off, I can promise you that." Naraku pulled her hand to his face and admired how beautiful the gold looked across her pale skin. Asaki was finding herself unable to speak.
"Now dearest demoness, let me show you what your new gift does…"
"Are you sure this is the way, Inuyasha? All I can see are hills," Sango looked down at the scenery below them. Sango, Kagome, Miroku and Inuyasha were crammed on Kirara's back in the night sky, trying aimlessly to find Inuyasha's missing sister.
"I'm sure of it. I can smell both her and Naraku now. And I can smell them right below us." Inuyasha gestured towards one particular hill below them.
"Allright then Kirara, take us down over there," Sango instructed to Kirara. Kirara began to slowly ascend down
Kagome couldn't help but worry about the hanyou behind her still. He had only just gotten out of that strange dust, and all of his strength hadn't returned yet. Plus the fact that he was about to rescue someone he knew nothing about. Kagome couldn't help but wonder if his new found sister would change their previous ways.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kagome cautioned. Inuyasha nodded in a business-like fashion. He watched Kagome's caring eyes. He knew she was worried about his feelings right now, but there was nothing he could do at the moment to help ease her worriedness.
Inuyasha was about to say something encouraging to Kagome, when Miroku burst out, "Inuyasha! Look down there!" He pointed towards a flash of silver that was moving at an incredible speed. Inuyasha was so occupied that he didn't smell Sesshomaru's scent at all!
He growled in the back of his throat. "What is he doing here?" He asked as he watched the silver blur dash across the quiet country side.
"If he's going the same way we are going, do you think we should follow him?" Kagome wondered aloud. Inuyasha just grumbled.
"What makes you think he's going the same way as us?" retorted Inuyasha.
"Well it's highly unlikely that he's here n coincidence for a midnight stroll," Sango inquired, "And if you can smell your sister and Naraku, than he probably can as well."
Kirara gradually floated down the ground. Inuyasha jumped off Kirara's back just before she landed. He instantly unsheathed his sword and began to sniff around for a clue to where his sister was.
Suddenly, a flash of white circled around Inuyasha in less than a second and stopped right in front of his face. It took Inuyasha a while to realize what was standing in front of him, almost touching his nose.
"Inuyasha, what are you and your human friends doing?" Sesshomaru stared icily at Inuyasha and his companions. Inuyasha wrinkled up his nose in distaste of his brother.
"I'm going to get Asaki, now if you'll excuse me," Inuyasha tried pushing his brother to one side, but Sesshomaru grabbed Inuyasha's wrist and threw him down to the ground. It looked all too easy for Sesshomaru as he pinned Inuyasha down to the dirt with his foot.
Inuyasha struggled, but Sesshomaru's foot was dangerously close to his throat. If he tried to struggle with that on his neck…
"Listen little brother and listen well," Sesshomaru whispered to him menacingly. "You are the reason that Asaki is missing right now, and if you even think of following me to save her, you won't live to see daylight."
Inuyasha choked underneath Sesshomaru's weight. "Keh…I don't have time for bickering right now. Asaki needs both of our help right now, whether you like it or not. Besides, you can't get in without me…Can't you smell the barrier Naraku put up over this castle?" Sesshomaru eyed him suspiciously. He finally freed Inuyasha swiftly and crossed his arms.
"Fine then little brother. Let's see what you're made of…" He said in an emotionless tone, "Remove the barrier."
Inuyasha quickly stood up and positioned the Tetsusaiga firmly in his hands. "It'll be my pleasure." Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Kirara ran out of the way of Inuyasha, as his blade began to glow a fervent red.
Inuyasha walked towards the bottom of the hill, swinging the fire red blade onto his shoulder. In one swift blow, he brought the Tetsusaiga down, slashing what appeared to be nothing but air at first; but after a pause, a green glowing orb the size of the hill appeared and instantly vanished. Almost instantly after the barrier had vanished, an elaborate door revealed itself in front of Inuyasha that led into the hill.
Inuyasha signaled for his companions to come follow him. But before he could open the door, a silver flash of light sped in front of him, opened the door and went inside. Sesshomaru was instantly gone.
"That dirty bastard! YOU CHEAT!" He called out to Sesshomaru, but he was already too far away to hear.
"Come on Inuyasha let's go! Asaki is probably somewhere inside!" Kagome said, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside. Sango and Miroku followed.
The scent of her own blood was blocking off her ability to smell. Her eyes were blurry with tears as she winced in pain. But she had to stay conscious a little longer. Just until someone came to get her. But would they come this time?
"You are only doing this to yourself Asaki," Naraku teased in her ear, "If you only obey what I am saying, you wouldn't be getting so hurt." He lightly stroked her smooth silver hair, as it was now dotted with drops of her own blood. Naraku was enjoying seeing her in pain. He loved the smell of her spilt blood. He longed to see her winces of pain again and again and again.
"Damn…you…N-Naraku!" She stammered defiantly, shrugging away from him so he couldn't touch her. Naraku only got more amused by this.
"Careful now Asaki. As long as you wear that bracelet, you must obey me. Otherwise you will spill more blood." Naraku stroked the golden band on her left wrist. "Let's try this again, shall we?" He asked teasingly.
"No," Asaki muttered in pain. Naraku ignored her comment.
"Go and retrieve it for me!" Naraku ordered loudly.
"NO!" Asaki screamed aloud. As soon as she screamed out her response, a deep slash like a whip rapidly appeared on her back, spraying droplets of blood onto the floor. Asaki cried out in pain. There were several slash marks on her arms and back now that were staining her once white dress a deep red. "Please stop!" Asaki cried to Naraku.
"I cannot stop the wounds that appear from your mutiny. It is the bracelet that gives you these wounds. So unless you obey my command, those wounds will only grow deeper." Naraku sat back in enjoyment as he saw her golden eyes rush with tears of pain.
The bloody mess fell to the floor, desperately gasping for breath. "Inuyasha…Sesshomaru? Anyone…Please help…"
Not a second after, a figure burst through the shoji screen, breaking it to bits. Asaki looked up to see a tall, silver-haired man she mistook for a second as her father. After a quick moment, she realized it was Sesshomaru! Following right after Sesshomaru was another silver-haired boy with a large sword on his shoulder. It was Inuyasha! They had both come!
Sesshomaru looked in horror as he saw his older sister, lying in a pool of her own blood, with Naraku now standing at her side. Sesshomaru instantly felt a burning hate towards Naraku. A merciless, heated loathing to his villainous adversary. "What did you do!" Sesshomaru whispered viciously. His eyes daring to glow red to reveal his true form. He shook with immense anger.
Inuyasha, who was behind him growled at the scent of Asaki's spilled blood. How dare Naraku! He would truly die this night, and not live to even see his mangled body in the morning. Inuyasha readied his sword for a long awaited fight.
"What did I do to her?" Naraku laughed. "I simply gave Asaki a gift. It was of her own accord that her blood flowed from her body. She chose not to obey me, therefore hurting herself!" Naraku grinned to himself, knowing he succeeded in his plans.
Inuyasha ran past Sesshomaru after a hesitant moment of wait and ran over to Asaki. He gently but quickly picked her up out of the puddle of blood and propped her against the wall. He noticed the many whip-like slashed all across her upper arms and back. What exactly was going on here?
"Are you allright?" He asked her worriedly. Asaki tried to reply, but couldn't. Her breathing was too harsh to form words. She simply nodded to encourage him. Inuyasha knew he had to get over to Sesshomaru to stop him from transforming; it was too dangerous to do that with Asaki there.
A few moments later, Sango, Miroku and Kagome rushed into the room to help out their friend. Kagome spotted a crouched over figure by the wall she recognized as Inuyasha's sister. Miroku and Sango ran to Inuyasha's side while Kagome stayed with Asaki to examine the extent of her wounds.
Kagome was shocked to see how badly damaged she was. If Asaki was to be human, she would've already died of blood loss, but even as a demoness she was still in danger of dying.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome called out to him. "Her wounds are really serious. We have to get her out of here as soon as possible!"
Inuyasha, without leaving his attention from Naraku replied, "You and Asaki get outta here before anything else happens!" Naraku heard everything they were saying and was getting annoyed.
"You think I'm going to let you all go so quickly?" he asked them all. Almost instantaneously after he spoke, two demons appeared at the broken down door. The first one, a little child all in white carrying a mirror, and the second, a tall woman with glowing pink eyes, holding a spread-out fan. They seemed powerless against all of them. Asaki could barely tell the two were demons. But the rest of them knew well their true powers.
"Did we miss the party?" The woman asked in a cool, breathy voice. She eyed each one of her opponents and grinned in delight. "This should be easy." She thought to herself.
"Kagura, please attend to our guests, would you?" Naraku asked. Kagura nodded.
"You're not getting off that easy Naraku," Sesshomaru informed him, enraged. Now both brothers, the demon slayer and the monk were surrounding Naraku and closing him into a corner of the room. Naraku only smiled vaguely at this.
Inuyasha couldn't take the anticipation any longer. He charged at Naraku, with his sword in mid-air. Inuyasha brought the sword down, just as Naraku dodged it, and disappeared into the darkness of the room.
"Where did the bastard go!" He yelled, frantically looking around for him.
"I'm over here Inuyasha. Thank you for worrying about me." Naraku teased. He was now standing beside Kagura, who had her fan in an attacking position. With a wave of her fan, Kagura sent sharp blades of wind after the group before her.
Before the wind-blades could touch any of them, Sesshomaru unsheathed his sword Toukijin and swiped it in the air, sending a massive blue force that blocked the wind sorceress' attacks. Naraku saw this and put a small orb-like barrier around himself, Kagura and Kanna.
"Is that how you want to be finished?" Inuyasha said. "Two can play at this game!" The Tetsusaiga in Inuyasha's hands promptly turned bright red as he swung it down. The force emitted from the sword broke Naraku's barrier protecting them.
Naraku, unexpecting the sudden change of events grew impatient and angry at the group. No thanks to Inuyasha, his barrier had dissipated and he had nothing to protect himself with. He knew there were too many of his enemies there at once to kill off immediately. He thought of a last minute plan to defeat them.
"Kagura," He said in a low, annoyed tone, "Our visitors seem restless. I think it's high time that we leave this little reunion." Naraku then whispered something to Kagura. She nodded and brought out her fan once more.
Inuyasha readied his fighting arm that held the Tetsusaiga. Sesshomaru held Toukijin carefully. Sango stroked her boomerang that rested on her back. Miroku ruthlessly held the beads that kept his kazaana away from his palm.
Instead of hitting her opponents ahead of her, Kagura sent wind blades rushing from her fan to the ceiling above them. The roof supports that held the hidden castle from begin crushed under the immense weight of the hill snapped like a twig. Immediately, Kagura took a feather from her hair and transformed it into a boat-like air craft. Naraku, Kanna and herself quickly climbed onto it as it flew speedily out of the hidden cavern.
Sesshomaru, not yet ready to give up the fight, ran as he did before, following them.
Inuyasha heard a low rumbling and creaking above their heads. The room…no…The whole cavern was about to collapse on top of them! "This place is about to collapse! We gotta get out of here!" He yelled to them.
Well that's a pretty big chapter, but not as big as I first intended it to be. I really should stop it with this whole evil cliff hanger stuff…But one: It's WAY too much fun to give up on it now! And two: My English teacher has taught me to always end with a suspenseful cliffhanger, and now I've just grown too accustomed to it! Sorry, but hey, it's the best part isn't it? (Thanks for agreeing with me on this one Lelyn Black!) Umm… Kinda embarrassing to say, but I wasn't very imaginative in some random parts in this chapter, so it may sound kinda rushed or boring. Sorry if you notice that! Still nobody has any questions? Well I'm glad people understand me well enough then! I usually confuse people a lot with my mixed grammar (you see I don't speak English all the time ya now, so I sometimes get my languages mixed up. That and the fact that I'm just really confusing no matter what!)
I'm so glad that there are caffeine/sugar/chocolate lovers out there like me! Hotcocoalatte and Lelyn Black, you are my heroes! (I put that recipe for a really good mochaccino in my bio if you're interested! Haha)
Speaking of heroes, I just want to say how much each and every one of you peoples that reviewed are my heroes as well! I get so whimsical whenever I get a review that I start dancing around my house, and scare my poor kitten in doing so! (He gives me this confused scared look, whenever I start dancing.) Anyone who hasn't reviewed that would like to or even flame, I would still think you're my hero… So PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE keep reviewing everyone! Here's a list of my heroes at the moment:
Tohru-Honda14: I liked your threatening review to update! Sorry I'm so mean, but
Cliffhangers are in my blood! It can never stop!
Azmidiske: Glad you liked it! Thanks for the review
JGK200: It's great that you're really into my story! Merci beacoup! Sorry for
Making you die to find out what happens
Trallgorda: Wow, with a review like that, my story must be good! My thanks…
CrazyTengu: I like your name! I'm updating for you Tengu! (Hey I rhymed!)
Inu-Shinta: Yup, she's a good demoness, but there might be something to contradict
That a bit later on in the chapters ;) Thanks for the review
Lelyn Black: We do sound a lot alike! I see…1,2,3,4,5… yes five reviews! Thanks so Much! I loved your HP fic: The fifth Marauder! It sounds as thoughyou are very much devoted to reviewing fanfics!
I am your Sweet 666: Another person dying because of my chapters? Pleasedon't die! Well I'm really glad you like my chapters! (I should really try and lay off the whole cliff hanger thing if people are dying!)
xWhit3StaRx: I'm glad you really like it! Thanks for the review
Hotcocoalatte: Another sugar/caffeine lover! YAY! (Your name makes me want a hot chocolate! Haha) I should try the French vanilla cappuccino thing. Thanks for the review!
Okay there's my list. It'll get bigger if people review… Please? Okay I'll shut up now, since my author's note is so massive (And I said I would keep it short…)
Until next chapter,
Emily (Mylastfarewell)
