Okee-dokee! This is the 2nd chapter (keep in mind the prologue) in my little fic. The 1st chapter (after pro) is where the a/n was. So go look!
A/n: Yep. It's a miracle. I'm actually updating like I should. P. Hope you all liked last chapter. Look where the note was. I replaced it with a chapter. Just didn't show. I will tell you guys and gals when I update in the sum. (I'll say chapter 2, but u know I had a prologue, so its chapter 1.)
Anyway, here's the stats.
Polls:
Dah a dun! None! Jk. P
Get to work with that kag/ban? (grins like an idiot.) Gonna heat things up anyway!
Put a bankotsu/kagome/jakotsu (the fight over kag of course.) triangle?
Put a ban/kag/hiten? (probably gonna be one, seeing as hiten likes kag already… but its fun to vote!)
Get to work on the awesome effects and action I've been putting together in my weird brain? (obviously this'll happen anyway, but again with the participation thing. I'm seeing who really reads the an)
Please vote and review! Any and all are well loved! (flames too. They heat up sesshy and ban's shoes nicely. Make nice missles to throw at naraku too. The lovable double-purpose objects. (Grins))
Gah! I've been forgetting my disclaimer! (faints)
'kotsu: (pokes) (me glare. "can't I faint without being poked!") Okaaaayyyy…. Pretty girl no own dumb mutt. Writing hers. U steal, u die! (does 'die-die!' dance)
Sesshy: (sweatdrop) glad that's over. On to the good stuff!
Paths of Moon and Flame: Shinku Eitai (don'tcha love the name?)
Chapter 2 (keep in mind, this is the 2nd chap from prologue.)
A Tale of Blood and Betrayal, The Bloodstained Tale of Kagome
(if u have the mp3 strength of the soul, play it. When its done, play hanyou inuyasha or grip!)
Stepping from the shadows of the slender magnolia tree, a cloaked figure seemed to bring silence and terrible feeling to the wide and grassy clearing. All that was visible of the figure's face were two blue-green eyes, and a glowing purple-blue pointed cross. Narrowing her eyes, Kagome frowned and reached out for her flowing navy blue cape, letting it flap freely around her ankles in the slight breeze. Kagome took a deep, shaky breath before whispering in a hoarse voice, her attempting to swallow the lump in her throat before speaking.
"Tell me… Why did you kill him? Did you enjoy the feeling of destroying the only family of a nine-year-old girl? How was the feeling of his blood over your hands? Matching the flowing tears of her? Of course, you absolutely had to kill the parents first, before moving to the brother. Then the girl. Why? Why did you rip us apart?"
"We weren't the best family. After all, how respectable is a murderer? But still, what did we do to you, Bankotsu? Did the girl kick your shoe? The man scar your palms? The woman shun you? Nothing. Nothing was done."
By now tears were streaking down her tanned cheeks, and Hiten's face was contorted with anger and sorrow. "So why? I ask you. Why did you kill them?"
"I… I didn't …" Bankotsu whispered, removing his heavy black hood, flicking the thick raven braid over his shoulder, and rubbing the place where the katana pierced him. 'Girl?'The thought nailed him and his damn curious mind.
'B-Bankotsu!' Jakotsu's eyes widened. He had to stop it before Kagome, who couldn't fight worth beans, got hurt. But where did she get the clothes? And what about this tale? He listened.
"ENOUGH BASTARD! I SAW YOU KILL THEM ALL BEFORE MY EYES! I ESCAPED ALONE, THE ONE SURVIVOR WHO WATCHED THEM DIE! I SHOULD KNOW!" She raised her rage-filled gaze to the sky. "Why… Why take them, and not me? SOUTA! OTOKOOYA! HAHOYO!" Tears were flowing in streams now, but Kagome ignored them and wiped them away with the back of her hand.
"And now… You shall face the same, as I tear you limb from limb, until all your blood has spilt to the earth, and it is stained red with your filth!"
"Bankotsu! Please stop this! Kagome can't fight! She doesn't know how! Please! Stop it!" Jakotsu cried out, fearful for his friend's life.
Eyes widening in hurt and betrayal, Kagome hardened her eyes and placed on her emotionless mask. "So. You were one of them. I can't believe I trusted you Jakotsu!" She yelled, her voice filled with sorrow and betrayal. "And to think… I considered us friends… You even know this bastard! Nevermind, this is all in the past. But I shall remember this Jakotsu, that you knew the one who slaughtered my family. You might have even helped. I shall come for you next, then I shall finish off theShichinintai, and then… I will go where my path takes me, to the end and back." Tears were running down once more.
"Who am I kidding? I have already been there. I live in hell. And soon, I shall take you there, Bankotsu."
She closed her cerulean orbs, and her navy blue pointed cross began to glow bright. Her eyes opened, and her transformation ensued. Blue tints became the major color of her hair, the black crescent moon appearing on her right cheek, the two crimson stripes on her left one. This was the opponent he knew.
She smirked, showing slight pearly fangs, cracking her knuckles and reaching for her halberd.
Jakotsu stood in shock. 'No! I hoped it wasn't true!' His heart was pounding.
Bankotsu was shocked as well. He hadn't expected for Jakotsu's weird little friend to be his powerful enemy. "They say the ones closest to you… are the ones to kill you. How ironic." He laughed, a cold and hard sound, seemingly hollow with bitter regret. 'But… I really didn't kill this… Souta. Or his- no, her parents.'
"Let your mind stay focused. RAIKOU! (lightning) ODORI NO ZA DORAGON! (wind of the dragon)" Kagome shouted, her eyes glowing blight blue, her free hand forming unknown shapes in the air.
Suddenly, a wild lashing dragon, crackling with pale blue and yellow lightning, a violent torrent of wind enough to devastate the earth came forth, cutting off the exits of the field. "Dokudokushii kei. (venomous whip)" A long, blue light whip flared out, and only by reflex was Bankotsu able to block the surprisingly strong attack, the blue poison sizzling a hole in a loose end of the cloth on his sleeve.
'Kuso! I had no idea of her power! She really was toying with me!' He glared. "I am very sorry to do this, but I must, to survive. SENDO O KAZE! (death on wind)"
Smiling a secret smile, Kagome leapt high before whispering calmly, "You are learning. But that is just the beginning. Shinku Eitai. (her halberd, not magic or whatever.)"
"Huh?"
"Hya." Kagome rushed forward, immune to the deadly vapors, and began striking him everywhere, all at once. "Enkou Raikou no Kaze Doragon. (flame lightning of wind dragon)"
"Ahhhh!" Eyes wide, Bankotsu brought up his sleeve to shield his squinting orbs from the excruciating lights. 'A… another one!' Gulping, he shoved all despairing thoughts out of his mind and focused, tapping into a small amount of magic inside him.
The huge beast leered up, and with glowing red eyes, roaring up behind Kagome. Kagome moved as one with the giant red dragon as Bankotsu looked on with surprise. Suddenly, Kagome grinned, and the beast grinned too, before snaking out and flexing deadly claws. One swipe and he was a gonner. But she wouldn't make easy, nope.
He deserved to die a slow and horrible death. No one said being an assassin meant you had to be neat.
o.O.o.O
"Sh- Shouheki! (barrier)" He cried, lifting Banryuu, his halberd. A bright flash was seen, and the two attacks vanished, swirling in a vortex, before forming into a swirling mass that was a koi (love) dragon, then vanishing.
Standing in silence, the two glared at one another. "Katana no Chishio (blades of blood. Couldn't find it how its like in anime.)." Kagome said calmly, cracking her knuckles and staining her hand with the dripping blood from a wound she didn't know how she had gotten.
She swung her arm just as Bankotsu yelled out, "Tsurugi no Tsuchi (sword of earth)!" The two, blades and sword, collided, and again came the koi dragon, its flowing sea greens and sapphire blues blending as one.
"Damn dragon." Kagome hissed, before spinning on her heels. "I will return to kill you one day, but until then, I must go. Ironic, isn't it, that whence something you've desired is in your grasp… It is still unreachable, untouchable. I've waited far too long for this to happen…" She wiped away something shining from her cheek, before staring at the sky. "I must go, go and hunt the one called… Naraku. He has taken something of mine. Something he will regret when I am finished."
She strode away, Hiten in tow, but Bankotsu could catch a faint murmur of, "Kaze no Sakura (wind of sakura)." before she was truly gone, leaving only the pounding feeling in his heart, and weakness in his knees. "Who… was she really, Jakotsu?"
"She is Kagome, who will never be forgotten. I only wish I could explain to her… That you and I had nothing to do with the death of her parents and brother…"
"Very well, then. As soon as I heal this nasty little wound, we will go after her. Chiyu Koi (healing love)."
o.O.o.O
(if you have the song sad song, dunno the real title, or sango's theme (sango to miroku, or dearest will do) play it here. When its done, play no more words.)
Kagome lowered her gaze to the glistening ground. "Why?" She began softly, growing louder and sadder, "WHY DID HE KILL THEM?" And there she lay, curled up into a ball on the hard ground, and suddenly, it began raining. Large, plump droplets splashed onto her face, as she ignored them. "Let it rain. See if I care." Suddenly she lashed out, felling a clearing in the woods in her pain.
"I don't understand," she whispered, "What's to become of me? I feel dead inside. The pain and sorrow is horrible. But still , I fight to avenge them, to die an honorable death." She laughed a hollow laugh. "Honor. It never did any good for me. So why do I live yet? Do I have a purpose?" She began musing, withdrawing deep inside, oblivious to all around. Oblivious to the strong arms wrapped around her in an embrace, whispering soothing words in her ear.
"Why?" She whispered over and over again, before jerking back to reality, whirling and placing a thin steel knife at the throat of the one holding her, eyes blurred and unable to see who it was. But she could feel who it was, and she lowered her knife. "Jakotsu."
"Come on, Kagome. I need to explain some things to you. Come spar with me." Nodding blindly out of ancient trust, forgetting her words before, she got up and dusted herself off, still blinded by tears. "Here." She groped around until she found his shoulder, and tilting her head, she felt the rain on her reddened eyelids. Waiting a moment, she whispered hoarsely, "Chiyu Koi." And her eyes became unswollen as her grief lessened, and she walked, side by side, with the traitor.
"Why are you doing this. We are enemies. Don't you understand?" She hissed, stopping dead with her arms folded across her chest, Shinku Eitai at the ready.
"Of course I understand," He said softly, ruffling her pointed bangs, "And that's why I'm taking the time to talk to you, silly. Race you!" He broke into a sprint, and Kagome, wanting answers, followed, speeding far past him in her absent state of mind, going from one place to another. Looking around, she found she was in an odd field, the silence heavier than a blanket, fog shrouding the entire area. She whirled around in circles, her long and dark cloak seeming to bring out the darkness inside her, and she tensed, waiting for something, and her symbol being glowing.
Nothing had come, and she slowly and cautiously let her guard slip a notch. Bad move.
"SO! YOU ARE THE ONE! PREPARE YOURSELF… TO DIE!" A sinister laugh rang hollowly through out the misted area, and Kagome whipped her head from side to side. 'Great. One of my worst fears; being helpless.' She slipped into her usual fighting stance, readying a purifying ball of blue miko energy in her tanned hand, Shinku Eitai in the other.
Cackling, the voice taunted her, "So… Did you enjoy my little sentiment about the deaths of your family?"
The voice clicked in her head. "B-Bankotsu?" The strong command came out as an unsure question, to be answered with another laugh, rushing at her from many directions at once.
"Yep. I lied. About your family. I don't give a damn, and I'd kill the bloody bastards and whore again if I could. But it hardly matters, seeing as you'll be dead soon. But first, I'll torture you a bit more. Let's bring up those feelings my dear rock! Shikyo Kokoro Ishu (death heart malice)."
Kagome gasped in pain and fell on one knee, clutching at her chest. "B-Bastard!" She hissed through her teeth, and a line of blood appeared dribbling down her chin, a crimson droplet staining the ground, soon to be joined by many more.
o.O.o.O
"I wonder where Kaggy is…" Jakotsu wondered out loud, oblivious to the danger that 'Kaggy' was in. Suddenly, he had a feeling. A bad one.
"KAGOME?" He barged through trees and ferns, ignoring the slaps they delivered to his vulnerable face.
A voice that sounded familiar rang out tauntingly, "You going to save her in a dress? The poor crossdresser. She won't want to be your friend anymore… Which means you won't have ANY chance to win her over to your 'love.'" The voice cackled as his memory lit up.
"Renkotsu!" The name of his fellow assassin came gritted through his teeth. How he hated that fire-breathing man… Always with a sharp tongue and bringing him down. But he didn't have time… And time was what he needed. "Kuso. Gonna have to take off this kimono. Even if it means going guy, I'll get Kagome back and safe!" Eyes narrowed, he all but ripped off the kimono, snatching his armor and weapons he had hidden in a bush nearby.
He smacked on a crisp white and purple yukata, yellow splotches everywhere on it (yes, I changed it. He's going guy to go save Kaggy). Hastily pulling on his boring blackish-purple breastplate and body armor, steadying the scale-ish arm and leg guards. Frowning, he sped through the white pants process, hurtling back into the undergrowth after collecting his many weapons and artillery.
"Kagome… Wherever you are… I'll find you. I'll always be your knight in shining armor…" The words came out like a whisper, and they drifted softly down the wind, reaching the ears of a certain hanyou (not inu).
"So," The gritty voice pondered, "Another lovely way to tear apart her world… This should be good… What's his name again?"
"Jakotsu." A cold voice came from behind a thin wooden screen, and Kagura sighed. Naraku was too obsessed with the girl, in her opinion. But there isn't too much YOU get to decide when you're an evil minion.
"Yes…" The man had long pitch black hair, floating evily like a possessed demon, around him, blood red eyes glinting with malice. Not a single speck of good could come from his being, and he knew it. He loved it. The blood, the destruction. He lived for it.
"Go, Kagura. Go and meet him. I shall keep torturing the girl." He grinned, and clenched his fists. "Soon she will be in my grasp, and then, it will be the end of the world. For she is the one… Who can save it… Or destroy it…"
(was gonna leave ya, but I'm feeling nice)
o.O.o.O
'M-My head! My heart! Its… burning in hell!' Kagome nearly collapsed when she tried to rise, and was horrified to discover everything around her. 'NOOOOOO!' She wanted to scream. She wanted to kill.
'Ugh!' Clutching her head, she sank to the ground and nearly cried at what she saw. Corpses… Carnage… Of her friends.
Glancing at her hands, she gasped as she saw they were covered in blood. Their blood. She continued to gape, until it began.
Crackling up her arms, black poison and blood seeped into her skin, and she froze. Her sight became black, and she felt different. 'Kami save me…'
She was looking down at herself, from where she did not know, but still, she was horrible to behold. A demon, a monster, slaughtering the villages for miles and miles. Killing Jakotsu. Souta. Her parents. She had been the one, not Bankotsu. She screamed with all her might, screamed until she could scarcely breathe, until her lungs burned with fire. But there was nothing she could do.
The demon's face was contorted into a horrible, maniac grin, and the eyes were blood red completely, and had giant claws, gleaming with blood. Worst of all, it looked like her, with her hair, her skin.
"No…" She whispered as she saw herself come upon her friends and family over and over. The blood. The blood. Gods, it stained the entire Earth. Then, she nearly fainted when she saw the monster spot a small child.
Staring in horror, Kagome suddenly had a strong feeling that if the girl, the image of her, was killed, that she would be lost in hell, and this world, would replace the one she had known. She did what she could.
Jumping down, she piggybacked herself, putting the monster in a brutal headlock, hands around its throat, cutting off its life force. It snarled and thrashed wildly, scarring her permanently in many ways, lashing at her full-force. Through the entire struggle, Kagome steeled herself, and never let go, even when it tore a huge gash across her chest, only to slash her stomach a moment later.
Her eyes burned with determination to kill this creature, that she didn't notice when it stopped moving, and the villagers crowded around. She stopped abruptly as they hurled rocks at her.
Suddenly, she was a small five-year-old. "Murderer," They whispered, ghosts on the wind, "Murderer… Murderer… Murderer… MURDERER!" They shrieked, and a rock smacked her in the forehead, bringing stinging tears. It was the first time she had killed. Killed the drunkard who had attempted to assault her. But they didn't listen. Looking down she nearly screamed when she saw herself, instead of the drunk. "Murderer! Murderer!" They screamed, and Kagome curled up into a small ball, trying to make it go away.
She felt cold, colder than death itself.
Suddenly she heard a desperate voice.
"KAGOME! DON'T LEAVE ME! KAGOME!" It was someone else, and looking up she saw herself saying it. Herself with someone else's voice.
o.O.o.O
Gasping heavily, Kagome lurched up, breathing heavy, orbs wide and terror stricken. 'I-I killed myself… It was all a dream… Ouch! Maybe not…' She felt the deep wounds on her torso and stomach. 'Kuso.'
Again the yell came. "KAGOME! WHERE ARE YOU! ARGHHHHH!" 'Jakotsu!'
She snapped up, and darted away after snatching Shinku Eitai, spell in mind. Little did she know the predicament she would find herself in could never be helped by spell.
o.O.o.O
"KUSO TO HELL!" Naraku screeched, smacking down his fists, leaving two giant craters in the rock-hard ground. "HOW DID SHE BREAK MY SPELL!"
"Nevermind, Naraku… There is still the obstacle that Kagura and I shall provide…" Kanna spoke in a hushed tone, white clothes and hair fluttered one last time as she vanished to hinder Kagome.
"Yes.." Naraku laughed maniacally, "I shall have her yet! And for the boy… Jakotsu… He shall prove useful after all…"
o.O.o.O (yes I'm skipping too much… I know, I know)
Jakotsu had been dashing along, when some random demon, a wind witch by the looks, decided to pop out and scare the daylights out of him. "Oh. Beg pardon, but I must not hinder to find my friend…" He tried to push past, but she smiled evilly.
"I believe she is doing just fine… In Naraku's little death spell. And by the way, haven't you been told manners don't get you anywhere! You shall pass… Over my dead body!"
"Very well." Jakotsu mumbled, angry at the delay from the inferior wench. Her short black hair was pulled into a topknot, blood red eyes laughing at him. He charged, and she yelled, "Dance of the Dragon!" Swinging her red and white fan in a broad arch.
Massive tornadoes whirled out, catching him offguard as he plummeted to the ground, narrowly missing one.
"Finish it up!" A voice hissed from the air, and glancing up, he saw a horde of buzzing insects, waiting for something, as it seemed.
"You are no fun, Naraku. Very well, then." Twelve gleaming poisoned knives appeared in her hand. "Let's see what you've got." She ran at him, hurling one at him. Dodging, it smacked into a tree a few inches from his head.
"So much for the wind witch bad aim theory." Jakotsu huffed, drawing himself up. "Sukuro-ru no Doragoro." A giant scroll appeared, and it began shooting forth giant beams of piercing light, which transformed into medium sized black dragons.
"Have it your way. Dance of the Dragon." The woman repeated, and the hurricanes lashed out, destroying all the dragons in its path. Taking a sharp breath, Jakotsu dodged another knife.
"Missed me, bitch," He said, hoping to enrage her into hurling and missing until the knives were gone. She saw through it, but decided to comply.
'Let him think I missed him. Then…' Kagura smiled, fingering the last, special knife that never missed. 'Just in case he thinks it's a trap… Never said I was going easy on him.' She hurled seven at a time, letting him dodge and leap his way through a rain of poison and steel.
"Ha!" She laughed, a hollow sound before hurling a ninth one, allowing it to thud next to his head, missing his cheek by a millimeter. "I toy with you too much. Let us finish this."
'Damn. I'm getting tired! How am I supposed to save Kagome AND deal with the psycho witch!' He wasn't paying attention, and it was complete luck; the tenth knife hit right on Jakotsukou, right where his forehead would've been.
"Lucky bastard." Kagura supplied, throwing her 11th knife, lazily whizzing it by his ear. 'And now for the best of all…' She kissed the hilt of the dagger before hurling it at him with all her might.
o.O.o.O
(play sango's theme)
"NOOO!" Kagome cried as she arrived to see Jakotsu trip over a root, landing flat on his butt, the ever-following, ever-killing dagger to charge at him. So she did what she could.
She leapt in front of him, shielding him with herself.
"Ugh!" Her eyes widened as the dagger plunged into her back, heedless of the thick armor. A line of crimson appeared at the corner of her mouth, and a few tears trickled down her cheek, not from pain, but from heartache.
"Kagura!" She lurched up, wincing.
"Kagome! What the hell are you doing?" Jakotsu screamed through his tears.
"If I can't save myself, at least I can save you. I take back my words. After all, you were my only friend… The friend of the assassin Kagome. Who failed to kill Naraku… Do me a favor. If I die, get a shard of the Shikon no Tama, and bring me back… Until I kill him, Naraku. Then I will leave you at peace, and yes, I will die. But at least I'll be happy. Will you do that, Jak?"
Nodding with a large lump in his throat, Jakotsu nodded, tears flowing.
"Thanks. Now for the witch! Huh? Where'd sh- Ugh!" A dull thud was heard as another knife thudded into her shoulder, spreading poison throughout her body.
"You make it too easy!" Kagome lunged, stabbing the witch with a katana through the heart, pulling it out and whirling to stab her through her stomach. "You shouldn't have crossed paths with me… Most who do, die." She swung a last shot at the writhing witch, putting her out of her misery, blood spurting.
"Let's go. I need to see Bankotsu." Kagome said, as though nothing had happened, and she walked toward the edge of the clearing, black steel glinting in the heightening light of day. She pursed her lips and would say no more about the reason of visit.
"Alright!" Jakotsu hopped over, worry lines frowning at her. "But you're SURE you're fine?"
"Yea, yea."
Suddenly, Kagome collapsed, face forward, and the voice cackled evilly from nowhere, and everywhere.
"It seems my poison is taking effect… Good. She'll die and I shall revive her… As the bane of the world!"
Jakotsu gasped, and knew that this was Naraku, and that under any circumstances, he must not get Kagome. So he slung her over his back, Shinku Eitai and all, and he flew through the forest, death on silent wings to anyone that dare stop him.
o.O.o.O
"BANKOTSU!" He huffed, collapsing from exhaustion as his commander shoved aside the golden doors of the palace, coming to a stop by his usual tent. Gasping at the horrible sight before him.
His younger brother, collapsed, the beautiful girl looking not-so-hot slung over his shoulder, her huge halberd supporting her.
o.O.o.O
"Will you help her?" Jakotsu asked pleadingly, about ready to pass out, awaiting the answer.
And answer Bankotsu did.
A/n: Was gonna be longer, but fingers got all cranky on me. Check out last chapter, where the note used to be!
Next chapter:
Yep, you know he's gonna answer, but what's he gonna say? Will he leave Kagome to die? Or will he take the enemy into welcome arms? What chaos will ensue? What is naraku's new sinister plan? Where is Kanna? Did Kagura survive?
Next Chapter of Paths of Moon and Flame: Shinku Eitai!
Vocab:
The attacks are in parentheses by the japanese.
OTOKOOYA: father
HAHOYO: mother
Kuso: damn
Koi: love
E(xplaining) D(ictionary)
Yes, as incredibly cheesy as it gets: Bankotsu has recovered from his chest wound and went after Kagome, following her to the inn/bar.
Renkotsu is one of bankotsu and Jakotsu's teammates
The italics are Naraku's death spell on Kagome. (her dreams and thoughts intended to cause great harm to her body and soul)
I-can't-think-of-anything-else-and-am-too-lazy-to-look. Sorry. Ask me questions and send votes and reviews, please! Makes me update faster! See, I was so sad no one saw my update I updated again! P
-darkenedmoonlightflame and company (sess and ban)