Heya! Here's the next chapter, as promised! I hope you guys like it. Oh yeah. All you guys, thanks SO much for being understanding. Things have been rough, but they're finally settling down. Anyway, enjoy chapter 11!
Review responses:
Angel-tears-16: Lol. Thanks. And 95 isn't bad at all! As for the career in writing thing, I actually am planning on writing and publishing some books. If you want, I could send you the first few pages of one of my books. Let me know in your next review, k?
Atth99: Thanks! I will definitely have a look at your stories, I promise!
Yusukefreak: We should do something soon! Thanks for the review!
FictionLuverkdm: I'm sorry you had to read it all over again! I fell so bad for leaving you guys hanging for so long! Anyway, did you enjoy reading it a second time over? XD
Dragon's kitty: Yeah, I know, it is a little odd that it's Jaken. But, you know, it was the only way I could get it to work. And besides, at the beginning of the comic book series, Jaken always did Sessho-maru's dirty work.
Remix-69er: Thanks for the inspiring review. It's good to have a little spirit boost like that every once in a while. Keep reading and reviewing!
Gilbertfan: I'm so happy you accomplished all those things! I don't mind at all! Seeing a long review always makes me happy! And I'm totally serious, I would love to hear more about what's happening with you! E-mail me and we'll talk!
Thanks to Dragon Man 180, moonsacrifice, and kaggy-chan2202 for your wonderful reviews.
Chapter 11
As soon as Inuyasha started running, Sessho-maru chased after him, determined not to let him go. However, Sango was not about to let Inuyasha down. She swung her boomerang out in front of Sessho-maru, hitting him hard on his chest armor and sending him flying backwards a few feet. When he regained his footing, Inuyasha was long gone. Shessho-maru glared at Sango. She would have to go. Once she was out of the way, Sessho-maru reasoned, he should easily be able to outrun Inuyasha and get to his precious girl before him. Sessho-maru attacked relentlessly. Sango held up fairly well for a while, blocking each of Sessho-maru's blows. Finally, though, one hit got through, knocking Sango off her feet. Sango got back up as fast as her body would allow her, but Sessho-maru was already gone.
Kagome's throat was parched and her legs burned like fire, but she forced herself to keep going. She knew that if she stopped, Sessho-maru might find her and then she'd only be a hindrance. She was so lost in her thoughts, she tripped over a protruding tree root and fell to the ground. She tried to get back up and keep running, but her legs would not cooperate with her anymore. She slowly pulled herself to her feet and leaned against a tree, gasping for breath.
Suddenly, the sound of a twig snapping caught her attention. Her head snapped up and she looked around desperately, trying to locate whoever was approaching. She started backing away, unsure of what to do. If it was Sessho-maru, then running would do no good, she was sure of that. She continued to try and locate whoever it was, but came up with nothing. A rustling of leaves to her left caused her to yelp in surprise and she turned to face whoever was coming. The wind blew a few strands of silver hair into view from around a tree and then, to Kagome's great relief, Inuyasha appeared from behind the tree, standing on just his two feet and holding the tree for support.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome said, obviously very relieved. "You're standing!"
Inuyasha smiled at her, breathing hard from running, and took a step forward. As a consequence, he had to let go of the tree. This turned out to be a bad thing as he almost fell flat on his face. He returned to gripping the tree, slightly embarrassed. Kagome giggled and went to help him.
"Inuyasha, I'm so happy for you! But… what happened to Sessho-maru?"
"Well, well. Inuyasha, don't tell me you've fallen for this wench. Or have you forgotten what happened last time?"
Inuyasha growled at Sessho-maru, who had just made his entrance. "Shut up… brother."
Sessho-maru smirked. "Turn yourselves over and I promise I won't hurt either of you… too much."
"Never!" Inuyasha snarled.
"Very well, then," Sessho-maru said.
Before either Kagome or Inuyasha could react, Sessho-maru had appeared before them and slammed Inuyasha into the tree he had been using for support. Inuyasha countered by trying to kick Sessho-maru, but Sessho-maru was too quick and Inuyasha ended up kicking air. Sessho-maru then came at him from the side, punching him hard in the stomach. There was nothing Inuyasha could do. Sessho-maru was moving too quickly and unpredictably for him to make a successful counter. Kagome tried to help Inuyasha, but was blocked by a white tiger standing in her way.
When Inuyasha hurt just about everywhere, Sessho-maru stopped and stood towering above Inuyasha's crouching form.
"Had enough, brother?" Sessho-maru asked.
"I'll… never go… with you."
Sessho-maru glowered. "You've become too bold, brother." A small, malicious smile spread across his face. "Naraku has sent a gift for you," he said, reaching into the folds of his clothing.
Inuyasha tensed. Something about Sessho-maru's tone was flashing warning signs at him. As Inuyasha watched, Sessho-maru withdrew his had from his clothing and held what was in it out for Inuyasha to see clearly. Between his thumb and forefinger, he held a small pink jewel.
Inuyasha's eyes widened in surprise and Kagome gasped.
'That looks like that weird light I saw when Naraku captured Inuyasha before,' she thought. 'What does this have to do with Inuyasha?'
Off in the distance, she could faintly hear the voices of Sango, Miroku, and Kouga approaching.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha was glaring defiantly at the small pink jewel.
"I see you remember this, Inuyasha," Sessho-maru said. "And I trust you remember what it holds. Apparently, Naraku thinks you've been liberating yourself from it a little too much, so I think it's time you had a reminder of where your place is."
Inuyasha's eyes widened as he realized what Sessho-maru was about to do. He leapt forward in desperation, trying to snatch the jewel from Sessho-maru's hands. Before he could make it, a familiar numbing pain spread throughout his body. He howled in anger and pain. Memories were flashing across his mind and that familiar feeling of having a piece of himself torn away was overwhelming him.
Kagome watched in fear as the small jewel began to glow brightly and Inuyasha crumpled to the ground in pain. She tried to reach him once again, but the tiger snapped at her legs in warning.
After what seemed like forever, Sessho-maru withdrew the jewel and stared at his brother who was sprawled on the ground. A sound from his right caught his attention and he leaped out of the way just in time as a giant boomerang tore through the spot where he was. Sango, Miroku, and Kouga appeared out of the forest, to the great relief of Kagome. Sango and Miroku immediately started attacking Sessho-maru while Kouga worked on getting the tiger away from Kagome. After less than a minute, Sessho-maru called out to his tiger and disappeared into the forest. Sango, Miroku, and Kouga were slightly bewildered for a moment, but it soon passed as they realized the state Inuyasha was in. Kagome was already kneeling down beside him.
"Inuyasha, are you okay?" she asked.
The pain was slowly ebbing from Inuyasha's body. He tried to answer Kagome, but the words kept slipping from his mind. His mouth would not form the sounds. He stared at the ground in horror.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.
"Is he okay?" Miroku inquired softly.
"What happened to him?" Kouga muttered.
Inuyasha clenched his eyes shut and slammed a fist into the ground, letting a small whimper escape his throat. He let out a howl of frustration.
As they walked, Jaken nudged his master gently and gave him a questioning look.
"It's all right, Jaken. We have what we need for now," Sessho-maru said, fingering the jewel.
Okay. Well, sorry if that chappie was a little short. I tried to add more, but it just didn't flow. Besides, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to end with a little suspense! I've already started to write another chapter, so expect number 12 soon!