UnSpoken Love By: OtakuSailorV
Chapter 23: InterventionKagome let out a few strangled gasps as she continued to fight off the onslaught all around her. The roots, their points sharpened into a dagger-like form, seemed to come out of nowhere, and tore from the ground beneath her, climbing into the sky and wheeling about to try and pierce her through.
Her miko powers were sufficient, but the Saimyoushou had started to weave in, and several had attempted to sting her with their poisonous bites. They had been unable to get very close to her, thanks to her pure powers, but they were waning from the effort of fighting two separate enemies at once. Sweat had formed on her brow, and her clothing swirled and was torn oddly in places. A few traces of blood were seen, but none of the wounds were deep. Still, they pained her and slowed her even more.
Her bow was of little use now that her arrows were spent, she wished she had not wasted them all, but she had not planned ahead. She had expected a decent fight against the villain, Naraku, but it appeared he preferred trickery and deceit to a fair fight. Not that she had expected much less of him, the man had that look in his eye. . .
Inuyasha was not far away, battling at a savage pace with the transformed Tetsusaiga. He let out a roar every time he sliced through one of the roots, and, despite his efforts, he seemed to be getting nowhere.
Kagome made her way toward him, which was easier than she thought. She had suspected that he would try to isolate them during this maneuver, but it appeared that either she held up too much resistance, or Naraku found no problem with them letting them meet. She puzzled over this as she put her back to Inuyasha, swinging her bow at an oncoming Saimyoushou, and sending it flying.
"Inuyasha, can you sense Rin or Sesshoumaru anywhere?" Kagome asked urgently, fearing for her cousin and her companion. She had tried to reach out with her senses for them several times earlier, but she had not reached anything. She was worried that something was wrong, she had not even encountered a rock or Naraku in her mental search. The landscape had been completely flat, there was not a single thing other than the roots and themselves within a miles radius, and when she had tried to trace the roots' source, she had been unable to. It frustrated her and only added to her anxiety. Inuyasha's senses were stronger than hers were though, he would know what was happening.
He let out a growl as he hacked away with Tetsusaiga again. "I'm not sure! I can't sniff anything out while I'm concentrating on fighting!" He yelled above the roar of the Saimyoushou's buzzing.
Kagome's heart gave a double beat, making her suck in her breath against a sharp, sudden pain. Her yes grew large and she clutched with one hand at her chest as she swung her bow with the other at the oncoming enemies. She let out a hissing breath, and righted herself, using both hands to fight again. Her eyes narrowed as she searched through her mind confusedly. What had just happened? She felt sick, and all she could think of was her little cousin and her sister whom she was separated from.
Kirara dove expertly, fire dancing across the sky and igniting all that dared come close in a blaze of brilliant flames. The boomerang swung forward, thrashing through the night air, cutting through the pursuing roots and Saimyoushou that buzzed irritably.
The fire-cat gave a primal roar, her mistress riding on her back, her long ponytail whipping in the night air. Sango's teeth were gritted together as she let the Hiraikotsu fly on a long, circular course, and immediately used her poison powder and other hidden weapons to strike at other opposing enemies.
The pair were being driven higher and higher into the air though, they were making no progress. "Kirara!" Sango called loudly, though she knew the neko youkai would hear even her faintest whisper. She caught the Hiraikotsu and gave her furry friends shoulders a solid pat. "Let's get back to Inuyasha and Kagome!"
There was a roar in return, and the cat whirled over the dark and miasma covered battleground. Sango's eyes darted around, but the clouds below and the lack of stars above proved to frustrate her efforts. "Can you see them, Kirara?"
A rumble deep in the cat's chest was felt underneath her, signifying that she was just as troubled by this as her mistress was.
Sango adjusted her mask as Kirara tore at another root with her sharp teeth and claws. "Let's go in then."
The cat reeled into a high arc in the night sky, briefly outlined against the brilliant silver-white moon before slipping back into the velvety night sky and disappearing into the miasma haze, followed closely by their pursuers.
Rin looked around in an unsure fashion. The sound of everything being every at once was unsettling, and she wasn't sure which was right. Sesshoumaru stayed quite still, almost like a statue, as if waiting for something to happen.
Suddenly, a hint of vast power hit her, and just as her mouth was opening to tell Sesshoumaru, a bright light flashed before their eyes. The miasma suddenly dissipated, and everything was revealed.
The high way was torn to nothing but odd bits of rubble, cars had been flipped and crushed, shredded like paper by those that had been fighting. The earth was littered with broken Saimyoushou and rendered halves of roots that flopped in a stomach-churning manner.
Naraku hovered about ten yards away from them, a mass of sickening looking parts. Claws and long, disgusting arms had sprouted from his back, and from his waist down was some form of a snakes body that soon joined the mass below that bubbled and seethed, pulsing with disgusting life. The only thing distinguishing that this creature was Naraku was that his torso head and regular arms were still in tact. Other than that, he was a putrid, festering heap of youkai parts. It was easy to see that the roots had once been a part of him. He was smirking evilly, his red eyes glowing devilishly in the wan light.
To the left Kagome and Inuyasha were standing back to back, their faces identical in their narrowed, ready-to-fight grimaces. They came out of battle-induced faze and blinked, turning toward the Naraku and the group that stood in the middle of them all.
High above, and coming down closer was Kirara and Sango, who were strangely silent. Rin looked at them joyously and wanted to call out, but something was making her blood run cold. More so than Naraku's vile form. She felt stiff and rigid, and she could felt Sesshoumaru was still relaxed behind her, she wondered how he could miss the air of authority that was pouring off of the small group of elders in the middle of the battlefield, dwarfed in comparison to Naraku.
Kagome went stiff as well, and she let one hand squeeze Inuyasha's arm nervously. Something shone brightly in her eyes, Rin thought it was concern.
Inuyasha, like his brother, did not seem to be bothered by their appearance at all. He narrowed his eyes, looking a touch surprised though he did not release Tetsusaiga once.
Kirara came to the ground and stood protectively by Sango's side, her red eyes studying the elderly group.
The elderly, senile group that stood in the middle, facing all the 'youngsters' with a look of dispassion, consisted of only six members, all of which wore a nice, white robe that went to their feet. They all had wispy white hair, and the men were all bald or partially bald. There were five among them that did not wear the same clothing though.
Two women, one old, possibly in her sixties and that wore an eye patch, and a younger, taller, thinner woman with long black hair that was pulled back. Two loops of hair came down over her ears and her face was almost as expressionless as Sesshoumaru's. She was pale and at the sight of her everyone's eyes was hit with a light of recognition, though she did not seem to look at them.
Next to them was a man in black and purple robes, his smooth black hair was pulled back into a tiny ponytail at the base of his neck. His expression was cheery, though when his eyes fell on Naraku, he turned steely and stiff, one hand on his opposite wrist, thoughtfully fingering a band of light blue beads wrapped around the forearm tightly.
The first two were recognized as Keade, Kagome's mentor, and Kikyou, Kagome's fellow trainee and Rin's mentor. They, though, did not know the man that was with them.
The other two stood off by themselves, as if thinking themselves too good to mix in with the mikos and monks that were gathered, and on their faces were smug smirks.
They both had silver-white hair that resembled Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's, so it was apparent that they were demons. The taller, older looking of the two had her hair cropped short, and her younger companion had longer hair that reached to about the middle of her back. Both looked feral and dangerous, their golden eyes glimmering in the moonlight like their hair which only added to the eerie feeling creeping off of them. Sesshoumaru recognized them and growled. His mother, Tsumi, and her silly apprentice, Yuwakusha were finally showing up again as well.
As the pair looked on at the group with malicious eyes, they seemed to halt when they spotted the young Lord, standing so protectively by Rin, who did not understand their disgusted looks. Yuwakusha's eyes lit up with an evil light, like she were just about to rend something to pieces during a hunt. Tsumi stood quite rigid, her features stony as she watched her son intensely. Her cheeks had lost their pallor and she looked terribly frightening as her usually narrowed eyes widened. She looked outraged, absolutely like she wanted to strangle and kill something.
The group of elderly gathered, facing the group assembled with grave looks on their withered faces was none other than The Council. Kagome remembered them from her younger years, and unsurprisingly, they looked very much the same.
Sesshoumaru seethed at the sight of them, they were determined to meddle in his affairs, weren't they? They had always been troublesome, acting as if they ran the world. For all the things that set them apart from their own race, they still had the foolish pride that characterized humans in power. It was hard for their race to stay uncorrupt
"What is going on here?" One of them wheezed loudly, his voice echoing around the expansive and empty area that seemed to stretch for miles all around. Rin guessed he was supposed to be the head of the group, or at least their main speaker, for the rest remained attentively silent.
His little black eyes, set deep in the wrinkles of his face were sharp and demanding. His features were drawn together harshly, the wrinkles sitting deeper and deeper the more her furrowed his brow in apparent anger. "This is an outrage!" He proclaimed, not waiting for an answer from the assembled group of miscreants. "A disgrace! Youkai, hanyou, human! Fighting! And in plain view of the common public! Do you hold nothing sacred!"
Spittle flew from his mouth, accentuating his words; though he was bellowing quite loudly, he still lacked the fervor he might once have had during his youth. Still there was that sense of authority, of dignity that outweighed everything else.
Naraku's red eyes shimmered as the man turned toward him in a flurry of white robes, his long beard whipping around harshly. "And you! Young Onigumo! You shall be dealt with most severely for this treason!"
The claws on Naraku's back flexed, as he looked the elderly man over with an evil gleam in his eye. "Shut up, old man."
Sorry that it's a tad short this time, but I wanted to make the deadline and update this weekend.
Thanks to all my reviewers who are constantly supporting this fiction, even during my rough patches. It means a lot to me, thank you. deep bow
I'll see you all next chapter!
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