Before I continue this story, I must thank you all for reviewing. You have no idea how good you guys made me feel with the kind words you have sent. Thank you SOOOOO much, you guys rock! BTW, sorry this update is a bit late.
-Goldeneyes86- Well, I'd say we think alike. That was actually my plan from the very beginning. Props on paying attention to detail, I'm very impressed.
Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Inuyasha! Which may be a good thing for some of you...lol
A silence fell over everyone as each member of the group contemplated just how wise it would be to travel with Inuyasha for the few weeks that he had planned. None were certain of their safety, and all of them silently compared the risks and dangers along with back up plans for the journey that lie ahead of them.
Well, all except Kagome, that is. She was the sole being who somehow knew, regardless of the situation, would be safe around Inuyasha. He had protected her for so long now, and she was alive up to this point, so why suddenly back out when the going gets just a little tuffer?
She gathered her nerve, and walked firmly over to Inuyasha's left side and gave the group a piece of her mind.
"Oh, come on! You're not all gonna back out on him now are ya! How can you guys get all jumpy and cower in insurance at the first little thing!" she had caught everyone's undivided attention, and knew she had one chance to convince them all other wise before they packed their bags and left.
"You gotta remember when Inuyasha helped you guys out! Sango," she began, grabbing the slayer's attention, "Think about when Naraku turned you against him and you sought after his life, yet Inuyasha gave you a second chance and decided not to kill you even after you had tried to kill him multiple times! Or how about that time when you thought Kohaku was still under Naraku's control and you tried to kill HIM, but Inuyasha stopped you in the nick of time and convinced you that he wasn't?"
Kagome decided that that was enough reasoning for Sango and was left with no other choice but to allow her to think upon her decision, so she turned her attention to the monk.
"Miroku, think back when you were alone and holding off those youkai with the last of your strength, and just as your barrier collapsed Inuyasha got to you and used the Wind Scar to save you, even after you had decided to go it alone." With that, Miroku made little thought of his decision. She was right, Inuyasha hadn't given up on him, so how could he give up on Inuyasha so soon?"
And even then, there was yet another member of the party that might need a little convincing. Shippo, however was expected by Kagome to follow her wherever she went, might still not have his mind made up. "Come on Shippo, remember when Inuyasha helped you avenge your father's death? I don't even need to say anymore. That should be enough."
She left the group to ponder on her words and she herself turned to Inuyasha to give her own support. She looked him straight in the eye, almost so deeply that it nearly caused the both of them to blush. "And how could I leave you now?"
The hanyou did his best to contemplate what had just happened. He hadn't really thought of any reasons as to why all the members of the group should stick with him. Actually, he saw it perhaps in their best interests to ditch him and simply let him solve his own problem. Yet Kagome had quickly come up with at least one reason for everyone to continue the fight as his comrades.
He wondered why his young miko friend was being so nice to him, and so suddenly too! She was usually a fair person to get along with, but not usually THIS considerate. He tried to respond to her as she shot him her gaze of affection, but he simply couldn't get the words out.
He thought for a little longer and finally decided to let his instincts guide him. "Uh, thanks, Kagome. I don't know what to say; other than I guess I'm surprised you remembered all that stuff."
He said what he could up until when he ran out of words and began to stutter. "I, uh-" Kagome shushed him. "Don't worry, I owed you one." Inuyasha had now more than ever truly lost his words, and just decided not to speak.
Kagome then turned her back to him and faced the group. "Well guys, what's it gonna be?" Her words quickly went through the minds of the others and they all wanted to immediately respond. But unfortunately for most of them, Miroku quickly grabbed the floor.
"You are right, Kagome. I would be selfish to desert Inuyasha now." He began, as he turned his attention towards the hanyou. "Please forgive me, Inuyasha." He said as he bowed.
Sango as well made her apology. "Please, me as well, Inuyasha. I'd have been a fool to even consider the other option." She spoke as she also bowed. However after they spoke, Shippo kept silent and stared blankly at the ground, for reasons he held to himself.
Kagome, having now accomplished what she wanted to do, felt substantially proud of herself, finally getting a chance to greatly assist Inuyasha; a chance of which she desperately desired.
Inuyasha looked at Kagome and simply continued to search for words. And it wasn't long before he finally found them, but sadly at this time his general lack of trust for humans, coupled with the chemical imbalance within him shot out of his mouth, making some more than less disappointing responses.
"Well, thanks, guys, I guess. But remember, it's all of your decisions for coming with me; all except Kagome that is. Just keep that in mind and don't expect me to always have all of your backs." He said, sounding rather irritated and for some reason a bit of anger was detected in his voice. Everyone's eyes opened wide at this in complete astonishment that he wasn't totally grateful. Miroku eyeballed the hanyou and gave his opinion.
"Inuyasha! How can you speak to us in such a tone after such a recent apology!" The monk's words were in just, and Inuyasha suddenly felt different. "I...I don't know, I...I suddenly felt really mad for some reason...I'm sorry..." he said in an honest tone as a blank and confused look crept it's way onto everyone's faces.
Inuyasha lifted his palms toward his face and he stared into their centers. His pupils widened substantially and he desperately searched for an explanation as to why he felt almost completely different. Silence remained for a few seconds more, when suddenly a flare like sound was instantly present and instantly absent.
Inuyasha's body was outlined with a slight red, and his eyes flashed the same color. This caught everyone's attention and they all quickly ran to his side. Kagome was the first to call out to him. "Inuyasha, are you alright!" She nearly demanded as she questioned whether or not it was safe to hold his hand.
But before anyone else had a chance to say anything, Inuyasha lost the strength to stand and he fell to his knees, supporting his upper body with his open palms. Sweat began to fall from his face like a warm summer's storm and a fever burst out from the abyss to his skull and it enraptured his mind.
It was arguably one of the most painful things he had ever experienced and he began to growl in pain and frustration. The overwhelming headache he received from this quickly became unbearable and resembled the pain of an unquenchable fire, only inside of his head.
Fear swept Kagome and the others as the young miko knelt down next to her hanyou friend and she instinctively grabbed his hand. She squeezed it between both of her own, and she did her best to comfort him while she also made her best attempt to take control of the situation. "Sango! Get some water from the river and bring it here as fast as you can! Shippo, help her." She began, as everyone reacted upon instinct and complied with the orders. "And Miroku, do you know anything on reducing fevers?" (she would have just given him a few aspirins, but for one, Inuyasha's body was probably too strong for those to affect him. And two, they were at her house; which was a considerable distance away.)
Miroku gave a tremendous attempt to remain calm and said what he knew. "Yes, I believe so." He began as Sango grabbed Shippo and hopped on Kirara after telling the neko to head towards the river. The priest sat down cross- legged and pulled a scroll out of his cloak.
"It would be embarrassing if I didn't." he said as he proceeded to perform his little ritual. Meanwhile, Kagome had managed to lay Inuyasha down and turn him over on his back. She continued to hold his hand, and found that the only beneficial thing to do would be to pray.
After doing so, she remained where she was and tried desperately to think up a reason as to why this happened. She pondered for a few minutes more until her thought pattern was interrupted by the return of Sango and Shippo with three buckets of fresh, freezing cold water.
Sango bolted off of Kirara with two of the buckets and quickly proceeded to Kagome's side. "Here Kagome, I hope there is enough for what you need." Kagome nodded, and despite her confusion as to how they went to the river and returned so quickly, gave her gratitude as Sango motioned for Shippo to hurry over with his pail as well.
The young miko thanked Sango once more and proposed an idea as to what they should do. "Well, I guess the only thing we CAN do besides give him bit to drink would be to dump the buckets on his body." She said as she indicated the sweat pouring off of the 'hanyou's' brow. However little did she know, Inuyasha, with his last bit of consciousness, was attempting in an enormous way to keep his body temperature relatively low so his tremendous body heat wouldn't burn his friends; in a rather severely way, too.
Kagome picked up one of the buckets with her right hand, and gripped it with her inner right arm (much like a football) and guided its end to Inuyasha's mouth. "Here, drink this." She offered as she lowered the bucket and began to tilt it.
The water slowly began to pour out and while airborne gathered a higher pace. However, just as it hit his face, the most unexpected thing happened. The water made contact, and instead of quenching his tongue, it gave him an icy slap of 'bam, here I am,' and completely threw off his concentration of lowering his body heat.
The hanyou's eyes continued to flash red and white on and off, when suddenly his golden eyes and pupils returned for a last, sweet moment. He focused his sight on Kagome and with his last conscious breath, tried harder than ever to not transform, but to no avail. His veins began to double in size, his heart's repetitions quadrupled, and the purple marks on his cheeks became evident.
He took one last look at Kagome, and all he managed to get out, was "RUN!" and with that last signal his eyes flared red, destroying the golden ones in their place. A few seconds of hope remained as Kagome did her best to take Inuyasha's advice and she quickly rose to her feet, shortly before about facing and darting off towards a tree to hide behind. The others did so as well, and then hell itself was unleashed.
Inuyasha's eyes emitted an evident red glow, almost evilly. The sweat that was on his face soon became no more, as his body temperature rose to such a degree, the sweat sizzled right off of his entire body. Even his Kimono began to slightly give away, but not completely. However though, despite his tediously scorching outfit, he sat up slowly and identified his surroundings.
His nose told him that nearby was a male and female adult human, a large female neko youkai, a tiny male kitsune. But for some reason the third human he smelled seemed to have a different aura about her. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about her was simply irresistible. It enraptured him, as to something beyond sensible compare. Something subconsciously told him that this person was direly important, and he instantly gave in to that thought. And among even ALL of his instincts and subconscious knowledge, something about this particular girl's scent intrigued him to no end, driving him to the brink of insanity that as to why even now it seemed just as important to him as it was lovely.
He laid back down and swung his legs back over his head and then the opposite way, utilizing that force to swing his body forward and upward, like a no handed spring-up. His feet landed firmly without sound, and he began his search as to where this poorly described as heavenly scent could be.
With one intake of oxygen through his nose he instantly located where this human was and out of no where gained the desire to protect this human being. He proceeded to walk towards a tree in the eastern direction of his current location in hopes of seeing this person behind it, when suddenly, out of the blue, a powerful scent of a youkai who sought destruction made its way towards his location.
Inuyasha spun around in this scent's direction and darted off into the air at speeds, which no human could comprehend. The sheer force that his legs put off on their own was enough to crush a rhinoceros's skull inside and out over one thousand fold. In his place was a slight crater and the smoke it emitted seemed to dash after the youkai.
Inuyasha held his ki about him and began to instinctively store it up for a later attack. He breezed through the air for a few seconds more, then landed in the brush. He wasted no time and darted off towards the direction of this scent that perhaps threatened the person he now wanted to protect.. This scent became more and more powerful by the millisecond and Inuyasha wasted no time seeking it out so he could destroy it, and fulfill his instinct to protect the specially scented human.
There was more than simply that reason, however. Even though his urge to protect the human was now a must, the sheer fact that he was in his full youkai state fueled his desire to destroy something/someone even more.
He eventually began to quite rapidly pick up the pace as he ran. It seemed as though he became quicker and more powerful by the second; of course this ever newly gained power was just more fuel for his desire to test out his new skills. He ran for a short time more until he leapt out of the under brush and ended up landing in what his nose and eyes told him to be an open field, a somewhat familiar place that seemed to be a fitting one for the battle he sought.
Inuyasha waited a few seconds more for this entity to approach and he began to growl without realizing it. That impatience however was just then put aside as the youkai he sought landed ever so swiftly a mere few hundred feet in front of him, and stared him down the field.
The youkai had apparently shadow darted to the location so he rose from his right knee down position and stood tall. This youkai stared at Inuyasha but wasted no time preparing for their battle. It reached over to its left shoulder and seemed to begin unhooking some type of metallic chest piece from itself. After the metal had landed, it reached over to its right shoulder and removed perhaps some large cloud type thing, Inuyasha wondered. But it mattered not. The cloud flew from the youkai's shoulder off into the distance as the wind began to pick up.
The enemy youkai's eyes then reddened, much like Inuyasha's had, and he rose his right hand to his face and cracked his knuckles; with the ring and index finger remaining in a partial fist position, and the thumb, middle, and index finger in a claw like fashion. A green mist emitted from this hand and his aura became a visible dark bluish purple. Inuyasha's aura also became visible, however his was a dark and thick red.
The enemy youkai took one last look at Inuyasha before it braced itself and spoke in a tongue that Inuyasha no longer understood.. "Now, Inuyasha, you can truly fight this Sesshomaru!"
And that's a wrap! Comments and the likes, are very welcome!