Despite the tension, the two bandit leaders did not fight again, thank goodness. But there was a really awkward moment between Inuyasha, Tasuki, and Koga right after the leader of the wolf demon tribe told Ai about a demon that possessed a jewel shard who lived not far from this mountain valley. Ai had gotten very excited and thanked Koga up and down, which, for some reason, caused Inuyasha and Tasuki to look at him really funny. This, of course, and caused further delay in their mission to seek jewel shards. Ai sighed, note to self, canines are sometimes more temperamental than cats. Never own a dog.
Chichiri gazed anxiously towards the sun, which was slowly sinking towards the west. Although it's not even near the dusk, he's still worried. What if the demon was hard to find or slay? It wouldn't be a good idea to engage into battle after dark. "I think we should get going, no da. We have to get the jewel shard before the sun sets, no da," he reminded the group. Koga and Inuyasha immediately followed after him, Tasuki was reluctant but he dragged along. Unknown to the others, Ai fell back on purpose and walked beside Miroku. She looked at Koga with a funny expression on her face. "What's the matter priestess?" asked Miroku. "Oh, it's just Koga," Ai answered slowly. "Miroku, you know him longer than I do so tell me, can we really trust him? I know he said the whole thing about allegiance but he's a demon too, and he's already using jewel shards to gain power and speed, so would he really help us to get the Shikon shards?" Miroku thought for a moment, "I think it's an excellent question Ai. I thought about it myself, but I think we have no choice but to trust him. He may be a demon but I don't think he sank so low as to trick us. Besides, there are so many of us. If he ran away with the shard we'll just get it back from him." "Thanks Miroku," Ai said, the weight in her chest slowly lifting.
They journeyed along the mountain pass for a while, so far without mishap. Ai and Sango traveled side by side, making conversations about the feudal era. Ai was very eager to know about their way of life and Sango was very willing to explain it. Ai became very proud of herself when she observed that Sango added glitter to her usual purple eye shadows, no doubt that she used the makeup from the modern era. The conversations stopped, however, when the path beneath their feet suddenly became narrow and treacherous. Ai now realized that they were no longer traveling on the broad road along side the mountains but on a stony path that led up to the mountain cliff. Daringly, Ai stole a peek over the edge of the mountain path. To her surprise, they were already at the waist of the mountain. She could see the trees, grasslands, and twisting rivers of the valley below her, looking small and distant. Frail bushes and grass clung stubbornly to the mountainsides, if somehow she should fall, they would be the only things that would keep her from plundering to her death down in the valley below… The moment this thought evaded her brain Ai could feel fear growing inside her. Her palms grew cold and clammy, her brain became foggy all of a sudden and her head began to swirl. Suddenly, she stepped on a loose rock and slipped, stumbling towards the edge. Only then did she realize that her lack of concentration could put her in danger. Just when she was about to scream out, Ai felt an arm pulling her back to safety. The momentum swung her forward, causing her to hit something. Seconds after she realized that it was someone's chest. "You should be careful you know," a soft voice said, "when walking on a mountain pass, never look down. It'll make even the bravest and most experienced climber dizzy and afraid." Ai looked up and saw the face of Amiboshi, he was holding a protective arm around her shoulder. Suddenly he realized how close they were, he blushed and jumped away. "Are you ready to walk now?" Ai nodded, feeling angry towards herself for forgetting one of the most important rules in mountain climbing. Maybe she stayed in the city too long, she was forgetting the Way of the Mountain.
When the weary travelers reached the boulder beneath the cliff, Koga stopped them. "We have arrived at the monster's lair," he announced, "the cave is just behind the boulder. Now all we need is someone with great strength to remove it." "Or someone with a sword that can slice it to bits," Inuyasha grinned, unsheathing his Tetsusaiga. "No need, Inuyasha," Nuriko suddenly spoke up, "you'll disturb the demon this way. Just leave it to me." Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at the girlish seishi, distrusting his abilities. But nevertheless, he stepped aside. Nuriko adjusted the golden bracelets that Taiitsukun had given him, praying for strength. Ai became a little uneasy when she noticed that Nuriko was as pale as the newly fallen snow. She remained silent as she watched the purpled-haired seishi stretched out her arms around the boulder and began to slowly lift it. The bracelets glowed, surrounding her (him) in soft red lights. And with a final shout from Nuriko, the boulder was lifted and tossed to the side, revealing a dark and eerie cave entrance. Inuyasha watched Nuriko with interest, it's nearly impossible for an ordinary human to possess such strength, a cross-dressing one nonetheless. He assumed that Ai didn't know about Nuriko's "conditions", but as for him, he knew that Nuriko was a guy the moment he saw him. No matter how much perfume the guy put on, his nose just wouldn't fail. "There," Nuriko panted, "we can go in now." Ai watched her companions walked in one by one, but didn't hesitate for a moment when she stepped into the foreboding darkness herself.
Ai walked as fast as she could, but placed her foot carefully when she took her steps. The ground under her was very uneven; the ceiling above her was also ragged with sharp rocks. The darkness was complete and overwhelming. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see a thing around her, not the person in front of or beside her, not the path under her, she couldn't even make out the shape of her own hand when she held it in front of her face. Not wanting to fall behind, Ai relied on her hearing to make sure that she was still with the group. Suddenly, without warning, the ground under her shook and it nearly knocked Ai off her feet. After she recovered, she realized that the whole cave was shaking. Dust and pieces of rock fell from the cave ceiling, making Ai wonder if the whole place was just going to fall apart. "What's going on?" she heard someone yell, and was wondering about the same thing herself. Then, as abruptly as it had come, the shaking stopped, replaced by it was an eerie silence. "Is everyone alright? No da?" Chichiri's voice rang from the darkness, replied by several disheartened "yeah". "So, is everything over now?" Tasuki asked. "I doubt it," Inuyasha said, looking around him alertly, his hand rested on the hilt of his sword. Right at that moment, two bright red glows caught the attention of everyone. Their brightness was almost unbearable after the long walk in the darkness. "I guess the demon has shown itself," Sango said determinedly, holding her Hiraikotsu in battle stance. Beside her, Kirara had already transformed itself. Seeing everyone preparing for battle, Ai instinctively grasped the bow she carried on her shoulder. If only it's not so dark, Ai thought, I could aim it and take it down.
The cave shook again as the demon roared. It must be coming towards them, for the growling and thumping were a lot nearer now. But no one knew what kind of demon it was, for the red light of its eyes were the only thing they could see in the pitch black cave. They waited nervously for the demon's first attack, not knowing when it will strike them down… Then it happened. Without warning the ground shook harder as a darker-than-night shadow fell among them, nearly knocking some of them off their feet. Inuyasha was the one nearest to it, but he jumped away as soon as he felt the small gust of wind that resulted from the demon's movement brushing against him. Tetsusaiga transformed, even without any light it shone bright silver, with wind floating and wrapping around its edge. Inuyasha silently evaluated the situation. He could not use the Wind Scar, for the whole cave would fall apart under the powerful attack. He could only slice the demon apart, but how could he do that when all he could see were the demon's eyes? However, his thoughts were interrupted when the demon attacked again, aiming directly at him. He jumped away, instantly bringing his sword down. He hit something, and the demon howled savagely in pain, it seemed that he had chopped something off, Inuyasha quietly cheered. But for the next ten minutes he did not experience such luck again. All he could do was dodging attacks and swinging the Tetsusaiga randomly at the air. The others fared no better, however. All they could do was watching, or rather listening, to Inuyasha fighting. Because of the darkness and smallness of the cave, they could do nothing to help. Sango could not wield her Hiraikotsu, Miroku could not use his staff, and Tasuki dared not using his tessen in case he hit someone other than the demon. Chichiri searched in his head for a light-producing spell, but found none.
Ai stood in frustration and despair. Even though she didn't have any experience with slaying demons, she could tell that this particular one shouldn't be that hard to slay, if they were outside. The cave was just too dark and cramped. She could feel the smooth curve of the beautifully carved bow Kaede had given her upon her departure, inviting her to engage in battle. But where could she aim? She didn't think it was a good idea just to injure the demon, she had to go for the kill. Where was the demon's vital spot? Just as she was thinking, she saw it, the faint pink glow of a Shikon jewel shard. It's resting comfortably between the demon's two glowing red orbs. Ai wondered why she hadn't seen it before, it was so obvious. Her heart thumped and threatened to jump out of her throat in excitement. But Ai kept herself calm as she quietly took out an arrow and loaded it onto the bow. She kept the arrow straight as she aimed, her vision focused on the arrowhead. Please work, Ai prayed as she pulled on the string, making it tighten. When she felt the moment was right, she released the arrow. Ai could hear the wind hissing as the arrow pierced through it, going for the mark. A few sparks of miko energy flew off into the air as the arrowhead hit the shard, causing it to loose its power. The demon gave off a final, desperate cry as it dropped to the ground, causing the cave to shake once again. Then, the ground became steady again as the intense silence refilled the cave. It was all over.
There was a moment when everyone held their breath. But when the moment had passed heavy breathing could be heard all around. "Is it dead?" Sango's voiced came out of the darkness. "It would seem that way, yes," Miroku answered. "Dead or not, can we get some light here?" Inuyasha yelled impatiently. Tasuki heard it. He grinned smugly, calmly took out his tessen. It's time to brighten things up a bit, he thought as he yelled loudly, "Rekka Shinen!" A streak of fiery flame flashed across the darkness and landed on the body of the dead demon, burning off of its flesh. With the bright flame of this "bonfire" the triumphant group inspected their surrounding for the first time. The demon they fought was huge, but not particularly as threatening as some other opponents they had faced against in the past. It appeared to be a giant bug, but a very strange looking one. It had fury legs and a fat body, its two eyes were rested on the top of its round head. To Ai's horror, the floor of the cave was covered with bones, both human's and animal's. Ai carefully walked over to the fallen beast, prepared for a sudden attack. But her nervousness settled a bit when she realized that she couldn't sense the demonic aura at all, the demon's life force was gone. She stepped over to the glowing jewel shard and took it off the demon's body. As she gripped the shard securely in her palm, the demon's flesh evaporated into thin air, leaving behind only bones and ash. "Well, that's the end of another troublesome bug," Inuyasha said as Tasuki's fire extinguished and they were once again consumed in total darkness. Once Miroku sealed the demon with a sutra, they began to make their way back toward the entrance of the cave. Ai relaxed when Koga made no move to steal the jewel shard from her. Still, she held it as tight as possible, not realizing that she sent sparks of miko energy to the shard, purifying it in the process.
Ai was almost blinded by the bright sunlight when she reached the cave entrance, the darkness inside the cave was beginning to become unbearable. Her fast trotting turned into running as she tried to reach for the sunlight, she couldn't wait to be bathed in it. She became closer and closer to the cave opening until she felt she could touch the gold rays of the sun with her fingertips. But she never reached it. For at that moment, ominous black clouds covered up the sun, and the world outside sunk into a dull and tainted darkness.
Sorry for the long wait, folks. But I'll update sooner in the future, seeing as the Christmas holidays are coming up. But I think this is my longest chapter yet, so I guess it'll make up for it. (a.k.a. don't flame me) Anyways I'm kinda sad, one of my best friends is going back to Korea and really, we had something special. And to perverts out there, don't think something twisted! Of course it's in a friendly way! We're both girls and we are both straight.
As for the Nuriko gender thing, even I get confused sometime. Anyway it's like this, because Ai doesn't know he's a guy yet, when I'm writing in her perspective Nuriko is a "she". The rest of times he's "he". Get it?
Oh yeah, for Inuyasha fans, you are welcome to check out my new fanfic, The Very Pink Of Love for Inuyasha and Kagome, based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
And oh yeah, my concert is tonight and I have to sing in front of people, so nervous! Important Notice: If I get killed by the audience tonight then there will be no more updates. You are welcome to continue my story for me. If I survive, never mind.
