Death and Transfiguration
The Sword
Izayoi looked around. She hadn't blacked out—she was standing in a perfectly black space. She could see herself, and she could feel her own skin and clothing, but there was nothing else to see anywhere—except the great sword, hanging suspended in space about ten feet away from her, floating in a pool of light.
She strode towards the sword, but her way was suddenly blocked by two figures: one tall, one small, like a child. The tall one was the first to step from the shadows; he was a dog youkai with long white hair and a violet crescent moon on his forehead. He had cold golden eyes, and a cruel smile.
"So, little half-hanyou... so you have come for the sword." His voice was deep, his words brusque, and scorn dripped from every syllable. "My power, and my father's power, are not for such filth as you. If you want to live, leave. Now."
Izayoi tried to step around him, but he blocked her every move. She growled and slashed at his face with her claws, but he evaded her blow easily. He snorted cruelly. "It seems that my brother's whelp is hardly better than my brother." Faster than she had ever seen anyone move, the youkai shot his hand forward, and he grabbed Izayoi by the neck and lifted her off the ground. Izayoi's face contorted with pain and fear, and she writhed and flailed at her attacker uselessly, trying in vain to free herself from his iron grip.
The youkai gloated at Izayoi's distress. "This thought it was worthy of my father's power," he sneered. He drew Izayoi's face close to his, and said malevolently, "Is it worth your life to win his power?"
Suddenly his eyes widened in shock and amazement. Izayoi had charged her right hand with purifying energy and had made it insubstantial, plunging it into the chest of her attacker. Although he still had her by the throat, her hand was now around his beating heart. Her fear and pain had been a sham; her dark eyes bored fearlessly, unblinkingly, into his.
"My life is worth nothing. I would give it, gladly, in an instant, to save my father," she growled. "Is it worth your life to try and stop me?"
The youkai snorted, and smiled mysteriously. He released Izayoi, and vanished. Izayoi blinked in amazement, but only for a moment; then she resumed her purposeful stride towards the sword. She felt a tug on her kimono; she whirled angrily, her claws blazing, but she slashed only air. She looked down, and saw a small child in an orange and yellow kimono: the girl had a somber but kind face, and large dark eyes.
Izayoi knelt to speak to the child. The little girl said, "To wield my father's sword is to be forever changed. Once you set your foot upon that path, you can never go back. Your old life will be no more. Is that what you really want?"
Izayoi gently stroked the little girl's cheek. "What I want is to save my father. Nothing else matters. Wouldn't you do anything...anything...to save your father's life if you could?"
The little girl just smiled sadly, kissed Izayoi gently on the cheek, and vanished. Izayoi stood, and strode again towards the sword. She stepped into the circle of light in which the sword was floating, and heard a new voice, which she recognized as the voice of the sword itself. "After so long... the one who is worthy... the one I have been waiting for... has finally come."
The sword floated towards Izayoi, and it slowly spun until the hilt faced her. The voice spoke again: "Child of courage, child of light... if this be truly your will... receive now your birthright." Izayoi gulped once, and then firmly grasped the hilt of the sword.
She was totally unprepared for what happened next. Tongues of living fire coursed backwards from the blade of the sword, leaping across the hilt to run up her arm, and from there growing to envelop her entire body. She was blinded and deafened all at once, and it felt like every cell in her body had exploded in mystical fire. The pain was excruciating, so great that she could not even draw breath to scream. It felt like her body and soul were being burned, purified, forged, remade into something completely new. Delicious oblivion lapped at the edges of her consciousness, the darkness offering her an end to the horrible pain—but she refused it, embracing the pain, clinging to the thought of her father, panting through clenched teeth, "For Dad... for Dad... for Dad..."
After what seemed like a lifetime of agony, the pain roared in a final blazing crescendo, and everything went not black, but white; and when Izayoi's vision cleared, she was kneeling before the shrine. The barrier was gone, but her hand firmly grasped the hilt of the great sword, and the pulse of its power was now the pulse of her own heart.
She turned back to the battle; it had seemed like a lifetime, but only a scant two minutes had passed between the moment that she grasped the sword-hilt and that her vision had cleared. Shippou's phantom selves had all been defeated, and the real Shippou was using a rock for a sheld, sticking his head over the top from time to time to hurl a ball of foxfire at Legion, but with little effect. Legion's tentacles were holding Inuyasha spread-eagled in the air a few feet above the ground. The alligator's head was laughing cruelly and licking its chops with hungry anticipation. An ogre's arm brandished a great club, and it was raising the club to deliver what was clearly intended to be the death blow.
"No! NO! NOOOO!" Izayoi screamed, and she leaped into the air; and as she jumped, her scream became a roar that shook the earth, and she felt her limbs stretching, her body growing and reshaping itself, her hair streaming about her like living flame.
Izayoi's shout pierced the darkness in which Inuyasha felt himself floating, and he struggled to open his eyes, hoping to see his daughter one last time before he died. Instead, he saw Legion before him, gloating no more, looking in terror at some great shape that had blotted out the sun. And suddenly, Inuyasha saw a huge white dog come hurtling out of the heavens, its vicious jaws clamping hard on the alligator's throat. Legion dropped Inuyasha as it screamed in terror, and Shippou raced across the field to where Inuyasha had fallen, scooped him up, and quickly carried him out of harm's way.
The great dog and Legion tumbled and rolled, but the dog was quickly the victor. It rolled to its feet with Legion like a rag doll in its mouth, and with a cruel snap it wrenched the alligator's head off Legion's body and viciously spat it out. The body flew in the opposite direction, where it hit the canyon wall and fell quivering to the ground.
A flash, and the dog shrank to human size; it was indeed Izayoi. She drew the great sword, and lightning flashed from the heavens, finding the blade and kindling a blazing fire within it. "Die, you bastard!" Izayoi shrieked, and she swung the flaming blade at Legion. A bolt of living blue-green demonic energy coursed from the sword to strike the quivering body of Legion; but then, twin tongues of pink purifying fire corkscrewed along the bolt of demon energy, racing towards their target. Together, the otherworldly fire of the sword's youkai power and the searing purifying flames of Izayoi's human power did what neither force could do alone—they tore into Legion, shredding and purifying its hideous body in a furious, blazing maelstrom; and in moments, Legion was utterly destroyed.
Izayoi walked over to the alligator's head, the last remaining piece of Legion, where it lay in the mud, gasping and choking. "You... may have won... today," it wheezed, "But... you can never defeat us all. One day... we will destroy you."
"One day. Maybe," said Izayoi coldly; and there was a wet crunch as she drove the sword with brute strength through the creature's skull, and a soft sizzle as she vaporized it with a flash of purifying energy. She stared at the stain on the ground where the evil head had laid, and she said quietly, "But not today."
"Za-chan!" called Shippou; and Izayoi ran to Inuyasha, where he lay limp in Shippou's arms. Shippou was unable to speak, and tears were pouring down his face.
"Oh... oh no..." Izayoi gasped. Her vision blurred as her eyes filled with tears, but then she wiped her eyes and mastered herself, and she reached for Tenseiga, still sheathed at her father's belt.
She grasped Tenseiga's hilt, and she was about to draw it when Inuyasha's hand gently closed around her wrist. "We don't need that... just yet," he wheezed.
"Oh, Daddy..." Izayoi cried, and she fell across her father's chest, sobbing with relief.
"Did we... get him?" coughed Inuyasha.
"We got him," said Shippou, gently wiping the pink foam from Inuyasha's lips. "Izayoi's the one who got him."
"That's...my girl," he said softly, and he sighed and lay back in Shippou's arms, his body relaxing.
"Daddy...no, Daddy, no!" screamed Izayoi; but as she pressed her ear against his chest, she could hear his heart beat.
"He's still with us, Za-chan," said Shippou gently. "He's tough. He'll be fine."
The sun was setting and the air was growing chill as they carefully carried Inuyasha back to the top of the hill and washed and bandaged his wounds. They bundled him into their warmest blankets, and they set him as close to the fire as they dared. As they worked, Izayoi told Shippou the story of what had happened with the sword. He shook his head with amazement. "When this is all over," Shippou said, "Let's take it to Totosai—maybe he can figure out what's going on. It's all beyond me."
"Me too," said Izayoi. She drew the sword and looked cautiously at the blade. "And I've got the feeling that what happened today is only the beginning... of what, I don't know."
The autumn wind blew colder as night fell, and Inuyasha began to shiver, even under his blankets. Shippou took Inuyasha in his arms and wrapped the blankets around the both of them, trying to warm Inuyasha with the heat of his own body; but it wasn't working. As the night grew colder so did Inuyasha, and his face began to turn a disturbing shade of gray.
"We've got to keep him warm," said Shippou worriedly. "If we can't keep him warm, he won't live through the night. Maybe if we put one of us on each side, and wrap us all in blankets... but I don't know if even that will be enough."
"I know what to do," said Izayoi. She got up from the campfire and walked a short distance away. Then, she hurled herself into the air, and as she flew upwards she transformed, her body stretching and growing until she transformed into a great youkai dog.
"Neat trick, Za-chan," laughed Shippou. Izayoi snarled quietly, her lips curling back slightly to reveal large and fearsome fangs; then she lay on the ground and Shippou tucked Inuyasha under her great chest. Izayoi gently nuzzled Inuyasha, and Inuyasha stirred, rubbing his face against Izayoi's soft fur, and he rested himself against her the way a puppy warms itself against its mother.
"Princess," Inuyasha said quietly, "That...is you, isn't it."
Her great sad eyes looked gently at her father, and he heard her thoughts in his mind: "Yes, Daddy...it's me."
"On you...it looks good," he said smiling, and he contentedly rested his head against Izayoi's great chest, and he quickly fell asleep.
Inuyasha survived the night. In the morning, they were glad to see that the pallor had left his face, and his breath came quietly and easily.
The morning was bright and warm, and Shippou carried Inuyasha onto the soft grass to lie in the sun. Izayoi resumed her human form and went to the river to wash; she felt like she still stank from the blood of yesterday's battle. When she returned, she found Shippou laying stones out on the ground, then rearranging them; then forming a frame with his hands and squinting thoughtfully through it at the landscape.
"Po-chan," she laughed, "What are you doing?"
"Za-chan, I've got to admit it—one of the best things humans ever invented was houses. My people live in holes in the ground—now, they're very cozy and nothing feels like 'home' like a good burrow—but I think humans have got it right, so we're going to build a house."
Izayoi giggled as Shippou made grand gestures and pointed to various piles of stones. "The door goes here—and there's plenty of room to expand this way as our family gets bigger. And your bath—you've got to have a bath," he said emphatically, and Izayoi nodded enthusiastically, "Your bath goes here, because it's got the best view of the canyon that way."
"Po-chan," Izayoi laughed, "You don't have the slightest idea how to build anything, do you?"
Shippou blushed. "Za-chan! How can you doubt me! I'm crushed!" Shippou turned up his nose, looking very unjustly aggrieved. "Of course I... don't," he said, digging his toe into the earth. "But if humans can do it...there's no reason a fox youkai can't!" He proudly thumped his chest. "Besides, look at what we did yesterday! That's got to be harder than building some old house."
"Good point," Izayoi laughed. "We can start as soon as you find giant-dog-sized tools."
"Oh yeah," said Shippou sheepishly.
Then Izayoi drew her sword and brandished it meanacingly. She said darkly, "And if you ever ... say anything about a 'doghouse'..." The sword flashed eerily, and Izayoi growled, "I'll never forgive you."
Shippou looked hurt. "Za-chan..." he said, hanging his head; then he began to laugh, and so did she, and their laughter echoed up and down the canyon.
Autumn steadily chilled into winter. The days and nights grew colder, but the harsh canyon winds blew around rather than over the little hill, and there was excellent shelter within a copse of young trees just off the crest of the hill. It was indeed quite a cozy place to live, and Shippou and Izayoi both began to dream of days and nights together there, making the little hill a place for home and family.
Inuyasha was not healing as fast as he usually did. He slept more than he usually did, even when healing from battle wounds, and he ate considerably less than usual. His breathing could sometimes be a little difficult, he still needed to use Tessaiga as a crutch, and he was clearly not his normal self. "It's my damned weak human side," he groused. "After a few hundred years, it just starts to give out on you." Izayoi had made him healing herbal medicines, which he (usually) drank, but even her best care couldn't seem to make him better.
But even so, all three of them were quite content living on the little hill; but Izayoi worried about her father's health, and she would often stay up late watching him sleep, or pace around the camp, or speak long into the night with Shippou about what to do.
One night, Izayoi could not sleep at all. She left Shippou snoring contentedly by the fire at their corner of the camp, and she walked quietly to where her father lay; he too was asleep. She paced aimlessly around the fire for a few minutes, then she shoved her sword into her belt and padded quietly away, with no particular destination in mind.
She found herself at the foot of the hill, at the side of the stream. She knelt down to drink from the cold sweet water, and for a while looked at the reflection of the moon, rippling across the surface of the stream. But then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a golden glow. She stood and whirled to face it, her sword already in her hand; but then she laughed, and dropped her sword, and clapped her hands with joy.
It was Kagome, her spirit shimmering in the night, her warm smile glowing as brightly as her radiant body. "Mom!" shouted Izayoi, and she rushed to embrace her mother; but it was like trying to hug a moonbeam, "Mom..." she said sadly, as her arms passed easily through Kagome's insubstantial spirit.
"Oh, you poor dear," said Kagome at Izayoi's downcast face. Kagome's shining hand reached out and touched Izayoi's cheek, and Izayoi could feel the touch upon her spirit, rather than her flesh. "You see," said Kagome, "it is the thought that counts." Kagome laughed, and so did Izayoi.
"Mom," said Izayoi, "I'm worried about Dad. He's not doing well. He...he sacrificed himself to save me... and I don't know if he's going to make it..."
"No, princess, it was you who sacrificed yourself to save him," said Kagome. "You don't know how close you came to death in the ordeal with that sword. It nearly killed you. The only reason that you're alive right now—the only reason that all three of you are alive, and that the power of that sword did not fall into evil hands—is your determination to give everything you had to save your father's life."
Kagome placed her shining hand over Izayoi's heart. "And you really did give up your life to save his," she said sadly. "That sword has changed you, forever. It has opened you to the full youkai power that you inherited from Inuyasha's father, and the full human power of all the Higurashi that have ever lived. You're a different person now."
"But Mom," Izayoi said, "You know I never wanted power. I just want Shippou, and Dad, and you. I just want to be me."
"And that, my precious little princess, is your greatest power," said Kagome, smiling. "But as for your father: I want you to bring him to the Goshinboku, as soon as you can. Don't worry about hurrying or pushing too hard—just get him there as soon as you can get him there comfortably. Tomorrow is plenty of time to start."
"Mom," whispered Izayoi, "You aren't asking me to bring him there to ... to die, are you?"
"My poor, sweet, dear Iza-chan," Kagome said gently, "Everybody dies." But then she smiled. "But no, sweetheart, you're not bringing him there to die. Everything is going to be wonderful. I promise—trust me."
"OK, Mom. I'll try to get him up and moving tomorrow."
"That's my good little princess." Kagome's glowing spirit started to fade. "Oh my sweet dear, such a great adventure you're beginning...always remember that I'm watching over you, and that I love you."
"I love you too, Mom," said Izayoi, and she smiled as her mother's spirit gradually faded and vanished. She stood alone in the moonlight for a few moments, lost in her thoughts; then, she climbed the hill and returned to the camp. She watched her father for a long time as he slept peacefully by the fire; then she lay down next to him, and put her arm tenderly around him, and very quietly cried herself to sleep.