Inuyasha jumped high into the canopy, his claws stretched out, and slashed the cocoon. Not much response. Growling, he tried again, several times till a rip stretched near the middle. Grabbing one of the near branches, he pulled the cocoon further open, and he pulled Sango out, ripping from her as he did so the cyan veins. His heart rapidly began to beat, and he checked whether the demon slayer was still alive; she was. Once secured in his arms, he jumped down to the ground, and laid the slayer on the ground.
The monk rushed over, a look of sincere worry plastered on his face, but once he checked for himself that she was still breathing, a relieved sigh escaped his lips. He pulled from her neck some remaining veins, looking at one of them thoughtfully, and noticed that they were clear now, the cyan tint from them gone.
He watched Miroku carefully; he made sure that he didn't do anything that Sango wouldn't have liked, i.e. groping her behind. Once assured that he wasn't going to pull anything, he stepped back and stood, glancing around them, staring at cocoon up top. Frowning slightly, he narrowed his amber eyes, trying to see if he could see something there.
Shippou! He jumped back up the tree, and somewhat half submerged into the webs of the cocoon was the kitsune, with his tail poking out. Inuyasha grabbed hold and pulled him out, dropping down on the ground. The young fox demon awoke at once and began to wail, till Inuyasha gave him a good thump on the head.
"Shaddup! You're alright."
The little demon sniffled, blinking his green eyes at the annoyed hanyou, and then caught sight of Sango. Picking himself up, he ran over to Sango, standing by her head, peering down nervously into her face. He looked up to Miroku, who was still kneeling above her, a worried expression frozen. Shippou asked quietly, "Is she okay?"
"She's alive, but she's not waking up," he said softly, then he shook her shoulders and sharply called out to her, "Sango! Sango, wake up!"
Sango ran through the forest, her breath coming out in sharp pants, and her Hiraikotsu was strapped to her back. She couldn't stop! She paused to think whether it would be just as well to stop and face the demon head on, but her instinct told her that she couldn't win this one alone. She needed her friends' help, she admitted. However, she hadn't the faintest idea where they had got to. In fact, she didn't remember facing this demon; she only remembered that she had to run to survive.
A root caught her foot, and she tripped, falling to the floor, the heavily vegetated ground only partially cushioning her fall. Letting out a faint grunt of pain, she looked down at her ankle. She broke it? How could she have broken it? It was only a little fall! Grinding her teeth, she reached up and grasped a lone low hanging branch, and pulled her self to her feet, using her Hiraikotsu as a sort of support.
There was no way she could run now, she knew. She would have to face this demon if there was any chance of survival. Closing her eyes, she took deep breaths, till she heard footsteps on the forest floor, and she opened her eyes. A gasp left her lips.
Kohaku!
"Kohaku!" she whispered, and then she spoke louder, "Brother, you have to move! Go! You must leave, you're in danger here!"
"Why, sister?"
"There was a demon pursuing me, and I cannot fight it properly in my condition. Please, Kohaku, you must go!" she pleaded, her eyes brimming with tears.
Her brother almost looked confused, and he blinked, cocking his head slightly to one side, "But sister, there is no demon pursuing you. I thought you had killed them all?"
"What?" Sango sharply responded, her wandering eyes snapping to attention to him.
"You said that you would kill Kagome, Miroku, Shippou, Kirara and Inuyasha. You promised me."
"What? I would never… Kohaku, what are you talking about?"
"Oh, I understand now; you didn't kill them all. You missed Inuyasha. He's coming back for revenge, you see. That's all right- you deserve to die. You betrayed everyone, even me, since you didn't kill them all."
Kohaku seemed to step into the shadows of the forest, his empty looking eyes glazing over her. He stared as Sango stared at him with an open mouth, still not in understanding. Finally, he disappeared, all trace of him gone, all gone except for the words he had uttered.
Crashing through the woods was Inuyasha, his angry golden eyes focused on the demon slayer, the Tetsusaiga hoisted high above him, a growl escaping his throat. He stared at her for a moment, and then he finally spoke through clenched teeth, baring his fangs, "You killed them all… Kagome, Miroku, Shippou and even Kirara. We thought we could trust you, we thought you were our ally, our friends. You're worse then Naraku."
"I d-didn't, Inuyasha, I swear!" Sango pleaded, her eyes wide, "I would never!"
He laughed coldly, "You tell me that, even though I can see the blood on your Hiraikotsu?"
Immediately, she turned to look at her giant boomerang, only to see glistening red blood on the edge, splattered all about the weapon. With a gasp, she dropped it, letting it fall to the ground. No! She would never kill her friends, never! She had no recollection of doing so, and no part of her heart ever wanted to do such a thing, she looked to Inuyasha.
"You see? Deny it now, slayer?" Inuyasha growled, laughing still as he spoke, "Don't bother telling me that you didn't know you were doing it, that you don't remember it. You know why, because I sure remember it!" his voice rose at the end, nearing screaming.
He brought down the Tetsusaiga, cackling as he did so, the bright yellow lines of the Wind Scar coming down upon her. She would die, and as her final thoughts, she knew she deserved to die, after what she had done. She killed all her friends, she betrayed them. Inuyasha had every right to avenge them. She closed her eyes, the strange sensation coming over her body.
She could feel herself shaking, and did not quite grasp why she wasn't dead yet. Daring to open her eyes, she saw Inuyasha's golden eyes staring intensely down at her. Had he changed his mind, and averted the Wind Scar somehow? She hoped not, she deserved this death.
"Sango! Wake up!" another voice called to her, familiar and warm. Miroku?
"I think she's awake!" the childish voice of Shippou ran through her ears. Weren't they dead?
"Come to your senses, Sango! We need to get moving!" Inuyasha growled at her.
"Miroku? Shippou? Y-you aren't dead?" Sango asked softly, not quite believing it yet.
"No, we aren't. That was an illusion you remember, Sango," Miroku said quietly, but seeing that her eyes returned to their usual bright glow, his hand began to wander down to her rear. Hmm, she wouldn't blame him for this time would she? He had been worried…
"Pervert!" she exclaimed, slapping him on the cheek, and scrambling away from him. Her hand left a nice red handprint on his cheek, and Miroku rubbed it. This certain episode had lifted their morale though, and Sango had to smile, even if just for a moment. She turned to Inuyasha, asking, "Where's Kagome?"
"Not found yet," he growled lowly, and he turned to face the sky, the stars of the night peeking in through the dense canopy. Sango's waking took quite a bit of time, "Let's move, we don't have much time left."
The demon slayer stood up, and for a second, her head was dizzy. The blood rushed to her head, from lying down on the ground for some time. Rubbing her temples with her fingers, she watched Inuyasha. Then she remembered Kirara. Where was the fire feline? Her eyes widened, and she turned to them.
"Where's Kirara?"
"I don't know," the hanyou answered simply, as he pretty much till now forgotten the two-tailed demon.
"I don't think she's been cocooned like the rest of us, the spider would have mentioned it. I think its safe to assume she's just trapped in a web somewhere," the monk said soothingly to Sango.
"She's over here!" a somewhat far off voice said.
Shippou found her? Miroku wondered. They ran over to where they heard the fox demon's voice, and, indeed, the fire cat was there with Shippou.
Kirara seemed stuck, her paws sunken into a white sort of gooey mass. She mewed to them, and Sango rushed over, kneeling down to pick up the small cat. The fire feline suddenly started to mew sharply, as if warning them to stay away. Sango plucked her out, and held her in her arms, with Shippou jumping to her shoulder.
"I think the spider's around. We have to be careful," Miroku murmured.
"INUYASHA!" a familiar feminine voice called, and Inuyasha's ears perked. Kagome! He shot off, not looking back at the others, towards the direction of her voice. He had found her!
The others rushed to catch up to him, but then stopped. Sango and Miroku stole glances at each other. Something didn't seem right.
Inuyasha continued to run, till he ran straight into a web, and the threads began to grow around his wrists and ankles, slowly crawling over his body, trying to cocoon the half demon. Damn it! He struggled, trying to free himself, and he could hear the cackle of the spider not too far from where he was. He tried to see through the cocoon's walls, and saw the mass of black.
"Whoo, hoo, hoo! Lookie here! The spider's caught the little doggy!"
TO BE CONTIUNED
--
Author's Note:
Hey, guys, thanks for reading, and for the reviews some of you have left behind. You have no idea how happy it makes me; I don't think I've ever had so many reviews in such a short time. :)
shadowx2468: I read over the first chapter, the one you had reviewed to, and could not find spelling mistakes. I found grammer mistakes (I know, I know, I should have caught them the first time) O.o So, er... I'm just confused.
Again, thanks for all the reviews:)