Okay! And now, the dramatic conclusion to last chapters events! Don't you just hate cliff-hangers? Heheh... I guess the last one was a bit of a cliffy, eh? Oh well, if I hadn't stopped right then, this chapter would have been screwed. Trust me, I have it all planned out. Well, I won't burden you with a long A/N this time, because I really want to get back to the fic. I'm writing this the same night as I did the last one, so I'm currently feeling a little edgy.
Erin: Hey, I get a say to!
Fine what do you want to say?
Erin:...ummm...uhhh... I guess to get on with the chappie. Oh, and NEVER DRINK SOAP!
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(And thus, we begin chapter 13 of I Must Keep Going.)
Blood was strewn everywhere as he himself lay in a bloody heap. His face, his legs, splattered, his arms, his chest, his hands, drenched in the thick red mass. One thing kept him going, and that was the limp body no more than fifteen feet away from his own. As if possessed by it, he rose with great difficulty and pain, limping his way over to the form. The battle was not yet done.
(Moments before.)
She open her eyes and slowly looked up at him. "He's gone." She smiled.
"But for how long?" A low voice called. As Inuyasha turned around to the man behind him, the man seized him by the throat. "Doesn't seem that I'm gone after all."
"N-Naraku..." Inuyasha croaked for lack of oxygen, as he clutched desperately at Naraku's hand around his neck.
"Great to see you again... Inuyasha."
Kagome tackled Naraku in an attempt to free Inuyasha. Her claws has disappeared and her attempted attack did very little, but it distracted Naraku for just long enough for Inuyasha to use his claws and take off his hand.
Inuyasha coughed and gasped for air as he pried the dead fingers off of his neck, tossing the hand aside, he chose then to unsheathe his Tessaiga.
Naraku's face flashed a look of annoyance, but it quickly switched to one of pure malevolent joy. He laughed a deep laugh as a new hand regenerated on to the stub that was once, and now again, his wrist.
"Defiant little wench!" Bottle green tentacles shot from Naraku's body at Kagome, who screamed. Inuyasha leaped in front of the attack, blocking it with his Tessaiga.
Naraku smiled, "Fool you once, shame on me. Fool you twice, shame on you."
"What?" Inuyasha breathed. Glancing backward, he saw that Naraku had used a second set of tentacles to grab Kagome while he had been distracted. "Shit!"
Inuyasha pounced at Naraku, preparing to attack with his sword, when Naraku raised his hand, still smirking, and began to make a fist. Inuyasha stopped as Kagome began to scream in pain, and Naraku closed his eyes as if to listen.
"The pained cries of a beautiful maiden, a sound like no other, wouldn't you agree?" Naraku was toying with him, and Inuyasha knew it.
"You piece of trash..."
"Now, now. Be careful with your words, Inuyasha. If I close my hand into a full fist, Kagome will be crushed and die a horrible death. You don't want that to happen, now do you?"
Inuyasha growled as he breathed heavily, his fang digging deep into his lip.
"Now just put down your sword like a good boy and we can discus this."
"No!" Kagome screamed from in the air where the tentacles still held her. "Don't do it, Inuyasha! He'll kill you!"
Inuyasha closed his eyes, and solemnly tossed the Tessaiga behind him, complying with Naraku's request. He looked up at Kagome, his eyes sad. Then his gaze returned to Naraku as his expression hardened.
"Do you look at me with utter distain because I hold the dear Kagome hostage, Inuyasha, or because I've actually forced you to do as I ask?"
"Just shut up and put her down, Naraku!" Inuyasha spat at Naraku, who laughed.
"When did I say I'd put her down? I said we'd discuss it, not that she would be released."
"BASTARD!"
Naraku twitched his hand once more and Kagome gasped with pain. Inuyasha looked up at her in frantic worry.
"Didn't I tell you to watch your words."
"Release your tentacles and let Kagome go, Naraku!"
"Well..." Naraku grinned. "Since you asked so nicely, I'll release my tentacles."
Inuyasha could tell something was not right by the way Naraku spoke. And sure enough, as Naraku's tentacles removed themselves, Kagome remained suspended in air, her body frozen and limp.
"KAGOME! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!"
"Hm..." Naraku said in mock interest. "It seems that a large enough piece of the jewel remains in her forehead. In fact, just enough to paralyse her, just enough for me to kill her..."
Blood began to poor from Kagome's mouth and nose as the rest of her body began to twitch violently.
"STOP IT!" Inuyasha yelled.
"Do you know what she's thinking right now, Inuyasha? What's happening? Why can't I move? Ah! It hurts! Someone make it stop!''' Naraku said the last parts with pure joy on his face. "She's in pain, Inuyasha, and you're the cause. You're why I have to do this to her. If it weren't for you, she wouldn't be in such misery."
"BASTARD!" Inuyasha charged at Naraku with his claws, swinging wildly. Naraku dogged every stroke and merely taunted Inuyasha more.
"Be careful, now. If I close my fist she'll literally combust."
"THEN I'LL JUST CHOP IT OFF!" Inuyasha swung for Naraku's shoulder, but only nicked it, not even causing Naraku to bleed. "DIE!" Inuyasha tried again, this time, leaving a long cut across his face.
"You knave!" Naraku stabbed Inuyasha through the chest once more with a tentacle. He began to smirk once more, thinking that victory was close at hand. Suddenly, Naraku's eyes widened. He collapsed in pain and began clutching his skull. All of his tentacles retracted as he began to wither in anguish. Sweat pooled on his upper lip as he cried out,
"YOU IMPUDENT WENCH! GET OUT! I'LL KILL YOU!" Naraku shakily raised his hand and began to make a fist, when Inuyasha took his own clawed hand and ran if straight through the sum of Naraku's back... directly through the scar in the shape of a spider. Naraku screamed in pain and his body began to slowly dissolve in front of Inuyasha's eyes. Yet still, his voice quietly rang out...
"I, the great Naraku, defeated by a hanyou and a human girl...intolerable..."
In the end, all that remained of Naraku was a pool of blood.
(End flashback.)
Inuyasha limped toward Kagome. She was covered in her own blood and his, and her breathing was strained, but she was breathing.
Yet... for how long? Inuyasha worried. On the outside, she appears as though she'd live, but the internal wounds caused by Naraku are more than likely too great. She may live, but chances are she'll die in the next fleeting moments...Kagome...
Inuyasha looked up. Night was close to falling. He could see the full moon creeping up into the sky that was loosing it's pink glow and becoming more and more absorbed by the dark of night.
Wait... Inuyasha thought. The full moon...If I make it in time...
Inuyasha stood quickly, only to shortly fall back to his knees, clutching his abdomen.
Who am I kidding? Inuyasha sighed sadly. I can barely stand, let alone scale a mountain. But it's the only way... I have to get it and get back to the others before it's too late.
Inuyasha stood once more, slowly this time, and managed to shakily hold his balance. He hobbled slowly over to his sword and sheathed it silently, then went back to Kagome.
When he was back at her side he noticed a large bruise in the centre of her forehead.
The jewel shards! He thought. I have to remove them.
Wordlessly, he carefully used his claw to gently break the skin above the jewel and, sure enough, if fell out. Then, with much discomfort, he tenderly lifted Kagome on to his bare back and began to climb. His hands were cut and scraped by the sharp ended rocks, but he paid no mind. He knew that there was an easier and safer way to scale the mountain than this vertical climb via a path, but that would take too long, and time was too precious.
One arm on the rocks, one arm holding Kagome, he slowly but surely ascend the mountain.
It wasn't until he was approximately a quarter of the way up when Kagome began to stir. A small ledge was not far ahead, and Inuyasha took the chance to check on Kagome's condition. He sat upon the ledge, and held Kagome in a bridal position. As her eyes began to slowly open she was greeted again by a pair of amber eyes.
"Inuyasha..."
"I'm right here, Kagome."
She looked up at him. He was a wreck. There were long gashes across his face and arms, the shirt of his kimono had long since been torn off, revealing a hole in his chest and abdomen, along with more gashes across it, as well as multiple stab wounds in his chest and very deep ones on his back. He was breathing heavily and it was very obviously laboured and he was drenched in sweat and blood. Yet the worst of it all was the pained and harassed look of worry on his face. Kagome couldn't help it, she began to cry.
(Flashback in Kagome's mind.)
"You knave!" Naraku stabbed Inuyasha through the chest once more with a tentacle. He began to smirk once more, thinking that victory was close at hand.
NO! INUYASHA!
Keep this moment in your memory, my dear, for this is the last time you'll your beloved Inuyasha alive.
You... bastard...
Now, now. You're starting to sound like Inuyasha.
LET HIM GO, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! DIE! GO TO HELL WHERE YOU BELONG!
"YOU IMPUDENT WENCH! GET OUT! I'LL KILL YOU!"
NEVER! DIE, NARAKU!
SHUT UP!
NO!
DO YOU WANT ME TO KILL YOU!
No... but you're about to be killed...
Naraku shakily raised his hand and began to make a fist, when Inuyasha took his own clawed hand and ran if straight through the sum of Naraku's back... directly through the scar in the shape of a spider. Naraku screamed in pain and his body began to slowly dissolve in front of Inuyasha's eyes. Yet still, his voice quietly rang out...
"I, the great Naraku, defeated by a hanyou and a human girl...intolerable..."
(End flashback.)
"K-Kagome, what wrong?" Inuyasha asked soothingly.
"Inuyasha, I'm so sorry! It's all my fault. Naraku was right, it's because of me!" Kagome couldn't stop herself, she was breaking down right in front of
Inuyasha and she couldn't do anything about it.
"No! Don't you think that for a second! Naraku was using jewel shards to control you! He did that to you to get at me."
"B-But you're wounds, I did them!"
"That wasn't you... Didn't you hear me say that?" Inuyasha bent down and softly placed his forehead on Kagome's. "Now don't you worry about it, Kagome. Naraku is dead, and we're both alive. I...I love you..."
Inuyasha straightened himself and looked down at Kagome, whose eyes were closed once more. "Asleep..." he smiled. Did she hear what I said? He looked up and saw that the moon was almost directly overhead. Crap! I have to hurry.
With that thought, Inuyasha lifted Kagome onto his back once more and continued to scale higher and higher, eyes searching for what he needed.
(Back at the campsite with Miroku and Sango.)
The sun quickly rose over Gekko Bara Mountain, stirring Sango, Miroku, and Kirara from their sleep. Sango sat up, rubbed her eyes, and was instantly hit with a wave of worry.
"Inuyasha and Kagome still haven't returned. I'm worried, Miroku." Sango looked over at Miroku, expecting a perverted comment, but none came. Instead, Miroku looked very serious. "What wrong?"
"Last night," Miroku said in a grave voice, "I was awoken by a very strong demonic aura and a great burst of spiritual energy. It seemed to be coming from the base of the mountain, but I couldn't tell. I'm hoping that Inuyasha and Kagome were not involved."
Sango felt sick. Her mind was rushing with what Miroku described could be and how Inuyasha and Kagome could be in trouble. Then, they both heard a violent cough from just outside the clearing. They're eyes turned to meet a beaten and bloodied Inuyasha carrying an unconscious Kagome in to view.
"Inuyasha! Kagome!" Miroku and Sango both said in unison as the rushed to the two.
Inuyasha's face flicked an expression of bewilderment, as if he had just realised that they were there, yet was not quite fully sure who they were and why they were there. He was pale, bleeding, and exhausted.
Sango came forward and carefully took Kagome from the hanyou as Inuyasha snapped into realisation.
"Inuyasha, what happened to you two?" Miroku asked.
"Never mind that now," Inuyasha choked out. Shakily, he held out his fist and opened it, revealing a small flower that looked like a rose, only the thorns were more than an inch long, and the bud was a light blue at the tip, and black throughout the rest. "Grind this up... and make it into a tea. Have her drink the whole thing, otherwise..." Inuyasha coughed violently and blood splattered from his mouth onto the ground. His eyes rolled back, and Inuyasha collapsed in a heap on the ground.
So this is what it's like, he thought. This is what it's like to die...
(End of chapter 13)
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YET ANOTHER CLIFFY!
Erin: What? NO! YOU CAN'T KILL INUYASHA! IT'S AGAINST THE RULES!
Like hell I can't! He's dead! D-E-A-D, DEAD!
Erin/glares/ If you kill him, I'll tell everyone about.../Dun, dun, da/ THE INCIDENT!
I'm sorry, "the incident?" should I be scared?
Erin/smiles malevolently/ oh yes. I mean the incident... that happened last year... in your basement... and-
Or... maybe not?... AND TO EVERYONE AT HOME, SHE DARED ME TO DO THAT AND I DIDN'T WANT TO! IT WAS AGAINST MY WILL!
Erin: Heheh... Review.
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