To my readers: YO! I'm back! All you bakas must worship my doctor for removing my cast!
Thanks to the peoples who had faith for my immanent update: Anime-Lover09 and RinCutie7455
Disclaimer: In other news, the kidnapping of the InuYasha-gumi was foiled when the police followed the trail of Pocky, fan fictions, and the little mushrooms that Shippo left behind. The authoress was let off with a warning, and the promise to keep writing these things.
0o0o0o0
The Cure
0o0o0o0
"How can we reverse this curse? Any ideas, bouzu?"
"We could go to Kaede-sama…"
"And what would that old hag do anyways? I bet she knows nothing about the Denkou Yari, or its barrier." Sesshomaru spoke up, impatience lurking under the surface of his voice.
"Sesshomaru-sama…please, don't fight when we're trying to help." Rin's innocent comment managed to calm Sesshomaru.
Dammit! It seems the longer I stay in this form, the worse my state of emotion gets. I hate this!
"Keh! What if a human manages to get the Denkou Yari? Then at least we can defeat the Tai no Seigi, and that bastard leader of theirs."
"InuYasha…that actually sounds like a good idea."
"And this time Miroku and I will accompany you. You guys might need us if we're fighting against these guys. Kirara needs something to do anyways."
"Alright! Finally we actually get to experience some action!"
0o0o0o0
Sesshomaru trudged along, once again following the others. Ah-Un walked ahead with Jaken, Leiko, and Rin astride it, Kirara had Miroku, Sango, and Shippo riding her, and InuYasha was leaping ahead with Kagome on his back. Sesshomaru was left to walk.
He didn't dare grumble. If they thought he was weak they would never give him a moment's peace, and he wouldn't be allowed to fight. His blood boiled at the thought, and he kicked at a large stone. He was determined to fight for what was rightfully his, and reverse the horrid thing that had been done to him. His pride would settle for no less.
Suddenly Sesshomaru felt something brush his hand. He looked down to see Rin walking beside him, her little hand in his.
"Sesshomaru-sama, why are you so angry? Is being human that bad?"
Sesshomaru smiled at the little lass, his frustration melting away.
"Rin, you must understand, it is hard to have demon agility, strength, speed, and senses one day, and lose them in a moment. It is hard to keep my feelings in check, and even harder to keep in this frustration that grows day by day."
Rin smiled at him, trying to banish his bad mood.
"I understand, my lord."
0o0o0o0
In two more days, the group reached the barrier once again. Within minutes they entered the cave once more, leaving only Kirara, and Ah-Un behind. This time they entered cautiously and quietly, which they were grateful of when they found the whole Tai no Seigi camped out there, as well as their captives. Women, children, and elders, as well as the men and young boys that were being trained to serve the Band; all were there, and Sesshomaru could recognize some of his subjects. There was his master cook. And there was one of the stable hands. And there, he could spot Leiko's father, Kane, a trusted soldier of his, who's whole family had served him well over the years. The poor man's wife and son had died from a disease that struck only demons…leaving him and his daughter to grieve.
Luckily the whole camp was asleep, and they were all sleeping soundly. They were most likely sleeping so they could all be well rested when night came around, when all of their misdeeds were done.
Kuso! InuYasha mentally swore. I thought that we drove them off! They must've chosen this cave as their headquarters, and they only left to regroup. Shimatta!
The group headed for the passageway, leaving Leiko, Shippo, and Jaken behind to guard it, and give warning if anyone woke up.
InuYasha couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. The reached the end of the passageway, and Kagome entered the chamber first.
Kagome's piercing cry shattered the quiet air. InuYasha tried to follow Kagome, but a barrier repelled him. The passageway was too confining to draw Tessaiga, and he couldn't see Kagome or anyone else, only an illusion of the chamber, which looked to be empty. But he knew that she was in danger. He could smell her blood, and the wound seemed to be a deep one.
"Damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN!"
Sesshomaru tried to get into the chamber as well, but he was also repelled. Sango and Miroku tried in turn, but none of them could enter.
Rin couldn't smell Kagome's blood, but Kagome's screams seemed to echo in her head, even as they died down. She rushed towards the barrier, and, surprisingly, entered easily.
The scene looked like this: Kagome was facing a large demon, a henchman of Hanawanowarui's, at the ready with her bow. Her shoulder was wounded, and a large cut graced her stomach. Claw marks.
"One more step towards me, and I'll make sure that you won't see the light of day anymore!"
The demon just laughed, as his companion walked up behind Kagome, and stabbed her. The blade went through her abdomen, and fresh blood splattered the floor. Once more she screamed. Her hand released the arrow as she was stabbed, and it hit the other demon in the heart, purifying him to ashes.
Kagome fell to the floor, landing in her own pool of blood. Rin rushed to her friend's side, praying to every god that she knew, hoping she wasn't dead.
"Kagome? Kagome! Please, answer!"
"Heh, just be still youngster…you'll both see each other on the other side!" Rin saw the demon reach for his sword.
"No. No! Don't you touch her!" Rin grabbed the weapon that the now dead demon had sported, and sliced through her attacker's body.
A gurgling noise. Warm blood. A loud "thunk!". The thumping of her heartbeat. Rin could hear and feel all this, but it was as if she was outside of her own body. She felt numb, yet energized, as adrenaline pumped through her veins. She paused for a moment, then ran for the Denkou Yari, slicing all that got in her path.
She grabbed the weapon, and brandished it before her. All the rest of the demons looked shocked to see such a small female with such enormous power. Rin could feel this newly found courage and strength flowing quickly through her, powers that were glad to be unleashed after being tied down inside herself.
"Come, any of you who wish to die, step forward." Her voice was not her own.
No one moved.
Rin slowly walked through the group of fiends. They stood stock still, and some even trembled as she passed them by. She felt an exhilarating rush to see them act like the cowards they were before her. Perhaps this was what it felt like to be victorious. Perhaps Sesshomaru or InuYasha felt like this after vanquishing a formidable foe. Rin clutched the spear tighter, and it pulsed in her grip.
She picked up Kagome, and pulled her to a sitting position. Although she felt strong, she could not lift the bigger girl, who was currently unconscious.
The Denkou Yari pulsed faster in Rin's hand. Suddenly a flash of what she must do went through her.
She stood and faced the doorway to the passageway, and raised the spear. With one stroke, she cut through the now visible barrier. InuYasha and Sesshomaru rushed through, jostling each other. InuYasha ran to Kagome, holding her tightly for a moment before lifting her bridal style. Sesshomaru couldn't help but gape at Rin, who looked like a miniature war-goddess, standing there with the Denkou Yari easily held in her hand.
The demon foes rushed as a group to Rin. They knelt at her feet, for they could see her power, and they wanted to be spared.
"Forgive us!"
"Have mercy!"
"Please, no more blood should be spilt!"
Sesshomaru's eyebrows went way up as he heard this, and he looked at the fallen demons. Their blood was everywhere, and limbs were scattered as well.
D-did Rin do this? How did she become so…so powerful? Is it that spear, or something within her own body.
Rin spoke up, addressing the demons cowering below her.
"Away with you! I don't feel like slaughtering cowardly bastards, such as yourselves. Go now, but if I find you harming innocents again, I shall kill you…or worse yet, I'll leave you alive, but mutilated. Understood?"
"Yes, yes! To hear is to obey!"
Sesshomaru could not believe that this was his little Rin, the one that he had saved countless times, the one that he had revived from a death by wolves. Her voice was strong, and her eyes were stern. InuYasha couldn't help but notice as well, although his concern was focused on Kagome, whom he cradled gently in his arms.
"Oi, Rin. Did…did you save Kagome?"
"Hai. I could not just leave Kagome in her time of need."
"Thank you. I don't know how you did it, but thank you."
"I…I don't exactly know myself. All I know is that I feel like I can slay a hundred…no, a thousand demons." A grin lit upon Rin's face, and her powers flowed more freely.
Kagome's eyes fluttered open slightly, and she let out a small gasp at the sight of Rin.
"Rin-chan…? You…you look…strong. Your…body is surrounded by…by an aura…a powerful one. Arigato…Rin-chan…you…saved…me." Kagome coughed up some blood, and fell silent.
"Rin? What transpired?"
"I saw one of the demons try to harm Kagome, as well as myself, and I just reached for the first weapon I laid my hands on. I killed him, and ran for the spear, killing anyone in my way. I used the spear to break the barrier, and well, you saw what happened after that."
"Did you feel this power before you grabbed the spear, or after."
"I think that at first it was my own power, then it was the spear's that broke the barrier. Anyways Sesshomaru, the battle is not yet won! We must fight that Hanawanowarui and free the captives! We don't have any time to spare. Did Sango and Miroku go to fight the other demons?"
"Yea, the demons must've heard all the ruckus you guys were raising. Sessho, the girl's got a point; I have to go help out. Can you stay with Kagome?"
"I will fight! I'm not a weakling!"
"Hey, believe me, I know how ya feel, but your kinda…um, how to put this…useless in your current form."
Rin looked at the spear. It seemed to tell her what she could do.
"But what if I could change that?"
"How?"
"Just watch."
Rin slashed the spear through the air around Sesshomaru, and it was like she was cutting through another barrier. Sesshomaru's human form seemed to melt away. Rin could see his demonic powers go back to him, and her own power surged in triumph.
"Leave Kagome here InuYasha. Let's go kill some demons."
After Sesshomaru had retrieved Tokijin, (which was miraculously still there) all three of them left the chamber, the hanyou on the left, the human in the middle, and the demon on the right.
0o0o0o0
Meanwhile, Sango and Miroku were fighting the swarms of demons that made up most of the Tai no Seigi. Leiko, Shippo, and Jaken joined them, and everyone was straining their abilities to the utmost.
"Kitsune-bi!"
"Kazaana!"
"Hirakotsu!"
"Souga no gekizai!"
"Nintoujo!"
InuYasha, Sesshomaru, and Rin entered, and surveyed the room for their top-priority enemy: Hanawanowarui.
"Damn that bastard!"
"I shall crush him beneath my sword."
"He'll rue the day he was born, the shithead!"
Sesshomaru glanced over at Rin, and opened his mouth to lecture her for using such language, but thought better of it.
It wasn't long before the "shithead" himself appeared before them.
"So, you three wanted to see me? Heh, oh well, you've just dug your own grave."
"Hey, ketsuwaipu! That's my line, ya cocksucker! You ketsusuperankaa, you'll pay for what your minions did to Kagome!"
"InuYasha, be quiet. Save some of that spunk for the fight."
"Shaddup, ya fucker! I'm gonna tear this guy limb-from-limb!"
"My, your language is so bawdy! Didn't your mother teach you any manners, you piece of trash."
"Come get me, dickwad, I ain't gonna stand here all day!"
Hanawanowarui lunged for the hanyou, but he dodged, leaving Sesshomaru with an opening. Sesshomaru struck with his Tokijin, hitting Hanawanowarui in the gut.
For a moment, their enemy keeled over, but he was up and about once more quickly, and he leapt two yards away.
"Three against one? Very cowardly, very cowardly indeed.
"Why should we care? You've been the one with all the cowardly tricks up your sleeve so far. No its time for a little payback." As Rin spoke, her spear pulsated, and at the word "payback" she sent a fully formed sphere of bright energy through the air towards her prey. It was similar to a bomb, and went off right in the face of the bastard, blasting the area with blood.
"You…you try to kill me? You shall die." He pulled out a small, almost unnoticeable, katana, and dramatically sliced it through the air in front of him, before lunching at InuYasha.
InuYasha counter-attacked, by pulling out the Tessaiga, and launching his "Kaze no Kizu". The killer dodged this, and continued to go for InuYasha's throat. InuYasha blocked with his sword, pushing the bastard away easily.
"C'mon, don't tell me that your just hot air? Don't you have ANY power? Or is it all talk and big bodyguards." With that, InuYasha ran at the bastard, and for a moment it looked like he was going to split him in two, but Tessaiga cut through air instead. The form that InuYasha was trying to cut was another illusion.
"Do you think you've really won? Do you? I'm sorry, but today will have to be a withdrawal…"
"Dammit! Where are you?"
"That's for me to know, and you to find out." The voice disappeared, as well as the illusion.
InuYasha's fist met with the wall, and he slumped over, cursing under his breath with the most "creative" words he knew.
"InuYasha-sama…don't worry. We'll fight him…we will." The last two words were whispered, as Rin shuddered, and fell to her knees.
"Rin!" Sesshomaru ran to her side. "Rin, are you injured?"
"No, Sesshomaru-sama, I'm fine…but… I feel drained." Rin's eyes rolled back, and she fainted. Sesshomaru gently felt the girl's pulse, and although he was relieved to hear it steadily pumping away, he was worried for her, and picked her up. He held her with his one arm, like he had held her when Tenseiga had first revived her.
The demon adversaries that had been fighting with the rest of the group the entire time, retreated as well, running through the cave, down another passageway. They had obviously found another exit, and soon all of them were gone, except for one, who stayed behind.
The man had refused to fight, and had been kicked and pummeled for his disobedience. His body lay sprawled on the floor. For a moment everyone just looked at the demon curiously, but then Leiko gave a cry of recognition.
"PAPA!" she yelled, as she ran for the broken figure. She grasped his hand, and ran her clawed thumb over his rough skin.
"My daughter…it is good to see you. I watched you during the battle…you are as strong as your late mother was. I'll be alright after a while, but I feel out of sorts at the moment."
"Papa, I found him…he is so handsome and strong, papa, don't you agree?"
Kane chuckled, and glanced at InuYasha, who glared back.
"Yes indeed, Leiko, I can see his strong spirit quite clearly…what a stubborn lad he must be."
"Keh, what are you? Some sort of shaman?"
"No, Lord InuYasha, I simply have the power to see someone's disposition. I can see an opponent's weakness on the battlefield, and I can tell when someone is lying or scheming. I can tell you that right now you are worried for your mate-to-be," InuYasha gaped and spluttered at this. "And I can tell that you also seem somewhat pleased to hear such a term referring to her." Kane smirked at InuYasha's disbelieving reaction, and mentally gave himself a pat on the back.
"And now, InuYasha-sama, why don't you go and retrieve your mate-to-be, and tend to her wounds. She must be something extraordinary if you've fallen so completely in love with her." Kane chuckled once more, and InuYasha growled at him for a moment, before running off and complying.
0o0o0o0
Hoo-boy, that was a loooooong chappie! Fear it! I reeeeally wanted to move the plot along quicker, and I can believe I wrote so much! Heh, oh well…now you guys will HAVE to review. (Evil smirk)
Oh, by the by, Leiko's attack "Souga no gekizai" means "violent poison claws". I don't exactly know if I wrote it correctly, but Jaken's attack "Nintoujo" is something he says while using his Staff of Two Heads...or at least, he does in the anime...