Chapter 4: A Dangerous Situation
A young female demon exterminator dressed in a black skin tight outfit, amour protecting most of her joints and a large boomerang held over her shoulder emerged out from a dense part of the forest along side a monk. Sweat pricked at their necks by the sun's heat that radiated down to the moist ground where they stood. They had been out walking since very early that morning searching for their half-demon friend who never returned that night.
"Miroku," The demon slayer started, leaning her back against a tree and dropping her weapon to rest on the ground. "We've been going around in circles for hours now and we still haven't found him." She let out a small sigh of exhaustion and brushed back the strands of hair that had fallen from her high ponytail and covered her face.
The monk nodded and stabbed his staff into the ground, its golden rings clattering against one another. "I know that but we can't stop looking. I bet Inuyasha's just moping around the well waiting for Kagome." He smiled over his shoulder to the woman to perk up her spirits.
She tried not to smile but couldn't help herself as the image came to mind. "You're probably right. Lets go there then." Pushing off the tree, she strapped her hand into her giant boomerang's handle and began to lead the way. They had checked the Tree of Ages, all of Keade's village, his own tree and most of the grounds of the Forest Inuyasha, all except the Bone Eaters Well area.
Miroku whiped away the sweat gathering on his forehead and started to follow. Just as his cursed hand went to reach around his staff, a painful throbbing pulsed beyond the slip sealing his most dangerous weapon and pierced through the hole. He grunted loudly through grit teeth and fell onto his knees, his other hand wrapped tightly around his wrist. His fingers stretched out in sear pain and flattened his palm. 'What the hell's happening? It feels like something's trying to get out!' Shutting his eyes to try and resist the pain, he pushed his chin into his chest and began to gasp heavily for air.
The woman stopped dead in her tracks and turned back to face her companion after hearing his fall and sounds of pain that followed. "Miroku!" She shouted when first catching glimpse of him. Running to his side, she sat on her knees and pulled at his shoulders, trying to figure out what was wrong. Her eyes were suddenly drawn down to his lap where he held a firm grip to his cursed hand. A dark demonic smoke seeped past the opening of his cloth and billowed up above his palm. "What's going on?" She gasped with wide eyes.
"Sango!" Miroku grunted, not looking up at her. "Get away from me now!" He knew that this pain could only mean one thing; that his time on this earth was now over and he'd soon be consumed by his own wind tunnel. The last thing he wanted was the woman he loved to be involved in his end and so, releasing his hand from around his wrist, he pushed her away before returning to its original position. "Run away Sango!" He shouted in a last attempt to get her to do what he wanted.
She stared at him with worry in her eyes and shook her head side to side in disagreement. "No! I'm not leaving you Miroku and you're not going to leave me either!" Standing to her feet, she quickly unsheathed the word at her side and concentrated on the smoke forming above his hand. This couldn't have been the way he had explained how he would die. Something seemed very out of place. Each particle gathered and created a dark cloud near his face. Shiny blood red eyes appeared in the center and a sinister laugh emitted from it, echoing all around her. "That sounds like…" Even the thought of that name made her tremble with fear and her body immediately sprung out to meet it. If it really was whom she thought it was then she needed to take him down before things got started.
The monk nearly gasped as she began to approach with a sword in her grasp and he outstretched his hand in front of him so to avoid any harm that may have come to the rest of him. He squinted his eyes and watched in silence as her blade slashed across the cloud only to get stuck halfway. Beams of light shone out from where the sword had made contact and it began to shake in her hands. "Sango!" He called, fearing what the outcome of this situation may be.
Ignoring his plea for her to leave, Sango gripped tighter to the hilt and used all her strength to push the blade deeper into the smoke. The sword slowly began to inch forward and she grinned at such a success. The smoke suddenly allowed the weapon to pass through and she tripped over into the ground in front of the monk. She gasped and watched in terror as the last of the smoke seeped out from underneath his cloth and drifted up to the sky before disappearing into thin air. 'Oh no. What does this mean?' Hearing Miroku shuffling around beside her she quickly rose to her feet and helped him up.
Miroku stared sadly at his cursed hand as Sango helped him to his feet and put away her sword. "That was…Sesshomaru I fear." He said in almost a whisper. How did he manage to come loose from his void? It wasn't supposed to be possible.
"Yeah I think so too. But it doesn't make any sense. Nothing is every supposed to return once they've been sucked into your wind tunnel." Lifting her boomerang over her shoulder she stared at his hand in wonder and disbelief.
Curling his fingers into his palm, he snatched for his staff and gazed very seriously into her eyes, his eyebrows narrowing at his forehead. "Whatever the reason for it we must find Inuyasha quickly. If it is the demon whom we suppose then it could mean that there is a lot of trouble to come."
After the demon slayer had nodded, the two ran deeper into the hot murky forest to find the dry well and hopefully the half-demon as well. They both knew something was up and that what they had seen would do no good. It, the great demon Lord Sesshomaru needed to be killed before everyone died.
"How's that feel?" Inuyasha asked, gently dabbing some antibiotic liquid on top of the deep wound on Kagome's chest. They had spent the night high up in a tree and waited for the morning's light to arrive before attempting to treat her injury. It had been a rough night for the both of them and as soon as the first beam of light crept over the land they left the safety of their hideout and headed to the old well.
Kagome winced as the medication seeped into her open cut but she tried her best to laugh it off, holding her shirt as best she could over her breast. "Its good. Thank you." Pulling her clothing back over her shoulder, she straightened out her scarf and tie then smiled at the hanyou so he wouldn't worry too much about her.
Inuyasha nodded and twisted the cap back on the bottle before pushing it aside. He watched as she stood to her feet and took a seat on the edge of the well. Sighing lightly, he sat beside her and took her hand. "Kagome…" His words completely slipped his mind as her beautiful hazel eyes met his and seemed to shimmer in the sun's rays. Her scent filled his senses and he felt almost relaxed by it. But he knew that he had to tell her what he needed to say and, shaking his head, continued from where he left off. "…I want you to go home." Her mouth opened to speak but he shushed her with his own voice. "Now that Sesshomaru's back it's going to get real dangerous here. You have to understand that I don't want you to get hurt. Just do what I say. I'll come get you when its all over I promise." He grabbed onto her other hand and stroked his fingers over her soft skin.
Tears swelled in her eyes at his request and she turned her face away from his view. "Inuyasha…I don't…" She paused and bit her lip to hold back her sobs. 'It's not fair! I can help you! Why don't you understand that!' "I…I don't want to leave you. I won't!" She exclaimed, looking back at him, rivers of tears streaming down her cheeks. "What if you don't come back to get me?" Shutting her eyes tightly, she leapt into his body and sobbed into his chest. "I'm not leaving you!"
Having no other choice but to return her embrace, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and tried to calm her down. "I know you don't want to go but it'll be for the best. Please Kagome, just listen to me." He lifted her chin and smiled for reassurance.
Kagome shook her head slowly in his hand, her lip quivering as she gazed into his golden eyes. 'Inuyasha don't look at me like that. I can't leave you.' Her eyes began to fill with salted tears again as Inuyasha slowly began to lean forward to kiss her goodbye.
"How disgusting." Sesshomaru spat, emerging from the line of trees surrounding the well where Kagome and Inuyasha sat. He grinned as his half-brother jumped to his feet to protect the woman standing behind him. Stopping to admire the hostile hanyou, the Tokijin rattling at his side and his demon companion stepping beside him, he lifted his hand and prepared himself to unleash his most used weapon. "Lets end this now."
Inuyasha immediately unsheathed the Tetseiga and held it in a threatening position pointed towards the demon. "Get back Kagome." He instructed quietly over his shoulder, keeping his eyes locked on the youkai. Knowing that Kagome was back and safe behind him, he turned his full attention to his resurrected brother. "Don't get too upset when you die again." He hissed.
Sesshomaru grinned and dropped his hand to around his sword's hilt. "That will not be the outcome of our battle." He said with confidence, slowly unsheathing his sword as he spoke. "I will thoroughly enjoy your departure to hell."
"Quit talking big words and fight you bastard!" Inuyasha growled, pouncing from the spot in which he stood. "I've had enough of you already!" Just as he was about to release Tetseiga's ultimate attack, Sesshomaru's demon companion slowly stepped in front of her master and held up her hand, the other grasping onto the orb.
Mara frowned at the approaching hanyou and thrust her hand through the air. "No harm shall come to Lord Sesshomaru." She muttered, infuriated by Inuyasha's insults and attempt to kill her lord once again after all her hard work.
Inuyasha gasped as the air in front of his enemies distorted their bodies and was thrown forcefully in his direction. Quickly leaping high into the sky, he smirked at Mara's missed attack and glared down at her smiling face. His mouth opened to shout out and mock her but he stopped, as her eyes seemed to look at something of more importance. Was her target not to hit him? Looking back behind him he nearly choked at what he saw.
Alone and unprotected, Kagome stood frozen in her spot and stared with wide-eyes in terror at the danger before her. With no time to react or even make a sound, Mara's attack was thrust past her body and knocked her backwards down the well.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha hollered in panic as her body disappeared from his vision. Landing on his feet he instantly ran in the direction of the dry well in hopes that she was ok and had passed through to her time safely. It was, after all, what he had wanted her to do. Leaning over the edge, a fang slipped over his bottom lip as he caught Kagome hanging onto the vines on the damp walls of the well. "Let go Kagome! Go home! You'll be safe there!"
Kagome lifted her head from her chest and gazed up into his eyes. "I told you Inuyasha I'm not leaving you!" She shouted back at him, shaking her head furiously side to side. She watched his shocked reaction quickly softened and soon his head nodded in agreement. Having gotten her point across, she hooked her feet into the vines and began climbing back out.
Knowing that he couldn't go and change her mind now, he held his hand down to help her out the rest of the way. Just as she reached out to take his hand, his body was pulled backwards and spun around to face another. "Damn you Mara. I'm going to fuc-" He tried to lift his hand that held the Tetseiga to kill her there and now but it remained frozen in its spot. 'What the hell? What did she do!' He glanced fearfully into her emerald eyes then to the dark orb she placed between their faces.
Mara glared through the ball to the hanyou on the other side and frowned heavily. "I want you dead but there's something I'd like to have from you first." She stopped and lowered the orb to her chest. Stepping closer into his body, the ball pressing between them and slowly sinking into his chest, she leaned her face up to his and prepared herself to take what she wanted.
Inuyasha tried to move his face, tried to move his body, tried to run away but went very unsuccessful as Mara's spell held him in place. He could feel the orb and her hand pushing to his heart but that was the least of his worries, as her face grew closer to his.
Lifting her hand to the back of his head she forced his face into hers and pushed her lips against his. "Give me your power." She whispered seductively, her tongue dancing across his lips. The orb in her hand engulfed his heart and crushed it between its walls. She grinned as his lips began to shiver against her own. "That's it Inuyasha. Offer me your inner demon." She encouraged enticingly.
Kagome grabbed onto the ledge of the old well and heaved herself up over the side. Brushing back her bangs from her face, she lifted her head to search for Inuyasha and gasped at what she spotted first. Jumping to her feet, she stepped to the side of Inuyasha and pulled at his arm. "Inuyasha!" She gasped again as Mara's hand began to pull out from inside Inuyasha's chest and brought out a dark orb with her. 'What is she taking from him?' She panicked and looked up at Inuyasha's ghostly white face. Mara could have either taken his demonic power or his human heart, neither of which she ever wanted removed from him. "Inuyasha! Wake up!" She screamed, shaking his body around.
Mara lifted her glare to stare into Inuyasha's wide violet eyes and she smirked against the pressure she had placed firmly against his lips. 'Almost there Inuyasha. Just a little bit further.' She said in her thoughts, still removing the orb at a steady pace from his body.
Getting no form of response from the hanyou, Kagome turned her head to the demon attached to him and narrowed her eyes heavily. "Get your filthy lips off of him!" She shouted, lifting her hand and striking the demon across the face. The loud crack of skin against skin silenced the forest and Kagome kept her angry glare on the woman.
Having her cheek begin to burn, Mara's eyes widened with hate and she let go of the back of Inuyasha's head, a string of saliva still connecting their lips. "You little wench know your place!" She shouted in rage, having been distracted from her plan. Lifting her hand in the air, she prepared to send another attack at the girl and knock her out for good this time. "Prepare to die!"
"Hiraikotsu!" Sango shouted while running out of the forest and whipping her boomerang towards the demon that threatened to cause harm to her friends.
Mara gasped and quickly pulled her hand back from the couple as a giant boomerang cut between their bodies and separated her from her prey. "Damnit." She muttered in fury.
As the ball was removed from inside his body, Inuyasha slipped into a deep unconsciousness and fell harshly into the woman standing behind him.
Kagome stumbled back against his weight and tried to stop him from falling over. "Inuyas-" Her voice was cut off as her heel crashed into the outside of the well and threw her off balance. Inuyasha's body leaned heavily against hers and knocked them both down to the bottom of the dark pit below.
Hearing Kagome's scream suddenly stop, Mara ran to the well in hopes of finding their bodies dead on the floor though found nothing of the sort. Neither Inuyasha nor Kagome lay on the bottom. It looked as though they hadn't even fallen at all. Growling loudly, she clenched her hands into a tight fist and turned to glare at the demon slayer and monk by her side. "You both will pay for spoiling my plans!"