Authoress' Notes: Just a quick note, and then I'll let you go read… I am really, really sorry it took so long to get this out. I had to figure out how to write an action scene. :shudders: Twas not pretty. But the next chapter should be out relatively soon after this, since I seem to have gotten the hang of it all. Also, please graciously excuse all grammar mistakes. (I don't have a beta yet.)
Disclaimer: I had a dream last night that I actually did own Inuyasha and Co… I was so depressed when I woke up.
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The Piper's WellNewSalemWitch
Chapter 4: Yura of the Hair
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Last time, on The Piper's Well: (hehehe, I think I'll make a habit of this…)
Yura giggled again and jumped to the branch above and pulled a few hairs around in her comb, sending the invisible threads shooting towards Inuyasha. "If you insist!"
He darted back, and the hair missed him.
Unfortunately, they hit the branch he was perched on.
"Aah-AH! SHIT!"
Down, down, down he goes. And where he stops, nobody knows.
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Inuyasha twisted in midair, cursing violently as he collided with the ground. He didn't land headfirst, thank the gods, but he didn't land softly either.
Thud.
Ouch.
"Bitch!"
Yura only giggled. "La! You're such a bad boy, halfling. How do you keep the girls at bay?"
"By telling them to go screw themselves!" Inuyasha growled and jumped up, taking another swipe at Yura. She faked a horrified gasp and stepped off the branch.
Inuyasha blinked, eyebrows disappearing beneath his bangs.
What the hell?
She was standing in midair!
"Confused, half blood?" she called down, smiling. "Surely I've explained this before. I can see my hairs; you cannot. I control my hairs; you cannot. I can walk on my hairs; you cannot. I can easily kill you, and you cannot escape your fate." She smirked and jerked her comb in Inuyasha's direction.
"We'll just see about that," he drawled, quickly sidestepping her hair.
Yura's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How are you able to see my hair?" she demanded. "Are you cheating? Tell me!"
"I can't see them," he admitted, smirking, "But I can sure as hell hear them. They make an awful lot of noise."
She pouted. "That's not fair!" Sending an experimental bunch of hairs at him, she hmphed as he moved a step out of the way again. "Well. This simply will not do."
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Thud.
"Bitch!"
Kagome gave a small shriek and dove for the ground, covering her neck and the back of her head as well as she could. Oh gods, he's found me! I should have known it would be sooner rather than later!
But after a few long heartbeats passed, Kagome began to wonder if he knew she was there.
Hopefully she peeked up over the grass, only to duck back down again in fear. Yep, that was him all right. Time to make a break for it.
But just as she was preparing to run for the hills, she heard another woman's voice. It was deep and sultry, like a humid summer night spent sitting on the porch swing, drenched in sweat.
"La! You're such a bad boy, halfling. How do you keep the girls at bay?"
"Halfling?" Kagome whispered to herself. But he never said anything about being a half demon…then again, who would? Half-breeds were hated and feared in the human world and simultaneously despised and mocked in the demon world.
Against her better judgment she lifted her head back up and peered over at her kidnapper again. He was baring his fangs and growling at a strange woman.
Kagome gasped and blushed fiercely as she took a second look at the woman. She was wearing next to nothing!
Sure, Kagome had heard that prostitutes wore next to nothing, but wasn't she cold? Her loose-fitting black leotard barely covered her fanny, and was slit up the sides. The top was just as revealing, and even tighter than the bottom portion. She wore a red sash around her waist that held a sword in a rose-colored sheath. But that wasn't the strangest bit. Not by a long shot.
Crisscrossing through the air all around them were strands of hair. They were so tiny they were nearly invisible, but glinted and twinkled in the growing sunlight.
Inuyasha growled something indistinguishable and launched himself at her with bared fangs. He looked horribly fierce, like a rabid animal.
The woman did a little hop off the branch and into the air. Kagome's eyes bulged out of their sockets as she realized the woman wasn't going to come down. She was floating in midair! Even Inuyasha looked a little bewildered at the magic trick.
No, wait. Upon closer inspection Kagome realized the woman was standing on a few strands of hair. Apparently, they were far stronger than they looked. It was pretty impressive.
But why was Inuyasha trying to hurt her?
The woman smiled down at him, looking tremendously pleased with herself. "Confused, half blood?" she called out. "Surely I've explained this before. I can see my hairs; you cannot. I control my hair; you cannot. I can walk on my hairs; you cannot. I can easily kill you with my hair, and you… you cannot escape your fate." Her cute little smile turned into a vicious smirk and she jerked her comb down in Inuyasha's general direction.
Kagome's eyes widened. She was trying to kill him!
But was that a good thing or a bad thing?
It didn't seem to matter all that much—what would happen, would happen. Inuyasha merely dodged out of the way of her attacking hairs, anyway.
The woman's smirk faded into a pout. "How are you able to see my hair?" she demanded. "Are you cheating? Tell me!"
Kagome frowned in confusion. He wasn't supposed to be able to see her hair? Did that mean she wasn't supposed to be able to, either? But then how could she?
Inuyasha smirked. "I can't see them," he taunted, "But I can sure as hell hear them. They make an awful lot of noise."
The headache from last night was beginning to return. Inuyasha couldn't see the hair? Then how could she? He had demon blood! His eyesight had to be far better than hers! Didn't he see how they glinted where the light hit them? Kagome sighed exasperatedly and flopped back down so the tall grass blocked her view of the fight. It was all so surreal; it was almost like watching a show, sitting in the audience, completely immune from any and all harm.
"What is it, priestess? Do you find our disagreement vexing?" Kagome blinked as the words digested themselves. There was a priestess here? Yes! See you later, Inuyasha, I'm outta here!
Kagome grinned and sat up to look for the priestess. Priestesses fought demons and helped people! She could help Kagome get home, and then this entire ordeal would be nothing more than a bad memory.
As Kagome looked around the clearing for the sacred woman, she was vaguely aware of Inuyasha swearing again. Kagome nearly smirked. He was probably mad that the priestess had shown up.
Then Kagome met a pair of blood red eyes with her own and gulped.
Uh-oh.
"La!" the woman called to Kagome. "I haven't properly introduced myself, have I? I am Yura of the Hair. Would you like me to take you away from this awful half-demon?"
Kagome could merely sit there, stunned. There was no one else around but the three of them—Yura must have thought she was the priestess!
Inuyasha interrupted her panicked thoughts and placed himself solidly between her and the demoness. "Stay away from her!" He glanced at Kagome to see her gaping at him. "Don't just lie there, stupid! Get out of here!"
Yura giggled. "Aw, does the halfling have a new bitch?"
"Shut the hell up!" Inuyasha snarled and lunged at Yura. She merely pulled a few different hairs through her comb, sending them straight for him.
"Look out!" Kagome shrieked, finally scrambling to her feet. Inuyasha glanced back at her, frowning distractedly at her voice, and was caught up by Yura's threads.
Kagome cringed back timidly, closing her eyes against the sight of Inuyasha being beheaded and waiting for the sickening crunch she was sure to come. He'd jumped in front of her, shielding her from Yura, and what was the thanks she gave him? She distracted him, and now he was dead!
"Stupid wench!" Inuyasha cursed. "Don't just stand there! Run!"
Kagome cracked an eye open and breathed a sigh of relief. He had not been killed, as she had feared he would be, but the hairs caught him by the wrists and ankles and was now holding him prisoner. "Inuyasha--"
"Hold your tongue, wench!" Yura barked at her. Her hairs moved until they were within arm's distance of Kagome, and the demoness began to walk leisurely over to her.
"Did you think I was kidding?" Inuyasha yelled, "Run, damnit! Get out of here!"
But Kagome could only back slowly away in fear as Yura turned to snap at Inuyasha. "You should learn to hold your tongue as well," she hissed. Blood began seeping from Inuyasha's arms and ankles. "Or I'll cut it out of your mouth."
Inuyasha growled at her, nonchalantly ignoring his wounds. A few drops fell from his ankles and dripped onto the ground, staining it an ugly red-brown. "Keh. I'd like to see you try."
Yura smiled, a dangerous glint in her blood red eyes. "I will. As soon as I take care of your bitch, that is. She doesn't need her arms to find the jewel."
But when she turned back, Kagome was gone.
"What!" Yura cried, dismayed. "That stupid little wench! I'll wring her neck!"
Inuyasha just smirked. "I'd like to see you try. She's the jewel detector, remember?"
Yura shot a glare at him. "Fine," she pouted. In an instant, the death look was gone, replaced by her ditzy smile. "La! I won't kill her. I'll just frighten her a little. Stay here, puppy, I'll be back in a flash."
"I don't think so."
There was a sickening squelch and a crunch, and Yura gasped in surprise and looked down. There was a clawed and bloody hand protruding from her chest. Regaining her breath and frowning, she stepped away from Inuyasha, successfully pulling his arm out of her. Her face didn't betray a single wince of pain, merely annoyance. "Stupid halfling! It's not polite to touch a girl's front when you've just met her," she scolded.
Inuyasha could do nothing but gape at her. "How the hell are you not dead yet?" he demanded, baring his teeth. "Or going down, or at least showing some kind of reaction? I think I deserve that much for going to the trouble to get out of your stupid web!"
She smiled. "My body is stronger than yours, half demon," she purred, drawing her sword. "And as for your reward for going through all the trouble, I think a clean beheading will work quite nicely, don't you?"
Inuyasha ducked and jumped back as she dove at him, smiling sweetly with a maniacal glint in her eye.
"I just want your beautiful hair!" she pouted. "Is that too much to ask?"
"Lemme think about that for a moment—uh, yeah," he snapped. She sent him a disapproving look. "What? You didn't think I'd agree, did you?"
"You're not much of a gentleman!" She was still pouting as she leveled the sword at him.
But before she had the chance to attack again, Inuyasha leapt up, slashing at her madly. "Iron reaver soul stealer!" he yelled, leaving a nasty scratch across her face with one hand and cutting her arm off about three inches above the wrist. Her arm fell lifelessly to the ground with a thump, still clutching the sword.
Inuyasha smirked. "Looks like your sword isn't much good anymore!" he called.
Yura giggled. She didn't seem to be in any particular discomfort, despite having a large hole in her chest and only one hand. "La! You don't actually think you've beaten me, do you? This fight has just begun!" She pulled at her comb with her teeth while holding it in her one good hand.
Inuyasha's eyebrow quirked itself in confusion before knotting in pain.
"Wha-? Holy shit," He swore, dropping to the ground to avoid the flying sword.
"How the hell did you-?" The demi-demon growled, irritated at being interrupted and rolled to the side, narrowly missing being impaled a second time. Yura settled herself down on a bed of hair so that she was reclining, happily watching the show.
Inuyasha growled a curse and dove to the side again. Yura's sword, with her severed hand still attached to it, whooshed past the side of his face again. If he hadn't moved, it would have gone through his neck.
Inuyasha grimaced. That would not have been pretty.
Or painless, for that matter.
Gritting his teeth and forcing himself to his feet, he growled a challenge at the demoness. "Don't like to fight your own battles, do you, witch?"
"What on earth are you talking about?" Yura asked, smiling delightedly as she came to her own conclusion. "La, halfling! How stupid you are! I am fighting." She held up her comb as she threaded a few more hairs onto it. "You didn't think that arm of mine could move on its own, did you? Or the sword?" She giggled as she yanked on her comb violently, sending the sword flying through the air towards Inuyasha. "Never mind-- of course you did!"
Inuyasha snarled and tried to put the demoness out of his mind, focusing on avoiding being impaled. How the hell was he supposed to stop it? It was just a sword, and would likely keep coming at him even if he did manage to destroy the hand attached to it.
Inuyasha faltered slightly as inspiration struck and nearly smacked himself for being so stupid. All he had to do was stop Yura! Once the hairs that were operating the hand and sword were useless, it would cease in attacking him.
Her sword whooshed towards him with amazing accuracy, but once again he dodged. This time, though, he grabbed the hilt as it sped past his neck and wrestled it out of the air. For such a stupid object, it was putting up one hell of a fight! Inuyasha cursed and flung it as far away from them as he could, hoping it would buy him a minute or two to finish off Yura.
"Now," he smirked and turned to Yura, cracking his knuckles.
Except she wasn't there anymore. She had escaped, seeing through his simple plan and taking advantage of his distraction. "Damn it all! Where the hell did she go?"
Laughter answered him, echoing and bouncing off the trees. "Do you miss me already, half blood?"
"You coward!" he yelled. "Get back here!"
Silence answered him. She was gone.
"You stay away from the wench!" he bellowed at the silence. "She's my jewel detector!"
Inuyasha took off running, following the girl's scent. If he didn't get to her before Yura did, she was as good as dead. And that was something he would not allow. He'd been searching for the Shikon no Tama's priestess for years, damn it all, and he'd pull his own ears off before some minor demon offed him—or her-- just when they'd found each other.
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Kagome gasped in fright as she pitched forward, trying to bite back a yelp—and instead bit her tongue. Hard.
"Ouch!" she cringed as she scrambled to her feet, tasting blood. Her hand pressed up against the smooth trunk of a young tree before she pushed herself away to continue what felt like an endless marathon. She was shaking and had already fallen several times.
Who knew how klutzy you could get when you were scared?
And she was scared. She'd been scared since she heard that horrible pattering of feet on the roof of her home last night—had it only been last night? It felt like years and years ago.
It had been Inuyasha on the roof, she knew that now. But why on earth did he have to take her away now? Life had been good; Sango was head over heels for Miroku and it was only a matter of time before she told him, Kaede's arthritis had decided to take a vacation, and now because of this stupid misadventure Kagome wouldn't even be there to appreciate the good times. Why couldn't Inuyasha waited a few more years, waited until she could take care of herself a little better, shoot a little better, maybe even have a fiancé or husband to help?
Her cluttered thoughts shifted back and forth as she kept running, from one topic to another and back again. Awkwardly she leapt over a log covered in vines and stumbled on.
Inuyasha had been the one to tell her to run. Why? Was he trying to protect her? Or just keep her out of Yura's hands? Kagome snorted and shook her head, tripping and nearly toppling over again in the process. No, it was probably the latter. She couldn't picture her kidnapper trying to save her because he liked her, or knew it was the right thing to do. He just wanted her to find that stupid jewel.
But then again, wasn't protecting her and keeping her out of Yura's hands the same thing?
No, Kagome mused, they were heavily intertwined, but they weren't they same thing.
"Hey! Wench!"
Kagome shrieked and half-tripped, half-dove for cover in the tall grass, hands covering her head and neck.
"Stupid girl, what're you waiting for? Get a move on!" the voice bellowed.
"Inuyasha!" Unbidden, a grin latched itself onto Kagome's lips as she poked her head back up to see him leaping from tree to tree and closing in on her fast. Well what do you know, Kagome thought. I never thought I'd be happy to see him, of all people.
"I thought you were fighting Yura!" she yelled at him. Well, it was more of a loud squeak.
"I am!" he yelled back, racing towards her and yanking her to her feet to pull her behind him protectively. His voice lowered to a more normal volume as he got closer. "You didn't think she was after me, did you?" he said as his eyes roved the surrounding trees while his ears twitched back and forth. "Stupid, she's after you! Why fight when you can grab what you came for and go?"
Kagome gaped, having tuned out the rest of his sentence after hearing that it was her the demoness wanted.
"Why is she after me?" she squeaked. "I haven't done anything, I swear!"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and shrugged off his haori. "Here."
But she shook her head and refused to take it. "You don't want to give me that. I'm all sweaty and gross."
He thrust it in her face and she automatically distanced herself. It smelled like the wilderness, like pine and fresh air, and something oddly masculine. "I'll wash it," he said flatly. "Now here."
"I'm not cold," she insisted. "Really. I've been running like crazy."
The dog-demon growled at her, his patience wearing thin. "It's for protection, not warmth, stupid! It's armor!"
Kagome blinked owlishly at him. "Armor?" she repeated incredulously. As soon as this is all over, I'm taking a nice, long nap.
Yeah, right, a little voice in the back of her head replied with a smirk. He wants to go find that jewel right away, remember?
Kagome mentally scowled at the voice. If he doesn't like it, he can just carry me to wherever we're going! I'm tired!
Inuyasha's growl grew in volume, and Kagome sighed and took the hint, sliding into the bright red haori. "It's made from the fur of a fire rat," he said gruffly, determinedly looking in the other direction. When had be suddenly become so shy? "It's stronger than that pathetic stuff humans call armor."
Despite the fact that it was his fault she was in any danger at all, Kagome felt a pang of guilt. What if he needed it? She looked up at him unable to keep the worry off her face.
Their eyes met, and as if he was reading her thoughts, the dog-demon smirked arrogantly. "My body is much stronger than your weak human one."
Any and all sympathetic feelings flew out the window. Kagome's eyes narrowed. "You're the one doing all the fighting," she pointed out. Why was she arguing with him again?
Oh, yeah. Because she'd rather have a barbarian than a psychopath. "If either of us are going to get hurt, it's bound to be you."
"Feh. It is not."
"Is too," she countered.
"Is not!"
"Is too."
"Is not!"
"Is not."
"Is t—aw, shit," the half demon grumbled while Kagome snickered. "We don't have time for this." He crouched in front of her. "Get on."
Kagome's smile dropped and she looked stricken. "What?"
"What do you think I said?" he snapped, "Get on, wench!"
What an inappropriate request, and of all times to make it! "You want to give me a piggy back ride at a time like this?" she asked shrilly. "Inuyasha, I know that brain of yours is small, but even you should be able to understand--"
"Stop being a ninny and get on!" he snarled. Yura was coming, he could smell it. The wind had shifted, painting a mental picture for him. She was gliding along on her acursed hairs, smiling and humming under her breath. "We need to keep moving, and you can't move fast enough to keep up! You're just a weak human!"
"Humans aren't weak!" she retorted, but settled herself as comfortably as she could on his back. As she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, he griped her thighs and she tensed, willing herself not to flinch.
"Relax," he grumbled. "We've been over this before. I'm not gonna hurt you."
Kagome blushed, but whether it was due to her compromising position, or from being caught uncomfortable and nervous, she wasn't sure. "Sorry," she mumbled.
Inuyasha didn't bother to reply as he took off running again, this time with a human girl on his back.
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Eight pages this time! These things just keep getting longer and longer, don't they? Now, go press the blue button down at the left-hand corner and review, s'il vous plaites!