Fan Fiction Title: A shift of destiny
Author: Soliloquys
Disclaimer: Hiten nor any of the characters in my fanfiction aren't mine, all belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Axyridis, however, is my own.
Chapter 9: One Down
"My, my, my... sucking you dry of your beauty will be quite amusing--" Axyridis turned her head over her shoulder, half hissing and half growling whenever the wall yielded and made a great snapping sound as one of the female servants' bodies crashed inside and landed--quite lifeless--on the floor not far away where she hovered over the young miko. When she turned back she noticed that the girl had wormed her way against the wall. A chuckle rolled from her lips and she reached her arm across the girls chest to assure her that she would go nowhere. "Unfortunately, I find myself short of time to make this pleasurable for either of us."
Kagome looked up at the yasha and winced... then noticed a second shadow looming over her body. Not a moment later she watched the woman scrunch her shoulders up into her neck, all of this accompanied by a surprised scream as she was launched across the room by her neck. She closed her eyes to brace herself for whatever was next, then heard a plipping noise on the floor just next to her. She followed the drips of blood up to the silhouette that was undeniably Hiten. Once more this uneasy relief loosened her muscles just the same as the time he'd gripped her shoulders just outside this very temple. But her mind was by no means put to ease when she heard his voice grind out and scratch the walls (or what remained of them) as if it was sandpaper. "Sorry but I already plan to use her beauty for something else in the end."
Wha--What was that! What did he mean by that? She shifted uneasily and let out a shaky exhale. For a moment she spaced out to consider what he intended to use her for, but felt his hands tear her bindings apart and grip her shoulders. Looking up, she just about choked to see that he was giving her the same disgusted looks he had been giving the later. Her legs scrambled to get footing on the ground when he pulled her onto her feet and leaned in closer to mutter. "This time when I tell you to leave us be, do so! Get out of here, for fuck's sake!" He twirled her around and shoved her towards the entrace, grabbing the abandoned pike from the ground on his way.
Axyridis had pulled herself off the ground and pushed herself to stand, those ebony strands thrown everywhere. "You fucking bastard..." Her voice had dropped considerably and she seemed to be stretching her hands out. Then from her back, something ripped through the silken kimono and stretched far out behind her. In doing this, the several layers were torn apart to reveal everything from the waist and up.
It was at that time Hiten realized Axyridis wasn't as womanly as she had originally given off. He gazed at a pale, flat chest and the overall upper posture of a man. Behind him, two pairs of wings stretched out, the harder looking pair a burnt sienna color with large black dots. The wings underneath these were somewhat transparent and frail looking. Hiten smirked at this--the poor guy had been stealing the beauty of women to make it appear as though he was a true lady bug, huh? The thunder demon pointed the tip of that pike at the growling lady bug.
Her face contorted into a deep frown as she briskly walked down the hill. The back of her hand was pressed to her lips--did he think that she had tried to get tied down! The ground beneath her shook and she turned around to see the temple destroyed from the inside out by what she could only identify as a whirlpool of lightning that extended out so far before it gradually died off. Standing there, she narrowed her eyes as a gust of smoke blew her way, and was only able to see the figure of Hiten standing over what she guessed was the burnt corpse of Axyridis. "Heh.." She just about half squeaked. Well, that was quick.
Her insides coiled into one another whenever he turned towards her and began walking. As he got closer, she saw that he was looking down to the ground, but gripped her arm and began to drag her off. "Let's go." She hesitated and then stood her ground, pulling back to resist. Why...should I be afraid to tell him? Isn't that what I'm for? Glaring back at her, she saw a small window of opportunity to tell him what she'd known before all of this had happened.
"Listen! ...That demon back there.. has a jewel shard." She could play it all out right now: he would get pissed off that she hadn't told him sooner and would lash out at her. So sufficed to say she was dumbfounded when a little smile tugged at his lips.
He then turned his back on her. "Go get it."
The girl was half worked up by the time she had come back, the shikon no kakera clenched in one hand while the other arm wrapped around to lightly hug herself. Retrieving that shard from Axyridis's corpse had been disturbing, especially considering where it had been. Onto the thunder cloud she stepped, then presented it to him and sat down almost immediately, her legs folded beneath her. Off to the side she saw the youkai sit, pulling a cloth out from his armor to polish the blade of his thunder pike clean.
All these questions she hadn't bothered to think of before she had been nursed now came to her mind while they drifted away towards the horizon, the land below them stretching and passing by. "What are we doing now? I mean...Manten. Are you leaving him there with that woman?"
She could hear him snicker and he leaned back, tilting his head to look over at her. "That old bitch needs about a week to work on his body. She wants the shards I have, and even though she's not going get them in the end..." His face twisted into a smirk. "She needs to think she's going to. So I have to find four more jewel shards to give them to her. Then as soon as Manten is alive, we'll simply kill her, take them back, and continue where we left off." And when that happens, Kagome concluded, she would be used for a potion. Or would he reconsider? If she did help him -- "Where's the next one?" He had turned even moreso to face her, propped on one elbow while his body was twisted at the waist. She said nothing, appearing to be confused by his question "You're feeling better, so surely you can pick up the slightest trace of another shard, right?"
"Uh..no. Nothing. There must not be one closeby." Her voice faultered at the sight of his changing expression. Oh shit. Think, Kagome, think! "B-but...I witnessed the shikon no tama shatter and all of the shards went off in every direction, so I'm sure that we'll come across one sooner or later. Even if we go--"
"You were there whenever it broke?" His brow lifted and he shifted to face her, appearing to be quite interested in his own question.
"Yes. In fact, I was the one who fired an arrow at it and caused..it...to..." She didn't need to dawdle on her words for much longer, the thunder demon threw his head back and errupted in a spell of laughter, one hand on his stomach as he did so. He mumbled something about being an idiot through chuckles.
Almost at once she was angry at herself for even bringing that up. He must think pretty lowly of her now: some weakling girl who was stupid enough to shoot at the Jewel of Four Souls and cause all of this madness. His laughter died and he took in a deep breath. She didn't look up at him, but rather kept herself hunched over. He sighed off to the side and muttered. "So you're a good enough shot to hit the jewel and one of my wheels. That works out well. Next time we stop at a village you can get a bow and perhaps take care of yourself. Because I will not look out for a woman."
Biting her tongue, she bowed her head even lower and quietly sulked. Those two instances had been the only time she fired and hit the target--and that was because her arrows had been guided. Now he was under the impression that she was half decent at archery and he didn't need to look out for her. That halved her chances of survival in their next encounter with whatever they had to fight to obtain another fragment. How did she get into these situations? There was a moment of silence until Hiten said something totally off-key. "You clean up nice."
Jerking her head up, she stared at him, bewildered. But he really didn't seem to make anything out of it, the guy was relaxed and his tone had been somewhat matter-of-fact and leisured. It didn't mean anything, and the girl couldn't quite figure out if she was relieved or if she was upset that he could say something like that. But of course. The first time she'd seen him he had his arm around a gorgeous woman, and topless too. He was one of those guys who simply used women for sex and entertainment. She blushed, drawing assumptions that he might try to make a move on her sooner or later.
Had she been anymore swamped in her worries about what would happen to her, she could've easily overlooked the glimmer of a fragment in her mind. Collecting herself, she pursed her lips. There wasn't much time for a break, huh? "Hiten, I can feel one up ahead."
Shippou stared into the sky, a canvas of soft orange and pink hues. The same sky Kagome had disappeared into. He gave a light sigh and huggled the flowers closer to his chest as he approached a newly-dug grave. "Inuyasha. I didn't know you for long but Kagome was really sad about you dying." He laid the flowers off to the side and solemnly stood there for a while before he continued. "Some day, I promise you, I'll avenge--" The kitsune cut himself off. He Turned blue and wailed, scared shitless, whenever a clawed hand shot out from the dirt.
But it didn't stop there, and neither did his high-pitched screeching as a shoulder emerged, followed by a mane of silver. The hanyou sat there, still waist high in dirt, gripping the incision that appeared to have healed just a bit with one hand. His voice was raspy and menacing as he glared down to the fox tyke who was sitting on his rump, blanching more by the second. "You...buried me.. ALIVE!" He growled and grabbed Shippou's head, holding him up and pointing a bloody finger at him.
Shippou squirmed and whined, then waved his hands in front of him. "Wait, Inuyasha!" But the boy didn't seem to be listening, popping each knuckle individually. So he sucked in a breath and blurted everything out. "Kagome-came-back-here-and-Hiten-too-and-she-was-taken-away-by-him!" He squeezed his eyes shut and shivered.
". . . What?"
( Ah... the big surprise! I figured it was about time I threw that in there. The "climax" of the story isn't too many chapters away. I will be taking a break after this chapter to work on a few other "projects" of mine. One of those being my Hiten website. Hee. Well, maybe. I just recently updated it. Anyway, a big thank you to the readers who have stuck with this story and have put up with my excruciatingly long waits for new chapters. I love you all! Btw, I can't make really long chapters. Sorry! )