.:Curse of Dragons:.
.:By: Maiden of the Seven Stars:.
.:Chapter 7: A Hero Come Home:.
With a might blast of silver wings he tore upwards in the sky, wanting to rise and snatch at the clouds, to flip and dance at his new freedom, and yet he wanted to go back down. His blood was screaming at him, he wanted to fight; he wanted to see that compound destroyed in the purifying fires of Sacred Power.
And, strange as it was, there was one thing that kept him from doing both.
Her.
He beat his wings again before sliding easily into a glide, hugging the thermals and tilting to one side, turning to the west, towards the forest and the hills. As he did so he cocked his head and twisted his neck about, to look at her.
She was slumped against his neck, strapped tight to the saddle. She looked very uncomfortable, but he couldn't do anything about that. Better uncomfortable then flopping around aimlessly.
He'd never figured out what had happened to her. It was strange, one moment she was firing, power radiating from her, and the next moment it was gone, like she had been drained. Of course, you couldn't drain sacred power, it was tied to the soul, bound to the life force of the vessel, and the bastard lord Naraku couldn't touch it.
He shouldn't care about her. After she had turned his life upside down, after she had threatened to tell on him, threatened to make him nothing but a piece of silver hide, adorning the lord's boots. He could easily dump her off right here, get rid of one of the many problems in his dreary, run-down life.
But he couldn't.
He stared at her, the raven-black hair, and the pale beauty of her skin. With her eyes closed he could barely tell them apart. She pretty much was Kikyo, and even after… after what Kikyo had done, if she was on his back now he wouldn't drop even one such as her.
Of course, Kikyo would kill him long before she got on his back and let him fly, but it was a rhetorical thought.
He growled and turned back to flying, beating to glide into a thermal. His stomach rumbled, just enough to be noticed, like and itch that wouldn't go away, but he could last a few days without food or water. He had to worry about her.
Weakling.
He hissed at himself, as he glanced back at Kagome's limp body. He was weak, if not in body then at heart. Any other him would have thrown her off long ago and flapped his way to his own life again, and he couldn't bring himself to do that. He owed her, he supposed, in some vague way, but he owed her.
He owed her everything.
The crunch of sandals on a gravel path echoed through the great palace turned compound, only hidden by the pitter-patter of rain.
In the courtyard a swishing sound could be heard, the sound of a weapon in motion.
Pitter-patter, pitter-patter
The clatter of sandaled feet comes closer, the swishing of the blue-black robes, and the faintest jingling as six golden rings clash together.
The weapon, a great boomerang, whips about in the air, spinning out in an arch before twirling back to the hand that had thrown it.
Pitter-patter, pitter-patter
The sandals stopped, just underneath the protective overhang of the roof, the white socked toes hardly an inch away from the steps into the barren courtyard,
The boomerang goes for another swing.
The footsteps pause, and then continue, soft and silent.
The figure in the courtyard doesn't notice anything. She snatches the boomerang from the air.
The monk steps forwards, the distance between the two closing, and slips on a rain slicked stone.
The girl whirls around, the boomerang before her, and pounces on the one behind her. In less than a second she has him straddled, one edge of her boomerang, however dull, right above his neck, and then she recognizes him.
"Perverted monk." Sango hissed before getting up, brushing the mud from the pink armor at her kneecaps.
Miroku stood up as well, the back of his robes completely sodden, his short black hair slicked with mud. He brushed it aside with his right hand, a hand bound in a gauntlet, a rosary of light blue beads wrapped around it. In his left hand he holds a staff, golden and long in his hand, ending in a loop where six golden rings hang.
She put her free hand on her hip, the other holding Hiraikotsu, the bone boomerang, over one shoulder.
"What do you want?" She hissed, her toe tapping.
"Sango, please, it's not what you think!" The monk said pleasantly, waving a hand soothingly.
"Right, sneaking up on me, alone, in the rain, when nobody should be outside." She snorted, "What's your excuse this time?"
"I've got news." Miroku replied, his tone serious, all of the serene pleasantry gone from his handsome face.
She frowned, her pretty features tilting downwards.
"What's happened now? Were our spies caught? Has he found us?" She asked, ducking under the protective overhang of the roof, Miroku following, as she made for her quarters.
"Our spies haven't been caught, they're dead." Miroku said softly and she turned on him.
"Dead? All of them? Impossible, who blabbed?" She asked, her free hand clenched, as if ready to pound whoever had dared betray the identities of their spies.
"That's just it, Sango, they weren't told on." He said, stopping a safe distance from her fist. "Two days ago the entire compound caught fire-"
"They'd have escaped!" She interrupted, but he held up a hand.
"Since when has fire flared with pink-violet light? It was power, and it spread through the entire compound, burning everything… or nearly that. Strangest thing was, all that was left was the firewood, some straw, and a multitude of other simple products."
She stared at him, quite blankly.
"You've finally lost your mind." She said, though her tone clearly said even she didn't believe what she was saying.
"It's Sacred Power, I should know, the other monks had some, though not much. It's purifying power, able to channel through the impure and destroy it. Water won't affect it." He paused, remembering.
"The last great source of Sacred Power was around fifty years ago, Ki-"
But Sango silenced him with a wave.
"Don't talk about her." She snapped, and he knew not to press the topic.
Kikyo had been responsible for the destruction of the previous ranks of Taijiya. She and her dragonriders had swooped in, carrying off many of the brave fighters in their talons, including Hitoshi, Sango's father, and Kohaku, her dear younger brother, and the last of her family. Sango would never forgive her, though Kikyo was long dead now, for reasons unknown.
He believed it was from her own power, the Sacred Power she had held. She had attempted something with it, and it had failed, but what she had been doing remained a mystery, a mystery he hoped to solve.
"So you're saying another source of Sacred Power has emerged, Naraku's prime dragon compound is in smithereens, and we have to establish new contacts on his grounds?" She asked, her voice tight. She hated to lose anyone, no matter how useless he or she was. She was a great leader, yes, but she had been known to sacrifice herself for her warriors.
She had shed a lot of years off of his life, and her closest friends, with her actions.
"Yes. According to the local gossip there was a great fire, true, and a girl riding a silver dragon escaped. They were the cause of the fi-" He started to say, but was cut off as a young boy ran up to them.
"Lady Sango, Sir Miroku," He blurted, panting. "I come from Woshiba, from the scouts, and they share reports of a silver dragon flying over here." He said, puzzled by the urgency of his message, but he had carried it as fast as he could.
"Do you think..?" Miroku asked.
"Only one way to find out." She replied, and they headed to the main hall, much to the puzzlement of the messenger boy.
She groaned stirring slightly in her half-sleep. She tried to move, to rub her eyes, but she felt so drained, so exhausted. She didn't have any energy at all, or very little and something told her she shouldn't waste any of it.
She opened her eyes, still heavy with wanted sleep, and found it was dark all around her. Not really dark, actually, but a dull gray sort of dark. She reached out in it, with a hand, vaguely realizing she was on the ground, and hit something with the texture of leather.
Immediately the world shifted around her, the sky turned and the ground vibrated and she yelped, only to be bathed in sudden moonlight as the gray dusk, a large silver wing, was pulled from above her.
She glanced up to see a pair of tired amber eyes staring down at her.
"Inu…yasha?" She tried to speak, finding her voice somewhat resembling a croak. The dragon bobbed his head in affirmation before lowering it to his forepaws. She found his neck curled near her head and she leaned back against his warmth.
"Are you alright?" The dragon rumbled, and she could feel that he was tired.
"I'm alright, I'm just tired…" She murmured, half closing her eyes. She wanted to sleep…
"Kagome," whispered the dragon, and his neck pulled back from her hair. "I'm tired as well, and hungry. You've been out for at least a few days." He informed softly.
"A few days?" She asked, her voice unchanged though she was surprised. No wonder, if she hadn't had food or water for-
"I made you drink." He said, "But I can't find anything edible for you, it's different for a dragon, but I think I've destroyed the local prey. I need to hunt, to get something big, and you'll only get in my way, even if we had a saddle left."
"What do you-?" She started to ask, before she caught the remains of black leather around her. He must have gnawed if off of them both.
"Can you manage?" Inuyasha asked, concerned.
"I'll be fine, if I can get to the trees, if they're really trees." She replied, they were in a clearing, probably made from when Inuyasha had landed.
"They're trees." Inuyasha replied, getting to his paws.
"Grab on to my muzzle." He ordered, though his weary voice didn't command nearly enough attention. She obeyed though, and he pulled her to her feet and pulling her gently over to the trees. She tried to walk, but she was too tired and ended up slumped against the tree trunk.
"Here, I salvaged one of these." The dragon rumbled, handing her an arrow. He must have snatched it as her quiver had fallen, she though vaguely, but accepted it anyways. Worst come to worst she could set the forest in a Sacred Fire if a demon attacked her.
"I'll try to be quick." He growled before lumbering into the air.
She watched his silvery form disappear into the sky and glanced at the arrow, but the shaft and head blurred in her hand and as her eyelids fell she didn't bother lifting them again, falling into a dreamless sleep.
"Kirara senses something!" Sango cried as the great fire cat swooped down to run along the ground. She was white furred with black paws and ears, with great white fangs protruding from her muzzle, and flames flickered from her paws and her two foxtails. The loyal demon cat bounded down to the earth, keeping pace next to Miroku's black gelding.
"There's an aura coming from ahead of us." Was Miroku's response, and she inwardly wished he could always be this serious. He was always trying to-
she felt a hand reach down her back.
Flesh met flesh in a sickening sound and the group of Taijiya all winced, they knew what had happened.
"You lech!" She cried in fury as Kirara rose up into the sky. Miroku, still stunned, nearly lost control of his gelding. A swelling red mark on his cheek, in the vague shape of a hand, seemed to glow.
"Now now, Sango, you'll give us away." He managed to say, and she snorted, just as they came upon the clearing.
"This wasn't here yesterday." One of the Taijiya pointed out.
"Something must have made it." Miroku said.
"Could that be it?" She asked, pointing out to the blurred figure of a girl, asleep against a tree at the other side of the clearing.
"Surround her, don't let her escape!" Miroku ordered, even though Sango supposedly had overall command, but the Taijiya obeyed, melding into the shadows.
"Is she human?" Sango whispered as she and Kirara prepared to ascend to the treetops.
"To far to tell, but whatever she is she's going down." Miroku whispered in reply.
She groaned again as she heard a vague shout. It was annoyed, probably Inuyasha, complaining about something or other.
She forced her eyes open, only to see an empty clearing before her. Nobody was there.
Maybe he couldn't see her, she pondered and staggered to her feet. Inuyasha should be done with his hunting by now, she felt like she had slept for a while, but she didn't feel rested at all.
She forced herself to walk into the middle of the clearing, or what she hoped was the middle, and looked up at the sky. She didn't think she saw anything, unless that blurry oval… no, that was the moon.
"Inuyasha?" She tried to cry, but the words came out as a whisper, and she wondered vaguely what was happening to her.
And then there was the metallic unsheathing of swords and stone faced warriors flew out of the surrounding forest. They all wore armor, mainly black with a little color, and she saw one of them was a monk. They were all ready to attack, and she held up a hand in appeal.
"Speak, witch, and tell me your name!" Ordered the monk, his golden staff aimed towards her.
"Please… don't attack…" She croaked. It must have sounded like a spell, because the monk tensed.
"You have the count of three to start talking, and stop chanting your spells, or we attack!" he called, and the gelding he sat on shifted.
"Wait…"
"One!"
"Please…"
"Two!"
"Don't…….."
"THREE!" The monk screamed and the warriors began to charge, just as she released all of her pent up energy.
"INUYASHA!" She screamed, feeling the drain of energy literally pull her down to the ground. Her knees buckled and her head spun, and she could only hope Inuyasha had heard her.
Not too far off a great silver dragon lifted his bloodied head, his muscles ringing with alarm, his ear's ringing with his name.
"Kagome!" He roared, lunging into the sky.
All of the Taijiya stopped as the witch spoke something sensible, a something that happened to be of legend in their ranks. One of the tales spoke of a great hero, a half demon, and he went by the name of Inuyasha…
All of the stopped to stare as the witch collapsed, shock laced on all of their faces, tension following a moment later. She had said it with the force of a spell, a powerful one, but nothing was happening.
And then there was a roar of pure fury from above and as all eyes lifted to the sky a great silver dragon fell from the sky. He roared, a sound loud enough to send them all covering their ears, and in hardly a moment he had swooped and landed, falling over the girl and bugling his rage.
They all stood there, at a standstill, and then the girl moved. She groaned and stood up and then smiled slightly as she saw the dragon paw beside her. The dragon shot her a quick glance before turning back to the warriors, hissing savagely.
"Hiraikotsu!" Cried a voice, and the great bone boomerang shot out from the air, a scream following as a great fire cat leapt into the sky from the trees.
The dragon paused, surprised, and then reached up with his maw, snatching the boomerang out from the sky and forcing it down to the ground, where one fore claw fell on it, and then he spoke, surprisingly enough.
"Hiraikotsu…" He rumbled and then looked up, where a surprised Sango sat on a frozen Kirara.
"Kirara…" He whispered, staring at the cat, and then sniffed at the girl who sat astride the fire cat's back.
"Of the Hitoshi line, which must mean you are…" He paused, and then his eyes lit up.
"You are the Taijiya." He growled, turning to Sango.
"You are Inuyasha?" She asked in return.
"You want proof, give me my sword." He snapped in return. "Give me the Tetsusaiga." He ordered it, as if he had command.
Sango paused and then turned to her waist, where two swords were sheathed. She pulled out the one at her right hip, the one that looked like a rusted piece of junk.
"The sword Tetsusaiga." She said, and suddenly the sword pulsed, and she let go of it with a jerk.
It spiraled into the air, landing in the dragon's mouth. At once the blade flared to life, growing in size and power until it was once again the legendary omnipotent fang, crackling with golden light.
From between Inuyasha's forepaws Kagome watched in awe as he whipped his neck about, showing them all the sword, and all remembered the lore of the half-demon who had disappeared in the war of the dragons.
"Taijiya, to me!" He cried, the ancient battle cry, and something stirred in all of them to make them all say his name.
"Inuyasha…" The Taijiya whispered and the murmur spread like wildfire.
On his black gelding, Miroku stared, transfixed.
"The Hero has come home." He whispered, and the dragon waved the sword about.
"The Hero has finally come home."
A/N: Really sorry I'm so late in updating, but I was on spring break and got grounded and all of that stuff. Also had some evil piano tests to prepare for, so I was really busy. Meanwhile, I got some really good reviews, and I feel the need to reply to some of them. A thanks and reply to:
YukiConrong: Haven't read any of those, but I'll try to check them out. And yeah, I made Shippo snitch, he's just... well, a real good doer.
iwantmoreIY: Thanks, and -blush- You have a good point there.
Oh, and please, if anyone knows a good symbol for the lines I had to put in so the story would flow rightit'll be much appreciate, and aesthetically pleasing. Thanks and please review!