A/N: (disclaimer) Once again, I do not own Inuyasha, even though I wish I did. Thanks to those who reviewed!
Here's the next part!
Part 5
"Help" Sango's voice reached her sleeping companions. A splash; the sound of water, accompanied her cry.
"Sango!" Miroku yelled. He ran toward the pond, followed by Inuyasha, just in time to see her disappear beneath the surface of the water. Miroku made to jump in after her, but Inuyasha held him back.
"Wait, something…I have a bad feeling about this, Miroku," he said. Shippo and Kirara came to join them.
"No," Miroku said in a strange voice, "this is the way to Sesshomaru's castle. I can feel it. You do too, Inuyasha, only you choose to ignore it."
"Al—alright. You guys stay here," Inuyasha said to the two small demons. Shippo opened his mouth to protest, but the look on Inuyasha's face stilled his voice. He nodded.
"Hurry back, with Kagome and Sango," the kitsune said, and waved brightly as Inuyasha and Miroku waded into the water. Suddenly, gasps of surprise escaped them simultaneously as something took hold of each of their ankles and dragged them deep into the pond.
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Shiori was in her room, reading a book from the huge library on the second floor. The dull thud sound of a knock resounded from her door.
"Yes?" she called, and opened the door.
"Lady Shiori, milord requests your presence, in the sitting room on the sixth floor," a small demon servant told her. She nodded and it crept away.
Shiori changed from her simple white robe to a pink jasmine kimono, put up her hair with decorative combs, and left her room. She ascended the stairs two flights to the sixth floor, then preceded carefully to the sitting room. Months since she had arrived here, she still did not know her way around the huge place that well.
Its door was open, and she entered the room.
Sesshomaru sat on a cushion, and Rin stood behind him. Both were looking out a window at the other side of the room, obviously observing something. They turned as she entered.
"Milord," Shiori said, bowing her head.
"Inuyasha…," he paused for effect, "has entered my secret realm. It will not take him long to find us. Are you ready?"
"Yes," she replied.
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Inuyasha and Miroku fell out the sky and into a meadow. Their fall was somewhat softened by the tall grass and flowers.
The monk and hanyou regarded themselves in awe. Both of them, and their clothes, were dry! They looked around.
"The portal," Inuyasha whispered, standing.
"You guys, over here!" a voice cried somewhere behind them. They turned to see Sango, lying among a patch of jasmine flowers, clutching her leg as if in pain.
"Sango, are you alright?" Miroku exclaimed, and rushed over to her.
"Yeah…ouch!" she cried as she tried to stand, and she grimaced at the irony of it. Sango collapsed into Miroku's arms. She blushed at the contact.
"Come on!" Inuyasha said in an annoyed voice.
"Can you stand?" Miroku asked, ignoring Inuyasha, and he put Sango's arm around his own neck.
They chose a small campground to stay for the night and they made a small fire. They went to sleep without food and with both dread and hope for the days to come.
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"You must kill him as soon as you can; stealth is your only advantage. As filthy as he is, he is still a half-demon, with a demon's advantages and abilities. You have the powers of a priestess, so use your arrows and powers to kill him."
"But I…I want to confront him, ask him about my sister, I…"
"You do not believe me?"
"No, I just want to ask him if he regretted killing her, and I want to tell him that he is despicable…," Shiori said, her voice growing more bitter with every word.
"Then you will lose your advantage. Just do as I say and you will not regret it, Shiori," Sesshomaru ordered.
"Yes, milord," she said, knowing she had just been dismissed. Shiori left after a quick glance at her sister's blank, expressionless face.
She went back to her room and changed into a deep green and white kimono. Then, she went to the castle armory and picked out an oak bow and a quiver of arrows, and walked to the barricades to get a pack of supplies and food.
"You might need this," a voice said behind her. Shiori turned to see Rin. Her sister handed her a set of spare clothes folded into a tiny square.
"Thanks." Shiori hugged her.
"Good luck."
"Bye." With that, she tied everything into a small bundle, slung it over her shoulder, and crossed the courtyard. She walked over the already lowered drawbridge. Without looking back, Shiori entered the forest on a small dirt path and disappeared from sight.
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"Which direction should we go?" Miroku asked Inuyasha. They had already bound up Sango's broken leg, made a crude crutch for her, and now they were ready to go.
"I don't know precisely, but one thing's sure: he knows we're here. I wouldn't put it past Sesshomaru to have set up some kind of trap for us already."
"Yeah, I agree. He may be your brother, but Sesshomaru doesn't care; he just wants to kill you and be rid of you," Sango said.
"We might as well choose a direction and just go. He'll find us, or he'll lead us to him."
"Alright," Miroku said. With nothing but empty hands, they set off, together, toward the rising sun, their agreement silent and ultimate.
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Shiori had been in the forest for five days, and she was dirty and hungry. She had eaten all her food, and the hunger stabbed at her like a dagger. She stumbled over an ugly tree root, and collapsed on the ground. Slowly, the girl sat up and surveyed her surroundings. She looked warily at a clump of berry bushes.
Are those alright to eat? she thought and crawled over. Picking one that looked ripe enough, Shiori wiped it off and bit into it. A tangy, bittersweet taste filled her mouth. They were delicious! She picked more, and ate as she picked. Suddenly, a gasp escaped her. A sudden dizziness filled her head and she fainted, the hard ground a makeshift pillow.
Poison, she thought, and slipped into unconsciousness.
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It had just begun to rain, and the friends were in the forest, walking among the trees.
"We should stop now. Night has fallen, and it's raining too hard for us to keep going," Miroku said. His two companions agreed and they found a slightly dry spot under the foliage and built a small, precious fire; a beacon of warmth.
"Hey, what's that?" Sango asked, pointing toward a small cluster of berry bushes.
"What?" Inuyasha turned to see what she was pointing at and gasped. Without warning, he sprang up and ran to it. They saw him lift up the limp body of a girl in forest green. He carried her over and laid her down beside the fire.
"It's Kagome!" Miroku exclaimed and they rushed over to her.
"What's she doing here, in the forest?" Sango asked.
"That's what I'm wondering," Inuyasha said grimly, and wiped some mud and strands of hair off her cheek. She was pale and still.
"She's been poisoned!" Sango gasped and bent down beside her friend.
"Damn you, Sesshomaru," Inuyasha whispered, "how treacherous can you be, leaving a defenseless girl poisoned in the forest?" He cradled her head as Sango and Miroku went about gathering a limited supply of herbs.
"Put her down, Inuyasha," Sango ordered.
"No, I'm not letting her go again," Inuyasha said stubbornly.
"Don't be stupid, Inuyasha! You're going to kill her!" she whispered furiously, a bundle of herbs in her arms. Reluctantly, Inuyasha set her head down carefully and backed away to give the demon slayer room.
They watched as Sango put a bitter-smelling plant over the girl's nose and, saw her throw it aside in frustration.
"If even this doesn't work," she said, "we're out of hope." Sango held up the girl's head and poured some powder, a plant ground to bits, down her throat. "Water," she ordered. Wordlessly, Inuyasha handed his canteen to her. She held it up to her friend's lips.
They waited for some reaction. Hours seemed to go by, until finally, the girl coughed and opened her eyes.
"Who are you?" she asked, to their astonishment.
"We're your friends, Kagome," Inuyasha said.
"I'm not Kagome." She coughed again. "I'm Shiori. She's my sister. Are you…Inuyasha?" she asked. The half-demon nodded, then straightened as a strange look crossed her face, then disappeared. It went by so fast that neither Sango nor Miroku noticed it, and it had gone before he could determine what it was.
"I…I ate some poisoned berries by accident. Thank you…for helping me." The girl sat up by herself and they moved back to give her room.
Sango recovered from the shock first. "Sorry, you…look like her."
"Looked," she corrected.
"What do you mean?" Inuyasha asked harshly. "What happened to her?"
"She's dead!" Shiori cried as her hand searched for her weapons. They were gone.
"What?" he cried, "You're lying!" He jumped up and left in the relentless rain.
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It's your entire fault! She's dead, and you're still living comfortably! Why didn't rescue her? Inuyasha thought, pounding a fist on a tree, bloodying his hand. He ran blindly, and fell in the mud as the rain intensified.
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Does he care? Shiori wondered frantically, She died because of him! Then why does he mourn for her? Have I made a mistake? Or is she still alive?
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I'm so confused, but I know Kagome is still alive! Sango thought. And who is this "sister"? Kagome doesn't have a sister!
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This isn't happening, Miroku said to himself, it just can't be. Kagome is not dead and everything is fine. Maybe this is all just a dream…
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A/N: I made everyone sound so stupid, hehe, especially Miroku; he sounds like an oblivious duck! Anyway, review! (What do you think of these recent happenings?)
I'll try to update faster, sorry I took so long for the last one. See ya!