Blah, blah, blah. Merry early Christmas everybody!
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but I do own Kararu, Kimi, Kia, Kiala, Koinu, Kiomaru, Siala, Sanya, Machika, Arlic, Kat, Shami, Kamina, Sanga and Shadow.
Some Dreams Can Come True, Ya Know!
Chapter 30: Where to Start?
"When do you think that Inuyasha will wake up?" Midoriko asked Soten as she sat down next to the young woman with a cup of fresh tea in her hand.
"I don't know…but it seems that it affected him the most, but that doesn't make any sense." Soten answered.
"I know. And as soon as he wakes up, he will want to go look for young Kagome." Midoriko said with a sigh, taking a sip of her tea.
"But there's just one problem with looking for her…" Soten countered.
"What?"
"Where to start…"
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Inuyasha jerked awake with the sound of a rusty door creaking open. He looked around, but saw only a dim light. He could tell that the room was made completely of stone. He looked down at his body to see shackles around his ankles and wrists in the dim lighting. He struggled to free himself, but alas, the more he struggled, the weaker he became. He looked down at his wrist to see that they had been rubbed raw, and drops of blood were now falling freely down onto the stone floor beneath. He was surprised. He wasn't feeling any pain. His head shot up when he heard a door creak open.
"Get in there, wench." A man's voice said. Inuyasha watched as a girl was thrown into the room. Her raven black hair was matted and tangled, and cuts, bruises and gashes littered her body.
"Now, if you'll tell me where I can find your husband and children, then I shall let you go. If not, then you need more persuasion." A man said as he walked into the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
"I will never tell you. And besides, I have so many children, you won't be able to find them all!" The young woman yelled back weakly. Inuyasha recognized the voice to be Kagome's. Kagome gave the man a feeble glare, mustering up her remaining strength to keep from falling over unconscious.
"You have wits girl." The man said.
"I thought I told you that my name is Kagome! Ka-go-me!" Kagome said, her voice harsh and raspy.
"And I thought I told you that I like to call you wench." The man said.
"Yeah? And what's your name, tough guy?" Kagome asked.
"Shadow. I guess it wouldn't hurt to know the name of your torturer now, would it?" He asked, a smirk slipping it's way onto his face. He walked over to her and started to kick her in the chest, Kagome doubling over in pain, along with trying to breathe, as the force had knocked the wind out of her. "How about telling me now?" He stepped away from her to crouch down.
"Never." Kagome wheezed.
"Fine! Do as you will, wench. Guards!" Shadow yelled as he stood up. The door creaked open and two guards walked in.
"Yes sir?"
"Give this wench," Shadow said, kicking Kagome forcefully in the chest again, "the poison. You know, the slooooow kind."
"Right away sir." They said, and one of the guards left the room.
"You will either tell us soon enough where they are, or you will die." Shadow said, pulling Kagome up by the collar of her already ripped shirt and slapped her across the face, dropping her to the ground in a heap as he and the other guard left.
"Please…Inu…find me…soon…" Kagome whispered, then she closed her eyes and she fell unconscious.
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Inuyasha sat straight up, yelling, "KAGOME!"
It certainly startled the person next to him.
"Oh, Inuyasha! Thank goodness you're awake!" He turned to see Midoriko sitting next to him. He looked around. He wasn't in the ballroom, or the stone room for that matter. He was in one of the guest rooms at the Taeagada's mansion. He was in a bed, and he and Midoriko were the only ones there at the moment.
"What happened?" He asked.
"That powder substance that the man used to make us go unconscious was poison powder. It didn't really affect me, Soten, Sango and Miroku, but it affected everyone else, especially the demons, like Sesshomaru and Kiala." Midoriko explained.
"What's wrong with them? Are they all right?" Inuyasha asked, starting to get out of the bed. Midoriko pushed him back down.
"They are all right. Better than you. They woke up two days ago." Midoriko said. "Even though it affected the demons the most, you were the one who was out the longest."
"How long was I out?" Inuyasha asked, fear adding it's own little tinge to his voice as he remembered the dream that he had. He hoped it hadn't been long, for Kagome's sake.
"About a week." Midoriko answered.
"No…" Inuyasha said.
"What's wrong?" Midoriko asked.
"Shadow has Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled, his dream coming back to him.
"Yes, Inuyasha. He took her before he gave us the powder." Midoriko said.
"But he's torturing her!" Inuyasha said.
"How do you know this?" Midoriko asked.
"I had some sort of a vision…" Inuyasha said. "By the way, Midoriko, what is a poison shot?"
"Why?" Midoriko asked.
"Tell me what it is and I'll tell you how urgent of a matter it is." Inuyasha said.
"It's a type of shot that you give to someone to poison them. There are different varieties, and you can get them where they work fast, or they work painstakingly slow." Midoriko said.
"We need to find where Kagome is." Inuyasha said, shoving the covers off of him and trying to get out of the bed, but, again, Midoriko stopped him.
"Why?"
"Because Shadow said that he was going to give Kagome slow poison." Inuyasha said.
"Your right. Let's go ask Kio right NOW." Midoriko said, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the bed, literally dragging him out the door.
"What's with you? Not even a minute ago you were shoving me back into the bed, now you want me to get out from the covers and running at demon speed? What is wrong with you?" Inuyasha asked.
"Weren't you listening to what I said about poison?" Midoriko asked as she dragged him down the hall towards Kio's room.
"Yeah…"
"And that you told me that he was going to give Kagome poison?" Midoriko asked.
"Yeah…"
"And that it was the slow kind?"
"Yeah…"
"Then that means that if we don't get to Kagome soon, she is going to DIE! It will be a very slow and painful death, if I may add." Midoriko said.
"If Kagome dies then…that means that…my unborn child…will…too…" Inuyasha said, then he jumped up from being dragged and started to run. "Which room is Kio's?"
"The first one on the right!" Midoriko said. Inuyasha ran up to the door and yanked it open, and he ran in, Midoriko hot on his heels. Kio was sitting in an armchair with Sango sitting in another chair on his left side, and Sesshomaru and Kiala sitting on a love seat on his right side. They didn't look at their best, but they looked well enough.
"Kio!" Inuyasha gasped out.
"What?" Kio asked, suddenly looking alert.
"Where is Shadow's hideout?" Inuyasha asked.
"I can take you there. Why?"
"I had a vision. I'll tell you later."
"What's wrong?" Sango asked.
"I'll tell you later! Go get Miroku, Shippo and Soten. Right. Now. We need to leave. Kio, I know that you, Sesshomaru and Kiala aren't at your best, but please come with us." Inuyasha said. Sango nodded, and she ran out of the room to go find her husband and the couple. The room sat in uncomfortable silence until Sango came back with the requested people.
"Before you say anything, I'll tell you on the way there. Kio, Sesshomaru, Kiala, are you ready to go?" Inuyasha asked.
"Yeah." Sesshomaru said as he, Kio and Kiala stood up. They rushed out to the front door, Midoriko stopping them just before they left.
"I'll stay here." Midoriko said. The other's nodded, then they ran outside, Sango getting on Sesshomaru's back, Miroku getting on Kio's (not that way you perverts!), Soten getting on Inuyasha's and Shippo getting on Kiala's back. The demons took off, and Kiala took out her wings and started to fly after them.
"Where is it?" Inuyasha yelled at Kio.
"It's just north of Tokyo Town Street!" Kio said. Sango snorted as she remembered the prank war. Inuyasha looked at her weird, but he kept on running. They finally made it to the right street, and they stopped.
"Which house is it?" Inuyasha asked. Kio motioned with his head towards the mansion in front of him. It was dark (duh) and spooky (duh again). It was made of all stone, and it didn't look like there was a light on inside anywhere. There was a high black steel fence all the way around with a gate in front. Kio walked over to the gate and pressed a brick.
"Full name." A voice said.
"Kiomaru Inu Taisho."
"Password."
"Kio, Sesshy, Kia, Sia, Inu, Kag."
"Verification Code."
"Four, seven, two, sixty-five, nine, one, eighty-three."
"Hand print." A small pad pushed itself out from the brick wall, and Kio put his hand on it. It glowed green, then Kio took his hand off of it and it went back into the brick wall.
"Thank you." The gate creaked open, and Kio motioned for them to follow.
"They sure have tight security here." Kiala commented.
"Yeah. They have to have it so that just anybody can't come inside unnoticed." Kio said. They continued up the path to the giant oak door, where Kio stopped.
"Verification code." The voice said again.
"Ten, five, zero, twenty-nine, eighty." The door creaked open and Kio ushered them inside, all the while looking around cautiously.
"Which way are the dungeons?" Inuyasha asked.
"Straight ahead." Kio said. "Stop Father!" Kio yelled at Sesshomaru, who was walking ahead of him. Sesshomaru stopped immediately, not moving.
"What?" Soten asked.
"This is what would have happened if you had continued one more step." Kio said, reaching down and touching another hidden panel in the stone path. A cage fell down not five inches in front of Sesshomaru, and a large number of spikes came up suddenly out of the ground, jutting upward.
"Thank you for stopping me. I think my feet look and feel better without spikes jutting up through them." Sesshomaru said. Kio nodded, then disarmed the trap.
They ran down the hall as a group, and in front, of course, was Inuyasha.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled as he ran. The calls he made to his mate echoed eerily through the halls, making the humans in the group slightly uncomfortable. They almost got to the end of the hall, which Kio motioned for them to turn at.
"Tell me where they are wench!" They heard a man yell. They stopped cold, no one making a sound. "Tell me where your husband and children are!"
"Never!" They heard a girl choke out.
"Give it to her!" The man's voice boomed. They heard a slight struggle, shuffling of feet, and then everything went quiet, accompanied by a soft hiss.
"Now, will you tell me where they are?" The man asked, sounding triumphant.
"Even if it means that I'm going to die now, it won't make me tell you!" The girl choked out angrily.
"You'll tell us right this instant or you will never see your family again!" the man yelled.
"I won't!" The girl said. Inuyasha finally realized that it was Kagome. He started to run silently over to the door in front of them, but Kio grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" Kio whispered.
"I'm going to get Kagome!" Inuyasha whispered back, taking Kio's hand off of his shoulder. He ran over to the door and opened it (it didn't creak, for some strange reason, so the people in the room didn't know that he was there), seeing that a man in black robes had a girl by the collar of her shirt. She was dangling in the air with use of the mans hand on her shirt.
"Tell me where they are!" The man bellowed.
"LEAVE HER ALONE SHADOW!" Inuyasha yelled. "SHE DIDN'T KNOW WHERE WE WERE!" The rest of the Inu-gumi ran in after him, Kio staying at the back so he wouldn't be seen.
Shadow turned around to stare at Inuyasha through the shadow of his hood.
"So, you have finally arrived, Inuyasha. I thought that you would never show." He said.
"Shows how much you know me, you kisama." Inuyasha replied, reaching for Tetsusaiga, which he had remembered to grab in his haste to leave.
"You want to fight for her?" Shadow asked, using his free hand to point to Kagome.
"Of course you kisama. Now, let her go." Inuyasha ordered as he drew Tetsusaiga, fully transformed.
"It won't do you any good to have her." Shadow answered.
"And why is that?" Inuyasha replied coolly.
"Because she is going to die anyway. She's only got around a week." Shadow said, dropping Kagome to the ground in a heap.
"What?" Inuyasha gasped out.
"She needed some persuasion, so I gave her this." Shadow said, holding up an empty syringe. He dropped it, then reached down and grabbed Kagome by her neck, holding her off the ground, his hand the only support she had, which wasn't very comforting on her weak, frail body.
"You baka wa onna!" Sesshomaru yelled out in anger.
"How, pray tell, did you get in?" Shadow asked, tilting his hooded head slightly in question.
"Like I'd tell you!" Inuyasha yelled.
Shadow dropped Kagome after a few minutes of tense silence, Inuyasha hearing her gasp for air, but not seeing her move. "GUARDS!" Shadow yelled. A moment later, a large group of armed men came running into the room. "Kill them."
The group was surrounded, but were lucky to have their weapons with them. They pulled them out, ready to fight. Shadow's men charged, spears, swords and guns at the ready. Inuyasha returned the favor as he charged and swung Tetsusaiga at the leader of the guard. The Inu-gumi started to attack as well, everyone finally seeing Kiala's fighting style: chakrams (little round circlets with sharp edges…if you've ever played Tales of Symphonia, and seen Colette's weapons, you'll know what I'm talking about).
The guards were down in a matter of minutes, and Inuyasha had his sword raised to Shadow.
"So, are you ready to meet your maker?" Inuyasha asked venomously.
"Not really. I'd rather have the miko." Shadow said, who noticed that Inuyasha had grabbed Kagome and moved her during the battle with the guards, and she was now behind him and the rest of the group.
"Over my dead body." Inuyasha growled.
"That could be arranged. " Shadow said simply, but a burst of power sent him flying backwards into a wall, leaving a nice Shadow shaped dent in it. He sank to the floor, his hood finally coming off so they could see his face. He had ear lobe length black hair and cold, evil brown eyes. Everyone turned to see Kagome holding her hands out in front of her, her breath coming in harsh, ragged gasps. She was smirking, even though it came out as a grimace.
"That was for everything you put me through!" Kagome growled, her voice still harsh and raspy. Sango ran over to her and immediately started to heal, but to no avail. The wounds wouldn't heal at all.
"So, Shadow, it's time to find out where people like you go when they die. Be sure to send me a letter." Inuyasha said sarcastically as he lifted his sword once more, ready to fight.
"Let's do it then, half breed."
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That's it? I thought I would get more! Oh well. To all those who reviewed, you get a cookie (hands out tree shaped sugar or chocolate chip cookies to i the bright angel, bakacharm and Dark Chi-Chi)! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though it was kinda dark. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! And...REVEIW, DAGNABBIT!
Join me next time for:
Chapter 31: Inuyasha vs. Shadow and the Green Tetsusaiga