Disclaimer: Obvious stuff; I don't own Inuyasha or anyone else associated with IY. Any other characters/places are mine and mine alone, unless stated otherwise. So piss off :P
REVIEW PEOPLE!
"" character speech
'' quotes in character speech
Italics equals thoughts, except in character speech where it equals emphasis.
Chaotica
Summary: Inuyasha and co. thought that Naraku was the worst of their worries. Feudal Japan thought that youkai were the biggest problem. Both were mistaken, as the past, present, and possible future is thrown into chaos as a rift is open between worlds. New foes are made, unlikely alliances formed, and friendship and love is put to unthinkable tests. What will become of the world as it is plunged into the chaos of war?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 2: The Shackling
"Hey," came a soft female voice, breaking Miroku out of his stupor: he was rubbing his temple with his left index and middle finger to try and ease the headache he had. He had somehow gotten a huge kink in his shoulder, and was rubbing it with his cursed hand.
Miroku turned his head to see a smiling Kagome.
"Couldn't sleep?" she asked, sounding tired herself. What was she doing up at this hour?
"Yea. I have a pretty rough headache. That and my right shoulder is tight for some reason." he winced but made no other visible action of pain.
Kagome's eyebrow raised, "You have a headache too?" she asked curiously.
Now it was the houshi's turn to raise his own brow, "Yes. You mean you also have a headahce?"
The girl nodded.
"More like a dull ache though. I figured some fresh air would do me some good when I saw you up. You looked to be thinking about something and rubbing your head, so I thought I'd come over and see if everything is ok?" she asked, slightly worried.
Miroku smiled warmly at his friend.
"If the beautiful Kagome-sama is worried for me, she needs to worry not; I can assure her I am fine."
Kagome smiled larger through the small blush she had unknowingly acquired.
"Great to hear. But…well I could give you some aspirin for your headache," she looked over at an obviously confused Miroku. "Uhm…think of it as a painkiller, something that will ease your headache and your muscle ache too."
"Ah," Miroku nodded in understanding. "That would be grand Kagome-sama." he said as he followed her back to her and Sango's room.
Upon arriving in the room, Sango looked up at Miroku with a slightly screwed up face, but didn't say anything.
Kagome led Miroku to her case of medical supplies. A slightly worried look came over Sango's face suddenly.
"Houshi-sama, are you alright?" she asked, genuinely concerned.
Miroku waved her off.
"I'm fine. Just a bit of a headache is all." he replied.
"Here Miroku-sama," Kagome said, "take these and call me in the morning." she laughed at her own joke while getting confused looks from her friends.
She sighed.
"Nevermind." she said defeated, rubbing her head as she took two aspirin as well. "I think I'm going to go back outside for awhile, maybe go for a walk. You gonna behave yourself while I'm gone, you two?" she winked at Miroku and Sango, causing the girl to blush and the houshi to smile.
"I shall treat the lovely Sango with the attention she deserves." he chuckled hearing Sango choke on some words.
"That's what I'm scared of," Kagome sighed, "be good Miroku!" she said as she slipped outside.
Miroku noticed she started heading towards the direction of his own room.
Hmm…obviously she wants to spend time with Inuyasha. I wonder why she simply did not say so?
He shrugged and rubbed his neck, which was still slightly throbbing.
"You had better not try anything, hentai houshi." he heard Sango growl from behind him.
He turned around and looked at Sango with drooping eyes.
"Sango, I can assure you that even though I would like nothing more than to feel you right now, my head could not take the retribution you would deal out." he frowned.
Sango's eyes narrowed as she stood up and walked towards Miroku. The monk raised an eyebrow and backed away slightly when she jutted out a damning finger and pointed it at his nose.
"I knew you were lying to me. Something is wrong. You took Kagome's futuristic medicine. What's going on Houshi-sama?" she scolded him, looking very much like a mother. Miroku found this very disheartening.
He decided to tell her the truth, it was just a little headache after all.
"Well, I'm very tense in my neck and shoulders, and I have a headache. I couldn't sleep and I went for a walk and met up with Kagome-sama." he replied.
Sango raised an eyebrow.
"Why didn't you just come to me to begin with?" she asked, sounding slightly hurt, and slightly miffed at the same time.
Now it was Miroku's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Because you would've probably made it worse?"
Sango looked genuinely hurt now. Miroku sighed.
"Sorry Sango. I didn't mean it the way you thought I meant it."
"It's ok houshi-sama. I think I can still do something to make you feel better though."
Miroku's heart suddenly began to race.
"Really? What would that be dear Sango?" he asked with a sly smile on his face.
"Get your head out of the gutter, houshi-sama," Sango snapped at him, then calming, continued "Now come and sit in front of me." she plopped down on her futon and motioned for him to join her.
Miroku complied, slowly, and sat down in front of the taijiya crossing his legs. He tensed up as he felt her hands come up and contour themselves to his shoulder muscles. She scooted a little closer, and whispered in Miroku's ear:
"Calm down Houshi-sama," she spoke above a whisper, but barely, "I'm not going to hit you. Not unless you try anything."
Miroku chuckled slightly and patted the girl's hand.
"I won't. Continue, please."
Sango made a noise that Miroku took as a "yes" and relaxed his shoulders as she began to rub out the tenseness.
Dear Kami…this feels fantastic.
Miroku's thoughts were swooning; he literally couldn't remember the last time he had a massage. Well, he could, but this was Sango. That simple fact made the experience more memorable than any night he spent at a tea house with a geisha.
He lowered his head so his chin was almost resting on his sternum, closed his eyes, and began to drift off into sleep.
Sango, of course, started to notice this, but continued working the kink out of Miroku's shoulder; he wasn't lying when he said it was tense.
"S-sango…" Miroku said sleepily, causing the taijiya to jump.
"Yes, houshi-sama?" came her shaky reply as she stopped her massage.
"Thank you," he said, lolling his head to one side to look at her, "how did you learn to do this, if you don't mind my asking? And please don't stop."
She continued on with a blush, craning her head up to think exactly how to explain her talent.
"Well," she started, "I am a warrior you know. After long practices, it was only natural that I would get muscle sores and tension problems. And obviously you don't want to go into battle when you don't have full function of your muscles." she shrugged as she finished the thought.
"I don't know," she said plainly, "I guess you could say this kind of comes natural?"
"Mmf…" was all the reply she got.
With a slight giggle she worked her hands around Miroku's neck and temple, hoping it would ease his headache.
"Still have that headache?"
The monk nodded slowly.
"Ok. This might help. It helps me at least."
She slowly worked her fingers around the monk's temple, then caressed her way down his cheeks to the muscles around his neck and worked those in slow fluid motions as well. After awhile, she switched back to his shoulder muscles and popped another kink.
She winced at the sound.
Poor housi-sama. I had no idea he was this tense. But…with a curse like the kazanna, I can understand why.
Sango was abruptly brought out from her thoughts by a sudden increase in weight on her front side. She looked down and saw that Miroku had, indeed, fallen asleep right on her.
Of course the blush came, but so did a sense of odd satisfaction; she had relaxed him to the point of causing him to fall asleep. This brought her a small sense of joy, one which she wasn't quite sure she liked to much. It was about time for Miroku to go back to his room.
"Hey, housi-sama," she whispered, trying to rouse him, "wake up. You can't stay here."
What happened next was most unexpected: Miroku rolled over causing Sango to tumble down on the futon they were sitting on and he successfully used her mid-section as a pillow. Thankfully he didn't land on her chest, but the top of his head was grazing the underside of her breasts.
This made Sango very very uncomfortable. She sat up and was about to thump the man on the head when she looked at him. His face was pointed towards the ceiling, so she could see it in the candlelight. He looked…peaceful. Almost boyish in the way he slept. Some of his bangs fell over his eyes as he slept, causing him to stir slightly to get it out of his face. Sango's hand unintentionally shot forward as she pushed the hair out of the way for him, then her fingers slowly caressed his cheek, eliciting a appreciative grunt from the sleeping man.
Sango smiled slightly at this and suddenly realized what was happening; she had Miroku, of all people, asleep on her lap. Her heart starting pounding in her chest, and she just couldn't bring herself to move the person that was so close to her.
"I can't believe I'm letting this happen…" she said to herself. "I can't believe I'm doing this."
She sat down and pulled the furs that were used as a blanket around her and the monk while running her fingers through the sleeping figure's hair.
Houshi-sama…
She tried to relax herself, and found that her breathing coincided with Miroku's eventually as she drifted off to slumber herself, cradling the hentai houshi she had to come to fall in love with.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inuyasha stared dumbfounded at the sight before him, while a blushing Kagome covered her mouth with both hands.
Miroku had his face buried in the area just above Sango's chest while one of her hands was on the back of his head, behind his ear. Her other hand was lost in the blanket that covered them both. They were both still in their sleeping clothes, so nothing…physical…had happened between the two. Inuyasha couldn't smell it at least, although he still crinkled his nose before he turned back to Kagome.
"Oy. Think we should let this go on any longer?" he asked rather gruffly.
"Shh! Inuyasha don't wake them!" Kagome quickly shushed him.
"Keh." was all the reply that came, though it sounded oddly quiet, for Inuyasha at least. He then turned and headed out of the room, leaving the sleeping couple to their own devices.
Kagome giggled slightly before heading out to follow Inuyasha; after the night she spent with him, she wanted more time alone with him. She hadn't quite come clean with her feelings yet, but she had a good idea that he shared them. A good deal of rather deep conversation occurred between her and Inuyasha before she fell asleep in his arms; much Miroku had done here with Sango. Her and the hanyou discussed what would occur after Naraku was defeated, and the Shikon-no-Tama finally reassembled.
Kagome had straight up told Inuyasha she would plan on staying with him even after this was completed.
Inuyasha, taken aback by this promise, could do nothing hold the girl and thank her for that. He had, secretly of course, wanted just this. He decided to let some of his more human side show and opened up to Kagome and told the girl just that, which resulted in her crying silently into his kesa as he held her till the wee hours, when she fell asleep on him.
She had awoke the next morning to find a snoozing hanyou nuzzled into her hair.
Kagome turned around before she exited the room and sighed sweetly at the still sleeping Miroku and Sango; she prayed that the previous night would spark a new plateau that the group could attain, and the love that they all shared would finally be made known between them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sesshomaru was in dire need of a plan. Quickly. He was losing this battle as he had grossly underestimated his foe. He glanced over at where Jaken lay and Rin, still trying to awaken the dead or unconscious youkai. Sesshomaru couldn't decide yet what fate had befallen his ever-faithful disciple.
"You know, Sesshomaru," Thule began in a condescending way, "this could all be ended shortly and painlessly if you would only submit to my will. But no, you have chosen the path of most resistance, which is always the path of most pain." he ended the last word with a surprisingly fierce growl, and a mist formed around his hand.
Sesshomaru stood, prepared to face another onslaught of the horrific spell Thule had cast upon him. He wracked his brain to find something, anything, that would enable him to take the upper hand. This man was insanely powerful, yes, but was still a ningen; all Sesshomaru needed was one clean cut, and Thule would fall.
Unfortunately, the youkai never got such an opportunity.
Sesshomaru charged, Thule extended his hand, and the purple mist that surrounded Thule's hand instantly surrounded Sesshomaru.
White hot pain seared through Sesshomaru as he was reduced to mere stumbling as his sword hand feebly flopped in front of him. He lurched forward and fell to a knee propped up by Tokijin's blade implanting in the ground.
This was not boding well indeed.
Jaken was paralyzed. Never before in all his travels had he ever seen his Lord so defeated: not fighting Inuyasha, or even the Sword of Hell, SouUnga, had Sesshomaru been so taxed. Rin was sobbing into her hands, afraid to look at the outcome of the battle. She suddenly turned and fled to Au-Un and wept into his scales.
Thule's insane cackle pierced the night air like the stench of rotten eggs.
"I see that you're finally starting to succumb to the curse of agony." he cackled. "Not only does the curse affect you physically, but also mentally. I can see that your mind is ready to fall as well as your body. Shadow magic has a tendency to do that."
With a grand flutter of his fingers, he extended both arms outwards.
"And now, Sesshomaru, you will become mine." He slowly, achingly almost, raised his arms skyward as mist once again enveloped him, except this time it rose from his feet, twirling and snaking around his legs and torso till it reached his eyes, where the red glow was replaced by a blue hue; one that almost seemed purple like the mist from his curse that caused the mighty Sesshomaru to buckle.
And yet the youkai still relented. He was, after all, Sesshomaru-sama. He would not fall to a ningen.
"This Sesshomaru…" he began slowly, wobbling to his feet, still raising Tokijin in defiance, "belongs to no man!"
The youkai surged forward with relentless speed and deadly intent.
However this was still not enough to quell the beast which Thule had awakened.
Before Sesshomaru could even so much as take a step, bright electricity arched up around Thule and pierced through the air, howling and crackling it's own tune. It parted the skies and seemed to pierce the heavens themselves, as darkness spread from the point it made the clouds scatter.
Thule's cackle turned into all out laughter.
"I now summon you, KalDrast," he yelled at no one in particular. Sesshomaru felt as if he was charging through water, yet he still churned forwards. "Voidwalker of the Outside, your master from the Inside calls to you! Shackle this demon!"
Sesshomaru's legs felt like lead. He slowed to a snail's pace, then stopped moving, even though his muscles told him otherwise.
Then a gale of wind erupted from beneath Sesshomaru, and he was flying upwards into the air at alarming speed. He had to shut his eyes, for the sheer wind velocity was causing his eyes to feel like needles were piercing them.
He heard Thule's laugh taunt him, engulf him. How he hated ningen. How he especially hated this man.
"POWER!" came Thule's screech. "UNLIMITED POWER!"
Painfully, Sesshomaru opened one eye. The other one went wide with terror as Sesshomaru suddenly saw himself staring straight down the gullet of something that looked akin to an octopus' beak, surrounded by tentacles and barbs of all shapes and sizes. He could see demons inside the throat and mouth of the great beast, but could not possibly identify them.
The last thing the youkai saw before darkness was this scene. The last thing he heard before darkness were Jaken and Rin calling his name from far below.
The great Sesshomaru had been defeated.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sango awoke before Miroku did. This could have been considered either a good or a bad thing, as the position they were in had changed since Inuyasha and Kagome left: it was she now resting peacefully on his chest while he held her with his left hand, his cursed hand was placed carefully away from her, pointed towards the ground.
She sat up a bit and smiled slightly before sighing and sinking back into his chest, taking in his smell in the process. She had always adored the way Miroku smelled; strong, musky, but not unpleasant. Not in the least. Miroku smelled like Miroku, and that in itself held more attraction than any other man. Sure, he had experimented with some of the perfumes and scents Kagome had brought back from her time, and Sango had to admit he also smelled nice in those. However, none smelled quite as "pure" as his own scent, which Sango preferred over all others.
She groaned slightly. She wouldn't be able to fall asleep. Of course it was only fair that if she couldn't sleep, neither could he. She balled a fist and playfully bashed Miroku on his chest.
"Hey." she said sleepily, "Wake up, houshi-sama. It's late and we need to get going."
He groaned his displeasure and held her now with both arms.
"But I so love staying here with you in my arms. When is the next time I will get an opportunity like this, dear Sango?" he said as he snuggled into her neck.
Sango, of course, responded by blushing a deep red.
She lightly rapped his head.
"Never if you keep up your hentai ways."
A frown crept over Miroku's face.
"I see." he said. "How unfortunate. Damn this cursed hand of mine."
Sango sighed again and suddenly bolted up, using Miroku's chest as leverage. He "oofed" as she did this.
"Houshi-sama! What if Inuyasha and Kagome-chan saw us?" her face suddenly turned flush. What if the two had actually seen her and Miroku together? Would they think that her and the hentai houshi were a couple now? They certainly were not!
But…
Sango wanted it. Of course she wanted to settle down with Miroku; she had told him that she would bear his children, and he had promised that once Naraku was defeated he would live her with as a husband.
So, if one thought about it, it was only natural for them to sleep together like they did. They were technically engaged. Sango mentally slapped herself for fretting so over something so trivial. Its not like the houshi had tried anything. She was broken out of her reverie by Miroku speaking.
"So what if they did see us Sango?" he asked curiously, "Would that shame you?" his voice lowered with the last question.
"Wh-what? What kind of a question is that, houshi-sama?" she asked shakily.
He shimmied out from underneath her. "A relevant one I think."
Sango bit her lip. She spoke barely above a whisper.
"Of course I'm not ashamed of you, Miroku."
Miroku's eyes widened.
"What did you say?" he gasped out. "Did you just say my name Sango?"
Sango looked away and stood. "It's getting late houshi-sama, we should probably go find Inuyasha and Kagome-chan."
Miroku decided he would press her about it later. He nodded and also stood, gathering up his things in the process while Sango woke Kirara.
Then he blacked out as intense pressure and pain rocketed through his mind.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kagome had left Miroku and Sango quite awhile ago, and neither of them had come out of "their" room yet. She had to admit she was curious what was going on, but she had Inuyasha, and he was enough to keep her mind off of the houshi and taijiya. Still, something didn't quite feel right. Not that she was worried about Miroku doing something lecherous and ruining the whole experience; she was quite sure he had already done that. She still decided that it was about time for them to get moving anyways. They did, after all, have a "youkai" menace to investigate. With a huff she got up off the floor where her and Inuyasha were lounging.
"I'll be right back, Inuyasha. I'm just going to gather up Sango-chan and Miroku-sama." she said, noticing his look.
"Keh."
She giggled at his inability to cover his worry for her.
She took a few steps before she felt woozy and stumbled a bit. Inuyasha was there to right her before she could even put a hand to her head.
"Kagome! Are you ok? Sit down again." he said in a hurried tone.
"I'm fine Inuyasha…" she lied. Her head felt like it going to explode.
"Kagome? Kagome!" Inuyasha said as the girl passed out in his arms.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chap 2's finally done. Once again, sorry for the huuuge wait. School's been a bitch.
I'll try to update more often, depending on how things go with teh school.
Of course, reviews also help with the updating process. J
-M.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preview of Chapter 3: Mordant: Priest and Pirate King!
"Ok, this looks as good of a place as any." Alaryn said, sweating. He was able to shove Adahlia to the dock section of the town and was hiding behind some pallets of supplies. This town was small, and that meant few hiding spaces for the rogue. This made him very uncomfortable. What made the situation worse is that Ada was severely pissed at him.
Her scowl showed that simply enough.
As the town guards were peeking around the dock, Alaryn was getting more and more nervous. They were armed. Quite heavily too. He suddenly had an idea, although he had a feeling it would never work. Still, he tried anyways.
"Adahlia." he said, giving the elf a small startle. She was focused on him noticing her scowl, and his sudden mention of her name broke her of her concentration.
"What?" she hissed.
"I need you to shape shift and get on this boat here for us." he said pointing behind them.
"What?" she almost yelled it, but kept her voice at a harsh whisper.
"Can you please just do it? You can scowl at me all you want later and give me a tongue lashing too. And I'll listen this time. Just get on that boat and prowl around and see if its safe. Ok?" he begged.
She sighed. She knew he was right. If they didn't get out of this situation soon things were going to be grim indeed.
"Fine. Can't believe I'm saving your hide again." she growled.
Alaryn let loose a goofy smile as she slowly began to alter her form into that of a large panther. With the transformation complete, she became an off-black cat with white face paintings that came from the top of her left eye down to the base of her chin. A white dot adorned the center of her forehead. She looked at the smirking human and growled at him.
"Hey, don't bite me now. You can do that later." he almost laughed.
The cat/elf in front of him shook her head and began gathering shadows about her, till barely the silhouette of her form could be seen.
Slowly, she crept up towards the ship, knowing that the faulty eyes of the guardsmen and crew of the ship would never be able to detect her lithe form.