Servant By: OtakuSailorV
Chapter 19: BloodThe beast let out a howl as it charged through the trees, saliva dripping from its jaws as it bared its ferocious teeth. It's massive paws left craters in the soft mud, its claws dug up whole sections of earth and sent them showering back down as it sprang away.
Its eyes grew red with bloodlust as it tore through the trees, leaving huge gashes in their bark that was like fabric between it's powerful jaws and razor-like claws. There was a burning sensation in several keen parts of its body and they seemed to add power to it as it charged through the forest.
In the back of it's mind it could feel the gentler side of itself growing weaker and weaker, overcome by the growing ferocity of the beast that had been released. Not once, not once had it tasted the fresh air for more than a second, and now it was reveling in it's new freedom; it's other half was sleeping fitfully but was helpless against it's new power.
The monster let out another howl as it caught the pungent scent of a human village on the cool night air. One thought stayed keen in its mind as it bounded through the huge trees with its stolen form. It knew only how to kill now, and only wanted to kill. There were no sane thoughts left; the burning points of power that surged through its blood had robbed it of cognitive thoughts.
Nothing more than a blood-driven horror now, it burst from among the line of trees surrounding the village, fire glinting in it's luminescent eyes.
Inuyasha sniffed the air thoughtfully, having heard the howls of a demon far off in the night. Not that it was any of his concern, but he suspected that if a demon were attacking a village somewhere, that possibly Naraku was involved. He always was, after all.
The small band of warriors had stopped in a village a few miles off from where they had originally fought Naraku when they had run into a rumor that made them suspicious. They had heard it in two of the other villages upstream of a small river, but had done nothing until they found that there were several villages involved.
It wasn't so much a rumor as it was an actual fact. The villagers in the dozen or so villages dispersed over a ten-mile radius were having trouble with a certain demon. Each one's description of it grew more and more horrible, but the story was the same. At night a demon taking a semi-human guise came prowling out of the forest and stole food and supplies. It never had attacked once, though several claimed to have been given a nasty scare by the demon in question. That was the strange thing, not once had they come upon a demon that stole but did not attack. Miroku was puzzled and Sango was no better off with naming the species.
Miroku had suggested a mother demon, but Sango had put that to rest right away. "No," she had said thoughtfully, mulling it all over. "I don't think a mother that takes a human form would resort to petty thievery for so long, and in so many places."
Inuyasha was thinking it over still himself. Again the roar sounded and this time Kagome came racing out of the hut, Shippo on her shoulder. The others soon followed.
"What is it?" Inuyasha asked when he caught the scent of her urgency.
"Inuyasha, I sense Jewel Shards, and there are lots of them."
Naraku rose in the air on his cloud of miasma, following the powerful roars of the beast and the little lights that were the Jewel Shards embedded in its body.
It was easy to follow, but faster than his miasma cloud could move. The Jewel Shards were adding to its power; at this rate he wouldn't be able to stop her before she reached the little human village on the horizon.
Fear. Screams. Blood.
She could nearly taste it; the fear was nearly tangible in the air. She charged forward, sneakily cutting off their escape routes just when they thought they were about to escape the terror alive.
A great bulky beast that no weapon would slow. She had been struck numerous times, as was apparent from the arrow shafts protruding from various parts of her body. She barely felt even a tickle when she was struck. It was strange, but the mindless creature bent on tasting blood paid little heed to whether it felt pain or not.
The village was aflame, engulfed in red hot fire that sprang to the sky, reaching for the cold, elusive moon that hung overhead watching the carnage unfold.
Blood soaked the fields, the plants were trampled and in the soft earth could be seen the mighty paw prints of the rabid creature chasing the helpless humans.
More screams and a satisfied roar accompanied them. Her fur was flaming now, but still she did not notice as sparks whirled over her head. She had toppled a barn with a single swipe of her forepaws and the surviving animals fled only to be cut down as she ran past them toward the humans that had been knocked about in the frenzy as well.
Families wept as the split up, heading in various directions in hopes of escaping the beast that had come from no where on such a gentle, promising night. The moon and the stars that had seemed to watch over them before now stood idly by, it's light seeming to become more and more eerie as the flames grew.
Men stood, shaking and trembling in the demon's path, holding up their swords in hopes of destroying the beast. Most lost their nerve as it came down on them and fled screaming only to be trampled. Only the bravest stayed to try and exact some revenge for the friends and family already lost. They stood no chance though; the creature seemed immune to whatever they threw at it. There seemed to be no hope for any of them.
The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth, and it's heavy smell filled her nostrils. The noise of the human and animal cries mingled with the roar of the fire, streaming through her ears like sweet music. The creature could not get enough of these feelings, she strove to keep them alive, to have them reach their point of greatest intensity.
It was only when pain finally shot through her and made her stagger did she notice the band of warriors that had arrived on the scene.
Growling deep in her throat, she raised her bloody muzzle to stare at those that had attacked her. Her attacker wore red, and briefly she confused him with the flames and lashed out only to taste the searing heat of the fires beyond.
She yelped and pulled back, rubbing at her singed muzzle with her massive forepaws.
Here the creature spied silver and this time was able to dodge the kick that would have landed on her ribcage.
The silver-haired one yelled something to a green and white clad human female on the sidelines. She gave the giant coyote demon a strange look before calling desperately back to the silver-haired man.
A hint of recognition flickered in both the monster and the young girl's eyes. The girl seemed to ignore it, but the monster before her was having trouble doing so. The recognition had been on the part of her other self and now the long-sleeping humble one was awakening again and was distressed as the taste and smell of blood filled her senses.
The reappearance of the humble other self – Yuhi – was brief, and with the help of the pinpricks of power she was able to cage Yuhi again; induce her into a heavy sleep in the back of the monster's mind. 'No, not yet. You'll not have control again yet,' the monster thought to itself as it swung it's great jaws at the hanyou attacker.
Kagome wasn't sure, but she was sure she knew the giant coyote demon from somewhere. It already looked to be pretty beaten up, and blood covered most of its lower body, but she was sure that she knew it from somewhere.
She knew that was silly though, she had never even seen such a demon before, so how could she have this feeling in the pit of her stomach as if she had met it before?
It snapped at Inuyasha who dodged backward and gave it a kick to the jaws. He pulled out Tetsusaiga and swung back to Kagome. "Kagome, where're the Jewel Shards at?" He demanded sharply.
Kagome scanned the beast that was still trying to get in a shot at Inuyasha. She couldn't shake the feeling, but she tried to ignore it. One, behind the right ear; two, in the ribs; one, in the right thigh; one, on the left flank. She relayed what she saw to Inuyasha who smirked and pulled back Tetsusaiga, ready to use the 'Kaze no Kizu' on it.
Just as he was preparing to launch his deadly attack, Kagome felt her heart skip a beat. It had just struck her where she knew the immense creature from. She wasn't sure how she knew this either; it just seemed like there was no other way. Maybe the places where the Jewel Shards were, or the fact that she had briefly sensed them before was what reminded her. Whatever it was, she was sure of it now and she felt distress suddenly cling to her as she realized what was about to happen.
"Inuyasha, don't!" Kagome cried loudly, cupping her hands over her mouth so as to be heard.
The hanyou stopped, barely able to pull back before the coyote dug an eight foot hole where he had been standing.
"What now!" The hanyou replied, angry that he had been interrupted.
Sango, Miroku and Shippo looked at her as if she might be temporarily insane, but Kagome didn't even glance their way.
"You can't attack, Inuyasha, that's Yuhi!" Kagome called, her fists balled up at her sides. They had only briefly and recently met the hanyou, but she was sure that this was the same person.
As if recognizing its name, the creature stopped its attack and pulled back, watching them with glowing eyes in a tense-fighting stance. Blood dripped from its muzzle, its panting breath could be heard loudly. The fire behind her illuminated her shape in a strange way that seemed to make the accusation even more ludicrous.
"What?" Inuyasha called, stunned at such words.
"That creature is Lady Yuhi?" Miroku questioned Kagome, looking at it with troubled eyes.
"I'm sure of it," Kagome replied; though she knew they must think her insane.
As the beast took its temporary rest, Inuyasha sniffed at the air, testing it. It was heavy with blood; the stench of death was there as well, confusing his nose. But through it all he was able to pick up some individual scents, one of them being the creature bulky monster in front of him.
It loomed overhead, making the idea that it and Yuhi were one and the same even more improbable, but there he did no doubt it now. His nose had never been wrong before, and he wasn't about to start thinking that it might be. The scent was too strong and the creature too close for it to be anything else.
"It is her!" He cried in astonishment as the beast went in for an attack again. It barely scraped him, and the scrape seemed to awake him to the battlefield again.
"Inuyasha you can't attack her!" Kagome persisted when she saw him swing Tetsusaiga warningly.
"What the hell am I supposed to do then!" Inuyasha growled. "She's gone and slain half the village and I'm not supposed to kill her?"
"She is not herself, Inuyasha," Miroku defended now. "We will have to find some other way to calm her."
Inuyasha snorted as he swung Tetsusaiga forward again. "Keh, I'll calm her down."
With that he charged forward, roaring loudly in response to the monster's cries that were already ringing through the air.
Both of the parties were charging headlong at each other when a sudden shift of the wind brought a scent that made them stop and snarl defensively.
Out from the fires of the smoldering village stepped a familiar dark figure that caused everyone present to bristle. Inuyasha shifted to point Tetsusaiga at Naraku who simply glared at him, daring him to step forward.
"Naraku," Inuyasha seethed through clenched teeth.
"Inuyasha," Naraku returned, though his eyes were on the bulky creature that loomed above them all.
The coyote demon hissed and snarled with utter hate and loathing. Her jaws were clenched tightly; showing a strong set of gleaming white fangs that had been stained red with blood. The gums were a healthy pink color, but these too had become red with the blood of her prey. The ears lay back nearly to her skull. Her head had lowered to the ground defensively. She looked fit to spring off the ground at him at any given moment if he stepped any closer.
Inuyasha looked about to issue a challenge to the dark hanyou when suddenly Yuhi's demonic form leaped forward, tearing across the ground at a tremendous speed. Shippo uttered a tiny gasp as the red jaws opened, ready to snap at Naraku who only stood there, watching her dully. A vicious growl escaped the creature's throat as it lunged forward on its last step, preparing to strike Naraku down with one fatal blow from its powerful jaws.
Hello again everyone! How have you all been?
I appreciate everyone's reviews and support. I'm sorry that I have arrived so late again. Meh, V-chan was caught up in the end-of-school-year stuff like exams and yearbooks and didn't pay attention to her fanfics again. eep
Thanks again and I hope everyone enjoys their summer! Ja'ne!
Review Please?