Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or any nursery rhymes.
The Mother Goose Escapades
No. 49
Hark, hark, the dogs do bark,
the beggars are coming to town.
Some in rags and some in tags,
and one in a velvet gown!
It was a dark and stormy night.
Kagome found herself wanting to groan at the cliché, but there it was. It was night, it was very dark, and there was a storm brewing, seemingly the worst kind of storm imaginable.
Lightning cracked, illuminating the improbable scene before the small group.
Had she not been watching it as it happened, Kagome might not have believed it. The ever stoic Sesshoumaru and her own beloved, hotheaded hanyou were having a rational looking conversation.
Thunder rumbled loudly across the sky, making eavesdropping impossible.
Sango shifted uncomfortably as water ran down her neck. She didn't really want to be under trees in this sort of weather, everyone knew trees were what lightning aimed for. But when Sesshoumaru had appeared and demanded to speak with Inuyasha, the group decided to just take cover while they could. She glanced over at Kagome who was watching the two brothers nervously, than back towards Miroku. He smiled easily at her and gripped her hand tightly.
The rain started to fall faster, harder, big fat drops that hurt where they hit.
Inuyasha stared at his half brother and tried not to be suspicious. This wasn't a trap, didn't seem to be one. For his greater-than-thou brother to request such a thing though...it didn't seem real. He curled his toes in the mud forming underneath his bare feet, the squelching feeling almost a relaxant. Sesshoumaru sighed, his sign of impatience, and Inuyasha made his choice.
Lightning flashed again, and the little group peered through the rain.
Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha were shaking hands.
The boom of thunder that happened immediately afterwards caused Kagome to jump.
--
"You will stay here," Sesshoumaru told Rin, his authoritative voice leaving no question. Rin looked at the old woman smiling kindly at her and smiled back cheerfully.
"Will Jaken-sama stay as well?" she asked.
"Yes," Sesshoumaru replied, causing his retainer to make an undignified noise. One glance from Sesshoumaru stopped anything Jaken might have said and he sulkily walked over to stand next to Rin, Ah Un and Kaede. Kagome and Sango raised they eyebrows at each other, impressed by Sesshoumaru's power. Inuyasha grumbled.
"I think it's best if Shippou stay as well," Miroku said softly. Kagome glanced down at the kitsune. He was standing tall, looking brave, but something had sparked in his eyes at Miroku's suggestion.
"What do you want to do?" Kagome asked him. Shippou swallowed.
"Is it too cowardly of me to want to stay here?" he asked in a voice so soft Kagome strained to hear it.
"Not at all, you would be a wonderful protector for everyone in the village," Kagome said, smiling at him. She knelt down and hugged him. "Keep them safe," she added.
"Be careful," Shippou whispered, tears making his voice crack. He hugged Sango, and Kirara, and even Miroku, but just gave Inuyasha a friendly wave when he caught sight of the hanyou's glare.
"Bye!" Rin called cheerily as the group set off. "Why're you so sad?" she asked Shippou before the group had left their view.
"They might die and never come home again," Shippou said softly.
"Not Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin boasted, but Shippou's expression didn't change. For the first time since she met him, Rin felt her faith in him falter just a smidge. He always came back for her. What would she do if he didn't?
There comes a point in every child's life when they realize a parent isn't perfect. Rin was just starting to acknowledge that about the man who took her in, no matter how hard he tried to hide it from her, and the rest of the world.
Shippou already knew it about the little group he called a family.
--
Sesshoumaru strode ahead, Inuyasha just off to his right and a little behind him. Kagome, Sango and Miroku followed behind them, their eyes wide and their mouths shut. Speaking about the improbability of the situation was not allowed, for the brothers would hear them.
But Kagome couldn't believe that Inuyasha and his brother had actually agreed to team up to hunt down Naraku, no matter how powerful he'd gotten.
And Sango couldn't fathom why Sesshoumaru had even approached Inuyasha in the first place, knowing how much he lived with honor and believed his little brother to be useless.
It seemed only Miroku had noticed the grudging respect Sesshoumaru had gained towards his half-brother. Whether it was Inuyasha's fierce will to live, or his determination to win against all odds, Miroku almost wondered if it was something else. Not one of them, not even Inuyasha, knew what Sesshoumaru had been like as a young demon, but he had known his father. Miroku knew that his own father certainly had played an important role in his own life – all he wanted to do was not let his father down.
And now Miroku wondered if Sesshoumaru had the same thought gnawing inside his own mind.
--
If he was going to be perfectly honest with himself, Sesshoumaru mused, he wasn't entirely certain what exactly came over him.
It was true that he felt the need to vanquish the evil that was Naraku, the lowly beast was growing far to much for Sesshoumaru's liking.
It was also true that he decided the best course of action was to join forces with his half brother and his clan, for they all seemed to have the most knowledge about Naraku.
But to actually follow through, to put aside everything that made him who he was, seemed utterly incomprehensible to Sesshoumaru.
But then again, was working with his brother against who he, Sesshoumaru, was? The same father's blood flowed through them, legendary and begging of greatness.
And besides, they both had things...someone they wanted to protect. No matter how he twisted his mind around it, Sesshoumaru was finding he had to accept that the creature walking almost behind him was indeed like their father.
And it sort of irked Sesshoumaru that his half brother seemed to have figured out the protection thing long before he had. Given their very different circumstances however, he supposed it made sense after all. Not that he liked that.
Almost side by side they padded along, noses twitching, searching for the scent that would not spread its stench for much longer. Sesshoumaru glanced out the corner of his eye, catching his half-brother glancing at him.
"Sorry," Inuyasha muttered. Sesshoumaru shrugged. "Also sorry I chopped off your arm," Inuyasha added. "Thought I should mention that."
"I've grown to accept it," Sesshoumaru said.
"What's going to happen after this?" Inuyasha asked a moment later. "Are you still going to try kill me?" Sesshoumaru shrugged again. He was unnerved by the way Inuyasha looked, a bit forlorn, something like the baby he had once been as Sesshoumaru scorned him.
"Probably," he answered. "It's what I do." He didn't allow his face to twitch. Inuyasha was looking at him carefully, and seemed oddly satisfied with this answer. They continued on.
"So, this is really gonna be it," Inuyasha started again. Sesshoumaru was feeling something like irritation. The hanyou was not much better than Rin or Jaken. "Like Kagome said, the fate of the world rests in our hands." Inuyasha glanced down at his hands.
"Given who we are," Sesshoumaru stated, "I don't think it will be that dire."
"Who we are?" Inuyasha asked, and Sesshoumaru didn't miss the glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"Have you forgotten your heritage, little brother?" Sesshoumaru asked, then refused to say anymore. Inuyasha seemed to understand he wouldn't. In silence once again, the two brothers searched as a team for the creature that caused widespread suffering.
--
"This is it," Naraku cackled while Kanna watched him blankly. His face contorted into some undeniably evil expression and his red eyes glowed. "I shall crush them both at once, and then there will be nothing at all to stop me!"
Kanna waited for her orders. Though she thought nothing, she knew the end was nearing.
--
As they rounded the corner out of the forest Sesshoumaru growled softly. Inuyasha, catching the scent a moment later growled himself. Kagome, Miroku and Sango all hurried to see. Before them spread out the army of Naraku, an utterly despicable rag tag bunch. Inuyasha cracked his knuckles as above the hoards of demons rose Naraku, appearing in all his dark glory.
"Come to your death!" he called out, his voice a command.
"Come to yours!" Inuyasha spat, and then he was gone, into the fray, as was his brother. A moments hesitation from the other three.
"Well, here we go," Sango shrugged. "Kirara!" The firecat was by her side, transformed.
"Good luck," Kagome called weakly. She drew an arrow as Sango and Miroku entered the fight. Her stomach was knotted and she knew now was not the time to be nervous as hell, but she was. That paper she had written passed through her mind and she gritted her teeth. This was it.
Screams of the dead and dying echoed as the battle progressed. There was no going back now.
--
The sun was setting, casting a glorious glow on the surrounding area, but neither Shippou nor Rin paid it any attention. They sat side by side, clutching hands for strength as children are wont to do, staring along the path they had seen their respective families last.
Kaede watched them, remembering her own childhood, and prayed for everyone's safety.
Jaken sat close to Ah Un, eyes on Rin, allowing her to project the fear he felt.
A breathless pause filled the area as twilight fell.
"What's going on?" Rin whispered, her soft voice loud in the quiet.
Five hundred years in the future, Mrs. Higurashi dropped the plate she was drying and broke out in a cold sweat.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's Notes: Well, there it is. See you next time, for the very last installment...