Chapter 4: Kidnaped
She passed out. Bankotsu watched her body fall to the ground. Her hands and clothes were frosted with thick burnt blood. Her sleeves were torn off, her cheeks a little singed. Bankotsu just watched for a moment. She lay still.
He stepped over to Suikotsu and squatted down by him. The charred flesh was nearly unrecognizable, only his clothes bore any resemblance of the blade-bearing murderer. Bankotsu inspected the other body. He had known it was Jakotsu from the start, but found it difficult to accept. He stooped down next to his best friend. Jakotsu's sword lay off to the side with burn marks blackening it's polished surface and hilt. No doubt they had been taken by surprise. Bankotsu grimaced, closed his eyes, and bowed his head. He thrust a fist into the ground. The earth beneath his hand cried out and left a large indent.
Not again! I swear I'll kill Renkotsu with my own two hands. Damn him. Damn Naraku. You better watch out boys. I'm coming for you.
Bankotsu made two quick graves on a grassy hill close by and placed his friends inside. He buried Jakotsu with his sword, then stood and looked at the small mounds. Pain was evident in his eyes, but they wouldn't shed tears.
His long midnight braid blew in the wind. He turned back to the place where the priestess lay. He stood over her and thought. A pensive countenance replaced the raged and excruciatingly-pain-ridden one.
He scooped an arm under her waist and slung her over his shoulder. She was out cold. Her hair tickled at his feet and her hands dangled limply at his thighs. He held her with one arm clamped just under the backside of her knees as her waist bent over his right shoulder.
Though Bankotsu found it inwardly amusing and rather appropriate to have her draped over his shoulder like a traveling parcel, he showed no outward sign. Passing Renkotsu's broken fire gourd, he soccer-style kicked it over the mountain.
He slowly regained his outward smug as he traveled down the mountain. It was a beautiful sunny day even if he was walking through debris like a meteor had just landed here. Dead demons lay like road-kill all over the ground. Bankotsu tread through it all as though it wasn't even there. A smirk on his face and woman over his shoulder, he looked like he was coming home from the fair with his oversized stuffed animal prize.
Eventually trees surrounded them. It was gonna be a long trip. He gazed dreamily at the sky, bored. A village should be coming up soon. He sighed and kept on down the path. It had been hours now. The sun was sure to set any minute. Kikyo was lifeless as ever dangling over his shoulder. The trees cleared and he stepped out onto a long grassy meadow. A trail blazed through it and he figured the small puffs of smoke in the sky ahead meant a village. A new bounce in his step, Bankotsu walked down the smooth path.
Some people were coming in the opposite direction and Bankotsu thought little of it until he could see five total. When they were a few feet away, he finally looked up.
"That's Bankotsu," a bewildered feminine voice called his name. A grin spread across his face as he recognized the party.
"Bankotsu!" Inuyasha's voice yelled. The others just gasped. It had been Sango who first recognized him and she looked ready to throw her big boomerang at him. He shrugged.
"Hey there," he greeted like they were friends.
"How are you still alive?" Miroku asked in a shocked voice.
"Hell if I know," he said carelessly. Inuyasha started gaping and making strange gaggy-throaty noises. His eyes were wide. Bankotsu quirked a brow at him.
"K-K-Kikyo?" Inuyasha couldn't believe it. Bankotsu's smirk only widened.
"Oh no," Kagome said. Only Kikyo's lower half was visible from this vantage point. Her small feet and calves stuck out the ends of her baggy, dusty, torn clothes.
Bankotsu just grinned and sneered.
Instantly Inuyasha drew his sword and threw a menacing glare at him.
"Let her go right now you bastard. Get your filthy hands off of her!" Inuyasha's voice was brash and threatening. Bankotsu looked utterly amused.
"I'm curious," he grinned, "just how do you plan on saving her if you strike both of us?" Inuyasha was unfazed by his comment and seemed to be in an uncontrollable fit of rage. He was gritting his teeth and could have been foaming at the mouth for all Bankotsu knew.
"Put her down now or I'll kill you!"
"I thought she still meant something to you," Bankotsu suggested, "even if she was the one who pinned you to a tree for fifty years. How do you come to that anyway?" Inuyasha clenched a fist and growled. "If she means so much to you, why didn't you come get her yourself? Sheesh, you sure are a poor sport, Inuyasha." Bankotsu thoughtfully scratched the side of his face with a finger.
"I can't use my wind tunnel," Miroku said disappointedly, "and Inuyasha dare not use the windscar." Miroku seemed to be mainly speaking to Sango and Kagome.
"So what should we do?" Sango asked.
"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered. He was unreachable. The mixed emotion was visible in her face. Shippo's distressed eyes peered up at his distraught mother figure. He hated it when Inuyasha caused Kagome so much pain.
"I'll tear you limb from limb you filthy bastard! You can't have her. I won't let you!" the edge in Inuyasha's voice was surprisingly sharp. Inuyasha's body was agitated, rigid, and his hold on Tessaiga gave his outward frustration all the more visibility.
"I think she'd be just as happy to accompany me, seeing as you already have your own model."
"What!" Inuyasha's yelled in outrage.
"This one's mine," Bankotsu said as he slapped Kikyo's butt twice using the hand he held her with. A smirk perched on Bankotsu's face as he expectantly waited for a reaction.
That was it. There was no going back now. Inuyasha lunged at Bankotsu with all his speed and strength.
"YOU SICK BASTARD!" Inuyasha cried as he swept claws at Bankotsu. His attempts were wild and missed. Bankotsu nimbly jumped and dodged each. He was thoroughly amused by this display. He had never riled Inuyasha up so much before, and Inuyasha was clumsy in his rage.
After a flared slash of claws that completely missed their mark, Bankotsu landed a swift punch into Inuyasha's cheek and sent him flying back. He almost hit Kagome and she yelped as she leapt out of the way.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome landed at his side and gripped his arm. Concern wracked over her face, but he didn't spare her much attention. He flew to his feet and started the assault over.
"Is that really the best you can do, Inuyasha? I'm only using one hand."
"You bastard! I'll kill you!"
"You keep saying that," Bankotsu sounded mildly annoyed, "but you never follow through."
"Well then let me show you!" Inuyasha jumped at Bankotsu. Inuyasha was red with fury. He delivered another set of sporadic strikes that all failed to hit their mark. Bankotsu landed opposite the party on the path closer to the town. A light click sound alerted his senses and he instinctively jumped back.
A huge explosion burst forth with fiery glory where both parties stood. It engulfed the whole little region. Bankotsu and Kikyo were thrown back. Inuyasha's scream could be heard through the blast. He had a more direct hit that sent him spinning through the air backwards into a field. Black smoke issued from the targeted area.
Bankotsu sat up on his elbows, blood thundering through his veins. He could hear the powerful beat in his ears. Just as he suspected, Renkotsu and Ginkotsu were visible on the edge of the field. Bankotsu leapt to his feet and charged toward them. He was fairly sure he saw a fleeting look of terror whip across Renkotsu's cocky countenance. Good. The smart ass figured out he was screwed.
"You missed," Renkotsu hissed just as Bankotsu started getting close.
"H-Hey," Bankotsu waved, "guys!" His boyish charm cloaked all his ill intent in innocence.
"Ginkotsu, aim and fire!" Renkotsu ordered.
"Gersh" Ginkotsu uttered something of an affirmative. Two cannons went off and Bankotsu nimbly jumped to dodge them and landed square in front of his former allies.
"Hey now, you weren't just aiming for me were you?" The two mutineers faces' were tense. "You both know I draw the line at back stabbing." Bankotsu's eyes flashed dangerously though he wore a stupid self assured grin.
"You are no longer our leader," Renkotsu snarled. Ginkotsu seemed lifted by his terrier- like outburst. Both glared at Bankotsu.
"Ok then," Bankotsu said cracking the knuckles of his free hand by curling it ostentatiously like he had talons. Renkotsu looked dismayed, but pulled out his own portable cannon and fired at the expecting Bankotsu. Renkotsu lost his balance. Ginkotsu had lost balance on one side of his body for some reason. Renkotsu quickly discovered, after the dust settled, that Bankotsu was standing beside Ginkotsu's right side. He was holding Ginkotsu's entire jagged metal wheel with his free hand, looking rather placid. Bankotsu inspected the gnarly appendage absentmindedly, then tossed it with a thunk to the side. Ginkostus's one eye slid to the side to view Bankotsu. He looked pained by the loss. Renkotsu growled reproach at the marauder.
"Damn you Bankotsu," his eyes were wild with fire, "go rot in hell with your beloved Jakotsu. He was the only one who liked you."
"Gersh," Ginkotsu agreed.
"About that," Bankotsu turned dangerously to them. Kikyo was still flailing over his shoulder. Just then an ominous violet cloud encircled Ginkotsu and Renkotsu. Large wasps accompanied the stir. The cloud cloaked them temporarily and by the time it faded, they mysteriously vanished. Bankotsu's eyes narrowed to slits.
After glaring at nothing for a moment, he let his eyes rest again on Inuyasha's traveling group. Inuyasha was in an uproar over some quickly fleeing Naraku Baboon shape that was soaring through the air with Kagome. The dark cloud carrying Renkotsu and Ginkotsu followed the couple.
Apparently the cunning Inuyasha had planned to sneak up on him when he was brawling with his good old boys. Bankotsu snickered to himself. Serves the little cheat right. He thought he could catch me off guard so he could have his precious Kikyo. Well what is precious to you, Inuyasha? I don't think you even know, do you?
Now Inuyasha was wildly screaming at the air for Kagome. She in turn was pelting out his name with the same urgency. It was truly a spectacle. However it failed to amuse Bankotsu and he just trotted down to the village. That was easy.
Sun had set and night caressed the wary baked earth in a calm summer's breeze.Arriving at the village, Bankotsu noticed the dormancy and stillness that befouled the residence like an evil fog. He stepped in a drafty vacant hut and dropped Kikyo on the dusty mildew floor.
He exited without a thought and scrounged around the empty buildings. Little was leftover. It seemed to have been pillaged by Naraku's demons. Dead villagers remained in some of the dwellings. The smell of decay wafted past his nostrils every time he threw back the mat to reveal a corpse. The fetid devastation would have been enough to repel a squeamish bandit, but not Bankotsu. He pulled some debris off a small storage container near a mutilated corpse. The body lay resting naturally, but slit at the neck and clean of blood. Huh.
He continued in the storage container. Inside he found rations suitable to his needs. Next item: water. He exited the hut and scrounged some more. Tromping in on another hut, he found a woman huddled up scared to death. She screamed as he stood in the doorway. Brown eyes stained with desperation and panic stared at him as she clutched her legs to her chest.
"There any water around here?" Bankotsu asked as though she were the waitress of some restaurant. Her eyes gleamed in the starlight with building fear. She did not answer. He frowned and walked over to her. She recoiled at his proximity and he began digging through the items near her. Eventually he unearthed a gourd with old water inside. He took a swig and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. It wasn't refreshing, but it was substantial.
Bankotsu let his eyes fall to the young woman again. Her gaze had never left him. Bankotsu's eyes traced the room. To her side, a body lay as though resting. However, the face said it all. It was dead. An old man, he lay dead. He was probably her father. Some old tattered scrolls were half open next to him. A discreet little bloodied knife sat beside them. Bankotsu's eyes fell back on the girl. She sat shaking like a trapped rabbit.
On his way back to the hut, Bankotsu carried his rations in one arm and the woman under his other arm. She kicked as screamed as though it would help draw attention in the ghost town. He found the hut with Kikyo and pulled back the mat. Kikyo sat propped against the wall. Her head and arms hung limply.
"So you're alive are you?" he didn't need to ask. She groggily lifted her head. Her eyes were dazed and somewhat confused. The woman Bankotsu was carrying like a sack of potatoes shoved, kicked, and screamed at her abductor, but Bankotsu didn't even make a move of recognition. Kikyo drearily gazed at the woman. She seemed to be regaining her senses and memory, though it was clear that Kikyo had little if no energy. Her eyes were hollow as from severe depravation.
"Why have you brought me here?" She finally managed.
"Here," he said as he tossed the abducted girl at her. She fell at Kikyo's feet. The woman pulled herself to her knees and gazed about at the strange travelers. Kikyo searched Bankotsu's face for explanation. She looked far too tired to be conscious. "You want to live, don't you?"
A strange understanding began to dawn on her.
"Kill her." Bankotsu said it so simply. The woman's face went pale. "You need souls to live, isn't that it?" Bankotsu could see the animosity welling up inside of her. "Or would you rather I did it seeing as you're too weak?" Bankotsu pulled out a knife from his pocket.
"No," Kikyo managed to retort.
"You'll do it?"
"No," she repeated more firmly. A smile cemented on Bankotsu's lips. The woman was shaking from head to foot.
"It doesn't really matter what we do in life, Kikyo," Bankotsu's countenance radiated a kind of knowledge, "You're doomed anyway, aren't you? Might as well have fun while we're here."
Kikyo's mahogany eyes were transfixed on Bankotsu. A tangible contempt swelled in those deep black pupils. Bankotsu stood tall and mighty looking down at the seated priestess. He fell to one knee and grabbed the terrified woman by the shoulder. He revealed his knife again and dropped it to her neck. He paused for emphasis. She screamed. Kikyo's eyes were firm and blazed fire.
Kikyo snapped a small hand around Bankotsu's wrist. The knife still rested on the woman's neck. The woman panicked and fled. Bankotsu made no attempt to stop her. Kikyo still gripped his wrist. The deadly resolve grounded in those eyes held his gaze. After a decided moment of staring, or more likely glaring on Kikyo's part, she released him. He watched her hand drop and then her body let out from under her. He knew she couldn't hold out long. She was far too weak to resist.
Kikyo collapsed on the floor. Bankotsu got off his knee and picked up the food he had collected and the gourd. He ate a light dinner. At around midnight he rested his back to the wall, crossed his legs, and supported his head with his arms. He missed his Banryu. Bankotsu closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep.
Author's note: Sorry this one took so long everyone! I'm still revising and stuff. Trying to completely plot out the story and what not. Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW! I'd love it. And thank you to everyone who does!