Chapter 8: Smooth...
The sun hadn't yet dared the fierce jungle when Kikyo awoke to begin her journey alone. The woods were swallowed in a treacherous black and only the sound of distant crickets and owls penetrated the emptiness. Kagome and Bankotsu were still sleeping as she gathered her arrows and bow. Following Waruimaru's instructions, she started west for the base of the nearest mountain. Pushing through the bramble wasn't easy, but it was necessary to exit the woods. She was lucky to find another clearing in the woods, but as she emerged into the pocket of space, a man sat before her on the ground in a relaxed position: Bankotsu. He was carelessly munching down some pork from last night and looked up at her mischievously.
"You know you're not as smooth as you think you are?" He stood up to face her. She gave back a frail smile.
"Yes I am."
He chuckled. There was a pause.
"Hey, give my best to Naraku." She didn't reply but only held eye contact. "It's going to be dangerous. This orb guy worries me. I wouldn't be surprised if he sent someone after you to kill you once you take out the baby. And Naraku is not to be underestimated either. Perhaps he already knows you're coming." He seemed serious. His deep blue eyes shone with fervor and concern. "Be careful."
"I will."
He smiled. It was a smile of assurance and trust.
"Alright, I'll see you around then," he gave a wave of the hand and then walked past her back toward camp. She turned and watched him leave.
"Bankotsu." He turned his head to look. "Take care." A smirk graced his features that seemed more for himself than her. Then he turned back and kept walking.
"Later, Kikyo," he called without looking.
It wasn't very far for Bankotsu to get back to the campsite, but he didn't feel like being there right now. The morning was new and the sky was a clear navy blue. It felt like so long since he could just watch a sunrise and he knew it might be one of his last chances. The birds chirped thoughtfully at him. A bug crawled up his arm, he snatched it up in his cupped hands. Bringing it to his face he realized the little winged insect wasn't a beetle, a fly, or a bee, but a firefly, the last firefly. It glowed at him faintly. He smiled reminiscently and opened his hands so it could take wing in the early morning air. The breeze picked it up into the heavens and carried it far away, far... far away.
Kagome was still asleep at the campsite when she heard a voice calling her.
"Kagome, Kagome!" It was a gnarled masculine voice. She blinked profusely to batter off slumber. She rubbed her eyes and then searched for the source.
"Huh?" Right next to her, holding her hand, was Koga. "Koga! What are you doing here?" She looked around to find out where exactly here was.
"I came to save you. Are you alright Kagome?" The young wolf prince was very tender and his eyes glimmered with concern.
"Ya, I'm fine." She remembered where she was, the Bankotsu incident, and Kikyo... Kikyo. Where was Kikyo? She spun her head around. For that matter, where was Bankotsu? I'd hate to hear that he'd suddenly contracted amebic dysentery and accidently stumbled into a tar pit... Not that she wished ill on him. She looked around for either of them, but they were gone. Then she remembered hearing something in the middle of the night, though she wasn't sure if she wasn't just still sleeping. Something about Naraku or the baby and someone leaving.
"Kagome?" Koga looked really worried now.
"I'm fine. Really." She smiled at him, but it didn't help.
"I'm sorry I let this happen, Kagome. I should have known better than to have faith in the mut face. He's worthless. You're safe now. I promise I'll protect you."
"What's that?" They heard a growl from behind them. "Hands off you filthy wolf!" Koga jumped out of the way as a set of claws aimed to scratch his back. Inuyasha appeared somewhat frazzled.
"Inuyasha," Kagome's voice was somewhat dreamy.
"Kagome! Are you ok?" Inuyasha kneeled next to her. She fell into his arms as she hugged him. He gasped inaudibly. He seemed a bit embarrassed by the display, but didn't push her away.
A smell curled it's way around Inuyasha's nose as he was resting his face in her hair. A putrid scent, a scent never to be mixed with one as delicate as Kagome's, an evil scent. It was so wrong that Inuyasha gripped her a bit tighter than he might of and inhaled in deeply. It was definitely there: Naraku. It stained her innocence and the glee of reunion that radiated off her cheery face. He let her go abruptly and looked at her hard. She seemed confused, first he grabbed her and now he pushed her back. "Kagome," his face was worried and somewhat hurt, "what did he do to you? Are you ok? Did he hurt you? I'll kill him!"
"What? Who?"
"Naraku."
Kagome was silent because she didn't know how to respond. Yes, she had been tied up, but she didn't ever recall Naraku hitting her, harassing her, or even anything that he did.
"Kagome..." His voice drifted off.
"Kagome!" a high pitched voice cried as Sango, Miroku, Kiara, and Shippo entered the clearing. Shippo had called her and now he was racing to embrace her. "We were so worried. Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"She would be better if I had been there. What were you thinking Inuyasha?" Koga glared at Inuyasha.
"Shut up," he growled. He redirected his attention at Kagome. "Where's Bankotsu? Did he hurt you?" Inuyasha started sniffing the air, "He's around here somewhere. I can smell him. Him and..."
"Kikyo?" Kagome looked expectantly up at Inuyasha whose face looked guilty. "She's gone."
"Gone? Where to?" he was interested.
"To find Naraku's baby, I think..." Kagome sounded sad, but it obviously had nothing to do with Kikyo and Naraku.
"What was she thinking?" Inuyasha was obviously upset that Kikyo would dare to go on the same quest she'd already been on.
Kagome just lowered her head. She could feel her forehead start burning with indignation. Kikyo, Kikyo, Kikyo. Is that all we can ever talk about? I was just kidnaped. Naraku's up to something again. I found another sacred jewel shard. Anything! But no!
"Moving in? What the hell is all this?" Bankotsu made his entrance as he looked condescendingly down at Kagome.
"Bankotsu!" Inuyasha snarled.
Bankotsu sighed and walked over to his pork, which Kiara was sniffing at, and chomped off a large chunk.
"Hey, Inuyasha," he complacently greeted Inuyasha, "thought I might find you here."
Inuyasha's face contorted, then was replaced with one of complete shock. He was staring wide-eyed at Bankotsu. Bankotsu didn't seem at all unnerved, but kept eating, while everyone else was curious and anxious as to why Inuyasha was gawking at Bankotsu. Finally Inuyasha stopped the display and tried to relax his face, but it only succeeded in a faked calm and hardly-controlled surprise. He carefully walked over to Bankotsu as though he did not want to discover whatever it was that he was so worried about. He sniffed him from a foot away. Inuyasha's face contorted even more severely this time with disgust and betrayal.
"What have you done to Kikyo?" Inuyasha's voice was shaky with rage. "Why is her scent... ALL OVER YOU?"
Bankotsu picked up a cuff of his kimono from his chest and sniffed it as though he expected to smell Kikyo, but then shrugged and kept eating. He couldn't keep the smile from his face. Though Inuyasha was probably right, Kikyo had been wearing his kimono the majority of their time together and just being around her would naturally tangle their scents anyway.
Inuyasha couldn't decide which was worse, Kagome smelling like Naraku or Bankotsu smelling like Kikyo. His mind was totally corrupted and drove him into frenzy.
"WHERE IS KIKYO!" he bellowed at Bankotsu as he picked him up by the cuffs of the same kimono that Kikyo had been wearing just hours ago.
"What's the matter Inuyasha, think you might have lost something?" Bankotsu's voice was calm and his eyes twinkled with amusement down at his old enemy, even though Inuyasha held him in the air by the scruff of the neck. Inuyasha could almost feel the sweet scent of Kikyo dripping out of Bankotsu's kimono as he squeezed it in his fists. It was undeniably there, but what disturbed Inuyasha the most was that it didn't seem forced to be there. It was as though she had freely stayed with him, embraced him, or...
"You... bastard," Inuyasha was shaking his head slowly back and forth in denial and rejection of the facts before him, "she,... she would never..."
"Never what?" Bankotsu's grin was filled with victory and conceit, the kind of knowing conceit that doesn't lie. Bankotsu was still in Inuyasha's iron grip.
"Kikyo would never betray me, especially not with someone like you." Inuyasha's voice was dangerous. He dropped Bankotsu and glared at him. Bankotsu just straightened his kimono and picked up the last of his pork, which was just a small hunk on a spear.
"Maybe she would and maybe she wouldn't, I don't know. But I'll tell you what I do know Inuyasha," Bankotsu's voice was matter-of-fact, "She sure doesn't seem to voluntarily spend time with you." He placed the pork in the small space between his face and Inuyasha's and chomped down on it, then carelessly discarded the stick. Even Kiara was too distracted by the scene to go swat at the stick that once held enticing food.
There was a silence. Bankotsu's presence made it a smug silence, but Inuyasha tried to counteract it by deadening the mood with a hateful glare. Inuyasha turned on his heels and folded his arms. Apparently he was beyond words. His nose was in the air in a show of childish arrogance and disbelieving arrogance.
Inuyasha left Bankotsu's immediate area to go to Kagome. She looked a bit surprised when he approached, but just waited for him to speak.
"To Naraku's baby, isn't that what you said?" Kagome just nodded and tried to hide the frustration beginning to burn inside her ears. Inuyasha didn't seem to notice. "I have to go take care of something," Inuyasha said in a very diplomatic tone as though no one could guess he was going after Kikyo. His eyes lingered on Kagome, but she didn't notice because her head was bowed. She had folded in on herself and wasn't ready to let anyone in, not even Shippo who sent Inuyasha a nasty glare on his way out. However, Inuyasha didn't take notice and went leaping out of the woods.
"How does he think he suddenly knows where Naraku's baby is? Dumb liar." Koga snidely broke the uneasy silence.
"He'll probably just track Kikyo," Sango commented quietly.
"Don't linger on that idiot Kagome," Koga tried to cheer her, "he's not worth it." Koga bent down to look her in the face. She just sat with her head sunken in and her fists balled tightly. "Come on, lets get you out of here," he extended an arm to her, but she didn't respond.
"Kagome?" Shippo's sweet child voice was worried.
"I'm fine," she tried not to sound upset.
"You sure?" Miroku offered.
"Ya," she tried to unclench her fists at her sides. "He-" she started, "he just makes me so mad sometimes." Kagome tried to release her pent up anger in small bursts. But really–the nerve of that guy sometimes...
Kagome stood up and regained her esteem. She noticed Bankotsu was still there. He stood to the side and seemed to be pondering his sword. He just stared down at it, with his hand on the hilt, though it was still in its sheath. For that matter, she didn't ever remember seeing him draw it.
Bankotsu could feel it, the power of the Akagawa. It was different now. He had noticed first when Kikyo left. The familiar pulse that was so strong and steady was gone. He deduced that the Akagawa's heart beat, as it seemed, depended on the spiritual source nearby. With Kagome nearby, the beat was sporadic depending on the action at present. When Inuyasha was talking to Kagome, the beat was stronger. Now it had died down. He suspected it had something to do with the tension and Kagome's feelings. Which meant he couldn't always trust the sword to work the way it did with Kikyo. It was a whole new game. He frowned. It must have something to do with the miko's own power, potential, and training. Kagome was younger than Kikyo, probably less experienced too. Not to mention that she did dress strangely, no miko clothes, etc. to suggest she was a real priestess.
Bankotsu's eyes fell to the ground, he must have dropped something. A small piece of paper was waiting at his feet. He snatched it up and turned it over. It was the spell scroll he had given Kikyo which retained human souls. He smirked. It still glowed with the souls. So she didn't use it after all. Tricky girl... He tucked it back inside a pocket of his kimono. Something flew overhead and he glanced up. It was a wasp, one of Naraku's insects. His eyes narrowed as he followed its path through the sky. It was going south... the way he would be traveling soon. Apparently no one else noticed it.
"That's amazing Kagome," Shippo's happy voice praised his surrogate mother. Bankotsu started to listen back in on their conversation.
"Where'd you find it?" Sango pondered. They were all looking at Kagome's sacred jewel shard as she held it up for them.
"A demon had it in the forest out there," she pointed.
"And you got it all by yourself," Koga grinned, "that's my Kagome." She grinned back at him.
"Astounding, Kagome," Miroku smiled at her. She returned it to her bottle of shards.
"Where are we going now?" Shippo asked.
"Should we follow Inuyasha?" Sango asked Miroku, but was instead answered by Kagome.
"No," she said it a bit more forcefully than she meant to. She caught Bankotsu's glance. She knew he had been watching her, but said nothing.
The bushes behind them started shaking and then two characters popped out into the clearing. They were tall, clad in furs and armor, and panting heavily as they paused for a rest. Then one of them stopped huffing to see Koga standing there.
"Ko-ga," he panted, "we," pant, " finally," pant, "caught up with you." It was Ginta and Hakakku.
"Took you two long enough," he shrugged as he checked on them with a back glance.
Suddenly two more demon wasps quietly buzzed over the group. They were quick, but deliberate. Bankotsu's eyes narrowed once again at their presence, but quickly lost his suspicion. Then he just snickered to himself. Naraku must be tired of waiting. Obviously one inconspicuous bug wasn't enough for these guys.
"Look!"
"Up there!" The group recognized the bearers of bad news and Koga, Sango, and Miroku made quick work of dishing out orders.
"Kagome you stay here, if it is Naraku, it'd be best if he didn't get another shot at you," Miroku dictated.
"He's right," Koga agreed. "You two stay here and protect Kagome." Koga's eyes landed harshly on his henchmen. They nodded.
"Don't worry sis," Ginta grinned at her and stepped closer.
"Let's go," Sango called as she swung a leg over Kiara's back. And they were off. Kagome couldn't help but feel a little overlooked and left behind yet again.Bankotsu just stood and watched them leave. They didn't even notice him as they sped by. I guess this is the fate of the ex-nemesis.
"So... is that it?" Bankotsu called Kagome's attention.
"Huh?"
"You just let them go... without you?" He looked a bit disappointed. "How do you put up with it?"
"There's nothing wrong with being safe," she tried to argue her friends' side.
"Hey isn't that one of the band of seven?" Ginta's bit of insight was just a second late.
"Hey ya," Hakukku scratched his head and they both looked at each other for a moment, then yelped, and ducked together behind Kagome.
"Being safe or being neglected?" Bankotsu ignored the scared wolves.
"I'm not being neglected!"
"And Inuyasha leaving was..." he drifted off for emphasis. "Not that I really blame him.." he mumbled.
"What does he see in her anyway?" Kagome folded her arms and scowled at nothing in particular. "She's pinned him to a tree, abandoned him, tried to kill him several times, tried to kill me, conspired with Naraku which also almost lead to all our deaths..." Kagome bit her lip. "I... I just don't understand..."
"Wow, she has?" A grin grew across Bankotsu's face like a vine, "I like her more all the time."Kagome sighed in exasperation.
"Was that a turn on?" She frowned, but then waved a hand in front of her face to dismiss the idea, "Which reminds me Bankotsu, you seemed awfully sullen when Inuyasha went after Kikyo, does that mean you're jealous?"
"So what if I am? Not like you're one to talk about me being jealous after Inuyasha chases Kikyo."
"Jerk," she huffed.
A blast behind them jarred Bankotsu from the mundane conversation that he somehow lost himself in.
"I don't have time for this," he ran over to her and scooped her up by the legs. She protested and flailed her limbs as her waist bent over his shoulder, assuming the position that he had captured Kikyo with, but she quickly withdrew her revolt to turn hot red with embarrassment. The shortness of her school skirt would cause her to flash everyone Bankotsu passed if she didn't hold it down with both hands. She growled garbled threats at him, but was helpless in her abducted state. With that he ran off in the direction of the blasts.
Ginta and Hakakku were astounded and tried to catch Bankotsu, but were too worn out from all the previous running.
"What are you doing! Let me go! Where are you taking me!" she screamed in a high pitched voice.
Bankotsu didn't answer, but was quick to come upon the battle scene. It would have been a rather calm place had it not been blanketed in fire and hailed with rock. It was a small groove in the forest with a fair-sized river, waterfall, and large white shiny rocks that lined the sides.
Sure enough, Renkotsu and Ginkotsu were blasting away at Koga, Sango, Shippo, Kiara, and Miroku. Miroku had constructed a barrier at the base of the falls which held himself, Sango, Shippo, and Kiara. Koga was darting here and there attacking mostly Ginkotsu, the mechanical wonder. Sango sent her Hiriakotsu at Renkostu who catapulted waves of fire that battered the barrier.
Bankotsu tramped in on the situation and dropped Kagome near the bank of the falls before sending a slash of rippling energy up at Renkotsu who stood at the brink of the rushing water. He barely dodged. Renkotsu settled back on another slick rock and grinned malevolently down at Bankotsu.
"So, you decided to show up did you?" Bankotsu just glared back at him. The Akagawa pulsed faintly between his hands. He frowned as he looked down at it. Renkotsu hurled fire bolts at him which vaporized the ground they struck. Kagome was impressed by Renkotsu's new power and fled out of the strike range into the woods. Bankotsu tried to follow her, but not look like he was following her, so his sword would be effective. However, the closer he got to her, the farther she fled due to the threat of incineration, which even he had to admit, was pretty powerful.
Eventually Bankotsu took to just jumping backwards and sensing if it helped through his sword. He hit branches and thrust another dicing wave up at Renkotsu, who payed the price for chasing Bankotsu. Bankotsu knew he hit him as he heard the growl, but at the same time he was backing into bramble. He gasped as his foot gave leave and he stumbled backwards into a dark clearing. He looked around expecting to see Kagome, but his eyes instead fell on a much younger girl.
Bankotsu's deep blue eyes blinked recognition, but then confusion. This girl...
"Kanna?" he breathed. The small ghostly child displayed her mirror, and as she turned it for Bankotsu to see, a visage appeared and grinned at him. It was Naraku. As soon as he'd flashed into focus, Kanna kept turning the mirror, and his own reflection flashed before his hypnotized eyes. Bankotsu felt the breath being sucked out of him. He tried to gasp, but the air left his lips and he felt his whole being emptying. He couldn't look away. The mirror.. the mirror held his gaze. He slammed his eyes shut and shook his head back and forth in attempt to free himself. He let out a long desperate yell.
The Akagawa pulsed in his grip and he felt something ignite near his heart on his chest. He opened his eyes to behold the small spell scroll slip out of his kimono and levitate before him. It buzzed with blue light and then exploded in a consuming blue flame which knocked him out of Kanna's grasp as it was sacrificed to Kanna's soul starved mirror.
Bankotsu gasped in again, and tried to pull himself up from the ground as quickly as possible. He swept across the air at the bleached child, but his sword hit nothing as she simply disappeared into nothingness. He clutched his chest and heaved breaths in and out. That was close. Too close.
A twig snapped behind him and he pivoted toward the sound. Just in time to hold his sword, Kagome came crashing into him. She braced herself and screamed as he avoided slicing her in two.
"What are you trying to do?" She bellowed at him.
"I can't help it if I'm being attacked on all sides. Where were you?" He glared down at her.
"Don't tell me you actually care?"
"How am I suppose to protect you if you keep running away?" Bankotsu knew it was pretty much a lie, but it was partially true; his sword wouldn't work without her. She bought this kind of stuff anyway. Whatever worked was his primary concern.
Kagome was taken off guard by his comment. She barely managed an "oh."
"Watch out for Kanna, she's hiding around here somewhere."
"Kanna? Kanna? How can you expect me to keep an eye out for children of the corn when a serial arsonist is right behind me!"
"Deal with it," he breathed as he darted past her into the light. Renkotsu was waiting for him on the opposite river bank. Renkotsu greeted him with a battery of blazing fire attacks. Bankotsu had never seen Renkotsu fight like this. He sped away from the clusters. Boom. Dodge. Jump. Dive. Bankotsu nearly succeeded in escaping, when a ball of fire shot out from under the river water up at him.
"Ah!" Bankotsu was thrown back into the foliage. He put out his kimono, which smoked. He stood up, and feeling the power of the Akagawa beat, he thrust a horizontal wave through the trees at Renkotsu. Renkotsu jumped out of the way. Someone cried agony behind him. Renkotsu turned his head in mid jump to see Ginkotsu's left arm crash off. Ginkotsu had been newly equipped with machine guns, as Kagome had noted, that spurted bullets and shells like a yard sprinkler. However, now one of them was tumbling to the abyss of the waterfall.
Renkotsu's face contorted as he screamed at Bankotsu and hurled fire and cannon balls down at him. Koga would get the upper hand if he didn't finish Bankotsu now. Renkotsu leapt down to the base of the waterfall to get better shots at Bankotsu. He lifted a hand to the air and started collecting a massive ball of fire. It wrapped around itself and sputtered flames. In a matter of seconds, it seemed, Renkotsu had assimilated a small star above his head and he locked on Bankotsu with devouring ill intent.
Kagome anxiously peered about for Kanna. She thought she spotted her a couple times in the rocks at the waterfall's base, but then the girl wasn't there. It must have been because all the rocks held that same ivory white that painted Kanna's figure except her black doll eyes. Then it hit Kagome. She knew where Kanna was.
Bankotsu was amazed by the sheer power and size of the small sun rocketing toward him. He wound the Akagawa back and let a massive wave of energy go. It was like when he blew Hakodoushi away. The blurred power swept the ball of fire up and rushed it back at the shocked Renkotsu. I can't avoid it!
Ginkotsu saw the rushing ball suddenly revert directions. He knew what he had to do. He ceased fire on Sango, Miroku, and Koga and extended the base of his new body to the highspeed propellers that were recently installed. Koga leapt at him, thinking to capitalize on his moment of weakness as he transformed.
"Whop whop whop whopwhopwhop–" the propellers sped into gear and slammed into Koga's legs. He let out a piercing scream as the blades ripped through his shins and shot him back into the woods. Ginkotsu aimed straight for Renkotsu. The fireball raced to swallow his only friend. Ginkotsu cried out in his garbled voice: "Renkotsu!"
Wam! Ginkotsu struck Renkotsu like a torpedo. Ginkotsu succeeded in driving him safely into the river to escape the attack. The water frothed. The energy roared over it louder than the falls.
Renkotsu popped up out of the water and searched for Ginkotsu. Oil leaked into the water all around him like blood. He gasped.
"Ginkotsu!"
"No!" Kagome screamed behind Bankotsu. He swerved around to see her pointing and screaming at the falls. Noise shattered the air all around him. He was staring at her, but only saw her lips frantically moving. He could not hear her voice. He turned to see the waterfall blast apart as the fireball and energy wave pulverized it, but then a faint flash broke through the bursting rocks and spattering water.
Bankotsu's eyes widened. The energy was surging back at them. The blur of the wave appeared and then the shaky mirage image of the fire locked inside it. Not again! Images flashed before his eyes of Inuyasha's backlash wave repelling his bright energy ball back at him. He could feel Banryu breaking in his hands again. Never again!
Kagome's heart skipped a beat. Kanna was behind the waterfall reflecting the energy with her mirror. Kagome spun her head to look for something, anything to save her. She had to get out. Miroku, Shippo, and Sango were yelling at her from their barrier across the river; she could see their worry and their moving lips. She could hear nothing. Only her heart pumped in her ears. She ran. I have.. to go.. Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub.
"Noooo!" Bankotsu yelled inaudibly back at Kagome. He felt her leaving. The Akagawa was fading... He caught a glance of her green skirt disappear behind the trees. He couldn't... stop it.
Bankotsu strangled the Akagawa between his sweaty hands and thrust everything he had at the exploding mass feet before him. The powers sunk teeth into each other. The water underneath it erupted into the sky. With a terrible unheard cry, Renkotsu and Ginkotsu disintegrated in the flow. Then like a horrible building tsunami, the water spiraled up until Bankotsu's last attempt to thwart the blast wore out, and the wave crashed down on him.
Kagome ran blindly. The forest was dark. Am I going to die? Lub dub. Is this it? Lub dub. I can't... Lub dub. Inuyasha. Lub dub.
She tripped and fell. She could hear trees snapping behind her now. It would reach her soon. Help! She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt something slam into her. Then air blew all around her. The light around her eyes was bright. Kagome braved to look.
She was up high. She could see the whole scene below her. The energy plowed a whole new valley into the woods, leaving a mass of timber and dirt in its wake. Flustered and confused, she suddenly saw a relieved countenance gazing down at her. Koga. He was holding her in his arms. They were in the sky. He saved me.
"Koga," she whispered.
"I got you, Kagome." His smile was warm and understanding.
They came to a soft landing in the woods just beyond the affected area. Koga gently set her down, but then fell to one knee. Kagome gasped. There was blood all over his legs and now on the ground.
"Koga! What happened? Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine, Kagome. They're just scratches, really." He tried to stand up for her, but cringed and decided better of it. Bone was showing on one of his mutilated legs and all he could do was sit down. "I just need to rest a bit..." his voice trailed off as he collapsed on the ground.
"Koga!" Kagome stared down at his butchered legs. His shins were completely torn up and he had cuts on his thighs too. She searched his shins. His sacred jewel shards were gone. "Oh, Koga..." Kagome's voice died with worry.
After the blast settled, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kiara raced to find their friends. The earth looked like a new canyon had been formed. The water from the river leaked into the deep canyon and they couldn't eve hear it hitting the floor.
"Kagome!"
"Kagome!" Shippo called her.
"Koga!" Sango yelled.
"You guys! We're over here!" Kagome called and waved them down.
"Oh, Kagome, we were so worried!" Shippo chimed as he fell into her arms.
"Look at Koga's legs," Sango gasped.
They gathered around the unconscious wolf demon and Miroku started bandaging him up. Koga moaned, but didn't wake. They had to splint both of his legs and apply pressure to stop the bleeding.
"His jewel shards are gone," Kagome enlightened them.
"They are!" Sango's worry increased.
"Ya"
"We have to find them quickly," Miroku stated.
Kagome stood up and tried to find what direction they were in. She pointed them south and the group made a trip with Kiara to recover them. As they landed, Kagome made quick work of discovering them. As she stooped down near a bush to recover them, a man stepped out of the darkness. Her friends gasped behind her, and she looked up to see what was the matter.
The man was tall and wearing a dark robe. His face was covered. A shiver ran down Kagome's back as she looked at him. He smiled from under his cloaked exterior.
"My, my," he began casually, "what strange and frustrated youth we have today. Really if you want to leave your mark on something, you don't have to carve a hole in the earth, especially in a place a serene as this. May I suggest poetry, philosophy, or the finer disciplines."
"Excuse me, but who are you?" Miroku interrupted.
"Just a concerned elder, I suppose," he smiled again. "Oh please forgive my rudeness, I am called Waruimaru. I was concerned when I heard a commotion emanating from my lands."
"Your lands?" Kagome asked.
"Yes, well perhaps that is a bit presumptuous, however I am the primary caretaker."
"Are we trespassing?" Sango asked.
"Not at all, you are welcome to stay, though I dare say I must ask you not to express yourselves so demonstrably again. Please forgive me if my lecture was too austere. I only mean well for these lands." He smiled politely and bowed.
"Oh, well," Kagome scratched the back of her head, glanced over her shoulder at the hideous trench in the land and grimaced, "sorry..."
"Come on, Kagome, let's get going." Sango called. "Sorry about this," she gave a feigned smile to Waruimaru.
"Coming," she chimed and then climbed on Kiara. She watched the specter of a man disappear as they escalated into the clear morning air. How strange... Looking back down at the scar in the land, she wondered where Inuyasha was and if he'd caught up with Kikyo. Inuyasha... When are you coming back? Are you coming back? Come back... to me.
Bankotsu woke up under suffocating debris and smoke. He coughed and gagged, blinked, and spat. His vision was clouded and severely out of focus.
"Ah, shit," he growled and shoved off some burning trees. He tried to get up when something sharp poked him. He hissed and then removed the offending object. He tried to make out what it was: something white, long, and jagged. He touched it. Smooth. The Akagawa. "Oh," she exhaled. It was draped across his chest, protecting him. He sheathed it and grumbled as he got up. His body felt like it was screaming. The muscles in his back buckled, his calves tightened, and his shoulders ached. He abs felt like someone had clubbed him.
He ran a hand through his hair and flung the blood off the tips of his fingers by snapping his hand at the ground. His braid was undone. He seemed pretty intact.
Ahead of him was a hill, or at least he thought. Climbing it he reached the top which was level ground. Looking around, there was the river and demolished waterfall. His vision started to clear. He turned around to see the huge crevice he climbed out of. He grunted and then started south again, stomping over the same area Kagome had found the sacred jewel shards an hour earlier.