When Night Falls
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Damn, I'm really getting sick of saying that,
Hey everyone! Sorry that I took so long with this update. I wrote one version of this chapter, but in the end I didn't like it so deleted and started from scratch. I'm still not completely satisfied, but I wouldn't want my loyal fans growing impatient! I may go back and edit this. Or not. I have a knack for bein' lazy. Anyway, on to review responses!
Ninalee-chan: Miroku screams. Hell, everyone screams when a giant beast is charging you down and you got nothing to protect yourself.
Angelofmusic516: Ooo, alert list! Thank you very much. So, is that like a second account of yours? 'Cause you signed Kenshingurl516.
Moonyme: Your a smart cookie aren't you? Yes, connections are very important. Maybe...
Veglma: I honestly thought I made who darted in front of him to obvious, but I seem to be confusing some people, so that's good! Peace out!
WORD: Well, your lucky this time, I couldn't think of a cliffhanger to end this one with. Cries
abby: Are you saying most boys are bad writers? That's a stereotype! But your right you know, hehe.
medlii: A wakazashi is a small, fragile sword, often carried by Samurai and Shinobi (ninjas). Samurai primarly used it as a secondary sword while in houses or other tight spaces when they didn't have room to use their full sized one. Shinobi carried it mainly because for a ninja, stealt is important, and a large samurai sword would restrict movement. Thank you and keep reviewing!
And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for Fanfare... CHAPTER 6!
Chapter 6: Miroku's Mysterious Power!
Blood, lots of blood. But it wasn't his.
In that instant Miroku's world came crashing down. Sango fell limply into his arms, her head lolling back over his shoulder, blood pouring onto his robe from the wounds on her torso. An enraged Kirara blindsided the demon, effectively distracting it from Miroku and Sango.
"Sango," Miroku groaned, laying her on her back. The large amount blood on her body prevented Miroku from telling exactly how bad her wounds were. "Sango!" he called again.
Weakly she opened her large eyes to stare into his. "Hey, Houshi-sama," she stammered, an odd smile on her face.
"Sango, why?" he muttered, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.
"Houshi-sama, you've taken plenty of hits for my sake," she mumbled, "now it's my turn to take one for yours."
"Yes, but none of those were this bad, Sango," he near-yelled, "I never was seriously wounded."
"You could have been, Houshi-sama," she smiled wearily, her voice fading quickly, "remember at Mt. Hurekai? Had you collapsed a meter earlier you'd be dead right now. You would've given your life for me, and I'd gladly give mine for yours."
"No, Sango! You have things to do with your life. You have to save Kohaku, you have to rebuild your village, you have to avenge an entire town of people Sango. I would die soon anyway, Sango!" he gasped, as if his arguing would prevent the inevitable.
"Yes," Sango said, bringing up a shaking, pale hand to cup his cheek, "but none of that would be the same without you."
For the first time since his father died, Miroku allowed himself to cry. The tears that spilled from his eyes left salty trails over his dirty cheeks. The dam that held back all his pain crumbled on the onslaught of tears.
"Don't cry Houshi-sama," Sango whispered, her eyelids closing, "I much prefer your perverted grin." And then her hand fell from his face, her eyelids shut, and life left her body.
"Dammit, Sango," swore Miroku, "All my life, everything that I've loved has been taken from me. My mother, my father, even my own future was destroyed, and I'll be damned if I have to lose you too!" He shot to his feet, his hands clenched tightly in fists.
Sensing someone approaching, he lifted his head to see Kagome running towards them.
"Oh, kami, Miroku-sama, is she okay?" she asked, her face contorted in worry.
"She's gone," was all he said.
"Oh no…" Kagome said, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Kagome, listen carefully to me," Miroku hissed, "I want you to take her and Koga and get the hell out of here, okay?"
"But… what about you?"
"I have to fight this thing," the determination in his eyes was evident. "If it looks like I'm losing, I'll use the Kazaana to collapse the chamber."
"But you'll die!"
His head turned quickly and Kagome gasped at howbloodshot his eyes were. "I don't care," he said simply.
Kagome didn't bother to protest.
"Kirara!" shouted Kagome, "leave the demon to Miroku, I need you to carry Sango and Koga!"
The neko-youkai growled and fled from the demon toward Kagome, who lifted Sango onto her back. They then retrieved Koga and headed out the entrance. Seeing this, Miroku turned to the demon.
"It's just you and me now you bastard," he growled. Reaching to his neck, he grabbed the necklace and pulled it until it snapped. An immense headache hit him instantly, but he gritted his teeth and took the pain. This was for Sango, and he was ready to accept any level of torture for her.
As Kagome passed the entrance, she was met by a very anxious Shippo.
"Is she okay?" he whined.
Kagome shook her head. "She's dead Shippo."
"What?" Shippo stammered, not quite believing her ears.
"She's dead," Kagome repeated solemnly.
Shippo's eyes watered, but he shook them off. There's be time to cry later. Right now, he needed to be strong. Kagome needed him. "Where's Miroku?" he asked.
"He's fighting the demon."
"WHAT?" gasped Shippo, "There's no way he could defeat it!"
"He's going to use his Kazaana to collapse the tunnel."
"But he'll die!"
"He says he doesn't care. C'mon, we need to leave!"
Shippo stood still for a moment thoughts running quickly through his head. No way was he about to lose another one of his friends. A deep courage welled up in his heart, and suddenly he felt stronger than ever.
"I'm not leaving," he said out loud.
"What?"
"I said I'm not leaving!"
"Shippo, now's not the time to be the hero! We need to go or we'll die too!"
"I'm not going to leave Miroku here without hope of survival. Kagome, you said you'd never turn your back on your friends, and Miroku's our friend, right?"
"Yes…"
"Well then we have to stay! We can't just leave him here!"
"Allright," said Kagome, "We'll watch from the entrance, but if he opens the Kazaana we have to leave, okay?"
Shippo nodded.
With amazing speed Miroku flung an ofuda at the demon. It howled in pain as the spiritual tag burned it's skin.
"The only way for you to repay Sango's death," growled Miroku, "is with your own!"
Dashing towards the demon he flung sutra after sutra, each one weakening the demon further. A tentacle shot at him, but he darted to the side. He then hacked it off with his shakujou. The beast roared and charged. They were now dashing head on towards each other. Miroku felt something wrap around two of his arms. The tentacles had grabbed him! Struggling against the bonds, he tried to unwrap his gloved right hand, but to no avail. With a gasp he was flung into the wall of rock. His head snapped backward and cracked hard against the wall, and his world went black.
"Miroku-sama!" yelled Kagome as she watched him slide down the wall in a crumpled heap. "We have to help him!"
"Wait a minute!" shouted Shippo, "He's getting up!"
"What? That's impossible!"
But sure enough, when Kagome looked, she saw Miroku pushing himself to his feet.
Shakily, Miroku willed his feet to lift him. His whole body was in terrible pain, but still he continued. Slowly, a new power pulsed through his body, more power than he ever imagined he could muster. And with this power came rage. He hated the demon for what it did, and it only added fuel to the fire that was raging in his body. His aura expanded with this new power until it was literally spilling out his pores, gathering in a purple mist around his feet. The demon would die.
"Kami," gasped Kagome, "do you sense that, Shippo?"
"Yeah," he nodded, "I never knew Miroku had that much power.
Glancing down at Sango's body, Kagome sighed, "It's amazing what one can do when their heart is broken…"
The demon seemed to cower under the power emanating from the body of the monk. But its instincts got the better of it and it let out a roar as if to egg on Miroku. He didn't even flinched. Slowly he walked towards the beast, not bothering to rush himself. The demon seemed confused at this approach, and grew restless. Letting impatience get the best of it, it roared again and charged Miroku. Miroku immediately stopped his approach. Then, as the demon was only a few feet away, he jumped high into the air. Just as the creature went under him, he brought the butt of his shakujou down, impaling it's head to the ground. The demon squirmed and twitched before it body finally slumped lifelessly.
Walking up to its carcass Miroku pulled his staff from the dead beast's head. "For you Sango," he muttered.
Kagome watched stunned as Miroku ruthlessly slew the demon. Then, as he pulled his staff from its head, he looked up and his eyes caught hers. Slowly he approached.
"I thought I told you to leave," he said as he drew near.
"We couldn't," Kagome muttered, "we couldn't leave you."
Miroku shifted his attention to Sango. "I can save her," he stated.
"What?" asked Kagome, stunned.
"I can bring her back to life," he repeated.
"Well why don't you?" she yelled.
"I don't know what she'll be like when she wakes up," he said. "Do you have any idea what death will due to the mind? She might suffer life-long trauma. Sometimes it's best to just let things be."
"Miroku," Kagome said quietly, "She had too much to live for to forget her purpose. You know as well as I do she is one of the strongest people, in body and mind, that we have ever met. She won't forget her purpose, Miroku, she won't forget you either."
Miroku nodded. "I understand."
Moving painfully slow he knelt down over Sango's mutilated body. Holding his hands over her, Kagome felt a soothing power emanating from them. Slowly, before her eyes, Sango's wounds began to close. Then, as the final portions of muscle and skin were repaired, she shot up, coughing up any blood that had been in her throat. Kagome felt Miroku's immense aura disappear, and then he collapsed to the ground in pain and exhaustion.
"I'm, I'm alive?" muttered Sango, staring at her hands as their color returned before he eyes.
"SANGO!" cried Shippo, jumping into the revived taijiya's arms. "We thought you were gone forever!"
"I… I thought I was to," she looked up to Kagome, "What happened?"
"Miroku-sama, he saved you."
"Houshi-sama?" she questioned, looking down at his unconscious body. "How?"
"I… I don't know. I felt such a great power coming from him, almost as strong as Naraku's."
Sango simply nodded, knowing that Kagome wouldn't know exactly how. "He's going to be okay, right?"
"Yeah, he will," nodded Kagome, "we should probably repair his necklace though, before he wakes up to a nasty headache. You should have seen him Sango, he really cares for you."
"I know, I just… I just wish he could show it better when I'm actually awake."
"He will, in time. And besides, it's not exactly like you're not guilty of the same charge."
Sango sighed. "I guess you're right." Then she rose to her feet to help Kagome pick up the scattered beads of Miroku's necklace.
Inuyasha had been running for a long time when he finally came to an exit in the tunnel. Grunting, he pulled himself out of the hole and looked around. This proved to be quite useless as it was too dark to see anything. But a familiar scent caught his nose.
"Wolves," he growled. There was no doubt about it, he was on Koga's territory. "I better go get Kagome and the others, Miroku might be here, I wouldn't put it past Koga."
Jumping back down into the hole he darted back the way he came.
Kagome and Sango had long since returned to the inn with and unconscious Miroku and Koga. Sango sat in a corner with Miroku's head resting on her lap, absent-mindedly stroking away at his bangs.
"How long do you think Inuyasha will be?" she asked Kagome, who was tending to the wound on the back of Koga's head.
"Not much longer probably," she answered.
"Unless he got lost," piped up Shippo.
"Are you saying that I'd be stupid enough to do that?" came a voice from the doorway.
Shippo yelped and jumped nearly five feet in the air, then ran to hide behind Kagome.
"I see you found the bouzu," Inuyasha grumbled as he entered the room. He then spied Koga. "And just what the hell is the wolf doing here?"
"He was injured by the demon that took Miroku," answered Kagome.
Inuyasha "hmph"ed, clearly not enjoying that Koga was there, or the fact that Kagome seemed genuinely concerned abouthis rival'shealth.
"Where did your tunnel lead?" asked Kagome.
"It led to the wolf-demon territory," Inuyasha responded.
"Hmm, that musta been where Koga was abducted from."
"That's right," another voice responded as another person entered the room. "And now we'll be taking him back."
Kagome immediately recognized the feminine form of Ayame as she walked towards them.
"I saw Inuyasha and followed him back here. What happened to him?" she asked, bending down to more closely inspect his body.
"He was attacked by a very powerful demon," answered Kagome.
"He's going to be okay, right?" asked Ayame.
"Yeah, the hit he took was hard, but not fatal, he'll be fine."
"Thank you for taking care of him."
"No problem, really," smiled Kagome. She and Ayame had gotten along a lot better since Ayame realized she was not interested in Koga.
"Well, thanks anyway," said Ayame. "Anyway, we should really be getting back now, she said, lifting Koga's body over her shoulder. Feel free to pass through the wolves territory, I'll make sure Koga her doesn't bug you guys."
"Thank you," said Kagome. With a nod, Ayame sped off.
"So, when should we head off?" asked Inuyasha.
"We should wait 'til tomorrow," said Kagome, glancing over towards Sango, who was still playing idly with Miroku's hair. "Right now, I think Sango needs some down time."
"Fine," grunted Inuyasha, "but no later."
Kagome nodded. "Allright, but right now, we need to get some sleep."
And after all they had been through, Inuyasha and Co. had no trouble finding sleep. Even Sango fell asleep with her head lolled back against the wall, one hand still tangled in Miroku's bangs, for tomorrow they would head northward once again, to face a danger of a caliber none of them could even imagine.
And this time they might not be so lucky.
End Chapter 6
Sorry I didn't have a cliffie for yous guys this time. I hope you don't mind too much. Hehe. Anyways, please review, and I'll have the next installment of When Night Falls up soon! (I hope).