Author's Note: Sorry it's taken a while to update. My dad's computer officially died and my university's computer lab was closed during spring break.
Chapter 8: Battle at the Kamiya Dojo
"We are the Hand of the Spider. We've come for the human and his swords."
Kenshin gripped his sword as he stared at the youkai. The one who had spoken was nearly his height and appeared to be human. The only signs that he was a youkai were the red eyes, pointed ears, and clawed hands. Bone ornaments ordained the wild black hair that flowed from his head. His only clothing appeared to have been made from snakeskin.
The larger youkai took a menacing step forward. The creature was large, with skin that resembled red granite. Taller than Sanosuke, the creature was nearly as wide as he was tall. It had no eyes that Kenshin could see.
"Kenshin!" Kenshin turned his attention to his friends.
"Miss Kaoru! Stay back!"
Sanosuke grabbed Kaoru before she could bolt to Kenshin's side. He shoved her and Yahiko behind him.
"Yahiko, go check on Megumi," Sano growled. The boy gave him a nod and disappeared into the house. Sanosuke gritted his teeth as he looked at Kenshin, Shippo, and Jaken. Damn.
Shippo slowly drew his sword as he glared coldly at the youkai. The Kadouki glowed a violent shade of violet as it sensed the attackers. The kitsune sniffed the air before yelling at Sanosuke.
"Sano! They have backup!" He faintly heard the human swear as he pulled Shippo's daughter close to him as well. Shippo yelled at Sango to stay with the others. His daughter gave him a pout, but obeyed.
Then all hell broke loose. The two youkai attacked Kenshin and Shippo at the same instant that nearly twenty of their friends came out of hiding. It was also then that Shippo noticed with dismay that Himura Kenshin used a reverse-blade sword.
"Kenshin!" He yelled.
The red-haired human was easily faster than the huge youkai, quite a feat for a human. However his reverse-blade sword failed to make any damage against the rock hard skin of his opponent.
Damn it! Why the hell is he using a reverse sword? Shippo had to turn his attention momentarily from Kenshin. He had his own opponent to deal with.
Jaken stared in dismay at the sword in his master's hand. A sword like that might be fine against a human, but it was hardly a weapon to use against a youkai! An idea occurred to him and the miniature youkai ran off to the house. He had to get the Toukijin and the Tenseiga to Kenshin.
Kenshin eyed the youkai warily. His sword was having no effect. In fact, if he applied any more pressure he knew that the blade would snap. What he couldn't figure out was how the youkai was able to fight him. He knew that trained warriors could fight without the aid of sight, he himself could. But this creature also had no ears that he could see. How could it sense him?
The large youkai grinned at the human and Kenshin felt his vision blur. He stumbled a step before he had the sudden sensation of being buried alive under a pile of rubble. Kenshin struggled to move and gave a gasp as he tried to breathe. His mind moved with the slowness of molasses as he tried to clear away the rubble. Faintly he heard someone call his name. Who was it? He couldn't remember. The human could barely recall his own name.
"Kenshin!" Shippo yelled. The human was oblivious to everything around him. His eyes had glazed over and he was swiping at the empty air in front of him. The large youkai towered over the small human as it prepared to strike him. Damn it all to hell.
The kitsune was pissed off now. A quick glance had also shown him that Sanosuke and Sango were fending off the small hoard of weaker youkai. He gripped his sword and green fire erupted from the blade. The kitsune sidestepped an attack from the smaller youkai and thrust the Kadouki into the ground. Green foxfire exploded from the ground underneath each of the two youkai. The small one was incinerated instantly, but the larger one managed to escape with one leg and half an arm.
Kenshin woke up from the vision to find himself standing where he'd been before. He looked up in sudden realization at the wounded, but still dangerous youkai. He's telepathic! That thing was controlling my mind! This touched some hidden nerve in the swordsman and his eyes narrowed dangerously. The Battousai wanted blood.
Shippo watched in fascination as Kenshin attacked the youkai. His eyes now glowed a bright yellow amber as he slid like water under the youkai's outstretched arm. The human dropped to a knee as he flipped the blade over to the sharp side. A powerful, youkai aura enveloped the blade as Kenshin prepared to strike. Before the kitsune could blink, Kenshin had sliced through the youkai's torso and resheathed his sword.
The kitsune no longer had any doubt in his mind that this was indeed Sesshoumaru's reincarnation.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
The young hanyou felt a pain in his side as he gasped for breath. He and Inuyasha had been running like this for over an hour now. Hachi had offered to float them over to Edo, but the stubborn Lord of the Western Lands had said it would take too long. Now Namu was struggling to keep up with the older man. And Inuyasha showed no signs of tiring.
"Namu hurry up or you'll be left behind!"
The young fox hanyou knew that Inuyasha didn't mean it. The older hanyou would never leave him behind anywhere, but he sped up all the same. Kouga had offered to come, but Inuyasha had refused. Namu was secretly glad. If the wolf had come along, then they would be at a faster pace than they currently were. As it was, it was going to be a long night. Edo couldn't come fast enough.
He just wasn't looking forward to seeing his father.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Sanosuke gave a satisfactory kick to one of the youkai. Despite the seriousness of the situation, there was a huge grin plastered across his face. He never knew that kicking youkai ass could be so much fun. There was just that little detail of keeping Kaoru, Megumi, and Yahiko safe. But other than that, it was a blast. He wasn't as worried about Shippo's daughter. Sango seemed perfectly capable of handling herself against the other youkai. Daddy's little girl was quite the fighter for a kid.
Yahiko had tried to get in on the fighting, but Sanosuke had told him to protect the two women, much to their outrage. Granted, as Kaoru was the boy's teacher, it really should be the other way around. But appealing to Yahiko's pride was the best way to trick him into staying out of the battle.
Even so, master and apprentice were both brandishing wooden bokkens just in case. Sanosuke punched another youkai. Damn, just what did it take to keep these things down? He loved a good fight, but even he was getting sick of this.
"Sanosuke! Heads up!"
Sanosuke looked up just in time to avoid a huge, flat bone object. Being about six feet in length, one edge was stuck in the ground and it curved up like an archer's bow.
"Shippo, what the hell?"
"It's a weapon moron!"
Sanosuke bristled at the insult, but picked up the thing after he found a leather strap on the side. It was heavy, but not too heavy for him.
"How the hell do I use it, you stupid fox?"
"I don't know, maybe bash people with it?" Shippo answered sarcastically. He had recreated a version of Sango's Hiraikotsu from an actual fragment of the original and some kitsune magic. It was only one of several that he carried around in his hidden arsenal.
"Bash people, give me a break," Sano muttered. He swung the thing at a pair of youkai and cleaved them in two. The human paused to give the weapon an admiring look.
"Hey! I think I like this!" He bashed in three more youkai. Shippo watched him with a smirk. Sanosuke wouldn't have been half bad as a youkai slayer. The only other human he had ever seen with that kind of strength had been Sango herself.
Sano heard a clunk and felt something brush past his leg. He looked down to see Jaken run past with the Toukijin and the Tenseiga.
"Jaken!" he yelled.
Jaken accidentally dropped the swords as the ground exploded in front of him. Sanosuke reached out and pulled the youkai back.
"The swords!" Jaken protested. "I must get my master's swords to him!"
As the horrified little youkai watched, a snake youkai reached out for the swords. A reverse-blade sword blocked him. Kenshin stunned the youkai before yelling at the young female kitsune.
"Miss Sango, please get the swords!" The girl nodded and grabbed the swords before retreating behind Sanosuke. Shippo appeared at the human's side.
"I've had enough of this," the kitsune growled. "These youkai are nothing more than weakling trash." There were roughly ten dead youkai and about half that amount was injured, courtesy of Sanosuke and Sango. The others watched in awe as green flame coated the fox's drawn blade.
Shippo raised the Kadouki above his head before bringing it down in a chopping motion. A giant wave of foxfire burned through the remaining youkai.
Sano wiped the sweat from his brow as his friends gave sighs of relief. He flipped the strange bone weapon over his shoulder and across his back. The human tapped a foot against a dead youkai as he asked Shippo.
"What the hell was all this about? Who are these guys?"
"They called themselves the Hand of the Spider, that they did," Kenshin said quietly. Sano felt slightly alarmed as heard the faintest touch of pain in his friend's voice.
"What's wrong Kenshin?"
Kenshin looked away and Sano raised an eyebrow. He followed the swordman's gaze to the dead body of the granite skinned youkai. It was sliced in two. Sanosuke understood now. Kenshin had killed it. No wonder he was upset.
"Look Kenshin, you swore that you'd never kill a human again. That doesn't include youkai." Cheap words Sano, he thought to himself, that won't matter to Kenshin. He still took a life. That's enough for him.
Shippo looked at Kenshin with new eyes. So that's why he carries a reverse-blade sword. The kitsune sheathed his sword as he tried to console the human.
"That youkai would have killed you Kenshin. Any youkai truly intent on death will keep fighting until he or his enemy is dead. That is the way it is. There is no in between."
Kenshin gave him a very weak smile. Obviously that wasn't good enough for him, even if he did see the logic of it. Jaken gazed up at the red-haired human with amazement. He truly wasn't the same man he had been before. Sesshoumaru would never have mourned the death of an enemy. It was something to think about.
A sudden commotion from Yahiko turned everyone's attention to him and Megumi.
"Hey, look what Megumi found! Now we know why they're called the Hand of the Spider!" he yelled excitedly. Shippo knelt down next to the doctor as she pulled aside some clothing from the chest of one of the dead youkai. The kitsune stared down in shock as he felt a cold shiver run up his spine.
On the chest of the youkai was a small mark of a spider. It was the very same mark that had been on the backs of Naraku and his various incarnations.
The Hand of the Spider.
Shippo had a very bad feeling about this.