Pairings: Inu/Kag (Kou) Mir/San Sess/Rin
A/N: Hiya, now that I have so much free time, I can update more frequently. I am SO HAPPY! I ACED MY MATH FINAL! (BIG SMILE) I have been studying and hoping that I'd get an A, and I DID! That's been taking up a lot of my time, and now that school's out, expect a lot of updates! However, I'll be at soccer camp for three days next week, and I'll be on vacation a lot, but I hope to get this story finished by then, and have the sequel up.
A/N 2: Also, PLEASE LISTEN! The swamp spirits will talk to Inuyasha again, and they will say something VERY IMPORTANT! PLEASE REMEMBER IT, FOR IT FORESHADOWS VERY IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE FUTURE CHAPTERS/SEQUELS! Okay, now on with the chapter.
x.
Chapter 19
x.
Sango suddenly lurched forward, inevitably bringing the injured Miroku with her. Inuyasha rushed forward, catching them both. He looked down on Sango's face as her eyes rolled back and her eyelids drooped to a close. He sighed, and set them gently down on the ground. He then slowly made his way over to the serpent. He approached cautiously, not knowing whether it would bolt from fright or not.
Surprisingly, it moved forward. It floated slightly higher than his head, and continued to look down upon him with those adorable blue eyes. The young half demon couldn't help but pose a smile.
Hesitantly, he reached up, and silently stroked the serpent's head; the creature made pleasurable whining noises, leaning into his clawed hands. It made even more whining noises, and Inuyasha knew it was trying to tell him something.
He removed his hand and blinked in confusion. He put a hand behind his head and gave an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, but I can't understand a word you're saying…"
The serpent cocked its head in confusion as well before nodding in an understanding way, which confused Inuyasha even more. It could understand Japanese? There had most likely been close to no human contact in this swamp other than the swamp spirits, so this predicament made no sense to the half demon. Then again, a whole lot of stuff didn't make sense at the moment, so his judgment was overruled.
After a few moments, Inuyasha walked over to Sango, and slowly nudged her until she woke up. "Hey," Inuyasha greeted softly, "Sango, I need you to tell me what happened to Miroku."
"Inuyasha?" Sango asked incredulously. "You remember us now?"
"Well, you could say that," Inuyasha replied. "You could say that Kikyo's spell was removed, but not the whole thing."
"I see," Sango replied, sitting up. She almost fell over, but was quickly caught by Inuyasha. As he held up her weak form, she continued. "We were attacked by demons. A couple were poisonous, and Miroku was bitten by one while trying to protect me. Then, he used his wind tunnel, and was further poisoned by the demons."
"Argh, that stupid idiot!" Inuyasha growled angrily, though he didn't really know why. He still barely knew what Miroku's wind tunnel was, seeing as he couldn't remember what it looked like during use. He still couldn't remember a whole lot about Miroku, other than he was a monk, he was after Naraku, he had a cursed wind tunnel in his right hand, and he was a pervert. Yep, that explained a lot. But something deep in his mind was angry at Miroku, and Inuyasha's yelling had come up upon impulse.
"Yeah, really," Sango mumbled, her tone a bittersweet one. By that comment, such a joke would make her chuckle at least at the monk's one-track mind, but in this situation, Miroku could be dying, and they'd be here right beside him, laughing at his mistake. "Anyways, this serpent came along and tried to heal Miroku. It leeched away the poison, and now all that's left to do is wrap up his wounds; we need to find Kagome."
Inuyasha didn't answer for a very long time; he didn't want to see her again. At least, not yet. The image came back to him full force, now; Kouga kissing Kagome and holding her close to him; Kagome kissing him back with so much ferocity and passion. He could feel his heart shatter again just thinking of it.
"Inuyasha…is something wrong?" Sango's worried voice brought Inuyasha out of his thoughts. He shook his head, not willing to trust his voice yet. "Do you know where Kagome is?" she continued.
"…yeah…" he finally replied, tone so soft that Sango barely heard it. Thankfully, his voice didn't crack, but it was about to. "I know where she is. I'll take you to her, but you need to get some rest." In truth, going to Kagome was the last thing on Inuyasha's 'to-do' list, but at the moment, he had not other choice than to oblige Sango's request.
Sango slowly nodded, and almost immediately went back to sleep. The demon waited for her breathing to slow and even out before picking her up and walking towards the serpent. "Hey, can you help me carry my friends to safety?" he asked, not really sure if the serpent would understand his statement. To be honest, he felt rather stupid at the moment; good thing his friends were unconscious. The serpent once again cocked its head in semi-confusion before nodding and lowering its body a bit so Inuyasha could place Sango and Miroku on its back. Inuyasha, once again surprised at the serpent's understanding of their language stood still for a moment before remembering the real reason he was standing there, and quickly placed the monk and slayer on its back.
The two began to walk back in the general direction of where Inuyasha had previously ran away from. The only sounds were the wind, the creatures of the night, and the cold, liquid-like mud squelching under his feet. Because of the recent rains, the mud liquefied a bit, and it made it even more of a hassle to wade through. It was now halfway up his calves instead of ankle-deep, and it stuck to him everywhere. Once, he stumbled, and even shaking off most of the mud didn't make much of a difference.
Inuyasha's ears twitched vibrantly on his head, making out a hasty, but slow squelching noise from ahead. There were two…no, three people coming. Inuyasha began leaping ahead, the serpent following easily. Such actions came with consequences, however, as it made Inuyasha sink even farther in the mud than usual, the evil substance going past his knees, about half-way up his thighs, and almost trapping him under it.
Finally, he saw Kagome in sight. She was with Kouga and Jaken, and they were trying to yank the ladder out of the mud. When Kagome saw Inuyasha, she immediately forgot about Jaken for a moment, and released the toad, who in return, began to 'drown' in the mud, splashing it all over Kouga, who began to punch him into next week.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out cheerfully, racing…er…TRYING to race towards him, only succeeding in going a few steps and tripping. Before she even started to fall, Inuyasha leapt forward and caught her. "Inuyasha, I'm so sorry!" she shouted, and before said half demon could react, she had her arms around him and was almost literally squeezing him to death. "I'm so, so sorry! I didn't mean to do what happened, it was all a big mistake!"
Inuyasha didn't react for a long time, still soaking in what Kagome had just admitted. 'Kagome…didn't mean to kiss Kouga?' he thought. He inwardly began to cheer, and returned Kagome's hug, embracing her tightly and pulling her warm body against his near-freezing one. "It's all right, Kagome," he replied gently, trying to sound as if he understood the situation, though in reality, he didn't have a clue what this meant. If Kagome didn't mean to kiss Kouga, then why did she? And why did she do it so passionately? These were questions Inuyasha's already over-used brain couldn't answer, and he probably wouldn't until someone spelled it out for him. (which probably wouldn't be anytime soon)
When they finally released each other, Kagome gasped. "Inuyasha, you're hurt!" she pointed towards the half-caked, half-still-bleeding wound on Inuyasha's head.
Inuyasha put a hand up to it and immediately winced; a splitting headache cornered him, and he could feel blood seep through his fingers and down his arm. When Sango and Miroku had come out of the forest, he had forgotten about the wound, but apparently, it didn't forget about him. He put his hand down to see blood had mixed in with mud, and that his wound had, indeed, become infected. He cursed; life sucked for him, didn't it?
"Inuyasha, we need to get you healed, fast," Kagome urged, tugging on Inuyasha's sleeve, trying to get him to come with her to where her bag lay back in the clearing (A/N: hmm…she forgets that thing an awful lot…)
Inuyasha felt dizzy; the loss of blood and infectious wound had taken its toll. He barely heard Kagome's words, and it took him near forever to process their meaning. "O…kay…" was all he could mumbled before falling against Kagome, who tried her best to keep balanced. His eyelids drooped, fighting to stay conscious. He felt another being lift him up by the back of his shirt collar, and lift him up and onto someone's back. He recognized it as the serpent; he could feel it nuzzle his face affectionately, and he smiled. That was the last thing he knew before blacking out.
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It was nighttime, and everyone was fast asleep. Everyone, except for the serpent, who kept guard. It took a sparing glance at the ones it was guarding, and made a small whining noise. Sango and Miroku had been bandaged up, and Inuyasha had bandages around his head. The serpent floated over to him, and nuzzled his face. He moaned, but did not wake.
The serpent rose up a couple feet and blinked. Suddenly, it closed its eyes and began to glow a soft white color. A type of mist surrounded it before moving over and wrapping around Inuyasha. The hanyou moaned again, and pawed at the strange mist surrounding him a couple times, trying to bat it away. Eventually, he resumed his peaceful sleeping, and the mist entered his body through his mouth.
The serpent watched as Inuyasha's body began to glow a faint blue color for a few moments, before the aura faded. Satisfied, the serpent turned around, and resumed its duty to act as guard.
x.
The first thing Inuyasha noticed when he woke up was that he still had a splitting headache. He groaned and sat up groggily, placing a hand gently to his forehead to find bandages carefully, and tightly, wrapped around his forehead. Upon contact, his head screamed in pain, and he immediately removed it. His muscles felt weak, and his senses felt clogged. His ears felt frozen, and he twitched them weakly to try to get some blood circulating through them. He sniffed a few times, and only received a full blast of the icky scent of mud.
After a long while, he finally came to with his senses, except for his nose, which probably wouldn't be able to find anything even at top strength. Out of blatant curiosity, he stole a glance around camp; the serpent was floating not too far away, and everyone else was asleep on what dry spots they could find. Kagome slept not to far away from him on more roots, her pack lying close by to her. Miroku and Sango slept close to each other on a dry spot of land a ways away, Kouga slept on a tree branch above Kagome, and Jaken…well…Inuyasha didn't exactly know where he was, nor did he really care at the moment.
"So…you're awake," came many voices at once. Inuyasha looked up at the sky, and knew it could only be the swamp spirits.
"And to what honors do we owe this visit?" Inuyasha asked, half sarcastically, half politely.
"It appears you've succeeded in regaining some of the memories of which you lost," the voices replied. "However, your journey has only just begun." they added gravely.
"What do you mean?" Inuyasha asked warily.
"We don't really know, ourselves," the voices replied solemnly. "However, we do know this. You won't know it yourself until it is too late, but you are involved in matters far from your range of power. We do not know what these events are, but they are unavoidable. And no matter what you do, the results will be the same. Sorry, but that is all we know."
"I see," Inuyasha said softly, though partially confused. "Thanks for telling me."
"You are most welcome," the voices replied, fading in volume. "And a safe journey to you all."
With that, the voices vanished completely. Inuyasha sighed, and leaned back against the tree whose roots he was currently laying on. The serpent floated over to him, and nuzzled his face. The hanyou showed a smile and began patting the side of its head.
"I'm glad you're okay," came a voice. Inuyasha's eyes widened, and he stared at the serpent. The voice DEFINITELY came from the serpent, he was sure of it.
"I…can understand you?" he asked hesitantly. Either that, or he was going crazy, which wouldn't surprise him in the least considering all the freaky stuff that's been going on.
"…yes…" came the soft reply. The serpent held a female's voice, strong, but very feminine. "Please, do not be mad, but last night, I performed a spell on you. Please, forgive me; I should have had your consent."
Inuyasha blinked. Things were getting stranger by the day. "Nah, I guess it's alright…I think…but all you did was make it so I could understand you, right?"
The serpent nodded. "Okay…then, I guess it's forgiven…"
The serpent made happy whining noises and nuzzled against Inuyasha's chest. It floated down until it lay on the roots and mud, laying its head in Inuyasha's lap. It slowly closed its sparkling sapphire eyes, and went to sleep. A soft, purring sound came from the back of its throat as Inuyasha began to pat its head gently.
"Hey, what's your name?" he asked softly.
'Hari…' her voice echoed in his mind. 'My name is Hari…'
'We can talk telepathically?' he asked incredulously.
'Mm-hmm…' Hari replied sleepily. 'Now, if you'll excuse me, I didn't sleep much last night, and I'm going to sleep…Good day to you…'
x.
Judging from the very tiny amount of light coming from between the tree branches of the canopy, Inuyasha thought it to be around midday. By then, everyone else had managed to find them, Shippo very angry that he had almost no one to talk to except Kirara and Ah-Uhn. Rin seemed slightly disappointed as well, but for reasons unknown. Kagome and the others had woken up as well. However, the young schoolgirl chose to stay as far away from Kouga and himself as possible. Inuyasha could only guess why, though he had a feeling he already knew. Miroku was still resting, and Sango stayed by his side, praying that the monk would be fine, as well as rejoicing that the two had at least a chance at perhaps spending the rest of their lives together, and forgetting the horrid nightmare that was this day.
'Hey, Hari?' Inuyasha asked telepathically to the serpent in her lap. 'You awake?'
'…' came the blank mind of Hari.
'Apparently not…' Inuyasha thought to himself. As much as he wanted to move, the serpent in his lap kept him still, and he didn't want to move her. So, the hanyou resituated himself and moved slowly into a more comfortable position. Finally, he set his head back and closed his eyes, not quite falling asleep, but not completely awake either. He let his mind drift to peaceful thoughts, and not the complicating thoughts and feelings of what was called life.
'The swamp…' Inuyasha thought after about a half hour of blissful mind-drifting. He opened his eyes half-way, staring at the large tree above him. 'They said that something bad would happen…something that included me, and I wouldn't be able to stop it, no matter what I did.' Judging from the swamp spirits' words, it would be a strong force poised against them. But for some reason, to Inuyasha, it didn't seem as if it was Naraku who would be behind it. A part of it, yes, but not the entire mastermind behind the crime.
'Is something wrong?' came Hari's attentive voice. 'You're thinking quite hard.'
'…I'm just thinking about what the swamp told me…' replied Inuyasha, not really in the mood for talking anymore.
'Oh, really? Well, enlighten me,' the serpent replied. Obviously, Hari didn't feel the same way.
'I don't really feel like it,' Inuyasha replied warily.
'What's got you down all of a sudden?' asked Hari, her tone worrisome.
Inuyasha sighed, catching the attention of some of the others, but the half demon ignored them. 'I told you I don't wanna talk about it, so leave me alone!' he yelled at her mentally, agitation clearly showing in his voice. Hari flinched, as though she was just slapped.
The serpent whined sadly. 'Fine,' she replied, sounding slightly hurt. 'I won't bother you.' Inuyasha watched as the creature slithered away from Inuyasha, floating up into a different tree and into the canopies to try her hand at hunting some creature that lives up there. Sango blinked in confusion, and Kouga stared with a 'Did-I-miss-something?' look. Kagome merely glanced up, but continued with her ramen-cooking, as well as keeping the fire lit in a murky place like this. Sesshomaru didn't even pay attention, and Rin seemed even more sulky than when she first arrived. Jaken was berating Shippo with insults, and the fox retorted by throwing his toys at the toad. Meanwhile, Miroku still slept soundly, and seemed to be regaining strength faster than they expected.
And so, things continued this way for a time that seemed much longer than it actually was. Kagome had completed the ramen, and Inuyasha happily gobbled it down. Sesshomaru merely declined, saying something along the lines of 'Demons don't need to eat such lowly things as these', though everyone merely ignored the saying. Shippo had given Sesshomaru a rather dark look, and happily ate his share, thanking Kagome a tad louder than he should have. Miroku had managed to regain some consciousness, much to Sango's glee, and the slayer spent some quality time with the monk, and helped him eat.
Though everyone felt at peace…well, as far as peaceful could come for the moment, Inuyasha felt uncomfortable about something. He shifted uncomfortably and glanced around warily.
'I keep get the feeling I'm being watched…' he thought. 'Hey, Hari, do you feel anything suspicious?'
'I don't know why you'd be asking that, but no,' she replied curtly from somewhere around the swamp. Inuyasha mentally felt as if someone had turned around swiftly, and intentionally hit him, though making it look like an accident.
'Sheesh, no reason to be all moody about it,' Inuyasha thought to himself, making sure to block it from Hari's hearing range. No need to give her further reason to be mad at him.
The young demon took one last suspicious glance around, but everything seemed in place. He sniffed the air a couple of times, but all he could smell was mud and the people around him. His ears twitched, but couldn't pick up any suspicious noises. 'Hmm…maybe I'm just being paranoid,' he resolved. With that, he relaxed once more, and found himself drifting off into a light slumber.
TO BE CONTINUED……