Pairings: Inu/Kag Mir/San Sess/Rin
Other pairings: Bit of Inu/Hari, Inu/Kik, and Kag/Kou
A/N: Sorry I haven't been updating, my brother's been hogging the computer…BUT I GOT HARRY POTTER SIX…um…SATURDAY! YEAH! TWO DAYS AGO AND I STILL HAVEN'T READ IT! Lol Yeah, I'm still trying to read the fifth one…
THIS CHAPTER IS REALLY ANGSTY AT THE END! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
x.
Chapter 22
x.
Hari smile, her mind wandering as Nali explained how everything worked; she already knew what to do. It was pretty obvious. Inexplicably, she found her eyes wandering over to Inuyasha, who in this form, looked very handsome. His soft complexion, his honey-amber eyes, his light, fluffy dog ears, and his silky white hair; her thoughts then wandered towards…
'Oh, god, no,' she thought immediately, putting an extra powerful barrier to block out Inuyasha from her mind. Thinking about that was just plain WRONG! 'Now I remember why I never went in this form for 500 years. It makes me turn into some…out-going, perverted teenager! DAMN THE HARMONES!'
Inuyasha looked out of the corner of his eye, and spotted an enormous blush covering Hari's face as she resumed to stare contently at her feet.
'Don't know, don't wanna know,' he thought absently before turning back to Nali, who was explaining how the games worked. Basically, it was that one person at a time would come up to do a game, and that once you walked up and played, there was no backing out, and that you could lose your life or your mind during them (or reveal feelings that you would be better off not revealing).
"Are you all sure that you wish to play?" Nali asked finally. "Remember, this will be your only time to back out, and save yourself torment." When the seven made no move, she added, "Very well. Who will play first?"
Inuyasha glanced around; everyone (with the exception of Sesshomaru) looked slightly nervous to go first. Inuyasha didn't blame the girls; they were girls, after all. However, he was kinda surprised to see that Kouga wasn't bursting through with sudden bravado to go first, especially seeing as Kagome would most likely be cheering him on, saying how brave he was at going first. He may not remember the wolf that well, but he knew at least that much from how he acted.
He was about to volunteer himself to go first, but as he suspected, Kouga walked forwards; to humans, Kouga looked very confident, but Inuyasha could see fear hidden behind his deep, blue eyes.
"I'll go," he said smugly, striking out the growing fear in his gut, making his fur stand on end. 'Something's strange,' he thought. 'My instinct's telling me that something bad will happen…but not to me…what could it be?' As expected, Kagome began saying how brave Kouga was, making Inuyasha grit his teeth in agitation, and turn sharply away from the two.
Nali's eyes glittered. "Very well. But let's have a little fun first…" she added playfully, before leaping forward ever so lightly, so that she merely tapped Kouga on the head with her tail. "Tag." she whispered in his ear. "You're it." Before Kouga could even move or comment, Nali had zipped away.
Everything happened in a split second. In a flash, everyone not playing in the game was trapped in a cage, the other 6 members trapped in a different cage, adjacent to the former. The white, fluffy clouds weren't all that cuddly anymore, for they glowed a dark, malevolent red; Kouga stood on a platform that hadn't been there moments before, about 100 feet into the air above the red clouds. Nali circled around him, as more and more platforms appeared in various areas. Finally, around all of the platforms was yet another cage, except that the bottom of the cage, where there were supposed to be bars, was a pit of molten lava, which bubbled furiously, steam erupting and forming a hot mist around the first 15 or so feet.
"The name of the game is tag," Nali explained. "You're playing for you life. Your platforms are your only leverage, and your object is to catch me by any means necessary." At Kouga's smirk she added, "But that also means that I can knock you off by any means necessary…and that includes destroying the platforms that you stand on." At this remark, Kouga lost some of his confidence. "Game start."
The pink dragon zoomed forward, Kouga barely jumping away in time, landing on a platform well below it. Nali merely crashed through the platform as if it were water, the bits of stone falling into the lava below, sizzling as they melted into the molten rock. Kouga gulped: this wouldn't be a normal battle, and the stakes were stacked pretty high; plus the fact that he was facing a dragon that could break through solid stone and not even wince as it crashed into its eyes and snout.
Nali formed a tight U-turn, and charged once more; this time, Kouga was ready for her. He leapt forward, trying to grab Nali from the front, but was met with an unexpected burst of flame. His eyes widened as he jerked his weight to the side, the flame licking his thigh, but not causing any serious damage.
'Come on, make it!' he thought desperately, the platform coming closer and closer to him. He outstretched his arm to the extent, thinking that he wouldn't make it, yet miraculously managed to catch the edge. With some quick movements, not bothering to wonder how he managed to make it, he hoisted himself upwards and onto the platform, only to leap to another one as Nali blew another breath of fire towards him. It was only then that he realized that another platform appeared, though in a different spot. 'That'll make things easier,' he thought. At least now he knew he had an unlimited amount of platforms. 'I thought that this was a little unfair, but even though the scale's been tipped, I'm still at a disadvantage…'
In a desperate attempt to lose Nali, as well as think of a new plan, Kouga began to use the power of the Shikon Jewel shards in his legs to speed-jump around the cage like a cheetah across the ragged terrain of the savannah. Although it didn't help that much, it did keep Nali distracted, aiming at platforms that no longer housed the wolf she was searching for.
As the dragon was kept busy, he began thinking of different ways he could catch the nuisance. She was very fast and agile, being used to living in the air most her life. However, she wasn't used to fighting an opponent as fast on land as she was on air, so this would keep her in one spot, making her easy picking…
Suddenly, Kouga changed his strategy, and began to jump from platform to platform, making his way upwards; every time he leapt off the stone, it would be destroyed by Nali. Then, he made an unexpected move: he jumped downwards, onto a platform next to Nali, before launching upwards to one about 5 yards above her. He touched the bottom of the stone platform lightly before propelling off it hard, pushing the stone block upwards, as he fell towards Nali. The dragon barely dodged in time, flying like a dart towards the side, knocking into another block in the process, Kouga falling to land on a platform near the bottom of the cage. He could literally feel the steam wafting around the bottom, and sweat began to pour down his face as he fought to catch his breath from that risky maneuver.
Nali turned towards him and looked down, her eyes narrowed with hinted mischief. "That was unexpected, wolf," she acknowledged. "I am impressed. You are full of surprises, aren't you? However, I will not allow you to try it again."
"Tch, fine, I've got other plans that will work far better than that one!" Kouga shouted back. Though, truth be told, the wolf didn't have any other plans to execute, hoping that this would have been enough to catch the creature. 'Guess I'll have to think up another one,' he thought, 'What a pain.' With that, he leapt up the platforms towards the middle of the cage, and out of the range of the steamy mist below.
x.
Kagome watched as Kouga struggled to catch Nali, who was lightning fast and didn't give many openings. She had been afraid at first, not wanting to play; now, she was all but terrified. Her mind was weak, as was her body, but her will was strong. She had proved that many times when she was possessed or trapped. But she doubted that she would last in this kind of game, where the stakes were your life. 'Or your sanity,' she added with a grim face.
She paid attention to the battle, where at the moment, Nali was spraying fire all around herself, destroying the blocks around her, as well as forcing the newly-formed ones to the edge of the cage. Kagome watched Kouga struggle to make it to the edge before the blocks supporting him were destroyed by the dragon's raging flame. She winced as the brown dot that was Kouga nearly got burned.
Suddenly, she felt a strong hand on her shoulder. Her chocolate brown eyes turned and locked onto Inuyasha's warm, amber ones. "Inuyasha…?" she inquired, having a sudden urge to cry right then, though she didn't know why.
"Hey…" he began, voice barely above a whisper. "Everything's going to be all right…okay?" Kagome nodded, feeling numb. She couldn't sense any doubt in Inuyasha's words, yet she couldn't help but have a sinking feeling in her heart. The schoolgirl then turned her head to watch Kouga fight life and death, Inuyasha's hand never leaving her shoulder.
Many feet behind the couple, Hari watched, as well as heard, everything that transpired, and she couldn't help but feel envious about Kagome. She wanted Inuyasha to hold her like he did Kagome, say warm, comforting words, perhaps even l-
'No…' she thought suddenly. 'Why am I feeling this way?' she asked herself. 'Do I…like Inuyasha?' She pictured how that might be: Inuyasha staring at her with his deep, amber eyes, a warm smile playing on his lips, holding her delicate form in his strong hands…
'No…' she told herself over and over again, shaking her head uselessly, trying to rid the image from her head. 'I don't like him, I don't! We are nothing but friends…perhaps not even that. A companion, maybe? Or a travel convenience?' Unfortunately for her, no matter how many times she ran it through in her head, her feelings stayed the same. Every time she looked at him, her heart sped up, and she felt herself blushing. Every time she thought of him, she felt happy; as she thought of him holding her, against her wishes, she smiled. It was small, but it was still a smile.
x.
Kouga swore under his breath; how could he let himself get caught like that? Now, he couldn't even get close to Nali, let alone try to catch her without falling! There were no blocks in front of him, only to his sides, making his escape path very limited. He turned towards Nali, only to see her launch at least a dozen fireballs at him. His first instinct was to jump; the only problem with that was that it wasn't him the fire was aiming for; it was the blocks around him.
He watched helplessly as the stone platforms around him were destroyed, one by one, with the fire. The platforms reappeared, yes, but they reappeared on the other side of the cage, far from his reach. After Nali stopped shooting fire, the wolf glanced up, down, and around, and found that the closest blocks anywhere around him were too far away to reach by jumping.
'Shit, I'm dead,' he thought gloomily, watching Nali as she began to make her move.
'This wolf is pretty weak in the mind,' Nali thought, disappointment written on her face. 'There are many ways for him to win, yet he doesn't use his head to think of them. Oh well, it's not like there were any people smarter than him that survived before, give or take a few.'
Nali then charged, planning to end the battle and hopefully fight a more entertaining opponent. Kouga slammed his eyes shut, and hoped that this wouldn't be the end. He hoped that some sort of miracle would happen, something to get him out of danger, even if it would be the last thing he ever did. Then, he waited; he waited for the impact that would send him falling into the lava, feeling a searing pain for a few moments before the inevitable death.
But it never came.
Cautiously, Kouga opened his eyes, only to realize that he was on the other side of the cage, staring at Nali's back as it suddenly stopped and turned around, seemingly surprised, which was exactly what Kouga himself was feeling; how had he survived, and how did he end up over here? Then, it hit him.
'Of course,' he thought exasperatedly, suddenly feeling an urge to slap himself for his stupidity. 'I can control the damn platforms. Of course Nali wouldn't tell me, then it'd be too easy!' He showed a fanged grin. "Now, it will be easy," he said aloud. He then concentrated on about a dozen blocks that were near Nali, and imagined them all hitting the slender body of the dragon in front of him. To his satisfaction, the blocks he chose hurtled themselves towards said target.
Nali, sensing this, tried to dodged or blast most of them away, only to have them reappear, and charge her again. She was hit by about four of the remaining ones before being pummeled by their replacements. They didn't hurt, but they kept her from moving anywhere, which was what Kouga wanted. He smirked; yes, sir, this was going to be easy! Finally, the wolf concentrated on his own block, and moved over towards Nali, calling off the dozen blocks pummeling her. Before she could react, he tapped her on the snout, grinning smugly down at her.
"I win." he said softly, grinning widely. In a sudden flash, everything returned to the way it was. The clouds were back to their white, airy, puffiness, though still hard as earth; the cages, platforms, and lava disappeared, and everyone else was transported back onto the clouds. Almost immediately, Kouga was thrown into a suffocating bear hug by Kagome.
"Oh my god," she mumbled into his torso, fresh tears sliding down her sallow face. "I though you were going to die, Kouga, I was so worried!"
Kouga once again misunderstood Kagome's intention, and, despite the disability to breath at the moment, returned the hug and replied, "Don't worry, Kagome, it'll take a lot more than that to kill me; but you can help me feel better by officially becoming my mate." Almost immediately, Kagome shot back a few feet, her face full of sock, embarrassment, and something else that Kouga couldn't exactly decipher. He glanced over her shoulder to find many people, especially Inuyasha, giving death glares at him, all their thoughts being relatively alike. Kouga sweatdropped, and took a glance at the few people not glaring at him; Kagome was busy staring impassively at her feet, Jaken was talking to Sesshomaru, who didn't look like he was really paying any attention, Rin was whispering to Shippo, at which the little fox nodded smugly and whispered back (I dare you to guess what they're talking about!), and Hari was staring at Inuyasha…(A/N: We all should know what she's thinking/denying…)
The uncomfortable silence hanging around the group didn't last long, as Nali trudged up to them, looking a cross between happy and disappointed, which looked very strange on a dragon; that was saying a lot, considering all of the strange things going on with dragons lately…
"That is the first time anyone's beaten me at that game in about 435 years," she said, mostly to herself than anyone else. "So, who's next?"
Sesshomaru made an incoherent mumble, the non-humans around him clearly hearing the words "incompetent", "dragon", and "pathetic". Even so, he stepped forwards, and said clearly, "This game is a waste of time; but even so, I have agreed to play. I'll get my turn over with, and ask thee to leave me alone afterwards."
Nali's eyes seemed to glow with an aggressive playfulness. "Very well, my lord," she replied politely, despite her expression. She leapt back a few paces and added, "As Lord of the Western Lands, you must be very powerful, as well as have complete control over those powers. However," -Her eyes narrowed- "are you sure that such control includes your emotions?"
At these words, Nali leapt backwards once more, and disappeared in a sort of black vortex, which quickly took its leave and disappeared with a pop. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, as he sensed his body being transported to a different dimension; the ones around him disappeared as well, for he could not longer sense their presence. He felt something disappear at his side, and looked down; Tokijin still rested at his side, yet Tenseiga was missing (yes, he still has Tokijin in this fic).
The place he now resided in wasn't very distinguishable; he could not tell where the floor ended and the wall began; it resembled an endless realm, where the space was unlimited, but you couldn't walk very far in them. To a normal human, their first action would be to panic and scream for help, but Sesshomaru stood perfectly still, his eyes never wavering, his body never flinching, even as the dimension began to shift around.
The one time he turned his head was when he heard a strange humming coming from his right. It sounded as if there was an extremely large cat, like the deceased leader of the panther demon tribe, purring right beside him. His eyes narrowed when he could not pinpoint the sound's location; he knew it was to his right, but couldn't sense what was causing it. It was as if the presence was scattered evenly, diffusing slowly around him. After about 5 minutes, the purring sound was all around him, and his patience was slowly dying…
"…Are all dog demons short-tempered, or does it just run in the family?" came Nali's voice, and the purring sound immediately ceased as the pink dragon came out of the very vortex it disappeared in. Sesshomaru emitted a low growl in warning, though Nali paid it no notice. She walked up towards Sesshomaru, her clawed feet touching lightly against an invisible floor.
"Well?" he said abruptly. Nali cocked her head. He continued, "Why have you dragged me into this place? I see no importance to stay here, unless your game is to see how long it takes me to kill you for being a nuisance." He said all of this calmly, in his dead tone of voice that let out no emotion, with the small exception of irritation.
"Yes, clearly it only runs in the family…" Nali said thoughtfully, though in a rather bored tone, clearly ignoring Sesshomaru's question, and presumed to float around the statue-like appearance of the demon lord. After a few moments of silence (apart from a few mumbles by Nali), and irritation, Sesshomaru glared coldly at Nali, and she exclaimed with realization, "Oh! You were expecting me to answer that, right?" At Sesshomaru's degrading stare, she added, "Alright, the object of the game is to control your emotions."
"And to what point would that serve?" came the demon lord's reply.
"Hear, hear," Nali said in a very teacher-like tone, hiding a small giggle at Sesshomaru's expression from those words, "This is a very special dimension, where brute force shall get you nowhere, and where only your feelings hold true power." At Sesshomaru's slightly confused stare, she further explained, "To put it bluntly, you'll have many people come up. Being a demon, you basically must hate every human that crosses you. However, as your father's blood pumps through you, certain humans are dear to you. So, when you see that person, if you care about them enough to control your demon instincts, they'll live. However," - Nali's eyes glinted - "if you cannot control your instincts, and your feelings are weak, you will kill them." Sesshomaru's eyes widened some, but he did not speak. "Please take note that you care at least a little bit about everyone that walks up. There will be 7; if you refrain from killing half or more, you win the game."
"Are they the real thing, or fake imitations?" Sesshomaru asked.
"That is for you to decide," Nali replied. Sesshomaru lowered his head slightly, but as usual, didn't say anything.
"So, understand everything?" she asked. Sesshomaru nodded. "Very well, let's get this over with." She leapt backwards, and disappeared into the vortex. "Of all the games I have, this is my least favorite. I only hope you don't regret anything."
Sesshomaru opened his mouth to say something, but Nali's presence had already disappeared. He siddenly sensed another presence coming forth, and stood erect, facing whatever came towards him. There was a swish of a cloak, and a vibrant display of red and white. He recognized it at once to be Inuyasha.
(A/N: Be warned, there will be a bit of dark themes, and a hint of mental breakdown! GOMEN FOR TORTURING SESSHY!)
Sesshomaru was shocked at first, not because of the person in front of him, but because of his reaction. He could feel his hand lift up into an attack position, despite what his brain was thinking. The figure of his half-brother took out Tetsusaiga, going into a fighting stance; however, to the lord's great shock, his brother's eyes held a slight resistance, as if he didn't want to fight him. In truth, Sesshomaru himself felt a slight likeness towards Inuyasha; a sort of protectiveness, where he felt obligated to keep his younger sibling out of danger. He was just too proud to admit actually caring for the half-breed in front of him, holding the sword he longed to have.
His thoughts were mingled; he had always wanted to kill Inuyasha, yet he never did, thinking up some stupid excuse to why he always left the battlefield with both combatants in tact, and very much alive. His hand went slack, and lowered, removing himself from a battle stance. He saw relief flood his brother's eyes, and he, too, stood up and even sheathed his sword, and began to walk towards him slowly, as if wanting to talk things through, which was very unlike him.
Suddenly, he felt a sudden urge to kill the figure before him; his instincts told him to run forward and shed blood on his claws. This must have been the game Nali was speaking of, and Sesshomaru tried to fight against his instincts. When he thought he was winning against them, he did something that he had never expected would happen: he charged. Using his lightning speed, he covered the distance between the two siblings in seconds; he could feel his claws coating themselves with poison, and before he knew it, he had slit Inuyasha's throat; a sickening cry, cut off from his sliced voice box, escaped the hanyou's lips as blood spurted out of the cut as well as his mouth. Several moments after a small thump from Inuyasha's body hitting the ground, Sesshomaru slowly turned around, fearing what he would see.
His brother lay limply on the floor (or whatever was supporting them in the dimension), blood slowly forming a pool around him. Sesshomaru found himself walking over and kicking him harshly onto his back, an ear-splitting crack from broken ribs resonating through Sesshomaru's sensitive ears. The demon lord stared at the deep cut on Inuyasha's throat, which was starting to turn green around the edges from his poison, as the wound bled black. He stared at his brother's face, an unusually sadistic glint hanging in his eyes, as he watched his brother suffer until death. Inuyasha's eyes held a deep confusion, as his mouth moved slightly, though no audio came out. Overflowing with blood, the liquid began to seep out of his mouth, down his cheek, and onto the invisible floor, staining his proud, white hair a dark red, almost black.
Sesshomaru felt a sharp twisting in his heart as Inuyasha's eyes went blank, and his head fell limply to the side. He finally regained control of his body, and he lifted his clawed hand, which was fully coated with his brother's blood. He had killed Inuyasha; he had murdered his brother…and this time, he didn't have Tenseiga to save him like he did Rin back then…
For the first time in almost his entire life, the demon lord was filled with emotion, some of which he could no longer identify. He felt great amounts of sadness well up inside him, but refused to let his face show anything, and keep the emotions bottled up inside him, even if it didn't change the fact that he had killed his brother, whether it were fake or real.
Slowly, he bent downwards, and lightly stroked his brother's cold cheek, before closing those blank eyes, which would forever haunt him. (A/N: Note that this is NOT yaoi, this is brotherly-love…stuff…kinda…)
With his bangs shadowing his eyes, he stood up, and began to walk away, towards where he could faintly feel the presence of the next person. He did not look back at the gruesome sight behind him, nor did he look at the clawed hand that caused it. His shoes (or whatever they are) were coated with bright crimson, though they didn't leave any footprints on the invisible support beneath his feet. And so he walked, away from his brother, away from the pain…
x.
Inuyasha and the others were surprised at first to see Sesshomaru suddenly disappear, as they stayed on the fluffy clouds, waiting patiently. Nail appeared once or twice to make sure we weren't doing anything suspicious ("Like we would," Inuyasha grumbled), and no one had any idea what Sesshomaru was being tested on, nor would Nali tell them, or even hint at them.
The hanyou was pacing around impatiently, once in a while glancing over at Kagome, who was trying to keep Rin occupied. If not, then she would start asking if Sesshomaru would be all right, and that was a question no one was ready to ask; Jaken was mumbling incoherent insults at everyone, and if anything was audible, then Miroku would usually kick him, hoping he'd 'accidentally' knock him off the clouds. Meanwhile, Hari was sitting off by Ah-Uhn, talking with Shippo, and Kouga was grudgingly allowing Sango to patch up his burns, Kagome deciding to keep her distance from both himself and the wolf.
"Oy, I told you, it ain't that serious!" Kouga shouted at the demon slayer.
Sango's eyebrows rose upward, and she jabbed a finger at the burn, which was now beginning to turn bright red. Kouga yelped in pain, and shouted, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR? THAT FREAKING HURT YOU BI-" Kouga was cut off as Sango pounded her Hiraikotsu on his head. "Itai…" he mumbled, rubbing the bump forming.
"You've got some nerve to say it doesn't hurt, cause I know it does," she said irritably, before getting that evil glint that everyone knew only too well. "However, if you want, I could just leave your wound to become infected and you'd perhaps lose your le-"
"WHATEVER!" Kouga huffed, crossing his arms and looking away from Sango. She sneered, muttered, "I thought so," under her breath, and continued to patch up the wolf, who was mumbling incoherent words under his breath. Sango could have sworn she heard her name in one of them, but didn't comment on it.
After about 7 minutes of waiting around, Inuyasha suddenly went rigid, feeling a stabbing pain in his neck. He hesitantly lifted a hand to touch it, but couldn't feel anything wrong; he tried to intake some air, but found it increasingly difficult to breath, as if someone was slowly cutting off his oxygen supply. He felt suddenly light-headed, and tried to speak, but found no words coming out of his mouth. He saw Miroku walking towards him, saying things he couldn't comprehend, before his vision went black and he knew no more.
TO BE CONTINUED……