A/N: Hey, big gimungo thanks to all of you who reviewed! They make me feel very very warm and fuzzy and I love that! Love you guys. Also, sorry for not updating very quickly, I'm not the world's fastest updater, plus I can't go on the computer everyday. I'll try and get them up as soon as possible, so please bear with me! Ok, now enjoy...bum bum bum! Chapter 3!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, I do not own Inuyasha, I do not own Inuyasha...I keep telling myself that, but I wish it weren't true!
An Eternal New Moon
Chapter 3
Kagome woke with the sound of a soft and sinister hissing in her ear.
"Sssssssooooo. Now the little miko iiiiissssss awake. Now the fun can begin."
Kagome's eyes snapped open, trying to pinpoint the soft voice. She struggled against her bonds, tight chains wrapped around her ankles and wrists. There were few torches in the chamber where she was imprisoned, so the light was dim and everything cast in bleary, gray shadows. Everywhere in the shadows glowed blood red eyes, and everywhere could be heard the sounds of hissing and slithering, sending shivers of fear down Kagome's spine.
She could hear the hissing again near her ear and whipped her head around, but nothing was there–just an empty shadow. "W-who are you? S-show yourself!" said Kagome, trying desperately to hide the fear in her voice. She swallowed and took a deep breath, calming herself. "I mean it," she said, more confidently this time. "Show yourself now! Stop hiding like a coward!"
Something cool and smooth slid noiselessly across her shoulders and down her arm, making her stiffen in fear again. It was a red snake with jagged black stripes and a hood like a cobra, it's eyes black and lifeless like the blue snake's that had carried her to this place.
"Now now little miko. Iiiiiiitttttt'sssssssss alright. Don't be sssssssoooooo ssssssscared." the snake said in his soft, slippery voice, all the while twining around Kagome's leg.
"Get off me, you stupid little snake! I'm not afraid of you!" yelled Kagome, although she was shaking inside like a leaf in the wind. This one snake scared her more than all the other pairs of red eyes in the shadows combined. Something was different about this snake, and she didn't want to stay long enough to find out what it was. She tried to shake him off, but the chains on her leg wouldn't allow it, and it only made him laugh in a soft and whispery, but sinister way that made Kagome's breath catch in her throat.
"I said, get off me!" she yelled again, shaking the chains violently, making them rattle and clatter together, unaware of the figure moving toward her.
"Atsuku, you're making our guest nervous. Come here to me, now." said the figure in a slippery voice, just like a snake's.
Kagome jumped at the sound of another voice, staring at the person in front of her. It was a tall, thin woman dressed in a black robe with swirling green designs. Her long, straight black hair had no adornment except for a silver comb with a jeweled green snake on it. She wore silver earrings and a small, green glass bottle on a chain around her neck. The woman had an otherworldly, cold kind of beauty, like the frost on the trees in the winter, but the most frightening thing about her was her eyes, her soulless black eyes that seemed to bore into Kagome's very soul.
Atsuku the snake slid over to his master, sliding up onto her arm and then around her neck, his white fangs gleaming in the half light. Kagome instinctively drew back as the woman advanced toward her, gliding with silent footsteps, a menacing look in her eyes. When she smiled, Kagome could see that the woman had fangs as well, making her even more snakelike than she already was.
"W-who are you?" said Kagome in hushed tones, wishing with all her heart that Inuyasha would come bursting in at any moment.
The woman smiled again, making Kagome shiver. "I am Mikahebi, the serpent goddess, as you have probably noticed." she said, gesturing to Atsuku around her neck. "I can tell that you are afraid of me, Kagome. You're shaking, and not from cold either."
It was true that Kagome was shaking violently, trying desperately to put on a brave face, but when Mikahebi came even closer to her, Kagome lost it and closed her eyes, looking away.
Mikahebi put a long, black fingernail under Kagome's chin, forcing her to look at her. "Little miko, you needn't be so afraid. What I'm going to do to you will not hurt you at all. In fact, you won't even notice the difference, I'm sure. That is, if you survive." she laughed a soft, high pitched laugh, taking her hand from Kagome.
"What are you g-going to d-do to me you witch!" said Kagome, looking Mikahebi straight in the eye.
"That, my child, is for you to learn another day. For now, I'll leave you to try and figure it out for yourself. I'm tired from carrying you all this way and I want to rest." said the goddess, yawning.
"What? You carried me here? But...the blue snake..." before her eyes, Mikahebi began to change. She shimmered slightly, her limbs disappearing and her body lengthening and twisting, until the huge blue snake stood before once again.
Kagome's fear started to melt away, anger taking it's place. "You!" she shouted, twisting her wrists again against the chains. "You took me away from my friends, and you won't even tell me what for! Your snake hurt Inuyasha, then you took me away from him! Let me go, or you've got a world of hurt coming!" Tears began to well up in Kagome's eyes, making Mikahebi laugh again, only this time her laugh echoed around the dim chamber.
"You have a spark in you, little miko. I like that, but not enough to tell you my plan...yet. Oh, don't worry, you'll find out soon enough. Let me give you a hint–it involves the new moon and a rare talent of yours. Now, now, don't bare your teeth at me, not when I'm ten times your size." Mikahebi waved her giant head at Atsuku, who was curled around one of the torch brackets.
"Come now, my friend. We'll leave Kagome here to mull over what's she's learned." Both snakes slithered out of the chamber as well as all the pairs of red eyes, leaving Kagome alone. She slumped against the stone wall, blinking away the tears that clouded her eyes. She didn't even want to think about the things Mikahebi had told her. All she could think about were her companions, especially Inuyasha.
Sango, Miroku, Kirara, Shippo, Kaede, Inuyasha, please be all right, She prayed silently, a picture of Inuyasha, bloody and battered forming in her mind. Inuyasha, are you even alive? No, you have to be alive. If you die because of me, I don't think I could ever forgive myself. Inuyasha, hold on, hold on for me."
Kagome sobbed, realizing that with his wounds, Inuyasha would not be coming to save her. She didn't even know if he was alive or not. She would have to save herself, if only to find Inuyasha.
In the shadows, a pair of black eyes watched her, watched the miko slid down the wall and put her head on her knees, the image of a defeated figure.
"Oh, little miko, your hanyou is in an even worse situation that you can possibly imagine." Atsuku chuckled to himself and slid noiselessly from the chamber, leaving the girl to her sobbing.
A/N: Sorry, kind of short, but really cool, I like it a lot. Mikahebi is so cool, I've always wanted to be one of those graceful, evil sorceresses.(smiles evilly) well, it could still happen. (laughs like Mikahebi) Ok, evil moment over. I promise, next update sooner. R&R!
