Experiment #6: Web of Chaos

The male spider's primary objective in life is to impregnate one or more female spiders before other males can. As it turns out, this is no easy task in most species.

The first obstacle is actually finding a female spider. Most spider species are completely solitary animals, meaning they live and feed on their own, and they are generally spread out over a wide area, making an available female relatively scarce. The male spider has the daunting task of tracking down a sexually mature, receptive female in the area before other males can get there.

In most species, the female makes it easier on the males by "advertising" herself with pheromones, communicative chemicals. Many female ground spiders will secrete a pheromone on their drag line, the silk thread they leave trailing behind them. When males of the same species come across the dragline, they smell the pheromone with the chemical sensors on their front legs and follow the dragline to the female.

Web-spinning females may release pheromones directly into the air or coat their webs with pheromones, to make a natural "chemical antenna."

One study (Kasumovic and Andrade 2004) discovered that male black widow spiders (Latrodectus hasselti) do not show preference between webs built by heterospecific (same species) females and conspcific (different species) females when the female is not present in the web to produce any additional stimuli. The information suggests that the pheromones produced by the female's web are not species specific and perhaps have overlapping properties indistinguishable by the male from long distances.

Purpose: My research involving pheromones has led to the conclusion that the chemical messengers are indeed effective against youkai as well as hanyou. Using this knowledge I shall employ the compounds one last time in order to draw Naraku out of hiding. The pheromones produced by the female black widow spider are of the airborne variety and can be detected at long distances by male spiders, but at the same time they do not have enough species specificity as to hinder the course of this experiment. I believe that the pheromones will be able to draw out the evil hanyou, thus engaging us in the final battle.

"Come into my web: said the spider to the fly"

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"You want me to WHAT!"

"NO! Don't even answer that question, because I just KNOW that you did not use my name and the word BAIT in the same sentence!"

"Inuyasha! Please tell me that you are not going along with this!"

"Oh sure, now you start taking the same side as your brother!"

"Sango, Miroku? Surely one of you will agree with me on this one!"

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Traitors! Every single last one of them! How could they?

'This is your experiment, Kagome' they said. 'One of us must serve to draw attention away from the trap' they said. 'We won't be far away' they said.

Oh sure! Like that's supposed to make me feel any better!

Well I suppose I should just be grateful that damn dog didn't tie me up. HEY! Wait a minute! I didn't think that!

"Sesshomaru! When I get my hands on you, you are so going to regret you ever met me!"

"What!" I snapped at the poor pack beast that was forced to be the direct witness to my ire. Ah-un, who was supposedly to be my protector should Naraku manage to keep me separated from my companions, was looking at me as though I had just signed my own death warrant. "Yes, I know that he can hear me! That's the point! I want that stubborn, annoying, demanding, pompous, ice cube of a dog to hear exactly what I think of him and this plan of his!"

"Kagome."

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

Once again he had managed to sneak up on me and scare the crap out of me, and once again I had been so startled by his sudden appearance that I lost my balance and fell: right off of my perch on Ah-un's back. He caught me before I could collide with the ground, but that didn't lessen my annoyance at him for the reason I was sitting in the middle of the large field on the pack beast, or the fact that he had snuck up on me again and again made me fall.

"You jerk!" I screeched at him when I had my feet planted firmly on the ground. "What the hell was that for? Isn't it bad enough that you have me on display out here like a stuffed pig at Christmas just waiting for some big, fat, hungry beast to come along and devour me!"

"Kagome."

"Hey, here's an idea! Why don't you SIT with me for a bit? We could SIT together and wait, and maybe when Naraku gets here he will think it's a giant tea party and decide to SIT with us! We could just SIT together and enjoy each other's company while we SIT!"

I was so mad that I couldn't even enjoy the fact that he was nearly on his knees from my forcing the effect of Inuyasha's reprimand on him through the ties in the bond. While I was panting for breath after my rant, he straightened himself and moved towards me; completely ignoring the look I was giving him that would have rivaled one of his trademark death glares.

"You are angry."

"Oh, so you've noticed? And here I thought I was being subtle!"

"You conceal your fear with anger."

I really wish I had a good comeback to that, but unfortunately he was right. I really hate it when he's right. And I especially hate that he's right most of the time. No normal person can be so bloody logical all of the time. Then again, he's not exactly normal, or a 'person' in the conventional sense; he's more of a…a…Sesshomaru. I think that's the only way to describe him. There really isn't anyone else that can be as hopelessly stubborn, as distant and aloof but at the same time absolutely aware of everything going on around him, or as good at knowing exactly what to say (when he actually does say anything) to stop me from going off the deep end with rage, sorrow, or fear.

"Why are you here?" I sighed. "Aren't you supposed to be waiting for that ugly creature to show his repulsive head and try to make me his in a way far more disgusting than that wolf could even dream of?"

"That shall not happen."

I knew I wasn't being fair to him, and I suppose I should have been grateful that he wasn't trying to punish me for my use of the reprimand on him or for accusing him of allowing Naraku to come and have his way with me. I knew that I was being unreasonable, and I knew that Sesshomaru would do everything he was capable of to bring down Naraku before anything could happen to me; but I was still afraid of what was to come no matter how many times I told myself that I was ready, that I was strong, and that I was not alone.

But my anger was the only thing keeping my tears at bay. I needed to be strong to face what was coming. I couldn't allow the fear of my enemy to cripple me before I could engage him. And it had been my disgruntled accusations against the stubborn inuyoukai that had kept me preoccupied from my more destructive thoughts.

"Look," I sighed again, "I'm sorry. It's just that…"

"I know." He interrupted me. "But now you must be ready. He draws near."

I gulped nervously and allowed myself to feel my surroundings. He was right again. I could feel the incredible dark energy of Naraku's nearly complete Shikon drawing closer to our location. Soon he would be upon us. The end was coming.

"I shall not be far," he said to me before he turned and began walking away.

"Wait!" I called after him. He stopped and turned back to face me.

Good going Kagome, now what? I know you didn't just make Sesshomaru stop and turn back to you when you have nothing good to say to him. Then again, what do you say to someone you are about to walk into battle with? Though this isn't the first battle against Naraku I have walked into; this is the first one that we shall be bringing him to us and not the other way around, and I believe that this shall also be the last bout against the evil hanyou. So what can I say?

'Thank you for coming to the fight' well that's just stupid because one way or the other I'm sure that Sesshomaru would have found a way to partake in the bringing down of Naraku. 'Come back in one piece' not really a valid statement when you are talking to a guy that is all but invincible. 'Be careful' again not on the list of things to say to Sesshomaru; he's never reckless, and if he is there is no reason to fear for him because he's just too powerful and too fast for any normal type of attack to work against him.

But then, none of these things were really what I wanted to say to him. I wanted, no, needed; to say something to him about what he had come to mean to me. I needed to tell him that I…worried for him? That I…wanted to be able to see him once the battle was over? That I…cared for him?

But would I even be here once the battle was over? Would the jewel still exist after everything had been said and done? Would I still be allowed to stay in the feudal era? Would I be given another chance to talk to him? Would I been given the opportunity to tell him that…

"I…I just wanted to say that…ummmm…what I mean to say is that…that I…something is wrong."

He raised an eyebrow. Yeah well, that wasn't what I was planning to say any more than it wasn't what he was expecting to hear; but it was very true.

The large jewel fragment that I had felt approaching had suddenly split into three distinct pieces; all moving in different directions. The two larger pieces were each moving away from each other both to the left and the right of our current location; while the remaining piece was headed straight for us.

"A trap."

No sooner had he finished speaking, I found myself being placed upon the saddled back of the pack beast. I looked back at Sesshomaru, and could clearly see that he wasn't about to let me stand and face this trap on my own. However, when it came to himself, he had no hesitations as to whether or not he would put himself right in the line of fire. I didn't get a chance to say anything to him though because with a slight signal to Ah-un, he had ordered the dragon to take off; taking me along with it.

The sudden launching of the beast nearly knocked me off of it's back again, and I had to frantically grab ahold of it's mane to prevent myself from hitting the ground from a very damaging height. I focused my vision ahead, knowing that Sesshomaru could take care of himself and that Ah-un would be taking me back to regroup with my friends.

But then, so suddenly the dragon reared back in startled fright, a thick line shot out in front of our line of travel. Ah-un quickly changed course, but everywhere he turned, we were greeted with another heavy band of the substance which sought to block our path. I turned around to try and see where the glistening lines of white silk were coming from, but there was no common source. Everywhere in the trees around the clearing bands of the silk lines were being shot forth; from every direction they were being shot towards us.

I heard Inuyasha call out from the ground below and I turned to see the figure in blazing red charge up to the interlocking bands of white with his sword drawn. He brought the fang down in a heavy thrust, but against the silky threads of the forming web, Tetsusaiga had no effect.

A spider's web, I realized. It is ten times stronger than steel by weight, and the silky strands forming around us were hundreds of times thicker than a normal thread of spider's silk, and as such hundreds of times stronger. Even Inuyasha's powerful fang could not break them.

A sudden roar from Ah-un turned my attention back to the twin-headed dragon I was riding. I looked ahead and saw the problem. The silk lines were everywhere. Even with Ah-un ducking and maneuvering around the heavy bands with agility I had never imagined the bulky beast to have, he could not keep up the game of avoidance forever. As thick as the web blocking our path was, the silken lines continued to pour out of the trees around us, filling the entire clearing from ground to sky with the interlocking threads.

"WINDSCAR!" I heard Inuyasha's attack below me, but when I turned towards the sound of his voice, my hope was shattered upon seeing no damage had been done to the web in the wake of his blast.

A trap indeed. Naraku had been waiting for us to make our move. And now that he had arrived, he had isolated Sesshomaru and myself from the rest of our group. The question is though, why? Obviously Naraku sees Sesshomaru as a threat, and myself as well even if it is to a lesser degree. But how was it he knew we would be together or was it simply some very bad luck on our behalf that had caught us in the middle of his web?

While I was distracted with thoughts of how Naraku had managed to catch us in a trap when it had been us who had sought to draw him into one, I missed the band of webbing that shot out and wrapped around one of Ah-un's heads. The beast roared and fought against the thread, but like any spider's web, it was coated with a sticky substance which used any movement the beast produce to snare it further into the web. Ah-un thrashed violently against the hold on it, but the threads were stronger than steel. I tried to reach out and release the dragon, but another band came out of nowhere and hit me square in the chest causing me to plummet towards the ground.

I screamed, but the sound of my terror was swallowed up by the air rushing past me in my fast descent.

My fall seemed to last for an eternity, but unlike the tales told by many others who have had such near-death experiences, I did not see flashes of my life nor did I find any unusual peace or acceptance; all I felt was terror and the rushing of the wind, and the only thought running through my mind was what an ugly corpse I would leave when my body splattered against the ground.

But I would not hit the ground. Instead, I was caught by the strong arm of Sesshomaru. He set me down on the ground beside himself, but then turned quickly towards one point in the tangled web. I followed his gaze and saw what had caught his attention.

Before us, the web parted for an instant before being resealed. Through the hole created in the tangled weave, walked a ghastly figure in white.

"Kanna," I identified the void child of Naraku immediately.

"Come in to my web: said the spider to the fly." The flat emotionless voice of the girl lifted eerily in the massive dome entrapping us. "I have a gift for you: simply look me in the eye."

Kanna held out her mirror before her, but instead of activating the power of the soul-stealing mirror or showing us a reflected image in the glass; the mirror remained blank. However, affixed to the centre of the void child's mirror were three Shikon shards.

A gift she had called it, but only the kind of heinous gift that could be presented by the evil which is Naraku. Those shards, now tainted with Naraku's hideous influence, had once belonged Kouga and Kohaku.

"Two directions, two separate paths; but for two joined as one, they shall never pass."

"Kagome!" Inuyasha's voice coming from the other side of the web prevented me from putting too much thought into the void child's riddle. I looked across the vast expanse of the web, catching sight of Inuyasha on the other side. "What's going on?" He questioned me. "Where is Naraku?"

'Two directions, two separate paths,' Kanna's words came back to me. Naraku's jewel fragments had been split into three. Though Kanna held the fragments of the wolf prince and the manipulated demon exterminator, one of the remaining pieces was sure to lead to Naraku. But which one?

"Inuyasha," I called back to the hanyou. "He's trying to split us up. Nearly half of his part of the Jewel I can feel to the right of us, while the other half I can feel to the left."

"To the right, let lovers reunite; as for the other, there you should find a brother."

"Are you saying Kohaku's still alive?" I asked Kanna desperately.

"What lives and what dies is not for me to decide." She responded cryptically.

"Inuyasha," Sesshomaru's voice sounded out from beside me. "Go to the right. Tell the others to follow the path to the left. If this is the game Naraku wishes us to play, then we shall."

I turned to him to gawk in disbelief. First of all he had actually addressed his brother without issuing an insult. Secondly, he had just told my friends to play along with Naraku's deadly game. An third, Inuyasha actually listened to him.

"What are you doing?" I hissed. "Are you trying to get us all killed?"

He turned to me and locked me in his intense gaze.

"The battle has come. The others have their own enemies to face."

"And what about us! Are we just supposed to sit here and wait to see if they come back or not!"

"Our battle is just beginning." He responded. "Naraku is here."

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Hi there everyone. First off I just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter. You thoughts and your votes were highly appreciated.

Secondly, I'm afraid that I will not be able to update as regularly as I have been. I have been having…issues…with this battle scene. I have ideas, but they just aren't joining together properly, so I'm afraid that my updates will take slightly longer than usual. I want to make this good, so I need a bit of extra time to perhaps think about what I'm going to write before I actually write it (something I haven't really done up until this point). Anyways, I just thought I'd give you all fair warning, but my updates will still likely come out faster than most stories; I do have to keep with my schedule somewhat you know.

Cheers

ShadowsWeaver1

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters I am about to weave into my web of chaos. Information regarding spider mating habits was taken from How Stuff while specific reference was given to the study 'Discrimination of airborne pheromones by mate-searching male western black widow spiders (Latrodectus Hesperus): species – and population-specific responses' by M. Kasumovic and M. Andrade, published in the Canadian Journal of Zoology, Vol. 82, 2004. (HA! For the final experiment I actually did do more research than simply going to Wikipedia! Apparently I am not as lazy as I had thought :P)