Know Their Pain
From out of the woven tangles of the web descended the monster. All pretenses had been stripped away from the loathsome creature, revealing the hideousness of his true form. Naraku, a beast accumulated from thousands of monsters combined, but always foreshadowed by a single image; the image of the spider. It was the spider that I looked upon then. Massive and repulsive; covered in ugly tufts of course hair; spouting eight impossibly long and slender legs protruding from his bulky form and tipped with deadly claws; and focusing on Sesshomaru and I with gleaming and reflective, never blinking compound eyes.
The beast had finally shown himself. My experiment had indeed drawn Naraku out of hiding, but to what end? He had been anticipating our move. The pheromone, while serving to draw him to our location, had not had any effect beyond that. Of course, I realize that the effect of the pheromone in nature is merely to serve as a beacon to attract the male, and that without the presence of a female spider to produce any additional stimuli the male would not engage in any sexual behavior; still I was perplexed as to how Naraku would be able to form such a complex trap for us when he had come to the lure of the pheromone with as much immediacy as any of the others who had been subjects in my experiment.
What was he planning? How had he known how to trap us all in such a way? And most importantly, where was Naraku truly hiding?
"Vermin," Sesshomaru ground out from my side as he lifted his sword towards the demon hanging from the massive web. "Prepare to meet your death by my hand."
(A/N: Sorry about that. I should have mentioned the pheromones last chapter, but it slipped my mind. So now that the intro is taken care of, on with the story.)
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He moved with such speed that I had to resort to feeling his path as opposed to seeing it. Directly towards the hideous beast, Sesshomaru had taken flight. With his sword in hand, he set out to confront the master of this manipulation. He struck out at the beast with waves of power called forth and directed through the destructive blade.
The force of the blast surrounded the beast, wrapping him in deadly currents of devastating energy. For a moment I was in awe at the sheer power of the attack. I could see nothing of the creature as the brightness of the resonating power filled the confines of the great dome. When the energy dispelled, and the light faded; the creature was no longer there.
But I knew it wasn't over. Naraku would not be brought down so easily. So it was no surprise when the wicked hissing laughter once again filled the vast enclosure of the web.
"You think that you can ensnare me within my own web?" the voice questioned from where it had hidden itself within the tangled weaves. "It shall be my great pleasure to show you how futile your efforts are."
The spider burst forth from where it had lain concealed. It thrust the foremost of its spindly, clawed legs forward towards Sesshomaru with such speed that I could barely see the movement. But no matter its speed, the beast could never be faster than Sesshomaru. With relative ease, Sesshomaru had evaded the assault and he lifted his blade again to lash out at the monster.
But the beast was prepared for the retaliation from the demon lord, and it opened its repulsive fanged maw to spit out more of the silken fibers which had formed the web. The white bands of the sticky substance rushed out from the gaping maw in a repulsive hiss, flowing forth and spreading outwards as a snare to entrap its target. But again Sesshomaru was too fast, and again he evaded; bringing down his blade in a sweeping slice and forcing the creature into retreat again.
As I watched the battle move back and forth between Sesshomaru's attacks and Naraku's cowardly retreats to the spider's devious use of the web to gain the aspect of surprise and Sesshomaru's easy maneuverings around the creature's attempts; I considered using one of my arrows to blow a gaping hole in Naraku's wicked plans.
Of course, as soon as I thought of the idea, I threw it aside. It just wouldn't do for me to accidentally hit Sesshomaru. Though I was sure that he would be able to push aside one of my arrows as he had before, doing such a thing would take his attention away from the real enemy. And then there was also the fact that he might look upon my attempt as me not having enough faith in his abilities; which was most certainly not the case. I knew he would be able to bring down the monster, but that still didn't mean I wanted to sit down on the ground and do nothing but watch the fray.
It was then that I had an idea. The spider was not the only one of Naraku's pawns trapped within the web.
I allowed myself a wicked grin as I turned to face the void child. She had not moved since the last time she had me look upon the mirror. She stood stark still, unresponsive to the goings on around her, uncaring as to the fact that I had turned to face her, unconcerned with the knowledge that she possessed something so precious to that monster; something which I was about to relieve her of.
Then, suddenly, her eyes shifted to meet mine.
"The shards connect to more than just this mirror," she said as though reading my mind. "Look upon its face; know their pain, feel their fear."
As soon as she had finished speaking, the mirror stirred to life; bringing to me the images of my friends and the battles they were engaged in.
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"Kohaku," Sango called out to her brother, but the only response he gave was the slight shifting of his dead eyes to look upon the one he no longer recognized as his sister.
"Kukukuku," the image of Naraku standing at the boy's side cackled out his amusement at Sango's pain. "He doesn't hear you slayer. The only voice he will ever hear shall be my own."
"You bastard! I'll put you in your grave so that your hold on him will be released forever!"
Sango charged forward to confront the golem, but her movement was stopped when the boy stepped out in front of the monster. Naraku, that coward; he would use a mere boy as a shield; he would pit one sibling against the other just to see how much their hearts could bleed.
"Naraku!" This time it was Miroku who had stepped forward to face the monster. "Your games have gone on long enough! It is time you pay for all of the atrocities and all of the pain you have caused."
Miroku lifted his cursed hand and began to pull on the rosary beads keeping the draw of the void at bay, but Sango's hand on his arm made him pause. He turned to her, and in her eyes he could see, as I could, the pain mirrored there. Miroku sighed as he relented to Sango's unspoken plea to not unleash the curse, to spare her brother from the trappings of the void.
Away from where my friends stood, still hiding himself behind his living shield, Naraku cackled in his fiendish way.
"How kind it is of you to spare my puppet," he said, "But it shall be your reserve that shall be your downfall."
With that the golem parted its robes. From the darkness concealed beneath the golem's pelt, the hoards of serpentine beasts spilled out. They charged towards my friends en mass; the wicked glowing of their eyes and the dangerous glint of their fangs all but lost within the sea of tangled, slithering bodies.
Sango and Miroku spurred into action. As the razor tip of Miroku's staff severed heads and thrashed through snake-like bodies and his sutra's still the advance of others, Sango lashed out at the creatures with the deadly arc of her Hiraikotsu and the practiced skill of her blade.
"Sango," Miroku called out as he slashed through yet another of the beasts charging at him, "Let me handle this. You go to Kohaku."
Sango looked back at the monk. When her eyes met his, a silent understanding passed between the two. They knew what lay ahead was what Sango had fought so long and hard for. This was her battle, and she would face the villain that had stolen her brother from her. Sango broke her eyes away from the monk and darted through the hoards of serpents, weaving through the tangled net of youkai bodies to find at last her lost brother.
Miroku continued his fight, striking down one hideous, snarling beast after another; but they were too many, and he was but one. As he threw out another wave of sutras to give pause to the continued onslaught, one of the creatures found its way through the monk's defensive stance. It drew in behind him and struck.
Miroku cried out as the pain ripped through him. He spun around with his staff, cleaving the snake in half. But the damage had been done, and now his shoulder was bleeding heavily from where the serpent had embedded its sharp fangs.
As Miroku clung to his shoulder, he allowed his eyes to sweep over the front of creatures still advancing towards him. A hardened look took over his eyes and he raised his cursed hand before himself again. But he would not be allowed to open void just yet.
From out of nowhere, Kirara pushed through the hoards of beasts and threw the monk back. Miroku scrambled to raise himself, perhaps thinking that the one who had thrown him down to be one of the enemies he was facing. He was obviously shocked when he saw that it was Kirara standing before him. The firecat hissed at the confused look on the monk's face, and gestured with her head towards the sky. Miroku followed her line of sight and saw what she had done.
Above them, buzzing angrily in the mist of the hoard of serpents; was a swarm of Saimyoushou. Understanding dawned on the monk as to why the firecat would have prevented him from using the wind tunnel. But I could see the look of determination that had gripped him, and I knew that the insects wouldn't be enough to hold him back.
He reached into his robes and pulled out a small vial.
"Kirara," he called, "can you make it to the water?"
The firecat growled her approval at his plan and readied herself for what was to come. Miroku threw the vial of pheromones at Kirara, and she allowed it to shatter against her, soaking her coat in the potent chemicals. In an instant, the firecat took to the skies. She left the battle on the ground to her capable companions and played her part to draw the Saimyoushou away from the monk. As it had before, again the pheromone lured Naraku's hell-insects towards the chemical bait. The Saimyoushou followed Kirara without pause, and soon were beyond the reach of Miroku's cursed hand.
Free from the threat of the Saimyoushou poison, Miroku braced himself firmly against the ground and ripped away the seal on the void.
The Wind Tunneled emerged from behind its bindings in a rush of howling winds. Towards the void the hoards of beasts were pulled without contest. Caught in the inescapable draw of the winds, the serpents stood no chance of retaliation. They screamed out their fury and their terror; a screeching hiss so repulsive I nearly had to cover my ears. But soon their cries died away within the darkness, soon the writhing hoard had been enveloped by the nothingness, soon the void had consumed everything in its path.
When the last of the beasts had met their fate within the cursed void of his hand, Miroku sealed off the Wind Tunnel again. Ignoring the weakness washing through him from such extended use of the curse, Miroku set his eyes upon what remained of the enemy.
I too was now granted the vision of what lay beyond, and what I saw tore out a piece of my heart.
Sango, the one I know to be so strong in the face of the worst kinds of adversities; looked as though she had been broken, but broken in a way that can only come about when ones heart is shattered. She stood before the form of her brother which lacked any spark of life, any hint of knowledge, any fear, anger, or regret. Her body had been torn from the fight and her blood flowed freely from the wounds. Her face was streaked with tears; tears of pain and of sorrow.
Her whole body trembled as she fought to keep the pain at bay, but no amount of resolve could ever take away the suffering cast upon her by that villain who pulled the strings of her brother's hand.
She cried out; a cry filled with emotions she could not keep back. A cry of anguished sorrow so deep it seemed it was her tattered soul brought forth to my ears. One last time she moved forward, one last time she raised her weapon against her kin.
Kohaku lifted his blade as well, but his movements were forced, his actions were manipulated. He was nothing but a puppet acting out the forced will of another, and it showed in his lacking speed, his absent determination. He could not combat against Sango's strength or against her will or her passion. And so he fell; knocked back to the ground and pinned by the woman above him readying herself to strike the final blow.
Sango held her blade to her brother's throat. Tears streamed freely down her face and fell upon the boy, but he did not move. He did nothing to stop what was coming. His eyes were blank and soulless as he looked up at her: dead already.
"I'm sorry," her whisper was so broken by her pain that I could barely decipher the words. "I've failed you, Kohaku; but I won't let you die alone."
She readied her blade for the finishing stroke, but before she could bring it down the boy held by her shifted.
"Sango?" Kohaku's voice lifted up in plea to his sister. There was fear in that voice, there was pain. "Sango please, please just end it."
But to hear his voice, to see life in his eyes; she could never do what he asked. Sango threw away her sword and pulled back to release the boy.
"Kukukuku," Naraku's puppet's evil laughter filled the air again. "You seal your own fate by allowing my pawn to go free. He is a slave to the jewel; it is only with its power that he may live, and the only life he shall ever have will be what I would make it."
"Bastard," there was such hatred in her voice, such loathing that it sent shivers down my spine. "DIE!"
Sango spun around and heaved Hiraikotsu towards the monster that had stolen from her everything she had ever known. The giant bone sliced through the air in a deadly arc and hit its mark. The pelt covering the beast was torn away, but from beneath spilled forth the bulging, deformed, fetid, masses of the repulsive golem. The golem now stood as nothing but a surging form of putrid masses, his shape moving and shifting as though living beneath the skin, as though filled just beneath with filthy vermin and creeping maggots.
From the mass of the demon's form, a sharp-tipped tentacle shot out at the demon-slayer. Sango blocked the attack with her retrieved weapon, and set herself to launch a counter. But she was no longer alone in the fray. Miroku stood on the other side of the golem, stopping its body from shooting forth any more deadly daggers or spines with sacred sutra's binding the beast in its place.
The golem stood no chance alone against the will of my friends. One more attack by Sango's Hiraikotsu cut the demon straight through its centre. But before the creature could even touch the ground, before it could amass any more protrusions or tentacles from its vile form; Miroku had once again unsealed the curse, once again unleashed the Wind Tunnel.
But as the golem was pulled into the void, it was not a scream of pain or horror that it released; but a vile and wicked laugh.
With the beast was finally gone, when its wicked laughter had died away on the breeze; Sango turned back to her brother. She called out to him, but he still could not hear her. Kohaku turned away from his sister's pain and from the only one who could set him free, and ran into the darkness beyond.
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As the image in the mirror fell dark as did the tears fall from my eyes. Such pain my friends were being forced to endure. When would it ever end? Would we ever be free of Naraku's wicked games and painful manipulations?
Suddenly my sorrow was replaced by a gripping feeling of anxiety which stilled the air in my lungs.
I had been diverted for too long. I didn't know what was happening around me. But I did know that the anxiety I felt was not my own. I turned away from the void child's mirror and looked back to Sesshomaru.
He was kneeling on the ground just inches away from where the earth had been torn by the force of one of Naraku's attacks. His eyes were ice-covered gold; hard and unyielding, and they were focused on retreating path of his opponent with malicious intent.
But how had Naraku been able to come so close to striking a blow? Was Sesshomaru tiring from the battle? No, of course not! That is just ridiculous! Sesshomaru has enough strength to battle day and night for a year. So then how was it Naraku had gotten so close when before his attacks were being avoided with barely a batted eyelash by Sesshomaru?
The hissing laugh sounded out again when the beast had concealed itself within the protective shelter of its great web.
"You are slowing, Sesshomaru. You are no longer focused on our battle. Could it be that your heart is not in the fight?"
"My heart has nothing to do with this, Naraku."
His heart? No, it wasn't his heart; it was mine. It was my heart that was aching for the struggle of my friends, my heart which was filling him with my pain. Sesshomaru was loosing pace in his battle against the spider in the web because I was making it so by watching the images being played out by the mirror.
Naraku knew this. He knew.
'For two joined as one', 'more than one way to suffer the pains of death', 'you have fallen more than either of you have realized'; the riddles, they contained a message. Naraku was telling us that he knew of the bond between Sesshomaru and I. He knew, and he was using it against us. That was why he had trapped us within the web. That was why he would have me look upon the mirror.
He knew.
"Sesshomaru?" I called out to him, asking him what he would have me do. I couldn't allow him to be put in danger just so that I could see what was happening beyond our prison of woven bands.
His eyes found mine, and I could see his resolve.
"This is his game," he said to me, "Find the answers you need while he gives himself away."
He was telling me to watch the images being shown. From them, Naraku was revealing to me his true self; he was showing me where he was truly hiding in his attempt to bring down Sesshomaru by using me as the conduit. The answer lay in the riddles and within the swirling depths of the mirror.
I turned away from Sesshomaru again, trusting him to stand against the beast while I would be forced to stand against a breaking heart.
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Well that certainly took forever. This scene just didn't want to work for me for the longest time. I do hope that the next one doesn't give me the same problems. But since I have taken on a different tone to write the battle scene when compared to the rest of the story, it doesn't quite come out as easily as it did when I was simply writing down Kagome's flowing thoughts. Ah well, I do love a challenge; and I think have given myself a good one.
I want to thank everyone for their guesses as to where Naraku is really hiding. I'll tell you that one person got it right, though I can't tell you who because then you might be inclined to read their response, and I don't want the secret to come out just yet.
Well I'm off for now
ShadowsWeaver1
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters I am about to weave into my web of chaos. Any and all definitions (with the exception of those cited specifically) have been taken directly from Wikipedia the online encyclopedia because I am far too lazy to do any further research to support my Inuyasha obsession.
