A/N: Hey, I've been on a roll, so I'll just post the chapters I've written so far in one go - let's do it!
Chapter 2: A Real Pain in the Ass!/Naraku and Sesshomaru Join Forces
The sea glittered in the setting sun, and the shard hunting group had found lodging at a tavern, as well as a hot meal. Sitting primly at her small table in her corner, one eye on the open door, Daitan was savouring every bite with a content air about her. It was the first meal she'd had on this journey that was actually cooked to perfection, and not burnt, overcooked, or raw.
"Ah… This is so much better than sleeping in the forest!" sighed Kagome. "We'll have a hot meal, a nice bath, and climb under our nice crisp sheets and have a good rest for a change!"
Daitan just smiled and set her empty bowl and chopsticks down, leaning back to rest against the wall. Inuyasha scoffed.
"Well excuse me for making you sleep in the wilds all the time!" he sniffed, but Kagome didn't seem all that worried.
"Touchy, touchy! What's with you these days?"
"I imagine he's put out because coming here was Miroku's idea," commented Shippo from his spot next to Kagome. "With food like this, who cares whose idea it was, right?"
"Right!" agreed Kagome, and Inuyasha merely grumbled to himself.
It was only when everyone had finished eating that Miroku finally reappeared, having been busy putting up sutras around the tavern.
"Hey, how'd the exorcism go?" asked Kagome. The monk smiled.
"Uneventful. Now I'm ready for some relaxation." Miroku took a seat next to the open doorway, and Inuyasha narrowed his eyes.
"Hold up there, Miroku, there's something I haven't been able to figure out about your powers," the hanyou crouched down in front of Miroku, suspicion etched upon his features. "Whenever we're looking for a place to bed down, you suddenly detect an ominous cloud hanging over whatever seems to be the finest tavern in the area - how is that?"
Miroku didn't look intimidated in the slightest when he replied,
"Oh, you noticed that, did you? They say a falsehood is sometimes the expedient path!" the monk just laughed it off, and Daitan gave him a deadpan stare. Come to think of it, I noticed it as well, but didn't question it as long as we got some good food and lodging…
"You mean there never was any black cloud?" Shippo asked, and Inuyasha looked shocked.
"Geez, you're shiftier than I thought!"
Miroku just lifted up a bowl of sweet dumplings with a smile.
"Partake in your share of the spoils, and your opinion of me will soften~" Shippo immediately leapt for them and jumped for joy.
"You're just as bad as he is!" scolded Inuyasha, and Daitan's smile grew with the chaos before Kagome decided to speak up.
"Calm down, Inuyasha-" Kagome cut herself off, a confused look overtaking her earlier smile as the ground below began to shake ominously. Daitan's eyes narrowed and she reached for the katana sitting next to her.
"What... is that?" the shaking grew stronger, and a fearful Shippo leapt into Kagome's arms.
"I don't like the sounds of this!" he squealed, just as the candles in the room went out. Inuyasha and Miroku readied their weapons, and Daitan clasped a hand on the hilt of her katana, ready to unsheath it.
"Whatever it is, it's big." said Inuyasha, and Miroku spoke up.
"Yes, let's run."
"What? No way! You can't just eat and run!" Inuyasha looked disbelieving, but Daitan could help but to agree with the monk.
"I'm sorry Inuyasha, but Miroku is right - it might be better to run and live than to stay and fight whatever is out there before you're strong enough to actually take it on." she said, and Miroku nodded.
"If the demon is truly big, then we are no match for it," Miroku said, but the next thing he said made her smile slip right off her face. "It's irrational, it's impossible, it's against my religion."
"You ought to be arrested…" muttered Inuyasha. Kagome's head shot up suddenly.
"I'm sensing a jewel fragment nearby…" fear overtook her expression. "And it's approached us very quickly!"
"I knew all this peace was too good to last!" Daitan growled, but the excited grin on her face told the rest that she wouldn't have it any other way. Inuyasha was also grinning.
"Well that's a change, we've never had them bring us the jewel shards before!" he said. Miroku seemed to change his mind about running in a flash when he said,
"I suppose if there's a jewel shard involved, it could hurt to make just a little effort!"
"Hey, wait, that jewel shard's mine!"
Both Inuyasha and Miroku dashed out the door, and Daitan shook her head, gesturing for Kagome to follow her.
"Men… honestly…"
Kagome, Daitan, and Shippo regrouped with Miroku and Inuyasha, and all of them looked up to see a massive youkai, the size of a mountain, really, towering over them. Daitan gritted her teeth. We might not be able to take care of this thing without me shedding my disguise…! And just as she thought that, a very familiar scent caught her nose, and Daitan froze with shock, making Kagome look over at her with concern.
Sitting atop the gigantic youkai's shoulder was a figure dressed in white, and even Inuyasha looked surprised before he spoke and confirmed Daitan's fears.
"That's Sesshomaru!"
This is very bad, this is so bad, very not good! Especially when the youkai in white leapt off the giant's shoulder, right hand outstretched and making a cloud of poisonous green miasma burst from his claws. Daitan wasted no time in sweeping up Kagome and carrying her to safety, something the older girl would have been extremely smug about had she not just had the shock of her life.
Looking back, Daitan noticed that Inuyasha had stayed behind, and was standing tall in front of Sesshomaru. Idiot! He's going to get himself killed! ...Unless he's giving us time to escape…
"Sesshomaru! To what honor do we owe this visit?" growled Inuyasha sarcastically. Sesshomaru was clearly not amused.
"Spare me the feigned innocence. I'm here for the Tessaiga, of course." Sesshomaru's voice betrayed no emotion, and Inuyasha growled, grasping the hilt of the sword in question.
"Still haven't given up on it yet, huh?"
From his spot beside Kagome in their hiding spot, Miroku spoke.
"They know one another?" he asked, disbelieving. Kagome nodded.
"He's Inuyasha's brother." she whispered. Daitan's eyes widened. Now I know where I've heard Inuyasha's name before!
"Remarkable…" commented Miroku, and Daitan grumbled to herself.
"Oh this day just keeps getting better..." she said.
"Sesshomaru isn't a hanyou like Inuyasha, he's the real thing!" Kagome finished, and Daitan frowned.
"Yeah, I know that much for myself." she muttered.
Back in the clearing, Sesshomaru spoke once more.
"Draw your sword, Inuyasha. Or will you surrender it now without the need for a battle?"
"No chance!" Inuyasha growled. "This time I'll take off much more than just one of your arms!" the hanyou drew the Tessaiga and, as always, leapt into the air, aiming to bring the sword down on Sesshomaru, but the white clad youkai merely dodged to the side. Wait, Inuyasha cut off one of his arms? How did he manage that?
Again and again, Inuyasha swung the Tessaiga around like a club, but he proved to be far too slow to catch Sesshomaru on the blade. The older youkai scoffed.
"Such a pity. I see you have yet to unleash the full power of the Tessaiga." Sesshomaru sounded almost… disappointed. Inuyasha wasn't having any of it.
"Oh yeah? Let's see about that!" Inuyasha charged blindly at Sesshomaru, hefting the Tessaiga high above his head and leaving himself wide open, allowing Sesshomaru to catch hold of Inuyasha's right arm and immobilize him. Geez, I really need to show Inuyasha some sword techniques if he gets out of this alive… Thought Daitan. Her nails bit into her palms, knuckles white.
"Such pitiful swordsmanship," commented Sesshomaru, just a hint of scorn in his golden eyes. "The little man is having trouble holding his sword." the hand holding Inuyasha's arm in place began to glow a bright acidic green, and the flesh on Inuyasha's wrist began to burn away. Kagome, Miroku and Shippo gasped, and Daitan desperately held herself back from rushing to help Inuyasha.
"Your wrist or the sword? Which will be the first to drop?" Sesshomaru's grip tightened on Inuyasha's wrist, and Inuyasha growled.
"Well it ain't gonna be the sword!" with his other hand, Inuyasha reached up to grab the hilt of the Tessaiga, and managed to overpower Sesshomaru, shoving him back. "I'll cut you in half, you sad excuse for a youkai!" Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"You should have surrendered." with that, Sesshomaru leapt backwards, and a glowing green whip appeared from his claws, striking at Inuyasha and flinging the Tessaiga from his grasp. The sword spiralled through the air several times before it landed, point dug into the earth, and shrank down to its raggedy old form. Sesshomaru landed lightly beside it, and, with his left arm- wait… left arm? I thought that Inuyasha said he cut it off!
Sesshomaru grasped the hilt of the Tessaiga, and Kagome gasped in fear.
"He shouldn't even be able to touch it!"
"What?" Daitan was so confused. Kagome, without taking her eyes off the two brothers, explained.
"Only a human or someone with human blood can touch the Tessaiga! Sesshomaru is a full-blooded youkai, it should be rejecting him!"
Daitan narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath in through her nose. There was something different about Sesshomaru's scent… His arm! He's replaced his old arm with a human's! But how is it being sustained? His youki should be tearing right through it!
Now in Sesshomaru's grasp, the Tessaiga transformed back into its larger form, and when Sesshomaru swiped it through the air, a large burst of youki blasted from its blade, aimed right at Inuyasha. Inuyasha had, thankfully, managed to dodge it, but the ground where the blast had struck was now a pile of rubble, and Inuyasha now looked almost fearful. Sesshomaru had his calm countenance about him, as always, as he stared down Inuyasha.
"I am the Tessaiga's rightful owner. Stand back as I demonstrate its true power," he turned his head slightly to the side, now addressing someone out of sight. "Jaken."
"Yes, my Lord! I shall summon all the youkai down from the mountain!" squeaked a high pitched voice in reply. Apparently, the owner of the voice, Jaken, had remained seated on the giant youkai's shoulder. Jaken appeared to have given the giant a command, because the next thing it did was lift up one of its enormous hands and plunge it straight into the side of the mountain.
All was silent for a grand total of a few seconds, before the ground began to shake once more, and hundreds of youkai poured from the side of the mountain. Sesshomaru remained unfazed as the giant flock of youkai approached.
"Witness this, and learn from the master, Inuyasha. With one stroke, I shall slaughter one hundred youkai!" Sesshomaru swung the Tessaiga across in a single horizontal stroke, and the massive burst of youki that exploded from the blade completely obliterated the angered youkai from the mountain. When the dust cleared, everyone gaped, open-mouthed at the mountain, which had not escaped Sesshomaru's attack with the Tessaiga. It was now split in two.
"The-the mountain!" Shippo stuttered.
"He slayed the youkai… and he also split the mountain!" exclaimed Miroku. Daitan's heart was beating very quickly. Inuyasha's definitely not going to win anything at this rate!
"Now do you see?" Sesshomaru addressed Inuyasha. "This sword, forged of our own father's fang, reigns supreme. Unfortunately, the Tessaiga is not capable of choosing its owner. But perhaps now you, a mere half breed, realize that you could never master it."
Daitan scowled a little. Well he's certainly arrogant… Kagome startled Daitan out of her thoughts as she dashed forward, and both she and Miroku tried to stop the fifteen-year-old.
"Hold it, Kagome, stop right there!" warned Miroku. "I shall go." Daitan elbowed him in the ribs. "Sorry- we shall go. All of you, make sure to stay behind me, and Daitan, if anything else shows up, cover my back!"
"You're gonna use your hand?" asked Kagome. Miroku nodded, and just when Sesshomaru was about to strike down Inuyasha, Miroku stepped in front of the hanyou, Daitan right behind him with her katana drawn.
"I'm afraid I can listen to this no longer," announced Miroku, and utter confusion colored Inuyasha's expression. "I must put an end to this foolish sibling rivalry."
"Hey, butt out!" Inuyasha yelled, and Daitan sighed in exasperation before giving him a sharp bonk on the head with her fist. "Ow! Daitan, I can handle this!"
"Not all by yourself, are you even thinking straight right now?"
"Why you- hey, I wanna stand in the front!" Inuyasha tried to muscle his way in front of Miroku, but Daitan held him back.
"You're such a baby! What happened to my advice about not acting insecure or threatened, you idiot?" she growled, and Inuyasha growled right back.
"Hey, you said you'd back off, what's the big idea? You're such a bitch!" he shouted, and Daitan bared her teeth with a laugh.
"Oh, you don't even know the half of it-!"
"Don't be such a stubborn mule, Inuyasha!" cut in Miroku.
"Very funny, coming from you!" argued the hanyou, still trying to get out from Daitan's strangely iron-clad grip.
Suddenly, the high pitched voice of Jaken cut through the air from atop the giant.
"My Lord! Allow me to finish the monk off! No sense in wasting your energy on such a feeble opponent!"
"As you wish," replied Sessomaru. "I will observe."
The gigantic youkai's hand lifted once more into the air, and a tiny green figure who Daitan guessed was Jaken, shouted,
"Onward! Crush them all!"
Miroku dashed forward, removing the prayer beads from his right hand, and opened the wind tunnel. The giant youkai's hand was immediately sucked into it, and it struggled to hold its ground as the rest of its body was slowly starting to get sucked in as well.
Sesshomaru, for the first time since he had first appeared, looked surprised, and leapt back, digging the Tessaiga into the earth to anchor himself. The tiny figure of Jaken, still perched on the giant's shoulder, panicked.
"N-No, stop this!"
"You show him, Miroku!" Shippo cheered, and Kagome decided to join in.
"Miroku, you're the best!" she looked over at Inuyasha, who didn't look amused in the slightest. "Oh yeah, you were good too."
"Gee, thanks, I could tell it was from the heart." grumbled Inuyasha sarcastically.
Daitan looked over at Sesshomaru, who took a round object out from his robes and tossed it into the air, where it exploded into dozens of hornets easily the size of her face. I have a bad feeling about this-! And sure enough, when the hornets were sucked into Miroku's Wind Tunnel, the monk faltered in his stance, and then stumbled, closing the Wind Tunnel and falling to his knees. The giant youkai, having had part of its head sucked into the Wind Tunnel, slumped to the ground, dead.
"I-Inuyasha! You'll have to take over!" he stammered.
"Miroku!" gasped Kagome.
"What'd they do to you?" Inuyasha looked fearful for his ally, and Daitan grit her teeth, unsheathing her katana.
"It's not over, you guys! There are more of them left!"
Inuyasha and Daitan leapt forward, the former using his claws to slice the insects apart, the latter cutting them cleanly in half with her katana. Even Shippo pitched in, using his fox fire to burn some of the insects away.
"Inuyasha! Daitan! Watch Miroku for me!" Kagome called, and then ran off toward the village. The hanyou turned to the monk, annoyed.
"Hey, Miroku! We could use some help over here!"
"Sorry, Inuyasha," Miroku looked over, his face turning pale. "The venom's gotten to me… how could those insects have blocked the use of my hand?"
The insects now all lay dead, and Inuyasha turned to face Sesshomaru once more. Daitan backed away, and Inuyasha growled at her.
"Where do you think you're going, huh?"
"Miroku needs help, we can't just leave him!"
Inuyasha glanced back briefly, then dug his claws into his own arm, shouting,
"Blades of Blood!"
While Sesshomaru was distracted blocking the many scarlet blades flying in his direction, Inuyasha ran back to hoist Miroku over his shoulder. Daitan followed, covering their backs as they hid behind the still corpse of the giant youkai. Shippo was trembling uncontrollably.
"W-We've got company coming!"
Daitan took in a shaky breath, and gathered Shippo into her arms, tightly closing her eyes as a bright light shone through her eyelids, and the corpse the group was hiding behind exploded.
The light vanished just as quickly as it came, and Daitan's stomach turned as she realized that she was buried in what was left of the giant's corpse. She stuck her hand out blindly, and upon reaching into fresh air, dug herself out.
Daitan opened her eyes, immediately spotting Inuyasha, who held the Tessaiga's sheath in both of his hands, having blocked a head-on strike from Sesshomaru. A plume of flame suddenly burst right over her head, and she found the small green youkai, Jaken, using a strange staff to launch flames at Miroku and Shippo, who had apparently survived as well. Moving quickly, Daitan appeared behind Jaken and took hold of the top of the staff.
"What the- unhand me, you filthy human weakli-aaAAAAHHH!"
The girl had picked up the staff, and when Jaken came right with it, she began to swing it wildly around and around, eventually picking up so much speed that Jaken lost his grip and went flying into the distance. Daitan dropped the staff carelessly, and went to check on Miroku and Shippo.
"You guys alright?" the monk and the fox child looked like they were about to reply, but suddenly, gasped in horror. Daitan looked up just in time to see that Sesshomaru had disarmed Inuyasha of the Tessaiga's sheath, and her body moved without her thinking. With superhuman speed, she rushed over to Sesshomaru, drawing her sword, intending to at least distract the youkai, so that Inuyasha could escape in time.
Daitan had her teeth bared, and Sesshomaru, in a moment of temporary distraction, looked over at her.
And then, a sudden sharp pain exploded in her leg, radiating all throughout her body, and Daitan let out a pained cry. Looking behind her, she spotted Kagome with her bow in her hand, already looking mortified.
No one moved or said anything for a solid five seconds. And then…
"GOD DAMMIT SON OF A BITCH-!" Daitan cursed. She shuddered, looked down, and gripped the arrow. It felt like it was burning into her very soul. "WHAT THE HELL, KAGOME?! YOU JUST SHOT ME IN THE ASS, BUTTERFINGERS!"
In the moment of confusion, another arrow split the air, and this time, it hit its intended mark. It clanged against the metal of the Tessaiga, and the purifying light forced the sword to transform back into its old, rusted form. Daitan panted, gritted her teeth, and pulled the arrow out of her wounded right buttcheek. Even the shaft of the arrow stung her palm, and the nails of her right hand began to lengthen and sharpen in response to the spiritual power within it. Daitan gingerly sat up, leaning to her left so as to not put pressure on her wound.
"S-Sesshomaru!" called Kagome, another arrow already nocked on her bow. "Drop the sword, or the next arrow's going in your heart!"
"Or your ass…" whispered Daitan, and Inuyasha let out a little snort, despite the dire situation they were in. Sesshomaru only spared a short glance down at the wounded girl.
"Inuyasha! Take Daitan and get out of there! Move it!" ordered Kagome. Inuyasha didn't move, still staring at Kagome, and Daitan desperately tried not to let go of her disguise. The purifying arrow did more than just break her skin. She could feel her canines slowly lengthening, and it was all she could do to keep her hair black and her ears round.
I really don't want to get found out like this!