Chapter 5: The Secret Is Out! / Naraku's Insidious Plot
Myoga had told the group of a limestone cave, from which the Shikon Jewel had been formed, and thus, they all began to head in its direction, Inuyasha pulling a large cart behind him.
"...This village actually served as a kind of… factory." said Myoga hesitantly. "They made weapons and armor from the skins and bones of slain youkai." Daitan shivered a little, imagining her own pelt being worn by someone else. But that's only if I transform into my beast form, I suppose...
Before long, the large mouth of a cave came into view. It was too dark inside to see how far back it led. Myoga began to speak again.
"The villagers threw all the unused portions into this cavern." he said, and Inuyasha turned the cart around to dump the wrapped up body parts of the slain youkai into the yawning cave entrance, as well as the cart itself before Daitan could stop him.
"Someone else could've used that, you know." she grumbled. Inuyasha only scoffed and made a face at her, listening to Myoga's next words.
"This place is filled with a collection of youkai remains. It is fabled that deep inside this particular limestone cave, lies the carcass of an absolutely gargantuan beast." Myoga trailed off cryptically.
"The Shikon Jewel formed here?" Kagome sounded disbelieving, and Daitan couldn't help but agree. The jewel was an incredibly powerful and above all sacred artifact. To think that it had formed in the dumping grounds for leftover youkai body parts… was more than a little hard to believe, but Myoga seemed confident when he nodded his tiny head.
"Yes, according to the local legend, at least."
"Good work, Myoga." said Inuyasha after a few beats of silence. Daitan looked over at the hanyou with a mock disbelief.
"Wow, never thought I'd see the day… Inuyasha giving someone a compliment." she remarked. Inuyasha opened his mouth to retort, but Myoga quickly cut him off.
"Thank you for the compliment, master Inuyasha, I'm more than just a parasite."
"Yeah," snorted Inuyasha. "'Till the going gets rough, then your big talk about loyalty and courage dries up and you take off on me again." the words themselves would have been more harsh, had Inuyasha not had a little smile on his face.
"Master, how could you doubt my loyalty?" cried Myoga. Daitan shook her head in exasperation, but there was a little smile on her face.
"It's not like there's much you could do anyway, Myoga. You're a little too small and delicate for fighting." she said. The flea nodded vigorously in agreement, and Miroku, attempting to get back to the matter at hand, cleared his throat.
"Well, do you think we should venture in?" he suggested, and Inuyasha nodded.
"Yeah, definitely. Let's go in." the hanyou agreed, striding confidently forward.
"Wait, hold on a second-" Myoga's warning came too late when Inuyasha crashed into a barrier made from spiritual power, and was abruptly flung backwards. Glad I didn't walk in first, Thought Daitan, glancing at the barrier with the barest of sour expressions as Inuyasha berated Myoga for not warning him on time. Daitan's skin itched a little just from being near the cave's entrance. That would have made for some very awkward questions.
Try as he might, repeatedly swinging Tessaiga, Inuyasha could not break the barrier on the entrance to the cave.
"Inuyasha, I don't think repeatedly swinging the Tessaiga at it like a club will do any good… it's really too bad all the taijiya were killed in the attack," sighed Daitan tiredly. "They probably knew some trick to get in or something."
"But not all of them were killed," said Miroku. "I remember - the best of their slayers were at some castle during the attack." Daitan raised an eyebrow.
"Really? And you didn't think to mention that sooner?" she grumbled. Myoga piped up from Inuyasha's shoulder.
"Right - the youkai decimated the village because it lacked their most talented taijiya. Otherwise, their attack would have been easily thwarted."
Daitan looked back in the direction of the village.
"Easily? There were a lot of youkai, even for the taijiya to handle. What difference would a few extra humans have made?" she mumbled. Kagome's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at Daitan's quiet comment, and the older girl avoided eye contact. Meanwhile, Inuyasha had started to speak again.
"Right… so if we find this castle, then maybe one of the surviving taijiya also knows the trick for opening this stupid cave," he concluded. "Let's get going, then, we don't have all day."
Daitan followed the rest of the group, but noticed Kagome lagging behind.
"Kagome? What's wrong?"
"Yeah, Kagome, hurry it up or we'll leave you behind!" shouted Inuyasha from the front, and the schoolgirl frowned, jogging to catch up. Kagome slowed down next to Daitan, who had fallen into the back of the small group. Daitan could feel the girl's brown eyes staring into the side of her head. Daitan finally sighed.
"Alright, what is it, Kagome?"
"Daitan… you've been acting weird lately."
"Oh great," Daitan groaned. "Not you too. Am I really that obvious?" As the group headed into a lush forest, Kagome nodded.
"I've noticed you say some weird things sometimes… I know you'll say it's nothing, but if there's anything on your mind, you can tell me."
Daitan let out a 'tch.'
"I've already gotten a lecture from Miroku. Listen, I appreciate what you're trying to do for me here, but some things have to stay private," upon glancing over at Kagome's still-worried expression, Daitan sighed again. "...I'll admit that I've found myself facing a dilemma, and I know what I'll have to do eventually, but don't worry about it, honestly. You'll understand sometime soon, I promise." the older girl gave Kagome a soft smile, which Kagome returned.
"I just can't help but to worry sometimes. You're my friend, and if there's something troubling you, I want to help." the two girls walked in silence for a few moments.
"...You're a good person, Kagome. Maybe a little air headed and clumsy at times-" Daitan dodged a playful swipe. "-but even then, I trust you. Even though you shot me in the ass that one time."
"Hey, you said you wouldn't mention it ever again!" laughed Kagome, aiming another mock-punch at Daitan's shoulder, who merely danced out of reach. Their mirth was cut short, however, by an angry outburst from Inuyasha.
"Listen flea, you're the one who's supposed to know - I can't think of everything!" he shouted. I was beginning to wonder why he had just picked a direction and started walking… Thought Daitan.
"Why not follow your nose?" suggested Miroku. "The castle can't be too far away, and you are hanyou, you should be able to sniff it out from here."
"Yeah, well I can't get a whiff of anything from here."
Now that he mentions it, he's right - I can't really smell much of anything other than the forest around us…
Kirara, who had been cuddled into Kagome's arms, suddenly perked up, trilling. That thing is so cute even if I am a dog.
The hairs on the back of Daitan's neck suddenly stood straight, and she moved protectively in front of Kagome, Miroku, and Shippo right before an enormous spinning object tore the trees in front of them apart like reeds. Through the newly cleared part of forest, Daitan spotted a woman in a black catsuit and pink armor, a metal facemask fastened over her nose and mouth. Reaching up, the woman caught the spinning object with one hand. Is that a giant boomerang!?
"Are you Inuyasha?" demanded the woman, glaring at the hanyou with cold brown eyes. "I've come to exact my revenge!" of course, Inuyasha wasn't going to let some stranger threaten him so blatantly.
"Oh yeah?! And who are you?" he snarled. Myoga suddenly spoke up in a trembling voice.
"Sango…"
"Is she from the taijiya village?" asked Kagome. Daitan placed her hand on her katana, ready to draw it at any moment.
"No doubt - just look at her armor. And that weapon's got to be heavy - she must have incredible strength and skill to wield it like she does," she said, and her expression suddenly softened. "A woman after my own heart, truly…" Inuyasha and Miroku could have given themselves whiplash with how quickly their heads turned to look at Daitan, who just chuckled. Kagome didn't pay any mind to her comment - she had become quite used to similar ones over the time she had known Daitan. "Come on, it was a joke. Mostly…" Daitan muttered under her breath. Thankfully, the boys were then momentarily distracted by Myoga, who said,
"Trust me, Inuyasha, you must not fight her!"
"Hiraikotsu!" shouted the taijiya standing in front of them, hefting her boomerang up over her head with ease and flinging it straight toward Inuyasha. The hanyou unsheathed the Tessaiga, blocking the taijiya's weapon, but not without being pushed back a few feet from the sheer force of impact. Once again, the weapon returned to its master, and Inuyasha growled.
"Hey, what're you coming after me for, anyway?"
"Silence! I'm here to avenge my people!" on that note, the woman once again flung her boomerang at Inuyasha, who dodged. The boomerang made a sizeable crater in the ground, and Daitan still stood off to the side, ready to intervene if things got out of hand.
"But hey, wait! We haven't even met any of your people, have we?" Daitan turned to look at Miroku for confirmation, who nodded.
"We could try to reason with her, but she seems to be overcome with rage!"
"We've got to do something about her weapon!" said Kagome, watching the 'Hiraikotsu' go spinning once again towards Inuyasha.
"I agree," said Miroku, unwrapping the prayer beads from around his cursed hand. "Wind Tunnel!"
Sure enough, the boomerang's momentum in the air decreased, but just as it began to get sucked in the direction of Miroku's Wind Tunnel, a swarm of saimyosho appeared, ready to fly into the Wind Tunnel and poison the monk. Miroku abruptly closed the Wind Tunnel, the hornets buzzing threateningly in the air.
"What are they doing here!?" Miroku had a desperate tone to his voice. His previous encounter with the insects had obviously left a mark.
It was only then that they all noticed the figure sitting behind Sango, dressed head to toe in the pelt of a white baboon.
"Naraku!" snarled Inuyasha, and Daitan's eyes narrowed dangerously, flashing gold. So this is Naraku… the others have told me about what he can do… if he joins in on the battle, I'll have no choice but to step in, and not hold back.
From his place behind Sango, Naraku chuckled.
"Inuyasha, she will destroy you eventually, so you might as well accept your fate."
"Keep dreaming, monkey! It's you that's going down!" shouted Inuyasha, and in a move of sheer stupidity, leapt into the air, aiming to land a strike on Naraku from above. Sango threw the weighted end of the chain hanging from her belt. It whipped into the air and wrapped around Inuyasha's ankle, causing him to fall heavily to the ground.
"I am your opponent, not him!" shouted the taijiya.
"If you keep interfering like this, I'm gonna have to take care of you!" Inuyasha growled. The taijiya's weapon spun back into her hand, and when she next spoke, her voice was filled with hatred.
"Just you try it! Maybe my defenseless village was quick for you to slaughter, but I won't die so easily!"
"Oh, it's all coming together now." said Daitan, her scowl only deepening, and she shared a look with Miroku, who nodded and dashed off to the side, in the direction of Naraku.
"That lady believes Inuyasha attacked her village!" said Shippo, now perched on Kagome's shoulder. The schoolgirl nodded.
"I bet Naraku lied to her about it!" suddenly, Kagome gasped.
"What is it? Are you hurt?" asked Daitan, glancing back briefly at the younger girl.
"No - there's a Shikon Jewel shard in her back!" she replied.
"Kagome, go get your bow," ordered Daitan, and Kagome hesitated slightly. "Quickly! I know she's not a youkai, but that doesn't matter right now! If we can't work things out civilly, we may have no other choice! I'll cover you, just in case! Bow, now! "
Kagome looked shocked at Daitan's outburst, but scurried off to retrieve her bow and quiver, Daitan following close behind while keeping an eye on the battle. Sango had thrown a sort of smoke bomb, and even from several meters away, it still made Daitan's nose burn. Faintly, she could see Miroku doing battle with Naraku, but… it didn't seem like Naraku was trying very hard…
Moments later, Kagome had retrieved her bow and quiver from where she had dropped them, and was running back toward Daitan…
Miroku managed to sever Naraku's sword arm, and nearly everyone was caught off guard.
"He did it!" exclaimed Shippo in awe, but Daitan wasn't so sure about Miroku's 'victory.' It's just an arm… and it's not bleeding nearly enough!
The arm suddenly flew low across the ground, heading for Kagome, and Daitan whipped her sword out of its sheath, only missing it by the breadth of a hair as it snatched the tiny jar of jewel fragments from around Kagome's neck. Dammit!
Naraku's arm returned to his body, merging back with him seamlessly. The white baboon chuckled again.
"These shards are not for the likes of you. Now that I possess it, there's no reason to linger..."
Daitan's heart pounded in her chest. He's going to get away!
"Not without a fight, Naraku!" she faintly heard Inuyasha say. The baboon didn't rise to the challenge. I'm not ready-!
"I will bid you farewell." Naraku's calm voice said, and Inuyasha and Miroku both charged at him.
"You're not going anywhere!"
Before they could get too close, black smoke billowed out from underneath the baboon pelt, making Inuyasha and Miroku cough harshly…
...You know what? Screw it. It was only a matter of time.
"Sango, I will await you at the castle-"
Naraku was suddenly cut off, and the only thing anyone else saw was a streak of white as someone leapt high into the air, and clashed with Naraku. The glint of a sword flashed, once, twice, and the stranger was only dislodged from Naraku by a strong kick to the stomach. Their arm shot out, and a bright whip appeared from the tips of their fingers, glowing pale green and crackling with unstable-looking energy.
Naraku blocked the whip with his left arm, and it suddenly scrunched up like a bungee cord, slinging the figure toward him at high speed. At the last moment, he detached the arm, flying out of range, and the figure fell to the ground, landing on their feet. The whip disappeared, and Daitan, her glamour completely gone, hair now white and eyes practically glowing gold with fury, wasted no time in pursuing him on foot.
She leapt over a chasm, and she vaguely sensed Kirara above her, Miroku on her back. Daitan made another flying leap, her sword whipping out to slash at the multiple tentacles that Naraku had sent in all directions and cutting them to pieces. The momentum gathered from Daitan's jump began to falter, and she summoned her whip once more, hoping to coil it around Naraku's throat. Unfortunately, it only latched onto yet another tentacle, and Naraku whipped it hard into Daitan's stomach, knocking her to the ground. Both Miroku and Kirara slammed into the ground nearby.
"Do not take me lightly, monk, nor you, pup." said Naraku, hovering tauntingly above Miroku. The monk cursed, gingerly sitting up. Daitan, clutching her stomach, got to her feet and held out a hand for Miroku to take. Not once did she take her eyes off their quarry.
"Daitan? Wha-" said youkai cut Miroku off.
"Not now. Get up, this isn't over for you or me."
Miroku nodded, taking her hand, and Daitan helped him to his feet. Before Daitan could rush at Naraku once more, Miroku spoke.
"Is Naraku's form merely an illusion?" he wondered aloud. Daitan grumbled, the pain in her stomach from Naraku's hits finally fading.
"Felt pretty real to me…"
"Illusion or not, it is time you found out for yourself first-hand!"
More tentacles shot out at Miroku, Daitan, and Kirara, but no matter how many they severed, they would only regenerate.
"No matter how many times I strike, he always reverts back!" grunted Miroku, swinging his staff to cut off more tentacles. Daitan leapt high once again, but instead of going straight for Naraku's body, she dashed from side to side, dodging and running along the tentacles instead. However, more and more tentacles began to surround her, cutting off her exits one by one.
Alright then… I guess this would be a good time to use that technique Dad had me work so hard on!
Daitan breathed deep, concentrating all of her youki within her, and then released it in a blast of light and power. In a fraction of a second, Daitan shot through the last remaining exit available, having been nearly consumed by Naraku's tentacles. She burst out into open air once again, and her light whip burst from her fingertips, latching onto the hem of Naraku's baboon skin.
Dashing right past him and avoiding more tentacles, Daitan swung around Naraku, pulling her whip tight and attempting to entangle him, but to her dismay, the more tentacles she tangled up, the more would appear in their place. In a last ditch effort, Daitan allowed herself to fall to the ground, using all of her strength to pull his body out of the air and slam him into the ground.
Unfortunately, all that she did only pulled him a bit closer to the ground, and more tentacles raced after her, forcing her to release her hold on him to get away. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Miroku, and her blood ran cold.
One of Naraku's tentacles had nearly pierced right through his abdomen, and Daitan had been too caught up to notice. She attempted to rush to his aide, but more tentacles barred her way. Daitan just cut through them, her only goal now being to save her friend, but…
With a loud yell, Inuyasha burst out of the trees, wielding the Tessaiga, and severed the tentacles attempting to disembowel Miroku. The monk flew backwards, landing heavily on his back. Of course, Inuyasha took that moment to start chewing him out.
"Miroku, what are you doing? You're such a useless-" Inuyasha's nose twitched, and his eyes focused on Daitan, who had turned back to face Naraku, teeth bared in a fierce scowl. "Wha-"
"Not now, Inuyasha!" Daitan shut him down immediately.
"But-"
"NOT NOW." she snarled, darting in front of Inuyasha to slash at the tentacles that had crept up on him. Naraku chuckled darkly from up above.
"So, you're still alive, Inuyasha?"
The hanyou scoffed, resting the Tessaiga on his shoulder.
"As if some mere human could kill me, think again."
"The last time I looked, you were losing to a wounded slayer." taunted Naraku, and Inuyasha growled.
"Shut up! You're the one who turned that pack of youkai onto the village and annihilated everyone!"
"All I did was mention to the youkai that the village guard happened to be thin that day."
"Either way, you might as well have killed them yourself!" growled Daitan, thinking back to how many women and children they had buried back in the taijiya village.
"And admit it, Naraku, you were after the jewel shards in the village, weren't you?" Miroku accused. Naraku, ever the smug good-for-nothing, chuckled again.
"You're not as slow as you look, monk. The villagers should have been prepared to defend such a valuable bounty."
"Well you could have just taken them, you didn't have to kill everybody!" argued Inuyasha. Daitan could sense the taijiya, Kagome, and Shippo approaching from over a nearby hill, and put up a minor illusion around herself to keep them focused on Naraku rather than her current appearance.
"Naraku…" from across the battleground, Sango the Taijiya spoke, her voice deadly calm. "The youkai in the castle and the spider youkai were all part of your trap, weren't they?"
"Trap…?" Naraku tilted his head. "Is that what you call my simple diversions? I thought the taijiya of your village handle any sort of youkai - they literally did not live up to their boasts."
Sango gritted her teeth, brown eyes flashing with rage as she got to her feet, shakily attempting to ignore the pain still making her body visibly tremble, and lifted her weapon.
"Damn you-!" Sango's knees buckled, and she fell back to the ground. A jewel shard fell from her grasp, and one of Naraku's tentacles swept it up from where it landed as Kagome rushed to help Sango up.
"Fool. There's no use in me lending you the Shikon jewel shard if all you choose is to defy me."
Using Naraku's distraction, Daitan made her way over to Miroku, who was clutching at his stomach. He quickly stood up straight when she approached.
"I'm fine." he said, but doubled over and groaned when Daitan pressed lightly against his stomach.
"You're very not fine. No more fighting for you."
Behind them, Inuyasha growled.
"You really like messing with people feelings, don'tcha, ya creep?!" he shouted, leaping into the air and brandishing the Tessaiga. Naraku easily dodged.
"Are you thinking about Kikyo when you say that?" taunted Naraku, and Inuyasha growled.
"You'll pay for that!" and with one easy swipe of the Tessaiga, cleaved Naraku's head from his shoulders, leaving his body to slump heavily to the ground. Daitan blinked, then narrowed her eyes.
"Was that all it took…?" she muttered aloud, approaching the body, and Inuyasha shook his head.
"No… that was too easy… he couldn't have had the power to make Kikyo and all those other people suffer so much-"
Suddenly, the body twitched and rose into the air, tentacles shooting out toward Inuyasha, and the disembodied head chuckled.
"Ah-! His body is moving without his head!" exclaimed Shippo, who had stayed perched on Kagome's shoulder for most of the battle.
"I will not die so easily." scoffed Naraku's disembodied head, more tentacles shooting toward Inuyasha and Daitan, who slashed them to pieces. However, just as the last time, they would only reform once destroyed. Sango gasped from behind them.
"Inuyasha, that's not him, that's a puppet!" she shouted. "In youkai puppetry, the master controls the puppet with something hidden deep inside the body! His heart, aim straight for his heart!"
"Haha… you figured it out." said Naraku, his 'head' still on the ground. With a yell, Inuyasha, for the last time, leapt into the air and cut through the puppet's body lengthwise with the Tessaiga. Finally, the remaining parts of the puppet shivered, and crumbled to ash. Only a roughly-hewn wooden doll was left where the body had been. A few strands of black hair had been tied around it. Miroku hobbled over, using his staff as a walking stick, and picked it up, turning it over in his hand.
"...What was that?" asked Inuyasha.
"That was youkai puppetry. The hair wrapped around this doll belongs to Naraku." said Miroku, deadly serious.
"Well that was more than a doll we just fought. And speaking of hair…" Inuyasha took a deep breath in, before shouting at the top of his lungs at Daitan. "What the hell?! You're a youkai?! And what's up with you two, haven't you noticed?!" he yelled, aiming the last sentence at Kagome, Shippo, and Sango, who had since approached them from the top of the hill.
Daitan blinked. "Oh, right." with a quiet pop, she dispelled the minor illusion she had cast, and it only took a fraction of a second before both Kagome and Shippo's jaws dropped.
"Waah! Daitan, y-you're…" Shippo trailed off, while Kagome only stood there, shocked, and with an expression that betrayed a hint of hurt.
"Daitan… was this what you were talking about earlier?" Kagome said quietly, approaching her slowly. Daitan rubbed the back of her neck bashfully.
"...Yeah, I just didn't want you to freak out or anything…" she said, but Kagome didn't reply immediately. "Um, Kagome? Are you-?"
There was nothing she could do to prevent herself from flinching at the following explosion.
"Freak out? Freak out?! How could you possibly think that I wouldn't freak out finding out one of my friends is a youkai when I thought she was human?!" Kagome stormed right up to Daitan and started to poke her hard (repeatedly) on the forehead. "I know you acted weird sometimes, but I thought you were just some rich kid - they act weird, right?! And what's more-!"
Kagome continued to shout, and Daitan stood there and just took it. Inuyasha was smirking in the background, obviously smug that he wasn't the one being yelled at for a change, Miroku wore a pensive expression, and Shippo had clearly gone into some form of shock. Once Kagome had exhausted her anger, and she only panted from shouting too much, she straightened up to look Daitan in the eye.
"Any more secrets we should know about?" she asked, a heavy load of sarcasm embedded in her tone, but Daitan winced and looked to the side sheepishly.
"...Maybe…" she admitted.
"Spit it out then… I don't think anything else could surprise me at this point…" sighed Kagome.
"Do you promise not to yell at me anymore?" asked Daitan. Kagome nodded, and Daitan took in a deep breath. "Thing is… in the future… Sesshomaru's kind of my dad." she said, brushing her bangs out of the way to reveal the crescent moon on her forehead.
Needless to say, Kagome immediately broke her promise.
A/N: It's me! I apologize for the wait, stuff got in the way... also I had a bad case of writer's block/burnout for the longest time. That seems to happen to me a lot. But a combination of rereading previous chapters, making notes, and daydreaming while listening to the Okami soundtrack got me to finish this chapter, half of which had just been sitting there for the longest time until I finished it recently. Anyway, all of Daitan's secrets are out! As you may have guessed, I'm impatient when it comes to drama caused by miscommunication, so I didn't want to drag it out for forever. Also, I thought I might put down some of the music I listen to while writing this story, so here you go!
Cherry Blossom Storm - Okami ost
Waka's Promenade / Playing with Waka - Okami ost
Sei An City (Commoner's Quarter) - Okami ost
Escaping a Foul Presence - Ori and the Will of the Wisps ost
These are just some of the songs I've listened to for inspiration, most of them are basically just the Okami and Ori soundtracks. Both are amazing games with amazing music!