Sango: hm…seems as if Hiraikotsu didn't work wonders this time.

A1969: it's alright, I always have…-points to Miroku-

Miroku: WIND-!

A1969: not yet, you idiot!

Miroku: sorry –closes Wind Tunnel-

A1969: anyway, don't own the show.

Chapter Six: A Life at Risk

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Clara continued running after Inuyasha. The others seemed to have fallen behind. Clara didn't know, she focused all her attention on Inuyasha. If I remove the jewel, Clara thought with determination, Inuyasha will snap out of it!

Clara continued running after Inuyasha. Despite the hanyou's speed, the young woman managed to keep sight of him. Inuyasha continued running until he reached a river, near the very cliff of the waterfall. Clara was nearly out of breath by the time she reached him.

"You don't have anywhere to run, Inuyasha," Clara said, panting. The roar of the waterfall was defeaning.

Inuyasha bared his fangs at her and attempted attack her with his claws but Clara dodged him by rolling to one side. "Snap out of it, Inuyasha!" Clara said as she took a timid step towards the deranged hanyou; her hakama made a gentle swishing sound that was lost to the noise of the waterfall.

Inuyasha growled at her. Clara would never forget that horrid sound he made when he did. Clara took another timid step towards him. Inuyasha charged at her, his claws ready to pierce her flesh. The young woman's eyes widened in shock; but before Inuyasha could kill her, a blast of energy knocked the half-demon off his feet. He would have fallen into the waterfall, but he grabbed a rock that was protruding from the water and swung himself back up.

Clara spun around and found Sesshoumaru walking towards Inuyasha. The hanyou growled at his brother and ran towards him, but Sesshoumaru repelled him with Tokijin's sword pressure. Inuyasha was flung back and Clara noticed all the blood and wounds the hanyou had; despite the injuries, he didn't appear to be in pain.

It's because he's out of his mind, Clara thought. I have to get that jewel out before he kills himself!

Sesshoumaru raised his sword, ready to strike Inuyasha once more. Without even considering the fact that he was a danger and a demon, Clara grabbed his wrist and said, "No! You mustn't kill Inuyasha!"

Sesshoumaru looked at her with a cold glare and wondered how a human would dare to touch him let alone order him to stop. Sesshoumaru lowered Tokijin and regarded her coldly. "Let I, Sesshoumaru, see what you shall do," he said coolly. Clara inwardly gulped. She didn't like the tone in his voice.

Inuyasha growled at her again and Clara spun around to regard him. The hanyou was standing only a foot away from the edge of the cliff. At that moment, Hakudoshi and Kagome appeare; Kagome looked worn out from all the running and Hakudoshi looked smug as ever.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Hakudoshi said, running his eyes around the scene before him. "Two useless priestesses…a deranged half-demon and a useless demon lord…how amusing." Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at Hakudoshi who didn't give the slightest indication that he had noticed. The boy fixed his gaze on Kagome. "Why are you still lazing around? Shouldn't you be trying to help Inuyasha? Hmph. If you don't hurry…the dark jewel will corrupt his soul permanently, leaving him in the state that he is."

Kagome's eyes widened. What? Did he say that Inuyasha will remain the way he is?

Sesshoumaru looked at Kagome then Clara then back again. Both girls seemed to be thinking deeply. Without warning, Inuyasha suddenly charged towards Kagome; the young woman rolled to one side to avoid Inuyasha, scraping her knee in the process. Inuyasha silently approached Kagome, his fangs bared and his clawed hand raised threateningly at her. Clara suddenly embraced Inuyasha from behind, preventing him from moving towards Kagome.

Inuyasha tried to fling her off his back, but Clara held on; her slender hands slowly closed in around the Sacred Jewel embedded in his shoulder, which was slowly being purified…

Damn that girl, Hakudoshi thought as he charged towards Clara.

"Watch out!" Kagome shouted. It was too late. Hakudoshi triumphantly stabbed Clara in the side with his naginata. Clara's eyes widened in pain as the warm blood slowly soaked her haori and hakamas. Sesshoumaru decided that it was time to intervene. He charged towards Hakudoshi. The boy parried his attack with his naginata.

Clara felt pain and felt the blood gush out of the wound. She would have collapsed, but her fingers, despite being weakened, slowly closed on the Sacred Jewel, purifying it. Clara pulled out the jewel with what little strength she had left. Hakudoshi abandoned Sesshoumaru and went after Clara in order to retrieve the Sacred Jewel.

Kagome's eyes widened as Hakudoshi snatched the Jewel from Clara's weak fingers. "You're through, Midoriko," Hakudoshi sneered. With triumph showing in his eyes, he pushed Clara in to the waterfall. Clara's eyes widened as she fell. The sound and the wetness of the water was the last thing she heard before everything around her went black.

"Clara!" Kagome screamed. She ran to the edge of the falls and looked below. Clara was gone. The water swept her away…

"That's the end of Midoriko," Hakudoshi said as Inuyasha slowly regained consciousness after Clara's pulling out the jewel knocked him out. Hakudoshi felt the jewel in his hands. It was still warm from Inuyasha's blood.

Inuyasha slowly became aware of his brother's scent-and Hakudoshi's. "'What…happened…?" Inuyasha asked groggily. Sesshoumaru and Hakudoshi turned their attention to Inuyasha. Seeing that he was awake, Kagome ran to him and embraced him.

"Inuyasha…Hakudoshi…Clara…he…he…" Kagome looked at the waterfall. Inuyasha suddenly became aware of the scent of Clara's blood on him-and he understood all.

Inuyasha's first glare was for Sesshoumaru. "You bastard! If you helped that brat kill Clara, then I'll kill you!"

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at him. "Inuyasha, you're wrong," Kagome said hurriedly. "Sesshoumaru…helped us."

Inuyasha charged towards Hakudoshi, his claws still gleaming with blood. Hakudoshi threw Tessaiga at the hanyou, the sword stabbed him in the stomach, spraying blood on the ground. "Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted as the hanyou, finally weak from all that happened, collapsed on the ground on his back.

"Hm…at least Midoriko's dead," Hakudoshi said lazily as he flew off, Shikon Jewel still clutched tightly in his hand.

Sesshoumaru silently approached Inuyasha, but Kagome beat him to it. "Don't you come near him!" Kagome snarled, afraid that Sesshoumaru would try to finish off the hanyou.

"Step aside," Sesshoumaru ordered dangerously.

Kagome gritted her teeth at him. She was afraid of him but her desire to protect Inuyasha from his brother quenched that fear. "If you think that I'm going to let you harm Inuyasha, then you have another thing coming!" Kagome snapped.

The daiyoukai walked lazily towards Kagome until he towered over her. Kagome inwardly shuddered. He was intimidating. Without saying another word, Sesshoumaru grabbed the hilt of Tessaiga, feeling the sting of the sword's barrier as he did so. Kagome's eyes widened as Sesshoumaru pulled out Tessaiga from Inuyasha's limp body.

"Eh?" Kagome asked in bewilderment as Sesshoumaru threw Tessaiga at her feet. Without another word, the daiyoukai turned and left. "He only helped Inuyasha…"

Kagome turned her eyes to the hanyou. Blood was still pouring from his wounds. The roar of the waterfall made Kagome think of Clara as she hauled Inuyasha to his feet.

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The leaves of the Sacred Tree seemed to rustle eerily as a soul collector floated lazily into the clearing. Another soul collector followed then another until the clearing was filled with dead souls and soul collectors. Kikyou arrived shortly, her unbound raven hair steaming behind her. She walked into the clearing with a certain air of cold grace and elegance. Her eyes scanned the clearing until she found what she was looking for-a slightly torn paper doll. She pointed to it and a soul collector brought it to her outstretched hand.

Se brought the doll closely to her face. After inspecting it, she seemed to look beyond the clearing. "So…Clara…is dead, huh?" she said to herself. She suddenly felt pressure build up in her left palm. Kikyou took out an arrow and pierced her hand with its sharp point. Instead of blood or sand falling, a dark poisonous liquid oozed out. "Naraku's miasma…" Kikyou said softly. She let the shouki trickle to the ground.

Kochou approached her, holding a clay vessel in her hands. Kikyou slowly took out some soil from it-soil from her grave. She let the soil fall gently to her wounded palm and the wound closed.

"Mistress Kikyou?" Kochou asked as Kikyou begun to revive Asuka.

"Naraku's bones are producing even more miasma…" Kikyou told Kochou and Asuka. "If I do not kill Naraku before I die…" her voice trailed off.

"Forgive me, Mistress Kikyou," Asuka said as bowed. "I have failed you."

Kikyou looked at her for a moment. "Midoriko's death is…regrettable…however, we must not weep over the past…we must…" her voice trailed off again.

Kikyou didn't continue her sentence as she and her retainers left the clearing.

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Naraku fingered the Sacred Jewel in his hands. Hakudoshi's success had pleased him greatly. With the threat of Midoriko gone and Kikyou dying, it was only a matter of time before he would win. A nasty smirked crept up his lips. The only thing left to do was find the other half of the Sacred Jewel, the one that Midoriko had with her.

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Inuyasha became aware of the sound of voices.

"So…that means Clara's dead?" Sango's voice said. Huh? Inuyasha thought, then he remembered. Oh, right…that bastard, Hakudoshi killed her…

"What'll we do now?" Miroku's voice was saying. "She was our last hope…"

"There's always…a way," Kagome's sweet voice said.

Inuyasha decided to open his eyes. "Oh, you're awake," Kagome said, seeing the hanyou sit up. Inuyasha looked down at himself. Kagome had taken the liberty of taking off his haori and bandaging the wounds inflicted on him.

"Damn it," the hanyou said softly. "If I hadn't fallen for Hakudoshi's trick…"

"It isn't your fault, Inuyasha," Kagome said, placing a warm hand on Inuyasha's. "Hakudoshi fools everyone, manipulates people…like he did me when he was still in his infant stage…"

They were all silent for a while.

"What'll we do now?" Sango asked. "Didn't Clara say that her mother was worrying about her?"

Kagome's eyes widened. "How will I explain that her daughter's…" Kagome didn't finish her sentence.

Inuyasha looked at her with sad eyes. "You'll have to tell her the truth…sooner or later…"

Kagome nodded and leaned her head on Inuyasha's shoulder. She didn't want to tell Mrs. Rose that her daughter was dead. She felt afraid. She was afraid of what Clara's mother might do when she found out that her only daughter was dead. The miko sighed. She didn't want to face Clara's mother just yet, but she knew that she had to, sooner or later…

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"Rin! Get back here!" Jaken shouted as Rin began running up the riverbank. "Lord Sesshoumaru said not to go anywhere!"

"No, he didn't!" Rin shouted from over her shoulder, her black hair streaming behind her as she ran. Jaken picked up his pace and ran faster, but Rin was still ahead of him. "Come on, Jaken-sama! When we were passing by earlier, I saw a lot of beautiful Chrysanthemums near the riverbank! I want to go pick some up for Lord Sesshoumaru!"

"Lord Sesshoumaru doesn't need them!" Jaken hollered as he started to pant from the effort of running.

Rin turned around the bend where she was sure that she would see the flowers. But what she saw made her stop in her tracks.

There was a girl. Half of her body was still in the river where the water had turned blood red. The blood that gushed from her wound turned some of the Chrysanthemums red. Her back was facing Rin and the little girl could see the wound. The girl's wet hair was plastered to her body and her skin looked deathly pale from loosing so much blood.

"Rin!" Jaken had finally caught up.

"Jaken-sama!" Rin shouted. "Quick!"

Jaken too stopped when he saw what Rin was seeing. "Let's leave, Rin," Jaken said, grabbing Rin's hand. Rin tugged it away from Jaken.

"No, we have to help her, Jaken-sama," Rin said.

"Rin!"

Rin went near the girl and placed a finger on her neck. "Ah! She's still alive, Jaken-sama!" Rin said. She gingerly rolled the girl on to her back.

Rin's eyes widened. "It's Lady Clara!"

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A1969: I love a cliffy.

Miroku: But you love reviews more, right?

Sango: yep, she does. Better make sure she gets reviews.

Miroku: WIND-! –smacks Miroku-

A1969: wait till Sango and I are away, you idiot!