windbreaking, Shippo did eat the fruit, but as most demons his metabolism is different than that of a human. As for the other answers you will just have to read the chapter for those. And Naraku is def the worst, but he is pure evil in the most basic way. Pain, torment, anger, and all those other emotions that are nothing but negative darken his soul (if he has one).
Thanks to all those that have kept with the story this far. It just makes my day to know that so many people are sticking with it. Thank you again!
Kagome refused to listen to the ongoing battle of her mind and heart, both staining to aid and release her powers that she was holding down just enough to keep from purifying the male before her. Her eyes saw Naraku, but her heart called out to the Hanyou before her, knowing it wasn't Naraku but Inuyasha that stood before her. She had seen him, the fear in his eyes and the pain. She knew what he had seen because the last time that look had been in his eyes was when Kikyo had come back. Sure, she had been out for the first part of it, but she had seen it the second time the woman had shown up, when Kikyo had tried to take him to Hell with her and he had willingly surrendered to her. It had been a trick because when Kagome had yelled for him, crying for him he had nearly shoved the other Miko away to get to her and while she had been mad at him after the fact she knew that he had picked her in that moment. Even if he had gone back to the other woman on countless occasions, but she had known it was a struggle for him to choose between them and yet at that first moment of her cry he had come to her.
"I-Inuyasha," she whimpered, the fear of her mind trying to drag her down, after all it was only her mind that saw the monster before her because she held no fear save for Inuyasha's death or his leaving her for the other woman, but they hadn't picked that, but the male that was after her. Possibly they hoped that she would strike him down, but she didn't do it. She was stronger than that and then she heard the yell from Sesshomaru, but she couldn't see what he was looking at because only her fear was striking her down, not theirs. She could only see the pain on his face and the fact that he two was trying to fight back against whatever he was seeing while Koga was before him on his knees, but looking around him as if there were others around him. She had to break this hold the two of those demons had on them, but first she had to find them. "I don't know what you see, not really, but know that it Kagome that stands before you." His eyes closed for a moment, as if he could hear her voice and she continued, "Ka-go-me. Not wench or bitch." When he opened his eyes they seemed to see her as the fear and pain replaced with relief as he drew toward her, but the scent of her fear still clung in the air.
"Kagome," he breathed, reaching for her and with little in the way of hesitation, even with the fear clouding her mind she listened to her heart, she touched his face with her cool fingers. She wasn't going to allow the illusion to drown her, to kill her or her friends.
"It's the fruit we ate," the Miko stated, but she still seemed unsure as to why the others who had not eaten the food were also affected until he sniffed the air and let out a whimper. She then got it, the reason that now clung to her nose and made him revert to the vile appearance of Naraku. There was something in this village that held the same threat as the fruit and she just had to find it, but when she attempted to move the Hanyou would not allow her as he stuck his nose near her neck and she could feel his hot breath warm her skin. She allowed him to hold her, to take in her scent as she did the same thing, but her face was in his silver hair even while it looked like Naraku's dark tresses. But now with that scent in her mind and heart she knew that it was her Hanyou holding her. Her Hanyou? He wasn't hers, though she yearned for it to be him that had marked her, the one that had claimed her as the sensation from the dream took over at the sudden wetness on her skin and she tensed for a second as her mind went back to that night. There were soft kisses left all over her skin, marks from his fanged mouth as he sucked on her skin, as if to draw her blood from her skin and into his mouth.
She felt the shame that came with each of these memories, the shame of allowing another to touch her and mark her, but then again the auras of her pups reminded her that they were there because of that and she couldn't hold that shame, not all of it anymore. Inuyasha pulled away from her, his mouth moving, but she could not hear his words. No, she still saw Naraku before her even as she tried to will his façade away. She wanted the illusion gone, but first she had to figure out what was causing it. Looking around she found Shippo and Rin off at the edge of the forest, neither one looking fearful now. Rin even appeared to be worried for the group before her, even when Kagome noted that her eyes fell upon Koga and his slouched form as he seemed to be sinking in shame and guilt. She needed to figure it out, needed to know how she could stop it and looking around once more she saw her other friends struggling with whatever stood before them. Whatever it was it effected both human and demon, both the strong and the weak, though she wouldn't consider any of them weak.
"You can look all you want, try to figure out how I am drawing you into this nightmare or you can just allow it to take you over, to embrace it," came a soft male voice laced with malice and lust. A finger touched her back, running it down her spine as a shiver of disgust slid along with it. She wanted to release some of her power, to burn that finger, but Inuyasha was too close and she was afraid she would hurt him as well. She couldn't do that, but he growled, or had he been growling since the other male appeared. "Ah, half breed, you too will know our touch when we sink our fangs into your flesh while you still breath, but you, you will not be able to fight us." The woman appeared behind him, smelling him.
"You don't smell like a half breed though, do you Hanyou?" she asked in a whisper and Kagome knew that he had transformed, even with his fang at his side he had transformed like he had before when she was in danger, but she still couldn't see him. "You smell so delicious, so like a long awaited treat that you can not wait to be ready for consumption." A cry escaped his lips as she thrust a blade into his body, just below where his heart was beating and his blood gushed out, darkening his fire-rat robes with his blood. She felt her body cry at the smell, howl as if part of it was dying, but she couldn't move...wouldn't move because she didn't want to hurt him, but she wanted to free him. Weirdly enough though it seemed that his blood was enough to cause the other two male demons to pause in their nightmares, but only for a second and she wondered. Could she wake them up with her blood combined with Inuyasha's and so she thrust her hand forward to impale it on the blade. She may lose the mobility of her hand, but it was a small sacrifice.
Her blood seemed to cause the most strangest thing to happen as a pink light seemed to spill out with her blood, her brown eyes watching it with a curious gaze. She felt the slight pinch of pain, but for some reason it felt tame, not at all what she had expected as she had been struck by an arrow when Kikyo had been after her, but this, this was bigger and yet it felt like nothing. Then everything changed in a split second as Inuyasha growled louder, his body shifting at the same time that the auras in her belly seemed to call out, mixing their golden red aura into her own pink one that was still spilling out. Sesshomaru turned from his rival, the one that was no longer bloody in his eyes as he turned toward her and Koga also seemed to come out of his own stupor as his eyes narrowed on the scene before him as Inuyasha thrust forward, his claws just inches from her face as he slammed his bared claws into the face of the male behind her. A cry from the evil demon's lips was reinforced with his sister's as the Hanyou pulled back from Kagome, releasing her hand from the blade's tip. A hole was in her palm and yet she still felt no pain, not even the pinch from earlier seemed to penetrate the calm of her nerves.
He elbowed back, knowing his body into the female who had impaled him, Koga rushing to grab her by her neck, his fingers tightening on her slender pale skin. Sesshomaru joined in on the fight as he broke the other demons arms as he slammed them behind the dark male. "What the fuck is affecting us, bastard?" he asked, his voice low, dangerous. The other male just sighed, as if pleased with the pain inflicted on himself, but looking at his sister he just smirked. Neither one said a word as Kagome moved from her spot between the two and headed to Sango, yanking on her friend as Shippo rushed forth to aid Miroku, but the Miko stopped him, still unsure as to what was causing the illusions. Even now her vision was seeing Naraku before her, and she tried to push it aside as she called for the other woman to look at her. Sango did, but her tears burst forth when she saw her. The slayer was seeing her father before her, shaking her, calling her name and she couldn't take it, the pain of losing her family breaking her, but the words that escaped those lips were not of her father, no, they were familiar, but the voice didn't reflect those words.
"Sango, we must help Miroku!" her father said, worry in his tone. Her father didn't know of her intended, no, he had died long before that and even though the male before her looked like her dad and had the same wounds on his body she knew it couldn't be him, but then, she turned toward where her brother sat, crying. Talking about how he would kill them all if they got to close, to close to his curse and those words reinforced her thinking that her father and her brother were not before her. "He's hurting, his hand," her father said. Sango crouched down to look in her brother's eyes and knew that this wasn't him, yes, he had attacked them with that very hand, but the way he was holding it, complaining of the winds that were swallowing him she knew it wasn't and she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips. He tensed, his eyes meeting hers and she could see the amethyst orbs that flickered before her for a second. It was Miroku and then it wasn't in another flash. All of them were struggling with the illusions and while they had the culprits there was a worry that it wouldn't go away with their deaths.
"Wench?" Inuyasha asked, calling out as he refused to look at her, Kikyo still before him even if he could only smell Kagome in that form. "It has to be in the air, that is the only thing that makes sense if I nor these two ate that fruit." Kagome had to agree, but where was it coming from and how wo- She grinned as she thought of a way to clear the air and with summoning her power upward she produced a barrier, its size growing to move over all of them, the pair of demons screaming at the power that washed over them, burning them. As the air popped and sizzled the illusions began to fade, but it didn't dissipate fast enough as the woman, Koe, shoved herself forward, her neck sprouting a black ooze as she removed her neck from Koga's grasp. More of the black substance leaked out as some of her skin tore, hanging loosely from her body. She whimpered at the purification, but with another gasp of pain she managed to reach her brother, all of them watching as she powered up and blasted Sesshomaru back with a powerful wave of dark energy. Kagome shielded her eyes as she was also pushed back, her hands covering her stomach as if to shield her children.
"We aren't like those other pitiful demons that Naraku has employed," she spat at them before disappearing in a flash of darkness, appearing on the other side of the barrier, their skin still burning lightly from the initial exposure. "And we will not be dealt with so easily." With a snap of his fingers her brother allowed a torrential rain to fall, ice mixed in all of it falling into the barrier, the humans shaking at the sudden chill as Kagome tried to maintain her barrier. She shivered, her clothing though like Inuyasha's was not a fire-rat robe and so it was soon soaked, clinging to her small form.
"And we will get you, just wait, Miko," Chimei-teki. "Even if we must wait in our own little storm until you crack, your urge to save the others more powerful than your own survival." Then it seemed that they noticed that some treats were missing from their own little candy bowl. "It appears that some of your little group are missing," he said licking his lips with his next words pointed at the older dog demon. "Your little human and that toad are missing, though I do not love frog meat human meat is all the more tasty." A growl resonated from the demon lord's throat, Kagome quick to try and calm him even as it came out a stuttering mess from the cold. Inuyasha moved to take of his top, and she shook her head. He would need it more than she would, no, her concern was for the three people and the dragon that were still outside her barrier.
"In-Inuyasha, g-get ready," she murmured as he tried to move in some way to cover her if she wasn't going to let him put his clothing on her. He nodded, as his own golden orbs searched the area for the kitsune, the human and the toad. What he saw had him smirking with pride. Shippo was standing in front of Rin, his green eyes narrowing at Koe who had spotted him first. Jaken was to his side, almost behind him, but still protecting the small girl as his master had ordered him and Ah-Un was wrapped around them with eyes watching the forest directly behind them. Kagome was also proud at the little fox, but she knew that they would be no match should one of the creatures in front of them finally move as their skin healed slowly. Closing her eyes she pulled at more power, trying to keep the barrier over them while erecting one around the other small group just a little over twenty feet from them. It was a draining task in the cold and she wished that she could shield them all from the chilly rain, but she had little strength left in the cold air that blew over her wet form. Sango rushed to keep Sesshomaru bound to their space, not a fear that he would get hurt as she knew he was powerful, after all his father had been a very powerful demon himself, but for the fact that Kagome was trying to keep them all safe. Her friend would do anything for those that she cared about and right now that wasn't just them, but the kids and the small demon with them. She wouldn't allow them to be harmed as was evident when another barrier appeared over them. "N-Now!"
The Hanyou seemed to know what she meant as he rushed forward, the barrier allowing him to run to the aid of the children, the two demons rushing to slash at him, his blade coming up to thwart them, the sound echoing in the pouring rain as Sesshomaru rushed to aid his brother in protecting his ward. His hand shoved thru the male's newly healed body, black blood spurting as the male turned in his grasp, a hole in his gut as he slashed his own claws at the demon lord. Unfortunately for the evil demon, Sesshomaru had inflicted him with his poison, the green liquid blending in with the black substance of life that now was creating a puddle beneath him, Koe screaming as she shoved off of Inuyasha's blade to aid her brother who could no longer heal his wound as the acid of the demon lord ate his flesh, the smell causing Kagome to gag. It was too much for her, being tired from the use of so much power, the rain that chilled her to the bone and now the scent of his deteriorating skin that she released her barrier as she fell to her knees, Miroku rushing to her side as Inuyasha turned to look at her. He wanted to go back to her, but looking into her tired gaze that still held a bit of fire he knew that she would be upset so he rushed to protect the others, Sango rushing to thrust her boomerang into the gaping hole of Chimei-teki while Sesshomaru rushed to attack the woman slashing angrily at him as the rain that had once been a hinderance began to weaken, the dark haired male gasping as his body was torn in two.
He had been so sure that he would win, but now he wished that Naraku, the one that had hired them, were there now so he could curse him and kill him. He hadn't gotten what he wanted. Power and the jewel that would enable him and his sister to become immortal with a long life and everlasting power. Now he would die for thinking that he was too powerful to be taken down by humans and a half breed. He had known that the dog demon was strong, but he thought that if he had the small child as a bargaining chip in this fight that he would have had a chance to take him down a notch, hell the male had been torn by the images of what he had given them that he was sure he would fall. No, that Miko, she had taken his illusions and had beaten them with the Hanyou at her side. All her friends had been at her side, never questioning her appearance in their nightmares. "Get out of here, sister!" he called as he shoved her away from him and the battle. She wouldn't listen thrusting her sword outward as she pushed her darkness into the blade that found a home in Sesshomaru's shoulder. She may not be able to win, but she wouldn't let them come out unscathed. Inuyasha growled as he thrust his own sword at her, but his brother was just as fast and as the blade entered her stomach, his brother shoved his fist, still glowing green into her chest, her beating heart being squeezed with his poison.
"Whatever made you think that you could defeat me?!" he bellowed, digging his claws into her beating organ. She managed to chuckle, a dark sound that gurgled a bit as blood as black as night oozed from her mouth.
"We have defeated you, even as we die you will not be rid of us," she said as her brother began to dissolve into a mist, the dark mist swirling around them and heading toward his sister, her own form shifting as she allowed the poison to flush thru her body faster before she followed her brother and became a mist that intermingled with the almost coal black of Chimei-teki's before they seemed to explode and disappear. The air was soon clear, the skies clearing to allow the sun to rise, but even as the silence fell over the group another sound was heard, Miroku calling out to the Hanyou as the other dog demon rushed to is ward's side, the kitsune still standing before her as his body began to shake.
"Kagome," a voice called, the raven haired male shaking the unconscious form of Kagome. Her eyes opened as Inuyasha came closer, smiling weakly when she realized that all was okay.
"I'm fine, just a little worn out and maybe a little cold." He sighed as he took her from Miroku and pulled her against his own warm body as the villagers crept out from their hiding places, all of their eyes full of confusion as they watched the group for a moment.
"Are you all going to gawk at us or are you going to give a damn pregnant woman a place to get dry?!" he growled as he watched her eyes fall shut in a peaceful sleep, the illusion of Kikyo replaced with the one of a woman he would do anything to keep by his side. He loved her and now that he could see that same love in her eyes, a love for who he was, he knew it would be alright. He could get past this fear that she wouldn't want him and that she held another male's babies in her belly. He would do it for her, if she would have him.
So Koe and Chimei-teki appear not to be all that deadly and now that all is going right they need to get on the road again. What will Naraku do now that his helpers, his pawns are dead? Stay safe!