Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, all rights are reserved for Rumiko Takahashi and affiliates.
I can't guarantee how long this chapter will be, because it's been giving me problems from the near get-go. Writing chapters one through five was soooo much easier, mostly because I had a good chunk of it already planned out. Now that I've used a good deal of my material, I'm flyin' blind for a bit. Regardless, I'll do my best to give you the best chapter I can push out!
Chapter six: The Blood Red Eyes
Aikotsu is bored. And hungry. She knew they didn't have much money, yet again, since the last Lord that they aided in war had stiffed them the original price (no surprise there, she thought with disdain), leaving them with nearly nothing. As such, Suikotsu had to stay back at a village for a few days, providing much needed aid as a doctor to earn some money. He would reconvene with them in a few days time. Aikotsu had been reluctant to leave him behind, not liking the idea of being separated by such a far distance. Why does money have to be a necessity? It causes so many conflicts. People literally kill for it, all the time. Her stomach growls again and she frowns, wishing she could just toss that greedy Lord to Junko to play with. It's his fault that her family is low on funds and had to split with Sui-nii. Her stomach twists painfully, hunger keeping her from sitting still. What can she get for food that doesn't cost anything? She could steal something from a nearby village's crop, but she could also risk getting beaten for being a thief. After the last time she got kicked five years ago, she isn't too keen on resorting to thievery just to put something in her belly.
'Fishing doesn't waste money..' She realized as a smile graced her lips. If she can catch enough fish, they won't have to spend anything for another day! With that idea racing through her mind, she runs off into the forest, Junko at her heels. Kyokotsu doesn't pay her departure any mind, knowing she won't go far.
Ten minutes later saw Aikotsu with five fish caught on the stream bank, Junko helping to scare the fish right into her mistress' trap. A twig snapping to the far left drew both of their attention, and they turned to see a man. He was tall, with long black hair pulled into a high ponytail and blood red eyes. His robes are black, gold, and purple in color, and denote a very wealthy individual, perhaps a Lord.
The little girl watched cautiously as he scented the air, before a shiver traveled down her spine at the chilling snarl he emitted as his eyes locked on her. Junko reacted just in time to save her mistress, barrelling in front of the small girl and transforming with a vicious growl as the man lunged forward. Still caught off guard, Aikotsu fell into the stream with a yelp of surprise, the cold water seeping into her kimono. Her head spun with questions. Who was this man? Why is he so angry? Should she act? She only has three smoke bombs. She needs to preserve them, after all, Mu-nii isn't always able to make more on the fly.
In front of her, Junko is being very careful to keep the strange man away from her kitten. The aura he gives off raises her hackles in the wrong way. There is just something about him, a hint of desperation and insanity, and she knows whatever it is does not bode well with her young kitten.
Aikotsu gulps, watching her kitty carefully stand guard in front of her, eyes wide. In her mind, Bankotsu's words echo, heavy and serious. 'Be confident in battle, but never underestimate your opponent. Know when to retreat, or it could end your life.' Now seemed like a very good time to retreat, if she had to say so herself. But she couldn't just leave Junko to deal with this wacko. How were they to escape? Being opposed to combat, she didn't like weapons other than her smoke bombs. Thinking she wouldn't need it, she'd also left her bow, arrows, and even her Hiraikotsu, which Sango's father had painstakingly taken the time to make, back at their camp. It was times like these that she deeply regretted her aversion to weapons.
"Who are you?" The man snarls angrily, nostrils flaring as his scarlet orbs bear into her frightened doe eyes.
'Don't say your name, don't say your name.' She tells herself, gulping. "I don't know." She responds backs, thinking desperately for a way out.
"That's a lie, I can smell it. Tell me the truth, little girl." His voice dropped into a tone that sent shivers down her spine once more, making her want to run away and cry like a baby. She shrunk back with a gasp as the long-haired demon man took another step closer. She scuttled back further in the stream, unconcerned by the water now, trying desperately to get away. She scanned his movements. He hadn't made any attempts to get closer since his last one, although she could sense he wasn't going to stop any time soon. His hand brushed the hilt of his sword, and that's when she made her move, unclipping a smoke bomb from her belt and throwing it to the ground. It burst and filled the clearing with smoke as she made her escape, Junko hot on her heels. The man's choked curses fill her ears as she sprints through the forest at full tilt, eyes wide with panic.
Her breath came out in harsh pants as she sprints through the foliage, ignoring the sting of her skin catching on branches and thorny brambles. She had to get out of here. Food be damned; there wasn't any point in food if she wasn't alive to eat it. Finally, she broke through the dense fauna and saw the tall silhouette of Kyokotsu in the distance. "Kyo-nii!" She calls desperately. His gargantuan form whirls around as she drops to her hands and knees in exhaustion. Next to her, Junko turns to stare at the forest they just escaped from, a loud snarl ripping from the pit of her throat.
"Aikotsu, what's wrong?" Kyokotsu asked worriedly in his raspy tone.
"I-" She begins coughing as she tries to speak, lungs protesting. "I was fishing for dinner, to save money, when this demon man came into the clearing from the forest. He-he seemed mad when he saw me, or-or caught my scent or something! Then he just lunged at me! I'd probably be dead if it weren't for Junko!" Understandably, Kyokotsu is livid.
Some demon lowlife had the nerve to terrify his sister and attack her? Growling low in his throat at such impudence, he stalks up to her and gathers her trembling form in his large palm, bringing her up to hug her to his enormous chest as she clings to his armor. "It'll be okay, Ai, that lowlife will never try to hurt you again. Come on, do you want to make more flower crowns? Let's get you some water." He rambles, doing his best to distract her and wind her down from her panic. Her lips curl into a small smile, despite her still recovering. Just another reason Aikotsu knows she's lucky.
Days later, that strange encounter with the red-eyed demon has all but faded into the recesses of Aikotsu's mind, Suikotsu has returned, and life is good. Just yesterday, they ran into Sango, Katashi-sama, and two of Katashi-sama's brothers. They were on their way to exterminate a few demons causing trouble for a nearby Lord when Katashi-sama had the idea to team up. While the rest of them wreck havoc on the battlefield, Aikotsu soars overhead with Sango, directing her lightning at any demon she sees while her older friend swings Hiraikotsu at full force at the ones Aikotsu's lightning can't reach. Renkotsu is quick to set his opponents ablaze, while Bankotsu deals with his enemy. Jakotsu is having the time of his life, relishing in the screams of his victims. He's so focused on his own prey that he fails to notice a large demon behind him, fangs dripping in saliva and blood. From their vantage point in the air, Sango and Aikotsu are quick to remedy the situation, Aikotsu calling up a barrier around her brother while Sango launches her weapon at the demon so hard it sends the other half clean across the field.
"Ai! I think we need to end this!" Bankotsu shouts imploringly as he holds off a snarling tiger demon with Banryu. His cheek dribbles blood sluggishly, a hazard of getting too close to the damned cat.
Aikotsu nods, her eyes narrowing. She holds out her hands down at the battlefield, eyes falling out of focus as she concentrates on her magic. Slowly, one by one, the opponents stop their unending assault, grasping their heads, limbs, or torsos as pain wracks their forms with every breath they take. Some howl and collapse in agony, others rip their own appendages off in an attempt to stop it, but to no avail. The pain is all an illusion, a carefully crafted spell Aikotsu learned but rarely uses. She prefers not to use it because of what it does. This spell causes whoever it is cast on to see their worst nightmare. These demons have no families, so showing them images of their lover and children dying wouldn't work. Manipulating their minds to believe they're experiencing excruciating pain, however, is an alternative.
The pause of attacks gives her brothers and Sango's family the chance they need, and they end the demons' existences once and for all. As Aikotsu's eyes snap back into focus and gazes down on the combat zone with discontent in her dark eyes. As soon as Junko lands and she and Sango are safely off, Bankotsu gives her a hug with a grim smile, knowing how difficult it was for her to cast the spell. Then he turns to Sango, and brings her into the embrace as well.
"Thank you, Sango." He says, not needing to elaborate what he's thanking her for. She smiles in response, nodding lightly.
After checking over everyone for injuries and collecting their pay, the group departed from the compound, with heavy minds and heavy hearts, in Aikotsu's case. She's glad everyone is okay, but she questions if using that spell had really been necessary. It's useful, in the eyes of her brothers. But she hates it. Why would she ever enjoy causing someone pain?
Later that night, back at camp, Sango and Aikotsu converse quietly while their families recount war stories and tales of old. "How is Kirara doing? Didn't her paw get scratched by that one scorpion demon?" Aikotsu asked, giving the nekomatta a once over. Even though Kirara wasn't her kitty, she still meant a lot to her.
Sango smiled, gently running her hand over her kitten's fur. "She's taking it easy, but her paw is a bit sore."
Frowning, Aikotsu lets her hands hover above the resting twin-tail, letting her miko powers heal the injury. The effect is almost instantaneous, the raw scratch fading away. Once she's finished, the eleven-year-old relaxes against a tree, absently noting just how much of her energy she'd spent today. Her limbs feel stiff and heavy, and she yawns widely. She's asleep barely even a minute later.
Smiling lightly, Sango calls Buyo and Junko over. Junko bumps her large head up against Aikotsu's cheek as the older girl unrolls her friend's travel futon, setting it up for her very exhausted friend. Once it's ready, she gently picks Aikotsu up and settles her inside the futon, pulling the cover up to her chin. Once Aikotsu was settled, Sango set up her own futon and climbed in to rest, Kirara curling up around her to keep her warm. With the three twin-tails curled up around them, Sango falls asleep just as quickly.
All she can see is fire. She stands in a large estate, perhaps belonging to a wealthy Lord. "You can't have her!" A woman angrily screams, barely heard over the roar of the flames surrounding them. Aikotsu jumps, heart racing in fright. The flames are all around her, running along the ceiling and the walls. They don't touch her, but she can feel the heat of the fire.
"I'll have my revenge!" A man bellows in all-consuming rage. Her pulse skyrockets in fear, shivers running down her spine. That voice. It's so...dark. Dark, and insane, and angry. Carefully, she follows the enraged roars of the man to what looks to be a nursery, the entire room on fire except for one small part of the room, protected by a defensive barrier. A woman with long hair is huddled against the wall, holding a bundle in her arms protectively, with a tall man with dull white hair standing over her menacingly.
"Get your hands off of me!" The woman shouts back, tears building in her eyes. The side of her many kimonos is stained a dark red, blood staining her arms as she holds the bundle. Aikotsu pauses. Hasn't she seen that woman before?
"If I can't have you, bitch, then no one will!" The man, a demon, screams back at her, fangs stretching over his lips in fury.
"Stop!" A servant with short brown hair runs in the room, soot and scratches on her face, arms, and neck. "Leave them alone, demon!" She shouts at the demon, uncaring of her own safety.
"Sachiko, run!" The first woman pleads and attempts to bring up a second barrier to protect the servant.
Enraged, the demon grabs a katana from his back, stalking towards the servant. "I'll kill you all!"
"NO!"
Aikotsu jolts awake, panting and breathing shallow. Her pulse thrums through her whole body, hands shaking. She's covered in a cold sweat, but can't be hotter. Throwing off the covers, she lays in her futon, staring up at the sky above and trying to recover. That same nightmare again. That same scene of fire, and blood, and screams. What can it mean? Why won't it stop? Dealing with the nightmares has gotten easier as she's grown up, and she doesn't have screaming fits anymore, but they still haunt her when she's tired or upset.
A hot wet tongue on her cheek draws her out of her speculation, and she turns to see Buyo's large face inches from her own, giving her what she can only assume is a concerned look. She smiles, her eyes lowering as a warm feeling replaces the cold shock of her nightmare. Reaching out, she gently scratches his chin and closes her eyes as he rumbles a deep purr in her ears. Just before she falls asleep, she feels him settle down against her again, draping his thick tails over her.
Thankfully, as she slumbers this time, her dreams are happy and not filled with screams. The camp site is quiet and serene, only the crackling of the fire heard.
And unbeknownst to the slumbering group, a lonely man weeps to himself, out of grief or relief, he isn't quite sure. "Can it be, my love? Is it really her?" He pulls a toy, stained with soot and blood, from his robes, clutching it tightly in his hands.
Whew! This chapter was a toughie! I can't tell you how difficult it was! Maybe because of writing five chapters pretty much right after another? Oh well, it's out now! Now to tackle the responses in the reviews.
elohiniar: Thank you for your reviews! I always appreciate reader's thoughts on my projects. Yes, I know that my tenses tend to flip between past and present, that's intentional. I know it isn't exactly correct, but I feel like using one tense too much makes the dialogue or writing seem...stagnant. Get me? Don't worry, I try not to do that in my actual professional works, and if I do, they can always be edited. The tense switching is just a personal thing, for my fanfiction and fictionpress works, not for actual publishable projects. In response to why I changed my penname, I just felt a change was needed. I'd had the penname 'FireHanyou_' since I was thirteen, and I'd had a few ideas for new names in the works for a year or two. Sometimes you just have to change it up a bit, ya know? If I decide I don't like the name after all, I'll go with one of my other choices (Silver Sin and Cosmos1126 respectively). And if that doesn't work out, then I'll go back to my FireHanyou name. I hope that isn't too confusing. I did post an update about this change on my profile though. (update upon seeing your chapter five review: I only changed my name once, dear! My Tumblr is still the same though, therebelalchemist. If you want, you can just call me Silver Sin, it's much easier.)
itzatakahashi: Thank you so much! It's been a pleasure even posting this, and getting such positive feedback is amazing! When I first started out writing, I wasn't very good, and I got a couple of bad egg reviews in response. Getting those at the early age of eleven or twelve made my confidence take a serious hit unfortunately, and I still get nervous whenever I see a notification for a new review, but it's not so bad anymore.
Despite this chapter wringing me like a wet washcloth, I'm happy with the end result, and I hope you are too! Maybe I'll come up with some more ideas I can use..
I swear to god I'm nearly bouncing in excitement! I can't wait for you guys to see everything! It's gonna be amazing and it's gonna pull your heartstrings like a seamstress!
-Silver Sin