Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, all rights are reserved for Rumiko Takahashi and affiliates.
Hi guys! I know you aren't really interested in what I have to say because you wanna see what happens next, so I'll just get right to it!
Chapter eight: Hide-and-Seek Gone Wrong
She can't explain how this happened.
'Run! Keep running!' Aikotsu urged herself desperately as she tore through the forest at full tilt, her side uncomfortably spasming in pain. 'Where am I? Oh no! I'm lost!' She realized with mounting terror. Deciding to just wing it now, she veered off of her original course and took a hard left, honestly just trying to escape with her life at this point. Her pursuer was still right on her tail, his weapons and attacks all bouncing off of her barrier. The only reason she was currently injured now is because he'd caught her off guard, too quickly for her barrier to activate.
"I wonder, what will your father think when I send him your heart, all bloody and carved out of your chest? I can tell you're scared of me. That bitch Midoriko was too, but she didn't show it. You can't hide that you're afraid." He calls out tauntingly, loud enough for her to hear. Against her wrist, her bracelet warms up to uncomfortable levels, almost as if enraged at what he said.
Her side throbs as it bleeds steadily, staining her kimono and the grass beneath her a dark scarlet hue. Her pale alabaster skin is smudged with blood, both wet and dry. Her eyes, wide with panic, scour the unfamiliar foliage as she desperately tries to save herself. 'Someone, anyone, help me!' She pleads to the heavens. Just then, the ground underneath her collapses, and she begins freefalling down a steep cliff. A second barrier activates the moment she drops, but it still bounces off of trees and lands her at the very bottom, rattled but alive. For now. She quickly huddles under an alcove at the bottom, just large enough to hide her and her barrier from her pursuer. Just to be sure, she casts a spell that sends her scent off to the right. Hopefully that'll take him off of her tail for a while.
She hides carefully, masking her scent and current location, as the demon drops to the ground and starts sniffing. He harrumphs. "I'll get you, you little bitch. You won't get away from me." He mutters before taking off after the false scent trail. As soon as she's sure he can't follow her, she rockets off to the left and runs until she can't anymore. Her legs burn with exertion, her lungs scream for a break, and her consciousness is on its last leg at best.
Panting in exhaustion, Aikotsu leans against a tree, her hand pressed tight against her wound. Black spots dot her vision, and she feels faint.
Tears begin to build in her eyes, and she smiles weakly. 'I don't think I'll be able to go to that festival with you, Ja-nii.' She then loses consciousness, her tears sliding down her face in a river as she collapses to the ground.
...
He can't explain it, but something's pulling him this way. He's exhausted, nearly catatonic in his overwhelmed emotions. But he keeps going, knowing he wouldn't be drawn this way if not for something important.
He follows the pull, unsure of where he's going but he somehow knows that it's important. His blood pulses through his veins as he makes his way through the thick foliage. Pain, not his own, throbs in his side, pulling a quiet growl from his lips. Finally, he stops, apparently at his destination.
And there on the ground by a tree, is a girl. It's that same girl he saw fishing with the nekomatta, unconscious with a dark blood stain at her side. He cautiously steps closer, not wanting to be on the receiving end of another one of her smoke bombs again, but she doesn't move. Her skin is pale with blood loss, still bleeding sluggishly onto the grass. His gaze drops to her blood-stained arms, and his eyes lock onto the bracelet around her wrist.
A memory from a time long gone by washes over him, comforting and heartbreaking at the same time.
"Shikon jewel? What's what?" He asks, setting down his teacup.
"The Shikon jewel is a fabled gem of immense power, but that isn't true. People think the jewel can grant wishes, but that's not true either." His mate says, settling their daughter back in her futon. "The Shikon jewel is actually the soul of a priestess after using all of her powers. If a priestess uses up all of her powers just before death, her power coalesces into the jewel while annihilating any enemy in the area. It's a dangerous spell, one that ultimately ends the life of the caster. It can however, reveal when someone is lying or telling the truth."
He doesn't realize he's crying until his face is already wet with tears, and he wipes them away absently. Staring at the pink bauble, he is hit with a strange wave of happiness and utter grief. He feels conflicted. What should he do? He knows that she is hurt, and she looks so much like her that it hurts. She needs help.
With resolve burning in his veins, he effortlessly picks up the unconscious girl, and then pauses. Where did she come from? Maybe there's a scent trail? He is relieved to find one, and traces it back to the bottom of a cliff, where her scent goes upwards. Jumping up the cliff, he tracks her scent all the way to a clearing that has clearly been scavenged for herbs. Eyeing the pouch on her belt, he has a feeling this is where she started running from. This theory is only proven correct when he spots the dark circle of blood on the grass, long dried by now.
He makes his way through the dark forest, narrowing his eyes contemplatively at a faint light in the distance. As he gets closer, he sees its a campfire. Around it are seven men. He makes sure that his footfalls are heard, so as to not overly startle them.
"Excuse me! Where is the nearest village? This girl is hurt." He announces, stepping into the area. He isn't exactly in the camp, but he's close enough that they can see him.
The group turns around to get a good look at him, and freeze. Their eyes lower to stare at the girl in horror. The short boy with long braided black hair is on his feet in an instant. "Aikotsu!" He shouts, running over to the unconscious girl. He is quick to take the girl from the stranger, eyeing him distrustfully as his brother sets up a futon and begins tending to the wounded girl. "Who are you?" The young boy demands. "How did you find her? What happened?"
"I am a Lord of the Southern lands. I was travelling to my sister's castle when I caught the scent of blood and it led me to her. She was collapsed against a tree with blood pouring from her side. I tracked her scent back to a clearing and then here." He says calmly and carefully, hoping not to anger the seven individuals. True, he can defend himself with ease should this turn violent, but he has no wishes for it to come to blows. Staying a respectable distance away, he watches the one with spiky black hair as he tends to the girl, Aikotsu, with the skill only a doctor would have.
They remain silent as Aikotsu is tended to, the atmosphere tense and thick. Buyo curls up at her shoulder, purring like a thunderstorm in an attempt to offer her comfort. Junko however, is watching the Southern Lord intensely, her back to her kitten, her bright red eyes trained straight on him. She isn't letting him leave her sight for even a second.
Aikotsu remains unconscious for another hour or so, her eyes occasionally scrunching up in pain or a frown twisting her lips. The Southern Lord watches as Bankotsu, the one with the long braided hair, keeps diligent watch over his sister. Apparently the two are very close and are very protective of one another.
It's the twitching of her eyelids that alert them that she's finally starting to rouse. The Southern Lord sits up straighter, watching as Bankotsu also straightens and his face changes from grim worry to palpable relief.
"Hey, I think she's waking up!" Bankotsu says with visible relief, hovering over his sister. Her eyes slowly but surely crack open, only the narrowest of slits, hazy and unfocused. "Ai, can you hear me?" She gives a weak cough in response, her throat raw and dry. Suikotsu brings her a water canteen and gently holds it for her to take a small sip.
"W-where am I? What happened?" She asks hoarsely, trying to connect the dots. Bankotsu gives her a sympathetic look, smoothing her bangs.
"You were attacked and lost consciousness. Luckily for us, someone found you and brought you back to us." He informs her. "Suikotsu bandaged you all up, so as long as you don't do anything to stress your wound, you should be fine in no time. But for the sake of us not dying of worry, try not to get impaled by swords, Ai." He playfully pokes her cheek in mock reprimand.
Aikotsu is tempted to snort but refrains, knowing doing so will only hurt her. "I'll keep that in mind when I'm being chased by homicidal weirdos, Ban-nii." She says sarcastically, though not without a small smile. "So where's the person who brought me back? I'd like to thank my savior for rescuing a delicate damsel in distress such as I." She says, laying the sarcasm on thick. Bankotsu cracks a grin, finally not looking as worried as he had been.
"This is the guy that saved you, Ai." Bankotsu says, gesturing to a man sitting cross-legged a few feet away. As her vision clears and her eyes lock on a man with long black hair and scarlet eyes, wearing a shockingly familiar set of robes, she gasps, backflipping away to a safe distance, injury be damned. She lands right behind Jakotsu, gripping his sleeve with bruising force. Her vision blurs, bandages tight against her skin, but she doesn't dare lie back down. Ignoring how Suikotsu and Bankotsu both scold her for getting up, she grips Jakotsu's sleeve tighter, hiding herself away from the stranger.
"Ja-nii, that's the guy I saw. The one that Junko saved me from." She whispers, not taking her wide eyes off the man once.
Almost instantly, the air froze over. "Is that so?" Bankotsu asks, his amicable persona nowhere to be seen. Jakotsu moves so that Aikotsu's form is completely hidden from sight, a deadly glare on his face. He can feel her tremble against his back, and that makes him enraged.
"So, you're the one who frightened our sister, eh?" Suikotsu bares down on the demon man with an air of absolute death and rage as Jakotsu and Ginkotsu stood protectively in front of Aikotsu. Renkotsu has his oil jug at the ready, while Bankotsu readies his Banryu. Mukotsu was just waiting to unleash his newest poison, while Kyokotsu looked ready to devour the demon man.
Honestly having expected this, the demon man makes no move to protect himself. 'Midoriko, give me strength. Please.' He prays, hoping the second time's the charm.
And that's chapter eight, my dears! I already have chapter nine started, I hope you've started piling the Easter eggs together. If not, you're in for a bit of a shock.
itzatakahashi: Thanks for your review! I can tell you're a bit confused about the characters, so let me clarify a bit. Aikotsu is Kagome. Kikyo was mentioned in chapter four, as was Kaede. Aikotsu/Kagome was found on the side of the road by Bankotsu when she was about two years old (to his age four). They adopted her into his family, and have adopted Ginkotsu, Mukotsu, Renkotsu, and Kyokotsu into their family. Aikotsu is now eleven years old, and has all the training of a priestess, demonslayer, and thief. She stopped thievery after the shop owner kicked the shit out of her in chapter three.
elohiniar: You're very close, my dear! Your guess isn't very far off, but I have much more planned. I bet no one can see what I have planned for this story.
Also, side note; should I upload The Lucky Seven to Wattpad/Archive of Our Own? I don't really understand the AO3 format, but I've been with Wattpad since about 2014 so I'm more familiar with how that site works.
-Silver Sin