Alright people, here we go again. I offer you chapter four and I really hope you like it XD
Virtual cookies to Nicks08 for figuring out (though after a bit of brain whacking and a little help on my part, I admit) the thing with the bow from the previous chapter, along with a special surprise I send to you via PM XD Yes people, I have special surprises for those who actually figure out the things I ask, so the next time I give a riddle, maybe try at least a little to think about it, ne :3 Don't worry though, those who didn't give it thought, the whole thing will be explained here.
Well, I think I've talked enough. Enjoy the chapter.
Tracks used:
SID: Monochrome no Kiss
Breakers:
XxX: change of scene
ξ~: time-skip
実: Beginning/End of Flashback
[T] and [/T]: Beginning/End of soundtrack
Ж: Change of POV
Reminder: 'Inuyasha' written normally refers to Inuyasha, while written in cursive (cursive and bold in thoughts) refers to Kagome, the "Gentle Dog Demon".
Chapter 4 – When the Jewel's awake
Inuyasha cursed under his breath for the umpteenth time that afternoon as he fruitlessly tried to climb out of the well. Unlike back in the weird forest, there were no vines in the well at his shrine to help him climb out. There wasn't even a ladder. That left him with two possibilities: calling for someone, namely his mother, to help him out, or to climb out with the help of the bare walls. Needless to say, the second option wasn't too appealing, but as Inuyasha soon found out, it was the only one left for his mother obviously wasn't home. And if she was, she didn't hear him.
It had taken him a good twenty times and about an hour and a half before he finally managed the impossible. He had actually been lucky. Since the well was so old, there was no cement between the stones inside the well, only hardened dirt. And while it still wasn't easy to claw holes in such old, dried dirt that would be big enough to get somewhat an acceptable gripping place, it was still doable. Which was how, after an hour and a half, he finally found himself outside the well, tired, panting, sweating and with bloodied hands, but happy nevertheless. He was home. Or at least it looked like home.
He sat beside the well for a moment to regain his breath before he finally stood and wiped his hands on his jeans, hissing only slightly at the small pain from the rough scratches. His side stung a little too from the effort of climbing the well, but a quick check assured him that the wound hadn't reopened, so Inuyasha didn't think much of it. Instead, he took a deep breath and headed up the stairs of the well house and outside.
The sight that greeted him was the very familiar grounds of the shrine and he couldn't help but sigh in relief. He was finally home.
Not wasting another minute, Inuyasha quickly ran over to his house. He stopped in front of the door and taking in a deep breath, he steeled himself for the upcoming confrontation. Whatever was going to happen, Inuyasha knew it wasn't going to be pleasant. He had been gone for almost a week, after all, and his mother was doomed to have worried much more than he ever wanted her to worry because of him.
He slowly opened the door, almost hesitating to enter his own home. Though he would never admit it to anyone, not even himself, he was somewhat scared. Scared of how his mother might react when he finally showed up after a week of being God knows where. Quite frankly, and much to his own surprise, Inuyasha was rather tempted to jump back into the well at first, but the mere thought of it had him scowling at himself. If he went back now, he would only cause his mother more worry and he couldn't bring himself to do that.
He stood there for a good minute in the open door before he snapped out of his reverie and cautiously entered the house and closed the door behind him. A loud gasp had him turning around quickly. And there she was, staring at him with wide, unbelieving eyes.
"Inuyasha…" she whispered and the tone of her voice made him look away guiltily. He couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes, to see the proof of how much he'd worried her. He couldn't bear to see her red and puffy eyes that showed much more than clearly that she had been crying. He just couldn't stand to see her that way and know that her current state was all due to him.
"Yeah…" he answered quietly, unable to say anything else. Really, what could he say? But as it turned out, he had no need to say anything more, for next thing he knew, Izayoi had thrown herself at him, closing him in the tightest embrace she'd ever held him in and burrowing her head in his shoulder as her whole form trembled with sobs that accompanied the tears flowing unchecked down her cheeks. Inuyasha couldn't help but flinch at the knowledge he was the reason for those tears, but he returned her embrace nevertheless, trying to figure out how to sooth his mother. But he had never been good at it and this time was no different, so other than holding her, he did nothing. He was at a complete loss what to do without screwing things up more than they already were.
"Where… where have you been? I… I was so worried… so worried…" Izayoi cried as she held him close for all she was worth. Inuyasha closed his eyes as another wave of guilt hit him painfully hard. He never wanted his mother to worry. He wanted even less to be the reason for that worry. But somehow, he always ended up achieving the exact opposite of what he wanted. Now wasn't an exception.
"I'm sorry," he whispered back as he tightened his hold on his crying mother, trying to reassure her that he was indeed home. "I didn't mean to… I'm sorry."
He didn't say anything else. He couldn't say anything else. But what he did say was enough for Izayoi. She only needed a bit more time to calm down and she would be fine.
And then she would question her son properly.
XxX
"What will ye do now, Kagome?" Kaede asked the half-demon shortly after her return from the forest. Kagome shot the elder priestess a questioning look to which Kaede sighed. "The Shikon Jewel is now gone. As is Kikyo. There's no reason for ye to stay, is there?"
"Do you want me gone that badly?" Kagome responded with a question of her own as she turned away quickly. But not quickly enough for Kaede not to notice the hurt look in her golden eyes.
"That was not what I meant, Kagome-nee-chan," there it was again, that form of address from so long ago. Kagome couldn't help but smile. Being called that by Kaede always made her feel warm… like she belonged. It was a good feeling. One she didn't get to experience too often. "But ye are a free spirit. As far as I remember, ye never liked to stay in one place for too long unless ye had a good reason. Even when ye helped Kikyo-onee-sama guard the Sacred Jewel, ye sometimes left for long periods. Now that ye have no real reason to stay, will ye leave us again or will ye stay and keep this old miko company?"
The way Kaede had pronounced that last question almost made Kagome laugh. The way Kaede made it sound, she was asking Kagome to keep her company in her final moments before death. And the hanyō could easily tell the old priestess was still far away from her death bed.
"Does this old miko wish for a mere half-demon to stay by her side?" she asked in a serious voice as her eyes found Kaede's again. The two of them had always been close, almost like sisters. And yet Kagome never thought it evident that someone might want her to stay in the village.
"This old miko has wished for your company, or at least for ye to be free of my sister's spell for fifty years now," Kaede responded just as seriously and the atmosphere in the hut thickened with the serious subject hovering over them. Kagome sighed and averted her eyes to the floor.
"Speaking of that spell… Do you know why Kikyo sealed me?" She had thought about it ever since Inuyasha freed her, but she just didn't understand. What had she done for Kikyo to suddenly hate her so much? They had been so close… their bond was even stronger than the bond between Kikyo and her younger sister in a way. It was a sisterly bond and at the same time so much stronger than that. Kagome had always thought it was a bond that couldn't be broken. But she had been proven wrong. What had happened, though, to break the strong connection she and Kikyo had built over the years they had known each other from the time of that fateful night when they first met… if you could truly call it a meeting.
"Nay," the answer was short and to the point. Kagome's ears drooped. She wanted to understand. She wanted so badly to know what had happened to make Kikyo hate her so much. She wanted to know so that she could forgive her. Because she knew she hadn't done anything. Kagome was sure of that. By all rights, it was Kikyo who'd betrayed her, who had sealed her for no reason. But even so, Kagome couldn't hate her. She held a grudge, but she wanted to let it go. And yet she couldn't. Not without knowing the truth behind Kikyo's actions. At the same time, she knew something must have happened. Something that would explain Kikyo's behavior. Something that would allow Kagome to forget and forgive like she wanted so badly to do, but couldn't. Not without understanding first.
"But I do believe my sister had been fooled by something or someone. She had been persuaded ye had attacked her and had tried to steal the Jewel. She had the wound as proof… a wound that looked suspiciously like those made by claws such as yours. Only after I told her what ye had done while she was away did she understand her mistake. But Kikyo-onee-sama had been hurt too badly and did not have the time to free ye, even though I am sure she wished to," Kaede continued. Kagome narrowed her eyes. Kikyo had been… tricked?
Well, it was a possibility. Being the protector of the Sacred Jewel, Kikyo had a lot of enemies who wished to see her dead and not necessarily demons. Having a hanyō to help her guard said Jewel didn't exactly help the matter, either, especially not when it was a well known fact in the village that Kikyo and Kagome had been much closer than anyone would have ever expected a miko and a hanyō to be. But if someone were to make them, or one of them, believe she had been betrayed by the other, getting the Jewel would be more than just simple, since both protectors would be fighting each other, if they weren't already dead by the time the real culprit showed himself to steal the gem. The only question remaining was to know if that was really what had happened… and if it was, then who was it that had done it.
"Fooled, huh? Somehow, I don't find it hard to believe," she said, more to herself than to Kaede. "But fooled by what?"
Silence was her answer, not that she expected an answer anyway. Kaede didn't know much more than her about all this. Kagome sighed.
"I wish Kikyo was still alive. Then I could ask her," the hanyō whispered to herself as she brought her knees to her chest and put her arms around them. "I wish Kikyo didn't have to die in the first place."
Kaede raised a brow and regarded the half-demon before her. She had known Kagome long enough to figure out most of her moods. Now wasn't any different. The old priestess sighed.
"Don't ye blame yourself for what has happened. It was not your fault. Ye could have done nothing to save Kikyo-onee-sama. No one could."
"If anything or anyone is to blame, it's that blasted Jewel and all the people who don't hesitate to hurt others in order to get it," Kagome replied bitterly, resting her chin on her arms. "Speaking of which… I'll stay."
Kaede turned to look at the hanyō with questioning eyes, not understanding the connection between the Jewel and Kagome's decision to stay. Noticing the questioning stare, Kagome explained.
"You said Kikyo wanted you to burn the Jewel with her body and thus destroy it. And you said you did. But somehow, it got reborn within the body of that boy… Inuyasha," Kagome sighed at the not so far off memory of the irritating ningen boy as she looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know how that's possible. I don't really care, either. But the fact remains that the Jewel still exists and though Inuyasha left and took it with him… somehow I doubt that's the last we've seen of both, the Jewel and him. So I'll stay. Just in case." Kaede nodded in acknowledgment and smiled to herself.
~ξ~
Kagome walked through the forest without any real destination in mind. It had been three days since Inuyasha had gone home and nothing had happened. Slowly, the half-demon found herself eager to leave the village and just wander off somewhere. Who knew, maybe if she went there she could still meet him? After all, what was there to stay for if her instincts have been so obviously wrong? Both Inuyasha and the Jewel vanished into their own world or whatever was on the other side of the well and there were no signs of any of them reappearing. So why should she stay?
She was brought out of her musing when she suddenly had the distinct feeling of falling. Eyes widening, she instinctively put out a hand to the side to catch something to halt her descent. Her claws gold a hold of something that felt like vines and the falling feeling stopped as suddenly as it started. Just as she stopped, a weird blue light shone below her and almost engulfed her, but then vanished suddenly when she halted her descent. She frowned and lightly allowed herself to fall the rest of the way to the ground, which she now saw wasn't that far down. She didn't even have to halt her descent, such a small drop wouldn't have harmed her in any way.
Furrowing her brows, Kagome lightly leapt out of the hole she found herself in and landed lightly on the forest ground. Looking over her shoulder, her eyes widened when she noticed she had come to the Bone Eaters Well.
She must have been so lost in her thoughts she didn't even notice she'd come here. But what the Hell compelled her to jump in? More importantly, why did she still feel the pull to do just that?
Putting her claws on the rim of the well and gripping it tightly, Kagome peeked inside. There wasn't anything unnatural, though, as far as she could tell. But the urge to jump in, for some weird reason, was still there and it was getting stronger. She didn't understand it. What would jumping into a dry well accomplish?
Her thoughts were suddenly cut off, as was the urge to jump down the well, when the strong scent of a demon penetrated her nose. Kagome turned around immediately and flexed her claws in preparation as she scanned her surroundings. The demon was close and it was coming closer. And it was definitely heading for the well.
True to her suspicions, a snake demon suddenly crawled into the opening. It stopped short when it noticed the hanyō and rose so that half of its body stood upright while the other half remained on the ground allowing movement. By doing so, his head was at the same height as Kagome's. He hissed menacingly.
"Ssssstep asssside, half-breed," it hissed at her. "Don't try to sssstand between me and the Sssssacred Jewel." Kagome narrowed her eyes but didn't move. Instead, she snarled right back, a sign she wouldn't be ordered around by a mere reptile.
"There's no Sacred Jewel here," she growled in response. "Now leave before you get to taste my claws." But the snake only hissed once more, obviously agitated by her response. Its eyes turned into slits as it regarded her menacingly, but Kagome stood her ground.
"You can't fool me, half-breed. Now sssssstep assssssside." Kagome only growled in response and readied her claws, even more determined than before to kill the yōkai before as a thought entered her mind. When it noticed she was not going to move, the snake lunged at her. She ducked reflexively to avoid it, but was quick to catch it with one of her claws when she noticed the snake used her evasion to jump right into the well. Snarling angrily, she held the body of the reptile with both of her hands before effectively throwing it back a few feet. Angered, the snake hissed at her again before launching at her a second time. This time, however, instead of avoiding, Kagome readied her claws and tore right through the snake as it opened its mouth to bite her hand off. Two second later, the yōkai was no more and Kagome only glared at the small remains of her 'opponent' before turning back to the well. She knew now what the urge to jump down the well was.
Scoffing in annoyance, Kagome quickly leaped away from the way to Inuyasha's home and ran back towards the village. She couldn't stay there, lest she'd give in. She couldn't help but worry, though. If even she, a mere half-demon, could feel the pull of the Shikon no Tama, then that meant that a lot of yōkai would now be drawn to the well. And should one manage to pass to the other side…
Kagome snarled to herself again as she stopped at the edge of the forest. Damned Jewel of course had to bring more problems almost the moment it woke up. Just great. 'It would seem I cannot leave after all,' Kagome thought, remembering how helpless Inuyasha had been the two times she'd seen him face a demon. Should she let a yōkai pass through to his side like she almost had today courtesy of the Jewel wishing to be back here again, though why exactly she couldn't tell, then Inuyasha would be a goner faster than he could even blink. He wouldn't even know what hit him. And not only him. His family, too…
Eyes widening as the thought of just how many lives were at stake due to the Jewel finally hit home, Kagome clenched her fists. She knew the pain of losing someone important to you. She knew it all too well. She'd learned it at a very young age when her mother had died. And she got to relive the experience quite a few times, the last time being basically now that Kikyo, who had been like a sister to her, was dead as well. True, she still held a grudge, but that didn't mean Kagome didn't grieve the loss of her sisterly figure. And it was a grudge she really wanted to let go of, anyway.
Yes, she knew the pain of loss all too well. And as annoying as Inuyasha was, she didn't want him to feel that same pain just because of the Jewel. As irritating and as stupid as he was, he didn't deserve it. So she'd just have to make sure no yōkai ever made it down the well. And that was what she was going to do.
XxX
"I'm home!" Inuyasha called as he closed the door behind him, wincing slightly as he bent down to take off his shoes. Izayoi came from the kitchen and smiled at him in greeting.
"How was school?" she asked, and he almost shook his head at the normality of it all. And to think that just five days before he had been in a strange place overflowing with yōkai and mikos and what not.
"Same as always," he replied as he walked past his mother and up his room and closed the door behind him. Once in his room and out of his mother's field of vision he gently rubbed his right shoulder where he knew a bruise was already forming.
To be honest, he had been quite tempted to believe that the week he spent with the weird hanyō-girl and the old priestess was but a dream. The only thing contradicting that theory was the pink Jewel he had brought back. It was the only reminder he had of that surreal experience. Other than that, everything had been normal these five days.
There was but one thing that seemed off and it was the reason for the multiple bruises forming everywhere on his body as of late. Of course, getting into fights was nothing weird for him. He was despised by most gangs in his school and thus an occasional fight had been inevitable. But as of yesterday, these occasional battles grew much more frequent and while Inuyasha still won them all, he didn't get out of them unscathed. Of course, a few bruises here and there wouldn't bother him, it was nothing big. But he still couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something weird about it. Usually, he'd be the one to start the fights, though of course that was after his patience snapped after being baited for too long. But lately, it wasn't him who was starting said fights, but the idiots challenging him.
It was almost as if they were targeting him for some reason, as if they wanted to get rid of him. And while that might sound just a little paranoid, Inuyasha couldn't shake the feeling that it was the truth. But for the life of him, he couldn't imagine a possible reason for such a thing. Sure, he frequently beat all those gangs into the ground, so them wanting revenge was sort of understandable. But still, to get to him like that… it was unlike anything that had ever happened before.
Inuyasha shook his head dismissing the thought as he sat at his desk and forced himself to do his homework. Whatever it was that made everyone so hell bound on getting him, he figured it would pass in a few days.
After finishing his homework and eating dinner with his mother, Inuyasha decided to went to bed early and fell asleep almost instantly, tired by school and the much more frequent fights he tried to keep secret from his mother so he wouldn't worry her. And not once during the day did he notice the Jewel glowing brighter than it had before, as if calling for something or someone to come and saying 'I am right here, waiting'.
~ξ~
He woke up in the middle of the night, awakened by a bright light shining in his room. Opening his eyes groggily, he was awake in a matter of second when he noticed where said light was actually coming from.
"What the fuck?" he whispered to himself, mindful of his mother sleeping in the next room as he quickly left the bed and grabbed the source of the light that woke him up: the Shikon no Tama. 'What the Hell's going on?' he wondered as he closed his fist around the pearl in a futile attempt to block out the light. But then, as suddenly as it started, the glow vanished. Confused, Inuyasha put the Jewel around his neck again, though what compelled him to do so he wasn't really sure. As he headed back towards his bed, he stopped suddenly as he saw something through his window. Moving closer to it, he saw a dark figure exiting the well house. Inuyasha furrowed his brow as a sudden feeling of unease settled in his stomach. The feeling only grew when he noticed that for some strange reason, the weird person wasn't the only one outside. His mother was there as well.
Inuyasha cursed under his breath as a feeling of foreboding hit him hard. Following his instincts, he quickly exited his room and ran towards the exit of the house, praying that he was wrong and the weird person wasn't Kagome, or worse even: a yōkai that somehow managed to get through the well.
XxX
Kagome cursed under her breath as she raced back towards the Bone Eaters Well with her bow slung over her shoulder along with the quiver full of arrows. She had been careless. The number of demons trying to get through the well had been much greater than she had thought it would be. Not only that, but it wasn't mere low-level yōkai that came. The one she let slip through because she was distracted like it probably wanted her to was middle-class, though one of the lowest-level human-looking yōkai. Still, compared to the oni or the centipede Inuyasha had been up until now faced with, this yōkai was incredibly strong. Without help, Inuyasha wouldn't stand a chance. And if he died, Kagome wouldn't be able to forgive herself. After all, it was her fault the demon even managed to slip into the well, where it disappeared in a wave of blinding light.
Of course, she tried to leap right after it, but unlike the first time she jumped, there was no light that would try to engulf her. The well wouldn't let her through. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened. Since a yōkai was already on its way to get the Jewel like the cursed thing wanted one to, there was no reason for the well to stay open for everyone any longer. It was safe to assume Inuyasha was the only one who could get through at this point. But Kagome doubted he'd do that and leave his family in front of a demon that wouldn't hesitate to kill them just for the fun of it.
Luckily, Kagome still had a ray of hope that there was a way for her to open the magic portal and go wherever the heck it led. She had talked with Kaede about Kikyo's bow and what had happened when both Inuyasha and her were holding it. According to the old priestess, Inuyasha might have subconsciously cast a spell on the bow similar to the one used on the kotodama priestesses used to subdue demons. Much like the enchanted beads tied the soul of the priestess to the soul of the subdued demon, Kaede thought it possible for Inuyasha to have bound his soul to hers through the bow, so that whatever spell he cast on the bow, it would work only for Kagome unlike the spell Kikyo cast that would work for any human.
But if Kaede was right and the bow really did tie her to the black haired human, then maybe it would allow her to travel through the well. That's what she hoped, anyway. And since it was her only chance anyway, she thought it was worth a shot.
She stopped as she arrived at the Bone Eaters Well and gripped the bow tightly. The urge provoked by the Jewel to jump and go over to Inuyasha's side of it had stopped the moment that other demon had gone through and the portal closed. Now she was jumping of her own accord, pushed forward by another urge completely. Taking a deep breath, Kagome jumped, sighing in relief when that same mysterious blue light from before appeared and engulfed her. It looked like it had worked.
But Kagome knew better than to let relief take over yet. The young hanyō girl narrowed her eyes in worry as she slowly traveled through the portal taking her to what she hoped was Inuyasha's home. 'Please… let me arrive in time,' she thought desperately as the light slowly vanished around her and she landed lightly at the bottom of the well.
XxX
"Who are you, if I may ask, and what are you doing here? The shrine is closed to visitors at this hour," Izayoi said calmly as she regarded the mysterious woman before her. She had dark-green hair – so dark that it almost looked brownish black in the mild light of the moon - tied in a loose bun at the back of her head and her eyes were the brightest emerald green Izayoi had ever seen. She was wearing what appeared to be a kimono out of the Feudal Era, although it would be considered indecently revealing in that period, for it covered only her upper body part and ended but three centimeters below her thighs. It looked like it was made out of leather or something like that and it clung to the woman's body like a second skin. Had Izayoi known she was looking at a yōkai who actually did come from the Feudal Era, she would have known her outfit was meant to cover what needed to be covered at all costs, but at the same time was not meant to pose problems in battle.
"Oh, don't worry, human, I'll be leaving shortly. Just give me the Shikon no Tama and I'll be leaving discreetly," the woman replied, smiling sinisterly. Izayoi frowned.
"Shikon no Tama?" she replied, wondering where she had heard that name before, for it did sound familiar. Didn't her father mention a legend about such a jewel once or twice? "I'm afraid I do not know what you are talking about. Now please leave before I call the police," Izayoi replied firmly when she failed to remember where she might have heard the Shikon's name. The woman before her only smirked, her eyes holding a very cold amusement in them, making Izayoi shiver involuntarily.
"Oh, don't worry, I'll leave right away," the yōkai replied with an overly sweet voice. "Right after I kill you and find the Jewel," she added as she swiftly raised an arm before pointing it straight at Izayoi. And suddenly, as if responding to a silent command, a row of truly deadly looking plants covered in sharp thorns emerged from the ground behind the woman and launched themselves at the black haired human woman, who, too stunned to move even a muscle, just stood rooted in place as if awaiting to be impaled.
It was at this precise moment that Inuyasha finally reached and yanked open the door before running outside, only to see his mother disappear in an explosion as the plants (or maybe they were roots?) collided with the ground. Violet eyes widened in horror as a horrified yell passed his lips.
[T]
"HAHA-UE!" Inuyasha yelled at the top of his lungs, but before he could run over to where he feared hr corpse was a red clad figure landed lightly in front of him, with a shocked Izayoi in her arms. Inuyasha didn't have to look twice to recognize the figure. It was the hanyō-girl from the other side of the well.
"Take her with you and hide," Kagome ordered quickly as she turned around to face the demon. "I'll take care of her." However, the demon in question only laughed.
"Oh? You'll take care of me? Don't tell me you believe a weak half-breed like you could defeat me. I am Mezuki, the greatest of the nymphs. You don't stand a chance, half-breed-girl," she said mockingly, focusing only on Kagome while Inuyasha led his mother back towards the house. The hanyō snarled.
"Let me tell you two things. One, if you want the humans' life and the Jewel, you need to kill me first," she said and Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks to look at her. "And two," she said as she readied her claws, "no one talks to me like that and lives to tell the tale!" she yelled as she lunged for the demon.
"Inuyasha, what…" Izayoi, who had finally regained her bearings somewhat, turned to her suspiciously calm son (at least calm given the situation) but he interrupted her, pushing her inside the house.
"I'll explain later… just please hide for now," he replied as he successfully pushed her through the door. He didn't follow, however, standing in the doorframe and looking over his shoulder at the fight. He bit his lip as he watched the red blur that was the Inuyasha dodge the plants and attack the other yōkai. That was the third time she was risking her life to save him. The third time she risked her life to protect his. He couldn't just stand there and watch without doing anything. His pride wouldn't allow him.
So after making sure his mother wouldn't follow him by taking the house keys, he slammed the door shut, forcing Izayoi to stay in the house while he himself faced the battle. He had to do something to help.
That was easier said than done, however. From his two other encounters with yōkai, he had already learned that without a weapon, there wasn't much he could do. But he didn't have a weapon right now…
Suddenly, his gaze wandered towards the well house and his eyes widened when he saw a bow and a quiver of arrows by the door. He couldn't be sure, but he was almost certain it was Kagome's bow. She must have brought it with her for some reason and dropped it at the entrance of the well house when she lunged to save his mother.
Inuyasha hesitated only a second. On one hand, he had never used a bow before, nor did he really think it that great of a weapon. On the other hand, it was either that or fight barehanded, which was obviously nothing short of suicide. So with not much choice left, Inuyasha ran towards the well house, intent on getting the bow. Before he even ran half the distance however, a wall of roots rose before him and threw themselves in his direction before he even had the time to blink. He wouldn't be able to dodge it.
He was saved by the feel of a pair of arms enclosing themselves around his middle before a rush of wind told him we was being carried off. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Kagome, her golden eyes a mixture of fury and relief.
"What the Hell are you doing? I told you to hide!" she yelled at him as she set him on the ground by the Goshinboku, before swiftly turning around, claws raised. "Sankon Tessō!" she yelled as the golden light tore through the incoming roots, revealing the nymph behind them. She was smiling mockingly.
"Is that all you can do, half-breed?" she asked and Kagome growled angrily in response. She couldn't fight like that. This wasn't an opponent she could fight while concentrating on the safety of the human behind her, who was much closer to the center of the danger zone than she would have liked.
"Get out of here, baka," she hissed at him as she prepared to enter the fight again.
"No, I won't!" she heard him yell back and looked over her shoulder with a dubious look on her face. What she saw however surprised her. There was a fire in his violet eyes like she hadn't seen before. Fire she knew. She saw it each time she saw her reflection in the eyes of her opponents or in any reflective surface during a fight. She knew that look and she knew that it meant it was useless to try and changed his mind. She sighed as she grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him behind her as she avoided another plant-attack from the nymph. She moved swiftly, hiding behind the Goshinboku to gain a little time. She let go of Inuyasha there and made sure with a glare that he didn't dare protest. And next thing he knew, her red coat was draped over his shoulders.
"What the…" he started in confusion, but she interrupted him.
"It's made of the fur of the Fire Rat. That would make it stronger than any armor. Keep it on," she instructed, flexing her claws and getting ready to meet the nymph again, who was taunting them to come out of their little hiding place. Not that she couldn't attack them anyway, but she was apparently the taunting type. Kagome scowled. "If you want to help, get the bow I left near the well and make use of it," she said before jumping out of sight and engaging in battle again. Inuyasha just stood there dumbfounded for a second before listening to what she had told him and darting towards the well house to get the bow.
Kagome meanwhile was doing her best to get the nymph's full attention, at least until Inuyasha got the bow. Once he had a weapon to defend himself with, she knew she'd be able to breathe a little easier. As it was, she couldn't help but worry for him. After all, his experience in fighting yōkai was nearly none. Still, with that fire burning in his eyes, the fire she knew so well, Kagome knew that there wasn't anything she could do to change his mind. So she'd just have to make sure he was safe.
She lunged forward after having shredded more roots with her Iron Reaver and thus making a clear path towards the nymph. As she closed in however, a spear emerged from the ground, which the nymph caught swiftly and blocked Kagome's incoming attack. Mezuki chuckled.
"Well, well, that's the first time in a long while someone got this close to me, congrats," she said mockingly. "But that's as far as you go," she said as she stepped back and swung the spear at Kagome. The young half-demon ducked before getting closer again and swinging with her claws, tearing Mezuki's clothes. But that was all she did before she had to retreat again in order to evade the blade at the end of the spear. A blade which she knew was dripping with poison just waiting to enter her system.
She also noticed, however, that ever since Mezuki started using her spear, the plants around them moved around a lot less. Golden eyes narrowed as Kagome put two and two together. 'So the nymph can't control the roots when she uses the spear and likewise can't fight a close range battle while commanding the roots,' she thought.
A sudden snapping of a string of a bow and the sound of an arrow cutting the air reached Kagome's ears and she looked in the direction where it came from just in time to jump away as the arrow hit where she had just been standing. She snarled.
"Where the Hell are you aiming?" she yelled, turning her head towards where Inuyasha stood. Using her moment of distraction, Mezuki struck.
"And where are you looking?" she asked mockingly, thrusting her spear towards Kagome's chest. She had, however, underestimated the hanyō's agility as the tip of the blade, unfortunately the only poisoned part of the blade, missed the target completely. The strike, however, did reach the hanyō, tearing a wound in Kagome's left shoulder. Not giving any signs of pain, Kagome jumped away a few feet, before launching again before the nymph had the chance to attack once more. Not having enough time to dodge, the nymph couldn't do anything as Kagome approached and swiftly struck out with her clawed hand, impaling it a little below the nymph's throat. The hanyō frowned as she retracted her claws and jumped away again. And it was a good thing she did, for in the next moment a group of roots hit the ground where she had just been standing. A laugh was heard from behind them.
Inuyasha, standing off to the side and forgotten by the nymph once again, cursed under his breath as he notched another arrow and tried to aim. He had seen archers do this on multiple films, but he never thought it could be this hard. The arrow that had almost hit Kagome had been the third one he fired. The other two didn't even come close enough to the fighting duo to be noticed. And while he was glad the third finally reached and overcame the distance, he would have preferred if it hadn't almost hit the one person that was actually trying to help him.
Cursing again, he drew back the string of the bow aiming once again, his hands shaking a little from the strain, unused to such activities. When he was as certain as he could get that he aimed right, he released and the arrow flew through the air towards the laughing nymph. Or at least in her general direction.
Kagome growled in annoyance as the nymph emerged from behind the roots with the spear at her side and laughing mockingly. Just like the other times the hanyō managed to hit her, she wasn't fazed by it at all. Kagome frowned as realization struck. 'Her weak point isn't her body. That's just a puppet or something like that. Her real form is somewhere else… but where?' Kagome thought as she jumped to the side. Just then, she heard the snapping of a string again. This time however, she needn't worry, though the arrow missed the nymph as well and hit only the roots off to the side. Mezuki's eyes widened however when a light-blue light emitted from the arrow, burning the plant down. The nymph turned her angry eyes towards the black haired boy who was already notching another arrow.
"A priest," Mezuki yelled as she swung her hand in his direction. "I'll destroy you for burning my babies!" she yelled as more roots sprang from the ground and flew at him. Surprised at seeing the speed at which they were moving, Inuyasha released the arrow again, but since he didn't have much time to even try and aim properly, it flew past them and struck the ground at the base of the Sacred Tree where it shone pale blue like the previous one before the light vanished.
Kagome reacted instantly.
"Sankon Tessō!" she yelled, her attack destroying most of the roots and slowing the rest down somewhat. That was all she needed. Without wasting more time, she sprang forward and landed in front of Inuyasha, pushing him roughly to the ground as the roots approached. She then swung with her claws, sending another wave of golden energy at the approaching plants, though one managed to slip past the attack and strike her in the side before it hit the wall of the well house behind her. Kagome didn't let the wound faze her, though. She had more important things to worry about.
However, she didn't notice the two roots that slowly crept out of the ground to the left and right before it was too late and they flew at them both. Kagome cursed, though she worried only slightly about Inuyasha's safety as he had her jacket. And she worried even less about herself.
As it turned out though, she needn't have worried at all, for as the deadly weapon-plants were but two feet away from them, Kagome felt a pulse of power behind her before the plants crashed into what could only be a spiritual barrier. The protective shield shone bright pink as it repulsed the attack and the roots dissolved upon contact. Turning around in surprise, Kagome could only smile when she understood what happened.
The power she felt came from the bow and the barrier was without a doubt made of Kikyo's spiritual power. Kagome would recognize that feeling anywhere. So the spell the late miko had cast on the bow meant to protect her on the one day of the month when she was human erected a barrier when a demon came too close. That would come in handy indeed. Kagome couldn't help but sigh in relief and mentally thank Kikyo for her wonderful gift.
They didn't have much time to feel relieved, though, as the barrier soon disappeared. Kagome used Mezuki's momentary loss of focus due to surprise to grab Inuyasha and jump away to the right, so that they weren't attacked again in a spot they couldn't move away from.
"What… was that?" Inuyasha asked in bewilderment as he stood up, forgetting for the moment that he was in the middle of a fight. Kagome sighed.
"Kikyo's spell activated. It was a barrier," she explained as she narrowed her eyes. "Get ready, here she comes again," she added, snapping Inuyasha back to the here and now. She was right, the nymph was getting ready to attack again. And by the looks of it, she was mad. If the words she'd said to Inuyasha before were anything to go by, anyway, probably because more of her plants were purified. Now that she thought about it, Kagome also noticed that the number of roots were smaller than before, something that didn't happen when she cut the plants down with her claws. Meaning that through purification, the plants were destroyed permanently.
The Inuyasha was about to tell the kannushi behind her to aim for the roots so that they had one less thing to worry about when he drew her attention elsewhere.
"What's that light?" he asked her and Kagome raised an eyebrow and looked back at him over her shoulder.
"What light?" she asked before turning back around again and cutting down the incoming roots. They were fiercer than before, she noted.
"There… by the Sacred Tree," he replied. Kagome glanced briefly in that direction, but saw nothing. She k new better than to think that Inuyasha was seeing things, though. He had the power of sight after all, just like Kikyo had. He might be seeing something invisible to her eyes. 'Something like the demon's true nature,' she realized as she gave up on trying to cut down the roots, grabbed Inuyasha again and jumped away.
"Whatever it is… get to it and get rid of it," she said quickly as she released him. "I distract her, you go to the tree and take care of that light you see," she said and before he had the time to respond, she lunged at the nymph again. She wasn't quick enough to make her engage in close combat however, and a lone plant flew by her right at the human fighting alongside her. Kagome stopped dead in her tracks and turned around, knowing full well that she wouldn't make it in time.
"Inuyasha!" she yelled as the root hit the place she last saw him and an explosion followed again. The hanyō clenched her fists as she turned around towards the nymph again, her expression furious. 'He's fine. He has the jacket and the bow. He's fine,' Kagome tried to tell herself. But even though these thoughts managed to calm her worry somehow, they did nothing to subdue her anger. Growling angrily, she jumped towards Mezuki and engaged her in close combat. She didn't get a hit in, nor was she hit herself, but at least she was sure the nymph's attention was on her only. Now Inuyasha only had to get to that light he'd seen and destroy its source.
The boy in question raised himself to all fours from the ground and shook his head to clear his vision. When he heard Kagome yell at him, he turned and saw the root. Instinctively, he had thrown himself to the side, avoiding the root itself, but thrown even harder against the ground by the force of the explosion. The bow had been knocked out of his hands and as he hit the ground, the root had pursued him. He was sure it had struck his back too. But weirdly enough, it didn't seem like he had been injured by it. And when he tried to throw the thing off of himself, that strange glow came from his hands again and the plant dissolved .
Shaking his head again, Inuyasha stood up and looked around, trying to locate that weird light again. He saw it off to the right, and though he didn't truly understand why Kagome told him to get rid of it, he had a feeling it was the key to destroying the yōkai that had almost killed his mother. And that thought alone was enough to make him run in that direction, jumping and climbing over the unmoving roots in his way, though why they suddenly stopped moving was beyond him.
The nymph however, though not harmed in the slightest whenever one of her plants was destroyed or purified, felt his touch and turned around to see what he was up to. Green eyes widened, then narrowed in anger when the nymph saw him moving towards the Goshinboku and the light at its base.
"Oh no, you don't!" she yelled as she allowed Kagome to inflict a deep cut with her claws on her back, in exchange making sure Inuyasha's way wasn't free. Realizing that the plants were after him again, Inuyasha threw himself to the ground to avoid them. They passed him and next thing he saw, a familiar golden energy struck them, cutting them to pieces. Exhaling shakily, Inuyasha got ready to stand up and get back to running however, something stopped him.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled before he felt her grab his shoulder and thrown him back to the ground. He turned around to see what happened this time, but whatever he was about to say died on his tongue when he saw what happened.
As he fell to the ground, Mezuki had decided to ignore Kagome completely, as her claws clearly couldn't kill the nymph anyway, and threw her spear at the unsuspecting human. Kagome had reacted immediately and on instinct, reaching him in the nick of time and getting him out of the way of the flying, poisonous weapon. The result of that however was that now the spear had pierced Kagome between her shoulder and her right breast. Hissing slightly, the hanyō tore the weapon out of her body and lowered herself to her knees as she raised a claw to the bleeding wound. She could feel the poison spread within her body, but she refused to succumb to it. Mezuki laughed.
"Well, half-breed, seems that someone will live to tell the tale of meeting you. Not that there's really a tale to tell, anyway. Hope you're ready to die. That poison doesn't take long to finish off its victims," she said mockingly as she picked up her spear again, her eyes laughing. Kagome glared. Inuyasha paled.
"Poison?" he asked shakily, looking at the girl who took the hit for him.
"Keh, you'll need more than that to get me down," she replied with a smirk on her face as she felt her own blood covering her claw. She gave Inuyasha a meaningful glance, hoping he would understand and get going already like he was supposed to. He hesitated and she sighed inwardly. 'Go,' she mouthed to him before turning back to the nymph who was by now laughing aloud.
"And what pray tell do you think you can do in your condition? You're a goner, half-breed, whether you like it or not. Not that it's any surprise to me," the green eyed yōkai-woman said through her giggles. Her guard was obviously down. This was the moment Kagome was waiting for.
"I'll show you what I can do," she said, dropping the weakened act instantly and standing up whilst swinging her bloodied claw at the nymph. "HIJIN KESSŌ!" she yelled as a series of red blade-like projectiles flew at the nymph. Surprised, Mezuki had not time to react as the blades tore into her, cutting her spear into useless pieces and cutting up a few of the roots as well. Those that were still intact however were quick to seal the yōkai-woman in a cocoon from which a green light emitted. When the roots retreated, Mezuki was healed once again. Kagome frowned. So the body wasn't as immortal as it would seem at first, huh?
"When will you finally understand, you stupid dog? I'm immortal!" the nymph yelled as she sent new roots at Kagome. She avoided them more or less effortlessly and sprang straight at the nymph.
"Hijin Kessō!" she yelled again when she was but a few feet away. The attack hit, but Mezuki wasn't the only one hurt, for at the same time, the nymph had fired a plant at the hanyō. Avoiding it in the last moment though, all Kagome got was a small scratch on the cheek.
"I will kill you!" the Inuyasha heard Mezuki yell as more roots flew her way. But then they stopped mid way as Mezuki suddenly froze, her gaze directed at the ground. Landing on one of the now immobile plants, Kagome followed her gaze to see Inuyasha hitting with an arrow at what seemed to be empty air. But Kagome knew better. There was something there. Something Mezuki definitely didn't want them to find. "Why you…" she started as she commanded her plants to fly towards the human. Kagome jumped in their way, however, and reacted swiftly.
"Sankon Tessō!" she yelled, her attack turning the plants to ash due to the close proximity. The hanyō fell to the ground, landed lightly and sprang back into the air, intercepting Mezuki's next attack. "Your fight's with me!"
Inuyasha meanwhile was trying hard to break the glass that surrounded what looked like a yellow-green flower. It was from that flower that the roots seemed to come from. His head snapped up from his 'work' when he heard a series of explosions above him. The Inuyasha was in the air, along with the nymph and by the looks of it, she was protecting him from being hit by the yōkai-woman's attacks. Which meant that whatever that flower was, Mezuki definitely didn't want it gone. Inuyasha raised his hand again and gathered all of his remaining strength, striking the glass container again. Finally, the glass broke and the arrow made contact with the flower. A burst of pale blue light erupted from the arrow and Inuyasha had to close his eyes because of the blinding light. He could hear Mezuki scream in the distance.
Next thing he knew, the arrow shattered in his hand and the light vanished. The flower was a little burned around the edges, but intact otherwise. And it was emitting strange purple gas.
"What the…"
"Inuyasha, get away from there!" the urgency in the hanyō-girl's voice made him obey and he quickly staggered backwards. Once he was a safe distance away, Kagome stopped hesitating. "Hijin Kessō!" she yelled, aiming at the ground where she saw the gas form. A loud explosion followed and Mezuki screamed again.
[/T]
"You will pay for this!" she yelled and lunged at Kagome, but before she even reached the girl, a pink light surrounded her and in the next moment, she turned to dust, as did her plants. With nothing to stand on anymore, Kagome fell to the ground and landed lightly on her feet. Looking to her right, she saw Inuyasha with what seemed to be a yellow-green flower crushed in his hand. Kagome raised an eyebrow.
"That's the real identity of the plant monster," she said when she noticed Inuyasha's questioning look. His eyebrows shot upwards.
"The flower?" he asked disbelievingly and Kagome nodded.
"Yes," she answered. "It's a poisonous plant whose petals are often used for the deadliest of poisons. Probably, the flower was sick and tired of being used like that, and became a real monster. In our age, it's not so weird to see a flower turn into a monster," she explained.
"And… what was that gas that was seeping out of it earlier?" the black haired boy asked.
"That was shouki. Miasma in other words. A strongly poisonous gas. If you had breathed in even a little bit of it, not even one full breath, you'd be as good as dead," Kagome said in a neutral tone as if talking about the weather. Inuyasha couldn't help but pale at her casual tone, considering she was talking about a poison that could kill a human no matter how little of it was inhaled and that he had almost inhaled himself. Quite frankly, if Kagome hadn't yelled at him to get back, he would probably be dead by now. And if she hadn't cut off the flower from its roots with her attack, which consequentially forced it to stop producing the gas in favor of rooting itself again, Inuyasha wouldn't have ever had the chance to approach and crush it. She really did save him today… more than once, he realized sullenly.
Suddenly, Kagome's head started to spin and she lowered herself to her knees. Inuyasha didn't miss that.
"You're… you're badly hurt," he noted, worry and guilt seeping into his tone though he tried to keep it neutral. His gaze fell to the jacket he still wore and he remembered how one of the roots had hit him on the back. But he hadn't been hurt. "Is it because you lent me this fire rat's fur?" he asked when he remembered what Kagome said when handing him the jacket: "It's made of the fur of the fire rat. That would make it stronger than any armor," she had said.
"It's nothing," Kagome replied as her vision cleared. The poison that had spread throughout her body had weakened her, but her yōkai healing abilities were already working on neutralizing it. It might take a few hours, but she'd be fine. She'd lived through worse than this.
"But," Inuyasha started as another thing hit home. His eyes widened as Kagome stood up and walked over to where he noticed her bow lay and picked it up. "Didn't you say that flower was poisonous? That it was used to make poison?"
"What of it?" Kagome asked in a bored tone as she retrieved her quiver of Hamaya from the human boy and slung it over her shoulder
"Does that mean that the attacks of that… thing… weren't they poisonous too?"
"The spear was."
"But then… you've got poison in your body, don't you?" somehow, Inuyasha was afraid of the answer, especially since logically, it would be an affirmative. But Kagome only shrugged.
"I told you, it's nothing," she repeated as she turned around and started to walk away. Inuyasha froze before exploding.
"Are you fucking nuts?" he asked as he reached for her to make her stay. Poison wasn't something to joke about. Even he knew that much. But before he could grab her, the hanyō-girl turned around and grabbed his hand in her clawed one with surprising speed and strength. She glared at him.
"When will you finally get it? I'm not like you. A little poison won't kill me. It'll be neutralized by sunrise," she said angrily. She hated it when people like him thought her so weak. She wasn't weak damn it, and she wouldn't stand for anyone, much less a human, thinking of her as such. Growling in warning when Inuyasha opened his mouth again but closed it without saying anything, she turned around heading for the well.
"Where are you going?" he finally asked.
"I'm going back," she said, her tone softening as she looked back at him with eyes that held an emotion he couldn't quite recognize. "I need to help Kaede keep the yōkai at bay."
"Why did that yōkai come here?" Inuyasha finally asked. Kagome raised an eyebrow at him again. Surely, he would figure that out on his own? Well, apparently not. Kagome sighed.
"It was because of the Jewel," she said and Inuyasha's eyes widened. Kagome pointed to his chest, where the Jewel was hanging from his neck. "That thing wants to be found by a yōkai. So it calls yōkai on my side to the well and invites them to come through. Needless to say it works," she explained as she opened the door to the well house. Then she looked at him over her shoulder again and met his gaze. "Don't worry, though. I'll make sure no other demon passes through."
And then she jumped, disappearing into the well before Inuyasha could answer her. The black haired boy just stood there and stared for a while before sighing and leaving the well house, closing its door behind him. Only then did he notice that he still had Kagome's jacket draped over his shoulders.
Ж
From within the house, Izayoi watched all of the happening through the window. She let a sigh of relief escape her when she noticed that her son was alright. She couldn't help but worry about the girl, though. She was injured pretty badly from what Izayoi could tell. Injured because she was protecting her son as she didn't fail to realize. And yet she didn't seem fazed by it one bit.
Inuyasha, on the other hand, was a different story, as she noticed as soon as he entered the house. His eyes had a faraway look to them, signaling that the boy was deep in thought about something. Izayoi sighed inaudibly as she closed the door behind him. She didn't understand much of what had happened that night, but she was quite certain her son did. First thing tomorrow morning, he had a lot of explaining to do. She wouldn't let him go before that.
But for tonight, it was more than obvious that he needed rest. Both of them did. It had been an eventful night, after all. So being the trustful and understanding mother she was, she let her son go without a word to his room and did the same thing, deciding to pretend for the rest of the night that nothing had happened.
Just for the rest of the night, though.
Alright, that's it for today. I hope you liked it people. No riddle this time though.
As for the reviews, I thank you all for telling me your thoughts. Please keep it up, keep those reviews coming. I still have a week of vacation before me, so if I get enough motivating reviews I may manage to update next week end (no promises though, but it IS a possibility ;]).
Well, see ya all next time, ja ne :3