Kagome…
Inuyasha's head hurt. He coughed, wincing as the acrid tang of miasma filled his lungs. Every inch of his body was sore, as though he'd been torn to pieces and set on fire. His head was foggy as he tried to remember what happened.
Kagome…we were fighting Naraku….inside the spider…
His eyebrows bunched in confusion. What happened after that?
A heavy metallic pungency filled his nostrils, and suddenly his heart started racing.
Blood.
Where's Kagome?!
He opened his eyes and tried to call out her name, but his voice was hoarse and his throat raw. The second he moved he felt hands on him and a fishy smell coated his nostrils.
"Inuyasha, are you awake?" A quiet voice called out, and it took him a moment to recognize it. The fish girl, one of Yugao's friends. His ears twitched and he grunted an affirmation.
"It's a wonder he's still alive," a male voice responded, the other fish that traveled with Yugao.
"He's a tough guy," Kaori answered her brother, "I've patched up his wounds, but I get the feeling that not even a hole through the gut could take him down. Given a few days on his own he might not have even needed my help."
"We don't have a few days," Taji reminded her, "Maybe hours at best."
"Wh-where's Kagome?" Inuyasha croaked, "What happened to her?"
The silence that followed his question was the most unnerving thing he'd ever heard.
"We…" Kaori answered at last, "…we don't know…"
"What do you mean you don't know?" Inuyasha managed to growl, anger still able to manifest itself within his battered body, "Where is she?"
"Well we saw you guys go up into the spider," Kaori said, "But only you came out…"
She and her brother took turns telling the tale; everything from him dropping from the spider in full demon mode and attacking Koga, to his defeat at the hands of Kohana and Ronuku. Neither of them knew why the possessed humans had spared his life, but they'd suddenly rushed off after giving an ominous warning. Shortly after that, Naraku's sudden attack had separated everyone, the three of them were lost in the darkened forest, Kohana and Ronuku's power completely encircling the vast area around them.
Inuyasha's heart shuddered at the tale. Kohana and Ronuku's attack explained the gaping wounds on his chest and the burn marks that covered his body but…
He couldn't remember it. Any of it. When he tried all he could recall was an angry haze and the scent of blood. Somehow Naraku had triggered his demon transformation, and angrily the hanyou realized that the Tetsusaiga was gone. But that paled in comparison to the cold feeling of Kagome's absence.
Warily Inuyasha eyed his hands: every inch including his claws stained red with dried blood. He shook, fear gripping at his heart as horrid images dance through his head.
Kagome…No, I couldn't have…I wouldn't hurt her!
He couldn't identify the scent of the blood; there was too much of it, including his own, mingling together. The thought that any of it could be hers made his stomach churn and his body broke out into a cold sweat.
But he didn't remember. He didn't know.
Inuyasha closed his eyes and clenched his fists.
Kagome! Where are you?!
"We can't stay here," Taji said, "Kaori, do you see what's happening to the sky? It's turning black! Whatever power those humans are using, they're swallowing this entire area!"
"What about the refugees?" Kaori answered, "Those demons are attacking those humans, we can't just leave them!"
"What can we do for them? We don't know where they are! I say we get out of here and regroup, we'll stand a better chance if-"
"What are you saying?! Yugao died trying to protect those people! I won't let her death be in vain!"
Inuyasha ignored the two as they argued. Grunting, he pushed his arms back and tried to sit up, his muscles and seared flesh screaming at the effort. Wincing, the hanyou ground his teeth and continued until he was upright, tattered pieces of his fire rat haori falling to the ground behind him. Warily he realized that the red outfit had protected him from further damage as he pushed himself further, finally able to stand as he clutched a tree for support. Holding back a grunt of pain, he set one foot forward and journeyed out into the darkened forest.
"Hey wait," Kaori called out as she and her brother followed him, "Where are you going?"
"I have to find her," Inuyasha grunted.
"You don't know where she is," Taji responded.
"Yes. Please, rest a little more," Kaori put her hand on his shoulder, "You need to regain your strength befo-"
Inuyasha slapped her hand away and glared.
"Kagome needs me," the inu hanyou growled before continuing on. The two koi hanyou hesitated, but relented their argument and followed their injured companion through the trees. Inuyasha ignored them, focusing his senses outward for any sign of the miko or his friends.
Darkness shrouded the woods, a wave of black light engulfing the sky like a massive dome encasing them all. The air tasted foul, the trees had lost their leaves, the plants had withered and died. Beasts called out in the distance, the screaming and shrieks of demons, their shadows flitting by through the miasma and mist. The forest had become a hellish realm of nightmares, but Inuyasha trudged forward, never turning back.
With each step dark faces haunted his mind.
Kikyo, Risu, Sesshomaru. Now Kirara, Yugao, the ninja Keiji, Risu's children and mate…
Who else had they lost?
Had any of them died because of him?
Fear clutched his soul, he needed Kagome. He needed to know that she was okay, that he hadn't…
He refused to look at his claws again. He refused to think about anything but finding her.
Ahead in the distance a voice suddenly howled. Inuyasha's ears twitched, recognition creeping into his heart. Pushing his legs against the pain he turned towards the voice, fear and anger giving him the strength to run. Kaori and Taji shadowed his steps; the two suddenly gasped when they rounded a group of trees and met the base of the hill.
Koga howled angrily, the body of his last remaining comrade Hakkaku slumped lifelessly in the grass behind him. The leader of the wolf demon tribe clashed against a hoard of demons alone, his damaged hand and broken weapon hanging uselessly at his side. The wolf battled the demons with functional limbs, kicking and throwing punches with his left hand wherever he could, but his movements were slow and the ground was drenched in his blood.
Just as the wolf ran his remaining claws through an ogre's head, a scythe-armed demon suddenly dashed Koga's leg and pinned it to the ground. As the wolf snarled in pain and rage, the hoard descended upon him; ripping through his flesh and battering against his armor.
With an angry cry Inuyasha rushed forwards, the pain in his body forgotten as he rose his claws and attacked. Kaori and Taji followed suit, casting out jets of water and spitting poison at the demons. The hoard turned to them, the demons' eyes glinting in desperate fury as they split their attack and retaliated against the charging hanyou.
Aiming for a serpent's throat, Inuyasha's claws missed and he gouged the monster's belly as it flew past and rounded for another attack. Angrily, the hanyou cursed at his slow movements.
Dammit, he thought angrily, I can't fight like this, I need the Tetsusaiga!
The bleeding serpent wheeled around for another attack, but Inuyasha managed to prepare his strike and severed the snake in two. A shadow fell over him, the inu hanyou turned to see the club of a tengu falling towards his face. He scrambled to leap back in time, but Taji suddenly flew through the air and kicked the club from the monster's hand.
Inuyasha didn't stay to help, another pained howl from Koga grabbed his attention. With only his left hand the wolf had managed to fend off several of his remaining attackers, but the scythe-armed demon kept his leg pinned to the ground. Glaring, the demon snarled and swung forward its other arm, running its blade through Koga's gut.
The wolf screamed.
"Damn you!" Inuyasha bellowed, punching another tengu out of the way as he dove for the scythe demon. The beast had mere moments to react, by the time it chose to release Koga the furious dog hanyou was already upon it.
"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!"
The demon's blood spattered the trees, portions of its body flying in every direction.
Taji and Kaori battled the rest of the horde, and soon their numbers swiftly dwindled. Not wanting to suffer utter defeat, the horde dissipated, leaving the three weary hanyou with the injured leader of the wolf demons.
"Mutt…," Koga coughed, blood trickling from his mouth, "You survived…" He fell forwards, Inuyasha rushed to catch him as the wolf's knees crashed into the hard ground. Kaori darted over and began assessing his wounds: with both arm and leg injured the entire right half of his body was useless. The gash in his stomach tore through his armor, blood from his many wounds puddling on the ground beneath him.
When the koi hanyou conjured her water to attempt to heal him, the wolf angrily shoved her and Inuyasha away.
"Dammit," he cursed through clenched teeth, "…We were supposed to avenge them!"
Nearby Taji hissed through his teeth; Inuyasha glanced over to see him kneeling next to the supine body of Hakkaku. The pale wolf's throat was missing.
"Hakkaku…Ginta…" Koga's voice cracked on each syllable, hot tears streaming from his eyes as he snarled, "We were supposed to avenge our fallen brothers…we were supposed to kill Naraku…" he threw back his head and howled his anguish to the skies.
Without his pack, the wolf was alone.
Inuyasha looked to Koga's injured hand, completely shredded and bloodied beneath the broken Goraishi.
That fish, she said…she said I did that.
In complete horror, the hanyou realized that he'd been the one to disable the wolf. Had Koga not lost the use of his weapon he might've been able to protect Hakkaku, he might not be kneeling here screaming in a pool of his own blood. A wave of guilt swallowed him, and Inuyasha closed his eyes.
This is my fault. Naraku turned me, he used me to…
"Naraku…Naraku, you bastard!" Inuyasha bared his fangs and bellowed to the skies, hating the demon with every fiber of his being. He turned towards the wounded wolf, "Koga, I swear to you, I will kill him! He won't get away with this!"
Koga's head shot towards the hanyou, his eyes an angry blue fire. He snarled, opening his mouth to yell, when suddenly he doubled over and erupted into a fit of coughing. Rivulets of blood pooled from his mouth; when Kaori tried to heal him once more he didn't protest.
"It doesn't look good," She said, looking at both Inuyasha and her brother with worried eyes.
"I told you," Taji said, "We need to leave while we can. If we stay here we're all going to die, there's no way we ca-"
He was interrupted by a mountainous rumble as the earth beneath them shook. Overhead, the black dome that encased everything began to pulse, a great gust of air swirling around the miasma over the landscape. The temperature suddenly dropped, an icy chill permeating the land as the darkness of the forest seemed to grow stronger.
Inuyasha glanced up and narrowed his eyes.
Ronuku…Kohana…what are you doing?
Whatever it was, he knew that it was bad. He could think of only one way to stop it.
"You stay here," Inuyasha said to Kaori, "Look after Koga."
"What?" Kaori looked up and glared at him, "You're still injured yourself! Where do you think you're going?"
"Ain't it obvious?" Inuyasha spat, "The only way to end this is to kill Naraku!"
"You already tried that." Taji pointed out.
"It doesn't matter," Inuyasha growled, "He has my Tetsusaiga, he has…he has Kagome." His voice trembled at the end, fear dancing in his eyes. Koga glanced up and glared at him, but his coughing prevented him from saying anything.
"If she's still up there," Taji said, "I don't think Naraku would have kept her aliv-"
"Shut up!" Inuyasha rounded on the fish and flexed his claws, "I said I'm going to save her! Don't try and get in my way!" Kaori glanced between the two, but Taiji met the dog's anger with a glare.
"Then how do you propose to do it?" the koi hanyou asked, "The cat…she isn't here to bring you up to him again."
The mention of Kirara's death pricked Inuyasha's heart like a thorn, his ears pinned against his head in shame and anger but he turned and glanced towards the skies. The swirling miasma clouded the air, but after a few moments he spotted the hulking shape of the spider floating by in the distance. Beneath it he caught the faint cries of terror, the fleeing villagers trapped in the dome with Naraku and his demons.
Inuyasha glared.
"If I can't get up to him…," he turned and looked back at them, golden eyes blazing with fury and determination, "Then I'll just have to bring him down here."