A/N: Thank you reviewers jessicaalbertini and Lorien Legacy for their kind comments in the previous chapter. Here is the next one! Sorry, I couldn't get to Kikyou's part in this installment, but hope you will still enjoy Inuyasha's fight with Sesshoumaru regardless.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
A Different Journey
The story of Inuyasha, and the miko he loved who had survived death
Chapter 8
"Like I'll let you steal whatever treasure that old man left me…" Inuyasha mumbled behind gritted teeth. He picked himself off the ground and stumbled into the void hovering above the black pearl extracted from his eye.
"What do you think you're doing? D-" Kagome was about to say the special word to stop Inuyasha, but seeing him in his wounded physical state made her reconsider. It was that moment of hesitation that allowed Inuyasha to disappear beyond the void. She screamed after him. "Damn it! Now I can't just leave you like this!"
She double-checked that the first-aid kit was still with her and nodded in affirmation when she felt its cold metal case against her lap. She tried her best to strengthen her shaky grip on the sushi knife before plunging herself into the darkness. Learning from the experience of falling through the goshinboku well, she expected the vertigo that accompanied travel between worlds. Still, she felt like a rag tossed in a giant rotating washer. She had no idea what was up and what was down, and her own weight seemed ever so irrelevant. Was this how astronauts felt in space? If so, then kids should stop putting that down as their future dream job – being one with the cosmic oblivion was nothing to be jealous about.
And then there was that itch on her neck. Well, that was new. Was this black pearl void also infested with mosquitoes? At first, she ignored it. She was holding her sushi knife with two hands and reluctant to let go else the knife go flying out her grasp. She had never let go of anything when jumping between worlds, and she wasn't curious to find out whether dropped objects might swing around like boomerangs and come back to smash her head open. Okay, maybe that was just her vivid imagination. But as the itch on her neck intensified, Kagome's right hand moved involuntarily and slapped the itch without her even realizing until after the fact. Luckily, she didn't let go of the knife in her left hand. Still, she wasn't exactly pleased with what she found on her right palm. A flea. Oh great, so this black pearl void was infested!
Just when she was about to flick off the flattened flea, it spoke back to her. "Don't kill me! I, Myouga, am but the humble advisor to the late Lord of the West and his son, Inuyasha. I merely seek a ride with you to my old lord's tomb!"
It took three seconds for Kagome to understand what just happened. The flea had a name. And it was talking. Talking to her. A goddamn flea called Myouga was talking to her! Granted, the Sengoku Era did prove to be more fantastical than she had ever imagined from what was taught in her history textbooks. If centipede demons were a thing, why wouldn't flea demons be a thing too? She shouldn't have been surprised.
But it was still a flea. And she hated fleas.
"Get off me!" she screamed, flinging Myouga off her hand. Myouga was tossed into the deep darkness and would've been lost forever if not for a flying bird skeleton drifting by. Myouga flapped his wings desperately, managing to land on the skeleton. He screamed back at Kagome.
"If you wish to reach Master Inuyasha, I'd suggest you hop on too," Myouga said. At this point, Kagome was ready to accept whatever crazy thing to appear in this crazy world. Though the prospect of riding dead bird bones was unappealing to say the least, it was, surprisingly, the better alternative to being flung around a whirling void. She reached for the bird skeleton and grasped a rib, hulling herself up the spine with it. She would not contemplate the impossible aerodynamics behind the flight of this creature – it was flying, and that was all that mattered. They sped through the darkness for a dim light in the distance. Soon, that light enveloped them, and Kagome found herself soaring through clouds in a bright blue sky. The land below was barren save for the glittering white of littered bones. One of the piles was larger, more distinct than the rest – the skeleton of a giant dog, clad in full armour.
"Behold," Myouga announced, "The Great Demon Lord of the West, Leader of the Dogs. Here lies his remains; this is his tomb."
The bird skeleton dropped them off before a large chamber leading into the depths of the tomb. Myouga flew ahead of Kagome, guiding the way. She was awed by the surroundings. It wasn't that the tomb was like those depicted in adventure stories – the halls were not carved with antique art and adorned with magical torches. She was awed simply by the vastness of it all. For one, this tomb was built within the Youkai Lord's remains itself, and yet it was just so gigantic! Kagome looked up to gauge where the ceiling was. She could not come up with a good estimate, as it looked to her like staring up a skyscraper and counting its levels. She walked on and on after Myouga until they came to an open area ahead. Kagome felt spiritual energy radiating from there, giving off a faint bluish glow. This light allowed her to see who was ahead, Inuyasha, his brother, Lord Sesshoumaru, and Sesshoumaru's retainer, Jaken.
Lord Sesshoumaru had his hand around a battered katana buried within a stone that formed the centerpiece of the area. The smugness Kagome saw previously faded a little to frustration on Sesshoumaru's countenance as he tugged at the katana's hilt despite sparks of repulsion that surged up his hand.
Inuyasha smirked. "That's what you get for trying to steal what is not yours."
At this, Sesshoumaru turned to cast Inuyasha a glare, though it quickly softened as a smile tugged at the corner of his lips, not of joy but of amusement. "Oh? So you believe Father's prized blade, the Tessaiga, should be yours?"
Inuyasha stumbled forward, and to Kagome's surprise, Sesshoumaru stepped aside to let him touch the katana. "Let me show you who this belongs to," Inuyasha said, wrapping his hand around the katana hilt. Sure enough, no sparks came to repel him. Yet, he pulled and pulled and grunted and pulled again, but still the sword did not budge.
"Clearly, the sword is not intended to be handled by the weak half-breed that you are." Sesshoumaru's tone hardened as energy surged from him. "I had warned you to stay behind to reflect your failures, but you followed regardless. If only you had the slight use of retrieving the Tessaiga for me, I might have overlooked your transgression, but now that you have confirmed just how useless you are, I will exact your punishment with no reservations. Die!"
Sesshoumaru's energy consolidated into a whip of green light. He lashed it at Inuyasha, who dodged just barely, letting the whip hit the ground where he stood only a split second earlier. The floor split in a nasty gash and the air smelled instantly of a chemical burn.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed, dashing forward desperately with the sushi knife in hand.
Myouga quickly flew out of her way. "Are you crazy, Human Girl? You think that knife would do anything-"
Myouga could not finish his sentence as Sesshoumaru slipped easily to the side of Kagome's knife attack and with a wave of his hand, sent a wall of youki smashing into Kagome's back, sending her flying into the rock that housed the Tessaiga. The wind was knocked instantly out of her, and she crumpled to the ground.
"I will commend that you have more bravery than most of your miserable kind, Human. Stay out of my way, and I may consider sparing your life."
Sesshoumaru left Kagome to advance on Inuyasha, who was charging him once more.
"You will keep your dirty hands off her, Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha shouted, jabbing his own palms with his nails to send blood blades flying towards his brother. Sesshoumaru just whirled his whip around to deflect all the blades at once, then in a flash appeared before Inuyasha. The speed left Inuyasha no time to evade, and with a single-handed push from Sesshoumaru, he flew back to hit a wall so hard he cracked the stone.
Kagome came to her senses to see what just happened. This was bad. Myouga was urging her to run, and she might well be able to escape if she really put her mind into it, but she couldn't. She couldn't just leave Inuyasha to die like this. She feared for her own safety of course, but how could she live knowing she left a friend – or acquaintance, or fellow voyager…whatever Inuyasha was to her - to die? When she fell from Sesshoumaru's hit, her sushi knife had been flung to the side, far out of reach and guarded by Sesshoumaru's imp retainer, Jaken. She couldn't take it back, not that it would help anyway. Their only chance was if Kagome could somehow free the battered katana from the stone. Its name was Iron-Crushing Fang after all. That must count as something…
As Kagome crawled up to the rock to try and retrieve the Tessaiga, the duel between Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha continued. Inuyasha should've been finished by Sesshoumaru's last hit, but the injuries seemed to have unlocked something within him instead. Inuyasha's silver hair started glowing, lengthening into a ragged mane. Red seeped into his sclera, his pupils constricted, fangs and claws grew and sharpened. Youki whirled around him. Sesshoumaru snorted. "So you want to challenge my powers? Very well. I shall show you what it takes to be a daiyoukai."
While Inuyasha's transformation was long and painful, Sesshoumaru's was instant. A gust nearly blew both Kagome and Inuyasha away. Kagome had to cling onto the rock to prevent herself from falling. When the freak wind died and the dust settled, Kagome gawked at what she saw before her. Sesshoumaru had turned into a giant dog, so large he reached the immeasurable height of the ceiling above. With a roar, the ground started shaking, the ceiling started cracking. Bones and fragments of the giant armour that shielded them were falling. Kagome could only curl up into a ball and hope to not be crushed until Sesshoumaru stopped his rampage.
"Ha! Is that supposed to scare me?" Inuyasha's voice pierced into Kagome's ears. It was different from his usual voice. While Inuyasha was usually arrogant, he now sounded more than that. Evil. That was how Kagome would describe it. Inuyasha's voice was dripping with an evil that threatened to destroy all before him, friend or foe. It scared Kagome. She suppressed her shaking to look up at Inuyasha in the distance. No longer hindered by injuries, he was easily darting away from the debris, a wicked smile on his face as he slashed at Sesshoumaru's legs with his claws. Sesshoumaru kicked him off. Inuyasha took the hit like it was nothing, flipping mid-air to land on a wall, clawing into it to create a perch.
"Master Inuyasha's youkai blood is taking over his soul. You must get the Tessaiga to him. Quick!"
Kagome heard the tiny voice shout at her from above. It was Myouga, staying a good distance away from the conflict. Coward. Not that Kagome had time to deal with him at the moment. She didn't understand how the sword would have anything to do with Inuyasha's youkai blood, but if that was what Myouga said, she would trust him. She was already trying to retrieve the sword anyway, so might as well finish the task. Dodging a boulder that nearly fell on her, Kagome came to a stand by the Tessaiga and yanked at it with all her might. She really didn't need to, because despite its reluctance to be pulled out by Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, it gave Kagome no resistance. The ease with which the Tessaiga slid out of the rock made Kagome tumble backwards from her own weight. She landed hard on her butt, exactly where she had already been bruised multiple times. What was with the Sengoku Era and bruised butts anyway!?
"How can a lowly human like you take the Tessaiga!?" Jaken shouted after her as Kagome ran towards Inuyasha with the sword in hand. This attracted Sesshoumaru's attention, who even in his dog form Kagome could tell was enraged.
"You will submit the sword to me," Sesshoumaru commanded, his booming voice rumbling through the grave causing more boulders to fall. Kagome refused to back down, ducking from one falling stone and another.
"You do not deserve it!" she yelled even as Sesshoumaru spat a gush of poison sludge at her. She braced herself, screaming within to summon whatever power she inherited from Kikyou to protect herself. It wasn't needed, however, as the sword in her hand glowed, and its blinding light flung Sesshoumaru's poison right back at him. He roared.
Kagome used Sesshoumaru's temporary debilitation to dash the final stretch towards Inuyasha. She shouted at him. "Catch!"
Despite Inuyasha's maddened state, Kagome's voice reminded him of his mission. He would survive to go back to Kikyou. He had to! His conscious will returning, he turned to see the Tessaiga flung in his direction and reached a hand out to catch it. The sword's hilt felt so natural in his claws. When he touched it, the raging heat that seared his body and clouded his mind flowed out of him, replaced by a much sturdier power. Kagome was relieved to see that Inuyasha's eyes had once again returned to golden. She ran up to him and rounded him up in a big hug.
"You're okay! I'm so glad you are okay!"
"Ugh. Get off me. Gross…" Inuyasha muttered, shoving Kagome's head away.
"Sheesh, I was just worried about you."
The statement made Inuyasha embarrassed. He turned away awkwardly. "I am too damned great to have anybody ever worry about me, okay? So stop being dumb and just follow me. I'm getting us out of here."
Inuyasha pulled Kagome onto his back as he bounded up the walls to an opening in the ceiling. Sesshoumaru wasted no time, blasting a hole in his father's skeleton to give chase. He spat more poison sludge at Inuyasha and Kagome. Though Inuyasha had thought the Tessaiga would do something amazing, it remained a battered sword while he waved it around. Still, its barrier was enough to repel Sesshoumaru's poison.
"Goddamnit, this sword is a fucking piece of metal junk," Inuyasha grunted under his breath.
Kagome snapped at him. "Can't you just be more patient? Maybe you have to believe in the sword for it to work!"
"Ha? Believe?"
"I believed in you! So why can't you just do the same? Stop thinking that you have to do everything yourself. Trust in the strength of what is around you. Please!"
Trust.
In something other than himself.
Inuyasha had always just had himself though. His mother was human. It was only natural that she would die long before him.
He had been lonely. Not a full-blooded youkai yet not a human. Unaccepted by all. He fended for himself. Craved more power to protect himself. When he thought he had grown stronger, he had only become emptier.
It was until Kikyou had saved him. Yes. She had saved him. From the loneliness. From the emptiness. From the way he hated himself. She made him feel loved. And in turn he had wanted to love her.
But why didn't it work out? He had thought Kikyou had betrayed him. Now he knew, it was probably a trap orchestrated by a youkai called Naraku. But why did Naraku succeed? There was only one reason.
He had not trusted Kikyou enough. It was painful for him to admit, but Kagome was right – Inuyasha had yet to learn how to trust another.
But he would do it. He would learn to trust. Because he hated the way things ended for Kikyou and himself. Now that Kikyou and he were given a second chance, he vowed not to let things end the way it did last time.
He would trust. He would let go of the walls he had built around himself, and trust in those around him.
Inuyasha placed Kagome on a bird skeleton and ran forth to face Sesshoumaru again. He looked upon the battered katana and spoke to it. "Tessaiga is your name, huh? Please, lend me your strength, so I can survive this and move forward again!"
He felt that calm presence that was the Tessaiga grow into something more tangible, more solid. A wind. A wind that was powerful, but controllable in his hands. It was the power to protect what was dear to him. He would save Kagome here, and himself, and make it back to the other world for Miroku. Together, they would continue their journey. This time, Inuyasha wouldn't wander off without his friends, because he knew now, he needed them. They taught him what he didn't know but needed to know in order to become a person worthy of protecting a fragile love. He understood now, that though he loved Kikyou deeply, he was still too flawed to let that affection grow into something durable. But that was what he wanted! He did not desire only a fleeting fixation. He wanted a future with Kikyou. He hadn't been ready for it, but this time, he would equip himself, so that that future would be blessed upon them.
Sesshoumaru lashed a paw at Inuyasha. If it struck him, he would be dead, but Inuyasha faced it with no fear, readying the Tessaiga. The sword transformed into a huge fang in his hands. He was not surprised though. Somehow, the sword had told him this was to happen. The sword's wind guided him. Inuyasha slashed the blade into Sesshoumaru's paw and ran it along the limb in an easy stroke. Reaching Sesshoumaru's shoulder, Inuyasha twirled the Tessaiga in a perfect arc, detaching the limb from shoulder in a spray of blood. Sesshoumaru howled, collapsing onto the giant tomb with a thunderous sound.
End of Chapter - reviews appreciated
