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Itty Bitty Pretty Thirteen
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Emi blinked sluggishly at the ceiling trying to pieice together how on earth she ended up in this strange place before her nostrils flared and her head whipped to the side. There laying deathly still were her grandfather - miraculously human once more - and her brother. Tears began collecting in her eyes as they traced each wrinkle of her grandfather's face. She never thought she'd be able to see him in his true form again and yet here she was. No matter how badly she'd screwed up, she was infinitely relieved that her mistake hadn't cost them their lives.
"Grandfather?" Emi whispered - her voice hoarse from disuse and injury, "Kenji?"
Neither brother nor grandfather stirred. Shaking her head once, Emi took in a long calming breath before freezing. The potent stench of poison filled the small hut in which they all found themselves. Sitting bolt upright, Emi groaned and clutched her still healing wounds as she began to crawl towards them.
"Grandfather," Emi whispered more urgently, "Kenji. Wake up. You've got to wake up."
"They've been cursed," came a kind, elderly sounding voice from behind her - making Emi nearly jump out of her skin, "But do not fret. InuYasha, the monk and slayer have gone to break it. The miko as you can see was injured as well."
Swallowing thickly, Emi nodded once before forcing herself onto her feet.
"I'm going too," she announced in a tone that left no room for argument as she staggered forward, "This is my fault."
"Child, ye need to rest," Kaede hushed the girl who was swaying dangerously with each step, "InuYasha and the others will defeat Tsubaki shortly. Lay down at once."
The girl whimpered once as she took a single step forward on shaky limbs before visibly deflating and turning to return to her bedroll - tears welling in the corner of her eyes as she lay back down and rolled to face the wall.
"It's my fault," Emi sniffled as she set her jaw to keep it from trembling, "I started all of this. I should've never done what I've done. I need to make it right, not them."
Sensing the girl's need to be comforted Kaede moved forward and knelt down beside her before reaching over to stroke a few stray hairs from her now tear stained face, "Child. Ye were not the first betrayed nor will ye be the last. Soon this will only be a memory. One ye may look back on in the future and laugh. Yet ye cannot do that unless ye recover. So rest Child. Rest."
Nodding glumly, Emi closed her eyes and did as she was told.
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The pain had an unpleasant warmth to it, almost as though it was eating away at his stomach. There's nausea too, just enough to make him hold onto a nearby rock for support and breath slow. For decades, he'd prized myself on his ability to ignore pain and just rocking on regardless, but that just wasn't possible right now. It was as though it owned him, dominated his every thought, and controlled his every action.
"So nice of you to join me," Tsubaki's cool voice cut through the searing pain, "I was beginning to worry."
"Bitch, what've you done to me?" InuYasha panted as he collapsed onto his knees - every muscle screaming in agony as his vision blurred. Everything seemed to be becoming less pronounced - sights, scents, even sensation. As his head swayed forward on its own accord, a walk of ebony cascaded over his shoulders in response to his question. Blinking sluggishly at the hair that couldn't possibly be his, InuYasha tried to piece together in his jarbled mind exactly what was happening until it hit him.
"You've turned me human," he managed to rasp out in disbelief as he turned angry violet eyes onto the woman before him, "What did you do?!"
"I purified you of course," Tsubaki chuckled lightly as she approached him, "Your youkai is no more."
Closing his eyes, his chest still heaving erratically InuYasha tried to feel any evidence that she was wrong and instead only found evidence that what she said was true. His ears were decidedly on the side of his head, his fangs absent, the usual demonic energy he took for granted gone.
"Why?" he managed to whisper hoarsely after a moment - immediately regretting the stupid question. He knew why she was fighting them. Hell they'd almost killed her twice before. Bitch just wouldn't die.
"Well, I had hoped my barrier would kill you straight out but it appears that won't work on half-breeds such as yourself," Tsubaki chuckled after a moment while she knelt down beside him - just out of arm's reach, "Now I'll just have to find another way to do it."
Turning his slightly green face to look at her, InuYasha gave the dark miko a withering look as he struggled to catch his breath. Clucking her tongue, Tsubaki gave him a victorious smile as she continued taunting him, "That spell seems to have drained you or it truly will kill you. Tell me. Do you fear death?"
Swallowing thickly to force back the bile that kept trying to make its way up, InuYasha narrowed his eyes and defiantly maintained eye contact with her in response.
"Still so feisty," Tsubaki chuckled as got to her feet, "It's no matter. Both you and that pathetic miko will be gone soon enough."
Staggering to his feet, InuYasha stumbled forward as he advanced on the miko - planning to kill her with his bare hands but with each step his stomach tightened and ached all the more. He kept swallowing, and his throat kept clenching, but no matter his efforts to keep moving forward, he could not stop the warm feeling rising through his chest, couldn't stop the taste of rising vomit rising in his throat, losing his fight to keep himself upright.
"You honestly still believe you can defeat me," Tsubaki cackled as she approached him - one slender hand outstretched, "You're barely able to stand. How do you expect to defeat me?"
Panting heavily, InuYasha watched the miko wearily until her hand was within reach. As he grabbed her wrist with the intention of pulling her close enough to choke the life from her body, a blinding flash of pink burst forth, someone issued a blood curdling scream and the world went dark.