The True Holder of Shikon
Disclaimer - I do not own Inuyasha.
3 - On the New Moon
The group trudged into the dark, empty village. Inuyasha looked up into the sky. The new moon was tomorrow so they needed to go to the cave. There was no messing around. Sango led them to the hut, where they would have to sleep. The darkness seemed alive, seemed to swallow everything it touched. Silence was abundant and unwanted. Miroku worked to light the fire and Sango got their beds ready.
"Tomorrow is the new moon, Inuyasha." Miroku said, his violet eyes going to his friend.
"I know." The hanyou sighed. "We need to go to the cave first thing in the morning." Sango nodded.
"I wonder what we'll find." She said quietly. "Hopefully, there's still a scent there."
"There should be. Though, if there isn't, we can't go any further down the ladder." Inuyasha stated. "We're already at the bottom. And what if Naraku knows this and finds this person first?"
"Then, we're in trouble." Sango stated, sitting and pulling her legs to her chest. "Because then, in order to purify the jewel, Kagome would need to forfeit her power unless she can expand it exceptionally."
"Well, there ain't no chance in hell we're searching everywhere for one damn person when all we can do is train Kagome." Inuyasha frowned.
"It sounds simple but it is not." Miroku stated. "With Naraku's constant interfering and collecting jewel shards, we cannot afford a break just to train our priestess. And, if we leave her with Kaede-sama, we will not be able to locate the shards."
"This entire situation is filled with loopholes..." Sango sighed. The fire crackled and snapped as they stared in thoughtful silence. Shippou was already asleep, curled up next to Kirara.
"It's full of flaws is what it is." The hanyou growled. "If only this was easier."
"Nothing is easy anymore." The taiji-ya said with a frown. Miroku and Inuyasha sighed and nodded, agreeing.
"A bow and arrows?" Eri blinked at her friend when she arrived.
"I wanted to show you guys how good I got." Kagome lied cheerfully, hoping they didn't see through it.
"We didn't know you took to archery." Yuka stated.
"Well, yeah! I think it's fun."
"Whatever floats your boat." Her two friends said in unison. Kagome knew she didn't spend as much time with her friends now as she had before, but they acted like they still saw each other every day. She also knew she didn't spend much time with her family, which was saddening in her opinion. But she was sure that Inuyasha would let her come back for Souta's birthday, which was coming up. Oh, and her mom's big day. She was getting married again. That was another thing that Kagome thought about. She never even met this guy. She hoped he was nice and treated her mom well.
"Kagome!" Yuka cried in her ear.
"AIEEE!" Kagome jumped and started breathing hard, her eyes wide. She fell over and sweat-dropped.
"Well, that's what you get for daydreaming! We've been trying to get you out of it for five minutes!" The girl crossed her arms and gave her friend a sly look.
"Who were you thinking about? That two-timing boyfriend of yours?" Kagome groaned when Eri asked that question.
"No..." She sat up and rubbed her head. "I was thinking about mom and her fiancé."
"Oh?" The two girls asked, blinking. "Spill!"
"Well, mom told me that she was getting married a little while ago. I... I don't even know this guy." She stated, frowning.
"I'm sure your mom would've brought him home to meet you guys..."
"I wasn't home when she did, I guess."
"Well, where were you?" Yuka asked. "I mean, she should have brought him over more than once." Kagome realized the danger of her situation. "Or were you in the hospital?"
"Uhm..." She was afraid of being caught in a lie.
"Are you asleep?"
"Not anymore..." Sango sweat-dropped as she opened her eyes, seeing Inuyasha squatting next to her. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What is it?"
"Let's go to the cave. Come on." He whispered. The taiji-ya looked over at Miroku only to see the houshi asleep, still in his bed.
"Why?" She whispered back. "And what about-"
"Just come on." She stood up and was startled when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms then basically raced out of the hut.
"What's with you?" She asked, looking up at him. He looked down and glared, meaning he wanted her to be quiet. They entered the cave and he raced through until they came to the stalagmite.
"There's still a scent. I was already here. It's very faint and hidden but it's there." He set her down.
"That's all you wanted? You could have just told me instead of bringing me here." She crossed her arms and gazed up at the face of the dead priestess.
"But there's more." She raised a brow and blinked. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her closer, leaning down so that his face was in the crook of her neck. "You smell like her." She stiffened. "There's no mistaking it. Your scent is a little different but it's there. That similarity."
"Inuyasha, there's no way..." He let go of her and frowned.
"How else do you think you got that idea? Did it just come out of nowhere? And what about your scent?"
"I'm sure there's an explanation..."
"Then let's hear it." He turned and looked up at Midoriko's face. "You said that we couldn't sense the power because it's dormant. But the scent is there and I can trace it in you." He paused. "And you said there was no way of knowing who it was but you said that the successor was someone who wanted to purify the jewel but not for selfish gain. You don't want it for selfish gain."
"Inuyasha, it just can't-"
"Will you listen to me?" He snapped, turning back to gaze at her. "I can smell perfectly fine. You smell like her. And you never said it had to be exactly the same." Sango took in all he said. But she just couldn't be... the successor. "The only way to find out is to let you come into contact with the complete Shikon no Tama."
He stood, glaring down at the inferior life form of a human man.
"Tell me why you have begged of my service, human. I have more important things to do."
"We have a problem with a-a young boy and an army of youkai!"
"It is not my problem. Take your petty pleas to someone who cares." And, so, he left. He could always come back and kill the man who had dared to even grace his presence. But for now, he would let it pass. He was searching for something.
Sango sat by the graves, her eyes glazed over. She didn't hear the bickering of the hanyou and the houshi, she didn't hear the birds, and she didn't hear Shippou chasing and playing with Kirara. She didn't hear the sounds and she didn't see the sights. All she could see was the scene of Inuyasha and herself, standing in front of the stalagmite. She shivered, remembering what the conversation had brought. Reality. Was she the key to all of this? After what he had said, he had left her to her thoughts. She couldn't be as important as he said she was. The scenes shifted and she found herself reliving something... a memory.
-FLASHBACK-
She was training with her father and Kohaku when all of a sudden the sky darkened and pink streaks of light zoomed by overhead. She felt a pain in her chest and fell to her knees, her eyes widening. What was wrong with her?
"Sango!" She heard her brother's voice and it seemed like he was shouting from a distance. Her vision got hazy and everything went dark.
It seemed only moments passed and she saw someone else's memories play before her. She didn't know who's they were but they were not hers. The face of a woman drifted before her. The scene played in slow motion. She felt this woman's pain... in her chest. Then something small and round was forced from her chest, glowing and pure, radiant.
"The Shikon no Tama. My soul." Said a soft voice...
-END FLASHBACK-
"Sango!?" She looked up and saw two worried gazes and an annoyed one. "What the hell are you doing?" She stood up and glared at Inuyasha before hitting him over the head.
"Thinking! Is that such a crime?"
"What the fuck-"
"Don't swear in front of Shippou!" She grabbed Miroku's staff and hit him harder.
"OW! Why you-" She gave the houshi his staff and stormed away.
"Leave her be for the time being. I am guessing that she needs time to adjust to the information you have just given her." The hanyou scowled. He didn't want to be within five feet of the touchy taiji-ya...
The moon was no where to be seen and Inuyasha was just as edgy as he normally was around this time. Sango just shrugged it off and dragged him away from the others, anyway.
"Look, I'm sorry for hitting you earlier." She crossed her arms and sat down, gesturing that he should do the same. "I guess I've finally accepted that I may be the successor. I think it is time that I shared a little story with you. It's about my past. I never told you about it because... I just didn't want to admit it to myself." He stayed silent, waiting. "The truth is, I got the idea from Midoriko, I got her memories, and now I have her scent. I just can't handle this, Inuyasha. I am a taiji-ya, I'm not meant to have magic of any kind. I'm a human, not a priestess, not a miko, and certainly not a youkai." He watched as she got upset, crying over a past she didn't want. "I just want revenge on Naraku, nothing more."
"So, why can't you just be... yourself? Why would you have to be anything else?"
"I cannot gain hope to destroy that evil, sick bastard with my weapons or my hands. Inuyasha, I just want to wake up from this stupid dream!" She put her face in her hands, holding it all in, trying not to cry when she very well knew that revenge could not go to her. "I can't do this! I don't want to!"
"But?"
"I have to accept the responsibility that has been handed to me. I can't ignore it and expect it to go away." She put her hands down at looked up at him. "Promise me something."
"What?"
"That when you kill Naraku, do it for Kikyou... and for my family and people?" He frowned.
"You'll be there, helping me so do your damage, even if you can't kill him." His now violet eyes roamed over the darkness, over the outlines that he could not see clearly now that he was human.
"I can sense something about you." She said softly. He turned his gaze back to her. "You feel helpless and trapped in this human form. Because your senses are part of you."
"Yeah." He smirked bitterly. "But this is my human heritage." He closed his eyes. "My curse."
"Inuyasha... This is not a curse." She swallowed and scooted closer, so that she was sitting against him in a comforting manner. "Your half heritage may seem like a curse but it lets you know who you can really trust and who'll stick by you. Just imagine, would your life still be the same, granted you were born completely youkai or completely human?" He considered her words then smiled and wrapped an arm around her.
"Thank you, Sango."
Her eyes opened groggily. She sat up slowly, her eyes taking in the darkness around her. The blanket fell to her lap gently and she rubbed her eyes, yawning.
"Hello?" She whispered, to see if anyone was awake. Nothing. Why had she just woken up out of the blue? Hmm... Maybe it was the dream she was having. She wanted to lay back down but could not bring herself to do so. "Yuka? Eri?" Still no response. She suddenly sensed something and fell over her blanket as she crawled her way to her things. She grabbed her bow and arrows and stood up. She went forward hesitantly and slowly, making her way around things she would trip over. She opened the door and looked down the hallway. She had to go downstairs... Easing her way down, step by step, she made it. When she got downstairs, she went to the door and unlocked it, throwing it open. Then it hit her. The jewel shards. She had no time. She could sense it... She flew back upstairs, tripping and nearly falling all the way down again. But she continued up. She flew into Eri's room and dug furiously through her things until she found the glowing gems. "Eri! Yuka! Wake up but don't turn any lights on or scream. Get somewhere safe, okay? Get your mom and get somewhere safe."
"Why? What is this about?" Yuka ran from the room and got Eri's mother awake and they all went downstairs together. "What is going on, Kagome?" Eri asked, her eyes on her friend as she ran out into the front yard in her nightshirt. They came out and hid in the shadows.
"I sense it. It's coming." And, indeed, the youkai showed up. It was big and lumbering but was a threat nonetheless.
"You, girl. Give me the jewel shards." She grabbed an arrow, arming herself and aiming.
"I am warning you once. Leave." The youkai attacked and she quickly dodged. She took aim once more and released. Her arrow was surrounded by her aura, by her power. Yuka and Eri stared, open-mouthed. They were shocked beyond belief to have a friend who could do that with arrows. The arrow hit the youkai in his dominant arm and he screamed, waking neighbors and people within a five-mile radius. "Now, you die!" She took aim, noting that this youkai had a jewel shard. She aimed for it and released. A bright pink light surrounded them and Kagome walked forward, looking up. She reached up and caught the Shikon shard, purifying it instantly.
"Kagome... I think you need to explain some things." The young girl turned and sighed. As if she didn't have enough problems with Inuyasha...
"Hah! Still can't catch me!" Sango grinned and ran faster as Inuyasha and Shippou chased after her, simply having fun. Miroku was purifying himself under a waterfall or something like that so they could do anything they wanted. Kirara mewed and danced around Inuyasha's feet, tempting and teasing him to chase her instead. Shippou veered off-course to catch the neko but Inuyasha knew what his goal was. The taiji-ya. She had gotten a lot faster and more skilled. He launched himself and tackled her, startling her as he plowed into her from the front. They rolled and she tried to get free, enjoying the game immensely.
"Hah! Who can't catch you?" He grinned triumphantly as he pinned her under him, her wrists in his clawed grip, level with her face. "Admit it, you lost!"
"What are you doing?" They both froze and looked up, Sango seeing the audience upside down. Shippou grinned at the youkai.
"Kagome-chan calls it tag!" The little kitsune's grin suddenly dropped when Sesshoumaru's expression did not change. He knew the great Taiyoukai did not play games but...
"Hn." His gaze went to his half-breed brother. "Inuyasha, I have come to talk to the human beneath you. Now, will you release her so that I may speak with her?"
"Yeah, whatever." Inuyasha stood up and dusted himself off. "Just for the record, taiji-ya, just so we're clear, I won."
"Psh, you wish." Sango brushed her clothes off and stuck her tongue out tauntingly at the hanyou. "I killed you the first half."
"Then I came back."
"Hah!" She then turned around and smiled pleasantly at Sesshoumaru. "You wish to speak?" He nodded. "In private, I'll bet?" Once more, he nodded. "This way."
What does Sesshoumaru want to talk about? "..." This suspence is killing me! I'll write the beginning to the next chapter.