Chapter 15:Help from Unexpected Places
The little gummi touched down on the familiar soil of the Inu Realm. The swaying green grass of the open field was warm and relaxing with the afternoon sun. Birds were singing their songs, clouds were harmlessly flying over head, the sky was a beautiful light shade of blue. Riza was the first to jump out followed by Charlie then Ren. Josh stayed behind to tell the two extra passengers to stay in the gummi, with its cloaking device, it'll go undetected. With the small details worked out, Josh joined with the group and activated the cloaking device.
"So how are we gonna find this InuYasha friend of yours?" Ren asked, looking about seeing an open field to his left and a dense forest to his right.
"With him," Riza pulled out her Keyblade, the steel shining in the sun.
"The Keyblade?"
"Nope, what the Keyblade is gonna release! Come on out, Shippou!" Riza fell into ritual, summoning the little fox demon. From the ring of greenish-blue flame came a enormous flaming fox. Ren fell back, not expecting the creature of flame to be staring at him with death in it's dim eyes. Within nanoseconds, those dim eyes turned into large, cartoonish eyes ,then the flame fox poofed and little Shippou was left, desecending and landing on Riza's left shoulder. "OK, Shippou, you think you can find InuYasha?"
"Of course!" the little fox hoped off Riza's shoulder, sniffed the air, then darted into the dense forest.
"C'mon, before we lose him!" Riza gave chase, followed by the rest of the group.
In the middle of the forest was a small clearing. In the of the clearing was a red-clothed, silver-haired, dog-eared demon-boy, wielding a large sword. He was training against the thick trunks of the trees, the slash marks numerous. He slashed a a tree three times then a vertical slash slicing the tree in half. He leaped off the falling tree and attacked four others on the opposite side of the clearing. He landed in the middle gracefully, then stood erect after a few moments. The five trees fell with a loud crash. He heard a noise after the massive crash, but thought nothing of it. Then he heard it again, louder this time. He readied his sword in the direction the noise was coming from. He was able to make out what the noise was; a high-pitched voice yelling his name. He heard it loud and clear and was struck in the gut with an all to familiar greenish-blue fire ball.
"Shippou? What are you doing here?" InuYasha said as he sheathed his sword.
Shippou climbed to his shoulder, "I'm not alone, either, Riza and the rest of them are here too!"
"Riza? But why?"
"InuYasha!" the mentioned keybearer made her way to the clearing. "How's my favorite half-demon?" everyone else was close behind.
"Fine. Josh, Charlie, good to see ya. But, who's he?" the silver-haired demon nodded to Ren.
"InuYasha, this is my brother, Ren. Ren, this is InuYasha."
"Hi," Ren stuck out his hand.
InuYasha clasped it tightly, "Hi. I can see the resemblance. Hmm, so why are you four here?"
"Bad news," Josh said, "The Heartless are acting up again."
"But I thought you locked them off?"
"We did," Josh continued to explain, "We locked the heart of the world away, but its the darkness in people's hearts that brought them back. As long as there is darkness in a heart, then Heartless will be there. They are darkness made real."
"Damn. Well, I guess then we just have to stop them here. Until then, let's celebrate your return. There's a village not too far from here," InuYasha led the way out the forest. Before the group made it out of the forest, Riza saw something in the corner of her eye rushed past them, heading in the same direction, toward the village.
Maybe it was just some demon or something just passin' by. Yeah that's it. Her mind decided.
The six made it to the village before night fall. It was InuYasha's treat for the feast. He made quite a name for himself as a demon hunter for the villages. The job didn't start long after Riza's departure. He kept himself busy for the time, and made good money. The six was catching up as they were eating the small feast. Halfway through, their actions stopped as a female scream rang throughout the inn. Riza was the first to the scene; a waitress was thrown through the rice paper doors of the inn, her heart appeared in front of her. Riza stood their, petrified, old, bad, memories resurfacing, opening up once closed, and thought, healed wounds. Sensei, Riza's mind whispered. In front of the ninja was not the girl, but her old sensei and it was his heart floating toward a dragon claw. The body disappeared, as silent tears ran down the keybearer's cheeks once again. The dragon claw, with the demon attached attacked Riza. Only the sound of a blade clashing with fast-approaching claw woke Riza.
"Riza!" Charlie's voice rang out, she was holding off the demon, "Are you ok?" Riza nodded numbly. The beast returned to the shadows.
"What happened?" InuYasha asked.
"Ah, little brother," a familiar voice growled out. From the shadows stepped Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, but his appearance was different. His silver hair was tainted with black tips on his bangs and the ends of his long mane. The tips of his long demon ears were black and zig-zag, like a Heartless. The whites of his eyes were black and the pupils were yellow. His left arm, which was once severed by InuYasha, was a dragon's arm, long and with three, clawed fingers. On the forearm was the Heartless insignia; the arm was visible for the sleeve of his gi was ripped from the shoulder. His swords were missing as well. Everything else was the way Riza and everyone else remembered. "I see you are surprised to see me like this," Sesshomaru's voice was darker, more growl-like. "I've attained true power and I will no longer be needing the Tetsusaiga, or any other weapon. But, I do want something of your's: your heart." The dragon claw was holding the girl's heart, which was soon absorbed into the Heartless limb.
"You monster!" Ren charged, his Night Steel drawn from the dark portal. Sesshomaru swiftly dodged the quick sword strikes of the Brave Lion. "Release that heart!"
"Pitiful human. You're no match for me, even if your heart was tainted by the darkness. I can smell it on you," Sesshomaru grabbed Ren by the front of the shirt, bringing him close, sniffing the air around him, then threw him through the rice paper and wood door into the small garden. He quickly stood up, ready for round two. "Let me see the power you gained from bringing the darkness into your weak heart."
"He's not weak! You are, Sesshomaru!" Riza yelled, everyone turned to look at the silver-haired teen, the tears have dried. "You heard me, you cowardly mongrel! You side with the Heartless to attain true power, as you say. At least Ren had a purpose, and that was to find me! And you want to see who has more power? Then it's my brother, hands down! Unless you wanna fight two strong hearts, then!" Riza jumped right next to her brother, her Keyblade to her side, ready to strike, "Here I am!"
"Fools, all of you. Come at me, if you dare!" The two charged, Charlie, Josh and InuYasha watched the two Ukaizr ninjas attack the Western Lands Lord. Even in the dark of night, the three found their marks. Sesshomaru used his poison claw, but missed the smaller ninja by inches. Riza disappeared and Ren appeared his blade slash across Sesshomaru's armour; leaving a gash between the two spikes. Sesshomaru countered with a swift kick to Ren's midsection, but it was blocked by his sword. He was pushed back. Riza appeared to the dog demon's left launching out of the shadows, "Very good ninja, but not good enough," Sesshomaru lashed out with his new Heartless claw. Riza expecting as much, only smirked. She did a quick spin, evading the claws, then with a vertical swing, brought the powerful weapon down. The blade of the Brave Lion Keyblade was centimeters away before the demon reacted, jumping away, out of sight. He appeared on the wall of garden, separating the inn from the forest. "We'll meet again. Inuyasha, I will have your heart, along with her's. Tonight, you haven't even witnessed my true power," The normal claw pointed to Riza, who did not look please with the abrupt end to the fight.
"Come back coward! Icy Daggers!" The icy knives were deflected by Sesshomarus' Whip of light. The ice daggers found themselves next to Riza's and Ren's feet, the ice freezing the grass around the point.
"You are definitely worth killing. No one disrespects me and lives," With that, he was gone into the dark, night sky.
"Damn him. He won't get away with this!" Riza growled.
She felt Charlie's hand rest on her shoulder, she look up at her brown orbs and calmed down. "C'mon, let's good night's rest and look for that scum bag tomorrow." The rest agreed, InuYasha stayed behind, looking at he starry night sky.
Josh looked back, seeing the demi-demon wasn't following. "You coming InuYasha?"
"Yeah." Sesshomaru. Damn you.
Night passed, the waitresses mourning the death of the girl. Morning came, and the group left some extra money and their condolences, then left the grief-stricken staff. With a new found vengeance against the dog demon, the group made haste, following InuYasha's nose. Josh and Ren were up ahead with InuYasha. Charlie noticed Riza's stiff posture while the group was running. She turned to the smaller teen, "Hey, you ok? I know Sesshomaru skipping out-"
"That's not it," Riza said curtly. "It's the way it happened." Before Charlie could ask what, Riza answered her unasked question, "When I got the Keyblade, I witnessed my sensei's heart be taken away from him. By that bastard Uso."
"Oh, and the way the girl's heart was taken, was like your sensei's...?"
"Exactly like it. That's why I froze up and couldn't attack. I could have died if it wasn't for you, Charlie. Thanks."
"No problem, Sugar. Just don't let it happen again, 'k?" Charlie winked. Riza loosened a bit, a chuckle or two escaping her lips. "C'mon, let's catch up to the guys." Riza nodded and the two caught up.
Charlie and Riza stopped, noticing the boys were standing at a small river. "Hey," it was Josh. "InuYasha lost Sesshomaru's trail in the river."
"I didn't lose it! Just can't find it right now. Just give me a few seconds," InuYasha bent down on all fours like a dog, sniffing the area where the trail left off.
"How about we just cross the river? Maybe the trail picks up over there," Riza pointed across the blue river. InuYasha hopped on the smooth stones that were just breaking the water's surface. He sniffed the air on the other bank, nothing. He returned shaking his head. Josh a got a familiar chill and summoned his Bladed Staff. "Josh, what's up?"
"Heartless." The shadows appeared. First little shadows, then neo-shadows, finally samurai.
"Well, let's show them who they're dealing with!" InuYasha yelled, charging at the Heartless, sword not yet drawn. He dodged a low swing of the Heartless's sword, coming down with his Iron Reaver Soul Stealer. Three Heartless were destroyed. A Heartless attacked from behind but dodged the claw. He grabbed hold of the arm and swung the Heartless into a cluster of others, destroying them all.
Riza and Charlie were back to back, surrounded by twenty Heartless; they merely smirked, "Do they actually think that twenty of them can stop two of us?" Charlie gloated, the smirk never leaving her face.
"They are creatures of instinct. And only one thing can go through that one-track mind: get more hearts." The two split and slashed trough the front line of the Heartless. With in seconds the twenty were gone. "Heh, losers." After a few more seconds, the rest of the Heartless were gone.
"Not bad," a feminate voice floated out behind a boulder.
"Who's there?" Ren said.
InuYasha caught the scent, "Wait, you're...you're...damn!" InuYasha couldn't place the name.
"Careful, half-breed, you might hurt yourself with that thinking. It's me, Reicheru." The brunette demoness came out from behind the boulder. Her brown eyes held a distant look to them, like her soul is lost and looking for its way back home.
"What do you want?"
"Help," the answer was blunt and too the point; it caught the group off guard.
"Help?" Riza asked, her memory reliving the first encounter with the demoness.
"Is there an echo or are you just hard of hearing, girl? Yes, I want your help."
"Let me guess, you want your Sesshomaru back. And you figured we're the only ones qualified for the job," Charlie replied, continuing when Rei nodded her head, "Well, let me tell you we're-
"Gonna do it." Riza finished before Charlie could turn her down. Charlie looked at the smaller teen, they all did. "I know how it is to lose a loved one to the Heartless. At least you have a chance to get him back. So, I'll help you out, if no one else will. Ack!" Charlie pulled the ninja over to the side, and whispered in her ear.
"Are you crazy? Do you remember the last time we met her? She tried to kill us. Why the sudden hero act?"
Riza tore her eyes away from Charlie's and looked a Reicheru. Her eyes held a sadness with that distant look. "Look at her Charlie. She's not in the state of mind for killing. She wants her love back," Riza returned her gaze to the older teen, "If that happened to me, I would do everything in my power to get my love back. Even ask the people that I tried to kill. I doubt she would try to back stab us." Riza paused as Charlie thought it over. She sighed.
"Fine we'll help her out, but I won't let my guard down," she agreed.
"When do you ever put your guard down?" Riza walked back to the group, "Ok, Reicheru, we'll help. But no backstabbing. Got it?" The demoness nodded. "Now, do you know where we could find Sesshomaru?"
"No, but give me a few minutes and I think I could track him."
"How?" InuYasha asked.
"My psychic abilities." The psychic started to levitate then took a sitting position, cross-legged, in midair. Her body began to glow. Her mind searched for that familiar aura of Sesshomaru's. It took minutes before she found that aura; tainted and distorted. She ceased glowing and floated down gently. "I know where he is. The mountains; they aren't to far from here. Come, hurry before I lose it." The group headed toward the mountains to the west of them, along the river.
"He must have traveled in the water to lose his trail," Josh pointed out.
"It's a good evasion tactic. A lot of ninjas use it. A good way to get enemies off your tail," Riza explained. "C'mon, faster."
"Wake up, you failure," a cold icy tone ordered.
Tairon was laying on the cold, stone floor of a cell, his vest gone as well as the spiked band on his left arm. He was left in his pants and the Claw of the King. "Who...who's there?" he called to the shadows weakly.
"Pitiful. I send you to do one simple thing and you come back as damaged goods. Too bad, you were kinda cute. What the hell happened? We gave you that damned claw so you could use it!"
"I did use it, bastard. But Ren and Riza teamed up and changed or something. They dodged the King's Blood Stained Fist and defeated me. How was I," Tairon coughed, his voice was dry from lack of water, and his damaged body weak from no food, this was punishment for failing a mission.
"Save it, Albtraum. I'm not here to listen to you whine. I'm here to get that claw back. Maybe if it had a more capable wielder, the missions might get done.
"Bite me, Glace. Plus, what makes you think you can remove the claw? It likes me, so it's stayin'."
"If it won't come off willingly," the icy warrior revealed the straight-edge sword, "Then I'll remove it be force."
"You wouldn't. C'mon, Glace. Let's talk this..." Tairon groaned when he was trying to stand. The pain shooting through his body was unbelievable. "Let's try to talk this over."
"You failed us. Why should we take pity on you? And if your a failure then that claw is pretty damn stupid to hang with you. If it doesn't want to come off, then we'll just dump it with the rest of your body. Don't test us, Albtraum." Glace decided to put away the sword and left. "Maybe letting you rot a bit more will do you some good."
"These are it!" Reicheru called from the front.
"InuYasha!" Sesshomaru appeared out of the slightly dark sky, his dragon claw out in front of him. InuYasha dodged the claw and the shock wave after it. "You came after all." He flexed his Heartless claw, "You think you can take me on?"
"Yeah! And more!" the younger brother charged, his sword drawn. The Tetsusaiga came across from the left side, but Sesshomaru dodged it, leaping over the blade. InuYasha swung his sword wildly, but nothing positive was happening. "Stand still!" Sesshomaru was easily dodging the strokes of the Tetsusaiga.
"This is pitiful little brother. How about swinging it like a sword and not a club."
"You wanna sword? Here!" Riza appeared behind the demon lord, catching him off-guard. Sessohmaru barely dodged the downward swing, and just missed the following sword strikes. Sesshomaru jumped away and looked at the two with a challenging look. InuYasha was now side-by-side with Riza. "Ready?" Inu nodded and the two charged. InuYasha went to the front, and swung his sword, anticipating Sesshomaru's dodge. The Heartless demon lord leaped into the air, Riza was there to meet him. She swung her Keyblade but Sesshomaru grabbed it with his dragon claw. Riza smirked and the Keyblade was dismissed. She kicked the surprised Sesshomaru in the face, then turned and landed an ax kick to his right shoulder sending him crashing to the ground. He landed with an explosion of dirt and dust, being forced by his fall. From the dust, he went on the offensive, launching from the dust, attacking InuYasha. The dragon claw slashed at the Tetsusaiga, the two holding their ground. Sesshomaru wailed on the sword, InuYasha just tried to hold off.
Inuyasha was able to evade one last claw slash and countered with a strike of his sword. The quick dog demon dodged it and attacked with his Whip of Light from a distance. InuYasha caught the whip with the shaft of his blade. Sessomaru tugged but InuYasha held his ground. From his left, Charlie appeared, her sword with its light power activated, "Let me help you out there!" The sword slammed against the whip, absorbing the power. With the whip gone, Charlie focused that energy into a counter against Sesshomaru, "Saint's Answered Prayer!" The crescent beam that shot out from the sword slash made its way at Sesshomaru. He flipped over the beam and swiftly covered the distance between him and Charlie and InuYasha. He pushed Charlie away with his claw, slamming her into a tree trunk not to far. Riza, landing a little after Sesshomaru did, rushed into the fray.
"InuYasha, move!" it was Ren. InuYasha moved and let the Ukaizr siblings take on Sesshomaru. Their swings were too fast for the normal human eye to follow, but, these were demons and skilled warriors. Sessomaru disappeared, soon followed by the ninjas. They appeared some yards away, Sesshomaru just inches away from their blades. The group just watched in awe as the three were fighting, it was like a rehearsed dance; but there were no re-do in this dance. Sesshomaru dodged a double-horizontal swing, leaping over the heads of the ninja siblings. Riza launched herself at the demon.
"Ren, throw me your sword!" Riza ordered. Ren obeyed quickly and threw his Night Steel. "Brink of Despair!" The weapons glowed a deep red, Riza's speed temporally quickened. Her and Sesshomaru were locked in a mid-air battle, one party dodging, the other attacking. Sesshomaru dodged the finishing blow and grabbed the little Ukaizr by the arm and threw her to the ground with enough force to break bones. Sesshomaru landed just in front of the fallen Riza.
"Who's next?" Everyone stared, how could that happen. She was had him on the ropes, now, she's out? Just like that?
"Riza!" Charlie cried and rushed Sesshomaru, "Heaven's Swift Judgment!" the warrior's blade was virtually unseen. Sesshomaru easily dodged the near-invisible attacks, and moved behind the warrior with such speed Charlie didn't realize it till it was too late.
"Sorry, girl, but you're finished," His claw was swift but the Keyblade was swifter. Clank! "Huh?"
"Sorry, Sesshomaru, but I'm not done yet!" Riza, her clothes were dirty and torn, blood running down the side of her face.
"You couldn't have lived through that!" His pushed his dragon claw down, against the Keyblade.
"That little fall won't stop me," Riza pushed Sesshomaru away, the demon heartless recovering quickly. "You ok, Charlie?"
The warrior was panting heavily, "Yeah, I'm just fine. Thanks for saving me at the last minute."
"Hey, what kind of hero would I be if I couldn't save you. I already lost people close to me, I don't want to lose another."
"Gotcha. I won't go diein' on you if you don't die on me," Charlie smirked.
"Agreed. So let's finish this!" Riza charged Sesshomaru, InuYasha right behind her.
"Good to see you're ok, Riza." The half-demon said, Riza nodded.
"Follow my lead, Inu!" She crossed over, making her path to Seshomaru a zig-zag, InuYasha following her lead.
"Think that'll confuse me?" He lifted the claw, a purple flame gathering within the palm, "Die!" the inferno ball was hurled at the two warriors, who dodged it because of their plan. Josh stepped forward, Riza and InuYasha dodged the flame ball, the ball of purple fire heading his way.
He chanted a few words the jewel resonating, "Bahamut Fireblast!" The mighty blast bellowed forth, extinguishing the little flame, and hot on the trails of Riza and InuYasha. The two, feeling the heat on this backs, dodged just in time for the flame of the King of Dragons to strike their foe. Sesshomaru was consumed in the mighty flame.
"Sesshomaru!!" Reicheru cried.
"He's not dead," it was Charlie, "You should know that more than any one else here." Reicheru looked at the warrior then charred ground where Sesshomaru once stood.
"What do you mean, Charlie?" Shippou, who has been quiet, spoke up, not seeing how even Sesshomaru live through that.
"Look," There was a small smoke trial, leading upwards. They followed the trail and saw the demon lord.
Sesshomaru powered up another purple flame and threw it at Riza and InuYasha. "Inu! That's you!" InuYasha nodded and leapt at the purple flame. He swung his mighty fang, the blade catching the flame, and flung it harmlessly toward the ground away from everyone else. Riza leapt, at InuYasha, then used him as a boost, jumping off his shoulders. She went into a another flurry of slashes, but every one missed. She began to fall, gravity catching up and claiming her once more. As she fell, she threw a shuriken and then her blade. Sesshomaru knocked the little star away. His dragon claw caught the Keyblade. Riza smirked, calling the weapon back.
Ren noticed this, and thought up a plan. He lodge his weapon in the ground and called a portal of darkness. He appeared under Riza, "Trust me?" She nodded, "Grab!" he stuck out his hand, she grabbed it with her free hand, and was pulled into the portal. The next thing Riza noticed was she was above Sesshomaru. Riza felt a little dizzy after going through the portal.
"How did you get there?!" Ren spun in the air, throwing his younger sibling at the demon. She dive-bombed at the Heartless Sesshomaru. She swiped with his claw when she was close, but she flipped over it and slashed with her Keyblade. The blade cut through the arm, cleanly. She landed gracefully on the ground as Sesshomaru plummeted. Riza stood, and with a smile on her face. The dragon arm fell next to her, she thrust her Keyblade into it, the arm disappearing forever. The girl's heart from the inn floated back to its rightful owner. Reicheru, overcome with emotion, ran to Sesshomaru's side.
"It's over?" Josh asked Ren, who appeared in a portal next to him.
"It's over." Ren answered.
Charlie ran to Riza and embrace the little ninja in a great hug, "Holy cow! That was one of the greatest fights I ever did see!" She pulled away and ruffled Riza's hair, "That was awesome." Ren, Josh and InuYasha, with Shippou on his shoulder, joined them.
"Thanks. But I couldn't have done it alone," Riza blushed at the attention looking at everyone. Something behind them stirred. It was Sesshomaru, leaning on Reicheru.
"I want to thank you, keybearer. Without you, well, I might've lost him forever," Rei bowed slightly.
"No problem."
"Keyebearer," Sesshomaru's voice was back to normal, and the Heartless curse was gone. His appearance was back to normal. "My thanks will be me letting you live. I'll be back for you little brother." The duo turned to leave, but Sesshomaru made them stop, "Where are my swords?"
"I...don't know, they were stolen when you were turned into a Heartless." Reicheru added sorrowfully.
"How..?"
"Sesshomaru." Riza said. "I might know you took your swords. I can get them back for you."
"That'll be greatly, appreciated, keybearer. Thank you, let's go Sesshomaru. You need rest." The two left.
"So what now?" InuYasha asked.
Josh spoke up, "I feel the darkness receding. Heartless attacks will be few and far between. I think everything will be alright."
"Good. I need a vacation after that," InuYasha fell to the ground, his sword returning to normal next to him.
"That was a tough fight, and you all were great," Shippou praised.
"I think we should be going. Other worlds to see and help out. Thanks for the help InuYasha." Josh said, helping the half demon up.
"I should be the one thanking you. Thanks, you guys."
"No problem. Well, be seeing you, Inu." The group left, Shippou giving InuYasha one last hug, then joining up with the group.
"So what now?" Ren asked the group.
Josh got out the small device to teleport the gummi to them. "Wait Josh, what about Farrell and Millie?" Charlie inquired, "Can they be teleported with the gummi ship too?"
"I don't see why not," Push. The little ship appeared before them.
From inside, "OK, what the hell was that all about!?!"
"Calm down Farrell, maybe something happened."
"Maybe we should bring those two back to Sunset Suburbia?" Riza suggested. "This trip might be too much on them, and quite frankly, we just don't have the room or supplies to handle two more passengers."
"She's right. We'll make a quick stop at Sunset Suburbia that kick it into warp drive over to The Wastelander's Desert," Charlie finished.
"Sounds good to me. Let's do it," Josh hoped into the cockpit. "Ok, you two, we'll bring you home to Sunset Suburbia. Buckle up."
"What do you mean we can't find the last prince?!" Glace roared. They had six of the princes need to open the last door and the seventh was missing. "How? Why?" Acier, being mute, only stood there, however, he was holding two new swords. "You can write something, Acier. Your hands aren't broken are they?" The steel assassin just shook his head. "How could this happen? Can't we track him?" Acier scribbled something in a notepad he carried around to communicate after putting down the swords. He handed the note to Glace, who read it out loud, "'Apparently not'...Are you kididng me?" Glace ripped up the paper and vivid curses flew out of the ice wielder's mouth. "Do you know how furious Zakiasu will be? Ah, hell, he could bite me for all I care. Just go and find the bastard, Acier." The assassin nodded and left without a sound. "Damn. It. All."
TBC
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