Chapter 4: Tranquility, the grail we seek

No doubts in his mind about leaving the others behind, Sesshoumaru ran through the forests, at incredible speed. The wheels had begun turning. He knew that there was no tome to waste. Sesshoumaru considered many things beneath him, many things, but some how the end of the world was a slightly larger matter…slightly

The valley was small, mountains rose from either side enclosing the now rain soaked meadow. At its center was a small mound, an obelisk marking the spot where Valcos fell and was laid to rest. Only a little bigger than the average man, it stood silent, solitary, a lonely reminder of a time long forgotten.

Inuyasha and the others moved tentatively towards the grave. Through the rain the grave could be seen clearly, but there was something else. As they approached, the shape of a man moving about the obelisk slowly became clearer. He seemed to be painting something upon the grave, they appeared to be some sort of glyphs, they were a deep crimson. These glyphs that he was drawing, somehow didn't seem to be bothered by the endless attack of the rain.

As they came close Inuyasha stopped, his hand reaching immediately for tessaiga. The others quickly got their wits about them and stood on guard, it never hurt to trust Inuyasha's instincts. But the man seemed to take no notice of them, continuing to draw his glyphs about the grave. But as he bent down- reaching to dip the cloth he was using as a makeshift brush-his eyes caught the figures that were watching him.

Dropping the cloth, he began moving towards them with a sort of bewildered yet impatient speed. As he came closer the group was able to discern his appearance. He was about Inuyasha's height, lean, athletic but far from thin. His hair-untied-reached his shoulders and was slicked back by hand due to the rain, he sported a goatee-Kagome was surprised she thought it would be an odd five hundred years before those came in-which was jet black, like his hair. He wore a long black coat reaching to a little below his knees, buttoned up to the collar that seemed to flow about him as if it were some cloak. As he came closer, the look of utter surprise on his face was evident, but Kagome felt something was still wrong; something just didn't look right about the man. He clearly wasn't from Japan, his face was unblemished, I seemed god had been kind to him before he ever knew it. But something still seemed, incomplete.

As he walked up to them Kagome saw exactly what was bothering her…it was his eyes. The furrowed brow, the gaping mouth, the crinkled nose, they all displayed his bewilderment; yet his eyes seemed distant, hollow, as if there was nothing but endless darkness behind them. Before she could say a word the man began to speak, his tone, cautious and unbelieving.

"W-who are you??…y-you can't be them, I mean wh-no you cant be them, not so soon" He seemed to be surveying them carefully, as if searching for something within them. Suddenly his expression changed, it moved from intrigue to joy "Hah!! Oh fuck you are them, shit right at my feet nonetheless. Wow you guys have no idea how glad I am that you're here…I mean shit you guys have saved me so much trouble. Wow I was really not looking forward to finding you guys"

He was like a child, robust, energetic and guiltless. But all the while his eyes remained a constant reminder that there was more to him, something darker lurked behind his innocent façade.

"Who are you?? Where's the priest, he should be here, what the hell are you doing to that tomb, tell me KNOW" Inuyasha got a bad felling from this guy, real bad, the man just seemed too relaxed. Here he was clutching his sword, flanked by three others and yet, this man seemed as if he were taking a stroll through a field.

"There will be time later, for know I must apologize" again, he spoke as he was addressing life long friends, preparing to sit down for a drink, completely at peace in the face of the hostility coming from all of them, especially Inuyasha. His next move though, was far from friendly. Without breaking his stride or expression he reached for the sword at his hip-one that the entire group would swear they never saw-next, all that Miroku saw was a flash of black, a sharp pain in his temple and then…darkness

Inuyasha's eyes opened slowly. He didn't know where he was or what he was doing. Gradually as the pain in his temple subsided he began to remember. Instinctively, he tried reaching for tessaiga, but to his surprise it wasn't at his hip. As he tried searching for it he found his hands had been shackled to a large rock beside the obelisk. Immediately he began struggling against the chains.

"Its over there, with all the other stuff you guys were carrying" Inuyasha whipped his head forward to face the man they'd met earlier, but he was preoccupied, in his own world drawing glyphs upon the grave. Inuyasha gave another grunt as he struggled against the bonds but with no success.

"Don't do that, its bloody irritating. Anyway those chains have got some pretty strong magic behind them so, well no one can break them. Not even a… half demon" he spoke the last few words with an over pronounced glee.

"Shut up you bastard!! Unchain me so I can rip that calm expression off your face!!"

"Just relax half breed, why cant you be like your stupid friends and stay quiet, you talk any more and I'll…" His words trailed off as he returned to his task, humming to himself, not a care in the world. Inuyasha looked to his side, Kagome and everyone else were awake, staring silently at the man. It seemed they were already aware of their situation.

"Kagome!! Your OK right?" Inuyasha was concerned; the shot to the temples had been hard. But Inuyasha's words never reached her. She was shaking, head to toe with rage

"You monster" Kagome screamed, no longer being able contain herself "that blood, you got it from the battle. It was…it was you, you killed all those people"

"Great now you want to start screaming to" but even as he feigned irritation, the man seemed to be enjoying the futile protests of his captives.

"And now you're…" Kagome was screeching now "Now your defiling that mans grave!! To do…who knows what!! What did Valcos do to you huh? Leave his memory alone. Stop tainting it with the blood you spilled!!!"

"So you know Valcos huh? You think you know this man. This man died in misery, succumbing to the weakest of things…LOVE" The man spat the last word out as if it had wronged him personally…it had.

"Love is a great thing you beast, Valcos was one of the happiest people alive he found love in its purest form, he just wanted to find peace an tranquility, he wa- AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Kagome's scream cut through the rain like a knife. Her eyes wide, she soon began to choke on her own voice as she ran out of breath.

Miroku was stunned, reeling in shock he tried to figure out what happened. Ignoring Inuyasha's screams he stared at the wound in Kagome's shoulder. The cold steel of a Japanese style Katana had gone straight through, puncturing the rock behind her. Following the blade up to the hilt, past the hand and up the arm Miroku's eyes finally rested on the mans face. The man, who in the blink of an eye had gone from drawing glyphs to running a sword through Kagome now, looked possessed. His face was no longer calm and ordered as it was before; it was contorted, disfigured in a maniacal grin. Yet his eyes still remained indifferent unchanged as he screamed.

"LOOK AT ME WENCH!! YOU THINK YOU KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT LOVE!!! HUH? YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT VALCOS!! WELL HERE'S SOMETHING FOR YOU LITTLE GIRL…IM VALCOS!!!"

The man/Valcos allowed the fact to sink into his captives' minds. As the rain slowly washed everyone's shock away Valcos re-adjusted his face. Checking his temper and returning to the calm of before he brought his attention back to Kagome. Sitting on his haunches he looked at her, all the while not showing the slightest bit of concern.

"Tut tut tut, that's a deep wound. With proper medication it can be healed of course…but only of you can do it in time. Otherwise she'll die from blood loss."

"You bastard once I get out of these chains I'm gonna rip you face off"

Ignoring Inuyasha's senseless threats Valcos cupped her chin his hands forcing Kagome to look at him. He looked at the others then turned back to her. As his gaze returned, an odd look ran across his face. Shaking his head, as if dismissing some thing, he began to speak.

"Hmmm, wow she's pretty, I guess she does know exactly what love is huh" he childishly turned to Miroku arching his eyebrows, clearly conveying his train of thought.

But before he could continue Sango had had enough, she decided to speak her mind.

"Let her go you monster!!! You have no right to touch her!!!"

Valcos let Kagome go slightly taken aback. He got up and coolly walked over to where Sango was. He stared at her long and hard as if sizing her up. Then in a flash his sword was drawn.

Sango felt the sword press against her neck. She was alarmed at how steady his arm was. The sword was pressing up against her neck; the pressure, just short off forcing the blade through. The message was clear- speak again and die. But even in the face of death she met Valcos' gaze with determination, never flinching even once.

Valcos cocked an eyebrow as he spoke, presumably impressed. "Damn, you're one of those strong independent types…ah well I know just what to do"

Slowly he lowered the blade tracing her neck down her breast and below her waist. Sango watched his progress, eyes wide. When she realized what was going to ensue, she began to squirm for her life.

But Valcos' sword continued its path downward unyielding, until it reached between her legs. " There we go" Valcos seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself, but again his eyes didn't seem to share this notion.

As Sango squirmed, she knew she couldn't control herself. Finally a small against all her willpower, a small whimper left her lips. "Hah there's always a way to make them scream" Valcos smiled, showing no signs of stopping.

"You bastard, your gonna pay!!!" Miroku seemed beside himself with rage, he knew he had to save Sango from such humiliation. Though he could barely move, he was just able to get his right arm close to his mouth. Removing his rosary beads with his teeth, Miroku unleashed his kazanna, anything to make Valcos stop. Instantaneously he found himself being pulled towards the hole in Miroku's hand

"Wow shit?!!" Stunned, Valcos was able to keep his wits about him. In one fluid motion he removed a needle like knife from his sleeve.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

With unearthly dexterity he threw it, pinning the rosary beads to Miroku's arm in one swift motion.

"That's a neat trick monk, but I don't you should do that again." Though slightly shaken Valcos was enjoying himself. Slowly he turned back to Sango, a look of guilt forced upon his face. "Look I'm sorry. Torturing women just isn't my thing. It's just that I hate it when people try to cross me. It pisses me off."

Without another word Valcos went back to his task. Meanwhile Miroku bit through the pain in his arm and turned his attention to Sango. Understanding her plight.

"Sango" His voice full of compassion, he knew she needed support. But Sango turned away from his calls the rain quietly washing away her tears.

Valcos returned to the grave and completed his glyphs. After saying a few words he sighed heavily. Bushing his hair aside he looked up "finally I c-" but his words were cut short, something large was coming at the tomb at incredible speed. Valcos instinctively jumped trying to avoid the blast of energy aimed at his feet. But he was too late. The blast sent Valcos flying, straight into Inuyasha. Somehow the impact seemed to have broken his shackles. Without a second thought Inuyasha ran to Kagome, then Miroku and broke her shackles-it seemed that they were quick to break at the hands of another person. He sprinted, carrying Kagome to where her bag was and began throwing out all the medical supplies within it frantically.

Miroku in the mean time broke the chains around Shippo and Kirara's necks. He then freed Sango; he could understand how she felt. After breaking her shackles, he took her in his arms in an attempt to comfort her.

"It's OK Sango it d-" But before Miroku could continue, Sango pushed him away without a word. Silently, she moved to where Kagome lay and began bandaging her wounds.

"Lets hope we're in time, the wounds deep but it hasn't punctured any organs." Sago's voice seemed distant, wounded but never once did it quaver. Miroku didn't know what to do he knew he had to try and make her feel better, but before any of them could go any further they were interrupted by a voice they had all learned to loath I no time at all

"Well well…this should be…fun"

Looking up they all gazed upon the scene before them.

Valcos stood, sword unsheathed, watching the figure that had caused the blast standing a few yards from Inuyasha and the others.

Sesshoumaru stood tokijin in hand ready for battle…

Well looks like business is on he up.

Thank you to all the dedicated reader, and to the new ones…welcome.

Now I need to point something out

Though I have no real problem with it but are there no MALE Inuyasha authors.

I feel like a freggin' fruit here

Eh what the heck doesn't matter.

Next chapter:

I've been waiting to get to this chapter

I wont give anything way but I think three words should suffice

Sesshoumaru vs. Valcos