Chapter 8 The Barrier
The wolf nodded and fell in silent step beside her. She was able to walk a few blocks to the train station before she was itching to ask Ayame a question. She couldn't keep quiet anymore, and she was dying to find out the answer. "Kagome, I need to know, how come you look just like you did all those years ago! You're human! I look like a middle aged woman, and I'm over six hundred years old."
Kagome laughed. "On the shrine grounds there is a well that brought me back to the feudal era. I am from this era. I'm just a miko with a great responsibility who's trying to live a normal life free of life threatening situations."
"I'm sorry for bothering you then. I didn't know you wanted to be left alone." Ayame's voice was becoming hoarse, sounding like she was going to cry.
"I was getting a little bored with a normal life. I miss going off to find jewel shards, sitting Inuyasha when he wouldn't let us rest, holding Shippo tight while I slept beneath the stars, taking a bath in a hot spring with Sango, and hearing the ranting of said girl when a certain monk placed his hands on her."
"So then how long has it been?"
"Over a year now. But it sometimes seems like a lifetime ago. I do feel sorry about killing Kouga, and I should apologize for killing him. But the stubborn wolf left me with no other choice." She was filled with nervous regret. She was going to go and see the wolf tribe, and she was the one to kill their leader all those years ago.
"Kouga was a fool. There is nothing more to that. If it weren't for you, we would have been banished to the demon realm a long time ago. Your barrier helped us stay here. We now have deep roots in the community. The demons that can take on human appearance have high paying jobs. We don't kill people; we live in peace and harmony with humans. We were not banished to the demon realm because we took refuge with your clan. We have become one. There is finally peace between all the clans because of you. But now the barrier is starting to fail, and there is a team of boys that try to come about once a month to banish us back to the realm we never belonged in. You have no idea how happy we are to have found you."
Kagome was glad that no one was mad at her for killing Kouga, and after a story like that, she was glad they found her. The whistling of the bullet train was the only sound made after Ayame's speech. Wordlessly they got onto the express train and sat down.
Kagome was amazed at how well Ayame and her pup blended into the crowd. The weird looks people gave them were because of what she was wearing, and the weapons she carried, not because of the demons beside her. She blended so well with miko clothing, an ancient sword, and a bow and quiver full of arrows. People took one glance towards them and probably figured they were off to some ancient battle reenactment.
Once they were satisfied with that they saw, they went back to doing what they were originally doing. She didn't know how Ayame would react if she told her, and she didn't want or need the extra stress. Plus, she figured if she noticed, Ayame already knew.
Ayame looked like she belonged. It was a real feat. She never knew that demons and humans could co-exist so well. She was glad she went back to the past, even if this was the only good that came out of it.
Kagome could no longer take the silence, even if it was a friendly quiet. "Ayame, I've been dying to know, what's the kid's name, and who's the father?"
Ayame shook her head and gently chuckled, "I was wondering when you'd come around to asking that." She raised her pup in the air and blew on his exposed stomach. He squealed in delight. "This big guy's name is Wuffie and h-"
Kagome cut her off, "You named your kid Wuffie!" She could hardly contain her giggles; but she was immediately silenced by Ayame's cold stare.
"There's nothing wrong with that name. It was either that or Kouga junior. I chose the lesser of two horrid evils." Ayame said staring into her child's big green eyes.
"So your mate is…?" Kagome started to act like a rabid schoolgirl listening to the latest gossip. She felt like she was becoming Eri.
"Hakkaku. Do you remember Kouga's best friends Ginta and Hakkaku? Well after Kouga died he was so sweet and supportive that it was only natural that we fell in love."
Kagome's mouth had dropped to the ground. She couldn't believe it. Actually she could, it was just the initial shock that got to her. "That's so cool Ayame!" Truly, Kagome couldn't be happier for her.
Nearing the stop Kagome could feel massive amounts of demon energy flicker. It was like she could pin point their exact location only to have it vanish a few seconds later.
Ayame shook her head. "They've been beating the barrier again. I don't know how long this is going to last. If the barrier you put up falls, all the wolves will be sent to the demon world or killed. I fear the latter will be the fate of our people."
Kagome was outraged. "Who would do this to you?" A few people turned to glare at her due to her outburst, but she could care less at this point.
"He's ruler of the Spirit World, a man who calls himself King Enma Daioh. For the past year now he's been sending his personal army to tear at our barrier. They've made slow but steady progress. We are not able to leave our homes in fear of getting caught. Our food supply is slowly ebbing away to nothing but rations. The morale of the wolves is falling into despair." Kagome looked into her friend's withered face. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Fruitlessly she tried to rub away the tearstains, but they wouldn't stop flowing. That's why we needed to find you. We need someone to help us keep our home and our families together. We are all that we have."
Kagome smiled at her friend's red puffy face. "I couldn't think of anything else I would rather do right now than help you. You have done so much for me in the past, it's the least I can do to repay the favor."
The train stopped, and they got off. The walk was set to a quick pace. A pulse of energy was felt, which could mean nothing good; so they picked up their pace. Kagome having no where near the speed of a demon kept slowing Ayame down, until the wolf demon became impatient and picked her up by the waist and ran the rest of the way.
Kagome felt the demon energy. She had never felt this much power gathered in one place before. Not even when she was in the feudal era. There must have been hundreds, if not thousands, of demons here. She was so lost in her musing she didn't realize she had stepped inside the barrier she had created long ago. They were coming up to the ridge that would over look the soldiers as well as the entrance to the demon's homes.
Their homes were still built in caves, but modernized houses were built surrounding them as well. The sight before her would have left her in awe; if it weren't for the panoramic destruction before her.
She could feel the protective barrier give way to the soldier's assaults. Not only could she see the barrier, but for some odd reason she could see it every time one of the soldiers assaulted it.
They were pretty pastel colors. She couldn't explain why they started out as blue then hummed to a faint purple and then settled to a light pink. If she had the time she would have figured it all out. Since there was little time to waste, she could only speculate that it would have to do something with the color of her pink miko energy, and the blue energy of the wolves: working, fusing together to keep the barrier in place.
Kagome took in everything, she was so absorbed in surveying her potential threats she didn't even hear or sense the demons that called out from behind her.
Hakkaku rushed and embraced Ayame; it was really a sweet sight, if that was your cup of tea. "Did you bring someone who could help?" One of the wolf demons asked.
"Yeah, I did," Ayame said with a bright smile on her face. She turned and grabbed Kagome by her arm and swung her about--making her lose sight of all the action going on down below. "This is Kagome."
Hakkaku's eyes started to bulge out of his head, "It can't be, can it?" He saw the joy and happiness flash across his mate's face and knew it to be true. "How?"
"This little weak girl is going to save us? She doesn't even have any power. We'd do a better job on our own. We don't need some legendary priestess to save us. The feudal ages are dead. We need to gather our men and attack." One of the male wolf demons boasted to anyone that was willing to listen.
Kagome raised her eyebrow to Ayame, "Some things never change no matter the era." 'I wonder if the male wolves developed brain cells in 500 years or is this the best they got?'
Kagome heard her name being called and turned around to look. Ginta came running as fast as he could towards her. "Kagome, it's been too long!" He gathered her up in his arms and gave her a bear hug that left her breathless. "I've never been so happy to see you in all my life. We need your help."
"Ginta, sir, this woman cannot help us!"
Ginta turned and glared at the demon, "Who do you think is the one responsible for you living here and not in the demon realm where we should have been placed centuries ago?" Immediate silence filled the group
All the demons present stood in shock, fascination, or horror as they watched Kagome, Ginta, Hakkaku, and Ayame walk down the trail of the cliff. They all took the silence as a sign of approval and made they way towards the caves. Kagome stopped dead on the trail. "Get everyone inside the caves right now." Her voice was distant and hard. Something with Kikyo's soul nagged at her and wouldn't let her back down from this. This was more than just intuition, but she couldn't place her finger on it. Kikyo's intuition and the sword pulsing at her side felt something: something bad.
"Wh-"
"Don't question me now Ginta, just do as I say." Kagome's eyes were now focused on the army damaging her barrier.
"If we are in the caves we're no more than sitting ducks."
"If you want to live you will do as I say. You can yell at me later after I save you from extinction."
Sighing in defeat Ginta hung his head low and nodded. Surprisingly, it didn't take him very long to gather all the wolves and have them assembled in the caves. Kagome could hear what some of the wolves were saying. She could only assume none of it was good. She paid them no attention as she walked towards the guards. They could apologize after she saved their ungrateful hides.
Everyone seemed to stop as they watched Kagome approach. "Leave now girl, before you get hurt."
Kagome frowned, 'Why does everyone think I'm going to get hurt? It's not like I can't take care of myself.' Kagome was now determined, 'I'm going to save Ayame and the others. I placed the barrier; I am responsible for what happens after that. I created this and it's my fault they're in this mess.'
"Now gentlemen," Kagome stated loosely, "If you go home now, no one will get hurt. You've destroyed my barrier enough, and you've made your point. I get it! You want them gone, but they are not going anywhere."
"Oh, and what are you going to do about it, little girl?" The captain of the guards sneered at her.
"You look familiar. I've met you somewhere before, but from where?" Kagome placed her index finder on her chin and pondered momentarily forgetting the situation she was in. This was going to bug her until she figured it out.
"I can tell you human; we've never met before. I would remember if I met you before."
Kagome realized where she had heard that voice before! "I was right I do know you! We saved you and your brother from that headless demon looking for his head! You were only a child then, I held you in my arms. You were so cute! What happened to you?" Her tone turned condescending on the last part.
Many of King Enma's men snickered and the captain looked stunned. "How did you," His voice trailed off. "You can't be! You're only human!"
"Yes I am human. So how's your brother?" Kagome asked changing the subject.
"He's dead."
"Yeah, dying will do that to you." Kagome snapped her head up and clasped her hands together, "Enough with the small talk. Leave now or I'll be forced to kill you all. It's such a lovely day; I would hate to waste this sunshine." She tilted her head and soaked up the sun's rays. To anyone that didn't know her idiosyncrasies would think she was rather insane.
"We have been given our orders to take these demons and bring them to the demon realm. They are not allowed to live amongst humans."
Kagome shook her head. "That wasn't an option. I said leave or die. The choice isn't a hard one to make. Self preservation or self sacrifice; really the choice is yours to make." Kagome removed her bow from her back and prepared an arrow. "I will give you to the count of five till I make that decision for you."
"Like you can do anything girl," The captain sneered.
It was clearly obvious he had forgotten it was she that saved him. Inuyasha was too busy arguing with Miroku and Shippo. Thanks to Hakudoshi's plot in finding the location of the last shard, Kagome was forced to kill the once innocent demon.
'Guess I'll have to remind him. Really, anyone that stupid deserves whatever he gets. He reminds me of Kouga.' She came out of her pensive thought on that sad note.
"One," Kagome counted. Her miko powers flared to life. No one was backing down, and she didn't like the looks of this. "Two." She accidentally fired her arrow and hit one of the guards in an explosive show of purifying power. "Oops. Sorry about that! I was over excited." She called out. In all reality she meant it.
Some of the weaker guards took off. 'So it seems some take to self-preservation. Good boys.' She thought as she readied another arrow. "Three." The more courageous, or rather stupid guards started to advance. She felt the sword at her side hum for control, demanding for her to unleash its power.
"Four." She walked to the edge of the protective barrier and it soared back to life stronger than ever. She released another arrow. It went through several guards purifying them before it became powerless and landed gently in the ground.
She dropped her bow and reached for the sword. She gave in to its call. Gripping the hilt she watched as pink energy swirled about her arm controlling her movements. From this point on, Kagome seemed to watch everything in slow motion. "Five." Even the words seemed to come out warped.
She stepped out of the barrier and walked towards the rushing guards. She was no longer protected from the demons. She screamed to herself to run and hide, but the darker side of her human nature thrived on this. She was meant to protect. It was her nature to kill demons; she was, after all, a miko with the power to do so.
They came at her all at once. She counted each and every head as they ran towards her prepared to kill her. Thirty-seven. That's how many demons were left, and were running full force towards her.
She unsheathed the sword, and she was officially consumed. She marveled at how well she was able to wield such a crude piece of weaponry. She knew it was not her, but the sword at work. Her first swing took out three demons. Three clean purifying cuts through the middle, and taking out two more demons behind them.
"Go home," She pleaded to them. At the sight of their fallen comrades, their eyes bled red, consumed by their demon beasts. Her words were lost on them. A staff came towards her. They were moving all so slowly. She was able to duck the incoming swing and retaliate with deep thrust of the sword.
She was sick of the senseless fighting. She just wanted everyone to live in peace. She wanted to be the one that needed protecting, not the protector. She had enough demon blood on her hands; she didn't need any more.
The grass beneath her soon became a pool of demon blood. Block…Strike…Evade…Strike. That's all she seemed to be doing. Their numbers decreased and Kagome was left with only a handful. She gave control over to the sword as she retreated into her mind and of lost memories of Sango telling her how only the strong survived:
One moonless night the pair was sitting in a hot spring talking about life and philosophy, trying to clean the demon blood off their skin. Miroku and Inuyasha were busy tending to the village, bandaging up the wounded and repairing damaged buildings the ox demon destroyed. "Kagome, sometimes fighting cannot be helped. It's embedded in human nature that the strong survive."
Kagome pondered her friend's thoughts. "That could be true, but I think the will to survive is greater than nature."
Sango laughed, "Survival is human nature. The warrior with the greatest will to survive will always be the victor in battle, because they are the ones with the most to lose."
Kagome snapped back to reality. Sango was right. Survival was part of her nature; not just for her family but for those she vowed to protect. Today, and every other day she would go into battle, she would come out alive. Not because of the controlling sword Inu no Tashio gave her, but because she had so much to live for and to protect.
The sword sensing her newfound will to survive drew from her strength and grew in power. Reality hit her full-force as time seemed to speed back up. Today she was going to win. Before the demons could attack, she sent a powerful wave of pink power towards those that were left.
The blast obliterated the remainder of her opposition. The sword was purifying the demon blood left on her sword until it was nothing but a tarry resin. She stood exhausted and panting as the remains of what were once demons were given back to the earth as an offering of her bloodshed.
She saw a rustle of movement in the bushes, and wondered how she could see something that small over a hundred feet away. "Show yourself or die." Her eyes flared with raw power as she sensed demons approaching.
"Quite a show miko." A man in pink purred.
It took her a second to place where she had seen him before. He was one of the guys at Sesshomaru's castle. For the life of her she couldn't remember his name. The only thing she remembered about him was that he was from the future, and his boss had the remaining shard.
"What do you want?" She kept her eyes on him, and her senses open for attacks.
"We merely came to see what the commotion was about, and now we see. Why did you kill them?" His eyes flickered towards the remains before settling back on her.
"They wouldn't leave when I told them to." She sounded like Kikyo, but it was the truth.
The burly orange-haired oaf came running out of the bushes yelling something about being left behind. Kagome took her eyes off the red-headed man and watched in idle fascination as he yelled at all of them. Naturally, he was making quite a scene, not to mention a fool out of himself.
As much 'fun' as this interrogation was, she still had so much to do and her energy was slowly slipping from her. It was a side effect of letting the sword feed off of her. She wanted nothing more than to curl up and fall into a deep sleep. No, she couldn't think about sleep, especially when there was still work to be done, and these guys couldn't be trusted.
"Leave now and you won't end up with the same fate as them." She shook her head at what she was just forced to do. Her tone was deadpan. It was like she was an unemotional robot on autopilot. She didn't like this one bit. She briefly wondered where her joyful spirit and carefree ways went. Then she remembered: they died with them. For them she would seek retribution, starting with the soon to be dead demon lord that failed to bury her love's ashes.
She missed something they said, because they were looking at her. "What was that?"
"I said we're going to have to take you in."
She looked at the black haired man and smiled. "Not today and not tomorrow. I'm not planning on going anywhere with the likes of you. Besides, my mother told me never to talk to strangers."
She suppressed her giggle fit at the sight of his face. He seemed ready to explode. All of her playful laughter was wiped off her face when he shot a beam of energy towards her. Weapons she could deal with. Spells she could avoid. How was she supposed to block energy? She wasn't Miroku; she didn't know about this! She did the only thing she knew, and she closed her eyes blocked the oncoming attack with her sword. It wasn't the most practical thing to do, but it was either that or block with her hands.
She was shocked and amazed.
She would have thought that the energy would have hit her, but it didn't even come near her. She opened her eyes to see a barrier all around her. She never knew she could do this, and it showed by her expression.
It was awesome, but at the same time, she was frightened of herself. Everyone stood watching, waiting to see what she'd do. She could've almost laughed. They provoked a wasp, and now they wanted to see if it was going to sting them. It was in an insect's nature to sting. It was after all a wasp.
Like the wasp, she was a miko; it was her job to kill demons. Of course she was going to strike back because it was her nature.
The sword, she held in her hand, flared back to life. She decided it was going to be best to strike them down before they could get to her. She had the most to lose; therefore, she would come out the victor. She would make Sango proud of her.
She saw three of them, and she wondered where the fourth one went. She remembered there was a small demon dressed in black, but he wasn't here. Or maybe he was and she just couldn't pinpoint his location.
The power of the sword flared and time warped. She did not like this feeling, but it gave her the advantage of living to see another day. As she retreated back into her mind she allowed herself to wonder. It frustrated her that she couldn't remember their names. Us-Ysu-Yusuke! That's the name Keiko had called out.
It was a shame she was going to have to kill him after all they had done to help her out. Yusuke tried to land a punch. Kagome ducked and when it came to go in for the kill, she couldn't do it. Instead she hit him with the face of the blade. He was shocked beyond all belief. It was a common emotion when one realized that she hadn't taken his life.
The red headed man attacked when Kagome attacked. He produced a whip from out of nowhere and cracked his hand. The long vine came towards Kagome, and she side stepped the weapon and sliced through it. After his initial shock, the vine grew back.
He tried to hit her again, and Kagome wanted no more. She was tired of all this senseless violence, yet she could not do anything about it. That's when she felt it: a demon presence coming from behind her. She was just in time to block the oncoming sword of the small demon.
'So they were going to play dirty were they?' This pissed her off. 'Obviously these guys don't know the meaning of fair play!' She had it up to here with the senseless fighting. She partially knew she would have to kill them before they would stop for good. Yusuke tried to land another punch and the other two demons came at her. 'This is SO not fair! It's three against one! Didn't their mothers teach them not to pick on girls? I don't think so if they are picking on me. They are going down.' Somehow again she set up a barrier that was powerful enough to repel the two demons. The human was hers, and he was going down.
She tackled him to the ground. Time was still messed up. Before he could roll over or attempt to get up she held the blade of her sword to his chest. She raised it a fraction and time sped up. 'I always thought it would be different. I always thought that time would slow down when I killed my first human. I think this is what they would call irony.' Kagome snorted and went in for the kill.
"Please stop!"
Kagome's head flew towards the voice. There were Keiko and Shizuru. Keiko had tears running down her face. "Please don't kill him! I know he deserves it most of the time, but please don't!"
She thought idly for a moment. This scene was a familiar one to her. She remembered pleading with Kikyo for Inuyasha's life. And here she stood becoming everything she hated back then. She looked at Keiko and nodded. "A life for a life. Now we are even."
She watched her nod. Kagome stepped back from Yusuke allowing Keiko to run over to him. Her heart hurt and she couldn't figure out why. "Thank you," She cried as she launched herself into his arms.
Kagome sheathed her sword. "If we ever cross paths and we are not on the same side, I will not hesitate to kill you. You were saved this time, but there is always a next time Yusuke. You have no right interfering with things older than you. Take her home." She turned away feeling the effects of the sword's power on her. She hated using the sword; it drained away all her energy.
"We just came to see what all this energy was about, then we saw you killing some demons an-"
"And then you attacked me." Kagome finished for him.
"Not me. It's not in my code to fight girls." The orange-haired man said the first intelligent comment since she first saw him. "Kazuma Kuwabara never fights a lady."
Kagome beamed. "And that's why Kazuma, you would live to see another day."
"You're such a suck-up Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled, only to be hit on the head by Keiko.
"Why were they attacking you?" The red-headed man enquired.
"They were planning on destroying everything they have worked towards; I couldn't let that happen."
"Destroy what? I don't feel anything." All eyes were turned to Kagome for some sort of answer.
Kagome smiled. "I made a promise long ago, and I came here to fulfill it. These lands are forbidden. If I ever feel, see, or know you've trespassed here again…" Her threat didn't hold up. She no longer had the strength to be menacing. She wanted nothing more than to lie down and wait till the swimming images in her head stopped. She felt the barrier lessen. She figured it was because the threat was over.
"Wolves." The black haired demon said looking around.
"Very good demon. All that you see before you belongs to the wolf demon tribe. Now I suggest you leave before they become irate. I've been told they are very territorial." Kagome walked towards the caves, only to be caught by Ginta before she collapsed.
The spirit detective team stood watching for a few seconds before they too left. Kurama was the first one to speak. "If that's who I think it was, not only are we in for an adventure," referring to Koenma, "but she was also protecting her mate. If I remember correctly his name was Kouga."
"Oh yeah the wolf demon we met when we were in the fucking back woods with all those fucking green trees. I wonder where her mate was during the battle?" Yusuke said leaning his body weight on Kuwabara. He was too macho to keep leaning his weight on Keiko. For some reason she never argued; she looked a little physically strained. He wondered why, and knew he was going to ask her later about it
"Guess we'll only have to wait and see." Keiko added.
Shizuru knew there was more to this after her extra time with Kagome, and she was going to find out.
End chapter 8
AN: The next chapter will come out in a while. I noticed I lost most of my reviewers because of that super long wait last chapter. Next chapter will be out in like a month. I really don't want to write it…nothing "fun" happens, so I'm procrastinating. I need your reviews to keep me inspired.
Plus school is super heavy now, Linux and Novell. But for anyone that cares I'm still on the dean's list. So this is my Christmas gift to you, now review and give me MINE! D
Oh and a special thanks to Jinenji for telling me to hurry up! So remember to thank her too!
Beta's note: I loved several lines in here. Still have the issues with the comma splices and run-ons, tsk tsk. Wuffie! cracks up laughing Okay, here's your bloody story! You know, I'm busy too.
Author's last retort: -rolls eyes at beta reader- thanks E for editing this in 5 mins ... now was that so hard?