Anyone who does not yet realize I don't own Inuyasha needs to schedule a CAT scan. Everyone else needs chemotherapy. Sheesh, you guys must have cancer by now, or at least a brain tumor.
Chapter 16: Three Way Affair
Kikyo stood a few feet outside the dwelling. The pale moon adorned her in its celestial light. The gentle blue hugged her priestess garbs and bleached the ground beneath her feet. A midnight breeze combed through her loose charcoal hair and, not withholding its tapered edge, intimidated the dying fire inside the hut to hide within its burnt out fuel. The fire issued a wisp of smoke as its last act of retribution and then faded into the vermillion embers.
Kikyo's left arm clutched her bow while her right hung in the air behind her. Her body seemed frozen in position after firing the arrow. Her stance was focused and professional. Her face was placid though her eyes shone dangerously in the moon light. It was anger, pain, and traces of revenge that leaked through those soulless windows into the bitter night.
The moment frozen in time melted away and Kikyo's posture relaxed. She paced determinedly into the shack with cold sharp eyes. Upon complacently entering, Kikyo stood in the doorway to survey the damage. The interior modeled a slaughterhouse. Oily black blood skid across the floor in the back while flowering crimson pools smudged and speckled the entry. An indent punctured the rotting wooden floor near the center of the room. The dusky ceiling and extinguished fire added to the gloom and horror of the devastation.
The girl's body lay motionless, slightly twisted, and grotesque as death laid down his claim. Her own blood kissed her lips from the pool that collected on the rustic floor due to her chest wound. The boy's body slumped against the wall with his feral jagged bangs hiding his face. His legs, chest, and abs were exposed to the revealing moonlight, save for his beaded necklace and the remnants of his red kimono that clutched his ankles and skewed across his waist.
Kikyo's stony gaze turned slowly to judge the third body in the room. He stood with a slight hunch, his back to her. His red uniform hung loosely from his legs. A large black wound on his back healed rapidly to reveal a spider carved out of wrinkled and scarred tissue. He turned slowly to meet her gaze. His well built chest allowed the crisp blue moonlight to follow its chiseled curves. He was missing one arm and the ripped appendage spoke the destruction wrought on it. A chuckle escaped his lips as he smirked at her.
"Kikyo," his cold low voice toyed with her. "How does it feel to die twice, I wonder?" His eyes fell on Kagome, then slowly traced up Kikyo's form and settled on her cold eyes.
"You would have her die," he grinned and paused to watch her reaction, then continued, "how appropriate..." Kikyo didn't even blink. "And Inuyasha will once again live to mourn everyday and die every night in the silent world of suffering for loss of the one he loves." He blinked condescendingly at her. "You are... too cruel, Kikyo..." His eyes sparkled with contained delight and amusement. "You deny him the life and love he longs for, but even his misery is not good enough for you. For you deny him death as well. What a wretched fate to bestow on your most precious and beloved."
With his last words, Naraku dissipated in the dusky air of the abandoned shack.
The twilight's beckoning wind played with Kikyo's midnight black hair and made it gently dance around her face. She rested her teak eyes on the floor and her head drooped down. She closed her eyes for a drawn out moment. Then slid them to the felled form at her feet.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
The morning sunshine tickled Inuyasha's eye lids with its warmth. He groggily blinked his eyes, squinting to see through the brightness. His body was throbbing, especially his head. He rubbed his forehead with his forearm and inspected his body. To his amazement, he was almost naked. Only a few strips of cloth left over from his kimono covered his waist. He followed down his legs and discovered blood all over the floor. His senses slowly returning, as though he had been thoroughly intoxicated, he smelled the bloody feud's aftermath.
What happened? How did I get here? Inuyasha's confusion overwhelmed him and he attempted to stand and orientate himself. But a shooting pain paralyzed him on the spot.
"Ahh," he moaned with a cringe. His eyes scavenged for the source of the pain. They fell upon a long thin projecting shaft lodged in his chest by his left shoulder. An arrow. He recoiled as if he could move away from it. Then he reached out a hand to inspect it only to find his hand bore horrid long bloody claws like talons. He gasped.
Inuyasha reached up to his face and felt along his cheek bone to his mouth. A sharp hard tooth greeted his claws. He ran his tongue over his teeth and tasted the sweet flavor of blood. His teeth were definitely longer than normal.
Did I transform? Am I still transformed? His thoughts rushed through his brain like the echoes of the headache that currently pulsed through his cranium. His back rested on the wall behind him. His hand brushed against something and he quickly looked down. He lifted his hand. There was the Tessaiga. He grabbed it and looked it over. It seemed fine.
Where is everyone? Where is Kagome? Kagome! His thoughts cleared as he automatically stood up. Her scent was mixed in the blood stench of the shack. Her blood had spilled in here. In fact, he could see it staining the floor before him. Deep worry welled up inside of him. He smelled about for where she could be, but a peculiar source peaked his interest. He lifted the Tessaiga and discovered her scent on it. Another whiff and his eyes widened dramatically. He raised his own claws to his nose in disbelief.
Oh, no...
Inuyasha could barely believe the scent wafting through his acute nostrils. Kagome's blood. It was all over his talons.
"No, n-no, .. no" Inuyasha started to hyperventilate. His bright eyes swept the room to find her. "KAGOME!" Inuyasha let out with a scream that released all his anxiety, grief, and pain. Inuyasha collapsed near Kagome's bow, arrows, and spilled blood. He slammed his fist down into the weak wooden foundation. He let out a tearless sob and shook violently. Falling back on his haunches, Inuyasha's eyes fell vacantly on the arrow imbedded in his chest. It glowed a pink, almost comforting, light.
After a pensive moment, Inuyasha stood up with the Tessaiga and trudged out the door. Somehow the world seemed so cold and barren. The bath-like sunshine couldn't penetrate his frozen bronze flesh, nor could the bird songs reach his ears, nor could the early morning peace annul the sheer demolition of what he had seen to be his world.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
"So predictable," Naraku grinned to himself, "...humans." He dropped the rest of his red kimono in a nearby stream. The perfect replica of Inuyasha's renowned fire rat cloak whisked away into the cool water. "Even the self sacrificing and pure will offer their lives or those of others simply for pride's sake." He dawned his baboon suit and walked elusively through the shadowed wood near the stream.
As a ghost emerging from a graveyard, Naraku stepped out of the dark misty forest into the morning sun. A path marked the way to a large and beautiful temple. As he topped the stairs to the entrance, he noticed how quiet it was. Not a human was in sight. The door creaked on its broken hinges. It had been forced open. Naraku slipped inside and observed the interior. Ornate decoration adorned the walls. Beautiful paintings of old stories, legendary figures, and gods. Ancient scrolls lay about the room at various tables.
Naraku paused to notice they detailed the holy spirits and that one in particular focused on the priestess Midoriko, her purification powers, life, death, and the legend of the Shikon no Tama. Naraku paced to the back of the temple. As he approached another reading table, his hand touched a small scroll with Kikyo's name written in it.
Naraku's eyes slid to the side as he heard the front door creak. He remained where he was, turning lightly to view the disturbance.
"Beautiful aren't they?" a man's voice greeted. He was a monk of younger years. Naraku just stared back at him. "...the scriptures." The monk's eyes sparkled with wisdom despite his age. He wore a simple forest green kimono and old worn sandals. He approached Naraku with no sign of fear, and only smiled as he came right next to him. He rested his calloused hands on a small table displaying the scroll and gazed dreamily down into it. After a pause he spoke. "They say it is man's job to protect the earth, share it with others, and keep it for all posterity. Many go forth in life on just such quests and crusades, fighting amongst themselves, killing demons, praying to the gods... keeping the peace." He chuckled introspectively. "And how many realize they will never succeed? How many demons do the same in search of conquest, power, glory, and supremacy?... I can only pity them." His hazy charcoal grey eyes focused and looked up to Naraku. "We are all the same, friend. Glory belongs to the gods; let them keep it." With that the monk turned and with a slow gait, proceeded back toward the door.
Naraku watched with intrigue sparkling in his eyes. His eyes clung to the man's back. As though he could feel it, the monk paused and turned just enough to glance over his shoulder.
"You are welcome to stay as long as you like. Please,..." he waved his arm to display the shrine's humble furniture, then turned and walked out.
Naraku's eyes resumed to emanate boredom and he stretched his gaze about the entire shrine. Not much was disturbed, or it had been replaced. Naraku's last observation was a shelf of holy relics. A scroll was gone. A small silhouette insisted it was missing. Naraku evaporated into the air.
When he next resumed a physical appearance, Naraku was outside. He stood near the edge of a cliff on the ridge of a high hill. The wind wisped about and sliced through the foliage around him. A petite figure in white, blue, and red sat before him. She seemed absorbed in the scenery, atmosphere, and flow of the ground on which she sat. Her legs curled beneath her. She held her back to Naraku.
"Kagura."
The cold utterance of her name caused the woman to stiffen as though scared to breath. Her body slightly jerked as she turned to see him. Her redwood eyes lit up with terror and shock. Naraku did not give her time to recover. "Go find Kohaku. Take him to Onigumo's cave and await my instructions."
Kagura gawked up at him, unable to speak. Contempt flared in her eyes. She clutched a hand to her breast. Her face had lost it's sudden horror, but she couldn't manage words either. Naraku simply dissipated and left Kagura to her task.