Well, some nice reviews, I must say, I'm blushing! Like promised, here's chapter eighteen, straight from my head to your eyes. Prepare to fight, my friends!!
Deds:
Mystical Hanyou - I'm sorry if I forgot to mention you before, my comp's a piece of crap. B.ut I have two now so we're fine! Kags is up for the fight of her life, do you think she'll make it through????? Gack, of course she will, you guys know me too well!
Inuyasha is Awsome - Keep reading, I haven't had any complaints yet, they tell me its good! Thanks for reading!
Kitsune's Lover - Me too! Hell, I'd piss myself and forget who I was for half an hour or so if that happened! I think there's another cliffy here, I'll let ya know when I get there, lol. Yay for axe-wielding maniacs!!!
Du Weldenvarden Farcai - Well, it's nice to hear from you again, it's been a while! I'm pleased that you are so impatient, makes me wanna get writin'! Even though this bastard story is soooo long (113 type-written pages) I think I'll make it a two-parter. It's not official but... I'm thinkin bout it real hard!
Looky there, four reviews! Yesssss! I'm hugging myself guys, I thought for sure you'd have lost interest by now! Sniffle... so happy...
Sweet Temptation
Sesshoumaru wandered aimlessly, hoping to catch a glimpse of somebody, anybody, as he searched for Kagome. Was she alone? Was she dead? He just didn't know, and the tension of not knowing had him wound tighter than a spring.
A hand reached out of nowhere and snagged his shirt, and he yelled, flinging an arm at his assailant, and wound up smacking Inuyasha right in the face.
"You son of a bitch!" Inuyasha yelled, holding his cheek and clenching his jaw. His eye was throbbing, and would soon turn black.
Sesshoumaru glared at his brother, soaked to the bone, and barked, "Have you seen her?"
"Seen who? Everybody scattered. I haven't seen anyone but you, and you go and try to kill me! Nice, Sesshoumaru."
Turning away, he continued on. Inuyasha let him leave; he was in no hurry to sympathise with his brother after what he'd done to his face. Kikyou will make things better, he consoled himself as he plunked down under a tree to wait for the rain to let up.
Sesshoumaru stopped as he stared at the ground. Someone had been here, very recently; there was an axe-shaped puddle soaking up water in the mud at the bottom of the hill behind the house, and two very muddled sets of prints went past it. Looking ahead, his face was grim. If you're up there Kagome, he thought, I'm coming for you.
S.T.
Kagome reached the top of the hill and turned frantically, looking for someplace to hide. As she turned, she glanced at the ground, and what she saw there made her groan. In the mud, dissolving even as she watched, though not nearly quick enough, were a clear set of prints - her prints.
Shit.
She racked her brain for an idea. What was it animals did to hunters that threw them off a trail? She knew this, had seen it in countless movies… Backtrack! That was it!
Stepping carefully in her own prints, she followed them back downhill, but only to where the pines began to thicken. Then, being careful to jump far off her beaten path, she climbed a thick pine and sat waiting for Naraku to walk beneath her, and hoped to God that he didn't look up.
She suddenly remembered the gun she had hidden in her shorts, and reaching back for it, felt nothing, only her skin. The gun was lost, and she was on her own. God help me…
S.T.
Naraku slipped and did a face-plant into mud for the third time, and began to slide backwards. Gouging the muddy earth beneath him deeply with the axe blade, he stopped his descent and swore. How the hell was she making it up here so quickly? She appeared hindered by the mud not at all, while he struggled through the mire, growing more and more frustrated, and more anxious to kill her slowly and painfully the longer he struggled.
He examined her prints under his nose and noted the small but deep holes gouged by the heels on her boots. So, that's how she's doing it, he thought, his anger dissipating. Her boots were to the muddy hillside like an ice pick was to the sheer side of a glacier. His dress shoes were completely unsuited for the mud, which was why he kept sliding; his shoes had virtually no tread.
Using the axe, he made his way to firmer ground and removed his jacket, leaving it in the dirt behind him as he trekked on, searching for her and following her trail.
When he got to the top, he frowned. She wasn't here. Her trail ended here, and he smiled. Thought you were pretty smart, didn't you, Midoriko?
Looking over his shoulder, the grin on his face akin to a lion hunting a dying gazelle, he backtracked her, and stopped to inspect the ground when he re-entered the trees, looking for a sign where she had left the trail.
S.T.
Kagome held her breath as she pressed her body as close to the tree trunk as she could, her feet balancing precariously on the thick branch she was standing on. Slowly, she tried to inch her way around, so she wasn't in Naraku's direct line of sight should he look up, but just then, the Jewel pulsed, and they both froze. Grabbing it with her hand, she covered it, and squeezed its warmth for reassurance. Help me, grandmother, she prayed, give me some sign to tell me what to do.
S.T.
Naraku froze, his finger half-way to the soil to test the softness of the dirt when he felt it, very close by; the pulsing of the Jewel. Snickering, he glanced up, but saw nothing in the trees.
Frowning, he held a hand over his eyes to shade them from the brightening clouds overhead, the tail-end of the storm passing over, when he finally spotted her.
Grinning, he leaned his axe against the nearest tree and stretched.
"You may as well come down from there. I can see you in that ridiculous outfit, cowering behind that tree. I thought you had more guts than that, Midoriko." Naraku was aware that by calling Kagome by her grandmother's name he was confusing her, which was just what he was endeavouring to do. The more confused she was, the more likely the chance he would have of convincing her to hand him the Jewel.
Kagome shut her eyes tight and then whipped them open. Midoriko? Was he high? She doubted it, but he could have fooled her.
Taking a deep breath, her sanctuary redundant now that he'd found her, she moved back to a sitting position on her branch and replied, "I thought you'd have enough guts to kill me with your bare hands, Naraku. Did you bring that big axe along to help you defeat a little thing like me?"
He snarled at her, lifting a lip in disdain at her successful attempt to spurn his pride. She was right though; he didn't need the axe to defeat her.
Hefting it, he threw it away behind him, the blade landing in the trunk of a spruce tree several yards away, sunken to the handle. It made a loud crack! on contact with the dry wood.
Holding his hands up, he smiled. "I guess we're even now. I'm weapon-less, all you need to do is put down the Jewel. Then I'll gladly take you on in a fair fight."
The fear she'd been feeling up till now suddenly dissipated. He must be high!
Either that or very clever, she thought, decided to play along with his game, for now. "How silly do you think I am, Naraku? I need the Jewel just to qualify in a fair fight against an unarmed opponent like you. Though we both know the meaning of the word fair is lost on you."
He gritted his teeth, and for a second she saw the anger that seethed under his smooth veneer before it disappeared and he was his charming self again. "Now, now, no need to get lippy, Kagome. I'm offended that you think I'd fight dirty."
She laughed aloud at this, and began to play with the Jewel at her neck.
"I'm offended that you think I'd believe that!"
The Nice Guy act wasn't working. He decided to pull out the big guns and drop his cajoling attitude. Shaking his head, he smiled. "Listen, you little whore. If you give me the Jewel like a good girl, I won't have to kill you!"
She raised a brow at him, and stood. She'd gotten under his skin, and her confidence continued to grow as his patience wore away. "If you fuck off, I won't be forced to kill you, Naraku. Two can play that game."
At the end of his rope, Naraku closed his eyes and concentrated. He was no longer in control of his body as another power overtook him and Kagome felt the change in energy within him; when he spoke, her suspicions were confirmed.
"Midoriko," he hissed, his body bursting forth from his suit to take the form of a hideous beast, with tentacles for arms and insect legs, expanding and growing larger as she watched with wide eyes. That voice had not been his own.
Sesshoumaru, where are you? she thought desperately before she herself lost control of her senses and fell into a darkness so complete that she could not move, only listen as Midoriko's voice replaced her own and engaged in a conversation with Naraku.
S.T.
Sesshoumaru slipped, but caught a branch before he descended too far. Using it to pull himself up, he followed several streaks and a series of small and large holes in the mud, his only clue as to the path the two ahead of him had followed.
Spying something dark and wet on the slope above him, he picked up the wet bundle and shook it out. It was a suit jacket, and something weighed heavily in the inner breast pocket. Sticking his hand in, Sesshoumaru pulled out a silver Magnum, similar to the one he'd taken off Hakudoushi.
Naraku…
Pocketing the gun, he continued up the hill wondering why Naraku had left his jacket and gun behind, and if Kagome was still okay. His gut clenched at the thought of losing her.
S.T.
Amaya winced in pain. Daichi watched her but said nothing, dismissing her wince as the a result of being crammed inside the shed with everyone but Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, and Kagome.
Kikyou anxiously glanced out the window, looking for any sign of her sister or Inuyasha, but she saw nothing. Deep down she was scared… really scared. Her sister was in trouble, and she could stand idly by no longer without intervening.
Amaya pressed the microchip embedded in the skin stretching between her thumb and index finger on her left hand repeatedly. It was a regulation at the FBI to have the chip inserted in her skin; it was a way for the Agency to keep track of its agents, and a way for them to call for assistance should no other means be available.
An answering vibration came back through the chip, and it was slightly painful, but she smiled through the pain. Help was close at hand.
No one expected Kikyou to bolt, though. One second she stood still, rubbing her wet arms to generate heat, and the next she was running through the rain, her sisters screaming for her to come back, and none of the boys brave enough to go after her.
Amaya chewed her lip anxiously.
Daichi didn't even know what she was doing before it was too late, and she'd dashed out into the rain after Kikyou, yelling at him to stay put. "Don't any of you leave!" she screamed, running backward. "I won't lose you again!"
S.T.
"Naraku… we meet again."
"Midoriko."
She smiled, a longbow and a quiver of Sacred Arrows materialising from her very hands, emitting a bright pink glow.
"Good."
A tentacle lashed out at her as he attempted to slice her head from her shoulders. Kagome could feel every move, every strand of hair as it snaked across her face, everything slowing down as her body moved with incredible speed.
What's happening? she thought, trying to control her body, but it wouldn't respond. Midoriko was in the driver's seat now, and she wasn't answering Kagome's pleas.
The Jewel glowed at her neck as Naraku tried again and again to separate her from it, missing by a hair's breadth every time. Trees began to fall down the hillside as his tentacles sliced large sections of trunk away, wood splinters scattering everywhere as the severed logs began to make their way down hill until the thicker trees stopped them.
Midoriko fired an arrow at Naraku's heart, but she missed, instead hitting his shoulder, the flesh disintegrating in a bright flash of pink light, but she had only wounded him. Even as she watched, his shoulder began to re-shape itself, healing back to smooth skin stretched taut over muscle and bone.
He growled; that had been very painful. He gritted as his skin knitted together. He may have been able to heal instantly, but she had inflicted a lot of damage with that Sacred Arrow. He was becoming weaker, despite appearances.
"Midoriko… you'll regret that," he hissed, his voice emitting from his throat, though his lips didn't move to form the words.
She smiled, and aimed. Loosing the second arrow, she grinned with victory as his torso exploded, the pieces slowly flying away, only to be sucked back to re-form what was destroyed.
He's weakening, she thought, and turned her head to her left, following movement from behind her; he was trying to distract her.
Springing off the ground, one of his thick tentacles lashing out at her, she jumped off of it, using his momentum to launch herself into the air, and as she turned, her hair blocked her view, and before she could loose the drawn arrow in her longbow, she felt something sharp penetrate her armour, and pierce her shoulder, blood spurting hotly all over him as he pulled her close to his face, writhing in pain and at his mercy.
He laughed maliciously. This is it, he thought, watching the Jewel begin to darken under his influence the closer he brought her to himself.
Suddenly, Midoriko was gone, and Kagome was face-to-face with a monster, and her breath caught in her throat. No! Sesshoumaru, help me!
"It seems you are at my mercy, Priestess. Pity… I thought you'd put up more of a fight."
Kagome's pride was stung, despite the fire burning in her shoulder, and she realised that this was it; this was her moment of truth, her moment to prove that she could defeat the greatest threat the modern world have ever known. She was destined to win, she'd seen it!
Reaching out to touch the Jewel at her neck, he backed off when it crackled with pure energy, enough to burn him. Withdrawing, he sighed mentally. He'd forgotten that he couldn't just take it. Of all the ridiculous conditions, he'd been cursed with this one! Fuck!
Kagome fingered the Jewel slowly in her hand, teasing him, before her hand began to glow and she absorbed the Jewel within her, and it settled in her heart, its pure pink glow restored. She began to laugh, and he glared, his teeth bared.
"Rules have changed, Naraku. You want the Jewel… come and get it."
And she reached out and clamped both hands on his face, squeezing his cheeks and concentrating all the strength she could summon as her pure aura burned him, a foul stench assaulting her senses as his skin melted off the bone.
Throwing her, his tentacle slid out of her wound with an excruciating slurp, and she landed hard on the ground, clutching it and trying to get up.
I'm dying, she thought, her hand already stained with her life's blood. His tentacle had been staunching the blood flow, but now that it was gone, her blood spurted eagerly through her fingers.
Ripping a strip off her skirt, she kept an eye on Naraku, who stumbled about the clearing he'd made, blinded by her aura. Tying her wound off with the fabric, she pushed herself to her feet and wavered; her vision was spinning, but she had to kill him, even if it killed her.
Sesshoumaru, where are you? she wondered again as she reached for the bow and arrows.
Naraku's face was healing, but she'd burned him so acutely that he wasn't healing as fast as he should have been, and when he heard her draw her bowstring, he lashed out and wrapped his knotty tentacles around her, revelling in her pained moan as he held her up and squeezed her tightly, and, blinking, he began to focus as his vision returned, fuzzy at first, but improving with every passing second.
Poising his tentacle to pierce her heart, he laughed in her face as she still struggled to keep the bow drawn, her arms shaking with the tension.
"Stubborn to the bitter end, aren't you, Midoriko? Never wiling to accept the fact that you've lost-"
"I don't think so, Naraku." She smiled at something behind him. Turning, he saw Sesshoumaru, a silver Magnum in his hand aimed at his heart.
He threw back his head and laughed. "You two think you can defeat me?"
Sesshoumaru's hair began to rise, and his eyes rolled back into his head. Blinking, the whites of them had bled red, and from the gun formed a long broadsword, blue light crackling along the blade from the malignant power inherent to the weapon, and the smile slid off Naraku's face. Not again…
A white-haired demon stood before him, his wide-sleeved kimono flapping in the breeze created by his own aura, ancient armour adorning his left shoulder and a massive tail slung over the right shoulder, the armour held together by a breast-plate tied into place with a navy and gold sash. Jeans faded into white hakama as Shirae opened his eyes to the world for the first time since his death two hundred years ago.
Snarling viciously, he recognised his enemy instantly, and the precious burden he held in his grip. Kagome saw him fly forward, and screamed, "Sesshoumaru!"
Loosing her arrow, preparing to summon her own sword if this attempt to destroy him failed, she only felt the hard ground as it rushed up to meet her, Naraku having dropped her in his effort to dodge Shirae's Dragon Strike.
He had made a fatal mistake in ignoring her, though - as the Dragon Strike hit him a glancing blow, her aim had been true - the arrow had struck him square in the heart.
"No!!" he screamed, disintegrating before Shirae's eyes, blowing away in the wind from the passing storm clouds above, their anger still as they witnessed the scene below them in silence.
Only a body remained of Naraku, his physical body, and Shirae approached him cautiously, but at his touch, the body was cold and lifeless.
They had done it!
Turning to find Midoriko, he saw her on her face, pine needles stuck in her hair and covered with mud. Kneeling over her, he turned her to face him and gently patted her cheek to rouse her, but something troubled him. The ground beneath her was stained red, mixing with the mud, and her scent had changed - she smelled like death.
"Midoriko!" he cried. I can't lose her again! Please, don't die on me… Don't let me be too late!
Setting her back down, Tensaiga pulsed as he drew it out, and held it over her. Slashing her, he re-sheathed it and waited, but no change occurred, except that she still breathed.
Looking up to the sky to plead with whatever Gods might be listening, a fat drop of water hit his face and he blinked.
Sesshoumaru looked around, his hands empty. The silver Magnum was jammed in his belt, but other than that he was defenceless. His memory of the past events began to fade as he heard voices approaching through the trees.
Amaya, Kikyou, and five FBI Agents found Sesshoumaru cradling Kagome in his arms, rocking her bloody body back and forth, his face buried in her neck and murmuring over and over, "Stay with me, Kagome, stay with me. Please..."
S.T.
Wow. Yep, another cliffy, hehe, sorry bout that. Can't wait to be bitched out for two cliffy's in a row, lol! Hit me, you guys! I'm ready!!!