Sesshomaru hurried out of the boat first so he could help Kagura out. Inutaisho smiled at him for the gentleman he had become and wished Inuyasha was a little bit like his older brother at times. Shaking off his thoughts he could smell several demons approaching them.
Inuyasha grabbed their gear from the boat and tossed a bag to Sesshomaru. "If your done playing paddy cake with the woman over there I think we had better come up with a plan." Sesshomaru huffed at his ignorant little brother and started over to where his brother and father were standing.
A large explosion went off between the group separating them. Soon there was a spray of bullets causing the group to separate farther while running for cover. Sesshomaru yelled back at his father, "I am going to take Kagura to find her daughter. I will meet you inside." Turning away he grabbed Kagura's arm and took off running.
Inuyasha and Inutaisho went off the other direction into the forest. Not long after breaching the edge of the forest Inutaisho could smell demon again. "Yeah I smell it too" Inuyasha said to his father as they both went on alert. From behind a tree came a most unusual man. "Are you Inuyasha?" The stranger exclaimed, while a soft pink blush crossed his cheeks.
"Yeah, what of it." Inuyasha growled. "I can't believe it. Your adorable." The stranger clapped his hands together with a giddy look on his face, one of a school girl with a deep crush on a boy. Inutaisho started to snicker. Receiving a deep scowl from his son. "Well it is true son. You ARE adorable." Snickering a bit more. The stranger just nodded his head in agreement and continued to smile goofily.
Inuyasha whipped out his gun and shot the stranger between the eyes. "Inuyasha was that really necessary? Clearly the man had a deep crush on you and what do you do? You shoot him right between the eyes." Inuyasha growled at his father again and rolled his eyes. "I put him out of his misery. I guess no unrequited love for him today."
Sesshomaru pulled Kagura along the beach running as fast as their demon legs could carry them. Kagura abruptly stopped and pulled Sesshomaru over to the cliff bottom for extra cover. "Sesshomaru, wait. I have several things I need to let you know before we continue." Sesshomaru stopped and leaned against a rock. He nodded to her to continue.
"First of all I wanted to tell you Kanna isn't really my daughter. I have been like a mother to her through her whole existence. However, she did not come about the way a regular child would." Sesshomaru frowned but said nothing so she continued. "Naraku created her from a piece of himself. She's his little watch dog. He has equipped her with a mirror that allows her to see whatever is happening on the island."
"I just want to free her from his control so she can be a real child." A tear slowly strolled down her cheek but she decided she had better tell him all there was. "He also has hired a band of mercenaries. They are on the island and will be doing whatever it takes to stop us from reaching the castle." She walked over and leaned against the rock with Sesshomaru.
"You need to understand what you are walking into. He is extremely powerful. He has been studying ancient magic and potions. He knows the ins and outs of the sacred jewel and has been studying it and it's power for centuries. He devised a plan to taint it and use its power to make him the most powerful demon in the world. He wants demons to rule the world and enslave humans."
"I see. Is that everything you have to tell me Kagura?" He turned to look at her and she nodded. "How are we to make it to the top of those cliffs?" He lifted an eyebrow at her and she smiled. " Oh I got this. I guess there was one more thing I forgot to tell you. I'm an air demon. I can get us to the top of that cliff with great ease." She gave him a smile and a wink that let him know she was quite pleased with herself.
Inutaisho and Inuyasha continued on deeper into the thick forest. Once again smelling demon. "Oh I hope these ones are not in love with you too son." He joked while elbowing his son in the ribs." Inuyasha groaned and let out a "Keh. Whatever Dad. All I know is I am going to be kicking their butts too. Hmph." He crossed his arms across his chest in his ultimate show of defiance to his fathers words.
Up in the sky above them they saw and heard a large explosion. Shards of the explosion rained down on the forest exploding again and creating fire all around them. "What the?" Inuyasha jumped as dozens of metal blades came circling around them taking out all of the surrounding trees. Coming out of the smoke and fire was a large figure.
He was part demon and part metal. He smelled of gun powder and hot metal shards. "Hey freak, What do ya think your doing. Trying to kill us or something." The metal man said Inuyasha's name, causing his metal jaw to grind and squeak making Inuyasha cringe from the sound. "You don't look human or demon, so what are ya?"
"My name is Genkotsu." Inuyasha huffed at the sound again. "Gee I would love to hear your life's story but times a bit short right now. So I am going to put an end to this right now" Inuyasha pulled his gun back out and preceded to unload the clip into the metal monster. Inutaisho yelled at Inuyasha to wait a moment. But he was already done.
Blades again shot from the monster causing Inuyasha to dodge and try to miss them all. One grazed the side of his face causing a bit of a gash to form. Inutaisho grabbed his son and moved them behind a huge rock. "He's made of metal what did you think unloading your clip into him was going to do?" Inutaisho frowned at his son. "Well I didn't see you trying anything."
"What did you do with the special gun I gave you?" Inuyasha immediately caught on to what his father was asking and started digging through his bag. Another explosion went off next to them causing Inuyasha to drop the gun. Inutaisho grabbed it instantly and shot the demon in the only soft spot he could see. His forehead. The demon screamed and grabbed his forehead. Then it fell to the ground with an earth shattering thud.
Kagura set her and Sesshomaru down gently on the cliff top. Turning to him she told him which way the needed to go to reach the castle. Sesshomaru nodded and began to follow her. "So this Kagome woman, she is yours?" Sesshomaru looked at her through the side of his eye. "I am not really sure how to answer that. We were together before she was taken, but I am afraid she might be in love with my brother."
"Well that sucks." She gave him a slight smile. " I find it hard to believe that anyone could choose him over you. He is cute and all but definitely not all that." Sesshomaru could hardly believe his ears. Most woman chose Inuyasha over him. Something he always hated. He believed he was a nice enough looking man, successful, and reasonably intelligent. Maybe he had just been choosing the wrong women all of this time.
"Uhm, Thank you, Kagura. I appreciate that." He gave her an slight smile. I think it is very gallant of you to be willing to risk your life to save a woman who may not even love you. Oh, look were here." Sesshomaru looked up to see a massive castle from long ago. It was stone and covered with ivy. With at least three towers as near as he could see. "We need to follow the river over there. It will lead us to an underground tunnel we can enter the castle from."
As soon as the couple entered the tunnel a giant ball of fire came towards them. Wires shot out above them catching on fire and creating a net of fire all around them. Sesshomaru began running towards the source of the flames in order to destroy it. He lashed out at the man who was causing the source of the flames striking the man with his poisonous claws. The fire slowed but the man pulled back and readied another blow.
Sesshomaru struck again with all of his strength. The demon stumbled and fell to the ground. The demon screamed out and grabbed Sesshomaru's arms in his web. Pulling Sesshomaru close he he set the netting on fire. Causing Sesshomaru to cry out. Reaching into his jacket Sesshomaru pulled out a knife and slashed the demons throat wide open. The flames stopped , the webs disappeared and the demon collapsed to the ground.
"Well that was impressive." Kagura gave a soft lilting laugh that gave Sesshomaru goose bumps. Moving up the tunnel and into the castle Sesshomaru was stunned at how far they had come without being attacked again. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when he saw a demon standing at the end of the corridor. Turning to Kagura he told her to go and find Kanna and that he would take care of this. She smiled, ran up to him, throwing her arms around is neck she laid a very soft kiss upon his cheek.
"I will see you soon, then." She smiled again and ran off down the corridor. The man at the end of the hallway just stood and waited. As Sesshomaru approached he saw the man had something like knives coming out of his fists. 'What a pain in the ass' he thought, as my dear sweet brother would say. I hope he and father are fairing all right.
Inuyasha and his father had made their way into the castle as well. Moving through the hallways it wasn't long before they came into a giant ballroom. Sitting in the corner on the floor opposite them was Kikyo. Inuyasha broke into a run towards her calling out her name. Kikyo stood up and pulled a gun out from behind her back. She screamed "Die Inuyasha, Die" at the top of her lungs.
A bullet wizzed passed Inuyasha's ear and he in turn pulled his own gun out. Pointing it at her he begged her not to make him shoot her as another bullet flew by. "Kikyo please, I don't want to kill you." Another bullet came only this one grazed his shoulder. Inuyasha cocked his gun, with a shaking hand he poised ready to fire. Suddenly he heard screaming coming from behind him.
The person ran passed him and stood between him and Kikyo. "No Inuyasha you can't kill her. She is under a spell. Please." "Kagome?" She quickly turned around and slammed the palm of her hand flat against Kikyo's chest. Inuyasha watched them fascinated. A blue light came from Kagome's hand and seeped into Kikyo's chest. In an instant she collapsed to the ground.
Kagome knelt down next to her and stroked her face with the back of her hand. "It's alright sister miko, everything is alright." Inuyasha came up behind her and exclaimed. "What the hell Kagome?" Standing up she smiled at him and said. "It's nice to see you too Inuyasha." Then she cockily placed her hand on her hip. " How nice of you to come and visit."
"Kagome?" Inuyasha growled out. She leaned over and peered passed Inuyasha. "Hello Mr. Takahashi, how are you?" Inutaisho began to move across the hall to connect with the two. "I am well Kagome. May I say you are looking very well for a kidnap victim." He smiled as he reached them and Inuyasha spoke. "Yeah Kagome. We came here to rescue you but it appears that you have just been on vacation." She rolled her eyes at him and blew some bangs out of her face.
"I am fine Inuyasha thanks for asking. But I have hardly been on vacation. Naraku has become insanely powerful. He used you and Kikyo to help him taint the jewel and is now using it grow stronger. All of the bad stuff that went on between you and Kikyo was all created by him. She never believed you were an abomination. When she met you he was extremely jealous."
"She would talk about you regularly and he hated it. He wanted her for himself. He also needed a tainted jewel to complete his plan. So he placed her under a spell. Making her feel you were not worthy of her and pushing her to believe he was. Then he fed her the idea of you becoming human as a test of the jewel. You know the rest. He has been keeping her here and using her to keep the castle hidden."
"And you know all of this how?" Inuyasha stated as if he didn't believe any of it." You know this Naraku guy is extremely proud of himself. He has regaled me with his plot on several occasions. He is really a bit of a jackass if you ask me." She smiled at Inuyasha and suddenly it occurred to him this was Kagome telling him this. He took in a deep breath and he smell assailed his nose.
He threw himself at her and wrapped his arms around her back. " I am so grateful you are alright. I was so worried. I can't believe I couldn't save you that night. I felt so bad and I have been so scared for you." She smiled and pulled back. "I was so worried about you too. Are you ok? Did your gunshot wound get a chance to heal?" He leaned his head down and placed it against her forehead. Bringing his hand up he cupped her face. "I am fine. I am so glad you are too. Um, Sesshomaru is here too." He removed his hand from her face and removed is head from against hers. She was pulled back into reality. "Where is he? Is he alright?" She stepped back and Inuyasha let go of her. "We got separated, he will probably be here soon."
Kagura silently slithered through the halls hoping to go undetected. Sliding from door jam, to suit of armor, was hiding behind hoping that is was safe she heard an evil velvet voice behind her.
"So Kagura, Kanna has been telling me that you have betrayed me. That you went off to find help to stop me. She also informed me that you went to the Takahashi family for this help. After all I have done for you. Tsk tsk Kagura." Kagura began to shake, fear was enveloping her. She knew first hand what an evil bastard Naraku was. She had been on the receiving end of one of his punishments more times than she cared to remember.
Kagura backed into the wall, frantically looking for a way out. But she knew there was not one. She knew she would probably not make it out alive this time. "I just wanted to save Kanna. She deserves a chance to be a child and not a puppet. The rest I could care less about." She said this in a voice barely above a whisper. She was still extremely scared.
He gave a throaty laugh and threw his head back. Causing her to shrink away more. " The irony of it. The thing you were trying to save is the thing that turned you in to me." Kagura puffed up her chest a bit and yelled. She is not a thing she is a child." He began to laugh again. " She is a product of me, Kagura, not a child and that thing you think is a child is going to be your undoing."
He slammed his hand against her chest and started to chant something Kagura couldn't understand. Soon she could not hear him anymore all she could hear was the thunderous sound of her heartbeat in her ears. The pain in her chest was overwhelming. She could no longer breath. The pain was so strong now she could no longer focus at all. Then everything went black and she was gone.
Sesshomaru took in a deep breath as he ran towards the demon in front of him. Slamming his claws into the mans flesh and releasing poison out. The demon faltered for a second and then brought up his own claws and rammed them into Sesshomaru's side. Sesshomaru growled and stepped back releasing the demon from his grip. The demon also released Sesshomaru from his grip.
Sesshomaru pulled out his gun and shot the other demon several times. The demon stood his ground and barely flinched. This made Sesshomaru raise and eyebrow. The demon came at Sesshomaru and slammed both of his claws into Sesshomaru's chest. Sesshomaru coughed up blood and gasped at the sensation. His mind was running a million miles a minute trying to figure his best way out his situation.
While his mind raced the demon kept assaulting him with his claws making it hard for Sesshomaru to concentrate. Pushing back he clawed at the demon, poisoning him again. The demon growled out and Sesshomaru clawed him again. Causing the demon to back up and cough up blood as well. Suddenly Sesshomaru remembered the gun his father had given him. Bringing it out he shot the demon in the chest point blank.
The demon collapsed onto the floor and Sesshomaru turned and walked away. Moving through the corridors he was hoping to find Kagura and help her with finding the child. Quickly he ran trying to connect with his new found friend. Coming up into the hallway he noticed several suits of armor. He saw to legs protruding from one of the suits on the floor. He immediately Knew who it was. Kagura was laying there lifeless. Sesshomaru sat down next to and pulled her hand towards him. A silent tear rolled down his cheek.