21st Chapter: The Last Attempt
A/N: sigh… im so bored with this these days. Maybe ill go work on TSP for a while… yeah. Or "Smashed" since I've totally forgotten about it. One reviewer even tried to throw rocks at me for it…O.o ok! Ok! I get it! Oh and a shout out: inu yasha lover144183, about your idea in your last review, you completely read my mind. I've been thinking about just how I want that to happen. And don't be modest. The idea is brilliant. (grin) major cookies to you for predicting the future. (Just ike Bubblez did… that wuz just… her prediction was just ingeniously genious… in a very weird way).
Disclaimer: Inuyasha ain't mine.
The Last Attempt
The hot spring was like heaven. Warm, steaming, watery heaven. The murky white liquid lapped at her collarbone and moved in gentle currents around her body, melting the soreness out of her stiff muscles and massaging the pain out of the multiple injuries and bruises that she now fashioned on her body.
Hot mist and water vapor fanned against her flushed face as she tilted her head back. She hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time. If she weren't so preoccupied with planning to escape, she probably would have fallen asleep. But she was planning her escape. Sango just didn't know about it yet. All Kagome had to do was wait for an opening… a fraction of a moment when Sango had her back turned and wasn't looking… and she'd slip away.
But unfortunately it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon. The hot water was slightly sulfuric, and white colored, thank goodness, so Kagome didn't feel that embarrassed about bathing with a complete stranger. But still… it was a little weird. And Sango, for one, whose shoulder was still scarred and bleeding slightly every now and then (the jagged, pink cut on her shoulder was healing very slowly) seemed to not be bothered the slightest by the fact that they were together, completely exposed in the water. In fact many times Sango had gotten up to shift positions or get something from her wooden bucket, and Kagome had had to quickly avert her eyes, feeling incredibly awkward and blushing the color of a tomato. Not that Sango seemed to notice.
And every once in a while, the older girl would shift nervously and look over her shoulder into the density of the surrounding woods, as if she were searching for someone, her dark eyes fixating unnervingly at the rocks and trees behind which someone might conceal themselves. Eventually she would turn around again, muttering something about someone who apparently might have been watching them. Needless to say that did nothing to help Kagome relax. But… the actual hot spring sensation was heavenly.
"So… Kagome." Sango said after a while, the silence apparently getting to her. "How are you?" She asked, tones of concern apparent in her pretty voice. Of course, though, she was only faking, even if she was unnervingly good at it.
"Fine." Kagome said dryly. "Considering I've been kidnapped and held against my will by you people for the past ten days."
Sango frowned a little, shifting slightly in the water before asking. "Kagome… don't you think that you could get used to it here? If you just gave us a chance?"
"I'd rather die."
The older woman looked blankly at Kagome, steadily but soon small clear teardrops began to cling her thick black lashes. Needless to say, Kagome was more than a little startled. She sat up straight at the sight of them, the water swishing gently at her motion. And she practically bit her tongue when she realized she was about to ask: "what's wrong?" You shouldn't care she reminded herself firmly. So don't ask.
"You and Kohaku… The older woman said softly, without even a trace of as sob as she smiled down at the water, brushing away her tears with the back of her hand. "I wish Naraku would stop doing this to you."
Kagome watched Sango silently, remembering vaguely that Kohaku was supposedly her missing little brother who had supposedly been "killed" by Naraku. But they were only lies.
"But at least…" Sango looked up for a moment, her smile sad. "He left you whole."
Kagome felt her lips part a little bit as she stared at the bittersweet expression on Sango's pretty face. It was so sad. It was so… sincere. What if… what if she wasn't really lying?
'No.' Kagome looked away, staring down at the milky white water, trying to ignore the way she could feel the other woman's eyes watching her. 'I'm not going to betray him…'
After a while there was a heavy sigh, and Sango stood, her lean form dripping with water and Kagome looked quickly away again, all thoughts of pity lost as she felt her annoyance start to bubble up; she wished Sango would at least give her some sort of warning when she was just going to go and stand up like that.
"Come on," The slayer said, her voice steady and surprisingly even as she reached for the wooden tub at the edge of the spring. "Let's get going. I'll get our stuff ready."
Kagome felt her heart skip a beat as she sunk deeper into the water, her nose barely skimming the surface. This was her chance. The glitch. Sango wasn't watching, and she seemed to be distracted enough by her inner thoughts not to notice what Kagome was doing. She would just slip under the water quietly, sinking just deep enough so that she wouldn't be visible under the snow colored murk and then she'd slip away to the other side of the bank and start running for it. Hopefully, it would work.
Quietly she took a breath through her nose, her entire body tense with nerves as she tried to be as silent as possible. And all the while the woman named Sango seemed to be distracted. Kagome slipped lower into the water, so only her eyes were above her surface now, her hair still tied up in a damp cloth at the top of her head. She watched Sango carefully and prepared to go all the way under, when a light breeze suddenly picked up, moving the woman's hair away from her back.
Kagome gasped, and promptly choked on the burning liquid that invaded her lungs. She came up sputtering and coughing like an idiot, attracting, no doubt, the woman's attention. Sango turned around quickly, brown eyes wide as she regarded Kagome, startled.
"What the- Kagome?"
"That scar…" Kagome said hoarsely, her throat still a little tender from her hacking. "The one on your back… what happened?"
Sango unconsciously reached back to put a finger to the scar, meeting the still tender flesh and flinching unconsciously. She smiled again, but the emotion never really reached her eyes. "Oh this old thing?" She said softly. "Kohaku gave me this… years ago."
Kagome stared in wonder. The fake little brother? Last time she checked fake brothers didn't leave scars like that. And neither did real brothers as a matter of fact. Not normal ones anyway.
"It's really not nearly as bad as it used to be. I'm surprised you even noticed it."
Kagome backed away a little in horror. Not noticed it? How could she have possibly been expected to not notice it? It was horrible. A large area of pale red flesh, that spread across Sango's middle back, a cruel splatter-shaped scar that stretched up the woman's spine. Its gruesome pink colored flesh was a startling contrast to the girl's cream-colored skin.
What in god's name had happened to her? What had that fake little brother done? She opened her mouth, about to ask, when suddenly there was a deafening crack that drowned out her words and made her jump out of her skin. Both girl's gasped, and whipped around to stare at the still forest. There was a pound, and the Earth shook a little, ripples forming on the formerly still surface of the spring.
"What was that?" Kagome asked, just as another pound created another tremor, stronger than the last one, and nearly knocking her off the rock on which she was perched. Her first instinct was earthquake, but it was too rhythmic… it almost sounded like… footsteps. Big footsteps. And what was that hair-raising feeling spreading over her body and gripping at her chest. That cold-fear feeling… she knew she had felt it before.
"A demonic aura." Sango said softly, staring in the direction of the crack. For a long time they both remained silent and still, their eyes trained unwaveringly on the woods, looking for the source of the sound. But soon Sango spoke again. "Kagome… get out of the water."
Slowly, Kagome stood, her had closed in a fist over her chest as she continued to stare wide-eyed at the forest. Something was coming.
"Kagome get out of the water now!" Sango commanded, her voice now completely different from the soft tones she had been using before. Obediently Kagome scrambled out of the water, grabbing a towel that had been waiting on the ground for her and throwing it around her still-wet body.
"What is it?" She asked nervously as Sango wrapped a towel around her own dampened figure. The dry cloth clung to the drops of water greedily.
"It sounds like something big…" Sango said absent mindedly, studying the sky-line above the trees instead of the forest itself. "Maybe an ogre."
"And ogre!" Kagome asked, her voice raising slightly. "What do you mean, an ogre!"
"Just get down and act small." Sango commanded, stepping forwards instead of back, as if to face the "ogre" that was coming in their direction. "They can't see that well."
"And what about you?" Kagome demanded, her annoyance at the inconvenient timing starting to grab at her. She had been so close.
"I'll be alright." Sango replied grimly, putting her fingers to her lips and whistling shrilly.
Kagome nearly had a heart attack. If the ogre hadn't know where they were before, it would definitely know where they were now. She let out an exasperated noise. "Don't draw attention to us!" She cried, sounding a little angry… but mostly just afraid.
Sango smiled. "I need someone."
Kagome's heart stopped. Was she calling Inuyasha? For some bogus reason she couldn't help but hope that she was. But all her hopes were dashed to the ground and stomped on when a sudden cat like cry sounded through the air, followed by another pound and tremor.
"And that?" Kagome asked weakly, feeling a bit over whelmed.
"Just Kilala."
"Oh." Kagome felt her nerves settle a little. She knew the fire cat well enough by now. She alone had played her part in stopping Kagome from escaping several times already. Despite how cute she was in her mini, kitten-like form, Kagome couldn't help but think of her with a little bit of resentment.
"Kagome get behind that rock."
"But-"
"You don't have a weapon, remember?" Sango said, giving her a small smile. "You'll be safe if you stay out of sight."
"What about you?" Kagome asked as she started hesitantly toward the rock.
"I have Kilala coming. I'll be fine." Sango said as she stooped down to collect some palm-sized rocks, no doubt for throwing if proven necessary. "Now go get yourself under cover."
Kagome looked at the woman skeptically, feeling a little guilty that she was about to run and hide while Sango was about to go and face a ogre. An ogre who was apparently large enough to practically knock her over when it took a single step. And also an ogre who was snapping something… though she couldn't imagine what.
CRASH
"Kagome, go!"
Reluctantly, Kagome clutched her towel around her and dove behind the nearby rock, crouching like a child. She couldn't help but feel a little helpless. And why was this woman protecting her again? She had to wonder, but soon her stream of thoughts were cut short. The ogre came into view. And he was huge. So huge that she could see him towering over the rock she was crouching under from yards away. His head almost poked up above the canopy… almost.
She felt her breath abandon her. And as the ogre approached, a giant tree trunk clutched in his hand, she thought she saw a hint of something on his back. Was that a scar? He turned and squinted with small beady black eyes at the forest floor below, giving Kagome got a clear view of what it was she was trying to see. On his beefy, fleshy green back stretched a large spider shaped scar.
Kagome cringed as that sickening feeling returned to her with enough force to crush her into the ground. It was the same feeling she had had in the under-cellar room. What was this?
SNAP!
Kagome jumped, and her head whipped up to look at what caused the noise. She gasped a little when she realized. The tree trunk that the ogre had had clutching in his hand was now snapped in two, little splinters of wood raining down on her and pricking her skin… drawling blood. She turned her head down to shield her eyes, her towel slipping as she moved her arms to cover her head.
'Great…' Kagome thought to herself once the shower was over. 'I'm so dead.'
A/N: GRRR! Once again this is a cut off! Jeez! Well anyways let me know what you're thinking. Maybe I should just post everything at the same time. Since for some weird reason the chapter never ends and I keep on having to cleave chunks off of it. But hey, at least the updates are coming up faster neh? Let me know if I'm losing my style because it kind of feels like it. Oh and just so you know the next chapter is called "The Things I'd do for You." Or something along those lines. Sounds promising don't it:D See ya then.