The Raven Veil
Eight
Miroku dragged Sango as fast as he could up the small passageway, Shippo, Kilala and Rin close on their heels, as the water launched after them, surging wildly through the passage.
'Guess it didn't like you guys slicing great big holes in it!' Shippo shouted.
'Sympathy for liquid later, survival now!' Sango replied, trying not to feel guilty about leaving Kagome and Inuyasha down - wherever they had fallen. Miroku led them through all different passageways that led off their path, but still the water surged after them, drawing closer and closer. Suddenly, Miroku stopped, slamming Sango into the crevice in the wall beside him. They pinned themselves in it, but Shippo, Kilala and Rin did not see them, and they carried on running.
'Shippo!' shouted Miroku, but as the kitsune turned, the water lunged forward, and descended upon the three of them. Rin scuffed her toes on the ground, and fell forward, slamming into the ground.
'Rin!' screamed Sango, trying to pull out of the crevice to help her, but Miroku pinned her there, keeping her safe.
Shippo and Kilala turned as they heard Rin fall, and turned back, running towards her. Shippo tugged at her arm, trying to get her up, but she was dizzy, and disorientated, and she whimpered as Shippo tugged on her consciousness, trying to get her to move.
'Rin, come on, it's coming!' squeaked Shippo, as the water reared backwards, launching down at them, preparing to swallow them up. Kilala mewed in fear, cowering behind Shippo, and the kitsune looked up, flinching, preparing himself for the blow. Kilala was swallowed in a ball of flames, and she transformed, leaping before Shippo and Rin, taking the full attack of the water. Kilala roared in agony as the electrifying sensation coursed through her blood, boiling it.
'Kilala No!' screamed Sango, 'Miroku let me go!'
'No, you'll die!'
'Kilala will die! I have lost my brother, and everything else I've ever known, if you make me watch her slip away I will go INSANE!' she pushed Miroku against the wall beside her, and threw Hirakoitsu on the water, leaping onto it. The air rushed past her as Hirakoitsu skidded along the waves of electrified water, and Sango surfed them towards Kilala. Kilala's body gave in to the stress being put on it, and she transformed back, and the water surged over her, Rin and Shippo. Sango dragged them up onto Hirakoitsu as the wave was about to hit them, pulling them to safety.
Suddenly the water threw them from its surface, and they flew through the air, skidding across the ground to a halt. Miroku leapt out of the crevice in the wall, and saw his friends under the line of attack of the giant wave of electricity.
'Sango! Hit the ground and get a grip on something!' he shouted, and Sango flung herself to the stone floor, pinning Rin, Kilala and Shippo beneath her. Miroku pulled the beads off his wrist, and his kazaana opened once more. The water roared as it was sucked into the portal, and Sango made sure to keep her head down as it dragged the demonic liquid into oblivion.
Miroku sealed the kazaana up again, and ran to his friends' side, helping them to their feet. 'You okay?' he asked them.
'Yeah,' muttered Sango; as Rin nodded in reply, Sango picked up Kilala and Shippo hopped up onto Miroku's shoulder.
'That was less than comforting,' whined Shippo, as they started walking again, 'So can we find Kagome and Inuyasha, so we can get the hell out of here? Miroku?' Sango looked to the monk, he was staring dead ahead.
'Miroku, are you okay?' asked Sango, looking at him worriedly.
'Hmm? Oh yeah, fine,' he replied, not very convincingly. 'I just…thought I saw something ahead.' They all turned their heads to look, seeing something within the blackness ahead, twinkling.
'I see it,' said Rin. They all stepped forward hesitantly, wondering what it was.
As the group neared the mysterious darkness, they saw exactly what it was that they had all seen. A long, glistening veil hung from the ceiling to the floor, almost translucent, in fact it was only when they stood right before it that they realised it was a veil. It was a raven coloured curtain, bearing dazzling, glittering sparkles upon it, which twinkled as the veil swayed lightly with the breeze created from their movements. Shippo's green eyes were entrance by it, as were the wide, red eyes of Kilala.
'Strange,' muttered Miroku, as the kitsune jumped off his shoulder, nearing the veil. 'Very…very strange.'
'What do you think it is here for?' asked Rin, walking to Miroku's side. Sango remained silent, as Kilala hopped out of her arms to stand beside Shippo.
'It doesn't matter,' said Sango nervously as she saw how interested the smallest of them seemed to be in it. 'Whatever it is, it's in our way, so let's go back another way, we need to find Kagome and Inu-'
'But it's really pretty…' murmured Shippo, a foreboding calmness to his voice.
'Huh, really peculiar you mean,' huffed Miroku, bored of it now, and getting rather grumpy with the lack of sleep. 'Let's go.'
Miroku, Sango and Rin walked a little way before they realised Kilala and Shippo weren't following.
'Shippo? Kilala?' asked Sango nervously, but they didn't reply.
'Miss Sango,' Sango turned to look down at Rin, 'do you realise that that veil seems to hold some sort of spell over them?' Sango nodded, it was true, they were entranced by it, and didn't seem to hear anything around them.
'And…it's only the demons out of us that are under the influence of the spell,' added Miroku. Sango shuddered at his words, her thoughts straying back to a story she once heard about an enchanted black veil, which shimmered within darkness, drawing demons to its foreboding beauty. The veil was the dark curtain, it drew in its victims, and then ensnared them in its trap, but no one knew exactly what happened afterwards, or actually how the victims were killed, no one lived long enough to tell. Then she realised what the veil was, it was the same veil in the story.
Shippo leant forward, reaching out to touch the shimmering veil.
'Shippo no!' shouted Sango, 'don't touch that, it's the-' She broke off as his tiny finger touched it, Kilala's paw making contact moments after. Suddenly, the spell over them seemed to break, and they snapped back into reality.
'Sango, Miroku?' the monk and the youkai exterminator sighed.
'Thank god, you're okay,' sighed Miroku, 'let's go now, before you guys get yourself into even more trouble.'
'Well I can't.'
'What do you mean you can't?' asked Sango impatiently, grabbing Shippo's hand and dragging him backwards, but his hand wouldn't break free from the veil.
'My hand is stuck to the veil,' muttered the kitsune. Sango was getting really tired and annoyed now, and she and Shippo both pulled with all their might against the veil, pushing with their feet against the curtain, only to realise that now their feet were stuck too. Sango looked from her upside-down state to Miroku, her hair hanging down onto the floor. Miroku approached with an evil grin on his face.
'Don't get any ideas you pervert, just get me down from here!' she said angrily.
'Come on Sango, don't be such a spoil sport,' he whinged.
'No! You don't understand the veil is-'
'Okay fine, just a sec and I'll have you down-'
'No don't touch it or you'll get stuck too!' she shouted desperately, but too late, Miroku reached up to pull the veil down, but he got stuck to it.
Moments later, Shippo, Kilala and Sango rolled their eyes at Miroku's stupidity, as he struggled futilely, getting himself in and even worse mess, until his legs were tangled in the veil, and he too was hanging upside-down.
'Trust you, you can't even rescue us from some cloth without making a mess of it,' muttered Shippo.
'Umm, Guys-'
'Hey, I tried at least!'
'Well not very well!'
'Guys the-'
'This is your fault anyway, you got stuck first!'
'Guys!' shouted Sango, finally getting her sentence in. They looked at her obediently. 'The veil, it's umm, not really a veil anymore…' The others looked around, Rin still standing on the ground looking in terror up at them; the veil, was not a veil anymore, or perhaps never was. It glimmered with the same black radiance, and gave off shimmering, glittering sparkles of light, but it was no curtain…it was a web!
'Oh – my god!' squeaked Shippo, tugging at the sticky, black webbing, trying to pull himself free. Miroku gulped, looking around him as the webbing shuddered slightly, and gave off an eerie, low glow. Kilala also tried to tug herself free, until her wide red eyes grew even larger, and she mewed in terror up at Sango, trying to get her attention. Sango tossed her long dark hair from her face, looking up at what the terrified cat demon had seen, and she gasped.
'Rin, you have to get us down from here!' she shouted to the child on the ground below. Rin shook her head; she had no idea what to do. Miroku too felt the webbing shudder, and he looked up at the cause.
'Rin,' he said, his voice shaking. 'Start…looking…for things to get us down with.' Rin looked up at the creature, edging closer and closer to its prey, and she gazed madly about her, searching.
Shippo squealed as he saw the gigantic, hairy legged, red-eyed creature edging closer, trying even more desperately to free himself. The spider crept closer, the web shaking under the weight of the massive creature, but not swaying or failing under it. The green-tinted, foul smelling saliva of the spider, dripped from its fanged mouth and Miroku winced as it dropped across his shoulder.
'Urgh! That's disgusting!' the monk cried, making Sango feel slightly sick as she looked up to see it.
'Hurry up Rin!' she called, only to heighten Rin's panic. The girl ran frantically about below, not being able to find anything. Suddenly she heard Shippo scream, and she turned, to see the monster nearing him, a greedy, hungry look in its many eyes. Rin looked about even more frantically, as if she hoped something would suddenly appear, then she had an idea, a stupid one, but she had no other choice.
Rin knelt down, picking up a stone from the ground, and launched it full speed at the demon. It hit the spider in one of its many eyes, and it roared, looking down at where it had come from, setting its sights on Rin.
'Take that!' she shouted, 'And this!' she threw another stone at the monster, and another, and another; until she was sure she had its full attention. The spider roared again, and launched itself from the web, and charged on its eight legs at Rin. Rin turned and ran; hoping one of the others would have an idea. Sango and the others looked desperately at the girl, trying hard to think of a way out if this mess. Then Miroku had an idea, and he turned to Shippo.
'Shippo, transform.' The kitsune looked confusedly up at him.
'Into what?'
'Anything, fiery?' he replied.
'Why can't Kilala do it?' he moaned lazily.
'Just do it Shippo!' shouted Sango, and Shippo rolled his eyes.
'TRANSFORM!' he shouted, and with a poof of smoke, he dropped to the floor, in an identical copy of Kilala, except for the wide, green eyes instead of red, making him look extremely odd.
The Kilala copy opened its mouth wide, and roaring flames shot towards the spider, but the spider ignored it, still chasing Rin.
'Shippo, help us first!' shouted Miroku, and then the Shippo-Kilala turned to face them. Using the duplicate copy of Kilala's fiery powers, Shippo freed Sango, Miroku and the real Kilala, and they dropped to the ground, getting hastily to their feet. With another poof, Shippo turned back to his usual appearance, his transformation now exhausted. Miroku held out his staff, and Sango armed herself with Hirakoitsu. The creature growled as Rin tripped, and he pinned the tiny girl to the ground with one of its great hairy legs, it pincers clicking menacingly, making her shiver. The boomerang flew towards the spider, slicing off two of its legs, snatching its attention away from Rin. The spider turned angrily, charging towards Sango as she caught Hirakoitsu when it returned to her.
The spider shot a long shot of sticky web at Sango, knocking Hirakoitsu from her grip. Not to be beaten, Sango drew out the sword from the sheath attached to her, and she looked to Miroku, receiving a nod, and they leapt forward. Miroku's staff swept another leg from underneath the spider, causing it to nearly loose its balance. The creature leapt at the monk, descending upon him, only to have Sango skid underneath it, slicing of another leg with her sword, and his attention was stolen once more.
'TRANSFORM!' shouted Shippo, disappearing with a poof of smoke. The blade that Shippo had transformed into swiped at the spider, missing, only to be smacked into the wall, knocking the kitsune into a daze, and making him loose his transformation. Kilala pawed at him, too exhausted to transform herself, and Rin crawled to their side, the battle was left up to the monk and the youkai exterminator.
As the spider's attention was focused on Sango, slashing at the disgusting skin under its belly, Miroku jumped onto its back, and parted another two legs from its body with his staff, its crimson blood splattering across the passage's walls. The spider went to crush Sango, but she had an idea; as it went to squash her beneath its massive body weight, she stuck her sword up in the air, and skidded out from under the creature. The spider howled as the sword shot through its belly, and reared back, charging once more at Sango. The spider, only bearing three legs now in all, was no match, and Miroku swiped off another two legs from its great back, before being thrown to the ground beside Sango, as the Spider entered a mad frenzy. Miroku clutched his head, and a dribble of blood trickled down his face. Sango leant forward, and ran her fingers along the wound, making him flinch.
'Sorry,' she muttered softly, but he smiled, and she smiled back.
It seemed to escape the attention of two lovebirds, but it had not escaped the attention of the other three, that the spider writhed and flung itself about in agony, its blood flying everywhere. Eventually, Sango noticed the spider, and rolled her eyes, walking towards the beast. 'Oh for gods sake!' she shouted. A blade shot up from the armour on her wrist, and she sliced off the remaining leg. 'Shut up.' The spider rolled over, giving a last twitch, but then, it moved no more.
Sango walked over to Rin, pulling her and the others to their feet, and Miroku walking up beside her.
'Well, he was a bit messy wasn't he?' asked Miroku, trying to make a joke, only stirring an odd look from the others. 'Oh come on guys,' whined the monk, 'I try so hard and I don't even get a giggle for all my trouble.'
'Get over it,' muttered Shippo, hopping onto Miroku's shoulder. Sango rolled her eyes at them.
'Hey, you okay?' she asked Rin sweetly, crouching down to the girl's level. Rin nodded in reply with a smile. Sango sneered as she heard the monk and the kitsune start another childish argument about absolutely nothing. Shame Inuyasha isn't here, the conversation is short one idiot, she thought, only to have her thought interrupted as she felt the monk's hand reaching down towards her. She turned sharply, and smacked the side of his face when she realised the path of his hand. 'Is that all you think about?' she shouted, only to receive a falsely innocent smile from him, before continuing his argument with Shippo. Sango felt a migraine rising through her at the sounding of the monk and the kitsune's squealing, and went to silence them, when she heard something, or maybe sensed it, maybe both...
She forced her hands over their mouths, silencing them. 'Sssssh!' she hissed, and they gazed at her in bewilderment. 'I can hear something…' They all listened hard, their ears (whether human or youkai), strained to hear what they dared not believe they thought they'd heard. Sango straightened up as soon as her ears caught the sound again, and she dashed up the tunnel in its direction, the others hot on her heels.
'Sango! Sango wait!' The woman turned her head, still running as the monk called her.
'I heard them, Miroku I swear I heard them!'
'I know you did, we did too,' he gasped as he ran, dragging Rin along behind him by her hand, 'but what if it's another trick-'
'-It's not, it's them, it has to be!' She carried on running as if the battle with the spider had not even stolen a breath from her, the others following in her wake.
Miroku had heard it, but he had doubts about following it for many reasons. Firstly it may be a trap set, just use the sounds to lure them in. Secondly if they were real, it may still be a trap to capture them; lastly, he wondered if they had heard the sound, what othercreatures within this forsaken, evil ridden place could have heard it as well? Rin, Shippo and Kilala had heard them too, but like Miroku, they wondered where they would lead them, to follow the distant echoes of their friends' voices.
TBC