A Single Strand
Chapter 13
The Start of War
As soon as it was revealed that Kikyou was leading the opposing army, everything grew silent. Many of the demons had heard tell of the horrible things that Kikyou was capable of. To the demons, she was a bogeyman.
"That horrible woman," Kagome muttered. "Which way are they coming from?"
"Apparently, it's the same way we came from," the scout stated.
"Ok, we'll set up an ambush. I need thirty of you to go and wait at the opening we came in from. Just give them a small welcome and retreat."
Immediately, a bunch of demons and a few hanyou set off for the designated area.
"How far away were they?"
"They're pretty close. Maybe several hours."
"Ok. Everyone else, get ready. Since there aren't any more easy openings, we'll gather closer to it, so they won't be able to send their full force after us all at once. It's going to get dark soon, but that doesn't mean they won't attack. Find a partner and sleep in shifts."
The rebel army reformed quickly closer to the opening. They surrounded the space in a wide arc, leaving a bit of room for the ambushers to do their work.
Throughout the night, there was a constant change of watch. Everyone took Kagome's ideas and orders seriously.
Kagome slept fitfully, waking up constantly to have Inu Yasha tell her to go back to sleep. There was a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach, anticipation -but not desire- for the cruelties of war, the idea that everyone would die, pushed aside and stored there, and a deep, overwhelming dread. Inu Yasha was a comfort and an ease for that, but it never went away.
There were no attacks during the night. The entire force woke as one with the sunrise they couldn't see. While they were still in the predawn shadows, the ambush party ran up to them, significantly diminished. Several of them were supporting wounded allies.
"We got some of them. Gave 'em a good smack. Don't think they'll underestimate us. Stayed a little too long, longer than we should have." All of the returning demons muttered as they passed.
The severely injured were situated back away from the future battle sight. The rest helped a little, remaining completely silent.
"We have to get closer. If we stop Kikyou's force from picking up momentum, let only a small group through at a time, we might be able to hold out. Short ranged attackers to the front. Sesshomaru, Kouga, and Inu Yasha will lead. Long ranged attackers fall back. You'll be with me. Kagura, will join me in command. Ok, let's move."
Again, the group moved. As a wave, the larger demons and hanyou moved out.
Sesshomaru had to snap at Rin before she would stay behind, and she started crying. "You can't do anything. Any demon wouldn't think twice about ripping you apart, and I can't stand that idea. I'm sorry Rin," Sesshomaru whispered, trying to make up.
"Go," Rin pushed Sesshomaru away. With a sad, barely noticeable smile, and a pat on the head as farewell, Sesshomaru took his place.
"Good luck Kagome!" Kouga shouted, trotting out to the front of the line.
Kagome waved back.
Inu Yasha pulled Kagome to him. "I love you. Just in case I won't be able to tell you tonight."
"Don't say that."
"I love you anyway."
"I love you too. Now, get going."
"All right. I'm going." Inu Yasha let go and started off.
"Wait, Inu Yasha! One last thing!"
Inu Yasha turned.
"Be safe!"
He smirked. "You too." Then, he was gone, joining in the flood and making it to the front where Sesshomaru and Kouga were.
Kagome watched. She spotted Shiori and Jinenji in the crowd. She saw Miroku inch his way through the crowd and pull up next to Inu Yasha, talking.
She smiled sadly, hoping it wouldn't be the last time she would see them. The larger demons had passed, and they were followed by smaller ones that were no doubt just as dangerous.
Shippou ran up and hopped onto her shoulder.
"Think we should get going now?" Kagome asked the kit.
Shippou nodded. "I'm scared."
"I know."
Kagura came up to Kagome. "We're ready now."
"Ok! Everyone else, let's go!"
The second wave formed and moved out, following Kagome. Kagura took to the air.
Sango caught up to Kagome from the crowd.
"Sango!" Kagome exclaimed.
"Hey. First time, huh?"
"Yeah. Why'd you want to stay back here?"
"Miroku made me. He doesn't want me in the thick of things. Men, you know."
"Yeah."
"Besides, I can go either way. That's what I love about this," Sango hoisted her giant boomerang a little higher.
"I could see where it would come in handy," Kagome agreed, smiling slightly.
Sango put a hand on Kagome's shoulder for reassurance. "It'll be fine."
"I hope," Kagome added.
They continued at a brisk pace to the area. When Kagome arrived, there was a small scuffle under way. "Attack!" Kagome shouted. She pulled her bow from over her shoulder as she got closer. Most of the demons followed, getting the opponents in range better before attempting an attack.
Before her, Kagome could see demons being torn apart by demons. The longer-range attacks were focused towards the opening that more demons were poring into.
Kagome's first shot missed completely, imbedding into the ground. She swore as she took out another arrow and shot it. This one hit an incoming demon's shoulder. It snarled and pulled it out, singling Kagome out. Before it could take two steps, it was engaged by two of her allies, and promptly killed.
Kagome shot a few more arrows. The demons stopped coming through. Slightly confused, Kagome looked around to see how her companions were doing.
Inu Yasha was pushing endlessly onward, his other half at his side. Inu Yasha had blood running down his arms, and little flecks everywhere. He swung his sword with little grace and skill, but Kagome thought that might just seem that way because of Sesshomaru's apparent skill, despite the loss of an arm. The full-blooded demon half had a few splatters of blood on him.
Satisfied, Kagome looked around a little more. Kouga was off to one side with several other demons and a couple hanyou. Kouga moved quickly, attacking with strong kicks, hitting one opponent several times, then moving on to surprise another.
Kagome took a quick glance at the entrance. It was still empty.
Miroku had a monk's staff in one hand and was pulling out small rectangles of paper from a pocket. Kagome wondered what they were momentarily. Miroku held it out in front of him, and flames formed, consuming several demons. Real magic, Kagome thought, impressed.
A quick glance at her area. Still clear. What could they be planning?
She spotted Jinenji. He flung his arms around and stomped about, looking like a gigantic hairless gorilla in Kagome's opinion. At his side, Shiori defended herself with a thin, short blade. Occasionally, she left herself quite open. Opponents tried to take advantage of that, but Jinenji always seemed to catch them off guard or block the attack.
Kagome was awed by the performance the two hanyou were showing, and stopped to watch a little longer after a quick look at the opening. She was amazed by the constant saves Jinenji was making. Surely it must be wearing on him, Kagome thought.
Shiori broke away, stepping a good twenty yards away from her protector. Jinenji was struggling against four demons and couldn't break off. Shiori turned to see where he was. A demon off to the side finished off his opponent and turned to see the young hanyou looking away. With a crazed howling laugh, he leapt towards the unsuspecting girl.
Jinenji saw this and tore away from his assailants. He caught Shiori and held her up away from harm. The demon who would have murdered Shiori stopped dead in his tracks, mouth agape. Jinenji smacked him, and the demon flew into the crowd.
The four demons that had been attacking Jinenji finished their job. As his attention was focused on his companion, they attacked as one, and Jinenji fell to the ground. Kagome could see the horrified look on Shiori's face as she knelt by her fallen comrade.
The four turned their attention to her. Before they could move towards her, Shiori had moved. Quicker than before, she took them out.
Kagome looked down. Jinenji was dead. He seemed so kind and gentle, but that didn't get him anywhere.
"Kagome, what are you doing? We got more on our hands!" Sango shouted, running by. She seemed to be headed up to the front of the fight.
Kagome's shock brought her back to the fight. She took a few more steps forward, looking back to her hole. Sure enough, more demons were coming through.
A loud roar split the air. Both sides froze for a second, looking for the source. The side of the mountain burst. From the dust that rose, a figure emerged. The mount looked like a wingless dragon with a stubby neck. From its back, Kikyou shot an arrow at the nearest demon.
The fighting resumed. Kagome rushed towards Kikyou, Shippou hanging on tightly. She felt a strong gust of wind from over head and looked up in time to see Kagura headed off in the same direction.
The wind sorceress sent a flurry of wind cuts at Kikyou. Kikyou responded quickly. While the demon she rode reared up, catching most of the assault, Kikyou shot two arrows. Kagome noticed that they seemed to radiate a light purple color. The first arrow missed her target, but the second hit Kagura smack in the chest.
The Wind Sorceress fell to the ground.
Kagome tried to press forward, but found her way blocked by feuding demons. An arrow thudded into the ground by her, and she looked up to see Kikyou smirking at her. Kagome glared back before retreating a little.
The fight continued. Kagome lost track of how her side was doing. She ran out of arrows around midday and set about finding some of them. There was a lull in the fighting, it was still raging, but both sides seemed to decided it was a good time for a break. Most of the demons on both sides slunk off. Kikyou was still going about on her mad rampage, a large group of demons surrounding her to keep her at bay.
Kagome decided it would be a good time to arm herself, so she picked up a fallen sword and went about looking for arrows. Shippou had told her she didn't need a sword, but it comforted her to have something. She had gathered a handful of arrows when it happened.
Kagome didn't register what had happened until she heard Shippou shriek. She realized she didn't feel him on her shoulder and looked around quickly. Nothing in front, she noticed and turned.
Shippou lay on the ground, a wound leaking blood onto the grass. A demon stood, brushing a small blueish flame aside. With an evil smile, the demon lunged forward. Kagome screamed and held the sword out. The demon impaled himself on the edge. Kagome let go of the hilt, picked Shippou up and ran back to where her group was resting.
She sat and tried to take care of Shippou as best she could. Kagome tried persuading herself that he wasn't dead, that if she cleaned and bandaged the wound, he would be all right.
"Kagome, there's nothing you can do," she heard Miroku tell her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Kagome shook her head, tears forming. However, she stopped what she was doing. She heard Miroku move off. A while passed before Kagome pulled herself back to the war.
"What does he think he's doing?" Miroku shouted.
Kagome looked up. "Who?"
"Inu Yasha."
Kagome stood quickly and walked over to Miroku's side. "Where?"
Miroku pointed. Kagome followed his direction.
Kikyou remained in a ring of demons, still on her dragonish demon. Inu Yasha and Kouga were sprinting to join in.
"What are they doing?" Kagome wondered.
Kouga disappeared amidst the rest of the demons. Inu Yasha stood out a little more with his silver hair. Then, he too, fell out of sight.
The dragon demon rose onto its hind feet. Kikyou fell off balance and struggled to maintain her position. Inu Yasha sprang up from the crowd, catching her and pulling her off. He landed in a roll on the other side, flinging Kikyou away from him.
Both rolled into a crouching position. Inu Yasha jumped back, shouting to the rest of his allies. Kagome only saw his gesture to get away.
Kikyou looked up to see her assailant. "Inu Yasha!" Kagome heard her shout from her position. Kikyou snatched her bow and an arrow and shot quickly. Inu Yasha jumped back, swinging the Tetsusaiga around to catch the arrow with the hilt. Inu Yasha moved slowly. Kagome, from her higher point saw that he was lining Kikyou up with her demon. He wants to use that attack he used against Sesshomaru, Kagome realized.
Kikyou shot a second arrow at Inu Yasha.
Inu Yasha swung the Tetsusaiga around. The Kaze no Kizu hit the arrow and seemed to explode into a whirlwind. It caught Kikyou, her dragon demon, and any others that had stayed behind. It dispersed after annihilating most of the area for a good hundred yards.
Comanderless, the demons of Youkaibo retreated. The ones Kagome was leading gave chase until the gaps in the walls, and then pulled back.
"Day one. Status, alive," Miroku stated.
Kagome shrugged. "Let's get some rest," she declared loudly.
……………
More to distract herself from her loss than anything else, Kagome strode around the camp. It seemed as if half of her followers had failed to return. Most of the demons and hanyou were helping their fellows with wounds.
These ones are the ones that were able to make it back on their own, Kagome mused as she watched three demons working together to wrap a large hanyou's cut.
"Kagome!"
Kagome turned to see Miroku running towards her.
"Miroku, what's wrong?"
"I can't find Sango. I thought she might be with you. Have you seen her?"
"No, I haven't."
Miroku closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm going to keep looking for her. See you later, Kagome." Miroku disappeared in the darkness, heading in the direction of the battlefield.
Kagome felt tears welling up and tried to suppress them. It wouldn't do any good for the commander to cry.
She continued on, weaving closer to where the fighting had taken place. She really hoped Miroku wouldn't find Sango out there.
Kagome gave out little compliments as she went.
Miroku came back. He had blood smeared on his face and his arms were soaked. Tears fell silently. He carried Sango with an arm around his shoulder.
Kagome rushed forward to meet him.
"It's no good, Kagome. You don't need to help me. She's gone. There were a bunch of demon corpses around her, so she died fighting. I know that's how she wanted to go. Don't worry. I'll take care of her."
Kagome found no words of comfort to give. She watched Miroku walk past, shift Sango's dead weight, and continue.
Refusing to succumb to her tears, Kagome continued her mission. A long while later, she spotted Shiori sitting on a small hill, bathed in moonlight, completely alone. Kagome walked up quietly behind the small hanyou.
Shiori glanced up at Kagome, and nodded. "Kagome."
"Hey. How's it going?"
Shiori shrugged. "I'm fine," she said quietly, not quite convincing.
Kagome understood how she felt. At this time, the best you could do was tell the rest of the world there was nothing wrong, that everything was fine, even though it wasn't.
"You know, it's lonely. Jinenji was always by my side. I've grown so used to knowing that there's someone next to me, that it feels so cold now. Jinenji was too soft for war. I don't think he could have lived with himself after this anyway. He was just too kind."
Shiori sniffled, hiding her eyes behind her knees. "Look at me now. I've spent my whole life trying to be tough. I've learned not to let humans see me cry. I have to be strong now, for Jinenji."
Kagome put an arm around the hanyou's shoulders. "It's ok to cry sometimes."
Shiori shook her head. "Kagome, did we win?" she mumbled after a few minutes.
"I don't know. It doesn't feel like it. I don't think it's over yet, though."
Shiori stood suddenly, eyes dry. "Then we'll fight again tomorrow. We'll fight forever if we have to, right?"
"I don't think…"
"We can't go back. We can only go on now."
"Yes."
"So we fight tomorrow."
"Yes."
"And the next day?"
Overcome, Kagome nodded.
"Until we can't fight any more."
Kagome nodded again.
"What a plan," Shiori muttered.
Kagome sat a little longer.
"Good night, Kagome," Shiori said shortly and descended down the hill.
"Night," Kagome whispered.
Kagome stayed where she was as the hanyou left her sight to blend in with the crowd below.
Shortly after that, Inu Yasha found her. "Kagome?" he asked, uncertain if she wanted to be alone or not.
"Inu Yasha?" Kagome replied, looking up backwards.
Inu Yasha sat behind Kagome and wrapped his arms around her. Kagome melted into him.
"We can't do this," Kagome started.
"Yes we can."
"No. We're loosing. I just know it."
"No we aren't."
"It feels like it. We lost Sango…Jinenji…Kagura…even Shippou. Shippou is dead," Kagome sobbed.
Inu Yasha remained silent, hugging her tighter.
"Why? Why does it have to be like this?"
"Youkaibo only knows force. It has the need to establish dominance, and it has to maintain it by force. And you wanted to go up against it."
"Why is it such a big deal that I left with you?"
Inu Yasha shrugged.
"I didn't want all of this to happen. I just wanted to leave that place and live freely with you."
"I know."
Kagome brought a hand up to brush away her tears. She stopped when she realized it was sticky with blood. "Inu Yasha, what is this?"
Inu Yasha's ears drooped slightly. "Blood."
"Inu Yasha, you're hurt?"
"Not me."
Kagome half turned. She touched her hanyou's side around where her hand was resting. Inu Yasha winced. "We have to get you fixed up. You can't fight like this."
"It's just a scratch, Kagome. Don't worry about me. I'm fine."
"You're bleeding."
"It's stopped. Don't worry."
"But…"
"As long as you're ok, I'm fine. Stop worrying."
Kagome relaxed, leaning her shoulder against his other side.
"Inu Yasha…are we winning?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"We were winning before this war even started. We're still free."
"Oh…right."
Kagome fell silent. Inu Yasha sat there the entire night while Kagome slept fitfully, dreading the oncoming morning.
……………
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