That Night At the Inn
On The Run
It had only taken a few days for Kagome to realize what was going on.
The stream with the bottle fresh water, Sesshomaru constantly bringing her food, usually before she herself realized she was hungry, and Ah-Uhn never leaving her side; Sesshomaru had built her a nest.
The meadow was comfortable and beautiful and Rin didn't seem to mind that they were spending so long here. Jaken grumbled about not being able to follow his lord around as he wished but that was pretty much it.
Kagome herself was extremely content there. The smell of the flowers was delightful and, to her delight, she hadn't gotten morning sick at all.
If it wasn't for the fact that InuYasha wasn't there with her, she could have easily spent the duration of her pregnancy here.
But he wasn't and the need to get back to him was so fierce, Kagome was actually formulating escape attempts.
At the moment, she was laying on her back on the grass, the only sounds the bubbling of the spring and of Rin giggling as she played some kind of pounce and tackle game with Ah-Uhn who, as it turned out, was as wonderful a nursemaid as Kirara.
The entire thing wasn't really all that different from an evening spent with her friends.
Kagome herself was holding up the charm that InuYasha gave her via her Gramps. Did it seem slightly...shinier now?
Jaken insisted the thing was magic. He told her it seemed to 'cut' the explosion as it neared her. Like an ax blade slicing through wood.
And while Kagome was shocked that anything her Gramps valued as sacred and powerful actually turned out to be so, a part of her wasn't all that surprised. Just because a majority of the thing's in Gramps's sheds was nothing but junk, granted it was really old junk but junk was still junk, there was always the possibility that something inside would actually be a powerful object.
Kagome sat up and let the necklace fall back onto her chest.
Sesshomaru was gone at the moment. Kagome didn't know where. He came and went without any kind of schedule Kagome could make out. But she was determined, when he got back, she was going to talk to him.
Staying in this meadow was nice and it was very sweet of him to do all this for her, even as she thought that her mind rebelled at using the words 'Sesshomaru' and 'sweet' in the same thought, but she really either needed to go back home or go back to InuYasha.
XXXXXXXXXX
Sango rarely went on the retreat. She had always been taught to stand and fight. But Kirara, evidently, had other ideas.
It wasn't that Sango didn't trust her completely; it was just that Sango would rather turn and take on Tekina herself.
Even as she thought that, a calmer, more mature voice, that sounded oddly like InuYasha of all people, reminded her that Tekina had her weapon, was obviously more skilled with a short sword and, of course, could fly.
Sango turned around, her hair whipping in her face, to check on the woman's progress.
She couldn't tell if Tekina was faster than Kirara or not. She didn't seem to be catching up with the great cat demon, but neither did she look particularly worried. In fact, the demon was smiling, enjoying the chase.
And why shouldn't she be. Hiraikotsu was held captive on her back, well out of Sango's reach and she had both of them on the run.
"Come on, think!" Sango yelled at herself. Kirara couldn't run forever, Sango would have to, eventually, take on the demented twin.
"I'm coming for you, demon slayer!" the woman mocked.
"Think, think!" Sango ignored her as she went through, mentally, all the tricks and toys she had hidden about her person.
XXXXXXXXXX
Miroku hollered in pain as his foot hit a ledge, his ankle buckled, and he himself fell down a steep drop off.
Automatically, he lifted his arms to defend his face and let himself roll down the incline until he hit, with a bone rattling thud, the bottom.
"Monk. Where did you go?" Chimei asked, having not seen his fall.
Grabbing his moment of opportunity, Miroku jumped to his feet, praised Buddha his ankle hadn't twisted or broken, and ran away from her chillingly sweet voice.
He knew he wouldn't have much of a head start. Like children tattling to mommy, Naraku's poisonous insects would be sure to alert her of his direction.
But all he needed was one moment to be able to escape. If he couldn't find a wider open area to fight, he could at least get away from her.
Even as he thought that, Miroku saw his luck starting to turn as the trees started to thin and the grass became the more prominent vegetation.
Just as he sensed Chimei coming up on his trail, the tree line appeared and Miroku ran out onto a wider open area.
It was the top of a cliff with the grass waving gently in the wind. The tree line started just about twenty feet from the tip of the cliff. Which led, over a hundred feet down, to a rather small lake.
And just on the edge of the lake, to Miroku's horror, was a village. He could even see the people, tiny at this distance, walking around.
He absolutely could not let Chimei get to them. He didn't know how sadistic she was but he would rather not take the chance.
Miroku turned back to the tree line and walked a bit forward, preparing his staff and body for the fight.
A moment later, the darkly beautiful twin stepped out of the tree line, looking positively delighted that the chase was over and it was finally time to get down to the real fun.
As he suspected, right behind her came a small swarm of poisonous insects followed just behind her.
XXXXXXXXXX
Working quickly, needing to try anything, Sango untied her left shoulder pad and pulled it off. Nestled inside was her own special, paste-like poison. From under her other shoulder pad, Sango pulled out a length of rope with a small weight tied onto the end.
Being careful not to touch it herself, Sango coated the weight in the poison.
Trusting Kirara, and not even sure where the feline was headed anyway, Sango turned on her back so she was facing backward, looking into the wicked face of Tekina.
Cursing her long hair as it billowed in her face, Sango started spinning the weight, pleased when the thick poison didn't slip off.
Laughing, unconcerned, Tekina started weaving back and forth making it hard for Sango to aim.
But Sango kept at it and let the weight fly, leaving the opposite end firmly in her hand.
Tekina dodged it, making Sango curse out loud.
As the demon woman laughed Sango reeled it back in, being careful not to touch Kirara with it.
"You missed." Tekina taunted as Sango, not one to give up, started swinging the weight again, prepping for another throw.
This time, when she let the weight go, the twin didn't dodge in time and the firm smack of it against her cheek reverberated up the line.
Not a second later, Tekina screamed in pain as the poison went to work, dissolving her flesh making it bubble and smoke. Without thinking, she reached up and tried to wipe it away. She succeeded only in spreading the poison onto her hand and that flesh began to dissolve as well.
The cloyingly sweet smile gone from her face, Tekina grabbed the rope before Sango could pull it back and yanked on it. Instead of being pulled from Kirara's back, Sango let it go and watched for a moment as it dropped to earth.
Sango turned back, grabbed a fistful of Kirara's fur, and lowered herself as she urged her cat to go faster.
She highly doubted that Tekina was happy to keep playing anymore. That poison wasn't deadly with just the amount Sango was able to get onto the weight. However, it would be extremely painful.
It wasn't until Sango turned back to face front that she recognized the land that passed so quickly beneath them.
Kirara was taking her back to the village.
XXXXXXXXXX
Miroku was fast. He could hold his own against Sango and InuYasha for a little while.
However, Tekina was faster than him.
It seemed he was just barely able to block and redirect each of the strikes from her double swords. And he couldn't even tell if she was being serious or still just toying with him.
Even as his body was busy keeping her blades from himself, his mind was busy formulating any kind of plan to get out of this alive.
The only thing he had besides his ability to exercise demons was the wind tunnel in his hand. But the poisonous insects all around the pair of them had no sense of self-preservation and would willingly fly into his hand. But he couldn't keep running. There were people down in that village whose safety he couldn't promise if he tried to. He doubted she would spare them just because they had nothing to do with it.
Even as he realized what he had to do, he was already regretting it.
Miroku jumped back, his feet just brushing the edge of the cliff.
Chimei advanced on him, grinning at her impending victory.
Taking the single moment Miroku had before she reached him, he reached into his robes and pulled out one of the sacred sutras he always kept on his person.
Unable to stop in time, Miroku was able to smack it onto her face.
Chimei shouted at the electric-like pain the sutra gave her.
Sending up a prayer for his own safety, Miroku opened his wind tunnel, sucking her into its infinite depths.
And sucking far too many of the poisonous insects in as well before he could close it up.
The pain was almost instantaneous followed but a dull, somehow still painful, numb feeling began creeping up his arm.
It wasn't the same, he realized. The insects were somehow more potent than they had been before. Naraku had probably been experimenting with them, making them stronger.
His foot slipped off the edge of the cliff and, unable to stop himself, Miroku fell.
XXXXXXXXXX
"What are you doing?" Sango demanded to know as Kirara started to land.
Right in the center of the village.
Exactly where Sango did not want to be.
Even before Kirara touched down, Sango was jumping from her back, pointing her sword at the approaching demon, prepared to defend the place she called home.
"Sango?" she heard Keade's voice as the elderly priestess approached.
"Watch out, Kaede." Sango warned. "This demon is strong."
Sango's warning barely escaped her mouth before the demon was upon her and the heavy metal clang of their blades echoed through the air.
The force of it sent Sango to her knees with a pained cry.
"After I'm done with you, slayer," Tekina sneered, "I'll destroy this pretty little village."
Using one sword to keep Sango on her knees, unable to move, Tekina lifted the other, preparing to strike.
To Sango's surprise, she never got the chance to do so.
Before Tekina got the chance to bring the blade down, a holy sutra was slammed onto her face by Kaede.
Feeling very much like she had the very first time she saw her father slay a demon, Sango watched as Kaede began saying a chant in a language she didn't recognize.
Tekina reached up to pull the sutra from her face but couldn't do so. A moment later, the spell took affect and the demon erupted into flames.
Taking the opportunity, Sango leapt to her feet, and ran around her. Steeling her nerves, Sango reached into the magical fire and pulled her Hiraikotsu from Tekina's back.
As her screams split the air, Sango pulled back her giant boomerang, then swung it in a large arch, splitting Tekina in two, killing her instantly.
The magical fire razed the rest of her to ash in a moment and the remain blew away in the wind.