Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters.
"So, this is the village that is terrorized by a demon." Miroku flung his hands wide open.
The village was fairly unimpressive. It looked prosperous, Wooden houses with sliding doors. Thatched roofs. The lands near looked cultivated and neat. Flowers grew in clumps. The whole plan of the village was large circle, and flanked by slightly smaller ones. A few outhouses branched out from the main large circle forming four curved lines.
"Um. Are you sure this is the right place, Kagome?" Shippo asked her, peering over her shoulder.
"I...I think so. Kaede drew this map for me. " Kagome peered at the map. Sango and Bella looked over her shoulder. Sango placed her finger on a little clump of huts on the parchment.
"Looks right to me." Sango furrowed her brow.
"I don't think this is the right place." Bella said decisively. She seemed to have opened up a lot since that day.
A sudden noise distracted them. They turned around. A bevy of young women were giggling as they spied the visitors. They were beautiful too. Slender, petite, dusky and fair. They were advancing towards the group.
Miroku laughed. "Ladies." He began.
"Miroku!" Sango's face turned purple.
"This is the first time in my life I can say with absolute certainty that I am in exactly the right place. " Miroku said defiantly.
"I really need something to eat, anyway. " Inuyasha yawned. "Charred fish is great an' stuff, but I can eat it only so many times. "
"Well, then you should cook then!" Kagome glared at him. "If you don't like me cooking..."
"Look at him!" Sango said in disgust, to no one in particular. "Look at him enjoying himself!"
The leader of the women came forward. She was tall and slender. Her eyes were piercing green, and her hair the colour of a raven's wing.
"We would offer hospitality to you tonight." She murmured, and bowed, her hands on her thighs. Although it was phrased as a question, it was in the tone of an order.
"I don't know. " Bella said, brow furrowed. Her eyes were narrowed.
"Something does smell fishy." Shippo agreed.
"Like, where are all the men. " Sango said. "The last village where there were no men, the women were possessed and tried to kill us. So excuse us if we are a little sceptical if the hospitality that you offer. " Sango was a bit sharper than usual.
"The men are out, hunting." The lady smiled. "We don't entertain much. But we would love to have company. "
A little girl ran out and clutched the woman around her legs.
"Akiko." It sounded like a reprimand. "I have guests, sweetie."
"We'd love to. Stay, I mean." Kagome said. Bella looked her in disbelief.
"What happened to-" Kagome elbowed Bella "A woman who has a child is nice,Bella, everyone knows that." She said , hushing her . Belladonna wore a mystified expression.
They sat in a huge circular stilted hut, in the middle of a flooded rice field.
"Its cooler here." The lady assured them.
"The food id delicious. Thank you...um.." Kagome said, realising that they had never asked their kind hostess her name.
"My full name is a mouthful. You can call me Suki." The lady smiled.
Kagome blinked and hiccupped. An expression of extreme weariness passed over her face. "Whoa. I feel really sleepy." Kagome wrinkled her eyes. The feeling hit her all of a sudden. She suddenly fell back against Bella who was sitting next to her. She dropped her cup of soup on herself.
"Kagome!" Bella dropped her cup to catch her before her head hit the ground.
"Bell-" Kagome trailed off.
Belladonna looked around. Inuyasha seemed fine. Sango seemed fine. Miroku was nowhere to be seen. Shippo was in a corner. Even Kirara seemed to be unusually sluggish. Was she the only person whose senses were tingling?
"Inuyasha. " Belladonna murmured. She had to be as discreet as possible, because the ladies were still there. No longer paying attention, but lounging around-like cats.
Cats.
It suddenly struck Belladonna.
Oh God.
Belladonna quickly ran through the events. Lone beautiful women. Piercing green eyes. Cats. Her mind went she didn't know why, to the plan of the village. A circle, with branches.
Spiders.
Belladonna hissed. She mentally kicked herself for what they had gotten into.
"INUYASHA!" She yelled. She unclasped the shikon no tama from Kagome's neck.
Once the shikon no tama was in her hand it began to pulsate. She noticed that it had become dim, and black. Since it could only dim, if its wearer was impure, Belladonna concluded that there had been something in Kagome's dish that would make her experience evil nightmares.
My heart.
She hung the shikon no tama around her neck, shielding its glow.
Inuyasha turned. The glazed look in his eyes began to vanish as the shikon no tama pulsated more strongly. His eyes went to the prone Kagome lying on the floor.
Inuyasha growled. He bared his teeth and began to snarl.
"They are Naraku's minions!" Belladonna exclaimed.
Inuyasha bared his Tetsusaiga.
"Do you think, that will work on me?" The woman with the feline eyes exclaimed. Her hair spun out of the knot, and she began to rise into the air, as did her companions. They began to change. Their teeth turned into fangs gradually, and the pupil of their eyes began to split.
Cat eyes.
"I am the Sakybasu!" The woman threw her head back. 'Men are powerless before me!"
Inuyasha grabbed Sango by the shoulders and shook her, hard.
"Wake up Sango!" He exclaimed. She didn't respond, so he flung her over his shoulder.
He looked helplessly at Belladonna.
"I'll bring Kagome. Get us a way out of here!" Belladonna exclaimed.
But Inuyasha couldn't. He was half demon, but he was half a man also. His eyes began to lose their shine.
That was when Miroku came bursting in. He scattered the women. He held a few cards in his hands.
"Demons! he screeched. It would have been funny if it wasn't so horrifying.
"You bastard, what are you doing here? " Inuyasha yelled. "You need to get out of here.
And Sakybasu lunged. Her hands became evil claws. The caught Miroku at the back of the neck. Miroku turned visibly pale.
"Give me her" He said, straining against the pain. Belladonna handed over Kagome's body to Inuyasha, and they got ready to run.
"Wind scar!" Inuyasha yelled, blasting a hole into the cottage. The flooded rice field came into view, and hissing snakes emerged from its depths. The water turned green and swampy, and a heavy smoke of miasma began to be seen. It was the picture of ruin.
"Go Kirara!" Belladonna cried. Kirara, in a burst of flame and fire, turned into her demonic form. She blew at Sakybasu, and a ring of fire separated them. Sakybasu hissed angrily. She angled her head.
Belladonna winced slightly. A flash of light had suddenly caught her attention. It seemed to be coming from Sakybasu.
"Inuyasha, she has a sacred jewel shard in her neck!" Belladonna exclaimed.
"You can see them!" Inuyasha was just preparing to leap.
"The jewel has to be purified before I take it out..." Belladonna whispered to herself.
She suddenly whirled around. "What are you doing here still? Get out!" she screamed.
"The shikon no tama..." Inuyasha said. Belladonna stared at him in disbelief.
"Kagome's life or the jewel? Take your pick Inuyasha!" Belladonna yelled back at him and slapped Kirara on the rump. She grabbed a startled Inuyasha by the neck and hurled him out of the hut.
Belladonna said a prayer, took out an arrow and aimed for Sakybasu's neck. She knew she wouldn't miss, but she was afraid of what would happen when the arrow struck the target.
She knew against a formidable foe like Sakybasu she would need some extra help. She brought the arrow close to her lips and murmured a prayer against its feathered flights. The arrowhead began to shimmer pink. She drew her bow and took aim.
The arrow flew and struck Sakybasu on the neck. It glowed. Sakybasu gave an awful scream as she began to be purified. And everything exploded in white light.
Inuyasha held a prone Kagome in his arms. He had covered a suitable distance away from the village. He laid her on the grassy hill. From their position they could see a hint of the smoke arising from the destroyed village. The light from the shikon no tama seemed to have consumed the entire village in mere seconds.
"What were the anyway?" Shippo shuddered. "They were really scary."
"Succubus" Miroku said. "I knew it the moment I entered the village."
"Yeah, sure." Sango gave him the stink eye.
Kagome stirred.
"Bella!" She screamed. Her body shuddered.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha looked terrified.
She opened her eyes. "Where is she?" Kagome's voice trembled. "Where is Belladonna?"
Miroku placed a hand on her shoulder. "She sacrificed herself. "
"She can't have." Kagome said. "You say the way she took Sesshomaru. A priestess couldn't be harmed by the shikon no tama"
"A priestess –in training." Miroku said.
Kagome gave him a withering look. "It's a priestess thing. "She said dismissively. "You wouldn't understand."
But she looked away and clutched her throat.
I hope you're still alive, Bella.
Bella climbed out of the lake. It was an effort for her, every single muscle in her trembled and screamed for release from the extreme exhaustion that plagued her body. She gritted her teeth and prepared to haul herself up.
She was just about the pull herself out when the grassy patch of the bank that she had caught hold off came off. She was about to slip backwards when a hand clasped hers, giving her the much needed support.
She prepared to thank whoever had helped her, but meeting the eyes of the person she was struck dumb. Lost for words.
"You." She said, when she recognized the body in front of her.
"Ryoko. " He said.
A/N
Gosh, these chapters are getting longer than ever! I actually don't know how to split them up, because they are written in continuity, so I suppose I'll leave this chapter as it is.
This chapter actually may seem a little pointless except for the shikon jewel shard, but I really needed to write it. It's important as it sets a base for future chapters.
Also, I would like to take this opportunity to say a thank you to every single one of my reviewers, and the ones who have followed or/and favourite this story. The very fact that you guys have reviewed and read my stories regulary is extremely heartening and a huge morale booster. So a big Thank You for that