Chapter Nine: Land of the Dead
The world spun around her, an unintelligible blur of grays, blacks, and an occasional flash of red and silver. Kagome thought she heard someone screaming, and then realized it was her own voice in the void. Then she heard another noise-something like metal clanging together. Purple flashed through her vision, and she felt the presence of an unfamiliar yoki. She clung to Inuyasha's robe even tighter, closing her eyes and burying her face in his back.
And then they were still.
When she opened her eyes, they were standing on a cliff in a barren world of stone and bones. The air was still, and yet some wind had eroded the landscape around them into uneven towers of stone. Bleach white bones were buried in the ground around them, of all shapes and sizes. Most looked animal, but some were strikingly human.
"Is this the land of the dead?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha nodded.
"Must be. Lots of dead things around," he said, kicking at a skull. Kagome gasped.
"Inuyasha!" she scolded, "That's disrespectful!" He scoffed.
"They're dead! They can't feel it." Kagome frowned, but she supposed he had a point. She was a little confused. She had assumed that the land of the dead would be full of spirits. Instead it seemed devoid of life altogether. Like a mass grave of everything that had ever lived.
"Come on," Inuyasha said, "This way."
He started to walk away from the cliff. Kagome frowned.
"How do you know where to go?" she asked. He reached out a hand, pointing towards a giant skeleton. It was huge, four legged, with a long tail and teeth. It was also wearing feudal armor, fitted for an animal. It was the size of a building, at least, and Kagome's mind spun a little at the size of it.
"Woah," she said.
"Yeah. That's my dad. I can tell by his armor," Inuyasha said. Kagome froze as Inuyasha started towards the giant skeleton. That was his dad? A few questions flew to mind, the most embarassing of which was how that ever made a baby with a human woman. But, more importantly, why was Inuyasha so casual about it? As far as Kagome knew, he had never even met his father. She was still for so long, she had to jog to catch up with him.
"Are you okay with this?" she asked dumbly. He scoffed.
"Me? I'm fine. Never even met the guy."
"But he's your dad!" Kagome said, thinking for a moment of her own father. Her father who had raised her and died when she was too young to accept it.
"Yeah, well, dads die Kagome," Inuyasha said harshly, "You know that." Hurt, Kagome drew back.
"Fine," she said, "Let's keep going."
They walked for a few minutes, seemingly getting no closer to the giant skeleton. Inuyasha stopped.
"Get on my back," he said, crouching and holding his hands back. Kagome did so without complaint, they were going too slow before. Once she was securely placed, he took off, leaping the distance of ten steps with every bound. Kagome leaned over his shoulder, her mouth close to his twitching ear.
"Inuyasha," she said, "We have to talk about earlier."
"What do you mean?" he asked irritably, in a tone that said he knew exactly what she meant.
"I mean when we...you know…" Kagome said.
"Yeah?" Inuyasha said. Kagome flushed.
"When we kissed!" she exclaimed, embarrassed. Inuyasha didn't falter in his path towards the skeleton, but she could see his ears droop a little.
"We have to talk about it before they make me leave," Kagome said.
"No we don't," Inuyasha snapped, "It was stupid, anyway." Kagome felt like she'd been slapped.
"What the hell?" she asked, grabbing his hair a little rougher than she should have. He skidded to a halt, shouting 'ow' repeatedly and rapidly. Kagome slid off his back, landing on her feet. He turned to her, hair mussed and angry.
"What was that for?" he demanded.
"Stupid?" Kagome yelled. She saw his expression change a little. Something sorry flickered in his eyes. But then he redoubled his anger and scoffed.
"Stupid?!" she repeated, "You're stupid, you know that! I thought...I thought-"
"Well, you thought wrong," Inuyasha grumbled. She clenched her fists and glared at him.
"Fine! Be that way. I don't even know why I'm helping you. You can't just toy with people like-"
Suddenly she stopped. Inuyasha's ears flicked forward, confused. He'd been ready for an all-out scolding, a round of tears, and an angry acceptance of what had to happen. If he pushed her away now, maybe Kagome wouldn't be as sad when the goddamn Council made her go home. But she was suddenly distracted, looking up and behind him.
"What is it?" he asked, a little annoyed she had deviated from his pre-thought script.
"Someone's here," she said, narrowing her eyes and trying to make out the figure that was hovering high above them. No, not hovering, diving down towards them rapidly. Her eyes widened and she reached out towards Inuyasha.
"Move!" was all she had time to way before Menomaru crashed down into their conversation. Inuyasha dove out of the way just in time, Menomaru's sword plunging into the ground where he had just been standing. Quickly, Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and pulled her behind him, brandishing his claws at the moth demon.
Menomaru had looked better. His hair was tangled and frazzled, and his eyes were bloodshot. A wound on his arm had been stitched up clumsily, and the veins on his forehead seemed to throb with every breath he took.
"What are you doing here, Menomaru!?" Inuyasha shouted. Kagome almost rolled her eyes. Like it mattered!
"Inuyasha, come on," she muttered, "We have to get to the sword!" He growled, hating to retreat from a fight, but Kagome was right. He swung her back up onto his back, all hurtful comments forgotten on both sides, and they started back towards the giant dog skeleton.
Menomaru was after them the moment he released his sword from the ground. His large moth wings flapped in the windless air, every cycle bringing him closer to the running pair.
"You can't escape!" he called after them.
"Yeah, yeah," Inuyasha muttered under his breath. Kagome almost giggled at that. Sometimes she thought Inuyasha was most at ease in the middle of a fight. Menomaru dove again, scraping his sword along the ground. Inuyasha skirted to the side, easily dodging.
"You killed my kinsmen!" Menomaru roared at him. Kagome looked over her shoulder at the crazed demon.
"You killed Bird Clan demons!" she yelled back. Inuyasha smirked a little, proud of her defiant words. He gripped her legs tightly, and without warning her, skidded to a halt. Menomaru flew past them in a purple and white blur. As soon as he realized Inuyasha had stopped, he flapped his wings rapidly to slow down. By the time he had turned around, Inuyasha whizzed by him again, running again towards the giant skeleton of his father. As he passed, he reached out with his claws and cut deeply into one of Menomaru's wings. The moth demon cried out in rage and pain. Abruptly, he fell to the dirt as the cut edges of his wing fluttered chaotically. Inuyasha left him in the dust.
"He'll be back," Inuyasha said when Kagome celebrated with a quick 'whoop'.
"But we've got some time now," Kagome replied.
They made it to the skeleton in less than a minute. Kagome had never seen Inuyasha run that fast. He was breathing heavy now, brow wet with sweat. He didn't bother looking back to check on Menomaru. Instead, he approached the neck of the giant armor, where a series of large vertebrae emerged from. Turned on its side, like a dog laying down, the opening in the neck was like a giant door. As they rounded the lip of it, Kagome could see the entire spine and ribs of the demon skeleton. It made a morbidly cavernous room, the arm hole in the armor a skylight to illuminate the place.
Sunlight streamed in from above onto a pedestal in the dirt. It was plain stone, hewn roughly, with a sword and sheath thrust down into the center. Kagome leaned over Inuyasha's shoulder, pointing.
"There it is!" she yelled. Inuyasha winced.
"Yeah, I can see it. No need to shout my ear off," he complained. Kagome slid from his back and gave him a push.
"Just go get it," she replied. Inuyasha approached the pedestal, cautious. He stopped a few feet away, ears flicking around.
"What?" Kagome asked.
"It's too easy," Inuyasha said. Kagome huffed.
"We don't have time, Inuyasha," she said sternly. He grumbled, but kept walking forward. Kagome opened her mouth to speak again.
"Inuya-aah!" Inuyasha whirled at the sound of her yelp. To his horror, he saw that Menomaru had caught up to them already. The moth demon had grabbed Kagome, and was holding her to him with a wicked grin on his features. One hand was around her mouth, the other holding a dagger to her side.
"Inuyasha…" Menomaru panted. His hair, usually smooth, was unkempt. Sweat poured down his face, smudging the blood and dirt there. Immediately, Inuyasha bent his knees and raised his claws.
"Let her go!" he yelled. Menomaru laughed, sticking Kagome with the point of the blade. She made a high pitched sound, muffled by his hand. Inuyasha growled at the scent of her blood. The wound was barely a wound at all, but enough to enrage him. He made to move, but Menomaru's sharp remark stopped him.
"Move and she dies," he snapped. Inuyasha froze. Kagome furrowed her eyebrows at him, trying to speak behind Menomaru's fingers. He just gripped her face tighter, jolting her a little and making the tip of the blade slide further along her ribcage.
The added pain was the last straw for Kagome, and she grabbed at Menomaru's hand on her mouth. He laughed at her weak efforts to free herself, until she hit his hand with a blast of spiritual energy. Skin sizzled. Hair and cloth burned. Menomaru yelled and dropped Kagome like a hot potato. She dropped to the ground, then scrambled away on her hands and knees before pushing herself to her feet. She turned to see the daiyoukai cradling his burnt hand and glaring at her.
"That hurt, girl," he said. She was the one breathing heavily now, and was surprised to see him still standing. Before, that energy had been enough to stun one of his followers-to purify some. It only seemed to surprise Menomaru. He was a clan leader though, so it made sense he was stronger than his brethren.
Inuyasha had taken the opportunity to reach behind him and grab the sword from the pedestal. Except that the sword and sheath had refused to come away with his hand, and now he was left tugging at the hilt like an idiot while Kagome had to save herself. He growled at the sword.
"Come on, you fucking sword! You're supposed to be in my palm, remember?" By the time he had finished his sentence, Menomaru had recovered and was holding his blade up again towards them.
"Inuyasha," Kagome warned under her breath. With an angry growl, he let go of the hilt and turned back to the enemy at hand.
"It's no use," he said to Kagome. She frowned.
"But Kunko said-"
"She lied, Kagome. She can't be trusted," Inuyasha interrupted. Menomaru drew his sword and swiped it through the air with a whistle.
"What are you two talking about over there? Nevermind, it doesn't matter. I'll just kill you both and not worry about it." He smiled, and leapt forward to attack Inuyasha.
Inuyasha dodged under the blade, then pitched forward and knocked Menomaru back. He ducked around Menomaru's sword, trying to swipe at the other demon with his claws again. But Menomaru had learned from the last time, and was keeping his wings well out of Inuyasha's way. The cut in his wing had already started to heal, and soon he would be able to fly again. Kagome glanced from the sword to Inuyasha and back.
"Inuyasha! The sword!" she yelled.
"We'll have to get it later!" he replied, dancing in battle with the moth demon. Kagome looked back to him worriedly. She wasn't sure there was going to be a later if this kept up. She could feel Inuyasha's yoki, spiking up and down and pushing against her barrier. She had to get him the sword.
Turning to the pedestal, she examined the spot where the sheath met stone. At first, it didn't seem like anything was holding it there, but then something flashed across her eyes and she could see what seemed like glowing red string holding the sword down. When she blinked, the vision shifted, and she realized she was not seeing something physical, but something spiritual. She reached forward and touched one of the strings, and it burned her finger. She jerked back. An unfamiliar yoki coursed through the string, reacting violently with her spiritual energy. Steeling herself, she reached out and grabbed the string with a whole fist, forcing her spiritual energy down into it. After a moment of high tension, it snapped. The sword shifted a little. Kagome, feeling triumphant, grabbed the next string and destroyed it.
Inuyasha's claws caught Menomaru's elbow roughly, pulling the skin away and leaving it in a flap that exposed the muscle and cartilage. Menomaru didn't react to the pain at all, just swung his sword at Inuyasha again. Inuyasha jumped out of the way, almost. The very tip of the blade bit into his torso, opening a small gash there. He landed on all fours, blood now seeping from the slight wound. He smirked at Menomaru.
"Heh, can't land a solid blow, Menomaru?" he mocked. Menomaru just grinned back at him.
"A slight blow is enough, with this blade," he said. Inuyasha looked down to the wound, and saw the faint green glow around it. It wasn't until he saw the miasma that he became aware of the burning sensation in the cut, which was spreading rapidly over his chest. He cursed under his breath, and looked to Kagome. She was, strangely, grabbing at the air around the pedestal. Without stopping to wonder about her strange antics, Inuyasha's thoughts went straight to getting her out of the land of the dead. If he was going to die here, she would survive.
Ignoring the pain in his chest, Inuyasha leapt forward to attack Menomaru again. Menomaru's sword swung forward, and Inuyasha caught it with his hand, the blade cutting into his palm. His fingers closed around it, claws stopping the blade. His hand burned, more green miasma entering his body through the new wound, but he only barely flinched at the pain. He clawed at Menomaru's throat with his free hand. Menomaru jerked out of the way, and Inuyasha's claws sunk into his shoulder instead. With a growl, he ripped at the muscle there over and over, and Menomaru screamed as his arm went limp, useless. He pressed harder on his blade with his other hand, and it bit further into Inuyasha's palm.
The pain of the miasma was clouding Inuyasha's mind, now. It burned through him like fire through a dry field. He tried to ignore it, clawing again towards Menomaru's throat. The attempt was feeble and futile, he missed entirely.
One thought rang clear through his brain-Kagome! If he couldn't kill Menomaru, the bastard would get her. The thought of what Menomaru would do to Kagome sickened Inuyasha. Something deep in his gut shifted, and for a moment he thought he would be sick. Then he went limp, unconscious.
From across the room, Kagome felt her barrier break within Inuyasha.
She froze, hand on the last string holding the sword to the pedestal. Some power flooded back to her-the pieces of the broken barrier-and the string burst. The sword, now free, tilted to the side and then fell, clattering to the ground. But Kagome wasn't paying attention to it anymore. She had turned to see Inuyasha and Menomaru locked together. Menomaru was laughing. He pulled his sword from Inuyasha's hand and threw the hanyou's body to the side. Then he leapt into the air, now healed wings allowing him to hover. He said something to Kagome, disrespectful, goading, but she didn't hear. She was watching Inuyasha's limp form on the ground. Menomaru couldn't see, didn't know that he had already sealed his fate.
Inuyasha moved, put a hand on the ground and started to push himself to his feet. Menomaru, annoyed at her disinterest, followed Kagome's gaze.
"What's this?" he said, amused, "A final stand?" Inuyasha growled, a deep sound that reverberated through the cavern. It made Menomaru's face fall momentarily, but the cocky smile spread back across his face.
"So be it, half-breed," he said, and dove towards Inuyasha.
Dread swept through Kagome. If Inuyasha killed anyone else in this state, there was no way the council would allow him freedom. Even if that someone else was Menomaru.
Menomaru's sword swung down at Inuyasha, and bit into dirt. Surprised, Menomaru yanked his blade from the earth, head whipping around wildly to see where the hanyou had gone. Inuyasha crashed into him from behind, claws digging into his wings at their very source. Inuyasha pulled roughly. Menomaru's scream was guttural. His wings fell to the ground, twitching in a last burst of nerve signals. Inuyasha kicked off his back, sending him to the ground. The hanyou landed a few feet away on all fours, then stood and walked slowly towards his prey. Menomaru turned to Inuyasha, crawling backwards from him. Blood seeped from his back and created a shining pool on the ground around him. It stained his clothes, and made the earth slick. His hand slipped on it, and he fell back onto the wound, eliciting another scream.
Kagome screamed with him:
"Inuyasha, stop!"
Inuyasha didn't. He walked right up to Menomaru's feet, then crouched, examining the writhing demon. Tilting his head to the side, he reached out a claw and pressed it to Menomaru's ankle. Then he jerked his hand, the claw cutting back into Menomaru's Achilles tendon. Menomaru twitched, sobbing in pain. Inuyasha grinned.
Kagome closed her eyes. She didn't want to see this. She didn't want to see Inuyasha torture his enemy to death and enjoy it. A voice joined Kagome's thoughts, one that was not her own.
Tessaiga, it said. Kagome's eyes opened, glancing around for the voice's source. Her eyes settled on the sheathed sword before her. It lay on the ground, inconspicuous, until it pulsed with yoki.
The sword, girl. Take Tessaiga to him, the voice said.
Kagome didn't know how to explain the voice, but she figured it knew what it was talking about. She reached down and grabbed the sword, then ran towards Inuyasha and Menomaru.
"Inuyasha!" she yelled. His ear flicked towards her, and he looked away from his victim to see the girl running towards him. She skidded to a halt as he growled at her, baring his teeth.
"It's me, Inuyasha," she said. He didn't seem to recognize her, just stared into her eyes with his terrifying red glare. Kagome held out the sword, ducking her head in a small bow.
"Please! Take the sword," she said. Inuyasha didn't respond. All she could hear was Menomaru's whimpering. Then a pair of clawed feet entered her field of vision. Looking up, Inuyasha was standing right in front of her. Her arms trembled, holding the sword out to him. Their eyes met again, and he growled softly. She lowered her gaze to his chest.
He reached towards her, and she resisted the urge to flinch away. His hand passed the hilt of Tessaiga, instead moving towards her chest. He hooked a claw in the neckline of her sweater, and tugged. Kagome sucked in a breath. Her Shikon Jewel pouch fell forward, and Inuyasha's hand closed around it.
Kagome dropped the sword and grabbed Inuyasha's hand with both of hers.
"No," she said, looking into his eyes again. He growled, and pulled a little at the Shikon pouch. She shook her head, pulling back towards her chest.
"No, Inuyasha. You can't have this!"
His eyes narrowed, and he let out an angry growl. Kagome scowled at him. She shook her head again. He shifted his weight, and Kagome thought he looked a little unsure now. His foot hit the sheath of Tessaiga, and it seemed to catch his attention for the first time. Slowly, his hand released its grip on the Shikon Jewel pouch. Kagome pulled it to her, cradling it to her chest with both hands. She watched, unmoving, as Inuyasha bent and picked up the sword.
"That's the Tessaiga," she said, "You're supposed to have it." She wasn't sure if demon Inuyasha understood her words, but he seemed to be thinking deeply about something. He turned the sword over a couple times in its sheath, then grasped the hilt firmly.
His yoki pulsed.
Kagome gasped at the shockwave that went through the room, closing her eyes instinctively. When she opened them, Inuyasha was normal again. His yoki was stabilized again, this time by the Tessaiga. He looked to her, shock and wonder in his golden eyes. Tears came to Kagome's eyes and she let out a sob.
"Oh thank god," she breathed out, and stepped forward, pulling Inuyasha-sword and all-into a hug. His arms flew out to either side, and for a moment it seemed like he wasn't sure what do do. Then he embraced her as well, Tessaiga still in one hand. After she had convinced herself he was truly back to normal, Kagome pulled away.
"What happened?" Inuyasha asked. Kagome pursed her lips. Just like last time, he had no memory of his actions as a full demon.
"We got the sword, and Menomaru," she said. Pulling out of her embrace entirely, Inuyasha noticed Menomaru laying on the ground, wingless.
"Did I do that?" he asked.
"Yeah," Kagome said. Inuyasha's brow furrowed.
"He deserved it," she added, "For everything he's done." Inuyasha nodded.
"Yeah but…" he looked down at Tessaiga.
"I know," Kagome replied. She reached forward and took his hand in hers, giving it a squeeze.