Chapter 3~!
Disclaimer: If I really owned Inuyasha, Bankotsu would have stayed alive, and Hikari would have been real. T.T
~Stars Of The Moon~
Chapter 3
"Well, that's interesting, a demon slayer accompanied by a fox..." A voice from the shadows spoke. Shippou and Kohaku turned to see a toad demon walking towards them. "You were lucky to dodge my attack before, but can you keep up like that forever?"
Kohaku got into a defensive stance, "I would fight if I could... But I don't have my weapon... I'm lucky Hikari taught me some martial arts, maybe I can use that to kill it... Maybe?"
"Why, you look deep in thought. Are you thinking of how you would like to run away?" The toad spoke. Kohaku and Shippou were now able to see its ugly form. It was fat, and it had plenty of dots on his face. Pimples? Zits? They couldn't tell. Shippou recoiled from the demon's apperance.
"Boy, am I glad I was born a fox demon." He wispered to Kohaku's ear. The boy lightly chuckled.
"I heard that!" The toad shot out its tongue and tried to hit Shippou. Kohaku jumped again, and this time, he tried to hit the tongue. The tongue continued going after them, and Kohaku looked around desperatly for something he could use to attack. He couldn't spot anything if he continued to move around.
He reached into a pocket, "All I have is demon poison..." After countless tries of trying to stand still while the demon was attacking, he got an idea.
"Maybe..." He glanced at Shippou, who's fur was standing on end and trembling hard enough to make Kohaku lose balance. "It might just work." He ran away from the demon as fast as he can.
"Hey! Aren't we supposed to beat him up?" Shippou said as Kohaku ran.
"I know that! I've got a plan, so listen carefuly." He wispered something into Shippou's ear, and the fox demon's eyes widened.
"WHAT? I can't do that! T-that's like..."
"You could at least give it a try!" And before Shippou had any time to protest, Kohaku threw him at the toad. "Now go!"
"GAHHH!" He landed on the wet floor, and he looked up. The ugly toad was standing in front of him in all his ugly form and looking at him with his big ugly eyes.
"What do you know, I guess I didn't need to chase you for long. You came to me."
Shippou started panicking. Then, he remembered to go with the plan. "Transform!" He changed to his pink balloon form right before the toad's hand reached for him. He started taunting the demon, "You're going to have to have better aim if you want to get me!"
"You little..." The toad shot his tongue to the kitsune, but missed.
Shippou stuck out his tongue, "Ha ha ! I bet your tongue reaches your feet! You probably spit enough to make a whole village flood!"
"Silence, you little wrech!" This time, he shot out some sort of poisonous gas at him. Shippou was able to cover himself from the poison.
"Ew! Your breath stinks! Did you ever brush your teeth?" Shippou spotted Kohaku waving at him from behind the toad. "Alright, time for phase two."
By now, the toad was red with fury. It took one last shot at Shippou with it's tongue. This time though, Shippou didn't avoid the attack. He shot his Fox Fire on the toad's tongue, which made it burn. The toad let out a yell of pain, and immediatly brought it's tongue back in it's mouth. That didn't help at all. It's mouth caught a little fire, making it look like as if the toad was breathing fire. This gave Kohaku, who was still behind the demon, a chance to strike it down once and for all.
"Nice job, Shippou!" He yelled to the fox. "Now, it's my turn." He took out a sharp stick which he spred some of the poison he had. He ran towards the demon, and pierced his heart with his 'weapon'. The toad froze for a moment, coughed up some blood, and fell to the floor. His body jerked about twice, and it stood still, dead.
Kohaku sighed, and sat down on the floor. "One demon down, four to go."
Shippou jumped up to him, "Your plan worked, Kohaku! We killed one of the demons!"
Kohaku laughed at his entusiam. He looked at the dead body of the toad, and stood up. "Come on, we have to tell the villagers we took down a demon. They'll have one less thing to worry about." Shippou nodded. They could see the lights of the village, so they were able to head back without anyt problem. They burried the body, and left for the village.
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Oh really? We shall see about that! Prepare yourself, monk, for this will be your last battle!"
The snake demon charged at Miroku, and Miroku dodged it with ease. The demon kept on coming after him. They continued doing the same thing over and over again. Attack, dodge, attack, dodge. When when the overgrown snake's tail came for him, Miroku placed a sutra on it. It only purified a little part of the tail, and Miroku stared in awe.
The demon chuckled, "Those little scraps of paper won't work on me. You can place as many as you like on me, it won't change a thing. They might work on little weakling demons, but not on me!" It yelled as it stormed at Miroku. This time, the monk didn't have any time to react, and got hit on his right shoulder.
He held his wound, "My sutras don't have any affect on him? If only if I had my Wind Tunnel like last time, then I would have just sucked him up! But I'll have to find some other tactic… Come on, Miroku, think! What would Inuyasha and Sango do right now?" He imagined his half demon friend in front the large snake demon with his sword ready, and Sango with her Hiraikotsu. "Okay, maybe try to cut the demon in half with a giant sword or a giant boomerang, but this isn't the type of situation for that! I can't do that with a little staff! Come on, what can I do?" Then, Hikari's words about the shark demon popped into his head.
"It has rock hard armour, and you can only kill it by shooting something into its mouth."
"That's it!" He looked at the demon. "My sutras won't work on him if I attack from outside. It's body is like some sort of armour to me. So I have to attack from the inside. If I shoot a sutra or my staff in its mouth, then maybe…" He looked from the demon's head to the tail and back. "It might just work."
The demon evilly smiled, "Are you standing there for me to get you? Why, I'm touched! Apparently, that will lead to your death!" The demon sent its tail coming after Miroku once again, but Miroku didn't avoid the attack this time. Instead, he ran towards the tail, and jumped onto it. The demon blinked, and started to shake its tail vigourously. "GET OFF OF ME!" But Miroku held on tight.
While the demon was busy, he took out his staff and placed his sutras on it. After placing about ten sutras, he made sure all of then were good in place. He looked at the demon's head. "I sure hope this works… But what if the demon isn't affected on the inside either?" That thought horrified him. "... Well, I'll just have to pray that he isn't completely sutra-proof."
When the demon stopped his crazy dance, he saw Miroku running at him. It smiled and opened its mouth to attack, "Now you'll die!"
"I don't think so!" Miroku yelled as he threw his staff into the snake's throat. It swallowed the staff. Miroku jumped off the demon.
The overgrown snake was confused for a moment, and it chuckled, "Doing that was useless. I thought you were smart, monk, but I guess I over-estimated you. That wand of yours was pretty tasty, and I wonder if you'll taste as good... There's only one way to find out!"
Miroku wasn't giving up. "Come on… It has to make some sort of reaction…"
Just when the demon was about to attack Miroku, a white light shined from it throat. The light was getting brighter and brighter. "What- what is the meaning of this?" Suddenly, the light bursted out of the demon's body, and the giant snake let out a shriek of pain. Miroku had to cover his eyes because of all the brightness. When he decided it was safe enough to take a look, he opened his eyes and looked around. There were bits of demonic flesh and demonic blood everywhere. Even on his clothes. His staff was floating on the lake's surface.
"Am I glad that's over..." He thought as he walked to the lake to pick up his staff. "One of the demons are dead, so that's one thing done on the list. And I'll have a new story to tell... But..." As he took his weapon, he looked at his reflection. "What will the ladies think of me when they see me like this?"
Ah, if only the perverted voice in Miroku's head never existed, then he would have been married to Sango looooong ago. Too bad he was a leacher.
He turned to the forest behind him. "Right. I have to go back to the others and tell them the news. But how will I find the village?" He stood there, thoughtful for a moment, and he started walking. "Find water. Where there's water, there's people. Where there's people, there's probably my friends... but what's always with people, there's women."
Sigh.
*O*~*O*~*O*
"That was a lucky shot... But apparently, that will be the last shot you'll ever get. I'll take both of you down!"
"We'll see about that!" Inuyasha stormed at his opponent. "WIND SCAR!"
"The same attack again? You've got to be kidding!" The walking fish simply jumped out of the way and charged at Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha! Be careful! He's coming at you from behind!" Kagome yelled.
"What?" Inuyasha turned around, but it was too late. The shark bit down onto Inuyasha's arm and Inuyasha let out a yell of pain.
"Your blood... You're a half demon, aren't you? Your blood disgusts me. No wonder you're so weak. You're not even worth devouring." Inuyasha growled at the demon. He tried to hit him, but failed. The demon wouldn't let go of his prey. "You shouldn't try to move. I'll only bite harder. Once I bite something, I won't let go no matter what. You should just-" He stoped when he saw a sacred arrow coming towards him. He let go Inuyasha and turned to Kagome.
"Are you sure you won't let go no matter what? Are you sure that wasn't just a lie to make you sound powerful? You're just a wannabe!" Kagome yelled at him.
"Thanks Kagome," Inuyasha held his wounded arm. "I owe you one." She smiled at him and turned back to the demon.
"I don't even know what a wannabe is, but I can say that it's not good." It smiled, "But I what do know is that you won't be able to move that much in those clothes. You may be able to shoot me with your arrows..." He flexed his fins, "But you won't be able to move fast enough to get away from me."
Inuyasha flinched and looked at Kagome, "That's true. Kagome can't move in that kimono. And with my wounded arm, I won't be able to protect her well enough either. There must be something I can do!"
But Kagome didn't seem worried at all. In fact, she had a smile on her face. "I figured you'd say that." Something unexpected happened. She ripped off her kimono, and Inuyasha saw that Kagome's original clothes were already there.
He was shocked and surprised, "How... how did she...?"
Kagome grinned, "Hikari already sensed your auras coming when we changed into our kimonos. We knew we were going to have to fight you anyways, and we knew we couldn't fight in dresses, so we made up a little plan. Now, I can move as freely as I want." She turned to Inuyasha. "Impressed?"
The hanyou smiled at her, "Very."
"I never would have expected something like this... but I can say I'm pretty proud."
"Alright, alright, so you can move!" The demon roared. It looked annoyed. "That won't stop me from killing you both!"
"Always the same replies, find some other lines to say, will ya!" Inuyasha yelled as he got ready to attack again. He didn't care about his god damn injury. He just wanted to get this over with. He glanced at Kagome and he knew she was thinking the same thing.
Now, the shark demon was probably getting pissed off, "Hey! Keep your attention on the problem! Or else..." He charged at Kagome, "I'll come at you first!"
"Don't even try!" Inuyasha ran to Kagome and blocked another bite from the shark demon. With all the demon's wieght on his sword, he threw the demon away from Kagome with Tetsusaiga. He wispered something to Kagome, and she nodded. Inuyasha stormed at the demon again. The shark was back up.
"Trying to protect your girlfriend, eh?" It charged after Inuyasha. Claws popped out of his fins, and his teeth shimered in the moonlight.
"Are those your last words? I thought that maybe they'd be a little bit more manly than something like that! Kagome!" Inuyasha turned to see Kagome with an arrow.
"Ready!"
"In that case..." The demon was now about five meters away from him. "WIND SCAR!"
"The same move again? You need a little more variety, half-demon!" The shark blocked the Wind Scar easily.
"Sorry, but this isn't the same plan as before!" He snickered and jumped out of the shark's way. The demon saw Kagome with her bow and arrow ready.
"What?" The demon exclaimed.
"This was for trying to make me be a part of a fish!" She shot her arrow strait at him. The demon's jaw was still open from all the surprise, and the arrow shot through his mouth. The shark grew still for a moment, until it completly disintegrated. A little blue orb rose from the ashes and flew off. Inuyasha and Kagome stared at all the process.
"Well, I guess that's it then." Inuyasha said after the orb disappeared from their sight. "The leader of the water demons is down. Now, we'll just have to take down the rest of the four." He suddenly cried out in pain and fell to his knees.
Kagome ran to his side, "Careful! That injury of yours is bad. We're going to have to return to the village and treat it. But don't try to move too much."
Inuyasha snorted, "Fine. I just hope we won't run into some other demon before that. So let's not go too slow."
*O*~*O*~*O*
"But don't worry, you'll be able to see him in the other world when you join him!"
Kirara couldn't hold herself back from fighting the demon anymore so she charged at the coy fish. The fish dodged the attack swiftly and managed to claw Kirara's ear. Sango looked around desperatly for a weapon she could use to help Kirara fight. "Hikari said we need to slice the demon's head off if I want to kill it. So I need something sharp and big... Oh, if only I had Hiraikotsu with me!" She looked over at her demon cat and knew that Kirara could hold the demon for a while. When Sango saw something sparkle from the corner of her eye, she walked to the light, but tripped over her kimono. "Damn stupid kimono! I'd better take this off before I get into any other trouble. Like my death."
She took off her kimono, and found herself in her demon slayer clothes. "Ah, that feels a lot better." When that was done, she continued walking to the shining object and found out that it was a small mountain of small daggers. "What? I need something big, not tiny like this!" Suddenly she heard a loud roar of pain behind her.
She turned around to the battle and saw a huge gash by Kirara's neck. "Oh no, already?" Kirara was panting heavily, and she had plenty of wounds by her sides. Sango knew that she won't be able to keep up for long. She looked back at the pile of daggers and got an idea. "But I'd better do this quick. Otherise, Kirara will be the one to become the prey."
She placed the knives in a straight line. "Now that that's done... Let's see..." She looked around. "Something I could use to tie all of this together..." The only thing she could see was her torn kimono. "Yes! That's it!" She crawled to the kimono and stretched it out a bit.
"Solid enough, I guess. Now let's see if this works." She ran back to the daggers and started tearing the kimono to lines of clothing. "Haru might be mad at me for doing this, but I've got my life at risk here! I just hope she can deal with this." She continued shreading it, but just when she was about to finish, another roar of pain came from Kirara. Kirara was on the ground, trying to get up. Sango's eyes widened and she hurried up her plan.
"Come on, come on... Kirara's hurt and she won't go any further!" When she finished, she whipped around and saw the demon above Kirara, holding its claws and getting ready to strike.
"You've been a great opponent, feline. But this time, the fish wins. In my game, the fish is the predator..." It lifted its fin, "And the cat is the prey!"
"No!" Sango ran to them and attacked. She only sliced a part of the fishes neck, and this caused the demon to back away in pain. Sango bent down to Kirara, and stroke her fur. It was full of blood.
"Kirara, it's going to be okay, you've done enough. You let me take care of this now." Kirara nodded slowly, and closed her eyes. Sango placed two of her fingers on Kirara's neck, and felt pulsation. She sighed. "Good, she's going to be fine. She just needs a lot of rest."
Behind her, the demon was back up, and it snarled, "You little wench. How dare you try to ruin my kill."
Sango slowly turned around and felt her blood getting hotter. Fury was in her eyes, and she growled, "I'll make you pay for what you did to Kirara."
"Hah! Is that so? That cat was able to hold me for a long time, but you? A mortal? Don't make me laugh."
Sango yelled, "I'll never let myself get killed by a demon like you!" And she charged at the demon. She moved her 'weapon' from side to side, but the demon kept on evading her attacks.
"Apparently, you can't even touch me! tell you what, I'll let you attack for a while and then, it's my turn!"
"Too bad you won't get it!" Sango yelled. She really wanted to get this over with. If Kirara was about to lose her life because she made her to, Sango would never forgive herself. The least she could do was be by her friend's side when she breathes her last breath.
"No. Not when. IF." Sango thought as she looked at Kirara behind her. When she looked at the feline's paws, she slowly found another plan. She kept the demon busy a little, until she jumped back to her unconsious friend.
"Running away, are you?" The demon slowly walked up to her.
Sango smiled, "I don't think so." She placed her weapon close to Kirara's paws. And the next thing you know, the clothing of the shreaded kimono caught fire. Now, it looked like a giant fire blade. The demon's eyes were surprised and it started backing away. "Now are you the one backing away?"
"Not a chance!" The demon snarled. It sprang st Sango. The demon slayer quickly reacted, and threw her blade at the demon. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact. It never came.
When she opened her eyes, she found the demon cliging to its neck, where the blade was. It fell to its knees, and evaporated into thin air. A blue orb lifted away from where the body was. Sango sighed, "I guess Kirara won't be having any coy fish any time soon." She turned to her sleeping friend, who turned back into her kitten form. Sango smiled and took her cat in her arms, "You've one a great job, girl. Now you'll need to rest. Let's get back to the village and see those scars of yours."
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Well, you'd better deal with it! Will my scent kill you first... or will it be my lighting!"
"Neither, thank you very much!" Hikari riped off her clothes. She had her armour on and her twin blades with her. She launched her water blade like a boomerang at the demon, who dodged it with ease.
"You're going to have to aim better if you're gonna kill me!" It said in its metallic voice.
"Wasn't aiming for you!" Hikari said with a smile on her face. The demon was confused.
"What?"
"Never mind that, just focus on me!" She yelled as she ran to the eel and started to attack him. No matter how many times she would slash at the right area, the demon would 'foresee' her attack and slither its way out of the way.
"Ha ha! Can't touch me!" The demon teased. Hikari tried to slash him again. "Alright, now it's my turn!" It started charging a large amount of electricity, and Hikari had to cover her eyes because of all the brightness. The demon let out a war cry and shot his lighting at Hikari. She opened one eye.
"Alright then... NOW!" She placed her hand to the earth and focused her power on it. Suddenly, the ground started shaking, and a giant wall of earth rose from below to protect Hikari. It blocked the attack. "Perfect." She grinned. "But... Whoa. How did this electricity become so powerful? The last time I blocked an attack like this, I never felt this much power."
When all the light had disappeared, she lifted her hand from the dirt and the wall of earth fell back to its normal state. The demon couldn't believe what happened. "What was that? Are you even human?" It yelled.
Hikari rolled her eyes, "Yes, I am. In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm a L. Healer, and I can do things like that. No big deal, really... Now then, why don't we continue our little battle, shall we?" She charged at the demon again, and this time, the demon was the one who had to be careful. This continued for a long while, until the demon had enough. He had to tease his way out of this.
"Hey! Where did you get that sword from? Huge and ugly land?" It yelled when Hikari was away from it. Hikari growled and the eel continued, "Gee, I wonder, how long will you keep up? Considering you being a mortal, problably for like, what? Two minutes?" It laughed out loud, which only made Hikari get even more annoyed.
"Dammit, enough already!" Out of nowhere, Hikari's water blade bursted out of the trees and went for the eel. The demon was shocked, but it only got a little cut since it dodged the blade.
"That was close." The demon panted. "Any later and I would have been made to sushi." It looked at Hikari, who caught the water blade in one hand. The demon got seriously pissed off. "Hey! That's not fair!"
Hikari frowned, "When healers fight demons, there's no such thing as fair." She lifted her water blade to the sky and a mysterious energy started forming around it. The clouds were starting to swirl around.
"W-what... is this?" The slimy eel could do nothing but stare.
Hikari grinned, "I'm done with you!" She gave a final push to her blade, and yelled. "DRAGON WAVE!"
Water was erupting from the clouds and started forming a huge flood below. It was heading straight for the demon. The eel didn't seem worried. "Hah! Do you really think water can beat me? I live in water!"
"I know that. But apparently, you've under-estimated me." Hikari said, without losing the grin on her face.
The demon's eyes went wide. "W-what? NO!"
The water crashed down on him like a huge wave. The demon was cut to bits as it cried out in pain, and when all the water disappeared, a blue orb soared from the remains of the demon.
"I hate using that attack." She frowned. "It reminds me too much of them." Her eyes grew dark and sad. But was there fury in them too...? She sighed. "I guess I should check on the others." She spread her aura to a few kilometers and saw her friends heading back to the village safe and sound. She smiled, "Good. They're all safe. I guess I should help Miroku, Inuyasha and Kagome to find their way out of this mess."
She walked towards the aura of the villagers, until she decided she went far enough. She took out her fire blade and planted it in the earth. She wispered, "Dragon Flame."
A small fire was forming, and along with it, smoke. "It's up to you guys now." She sat down next to a tree close by and waited for her friends. "They sure are taking a while... I think I'm gonna grab a few winks of sleep..."
~Dream~
"Wha-?" Hikari woke up to find a giant pack of villagers outside her hut. "What's going on?" She asked when she got dressed up.
"It's the shrine of the Band Of Seven!" One of the villagers said, "The tomb was split into two!"
"What?" Hikari's eyes went wide. "Show me!"
The villager who spoke before, probably the first one who saw the shrine, was leading the way. "We're almost there, hurry!"
"I'll go on ahead, you men can catch up later!" Hikari said as she ran past the villagers. She ran as fast as she could. "The villagers said that they didn't see any lighting, so what does that mean? Wait... Naraku's aura! What the hell was he doing here?"
When she arrived at the shrine, she saw that the tomb was split into two. "Just as that villager said, it is split in two. And Naraku was here, alright. Last night. But... what are these other souls who were here? Their souls aren't alive... Nor dead... So... Wait, don't tell me that...!" Her eyes shot open. "Did Naraku resurrect the Band of Seven?"
Just then, the villagers all arrived. "Well, how is it?"
Hikari turned to them with serious eyes. "Not good. Listen to me, everyone!" She raised her voice. "The seven souls of the Band Of Seven have escaped! I want everyone to stay in their houses. And when you go out, make sure you keep a weapon with you." Several of the villagers gasped.
"That's fine, but what will you do, Lady Hikari?"
She frowned, "I'm going to go hunt them down. I won't come back in a long time, but when I do, the souls will all be back in their graves." She started walking away. She turned to them one last time, "If there is a traveler passing by, never mention me. They'll only start panicking. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am. We shall wait for your next visit." The villagers bowed. Hikari smiled and ran off.
"Alright, I know I won't be able to hunt them all down, but one thing I might know is that Naraku resurrected these guys to kill Inuyasha. So I'll let Inuyasha take care of these stuff. But just for a little help... I think I'll take down one of them. I'll take the closest one." She ran to the closest evil aura she could sense.
She stopped when she knew that one of the specters was right in front of her. She crouched down and saw the mercenary she was looking for. "Ah, found you. Hey, hold on... Aw, crap!"
She saw the mercenary, but he was... injured. "Dammit! Why, oh why did I have to go get the one who was hurt? Why couldn't I sense that he was hurt? Why?" She looked at the injured man and saw that he had two holes in left arm. He was leaning against a boulder, and he kept on wincing from the pain.
"Attacked by a snake demon, huh? Well, I ain't helping. I'll just sneak away while I have the chance and find some other guy to kill." Just as she started creeping away, she steped on a stick.
From behind her, she heard the man cry, "Who's there? Show yourself!"
Hikari started cursing, "STUPID, DAMN, FUCKING, RANDOM STICKS WHO APPEAR OUT OF NOWHERE TO RUIN A GIRL'S DAY! I SWEAR, IF SOMETHING ELSE LIKE THIS HAPPENS, I'LL BEAT THE FUCKING LIFE OUT OF WHOEVER LEAVES THESE GOD DAMN BRANCHES JUST SO PEOPLE CAN-"
She blushed when she realised she was cursing out loud. "Shit. Now I have to show myself." She could tell the man was trying not to laugh, because his aura was full of amusement, and she heard him stiffling his laughter. She sighed as she stepped out of the bushes. The only thing she could actually describe best was his face since most of his clothes were torn. He had long, black hair which was tied to a braid, and he had a star-shapped mark on his forehead. She saw his blue eyes widening a slight bit at her appearance.
"Great. Just another man who thinks I'm beautiful." She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "So, now that you know who was there, what are you going to do now?" And suddenly, she felt his aura and she finally understood why she couldn't sense his injury. "No wonder I couldn't sense it... He has a piece of the sacred jewel in his neck! So that's how Naraku resurrected the rest of the Band of Seven..."
"What have you got to say to me then?" Hikari asked. The boy's mouth was still a little open from how she looked, but as soon as she spoke, he closed his mouth shut. He still wasn't able to say anything though. Hikari rolled her eyes again, and no matter how much she didn't want to, she walked to the injured man. He was surprised and he tried to move away, but no thanks to his wounds, he wasn't able to move. He growled at Hikari, and she inwardly grinned. "At least he's got some pride in him."
She bent down next to him. "Look, do you want that thing cured, or not?" She pointed to his wounded arm.
He simply snorted. "Maybe I do, maybe I'm fine without having to treat it. Who are you anyways?"
"Ah, so the tiger finally speaks! I thought you were dumb for a moment there!" She said with a hint of amusement in her voice. Since she didn't want a fight, she just answered his question. "I'm a L. Healer. My name's Hikari."
She waited for him to answer by saying his name, but he didn't answer, of course. She already knew his name just by looking into his memories, but she just wanted to start a little conversation. Too bad the guy was too proud to even talk to her.
When she saw that he didn't answer, she sighed, and decided to get to work. She took his arm and gently started examinating the wound. The boy would flinch every once in a while, but he didn't complain. He seemed more relaxed than before.
"Why are you helping me, girl?" His voice didn't have much hostility in it, but Hikari knew he was suspicious.
"Alright, first, don't call me girl, got it? You're like the same age as me, so suck it up!" The man raised a brow, and when Hikari realised what she just said, she litteraly slapped herself.
"The hell? He IS older than you, Hikari! He lived fifteen years before you!"
She let out a long sigh, "Forget what I just said, I'll just answer your question. I'll be honest with you, I wouldn't do this if I had to. Hell, I'd probably give anything to get out of this mess! But no- I have to because I'm a healer, and I'm not supposed to leave an injured human by himself. Stupid rules." The man chuckled at her complaining, but it didn't last for long. "I can't even leave a specter like you alone."
The man's eyes widened and he jumped up, "How the hell did you know that-" He winced at the pain and fell back down.
"Careful, there. You don't want that poison spreading through your body, now do you? I'll just explain you what I know some other time." She took out a few herbs and started getting to work.
The man growled, "If you're only going to try to kill me with those stuff-"
"Don't worry about that, geez. You really think I'd take advantage of a wounded man?" After doing a final examination of the scar, she stood up. "Well, I'm outta here. Make sure you don't move around too much. You should be fine by tonight."
She turned to walk away, when she heard his voice call to her. "Wait." She turned around.
"I don't why the hell I'm saying this, but you wanted to know my name, right?" He said.
Hikari was confused, "Umm... okay... He's hostile, then relaxed, and then he wants to know if I want to know his name. Talk about mood swings. And he's not even a woman." She nodded, unsure. "Sure, I guess... So what is your name?"
Hikari saw him grin for the first time. His voice sounded proud now, "I am Bankotsu, leader of the Band of Seven."
~End of Dream~
"Hikari, Hikari, HEY!" She woke up to find Inuyasha and her three friends above her.
"Hey, you're awake!" Kagome smiled.
"Have a nice sleep?" Miroku asked. "Your face looked pretty happy."
"Uhh... yeah, I guess..."
"Alright, now why did you make the fire?" Hikari heard Inuyasha's impatient voice and slowly came to reality.
"Oh, that's right!" She bolted up. "You guys were fighting the demons and you needed to know how to find the village. So, I decided to help you guys a little. Now then, I guess I might as well lead the way. How long was I asleep?"
"We were here for fifteen minutes, waiting for you to wake up!" Inuyasha growled lightly.
Hikari smiled innocently, "Well, oops. Let's just get going." She walked to her fire blade and placed it in its sheath. "So what were you three doing while I was asleep?" Kagome suddenly bursted out laughing and Miroku chuckled. Inuyasha's ears were flat on his head. Hikari tilted her head. "Was it something I said?"
When Miroku calmed down, he explained, "You see, Inuyasha tried to pull out your sword from the ground because he thought that that would stop the fire. It was fine just the way it was, but he insisted. He tried to pull it out-" He chuckled a little and continued, "He tried to pull it out, but wasn't able to."
Kagome giggled, "You should have seen him, he looked like a tomato! He was panting so hard he looked like he was running away from a gay man!"
"Hey! Enough with the details, and let's just get to the village already!" Inuyasha snarled as he took the lead.
Hikari couldn't help but giggle, "I don't blame you Inuyasha. No one, and I mean no one can lift my blades other than me."
"Huh? What do you mean by that? You got superpowers or something?"
"No, it's just that my blades were sent from genenration to generation. And only people of my blood can actually hold them. They're as light as feather to me." Inuyasha's jaw dropped open.
They continued their walk, but the only thing Hikari was concerned about was her dream. "Another one, huh?"
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Aw, man I feel like shit." Inuyasha groaned the next morning. Once Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku and Hikari arrived in the village, they were greated by the rest of the Inutachi. It wasn't long before people started asking them where they were, and they had no choice but to respond honestly. They explained all their adventures, and assured all the villagers that the demons were gone. When the elder heard this, he cheered and proposed another celebration. No matter how much the Inutachi insisted that it wasn't necessary, the village organised it anyway. They weren't at the party, though. They were in their house taking care of their wounds and resting.
They rested for a long while, but with all the noises outside that night, they couldn't really sleep. "I know, right?" Hikari yawned, "I feel like as if I've died and come back to life a thousand times and over."
"Hey, at least we made them happy, right?" Kagome asked in a drowsy voice. Everyone just groaned. They don't even know if making these villagers happy was the right choice. After all, the village's hapiness meant the Inutachi's suffering.
"Well, we won't be here for long, right? I mean, now that our work is done, we can leave soon." Kohaku said in a little hopeful voice. Kirara, who was beside him, just mewled tiredly.
"Let's just hope that-" Sango was cut off by a panicked woman barging into their hut.
"Lady Hikari! Come quickly!"
"I spoke too soon." Sango groaned.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Hikari said as she stretched her arms. She had her blue and white kimono on. "What's going on out there?"
"Something bad." The woman trembling voice caught the Inutachi's attention. "Please, just please, hurry."
"I'm ready, lead the way ma'am." Hikari followed the villager outside.
"Why is she always the one to be called out?" Inuyasha grumbled.
Kagome rolled her eyes, "Hikari's special, remember? They want to spend time with someone they might not ever meet in their life. It's like meeting a superstar, you know?"
"Ummm... sooperstar? What's that?"
"Nevermind."
After a few minutes, Hikari ran into the room, panting heavily.
"Hikari?"
"The villager was right. There is something wrong. Something really bad. We have to go. Now." And before anyone could object, she ran back out.
Shippou jumped on Miroku's shoulder, "What's gotten into her?"
"If Hikari looked really that worried, then that must mean something is very wrong." Miroku frowned, "Inuyasha, we should get ready and bring our weapons. If there is a battle coming up, we have to be armed." Inuyasha nodded.
By the time they were out, the whole village was out to see the commotion. The Inutachi hurried up to the entrance of the village, and saw Hikari and the elder talking to each other. Hikari's eyes were serious and thoughtful, and the elder's face was worried and frightened.
Inuyasha walked up to Hikari. "So? Are you going to tell us what's going on here?"
"Can't you smell it, Inuyasha? There's fire somewhere, and not just in one area. Look," She pointed to the sky. Well, what remained of the sky. It was covered with smoke coming from the north. Hikari continued, "There's no way a plain little forest fire would have done this. There must have been a battle early this morning, before anyone was awake." She turned to her friends and talked low enough for no one else to hear, "And the areas where the smoke is coming from, they're covered with the dead souls of humans."
Kagome gasped, "The people didn't have any time to attack because it was early in the morning, and they were all still asleep."
Hikari nodded, "Yeah, so we'd better take a closer look at this. After all... We might be next." She spoke to the elder, "My friends and I will see what caused this. In the meantime, you'd best stay in your huts and not come out. We'll tell you what happened when we come back." She nodded to her friends and ran off with them at her heels.
*O*~*O*~*O*
"How horrible..." Kagome wispered as she saw the damage in the village. The Inutachi went after the closest village and discovered... this. A wasteland of dead bodies, fire, and ash.
"There's no time to talk about that. We need to know who did this." Miroku said as he walked to a the body of a dead man. "Hikari, can you sense someone alive?"
Hikari closed her eyes and spoke, "So far, nothing... No, wait. There is someone alive." She opened her eyes. "It's a little more to the west from here, by a small temple. Well, the remains of a temple, really. Oh yeah, and it's a woman and a child."
"Alright, Hikari and Shippou, you two stay here." Inuyasha ordered, "The rest of us will go search for them."
"Alright, then, that's fine with me! Hikari can try to see who did this, and we'll try to put out some of the fire." Shippou exclaimed with a smile.
"We're off then." Everyone left the healer and the kitsune alone.
"You know, I would have expected Shippou to complain and try to convince us to bring him along." Kohaku said as they started running. Everyone else nodded.
"Well, Shippou it's just you and me now." Hikari said as she kneeled down and placed her hand to te earth. She closed her eyes and focused on going to before the battle happened. She saw the kids asleep, and a few people coming out to work on the fields. The one thing that surprised Hikari was the loud yell of a woman. She seemed to be yelling at a man. "Probably caught the guy cheating on her. Two-timers these days... Well, other than that, everything seems fine."
And suddenly, she heard the fire of a canon, and a few seconds later, she saw the canon land on a hut and explode. The villagers started coming out all panicked, and she heard the children crying. By then, most of the village was on fire, and a few men were barging in some of the houses to save their family. Just when people gathered water to turn off the fire, blades shot out of nowhere and took a man down. The rest of the villagers turned around, only to be killed by the same blade. For the next minutes, it was a complete massacre. Fire was everywhere, men and women were cut to pieces, children's throats were slashes out, and cires of agony was mixed with yells of pain.
For the very first time, Hikari felt as if she was in the battle. She felt the fire and the pain everyone was going through. She wanted to save the people, and tell them that it was going to be okay, but she knew it would be no use. After all, she was looking into the past. She then focused hard on the weapons killing the people, and tried to follow them, but couldn't. The fire was strong enough to blur the sight. By the time the fire had calmed down, almost everyone was dead. Finally, she was able to spot the silhouette of the killers. She spotted... Seven men.
Hikari froze. Her breath was caught in her throat as she took a closer look at them.
"So? Did you find anything?" Sango's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. All of Hikari's friends were around her now. Kagome was holding a kid in her arms, and Kirara had the woman on her back. Both were unconsious.
Hikari was shocked by what she had seen. And more specifically, who she had seen. She still couldn't speak to her friends. "Oh, no."
FoxRain7: Yeah, about what I said earlier... The Band Of Seven are going to show up later... Ahahaha... Sorry...^^'
*Readers start throwing tomatoes at Fox*
FoxRain7: Well at least you've seen a little preview of them!
*Get's thrown more tomatoes.*
FoxRain: Like I said, I'm really sorry if you wanted to see them, but I guess I decided that 8000 words in a chapter was enough for now... And don't worry! I'll try to upload ASAP. *mumbles*:Yeah, with school on the way, that's for sure.
*Get's thrown potatoes.*
FoxRain: Alright, alright! I'll try to work faster! BTW did you figure out who Hikari reminds Inuyasha of yet? No? Then wait about ten chapters. You know, reviews are always accepted :)
~FoxRain7~