Yaaaaay! 60 reviews thanks everyone! (I was going to say something at 50, but I forgot.)
Wow im so happy you guys! We're almost done! I cant wait to finish this!
Shippo,*Shippo and Meimei in the mysterious rainforest….
"alright! Come on out! Who are you!?" *Shippo commanded.
"y-y-yeah…wwho are y-y-you?" Shippo stuttered.
The figures in the trees advanced towards them. The three braced for what was to come.
"YOU THERE!" shouted a feminine voice.
"huh? A woman?" both Shippos wondered out loud.
A feminine masked figure stepped out from among the crowd. She removed her mask to reveal a rather elegant looking woman with long, spiky hair and greeninsh skin. Fangs peeked out from her ruby red lips and demon marking s across her eyes.
"who are you? And how did you find us?" demanded the woman.
"well you cant exactly say we found you… we kind of stumbled upon this place…"*Shippo said.
"how can that be!? There is an impenetrable barrier that protects this area!" the woman gasped.
"impenetrable? This place sucked us in!" Shippo said defensively.
The woman lowered her arms and sighed. "perhaps Ryukoushi is acting faster than we first thought…" said the woman..
"wait! Did you say Ryukoushi?! What business do you have with him?!" *Shippo demanded
"my comrades and I are part of the dragon demon clan. Ryukoushi is our ruler." The woman said.
"dragon demon clan?! Are you the people that are trying to hurt my daddy?!" Meimei shouted from the net in which she was captured.
"meimie! Pipe down!" Shippo hissed.
"your father…who would that be? The woman asked.
"my father's name is Inuyasha, the half dog demon!"
"Inuyasha?!" came a chorus of voices from behind them followed by a flood of whoops and cheers.
"whats ups with all this?" *Shippo asked.
"Inuyasha? He is your father?" the woman asked.
" You better believe it!" Meimei said.
"oh! What a dishonorable thing to do!" the woman ran over to cut Meimei from the net.
"my sincerest apologies young lady. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is ryuhana. You see, Inuyasha is our savior. That name we hold in the highest honor." Said the woman.
"wait a minute…what do you mean savior?! He killed your leaders Ryukotsusei and Ryukoushi!" Shippo shouted with a sudden surge of courage.
"Ryukotsusei and his son were our rulers, but not our leaders." Said the woman.
"whats the difference?" Shippo said.
"Ryukoushi and his father are rutheless demons who kill for pleasure and exploits those under his rule. We as a dragon clan are sworn to protect and guide the mortals. Unless provoked we are really a peaceful people, because we know the ferocity of our powers and how it can kill many. Ryukoustsusei and Ryukoushi ignored the traditions of our forefathers and did as they pleased. The elders warned them to cease, but to no avail. They continued to kill anything in their path. But my brother ryuhaku, planned a rebellion against them and sought out the great dog demon's help..."
"by great dog demon, you mean my grandfather, right?" Meimei interjected.
"correct. The great dog demon was happy to help, even though Ryukotsusei helped promote him during various wars centuries ago. We heard many stories that the great dog demon was a gracious and just ruler. So he went to slay Ryukotsusei and was supposed to kill Ryukoushi as well. But he died before it could be done. We thought that his first son, Sesshomaru would continue the work. Alas, he wanted nothing to do with his father's affairs! Ryukoushi found out about the rebellion and killed half of the clan, even the ones who knew nothing of the rebellion! And he killed my brother as well, in the most brutal way imaginable." Ryuhana shivered at the thought.
"wow, all of that really happened?" Shippo said.
"yes. When we heard that it was your father Inuyasha that killed Ryukoushi in the most recent demon war, we couldn't contain ourselves! It made no difference if he was half demon or not, we were just so grateful that we were finally free from his grasp!" ryuhana praised.
"hmmm…if that's the case, maybe you can help us out…" *Shippo said.
"in any way you wish sir. Anything we can do to help the savior of our clan." Ryuhana said.
~0_0~
Back at the hideout…
"what?!" said the group.
"Itaru was kidnapped?!" Kagome choked.
"oh no, what are we going to do?" Sango said.
"im going to go after him, that's what!" Inuyasha shouted.
"but Inuyasha, you know that this is a trap! You cant go alone!" Miroku said
"why do you think I came back to tell you idiots?!" Inuyasha spat.
"Inuyasha, how did you become human again?" Kagome asked.
"Naraku deflected Itaru's attack and it purified me." Inuyasha explained.
"but wait a minute, if it was purified energy that he deflected, wouldn't he have been purified as well?" Sango said.
"he said something like because Itaru is part demon, his purified energy can never be pure and that's what gave him the ability to take hold of his energy!" inuysha continued.
"this could be a problem…"Miroku mused.
"you think, monk?!" Inuyasha spat.
"we have to go and save him!" Kagome said.
"I will go with you!" *Kagome said.
"no, *Kagome! You're pregnant, and you have Inuyasha's soul inside of you! If you are killed, we lose three people!" Kagome pleaded.
"dammit! I hate being useless!" *Inuyasha/Kagome shouted.
"just stay *Kagome. You'll be safe here." Inuyasha said.
"I must go, you may need me there." *Kagome said.
"no, *Kagome, you're staying right here where you will be out of theway. We cant have you taxing yourself and the baby!" Inuyasha said.
"hmph." *Inuyasha/Kagome grunted. "just please return, all of you." *Kagome pleaded.
"we will, do not worry." Miroku said.
Miroku, Sango, Inuyasha, Kagome and Kazuka ran out of the cave. Kilala transformed and allowed Miroku and Sango on her back. Inuyasha and Kagome and Kazuka ran on the ground. Inuyasha searched the area for any sign of the Shippos and Meimei, hoping that they went to the same place.
"where do you think the dragon clan's castle is? I don't think I've ever heard of it." Miroku said.
"like where most daiyoukai's castles are: in the sky." Kazuka answered.
"in the sky? Ive never seen a demon's castle in the sky before." Sango said.
"and that's the point. They are hidden to human eyes. If humans saw the castles, they would most likely come under attack. Not that is any sort of threat, more like an annoyance." Kazuka explained.
"Inuyasha, do you remember where Ryukotsusei was found when you killed him?" Kagome asked.
"no exact place, but all that I know is that it is in the north!" Inuyasha said.
"then that's where we should go!" Kagome said determinedly. 'don't you worry, Itaru! We're coming for you! Just hang on!'
~0_0~
At the dragon demon's castle
Ryukoushi sat twirling his hair in his chair and sighed. 'why did I even bother reviving these fools in the first place? They are such a bother to babysit…' Ryukoushi thought. It was late afternoon and his patience was wearing thin. He growled and melted a nearby body by his gaze alone. The body melted, bones and all, leaving a puddle of bubbling goo on the ground. He got up to go to the balcony and stared at a giant serpentine figure that was wrapped around a mountain behind the castle.
'soon father…soon, we will have the head of the one who killed you. And you will be revived and will rule the north once again. And then if you desire my lord, we can take control of the whole of japan!' Ryukoushi thought satisfied. He heard a sound behind him on the balcony and turned to see Naraku standing there with Itaru in his hands.
"oh? Whats this you have here?" Ryukoushi said.
"the only son of Inuyasha. I just intercepted them on the way back here…" Naraku began
"I thought you said that you would bring back Inuyasha himself, not his son. You said that disguising yourself as a priestess would succeed." Ryukoushi said annoyed.
"indeed I did. But this child was able to see my disguise…" said the real Naraku from inside. The Naraku holding Itaru melted and reformed back into a hand and walked itself back to its master. Naraku picked it up and attatched it back to his arm.
"I thought that since you seem to be a man after my own heart, you would like to lure Inuyasha here and take his head yourself, nice and fresh." Naraku said.
"heheh. I thank you, Naraku. Perhaps reviving you was not such a bad idea after all." Ryukoushi said smiling.
Suddenly, they saw two figures coming from the sky; it was Urasue and Mistress Centipede carrying with them a dead body.
"lord Ryukoushi! Called Urasue.
"whats this now?" Ryukoushi wondered out loud.
"we have his body!" hissed Mistress Centipede.
"his…body…? Naraku, I was certain that you mentioned that Inuyasha was still alive and was coming here to retrieve his son." Ryukoushi said annoyed.
"he was, when I left him. And he was also in his human form." Naraku said.
"then what is this? Don't tell me we have been fooled!" Urasue said.
"it has his scent and everything!" Mistress Centipede said.
Ryukoushi observed Inuyasha's body and made a disgusted face. "this body has been long dead!" Ryukoushi spat.
"but how can that be?! His body was still lukewarm when we retrieved it!" Urasue protested.
"it is beginning to make sense, now. When the boy and Inuyasha fought together, the boy referred to him by his name. im sure Inuyasha, as a father would not let that slide. And I noticed as well, that this Inuyasha does not have his enchanted beads around his neck, the other one, did. And no offense to you fine ladies, but I don't believe that you could take Inuyasha even at your fullest strength…"explained.
"what are you getting at?" Urasue said.
" It seems to me that there are two Inuyasha's." Naraku explained.
"two of them?" Ryukoushi said, raising his eyebrow in intrigue.
"how can that possibly be?! Don't tell me that one came from the past and is now here!" said Urasue.
"I've seen it happen before. You yourself Mistress Centipede dragged the girl Kagome, the same woman who is now Inuyasha's beloved wife, to this time period to retrieve the sacred jewel. So I wouldn't be too surprised tthhat a past version of Inuyasha somehow came to this time period." Naraku continued.
"well well well, this is turning out better than I anticipated." Ryukoushi grinned. "two heads of Inuyasha to sacrifice to my father. He should have twice the power once he revives. He will be so powerful, not even Sesshomaru can defeat him!"
"heheh. Indeed…" Naraku said.
"well, this is good then! We retrieved the body and the other is coming this way! Everything worked out in your favor, my lord!" Urasue said enthusiastically.
"yes! We can celebrate and watch as—" suddenly, Mistress Centipede was cut off in mid-sentence when Ryukoushi extended his claws and ripped through Mistress Centipede's heart. She let out a blood curdling screech and withered until she was nothing but ashes.
"M-M-MY LORD! WHAT ARE YE DOING?!" Urasue stuttered. Ryukoushi turned to her and stared at her, eyes glowing red. Urasue stared back into his eyes and began to scream and melt away. what was left of her was her scythe and her clothing.
"since I pretty much have what I want, there is no need to keep you any longer." Ryukoushi said simply.
"very nice, my lord. I wish I could do that." Naraku complimented. Looking down to the still unconscious boy, he said, "what should we do with the boy?"
"take him inside. Im certain Inuyasha will be joining us for supper any moment…" Ryukoushi said.
"oh, we are having a dinner party? I had no idea. If I did, I would have dressed in a more suitable manner…" Naraku said coyly.
"you still have time to change. Set the table for oh…fourteen people. Tell the others we have guests. " Ryukoushi said.
"as you wish, sir." Naraku complied.
~0_0~
The group was on their way towards the north where the dragon demon's castle was. It was now late afternoon and the sun was beginning to finish its course.
"is there a faster way to get there? Its almost sundown! If we don't hurry, Inuyasha's body will be decapitated!" Sango said.
"well thanks for reminding me captain obvious!" Inuyasha growled.
"it would help if we actually knew where we were going…" Miroku said.
"no kidding. All we know is that it is probably to the north, but where exactly north is it?!"
"I knew I shouldn't have traveled with you fools…" Kazuka grumbled.
Suddenly, a giant shadow loomed over them, blocking out most of the light. They looked up to see the figure of a giant dog. Kazuka noticed this and sped up. She jumped swiftly through the trees and high into the air. The giant dog noticed her and slowed down. It was a she-dog with the same moon crescent as Sesshomaru and allowed Kazuka to climb on her back. When the dog demon lowered herself more, they could see jaken sitting on her back.
"what—who is that?!" Miroku stuttered.
"from the crescent on her forehead, it must be Sesshomaru's mother." Sango said.
"Sesshomaru's mother?" Kagome wondered out loud.
"SHIT!" Inuyasha spat running in the trees in effort to hide.
"Inuyasha! What are you doing?!" Kagome said.
"she says she can see you, Inuyasha!" Kazuka shouted down to them.
"DAMMIT!" Inuyasha exclaimed.
"why is Inuyasha scared of Sesshomaru's mother?" Miroku asked.
"now Miroku, listen to what you just said: imagine your mother leaving your father for someone else and that someone else was of a lower class and they had a child. and imagine what would happen if your father came across the bastard child alone. What do you think he would do?" Sango said critically.
"ummm…try to kill the child?" Miroku guessed.
"that's right. Now apply that same scenario to this situation. Now why is Inuyasha scared of sessomaru's mother?" Sango said facetiously.
"because he is scared that she will kill him?" Miroku guessed dumbly.
"IM NOT SCARED OF HER!" Inuyasha shouted.
Sesshomaru's mother gave him a deathly glare and Inuyasha squeaked and ran for cover again.
"I guess it makes sense now…" Miroku said.
"Kazuka! Where is she headed? And where is Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked
"grandmother says she is going to the dragon demon's castle and see what it looks like. Father is making sure that mother is safe and out of the country." Kazuka answered.
"out of the country?" Kagome muttered .
"it must be a bad situation if Sesshomaru is bothering to take rin out of the country. This Ryukoushi must be a formidable enemy." Sango said.
"well, by the time he gets back, we will have killed him already. Hes wasting his time." Inuyasha said proudly.
"grandmother says don't count on it. Ryukoushi can match Sesshomaru on a good day. The only reason you beat him because it was a cold spell." Kazuka relayed.
'because it was a cold spell? Does she mean, that it was cold the day that Inuyasha and Sesshomaru fought him?'
"hey! Why cant you talk to me directly, huh?!" Inuyasha shouted to the demoness.
The demoness glared at him. Inuyasha grabbed his ears, nearly dropping Kagome and hissed.
"FINE! DAMN BITCH!" Inuyasha yelled.
"she says don't make her come down there and show you what a real bitch is." Kazuka said, stifling a laugh.
"Inuyasha, what just happened?"Kagome asked.
"inu-youkai. I only know one phrase. Sesshomaru never bothered to teach me anything else." Inuyasha grunted.
"I hope all of this works out…I wonder where the future versions of Miroku, Sango and Kohaku are…" Kagome thought.
~0_0~
At the new demon slayer's village…
"is that everything?" *Sango asked.
"I believe so." *Miroku said.
"do you know where the dragon clan's castle is, Kohaku?" Sango asked.
"yes, its in the northern mountains. But be careful, there is a strong barrier holding the area so that outsiders cannot attack. You may want to bring your best sutras, Miroku." *Kohaku said, his voice deep and masculine. He had grown two feet and was now a head above Sango. His face was more defined with a strong jaw and the beginnings of facial hair littering his cheeks and upper lip; his long hair was pulled up into a ponytail as was in his youth.
"alright, we are off. Surely Inuyasha will be going the same way, so hopefully we will meet him there." *Miroku said.
"are you sure about that? When was the last time you spoke with Inuyasha?" Kohaku asked.
"two weeks ago…" Miroku began.
"before the village was attacked…" Sango said.
There was a moment of silence between the three.
"well, I will remain here, just in case things do not go well." Kohaku said."Tokio and I will take care of Ami, Yui and Hiro."
"alright. Thank you Kohaku." Miroku said starting to walk away.
"Kohaku…im…im so proud of you…" Sango said.
"hm? What do you mean?" Kohaku asked.
"im so proud of what you have become…you have grown up so much. You came back and became a demon exterminator and rebuilt the demon slayer's village. And now its bigger than before. And not only that, you are getting married. Every time I see you, I expect to see my spunky little brother,but when I see you, I don't see my little brother anymore… I see a strong, mature warrior." *Sango said.
"really? You mean that?" Kohaku said.
"yes. Father would be most proud of you." Sango said nostalgically.
"thank you sister." Kohaku said.
After a moment of silence, they heard a mew come from behind Kohaku.
"oh! Kilala?" Sango said.
"I have a feeling Kilala wants to come with you. Like old times, eh?" Kohaku said.
"haha! Of course you can come with us, Kilala." Sango said.
The demon cat mewed happily and jumped on her shoulder.
"we'd better get going." Miroku said.
"mother! Father!" came a voice. Ami, Yui and Hiro stood together with Kohaku's fiancée, Tokio.
"please be careful!" Hiro pleaded.
"we will. We will be back, children." Sango said.
"take care of each other." Miroku said.
Kilala transformed and allowed Miroku and Sango on her back.
"wait!" Kohaku called. He ran up carrying Sango's hiraikotsu.
"oh! Thank you, Kohaku!" Sango said.
"I polished it up for you. It was a little dusty." Kohaku said with a smile. "oh! And something else…" Kohaku dug into his pocket and revealed a small, blue orb. "this is called the kori no ishi. It contains tears from the gods. At the heart of the northern mountains where the dragon demon's lair is, there is a counterpart stone called the kaji no ishi. The kaji no ishi controls the climate of the area inside of the dragon demon's barrier to suit their liking. Dragon demons despise the cold and feed off of the energy of heat. So because of that, it is always hot and humid. If you replace that with this, it should weaken them considerably; if you are lucky, it may snow."
"thank you Kohaku. This may help us win this battle." Miroku said.
"alright then. Goodbye and good luck, both of you." Kohaku saluted.
"goodbye!" they replied.
And with that, the two took to the sky and to the dragon demon's castle.
Ok! I think we're getting somewhere now! This is good progress, two posts in one week.
The beginning of the final battle! Next time!
Ciao!