Hello and good day! I almost completely for got to update in fact I was talking with my friend on facebook and suddenly proclaimed that it was monday and rushed off to update.
So I would like to thank to those fanfictioners that added me to alerts and favorites and a special thank you goes to my reviewers:
xXAngel AlliXx: Thank you! You have no idea how much that means to me! I get insanely happy when people say things like that!
Animefollower101: No problem I like to show my gratitude to my reviews by having a section dedicated to them. After all you are such a big part of the story.
Cent (anonymous reviewer 1): Thank you so much! I hope you like this next chapter too.
JayEyedWolf (anonymous reviewer 2): Cute review! It made me laugh so thank you! :D
That's pretty much it, only one more thing. . . Say it with me!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN!
Enjoy Chapter 16!
Chapter 16:
Inuyasha was trailing far behind Kikyo who was using the odd white serpents that collected souls for her. They were demons and much faster than his own abilities, but he could see their tails streaking through the night air. He slowed only when they turned lazily in the air at one section, Kikyou had stopped for whatever reason.
He hadn't meant to reject her which was obviously what he had done and he didn't want her to be upset and end up hurt. He had just learned of Kagome's return and her death and he didn't want to tear her memory a part by doing something that would hurt her almost the same day he had heard of her death. She was dead and it was because he had failed her, it seemed to be a pattern with him. He cares about a miko he hurts them in some way or another and then they end up dead because he didn't protect them.
He would just have to explain that to Kikyou, and so he slowed as he reached the clearing she was in. He didn't want to mess this up, he always messed this kind of thing up. He peeked in to gauge how upset she was and then quickly retreated his head.
In that exact moment he understood everything Kagome had ever felt, all the betrayal and hurt. Only now he had to deal with guilt. He had turned away a pure hearted miko for one who was running off behind his back with Naraku, and the only 'silver lining' -as Kagome would say- was that she didn't appear to love him either.
So he backed away careful to avoid making a sound, and avoid alerting the miko, half-demon, and demoness in the clearing. She was new to Naraku's team and not a creation of his, she smelled different. Vaguely similar to his own scent but closer to Kouga's, but she was working with Naraku and all wolves hated him for what he did.
She had light brown hair tied back into two separate ponytails on either side of her head, and her bangs fell into her face shadowing it. She was wearing an odd type of Kimmono, the top was sleeveless and looked like armour and the rest was a fine silk that clung to the demoness' body. The Kimmono was red and black and over a white fur pelt was draped over her shoulders. She wasn't the strongest demon he had ever met but he could feel anger, pain, rejection, and vengeance coming off of her.
He'd find out eventually who she was but he had to get away and every moment he waited the chances of them finding him rose higher and higher. They would search for him, and so he had to go to the one place they would never find him. There was one place that no one knew about, a small cave in the western lands that he and a friend had found when they were younger. For a while during his human nights he would hide there, and he was always safe.
He didn't think of where he was heading and didn't really pay attention to the journey, but he did recall a few youkai that he had slashed into in his anger. Kagome was gone, his sword was gone, and now the woman he had fallen in love with all those years ago was finally gone.
'He rejected my advances. He won't fall under the spell easily.'
'Come.'
She had taken his hand and his advances, and although she didn't seem to be enjoying it she still had done it. No woman that loved him could do that, and the one that wouldn't have done it he had thrown away and eventually killed.
He'd kill Naraku one day for ruining his life and everyone else's, and for taking Kagome away from them for good. He wasn't paying attention and was surprised when he was sent hurdling backwards by an unseen force. He growled and stood expecting his brother to be standing there emotionless like he had with their last confrontation that had been just over a year ago. It was Kagura, and he was to pissed to deal with her.
He didn't even really notice when he attacked, all he remembered were small flashes of him dodging and slashing and yelling. Then she was gone and he was taking off faster than before, tree branches cut sharply into his flesh and tore at clothing.
He was finally getting tired when the sun started to peak up from the horizon but he kept on at the same pace, refusing to slow almost as if punishing himself for all the times that he had pushed his companions beyond their limit.
His destination was still a few days away and he would not stop until he was there. He was protected there for it hid those who needed to be helped and he needed it, especially with his night of weakness approaching.
Days and nights passed and Inuyasha could feel him reaching his half-demon limits, but he was almost there. Once he was sheltered he'd rest and he would stay there for a while, and for once he would think about what was going on and he would find some way to make things right again.
The cave was right in front of him now and he heaved in and out deeply as he forced his tired limbs into the cave. He felt a small chill pass over him as he entered into the barrier and allowed his body the rest he had craved for a few days now, his mind also needed a rest but that specific organ needed some coaxing into the shallow darkness of sleep.
When he woke he was surprised when he did, he was sure he'd never be able to open his eyes again after. He hadn't wanted to, he would have preferred death over the betrayal and guilt he was feeling. Yet that would make him a coward and while he had been acting like one for most of his life he wanted to change, and while it might be too late he'd do it for Kagome a way to honour her memory.
He would rest and stay for his human night, which was eight days way when he was last conscious. After that he'd continue on his journey find Miroku, Sango, and Sesshomaru. They deeded to work together and from the rumours he's heard Sesshomaru had claimed them all as pack, and so wouldn't be opposed to them working together to fight Naraku.
Inuyasha felt his right ear twitch as he picked up the small steps of a woman. She was getting closer and he tensed afraid that the barrier would betray him suddenly and he'd be left to deal with a woman and the possibility of being accused of wanting to hurt the girl.
The woman stopped in front of the entrance and he tensed even more as he realised that the woman was a miko. She'd surely kill him on sight, and so he closed his eyes and hoped that she wouldn't notice the barrier.
"I could have sworn he'd go this way," he recognised the voice. It was Kikyo, but he couldn't smell her and he was unsure as to if it was because of the barrier or because of a spell she had performed, "This is all there is Naraku I don't know where he could have gone."
"Find him, and kill him. He could have been a great asset but since he refuses to help he'll only get in the way. Do you care?"
"No."
Inuyasha was not easily frightened, not since he was a child. At the moment though he was scared, his life was on the line and he was being hunted by the woman he thought loved him. He didn't seem like he was afraid and as the sun started to set his ears turned into human ears and his hair turned black and his eyes lost their golden colour. He was human. He had been unconscious for eight days. Now he was being hunted.
;_;
Kagome jumped to the side narrowly avoiding the claws of them demon. Not that she was unprepared for the move; she just needed some way to get him closer so she could easily swipe through the things body. It screamed its anguish and to her great dismay he split into two, one immediately attacked injuring her right shoulder.
She could have sworn that this guy didn't have any jewel shards, but maybe she was just getting weaker for whatever reason and couldn't sense it or a barrier hiding it. She doubted that though, she really doubted it.
She attacked again slicing them both through the middle, and then there were four. Slicing through the middle didn't work, and so as she dodged three of them she cut through one from the head to the feet. It split too. She cursed again and ran dodging faster attacks that she couldn't avoid.
"You can do something you know!" Kagome shouted as she darted past Susuki who was sitting on her haunches passively watching the fight.
"I could if I was in my human form,"
"If you'd try attacking maybe you'd find out something interesting," Kagome glanced at her 'companion' for a moment and noticed the small animal shrug its tiny shoulders. "Well think about it this way, if I die no one can remove that spell."
"There are other miko Lord Sesshomaru can contact," The small kitsune said and Kagome smirked slightly as she back flipped over her attackers using one of their heads as a spring board.
"No other miko knows that spell. Not for another five hundred years."
"Lord Sesshomaru could find a demon to undo the spell," Susuki countered her head moving ever so slightly as she followed the miko's movement across the field.
"There is only one demon I know of that can do this spell and he changes his name constantly so I doubt you'll find him," she was running and jumping and arguing with a little fox. These demons that were chasing her were puppets of the real guy and she needed to find him in order to stop the madness, but she couldn't do that if she was being chased.
"I do not want to help a miko," Kagome rolled her eyes at Susuki being immature, the girl really did change over five hundred years.
"Now we're getting to the good stuff," Kagome muttered as she ducked and dove under one demon followed by coming up and kicking another, "Why don't you want to help me? I thought we established that I don't want to mate Sesshomaru?"
"You do not want to mate with him," Susuki agreed her head dipping slightly, "But Sesshomaru-sama has told me many times that you have tried to kill him."
"I wouldn't say I was trying to kill him," Kagome said as she brought her foot under one demon sending him to the ground and then ducked two punches directed at her, "I was far to undertrained to be any threat to his life, and the one time I actually hit him it was a fluke because there was a jewel shard in his arm that he didn't know about. It was better than becoming a Naraku slave."
"You threatened him a number of times, and all to leave the stupid half-breed alone."
"Yeah so?" Kagome asked and let out a large breath as she kicked at one knee shattering the demon bone. It normally would have caused her great pain but her powers were in her feet making her a little faster and her attacks a little more dangerous, "You have no idea how many times I've threatened and injured Inuyasha. "
"You will cause the fall of the west."
"How would you know?" Kagome asked as she rammed her sword hilt into one of the duplicates, another one was behind her though. She could feel his claws ripping into her back.
"I can feel it."
Susuki was momentarily unaware of her surroundings as she focused on the feelings that surrounded her. It didn't happen often, but she often got feelings from people especially if they were important and she got the feeling that Kagome would cause the death of Sesshomaru if not the entire human race. She was willing to live with Sesshomaru's anger at her allowing a pack member to die if only he would live.
"Watch out!" Without thinking Kagome threw herself in front of Susuki as one of the four puppets attacked her, finally noticing that Kagome had been talking to her. She growled as she was consumed by the feeling of hot daggers piercing her flesh over and over again. Kagome glanced down at the small creature she was protecting to find her looking up in shock, and she smiled through her pain, "This can all stop if you fight them for a bit. I can find the original and kill him."
Susuki nodded her head in shock as the miko threw off the four identical demons, they were about to follow the miko until Susuki sent her aura out in waves to distract them. It was then she realised that she had full control over her powers and she released them, she let out a yip of surprise as she felt her body shifting.
The transformation happened in a few minutes and she found herself standing slightly above the four demons in a much larger state then she had been in. She could not transform into a human but she wasn't left defenseless, and she was grateful. More than that she was surprised at how kind the miko was, she had thought the miko was cruel to force her into such a form and expected the miko to fully desert her at one point.
She let out a low growl and the four cloned demons paused for a moment before they all started attacking her. She bit and growled as she started to test out what abilities she could or couldn't use, she had most of her attacks but some couldn't be performed unless she was in her human state. So while she could defend herself she was really just buying time until the miko could kill this demon.
Kagome ran through the forest surprised that she had yet to trip, it was true she was faster and had a lot of grace to her movements now but she still hadn't run through a forest like this for a year. Now that she wasn't worried about four demons attacking her she could focus on the trail the demon left behind as he controlled the duplicating puppet of himself.
She still couldn't sense a jewel shard but there was only two demons she had encountered that could make a puppet of themselves, and the puppets had never duplicated when killed. She doubted this demon was connected with Naraku since there was no shards and as far as she knew everyone thought she was dead, and there was no way Naraku would miss something like that.
She was there now, she had found him. In the middle of the clearing she was about to breach there was a long dark haired demon that looked a lot like Sesshomaru. In fact the power levels were enough to match his, he was a rare Taiyoukai with a very useful ability. She walked around quietly, using her powers to mask any sound as well as keeping her smell and aura under wraps. She was directly in front of the demon now, he had his eyes closed and the butterfly that was in the middle of his forehead was glowing.
She walked into the clearing carefully altering the barrier around it so the demon wouldn't notice, and then sat down directly in front of the demon. She didn't know why he was attacking her, but she wasn't going to attack him without him realising she was there.
"That is an interesting ability you have," Kagome said and the demon's eyes snapped open and Kagome could see that his mind was split, one was focused on controlling the puppets and the other part of his mind was focused on her. His eyes held a pink hue and Kagome grew slightly more cautious now that she was dealing with the Taiyoukia's beast instead of the sensible part.
"Miko. . .how did you get here?" he asked unable to move from his spot, if he did the connection he had with the puppets would stop. A useful power but a dangerous one.
"I followed the line of energy from your puppets to you," the demon gave a barely noticeable nod in recognition, "What is your name?"
"Ozu"
"Taiyoukai, ne?"
"Yes."
"Why did you attack me?" Kagome asked impressed that the demon was kept under control this long.
"You are on my lands and my father has ordered me to deal with anything that seems threatening. As a miko you are a threat."
"I guarantee I come in peace. I am Higurashi Kagome miko of the Shikon no tama and I am hunting down the shards as well as the evil half-demon who wants them."
"You are a powerful miko why should I believe you aren't here to kill my pack? Perhaps claiming that it was to stop the disgusting half-breed?"
"If another lord attacked you it would declare war correct?" Ozu nodded his head, "the same would be with any pack member, correct?" the demon nodded again, "I am a member of Sesshomaru-sama's pack and as such I mean your family, your lands, and you no harm. It would only start an unnecessary war between the two lands."
The demon looked at the miko wearily he had heard rumours the Sesshomaru had claimed his brother as pack and that his brother had a pack of his own that consisted of a miko, monk, demon slayer, a neko familiar, and a kitsune cub. If the rumours were true then the miko was truly part of the western pack and the west was a formidable opponent and useful ally.
"I haven't attacked you yet have I? I got through your barrier and sat her talking with you rather then purifying you," the miko said almost sensing his hesitance, "Please stop your attack on my friend and we'll have a nice chat and get things settled."
It was a reasonable suggestion and Kagome watched in fascination as the two separate minds became one again. Seconds later Susuki had landed beside them and transformed into the smaller version of herself, when she noticed the other party in the clearing she bowed to the lord.
"I take it you already know lord Ozu?" Kagome asked and Susuki nodded her head, "You may not recognise her at the moment but this is Susuki," the other demon looked surprised and nodded his head once in the kitsune's direction, "We had a fight and I placed this spell on her and now she travels with me as a protector, although she is not doing a great job of it."
Ozu laughed slightly, "So you are on my lands tacking down shards of the shikon no tama?" Kagome nodded her head, "I have two or three in my possession at the castle farther north than here I would be happy to hand them over to you."
Kagome smiled, "That's great I would appreciate it-"
Kagome was cut off by a large number of youkai entering the area, Ozu looked just as surprised and stood quickly taking out his sword. Kagome stood with some difficulty and almost slipped in her own blood that had started to pool as she was talking. She groaned as her vision wavered, how had she forgotten she was injured? She staggered back and was supported by a transformed Susuki, Kagome gave her a weak smile before crumpling to the ground. In an instant a barrier was around the three with waves of purifying energy pulsing out keeping the demons at bay.
Susuki felt her own power shrinking as the miko fell unconscious and she was forced to her smaller size, she looked around fearfully as the horde of demons grew larger blocking out the sun and the sky. There was no way one Taiyoukai could take out this many; they had a chance when the miko was conscious since there would have been two demons and a very powerful miko. They needed help.
"We need Sesshomaru," Susuki said and the northern prince nodded his head before rushing out of the barrier and into the horde of demons clearing a path quickly and taking off, a few followed but most were concentrated on the miko who's blood filled the air.
Susuki back up closer to the miko, she had never felt so weak and so afraid. She curled up next to the miko's head laying her head on the miko's uninjured shoulder, it was almost like she was a pup seeking comfort in someone that could protect her even if they were unconscious and vulnerable. She flinched as demons charged into the barrier and instantly get purified, the miko still protected her. Susuki curled further into the mikos neck.
End.
Did I not say bad things would happen? Anyway Animefollower101 called that Inuyasha was going to see Kikyo and Naraku so good job for mentioning it and I promise there will be a story where Kikyo isn't a bad person, but I personally like her as a villain.
Anyway goodbye and you'll see me in a week!