A/N: this chap is technically a filler as well as learning some vital info regarding Naraku. not much to put so enjoy!
disclaimer: i don't own InuYasha; my OCs belong to me.
Chapter 31: Extinction - Breathing (Prologue)
Mist surrounded the riverbank they walked on.
She frowned slightly at the thickness of the mist, continuing to walk alongside the two-headed dragon.
The stink of dried blood alerted her sister's nose.
She sniffed the air before her eyes sharpened slightly; this blood, it smells like her, she thought, reaching to tug on his sleeve. "Sesshomaru," she began.
His gold eyes lifted to stare at her and then at the shadowed figure of someone riding a giant feather overhead; the figure collapsed and tumbled into the river, creating a soft splash.
Both females looked at the figure as the trio of yokai watched it float above water until they recognized it was Kagura.
"Kagura…?" The younger she-wolf wondered in surprise.
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"She traveled all the way here like this? She's a goner if you ask me!" The imp sniffed, doing his best to ignore the large bump on his head given earlier by his master.
The blue-haired female huffed. "I agree with Jaken; shouldn't we kill her and be rid of her nuisances?" She wondered from standing next to her brother-in-law, her blue eyes trained on the back of her sister that surveyed the injury to the wind yokai.
"You're not the one with healing powers, Kori, so you technically don't have a say in that decision." She stated patiently, her palms glowing lilac as she hovered them over the open wound and began to heal her.
She scoffed, pursing her lips before scowling at the male daiyokai. "You're the alpha here, shouldn't you stop her?" She demanded with thinning patience, disbelieving that her sister was wasting her powers on a wench like the unconscious Kagura currently in their company.
He ignored the angered tone in her usually-patient voice, gold eyes staring beyond the small meadow of green. "She wants to help, even if Kagura is technically our enemy. Why should I stop her when she wants to help? Besides, once she sets her mind on something, she usually doesn't stop until she achieves it. You know that as well as I." He replied calmly, further irking his sister-in-law.
She clicked her tongue and huffed, looking away. "You're hopeless sometimes, y'know that?" She grumbled.
He smirked slightly at her reluctant defeat, perking his ears as the newcomer female stirred.
She drew away and rocked onto her heels as her patient twitched before lifting herself up on her hands, her red eyes swiveling to stare at the stoic stare of the female daiyokai. "You people." She grumbled, sitting up on her knees and looking away, disgruntled that she had been saved by an idiot mongrel like Sesshomaru.
"There're virgin eyes here, fix yourself up." The blue-haired female pointed out stiffly, folding her arms at her chest.
She huffed and did as instructed, pulling her kimono closer to cover her exposed torso; her red eyes shifted from her nurse to the pissy she-wolf beyond them, the girl and imp that had been watching, the two-headed dragon grazing, and finally to the silver-haired daiyokai.
"Whoever struck you like that, they used a high-concentration of demonic energy; I removed it from your wound with little effort. So in a way, you're welcome." The ebony-haired daiyokai informed calmly, arms crossed in the sleeves of her kimono.
Her lip curled and she scoffed. "I didn't ask for your help, pedigree. Besides, why did you help me? Didn't you want to kill me the last time we met?" She wondered cattily.
Her own lip briefly curled but other than that her pretty face remained blank, yet another trick she'd picked up from her male counterpart. "What happened in the past is in the past. You showed us the way to the Borderland without trying to stab us in the back so I healed your wound. We're even; it's as simple as that." She explained in a patient tone she usually used to settle her sister if she ever got her temper worked up, further annoying the already-disgruntled incarnation.
"You sure your boy-toy didn't tell you to heal me?" She growled.
She snorted as his brow twitched in annoyance. "No, actually, he didn't. He didn't ask me to help a traitor to Naraku, I acted of my own." She replied, seeing her eyes sharpen.
Kagura bristled. "You bitch, how did you…?" Her red eyes shot over at the blue-eyed female before rounding on her sister.
"A little birdy told me. Aside from that piece of info, I had a feeling you had turned your back on him, after that day you led us to the Borderland. A wolf nose knows." Getsu smirked slightly and tapped the side of her nose lightly in emphasis.
She growled under her breath before huffing, looking away. "If I wasn't recovering I'd kill you for spilling the beans, you little pedigree bitch." She spat.
Her sister scoffed and stomped forward. "Oh yeah? I'm in perfect health, unlike you, so I could gladly fulfill that death wish of yours…" She growled, smirking.
"Enough, Korihime." He spoke finally, making the two she-wolves look at him before the one he'd spoken to snorted and looked away, glaring daggers at the trees.
"Other than Getsu-onee healing your injury, it was Lord Sesshomaru that saved you after all!" The human girl piped up, blissfully unaware of the pissy aura radiating from her babysitter.
She glanced over at him and huffed. "So you have some compassion after all, and not just for your two pedigree princesses." She sneered.
He bristled out of habit as his mate sent her a stony look and his sister-in-law made a noise in the back of her throat somewhere between a snarl and yowl as her blue eyes glared daggers at her. "Instead of mocking me for doing the chivalrous thing you should be thanking my mate for healing your wound." He rebutted coolly, turning his back on her to walk away. "We're going." He announced.
Her sister was all too happy to trot after him, dragging the dragon after his lead; the female daiyokai looked over her shoulder at the yokai she'd helped and dipped her head briefly in a miniscule nod, following her little sister.
"Hang on; don't you wanna know what happened to me?" She barked.
He scoffed. "Look, I don't care about what happened to you…"
"Even if I told you I found Naraku's heart!?" Kagura cried.
The trio of yokai stopped.
Getsu huffed softly. I knew it, she thought, turning back to stare at the female.
"Listen, Sesshomaru, and you two pedigrees as well: you must've noticed by now that Naraku never dies, no matter how many times he's slain... That's because his heart is located somewhere else. In order to destroy Naraku, you have to destroy his heart!" She explained.
Korihime snorted once she'd soaked in the large amount of information, arms folding over her chest. "You're pretty bold to be telling this vast amount of information to three pure-blood demons that almost killed him back in the Borderland." She mused, talking over the imp's boisterous comment about trusting her word.
"It's up to you whether to believe me or not; but it'd be easier if you took this." She held up a small green shard cluster that glowed a faint jade color.
The older of the two she-wolves moved away from her mate's side to look closely at it, stooping next to the wind demon. "It's almost like a Shikon shard," she muttered quietly.
"It's a demonic aura crystal: Naraku stole a jewel named the Fuyoheki that has the ability to mask his demonic aura. He uses it to completely hide the location of his heart."
She broke the shard cluster in two, handing the larger piece to the female daiyokai, watching her inspect it and hold it between her left thumb and index finger.
"That crystal stops glowing when it's near the Fuyoheki; that's what happened when I attacked Goryomaru's temple. From what I can tell, Goryomaru is the protector of Naraku's heart." Kagura added darkly, seeing her silver eyes blink.
Getsu looked at the shard again, stowing it in the folds of her collar and nodding, straightening to her feet.
"So… Goryomaru, right? He's one of Naraku's lackeys; shouldn't you of all people already know that?" Korihime asked curiously, blue eyes turning to the red-eyed stare of the wind yokai.
"Naraku doesn't trust me enough to tell me about it." She huffed.
"If what you're saying is true, then Naraku must already know that you're after his heart: he, surprisingly, is smart enough to figure out that much." Sesshomaru commented dryly.
Kagura bristled in realization.
Both sisters nodded.
Getsu sighed, "Regrettably, what he says is right. It'd be pointless as well as suicidal of you to take further action." She agreed.
She huffed, "so what about you, Sesshomaru, and you as well, Korihime, Getsu? Why don't you get him?"
Korihime snorted again. "You have a sense of humor after all."
"Kagura, are you actually planning to have me kill him for you?" Sesshomaru scoffed.
"Naraku can't be killed other than by someone of yours or Getsu's caliber; noone else surpasses you two in neither skill nor demonic power." Kagura stated, surprising the imp and girl.
Getsu quirked a brow. Is that flattery? She wondered, her inner demon humming lowly in her ears at the female's compliment directed mostly to the Inu-Daiyokai she had claimed as her mate.
'If she comes up with something deeper than 'flattery', she will be slain in a heartbeat.' Her inner beast thundered a vow, its voice sounding like it was jealous.
Sesshomaru huffed, ignoring the evident snicker that came from his inner demon.
"I guess I'd better be going now, before the younger pedigree here tries to kill me. Before I go, let me ask you something, Princess." Kagura stood, looking at the silver-eyed female.
Getsu shrugged. "Shoot."
"Thanks for the help. But I want to know why you healed me… We're technically enemies, and your brat sister hates my guts apparently. Don't tell me you're doing this just to get even for what I did for you back in the Borderland."
She met her red eyes and then smiled a little. "Like I said earlier, I did it of my own free will. I wasn't raised to strike down someone who was previously injured, either. You have your own reason to hate Naraku and I have mine. I'd think that would make us comrades, even though I know you'd swallow needles rather than your pride if you ever fought at our side. But I digress." She explained.
"Well, I'll be damned: I never thought I would hear the Princess of the Western Wolf Clan act so noble." She mused.
Getsu huffed and smirked toothily. "Come now, Kagura, ya've already said I was strong enough to kill that prick. Any further flatteries and I might just cry." She teased.
Kagura snorted and looked away, pulling a feather from her hair. "Piss off, pedigree. See ya around." The wind picked up around her as she took off into the blue sky, looking over her shoulder past the two wolf sisters at their leader, his silver hair dancing in the wind.
I just… I wanted to see him one last time, before I die, she thought, turning back to flee into the white clouds beyond her.
Korihime sighed dramatically, "Great moon, my sister has turned traitor on her own kin!" She wailed.
THWACK.
"Don't get me started with you, little sister; yer stupid whining was enough to give me damn migraine." Getsu growled, cracking her knuckles as a large bump swelled on her sister's head.
Sesshomaru rolled his eyes at their antics, turning to lead the way away from the river with his mate at his side. "Sometimes I wonder who's babysitting who…" He muttered.
"That lady didn't seem to want to trick us this time around; I'll bet it's because she's secretly in love with Lord Sesshomaru." Rin mused lightly to the imp.
Korihime halted in mid-step.
Sesshomaru blinked and halted.
Getsu froze, slightly surprising the girl.
"E-EH!?" The imp balked.
"Um, Getsu-onee?" She began, tilting her head to one side innocently.
"Let's get moving." Getsu growled, storming ahead of her mate.
Sesshomaru sweatdropped and wordlessly followed, keeping a safe distance of a few steps behind his mate he could swear that he saw a dark aura emanating from her petite form.
He had a vague feeling that he was going to have to make it up to her later… Not too much later, though.
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She smiled down at the girl sleeping next to her with her head on her knee, running the claws of her right hand through her brown hair gently.
Her sister was off practicing several hundred feet away in a more closed-in clearing that gave her enough room to practice but didn't feel entirely-too claustrophobic.
He had gone to "apologize" to her, but God only knew how he would work that one out; she was still quiet, even when they'd passed by the disturbed grave in that Goryomaru man's temple the day before.
A quiet Getsu was a pensive Getsu.. and that didn't spell out anything good for a certain silver-haired male.
Her right hand was stretched out before her, claws drawn, before she closed her hand into a fist and then twisted on her left heel, right foot swinging into the air horizontally as if she was going to land a foot in the ribs of an invisible enemy.
He paused short of making his presence known to watch her lithe body twist this way and that, one foot or fist thrown into the air horizontally, to the side, or even vertically as if she were landing an uppercut.
Déjà vu struck him as he remembered seeing her in the same light so many years ago, in a different time.
Of course she was at least twice as strong as she was back then, more accustomed to the world and how it worked, and more intellectually matured.
But one thing didn't change no matter how many years passed: she would always dance for him.
The dance ended as she stooped a little to grip her knees and pant softly, beads of sweat trailing down her cheeks from her brow.
Her eyes closed and she sighed in something akin to relief and weariness.
"You still dance beautifully." He mused, perking her ears and almost making her start.
She looked up past locks of ebony that shielded her eyes to see his gold eyes were on her; she blushed on reflex and straightened, placing a hand on the back of her hip and feeling the kinks loosen as she straightened to her full height of five-foot-one.
"It's not dancing, as I've told you. I'm nowhere near as graceful as a dancer, anyway. Too friggin' short." She mumbled the last bit, stretching her arms infront of her as if she were punching someone, the rest of the kinks loosening when she stretched her tired muscles.
He made a face, huffing quietly. "I didn't say that you danced on a stage. It's only in battle that you dance, actually." He defended.
She felt the blush from moments ago return to stain her cheeks; she cut her gaze to the side, crossing her arms at her chest. "You're still not off the hook, no matter how many flatteries you pull, dog demon." She reminded pointedly.
He quieted and watched her brush the sweat from her brow. "I never felt that way, about her; not once." He mused.
She bristled slightly and snorted. "I know you didn't. I've lived with you for too long to know that you wouldn't feel something for a traitorous woman like her. I just, I guess I overthought what Rin said about her secretly loving you." Even the reminder tasted bitter on her tongue, as if she were swallowing acid.
"Getsu…" He sighed and looked up at the waxing crescent of white in the sky overhead. "You were intimidated." He stated.
Another bristle. "Regrettably."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose between his eyes with his thumb and index finger, releasing another sigh. "You shouldn't feel that way, especially towards her…"
"It's not like she's blind to you, is she? She knows that you're handsome, Sesshomaru: any female that comes near us knows that, and I… I guess I feel insecure, about that." Her voice trailed off as she closed her right clawed hand into a light fist, moonlight bouncing off the front of her claws.
"You know at this point that I don't want any other female, Getsuei." He saw her cringe a little at his usage of her full name, dropping his hand. "I just want you. I always have, ever since that first day we met." He stated quietly.
The blush returned again, assailing her cheeks with a dark pink hue; she looked up at him with slightly wide and innocent silver eyes. She smiled softly, meekly, exhaling. "That's why I feel the way I do. Even though I never tell anyone, not even Kori, I always have the paranoid feeling that one day some bitch is gonna take you away from me, and leave me alone forever…" She grinded her teeth together at the thought, bristling again.
He inwardly groaned at her stubbornness, closing the distance between them and taking her wrist, pulling her to his chest.
She blushed again and then calmed, resting her cheek on his chest as his arm wrapped around her hips.
"You stubborn, beautiful, silly princess. I've told you before that I won't leave your side, and I meant every word. I am not going to leave you, Getsu, not ever. I refuse to leave you." Sesshomaru vowed, his arm tightening possessively on her hips as she curled a finger in a stray lock of his silver hair.
Getsu quieted and nodded, relieved that he was promising such a thing, wrapping her arms around his strong shoulders and closing her eyes. "Thank you, Sesshomaru."
He smiled and lifted his arm to brush some hair from her cheek, lightly tracing his clawed thumb over the violet crescent on her cheek.
She smiled back, burying her cheek into his kosode.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
A/N: well i thought that was a cute filler don't you? xD