Chapter 19: To Stay or to Run Away
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha!
A/N: I'm so sorry for the incredibly late update! The past five or six weeks I have been super tired and found out I'm pregnant with my third baby :) I also have chronic migraines and being pregnant makes them so much worse. I will try to update when I can it just might not be once a week, but I promise this story will be completed! Also, I'm going to start, either today or tomorrow, writing a one-shot called Slave for You, so keep a look out for that :) Anyway, enough rambling and on with the show! Hope you like this chapter!
"Do you have any idea as to where they might be?" Sango asked as her and Miroku rode on Kilala's back while looking all around her for any clues for the whereabouts of the two evil people they were looking for.
"If I were to guess of a place, I'd say they would be on Naraku's ship." Miroku said with a slight shrug.
Sango gave a quick nod. "That makes sense, let's go Kilala!"
Flying for about another twenty minutes, Sango and Miroku came upon the port where Naraku's ship was bobbing in the water - however, as they tried to approach it to land on the deck a huge barrier stopped them sending them flying backwards and crashing onto the ground.
"What the hell?" Miroku growled out as he narrowed his eyes angerly towards the ship.
"The entire ship is surrounded by a barrier!" Sango grunted in slight pain. "How the hell are we supposed to get in?"
"I could try to gain us access with my powers, I won't be able to break it completely but maybe I can make an opening so we can pass through." Miroku explained as he walked up to the barrier before he bowed his head, closed his eyes and brought up his hands into a praying pose.
Sango stood back and watched as an intense look of complete concentration came over Miroku's features, and a bead of sweat roll down his temple. As a woman who liked to take action herself and do things her way, she felt completely helpless and at a loss as to what to do or how to help so she just crossed her arms and a scowl etched on her face as she watched. She wasn't sulking, nope, not it the slightest - it's just that she liked to do something to help, but right now she couldn't do anything right now and she didn't particularly like standing on the sidelines.
After about ten minutes and a lot of sweat later, a hole developed in the barrier just big enough for them both to slip through.
"Show off." Sango muttered under her breath as they both ran through the barrier.
"You know you love me." Miroku smirked as he waggled his eyebrows.
"Whatever." Sango scoffed. "Let's just hurry up and get the curse on Kagome broken before it's too late." She said as they both made their way up the gang plank and onto the ship.
*Break*
"Run away, Inuyasha!" Kagome grunted out. "Please, I don't... want to... hurt you." She said as she drew the string connecting to her bow back a little further.
Inuyasha didn't have time to respond as he watched as Kagome struggled to regain control over her body but slowly let go of the string sending the arrow soaring through the air. He dodged the arrow but just barely as he jumped to the side, however, he barely steadied his feet before he was sent flying through the air by a strong gust of wind. Hitting his back against a tree getting the air knocked out of him. He slid down the tree landing on his butt on the ground wheezing as he tried to get air back into his lungs.
"K-Kagome, please." Inuyasha stuttered as a dribble of blood ran down his chin. His vision was slightly blurry from hitting his head against the tree, but he could see that Kagome was coming his way. He didn't know what to do, he didn't want to leave Kagome, but he also didn't know what to do or how to lift the curse that came over her. Struggling he made it to his feet but had to use the tree as a crutch so he didn't fall back down.
Kagome made her way towards the clearly injured Inuyasha willing her body to stop and listen to her, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop her attack on the half-demon that unknowingly held her heart. Tears streaming down her face as she felt her heart crack as she felt her body move to draw up water from the earth and watched as she moved the water around her before turning the drops of water into sharp pieces of ice then sending the ice hurling towards Inuyasha watching as the ice pierced different parts of his body.
Inuyasha felt pain rip through his body as he felt the ice pierce his arms, stomach and legs.
"In...yasha." Kagome grunted as she notched another arrow into her bow. "Please, run away."
"Stop it!" Inuyasha growled out. "Shut up! I'm tired of hearing you tell me to run away! As if I'd leave you! You'd have to kill me before I do that!"
Kagome gasped as she felt more tears run down her cheeks and drip off her chin. Drawing the string back even more, preparing to send the arrow towards Inuyasha - however - before she let go, she felt her body go slack as she once again had control over her body. Slumping forward and landing on her knees and hands, she sucked in multiple lungsful of air as she tried to regain her barring's. Taking one more lungful and swallowing hard she looked up at Inuyasha, seeing him knelt down panting in pain. She forced herself to her feet and ran towards the man she involuntarily injured, reaching him she fell to her knees and embraced him in a bone crushing hug.
"Oh, Inuyasha! I'm so, so, so sorry! Are you okay? Please say you're okay! Please! I'm so sorry!" Kagome begged as she lost her composure with each word that escaped her lips as the tears came flowing out her eyes.
Inuyasha weakly raised his arms to wrap around the inconsolable woman begging for his forgiveness, which he thought was absolutely insane that she was even asking. Didn't she know that he didn't blame her for one second, however, he knew that if he didn't say anything or do something to reassure her, she would become even more a mess every minute he let her stay in such a state.
"Ka-Kagome, would you be quiet for five minutes, wench?" Inuyasha grunted out when he realized that she was still spewing out apologies. Kagome immediately snapped her jaw closed as she leaned back just enough to look into his face but not enough to leave his embrace. "Are you free from the curse?"
"Yes, the voice has stopped, and I sense the sacred jewel that way." Kagome said as she pointed to the ports.
Sending Kagome the half smile that he knew that she loved so much as he lifted a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Are you okay?"
Kagome chocked out a sob/laugh. "I should be asking you that." She said as tears continued to flow past her lashes, however, the look on her hanyo's face made her sigh and look at the ground. "I'm fine. Just a little dizzy, tired and those black shards are still in my neck, so I am sure the curse isn't all the way gone but something has it distracted enough to lose their concentration." She sighed as she brought a hand up to lay on Inuyasha's cheek using that pad of her thumb to brush against his skin. "How are you?"
"Keh, I've had worse pain than this, can't think of anything right now." Inuyasha said with a slight chuckle followed immediately by a wince of pain. "I'm okay." Inuyasha quickly said to stop Kagome from begging for forgiveness again then dropped his arms from around her frame to force himself to stand up. "We need to get you to where the jewel is, can you still sense it?"
"Yes, it's by the port." Kagome answered.
Inuyasha nodded. "Let's go then." He said as he turned his back towards her and knelt down waiting for Kagome to climb on.
"Um, what are you doing?" Kagome asked with a nervous tilt to her voice as she took a step back.
"Keh, just hurry up and climb on." Inuyasha commanded.
"I can walk just fine, Inuyasha!" Kagome argued right back.
"You're the one that said you were still feeling tired and dizzy, so just pipe up and climb on my damn back, wench." Inuyasha ordered and when Kagome didn't answer he growled a warning growl that made her roll her eyes but climb on his back not really feeling well enough to fight him on the matter. "Okay, let's go." he said as he stood up and adjusted her on his back to make both of them more comfortable.
"Yes, let's go!" Kagome agreed and off they went.
*BREAK*
Sitting in the captain's quarters, Naraku and Tsubaki sat around the temple the sacred jewel sat on - the disembodied chanting still happening though not quite as loud as it was when the curse was being placed.
"How long is it going to take? Just kill him already!" Naraku demanded.
"Hold your tongue! I'm trying! She's fighting the curse!" Tsubaki gritted out between clenched teeth.
"What do you mean she's fighting? Don't you have ahold of her soul?" Naraku gritted back.
"I do have her soul; I have complete control over her body, she's just has a stronger will than what I thought she would have so it's kind of difficult for me to have complete control of her body and her mind." Tsubaki explained.
Naraku rolled his eyes. "Well, you better hurry up and-"
"Shh!" Tsubaki hushed and swung her hand towards Naraku making him shut up. "Someone is here! How did they get through my barrier?"
Naraku jumped to his feet and Tsubaki followed his lead both getting into defensive poses as they waited for whoever it was on the other side of the door to come in. The door got kicked opened revealing Sango and Miroku.
Without a single word, Tsubaki sent her snake towards the pair but as the beast opened his mouth to cause harm Sango hit the snake on the head with her boomerang effectively ending the snake's life.
"Good job, Sango!" Miroku congratulated. "Now Kagome should be free from the curse."
"Ha! You fools!" Tsubaki spat. "You think by just getting rid of my snake that Kagome is free? No, she won't be free until either she dies, or I let her go!"
"Damn it!" Sango growled readying her boomerang to hurl it at Tsubaki. "Let her go, now!"
"I can't do that, you see, what I'm getting in exchange for doing this is far too valuable to me to simply let her go." Tsubaki explained.
"Let me guess." Miroku ground out. "Naraku promised to give you something, didn't he?" When Tsubaki didn't answer he continued. "Well, let me tell you something - if you succeed and kill off Kagome and Inuyasha Naraku won't give you what he promised you! He's lying to you to get what he wants because he never gets his hands dirty!"
"Hold your tongue! I'll make sure one way or the other I will get what I was promised." Tsubaki gritted out.
"I wouldn't be too sure if I were you." A gruff voice sounded behind Miroku and Sango making them turn around to spot Inuyasha with a very pale Kagome on his back and he very clearly had some wounds on him that they didn't know how he got but didn't have enough time to ask.
"Oh, how perfect of you to bring her closer to me where I will have a stronger hold on her." Tsubaki said with a chuckle as she held her hand above the jewel making it shine with an ominous black, purple hue.
Kagome grunted out in pain and pushed away from Inuyasha so she wouldn't be too close to him because she didn't want to hurt him at such a close range.
Stumbling foward some from the push from Kagome, Inuyasha just barely managed to stay on his feet as he quickly turned around to face Kagome not wanting to have his back turned towards her in the state that she was in for very long. "Shit!" He spat between clenched teeth.
"Inuyasha!" Sango called out.
"What's going on?" Miroku finished for Sango.
Before Inuyasha could answer Naraku's laughter rent the air around them. "What will you do? Be killed by the on you care about or kill the one you hold most dear?" Naraku asked the three of them.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Sango growled, however, the only answer she got was an arrow that was pointing right at her. "What, Kagome?" She whispered out with both shock and concern leaking out of her voice.
"Let's just say that these wounds on my body didn't get there by themselves." Inuyasha grunted out.
"I was afraid you were going to say that." Miroku muttered.
HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE CHAPTER! SEE YOU NEXT TIME!