A black gloom cradled Kikyo, covering her eyes and dampening her skin. She was trapped in the dark, disorientated and alone.
No, not completely alone. Something, or several somethings, were skittering in the distance unseen, their movements echoing strangely.
Kikyo's opening eyes began to adjust to the lack of light, until the darkness revealed its lighter and darker shades to become more defined.
She was swinging below a dank cave wall. Kikyo was tied up in a mass of webs. White, sticky fibres were wrapped around her wrists, ankles and neck, like she was a butterfly trapped in a loose cocoon, swaying inside the desolate bowels of the earth.
Panicking, Kikyo tugged at her disgusting restraints. She felt a strip of wood against her leg and realised her bow had been strung up with her.
Kikyo tried to calm herself, as losing control would not help her make sense of what was happening . She had surmised almost instantly that she was in some sort of cave. How she got here, she was not sure of. Kikyo could remember nothing after walking through Naraku's blazing white barrier.
Her lack of memory frightened her. That, and the fact that she had no idea where she was.
Taking some patient breaths, she brought her purification powers to her fingertips, until her hands glowed with a violaceous light. The webs entangling her hands and wrists began to break apart. When her hands were free she leaned forward and disintegrated the webs around her ankles, then around her waist.
The remaining webs holding her went alarming slack and then ripped apart. Kikyo fell down twenty feet to the floor, an involuntary scream escaping her lips. She hit the cave floor hard, banging her head so intensely her eyes began to tear. A few souls drifted out of her body like ominous lights. Her bow and remaining arrows clattered to the floor beside her. Her soul collectors were nowhere to be seen, she could not even feel their distant presence.
Kikyo groaned and rolled onto her knees, her priestess robes were covered in dirt and sludge. By her hand strange, bone- white and porous flowers grew, like dead fingers creeping out of the earth, giving off a strange and sour smell.
Insect- like clicking sounded behind Kikyo. Kikyo snapped her head to the side and peered into the gloom around her. A cluster of gigantic spiders skulked in the shadows of the cave. Kikyo grabbed her bow and dwindling arrows. She drew an arrow to her bow and tried to find a target in the dimness. She had ten arrows left after her altercation with the Gashadokuro.
The spiders loitered but did not attack her. Kikyo backed away warily down one of the several cave tunnels behind her. She moved slowly, one step at a time. If she fell it could encourage the surrounding spiders to rush her.
The cave floor, that was ragged and slippery, evened out bizarrely into what felt like flat stone. Confused, Kikyo turned around. The cave tunnel had opened up into a mastery of stone work. The rough confines of the cave had been transformed into a walkway and gateway carved from what looked like obsidian. A black stone chair, almost like a throne, stood between her and the gate-like door.
Naraku sat in the chair, watching her with interest. He was still donning his baboon pelt, his shining black hair cascading down his shoulders. More spiders and humanoid demons cavorted around the perimeter, watching her enter with glee in their fey, amoral eyes.
"Welcome to your new home," Naraku said to Kikyo in a velvet voice.
Kikyo raised her arrow, aiming for Naraku's head without hesitation. Before she could let the arrow fly, green vines erupted at her feet and enfolded around both of her wrists. Kikyo was wrenched forward by the vines painfully. She tried to purify the vines , but the ones that got destroyed were replaced quickly, endlessly trapping her.
Already Naraku had an excellent hold on Mikata's stolen demonic gifts.
Kikyo struggled to reach for her dropped bow and quiver, her eyes always fixed on Naraku.
"Where have you taken me?" Kikyo roared at Naraku.
Naraku watched her floundering with a cold smile. "Somewhere neither of us will be found."
"Sesshomaru will find me, there's nothing you can do to stop him!" Kikyo snarled belligerently. She believed her words wholly. Sesshomaru would rescue her and tear Naraku's head from his shoulders.
Naraku gave a sardonic laugh at her words, even some demons in the background tittered.
"With my newfound ice powers, courtesy of Tsumetai, I have created a perpetual storm around this place. My demonic energy, your scent, all of it will be hidden, lost in the tempest above our heads. You will remain here with me, Kikyo. We will live out our lives together, two travellers stuck between life and death."
If she strained her ears she could hear it, a hurricane of a storm above their heads. The distant scraping, scraping and whistling of a ceaseless vortex. This was a new kind of magic to Kikyo. A storm that could cover her scent and prevent Sesshomaru from finding her?
Was this Narakus plan, kidnap and keep her locked away indefinitely?
Before Kikyo could think of a response to Naraku's horrifying words, Hokai emerged from the tunnel to Kikyo's left. Not the tunnel she had walked through.
Kikyo glanced at where he had entered. She needed to get out of here. It was baffling that she still had her bow and arrows with her, why had Naraku not confiscated them? He had had every chance to. With her ten arrows, maybe she could find a way to escape herself, instead of waiting for Sesshomaru to try and find her.
She would need to be swift, to try and run at the right time when she had the element of surprise. If Hokai was talking to Naraku, perhaps he could provide the distraction she needed.
Hokai had thumped by on his thick, hairy legs, ignoring Kikyo's slumped and tied form. Hokai stood directly before Naraku, his eight eyes glittering with disbelief. Naraku surveyed the spider before him with a quiet curiosity.
"What have you done? I attacked Inuyasha like you asked, and when I returned I was told that Mikata and Tsumetai were dead. Mikata killed by your hands," Hokai asked his brother.
"I've won," Naraku said simply.
Hokai shook his gargantuan head in confusion. "They were our allies, strong allies. We were on the same side. This…What you've done…was a calculated attack. It was unnecessary."
Naraku rolled his eyes in mild exasperation. "I did what needed to be done. Tsumetai and Mikata were weak, impudent demons that did not deserve the power they had," Naraku replied with a soft certainty.
Kikyo watched this exchange through the curtain of her hair. So Naraku had been resurrected and gone rogue. Hokai only really knew a certain facet of Naraku, the Naraku before his metamorphosis into the many faced demon he was now. Perhaps Hokai's memory of Naraku had held more camaraderie, more trust, more of a bond. A bond that was clearly one sided, based on Naraku's actions.
Hokai stared at Naraku like he was a stranger. "You have used me. She was all you wanted wasn't she? Getting your hands on the priestess was your goal."
Naraku did not confirm nor deny this. He stood from his chair lazily and walked up to Hokai, his face so close he was nearly touching Hokai's pincers. "I want the spiders that are aware of Kikyo's presence to come to this isle and stay here. The rest of the clan are yours to do with as you will, but I would recommend they fan out over Japan and keep quiet. If Sesshomaru tries to search for Kikyo, he will likely start looking for every eight legged creature he can find," Naraku said.
Kikyo's heart lurched at the sound of Sesshomaru's name. She would give anything to see her beloved now. Hokai and Naraku, she sensed, were on the verge of an intense argument. If they were distracted enough, and if she was lucky, she could flee down the same tunnel Hokai had emerged from. It was a guess, but she was hoping that Hokai had come from the outside.
Hokai continued to bristle at Naraku. "Why should I listen to you? You lied to me, you kept me in the dark. Kumonosu was right, you know, Sesshomaru is a formidable enemy. If our aim had been to kill him, as you led us to believe, we would be safe right now. Instead, we take the person he cares about and hide? He'll find us and he will kill us all!" Hokai said shrilly. Some of the demons around the perimeter began to mutter.
Naraku's voice was as booming as the thunder outside, it commanded attention. Naraku no longer looked amused. "You will listen to me because I am your leader, Hokai. There is no reason to lose your head. Sesshomaru cares about the child Rin and Rin is safe. He will forget the priestess, it is not in the dog demon's nature to love. We will merely lay low until he loses interest," Naraku said, looking at Kikyo's huddled form as he spoke. When he turned away, Kikyo began to gently purify the vines wrapped tightly around her wrists. She channelled a small amount of power between her fingers, so slight the violet glow was imperceptible.
Hokai gave a defeated sigh of frustration. Hokai was in a way as trapped as Kikyo was. Naraku now had all the power, and he was clearly going to use it as he saw fit.
"And if he doesn't? He could destroy us. If he goes after every spider, our clan and every other clan will be in real peril!"
Kikyo's left wrist was free. She had realised that the leaping vines were controlled consciously by Naraku, whilst he was talking and not concentrating on her, she could release the grasp of the vines without any more being made.
"We'll see," Naraku told Hokai, "Kikyo is little more than the walking dead that have been terrorising the western lands. He'll give up on her eventually." Again, his words seemed to be more directed at Kikyo than Hokai.
Kikyo's right hand was almost free. Her bow and arrows were lying beside her. Her opportunity was looming. She tried not to think of the consequences if she should fail to escape…How Naraku would punish her…
Naraku's attention was back on Hokai. "I made you the Spinner of the Wicker clan. You wanted power, now you have it," Naraku said to the corpulent spider before him. Hokai spat poison from his fangs onto the floor by Naraku's feet.
"What good is power when our enemies are closing in around us?!" Hokai shouted loudly, his voice echoing off the walls.
Seizing her moment, Kikyo ripped her hands free and snatched her bow and arrow. She fluidly placed an arrow onto her bow, whirled around and aimed it at Hokai and Naraku. Kikyo fired, her arrow flying straight and true.
Hokai jumped aside in alarm, but Naraku had already raised a thick ice barrier around him and his monstrous brother. Kikyo's arrow hit the ice barrier, smashing it to pieces of falling fractured ice.
Kikyo cursed inwardly, she had missed her chance to kill Naraku. Now, she had to run.
Fragments of ice were still flying in the air as Kikyo turned on her heel and ran for the tunnel to the left. Kikyo's long hair flew behind her in a stream as she darted down the tunnel.
It was so dark and soon the carved stone gave way to natural rocks and boulders. Kikyo tripped over the uneven ground, fell and picked herself up again immediately.
As she was underground, she needed to reach the surface. The next tunnel split into two, Kikyo took the right tunnel as it seemed to slope upwards, toward what she hoped would be higher ground. A spider demon scuttled out of the dreary dark towards her, moving at an alarmingly fast rate. Kikyo drew back her bowstring and shot an arrow at the demon, it was blasted into glowing pieces. She had eight arrows left.
Kikyo quickly positioned her eighth arrow as she stumbled forward, praying that Naraku was not close behind. Kikyo bumped into wet stalagmites that she failed to see in the semi-darkness. She struggled up the sloping tunnel, panicking as the slope began to dip back down. She could not afford to get hopelessly lost in this cave.
The tunnel opened up into a small, shallow cavern drenched with water at the bottom. Three spiders assailed her from the cavern sides. Kikyo fired three arrows at each arachnid, hitting each foul creature dead on in some vital body part. Kikyo had five arrows left.
Kikyo misjudged her step and plunged into the freezing cavern water below her head first. Kikyo's head broke the water haphazardly, she was gasping and soaked to the bone. Kikyo looked around the cavern, anticipating more spiders to be creeping towards her. She could not see any, but a clattering sound, like rocks and stones being dislodged, echoed around her.
They were coming.
Kikyo splashed through to the other side of the cavern, looking for a way out. A natural rock shelter ahead of her looked lighter than all the other shadows. Kikyo waded towards it, pulling herself out of the water and onto the crumbling shelf of jutting rock onto the other side.
It led to another tunnel, then another smaller tunnel no higher than her waist. Kikyo heard splashing and looked back, two human looking demons were chasing her, sloshing through the water she had just left.
Kikyo sent two readied arrows into their chests. Their bodies pitched into the water, she watched them until their unmoving corpses floated on the turbulent surface and then as they slowly began to disintegrate. Three arrows left.
Kikyo hurried away anxiously, chasing any visible light as she squeezed herself through the rocks. The tunnels and openings were becoming tighter, adding a new layer to her fear. She reminded herself that Sesshomaru was outside, waiting for her.
Kikyo shuffled through oppressive alleys of rock wall, fraying her wet robes as they caught on jagged stones. Kikyo pushed and pulled herself through the small opening ahead that she could see. The space through the hole was much more visible, lit by what could only be sunlight or moonlight.
Encouraged and desperate for freedom, Kikyo scrambled through the hole, scratching her arms and hips, her wet hair catching on the holes edges. She fed her bow through the gap carefully.
Kikyo tumbled out of the hole and rolled down a pile of rock scree. She had landed in a fissure passage, wind whistling through the multiple, naturally scooped out hollows around her. Above her, she could see a thin strip of stars between the rock walls she was wedged between. She would have to climb out.
Kikyo tucked her bow onto her shoulder and hoisted herself onto the fissures first ledge. Fortunately the layers of the rock wall were wavy and grab-able. Kikyo hauled herself to the next ledge, then the next, until she was ten feet in the air. The opening to the outside was getting closer.
A sharp pain in her ankle pushed a scream out of her mouth. One of the smaller spiders had burrowed through after her, through the holes and cracks she had navigated. The spider's knife-like fangs were embedded in her foot, blood seeped out onto her tabi sock.
Kikyo shrieked and tried to kick the insect off, but the spider sank its fangs deeper into her flesh, deep enough to tap bone.
Grimacing and groaning with pain, Kikyo took one hand off of the wet ledge and reached up for one of her arrows. Once in hand, Kikyo reached down and jammed the spiritually infused arrow into the spider's sternum. The spider exploded into black dust.
The force of her power knocked her tentative hold on the cave ledge she was dangling from. Her hand slipped and she fell, banging her right shoulder onto the hard rock floor. The injuries were piling up: the Gashadokuro hitting her, the spider bite and the falls she had had. Her right side was now throbbing in agony.
But escape was in her reach, just above her head. If she could reach the surface and get out of the range of Naraku's permanent storm, Sesshomaru would find her. His sense of smell was second to none and he could traverse Japan at breakneck speed if he wanted to.
Kikyo muffled a groan as she got to her feet wobbly. She checked her remaining two arrows. One shaft had snapped in two when she fell and was now just useless broken wood.
She had one arrow remaining.
Kikyo carefully put her single arrow back into her empty quiver. It rattled worryingly against her back.
She was exhausted, the few souls still within her were fading. It was strange, usually at this stage her body would be reverting back into clay, but it was not. Kikyo studied her very human looking fingers, blood thrummed through them hectically. They were soft, no sign of rigidity or a clay surface forming. But she had no time to marvel at this. She had to get out.
Sighing with frustrated panic, Kikyo tackled the fissure wall again, ignoring the pain in her side and back. She repeated Sesshomaru's name in her head like a drum beat. Once she had found him again, she would never leave his side. She would tell him how much she loved him.
Kikyo poured all her strength and resilience into her fingers, clinging to the rock face with a vicious determination. She hauled herself up and up onto each shelf of rock, until her hands were sore and her arms ached.
Finally, she reached the top. Dry sand fell into her eyes as she clawed her way onto a dark beach, huffing with fatigue.
The beach was cast in many shadows, the white sand lit by the moonlight, tufts of dark green grass breaking the surface. The blue black swathe of the sea lay on the horizon, beyond which the storm surge raged. Grey, relentless wind swirling angrily, covering everything beyond.
When Kikyo raised her aching neck she saw none of this. All she saw was the spiders and demons. A mass of them lingering with intent on the beach. The nearest arachnids turned towards her, clicking their pincers menacingly. She counted more than twenty demons in range, with many more encroaching on her peripheral vision. Kikyo automatically reached for her remaining arrow, but slowly dropped her hand limply to her side.
Kikyo had one arrow left, there were too many of them to fight through. She could try and create a barrier to walk her way to the edge of the beach, but already she could feel her spiritual power had significantly weakened due to her fight to reach the surface. Kikyo knew she would never make it.
A despairing sob choked her. 'Sesshomaru, where are you?' she screamed inside her head as the demons descended on her.
Kikyo was trapped, unable to escape Naraku.