InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Some people need a push ❯ The Battle ( Chapter 14 )

Feudal Era, Japan, Day 51

Half a Mile From Naraku's Castle

Early Morning

 

The Battle

 

 

“Everyone, come in. Are you in position?” Jan spoke into a crystal-like stone in the palm of her hand. She had cast a communications spell on a number of similar glass discs to act as impromptu walkie-talkies.

 

“Will you please stop asking us that? It's getting annoying!” Maria, from a hilltop overlooking the intended battlefield, responded.

 

“I didn't mean you, Maria.”

“Oi! We're ready here. I'm right across from Sesshomarus's forces.”

 

“I am ready, Kechara.”

 

“Kirrara really doesn't appreciate this armor.”

 

“Why aren't there any beautiful girls in this division? The only people here are male demons!”

 

“Monk! You better not have just said what I think you just said!”

 

“Dearest Sango, you are the most beautiful woman I could ever imagine. I know why you are not here; if you were, I would be distracted beyond hope by you. I would be totally senseless in the presence of your radiant beauty, your…”

“Miroku!” All those who had a communicator yelled at the monk, save for Sesshomaru.

 

“I'm ready,” the leader of the cat demons reported.

 

“Ayame, do you have to wear that white fur? It gives away your position.”

 

“Yes, Koga, I do have to wear it. That's the last time I'm going to tell you. I'm ready, Jan.”

 

“As am I.” Koga sounded very unhappy.

 

“Don't sulk about it, Koga. You've been claimed by a very strong willed woman. You're bound to be whipped!” Jan grinned at the cat demoness's quip.

 

“I'm not whipped!”

 

“Yes you are, wolf!”

 

“You've been whipped longer than Koga, Inuyasha!”

 

“I am not whipped!!”

 

“Hate to interrupt this, but we need all of you to keep your positions relatively secret, and we can't do that with you yellin' like all hell just broke loose and is about to kill you. Do that when you join the battle. Now, time to get this show on the road! Get moving! Sango, begin the frontal assault. Remember to stay back until Naraku's forces are fully engaged.” Jan put the necklace her communicator had been set in on her neck. Motioning to her forces, she began to creep forward. Her division, a ragtag group of humans and demons alike, spread out and moved forward with her. The humans were quite large in number, most refugees from towns destroyed or touched by Naraku's evil influence. All of them had volunteered. A small part were villagers from Kaede's village.

 

There were a few priestesses scattered through the forces. These were the priestesses who did not feel as if fighting alongside human-friendly demons would soil them and cause their powers to disappear. The majority of the priestesses and all of the monks, who were too old to fight, had been ordered to stay on Maria's hilltop. They aided in adding purifying elements to potions that were to be dropped on the battle field. Some were there to shoot arrows at the demons; those whose conscious powers lay only in the use of the bow formed ranks on the hill to shoot at the enemy in relative safety. Kagome was there with Rin; She had promised to protect the girl, but she wanted to help the war effort. Rin handed Kagome arrows while she worked, to justify her being there to the other priestesses. They looked at the girl with a mixture of pity and disdain. It was common knowledge that she was being raised by the Great Demon Lord Sesshomaru.

 

On the battle field, a dark miasma began to creep towards the advancing army. “Everyone, put your masks on.” Jan took her own advice, and pulled the enchanted bandanna over her mouth and nose. Her soldiers did the same. She had conjured thousands of these bandannas, and bespelled them as well. They were to act as gas masks, and protect the soldiers from Naraku's poisonous gas.

 

The murk flowed into the ranks of the army. It seemed as if the whole world held its breath, waiting to see if the `gas masks' would do their job. the advancing army held still for a moment that seemed to last for an eternity, then began to move once again, confident the evil fog would not touch them.

 

“Naraku is probably trying to figure out how we did it.”

 

“He won't try for long. I bet that in two hundred paces, he'll send out his lackeys.”

 

“I would not take that bet were I you, little brother.”

 

“I'll take whatever bet I want to! What's your price?”

 

“You sing `I Feel Pretty” in front of the whole army. Yours?”

 

“You make me a box that conjures up Ramen forever.”

 

“Deal. Ten more paces… eight, seven six, five, four, three, two, one… oh, look, lackeys! I'm gonna get speakers for your performance.”

 

Naraku had sent a swarm of demons out to meet the oncoming attackers. They continued to stream out of the castle, even after they spread out to span the same width and depth of the oncoming army.

 

“How'd you get two hundred?”

 

“This is war, Inuyasha. Everything is two hundred paces.”

 

Sango's forces, the obvious infantry, made first contact. The toad demon army met the charge solidly, halting the evil forces for a few moments before they began to mix ranks. The toads were three or four to every larger demon; it was clear that they worked efficiently like that. When one toad fell, two more replaced their comrade, killing the evil demons. More of Naraku's forces fell at than the troops deployed by Sango, but the strength of the enemy demons slowly increased.

 

“Hirakotsu!” Sango's giant boomerang flew through the air, cutting and destroying over ten enemy attackers.

 

Suddenly, ten large pots appeared over the battlefield. They tipped and began to fall, then disappeared, leaving their contents behind. The potions that had been within fell onto Naraku's army, and those not purified and killed screamed and writhed in agony.

 

“Maria, you guys up there okay?” Jan sent calmly through the stone.

 

“We're… fine.” Maria's voice was shaky; It was apparent that she hadn't been prepared to see the results of her actions. Jan understood, not having been braced for it herself.

 

“Can you make your potion stronger?'

 

“Yeah,” she replied after a moment's consulting with the holy people surrounding her.

 

“Good. Make it stronger, then, and send it out in separate groups, smaller pots, at equal intervals. Send rocks in between potion deliveries, to keep up a constant barrage from the sky.”

 

“Roger that.”

 

Jan's group had crept up to the back side of the battle, across from Miroku's division. “You ready, Monk?”

 

“Hai.”

 

“Ookay, then, one… two… three… ATTACK!”

 

Jan held her sai against her forearms, running hard into the enemy forces. Her army crashed into the unsuspecting demons. A ripple effect from the other side told her that Miroku had been successful as well. Rocks and fire fell from the sky, and the apocalypse had begun.

 

As Jan's forces hit like a tsunami, Inuyasha crept, grimly silent, towards the middle of the battlefield. The witch, along with Miroku, had hit almost completely opposite Sango lengthwise, making it appear as if their full strategy was double-hammer and anvil.

 

“Inuyasha. We are in position. It is your call to attack.”

 

“Wait for about five more minutes, and then attack with a formation three abreast for twenty to twenty-five individuals. Spread the rest out by two on each side. If you don't have enough men for a line, add the remainder to the front, near the base, as lines of five. They just got hit by the hammers, now they get to meet the nails.”

 

“Hai. Might I suggest going in at an angle?”

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome's voice broke through their formation plans.

 

“What's wrong, Kagome?” Inuyasha recognized the worried tone in her voice.

 

“Please be careful. If you get hurt, I'll you-know-what you all the way to America!” Her voice had switched from worried to angry. After a brief pause, she said, in a very different tone, “I love you.”

 

Inuyasha felt as if his heart had just been melted into a puddle. “I love you too, Koi. I'll take care.”

 

“Rin wants to talk to your brother, so I have to go. One thing before I do, though.”

 

She paused, uncertain. Inuyasha prompted her with a gentle, “Yes?”

 

“Kick his ass for me, Inuyasha. Kick it real good.”

 

“Can do, 'Gome. Can do.”

 

Sesshomaru did not listen to the `moment' transpiring between his brother and his chosen mate. He did listen when Rin was mentioned, and so was prepared when he heard the young girl's voice.

 

“Lord Sesshomaru? Are you going to come back?” Rin's voice was timid and quiet; something Sesshomaru could not remember it ever being.

 

“I will if I am able, Rin. These demons that Naraku has sent out against us are barely a nuisance to one such as I.”

 

“Is Nadea going to come back?”

 

“She is stronger than she looks, Rin. I have little doubt as to whether she will return or not. Do not worry.”

 

“Yes, Lord Sesshomaru. But… the old monks say that people sometimes do not return from a battle. They said a woman would not stand a chance in a full-scale battle such as this one.”

 

“They have met neither Jan nor myself, Rin. Nadea and I shall be fine, Daughter.”

 

“Okay. Oh, Lady Kagome says she can take me to Kaede's village! She said I have to get your permission to try to go to her home.”

 

Sesshomaru paused, knowing full well that giving his permission might mean never seeing his adoptive daughter again. “I… That would be a good idea, Rin. You have my permission.” Rin made a small, happy squeal, and Sesshomaru smiled. “I must go now, Rin. Be safe. May I speak with the Lady Kagome?”

 

“Yes, Lord Sesshomaru. Bye! Good luck!”

 

“Good bye, Rin.”

 

“Sesshomaru?”

 

“Take care of her, Kagome. She will likely be disoriented in your time. Care for her as you would your own daughter.”

 

“Hai.”

 

Koga, across from Ayame's forces, readied his division to attack. His wolves wore cloth armor that allowed agility, but were as hard as metal armor from the outside. The armor had wicked metal spikes curving out from beneath. His demons had magic enhanced weapons; in case they lost their swords, they also had belt knives endowed with the same spell that made whatever they struck implode. Koga himself carried a sword with a spell to enhance the cut when it is swung, and wore boots that were like dynamite to any living demon that they stepped on - for the exclusion of any wolf or toad demons.

 

He watched Inuyasha's forces strike the middle of the enemy's army. His “nail” managed to penetrate almost to Sesshomaru's, and the gap between was closing rapidly. “Time, Ayame.”

 

The two wolf packs charged the evil demons, pushing into the already divided forces. They had been meant to reinforce the effects of Inuyasha's attack, but it was barely necessary. His attack formation, bolstered by the Golem it was made out of, had worked better than any had even hoped or thought to hope. The attacking wolves only assisted the effect.

 

Koga lost track of the time as he engaged. Using his explosive footwear as much as his sword, the Wolf Prince carved through the chaos. His battles took him past both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. Rocks fell from the sky, perilously close to him. The rocks and potions never fell on any of his. In the middle of the hell they had created, Koga felt a back press against his. He parried a blow from an adversary, and jumped up to kick it. The demon exploded, and Koga turned and spitted one of his partner's opponents.

 

When they had defeated the demons plaguing them for the moment, Koga looked to see who he was fighting alongside. Ayame's pure white wolf skin had turned blood red. Streaks of the color were in her hair and smeared over her face. A circle of demons surrounded her for three feet in every direction. As she realized who had been fighting alongside of her, she blushed, and made as if to move away. Koga grabbed her waist, and pulled her flush against him. He pressed his lips against hers; his tongue demanded pushed imperiously into her mouth. He tasted her, smelled her, their enemies' blood only serving to further his bloodlust.

 

“You will make an excellent Queen, Ayame.” He released her and plunged his sword into a daring demon who had charged them. She did not say anything, just grinned and began to fight with a renewed fervor. Their enemies fell as the two royal wolves charged into the fray together.