InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Taste Of Power ❯ Sorrell’s Revenge and Kagome’s Reprieve ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or any characters there in.

Chapter 9: Sorrell's Revenge and Kagome's Reprieve

Naraku languidly walked through the woods near his current castle. He was far from the storm that pelted the small group of weary warriors, who were still searching for their missing member. The sun was setting in his lands, and he was not happy. Sorrell was weak, she should have been easy to kill.

Instead she had managed to keep secret the presents of his most annoying foes, and use them to her benefit.

He was so caught up in his thoughts of Sorrell's aggravating way of getting the best out of every situation, that he didn't notice the thorny vines that curled nearer to him, following his youki.

Suddenly, the vines jumped, imprisoning his wrists, ankles, neck and waist in their spiky grip. Their thorns pricked into his skin as they pulled him quickly into a dimly lit cave and secured him on his back to the rock sheet where they were rooted. When he tried to move, the thorns dug deeper into his skin. He could feel the slight pull on his energy, and a peculiar numbness when he tried to access his powers.

"I told you not to underestimate me, Naraku." Sorrell said from the shadows near the back of the cave, "Did you think that I could not follow the thread of energy from your puppet to you?"

Naraku tried to speak, but the vines around his neck cut off his voice.

"I don't really want to hear it." Sorrell sounded bored, "You killed me, I can't heal this wound. But I can make you pay."

Sorrell stepped into the dim light and approached Naraku slowly. She still wore her toga and her hair was done in her usual way. However now two thick, dark red horns were rooted just over her temples, and grew along her skull to curl up at the gold band in her hair. Her eyes were now a vibrant pale yellow, her irises shaped like a starburst with uneven rays and a sickening shade of green, her pupils were black slits laying sideways, like a goats. Her nails grew from her fingers as long curved tubes, like snake's fangs.

"Like what you see?" She smiled wickedly, "My true form. I'm too weak to hold my other form right now. But this one serves my purposes here perfectly."

She knelt beside him, "I know, I can't use youki. But I can draw it," she leaned over him to look into his face, "I can scatter it, change it. You want power so much you would betray your allies to get it? Well, Naraku, I'm gonna suck you dry, pull out your youki and feed of that human heart until I get every last drop."

She leaned over him and whispered in his ear, "I'm going to show you why they call me a nightmare."

*

The storm had gone on into the night. InuYasha and the others walked dully along the narrow path through the woods and kept a look out for any clues that might lead them to Sorrell's cave.

InuYasha pulled himself along by will alone, he felt numb, more so then the day Sorrell took Kagome. He was unable to muster all of the emotion he knew he should feel at the moment. He knew he was worried about Kagome, he knew he wanted to kill Sorrell, and Naraku, for what they had put them through. But he couldn't express those feelings without it feeling hollow. All he wanted now was to find Kagome and get out of the rain.

Miroku had the job of carrying a depressed and drained Shippo. Shippo was in a similar condition as InuYasha, only slightly less, because his energy hadn't been being drained for days before the vampire vines started on him. Currently he was sleeping in Miroku's arms.

Sango was in a state of manic worry. Her eyes dodged over the scenery in search of her missing brother.

Finally, after hours in the drenching rain, some disturbance in the brush along the mountain path led InuYasha into the forest. Carefully they picked their way through the undergrowth until they found the cave. It was just a hole in the side of a mountain, big enough for two tall adults to walk through.

Sango rushed into the cave followed closely by InuYasha.

"Kohaku?" She called into the dimly lit dwelling.

There was no answer. The only person that could be seen lay on pillows on a stone pallet with her back to them. A solitary candle near her head.

"Kagome?" InuYasha walked past Sango, toward the silent figure.

"I told her," Kagome said weakly, "I told her you would save me."

"Where's Kohaku?" Sango asked desperately.

"… He left with Sorrell to get my herbs." Kagome replied.

InuYasha walked up to Kagome, "Come on Kagome, let's get back to the village."

"It's raining." Kagome said dully.

"Cut the crap, Kagome we're getting you out of this cave. Now turn around." InuYasha barked as harshly as he could under the circumstances.

Kagome sniffled, like she had been crying, and turned towards them. She looked at InuYasha sadly, "I'm Ok, really. It's just my eyes, they kind of burn, a little."

Kagome's eyes glittered in the light of the candle. In that light they could see within her large dark brown irises, a starburst with uneven rays, colored a sickening shade of green, surrounding her human pupil.

Everyone stared at her a moment before InuYasha spoke.

"Get up Kagome." InuYasha ordered, offering her his hand, "let's get back to the village."

*

Sorrell lay in yet another clearing, reclined against an old, knurly and comfortable tree, with a self-satisfied look on her face. She gazed up at the stars; she could see the Milky Way quite clearly tonight. She smirked as she raised one hand to her line of vision, too weak to move her head. That hand gingerly held a large chunk of the Shikon No Tama.

"My prize in all this." Sorrell said ruefully, "Take Naraku's power, pride, and jewel." She laughed.

She turned her attention back to the stars, "I did alright, in the end. Didn't I? I went out with a bang and dealt a big bad a devastating blow. I wish," She gasped as her lungs tried to close in on themselves again. Since the excitement of revenge wore off she was left with less energy, and a dying body.

"I wish I could have told them where I left him. They could finish him off now. Complete my revenge." she sighed, "I need something now. I wanted a family, and now there's the jewel." She glared at the sky, "He can not get the jewel! I can not keep it safe. And the boy…" her eyes started to close of their own accord, "… keep them… keep them safe…"

Sorrell's hand fell to the ground, and the jewel chunk rolled from her limp hand into the cool grass.

*

They managed to make it back to the village by sunrise. Soul weary and physically existed. The headman's wife once again gave them a room and they slept for most of the day. When they woke she brought them some food, which Kagome picked at.

"Kagome, eat." InuYasha said, when he noticed she hadn't been.

"I'm not hungry," Kagome sighed and handed Shippo her portion of fish, "Do you think I could get some vegetable broth?"

Miroku left to see if he could fulfill her request.

Sango turned to Kagome nervously, "What do you think happened to Kohaku?"

Kagome sighed, Sango was her friend, but after asking about her state once back in the cave, she kept giving her anxious glances. `I guess she couldn't wait to grill me.' Kagome thought, `Not that I can blame her.'

"You said that Sorrell was badly wounded, and told you guys to find me and take care of me, right?" Kagome paused, waiting. When Sango nodded she continued, "Then he probably went with her, to take care of her."

"You…you don't think Naraku…" Sango's voice faded away, unwilling to finish the thought.

"… I don't know," Kagome said regretfully, "I don't think Sorrell would let Naraku get him easily. She loved us…. In her way."

"What, what was it like," Sango asked. She was slightly sturdier now, that little piece of information gave her some hope that her brother was still alive and healthy somewhere, "Living with something like her?"

Kagome thought about this, "Well, … she didn't bring her work home or anything, so the "something like her" doesn't really come into. She was good to-… she was good to him. I guess she was good to me, I really think she was doing what she thought was best for me."

InuYasha, who had been listening to the conversation quietly, snorted.

Miroku came in with Kagome's broth and handed it to her.

"Thank you." She said, "Do you think I'll return to normal, Miroku?"

Miroku sat down, "I don't know, I don't see why not. Without Sorrell manipulating your energy, there should be nothing to continue the transformation."

Kagome finished her broth and put down the bowl, "I'm tired, I want to go home. I wish I could go home for a while."

InuYasha started, in all the confusion with Kagome's eyes and Kohaku's disappearance, not to mention his own exhaustion, he forgot to give Kagome Kohaku's jewel shard.

"Here." He said as he tossed the shard to her.

Kagome blinked it at, for a moment, "So that's what it was."

"Kagome?" Miroku asked.

Kagome smiled as she picked up the shard and it instantly purified, "I knew something was wrong, but couldn't figure it out. I was sensing Kohaku's shard for so long, I guess I became used to it. I'm so tired I didn't think how strange it was that he wasn't here, but the shard was."

Kagome looked at InuYasha with a big smile on her face, "I can go home? Just like that?"

"I want ramen." Was all InuYasha would say.

THE END.

THERE WILL BE A SORT OF, KIND OF, EPILOGUE THING. It will be up tomorrow some time.

Thank you sooo much for reviewing!

Katzztar: I looked up Dangerous Assumptions, but unfinnished dramas are bad for my mental health. I like your style though, so I'll be back.