InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Ambiguity ❯ Hopelessness ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

By: Jesachi

Chapter 3

~Hopelessness~

The five senses of the body slowly began to awaken. Sound, taste, touch, smell and then finally, sight. Kagome pushed herself off the rocky ground where she lay and looked around blearily. She appeared to be in some sort of cave, the ground dusty, the air stifling and a strong smell of sulfur surrounding her. It was hot.

`Where am I?' she wondered, standing shakily, `… Inuyasha…'

Then she remembered. The dark night, the wind, Naraku…

A sudden fear gripped her hard and Kagome gasped, sinking against the cavern wall. Instinctively, she reached up to her neck for the jewel shards, only to find them gone.

`Naraku has my shards,' she thought, `And Inuyasha didn't come for me… he didn't come and save me…'

A sense of overwhelming anxiety fell upon her, her heart hurt while her mind screamed at her that things weren't going to be bad. She had been in worse situations and Inuyasha always came, even if he was a bit… late…

`Come on girl! Get a grip!' she chastised herself, taking a few deep breaths to calm down, `You're not completely useless on your own! Find some way out of this! You can do it!' There was no sense in wallowing in anxiety. Her hanyou would come, her knight in shining armor.

Feeling slightly more encouraged after her self-induced pep talk, Kagome began to walk, following the cave in the only way that she could. Sweat beaded on her face and dampened her hair from the immense heat that surrounded her. Where was she and how long had she been here? Hours, days could have passed since that night, yet something told her that if it really had been longer than a few hours, Inuyasha would have been here by now, saving her…

Towards the end of the tunnel, the rock walls danced with a glowing red light and the air became steadily hotter. The heat was starting to make her light-headed. `What's going on?' she wondered, reaching the cave entrance. It adjoined with a giant cavern. Words could not begin to do justice on the size of the space she was looking at.

“Oh dear kami…” Kagome whispered, awed by the fissure. Some fifty yards in diameter, she could hardly see the other outcroppings similar to the one she was standing on all around the cave. The space opened up to the heavens, revealing the night sky and a dazzle of stars. There was a large basin in the center of the cave, steam and hot air emitting from it. Down inside the hole was lava, bubbling and churning menacingly, popping and sizzling.

“Damn…” Kagome swore, leaping away from the edge of the ridge and pressing herself against the wall, `Kami, I'm in a freaking volcano! Inuyasha! I'm in a freaking volcano!'

It was her affection for the hanyou that kept her calling out to him in her mind. Her affection, her faith in him and the fact that he had never once let her down, hence why she was still walking around with all appendages and a head on her shoulders. But a volcano…?

Add that to her feeling of dejectedness and the whole situation was starting to look hopeless.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

`Yama-no-hi…'

The Mountain of Fire. Naraku's scent had led him all the way to the damned Mountain of Fire. And still not hind nor hair of Kagome. Barely a scent to follow her by, but Inuyasha knew that she was in Naraku's clutches - however unpleasant that thought- and by following his scent, the hanyou knew he would find Kagome. And as much as he prayed and hoped to every deity that she was safe, really, how safe was an active volcano?

“The Mountain of Fire…” Sango breathed, touching down with Kirara and Miroku, “They say a fire youkai dwells in the depths of the crater…” she wiped at the light perspiration on her face.

“A perfect place for Naraku to make his hide-out,” Miroku supplied, staring hard at the gaping hole some one-hundred yards before them, “Humans and youkai alike would leave it alone out of fear for their safety.”

Inuyasha snorted, “Well, that myth didn't keep the bastard away from here, did it?” he lifted his face to try to catch a scent, but the stench of sulfur burned his nose, “He ain't in the forest on this mountain, so he's gotta be inside that damned crater,” he spoke around his haori sleeve, “And where Naraku is, Kagome's gotta be…” he added in a growl, heading across the barren plateau.

“Inuyasha, wait!” Miroku called, “Naraku can't have brought Kagome into the volcano! No human would be able to stand the smell and the heat for more than a few hours!”

“And you think that would have stopped Naraku? He ain't thinking about her safety or he wouldn't have taken her away from me to begin with!”

“Yes, but-“

“Shut it, monk! I'm going to find Kagome and I'm going to go in the fucking hell-hole to do it!”

“But-“

“Up there!” Sango interrupted, pointing up at the dark sky.

That stopped the petty argument and all eyes turned upward. Silhouetted against the stars was the unmistakable shape of a flying feather and a woman with glowing magenta eyes.

“Kagura…” Inuyasha growled, hand going to his sword, the ever trusty Tetsusaiga.

Six wary eyes watched as the feather suddenly spiraled downward, diving into the crater without hesitation.

“Damn it!” Inuyasha exclaimed, drawing his sword, “That bitch went in there! That means Naraku's there too!” The hanyou raced for the gaping fissure in the ground, his sword held tight in his grasp. One thought drove him faster, steeled his resolve and pushed his fear back, `I have to get Kagome… I have to find her. She has to be okay. I have to find her… I can't live without her…'

`Don't finish that thought for your own sanity!' his youkai scolded.

Inuyasha growled as he leapt into the abyss.

“Inuyasha!” Sango and Miroku cried.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Kagome gasped as a whirl of wind suddenly descended into the chasm, blowing the blistering air towards her, increasing her dizziness. The wind died down and standing on one of the many outcroppings bordering the fissure was Kagura, tucking a feather back into her hair.

“Kagura…” Kagome breathed, cupping her head in vain attempt to ward off the vertigo. She wasn't sure either whether she was more pleased to see the wind youkai or terrified of what might happen to her in Kagura's presence.

Those magenta eyes stared at her with a mix of shock and disbelief, as if Kagura hadn't known that Kagome was going to be there. Or perhaps, Kagome thought, the youkai was simply surprised to see her still standing. Yet, this was the second time some odd emotion had passed Kagura's face and Kagome was starting to wonder what was really going on behind those startling eyes of hers.

The look was gone in an instant however, when both women were disturbed by a shout and another attack of wind, except this one was accompanied by golden blades crashing into the surrounding rock.

“Kagome!”

Inuyasha made his presence known with his loud entrance as he landed on another ridge, not too far from Kagome's and directly across from Kagura's.

“Inuyasha!” Kagome exclaimed, relief filling her up like a water balloon ready to burst. It tickled her insides and brought tears to her eyes. He was here. He had come to save her. It also made her feel lightheaded again. Yet, the fact that her hanyou was here, the trust and faith that he was going to save her fought away her trembling knees and made her momentarily forget the extreme heat, the sulfuric stench and all the other elements that made her weak. He was here and he never let her down.

“Kagome…” Inuyasha breathed her name like a talisman, thanking his stars that she was safe. But, he could also see that the volcanic chemicals were taking their toll on her. The fatigue in her face, the slightly discernable trembling… but she was alive, so long as he got her up onto land quickly.

He turned his golden gaze to Kagura, gripping his sword tight and pointing it at the wind sorceress, “Oi, bitch!” he called to her, “Where the hell's Naraku and do you have any final words to say to him before I kill his ass?” he was slowly creeping his way to the edge of his ridge, closer to Kagome.

A voice called out to the hanyou over the bubbling of the magma and it wasn't Kagura's, “So, half-breed, you have come for your miko-bitch and my death? Such amusement, really. You think you can kill me?” Deep violet miasma materialized on another ledge near Kagura and out of that miasma, Naraku appeared.

Inuyasha growled, changing his stance, “Naraku…” he snarled, curling his lip. No words could describe his hate and the rage that bubbled inside him. He killed Kikyou once and was the reason for Inuyasha's concealment to Goshinboku. He killed Sango's entire family and brought back her little brother to torment her. He inflicted Miroku with his wind tunnel curse. He had jewel shards. He tried to kill them all more than once. And the worst of all… he kidnapped Kagome, with intent to kill her and thought he was going to get away with it…

`It's Showtime…'

Inuyasha's youkai growled with pleasure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I would like to give special thanks to the FFARG people and especially Sari-15 and BakaBokken, who critiqued me and told me what to fix in my chapters. Thanks for the help, guys and I hope these chapters are a little better than before!

~Jesachi