InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Another Opens... ❯ The Entanglement ( Chapter 11 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Namiyo11 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Romance / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.27.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.0K | Visits: 206 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Romance / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.27.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.0K | Visits: 206 | Status: Completed
Chapter 11- The Entanglement
No, I do not own Inuyasha!
Recap: Kouga, Kagome, and Sango are at the Keep, Kirara’s hurt, and Sesshomaru and Inuyasha are gone. The Swords of the Fang have been sent to Kagome accompanied by a challenge from Tohan, even as Kokuzoku returned the stolen Rin. Miroku’s been captured. What happens now? Read on!
It was indeed a trap. As soon as they’d hit the half ruined, old fashioned Temple’s courtyard, they knew it. It was empty to their noses. Abandoned...but with a faint, unpleasant aura that made their skin crawl. Evil had been committed here. Great evil.
It wasn’t until they entered the outer precincts that the shape of it’s trap became clear. Once they passed the doorway cautiously, a sudden wave of scents-the place was crawling with youkai, and shielded! But something had frozen them solid! Unable to move, both brothers struggled helplessly. Inuyasha’s mouth opened, and no sound came out!
“Well well well! It does work! Marvelous!” A cheerful voice behind them. One Sesshomaru didn’t know-but Inuyasha did, and his eyes widened. Ayami? But did that mean that baka Yotogi was right? Or wrong, and Kouga was going to be gloating soon as well? He didn’t know, and the furious hanyou couldn’t move his limbs, or speak. Damn it.
“Now now! Don’t struggle too much! The restraints will only tighten if you do! Just hold still, please,” she called happily. Ayami approached them carefully, and walked around the enraged Inu. She looked up into Sesshomaru’s cold golden eyes, and playfully flicked his empty sleeve.
“Oh, so very grumpy. Silly Sesshomaru,” she leaned in, and her smile faded. “You were my Lord’s enemy. But...you did not kill him. I do not mind you so much, you know,” the wolf whispered conspiratorially as she straightened and walked to Inuyasha.
“But you. Inuyasha.” A sharp slap cracked across his face as her eyes blazed. He was breathing hard, his eyes narrowed, and he saw a bright light in Ayami’s eyes. Smelled it as Sesshomaru did. The smell of something wrong in her scent. Something that any self-respecting pack drove away.
The smell of the unsound.
“That-was a down payment. You will pay. And pay. And continue to pay. Your little bitch didn‘t come with you, though. When I get her, now...” a slow, feral smile lit her features as both Inu felt growls rising in their frozen throats. “A pity, really. Take their toys and escort them to the boxes, please,” she called, and Tohan-Tohan?? Came out of the shadows.
“The boxes?” she looked at Ayami curiously, not looking at the general’s sons as they were held in the Temple’s confinement wards. The wolf nodded. “Not the sanctuary? My siblings will be most displeased,” she said, and Ayami paused.
“Let them. Surely-” her tone was sly and playful now, “they want the entire set? After all, their vendetta was against the Inutaisho-and one is missing. This one’s wench and that one’s favorite packmate.” The wolf noted with a smile.
“Possibly. You’ll need to use the key, if you wish them moved,” Tohan said dryly as she gazed impassively at the pair, her hands reaching for Tenseiga and Toujikin. The Panther didn’t look directly at him as she removed the blades deftly.
“Ah yes. Thank you, Tohan, I nearly forgot!” an embarrassed smile lit the redhead’s face as she answered. She drew a amulet from under the wolf breastplate she wore and whispered to it. As she did-something glittered on Tohan’s wrist as she leaned on her staff. A set of what looked like prayer beads. One was on Ayami’s wrist as well, Sesshomaru noted. Interesting. It might be useful to know why...before he killed them all, of course.
But when she reached for Tetsusaiga-
“OW!” Sparks! Tohan gasped as her hand was burned. Ayami frowned. “A ward,” the Panther hissed.
“Oh? Let me try,” Ayami reached for the Sword...and held it, drawing the sheathed weapon out, ignoring the pain as all three of the watching youkai smelled burned flesh. “Painful,” she allowed, and looked at the hanyou. “But nothing compared to the feeling of taking this from you,” she tossed it aside, letting it clatter and skitter across the wooden floor.
The Panther merely lifted the hand with the beads on it.
“Follow,” she said, and-they had no choice. Moving like marionettes, they were walked. Passing corridors and empty halls that stank of Panther and Wolf and dust, they arrived at a long hall with what appeared to be monastic cells. But cells with intricate ropes where the doors should be, all of them tied in dizzyingly complex knots and attached to pegs set in carved lintels and doorframes.
Tohan came to one, and Inuyasha’s eyes widened at the scent from there...and at the figure sitting, meditating in the center of the cell, bruises all over him, robes torn and scorched. He lifted his eyes, and the fury in them took the hanyou’s breath away. In three years, he’d never seen such rage in the human.
Miroku.
“That better not be another counter you’re working on, monk. I’ll grant you are stubborn and quite talented, but the cell defenses, not to mention my sister, will not be merciful a second time. It would be best for you not to attempt another escape,” Tohan noted, and traced something in the air.
The ropes suddenly slacked and parted, and she gestured them inside. Having no choice, they were walked inside and the ropes reformed. They could still see Tohan-but the presence of heavy barriers could be felt around them as the restraining energies faded away.
“Now,” Tohan began calmly, “you may speak and move.”
“YOU BITCH!” Inuyasha lunged right for her-
“WAIT!” Miroku yelled, but it was too late. The ropes gave slightly-then wrapped around him a moment as purifying power poured through the hanyou, making him scream as they threw him back.
“Don’t do that again,” Tohan warned him. She hadn’t moved a hair when he’d gone for her. “You did not wait as the monk instructed,” she noted, as Sesshomaru sat watching her closely. Something felt off. She had supposedly called off the feud. Something was wrong here, with this place. With her.
“Tell me how to defeat the wards on your sword, Inuyasha,” she ordered, and he ignored her, lying on the cell floor as echoes of agony washed through him. “Miroku?” her eyebrows lifted inquiringly. They exchanged an odd look.
“You can’t. No youkai can touch it besides the rightful owner,” he said.
“Ah. Very well,” she left them, the two swords in her hands as she strolled away.
***
“What the fuck happened?? Where the fuck are we, and why the fuck did you tell her anything, bonzu?” the hanyou demanded, grabbing Miroku by the robes and glaring.
“Because it’s better she hear that truth now,” he said with a significant look at the walls. Both youkai understood what he meant. They were probably being listened to. Inuyasha let go, and shivered.
“This place...do you know it’s nature, Hoshi?” Sesshomaru sat, eyeing the walls and door.
“Yes. This place was a legend, I assumed,” Miroku answered, leaning back on his hands. “It was the center of an order of monks centuries ago. At first, they sought to find a way to understand youkai, to fight evil and succor the good of your kind, and learned much. It was a center of learning then, a place of purity. But then, they fell into a dark path. It was their belief that they could understand and control youkai’s powers, and gain them for themselves with the proper disciplines. In doing so...they began to hunt strong youkai and confine them here, practicing dark magics to siphon their strength. There are many rumors of what sorts of things were done here. Monks and Priests attempted to destroy them and were lost. The stories state that the Lynx Tribe allied with a powerful warrior Priestess to take them down at last,” he hesitated...and looked significantly at Inuyasha. He hadn’t connected the tale he’d learned as a novice with the woman before...
“Her name was Midoriko.” Inuyasha shivered. Midoriko-the soul of the Jewel, she’d saved Kagome, according to her...Kagome...
“The Lynx guarded this territory devotedly until the Dokueki devoured them,” Sesshomaru noted. Interesting. Perhaps they had been unable to destroy this place themselves.
“But Ayami and the others?”
“They’re making use of the old warding charms, as far as I can tell. Without those, you won’t be able to move freely in here, even if he can escape the cell. They also seem to have impressive defenses against mortals,” Miroku admitted.
“I see,” Lord Sesshomaru frowned.
“You’re saying we’re stuck here?” Inuyasha scowled, and Miroku nodded. The monk didn’t mention to them that Tohan could’ve killed him when he’d gotten out, but hadn’t. She’d been willing to let him run, he’d realized. Until the fire Panther had spotted him. Why, he wasn’t sure. Or if she would look the other way again.
***
“I am unhappy, Tohan!” Ayami noted, frowning down at the swords. Tetsusaiga had simply been pulled with a rope into the main sanctuary, and the wolf lounged there on a pile of pillows. She wasn’t convinced that the Panther female was helping out of shared interests.
“Why? The General’s sons are secured.”
“I’m missing people-and these trinkets aren’t much use to me. Tell me, what would you do with them? How would you acquire the missing parts of the set? Sango hasn‘t come for her husband, after all, and Kagome and fluffy Kirara aren‘t here either!” she sighed. Her green eyes were curious as she regarded Tohan, who saw the trap there. She considered for a moment, mind racing...
“I would use the blades,” Tohan answered.
“The blades? How so?” Ayami leaned forward.
“Send them to Kagome. She’ll understand the message, I believe, and come for the wielders. She will undoubtedly bring the slayer.”
“Hm,” Ayami frowned, Kokuzoku had made noises expressing interest in the toys...but her Lord had insisted only the brothers could use them. “I’ll think about it, Tohan,” she replied. But when she heard that the child had been released, well-he didn’t need such prizes! She followed Tohan’s advice...
Author’s notes- Plots and distrust. Beautiful fun. Yes, I know most of the time ‘Ayame’ is the right spelling. But I’ve seen both, and when I realized I went with the less common one, I had to keep rolling with it. In any case, things progress, I hope in an interesting way! Thanks for reading!-Namiyo’
No, I do not own Inuyasha!
Recap: Kouga, Kagome, and Sango are at the Keep, Kirara’s hurt, and Sesshomaru and Inuyasha are gone. The Swords of the Fang have been sent to Kagome accompanied by a challenge from Tohan, even as Kokuzoku returned the stolen Rin. Miroku’s been captured. What happens now? Read on!
It was indeed a trap. As soon as they’d hit the half ruined, old fashioned Temple’s courtyard, they knew it. It was empty to their noses. Abandoned...but with a faint, unpleasant aura that made their skin crawl. Evil had been committed here. Great evil.
It wasn’t until they entered the outer precincts that the shape of it’s trap became clear. Once they passed the doorway cautiously, a sudden wave of scents-the place was crawling with youkai, and shielded! But something had frozen them solid! Unable to move, both brothers struggled helplessly. Inuyasha’s mouth opened, and no sound came out!
“Well well well! It does work! Marvelous!” A cheerful voice behind them. One Sesshomaru didn’t know-but Inuyasha did, and his eyes widened. Ayami? But did that mean that baka Yotogi was right? Or wrong, and Kouga was going to be gloating soon as well? He didn’t know, and the furious hanyou couldn’t move his limbs, or speak. Damn it.
“Now now! Don’t struggle too much! The restraints will only tighten if you do! Just hold still, please,” she called happily. Ayami approached them carefully, and walked around the enraged Inu. She looked up into Sesshomaru’s cold golden eyes, and playfully flicked his empty sleeve.
“Oh, so very grumpy. Silly Sesshomaru,” she leaned in, and her smile faded. “You were my Lord’s enemy. But...you did not kill him. I do not mind you so much, you know,” the wolf whispered conspiratorially as she straightened and walked to Inuyasha.
“But you. Inuyasha.” A sharp slap cracked across his face as her eyes blazed. He was breathing hard, his eyes narrowed, and he saw a bright light in Ayami’s eyes. Smelled it as Sesshomaru did. The smell of something wrong in her scent. Something that any self-respecting pack drove away.
The smell of the unsound.
“That-was a down payment. You will pay. And pay. And continue to pay. Your little bitch didn‘t come with you, though. When I get her, now...” a slow, feral smile lit her features as both Inu felt growls rising in their frozen throats. “A pity, really. Take their toys and escort them to the boxes, please,” she called, and Tohan-Tohan?? Came out of the shadows.
“The boxes?” she looked at Ayami curiously, not looking at the general’s sons as they were held in the Temple’s confinement wards. The wolf nodded. “Not the sanctuary? My siblings will be most displeased,” she said, and Ayami paused.
“Let them. Surely-” her tone was sly and playful now, “they want the entire set? After all, their vendetta was against the Inutaisho-and one is missing. This one’s wench and that one’s favorite packmate.” The wolf noted with a smile.
“Possibly. You’ll need to use the key, if you wish them moved,” Tohan said dryly as she gazed impassively at the pair, her hands reaching for Tenseiga and Toujikin. The Panther didn’t look directly at him as she removed the blades deftly.
“Ah yes. Thank you, Tohan, I nearly forgot!” an embarrassed smile lit the redhead’s face as she answered. She drew a amulet from under the wolf breastplate she wore and whispered to it. As she did-something glittered on Tohan’s wrist as she leaned on her staff. A set of what looked like prayer beads. One was on Ayami’s wrist as well, Sesshomaru noted. Interesting. It might be useful to know why...before he killed them all, of course.
But when she reached for Tetsusaiga-
“OW!” Sparks! Tohan gasped as her hand was burned. Ayami frowned. “A ward,” the Panther hissed.
“Oh? Let me try,” Ayami reached for the Sword...and held it, drawing the sheathed weapon out, ignoring the pain as all three of the watching youkai smelled burned flesh. “Painful,” she allowed, and looked at the hanyou. “But nothing compared to the feeling of taking this from you,” she tossed it aside, letting it clatter and skitter across the wooden floor.
The Panther merely lifted the hand with the beads on it.
“Follow,” she said, and-they had no choice. Moving like marionettes, they were walked. Passing corridors and empty halls that stank of Panther and Wolf and dust, they arrived at a long hall with what appeared to be monastic cells. But cells with intricate ropes where the doors should be, all of them tied in dizzyingly complex knots and attached to pegs set in carved lintels and doorframes.
Tohan came to one, and Inuyasha’s eyes widened at the scent from there...and at the figure sitting, meditating in the center of the cell, bruises all over him, robes torn and scorched. He lifted his eyes, and the fury in them took the hanyou’s breath away. In three years, he’d never seen such rage in the human.
Miroku.
“That better not be another counter you’re working on, monk. I’ll grant you are stubborn and quite talented, but the cell defenses, not to mention my sister, will not be merciful a second time. It would be best for you not to attempt another escape,” Tohan noted, and traced something in the air.
The ropes suddenly slacked and parted, and she gestured them inside. Having no choice, they were walked inside and the ropes reformed. They could still see Tohan-but the presence of heavy barriers could be felt around them as the restraining energies faded away.
“Now,” Tohan began calmly, “you may speak and move.”
“YOU BITCH!” Inuyasha lunged right for her-
“WAIT!” Miroku yelled, but it was too late. The ropes gave slightly-then wrapped around him a moment as purifying power poured through the hanyou, making him scream as they threw him back.
“Don’t do that again,” Tohan warned him. She hadn’t moved a hair when he’d gone for her. “You did not wait as the monk instructed,” she noted, as Sesshomaru sat watching her closely. Something felt off. She had supposedly called off the feud. Something was wrong here, with this place. With her.
“Tell me how to defeat the wards on your sword, Inuyasha,” she ordered, and he ignored her, lying on the cell floor as echoes of agony washed through him. “Miroku?” her eyebrows lifted inquiringly. They exchanged an odd look.
“You can’t. No youkai can touch it besides the rightful owner,” he said.
“Ah. Very well,” she left them, the two swords in her hands as she strolled away.
***
“What the fuck happened?? Where the fuck are we, and why the fuck did you tell her anything, bonzu?” the hanyou demanded, grabbing Miroku by the robes and glaring.
“Because it’s better she hear that truth now,” he said with a significant look at the walls. Both youkai understood what he meant. They were probably being listened to. Inuyasha let go, and shivered.
“This place...do you know it’s nature, Hoshi?” Sesshomaru sat, eyeing the walls and door.
“Yes. This place was a legend, I assumed,” Miroku answered, leaning back on his hands. “It was the center of an order of monks centuries ago. At first, they sought to find a way to understand youkai, to fight evil and succor the good of your kind, and learned much. It was a center of learning then, a place of purity. But then, they fell into a dark path. It was their belief that they could understand and control youkai’s powers, and gain them for themselves with the proper disciplines. In doing so...they began to hunt strong youkai and confine them here, practicing dark magics to siphon their strength. There are many rumors of what sorts of things were done here. Monks and Priests attempted to destroy them and were lost. The stories state that the Lynx Tribe allied with a powerful warrior Priestess to take them down at last,” he hesitated...and looked significantly at Inuyasha. He hadn’t connected the tale he’d learned as a novice with the woman before...
“Her name was Midoriko.” Inuyasha shivered. Midoriko-the soul of the Jewel, she’d saved Kagome, according to her...Kagome...
“The Lynx guarded this territory devotedly until the Dokueki devoured them,” Sesshomaru noted. Interesting. Perhaps they had been unable to destroy this place themselves.
“But Ayami and the others?”
“They’re making use of the old warding charms, as far as I can tell. Without those, you won’t be able to move freely in here, even if he can escape the cell. They also seem to have impressive defenses against mortals,” Miroku admitted.
“I see,” Lord Sesshomaru frowned.
“You’re saying we’re stuck here?” Inuyasha scowled, and Miroku nodded. The monk didn’t mention to them that Tohan could’ve killed him when he’d gotten out, but hadn’t. She’d been willing to let him run, he’d realized. Until the fire Panther had spotted him. Why, he wasn’t sure. Or if she would look the other way again.
***
“I am unhappy, Tohan!” Ayami noted, frowning down at the swords. Tetsusaiga had simply been pulled with a rope into the main sanctuary, and the wolf lounged there on a pile of pillows. She wasn’t convinced that the Panther female was helping out of shared interests.
“Why? The General’s sons are secured.”
“I’m missing people-and these trinkets aren’t much use to me. Tell me, what would you do with them? How would you acquire the missing parts of the set? Sango hasn‘t come for her husband, after all, and Kagome and fluffy Kirara aren‘t here either!” she sighed. Her green eyes were curious as she regarded Tohan, who saw the trap there. She considered for a moment, mind racing...
“I would use the blades,” Tohan answered.
“The blades? How so?” Ayami leaned forward.
“Send them to Kagome. She’ll understand the message, I believe, and come for the wielders. She will undoubtedly bring the slayer.”
“Hm,” Ayami frowned, Kokuzoku had made noises expressing interest in the toys...but her Lord had insisted only the brothers could use them. “I’ll think about it, Tohan,” she replied. But when she heard that the child had been released, well-he didn’t need such prizes! She followed Tohan’s advice...
Author’s notes- Plots and distrust. Beautiful fun. Yes, I know most of the time ‘Ayame’ is the right spelling. But I’ve seen both, and when I realized I went with the less common one, I had to keep rolling with it. In any case, things progress, I hope in an interesting way! Thanks for reading!-Namiyo’