InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Another Opens... ❯ The Battle part 1 ( Chapter 15 )
[ 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: 3 | Words: 2.6K | Visits: 181 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Romance / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.27.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.6K | Visits: 181 | Status: Completed
Chapter 15- The Battle, part 1
Inuyasha isn’t mine, but Kokuzoku is.
Recap: Kagome has made her preparations, and her peace with her decisions. What happens now, and who is Penelope? Read on!
This chapter takes place around the same time as the last one, covering the same time span.-Namiyo
“It’s unfortunate for you, Sesshomaru, that your own packsister should prove so faithless. While I only met her on one occasion, she did not strike me as being that sort. Although-she was mortal then, was she not?” Tohan noted as she led them back.
“I will deal with the matter as I see fit, Tohan. I would not advise speculation.”
“In one of these cells, bound by the Temple wards? I doubt you will have the opportunity to do other than consider the matter,” she chided. “As for you, monk, I fear you may be the most unlucky one here. Did they truly mistreat her so?” There was a sort of regretful amusement in her eyes as she looked over them.
“I don’t believe I have anything more to say to you about that, Tohan of the Panther Tribe,” Miroku looked at her, and frowned. “Except that I think you know as well as I that your master will never be returned to you. Not so long as Ayami thinks she can restore Naraku in this accursed place.” At that, the female Panther just smiled slightly.
“I had heard you were perceptive. It’s unfortunate, in other circumstances, I should enjoy discussing this with you. As to our late Master...it is better, perhaps, that we do not discuss that topic as well,” she answered as she put them back into the cells and resealed them.
***
“Inuyasha?” Miroku looked at the hanyou who just slumped on the ground in the cell. He glanced at Sesshomaru, who had gone quiet and grim as he sat. Several minutes now, and the hanyou hadn’t moved after woodenly sitting down. Only this terrible, empty stare. “Inuyasha!” he repeated, waving a hand in front of the hanyou.
“Leave him be,” Sesshomaru said.
“What?” Miroku glanced up.
“Leave him alone.”
“He can’t just sit like this.”
“Leave off,” Sesshomaru said coldly, and Miroku froze at the controlled anger there. Sesshomaru frowned, and watched him slowly back away and slump, thinking.
Sango, what about Sango? That hateful letter said nothing about her. The truth was, Miroku was scared now, as he had not been since he was captured. If Kagome had changed as much as Sango feared, if she truly had chosen to let them die, then...his tajiya might be coming here alone, and would most certainly be killed. It wasn’t like his beloved Sango would not try to rescue him, after all. Alone, with just Kirara? Or perhaps...they had not survived the ambush...no. He would believe her alive and well until proven otherwise. But possibilities rolled through his head.
Assume she was well, and wished to save him. Could she have run afoul of Kagome herself in so doing? If that letter was true-the former miko couldn’t afford to let her packmates live, not if she wanted control of the Clan as she stated. If she had turned on them-he was certainly expendable. He remembered too that in no text, no legend or rumor had any use of the Jewel been good, either in intent or outcome.
It was part of Kagome now...could she have fallen to it, the last victim? Had Inuyasha, in his desire to save her, destroyed the kind and gentle soul she once possessed with his wish? Sango had wept in his arms, fearing her humanity was truly gone, was she right? The hanyou had wanted to die, she said. Had she found her purpose in the path of power? She wouldn’t be the first to fall to it. Inuyasha...he too had been tempted, so very tempted. But he was apparently a complete basketcase at the moment.
But Inuyasha wasn’t as closed in as he looked. He was just-broken. Kagome had betrayed him. Kagome hadn’t forgiven, maybe. Hadn’t really taken him back when they’d been together. He’d left her once, and rejected her in the woods when he learned of her actions, in her place, perhaps he wouldn’t forgive. No, honestly, he wouldn’t. Inuyasha knew it. But she loved him, had allowed him to mark her as his, and had marked him as well, an arrowhead and a moon. For a few days, he’d been hers, she had been his. Was it all a lie? Was it as it had been with Kikyou now? Her love turned to hatred?
That wasn’t the worst of it. Houjou? She compared his touch to the mortal boy who wanted to embrace her at the baka festival-a situation she’d never fully explained to him. Badly! Had she just felt guilty when the damned Dokueki attacked and was glad to be out of it? He didn’t understand, and nervously considered the serious possibility. A hanyou, after all, was always seen as less than anyone else. Kagome might be one now-but was born a mortal. He’d made her one of his kind, did she hate him for it, or when he’d mated with her, had he repelled her in spite of her statements of love?
Was it possible for a woman to...pretend she was pleased in bed?
Inuyasha, quite unworldly in some ways, didn’t know. Kagome had complained he was too quick, the first time. Had known about bed matters even as a maiden. A lot more than she ought to have, by his belated reckoning. Had she shared such thing with others? From mortal men in her old world? He hadn’t always been there to look after her when she left his side...was that where she got the comparison? Had she been off enjoying herself with that Houjou then, and simply not allowing him to take her? Inuyasha now knew that there were many ways of sharing such pleasure, damn it. From her!
Where the fuck had she learned if not by experience?
He’d been too happy and enthralled to care then. But now he did. When the only woman who had ever shared herself with him without him paying for it...said he was inferior and unworthy. He’d been a man with her, and she humiliated him for it. Times he treasured, longed to return to-thought of constantly, she mocked. Called him names and said he was a bad mate, an inferior, and a poor lover. Said he was boring in bed.
In writing.
Publicly read out for all to hear, after he had shown throat to his fucking bastard brother for her! Now, she did this, after he had been comforted by her safety when they were held here by the bitch. She was letting Kouga sniff around her! Had run off with him as soon as the chance came by. Alone. They probably were off fucking while she left them to rot. He had nothing now.
No mate. No pride. No self-respect. No. Damned. Tetsusaiga! A soft whimper. Both of his cellmates looked at him.
“Stop that,” Sesshomaru ordered. He rose, and sat beside his brother. The youkai considered what Kagome had done.
Baka female. She had gone too far this time. He would have to attend to it. Kagome...she would pay for this. Oh, yes. She would pay! That letter, calling him, Sesshomaru-a Shibi! A mere lapdog! Her punishment would be legendary, Penelope indeed...Penelope. It stirred something. He thought, and remembered.
***
“Hm. The books are interesting, Kagome. I would know more of your world,” Seshomaru asked, walking through the frosty grass of late autumn beside her.
“Really?”
“I have said so. Do you doubt me?” A frown.
“No. I’m just surprised.”
“Why is this?”
“Well, no one’s really asked that stuff before. They sort of nodded and went on.”
“I see. I am not they, packsister. I would be interested in reading more of the epics and history of your land. I am curious,” Sesshomaru loved a good tale, he simply rarely got the chance to indulge it lately.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Very good. Also, you will obtain more of the noodles,” Sesshomaru noted, and Kagome grinned. She had afterwards brought many ‘classical’ works to him, reading them herself, in some cases, for the first time. They had often discussed them, a pleasant way of passing time.
The Odyssey, now, that had been a favorite of his, as had the translated copy of the Iliad. Delightful tales, and very interesting. Penelope. She emulated Penelope.
A hand lifted slowly, and Miroku’s eyes widened. Receiving a glare that dared him say anything, Sesshomaru gingerly patted his half-brother’s hair. There was another whimper. An arm rested on his brother’s shoulder as Inuyasha, feared hanyou...fell over onto his face. His packmate looked disturbed. He could not tell Inuyasha for fear of letting what he had just realized slip. That the letter’s only purpose was likely to keep Ayami off balance, perhaps...and to send word that Kagome was scheming to rescue them.
There were hints and clues throughout the letter, all meant for him.
Sesshomaru did his best to recall it all-and the tale. What was she planning? It had better be truly impressive. Clever girl, to use a code from a book no one had read in Japan yet, save the two of them. She said she chose to follow the example of Penelope, wife of Odysseus. Who had unwelcome suitors court her as she plotted her lost husband’s restoration to her side when he was parted from her by war and journeyed a long road back to her. Waited faithfully and planned, a plan that ended in the death of the false suitors and victory over their enemies. He’d enjoyed that part a great deal.
Hm. False suitors. Kouga was unwelcome. He was...a wolf. An opportunist by nature who had desired her for himself. Perhaps he had somehow forced her to agree, then? Likely. It was also likely that like Penelope's suitors, he was currently lording over the Keep and the Clan. She wanted him dead now, and somehow planned to use him to get them back. So clearly, she had something in mind for Kouga as well. Something nasty, as she’d put it.
The odd reference to his Lord Father...that he, Sesshomaru, knew how he felt, she’d written, and she did not intend to follow him. It was perhaps a reference to his own breaking of packbond...but he doubted it. His Lord Father, master of the Swords of the Honorable Ruler. Lord of all he surveyed, Inutaisho had never been in such a position. He would have charged in, swept away all opposition, and crushed anything in his path. Just as he had until the final battle, taken by an unworthy mortal, of all things...as Sesshomaru had charged in...and been taken by a mere insane wolf bitch.
Sesshomaru frowned. He wasn’t sure...but he was getting an inkling. And it made him nervous as hell. Kagome’s gambling streak was clearly in control. But-that meant he had to get the baka sensible...be ready. It would be unexpected. It would be sudden, and it would be entirely unexpected by their opponents, because she was lulling them into a false sense of security. It would not be a straight on attack, but a cunning one. Reckoning her likely assets, Sesshomaru worried. It wasn’t as though she would be able to even make use of their Swords, and without Tetsusaiga-he could not risk Inuyasha in combat.
He trusted that she recalled that. But then, he had trained her in planning and strategy.
***
The news came not from Tohan or their captors...but from Kokuzoku, and from the Inu themselves. A sudden, inarticulate scream emerged from the cell the former Lord was in. The traitor had been locked up by Ayami for his returning Rin to her home, for failing to provide her with Kagome, Kirara, and Sango, and now he was no longer useful-save as absorbing material for Naraku.
As he screamed, they felt it. Something thrummed distantly along Inuyasha and Sesshomaru’s nerves. The barriers were heavy enough to interfere with even a packbond, one already attenuated by distance. Kagome was fighting something, far from here. Who was clear enough. Kokuzoku’s pack was being made to pay as she promised. Soon-they would be a memory.
“NO! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!” Kokuzoku screamed again and again, promising to kill her, to take her blood, things he would do to Kagome...that made Sesshomaru’s blood boil as he listened. Inuyasha raised his head and growled softly. It was the first sign of interest he’d shown in anything.
But later-another prisoner joined them, torn, bloodied, injured...and furious looking. She was carried in, and thrown into the cell. Sango. Unarmed, but still wearing her poison mask. Miroku lunged at her, scooping her up into his arms as he threw curses at their captors...as they did what they could...
For wounds that didn’t look as bad as they thought? She removed her mask and kissed her husband gently on the lips, being pulled into a tight, welcome embrace as the Inu both looked away, a courtesy as delicate as any Miroku had ever seen.
“Well. Shall we get to work? We don‘t have much time, and I have something for you,” she whispered into his ear as his eyes widened. Sango looked innocent as she slipped her boots off. Wrapped around her legs-were uncharged ofuda. Miroku read them, and slowly smiled.
If what he saw here was right...they had help coming, help that needed his particular skills.
Showing the Inu, both positioned themselves so that they blocked the view from the doorway as Miroku set to work. If he read these right, with some help from outside, they would help anchor a spell to keep one hanyou from being affected by the Temple’s wards...
Author’s notes- Oh, yes. The battle has begun! This was crazy to write the first time. So much happening in so many locations was a real challenge. I was having a horrible time trying to work it all out on paper. Reading it over again, I’m still glad I went for it. Hopefully you will enjoy this as well. The play reference is of course to the ‘Don’t boil it, the terrifying dried up demons’ episodes. Oh, I forgot to say, but the Armsmaster’s name, Musha, means warrior. Thanks for reading!-Namiyo
Inuyasha isn’t mine, but Kokuzoku is.
Recap: Kagome has made her preparations, and her peace with her decisions. What happens now, and who is Penelope? Read on!
This chapter takes place around the same time as the last one, covering the same time span.-Namiyo
“It’s unfortunate for you, Sesshomaru, that your own packsister should prove so faithless. While I only met her on one occasion, she did not strike me as being that sort. Although-she was mortal then, was she not?” Tohan noted as she led them back.
“I will deal with the matter as I see fit, Tohan. I would not advise speculation.”
“In one of these cells, bound by the Temple wards? I doubt you will have the opportunity to do other than consider the matter,” she chided. “As for you, monk, I fear you may be the most unlucky one here. Did they truly mistreat her so?” There was a sort of regretful amusement in her eyes as she looked over them.
“I don’t believe I have anything more to say to you about that, Tohan of the Panther Tribe,” Miroku looked at her, and frowned. “Except that I think you know as well as I that your master will never be returned to you. Not so long as Ayami thinks she can restore Naraku in this accursed place.” At that, the female Panther just smiled slightly.
“I had heard you were perceptive. It’s unfortunate, in other circumstances, I should enjoy discussing this with you. As to our late Master...it is better, perhaps, that we do not discuss that topic as well,” she answered as she put them back into the cells and resealed them.
***
“Inuyasha?” Miroku looked at the hanyou who just slumped on the ground in the cell. He glanced at Sesshomaru, who had gone quiet and grim as he sat. Several minutes now, and the hanyou hadn’t moved after woodenly sitting down. Only this terrible, empty stare. “Inuyasha!” he repeated, waving a hand in front of the hanyou.
“Leave him be,” Sesshomaru said.
“What?” Miroku glanced up.
“Leave him alone.”
“He can’t just sit like this.”
“Leave off,” Sesshomaru said coldly, and Miroku froze at the controlled anger there. Sesshomaru frowned, and watched him slowly back away and slump, thinking.
Sango, what about Sango? That hateful letter said nothing about her. The truth was, Miroku was scared now, as he had not been since he was captured. If Kagome had changed as much as Sango feared, if she truly had chosen to let them die, then...his tajiya might be coming here alone, and would most certainly be killed. It wasn’t like his beloved Sango would not try to rescue him, after all. Alone, with just Kirara? Or perhaps...they had not survived the ambush...no. He would believe her alive and well until proven otherwise. But possibilities rolled through his head.
Assume she was well, and wished to save him. Could she have run afoul of Kagome herself in so doing? If that letter was true-the former miko couldn’t afford to let her packmates live, not if she wanted control of the Clan as she stated. If she had turned on them-he was certainly expendable. He remembered too that in no text, no legend or rumor had any use of the Jewel been good, either in intent or outcome.
It was part of Kagome now...could she have fallen to it, the last victim? Had Inuyasha, in his desire to save her, destroyed the kind and gentle soul she once possessed with his wish? Sango had wept in his arms, fearing her humanity was truly gone, was she right? The hanyou had wanted to die, she said. Had she found her purpose in the path of power? She wouldn’t be the first to fall to it. Inuyasha...he too had been tempted, so very tempted. But he was apparently a complete basketcase at the moment.
But Inuyasha wasn’t as closed in as he looked. He was just-broken. Kagome had betrayed him. Kagome hadn’t forgiven, maybe. Hadn’t really taken him back when they’d been together. He’d left her once, and rejected her in the woods when he learned of her actions, in her place, perhaps he wouldn’t forgive. No, honestly, he wouldn’t. Inuyasha knew it. But she loved him, had allowed him to mark her as his, and had marked him as well, an arrowhead and a moon. For a few days, he’d been hers, she had been his. Was it all a lie? Was it as it had been with Kikyou now? Her love turned to hatred?
That wasn’t the worst of it. Houjou? She compared his touch to the mortal boy who wanted to embrace her at the baka festival-a situation she’d never fully explained to him. Badly! Had she just felt guilty when the damned Dokueki attacked and was glad to be out of it? He didn’t understand, and nervously considered the serious possibility. A hanyou, after all, was always seen as less than anyone else. Kagome might be one now-but was born a mortal. He’d made her one of his kind, did she hate him for it, or when he’d mated with her, had he repelled her in spite of her statements of love?
Was it possible for a woman to...pretend she was pleased in bed?
Inuyasha, quite unworldly in some ways, didn’t know. Kagome had complained he was too quick, the first time. Had known about bed matters even as a maiden. A lot more than she ought to have, by his belated reckoning. Had she shared such thing with others? From mortal men in her old world? He hadn’t always been there to look after her when she left his side...was that where she got the comparison? Had she been off enjoying herself with that Houjou then, and simply not allowing him to take her? Inuyasha now knew that there were many ways of sharing such pleasure, damn it. From her!
Where the fuck had she learned if not by experience?
He’d been too happy and enthralled to care then. But now he did. When the only woman who had ever shared herself with him without him paying for it...said he was inferior and unworthy. He’d been a man with her, and she humiliated him for it. Times he treasured, longed to return to-thought of constantly, she mocked. Called him names and said he was a bad mate, an inferior, and a poor lover. Said he was boring in bed.
In writing.
Publicly read out for all to hear, after he had shown throat to his fucking bastard brother for her! Now, she did this, after he had been comforted by her safety when they were held here by the bitch. She was letting Kouga sniff around her! Had run off with him as soon as the chance came by. Alone. They probably were off fucking while she left them to rot. He had nothing now.
No mate. No pride. No self-respect. No. Damned. Tetsusaiga! A soft whimper. Both of his cellmates looked at him.
“Stop that,” Sesshomaru ordered. He rose, and sat beside his brother. The youkai considered what Kagome had done.
Baka female. She had gone too far this time. He would have to attend to it. Kagome...she would pay for this. Oh, yes. She would pay! That letter, calling him, Sesshomaru-a Shibi! A mere lapdog! Her punishment would be legendary, Penelope indeed...Penelope. It stirred something. He thought, and remembered.
***
“Hm. The books are interesting, Kagome. I would know more of your world,” Seshomaru asked, walking through the frosty grass of late autumn beside her.
“Really?”
“I have said so. Do you doubt me?” A frown.
“No. I’m just surprised.”
“Why is this?”
“Well, no one’s really asked that stuff before. They sort of nodded and went on.”
“I see. I am not they, packsister. I would be interested in reading more of the epics and history of your land. I am curious,” Sesshomaru loved a good tale, he simply rarely got the chance to indulge it lately.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Very good. Also, you will obtain more of the noodles,” Sesshomaru noted, and Kagome grinned. She had afterwards brought many ‘classical’ works to him, reading them herself, in some cases, for the first time. They had often discussed them, a pleasant way of passing time.
The Odyssey, now, that had been a favorite of his, as had the translated copy of the Iliad. Delightful tales, and very interesting. Penelope. She emulated Penelope.
A hand lifted slowly, and Miroku’s eyes widened. Receiving a glare that dared him say anything, Sesshomaru gingerly patted his half-brother’s hair. There was another whimper. An arm rested on his brother’s shoulder as Inuyasha, feared hanyou...fell over onto his face. His packmate looked disturbed. He could not tell Inuyasha for fear of letting what he had just realized slip. That the letter’s only purpose was likely to keep Ayami off balance, perhaps...and to send word that Kagome was scheming to rescue them.
There were hints and clues throughout the letter, all meant for him.
Sesshomaru did his best to recall it all-and the tale. What was she planning? It had better be truly impressive. Clever girl, to use a code from a book no one had read in Japan yet, save the two of them. She said she chose to follow the example of Penelope, wife of Odysseus. Who had unwelcome suitors court her as she plotted her lost husband’s restoration to her side when he was parted from her by war and journeyed a long road back to her. Waited faithfully and planned, a plan that ended in the death of the false suitors and victory over their enemies. He’d enjoyed that part a great deal.
Hm. False suitors. Kouga was unwelcome. He was...a wolf. An opportunist by nature who had desired her for himself. Perhaps he had somehow forced her to agree, then? Likely. It was also likely that like Penelope's suitors, he was currently lording over the Keep and the Clan. She wanted him dead now, and somehow planned to use him to get them back. So clearly, she had something in mind for Kouga as well. Something nasty, as she’d put it.
The odd reference to his Lord Father...that he, Sesshomaru, knew how he felt, she’d written, and she did not intend to follow him. It was perhaps a reference to his own breaking of packbond...but he doubted it. His Lord Father, master of the Swords of the Honorable Ruler. Lord of all he surveyed, Inutaisho had never been in such a position. He would have charged in, swept away all opposition, and crushed anything in his path. Just as he had until the final battle, taken by an unworthy mortal, of all things...as Sesshomaru had charged in...and been taken by a mere insane wolf bitch.
Sesshomaru frowned. He wasn’t sure...but he was getting an inkling. And it made him nervous as hell. Kagome’s gambling streak was clearly in control. But-that meant he had to get the baka sensible...be ready. It would be unexpected. It would be sudden, and it would be entirely unexpected by their opponents, because she was lulling them into a false sense of security. It would not be a straight on attack, but a cunning one. Reckoning her likely assets, Sesshomaru worried. It wasn’t as though she would be able to even make use of their Swords, and without Tetsusaiga-he could not risk Inuyasha in combat.
He trusted that she recalled that. But then, he had trained her in planning and strategy.
***
The news came not from Tohan or their captors...but from Kokuzoku, and from the Inu themselves. A sudden, inarticulate scream emerged from the cell the former Lord was in. The traitor had been locked up by Ayami for his returning Rin to her home, for failing to provide her with Kagome, Kirara, and Sango, and now he was no longer useful-save as absorbing material for Naraku.
As he screamed, they felt it. Something thrummed distantly along Inuyasha and Sesshomaru’s nerves. The barriers were heavy enough to interfere with even a packbond, one already attenuated by distance. Kagome was fighting something, far from here. Who was clear enough. Kokuzoku’s pack was being made to pay as she promised. Soon-they would be a memory.
“NO! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!” Kokuzoku screamed again and again, promising to kill her, to take her blood, things he would do to Kagome...that made Sesshomaru’s blood boil as he listened. Inuyasha raised his head and growled softly. It was the first sign of interest he’d shown in anything.
But later-another prisoner joined them, torn, bloodied, injured...and furious looking. She was carried in, and thrown into the cell. Sango. Unarmed, but still wearing her poison mask. Miroku lunged at her, scooping her up into his arms as he threw curses at their captors...as they did what they could...
For wounds that didn’t look as bad as they thought? She removed her mask and kissed her husband gently on the lips, being pulled into a tight, welcome embrace as the Inu both looked away, a courtesy as delicate as any Miroku had ever seen.
“Well. Shall we get to work? We don‘t have much time, and I have something for you,” she whispered into his ear as his eyes widened. Sango looked innocent as she slipped her boots off. Wrapped around her legs-were uncharged ofuda. Miroku read them, and slowly smiled.
If what he saw here was right...they had help coming, help that needed his particular skills.
Showing the Inu, both positioned themselves so that they blocked the view from the doorway as Miroku set to work. If he read these right, with some help from outside, they would help anchor a spell to keep one hanyou from being affected by the Temple’s wards...
Author’s notes- Oh, yes. The battle has begun! This was crazy to write the first time. So much happening in so many locations was a real challenge. I was having a horrible time trying to work it all out on paper. Reading it over again, I’m still glad I went for it. Hopefully you will enjoy this as well. The play reference is of course to the ‘Don’t boil it, the terrifying dried up demons’ episodes. Oh, I forgot to say, but the Armsmaster’s name, Musha, means warrior. Thanks for reading!-Namiyo