InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ By The River of Shadowed Moments ❯ The Caged Bird ( Chapter 10 )

AN: Thank you to all who nominated and voted for me at the 1st Quarter IYFG awards. This story won 3rd place in Best Romance Other, and I am honored to gain an award. Thank you to Risa for the beta job! You'll be seeing more updates of this story very soon.

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By the River of Shadowed Moments

“Declare this an emergency
come on and spread a sense of urgency
and pull us through”

“Apocalypse Please” by Muse

Chapter Ten - The Caged Bird

As well as Kagome could fend off the witch's power from the vines that imprisoned her, her energy had faded and she had lost consciousness. When she woke up, she realized that she was still being held captive but taken outside of the cave in the forest. The witch was beside her cackling, watching the darkness in the trees waiting for her friends to come for her.

 

She was glorified bait for a trap that Naraku had undoubtedly been a part of, and the old hag's lust for revenge beyond the grave only fueled his plans further to get the last Shikon shard. Kagome was sure this new enemy had no idea what kind of monster Naraku truly was, and she was blinded by her hated for Inuyasha's family.

 

Kagome shook the sleep from her body which caused the vines become tighter around her. She winced and let out a small scream as thorns pierce into the exposed skin on her thighs and legs. A plant tendril snaked around her neck, and Kagome gasped for air from the constriction to her windpipe. She let out a choked sigh, and the witch turned to her, grinning in victory.

 

“Soon, young miko, your dogs will come for you, and they will watch in horror as the vines slowly kill you in front of them,” she said, cackling and teasing a gnarled finger at her.

 

In spite of the agonizing pain, Kagome glared at her with fortitude and stood her ground. “You're making a mistake. You don't know what you're dealing with. Once Naraku gets what he wants from you, your revenge won't matter. He'll send you back to the grave where you came from.”

 

The witch chuckled again. “Fool. I do not care what Naraku wants. My only focus is humiliating the dog clan. I will see the Lord Sesshoumaru kneel before me and beg for mercy.”

 

Kagome bit back a laugh herself. This dark old sorceress was obviously delusional. Kagome's reply to her came out slow yet fierce. “You're the fool here. I could die two life times over, and Sesshoumaru will never bow to you for my life.”

 

The witch turned to her, inches from Kagome's face. Kagome recoiled back from her rancid breath as much as the vines would allow. Her hollow eyes peered at her, and after a guttural laugh she said, “You are the one that cannot see. The dog surely loves you, and I'm betting he'll do anything for you.”

 

`If only that were true,' Kagome thought mournfully, for she loved Sesshoumaru herself - as a human, and she was sure that the full-blooded demon prince could not love her the same way. `He just isn't capable of it,' she mused.

 

Kagome didn't say anything, and the witch moved past her, pacing around as movement was clearly coming from the trees. Biting on her lip, Kagome was horrified to what would come from the inevitable confrontation. She had hoped that her friends knew it was a trap and would have been mindful enough to avoid this new enemy.

 

However, Kagome knew her friends cared for her, especially Inuyasha, and they would no doubt come to find her. When silver hair and Kirara's fire became visible in the forest's shadows, Kagome's eyes widened as her friends, as well as Sesshoumaru's group, came through the clearing and stopped before her and the witch.

 

Immediately, the old sorceress laughed confidently. She sauntered around, eyeing Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha appreciatively as they looked in horror at Kagome's condition. Inuyasha shouted her name immediately, and he glared and growled at the enemy as she began to taunt them.

 

“Well, you have arrived as I expected,” she said, grinning with premature victory. She pointed at Sesshoumaru and laughed. “And here is the biggest fool of them all. How exciting for me to learn that despite my curse, the prince of the dogs has fallen in love with a human.” She turned to Inuyasha, “So has his brother, my poor wretched nephew.”

 

“Do not let the fiend taunt you,” Sesshoumaru said to his brother, ignoring the witch's heckling. Inuyasha was growling, ready to lose his temper and charge at her to rescue Kagome.

 

“Shut up, bastard! I'll take this bitch on by myself!” Inuyasha announced over the enemy's guffaws. “Kagome I'm coming for you!”

 

“Be careful, everyone!” Kagome warned. “You must all work together. She has no idea that Naraku is using her!”

 

“Silence!” The evil witch slapped her, and Sesshoumaru held up a hand as Inuyasha was ready to make a move after her. Inuyasha glared at his brother for ordering him back, but the frightened look on Kagome's face had stilled him to be patient.

 

“Do not talk as I am not here!” she bellowed, and everyone realized that this new adversary was highly insecure and concerned with gaining the spotlight. After receiving a barrage of glares from Kagome's companions, the witch announced her demands at last, using Kagome as if she was some bargaining chip.

 

“I will release the girl on two conditions!” She pointed at Kohaku, and Sango gasped. “First, the boy will be given to the one who revived me. I do not care what happens to him, only that he is traded for the girl and given to the one called Naraku.”

 

“No! Don't do it!” Kagome yelled. She was silenced again with a slap.

 

“Second! I wish for both princes of the House of Dogs to bow before me,” she said, pointing at Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, “and you will become my slaves.”

 

“Never, old woman.” Sesshoumaru looked to Kagome and then to his enemy, his golden eyes cooling with calculated fury. “I will take the girl some other way.”

 

“You'll never get Kohaku either!” Inuyasha drew Tessaiga and pointed it at her. He added, “I would rather die than become your slave, you dried up old hag!”

 

The witch sighed, still smiling and almost expecting their answers. She responded whimsically, “Very well!”

 

Suddenly, a blue mist rose up from the ground around them. The image of the witch began to glow, and with a strong pop, she began duplicating herself to take an offensive position around them. Her laugh echoed throughout the area, and everyone began to stand their guard as she and her copies lunged for them.

 

Everyone kept their stance, trying to figure out which one of the replicas was the real witch while still trying to fend off the others. Her doppelgangers had packed just as much of a punch as she had, and even Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had some trouble dodging her mystic blue blasts.

 

Kagome watched in horror as Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha went their separate ways, refusing to cooperate and work together. She attempted to scream loudly at them, but the vines had suddenly squeezed harder, and only a hoarse whisper came out when she tried to speak.

 

Tears fell down her cheeks as she watched her friends gain mystical injuries while falling back from their defenses. Her eyes widened when Sesshoumaru let out a blast from his sword, a crescent shaped black hole that ripped through one of the witch's copies.

 

Momentarily, everyone glanced at his position, awed by Tenseiga's new attack. He lunged for the enemy doppelganger that Inuyasha was fighting, and in a fluid motion, he waved his sword to set off another blast. Inuyasha tried desperately to fend off the witch himself, but since she was not a demon, his dragon-scaled Tessaiga could not suck away any youki from her. Any energy she'd have from Naraku would be small, and even her copies wouldn't have that much to suck away.

 

Convinced he was fighting a fake, Inuyasha blasted the Kongosoha attack at her, and the diamonds rushed past Sesshoumaru and obliterated the copy witch. Sesshoumaru turned his head to his brother, giving him a mild glare as his brother smirked at him for defeating the enemy first.

 

Before they could face off with the next copies coming for them, they heard Sango's scream and turned to see one of the witches inching toward Kohaku. He fended off the energy with his sickle to protect Rin, only to be blasted backward on his backside. Rin screamed in fear, gaining Sesshoumaru's attention as he quickly darted toward the spot.

 

“Kohaku!” Sango cried out, and instantly Inuyasha bounded behind his brother toward them.

 

“That's the real one!” Miroku exclaimed, while turning to jab at a clone with his staff. He ran toward Sango, and they both watched as Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha barely made it in time to help Kohaku. Almost on instinct, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru begin to work together. Inuyasha stepped in front of Kohaku, and Sesshoumaru drew his sword back, sending the strongest Meidou blast at the witch that he could manage.

 

Everyone watched in awe as a black, waxing moon shape veered toward the real witch before she could get her hands on Kohaku. She moved back, giving them a sour look before dashing like lightning to safety. With the crisis averted, everyone turned to see that the enemy had retreated back to Kagome's position, and now she had pulled a dagger to the young miko's throat.

 

The evil sorceress was panting in exhaustion from her waning power. She glared at them with desperate eyes, and everyone stilled as the knife made a small cut on Kagome's throat near her jugular.

 

“You bastards. You failed. I don't care about the boy anymore, and I don't care about the House of Dogs!” she inhaled coarsely, trying to catch her breath. Her skin looked gaunt, and her once powerful blue aura was dimming around her. She gripped Kagome tightly with her vines, piercing the blade a little more. Blood trickled down Kagome's throat, and she whimpered. Inuyasha took a step, and the witch gave him a warning glare.

 

“Nothing more would bring me peace than seeing this young girl - the one you dogs love so dearly - die right before your eyes.” Her breath wavered, and she let out a raspy howl before lifting the dagger above Kagome's head. “I will see you all suffer!”

 

Everyone gasped as her weapon came close to stabbing Kagome. Sesshoumaru began to move, as did Inuyasha, but when they saw the witch pause - her body twitching in agony - they watched as Kagome's power began to pulse around her.

 

“I won't let you!” Kagome wailed. The vines holding her disintegrated as her spiritual power flared. The witch drew back, eyes round with fright as Kagome's power burned into her skin and subdued her own.

 

“What sort of girl are you?” she whispered, and Kagome's pink power turned white as it raged. The witch tried to retreat, throwing down the dagger and trying to run into the woods. As Kagome's light consumed her, the witch was immobilized, screaming as the power chewed at her false body and revived soul, turning her to dust.

 

After that, Kagome's power had disappeared in an instant, and she began to fall to the ground in an unconscious state. Her power exhausted, she could not break her fall, so Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru both ran to her swiftly, hoping to catch her.

 

Instead, they were blocked by a rising wall of purple shouki. Inuyasha began coughing along with the others as the poisonous mist filled their lungs. Sesshoumaru squinted his eyes in the dark fog, and with his acute vision, he could see Naraku now holding Kagome captive. The partial and tainted Shikon jewel began to glow through the smog as Naraku held Kagome close to him.

 

His dark, familiar laughter rang through their ears. Inuyasha growled, and Sesshoumaru began to dash to their location. He was blocked immediately by Naraku's minion, Byakuya, and he directed a small Meidou blast at the evil incarnation, trying to get through as Naraku fell back from the scene.

 

“You coward! Come back here!” Inuyasha shook a fist at him.

 

“Ah, Inuyasha, you cannot start making demands when I have your pretty miko right here. You need her to defeat me, don't you? Well I need her to get the last shard of the jewel.” He paused, and the shouki began to subside as everyone got a clear look at him. Naraku, who was no longer scratched up from the last battle, had stood before them with Kagome unconscious in his arms.

 

“Well, my friends, it all comes down to this,” he stated in his low, confident voice. “Slayer,” he said turning to Sango, “you know what I desire.”

 

He held out his hand to Kohaku and said, “Give me the last shard, and I will spare Kagome's life.”

TBC…