InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Crystal Clear ❯ L. T. Syspila ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4
L. T. Syspila


*~*~*

*Inuyasha’s POV*

For some reason, everyone almost didn’t take me seriously. Rin had gotten a lot of people out of the village and towards the high hills, but when I told them to move it, they hesitated badly, and as if they weren’t sure they should believe me.

I was pissed and getting madder by the second. If that’s what they wanted, that’s what they got. I had shit to do, and I wanted to get back to Kagome as fast as possible while still doing what she asked of me. These idiots were making it hard. I was finally screaming at them, telling them to get their asses to the hill or they were all going to die. Mostly all of them moved a lot quicker at hearing that.

One woman stumbled with a toddler in her arms, and I raised her to her feet effortlessly, handing her the now screaming toddler. He’d either been startled by the fall, or didn’t like me too much. Sometimes I have that affect on toddlers. The village had grown so much, and there were so many more people, I had almost forgotten all about it. Kagome was correct; Rin couldn’t have done it by herself, no matter how hard she tried.

Once everyone was heading in the right direction (finally), I turned my attention back to the beastie. Something was seriously wrong. Just looking at the fucker, my eyes watered, and my head became dizzy. Demons, even snake demons, weren’t supposed to be able to do that, but Kagome was right, once again, on that I wouldn’t be able to go very near to it. There had to be something I was missing.

Sango and Miroku came running hard, out of breath and weak like they’d been running for hours. Sango held a sleeping Kirara in her arms, and Miroku held a dead-looking Shippo. They looked expectantly at me, almost surprised at first, but then like they wanted to know what to do with them.

I frowned firmly. “What the hell?” I waved my arm at the sleeping demons expectantly. My left eye twitched at the corner for some unknown reason.

Sango took her cat and Shippo as well and found a nice man and woman to hold onto them while they ran to the hill. Miroku shook his head slowly, wide-eyes on the snake. “We were flying back on Kirara, but she got weak and hit the ground. The next thing we knew, both of them were out and won’t wake up. We had to run the rest of the way.”

Then something was up, and it wasn’t just me being paranoid. The full demons couldn’t take it at all. I was only half, so it was only affecting me half way. We’d done everything that we should have so far, and Kagome had been the wise one (though unintentionally, I’m sure) because if I had stayed to stare at the monster, I’d probably be unconscious or eaten by now.

So what the hell was that shit it was emitting?

Sango gasped harshly. “Why is she down there by herself?!”

It was a shot at me, and I couldn’t help but growl. I wasn’t in the mood from a lecture from the exterminator, especially since I had been ordered to do it in the first place, and rarely do I listen to anyone else when it comes to fighting.

My instincts have kept me alive this long, and it used to be all I had. I didn’t ever have other people to help me out with my problems, so my habit is still there, and as the saying goes, old habits die hard. They’ve kept Kagome’s ass alive, too, and not to mention Sango’s, so I doubted I’d be ditching them anytime soon. They could just fucking deal with it.

Apparently, Sango had dropped it after seeing my reaction, which was good, because I had never wanted to slug a woman so badly just for saying or insinuating something. I wouldn’t have, but you get the point.

“The snake is staring at her…” Miroku not-so-helpfully added.

“He’s going to eat her…” The exterminator frowned, once again looking to me, almost angrily now. Why was I just standing there? Because there wasn’t anything else I could do right now, not and live.

The monk shook his head, eyes squinting from the sunlight in his face. “I don’t think it wants to eat her, Sango. He would have by now.”

Sango paused, and then her mouth fell open slightly in what I could only assume was shock. “Oh gods, it wants her. Kagome is the snake charmer.”

I sighed, wiping away the frustration and tiredness in my eyes. This was really too much crap to deal with. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means the snake is either going to follow her movements, or eat her and find something else. It’s apparently looking for someone to follow.”

“Why follow her? We’re assuming this is a stupid demon.”

“Maybe Kagome reminds him of another snake charmer?”

“She doesn’t look like a freaking snake princess.”
Miroku’s brows creased heavily. “No, but her hair is long enough. Snakes can’t see that well. Her hair may be the only thing it can see clearly.”

“Or her power calls to him,” Sango finished; bringing that ridiculous boomerang she always carried around off her back, and poised for battle. Miroku mirrored her with his staff, and the two were ready to tango.

I reached for tetsuiga, but barely got my hand to the hilt. The air suddenly smelled and tasted strongly of flowers, lingering no matter how hard I tried to get rid of it with my sleeves. Flowers? Snakes don’t smell that way. My eyes leaked hard, my nose burned with it, and the light-headedness came back. Was the smell illusion, or coming from the snake itself?

“Flowers…Inuyasha, you really need something to wear on your face,” the monk stated very quickly, and I was getting agitated. Did he really believe I hadn’t figured that out already?

Sango handed me a face mask, just like the one she usually wears to exterminations. I put it on without hesitating, and could suddenly see better. The scent of flowers was still there, but not as powerful, and the wooziness was just starting to fade a bit.

So now, I could think clearly again. Here’s to hoping I’d be helpful. This was just like that incident with the damn ink guy when I first met Kagome. Where were Sango’s stupid masks then?

“Why does that smell do that to me?”

Miroku frowned, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead. I wasn’t sure if it was from the running, the sun or the snake. “If the legends are true, then snake demons aren’t really powerful at all, or at least, not usually. They use illusions and a sort of gas substance to weaken their enemies without them being aware of what’s happening. Enemies being usually other demons…Though I’ve never heard of one this big…if he were smaller, I’d say it’d be easy, but he can throw himself around and cause a lot of damage, too.”

“If he’s not that powerful, then why come up to the village?”

“Maybe he knows his size is impressive.”

“Or maybe he’s not a regular demon.”

The monk nodded once. “Perhaps.”

Kagome took a careful step forward and the snake followed her with its huge head. I cursed harshly. She’d just now realized that it was so carefully watching her, waiting for her to do something. I prayed to every god that would listen that she didn’t make a wrong move, or piss the snake off. I wasn’t close enough to do anything about it, and I wasn’t certain that I could get closer.
I couldn’t bear to lose her now.

I finally had sense enough to take a good look at the snake. I could see the scales easily from here. Most of them were as big around as my face, and the belly scales were probably just as long as I was tall. There was a silver pearl in the middle of his head, right between his eyes. Pearl was all I could call it, but it was freaking huge. His eyes were sharp, huge yellow beads with a sharp black slash down the middle. If I hadn’t known it was looking at Kagome, I wouldn’t have been able to say if it could properly see or not. It could have been looking right at her or at nothing at all.

The body was still right now with that freaky stillness that some snakes have, and he was just looking down at my Miko, waiting for her to move. I was afraid to blink, because he was so still, it was almost as if he could just disappear, or have Kagome half-way down his throat when I looked again. I wouldn’t try my chances.

I hated to admit it, but I was scared shitless of this thing, and I hadn’t really been scared of anything since Naraku. Not only was he fucking with my senses badly, but he didn’t have to have any power to be threatening. All he had to do was throw his body around a little bit, or bite on something, and that something would be dead. That horse was freaking candy to that thing. Something that size could shatter bones and not even blink.

I realized that the poison leaking out of its fangs was emitting some sort of…steam, smoke, or something like that. It looked like Sesshoumaru’s acid drool, except it wasn’t eating the ground. It was just smoking, and possibly producing some of the gas that was putting me out. That meant one little drop of that shit, and it wouldn’t be pretty if the person lived.

I didn’t know if getting close was a good idea or not. Part of me knew that it was completely stupid, that if I were smart, I’d stay right where I was. But I wasn’t that cowardly, and wasn’t about to let Kagome get hurt. I couldn’t leave her there, and I wasn’t going to, but I hoped the mask would be enough to keep its powers (or smells) from screwing with my head. Even if I was just going to pass out as soon as I got down there, I didn’t know how to be practical. It was either up here, watching, or down there, unconscious and useless. I was only assuming the worst because best-case-scenario that I didn’t pass out almost seemed far-reached. After all, even with Sango’s mask on, I was still so sensitive to smell. Being up close with it would probably still make me dizzy, or worse.

I thought, good and hard, and it took more effort than was pretty. “Can it talk?”

Sango chimed in, holding Miroku’s hand carefully now. “The old ones can. I’ve only met a few.”

“They still around?”

She stared at me, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say it was a cold, heartless stare that some sociopaths attain after years of killing. I’d never seen that stare on Sango before. Me sometimes, but never her. “No. Their bones helped make Hirakutse(spelling).”

I nodded, and the woman and I had a moment of near-perfect understanding. If anyone else was good at killing things here, it was Sango. She had more kills up her sleeve than even I did. Solo kills, that is.

Miroku pointed his staff to the south of the village, directly away from us and the hill where the villagers were. “We need to take it south, away from the village and the people. We can probably destroy it safely there.”

“How do you propose we do that?” I was snapping, and really didn’t mean to. He would make me regret it.

“Get your lover to see if it will follow her.”

I groaned. Stupid monk…It was like every time something serious was happening, he had to freaking make jokes, or always had to try and embarrass me. And it worked, which was even worse. Eyes rolled skyward, I reached out and flicked him in the ear without even looking at him. He didn’t expect it and cursed in surprise, but I was already heading towards the snake before he could respond.

Kagome was reaching slowly for her bows and arrows. I wanted to smile at her, but didn’t. She was being cute. “Kagome!”

She turned to me, surprised, I think, to see the mask on my face. “Inuyasha?”

“Don’t look at me. Look at him,” I gestured at the ugly creature, and she obeyed. I could smell fear falling from her so thickly, and I could taste it on my tongue. Her heartbeat flooded my ears, but I focused on other things so that I could still hear her. She was so scared, and I felt badly for my inability to take her place at the moment. “Try talking to him, Kagome.”

She removed her hands away from her weapons. I was getting closer, but taking my time. The snake wasn’t moving or going anywhere, it just had its eyes on her.

Her hands squeezed together really hard, and she looked to me as if she’d kill me. “What?!”

I sighed and sped up just a hair. “Just try, Kagome, talk to the snake. He’s only looking at you.”

Swallowing, she closed her eyes, but forced herself to open them. “If you can talk, say something.”

“Megami Hebi.”

Both of us dropped our jaws as if we’d broken a wire on it. The snake was now declared a she, and she had just told us that she was a beautiful snake goddess. No, she’d just told Kagome. She still didn’t have eyes for anyone else right now.

Shit. This wasn’t an ordinary snake. Great.

So, she understood English, then, but maybe preferred to speak Japanese. Strange how a lot of demons would only speak their native tongue, but could understand many other languages, as well. It seemed pretty pointless to me.

Kagome frowned, only side-glancing at me for a moment. “W-what do you want, Hebi?”

The snake sat straighter, taller, and looked around. This thing had freaking consciousness…it wasn’t necessarily just an animal that came to play out of the woodwork. Fuck. “I want power.”

I sighed, and it was long and tired. I was getting pretty sick of surprises.

My Miko looked so lost for a moment, but realization burst into her face like someone had just wiped the confusion away. “We have no power here. Leave us.”

The snake actually, I kid you not, shook its head negatively. “No, thisss isss the village where the Ssshikon Miko livesss. Ssshe will help me.”

Help? It was asking for help?

Kagome swallowed a lump in her throat that hadn’t been there before, and her pulse rose to an almost dangerous level in my ears. If she didn’t calm down, she’d pass out. “I am the Shikon Miko, but the jewel is no longer useable. It is useless to be here, wasting my time. Please leave us.”

The she-demon stared at her hard, really stared at her, and I gripped tetsuiga’s hilt, ready to pull. “You? You are thisss woman?” The snake threw that freaking cow-sized head back and laughed, then returned to gazing cautiously at Kagome. “You are young, but hard to ssspot.”

Kagome shivered and crossed her arms. The snake was going to give her a heart attack, so I tried to talk to it. “What the hell do you want, snake?”

It turned its stare to me, and I almost wished it would look back at Kagome. Almost. “I told you, half-beassst, power.”

“The jewel has been spent. You can’t use it.”

“I don’t want the jewel. I want her to help me gain power.”

Turning the snake’s attention back to her, she nearly growled out her response. “Listen, I’m not even sure what you mean, but I can’t help you do such a thing. But why would I? You tore into my village and slaughtered my best horse. You very well may have hurt my people. If asking for help was your intention, you shouldn’t have come here abusing my hospitality or Inuyasha’s.”

It flinched, that was the only word for it. Though on a snake, it doesn’t look right. “I have not been thisss way long, human. I need more power to attain a sssmaller, human form. It is my biggesssst wisssh.”

There, I felt it instantly, though I’m not sure how. Kagome was starting to feel sorry for her. I didn’t, so I spoke before she could. “She doesn’t know how to do that, or if it’s even possible. Now go away before I rip your head off.”

It hissed horribly, and I had to throw my ears back to protect them. “I could jussst kill everyone until you help me.”

“Who’s to say that once you’re more powerful, you won’t do that, anyway?”

“I guessss, half-breed, you would have to trussst me.”

“Hell no.”

The snake roared, and it almost undid me. The bitch was going to eat metal. “I asssk for help, yet you do not aide? I could jusssst eat you all and absssorb your powersss that way.”

Kagome had her bow and arrows drawn now, pointed at the snake. “Your intentions are not pure, snake. If they were, perhaps we could try and figure out a way to help you. But you would use this power for evil.”

She lifted again, suddenly more intimidating than ever. “Ssso be it.” It used its lower body and threw it into the nearest hut, collapsing it. Kagome shot her arrow, but with her fear, she didn’t aim well. The arrow just barely grazed the snake in the side, making a near perfect 4 foot diamond shape gash down its side.

Tetsuiga was drawn, and I jumped to make the cut. As I gripped my sword to pull down for the hit, my head was suddenly light again, even with the mask, as if something was now coming out of the gash Kagome had created. I couldn’t focus, and the snake knocked me out of the air with one fell swoop of her head. I had no ability to keep my skull from smashing into a water well, and the bricks ate at my vision. I felt no pain, but I couldn’t see, and I knew if I tried to stand, I’d puke.

There was a darkness sweeping over me, trying to desperately to suck me under. I tried to keep my attention on everything around me, tried to open my eyes and fought it for a while, slowly losing, and tried to focus on the feelings in my hands, which were now gone. Tetsuiga was gone, too. There was nothing here but me.

I heard crashing and people screaming. Somewhere, not too far from me, Kagome’s body crashed into something, and a terrified scream was all I heard. I tried to somehow gain the strength to move towards her voice, her smell, but nothing was working. Even my mind was starting to fade.

The darkness was screaming at me now, and it was all I had left. I couldn’t fight it anymore, so I gave, and the darkness sucked me under so hard into something that had never before seen light, and never would.

*~*~*

My eyes opened when something cold poured all over my face. At first, my vision was blurred, but then I saw Miroku worriedly looking over me.

I refrained from snorting, my sense of humor back in full throttle. Miroku wasn’t really the first thing I wanted to see in the mornings…

“Inuyasha, are you alright?”

I didn’t answer, though I could have. Instead, I grabbed his arm and helped myself up to a sitting position. I had to groan mentally to myself the minute I saw the sight.

The snake wasn’t down. Although her body was littered in huge slices that exposed her muscles and bones in some places, it should have at least slowed her down, but she was still moving just as well as before. Sango was distracting her now, a little south of the village and away from buildings. Hirakutse flew in the air several times and left huge gashes in the wiggling fucker’s body, but still to no effect. That snake just wouldn’t weaken.

I glanced to my left, my head slightly hurting with the movement, and saw Kagome lying on the ground, very unconscious. I resisted the urge to get pissed, and it was hard, very hard. Why was she still lying there? Why wasn’t she in a fucking bed where she needed to be?

“Inuyasha, we need Tetsuiga. We can cut her into tiny pieces, and I think she’ll still live. I’ll tend Kagome if you can destroy the snake.”

My head felt so much better than it did a few seconds ago. There were advantages to being half-demon. What would have been a bad head injury on a human was now almost healed on me. I closed my eyes and listened for a pulse on my Miko. I found it, steadily beating, and relaxed. Miroku probably already had checked for one before he came to me. Kagome was, after all, just a human.

“I’ll try,” I finally said, though I didn’t know if I could do much. But I did have to at least try. I might be able to stand a good, far distance and use my sword, but that always guaranteed more destruction for the objects around it, too. Of course, it didn’t look like I had a choice right now.

Miroku grabbed my elbow, seemed to contemplate something, and then shook his head at me. “This is not a normal snake demon. Something has…given her unusual abilities.”

I growled at the sound of bones cracking because it was strangely satisfying to me. Sango had hit direct spine with Hirakutse, and it broke. Yet the snake, which should have now had some problems moving, was slithering like nothing at all had changed about it.

Yeah, something was up. This fucking demon was ignoring her own injuries, which should have been painful. She didn’t even act like she felt it.

“Sango has managed to hold her off without being bitten or slammed into, but I’m still not certain that there is any way that she and I can disable it. You’re the only one with enough…firepower,” Miroku stated almost tiredly. He sounded like they’d been fighting with that damn snake for hours. How long had I been out?

I glanced one last time over to Kagome while pulling Tetsuiga back into my hand. She was still just as unconscious as she was when I first saw her. I could smell the metallic scent of blood on the air, just barely, but I was sure she’d have a gash on the back of her head.

I pointed at her non-too-gracefully. She was alive, and there were big-bad beasties roaming around. She wouldn’t want me “fussing” over her, as she puts it, not when there were other people who could be doing it. I wasn’t happy about it, but I’d hung around her so much that now she was starting to rub off on me. “Just get her the hell out of here.”

The monk nodded happily. Maybe he was happy that he wasn’t going near the snake and I was. Maybe, but I wanted to slug him, anyway. I don’t know why he thought I wanted to go over there.

I sighed. Freaking idiot monk.

I hoisted my sword over my shoulder and started walking in the general direction of the snake. Its strange new energy swam around in my head, moving my hair and clothes as if it was a strange new wind. Plans flew around in my mind, but only one stood out because it didn’t seem like I could do anything else about it. If I got close, the snake would knock me out again. If I stayed far away, I had a better chance of disintegrating it, but also of destroying a lot of shit. That was really the only thing I could do. I may not have liked it, but it was true. No one would get hurt this way, since the village was on top of the hill with Rin.

I glanced back at her really quickly, just to see what she was doing. The crowd of people on the hill was large, but Rin was at the top, staring at me carefully with that baby in her arms.

I growled, but turned my attention forward again. I still didn’t trust the girl. I didn’t have any reason to. But she wasn’t doing anything right now, and I left it at that. I’d grill her later.

Maybe 30 yards from the beast now, I felt like I was at a close, but safe, distance. I couldn’t smell anything but the faint, musky smell of snake. Maybe her wicked powers only came into effect when one was a certain distance away. I didn’t know, but I was glad it was gone now. I felt fine again.

Sango was still beating the hell out of her Hirakutse, but she might as well have been throwing rocks at her. The snake still wasn’t even phased.

I readied my sword, studied the energies in the air, and was suddenly more ready than I ever had been. I hadn’t used my sword like this in a while; it felt good. The powers mingled around me, and I felt it like tiny fire ants crawling up my skin. Most of it was the snake’s power, which was badly suspicious. No snake creature should have had this kind of power to begin with.

No more screwing around. Time to end this now.

“Sango, move!” I screamed, and forced my sword down, shoving the snake’s power back at her with the full force of Tetsuiga. I didn’t want the snake to notice me and charge suddenly; I had to trust the exterminator to move.

The power shot through the air, and what would have normally been a killing blow just freaking bounced off her. A few inches in front of her body, my sword’s powers had recoiled back. I cursed hard and with meaning. It would have been more useful to spit at her. Something about her defenses was solid, like a rock. Part of the power was missing, then, a very important part.

My eyes were wide now with surprise, a low snarl starting low in my throat. She had to have had a defense shield that was abnormally powerful because I’d never heard of an immortal demon. There couldn’t have been such a thing. Even Naraku couldn’t stand against this sword for long. But why could Sango get her stupid boomerang to react and my sword did nothing?

“Inuyasha!” Miroku shouted, and I glanced back quickly. Kagome was suddenly standing in the road, bow and arrows pointed. I had a very powerful sensory memory of Kikyo just then, because blood was dripping down her shoulders, staining her Miko outfit, and it looked too much like what she was the night she died and day she rose from the grave. I snapped out of it and met Kagome’s eyes, but they were frosted over. She shouldn’t have been able to move. Maybe someone was helping her. Without words, I knew that she was waiting for me to strike, the tension in her shoulders making her tremble slightly.

I couldn’t argue, though I wanted to. I looked forward again. The snake bitch had noticed now and was moving swiftly towards me. Flowers were starting to come back. I quickly raised my sword back, focused on the energy of the demon and pulled it towards me. Once I found the wind scar, I threw Tetsuiga down, throwing the demon’s own power back at her again.

The energy glowed red and fiery from the tip of the metal. Kagome launched her arrow simultaneously, and the incredible Miko energy mixed above Tetsuiga’s power. Her arrow hit the snake in the head, her pure energy shattering its evil defense shields, and my energy hit it second, this time, and completely destroying her while she screamed like it was meant to.

Thoughtlessly, I dropped the sword when I saw Kagome collapse again. The monk got to her first, but I was happy she hadn’t hit the ground.

Faintly, I could suddenly hear the people of the village applauding. I had forgotten them for a minute. I didn’t even look in their direction because, sadly, I was still too embarrassed to deal with praise. I wasn’t sure what I would do with it besides blush like a fucking school girl.

I saw Shippo and Kirara approach Miroku and Kagome. I couldn’t admit it, but it made me happy to see them okay. I wasn’t sure what that smell would have done if it held them under forever. But whatever hold that snake had on them was gone the moment I killed her. Everyone was okay except Kagome. My chest was tight with that thought.er.ave done i hem okay. her from me today, then they honestly have no mercy for the good-hearted.t s

Sango came running to me then, a little worn and worse for wear, with a round object in her hand, held out to me. “This is all that’s left of the snake.”

I grabbed the ball and observed it. It was the pearl in the center of the alleged snake goddess’s head. It was a real pearl, too. It was nearly the size of a cantaloupe. That must have been one hell of an oyster.

But there was a slight buzzing feeling in it, and I didn’t question myself because I was tired of being wrong. I dropped it to the ground, picked up a rock at least 3 times its size, and started bashing it to pieces.

Sango stared at me, but said nothing. I must have looked nuts, but I didn’t care. There was something very wrong about that pearl, and I didn’t want it around any more.

Once it was crushed good and well, I made a young woman from the village take it, and forced her to promise me that night that she would throw it in the fire. She did, gratefully. It was gone, and so was part of the weariness from my chest.

The other part was being used well. Kagome didn’t wake. I held her all night long on that bed at the old hag’s, and the next morning, Kaede agreed that she could go outside for some air. Though she wasn’t awake, and I knew she wouldn’t care, I did it anyway. I had her beside me outside the hut, trying to clean her wounds, trying to clean the blood, and trying to ignore my fear.
She was alive, her heart beating normally, but if she didn’t wake up soon, I didn’t know what I would do.

I wouldn’t lose this woman. Kikyo I had lost, but she was never to me what Kagome is now.

Kagome was my soon-to-be mate, the love of my life, and the most passionate person I have ever known. If the gods took her from me today, then they honestly have no mercy for the good-hearted.

Well, Kagome always said I was good-hearted. I was never so sure.

*~*~*

A/N---No worries, guys, Kagome’s alright. I know in the series she always gets hurt a lot, but I wanted her to take some action for once. She took charge at first and had to worry about the village’s safety. If Inuyasha had done it, he’d be hurt. So nobody get mad at me, she’s fine.

When I pictured the snake, I pictured her looking like the red-milk snake, except with blue stripes. Look it up if you’re curious. Maybe she was a little brighter red, too, than the one that I found, but it gives you an idea. The chapter’s name is the scientific name for the snake it looks like, mainly because I couldn’t think of another name. Sorry!

I am still just messing around, but since everyone likes this story so far, I’ve decided to roll with it. Questions, comments? Let me know!