InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Destiny ❯ Rude Awakening ( Chapter 2 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Nightscare0 
Jeez I hate writing summaries, just read it please.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Romance / Suspense | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 06.04.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 279 | Status: Work In Progress
Jeez I hate writing summaries, just read it please.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Romance / Suspense | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 06.04.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 279 | Status: Work In Progress
A/N: My sincerest apologies for the delay guys. First my computer decided to rebel, deleting all of chapter 2 so I had to re-write everything over. Then some people at work decided to up and quit, so I have been pulling doubles all over the place. And finally, a mad case of writer’s block. *sigh* ah the joy’s of being me. Special thanks goes out to reviewers who’s constant prodding finally got me off my duff and writing again. Anyhoo, without further ado, here’s chapter 2, enjoy! Hehehe I rhymed. Read and Review!
P.S. Um if your squeamish , don’t read this chapter. Stop. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Graphic violence. Character death. You have been warned . . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 2 - Rude Awakening
~~~~~~~~~~~
“Kagome!” shouted Inuyasha.
Kagome whirled her head just in time to see a red blur rushing at her with inhuman speed. Inuyasha knocked Kagome out of the way, just as a massive tentacle pierced the ground where she had just been standing. The ground quaked with the force of its impact, throwing dirt and grass clumps into the air.
“Are you alright Kagome?” he asked quickly pulling her to her feet.
Slightly shaken, Kagome nodded. “Yes I think so.” She ran a hand down the front of her uniform absentmindedly to remove the dirt.
“Stay put for a change, I can’t concentrate if I have to rescue you all the time!” he shouted over his shoulder as he deflected another tentacle with Tessaiga.
She started to yell something back at him but was interrupted when he dashed back across the field in an attempt to draw Naraku’s attention.
“Hey you miserable excuse of an asshole! Is that all you’ve got?” Inuyasha shouted as he raised his father’s fang above his head to deliver another attack.
The sky was filled with poisonous miasma, the once lush field now stood decrepit and barren, and the earth itself seemed to quake and scream in agony as it was repeatedly torched and scarred from Naraku’s tentacles and the searing blasts from Tessaiga.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rag-tag group had been traveling for days in search of a rumor of the last free shard of the Shikon no Tama, only to find out it had been a false lead. Apparently some village headman had been boasting to his people that he possessed a shard, which upon closer inspection proved to be a well sharpened toenail clipping. It had been all Kagome could do to keep Inuyasha from shoving said toenail clipping up the headman’s rear end.
The group had left the village extremely discouraged to say the least, and Inuyasha was just itching for a fight. And as luck would have it, he soon got his wish. They soon caught sight of some of Naraku’s saimyoushou. Growling fiercely, Inuyasha tore off after them leaving his companions in a cloud of dust. By the time the rest finally caught up, Inuyasha was already deep in battle with Naraku.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagome scanned the field through the thick wafting fog of miasma hoping to catch a glimpse of her friends. Through the din she spotted Sango as she flew across the air on Kirara’s back deflecting attacks from with her Hiraikotsu, while Miroku having lost the use of his Kazaana due to the presence of Naraku’s poisonous insects, was holding his own with his staff and sutras. Kagome’s heart started to race in panic when she couldn’t spot Shippou right away. Searching franticly, she finally spotted a small red furry heap on the battlefield. Disregarding the immense danger to herself, she ran haphazardly over to where her beloved kit lay and fell to her knees gently cradling Shippou’s still form into her arms. “Shippou! Can you hear me?” she asked, her voice full of hope.
When he did not answer, she began checking his body for signs of injury. His tiny fragile frame was marred with shallow cuts and numerous bruises, but none of which could account for the utter lack of life Shippou now possessed. Her eyes began to fill with tears as she finally noticed the intense amount of blood matting his hair and fur. Praying to every god she could think of, Kagome carefully turned the lifeless kit over in her arms. Her body became numb with shock as she discovered the source of the blood. Across the back of Shippou’s tiny head, lay a six inch long deep laceration. The edges were rough with his crusted lifeblood, and it almost seemed to have a life of it’s own as it pulsed with miasma slowly eating away the flesh surrounding it. Trembling, she turned him to face her once more, and slowly began to rock him. Her mind was blank, incoherent thoughts tumbling to the surface, none of which she cared to decipher. Numbness slowly spread throughout her very being. Her mind, unable to cope with the deep sense of loss she now felt, shut down. She couldn’t feel anything, thoughts of the battle surrounding her fled, as she cradled her dead son in her arms.
She didn’t know how long she lay there, nor did she care. Time meant nothing. Years, months, or maybe mere minutes passed, she couldn‘t tell. Self-preservation had lost all meaning to her, and she no longer had the presence of mind to feel danger or pain. Time slowed to a crawl, and everything seemed to be going in slow motion. She slowly pulled her gaze from Shippou’s forever angelic face, and stared with vacant unseeing eyes at the carnage that lie all around her. Over in the distance, not even 5 feet from where she where she was, lay the battered body of Miroku. His lifeless eyes stared through her, his face was now perpetually sealed forever in a mask of pain and torment. His body was twisted painfully, and blood ran from a massive hole in his chest where he had been run through with his own staff. Looking past him, she now saw that Sango too had been cut down by Naraku’s evil, in the form of a small boy. Her brother. She lay on her stomach, head turned away, with her brother’s kusari-gama (sickle chain) protruding from her back. Having no more use for the boy, Naraku had finally ripped the shard from his back, leaving him dead and lifeless beside his beloved sister.
Still none of this seemed to matter to Kagome. It was simply as if she had given up and taken refuge deep in the recesses of her own mind. She could only stare blankly as she continued to rock back and forth. She turned her head in time to see Kirara’s form crash to the ground, creating a small crater. At first glance she appeared to be unharmed, but upon further inspection it was apparent that her neck was twisted at an odd angle. A scream from her left prevented Kagome from dwelling on the neko-youkai’s demise.
Whipping her head around, her vacant eyes focused on a young hanyou fighting valiantly with some sort of demonic spider. There was something about this hanyou that seemed familiar to Kagome. She felt somehow akin to him, almost as if she knew him personally. She watched as he tore through the demon spiders tentacles one by one only to have them grow back almost immediately. Something niggled at the back of her mind, but it was pushed back into the dark fathoms once more. She sat immobile on the ground, watching the scene as if it were some epic play unfolding before her very eyes. Her mind simply refused to make the connection. She watched the seemingly familiar hanyou scream his frustrations as he hacked and dodged his way through, trying to make his way to the spider. As for the spider himself, he seemed almost bored as he threw wave after wave of miasma at the young hanyou.
“Tsk tsk Inuyasha.” he sneered. “How can one such as yourself ever hope to defeat the likes of me.”
“Shut your face Naraku!” Inuyasha yelled back. “You are just scared, because you know that this time I am gonna kill you!”
At the hearing of Naraku’s name, something deep inside Kagome clicked, and it all came rushing back to her. She knew where she was, she knew who she was. Time speeded back up, and the scenery popped back into focus with a shuddering clarity. Sights and smells flooded her brain, pushing back the fog. She looked around her and for the first time everything that had happened was finally registering in her befuddled mind. She began to shake. Anger, sadness, and disbelief flooded through her in a wave of perpetual torment as she gazed on the lifeless forms of her comrades. Pushing herself to her feet, she swiped a hand across her eyes to remove the angry tears gathered there. Rearing back her head she screamed to the heavens at the injustice of it all.
The two combatants paused in their fighting, slightly surprised to hear the young miko lash forth her fury and pent up anger in the most primal way possible. It was then at that most critical point, that Naraku chose to strike the unguarded hanyou.
Kagome lowered her head in time to see Naraku gather his tentacles and plunge them deep into Inuyasha’s chest.
“INUYASHA!” she screamed. But it was too late. Blood deep and rich, spurted forth from his chest and mouth, and a look of total shock and horror flashed across his youthful features. All that could be heard was a muffled gurgling as his lips moved back and forth in a fruitless attempt to form words. Behind him, Kagome could hear a deep resonating chuckling, as Naraku twisted the tentacles further into Inuyasha’s chest, bursting vital organs and sealing his final fate.
Throwing the hanyou from him, Naraku turned his attention to the little miko. “I really must thank you, you know. If you hadn’t distracted the poor little fool with your incessant screaming, who knows how much longer this would’ve continued.” he stated with a malicious gleam in his eyes.
Kagome’s knees turned into jelly. This was all her fault! Her eyes strayed to the form of her best friend. “Oh Inuyasha” she breathed, her heart banging painfully in her chest as if it were trying to burst through. She refused to believe the sight in front of her. ‘He couldn’t be dead, it just not possible.’
“Your hope is completely unnecessary I assure you.” Naraku laughed. “He is quite dead.”
Kagome could feel the numbness begin to take over again, but this time she shook it off. If her friends could meet their end with some dignity, then so could she. She raised her eyes to look Naraku directly in the face. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would not be walking away from this fight, but she was determined to take the evil hanyou spider with her and rid the world once and for all of his plague of darkness. Resigning herself, she pulled a single arrow from the sheath on her back and notched it in the bow. She raised her arms prepared to fire.
“Naraku!” she shouted. “Your reign of terror is over. Their deaths will not be in vain!”
Drawing back her arm, she put forth every shred of pain and hurt into it’s pink righteous glow and released it into the air, praying that for once her aim would hold true. She watched with anticipation as it gracefully arced through the air, a beacon of light penetrating through the poisonous clouds of miasma, dissipating them instantly. Any tentacle that raised itself up against it, vaporized with the stench of burning flesh. Nothing would deter this solitary arrow from it’s mission. Time once again seemed to slow to a crawl as she watched the arrow slowly move towards Naraku’s heart, and she held her breath. Something pierced her side, but she took no notice of the pain, so intent was she on the arrow.
The arrow pierced Naraku’s heart with a resonating thud, and she could hear him scream in pain. His body shattered into thousands of pieces and fell to the earth. Silence reigned, and Kagome didn’t move for a few moment. Dare she believe it? Could it finally be over? Relief flooded through her. It was finally over. The demon that her friends sacrificed their lives over was finally dead. She did it! Slowly she sank to her knees, as the pain of her injury finally caught up to her. She was no fool, she knew it was a lethal blow, but that did not concern her. She knew she was going into shock, and she looked forward to the relief that death would provide. So many years of hunting and searching were at an end. So many times she watched innocent people die at Naraku’s hands, but never again. She put her hand to her side, wincing slightly as it came away wet with blood. ‘Another school uniform ruined,’ she thought ironically. ‘Poor Mom, I’ll never get to hear her scold me about them ever again.’
As she became lost in her reverie, she failed to notice the rustling of the various remnants of Naraku’s body. She snapped to attention with she heard him chuckle. “My poor disillusioned miko. You honestly thought that your one little arrow would kill me?”
She turned her head, willing it not to be true. Dread encased her, and she gulped. Her mouth went dry as she watched Naraku pull himself together. Wait. No not Naraku, something else. She got to her feet shakily, holding tightly to her side. “Wh-who are you?” she questioned, her voice unsteady. What stood before her was no longer the writhing mass of tentacles that made up Naraku. Instead it was a dashing young man who stood about six and a half feet tall, with jet black hair that reached to a trim waist. His face was accented by a blue stripe that stretched vertically from his right eyebrow over his eyelid, to just past his eye.
“Who am I?” he repeated as he brushed the dirt from his pristine clothes. “That’s not what you should be most concerned about little one.” Slowly he removed his focus from the condition of his clothes to the trembling woman in front of him. His powerful aura flashed dangerously around him. “Such desolate surroundings” he stated as he looked around. He snapped his fingers and the battleground around them vanished into thin air. In it’s place stood a grassy clearing, surrounding them by a dense copse of trees. The once sunny skies had been replaced cloudless moonlight night, giving everything a surreal quality. Slowly he advanced towards her. “Now isn’t that a little better?” he asked with a smirk. Kagome was dumbfounded. Words would not make their way to her mouth, as she stared with astonishment at what had just transpired.
“Where are we? Who are you? Where are all my friends? What have you done?” she asked when her mouth finally decided to cooperate. The sudden onslaught of questions seemed to catch the young man by surprise, but he waited with amusement until she was done before he answered. Walking behind her, he laid a hand on her shoulder. He could see the goosebumps begin to rise on the nape of her neck when his breath tickled her earlobe. The scent of her fear permeated the air, it was rich and decadent like a fine wine. He resisted the urge to run his tongue across the tiny goosebumps and taste her fear firsthand.
She was frightened, but could not bring her self to move. Everything about this man made her nerves set on edge. The magnitude and immensity of his aura paralyzed her limbs to where she could not move. Never before had she experienced an aura of this intensity in any demon or human she ever encountered in any of her travels. Not even Lord Sesshoumaru, the most powerful taiyouki in all of Japan, carried an aura this strong. She could feel his hot breath on the back of her neck, and closed her eyes. She was so sure she was going to be devoured by him, killed or worse, that she was surprised when he released her shoulder and whispered one word in her ear.
“Run” he whispered as he released her from his grasp. At first he thought she was just going to stand there, but she surprised him by taking off suddenly into the surrounding forest. He stood there bringing his hand up to stroke his chin thoughtfully. “Yes she will suit my needs very nicely.”
Kagome ran for her life. Her side burning and screaming at her with every movement she made, but still she continued on fearful of his pursuit. She could feel his dark aura getting closer, and the woods around her went silent in apprehension of the impending danger. The darkness was almost complete deep inside the woods, and Kagome stumbled almost blindly around trying to make her way to safety. Brambles scratched and tore at her uniform, rocks and bushes tripped her, but still she rushed onward. She only fell once as her foot caught on the root of a tree that sent her sprawling to the hard-packed earth. Panting heavily, she tried to regain her footing only to find that her now injured ankle wouldn’t support her weight. Cursing herself softly, she looked around fearfully for any signs of her pursuer. A branch snapped loudly in the silence off to her left. She began to tremble as sounds of someone approaching reached her ears. Rallying the last of her strength she began to crawl, dragging her injured foot behind her, searching desperately for any signs of shelter that might hide her.
The sound of laughter pierced through the darkness. The evilness laced within that sound was enough to shake Kagome to her very core. She started to get up to her feet again, her ankle be damned, when a solid presence blocked her path. She screamed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
. . . . .And woke up. Breathing heavily, it took a few moments for Kagome to catch her bearings. ‘It was only a nightmare Higurashi’ she chastised to herself. Throughout her dream she had apparently struggled so much that her sleeping bag had twisted around her torso, leaving her almost immobile. The first thing she did was look around. No scary presence here. Her friends were safely sleeping around the fire. Shippou was peacefully snoring as he cuddled deep into Kirara’s fur. Sango was twitching slightly in her sleep as she dreamt. As far as Miroku went, well he had cuddled closer to Sango in his sleep and had one hand gently placed on her rear. If Kagome’s predictions were accurate, he would probably wake up with one heck of a headache in the morning. Scanning the treetops above, she located Inuyasha by the foot he had dangling over a branch. She was quite surprised she hadn’t awoken him during her fitful slumber, but as of late he had been going non stop in the hunt for the jewel shards, so maybe it wasn’t quite so surprising he had slept through it all.
She slowly stretched her muscles. She was still so tense. Sighing, she began the task of unraveling her sleeping bag from around her legs. Once finished, she lay her head back down and began to think about her most recent nightmare. She had been having them for months now, and they had been becoming more vivid and frightening as time went on. They were always the same, but this time was the first time she had ever encountered the dark haired man. Shivers went up and down her spine at the mere thought of his presence. Nope, that was something she never wanted to dream about again. Deciding she didn’t want to think about him anymore, she decided to turn her thoughts to other more pleasant things. She fell asleep once more a few hours later, thinking about silver haired puppies.
P.S. Um if your squeamish , don’t read this chapter. Stop. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Graphic violence. Character death. You have been warned . . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 2 - Rude Awakening
~~~~~~~~~~~
“Kagome!” shouted Inuyasha.
Kagome whirled her head just in time to see a red blur rushing at her with inhuman speed. Inuyasha knocked Kagome out of the way, just as a massive tentacle pierced the ground where she had just been standing. The ground quaked with the force of its impact, throwing dirt and grass clumps into the air.
“Are you alright Kagome?” he asked quickly pulling her to her feet.
Slightly shaken, Kagome nodded. “Yes I think so.” She ran a hand down the front of her uniform absentmindedly to remove the dirt.
“Stay put for a change, I can’t concentrate if I have to rescue you all the time!” he shouted over his shoulder as he deflected another tentacle with Tessaiga.
She started to yell something back at him but was interrupted when he dashed back across the field in an attempt to draw Naraku’s attention.
“Hey you miserable excuse of an asshole! Is that all you’ve got?” Inuyasha shouted as he raised his father’s fang above his head to deliver another attack.
The sky was filled with poisonous miasma, the once lush field now stood decrepit and barren, and the earth itself seemed to quake and scream in agony as it was repeatedly torched and scarred from Naraku’s tentacles and the searing blasts from Tessaiga.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rag-tag group had been traveling for days in search of a rumor of the last free shard of the Shikon no Tama, only to find out it had been a false lead. Apparently some village headman had been boasting to his people that he possessed a shard, which upon closer inspection proved to be a well sharpened toenail clipping. It had been all Kagome could do to keep Inuyasha from shoving said toenail clipping up the headman’s rear end.
The group had left the village extremely discouraged to say the least, and Inuyasha was just itching for a fight. And as luck would have it, he soon got his wish. They soon caught sight of some of Naraku’s saimyoushou. Growling fiercely, Inuyasha tore off after them leaving his companions in a cloud of dust. By the time the rest finally caught up, Inuyasha was already deep in battle with Naraku.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagome scanned the field through the thick wafting fog of miasma hoping to catch a glimpse of her friends. Through the din she spotted Sango as she flew across the air on Kirara’s back deflecting attacks from with her Hiraikotsu, while Miroku having lost the use of his Kazaana due to the presence of Naraku’s poisonous insects, was holding his own with his staff and sutras. Kagome’s heart started to race in panic when she couldn’t spot Shippou right away. Searching franticly, she finally spotted a small red furry heap on the battlefield. Disregarding the immense danger to herself, she ran haphazardly over to where her beloved kit lay and fell to her knees gently cradling Shippou’s still form into her arms. “Shippou! Can you hear me?” she asked, her voice full of hope.
When he did not answer, she began checking his body for signs of injury. His tiny fragile frame was marred with shallow cuts and numerous bruises, but none of which could account for the utter lack of life Shippou now possessed. Her eyes began to fill with tears as she finally noticed the intense amount of blood matting his hair and fur. Praying to every god she could think of, Kagome carefully turned the lifeless kit over in her arms. Her body became numb with shock as she discovered the source of the blood. Across the back of Shippou’s tiny head, lay a six inch long deep laceration. The edges were rough with his crusted lifeblood, and it almost seemed to have a life of it’s own as it pulsed with miasma slowly eating away the flesh surrounding it. Trembling, she turned him to face her once more, and slowly began to rock him. Her mind was blank, incoherent thoughts tumbling to the surface, none of which she cared to decipher. Numbness slowly spread throughout her very being. Her mind, unable to cope with the deep sense of loss she now felt, shut down. She couldn’t feel anything, thoughts of the battle surrounding her fled, as she cradled her dead son in her arms.
She didn’t know how long she lay there, nor did she care. Time meant nothing. Years, months, or maybe mere minutes passed, she couldn‘t tell. Self-preservation had lost all meaning to her, and she no longer had the presence of mind to feel danger or pain. Time slowed to a crawl, and everything seemed to be going in slow motion. She slowly pulled her gaze from Shippou’s forever angelic face, and stared with vacant unseeing eyes at the carnage that lie all around her. Over in the distance, not even 5 feet from where she where she was, lay the battered body of Miroku. His lifeless eyes stared through her, his face was now perpetually sealed forever in a mask of pain and torment. His body was twisted painfully, and blood ran from a massive hole in his chest where he had been run through with his own staff. Looking past him, she now saw that Sango too had been cut down by Naraku’s evil, in the form of a small boy. Her brother. She lay on her stomach, head turned away, with her brother’s kusari-gama (sickle chain) protruding from her back. Having no more use for the boy, Naraku had finally ripped the shard from his back, leaving him dead and lifeless beside his beloved sister.
Still none of this seemed to matter to Kagome. It was simply as if she had given up and taken refuge deep in the recesses of her own mind. She could only stare blankly as she continued to rock back and forth. She turned her head in time to see Kirara’s form crash to the ground, creating a small crater. At first glance she appeared to be unharmed, but upon further inspection it was apparent that her neck was twisted at an odd angle. A scream from her left prevented Kagome from dwelling on the neko-youkai’s demise.
Whipping her head around, her vacant eyes focused on a young hanyou fighting valiantly with some sort of demonic spider. There was something about this hanyou that seemed familiar to Kagome. She felt somehow akin to him, almost as if she knew him personally. She watched as he tore through the demon spiders tentacles one by one only to have them grow back almost immediately. Something niggled at the back of her mind, but it was pushed back into the dark fathoms once more. She sat immobile on the ground, watching the scene as if it were some epic play unfolding before her very eyes. Her mind simply refused to make the connection. She watched the seemingly familiar hanyou scream his frustrations as he hacked and dodged his way through, trying to make his way to the spider. As for the spider himself, he seemed almost bored as he threw wave after wave of miasma at the young hanyou.
“Tsk tsk Inuyasha.” he sneered. “How can one such as yourself ever hope to defeat the likes of me.”
“Shut your face Naraku!” Inuyasha yelled back. “You are just scared, because you know that this time I am gonna kill you!”
At the hearing of Naraku’s name, something deep inside Kagome clicked, and it all came rushing back to her. She knew where she was, she knew who she was. Time speeded back up, and the scenery popped back into focus with a shuddering clarity. Sights and smells flooded her brain, pushing back the fog. She looked around her and for the first time everything that had happened was finally registering in her befuddled mind. She began to shake. Anger, sadness, and disbelief flooded through her in a wave of perpetual torment as she gazed on the lifeless forms of her comrades. Pushing herself to her feet, she swiped a hand across her eyes to remove the angry tears gathered there. Rearing back her head she screamed to the heavens at the injustice of it all.
The two combatants paused in their fighting, slightly surprised to hear the young miko lash forth her fury and pent up anger in the most primal way possible. It was then at that most critical point, that Naraku chose to strike the unguarded hanyou.
Kagome lowered her head in time to see Naraku gather his tentacles and plunge them deep into Inuyasha’s chest.
“INUYASHA!” she screamed. But it was too late. Blood deep and rich, spurted forth from his chest and mouth, and a look of total shock and horror flashed across his youthful features. All that could be heard was a muffled gurgling as his lips moved back and forth in a fruitless attempt to form words. Behind him, Kagome could hear a deep resonating chuckling, as Naraku twisted the tentacles further into Inuyasha’s chest, bursting vital organs and sealing his final fate.
Throwing the hanyou from him, Naraku turned his attention to the little miko. “I really must thank you, you know. If you hadn’t distracted the poor little fool with your incessant screaming, who knows how much longer this would’ve continued.” he stated with a malicious gleam in his eyes.
Kagome’s knees turned into jelly. This was all her fault! Her eyes strayed to the form of her best friend. “Oh Inuyasha” she breathed, her heart banging painfully in her chest as if it were trying to burst through. She refused to believe the sight in front of her. ‘He couldn’t be dead, it just not possible.’
“Your hope is completely unnecessary I assure you.” Naraku laughed. “He is quite dead.”
Kagome could feel the numbness begin to take over again, but this time she shook it off. If her friends could meet their end with some dignity, then so could she. She raised her eyes to look Naraku directly in the face. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would not be walking away from this fight, but she was determined to take the evil hanyou spider with her and rid the world once and for all of his plague of darkness. Resigning herself, she pulled a single arrow from the sheath on her back and notched it in the bow. She raised her arms prepared to fire.
“Naraku!” she shouted. “Your reign of terror is over. Their deaths will not be in vain!”
Drawing back her arm, she put forth every shred of pain and hurt into it’s pink righteous glow and released it into the air, praying that for once her aim would hold true. She watched with anticipation as it gracefully arced through the air, a beacon of light penetrating through the poisonous clouds of miasma, dissipating them instantly. Any tentacle that raised itself up against it, vaporized with the stench of burning flesh. Nothing would deter this solitary arrow from it’s mission. Time once again seemed to slow to a crawl as she watched the arrow slowly move towards Naraku’s heart, and she held her breath. Something pierced her side, but she took no notice of the pain, so intent was she on the arrow.
The arrow pierced Naraku’s heart with a resonating thud, and she could hear him scream in pain. His body shattered into thousands of pieces and fell to the earth. Silence reigned, and Kagome didn’t move for a few moment. Dare she believe it? Could it finally be over? Relief flooded through her. It was finally over. The demon that her friends sacrificed their lives over was finally dead. She did it! Slowly she sank to her knees, as the pain of her injury finally caught up to her. She was no fool, she knew it was a lethal blow, but that did not concern her. She knew she was going into shock, and she looked forward to the relief that death would provide. So many years of hunting and searching were at an end. So many times she watched innocent people die at Naraku’s hands, but never again. She put her hand to her side, wincing slightly as it came away wet with blood. ‘Another school uniform ruined,’ she thought ironically. ‘Poor Mom, I’ll never get to hear her scold me about them ever again.’
As she became lost in her reverie, she failed to notice the rustling of the various remnants of Naraku’s body. She snapped to attention with she heard him chuckle. “My poor disillusioned miko. You honestly thought that your one little arrow would kill me?”
She turned her head, willing it not to be true. Dread encased her, and she gulped. Her mouth went dry as she watched Naraku pull himself together. Wait. No not Naraku, something else. She got to her feet shakily, holding tightly to her side. “Wh-who are you?” she questioned, her voice unsteady. What stood before her was no longer the writhing mass of tentacles that made up Naraku. Instead it was a dashing young man who stood about six and a half feet tall, with jet black hair that reached to a trim waist. His face was accented by a blue stripe that stretched vertically from his right eyebrow over his eyelid, to just past his eye.
“Who am I?” he repeated as he brushed the dirt from his pristine clothes. “That’s not what you should be most concerned about little one.” Slowly he removed his focus from the condition of his clothes to the trembling woman in front of him. His powerful aura flashed dangerously around him. “Such desolate surroundings” he stated as he looked around. He snapped his fingers and the battleground around them vanished into thin air. In it’s place stood a grassy clearing, surrounding them by a dense copse of trees. The once sunny skies had been replaced cloudless moonlight night, giving everything a surreal quality. Slowly he advanced towards her. “Now isn’t that a little better?” he asked with a smirk. Kagome was dumbfounded. Words would not make their way to her mouth, as she stared with astonishment at what had just transpired.
“Where are we? Who are you? Where are all my friends? What have you done?” she asked when her mouth finally decided to cooperate. The sudden onslaught of questions seemed to catch the young man by surprise, but he waited with amusement until she was done before he answered. Walking behind her, he laid a hand on her shoulder. He could see the goosebumps begin to rise on the nape of her neck when his breath tickled her earlobe. The scent of her fear permeated the air, it was rich and decadent like a fine wine. He resisted the urge to run his tongue across the tiny goosebumps and taste her fear firsthand.
She was frightened, but could not bring her self to move. Everything about this man made her nerves set on edge. The magnitude and immensity of his aura paralyzed her limbs to where she could not move. Never before had she experienced an aura of this intensity in any demon or human she ever encountered in any of her travels. Not even Lord Sesshoumaru, the most powerful taiyouki in all of Japan, carried an aura this strong. She could feel his hot breath on the back of her neck, and closed her eyes. She was so sure she was going to be devoured by him, killed or worse, that she was surprised when he released her shoulder and whispered one word in her ear.
“Run” he whispered as he released her from his grasp. At first he thought she was just going to stand there, but she surprised him by taking off suddenly into the surrounding forest. He stood there bringing his hand up to stroke his chin thoughtfully. “Yes she will suit my needs very nicely.”
Kagome ran for her life. Her side burning and screaming at her with every movement she made, but still she continued on fearful of his pursuit. She could feel his dark aura getting closer, and the woods around her went silent in apprehension of the impending danger. The darkness was almost complete deep inside the woods, and Kagome stumbled almost blindly around trying to make her way to safety. Brambles scratched and tore at her uniform, rocks and bushes tripped her, but still she rushed onward. She only fell once as her foot caught on the root of a tree that sent her sprawling to the hard-packed earth. Panting heavily, she tried to regain her footing only to find that her now injured ankle wouldn’t support her weight. Cursing herself softly, she looked around fearfully for any signs of her pursuer. A branch snapped loudly in the silence off to her left. She began to tremble as sounds of someone approaching reached her ears. Rallying the last of her strength she began to crawl, dragging her injured foot behind her, searching desperately for any signs of shelter that might hide her.
The sound of laughter pierced through the darkness. The evilness laced within that sound was enough to shake Kagome to her very core. She started to get up to her feet again, her ankle be damned, when a solid presence blocked her path. She screamed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
. . . . .And woke up. Breathing heavily, it took a few moments for Kagome to catch her bearings. ‘It was only a nightmare Higurashi’ she chastised to herself. Throughout her dream she had apparently struggled so much that her sleeping bag had twisted around her torso, leaving her almost immobile. The first thing she did was look around. No scary presence here. Her friends were safely sleeping around the fire. Shippou was peacefully snoring as he cuddled deep into Kirara’s fur. Sango was twitching slightly in her sleep as she dreamt. As far as Miroku went, well he had cuddled closer to Sango in his sleep and had one hand gently placed on her rear. If Kagome’s predictions were accurate, he would probably wake up with one heck of a headache in the morning. Scanning the treetops above, she located Inuyasha by the foot he had dangling over a branch. She was quite surprised she hadn’t awoken him during her fitful slumber, but as of late he had been going non stop in the hunt for the jewel shards, so maybe it wasn’t quite so surprising he had slept through it all.
She slowly stretched her muscles. She was still so tense. Sighing, she began the task of unraveling her sleeping bag from around her legs. Once finished, she lay her head back down and began to think about her most recent nightmare. She had been having them for months now, and they had been becoming more vivid and frightening as time went on. They were always the same, but this time was the first time she had ever encountered the dark haired man. Shivers went up and down her spine at the mere thought of his presence. Nope, that was something she never wanted to dream about again. Deciding she didn’t want to think about him anymore, she decided to turn her thoughts to other more pleasant things. She fell asleep once more a few hours later, thinking about silver haired puppies.