InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Divergence ❯ Chapter 1

 

 

Divergence

 

Canto I

 

“Midway upon the journey of our life

I found myself within a forest dark,

For the straightforward pathway had been lost.”

 

-The Inferno, Dante Alighieri, Canto I, Lines 1-3

 

 

Blood trickled and filled all of the grooves and crevices that had been craved into the war ravaged field. The soil had turned black where poisonous miasma had touched and the air sizzled with both holy and youkai energy. A lone figure stood amongst all this, his dark crimson eyes hidden behind their lids. He breathed in the scent of carnage and death and gore and couldn't help the smile that bloomed on his face. The sharp heavy scent filled his nose even as a gust of wind swept through the field and caused the scent to twist upon itself and pulse stronger. The smile slipped off the figures face and he sighed before opening his eyes.

 

The field was whole again, the figure's eyes were not red, but golden amber and the scent of blood had completely disappeared from the air.

 

“You find yourself here again, don't you Inuyasha?”

 

Inuyasha crossed his arms as he let his eyes lazily roam over to the second figure that had joined him. His dark tendrils of hair fell, framing an aristocratic face. The only two things that set his apart from any human were the eyes, dark crimson, demonic, blood-thirsty eyes and his scent. If he had had a scent, that is.

 

“This is my proof that I'll kill you.”

 

“Ah, but here we are, speaking. How can you kill me?”

 

“I'm not crazy.”

 

“Of course you aren't,” the demonic man agreed with a smile.

 

“Me and the others will kill you.”

 

The demonic man nodded pleasantly as Inuyasha continued to ramble about how he will kill him and how he wasn't crazy and if he were crazy it wasn't his fault that he was crazy and the demonic man was doing something to him. This went on for several minutes without interruption before Inuyasha finally trailed off, massaging his temples as if he had a headache.

 

“I'm not crazy,” he muttered softly. “You're not really here.”

 

“Of course,” the demonic man agreed again. He smiled a wholly unpleasant smile and shifted in his baboon cloak. “Have you managed to purify the jewel yet?”

 

Inuyasha's head snapped up and he leveled the man with an angry snarl. “Like I'd tell you anything about the jewel, Naraku!”

 

“But you yourself said that you'll someday kill me. What harm could a dead man do?” Naraku asked with another smile.

 

Inuyasha glowered at him for a few moments before he let his head fall from his forehead to his side. He felt unbelievably tired then and blinked to clear his fuzzy vision.

 

Naraku stepped closer and began to circle Inuyasha, his smile unwavering and deceitfully welcoming. “I see that this is finally getting to you Inuyasha. Tired?”

 

“Leave me alone.”

 

Naraku laughed and stepped closer, his face inches away from Inuyasha's. As the two hanyou's stared each other down the field in which they stood began to melt away around them. The green grass that had just started to grow back seemed to wither and die. The sky bled red and a hot blast of wind whipped around them. Naraku's smile widened and he reached out to lay a hand on Inuyasha's cheek. The hanyou shuddered at the contact but couldn't force himself to draw away. Like the million times before Naraku had trapped him. He could not move.

 

“You tire of this, do you not? I feel your anguish. You wish for power and it is in your grasp. Why don't you take it?”

 

“No,” Inuyasha snarled. He clenched his eyes shut and felt his ears press themselves flat against his skull. “I'm not you.”

 

Naraku laughed again and removed his hand. He patted Inuyasha on the head like a dog before he began circling again. “You've never been anything else. The power you seek is within you grasp. Take the jewel.”

 

“No.”

 

“The humans don't trust you. Did you know? That's why they don't let you near it.”

 

Inuyasha bowed his head and bared his teeth at the ground, trying to block out Naraku's words. But he saw the truth in them. He hated himself for it.

 

“You've seen it too. Your purpose has almost been fulfilled and you are no longer needed as you once were. There are fewer enemies to fight. And you know nothing besides that. There's nothing left for the guard dog to guard against, so your owners have forgotten you.”

 

“You bastard! What the hell do you know! You--,”

 

Naraku's hand around his throat stopped his denial and he closed his eyes as the lack of oxygen caused him to go lightheaded. “Do you see how easily you give up Inuyasha? You wish for death.”

 

The hanyou's eyes opened and he glared half-heartedly at Naraku who only smiled. “You've allowed them to weaken you. They have what they wanted, do they not? What about you?”

 

Inuyasha just continued to glare and said nothing, but like always the other hanyou's words were getting to him.

 

“Do you hear it? Echoing inside you. It is what you are. What you were born to be. Release it, and live Inuyasha…”

 

A tremble shook Inuyasha's body and Naraku hissed in disappointment. “It seems our time together has been cut short once again. It has been pleasant. Until next time.”

 

Inuyasha blinked once and instead of seeing Naraku's cold, taunting, smiling face, he saw Sango's. She stared at him, obviously concerned.

 

“Inuyasha?”

 

He jerked at the sound of her voice and fixed frantic eyes on her, then past her at the over the village. His whole body trembled and his breath caught somewhere in his throat. Sango watched him as he did this, and did not interfere. It was as if she understood that she should back off slightly and let him gather himself up before she inquired further. She watched his eyes flick around him, his ears rotating back and forth, as he tried to take in everything surrounding him. The sound of rain filled the silence she had allowed to fall and distantly the tale-tell boom of thunder reached them where they sat on the shrine steps. When it had begun to rain, Sango had come in search of him. These days, more often than not, the hanyou could be found sitting on the top steps of the shrine near Kaede's hut. Goshinboku had long since been negated as the hanyou's resting place; he could no longer be alone there. Everyone knew where to find him. The shrine steps had been a livable substitute and he had relocated himself here.

 

When he seemed composed enough Sango sat down next to him, shifting the umbrella that Kagome had loaned her over slightly so that it shielded him as well. “Nightmare?”

 

The hanyou shot her a scathing look before turning to gaze out over the village again. He offered her no verbal answer, but she didn't really need one. “You need to rest more. The others are willing to take a break.”

 

“I don't need a break,” he snapped half-heartedly. “I'm fine. Naraku's still out there somewhere.”

 

Sango sighed and turned away from him, looking over the village as well. The sounds of children's delighted laughter echoed up to them as they enjoyed the warm, rainy summer day.

 

“What was it about?” Sango asked quietly, whilst gazing at the hanyou's profile.

 

He gave her no answer. He just continued to stare out over the village. Sango noticed that he had shifted slightly out from under the large umbrella and he was once again sitting out in the rain. It had only been drizzling before, but now it was pouring. It plastered the hanyou's hair down and made his ears seem all the larger. Sango eyed this with disapproval but didn't offer the umbrella's protection again.

 

Inuyasha gazed out over the village as he allowed the rain to fall down on him. He wished it could wash his dream away from him. For months now they had become worse and worse, leaving him with the voices that now filled his head. Telling him to take what was his. The jewel was his after all. It was full and in Kagome's hands, his for the taking. He could do it. He could easily do it. So what was stopping him? The half demon shook himself mentally and reminded himself of Sango's presence. The demon slayer had always been perceptive and he knew that she was worried over him. The dream Naraku sometimes stated that it was only because she didn't trust him. The sliver headed demon lord would like to think the opposite. But Naraku's voice was a red hot brand, searing into his mind and leaving his mark everywhere. He found himself slipping. Thinking how easy it would be to steal the Shikon no Tama from Kagome then disappear. This time Inuyasha really did shudder and Sango looked over at him in worry.

 

“What's wrong Inuyasha? And don't tell me nothing's wrong,” she added firmly as Inuyasha opened his mouth to deny her observation. She raised her free hand and placed it on the half demon's shoulder but he shrugged her off immediately.

 

“Nothing's wrong.”

 

Sango gave an annoyed sigh. She refused to allow Inuyasha to close up on her, like he had done with Miroku and Kagome. Over the past few months he had seemed to drift further and further away from them. He barely spoke, his appetite disappeared and when he finally let himself fall asleep he always awoke with a start as if he were having a bad dream. He had grown quiet and almost completely passive. At first Kagome had tried to talk to him, to try to find out what was wrong but he had remained closed off from her. So Miroku had tried, with about as much affect. Now it was Sango's turn, and she had no intention of letting the hanyou brush off her concern like he had with the others.

 

“Something's wrong. We've all noticed. Even Kouga noticed. Tell me what's bothering you.”

 

He turned to her with a blank look that reminded her so much of his brother she had to fight with herself not to reach for her sword. He seemed to notice this and smiled at her, but it was a wholly cold smile. He reminded her of someone else just then, and the realization made her heart start pounding and a sick feeling settled in her stomach. When she looked at him again he was giving her an annoyed glare.

 

“I'm fine,” he said shortly before he smoothly uncurled himself and straightened. He stared down at Sango coolly for a moment before he moved towards the shrine steps.

 

Sango dropped her umbrella and rushed to his side, grasping a hold of his haori sleeve in an attempt to make him stay with her. “Is it that you don't trust us anymore? Why are you doing this to yourself? Why won't you tell us?”

 

Inuyasha stilled for a moment and a shudder seemed to pass through him before he yanked himself from Sango's grasp. The young demon slayer blinked in surprise and before she could blink again Inuyasha was gone. Sango's eyes widened and she spun around in a circle, looking for a flash of red or sliver, but there was none.

 

 

He ran as fast as he could away from her. From them. From their faces and their worries. But he couldn't run from the voice in his head. It laughed at him, even as it cooed soft words of encouragement and condolence. It bid him to run and run he did. He ran until his legs ached and his chest heaved. He didn't know time. All he knew was the ground under his feet and the wind on his face as he tried to escape them and him and maybe even himself. The voice laughed at him again.

 

“You search for an escape, Inuyasha?”

 

“Yes,” he gasped out-loud as he ran.

 

“Will you finally come to me?”

 

“Yes.”

 

 

Naraku leaned back and opened his eyes. He sat there for a moment before he smoothly climbed to his feet and moved to the sliding door leading onto the paved walkway of his stolen castle. He stood there and stared out into the barrier created by his miasma. At his silent calling Kagura stepped out with him and stood behind him, waiting for him to speak.

 

“Kagura,” he hissed.

 

“Yes Naraku.”

 

“You will go outside and wait for Inuyasha. By the time he gets here he will not be able to go any further within the barrier. Watch for his human friends. They might have followed him.”

 

Kagura blinked to hide her confusion but bowed before turning to walk back into the castle. She made her way through the many hallways and as she did she pondered Naraku's newest scheme. The only reason she could fathom Naraku was drawing Inuyasha here, was to use the half-demon against his human friends. But that seemed like a stretch even to her. She knew Naraku had been picking at Inuyasha's mind for a while now. She was not sure how Naraku managed to do it, but she had noticed its effects upon Inuyasha when she observed him. She was able to do that easily now. The half-demon, who had always been so attuned to Naraku's scent and aura which she shared with the Naraku, had either lost the ability to pick up on these things or allowed her to come unusually close to his camp or village. She was always detected by one of the humans or Inuyasha announced her presence when she stayed too long or ventured too close. But this still surprised her. Was Naraku's manipulation affecting him so much?

 

Kagura sighed as she stepped out of the castle and onto the dead earth outside. She gathered her wind around her as she pulled her feather out of hair. A gust of wind later she was seated upon her enlarged feather and was soaring past Naraku's miasma barrier. She circled the castle a few times, searching the ground below for any sign of Inuyasha. After a few hours she spotted him. She directed her feather towards the indiscernible blur of crimson and white on the ground and dropped down before him. He made no move to get up and didn't even lift his head or open her eyes. Kagura stared at him in silent confusion but didn't move from where she stood 5 paces away from him. He was stretched out on his side, his head held up by an upraised palm. His eyes were closed and he was frowning slightly as if thinking about something mildly disturbing.

 

One of the traits Kagura wasn't known for was her patience, and for good reason. It wasn't a virtue that she practiced much. So when Inuyasha continued to lay there without moving she huffed angrily and began to tap her fan against her shoulder.

 

“If I may interrupt,” she said haughtily.

 

The hanyou opened an eye and looked her over once before sighing and closing his eye again. “He sent you to come get me,” he stated flatly.

 

“Yes, but I cannot get you if you don't get up.”

 

The half-demon still didn't move but he did give her the honor of his full attention. He opened both of his eyes and stared up at her with a mildly disturbed look. After a while he glanced around as if he was taking in his surroundings for the first time.

 

“Why am I here?”

 

“As if I had any idea.”

 

They both fell silent and Inuyasha continued to frown as he looked around. Kagura, tired of standing around looking stupid, sat down across from him. She rested her chin upon her palm, mirroring the man laying across from her.

 

“How long do you plan on laying there,” she asked mockingly.

 

“As long as it takes me to figure out why I'm here, why I don't feel the urge to rip your throat out, and how I know Naraku sent you out here to get me,” he answered passively.

 

 

Kagura's eyes were beginning to burn and she was sure at some point Inuyasha had fallen asleep. He hadn't moved in hours and the sun had set a long while ago. But he simply laid there, his brows furrowed. From where she was sitting she wasn't even sure that he was breathing. But wait! He'd just sighed.

 

Kagura heaved a sigh as well and closed her eyes. Just as she was beginning to doze off she heard Inuyasha shift and get to his feet. She opened her eyes and glared up at him in indignation.

 

“What?” she snapped.

 

“They followed me.”

 

Kagura huffed and climbed to her feet as well, taking a step back so that Inuyasha created a shield between her and the figures emerging from the forest. Kagome was the first one to dismount Kirara. She eyed Inuyasha worriedly, her eyes flicking to Kagura behind him before snapping back to his.

 

“Inuyasha…”

 

The hanyou just sighed and rubbed his forehead with a tired hand. At the mere sight of his companions a mind-blowing headache had sprung up, and he was finding it difficult to stay standing without swaying. Kagura watched him with sharp eyes as he sighed again, before looking up at the humans he traveled with. Sango watched him with sharp eyes as well. When he had run off she had been worried, but when he had not returned the following day her and the others had tracked him through his forest, out of his forest, to here. It was amazing the amount of ground that he had covered in a few days; Kirara had had to run for two days straight to catch up to him. She was worried about him and she was only now beginning to understand why.

 

“Inuyasha, why are you here?” Kagome asked softly.

 

The hanyou looked up at her before giving his surroundings a quick look as well. He glanced at Kagura behind him, who merely raised an eyebrow. He looked at Kagome and the others again and shook his head in confusion.

 

“I don't know.”

 

“How did you know where to come? This is Naraku's castle, is it not?” Miroku asked sharply.

 

“I don't know?”

 

“Why did you run away from the village?” Sango asked worriedly.

 

Inuyasha shook his head again. “I don't know,” he repeated.

 

“Why is Kagura standing behind you?”

 

“Why haven't you attacked her yet?”

 

“How long have you been here?”

 

“Why hasn't Naraku done anything yet?”

 

“What's wrong Inuyasha?”

 

“Are you okay?”

 

 

Naraku opened his eyes and scowled in annoyance at the humans that were driving Inuyasha insane. And he was not even exaggerating when he said that. He had felt the turmoil inside Inuyasha's mind and so had allowed him to rest outside the barrier until he felt ready to come inside. But then the humans had shown up…

 

Naraku's dark expression didn't fade in the slightest as he gracefully got to his feet and slid open the shoji that lead to the covered walkway that ran around the first floor of his castle. He stepped onto the dead ground of the courtyard and let his barrier dissipate slightly. The humans could now see him and they all were on guard at once, their eyes flicking between him and Inuyasha in suspicion.

 

The hanyou however took no notice of his appearance and continued to stare ahead of him with sightless eyes. Naraku ignored the humans and Kagura for a moment as he walked up behind Inuyasha and began to circle him like he did in the hanyou's dreamscape. An amused smirk curled his lips when the humans all stiffened in alarm.

 

“Exquisite isn't he?”

 

The monk's eyes narrowed and tightened the grip he had on the beads around his cursed hand as he took a step forward. “What have you done, Naraku?”

 

The dark hanyou circled Inuyasha again and cocked his head to the side as if appraising him. “Do you know the life span of a natural born hanyou?” he asked them without looking at them.

 

The humans remained silent and he let his eyes fall to Kagura who was staring at him blankly. He redirected his glaze onto the hanyou's little group for the first time and reveled in the uncomfortable shifts that he received in return.

 

“Of course you wouldn't. You don't know anything about your little guard dog do you?”

 

Naraku gave them no time to respond. He stopped beside Inuyasha and placed a deceptively fragile looking hand on the hanyou's shoulder. Instantly Inuyasha's eyes rolled back in his head, his eyelids fluttering closed. His knees gave out and he would have hit the ground if Kagura had not transformed her feather at the last minute in a gust of wind. When it died down the wind witch was no where to be found and she had taken Inuyasha with her. Naraku however, still stood there, smirking at them as if had just won a great prize.

 

Kagome, Sango and Miroku were in shock for all but a minute before they sprung into action. Kagome jumped onto Kirara and at once the fire-cat was in the sky chasing after Kagura and Inuyasha toward the castle. Miroku and Sango had charged Naraku and were now hacking away at the barrier that he had placed around himself. He gave an inward sigh as he thought over the hanyou he had in his possession.

 

 

Kagura was undoubtedly confused. She had no idea what Naraku was doing. No idea at all and that scared her shitless. She glanced over at Inuyasha, who was sprawled out on her feather and sighed. It seemed like he didn't know what was going on either. The wind witch manipulated the air around her father so that it hovered close to the ground in the large courtyard as she waited for Naraku to show up. She didn't have to wait long. He appeared, smiling almost happily, and proceeded to walk into the castle. Kagura followed him and willed her feather to follow him as well.

 

Naraku led them to a room at the far end of the castle, where he told her to leave Inuyasha until he was ready to awaken. Kagura untransformed her feather and allowed the hanyou to slowly lower onto the futon that had been unrolled for him. For the first time she wondered about Naraku's miasma, and how it would affect Inuyasha. It didn't affect her because she was born of Naraku, but it would undoubtedly affect the natural born hanyou. Kagura sighed and cocked her head to the side as she let her eyes travel over Inuyasha's prone form. He looked so different like that; unconscious and almost completely helpless. Was this Naraku's goal?

 

Kagura sighed again and left the room, slowly sliding the shoji shut behind her.

 

 

2 months later

 

Kagome sighed as she threw a twig into the dying fire, causing it to jump and sputter. Miroku and Kouga looked up at her from across the clearing and both of them gave her pitying looks, looks that she ignored. Two months, for two months they had been fighting for Inuyasha. Naraku had managed to control him somehow. The few times that they had actually been able to see him, he had merely looked at them with something like indifferent curiosity before he and Kagura had disappeared in a gust of wind. Kouga had joined them, for her protection he said, but really Kagome knew why. Inuyasha was out of the picture; why not claim Kagome now when no one could stop him? But he hadn't, and the young miko silently thanked him for that.

 

Things had become very hard. Finding the will to continue their journey was a challenge itself. Kagome hardly went home anymore for the fear an opportunity to retrieve Inuyasha would be lost in her absence. He seemed well, if not a little thinner than he normally would have been. Naraku bragged about his new prize every time he could and surviving was getting harder and harder by the day. It was amazing that everything had seemed to depend on Inuyasha's presence. And now that he wasn't here, everything was falling apart.

 

Kagome sighed again and blinked back tears.

 

 

Inuyasha yawned and rubbed his left ear, which suddenly itched very badly. Kagura wrinkled her nose at his bad mannerisms, but said nothing. The two of them sat with a game of “Go” between them. The white haired hanyou scowled at the board as he lifted a hand and placed it on one of his white stones. Kagura tisked and Inuyasha shot her a nasty glare. The wind witch fell silent and Inuyasha turned his attention back on the game board. With careful movements he placed a stone on the board and looked up at Kagura to signal that he was done. Kagura gave him a saucy grin as she quickly picked up on of her black stones and placed it on the board as well. Inuyasha frowned at her and she chuckled.

 

“I told you. You can't beat me,” she said, propping her head up on her hand.

 

Inuyasha sighed and shook his head frustration, but said nothing. It had been two months since he had been kidnapped by Naraku; two months of biding his time, growing stronger. He still didn't know what Naraku wanted with him, but he knew it had something to do with him staying near Kagura. The wind witch wasn't exactly bad company. So he wasn't' complaining yet. But he was quickly growing tired of Naraku's mind manipulation. Every time Naraku required him to leave the castle, which was becoming more and more often, he placed a spell on Inuyasha using the beads of subjugation. He wasn't exactly sure how it worked, but he knew that he was unable to remember anything about his former companions when he saw them. It was annoying, but he would survive through it. He was now in the perfect position to destroy Naraku and that is what he had to do.

 

Kagura was staring at him coolly, the game forgotten. He stared back, feeling anything but uncomfortable under her gaze.

 

“You can't hope to kill him,” she said haughtily.

 

Inuyasha cocked his head to the side as he appraised her with his eyes. “Are you saying that because you weren't able to escape him or because you actually believe that?”

 

“What I believe doesn't matter. Naraku will not allow you to escape and if you can't escape, I know I can't.”

 

Inuyasha stared at her blankly before his face split in a smile. “Once upon a time, there was a woman.”

 

Kagura's brow furrowed in confusion but Inuyasha's grin only widened.

 

“And she was wind.”

 

Kagura couldn't help but smile also as Inuyasha fell silent and returned his attention to the game again. `Once upon a time, there was a man,' she thought as she watched him make his move, `who was also wind.'

 

…within a forest dark,

For the straightforward pathway had been lost