InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Divergence ❯ Chapter 2

 

 

Divergence

 

Canto II

 

“Thus said I to him; and when he had moved,

I entered the deep and savage way.”

 

-The Inferno, Dante Alighieri, Canto II, Lines 141-142

 

 

He called them. So they appeared before him, waiting for him to speak. And speak he did, his slow deliberate voice the cause of the sudden chill that fell over them.

 

“Kagura, Inuyasha.”

 

They looked up at him from their bowed positions and as one replied, “Yes Naraku.”

 

The dark hanyou looked up from Kanna's mirror to eye them coldly. “There is a group of intruders nearing the barrier. Go outside and deter them.”

 

Both Kagura and Inuyasha bowed their heads and intoned with duel voices, “Understood.”

 

They smoothly got to their feet and as soon as they had made it to the courtyard outside the castle they gave each other a confused look.

 

“He hasn't placed the spell on me yet,” Inuyasha pointed out needlessly as Kagura pulled her feather from her hair.

 

The wind witch glanced at the castle before redirecting her gaze to Inuyasha. Three months and 9 days since Inuyasha had been captured by Naraku; in which the natural hanyou grown stronger somehow. He and Kagura had both noticed the subtle change in both of their abilities. Kagura controlled the winds much easier and Inuyasha wielded the Tetsusaiga with an ease that surprised both of them. They felt the aura and the spirit of the earth pass through them and wondered at the feeling. They never talked of it though and simply let the changes wash over them. Kagura gave herself a little shake and turned back to Inuyasha, who was eyeing her curiously. The wind witch snorted and willed her feather to grow. A gust of wind later she was seated at the head of her feather, and Inuyasha was lounging behind her.

 

“Has he placed the spell yet?” she asked him without turning around.

 

She heard Inuyasha shift before he sighed. “Nope…Wait! There it is. I think we jinxed it.”

 

Kagura gave a snort of laughter as she glanced back at the hanyou riding on her feather. “I think Naraku drove you insane,” she exclaimed.

 

Inuyasha gave her a quirky smile and shrugged. “Maybe.” He nodded to himself. “Probably.”

 

Kagura sighed and turned away from the white haired hanyou, searching the ground below for Inuyasha's old group. After a few moments she spotted them and began to direct her feather down. When they were close enough to the ground she willed her feather to shrink. Wind whipped around both of them and forced the group of humans and youkai back as Inuyasha and Kagura landed on the ground. They smoothly straightened their backs and turned identical sneers onto the figures before them. The miko sighed and lowered her bow as her eyes took in the changes in Inuyasha. A few weeks ago Naraku had forbidden him to wear his fire-rat armor. So he sported a pair of black ungathered hakama and a dark blue haori with a silver dragon embroidered on his left shoulder that trailed down his left sleeve. Kagura knew the reason for this. Naraku was once again letting his enemies know that Inuyasha was his.

 

“Kagura!”

 

The wind witch blinked and redirected her gaze to the wolf youkai who had joined Inuyasha's little group after Naraku had captured him. He was snarling at her, his fists clenching and unclenching. She silently berated herself for not paying attention and turned to face the wolf fully.

 

“What?”

 

“I'm going to rip your throat out!”

 

“Is the little wolf still sore over me killing his men?”

 

As Kagura and Kouga traded insults Inuyasha stood to the left and slightly behind her waiting for something violent to happen so he could fight. Miroku and Kagome had directed their attention on him and waited for him to do something, to say something or to even look at them. They got their wish when Miroku lowered his staff slightly and the rings jingled, causing Inuyasha's ears to rotate and his gaze to fall on them.

 

“Do you recognize us?” Kagome asked quickly, her eyes shining with hope. A hope that she was sure would be crushed at his answer.

 

“Should I?”

 

Before he had even finished speaking Kagome had raised her bow, pulled back the sting, and fired. The hanyou drew his sword in a move so fluid it seemed as if he hadn't moved at all, and slashed at the incoming arrow as if it were a bug to be swatted. Purification energy surged through the sword and it reverted it back to its smaller form. Inuyasha paused to frown at Tessaiga, then at Kagome before he sheathed the sword and moved closer to the wind witch. Kagura glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as she sent her dance of blades at Kouga, then at Sango's weapon as it came hurtling toward them.

 

“What happened?”

 

“She purified my sword,” Inuyasha answered, an expression between frustration and amusement twisting his features.

 

Kagura sent another barrage of dance of blades at Kouga and Sango, before twisting around and sending another at Kagome's arrow and a number of sutras that the monk had thrown. She reached into her robe and pulled out one of her fans. She fingered it fondly for a moment before she tossed it to Inuyasha. He caught with one hand and gave Kagura a questioning glance, to which she only smirked at him before turning back to fend off Kouga again. Inuyasha snapped open the fan and wielded it much like he wielded Tessaiga, knocking away another one of Kagome's arrows.

 

Kagome and Miroku paused in their attack to stare at the fan in surprise. Inuyasha took advantage of the short repose to send a weak version of the wind-scar at the ground in front of them, throwing them back a ways. The white haired hanyou snapped the fan shut and rested it against his shoulder, much like Kagura did. He stared down at it as he thought over his ability to use it. As he stood there Kagura landed at his side and pulled her feather from her hair.

 

“That was amazingly easy,” she observed once they were airborne.

 

Inuyasha couldn't help but agree with her as the spell's affects weakened. He sighed sadly when he remembered Kagome's anguished face.

 

“You're not getting all sentimental are you?” Kagura asked when she heard him sigh.

 

“That's bullshit,” Inuyasha replied shortly. “It's just. I hate Naraku so much I could rip his eyes out and stuff them down his throat, but I'm serving him on the off chance he'll do something stupid and give me a shot at killing him.”

 

Kagura's face twisted into a rare smile. “Are you sure you should be telling me that? I could go tell Naraku that his perfect little servant has it out for him.”

 

Inuyasha grunted and fell back on the feather, staring up at the sky as it darkened with the approaching dusk. The sky was painted a wash of purple, blue and orange and Inuyasha observed this and admitted to himself that it was pretty. He narrowed his eyes in thought.

 

“You won't tell him anything.”

 

Kagura frowned in irritation and turned to give him a mild glare. “You sound so sure. Are you certain?”

 

He sat up and cocked his head to the side as if he weren't even sure of what he was saying. He eyed Kagura as if it was her fault but the wind witch merely stared back at him, her face impassive.

 

“Yes I'm certain,” he grunted and paused as if waiting for her to disagree with him. Instead she said, “You're not wrong.”

 

They both lapsed into silence and Kagura turned around again. She gazed at the passing scenery below her and let herself fall into deep thought. She was not imagining it. Something had shifted. She was not sure if it was inside her, or if it was merely the oddness of having a constant companion. The Inuyasha that Naraku had manipulated into being was different. Not strange, like she would have expected him to be, but different. He was more prone to let his mind drift. Most of the time he was indifferent to the killing that he had to do under Naraku's control, but then sometimes, like a few minutes ago, he would prove that, no, Naraku did not have control over him.

 

But she had noticed her power shifting and she wondered over it. It might have something to do with Inuyasha's presence, or it might be because she was simply growing older. A youkai never stopped growing in power and so the older a youkai was the more powerful it was. Perhaps that was what was occurring inside her. But that had nothing to do with Inuyasha, or why his control over the winds was growing more pronounced. She had always envied him. She had wondered why he had been blessed a free life, but she, who was also the wind, had been born into servitude. But now they were both servants. Maybe their powers were feeding off each other, but the thought was so odd she dismissed it immediately. She glanced back at Inuyasha and found that he was staring at her as if he knew what she was pondering. Upon further examination she came to the conclusion that that was impossible. But it was highly probable that they were thinking of the same thing.

 

 

Sango did her best to block out the bickering of Shippou and Kouga but found it nearly impossible. Her nerves were strung thin by the events of earlier today. Inuyasha's appearances always did that to her. They made her irritable; made her feel like she wanted to reach out and break something; to scream until her voice cracked and bled. She worried over him far more than anyone would think she would. That day, the day he had run from them, she had had a feeling that he was nearing his breaking point. But she had refused to believe that he had a breaking point. It was much easier to believe that nothing could touch him, that he had everything under control. The full jewel was in their possession and all they had to do was kill Naraku. After a long line of hardships thing had finally seemed to be getting easier. She should have known Naraku wouldn't just let them have the jewel. She shouldn't have let Inuyasha get away from her. She shouldn't have dared to put so much responsibility on him.

 

Sango heaved an angry sigh and swiftly climbed to her feet. Kagome and Miroku looked up from the fire to watch her walk over to where Kouga and Shippou were fighting over a bag of potato chips that Kagome had given them to share. She pulled a stunned Shippou out of Kouga's grasp and dropped him onto the ground. Kouga stared at her as if he expected her to hit him and hit him she did. She pulled her fist back and snapped it forward again to connect soundly with his jaw. His head snapped to the side with the force of the blow, his body following its lead as he collapsed onto his side, blinking dumbly. Sango snatched the bag from his lax grip and proceeded to open them and eat them as loudly as she could as she stalked back over to where she had been leaning against Kirara before.

 

Miroku watched her do this, a small amused smile tugging at his lips. When she punched Kouga he snorted which led into a full laugh, which echoed through the small clearing where they had made camp. Sango looked over at him with an irritated look smoldering in her eyes, but Miroku waved this off, still laughing. The tense atmosphere in the clearing seemed to ease after that and the monk used this to his advantage as he tried to put his thoughts in order.

 

“Did you guys…”

 

“He used a fan, just like Kagura does. I've never seen him do anything like that before,” Kagome said quietly when he trailed off.

 

Miroku nodded his head in agreement and let his gaze wander over everyone that sat with him in the clearing. Kouga had recovered from Sango's fury and didn't look any worse for wear about it. Shippo had curled up in Kagome's lap, silently fuming about the loss of his chips and Sango was staring at him from across the fire, dully eating said chips. Certain that he had everyone's attention he began to speak again.

 

“I believe Inuyasha's powers over the auras of others have grown.”

 

Sango stared at him, obviously confused. “Inuyasha doesn't control the auras of his opponents, his sword does.”

 

Before Miroku could correct her Kouga did. His voice was sharp and concise as he explained the way Inuyasha's sword worked. “No. The mutt's sword is a normal sword whenever anyone who can't use it picks it up. His powers are a lot like Kagura's. He just has always had that over grown clunk of fang to cover it up.”

 

Sango frowned at this, her gaze shifting to pin Miroku with an odd look. “Okay, so now he can use a fan like he uses Tessaiga. Is there anything to be worried about?”

 

Kagome chose to answer this one. “Why now? Why after he was captured by Naraku?”

 

There was no answer anyone could give her.

 

 

Inuyasha felt his jaw crack under the pressure caused by Naraku's fist but made no sound of pain as he was thrown against the wall from the force of the hit. The other hanyou didn't give him anytime to pull himself together before he was on top of him again. He drove his knee into Inuyasha's stomach hard enough to make his eyes widen before he slammed his fist into Inuyasha's face again. Inuyasha fell to his knees, his arms wrapped around his middle as he fought to breathe again.

 

Naraku stood next to him, his red eyes aflame with fury as he looked down at the white haired hanyou before him.

 

“I sent you out there to destroy the village. Why couldn't you do that?”

 

Inuyasha regained the ability to breathe and raised a hand to wipe at the blood and saliva that trickled from his mouth when he had fought for air. He paused, as if he were gathering himself up, before he got to his feet and turned to face Naraku. His expression was anything but subservient and that only served to anger Naraku more.

 

“There was no point. They weren't at the village. No good could come from killing a bunch of helpless villagers.”

 

Naraku's hand shot out and wrapped around Inuyasha's throat, causing the hanyou to gasp. Naraku slammed his head back into the wall and smirked as Inuyasha's eyes narrowed in pain.

 

“You think too much of yourself. I tell you when there is no point to something. You do as told. Do you understand me?”

 

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed further and a clawed hand came up to wrap around Naraku's arm. His eyes, which had dulled in the five months he had been in Naraku's castle smoldered an angry dirty yellow. He stared at Naraku like he was a fool and the other hanyou felt his hackles raise as his fury enveloped him.

 

Kagura watched from a corner of the room as Naraku began to vent his frustrations on Inuyasha. It had begun a few weeks ago. One of Naraku's plans would be foiled and he would turn to Inuyasha to show his displeasure. But as she watched Naraku slam his fist into Inuyasha's ribs she began to think Naraku was going too far. She was sure Naraku didn't want Inuyasha dead. If he had, he would have killed him months ago. She flinched when Inuyasha heaved a mouthful of blood onto the floor. To say that had she been surprised when Inuyasha had refused to destroy his old village would be a gross understatement. Inuyasha had showed no remorse when they'd been ordered to destroy other villages. He'd been fine when Naraku had ordered him to fight his own companions. But he had refused to raise a hand against the people of Edo and had also prevented her from doing so. She didn't understand but did not question him.

 

Naraku had been less than pleased, which brought them to present. After at least an hour of watching Naraku pound on Inuyasha's body Naraku finally stopped and let Inuyasha slump against the wall behind him. Naraku watched Inuyasha breathe shallowly for a few moments before snatching him by the collar and giving him a rough shake.

 

“You will go and you will raise that village until no one is left breathing!”

 

With that he literally threw Inuyasha from the room. Kagura could hear the hanyou's body collide painfully with the opposite wall of the hallway with a loud smack. She gazed impassively at Naraku and waited for him to speak to her. She was awarded with a glance and a fuming glare that told her to get out of his face. Thinking that she was supposed to follow Inuyasha to make sure he carried out his order, she bowed and moved to leave the room. A few paces down the hallway she caught up to Inuyasha. He was limping painfully, one hand using the wall as support, while the other was hanging limply, as if broken. Kagura easily slipped under his uninjured arm and let him lean against her, which he shamelessly did.

 

“You're a fool, do you know that?” she grunted softly as they slowly eased themselves down the stairs and into the courtyard. “Go against an order, and then just let him beat you up. If only your friends could see you now.”

 

“They're gonna,” he rasped softly as Kagura released her fold on him for a moment to pull out and transform her feather.

 

A second later they were airborne and Kagura turned around to pull Inuyasha up a little more so that he could lean on her shoulder. When she felt that he was in a position that would cause him the least pain she turned around again.

 

“What do you mean `They're gonna'?”

 

“I lied. I didn't attack the village because the others were camped right outside it. They chased me away.”

 

“Why didn't Naraku know that?”

 

“Because he's weak.”

 

Kagura made a face. “Then why the hell haven't you killed him?”

 

Inuyasha gave a wet sounding chuckle. “He's not that weak. He has no eyes since the others killed Kanna. He doesn't have the jewel so he can't make another incarnation of himself. He's run out of options.” Inuyasha paused to take a raspy breath. “Why'd ya think he's been so pissy lately?”

 

Kagura merely grunted as she scanned the ground for the hanyou's old companions. She felt his head loll against her shoulder when she shifted and dared a glance at his face. He seemed narrower, gaunt and malnourished. Anymore of this and she wasn't sure if he'd survive to see Naraku killed. A castle full of poisonous miasma wasn't the best place to heal and Inuyasha's poor living conditions were catching up to him. Kagura's initial fears of how he would survive had come back. The wind witch was born of Naraku, and so was born to live in such conditions. Inuyasha was not.

 

The more she pondered her current trail of thought, the more set she became on her recent plan of action. If what Inuyasha said was true, and Naraku had no eyes despite what she and Inuyasha reported to him, then she would have no trouble following through with her plan. As she spotted a campfire below her, she didn't allow herself to think of it anymore. She angled her feather down and as she neared the ground she turned and gave Inuyasha's cheek a few gentle taps. He grunted to let her know that he was listening and she allowed herself to smile fondly at him.

 

“As soon as you're better, make sure you come back to the castle. I need someone to keep me company, even if it's you.”

 

Inuyasha opened his eyes and sucked in a breath to ask what the hell she was talking about, but was cut off by a gust of wind and a number of sharp gasps. Kagura quickly ducked under Inuyasha's arm and wrapped her arm around his waist to support him. He grunted softly in pain and his head fell forward, his long unkempt bangs shadowing his badly bruised face. She had come upon them when they ate dinner, but all movement stopped as the hanyou's old companions eyed the two of them in shock. The wolf came out of it the quickest and took a menacing step forward.

 

“You bitch Kagura! I'll kill you!”

 

“As I come to you with a dying hanyou on my shoulder. Continue to annoy me and I'll just leave him with Naraku to explain why he failed to destroy your village twice.”

 

Hate made them all stiffen when she said Naraku's name and they stared at Kagura suspiciously but not angrily like before.

 

“Naraku did that to him?” the monk asked incredulously.

 

Kagura rolled her eyes. “No, he did it to himself while Naraku and I watched.”

 

The humans and the wolf all opened their mouths to reply but the fire-cat cut them off. She transformed into her battle form and approached Kagura and Inuyasha confidently, if not a little slowly. She stopped in front of them and nuzzled Inuyasha's chin with her nose. The half-demon opened his eyes to stare down at her in fuzzy confusion before darkness claimed his vision. As he went limp a number of things happened.

 

He began to pull Kagura down with him-- she had never boasted her physical strength because she had very little, and Inuyasha was no light-weight--. Kirara, noticing this, lunged forward so that she could break Inuyasha's fall. Kouga seeing Kagura's sudden movement thought that she was attacking them and dived for her, his claws extended. Kagura jumped out of the way, making sure that Inuyasha was leaning against the fire-cat and opened her mouth to tell him how stupid he was but found that his attention was on the beads of subjugation that were tangled in his claws. Kagome squeaked in surprise when she saw this, and rushed over. She glanced at the rosary in Kouga's hands before rushing to Inuyasha to make sure he hadn't been injured further from the fall.

 

The rosary hadn't been overlooked when Inuyasha had been turned against them. She had tried numerous times to `osuwari' Inuyasha when he had attacked them, but the command hadn't worked. Kagome brushed her trembling fingers over the place where the rosary had settled against his collar bone and found three slender welts left from Kouga's claws. When she looked up she found everyone's eyes on her.

 

“He's okay.”

 

Everyone relaxed but Kagura's voice only made them tense up again. “No he's not.”

 

Kagome turned to give her a sharp look. Kagura remained unaffected. She pulled her feather from her hair and gazed at Inuyasha's beaten form intently before looking up at Kagome again.

 

“I'll be back when he is.”

 

“How can you be so sure that he will want to go back with you?” Miroku asked before she had a chance to transform her feather and fly away.

 

Kagura gave him a haughty look. “How can you be so sure he will resist?”

 

And with that and a gust of wind she was gone.

 

Kagome quickly directed her attention to Inuyasha, who was steadily leaking blood onto Kirara's fur. Sango also hurried over, Kagome's bag in one hand. When she reached Inuyasha she quickly turned him onto his back and shifted him so that he was sitting up against Kirara's flank. As Kagome worked on removing the top half of his clothes so that she could get to his wounds, Kouga managed to untangle the rosary from his claws and was staring at it in deep thought.

 

“We need a safe place to hide him,” Sango observed as she passed Kagome's first aid kit to the young woman.

 

“What's wrong with the village?” Shippo asked quietly as he watched Kagome bind Inuyasha's broken ribs with a thick wrapping.

 

The hanyou's face twisted whenever she would accidentally brush over a tender area. He was panting hard, like he had just finished running a great distance. His pale face had flushed slightly as a fever threatened to engulf him and his too thin body shook with concealed pain.

 

“I would suggest my cave,” Kouga put in. After a moment he shook his head. “It's too far away. It's nearly a week and a half run from here and that's without stopping.”

 

The others agreed with him. Inuyasha needed a place to stay where he could heal. Traveling wouldn't help him much. Inuyasha's sharp hiss of pain made them all look down. Kagome was staring at his right arm, her brow furrowed. After a moment of silent examination she looked up at Kouga and Miroku, who stood over her.

 

“It's broken.”

 

They had little time to ponder this new information. Inuyasha chose to wake up. His brow furrowed and he blinked his eyes open, staring up at Kagome in confusion.

 

“Do you recognize us?” she asked softly, placing a hand on his bruised cheek.

 

After a moment Inuyasha's head bobbed in a weak nod. He seemed confused as well. He raised his uninjured arm and felt around his neck for something. His frown deepened when he didn't feel it and looked up at them with squinted eyes.

 

“Where--”

 

Kouga cut him off by dangling the rosary by an end in his face. “Looking for this?”

 

Inuyasha's narrowed eyes followed the string of beads as they swayed back and forth for a few seconds before he averted his eyes. He looked up at Kouga, his brow furrowed in confusion.

 

“What're you doin' here?” he rasped softly.

 

Kouga stared at Inuyasha as if questioning his sanity. “I was here this morning when you tried to attack the village.”

 

Inuyasha continued to frown at him fuzzily. “Were you?”

 

Kouga opened his mouth to reply but Miroku placed a hand on his shoulder. Kouga turned to look at the monk in question but Miroku just shook his head. Kagome carefully finished binding the worst of Inuyasha's wounds and sat back, staring at his arm. Sango followed her gaze and the two women stared at the broken appendage in silence before Sango broke it.

 

“Do you want me to do it?”

 

Kagome let her eyes rest on Inuyasha's bruised face for a moment before she let her gaze fall to her lap. Sango understood and shifted so that she was kneeling right in front of the injured hanyou. She looked up and her gaze locked with Kouga's. The wolf prince sighed and kneeled as well. Miroku grasped Kagome's arm and tugged her to her feet, saying something about picking up the camp. Kagome allowed him to drag her off and tried her best not to look back.

 

Sango gripped Inuyasha's arm at the elbow, where it had been broken. The hanyou hissed and tried to shift away from her, but Kouga's grip on Inuyasha's shoulder prevented him from going far. Sango changed her grip so that she could have the best leverage and snapped his arm back into alignment. The hanyou screamed hoarsely behind clenched teeth and Sango averted her eyes. They weren't done yet. She moved her hands so that one was resting on his shoulder and the other was resting on his upper arm. She tugged and pushed his arm back into its socket and flinched when Inuyasha screamed again. Then he fell limp and didn't make another sound when Sango replaced two of his fingers. This worried her more than anything. If he was awake and in pain, she was sure that he was not dying. Kouga seemed to agree with her and gave Inuyasha a little shake. He looked up at Sango when Inuyasha didn't respond and frowned.

 

“What's wrong?” Sango asked as she bound Inuyasha's arm in a position it would heal.

 

Kouga stared at Inuyasha as if thinking hard about something. “Nothing,” was his answer.

 

Sango didn't ask again.

 

…the deep and savage way