InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Facets of the Living Jewel ❯ Cum tacent, clamant ( Chapter 40 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the other characters. Ms. Takahashi does.

 

[Inudemon]

(Inuhuman)

`Inuyasha or others'

 

 

Cum tacent, clamant

By Licentia poetica

 

Inuyasha raced for Kaede's home, Kagome's inert form wrapped in his arms. He felt the same sense of helpless horror that he had experienced when she had taken the arrow from Kaguya. `I can't believe that I wasn't in time to protect her from that bastard!' He pleaded with her as he ran, hoping that his voice could somehow reach her and keep her with him.

 

“Shit, Kagome! I always tried to keep you away from him. He's a wolf, damnit! You shouldn't have encouraged him. You're so stupid, so willing to trust that everyone is good. Don't you die on me Kagome, not now. Don't you give up and die on me. I swear if you do I'll follow you and find you. Shit! I knew the gods hated me. They can't take you now. Not now! Kagome!” He could not feel the pain of the wounds from the Goraishi; the pain in his chest at the thought of losing her eclipsed all other feeling.

 

He cleared the top of the hill and the distance to Kaede's hut in one final leap, passing just over the heads of the Kai-wolves, who raced down the hill after him.

 

“KAEDE!” he screamed, tearing his voice raw. He backed into the hut, using his shoulder to push the bamboo cane screen aside, not bothering to wait for her to respond. “KAEDE!”

 

“I am here, Inuyasha. What…Kagome!” The old miko stepped forward, shock on her face. “Gods, what happened to her? Put her on my pallet, Inuyasha.”

 

He lay Kagome down, trying to be as gentle as he could, trying to keep her from any further hurt. Her head lolled to the side, the caked blood and purple bruises lurid against the pallor of her skin.

 

“What did this to her, Inuyasha?” Kaede's old hands were trembling as she tried to stop the blood flowing from Kagome's torn shoulder with an herbal poultice. “Here, hold this in place whilst I take care of this other wound. Press here.” As he gently placed his hands on the cloth, she pushed at them. “Press! We must stop the bleeding!”

 

He held the poultice against her flesh, watching the blood well out from underneath his hands in spite of the pressure he was using. `Gods, this is only one of the wounds. How much blood has she lost?' Her clothing was dyed with it, the original colors lost in the crimson hue.

 

 

 

Kaede rapidly mixed more herbs in a cloth, wetting it with water from her kettle and placing it against a large wound on Kagome's hip. Her face blanched as she surveyed the damage. The main artery to the leg had been severed, and the blood spurted with each beat of Kagome's heart. The beats were becoming fewer and more irregular, the arc of the spurts shorter as Kagome's blood supply diminished. Appalled at the damage, she asked again “What did this, Inuyasha?”

 

“Kouga.” The name came out in a guttural growl. “The bastard got angry because she's my mate. She must have refused him.”

 

“This Inuyasha fought him, and thinkshe killed him. But this Inuyashabrought her here before hecould make sure.”

 

Kaede gave him a sharp glance as she held the poultice to the thigh wound, but her voice was gentle as she asked, “Place your other hand here. Hold this one, too.” She moved to get yet another poultice, and gave a startled cry.

 

Shiro and Aoi had entered the hut, and Jinx had her head and shoulders through the bamboo curtain.

 

“It's all right Kaede. They won't hurt you.” The old miko looked at him, then shrugged and began making another poultice.

 

He could not speak well in Inu, as his body was occupied with keeping the pressure on Kagome's injuries, but he acknowledged them with a soft growl. “Old woman. She Pack.”

 

“Pack Leader. Your mate smells of death.” Shiro said softly. Aoi gave a soft whine of sorrow.

 

“Quiet!” barked Inuyasha. “Not dead yet.”

 

Aoi walked up next to him and gave his cheek a soft lick. As Kaede moved forward with the completed poultice, she hesitated for an instant as the Kai-wolf bitch looked at her, then pursed her lips and moved to Kagome's side. Aoi whined again, staring into Kagome's face. She began licking at the blood staining Kagome's cheek, cleaning her Pack Leader's mate.

 

There was less blood seeping from under the poultices he was holding, but as he looked up at Kaede he could see there was resignation in her face as she pressed her poultice against the wound on Kagome's other leg.

 

Kagome gave a soft sigh, her breath leaving her body as gently as the quiet susurration of a sleeping child. She did not breathe in again. Inuyasha waited, terrified by the silence.

 

He closed his eyes against the truth as he realized why the silence was so absolute.

 

He could no longer hear her heart beat.

 

Aoi sat back on her haunches and gave a mournful howl. Shiro joined her, followed by Jinx, Bandit, and Runt. The Kai-wolf pack mourned the loss of their Pack Leader's mate, their desolate cries filling the hut and echoing through the village.

 

Inuyasha could not move. He opened his eyes and stared at her face, knowing that she was gone but unable to process the loss he felt. The Kai-wolves' cries were surreal to him. Kaede was trying to say something to him, but he ignored her voice; the words made no sense. His eyes traveled to his blood stained hands, noting that Kagome's blood was mixed with Kouga's on his claws. He withdrew his hands from her body suddenly, the thought of Kouga's blood touching Kagome's sickening him, but he couldn't move away from her to clean them.

 

`I can't leave her. I'm supposed to protect her.'

 

[We were too late.]

 

(Kagome…all this blood…)

 

Kaede, seeing his outstretched fingers and the look of revulsion on his face, brought a wet cloth over to him and gently began washing his hands. He stared at her, bemused, as she wrapped his hands in the cloth and massaged his fingers, wiping the blood off him as a mother would clean a small child. When she finished, she rinsed the cloth and began delicately sponging Kagome's face, removing the stains that Aoi had left behind. Hands still raised in the air, numbed, incapable of any action, Inuyasha watched Kaede work.

 

`She's bruised. She's so beautiful, and her face…he must have hit her. I…shouldn't have…Kagome. I failed her.'

 

[(Kagome…)]

 

The Kai-wolves stopped keening. Aoi and Shiro trotted out of the hut, growling, as sounds came from outside. Some of the villagers were clamoring for Kaede, demanding to see her. Kaede dropped the towel and groaned to her feet, placing a damp hand on Inuyasha's shoulder and squeezing. He finally dropped his hands as his gaze moved up to her face.

 

Kaede blinked. `I was going to reassure him, to console him, but he is in such pain!' She squeezed his shoulder again, unable to utter any words against the ache that she saw in his face. `I will answer the villager's questions, then prepare Kagome for…' A sob rose up in her chest, in spite of her training, in spite of her knowledge of dukkha and tanha and the Path. She lowered her head, patted his shoulder, and left her home to answer the villager's strident complaints.

 

Inuyasha stared at Kagome in the silent room. Her long eyelashes swept over her pale cheeks as if she was sleeping. `I've watched her sleep so many times.'

 

[(Kagome…)]

 

The stillness grew until his heartbeat and breath were obscenely loud. Freed by the quiet, the pain rose up in his chest, stilling his heart beat, threatening to choke him, beating at his sanity.

 

He gave a cry of absolute agony, his youki and humanity screaming their loss, and pulled Kagome from the floor into his arms. He held her tightly against his chest, the pain twisting him; crippling him more surely than any physical wound.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Translations:

Cum tacent, clamant; Latin: When they are silent, they cry out. (Silence speaks louder than words, Cicero)

Dukkha: a central concept in Buddhism. The word roughly corresponds to sorrow, suffering, or affliction. Dukkha is the focus of the Four Noble Truths, including the first: all of life involves dukkha.

 

Tanha: thirst, craving, or desire. A cause of dukkha.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

R&R thanks:

 

FF: The Painted Lady (yup, Kouga was Very Provoked), Lady Niltiak, Mrs. JediK1 (don't forget that the betas view Kagome as the alpha female, and will protect her…as long as it doesn't get them in trouble with the alpha male), Archangel Gabrielle, mcleigh1979 (oh, but Kagome can die! She is, after all, human, and being a Time Lord doesn't help), Photographing Poetry, whiteswan (we'll learn more about Sesshoumaru's comment about not wanting to use the Tenseiga on a human in the next chapter), lunerfox, Sanis, jcnkitten, Ryunosuke-sama.

 

MM:

Frani1375: Thanks! Good luck with updating your own story.

 

leo_mae: I'm so glad you're happy with the Kouga bashing! Boy, you must really hate the poor guy: all those tens!

 

jessbit: Thank you for your kind comments about my characterizations!

 

FieryFaerie: Glad you thought the other ending was funny. As you may have noticed, I have a quirky sense of humor…at least that's one way to put it. I love Miroku and Sango, too, and when I get a chance I'm going to look up your story! Thanks for the nomination: I enjoyed writing the scenes between them…and there'll be some more!

 

miakakiri: Don't apologize! You caught me! Actually, I thought I was going to get flamed for the Latin much earlier (Fons, fons, fons). The truth is, the original title I had for the chapter was “Conlige suspectos semper habitos” (round up the usual suspects), but I felt it was too tongue-in-cheek (not that “Caro putridas es” wasn't even more t-i-c…I guess I was just moody). It was late, I was tired, frustrated, and lazy so I wrote the first thing that came to my mind that fit with the chapter's contents. Somehow, I knew it was going to come back and bite me…cave quid dicis, quando, et cui (beware what you say, when, and to whom)! I'll be less lazy in the future knowing that someone who has actually studied Latin is reading (I never studied it formally). Would you like to e-mail me a good title for the chapter? I'm willing to change it for a good concrit! Maybe I'll go back to my original title…as for the rest of your R&R: well, Kagome's not O.K., and Sango's pregnancy won't manifest itself for some time yet (the zygote is becoming a morula right now, floating in the fallopian tubes, and hasn't even reached the uterus…yeah, I know, too much information).

 

Thanks to all of you, non-reviewers included! I really do appreciate the reviews, and I try to take criticism with good grace…or at least a good sense of humor (bizarre? quirky?). I'm still awed and grateful that people are reading my efforts.

 

There is a new story out there from a friend of mine. If you like sci fi or just a good tale, try “Metroid: Outcast” by Scritor Demens on FanFiction. S.D. has shown me the first three chapters of the story: funny and well written, with a great plot!