InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Fallen Part One: Downfall ❯ Don't Stay ( Chapter 4 )

I forgot to mention the titles of the songs used in the chapters are the titles of the actual chapter, incase ya'll were wondering.

Now that the house items have been taken care of…

NEXT CHAPTER!!!

Chapter 3: Don't Stay

It had been about two weeks since that hellish day when they had found him. He had been incapacitated in much the same manner in which Kikyou had done him, over fifty years before. In that time the remaining group had tried in vain to get a gleaning as to what had happened to him. All their efforts had been met with was silence, or a broken whimper.

He spent the entirety of the two weeks sitting in a corner of Kaede's hut staring off into space. His gaze never wavered. He never moved. The only thing that signaled that he wasn't a statue, or dead, was the occasional twitch of his ears. Even when Shippou, in an act of desperation, had viciously attacked his ears he remained still.

At the moment everyone had vacated the hut, completely tired of Inuyasha's blank staring. It was highly unnerving. He refused to eat, sleep, or speak. As the days passed, their worry increased. Nothing seemed to work anymore. It was like he was a marionette.

"What do you think could have happened to him? What could have caused this?" a worried Sango asked no one in general.

"And where is Kagome?" and equally worried Shippou piped up.

"I do not know. My only guess is that Inuyasha's condition would have something to do with the Lady Kagome," Miroku replied.

The group sat in a slightly uncomfortable and foreboding silence after that last comment. Everyone jumped at least two feet off the ground when an enraged, guttural growl sounded from directly behind them, breaking the uneasy silence. After recovering from their shock, they simultaneously looked towards Kaede's hut to see Inuyasha standing in the doorway.

His rigid posture and increasingly loud growls proved that there was something amiss. This was the first time he had moved from his corner since they had had to physically drag him back to the village. Not that he had resisted them, but he had been nothing but dead weight. It was next to impossible to transport him. Without warning or reason, the hanyou sped past them, into the woods. He was headed for the well.

~x~

After over a month, almost two, wallowing in her self-pity party, she finally decided to return. She had a duty to fulfill. She would finish the jewel, just not with the bastard half -breed.

//Sometimes I need to remember just to breathe//

Tossing her over-stuffed bag over the rim of the well, she quickly followed it. Not wanting to linger in the area long, she didn't bother to stop to rest before she grabbed her bag and hauled it onto her shoulders. She was oblivious of her surroundings.

Finally noticing the small hairs that stood at attention on the back of her neck and on her arms, she looked up to see Sesshomaru standing at the edge of the forest. Her breath caught in her throat. Fear pervaded her senses before she quickly conquered the offending emotion, her eyes gleamed, stone hard. She had to admit he was a most exquisite creature, the perfect combination: beautiful, if you could call a man that, and deadly. Such a combination was something that she desperately strived for, in order to accomplish that she had to harden her exterior and bottle up her emotions; much like he did.

//Sometimes I need you to stay away from me//

Though she didn't show it, she was still scared. Fighting the urge to back up the young miko looked the inu youkai in the eye, silently meeting his challenge. Then from the corner of her eye she saw a flash of red and the vision before her disappeared. It was just that; a vision. Although what it was trying to tell her, she was ignorant to. There was too much flooding her mind. All thoughts, however, fled from her in sheer terror as the figure in red landed before her, growling menacingly.

//Sometimes I'm in disbelief, I didn't know//

Instinct told her to run. Rational thought told her to hold still, to appear non aggressive. Torn she stood frozen to the spot. Looking into his red eyes she saw pure hatred. Tears formed in her eyes as the wound was opened anew, and he lunged for her.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she shouted the subduing spell, putting as much as she could into it and ran towards the village. She never thought that he would attack her, intent on killing her. That was the one thought that had never crossed her mind, not since the first night she met him. Not since the night she freed him. She should have known. After his betrayal, there should have been no doubt in her mind that he would not hesitate to kill her on sight.

//Somehow I need you to go//

Somewhere behind her she heard him, lunging through the trees. Screaming the subduing spell again she was shocked to find that there was no resounding crash. Something was horribly wrong.

As she heard his footsteps grow louder, the sound reverberating in her frenzied mind, she saw the village ahead of her. Giving a cry of joy and relief, she pushed herself harder as she saw her friends coming from the village. Tears streaming down her face she opened her arms for her long lost kit as he ran for her, oblivious of the oncoming danger.

//Don't stay//

As the kit made a leap for his surrogate mother, a string of events followed that would forever change the entire group. As he leapt through the air, Inuyasha chose that time to made a sweeping slash with his Sankon Tetsusou. At that precise moment, Kagome tripped over a rock crying out as the lower flying of the blades flayed her back. However, she was not crying out of pain. When she had tripped, Shippou had been the only other object in the direct path of the blades.

//Forget our memories//

Tears welled in the eyes of everyone present, including Inuyasha who had managed to gain a hold of his blood, stopping in time before he killed anyone else. It was a miracle, but somehow he had managed to quell his raging blood, bringing an abrupt end to his rampage. But, that doesn't mean there weren't casualties.

Pulling herself from the ground, disregarding her back, which was practically in ribbons, Kagome threw herself at her kit. Gathering the bloody remains of his body in her arms, she rocked him gently and sobbed. All she could see was the smiling face of her kit. The memories of her child compared to his broken form where too much for her to bear.

//Forget our possibilities//

She had planned on officially adopting him once the shard hunt was over, but now that was gone. It had been shamelessly ripped from her. With grief overwhelming her, Kagome allowed her months, nay years of pent up frustration to gather and overflow. Looking up in the eyes of her would be killer and the murderer of her son, her eyes glowed with an eerie red light as she lost control. At that moment everyone there realized she was in no way Kikyou's reincarnation. She was too powerful.

//What you were changing me into//

Placing a gentle kiss on Shippou's forehead, she gently laid what was left of him on the ground before she uttered a roar of fury and heartbreak. Her world went black.

When she came back to herself, she found her friends holding her back from further beating a whimpering Inuyasha. Briefly the thought that something wasn't right flashed through her mind before she angrily brushed it aside. Uttering an inhuman snarl, she pulled against her captors before she completely regained control of her body. It was almost as if an animal had possessed her body.

//Just give me myself back and//

Looking at the bloodied Inuyasha, and then the tattered remains of her son, she promptly lost the contents of her stomach before she began to sob anew. Gently Miroku lifted her and carried her into the hut.

She was a whirlwind of confusion. `How could I have just lost myself like that? I don't understand. That has never happened to me before,' she thought detachedly, analyzing the entire situation as a therapist would his patient. She could feel herself slowly draining away. She was losing touch with who she was. Something was taking control, and she wasn't so sure she liked it.

//Don't stay
Forget our memories//

Curling up into a tight ball, she lay on her side and thought of the best way to escape. There was no way she could stay here, not after everything that had happened. Not after Inuyasha had killed her son.

Inuyasha.

`The bastard killed my son. He shall pay, along with the dead bitch and Naraku,' she thought as her vision went red. As she felt herself slowly loosing control, she closed her eyes and used a breathing exercise that never failed her. After she had sufficiently calmed, she opened her eyes again and looked around.

//Forget our possibilities//

Everyone was asleep, a troubled aura hung around the group that was huddled so trustingly together. Shippou's death had come as quite the shock to them all and the guilt stricken Inuyasha had fled before she could pass her judgment upon him.

Oh how he would pay.

Sweet revenge would soon be hers for the taking. If there were any remaining feelings for the hanyou when she first returned through the well, they were completely demolished, or rather buried. Not even the miniscule particles of space dust could compare to the remaining caring emotions for the hanyou. They were nonexistent.

//Take all your faithlessness with you//

She would bear having him leave her for the dead bitch. She could tolerate his rough words and treatment to both herself and her kit, but there was no way she could forgive the death of her son. Inuyasha had never truly hurt Shippou before so all he really needed was the occasional "sit" to put him in his place. However, not only did he grievously wound Kagome's soul, but he also killed her son.

Insult to injury I guess you could say. No matter the bastard would pay.

//Just take myself back and//

Silently rising to her feet, Kagome gathered her bow and arrows, and headed out of the small hut. She had completely bypassed her large yellow pack and it's contents, including food. It was too heavy.

Looking about for signs that anyone might see her leave or could have followed her, she sighed in relief to see no one about. Giving one last lingering look at the hut where her friends slept, she soundlessly headed out of the village. She was headed west.

She completely missed the glowing pair of golden eyes that spied her from the roof of the house.

//Don't stay//

Silently he stalked her. She remained oblivious. He got careless.

Hearing a twig snap behind her, Kagome whirled around holding her bow at ready, an arrow already notched. Looking around she caught a stray bit of a demon aura, and panicked when she realized whom it was.

Blindly shooting an arrow, she heard a muffled grunt and took off. He would kill her when he caught her. Pushing her already tired body above and beyond its limits she tried in vain to once again out run the enraged hanyou. She could not stay in the village. She couldn't even stay with her friends, but she had to continue the shard hunt.

//Sometimes I feel like I trusted you too well//

Hearing rushing water near by, she gave a cry of relief. If she could make it to the water before he did, she could mask her scent there, and hopefully disappear. Reaching a beautiful pool with a waterfall, she quickly slung her bow over her shoulder, across her chest and jumped in. Swimming to the waterfall, she was relieved to find that there was a cave behind it.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she removed her bow and quiver of arrows from her person, setting them down. Sitting within arms reach of her weapons, she closed her eyes, and quickly became lost in her own thoughts.

`I am such a fool to have trusted him, relied on him the way I did. I can barely defend myself against him! How am I supposed to get the shards by myself? I am such a fool,' she thought despairingly.

//Sometimes I just feel like strangling you myself//

"I need to train myself," she said to the cave, "I need to become stronger. Then and only then will I be able to avenge my kit." With her rage her eyes once again took on an ethereal glow, shining with her power. It grew stronger with her strong emotions, with her need to survive. Red seeped into her eyes, seeking and taking dominance.

//Sometimes I'm in disbelief, I didn't know//

She blamed herself for the death of young Shippou. He had looked up to her, had loved her. She should have known that something bad would happen to him. She should have followed her instincts and stayed in her era, but no! She just had to be lil' miss liberated, twentieth century chick who just HAS to face her problems head on. Now look where it has gotten her; sitting in a cave, praying to every god above that the blasted dog won't find her, before she can become strong enough to kill him.

//Somehow I need to be alone//

Curling up into a tight ball once more, she closed her eyes and allowed a few tears to slip passed her defenses. She could finally mourn uninterrupted for her lost kit. She didn't have to worry about a sobbing Sango, or solemn Miroku trying to comfort her. This solitude was just what she needed.

//Don't stay
Forget our memories
Forget our possibilities
What you were changing me into
Just give me myself back and//

In the morning, when she was sure it was safe, she would leave. There was no way she could return to the village. It would be too painful, and she also didn't want that baka Inuyasha trying to avenge an already dead woman just because she didn't let him take her to Naraku. In the morning, she would leave and never look back. She would train herself, and become the most powerful miko to have lived since Midoriko. She would surpass Midoriko.

//Don't stay
Forget our memories
Forget our possibilities
Take all your faithlessness with you
Just take myself back and
Don't stay//

In the morning, she would finally liberate herself of Inuyasha's crushing grasp. For the past four years, she had dealt with him promising to protect her only to fail as soon as Kikyou tried to do the deed. Also in that time, Inuyasha had tried to mold her into the undead miko. Now that she was away from him, she would rebuild who she was, she would break the bonds he had placed upon her.

//I don't need you anymore, don't want to be ignored//

Hearing a noise outside of her small dwelling, her eyes flashed a pearlescent white before the red reclaimed them. Climbing to her feet, she allowed instinct to take over, her mind and body both over taxed. If she thought too much, she would not survive.

As a blur of red burst through the waterfall, she erected a shimmering barrier around herself, and retrieved her weapons. Her eyes glowed a pure white. Not a single spec of color was visible. Looking into the glowing golden eyes of the now calmed inu hanyou, she notched an arrow, prepared to defend herself.

"Kagome," he called softly as he took a step forward. Coming in contact with the barrier he flinched back as a curl of smoke formed and rose off of his body where it made contact.

"Stay back," she hissed in a voice not her own. It was a cold voice of glacial proportions. Her eyes flashed even brighter as he moved to test her barrier again. "You dare come to me now? After everything you've done to me! … Stay BACK! …I won't stand for it! If you take one step closer to me I'll purify you to the next life you bastard!"

//I don't need one more day, of you wasting me away//

"I'm sorry," he whispered, not knowing of anything else to say.

Wrong move.

"You're sorry?" she asked. "You're sorry?! You tried to kill me, several times, and you killed my son on one such attempt and all you have to say is sorry?! Burn in hell bastard!" she screeched hysterically as she let her arrow fly.

//I don't need you anymore, I don't want to be ignored//

Seeing him dodge the arrow, she hissed in anger and pulled another from her quiver. Notching it, she looked around for her prey as he disappeared, trying to gauge where he would turn up next. Turning to her left she let another fly, catching his sleeve. Strengthening her barrier, she closed her eyes and remained passive. Stretching her senses she found him directly behind her. Whirling around, she uttered an inhuman growl as he made a sweeping rake of his claws at her barrier.

"I'm surprised," he called as he disappeared once again.

//I don't need one more day, of you wasting me away//

"Oh and why is that?" she spat back.

"You didn't fall for my ploy. Smart girl. Smarter than I expected," he replied. "I'll be back for you, bitch," he called as he fled the cave. Snarling in outrage, her power flowed around her in dangerous arcs, lightening crackling in her eyes. Flames burst about her body, twisting and curling around her in her rage, before dieing down.

//With no apologies//

"You bastard!" she screamed into the night as she lost complete control and unleashed an unbridled wave of pure energy. As the light subsided, she was on one knee, breathing heavily. Looking up, she was shocked to sense that she had purified every youkai within a mile of her. "I will make you pay," she snarled, "I will make you beg for your life!"

//Don't stay//

As her last words left her mouth, she collapsed in an exhausted heap upon the floor of her small cave. Though she was unconscious she was still aware, like a lion she slept with one eye open. She kept her senses open for anything that may pose a threat to herself.

//Forget our memories//

As she drifted in a dreamless void, she came across visions, some that showed the future, while other showed the past; her memories. Fighting against the pain caused by her sweet memories, she locked them up in the deepest recesses of her mind.

Never to be released.

//Forget our possibilities//

All that remained free to tease her as they would was her memories of her family, five hundred years in the future. Shutting out the disturbing visions of the future that she was too tired to analyze, she focused on her brother. However, the thought of her kid brother allowed memories of her son to leak free. Shoving all thoughts from her mind with an angry snarl she slept on. Peace never found her however. She slept a fitful sleep that would leave her still significantly drained in the morning.

//What you were changing me into
Just give me myself back and
Don't stay//

At some point during the night something disturbed her much needed slumber, causing her eyes to snap open. She was very much the predator. Stretching her senses even wider she felt the pull of two shikon shards and wolves. Kouga was nearby. Instinctively suppressing her aura she worried not about her scent. Her scent remained hidden by the water.

//Forget our memories
Forget our possibilities
Take all your faithlessness with you//

Closing her eyes once more she curled around her bow and arrows and once again descended into a fitful sleep. The visions wouldn't leave her. They were gruesome things that made her blood curdle, and caused her to shiver in fear of what was to come.

Whatever that may be, she would face it. Alone. She would not rely on her old traveling companions or the bastard half-breed that was trying to kill her. She had to remain on the move to escape him and the wolf that sought her as his prize. After this night, she would never be the same. If there had ever been a chance to go back, it had passed.

//Just give me myself back and
Don't stay

Stay

Stay//

~x~