InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In Death, Trust Me, as You Didn't in Life ❯ The Truth of What We Once Were ( Chapter 54 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 54: The Truth of What We Once Were

Eyes narrowed appraisingly, Inuyasha watched the group of hunters and samurai from the heavy cover of the trees, and shook his head, disgusted. They were idiots. The only reason they were even successful at all was their tactics - they spread out, beating their weapons, and flushing their prey out of the forests. If they had to rely on actual hunting skill to take their food, they'd all have starved to death already.

With an almost silent snort, he glanced sideways at his companions, a female panther, and one of the male slayers, only to chuckle inwardly at the disdainful looks both were also casting the men on the ground.

"With all the noise and confusion as they beat through the bushes, this'll be almost too easy," he whispered. "With all the monks starying to the back of the group, you slayers should be able to sneak up from behind and pick them off - and then the rest of us will attack from the front and sides, pushing them into a tight circle. They don't stand a chance," he snickered, his voice barely audible to those near him.

Yoshi, the male taijiya, nodded, his expression fierce. "Agreed, your idea bears merit. The sounds of our attack on the monks will be the signal for you and the panthers to attack the samurai."

With a pleased sounding purr from Haya, the panther, the group was decided, and they quickly leapt from their perch, leaping through the trees to the area they'd left the rest of their force in. Rapidly dividing into their seperate components, the warriors had soon dispersed, heading for their places - they soon had the oblivious monks and samurai surrounded, and within minutes, the first sounds of battle were heard.

The small group of taijiya found their opponents quickly, and taking a few moments to observe their movements, noted that they were all fairly relaxed, as they didn't seem to note the youki of the demons nearby. With a sharp gesture, Yoshi signaled the attack, and silent and deadly, they moved out from under the concealing trees, rushing the astounded monks.

Within moments, half the monks were already down, and the rest were fighting and screaming, almost desperately shocked at the attack, not understanding why they were being attacked by humans.

Yoshi was quite happy to enlighten them as they died.

The monks were really not fighters, though they did have some combat skills, they were no match for battle-hardened youkai slayers, and the fight didn't take more than a few minutes. By that time, however, they could all hear the sounds of the erupting fights all around them as the demons and half-demons attacked the samurai.

With nary a thought, the taijiya rushed on to assist the rest of their allies, determined to not miss out on any of the fighting. With very little surprise, Yoshi had to admit that fighting with the demons and half demons instead of against was actually very satisfying. He looked up, grinning savagely as he battled his way near to Inuyasha, watching as the half-demon used his sword as a simple sword, rather than the powerful fang it truly was.

"Why do you not use the attacks that sword is famous for, Inuyasha-sama?" he panted as they turned, and back to back, fought off several samurai intent on taking them down.

"Keh! The object here is to kill these bastards," he grinned, as he thrust upward, using his youkai strength to penetrate through the armor of his opponent, then ripping savagely upward, blood and gore spraying everywhere as the now dead fool folded over into a bloody heap, tripping the next soldier behind him. Before that one could recover, his head was removed from his shoulders, and Yoshi shook his head. “I don't wanna kill our people, and the sword don't make no distinction,” he finished cheerfully.

Throwing his kusarigama in a tight half-arc, he sliced the head off his opponent, the direction and angle of his throw also taking both legs from another samurai on its way back into his hands. He laughed as the hanyou quirked a brow at the now screaming male that was bleeding out before their very eyes. Inuyasha shook his head and ran Tessaiga through the guy's throat, succeeding in shutting him up.

"Feh - the bastard's need to learn to die quieter," he jeered, looking up and taking note that their group had indeed managed to round everyone up into this small clearing, and were making short work of killing every last one of them. A sudden thought occurred to him, and he shouted, "Oi! Keep one of 'em alive - we can use him to taunt that bastard monk with!"

Yoshi looked around, eyes narrowed. "Where's Haya and the other demons?" he asked, concerned.

Inuyasha, assured that one samurai would be taken prisoner, and that what little fighting was still going on was minimal, also looked around, brow furrowing. Then certain sounds came to his ears, and he grinned tightly, motioning for Yoshi to follow him.

"Seems a few of these cowards decided to make a break for it, and our friends decided to do a little hunting," he said, glancing back. Suddenly, he shoved the male down, shouting, "Duck," just as a sword sliced the air above his head. He didn't even have the chance to look up and see what had happened before a body hit the ground in front or him, its innards oozing onto the ground from the side-to-side slash that had opened along its lower stomach. He got to his feet, clasping the hand offered to him gratefully.

"Thanks, Inuyasha-sama. I owe you one," he said, bowing.

"Heh - that's what friends are for. But you could do me a favor," he said, a fanged smirk crossing his face at the questioning look on the slayer's face. "Stop with the 'sama's'. I ain't one much for formality - that's my uptight prick of a brother."

Yoshi laughed, clapping a hand to the hanyou's back as they turned to see a smiling Haya striding across the ground towards them, using a bloody cloth to clean the blood from her claws.

"I am pleased to see you both unharmed," she purred, tossing the cloth away as she finished. Inuyasha looked at her, a bit confused.

"I thought you guys liked the taste of blood - why'd ya wipe it away rather than lick it off?"

She gave him an affronted look. "I would not lower myself to take the blood of this filth," she said disdainfully. "I would probably become ill!"

The two males laughed at the expression on her face, and then Inuyasha sighed as he looked around at the carnage, spotting some of their fighters standing around something, he tilted his head. "C'mon, let's go see what they all think is so fascinating."

They picked their way through the blood and body parts littering the ground, pushing their way through the ring of warriors, only to find a cowering soldier on his knees before them, begging for his worthless life. Inuyasha was disgusted. "Oi, where'd ya find this piece of trash?" he asked, and one of the demons stepped forward.

"This one was trying to desert - we caught him heading towards the area where the hunters had taken their kills. I think he was gonna take a bit of the smaller kills and run."

Yoshi stepped forward, a nasty grin on his face as he stared at the pathetic worm on the ground before them. "I have the perfect idea of how to handle this one," he said. As Inuyasha and the rest looked up at him, interested, he said, "We will give him the mark of the deserter - and then take him and deliver him back to Ungai's camp. Let them deal with him as all deserters are dealt with."

The soldier began to weep, and beg even harder, and with a disgusted mou, Haya stalked forward and bashed him lightly on the back of the head, dropping the male. Everyone looked at her gratefully. "See? I was right - filth. I would have gotten sick from blood taken from such dishonorable cowards."

Inuyasha smirked as scattered laughter broke out around them. "Alright, let's get going. We need to gather the meat we took from them, and prepare it for travel, then we'll head back and meet up with the other two groups. Once we deliver our package to Ungai, we'll take our spoils and deliver it back to the village."

Yoshi nodded, and grinned. "And then perhaps we'll come back out and find some more of these pathetic excuses for samurai to play with - it has been long since I have been in battle, and I find I am enjoying the rush of it once again."

With a nod, Inuyasha agreed. "Hai... let's hope the others were just as successful."

With one short command, everyone moved to get things ready to leave, and within an hour, the only signs that a battle had recently taken place there, were the bodies of monks and samurai, laying where they had fallen.

It didn't take long after that for the carrion to move in, and as Inuyasha looked back at the place they had fought, his thoughts were all on how it would soon be Ungai's own corpse decorating a battlefield.

It was a sight he was very eager to see.

-wWw-

Sango swiped her sword through the air, ridding it of the blood clinging to it, then sheathed it, and sighed, looking around. They had done well, losing only one warrior, and there appeared to be only a few injuries, and none major.

Motioning to her second and third, she said, "Kenta, you take a few men, and prepare a grave, then bury our soldier." The male nodded and left. "Aoi, why don't you gather a few men and prep the meat so once the others get back from their jaunts, we can head back to the village." The female saluted and took off, eager to get done.

With a sigh, Sango looked around, wondering how the others had faired in their own battles, and how long it would be before they would be back. Sango had taken the group nearest where they had all agreed to meet back up, so her group wouldn't have to go anywhere, only wait for the rest. "Hey, Kirara," she reached down at patted her companion, who nuzzled her hand and purred, "are you okay?"

The neko shrank back to her smaller form and leapt onto her friend's shoulder, a tiny mew making the taijiya smile. "Good, I'm glad. Why don't we go sit down for a few and take a bit of a rest?"

With another mew, the firecat curled up on her shoulder, and Sango tiredly meandered over to a nice patch of soft grass on the banks of a small stream, more than happy to wipe the blood off her person with a bit of the cool water.

It had been a short but sweet battle - the monks and their so-called protectors hadn't stood a chance, since they had not expected to be attacked at all - their arrogance had been their undoing. Not that she was complaining - a complacent enemy is a dead enemy, after all, and that was the only kind of enemy she liked - dead.

She'd be even happier once it was Ungai that was dead, so that they could all start living the lives that they'd planned for after Naraku's defeat. She sighed tiredly; it was always something - it was as if peace could not be allowed in their lives.

With nary a sound, she whipped her sword once again from its sheath, and reversed it, thrusting backwards into the samurai sneaking up on her from behind as Kirara hopped off her shoulder and hissed angrily. The male fell over sideways, and Sango stood up, sighing again at the sight of the now dead fool.

"No rest for the weary, I guess, eh, Kirara?" she asked idly, as several of her people ran up, asking what had happened. They were all rather irritated when she told them that the soldier had tried sneaking up on her; it was suggested that a certain amount of the group sweep the area and make sure there were no other enemies still lurking.

Not an hour later, the first elements of Inuyasha's group came trotting in, carrying the evidence of their own victories over the shoulders of several of the demons, and a few hours after, Touran's group returned victorious as well, though they had lost two men of their own.

The once more enlarged group deposited the marked deserter where Ungai's scouts would find him, and after a few last taunting remarks, took off, headed back to the village with their spoils...

And high spirits from their win.

All in all, it had been a good thing that they had done what they did - and the village was quite thrilled to have the extra meat.

-wWw-

Sesshoumaru opened his eyes, blinking in the glow of the cave, and felt satisfaction like he'd never felt sweep through him as he took in the fact that his mate was still clasped tightly in his arms, and he was still buried deep inside her.

The power that was flowing through his body was intoxicating, and he was astounded at the strength of it - were he any weaker himself, he would not be able to tolerate it. Being one with Kagome was certainly going to be an adventure, and he was glad that he had fallen for her... that he hadn't fought himself hard over his feelings for her, and that he'd given in, and now was bound to her so tightly that nothing could separate them again.

At least, nothing that he knew of.

He could feel his little mate beginning to stir, and, her movements inspiring passion in him once again, he thrust forward slowly, pleased at the gasp that came from her throat.

Kagome woke slowly, at first, but the moment her new mate moved, she woke the rest of the way, and lifting one leg to lie over his, pushed back into his thrusts, grinding as she did so, surprising a moan from her rather passionate inu.

She smiled, happy to gain such a response, then sucked in a startled breath as he reached around and stroked over her nether regions as he picked up the pace of his movements, delighting her until she was moaning and mewing so much she couldn't have spoken if she'd wanted to.

'Speechless, my Kagome?' came a voice in her mind, and caught off-guard, Kagome's eyes widened for a moment, before sinking closed again at a particularly hard stroke. 'Yes, we live inside each others minds, my miko - you will never be rid of me now,' he said, satisfaction literally oozing from him at that realization.

'I forgot about that,' she mused, then immediately lost her train of thought as he quickened his pace once again, her tight body bringing him rapidly to satisfaction, just as she tightened around him with a gasp, her core convulsing and stripping his body of his seed as ruthlessly as he'd ever stripped beings of their lives.

Both slumped back into the mokomoko as their bodies shuddered, and Sesshoumaru made no move to withdraw from his beloved's flooded sheath, liking where he was at just fine - and wanting to stay there as long as he could, since he was well aware that they wouldn't have a chance to couple again much for some time to come... until this current fiasco with Sou'unga and Ungai was over...

And they'd dealt with Sosa.

He scowled at that; those three were keeping him from his pleasures, and he would be keeping that in mind when it came time for the final reckoning.

With a sigh, Kagome finally looked around, and her brow rose. "Why is the cave glowing, Sesshoumaru?" she asked, blankly.

'Our coupling, miko, causes this. As we bond, so it binds us to the land.'

'Yeah, but... was it glowing all this time?'

He chuckled. "Yes. There has never been a mating between two beings with such power, Kagome - the land is responding to that. As I said, once we return to our proper era, our bonds with the land will be unbreakable," he said, satisfaction pouring from him at that thought.

'Oh... well, that's good, I guess. Now all we have to do is deal with all the troublemakers that keep cropping up lately.'

With a nod, Sesshoumaru reluctantly slid from her body, smiling a little at her dismayed hiss. "Hai. That we do, my miko. And as it is just about daybreak, I suggest we rise and bathe - this ones sire will return soon, and we must be ready to depart."

-wWw-

Sure enough, by the time they had finished bathing each other, and then redressing, a smiling, jovial Sugimi was lounging at the entrance to the cavern. Kagome blushed fiercely as he grinned knowingly at them both; Sesshoumaru merely returned his father's gaze with an arced brow.

"I am glad to see that I was correct, and you used this chance to your advantage, my son," he chuckled as Kagome looked away, unable to meet either of their gazes.

"You did, after all, father, teach me to take... advantageous offers. There could be no better offer than the one my mate gave me last night." Sesshoumaru's voice was smug; he'd gotten the female he'd wanted for so long, and the pleasure he'd found in her was more than he'd ever hoped for.

Now Kagome was flushing with temper; casting a glare at both males, she stomped out of the cave and took a deep breath of the sweet morning air, then sighed as she let it out. "Men. Perverts, all of them." As her mate's father laughed, she shook her head and cast her senses out, looking for signs of higher life forms, and found them, some miles away on an open plain.

"Alright you two smug asses, let's go. I've found some people, let's see what I've got to work towards," she said, refusing to look at the two. She could feel her mate's feelings of contentment and his smug sense of gaining what he'd wanted, and chose to ignore it - there was nothing she could say, anyway, to him, since she felt rather smug herself that he belonged to her now, and no other females could ever take him away.

She frowned as she concentrated, and willed them to a position close to the group of beings, surprised by what she was sensing. This is... strange. They are kinda like... She turned to look at her mate and his father, an astounded expression on her face.

"Those beings are closer to half-demons than anything else. I don't get it," she said. "Just what did the gods create in the beginning times... and how did Sosa manage to change it all?"

"They are not quite the same as half-demons, though very close. You see, the humans and demons of your time are pretty much half of one being - Sosa took several thousand years to do it, but he separated the original beings on this earth into their component parts."

Kagome and her companions started and turned to look at Amaterasu in shock, as she finished, "Humans and demons are now two different races - but they did not start out that way."

Kagome was absolutely dumbfounded as she thought about the repercussions of the Goddess' words - and what would be involved in returning things to what they once were.

But no one was more astounded than Sesshoumaru. Suddenly, the superiority he'd always felt over humans wasn't quite as justifiable - and that made him very uneasy.

How was Kagome going to go about turning their reality back into the original reality that the gods had created?