InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Inu Yasha, The Reincarnation of Midoriko? ❯ Chapter 7
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Desiree Dee 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Mystery | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.14.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 455 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Mystery | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.14.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 455 | Status: Completed
Chapter 7
Shippou pouted in the corner as the couple continued arguing. Just as he thought his head would explode, a familiar scent wafted in through the door and began tickling his nose. His eyes lit up as he let out a scream.
"Kagome!" He jumped into the air and using Sango and Miroku's heads as springboards, catapulted himself out of the hut. This action forced the two humans into a rather awkward position. It had brought their faces together and caused their lips to lock. Neither of them pulled away.
"Was it something kind of like this?" Miroku asked, referring to why the argument had begun.
"Uh huh." was all Sango cold mutter as she evoked a deeper and intentional kiss. Miroku reached out stiffly and did his best to pull her into an embrace, it was not working out too well, but she did not care and pressed herself against him. They each sighed deeply into each other just as Midoriko walked into the door.
"I really need to work on my timing." Midoriko turned to leave, but her presence had already been detected.
"You didn't interrupt anything, Shippou just knocked our heads together, that's all."
Sango was quick to make an excuse. Miroku just shut his eyes and rubbed the back of his shaking head. He wondered if he would ever figure this girl out.
"If you are sure." Midoriko was reluctant to step back in, but Sango's reassurance eventually won over.
"Where is Kagome?" Sango questioned.
"She is back at the village entrance, the young fox has her temporarily occupied."
"Oh, well I suppose you are hungry. Give me a few minutes, and I should have some stew ready." Sango left to retrieve a pot, and as if on cue Miroku began a fire.
"You two have a special relationship." Midoriko's statement caught Miroku off-guard, and he dropped the wood he was bringing to the infant flame. He quickly regained his composure and began picking up the logs.
"I would not say that we have a relationship." His voice was monotone, and his face stoic. Midoriko leaned against a wall with a slight chuckle.
"I did not mean to offend. I was merely making an observation, I myself never had time for one when I was alive. I just wanted you to know that what you two have is special, and that you should enjoy it while you can." It was now Miroku's turn to chuckle. Sango had been listening, and became slightly angered over the monk's outburst.
"Forgive me," he ceased his giggles, "it's just hearing that statement from that body is quite funny to me." Sango released her angry breath.
"What's funny?" Kagome entered the hut with Shippou cradled in her right arm.
"Nothing at all, Kagome." Sango reentered the main room lugging a pot. Kagome ran over to her to help out.
"Here, let me give you a hand with that." The two young ladies carried the stew pot and placed it next to the fire.
"So, where did you and Midoriko go? I thought she was going to rest." Sango was curious about where her friend had been. Kagome stiffened, Sango had not known about Inu Yasha's awakening.
"Nothing, but we have found that the shards are absorbing faster than we thought, so we need to find a way to get them out, and fast." Kagome looked over at Midoriko who was sniffing the air.
"What are you doing?" Miroku was baffled by this strange behavior. Midoriko blinked three times, then looked at the monk as if she had just come out of a trance.
"Just calming down a bit." Sango and Miroku looked to each other, but neither of them had the answer to the other's question. Kagome knew and decided she should clue in the rest of the group. Shippou sat in the corner oblivious to the situation. All he knew was that he was hungry and could not wait for the stew to be ready.
"Wher e's Kaede? I think that she might need to hear this." Kagome was helping prepare the stew as she spoke.
"I think she mentioned something about a birthing, but I was a little preoccupied." Sango looked over to Miroku.
"Oh, well, I tell you anyway. I think you all have a right to know what happened earlier." They added the last ingredients to the pot and left it to simmer. Everyone sat around, including Shippou to hear the important information.
"When Midoriko went to rest, Inu Yasha woke up. He was fully demon, but he had some control over himself, so we, um," she looked to Shippou wondering how much she should tell. "Went into the forest for awhile, and when Midoriko felt what was going on she fought with Inu Yasha so that she could warn us. He wasn't too happy with this, and began to let her know about it. We kind of found out that whenever she picks up my scent he calms down....."
"And now Midoriko is in a constant battle for control over the body." Kaede stepped into the hut. "I'm glad to see that you can take the initiative to cook for yourselves, I expect it a little more often."
Kagome turned to look at her mentor, questions filled her eyes.
"No child, I do not know how to remove the shards, but it is common for spirits to fight over control of the body once they become aware of each other. Lucky for you, he can be kept at bay for now. If you do not mind I would enjoy some of that stew." She brought out a bowl and began serving herself.
The group ate in almost silence. As they were cleaning and preparing for bed Kagome had to say something.
"So, is there anything we can do?" Both Midoriko and Kaede shook their heads. Kirara entered the hut, obviously back from getting her own dinner. She walked past Sango and over to her former master. Midoriko absentmindedly stroked the smaller form of her past partner.
The group began to set out their sleeping material, and Kagome noticed Midoriko take a huge yawn. Kagome eyed the tormented spirit.
"Do not worry, I will continue to stay awake, I know of the danger if I do not." Midoriko's voice did not sound convincing, but Kagome was too tired to notice.
Darkness crept into every corner of the land, but it was halted by a feral howl that seemed to come from everywhere, yet nowhere all at once. Kagome merely felt a slight wind as she was snatched from her sleeping bag. Without opening her eyes she said the first thing that came to her.
"Kouga, don't do this. I will never be more than your friend." This caused a low, menacing growl to reverberate in her head. She opened her eyes and let them adjust to the lack of light. In all of the inky darkness, she was only able to make out the reflection of glowing red eyes against silvery-white hair.
She gasped, from looking at those eyes, she knew there was no longer any control, and that soon, he would be nothing more than a vacuous shard sucking hole
The group awoke to find two members missing. Sango brought her hands to her mouth in a silent scream.
"She must have fallen asleep." Miroku blankly stated the fear that crept through Sango's mind.
"Where could they have gone?" Sango's question was answered by a loud dull roar.
"It has begun." Stated Kaede. Shippou looked to her with concern.
"What has begun?"
"The beginning. Of the end."
"You don't mean that the legend is true." Sango looked to her. Kaede shook her head.
"Not a legend, a prophecy."
***
During the night, Inu Yasha had taken Kagome back to the cave. He roughly placed her on the ground of the mold-lit chamber. He grabbed each of her arms and pinned them to each side of her body and took her in a forceful kiss. Though it was hard to resist, she struggled, knowing that he was no longer in control of himself.
When she attempted to pull away he pushed her against a wall. When he tried to slide his tongue into her mouth, she bit it. This caused him to scream in both pain and fury.
"Inu Yasha!" She yelled. "You need to get control over yourself!" He placed his arms on the wall, trapping her in front of him. He loomed over her as if to strike, but instead his eyes flashed for a moment.
"Help me." He rasped, then ran out of the cave. She was about to follow when she heard the noise. It was similar to the sound of Miroku's air rip, only a thousand times louder.
***
"Of which prophecy do you speak?" Miroku had heard many, but none involving a shard sucking demon.
"Well, I think I can answer that." Sango said. "As you know, the Shikon No Tama was created in my village, but long before that even occurred, a psychic of sorts had visited the elder of our village in order to give a warning.
“Now mind you, it has been passed down through many generations, even before Midoriko's time. The story goes that the psychic told the elder that one day a jewel of great power would come from a pure maiden's soul, and in the hands of a demon destroy all living things. That was the basic idea."
"It was a bit more involved when I heard it, but that is basically right." Miroku and Shippou looked to each other.
"Why didn't you mention this before?"They shouted at the same time. Sango looked a little embarrassed.
"Well, ever since the jewel’s creation, my people swore to keep it out of demon hands. That's why we became demon hunters, but when I found out Inu Yasha was merely half-demon, I saw no cause for alarm." She mentally smacked herself for being so thoughtless. The roar seemed to be getting louder.
"We don't have time to argue this now. We have to stop him."
"Did the prophecy mention a solution?" Miroku was always one to plan ahead.
"I don't remember, what about you Kaede?" She looked to the elderly priestess.
"Aye, I remember. The demon can only be stopped by a searching of the soul. Though I know not what that means." They all looked at each other in despair, but gasped when Miroku began to slide across the floor.
"What's going on?" Sango asked.
"It appears that my shards are being attracted to wherever Inu Yasha is." He was bracing himself on the doorframe at this point.
"Might I suggest we use it to find him, while we still can?" They all followed Miroku, as he was pulled by his shards to a scene in which they had no clue how to save their friends.
***
Kagome clung to the wall as she felt her piece of the jewel being pulled towards the entrance of the cave. Her fingers drug along the cool stone picking up some of the glowing substance. The buildup that it caused was slick and made it harder for her to grip.
She turned as she heard Inu Yasha's agonizing scream over the sound of rushing wind. Bracing herself a bit she allowed the shard to take her to the edge of the cave. The sight before her was a strange one. Inu Yasha was there, the pain written clearly on his face, but it was as if an enormous black void had opened in his torso. She gasped when she noticed that it was still growing.
Even with all of the wind coming from the hole, no debris seemed to get brought in. The only thing Kagome saw were millions of shards floating in a tornado motion around and into the hole. She looked down at the bit of jewel around her neck.
"I never knew that there were so many. I thought that between Naraku and I, we had all of the shards. Guess I was wrong." She looked at Inu Yasha once more as tears began to well in her brown oculus.
From behind him she saw her friends come, only to gasp in horror at what they saw.
Sango was aghast at what lie before her. Inu Yasha was literally sucking in shards from everywhere. Miroku had placed himself against a tree in attempts to hold back the shards that he carried. That was when Shippou spotted Kagome, and with Sango in pursuit, ran to her. They were seemingly unaffected by the wind and attempted to help their friend.
Howls and screams could now be heard from all directions as shard fragments were ripped from their current possessors. Kagome sobbed onto Sango's shoulder.
"Why? Why? I wish I knew how to stop it." Sango looked down at her friend.
"There is a way, but I'm not sure I know what it means. Kaede said 'The demon can only be stopped by a searching of the soul.' Do you have any idea what that means?" Kagome simply shook her head.
Suddenly, Kagome looked towards the sky. There before her was a piece of the jewel even larger than her own.
"That one must be Naraku's," she concluded. She watched it enter Inu Yasha's body. It's presence alone caused the hole to grow tremendously. 'Just large enough fo some one to crawl in.' She noted.
"Sango, I think I have an idea, but if I'm wrong, I just want to tell you that I'm sorry." With that she pushed past her friend and ran towards Inu Yasha. Everyone watched in terror as Kagome grasped her piece of the jewel, and stepped into the void.
It was quiet at first. She could not see, hear, or feel anything. Just darkness, then a sudden flash of white light hit her. With it came the torturous screams of both Midoriko and Inu Yasha. When her eyes adjusted, she saw only a single transparent figure. It's image would flash between that of Inu Yasha, and Midoriko. Kagome gasped, but not at them. The shard in her hand was beginning to burn her, but she held on since it seemed to be the only thing pulling her closer towards the suffering apparition.
When she reached her destination, her hand was literally in flames, but still she held on to her piece of the jewel. When Inu Yasha's image appeared, she placed a hand on his shoulder. What felt like a wave of electricity flowed through her very being. She screamed, but could not recoil as she was sucked into him. As her flaming hand met him he screamed differently than he had before.
In her concern for him she released her piece of the shard and was consumed by the image that was now Midoriko.
Shippou pouted in the corner as the couple continued arguing. Just as he thought his head would explode, a familiar scent wafted in through the door and began tickling his nose. His eyes lit up as he let out a scream.
"Kagome!" He jumped into the air and using Sango and Miroku's heads as springboards, catapulted himself out of the hut. This action forced the two humans into a rather awkward position. It had brought their faces together and caused their lips to lock. Neither of them pulled away.
"Was it something kind of like this?" Miroku asked, referring to why the argument had begun.
"Uh huh." was all Sango cold mutter as she evoked a deeper and intentional kiss. Miroku reached out stiffly and did his best to pull her into an embrace, it was not working out too well, but she did not care and pressed herself against him. They each sighed deeply into each other just as Midoriko walked into the door.
"I really need to work on my timing." Midoriko turned to leave, but her presence had already been detected.
"You didn't interrupt anything, Shippou just knocked our heads together, that's all."
Sango was quick to make an excuse. Miroku just shut his eyes and rubbed the back of his shaking head. He wondered if he would ever figure this girl out.
"If you are sure." Midoriko was reluctant to step back in, but Sango's reassurance eventually won over.
"Where is Kagome?" Sango questioned.
"She is back at the village entrance, the young fox has her temporarily occupied."
"Oh, well I suppose you are hungry. Give me a few minutes, and I should have some stew ready." Sango left to retrieve a pot, and as if on cue Miroku began a fire.
"You two have a special relationship." Midoriko's statement caught Miroku off-guard, and he dropped the wood he was bringing to the infant flame. He quickly regained his composure and began picking up the logs.
"I would not say that we have a relationship." His voice was monotone, and his face stoic. Midoriko leaned against a wall with a slight chuckle.
"I did not mean to offend. I was merely making an observation, I myself never had time for one when I was alive. I just wanted you to know that what you two have is special, and that you should enjoy it while you can." It was now Miroku's turn to chuckle. Sango had been listening, and became slightly angered over the monk's outburst.
"Forgive me," he ceased his giggles, "it's just hearing that statement from that body is quite funny to me." Sango released her angry breath.
"What's funny?" Kagome entered the hut with Shippou cradled in her right arm.
"Nothing at all, Kagome." Sango reentered the main room lugging a pot. Kagome ran over to her to help out.
"Here, let me give you a hand with that." The two young ladies carried the stew pot and placed it next to the fire.
"So, where did you and Midoriko go? I thought she was going to rest." Sango was curious about where her friend had been. Kagome stiffened, Sango had not known about Inu Yasha's awakening.
"Nothing, but we have found that the shards are absorbing faster than we thought, so we need to find a way to get them out, and fast." Kagome looked over at Midoriko who was sniffing the air.
"What are you doing?" Miroku was baffled by this strange behavior. Midoriko blinked three times, then looked at the monk as if she had just come out of a trance.
"Just calming down a bit." Sango and Miroku looked to each other, but neither of them had the answer to the other's question. Kagome knew and decided she should clue in the rest of the group. Shippou sat in the corner oblivious to the situation. All he knew was that he was hungry and could not wait for the stew to be ready.
"Wher e's Kaede? I think that she might need to hear this." Kagome was helping prepare the stew as she spoke.
"I think she mentioned something about a birthing, but I was a little preoccupied." Sango looked over to Miroku.
"Oh, well, I tell you anyway. I think you all have a right to know what happened earlier." They added the last ingredients to the pot and left it to simmer. Everyone sat around, including Shippou to hear the important information.
"When Midoriko went to rest, Inu Yasha woke up. He was fully demon, but he had some control over himself, so we, um," she looked to Shippou wondering how much she should tell. "Went into the forest for awhile, and when Midoriko felt what was going on she fought with Inu Yasha so that she could warn us. He wasn't too happy with this, and began to let her know about it. We kind of found out that whenever she picks up my scent he calms down....."
"And now Midoriko is in a constant battle for control over the body." Kaede stepped into the hut. "I'm glad to see that you can take the initiative to cook for yourselves, I expect it a little more often."
Kagome turned to look at her mentor, questions filled her eyes.
"No child, I do not know how to remove the shards, but it is common for spirits to fight over control of the body once they become aware of each other. Lucky for you, he can be kept at bay for now. If you do not mind I would enjoy some of that stew." She brought out a bowl and began serving herself.
The group ate in almost silence. As they were cleaning and preparing for bed Kagome had to say something.
"So, is there anything we can do?" Both Midoriko and Kaede shook their heads. Kirara entered the hut, obviously back from getting her own dinner. She walked past Sango and over to her former master. Midoriko absentmindedly stroked the smaller form of her past partner.
The group began to set out their sleeping material, and Kagome noticed Midoriko take a huge yawn. Kagome eyed the tormented spirit.
"Do not worry, I will continue to stay awake, I know of the danger if I do not." Midoriko's voice did not sound convincing, but Kagome was too tired to notice.
Darkness crept into every corner of the land, but it was halted by a feral howl that seemed to come from everywhere, yet nowhere all at once. Kagome merely felt a slight wind as she was snatched from her sleeping bag. Without opening her eyes she said the first thing that came to her.
"Kouga, don't do this. I will never be more than your friend." This caused a low, menacing growl to reverberate in her head. She opened her eyes and let them adjust to the lack of light. In all of the inky darkness, she was only able to make out the reflection of glowing red eyes against silvery-white hair.
She gasped, from looking at those eyes, she knew there was no longer any control, and that soon, he would be nothing more than a vacuous shard sucking hole
The group awoke to find two members missing. Sango brought her hands to her mouth in a silent scream.
"She must have fallen asleep." Miroku blankly stated the fear that crept through Sango's mind.
"Where could they have gone?" Sango's question was answered by a loud dull roar.
"It has begun." Stated Kaede. Shippou looked to her with concern.
"What has begun?"
"The beginning. Of the end."
"You don't mean that the legend is true." Sango looked to her. Kaede shook her head.
"Not a legend, a prophecy."
***
During the night, Inu Yasha had taken Kagome back to the cave. He roughly placed her on the ground of the mold-lit chamber. He grabbed each of her arms and pinned them to each side of her body and took her in a forceful kiss. Though it was hard to resist, she struggled, knowing that he was no longer in control of himself.
When she attempted to pull away he pushed her against a wall. When he tried to slide his tongue into her mouth, she bit it. This caused him to scream in both pain and fury.
"Inu Yasha!" She yelled. "You need to get control over yourself!" He placed his arms on the wall, trapping her in front of him. He loomed over her as if to strike, but instead his eyes flashed for a moment.
"Help me." He rasped, then ran out of the cave. She was about to follow when she heard the noise. It was similar to the sound of Miroku's air rip, only a thousand times louder.
***
"Of which prophecy do you speak?" Miroku had heard many, but none involving a shard sucking demon.
"Well, I think I can answer that." Sango said. "As you know, the Shikon No Tama was created in my village, but long before that even occurred, a psychic of sorts had visited the elder of our village in order to give a warning.
“Now mind you, it has been passed down through many generations, even before Midoriko's time. The story goes that the psychic told the elder that one day a jewel of great power would come from a pure maiden's soul, and in the hands of a demon destroy all living things. That was the basic idea."
"It was a bit more involved when I heard it, but that is basically right." Miroku and Shippou looked to each other.
"Why didn't you mention this before?"They shouted at the same time. Sango looked a little embarrassed.
"Well, ever since the jewel’s creation, my people swore to keep it out of demon hands. That's why we became demon hunters, but when I found out Inu Yasha was merely half-demon, I saw no cause for alarm." She mentally smacked herself for being so thoughtless. The roar seemed to be getting louder.
"We don't have time to argue this now. We have to stop him."
"Did the prophecy mention a solution?" Miroku was always one to plan ahead.
"I don't remember, what about you Kaede?" She looked to the elderly priestess.
"Aye, I remember. The demon can only be stopped by a searching of the soul. Though I know not what that means." They all looked at each other in despair, but gasped when Miroku began to slide across the floor.
"What's going on?" Sango asked.
"It appears that my shards are being attracted to wherever Inu Yasha is." He was bracing himself on the doorframe at this point.
"Might I suggest we use it to find him, while we still can?" They all followed Miroku, as he was pulled by his shards to a scene in which they had no clue how to save their friends.
***
Kagome clung to the wall as she felt her piece of the jewel being pulled towards the entrance of the cave. Her fingers drug along the cool stone picking up some of the glowing substance. The buildup that it caused was slick and made it harder for her to grip.
She turned as she heard Inu Yasha's agonizing scream over the sound of rushing wind. Bracing herself a bit she allowed the shard to take her to the edge of the cave. The sight before her was a strange one. Inu Yasha was there, the pain written clearly on his face, but it was as if an enormous black void had opened in his torso. She gasped when she noticed that it was still growing.
Even with all of the wind coming from the hole, no debris seemed to get brought in. The only thing Kagome saw were millions of shards floating in a tornado motion around and into the hole. She looked down at the bit of jewel around her neck.
"I never knew that there were so many. I thought that between Naraku and I, we had all of the shards. Guess I was wrong." She looked at Inu Yasha once more as tears began to well in her brown oculus.
From behind him she saw her friends come, only to gasp in horror at what they saw.
Sango was aghast at what lie before her. Inu Yasha was literally sucking in shards from everywhere. Miroku had placed himself against a tree in attempts to hold back the shards that he carried. That was when Shippou spotted Kagome, and with Sango in pursuit, ran to her. They were seemingly unaffected by the wind and attempted to help their friend.
Howls and screams could now be heard from all directions as shard fragments were ripped from their current possessors. Kagome sobbed onto Sango's shoulder.
"Why? Why? I wish I knew how to stop it." Sango looked down at her friend.
"There is a way, but I'm not sure I know what it means. Kaede said 'The demon can only be stopped by a searching of the soul.' Do you have any idea what that means?" Kagome simply shook her head.
Suddenly, Kagome looked towards the sky. There before her was a piece of the jewel even larger than her own.
"That one must be Naraku's," she concluded. She watched it enter Inu Yasha's body. It's presence alone caused the hole to grow tremendously. 'Just large enough fo some one to crawl in.' She noted.
"Sango, I think I have an idea, but if I'm wrong, I just want to tell you that I'm sorry." With that she pushed past her friend and ran towards Inu Yasha. Everyone watched in terror as Kagome grasped her piece of the jewel, and stepped into the void.
It was quiet at first. She could not see, hear, or feel anything. Just darkness, then a sudden flash of white light hit her. With it came the torturous screams of both Midoriko and Inu Yasha. When her eyes adjusted, she saw only a single transparent figure. It's image would flash between that of Inu Yasha, and Midoriko. Kagome gasped, but not at them. The shard in her hand was beginning to burn her, but she held on since it seemed to be the only thing pulling her closer towards the suffering apparition.
When she reached her destination, her hand was literally in flames, but still she held on to her piece of the jewel. When Inu Yasha's image appeared, she placed a hand on his shoulder. What felt like a wave of electricity flowed through her very being. She screamed, but could not recoil as she was sucked into him. As her flaming hand met him he screamed differently than he had before.
In her concern for him she released her piece of the shard and was consumed by the image that was now Midoriko.