InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Journey of the soul: The panther devas' plot ❯ Tessaiga, the phantom sword ( Chapter 17 )

Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story are the actual work of Rumiko Takahashi. I do not own them in any way.

 

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Chapter 16: Tessaiga, the phantom sword

 

As he glared at his half-brother's smiling face, Inuyasha's mind raced to find a way out of this desperate situation. Sesshomaru was both stronger and faster than he was... and what's more, his claws contained deadly poison that he could, even now, feel searing his skin. Mercy wasn't something he could expect, so that left him with close to no options at all. In front of him, he saw his half-brother rear back in preparation for a blow and he braced himself.

 

Yet, what came next wasn't pain. Instead, it was a faint whistling sound followed by a jerk from the arm holding him. Glancing down, Inuyasha immediately spotted the arrow protruding from Sesshomaru's arm. Almost at once, an odd purplish light enveloped the limb and the hanyou could feel the grip around his throat slacken until it let go completely and he fell to the ground, coughing.

 

Looking up, Inuyasha saw his brother stoically remove the arrow and look at his arm with a raised eyebrow. The hanyou actually grunted in surprise when he saw the inu-youkai do a few experimental flexes of his fingers. His hand was trembling as if all strength had been drained from it.

 

"Next will be your head," called a voice, filled to the brim with venom.

 

Both brothers turned their head at the same time and were immediately confronted with Kikyo, who was poised and ready to shoot again. Still, despite her readiness to strike, she was no match for Sesshomaru's speed and, before she could so much as blink, she found herself staring at the inu-youkai's chest. In one brisk gesture he knocked her bow astray and narrowed his eyes at her.

 

"Insects should know their place," he said simply and drove his fist into the miko's gut.

 

For a split-second, time seemed to hold still as Kikyo's eyes bulged and her mouth opened in a silent scream of agony. However, it quickly accelerated as her feet left the ground and she went sailing through the air, straight into a tree. The impact was so incredibly violent that the trunk actually cracked and blood flew out of her still-open mouth.

 

A deathly silence fell on the forest as the astonished group watched their leader's eyes roll back to the back of her head and her form slide to the ground where she remained motionless.

 

Though his face betrayed nothing, Sesshomaru couldn't help but feel slightly surprised. By all mean, his fist should have gone straight through this human's stomach... yet it had not. While it was true that the odd power contained within the arrow had somehow weakened his arm, and thus his blow, it should not have been enough to prevent the desired outcome. There was something more about this woman that he was missing... but he quickly dismissed it. Regardless of the mean, the end had still been met and he had more pressing matters to attend to than solving an unsolvable mystery.

 

Turning calmly around, he was immediately confronted by the enraged face of his half-brother. Apparently, the fact that the miko was quite obviously dead did not sit very well with him... and his companions too, for he heard the distinct hissing sound of a sword being drawn on his left.

 

"Sesshomaru you... BASTARD!!!" screamed Inuyasha before blindly throwing himself at the inu-youkai.

 

While the attack itself had been anticipated perfectly, its speed however had not. All Sesshomaru had time to do was suck in a surprised breath before his brother's claws connected with his armor, sending him sliding backward.

 

This attack had two distinct consequences. First, the protective plating of the inu-youkai's chest plate crumbled, leaving him essentially without protection. While everyone present noticed this, it did not prove as significant as the second consequence that, ironically, no one noticed... until Inuyasha's next attack that is.

 

Fully ready for his brother's ferocious blow, Sesshomaru was thus easily able to dodge the attack by side-stepping it. However, thanks to his speed, Inuyasha overbalanced when his claws met only air, causing him to fall forward and land hard on the ground... straight into the staff of two heads which was lying, forgotten in the grass.

 

The moment he touched the staff, there was a discharge of energy and the hanyou screamed in pain. As the man and woman's head began to laugh, Inuyasha started to battle with the offending object, trying to get it off him, but to no avail. The staff started pulsing and the hanyou's scream turned into a howl of agony as he felt like his right eye was being ripped open from the inside out.

 

Another pulse and suddenly, the hanyou was gone. In his place lay a black, circular passageway that sizzled and crackled with energy. Everyone stared, dumbfounded by this unexpected development. It was finally Sesshomaru who broke the standstill by speaking up.

 

"How I have waited for this moment. The way to the tomb has finally been opened."

 

And without another word, he walked forward and disappeared through the tunnel, followed almost immediately by Jaken who did not really look forward to being left behind in hostile territory without his master's protection.

 

Left alone, Karura and Shunran looked at each other, their features set in grim determination. Without needing words, they both resolutely walked forward and would have entered if a sudden cough had not brought their endeavor to a shattering halt. Whirling around, they immediately spotted the form of Kikyo, hacking and wheezing on the ground in an effort to catch her breath.

 

In seconds, they were at her side and carefully removing the splinters from her clothing while gently coaxing her in a more comfortable position. The miko would have none of that however. She firmly brushed the two aside and, even though it must have been agonizingly painful, she pushed herself into a sitting position. Allowing herself a few deep breath in order to compose herself, she brought her right hand to her back and fumbled for a few seconds before jerking sharply. Five times she repeated this process and five times a bloody arrow tip clattered to the ground. At long last, she stopped, her breathing ragged and her entire body quaking with pain.

 

"There are more... I cannot reach... myself," she panted.

 

Answering the woman's unspoken plea, Karura and Shunran moved to her back and unceremoniously ripped her uniform open... and could barely suppress a gasp of horror at what they saw. Kikyo's quiver had been on her back when she had collided with the tree. The force of the blow had quite effectively destroyed all of her arrows... but it had also had had the unfortunate side-effect of pushing most of their tips right into her skin, sometimes so deep there was barely a glimpse of steel poking out. Somewhat fortunately for the miko, the tree had been a smooth one, meaning that those were pretty much the only thing they would have to take out.

 

"This... might be painful," warned Shunran apologetically.

 

"Here Kikyo... you'd better chew on this," added Karura while handing Kikyo a piece of wood to place in her mouth in order to prevent her from biting her tongue off while they worked.

 

There was no mild way to put it, the job was as gruesome as it was painful. Kikyo's cries filled the clearing as they slowly extracted one arrow tip after another. By the time the last piece of steel had been removed, the miko eyes were glazed with tears and her hands had dug holes into the ground that were almost elbow-deep.

 

"It's over Kikyo, you can breathe now," announced Shunran with probably as much relief as the miko.

 

Nodding in acknowledgment, the miko spat the wood splinter on the ground and, sucking in a wheezing breath, she started to place her feet under her with the obvious intention of standing up. Noticing this, both Karura and Shunran grabbed hold of her and stopped her effort short.

 

"Kikyo, what on earth do you think you're doing!? You're in no state to go anywhere!" exclaimed Karura in alarm.

 

"I need... to go... to... Inuyasha," she said through clenched teeth.

 

"Your ribs are gone, your back is a mess... Kikyo, you're in absolutely no state to move!" objected the panther youkai.

 

"I... must... go!"

 

Both youkai and human looked at each other hesitantly. Kikyo's request was, at best highly unreasonable and at worst, completely insane. There was no way she could be of any help to anybody in her state. Yet, if they did not help her, then she would find a way to go, no matter what... so what choice did they really have?

 

Heaving both an enormous sigh of discouragement, they each took one of the miko's arm and gently helped her to her feet, hoping that their leader's stubbornness would not prove to be her downfall.

 

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Sesshomaru nimbly jumped out of the way of yet another of his brother's clumsy attacks and retaliated with a well-placed blow from his energy whip that sent the hanyou careening into the nearest wall. Irritation welled up inside of him as he saw Inuyasha struggle to his feet yet again, his lips curved into a vicious snarl.

 

"Your struggle is as meaningless as it is pathetic," he launched in an effort to get the hanyou off his hair. Tessaiga lay, planted on an altar not six feet beside him, but because of Inuyasha's constant interference, he couldn't find the time to draw it.

 

"Fuck you asshole! I'm not letting you get away with killing Kikyo!"

 

"For you to feel anger over a mere mortal... how disgraceful."

 

"Mere mortal!?" choked Inuyasha, his eyes widening in both shock and outrage. "You take that back right now!"

 

At this moment, a draft stirred the tomb in which they were fighting, bringing with it a highly unexpected scent. In front of him, he saw Inuyasha's expression change to one of utter surprise as he too picked up on it. The two of them shifted their gaze upward to see three shapes fall down the shaft and land more or less gracefully near the far wall.

 

"Kikyo..." whispered the hanyou, unexplainable relief flooding over him at seeing her alive... if maybe a little beaten up. But then that relief was washed away by anger as he realized just exactly where they were. "Idiot! What on earth do you think you're doing!? You can't even stand by yourself!"

 

"I... need... to be... here," replied the miko in a weak but firm voice.

 

"Like hell you do! Get away while you still can dammit!"

 

Quickly losing what little interest he had in the argument, Sesshomaru decided to use this momentary lapse in Inuyasha's attention to do what he had originally come here to do. Turning away, he purposefully walked to the altar, mindful that his change of tactic had not gone unnoticed by the people behind him. However, by the time they took note of his movement, it was already too late, he had the sword firmly in hand.

 

"My long search is finally over. Awaken Tessaiga... and let the world hear you roar once again!" he exclaimed and pulled with all his might.

 

Apparently, that was not the right thing to do because energy crackled around the handle, searing his hand and forcing him to let go of the blade.

 

"A barrier? Father what is the meaning of this?"

 

"There is... no barrier," called Kikyo from behind him. "This blade... has merely... rejected you."

 

The inu-youkai turned his head sharply at this and stared at the miko suspiciously. "You know of this?"

 

"I know... enough to tell... that you'll... never be... able to... draw it."

 

Moving faster than the eye could see, Sesshomaru abruptly placed himself in front of Kikyo and knocked her two supports aside as if they were nothing more than rubble. He then grabbed her by the throat and lifted her effortlessly off the ground as he had done with his half-brother a little earlier.

 

"Speak woman or I shall snap your neck."

 

"SESSHOMARU! LET HER GO!" screamed Inuyasha, both enraged and panicked at the same time.

 

"This human somehow knows about the Tessaiga... and you would want me to leave her be?"

 

"KIKYO, TELL HIM WHAT YOU KNOW! DO IT NOW OR HE'LL KILL YOU!"

 

The miko let out a strangled sound that vaguely resembled a laugh before speaking up. "The sword... chooses its master."

 

Before anyone had time to answer to this claim, Jaken's high-pitched voice cut through the silence, filled with outrage.

 

"You claim that Sesshomaru-sama is unfit to wield the Tessaiga!? How dare you speak such..." but then, he stopped short as the inu-youkai leveled a glare at him.

 

"What else?" he demanded firmly.

 

"Nothing."

 

"What else do you know?" he repeated, tightening his grip ever so slightly on his captive's throat.

 

"SESSHOMARU LET HER GO! SHE ALREADY TOLD YOU WHAT SHE KNEW! SHE'S OF NO MORE USE TO YOU!" cried Inuyasha frantically.

 

"Draw the sword Inuyasha!"

 

The order had been spoken in a calm and measured voice by Shunran of all people. At once, every movement stopped in the cave as the general attention was diverted to her.

 

"It was in your body that the tomb was hidden. What's more, Sesshomaru could not touch it without being rejected. If this is really your father's sword, then that leaves only you as possible owner... so draw the sword Inuyasha!"

 

The hanyou looked at the panther youkai mighty uncertainly. Sure, her reasoning made sense... in a somewhat twisted kind of way, but even if he did manage to draw the Tessaiga... then what? Sesshomaru still had a hold of Kikyo, he'd be forced to hand the weapon to him if he wanted to save her life, something he wasn't exactly fond of doing.

 

"Yeah, go ahead and draw that blade! Make a dent in that arrogant bastard's pride! He deserves it!"

 

Karura's much cruder speech this time, with the same meaning and a reason that, despite himself, Inuyasha found himself agreeing with. It would be quite a show to see the look on Sesshomaru's face if he managed to pull the blade free... but he didn't want to risk Kikyo's life. The not-so-distant memory of when she had lain in his arms, bleeding to death from Naraku's wound came back to him, causing his stomach to twist in a rather painful way.

 

Hesitantly, he glanced at Kikyo, searching for some kind of reassurance, but what he found instead was his brother's cold and calculating gaze, looking at him in some sort of quiet challenge. Sesshomaru did not think him capable pulling the Tessaiga free... more than that, he was daring him to try... and he'd be damned if he ever backed away from a challenge from his brother.

 

Resolutely, he walked to the altar and stared down at the old and rusty sword that had so forcefully rejected his brother earlier. Not without a great deal of apprehension, he gripped the handle and pulled with all his might. Energy crackled and sparked all around the hanyou as the sword started to budge. Slowly, one millimeter at a time, the blade moved upward until it finally came free so suddenly that Inuyasha staggered backward by the force of his own pull.

 

The hanyou stared at the blade, surprised himself that he had actually managed to pull it free... and then, his expression turned somewhat dubious as he took in the blade's appearance seemingly for the first time.

 

"Yo Sesshomaru, I can't see why on earth you'd want this sword and quite frankly I don't give a damn! But if you let go of Kikyo right now then it's yours."

 

The inu-youkai narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his brother, visibly doubting he'd actually go through with his claim, but before he could utter a word, Kikyo actually spoke up.

 

"Don't... Inuyasha..." she protested. "This sword... doesn't... belong to... him!"

 

"I don't care!" snapped the hanyou, his voice cracking like a whip. "I'm not about to sacrifice you just so I can play around with a stupid sword that doesn't even look capable of cutting through butter!"

 

And then it happened. Tessaiga suddenly started pulsing and humming in Inuyasha's hand. As if answering to the sword's pleas (which was probably exactly what it was doing), the empty sheath at Sesshomaru's hip pulsed too and, before anyone could react, a bright light suddenly shot forth from it and enveloped Kikyo, forcing the youkai's grip from her throat and making her fall unceremoniously to the ground.

 

The miko gasped as the impact jarred her broken ribs painfully, but then she stared dumbfounded as she realized that, not only was she free, she also had the sheath in her hands, even though she had absolutely no idea of how it got there.

 

Sesshomaru on the other hand seemed to know exactly what this meant and he was the only one that didn't look surprised when, in a bright flash of light, Tessaiga suddenly transformed into its true form. He frowned then, his eyes two molten pots of amber smoldering with an intensity that could have melted steel.

 

"Tessaiga, why do you disgrace yourself? Why do you side with a worthless hanyou like this?"

 

Of course, the sword being unable to speak, remained silent. Yet Inuyasha thought he felt something like disgust filter through him from the blade and that snapped him out of his stupefied gaze. "You've lost Sesshomaru!" he said, fixing his brother with an angry frown. "Kikyo's out of your grasp and even if you managed to kill me, Tessaiga wouldn't accept you as its master! So there's nothing left for you to do here!"

 

There was a long moment of tense silence as the two brothers looked at each other, neither blinking, neither relinquishing the slightest bit of ground. The tension was so incredibly palpable that, at one point, Karura was certain she saw sparks fly between the hanyou and the youkai. Finally, the moment was broken when Sesshomaru's lips quirked upward in the shadow of a smile, thus making Inuyasha break eye-contact.

 

"Very well Tessaiga. If that is your wish, I shall leave you in Inuyasha's care for the moment."

 

With that said, he turned around and called Jaken's name. The toad youkai scrambled from his hiding place and hurriedly joined with his master. The inu-youkai then transformed into a ball of light that engulfed the two of them and shot upward, disappearing through the ceiling in seconds.

 

Only when everyone was sure he had really disappeared did the group remembered to breathe. With the threat gone, Tessaiga changed back into its normal state and the barrier around Kikyo dissolved. Not wasting any time, Inuyasha promptly darted to the miko's side and helped her into a sitting position.

 

"Dammit Kikyo, that was stupid of you! Why on earth did you come here anyway!?" he exclaimed, trying to sound stern, but failing miserably.

 

"I shall explain... once we leave... this place. For the moment, suffice it to say... that my presence was needed."

 

"Keh! Stupid woman!" muttered the hanyou.

 

"Well I think I understand what you meant when you said Sesshomaru was a 'stuck up bastard'," said Shunran, looking through the ceiling with an unreadable expression on her face.

 

"All things due considered, I still think we did relatively good. That sword seems like one mighty fine piece of work to me. It even went so far as to protect Kikyo," added Karura, looking at the blade with interest.

 

"Still, why do you think it refused Sesshomaru so... drastically?" questioned Shunran.

 

"Myoga might know," cut in the miko.

 

"Oh yeah, that flea seemed somewhat knowledgeable... what happened to him anyway? I haven't heard from him since Sesshomaru's gotten into the picture," agreed the panther youkai.

 

"Keh! He probably found a place to hide until the danger's passed. I bet you he'll be waiting for us when we get out of here," snorted Inuyasha.

 

"Well, shall we test to see if that theory's true? I for one can't wait to get out of this stuffy tomb," launched Karura nonchalantly, though it was plain that she was rather antsy to return to the normal world.

 

Seeing this and also realizing that there would not be any point in overstaying their welcome, Inuyasha grabbed the scabbard Kikyo was holding, sheathed his new sword and put it through his belt. He then carefully picked the miko up bridal style and stood up.

 

"Let's get the hell out of here. There's nothing else for us to do here," he said and both Karura and Shunran were only too happy to oblige.

 

Inuyasha watched the two bound up the walls for a few seconds - Shunran with the nimble agility inherent to her tribe and Karura with surprising speed and ease - before deciding it was time to leave himself. Just as he was about to leap though, Kikyo pulled his sleeve gently.

 

"Did you... mean it Inuyasha?"

 

"Mean what?" asked the hanyou, looking down at the miko in his arms with confusion painted on his face.

 

"That you did not want the sword... if it meant sacrificing me?"

 

Inuyasha felt his cheeks color a bright red at this and he looked up almost immediately in a vain effort to hide his embarrassment. "You talk too much Kikyo. You should rest," he replied tensely.

 

"You're right... I am a little... tired," she sighed before closing her eyes and letting her head come to rest against his chest.

 

The hanyou stayed immobile for a few more seconds, feeling Kikyo's breathing even out and her body go limp as she fell asleep. When he was sure she was indeed slumbering peacefully, he dared a look down and felt his heart melt at the peaceful expression he saw on her face.

 

"I meant it Kikyo. Your life is worth more to me than anything anyone can ever offer."

 

Whether or not the woman heard him, Inuyasha couldn't be certain. But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Kikyo smiled contentedly... and for one brief moment, everything was right in the world.

 

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Author's note: Well, a rather brutal encounter... but in the end, things worked out somehow. Tessaiga is now in Inuyasha's possession and Kikyo survived. Now the group must move forward again to reach the panthers' stronghold before it's too late.