InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kikyo's lonely journey ❯ The weight of leadership ( Chapter 14 )

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 13: The weight of leadership

 

Kagome and Kikyo stood side by side looking attentively in the direction of the forest. In front of them lay the village's main line of defense. It looked somewhat pitiful with merely fifty men armed with weapons ranging from shovels to rakes. The strong points of attack were Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku, which were standing at the ready in front of everyone else.

 

Then there was the line of archers where the two were right now. A whopping twenty people, all armed with a full quiver and a good bow. Considering how small a time they had had to prepare their defenses, what they had come up with was quite remarkable... but also greatly insufficient. Inuyasha had managed a quick scouting incursion with Kirara and had estimated that they were outnumbered at least three to one.

 

"Kagome... have you ever been in a battle like this before?" asked Kikyo suddenly.

 

"No... it's always been our group against youkai, never two armies clashing together," admitted the schoolgirl. "How about you?"

 

"I'm a miko... mikos aren't soldiers," answered the woman with a sardonic smile.

 

"Still, before this battle takes place, there is something that I must tell you," she continued seriously.

 

"What is it?" inquired Kagome, puzzled by Kikyo's sudden confessing mood.

 

"Tell me... haven't you started feeling strange lately? Like someone else's thoughts are trying to filter through your head?" inquired the miko.

 

At this Kagome stiffened visibly, causing Kikyo to smile a little. "So I was right, you too are affected," she said mysteriously.

 

"You... feel it too?" repeated the schoolgirl somewhat incredulously. "Do you know what it is?"

 

"I'm not certain myself... but I believe we're starting to hear each other's thoughts," answered Kikyo.

 

"You mean like telepathy? But how can this be?" questioned the schoolgirl again, more and more confused.

 

"Who knows. But when you do think about it, your soul and mine are essentially one and the same. We share a bond, whether we want it or not," replied the miko.

 

"But then why now of all time? It's been more than three years since you've been resurrected," argued Kagome.

 

"True, but we've never spent so much time together at once. Plus we never were exactly on the best of terms until now, maybe that's what prevented this link from establishing itself," proposed Kikyo.

 

"Maybe..." agreed the schoolgirl somewhat dubiously. "But what exactly does it mean? Are we both going to become one again? Is one of us going to simply... disappear?" gulped the schoolgirl nervously.

 

"Only time will tell," answered the miko gravely. "However, right now, protecting the village comes first. No matter what happens, we must do everything in our power to protect these people from harm."

 

"Don't worry Kikyo... my arrows never miss," answered Kagome firmly and the woman nodded in acknowledgment.

 

******

 

"Peculiar... the miko's aura was slightly different now than it was on our last meeting, I wonder why," thought Masahiro as he rejoined his men.

 

"Sir," greeted one of his soldiers while handing him the fuyouheki stone entrusted to him a few minutes earlier.

 

"Everyone in position! We attack now!" he ordered sharply and immediately his men started scrambling in neat rows. "Remember! You may dispose of everyone as you please... but Kikyo is to be taken alive!" he snapped before motioning forward with his arm.

 

******

 

"Susune, what are you doing? We have to leave now, the youkai are going to attack!" cried Shippo in alarm.

 

"I'm... coming Shippo-chan," answered the child softly.

 

Extending her hand hesitantly toward her bow and sword, she froze in mid-motion as the disgusting memory of having blood splattered on her overwhelmed her. With an effort, she managed to push back the images and grab hold of them. Her talk with Sango the day before had helped her get her emotions back under control somewhat, but it was far from being enough to give her back the determination to draw her blade or shoot an arrow.

 

"The weight of the life it took," thought the girl as she felt her katana settle at her hip. "How can anyone bear such a weight?"

 

Not giving the problem anymore thought, she promptly stood up and followed the kitsune outside where Kaede was waiting along with a number of other women, children and elders. In short, everyone who could not or would not fight was to evacuate to a safer location for the time being and, much to Susune's shame, it included her.

 

"Let us get a move on. We've wasted enough time as it is," urged the old miko as the pair emerged from the hut.

 

Due to the very composition of the group, the progression was a rather slow one. Some were armed with bows and shovels and other stuff, mainly for precaution as there was always the possibility that they could be attacked by a random youkai, but everyone knew that if it came to that, they had very little chance of making it out with their lives intact. Only Kaede, Shippo and herself could even remotely be called fighters... and that wasn't much.

 

"Susune, please try to cheer up. What's happening isn't your fault you know," said Shippo when he saw the girl's long features.

 

"Still, it's because of me that there's a battle right now. If it hadn't been for me, it wouldn't have happened," she replied sadly.

 

"I say that they would have come anyway. The spy killed the other day wasn't here specifically for you, you know," shot back the kitsune, undeterred.

 

"Thank you for trying Shippo... but I know everyone here hates me because of what I brought," said Susune with a sad shake of her head.

 

"That's not true!" snapped the kitsune angrily. "If it hadn't been for you then they would have fallen on us without any sort of warning. Thanks to you, we have at least a chance of putting up a decent fight! And besides, do you see anyone around here looking at you with hateful stares?"

 

Gazing discreetly at the surrounding people, she could easily see the tenseness of their features and the worry that creased their faces without even having to resort to her powers. There wasn't any sign of hate anywhere though, an elderly lady even smiled gently at her when she noticed her glance.

 

"I... suppose you may be right," she admitted reluctantly. "But it still doesn't change the fact that I can't bear to use my weapons anymore... Every time I try... I see the blood that showered on me when I sliced the guy's arm apart."

 

"You'll get over it eventually. Besides, saving your own life can't very well be considered a bad thing you know," comforted the kitsune gently.

 

"Thanks Shippo," smiled Susune gratefully.

 

As it was, fate chose this very moment to intervene because, all around them, the woods suddenly burst to life. From the trees all around them, about twenty youkai, all armed with swords and axes, emerged and encircled the group.

 

"Well, look what we have here boys... a group of cowardly humans who foolishly thought they could escape," taunted one of them.

 

"Too bad for them, the boss predicted such a move and planted us here for this very purpose," snickered another.

 

"Let us pass!" ordered Kaede firmly while drawing an arrow from her quiver. "We are but elders and children. We pose no threat to any of you."

 

"Sorry old hag, but the boss said "no survivors" and we always follow orders... especially when they're of this kind," retorted the leading youkai with an evil smirk on his face before motioning for his men to move in for the kill.

 

While these words were exchanged, Susune had not stopped looking left and right, trying desperately to see an opening, but of course, there wasn't any. The circle was perfect and it was now growing increasingly smaller. The few people who were armed were quivering in fear and were quite obviously in no condition to fight.

 

As her mind took note of those details, her entire body started trembling violently in terror. Abruptly, the scenery around her shifted and became her home village again, like it was during the time of the attack with wolf youkai everywhere. And once again, she was the frightened little child who ran for her life. As she stumbled through the wrecks, she saw a person being cornered by three youkai. Suddenly, she noticed that she had a bow and an arrow in her hand.

 

"What will you do now Susune?" said a voice she knew all too well.

 

"Sango-sama?" she said incredulously.

 

"This person's about to be killed Susune, what will you do?" repeated the demon slayer urgently.

 

"I..." she stuttered, looking fearfully at the weapon in her hand.

 

"Why did you want to be a warrior Susune?" asked Kikyo's voice.

 

Turning her head, she saw the miko materialize before her. "Why Susune? Why did you choose the path of a warrior?" repeated the woman almost accusingly.

 

"I... I wanted to... protect my loved ones," she whispered.

 

"Then why aren't you shooting!" she snapped and suddenly, Susune wasn't in her village but back in the forest with all the frightened villagers.

 

It was as if a fog had been lifted from her mind. She understood now... she understood with crystal clarity what Sango had been trying to tell her that day in the hut. The weight of the lives taken... it was nothing in comparison of the weight of the lives you had failed to save. That was the very reason she had chosen to fight! How on earth could she have forgotten it so easily?

 

Now wasn't the time to dwell on something like this however. The enemy was closing in on them and unless something was done right now to reverse the situation, they would all be slaughtered.

 

"ENOUGH!" she suddenly screamed so loud that even the attacker froze in surprise.

 

"You there you one-eyes freak! You sure talk big, but you're in fact nothing but a weakling coward," she accused, pointing to the leading youkai.

 

The one she had spoken to was in fact an enormous cyclops youkai who wielded a wicked-looking axe that was sure to hurt if it ever encountered flesh. He stood easily four times her size and was currently looking at her like she had just grown a second head.

 

"Susune what on earth are you doing!" whispered Shippo incredulously.

 

"Saving our hides," answered the child without averting her eyes from the monster approaching her. "Shippo, when I say now... use your fox tricks to distract the other soldiers' attention and tell everyone to use this time to attack," she ordered hastily.

 

"So I'm a weakling, you little flea?" he asked when he reached her. "And why is that?"

 

"Look at you attacking poor defenseless women and children. If someone even remotely strong was to arrive now, you'd be history," she taunted mercilessly.

 

"Well then if you're so sure of yourself, why don't you show me how strong you are?" taunted the cyclops, obviously amused by the situation.

 

"If you insist big boy, I think I can teach you a lesson," she shot back with a feral smile.

 

A tiny voice in the back of her head started telling her that she might have taken on more than she could chew, but there was no turning back now. She knew only one thing: if she won, then the villagers would be inspired and would fight back, if she lost then they were all dead. So she focused entirely on the task at hand. As she took her position in front of her opponent, her few weeks of training started kicking in and the advice of her teachers came back to her.

 

"Never let your attention waver for a second."

 

"Strength and size aren't everything. If he's bigger then be swifter."

 

"Never underestimate an opponent, no matter how small he is."

 

That last advice made a desperate plan germ in her head. Sizing her opponent seemingly for the first time, she gulped slightly when her eyes fell on his huge axe. She then drew her own katana and allowed it to waver slightly.

 

"What's wrong squirt? Don't faint on me now," laughed the youkai.

 

"Shut up!" she snapped angrily and steadied her blade. "That's right big boy, I'm nothing more than a frightened little girl... unable to even scratch you," she thought grimly.

 

"All right you little pipsqueak! Time to end this stupid farce!" growled the cyclops right before he launched himself at her.

 

Then, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Raising his axe high above his head, the youkai then grabbed it with both hands and lowered it with inhuman strength toward Susune.

 

"It doesn't matter if a blow misses by a hairline or a mile. If it doesn't hit, it doesn't hit."

 

The sentence resonated in the child's head as she abruptly shifted her weight and moved a step to her right. She felt the wind swipe at her face as her opponent's weapon missed her by no more than two inches and buried itself in the ground harmlessly. Not waiting for the cyclops to recover from his surprise, she immediately crouched down and propelled herself upward with as much strength as she could muster. With a mighty yell, she drove her katana in the youkai's throat.

 

Absolute stillness reigned as Susune's blade finished its deadly course and emerged on the other side of her opponent's neck, stained red with blood.

 

"Im... possible," gurgled the cyclops before all life left him and he collapsed forward.

 

Withdrawing her weapon, she jumped out of the way as the monster's enormous mass crashed to the ground. Not taking time to admire her handiwork, she immediately rushed at the nearest of the remaining youkai. As she had guessed, her victory had shaken them to the core and it took them a split-second to refocus their attention on her. This was the moment she had been waiting for.

 

"Now Shippo! Do it now!" she exclaimed and felt relief flood her being when she saw the kitsune leap up.

 

"Fox fire!" he yelled and immediately, balls of green fire started raining on their enemies, causing them to stagger left and right at the totally unexpected intervention.

 

The closing act of Susune's plan was initiated by Kaede who was the first to shoot her arrow almost point-blank at one opponent. The four others who had bows were quick to follow suit and before they knew it, five of the twenty youkai had already bitten the dust.

 

There were still fifteen more though and they were rapidly recovering from their surprise. The child arrived in the fray at this moment and sliced one in the leg, making him collapse and finished him quickly by slitting his throat.

 

"COME ON EVERYONE FIGHT! FIGHT IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!" she yelled, adrenaline pumping in her veins, heightening her senses and sharpening her reactions.

 

This seemed to have the desired effect because all around her, the mass of elders and children sprung to life and rushed at the surrounding enemies. Old men fought with their canes, children threw rocks and sticks, those armed with shovels hit as hard as they could. Taken individually, those blows were relatively harmless, but they were distracting enough to allow the archers the opening they needed to go in for the kill. One after the other, the demons fell under the relentless push of the humans until finally, none were left standing.

 

A sort of deathly silence fell on the woods when the last youkai fell. Susune looked around her, feeling sort of dazed by the rush of events that had just happened. Just as she was about to collapse on the ground, a shadow blocked the light. Turning around, she was just in time to see one of the wounded youkai tower over her angrily.

 

"Die... bitch!" he exclaimed painfully, his sword poised to strike.

 

It never went down though because at this moment, five arrows lodged themselves simultaneously in different parts of his body and he crashed back down, really dead this time. Heaving a huge sigh of relief, the girl fell to her knees, all strength leaving her body.

 

"Susune!" cried Shippo in alarm. "Are you okay?"

 

"Yeah..." she whispered absently.

 

Her haggard gaze shifted to her katana and she noted numbly that it was completely red with blood, not really surprising considering what had just happened. "The weight of the lives I took," she reflected, feeling her stomach twist painfully in her chest.

 

"You did well child. Thanks to your daring plan, we were able to come out of this situation unscathed," complimented Kaede.

 

Turning around, she was able to see all the people gathering slowly back together. They were all looking at her with expressions ranging from gratitude to open admiration... and all of them were alive and well, if maybe a little worst for wear. "The weight of the lives I saved," she mused again and suddenly, she didn't feel as sick as a few moments ago.

 

"Is everyone... okay Kaede?" she panted.

 

"Except for a few cuts and bruises, I believe everyone is alive and well," reassured the miko.

 

"Thank god," she whispered. "Kaede, I think it's time... for you to get to safety along with everyone else."

 

"And what about you?" questioned the woman.

 

"I'm going back... I've found my answer. I can fight now so I'm going to help my friends," she explained while getting back to her feet.

 

"And what about the rest of us here?" countered Kaede, making Susune stop in mid-motion.

 

"What about you all?" she asked back, confused.

 

"Thanks to what you did, these people are looking up to you now. They are expecting you to lead them, just like you did during the battle, not me," explained Kaede somberly.

 

"But... I just..." stuttered Susune helplessly.

 

"You did what you had to do. You inspired us and gave us the strength we needed to win. These people are looking up to you now, do you really want to break their hope?" asked the miko gently.

 

"But I'm only ten... I can't possibly lead them!" she continued plaintively.

 

"You can, Susune... and you must. It is now your responsibility, whether you want it or not," said the old woman firmly.

 

Susune looked at Kaede uncertainly before shifting her gaze to the crowd looking at her expectantly. She felt her fingers closing in a tight fist and her jaw clench in both frustration and anger. How could these people actually look up to her? Most of them were old enough to be her grandparents!

 

"A leader's worth isn't measured in age Susune," whispered Kaede encouragingly.

 

"But I don't know what to do!" she hissed back.

 

"Yes you do, you just don't want to admit it," replied the old miko patiently.

 

"All I want is to go back and help everyone," she sighed, discouraged.

 

"So do we Susune... but we can't do this on our own," answered Kaede with a knowing smile.

 

The child looked at the group of people in front of her. None of them had moved an inch and their expression remained mostly the same. However, there was something a bit different about them, there was an air of determination that hadn't been there before the attack. These people had now a will to fight... and they were expecting her to make good on it.

 

"This is ridiculous... how can you possibly expect to fight if you don't even have any weapons?" she thought to herself.

 

Then, her eyes fell on the fallen enemies' corpses. While some of their weapons were far too big and heavy to be wielded by a normal human, there were a few who would fit nicely. She felt her heartbeat speed up in her chest as the germ of a new plan began to form in her head. When she finally did return her gaze to the crowd, it was different this time. It was filled with determination.

 

"All right listen up!" she barked. "Those younger than me and those who are too old to fight, follow Kaede to safety. The others, search the bodies and arm yourselves... we're going back!"

 

"Good luck child," nodded the miko.

 

"Don't let me down Kaede... please," begged Susune, her features betraying her uncertainty for a split second before they closed up once again.

 

"I will not child. I will take care of these people. You just make sure you take care of yours," acknowledged the woman firmly before taking her own position a short distance away.

 

"The lives I saved... their fate now lies in my hands," she thought, feeling a new weight settle on her shoulders: the weight of leadership.