InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Legend of the Labyrinth ❯ Thunder ( Chapter 10 )

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Chapter 10

An-chan: Japanese for older brother. It's just one of those terms that makes Manten sound like Manten, so I'm including it.

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So far, Manten was having a really good day despite waking up rather early after another nightmare about going completely bald. Already he'd terrorized one village, stolen and eaten a rather tasty goat, and stumbled upon a way to prevent his nightmare from coming a reality. Chuckling, he grinned down at the young girl that now lay unconscious on his speedy black rain cloud. Who would have thought, such a beauty just wandering around the countryside, waiting to be caught. Already he planned to make her a sacrifice to his maker, the all powerful Zeus, ruler of immortal gods. Surely, for such a beauty, the god would hear his prayer. Manten smiled again, imagining how popular he would be once he had a full rich head of dark hair, just like his older brother Hiten.

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"Damn fucking sonofa…" Inuyasha cursed as he rushed through the underbrush and skidded to a halt in the center of the clearing. He took one look at Miroku, hunched down beside the old gnarled olive tree and snarled. "Oi leach, haven't you gotten the brat to come out yet?"

Miroku looked up, his face calm and serene as always. "Now, now Inuyasha be nice. He's a kid after all. We shouldn't force him to come out if he's not ready." So declaring Miroku stood and dusted his robes with his hands. "By the way, did you find Lady Kagome?"

Inuyasha was already stalking towards the tree, determination in his eyes. "We don't have time to wait until he's ready. The bitch's been taken." In one fluid motion he had gripped the tree trunk at the entrance of the abandoned burrow, and ripped it up out of the soil. Roots snapped and wood groaned, cracking as the old tree landed with a heavy thud upon the wild brush. With his other hand, Inuyasha reached into the newly exposed hole and pulled out the trembling fox kit by his tail.

Miroku just blinked calmly at the random act of destruction, while Inuyasha lifted Shippo up to his eye level so he could peer into the kid's face.

"Oi, brat. Just who, or what, are these thunder brothers you were talking about?"

Shippo trembled harder, curling his limbs tight against his body to form a perfect little ball.

"Thunder Brothers?" Miroku repeated. "…Are you saying they've kidnapped Lady Kagome?"

"How the Hades should I know? The place was burned to a crisp and Kagome's scent was fading. Someone else has her, and they're not human. I wouldn't even be back here but there's no trail to follow." He growled and then glared at Shippo. "So now the runt has the only clues on finding her."

There was a pause as Inuyasha continued to stare at Shippo, almost as if he knew the kit could feel his gaze. Finally, after a long minute, Shippo spoke.

"…th…they k-k-killed my mom and d-dad…"

In an instant, Miroku's eyes were grim as Inuyasha's. Not once in all the time he'd known the fox kit had Shippo so much as mentioned his parents. It was a topic he had simply refused acknowledge, and now that monk could hazard a guess as to why, he feared for Lady Kagome's safety.

"That doesn't help Kagome any twerp. Where are they?"

Still, did Inuyasha need to be so callous? Shippo was ready to burst into tears, and that would make things a real mess.

Or maybe he was just completely oblivious as he continued shaking Shippo by the tail. "Come on brat! Where are they?"

Sniff… sniff… "BWAAAAAHHHHH!!!! I Don't know! AHH!! Kagome-hic-Kagome's gonna DIIEYYYAAAHHH WAHHHHH-"

"Don't you start crying you useless piece of shit! Crying's going to get us nowhere! So STOP it right now! You hear me!! STOP IT!"

"-HHHH-HAHHHH-hic-WAAAAAAHHHHH-"

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"

"-AHHHH! WAHWAHWAAAA! BWAA-"

"I SAID-"

Oh for the love of…sigh....

*WHACK, bonk!* "SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!!"

Silence.

Miroku let out a sigh of relief and lowered his staff. Serenity returning to his visage once again. "Much better. Inuyasha, give Shippo to me."

…grumble, grumble snarl "fine!" complain snarl…

Ignoring his companion, Miroku calmly sat Shippo on his upheld wrist, letting him balance against his chest while the monk used a corner of his robes to dry his tears. Then, with just a hint of a smile, he lifted his wrist, bringing it up level with his shoulder.

"Now, Shippo. Just get up on my head, look around, and tell me where YOU think Kagome might have been taken. We'll find her, don't you worry. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Tentatively, the kit put one hand on Miroku's shoulder, then another, and before long he was, quite literally standing on Miroku's head. For a few minutes, he scanned the terrain before pointing out a direction.

"There." he said. "They like high places because they can fly, so they'll probably bring Kagome there."

A sudden gush of wind and a snap of cloth signalled Inuyasha's departure. By the time Shippo had crawled back down onto Miroku's shoulder, the half-demon was already just a distant blob of red.

Miroku sighed, shrugged his shoulders and muttered something about fools and acting without thinking. He turned to his companion.

"Well then Shippo, shall we go?"

They soon followed on horse back, while the dark storm clouds grew ominously blacker overhead.

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Kagome slowly opened her eyes to gaze upon a soft fuzzy world. Or, maybe not so soft. And hey! She was feeling really rotten! Ouch! She tried to grab her head only to find that motion just made it pound worse, and the ground was hard and rough against her delicate skin. Wait a minute, ground! And what was that noise?

"Hey Hiten-An-chan, how exactly do you sacrifice a girl any ways?"

Voices......? ... EEEH!! They were going to sacrifice a GIRL?!

"Oi… Manten, can't you do anything right? Honestly! She's a mammal. Do it the same way you'd sacrifice a cow."

…wait a minute, she was a girl…

"Oh Right! Hehehe, he..." Uncomfortable silence, "Uh, An-chan… um…how do you sacrifice a cow?"

Uh-oh!

"Stupid! We've only DONE it about a thousand TIMES before!!" Kagome cringed and managed to make out the voice muttering, "If you weren't my brother…" There was a sigh, and the voice continued on with all the patience of one who was talking to a three year old.

"Look! You hack open her back to paralyse her. Then you slice open her throat and bleed her to death. You skin her, strip off the fat, wrap it around the thigh bones. Burn them as offerings to the gods, and eat the rest. Got it?"

Kagome suddenly wanted to be sick. They were talking about her! Oh gods, where was Inuyasha, Miroku, even Shippo?! She didn't want to be sacrificed! No way! NO WAY!!

A crude laughter. "Right An-chan! I remember now! Ha ha ha! I'm going to have hair! I'm going to have hair! Aaahaha!"

Hiten smirked as he watched his brother, slapping his knee and laughing. The stupid oaf had probably forgotten everything he'd said. A sudden shuffling sound alerted him to the fact that they weren't the only ones who could hear their conversation…

"Oh really?" Hiten smiled, "Well then Manten, you'd better hurry up and catch your sacrifice before it runs away…"

Manten's laughter stopped abruptly, his head shooting up to where he'd lain his precious hair sacrifice.

Sure enough, Kagome was on the move, half running, half hobbling blindly forward as fast as her headache and stiff limbs would allow her. She ducked and dodged around the landscape, behind giant boulders and over semi-wide chasms for a grand total of about fifteen seconds before she came to a dead stop at the edge of a rather tall cliff.

Well, okay it wasn't just rather tall, it was a sheer drop of about two ship-lengths.

And before she had a chance to think up an alternate plan, Big-bald-and-ugly was upon her.

"Hehe. You see now, there's no way down! ..uh...unless you can fly like us...But you can't so...hea-heha-ha-ha!"

Fly? Were these guys....god beasts??

Manten gathered her hair into his burly fist and began yanking her across the gray landscape of rock and storm clouds. She yelped and huffed indignantly in her almost doubled over position, feeling much like an animal on a leash as her captor began to hum merrily. "I'm going to have hair, I'm going to have hair!" He didn't seem to care if she tripped or not, and by the time they reached the place she had escaped from, her knees were covered with blood, sluggishly welling up through a number of new scrapes and cuts.

Kagome was terrified! How could anyone be so, so inhumane! They were going to...to...

Manten gave her hair a good yank, pitching her face forward into the rough ground at the center of the clearing. She caught herself with her hands, ignoring the feeling of more ripped skin and the re-opened wound on her arm as she looked up into the face of the other god beast, Hiten. Oddly enough he looked perfectly human, until you realized that the irises of his eyes were more crimson than the blood seeping from her scrapes.

"Oi, Girl! You'd better not run off again if you know what's good for you..." He smirked and brought his hand up level with his chest, a small ball of light manifesting in his palm...

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Inuyasha ran, a streak of red weaving its way through the gray landscape. Already the rising slope of the mountain was passing below his feet. Just a little longer and he'd be there. And if those thunder-asses so much as touched Kagome, he'd make sure they never saw the fucking light of day again, ever!

Not that he was worried about losing her. No way! He wasn't so wimpy that he needed some human bitch to keep him company. The only reason he was doing this was because last night he'd promised to protect her. He was NOT going to fail already. It hadn't even been one day yet for fuck's sake! This was a matter of pride!

Just a little further and he'd be at the top. One more leap...

"KAGOME!! YOU FUCKING Bastards are going... to..."

.... .... cricket, cricket...

Nothing.

Inuyasha spun around, taking in the panorama before him. One which was entirely Kagome and demon free.

"Fuck!" he cursed, "That little twerp is going to die when I get my hands on him!"

He spun around again, eyes searching wide and far: nothing.

Dammit! Where was that wench? How the hell was he supposed to find her now? Her scent was gone! Who knew where those Assholes had been able to fly off to by now. What was he going to do? Where would he go? How was he going to find her? What if she was already- NO! NO! She couldn't be dead! The wench was too stubborn for that. But still, where was he going to-

Hey....what was that funny flash of light on that distant mountain top?

*BOOM*

The flashing light turned into a giant ball of energy as it streaked off the peak and impacted into the side of the mountain Inuyasha was standing on. The ground shook with the force and for a minute the half-demon had to fight to keep his balance.

No sooner had he managed to catch it again than he was off again, this time making a direct bee line for that distant ridge the blast had emanated from. For sure, Kagome was there! For sure, that was where they had taken her!

For sure, she hadn't been on the receiving end of that blast, right?

Taking in deep breaths of air Inuyasha pushed himself forward, sprinting hard. Somehow, this landscape looked familliar, like he'd seen...it...before... ...!

That damned kit was going to die!

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"Yayahahehe! Hiten An-chan is the greatest. Hehehahaha!"

Manten clapped and slapped his knee as Hiten brought his hand forward again, smirking. "No one messes with the thunder brothers of Zeuse! Got that, girl?" He flashed Kagome a predatory glare.

Fortunately, Kagome didn't see it as she was still too busy eyeing the path of destruction left in the wake of Hiten's blast. Hadn't that pile of blackish sand been a boulder not too long ago? Kagome shuddered before the demon's voice brought her out of her daze.

"Oi Manten, weren't you going to prepare a sacrifice?"

"Yes! Hiten An-chan!"

Kagome had to think fast, otherwise....gulp! She didn't want to think about an otherwise!

"Wait!" Both brothers turned around as Kagome shot to her feet. "Y-you can't sacrifice me!"

Hiten raised an eyebrow. "...and why is that?"

"Um...lots of reasons...um....the gods would get angry...uh....because I...I'm....Because I taste bad!" Well it was better than nothing. "I mean, I'm all skin and bones! I've got a wound on my arm, and you should see this bruise on my front. My hairs all knotty, I'm covered in dirt...uh..."

Hiten was looking bored...

"....and, aahhh,...Pelops! Yeah, remember the myth of Pelops? Remember, his father killed him and served him to the Gods, and the Gods got angry and punished him, and now he's in the under world rolling that giant rock up the never ending hill, or was that someone else... uh... hey! HEY!! Are you even listening?!"

Manten stopped humming and looked up from where he was trying to start a fire while Hiten paused in his spear sharpening just long enough to do likewise. "Oh, sorry did you say something?"

Kagome fumed in frustration, racking her mind for anything else that might persuade them NOT to hack her back open and then bleed her to death. Anything to stall until Inuyasha could get here. Because he would come for her right? Inuyasha HAD to come for her! Inuyasha...

Wait a minute. Duh! Why didn't she think of that earlier?

"And besides," she began, her voice actually confident for the first time since this whole ordeal began. "If you hurt me, my uh, betrothed will hunt you down and kill you! So you'd better let me go this instant!"

Well, so maybe it was a bit of a lie, but it was worth it if it saved her life right? I mean, they weren't going to take her seriously if she just called him a friend. Besides, Inuyasha probably didn't even know the meaning of the word betrothed. So HE couldn't be offended or anything...right?

"A-HAHAHAHAHA! HAAAAHAHAHAHA!!"

Of course, what was the point in even trying to lie when the people you were lying to just laughed in your face? Kagome growled subconsciously until Manten managed to gather enough air to speak.

"A-hahaha! Hiten An-chan! She thinks we're gonna be killed by some human! Ahaha-hehe-hahaha!"

"He's NOT human you fools! For your information, he happens to be the son of Inushiro, the greatest god-beast Poseidon ever created! And he's going to maim you quite horribly when he gets here, you'll see!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! Maim us horribly! What does that mean? MAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHA-OUCH!" Manten rubbed the new lump on his chrome dome and looked up with watery eyes. "An-chan, what was that-"

"Shut-up!" Hiten snapped at him. Kagome gulped as his blood-lusting gaze met her slightly unsure one. "You! Girl, how do you know that name? The flee-bitten-mutt died before you were even born."

Taking a deep breath, Kagome set her jaw to shake off her timidness.

"The God Poseidon told me." She announced, clearly. "I saw him when we visited the shrine at Sounion. We were there retrieving Inushiro's sword, the Tetsusaiga."

There was a thoughtful pause before Hiten suddenly stood upright and began to walk over, stopping with his face inches from Kagome's own. He searched her through narrow eyes, while Kagome did her best to return the piercing glare.

After a long moment, Hiten seemed to have reached a decision, and abruptly, he spun away. With determined strides, he marched to where he had placed his own partisan weapon, bringing it up to rest against his shoulder, tip pointed towards the sky. Out of nowhere, two tiny wheels appeared beside his feet, shooting off sparks as Hiten rose into the overcast sky.

"Hi...Hiten an-chan! Where are you going?"

Kagome watched, only somewhat relieved to discover he hadn't been planning to use his weapon to kill her.

Hiten paused in mid-air, turning back with a haughty toss of his head.

"Stupid, we're going to do what us God-Beasts were made to do, of course: fight for the glory of Zeus!" and his eyes filled with a battle lust as he continued, "Inushiro's son is said to be undefeated in any duel, but today he and his "Tetsusaiga" will meet their match in us, the Thunder Brothers, and this..." he held his spear aloft, "Raigakijin!"

A sudden streak of white thunder cracked the heavens, making Kagome jump. It caught Hiten's gaze, and his eyes flashed dangerously at her as he turned again to leave.

He yelled back over his shoulder. "Oi, Manten! Don't forget the girl too. Sesshoumaru's known for his poker face, but killing her might just piss him off. Hahahaha!"

His laughter drifted down from the clouds as he rose out of sight. With a quick, "Yes Hiten An-chan," and laughing like a maniac, Manten soon followed suit in his speedy black rain cloud.

For the second time that day, Kagome dangled against Manten's hip like a sack of grain. This time however, her thoughts were much clearer, and much more grim. The older one had vaporized a rock for gods' sakes! What if Inuyasha...or Shippo, or Miroku...

...and wait, hadn't Hiten just said he wanted to fight Sesshoumaru? Uh-oh. This would not be good.

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