InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Malice ❯ Looming ( Chapter 36 )

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

Chapter 36: Looming

Keh!

Inuyasha was ready to lose it, the constant darkness and echoing, creepy noises of this cave system was really getting to him - mostly because it was bothering his mate, and he couldn't do anything about it.

Glancing over at her as she walked quietly by his side, he bumped her a little with his elbow, waiting to speak until she looked up.

"How many of those bat-ter-iez did you bring, wench?" he asked.

"Oh... there's enough to last us a month or more, Inuyasha - plus I brought plenty of candles as well. That's why we were so bogged down by the packs."

He grunted in agreement. "They certainly are heavier than they usually are - kinda wondered why, but I'm glad you brought so much," he said softly. "I think this constant darkness would drive me crazy if we didn't have your lights."

"It'd drive us all crazy, eventually, Inuyasha. Not just us humans, but the youkai as well. We need the sunlight - there are chemicals in our minds that we need to keep us balanced, and only sunlight can do so. Without those chemicals... we go crazy after a while."

He didn't understand half of what she'd just said, but it didn't matter. He could accept that people needed sunlight to live.

He turned his eyes back to the ground in front of them, and pondered on the lack of contact from Naraku - or the other threat - the Obake. Surely, by now, one or the other should have tried an attack.

The fact of the matter, however, is that it had been entirely too quiet. Neither enemy had been seen or heard - and Naraku hadn't even been sensed in almost a full day. Had the Obake already gotten to him?

If so, Inuyasha wasn't worried - the bastard deserved whatever he got - but he'd wanted to be the one to do the destroying.

"Oi, Kagome?" he asked suddenly.

She looked up at him again. "Yeah?"

"Has that stupid Obake's aura moved at all? Is it getting closer to us as we get closer to it?"

She frowned and shook her head. "Nope. It's not moving at all - and I still don't sense... Naraku." She turned and looked back at the elder miko.

"Kikyou?"

"No, Kagome, I haven't felt him, either. I am beginning to think that the Obake has already killed Naraku - which would mean that we are his next targets. He may, however, wait a while - to toy with us. It would be his way."

Kagome nodded, and turned to face front again. "I think it's time to rest again, Inuyasha - and discuss what we all know of that particular ghoul."

At their last stop, Sesshoumaru had spoken to all of them, telling them that they needed to think about everything they'd ever heard about the Obake, so that at their next stop, they could all discuss everything that was known and could be gleaned, hopefully being able to find a weakness - or a lot of them.

Inuyasha raised his voice, calling out to his brother who paced at the front of the group. "Oi, Sesshoumaru - we should stop here and rest - and talk."

A rumble of small echoes started as the rest of the group added their agreements, and before long, they were all seated as comfortably as possible on rocky ground, once again eating a small meal, and talking quietly amongst themselves.

Kagome and Inuyasha were silent, however, neither feeling very talkative at this point, only wanting to eat their food and then discuss what was necessary about their newest foe.

Kagome, not having much of an appetite, finished her small meal before the others, and as soon as she did, she once more closed her eyes and pushed her aura out, searching for the missing Naraku.

It made her sick, having to search for him this way, the very idea of any part of him being brushed by her aura making her almost hyperventilate with the darkness that writhed within her at any mention of the spider. But she knew it was necessary; they needed to know where he was.

After all, if it weren't for him, they wouldn't even be in these caves - the eternal darkness of this place wasn't in any way an ideal spot for a battle. It really wasn't possible to fight something when you couldn't even see, and how do you hold a flashlight when you're fighting for your life?

Sure, she and Kikyou, and even Miroku, could make light using their own aura's, even Inuyasha could probably do so, especially now that they were tied together, and the tama was part of them once again. But all that would do is call the Obake's attention to them as they glowed in the darkness...

But no matter what she did, she could find no trace of Naraku.

The Obake was there, his presence malignant, but strong, still holding in one place and waiting for them. The spider, however...

Kagome was pretty sure that the Obake had already swallowed the spider. It was very telling, to her, that the creature of shadow was sitting in the same area that Naraku's darkness had last occupied.

She opened her eyes and met the stoic gaze of the daiyoukai sitting across from her.

"Something has occurred to you," he said. No question, he just seemed to know.

"Yeah. I'm ninety-nine percent positive that Naraku has already fallen victim to the Obake." She shook her head at the immediate babble that came from the group at her statement, and Inuyasha silenced them quickly with an impatient yell.

She continued as soon as the cave fell silent once again. "That leaves us to worry about the Obake, and nothing else. So, we need to figure out his weaknesses. The biggest one that I know of is light. He can't stand light, but especially the sun - that was why he was always active at night, rather than during the day."

Sesshoumaru nodded to himself. "That is something I am aware of as well. At first, from the legends I remember, Obake wasn't concerned with light, but at some point, over time, he began to realize that people feared darkness more then anything - and fear is his goal, after all. After a time, he began to disdain the light, because it showed him as what he really is, and that led to his hatred of it - and his fear."

Inuyasha flicked a rock away from him, a scowl plastered across his face. "Feh. So what? In case you all didn't notice, there ain't no damn sunlight in these caves, so it don't look like he's gotta worry 'bout that, now does it?"

"Perhaps not, Inuyasha, if we decide to stay in these caves and fight him here," Miroku said quietly. "But if light is our best weapon, then mayhap we need to find a way to utilize it."

"It is not our only weapon, monk, nor is it our greatest, truly," Sesshoumaru said, as he cast a quick glance at Kagome.

Inuyasha and Kikyou both, surprisingly, caught it - though only Kikyou had an inkling of where that look might be going. She addressed the daiyoukai hesitantly.

"So... you mean - purity?" she asked, her words odd, leaving the group staring at her suspiciously.

"Oi, what the hell are you two talkin' about?" Inuyasha narrowed his eyes as he asked that question - something about what Kikyou had said, and how she'd said it, had his instincts in an uproar.

Sesshoumaru sighed lightly, not really liking what he had to say, but knowing it had to be done. Naraku had been a dangerous enough opponent - the Obake was a thousand times worse, and nothing could be held back if it would mean the difference between defeat, and victory.

Their own lives weren't the only ones at stake, after all.

"The only other thing that the Obake really fears, is love. Pure, overpowering, non-judgemental love. Because it is the complete opposite of what he is, it is anathema to him."

"Yeah, you mentioned something about that before. What the hell does that mean, anyway?" Inuyasha asked, suspicion now oozing from him.

Kagome was silent through the whole thing, kinda knowing where this was going, so she wasn't too surprised when the daiyoukai said, "Your mate, Inuyasha, is probably our greatest weapon against the Obake. There is no one else on earth more capable of that emotion than her - she almost is love in its purest form, wouldn't you agree?" he finished blandly, and waited for the storm.

He wasn't disappointed.

The hanyou jumped to his feet, instantly irate and whisked his mate up behind him, holding her to his back and growling fiercely at the startled group. "You'd better not be sayin' what I think you're sayin', bastard," he trailed off ominously into snarls and growls of outrage, and Kagome clenched her fists in the back of his suikan and nuzzled up to her mate, trying to get him to calm down.

"Shhh, Inu, it's okay... I'm not going anywhere, and no one is going to throw me down into a hole with the Obake," she said soothingly, knowing immediately where his thoughts had gone. "I don't think that's what your brother has in mind, you know."

Everyone watched uneasily as the hanyou's eyes flashed red several times, and noted his almost frantic grasp on the Tessaiga's hilt. Even though he was gaining control over his demonic blood, he still, out of habit, perhaps, trusted the sword to keep him grounded.

After a few minutes of silence, Inuyasha growled low once more, pulling Kagome around in front of him, he sat back down, glaring at his brother, and almost yanking her into his lap. He continued to growl at his brother, and even included the monk and the wolf youkai that were with the group - his demon blood was seeing all the males near his mate as a threat.

It was getting more and more difficult to fight that side of him back - especially as he could feel the malignant air of the caves, and knew that whatever was down here would try to take his mate from him.

Finally, after a few more minutes of growling, he calmed down, and spoke - mostly normally. "I don't care what you think, Sesshoumaru, no matter what, you are not using my mate as living bait," he spat out, his voice still deep and jagged.

"I never suggested such, Inuyasha, however, your statement of her as 'bait', is, in reality, true - she is that just by her very nature. The Obake will be drawn to destroy her before anything else - because she poses the greatest threat to him."

Inuyasha could feel the fear that his brother's words provoked within him, and his arms tightened protectively around his mate. In that instant he knew, that if it came down to it, to protect her, he would knowingly, willingly let his demon half out.

As much as he'd always feared that side of himself, he feared losing Kagome even more - and he knew that the demon within would protect her - against everything.

Kagome nuzzled into him again, feeling the upset that his brother's words was causing the hanyou, and knowing that there was nothing more she could to to calm him - well... at least, nothing she was willing to do in front of everyone.

She blushed at the suddenly naughty thoughts that came into her mind then, and, she realized with surprise, the fear she'd felt at the thought of intimacy, the fear that she'd consciously had to fight before being able to actually involve herself in any sexual acts, was gone.

It seemed that the knowledge of Naraku's death had released that fear from within her, and she was abruptly very glad that it was so - she hadn't wanted to spend the rest of her life having to fight off those memories before being able to sleep with her mate.

However, now was not the time for those kind of thoughts, and she determinedly brushed them off. Reaching one hand up, she began to run it through his long silver locks, humming tunelessly, knowing that those things would help keep her hanyou calm.

Then, she spoke up. "Sesshoumaru, I understand what you mean when you say that he fears pure love more than anything - but you have to understand that Naraku damaged a great deal of me," she looked down sadly, staring into her own lap that was cradled by her mates, "and I don't know if I'm capable of such unrestrained love any longer. I don't... trust enough for that anymore, I don't think," she said, and her shame that that was so was evident in her voice.

Inuyasha buried his face in her hair with a scowl, inhaling her comforting scent madly. "Don't talk like that, K'gome," he muttered. "Don't give that bastard the power he wanted by letting his actions change any part of you. You're the same person you were then - only wiser now, that's all."

Kouga spoke up at that, for the first time in all this. "Sure, he's right Kagome. But anyway, I had a question," he looked at Sesshoumaru, and the daiyoukai was aware that he was trying to change the focus of the conversation. "This Obake... what is he? I've never actually heard of him, other than old hoary stories that speak of a nameless fear."

Sesshoumaru glanced at Inuyasha, still curled around his miko, and decided that the change in focus was a good thing for now. "The Obake started out as a shadow youkai - not very powerful, in other words," he said disdainfully. "But, like many youkai, he was fascinated by power, and determined to obtain more for himself. So, he began to study the arcane arts, spells, anything that would enable him to grow more powerful. After a time, he found a way to swallow other youkai and even humans with power."

"That just makes him another Naraku, then, doesn't it?" Sango asked.

"No. Naraku only swallowed the physical aspects of those he took in, meaning that he stole the body, while killing the being. The soul - what made the youkai or human who they were, went on to rest, just as if they'd been killed in any other manner. The Obake is different, in that he swallows the whole being - spirit included, and integrates them into himself."

Kouga's eyes widened, and his eyes whipped to Hakkaku, who whimpered in fear at Sesshoumaru's words. "You, you mean that really anyone who the Obake takes in is s-still alive?" the wolf youkai spit out.

"Hai. In a manner of speaking. Though they are no longer themselves, as they are completely integrated into the other beings that have been swallowed. The Obake is truly a composite creature."

Kagome's eyes narrowed thoughtfully at that, and a bit of fear set into her scent as she realized what the daiyoukai's words meant.

"So, in other words, Naraku is really a part of that thing." It wasn't a question, and Sesshoumaru had no need to answer, as she continued. "That means that if he takes in everything, he also takes in the creatures state of mind... and their fears," she said, with a peculiar emphasis, and this time, Sesshoumaru answered.

"Yes, that would also be true."

"Then that's another thing that the Obake would fear... control." She reached over to her pack, Inuyasha loosening his hold on her when he realized what she was doing. She flipped through a few of the things inside, and finally came to the notebook their contact in the future had given them, and opened it up, her hand idly caressing the pages as she thought.

"This is still useful, Inuyasha," she murmured to him, and he nodded.

"I guess it is, wench. Maybe we should re-read through it... it might give us something else we can use against him."

Miroku glanced at Kikyou, then over at Inuyasha watching as Kagome put the book away again. "Well, all of that is all well and good, but we also need to know what kind of physical attacks he's susceptible to. Since he doesn't have any of the jewel shards, I don't see why I can't just suck him up with my hand."

Kikyou's eyes widened, then narrowed thoughtfully. "That your hand still maintains its curse tells me that Kagome is correct - since his aura can no longer be detected, yet the curse is still active, means that Naraku, as himself, no longer exists - yet because the Obake swallowed him, taking him into himself, he is still, technically, alive enough to continue to power the curse in the monk's hand."

"I hadn't even thought of that," Kagome admitted sheepishly, "but you're right, Kikyou."

"But the problem with you using the curse, monk, is that it could very well destroy you before you could even use it to swallow the evil." Kikyou sighed. "He is so much more poisonous than Naraku ever was - after all, he has the poisons and darknesses of countless beings held within his form. There would be little point in sacrificing yourself so, with no perceptible gain as the outcome."

Sango nodded frantically, the thought of her monk opening his hand to certain death leaving her icy cold. "If you even think about it, Miroku..!"

He patted her hand softly, trying to comfort her. "If that is the case, then I will refrain from using my hand." Although, if it comes down to it, and there is no other way... he didn't finish that thought - it wasn't necessary. He would just do what had to be done, and not think about it. There was no point.

"Well, so what the hell have we even come up with in all this talk? The bastard is afraid of the sun, of love, and he would possibly have some of the same fears as Naraku did." Inuyasha growled agitatedly again. "Great, we know some of his weaknesses. Now... what do we do about it?"

Kagome inhaled slowly, then just as slowly let exhaled, thinking over everything, and once again pulsing her aura to make sure the Obake still had not moved. When she realized that he had not, she spoke.

"The Obake still has not moved from his spot in the deepest cavern in this system. With everything that we've talked about, I think we can be pretty sure that he won't, either. He wants us to come to him. That means that we shouldn't." Looking up, she caught Sesshoumaru's eye. "I, personally, think that we should turn around. We should head for the entrance to the caves - once the Obake realizes what we're doing, he'll probably follow."

Everyone was quiet as they took that in, then Sesshoumaru nodded. "Then we need to decide on a battle plan. Once he does begin to follow us, he will move quickly."

"Yeah, but we'll still have time even once he does." Inuyasha approved of this idea, everyone could hear the relief in his voice at the thought of taking his mate back towards the above-ground world. "I mean, he's still several days ahead of us, and we'll only widen that gap when we turn around. He probably won't realize what we're doing right at first, which buys us more time."

Kagome reached for one of his hands and squeezed it as she said, "That's true... if we're lucky, we'll have at least two days worth of time to come up with a battle-plan, and decide where to actually fight him."

Sesshoumaru thought about it for a few minutes, as everyone held their breaths. No one was averse to the idea of heading for the outside world at this point; they were all tired of the constant, eerie darkness, and the fear that the unknowns of these caverns was settling into them.

Finally, he nodded once, sharply. "Very well. We will head back towards the surface. If everyone is done resting and ready to continue...?"

The entire group practically jumped to their feet, eager to turn around and go back. Inuyasha stood up a little slower, and let his mate settle her feet onto the floor, before pulling her into his embrace, holding her tightly to him for a few seconds.

"Wench," he sighed into her hair, so softly that she barely even heard him. With a final squeeze, he let her go, and she stepped back and smiled up at him, tugging the hand she still held gently.

"C'mon, Inuyasha, let's go!" Her smile widening, she turned and grabbed her pack, slinging it over her shoulder, then started off after the rest of the group, pulling him along after her.

Keh... wench. I'm so glad we're heading out of these damn caves. I couldn't stand the thought of having to face down an enemy that I couldn't even see. And I know how much you were hating this constant, wearying darkness.

Almost as if she knew what he was thinking, She turned and looked over her shoulder at him. "I can take anything as long as you're by my side, you know. No matter who we have to face, or where we have to do it."

Kouga, having heard her words, and not using his head, loudly called out his usual brash promise, "Don't worry, Kagome, I'll protect you!"

Which is how he came to have a very angry, growling Inu in his face, clutching his throat and ready to eviscerate him. It occurred to him, then, rather belatedly, that the Inu was still dealing with his offended instincts over his inability to sequester himself and his new mate away from others for the bonding period, and that he should have kept his mouth shut.

As everyone else stopped cold at the vicious growls, and turned to stare at those who were causing the noise, they all shook their heads and actually laughed at the stupidity of the wolf prince. He just never learned.

Even Kagome had to slap herself in the forehead, before moving towards her mate and taking charge, getting him to let the wolf go, and setting about calming him down as they once again started walking.

"Kouga, you walk with your friends up there, and stay away from us for a while, hm?" it was a command, and a sheepish Kouga nodded and moved quickly away, the irate hanyou's growls following after him.

"And you, Inuyasha, stop that. Kouga's no threat to you, and you should know that by now," she said, with a gusty sigh. "Haven't we been over this a million times already?"

"Keh! Yeah, and that stupid wolf still ain't learned shit! He needs to stay away rom what isn't his!"

Kagome shook her head and rolled her eyes at her mate. "So... what? Would you prefer him to say that if we were in a battle, and you were doing something and couldn't get to me, that it's okay, he'd respect your property, and let me die instead of insulting you by protecting me?!"

Inuyasha sputtered at her as he tried to come up with something to say, and failed, and the rest of the tachi laughed.

What could he say to that?

Even Sesshoumaru found her retort amusing...

A/N: Okay... no action yet, though it's coming... and I decided to end that chapter on a slightly humorous note - I thought they needed it in the midst of all that dark, gloomy mess they are in.

Hope everyone enjoys...

Amber