InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Malice ❯ Turning the Tables ( Chapter 39 )

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

Chapter 39: Turning the Tables

Sango ran a hand over her forehead to wipe the sweat away, and sighed.

It had been a long running battle as they had finally managed to reach the last position before the main cavern, and they were all beginning to feel it.

Everyone save Kagome and Kikyou had some injury or other, but the two priestesses had been saved from any real contact by their position at the rear.

Obake himself definitely looked the worse for wear, but there was no sign that he was in any danger of dying yet, more's the pity. He was, however, just about in the state that they had hoped he would be in - enraged and losing his sense.

Just a few more minutes at this position, and they would begin the final retreat, hopefully leading him blindly into the first cave, and then sealing him in, preventing him from escaping.

She glanced behind her, glad to see that Kikyou and Kagome had already taken off into the main cavern - they only had to hold out a few moments more, and then they could once again retreat.

Attempting to keep the Obake off-kilter and unsettled, Inuyasha yelled out insults and imprecations at him as they fought, trading blows and barbs with equal efficiency - as did Sesshoumaru, though with much less volume.

Just then, a shout came from the cave behind them, and they disengaged - and another set of glowing hamaya arced overhead, settling straight into fleshy limbs that were quickly discarded by the Obake.

That was the signal; and once more, the group turned as one and dashed off, leaving an infuriated creature behind that no longer resembled anything any of them had ever seen.

With deadly precision, a shouted comment from Kagome lured the now almost mindless creature forward into the cavern - and Miroku slipped behind ready to ofuda the entrance as soon as the Obake slipped through.

Keeping his attention on her, and hopefully off of Miroku, Kagome yelled out, "Is the Obake, the one who nightmares are made of, actually afraid of a little bunch of humans and demons? You're nothing but a coward!"

That insult enraged him even further - it was a taunt he'd heard far too many times when he was still weak and powerless. Sneaking around in the dark had earned him that appellation of coward, and even this many centuries later, he hated that word - he could still hear the sneering tone that youkai so many years ago would use when calling him that.

Rushing blindly to judgement, he burst into the cavern in a shower of blood and rocks, actually widening the entrance to the cavern as he did so, and made straight for Kagome - not even noticing the monk behind him as the trap fell closed, and the cavern was sealed.

Miroku held his breath as the Obake blew through the entrance, falling back enough to get away from any falling debris, then his breath burst from him explosively as the creature rushed straight past him towards Kagome's voice, and he immediately plastered all the sealing sutra in his hands around the entrance.

They flared violet, then a hum of power; the cave was now sealed, and Obake trapped inside with them.

He slumped against the wall for a moment as he sighed with relief, and took the breather, then stood up, and began to circle his way back around towards his friends, meeting up with Koga about halfway back, who had waited for him so that he would not be left alone and vulnerable.

"How is everyone holding up?" he asked quickly, and Koga answered without looking away from the battle itself.

"We're all tired, but holding up well - but the next few hours are going to be the hardest. Once dawn comes, though... Obake's going to be very weakened - I think even he doesn't remember just how badly sunlight takes away his power... he's been down here too long. Now, if we can just keep him from remembering that fact.." he trailed off wryly, and Miroku nodded.

Although, now, it didn't really matter if he realized - it was too late to go back, because the rest of the caverns were sealed, Obake was stuck here, and would have no choice but to face the morning sun.

The only thing left to worry about was whether the rest of them would still be alive to see it.

Deep inside the composite consciousness that was the Obake, a part of him stirred - a deeply buried part.

The madness of the one once known as Naraku began to slowly gather power, to work it's way closer to control of the odd-feeling, yet powerful body it now found itself a part of.

More than likely, if it had never been awoken by the voice of the cause of it's obsession, it would have remained forever dormant, and even if it had been woken, it wouldn't have been able to gain control.

But because the Obake himself was losing his mental balance due to the taunting and the battle he was currently involved in, there was an opening - and all that was left that was Naraku was moving towards the light, determined to gain control...

And Kagome.

Even after all that had happened, he still wanted her. She was close, her blood was calling him, and in his madness, the obsession with tainting her, taking her and breaking her had grown stronger.

He was determined - he would have her... she would be his.

The mind that was Naraku watched the battle through Obake's eyes, biding his time - and then, when an opportunity presented itself, managed to exert enough hidden influence to get the fool to break off the fight and retreat as far as possible to ostensibly lick his wounds.

And the Obake still didn't realize his danger.

The odd thing was, neither would ever be able to defeat the other. Obake would still be able to fight back, and take control away again - just as Naraku would be able to do the same. At some point, an agreement would have to be reached, or they would spend eternity frozen; always and forever fighting themselves with no chance that one or the other would win out.

But for now...

As he scrambled away from the others, he looked over himself, curious to see the body he was now stuck in. And as he took it in, he was almost repulsed; as much of an amalgamation as he had been, this creature was even more so, and in many ways, he was hideous, with parts that were seemingly constantly in flux.

Even as he came to a halt behind some large boulders and let himself rest, he watched in revulsion as some of his limbs changed rapidly before him - sometimes looking almost human, sometimes his own spider nature appeared, and then something that appeared to be a sea creatures limb appeared.

The strange thing was that though these changes came seemingly randomly, he appeared to be in complete control of the many parts of the body, and Naraku couldn't help but to wonder just how old this body was - or at least, how old the core creature, the original Obake, was.

How long had he existed - and more importantly, how many creatures had he swallowed?

Then he put the question aside for later - already, he could feel the rage of the Obake, and it's attempts to regain control, and Naraku had no intentions of letting him do so until he'd gained what he desired - Kagome.

With that end in mind, he took quick stock of his abilities, and decided to use a small detachment of himself to spy - if he could get the chance to snatch Kagome, he would do so... but it would have to be soon.

Barely a ripple later, a small spider scurried away from the body of the Obake, and headed for the position that his most hated enemies lay in.

And as the little spider headed straight for the tachi, Naraku himself slipped along behind him, creeping just that much closer as he closed off his aura, and allowed only his human portions to come out - this way, Kagome and the others would have no idea just how close he truly was.

He was most pleased - he had never found a good use for human flesh, their lack of power something he despised, but in this instance...

For once, he found a use for the one thing he'd tried for so long to get rid of...

His human genes.

When Obake fell back and disappeared into the gloom of the cavern, he caught the group of shard hunters off-guard - one minute, he'd been in full-attack mode, blinded by rage, and the next, he'd disengaged, and disappeared.

What is he up to? Sesshoumaru wondered, as he sheathed Bakusaiga, and stepped back, straightening from the crouch he'd been in.

Inuyasha, still enraged, and with very little hold on his youkai blood at this point, verbalized his questions - loudly.

"What the fuck, you miserable excuse for a youkai?! Get back here, ya fuckin' coward!" he yelled, all ready to go on, until Kagome put a calming hand to his arm, and he finally gave a snort of the deepest disgust as he sheathed Tessaiga.

"Feh. Damn bastard!" He turned to look at his brother. "Are we just gonna let him go? We need to keep on him, not let him regenerate his strength and start healing his injuries!"

Kagome answered him. "We aren't letting him get away, Inuyasha. But we should take this chance for a breather - we've been fighting for hours with no rest, and we aren't all strong, invincible half-demons like you."

At that, snickers broke out amongst the humans, and Koga growled. Sesshoumaru merely looked on with a cocked brow.

"Keh! Fine, wench... but only a few minutes, got that? We don't need to lose our advantage - if the fucker took off, it's because we were too close to really hurting him."

Sesshoumaru nodded, his gaze going back to the direction the creature had vanished in thoughtfully as everyone else slumped tiredly and let themselves sit where they'd fallen, most desperately going for their water canteens.

Indeed... although, something seemed different just before he disengaged. As though his body was suddenly burdensome...

I wonder...

He turned back when Kagome addressed him. "Sesshoumaru? Would you like some water?"

He nodded his thanks and moved forward to take it, draining it quickly - he'd been more dehydrated than he'd thought.

But even for youkai, this many hours in battle took a toll - he was surprised that the humans in the group were holding up as well as they had.

It certainly deepened his respect for this particular group of people.

Once he'd taken the water, Kagome moved to sit down, her body immediately slouching as the weariness kicked in, and she sighed. Inuyasha was instantly next to her, sitting down and pulling her into his lap as he soothed her tired muscles with a gentle rub.

The others were pretty sure he'd dismissed their presence entirely, his youkai blood only concerned with his mate, and no one said anything to him about it, leaving the two alone in their own little world.

Even Miroku didn't have the heart - or the nerve - to tease them.

Koga was the only one that really continued watching, and he did so with no little bitterness. He didn't hate the hanyou, but he desperately envied him - the love between them was clear to see, and he had wanted that same thing with Kagome almost since he'd met her.

It was going to take a long time for his youkai blood to get over this, and find another to devote itself to.

He finally looked away, not noticing the sympathetic looks from his two friends, and drank his water down, wiping a bit of sweat away with his forearm.

Kikyou also watched, though she worried. In the middle of battle as they were, anything could happen - and she feared for them all if anything happened to Kagome - there would be nothing left of the world in the wake of his rage if anything did.

Her fear wasn't unfounded, either, as Obake had every reason to fear her more than anything else.

Even in the battle up 'til this point, it was obvious that the worst damage done to him had been at the hands of Kagome's hamaya. Even Kikyou's arrows hadn't had as much of an effect.

That made her a target, above and beyond what the rest of them were... and Kikyou knew Inuyasha was aware of this - he couldn't not be.

So how do we keep him from getting his hands on her?

Can we even keep her safe?

Naraku/Obake crept closer, just a little, and peered around the boulders he was hiding behind, eyes narrowing in anger as he watched his obsession being held by that filthy mutt - his most hated enemy.

Inuyasha had always taken everything that Naraku wanted - first Kikyou, then the jewel, and now Kagome.

The rest of it, he could do without - but Kagome would be his. He would take her with him into eternity, and break any bond she had with the hanyou - she was his, and would be for forever.

So he hissed, and growled to himself as he watched the two together, his thoughts whirling in what was left of his mind as he softly chanted broken phrases and names - and while Obake watched and listened with anger and no little amount of fear, he was unable to completely break the spider's hold on their composite body.

For the first time, ever, Obake admitted that there was something out there that he should not have swallowed.

But it was too late now, and his one fear was that the spider would do something foolish - something dangerous to them, without realizing, since he was little better than a gibbering fool in his insanity.

Odds were good that he would.

Naraku, however, didn't care - he didn't plan on living. He wanted to take his woman, and then they would die together. Anything, to keep her and that dog apart.

He watched with glee as Kagome stood up from Inuyasha's lap, and moved over to speak to Kikyou - this filled him with joy, as the elder miko was close to his position - giving him the perfect opportunity... maybe he could take both, and destroy the dog even more.

He inched his spider detachment closer and listened, giggling internally as he listened to Kikyou speak; she worried that he would get ahold of Kagome, and what would happen if he did.

Listening closely to them, he decided to strike now, while he could easily get to them - before they moved further away and closer to their companions. Moving quickly, but silently, he dashed up to their position, and before the horrified eyes of their companions, both miko faded into the darkness that suddenly swelled out of nowhere...

And then disappeared.

Kikyou and Kagome were both gone...

The world flashed red as Inuyasha let loose a feral scream, and hell came to earth in crimson and fire.

A/N: Another chapter, written and ready to go! Hopefully, this roll will keep rockin', and we'll get Malice finished this month, right?

Hope everyone enjoys!

Amber