InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Needing It ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: Ever since that international incident with the Queen of France, I find myself losing track of time… saying things that aren't true… Inuyasha's not mine… nothing is mine! Why, sweet Kami, why?

A/N: Here we go ladies and gents! Here comes what you might call a prelude to the upcoming chapter. Do not despair if it seems confusing; just remember that I never write anything without reason. Because of that, no one should take these next words lightly. Understood?

Wrapping It Up

 

The sun rose over the land of Japan, casting its soothing light on the trees and implanting its visage against the mountains. Joyfully and indifferent, it continues on its fiery path until the west winds take it to its resting place. All along the journey it witnesses the lives of those it sustains, yet it did nothing to stop them. Its brother, the Moon, gossiped of all he saw, but the mighty disk could care less about the inferior beings chained to the ground like ants, mortal and completely useless. They were born, roamed the land aimlessly for sixty years, and died alone. Yet despite all this, they still struggle against, defying Time and Fate with each breath they took. In their useless attempts to alleviate the mediocrity of their existence they changed their surroundings, willing the world to bend to their will. Such stupidity and futile waste of energy. Highest ranked among the paradoxes were Humans, with all their superficial pettiness and unbelievable simplicity. Then there were the youkai. These magnificent, almost god-like (or close enough anyway) creatures lived much longer and seemed to be the personification of Nature with their animalistic characteristics and tendencies, to say nothing of their intelligence. However, like humans, youkai also suffer from that fatal malady that could reduce the most powerful beings the world might ever push out into nothing but sentimental fools- emotion. Such imbalances of chemicals in their bodies and minds could only bring about harm. After all, being mortal wasn't bad enough that ridiculous concepts such as love, anger, jealousy, and lust have to factor into the mix? It was almost like adding insult to injury! These thoughts preoccupied the disk as it traveled, reveling in the blatant hypocrisy and contradiction of all he could see.

Down on the mortal plane, residing in his stone castle carved into the face of a majestic mountain peak dwelled the mighty Taiyoukai of the Western Lands, the great Sesshoumaru himself. His very appearance radiated power, commanded authority, and compelled complete obedience. White tresses and the white cloth under his armor rustled as he moved from his seat to the window, his indifferent gaze tuned to the sunrise. The face that moved to the pane contained such a mask like quality that even his mother in her final days of life could not discern what the cold youkai was feeling. How ironic that the disposition of which her reputation based itself on effectively severed the possibility for any kind of bonding between mother and son! That same mask remained through the proceeding eighty-six years, unbreakable to all the changes and deaths it had witnessed, until one single event made the youkai with the soul of ice thaw out like so much slush on a hot Spring day. Rin's appearance and subsequent clamping to him, both physically and emotionally, had first seemed a burden, a tedious obstacle he could not remove or surmount. From that idea she became an indescribable itch he could not satiate no matter how much he brooded over it. After resistance came anger, rage at his weakness and inability to remove the wretched wench from his sight, until finally he accepted that his enigmatic charge had found a way past his wall of emotive repression. She was in there, steadily forming a place among the darkness and emptiness that he had accumulated over the decades. Before her, he did not smile, did not speak more than two words a week, nor did he ever pay attention to his surroundings. Before her the world had seemed like a stain under his foot, always there to slow his step just enough to be a hindrance. Before her had been emotionless, guileless, unequivocal truth, the black never mixing with the white, demons and humans, breathing and breathing. Now the world swam with gray, captured him in odd moments as it forced the great white mountain to watch the beauty and simplicity around him, and just this morning he had felt that alien sensation at the corners of his lips, an almost irresistible urge to curve upward at the antics of his human… what? His thoughts, perfectly controlled, lurched like the needle of a record player skipping forward, breaking the rhythm it was charged to maintain. It always occurred when the lord tried to classify the no-longer-young Rin. In the three years in which she had stumbled upon him healing in the forest, she had grown taller and womanly features where becoming increasingly clear to his wayward eye. It had been so easy before to see her as his charge, an unconscious obligation for her help, menial and pointless though it was. Now he found that familiar scent suddenly alluring, her movements among the flowers and trees she loved no longer seemed child-like, but held a rather blossoming grace that ensnared him more times than he cared to admit. Even her smile, at once innocent and joyous, enclosed in it subconscious promises, seductive undertones that he knew he did not see or hear, but his body would not listen. It responded to these new mannerisms with ease, until those soft and supple limbs pulsing under her yukata shining with the dew it caught as she took her morning run along the flowers seemed to call him, begged him to touch, to kiss, to… The youkai wrenched his face from the window, calling back his fleeting emotions and mastering them instantly. Now was not the time for such thoughts. The castle had become oppressive, almost claustrophobic in the way it shrank around him. In that state of mind he was reminded of a certain white-haired disgrace that for some time he had not seen or heard of for some time. At that moment strategy played out and he turned to his door, on the other side of which stood the miniscule toad Jaken.

“Jaken,” he said and before the name fully left the lord's lips the retainer had appeared before him, bowing profusely.

“What is it my lord? How may I serve you?” Sesshoumaru inwardly scorned the idolatry in his eyes but spoke anyway.

“I wish to seek out that half-breed custom and malicious Fate dictates I call brother. I trust you have information on his whereabouts?” The spike of fear in his scent and the sudden constricting of his face made him growl.

“Well, I, that is, I have been unable to locate that vile abomination for many moons now. That's not to say that I have nothing of interest,” he continued quickly as he caught his' master's eyes steeling coldly at him, the look of a murderer. “The other companions, with the exception of the strange young girl, I have found, but the hanyou,” he spat the word with disgust, “has vanished.” Satisfied with his answer, the toad was soundly surprised when his master whom he adored above all other Kami struck him with enough force to knock him off his feet. Before he could recover his lord's face appeared in his vision, obscuring the ceiling with its majesty.

“You are useless Jaken. Your stupidity drives me to find Inuyasha myself. Inform Rin of our departure, we leave immediately.” The taiyoukai turned his back in dismissal and the toad rushed to obey, his form disappearing around a corner. Sesshoumaru once again stood by the window at the sun that now gleamed two hands above the horizon.

 

~*~

 

Gods, so much blood! The mountainside was stained with it, the waterfall cascaded in crimson tears down into the lake. All around him Inuyasha could smell the stench of wolf. He had climbed the mount in order to `persuade' Kouga to give up his shards, only to find a massacre. There were bodies everywhere, each in various forms of decay and dismemberment. The coppery scent oppressed him and left him taking shallow breaths as he looked for his target. When he found him he couldn't contain his anger. Near the entrance of the Wolf Demon Tribe's cave was an enormous pile of bodies. Among them he could vaguely make out the corpses of the two other wolf youkai that traveled with the wimpy wolf. Barely sparing a second on their memory he moved on, determined to find the source of faint breathing he just heard. At the top of the pile, cocooned with the arms and torsos of his comrades laid the Wolf Prince Kouga. The soft breathing became harsh and irregular the closer the hanyou got. Hopping the hill to land in front of the seemingly sole survivor of the slaughter, he could not suppress his wince. The wolf lay incapacitated on the top of the mound, his battered body and stumping legs blending morbidly into the carnage around him. It seemed as if he had fused with his kind. Though still alive, the hanyou could already smell the scent of death creeping into his signature. Despite all this, Kouga growled a warning.

“What are you doing here, mutt,” he said, the threatening tone lost due to his sudden intake of air at the pain that rushed from his bleeding knee to his brain. Turmoil reared its head and sank its deadly fangs into his mind as it struggled to retain the dignity he had been savagely stripped of. Who cares if both his legs had been cut off and that both of his arms were broken in so many places it would take months to heal, or even that in his hallucinatory state he could just see the gremlin demons of Hell waving their chains mockingly over his ruined form? The bastard did not answer, merely looked at him with something that seemed too much like pity for the proud wolf's comfort. A snarl rose from his throat, tearing as it went, but Kouga could care less.

Inuyasha was at a loss for what to say. All the way up he had been carefully planning his speech, each word a biting remark that would send the wolf into a rage and allow him to kill the asshole easily. But in the end, by some sick twist of fate, the hanyou found he was staring down a dying Kouga. It angered him to say the least. Someone had stolen his opportunity! At the same time, however, he could not help but feel sorry for the hardheaded fool. His two shards were gone, so there was really nothing else left but to wait or leave him to die in peace. In the end Inuyasha felt himself kneel before the Prince. The snarl from before rose in volume.

“I don't want your pity!” The hanyou did not take the bait, instead unsheathing Tetsusaiga. The wolf demon watched and realization dawned in his quickly dulling eyes. For one short moment the two rivals looked into each other's eyes. Truce. The next second Kouga closed his eyes, a soft smile forming. Might as well go out with a bang. “Tell Kagome to be strong, and that I'll see her soon.” Inuyasha faltered at those words, the large fang hanging suspended over the wolf's neck. Without even realizing he felt his mouth move.

“You idiot, she never loved you.” Did his voice really sound as dead as it seemed? The smile grew as the wolf opened his eyes.

“You're right. She loved you.” The blade fell and Kouga was gone, ready to join his brothers to run among the peaks and trees of the past. Only Inuyasha was left on the mountain, sheathing his sword and walking away from the bloody exodus, the youkai's final words ringing in his ears, nothing more than a jumbled mass of sounds and lexis that his psyche refused to sort out, better content to just let it be for now. There were no other shards left. It was time. The sun was halfway through its scorching descent to the horizon when the hanyou reached the base of the mountain. Rustling through his haori, he pulled out the sacred arrow and threw it into the air. The tip shone with a pink light before flying east. Inuyasha leapt into the trees, following the beacon with all the speed he could muster, running for all he was worth, running away.

 

~*~

 

Midterms, the most dreaded event of a college freshman's life. They reared their scaly, deceptive, and frightening heads and strike so quickly that the freshman is left reeling from a blow he did not see coming. Tetsujin had said in no uncertain terms that the midterm would be an important, if not vital, portion of their final grades. The other professors who suffered the indignity of teaching these ignorant masses said much of the same, leaving Kagome with a knot in her stomach larger than Mount Fuji. She had so much to study for! And so little time! Damn Jiji to all seven hells, one after the other! It was his fault for writing so good that now she couldn't even fathom where to begin her frantic cramming session. The mountain of books and notes loomed above her; their size intimidating her frayed nerves and making her hesitate. The journal itself sat alone on her bed, looking so inviting that for a moment the woman could almost swear it was laced with a magical spell. The thought was fleeting however, as she steeled her will and dived into the work that demanded to be done.

 

~*~

 

“It's time,” she heard Naraku say. Kanna merely nodded her understanding, her mirror as blank as her heart. The sinister hanyou cackled and let his barrier tremble ever so slightly, not enough to be weakened, but enough to release his scent for any mutts to catch easily enough. `Come to me Inuyasha. Bring me my jewel and I shall reward you with glorious death!' Kanna left the room to inform Kagura of the news; oblivious to the sudden heated glances Naraku felt searing his loins at the retreating child. “Wait,” his voice said as the demon felt himself come to a decision. The girl in white stopped instantly and turned to face her father. Something had changed in his expression and she noted with indifference the tentacles that sprang from his arms and wrapped around her. Thrust flush against his body she could feel the temperature of his skin rising steadily, enveloping her in its burning grip. His clothes fell away and she felt… something that pushed through the white sheet she wore and lifted her into the air before she fell right back down. It was strange, this sensation, foreign, wrong, but she did nothing, not knowing nor caring what he was doing to her. Instead, she let the void she resided in to take her mind away, and within moments her body went limp in Naraku's embrace.

 

~*~

 

Sango sighed in frustration at their predicament. Following the trail left by Inuyasha, it had led them right to the lair of the wolf demons. The carnage they found made her skin crawl, but somehow she knew the hanyou was not involved. For one thing, there were no marks suggestive of a Kaze No Kizu attack, or even any slashes that might've been his claws. The only evidence of the hanyou on the mountain was, surprisingly, concerning the dead Kouga. His legs were severed and gashes no longer strove to heal and lay open to the sun and wind. Over his neck was a single straight line, the sweet kiss of a sword. Someone else had ended his pain. Now the entire area was saturated in blood, leaving Kirara running in circles searching for any trace of her pack-brother. Four days later the youkai had yet to catch anything and worry was setting in. Miroku, to his credit, remained as supportive as possible, assuring both lover and nekomata that he couldn't have gotten too far, but the concern behind his cheerful optimism increased as well. If they did not catch the hanyou's scent it would be much harder to track him afterwards. `This couldn't come at such an inopportune time. There are hardly any shards left.' His thoughts were halted by the triumphant growl of the nekomata. The humans mounted Kirara and headed out.

 

~*~

 

“Confound it all Inuyasha-sama! You… are… not… READY,” the flea said to the stubborn hanyou pushing through the dense underbrush of the forest the arrow had led them to.

“Bah, what do I care? I finally caught a whiff of Naraku's castle and I'll be damned if I don't seize this opportunity.”

“But it could be a trap,” Myouga said, desperately trying to deter his irate master. As usual, he was rushing into the situation like a moth to the flame. All he had was his sword, since he had yet to complete his Sight training. The hanyou showed promise in the craft, but had yet to See anything useful. “The demon Naraku is notoriously manipulative. He must have lowered his barrier on purpose. Have you forgotten how many shards you have in your possession?” Those words made him stop for mere seconds before continuing onward. The flea inhaled to argue again but was cut off by Inuyasha.

“I don't want to hear it baka ojiisan. Whether I am ready or not means nothing now. I have been given an opportunity to avenge so many unanswered wrongs, and I will not allow anyone to stop me! If you don't want to continue, then leave. I have no use for cowards in battle.” The words seemed hollow and cruel in Myouga's ears, but he knew it was the truth. He couldn't help that he was a miserable, gutless, unprincipled old fool. He had been this way for centuries. Yet now, in this crucial time of which his master, the half-breed he had served faithfully for years, needed his assistance more than ever, he could not let his lack of backbone keep him away. Not this time.

“Very well, Inuyasha-sama. I shall remain at your side,” he said, the noble and self-sacrificing tone in his mouth making him smile with bitterness. What was he getting himself into? Inuyasha threw the arrow again and followed it to where it landed, determined to set things right.

 

~*~

 

The fear was almost more than he could bear as he left the safety of the hut to face the incoming threat. The sword at his side pulsed and he found himself holding onto it like a lifeline. The forest before him rustled before a clump of trees split apart so violently it made him flinch. The culprit, an enormous purple beast with a tall gangly body and a long face resplendent with bloodstained fangs and beady black eyes, burst into the clearing straight toward him. His mind blanked over then and training took over. Taking a stance he awaited the youkai with a neutral face. Just as the great demon was three steps away from him, he unsheathed his blade and it transformed instantly.

“BATSU NO GENSOU,” he screamed at the unwanted visitor. The sword glowed with green flame before a blast of multicolored energy scorched the air and slammed into the youkai's chest. The ensuing explosion knocked the enemy back into the forest and for one shining second he thought it was over. But it was never that easy, especially for miniature guardians that protected the village of what was once the home of the Shikon No Tama and the mighty priestess Kikyou. Lifting the Byakkoken over his head Shippou waited for his opponent to show his ugly face once more. Sure enough, the youkai heeded his summons and lumbered forward for a second charge. This time the kitsune ran to meet him. `For Inuyasha!' From the entrance to her home Kaede watched, an arrow notched in her arrow ready to assist if necessary. “WANGETSU NO KITSUNE BI,” came the cry as flaming green crescents shot from steel. This second attack proved too strong and the demon succumbed to oblivion. Shippou leaned on his sword and struggled to regain a more relaxed heartbeat. That made four demons so far he had destroyed with his sword. Not too bad for a little runt, eh? He made his way back home when another scent floated to his nose, that of poison and decay. The memories that accompanied it made a cold shiver run down his back, freezing his spine as it went. The hand that held the Byakkoken trembled strongly before becoming totally still. Shippou took a deep breath to calm his nerves. There was no time to be afraid. He had made a promise, a vow to make sure that when those he loved returned there would be a village waiting for them, a place to call home. Straightening to his full height, he turned to face the new threat proudly. The woman before him merely snickered at the show of maturity and nobility whilst twirling her fan.

“My, my, my, aren't you just the cutest thing,” Kagura said, her voice heavy with sarcasm. The kitsune did not answer, his sword moving to point right at her. The snicker became a condescending chuckle and she shook her head. “No my pint-sized guardian, I did not come here to fight.” The kitsune was confused but decided to wisely keep his sword poised for attack while he spoke.

“Then why-“

“Just consider this a friendly warning. Naraku has decided to put his master plan into action. Once he possesses the Shikon Jewel he will obliterate this and every village that housed or was helped by that hanyou and his companions. You do not stand a chance against his power, so I suggest you hide from him when the time comes, just in case.”

“In case of what,” he asked, the confusion mounting as he struggled to comprehend everything that was happening. He just barely caught her scheming smile before she spoke.

“In case the mutt fails.”

 

~*~

 

The castle and the miasma that covered it glinted with malevolence as its master lay in wait, ready to reap the fruits of his plan. `The Shikon No Tama will belong to me. Let them come, and I'll rip the flesh from their bones! This ends now!'

 

I pose a challenge to all my readers. In your reviews I want you to tell me what is going to happen next. And don't give me half-baked crap; I want an honest prediction of the ending. I'm still set on how the finale plays out, but I'm curious to know what you guys and gals think of all this. Who knows? You might already know the ending! We'll just have to see won't we? And for those of you who read and don't review, it only takes two minutes, seriously! After all, how am I supposed to know you like it if no one ever says anything?

Ja ne