InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ New Journey ❯ 25 ( Chapter 25 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Kohaku had been running for about two hours when he reached the castle.
The others were hot on his heels. He drew his sword and the others followed
suite. They wanted to have their weapons in hand when they entered the dark
castle. Kohaku pushed open the doors and a little light entered the dark
hallway in which they found themselves. The instant they were all through
the door closed and plunged them into darkness once more.
"Koga, light." Inuyasha commanded. Kohaku was too busy with other things to
think of things like that. Koga nodded and conjured a ball of fire in his palm,
a trick learned at the beginning of their study. Kohaku thanked him absently
for the light and started walking down the left side of the hall. The others
shrugged and followed him. He should know where they were going. They were
preoccupied with their thoughts and battle plans when they ran smack dab into
a youkai. They had found their first battle in the black castle. The youkai
roared. It was a small lion youkai, very nimble and very dangerous. With a
howl of rage at being slowed down, Kohaku attacked it, slicing it in two
with his hands. It regrew. Inuyasha attacked it, jumping over Kohaku and
slahing downwards with his claws. Kohaku nodded in thanks and took off,
heading towards the center of the maze. He was sure that that was where Nari
would be.
*Nari*
"He's coming!" Nari exclaimed. She was so happy. She didn't even realize that
her father was behind her was behind her until he grabbed her. She quieted
instantly.
"But, the question is, will you be alive to enjoy his company?" Her eyes widened
in fear. "I won't kill you yet, but I have a little surprise for that boy when
he gets here. If he ever does." He laughed as he put Nari in a glass cage.
There were no air holes.
"You have enough air to breathe for exactly two hours. Yell or scream, that
shortens your time. Breathing quickly also shortens your time. Good luck living."
Rysuki shut the cage. Kohkau had exactly 2 hours to find Rysuki, kill him, and
open the cage. There was no chance. He chuckled to himself. 'One daughter dead,
one son-in-law, and me as the ruler of the world. Not bad.'
Nari sat in the cage and cried.
'Kohaku, please get here soon.'
*Kohaku*
"Come on!" Kohaku said impatiently. Nari was in here somehwere, and he had
recieved a renewed sense of urgency a few minutes earlier. He sped forward,
hoping that the others would follow. His anger at Nari being captured made his
speed even greater then that of Koga's, however, and none could keep up with him.
He was out of their sight in two minutes. They tried vainly to follow, but they
couldn't keep up. He was out of any range after ten minutes, so they couldn't
contact him and they had no hope of catching up. They all stood there staring
after Kohaku for a moment, then Kagome finally said:
"Should we follow him? He could get hurt in the castle!"
"We don't have a choice. We could follow him and get lost, or stay here, or go
back. Which do you want to do?" Koga asked.
"Couldn't someone follow his scent trail?" Miroku asked. "Sango or I couldn't,
but perhaps Koga or Inuyasha could? Maybe even Lady kagome?"
"I could!" Both Koga and Inuyasha said at once. They glared at each other for a
minute, the old rivalry flaring back up.
"Inuyasha should do it. Inuyasha knows Kohaku's scent better then anyone else
here with a nose that could follow him. Remember? Inuyasha was hanyou the first
time they met, so he should remember his scent." Kagura said. Koga looked
surprised.
"You don't think I could do it?!" he shouted.
"You could do it, it will just be quicker and easier if Inuyasha does it. I was
in contact with him longer, but my nose isn't as good as yours or Inuyasha's."
Kagura said calmly, kissing him on the cheek. "I have no doubt of your abilities."
Koga looked reassured.
"Then lets follow him, if you two are done." Inuyasha said impatiently. "Come on!."
He put his nose to the ground and started off in the direction that Kohaku's scent
led him.
*Nari*
"Your friends seem to think that they'll be able to keep up with that boy. I'll have
some demons waylay them before they reach here. I shall soon see the true power of
their talismen swords. Your husband shall reach here alone, just in time to see you
die. About forty minutes have already passed." Rysuki laughed.
"You won't live through this." Nari said with conviction.
"Oh, won't I? I'm like one of those roaches. Hard to kill and a terrible thing to
meet." Rysuki silently ordered three of his hardiest demons to attack Inuyasha and
his group. They wouldn't make it out.
*Kohaku*
"Nari, where are you!?" Kohaku yelled as he ran from corridor to corridor. He hadn't
run into any more demons, and he felt like he was getting closer. He had checked all
the corridors that eh had come to for doors, but his search yielded nothing. He was
going to search this corridor then try once more for Nari's mental patterns. He felt
around the walls, unablt to see his hands in the inky blackness all around him. He
passed over a stretch of wall, running his fingertips over the stone, alert to any
fissure in the stone. Nothing.... wait! What was that? Kohaku returned his fingers
to the place they had been one moment before and pressed down. There was a small
crack in the wall. His hands traveled down and his efforts reveled a small knob,
just big enough to grip. He griped the knob and turned. He stumbled into the room,
glancing around. There was nothing there. He swore. An empty room. He turned to go,
but when he looked around for the door, it seemed to have disappeared. He was quiet
for a moment, thinking, but then he looked straight up. A group of youkai were there.
"What the-?" Kohaku hadn't noticed them come in, and he was certai that they hadn't
been there before.
"Yes, that's right. You will fight these youkai while Nari suffers elsewhere in my
castle. But I am a fair man-" a man's voice echoed in the room. Kohaku jerked up
with a start. It was the voice from that day in the maze!
"Fair? You are not fair Rysuki. Or have you forgot attacking me from behind, that
day in the maze?"
"Ah, but I am. If you defeat all my youkai in this room, I will give you the door
to my room. You will be able to enter. I have also placed a time limit on this.
You have about one hour to kill them and get my door. Of course, with all the
screaming Nari is doing, i doubt she has more then a half-hours worth of air in her
crystal prison. Best be quick, my son-in-law." With that, Rysuki's voice
disappeared. The youkai took that as a signal to attack. Kohaku was pised off.
Rysuki had taken his Nari from her home and put her in a cage with little air.
He would be diatracted from the room until her air ran out and she was too late.
He put a hand to his blade and drew it. It transformed instantly. The youkai were
running straight towards him. He stood there calmly, awaiting them. The first
reached him.
"Now I shall devour you and gain power for myself as my lord Rysuki commands!"
Kohaku sized him up. It was a dog youkai, reddish brown in color. Kohaku lifted his
sword and attacked as it was about to bite him.
"Metal Chain Snake!" Kohaku's sword became a whip and he hit the dog youkai right
on the cheek, drawing blood. The dog yelped, more from shock then anything.
"That was a warning shot. Leave now." Kohaku said, his voice dangerous. The dog glared
at him.
"I will never abandon a mission this important. When that bitch of yours is dead, I'll
be able to step in as second-in-command." The dog grinned evily at Kohaku. Kohaku
became furious at the mention of Nari, thrown in so casually, so callously. The dog had
insulted his Nari. He was dead. Kohaku's eyes glowed red, and he said lowly.
"What did you call her?"
"Bitch. It's all she deserves." Just then the other youkai attacked. Kohaku's fury
rose. The youkai were preventing him from getting that dog and getting to Rysuki in
time to save Nari. He was hit, but he barely noticed.
"METAL CHAIN SNAKE!" Kohaku roared, directing his whip towards any youkai who were
near enough. The dog looked worried for a moment, but then regained its composure.
He directed a youkai forward to bite the whip. It jumped in front of the whip while
it was on the rebound, breaking it in pieces. The youkai's fangs had been stronger
then the metal was right at those places. The dog laughed while Kohaku looked,
unconcerned, at his torn whip.
"It seems that you are without a weapon now. I shall finish you off myself." The dog
jumped foreward, anticipating an easy victory. "Pity, I thought you'd be a bigger
challenge."
"So sure are you?" Kohaku asked, mentally picking up the metal pices and hurling them
at the dog.
"What?!" the dog youkai yelped at he narrowly avoided the metal balls.
"I control metal. You may break the whip, but the pieces are still metal." Kohaku
explained as he reformed his whip. "Or didn't an ignoramus dog like you know that
metal is still metal even when it's broken off of something?" Kohaku held his whip
idle at his side, his eyes flashing with anger as it simmered inside him.
"What did you say?" The dog paced around Kohaku. He watched it cautiously. The other
remaining youkai had drawn back, seeing that the dog would fight.
"I called you an ignoramus, you flea-bitten mutt-puppy." The dog gave a howl of rage
and lept to attack. The dog was right at Kohaku's throat, one bite would end it
all.........