InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ New Moon Fever ❯ The Carrier of the Shard ( Chapter 5 )

DISCLAIMER- don't own inuyasha. Happy?

Thanks for the reviews! I love writing this story….it keeps me busy and happy and feeling creative. Enjoy…

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Last time…..

The group comes upon a village that has been attacked by the carrier of the shard. They learn that 6 villagers were slaughtered, and their wounds tell Sango that the demon has very larges claws, pincers or teeth. I guess we'll find out, won't we? Inuyasha is catching up to them, but it is getting harder for him to follow, as his nose isn't quite up to it's natural abilities.

Now….

"Arigatou gozaimas, houshi-sama!" A small group of villagers bowed gratefully to the monk, their palms placed flat against each other in a sign of respect. Miroku accepted their thanks humbly, and assured them that their worries could be laid to rest once they had exterminated the youkai.

From the descriptions of the village people, the four were able to piece together an idea of what the youkai would look like- large and ferocious topped the lists of most of them. Once they had regretfully backed out of all offers to let them stay the night in the village, they set out for the other side of the mountain

In the time that they had laid the slain men and women to rest, the sun had sunk lower in the sky, pooling its orange light on the line on the horizon. Shockingly, the demon that they were after had not yet moved from the base of the cliff.

"Most likely, this youkai is weak in daylight hours," mused Sango, as they traced a path around the edge of the steep mountain rock.

"Could it have a nest at the other side?" piped up Kagome, having been left to her thoughts for a while now.

Sango was silent in thought, absently stroking Kirara's tails that hung over her shoulder. "It depends what type of demon it is, but it sounds from the villagers' accounts as if it is reptilian. It could have its eggs hidden in a cave."

The group had been trudging along for quite some time, and had not found any indication that they were getting closer. "…..Kagome-sama, are the shards any closer?"

Without warning, the sensation of the shards abruptly spiked, and Kagome shuddered in response. "..Kagome-chan?" Sango hovered over her, perplexed.

"It's just around the corner…I think….I think that it's awake."

Inuyasha stepped out of the forest, surveying the area quickly with his shining, golden eyes. In front of him was a tall cliff, nestled in trees and a blanket of grass. Even if the scents of everything around him were becoming increasingly dulled, he faintly sniffed out a youkai. This must have been where the others were heading.

A fierce grin molding over his features, he leapt lithely to the smooth rock face, careful to remain quiet as he moved over the ground.

And he smelt something different. It was Kagome, and she wasn't too far away from him. Not only her, but also Miroku, Sango and the two little ones. He almost chuckled, imagining the surprise on their faces when he would pop out and blow the demon into bits with his attacks. He was definitely in the mood for one last fight before he was helpless for the night.

From behind them he could hear them discussing the situation amongst themselves in frantic tones.

"There it is- the cave! It must be inside there. I sense its jyaki much clearer from here. Sango, should we drive it out, or assault it inside its home?"

Sango pursed her lips for a moment then nodded with deliberation. "Kagome-chan, do you have your `matches' with you?"

Kagome nodded quickly, and without ado, dug out a matchbook from her giant yellow backpack. Taking the book from her friend, Sango stealthily made her way to the edge of the cave, motioning for the others to follow her. The two complied, crouching down and moving as quietly as possible beside the entrance. Sango instructed them to tie strips of cloth, also from Kagome's bottomless bag, around their noses and mouths. She then handed each a flat, woven fan, motioning silently for them to blow the fire's smoke directly into the cave. Miroku and Kagome nodded in understanding.

Expertly, the demon exterminator crouched down, pulling up enough grass and dead branches to create a small blaze. She left the work of lighting the matched to Kagome. Sango never could quite get the hang of rubbing the ends of two surfaces to create the fire, and always ended up singing the skin of her fingers.

At her signal, Kagome swiftly lit a match, it's flame momentarily wavering in the sharp breeze. She tossed it onto the bed of kindling. Sango blew lightly on the ember among the grass, coaxing the fire to burn brighter. Within a short time, they had a fire crackling at the entrance to the cave. Sango produced a packet of silvery powder from her belt, and sprinkled it liberally within the flames.

The wind created by the three pumping fans caused the sweet-smelling fog to rush into the open cave.

Inuyasha took a long, deep breath of the substance they were pushing into the demon's lair. He immediately coughed and spluttered, his ears drooping in confusion. While the smoke wasn't very strong, it certainly irritated his senses. Maybe if he had been up to his full strength, it might have disabled him a bit more.

He covered his sensitive nose with the sleeve of his fire-rat armor, and crept closer to the fire. He could now see them clearly from behind the rock face.

After a few minutes of blowing the sweet smoke into the cave, the group heard a rumbling from deep inside the hollows of the mountain.

"….should we keep on blowing it in, or wait for it to come to us?" Miroku paused for a moment to wipe his brow, his voice muffled by the cloth that was tied loosely over his mouth.

Sango also stopped fanning. "I think it's going to come to us any moment. Leave the fire burning, and let us get prepared for it."

The group positioned themselves farther away from the entrance. One by one, they brandished their weapons, a quivering and apprehensive silence falling over them. Although fights against shard-carrying youkai were their specialty, each time they faced a different fear of the unknown.

Accompanied by gurgled roars, and the scraping of rocks, in time a huge specimen wedged its way out of the cave, looking more than slightly annoyed by the smell surrounding it. It reared its ugly head in a deafening roar, causing Shippo to clutch his kitsune ears in distress.

The appeared demon was, like the village woman had described, dragon-like. Its body was long and bulky, with a slithering tail protruding from its spine, which thudded and rolled around in the dirt. Neither the tail, nor any part of its body, had scales, but it had thick, sharp spikes at the end. The deadly-looking barbs matched those that sprung from the tips of the demon's toes.

In the art of practiced confident, Sango leapt in front of the demon, whirling her Hiraikotsu with a hunter's grace. She was lit by the glowing twilight, a fierce look adorning her brow. The demon barred long, piercing fangs at the exterminator, practically putting its face eye-to-eye with the girl. Sango stared down the glowing crimson eyes, not budging from her stance.

Inuyasha looked on at the growing conflict, wondering when would be the best time to jump in to be the hero. The fight began swiftly, and he was having a tough time finding the right moment to save their asses.

With once quick swoop, the demon swung its claws directly at Sango, who whipped out the bone boomerang, using it as a shield to block the massive blows. Spurred by the attack, Miroku and Kagome revealed their hiding place behind a tree, and joined in the fray. Snatching an ofuda from the billowing sleeves of his robes, Miroku flung it onto the demon's forehead, testing its reaction.

The youkai howled with indignance, but continued to slash at its prey, the gigantic claws slamming into the ground, making canyons in the hardened dirt. Sango managed to dodge a swinging claw, and clipped off one of its tail-spikes with the boomerang. This caused another bellow to issue from the demon's mouth, and it became even more enraged.

Kagome stepped closer to the demon, trying not to be noticed as she latched an arrow into her fingers. The wood of the bow creaked as she pulled back the string, shakily aiming the arrow. Shippo clung to her ankles, gently encouraging her to make the hit. She raised the bow, her eyes meeting the forehead of the creature, where she could faintly see the glimmer of its Shikon shard.

As she was preparing to loose her miko's arrow on the demon, it shoved its tail violently across the ground, first traveling to slam Sango into the ground, then back-lashing to disrupt Kagome's aim. The schoolgirl, along with her kitsune friend, was thrown back a couple of paces by the blow, but she only retained a large bruise where the end of the tail had struck her.

Sango, on the other hand, had taken the entire blow, and a spike had lodged itself in the side of her leg, and then had pulled out when the tail had moved away. She cried out in pain, clutching the bleeding mass that was her leg. She fell to the ground, curling around her wounded limb. Kirara rushed to her mistress, pulling her to safety.

"SANGO!" Miroku's face was drained in horror as he watched the beautiful woman fall. As he saw her lay up against a tree trunk, he knew she was alive, but not faring well.

Miroku was now the only one left standing. He yelled soundly at the youkai, twirling his ringed staff in a menacing way. "I'll get that shard from you. If you don't want a taste of my kazaana, you'll hand it over!" A bead of sweat ran from his forehead, as his brow furrowed in anger.

The demon seemed to not understand a word that the monk had said, and roared again, advancing on the small figure.

"Kagome-sama! Are you ok? Onegai- where is the shard?"

Kagome sat up slowly, her head spinning a little. "I'm fine!The shard is in its forehead….but how will you-"

This was the moment that the hanyou picked to jump into the fight. Unsheathing his Tetsusaiga, and relishing in the clean noise of metal against metal that it made when it transformed, he leapt out to face the demon.

Kagome's body lurched, as she watched Inuyasha rest the Tetsusaiga on his shoulder, his usual cocky grin plastering his mouth. "Inuyasha! NO! BAKA! It's almost…." She glanced at the sky, which was rapidly darkening. In a few moments the sun would set, and Inuyasha would be human. He was lucky that the sword had even transformed for him this time.

Miroku spluttered in surprise and anger. "Inuyasha! You fool! Stay back- we can deal with the youkai on our own."

Inuyasha turned to the monk in mock disgust, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Heh! Bouzu- you've got two wounded, and your wind tunnel can't suck up a shard. Stop bitchin' and let me finish this small fish off!"

He lowered the Tetsusaiga to his waist, prepared to send his Kaze no Kizu at the startled demon. As he began his trademark jump in the air, a sudden fluctuation of his youki burgeoned around his muscular figure. Before he could smash the demon, the sword had pulled back into its normal, rusty form, and Inuyasha was rapidly losing his hanyou features. Black spread throughout his hair, his claws shrunk to human fingernails, and his ears disappeared, shifting under his hair and losing their canine appearance. His eyes were no longer their normal, flashing gold, but had morphed into a soft violet-gray.

Kagome, Shippo and Miroku let out one collective gasp, as the demon now looked on at a human with his rusty, beaten-up katana waving in the air like a child's plaything. A gurgling chuckle, which sounded much like its roar, spilled from its throat. Not even patient enough to wait for Inuyasha to regain his balance, he slammed the boy into the side of the cliff with the flat side of one of his claws.

"INUYASHAAA!" Kagome desperately fumbled for an arrow as she grabbed her bow. As quickly as she could muster, she sent an arrow towards its head. The purifying arrow grazed the youkai's cheek, but barely even distracted it. Shaking off the pain the arrow gave, it blundered towards the fallen Inuyasha, moving in for the kill. It raised its clawed fingers, and with utmost speed rammed the spiked into the pile of rubble and rock.

"NOOO!" Kagome wailed at the fallen figure, and Miroku stood in stunned abhorrence. When the dust cleared, the two looked on in shock. The demon giggled in a frightening way, grinding the edge of its claw deeper into Inuyasha's stomach. A holler of pure and anguished pain was driven from Inuyasha's lips, as he struggled to fight the clawed appendage off.

Unable to stand the wail of her companion, Kagome stood upright, notching her last arrow onto the bow. Shaking with fear, anger and grief, the miko screamed at the youkai, shrieked on and on, louder and louder, till it turned to her. With no hesitation, Kagome let loose the arrow straight into the shard on the youkai's forehead.

When the purifying arrow struck, the demon howled, and pulled its claw from the hold of Inuyasha's abdomen. With the force from the hit, the shard was flung from its forehead. Seeing it falling, Miroku dived for the shard. Before the demon could turn on him, he had released his wind tunnel, and, with one last bellow, the demon was sucked into the black hole of the monk's hand.

As soon as the youkai had vanished into Miroku's hand, and the wind tunnel was sealed, Kagome was sprinting to Inuyasha. She threw herself at his side, tears threatening to burst from her eyes. He laid flat in the midst of fallen rock, sweat and blood everywhere on his body. He was cringing, his face glistening, his eyes almost glazed over with the full effect of the pain.

She cried out as she saw the deep wound in his stomach. It looked as deadly as the wound his brother had given to him almost a year's time before, when he had thrust his poison-clawed hand through Inuyasha's stomach. But, Inuyasha had not been human that time.

Kagome's hands hovered helplessly over the gaping wound, trying to find a way to stop the bleeding without damaging Inuyasha more. Having rolled off the ground, Miroku was quickly beside Kagome, a grim look covering his face. "Kagome-sama," he whispered, noticing her frantic motions. "Calm down. We need to remove his kimono to see the wound. Let's do it together…carefully, now…."

She nodded, shakily, reaching out to touch the hem of the kimono. The entire front was soaked in dark blood. Shivering, Miroku assisted her in peeling the garment from Inuyasha's torso. He grunted and moaned in pain as the now-red undershirt was also removed. When the cloth was pulled away from his body, they could see the blood and tissue gaping from the ripped skin, and one or two ribs far below. Kagome had to struggle with herself not to look away from Inuyasha.

Retrieving her medical supplies kit from her bag, she nervously told Shippo to go to Sango, and to wrap her wound to arrest the bleeding. Shippo nodded, silently. Miroku watched him go, his face grim at the sight of the wounded Sango. A pained scream from Inuyasha made him turn his head back to their current task. Kagome was trying to clean the edges of the wound, but the writhing movements of Inuyasha were giving her a hard time.

"I….he's not a hanyou….I don't want to….kill him…" She sobbed frantically, delicately moving around the ripped flesh to dab as much blood as possible with her antiseptic-laden handkerchief. "We have to take him back to the village."

Miroku nodded in quick agreement. After motioning to Kirara, he placed a comforting hand upon Kagome's shoulder, his eyes overflowing with kindness. "You have done the best you can Kagome. Let's get him to a doctor."

Kirara moved carefully to Inuyasha, Sango already laid across her back. The cat demon knelt on the ground to give them easier access. With a great heave, Miroku and Kagome lifted the limp Inuyasha in their arms, placing him softly in front of Sango.

"Take them to the village, Kirara. We'll get there as fast as we can." The cat gave a short growl to indicate her understanding, and moved swiftly out of the clearing, remaining careful not to jar the two injured fighters.

Kagome stood still for a few seconds, watching them leave, tears still running down her face. If Inuyasha could make it through the night, he would live. But in his current state…could he?

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Hope you liked the action, the gore and the wildly flying emotions. I tried to make this chapter longer than the others. I think I succeeded. Enjoy, and R&R like always! Thanks for the comments! If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know.

-Sadia