InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Once Upon a Time ❯ Meetings and Partings ( Chapter 16 )

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16. Meetings and Partings  

The youkai stood before the barrier, studying it closely. He had thought that he might encounter something of the kind, but he had hoped that it would not be until he had found a suitable place for the child at his side to remain out of danger. Though the area was relatively desolate, he knew that he could not entirely trust in isolation: it seemed that just about every creature looking for that bastard Naraku was converging on this spot. It appeared that he had no option: he would have to bring the child inside the barrier and hope that he could find a safe place to leave her there.

Now, the only problem that remained was getting inside the barrier.

Still, this problem would be minor at best. It was only a matter of time until his hanyou brother and his pitiful little pack showed up to interfere. As much as they annoyed him, he would welcome their presence on this occasion. When the cat youkai from the west attempted to resurrect their demon master and move into the adjacent settled lands, he had seen the newest power of his brother’s Tetsusaiga: when the blade turned red, it could easily cut through any barrier. At this time and in this place, it seemed that they would have to become allies if he was to confront Naraku at all.

Although he could hear what sounded like a whole army pushing through the brush he made no sign. As they emerged from the tangle of brush he spoke without turning around. “You have kept me waiting.”

Inuyasha didn’t much appreciate being ignored, especially by Sesshoumaru. “Well,” he said, a hint of amusement creeping into his voice, “It looks like you’re going to have to wait a little longer.”

Sesshoumaru wasn’t used to being laughed at, even in the most oblique way. He turned around and stared in silence at the group that stood before him. The hanyou laughed in the thinning darkness. “We attack at dawn, Sesshoumaru. If you care to wait, you’re welcome to join us. If not, you can get yourself through the barrier any way you can.”

The youkai blinked. This was, he could see, not the same pathetic hanyou that had been running since childhood. This Inuyasha, regardless of the temporary handicap of a human body, was strong. Sesshoumaru inclined his head in acceptance. “I have waited this long.”

Satisfied that there would be no immediate bloodshed, Kagome looked around. Although she had expected to see Jaken there to attend his master, she was surprised to see Rin, the child she had recently treated for a bad cold, apparently asleep on the back of Sesshoumaru’s dragon youkai. “She’s still with him?”

She had not considered the youkai’s sensitive hearing. “I have not yet found a safe place in which to leave her.” His eyes narrowed fractionally. “You are human. Would you be willing to care for her while I fight?”

She shook her head. “I’d love to, but Naraku’s going to be tough--we’re all going to be needed in the fight. The best I can do is suggest that you find a hiding place close to the fighting, where she’ll be able to feel your presence even if she can’t actually see you. I think it’s the best way to keep her from wandering out onto the battlefield.”

He turned away, facing the lightening sky in the east. “I’ll consider your suggestion. As you know, I have little understanding of humans.” Was it her imagination, or did the word “humans” seem to be a simple description rather than the utter condemnation it had always been?

She was startled out of her speculations when the child, with the utter fearlessness of youth, slid down from her perch on the dragon’s back and approached Ayamae, who stood next to Kouga. Although she had seen the wolf prince before--indeed, it had been his wolves that had hunted her down in the forest near her old village--she had no fear. Sesshoumaru would protect her from any danger that might threaten. “I’m Rin. What’s your name? Are you a youkai too? You’re pretty. That fur looks soft. Sometimes people say Rin talks too much. Do you want Rin to stop?”

Ayamae blinked a few times in surprise. Although she had never been so close to a human child before, she had learned something about their endless curiosity, impossible determination, and complete lack of fear by traveling with Sango, Miroku, and Kagome. “I’m called Ayamae,” she said, plucking the blossom from her hair and handing it to Rin, “Just like this flower. You’re right: I am a youkai--one of the leaders of the northern tribe of the wolf youkai pack. This fur isn’t as soft as it looks--you can touch it if you want to.” As the girl stepped forward to stroke the silvery fur of Ayamae’s short skirt, the youkai continued, “I don’t mind if you talk. I think that if more humans and youkai talked together instead of trying to kill each other on sight we’d all be a lot happier.”

“It’s time.” The overwhelming interest in the conversation between Rin and Ayamae meant that the others had missed the sunrise and Inuyasha’s subsequent return to his normal hanyou form. Stepping up to the barrier, he drew the Tetsusaiga. Holding the sword near the barrier, he watched as the blade seemed to sense the barrier’s presence and began to glow red. “Ayamae,” he said, “Get that kid back on the dragon! We have to move fast--once this barrier goes down, Naraku will know we’re here!”

Once he could see that the child was as safe as circumstances allowed--very few creatures would be willing to take on the dragon youkai just to get at the morsel it carried--Inuyasha took aim at the barrier and swung the transformed Tetsusaiga, focusing the sword’s energy on the barrier and disrupting it. As the energy field collapsed in a wave of sparkles, the hanyou stepped forward. “Let’s go!” he yelled. “They know we’re here now--we have to get as close as we can before they come for us!”

Grabbing Kagome, the hanyou slung her to his back as he always did when they needed to move quickly. Sango, Miroku, and Shippou took to the air on the back of the transformed Kirara. Sesshoumaru levitated himself and Jaken in a cloud of luminescence, followed by Ah-Un with his young charge, easily matching the speed of the others. Kouga and Ayamae, easily the group’s fastest runners, matched their pace to the rest so that Ginta, Hakkaku, and the wolves could keep up.

Glancing around, Kagome shook her head in amazement. Never in the history of the world had there been a force assembled like this one. Still, there was no opportunity to waste time on idle speculation: they were, after all, inside Naraku’s realm and might be facing him at any moment.

Kikyou looked around in surprise: Naraku’s barrier had vanished. How, she wondered, was this possible? It had, after all, taken nearly all of her power to briefly open a portal barely large enough for her to enter. Was it possible that Naraku had lowered the barrier himself? If so, how did that fit into his ultimate plans? If Naraku didn’t in fact remove the barrier, then how was this accomplished? Had the black miko Tsubaki somehow returned to Naraku’s service? Or, she wondered, was there some other agency at work about which she knew nothing?

Increasing her pace, she moved through the early morning light, heading as directly as possible for Naraku’s presence. On way or another, she would know what was going on.

Kagura had been following Kikyou at a distance ever since she had entered the barrier. Although she seldom agreed with Naraku, she had believed him when he had told her that the resurrected miko was not to be trusted. Her attention was distracted for a few seconds by the collapse of Naraku’s barrier. What, she wondered, was Naraku playing at?

Suddenly, her quarry stopped moving. Kagura watched silently as Kikyou unslung her bow. Moving stealthily, the miko who had once used her considerable powers to heal and teach stalked her unseen prey. Using her fan to subtly redirect the light breeze, Kagura picked up the sound of voices.

Holding her fan ready, Kagura watched as Kikyou fitted an arrow to her bowstring and took aim at her target. Kagura could feel the exultation as the miko released her arrow. The decision was made in a fraction of a second. Raising her fan, she used the wind to deflect the shaft from its intended destination.

The force assembled against Naraku slowed. They were reaching what they calculated as the approximate center of the area contained within the barrier, and had not yet encountered the slightest resistance. Although none of them would be inclined to admit it, they were all growing somewhat edgy: when, they wondered, would Naraku make his move? Sesshoumaru halted his forward progress, settling to the ground without the least disturbance of the grass. “Rin,” he said, beckoning to the girl, “Stay with Ah-Un.” He indicated a large patch of dense brush nearby.

Satisfied that the child would be safe in the shrubbery, the group moved out slowly, following the scent of Naraku’s trail. The overpowering stench of their enemy numbed the sensitive noses of the youkai and hanyou in the group. As a result, none of them knew of the hidden attacker until the arrow flew from the shadows and stuck in Kagome’s right thigh.

With a yelp of pain, the girl fell to the ground, clutching at her wounded leg. “Kagome!”

Kagura nodded in satisfaction. Even though she had not entirely prevented the girl’s injury, she had been able to change what would have been an almost certainly fatal injury to a relatively minor wound that should be easily survived.

“Kagura.”

The wind youkai turned at the sound of the smooth, disdainful voice. She was not entirely surprised to see Naraku, wrapped in the white baboon skin robe he affected, watching her. He extended his right hand in her direction. “You disappoint me,” he said, squeezing his fist shut.

Kagura dropped her fan, clutching at the burning, crushing pain in her chest.

Smiling coldly, Naraku watched as the youkai he had created crumpled to the ground and lay still. “Never again,” he murmured, then turned to face the intruders who had been hunting him.

At his gesture, a young boy wearing the traditional clothing of a youkai exterminator emerged from the shadows, falling into step behind him. “It is time.”

Although he was little experienced in the intricacies of human medicine, Inuyasha knew better than to pull the arrow from Kagome’s thigh--the physical presence of the arrow might well be the only thing preventing her from bleeding to death. The hanyou carefully set her out of harm’s way near the brush that concealed Rin, her bow and quiver close to hand. Though he knew precisely where the arrow had come from, he made no mention of the fact that it was covered with Kikyou’s scent. “Don’t touch the arrow--it could be the only thing controlling the bleeding. I’ll be back as soon as we take care of this bastard.”

Despite the fact that it was only early morning, the sky darkened as a solid mass of purple-black, toxic-looking clouds appeared overhead. The mass hovered there, low enough to allow those on the ground to see Naraku clearly. He stood there just behind the boy who waited silently, unconcerned with what might happen next. In a move almost too fast to see, Naraku extracted the fragment of the Shikon no Tama from his back before throwing Kohaku’s lifeless body over the edge.

“Kirara!”

With a scream of pure feline rage, the firecat youkai leaped into the air, catching the limp body before it could hit the ground. Sango eased the motionless figure to the dry grass, making certain that her little brother was indeed dead before rising slowly to her feet.

Standing protectively over the inert body of Kohaku, Sango reached behind her head to take hold of Hiraikotsu. “Come down here and fight, you bastard!” Her voice was icy as she trembled in rage.

At that moment, an arrow glowing with a pale light flew through the air, splitting the mass of clouds that supported Naraku. The hunters turned in surprise to see Kagome, up on her left knee with her right leg sticking awkwardly out to the side, bow in hand. By using her arrow to purify Naraku’s only visible means of support, she had forced him to meet his attackers on their own ground.

Miroku grabbed at the strand of beads around his right hand, but stopped moving at a gesture from Naraku. At the hanyou’s signal, an enormous swarm of his poisonous insects rose from the shrubbery and hovered just behind him. If Miroku were to use his kazaana, he would certainly be killed, and they would be no nearer to defeating Naraku. The monk sighed in disappointment, holding his staff at the ready--perhaps he could still do a little damage of a more physical nature.

Sango raced forward, swinging her Hiraikotsu around her head before releasing the weapon. Naraku countered her attack easily by slipping forward under its path. As he perceived things, the most dangerous of his adversaries was Sesshoumaru--if he could disable the youkai, he would have won once and for all and could casually destroy the others at his leisure.

Sesshoumaru, however, was not so easily fooled. He had been around for a long time, and expected nothing resembling an honorable battle from the likes of Naraku. Leaping into the air, he slashed at Naraku with the Toukijin as he passed overhead. Naraku seemed unfazed by the loss of part of his substance, laughing at the efforts of his opponents.

At a signal from Kouga, the wolves closed in. Naraku easily disabled them with a cloud of the toxic miasma he used as the basis of his barriers. Enraged, Kouga leaped into the air, aiming a kick with his enhanced right leg directly at Naraku’s head while Ginta and Hakkaku got their comrades to safety. Unfortunately, the blow never fell: Naraku reached up with an appendage that resembled the foreleg of a mantis and swatted the wolf youkai out of the air like an insect. Kouga flew a distance through the air, landing on Sango with a sickening crunch.

Inuyasha had been watching the fighting, looking for a weakness in the other hanyou. Yelling to his companions to get back out of the way, he drew the Tetsusaiga. Watching carefully, he could see where the clouds of youki generated by Naraku collided. Aiming his sword at that point, he released the power of Tetsusaiga’s Bakuryuuha--the most powerful attack that had been forged into it at its creation. As the energy from the attack sped toward Naraku, the hanyou simply laughed and opened his robe, revealing the weapon he had hidden within: Kanna. Her mirror, though damaged, was enough to reflect the power of the Bakuryuuha directly back to its source.

Fortunately, Inuyasha had been wounded in a very similar way once before--with no time to think, he leaped to the side, managing to avoid much of the effect, though the edge of it caught him in the back. Straightening slowly, he looked around at his wounded allies. There was, he realized, only one way left to be certain that Naraku was destroyed. The fact that it would almost certainly cause his own destruction as well didn’t exactly thrill him, but there was no other choice. Looking at the others, he said, “Ayamae, get that little one away from Naraku--any way you can. The rest of you, get as far away from this spot as possible.”

Jaken sniffed disdainfully. “Speak for yourself, hanyou. Let me show you how this should be done.” Planting the staff of Heads firmly on the ground, he pointed the old man’s face at the top of the staff toward Naraku. A jet of flame emerged form the staff, only to be reflected back by Kanna’s mirror.

Inuyasha looked at the little youkai and snarled, “I mean it--get the hell out of here if you want to live through the day.”

Limping back to where Kagome waited, he handed her the Tetsusaiga. “You’ll be needing this. No matter what happens next, Tetsusaiga will protect you--even from me.”

Utterly horrified by what he was suggesting, she shook her head. “No--” she whispered.

“Look at us--this is our only chance.” He shook his head, wiping at the blood dripping into his eyes. “I may never see you again. I just wanted you to know--you were never a substitute for Kikyou.” With a feather-light touch on her cheek, he turned back to Naraku.

Those who had been traveling with him the longest instantly understood the hanyou’s plan. Ayamae raced at full speed toward Naraku, swerving at the last possible moment to grab at the small, pale figure before him as she sped past. In accordance with the wishes of the group’s leader, she kept going, followed by Kouga and the others.

Sesshoumaru, standing there in pure disbelief, turned to see Rin kneeling on the ground next to the motionless form of Kohaku. “You were to remain with Ah-Un.”

She looked up and the youkai should see that she was crying. “He was Rin’s friend. He wouldn’t hurt Rin, even when he was supposed to.”

Sesshoumaru nodded slowly. “Return to Ah-Un.” Drawing the Tenseiga that was his father’s legacy, he slashed at the inert figure. Barely a moment later, Kohaku stirred, getting shakily to his feet. Grabbing the boy, Sesshoumaru returned to his dragon with a single leap. Throwing Rin and Kohaku atop the dragon’s back, he said, “Ah-Un, protect these two.”

Turning back to the site of the battle, he watched in shock as his younger brother, weaponless, advanced on Naraku. Naraku slashed out with a clawed appendage, stabbing Inuyasha through the left arm. The young hanyou stopped moving as a sudden breeze seemed to spring up. Naraku looked suddenly uneasy as a low growling noise filled the air. Though Sesshoumaru had seen his brother’s transformation before, it had never occurred to him that that fool Inuyasha would enter that state willingly. Still, he had to admit that it was the single most likely way to defeat Naraku. Standing back behind the brush, he laid his hand on his Toukijin--each time Inuyasha transformed, the return to his normal state was more difficult: on the last occasion, it had taken both repeated attacks from the Toukijin as well as the barrier effect of the Tetsusaiga to return him to himself.

When Inuyasha looked up again, Naraku realized that there was something subtly different. Not only did he seem suddenly filled with a wild energy, but even his scent was very different than it had been: instead of the almost humanlike smell of the hanyou, he smelled much more like Sesshoumaru. Looking a bit closer, Naraku noticed that the hanyou’s claws and fangs were much more prominent than they had been, and that he now had jagged streaks of the same magenta coloring as Sesshoumaru below his eyes, which now glowed red.

Suddenly, Naraku was uncertain. Turning away, he generated a poisonous mist around himself to conceal his retreat. What he failed to realize was that the change in Inuyasha went far deeper than the obvious alterations to his appearance. In his transformed state, he felt no fear, worry, or regret. He existed only for the destruction that he could cause. Springing forward, he leaped through the toxic fumes, slashing at Naraku with his enhanced claws. Those claws sank deep, tearing at the monstrous form, leaving chunks of flesh and splatters of blood across the landscape.

Without any real awareness, the youkai Inuyasha slashed again and again, somehow sensing that the prey was his and was now only trying to escape. Slashing deeper, the claws sank into the spider-shaped scar on Naraku’s back that they had all realized was the center of the monster’s being. As the scar was torn apart, all of the pieces of Naraku’s flesh that had been writhing around trying to rejoin the “parent” mass stopped moving.

Naraku was finished.

The transformed Inuyasha looked around for another enemy to fight. The only thing he could detect within range was a human that already smelled strongly of blood. Advancing slowly on this new target, he flexed his claws, eager to feel them sinking deep into his prey.

Kagome watched the approach of the one she trusted above all others with concern rather than fear. She knew that it was possible that he would kill her, but she was more worried that he would lose all touch with his essential self and be unable to return to normal, continuing to fight until he was finally destroyed. Besides, she thought, it was entirely possible that he wouldn’t be able to touch her--she had the Tetsusaiga.

Using the sword as a crutch, she struggled to a standing position. If she was going to be killed here, it would not be on her knees. Balancing on one leg, she held the sword before her. “Come on, then. This is the only way.”

Sensing only that his intended victim had a weapon, he sprang. Acting purely on instinct, the young woman raised the blade. Unable to stop in mid-leap, the youkai impaled himself on the sword.

Releasing her grip on the sword, Kagome fell to the ground. Her stomach churned as she looked at the wound in the middle of Inuyasha’s chest. The guardian effect of the Tetsusaiga had reversed the hanyou’s transformation, leaving him bleeding and gasping for breath on the ground. Tearing a long strip of fabric from her skirt, she pressed it to the wound, trying to stop the flow of blood. After only a few seconds, he stopped breathing, the blood pooling around her hands.

“How appropriate. Right through the heart.”

Kagome looked up at the miko that resembled her so closely. She gestured at what remained of Naraku, the body of Inuyasha, and the arrow in her own leg. “This is all your doing, isn’t it? You were the one behind it all--you arranged it so that he would fight Naraku until they were both killed. Of course, you were the one who shot me--you’ve wanted me dead for a long time now.” Her voice was bitter. “Well, you have your revenge, so leave us alone!”

At the pure rage in the girl’s voice, Kikyou recoiled. There was, she suddenly realized, power here--a lot of it. Pressing a hand to her chest, she could feel the artificial life that she had possessed fading away: without her revenge to sustain her, she would return to the other world. Sinking to the dry grass, she closed her eyes for the last time.

“When last I saw her, I thought she would die soon.”

Though she turned in the direction of the voice, she couldn’t see the tall youkai: she was blinded by the tears running down her face. “Can you help me? I can’t get the sword out: I don’t want to leave him like this.”

Sesshoumaru looked at her in surprise. Suddenly, she seemed very much like Rin. “Hold him still,” he said, grasping the hilt of the Tetsusaiga. Although the barrier that his father had had built into the sword was fighting him, he could exert enough control to slide the blade from Inuyasha’s chest. Dropping the weapon on the ground next to his brother, he unsheathed his own sword. Though injured, Kagome tried to get between the youkai and Inuyasha. “Stop it! He’s already dead--there’s no point in your doing any further damage.”

He shook his head. “You underestimate me, child. Watch and learn.” Slashing at his brother’s lifeless body with the blade, he turned and walked back into the brush. “We’ll be leaving now. Perhaps,” he said, “We’ll meet once again.”

“What the hell happened?”

The shock of turning back to see the hanyou sitting up holding his head combined with blood loss from her wounded leg was simply too much. With a buzzing in her ears that had nothing to do with Naraku’s insects, Kagome slid back to the ground, unconscious.