InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Seven Feudal Fairy Tales ❯ Sacrifice ( Chapter 39 )

Disclaimer: These characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi and other associated companies.

 

 

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Sacrifice

 

 

Cradled elegantly in the claws of the tai youkai, the seemingly innocuous box unlatched harmlessly. On a delicate hinge, its lid flipped up with easy pressure and revealed an unexpected emptiness within. Devoid of any repercussions, the demon furrowed his brow at the lack of contents before his sight raised to the elder miko before him. Greasy, boar pelt still in hand, she had been drawn from her enthusiastic demonstration on oiling his armor to the curious box he held reverently before him. Neither the lines of her face nor the silver of her hair faded as he watched her scoot closer to get a better look at the polished object.

 

“Hn,” he snorted irritably at her unaltered appearance while he thought on the instructions Oto-hime had given him when he left her palace. Finding doubt in the seductress' words before his own flawless memory, she had told him what would happen if he opened the box. Thirty-five of his years would be given to the miko to return the time she had spent on the beach. Yet as his scrutinizing sight roamed over the inquisitive, older woman, all had remained the same. Had the fallen maiden fooled him? He scowled at the idea. It seemed unlikely for she would gain nothing from this sort of pointless trickery. As spiteful as she was toward her cruel husband, such malice was not becoming of a goddess who had benevolently released him long before she was expected to.

 

“Smoke,” Kagome blurted out anxiously with a newly remembered word before hurriedly sliding away on her knees. His eyes followed her troubled look centered on the formerly uneventful box. Cool to his skin like a heavy mist, thick wisps of purple smoke spilt over the edges of the container. The weighted vapor sank in the air, ignoring the lingering pull of the gentle, sea breeze buffeted softly by the nearby rock wall. The strange haze wafted down to his exposed thighs as the youkai lord knelt, glowing eerily when it found his skin. His flesh tingled where the vaporous tendrils icily touched, cultivating a broad field of goose bumps that blanketed the demon's body in its deep chill. Soon the box was empty as the last of its smoke floated down and dissipated against him, leaving an unnatural, violet radiance on his flesh as it vanished. Afterwards even that light faded to the relative darkness of his pale skin. Mildly perplexed, he frowned as he rubbed his legs lightly with the heel of his occupied hand.

 

Concern widening his eyes, a sudden, disturbing tightness in his chest hitched Sesshoumaru's breath and he dropped the delicate box to uneasily feel for his heart. Without the need to press his hand firmly, he felt the rapid thump of the straining muscle resonating hard behind his sternum. While his touch lingered, he felt the pace of the beat increase, filling his ears with the troubling sound of its growing exertion. Then before he could react, a searing and unfathomable pain erupted from his chest, wrenching his body in its intensity as it radiated through it.

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome called out worriedly as the demon fell onto his back, his clenched muscles contracting violently in reaction. Snarls and growling curses escaped his gnashing teeth as his sharp claws left the fresh gashes he had ground into his palms to find his chest, ripping away at his flesh seeking desperately to relieve the excruciating burn tearing him apart inside. Rivulets of blood poured from the deep rakes of his nails and their red streams leaked down his glistening skin freshly soaked in beads of sweat. “Inuyasha!!”

 

The tai youkai growled viciously at the elder miko as she ventured closer in her worry, his eyes lit in vivid crimson and the once smooth stripes along his cheekbones jagged. In a low drone, his swiftly pulsating heart hummed in its ever increasing speed and his lungs seized as the already intolerable pain further spiked and swarmed his vision with white spots through the red. His claws left his ragged and torn chest to grasp futilely at his aching throat, desperately waiting for the breath that would not come.

 

Then his back arched hard as every stressed muscle of his body tightened rigidly and his lungs filled with a strange air that he had not breathed. Finally in a long, shuddering sigh, the youkai lord exhaled in a groan the purple smoke from the box that had penetrated his body earlier. The last, insidious wisp left his bloody fangs and he collapsed limply on the ground.

 

“Inuyasha!!” Kagome cried hoarsely as she scrambled hastily to his starkly motionless side, her hands fumbling over his slick flesh while she searched his distressing stillness for signs of life. Then the frigid coolness of the purple vapor found her, invading her mouth and nose as she tried to wave it away in her terror. Her frantic flailing left her without avail and she unavoidably swallowed down the relentless smoke. Its iciness coursed through her and her tanned skin soon glowed in a ghostly, violet hue. Subtle at first, a dull ache slowly built throughout her body. The older woman hunched over in her growing pain, her forehead meeting the soft side of the quiet demon. As tears welled in her eyes, she felt her flesh tighten and the long, dark hair that hung over her face shorten. Soon the strange radiance she exuded faded into paler skin and Kagome slumped over in her exhaustion. Blinking slowly as the lure of sleep overcame her, one vestige of thought remained as she reached weakly for the youkai beside her. One name lingered before the dark nothingness.

 

“Inuyasha.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The dappled light filtering through the waving palm fronds found the peaceful school girl, stirring her from her contented rest. Despite the bright insistence of the sun, she remained steadfast in her reluctance to wake. With satisfying evidence to promote her argument, she nestled herself further against the soft, comfortable warmth at her back and happily rubbed her cheek against the thick muscle of her arm that lay beneath her head. That is until she realized that both of her arms were tucked closely against her chest.

 

She rose with a start, the last remnants of sleep fleeing her blurry sight as she turned to see who exactly she had found so comfy. A surprising wave of relief flowed through her when she recognized the prone figure of the tai youkai and all of which quickly flashed to a hot blush of embarrassment as she acknowledged how little he was wearing in his revealing, silk fundoushi. Her own stark nudity slipped her mind not a moment later and her cheeks darkened vibrantly while she awkwardly tried to cover herself up with her hopelessly inadequate hands.

 

“We didn't do it, did we?” she murmured softly the first possibility that darted through her mind for their joint nudity and the even more worrisome sleeping arrangements she awoke to. “I mean, I'd feel different if we did it, wouldn't I? Something would be different and I don't feel different. Everything feels the same. And why would he want to do it with me anyway? It doesn't make any sense. I'm jumping to conclusions, obvious conclusions, but unfounded ones all the same. And I'm rambling. I need to stop. I can't stop. This isn't good.”

 

Biting her lower lip hard to keep her anxious tongue silent, Kagome unsteadily found her footing as she clumsily stood up without removing her shielding hands. Her eyes focusing solely on the apparently sleeping demon, she stepped back nervously and nearly tripped over the large, reed box at her heels.

 

“A vox?” she mumbled unintelligibly through her bitten lip as she stared at the case in bewilderment. She recognized its neatly packed contents, the white silks of the unawakened youkai lord's robes. Then her baffled gaze drifted to the remaining two cases filled with his glinting swords and his plush pelt. The last she could remember, she had been holding his belongings when he left for his journey to the sea palace. How did they end up in boxes? Why hadn't he put his clothes back on if he had returned? And just as importantly, where were her clothes? Why was she dressed only in a strange belt?

 

Shaking her head softly in her confusion, the school girl's sight rose higher yet and her formerly sealed mouth dropped open when she spied the quaint hut thatched with palm fronds and the smoldering fire pit. Where were they and why couldn't she remember how they got there?

 

Her feet finding the sudden need to explore, Kagome stepped lightly around the old, strange camp. Somewhat intrigued by the stacks of firewood and the hollowed gourds of fresh water, it was the carved, volcanic rock wall nearby that effectively caught her attention with its strikingly familiar, inscribed words. With her delicate fingers ghosting over the jagged edges of the letters, she silently mouthed the scrawled words. She had no doubt as she finished. Etched sharply into the stone was the lesson Sesshoumaru had imparted to her in their battle against The Centipede. What was it doing here? Who wrote it?

 

Anxiously, the school girl glanced back at the motionless tai youkai. He might know what happened and even if he didn't, he would know how to find out. Pausing to fetch his folded, hapi undercoat, she wrapped her indecency in the cool fabric. Careful not to wrinkle it or let its white length touch the ruining dirt of the ground, she apprehensively approached the demon lord.

 

“Sesshoumaru-sama,” she whispered quietly, nervousness wavering her hushed voice even while she accepted that there was probably no good way to rouse the often intimidating demon. “Wake up Sesshoumaru-sama.”

 

He remained deathly still despite her persistent calls. Slowly she raised her voice, gaining nerve in her loudening attempts as she drew near. Licking her dry lips in her restless unease, Kagome stooped down to gently tap his broad shoulder and her face paled in shock when her searching eyes met his shadowed chest, hidden from view by what remained of his amputated arm as he lay on his side. Caked black with dried blood, she could see the dark lines of his nails drawn chaotically across his upper body, gathered together ominously over his heart.

 

“Sesshoumaru-sama?!” she cried fearfully and she quickly bent over to push his limp body onto his back. Being heavier than he looked, the school girl grunted while she mustered her meager strength to flip the unmoving youkai lord over. Falling back, he rocked a moment in his lifelessness before stilling again. A startled gasp escaped her lips and she covered her mouth with her quaking hand at his pallid sight. Unbidden and equally inescapable, the seemingly impossible notion of his death blared its question in the forefront of her mind.

 

Falling to her knees in her desperation, Kagome felt frantically at his torn and clawed body. The coolness of his ashen skin further stole her hope while her questing fingers slipped along the deep grooves brimming with a hardened crust of blood. The worst of the horribly mangled flesh marked the center of his chest and she laid her head gently against the sticky wound. Holding her breath in her aching throat, she quietly listened for the telling beat marking his life. In her ears though, only the thundering of her own rapid pulse could be heard. Salty tears slipped down her cheeks and she stifled an impending sob behind her trembling lips. He couldn't be dead. Someone like him wasn't allowed to be. He'd frighten the death gods away just for the mere indignity of it. He couldn't be gone. He just couldn't be.

 

Then her red, glossy eyes widened at a faint sound resonating dully beneath her ear, reviving her failing hope amid her mounting despair. Weak, but undeniable, a heartbeat thumped softly within his chest. Finally catching her notice, the overlooked murmurs of youki tingled the delicate hairs of her cheek.

 

“You are heavy, miko,” a quiet, gravelly voice spoke in whisper and the school girl jerked her head up in surprise. Her shocked stare fell to the demon's tired, bloodshot gaze, the usual bright gold of his irises resembling a darker, ginger hue. Faded in his paleness, the burgundy that once shaded his lids was traded for a pair of black shadows lingering beneath his eyes as he met her brightening face.

 

“Sesshoumaru-sama!” she blubbered in relief through her fresh tears and shuddering gasps as she threw her arms around the perplexed tai youkai's neck.

 

“Miko,” he groaned under her renewed weight, reaching for her feebly, “Remove yourself now.”

 

“I'm sorry. I'm sorry,” Kagome muttered repeatedly with a shameful smile, remaining a moment longer before she withdrew at the pressing touch of his hand. “I thought that you died.”

 

“Hn,” he snorted indignantly at the ridiculous notion before unsteadily shifting onto his elbow so that he could sit up. “An unnecessary concern and one that does not need expressing.” His weakened muscles throbbed in their ache, failing him alternately while he uneasily lifted his torso from the cold ground. Success being relative, he sat weakly against the light breeze that threatened to send him back down, absently wondering at the prickles of pain that stung his flesh. He winced in annoyance as his searching hand found the gashes ripped into his chest, his reserves of stoicism thoroughly tapped in his exhaustion. To his satisfaction, the loving tendrils of youki moved against his fingers as they slowly healed his wounds, removing the hideous slashes that marred his once flawless skin. Still stained dark red, his claws felt for the encrusted rivulets of dried blood soiling his trunk, He picked away pieces of them from his smooth, unbroken skin, scowling at the chunks embedded in the fine, translucent hairs that graced his stomach.

 

“Wait,” the school girl spoke up as she nimbly rose to her feet and strolled across the worn camp. She returned momentarily with a strange gourd in her hand. Kneeling beside him, she removed the cork at the container's top and poured the clear liquid into her cupped palm. “Hold still.”

 

“This Sesshoumaru can clean himself,” the demon reminded sternly with a debilitating glare as the miko soothingly poured the cool water onto the gory mess.

 

“You know your glares are much more intimidating when you can stand up,” she remarked impertinently as she reached forward to rub away the loosening gobs of congealed blood. Sinking regret robbed her of her fleeting smile as his expression darkened dangerously at her comment. “I know how about you tell me where to pour and you clean. I think that's the best arrangement.”

 

“Indeed,” he agreed, raising a brow while wiping away the first of the freed clumps with a sweeping pass of his hand. Soon the remnants of his thrashing were gone as the last of his gaping wounds closed before the restorative touch of his demonic aura. Smooth and perfect, his chest was without a scar in remembrance of its earlier wounds.

 

“Sesshoumaru-sama,” Kagome asked hesitantly as he meticulously flicked away the black tar of blood ground beneath his nails. “What happened? I don't remember anything after you disappeared into the ocean. I know we're still at the beach, but what is this place? Why are your clothes in boxes and where are my clothes? Why is there writing on the rock wall over there and why is it the lesson you taught me in the last story? And how, how did you get so injured? I thought you were dead. I don't understand. Nothing makes any sense.”

 

The youkai lord paused in his grooming as her questions poured forth. Rolling a bit of bloody debris between his fingers while he thought, he remained silent even after she finished her lengthy rally of words. The remote hush of the rolling waves breaking on the shore filled the empty air. The school girl knelt uncomfortably in his pause, his unsettling quiet unnerving her as it furthered her belief that he knew well what had happened in the mysterious time that failed her memory.

 

“It is of no importance, miko,” he finally responded, before gesturing to the reed cases strewn across the ground. “I have need of my clothing, would you bring them closer to me.”

 

“You know what happened,” she accused heatedly, her anger flaring. “Why won't you tell me? I want to know!”

 

“It is not available for debate,” he answered resolutely in his deep voice now tinged with an edge. “And you will not persuade me otherwise. I require my clothing, will you not aid me?”

 

“You don't just get to decide what we will or will not talk about!” she countered fully enraged with her arms crossed tightly against her chest to contain her brimming fury. “I'm not a child. I lost that privilege when I came to this era and saw what the world really could be. So tell me! I have a right to know something! Anything!”

 

Sesshoumaru leaned forward, setting his hand down firmly on the ground while he scooted his feet underneath him. Slowly and shakily, he rose to an unstable crouch before gathering his taxed strength into his legs. With as much grace as he could muster, he rose to stand, his muscles complaining bitterly at his exertion. Taking short, unsteady steps, he approached the furious priestess who had risen to her feet as well, weakly hiding her overwhelming anxiety behind a set jaw and a forced scowl. The tai youkai passed her without pause, stooping tiredly beside a box, his hand seeking the neatly packed hakama pants within. After a gentle shake, they unfolded and he turned to the seemingly distant wall and the likely support it could give him as he dressed.

 

“Wait,” Kagome spoke up softly, before he could take his next hobbling step. She pivoted towards him, taking to the side that lacked a hand. Under his shortened arm she swooped, pressing her shoulders up against him while she bolstered her stance in preparation for his impending weight. A hand gripping his upper arm and the other at his waist, she patiently waited. “All right, I'm ready.”

 

“Hn,” he snorted lightly before leaning softly against her to lift his leg into his pants. The leg closest to her went in more awkwardly, but they remained upright despite it. Blushing slightly while she held them up, he deftly knotted the ties at his waist with a practiced hand.

 

“My pelt,” he requested quietly and the school girl slipped out from beneath him to pick up the deep pile of fur. Gathering it as best she could, she cradled the thick pelt securely as she brought it to him. From ivory to an eerie, light green glow, it radiated brightly before its possessor. The strange light passed to the youkai lord when he took it from her arms, laying it carefully over his shoulder. Then the glow faded and the fur curled happily around his shoulder. He felt his sapped strength replenish a little with its return and he let it fall away slightly as Kagome fetched his haori coat.

 

“I was wondering if maybe I could keep this on,” she asked meekly while she nervously fingered the lapel of the undercoat that barely clothed her. He looked over the white silk wrapped loosely around her figure with sleeves rolled to fit her shorter arms and the tails falling easily to her knees

 

“That goes without question,” he replied with a faint smirk at her renewed blush of embarrassment. “That it is more modest than your usual raiment is its own amusement.” With a resulting annoyed frown, she thrust the still folded coat toward him. Raising his brows to feign ignorance at her expected irritation, he slipped his arms smoothly into his crimson and white coat, shaking it a few times to settle it in place. His hand found the ties of his hakama pants again and he loosened the straps to tuck his coat in. It would have been wiser to put on his coat before his pants, but after having two naked women in the same day fling themselves at him in his nudity, he discovered that it was the pressing need to have his pants back on that he felt the most.

 

“Your armor next?” the school girl inquired as she hunched over the oiled, hardened leather and steel at her feet.

 

“Yes.”

 

A strained grunt escaping her lips, she hoisted the breastplate and its trailing leg guards from its place in the bottom of the box. With heavy breaths marking her labored effort, she carried it to him.

 

“It's not going to be too heavy for you, is it?” she asked innocently and received her answer in his resulting glare. However, his expression softened quickly before her blatant smirk.

 

“No,” he replied unquestionably, removing the armor easily from her laden arms. Centering the arching, spiked piece over his shoulder, Sesshoumaru tied the leather cords at his waist. Snugly fitted to him, the familiar weight felt good even as his tired muscles ached in their discontent.

 

Anticipating what was next, Kagome brought his brilliantly yellow and navy, obi sash and together they looped and tied it in its usual intricate fashion. Lastly, only his dark, tabi socks and leather boots waited to be adorned. A nearby, fallen, palm tree caught his eye and the weakened tai youkai limped to the opportunity that presented itself. Sitting on its rough surface, he pulled on his socks and slipped on his boots, fastening them securely.

 

“You have a lot of clothing,” the school girl remarked as she handed him Tokijin and the sheathed Tenseiga.

 

The demon nodded noncommittally at her observation, unwilling to deny the truth in it. Then he slipped the swords easily into their place beneath the yellow, obi sash at his waist.

 

“So what happens now?” she asked next, her hand tangled in her hair while she sorted out a knot with her nails. “You won't tell me what happened and there's nothing I can do about that, but we still need the next lines of the poem--”

 

“We have them,” he interrupted from his seat, gesturing with a clawed finger towards the disturbed earth he had wakened in. Hidden in the churned dust was a frosted plaque of ice.

 

Kagome strolled quickly over to the frozen seal, the strange worry that it might melt before they could read it fueling her eagerness. She grasped the rectangle, lifting it gingerly from its sandy place. Cool, but not quite as chillingly so as real ice, she gently held the light blue seal marbled faintly with delicate wisps of white. Inscribed on its smooth, iced surface was the star-shaped kanji for water and on its reverse waited the lines freeing them from the mysterious tale.

 

Her sight drifted to the still exhausted demon lord, his eyes closed with the welcoming comfort of sleep beckoning him to its embrace. The story was finished before she knew it had started. No Oto-hime. No gifted box. From waiting a moment on the beach to awakening next to him as he floated near death. What had really happened and why couldn't she remember any of it?

 

“Sesshoumaru-sama,” she called out when she approached him, the next portion of the poem firmly in her hand.

 

“Hn” he replied as his eyes slowly opened, revealing the black slits of his pupils framed in the dark amber of his reddened stare. Taking the proffered seal she held out, his vision fell to the writing etched sharply on it. “Bobbing along a peach floats. Sweet for bitter it is caught.”

 

“In the hands of love,” Kagome spoke next, leaning in close to see the characters. “A proud boy bursts from the pit. Growing tall and strong.”

 

“Evil ogres rob the land. To their island they retreat.”

 

“His allies are three. Dog, monkey and pheasant. Conquer beyond sea,” the tai youkai finished and the frosted plaque shattered into a rain of blue sparks. An ominous doorway opened up in the volcanic, rock wall, menacingly inviting the travelers into the darkness of its stairwell.

 

A scowl at the ready, Sesshoumaru rose unsteadily and began his pained walk to the waiting steps. Soon he disappeared into the gloom of the threshold, leaving the hesitant miko alone with her unfinished thoughts. She looked back at the wafting palm fronds and listened to the distant thunder of waves. The answer to the mystery was here, but her path as it always has been was to the future.

 

Up the dark, stone stairs she stepped.

 

 

A/N: The end of the 5th story has arrived and as some of you will attest to, I am a serious, cliffhanger sadist. Anyhoo, there is a distinct possibility that we might have another visit from our two naked boys in the hot spring for the next chapter, so if anyone has any Seven Feudal questions they'd like to pose, feel free to express them.