InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Speaking Through Dreams ❯ A Tragic Loss ( Prologue )

Speaking Through Dreams

 

A/N There's also a dash of romance; not much though.

 

IMPORTANT A/N: Many of you will probably notice that a lot of things about my fic are ooc (out of character). I would like to say right now, that everything and I mean EVERYTHING that seems ooc or out of place is like that on purpose and for a reason. You will find out the reason in a later chapter, so don't let it stop you from liking this fic

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; that right belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. No profit is being made off of this story, so please don't sue me; I have no money.

 

Japanese Words in this Chapter:

Inu-hanyou: half demon dog

Youkai: Demon

Baka: idiot/stupid

Hiraikotsu: flying bone

Miko: Shinto(religion in Japan) priestess

Kitsune: fox/fox demon

Hakama: the pants that Inuyasha wears

Kariyinu: The “shirt” that Inuyasha wears

 

Prologue: A Tragic Loss

 

A large tentacle shot towards the girl. Clad in a green skirt and white sailor-shirt with a matching green scarf, the girl screamed as it approached her, her raven black hair sticking up on end. But at the last second the tentacle was cut in half by a large sword wielded by an inu-hanyou wearing a red fire-rat kariyinu and matching hakama.

 

“Kagome, get away from here! It's too dangerous!” yelled the inu-hanyou.

 

“No Inuyasha, I won't leave you. My arrows are our only weapon that injure him without him being able to regenerate, and besi­­­—LOOK OUT!”

 

Where the tentacle had been cut off, the youkai hiding under a white baboon skin was emitting a thick black cloud that was killing the grass, plants, insects, animals, and everything else it touched. This miasma seeped over the entire battlefield before it was stopped by Kagome's sacred arrow.

 

Shippo let out a sigh of relief when he saw Kagome purify the miasma. For a moment there he was afraid that he would loose his second family. It had been hard enough when the thunder brothers had killed his father, and he hadn't really had a loving relationship with him. Sure, he was Shippo's father and he loved him like any father would, but as a youkai who was still mourning the loss of his mate, there was never that sense of affection that he got out of Miroku, Sango, and Kagome…especially Kagome. Inuyasha too…a little. Over the three years that they had been traveling together, those four people had grown very close to Shippo's heart, and the thought of loosing one of them was more than Shippo's little kitsune heart could bear. It would be death (or seem like it anyway) for him to have to say goodbye to one of his friends, especially if it was Kagome. So needless to say, when Naraku's severed limb started spraying his deadly miasma over Inuyasha and Kagome, Shippo was passed worried and into a full-fledged panic. It had taken both Sango and Miroku to keep Shippo from jumping down to Kagome and hold him on Kirara. But at least that danger was over, for now.

 

“Inuyasha, be careful. We learned about miasma in school recently; it is an extremely dangerous and potent neuro-poison. That means that it will viciously attack your mind while it eats away at your body. Miasma is extremely deadly and still kills people in my time, and our doctors with all their modern medicine have only ever successfully cured a handful of people” warned Kagome as Inuyasha rushed towards Naraku with Tessaiga raised above his head in a somewhat offensive, but mostly reckless style.

 

“I know it's dangerous baka! What, do you think this is the first time I've battled with Naraku?” Inuyasha yelled over his shoulder. He didn't know why she was always telling him to be careful. Sure, sometimes he would rush into battle without thinking things through very well, but he was still alive wasn't he? `Feh, stupid woman' was what Inuyasha thought as he brought down Tessaiga through the middle of Naraku's head. Of course Naraku had somehow managed to get out of the baboon skin at the last second so that it was destroyed instead of him. Naraku appeared behind Inuyasha and attacked while Inuyasha was still searching for where Naraku had gone.

 

“Hiraikotsu!”

 

Sango's giant boomerang cut off Naraku's arm just as it was about to spear Inuyasha in the back, but this let out another wave of miasma before Naraku regenerated his missing limbs. Once again Kagome shot a sacred arrow into the thick cloud that threatened every living thing it touched, and once again the miasma disappeared before it could harm Inuyasha or any other of her friends.

 

“Damm it, this isn't working. Every time we hit Naraku, he lets out his miasma and regenerates himself!” yelled Inuyasha out of frustration.

 

“Calm yourself, Inuyasha. If we are to defeat Naraku, we must not let him fluster us.” stated Miroku, who had recently jumped off Kirara with Sango to help their friends.

 

“Ah, but Inuyasha is correct, there is no way to defeat me. Your little group has been chasing me for three years now and I have been exposed to all you your pitiful attacks numerous times. And yet, I have not been scathed, which is more than I can say about you.” Naraku's icy voice pierced the group's heart and caused each of them, including Inuyasha, to feel shivers run up their spines. Naraku let his words sink in before continuing to eat away at his foes confidence and heart.

 

“Sango, wasn't your entire family and village killed by me, and yet when I was right in front of you that evening, you didn't even attempt to revenge your fallen comrades. Oh wait, I remember now. It must be because it was your own brother that betrayed your family and murdered them, not me. Silly me, must have slipped my mind.” At the mention of her family's death, Sango's eyes welled up as she tried not to give Naraku the pleasure of knowing that his words and reminder of that fateful night had gotten to her. But he had, and a cold smile crept over his face as he saw her anguish.

 

“And Miroku,” Naraku moved on, “you claim that you are after me so that you don't end up in the bottom of your own crater like your father, but it was he and your grand father who knowingly and willingly passed on the curse to you. Why would you be mad at me for your father creating a cursed child? He knew how difficult your life would be, yet that didn't stop him from partaking in the same lecherous acts that you are currently trying to partake in.” These words festered in Miroku's mind while he grew steadily angrier at Naraku for insulting his father and his own conception.

 

“And Inuyasha…”

 

“That's enough Naraku! I won't stand by and watch you try to hurt my friends with your malicious words!”

 

Kagome practically screamed this as she fitted an arrow, which was glowing bright blue from all the miko energy that she was pouring into it, into her bow and shot it at Naraku. This sudden outburst caught Naraku off guard, so he didn't have time to dodge, and his smile quickly turned into a frown when the arrow pierced his chest, forming a yawning hole. His frown grew bigger when he realized that not only was his chest not regenerating, but that the hole was actually growing bigger. The wound, he realized, was covered in miko purifying energy from the arrow and was slowly eating away at his very being.

 

Ignoring the increasing pain that he felt, Naraku formed a tentacle out of his arm and shot it towards Kagome. Paralyzed by fear, Kagome could only watch as the scene unfolded before her. As the tentacle/arm speed towards her, Inuyasha jumped in front of it in an attempt to stop it and save Kagome. He was almost successful too, but at the last second the tentacle split in two. One pierced Inuyasha through the chest, went straight through it and looped around his neck to choke him while the other one dodged Inuyasha and went straight into Kagome's neck. With a smirk, Naraku pumped miasma through his arm and out the tentacle ends. Miroku and Sango (and Shippo from Kirara's back) watched in horror as Inuyasha got a face full of miasma while Kagome, with a tentacle sticking into her neck like a syringe, was no doubt being injected by the noxious vapor. They tried to move to help their dying friends, but found that they were paralyzed with fear over the gruesome scene. Shippo had covered his eyes when the tentacle rushed at Kagome and now took a peak to see if she was all right. From where he was he could see Miroku and Sango standing stone-still with expressions of horror on their faces. In front of them was Naraku with a spreading hole in his chest and his right arm extended as a tentacle that split in two. The right split was sticking through Inuyasha's chest and around his neck, simultaneously choking him and covering him in an ever growing cloud of miasma. The left half of the tentacle had Kagome on the end of it, with obvious pain showing on her face. When Kagome's eyes started to go blank and close, Shippo fainted.

 

Kagome felt jolts of electricity shooting through her nerves and at the same time she could feel her insides start to dissolve. The miasma in her body was already attacking her nervous system and organs, and if she didn't act soon she would be totally eaten away, just like the grass in the field that they had been fighting in. Slowly and painfully, Kagome closed her eyes and focused her miko powers. She tapped into the well of power that she stored in her body and, drawing from it, expelled the tentacle and miasma from her body. But the damage had already been done to her body and she could feel her strength weakening. She opened her eyes to see that Sango and Miroku had chased Naraku away and were tending to Inuyasha. Shippo was still on Kirara and was asleep. He has had a stressful day thought Kagome as Inuyasha, with the help of Sango and Miroku, was hobbling over to her. He had cuts all over his body and was covered with blood.

 

“Kagome,” Inuyasha's weak, raspy voice called to her “you're dying.”

 

“I already drove the miasma out, so you don't need to worry about me” came Kagome's equally weak voice.

 

“Don't be stupid, baka, you have the stench of death all over you. The only way you would be able to survive the wounds you have, was if you were at least a hanyou”

 

Kagome could see he was fighting back tears as Miroku and Sango put him down. He coughed hard, and it sounded like he was choking as blood came gargling from his froth-corrupted lungs. After he was done coughing and had caught his breath, Inuyasha continued.

 

“I have decided to give you my hanyou blood, so that you can live. Don't try and argue with me Kagome. I inhaled the miasma, and like you said, there is no way I can survive it”

 

“Inuyasha, I can heal you like I did to myself. Don't give up just because…” tears were running down her cheeks now as she struggled to get up so she could heal him, but was stopped by him. He felt cold and his hands were shaking as he held her down.

 

“Kagome don't be baka, you've already used up all your miko powers to get the miasma out of your own body. There is now way you would be able to heal me as well.”

 

Inuyasha's words stung Kagome's heart, not because they were harsh, they actually were unusually gentle. Those words hurt because she knew that they were true.

 

“Kagome, please let me do this one last thing for you before I die. I would rather die knowing that a part of me is helping you live, than have you die with me. Miroku, please, lie me next to Kagome.”

 

Miroku, who had been standing there watching Kagome and Inuyasha with the sadness in his heart reflected in the pool of tears in his eyes, jumped slightly at the sound of his name but nodded and complied with his dying friend's wishes.

 

Miroku put Inuyasha next to Kagome and couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He turned to Sango who was also crying, and they held each other in a tight hug to comfort one another while one of their best friends saved the other.

 

Inuyasha took his already bloody claws and made a cut in his hand. Then he did the same to Kagome and pushed their bleeding hands together so that his blood could enter her.

 

“Kagome, I-I just w-want you to kn-ow, that I l-l-love, you.”

 

“I love you too…Inuyasha”

 

Kagome said that in barely more than a whisper as Inuyasha's tears started to roll down his cheeks. After a few moments Inuyasha started to shake violently due to lack of blood. Kagome leaned over to him and kissed him, and could taste the blood on his lips.

 

As he lay next to Kagome, Inuyasha's silver hair slowly started to turn black and his ears moved down the side of his head and turned into human ears. His claws and fangs disappeared as his youkai blood left his body, leaving him a human. Kagome could feel some of her strength return thanks to the youkai blood, but she was still unable to get up, so she rolled over to give Inuyasha one last hug as he took his last raspy, gasping breath.

 

After a few minutes Kagome regained the strength to walk, and slowly started to dig a grave for the deceased inu-hanyou. While she dug in the now barren earth, Kagome's fingernails turned to claws and her ears migrated to the top of her head and turned into two dog ears that looked just like Inuyasha's, only they were the color of her raven black hair. She didn't notice this however, nor did she hear Miroku's and Sango's gasps when this transformation took place. The only thing that Kagome noticed while she dug in the ground was that Inuyasha was dead now, and he took a piece of her heart with him. That night, a rusty-looking old sword that would never transform again, stuck in the ground as a marker for the grave of its fallen master.