InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Speaking Through Dreams ❯ The Beginning of the End ( Chapter 7 )

Speaking Through Dreams

 

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:

Nani: What?

Miko: Shinto (Japanese religion) priestess

Youkai: demon

Kazaana: air void or wind tunnel

Shikon no Tama: Jewel of four souls

Hiraikotsu: Flying bone

Saimyoushou: The poison insects Naraku uses

Katana: Japanese sword

Ofuda: Strips of paper inscribed with Buddhist scriptures, used by monks in exorcism or to ward away evil.

Kitsune-bi: fox fire

Fuujin no Mai: Dance of the wind blades

Houshi: a low rank of Buddhist monk; often a wandering one, with combat training

Taijiya: Demon slayer

Shikabane Mai: Dance of the dead

Kitsune: fox/fox demon

 

Chapter 7: The Beginning of the End

 

“Na-nani? What's going on?” Kagome asked in confusion. If you don't think about what just happened it won't hurt you. If you don't think about what just happened it won't hurt you.

 

“Oh Kagome-chan, we were so worried about you.” Sango cried, throwing her arms around Kagome's neck. She seemed very out of character.

 

“Yes indeed. You kept on screaming and convulsing. It was horrible; we thought you might die.” Miroku explained. “What was going through your head?”

 

“Well,” Kagome started “I was dreaming about Inuyasha again.” So much for not thinking about it *sigh*

 

`Remember, just don't concentrate on the emotion. Keep them as under control as you can.'

 

If only you could tell what's real and what isn't. For all you know you're still asleep.

 

“I dreamt that I regained my miko powers and used them and a jewel shard to revive him.” Kagome answered softly. She was shaking and her eyes were almost closed but she did not cry. “And what's worse; I didn't know I was asleep until I woke up. Everything has been so hectic and tragic lately that it's been driving me crazy; maybe literally. I'm so distraught inside that I'm having a hard time distinguishing between what's real and what isn't. And it doesn't help that everything around me has been acting weird. When my family rejected me, every fiber of my being told me that they weren't real. Then the villagers killed Kaede; their only priestess, healer, and protection against youkai. Not to mention the fact that it's been over a month and I still haven't had a human day; I not only saw Kikyo in my time, but saw everyone on the streets turn into her; when she attacked me she had no memory of ever being in my time and her soul-collectors were nowhere to be seen; on one of my trips through the well I felt time slip open up for me, but I didn't go anywhere; I thought I killed you guys as a demon in bloodlust but when I looked for your bodies they were gone; I have these prayer beads that you guys say I've had forever, but I have no memory of them myself; yesterday I fell asleep beneath a tree and woke up in a cave; the way Naraku was disappearing during the battle last night; Miroku, when you sucked Naraku into your Kazaana I saw Naraku go into it, but then he reappeared right behind you and you were poisoned; when Kouga saved my he used Inuyasha's attack, and then the way he treated me; I keep hearing these voices; I keep hearing Inuyasha and dreaming about him reviving; I keep hearing, feeling, and smelling him, but it always turns out to be someone else; I keep having this annoying pain in my neck;” Kagome paused to sniff the air “and for some reason, I can smell Naraku, even though Inuyasha never could because of his barrier!”

 

With each annoyance Kagome got louder and angrier, until at the end she was shouting; pouring out all of her frustration and anger and muting the sorrow and pain. She yelled so loud that she was blue in the face and panting for breath, while Miroku and Sango just sat there, dumbfound. They didn't know what to say; who knew Kagome was keeping so much in? She never let any of it show.

 

“So what are we going to do?”

 

Kagome didn't recognize who had said it, but pondered the question anyways.

 

“I don't know…” she admitted “I can't sense the Shikon no Tama anymore, so we can't jewel hunt like we used to. Not only that, but our list of allies is getting smaller by the day. If we don't defeat Naraku soon, we might not be able to at all.”

 

“I supposed all we can do is wait and see what happens.” Another unknown voice, but where was it coming from? It seemed to be from every direction at once. I Kagome tried to tack its source it would prove to be near impossible. But Miroku and Sango didn't seem to hear the voices; only Kagome. They did, however, hear what Kagome had said.

 

“Well,” Sango answered, “I suppose we had better go after Naraku then.”

 

“Sango is right.” Miroku continued. “Naraku has most of the Shikon no Tama in his possession. If we defeat him now while we still have a chance, then not only will our greatest opponent be gone, but we will acquire his shards and need only to hunt down the remaining few.”

 

Kagome had to admit it sounded like a good plan. Kill two birds with one stone and possibly get Shippo and Kirara back. “Ok then! Time to get Naraku, once and for all!” Kagome declared. Picking up his sent, Kagome sped off towards the east where Naraku's rancid smell was coming from, tailed closely by Miroku and Sango.

 

After an hour of running, Kagome and the others came to the outskirts of a village. The smell of miasma was everywhere. Naraku was here…somewhere. But where? By an unspoken command, the three warriors split up to search for Naraku. Kagome went left to check the perimeter of the village while Sango and Miroku searched the interior.

 

Everything was quiet. Not a soul could be seen and it was a very unsettling feeling. After half an hour of searching the village, Miroku and Sango ran into each other.

 

“Any luck Sango?”

 

“No, and there doesn't seem to be anyone here either.”

 

The pair were about to search for Kagome, when the previously light sky suddenly darkened with the approach of demons.

 

“He's here!” They said in unison, both with a mixture of anxiousness, dread, and fear in their voices.

 

Sango readied her Hiraikotsu and Miroku gripped the prayer beads for his kazaana. Neither could see the enemy but both could hear the marching sound that approached them. No, not marching, more like a unified slithering. Then, on the horizon, they saw Naraku; clad in a white baboon pelt. Then a second Naraku appeared, and a third, a fourth, a dozen, twenty, fifty, a hundred!

 

Meanwhile Kagome was similarly watching the approaching mass of baboon pelts. `Bastard! He brought an entire army of his puppets!'

 

“NARAKU YOU COWARD!! ARE YOU AFRAID TO FACE ME!! ARE YOU EVEN HERE!?!?” Kagome yelled into the approaching army. Only slightly distracted by the pain in her neck, Kagome started to run towards the approaching army.

 

“Of course I am,” came the cold reply from her left, “I just wanted your friends to have as much fun as we will. Hm hm hm hm hmm.”

 

Kagome quickly changed directions and leapt to her left, towards the sound of his voice. He was 20 feet away and right in her path. Kagome barred her claws and stuck down towards him, but he dodged to the left and her claws hit the ground, leaving a small crater. Kagome recovered just in time to avoid an oncoming tentacle by leaping up and, through an incredible display of flexibility and agility, twisted around in mid-air and used the momentum of her leap to propel herself at Naraku.

 

“Iron reaver soul stealer!” Kagome cried as she fell at Naraku. Naraku pulled the tentacle back into his body, but the action slowed his reaction to Kagome's attack and it made contact with his head. Kagome landed behind him, knowing that the only thing she hit was his pesky baboon pelt. It always gets destroyed before he gets hurt. Sure enough, when she turned around a second after landing he was still there, baboon skin shredded and discarded, but she wasn't prepared for what she saw.

 

Meanwhile, Sango and Miroku had been having troubles of their own. Plain and simple, they were outnumbered. Initially, Miroku had taken out a good quarter of them with his kazaana while Sango used her boomerang to slice through others. But before long the saimyoushou appeared, thus disabling the pair's only crippling weapon to the enemy. Now they had to fight hand-to-hand, and while a quarter of the puppets were gone, three quarters still remained; thus there were a good 750 puppets left, each one with considerable strength.

 

Sango and Miroku were fighting back to back, defending themselves and each other. The puppets would attack them in groups of no less than 10 at a time, sending a barrage of tentacles at Sango and Miroku. Sango would block them by ducking behind Hiraikotsu and Miroku behind a cross of his staff and a small barrier that he was able to produce, then the pair would retaliate, Sango throwing her boomerang, taking out 5 or 6 and defending with her spare katana, and Miroku would throw ofudas and attack with his staff, and then they would defend as ten or more puppets attacked. But for every 5 that attacked, one would sneak past their defenses and injure a leg, or an arm, or a knee or stomach or chest, or any other part of their tired bodies. And this pattern went on for an hour, while Sango's and Miroku's stamina slowly gave way, leaving even more holes in their defenses for the puppets to exploit, and getting more and more injured.

 

While this was happening, Kagome was tearing herself to pieces over what to do. Naraku had decided that he had taken the form of the prince Kagewaki long enough and gave himself a make-over; he looked and sounded exactly like Inuyasha.

 

“What's the matter Kagome? I thought you wanted to see your beloved Inuyasha again. You should be thanking me.” Naraku taunted.

 

How dare he do this to you! Insulting Inuyasha's memory like this! You won't allow it!

 

`Anger! Rage! Fury! Kill that jerk for this!'

 

Putting aside her emotions, Kagome ran the 20 feet towards Naraku.

 

“So you're going to kill me again are you?” Naraku taunted. Kagome was about to slash him, when he spoke and caused her heart to falter and her attack to miss. Naraku took the opportunity weaken her even more. Flanking her to the right, Naraku attacked.

 

“Kitsune-bi!” Naraku yelled out Shippo's attack and it hit Kagome full force. The fire itself didn't hurt her, but the fact that Naraku was using one of Shippo's attacks hit her heart like a ton of bricks and made her concentration waiver considerably.

`Come on Kagome! Don't let your sorrow get you now, not when it matters the most!'

 

It's not really him and you can still get Shippo back. He's not really Inuyasha, just remember that; not really Inuyasha.

 

Kagome leapt back from Naraku and landed right as he released a tentacle from his back. Kagome used her claws to sever the limb but was disappointed to find that he regenerated it almost immediately, and had dodged to the left to avoid getting hit by the newly re-grown limb. Where's the miasma? Doesn't he usually release it whenever his body is punctured? Kagome's thoughts were interrupted by the tentacle colliding with her side and throwing her into a building.

 

Growling, Kagome got up and ran towards Inuyasha—no! Naraku. She tried to hit his shoulder with her claws but he dodged to the left and counter-attacked by swinging his claws upwards towards her neck. Kagome did a half a back flip and, now standing on her hands, kicked at Naraku. He blocked with his right arm and slashed with his left, but Kagome pushed herself into the air just in time to avoid the attack and, positioning herself so that she was facing his back, dug her claws successfully into the back of his shoulder.

 

Naraku yelled out in pain and used the momentum of the attack he used a second ago to summersault away from Kagome before pushing backwards off his hands, causing his feet to come in contact with her stomach as she charged after him. The impact knocked Kagome back 30 feet and into another building, which was completely demolished by the impact. Where were the people?

 

Recovering quickly, Kagome sprang forward to meet Naraku's approaching claws. The two sent a barrage of slashes, punches, and kicks at each other while simultaneously dodging the other's attacks at an incredible speed, in a very DBZ-like melee.

 

Every once in a while one would land an attack that the other wasn't quite quick enough to dodge, but each time the attack did minimal damage and the recovery was quick, so that not a beat of the fight was missed. It was almost like a dance the way each punch and kick and slash was timed perfectly with the dodge. Naraku would punch, Kagome would move her head to the right to avoid it while sending an upward slash with her left hand, Naraku would use the outstretched arm from the punch to block the claw and retaliate with his foot; Kagome would leap over him where she would send a dozen punches that were met by a dozen blocks from the already turned around Naraku, and all this would take place in four seconds. This whole melee took place for an hour without any give on either party, only a loss of endurance from the length of time that the fight was taking.

 

Miroku and Sango were having a similar problem. When the last of the dolls had been defeated, Kagura decided to make her appearance, sneaking up behind the resting pair. Using her fan as a base for her powers, Kagura used her sorcery to condense the air near her into several sickles; the air was so dense and thick that it could cut through flesh, and all the light that went through it was bent and reflected as white light. All this was done at in a single second at the command of three little words, and were spoken while Sango and Miroku gathered their strength.

 

“Fuujin no Mai!” Kagura shouted from behind the resting pair. Miroku and Sango, tired and unprepared as they were, were able to avoid being hit directly by the wind blades, but couldn't help being caught up in the blast and shockwave of its impact. Getting up as quickly as they could, Sango and Miroku faced their new opponent. But as they readied their attacks Kagura sent another Fuujin no Mai at them, forcing them to jump out of the way. They aimed for the back side of a building this time, hoping to stall for time. But as soon as they landed, Kagura had sent another attack at them, this one flying into and destroying the buildings in its path, including theirs. Sango and Miroku dodged together as attack after attack flew their way, giving the tired houshi and taijiya no time to attack.

 

“We'll be killed if we keep this up houshi-sama!” Sango yelled as she and Miroku jumped out of the way of another attack that ended up destroying more buildings. By now every house, hut, and shrine within a 20 foot radius of Kagura was in ruins.

 

“I know,” huffed Miroku in response. He was running out of breath. “But we don't have any time to attack.” The two of them were thrown back by an attack that they didn't quite dodge in time, but recovered quick enough to avoid the next attack. However, now they were separated. This gave Miroku an idea.

 

“Sango!” Miroku yelled as she ran towards him “Kagura can only attack one of us at a time! If we split up…”

 

“Way ahead of ya, Houshi-sama!” Sango yelled in response. Just as Miroku had predicted, Kagura only attacked one of them…him. Miroku dodged to the right and watched as Sango's Hiraikotsu nailed Kagura in the side, effectively knocking her to the ground. Miroku and Sango charged in for the finishing blow, but at the last moment, when the pair was a meter away, Kagura yelled a command.

 

“Kanna! Now!” Kagura rolled to the side revealing Kanna, mirror fixed and ready. Desperately Miroku and Sango tried to stop their attacks, but they had too much momentum and were too close to avoid hitting the mirror, and were blown back by the force of their own attacks. But that wasn't all; Kagura summoned up some wind to blow away the dirt of the battlefield and revealed an underground cage housing all the villagers, lying on the floor unconscious.

 

Using the power of the mirror, Kanna sucked out the souls of every villager in the cage.

 

“Shikabane Mai!” Kagura cried. Tendrils of power flowed from Kagura's fan into the villagers and they immediately became animated. Kagura smashed open the bamboo top, releasing her new puppets. As they crawled out of the cage, Miroku and Sango went back to back like they had before.

 

“Remember Sango, these villagers are still alive. We mustn't harm them.” Miroku warned.

 

“I know, Houshi-sama. We need to take out Kagura. Let's try the same tactic as before; one of us distract her while the other attacks.” Sango suggested. It wasn't like they had any other plans.

 

“Ok. We split on three. One…” The villagers were out of the cage. “Two…” with their weapons ready, they started to charge blindly and wildly at Miroku and Sango. “THREE!!” Miroku and Sango split in opposite directions as the villagers' weapons crashed down on were they just were. All the villagers went after Miroku however, leaving Sango free to attack Kagura.

 

“Kagura, you die NOW!! HIRAIKOTSU!!” Sango yelled as she released her boomerang at Kagura. But right as it was about to hit her it was intercepted by a sickle-and-chain.

 

“No! Not here, not now!” Sango cried in despair.

 

Meanwhile, Kagome was dueling it out with Naraku. Somewhere in the melee they had ended up grabbing each other's hands, trying to overpower one another. Kagome was tired, bruised, cut, and bloody all over; Naraku was just sweaty and a little bruised and scratched. Sure she had hit him just as many times as he had hit her, but she didn't regenerate herself, he did. Eventually the shoving match was a stalemate and both of them leapt back away from each other.

 

“By the way, Kagome,” Naraku said with a smirk, “Shippo asks why you let him down.”

 

This caught Kagome off guard in a bad way. It broke her concentration and filled her with sadness. It was already hard enough on her to suppress her emotions and memories of her failure to battle. Being reminded of it undid everything she tried to do to forget it.

 

“Aww, what's wrong Kagome? Did I make you sad? Here, maybe this will cheer you up.” With an evil grin on his face, Naraku changed his shape yet again, into the form of Shippo. Kagome couldn't take this. She knew it wasn't really Shippo, she knew that it was just Naraku playing a trick on her, but her guilt of letting him down and her natural affections for the small kitsune stopped any and all thoughts of attacking.

 

Unfortunately for her, Naraku had no such correlations. While Kagome was trying to stop from tearing up as she relived Shippo's assimilation in her mind, Naraku formed a tentacle out of his arm. It would have been funny to see Shippo with at tentacle that was as thick as his body, but this wasn't a humorous situation. Naraku swung the tentacle at Kagome, hitting her hard in the side of the head, and sent her flying. After crashing through several buildings, Kagome landed in the clearing that was currently occupied by Miroku's and Sango's battle.

 

Kagome weakly tried to pick herself up, but fell on her hands and knees as she coughed up blood. Several ribs in her chest were broken and she could tell that she was bleeding internally. And as Kagome was gargling up blood from her lungs as she coughed, Naraku in Shippo's skin walked calmly towards her. Not a scratch was on his body and he looked perfectly refreshed; he didn't show any signs of having fought at all! How could he be that powerful? She had been going all out on him, and neither had shown any signs of being superior to the other. They had both fought for the same amount of time and they both had landed the same number of hits. And even a few seconds ago she had seen him tired, panting, and injured. Yet now it was all gone; how was he doing that!!

 

Then Kagome saw it. The Shikon no Tama, nearly completed, sitting in his forehead like a jewel. That hadn't been there before so he must had started drawing power from it only recently. And if Naraku had been an even match for Kagome before using the Shikon no Tama, now she didn't stand a chance. Desperate for some way to escape, Kagome started looking around frantically. Miroku was currently holding off some villagers, no doubt controlled by Kagura and Kanna. Sango was talking to her brother with tears in her eyes as she defended against his onslaught; probably trying to reach what was left of his shattered memory and humanity, his soul.

 

Kagome was about to call a retreat, it's not going to help anyone if they're all dead, when a sudden pulse of energy made everyone freeze in their tracks, even Naraku. The energy was strong and tainted, like a powerful curse. Kagome's instincts were screaming at her to flee, but she couldn't move her feet. That energy felt familiar. When Kagome heard a whispered `no!', she knew exactly what it was. The `no' was laced with unfathomable fear, fear so thick she could actually taste it. A fear that is beyond panicking, because you know that it will do you no good, that it is all over. The pulse beat of energy came again, stronger this time. Kagome looked where everyone (that had a soul) was looking: Miroku. His hand was outstretched in front of his face and he had a look of horror on it. His lips moved and no words came out, but everyone knew what he was saying: “No, not now! This can't be happening now!!” Another pulse beat came from his kazaana through thick, screaming silence, and a single, audible, dreadful, noise was heard from Miroku's prayer beads.

 

*CRACK!!*

 

A/N: Aren't I evil? Next is the last chapter, and it's a doozy. Yes, I know that there are still a lot of unanswered questions, but you will find out the answers to all those questions in the next two chapters (yes, two: chapter 8 and the epilogue). And just so that nothing is given away, I won't be posting a preview (seriously, if that ending isn't enough incentive to make you review, there's no way a preview will either). Hope you all have enjoyed reading the story as much as I have enjoyed writing and posting it.

 

Tyashaay14: Heh, heh, heh *evil laugh*. I am mean, aren't I. And don't worry too much about the ooc-ness of Kagome's friends rejecting her; like I said, I've got it covered (you'll find out in the epilogue, or if you look hard enough, the next [last] chapter). And also I'd like to thank you for being my one-person support team on this site; it really does mean a lot to me. I don't think I can thank you enough for sticking with my story and reviewing continually, in spite of my sometimes-absences. Thank you very much, and I hope you like my ending.

 

Ever-after: I'm glad you like it! Don't worry about the confusion (it'll make sense soon), and don't be sad that it'll be over soon; when I was making the outline for the story, I was planning on making it a one-shot (I decided that it might be a little too long for a one-shot). And yes, as you read this I am planning out/writing down ideas for things to put into a sequel. Unfortunately, it will be at least six months before it's ready since I have a Teen Titans fic that I started working on first (if you're interested, it's called “Out from the Shadow of Kronos”). But who knows? I might start posting it sooner than that…

 

hotstffdorryPR: …I'm glad you like it and appreciate my writing. It really does mean a lot to me.