InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Chosen ❯ A Test of Power ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha and Group. Shadow, Death Strike, Faele, etc. are mine.

 

Italics = thinking

“….” = talking out loud

*….* = telepathic speech

 

Chapter 2: A Test of Power

 

The dawn found the group sleeping peacefully in Kaeda's hut. Even the mighty Sesshomaru was sleeping like baby; thanks to a certain sleeping drug placed in the food by a set of mischievous twins. In one corner of the hut, as near to the door as possible, Shadow and Death Strike sat side by side, muffling giggles as they surveyed the scene before them. They had slept very little the night before, deciding it was much more fun `adjusting' their new friends' sleeping positions than actually resting themselves. Shadow took one last glance at their handy work before deciding that they would indeed leave Grandmother Kaeda out of their fun. Her eyes glanced over InuYasha and Kagome in the opposite corner of the room and again she smiled.

 

*They look so cute together…* sighed Death Strike through the telepathic link between herself and Shadow.

 

*Yes, it was a good choice to pair her with him for this game. We will have to make sure they end up together in the end, wouldn't you agree, sister?* Shadow raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her sister before getting to her feet and stretching.

 

*Agreed, he would be perfect for the upcoming ceremony…after all, they are already in love with each other.* Death Strike paused a moment to stare at her cousin, *Although they go to great lengths to hide their feelings from each other…* the neko sighed in confusion as she shrugged, looking back to her sister. *Suggestions on how to play matchmaker without being obvious?*

 

*I'll come up with something…don't I always?* Death Strike forced down another giggle at her sister's slightly haughty comment, but then Shadow continued. *Sister, we should go now. The sun is up and they will be waking soon. We have things to do and Faele yet to meet.*

 

*But I wanted to see their reactions when they woke up!* whined Death Strike, turning her best puppy pout on her sister, as the two snuck past a sleeping Sango and out into the cool early morning air.

 

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Kirara was the first of the group to wake. The neko awoke to Sango crushing the little fire cat to her chest, like a child holding its favorite stuffed toy, as she slept on her side. Meowing softly, Kirara gently woke her mistress, who yawned and released the cat. However, when Sango tried to rise she found a strong arm wrapped securely around her waist and a warm body pressed up against her back. Eyes wide, she glanced over her shoulder at Miroku, still asleep, but smiling very happily. Gasping, she leapt from his arms, her scream of `HENTAI!' and the following resounding SCHMAKKKKK! waking the rest of their companions. Miroku reacted the fastest, since he was the one so rudely awakened from a wonderful dream by a burning cheek.

 

“What'd I do?” he managed to gasp before a rather loud growl drew their attention.

 

Sesshomaru was leaning against the far wall, a still sleepy Koga practically curled up in his lap. Sango slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at the sight of them. Koga, only partially awake, had one hand fisted in the fur of Sesshomaru's tail, his head on the taiyoukai's shoulder and up until moments before, a sleeping Sesshomaru had been idly caressing the wolf's side affectionately. Now, as both woke fully, they sprung apart with vicious growls.

 

“And just what do you think you were doing, wolf?” hissed an enraged Sesshomaru.

 

“Me?! You're the one that was petting me!” Koga spat back at him.

 

Both males continued to growl at each other until a small giggle made them round on the source of the sound. Now they were dumbfounded as they saw Kagome, snuggled into InuYasha's lap, laughing at them. InuYasha, on the other hand, was pressed against the wall, trying to act as though he wasn't touching the woman sitting on him. Shippo, who had been awake since the twins had snuck out, knew better. Only minutes before the entire ruckus, Kagome had been sound asleep with her head against InuYasha's chest, her tail curled around his waist like a lifeline. InuYasha in turn had had one arm around her waist and his chin pillowed between her velvety soft ears. Shippo had simply cuddled comfortably into Kagome's warm lap.

 

“What the hell is so damn funny, wench?” Sesshomaru snapped at the still laughing girl.

 

“N..N..Nothing, Lord Sesshomaru,” Kagome struggled to get her giggles under control but failed, instead sprawling on the floor clutching her sides, laughing harder.

 

Koga was hard pressed to not laugh himself, seeing Kagome laughing so hard. Well, I guess it's not all that bad...he thought to himself as he scratched his head, confused as to how he and Sesshomaru had ended up like that. He was still thinking about it when InuYasha released himself from Kagome's tail and looked around.

 

“Where the hell did those two girls run off to?” He demanded angrily when he noticed that they were missing.

 

“I don't know. I don't think they would go far without saying something,” said Kagome as she too noticed them gone.

 

“They left shortly after sunrise,” muttered Shippo through a yawn before quickly dodging InuYasha's lunge at him. He scampered onto Kagome's shoulder and cowered away from the inu-hanyou.

 

“Why didn't you wake someone?” InuYasha growled at him.

 

“Well, I tried! But I couldn't wake anyone up!” the kitsune pouted for a moment before perking up, “But I know where they went! I followed them when they left.”

 

“Where'd they go, Shippo?” asked Kagome, pondering why he hadn't been able to wake anyone up. Guess we all must have been more tired than we thought.

 

“They went to the Goshinboku! There was another girl waiting there for them….she kind of smelled like that bird…” Shippo trailed off, trying to remember the bird's name.

 

Kaeda, who had been awake through all of this, finally spoke up. “Perhaps, ye should have some breakfast and then go find them.” Slowly, the old woman started getting things around to make the morning meal, Sango and Kagome quickly moved to help her. Shortly thereafter, after having eaten at Kaeda's insistence, they set out for the Goshinboku.

 

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InuYasha and Kagome were the first to arrive in the clearing around the great God Tree. She gasped at the sight of her cousins as the rest of their companions gathered behind them. Growling loudly, the two sisters faced off before the group, their claws poised, and fangs bared. Behind Shadow, an elegant sword was buried in the ground, while off to Death Strike's right a set of daggers lay impaled, almost to the hilt, in a nearby tree.

 

“Why are they fighting?” whispered Kagome, a tear sliding down her cheek in confusion.

 

“They aren't fighting in the way you think, miko,” stated Sesshomaru as he pushed himself from the back of the group to stand beside her, “They are only sparring from the looks of it; else they would be covered in blood.”

 

His simple statement almost made Shadow chuckle as she and Death Strike glanced at the group from the corners of their eyes.

 

*Seems we have an audience,* Shadow said softly, feeling the sweat trickle down her brow. *Perhaps we should finish this and move on to more important matters?*

 

*Ha! You just want to quit because I'm winning!* came Death Strikes haughty reply.

 

The others didn't hear the girls' bantering; only saw as they suddenly lunged for their weapons before coming together with the violent sound of metal against metal. Death Strike twisted her lower blade swiftly, catching Shadow off guard and managing to toss the girl's sword high into the air. Death Strike chuckled, feeling sure she was going to win this bout, when suddenly her sister sprang backwards and leapt into the air. Kagome sighed in awe, the neko's chuckle dying away, as they watched the wolf-dog somersault twice before snatching her sword from the air and twisting, coming back to the ground…landing on her toes, knees bent, left hand braced against the ground as her right held her sword to the side. A cruel smile graced her lips in the moment silver eyes met sapphire; then she charged…a blur if ebony across the clearing. In the moment it took to blink, Shadow had her blade across his sister's throat, smiling triumphantly.

 

“You're dead” she whispered softly, but still loud enough for most of their audience to hear.

 

“Show off,” muttered Death Strike, vanishing her own blades before pushing the sword away from her throat. Suddenly smiling, she flicked her gaze towards Sesshomaru and then back to her sister. *Time for a little test* her voice said in Shadow's head just as she whipped her right hand out towards the aforementioned dog demon and with a flick of her wrist, shouted “Crimson Lightning!”

 

Shadow gasped as the blood red electricity flew from her sister's fingertips towards Sesshomaru. Kagome gasped as well, finally realizing what was happening. Without even knowing what she was doing, she threw her arms up, palms outwards, pointing towards Sesshomaru as she called the first words that came to her mind. “Divine Protection” she managed to squeak, causing a shimmering pink wall of power to envelope the inu-youkai before he had a chance to react to the attack.

 

Shadow watched, silently applauding her cousin, as the shield came into being. Then as the lightning struck, it faltered. Oh SHIT! She thought as she raced to the taiyoukai's side, tackling him to the ground just as the shield fell. “Heaven's Wings” she whispered as they struck the ground, bringing her own protective shield into being. The wall of silver kept the attack from striking anyone else as Death Strike retracted her powers, ending her assault.

 

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?” Kagome shrieked at Death Strike, causing the neko to cover her ears. The others covered their ears as well, the force of her shout giving even Sango and Miroku a headache.

 

“Not so loud cousin! That hurts!” snapped Death Strike, “Goddess, I was only doing what I was told to do.” Rubbing her ears, she turned her sorrowful gaze to Kagome. “It was just a test….no one was intended to get hurt…..” she trailed off as she turned her attention to Sesshomaru, who was still on the ground with Shadow.

 

Everyone else followed her gaze as well, a few smothered laughs making their way pasted hands at the sight of the two sprawled on the ground. Silver eyes locked with gold, and Shadow blushed before hastily regaining her feet and walking over to her cousin. Without realizing, Sesshomaru growled, suddenly feeling cold, as he watched her walk away. Shadow, misunderstanding his growl, narrowed her eyes.

 

“Well, see if I save you're mangy ass again, if that's the thanks I'm going to get!” a slight blush stained her cheeks and she lifted her nose in the air and placed one arm around Kagome's shoulders. “Nice try, Kags. That was a very good shield, even though it didn't hold. Don't worry though; you'll get better at it.” She offered her cousin a wink as Miroku cleared his throat.

 

“Yes that was quite amazing, Lady Kagome. However, how did you name it so fast?” he asked.

 

It was Kagome's turn to blush. “I...I don't know. It just kind of came to me.” She said with a shrug.

 

“Keh, whatever,” snorted InuYasha, crossing his arms over his chest. Although he wouldn't admit it, he was rather curious about Kagome's new abilities.

 

“Alright, now that that seems to be cleared up some, Kags, I have a question for you,” Shadow smiled warmly, a twinkle in her eyes, “Do you want you're birthday presents first or do you want explanations first? Your call.”

 

Kagome glanced at the ground for a moment, before perking back up. “Presents first; then you can answer everyone's questions.”

 

Death Strike let out a triumphant yip and Shadow simply hugged their cousin. “Ok then, I guess we should get back to your house then because those presents aren't going to wait forever!”

 

Without thinking, Kagome started walking towards the well with the twins before she suddenly stopped and looked over her shoulder at her friends. “But what about them?” she asked softly, causing the girls to stop.

 

“What do you mean, Kags?” asked a confused Death Strike, “Aren't they coming with?”

 

“Well Sesshomaru and Koga don't know where I come from. And the only one that can go through the well is InuYasha…..it won't let the others through…” Kagome trailed off softly, suddenly sad.

 

“Have you ever tried simply holding the portal open with your mind so that they could get through?” came Shadow's laughter filled question.

 

“Well, no…” Kagome replied

 

“Oh come on, silly, we'll hold the gateway open so that you're friends can come through, and then later we'll teach you how to do it on your own.” Shadow chuckled as Kagome suddenly smiled happily and bounded back to the group. Grabbing InuYasha with one hand and Sango with the other, she practically pulled them towards the well. Sango smiled as well, and laughing softly, grabbed Miroku's hand. Shippo and Kirara, not wanting to be left out, leapt onto his shoulders.

 

Glancing mischievously at each other, the twins ran over to the last members of the group, standing like statues in confusion. Death Strike seized Koga's hand as Shadow latched into Sesshomaru's wrist, pulling the two males with them to the well.

 

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Author's Note: I will have the next chapter `Birthday Gifts and Secrets Revealed' up in the next couple of days. May even have it up later….so long as my creativity doesn't hit a wall. I will also have a lemon in either chapter 5 or 6, or both! Keep those reviews coming! And don't hesitate if you have any ideas for me!

 

Review Responses:

 

facsrne5: Don't worry I'll continue as long as I keep getting feed back. I'm glad you like the story, hopefully it will continue getting better as it goes! Oh, and don't worry about sick and twisted….I'll have some of that in here eventually……*wicked grin*

 

Inu-Shinta: Yes, it's an Inu/Kag pairing…although we might have some massive kinkiness later….Anyway, you sure are a hard critic, but that's good. Luv you much for it! Thankies! And yes, I agree, that damn collar needs to come off Inu. Thanks for the lingerie idea! That actually fits right in!

 

Hayashi Panthera: Thanks for the wonderful comment! We'll find out what happened to Kags in the next chapter….it was supposed to be in this one, but then it'd be just too long. Although it's only like 3 pages on MM.org its like 6 in MS Word, lol. We're not going to pair Kags with Sessh, but I have a twist later on…..you'll have to wait and see what happens.