InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Free Wind ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

“That bastard.” Kagura was hovering above Naraku. “He hasn’t even sensed my presence, why didn’t I ever notice how weak he is?” No matter, it wasn’t time yet to battle him. She did not feel Midoriko’s consciousness in the jewel that he possessed.

Kagura sighed . It was inevitable, and if she went to speak with Midoriko, Inuwarai was sure to wake up as well. “So be it. She’s the only one that can answer for this.” Kagura descended upon the cave.

She stopped at the entrance. She could see the demon entwined with her old friend. She could see the swell in its side where Inu-warai was trying to burst himself free. Kagura shook her head, “You always were crazy, you old dog.” At least Kagura did not have to see herself. She had been in spirit form at the time the jewel was forged and was trapped within in her entirety.

She swept through the barrier and was soon stuck within the heat of battle with her friends.

“Inuwarai!!” Midoriko screamed right in her ear. Kagura knocked the woman aside and whipped out her fan as she meant to do so many years ago. She called upon all the lost souls that rode the wind, her wind, and swept them across the demon. The dead ripped through the creature, tearing it to shreds and bursting the barrier in a flash of light and heat. The dog demon stood there for a moment, then blood welled from a gash across his cheek before he fell to the ground.

“Ow, ow, why’d you do that, you old wind witch?” He clutched his face.

The huntress pulled herself to her feet and threw her arms around Kagura. “I knew you’d come!”

Kagura untangled herself from the girls embrace, than landed a well placed kick to the yokai’s side. He let out a string of profanity as he pulled himself to a sitting position. “I can find another demon to seal you inside if you prefer?” she said sweetly.

The inu-yokai gave her a dark look. He couldn’t hold it for long, though. “Oh, it’s good to see you, Kagura! Come give me a kiss.” He grinned at her.

Kagura rolled her eyes. She could see where Sesshoumaru got his looks from, but at least he didn’t get the grandfathers personality. She’d never let the dog know that she had missed him too. Of course, for him it had only been a few days since he’d seen her last, not over 300 years.

“We need to talk.” she walked from the cave, she had spent enough time in dark places.

Midoriko raised a questioning eyebrow at Inu-warai. He shrugged, “We might as well follow her, its gonna stink in here pretty soon.”

Kagura was sitting on a rock when they came out. Midoriko looked around, something was different but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. “Should we go back to the village and tell them the demon will plague us no more?”

Oh gods, Kagura thought, this isn’t going to be easy. She took a deep breath. Might as well just get it out. “The village is no more ‘Riko. I’m sorry, but it has been 317 years since you erected the barrier to wait for me.”

The woman’s face crumbled. Inu-warai placed a steadying arm around the slayers waist. “317 years? What took you so long?” he whispered.

“I came within minutes of you calling for me! Don’t place all the blame on me, old man!”
Inu-warai laughed without humor. “You are older than me, witch.” He waved away her protest.

Midoriko raised her head, eyes hard. “What happened Kagura?”

It wasn’t my fault! Kagura screamed in her head. “I don’t know. I swept into that hole, just as the demon swallowed the canine. Your barrier was up, ‘Riko, and when I stepped through, there was a flash, and then nothing. “ Until he ripped me forth, at least Kagura didn’t add.

“Shikon no Tama.” Inu-warai said matter of factly. Midoriko looked up at him confused. “I mentioned it once, love, the jewel that could put an end to your battles.”

Hmm, seems the old dog and Midoriko have gotten close during my long absences. She kept this observance to herself. “I think you were mistaken, old man. All it has done is cause battles and bloodshed.”

He looked affronted. “Ridiculous! With that jewel you could purify every dark heart in the land. I always knew Midoriko had it within her to make such a precious weapon.” He smiled down at the woman.

“She didn’t forge it alone, until recently my soul was lodged in that thing, and both of yours still are.”

“You mean I have no soul?” Midoriko looked at Kagura with disbelief. She shook her head, “lets go back to the beginning, this is a bit much to absorb all at once.”

Kagura sighed. The beginning, then …

She was the wind, the free wind. She played within the eddies at the base of the mountains, before sweeping through the snowy expanses at the peak and tumbling down, laughing to roll through the flower filled meadows. She could not be confined, she would blow where she wished. Then, Ameterasu had tired of her playmates, and desired more. The humans came, weak and frail. Kagura enjoyed blowing through their meager dwellings, she enjoyed the flowers they placed upon the altars they erected for her. Yet they were nothing to her, they were so brief, and she was eternal.

Their children interested her at times though, and she would lift a spray of water or blow the petals from their fingers and they would chase after, laughing. So at times she would stay close to their settlements and enjoy rolling through the joy of the little ones.

And then the youkai had come.

Looking back Kagura should have known what would happen. Of course, other Kami would find the humans as interesting as she did, and other’s were not content with just the laughter of a human child. Many of the children of these liaisons were beautiful, gaining strength from both that had given them life. . Others were twisted, some in form, some in soul, and more than a few in both..

It did not surprise her it was the Inu’s that fell first to the wiles of the humans. Their children were beautiful, proud and noble. They did not seem to lose much strength to their human genes. Their lives were long, but they could still die. It was their pride and their loyalty that was usually their downfall.

What the God’s and the youkai did was no concern to her. At least, not until some of the more twisted youkai’s began to bring discord to her favorite valleys.

It had begun a normal enough day. She had awoken with the urge to visit a much loved haunt, a small cave that she could howl through while enjoying the tinkling laughter of the children in the nearby village. Yet when she arrived there was no merriment and the taste of blood and death was on the air.

Kagura was angry. A youkai had done this, had dared to bring heartache to a place that she had marked as hers. The yokai would pay.

She took on the form of a human woman. She could sense the creature was near, and she would make him suffer. She did not have long to wait.

He entered the clearing near the cave, “My cave,“ she thought angrily, his claws and fangs dripping with blood.

He sneered at her, “You think I can not tell what you are ,Kami? “

She gazed levelly at him. His origins were clouded, but she guessed he was at least a second generation of the gods. Both of his parents had been demon. She decided to speak, “You have overstepped your bounds, mortal.”

“Ha, does it hurt you that I have harmed your precious humans?” With a growl he launched himself at her, grasping her around the neck with his wicked teeth.

“Damn it,” she thought, “serpent kami in this one.” She dissipated into the wind, allowing the poison to fall harmlessly onto the large boulder in the clearing. He would die for daring to touch her, and it would be painful.

“I know you are still there,” he said, leering maliciously at the spot she had just stood.

Kagura listened to the wind. It still carried the souls of the recently slaughtered humans. Around him she swirled, gagging on the stench of death that surrounded him. She could feel the souls of murdered demons on him as well, those that had followed him even in death wanting to extract revenge. “hmm, this one wants power, wants to become a god himself. He is drinking the life essence from these people in hopes he can make himself a god.”

“Show yourself!” he demanded.

Kagura was about to go in for the kill when she heard it. A child’s voice, one she recognized , choked with tears. She glanced at the yokai, he had heard it too. He grinned and walked toward the sound.

A small girl burst into the clearing, a gathering basket on her arm. She stopped when she saw the demon, eyes opening wide. She turned to run, but the demon was faster.

“Show yourself, wench, or I shall feast on the child’s blood.”

“Shit,” She allowed the wind to coalesce about her, and strode toward him in her human form. The child had tears running down her face, but she was not screaming. “She is either very brave or very stupid,” thought Kagura.

“Don’t you come any closer, tell me how I can become a full god and I may let the whelp live.” He squeezed the child tighter, one of his claws biting into her arm. The girl jerked as blood stained her yukata.

She looked at Kagura, “Please Kami, help me.” she said softly.

Kagura had had enough. Anger washed over her. She called out to the spirits on the wind that the time for their revenge had come. They coalesced around her. In some she sensed the same evil as that the youkai in front of her was possessed by, but she also felt the souls of gentle kitsune , neko, and …

“The wretch!” she hissed as a particularly gentle one brushed through her. His own mother, how despicable.

She motioned outward, commanding the dead that rode on her wind that the time had come. The human spirits were faster, having only recently perished, but they did not have the strength of the demons, who quickly tore him to shreds.

It was over, and now the child cried freely.

Kagura was curious. She had never felt tears. Would they feel like the spray of the dew when she swept through them? She had to know.

She took a step toward the child, and reached out to touch a tear streaking down her cheek…

And she was heartbroken. She closed her eyes, vowing never to touch a tear again, this pain was unbearable. Their lives were already so short, why should they have to feel this pain?

“Have you come to save us?” The child spoke, concern wrinkling her little features.

Kagura brushed the question off, instead she said, “I thought the villagers perished.”

Fresh pain washed over the girls face. Kagura regretted her words instantly. “I’m sorry, I did not mean to remind you..”

“It’s…ok. I hid.”

Kagura looked at the girl. How had the demon missed her? He should have been able to sniff her out. “Hiding should not have saved you life.”

The girl looked abashed. “I mean, I really hid. And then I hid some others while he was killing my, my..” she burst into fresh sobs.

Kagura dropped beside her, placing an arm around the small frame. “I can not comfort you, for even I do not possess the power to change what has happened, but I can assure you he will not ever harm you or yours again.”

The girl shuddered. “The hunters came back right after he had left. They sent me for healing herbs.”

Kagura raised an eyebrow. How did this child know about the herbs? From what little she knew of human behavior, only their medicine women knew such things. This child was a bit young to be that far along in her studies. Anyways, she had investigated a few of them and they seemed to be charlatans the whole lot of them. “Show me how you hid, child.”

The girl looked up at Kagura then nodded. Closing her eyes, her body tensed. Nothing could be heard but the sounds of the birds and a stream nearby. Suddenly Kagura sat up a bit straighter. Squinting her eyes she peered closely at the forest around her. What was that sparkle?

Kagura gasped. “A barrier?”

The girls eyes slew open, “Have I done wrong?”

Kagura shook her head. She was unaware humans had developed such skill. She studied the child a moment but could detect no yokai blood in her. She was completely human. “Who taught you this?”

The girl looked as though she would cry again, but she hardened her brow and spoke. “The village miko was teaching me until that horrible demon came. I could not save her.” she finished softly.

“Did she possess such abilities as you?”

“No. she said she had never met anyone with my power. She said the gods have blessed me.”

As good an explanation as any, Kagura mused.

The girl continued , “ But I will not be a miko now. I swear I will hunt down and slay every last demon.” He smalls fist clenched at her side.

Kagura grabbed her shoulders. “You must listen to me, child. Not all yokai are evil.” The girl looked doubtfully into her eyes. “There are kind ones, who still resemble the gods who helped create them and if you were to slaughter them you may rise the ire of the Kami’s, and even with your power you can not defeat a god.”

“Perhaps the good ones would help me then?” the girl said hopefully

“No, you must never seek out a demon. Even the one’s who have not been tainted by evil still look down on humans. They would never seek to kill you, but if they sensed you were a threat, they may act out of survival.”

The girl began to shake. The toll of the days events had been too much. Kagura realized that though the girl was interesting and had strength beyond her years, she was still a child. “What is your name?” she asked softly.

“Michiko,” the girl whispered.

“I am called Kagura.”

She held the girl. Eventually Michiko shifted and gazed up at her, “You never told me, kami, I mean Lady Kagura.”

Kagura gave her a questioning look.

“Are you going to save us?”

Kagura thought. She was the free wind, and she could not be tied down to one village acting as guard. The thought saddened her. She had never had a conversation with one of the humans before and Michiko peaked her curiosity. Then she remembered how the dead had obeyed her and an idea dawned upon her.

“How many in the village survived?” she asked.

Michiko looked alarmed. “Oh, no! I must get the herbs!”

“You will have time, how many?”

The girl thought a moment. “About a third, most of the men were out hunting, and a few of the women were in the fields.”

And Michiko herself had saved some, Kagura thought. She stood and strode over to the demon’s corpse. Taking a deep breath, she extracted a few bones from the yokai.

“What are you doing Lady Kagura?” The girl looked frightened.

Kagura placed the bones next to the herbs in the basket. “Tell the men in your village to bind these bones with their weapons. Humans do not have the power of a demon. The only thing strong enough to bring down a demon is another one or a god. I cannot promise that a god will take mercy upon you again. These bones will lend your people enough power to fight.”

Michiko smiled and threw her arms around the goddess. “Oh, thank you!” She pulled back, looking slightly appalled by her actions.

Kagura smiled. “It is ok Michiko. You should also continue developing your power though.” yes that power she sensed in the girl was interesting.

Michiko shrugged, “I will still hunt down all demons that threaten a human.”

“Remember my words,” Kagura admonished.

“I will!” Michiko threw a wan smile over her shoulders as she ran back toward the village.

Hmm, that was quite interesting, thought Kagura. Shrugging, she gave herself to the wind and blew away.

She never saw Michiko again.