InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Free Wind ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

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

“So you’re saying my son didn’t give me one, but two whelps?” Inuwarai laughed, “So where is he? Still pent up in the west putting on airs?”

Shit, this isn’t going to get easier if I wait, Kagura thought. She had already filled her old friends in on the events of the last 317 years leading up to Naraku. Midoriko had taken it surprisingly well for a human, and knowing that at least one of her descendents was still around had helped. The dog demon had not really been affected, 300 plus years only being a moment in his lifespan. Well, that was about to change.

“I’m sorry Inuwarai, but your son is dead.” Best just get it out.

The smile lines temporarily smoothed from his face as his eyes opened in shock. Then emotion rushed in, and he slammed his fist into the nearest tree.

Kagura quickly erected her barrier around the small group. Splinters erupted everywhere. She was pretty sure some had made it to the sea. Midoriko stepped towards him, laying a hand on his shoulder that heaved in silent tears. “How did it happen?”

Kagura took a deep breath. “I don’t really know the details, I haven’t been myself for the past few years you know. I do remember hearing something though.” Inuwarai looked up at her, waiting for her to continue. Damn, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him cry. She shook her head trying to bring forth the memories, “He was fighting to protect the human that had just birthed his second son.”

Inuwarai gave a small nod, then turned and leaned his forehead against one of the tree’s that was still standing. “So he finally loosened up then?” He whispered. “He finally found some joy in life?”

Kagura smiled, “Yes, I believe he did. He had a sword made, a sword that works only for mercy. A sword that saves and does not kill.”

“Tenseiga, he finally listened,” he shook his head. Then the yokai laughed, finally. “He learned. He learned there was more than power and warfare. Then he died in peace, that is all that matters.” He spun around, a smile back in place. “So! What now? Off to destroy this Naraku character?”

Midoriko rounded on him, “Don’t just stand there and act like everything’s ok! Your son is dead! My whole village is destroyed and somehow we created the shikon no tama which has our souls and some very angry demons fighting in it! Some evil guy managed to became a demon and is now gaining control of the jewel! Everything is not fine and you better not act like it is!” She stood in front of him, her face inches away.

Inuwarai smiled benignly at her, “Sake?”

“Damn you!” She spun on her heel and stalked away.

Yes, everything is back to normal. Kagura smiled to herself. It was good to be back.

They visited the village first. Midoriko kneeled in front of the graves of the slain demon hunters, tears in her eyes. Inuwarai wandered into the dwellings, his flask occasionally making it’s way to his lips. He was no longer smiling. He too had had friends here.

Suddenly he sniffed. “Hey, wind witch! Did you say one of my grandkids was a hanyou?”
Kagura looked up, “Yes. Why?”

He just shook his head. “No reason.”

Kagura raised an eyebrow but let it be. Inuyasha was nowhere nearby. She would sense him on the wind if he was. She let her mind drift to Sesshoumaru for a moment. The wind had brought her no word of him either, and it tugged on her heart.

Inuwarai strode over to her, pausing only a moment to whisper a word of reassurance into Midoriko’s ear as he passed. “Tell me of my boys, Kagura. What kind of men have they become?”

She glanced at him. She knew him well enough to know he was still hurting from the news of his son, no matter how much he smiled. That had always been his way.

“Sesshoumaru you remember?”

“Hai, but he was only a baby when I saw him last.” He took another pull from his flask. “I also find it hard to believe my son would have an affair with a human.”

“I know nothing of that. I’ve been trapped in that jewel for the past few centuries.” She wished she knew more. Maybe we should find Sesshoumaru first, he’d know more about it, She couldn’t help but think.

How to begin? “Sesshoumaru has grown into his father’s place, and possibly has more power. Yet he has become cold, more so than your son ever was. He despises humans, and he despises his brother.” His face clouded. She hurried on, “but he seems to be changing. He was left tenseiga, and he is learning compassion.” She remembered when he had pulled her from the river. “And he now is caring for a human child.”

Inuwarai nodded, looking thoughtful, “What about the hanyou?”

This was easier. “Inuyasha? He is traveling with the miko that is looking for the shikon shards. He is brash, rude, and brave. He has your heart, that much I am sure of.” She smiled.

Inuwarai opened his mouth, but was cut off when Midoriko rushed up. “Kagura! What happened to Kirara?” There was fear in the huntress’ eyes.

Kagura couldn’t help but grin, finally, some good news. “The neko? She is now the companion of your brothers’ descendant. She has become quite battle savvy.”

Midoriko sighed in relief, “Good, so she did go back to the village when I told her too. She was much too young to help us in the fight.”

The memories came so easy now that she was no longer stuck in Naraku’s false body. Ah, yes, the neko-yokai, that’s how this all began.

She had returned to the village and the cave throughout the years. She did not show herself, but she watched, proud of the humans and their developing skill against the demons. It was on one such visit that she had heard the tears.

She knew it was silly. Michiko had been gone for many, many years. The village had grown and prospered thanks to the miko that Kagura still remembered as a small, frightened child. Yet the crying sounded so much the same as that horrible day so long ago that Kagura couldn’t resist. She ignored the small flare of anger she felt, how dare they be allowed such pain.
The girl was sitting on the same boulder that Kagura had once sat upon with another girl. She held a small neko-yokai in her arms and her tears were wetting the animals fur.

Kagura pulled her human form around her and silently sat down next to the girl. The child’s eyes flew up in fear. She studied Kagura, and Kagura studied her. She has the same hair as Michiko, but her eyes are different, older, perhaps, or wiser. She has more power in her, but is probably of the same line. She felt a pang of longing, perhaps she should have visited Michiko again. Stupid. They are so brief, no sense getting attached.

“Why do you cry?” She said.

The girl surprised her with a voice full of venom. “Why do you care, Kami? It is your fault this demon must die.” At those words, fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

Kagura was taken aback. My fault? The kitten was harmless, obviously alone and scared and quite attached to the girl. She was purring and licking the tears from her face, trying to offer comfort. And the way the child spoke, she had no fear of the gods.

“What is my fault?”

“I must kill this poor thing, for she is a demon and we can not allow a demon to suffer to live. Otherwise the kami who gave us the will and ability to fight will abandon us.” Power crackled around the girl, she was angry now.

So was Kagura. She did not doubt Michiko remembered her words, but she most likely did not put as much importance on them as she should have. Damnit. I didn’t ask for this. They are not my concern, these humans and youkai!

“I never said that all demons must be killed, only those that attack.” Kagura bit out. “This Neko is innocent and very young, she means no harm.”

The girls eyes flashed, her power almost out of control, almost but not quite. She could not harm Kagura though. “I hate the gods! I will not kill this demon!” She threw herself at the kami, beating ineffectually on her chest, the kitten mewing at her feet now.

Kagura gently brushed the girl aside and picked up the neko, rubbing her between the ears. “What have you named her?”

“I have not named her anything, her mother named her Kirara.” The girls anger was ebbing, though she still kept her power close, her aura glowing brightly.

“Impossible for you to know, her kind is not capable of the human tongue.” Yet her name is Kirara. How does this child know? Kagura thought.

The power burst forth again, “I can understand her! I understand all of them,” She paused, voice dropping, “So many killed, and they were innocent.”

Kagura understood. This child had seen more horrors than one her age should, even in the harsh world they lived in. This child had watched her own family kill innocent demons, and she alone was able to understand this. It was a real shame, and Kagura knew she was being pulled in once again. “Quiet child, Kirara will not die today. Go back to your village, I will be with you.”

The child finally smiled as Kagura dispersed herself to the wind and followed her back to the village.

She was not greeted with joy. As soon as she entered the village a man grabbed her by the arm.

“How dare you bring that yokai back! You will kill it and forge your own weapon from the carcass, or I will make you watch as I kill it for you!”

Kagura felt the girls powers flare out before quickly subduing. Her father, she thought. Her own damn father. Pulling all her power about her she whirled around him and threw him into a wall. He struggled to pull himself up, fear and worry etched on his face.

“Midoriko, you must not..” A woman ran from a nearby hut. “Do not use your powers on humans, you will taint them with evil! You are a miko and a taijiya, you are sworn to protect!”

The girl rounded on the woman, “I am protecting! That is the kami, come to save the innocent!” She held the neko close to her, but Kagura sensed her fear.

The woman stopped. “Kami?” Her face collapsed. “I told you all the words of the first one, yet none would listen! And now the gods themselves have come to seek retribution just as it was once spoken!” She watched the villagers step back from the woman, fear in their eyes. These men and women were not used to fear, these taijiya, they were the ones who caused fear and alleviated it. She glanced at the girl, Midoriko, that’s what that old woman called her. It was up to the girl. Kagura was free, she would not intervene.

She lifted the tendrils of hair around the child face, and whispered in her ear, just a voice on the wind. The girl nodded, resolve in her eyes.

Kagura stayed, and Kagura watched.

“You will not harm the neko! The kami spoke to me, and said that not just this one life will be spared, but many!” The villagers grumbled, they had not yet learned the girls powers. “We will no longer hunt the innocent, but only those that seek to harm us!”

A man stepped forward, “Who are you to tell us what to do, girl? You have not even made your first kill!” Other villagers nodded in agreement.

Kagura felt the girl’s aura pulse. The air crackled with it, and if Kagura was not a god, she would have cowered. Yet, Midoriko did not have experience and control of her power yet. She was pure, as a true miko should be, but she was also a warrior. She was too dangerous. Kagura decided that she could help a bit, lest someone get hurt.

Midoriko’s aura spiked, aiming for the man. Her anger was out of control, lending a vehemence to her attack. He opened his eyes wide, realizing now his mistake. Kagura swooped in, letting the power disperse through her so that it only grazed the man, causing his hair to sizzle as he was thrown back into the dirt. She winded her way back to Midoriko whispering cautions in the girls ear.

“Child! Calm down or you will destroy us all!” The old woman rushed up, placing a protective arm around the girl.

Midoriko spun around, “Do not touch me! I will kill them all as they have killed.” She wrenched out of the woman’s grasp, rushing back toward the cave.

Kagura hung around for a moment to see how the villagers reacted. She really didn’t want to show herself, and have these villagers feel as though she would stay and protect them. If they’d just listen to the old priestess and the girl, they wouldn’t need to worry about protection. She thought. That girl, her power is so strong. Are the humans going to one day become gods themselves?
“You see what you have done?” The old woman’s voice shook Kagura from her thoughts, “No use running after her, she will kill anyone who comes close now! When she returns, you will allow the neko-yokai to live and from now on you will listen to those that are wiser than you!” With that, she soundly rapped Midoriko’s father with her staff.

Kagura was now satisfied, she sped after Midoriko.

She found the girl standing in the mouth of the cave, her cheeks wet with tears. “I know you are here, Kagura.”

Kagura pulled her human form around her, and gazed at the girl with her clear blue eyes. “You almost killed that man back there. Is the neko’s life more important than your own kin?”

Midoriko sighed, “You are right. I was so angry. Thank you for tempering my energy.”

Kagura inclined her head in agreement, and then walked and stood by the child. “The neko will be allowed to live.”

The girls eyes lit up then, and she quickly threw her arms around Kagura in her delight. Kirara purred by their feet.

Kagura was surprised. She had seen this affection between the humans before, but she had never experienced it herself. Kagura was a free god, and the price of her freedom was her solitude. Slowly she raised her arms around the girl. The breeze in her hair tastes of joy, a much deeper joy than their laughter ever does. She has walked through fire , and found happiness on the other side. Without the fire, would the joy have been so complete? She mused.

Midoriko pulled back and looked up into the Kami’s eyes. “You will come see me again.” It was not a question, though the child did not seem aware of that.

“Hai,” Kagura said, and threw herself to the wind, to go dance in the eddies and try to forget about the human.

“So she still lives, that is a releif!” Midoriko jarred Kagura from her reverie. She couldn’t help but smile. She had visited and fought beside the Taijiya many times after that first meeting.

Inuwarai stepped up, placing his hand on Midoriko’s shoulder. Kagura would find out more of this relationship later, she had more important questions to have answered. “What do you know of this jewel, Dog?”

He sighed, “Not enough I am sure. What I know came to me in a dream as my knowledge of this sort seems to..”

“Dreams induced from to much drink, I’m sure,” Kagura interrupted.

The Taiyokai rolled his eyes, continuing , “Midoriko had the power in her to create it, but it was not something she could create alone. We had fought for seven nights against that demon, as it sent it’s hordes against us.”

“You were not the only one who had dreamed of the jewel,” Midoriko murmured. Kagura raised an eyebrow, urging her to continue, “That demon mentioned it, he said he was going to absorb my power, and with the purity and darkness combined, he would be unstoppable.”
“Hai, he did, didn’t he? I forgot that after he swallowed me whole,” Inuwarai laughed, “Takes a bit more to destroy me than eating me though!”

Kagura suppressed a grin. That dog has a gift. Can almost make me forget the past few years. She sighed, Almost, but not quite. Her mind drifted to Sesshoumaru. Would I wish to forget them even if I could?

He gave Kagura a hard look. She was hiding something, he was sure. He’d find out soon enough. “Courage, friendship, wisdom, and love, when united against a common foe to these above qualities, will form the shikon. A weapon of absolute purity.”

“Not sure how it got any purity out of you, Inuwarai,” Midoriko said with a twinkle in her eye.

He feigned insult, “Why, I am a direct line from the great Inukami himself! You have insulted my honor, love!”

Midoriko smiled at him, but her mind was still on their predicament, “So our souls, possessing those virtues, combined with the demons youki to form the jewel?”

“Hai.”

“So how come we are here if we have no souls? Shouldn’t we have died when the jewel was formed?” She threw her hands in the air, angry in her frustration.

Kagura could feel Midoriko’s power flicker, not as strong as it had been before. Hmm, most of her power must come from the soul then, it is truly inherent to her very nature. It was time to share what little knowledge she had. “Perhaps, your village assumed you were dead. In truth, it seems your barrier was so strong it actually slowed down time for those trapped within it.” She sighed, time to talk about her part in this, “And there was another walking the amongst the living that survived with only a shred of soul.” The others looked up at this news. Kagura quickly filled them in on what little she knew of Kikyo.

Inuwarai looked thoughtful, “So perhaps it is not our whole soul in the jewel, only the portions of them necessary to bind the demon. We can assume though, that since the demon is now dead that it’s whole soul is now in the jewel, and ours are not. It would take someone very powerful to purify it now.”

“I’m no longer in it at all,” Kagura stated. Her friends encouraged her to continue. “I blew in through your barrier, you know it never had any effect on me. It trapped me inside the jewel immediately. I am a god, “ Kagura shrugged, “I am a soul.”

“Then how did you break free, witch?”

She wasn’t too sure about that herself, “Well, Naraku is made up of many lesser youkai, and at times he spawns some from himself to do his bidding. I was supposed to be one such demon, but I think perhaps my soul used it to escape. Yet he managed to control me while I was in the body he forged for me. I had no memory of what I was, I killed many innocents, until…” She stopped, pained at what the hanyou had made her do.

“Until what, Kagura,” Inuwarai asked softly.

Until I saw him for the first time. Perhaps he raised a memory of you, old friend, reminded me of who I was. Once I saw him I had a reason to fight, a reason to remember. She glanced at the taiyokai, her friend. She would not tell him this, yet. Instead she skipped ahead to the final moments. “Naraku had held my mortal heart hostage, saying he would destroy it and kill me if I refused to obey. After time, this did not hold fear for me anymore, I only craved my freedom. I defied him to save a child under his command, and he injected my heart with his poison, thrust it into me, and left me to die.” She laughed bitterly, “Little did he know he had finally freed me.”

“Then what happened?” Midoriko asked in horror.

“I came for you two to find out how I was trapped in the first place.” Kagura shrugged. “What else could I do?”

Inuwarai mulled this information over for a moment. He was pretty sure Kagura was hiding something from them, but he had no cause to distrust the goddess. She would tell them everything in her own time, he was sure. As far as he could see, their first order of business was to get their souls back. It gave him the creeps thinking that part of him could be missing. He spoke as much.

“We should visit my grandson, Inuyasha. You said he’s been pursuing Naraku and the jewel?”

Kagura gave him an unreadable look, “Hai, but I believe Sesshoumaru is actually the key. We will find him first.”

Inuwarai shrugged. The wind blew where it would, and all he could do is follow.