InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Journey of the Half-Immortal ❯ Chapter 19 ( Chapter 19 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Aniu has passed out from the energy lost to save Sesshoumaru but then something goes wrong once the taiyoukai and wolf youkai reach a hot spring. Sesshoumaru needs help but who does he call? And once they get there...what happens to Aniu? And what happens between Aniu and Sesshoumaru after his little outbreak?

Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy | Type: Fanfiction Sequel | Uploaded On: 10.13.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 4.1K | Visits: 239 | Status: Work In Progress

Chapter Nineteen

Sesshoumaru's keen nose had sniffed out a hot spring not far from the destroyed field. The group had walked in silence: Aniu's exhausted form making hardly a sound, Kouga deep in thought, and Sesshoumaru hidden behind his cold façade. Dusk had settled by the time they made it to the hot spring. White mist streamed into the cold night air from the spring and seemed so very inviting. The spring was set in the middle of the dark woods, lit by the dim glow of the moon. The taiyoukai gently put the sleeping girl on the grass beside the spring. Kouga came back to Aniu and touched her cheek again. She was cool to the touch and through metaphysics the wolf youkai could see that she was fading. But…why?

The wolf youkai was about to say something to Sesshoumaru when the dog youkai came over and laid his hand on the other cheek of the girl. His eyes closed and he searched the girls mind, trying to find her fading energy. Sweat dotted his brow and he pushed harder into her mind, searching, searching. Every time the he came closer to catching her, she was pushed farther back. Kouga noticed what he was doing and joined him, helping the other demon search and catch the fleeing energy. Pressure built behind the wolf demon's eyes and sweat started to drip from his forehead, yet he could feel them gaining ground. There. There she was! Together, their metaphysical hands each grabbed an arm of the curled up, shivering girl. She looked up them with puffy red eyes and they pulled her back. Pulled her to the surface. They all gasped at the same time; like they hadn't been breathing before hand. Both demons opened their eyes to look down at the girl and saw her eyes flutter and her breathing speed up.

Where their hands lay on her cheeks, they could feel the heat. Searing their hands but they dared not move them from her, for fear that she would fade back into the Oblivion. The heat seemed to spike even higher though and the demons started to worry as her breathing picked up even more. If she didn't stop, she would hyperventilate or pass out. Sesshoumaru's hand moved down the girls face until he laid two fingers on her pulse. Beating so furiously was her heart that he feared that she would have a heart attack.

Kouga smelled the taiyoukai's fear spike and he brought his hand down to where Sesshoumaru's rested. The dog demon moved his head back to Aniu's cheek while Kouga checked her pulse. The wolf now understood why Sesshoumaru was fearful; the girl's pulse was ecstatic. He looked up at the other man, a question written in his eyes. Sesshoumaru shrugged and looked back at the girl.

The half-immortal felt like she was burning in the fires of hell! She tried to open her eyes but they would only flutter involuntarily. Taking deep breaths was impossible and calming her heart rate, definitely not working. Tears filled her eyes. It felt like she was dieing. First from the cold and now from the heat. Words came out as moans through her half parted lips, her throat as dry as the Sahara desert. She tried something else. Muscles twitched as she fought to move them. A sob broke through her throat when she was able to move her hands up to touch the hand on her cheek and the other on her neck.

With the marks wide open, they all got a taste of what everyone was feeling. The two demons felt like there was a fire burning inside their skin and Aniu got the thick taste of their fear on the back of her throat. It made it harder to breath for them all and the half-immortal shut down the marks between them all so that only Aniu suffered from the searing heat. But before she closed them the two demons heard her thought, If I die, I'm not going to take them with me.

Their fear turned to panic and the two males weren't sure what to do. Sesshoumaru thought of one thing that might help; he opened the mark between him and his half-brother.

Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru's voice whispered through the half-demon's head.

The red clad hanyou jumped at the sound of his brother's voice. He looked around for the source but couldn't find him. He scented the air but he didn't smell his brother's scent on the breeze. What the hell?

His name was whispered again and he finally understood that he was hearing it in his mind. But he didn't understand how it worked so he whispered aloud. “What?”

We need help, came Sesshoumaru's voice.

“With what?” The hanyou settled more firmly against the tree he was sitting against.

Aniu.

Inuyasha sat up so hard that he almost fell out of the branch he was sitting on. “What's wrong with her?”

Don't know. Just come. We think she is dying.

Inuyasha nodded then remembered he couldn't see that. “Alright.”

The hanyou jumped out of the tree and looked at his sleeping companions. His eyes lighted on the raven haired girl. Would Kagome help? It was a good idea. Without another thought he stalked over to her and picked her up along with her bow and arrows. The teen stirred and looked up at the man holding her arching a delicate eyebrow. All he said was, “Aniu needs us.”

* * * * *

Every minute that went by seemed to affect the demons more and more. They became so anxious they could hardly keep still. Hands fidgeted, hearts raced, breathing became faster, adrenaline pumped through their blood, and all they could do was watch their love grow worse and worse by the second.

Finally, they were able to have some relief as Inuyasha finally showed his face. The red clad hanyou landed in front of them with Kagome riding on his back. The raven haired girl climbed off and immediately froze. Power. There was an immense amount of power here. Inuyasha didn't hesitate to go over to the three. Thinking was out of the question; he had to act now. Kneeling down between them brought pressure on the power but the half-demon reached through it and put his hand on deathly pale girl.

A circuit was completed and energy surged through all four of them. Kagome gasped as she felt the power grow. Gathering courage she walked over to them and laid her hand on Aniu's other cheek that Kouga had abandoned. The power skipped a beat then spike so hard that everyone stopped breathing. Their breath came back in a painful gasp but the power stayed at the same level. There was some confusion as to why Kagome's touch created another power leap but it was cast aside as everyone watched the golden haired girl that lie on the ground.

Aniu kept the marks shut tight but couldn't keep the power out. Her body seemed to absorb all the power but give it back at the same time. She couldn't understand it. There was something else too; the power seemed to say it needed something. Like an ingredient. But what? The power grew and grew inside her body and it needed release, it needed that last ingredient. Then it came to her. Blood. She needed blood.

“Blood.” Her voice was nothing but a hoarse whisper. Sesshoumaru had to lean down and put his ear next to her mouth to hear her. “Blood.”

“What?” he asked in a confused voice.

The girl tried to clear her throat and talk past her pulse and the growing power. “I…need blood.”

Sesshoumaru didn't understand. He didn't have the time to hesitate though. Pushing Kouga's hand up to Aniu's cheek Sesshoumaru bent his tall frame over Aniu. His mouth breathed over where her pulse was the strongest. The power took another spike and everyone gasped. It hurt. It needed release. The taiyoukai didn't waste another second; his fangs plunged into her jugular.

The girl made small pain noises but it was nothing compared to the pain of so much power. Sesshoumaru didn't take a lot of blood, only enough. He lifted his face off of her neck and kissed Aniu.

Aniu tasted the coppery taste of her blood on his lips and almost pulled away. But the power took that blood and it went deep inside her and spread out into the hands and lips that touched her. She sucked in the power and felt the others suck it deep into themselves. Power circled around them and became almost physical, seeable. It seeped into their bodies and into the ground. Everyone's eyes were closed at the feel of the power.

The power began to fade and with it the strength of all the people involved. They all suddenly felt a need to sleep. They dropped like flies on top of Aniu. The half-immortal groaned but then became silent as sleep enveloped her and one by one the rest of them.

* * * * *

So bright! God, it hurt so much. It was like someone was burning her irises while she was still alive. She tried to move her arm in front of her eyes but it was trapped under something. In fact her whole body was trapped. Panic crawled up her throat and cut off her air. Can't breathe, can't breathe. Something moved on top of her and it pushed the other weights off her body. A hand touched her cheek and she screamed and crabbed walked until she could feel the shade hide her from the sun's rays. Blinking rapidly helped clear the black spots in her wrecked vision. When she opened her eyes she could see the concerned face of Sesshoumaru hovering above hers.

“Aniu,” he whispered softly.

A choked sob came from her and she flung her body into his arms. Only then did she notice the state they were both in. Her golden mane was crusted to her body with dry, clear, flaky goop from her transformation. Sesshoumaru was naked from the waist up. Apparently he was getting ready to bathe. A bath sounded perfect right now.

As if he had read her mind, Sesshoumaru lifted her bridle style in his arms and carried her to hot spring, where all this shit had started. The taiyoukai eased her worn body into the hot, steaming water. She moaned from the warm, warm water while Sesshoumaru stripped out of the last of his clothes and slid in next to her.

He tried to take her into his arms but she pushed away and dunked under the water. She held her breath as long as she could and when her lungs began to protest, she pounced into the air. Water sprayed out from where she came up. She sucked the cool air into her lungs and dived again. The demon watched her come up for air and his mind said things like, beautiful, graceful, delicate, andstrong. One thing that came to mind though was mermaid. He didn't know why but every time she came up for air it reminded him of mermaids, though he had never seen one. Strange.

Aniu came up again and smiled, wiping her hair out of her face. She looked around and felt her smile falter as her green orbs landed on Sesshoumaru. Her mind flashed back on that scene before she saved him.

She was stopped by a soft growl, when she was only a few feet away fromhim.

“Sesshoumaru?”

The taiyoukai didn't turn around or acknowledge her in anyway. She took a hesitant step forward before she was knocked to the ground with a hand on her throat. Kouga yelled her name but Sesshoumaru told him to stay back.

Aniu looked up into those cold amber eyes. She could feel her face and eyes drain of life and look just as cold as his. “What—?”

She was cut off by the growl that dripped out of Sesshoumaru's mouth and the slight squeeze of his hand around her neck.

“You betrayed me,” he snarled at her.

The half-immortal's mask slipped and confusion showed through. The taiyoukai growled at her. Then it hit her. She remembered feeling the betrayal when Kanna was taking their souls. But he had it wrong. She didn't betray him, Naraku did. Tears flooded her eyes and Sesshoumaru jerked back.

Aniu quickly came to her feet, rubbing her neck. “Sesshoumaru I didn't betray you.”

“Bullshit,” he growled.

“Please believe me.”

The taiyoukai turned his back to her and began walking farther into the field.

The girl felt a numbness overcome her before she could stop it. Questions raged through her head-Did he still believe that? Did he still hate her? Did he still love her?-filled her mind. She looked at him and felt guilt and fear spill over that numbness until she started backing away from him.

The taiyoukai saw the girl backing up but didn't understand why. He stood up in the water and watched Aniu's eyes follow the water that dripped down his torso. He mentally smirked at the way he could still affect her but it was wiped away as her pace quickened through the water. What the hell?

She couldn't do it, she couldn't face him. Not if it was true. She would rather live in doubt than know the truth. Her eyes took in the puzzled expression on his face and she felt her own eyes fill with that confusion. At the same time, fear filled her being and she kept backing away from him.

“Aniu,” he said softly.

“No,” she said quickly. “I don't want to know.”

He arched a delicate eyebrow.

She shook her head. “I don't want to know.”

“Don't want to know what?”

She kept shaking her head but stopped moving away from him. He took this advantage and came closer to her, until he grabbed her upper arms. Aniu struggled desperately. She didn't want to hear this.

“Look at me,” he growled.

Her heavy, wet hair flew around her face and she struggled harder. They both knew that she could get out of his grasp if she so wished but for some reason she didn't try.

Then Aniu felt a prickling power crawl along her skin and her struggles stopped slightly. She hadn't felt this before and it was…weird. She struggled more, harder, more determined than ever to get away from him with the least amount of strength. Moving, she was moving in a circle, until she felt Sesshoumaru against her back instead of in front of her. He still had her upper arms between his hands. Aniu had a few seconds of confusion before she felt his fangs sink into her neck over the mark he had made before. She had forgotten about the small wound but now he made sure she knew it was there.

It was like he hit a button. Her body had gone limp in his arms and her mind felt like she was trying to think through fog. Aniu tried to shake her head of the feeling but was resulted with Sesshoumaru growling against her neck. The sound vibrated over her skin and brought a moan from her mouth.

Sesshoumaru's hands loosened their grip on her upper arms and glided down them. Aniu closed her eyes. His arms went around her waist to play with the soft curls of her bodice. The girl cried out in his arms. Now that he had her, he wanted answers.

His mouth came off her neck to breathe his hot breath into the junction of neck and shoulder. “Aniu,” he said softly, his warm breath sending goosebumps down her flesh.

“Hmm,” she mumbled.

“What is the matter?”

She shook her head but stopped when he dug his face into the crook of her neck.

“Tell me,” he growled.

She whimpered. “I don't want to know.”

“Know what,” he asked, voice soft.

The girl drew in a big breath. “I don't want to know…if you hate me.”

Aniu felt the frown against her skin but didn't understand it.

“Why would I hate you?”

“You were mad. You said I betrayed you. You didn't believe me,” she whispered and started to pull away from the taiyoukai.

His grip tightened and she felt him tense behind her a second before his fangs plunged into her and she calmed. He growled against her neck and made her shudder. His long fingers played slow circles in her curls. The taiyoukai's voice whispered through her mind, I could never hate you. You are too beautiful, my dear Aniu.

* * * * *