InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Kiss of Life ❯ The Kiss of Life ( Chapter 1 )

 

 

The Kiss of Life

Kirameki Izumi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

" Oh… I'm so sore." Kagome said as she rubbed her aching thighs." Inuyasha can't we stop at a village or something? We've been walking non stop for days and we haven't had one good nights sleep in ages."

" Damn, your such a weakling sometimes."

" Excuse me? Just because you're stronger than us doesn't give you license to call us weak!"

" Would you just be quiet already?"

" I'm just saying, you would be sore too if you weren't half demon."

" Keh! Stupid. As if I would be that whiney. Hey are you listening? !" Kagome was not listening however.

" I sense a sacred jewel shard."

" What! Where?"

" That way." Kagome pointed down the stream they had been walking by.

" Got it. Let's go!" Inuyasha knelt down to let Kagome climb onto his back while Miroku, Sango and Shippo climbed onto Kirara.

After some time they finally came upon a village that was in ruins.

" What happened?" said Kagome in horror.

Miroku glanced at the village with a puzzled stare. " I'm not sure. Let's go see if we can find a villager who can tell us what happened."

" Yeah, Okay." Kagome agreed.

Shippo ran forward and yelled " Hello! Is anyone here?"

" Who's there?" The comrades turned in the direction of the voice. There was a small boy poking his head out the doorway of a broken down hut.

Miroku walked a few steps toward the hut and said " Don't worry we won't harm you. We just want to know what happened here." The boy poked his head out a little further and stared with uncertainty for a few moments before he decided it was safe to come out. But the boy wasn't the only one there. Soon more people came out of hiding from their huts to look at the new strangers. Men, women and children of all ages appeared from behind the wreckage with fear and apprehension on their faces. The boy they had spotted was the first to speak.

" Our village has been terrorized by kappas for some time now."

" Kappas you say?"

" Yes. Usually the kappas would only attack if we went to far up the river and into their territory; but lately they have become bloodthirsty. They attack our village every day now. They destroy homes and crops and they devour our friends and family. It's been terrifying."

" I see, well, I suppose we'll have to investigate this."

" You mean you'll help us? Oh, thank you! Thank you so much! How can we thank you enough?"

" No need. Now where are these kappas of which you speak?" The boy turned and pointed to the river.

" If you go further down stream, you'll come across a lake that is surrounded by mist and trees. That is where they live."

" Alright then. No need to worry. We'll take care of this." The comrades then turned and began to make their way down stream. As the village began to fall out of sight they could hear the boy yell behind them.

" Thank you again! Our prayers will be with you!"

" Damn. We better get a jewel shard out of this. I'm tired of always having to stop and help people. We've got to find Naraku! We have no time for this!"

" Oh Inuyasha would you quit acting the part of the villain all the time."

" Keh!"

They walked for some time before mist began to settle on the ground they walked. The mist made it hard for them to see and it gave them a great feeling of unease.

" This place is giving me the creeps." Kagome said with a quiver in her voice.

" Relax would you. It's just a bunch of kappas. They'll hardly even be a threat." Inuyasha said confidently.

" True as that may be. The villagers said they had become more ruthless, which means it is very likely they have obtained a sacred jewel shard. It may be more difficult than you think." Miroku said warningly.

" Keh! Jewel shard or no jewel shard, I'll teach them a thing or two."

They continued making their way down the river; which was now beginning to widen. Large trees began to appear here and there. They twisted into shapes that seemed unnatural to this world, let alone for a tree. The trees soon began to thicken and become more numerous. Kagome began to feel more unease as they went along. She told herself she was probably just imagining things but at times the trees seemed to come alive. At times she thought she saw them move. At other times she thought she saw faces staring at them from the debts of the rotting trees. She looked down at Shippo who had been sitting in the comfort of her arms as they walked. He was shaking.

" Kagome? Is it just me, or does it seem like these trees move?" Shippo said in a quivering voice.

" I don't think it's you Shippo." Kagome looked back at Miroku and Sango. Even they seemed to be a little tense. Only Inuyasha seemed unaffected. As Kagome looked ahead, she could see a large body of water. This was even more eerie than the blinding mist and the moving trees had been. The water was dark and murky. It hardly even had the appearance of water. It looked more like a lake filled with thick oil than water. But what was more unnerving was the fact it was so silent. The lake had no movement in it what so ever. It looked like a large black mirror, never disturbed, always sucking whatever came within a stone's throw to the dark void of water.

" Hey! Show yourselves you stinking kappas! I haven't got all day!"

" He sure has a tendency to barge right in doesn't he?" said Miroku with a sigh.

" I'll say." Sango agreed.

In response, the water began to bubble, almost as if it was boiling and seething with anger. Suddenly, a great multitude of kappas burst to the surface, screeching a horrible cry. The kappas looked like yellow green monkeys with webbed feet, hands and gills. Their eyes glowed like yellow headlights through the thick mist as they made their way towards the shore of the lake. Inuyasha smirked and pulled out the Tetsusiaga.

"Keh, I'll blow them to pieces with my Tetsusiaga. Kagome? Can you see a jewel shard any where?" Kagome searched through the misty waters for the familiar light of the sacred jewel.

" I see it! But it's down deep within the lake. How will we get to it?"

" I guess we'll have to swim." Inuyasha sheathed his Tetsusiaga and began to walk towards the lake.

" Out of my way!" Inuyasha slugged a large group of kappas before he turned to the others.

" You guys stay here! Miroku, Sango, protect Kagome!"

" Got it." Sango confirmed as Inuyasha turned back and began to fight his way through the kappas.

" Hiraikotsu! Sango cried as she knocked ten kappas back into the water. Miroku followed suit and began knocking kappas on the head with his staff.

" Devine Punishment!" Miroku had just thrown the last five kappas into the lake with the help of his staff and sacred sutras.

" We did it!" Kagome cried in excitement, but she realized she had been celebrating to soon.

" What the Hell!" Kagome turned to see Inuyasha standing with water up to his knees now as he stared in shock at a giant whirlpool that was rising from the water.

" Don't just stand there and gawk! Run!" Inuyasha yelled in warning to the others. Kagome turned to make her way from the lake but she felt herself lose her footing as the whirlpool sucked her in. Kagome could feel herself whirling around at great speed as she began to choke from her lungs filling with water. She forced her eyes to open to see what was going on. She could see all of her friends whirling in the water along with her. "Oh no! They were sucked in too!" Kagome spotted Inuyasha, who was straining his eyes open as he looked in her direction. He stared at her in shock as he yelled "Kagome look out!"

"Huh?" Kagome soon felt her leg being grasped by a slimy, webbed hand. Kagome looked down to see a kappa grabbing hold of her, which was soon followed by another and another.

" Let me go!" Kagome tried to knocked them of with her fists but her arms were soon grabbed and held fast by yet more kappas. She kicked and struggled with all her might but they held her fast and tight. Her head began to whirl from exhaustion and lack of air as her world soon became black.

" Kagome!" Inuyasha tried to swim towards Kagome and pull the kappas away but he was thrown back out of the whirlpool before he could reach her.

" Damn!" He cursed as he coughed water out from his lungs. He looked around to see that Sango, Miroku, Kirara and Shippo were also lying next to him. Shippo opened his eyes and looked around in shock.

"Where's Kagome?"

" Those damn kappas dragged her down with them." Miroku, Sango, and Kirara soon began to stir also.

" They must have taken her because she had sacred jewel shards." Miroku said as he rose from the ground.

" Yeah, well they're gonna regret it." Inuyasha turned back to the lake in red, hot anger and plunged back into the dark water. " I'll go get Kagome. I can stand the pressure of the water better than the rest of you." And with that Inuyasha took in a deep breath and dived under. He swam with great swiftness through the murky water. He had to move as quickly as possible. Kagome's life would be in greater jeopardy if he didn't. As he made his way further down, the water became even darker. Inuyasha eyes strained though the darkness as the water became as black as ink. "Damn, it will take to long to find her if the water stays dark like this. I won't make it in time." Inuyasha stopped suddenly. There was something ahead of him. He swam farther down and stopped to see what it was. He soon saw yellow headlights looking around to see what had made the noise. The kappa stood paused for a moment and then swam on, apparently deciding that it was nothing of concern. "Keh! I'll just follow him." Inuyasha began to swim after the kappa, making sure to always keep a good distance between them so that he would not be seen. After what seemed like a considerable amount of time, the kappa and Inuyasha finally made it to the mouth of an underwater cave. The kappa went inside the cave, soon followed by Inuyasha. The kappa then took a sharp turn to the right and disappeared. Inuyasha swam after it but just ran into a dead end. "Damn, where did it go? Unless…" Inuyasha kicked himself upwards and he felt himself emerge above water. He quietly stepped out of the water and shook himself off before he continued making his way through the cave. It was just as dark or darker than the water had been. If it weren't for his keen sense of hearing, he would have got lost. For he could still hear the webbed feet of the kappa hitting the ground as it walked in the distance. Inuyasha followed after the webbed feat with great stealth, he was as soundless as a shadow. "Please be alright Kagome." Walking in the silent darkness of the cave, Inuyasha began to have frightening thoughts of what might have happened to Kagome. What if they had devoured her already? "No. Kagome has too much a tenacious streak to allow that. Right?" Inuyasha turned away from his worries and looked to see that the cave began to grow light as he followed the kappa further into the cave. He also began to hear the horrible screeching of the other kappas in the cave. Inuyasha spotted a large stalagmite and hid behind it as the kappa entered a large room in the cavern where a large host of kappas were surrounding Kagome. She was laying motionless, eyes closed, on the moist ground of the cavern. Inuyasha could feel anger coursing through his vanes. "How dare they?" Inuyasha cleared his mind and began to look around for the leader. "No doubt the leader has the sacred jewel shards. But it's going to be more difficult to find the jewel shards without Kagome's sight." Then he finally spotted it. The dominating kappa was larger than all the others around it, and it was looking gleefully at the small bottle of jewel shards that they had taken from Kagome. "That's him." Inuyasha stepped out of the shadows and pulled out his Tetsusiaga.

"That little trick of yours won't work on me again, so I hope you're all prepared to die!" The kappas all looked at Inuyasha in great astonishment. Apparently nothing had ever made it down that far before. The kappas screamed angrily and lunged at Inuyasha. But Inuyasha was too quick. " Wind Scar!" Thirty of the kappas were blown away. The remaining kappas cried out in fear and tried to escape. The dominate kappa, however, had other plans and screeched at them to stay put. The other kappas seemed to be more frightened by their leader than the Tetsusiaga, so they remained where they were.

" Keh! Fine with me. I'll blow you all apart." Inuyasha began to raise the Tetsusiaga for another blow. But before he could perform the Wind Scar, the dominating kappa lunged for Kagome and held it's deadly sharp claws to her neck.

"Damn! I can't use the Wind Scar." Inuyasha sheathed his Tetsusiaga and stared angrily at the dominating kappa. The kappa let out a high pitch scream, which seemed to be a laugh as it smiled gleefully at Inuyasha's distress.

" Don't think it's so easy to beat me." Inuyasha quickly lunged at the kappa while it was distracted by it's own laughter "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" The kappa screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Inuyasha turned and picked up Kagome to see if she had been harmed. She was still breathing. Suddenly the kappa lunged back and grabbed hold of Inuyasha's neck.

" Damn it! I've had about enough of you!" Inuyasha could feel the sharp claws of the kappa digging and pulling off his flesh as he wrenched the kappa off his neck. Blood was trickling down his neck as he gasped for air. The kappa had tried to strangle him, and he had to admit, the jewel shard had definitely made the kappa more formidable than a regular kappa. But it was still just a kappa.

" Let's try hitting you everywhere at once." Inuyasha dipped his fingers into his dripping blood and yelled " Blades of Blood!" The kappa was about to lunge for his neck again but stopped in mid air as Inuyasha's attack struck him.

" I did it." Inuyasha had hit just right. He could see the tainted jewel shard being pushed out by his attack. The kappa gave a final screech in defeat and anguish, and finally disintegrated into dust. The remaining kappas screamed in fear and scattered out into dark corners of the cave in order to escape from the same fate as their master's. Inuyasha ignored them, however and turned back to Kagome. Inuyasha gasped in horror. Kagome had stopped breathing.

" Kagome wake up! Don't let something as stupid as a kappa beat you!" Kagome made no response. Panic began to rush through him. He had to do something. Then it hit him. Inuyasha slowly lowered his face to Kagome's and with extraordinary gentleness, bestowed her the kiss of life. Inuyasha moved away, praying it had worked. It had. Kagome began to cough the water up out of her lungs and her eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Inuyasha?"

"Are you alright Kagome?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. The last thing I remember was when the kappas began to drag me under water. It was frightening. Everything went dark and I had trouble breathing."

" Well it's over now. Come on." Inuyasha then gingerly picked up the soaking Kagome and the jewel shards as he told her to hold her breath before they returned to the water.

Inuyasha found his way through the lake much quicker than when he had first entered it. In a few short moments, they resurfaced to where they had first seen the lake. Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara were all sitting by a campfire they had built in order to keep warm. All of their faces looked worn and full of anxiety before they looked up to see Inuyasha supporting Kagome out of the water. Their faces immediately light up.

"Kagome! Thank goodness your safe!" Shippo yelled in excitement.

"Are you alright Kagome?" Sango yelled in concern.

"Your not hurt are you?" Miroku asked

"I'm alright. Thank you for being concerned."

" Kagome, you're shivering." Miroku said

" I'm alright."

"You better warm up before you catch cold." Sango said warningly.

"Really it's nothing. I'm fine."

"Maybe we should look for more medicinal herbs. I'll help." Shippo said with enthusiasm.

" I told you I'm fine. You don't need to worry."

" No, Shippo is right. I'll go look for some medicinal herbs and make a special broth for you." Then Miroku turned to the forest and began his search.

" Yes, and I'll go get some more firewood."

" And I'll go help." Then Sango, Shippo and Kirara turned towards the forest and joined Miroku.

" They're right you know. You're shaking terribly."

" I'm alright."

" Quit acting like it's nothing! Because it's not! We're not taking a chance of you getting sick. Here you need this more than I do." Inuyasha took off his red kimono and tenderly wrapped Kagome in it. To Kagome's surprise, it was already dry and comfortably warm.

" Thank you."

" You should probably go sit by the fire too." Inuyasha said now blushing a little.

" Okay." Inuyasha then helped Kagome carefully take a seat next to the blazing fire. It felt so relieving.

" Jeez! Your hands are as cold as ice." Inuyasha sat next to Kagome and warmed Kagome's tender hands within his strong calloused ones.

" Thanks." Kagome said softly now blushing. But she wasn't the only one.

" Just want to make sure your okay that's all." Inuyasha said blushing even more. Kagome smiled sleepily. She was so worn out from the day's events and so comfortable and warm that she dozed off on Inuyasha's shoulder. Inuyasha blushed and smiled. He then rested his head on Kagome's and put his arms around her so that she would stay warm. He sniffed in her sweet fragrance and was soon lulled to sleep himself. Thinking how happy he was that Kagome was safe.

 

 

The others soon returned and found Inuyasha and Kagome in the same position, still slumbering.

" Should we wake them?" Sango said questioningly

" No. Let's just let them sleep. They've had a rough day from what I can tell. We can give Kagome some medicine tomorrow." Soon all the comrades were fast asleep and having sweat dreams, especially a certain two who cared about each other very much.