InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Lost Art of War ❯ To seize what is dear ( Chapter 2 )

The Lost Art of War

By Sasori and Shiro Hikage

Chapter 1: To take what is dear

If asked to cope with a great host of the enemy in orderly array and on the point of marching to the attack, I should say: “Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amendable to your will”

-Excerpt from Sun Tzu's Art of War

Awash in warmth of the afternoon light, the younger of the two women slowly began to drift to sleep to the calming ministrations of the jade comb gliding through her long onyx tendrils. A soft smile graced the older woman's peach colored lips as Rin's head lolled to the side before dropping on her lap. The miko grinned as the girls quiet breathing became a mixture of snorts and snoring. Ever since they had formed a friendship years before, during her quest for the Shikon no tama, Rin had been allowed to visit her frequently for a positive female influence.

To some, the scene would appear touching; that was not the case. Sneering in distaste at the scene, the youkai to his gaze away, settling on the man to his right.

“Take only the younger girl; she is the one he has requested”

Seeing the others nod in affirmation, he motioned for them to go.

Just as they were poised to ambush, the older girl stood abruptly, letting their target fall to the grass with an audible thump. In one fluid motion an arrow was pulled from a quiver on her back, a bow they hadn't noticed was drawn, the arrow was pulled and released; the arrow speeding towards their leader with a deadly accuracy. A second arrow was pulled roughly from its place in her quiver as the first pierced the demon's exterior jugular vein before embedding itself completely in his neck. The large group was shocked by the grotesque vision of their leader drowning in his own blood that had filled his esophagus and pooled in a crimson puddle as it spilt from his lips onto the grass below him. They were too shocked to notice the projectile surrounded in the miko's reiki that was in a path for the next unfortunate demon within her range. They were brought from their stupor when her second arrow connected with another demon's skull; he died swiftly before he was purified from existence.

Rin woke as the demons charged the pair from all directions, her shriek drowning out the sound of them drawing their weapons.

Ignoring her charges distress, Kagome slammed her palm into the ground letting her miko powers surge through the earth and spread out in a circle around them, effectively purifying the first wave of youkai as their feet touched down. She willed the same energy to rise from the ground and form a massive dome around them, letting it shrink in size till it was only a few feet in circumference.

Wisely, the rest of the youkai halted, glaring warily at the two before them. As they pulled back to strategize, Kagome took the time to check on Rin.

“Rin are you alright?”

The girl nodded “I'm just a little shook up”.

Glad her charge was safe, she turned her attention back to her opponents. There were twenty-four of them, and from the looks of it, they were not low-rank youkai. She realized with great trepidation that they were heavily armed. Scanning the crowd she spotted scimitars, lances, and even a menacing looking battleaxe that wore the rusted blood of previous battles. They all obviously favored her weapon of choice; each of them sporting expensive looking composite bows and two quivers' apiece. All of them wore black armor and matching tunics with red facings. The horsetail symbol on their iron and leather helmets, was not a crest she recognized from all of her travels. Some wore chain mail while others had lightweight quilted tunics on. They spoke in low tones in a language that was not Japanese. Foreigners.

She caught only a snippet of what they were saying, storing it in her memory for later use, hoping to identify where they were from.

“бїрÑл ;гÑÑ… тухайл& #208;°Ñ… Ñлгац гишїїн тайлга&# 209;‡” a fierce looking warrior growled out in the guttural language, jerking his head in their direction. The others nodded in agreement to whatever the brute had said.

“дахиР½ батлах? ” another demon asked, the others again nodded before facing the miko.

One of their strongest stepped forward, raising his large battleaxe and bringing it down on her barrier with alarming force. Though the barrier held true, there was no knowing how long it could withstand the assault. Her main objective was to protect the girl at her side, and she planned to do so at all costs. Staying in the barrier would only leave them both vulnerable.

“Rin, I want you to stay in the barrier no matter what” she ordered, looking fondly at the younger girl next to her.

“Kagome-sama! You can't go out there, you'll be killed!” Rin protested, tears already streaming down her face in distress as she reached desperately to take hold of the sleeve of her guardian's kimono in an attempt to stop her.

"Rin, listen to me! You will stay here and that's final! Do not leave the barrier until they are all dead," Kagome said authoritatively.

Jerking her sleeve from the sobbing girls grasp, she reached to her left hip, her hand clasping the hilt of her camouflaged katana and pulling the seasoned blade from its sheath.

Her eyes and katana took on an eerie blue glow as her miko powers flared to life and she stepped from the protective shield. As the burly demon brought his axe down to strike the barrier again, Kagome raised her sword to block the downward swing with her right hand, pulling an arrow from her quiver with her left and lodging it deep his gut and twisting it. He let out a pained howl as he fell to the miko's feet in agony.

The demon's thick blood began to seep under the barrier, staining the once green grass red. Rin gave the liquid a passing glance, unfazed, as she had seen great amounts of it spilled in her short lifetime. Normally her mentor was adverse to such barbaric acts of violence, and Rin was surprised to see her method of attack was far from clean. Though the girl had seen the miko fight before, never had she killed with such ferocity. Then again, she had never known the miko to use anything but her purification arrows and occasionally her katana.

The next few demons that charged her friend exploded into chunks of flesh when the miko let loose a devastating blast of raw power come forth from her blade as she swung it in a downward arc. The stench of the sizzling meat reaching past the barrier, making the girl's nose wrinkle in distaste. Rin came to the conclusion that when her miko friend was angered, she was unable to control the extent in which her powers raise, thus the gruesome destruction of her enemies' bodies. The younger girl began to worry, because though an angered opponent posses a great threat, they have no chance against one that has their rage in check.

Her worry was well placed.

The demons of lower intelligence had attacked first, while the wiser had stood and observed as their comrades where obliterated. They waited patiently for and opening and took it.

Rin cried out a second too late in warning as one of the stationary youkai rushed one of the miko's blind spots. Before Kagome could react, a punishing blow was dealt to her side, sending her flying across the clearing and into a tree. The sound of bones cracking and the tree shuddering brought more tears to Rin's eyes. As Kagome struggled to stand, the same youkai ghosted over to her friend, his scimitar reflecting the fiery sunset before the reflection was replace with the woman's blood. Rin watched on in horror as he slashed across her torso before stabbing her through her middle, pinning her to the giant oak.

Satisfied the miko would no longer pose a threat he walked toward the wailing young woman. Now that her protector's energy had vastly been weakened, so had the barrier. It became apparent that the barrier would not hold much longer. With little trouble he was able to get past the wall of energy and drag the distraught girl to her feet.

Kagome looked on as Rin was taken, trying desperately to free herself from the tree. She managed to yank the blade from her abdomen only to fall in a bloody heap at the base of the tree. She cried helplessly, as she was too injured to stand. She was loosing blood and consciousness fast, her vision almost failing her.

Defying her miko powers will to heal the injuries she had sustained, she used the last of her energy to send a wave of power to the only one that could save the girl now. Her energy rapidly flew across the land in search if him until she finally felt his aura, letting the energy wrap around him, she tugged urgently hoping that he'd come in time.

She opened her eyes one last time catching a glimpse of Rin and her captors as they exited the clearing. She sobbed miserably when they were no longer visible. That was her little Rin, the girl she had watched grow up into a beautiful young woman. That was the girl she considered a daughter.

The pain of failing her felt worse than the wounds and broken bones.