InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Presence of Autumn ❯ The Hidden Battle ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

*puppy eyes* Can I have it for Christmas?

Chapter 4: The Hidden Battle

They set down in a patch of dense woods and crept forward as quietly as possible, avoiding snags of deadwood and patches of dry fallen leaves. In this manner they were able to witness the end of the ensuing battle.

Inuyasha could hear it long before anyone else. His ears were rock steady as he concentrated all of his efforts on catching the slash of claws on flesh, the sickening crunch of breaking bone. The others even heard the cry of agony that followed the sound of a body hitting the ground. When they were nearly there, Inuyasha parted the undergrowth slightly to see what was going on. He had to suppress the urge to snarl and leap straight into the midst of the battle.

Blocking part of his view was a large rock, just out of arms' reach. To the right his view was clear however, and in that space was the hunched form of Naraku in his baboon pelt. He was not a part of the battle, but stood motionless to one side observing. Only partially visible was the large form of a scorpion demon. Many of its legs were crumpled beneath it, broken and bleeding, and there were many deep gashes along the underside of its body, but the deadly poisonous tail was still very much a threat.

With blinding speed the tail shot forward and stabbed at something on the ground in front of it. Something blocked from view by the rock in Inuyasha's field of vision. The tail shot forward several times in rapid succession, sending up a spout of earth at each blow. He could hear the heavy breathing of the person hidden by the rock, and he could definitely smell the alluring aroma they gave off.

He heard a gasp and he was surprised to realize that the battle was being fought by a female. He heard her roll and grunt softly at the impact. Then she dashed briefly into view and leapt into a long arc in the air, sailing clear over the top of the scorpion. She was moving so fast that all he saw of her was a fan of long gray and black hair and a flash of deepest green fabric. At the peak of her jump she turned a somersault and lashed out with a scattering of brilliant gold and blue energy blades, something similar in form to Inuyasha's Blades of Blood attack. They slammed into the scorpion, knocking it down and shredding much of its body. It struggled for a moment to rise but collapsed in defeat as the female demon changed direction in midair and delivered a killing blow with a mighty kick. The scorpion collapsed.

The female jumped again to land outside of the reach of the still twitching body, her back to Inuyasha's position. She sank to her knees and bowed her head, panting from exhaustion, and her tail curled forward to wrap around her knees. Naraku rose to his feet and began a slow clap of applause.

"You have done well again, my sweet flower." Naraku announced quietly in his cold voice. "Now collect the jewel shard and we'll move to our next target."

The female's head slumped and her shoulders shook, the muscles trembling from exhaustion. "Naraku, I can't. I have to rest." Her voice was taxed with strain, and trembled slightly in the same manner as her muscles. Nevertheless, she still had a beautiful voice. It was throaty and slightly breathless at present, but the timbre was warm and held a wealth of inflection.

"Nonsense, my flower." Naraku said. "You have at least one more battle in you."

"You can't keep driving me like this!" She exclaimed, jerking her head up. "You're going to kill me."

Naraku laughed. It was a cold sound that sent chills down Inuyasha's spine. "And why should I care if you live?"

She shook her head in defeat.

Inuyasha felt Kagome stir beside him. She tugged lightly on the edge of his haori and he turned his head to look at her.

She whispered as quietly as she could, barely making a sound but knowing that Inuyasha would hear. "She has a ring of shards around her neck, set in some sort of collar. There are about eight of them there, and she has more on her somewhere. I can sense them but I can't see them."

Inuyasha jerked his head slightly to acknowledge that he'd heard her and turned back to peer into the clearing.

The female rose to her feet and staggered haltingly into the wreckage of the scorpion's body, rummaging until she found the tip of the tail. She slashed into it with her claws and turned to come back out of the wreckage. When he finally caught a good look at her Inuyasha nearly gasped.

She was an inu-hanyou! A half-dog demon! The soft black tipped ears on top of her head were evidence more glaring than a brightly painted sign. Her hair was long, about mid-thigh length, and mostly a dark, filthy silvery gray. The ends of her hair were black as midnight and faded up into the grayness of the rest of her hair about a foot from the ends. Her tail was long and matted, it reached just a bit longer than her feet so she held it up off the ground unconsciously, and its tip was also jet black fading into gray about a quarter of the way up. Her bangs were long and framed her face messily, also black at the ends fading up into dingy white. Her eyes however stood out from the filth, they were such a marvelous shade of brilliant emerald green that they seemed to glow with their own inner light, and her skin was tan but smudged with dirt and blood as if from many fights and long hours on the road. Her legs were long and clad in a pair of deepest green hakama, while her haori was a grimy, patchy tan in color.

"Bring me the shard, my flower." Naraku whispered coldly.

"I'm not your damn flower." She hissed. But she did switch directions and make her way over to him. Inuyasha could see that the expression on her face was filled with loathing. "You don't want me dead. How will you get more shards if I'm dead?"

Naraku laughed. Suddenly the collar flashed a poisonous purpley-black and the female hit the ground like a rock. "My dearest flower, if you die I'll simply return to your village and slaughter everyone I find. Including your family."

Her face went pale as snow as she struggled to raise herself to her knees. "No. No, don't harm Kintaro and Natsumi! They're only kids; they can't defend themselves! My mother is only human! Naraku, please, I-"

"The solution is simple then, dear flower." Naraku purred as he touched one of her cheeks lightly with his claws.

From her knees she glared death up at him even as her hand rose tremblingly to pass him the shard.

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(A/N) Also slightly short, but I wanted there to be a break between chapters 3 and 4. For flow reasons… Okay, for my own piece of mind. What do I gotta do to some reviews around here?