InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Freedom ❯ Three ( Chapter 3 )

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

 When the trio arrived at the headman’s manor the scene wasn’t pretty. The men had gone out to the harbor to trade with their neighboring villagers. The women were left behind, their faces grim and tight around the mouth as they tried unsuccessfully to dig out the remaining survivors.

“Out of the way, out of the way.” Ma used her walking stick to push her way to the front of the crowd. The women exchanged knowing looks as they tried poorly to hide their contempt for the old woman who bore an abomination, but when they saw that she was flanked by one of Lord Dog’s sons they grudgingly bowed and payed their respects.

“What happened here?” Inuyasha asked as he shifted impatiently from foot to foot. He could smell that there were several people trapped underneath, their vital signs faint. But something else bothered him, he sensed yoki but could not identify its source.

A young girl, threw herself prostate at his feet and he frowned in disgust.

“Lord Dog, thank goodness you’re here! We were going about our daily business when the headmen’s inn began to tremble. There was a mighty storm a fortnight ago, and then our village was hit by another disaster. We sent a messenger to let the men know, but no one has come to our aid.” Inuyasha walked away from the groveling woman and bounded towards the mouth of the landslide and began clearing the rubble.

It seemed like he was at it for hours before he found the first victim. A servant girl, barely out of puberty. His ears flickered as he listened to her pulse, and heard a slow sluggish thumping of her heart that let him know that she was just barely alive.

“Hold on kid, don’t die on me.” He carefully carried her and prepared to leap up when something prickled at his consciousness. He peered into the darkness and inhaled deeply as the uneasy feeling made his gut tighten. He launched himself back above ground and laid the girl on the side where Ma and the woman rushed to her side.

“There’s three more, but there buried deeper and I’m not sure if they’re still alive.” He admitted quietly. Kagome got up to where she was assisting the injured, and she peered down into the path that he cleared before turning to him with a worried expression.

“Inuyasha, there’s something else down there and whatever it is it’s moving fast.” He was surprised and strangely pleased to hear her say his name without the honorific, but he knew that she was right. It was too risky for him to use his sword and threaten another landslide, but he wasn’t afraid. Something in the woman’s countenance shifted again, and she looked uneasy.

“Don’t worry, the bastards good at hiding but it’s probably one of those root yokai that like to make burrows in mountainous areas.” He didn’t know what compelled him, but he wanted to make her believe in his strength and he smirked when she offered him a relieved half smile.

“Please you must save my poor boy!” A plump woman rushed over to the pair and threw herself at Inuyasha’s feet. He guessed that from her fine robes that she was the headman’s wife, and later she had confirmed that the young girl was indeed one of her servants. Inuyasha never liked when humans threw themselves at his feet, especially when they whispered about his heritage when they thought that he couldn’t hear them.

“Lady, I’ll do my best, but I can’t promise you anything.” She began to break down in loud, unpleasant sobs that set his teeth on edge and rolled his shoulders as he worked to remove the rest of the rubble until he could make his way underground.

“Shit.” He reached two of the three bodies, two of them were crushed under large boulders and he covered his nose at the smell of the dead bodies expelling the last of its waste. His ears perked up and he heard the unmistakable sound of crunching and he let out a warning growl. His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and he saw a flash of grisly teeth open and swallow a mangled human body.

“Show yourself.” Inuyasha ordered as he flexed his claws and prepared to attack. The demon finished chewing, and swallowed its meal before it cast a baleful eye at the intruder who dared to interrupt it.

The demon gave an inhuman screech before charging at the half demon lord, who narrowly dodged a barrage of spikes that thudded against the cavern walls. Inuyasha dug his claws into his arm, and channeled his yoki into his claws and took his enemy by surprise when he retaliated with his blades of blood, and it narrowly dodged his attack. 

“Feh. You’re pathetic, you’ve been hiding out here and feeding off defenseless humans.” Inuyasha goaded, and like a charm the demon charged at him and he smirked in anticipation, but suddenly mid charge it froze, and its tentacles quivered.

“Come on, I won’t let you back down now.” Inuyasha tried to egg it on, instead the demon shot right past him and was heading right up to the surface where the woman and children were waiting on him to retrieve the rest of their loved ones.

What’s that son of a bitch up to? He cursed as he chanced a glance at the ground littered with human skull and he saw the severed head of the boy and he closed his eyes as a burst of anger propelled him.

He quickly trailed the beast, and knew that it was heading towards the surface and he scowled in aggravation as the walls and ground beneath him quaked. His eyes widened a fraction, as a violent quake followed suit which triggered a new landslide. The ground beneath his feet crumbled as he was plunged deeper into the darkness. The last thing that he remembered was the woman’s face slicing through his consciousness as a slab of rocks and rubble rained down on his head and his world faded to black

 

Kagome wiped her brow, as she helped Ma bring the frail girl back to the world of the living. She was still unconscious, but with her vital signs stabilized she would be okay. She gladly accepted the proffered water that one of the village woman handed to her. They were wary of her, and she heard their whispers without wanting to.

What’s the priestess doing with the old crone, and the bastard Lord?

Maybe she’s conspiring with the demons. Nothing is what it should be these days.

Where did she say she came from?

I believe the old crone said she was a traveling priestess. Hmph, no respectable priestess keeps the company of demons.

Maybe she has come to see the headman. There’s been talk about a demon infestation not too far from here.

She gritted her teeth and tried to focus on the tangible. Ma had gone back to her hut to intercept Jinenji, to begin to prepare digging graves for those who did not survive. What a bunch of ungrateful… She didn’t get to finish that last thought, because suddenly the ground shook violently causing an uproar.

She cast a panicked glance at the path that Inuyasha had cleared, as the tunnel caved in and was swallowed by more rubble. Inuyasha! She thought frantically. Something else brushed at her consciousness as she cursed. Yoki. Her instincts were right, something besides the human survivors were trapped underground.

“Quick, get back to your huts. It isn’t safe here.” She warned the woman, who looked bewildered and terrified.

“You,” She pointed to a young boy, “Get me a bow and quiver, now.” She ordered, as the child scrambled from his mother’s side to do as the priestess had asked, but it was too late. Something thrust from the ground showering her with rocks and debris.

A tangled beast with one menacing eye trained on her let out an inhuman screech as it began salivating. It ignored the chorus of screams and stampede of women grabbing their children and rushing to get to a safe place.

“Priestess, you possess the shikon of legend. You will hand it over and maybe I’ll spare your life.” Her eyes widened then narrowed. She hadn’t heard of the shikon of legend, since her grandfather. What the hell is it talking about? I don’t have such a thing, and even if I did I’d never hand it over to the like of this demon.

“As if! how would a tumble weed like you know about it anyway?” She said with more confidence than she felt as she tried to buy herself some time. Kagome stood her ground even though her heart thundered in her chest, and she broke out in a cold sweat. She wasn’t expecting the demon to laugh, making her skin crawl.

“I almost forgot how amusing mortals are.  You can’t fool me girl, but if you want to play tricks I’ll swallow you along with the jewel!” She broke out in a dead run as the demon attempted to grab her with its tentacles. She ran in the opposite direction of where the woman and children were hiding and towards the dense woods.

Kagome yelped in fright as she narrowly dodged a barrage of spikes that sunk into a young elm tree, as she chanced a glance over her shoulders. The demon lashed out again and meant to strike her feet, but she used the adrenaline pumping in her blood to dodge and roll into a crouch as she reached inside of her robes for the cooking knife.

 

She charged her knife like she would charge an arrow and flung the blade with all her strength where it struck the beast in the center of its eye. The enraged screams of the demon caused it to lash out with another barrage of spikes as she dove for cover and tried in vain to catch her breathe.

“M-Miss?” Her eyes widened as the child she had sent of moments before stood shivering in the cold with wide frightened eyes, holding the bow a quiver she had asked for.

“What are you doing, get out of here!” She ordered, but it was too late. The demon sensing easy prey recovered and shot a tangle of roots that wrapped around the child’s neck and dragged the boy’s body in the dirt as he cried in fear. Kagome dived for the bow, her body taut with fear.

“Don’t you dare.” She warned through gritted teeth as she watched the boys face turn a deathly pallor as the demon tortuously played with its prey.  

“If you value this child’s life, then you will do exactly as I say.” She knew the second she let her arrow loose that she would be forfeiting the child’s life. And she felt angry tears spark her eyes as she lowered her bow. Suddenly, something barreled into the demon, causing it to lose its grip on the child.

“Leave them alone!” A familiar voice shot out, and she turned with grateful eyes as she saw Jinenji wearing an expression that she had never seen on his face as he wrestled with the demon.

“You dare interfere, you miserable half breed!” It wrapped its tentacles around Jinenji’s massive neck, and used its advantage to send Jinenji reeling back as it unleashed another barrage of spikes. She quickly ran to the unconscious child and shielded him as a spike buried itself in her shoulder and she cried in pain. When the dust cleared she saw that Jinenji had taken the brunt of the attack, and he was bleeding badly.

The demon was laughing gleefully.

“Weakling! I’ve had enough of this, this ends now priestess!”

She didn’t have time to react, as it shot a tangle of roots and entangled her in its grasp. She let out a wordless scream as the demon slowly squeezed the life out of her and she saw her life flash before her eyes. Maybe this was how it was meant to be. She thought as she closed her eyes accepting her fate, until something niggled at her consciousness. Use it! The voice whispered urgently. It was an unfamiliar voice and she tried searching the recess of her mind, but it was no use. Use it, you foolish girl!

Use what? The voice didn’t answer, instead she silted her eyes as the demon opened its mouth to reveal a row of sharp jagged teeth and the pain receded to the back of her mind as she realized that it had meant to eat her alive. I don’t want to die! 

She felt a surge of power rise, as she let loose a blast of pink light that purified the demon to ash.  She fell hard, as the demon’s limbs disintegrated, and she landed on her injured shoulder with a pained groan.

It took several moments for her to come back down to earth. Her head felt light, and she felt as if she was floating down from a cloud. Her shoulder throbbed insistently, and she raised her hands up staring in rapt fascination at the unblemished flesh. Did I do that? She tried to search for the voice, and pin down the source of the strange power. Somehow, she knew that whatever it was, it was different from her normal capabilities.

Could it be? She could feel those red threads tighten ever so slightly as she got up to her feet and could not stop from trembling, That the shikon jewel truly exists, and that I am somehow involved?

She stumbled as she made her way back to the site of the landslide, too afraid to finish the thought. With cold dread she began digging through the landslide, putting her body on automatic as she used what little strength she had to move away the rubble.

 

Inuyasha awakened with a heavy throb that started at the back of his skull. He inhaled slowly as his senses adjusted, and he felt a sharp stab in his side that made him wince. Gingerly, he sat up as the throbbing in his head intensified and he let lose a string of curses.

Judging from the sound of dripping water, he knew that he must’ve fell quite a distance. His mind flashed to the solemn priestess, as a stab of dread and a feeling that he could not name caused panic to seize his chest.

That son of a bitch must’ve been hiding out here all this time. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose in disgust as he kicked a small mountain of human skulls as the smell of decay made his head feel light.

“I’m coming.” He prayed that he wasn’t too late. He knew from his first meeting that the woman wasn’t helpless, and he was sure that she could hold her own. His ears flickered once, and he could here that someone was coming.  The noxious smells emanating from the cave was interfering with his sense of smell, but he could hear grunting. Very human grunting. It can’t be

Several meters above his head, on a craggy niche, a dim light shone down on him as he looked up and saw a familiar dirt streak face of the woman illuminated by a torch of light rushing to save him. He smelled her fatigue and the stench of yokai’s blood, and he furrowed his brow in confusion.

“Inuyasha! Thank goodness, you’re okay. Can you move?” He could hear the concern in her voice and for a moment, he was distracted by the woman worrying over his wellbeing.

“Yeah, something triggered another landslide and I ended falling deeper in this god forsaken place.”

“Hold on, I’ll make a bigger opening so that we can get out of here.” He heard her struggling with the rubble, but gradually the light got bigger until he could make out her slim figure. He easily leapt up on the ledge and where she was panting heavily, but she graced him with a relieved smile.

“How the hell did you manage to come down here by yourself?” He asked in amazement, he would have eventually found his way out. But the woman had managed to surprise him again.

“I also grew up in a mountainous region. During attacks, we had to evacuate in the tunnels. I figured that it would be the same set up and the further I got, the more I realized that you were probably buried deeper in the mountains. Someone had already dug out a tunnel and I had a hunch that it would take me to you.” She said breathily as she managed to catch her breath.

“You’re bleeding.” On his own accord, his finger brushed at her shoulder, where a red stain was becoming more pronounced and without asking her permission, he pushed her sleeve off her shoulders to reveal her wound. Kagome hissed in protest.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She asked sharply, as she removed herself from his grasp. He seemed to catch himself and reeled away from her as if her touched burned him.

“Sorry.” Inuyasha offered lamely, and he felt the compulsion to bash his head against the rocks. The woman brought something out of him, for reasons he didn’t understand, and he had to fight the strange impulse to protect her. He knew that he was fighting a losing battle with his instincts which caused him to grind his teeth. He was not expecting her to laugh at his expense, and he watched in disbelief as her shoulders shook and she covered her mouth.

“What’s so funny wench?” He demanded with more bite than he felt.

“I guess we’re even now.” Kagome smiled cheekily, and he snorted trying to dismiss the blow to his pride.

“Feh. I didn’t ask for your help and I’m not so weak that I’d depend on a frail human woman.” He was a more than capable and competent warrior and his pride would never allow him to openly admit that a woman had come to his rescue.

“You sure are arrogant, a thank you would’ve been nice. And would it kill you to use my name? My name isn’t woman, or wench. It’s Kagome” She didn’t know why she was letting the arrogant lord get under her skin, but she tried to reign in her temper as he openly dismissed her.

“Whatever wench. Come on, we don’t have all day to be wasting oxygen.” He led the way and sure enough she was right about the tunnels. Lucky guess. He shrugged, but something had been bothering him. Slowly they made their way back to the surface, and the sight that met his eyes caused his eyebrows to raise into his hairline.

“You did this?” He motioned to the dead yokai, and was grateful that there were no casualties.  He followed her line of vision as she began rapidly making her way to Jinenji who was unconscious and badly wounded.

“Yes...but it was an accident.”

“What do you mean accident?” And she told him, everything except the part about the demon demanding that she give it the shikon jewel and the voice inside her head goading her on. Inuyasha stood in stunned silence as his mind begin to put together the pieces.  Shit, was I out for that long?

“So you mean to tell me, that you’re a priestess, yet you have no control over your own power?” He snorted derisorily and she felt her face heat up in embarrassment. It was a cheap shot, but Inuyasha used the insult to cover up his own shock, as he wondered what else the woman was capable of. She’s more dangerous than she looks. Sesshomaru would want to know about this.

His mood darkened as he thought about his half-brother.

“It’s not my fault. The demon took a hostage and I couldn’t use my bow, I was taken by surprise and one thing led to the next.” Her indignation had made her reveal much more than she wanted to and suddenly she felt the fight leave her. He had begun to look at her like the villagers did when they thought that she wasn’t looking. They looked at her like she was a danger to herself and everyone around her. She turned her back on the rude lord and felt a terrible loneliness suddenly take root. What did it matter? What did any of this matter.

“If you’ll excuse me Lord Inuyasha, but Jinenji needs my assistance.” She mechanically tended to his wounds while apologizing for not being stronger. Inuyasha sensed a shift in her mood as she exuded an air of sadness that made him feel guilty. When she was done, she turned to rigidly march in the opposite direction where the woman and children were still hiding, and she knew that someone had to tell the headman’s wife about her deceased son.

Inuyasha felt the compulsion to comfort her rise in him as he reached for her.

“Wait. Kagome, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.” He didn’t know why he felt compelled to apologize, and he wished for the first time that he could say the right things and not make a complete ass of himself. She has already gone through a terrible ordeal, with being crucified and all. Do you think you can be less of an ass for once?

“Forget it. I never wanted to be a priestess anyway and I wish everyone would stop treating me like I’m supposed to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders.” She tried to walk away, but his hand on her shoulder stopped her from leaving.

“Then why don’t you stop carrying it” Inuyasha felt drawn to her and she searched his face in confusion, as she turned towards him. He didn’t fight his instincts as he cupped her cheek and saw as she tried in vain to hold up her chin. He was so close that he felt her tremble, but slowly her expression closed off and she turned her head away as a curtain of hair hid her expression from him.

“You don’t know what you’re saying. I’ve probably kept you from your duties. But I have one favor to ask.” She was back to using the same clipped tone full of propriety and he backed down as his instincts raged inside of him.

“Take me back to my village and I’ll be out of your hair.”  She needed to know what became of her people, but now she felt something else compelling her.

Inuyasha frowned, as he watched the emotions shift and he tried to search her scent for clues, as he felt the same helplessness from his human night. He growled inwardly to himself. She’s not my responsibility. But it’s the least that I can do and it’s probably for the best.

“Deal. It’ll be at least a couple days from here.” He regarded the setting and inwardly sighed. Sesshomaru is going to kill me, I can’t believe I got suckered into this.

 

“Come on, let’s lug Jinenji back home and see if the hag will house us for another night.”