InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Vengeance ❯ Chapter Sixteen: Never Forget! ( Chapter 17 )

A/N: Sorry about how long it took me to update. I made it up with three new chapters! I just needed to work the bugs out and revamp them. Special thanks to Pallas Athena and Wicca, who both asked for clarification, and to Feminafures, who's story "Hot Like Fire" is inspiring. Mucho gracias to Shinigama Clara, whose ideas on/for Kagura are proving VERY helpful! Thank you again for all the reviews, and I have finally put my mailing list together. If anyone else wants on, let me know!

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any of Rumiko Takahashi's characters or stories. This story is for private entertainment purposes only.

Chapter Sixteen (Never Forget!)

Sango tensed even before she felt the rumble of Kirara's growl. Narrowing her eyes against the sun, she brought a hand up to shield against the brilliant glare, scanning the rocky hills below for any sign of danger.

"W-What is it, Sango?" Shippo, huddled before her and clutching the neko's ruff with his small paws, squinted his green eyes against the flare of sunlight as the sun passed from behind a cloud.

"You see something?" Miroku's voice was nearly lost in the howl of the wind as it passed through the flying friends.

"I sense some type of demonic presence." Sango's voice was grim. Kirara's hiss answered her.

"I don't feel anything..." Miroku raised his own hand to shield his eyes, scanning the rocky ground far below. Seeing nothing, he curled his palm around his mouth and called, "InuYasha!"

The hanyou ran the hills below them, slightly behind the flying neko. With no helpful forest for him to jump through, he had allowed Kirara to out distance him. InuYasha gave an incredible leap, fanning his silver-white hair behind him, and allowed the sleeves of his red haori to expand like fabric wings.

At Sango's urging, Kirara descended to come abreast of the gliding hanyou. "InuYasha!"

"What is it?" He asked gruffly, eyes intent on the ground below, looking for a (somewhat) softer cushion to land and leap from.

Kirara growled an answer.

InuYasha's eyes glowed. "Youkai..."

The hanyou descended to the earth, reaching for Tetsusaiga reflexively.

Shippo shook his red head. "That dumb dog. We can't stop and fight a stupid demon. We have to find Kagome!"

Sango patted the small shoulder even as she released the strap of her Hiraikotsu with her other hand. Miroku's hands tightened on his staff, making the rings chime. Without urging, Kirara descended closer to the small passage between two crag-faced hills. A glimpse of green forest behind the rocky hills gave a hint of the valley beyond them.

"Look! There!" Miroku pointed past Sango at the green valley. Strange white lights danced over the forest.

"Souls!" Sango bit out, eyes narrowing in sudden anger. *And where there are souls...there's Kikyo. Why, oh why does she have to interfere now?*

"Kikyo?" Miroku followed the thought with a grimace.

"InuYasha!" Sango called out. The hanyou had leapt again, to pass through the steep hills. He did not look up at her call, but Sango could see his strong shoulders stiffen as Tetsusaiga flared to life.

A long white ribbon came up from the looming forest, swirling its way toward the group. A second joined the first, and Kirara roared. An answering hiss from the white youkai swept up to them on the wind. More Soul Collectors were winding their way toward the friends.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango released her powerful boomerang, which spun toward the hissing youkai. The first two easily swirled around the weapon, but the next two were cut in half, dissolving with hinted screams that barely whispered on the wind.

"Ahh! Sango! They're still coming!" Shippo cowered against Kirara's fur. The cat roared in response.

"They are trying to distract us!" Miroku shouted over the wind of their passage as he swiped at a passing youkai. The white demon swirled past him, hissing its anger. Kirara bared her fangs and swept through another, allowing her flaming claws to shred the youkai into wisps.

Sango braced for her returning weapon, which spun over their heads in its return, destroying another youkai in its path. More demons were streaming toward the fighting group. Miroku swiped at a hissing Soul Collector, rings jangling.

Sango desperately scanned the forest below them, and saw InuYasha, feet braced and Tetsusaiga flaming white fire, disappear into the trees. "InuYasha!"

*~*~*~*~*

Crashing through the trees, InuYasha barely felt the branches that clawed at his haori and broke with the weight of his descent. Bracing for the impact, he hit the leaf-littered floor, the fang bared and ready in his hands.

A white Soul Collector hissed at him, ribboning between two trees and turning around, as if to summon him.

"Kikyo." InuYasha whispered, his heart clenching.

He kept the Tetsusaiga free, in case it was a trap of Naraku's, but rested the curved blade on his shoulder as he followed the disappearing white youkai deeper into the thick forest. The sun, so bright above, was dim and shadowed by the intertwining branches overhead. The rustle of dry leaves was the only sound as his bare feet crossed the forest floor.

Rounding the edge of the tree, he came upon a small clearing, where more sunlight penetrated. A large tree, limbs forked, dominated the other side, and the beautiful woman with her long black hair streaming delicately in the breeze rested in the hollow of the branches, much as he was wont to do.

"Kikyo." He said with his lips, even while his mind said the name of another.

*Kagome...*

The miko stretched a white-robed arm, extending a graceful hand toward the white Soul Collector who circled her. Small globes of light surrounded the tree, making her seem ethereal. Long black hair, much longer than Kagome's, fanned behind the miko and touched her cheeks. Rarely had InuYasha seen the woman with her hair unbound, and it was when he considered her the most achingly beautiful.

Deep brown eyes regarded the breathless hanyou, and a small smile played over the pale lips. "InuYasha."

"Kikyo." InuYasha could only say her name, his heart in his throat.

"You come so quickly when I summon you." The brown eyes narrowed, the chill overwhelming the sad hopefulness he remembered from the past.

InuYasha could only gaze at his former love. Memories blurred together when he stared at her, and regret for the loss of his pure-hearted miko stabbed at his soul.

The soft voice turned mocking. "What do you see, InuYasha, when you stare at me? Do you see what I was, or who I am?" Kikyo straightened from her relaxed position on the tree limb, staring coldly at the hanyou. "Or do you, perhaps, see a certain girl?"

"I..." InuYasha couldn't speak his true feelings. Love and pain, regret and buried hope were all twisted together inside of him when he stared at the resurrection of his dead love.

"You were never eloquent." The miko sighed, eyes closing for a moment, before she gathered herself and floated down form the tree, her white and red robes rustling at the small movement. The deeply black hair, so long and silky, floated over a white cheek before settling into stillness.

The cold brown eyes opened once more, and a smile that held no warmth was directed at the staring hanyou. The miko had her bow and arrows strung across her back, and the arrowheads clattered together as she stepped forward.

"Kikyo." InuYasha let his sword drop to his side, and the fang flared once, and then died into the rusted, bent sword that hid its power. He felt rooted in stone as he watched the beautiful miko step closer. Her scent, the overwhelming familiarity covering the slight hint of dust and age, made his nostrils flare as he breathed her in.

The miko stood in front of him, her eyes warming a bit as she raised a white hand to touch his cheek with her fingertips. The butterfly kiss of her cold fingers made the hanyou's heart tighten once more.

"You are still so foolish, InuYasha." Kikyo's voice was cold and mocking, so unlike the warm love that he remembered. "Loving me, and loving her."

The cold fingers brushed the white lock of his hair that fell forward. "You cannot have us both, you know."

"Kikyo...I..." InuYasha's voice was warm with repressed emotion.

The hand whipped back, away from him, and Kikyo stared at him with cold anger sparking her brown eyes. "Your brother, the Taiyoukai, has the girl now."

InuYasha blinked. "H-How...?"

The miko's cold, mocking laughter floated on the breeze and surrounded him. "How did I know? Why, it was I, who told Naraku how she might be disposed of."

"Kikyo!" InuYasha's cry was full of hot protest and pain.

A Soul Collector hissed in response to the hanyou, and swirled between them.

"Naraku fears her. Almost as much as he fears me." The laugh was not pleasant.

"Why? Why do you do this, Kikyo?" InuYasha wanted desperately to understand the cold, vengeful woman who stood before him. "She has never harmed you!"

"She tries to take you away from me!" Kikyo snapped, anger shaking her cold frame. "You are mine, InuYasha! You owe me your soul, and I claim the vow you made me!"

InuYasha closed his eyes against the overwhelming pain of heart break. *What has happened to you, my Kikyo? Why are you so angry and bitter?*

"I will not be denied!" Kikyo raged.

Silence filled the small clearing, only broken by the miko's bitter laugh as she reined in her temper.

"But I do not have to worry about that girl now, InuYasha."

The hanyou's head whipped up, eyes wide amber pools in shock. "What do you mean? What has happened to Kagome? What did you do to her?" Clawed hands clenched as rage filled him.

"I?" Kikyo gave him a mocking smile as she stepped back. "I have done nothing to her. But she will be useless to you now. Your brother has seen to that. He has fallen into our plans nicely. The arrogant Taiyoukai has no idea that he is as easy to manipulate as any of the poor humans he so despises."

"What have you done to Kagome!" InuYasha nearly howled in rage. The bent sword in his hand flared to life in response to his anger.

"It is your brother you should be angry at, InuYasha, not me." Kikyo replied, as her white youkai hissed and swirled protectively around her. The eyes were like frozen pools of muddy water.

"I will rescue Kagome!" InuYasha spat the bitter vow at the dead miko as her Soul Collectors tightened their long, white forms around the body made from clay and ash.

The miko's mocking laughter rang in his ears. "You are too late, InuYasha. You will find the broken remains of your foolish lover in my sister's village, where the Taiyoukai has left her." She started to rise, the Soul Collectors supporting her slight form as the lights of dead souls floated like white fireflies around her.

"NO!" InuYasha roared the denial.

"See what good she is to you now, InuYasha." The miko taunted, her long black hair swirling in the breeze of her departure. Her last, cold whisper sent a dagger piercing through the hanyou's leaden heart.

"You are mine. Never forget!"

*~*~*~*~*

Kagome wrinkled her eyes shut as a single ray of sunlight streaked across them. Groaning, she rolled over, hugging a cushion over her head, trying to cover the light in smothering darkness. How she hated mornings!

Pillow tassels brushed her neck, and she sat up, yelping in pain. Suddenly wide awake, she frowned as a faint throb in her temples echoed the first stab of pain. Rubbing her temples, she caught a whiff of herself. "Eew!" Distracted, she fanned the still air in front of her. "I need a bath!"

Slipping from under the thick blanket, she frowned down at herself. *Why am I only wearing my underclothes? Where's my sun dress?*

Eyes widening, she delved through hazy memories. *Why can't I remember anything from last night?* Bringing a hand up to her mouth, she ran into the bathroom that was connected to her bedroom. There was a polished metal surface in there---the feudal version of a mirror. Her reflection was hazy and distorted, but she saw a red-purple mark on her neck. Lifting a finger to brush the wound, Kagome bit back a whimper as she touched the tender spot. Narrowing her eyes down, she could barely see the inflamed edge of a welt that ran in a half-circle along the left side of her neck.

"What in all the world...?" Confusion conflicted with worry. Why could she not remember anything from after last night's weird dinner? Why was she back in her room, almost naked, with a deep scar on her neck?

*That stupid dog better not have bitten me!*

She frowned at the fierceness of her own thought, and then shook her head at her stupidity. *Duh! If SesshouMaru had bitten me, I would have tooth marks, not a circular welt! Maybe I burned myself somehow...* But the thought made her uneasy and uncertain.

Shrugging, she was distracted by the burble of water behind her. Turning to look at the inviting bath tub beyond her, her fingers were already undoing the clasps of her bra. "I can at least clean the cut..." She murmured almost happily as she dipped one foot in the flowing warm water.

Easing herself into the water, she let out a long sigh as the warmth enfolded her. Something about the warmth around her tugged at her memories, but Kagome let the thought go as she relaxed. *I can think about all that later...*