InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Seal ❯ And it rained red ( Chapter 11 )

Aloha!! (Yes I know I don't speak Hawaiian)

Hallo, og god kveld!! ( I do on the other hand speak Norwegian)

Hey, by this time we should have crossed the 20 000-word line. Yeay!!

Now, I'm moving to England now, to live with my daddy (God bless his little heart that hates that name), so I won't be able to post anything until I'm safely settled and lodged over there. Getting me settled, and what not, will take some time, so I estimate ca. three weeks or a month before you'll probably hear from me again, but I can't promise you that it'll be that soon, though I doubt that it'll take much more than that. (I am probably upsetting someone at this point)

So in short: This is the last chapter you'll be seeing for a while.

To make it up to you (eh heh…) this chapter is a little longer than my standard chapter-length, AND contains lots of gore (I think) for those of you that have been so kind as to ask for some, so hopefully you will be appeased (and pleased on my behalf as I am escaping this retched cold country).

I haven't changed the rating, it's still PG-13, because where I've been raised it would be PG-13, and lets face, kids can handle it (ooo, I'm gonna get my head bitten). If you have any complaints, we can discuss it later.

If this chapter came out late (I'm writing this early, as soon as I finished the chapter) it's because of trouble with the server/ internet. It's been acting kooky for ages, and keeps throwing tantrums (another good reason to be moving to England)

Oh, and before I forget, some reviewers have commented on not knowing when characters are speaking or thinking:

" "- speaking

' '-thinking

So I hope there won't be any more confusion concerning that item.

^-^

Now on with the show!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story (if I did I'd be rich, filthy stinkin rich. I'd be off to the Bahamas and… and… and I better come back down to earth as they aren't mine) ; Inuyasha and co all belong to Miss Rumiko Takahashi. Just having plain fun writing about them. ;-P

(I really should change this disclaimer shouldn't I?)

The Seal

Part 11: And it rained red…

Eyes snapping open, mind still groggy from her impact with the wall and eyesight still fuzzy, Kagome stumbled to a stand, slowly righting herself up, body still threatening to collapse as it swayed from side to side. Holding out a hand against the decomposing shrine-wall, to steady herself, the world around her came slowly to a halt. Her head still hurt, her body ached, but that was not important. The jewel was.

Grey-blue eyes swept the room. The muscled oaf was eyeing the jewel surreptitiously, ignoring all else, even his men. Casting a glance at the rest of his troupe, all of them occupied, eyeing their leaders prize greedily. For one instance, she was forgotten, that was all she needed.

Kagome lunged for the jewel instantaneously. "No!! Give it to me!!" she snarled, all illusions of innocence wiped away with the loss of her jewel. Caring not for the fact that he was bigger than her, that he was stronger than her, that she was surrounded by enemies and stood no chance. No chance in hell. That was not important; only that she follow the primal urge to attack, to protect, to defend…

It must have been the savageness portrayed in the once so serene face that allowed her to succeed, for though her quarry lurched away from her, he did not do it fast enough.

A hand reached out. A body was repelled. A jewel reclaimed. And a victor stood proud, the winner.

Gripping the chain that held her precious, she growled at the men that had her cornered, slightly hunched in a defensive pose. Her skimpy kimono fluttered to a pink light pulsing, rippling across her skin, barely seeable as it fringed her clothing. Eyes, covered in shadow as her bangs hung low. A picture most peculiar and hauntingly disturbing.

***

Inuyasha came to an abrupt halt.

The wind picked up. The skies darkened. Around him the howls of the forest rose in a silent choir.

Whispers could be heard; everywhere, nowhere; murmured, mumbled:

'Kagome.'

A chill ran down his spine.

Something was wrong.

***

The circle closed in on her, driving her up against a wall, rotting vegetation filling up the holes. The rogues were wary of her with her newly transformed feral appearance, sending each other questioning glances while their boss continued to urge them along. For all her glaring at them, she made no move to intercept.

*Urp* *twitch* *retch* "Get her, NOW!" the beefy man bellowed, loosing patience with his men.

His yell served both to startle Kagome, flinching away from his voice, and breaking the spell. With the loss of the light, spluttering to a sudden death with her abrupt flinching, the image of her feral rage left, leaving only a frightened maiden behind.

The rogues leapt at her, no longer fearing her broken image, or if they did, fearing their masters wrath even more; two men seizing both her arms, holding her still; trapped, once again.

Their boss had by now managed to rise to his feet, though he needed the aid of his katana to remain steady, and was slowly, with a drunken gait, making his way over to the men holding Kagome.

Towering menacingly above her, katana in hand, muscles tensed, his shadow enveloping her, he looked very much the threat even though swaying. "Hold her," he wheezed at them, raising his katana on wobbly feet, taking a careful aim towards her head.

Struggling to get loose, desperate to preserve her life, Kagome fought harder. 'This is it. I'm gonna die,' she thought despairingly, though she never the less continued to struggle, back arching away from the closing-in threat.

The bald scarred man that was the leader continued to take careful aim of her exposed throat as the rogue on her left side pulled her up by her raven hair, taking sadistic pleasure in several practice swings, stopping but an inch from her neck before starting anew, just to make sure his aim was true.

At last he was done aiming. Smiling down at her with a smile that might have been considered goofy had not the situation been so dire, he raised the sword above his head and took a mighty swing.

She screamed. Twisting around from her captors, those preventing her escape, she ducked as low as she could while being held, and by pure desperation, kneed the rogue on her left side between the legs.

As a strangled sound escaped the rogues lips, he bent over, halfway flailing, halfway clutching himself, letting her go. It was the last thing he'd ever do.

The swish of the sword descended, the force the huge man putting behind it making it unstoppable. The sound of flesh being cut was heard, before the unfortunate victims arm and part of his chest slid off the rest of its body, a meaty thump signifying its descent to the floor, pooling in its own blood. More blood spurted everywhere, rising like a fountain from the wound, coating the sword-wielding hulk in crimson.

Kagome scrambled to her feet, ripping loose from the one rogue still holding her, who was more occupied starring slack-jawed at his slain comrade. Halfway crawling, halfway stumbling, she moved past the body towards the wall, seeking a hole in the rotten wall big enough to let her through.

The hulk ignored the stunned faces of his crew, stomping after his intended prey, while waving his sword, full force, in her general direction. "This time YOUR NECK!!!" he bellowed, not cutting her neck at all as she dodged, but successfully decapitating more of his men in a mass butchering.

"Master, what are you doing?" Kagome heard the rogues cry, the horror in their voices clear. Their master however ignored their pleas, continuing his slaughter in pursuit of her, blood raining down in rivulets.

'This has to end,' she thought wearily, glancing back at the bloody scene where the frozen men were falling like flies by their leaders hand. The rogues might have been bad people, but she didn't want a massacre to occur just so that he could get the jewel. They deserved at least a more dignified death than… than this…

It was in a corner that she spotted it, a lonesome spear, simple and crude, but it would serve its purpose. Dodging yet another slash at her, she swerved right, diving for the spear.

The problem she now faced was that though she had a weapon now, she was trapped in said corner, and her stalker knew it.

Gripping the spear tighter in her small fists, she held the pointed end awkwardly towards him, schooling her face to seem more serious and threatening.

"Stop! Not a step closer!!" He pushed closer.

"I-I mean it!! A spear's longer, y-you can't…" A quick swipe at her spear left only the pole behind to defend her. He looked positively smug.

Eyeing the fallen blade, Kagome eyes took up two thirds of her face. Shoulders slumped, she felt like weeping, 'Well, there went that plan. Shit.'

Taking an uncertain stance, casting about for anything that might bring her salvation, Kagome's eyes fell on the door. The exit to the shrine, and the path was clear, if one ignored all the bloody bodies littering the floor; all the rogues were pressed against the wall to escape their masters sword-wielding insanity. All she had to do was get past the oaf pointing a katana at her.

She was sooo dead…

Heaving a sigh, there was nothing else she could do, she was trapped and Inuyasha was nowhere to be seen, she resigned herself to her fate; her muscles tensed, waiting for the right moment to charge. She didn't have to wait long.

The large scar-riddled leader had spent his time gloating. She was cornered. There was nowhere she could escape to. The Shikon no Tama was as good as his!

As the sword rose, time slowed. This was it.

All at once the two exploded into action. As he brought down the crimson blade, Kagome ducked down, crouching momentarily in front of her opponent, back upright. Using the momentum from her rapid actions, she rammed the pole of her broken spear into his stomach, full force.

The blow wasn't hard enough. She was too small and he was to big, even with her momentum. But it served to stagger him, if nothing else, making him loose his balance. Seizing the opportunity, Kagome made to sprint towards the door throwing caution to the wind. This was her only chance, while he was distracted…

Just as she was beginning to believe that she Just. Might. Make it, the sword, that she had forgotten in her haste, finished its arc, slightly off target due to its wielders unbalance, cutting her flesh.

Everything went red.

***

The salty smell of iron tinged the air, tickling his nose. It was blood. Human blood. Lots of it, judging from the thick smell of it.

Though part of him savoured the smell of liquid life, thirsting for it, the other half cringed in horror at the direction it was coming from.

Setting a hesitant pace, for him that meant faster than walking, yet not entirely running, he continued on, though he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to see what he was sure was waiting for him at the end of the trail.

As the trees slowly parted, and the smell of massacre and death grew stronger, a form came into view. It was stumbling drunkenly forward, as if dazed, from shadow to shadow, the shadows obscuring its form, trying to hide in them.

Leaning against a tree, the creature suddenly stilled, as if sensing him watching it. Turning slowly around, both figures froze, caught in each others gaze, eyeing each other in morbid fascination.

"Inuyasha."

As it stepped out into a patch of light towards him, its features cleared, the sun chasing away the shadows hiding it, and Inuyasha stepped back in dawning horror at the creature's identity.

It was Kagome.

Blood had soaked through her kimono, her skirt no longer a proud forest-green, but flecked a brownish red; her top was in tatters, smaller droplets of blood dripping from the sated material.

Her hair, once wild, was plastered to her face, slick with the blood-red fluid, no longer the colour of the raven.

Rivulets of blood were pouring from a wound across her face, from eye to cheek, mixing with sweat.

And then her eyes, those childlike stormy grey-blue orbs, lit up, a stark contrast from the rest of her appearance, sparkling with joy when they landed on him watching her silently.

"I-inuyasha…" she breathed, smiling weakly through her exhaustion, hand reaching out towards him, "You came…"

And then she collapsed.

-

Praeceps:

Okay, THIS time I had NO problem naming the chapter, and I bet you can see why… heh heh.

I hope my limited knowledge of fighting and such didn't disappoint the action-readers too much, but fighting has never been my forte, as stated previously. I do think that I managed to give this piece a nice gory edge, but some might disagree. I'm actually kinda glad that I did it this way, because it has always annoyed me that Kagome gave up just because the pointy bit of the spear fell off, but I didn't want to make her any more skilled than she was in the original.

And for those of you that are guessing at what's gonna happen, I have only one thing to say:

Getting there is only half the fun!! And I really LIKE this journey!! ^-^

This is NOT the last time we see the huge hulk of a rogue.

Oh! And any spelling mistakes can be blamed on incompetent English teachers, and/or my spell-check program, because I, myself, am PERFECT!!! ;-P (and when I say perfect, I MEAN perfect. My daddy said so ;-)

If you have any questions about the story that you find unclear, I will do my best to answer them, as long as I deem them of no harm to my present plot-line.

Thanks to all you reviewers, I'll do my best not to disappoint you all.

^-^

Well that was all, for today at least, toodles!! ;-D