InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Snow Angel ❯ The Second ( Chapter 43 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
Chapter 43 - The Second *Coral* (Seven Treasures Challenge)
Just as Sesshoumaru was about to interrogate Kagome on the identity of the wolf she believed to be responsible for the slaughter of Rin's village, her eyes brightened. "Ha! It's here!"
"Fucking finally!" Inuyasha yelled. "Where? You point, and I'll dig."
Kagome knelt, Sesshoumaru mirroring her movements on the opposite side of the barrier. The miko dug through the snow with one hand, never releasing the taiyoukai's as she narrowed down the location. Finally, she pointed. "There."
The hanyou knelt and dug until he uncovered another spell bag, identical to the first. Not willing to get shocked by this one, he pulled back immediately to allow Kagome to handle it. The miko slowly reached out and picked up the bag, moving to the side to dump out its contents. Shippo was instantly by her side, eager to look things over.
"Huh, different stuff this time."
"Does that matter?" Kagome asked curiously.
"Well, most of the time all the spell bags used in a single spell would have the same things in them. There is a situation, though, when they wouldn't."
"Well?" Inuyasha nudged when Shippo paused for effect.
The kit rolled his eyes, thoroughly enjoying his captive audience. "If the person doing the spell wanted it to be very, very powerful, he would use different items in each one, but one of each type. Like, ummm," Shippo searched for a good example. "The finger bones in the first one, this one has toes instead. They work the same way, but by using them both instead of two bags both with fingers, it adds power.
"It makes the spell that much harder to complete, having to collect all the different things, but it pays off by increasing the strength of the spell. My guess, every bag is going to have different stuff in it. That's how he made it strong enough to keep the barrier standing against a demon like Sesshoumaru, and why it didn't weaken when we destroyed the first bag. Each bag is enough to sustain the whole barrier, but connected they're that much stronger."
"So everything in the first bag as something like it in this one? Like categories?" Kagome asked, trying to simplify it.
"Yup, and so long as one bag remains, the barrier isn't going anywhere."
"Is there a way to tell how many bags there are?" Sango asked.
"Not really, at least not yet. The more bags we find, the more I'll be able to tell," Shippo replied.
"So what's in this one?" Miroku asked, very curious about the contents.
"You've got the toe bones for finger bones. Snake fangs in place of bat wings, different herbs, some hair instead of fur, dried bird feet instead of the heart, and those claws. They look like baby dragon claws."
"Ripped out while they're alive?" Kagome asked softly.
"Yeah," Shippo answered, not really wanting to tell her something that would probably give her nightmares again. "The claws are like the demon spider fangs in the first bag."
"What kind of hair?" Sango asked.
"It's kind of hard to tell. I'm not getting close enough to scent it. It is silver, though. My bet? It's Sesshoumaru's.”
"I'm kind of surprised there aren't owl eyes in there. I was half expecting it after my dream last night," the miko said.
"It's certainly possible. Eyes are a biggie."
"Ugh," Kagome groaned. "Why are people so horrible?"
"Because they want something they know they cannot obtain through normal means," Sesshoumaru replied. "Their greed causes them to do things others would never consider."
"So what did Tsukiko want?" the miko asked.
"My position as Lord of the West. He planned to obtain it by mating my mother, the fool. She would never even think of mating a concubine. If she were forced to take another mate, she would choose someone much more important. She would seek to gain as much as possible through the mating, the selfish woman."
"She wouldn't mate for love?" Kagome inquired.
"The bitch does not know the meaning of the word," the taiyoukai replied, anger and hurt tainting his tone.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru."
"It is not your doing," he replied. Seeking to change the subject, he returned his focus to the contents of the spell bag. "I assume the coral takes the place of the pearls?" he asked the kitsune.
"I guess so. It doesn't have any use in dark spells either, that I know of. Kagome, why don't you purify the stuff? Then we'll see if the coral stays like the pearls did."
The miko held out her hands and called up her reiki and, just like before, everything sizzled and dissolved, leaving the coral behind. "Huh, that's weird," she said, scooping up the bits of coral and handing them to Sesshoumaru.
He added them to his coin purse and tucked it away before smirking at the miko. "Shall we eat then? I do believe there is a village nearby." Kagome's eyes lit up and warmth spread through him, pleased at having made her happy. "I'll take that as a yes."
Just as Sesshoumaru was about to interrogate Kagome on the identity of the wolf she believed to be responsible for the slaughter of Rin's village, her eyes brightened. "Ha! It's here!"
"Fucking finally!" Inuyasha yelled. "Where? You point, and I'll dig."
Kagome knelt, Sesshoumaru mirroring her movements on the opposite side of the barrier. The miko dug through the snow with one hand, never releasing the taiyoukai's as she narrowed down the location. Finally, she pointed. "There."
The hanyou knelt and dug until he uncovered another spell bag, identical to the first. Not willing to get shocked by this one, he pulled back immediately to allow Kagome to handle it. The miko slowly reached out and picked up the bag, moving to the side to dump out its contents. Shippo was instantly by her side, eager to look things over.
"Huh, different stuff this time."
"Does that matter?" Kagome asked curiously.
"Well, most of the time all the spell bags used in a single spell would have the same things in them. There is a situation, though, when they wouldn't."
"Well?" Inuyasha nudged when Shippo paused for effect.
The kit rolled his eyes, thoroughly enjoying his captive audience. "If the person doing the spell wanted it to be very, very powerful, he would use different items in each one, but one of each type. Like, ummm," Shippo searched for a good example. "The finger bones in the first one, this one has toes instead. They work the same way, but by using them both instead of two bags both with fingers, it adds power.
"It makes the spell that much harder to complete, having to collect all the different things, but it pays off by increasing the strength of the spell. My guess, every bag is going to have different stuff in it. That's how he made it strong enough to keep the barrier standing against a demon like Sesshoumaru, and why it didn't weaken when we destroyed the first bag. Each bag is enough to sustain the whole barrier, but connected they're that much stronger."
"So everything in the first bag as something like it in this one? Like categories?" Kagome asked, trying to simplify it.
"Yup, and so long as one bag remains, the barrier isn't going anywhere."
"Is there a way to tell how many bags there are?" Sango asked.
"Not really, at least not yet. The more bags we find, the more I'll be able to tell," Shippo replied.
"So what's in this one?" Miroku asked, very curious about the contents.
"You've got the toe bones for finger bones. Snake fangs in place of bat wings, different herbs, some hair instead of fur, dried bird feet instead of the heart, and those claws. They look like baby dragon claws."
"Ripped out while they're alive?" Kagome asked softly.
"Yeah," Shippo answered, not really wanting to tell her something that would probably give her nightmares again. "The claws are like the demon spider fangs in the first bag."
"What kind of hair?" Sango asked.
"It's kind of hard to tell. I'm not getting close enough to scent it. It is silver, though. My bet? It's Sesshoumaru's.”
"I'm kind of surprised there aren't owl eyes in there. I was half expecting it after my dream last night," the miko said.
"It's certainly possible. Eyes are a biggie."
"Ugh," Kagome groaned. "Why are people so horrible?"
"Because they want something they know they cannot obtain through normal means," Sesshoumaru replied. "Their greed causes them to do things others would never consider."
"So what did Tsukiko want?" the miko asked.
"My position as Lord of the West. He planned to obtain it by mating my mother, the fool. She would never even think of mating a concubine. If she were forced to take another mate, she would choose someone much more important. She would seek to gain as much as possible through the mating, the selfish woman."
"She wouldn't mate for love?" Kagome inquired.
"The bitch does not know the meaning of the word," the taiyoukai replied, anger and hurt tainting his tone.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru."
"It is not your doing," he replied. Seeking to change the subject, he returned his focus to the contents of the spell bag. "I assume the coral takes the place of the pearls?" he asked the kitsune.
"I guess so. It doesn't have any use in dark spells either, that I know of. Kagome, why don't you purify the stuff? Then we'll see if the coral stays like the pearls did."
The miko held out her hands and called up her reiki and, just like before, everything sizzled and dissolved, leaving the coral behind. "Huh, that's weird," she said, scooping up the bits of coral and handing them to Sesshoumaru.
He added them to his coin purse and tucked it away before smirking at the miko. "Shall we eat then? I do believe there is a village nearby." Kagome's eyes lit up and warmth spread through him, pleased at having made her happy. "I'll take that as a yes."