InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Transformations ❯ Best Or Worst Day? ( Chapter 34 )

"Relax, Inu-chan," she said, putting the typical boyfriend-girlfriend term on the end of his new nickname. "It's just a new power," she added, drawing her brows together and concentrating on releasing the spell.

It worked, and just like that, Kagome had a masking spell handy and ready to go at any time.

This day was just getting better and better.

Thirty Four

Feeling kiddish, Kagome snuck back into her room through the window, Inuyasha right behind her. She had a grin on her face she couldn't get rid of, and in the same way Inuyasha's eyes were glittering. She felt almost disobedient, leaving without telling anyone and being gone all day long. And with Inuyasha, no less. Not that her parents would freak at her being gone - she was very capable of taking care of herself, and Inuyasha was a pro in that area. But the point was that she was a teenager, who snuck out with her boy - no, mate - and snuck back in.

She felt giddy. And Inuyasha himself wasn't helping any - he kept touching her waist or kissing her neck, or both. For the first time in years, she felt like an actual teenager. And on top of that, she liked the feeling. The excitement of never knowing if you're going to get caught doing something naughty or if it's so naughty somebody'll get mad.

She was nearly a giggling mass by the time Inuyasha had maneuvered them both into the shower. And god, but the water felt good.

Over the past few weeks she'd noticed how her senses had keyed up - as though she wouldn't notice, anyway. But she got into the habit of cataloguing the differences. The sharpness to her hearing and scent had always been the ones that hit her the most, followed immediately by her sense of sight. But the other two - taste and touch - she hadn't paid too much attention to.

Now she found she could focus on anything and everything that touched her at once - the droplets of water, the streams they created, Inuyasha's hands, his mouth - all of it felt almost as though she were feeling at different points of time, but all at once. As confusing as that was, that was the only way her mind could put it, and that itself didn't matter. She could make sense of it.

But as for her taste. . .

A wicked smile took over her usually kind mouth, and she spun, turning it on Inuyasha. Oh, she was going to have so much fun with the rest of this day, all right. . .Poor Inuyasha was going to end up a blubbering mass by the time she was done.

Oh, yes. Today was just getting better and better.

~*~ Kagome's Pack ~*~

Thus far, he'd felt it building up. Thus far, he'd been preparing himself for the worst if Kagome and Inuyasha didn't get back in time. And now, the worst was coming true. A Civil War.

He glanced over his shoulder at Sango, standing at ready in her battle armor with Kirara next to her, fully transformed and snarling. For better or worse, Shippo had been sent to stay with Koga's pack until this entire thing was resolved. And Shippo had been sent with a message as well.

The two sides weren't even. More than three quarters were on the side of Murlo, the power-hungry fool. As soon as Kagome learned of what he's planning on doing with her pack, she was going to tear him limb from limb. And knowing Inuyasha, he'd undoubtedly be the one holding Murlo down.

Sesshomaru, ever calm and controlled, was standing off to the side, waiting for the other side to make their attack. He wasn't here by his own choosing, of course. He was here because the rules of the youkai wouldn't let him just watch. He had to help, and he had to help Kagome's side, no matter what he thought.

No matter what, their side had a certain leverage. All of Kagome's loyalist subjects were well-trained - most of them soldiers. And Sesshomaru was no push-over. If anything, just about every other demon that's heard of him would much rather cringe away. And he and Sango themselves had earned a powerful rumor, traveling with Inuyasha.

Nobody moved, however. Himself, Sango, Sesshomaru, Gar and Dar were leading the charge of the loyal side, none of them taking the right of full command, but rather, sharing it. An invincible team, as it were.

But there was something approaching. He could feel it - a dark aura of pure power and hate, coming towards them and filling the skies. He glanced once more over his shoulder, and the look he gave was enough for Sango to understand.

"Naraku," she said.

He nodded. "It figures he'd plan all this, just to get rid of us."

"And while Kagome and Inuyasha are away. This was all an intricate plot."

"Sango. . ." He paused, thinking over his words. "If I fall today, I want you to leave. Don't die here."

She opened her mouth, undoubtedly to disagree, but he placed his hand over her mouth. "Please, do not argue. And promise me, Sango."

She pushed his hand down, her eyes never leaving his and looking much like she was trying to search his soul for what possessed him to say such a thing. Then she nodded. "I promise, Miroku. If you. . .fall. . .I'll leave."

"Thank you," he said, more quietly than he would have liked. Another moment and he turned back towards the enemy line, feeling that black aura reach them finally.

A black mist descended on them.

~*~ Kagome's Time ~*~

They'd been caught.

Rare and Ray just walked into her room as they were finishing dressing, and instantly the four of them were talking at once. The parents with questions, the kids with excuses. And none of them were getting anywhere this way.

Now it was a few hours later, and everything had been straightened out. The kids were grounded, so to speak. Kagome and Inuyasha - for their next four visits here - weren't allowed to leave the house unless there were told to or going back to the well. And, apparently, Rare knew all. Like Santa Klaus.

Inuyasha didn't seem to mind, though. He never really left, anyway. But Kagome tried to at least look sad. Otherwise her mom was going to have to learn some new punishments for her and Inuyasha. Like putting them in separate rooms for a day. That could very well kill the both of them.

Here's hoping she never figures out that one.

Kagome nodded and got up, Inuyasha following as he always did. The moment she closed the door to her room, she had a terrible feeling in her gut, like something horrid just happened. After just a moment she thanked her miko powers and took out her battle uniform, as Inuyasha had dubbed it, and dressed as quickly as she could. As she did so, she was talking, telling Inuyasha about her feeling and that they just had to get back to his time, now.

She didn't wait for him as she leapt out the window, briefly telling her father through her mind that she and Inuyasha were leaving. She knew she was faster than Inuyasha, and that at the moment he'd have to be a mile ahead of her to get to her heading a mile behind her. She wasn't going to stop for anyone, or anything.

It was nighttime now, so when she got through the well and made it to her pack's niche, she knew something was wrong by how bright it was. In fact. . .it was in flames.

She stopped as abruptly as she'd left, and found herself frozen to the spot by what she saw. Slowly, her eyes picked up detail after detail. It looked like a slaughter. But. . .it shouldn't look like that. Her pack was regenerative; they couldn't be in pieces or covered in their own blood!

In front of her, directly, she saw a figure in the flames. She made towards it once she got use of her legs again, and as she got closer, she noticed little details. It was a male in front of her, and he was carrying a. .a. . .he had a head in his right hand! He was slumped, out of energy and running on pure will. His left hand barely grasped onto his sword. It was. . .Gar.

"Gar?" she said, or tried to. Her voice came out very weak and quiet, hard to hear over the roaring flames. "Gar?!" she said again, getting frantic. She came forward again - for what, she didn't know, but again she stopped dead. The head in his hand. . .it had Murlo's face. Mouth open in shock and eyes wide with fear, but his.

"What happened?" she demanded, and this time, he looked up.

He smiled, kind of weakly, and dropped the head and sword. "Mistress," he said, and the word forced a stream of blood out of his mouth. Another second and then his eyes closed and he fell to his knees. Kagome was knelt in front of him before she knew what she was doing.

As she began inquiring him about what happened, she heard Inuyasha shouting - looking for survivors, probably. "Gar, what happened? Tell me!"

"Murlo. . ." he began, but couldn't finish. Not knowing what else to do, she sent a surge of her own power into him, and began using her mind to speak, hoping he'd take the hint.

Gar, talk to me. Come on! I have to know what happened!

Murlo staged a. . . a revolt. We were outnumbered, four to one. And then. . . Then this mist. . .some kind of cloud came over us. . . God, even his mental voice sounded tired and beaten! We lost our. . .our ability to heal. . .all of us. And Dar. . .Oh, Gods, Dar. . .

Is he. . ? Gar, did he. .

He's dead. . . In her arms, Gar had begun to shake. Soon she felt her arm begin to get wetter, as she'd let him use it as a pillow. Feeling like a mother that lost her pup, she held him tighter and began to rock, slowly, comfortingly.

Who sent the mist? No - where are the others? Miroku, Sango - Shippo! Shippo, is he - This time it was she who couldn't finish, and had to concentrate on not harming Gar as her entire body tensed, getting prepared for the worst, if that was the case.

Shippo. . .went to Koga's pack. Miroku. . .Sango. . .and Kirara are. . .they disappeared, Mistress. I'm sorry, I couldn't. . .

It's all right. Trying to be soothing, she ran her fingers over his hair, hoping it'd work. It seemed to, for her began to let his lethargy win. But she had more questions. Who won, Gar?

Neither of us. . . Mistress.

You said we were outnumbered four to one. How did we last?

We had. . .your allies with us, Mistress. Koga and his. . .strongest, and Lord Sesshomaru. . .and most of our side were. . .were your best soldiers. . .

She nodded, assimilating this information. Carefully, she laid him on the ground, trying to ignore the heady scent of blood that plagued this area and would, undoubtedly, prevent the ground from nurturing life of any sort. She stood again with a new feeling of fury, something that seemed to come from an outside source and bring her own to life.

She knew who sent the mist. But he could wait. For now, she had to seek out her survivors. She doubted there was enough left for a pack anymore, but that was even better. That meant she didn't have to worry about her actions as a Mistress.

She began searching the piles of bodies, trying desperately not to retch from the scent of burning, rotting flesh and organs. It didn't matter who was on which side, the point remained that she had to save everyone she could - and as soon as she could.

Naraku would pay dearly for this.

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Normally, right about now I'd threaten the *bleep* out of you guys to make sure you'd review, but then again, I think we've all had enough shock for one night. *Shudder* Imagine trying to write that, huh? And off of your own mental images. I'm going to be having nightmares tonight, a sure bet.

Let's just hope I didn't describe anything well enough for you guys to get your own mental pictures. Now that I think about it, it was more like a mental video; a mental film. And not a pretty one at that. This huge catastrophe was inside my head for months, and it took me 34 chapters to get around to it.

Geez, am I good or what? I think I surprised myself with this one, though. 34 chapters to the big destruction. . .Phew. I'd better not keep this up - I'd end up on the receiving end of a lot of weapons that aren't mine.

As you all know - or should - I have this fic up at two sites. Fanfiction.net, and Mediaminer.org, although my penname is the same. The only real difference is that at media miner, I have the lemon chapter up. On fanfic I'd be skinned alive for making the same mistake twice - no, three times.

Little history lesson - the original "Transformations" was only seven or eight chapters long, and was on a very different path. Kagome had - so far - no hidden history, no secret pack, no regenerative powers. And Sesshomaru was NOT an ally to her. I made that one before I learned to keep separate chapters for each story. And now I also keep separate htms of each chapter.

Well well. I think I've prattled on enough. This is just a sort of an "I'm sorry" for taking so long. But everyone by now should know - you can't rush genius. And trust me, it'd take a genius - or a complete idiot - to write this stuff like I'd had a whole intricate plot written down as guidelines.

Anyway.

See ya!