InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tsubaki's Revenge ❯ Defiance ( Chapter 27 )

Disclaimer: This story is based on "Inuyasha," copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi. No infringement of copyright intended or implied.

 

Tsubaki's Revenge, Part XXVII: Miyatsu

He would have fled, had he two good legs to run on. It was the horses. One had dashed in front of them barely two lengths away as they had started to crawl towards the arrows Inuyasha had detected, screaming in pain and terror, blood and foam dripping from its flanks. The other could be heard running from a different direction, just as panicked. As they crawled behind a clump of bamboo, the sound of galloping hooves ceased.

That was when the horror began.

The screaming grew more terrible, as the two beasts were taken down and eaten alive by youkai. The horror--the stench, the screams, the miasma of pain and terror, and the sickening ecstasy of those that fed on that pain and terror--rolled over his senses and threatened to overwhelm him. There was nothing but blood and pain and death; he could scent and hear nothing else. Only the awareness of Kikyo's presence in front of him kept him going, one shaking limb at a time. His eyes were glued to her form as it slowly crawled towards where he had scented arrows that wouldn't be clearly visible from where the dark priestess stood. Kikyo was his sole tie to sanity in the world that had abruptly dived into horror. She was with him. She wanted him; needed him. Only that kept him going, dragging his bad leg behind him, putting his weight on his injured hands, not even able to feel the pain for the terror.

He ran into her, not realizing that she had stopped. She looked back at him, then turned around. Reaching out, she touched his face with one hand. He recoiled, but then the scent of her hand penetrated the stench that had overwhelmed his nose. Blindly, he pressed back against that touch, turning his head and burying his nose in her palm. Wholesome scents replaced the horrific ones; her human scent, her sweat, ordinary dirt, grass, dead leaves, along with fainter smells of leather and wood; even the rice balls she had eaten for lunch left their mark. She tried to move her hand, and he moved with it, keeping his nose pressing against her palm.

"Inuyasha?" One of his ears twitched, moving to gather in that barely voiced call. The tight grip of terror began to loosen. The screaming had died. His other ear rotated forward, taking in her heartbeat and her breathing. He snuffled against her hand once more, and then let out a long sigh, letting his head drop, and his body droop between his shoulder blades. The hand touched his face again, and his fear of being touched was still buried beneath the other terrors. He returned the pressure, needing the reassurance of the contact.

"Can you go on?" she breathed again. Inuyasha drew a deep breath, the fetid stench of death back in his nose, but this time not losing track of the other scents. Letting his breath out in another sigh, he opened his eyes and looked up. She was watching him anxiously. He gave her a small nod, and her expression eased. Dropping her hand, she picked up four arrows with that hand--three of them wrapped with paper, then resumed her grasp of her bow of the other. "Let's go, then."

He started after her, his fear drifting higher as he realized they were heading directly towards the source of the stench and miasmic aura. And Tsubaki. His ears flattened again, and his chest started to tighten. His hands throbbed and his leg ached. He had to keep going, he reminded himself. He'd told Kikyo he would try. It was going to fail, but he would try anyway. For Kikyo. Anything for Kikyo.

They halted behind another clump of bamboo. At least three red lights drifted a bit more than head height above the area. To one side lay a dark lump which Inuyasha's nose identified as a man--presumably the monk. Two skeletons, not yet entirely clean of flesh, were sprawled on top of blood- and gore-soaked grass. Next to the closer one, Tsubaki knelt, rummaging through the saddlebags that she had clearly pulled off the carcass.

From the corner of his eye, Inuyasha saw Kikyo push three of the arrows tip-first in to the ground. Easing backwards so that most of his weight was one his one good foot, Inuyasha glanced at Kikyo. She returned his look. Moving her bow a bit, she touched the wood with her free hand, held up four fingers, then pointed to him and made a brief gesture. He nodded, understanding. She would be shooting the four arrows, and then he would leap, going for Tsubaki's throat, going on the chance Kikyo's arrows would manage to break the priestess' barrier. His fear shrieked at the thought, screaming that Tsubaki would hurt him worse than ever. Inuyasha swallowed hard and told the fear to shut up. This was for Kikyo. He had to protect her. He had to protect the villagers. There was a throat to tear out; pale skin over hot, rushing blood, and he would do it. For them. Because she threatened them. Kikyo. Kaedae. Korana.

Kikyo drew back on the bow, holding it almost horizontal to clear the ground. Panting, Inuyasha stared straight ahead, waiting for the multiple 'thwip' of the released arrows. The bow creaked as the tension increased.

"Kikyo dear, did you really think you could take me by surprise?"

Four arrows cracked and fell apart. The bowstring released, as Kikyo made a small sound of surprise. Inuyasha started, nearly losing his balance. Kikyo muttered something, and Inuyasha, who had been telling himself to lunge anyway, flinched again as he felt something go up around the two of them.

Tsubaki laughed and stood up. "That isn't going to save you either, my dear Kikyo." She started walking towards the pair, sliding the black and white knife out of her sleeve. Her eyes shifted sideways, and she smirked. "And you actually got the puppy to come with you? You do know what I'm going to do to you, don't you, puppy?”

 

Inuyasha cringed, his fear roaring upward. A thin whine trickled out of his throat as he started to shake. Something touched his arm, and he lurched away from it, losing his balance and falling into curving wall that stung. Yelping, he writhed away, crumpling onto his side, where he curled up into a ball, whimpering. In the distance, there was laughter; that terrible, mocking laughter.

Something covered his nose. Terror strobed, and he gasped to cry out again, then smelled the same combination of odors as before. Thought threaded through the howl of fear, and Inuyasha reached up to clasp the hand for a moment. "Ki-kyo." She was there. The real Kikyo. He didn't want her there. He didn't want to see her die. But she was there. She had come for him. For Inuyasha.

That awareness gave him the strength to crawl back to his hands and knees. Panting and shaking from the strobes of fear, he saw Kikyo's hand, open and extended. He grasped it gently, bringing his eyes up to meet hers. The red light did not need to add to the warmth in her eyes. He breathed in, tasting her pain and her quiet, calm, determination. There was fear, but it was only a background thing, that sharpened her senses and made her more aware of everything around her and within in her. Inuyasha felt some of his trembling ease. "Kikyo."

"Inuyasha."

They turned their attention back to the dark priestess, who had stopped laughing. She walked up to the barrier, the knife beginning to glow with red and black streams of energy winding around each other. "Very good, Kikyo. The puppy cares enough for you that he manages to show a little bit of courage. But do you think that will really help him, when I have the villagers tear him to pieces, after they watch him rape and kill you?"

Inuyasha flung his head back, staring at the dark priestess in utter shock. "Never!"

"She's trying to bait you, Inuyasha," said Kikyo, squeezing his hand just the tiniest bit. "Tsubaki, you do realize that what you're doing it not worthy of your sensei's teachings? He seemed an honorable and compassionate man when we met: your actions, if he knows of them, must wound him deeply."

Tsubaki started, going pale. "You--!" Her free hand tightened into a fist. "Honorable!" she spat after a long moment. "He refused to make you turn over the Shikon No Tama to me!"

"He must have known your heart wasn't pure enough to purify the jewel," Kikyo replied. "If you had had a pure heart, to you really think you would have ever sunk to trading bits of your soul to youkai for power? Would have accepted the power that came from the torturous death of two innocent animals? Would have tortured and broken a hanyo who didn't even know you, had never harmed you?"

Tsubaki shook her head, as if to clear it. "Never harmed me?" she asked, incredulous. "He destroyed the Shikon No Tama! He destroyed the power that should have been mine!"

"The jewel's power would have destroyed you, Tsubaki. It would have turned you into a monster."

"You fool!" scoffed Tsubaki, anger flashing in her eyes. "You ignorant, sanctimonious little fool! That jewel would have given me eternal life and youth, would have given me more power than a thousand youkai, and that disgusting, dirty half-breed of yours destroyed it! That foul hanyo of yours should suffer! And to think that you, the oh-so-pure, the perfect little miko, was stupid and weak enough to fall in love with him!"

"There's more to life than power, Tsubaki."

Inuyasha sensed more than saw Kikyo shifting the position of her bow, and felt her hand leaving his. He didn't react physically, still vibrating inside from the shock of Tsubaki's suggestion, that she would somehow turn him against Kikyo. But his instincts below the level of his confused emotions stirred.

"Thus speaks those who fear power, or who know they'll never have it," jeered Tsubaki, her face twisted in anger and malice. "Like you, Kikyo. You think you can resist me? When that monk of yours is still lying unconscious and vulnerable? If I tell you to take down your barrier, or I'll go over and slit the monk's neck, do you really think you'll have the power to refuse me?"

"I do not believe in sacrificing others for myself, Tsubaki," replied Kikyo. "As you can see."

The barrier came down. Tsubaki looked startled, then started to smile. "Oh, very good, dear Kikyo. Perhaps--"

Kikyo lunged with no warning, her bow erupting in light as it was swept sideways and up in a two-handed grip. It slammed into a barrier, then went through it, its momentum barely slowed. It hit the hand holding the knife. White power and dark erupted at the point on contact. With a crack, the knife went flying. "Now!" she cried out, but Inuyasha did not need her cry. He leapt, in a flat arc that took him just above her swinging bow. His teeth were bared, and he had one goal in mind, one target in view.

"No!" Tsubaki screamed. The collar tightened as the last-ditch spell activated. His breath choked and his vision dimmed, but not soon enough. He bowled her over, and all his awareness centered on that slender, white neck. The collar couldn't stop his jaws, couldn't stop his fangs. He had her--

The scarred eye flashed white. Less than a hands-breadth from burying his fangs in her neck, Inuyasha suddenly felt youkai slamming into his face and shoulder. He missed, his teeth snapping together, striking nothing but air, and then his momentum and theirs sent him down to the ground on his shoulder. He tumbled, the collar throttling his screams as the youkai shredded the side of his face and ripped through his shoulder. He blacked out--

And came to as someone else screamed.

His head snapped up. His breath came easily, but he didn't notice. With his one unclouded eye, he saw Tsubaki holding up Kikyo by her hair. The knife was back in her hand, and the obsidian edge was pressing into Kikyo's neck, just under her chin. Blood flowed, but it was not the cut that made the miko scream.

He felt it, felt the aura of her power and her life being pulled from her. Tsubaki was trying to steal her power, as she had been trying to steal his. She was hurting Kikyo.

His Kikyo.

Kikyo!

The rage was suddenly back in his blood. Fire sparked through his body, burning away the pain and fear. Red flashed momentarily before his eyes, and then he was on his feet, snarling, hands arching back into claws, his ears flat. "Let her go, you witch!" he screamed, feeling his youki pulse. "Let her go, or I'll kill you!"

She started, whipping her head around to stare at him, mouth agape. But only for a moment. Moving her blade, she let go of Kikyo's hair and shoved her. The miko collapsed limply to the ground. He snarled again, feeling his youki pulse again. "How many times have you tried now, little puppy?" she asked, bringing the knife before her, the twisted tip pointing at him. "You're a very slow learner. Let's see if you can learn this time..."

He leapt as a whip of spiraling white and red snaked out of the knife tip. It missed, but he had to twist to avoid the three youkai coming at him from behind. He slashed at them, but the eldritch claws were small and weak. One youkai squealed as it blundered directly into the path of the claws and fell, not quite torn into several pieces, but the other two received only wounds. He ducked, but then found the ground coming up too soon. He landed off balance, instinctively stepped out onto his bad foot, and collapsed to one knee. Snarling, he went to his hands only long enough to take off from a three-pointed stance. The whip lashed out again, and this time caught his arm. He screamed as his arm burned from the miko power wrapped around it. The whip jerked, and he slammed into the ground on his other shoulder.

Inuyasha refused to give up. Snarling, he struggled to his hands and knees. Lifting his head, he glared at the dark priestess. She smirked, lifted her knife, and made a tiny beckoning gesture with her other hand. He lunged.

A narrow-bodied youkai, less than half his hand in width, and half his height in length, shot out from behind Tsubaki. He tried to dodge, but the only difference was that the youkai pierced his side instead of his middle. It went through him like an arrow at close range, and Inuyasha froze for the thinnest of moments.

And then, he fell.