InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Unexpected Alliances ❯ Unknown Rules ( Chapter 14 )

I'm SO sorry!

 

I just finished my French correspondence course last weekend, and up until that point, all of my time was occupied with it!

 

I'm afraid to say my finals are coming up in the end of June, so things won't be much better…

 

But I PROMISE I'll make it up to you guys over the summer holidays.

 

About the chapter name… I think my `brain's broken or something'. (We all know where the quote is from, hmm? If you know which Inuyasha episode, put it your review! A special treat next chapter to all those that figure it out!) Anyway, forgive to weird chapter name. The replacement one was suggested to me by Kitsama…of which I think is a whole lot funnier than mine!

 

Reviews!

 

Kagome92111- You figured it out! Go Inuyasha, save Kagome's butt (Yet again!)

 

Kitsama- I feel I cannot say this enough…thank you. You've been a great help to me and this story, and a close friend as well!

 

THE-number-1-case-closed-lover- Eeep! I really need a lawyer…glad you like the story though.

 

Rose- I know the feeling! Me too, but I love using them in my own work!

 

TotalMeggy- Another review for the one-shot! Wow…thanks a lot for the support!

 

And thank you very much to Hannah for e-mailing and helping me get my butt in gear again! It is great to know how much people are looking forward to the next chapter of this story! (And don't worry, I've got about another 10-15 chapters planned!)

 

Special shout out to my beta, Kitsama! Check out her Freedom fic, it's absolutely awesome!

 

*

 

§ Unknown Rules §

 

( a.k.a Broken Brain Syndrome Contagious… see above explanation)

 

I can't believe this! Left behind alone, again! he muttered, angrily repositioning himself among the dry branches.

 

Inuyasha was beginning to think staying behind on his branch hadn't been the best decision after all.

 

He had watched half-heartedly as the shadowed figures of friends disappeared into the darkening gloom beyond, their silhouettes swallowed by the amassing grey force on the horizon. Still too weak to follow, he had settled grudgingly in the familiar branches of a nearby tree, deciding to wait out the storm.

 

A lingering ache was still present in his chest, like an annoying ball had been stuffed under his ribcage. It was nothing compared to the pain he had felt before, the ripping, heart-wrenching agony that Shippo had witnessed. And one could not forget the accompanying awkward sensation of being adrift, floating on the edge of nothingness. It was making him sick.

 

And scared.

 

Inuyasha's mind closed on his fear like a trapdoor swinging shut. Scared? I'm not frightened, am I? I'm not frightened of anything!

 

Denial seemed to help. The rising lump in his throat slowed, and finally stopped. Yet, despite all of his words, the hanyou could still feel the cold blackness within threatening to consume him.

 

He loathed that feeling, the taunting fear. The fear of losing his pack. The fear of losing his life. The fear…

 

…the fear of losing Kagome.

 

Forever. Eternity. For all time.

 

The lump edged a little higher. He could not bear to think of it.

 

What? What the hell I am thinking? I'll get out of this. We always find some way to fix our problems. Kagome will collect the jewel shards, we'll fix that bastard Katsume once and for all, destroy the St'aler, and life will be back to normal.

 

His fear didn't answer. No reply against his wild wishes uttered forth from the blackness.

 

See? I told you so! Inuyasha snorted, feeling some bit of satisfaction at the argument. The feeling didn't last for long, as the returning essence of boredom began to plague him once again.

 

Up a tree, bored out of my mind, and can't follow Kagome. Dammit, I hate this.

 

Well, least he could have some major thinking time. And grumble over the latest addition of rules, of course.

 

In the last few weeks, there were a few, well, rules, Inuyasha had slowly begun to discover about being a ghost. Unfortunately, they were rules that he had learned the hard way, and discovered the consequences to a little less than enthusiastically.

 

Rule #1: No giving of information to mortals was allowed, by means of speech.

 

The Consequence: Inuyasha had discovered there wasn't really one, unless one counted the sudden freezing of your throat a consequence. It simply couldn't be done. Every time Shippo had plagued him on the whereabouts of the next shard, Inuyasha couldn't spit a word out to save his life. The leaden weight between his teeth, formerly a tongue, would not move until Shippo changed the subject.

 

On second thought, there was a consequence there. Shippo used this slight disadvantage to his favour, torturing Inuyasha day and night if he crossed him.

 

However, there was a way to get around this. Should a shard be near, Inuyasha could still point and wave comically in the general direction. Kind of like a game of charades, hanyou-style.

 

Rule #2: Though going through various and assorted objects is said to be no problem for ghosts, (example walls, trees, the like…), someone needs to rewrite the book.

 

The Consequence: You know how ghosts are supposed to be able to walk through things? Not so. Thus, if one is expecting to be able to go through something that is in fact solid to their presence, the resulting crash can be heard to the far reaches of the earth.

 

At least, as a ghost, it didn't hurt as much.

 

Inuyasha sighed, shaking his head. There were plenty of other rules, he was sure, that had yet the opportunity to plague his life.

 

And that damn drifting sensation was there…again! The last few days had been nightmarish as it had slowly begun to worsen. It was as if his identity was being torn apart by unknown hands, and thrown haphazardly to the winds. Not to mention the fact that the constant feeling of being, well, everywhere, sickened one to the point of exhaustion.

 

Well, that was it. He had time. He was going to figure out what, or who, was plaguing him.

 

Determined, Inuyasha closed his eyes. He focused his mind, searching for the individual waves of his soul scattered over the area. The total blackness behind his eyelids drew him within a quiet, peaceful place. Confused, Inuyasha tried to open them again, but found to some surprise his eyes were already uncovered.

 

No light penetrated the area, at least not that he could see. Inuyasha waved a hand in front of his line of sight. He could not even pick out the outline when it slipped past.

 

…easy, child…

 

Inuyasha jumped, his claws lashing out as the hanyou whipped around to face the noise. The voice, barely audible even to his own enhanced hearing, chuckled softly.

 

…jumpy, aren't you? …

 

Who's there! he demanded.

 

There was a slight pause, and then a dull whisper that even Inuyasha could not discern the meaning of reached his ears.

 

Well? Who are you? If you have no business with me, I'd kindly appreciate it if you leave me alone!

 

…it does not matter. We are here only to help you, Inuyasha…

 

Inuyasha stiffened. Help me with what?

 

…to help you… to find your eternal rest…

 

Inuyasha's eyes went wide. I'm not ready to rest yet, he snarled.His limbs broke out into a desperate run. He gazed wildly around, attempting to find some sort of an escape back to reality.

 

…but Inuyasha, don't you want to rest?…

 

Abruptly his limbs felt drunken and weary, like heavy weights had suddenly been attached. The ground beneath began to tip and whirl, and Inuyasha lurched to a halt. His hands flew to the sides of his head as he attempted vainly to stop the world from spinning.

 

No…he moaned.

 

…hush, Inuyasha, you are safe with us…

 

One couldn't help but notice the place was eerie, a calm, soothing solitude compared to the world outside his mind. More gentle whispers soothed him into rest, and Inuyasha suddenly found himself forgetting his troubles. Groggy and disoriented, Inuyasha endeavoured one more time to rise to his feet and turn away. The insistent whispers lulled him back, promising safety and rest.

 

So tired…

 

…forget your past, Inuyasha, think only of the future…your future, with us…

 

He felt his memories being erased, all of the precious treasures that made him who he was. Inuyasha fought back, trying to snatch and store his memoirs in a place where they couldn't take them. The hands dug into his soul anyway, tearing him to shreds to find their prize.

 

He was losing them. He was losing his past, his scars and his light. He was losing his friends.

 

He was losing Kagome.

 

No, whispered Inuyasha, reeling back from the hands. I will not let you take her! No!

 

NO!

 

The darkness was blasted away, replaced with an eerie, glowing light that pulled him within its depths. Inuyasha snarled, fighting to free himself from the unrelenting grasp. His senses all but disappeared in a sudden headlong rush towards the light.

 

Blinded by light, deafened from the noise and utterly helpless, Inuyasha could only wait until he reached his final destination.

 

*

 

And suddenly, Inuyasha was back. The world somersaulted back into view before him, dizzying his already bewildered mind. His sight spun and reeled at the sudden arrival. Unsteady and disoriented, Inuyasha plummeted from the tree to the ground, instinctively putting down a hand to catch himself.

 

Kagome, he moaned, sitting up to rub his aching forearms. His mind felt thick and groggy, and his ears somehow still yearned for the comforting words of the blackness.

 

He could feel it there, on the edge of his senses. The blackness seemed surprised for a moment, confused even, at his sudden departure. It cooed back to him, across the distance, to return.

 

Like an alcoholic tipping back the bottle for a second swig, Inuyasha felt himself crawling numbly back for the void. A little warning light inside of him snapped on, its shrill cry burning away the fog of his jumbled thoughts. Inuyasha's brain snapped back on. Jumbled thoughts and memories of being paralyzed with fatigue and terror caused him to recoil back from the persuasive darkness.

 

The warning nodded approvingly, cautioning him never to go back.

 

Something inside told Inuyasha he had barely escaped with his life.

 

The tingling sensation in his hand from the impact had yet to fade. Confused, the hanyou lifted it up, his eyes glancing the limb. For a simple fall like that, the pain should have subsided minutes ago-

 

The hand wasn't there.

 

What the hell? Inuyasha yelped. He held out his arm, or what was supposed to be his arm, twisting it in wonder. The spiritual limb, representing the exact arm he had on his living body, was slowly disintegrating into soft tendrils of light.

 

His thoughts reeled back several nights back, when the dragon had stolen part of his soul. The parting words of Katsume flared brightly in the fog of his memory.

 

*

 

“Keh. I get it. A spell in case someone can figure out how this thing works. Right, Katsume?”

 

Katsume grinned wickedly, steadily himself against the canyon wall. “If you pull that blade out now, Inuyasha, your soul will be torn asunder. You'll never know peace, boy! You will cease to exist, in this world, or the next!”

 

*

 

Oh, shit. This is so not good…

 

The minute piece of his soul was drifting away from his arm, being pulled to some unknown location. At once Inuyasha flung his remaining hand out, striving to grasp the renegade part of himself before it slipped away. Its light slipped through his fingers. He snarled, lashing out again.

 

He grasped the tendril, this time with a strong hold. Got you, he whispered harshly, and Inuyasha heaved back with all of his might.

 

The tendril snapped tight, and Inuyasha fought a fierce tug-of-war with the force on the other side threatening to steal it away. Its fingers responded with resolute anger at this new resistance. They pulled harder, almost too hard for Inuyasha himself to defend against. The tendril began to slow slip away. Inuyasha dug his heels in harder, grunting at the sheer strength against him.

 

Abruptly the black void appeared again, hovering on the edge of his senses ahead of him. Not wishing to return to that tunnel of speed and light, Inuyasha threw his full demon strength into his pull. The tendril edged minutely backward again.

 

Come on, come to papa. Just a little closer…

The tendril began to slip away again. No! Inuyasha exclaimed, his own fingers rapidly losing their precious hold. He desperately shifted his grip, but the force continued its inexorable pressure unabated. His feet began to slip beneath him, and Inuyasha was slowly dragged back into the void.

 

He looked ahead into the black abyss. Its welcoming peace and solitude urged him to go within its depths. The whispers of eternal rest and happiness licked once again at his mind, but Inuyasha paid them no heed.

 

Come on, he challenged, is that all you've got? This is a waste of my time! Give me something worth fighting against. Stop hiding and come out and show yourselves!

 

Inuyasha growled angrily, and yanked with all his might. The tendril came loose with an audible snap. Inuyasha was thrown back, still clutching his well-earned prize.

 

From the blackness came the St'aler dragon. Its blackened eyes glistening with rage, the demon lunged out of the void and snaked through the expanse.

 

Straight for Inuyasha.

 

Thoughts streamed through his head like random machine gun fire. Inuyasha lunged for his sword, only to remember to his dismay that the Tetsusagia he now carried was only a copy of the real thing, put there for his memory.

 

Fine then. We'll do this the hard way, he snarled, cracking his fingers in taunt.

 

The dragon slowed, then stopped, the inky pools of its eyes threatening to swallow him whole. A malevolent grin spread across its lips, and Inuyasha almost took a step back as the malice that radiated from it seeped into his bones.

 

“I finally found you, half-breed,” it hissed. “You've given me quite the run, you know.”

 

A little exercise never hurt anyone, he retorted. Besides, being locked up for long must have addled that brain of yours.

 

“Why's that?”

 

Because, Inuyasha snarled, taking a challenging step forward, no one would be so stupid as to harm Kagome and expect to live.

 

The dragon laughed, its sides heaving laboriously with amusement. “Have you forgotten Inuyasha? You're dead. You've lost your chance to save your little wench. It's just you and me in this world pup. And pretty soon, it'll be just me.”

 

Oh yeah! I'd like to see you try!

The demon snorted, and a cunning grin came upon his face. “Fine, Inuyasha. Try me. Have the first move, and let me prove how powerless you are to stop me and my master.”

 

Inuyasha snarled. The dragon dared to mock him? The anger and frustration within his heart burst into a fiery fury, and Inuyasha leapt to strike his foe.

 

Iron Reaper-

 

Feet from the dragon, Inuyasha's claws raked a barrier with the amount of energy he had never seen the likes before. A wall of paralyzing electricity rampaged through his soul, cutting his mind to shreds at the sheer agony of it. His spirit flew back, landing heavily on the ground several hundred feet back.

 

The dragon slithered closer. Inuyasha didn't move.

 

“See now, half-breed. Your efforts are futile against me. You have no power in this form. Accept your fate. You've tasted the peace, the bliss of the void. Come join the rest of your pathetic soul in my body, and sleep for all eternity.

 

“My storms are ravaging the land. Your friends can do nothing to stop it. You've seen how they play around, never finding what they seek. Already they are trapped in my net, simple prey to the demons I send.

 

“I am the ultimate power, Inuyasha. I am your redemption. Give in to me.”

 

Inuyasha stayed on the ground. Not even a muscle twitched to show he was listening.

 

“I can wait forever Inuyasha. As can you, I bet you're thinking. But what about your wench?”

 

A low rumble issued forth from Inuyasha's throat. The hanyou began to slowly shift upwards, his face creased with the agony of his mistake.

 

You leave Kagome out of this, he growled.

 

“I am afraid, Inuyasha, that she already involved,” the dragon smirked. It lifted a claw, pointing out towards the oncoming storm. “Your spirit is strong, Inuyasha. Even with the limited amount I was able to collect, it transformed itself into a storm of wondrous size. The winds you helped to create are screaming across miles of terrain, dumping metres of snow on that world. It is hell itself beneath those clouds, if you change the temperature extremes. The animals and demons within are starving, and will take any excuse for a good meal. Even humans, perhaps.

 

“Inuyasha, isn't your wench heading for that storm? Who is protecting her, I wonder?”

 

You…you bastard! Inuyasha snarled, rising unsteadily to feet. He buried his pain beneath the clouds of anger, and readied his claws for another strike.

 

“Are you dense, half-breed? You cannot hope to strike me down,” the dragon sniggered. “However, I will make you a proposition. If you agree to come and join me, willingly, then I will save your pathetic wench and friends.”

 

And if I don't?

 

“Then I will take the rest of your dismal soul right now, and let the wolves have your woman.”

 

Inuyasha snarled, his head ringing with uncertainty at the two options presented before him. No, he was wrong. There was another option…one that he had sworn to himself years ago he'd never use.

 

Kagome…trust me. I will save you.

 

Gathering up his pride, Inuyasha staunchly faced the demon. Hey dragon, he challenged. I think you're forgetting something.

 

“And what's that?”

 

Inuyasha growled to himself under his breath. All the pride he possessed was steadily leaving his heart. He loathed this new plan with a vengeance. The hanyou could count with the fingers on a single hand how many times he had used this option. It destroyed his self-respect, every single time.

 

I'll do this…for Kagome's sake.

 

Inuyasha smirked, readying his aching body. You can't capture me dragon…if you can't catch me!

 

With the gig up, Inuyasha spun around and dashed full speed into the surrounding forest. His sheer will forced his exhausted spirit to accelerate around the fallen trees and rocks.

 

Inuyasha ran for his life…and Kagome's…for the very first time in a hundred years.

 

“No!” the dragon snarled, his jaws snapping closed in frustration. The snake-like body swam through the air, trying desperately to catch up with the agile hanyou. Much to the dragon's dismay, the red fire rat haori became a diminutive dot on the horizon, and all but disappeared in seconds.

 

The dragon, fatigued, skittered to a stop. The inky black eyes glowed in pure rage towards the direction the hanyou had taken.

 

“You can run, half-breed, but you will never be able to hide from me!”

 

*

 

Kagome!

 

It had taken him a long time, almost too long, to catch up with his friends. The events of the day had taken a devastating toll on the endurance of the hanyou. By the time he had arrived to their side, Inuyasha could barely move from the exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm him.

 

Not even the sight of Kagome being taken hostage by the wolf demon summoned enough strength for him to fight.

 

Inuyasha snarled irately as the lead wolf youkai grasped Kagome's arms in a hold only death would break. He saw her gasp in pain from his talons. The rage bubbled within him, until Inuyasha could no longer hold it back.

 

I will not have run away from the youkai for nothing.

 

His chest heaved with exertion as he lunged forward, golden eyes intent on tearing the youkai to shreds.

 

I will not lose her!

 

With a tremendous final effort, Inuyasha slammed into the wolf youkai's body with all the strength he could manage to spare. To his surprise, the demon hurtled backward, colliding full force with the rock face behind. He winced in sympathy when Kagome hissed in pain as the youkai's talons left jagged, bleeding marks in her skin.

 

Now, you stupid wench! Get away! he yelped.

 

Inuyasha heard the monk Varon call out for her to return to her friends, and Kagome gladly obliged. Several other youkai, seeing a chance to attack when her back was turned, eagerly bounded forward to exact their revenge. Inuyasha battled them back, taking extra time to torture a demon whom had strayed too close to Kagome's side.

 

As Kagome reached Varon, Inuyasha's sixth sense picked up the presence of a demon on the move. He couldn't help but smile thankfully as Kouga came upon the scene, his living limbs and anger taking more of a toll on the enemy demons than Inuyasha's winds could ever hope to achieve.

 

Who would have thought Kouga would be actually useful for once?

 

The battle over, Inuyasha sagged against the nearby tree. He closed his eyes, utterly exhausted from the chase. He found he could pay no heed to the heated conversation now taking place between Kagome and Kouga, even if he had wanted to. His beaten spirit would simply not allow it. The black void hovered on the edge of his senses, an ever present reminder of the dragon's hunt for him. Inuyasha kept a fair distance between him and it, too tired to deal with anymore surprises.

 

That was close, almost too close, he mused. Damn dragon is still looking for me…bastard doesn't know when to quit.

 

His pride, now barely an insignificant speck, wailed in agony. Inuyasha growled inwardly in agreement. To run from an enemy, in Inuyasha's perspective, was unthinkable. Even if it had been his only option, if Kagome hadn't needed him, the hanyou would have gone down fighting.

 

Kagome…that girl's changed me. I've looked out for myself in life; it's the only way I was able to survive for so long. Kagome, is this change for the better?

 

It was his last thought before the wave of exhaustion claimed his soul.

 

*

 

Well, hope it was worth the wait for you guys! I'll get the next chapter out as soon as I can, it's already partway finished.

 

Don't forget to review, and name the episode where that quote is from!

 

Hanyou