InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Western Lands ❯ A Strong Wind ( Chapter 2 )

Western Lands
By Professor Moony

Chapter II
A Strong Wind

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Kagome crouched in the meadow, gazing out over the distant treetops and the clouds drifting slowly by. She wondered why she had never really looked at them before.

She was playing her role as bait. And how! She thought. She knew her friends were nearby, watching her, waiting to see if Naraku would indeed come. It feels a little too set up, she thought, but it was about time they finished the Jewel and there really were not any other options. It was at least worth a try.

With nothing better to do, she stretched out on the grass and ran everything over again in her mind. Shippou and Rin were still at camp, guarded by Ah-Un. She had no doubt they were well-defended, Shippou had since a fine grasp of his magic and was a force to be reckoned with when he needed to be. Still, in demon terms he was merely a cub so she had objected to his participation.

As for Rin's surrogate father, Kagome had to shake her head at his awkwardness. Lord Sesshoumaru showed next to no interest in Inuyasha's ragtag band, of course, only desiring to rid the four lands of Naraku once and for all. Their alliance was strictly business. Still, seeing him seated in the firelight last night.... well, she was only a girl. And he was only undeniably and ferociously handsome. But, she thought firmly, she needed to clear her head of such thoughts. After all, the angelic lord of the western lands was not only known to be disgusted by humans (which she doubted a little, considering how he doted on Rin), but was the most eligible bachelor in all of feudal Japan. He would never take the least interest in a penniless, wandering priestess.

She lazily opened her eyes, not even noticing that she had closed them. That was when she noticed dark tendrils of mist appearing before her eyes, Naraku's miasma. She coughed as it quickly grew thicker, jumping up and raising a hand to cover her mouth. Their cheap setup had actually worked? But where were her friends? She choked on the poison air and dropped to her knees.

“Ku ku ku. Poor little priestess,” chuckled a velvety voice. “Am I hurting you?”

Kagome tried to stifle her coughing and spread her awareness throughout the clearing. She had managed to pinpoint Naraku's aura, directly behind her, but not Inuyasha's or Lord Sesshoumaru's.

She jumped as she felt the tips of claws run down the side of her neck. The miasma cleared a little around them and allowed her to breathe. “What a pleasure to meet you here,” he purred, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear. “I had thought I might have to coax you out into the open. But I see that your companions are more than capable.”

“Where are they?” Kagome asked. “What have you done to them?”

“I have not laid a hand on them,” he chucked again, dipping his lips to her neck, his claws caressing the other side. “But I cannot speak for my armies. I dare say your friends a little occupied.”

Kagome squared her jaw, feeling Naraku nuzzle her neck. Her skin crawled in disgust. But what now? Her enemy had his hands on her neck and, although he seemed to be a little amorous this morning, she could not just purify him because his claws might hurt her in the process. Could she?

She pulled her hands into her lap but Naraku suddenly caught them in his. “I really had hoped I would not have to kill you this morning,” he said and ran a hand down her cheek.

“Why? All you want is the Jewel.”

“You are a part of the Jewel.” He wrapped himself around her from behind, smelling her hair. “And I would much rather have you than a chunk of rock.”

Kagome could not decide if she was more alarmed or revolted.h

“It is possible for you and I to be together.” His palm spread over her stomach. “You would bear such fine pups.”

“How can you say that?” she shouted. “You're killing my friends!”

Naraku turned her face so she could see his smirk. “Just give me the Jewel, Kagome, and we could be happy.”

He can't touch it, Kagome realized. It's touching my skin so it's pure. It would burn him.

Interesting.

If she could only free her hands she could purify him. But how could she do that? She glanced around herself, but all she could come up with were his ruby eyes. She leaned in a little closer to him. “Do you really think we could be happy?”

Naraku's smirk widened to a smile. “I believe it with all of my heart.”

Kagome leaned in closer still, pressing her lips lightly against his. Naraku took control, threading one hand into her hair and tilting her head. She jumped when she felt his warm tongue touch her lips, then sweep across her mouth. Breaking out into a cold sweat, she opened her mouth to him and let his tongue push inside. The hand holding her wrists together let go and pressed into the small of her back. She was free.

She put on hand on the back of his head and other over his heart, twisting away in disgust and letting her holy powers burst loose. “You don't have a heart. I'm sorry,” she said, watching him twist and scream in pain. His hands grabbed furtively at her wrists. She hoped it would end soon. She did not like to hurt people.

Then Kagome saw it, his portion of the Jewel pulsing where his heart should have been. She looked up and saw the miasma had cleared somewhat. Inuyasha was approaching swiftly. His face and beautiful silver hair were flecked with blood.

“The Jewel!” she shouted as he reached her side.

“Where?”

“In his heart.”

She shut her eyes as Inuyasha brandished his claws and plunged down, feeling a light spray of something warm on her face. The writhing stopped.

Kagome looked down tentatively, seeing a dead Naraku in her arms with a bloody hole in his chest. “Oh ewww....” she moaned, rolling the body away from her. Around them, Naraku's armies crumbled into dust and the miasma cleared, showing the trodden meadow now splattered with red. She saw with happiness that her friends were rising all around her and collecting their bearings.

“Where were you?” she asked, turning to Inuyasha. She uselessly tried to rub the blood from her sweater.

Inuyasha shook his head and handed her the dark part of the Jewel. “Naraku swept in too fast, we weren't expecting it. I tried to get to you, I really did, but there were so many demons-”

“Making excuses for not protecting your bitch, little brother?” a low voice asked behind them. They turned to see Lord Sesshoumaru sauntering up, looking miraculously unscathed and quite fabulous with a sword in each hand. His usually pristine white clothes and snowy hair were flecked with blood. He smoothly sheathed the two swords then tossed his head and waited for the inevitably amusing reaction.

When Kagome has first come to feudal Japan, she had taken offense at being called a bitch. Years with Inuyasha, however, had taught her that, when used by a dog demon, the word was actually closer to `wife' than an insult. That did not mean she had to like it, though. “I'm not his bitch,” Kagome spat. She hated that word. “And Inuyasha is quite aware that I can fend for myself,” She noticed Inuyasha's mouth open and close slightly several times for lack of words.

“Oh really, young priestess?” he asked evenly as his eyes, still red with the fading bloodlust, studied her closely. She felt as though she were being assessed for purchase. “Why did I fail to see you during the entire battle?”

Did that mean he had been looking for her? Well, that was slightly uncomfortable.

“That's because she was over here friggin' killing Naraku!” Inuyasha said, gesturing to the corpse. “If it wasn't for her we'd still be cutting down demons.”

“Is that so?” Lord Sesshoumaru asked.

Inuyasha grinned wide and threw an arm possessively around Kagome's shoulders just as their companions staggered near. Miroku looked like hell but was relatively unharmed, Jaken's staff of heads had snapped sometime during the battle and he was carrying the sad remains of it in his stubby hands, Kirara was favoring a paw and had several bleeding cuts, and Sango was nursing a deep wound in her side, her boomerang no where to be found.

“Gods, Sango!” Kagome cried, throwing Inuyasha's arm off and running to her. “Are you alright?”

Sango winced, holding up a hand. Her breathing was harsh. “Please make the wish quickly. I don't think I'm going to make it through this one and I've worked so hard for this Jewel.”

Kagome held back tears and nodded. She hated to see her friend like this. She turned to Inuyasha and held out the two pieces of the Jewel. “You wanted to make the wish.”

Inuyasha glanced around in embarrassment, then shook his head. “It's better if you do it.” He sighed and dug his arms into the sleeves of his shirt. “When this began I wanted to wish for something really damn selfish. But we all worked together for this.”

Kagome had to agree so she pulled her necklace off, breaking the fastening, and clasped the two halves together in her hands. There was a flash of light as the two halves united and purified, and a strong wind surrounded her. There were white clouds before her eyes. She saw a vision of Midoriko coming down from above.

What is your wish, young priestess?

Oh. She had not actually thought of what she would wish. She just knew she had to do it soon before Sango died. Although, since she could technically wish for Sango's resurrection, that did not seem to be an issue.

“Like Inuyasha said, my friends and I all worked together to fix the Jewel So I guess I wish that all my friends will be....” she thought, only hitting upon Naraku's word from earlier. “Happy.”

Your wish is pure, and shall be granted.

Midoriko vanished and the world reappeared. Kagome felt her legs shake then give out, the completed Jewel leaving her hands and floating gently into her body. She felt a wave of indescribable power and energy, then collapsed completely. Sango's wound closed immediately, leaving only a hole in her armor. Mirkou's wind tunnel sealed and he held up the hand in bewilderment. Inuyasha reached up to touch his fuzzy ears and discovered, to his disappointment, that they were still there. As for Lord Sesshoumaru, he was nowhere to be seen.

How bizarre. Kagome wondered where he had gone, but then realized it didn't matter much anyway. He was probably transported to the frozen tundra, where he would be happiest. It would go with his cold personality.

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Author's Note: Well, I'm finally back and done with the epic battle scene. I really don't like writing fight scenes (partially because I can't) so I didn't and instead relied on my tried and true sappiness, which I've never actually written before either. Go figure. Reading over this, I think my idea of Kagome reminds me much more of Elizabeth Bennet from `Pride and Prejudice' and than anything else. I figure that over the years, Kagome will probably have mellowed out some (although, she will always be opinionated and logical, like every sensible woman is). In any case, I hope you enjoyed. I'm really excited about writing the next few chapters - I know exactly where this will be going and I've finally gotten the prologue out of the way (sorry, it needed it. you'll see). I hope to get the next chapter up in much better time than I did this. Peace.

 

Author's Note II: This chapter was revised. The epic battle isn't so much an epic battle as an epic angsty love scene.

Shout out to Kagome15!