InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ When We Awaken ❯ Chapter 11: I Am Awakened, Part II ( Chapter 11 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Ai Kisugi 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 02.04.2014 | Pages: 2 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 492 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 02.04.2014 | Pages: 2 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 492 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter Eleven: I Am Awakened, Part II
Lying on the ground next to the tub was a man who sat like a limp doll. But even through the haze of the chemicals in the tub, Inuyasha could see the clear resemblance.
The man had long silver hair, golden unfocused eyes and two white dog-ears on the top of his head. He was dressed in red robes and buckled to his side was the Tessaiga.
Ice seemed to creep into his veins, pulling him down deeper into the muck. He shook his head and tried to disrupt the image he was seeing. But all he saw was a version of his hanyou self, sitting next to him, like a placid puppet.
The woman resumed speaking. "My name is Urasue. And somewhere deep within your skull is some information I need and I intend to have it. It is too bad that you won't survive the process."
She stood up and peered down at the teenager in the muck. "The potions in the water are going to slowly drain your energy, then at the right moment in time I will transfer your soul to this container." She smiled as she pointed to the man sitting on the ground, his eyes glassy and lifeless. He didn't acknowledge the conversation, he just sat there as if dumfounded. "He is one of my greatest creations. It took a while to find his ashes and it took masterful witchcraft to fashion a golem body for his soul to reside. Clay and ash, that is all he really is… But that's all any of us are when it comes down to it…only clay and ash…"
Urasue laughed to herself and then turned to look at the black haired Inuyasha who was slipping further down into the mire of the tub.
"I hear you call yourself 'Ash.' How appropriate..." She cackled again. "Are your legs and arms going numb?"
Inuyasha tried to quell the panic, when he realized that he could no longer move his legs. His arms and hands felt lethargic. He had assumed that it had something to do with being tied up, but there was a sinking realization that he wouldn't be able to keep his head above the water for much longer if he couldn't move his own limbs. He was in danger of drowning.
The thought had him thrashing about. Then he took in some slow breaths, in order to calm his rising panic. He just needed to keep his head above the water's edge by the time the sun rose. He just didn't know how much time had passed since he had been kidnapped. Of course, there was one way to find out.
"Hey, Babaa! How long have you held me here?"
The old woman's bulging eyes merely crinkled at the edges in apparent delight. "Long enough, son. Long enough…"
The woman turned around and seemed to be focusing on his placid twin. Inuyasha was no closer to ascertaining how much longer it would be until the sun rose. He only hoped the old woman didn't know that he would transform in the morning and could then easily free himself.
This would be a waiting game.
The old woman walked away. She gathered more herbs and then sprinkled them in the murky water that surrounded him. Using her stick, she stirred the waters in the tub and muttered an incantation.
Inuyasha felt a pulling sensation. Suddenly, it was not only his legs that were numb, but now it was also his hands and body. He tried to will his body to still, so that he could float over the mire, but heaviness was weighing him down. As much as he tried to fight, his body was sinking further into the depths of the small pool. His mouth was the first to fall under the waters depths, however he was still able to breathe through his nose, even as water pooled under his nostrils.
Urasue scowled at the boy in agitation and her incantation reached a feverish pitch.
Inevitably, his body sagged and the water seeped into his nostrils. He fell under the water, pulled down into its murky depths. Water streamed down his nose, filling his lungs. Instinctually, he tried to cough up the water, but he only met more water, which gurgled down his throat.
He tried to thrash his body and pull himself up and out of the water, but his hands and legs were bound, and his body was not responding.
Black dots formed over his eyes as he tried to look through the brown water. He was losing this battle.
Another figure moved above the tank where he lay. His vision was murky, but he seemed to be seeing silver hair and red robes reflected within the water's distorted ripples. The image smiled, a demonic grin with sharp white teeth.
With his mind and body slipping deeper into the water, all he could think of was Kagome. He was not regretting his own life, but the savagery with which Kagome seemed to be wrenched from his life—again…
The blackness pulled him under.
Sesshoumaru was leading the attack, his poison whip flashing neon green as it arched across the enemy's ranks, smashing their forms into dust and shards.
Behind him was an entourage from the Taijiya. Sango was clad in leathers and coral-colored plate. She was wielding a huge boomerang that seemed too large for the girl to lift. However, the demon slayer hefted it easily in her hands and hurled it into the midst of the battle, taking down at least a dozen of the magically crafted warriors they were fighting.
By her side was Miroku, dressed in his monk's robes and wielding his Shakujô, shattering the terra cotta warriors into fragments with each swing of the golden staff.
The last of their group was Eri. Like Sango, she was wearing a formfitting leather suit, revealing every curve as she twisted and lunged at the robotic attackers.
Kagome stood behind the offensive line and strung her arrow into her bow. A small prayer was chanted and the arrow suddenly glowed with holy light.
She noticed that her bowstring was no longer silver, but was as black as ebony. She had refashioned her bow with a few strands of Inuyasha's hair and tonight he was human. She imagined her sacred arrow blazing a path to him, then she let the arrow fly, arching across the sky before exploding among the clay soldiers. A shattering array of pottery shards flew up like the impact of a meteor, which in turn burst even more of the terra cotta warriors into small pieces.
Kagome didn't wait for the dust to settle. With her glowing bow held up in front of her in defense, she stormed forward. She had broken through the line and had to reach Inuyasha. As she surged forward through clouds of rusty dust, she never noticed the clay soldiers closing in behind her, effectively closing her off from her team. Their backs were to her and they made no move to follow her.
She didn't hear the Taijiya's cries for her to stop. Dust coated her lungs and the din of battle was all she heard. Her eyes were only on what was ahead of her and the dull pull she had felt.
Everything had been her fault. If only she hadn't asked him to take her to the skyscraper again. Why had she been so preoccupied with her own desires that she hadn't even noticed that Inuyasha was about to turn back into a human? She knew they had been attacked before on the night of a new moon. Why hadn't she been on guard?
When she had awoken in a blackened alley, after the gaseous attack, her battle instincts were what kept the terror at bay. She had used her new cell phone to called the Taijiya on duty, Eri, and let them know what had happened. Within minutes, Sesshoumaru and his team arrived, however even Sesshoumaru could not trace the missing hanyou. Inuyasha's trail disappeared into the air. That was when the dog demon took out a small, flat, glowing metal object. He said it was something called a "Gee-Pee-S" system and that Inuyasha had a tracking device on his bracelet.
Kagome had watched wordlessly as the flat screen showed two dots. A red one where she was located in Tokyo and the other green dot was where Inuyasha had been taken.
She didn't need any further motivation; she would even follow the impassive Sesshoumaru to the ends of the earth if it were the means to find Inuyasha. With an invisibility charm in place, the entire entourage was soon in the air, homing in on Inuyasha.
When they had landed they were quickly surrounded by clay, golem soldiers. There were swarms of them lumbering toward them like stiff zombies. But Inuyasha had to be close; the magical "Gee-Pee-S" said he was near.
Now sourness crept into her heart and panic started to overtake her. Somehow her soul knew that there wasn't much time left. The magnetic pull she had felt seemed to be weakening, but she could still feel its effects. She didn't need a GPS to track down Inuyasha; she only needed her heart and the bonds that had tied her to him a lifetime ago.
She surged forward, leaving the battle behind her. Kagome stumbled over broken ground and gravel paths until she arrived at what looked like an outdoor kiln. The languishing fires within the oven burned feebly. A dying red fire and wisps of smoke drifted away from the opening. It had been recently used.
Before the kiln was an old woman, her head held high, reciting a mystical spell. Her long gray hair fell around her short, rotund body. Her face looked like an old apple that had dried and withered. "Now, soul…enter your proper form!" she cried.
However, it was a swath of blood red and silver hair that quickly drew her attention. Sitting next to the woman was a very familiar figure clothed in red with silver hair and dog-like ears. There was something wrong with him. He looked drugged.
Kagome didn't think, she only responded instinctually. "Inuyasha!"
Then everything seemed to happen at once. An uproar of air seemed to whirl around the old woman until it settled onto the red-clad Inuyasha. The elderly witch cried out, "Ah see…the soul sinks into its new body!"
The silver-haired hanyou blinked and he seemed to be coming out of a drugged stupor. His ears twitched on top of his head. Then he turned his golden eyes to look directly at Kagome. His eyes narrowed at her in confusion.
The older woman who had been muttering the incantation screeched at Inuyasha. "Now, Inuyasha. Show your restored powers and drive off those who seek to attack me and my precious puppets!"
It was then that Kagome finally noticed a tub of water filled to the top with herbs. Within the water's confines was the familiar face of a human Inuyasha who seemed to be thrashing within the tub.
She brought her hand to her mouth. "Inuyasha?" she murmured in confusion. She didn't understand why there were two Inuyashas in front of her, but she knew that it was still a new moon. She should have realized earlier that the dazed Inuyasha she had first gazed upon was not the real Inuyasha. At this moment, the real Inuyasha would have black hair. The silver-haired, red robed hanyou must be some sort of facsimile.
Kagome rushed forward, regardless of the threats the older woman was yelling. She had to get Inuyasha out of the tub, before he drowned.
However, she wasn't oblivious to the old women's cries for the other Inuyasha to attack her. If this golem was going to take her down, then she needed to fire a holy arrow at him and destroy him. Though she didn't know how she could ever stomach destroying someone who looked like Inuyasha. Even if her head knew the truth, her heart would only feel betrayal.
Just as she was reaching for an arrow from her quiver, the silver-haired Inuyasha looked briefly at her, almost in confusion, and then turned to the gray-haired witch who was shouting at him to kill the miko. He seemed to me motioning to her to wait and then strode toward the witch.
Kagome became quickly baffled when he pulled the Tessaiga from the sheath secured at his side. A large crescent half moon engulfed his figure, bathing the darkened area with a moonlit glow.
She could clearly see the scowl on his face as he approached the gray-haired woman who screeched, "I have birthed a living body from graveyard clay and ash!"
Bewilderment overcame Kagome as she stared at the silver-haired hanyou's red clad back. She didn't want to kill him and he didn't seem to be a threat at the moment. Dropping the arrow back in the quiver, she continued in her dash and fell to her knees at the end of the tub.
She could see Inuyasha's human face struggling under the murky waters and leaves. His black hair danced under the water like flowing silk and his face was contorted in agony. His body abruptly stopped struggling and fell into unnatural stillness.
The miko heard the older woman screech. "What are you doing!? We had plans…" The witch's last words were cut short by the swing of the Tessaiga. Kagome could hear the befuddled wailing cut off unnaturally and the sound of Inuyasha's sword meeting flesh and blood. All she could hear now was a sick gurgling sound, but she didn't pay attention. The miko had more important things to consider.
Kagome's arms reached in and hooked underneath the human Inuyasha's armpits and struggled to heave him out of the water. It took two quick shoves, but she managed to drag him out of the tub, water pouring from his body.
The black-haired Inuyasha splashed onto the dry ground, looking more like a floundering fish than a human being. Kagome turned him over and hit his back. The boy coughed and water poured out of his mouth, heaving onto the dry land, turning what was once dust into wet mud.
Inuyasha's body was slightly blue. Kagome kept on slapping his back as water continued to hack out of his lungs. When he finally sputtered a breath, Kagome's eyes started to water. Inuyasha's head fell on her lap, wheezing and his eyes screwed shut, as if unconscious.
Kagome could not truly see the struggle in her peripheral vision and didn't know if she could trust a golem who was wielding what appeared to be the Tessaiga. Taking an arrow from her quiver, she strung it on her bow and twisted to aim it at the golem who was starting to march purposefully toward her.
"Stop! Or I'll shoot!" Kagome shouted as she looked apprehensively at the looming red and silver figure.
The hanyou was holding the Tessaiga by his side, it glowed against the darkened land, making it seem like the moon itself was swathing the area in its brilliant white light. For a brief moment he seemed to stumble in her direction; the Tessaiga wobbled in his hand. "Kagome," he whispered before he seemed to right himself.
He stared at the girl in front of him. Eyes that were looking at her in wonder quickly slipped into bitterness. His eyes narrowed as the red-clad hanyou spoke defiantly. His voice was steady, perturbed and very familiar. "How do I know you are the real Kagome?"
"What?" Kagome sputtered. "You're the imposter!" she exclaimed as she continued to aim her arrow at the hanyou and drew her bow taut.
The hanyou held his sword in one hand and while anger danced in his golden eyes. "The last thing I remember was seeing two of you." He looked at the boy in Kagome's arms and then narrowed his eyes. "One of you got close enough to me to cut off my head and the other must have been the real Kagome. Which one are you?" he demanded.
The miko could only look up at him in confusion and wonder, her arrow was still pointed at him, but she had loosened her grip. "But, but! You died that day. You can't remember…" She shook her head in bafflement. "How can you possibly know…?" She quickly remembered that only Ash had any knowledge of what had happened, but he thought it was more of a dream than reality. How could this man before her possibly know the truth of something that happened 500 years ago?
"Put down your fucking arrow, Kagome…if that's your real name," commanded the hanyou.
"You're…you're not my Inuyasha," swore Kagome as her bow yet again pointed at him. "The real Inuyasha would be human tonight."
He only glowered at her. "So we both think the other is a fake?" he snarled. "Who else but me could wield the Tessaiga?"
"He can!" Kagome stammered as she motioned with her shoulders to the man next to her.
The Inuyasha who stood in front of her scoffed, "Right, now you better show me a barrier or flare up your holy arrow before I strike you down."
"What?!"
"You heard me. Now, Kagome…if that's your real name," stated the silver-haired Inuyasha.
Now she was angry. The tip of her arrow flashed with the glowing brilliance of a holy arrow. The whiteness flowed from her arrow like smoke. "Don't move any closer!"
The hanyou that stood in front of her stared, then a slow smile grew before it was squelched with unease. The mighty sword that he held was sheathed, making the glow that had alighted the area disappear. Now, only the kiln's dying red fires reflected off of the man. Kagome could make out a bitter grimace on the hanyou's face as he looked down at her and the human Inuyasha in her care.
"Kagome?" he asked a little too quietly.
The bow in her hands trembled. White light that flared at the arrow's tip softened and then sputtered into nothingness. Kagome pulled the arrow back and it fell clattering to the hard ground.
"But it can't be you. You died…," argued Kagome.
The red robed hanyou in front of her quirked a brow and stood in front of her, both arms crossed and nested in his long sleeves.
"So I did," the hanyou frowned. "At least that is what I remember, until I heard…"
"Until you heard…"
"You, you called me. I heard you call my name!"
"What? I didn't call your…" Kagome paused for a brief moment as she tried to recall what had happened. She had come across the clearing and had seen an ogress reciting an incantation. She didn't understand the words, but she did recognize what looked to be her hanyou Inuyasha sitting on the ground, as if entranced. She had called out his name, hadn't she? The miko swallowed. "I was really calling out to him," she stated while gesturing to the human man that lay unconscious in her lap.
Kagome's clothes were splattered with water and mud. She cradled the human Inuyasha's head and brushed away his wet ebony hair that was plastered to his face. "Inuyasha! Wake up! Are you alright?"
The man in front of her smirked in a way that reminded her of the confident, brash Inuyasha she had known.
"He won't wake up," said the hanyou with steady seriousness.
She sputtered a reply. "What? Why? What do you mean?" Kagome gently moved to stand up, carefully removing the wheezing man from her lap, to stand and face the hanyou confronting her. 'He's just a golem,' she repeated to herself. 'He's not my Inuyasha.' But as she stood there, she couldn't help but feel some of the familiar feelings she always felt when she was in Inuyasha's presence. She did her best to wish them away.
"Because I am he," stated the hanyou.
"Stop speaking in riddles!" she exclaimed in exasperation.
"Kagome, a soul can only exist in one place at one moment in time."
Kagome shook her head. "What are you saying?"
"His soul is within me. And I remember! I remember everything!"
"You can't!" she yelled while flinging her arms away from her pounding heart. "How could you remember?"
Golden eyes looked directly at her gray-blue orbs. He spoke to her in subdued tones. "I remember trying to steal the jewel from you."
Kagome grasped the pearl-like object that hung on a chain around her neck.
Inuyasha waved his hands in a dismissive gesture. "As if I want that stupid thing anymore." He looked directly into her eyes. "I didn't mean to. I'm just a fucking hanyou. But all I've ever wanted was you."
His eyes were so unguarded and truthful. They bore into her, begging her to respond. Kagome swallowed. She felt that he was speaking the truth. No one could look at her like that and say those words and be lying.
"We were…" He stopped for a brief moment. He looked at the ground and then looked back up at her. "We were going to get married, Kagome. Do you remember?"
Now the miko's bow fell to the ground and her hand covered her mouth. She stared at him in confusion and awe. Inuyasha stood before her pensively, his body tense.
Kagome's body shook in small spasms. There was no way he could know. Not even Ash seemed to know that she and Inuyasha had been betrothed.
He looked away from her and shrugged his arms back into his sleeves. His eyes looked up at the blackened night sky. "I was so fucking content. I was finally going to marry you. I didn't even think when that girl showed up looking and smelling like you. I knew there was something wrong when she smiled at me. It was all wrong... Then I heard you call out to me. I saw two of you. Then…"
Kagome looked directly into his eyes, heaved a solid breath and continued. "Then her arms somehow became sharp blades. She…she…" Kagome brought her hand up to her mouth again. Tears started to well in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. Her eyes fell to the ground. "She sliced off your head in front of me. I…I ran toward you. Your head lolled to the ground, your body dropping like an afterthought. That thing ran away. I fell to my knees and tried to put your head back onto your body. Tried to get you fixed... Blood was everywhere. There was so much blood…I…"
Kagome hadn't noticed that the red-clad Inuyasha was directly in front of her now. He put his hand under her chin and looked directly into her tear stained eyes.
"I'm here now, Kagome."
With a shuddered sob, she threw her arms around him. Her body shook as she cried out every horror, every sorrow, every pent up emotion that had been wracking her since she had seen Inuyasha die so viciously in front of her.
She was lost in the outlet of her pain. When she finally came to her senses, she felt him rubbing her back in a soothing manner. She heard her name repeated over and over again, like a mantra. "Kagome, Kagome…"
She pushed back against his solid chest. This Inuyasha did not have the beads around his neck. She looked directly into his golden eyes. She could see a desperate love within them.
"Kagome," he murmured as he leaned forward, his lips centimeters from hers.
Someone was yelling at him and shaking him. Ash seemed to know who the perpetrator was before he opened his eyes. His damned hanyou self was interfering again.
A silver-haired version of himself, dressed in red robes had his hands wrapped in his wet shirt. Grabbing the sodden folds of his t-shirt, the dog-eared hanyou was shaking him awake.
It was bizarre to see himself above his own body. One, a golden-eyed hanyou in the robes of the fire rat and the other a drenched, black-haired human wearing a t-shirt and jeans.
Finally, Ash quirked an indolent violet eye in the hanyou's direction. This didn't stop the shaking, however.
"What in the fuck were you thinking? Giving up?! We're not giving up on Kagome. Not this fucking time!"
The human Inuyasha batted the other man's hands away from his body. "What the fuck is your problem?"
"My problem?!" yelled the hanyou. "If you didn't keep on dying and giving up, I wouldn't be here. Get off your fucking ass and go back to Kagome."
Ash's black eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he tried to recall where he was and what was currently happening. He vaguely remembered kissing Kagome. He licked his lips and the hanyou in front of him sighed.
"Yes, we fucking kissed her…then what?"
A brief smile adorned Ash's lips before he remembered the kiss being disrupted by smoke. They had both coughed and he had fallen unconscious.
The hanyou in front of him tapped his foot in agitation. "And…"
He had woken up in a tub with a strange withered woman above him who was reciting a spell. Then he recalled in horror that his hanyou self sat beside him, like a puppet with cut strings. The witch had told him that she was going to transfer his soul to the golem. Then he had started to drown. Blackness had overcome his vision. His last thoughts had been of Kagome and how angry he was at being ripped away from her…again.
"No, not again!" yelled the hanyou next to him. "Never again. You will fucking fight!"
The violet-eyed Ash turned in confusion to the hanyou. "The witch, she said that my soul was going into that…thing."
"Not on my watch," ordered the hanyou. He looked down at the black-haired human and then reached out his hand to him. The red robed hanyou pulled him up.
"She belongs to us, not to that fucking thing!" The hanyou's eyes narrowed in derision. "Fight!"
The human Inuyasha lay in the dirt and mud behind her, his black hair plastered like seaweed around his face and clothes.
Kagome only had eyes for the hanyou in front of her. His golden eyes called to her. Suddenly, she decided not to fight anymore. This was her Inuyasha. He was to be her husband. She wanted to give herself to him. She closed her eyes as he leaned forward, her lips about to meet his. It had been 500 years; it had been too long.
Behind her, she heard another Inuyasha call her name. "Kagome!" It was Inuyasha's voice. She knew it was him, but how? He was in front of her.
"What?" she murmured. It felt like cold water had been thrown at her. A chill raced down her spine. The miko looked up in confusion at the hanyou who was holding her. She could see his eyes narrow in anger. He grabbed her and threw her roughly behind his back.
"How are you even fucking awake?" yelled the silver-haired hanyou.
The sodden black-haired teenager coughed and then managed to stand up. His form was unsteady, like a drunken man.
"You!" the human Inuyasha yelled. His voice sounded much stronger than he really felt. "Give me my sword back!" Ash reached out his arm to the sword, as if he could will it toward himself.
The silver-haired hanyou only laughed, until he felt a persistent tugging at his side. His golden eyes widened in shock when he saw the wooden sheath and sword rip from his side and fly toward the black-haired human in front of him.
If he hadn't been so shocked at the betrayal of the sword, he certainly would have grabbed the Tessaiga before it bolted into another owner's hands.
The sheathed sword quickly arched through the air to land precisely into Ash's open palm. With a quick flick of his wrist, Ash freed the sword from its sheath, the dull blade shining balefully against the kiln's red fires.
Just as the human Inuyasha drew the sword above his head, behind him a dull light started to sweep the land. Inky darkness gave way to navy skies before the glowing light of the sun shone directly behind Ash. His hair began to shimmer; black hair became gray and then bright silver. Human ears slid inside of his skull as two white, dog-like ears emerged from the crest of his head.
Suddenly, the dull blade above him flashed. The Tessaiga was awake. Ash pointed his gleaming blade at the other hanyou in the clearing. Both were hanyou, one man was wearing red robes; the other was wet and clothed in jeans and a t-shirt. Kagome stood behind the man with red robes.
"Kagome, step aside," commanded the jean-clad hanyou, his bare and clawed feet clenching the mud under his toes.
The miko finally seemed to come to her senses, like she had been in a spell that had recently faded. "Inuyasha?" she asked in confusion.
The red-robed hanyou in front of her grabbed her and hurled her aside. "You'll be safer there!" he ordered as he walked purposefully toward the hanyou with the Tessaiga.
Ash stood ready with the Tessaiga held high. There was no doubt in his mind that before him stood an imposter. Maybe the witch had somehow managed to put his memories, maybe even his soul within the other body. But he was back to claim what was his. This was his life, not some golem's who was made of clay and ash.
The din of the distant battle suddenly started to rush toward them, like the powerful shuddering of an impending earthquake. He kept his eye on his assailant who was striding to him, but he could soon smell the rise of dust and pottery. Suddenly, an avalanche of terra cotta warriors fell upon both hanyou and the Taijiya weren't very far behind.
"Fuck!" The very sword he had wanted to strike down his double with had to be used on the strange walking soldiers of clay. "Kagome!" he yelled. "Where are you?"
He heard nothing from Kagome. Ash instantly tensed. He couldn't use his wind scar on the approaching horde without the potential for hurting Kagome. Even though he had nearly drowned, he pushed aside all weariness to dive into battle and to get to Kagome's side.
A dust cloud consumed everything around them as the broken warriors shattered and returned to the red dirt that had spawned them. He could barely see a bright green whip through the haze. Obviously, his father was involved in the battle. Noises of the other Taijiya and even Miroku entered into the crusade.
Then a brilliant white light mesmerized his sight. Directly, in his line of vision was Kagome's glowing arrow, shining through the darkened cloud of dust. He could see her determined and tear-stained face, despite the dusty interference.
A singular force within him, drove him to her side. Within moments he was behind her, covering her back from anything that tried to attack her.
His metallic sword clashed against the brittle earthen golems. Soon he had a pile of broken shards at his feet. Almost as quickly as it had begun, the battle was over.
He turned around to face Kagome, triumphant in his victory. She looked at him in dismay and then stood at his side. For a moment he was content and silent, until she tugged at his hand and pointed to red cloth that was flapping in the wind near a small avalanche of pottery shards a few meters away.
There in the broken fragments of clay and dust were the ripped up remnants of what seemed to be the red robes of the fire rat. There was no body, only what looked to be the broken remains of hollow statues. Kagome pressed herself deeper into the folds of Inuyasha's wet and muddy shirt. Her hands wrapped around him as she sobbed into his chest.
The Next Chapter: Aftermath.you in a month.
Author's Notes:
#1: Is he alive? Is he dead? I'm not telling…
#2: Are you team Feudal Inuyasha or team Modern Inuyasha? ;-)
#3: I plan on this story going to about 20 chapters. Now, we are already past the halfway mark!
~~~oo0oo~~~Warning: Some swearing and violence.~~~oo0oo~~~Special thanks to my awesome and talented betas: Alpine, SplendentGoddess, and Kmoaton~~~oo0oo~~~'Thinking'"Speaking"~~~oo0oo~~~
Last Chapter:Lying on the ground next to the tub was a man who sat like a limp doll. But even through the haze of the chemicals in the tub, Inuyasha could see the clear resemblance.
The man had long silver hair, golden unfocused eyes and two white dog-ears on the top of his head. He was dressed in red robes and buckled to his side was the Tessaiga.
Ice seemed to creep into his veins, pulling him down deeper into the muck. He shook his head and tried to disrupt the image he was seeing. But all he saw was a version of his hanyou self, sitting next to him, like a placid puppet.
The woman resumed speaking. "My name is Urasue. And somewhere deep within your skull is some information I need and I intend to have it. It is too bad that you won't survive the process."
~~~oo0oo~~~
"What the hell are you doing, Babaa?" yelled Inuyasha. The sudden movement sloshed the water in the tub, letting more of the fetid water seep into his mouth. He attempted to spit out the mire as the older woman contemplated her actions.She stood up and peered down at the teenager in the muck. "The potions in the water are going to slowly drain your energy, then at the right moment in time I will transfer your soul to this container." She smiled as she pointed to the man sitting on the ground, his eyes glassy and lifeless. He didn't acknowledge the conversation, he just sat there as if dumfounded. "He is one of my greatest creations. It took a while to find his ashes and it took masterful witchcraft to fashion a golem body for his soul to reside. Clay and ash, that is all he really is… But that's all any of us are when it comes down to it…only clay and ash…"
Urasue laughed to herself and then turned to look at the black haired Inuyasha who was slipping further down into the mire of the tub.
"I hear you call yourself 'Ash.' How appropriate..." She cackled again. "Are your legs and arms going numb?"
Inuyasha tried to quell the panic, when he realized that he could no longer move his legs. His arms and hands felt lethargic. He had assumed that it had something to do with being tied up, but there was a sinking realization that he wouldn't be able to keep his head above the water for much longer if he couldn't move his own limbs. He was in danger of drowning.
The thought had him thrashing about. Then he took in some slow breaths, in order to calm his rising panic. He just needed to keep his head above the water's edge by the time the sun rose. He just didn't know how much time had passed since he had been kidnapped. Of course, there was one way to find out.
"Hey, Babaa! How long have you held me here?"
The old woman's bulging eyes merely crinkled at the edges in apparent delight. "Long enough, son. Long enough…"
The woman turned around and seemed to be focusing on his placid twin. Inuyasha was no closer to ascertaining how much longer it would be until the sun rose. He only hoped the old woman didn't know that he would transform in the morning and could then easily free himself.
This would be a waiting game.
The old woman walked away. She gathered more herbs and then sprinkled them in the murky water that surrounded him. Using her stick, she stirred the waters in the tub and muttered an incantation.
Inuyasha felt a pulling sensation. Suddenly, it was not only his legs that were numb, but now it was also his hands and body. He tried to will his body to still, so that he could float over the mire, but heaviness was weighing him down. As much as he tried to fight, his body was sinking further into the depths of the small pool. His mouth was the first to fall under the waters depths, however he was still able to breathe through his nose, even as water pooled under his nostrils.
Urasue scowled at the boy in agitation and her incantation reached a feverish pitch.
Inevitably, his body sagged and the water seeped into his nostrils. He fell under the water, pulled down into its murky depths. Water streamed down his nose, filling his lungs. Instinctually, he tried to cough up the water, but he only met more water, which gurgled down his throat.
He tried to thrash his body and pull himself up and out of the water, but his hands and legs were bound, and his body was not responding.
Black dots formed over his eyes as he tried to look through the brown water. He was losing this battle.
Another figure moved above the tank where he lay. His vision was murky, but he seemed to be seeing silver hair and red robes reflected within the water's distorted ripples. The image smiled, a demonic grin with sharp white teeth.
With his mind and body slipping deeper into the water, all he could think of was Kagome. He was not regretting his own life, but the savagery with which Kagome seemed to be wrenched from his life—again…
The blackness pulled him under.
~~~oo0oo~~~
Kagome's eyes met a sea of terra cotta warriors. They were fairly easy to defeat, the slightest blow breaking the fragile creatures into a mound of pottery shards. However, their numbers were great, for every one that was struck down, five more would take their place.Sesshoumaru was leading the attack, his poison whip flashing neon green as it arched across the enemy's ranks, smashing their forms into dust and shards.
Behind him was an entourage from the Taijiya. Sango was clad in leathers and coral-colored plate. She was wielding a huge boomerang that seemed too large for the girl to lift. However, the demon slayer hefted it easily in her hands and hurled it into the midst of the battle, taking down at least a dozen of the magically crafted warriors they were fighting.
By her side was Miroku, dressed in his monk's robes and wielding his Shakujô, shattering the terra cotta warriors into fragments with each swing of the golden staff.
The last of their group was Eri. Like Sango, she was wearing a formfitting leather suit, revealing every curve as she twisted and lunged at the robotic attackers.
Kagome stood behind the offensive line and strung her arrow into her bow. A small prayer was chanted and the arrow suddenly glowed with holy light.
She noticed that her bowstring was no longer silver, but was as black as ebony. She had refashioned her bow with a few strands of Inuyasha's hair and tonight he was human. She imagined her sacred arrow blazing a path to him, then she let the arrow fly, arching across the sky before exploding among the clay soldiers. A shattering array of pottery shards flew up like the impact of a meteor, which in turn burst even more of the terra cotta warriors into small pieces.
Kagome didn't wait for the dust to settle. With her glowing bow held up in front of her in defense, she stormed forward. She had broken through the line and had to reach Inuyasha. As she surged forward through clouds of rusty dust, she never noticed the clay soldiers closing in behind her, effectively closing her off from her team. Their backs were to her and they made no move to follow her.
She didn't hear the Taijiya's cries for her to stop. Dust coated her lungs and the din of battle was all she heard. Her eyes were only on what was ahead of her and the dull pull she had felt.
Everything had been her fault. If only she hadn't asked him to take her to the skyscraper again. Why had she been so preoccupied with her own desires that she hadn't even noticed that Inuyasha was about to turn back into a human? She knew they had been attacked before on the night of a new moon. Why hadn't she been on guard?
When she had awoken in a blackened alley, after the gaseous attack, her battle instincts were what kept the terror at bay. She had used her new cell phone to called the Taijiya on duty, Eri, and let them know what had happened. Within minutes, Sesshoumaru and his team arrived, however even Sesshoumaru could not trace the missing hanyou. Inuyasha's trail disappeared into the air. That was when the dog demon took out a small, flat, glowing metal object. He said it was something called a "Gee-Pee-S" system and that Inuyasha had a tracking device on his bracelet.
Kagome had watched wordlessly as the flat screen showed two dots. A red one where she was located in Tokyo and the other green dot was where Inuyasha had been taken.
She didn't need any further motivation; she would even follow the impassive Sesshoumaru to the ends of the earth if it were the means to find Inuyasha. With an invisibility charm in place, the entire entourage was soon in the air, homing in on Inuyasha.
When they had landed they were quickly surrounded by clay, golem soldiers. There were swarms of them lumbering toward them like stiff zombies. But Inuyasha had to be close; the magical "Gee-Pee-S" said he was near.
Now sourness crept into her heart and panic started to overtake her. Somehow her soul knew that there wasn't much time left. The magnetic pull she had felt seemed to be weakening, but she could still feel its effects. She didn't need a GPS to track down Inuyasha; she only needed her heart and the bonds that had tied her to him a lifetime ago.
She surged forward, leaving the battle behind her. Kagome stumbled over broken ground and gravel paths until she arrived at what looked like an outdoor kiln. The languishing fires within the oven burned feebly. A dying red fire and wisps of smoke drifted away from the opening. It had been recently used.
Before the kiln was an old woman, her head held high, reciting a mystical spell. Her long gray hair fell around her short, rotund body. Her face looked like an old apple that had dried and withered. "Now, soul…enter your proper form!" she cried.
However, it was a swath of blood red and silver hair that quickly drew her attention. Sitting next to the woman was a very familiar figure clothed in red with silver hair and dog-like ears. There was something wrong with him. He looked drugged.
Kagome didn't think, she only responded instinctually. "Inuyasha!"
Then everything seemed to happen at once. An uproar of air seemed to whirl around the old woman until it settled onto the red-clad Inuyasha. The elderly witch cried out, "Ah see…the soul sinks into its new body!"
The silver-haired hanyou blinked and he seemed to be coming out of a drugged stupor. His ears twitched on top of his head. Then he turned his golden eyes to look directly at Kagome. His eyes narrowed at her in confusion.
The older woman who had been muttering the incantation screeched at Inuyasha. "Now, Inuyasha. Show your restored powers and drive off those who seek to attack me and my precious puppets!"
It was then that Kagome finally noticed a tub of water filled to the top with herbs. Within the water's confines was the familiar face of a human Inuyasha who seemed to be thrashing within the tub.
She brought her hand to her mouth. "Inuyasha?" she murmured in confusion. She didn't understand why there were two Inuyashas in front of her, but she knew that it was still a new moon. She should have realized earlier that the dazed Inuyasha she had first gazed upon was not the real Inuyasha. At this moment, the real Inuyasha would have black hair. The silver-haired, red robed hanyou must be some sort of facsimile.
Kagome rushed forward, regardless of the threats the older woman was yelling. She had to get Inuyasha out of the tub, before he drowned.
However, she wasn't oblivious to the old women's cries for the other Inuyasha to attack her. If this golem was going to take her down, then she needed to fire a holy arrow at him and destroy him. Though she didn't know how she could ever stomach destroying someone who looked like Inuyasha. Even if her head knew the truth, her heart would only feel betrayal.
Just as she was reaching for an arrow from her quiver, the silver-haired Inuyasha looked briefly at her, almost in confusion, and then turned to the gray-haired witch who was shouting at him to kill the miko. He seemed to me motioning to her to wait and then strode toward the witch.
Kagome became quickly baffled when he pulled the Tessaiga from the sheath secured at his side. A large crescent half moon engulfed his figure, bathing the darkened area with a moonlit glow.
She could clearly see the scowl on his face as he approached the gray-haired woman who screeched, "I have birthed a living body from graveyard clay and ash!"
Bewilderment overcame Kagome as she stared at the silver-haired hanyou's red clad back. She didn't want to kill him and he didn't seem to be a threat at the moment. Dropping the arrow back in the quiver, she continued in her dash and fell to her knees at the end of the tub.
She could see Inuyasha's human face struggling under the murky waters and leaves. His black hair danced under the water like flowing silk and his face was contorted in agony. His body abruptly stopped struggling and fell into unnatural stillness.
The miko heard the older woman screech. "What are you doing!? We had plans…" The witch's last words were cut short by the swing of the Tessaiga. Kagome could hear the befuddled wailing cut off unnaturally and the sound of Inuyasha's sword meeting flesh and blood. All she could hear now was a sick gurgling sound, but she didn't pay attention. The miko had more important things to consider.
Kagome's arms reached in and hooked underneath the human Inuyasha's armpits and struggled to heave him out of the water. It took two quick shoves, but she managed to drag him out of the tub, water pouring from his body.
The black-haired Inuyasha splashed onto the dry ground, looking more like a floundering fish than a human being. Kagome turned him over and hit his back. The boy coughed and water poured out of his mouth, heaving onto the dry land, turning what was once dust into wet mud.
Inuyasha's body was slightly blue. Kagome kept on slapping his back as water continued to hack out of his lungs. When he finally sputtered a breath, Kagome's eyes started to water. Inuyasha's head fell on her lap, wheezing and his eyes screwed shut, as if unconscious.
Kagome could not truly see the struggle in her peripheral vision and didn't know if she could trust a golem who was wielding what appeared to be the Tessaiga. Taking an arrow from her quiver, she strung it on her bow and twisted to aim it at the golem who was starting to march purposefully toward her.
"Stop! Or I'll shoot!" Kagome shouted as she looked apprehensively at the looming red and silver figure.
The hanyou was holding the Tessaiga by his side, it glowed against the darkened land, making it seem like the moon itself was swathing the area in its brilliant white light. For a brief moment he seemed to stumble in her direction; the Tessaiga wobbled in his hand. "Kagome," he whispered before he seemed to right himself.
He stared at the girl in front of him. Eyes that were looking at her in wonder quickly slipped into bitterness. His eyes narrowed as the red-clad hanyou spoke defiantly. His voice was steady, perturbed and very familiar. "How do I know you are the real Kagome?"
"What?" Kagome sputtered. "You're the imposter!" she exclaimed as she continued to aim her arrow at the hanyou and drew her bow taut.
The hanyou held his sword in one hand and while anger danced in his golden eyes. "The last thing I remember was seeing two of you." He looked at the boy in Kagome's arms and then narrowed his eyes. "One of you got close enough to me to cut off my head and the other must have been the real Kagome. Which one are you?" he demanded.
The miko could only look up at him in confusion and wonder, her arrow was still pointed at him, but she had loosened her grip. "But, but! You died that day. You can't remember…" She shook her head in bafflement. "How can you possibly know…?" She quickly remembered that only Ash had any knowledge of what had happened, but he thought it was more of a dream than reality. How could this man before her possibly know the truth of something that happened 500 years ago?
"Put down your fucking arrow, Kagome…if that's your real name," commanded the hanyou.
"You're…you're not my Inuyasha," swore Kagome as her bow yet again pointed at him. "The real Inuyasha would be human tonight."
He only glowered at her. "So we both think the other is a fake?" he snarled. "Who else but me could wield the Tessaiga?"
"He can!" Kagome stammered as she motioned with her shoulders to the man next to her.
The Inuyasha who stood in front of her scoffed, "Right, now you better show me a barrier or flare up your holy arrow before I strike you down."
"What?!"
"You heard me. Now, Kagome…if that's your real name," stated the silver-haired Inuyasha.
Now she was angry. The tip of her arrow flashed with the glowing brilliance of a holy arrow. The whiteness flowed from her arrow like smoke. "Don't move any closer!"
The hanyou that stood in front of her stared, then a slow smile grew before it was squelched with unease. The mighty sword that he held was sheathed, making the glow that had alighted the area disappear. Now, only the kiln's dying red fires reflected off of the man. Kagome could make out a bitter grimace on the hanyou's face as he looked down at her and the human Inuyasha in her care.
"Kagome?" he asked a little too quietly.
The bow in her hands trembled. White light that flared at the arrow's tip softened and then sputtered into nothingness. Kagome pulled the arrow back and it fell clattering to the hard ground.
"But it can't be you. You died…," argued Kagome.
The red robed hanyou in front of her quirked a brow and stood in front of her, both arms crossed and nested in his long sleeves.
"So I did," the hanyou frowned. "At least that is what I remember, until I heard…"
"Until you heard…"
"You, you called me. I heard you call my name!"
"What? I didn't call your…" Kagome paused for a brief moment as she tried to recall what had happened. She had come across the clearing and had seen an ogress reciting an incantation. She didn't understand the words, but she did recognize what looked to be her hanyou Inuyasha sitting on the ground, as if entranced. She had called out his name, hadn't she? The miko swallowed. "I was really calling out to him," she stated while gesturing to the human man that lay unconscious in her lap.
Kagome's clothes were splattered with water and mud. She cradled the human Inuyasha's head and brushed away his wet ebony hair that was plastered to his face. "Inuyasha! Wake up! Are you alright?"
The man in front of her smirked in a way that reminded her of the confident, brash Inuyasha she had known.
"He won't wake up," said the hanyou with steady seriousness.
She sputtered a reply. "What? Why? What do you mean?" Kagome gently moved to stand up, carefully removing the wheezing man from her lap, to stand and face the hanyou confronting her. 'He's just a golem,' she repeated to herself. 'He's not my Inuyasha.' But as she stood there, she couldn't help but feel some of the familiar feelings she always felt when she was in Inuyasha's presence. She did her best to wish them away.
"Because I am he," stated the hanyou.
"Stop speaking in riddles!" she exclaimed in exasperation.
"Kagome, a soul can only exist in one place at one moment in time."
Kagome shook her head. "What are you saying?"
"His soul is within me. And I remember! I remember everything!"
"You can't!" she yelled while flinging her arms away from her pounding heart. "How could you remember?"
Golden eyes looked directly at her gray-blue orbs. He spoke to her in subdued tones. "I remember trying to steal the jewel from you."
Kagome grasped the pearl-like object that hung on a chain around her neck.
Inuyasha waved his hands in a dismissive gesture. "As if I want that stupid thing anymore." He looked directly into her eyes. "I didn't mean to. I'm just a fucking hanyou. But all I've ever wanted was you."
His eyes were so unguarded and truthful. They bore into her, begging her to respond. Kagome swallowed. She felt that he was speaking the truth. No one could look at her like that and say those words and be lying.
"We were…" He stopped for a brief moment. He looked at the ground and then looked back up at her. "We were going to get married, Kagome. Do you remember?"
Now the miko's bow fell to the ground and her hand covered her mouth. She stared at him in confusion and awe. Inuyasha stood before her pensively, his body tense.
Kagome's body shook in small spasms. There was no way he could know. Not even Ash seemed to know that she and Inuyasha had been betrothed.
He looked away from her and shrugged his arms back into his sleeves. His eyes looked up at the blackened night sky. "I was so fucking content. I was finally going to marry you. I didn't even think when that girl showed up looking and smelling like you. I knew there was something wrong when she smiled at me. It was all wrong... Then I heard you call out to me. I saw two of you. Then…"
Kagome looked directly into his eyes, heaved a solid breath and continued. "Then her arms somehow became sharp blades. She…she…" Kagome brought her hand up to her mouth again. Tears started to well in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. Her eyes fell to the ground. "She sliced off your head in front of me. I…I ran toward you. Your head lolled to the ground, your body dropping like an afterthought. That thing ran away. I fell to my knees and tried to put your head back onto your body. Tried to get you fixed... Blood was everywhere. There was so much blood…I…"
Kagome hadn't noticed that the red-clad Inuyasha was directly in front of her now. He put his hand under her chin and looked directly into her tear stained eyes.
"I'm here now, Kagome."
With a shuddered sob, she threw her arms around him. Her body shook as she cried out every horror, every sorrow, every pent up emotion that had been wracking her since she had seen Inuyasha die so viciously in front of her.
She was lost in the outlet of her pain. When she finally came to her senses, she felt him rubbing her back in a soothing manner. She heard her name repeated over and over again, like a mantra. "Kagome, Kagome…"
She pushed back against his solid chest. This Inuyasha did not have the beads around his neck. She looked directly into his golden eyes. She could see a desperate love within them.
"Kagome," he murmured as he leaned forward, his lips centimeters from hers.
~~~oo0oo~~~
"Bloody, fucking hell! Wake up you damned hanyou!"Someone was yelling at him and shaking him. Ash seemed to know who the perpetrator was before he opened his eyes. His damned hanyou self was interfering again.
A silver-haired version of himself, dressed in red robes had his hands wrapped in his wet shirt. Grabbing the sodden folds of his t-shirt, the dog-eared hanyou was shaking him awake.
It was bizarre to see himself above his own body. One, a golden-eyed hanyou in the robes of the fire rat and the other a drenched, black-haired human wearing a t-shirt and jeans.
Finally, Ash quirked an indolent violet eye in the hanyou's direction. This didn't stop the shaking, however.
"What in the fuck were you thinking? Giving up?! We're not giving up on Kagome. Not this fucking time!"
The human Inuyasha batted the other man's hands away from his body. "What the fuck is your problem?"
"My problem?!" yelled the hanyou. "If you didn't keep on dying and giving up, I wouldn't be here. Get off your fucking ass and go back to Kagome."
Ash's black eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he tried to recall where he was and what was currently happening. He vaguely remembered kissing Kagome. He licked his lips and the hanyou in front of him sighed.
"Yes, we fucking kissed her…then what?"
A brief smile adorned Ash's lips before he remembered the kiss being disrupted by smoke. They had both coughed and he had fallen unconscious.
The hanyou in front of him tapped his foot in agitation. "And…"
He had woken up in a tub with a strange withered woman above him who was reciting a spell. Then he recalled in horror that his hanyou self sat beside him, like a puppet with cut strings. The witch had told him that she was going to transfer his soul to the golem. Then he had started to drown. Blackness had overcome his vision. His last thoughts had been of Kagome and how angry he was at being ripped away from her…again.
"No, not again!" yelled the hanyou next to him. "Never again. You will fucking fight!"
The violet-eyed Ash turned in confusion to the hanyou. "The witch, she said that my soul was going into that…thing."
"Not on my watch," ordered the hanyou. He looked down at the black-haired human and then reached out his hand to him. The red robed hanyou pulled him up.
"She belongs to us, not to that fucking thing!" The hanyou's eyes narrowed in derision. "Fight!"
~~~oo0oo~~~
Kagome was lost, her emotions spent. In front of her was the man she had fallen in love with. The man she had agreed to marry. She didn't understand how he had returned to her. If she had stopped to ascertain her thoughts, she would have been horrified to realize that she had completely forgotten about Ash.The human Inuyasha lay in the dirt and mud behind her, his black hair plastered like seaweed around his face and clothes.
Kagome only had eyes for the hanyou in front of her. His golden eyes called to her. Suddenly, she decided not to fight anymore. This was her Inuyasha. He was to be her husband. She wanted to give herself to him. She closed her eyes as he leaned forward, her lips about to meet his. It had been 500 years; it had been too long.
Behind her, she heard another Inuyasha call her name. "Kagome!" It was Inuyasha's voice. She knew it was him, but how? He was in front of her.
"What?" she murmured. It felt like cold water had been thrown at her. A chill raced down her spine. The miko looked up in confusion at the hanyou who was holding her. She could see his eyes narrow in anger. He grabbed her and threw her roughly behind his back.
"How are you even fucking awake?" yelled the silver-haired hanyou.
The sodden black-haired teenager coughed and then managed to stand up. His form was unsteady, like a drunken man.
"You!" the human Inuyasha yelled. His voice sounded much stronger than he really felt. "Give me my sword back!" Ash reached out his arm to the sword, as if he could will it toward himself.
The silver-haired hanyou only laughed, until he felt a persistent tugging at his side. His golden eyes widened in shock when he saw the wooden sheath and sword rip from his side and fly toward the black-haired human in front of him.
If he hadn't been so shocked at the betrayal of the sword, he certainly would have grabbed the Tessaiga before it bolted into another owner's hands.
The sheathed sword quickly arched through the air to land precisely into Ash's open palm. With a quick flick of his wrist, Ash freed the sword from its sheath, the dull blade shining balefully against the kiln's red fires.
Just as the human Inuyasha drew the sword above his head, behind him a dull light started to sweep the land. Inky darkness gave way to navy skies before the glowing light of the sun shone directly behind Ash. His hair began to shimmer; black hair became gray and then bright silver. Human ears slid inside of his skull as two white, dog-like ears emerged from the crest of his head.
Suddenly, the dull blade above him flashed. The Tessaiga was awake. Ash pointed his gleaming blade at the other hanyou in the clearing. Both were hanyou, one man was wearing red robes; the other was wet and clothed in jeans and a t-shirt. Kagome stood behind the man with red robes.
"Kagome, step aside," commanded the jean-clad hanyou, his bare and clawed feet clenching the mud under his toes.
The miko finally seemed to come to her senses, like she had been in a spell that had recently faded. "Inuyasha?" she asked in confusion.
The red-robed hanyou in front of her grabbed her and hurled her aside. "You'll be safer there!" he ordered as he walked purposefully toward the hanyou with the Tessaiga.
Ash stood ready with the Tessaiga held high. There was no doubt in his mind that before him stood an imposter. Maybe the witch had somehow managed to put his memories, maybe even his soul within the other body. But he was back to claim what was his. This was his life, not some golem's who was made of clay and ash.
The din of the distant battle suddenly started to rush toward them, like the powerful shuddering of an impending earthquake. He kept his eye on his assailant who was striding to him, but he could soon smell the rise of dust and pottery. Suddenly, an avalanche of terra cotta warriors fell upon both hanyou and the Taijiya weren't very far behind.
"Fuck!" The very sword he had wanted to strike down his double with had to be used on the strange walking soldiers of clay. "Kagome!" he yelled. "Where are you?"
He heard nothing from Kagome. Ash instantly tensed. He couldn't use his wind scar on the approaching horde without the potential for hurting Kagome. Even though he had nearly drowned, he pushed aside all weariness to dive into battle and to get to Kagome's side.
A dust cloud consumed everything around them as the broken warriors shattered and returned to the red dirt that had spawned them. He could barely see a bright green whip through the haze. Obviously, his father was involved in the battle. Noises of the other Taijiya and even Miroku entered into the crusade.
Then a brilliant white light mesmerized his sight. Directly, in his line of vision was Kagome's glowing arrow, shining through the darkened cloud of dust. He could see her determined and tear-stained face, despite the dusty interference.
A singular force within him, drove him to her side. Within moments he was behind her, covering her back from anything that tried to attack her.
His metallic sword clashed against the brittle earthen golems. Soon he had a pile of broken shards at his feet. Almost as quickly as it had begun, the battle was over.
He turned around to face Kagome, triumphant in his victory. She looked at him in dismay and then stood at his side. For a moment he was content and silent, until she tugged at his hand and pointed to red cloth that was flapping in the wind near a small avalanche of pottery shards a few meters away.
There in the broken fragments of clay and dust were the ripped up remnants of what seemed to be the red robes of the fire rat. There was no body, only what looked to be the broken remains of hollow statues. Kagome pressed herself deeper into the folds of Inuyasha's wet and muddy shirt. Her hands wrapped around him as she sobbed into his chest.
The Next Chapter: Aftermath.you in a month.
Author's Notes:
#1: Is he alive? Is he dead? I'm not telling…
#2: Are you team Feudal Inuyasha or team Modern Inuyasha? ;-)
#3: I plan on this story going to about 20 chapters. Now, we are already past the halfway mark!