Welcome, readers new and old! (Assuming any of my old ones will still bother coming back haha ^^')
It's been a little over two years since I last updated. I apologize for that. But I stand by what I always kept saying: I will finish this story. So please bear with me and my slow update rate. In happier news, I hope to start updating this more regularly now. I won't give any sort of promises or predictions, but I don't plan on continuing to update on a yearly basis. In fact, I kind of hope to finish this story before this year is over. But as I said, no promises.
Now, before I let you read, a few important notes about the future of the story itself:
- The writing style might differ from previous chapters, and the transition might be a bit odd at first. This is because most of this and some of the next chapter have been already written two years ago (and then all but forgotten about), but I only finished/edited them now and as you can guess, my writing style has changed and improved some in that time. I hope the change isn't too jarring, and even if it is, that you can look past it and enjoy the story anyway.
- Originally, this was merely part 1 out of at least 2. As I already said, I will finish this story. However, I am not certain if I'll get around to ever writing part 2. I'm largely inactive in the InuYasha fandom at this point, and frankly have largely moved on to other fandoms by now. Plus I'm not sure if I could tackle this big a project again. I may decide to do so, but I may also decide to let the pen rest for this story to focus on others. As of right now, it is still up in the air.
- Some of you may recall that I did summaries in the past to help readers get back into the story after a long break. I will not do that anymore. I'm of the firm belief that if you really like my story, then you'll either remember it, or not mind re-reading a chapter or two to refresh your memory. And if that's not the case, well, you're free to go, no one is keeping you here. But I won't be making summaries anymore. I originally did because it was asked of me as 'it was difficult to remember what happened with how rarely I updated' or something along those lines. And while that may be the truth, here's the thing: I write this story for fun just because I want to. I don't earn money from it and I invest my free time in writing it. As such, I do not owe anyone anything. Not a faster update schedule and not a summary to 'make up for the slow update rate', either. I hope you can understand that.
- You may also recall that I used to give a soundtrack for this fic. That's unlikely to be a thing anymore, either, for various reasons, one of them being that I don't listen to music to write anymore, or at least not as much as I did as a teenager.
- Finally, I wish to thank everyone who followed or favorited this story in the past two years. Special thanks go to the few who've left reviews as well. Though I have left you waiting a long time for a reply or an update, please know that your continued support is one of the reasons I keep coming back to this story and insist on finishing it. Seeing proof of people still reading and enjoying it despite its unfinished status and hoping for an update despite how log it's been truly means more to me than I could ever express. So to all those who've showed your support, both old readers and new: this chapter is dedicated to all of you.
With that, I think I've said everything I had to say. And so, I shall leave you to enjoy the chapter.
Breakers:
XxX: change of scene
~ξ~: time-skip
実: Beginning/End of Flashback
Ю: Beginning/End of a story told by one of the character (the parts in bold between the stars are what the present them are saying as a small narrative)
Ж: Change of POV (mostly used within a story told by several characters)
Reminder: 'Inuyasha' written normally refers to Inuyasha, while written in cursive (cursive and bold in thoughts) refers to Kagome, the "Gentle Dog Demon". 'Hanyō' written normally means "half-demon", while written in cursive (cursive and bold in thoughts) it means "half-breed".
Chapter 56 – Yōkai no Shiro: Carnage
The room they were staying in was mostly silent. Kirara, now treated with the herbs Inuyasha had brought, had drifted off into peaceful slumber. Sango and Kohaku were still by her side watching over her, though, in case the cat demon needed anything. Both taijiya were clearly relived that their friend was no longer in pain. Miroku was sitting a bit further away, occupying himself with preparing sutras – though of course, the lecherous monk had not gotten to that occupation without trying something else first, namely distracting Sango from her worries. In a way that earned him nothing but a strong slap to the cheek, which left a still prominent red mark. It didn't seem like the houshi had suffered much because of the hit, however, or at least he didn't suffer from it any more that he would have any other day despite still recovering himself. Although how much he still needed to recover was hard to really judge giving he was already up to his usual tricks and blaming it on his 'cursed hand'.
As for Shippō, he was decidedly bored. Bored, yet kind of worried. Inuyasha had left a few hours ago to go back to the village Kagome – the currently human Kagome – had stayed at to protect someone from demons. The priest wasn't the one the fox really worried about right then, though. Kagome was. Because he knew she was human, though he still didn't really understand why. All the explanation he'd gotten on the subject when he'd asked was that it was 'something that happened to half-demons', but that didn't really clarify matters for the little fox. He doubted it would clarify much for anyone, really.
He knew better than to complain, though. If Inuyasha were here, he might have tried to occupy himself with annoying him, but since the priest wasn't here, he had to come up with something else. He couldn't play with Kirara, like he most often did in such situations, for obvious reasons nor could he really bother Kohaku or Sango for reasons just as obvious. And Miroku just wasn't someone Shippō had ever considered a good play mate… for rather obvious reasons as well, even if they were different from the reasons why he knew to leave Sango, Kohaku and Kirara alone.
Considering all that, though, he didn't have that many options. There was only so long he could play with his spinning top or practice tricks with his leaves, after all.
*I… don't really know… I mean… It didn't seem like anything was up at first…*
After a few more minutes of trying (and only barely managing) to keep quiet instead of complaining like a little kid – he was a big boy already, after all – Shippō decided he needed to get out of this room. Finding something to occupy himself with was always easier outside than cooped inside, after all. Especially when the room he was stuck in had this somber an atmosphere. Decision made, the young fox got up from his position on the ground and scampered out of the room, into the corridor, and from there outside to the temple grounds. It didn't seem like anyone noticed him leaving, but then again, rarely anyone did in such moments. The only one who usually might have noticed would be Kagome, but even if she had, the hanyō had never commented on him leaving without saying anything before, so the young fox wasn't really sure if even she noticed him leaving in such situations.
The thought made him a bit sad before he shook it away. That wasn't right. Sure, she might not comment on it, but that didn't mean the half-dog didn't realize when he left. In fact, it would be unlikely for that to be the case given how protective Kagome was of all of them. So she likely just pretended not to notice.
Thinking about it made Shippō frown thoughtfully as he ran along the grass without really realizing it, acting more like he was burning up excess energy than actually playing. That was something he'd realized rather quickly about Kagome since she took him in. She was very protective. Of everyone. Of him, of Inuyasha, of Kohaku… even Sango and Miroku, although she tried to be more subtle about it. Shippō still noticed, though. He might be a kid, but he wasn't blind. Besides, it wasn't like he hadn't ever seen other demons be protective of those they cared about. He had. His parents had been a prime example.
He stopped in his run and winced at the thought. It still hurt to think about them. About the fact that they were no longer there, that he would never see them again. The pain had dulled considerably already, and while he certainly hadn't forgotten his father or mother, he wasn't as devastated at their loss as he had been in the beginning. But still, remembering them caused a dull ache he supposed would never really go away.
"That was different, though. They were different," he muttered to himself before biting his lip and steering his mind back to his original train of thought. He'd never really taken the time to think about it, but lately, it had started to really bother him because he was being forced to realize their group was not as tightly knit as he'd led himself to believe. And that thought was just plain scary.
To him, the rag tag group they formed was family. A pack. Kagome was the clear alpha of that pack, the leader, and as close to a mother figure as he'd ever have. The best one he could have ever hoped for except for his real mother, too. Inuyasha was… complicated to place. He was something like a brother, maybe, but it was hard to tell whether he was older or the same age as Shippō. Heck, sometimes, the kit felt like he was the older one between the two of them. Miroku was easier. He was a clear older brother, someone to come to if you needed specific advice. He wasn't quite high enough in the hierarchy to be the beta male (let alone the alpha male), at least not in Shippō's eyes, but he was definitely someone you could count on in a pinch.
Sango was a complicated one again. On one hand, she clearly behaved like a beta female, especially whenever she tried to challenge Kagome in some way. Shippō doubted the taijiya did it in an attempt to take the alpha position from the hanyō-girl, but that was what it looked like at times to the young demon, which cemented her position in second place. The problem was that the alpha and beta were those everyone else in the pack was meant to listen to. The leader and his (or her) right hand. They were supposed to trust each other and have each other's backs in any kind of situation. And while Sango and Kagome were clearly warming up to each other, they weren't anywhere near as close as an alpha and beta female of a pack usually were.
In fact, now that he thought about it, Kirara was far more of a beta female in their pack than Sango – both strength-wise and as far as her relationship with Kagome went, because the two were clearly close.
And Kohaku… Kohaku was somewhere between himself and Inuyasha, Shippō supposed. Not quite the child that always needed to be protected, but not quite the member of the pack that could protect himself and others just yet, either. He was somewhere in between, although Kagome's training was clearly helping him a lot where his self-confidence was concerned.
Of course, that left their pack with a really odd hierarchy, because they had a clear leader, a relatively clear second-in-command (in Shippō's eyes, anyway), the 'baby of the pack' (meaning Shippō himself)… and the rest. The difficult-to-define rest. The kit hadn't really minded the odd structure of their group, though. Pack was pack, that was all there was to it, after all. Besides, it would be unlikely for them to make a proper hierarchy anyway, given how few people they actually were. So he had never minded.
But then things had started to unravel and Shippō was forced to realize that maybe, their 'pack' wasn't what he had wanted it to be. Best proof would be in how Miroku had not told anyone about his problem and just decided to leave on his own without telling anyone. He wasn't the only person to act differently than a member of a pack should. Kagome did, too.
Oh, she definitely had the 'protect and take care of you own' part that any self-respecting alpha would go by down to a T. There was no doubt about that in Shippō's mind. But the problem was, the alpha wasn't the only one supposed to protect. The alpha protected the pack, yes. But the pack protected the alpha, too. It was supposed to be a give-and-take relationship. You help me and I help you. The members of a pack were supposed to watch each other's back, to help each other, to fight together. But Shippō had always known that Kagome didn't do any of that. She protected the others but she didn't let them protect her. She watched the other's backs but she only counted on herself to watch her own. She fought alongside the others, enough so to keep track of where they were and what they were doing so as to not get in their way – or to not have them get in her way – but she didn't fight with them. Not really. Or at least Shippō didn't think she did.
That wasn't right, though. The alpha wasn't supposed to be almighty and support everyone else without any help. The alpha guided, protected and lead everyone else, who in turn gave something back for that. That was how packs worked. How they were supposed to work.
It wasn't how their group worked, however. It might seem like that was how it worked on the surface, but Shippō knew now that it actually wasn't. And that meant they weren't really pack. Which in turn meant their group could fall apart at any given moment and no one would care to try and stop it.
The thought was nothing short of terrifying.
*It happened so fast… so suddenly… One moment, everything was perfectly fine and the next… the next everything turned into a nightmare!*
His train of thought was suddenly interrupted and he looked up quickly. It wasn't really because he saw or heard anything, though. There was just something in the air that made him wary. Something that set his instincts on edge, though he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. Nor did he know what he should do in response unless it was running. But even if running was what he was supposed to do, where was he supposed to run to? The others? That might be a good idea on a normal day, but it wasn't as if their group was in any shape to fight anything right now.
He didn't get the chance to figure out where to go or what to do, however, as a moment later, a shadow jumped at him from the entrance of the shrine grounds. With a yelp, Shippō ducked before attempting to jump out of the way. He managed, somehow, or at least he thought he did as he didn't feel anything grabbing him or cutting into his flesh or anything. His landing was far from graceful, as he hadn't exactly controlled his movements in his frenzy to escape… whatever it was that had jumped him, so he landed on his stomach. Adrenaline made him quickly scramble to all fours and run straight ahead without much thought quickly enough, though. At least until he realized nothing seemed to be coming after him. Nothing had even taunted him for trying to run.
Shaking, the scared kit came to a stop and carefully looked over his shoulder. The sight that greeted him was one that had his eyes widen, because the shadow that had jumped him seemed to flow into the temple like water through windows and doors and any other spaces it could find. The odd thing about it, however, was just that: it was a moving shadow. So far, Shippō saw nothing the shadow could belong to. And that didn't really make him feel calmer about the oddity.
Neither did the fact that he couldn't hear anything from the inside. Or that no one was coming out. As if they hadn't noticed the strange intruder.
'Maybe they haven't? Maybe they won't… until it finds them? What if they're caught off guard by that… whatever it is?' he thought with a shudder and bit his lip. He had no delusions about what would happen in such a case. Or at least, he had no delusion about the worst case scenario. If that thing found his friends (and, which would be even worse, caught them unaware) then it would likely kill them. It could be just for fun because it could. Or because it might need the nutrition. Or for another reason entirely that Shippō didn't really care to figure out. Either way, it was likely Sango, Miroku, Kohaku, Kirara and the drunk priest would die.
The kit shuddered, feeling tears burn in his eyes at the mere thought. He didn't want his friends to die. He didn't want to be alone again. He didn't want to just look on from a safe place while the people he held dear were killed off. He couldn't do that. Not again.
What could he do, though? He was just a child. He didn't know how to fight yet. He didn't know in which direction to go to find Inuyasha and Kagome, either, and even if he did, he knew he wouldn't ever be fast enough to get either of them here on time. Not to mention that even assuming he could, by some miracle, manage that, Kagome was still human so she likely wouldn't be able to do much anyway.
"Gotta keep it together… gotta keep it together…" Shippō muttered to himself as he tried to hold back the tears and sobs born from his fear. The shadow had entirely disappeared into the temple by then and the place looked perfectly peaceful once more, as if nothing had happened. Now though, the peace was terrifying to the young fox. It felt like the calm before the storm. The kind of calm you experienced before your entire world came crashing down around you. And the pressure that kind of peace caused was far more than Shippō could handle. Which led to him doing either the bravest or the most idiotic (if not both) thing he'd ever done. Namely running into the temple where the fighting was sure to break out in a moment in a panic.
"MIROKU! SANGO! KOHAKU!" He yelled as he ran inside, not really thinking that he might just be asking for whatever thing had just flown into the building to grab him, when it had ignored him a moment before. He wasn't thinking straight right at this moment. He just wanted to find the others. To warn them. To see with his own eyes how they weren't dying.
Since he was far from keeping a cool head and just ran straight ahead once he passed the doors of the temple, it took Shippō a moment to realize something was incredibly off. In fact, he only noticed once he tripped on something, fell over and then started rolling on the ground until he hit a wall. Or at least he thought it was a wall. It couldn't really be anything else logically speaking, but the tumble had made him lose all sense of direction in the absolute darkness that surrounded him. And that was when he noticed just how off things were.
The darkness was one thing. He knew it was a bright, sunny day outside and the temple hadn't been anything like this just a few minutes ago when he left the room the others were lounging in. It certainly shouldn't have been so dark that even he, with his demonic eye-sight, couldn't see a hand he held in front of his nose. The silence was another thing. Biting his lip, Shippō called for the others again, but the inky blackness around him seemed to swallow the sound. No one answered him. He couldn't smell anything, either, and that should have been his first and most immediate indicator that something was terribly wrong. He could always smell something, after all. But now, he didn't smell a thing. Not the others, who he hoped were still somewhere in the temple and, more importantly, still fine. Not the nature from outside the windows. Not even the scent of wood he was sprawled against and which the entire temple was made out of. Nothing.
Unlike Kagome, Shippō wasn't even moderately used to his senses being anything less than what they usually were. Considering that, and the fact that he was still a child, it really wasn't any wonder that finding himself in such a scary place with almost all of his senses shot and no orientation to know where he came from whatsoever terrified him. Nor should it be surprising that he reacted in the most obvious way a scared child would react. Even if it was potentially stupid, as it would alert everyone to his whereabouts, friend and foe alike. (If they even heard him.)
"WAAAAAAAAAAH!" He wailed as he curled up into a tiny ball, all pretenses of 'trying to keep it together' lost entirely as he was overcome by sheer and utter terror. The darkness swallowed the wail, and any other that followed, as well as his sobbing as he started to cry uncontrollably. Shippō stayed like this for what felt like a small eternity, his wails eventually quieting down to mere sniffles and quiet sobs, if only because he was starting to tire himself out. He was still terrified, both of what might happen to him and what likely happened to the others, but that terror was far from enough to make him go look for them. Instead, he remained where he was, curled up in a small, trembling ball, too terrified to even sit up, let alone move from that spot.
And that was where Inuyasha found him several hours later.
Ю
Sniffing slightly at the memory of what happened, Shippō fell quiet and didn't say anything more, his silence being Inuyasha's cue that he had said everything he had to say on the matter. Or everything there was to say, more like. With a sigh, the priest set the kid back on the grass and ran a hand through his hair again. He had hoped Shippō's story would shed some light on the situation, but it definitely didn't. Things still made as little sense to him as they had five minutes ago. The only new piece of information he got was that the thing that caused the temple to be shrouded in complete darkness seemed to be a moving shadow and that it likely took the others the same way it had taken Kagome. Assuming it hadn't killed them, but considering how he and Kagome had found Mushin's body, Inuyasha found it safe to assume that the others would have been left to be found in a similar manner had they been killed. They hadn't, though. Yes, there had been some morbid writing on the walls written in blood, but that had seemed like an illusion given how they disappeared along with the darkness. The only thing that hadn't been an illusion was Mushin's corpse and Kohaku's chain sickle. That was the only proof Inuyasha had that the others had likely been taken away, because it was unlikely Kohaku would willingly leave his weapon behind. Or forget about it. Even if he wasn't too keen on using it in combat just yet.
There was that message left in the cellar, too. It implied Sango, Miroku and Kohaku weren't dead yet. Or at least not mauled beyond recognition. Inuyasha had to suppress a shudder at the thought.
"We'll find them, right? And then… then everything can go back to the way it was… right?" Shippō asked finally, bringing Inuyasha out of his thoughts. The young kannushi blinked and glanced at the kit silently at first. The child was sniffling again and his eyes looked a bit watery, but he wasn't crying. At least not yet. It was very visible, however, that Shippō desperately needed the answers to be positive. He was clearly distressed and scared out of his mind despite having been reunited with at least one person from their group and definitely needed the reassurance. Inuyasha wanted to give it to him, too, and in the past, he might have done so without much thought and with a lot of self-confidence behind it. After everything that had been happening lately, though, the future-born teen knew better than to give promises he knew he couldn't possibly keep. He sighed.
"I'm hoping for that, too," he said quietly without meeting the fox's eyes. He really was hoping for that, naïve as it may be. However, he couldn't deny the simple fact that they had no idea where to look.
Shippō didn't seem placated by the response at all. In fact, it was more than obvious he wasn't placated at all. On the contrary, Inuyasha's answer, honest though it had been, only distressed him further as his sniffled intensified. The young kitsune shook his head and then bounced forward to grip Inuyasha's jeans in his tiny fists.
"But we have to find them! We have to!" he screamed in distressed and Inuyasha squeezed his eyes shut.
"Don't you think I know that?" he snapped angrily and Shippō immediately let go of him and backed off as a result. Inuyasha didn't really notice. He gripped a fistful of his hair again and glared at his own lap. "I know we have to find them. But how do you suppose we do that if you can't sniff them out and I can't sense Kagome's youki at all?"
Normally, in such a situation, Inuyasha would be expected to stay calm and reassure the child that was with him. The priest was the older of the two of them – if only when one kept in mind their respective life spans. Not only that, but in this time period, he was old enough to be considered an adult.
Thing was, however, that Inuyasha wasn't from this time period. Where he came from, he wasn't an adult, nor was he expected to be. He didn't see himself as an adult, either. And he definitely didn't have enough experience in this kind of stressful situation to be able to keep his cool like he was certain everyone else would have. So it was only to be expected that he couldn't really deal with the situation. He was just as lost as Shippō was. Just as worried and scared for the others, too. And infuriatingly just as helpless. He merely showed it in a different way, because Inuyasha's go-to reaction when he couldn't deal with something had always been anger, rather than anything else. That, at least, had not changed. And it likely never would.
"I… I…" Shippō seemed to be trying to say something in response to Inuyasha's outburst. Or maybe he was just spluttering, unsure what to say or do. Or how to react in general. Whatever the case, the little kid never got around to getting out a full sentence and started to shake and sob again as tears rolled down his face. He wasn't wailing, at least, but it was safe to assume he really wanted to and it wouldn't take much for him to start. Which only irritated Inuyasha more.
Thankfully for Shippō, however, the short-tempered priest didn't snap at him again. It wasn't because of some miraculous moment of self-control, though. Rather, it was thanks to pure luck as something he couldn't possibly ignore brushed against his senses just then. A feeling he recognized instantly as Kagome's youki. Eyes widening, Inuyasha sat up straighter and focused, desperately needing the sensation to not be a figment of his imagination.
It didn't seem to be. It felt real enough, if slightly odd with how it fluctuated between being easier and harder to truly pinpoint. As if Kagome was letting her youki rise and fall for some reason. It stopped after a few seconds, but once it did, the half-demon's youki disappeared from his radar entirely again. Scowling, Inuyasha tried to focus and extend his senses further. At first, it seemed like wasted effort, but then he finally felt it. Faintly, but he felt it. Enough to at least know in which direction to go in order to get closer – and hopefully be able to feel Kagome's youki better. It occurred to him then that maybe that was exactly what the hanyō-girl had wanted. That she had let her youki spike a few times on purpose for him to feel, to know where to go in case she was out of his sensing range.
He didn't really need any more incentive than that and this point. Getting up, the young priest quickly went over to his bike and unfolded it. The still sniffing Shippō watched him while rubbing at his eyes, but Inuyasha didn't really pay him any mind until the bike was ready to go. Only then did he glance at the confused (and still crying) kit.
"Well? Are you going to just sit there and wail or are you going to go with me find the others?" Inuyasha snapped, as if his intent was obvious. To him, it should be. He seemed to forget that Shippō couldn't possibly read his mind and thus didn't know what had changed between now and a minute ago.
"But… you said… you didn't know where to go…"
"Well, I do now," the priest replied irritably as he got onto the bike. "I sensed Kagome's youki briefly. I think she might have been trying to let me know where she was. She's a bit out of my sensing range, but I know which direction to go now. And I'll be able to sense her once we get closer." At least he bothered explaining that much before giving Shippō another exasperated glare. "So are you coming or would you rather stay here?"
The little kit didn't need to be told twice and quickly bounded over to the bike Inuyasha was already itching to ride. The moment the fox's hands gripped the metal of the boot, the priest was off.
"How long until we get wherever they are?" Shippō asked from where he was, hesitating slightly before carefully jumping onto Inuyasha's shoulder and from there climbing on top of his head. Not expecting something like that, the teen almost lost his balance and the bike swerved for a moment, nearly sending them both to the ground. Unable to look at where Shippō currently was, Inuyasha glared at the road ahead hotly.
"Don't do that again, brat. And I don't know. Depends on just how far away Kagome is. And what kind of terrain we'll have to cross," he bit out, his hands clenching a bit on the handles as he sped up. The fox kit wasn't the only one who wanted to find the others quickly. Inuyasha did, too. "And for the record, if you start wailing again like a kid, I'll drop you and leave you to follow me on your own."
Since Shippō was currently on his head, Inuyasha couldn't possibly notice the heated glare that comment got him. Still, the young fox raised a hand to rub at his eyes so as to remove the last of his tears before answering.
"Shut up, Inuyasha."
XxX
Several miles away from the priest and the kit, in front of Naraku's castle, Kagome sighed as she allowed her youki to settle for the final time. Inuyasha's assumption that she'd been trying to let him know where she was had been correct. Of course, that didn't mean she was going to wait for him to get here. She wasn't. But she trusted he would know to analyze the situation once he got here no matter what it would be like by then and act accordingly. She had to trust he'd do that, because otherwise, she'd have to wait here and waste time. And that was never a good idea.
So now that she knew potential backup was on the way in case she might need it, it was time to figure out how she was supposed to proceed. Whatever she decided, she knew she'd have to be on her guard. The demon that dropped her off here was clearly in cahoots with Naraku and that meant the spider wanted her to find this place. And if he wanted her to find it, it meant there was a trap involved. Or several, really.
One obvious thing was the front door, which while not fully open was at least slightly ajar. Which could be seen as an invitation as much as it could be an attempt to make her find another way where the real trap actually was. Third option, it was left slightly ajar on purpose to make her think it was to make her take another route which would be the one with the trap, but since she'd be expected to figure that much out and take the front door anyway, the gates would be where the trap actually was. And so on and so forth. It really depended on just how well Naraku could predict her reactions and train of thought. And given her experience with the spider… well, she hated to admit it, but he could actually predict what she did far better than she was comfortable with.
Knowing that didn't help her come to a decision, though and the fact that she still couldn't smell anything from the castle itself (not even the stone it was made of) as if it wasn't there at all, wasn't helping matters. Frowning thoughtfully, the half-demon glanced at the slightly ajar gate again before her gaze wandered to the walls. They were just as high as last time. She could easily jump up there. That, however, would leave her clearly visible if anyone was keeping watch, particularly to make sure she didn't take that route. It was possible. Especially considering that was how she had gotten in last time.
'The gate would be safer then, trap or not. But it still feels like too obvious an invitation,' she thought as her gaze wandered to the slightly open gate again. The idea of just walking through the front entrance didn't sit well with her. Somehow, she had a feeling she should avoid that door. And the courtyard beyond it. Her instincts had never failed her before, not even when surrounded by that creepy darkness that had shot nearly all of her senses back in the temple. So she wasn't going to start doubting them now. She was better off trying to find a different way, preferably one that would allow her to circumvent the entrance courtyard entirely. Even if it meant she'd have to circle around the entire damn castle and risk being spotted once she scaled the walls, it still felt like the safer thing to do. And so that was what she decided on.
Going around the castle wasn't all that hard. There was no one outside or on top of the walls keeping watch. And even if there had been someone, the trees provided more than enough cover for Kagome to hide. Since she wanted to be positive she wouldn't be visible from the courtyard in the front, nor get to see whatever was there that her instincts were telling her to avoid, she went all the way to the back of the castle before even considering jumping onto the walls. In the end, it was her only option as there was no other visible entrance.
As expected, scaling the walls was not a big problem, either, and she landed easily on the top of one a moment later. Her appearance didn't cause any sort of alarm to go off and a quick look around assured her that no one was watching the walls either. Or any other part of the castle that she could see. There were no demons here this time, nor any guards. Which made sense all things considered. Although she was pretty sure at least one person was here somewhere, namely the demoness who brought her here in the first place. And told her to look for her to boot as if this was some sick game of hide and seek.
Ironically, it kind of was. It was just that in Kagome's perspective, it wasn't the demoness that she needed to find but her companions.
Once she was certain the coast was clear (or as certain as she could be, anyway) she dropped down into the backyard on all fours before standing up and groaning. One of her hands rose so she could cover her nose with her sleeve as the scent of death and blood assaulted her the moment she passed the walls in a similar way it had done back at the temple. The stench came definitely from the courtyard she'd avoided and for a moment, she considered going there anyway. To make sure her friends weren't among the carnage she'd certainly find there, if nothing else. Before she could head in that direction, though, a sudden sound to her right made her tense, her hand immediately reaching for Tessaiga as she turned towards it. She saw no one there, but she was pretty sure none of the sliding doors leading to the castle's interior had been open before and now one definitely was. She heard a giggle.
"I see you avoided the courtyard. Interesting choice. But maybe you should go there? Or maybe not? Well, you won't find me there, anyway, so better not waste time, right? Come now, little doggy. Try and find me," the singsong voice of the demoness came from somewhere within the castle and Kagome growled low in her throat. She didn't move towards the now open door, though. She didn't move towards the courtyard again, either. That the demon didn't want her to go there seemed suspicious. That she was so openly invited into the castle was even more so. One or both of these ways housed a trap, she was sure. Either the obvious one (the castle she was being invited into) or the less blatant but still obvious second option – the courtyard she was now being told to stay away from, as if to make her curious enough to go anyway.
Well, she wasn't going to fall for it. Her eyes roamed her surroundings carefully, looking for both a different way in and a possible demon in case one was actually here and was trying to catch her off guard. Her eyes quickly landed on a particular part of the wall where some bushes were growing. Was it just her or was there something behind those leaves?
Approaching carefully, Kagome pushed the plants aside revealing that there was indeed something behind them. Namely a sealed, wooden door with a tiny, window-like opening at the height of her eyes. This was a door to be guarded if she ever saw any, although whether or not there actually was a guard was debatable. She allowed herself a small smirk.
Here was her third option.
She tried to push the door open first. It didn't budge. Pulling didn't help much, either and she didn't even bother with sliding. She should have expected it to be locked. Not that that would stop her. Taking a few steps back, Kagome rammed the door with her shoulder and that was all it really took for the hinges to give and the wooden door to fall inward with a loud clamor that made the half-demon's ears flatten themselves against her head. She headed into the corridor that was now revealed to her confidently. She didn't think much of the noise she'd made. Naraku, the demoness and whatever else was here certainly already knew of her presence anyway so it wasn't like sneaking about would get her very far. Especially since she was pretty sure Naraku – or the demoness – knew her every move no matter what she did. It was just a feeling she had. A feeling she hoped was wrong, despite knowing how unlikely that was.
The door she demolished turned out not to lead to a corridor as she originally thought but a winding staircase leading down underground. To the dungeon probably. All things considered, it was likely the best place to start looking for her friends aside from the courtyard which Kagome was certain was filled with gore even she didn't want to witness if she could help it. And that was saying something.
She headed down the steps quickly but cautiously, stopping briefly at the bottom. She kept her guard up and stayed alert as ever, ready to react to anything in case someone or something actually awaited her there. Nothing did, though, and she wasn't really sure whether to feel glad or apprehensive about that. So far, being led around by the nose by the demoness aside, this was just too easy.
There was only one way to go from the bottom of the stairs and so she headed down the only available corridor carefully. The first door she passed on her right was missing entirely. From the room beyond, she could hear the very distinct sound of demons. They didn't seem to have noticed her, though, and so Kagome pressed her back to the wall before carefully peaking over the door frame into the room to see, as the scents coming from within were too mixed for her to really make out much of anything that way.
What she saw in the room was pretty much what she supposed she should have expected in the dungeon of a demon's castle. Especially a demon as sick as Naraku. A few low level, snake-like demons were there. They hovered in the air, flying about erratically and yet somehow managed not to tangle themselves together as they fought over what was definitely their meal. And what had once been a living being. Likely a human even, though it clearly hadn't been for a rather long time now and Kagome could only hope this wasn't anywhere close to how he actually died.
She could just sneak past the room and be on her way. But simply ignoring them just didn't sit well with her. She might not be able to save their victim, but she could at least pay her respects to the dead by ensuring they wouldn't be eaten alive. Maybe she could even burn the body once she got out of here with everyone else. Along with the entire castle, preferably.
It didn't take her long to eliminate the pests. Just a couple of swings of her claws, really. From there, she spent the next while navigating through the dungeons, sometimes coming across more low-level demons feasting on more corpses. A few times, they spotted her before she did, but that never changed much either way.
The deeper into the dungeon she went, the more the scent of death, rot and many other things mixed together making her dizzy. At one point, she even had the passing thought that the stench of the courtyard and whatever was to be seen there would have been easier to stand. She didn't turn back though and eventually, her persistence was rewarded when she heard a loud bang of something blunt hitting metal up ahead. She stopped, ears twitching and resisting the urge to uncover her nose (she'd covered it again at some point when the stench became unbearable) to try and sniff out whatever was ahead.
For a moment, there was nothing more. Then there was another bang of something blunt against metal. Another pause. Then another bang. And then a familiar voice – though she wasn't accustomed to hearing it as distressed as it was now.
"Kirara, that's enough! Stop already. You're still recovering," Sango was saying (or pleading, more like) with her cat-demon companion, who was clearly the source of the bangs Kagome had heard previously. The taijiya's words were answered with a roar, though a far quieter one than Kirara usually gave when she was transformed. It cut off, too and then Kagome only heard a soft, weak mewl. Cursing under her breath, the half-demon quickly moved towards the sound, finding Sango and Kirara in one of the locked cells.
"Sango, Kirara," the hanyō-girl called the two occupants quietly, making the cat demon (now in her small form again) open her red eyes tiredly while Sango looked up at her from her kneeling position with wide and almost uncharacteristically hopeful eyes.
"Kagome," she all but whispered at the sight of the half-demon. "What are you doing here?"
"Getting you out. What else?" the Inuyasha responded with a roll of her eyes before grabbing the bars of the door locking Sango in and giving them a half-hearted tug. They didn't budge. She expected as much, though, considering Kirara seemed to have tackled them repeatedly and hadn't gotten very far. This called for a different approach then, and so instead of trying to get the door to open, Kagome simply started to pull the bars sideways. They resisted and she had to put far more strength into bending them than she thought she'd have to, but a few moments later there was a sizable hole between the two bars. Enough for Sango to fit through, at any rate. Kagome reached through the deformed door, offering the slayer a hand and Sango took it with no hesitation at all. Pulling the taijiya to her feet, Kagome let her leave the cell.
"Thank you," Sango said quietly without looking at her, her worried gaze focused on the tiny cat she was holding in her arms. Kagome frowned at Kirara worriedly as well, but didn't get to inquire about her health because Sango spoke up first. "But that wasn't what I meant when I asked what you were doing here. How did you get here? How did you find us? And where are Inuyasha and Shippō?"
"I got brought here by what's most likely the same demon that got you," Kagome replied while motioning for Sango to follow her and heading deeper into the dungeon. Since Miroku and Kohaku weren't with Sango and Kagome hadn't seen them on her way here, they were most likely further in. "Inuyasha is likely on his way from Mushin's temple. I tried to use my youki to give him a sign where to go since we were separated. I hope Shippō is with him."
"I see…" was Sango's answer and Kagome glanced at her over her shoulder briefly, frowning in concern. The slayer was far more subdued than the silver-haired hanyō had ever seen her. It didn't feel right. Something must have happened.
"How's Kirara doing?" she asked first, as it was the most obvious question to ask. Sango didn't look up, but her tense shoulders relaxed slightly.
"She's still recovering and tired, but she's doing better. The poison has been neutralized, so she's not in any danger. She just needs to rest."
"And Kohaku?" At the mention of her brother, Sango clearly tensed right back up and her jaw clenched. Kagome didn't need any more signs to know something had to be terribly wrong.
"I don't know," Sango admitted after a few more moments of silence. "The demoness that took us separated us," she added and it was clear she felt anything but calm about the matter. Kagome didn't blame her all things considered.
"We'll find him," she assured Sango in a firm tone. The demon slayer didn't respond verbally, but she nodded and a determined scowl replaced the rather fearful expression that had been on her face previously.
They found Miroku before they found Kohaku. Much like Sango, the monk was closed in one of the cells. Unlike Sango, however, he didn't really seem to be trying to get out. The floor of his cell, however, was covered by copious amounts of ashes, same as the area in front of it. It quickly became rather obvious where that ash had come from, too, for the moment Kagome approached the doors and before she could utter a word, the monk, who had been sitting with his eyes closed as if meditating, immediately shot to his feet and drew one arm back as if to throw something at her. He stopped before doing so, however, when he realized just who was at the bars of his cells.
"Kagome-sama. Sango-san," he acknowledged, though Kagome was pretty sure she heard some surprise and disbelief in his voice. She nodded anyway, glancing briefly at the sutra he still held in a ready-to-throw position. She could almost feel the crackle of the spiritual energy the piece of paper was imbued with from here. She was pretty certain she didn't want to feel just how much power Miroku put into that on her own skin. The half-demon glanced down at the ash-covered ground.
"I'm guessing we're not the only ones who came to visit you, Miroku-sama," she said in a low tone that was almost a half-growl before grabbing the bars of the doors holding the monk captive and pulling them apart just like she had with Sango's. The houshi didn't deny nor confirm her assumption, but he didn't really need to. His reaction and the ashes in and around his cell were really telling enough.
"I'm glad you are alright, Sango-san. But what of Kohaku and Inuyasha? And young Shippō?" Miroku commented as they continued further in. Really though, Kagome was starting to doubt they would find him in the dungeon. They'd already gotten almost to the end, after all, so if the boy was here, Miroku would have known about it wouldn't he?
"Shippō is hopefully with Inuyasha and they're either at the temple or on their way here. As for Kohaku, I intend to find him shortly," Kagome replied when Sango remained quiet, clearly ignoring both the questions and Miroku's concern for her. The half-demon couldn't really blame the slayer however. After all, between a monk who she was pretty certain could defend himself even if he was still supposed to not use his kazaana and recover from the treatment Mushin performed on it just two days ago and a kid brother, Kagome would have been far more worried about her kid brother, too.
"Can't you pick up his scent?" the slayer suddenly asked hopefully, but Kagome only shook her head.
"If I tried to smell anything in here, I would have likely thrown up several times already. And I wouldn't have gotten anywhere anyway. The scents are far too mixed together to any single one out, even if it's one I know well," she replied and Sango lowered her head again with a quiet 'oh'. The half-demon scowled at the corridor ahead. No, this subdued, worried demeanor really didn't suit Sango at all and the silver-haired girl found that it was bothering her immensely to see the slayer act that way. Sure, she understood the reason, but it bothered her anyway.
Fortunately, despite the hanyō's earlier pessimistic outlook on the chances of Kohaku being in the dungeon, they actually ended up finding him there. Unfortunately, they were far from prepared for the state they found him in.
Their first clue that they were close was a scream. A bloodcurdling, agonized scream, one that Sango clearly recognized considering the way she quickly looked up with a horrified expression on her face.
"Kohaku!"
The slayer barely had the time to call out her brother's name in horror before Kagome sprang into action, shooting forward as fast as she could and towards where she knew the screams came from. It was a massive, wooden door at the very end of the corridor. She slammed into it with all the strength and speed she had in her, resulting in her downright breaking the wood into several small pieces, rather than just throwing it off its hinges. Miroku and Sango were not far behind her.
Her brutal entrance startled the two demons that were in the room and they turned to her with wide, surprised stares, their mouths dripping with blood. Kagome didn't really give them the time to assess the situation and quickly cut them down. Only then did she actually take a look around herself. The sight that greeted her made even her freeze up in horror for a second. Behind her, Sango screamed in fear and anguish.
"KOHAKU!"
The boy was chained to the wall by his wrists and was hanging limply from the shackles as his legs were not supporting his weight anymore. The position made it clear that it was intended for the young slayer to be completely unable to defend himself even if he had a weapon and to be completely at the mercy of whoever had been down here with him. And evidently, that someone had not had any mercy at all.
Kohaku's clothes were in tatters, barely hanging on by a few scraps of material around his hips and shoulders. His entire body was covered in bruises and lacerations of varying shades and depth. Looking at some of the bruises, Kagome wouldn't be surprised if they were a sign of fractured bones. As for the cuts, the deeper ones seemed to have been done with a sharp object like a demon's claws or a knife. Others, however, looked more like the marks of a whip that had just struck hard enough to break skin. On his right shoulder and left side, at about the height of his ribs, there were two… well 'bite wounds' wasn't quite the right way to described them. It looked more like the boy had been bitten into before part of his flesh was just ruthlessly ripped out. Those were clearly the freshest wounds and the half-demon was certain she just killed the culprits herself. The rest of them, however, didn't look like injuries inflicted in order to eventually kill and even less like what low level demons trying to feast on living flesh would do. No, those bruises and lacerations looked far more like they had been meant to maim, rather than kill. They were done simply for the sake of hurting. Kohaku hadn't been threatened with death. He had been tortured with the clear knowledge it wouldn't be taken far enough to kill him on purpose.
And the worst part had to be that the young taijiya boy was, somehow, still conscious. That much became obvious when he slowly lifted his head in response to Sango's scream, revealing even more wounds on his face and one eye that was swollen shut.
"A…ne-…ue?" he croaked out weakly, his voice so quiet that it barely reached Kagome's ears. That was enough to snap her out of her horror. She quickly came closer before ripping the chains apart to free the boy. He fell forward and into her arms, whimpering in pain at any sort of movement or contact with anything which only made Kagome more worried. And angrier. She stomped the feelings down for now, however, and turned to Sango. The slayer had immediately come closer when Kohaku spoke and was now holding out her hands in a pleading manner to Kagome, Kirara having jumped to the ground earlier so her friend could tend to her brother. The half-demon carefully handed the boy over to his sister, the boy whimpering at the movement again, and Sango held him in a tight and yet incredibly gentle embrace before lowering herself to the ground in the most controlled case of someone's legs giving out under them Kagome had ever seen. She rested her forehead against her brother's and closed her eyes, tears already streaming down her cheeks.
"Kohaku… Kohaku…"
Fists clenching tightly at her sides, Kagome turned her head away and tried to suppress a growl of pure, unadulterated rage. She managed, though only barely, and only because she forced herself to focus on the fact that she was definitely going to make the one responsible for this pay. No way in Hell would she ever accept the culprit getting away scot free. In fact, the only case in which she wouldn't be the one killing the bastard would be if Sango beat her to it. But right now, that didn't seem very likely considering the slayer's state. Not that the half-demon could blame her for her distress. This was her kid brother, after all.
"Ane-… ue… you… came… for me…" the way Kohaku clearly struggled to say even that much was painful to hear. It was even harder to accept they should be glad he was awake and talking at all. Kagome's fists clenched a bit tighter and she glared at one of the far walls when Sango sobbed a bit in response before answering.
"Of course I did, Kohaku. I'll always come for you. No matter where you are," she said quietly, her voice quivering. She was clearly trying to be strong, to hold back tears of sorrow born from the fact that her little brother was in the state he was in. As she watched the unfolding conversation, Kagome only got angrier as Sango's reaction made her realize something. Namely that Naraku (or whoever had harmed Kohaku) had done this on purpose. He could have killed the boy easily just like he had Mushin and leave his body for Sango to find somewhere. But he hadn't. Instead, he tortured him. Because that would hurt Sango far more in the long run. For some reason, the spider had done this to get to the slayer. And it was visibly (and understandably) working.
"I'm… glad… I got… to see… you… one… last… time…" Kohaku struggled to say next and the words made the half-demon look at the boy sharply despite the fact that she hadn't been the one to be addressed. The elder of the two siblings visibly tensed at those words before rigorously shaking her head.
"Don't talk like that, Kohaku. This isn't the last time you're seeing me," she told him quickly, the desperation and denial so thick in her voice that Kagome's ears flattened against her head and she had to look away again. She just couldn't bear to watch Sango fall apart. She might not be best friends with the slayer, but she respected her and her prowess in combat. She definitely disliked seeing her in such obvious distress. It just didn't suit the strong and capable taijiya she'd come to know and appreciate as an ally. "You'll be just fine…" Sango continued quietly, although it was hard to tell if she was trying to convince Kohaku or herself. I was probably both.
That particular comment made Miroku exhale forcefully in something between a frustrated sigh and an angry scoff. Sango didn't react to it, but Kagome looked up at the monk quickly. Much like her, Miroku seemed absolutely livid, as proven by his expression and the way he clenched his shakujō in a white-knuckled grip. His lips were pressed into a thin line, as if he was trying to hold himself back from saying something he thought he both should and shouldn't say. Frowning, Kagome walked over to him, grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room to give Sango a bit of privacy with her brother – and more importantly, to have less of a chance the slayer would hear them talking.
"What is it, Miroku-sama?" the half-demon all but demanded, glancing briefly back into the room (or more like torture chamber) to make sure they were both far enough to not be heard if they were quiet, but close enough to step in if needed. Sango didn't seem to be paying any attention to them, though, far too focused on her hurt brother.
"You know as well as I do, Kagome-sama," Miroku replied quietly in a tight voice laced with the same rage Kagome could feel deep inside her. The rage she was only barely holding back. She frowned at the monk. "We have neither the time nor the resources to treat Kohaku-kun's wounds. Even Inuyasha might not have enough supplies for anything of this caliber and he's not even here. It's difficult to tell when we'll be in any situation allowing even as much as an attempt to treat Kohaku's wounds properly. Considering that, his chances of staying alive for much longer are slim at best. Let alone 'being fine'."
Kagome didn't like hearing what Miroku was saying. At all. And she was very glad she'd pulled him to the side, because she was sure Sango wouldn't have appreciated the comments, either. As much as the hanyō despised the houshi's words, thought, she couldn't deny the truth of them. They weren't in a place where they could safely treat Kohaku's injuries. Both because they were in enemy territory and thus likely on borrowed time and because there was no place that was even remotely clean to lay him down safely so that his wounds could be cleaned and bandaged without raising the risk of infection. Even if they were in a suitable place and had the time, they lacked the necessary supplies. Inuyasha was the one who carried medical supplies with him and he wasn't here. And even if he had been, as Miroku pointed out, it was unlikely for the priest to have what would be needed to treat this kind of condition. So while the half-demon hated the monk's words, she really couldn't deny the truth of them. And knowing that made her even more enraged.
'Kohaku will be fine. He's strong,' she thought but then shook her head and decided against voicing the foolish comment. Yes, the boy was strong. But he was still human and the wounds he'd sustained were more than enough to kill a human. Maybe not immediately, but they were enough to kill him in a slow and painful manner. And that only made it worse.
"Kohaku won't die!" an angry hiss came from around Kagome's ankles, where Kirara was standing, back arched and an angry expression on her face. Still, the denial seemed, much like in Sango's case, like an attempt to convince herself rather than Miroku and Kagome. Kirara wasn't a fool, after all. She'd lived with humans for years. With humans who fought demons for a living at that. If there was anyone who knew just how fragile humans could be even if they were demon slayers, it would be her.
"You're right, Miroku-sama. Kohaku's chances are low, as much as I hate to admit it. But while we can't exactly treat him right now, there is something we can do for him. Something I can do," Kagome said after a moment of thought. She didn't give the houshi or Kirara a chance to ask her what she could possibly do, however, and instead walked over to Sango and Kohaku, kneeling in front of the elder of the taijiya.
"Let me see your brother, Sango," she requested gently yet firmly as she pulled up one sleeve of her haori. The wolf fur below it, sentient as it seemed to be, retreated further back as well before it could even be seen. With the skin of her forearm exposed, Kagome quickly raised her other hand and sliced through her own flesh without hesitation along the entire length between her wrist and elbow. Sango stared at her with wide eyes as blood started to flow from the fresh wound. It wasn't shallow, either.
"What are you doing?" The slayer asked in a mere whisper, her reaction stuck somewhere between surprise, incomprehension and horror. Or that was what it looked like to Kagome, anyway. Not that the half-demon cared as she focused on Kohaku instead and held her injured arm over his body, allowing her blood to drip onto him – and more importantly into his wounds.
"Giving him a chance at getting out of this mess alive," she replied simply, clenching her fist a bit tighter and willing the wound to bleed more so her blood wouldn't drip onto the younger slayer quite as sluggishly. "I'm not sure how it works, but somehow, my blood can help humans heal when it enters their wounds. I'm not giving any promises, though. We might not want to admit it, but the fact is that Kohaku's state is dire and we don't have the means to properly treat him. You'll be better off accepting that fact," she explained after giving the boy a quick glance. He had passed out by now, something that might be as much of a good thing as it was a bad thing. That was really the only reason why she allowed herself to be this blunt.
"I know," Sango said quietly, her shoulders slumping and her head lowering. For a moment, she was quiet and still before her expression turned from agonized to angry and she looked up at the half-demon with eyes that promised a slow and painful death – although Kagome wasn't the one it was being silently promised to. "The one who did this is going to regret that. I'll make them pay," she said quietly, her tone just as murderous as her gaze. Kagome met the look unflinchingly and nodded.
"We all will," she agreed before looking down at the hurt boy again. As if Kohaku hadn't been through enough already.
"Indeed," Miroku agreed, his voice cold and his eyes steely. They were all angry at what they had found here, it would seem. Not that it was really surprising. They had been traveling together for a while now, after all. They were allies. Friends, even. And Kohaku, as the youngest besides Shippō, was the one they had all vowed to protect as if he was their own little brother. So it was understandable they'd want blood retribution if he was hurt. Especially in such a way.
They stayed in that room for a while, as Kagome spared no expense in her attempt to give Kohaku a fighting chance. She only stopped mixing her blood with his when the bleeding from the wound she'd inflicted on herself slowed down to an insignificant trickle. Licking the remaining blood off quickly, the half-demon the lowered the sleeve of her haori again, the sentient wolf-fur following suit below it, though it seemed to be tighter where her wound was than it had been before. Or maybe Kagome was just imagining things.
As soon as she was done, they agreed it was high time to leave this disgusting place. They encountered another problem, though, namely how to transport Kohaku. Kagome could carry him on her back well enough without jolting him around too much, but considering they were still in Naraku's castle, it wasn't the best of ideas. She wouldn't be able to fight properly (if at all) if it was needed. The same went for Sango and Miroku, who Kagome would feel much safer knowing were perfectly capable of defending themselves should the need arise.
In the end, the task of carrying Sango's brother fell to Kirara, the cat offering to do that by transforming and giving a half-growl at the group before lying down on the ground to make it easier for them to carefully lay Kohaku down on her back. The cat demon was still recovering from her poisoning, and while she was overall alright and well enough to transform and stay transformed while carrying someone on her back, she definitely wasn't well enough to fight efficiently just yet, which made her the perfect candidate for carrying the boy. With Kohaku safely on Kirara's back, the group headed back towards the demolished door, intend on going back the way they'd come and leaving the dungeon entirely. They would have done that, too, had Kagome not stopped in the doorway with a loud curse, holding out her hand to stop the other from passing her.
The hallway beyond the destroyed door was pitch black. Of course, it had been dark from the very beginning, but not to the point it was now. That darkness there was the same as in Mushin's temple. A fact Kagome was only made even more sure of as she heard that annoying, laughing voice of the mysterious demoness again.
"So, little doggy, you found your companions, hmm? I congratulate you, even though that wasn't your task. You were supposed to come and find me, remember?" their invisible enemy mocked, making Kagome growl low in her throat as she took a step back, her hand moving to Tessaiga's hilt. Behind her, Sango and Miroku moved as well to form a protective triangle around the growling Kirara. The cat demon's fur was standing on end and she was looking this way and that. Much like Kagome, she was likely trying to pinpoint the location the voice was coming from, but that seemed almost impossible. It seemed to reverberate in the room from all around them, not just the corridor shrouded in darkness.
"If you want me to find you that badly, then show yourself," the hanyō-girl bit out, her gaze darting this way and that. But she couldn't see anyone. She couldn't smell the demon nearby, either, and that was really unsettling. She almost felt as if her enemy was only in her head. Like she was imagining the entire thing. The only thing assuring her that she wasn't was the way Miroku and Sango acted, because they were just as on edge as her. Unless they were having some kind of group hallucination or something, but the half-demon wasn't particularly inclined to believe that. The demoness laughed lightly in response to Kagome's words, the sound reverberating all around them again and making it virtually impossible to tell where it had actually come from.
"Show myself? You wouldn't 'find' me if I did that now, would you, little doggy? That would be cheating. And besides, where would the fun in revealing myself be?"
"Kagome-sama, do you know who this is?" Miroku interjected before the half-demon could respond to the almost childish taunt. Kagome growled low in her throat.
"The one controlling the darkness, I'd wager. She's also the one who brought me to the castle in the first place. And you, too, probably," she replied in a low tone, ears twitching as the demoness laughed again, unperturbed that what she was saying went ignored.
"But you know, I have to wonder… was finding your companions really the right choice? Can you really be sure they won't turn your back on you, like you turned your back on them?"
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Kagome couldn't help but snap. She was beyond controlling her anger at the demoness hiding in the inky blackness. She was far too furious to be able to tell herself to calm down and not take the obvious bait.
"You really need to ask?" the demoness asked in an amused tone, her voice still coming from all sides at once, making it impossible to pinpoint her location. "Think about it, little doggy. Where were you when I first came to the temple? When I took your friends to this dungeon? When I played around with the drunk priest before ending his misery?" Kagome growled at the mention of Mushin's fate (and particularly the confirmation of how he had been killed) and behind her, Miroku sucked in a sharp breath. Whether or not the monk had known what fate had befallen his mentor before, he was definitely aware of what happened now. Clearly enjoying their reaction, the demoness kept talking.
"Or when I played with that young boy over there to satisfy my curiosity and find out just how much pain the human body could take? Hmmm? Where were you while I was doing all that?" Kagome actually snarled at that and while Sango didn't make a sound in response to those words, her gaze spoke volumes if anyone had turned around to see it. If looks could kill, then the hidden demoness would have already died in agony a hundred times over, really. "My my, you seem angry, young slayer. Could it be you desire revenge for what I did to your brother? And you, monk, for what I did to the drunkard?" Again, the demoness seemed far from bothered by the reaction her words were getting. On the contrary, she was clearly enjoying it. "Well, you're welcome to try and exact your revenge on me if you find me. But figure this out first: am I really the only one you should be angry at? Think about it. The little doggy could have at least tried to help you, or the drunkard or even my plaything over there, had she been there. But she wasn't. She should have been with you, but she was not, was she. And why? Because she chose not to be. Instead, she chose to stay in a quaint, little village for the day to lounge around and do nothing just because a fellow half-demon had been there. Isn't that her turning her back on you? If it's not, then I don't know what is."
So that was the demoness' game. Or Naraku's, more like. Well, both their game, most likely. First they killed Mushin and tortured Kohaku to make Miroku and Sango suffer and make them wish for revenge, then they made Kagome look like she was partially responsible for what happened, likely in an attempt to get her friends to turn against her. And the most despicable thing was that even the half-demon had to admit that the mysterious demoness had a point. Kagome hadn't been with her friends when they'd needed her. She hadn't been because she'd chosen not to be. She chose to stay in Jinenji's village instead. True, at that point, she hadn't known the others might be attacked while the same couldn't be said for the gentle horse hanyō. But even she had to admit that she should have expected Naraku would try something if she stayed away. He would be stupid not to capitalize on the situation he'd created considering he'd managed to weaken two out of six fighters in their group (Miroku and Kirara) and got two others to temporarily separate from them because they needed to gather medicinal herbs. A lot could be said about the spider, too – that he was a coward, that he most likely wasn't very powerful in actual combat which would explain why he never faced her head-on, that he was sneaky and used disgusting tactics. Yes, a lot could be said about Naraku. But that he was a fool was not one of those things. And neither was that he'd pass up a good opportunity to get at them. Kagome should have known he wouldn't. She should have known he'd try to pull something. But she hadn't and so she had made her choice accordingly.
At the time, it hadn't felt like a protector's choice. It couldn't have, because as far as Kagome had known, no one except Kirara was in any real danger and she'd made sure to ensure the cat would be fine. But she'd failed to take into account that Naraku might use her absence to get to the others and the moment he actually had, her choice had become a protector's choice. A choice in which she'd indirectly and unknowingly chosen whom she'd protect and whom she'd risk allowing to die. Mushin and Kohaku paid the highest price for that, the former being already dead and the latter still in very real danger of ending up that way.
Of course, what the demoness didn't seem to be aware of was that Kagome had been human the day before, so even if she had decided to come back to the temple, it was questionable at best whether or not her presence would have made a difference. But then again, she'd been human and she'd still made a difference in Jinenji's village. So being human was no excuse. She frowned at the thought.
For the first time in her life, Kagome found herself questioning if she'd made the right decision.
"I hate to admit it, but she has a point," she muttered under her breath, her grip on Tessaiga's hilt tightening as she glared cautiously around in case she somehow managed to catch a glimpse of her enemy. Kirara hissed at her angrily, clearly hearing the muttered words more than clearly enough.
"She does not! None of this was your fault and don't you dare take responsibility for something you couldn't have possibly prevented! It's what she wants!" the demon cat yelled at her, though in a language only Kagome would understand. Miroku and Sango stayed quiet for a moment and finally, the slayer spoke up in a quiet tone.
"Did you know this demon would come to the temple? That she'd bring us here and do what she had to Kohaku?" she questioned, but not in an accusing tone. Still, Kagome bristled at the questions.
"Of course I didn't know," she snapped. "If I did I wouldn't have—"
"Then you're not to blame," Sango interrupted her firmly before the half-demon could finish that sentence, and possibly the first half-lie she might have told in her life. After all, there was no telling what she would have chosen to do had she known Naraku was going to attack the temple and kidnap her friends. "Inuyasha clued us in on why you decided to stay in that village, you know. You were as certain as you could be that we'd be fine while that village was plagued by demons. It's understandable you'd choose to stay where you believed your sword would be needed most. I wouldn't expect anything else from you," the slayer continued, although her gaze was trained on their dark and empty surroundings, trying to catch a glimpse of the demon taunting them much like Kagome was. Then she raised her voice and called out into the darkness. "And you can stop trying to make me think otherwise! Naraku may have managed to trick me into attacking Kagome once, but I'm not going to fall for that trick ever again!"
"Neither will I," Miroku added in a surprisingly calm, and yet terrifyingly frigid tone of voice. The demoness, however, only laughed.
"Really now? Well, I guess it's a challenge then. We'll see if you can stay true to your word," she said in that annoying, amused manner that made Kagome growl again. Another laugh was her answer. "For now, I'm the only one you wish to fight, though, right? Very well then. I'll give you a chance to do as you please. Come this way. Try to find me. I'll be waiting for you. Hopefully you won't be too much of a bore," she said and then her voice faded into nothing. The darkness in the corridor beyond the door Kagome had destroyed still remained, however, but the room they were in seemed to become a little bit brighter. After carefully looking around, Miroku pointed to a hole in the wall they hadn't been able to see previously. It looked like someone had tried (and succeeded) to smash their way in. The hole wasn't very big and looked as close to circular as it could considering the most likely means by which it was created. After a moment of thought, Kagome realized this must have been how the demons who had been in the room and tried to eat Kohaku alive had gotten in.
"We shouldn't go that way. It's the path she wants us to take. She's leading us on," Sango said as she eyed the hole in the wall with clear suspicion and an angry, but focused frown. Wearing a similar expression on his face, Miroku nodded in agreement.
"I agree. Kagome-sama, do you not think that it would be wiser to go back the way we came, rather that follow the path our enemies are laying down for us?"
"I wouldn't be so sure," the half-demon replied with a shake of her head. "I told you, she can control that darkness. It's her realm. When I was in the temple before, I couldn't see, smell or hear anything while in it unless she wanted me to and she separated me from Inuyasha without any trouble, as well. If we take the route she offers us, at least we'll have some semblance of control over what happens if we're careful. Especially since she doesn't seem to want to separate us. If we walk straight into her domain, though, there's no telling what she'll do. No telling what she could do," she explained, though it was quite obvious she didn't like the choices presented to her any more than Sango and Miroku did. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place and had to choose which one to smash against, really. "I don't like it any more than you do, but at this point, letting ourselves be guided around into whatever trap is set ahead of us is still the better choice than offering that creep to do whatever she wants with us."
With the additional information of knowing just how little Kagome's presence would mean if they walked into the obscurity created by the unknown demoness, Sango and Miroku had to agree with the half-demon. Of course, neither of them liked it. Kirara didn't either. But from the two choices they had, it still seemed like the wiser one to just follow their enemy's lead straight into what had to be a trap. The fact that they all knew the demoness must have been aware of that as well and manipulated them to do what she wanted them to on purpose didn't help, either.
Next chapter: Kagome's Rage
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