Journey of the Heart: Chapter 11 - Gathering

DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha and his companions are not mine to own.

-ooo-oooooo-ooo-

The fang made a whistling screech as it cut through the air toward the wind witch.

Kagura remained perfectly still as the enraged hanyou attacked her with the Tetsusaiga. A faint smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she watched the passionately futile action with bemusement. She had no reason to dodge or block the attack as Inuyasha soon realized.

"Keh! What the hell?" he growled out when his sword struck the air in front of her as though it were solid rock and not a thin vapor.

"That is just one of the talents my friend possesses. I'm sure you'll see a couple of the other ones before you die." Kagura turned her body slightly to watch as a monstrous form approached through the thick blackness of the passageway and into the dim light.

Shippo couldn't control the gasp that escaped his lips at the sight. The others made no outward signs of reaction, but Sango felt certain she wasn't the only one who had a trace of bile rise in the back of her throat at the appearance and strong olfactory odor of their new opponent.

To say it was hideous would have been an understatement. It was obviously an unnatural conglomeration of beasts spawned from Naraku, but it most closely resembled a serpent of some sort. But instead of a normal set of fangs, it had a huge mouth that took up most of its face, filled with sharply jagged teeth. Set high upon its gruesome head were three luminous yellow eyes. Bone spikes ran along the sides of its neck, ending in an armored tale. Despite its snake-like resemblance it did possess six stubby, clawed legs which mauled the earthen floor mercilessly as it shifted.

Breaking the silence, Kagura stretched out her arms to point in the general direction of the firmly set faces of the gathered warriors. "Fools who are about to be slaughtered," she began before switching her pose to point at the serpent, "this is your death." Then speaking directly to her companion, "Death, fools for the slaughtering.

"Now that I've done my part to introduce all of you, I'll be leaving. There are important things to attend to with the miko in our excellent care. I'm sure you understand." Kagura tilted her head cockily as she spoke. She had thrown the last taunt in just to ensure a good performance from the hanyou.

It seemed to work as another wave of energy poured toward the youkai who could control the very wind itself. She never even bothered to turn around, knowing the creature had reflected the attack.

The serpent was under strict orders to occupy their attentions and weaken them without killing them. But Kagura doubted his capacity for self-restraint. When she looked into his cold, unfeeling eyes all she could see was power and death. So, it couldn't hurt to give Inuyasha an extra boost for the fight. After all, she might need him to kill Naraku soon enough.

-ooo-oooooo-ooo-

Nearby, Rin marveled at Sesshoumaru's impressive ability to be completely focused on something while maintaining an utterly disinterested countenance. Granted, her actual thought was something more along the lines of, 'Wow, he hasn't moved since lunch.'

The youkai lord stood perfectly still as his sharp, gold eyes stared at some point in the distance. His long silver mane washed over his broad shoulders and white silken robes majestically.

The unlikely group, consisting of a toad youkai, a young human girl, and a two-headed something-or-other, waited patiently for their master as he silently processed whatever it was he was sensing. It was not an uncommon occurrence for their travels to be stopped in this manner. Sesshoumaru rarely gave hints as to what was in store. He rarely spoke at all. This was in sharp contrast to...

"Lord Sesshomaru, I made you a hat. Do you like it? I used all your favorite flowers. Well, I don't really know what your favorite flowers are because you never talk about such things, but I used the ones I thought you would like the best if you did have favorites."

"Quiet, Whelp! Can't you see our lord has better things to do than listen to your incessant prattling!" Jaken reprimanded her harshly, earning him an indignant narrowing of the eyes from Rin as she tried out her best Sesshoumaru impression.

"Sorry, Lord Sesshoumaru, you know how troublesome humans can be when they need attention. They just can't stop themselves from saying inane, useless things better left unsaid."

Sesshoumaru had stopped listening to the small green youkai who was still rattling off all the reasons humans ran off at the mouth. His attention was directed to the vibrant, young girl at his side instead.

She held up a ring of flowers she had bound together to form a makeshift crown. It was not her first such creation nor was it likely to be her last. The Lord of the Western Lands made no effort to accept her gift, but he did mentally note that her craftsmanship had greatly improved.

"Come," he said simply as he abandoned his stoic contemplation and began to walk without checking to assure himself the others were following suit. Normally, he would not have spoken at all, but he was feeling particularly generous.

He returned his concentration to the mass of energy exuding from a nearby mountain. The combination was complex, but he was able to distinguish two unique patterns: the vile hanyou, Naraku, and the peculiar miko who travels with his brother. Clearly, Inuyasha would not be far behind. Such levels of power were hazardous, and he would not see his lands obliterated by the blundering actions of his half-brother.

-ooo-oooooo-ooo-

'So, this is going well,' Kagome thought to herself with an irritated sigh as she pulled the bangs that had fallen into her face out of the way for what seemed like the hundredth time. She had been riding the Kouga Express to No-wheres-ville for hours, and the fact that she had just had the most passionate kiss of her life followed up by a cold shoulder was not helping to settle her nerves.

"Kouga," she said as loudly as she could to push past the wind resistance. His pace did not slow.

Kagome raised an eyebrow in annoyance. 'I know he can hear me. I've learned a few things about demon hearing being around Inuyasha so long. Mostly, that it is super sensitive when I'm trying to keep secrets and completely oblivious when I want their attention.'

"KOUGA!" she tried again, this time sending an elbow hard against his ribs to punctuate her summons. That seemed to get the desired result.

"Kagome, what is it?" he asked while allowing her to stand freely, careful to avoid rubbing his now sore side in front of her. "Do you sense something?"

Crossing her arms defiantly, she snapped her head forward while speaking. "Yes, I sense that you are trying to avoid me."

That left the wolf demon momentarily speechless. "What are you talking about? I haven't left your side since..." he trailed off, not wanting to think about earlier. "We've been together. How could I be avoiding you?" he asked lamely.

"Kouga, I know you think my getting hurt was somehow your fault, but it wasn't."

"We don't have time to discuss this. You wanted to get to that mountain top, and no matter how fast I run it never seems to get any closer," he replied emotionlessly.

"Don't shut me out!" Kagome stamped her foot into the ground to reinforce her point and succeeded in sending a wave of pain through her recently injured body. The flash of discomfort did not go unnoticed by her dark-haired companion.

"It WAS my fault! I said I would protect you, and instead, I let you get mauled by some beast in my absence."

"Kouga..." she tried to protest, but his selective hearing would have no part of it.

"NO! Don't you understand? You could have been killed like all the others--like my pack--like my parents!"

This time it was Kagome's turn to be speechless. Her mouth fell open slightly as her eyes grew wider. She knew about his pack being slaughtered by Kagura, but she had no idea his parents were killed at some point as well.

"It is safer for you if you don't depend on me," he finished remorsefully as he turned away.

Silence hung heavily in the space between them. Kouga gathered his thoughts and tried to pull himself away from the dark emotions that threatened to consume him. Kagome's hand tightened into a fist as she whispered in a low voice, "Baka."

Kouga's brow creased in confusion over the barely audible word. Blue eyes shifted to gaze upon the angry girl.

"BAKA!" she shouted when she knew she had his undivided attention. "Bad things happen, and everyone makes mistakes. But you can't let that stop you from moving on with your life.

"People depend on you whether you like it or not. We are here together, and we have to depend on each other if we want to get back out. And if you want to have nothing to do with me after that," her voice wavered just slightly at those words, "then so be it, but remember whose choice that was!"

A stunned expression settled into a softer, almost amused look. "You aren't crazy, are you? Feisty, but not crazy."

She stared blankly at him before she found words with which to express her puzzlement. "What in the world are you talking about?"

"After you started rambling about us being trapped and dying, I thought maybe the fight had caused some kind of damage to you."

"And now?"

"Now, I just think you were always damaged," he couldn't fight back the smile that slipped upon his parted lips. He could almost see steam rising from her head as she prepared to explode.

"Why, you!" She squinted her eyes together tightly and shouted, "SIT!" Kagome bit her bottom lip as soon as the word traveled from her lips. A sheepish look crossed her face as she unwillingly waited for his reaction.

The command had the opposite of the desired effect as Kouga began laughing so hard he doubled over. Kagome glared at him dangerously for a moment, but as she saw the careless mirth float back onto his structured features she found her anger had elapsed, and she also began laughing.

-ooo-oooooo-ooo-

Sango watched in disbelief as Inuyasha's Kaza no Kizu raged through the tight space toward the mysterious serpent demon. Light and energy ricocheted off the crumbling stone walls and in some cases came bouncing back at dangerous angles.

Sango held her boomerang high to prevent a stray blast from searing Shippo into jerky. As much as he enjoyed that particular snack from Kagome's time, it was unlikely he wanted to become it.

"Inuyasha, we should discuss a strategy instead of going off half-cocked and getting us all injured or worse," Miroku called out, always the voice of reason.

"I'm fully cocked, Monk!" he retorted angrily as he prepared for another attack.

"If we weren't in such a perilous situation I would laugh at that," Miroku said dryly, earning a rare smile from Sango.

"He seems to spend much of his time performing the same attack regardless of its ineffectiveness," Kikyo stated in an emotionless voice that reminded the rest of the group she was among them.

It took them all somewhat by surprise because she had been so quiet up until now. And although none of them wished to admit it, with her appearance it was easy to forget Kagome was not at their side as she always had been.

Not that Kagome ever stayed silent that long. Even in her sleep she was usually scolding Inuyasha for something foolish he had done the day before. Once she even managed to "sit" him which was decidedly unpleasant when you consider he spent the nights on high tree branches.

"It does feel a bit like deja vu watching him do this again," Miroku observed impartially.

In the close quarters, the fight was limited to direct assaults back and forth. However, the beast seemed to be relying heavily on a defensive strategy while letting the frustrated, silver-haired hanyou wear himself out. It was only a matter of time before he became tired and left himself open to an attack. And with no room to maneuver it was going to be difficult for any of them to defend him properly, especially considering his reluctance to allow their assistance.

"Inuyasha, fall back so we can attack as a unit!" Miroku attempted to order. Unfortunately, Inuyasha seemed to suffer from the same selective hearing disorder that plagued so many of his kind when they didn't want to heed someone's advice.

"He isn't listening," Miroku stated flatly.

"At this rate he will bring the walls down around us before he defeats it," Kikyo agreed.

"Only one thing left to do then," Sango chimed in.

An unspoken alliance was formed between the three unlikely but powerful individuals. Kikyo drew her arrow, Sango readied her boomerang, and Miroku began to chant softly as they all waited for an opening to join Inuyasha's attack regardless of his permission.

-ooo-oooooo-ooo-

Dark eyes watched the small albino girl closely as he followed her languid footsteps through the forbidding hallway. Of everyone he interacted with, she was the mildest and most even-tempered which should have made her presence a calming factor, but instead, the young boy always felt on edge when working with her.

At least with Kagura he understood where he stood. But Kanna was an enigma he was careful to avoid whenever possible. Sadly, this was not one of those times. He had been relaxing in his small but private quarters when she had beckoned him to follow her.

A warm sensation in his back seemed to spread throughout his body when he considered refusing in the slightest way. If he continued to resist it would transition into discomfort and then into pain until he was unable to think, stand, or respond in any way.

Thus, he rarely attempted disobedience. He kept his mind vacant and uninformed, so it was impossible to piece together the puzzle of destruction he was involved in creating. Life was easier that way--easier, but never easy.

Answering the boy's unspoken question, Kanna said, "Naraku wants you to prepare for battle."

Kohaku nodded even though he was standing behind her where she could not see. "Who am I to fight?"

"His enemies," she replied simply. He had learned long ago there was no use trying to get a straight answer from the pale girl. Normally, he would not have asked the question, but he had a bad feeling that he would soon be waging battle against that girl whose face never strayed from his mind.

However unlikely it seemed, he believed he sensed her presence nearby. Something inside him was always warm and happy when she was near, but that feeling always turned sharply into an oppressive, dark weight that settled upon his restless soul. There was much he couldn't remember--much he did not want to remember. He believed a great deal of that was connected to her somehow.

When he strained his memory to seek the answers to who she was and how he knew her, terrible, haunting images would always beset him, and eventually, he would give up. The pain it caused would leave him curled up and whimpering at times. It was much easier to simply allow the memory to remain forgotten.

Whatever joy was connected to that woman had obviously transitioned into pain and loss long ago. And yet, the thought of meeting her in combat was decidedly unappealing to the youth.

-ooo-oooooo-ooo-

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I think I always start the same way...sorry for the delay. I should have that carved into my tombstone as I anime my way into an early grave. That's right; I used anime as a verb. Here is another verb for you; review! (Please.)

Okay, now everyone familiar with Ayashi no Ceres and/or Kyou Kara Maou please go check out my fics for those anime. They aren't very big fandoms, and sniffle I'm getting very little response over them!

I just started a joint fic with the fabulous and very talented BelleDayNight called The Hunt for the Perfect Man. This is all new and different for me because not only is it AU and has no angst, but it is also a cannon pairing! Weird, but wonderful. Go read and review!