A/N: I edited a wee bit. ;)
The smells of the woods surrounded and engulfed his thoughts, holding him in a strong silk wrapping. Blossoms on the branch he rested in gave off a fragrance of such splendor; it was all he could do to keep his eyes open. He breathed in deeply, taking in the wet smell of the dew in the early morning and purged his lungs of it only to pull it back in on the next breath. The sweet smell of the very wood he stretched on lulled him into a tranquil half-slumber.
Closing his eyes, he caught the faint scent of human blood in the air. No matter, he knew the source and was comfortable with it. Though, it did put his stomach in a state of unrest. Shouldn't he be upset? Shouldn't he feel completely lost? Why was he so content with what just took place?
Still, he thought, it was liberating to have it over and done with.
He opened his ruby eyes and brought his claws to his mouth and licked away the blood. This should not make him content. And the blood on his hands should not taste this good. But it did, and he found himself gliding his tong under the curve of his claws to catch more of its bitter sweetness. Lapping up the fast drying liquid, he moaned in pure delight. It was only times like this he was satisfied. Only after he had filled his hunger for blood and death. It did not matter what or who, he would kill it and would not stop the rampage until he was too bored or full to continue. Not that he ate the blood, but he would be full from the hunt, nonetheless. Not that he liked the taste of human blood, just theirs. Just the humans' and demons' that were specific to his needs. It wasn't the taste; it was the condition of the blood that made it taste so sweet on his lips.
He knew why. In another life they had been his companions. They were the closest to his heart, which is why he relished in their pain and deaths. If he were to ever recover or revert back to the way he used to be, he would remember none of it and would surely kill himself once notified. That is why he had left the old woman, Kaede, breathing. She had to tell him the news.
However, he had been like this for…how long? Weeks? Months? He couldn't remember exactly, time was no longer an issue to him. It could not have been too long, or that girl would have come back looking for him. Maybe she already had and he wasn't aware of it. He tried to stay away from the village near the well so he would not be tempted to take the life of the old priestess. He supposed it could only have been a week, but doubted it.
Glancing down to where the Tetsusaiga used to rest against his hip, he snarled.
He did not feel anything but anger. When the girl came back through the well he was sure he would kill her, and that didn't faze him one bit. He had already killed two villages and his old friends one by one, and felt nothing but contentment. If his transformation were more natural, he was sure he would probably lust after the girl when she returned. But with his own boiling blood slowly killing himself, even entertaining the thought of taking her brought no tension to his loins. He merely wanted her dead most of all. She was the one strong connection to his old life left, possibly the strongest, and he wanted her dead for it. If he lived through his own body's attack and went back to normal he wanted to have no reason to live. Even from himself, all he desired was death.
Killing the woman was one of the most satisfying acts of them all. The dead priestess had come to him, curious about the change in his aura. He had spotted her from the very tree branch he lounged in now and watched her as she walked beneath him.
"Inuyasha." When his old name fell from her lips, a disgusting taste filled his mouth and throat. He remembered spitting to avoid empting his stomach.
The sight of her enraged him. He felt the demon blood fight back what little remained of his human blood, and his soul. Pulse pounded in his temples and he leapt off of the branch to the ground. He raised himself up and walked to the woman who showed no signs of fear toward him. He smirked, well she soon would.
She placed her hand primly on his shoulder and began to pull him to her. "Why is your aura so much stronger?"
"Shouldn't you of all people know?" He pushed her hand away and bared his fangs.
She had known when she sensed the difference, but she never thought that he would be able to turn on her. Full demon or not. He saw the realization as she began to back away and reach for her arrows.
He moved faster than she and captured her throat in his grasp. True fear passed over her porcelain features as he lifted her above the ground. She dropped her bow—a mistake she would never normally make, but then again this was not a normal situation. He was actually trying to kill her! She could barely breathe.
Kikyo was too stunned to fight back as she realized that she would not be the one to end his life. The situation at hand presented a new ending to their story. Kikyo's eyes widened as she felt her own mortality at hand. And it was in his hand. Her windpipe was being crushed she managed a small laugh at the thought of him actually killing her. It was happening and she was too shocked to stop it.
"So, this…Inuyasha," she pressed her eyes shut and coughed before continuing. "This is where it ends?" Her dark haunted eyes filled with tears as she closed them once more.
He smiled at the sight of her crying and her face darkening to a burgundy tint. He whirled around with her throat still clutched in his hand and cracked the back of her head into the tree's trunk. He held her against it and leaned forward to smell her fear, her desperation. Her breath had stilled completely but he could hear heart beat wildly in her chest. Kikyo could feel it all! The thought made his eyes glow with triumph and he quickly sunk his claws into her windpipe and slashed, spilling blood onto his feet.
She fell as he let go and slinked into a heap at the base of the tree. Her soul collectors began fleeing to the scene with small glowing orbs in their clutches. Inuyasha grinned and flicked his claws out to them. In one swipe, they were all gone and the souls ascended.
He looked back to the woman. She leaned against the tree, cupping her neck, blood spilling through her fingers. The blackness of it in the moonlight against her pale skin looked like the ink of that hell painter he battled so long ago. For a fleeting moment he felt his blood flow smooth and cool. His fangs began to shrink and he could feel sharp pain in his eyes. He doubled over and shook his head. NO! He wasn't through. He had to finish this!
Shakily, he made it to his feet and felt his blood rise again. The woman was dying and he didn't want to miss it. Kikyo's arm was wrapped around her back to reach an arrow. He could see she had very little strength left and was growing paler every second. Souls floated peacefully out of her wound and her panicked eyes said she did not intend to die without taking him with her. She pulled an arrow out from behind her, but she had no bow. She had dropped it just out of her reach, but there was no way she would be able to get to it in the amount of time she had left.
She faced Inuyasha and glared at him. She held the arrow above her head, pointed down, while blood flowed freely from her wound. It covered her garb and the grass beneath her.
"Die," she whispered as she brought the arrow down into the ground. A bold, blue light cracked the ground and in an instant it moved in a straight line to the boy's form.
Inuyasha saw it coming too soon. With his sharp senses and her delayed, weakening power he was able to jump into an over-head branch to dodge the last of Kikyo's will.
She fell forward onto her hands. "No…" and fell facedown in the dirt, dead.
Inuyasha had laughed and retreated back to where her counterfeit body lay to lap up her wounds.
Now he waited for the last of his prey to come back through the well.
Deciding he could control himself, he ran through the forest in the direction of the sacred tree and Kagome's well. Laughing with anticipation, he leaped from tree to tree. She didn't know how he had ripped his closest friend apart, nor how he crushed the small fox demon's skull into the demon slayer's. She had no knowledge of what the half-demon had become and would not sense any change in him until she saw his eyes. Then she would be too close to run.
Then he would taste her blood.
A/N: Well, this was interesting to write! I started writing it on the way home from a chiropractor appointment in the dark tonight. I wrote about three paragraphs, then fell asleep (good thing my mom was driving, huh?) and finished it when I got home. I spent at most a total of two hours on it and the fight scene with Kikyo is still not what I want it to be, but I thought I would post it and get some reviews then come back and edit later. I am greedy and I can't write more now anyway. I am drained and I need to study for finals next week. I was going to end it as a bad dream Inuyasha has, but nah, I was feeling a little too dark for that. This won't happen often. So, anyway if there are any suggestions I will keep them in mind for the final edit. Thanks!
P.S. I do not hate Kikyo. In fact, she is one of my fav characters because she is so multi dimensional.I thought it would hit home a little more to have the situation happen with her, because if it can happen to her, then I fear for anyone else.
P.P.S. I don't want thestory to end like this! Please don't end it like this oh great creator of Inuyasha, not me. (Hey look, a disclaimer! Yay!)