Inside the doors, it was hard to believe that the wind wasn't a monster. Byaku was hiking up a steep mountain, against a wind so fierce it actually was piercing her skin. She forced herself to continue walking, but the wind caused a gigantic boulder to fall and crush her shoulder. Her footing slipped, and she began to fall down the mountain's steep slope, and just managed to save herself by planting hiraikotsu in the ground.
She regained her balance, and made her way to the mountain's summit. From the peak, she had a clear view of a village. From so high, the village looked small and insignificant. She saw from her vantage point, winds gathering and destroying the village. Even though she was high and far away, the vision of a young boy crying as the wind terrorized his family and the other villagers was so vivid to her, as though it were in her mind.
A fog swirled to the wind's content, sweeping across the village, and it disappeared as thought it were never there. She had seen enough, experienced enough, felt enough - she was bleeding from her climb up the mountain, and all her effort surmised into the tragic vision of a destroyed village. It was hard not to believe that the wind was a monster.
"Beautiful, isn't it," Naraku remarked disgustingly, appearing behind her. "This monstrous power I possess - it's truly magnificent. With this power, people, villages - everything in this world is below me."
"You don't deserve this power!" she shouted, and attacked with hiraikotsu. Naraku, with his absolute control of the wind, was able to direct the boomerang's course and sent it back at her. She took the blow in her chest, sending her against a tall boulder. Wind pressure pinned her to the boulder, and when the pressure ended, she collapsed as though the wind had taken all of her strength from her.
She used hiraikotsu as a support to stand again, and tried using her father's talisman charms to erect a barrier against the wind. They provided temporary relief, since the barrier relied on four charms being planted firmly in the ground. The wind easily blew them away, and destroyed the barrier.
She was lifted into the air, along with boulders broken from the mountain side. He used the wind to cause the boulders to bash her from every direction, bruising her body and breaking her bones. Satisfied, he let her fall back onto the mountain, and watched with pleasure her pitiful and painful state.
"What a fitting way to finish you," he laughed evilly, as he unleashed the kazanna.
She planted hiraikotsu into the ground and held onto it desperately.
Suddenly, Naraku's left arm grabbed onto his right, trying to seal the kazanna. "What are you doing?" Naraku shouted angrily.
"I am Tsubasa, the one to control the wind!" - was the reply.
Shihai was taking a severe beating from the guardian. He had incredible will and courage at that moment, but that alone could not stand up to the guardian's raw strength. He felt a heavy boot crush his body, breaking several of his ribs. The guardian lifted his battleaxe high above his head, like the emotionless executioner that follows only orders.
Before the battleaxe's swoop was complete, Kiara intercepted, and sitting on her back was Kohaku blocking it by crossing his katana and hidden sword. It took incredible power, will, and concentration from his young body to successfully halt the stroke, but the guardian was forced to lift the axe to gather more strength.
Kohaku placed the limp Shihai behind him on Kiara, and they fled to a safe distance. "Where's Byaku?" Kohaku asked.
"She's inside," Shihai forced out through the pain. "I have to wait for her. I'm the only one that can open the gate. If I don't, she'll be trapped in there forever. I have to defeat the guardian."
"It's not just you that cares about her. Kiara and I also want to fight with her. We'll all be waiting for her, when she comes back through those doors."
The guardian's tone seemed to become somewhat more human: "You wish to fight me, because a friend awaits you on the other side of these doors?"
"That's right."
"I had begun to forget, that people like you ever existed. I am a wind creature, but the one who forged the blood contract with me long has forgotten about me. He left me here, so I've been guarding these doors ever since. I was summoned by a young boy, much like you, a while ago. He enjoyed playing in the wind, in the sacred grounds, but a wise man declared that the wind was too dangerous, and sealed the sacred grounds with these doors. The boy was crushed. The wind was his best friend. He vowed to return here one day. An evil man tainted his mind, and he decided that he would return here and control the wind. The wind was always waiting for someone, crying, and as time passed it became violent. I want the wind, to return to its true state, the wind that brought that young boy his happiness."
After opening the doors, he lifted his battleaxe, and crushed his own helmet. His body crumbled, and disappeared into nothingness.
Tsubasa felt his body begin to crumble, and disappear into nothingness. His last thoughts were filled with fear. The wind before him was treacherous and terrifying, not at all like the playful wind he once dreamed of being reunited with.
"Humans are unreliable hosts," Naraku said, enraged, as he formed a puppet from the shikon no tama. "That is why I originally wanted to use the souls from Kanna's mirror to create a false body. It doesn't matter. I will find a new host. I still have control of the wind! The kazanna will finish you!"
Hiraikotsu lost its stance, and Byaku was mere seconds away from the end. She could hear it, the tears of the wind. They were no different from the tears of men. She heard the wind, mourning the loss of Tsubasa, who in his childhood would play in the wind all the time. She heard the wind crying, crying for freedom from Naraku's control. She could see the wound of the wind.
"Kaze no kizu!" she shouted, as she exerted all of her strength into one final attack with hiraikotsu. The wind blew in every direction, originating from Naraku, shredding his body. The kazanna exploded, becoming his grave. The wind became calm, purifying the shikon no tama before returning it to Byaku.
She suddenly fell from the mountain top, but the wind decided to slow her fall, allowing Shihai, riding on Kiara with Kohaku, to catch her. They smiled, once again holding hands.