Evolution of a Taiyoukai
By Danyealle
(FanFiction/MF/angst/death)
Chapter 22
Catching her bottom lip with her teeth, Kagome concentrated on her target then let the arrow fly. Though it hit the tree the target was on she didn’t hit the target its self. “Dammit!” She snarled, stomping her foot in frustration.
“Calm down Kagome.” Sesshomaru said stepping up behind her. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her back against his chest. “You’re doing quite well actually. You didn’t miss the target by that much.”
Sighing, she leaned back against him and shut her eyes. “I know, it’s just frustrating.”
It had been five days since Kikyo had left this realm. When it came to Kagome, Kikyo’s leaving didn’t make much of a change. Though her control over her powers had improved and she did seem to be healing a bit better but over all she was about the same. Since then she had worked on mastering the Light Bow. It took two days alone, plus a great deal of frustration, to master making the bow and arrow appear. Once she cleared that hurdle she had to work at directing her power into the arrow then guiding it. As far as Sesshomaru was concerned she had made amazing progress in the short time she had been working with it. But Kagome herself had been less pleased. From her end, she had a feeling she had very little time to master what she needed to. On top of that, frustration at her physical limitations factored in as well. Though she was getting better each day the damage was still there and limiting what she could do or how long she could do it for. For someone that had always been in great physical shape with very few physical problems to suddenly not be able to do what you once could was the height of frustration.
Sensing her growing frustration level plus the fact that she was in pain, Sesshomaru decided it was time to call it a day. Kissing her on the top of the head, he said, “I think that’s enough for the day. Let’s go find something to eat so you can find something for the pain you’re in.”
Sighing, the bow vanished from her hand and she slumped a bit. He was right of course, if she continued on she wouldn’t get any better, just more frustrated is all. “Yeah, I’m hungry.” She told him.
~~~~~@~~~~~
Sprawled out on his back, Inuyasha had his eyes shut with his hands folded behind his head. Though he looked like he was asleep on the mat he was laying on, he wasn’t. Instead he was lost in his thoughts. Though Kikyo, and just how much he missed her, was part of them mostly they were dominated by the question of what he was going to do now. Kikyo and Kagome had been such a romantic fixture in his life for so long that now he felt rudderless with no real direction to go.
At this point the best he could come up with to deal with the hurt the best way he could and focus everything he could into the hunt for Naraku and ridding the world of him. As he had spouted in the past the best way to deal with pain was vengeance and Naraku was perfect for that. He was responsible for so much of his pain that he would be the one to pay for it all, in spades.
After that his thoughts turned another direction: Kouga. That mangy wolf had surprised the hell out of him! Yes, he would admit that, on some level, he considered the ookami a friend. He was also sure that Kouga felt the same way about him. But it was the wolf demon who had shown it over the last few days.
Right after Kikyo’s departure, Kouga had shown up at the God’s tree for no other reason that to make sure that he was alright. In fact, he had sat with him for a while and lend him a sympathetic ear. When the wolf demon had offered to listen he hadn’t intended to talk to him but he found himself doing just that. Then, within a short time, he spilled everything to him and Kouga had just listened to him. There was no making fun of him or snide comments, he just listened and gave a bit of advice here and there. He had to admit that by the time he was done talking he felt much better. Since then they had been a bit closer and he found he did like his company. It was always nice to have another male friend you could kick back and bullshit with, like he did with Miroku. Also, since that time, the ookami had stayed near him as though he were worried that he might do something foolish. That, doing something stupid, hadn’t crossed his mind but it was a bit heartening to know someone cared about him enough to worry about him. But, as expected, it had surprised him that it had come from Kouga. Sango and Miroku, he did and they had does so as had Kagome, but he liked it. The ookami had also taken it upon himself to make sure that he kept busy. He had been drug out to do everything from hunting to hut repair, no matter how much he complained about it. In the end he had to admit that it had helped. It was hard to dwell on emotional pain when you were kept busy.
He decided that, at some point in the future, he was going to have to do something to show his appreciation to Kouga.
~~~~~@~~~~~
Flopping over onto his back on the bed, Sesshomaru panted heavily, drenched in sweat. Putting an arm around her, he pulled her close and kissed her on the top of her sweaty head. Shutting his eyes, he tried to catch his breath.
“Wow!” Kagome panted softly.
“I concur whole-heartedly.” He replied.
After they finished with her bow practice they had come back then ate dinner before retiring to spend some time alone. A bit of cuddling had morphed into a bout of sex. Unlike times past they had made love instead of just a bout of animalistic sex. She still wasn’t fully healed so he had been much gentler than he normally was. Honestly, this was the first time that he had ever made love to anyone in his entire life. Not only was it much harder work but it was far more satisfying!
~~~~~@~~~~~
Holding onto him, Kagome tried to catch her breath. Shifting around onto her side, she draped her arm over his stomach and rested her head on his chest.
As she was relaxing and letting her blood pressure get back to normal something set off a tug in her brain. Not only was it a familiar one but it set off warning flairs. Lifting her head, she shut her eyes and tried to concentrate to figure out what it was.
It took a couple more of those tugs and she knew what it was. Eyes wide, she bailed out of the bed and began to yank her clothes on. Not even glancing at him, she said, “Kagura’s coming.”
That was enough by way of an explanation for him. He was out of the bed and yanking his clothes on. Once he fastened his armor and slid his swords in place, he picked her up and swept out of the house then went to rouse the rest of the pack.
Just as they were piling out of the hut a gust of wind came out of no where and the wind witch herself landed right in front of them.
Weapons drawn, everyone waited. “Kagura!” Both Inuyasha and Kouga snarled at the same time.
“Before you come after me I’m here to warn you that Naraku are on the way here. He wants to make this the final dance between you.”
Standing in front of his miko, Sesshomaru glared at her. “Why are you telling us this?”
“Because I want something from all of you.” She said calmly, gazing at the taiyoukai.
“I knew it!” Inuyasha snarled. “Just what do you want?”
“Kanna and I will be left alone when the bastard is gone. To get that I will give you every bit of information I have that can of help to you.”
The look on Kouga and Inuyasha’s face told of the conflict they felt about the topic but Sesshomaru didn’t bother with that. “Fine. But if I find out you’ve lied then I will personally deal with you.” He told her in a cold voice.
Quickly, the wind witch filled them in on everything she knew of Naraku’s plan. They also learned that they had an advantage they hadn’t know about. After Kagome’s injuries the protection spells and sutras around the tiny village had been strengthened. Something that was done with those made it impossible for Kanna’s mirror to penetrate them so Naraku couldn’t see anything that went on that way. Nor could his poisonous insects get through. The whole village was a blind spot to him now. That would mean that he ha no way of knowing what they were doing or that they knew he was coming.
Immediately, the pack was rushing around, preparing. The villagers were woken and they did what they could to protect and prepare themselves.
Sesshomaru put Kagome on Ah-Un once more, there was no way with her injuries that she could move fast enough to stay out of danger, but this time the dragon was going to stay next to him. This time he wasn’t going to entrust her safety to anyone or anything else. It was his job and he would make sure it was done correctly.
~~~~~@~~~~~
At precisely midnight all of the insect and animal noises around Edo stopped as Naraku and his minions made their way silently towards the tiny village. This was the perfect plan as far as the spider was concerned. This late at night the village guard would be light and no one would expect an attack. Even if they got a bit of a warning most of them would be sound asleep and there would be a bit of disorientation. That, of course, would be an advantage for him.
Stepping through the outer ring of trees surrounding the hamlet he was proven wrong. There, waiting for him, was the pack. He didn’t even get a chance to snarl when they attacked.
~~~~~@~~~~~
This time the pack had the advantage of Kagura’s information and went on the offensive instantly. Rather than do what the spider would expect and going after him the pack concentrated on Hakudōshi. Within five minutes, the child incarnation of Naraku was gone, liked by Inuyasha’s backlash wave and sucked into the void by Miroku’s wind tunnel.
Then came Naraku’s turn…
As the pack was well aware, the sneaky spider had no compunction about retreat when things looked bad for him so they were prepared for that this time. Once his incarnation was dispatched Kaede and Kagome cast a barrier that wouldn’t allow him to escape or put up his own barrier to protect himself. This time he would have to stay and fight.
Of course this enraged Naraku who guided his minions with a new viciousness while he did what he could to protect himself.
Though the pack knew this time they had a better chance to end his reign of terror than they ever had in the past that didn’t mean it was easy. In fact the fighting was some of the most brutal and vicious they had ever experienced. As expected, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha and Kouga all three threw everything they could at the spider in order to finish him off. Yes, they did damage and hurt him but it wasn’t enough to put an end to him.
Frustration mouthing, they sensed all the dominos were in place but they couldn’t tip the one that would start the chain reaction that would finally end Naraku. In the end it was Kagome that came up with what worked. The next time Naraku shot an attack at Inuyasha he unleashed the backlash wave against him. Once that was in play, Sesshomaru hit the arachnid with his Dragon Strike. While Naraku was under assault by both attacks Kagome poured every bit of power she had into the arrow notched in her Light Bow. When she had it as charged as she could get it she aimed right at the center of where the two strikes met. “Hit the mark!” She changed as she let it fly.
Cutting through both strikes, the arrow hit the arachnid dead center in his chest. Instantly, his body was surrounded by a neon pink light and cracks began to appear in his body and, layer by layer, it began to turn to ash. The cracks allowed both demonic energies from the strokes to enter his compiled body then blow it apart. As the parts rained down they turned to ash until there was nothing left of the evil that had plagued them for so long.
~~~~~@~~~~~
At the other end of the country a beautiful princess let out a wail of grief as the infant in her arms, what she thought was her child, shuddered then breathed no more. The onna knew then that her child was dead. But her cries of grief soon turned to screams of horror as her pampered infant began to disintegrate in her arms. Naraku’s black and vile human heart was no more.
~~~~~@~~~~~
As soon as Sesshomaru was sure that the hated hanyou was truly gone and it was safe he led Kagome over to the pile of ash that had once been the greatest evil any of them had ever seen to retrieve the jewel. Picking up the blackened chunk that had been the source of Naraku’s power it was purified instantly.
Quickly, the pack gathered around her. Kouga willingly gave up his shards. An emotional and crying Sango handed her Kohaku’s shard, he had been ‘killed’ during the battle. After ‘healing’ the gem, Kagome shut her eyes and made the wish she had been planning on for so long, peace and happiness for those that had suffered for so long at the hands of Naraku, then the jewel that had caused so much trouble and pain for so long vanished from the earth.
As the jewel vanished the Bone-Eaters well rumbled then collapsed on its self, sealing the entrance to Kagome’s time forever.
Finally, after so long, it was all over.
~~~~~@~~~~~
Standing side by side in a field full of purple flowers, Kikyo, Midoriko and Kagome’s grandmother watched the final scenes of the battle play out. Midoriko smiled as a warmth spread through out her body when the jewel that was her soul finally came to her body and nestled where it belonged.
“Finally, it ends.” The mother of all mikos said quietly.
“The wheel of the fates has made its final turn where the jewel is concerned.” The little miko’s grandmother sighed.
“Never again will the jewel trouble the earth.” Kikyo said with a smile.
They quietly watched as the shard hunters dispersed and headed towards Edo for a much deserved celebration.
“As you said Midoriko, they all rose admirably to the occasion and did what they needed to. Your confidence in them was well placed and deserved.” Kagome’s grandmother said.
“Yes indeed, the fates chose well when it came to them.” Midoriko replied with a nod. “They will have a well earned rest for a while but there is more to come. This was just the first of many challenged yet to come.”
“But we will all be there for them when they need us!” Kikyo stated emphatically.