Misfortune Followed Us Home ch.14
It was evening, the sun was going down and the camp site
selected. The mangy and ragged shard hunters currently rested at the side of the road. Dusty, sweat and blood covered, tired and hungry, they were not very happy people. Well the adults at least, the children had been left under the charge of a grumpy Jaken while the Inu tachi rested. The day had started off simple enough.
A warm breeze blew in from the west as the Inu tachi and Sesshoumaru’s pack marched down the earthen path. Inuyasha awoke a couple hours later no worse for wear but definitely displeased. It was obvious by the scowl on his face as he marched from the back of the group with his arms crossed, nose in the air and his face turned away from the rest of his companions. Everyone else chose to ignore the childlike behavior in favor of being observant of their surroundings and watching Kagome for any signs of shikon no kakera detection. Sesshoumaru was leading the group down the road at a moderate speed. His consideration for the humans in the group came as a surprise but was entirely welcome. Traveling with Inuyasha was an exhausting experience; his eagerness to see Naraku dead was both a blessing and a curse. His reckless abandon was oftentimes useful in battle but when traveling all it did was ensure the tachi never performed at full capacity. Sesshoumaru, with his tactical mindset, understood this and ensured that all fighters were fully capable. He strode ahead eyes forward, if you looked closely you could see the subtle twitch of his ears when he focused on a sound, most of them undetectable to human ears. According to Sesshoumaru it would take another week and three days to get to the village. It was far deeper than they had originally thought. The tachi was informed that they would pass through another two villages before they reached their target. The tachi walked for another hour. It was around one o’clock judging by the position of the sun. Kagome stopped in her tracks and looked up at the sky, her arm raised to shield her eyes from the sun. She let out a sigh as she dropped her arm, it was so hot today. She looked down at her clothes and shook her head; she had really misjudged the weather today. “Is something wrong Kagome,” Sango asked. “No Sango, I’m fine, the heat is just getting to me.” She had not noticed that she had fallen behind and rushed to catch up. As she rounded the corner she nearly ran into Sesshoumaru’s back. She stopped abruptly and fell backwards into the dirt. She peered around the Inuyoukai’s legs, but she could see nothing ahead. She stood up, dusting off her clothes, and moved to stand beside him. “No disrespect meant Sesshoumaru, but why did we stop,” she asked the stoic youkai. “Do you not have senses miko? You have abilities above other ningen, use them,” was his reply. Kagome frowned but extended her aura in the direction he was looking. Something was coming; a malicious aura was drawing closer. As the aura got closer, Kagome was able to distinguish that it was not one creature but three. She drew her bow and notched an arrow, watching the tree line for signs of movement. “Kagome,” Sango questioned. “Something’s coming,” she replied. As if her words served as a trigger the three auras suddenly began rushing in their direction. She pulled back into her stance and drew her arrow taunt against the bow string as she waited for whatever it was to clear the tree line. A minute later the last tree fell and out stumbled three Onis. Large, grotesque, their skin dark in color; the one on the left was a dark purple, the one on the right a midnight blue, and the one in the center blood red. Their skin had bulging lesions that oozed pus and a dark green blood. Their bodies were covered only by dirty, hole ridden, loincloths. On top of their heads, dark black curved horns protruded from their greasy balding scalps. They carried giant battleaxes. The one in the middle, the obvious leader snarl and bellowed, “You there! Girl! Give me the shikon no kakera!” He lifted a giant clawed hand and reached for her. In response she let loose her arrow, it streamed forward in an arc of pink light and she watched as it struck the palm of his hand and began eating away at the flesh there. “YOU BITCH,” It roared. It hefted the giant battle-axe in its other hand and swung in a large arch towards Kagome. She dived out of the way, hitting the ground hard she rolled a few feet and landed on her back winded. The axe crashed down into the road where she had been and a large spray of dirt and rocks showered the tachi as they scattered and found defensive positions. The children and Jaken escaped into the sky on Ah-Un. Kagome gasped, breathing hard she rolled over and scrambled onto her feet. She ran to the cover of the tree line and notched an arrow. She looked around the tree and saw Inuyasha run forward Tetsusaiga drawn. He swung the sword in a huge arc yelling WIND SCAR at the top of his lungs. The familiar torrent of yellow light was met with the crackling, blue lightning like attack of Sesshoumaru’s. The attacks chased each other up to the Onis and struck with a vengeance. Their flesh split easily under the assault, blood, pus and chunks of flesh rained down. “Kagome,” Inuyasha yelled, “where’s the shikon no kakera?” Kagome searched the three Onis carefully, scanning them from top to bottom. “I don’t see anything,” she screamed as she dodged another attack. Sango rode by on Kirara, swinging Hiraikotsu. The giant boomerang flew through the air and severed the arm of the purple Oni. Kirara roared as she raced by close to the ground, dropping off Miroku and racing back into the sky where Sango snatched up Hiraikotsu. She swung the weapon again, this time severing the Oni’s leg at the knee. As it fell, Miroku released the Kazana and sucked up the Oni. It was easily grasped by the winds and disappeared into the void. Kagome stepped out from behind the tree and fired an arrow at the blue Oni, which was injured far greater from Sesshoumaru’s and Inuyasha’s attacks. The Oni moved at the last moment and her arrow struck a gash in the Oni’s right shoulder. The blood sizzled and popped as Kagome’s reiki spread into the wound like a poison. The flesh began rotting and festering and darkened to a black color before falling off in chunks. Kagome this time drew two arrows in her bow and fired them at the same time. One struck in the neck, the other in its left knee. It roared in outrage and reached with its left hand as more of its flesh turned black and fell off. She fired one more arrow striking the advancing Oni in the forehead and it exploded in a cloud of grey ash. Kagome notched another arrow and turned towards the red oni. She turned in just enough time to dodge out of the way as Inuyasha flew past her, crashed through two trees and landed in a crumpled heap at the base of a third. “Inuyasha,” she cried. Kirara landed next to her and Sango vaulted off the nekomata. “Sango, get Inuyasha out of here,” Kagome yelled as she pointed to where Inuyasha landed and ran off in the opposite direction towards the Oni. “You bastard,” she yelled as she notched three arrows in her bow. She let the arrows fly and watched as one pierced its left shoulder one landed in the right pectoral and the last ended up in its protruding belly. It roared and swung in her direction with the axe. This time its movement was too fast, fueled by adrenaline, the Oni moved twice as fast. Kagome stood frozen knowing this time she could not dodge the attack. Suddenly Sesshoumaru appeared in front of her. One swing of Tokijin and the axe flew to the side. Sesshoumaru flew forward and slashed his sword releasing the blue lightning again. His lips barely moved as he murmured the name of the attack. He followed it racing up the arm and slashed at its face with Dokkasou and sprayed Dokumukou in the wound. He stabbed Tokijin in its right shoulder and drug the sword through its flesh diagonally. He leapt around the Oni and landed back in front of Kagome. The Oni was roaring furiously swiping at its face with its clawed hands. Kagome drew another arrow and aimed for the wound on its face. The Oni’s swiping opened the wounds already there further and only helped spread the poison faster. Kagome let her arrow fly and it struck the Oni in a poisoned wound. The cuts immediately began to glow a greenish white before devouring it and leaving a pile of ash in its wake. Kagome sighed in relief and let the tension flow out of her shoulders. She searched the remains of the Onis for a second time, making sure she didn’t miss anything, but there was no sign of any shikon no kakera. The tachi reconvened and quickly deserted the area before any lesser youkai showed up to devour the remains. As soon as it was deemed safe, the tachi left the main road and found a decent place to camp. Rather than set up camp though, they all collapsed under various trees and rested. Kagome stood and stripped herself of her weapons and bag. She prepared camp and started a fire and left with a pot to get water. She found a river and downstream noticed the rise of steam into the air. She filled the pot and returned to camp. When she entered camp, she put the pot above the fire pit and wandered into her tent to grab her bath supplies and her sleeping kimono. Inside her tent was Shippo and Rin curled up together asleep. Jaken was snoring rather loudly in the corner next to them. When she emerged from the tent Sango was skinning a few rabbits. Kagome returned to her bag and grabbed a bag of precut vegetables and potatoes. She handed the bag to Sango and informed her she would be taking a bath at the onsen. She passed Inuyasha as she exited the clearing. The gruff hanyou was okay, just irritated that the Oni knocked him out and he didn’t get the chance to kill it. She shook her head at him as she left the clearing, not once noticing that Sesshoumaru was absent.
When she arrived at the onsen, she set up two lanterns to see by. She stripped and Kagome sunk down into the hot water. She dipped her head back and let the warm water soak into her hair. The warm water eased the tension from her back and shoulders. She sighed appreciatively and rose. She sat on a natural shelf that left the water resting at her waist. She turned slightly and leaned against the warm stone. She crossed her arms and rested her chin on her arms. She sighed as she looked out past the range of the lantern’s light and stared out at the darkening forest. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the water.
“Perhaps, you aren’t as useless as I thought you were, miko.”
I'm really sorry guys. I'm really sorry. There was so much going on and my parents were in and out of hospitals. I was so tired and I just didn't feel like it. That muse was gone. But I'm good, and I'm back now.
