Raindrops

Eight months earlier


Kagome sat clutching her heart…it was somewhere near her throat right now. ‘What the fuck was going on!!’ the though ran through her brain desperately trying to get its attention but it had gone completely numb. ‘This boy- no this demon just ripped a fucking giant centipede …thingy into shreds with his claws!'. What shocked Kagome more was that now that very demon had been brought crashing to the floor with only a word uttered on her part.

‘Ah!!’ she was finally made aware of the pain shooting through her body as her brain finally caught up with the world around her. She looked down, gasping in shock at the wound in her abdomen where the centipede had bitter her. Clenching her fists in response to the stinging she realized she was holding something, looking to her right hand she saw the tiny orb… ‘That thing came from m-’… PULSE … the jewel seemed to pulse for a second…but fell silent just as suddenly. ‘Wha w-what was that?’ but before she could ponder over the jewel any more, all thoughts were chased out of her mind by the now pouring rain. ‘What?? It was clear just a moment ago’

“Come dear ye will catch a cold in this rain”,

“Y-yes Kaede”. As the girl came running towards the hut the old miko continued staring at the receding rain, an ominous felling creeping over her.

The wheels had begun turning

***


BOOM!!

Rocks went flying left right and center as Inuyasha slammed against the cliff wall with tremendous force…and as always, he got up immediately and ran straight back into the fray, tessaiga in hand.

Eight months had changed a lot, Moryomaru had been born…only to betray Naraku and be re-absorbed. Sesshoumaru had become a lot more compassionate or indifferent one never knew exactly…blah blah blah. Even with all these developments the group remained as close as ever and even now. they still enjoyed exterminating the odd demon.

Just one problem…this was no ordinary demon

“Wow look at that thing! Its huge” Shippo had seen countless demons in his life but never had he seen one that was so big and so… strange. Its head and body were that of any oni he’d seen in the country, but that’s where the similarities stopped. For one it was ten times larger than any oni, add to that the fact that it had huge wings and its skin seemed to burn with a hellish flame.

“I’ve heard about these demons from my father, they’re called balrogs or something.” Sango continued to speak never taking her eyes of the beast, “Father told me that they were mythical, he’d never seen or heard of one in the region or even in the world for that matter. Allegedly they are the guardians of hell”

“So what’s a mythical guardian of hell doing on the shores of our land?” Miroku’s mind was still reeling with Sango’s words. He said a silent prayer to Buddha hoping that nothing sinister was going on.

“Keh what the fuck does it matter what its doing here, we still gotta get rid of it right hmmmf … helping fucking humans…” Kagome smiled as she heard Inuyasha’s
never ending rants. She knew in his heart that he didn’t mind helping. A few days ago the group had come across an odd priest sitting on a rock above one of the hot springs the group frequently visited. He had told them of the demon and had asked for their help. Now they were thinking that they had bitten off a little more than they could chew.

“Come on houshi-sama we need to give Inuyasha a hand” Sango was already on Kirara as she spoke, the decision to help coming after she saw Inuyasha slam into the same cliff for about the eight time.

“Sango how do you expect to hurt that thing. Its repelled all of Inuyasha’s attacks including his Kongosoha” Miroku spoke while getting onto Kirara as Inuyasha was once again sent flying as he tried to doge the fire ball that the balrog had just spat out.

“Well just have to try something new” as she spoke Miroku slid his hand under her arm and placed his palm on her left breast. Her train of thought broken she gasped turning red instantly, seconds later…

Smack!!

“You wana try something new…try walking you pervert!!” Sango yelled, as Miroku lay stunned beside Kirara’s feet. Silently she chastised herself for hesitating to beat the brains out of that damn monk………that was happening quite a bit now she thought slightly blushing.


***

“Bakuryuha!!!” Inuyasha watched relieved as the balrog was hit with its own fireball and the wind scar. Kagome’s purifying arrow did little to help the beast.
With a resounding roar not born of this world the creature collapsed in a heap of ash and smoke.

It was night when the battle had begun. By now the sun had almost completely escaped the horizon and shone bright yellow and orange into the faces of Inuyasha and his companions. They were all relatively unharmed save a few burns and bruises here and there.

“Am I ever glad that’s over” Kagome spoke sighing as she wiped her sweat-ridden brow.

“Keh all that for nothing I don’t see what you lot get out of helping random strangers” with no clues of finding Naraku it was understandable that the half demon was upset

“Speaking of random strangers lets find our priest friend and tell him that the beast has been slain” But even as Miroku rose, he was stopped by a familiar voice

“No need monk, I saw it all” coming out of the dust and ash walked the priest they had met earlier. He wore the standard robes of any holy man in the region and a simple straw hat. A small black cloth wrapped around his eyes with the symbol of a heart on it. “Well done my friends, I knew from the moment I saw you that you were the right people for the job”. Without another word the priest walked up to the remains of the balrog, placing his hands together for prayer he began chanting in a voice that seemed distant, almost as if it weren’t his.

“So the faithful have been drawn,
The wheels of fait now turning,
Heavens pact, now complete,
Neath’ the endless sky…burning”

As he finished the verse the sun became completely hidden behind the onslaught of clouds. The rain began to fall almost immediately.

The priest looked up…allowing the rain to attack his now frowning face. ‘Finally’ he thought ‘My journeys have reached their end’