Redemption

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, etc. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

REDEMPTION

Summary: Specters of the past bring forth questions for the future. Can she save his soul, or will he wander forever in darkness?

CHAPTER THREE

It wasn’t exactly a fight---at least not to Sango’s way of thinking. Of course, at the time, she was hardly doing anything more than reacting to the sudden appearance of what amounted to a deadly, vengeful ghost in their midst. A ghost she had never thought to see again…

A slight noise---what noise she could not name ever afterward---caught her startled attention, and it was astonishing how quickly she reacted by pushing Kagome out of the way. She couldn’t say what, exactly, had made her act that way, but it saved the young miko’s life. Even as Kagome cried out in bewilderment, falling backwards under Sango’s abrupt shove and sprawling into a tangling thorn-bush, the down-sweeping cut of a giant sword slashed across the space she had just occupied.

Biting back the stab of pain that shot up her arm from her abused wrist, Sango dove for the bundle of their clothing, where her small poniard lay hidden. There was a curse behind her, and Kagome’s startled scream as their attacker aimed another swing in her direction. The miko was no fool, and having dodged the back-swing of the huge blade, she retreated, yelling out at their unnamed foe with angry confusion.

“Just what the heck do you think you’re doing?!”

“Huh. I should think it’s obvious, woman.”

The arrogant voice made Sango stiffened. She recognized it, if not to whom it belonged. Muttering at the tangled folds of discarded towels and robes, she managed to wrest free Kagome’s bow and arrows, as well as her own small dagger. Little defense, truth be told, and she wondered tightly if Kirara was near enough to hear the commotion and come to their aid. Still, she was determined to give as good as she got.

Standing up, she confronted the man, whose back was to her, his giant halberd raised two-handed over his head. Kagome had retreated well beyond range of the wide-sweeping blade, her face white in the scanty moonlight. The man was cast in shadow, though the white cloth of his hakama gleamed faintly around the darker gray shadow of his armor. A single long braid hung down his back, an inky silhouette against the glow of faint moonlight that cast him in obscured anonymity.

“Maybe you should think twice about attacking us, bandit.” Sango answered with more bravado than sense, hoping to distract him from her vulnerable friend. The cold air chilled across her wet skin, the warmth from the hot spring forgotten as her simple yukata clung uncomfortably to the soggy areas that dampened her skin. She stood in a threatening pose, the dagger held aggressively before her.

The man turned, so that his arrogant face was in profile. His laugh was short and mocking. “And what do you think you can do with that thing?”

Good, she had surmised his character rightly---he was as conceited and arrogant as his casual stance had told her. His rancor got on her nerves, and Sango itched to take that pompous ego down a notch or two.

“I can do plenty, bandit.” Sango replied, her voice riddled with contempt, hoping to goad and distract him into doing something stupid. “You must feel like a big man, swinging that giant sword around and attacking two unarmed women like this.”

The man actually turned to face her, bringing his giant sword up to rest it idly on his shoulder, as if in thought. “You talk pretty tough, ninja-girl.”

*Ninja?*

Sango frowned. Was the man a fool? She didn’t care to correct him.

Dark eyes glittered in the faint moonlight, a smirk twisting the corners of his arrogant mouth. Cocky bastard. She should know him from somewhere…

But she now had him just as she wanted---distracted and way too sure of himself. With a yell to divert him further, she leaped to the side and threw Kagome’s bow and arrows as hard as she could, hoping the miko would be able to snatch them and make good use of them. If she could distract the fool long enough, Kagome might be able to let fly a sacred arrow in his direction…the girl’s aim was far better now than in the past.

Kagome, anticipating her action, dove for the bow and quiver sent flying her way. But the man was quick, and rather than being diverted by Sango’s tactic and coming after her, he aimed a sweeping blow at the diving miko.

“Kagome!” Sango cried out in warning. Kagome dodged the powerful sweep of the blade at the last second, twisting aside and rolling back into the underbrush. The man laughed, striding forward with flagrant contempt to follow the fleeing girl into the brush. It was then that Sango saw his face in the brightening silver light of the moon as the thinning clouds wisped away, baring better light to the shadow-ridden clearing.

Seeing the four-pointed star that marked his forehead, Sango’s chest tightened.

“Bankotsu!” She breathed in stunned recognition.

The man turned back to look at her over his shoulder with a cocky grin. “Glad you remember my name, ninja.”

“But you are dead!” Kagome burst out, drawing his attention back to her.

“So I am.” Bankotsu smirked, lifting his giant halberd up with too-easy strength.

“But Inuyasha killed you!” Kagome protested, still dazed with shock.

“So he did.” Bankotsu’s smile was caustic as his dark eyes glittered.

“But how---” Kagome could not see the danger she was now in as Bankotsu, finally done with all this jabbering, aimed a swing at her head.

“Run, Kagome!” Sango cried, seeing the deadly arc of his imminent blow. Abandoning all caution, she flung herself at the ghostly apparition’s back, clinging like a leech and seeking to plunge her poniard into his unprotected neck, where the Jewel shards he had once possessed had been lodged. It was the only way she could think to kill him…

But Bankotsu was quick. And strong. He grabbed hold of Sango with one hand and flung her aside like her solid weight was nothing. Sango sailed through the air, landing with a painful thud against the back of a tree, where she sunk down to her knees in a daze. Fighting back the nausea that threatened to overwhelm her, she grimly hung on to the dagger that was her only protection against the maniac.

Fighting to her feet, Sango noted with grim satisfaction that Kagome had heeded her words, and was fleeing into the forest, screaming out for Inuyasha, Kirara, for anybody who might help them. Inuyasha’s hearing was keen, help would come soon. She just needed to hold out a little longer…

Swaying back against the tree, Sango didn’t feel all that good about her chances. Still, she was a taijiya, a warrior. She wouldn’t back down from this cocky bastard. The man fairly oozed with smug assurance as he swaggered toward her shaky position. “That was stupid, wench. You should have used the other girl’s death to make your own escape.”

“You haven’t changed much, I see.” Sango managed between staggered breaths. Her strained wrist throbbed painfully, and she leaned lightly on her bruised ankle, careful not to put too much weight on her left side. Ignoring the pain, she straightened, using the rough bark of the tree against her back as a prop. “You still play the self-centered little bloodthirsty boy that you are.”

“Huh. I’m disappointed you count me so little.” Bankotsu shrugged off her barb with a surprisingly charming little smile, though his blue eyes glittered in the gray moonlight as he stared back at her.

Good. If she kept the cocky bastard talking, she could buy time for her friends to arrive.

Tipping his mighty sword up, Bankotsu rested it on his armored shoulder with almost casual disdain. “You sure talk a lot for one who’s companion just left her all alone.”

Did he hope to rattle her with that fact? Sango’s eyes narrowed, trying to figure just what game the mercenary was playing.

“You don’t look all that tough, ninja, wounded as you are. You talk big, but I wonder if you can back it up.” He was smiling again, assured of his superior strength. “I can kill you, you know, any time I want.”

“Then why don’t you?” Sango grit out, her own anger flaring at the sharp sting to her pride before she smothered it beneath the firm control of her father’s teaching. Just a little longer…

“Touchy, aren’t we?” The bastard seemed to be enjoying this. His eyes roamed over her form, where the damp cloth of her yukata hung too close to her curves for much comfort. Flushing beneath his wandering gaze, her lips thinned into a tight line as the anger battered at her thin mask of stoic calm.

“Are you going to fight with me, Bankotsu, or just stare?” She gritted through clenched teeth.

“Huh. You have quite a temper, I see.” He was almost negligent, his stance speaking volumes about how casually contemptuous he was of her abilities to defend herself. Sango found her own plan to enflame the boy’s inflated ego being turned back on her, and made an inarticulate sound in the back of her throat.

“I think I might have just changed my mind, ninja. I was just going to hurry up and kill you, you know, but I wonder if you might just serve a better purpose for me as…bait.”

*Bait?*

Sango’s nostrils flared with disgust. He thought to use her as a lure to get to her friends? He was more like Naraku than she would have credited him with. Time and again, the dark hanyou had used innocent people to try and get at one or another of their group, and each time he had failed. Sango had a deeply seeded hatred for those who would use others for their own ends, as her poor brother had been used. She wasn’t about to wait around for this cocky bastard to put action to words. With a furious cry, she flung herself at him, her dagger striking for his unprotected neck.

Bankotsu quickly countered her strike with the thick padding of his vambraces. The hardened leather deflected the blade, turning her knife so that he could try and grab her wrist. Furious, Sango ducked, and came up inside his guard, plunging the dagger into his side up to the hilt. Bankotsu didn’t even try to deflect the blade, instead grabbing her by the shoulder and giving it a good hard twist that made her cry out and release the poniard’s hilt. It was with an almost contemptuous move that he flung her away from him, not even bothering to lower his Banryuu off his shoulder as he slowly followed after her.

Her legs tangling in the clinging fabric of her wet yukata, Sango tumbled end over end, until she felt something strike her hard in the side of her temple, and she crumpled in upon herself in a dead faint.

3333333333333333

“That was almost too easy.” Bankotsu stalked over to the unconscious girl, a smug grin crooking his mouth as he stared down at her. She hadn’t put up too much of a fight. Didn’t say much for the abilities of a girl ninja.

A faint shout somewhere in the dark forest behind him made him cock his head to the side. Looked like Inuyasha was finally coming onto the scene---a little too late, as usual. He and Inuyasha had some unfinished business to attend to, and Bankotsu had quite a few half-formed plans dancing around inside his brain as to how he might take out his vengeance on that particular dog-boy.

With a casual flick, he dislodged the ninja’s dagger and threw it aside. The wound was already closing, the faint stab of pain receding into distant memory. With the additional Jewel shards he had accumulated inside of his body, he could heal faster than ever before. It had been worth every effort to collect all that he could.

Bending down, he picked up the girl and flung her over his shoulder with a slight grunt of effort. She didn’t weigh as much as he would have expected. Didn’t matter though, she wouldn’t have slowed him down one bit, even if she had weighed as much as his beloved Banryuu.

With sword on one shoulder, and unconscious girl on the other, he slowly faced toward the east. Flicking his thumb across the outlined shards he had added to the half-moon emblem that decorated the end of Banryuu’s hilt, he willed himself gone from this place. Naraku had taught him well in the many ways he might use the Shikon shards for his own benefit.

There was a flash of sullen fuchsia light, and the three of them---mercenary, sword and girl---slowly melted into nothing, vanishing from the clearing as if no one had ever been there, the swirling mists of the hot springs steaming gently in the deserted silence of the lonely night.

3333333333333333

A/N: Mwa-ha-ha! A cliffie! Don’t you just love those? This chapter was short, but I promise the next one will be longer. I want to thank you all for the lovely reviews, they keep me typing in the dark hours when the plot bunnies have all hopped away. XD