Angelus

Chapter 3
Morning came, bringing along its symphony of joyful songbirds and singing insects. Kitana was awakened by the sounds of hissing vapour as water was thrown over the campfire by a busy-looking Jaken. Avoiding her gaze the best he could, he grabbed the blankets nervously and brought them with him out of the cave. Kitana rose to her feet, assessing her injury which was already hurting much less than the previous day; the clothes were now completely covering the mended skin, and only the internal wounds were still making her suffer. Her stance, though, was still precarious, and she sighed as she stumbled forward and grabbed the wall to support her weight. When she finally reached the mouth of the cave, a little bundle of orange silk and messed hairs ran to her and grabbed her right leg.
“Kitana-sama, Kitana-sama!” Catching her breath, the little girl smiled brightly to the stranger woman. “Sesshomaru-sama let Rin come to see you before we go. Thank you for making Rin feel better. Will Rin see you again? Pleaaaase say yes Kitana-sama!” said the girl with her toothy grin.
“So, you are leaving”, Kitana said to the nearby Taiyoukai, her hand delicately stroking the child’s hair. He nodded, before asking his ward to mount on Ah-Un. Jaken having already put the blankets back in the saddlebags, they were ready to go. Kitana advanced toward the beast and its charge, a pang of sadness in her heart as Rin smiled to her.
“I won’t forget you, Rin-chan. You have been a little miss sunshine amongst those cloudy days. We will surely meet again, if not in this life, then in the other”. As she saw the child taking to the skies, waving her goodbye, sadness once again filled her heart. Why would she be awakened from her slumber, if it was to face a life of loneliness and loss? She gave a bitter look to Sesshomaru, the one responsible for her survival. Without his unwanted intervention, this Naraku guy would surely have finished the job and she would be drifting forever in the abysses of the afterlife.
The taiyoukai was glad to depart. He still felt uneasy around that creature, and even though lots of questions were left unanswered, he couldn’t safely quench his curiosity about her. Not while little Rin was around. He didn’t know why, and he surely wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he felt compelled to assure her protection. Now that his responsibility toward his ward’s savior was fulfilled and his honor was safe, whatever happened to her didn’t concern him in the slightest. For all he cared, Naraku could absorb her now; the girl was weak, so weak he could not even feel her youki, and he could not see what advantage his enemy would gain by taking her inside him. He had surely realized this by himself, since never in the days spent in the gorge did the hanyou’s stench come to his sensible nose.
However, just as he was starting to ascend to the skies to join his steed, ward and retainer amongst the deep, black clouds that were assembling over their heads, his conclusions were negated when a well-known and despised scent hit his nose. Annoyance pointing its ugly head again in his mind, he looked behind him and saw what he had smelled a moment before.
“Yo! You are making yourself difficult to find, Sesshomaru-sama. I see you finally came to your senses and decided to leave this creature to her fate.”
“Kagura” he said with a bored tone.
Kitana, who was eyeing the newcomer curiously, felt the discomfort and irritation of the taiyoukai at the arrival of the lady he named Kagura. The woman was beautiful, if not a little strange because of her deep red eyes and the fact that she was floating in the air on a feather disturbed her. The cloud that supported Sesshomaru’s weight effortlesly puzzled her as well and she approached them, curious to see who was this weird woman who had the virtue of putting the taiyoukai on edge.
“Do not bother yourself with her anymore, Sesshomaru. My master will be happy to take her in charge.”
That being said, Kagura made a large movement with her left arm. An ill-assorted swarm of lower youkai, most of them looking like mindless worms or centipedes, appeared from the clouds above them and approached the ground at blinding speed. They entered the ravine, circling its occupant and waiting for an order to come; amongst them were some hell bees, the crafty little spies of Naraku.
“You may leave in peace, Sesshomaru. I will just take this… thing, with me. Naraku is interested in her skills. Girl, if you follow me gently, no harm will come to you. My master merely wishes to… speak with you”, she said, hiding a grin behind her fan.
As the meaning of Kagura’s words came to his mind, Sesshomaru frowned and almost draw his Tokijin. Could it be possible that Naraku’s interest in the creature came from the possibility of absorbing her and her healing powers? Impossible, he thought, for Naraku was able to regenerate easily with the help of the jewel shards. But then, if he gained the ability to heal his followers…
Kitana, however, didn’t loose time wondering over the true reasons of the presence of the wind witch as they were crystal clear to her. Her minions’ minds were simple, but they radiated evil and hate so strongly it almost hurt her. If this Naraku truly wanted her dead, she would already be under attack; these monsters would be pleased to tear her body in pieces, and she would gladly allow them to do so. Instead, they reigned in their killing intents and waited patiently for their orders. Looking up at the red-eyed woman, Kitana decided that there was no way she would let herself be caught; captivity was something she abhorred even more than life. Taking up a fighting stance, she prepared herself for what was to come; crouching low almost on all four, she snared, exposing her silvery white teeth and started to sway her tail from one side to another, slightly whipping the ground at each pass.
“Well well, I should have known better. Sesshomaru already brainwashed you with all those tales about how bad it is to be absorbed by Naraku, I guess. Poor thing. Only then you will attain true power. So follow me, or I’ll make you.”
With the exception of her tail which was now whirling furiously around her, Kitana didn’t move an inch, her resolve clearly visible on her determined face. As she waited for the attack to come, her clothes morphed shape again, becoming denser and forming an armor around her body, with two spears appearing along her forearms and one on each of her knees. Her golden irises became slightly more brilliant, as if an inner fire was lighting them up, and it was then that the witch made her move. Lowering her hand, she sent her army toward the girl, shouting “Take her alive!” to the monsters.
They came at her all at once, jaws wide opened, claws ready to grip what they could. Sesshomaru stayed on the side, watching. His ward was safe under the protection of Ah-Un and Jaken with his Staff of Two Heads, and he was interested in the outcome of the battle.
Swiftly dodging her attackers, Kitana knew her muscles were too weakened by her long sleep to last very long. She did her best to avoid the demons, jumping amongst them and using her claws and the sharpened edges of her tail to kill her opponents, but she was overpowered by their numbers and much too clumsy to be a real threat to them. As she saw that the prick who called himself Lord would not indulge in helping her, she did the only thing she could; she gathered whatever energy was left inside her and sent it at her enemies, visualizing brains and hearts torn to shreds by her powers.
All Sesshomaru saw was Kitana taking a pause, regaining her fighting stance, and then her yellow irises started shining and invading the black sclera of her eyes, leaving no place for any black tint. He then felt a – wave – of something, go right through his very being, and suddenly every low-level youkai and bee fell on the ground, blood oozing from their eyes, noses, ears and mouths, as if killed by the inside.
Kagura, as intact as he was, gasped at the sight. Almost a hundred youkai slaves, suddenly falling dead at her feet, and she didn’t even saw what caused their death? Impossible! As much as she would have liked to see Naraku’s plan fall apart, she couldn’t take that insult without retaliating fiercely.
Kitana was nearing exhaustion, although she did her best not to let it be seen by keeping her stance as steady and menacing as she could, but her legs were shaking and her eyelids weighted a ton. She could feel the anger of the woman and the intense curiosity of the taiyoukai, but she couldn’t care less. For all she knew, the battle was over.
How wrong was she.
With a sneer, Kagura lifted her fan this time, and pronounced four small words before waving it at what was now a bloodied battlefield.
“Dance of the Dead!”
As if on cue, the bodies of the fallen youkai came back to life, jerking around until all missing parts were reattached.
Wide-eyed, Kitana couldn’t believe what was happening. She knew for sure these monsters couldn’t be alive; her attack had destroyed their vital areas as surely as if she had torn them apart with her very claws. She looked in their eyes and saw no recognition, she felt for their aggressive emotions and found nothing; even their energy signatures were gone. They were definitively dead; and definitively attacking her, again.
So again, she fought for her freedom.
Sesshomaru knew how this attack from the wind sorceress could be devastating, both on the body and on the mind of its victims. Not knowing why, he was pleased by Kitana’s fast reaction even though she clearly didn’t understand how all that was possible. With grace and fluidity she jumped and bounced on her enemies, slashing at a body before using it as a propelling board to reach another one, soon severed by her claws and tail. However this time her victims didn’t fell dead on the ground, they simply reattached the sliced limbs and re-entered the dance. There was no end to her torment. Sesshomaru thought that he would probably have to intervene and protect her, as he had to make sure Naraku couldn’t possibly absorb the dying girl. Not with a power like that; killing at a distance was not an ability he could let Naraku gain. He loathed Kitana for that; he didn’t mind destroying lower youkai, even enjoyed it at times, but never being forced into it. Killing her by himself was not an option either: the hanyou would probably laugh for days at the idea of forcing the taiyoukai to eliminate his ward’s rescuer. He would make sure to punish this wretched hanyou in the near future for all his interferences in his life, as soon as he could find his hiding place, of course.
In the center of the meadow, things were going downhill for Kitana. She was going nowhere, her body was breaking down, her internal organs were shutting down one by one, and her muscles were tearing up under the strain she imposed on them. A hazy cloud was beginning to form before her eyes, blurring her surroundings and making it hard to distinguish her enemies. Their corpses were still warm, but there were so many of them that it was impossible to distinguish the individuals by their heat emission alone. For each of her strikes, she received two or three blows that sent waves of pain through her bones and organs. Almost defeated, a last thought entered her mind.
She would not become a prisoner again; she would never serve another master.
Once again, her eyes shined an intense golden color. Her face showed intense concentration, as her energy was already spent and this would be her last chance at liberty. Called from within, a fire burned brightly in her eyes as she witnessed the hordes of demons being consumed by an inferno of white and yellow flames. The fire started from within the dead bodies and rapidly fed from them, becoming stronger and brighter and hungrier. The heat in the meadow became intense and black, smelly smoke polluted the clear blue sky. In mere instants the corpses were consumed and reduced to piles of smoldering ashes and black, charred bones.
Three figures still stood in the meadow. Two were too stunned to react; the third one, crouched on her heels with her swirling tail creating a cloud of dust around her, bared a bright set of fangs and hissed threateningly, looking up at the red-eyed woman.
“Bring them back to life now. Do it! Show me what you can do with ashes. Show me, you witch, or it will be your turn to burn in hell!”
The wind witch could not die as long as her heart was within the grasp of Naraku, but she could experiment all the nuances of pain, from the faintest to the most brutal; and she didn’t like it one bit. Her fear painted on her face, she took flight upon her feather, fleeing from the battlefield with only her pride hurting. After all, she could rejoice in the fact that once again Naraku’s plan fell apart, and it was not her fault this time.
It was at that moment that Kitana gave up and fainted. Just before she lost consciousness, she felt a strong wave of anger overpowering feelings of concern and confusion, coming from the taiyoukai. Sesshomaru, as he caught her body before she touched the ground, wrapped her half in his arm half in his furs and looked at her intensely. How dare she lie to him! She would be answerable to him in the near future, or face terrible consequences.
SSSSS
Sesshomaru had taken his time searching for the best place to dwell in safety, and remembered about this clearing he played in as a pup. Seated deep in what was called Inuyasha’s forest, was a small rocky hill with a very large rock overhanging a small valley. On one side of the rock a small waterfall fed a lazy stream, creating a nice calm water basin. The stream itself travelled languidly into the forest and the trees and bushes on its banks were really scattered and sparse, creating multiple small clearings covered in flowers. If one climbed on the top of the rocky structure, a plain descending slowly into the surrounding forest was what caught the eye. The large rock itself provided shelter from rain and the forest stopped any cold or strong wind; it was a good place for what he had in mind. Leading its party toward the ground, he descended and prepared to what was to come.
Kitana came back to her senses many hours later. Silently scanning the area, she was relieved by what she found. Her companions had not changed and she was not a prisoner, nor was she alone to fend for herself. She was positioned close to the campfire, and felt that Rin was further in the valley, with Jaken and the dragon. Opening her eyes, she met the terrible gaze of the demon lord that was set upon her. Waves of different feelings came from him endlessly, none of them auguring well for her; she would not be surprised if this guy could fall a foe with his gaze.
“You lied to this Sesshomaru, woman.”
Puzzled, she looked at him blandly, trying to figure out what he was talking about. She was weak, terribly hurt, in need of nourishment and healthcare, and it made it a lot harder to concentrate on the conversation he was trying to have with her.
“Mmmm… Sorry but… What is this all about? You said I lied? I certainly told you no lie”.
His eyes now reduced to mere slits, he took a deep breath. Not killing this creature would be harder than he first thought, but he would not play into Naraku’s game. Not yet. He decided to play his cards and analyze her reactions first.
“You told This Sesshomaru that you knew not why Naraku had interest in you; you hid the fact that you harbored such… powers. The hanyou is after you only to obtain them, and This Sesshomaru cannot let this happen.”
Weariness was weighing heavily upon her, and she closed her eyes, sighing. It didn’t matter to her what this youkai was trying to explain, it didn’t matter that he was angry at her, she didn’t care about his moods and his complaints. Her body hurt everywhere, her insides where mending themselves from a terrible blow worsened by an untimely and unnatural battle and her soul was so damaged that simply being alive was a torture in itself. If he would just finish her off now, both of them would surely be happier. And she did not hesitate to tell him, before closing her eyes again.
Sesshomaru stormed out of the camp. It was difficult for him to detach himself from the situation like he ordinarily did. His ward who had become attached to the creature after mere days of contact, then his inappropriate curiosity, her stunning powers and the place she had in Naraku’s plans, everything about this creature awakened interest in him. As disrespectful as she was, with her infuriating remarks and her maddening attitude towards him, he could not compel to her repeated pleas for being killed. Her suicidal attitude was telling all his instincts to shake her awake, to make her stand tall. And wake her, he would, as it was the only way for him to be done with her and get rid of her.