Captive Soul

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Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters


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Chapter 39: Shattered

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Inuyasha glanced at the sky, noting the hesitation of the wind along with the
now sluggish movement of the gray and white clouds. He switched his attention
back to the ceremony. Kagome stood about five feet in front of him.
What little wind remained decided to play with her hair, lifting and dropping
some of the long shiny black strands, mussing the neatly tied white ribbon,
causing the bow to lose its perfection. Yet, somehow, the way the white
lace uncurled within the ebony locks, freeing some of those tied up strands....somehow,
it...was...perfect. Suddenly, he had the intense desire to finish what the
wind had started, to completely untie that slip of white lace, to free the
rest and run his fingers through what he knew would be the softest hair
he would ever touch.


A strange tingle shook him from the heated thought. He blinked. The very
air was turning...weird. Awed, Inuyasha watched in
curious wonder. Tiny balls of soft light were falling, settling on everything:
the colorful flowers, the green grass, the brown cobblestones, Rin, Sesshomaru
....and...Kagome.


Kagome.

Never had he seen such a wondrous sight. Head bowed, eyes closed,
hands clasped together. The moon-tinted glow enshrouded her form. She looked
like an...angel, a powerful, beautiful...ethereal being of purity. It took his
breath away.

The scent of fresh blood crashed into his senses, pulling him
out of the heavenly daze. Rin's blood. He heard the young woman
hiss in pain. Stepping to the side, Inuyasha peered around the chanting
miko to make sure everything was alright. Rin was on her knees with her
hands in the wooden bowl. She looked up to his brother. Relief
calmed the wisps of wind.


Her attention fell back to the wooden bowl, her hands working within
at the hidden contents. A new scent, one he had never smelled before,
rose and surrounded them. It was a combination of herbs, blood, and pure
water but the mixture together made an unidentifiable scent. The
pungent odor stung his nostrils. Not a bad smell just... a strange one.


Rin rose from her kneeling position and reached out to the black choker around
Sesshomaru's neck. She paused for an instant before suddenly taking it in
both hands. For a moment, Rin struggled, a whimper escaping during the attempt.
Finally, she gained a solid grip.

Inuyasha tensed, ready, but for what, he did not know. All he knes ths that
his senses had sharpened. He had a gut feeling. A bad one.

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Sesshomaru wanted to look away, but he could not. He wanted to curl his claws
up into his palms, hiding their sharpness, but he could not.
Desperately, he wanted to stand and leave, preventing the inevitable,
but he could not.
Inside, he ached for what he knew was about to happen. He did not
want her blood spilled. He did not want to hurt...Rin.


Kagome called her name. "Rin."


The sound carried, a painful disturbance cutting the building anxiety.


Her flesh met the sharpness.

The sickening scent of her blood pierced his senses.

Brown eyes winced.

He inwardly cringed, more so for her pain than the expected agony of punishment.

Hissing, Rin dropped, her hands splashing into the bowl on the ground between
them.


Instantly, the scent of pain vanished. He let out a silent sigh. Rin
looked up at him, worry creasing her features. She studied him for a
moment before relaxing with relief.


After blending her blood into the herbal mixture, Rin stood, attention fixed
on his collar. Slowly, she reached out, paused, then grasped it in both hands.
Sesshomaru could feel the warm tips of her fingers as they
slipped around the metal. Her brow furrowed in anxious worry and she whimpered
under her breath. Finally, her hands found the hold. Her brown eyes came to his
once more. She smiled with reassurrance.


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Kagome's chanting rose in pitch. Rin could feel the ascension of power
nearly cresting.

The wind began to whistle, howling, surging, circling and closing in.

Suddenly, the vibrations began, tingling up her arm in earth moving waves,
spreading throughout her entire body.


Bracing herself, Rin pulled

with all of her strength

and every ounce of determination.

Her intention... break that solid piece of metal, hopefully, into a thousand
pieces.

All time stopped.


Rin felt...

the metal within her hold....


crack.

Blinding light sliced into her vision. Rin could not help it, she immediately
shut her eyes at the painful intrusion. Yet she continued to pull with all
her might. Deafening pulses began, blasting thumps, louder than a giants
heartbeat. The tingles grew stronger in intensity.


Rin grunted, pulling harder.


Then...


she felt...

and heard...


another resounding crack..


Followed by the grating screech of metal against metal.


Rin tried to open her eyes but her vision was assaulted by light exploding
with the forceful sting of white hot lightning.


Suddenly, the metal in her hands....


became

soft.

It moved.

At that exact moment Rin felt a horribly sharp pain in her left hand.


Something precious began slipping away.


Her mind fell into a void of darkness.


She knew no more.


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Inuyasha braced, crouching into a wary stance, his right hand hovering
over Tetsusaiga's hilt. He knew brandishing Tetsusaiga out in the middle of
a miko's ritual was not a good idea. The demon energy in his
sword might disrupt the balance of purifying energy involved. Even so,
he was going to be prepared...for anything.

The wind had picked up again and it seemed to be rushing around his
brother and Kagome's sister.

Kagome remained chanting, her constant tone stringing along words he did
not recognize as any known language, words that rung with an eerie feeling.


A vibration began, a low but ascending pulse teasing the
rim of his senses.


Warily, he watched Rin and Sesshomaru. From his vantage point, he could
see Rin begin pulling on the black choker around Sesshomaru's throat.


The young woman grimaced while straining. He could see the small muscles
in her arm twitch with exertion.

Then, Inuyasha heard it. A crack, the sound of a small boulder splitting in
half. White light shot forth, blinding. Squinting, he tried to keep his eyes
on Rin and Sesshomaru by shading his vision with his sleeve, but to no avail,
he had to close his eyes for the light could not be shaded. It poured forth,
sticking to everything, illuminating everything into obscurity. Without his
sight, Inuyasha swiveled his ears forward, straining to listen. If he could
not see what was going on, at least he could hear what was going on.
Unfortunately, using his ears was a futile gesture. A pulse began, a
thump louder than a sea dragon's heartbeat. He laid his sensitive ears back,
unable to cope with the thundered pounding.


Even with his ears flattened, Inuyasha heard the next booming crack. While
resisting the urge to cover his sensitive ears with his hands, he swallowed
back a whimper that had lodged in his throat. The most horrendous sound
grated, metal against metal, a sound a thousand times more offensive than the
screech of nails against chalkboard. Was this suppose to be happening?
Every nerve in his body now tensed in warning as his sixth sense screamed
above the massive assault. Something very bad was coming.

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Sesshomaru felt the vibration in his collar. He watched Rin's concerned features
as she began to pull, the lines in her face creasing with determination.
She strained. The moment her eyes chose to leave his and focus on the restraint,
a resounding crack hit his hearing full force. This earsplitting crack
was followed by a blinding white light. He closed his eyes, even his demon sight
unable to withstand the onslaught. Sesshomaru wanted to see, to raise his claws up
and hold her small body steady, giving her his strength, but something warned
him not to, that it might interrupt, breaking Rin's concentration. The only
comfort he had was Rin's body heat and life inches from his own.


He could feel her straining, pulling. The vibrations became pulses, booming
resounding thumps, the sound of a monstrous heartbeat loud enough to shatter
the very air. Something warm began to drip from his ears, the coppery wetness of his
own blood.

Sesshomaru winced when the next crack came, his hearing already throbbing
from the ascending deafening pulses. He gritted his teeth while tightening
his hands into fists. That sound. That grating metallic sound scraped over his
senses, shredding into his nerves.


Then, the metal around his throat...softened.

Something wiggled at the back of his neck.

The emotion he knew all too well during his servitude bubbled up.

Fear.


He tried to open his eyes but was once again nearly blinded by the brightness.


It did not matter, he was going to end this. Sesshomaru reached for Rin's
grasp. The moment his fingers nearly touched the back of her hands, those
hands slipped away, falling. He smelled...pain.


Then....


A silent but powerful force crashed into his chest.


The second the blast hit him, he reached for Rin, but...only grasped air as
he was knocked away.

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Inuyasha took one step forward, protectively closer to Kagome.


Tears formed in his eyes as he tried once more. He wanted to see damn it!


Suddenly, a force hit, knocking him backwards. Inuyasha grunted out
a ravaged growl as he tumbled head over heels and crashed into something
wooden, splintering it to pieces, his head taking the brunt of
the contact. All thought faded.
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Okay folks here is chapter 39!!! woo hoo! yea!. I will do responses at the
end of chapter 40 which will be out Saturday!~~~~~~~~~~
Hope all who read enjoyed!!!!