Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

The Ark
By : Dunkelgelb
Category: InuYasha > General
Views: 2034 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.
Chapter List
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Practically-flawless spelling and good writing mechanics, but silly, immature, and sometimes out-of-character. Discarded.

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Battlefield 1542
Chapter IV: Deployment
By the time Inuyasha, Sango, and Kagome emerged from the treeline near Kaede's village, dawn had broken, covering the land in a brilliant red hue. Before the group could even get within a hundred yards of the village, though, a frantically worried Shippo burst out the front door of Kaede's hut, and he scurried across the grass and latched himself onto Kagome's left leg.

"KAGOME! Are you alright?" the boy yelped, fighting back a whimper.
The miko set Sango down and pulled the fox into her arms.
"Yes, Shippo, I'm okay! Inuyasha wouldn't let anything happen to me!"
"You and Inuyasha left so suddenly, saying something about Sango being in trouble, it worried me sick! Don't do that again!" Shippo whispered, burying his face into Kagome's shirt.
"Oh, Shippo....."
The disconcerted fox-child jerked his head up and looked over to Sango, who was sitting down on the grass next to Kagome, with a pained expression on her face. Shippo leapt down and ran to the taijya's side.
"Oh no, Sango! You've been hurt!"
"I'm fine, Shippo," Sango said, "I'm just a little...ungh."
Sango winced as her chest convulsed in a painful ache. Goku's defensive attack had contacted her just below the collarbone, and despite his healing, some pain remained. Kaede slowly crept out of her hut, in a crouch and her bow drawn, ready to strike. When she laid eyes upon the demon-slayer, she disarmed and swiftly closed the distance between them.

"My word, child! What has happened to ye?" the elderly woman asked, eyeing cuts and bruises all over Sango's body and two ominous holes in her neck.
"Come inside, quickly! Kagome, get ye medicine container!"
The old and young miko carried Sango into a small room at the back of Kaede's home, and layed her down on a cot on the floor. Kagome ran to her backpack and removed a small blue box with a red cross on the lid. It was a first-aid kit, and Kagome found it infinitely useful due to near-constant combat with jewel-shard enhanced demons. Hurrying back to Sango's side, Kagome opened the box and pulled out a bottle of isopropyl alcohol along with several cotton patches. She doused the patches in the alcohol and moved to press them to Sango's wounds.
"Sango, this may burn a bit" she said.
Sango fidgeted as the liquid seared each abrasion and cleaned them of bacteria. The taijya appreciated Kagome's will to help, but her technology could be disagreeable at times. While Kagome worked on the cuts and scrapes, Kaede ground green and purple herbs into a fine dust, mixing them together. She was making an antidote to the poison she thought was pounding through Sango's veins. After liquefying the dust with a cup of water, she moved to administer it to the ailing demon-slayer. However, Kaede found herself caught by Sango's apparent health and calm, aversion to alcohol notwithstanding.

"Child, ye appear to have been bitten by a snake-demon, but ye have no fever, and ye display none of the mental symptoms, either. What happ-" Kaede stopped herself short of the question, realizing the answer and sensing an odd, yet powerful energy pulsing through the taijya.

"Yes, I was bitten, but....ahh!"

The pain in Sango's chest returned.

"I apologize, Sango. Perhaps it was unwise to make ye speak again. Please, rest a while; we are finished with your wounds," said Kaede, "Kagome, watch over Sango for now."

With no more encouragement, Sango let her consciousness slip away and soon she slept. Kagome set the last bandage on Sango's neck, then scooted to the closest wall and sat back. The elderly miko stood and moved out the door, closing it behind her. Once inside the hallway, Kaede walked to Inuyasha, who had been standing guard. Inuyasha saw the tense, knowing expression on the woman's face.
"You felt it too?" he asked.
"Aye, I did, and it is unlike anything I have felt before. Did Sango tell ye what "it" was?"
"Yeah. According to her, its a man named Goku, but I don't think ANY man is capable of obliterating ten snake-demons and surviving Hiraikotsu" the hanyou answered.
"Did he have a jewel shard?" Kaede asked.
"No, Kagome didn't sense anything. But whatever he is and wherever he gets his power from, he's going to pay for hurting Sango!"
With that, Inuyasha turned and tried to head out the front door with anger in his heart and vengeance in his eyes, but Kaede placed a hand on his shoulder, and he stopped.
"Inuyasha, don't be rash! If Goku had meant to hurt Sango, do ye not think she would be in worse condition, dead even? Did ye not say Sango threw Hiraikotsu at him?" Kaede pleaded, pointing to the useless hulk of Hiraikotsu propped up by the door, "Sango had to have told ye about that herself. Did Sango also tell ye how her weapon received such damage?"
"Yeah" he grunted.
"Where did Hiraikotsu hit?" Kaede prodded.

"Goku took it in the head" the hanyou answered, his arms drooping to his sides and his anger fading away.

"Think about it, Inuyasha. What would ye do if your head was ringing from such a blow? Do ye believe you could think rationally, much less act that way in that situation? Striking Sango had to be a defensive measure. Even with our limited understanding of his strength, Goku seems too powerful to simply half-kill someone. Ye don't need to seek Goku out, no. He had honor enough to try to repair the damage he caused to Sango, and he certainly has honor enough to come back and try to make amends. Do not do it, Inuyasha, do not go out and make an enemy of this Goku. Leave him be for Sango's sake."
"For Sango's sake, then" Inuyasha agreed, relative calm returning to him.
Shippo poked his head through the front door, a worried look on his face.
"Lady Kaede, do we have another enemy to fight?"
"No, Shippo, we do not," the elderly miko answered, with a smile growing on her face, " If anything, we have a new friend."

Miles away to the west, Goku, Rin, and Jaken finally came upon the architectural wonder that was the castle of Sesshoumaru. It sat high on a hill as the only conflicting feature of the evergreen forest that became more and more visible in the rising sun. Goku touched down in front of the main gate, let off his passengers, then simply marveled at the fortress before him. The walls alone rose twenty feet into the air, and stretched hundreds more in either direction. Jaken walked up to the gate, undid a latch, and the wooden doors ground open. Goku strode through and observed the newly revealed area with even greater amazement. A massive, bone-white tiled courtyard sprawled over the whole area. Dozens of buildings surrounded a heavily-vegetated, marble-bordered pond in a giant circle, with an overly prominent, multi-annexed one along the back wall. With a smile, Goku figured that that large structure was probably Sesshoumaru's residence. Rin veered off from Goku and Jaken in search of a suitable abode for the newly appointed Commander of the Western Guard. Jaken led Goku to a small storage hut behind Sesshoumaru's house. The toad slid the door open and lit a torch inside. This "storage hut" was more like an arsenal, in Goku's mind. Dozens of spears, katanas, bows, arrows, and various other implements of combat lined the wall, neatly arranged on bamboo racking. At the back of the hut lay a heap of earth-brown kimonos, similarly colored pants, and stacks of polished-black body armor.
"Jaken, what does Sesshoumaru do with this much weaponry?" Goku asked.
"Our master keeps a stockpile for when the troops stationed in each village require resupply. He allows humans to live on his land if they participate in its defense, and controlling the primary arsenal ensures that he has control over them" Jaken said.
The green midget fumbled through the piles of clothing, then extracted a kimono, the matching pants, a pair of boots, and the polished armor, then handed the entire assembly to Goku.
"This will suffice for you, Commander, but don't let the uniform go to your head. Lord Sesshoumaru would gladly rid himself of you if he thinks you are not performing your duties to the fullest extent."
Goku cocked his head.

"Thanks" the saiyan said, with amused disdain.
Rin peeked through the door and announced her find.
"Commander Goku, I found you a room!" she said, grinning gleefully.
"Thank you, Rin."

Before Goku turned to leave with his clothes, however, he bent down to bring himself face-to-face with the startled green runt in front of him.

"I appreciate your advice, Mr. Jaken, but know this: I kicked Sesshoumaru's ass and I can certainly destroy yours, so I suggest that you speak to a commander with a certain bit of respect. I'm a nice guy, but don't push me, understood?" Goku murmured.
"Y-yes, yes sir!"
"I'm glad."

Goku stood and followed the cheerful girl out the door, leaving a shaken servant behind him. After crossing the whole of the courtyard, Rin stopped at a cabin next to Sesshoumaru's hall.
"This is the guest housing, Commander. We don't get many visitors, so I think you can sleep here without causing a problem" the girl chimed.

Goku looked inside his new residence. It was not a room made for royalty, but it was certainly strongly-built and cozy, with hardwood walls and flooring. A bed with a fur blanket lay on the floor, with a desk and chair next to it. On the opposite side of the room was a body-height mirror and two bookshelves on either side.
"Indeed. This will be just fine, Rin. Thanks."

Rin moved to close the door as she left, but stopped, and looked at Goku with a grateful look on her face.

"Goku?"
"Yes, Rin?"

"Thank you for sparing Sesshoumaru." the brown-haired girl said.

Goku simply smiled and nodded. Shutting the door, Rin left Goku to dress. After ten minutes and an inordinate amount of one-legged fumbling, Goku finally managed to enclose himself in his new uniform. Though it was difficult to get into, Goku liked the uniform because it was comfortable and its flexibility allowed for every possible combat maneuver. The saiyan threw a few test kicks and punches, pleased that there was no binding. He walked over to the mirror on the wall and looked himself over. His body armor covered most of his chest, with semicircular cutouts at the shoulders to allow for forward arm movement. The earth-brown pants were baggy, but were cut short by the shin-guards of his boots. Other than two crescent-moons sown into each sleeve of the short kimono, there were no markings to be found. Goku felt something pressing into him under his armor, and he discovered it to be a pair of shiny black gloves. The saiyan donned them then laughed out loud at the thought that crossed his head.

"A scar, an official rank, and now the completed look. How Vegeta-esque!" he chortled.

Goku was about to head outside when he noticed his belt.
"Well, what's this? This doesn't look right!"

Goku pulled at the odd belt and yelped in pain when he found it was securely fused to his spine. This "belt" was none other than his saiyan tail! Goku's mind tulmulted in frantic thought.
"My tail? Why do I have a tail? When I rid myself of the Dragonball power, I reverted to my normal adult form! How can this be?" he thought.
Goku's epiphany arrived with a the force of a lightning-bolt. The Tenseiga was responsible. Though it had not healed the scar over his left eye, Sesshoumaru's sword had regenerated the saiyan tail that had been cut off countless years ago. Goku was both pleasantly surprised and slightly distressed by this development. A certain level of his power had just become a viability and in Goku's mind, that might cause more harm than good in this era.

Once again, a smooth, regal voice disturbed Goku.
"Goku, are you ready?"

Sesshoumaru stood in the doorway.

"Yes, sir! I am fully dressed and ready to deploy!" the saiyan bellowed, forgetting his tail and fully immersing the militaristic atmosphere he found himself surrounded by.

"Good. Follow me to my office, I have your first mission planned out."
Goku and Sesshoumaru marched to the structure that the saiyan warrior earlier identified as the youkai lord's abode. After following a red-carpeted hall down a corridor lined with the heads of various animals, the two arrived at Sesshoumaru's office. Sesshoumaru walked behind his desk, opened a drawer, sifted through a pile of paper, and at last pulled out a map, laying it flat on the tabletop. Pointing to a red circle on the map, he briefed Goku on his assignment.
"The red circle represents this castle. The wavy black line above it is the last-known position of the Soul Divide. Unfortunately, that ominous border is on the move as I speak," the demon said, moving his finger lower until it reached three black dots, "and these villages are right in its way. Before I returned to the castle, I scanned the area near there, and I detected an unusually powerful demon squad. The village troops will not hold against such attackers. Go there and provide assistance. If necessary, have them abandon their positions. It will most likely not be required, though, as you are going to be a bit of a surprise to our enemy."

Goku grinned at Sesshoumaru's confident tone.
"At once, my lord."

"Oh, and one more thing," Sesshoumaru added, rummaging through another desk drawer, "You are going to need some indication of rank, else the lieutenant down there will not listen to you."

With that, the demon lord produced a black bandana from the drawer, and handed it to Goku. The long strip of cloth had a red crescent moon like the ones on Goku's sleeves, but it also possessed three white stars underneath. These were the official markings of the Commander of the Western Guard. Goku tied it around his head, smartly clicked his heels together, then gave Sesshoumaru a hearty salute.

"I think you are enjoying this, Commander. Now get going!"

"Sir!"

Goku spun about on his left heel and strode out the office, down the animal-decorated corridor, and out of the building. He crouched down and flared his ki, leaping into the air. Rin shouted her support.
"Good luck, Goku!!"

Goku waved goodbye then bolted into the bright morning sky, kicking up dust and rocks on the ground below. The saiyan picked up speed and headed north, on a collision course with his unknown enemy. Moving to a nearby window, Sesshoumaru watched as the new commander disappeared in the distance, and chuckled to himself.
"Have fun, Naraku."

Back in Kaede's village, Miroku burst through the front door of the elderly miko's hut, startling Kagome, Kaede, and Inuyasha, who sat around a table discussing Sango's condition and the issue of the renegade super-warrior known as Goku. Miroku opened his mouth in an effort to speak, but Inuyasha interrupted him.
"We know, Miroku" the hanyou confirmed.
Miroku plopped himself down at the table next to Kaede, but this time succeeded in speaking.

"Did you also know your brother has fought this new force head on?" Miroku asked.
"No, what happened?" Inuyasha asked sarcastically, tilting his head and lightly smiling, for he could predict the outcome already.
"Sesshoumaru lost, badly I might add" the monk continued.
Inuyasha banged his fist on the table and shouted with glee.
"Yeah! That stoic bastard finally got his due beatdown!" Inuyasha gloated, joyful that his stuck-up half-brother was probably peeling himself off of a tree.
"Inuyasha, your brother nearly died, are you not even the least bit concerned? Demon honor knows not the bounds of petty disagreement."
The half-demon sobered rapidly.
"Oh no...Sesshoumaru had some things coming to him, but I never wished him that....."

"Sesshoumaru is still alive, though, and apparently, he had made an agreement with the man he fought" Miroku said.

"What kind of agreement?" Inuyasha prodded, furrowing his brow in suspicion.
"I don't know. Do you know this warrior's name?"
"Yeah, it's Goku." the hanyou answered.
"Though I am unsure about the specifics of this pact, I did see Goku take Sesshoumaru's servants and fly them east, probably to his castle."
"Damn," the half-demon scoffed, "If Goku is on my brother's side, we may be next in line to fight him."
The door to Sango's room slid open and the demon-slayer stepped out.
"Don't worry about it, Inuyasha. Goku's not going to come after us. He knows I'm with you, so he'll keep his distance, even if Sesshoumaru tells him otherwise." the taijya assured.

Miroku keenly observed the nicks and cuts that marred Sango's face, and asked about their origin, the concern in his voice poorly disguised.
"Sango, where did these wounds of yours come from?" he asked.
"I had a little accident with someone; we were both to blame to some extent. I'm perfectly fine, though, thank you" the taijya replied.
Miroku stepped closer to Sango and brought his left hand up to his face, as if he were praying. His eyebrows began to twitch, and Sango knew exactly what he was up to.
"Though I have officially ended my quest for your hand in marriage, it pains me to see you in such discomfort" he said.
Sango rolled her eyes at the comment. Miroku's tactics were becoming more and more predictable, as was the movement of his freed hand. When his right hand grazed her bottom, she drew back her own and slapped him across the jaw. Miroku was fully expecting this, however, and he braced himself long before he initially approached her. Unfortunately, he was unaware of Sango's borrowed saiyan energy. The taijya let out a sound of surprise and the monk let out a cry of despair as the laws of physics seized Miroku's body and hurled him off his feet, across the room, and through the wooden planking of the hut wall. Deathly silence shrouded Kaede's hut, but was shattered by Miroku's pathetic groan, which emanated a considerable distance away from the small house. Everyone, especially Sango, sprinted to the new human-shaped aperture and looked on in disbelief as Miroku lay hundreds of feet away in a trench in the ground, still groaning with pain. Sango screamed in shock.
"MIROKU! Are you alive?!?"
"Oh....yeah....ouch....." he sputtered.
The group ran to the monk's side and brought him to a sitting position. Miroku's cheek swelled tremendously, but he kept an amused smile on his face.

"Wow...Sango....I knew you were strong.....but this....this is inconceivable. Have you been holding back all this time?" the injured Miroku inquired.

"Sango, just how much energy did Goku give to you??" asked a nervous Kagome.

Sango was speechless.
"I'd say it was a whole hell of a lot" Inuyasha cackled, stifling a giggle.
"It's not funny! You don't actually think this funny do you?!" Sango screamed, stepping up to Inuyasha and staring straight into his amber eyes.

Kaede covered her mouth, her face turning red and amusement obvious.

"Yeah....I agree with Inuyasha......this IS funny..." Miroku panted, recomposing himself.
The monk stood up, his stance supported by trembling legs.

"Relax, Sango. I'm alright, but I think we'd better find this Goku quick, or I am not a safe man!" Miroku laughed.

Something in the forest caught Inuyasha's attention. He tore his attention from Sango's angry brown orbs to search the treeline.
"What?" Sango demanded.
"Goku's on the move. He's headed north."

Inuyasha sniffed the air lightly and did not like what he discovered.

"Demons, too. Big ones, and.......Naraku? There's a Naraku puppet around! We've got to move!"

"Kirara! Let's go!" Sango yelled.

The yellow fire-cat hopped down off the roof of the hut and leapt to Sango, bursting into its large combat-ready form.

"Sango, you can't come with us! You're still recovering, and besides, you're totally unarmed!" Inuyasha said.
"Recovering? I have only scratches! I've still got my-" Sango halted, feeling an empty sheath on her belt.
"Damn it! No katana, and no Hiraikotsu!" she fumed.

"Take my staff, Sango. I think I'll sit this one out; I'm not feeling very strong right now." Miroku said, removing his weapon from his back and tossing it to the demon-slayer.

"Thanks, Miroku" Sango said.
"I'm coming too!" Kagome yelped.
Inuyasha moved to protest, but the young miko covered his mouth with her hand.
"Don't even think that I'm not coming! If there's a shard of the Sacred Jewel out there, you'll need me to find it, and since we'll need to be diplomatic with Goku, you'll need me even more!" Kagome yelled.
"Feh! Come along if you like, but don't blame anyone if you get yourself killed!" the hanyou snorted.
Sango hopped onto Kirara's back and they lifted into the air.

"Let's go!" the taijya shouted.
Kagome jumped onto Inuyasha's back and altogether, the taijya, hanyou, and miko bolted north, following the scent of Naraku and the unnerving aura of Goku. Kaede and Miroku looked at each other.

"Do ye think they will survive?" the priestess asked.
"Against Naraku, yes. But Goku, I don't know."
- To be continued -
- 24
- 25
- 26
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The Ark	By : Dunkelgelb Category: InuYasha > General Views: 2034 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

The Ark