Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

In a New Light	By : Sylean Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Naraku/Kagome Views: 17606 -:- Recommendations : 5 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha nor do I make any profit from this story.

Chapter List
- 27
- 28
- 29
In a New Light
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha nor do I make any profit from this story.
Warning: There will be lemons in this story, some non-con as well.
Chapter 27: Facing Darkness
(A/N: My sister and I spent a cave hike discussing all the details in this chapter. Bouncing ideas off of her is great motivation for me. This chapter, along with the next, is a main turning point that I've been DYING to write/post.)

In the dead of night, when each of her companions had drifted off into the chasm of sleep, Kagome seized her opportunity to tiptoe out of camp. Her bag slung over her shoulder, she backtracked through the dark forest towards Mount Hakurei. She was sure to pay very close attention to the landscape as they went this way earlier, already planning on returning. It was all the easier that the moon was out and gave her a silver-outlined view of the very landmark she was heading towards. Picking up her speed, she hurried through the foliage; soon, breaking out of the tree line and onto the stone surface they had stood at earlier to observe the magnificent sight. In daylight, the mountain was a standing bastion of harmony, but standing before it now, even with the serenity of the holy aura surrounding it, it looked much more ominous against the eerie luminesce of the moon.
'Now where do I go?' Kagome wondered, blindly wandering closer. 'I know he's here somewhere, but where? This mountain is huge, I can't possibly cover the whole area in one night.'
Her feet scraped along in the looming shadow of the mountain, feeling her way around as she heard a soft voice, "Kagome." Whirling around revealed a gently glowing figure clad in white.
'Kanna,' Kagome thought, 'having no aura, she must be free to come and go, safe from the purifying barrier. And she should know where Naraku is!' "Kanna, can you show me where Naraku is?" the girl just continued to stare blankly. "I, I won't tell anyone, I just, want to see him." No response. 'Is she even listening to me?'
"Follow me," she spoke so softly, Kagome almost missed it, but hurried over to follow the small, demon girl. She would have tried to strike up a conversation, but Kanna was even less talkative than Sesshomaru, so what was the point?
They came to a cave, the opening barely darker than the shadowed area around them in which Kanna walked in unfazed. Blind in the dark, Kagome stopped and quickly began rummaging in her bag, "I know it's in here somewhere." Everything was all mixed up, nothing where she had left it. Inuyasha and Shippo must have gotten into it again. Her suspicions were verified when in her search, she counted one less ramen cup than was supposed to be in there. Finally finding purchase on the smooth, cylindrical object, she pulled out her small flashlight, but her face fell at seeing it already on, and nearly dead, only holding a faint retention of its former brightness.
A few hours ago, as Inuyasha was pilfering her bag for ramen, he accidentally flicked the switch on the flashlight and caused it to shine its bright, unnatural light directly into his sensitive eyes. Shoving the offending object deep into the bag in a panic, he grabbed a cup of ramen and retreated before Kagome could catch him. He would probably have gotten away with it if she hadn't been in need of that light right now. 'I didn't bring any extra batteries either,' she sighed and looked up to see Kanna waiting for her.
"Leave your weapons here," she instructed monotonously as Kagome went to gather her belongings.
"Oh," Kagome muttered, feeling slightly hurt that Naraku didn't trust her, but if he was in a physically vulnerable state, it was an understandable request. The lava tube they walked through was predominately flat, only uneven enough to require constant attention to footholds lest she twist her ankle. Her light gave off just enough lumens to allow her eyes to see these differences in terrain. It was beautiful in here, the cave walls glistened mystically with moisture; probably ground water that seeped through the natural filters above and dripped onto her unsuspecting head. The steady sound of water droplets hitting rock echoed into her ears, dwarfed by the occasional crashing rock in the far depths, a sound that resonated far throughout the vast network. Other than water and rocks, there was not a single natural sound. Shouldn't there be bats screeching or rodents scampering along the floor? Not paying enough attention to her surroundings as her light dimmed to nearly nothing, Kagome's foot landed on an unstable rock and caused her to fall. Grasping at the cave wall to catch her balance only succeeded in scraping her arm along the rough texture and drawing blood from the impact. She managed to stay on her feet, but at a price. Her light was now too dim to even see the damage. Leaning against the wall, she noticed something odd about the texture and pointed her dwindling light at it. It looked and felt like three uniform gashed in the stone. She couldn't imagine what kind of "natural" phenomenon could have caused this. Too many questions where answered when her much more careful steps caused a sickening crunch. Retracting her step, she spotted the bones of some small creature, bat or rodent, now unrecognizable. How could there be bones and yet not a single sound of nature in here, unless… 'unless there is something else in here; something that has devoured all the creatures that would normally dwell within.' Her throat shot dry and her blood ran cold at the realization. She was in a demon's nest!
It really should have been obvious from the start. If Naraku was in here, there was bound to be lesser demons as well, but that thought had never occurred to the now terrified priestess. The blood seeping from her arm was their siren's call, dragging them up from their depths and crevices to watch her as she walked by, unaware of their growing hunger from the long imprisonment.
All too soon, her light finally gave out, and with a defeated whimper, Kagome tucked it away into her skirt pocket. Not a second later, Kanna began to glow; similar to how a glow-in-the-dark nightlight would only react once the light had been taken away. Her body illuminated the way, but because she walked ahead of Kagome, the light shining at a different angle, the shadows of the rocks and contours before Kagome were pitch black and shapeless. The deep shadows where the same unnerving effect Naraku specialized in. She could now see far more of the cave though, what with Kanna projecting a soft light in every direction rather than the narrow beam of a flashlight. Kagome could see the stalactites hanging far above and the growing stalagmites below their constant drips. Overall, it was one of the most beautiful sights she had ever seen, and even with the lingering fear, she couldn't help but admire the natural wonder. Running her fingers over the ancient texture in admiration as she walked, her perusal ended when out of a dark offshoot, she spotted a pair of glowing red eyes even with her belly. Jumping back and yelping out of instinctual alarm, Kagome rushed towards Kanna and crashed into a column. The joined stalagmite and stalactite gave not an inch against Kagome's small body. Pulling herself from the wet ground, she saw that the demon was not following her.
"They will not attack you as long as you are with me," Kanna informed without the slightest bit of emotion. Kagome turned her attention to see the girl looking back at her patiently, or maybe not, it was impossible to tell what she felt. Either way, Kagome scrambled to her side as she turned to leave, determined not to be separated even by a few feet.
Kagome continued to notice the red eyes glowing at her, just waiting for her to be left alone so they could come out and feast on her. They multiplied faster than she could count, turning offshoots, dark corners, and fissures, into one solid, moving mass of red eyes. Gone was the soothing holy aura, replaced was the feeling of dark intent and bloodlust that pressed in on her from all angles, and ahead, a very specific aura, larger than before. They were getting closer to Naraku. No sooner than she realized this, did they enter into what Kagome could tell was a large cavern, even though Kanna had dimmed her light to only show the ground where they walked. It was the sounds more so than sight that told her of the gargantuan proportions of the room they had just entered. Everything around her gurgled strangely; pulses, like heartbeats, traveled the expanse of the cavernous space. Ragged breathing and variations of strangled growls and hisses kept her on edge in the dark, unable to make out just what was causing them. The odd echoes reverberated far, only returning in large intervals once the distance was crossed.
Turning back to ask Kanna, she found the girl gone, yet the circle of light remained, illuminating her and nothing else. Panic gripped her at being left in what she could only assume was the heart of a demon's nest, but Naraku was nearby, right? She could feel him, somewhere. "Na-Naraku, are you h-here?" she asked the darkness tentatively, fearful of drawing the attention of any unwanted demons.
Kagome heard a rustle, movement off to her left, just before his voice echoed from everywhere, "You requested to be brought to me, did you not? For what purpose?" His voice sounded strained, tired, like it was a great effort to even speak. Her chest gripped tightly around her heart, both elated at being with him finally, and tormented at the discomfort she heard in his voice.
"You're alive. I'm so glad," she smiled hugely into the unseeing abyss. "Are you okay, not injured or anything?" The only visual variation she had to lock onto was the large jewel shard. 'Is the reason he won't show his face, because he's in an emotionally vulnerable state, just as he's in a physically weakened state? Is that even possible? Is he injured, or could this be his equivalent to a night of weakness?'
"I am not injured," was all he gave her, sounding very standoffish. He was still unsure why he had allowed her to be brought to him. The smart thing to do would have been to send her away, but he had been unexplainably obsessed with her ever since her near death experience, and that emotion was what made the decision for him. He could not have allowed her to wander in unattended either; the starving demons he imprisoned would surely have made her an easy meal.
Naraku remained shadowed, not revealing himself to her sight or telling her what was going on and it was irritating, "Why won't you let me see you? It's disorienting being blinded." She just had to see that he was unharmed with her own eyes and not putting on some useless "macho" front just as Inuyasha would when he was injured.
After a long pause, he answered her by allowing his face to be seen, cloaked in shadows, without a hair out of place, off to her slight right, "Blind is better than horrified."
Kagome gazed at the figure, but it just didn't make sense. The shards were in a different direction, just as the noise of movement had been, and he sounded fatigued. Reaching out with her aura confirmed it, this was not the real him, but an illusion; the same flawless illusion he would project as a form of diversion. He was still hiding himself from her, "I know that's only an illusion."
"That is the point," he droned with raspy voice. Every time anyone had ever seen him like this, they were overcome by revulsion and terror. Those were not the emotions he wanted to see on her; everyone else, yes, but not her.
"I'm not scared, Naraku. I just want to see you, the real you, not some illusion; to see with my own eyes that you are okay. I've been… worried," unbidden, Kagome's voice cracked. "After Inuyasha and Sesshomaru… when he came back giving a play by play and bragging how he… I was so worried that they had seriously hurt you." The images she had been trying to repress, the worries that Naraku had been bleeding to death, and that she hadn't been there to help him, all came rushing back with a force that caused tears to well in her eyes. She just couldn't hold it in any longer, she had been so terrified that she was going to lose him and had never been able to let it out for fear of being discovered. All those bottled up tears spilled over, streaking her face.
"You will not like what you see," he warned. The only thing coming to mind was how no one had ever cried for him, his words more fearful on his part than hers. He knew she would not accept him if she knew what he really was, if she was finally able to link the stories with an image, she would turn from him. She would cast him aside like everyone had. It was better to live a lie in bliss, than be shown the truth and face the nightmare. He knew all about the horrors that truth brought, much darker and far more harmful than lies could ever be.
"I'll be the judge of that," her eyes shone with determination; shimmering brightly and only enhanced by the glistening tears. She looked so sure of herself, he found himself wondering if maybe, just maybe, she would be different.
He hadn't even been aware of his actions until it was already done, this state dulling his sense of reason, but the entire cavern alit to allow her to look upon him. She gasped loudly, eyes widened, looking over the mess his body was during periods such as this. 'I knew it; there is no way she could possibly accept me as I am. Humans are so weak minded; anything different is looked upon with aversion and distaste,' he reminded himself solemnly, bracing himself for her outburst, and closing his heart away to protect it from her abhorrence.

(A/N: I intend to post the next chapter on Sunday, but I wanted to make sure my readers lingered on this last paragraph first.)
- 27
- 28
- 29
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

In a New Light