Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Crown of Serpents	By : BaronVaun Category: InuYasha AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 1987 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha nor do I make money from this story.

Chapter List
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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha nor do I make any money from this story.
*~*
Chapter Two
Engineered to Laugh
As Kouga fell to the ground, a thunderous roar was heard throughout the city. Seeing the arrow pierce his feet, Kagome winced. Though her duty was protection, she felt a wave of dread wash over her as the wolf demon plummeted down.
“Kouga, what are you doing?” she whispered to herself.
She pulled another arrow back and steadied her aim at the last spot she had seen him, but silence was permeating her focus. Just as she had given in to distress, a white spell tag drifted into the air. It set itself aflame and crumpled into a fine ash. It was Sesshoumaru’s signal: the intruder had been captured.
Kagome completed another enchantment and found herself back in the fortress’ inner gardens. Her stomach was lurching, her mind racing against the stillness of a successful fight.
“Fine shooting,” Sango said, appearing out of the shadows. Her demon-hunting clothing bore not a single scratch, but the boomerang had chunks missing from its edges. “He doesn’t have shards in his legs—how was he scaling our walls so quickly? I thought his power had diminished.”
“It had,” the priestess half mumbled.
“Sesshoumaru probably has him locked in the dungeons by now. Usually, he will take no prisoners, but I think he has questions that need answers as well.”
They shuffled down narrow corridors until they came to a long hallway with no windows. The stone wall vibrated against their coming footsteps, and as they reached its end, the rocks moved like insects, rearranging themselves to allow passage.
“After you, my lady,” Sango smiled softly and held out her hand to let the miko pass.
Kagome didn’t smile back but ducked under the entryway. Sesshoumaru was standing in a dimly lit room, and he said nothing as they walked down the narrow corridor. When they came to a fork, Sesshoumaru slowed as the priestess began off toward the right.
“He’s on the table.”
Sango let a small smirk cross her face.
“Was he that much of a threat?” Kagome asked.
“I take just as little pleasure in the hardships of others as you, Priestess. He is a threat to us all. Answers must be extracted by any means necessary.”
The smile melted off of Sango’s face. She was the first to take a step in the left hallway, and she could hear the swishing of Kagome’s hakama behind her.
“How did Kouga become so dangerous?”
Sesshoumaru didn’t answer, and somewhere inside of her, Kagome panicked for the wolf demon’s safety.
When they reached the expansive back room, Kouga was laid out on a table. Enchanted ties held him immobilized, and an intricate mesh of spell tags wove around his legs.
“Laid out like swine,” Sango muttered. She was sneering at his bloodied thighs, and as he racked another breath, she openly scoffed. “We trusted him.”
“Kouga,” Sesshoumaru bellowed, “what has become of you?”
The wolf demon’s eyes were twitching. His mouth drew into a thin line, but the white haired youkai knew he was awake.
“You’re so simple,” Kouga finally said.
The priestess’ mouth hung open slightly, and Sesshoumaru flexed a clawed hand at the demon.
“I will take your sight,” he warned.
“Your friend is dead, gentle Priestess.” Kouga ignored the threat, opening his eyes. They were a sickly green, and bore straight into Kagome’s heart. Her chest began to ache.
“What is this madness?” Sango pulled his bonds to strain his limbs. The enchantments began to burn at his flesh.
“That wolf demon is dead. The Shikkoku no Daimyo skewered him like a pig. You’d think he’d have died a wolf.”
Kagome touched the spelltag mesh covering his left ankle, and the demon shuddered. Her fingers began to dig into his skin. A pale, red light exploded outward from the contact point and painted glowing spiders across the stone wall.
“What happened to Kouga?” Her quiet question was barely audible above his pained groans.
Behind Kagome, the filaments of red were dancing faster and faster. She drew in a shallow breath as his flesh smoked, and her hand grasped the bones of his lower leg.
“Imposter,” she whispered. The demon they had recently thought to be Kouga howled as the smell of burning fat rose to greet his senses.
Between cries, he laughed. The priestess let her hand rest against the bare tibia and fibula; the great evil that possessed this demon was rooted into his very bones. She grimaced as they cracked, and his hysteria grew wild.
Sesshoumaru and Sango merely watched in mild awe as she cleaved his left leg just under the knee. The stump was still sizzling from her pure magic, and the tags began to disintegrate. He was melting before them, turning into a pile of sludge.
“Imposter.”
*~*
“One more set of your sprints, and I’ll lose my delicious lunch,” Miroku said. Their walk had been long and arduous, but Inuyasha easily made up for time in bounding leaps.
Inuyasha began to scoff at him, and his face melted into a half-smile: “Humans are so damn slow.”
The trader ignored his comment. “I hope everything is going well at the fortress. With the other forces missing, Sesshoumaru will have to pick up the slack.”
Inuyasha pursed his mouth, one fang poking over the edge of his lip.
“Still unsure of Sesshoumaru’s loyalty?”
“No,” the hanyou said, “it’s just weird. Once the shard started pulsing, he waltzed in and offered to help.”
“There is certainly something very dark afoot. Both Kagome and Sesshoumaru feel it. He must be concerned for the wellfare of this entire country.”
The white-haired demon grimaced. “I hate to put it this way, but I’m afraid of what he’s afraid of.”
Miroku frowned and inspected the landscape in silence. The air smelled of salt water, and if he listened closely, he could hear the gentle crash of waves in the distance. A more temperate wind had befallen them as they neared the village of Tama, characteristic of the city’s coastal weather.
The rest of the walk was taken in pregnant silence. They could see smoke wafting from the town’s small courtyard.
“This must be the place,” Miroku said. “They’re in mourning.”
As the dirt pathway pushed on toward ocean, the sparse coastline writhed into view. The trader had expected to see beauty as the mountains dipped into the glittering surf, but a layer of grey clouds had blanketed the village, covering the mountain peaks and sinking the landscape into drizzle.
The townspeople were nowhere to be found. Emptiness was the only thing they could sense. When they entered the central courtyard, a stone statue was staring back at them.
“That’s must be new.” Inuyasha scoffed. It was the Shikkoku no Daimyo in all of his malevolent glory, and the figure’s arms were outstretched, a false prophet.
Inuyasha pointed to a large house on the edge of the clearing. It sat directly behind the state as though guarded by the man’s stern face.
“I sense ningen all around us,” the hanyou said, “well, other than you.”
A smirk crawled briefly onto the trader’s face and disappeared just as quickly. Though spring was resonating through the mountains, Tama was barren.
Miroku knocked on the door gently.
“Put your back into it,” the half-demon said. A single loud rap echoed through the silent streets. “These people already know we’re here anyways.”
The wooden frame creaked and slowly slid open. A single silver eye peered back at them from darkness.
"Are you the Priestess’ hanyou?"
Inuyasha allowed himself to smile at this frightened female figure.
“I didn’t think I exactly belong to her, but you could say that.”
“We’re here about the missing people.”
“Person,” the voice said.
“We seek audience with the head of your family. May we?”
The door closed only to open again in one minute. A young woman looked back at them in dirty robes; her eyes were the brightest thing she wore. She bowed her head as they removed their shoes and lead them into the house’s own little courtyard. Inuyasha watched her matted black hair sweep down in trails to her feet, dragging on the floor as she walked. Dark earth rolled to meet blackened stumps in the central garden, the remnants of the cherry trees that were supposed to be blooming this time of year.
“Your family must be very well connected,” Miroku pondered aloud.
“Forgive my daughter for her curt silence.”
A tall, sturdy man walked out from behind the thin wall. His black hair was tied into a tight topknot, and his eyes were so vibrantly green that Miroku contemplated shielding his own.
“I am Daichi Hayashi, and this is my daughter Sayuri.”
Inuyasha turned to formally greet the young woman, but she had already disappeared.
“I’m Inuyasha, and this is my companion, Miroku. We’re here about the disappearances.”
“But Sayuri said that only one person has gone missing,” Miroku cut in.
Daichi’s face fell. As he moved into the sitting room, the men followed him. A tea kettle and three cups sat prepared on the table, and Daichi motioned for them to sit.
“I was a young man when my wife and I initially met,” he began. “As a young samurai, I could never keep my focus straight. I often wandered alone into woods outside my instructor’s house. And there Hina appeared: she was laying in patch of snow during the dead of winter. With my hand on my sword, I watched her as she walked naked in the blistering cold, and the snow melted around her as she moved. When Hina noticed my presence, she nearly killed me. I came to find out later that she very well could have if she wanted.”
“Your wife is missing?” Miroku asked.
Daichi nodded. “She’s a half-demon, a hanyou that grew up in a secluded village up on the mountain peak.”
“Tama is mostly human.”
“Hina is just as bright as her name suggests. She became a nurturing figure to both our daughter and the people of this village. My family spent many years believing that it had only one purpose: to serve the daimyo as samurai. My father died many years ago killing demons in the war against the Shikkoku no Daimyo. I found my true purpose with Hina, and she gave light to us all.”
Inuyasha leaned forward. “Speaking of that, why is there a giant statue of him outside of your house and in the middle of this village?”
“My lord is the honorable Watanabe. The Hayashi clan has provided samurai to his family for generations. Not too long ago, the Shikkoku no Daimyo’s messenger came to Tama with a warning to my family,” Daichi said slowly. “I thought we could fight them together, but they took Hina as punishment.”
“The Shikkoku no Daimyo is believed to be responsible for the missing persons all across the region,” Miroku noted. “Many villages both along the coast and in the mainland have been struck by rashes of missing hanyou and youkai; even a few ningen have been taken.”
“Sayuri,” Daichi said. His face tightened. He clenched his fists as he peered over their shoulders and into the darkness.
“I understand that this is a difficult time, but any information you have could help us prepare for this threat.”
“When they took her, there was no fight. Her name suggests ferocity, and that she was,” he paused. “But there was no blood, no struggle--there was only a sign laying in a patch of charred earth. It read ‘PENANCE’. And it is my fault she’s gone.”
*~*
Author’s Note: This chapter was somewhat short but information packed. Kagome is obviously experiencing her own dark side.
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Crown of Serpents