𝓢𝓾𝓹𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓛𝓲𝓹𝓼  💋

【★】 ~ Here

                                                 {{ @cursedbellflower cont. from x }}

InuYasha emerged through the roof of the temple, using the height from his jump to examine what he was dealing with. There were still a lot of demons closing in on the temple, and more still ran rampant through the town. He gritted his teeth and growled, flexing his claws as he approached the ground.

Bare feet hit the dirt, and InuYasha immediately sprang back from a large beetle-like demon with a hard shell and pinchers that snapped at him. He snarled, preparing to launch himself back at the demon.

He staggered, his movement thrown off as the roof of the temple practically exploded outward. He held up an arm, shielding his face from flying debris. He peered up, surprised to see two flame-engulfed golems emerging from the temple.

A flood of villagers came forth from the temple, guided by a young girl. The golems lumbered forward, sending fiery blasts into the herd of demons. An arrow seared through more of the threats, dissolving them with a mauve light. Just as Kikyo emerged from the temple behind the golems, the building collapsed inward, no longer able to support its frame. As more debris scattered throughout the area, InuYasha took another leap backwards, distancing himself from the cloud of dirt and dust that billowed up from the force of the collapse.

He immediately turned to his right, landing a solid punch on a small, flying demon with enough force to knock it out of the air. Another demon of a similar type buzzed up to him and was met with a similar fate. He turned back to the temple as the cloud of debris dispersed.

As the dust cleared, he saw a demon swoop down on the form of red and white he could barely make out through the chaos. He heard a chilled threat as the winged beast doubled back, preparing to swoop back in for a second attack.

                          “ –Kikyo! “

He jumped past several other demons who snapped and snarled at him, feet hitting the ground in front of the prone priestess. He launched himself back into the air, landing forcefully on the back of the demon that was aiming its second attack. He snarled, raising a clawed hand before forcing it through the body of the bug-demon. His hand emerged through the underside of the demon as it released a piercing screech. InuYasha ripped his hand out of the demon, sending a splatter of blood to the ground below. The braced himself as the demon slammed into the ground, sliding to a halt in front of Kikyo.

He jumped from the back of the demon and approached the priestess. He coughed once before leaning down to help her to her feet.

“ Are you alright–? “  he asked quickly, glancing around for any threats as the priestess steadied herself.

Kikyo was hardly as easy adversary to be taken down and she had no doubt she could very well sear the foolhardy vermin that had dared topple her, but before she even had the chance to recover she heard  h i m call out her name, his cross-grained voice carried and found her through the chaos. Tufted, argent locks cascaded beside her, standing between her and the advancing charge, indurate feet propelling him into the air once more and taloned hands hacking away at the exoskeleton of the demon, a high-pitch scream noting its demise as its body ceased all movement.

It would have and should have been foolish of her to be complacent with his aid, but something stirred in her as she accepted his hand smeared with blood, rising to her feet looking as assembled as ever, facing him with a hint of gratitude behind her gaze.

“Thanks to your aid--” her back turned, assessing the remaining foes. “--they still come in droves.” It didn’t make sense, such a large group of demons to attack unlead? This organized raid was far too advance for these common demons, there had to be a more powerful force ordering their actions but where...? She didn’t sense any exceptional auras nearby and whomever methodized this attack against her would surely want to bare witness and laid personal claim to the spoils of the Sacred Jewel--

“They must be watching from a messenger.” she outwardly noted, mocha hues darting around to find any demon nearby that did not care for aggression, one that hung father back from all the rest. If she could rid the viewer of their eyes she was sure to end this failed attempt of theirs and force them to withdraw; Kikyo with this theory was now sure this attempt had all just been a test to see how far they could come. If they truly wanted to end the priestess of the Sacred Jewel, whoever was pulling the strings in the shadows would be here in now--

“Those flies--!” Her final arrow let lose, speeding forward into a crimson eyed hornet, piercing one of the three that hovered over the trees with a hum. Damn it, she was all out of arrows and the remaining two buzzed loudly in communication, batting their wings as they made their escape. “Inu-Yasha! You mustn’t allow them to get away..!” she commanded, pointing at the retreating duo.

Nothing special, but I needed this off my chest

As he made his way towards the center of the village, he noticed a distinct trail of demons. He landed atop the post of a decorative archway at the base of a set of steps that led to the village’s temple. He let out a short cough, almost gagging at how strong the smell of scent beads was here. He couldn’t smell anything else other than the sickly sweet scent, and it was beginning to make his head swim.

His gaze was drawn up the stairs by the flash of a glowing mauve light. He could barely detect it with the way his senses were being distorted, but he recognized the aura – a pure, strong spiritual energy. 

It suddenly made sense why all the demons were traveling up the steps to the temple. If she was there, then surely the Jewel was there as well – and all would be a prize for a demon seeking power. 

He sprang into the air again, soaring over the steps and to the top of the hill. As the temple came into view, he saw demon after demon fling themselves into the barrier that surrounded the temple. With every collision, the barrier hummed and flickered. InuYasha clenched his jaw. From within the temple, he heard frightened voices and muffled crying – and he could just barely sense the familiar aura inside.

InuYasha clenched his right hand into a fist, his claws digging into his palm and drawing his own blood.

                                       “ BLADES OF BLOOD! “

He slashed through the air, sending razors of demonic energy and blood slicing through several of the demons attacking the barrier. His feet hit the ground, sliding through the dirt. He screeched to a halt, then spun around to land a solid punch between the cluster of eyes of a spider-like demon. 

“ Get outta my way! “               he snarled, jumping up and spinning to                land a kick on the side of the demon’s head.

Next to him, the hum of the barrier suddenly gave way to the groaning of the temple walls. He inhaled sharply, golden eyes widening as the roof began to collapse in on the building. 

                     “ Damn it –! “                              he growled.

He jumped into the air, flipping over the building and landing on the other side. As he had flown overhead, he had noticed sections of the roof giving in. A centipede-like demon flew at him from behind, sinking its teeth into his shoulder. He cried out, spinning away and ripping the demon’s teeth from his flesh. With all the demonic energies and scents swirling around him, he hadn’t even noticed its approach. His claws dug into the open wound, and he slashed at the creature with a repeated attack.

                                      “ BLADES OF BLOOD! “

The demon was torn to shreds, disintegrating and disappearing in the wind. The half-demon’s attention quickly turned back to the temple. If the roof caved in, the inside of the temple was left wide open. Further, the building risked collapsing all the way in, crushing anyone inside. He growled, realizing he didn’t have time to ponder what to do next.

He jumped back into the air, just high enough to clear the temple walls. He crashed through a weak spot in the roof. As soon as he broke through the building’s structure, he realized that the source of the scent beads was actually coming from inside the building. He wheezed, his vision blurring as the smoke burned his eyes.

He overestimated his landing, and instead collided with another barrier. The energy sizzled on his skin, sending a shock through his entire body. He cried out in pain, but it was short-lived as the barrier disapated and he hit the ground. He grimaced, quickly pulling himself to his feet.

And then people started screaming. He flinched, blinking through the haze that burned his eyes and other senses. There were a lot of people crammed into the building – a lot of women and children. They backed away from him, crying and screaming indistinctly. 

Then finally, he saw it – the red and white he had been looking for – huddled next to a younger girl. He didn’t dare get any closer with the way people were moving away from him, but he addressed the priestess directly.

“ Yer barrier is done, and there’s still a lot of hungry demons lookin’ for ya. It ain’t safe here anymore. “ he said, straining to speak through the sense-overload he was experiencing, “ Ya gotta get these people outta here. I’ll distract them. “

He turned to jumped back through one of the gaping holes in the roof, but paused to add over his shoulder:

“ And ya better keep the Jewel safe! I’m the only one whose gunna get that! “

The menacing growls outside were incited by the weakening barrier, these beastly sounds that could very well be the last thing these people heard--no, she could not allow for that, she had to defend them--!

Blurred by the heavy smog, something came crashing into the confined space, perpetrator collapsing the ceiling and diving into the secondary barrier, the smell of sizzling flesh accompanied with a harrowing cry. The room fell silent as everyone tried to make sense of the intruder, Kikyo’s eyes finding the invader familiar and for a fraction of a second comfort found her until the room grew panicked as they too realized who they were in the presence of.

“A-A monster!”

“It’s a demon!”

“It’s going to kill us all!”

“That’s the half-breed after the Sacred Jewel!”

“Lady Kikyo, protect us!”

The villagers clamored cries begged for her protection and drowned out her own voice, the only voice that did not address him as some devil.

“Inu-Yasha...?”

The prejudiced criticism did not seem to faze him as he rose quite quickly, recovering from the dose of spiritual energy rather speedily, though Kikyo did not think that to be possible given how he squinted through the smog, covering his nose as he spoke. His words flew over her quickly as she realized just a speedily that he was being impaired by the spewing fog of the scented beads that were ignited nearby. How had he, only but half a demon been able to preserve this whole time? He surely should have fainted by now?

His cocky remark brought her back to her post, eyes trailing after his limping figure as he leapt from the enclosure, villages clamoring around her begging for her to show them safe passage. She hadn’t the time or luxury to fret, ceasing the exhaustion of her spiritual power for a barrier and quickly retrieving two clay statues.

“Kaede, quickly.” she beckoned, her sister following hurriedly and recognizing these idols.

“Golems? Sister but I don’t know--”

“Just repeat what I do. Give me your hands. Good, close your eyes.” Kikyo clasped on tightly to her sister’s hands, breathing growing labored as spiritual prowess percolated into the earthly figures, imbuing them with a heavenly flame and causing them to rattling in place. The two priestess heard their success and stood back, Kaede releasing the blockage from the door while Kikyo readied herself with the last of Kaede’s arrows, placing a defensive hand over her bosom, a smooth sphere over her heart.

Statues that once fit snuggly on a shelf leapt to life, growing over ten times their size, shattering through the roof of the temple, confused villagers flooded out of the enclosure. The golems stomped heavily ahead, guided by Kikyo’s command, fired coordinated fiery attacks into the fray while Kaede took charge and guided the villagers to a stony path behind the temple for their escape. 

“Go with them Kaede, I will fend them off here!”

“But sister--!”

“Go!” she commanded, fixating an arrow and letting it loose into a team of demons, evaporating them with a streamed attack. Kikyo sought out another round, the quiver light, her fingers grazing the two remaining arrows. Her golems, mindless with only the function of offense fired again, embers scorching whatever poor demons laid in their path. They would be effective but only for so long, once the demons figured out their lack of defense they would easily quash and shatter their clay bodies. 

Her eyes search desperately through the entropy around her, searching for a hint of the crimson robe that belonged to her star-crossed prosecutor, a concern over his condition causing her fingers to tremble around the fletching in her distraction-- a demon seeing its chance and swooping behind her, pushing Kikyo to the ground, bow clattering out of her reach.

“̲̬T̗͓̳͕̱h̙̠̣͕̟̹͈e ̜͈̜̱͉͙p̰̝̥̬r͎͖͙̱͈͖i͖̹̦̮e̼̼s͙̪͓͖t̬̗̫̱e̬̺s̫̝s̯̲!̜̯̪̪̱ ̗͎̳̫̫S̝̮͖h̹̼̥̟̠e̗͈’s̜̼̪͍̼͍ ̰̹a͓̰͓̻͙͓̳ll͔̰͉̮ m͍̳i̪̭̖̗̩ͅͅn̥̩͇e̗̼̲͈!̞” 

in another universe i’m able to save you

                                                                              {{ @cursedbellflower }}​

He could smell it before anything else – the scent of smoke and blood. As he raced closer, he sensed it – multiple bundles of demonic energy.

                                                        And it was all coming from her village.

He sprang from tree to tree, hit the ground running, and leaped into the canopy again. The closer he got, the more overwhelming the smell. He could tell they were using scent beads – the sickly, overpowering smell made his head throb – but even that wasn’t enough to cover the scent of human blood.

He broke through the tree line, the village finally in sight. Columns of smoke rose from burning homes, and villagers flooded the paths. Amber hues darted from body to body looking for the becomingly familiar red and white, but all he saw were drab outfits of the common villager.

He landed on the roof of a hut that had survived the flames. He traced the demonic auras, spotting an abundance of bug-like demons running rampant through the village. Desperate for the Scared Jewel or not, even he knew it was foolish to attack this village.

                                                                          Especially with her here.

the demons had made quick work of many parts of the town. The villagers who were fighting were ill-equipped and falling fast. InuYasha brought the sleeve of his haori to his nose, trying to block out the mingling smell of blood and scent beads.

                                                                             He still didn’t see her.

A scream to his right quickly drew his attention. A woman held a young child in her arms, and she slowly backed away from a large, ant-like demon with enormous pinchers. The half-demon cracked his knuckles and sprang from the roof.

                               “ IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER! “

He dragged his claws through the demon, severing it completely in half. The woman screamed again, and the child started to cry. InuYasha flicked the blood from his hand, his gaze sliding to the hysteric woman.

                                                                           “ –Get outta here. “                                                                                                 he said.

He leaped back into the air. Gliding over the village, golden eyes once more began to dart from body to body. His sense of smell was shot. He could only rely on what he could sense and see. Red and white. Red and white. Red and white…

The day had come to be an incredibly hot one, the sun unrelenting without any clouds to provide a fleeting relief to the priestess who dutifully gathered the lilac willow herbs growing near a river’s edge. She adorned her most normal attire of red and white, long sleeves tied back as to not hinder her as she stooped down and sorted through the weeds, quiver of her most deadly weapon strapped snuggly over her back, bow resting at her side in the grass.

It was a cumbersome time, rain absent causing the minute village’s harvest to wilt and dry out. The townsfolk were growing weary of unanswered prayers, the young, elderly and sickly commonly suffering from heatstrokes--there simply was only so much their single priestess could do to easy and comfort them during turbulent times.

Gingerly she plucked another herb from the ground, placing it with the straw basket with the rest and bringing the back of her hand to her brow, wiping away the droplets of perspiration, raven locks sticking fast to her forehead. Hopefully the men of the village had been successful in their hunt today, the remaining grain and vegetables would not last long if things continued on.

She sighed deeply, looking ahead enviously at the light reflecting off the narrow river, how nice it would be to simply rest her feet against the chilled current and take a moment in the quiet to simply be and relish the silence that was void of any half-demon leering from the trees, his callous remarks gruff and always so presumptuous. She thought on it, realizing it had been almost a fortnight since she had heard any of his grumbles, not even a glimpse of his burning crimson robe as he thought himself elusive hiding from her in the treetops. She wondered what had taken his time and pondered when their next meeting would be.

A chill ran down her spine, hairs standing taunt as her body tensed with the a premonition of threat, the village--! She rose to her feet with bow in had, the scent of embers snaking its way through the and forest black smoke rising in from the distance into the sky. 

She took off as fast as her feet would take her, the warning tolls ringing louder and louder and the air growing heavier with not only smoke but malice. How could she have not noticed such numbers sooner? Demonic energy multiplied as if cascading and invading the village, chaos meeting her ears and eyes as she drew nearer to the eastern entrance, the farthest point from the temple which housed the Sacred Jewel. Though that structure was riddled with sutras and traps to protect the orb within, those barriers would only withstand so much before collapsing.

She readied her weapon and fired a pure light into a scaly monstrosity that barreled her way, notching two more arrows and letting them loose into the nearest demons. Villagers ran from their burning homes every which way, Kikyo fighting the current of people and into the heart of the hoard, the demons multiplying as and indication of where they were collecting. 

“Kaede! Where are you?”

Her voice, drowned but the roars of the surrounding blaze did not carry far, Kikyo continuing to fight her way to the temple. All around her pandemonium unfolded and monsters she knew she could slay with a single arrow now took double the effort, the reserves of her power sputtering to meet her demands. Her quiver felt much lighter than it should have, the number of arrows she had been exhausting not nearly enough to secure her passage to the temple but she had not the leisure to not make it--she was the only one who could end the havoc.

It was in sight now, the only thing keeping her was a climb littered with demons unworthy of her time. One, two, three arrows embarked ahead, each clearing just enough room for her to progressed; she was so close now, just a little farther--! Her hand raised to grab another arrow but grasping only the muddy air, Kikyo locking eyes with an approaching demon. She hadn't enough time to blast it away, its jaws hinged open ready to consume her--

--!

An arrow fizzled by, hitting the enormous ant demon straight through its skull, not quite purifying it but nonetheless slaying it. The arrow, severely lacking spiritual power was familiar, Kikyo searching for the one she knew it belonged to.

“Sister Kikyo! I’ll hold them off! Hurry!” echoed a shrill voice, coughing through the smoke.

“Kaede!” Kikyo located her younger sibling standing inside the stronghold of the temple with her own bow and arrow, notching into the foes closest to Kikyo. She took her chance, pushing off offending demons with the power she imbued in her bow, Kaede helping where she could, narrowly saving Kikyo from the grip of another ant demon. “Out of the way--” Her bow deflecting a sizable centipede that aimed to coil around her ankles just before the threshold. 

Twin doors slammed behind the priestess, Kikyo arming them with a wooden slant, the temple crowded with other villagers who had not been wrong in assuming this would be the safest place to take refuge in. Her breath slowed and softened as her gaze met with first the Jewel and then the concerned face of her sister. 

“You did well in protecting everyone here Kaede.” Kikyo offered softly, kneeling to be at eye level. The temple groaned, wooden boards creaking and dust falling from the ceiling; outside smaller demons made work on the barrier, attacking without relent while larger centipedic demons coiled around the temple, squeezing and attempting to collapse the force field which would not not hold much longer--even Kikyo knew that. She reached for her sister’s quiver but found that Kaede had only three arrows left.

“Sister--you're bleeding!” Kaede cried in alarm, grabbing the bloodied sleeve. Kikyo lifted the sleeve painted with her blood, two deep lacerations running up her forearm and oozing freely onto the ground, the villagers muttering with worry for their injured priestess. 

“Do not worry, its just a flesh wound. Find something to bandage it for me.” They had minutes maybe before the walls closed in on them and the hysteria grew with every shutter of the structure. Soft prayers and tears fell over the villagers as Kaede resorted to ripping cloth from her kimono to wrap the wound, Kikyo making quick work to lay out protective sutras around each corner of the temple. It wouldn’t do much realistically but Kikyo had to offer her people something, a show of calm and strength...

The temple shuttered again but this time caved, panels falling down and clattering against the secondary barrier Kikyo had erected inside which drew directly from her waning power. The demons had finally puncture through, the main barrier chipping away like shards, the monstrous roars outside growing closer and frenzied as they could almost taste the human flesh within that they would lay claim to along with their most lucrative prize--the jewel.

La-sera

inuvember ☆ week #3: relationships → naraku and kikyo (insp.)

IKA | republished with permission