Chapter Seventeen:

Chapter Seventeen:

The darkness screamed, a loud ear piercing sound that tried to shatter my ear drums. It reminded me of someone dragging their claws across a chalk board. In other words, it wasn’t exactly pleasant.

A large portion of the earth had ripped up from the ground, under my command, and continuously pounded against the dark barrier. Inuyasha’s sword and my earth were the only things the darkness couldn’t stand it seemed, the only thing it couldn’t or didn’t know how to fight.

The darkness continued to shriek and wail, anything to distract us from shattering it.

We watched, impatiently, as the barrier started to splinter. The wailing became louder, desperate shrieks, and I had to fight the urge to cover my ears. The cracks grew bigger until finally, with a sickening snap, the shield shattered. The lacey darkness fell to the earth in small sharp pieces and seemed to seep into the ground, like dark black blood.

I smiled in victory and lowered my hands, the rock returning to the earth. Inuyasha lowered his sword, smiling with overconfidence. I rolled my eyes.

“Alright. Onwards!!!” I started forwards in the cave. It was dark and quiet. Too quiet. Kagome coughed quietly behind us.

A few more feet and she coughed again. Then Sango coughed. I turned around. Kagome looked pale, Sango and Miroku not to far behind. Without thinking I coughed.

“Don’t breathe the air in.” Sesshomaru commanded.

“Well gee, thanks for waiting until now to tell us.” I grouched, taking in a deep breath so I could hold it. That’s when I saw it.

It was weird reddish purple smoke like stuff, seeping through the walls. I pointed to it, nudging Inuyasha and Sesshomaru so they’d see it. Sesshomaru nodded and hurried us towards the opening on the other end of the tunnel.

I felt the urge to cough. I tried to smother it. I failed.

“Kimi!” I fell to the ground, my body rocking and convulsing as I practically hacked up a hair ball. I couldn’t stop coughing, like I had swallowed something the wrong way. Inuyasha picked me up, covering my mouth and nose with his robe. Kagome collapsed next, coughing her own lungs up.

“We’ve got to get out of here!”

“I told you not to breathe!” Sesshomaru snapped, grabbing Lili and running towards the exit. Inuyasha was right behind him, me hacking up my left lung in his arms.

We came out of the tunnel part and into a larger area with two different turn offs at the other end. Sesshomaru set Lili down, making sure she was okay before rushing to me. Koga, Sango, Miroku, and Kagome rushed in behind us.

“Breathe, Kimi, breathe. Come on. Deep breaths.” Inuyasha set me down and held my face in his hands while Koga started to lightly hit my back. I coughed a little harder and tried to breathe, gasping in air in little pants.

“Why is it only affecting her this way?” Inuyasha snarled at Sesshomaru as my coughs turned thick and full of liquid.

“Nature demons. They’re sensitive to elements not in their control, no? Well Kimi can control water and earth. Naraku knows this.”

“He put a specific poison in the mist…” Miroku trailed off, watching as I coughed up blood.

“So?! What do you mean?!” Inuyasha snapped, pulling me into his arms.  

“He…put some…thing…in the air…that would…only…harm…me.” I rasped out, trying to breathe.

“To show that he knows your weakness.” Sesshomaru concluded for me.

The burning in my lungs was indescribable. A sensation I never want to feel again. As quick as it came it was gone. I breathed in fresh air in gasps, the air feeling cool in my burning lungs. I had already known that fire and air were my weaknesses. They’d never really been a problem before.

“Wait…Kimi can control two elements. Why is that? I though nature demons could only control one?” Lili stroked my hair.

“Because I’m one of the last ones left.” I stated quietly.

“I though you didn’t know about this before?” Kagome demanded suspiciously, her eyes narrowing. I smiled a little and shook my head.

“I didn’t Kags. Doesn’t mean my dad didn’t have any papers on the subject.”

Everyone gave me a weird look. I sighed shakily.

“Kagome, remember when I though my dad was…cheating on my mom?” My cousin nodded, remembering the time when my dad would leave the house randomly for weeks at a time, only to come home and piss off my mother. “Well one day while my mom was still at work…I went through some of their old papers. They kept an old brown leather bag with papers in it from since before I was born. I looked through that and well it was full of stuff about nature demons. All in my dad’s handwriting. During the extinction period, my dad observed that the more killed the more powerful each original demon became. When there was only four left in the world, each carried one of the major elements.”

“So basically, the elements adapted so they could still survive?” Kagome chewed her bottom lip.

I nodded. “In a way, yes.”

“And since you only have control over two of the elements that means that there’s another nature demon left besides you.”

I shrugged. “Just because there is another one doesn’t mean it’s my dad, Kags.”

Kagome sighed and nodded. I coughed, one last cough, and held out my hand, palm down. It hovered over the ground for a few seconds before I slammed my palm into the earth. A design of the caves layout formed in the earth, like a mini sand castle utopia.

“Alright, where would Rin be?” Sesshomaru stared down at the layout for a full two minutes before answering.

“There.” He pointed to the small area towards the back of the cave.

“And where would Naraku be?”

“There.” He pointed to the largest area in the cave. “That is, if he were expecting out attack.”

“He is.” I stood. “That I know for a fact. Alright, Lili, you and I are going to go look for Rin.”

Inuyasha jumped up. “No.”

“I’ll be fine…I don’t think he wants to kill me just yet.”

Inuyasha glared at me. I smiled.

“At any point. Anytime. He can put that crap in the air again and kill me. He didn’t kill me though. He only put enough to warn us. He wont kill me, I’m sure of it.”

Inuyasha scowled. I smiled and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into a hug.

“I’ll be fine, Inuyasha. Trust me. Just go kick Naraku’s ass.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and squeezed. “If you get hurt. I will personally kill you.” He grumbled in my ear. I grinned and pulled away.

“I’ll be fine. I promise.”

He still scowled and let me go. I looped my arm through Lili’s and we started towards the far right tunnel entrance.

“Go through the left tunnel and turn right. Bust down the door and then viola, you’re there. Got it? We’ll be there with Rin soon.”

The sounds of our footsteps seemed to bounce off the rocks, creating a loud annoying noise that made one irritated. I grumbled to myself, glaring at the rocks around me. Lili only laughed.

“So…I’ve noticed,” She nudged my ribcage, “You and Inuyasha seem…close.”

I blushed. “Yeah I guess.”

“You like him? Well that’s obvious but…”

“Yes. I like him.”

“And he likes you…”

“Your point?” I glanced at her out of the corner of my eyes.

“My point is that you’re not mates. You’re technically not really anything.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Have you told him you love him?” I almost choked on my spit.

“Love…is a strong word…”

She gave me a skeptical look. “Kimi. I’ve seen the way you look at him. You’re absolutely head over heals in love with him.”

I chewed my lip. “We haven’t really talked about anything.” I stated, avoiding her accusation. She smirked and rolled her eyes.

“You’ll realize I’m right, Kimi.”

“I do have to agree with Lili on that one. Kimi, you and Inuyasha seem to care for each other very much.”

We both froze, looking around in the darkness, searching for the source. A woman stepped out from the darkness, a small smile lighting her features. She wasn’t familiar to me. She had short black hair which was pulled up into a pony tail and a flower printed kimono, two fans stuffed in the sash that held her kimono together.

Lili placed a hand on each sword. I clenched my fists, the earth trembling beneath me.

The woman sighed lightly, staring at the wall as she spoke.

“I wish to join you.”

“Who are you?” I unclenched my fists.

“Kagura.”

My fists went clenched again. “You kidnapped Rin.”

“I know. I did it because Naraku ordered it. I do not wish to serve him any longer. I don’t like taking orders.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“Because I knew you’d come after her. I cant leave the cave unless I’m doing his bidding. Then he watches me like a hawk until I return. I’m sure you can see why I didn’t come out of the shadows last night and talk to you then about this.”

My eyes widened. “You were watching us.”

She nodded. “Yes. I was to kidnap Rin and bring her here, which I have. I have made sure that she is well taken care of. There is not a scratch on her or a hair out of place. She told me about you guys.”

I growled softly. “We can’t trust you.”

“Which I respect and understand. All I’m asking is for you to hear me out and let me help. I want Naraku dead as much as you do.” A hint of darkness tinted her words. I scowled.

“How can you say that here? Surely he can hear you. Or is this all a plan? A setup?”

She shook her head slowly. “I have free reign of this place. I’ve done him enough service that he at least grants me that. I can speak freely. Right now he is dealing with your friends.”

“How do we know this isn’t a setup?” Lili snapped, glaring at Kagura.

Kagura dropped to her knees, her head bowed. “I will take you to Rin and help you free her. Then I will tell you how to defeat Naraku and I will personally aid you in killing him. You have my oath.” She bowed down completely then. My eyes widened in shock.

“You do know what I am, right?”

Kagura nodded. “Yes, nature demon, I do. I know what it means to make an oath to a nature demon.”

“You’re really serious.” I muttered. Lili gave me a questioning look.

“When you make an oath to a nature demon it can be binding. If the person making the oath does not follow through with it…they die. Their death depends on the nature demon’s element.” I explained, not taking my eyes off Kagura. Lili’s eyes widened.

“You promise that you are on our side and you will help us find Rin and kill Naraku?”

“I promise.”

“Hold out your palm.” Kagura did as told, sitting up and holding her palm out to me. The earth around her shot up like a hand, grabbing her wrist. She gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut until the earth retreated, leaving a small wreath of vines around her wrist. Instead of leaves, like the scar on my waist, there were bubbles and a large rose in the center of the inside of her wrist. It was my personal sign as a nature demon.

Kagura nodded, giving me a small smile. “Thank you.” I looked closer and noticed a small ray of hope shining in her eyes.

I smiled back. “Come on. We need to find Rin.”