Sly Love - Inuyasha LS (No. 15)

Kikyo's Stolen Ashes & Return of the Tragic Priestess, Kikyo

3rd POV:

At Kaede's village, night has fallen when a ball of light suddenly appears, flying towards the town and slicing two tree trunks, making a mighty crash as Kaede sleeps in her hut alone and awakes to the noise.

~~INUYASHA~~

In the village courtyard, the light stops on top of the gates and reveals a sinister-looking old woman with a scythe slung over her shoulder, and Kaede arrives at the sight, shooting an arrow at the old witch as a warning. The woman shrieks and slices the projectile into pieces with a simple swing of her scythe. "Who are ye?!" Kaede wonders, and more villagers arrive with bows and arrows as the old witch flies away towards the village shrine, and the villagers and Kaede pursue her.

~~INUYASHA~~

The villagers and Kaede arrive at the village's shrine and find some of the villagers with slashes across their bodies from the older woman. "You men attend to him." A villager orders the others as some men fly back from one of the women's attacks.

"I am certain this is it," The old witch exclaims, examining the shrine of the late Priestess Kikyo. "At last, I have found her resting site," she grabs some of the soil. "Just enough moisture, and the soil is perfect." She squeezes the dirt in her hand.

"Intruder! What business have ye here?! Identify thyself! Answer at once!" Kaede yells at the witch as she draws an arrow.

"Silence, fools! My only business lies with this gravesite. Once I have these ashes in my possession, I shall leave this miserable village," The old crone replies, excitedly stroking the shrine.

"She must be after Kikyo's remains," Kaede worries, wondering what the woman would want with her late sister's remains and the village men point their spears at the witch. "Leave our village at once, or we shall have no course but to strike."

"Persistent wretch. You have done well not to cross my path!" The old crone shouts at them and steps forward, moving her scythe to the side and dragging her long nails along the sharp blade, creating a harsh screeching sound, making the villagers cover their ears from the high screeching. But Kaede, feeling nothing, fires her arrow at the old witch, who slices it into two pieces with her scythe before it can hit its mark. "Now you shall pay for your meddling," She jumps into the air, slicing at them and spins in the air, creating severe damage as the slashes hit multiple places with no real direction; some of the rips hit the gravesite, and one hits Kaede across the forehead, who shouts in pain. One of the village men jumps in front of her, trying to block any further attacks on the older woman.

"Are you injured?" The man asks before getting hit himself and sent to the ground by more attacks. The witch finishes her spinning slash attack, jumps toward the shrine's open earth, and digs her hand into the soil.

"No! Take not my sister's ashes!" Kaede pleads as she watches, holding her injured arm as the men watch. "I am the Priestess Kaede. I shall not allow ye to take those remains!"

"Your threats fall on deaf ears," The crone laughs as she rises with a silver urn. "These remains now belong to me, the Demon Urasue!" She laughs, disappearing on the spot, forming into a wisp of blue light before flying away into the night sky, the full moon on display.

~~INUYASHA~~

That same night, in a forest close to the village, Inuyasha wakes up suddenly as he sits on a tree branch; he relaxes, looking at his hand, not feeling as affected as he was reliving his past with Kikyo. "It was a dream..." He mutters to himself and wipes his forehead. "I could've done without those nasty memories." He looks down to the ground to see the others sleeping; he narrows his eyes and looks at Mizuyuri as she snuggles in her sleeping bag with Shippo lying across her chest and Kagome sleeping beside her. Inuyasha jumps down from the tree, slowly and quietly walking towards Mizuyuri, and she moves her head, showing a black strand of hair sweeping by her right eye; he looks up at the night sky to see a full moon, admiring her and smiles a little. "She's human, I guess she's right. We are like opposites." He smiles to himself, and Mizuyuri wakes up, noticing Inuyasha watching her sleep, making her yell out in surprise, punching Inuyasha in the face, waking Shippo up as he falls off her chest and with Inuyasha's yelp of pain. Still, the little fox falls back to sleep.