Saturday, May 14, 2005

The Price You Pay: Cost of Blood
*episode 1*

A week has passed since Kohaku’s rescue. Inuyasha and Sango have been spending more time together then they previously had. Miroku has done more then his share in the effort to repopulate Kaede’s village. Kagome has actually had a week without any absences from school. Kagura and Kohaku are both coming to terms with their new existence. It’s a Saturday afternoon and the group is scattered across the village. Suddenly a thunderhead approaches at high speed. A great clash of thunder shakes the earth. Suddenly, another, and another strike. The blasts continue, several every second. As people gather at the village’s edge, they are confronted by an awesome sight. A great beast, 15 meters tall, is approaching. The thunder claps are in time with the falling of its hooves. When it comes to within 200 meters of the village, it stops and turns sideways revealing it full form. It is a great horse. It is silver white with tones of blue and gold. On its forehead there is a huge horn; 5 meters long above the beast’s height. It kicks in the air with its front feet; and the clouds, which had previously been keeping pace with the stallion, shoot forward to cover the whole sky. The group has assembled at the village’s edge. Inuyasha draws his Tetsusaiga and runs toward the monster. Suddenly, a great disk of energy shoots from the horn. The Tetsusaiga intercepts it and there is a struggle until Inuyasha flings the disk into the stratosphere. The Hiraikotsan flies at the demon; it is struck by a bolt of lightning from the storm. As Miroku runs to the front; Sango turns to Kagura. “Get Kohaku out of here!” she says. “No!” Kagura responds. “If that thing controls lightning he’ll be safer on the ground. Let me see what I can do to break up this storm.” Sango nods and goes to get her weapon. Miroku opens his windtunnel. The beast releases another disk, flying into the vortex. Miroku seals the void and falls to his knees in agony. Then, a bolt of lighting strikes; sending the monk flying. Inuyasha leaps and strikes the horn with his sword. The creature holds its ground, and forces the half-demon back. Kagome lets fly a sacred arrow. Suddenly there is a flash and a swoosh. A lightning bolt struck at the arrow; but at the last minute, a gust of wind knocked the arrow off of its initial course causing the bolt to miss. The projectile, aimed at the beast’s heart, tears through its flank. As the equine stagers under the impact of the blow; Kagura and Kagome share a friendly glance. The demon weakened, Inuyasha renews his offensive. Three blows from his sword drive the creature back. Inuyasha is preparing to renew his attack when six bolts of lightning converge on the monster’s horn. As the beast braces itself; its horn begins to glow. A huge lightning bolt links the horn and the Tetsusaiga. A sphere of electrical energy begins to travel across the bridge. It gains speed as it goes further. Inuyasha can not free his sword from the charge; nor can he cut through the windscar. Suddenly, the Hiraikotsan flies between the opponents; breaking the circuit. This buys Inuyasha the fraction of a second he needs to unleash the windscar. As the blast collides with the lightning bolt, the energy of the bolt is absorbed by the windscar. Inuyasha’s backlash wave travels back along the same energy bridge. Now, the beast is the one trapped. The wave collides with the horn, shattering it into a thousand pieces. As the beast falls dead; the combatants rush to block incoming fragments of horn. Kohaku is pushed to the ground by Kagura. As he looks up, he sees her standing where he had been a moment before. “Are you alright?” she asks. “I’m fine.” he says. As he watches, a red spot appears on the back of Kagura’s kimono. As it grows, she falls to her knees. “Good.” she says. Kohaku rushes to her side in time to catch her as she falls. As he catches her, the nature of her injury becomes instantly obvious. A large shard of ivory horn is embedded in her chest. Kagura looks up at Kohaku. “It’s almost funny.” she says as blood trickles from her mouth. “I finally get my heart; and it breaks.” she smiles…then she is gone. Kohaku holds her lifeless corpse as her blood covers his hands. Kirara is the first to notice what has happened. She is beside the boy. Kohaku rises and whispers in Kirara’s ear. As the others see what has happened, Kohaku takes Kagura’s body on Kirara’s back. The flame cat shoots off into the distance. “No!” Sango shouts. As she begins to run, Inuyasha grabs her wrist. He is as gentle as her strength permits, but he will not release her. She turns to the half-demon in tears. “Why won’t you let me go!?!” she shouts. “I know where he’s going.” says Inuyasha. “This is something the kid has to do himself.”
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