Saturday, May 28, 2005

The Soul Cages: Frozen In Time
*episode 7*

[Flashback]
Inuyasha has gathered everyone in Kaede’s home. Kagome, Sango, and Kagura are sitting to his right. Kaede, Shippo, and Miroku are to his left. He is standing above them all, with his arms folded, looking menacing. Kohaku is sitting in front of him; not quite surrounded, but isolated. Kirara is curled up by the fire, ignoring the entire proceedings. Inuyasha says, “Kohaku, you said that kidnapping Kagome was your crime, that you were responsible. You are absolutely right. What do you think that means?” Kohaku is surprised by the question. He says, “I did something wrong, now you’re going to punish me; and I’m going to accept it. But only if I’m the one who gets punished. You can hurt me, but not by hurting my sister or Kagura.” Inuyasha says, “Oh, you’ll be the one who pays; don’t question that. Here’s how. We are going after Naraku; it’s what we do. You, you’re coming with us.” There is shock on every face. Sango says, “Inuyasha! He isn’t ready. You can’t ask him to join us. He’s only a child.” Inuyasha says, “No he ain’t; not anymore. When he took responsibility for saving Kagura by risking Kagome’s life, he lost any right to hide behind his age. A kid would’ve come to us; told us what had happened. When he chose to act on his own, he stopped being a kid. Now he’s a grownup, and that means he can’t keep running from Naraku.” Inuyasha turns to Kohaku and says, “He slaughtered your family, your people. Worse then that; he used you to do it. He manipulated you; put that blood you were whining about on you hands. If you were a kid, you could leave it all up to Sango. But now you’re an adult. You have an obligation to stand beside your sister. If you meant what you said, then you have to do this. If you can’t see that, you’re still just a kid; and you ain’t responsible for nothing.” Inuyasha turns his back. After a moment, Kagura adds, “And I’m still dead.” Sango says, “Kagura!” The demoness says, “Sango, I was wrong! I can’t protect him. He’ll be safest with you. Besides, if he isn’t with you, then you are vulnerable; all of you. He has to go with you, and that means that he has to face this. He is ready.” The two women hold each other’s eyes for some time. Kohaku says, “I’ll go.” Sango is about to say something, but he cuts her off, “I have to do this, for all those reason and others. If you’ll let me, I’ll come with you and do my best to help.” Inuyasha nods. He turns around and says, “Good! That takes care of your responsibility; now, as for your punishment.” He begins to slug Kohaku. He is clearly holding back his demonic strength, but the boy is going to walk away with a respectable set of brusies. After the first four blows, Kagome says, “Inuyasha…Inuyasha…that’s enough Inuyasha! Inuyasha, si…” Sango grabs Kagome’s wrist. Kagome stares into her friend’s serious eyes. After three more hits, Sango says, “Enough Inuyasha!” “Ahh…alright.” the half-demon says, helping the boy to his feet. Inuyasha kneels so that he is at eye level. He says, “We don’t trade people. Other stuff can be bartered with, because it can be replaced. If you ever deliberately put Kagome in danger again, I’ll make you wish you were still serving Naraku.” Kohaku nods. Kagura gets up and walks out of the house; Kohaku follows. She is preparing to fly away when he grabs her arm. “Don’t.” he says. “I’ve out stayed my welcome.” she tells him. “There’s no possible way for your sister to forgive me for what I just did.” He says, “She will. She’ll do it because I need her to.” Kagura turns to face him. She says, “Aside from that. I got us into this whole mess with Sesshomaru; I’ll probably end up causing more trouble. I have to go.” He says, “Then before you go; I want to tell you something. All of those reasons are important. But there is another one; another reason why I have to go after Naraku. Aside from everything else, there’s still what he did to you. I also have to go after him because he hurt you. I know that compared to all the people he killed; the suffering he inflicted on you may not seem important. But it’s important to me.” He looks down, turns and walks away. Kagura stands there in shock. As she stands there, Kohaku sees Kagome come out of the house and approach Kagura. Kagome says, “Kagura, I wanted to talk to you about something. It’s an idea I had for finding Naraku.”
[End Flashback]
Kohaku awakens to consciousness trapped between warm and cold. As he opens his eyes he sees Kirara, full-size, lying next to him. Behind him is a sheet of blue ice which has a strange gleam. Kirara sees that he is awake and gets up. As her warmth departs, the biting cold brings him fully awake. He looks around and sees that they are alone and that they are in some kind of corridor. He stands and looks both ways. The path is at a slight incline; he must choose between up and down. He turns to Kirara. “What do you think?” he asks. She looks up the slope. “Alright.” he says. He heads upward, staying close to Kirara’s flame.
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