Sesshomaru's Rose
Starting Date: October 7, 2007
Chapter One
Once upon a time, in a far away land, on top of a dark, dark mountain, there bloomed a single rose. Surrounded by poisonous thorns, the rose bloomed each morning and when the moon rose, it wilted away and died, only to be reborn with the sun's warm kiss blessed it again.
Mortal men talked of their fear of death, but never of the cure . . . the person who plucked this rose from the top of the dark, dark mountain, would live forever.
Sesshomaru had never been one to believe in fairytales, after all, they were only childrens' bedtime stories. But his beloved ward Rin was dying and he needed a cure. Rin was more than a village orphan, she was his adopted daughter, and he'd be damned if the little human child were to succumb to human frailties.
So, he sought the rose, the rose from his childhood.
He journeyed to find her a cure to her incurable human mortality.
Sesshomaru forged a path through Japan, tracking every lead he got. He conquered demons and Gods for his little human, and he had found her cure. Atop the lonely Mount Hakurei, lay the rose . . . and so much more.
Sesshomaru fought past holy barriers and poisoned thorns, only to find there was no rose at all . . . instead, there was a girl. She was unlike anyone, anything he'd ever seen before, with crystal blue eyes and pale pink lips. Her hair, lustrous and blue-black, hung just right to the small of her back and she wore silken miko's garb that seemed to be just as alive as she.
Her name was Kagome.
She looked upon him with wide cerulean eyes and slowly, gracefully, rose to her feet. In a voice ever-so-small and soft she spoke,
"Who . . . are you?"
Her voice echoed inside his elfin ears, each syllable slipping past the next like the clear blue waters of a koi pond.
"I am the Western Lord,"
He replied, surprised at himself for having responded to the small human girl. But then again, Rin was human, too, and this one reminded him so much of her.
"And you are?"
Her eyes seemed to drain away and he could no longer see the life in them.
"I am Kagome,"
she whispered,
"I am the protector . . . "
And with this she lightly laid her hands over her heart. A soft glow washed over her and the wind whipped gently, stirring her hair and sleeves about her. From her chest appeared a small rose quartz jewel . . . the Jewel of Four Souls . . . The Rose.
His eyes refocused on the jewel, and Sesshoumaru could not help but stare at the still-glowing orb floating placidly above her palms. She seemed just as absorbed in the mythical light as he.
Sesshomaru took a forward step, hand outstretched to touch the jewel . . . but the holy relic revolted against his fingertips and with an audible hiss, he drew back.
Kagome's eyes widened a fraction.
"A demon. . . . ?"
She may have been a miko, but for all her years she'd never witnessed another breathing presence, human or demon. Her eyes slowly revived and she peered up at him as one would a savior, hoping . . .
"You're a demon. . . . "
Her voice was louder now, faster. Sesshomaru was surprised; she did not fear him, at all . . . If anything, she was opening herself more to his presence.
She stepped nearer him, her glittering red hakama billowing slightly at the movement. One hand clutched the jewel tightly, but the other . . . the other reached for him. She desperately tried to find purchase on him, and then he saw . . .
Horrible tangles of the poisoned thorns tore violently up her other leg and held her captive there. She struggled against them and he could smell the blood dripping from her, he could see it pooling around her foot. And in that instant, Sesshomaru saw his Rin, tied down like an animal, desperate, bleeding. He, the great Western Demon, would not stand for this. She was far too innocent for such a fate.
Her fingertips whispered past the white silk haori he wore and he snapped back to reality. Her blood and the poison were all too much.
Sesshomaru shot out to Kagome, ripping her away from the thorns with a slice of his claws, but she was not free for long. The vindictive vines arched back, coiled, and re stuck themselves to her flesh, finding hold around her waist and ankles.
She smiled through the pain. She was dying.He held her to his chest though, keeping the vines away from her tiny and bloodied form.
Kagome's voice cracked when she spoke to him,
"What is . . . your name?"
Foolish girl! How could she ask such questions at a time like this?
Yet he replied all the same, just a single word,
"Sesshomaru."
. . . Did his voice crack like hers had?
She smiled and gently pressed her freezing palm to his cheek.
"Of all those who have sought the Rose,"
her eyes filled with tears,
"You are the only one who forgot himself and had the heart to try . . . "
His grip tightened, not that he knew, but she did.
"To try and save this one . . . Thank you . . . "
She kissed his lips and he could feel how damaged and bruised hers truly were.
"Thank you, Sesshomaru."
Time seemed to stop when she whispered his name and their world flashed before them.