The Story
Kagome walked through the trees, the bright light of the morn spilling down on her through the thick canopy of branches overhead. She was alone, not a terribly unusual situation for the young woman. She had taken to the walks a sparse two months after she had first fallen down the well that brought her to the feudal era.
It wasn't the beauty of the forests, the natural tranquility offered to her in a world apart from the advancement of technology and the domination of the world by man, it wasn't even the way the breezes would drift by her and sing to her sweet melodies of promise and hope; it was the way she could escape when she walked.
Escape from what, you may ask. Well, there is a list, a very long list to be more specific. But a few of the top numbers should be sufficient.
A loud-mouthed hanyou that wouldn't know how to issue a compliment or even act civilly for more than two seconds who was always spouting the most degrading and hurtful things to her. Point number one: She was no one's punching bag.
Of course, there was always the fact that she was in love (or at least believed herself to be in love) with that same hanyou who just so happened to be in love with a dead miko (the very same one from whom she was reincarnated and who she looked almost identical to), and that dead miko still walked the earth and enjoyed making unexpected arrivals into their company and stealing said hanyou away into her arms…or the early grave that she wished for him. Point number two: she really, REALLY, disliked catching the two of them together in their 'star-crossed lover' moments. And seriously! Couldn't Inuyasha pull that nose of his from sniffing in the scent of death, bones, and graveyard soil to pick up on her scent BEFORE she managed to stumble upon them?
Then there was the perverted monk that was constantly asking her (or any other young woman he met) to bear his children, or attempting to rub his so called 'cursed' hand over their asses. Though Kagome knew full well that the beads wrapped around the monk's hand were in fact there to keep a terrible curse set upon him at bay, she was very tempted to believe that his curse was spawned more from his lechery that from the dark hanyou they tracked across the continent. Point number three: her ass was not a piece of meat to be fondled! Unless, of course, she wanted to be fondled...but when it came to the lecherous monk, the answer was a determined Hell No!
And with the mention of the dark hanyou, that brings us to point number four: She desperately hated the fates for making her the guardian of the blasted jewel that the bastard Naraku was intent to acquire. Bastard. She usually wouldn't use such words (that was Inuyasha's department); but in the case of Naraku, she was more than willing to make an exception.
So, as you can surely tell, the little miko named Kagome had her hands full with problems. But she wasn't about to let them get the better of her. That's why, as she had so often done in the past, we find the little miko taking a nice long stroll through the beautiful forests of the feudal era. She was alone, but she wasn't stupid. Her bow and quiver of arrows was strung firmly across her shoulder, ready for any creature that would dare interfere with her privacy. And though she wasn't all that trained with her miko powers, she knew the basics. Besides, anything that was powerful enough to take her, it had been her experience that such beings usually wanted something more for the effort; leaving them open to their one-way ticket to the netherworld once Inuyasha caught up with them.
And so she walked through the bright rays of the afternoon without fear, taking in the beauty all around her and letting her thoughts drift to happy memories and pleasant feelings. So lost in her own thoughts, that when the young miko stepped through another clustering of trees into a small clearing, it took her a moment to recognize what she was seeing.
Kagome starred wide-eyed at the magnificent waterfall before her. The cliff over which the water flowed towered over her to at least twenty feet; and the stream of water was a constant rush that bombarded the rocks below. But where the water fell, the rocks had been molded and shaped into a great basin to catch the constant fall, surrounded by great projections of stone which had been dulled from their sharp points to gentle curves to resemble slender fingers reaching upwards to embrace the falling water.
At the base of the cliff, the water flowed from the basin in a gentle stream, winding its way out of the clearing to be engulfed by the trees of the forest.
It was a beautiful sight, and it took her breath away. It also gave her an idea. There was no one around, after all; and it just wouldn't do to let this magnificent waterfall go to waste. So, with the decision made that she was going to make the very best of this discovery; Kagome lowered her pack and her weapons to the ground at her feet. She slipped off her shoes, taking a moment to wiggle her toes in the lush grass that had been sprinkled with a faint covering of moisture from the spray of the falls, before she slipped her way out of her short skirt and light blouse.
Clad only in her braw and matching panties, the little miko giggled lightly to herself in anticipation as she approached the water. She could just imagine how wonderful it was going to feel to have the cool water washing over her skin, cooling it from the heat of the summer sun and cleansing away the dust and dirt that had settled itself upon her as she had made her way through the forest.
She paused just at the edge of the large basin that collected the falling waters, sticking a single toe into the water to test its temperature. It was perfect; cool and soothing, but not too cold. She pulled her toe back and planted her feet firmly on the ground.
"One…Two…Three!"
With an excited squeal, she leapt into the crystal-clear waters. Her head burst out from under the water and she took in a deep breath, the happy smile produced by her enjoyment of this experience never leaving her lips. But, enjoying the cool waters of the pool was not on the top of the list for the young miko's planned activities. She swam with lazy strokes over to the falling water, giggling lightly and happily when she felt it raining down onto her.
After a moment of enjoying the fall of the water, Kagome started to look around for a natural shelf in the rock where she could more fully enjoy her experience. She cried out triumphantly when she saw that just behind the fall of the water, that there was a wonderful flattened area. She quickly made her way over to it, pulling herself up onto the ledge with a determined heave.
When she stood, she realized that she was standing at the entrance to a cave. Behind the wall of the falling waters, the sun's light was dimmed and she could only see a short distance into the shadows cast by the rock. But amidst the dark shadows, she caught sight of something frightening.
Dark eyes of blood red stared out at her from the entrance of the cave.
Kagome's miko powers surged up within her when the threat of what she was facing was realized, but she wasn't given an opportunity to do anything before the creature lunged forth towards her. She screamed and tried to move away, but in doing so, she slipped from the edge of the small platform she was standing on and fell backwards into the water of the pool.
However, before she was immersed by the water, Kagome caught sight of what had been hidden in the shadows. A snake youkai that had coiled itself within the rocks was slithering out from its hiding place, its pitched tongue licking at the air to scent its prey, and its fangs growing, readying themselves to sink into flesh and deposit their potent poison.
The second she hit the water, Kagome was turning herself over and moving her limbs in strong strokes to propel her away from the falls and the demon emerging from behind them. Without even stopping for breath, she made it to the other side of the little pool of water. Before she pulled herself out though, she spared a look behind her to see how much time she had.
As it turned out, she didn't have any. The snake had lowered itself into the cool waters of the pool and was using the strong muscles of its slithering length to push itself towards her at alarming speeds.
Realizing that she wouldn't be able to pull herself from the water in time to escape the demon, Kagome braced herself against the rocks at the edge of the pool and waited for the demon to come to her. So long as she could avoid the poison-infused fangs of the beast and keep the long body from entrapping her in its grasp, she figured she would be just fine.
With one final powerful thrust from its body, the snake launched itself from the surface of the water towards the young miko, its jaws wide to expose its fangs.
Kagome quickly threw herself to the side to avoid the bite of the beast, but at the same time, she managed to wrap her hands around the slick, scaly neck of the creature. The snake's neck was so thick, her hands barely reached the entire way around, but still she managed to hold it fast, keeping the snapping jaws of the snake away from her flesh.
She found her footing again quickly, and, after bracing herself against the rocks once more, Kagome used the leverage granted to her by the buoyancy of the water keeping the snake afloat to swing its body around and slam it into the rocks at the edge of the pool. The snake hissed and recoiled from her when it was hit by the pain of being hammered into the stone, and Kagome didn't waste any of the few moments of the youkai's distraction. She spun quickly and pulled herself from the pool, making a dash for her weapons the second she had gained the ground again.
But she wouldn't make it in time. With her bow only an arm's reach away, Kagome heard the rustling of the grasses in the clearing that marked the passage of the youkai. She threw herself to the ground an instant before the beast would have struck her, avoiding its deadly fangs by only inches. The landing jarred her body painfully, but she pushed all of her strength into forcing her body to roll so that she could gain her feet again.
But again the snake was coming for her, and again Kagome was forced to take a dive to avoid being captured by its fangs. This time though, she managed to throw herself in the direction of her supplies, catching her bow in her hands as she rolled trough to her feet. She smirked to herself as she pulled back to face the advancing snake. She knew that the low-level youkai would stand no chance against her now. Even without an arrow to string in her bow, she was more than well enough armed to face a creature of such low power levels.
As she turned back to the snake, she found it coiling back, preparing to strike once again. She was ready for it, waiting. All it needed to do was come within range of her strike and even the smallest amount of power she could infuse into her bow would be enough to bring it down. The moment came, the creature lashed out at her; and in response she swung hard the bow in her grasp.
One second, perhaps even less, would have been all that she needed to turn the youkai into glittering ash of purity and light. Only one second, and yet she would not be grated it. Before the weapon in her hands could come in contact with the snake, before she would be given the chance to turn it to harmless dust upon the wind; the creature was ripped into bloodied shreds of flesh which splattered out in every direction, covering her from head to toe in thick, sticky, sickening grime and guts and gore.
Kagome couldn't help but to take a moment to stare wide-eyed in shock and horror at the spot where the youkai once was, but soon her attention was diverted to her body which was currently dripping with putrid leavings from the snake.
"Alright," she bit out angrily, her eyes dark with rage as she allowed them to sweep over the little clearing. "Who's the wise-guy?"
When no answer was forthcoming from the deserted clearing, Kagome concentrated her energy into stretching out her sixth sense, searching without her eyes for the presence which had brought the snake to such a disgusting and not to mention messy end. It really didn't take very long for her to discover the very powerful presence. Whoever it was, they were keeping themselves concealed within the trees. And though Kagome wasn't all that thrilled about being watched, she wasn't about to hastily yell out that she knew that she was being watched and from where. She may be young, but she was far from stupid.
So, using her best acting abilities, Kagome shrugged her shoulders in indifference, slowly pulled herself to her feet and made her way over to her pack. She made a show of gathering her supplies from the ground, using it as a diversion to slip an arrow from her quiver. Once she had it in her hand, in a movement of such swiftness that she even surprised herself, Kagome strung the arrow into her bow and wheeled about to release a shot directly where she had felt the other presence.
Her arrow was immediately immersed in the brilliant hues of her powers, showering the clearing with waves of glittering light that fell from its path. The arrow ripped through the foliage at the edge of the clearing with ease, eventually becoming embedded deeply in a large tree several yards from where it had entered the bush.
"I don't know who's there!" She called out angrily. "But you better show yourself or else I will make sure my arrows purify your ass all the way to hell!"
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind ripped across Kagome exposed flesh. She shivered violently and tightened her grip on the bow in her hands...At least she would have tightened her grip on the bow if it was still in her hands. Her fingers closed around nothing. Her bow had been taken from her and she hadn't even seen any movement.
"A pretty toy, miko."
The deep, velvety voice from behind her had Kagome turning around in a startled daze. When she finally set eyes on the youkai that had relieved her of her weapon, she gasped in both fright and uncertainty. This youkai was powerful, far too powerful for her to try taking on alone; but he was also not…exclusively….her enemy. Though he had made attempts on her life in the past, he had not shown any special desire to see her dead. And then there was also the fact that he was Inuyasha's elder brother.
His hardened golden eyes locked on to hers, the ice covering them never revealing any hint of what he was thinking or planning and freezing her to her spot.
"Did you truly believe that such pathetic attempts would ever hold power against this Sesshomaru?"
"Sesshomaru?"
For a time, Kagome was lost in her irrational line of thought that went something along the lines of, 'Sesshomaru saved me? Wait a minute! Who said I needed saving! Though I would feel better if I had my bow back right about now. Then again, it's nice that he's holding onto that and not his sword. Though I'd have to say he looks very sexy when he's holding that sword and his energy is crackling around him making his hair dance in a wild storm and…Oh My God! Was I just checking out Sesshomaru??!! Did I hit my head? And what the hell is that thing on my nose?'
Kagome reached up distractedly to brush against her nose to remove the glob of…something…which had settled itself there. When her hand came in contact with the warm, sticky, mushy remains of the serpent youkai however, she was reminded in force what had brought her face-to-face with Sesshomaru.
"Sesshomaru!" she screamed at him, her hands balling at her sides into angered fists. "What the hell did you think you were doing??!! I was handling that snake just fine! There was no need for your interference!"
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed dangerously on the little miko before him. "Miko," his tone was thick with unforgiving ice, "What makes you believe the serpent was my intended target?"
"Oh please," she huffed in aggravation. "As if you, Mr. Killing Perfection himself, would miss a target. In fact, I can't even believe your ego would allow you to admit that you missed; even if you were lying."
"You accuse me of lying?"
"If the shoe fits."
Before she knew it, Kagome found herself caught firmly in Sesshomaru's vice-like grip. His fingers wrapped around her throat without mercy, suffocating and crushing at once. He had lifted her in the air, nothing supporting her but for his hand and her delicate throat that was giving out under such pressures.
"No human whore will ever show such disrespect to this Sesshomaru."
Kagome's eyes snapped up to meet with his, her fear replaced with righteous anger and indignation which mirrored in the deep cobalt of her eyes as they flashed dark in her fury. All around her the air sparked with currents of electricity that danced and surged with tremendous waves of pure power.
"This miko is no man's whore!" she choked out through her constrained vocal chords.
Sesshomaru lifted an eyebrow at the girl. The energy around him was becoming nearly annoying. Surely, it was not enough to cause any real harm to him; but still, it wasn't very good for his skin. Still, she had openly disrespected him one too many times for his liking and she was overdue for her punishment. That and, he really didn't like it when people tried to call him on his bluffs…even if they were slightly obvious.
Why was it that he could never keep his thoughts straight whenever this annoying human was around him? What was it about her that made him act so out of character? Because really, coming to the aid of damsels in distress really wasn't his thing. Actually, it was usually him that was causing the distress. So then why was it he had been compelled to strike out against the youkai that was attacking the little miko? She was his brother's wench for Kami's sake!
He was brought out of his thoughts when the weight he had been holding went limp in his hands. Wonderful, just bloody wonderful. The wench had managed to distract him so much that he had actually allowed her to pass out. He really needed to do something about her. If he didn't, and soon, he might end up missing another appendage, and with his arms coming in short supply these days, he wasn't very eager to find out what else he could be relieved of due to this troublesome girl.
Sesshomaru released Kagome, allowing her to fall uninhibitedly to the ground and land in a tangled heap of unconscious limbs. He scoffed slightly at the sight of her. How was it possible that she would take such offense to being called a whore when she dressed as she did? The girl was showing more skin than most men even see when in bed with their wives. He could see the soft rise and curve of her breast and even the deep valley formed between the bounteous mounds, and the swell of her hips was left completely bare, leaving only the tiny straps crossing across them; he could even see the soft rise beneath the delicate cloth where her…
Kagome awoke from blackness of her unconsciousness with a jerk, and Sesshomaru couldn't have been more grateful. His thoughts were definitely going into places they had no business being. At least when the girl was awake, her flapping mouth would remind him exactly why he had such distain for humans.
Kagome groaned as she slowly lifted herself from the ground. This was just not her day. Here she had been trying to get away from her problems, and instead, she got attacked by a youkai, doused in that demon's innards when another, even more powerful, youkai decided to pay her a visit, and now she was waking up from being knocked unconscious by that same powerful youkai just because his damn male ego couldn't handle the fact that she had called his bluff.
She sighed. She supposed she didn't really have to ask what brought up his comment about her promiscuity. Of course, she was pretty sure that he would never look at her body in a million years. In her mind, she could be standing stark naked in the middle of a field strewn with aphrodisiac flowers and all Sesshomaru would do was scoff in her general direction spouting out something along the lines of how her pathetic human presence was ruining how pretty he looked standing all regal and the such in the field of flowers.
That thought though gave the miko a little smile of amusement. She stood with renewed enthusiasm, the song of 'I'm too Sexy' running through her head. When she was finally on her feet and facing Sesshomaru again, she cleared her throat and began speaking.
"If it is not too much trouble for you, Sesshomaru-sama," she added the honorific to his name with just enough obstinacy to make his glare narrow on her in a most dangerous way, but she stubbornly ignored it and continued. "I am going to go and wash off all of this demon slime that you were so gracious as to cover me in."
With that, Kagome spun on her heel and started towards the water she had just emerged from. Of course though, she would not make it to the little pool just yet.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
You might have to forgive this Shadow if this story doesn't seem to flow properly. I set this fic up to run sort of like a 'Choose your own adventure' sort of thing on A single Spark, so it might not make all that much sense if you can't see the different options that were given to the readers there. Shrugs whatever, it's still a story, right?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except perhaps my overactive imagination that won't sit still long enough to get over one block before it decides that it needs to do something else.
