Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. All characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi
Kagome sat silently, enjoying the peaceful crackling of the fire. It was late, the chirping of the crickets quite loud in the stillness of the night. She fiddled idly with her bow laid haphazardly across her lap, her attention focused on some indiscernible point in the forest. Her eyes narrowed, the silence was too thick suddenly. Calmly she sought the two battling auras she'd been following for some time. One was fluctuating wildly, in serious pain. The other pulsed with anger overshadowing her senses from this distance whether the owner was hurt or not.
It was this second aura she actually followed, her pride not allowing a wrong to go unfixed. She had been following him for three days now, hoping to get a chance to approach him. These last two days, she never seemed to be getting any closer. Then, yesterday, he appeared to have found what he'd been searching for, if he had even been searching for anything. The battle had started at dawn. She didn't know who his opponent was, why they were fighting or who started the fight, but it had been a fierce battle and for better or worse, Kagome could feel that it was about to end.
What seemed like hours later Kagome heard a horrendous scream….and then nothing. Quickly she glanced at Shippo, who had awoken at the scream, then gathering her bag and bow and arrows, she and Shippo raced toward the distant pulse of victorious youki. She was so glad he was alive.
They ran for several minutes, not stopping, darting around trees and jumping over fallen logs. The closer they came to that aura, the weaker it seemed to become. She stopped in surprised shock, thinking that he was leaving already. She focused, but the aura staid still, which meant it was getting weaker because…
"No!" she screamed, and ran faster hoping to get there in time.
She was skidding to a stop before she knew it, and paused breathlessly as her eyes took in the carnage of the clearing. The ground was soaked in blood. The incredibly hot air was filled with the scent of burned flesh, with an undercurrent sickly sweet smell. Great chasms and craters littered the vast clearing. Everywhere she looked there was a fine coating of pale yellow dust which could only be remnants of the trees that once grew here, now so pulverized that none would ever grow here again. The entire place screamed to her senses of evil, and she knew she would need to purify this place before she left. She walked forward, slowly at first, and then she was sprinting across the broken ground until she found two corpses; the aura she had been following dissolving into almost nothing. She held her breath hoping she was wrong, but the arrival of her son confirmed her sad thoughts.
"He has no heartbeat Mamma. Sesshomaru is dead."
Kagome found that she couldn't breathe and she collapsed onto her knees before his broken body. He was so badly burned that he was unrecognizable except for his two swords Bakusaiga and Tenseiga. His hair was gone; in its place was blackened skin. His markings that he bore so proudly were invisible from the angry read burns that covered his face. His eyes looked to have been sealed shut from an immense heat which burned him so completely. One foot was charred so badly only half of it remained. Seeing such a proud, strong male brought to this state broke her heart, and silent tears trailed down her cheeks. She crawled over to his body, not even sparing the still dissolving corpse nearby a glance. Kneeling next to him, Kagome sent a desperate prayer to the kami, "Please…..let him live."
On the ground beside her, Tenseiga began to pulse in time with her heartbeat. Slowly, with hope blossoming in her heart, Kagome picked up the sword, stood on shaking knees, and watched as the pallbearers of the underworld appeared in her sight. With Tenseiga as her guide, Kagome swung the sword, watching with grim hope as the creatures vanished. A great light shone from the sword as Kagome watched, seeing it enfold Sesshomaru in its brilliance. As it faded away, the sound of weezing breath was heard, and the great daiyoukai's chest rose and fell. Gently laying the sword to the side with a heartfelt thank you, Kagome knelt again beside him, raised her hands above his chest, and spoke quietly to Shippo,
"You know what to do when I am finished. Be sure and have that first aid kit ready. And please put up an illusion to protect us."
Then she closed her eyes and cleared her mind, letting the light of her powers lead her where she needed to go.