-1Threads Of Fate

By LadyShieru

Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 4: The Tower

Upon arriving back at camp, the ones that had been left behind received them with relieved expressions upon their faces. Both miko and daiyoukai walked slowly, drops of blood staining the ground as they crossed over to the nearest tree.

Jaken and the others asked the lord if he was alright, concern returning to their wide eyes at the sight of his blood-stained haori as the lord took seat under a robust tree. The imp swallowed, not daring to say anything while the children stormed towards the pair.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin cried, stopping a few steps from the daiyoukai to look up at him in worry.

Sesshomaru only reached out to pat her brown head and nodded his head, too dizzy to think up the right words to calm the child.

"He'll be ok, Rin." Kagome said reassuringly. "Shippo, how about you two go rest? We may have another long day tomorrow."

Shippo nodded in understanding, taking Rin's hand and tugging at it for the girl to follow him. "Come on, I'll tell you a story Kagome read to me a while ago. It'll help you fall asleep."

The little girl hesitated, eyeing the pale daiyoukai one last time before giving in to the kitsune's request. "Okay…"

Kagome, after seeing the children walk away, turned to Sesshomaru. Her hand made to grab for his now crimson haori but his hand shot up to stop her. He gripped at her wrist weakly.

"It is already healing." he told her quietly, looking down at her with a stoic stare.

Kagome frowned worriedly, her wrist tingling lightly at the unusual contact. "Are you sure?"

Sesshomaru nodded, the action making his vision swing. "My armor protected me. It may not look like it but it is not too deep."

The miko looked like she had doubts about his words but, being unable to say otherwise, she dropped her hand.

"You still don't look well…" she commented, biting her lip worriedly. "What happened back there?"

The daiyoukai released a soft sigh, leaning against the tree tiredly. "I cut its arm and black miasma came out of it. It drained my energies in an instant. " he explained uncomfortably, his eyes glazed with exhaustion. It was obvious most of his remaining strength was being used to mend the wound in his chest. "That is why I lost focus. Those filthy creatures have many tricks up their sleeves."

A flashback of Inuyasha going through one of the creatures without injuring it immediately crossed her mind and she frowned, suddenly confused. "But…when Inuyasha attacked them back then, his sword wouldn't cut them." she told him, the lord's eyes once more fell upon her face. Sesshomaru waited for her to explain. "Tetsusaiga went right through them without injuring them…" she murmured, her voice drenched with sadness at the memory.

"Is that so…" he responded with faint surprise. This brought his eyes down to Bakusaiga, and he released a soft 'Hnn' as he wondered what the difference had been. It was probably because his sword was stronger than Tetsusaiga or there could be many other reasons. He still didn't know much about the blade so it was difficult for him to tell.

Kagome watched him silently, suddenly feeling bad for him. She could tell he was frustrated by the fact that he did not know the enemy and that he couldn't sense them had nearly cost him his life. She sighed, resting her hand on his knee.

Sesshomaru seemed to tense, his head snapping to look at her, wincing lightly when his vision swam once more with the sudden motion.

"I'm sorry…" she said quietly, smiling faintly at him. " But I think you should just rest for now. We'll figure out what's going on when we get to our destination."

Too tired to protest, the daiyoukai nodded his head. He silently hoped the irritating feeling would soon leave his body. He despised showing any kind of weakness. Now that he thought about it, if it hadn't been for the miko, he would be in a much worse situation.

He watched her silently as she stood up and turned to walk away. His hand shot up, his fingers wrapping around her wrist. Kagome looked down at him in surprise.

"We are even now." He said, his emotionless voice matching his expressionless face. He did not look back at her when he released her from his grasp.

Kagome stared at him for a moment before it dawned on her. She nodded. "Yes, I know." And then she walked away.

The girl had been stronger than he had imagined, but he figured what made her this way had been the anger she had felt towards the creature. He had never seen her that enraged; her eyes reflected nothing but hatred towards the monster. Her voice also, it hadn't even sounded like her.

It was almost amusing.

He released another long sigh; the blood had finally stopped oozing from the wound as it scared. He decided it was time to get some sleep and promptly closed his eyes, quickly falling into a light sleep.

The next morning, oddly enough, she was the first one to wake up. The sun's rays filtered through the tree tops, making it seem as if the battle of last night hadn't happened at all.

She pushed herself up, stretching lazily. "Might as well go find something to eat." she murmured to herself and turned, her eyes falling upon the apparently still-slumbering daiyoukai. "One would think he would wake up before any of us…" she whispered quietly, so as not to disturb him, or the others, and began to take silent steps towards his still form.

When she stopped just a couple steps away from him she felt her breath leave her. Despite the blood-stained kimono and the broken armor, he looked gorgeous lying there. He appeared ethereal. His head was tilted to the side and she could see the markings arching above his eye lashes. His face, unlike the emotionless mask he always wore, appeared so peaceful in sleep that he almost seemed vulnerable.

The green grass around him shimmered with the morning dew, sparkling brightly under the sun's rays, making it all look magical. She felt the urge to touch him, if only to see if he was real but she shook her head.

Don't be stupid Kagome…this is Sesshomaru, a demon that can cut you to pieces with only a flick of his hand. Plus, he is Inuyasha's half-brother…you shouldn't even be looking at him like this.

She sighed and knelt beside him, cautiously reaching up to place her hand on his forehead gently to check on his temperature. She doubted full-fledged youkai could catch a fever but she figured she ought to check anyway.

His eyes snapped open and, before she could let out a yelp of surprise, he had her dangling in the air with his hand tightly clenched around her neck. Déjà vu?

"Do you still wish to die, human?" he asked her coldly.

Kagome gripped his wrist tightly, glaring heatedly back at him. "Put me down!" she snapped back, barely able to breathe. "I..I was just che-checking on you!"

"Hn." Was his response and she was surprised when he actually lowered her to the ground instead of dropping her.

She coughed, holding her neck and silently hoping she wouldn't have any new bruises to go with the ones she already had. "I see you've gotten your strength back…" she grumbled, looking at him with annoyance all across her face.

He looked down at himself, closing and opening his hand as if testing his body. "It appears that I have." He said calmly, as if nothing had happened. "The symptoms must have been temporary."

"It looks like it." she responded grumpily. "Anyway, I'm gunna go get something for breakfast."

She stomped off through the forest, grumbling about daiyoukais and their obsession with strangling humans. She felt relieved though, despite her anger. Kagome didn't know what they could have done if he had remained the way he was yesterday.

What happened had been really strange. She had always seen Sesshomaru in all his glory, ripping bodies apart and using his intimidating powers. She couldn't imagine someone like him would have their strength drained like that.

Kagome now wondered just how strong those beings were, to be able to take the energy out of a daiyoukai that powerful. Where had they come from and who created them? They were definitely not youkai, but neither were they human nor animal. They liked to lurk in the shadows and were nearly impossible to detect without youki.

She picked wild berries and what other edible foods she could find while her mind continued analyzing everything but finding nothing, except more questions. It just scared her that after all that struggle against Naraku they now found there were creatures stronger than the now-dead hanyou. She sighed. "If only I had my friends here with me…" she whispered, stopping to look down at the perfectly round blue berry between her slender fingers. Her chest felt so heavy, she thought her heart would be squished under the pressure. She felt so alone, even though she still had Shippo, she thought that wasn't enough to fill that void.

Now, she faced greater dangers and fears that were unknown to her. She had never been alone like this before and knowing that there wouldn't be anyone else to help her made her feel defenseless. She looked back in the direction of the camp and sighed again. "No, I'm not really alone," she murmured before making her way back, carrying the fruits with her.

"I see." The deep voice of a female echoed through the darkness.

The being kneeling before it looked up to see nothing but shadows, holding the remainder of its arm room was spacious, made of polished rock and covered mostly with darkness. There were two torches standing tall on each side of what looked to be a throne, their dim purple flames flickering ominously. Shadows stood in line next to each other on each side of the room, like black knights guarding their leader.

"There is a human girl traveling with him, too," the creature added, narrowing its glowing red eyes in anger. "She seems to be a miko."

"A miko traveling with a youkai?" The deep voice of their ruler exclaimed incredulously. "How unusual, but perhaps times have changed." The black female figure paused, tilted her head and smiled. "I still cannot understand one thing though…"

The kneeling shadow looked up at the figure hidden by darkness, its red eyes wide. "What m'lady?"

"Why were you not able to take the life of that dirty dog?" Her voice, the sharpness of it pinning the shadow to the ground. "Perhaps I was wrong at trusting you with this…special mission."

It swallowed, bowing its head in shame. "She was the reason why I could not kill him m'lady...that girl got in the way and she-"

"Your excuses are unnecessary." The woman interrupted, the soft tone of her voice hardening. "Regardless of that miko's interference, you still failed Kiryu."

"M'lady I can explain..! Please, give me another chance!" The shadow began to step back in fear, lifting its remaining hand up in front of him as if trying to protect itself. Then it exploded, not a single particle remained.

The woman finally stood, her long black kimono pooling upon her feet while a fanged, white smile appeared upon her dark face. "I will soon bathe in your blood, daiyoukai of the west."

Kagome looked down at the forest beneath them, as they walked along the small path circling the rocky mountain; Rin and Shippo, mounted on Ah Uhn, while Jaken pulled at the reins, guiding the beast through the tight passage. She walked a few steps ahead of them, following Sesshomaru closely.

The daiyoukai remained silent; he had not said a word since they had left camp. But then again, when had he ever been talkative? The only sound heard was Shippo and Rin contentedly talking to each other about random topics only children would come up with.

She remembered how much fun she and her friends had as they traveled. They always had something to talk about; from food to things of the future, the air was always filled with their laughter and, even though their lives were full of danger, everything seemed perfect.

Sesshomaru glanced at the miko over his shoulder. Something he knew far too well about her was that she liked to talk constantly. But he figured that perhaps, after losing her loved ones, she would change somewhat. Her eyes appeared distant, deep in thought as she walked almost automatically. He turned his head back to the road ahead. He had to admit , he still felt somewhat strange from the fight, his body was slightly numb. He narrowed his eyes, a silent promise that the next would die under his blade.

The squeal from behind him snapped him out of his reverie and he swiftly turned to find the miko losing her footing in the very edge of the cliff. His hand shot forward just in time to grab her wrist. She looked up at him with surprise in her eyes as he steadied her, quickly letting go of her as if he had been burned. "Pay attention." he told her with cold eyes, turning on his heel without sparing her another glance.

Kagome sighed, suddenly feeling stupid as her shaking limbs steadily calmed. "Sorry." she murmured, biting her lip and blushing faintly as she began to walk once more. She looked up at him. "How much longer?"

"We are here." he responded, his head tilting up to regard the tall building at the end of the road.

Kagome followed his eyes and took as step forward in awe. The old temple stood out proudly from the grey landscape of the mountain, as a white mist swirled around it like clouds. She had seen many places in her travels but never one like this one. It looked like something from a fantasy book.

"We're one step closer…" she whispered to herself, but she knew well that Sesshomaru had heard her.

And he had agreed.

Author's Note:

I want to thank everyone that has reviewed this story. The wonderful words you leave me help me with my inspiration. I love knowing what people think about my work ^^ so I encourage you to continue leaving me Reviews. Thank you again and until the next chapter!

Ja ne!