Inuyasha glared at Sesshoumaru the next morning. Sesshoumaru merely smirked at his little brother. Kiyota and Kagome both ate quietly. Kiyota was exhausted. Sesshoumaru had taken her three more times and the once that morning before they came to breakfast. The little blood stain on his collar showed where she'd bitten him only a half hour before.
"Okay, fine. The whole damn castle heard you all damn night long." Inuyasha said to him.
"We heard you too." Kiyota said with a yawn. Kagome yawned as well.
"I think its dangerous to my health to be three doors down from you. Every time you two finished, he rolled over and wanted more." Kagome said glaring at Inuyasha.
"Sounds familiar." Kiyota said looking at Sesshoumaru who yawned innocently as if he knew nothing of what she was talking about. A loud rap at the door brought the foursome's attention to the messenger standing there. Sesshoumaru glared at him before nodding for him to speak.
"My lord, I bring news from a village to the north from their priestess Mizuki." The messengers said. Kioyta's head snapped up hearing the old miko's name of her home village. She stood and went to the messenger taking the scroll from his hand. She read its contents before bolting out the door. She swiftly changed into her normal attire before running out the doors of the castle to the stable. A simple whistle summoned her horse who kept running as she grabbed his mane jumping to his back as he passed. The wolf snarled and ran after them.
Sesshoumaru grabbed the scroll from the ground reading its contents. A group of murderous bandits had heard of her absence and attacked the village. They had left many dead and injured in their wake. The old miko escaped with her life. She was sitting in the next village awaiting their protector. Sesshoumaru snarled. His guards had been killed in that village. He handed the scroll to Inuyasha as he marched straight to his chambers, dressed and leap from his balcony following the woman on horseback. Inuyasha and Kagome dressed then ran out the door after both Sesshoumaru and Kiyota.
Sesshoumaru lost track of the horse and rider. The black beast she rode was faster then he thought. He caught a brief flash of red and black as the horse jumped a fallen tree. The threesome raced through villages the wolf clearing a path before the thundering of hooves followed. Villagers stood aside watching their protector fly through their village. The old miko stood as Kiyota flew past her to the village that had been attacked. The wolf stopped and stood beside the miko panting hard. The silent command to stay and guard them coming from his mistress. The horse thundered forward.
The bandits sat around a fire cooking their afternoon meal when the thunder of horse hooves caught their ears. Their leader turned only to see a flash of metal. His head fell to the ground as Kiyota rode passed. Her horse slide to a stop rearing in the center of the village snorting. She snarled at the group of men holding their swords at the ready. She leap off her horse, smacking his rear sending him charging into the forest away from the battle. She waited for the first fool to attack.
She didn't wait long, two men rushed her, swords drawn. She sliced through one easily catching the other off the back swing dropping them both dead at her feet. She snarled at the other men, sounding entirely inhuman.
"You dare slaughter my villagers." She growled. The men began to shake but kept driving forward attacking her. Bodies were piling up around her as she dropped one after another of the bandits.
"You killed guards of the Western Lands as well." She growled. "It will not only be me you answer to."
Sesshoumaru landed beside her snarling at the men as if on command. The remained twenty men stepped back looking at the man before them. The Western Lord stood beside the village protector, just as angry, and even more deadily.
"Attend to the old miko." He said coldly. She snarled at him before lunging forward at three men in front of her. Sesshoumaru growled as he watched her make short work of two of them. The third however, pulled a dagger on her, sinking it deep into her side. She growled, throwing her sword around, his head falling to the ground.
"NOW! To the miko!" Sesshoumaru bellowed. She whistled summoning her horse. He appeared beside her. She wrapped a hand in his mane, pulling herself onto him. She brought him to Sesshoumaru's side leaning down kissing him lightly.
"Return to me safely." She said to him. He nodded touching her side. His eyes bled red at the sight of her blood. He smacked the horse's rear sending it thundering through the village. The bandits fear doubled at the exchange. They had not only brought out the village protector but had brought the wrath of the Western Lord. He looked to where his men had fallen. They sat on the ground, spears through their stomachs in front of a group of women and children. Sesshoumaru lost his fine control. Kiyota heard the howl of rage and screams. She didn't turn back, she knew what he was doing.
The horse came to a stop before the miko. Kiyota slide off his back looking at the old woman before her. She was covered in blood. She looked so weary.
"Lady Mizuki." She said softly.
"My Lady Kiyota, please, come inside. Allow me to tend that wound." The priestess said.
"Hai." She answered. The two mikos worked on her wound while Mizuki told her about what had happened.
"We offered their leader shelter unknowing of his true intentions. He was scouting to see if you had disappeared. He heard of Inuyasha's attack on you before. He thought you dead. I knew better when the guard of the Western Castle appeared. That is why I sent word to you there. They attacked at night. The guards did their best, taking as many with them as they could. I fled as soon as they dropped to the ground. They took so many lives my lady. I was powerless to stop them." The old miko said a tear in her eye.
"Mizuki don't do this to yourself. You got word to me, we got revenge on them. Their leader fell first by my hand." Kiyota said touching the old woman's arm. Sesshoumaru stalked into the hut looking down at the woman injured again. He growled at her, she snarled back at him. He sat down on the other side of the mikos. He was covered in blood.
"They are no more." Sesshoumaru said.
"I thank you my lord." The miko said to him. He nodded to her before looking over the wound in Kiyota's side.
"You are lucky." He said to her.
"I've been injured far worse." She said.
"Yes she has." The old miko said finishing wrapping the wound.
"Did Slayer return to his pack?" Kiyota asked. The old miko nodded.
"The moment you rode in, he slide off into the bushes. No doubt going to round them up and returning here like he always does, crafty old wolf." Mizuki answered. Kiyota nodded.
"That thing has a name?" Sesshoumaru asked. Kiyota glared at him.
"Does that dragon of yours have a name?" She countered. He nodded. "Of course my wolf and horse both have names." She snapped. Mizuki looked back and forth between the Lord of the land and her protector. She raised her eyebrow at Kiyota waiting for an answer like an impatient mother.
"He's... I'm sort of seeing him." Kiyota explained.
"Courting." Sesshoumaru corrected her.
"Okay he's courting me." Kiyota said rolling her eyes.
"I see. That isn't the last of those bandits. A few slipped off into the night after the attack to alert the main group to move in." Mizuki said.
"Figures." Kiyota said getting up. She restrapped her sword to her side and walked outside of the hut, Sesshoumaru on her heels. Inuyasha and Kagome appeared beside them.
"You are not going after them." Sesshoumaru growled at her.
"Don't test me baka dog." She growled. "These are my people. I will not allow anymore senseless death to happen. Inuyasha, you should go clear out Kaede's village and bring them to the furtherest village to the east. I want all of them there. These fools are going to try to sweep through and kill everyone in their path. I know this group." Kiyota said, bitterness in her voice. Inuyasha nodded bending for Kagome to climb on his back. He knew which group this was and why Kiyota was so intent on killing them off. The two disappeared to Kaede's village.
"Tell your guards to start moving people that way. Everyone. No one is to be left behind." Kiyota said. Sesshoumaru growled at her for giving him orders but complied knowing this was her territory he stood on. A whine from her left, signaled the return of Slayer and his pack. Kiyota looked over the pack of twenty wolves. Each wolf bowed to her. She bowed back showing them the respect they deserved.
"The pack has grown." She said softly. Slayer looked up at her almost nodding. A silver wolf walked from the ranks of the black and brown wolves standing off to Kiyota's other side. Kiyota went to her knee hugging the creature. "Lupo you don't need to be apart of this battle. I'm sure you have pups to care for." The wolf snarled at her. Kiyota put her hands up. "Slayer your mate is difficult." Slayer only snorted as if to say, 'You have no idea.'
Sesshoumaru returned to her side seeing the pack beside her. He raised his eyebrow at her.
"Is there a need for such a large pack?" He asked.
"They are very useful." Kiyota said pulling herself onto her horse. Sesshoumaru climbed up behind her, putting his arms around her waist. Kiyota looked to Slayer and with a nod the pack and its two alphas were off.
The horses hooves thundered into the village. Blood soaked the ground. Sesshoumaru had destroyed all the bandits. Kiyota set her horse aside and began collecting bodies. Sesshoumaru watched her, wondering what she was doing.
"Do we have time to bury them?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"They will not be buried. If you would, could you go gather large logs. I will burn them and spread their ashes through the village." She said. Sesshoumaru nodded. When he returned he found her beheading all the bandits. She stuck their heads on their swords placing them at the entry of the village to where the main group would enter.
"I never knew you to be cruel." Sesshoumaru said.
"I told you I was far from the saint you made me out to be. This is a great insult to this group. Believe me, it will make them sloppy." She said. The wolves were dragging bodies to the middle of the village, mindful of their teeth. Kiyota built up the huge bond fire and placed the bodies of her people on to it. She said good bye to each by name. Sesshoumaru saw the sadness in her eyes as the bodies burned.
"I should not have left them for so long." She said. A group of three wolves ran off in the direction of the main entrance. Sesshoumaru rasied his eyebrow at her.
"Scouts." She said. He nodded. Inuyasha and Kagome returned to them then. Inuyasha stood beside her watching the pile of bodies burn. He put his head down. Kagome offered her blessing to the souls to reach peace in the after life.
"Kagome, I want you to stay behind the pack and fire your arrows. They will protect you. Inuyasha, don't be too rash when you charge in. Sesshoumaru and I can handle the main force. NO ONE, touches their leader but me. Am I understood?" Kiyota asked.
"Yes." Inuyasha and Kagome both said.
"Sesshoumaru?" Kiyota said turning to him.
"Hai. The leader is yours huntress. But know if you are injured, I will kill who ever laid his filthy hands on you." Sesshoumaru said. Kiyota nodded. Slayer and Lupo stood at her sides softly growling. Kiyota nodded understanding what they were saying. A howl came from the north, then it was joined by a second, and then third. Kiyota mounted her horse.
"Kagome, back there." Kiyota pointed. Kagome moved to the place she was told to go. A group of 6 wolves standing before her. Kiyota answered the howl of the three scouts, followed in chorus by Lupo and Slayer. The horse snorted and side stepped, throwing his massive head. He pawed the ground, waiting for his command to jet forward. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha stood to either side of Kiyota with a wolf between them and the horse. The three scouts returned to the ranks whining and yelping their findings. Kiyota nodded.
"They're almost at the entrance." Kiyota said. "Kagome, hide in those trees there with the wolves. They will let you know when to come out. Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru." They nodded moving into the trees along with the pack. Slayer and Lupo stood their places beside their mistress. Slayer snarled as the sounded of people approaching came. Kiyota drew her sword waiting patiently.
"Baka woman is going to get herself killed." Sesshoumaru growled.
"Not if we do this right." Inuyasha said putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Just listen to her. She knows what she is doing. She has her reasons for challenging them so." Sesshoumaru nodded. It was easy for Inuyasha to say, it was not the woman he loved sitting on that wild black creature staring death in the face. He stopped himself. He loved her? Throwing it to the back of his mind, he promised himself he would deal with it later. It was not the time to get distracted.
"Who dares defile my dead?" A loud booming voice came from the entrance of the village. Kiyota gave the horse his command to move forward. He did, slowly. Kiyota came into view of the men. She looked at the man before her and snarled like one of her wolves.
"I did." She snapped. "You dared enter one of my villages and killed all those who lived here. Now you face my wrath." She growled.
"We thought you long dead huntress. Didn't that foolish hanyou kill you off?" The man said.
"Apparently not. As I said you baka man, you attacked what was mine. Now, you suffer my fury." She snarled.
"A woman and two wolves are going to stop me?" He asked. The laugh that left Kiyota's mouth startled even Sesshoumaru, it sounded so evil.
"Do you honestly believe I am that foolish? You are surrounded you bastard. One command and your men will be dropped to the ground. Just one." She said. "No more pointless blood shed. You want a fight, you and I, we fight." She said.
"I do not fight women." He answered.
"Afraid to be beaten by one? Your father begged for mercy at my Mother's hand." Kiyota snapped.
"I will not beg for your mercy. You are not my equal. You are a command whore Kiyota. Nothing more. You will learn your place like your whore of a mother did." The man growled. She looked at his horse then to him. The horse reared, depositing its rider on the ground running forward behind Kiyota.
"Unsaddle and bridle it, then turn the poor creature loose." Kiyota said. Inuyasha came from the trees and captured the horse doing as she asked. The horse ran off into the forest free.
"I forgot about that little talent of yours." The man on the ground said. Two snarls reached his ears as he drew his sword. "You have forgotten, I am your superior Kiyota. I will reteach you your place. Then you will return to the my own as my personal whore once again."
"You were never my superior Tora. Not once. I will never return to your home, to your bed." Kiyota answered dismounting her horse sending him away. The wolves hugged her hips keeping her with them. Sesshoumaru could take no more of this. He strode out of his place walking up behind her placing his hand on her shoulder. Kiyota gave him a sideways glance before returning her eyes to a shocked Tora before her.
"Not only have you brought forth my fury you baka fool, you've managed to anger the Western Lord." Kiyota said snapping her neck.
"And I will not let your misdeeds go unnoticed." Sesshoumaru's stoic voice came. The man known has Tora went to his knees bowing before the powerful taiyoukai before him.
"We have done you no wrong my lord." Tora said.
"Killing two of my best guards is no wrong? I think not. Calling my intended a whore, planning to make her such to low scum like yourself? You have made more then one misdeed." Sesshoumaru growled. "Enough of this conversation. Attack if you so believe you can."
Tora lunged forward only to be caught by Kiyota's sword. She threw him back with one movement. "Your fight is with me." She growled. Sesshoumaru moved around her to the group of men. He lashed his whip out dropping the first three rows of men. Inuyasha attacked from the back and the wolves from the sides. The men screamed in horror as some where torn apart, while others were just cut down. Tora watched in horror as his men dropped all around him. Kiyota glared at him from her place.
"You should never have come here you baka." She said to him. "All the men you've just lost, it could have been avoided." Tora snarled in fury launching himself forward attacking her again. Kiyota barely had time to deflect his sword. He almost impaled her on it. Her two wolves launched themselves forward going for his heels. A sharp 'no' called them off making them recoil and look at their mistress.
"He is mine." She growled. Slayer snarled back but turned and went for the group of men, making it a point he would kill something. Lupo followed him. Kiyota threw back Tora's sword again moving forward stabbing him in the shoulder. His arm hung uselessly at his side. His sword clattered to the ground.
"You wouldn't kill a defenseless man would you?" Tora asked, his good hand fingering the dagger in his pocket. Her sword lowered if only for a moment, but he took the opportunity. He moved forward, stabbing it into her chest. She hissed in pain and brought her sword up into his stomach dropping him to the ground. She used her foot and pushed him off her sword. He lay dead on the ground before her. She started to drop, only to be caught by the shoulder of her horse. She wrapped her hand into his mane, pulling herself up onto him.
"Quickly Thera... to the miko." She said. The horse snorted and flew across the battlefield that had been a village. He jumped over Sesshoumaru and the group. Kiyota's blood dripped onto Sesshoumaru as the horse flew over him. He saw her limp body on its large back. Looking back he saw the leader of the group, dead, but a sickening smile on his face. He's injured Kiyota badly. With a final crack of his whip, the rest of the men dropped to the ground. Sesshoumaru didn't wait for Inuyasha, he moved forward following the horse and rider. The wolves snarls and yelps were heard as they followed the scent of their mistresses blood back towards the villages.
Kiyota lost consciousness on the horse's back. She trusted him to get her to the village before she died. Mizuki looked up as the thundering of hooves approached. She saw the black horse charging forward with Kiyota slumped over his neck. The horse stopped, throwing his head prancing from side to side. Kiyota fell from his back onto the ground before Mizuki. She gasped for breath looking up at the old Miko.
"It is done." She said.
"We have to get that dagger out of your chest child." Mizuki said.
"Its too late for me. I'm going to die." Kiyota said. She could feel the life leaving her. Sesshoumaru scooped her up into his arms carrying her to where the miko pointed him. He watched as she closed her eyes.
"You will not die." Sesshoumaru growled.
"I already am mutt." She said.
"No." He answered. "I smell no scent of death on you. Only blood." He said. The miko nodded. Sesshoumaru wrapped his hand around the dagger's hilt pulling it from her chest. She didn't scream or yell. She grunted loudly from the pain. Blood gushed from the open wound on her chest. Sesshoumaru put his hand down on the it, putting pressure on it. Kiyota sucked in air from the pain.
Kagome and Inuyasha walked in to the hut. Kagome knelt beside the other priestess. Together they put their hands over her wound. Kaede joined them as well, lending her aide to the fallen woman. A pink light swirled around the wound as the two miko's concentrated on saving the woman's life. The wound began to close under Sesshoumaru's hand. The damage to her lung began to heal itself as well. Her breathing became easier as the power of the miko's healed her. Kagome fell back into Inuyasha's arms completely exhausted from healing the wound. The older miko stood a little shaky to get tea. Kaede sat back and observed. Sesshoumaru pulled Kiyota into his chest holding her sleeping form there.
"You will not leave this Sesshoumaru alone. I will not return to that empty abyss that was my life. Never alone again Kiyota. You will not leave me." He whispered to her.
"There you go making commands again." Kiyota's weak voice came muffled from his chest. The rare tear left Sesshoumaru's eye in utter relief.
"Thank Kami." He muttered pulling her closer.
"Okay, alive or not, I still need to breathe! Sesshoumaru!" Kiyota pelted him as hard as she could muster, which wasn't very hard at all. He released her a little bit allowing her to breath.
"You are never doing something so foolish again woman. NEVER. Do you hear this Sesshoumaru?" He asked.
"Hai, I hear that Sesshoumaru." She said mocking him. He growled softly at her. She chuckled at his empty threat before slipping back into sleep. Sighing Sesshoumaru laid back with her, resting himself. The wolves slowly filtered back into the forest. Slayer and Lupo also disappeared into the forests.
The morning light found Sesshoumaru and Kiyota curled into each other's arms sleeping peacefully. Sesshoumaru sighed contently. Kiyota woke and smiled softly seeing the white hair of her lover beside her.
"We have to take care of those bodies." Kiyota mumbled.
"It was taken care of." Sesshoumaru answered.
"Oh." Kiyota said cracking her neck. "I have to check the wolves."
"Gone back into the woods." Sesshoumaru said pulling her tighter to him. "Sleep." He said softly. His breathing evened back out as he slept. Kiyota sighed and ran her finger down the side of his face. She sighed, kissing his brow before allowing sleep to consume her again.
A/N: Alright so here are the first 6 chapters of this story. I kind of hit a road block with it. Not sure where to go from here, but I'm open to suggestions. As always thank you for the amazing reviews on all my stories. You kids rock! Okay.. so its 8:30am and I have yet to sleep... so -runs away to sleep-