"Why does none of this look familiar?"
Kouga cracked an eye open to look over at his mate, who looked as confused as she sounded. Pushing himself up so he was propped on his hands, he tilted his head to the side. "You're seeing everything with new eyes, that's why. Relax, Kagome. You've been here before."
Frowning, she looked over her shoulder at Kouga, who looked the definition of relaxed the way he was lounging in the grass. They were at the border of the East and West, waiting for Sesshoumaru to show up. Kouga had sent his wolves out at first light, some with the orders to find Inuyasha and the rest, and a handful of others to find the Western Lord.
The wolves that were sent after Sesshoumaru had no issues with finding him, but they had yet to hear anything from the ones looking for Kagome's friends. The reason for hunting down Sesshoumaru was pretty simple as far as Kouga was concerned. His mate was still worried about the involvement of Naraku, and Sesshoumaru was as into the hunt for the spider as everyone else was. That, and the Inu Lord had this knack for finding his brother like no one else. If nothing else, Kouga figured he might be able to point them in the right direction.
Kagome, however, was having a hell of a time with the separation from her kit. She did alright with it until they crossed paths with a group of four of them. Ever since, it seemed to be all encompassing for her to find him. They had been waiting on Sesshoumaru for only a half hour, but every minute that ticked by you could literally see the tightening of her shoulders.
When the relative silence was shattered by the howl of a wolf, Kouga turned his head that direction with a nod. "The dog approaches."
Hearing his words, Kagome turned to face him, her arms loosely wrapped around her middle. There was hope in her eyes, but fear in her voice. "He really doesn't like me, Kouga. Are you sure this is a good idea?"
Standing, Kouga walked over to his mate, setting his hands on her hips while smiling at her. "The fluffy bastard doesn't like any human. He's actually not so bad as long as you don't piss him off. I think you'll be just fine."
Before Kagome could saw another word, a new voice sounded on the air. "Your animals are as crass as ever, Lord Kouga."
Kagome's eyes snapped to the pristinely kept western lord before going back to Kouga. "Lord?"
Kouga just shrugged. "I don't like titles." He then looked over at Sesshoumaru and smirked. "Well, they are animals. Can't expect miracles from them."
Face never changing, Sesshoumaru crossed his arms. "Hn." Shifting his eyes to the demoness in the Eastern Lord's arms, he quipped. "Miko. What have gotten yourself into this time?"
Kagome just dropped her eyes. "It wasn't my fault."
Sesshoumaru looked hard at her. "Nothing ever is, is it?" Seeing the girl flinch at his words, he returned his sights to Kouga. "You called me here for what reason, Lord Kouga?"
Looking back and forth between his mate and the Western Lord, Kouga frowned slightly, but answered the question. "We're looking for your brother."
A brow rose up Sesshoumaru's forehead. "That would be two of us. He hasn't been seen since Miko showed up on my lands yesterday, and quite human at the time."
Kagome swallowed hard. "That's why we need to find him and the others. Kikyo made a deal with Naraku to steal my powers."
Sesshoumaru pressed his lips together as he looked at the no longer human miko before him. "That damnable human. And, I take it she succeeded."
Kagome hated how his questions always sounded like statements. Still, she nodded and gave him the cliff note version of the last twenty-four hours, only succeeding in irritating the inu more with each word. By the time she was done, Sesshoumaru looked like he would take her head for what happened.
He thought about it, too. Eastern Lady or not, this was unacceptable. Scratching a claw between his closed eyes, Sesshoumaru clicked his tongue. "So, the dead Miko is once again alive, in full possession of both hers and your powers, yet no one seems to know where she's hiding. Inuyasha has vanished into what seems to be thin air. Your human friends are also missing, and the spider had a hand in all of this as well." Feeling a headache beginning to take hold, he sighed. "This is certainly a mess and proves why magic must not be used for personal gain."
Kagome frowned deep and spoke low. "What do we do?"
Kouga and Sesshoumaru looked at one another before Sesshoumaru spoke again. "Find out what spell took your power and figure out how to reverse it, or if it even can be any longer. The amount of Holy energy you once possessed would be far more than needed to kill you. It was enough to kill countless demons, of which you now are. Demons aren't meant to wield riki, and our bodies are not equipped to contain it. There is a very good likelihood, should the spell that took your power be reversed, it will kill you."
Kagome just blinked. "How do you know so much about Mikos?"
Sesshoumaru lifted a shoulder. "I have been alive a long time, my father longer than I. He once told stories of a time when demons and mikos lived together in peace. Then, as is so common with humans, darkness began to take hold of the pure hearted, and they began to steal the powers held by others. As the legend goes, The Kami did not take kindly to having their children slaughtered for selfish gain, and put into effect rules regarding their gifts. You cannot take without replacing, as what happened here. Being the reincarnation of the dead one, you would have been the easiest target because what you had was once hers. However, Rule of the Kami are infallible. She would still need to replace your riki with a comparable substitute."
Kagome nodded once. She had been raised to believe the Kami were not to be questioned, but in this sense, she had a lot of them. With a sigh, she dropped her arms. "Legends are lessons, right? Born from truth and not to be questioned."
Sesshoumaru nodded. "A teaching that transcends time itself."
Making a face, Kagome looked back and forth between the two male demons with her. "So, back the to the question of what do we do? If Kikyo worked with Naraku to get my power, is it really out of the realm of possibility for her to do so again to keep it?" She shook her head. "Jesus. Who the hell is the bigger enemy, here? Naraku, or is it actually Kikyo? At least when Naraku does something, it's right in front of you. His end game is known and he never misses a chance to reiterate for those that have no idea all the fucker wants to be a full blooded demon."
Once the gates opened on Kagome's thoughts on the matter, she couldn't close them again and just unloaded on the two demons with her.
"And, fucking Inuyasha is too up the bitch's ass to see it. She could literally come at him, from the front with a dagger aimed at his heart, and he would just stand there and let her stab him. This whole fucked up situation is their doing. Had he just let shit go, we wouldn't be in this mess. Had the two of them actually cared about each other like they said they did, Naraku wouldn't have had the power over them he did, and none of this would have happened. If she had not been such a selfish twat and just done her Kami given duty instead of trying to get out of it, the jewel would have been gotten rid of instead of passed on to me.
"This isn't even my fucking time! I have no business being here. I was ripped from my normal life and dragged down a well, into the past, and forced to do a lot of shit I was not equipped to do. And now, I more than likely can never go home and will probably never see my family again because some selfish whore couldn't just fucking die and stay dead."
Pausing and glaring at the two dumbstruck demons, she snapped. "So, yeah, I have to question who the fuck is really the enemy here. At least with Naraku, what you see is what you get."
When Sesshoumaru went to open his mouth again, Kouga cut him off by hold a hand up and glaring his direction. "Those..." When he was sure the dog was going to stay quiet, he turned his sights on his pissed off mate. "Are some very good points. But remember what I said last night. Time changes and the future isn't set yet. We can't change what already happened, but we can change what will. In your time, this already happened, but in this time, it hasn't. We'll figure it out, Kagome. I promise."
She growled at him. "You can't promise that."
He held up his hands. "I just did, and you need to calm down."
Kagome's eyes went wide. "Calm down? There is no calm down, here, Kouga."
Kouga gave her a slightly harder look. "There needs to be, or you're going to shift. Deep breaths, and settle down."
At the statement, Sesshoumaru looked at the younger lord. "I have known you nearly your whole life. How was I unaware you have two forms?"
Kouga never look his eyes off his mate, who was doing as he said and trying to calm down. "Because I can control my temper. Now, stop riling her up and trying to piss her off. Females in our true form are not easy to handle, and are really hard to stop." Glancing at the older demon, he added, "She did make a pretty valid point, though."
Sesshoumaru hummed in his throat, returning his attention to the female that was now crouched to the ground with her fingers in her hair, breathing deep and slow, and nodded. "She did. Still, the spider cannot be allowed to obtain the whole jewel, and now, neither can Inuyasha."
Kouga crossed his arms. "As long as I don't lose mine, neither one will. But, we both know it's only a matter of time before they are come for, since both of them know I have them."
Sesshoumaru crossed his arms again. "Is your mate in possession of the ones she had before the dead one took her riki?"
Kouga shook his head. "No. They were in her bag with the mutt."
"I assume you have your wolves searching for the hanyou."
Kouga nodded at that one. "Since daybreak, but it's a pretty big island, and there's a lot of ground to cover."
Sesshoumaru nodded. "Have you been to the village by the well?"
"That's our next stop, but that's a day run from here. She's still getting used to not being human."
Cocking a brow at the Eastern Lord, Sesshoumaru regarded him for a moment before turning his sights on the still angry demoness.
"Miko, while you have made some good points, you yourself are not without your own faults. It was you who released Inuyasha from the God's Tree. It was you who broke the jewel in the first place, was it not? Everything you have been through in the last four years is no one's doing but your own. Every life lost because of that jem is on you as well."
Horrified, Kouga lunged at Sesshoumaru, shoving him hard from behind, and making the inu stumble. "What the fuck are you doing?"
Glaring at the wolf, Sesshoumaru responded in his normally icy tone. "Pointing out other very good points. It's so easy to cast the blame on others, but the blame lies with her."
Snarling at the dog, Kouga snapped his fangs. "I'm going to kill you."
Sesshoumaru smirked as he looked to where the newly changed demoness was no longer at. "I'm certain you'll try. For now, however, you might want to keep your mate on course."
Also seeing his mate gone, and a trail of overly large foot prints where she just was, Kouga glared. "You're an asshole, Dog."
Sesshoumaru shrugged and turned away. "Maybe, but that makes my tactics very effective. I'll be in touch."
