Time Will Crawl
Time will crawl
and our heads bowed down
Time will crawl – David Bowie
A day had passed since leaving his brother behind shouting profanities at his back. Once the witch retired back into her home the arguing had started again. Everyone had to share their opinion on how Kagome should be handled however Lady Mizuki had been clear, her instructions were to be followed to the letter no exceptions. Sesshomaru tired of all the bickering took his leave not saying a word, the miko began to follow to the shock of her friends. They had never seen her so docile for the past week. In the presence of Sesshomaru she had become a lamb instead of the raging demon in their company. Inuyasha reached out to catch her arm but she pulled away ignoring her friends.
It was slow going for Sesshomaru since the girl seemed to have one speed, which was as fast as a snail. Still she never wandered and kept only a short distance between them. Nothing like what his brother had said she'd been doing; such as running away. She did not even seem to take an interest in her surroundings, her only focus was on him. Sesshomaru began to feel so unsettled by the constant gaze on his back that he purposely tried to break her concentration by zig zagging their path through the trees. Still she kept up, slow but steady, climbing over fallen trunks, stepping from stone to stone across a meandering creak. All the while keeping her dead stare fixed on him, like an itch that could not be reached. He figured he should not complain about the pace since it was at least quite.
From behind him a sharp "oomph", the first sound besides screaming he had heard her make, caught his attention. When he turned around he saw her sitting on the ground next to the log he had just jumped over. She was rubbing her ankle, finally no longer paying attention to him. Sesshomaru waited for her to stand until his patience grew thin. With a huff he marched over to her side and roughly pulled her up by the wrist. Kagome hissed in pain trying to pull her arm away but Sesshomaru held on.
"Are you hurt?" He asked trying to get a better look at her ankle. She responded by trying to pry his fingers off her wrist. Sesshomaru, trying to stop her wiggling, lifted her arm over her head so the sleeve of her dress fell exposing splotches of purple fading to a sickly yellow dotting her skin. A little disgusted he let go and noticed where he had held her were bright red lines where the skin was rubbed raw. He snatched the other arm and saw similar patterns blossoming. Suddenly he remembered at the witch's house the demon hunter had been carrying a rope. The perfect implement to keep a wandering woman from getting to far he mused.
"It would seem you caused your friends a bit of trouble." He said not expecting a reply. "Come along." Sesshomaru dropped her arm and started back on their journey to find Rin and Jacken. However this time he walked a little slower, taking care to choose the path more carefully.
Uh-Ah basked in the sun enjoying the noon light warming his scales. Their master was almost back, he could sense it, along with a strange presence. Oh well, he thought as he closed his eyes, the others would find out soon enough.
"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin was the first to see their lord appear on the edge of the clearing. A pristine figure among the tangle of the forest. She ran to great him but stopped short when she noticed something behind him.
"L-Lord Sesshomaru, what is the meaning of this?" Jacken, now caught up, also glimpsed the mysterious figure behind his master. It appeared to be some kind of malicious wraith no doubt there to cause harm. Quickly the little toad jumped into action making sure to shield Rin from harm. "Let me dispose of this monster for you sire!"
Jacken readied his staff but Sesshomaru placed a placating hand on Jacken's head.
"Jacken that is no monster that is Miss Kagome!" Rin stared quizzically at the young woman from behind Jacken's shoulder. "Although I think she's hurt…" Rin worried for her friend cautiously stepped closer to examine her.
"Sire why do you bring your brothers woman here? She is a menace!" It was worse than Jacken could imagine. An evil spirit he could deal with but a loud mouth demon killing Miko? Jacken quickly snatched Rin away before she could touch the low some creature.
"I agree she is bothersome. However I can keep in my company whomever I wish."
Jacken looked between the two confused why his lord would want such a brash woman in his company but he gulped back his misgivings when he saw this was not up for discussion. "How did your business with the witch go?" He tried to change the subject hoping for good news.
"She will help but first I owe her a favor. It seems the witch is worried for the girl's safety and as payment I am to make sure she stays alive until she can get her memories back."
"Does she know who she is dealing with?"
Sesshomaru made a gesture of silence before his lackey became too enraged, there was no point in the little toad getting worked up over matters already settled.
"Jacken, we will need a place to stay since we have acquired this burden. You and Rin will go ahead to prepare for my arrival. Go to the main house for supplies and tell the servants we will be staying in the North."
"Yes sir, I will leave right away."
"I'm not done." Sesshomaru grabbed his collar and pulled him back. "When supplies have been gathered leave towards the north but travel to the manor in the east."
"But sire…"
"I don't want anyone to know where the Miko is hiding. You have two days to get there before me. It better be presentable. "
"Of course sire." Jacken bobbed up and down accepting his master's orders.
Sesshomaru turned his attention to Rin, softening his expression as he pat her head. "I am counting on you to help the miko once we arrive at the manor. Have clothes prepared for her and anything else a young girl might need."
Rin, beamed with pride having been given such an important task. Not able to contain her excitement she scrambled up the back of Uh-Ah who immediately started to take off. Jacken had to run and catch his tail so he wouldn't be left behind.
With a giggle and a wave Rin called out "Master Sesshomaru! See you soon and take care of Miss Kagome."
When they were over the horizon Sesshomaru turned around to take another look at Kagome. What he saw was a disheveled waif of a creature with haunted eyes staring intently back at him. Take care of her. Everyone kept telling him that. What was so special about this child that everyone wanted to protect her? He sneered and turned away to look at the clearing.
"Well I guess we can make camp here for tonight since everything is already prepared."
Recently the lack of communication was becoming less endearing as the day went by and Sesshomaru found himself talking out loud to make their interactions less odd.
"Let's gather some more firewood." He took her arms and held them out palms up. When she tried to bring them back down he raised them again until she got the message to leave them there. They walked along the forest edge and he started putting branches in her arms. When she had a good bundle he picked up a log and led them back to the fire pit already made. Warm ashes from previous use smoldered in the pit giving off a nice inviting heat.
Sesshomaru placed the log on the ground and Kagome followed suit adding her sticks. Sitting down he crossed his arms in contemplation but not for long as Kagome suddenly sat next to him. He peered over to his side to see the miko, her posture a copy of his own. Not wanting to sit so close he moved a little so a bigger gap was between them. Immediate she scooted closer. Annoyed Sesshomaru let out a grunt and pushed the young girl away. Only he pushed a little harder than he meant to and she laid sprawled out on her side a look of confusion on her face.
"Don't give me that look, you started it." She rubbed her shoulder and shot him a mean glare. "Stay on your side and I'll stay on mine." When he got up she tried to follow but he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Stay." He shook his head in disbelief, it was like having a baby duck doting on him with the constant stares and the need to follow him everywhere. He pointed to her and back to the ground. Slowly she lowered herself down to the grass and began to sulk. Sesshomaru satisfied went to the other side of the fire to put as much distance between them.
Dusk fell, she gazed at him from the other side of the fire bathed in warm light while showing no sign of distress. Sesshomaru was not even sure he had seen her blink let alone shift to a new position. The real miko would have been a little uneasy sitting so close to the flames, he was sure of it because the memory of her burning room told him she never completely overcame her fear. Yet here she was sitting so close he worried her dress would catch on fire again.
Finally, after hours of mind-numbing silence, she took her eyes off him and started inspecting the ground. She meticulously picked at a blade of grass before tossing the pieces into the fire. Kagome's eyes lit up in wonder as the tiny sections immediately ignited in the flames sending sparks out around her.
Now it was Sesshomaru who could not keep his eyes off her, worried she was getting to close, unaware of the danger she was in. All he could think about was her hiding under the bed, the memory of the fear creeping into his chest. She held her hands out trying to catch the falling ashes as the flames licked out to touch her fingertips. In a flash Sesshomaru was up and yanked her away.
"No." He growled looking down at her.
Kagome shot back a defiant glare and fiercely pointed to his side of the pit. The two stood there with eyes locked before Sesshomaru began to ease up on his grip. When he sat back down she nodded her approval and took back up her seat as well.
Apparently this was going to be a long night testing Sesshomarus patience. He groaned at the thought of another three months of her childish nonsense. With no one to talk to he had to think of a way to pass the time. Going on patrol was out of the question since Kagome could not be trusted to take care of herself. Meditation was boring and Kagome was likely to get in his way if he tried practicing any fighting techniques. While mulling over ideas he felt a shift in his purse that brought him out of his thoughts. Checking on the contents he took the satchel with Kagomes memories out of his belt and fingered the worn leather. It was old and stained with the seams about to burst from having all her memories unceremoniously shoved into it. Sesshomaru began to wonder what it would be like to have your whole life erased and forced to start new. Without thinking he began to undo the draw strings while contemplating what kind of life she had led. What other memories where contained in the bag? Was it worth the side effects in order to absorb all the knowledge of another? Sesshomaru began to have visions of forcing the Witch to work for him, all his enemies' secrets belonging to him. Then he remembered himself; magic came with a price. Now that he had his senses back he looked at the bag disgusted realizing a spell had enthralled him to touch the glass balls. He'd have to find a safe hiding place for them to stop weaker creatures from trying to find the magical contents.
As he fumbled to put the bag back in his purse a slick surface touched his skin, then a bright light hit his vision blinding him to the world.
There he was in a sea of people with unfamiliar faces. He and his family had just moved back in with their grandfather and it was his first day of school. That morning was spent begging his mother to let him go by himself. Down the street, left at the fruit store, none of his other friends had their mother walk them.
He was waiting for something, why did he not cross the road? Just then a car zoomed by that caused him to jump back. Wait Sesshomaru thought, he did not know what a car was but when he searched his new found memories he saw they were dangerous transportation. When the sign said to cross he did with all the others waiting.
What manner of city was this? Houses were crammed together, in the distance larger buildings stood like mountain peaks. Steal and stone had over taken the land growing out of the ground like the mighty forest had once done. There were more people on this one sidewalk then there were in most villages. How did they eat? Where did they all live? He did not see any fields let alone a patch of grass suitable enough to grow a carrot.
Although the memory was calm Sesshomaru's emotions were not. This world was wrong and did not fit with what he knew.
He searched the recollection for a name, all he found was the word home. It dawned on him the priestess was from this alien world, explaining so many of her odd behaviors.
Sesshomaru ripped his eyes away from the unfamiliar city, in a dizzying panic he was back in the clearing, his vision filled with stars. It took him a moment to understand that was because he was flat on his back looking up at the night sky. His brain felt foggy as it tried to process all the new information now swimming in his aching skull.
Kagome suddenly came into view as she leaned over with a look of concern. Sesshomaru felt her fingers curl around his holding his hand tightly but all the strength had been drained from him. He did not have it in him to push her away or even shout.
"What are you?" Was all he managed to whisper.
