No author's note today! ON WITH THE STORY! I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA!
Kagome clutched the length of her bow nervously, though the action seemed to draw Masami's attention to her. Even so she couldn't take her eyes off of Touga from where he stood at the front of the field directly across from the panther tribe that she remembered. The only thing that was different was Kagemaru, and that was because he was in a ningen form right now. His ningen form had long brown hair, sharp piercing yellow eyes, and two sharp fangs hanging over his bottom lip. If she could be honest he was average looking for a youkai. But the way that he was leering at her through the throng of youkai warriors between them was unsettling. "Not another one..." She groaned and half hid herself behind her designated protector.
"Worry not Kagome, this will all be over soon." Masami placated her though she still seemed irritated to have her there.
No sooner had Masami uttered those words then chaos had erupted across the battlefield. Twin swirls of youki had everyone on each side of the army dashing forward and locking blades. But what really drew her attention was the sight of her mate in his true form, with his jaws around the neck of Kagemaru in his real form.
"We should get up off of the ground Kagome. Come" Masami said getting her attention.
She went to her mother-in-law and allowed her to pull her up onto a youki cloud. Her eyes would not leave Touga though he looked to be handling himself just fine, in fact he seemed to have Kagemaru on the run already. So if that was the case, why would the panther tribe come here? It was obvious that their leader was not strong enough to defeat Touga, that was made apparent in seconds. And as she glanced down at the army below them she saw that Touga's army was cutting down the southern army with relative ease. Hell some of them were even calling out bets between enemies. So what was off? What was tugging at her telling her that something was off? A flower petal drifted by her face and she narrowed her eyes on it. Hadn't something like this happened before? She had no time to ponder it before the wind picked up around her, and Masami scattering a sea of cherry blossoms around them. "Shunran!" In all of the chaos she had not seen the four Panther Devas and now what she was forgetting was making complete sense. Though the fragrant cherry blossoms had no effect on her because the remains of her reiki purified the sickly substance. When the blossoms were purified completely she almost breathed easy for a moment, until it became apparent that the blossoms had bewitched several of her elite guards. Though they were inu and highly susceptible to scent, so she supposed that she shouldn't be surprised.
"Shit!"
She turned her head at Masami's angry curse just in time to see her lash out with a youki whip similar to Sesshomaru's. It cut through several of their attackers before the rest found a way around the attack and launched themselves at them.
In retaliation she raised her bow and notched an arrow on it taking aim at Shunran and firing at her. The arrow shot towards her containing much less power than it usually did, though it did its job by forcing her to drop the illusion and jump to safety. Victory was short lived because at that point the rest of the panther devas jumped in, minus Toran, and the battlefield quickly became a shower of fireballs, and lightning strikes courtesy of Karan, and Shuran.
Luckily Masami was very fast and she was able to either dodge of block most of the attacks, and what she couldn't she took onto her own body. All the while she was lashing out with her own power and pushing them back when the opportunity arose.
And despite her orders from her mate she couldn't help but to fire off an arrow every now and again to help force them back. Luckily enough the shockwave of reiki seemed to also wake the turned soldiers up from their illusion induced stupor so they quickly joined in the fight as well. The battlefield was so loud with the snarls of youkai that it was nearly defeaning even to her weak ningen ears. But she had to stay alert because Toran was still running about somewhere waiting to strike, though she had no idea why the panther devas were targeting her. Though she supposed that it didn't matter what their master wanted her for because he was quickly being ravaged by Touga, though her mate had sustained several deep injuries as well. Still the losing side was more than apparent. She was so deeply engrossed in watching him that she was jostled clean off of the youki cloud by a sharp impact. When she turned her eyes honed in on Toran who had locked claws with Masami, the latter of which was desperately trying to disengage and get to her. Not that she would have been fast enough because Shunran flickered up beside her and grabbed a hold of her roughly before her world went dark.
His jaws were clamped around the blasted panther's neck and they were breaking the bones in his neck. His death was seconds away, his life was seeping out of him in large wet droplets of blood. Yet he still struggled though it was in vain and both of them knew it. So with a resounding snarl he tightened his jaws and yanked tearing the panther's head clean off. A spray of blood shot from the gaping wound and coated his pristine white fur a dark sticky red. As the massive body of his foe fell to the dirt below he could not resist howling his victory for everyone to hear. The sound rang out for miles, haunting in both beauty, and meaning. For it was the howl of a warrior who had bested his enemy and was proud of it. A resounding chorus of snarls from his own army answered his and he turned fierce eyes to survey the remains of the Southern army. The battle had been easy..too easy. With a flash of youki he was back in ningen form and pushing his way through his army towards the back where his mother, and mate had been. He did not know why but he needed to make sure that she was safe, his beast demanded it.
As soon as he reached the place where he had last seen her his stomach dropped. His mother was laying on the ground bloodied, but still alive. He rushed to her side and assessed her wounds quickly while he cast his senses out to find his mate. "Mother what happened? Where is Kagome?"
"Those damn panther devas ran amok that is what happened! Then the red haired one took off with Kagome!" She hissed against the pain in her side where she sported a rather nasty gash. "Go and get her back already!" She snapped irate.
He turned to several of his men and barked out orders for his mother to be returned to the shiro. "The rest of you will come with me to recover the Western Lady!"
"Hai!" They all chorused before they quickly dispersed to do their different duties.
With Toran shielding it was difficult to find her, but with Tetsusaiga's help he was able to pick up a faint trace of Kagome's aura a fair distance away from them, and wasting no time he took to the air and shot off towards it. He cursed himself for allowing her to come with him! He should have made her stay behind where it was safe! If anything happened to her, or their pup he would never forgive himself for acquiescing to her demand.
A soft groan sounded through the dank confines of the dark space around her. "Wh-Where am I?" She tried to sit up only to gasp as a sharp pain raced through her midsection. What the hell had happened to her?
"Nice to see that you are awake miko." A familiar female voice sounded from right in front of her before the cave was lit up with fire, revealing the figure of Toran. Three other figures stood silently in the background as she stepped forward and knelt down in front of her. "I still cannot believe that the Inu no Taisho would take a ningen mate, let alone a miko... But with that little spawn growing inside of you, you are not much of a threat are you?" She mocked her while she caressed Kagome's face.
The touch sent her scurrying back against the cave wall behind her as her arms came up to cover her stomach instantly. "What the hell do you want from me? Your leader is dead so there was no point in doing this! You can't tell me that he planned to die just so that all of you could capture a weak ningen miko!" The words had barely escaped from her mouth when a resounding slap sounded a second before her face lit up with an intense stinging pain. She gasped and cupped her face where Toran had slapped her before turning a glare on the blue haired female. "Answer me! Why did you kidnap me!?"
"What is dead can always be revived miko." Toran answered her cryptically before she advanced on her again, claws lashing out to rake down her cheek.
She gritted her teeth against the need to scream, and instead opted to glare at her captor heatedly. "Whatever you hope to gain here will be for nothing... Touga will come and he will kill you."
With a snarl Toran reared back and backhanded her so hard that her weak ningen body buckled and slammed into the rock floor. "Silence ningen! You will be the one who will die here! Do you not see that all of this was planned?"
Kagome's eyes widened though she did not entirely comprehend Toran's words. They planned for Kagemaru to die? But what purpose would that serve? "That sounds stupid! Who would willingly allow themselves to die? What end would it serve?" She spat out while she pulled herself up from the ground and wiped the blood leaking down her lip. At this point she was just grateful that the pup didn't seem to be hurt thanks to her reiki.
"In ancient times when miko first started walking these lands youkai often used their power to raise the souls of their fallen kin. A miko is after all a symbol of life, and even those with destructive power such as yourself, can be used to restore life given the proper precautions."
Her blood ran cold and froze in her veins. They wanted to sap her power to revive Kagemaru? But Touga would just kill him again! "Even if this succeeds and Kagemaru is resurrected, he will simply be killed again by Touga. What will you do then?" Despite her strong tone she could not help but to clutch at her stomach more protectively.
At that point Karan stepped in in all of her fiery glory, and ruthless arrogance. "The Inu no Taisho will be of no consequence after we use your power to revive our master."
"What do you mean? You're not making any sense!" Her disbelieving statement was met with a swift punishment, and she whimpered when Karan singed her her arm, burning her chihaya in the process.
"Youki, and reiki are opposing forced miko." Toran deemed to answer her with great amusement. "That means that they clash against one another and drive each other to new heights of power. So by absorbing your power our master will become supremely powerful." She sniffed disdainfully and circled around Kagome. "It is fitting that that which should bring you happiness, is ultimately going to be the reason for your downfall. It is the existence of that child that makes you weak enough to succumb to the ritual."
She clutched even tighter to her stomach and bent her body over it as if it was a shield. If only she had listened when Masami told her that Touga could handle it! But how could she have known that this would happen? How could anyone have known that the panther king planned to die so that he could be revived by her power? In hindsight she should have known that it was possible after she witnessed him being revived through the skikon no tama, and by absorbing Karan, Shunran, and Shuran. A life for a life... "You will fail."
"No we will not. Everything we have done this day has been to see to the realization of our master's vision. He will be a supreme power before this day is done, and he will slay your dog."
Her eyes met Toran's icy blue with a defiant glare. "Touga will come for me!" She spat out even though she was terrified. He would come for her she knew that he would! She just prayed that he made it before they started draining the life from her and Inuyasha. She had to find a way to let him know where she was!
"It will serve to lead you to her should you ever become separated." Totosai's words from now long ago echoed in her mind.
"That's right he has Tetsusaiga! It will lead him right to us!" She cheered internally though she schooled her face so that it showed nothing. While she was focusing on that she diverted part of her awareness and sought out the familiar thrum of Tetsusaiga.
"Take her and prepare her for the ritual."
She could vaguely hear Toran order Shuran to take her, though she paid it no mind.
"Yes sister." A second later she was grabbed by the hair and dragged off somewhere. "Such a shame... You would make a great concubine."
A flash of anger surged through her but she quickly squashed it down so that she didn't lose concentration. She could feel it...the thrumming of Tetsusaiga. It was closer than she had expected though that was to be expected.
Her body collided with the floor again and she felt something snap before a searing pain lit up her chest. "Whoops sorry ningen..." Shuran's face appeared above her as he sneered down at her.
She ignored him and focused on reaching out with her reiki to connect herself to Tetsusaiga. It startled her how weak she was only a week into the pregnancy. Though instinctively she knew that her reiki was acting to protect Inuyasha from being purified, by shielding him, and though this weakened her phenomenally she couldn't bring herself to curse her power for leaving her when she needed it. If it protected him she was okay with dealing with the pain her body was experiencing.
Her clothes were ripped off of her body roughly, before she was shrugged into a pristine white garb.
Panic. She could feel panic from her mate resonating through her link with both him, and Tetsusaiga. It almost had her snapping back into the safety of her own mind, but she resisted the urge and instead focused on discerning the direction of his path. A sigh of relief escaped her when she deduced that he was in fact approaching her location rapidly. So when she was grabbed and dragged into another section of the cave she couldn't help but to smile a bit in relief.
Shuran dragged her into a part of the cave where the other panther devas were waiting, and he threw her into the center of a pentagram drawn in blood.
She cried out when her side was roughly jostled from the impact before her body came to a stop dead in the center of the symbol. When she regained herself and looked around she saw that each of the four panther devas had taken up stations at four of the star's points leaving the fifth point clear of all except a small piece of flesh. With a rueful smile she guessed that that was where Kagemaru reform, and if she had to guess she was laying in his blood. Maybe the cat was smarter than anyone had ever given him credit for.
"We need to move fast before the dog arrives!" Toran barked out. The others moved quickly pouring their youki into the blood symbol.
The blood started glowing a haunting red hue as their youki danced across the circle, blood chains shooting up from the ground and snaring her so that she was unable to move, or run. They dug into her arms, and legs making her bleed, though what was the most painful was when her reiki started being channeled through the chains. It started in the center of her chest, and it made a searing pain shoot through her lungs, and heart. Her mouth fell open in a silent scream of anguish, the likes of which she had never before experienced. It raced from her chest, to her head, and down through her arms and legs until she felt as though she was suffocating, and burning at a stake. Though she took solace in the fact that once it reached her abdomen the process seemed to slow down to a snail's pace. It did not diminish the pain at all, in fact it intensified despite the tenacity with which her reiki fought off the invading youki. It was protecting her pup as best it could, but if Touga didn't hurry up Inuyasha would die. She heard a distant explosion and she smiled wistfully. Maybe he had heard her.
"KAZE NO KIZU!" He cried out dispatching the lower level panthers that had rushed out from the caves to meet him, and his army. "Take care of the rest!" He shouted out to his men before he flew down into the cave opening closest to where Tetsusaiga was pulling him. He was in a frenzy at this point, as his mate's agony flooded through their bond making him cringe, and snarl in fury. For a ningen the pain would be unbearable, let alone for a newly pupped female. The stress alone could cause her to lose the pup, and with another snarl he pushed himself forward faster slashing through whatever enemy came between him, and his female.
The large swell of youki that he had sensed earlier fluctuated as something else battered against it, holding it at bay temporarily. He resisted the urge to grin despite the seriousness of the situation. Even in her weakened state Kagome was more than strong enough to give the panther devas a fight from hell.
A sharp piercing cry assaulted his ears making him see red.
"Mate dying! Do something!" His beast snarled out enraged.
He was not far off now he could feel it... Along with the reforming youki of an enemy that he had just killed. Everything made sense to him, from the battle that was far too easy, to the fact that the panther devas had not assisted their master during battle. They had been after Kagome so that they could use her power in a reviving ritual. It was rarely done as most miko were not strong enough to revive a youkai, let alone a Daiyoukai, but Kagome was more than strong enough. Not that they would succeed.
He rounded a corner and crashed face first into a rather impressive barrier. No doubt it was put up to buy time for the four of them, but he was in no mood to be slowed down, and with a powerful collision of his youki against it, the barrier buckled and fell. He wasted no time in dashing into the chambers sword raised to slash out at the first panther deva that got in his way. It just so happened that Toran was closest to him so with a thundering snarl he lashed out at her.
She barely managed to jump out of the way, though with the lapse in her judgement the spell faltered and broke. "Dammit! Take the miko and get the hell out of here!"
That caused him to immediately change the direction of his actions towards where Kagome was about to be scooped up by Shuran. With a snarl he shot forward and collided with the brute knocking him back through the rock wall, before assuming a defensive stance over his mate. She was hurt he could smell the blood gathering under her skin, and it took his rage to even greater heights. But before he could annihilate the bastards Toran sent a wave of frost at him that, while it would do no harm to him, would cause his mate to freeze to death. So he was forced to quickly turn and gather her up close to his body to keep her from freezing to death.
"Retreat for now!"
He heard Toran's sharp order along with the resounding footfalls as the four of them made their escape. His beast howled, and thrashed in rage, demanding that he go after them and kill them for hurting his mate, and pup. But he resisted and instead moved in the opposite direction to get Kagome out of the cold. He flew down the corridor, his feet barely touching the ground in his haste.
"Touga?"
"Wait until we are safely out of this cave system before speaking love." He answered her softly spoken question.
"Is Inuyasha going to be okay?" She persisted despite herself.
"Yes he will be fine." And he could not resist sighing in relief at the truth of his words. The pup's aura was just forming, but it still served to inform him of his state, and right now the aura was slightly unsettled, but not distressed. He honestly could not say the same for her, her aura was highly distressed, as well as pained. As soon as he took her home she would be on full bedrest until he deemed her healthy enough.
Several of her ribs were broken on the left side, alone with several nasty gashes courtesy of one of the panther's claws, a large burn along the length of her right arm completed the list of wounds she had sustained. He had not left her side since he had found her, though it seemed to be welcomed on her part. She clung to him and he let her without reprimand.
Right now she was sitting on his lap wrapped in his mokomoko. She played with the strands of his hair that fell over his shoulders to amuse herself, though her countenance was still somber, and tired. "Touga?"
"Yes?"
"Are we still going to go and see my mother?" She turned to him wincing at jostling her wounded ribs. "You did say that we could afterwards..."
"I did. Are you sure that you want to go see her when you are like this?" Though if he was being honest it did not bother him in the least. Her time did seem much safer than this one.
"Hmm after your mother leaves." And with that she started up with playing with his hair again by twisting it through her fingers. "Hey Touga?"
"Yes?" He answered smiling at her inquisitive nature despite himself.
"Are you going to be able to sense my heats from now on? Because I don't really want to be put into a situation like this again." Her hands roamed down to cup her still flat stomach protectively.
"Yes I will be able to sense them. Not that it matters because even if there is a surprise pregnancy you will not be going into battle while pupped ever again." He scowled while he waited for a protest from her.
"Trust me I don't want to." She shivered slumping further into mokomoko. "I think that I will just be a good little wife and wait at home for you from now on."
"Yes I think that would be wise." Silence fell over them for several moments and he just enjoyed it while she played with his hair, and mokomoko.
"Hey Touga?"
His eyes snapped open and flew down to her face. "Hm?"
"Nothing I was just checking to make sure you didn't fall asleep." She giggled when he glared down at her.
"You behave like a pup sometimes love." He chuckled while he carefully moved her to face him. "At least I can take comfort in the fact that our pups will have someone to keep them occupied."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Instead of answering her he opted to pull her to him more tightly, being careful not to put pressure on her left side of course. "I simply meant that you are well suited to being a mother."
"Sure..." She drawled mischievously while she leaned up and kissed his throat. "You just want to pawn the pup off on me at every opportunity you get don't you?"
"No I do not." He defended himself. "That being said I am the Inu no Taisho, and Lord of the Western Lands, and as such I am often times very busy. That means that the majority of the pup's time will be spent with you."
"Hold on just a second mister!" She huffed pulling back to point an accusing finger at him. "I won't let you just pawn them off on me all of the time! Children need a father that is there for them so you have to at least devote a couple hours a day to them! No negotiating!"
"I did not say that I would ignore them." He chastised her gently. She was already so attentive to needs that the pup did not even have yet. "I will not leave the rearing of our pups to you alone. I will set aside a certain amount of time every day to play with them, and bestow them with affection. You forget that I have done this before."
"Oh? And is that why Sesshomaru acts like a stick in the mud? I sweat that guys has never even had an affectionate thought towards anyone! So you couldn't have been too affectionate with him."
"I was actually quite affectionate with Sesshomaru when he was a pup, though Inukimi was raised with different morals than I. Those morals were passed onto Sesshomaru over the centuries, and eventually he adopted her way of seeing things. If I had had more time to spend with him when he was in his adolescence I believe that his behavior change could have been avoided, but as the Western Lord I could not fawn over him as he grew into an adult. In a way I am to blame, though Inukimi is also to blame." A frown crossed his features as the memories raced through his mind. From coddling Sesshomaru when he was a pup, to being too distant when he was a teenager, and finally to noticing for the first time that his son had become as cold as his mother. That day had been a harsh lesson that he had not been as attentive as he should have been. But it was not lack of affection as a pup that had turned Sesshomaru into a monster.
"Huh well after he meets Rin that should change... A little." Kagome trailed off thoughtfully. "I wonder what Sesshomaru will be like as a father?"
"Inus are affectionate with their pups even males. You would probably not believe it, but my father used to coddle me as a pup."
"Really?"
"Really. I used to sleep in his bed with him whenever I had nightmares, and my mother was not around." They were fond memories for him, memories of a time long since passed. His father had not been so warm in centuries, at least to anyone other than his mother.
"Well at least he was a good father to you." She yawned and laid her head onto his shoulder. "You'll be a doting papa too I'm sure of it." She muttered seconds before her breathing evened out in sleep.
He nuzzled her affectionately before he moved them to their futon to lay down on it. "I would do anything for you and our pups." And he would even if she did not ask for it. He loved their pup already, along with all of the pups that had yet to come.
R&R
