Okay school is starting back up for me so I wanted to get another chapter out of the way before Monday. Anyway most of you want Rin and Shippo in this story so I'll add them in. Now on with the story!
Chapter 10
"Sesshoumaru, I know you're angry with me. However you will treat me with respect." Lord Yasahiro warned him.
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, but held his tongue. Sesshoumaru and the two lords had taken Yasahiro's carriage to Naraku's castle in the Northern Lands. They were going to see Kikyo after months of looking for Kagome. Sesshoumaru hated her and didn't try to mask it, especially after all that had happened. He could understand why Lord Yasahiro wanted so desperately to maintain a relationship with his oldest daughter, but he couldn't accept it.
'Maybe I should have killed her. Then at least Kagome would have never chased her.' Sesshoumaru thought absentmindedly.
Sesshoumaru thought back to a couple months prior. When Yasahiro had discovered that Kagome was gone the next day, he flew into a frenzy. Yasahiro, Inutaisho, and all of Yasahiro's most elite soldiers went searching for her. Her scent was weak, and the morning dew had washed it away even more, but Yasahiro picked up on it. He followed it to a clearing.
'Kagome and Kikyo's scents are here, but this is where Kagome's scent ends.' Yasahiro mused.
Trees had fallen and the nearby rocks had turned to rubble. Kagome's arrows dug into the ground, scattered around the clearing. Yasahiro could smell Kagome's blood and his heart raced.
'Had Kikyo fought Kagome here? It's obvious there was some sort of skirmish, but what happened?'
Yasahiro walked over to the edge where he heard water running. The water looked peaceful. Yasahiro sniffed the air and looked around. By a nearby tree he noticed a sleeve. Yasahiro recognized the colors of his family immediately. He walked up to the tattered sleeve and that's when he found the hand. It looked nearly petrified from the poison that was concentrated there. Despite the look and state, the hand was undoubtedly that of his youngest daughter.
Yasahiro erupted with rage, transforming into his dog form. He thrashed around in the forest until Inutaisho finally brought him down. For days Yasahiro just cried. He withdrew himself from everyone in the castle, ordering his food to be brought to his room. The servants kept their distance. Inutaisho refused to leave, afraid for friend and the Eastern Lands. If Yasahiro couldn't get it together, the Eastern Lands would be a target. On top of that Sesshoumaru was still bedridden, the poison leaving his body at a slow rate so Inutaisho wasn't going anywhere. Yasahiro's soldiers continued looking for any signs of Kagome, but no one could find a trace of her.
Sesshoumaru sighed. When Yasahiro recovered some of his mental strength, he demanded a carriage to be prepared to see Kikyo. Sesshoumaru assumed he was going to force her to say where Kagome was or take her back to the Eastern Lands. Instead he wanted to reconcile. His beast growled at the thought. The somber look on Yasahiro's face said it all as they made their way to Naraku's.
"Sesshoumaru, no one here is giving up on Kagome. You do need to realize though that I have an obligation to my people still. No one outside of the castle is aware that Kagome is gone, and I intend to keep it that way." Yasahiro spoke.
"What would it hurt to have your people search for their princess as well? After hearing what Naraku has done, they would surely rally around you. You would have their support should a war break out," stated Sesshoumaru quickly.
Inutaisho laid his hand on his son's shoulder. "Remember we just finished a war not too long ago. It isn't something we want to go back into so soon."
"I can't have anyone aware of the chaos that Naraku has brought upon my family. It makes the Eastern Lands look weak, and me an unfit ruler," Yasahiro continued with a grimace.
"When did you forsake yourself? You used to be so honor bound and now you would abandon your own child to save face?" Sesshoumaru spat out.
Yasahiro glared at the young dog prince, gritting his teeth. "You are not a lord yet so I don't expect you comprehend the vast responsibility your father and I have. You're also not a father so don't perceive that you care more than I!"
The carriage was silent, only the muffled sound of the horses' hooves hitting the dirt was heard. Sesshoumaru stared out the window.
'I can't believe this was the man I respected so. To think only a few months ago I wanted his acknowledgement as much as my own father's. He's just been a shell Kagome left though.'
Sesshoumaru opened the carriage door. "I will meet you at Naraku's castle. I need to take a walk."
Sesshoumaru jumped out of the carriage and cut through the woods. His blood was boiling and his beast was only adding to his anger. Normally he'd be much more rational in his approach, but lately he'd been short tempered, yelling like a child who couldn't have his way. When he awoke to find himself purged of the poison, Sesshoumaru discovered Kagome had gone missing. He was angry at Naraku, knowing it was somehow his doing. Sesshoumaru shook his head.
"No, Naraku was definitely a part of this mess, but Kagome left to save Kikyo. Kikyo, that little whore. I should have sensed something was amiss when she first came to my room."
Sesshoumaru's beast growled in agreement, flashing Yasahiro's face before his eyes. It was true Sesshoumaru was angry at Naraku, but he was furious towards Yasahiro. The demon lord had stopped searching for Kagome and spent his days cowering in his room. It was a disgrace. Sesshoumaru looked up at the sky. His beast was restless. He just wanted to kill something, anything would suffice. Sesshoumaru looked around, trying to sense an opponent. He found one pretty close to Naraku's castle. The dog demon drew his sword, Tokijin, and took off with a smirk.
"Help! Somebody, please help," screamed a young girl.
She looked to be around five years old, far too young to be out alone. The unknown girl was being chased by an ogre. It was red with putrid yellow eyes and a horn beside each ear.
'I'm surprised she was able to outrun him for so long, but I do suppose fear can give even the weakest creatures some strength.' Sesshoumaru thought.
Sesshoumaru jumped down from the tree he was on. He had been waiting for the beast. Hopefully ending his life would get some of Sesshoumaru's rage out. The girl saw Sesshoumaru and ran behind him.
"He's been chasing me! He won't stop no matter what."
Sesshoumaru ignored her, concentrating on the ogre before him. The ogre stopped running.
"Hey, give me the human girl and I'll let you live! You better do it; you don't want to piss me off."
Sesshoumaru stared at him a moment before walking towards him. He said nothing, irking the ogre.
"Didn't you hear me you bastard?"
Sesshoumaru jumped and sliced the ogre in half. He jumped back to avoid the blood splattering on him. The ogre's body fell, kicking up a bit of dust. Sesshoumaru cleaned the blade and sheathed his sword.
The young girl ran up to him excitedly. "Thank you! You're really strong!"
Sesshoumaru eyed her momentarily. He turned to walk away. The girl called out to him.
"Wait, I want to give you something."
Sesshoumaru turned to see the girl crouched over working on something. She stood up and walked over to him with her hands behind her back.
"For saving me," the girl said grinning.
In her hands, she held out a crown made of small yellow and white flowers. Sesshoumaru stared at the crown the girl expected him to wear. He thought back to when he first met Kagome.
'Do all little girls consider this a gift? I have too much pride to subject myself to such a foolish thing.'
Still he found himself reaching his hand out to take the girl's gift. She beamed. Sesshoumaru took in her appearance. She was barefoot with cuts and scratches all over her body. Her long black hair was wild around her face with a small ponytail jutted with the mass. She wore a red kosode, (basic Japanese robe) worn and dirty. Her brown eyes were fireflies, dancing as he accepted the crown and she smiled, showing off a missing baby tooth. She looked pathetic beyond belief, and yet when Sesshoumaru looked at her, a ghost of a smile threatened to appear.
"You should return to your village, girl, and have your parents see to your wounds."
Sesshoumaru turned and ran to the castle before the girl could respond. Inutaisho waited outside for him. His face was sullen. He spoke first as Sesshoumaru approached him.
"Remember to keep your wits about you, Sesshoumaru. I know how angry you are and it's for good reason."
Sesshoumaru nodded. His father looked at the flowers in Sesshoumaru's hand, but elected not to ask any questions.
"I wanted to make sure you were alright. I'm going to accompany Yasahiro now. He's still acting a bit strange."
Naraku walked out and Inutaisho walked past him. Sesshoumaru scowled. Naraku held out his right hand for a hand shake. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, balling up his fist around the flower crown.
Naraku smiled innocently. "My apologies, Prince Sesshoumaru, I didn't realize you left arm never grew back. I assumed you dogs had great restorative abilities."
Naraku switched hands and held out his left hand, but Sesshoumaru slapped it away.
"Where is Yasahiro? I don't wish to speak to scum like you." asked Sesshoumaru, glaring at Naraku.
"He's speaking with my mate. While they converse, I will provide you with some entertainment. It's my way of making amends for that nasty little incident we had, Sesshoumaru." Naraku said unfazed by the demon's glare.
Against his better judgment, Sesshoumaru discarded the flower crown and followed Naraku inside.
His father told him to play nice, but it was hard not to separate Naraku's head from his body as he showed Sesshoumaru around. He made small talk like they were friends and Sesshoumaru couldn't understand the purpose for his attitude.
'Surely, he doesn't think I'll let my guard down around him.'
Naraku took him underground to what looked like holding cells for prisoners. Moss grew around the edges of the walls, illuminated by candlelight. There were women in every cell, wearing ragged clothing that left nothing to the imagination. The women had gaunt faces matching a skeletal body. Some shrank away from the light, in hopes to obscure themselves from Naraku. Others pressed themselves against the cell bars, hoping to entice the spider demon to let them out. Naraku ignored them all until he arrived at a cell with a young woman. She looked healthier than the others. She had light green skin with big blue eyes and short brown hair. Her skin in certain places seemed to resemble scales or something close to that. Sesshoumaru didn't know if she was exactly beautiful, but certainly exotic. Naraku opened her cell and pulled her from her knees.
"This is my favorite little toy," Naraku explained, "Nawaki here is a chameleon demon with just the best little power. She has a form I know you'll appreciate, dear prince."
Naraku pushed Nawaki into Sesshoumaru. She clung to his arm with her head down. Sesshoumaru watched with mild interest as she transformed. Her hair lengthened and became a midnight black with a blue hue. Her skin morphed into a peach color. She let go Sesshoumaru and looked up. Nawaki pulled her clothes down, revealing his breasts.
"You can have me, Prince Sesshoumaru. I'll make you feel good." Nawaki whispered.
Sesshoumaru stepped back shocked and focused his attention on the male before him. "How did you do that?"
Naraku chuckled. "So I assume she does look like Kagome, judging from your reaction. I was the only one who was able to have fun with her before she died and that didn't seem fair to you. Why are you averting your eyes? Are you afraid to reveal your own arousal for her and show I'm not the only sick fuck in here?"
Sesshoumaru dug his poison coated claws through Naraku's chest. "She's not dead, but you will be."
His claws razored through Naraku's body, clumps of flesh falling in a pile on the floor. Sesshoumaru stopped and examined the body more closely. He frowned. It had been a puppet the entire time. Without a word, Sesshoumaru walked back toward the main rooms on the ground level of the castle. He could smell his father and Kikyo in a room close by. Yasahiro was there too, but he didn't sense Naraku anywhere now.
"Prince Sesshoumaru, it's a pleasure to see you again," said Kikyo stoically.
Sesshoumaru walked over to her. He towered over her petite body. "Where is he?"
Kikyo looked over him apathetically. "That's not how you ask a lady a question."
Sesshoumaru grabbed her throat, determined to snap her neck when his father yanked Kikyo from his grasp. Yasahiro jumped in front of Kikyo to protect her.
"Sesshoumaru, calm yourself! Kikyo was about to tell us the whereabouts of Kagome. She can't do that if you kill her."
The dog prince glowered at his father. 'He's always stopping me from doing what I want.'
Yasahiro laid his steel eyes on Sesshoumaru, silently daring him to try something like that again. Kikyo continued.
"The girl you two and my father adore so much is dead. You should have already known that."
Sesshoumaru growled. "You lying bitch. What have you done with her? I know she isn't dead."
Kikyo sneered, rubbing her sore throat. "Oh yeah? How are you so sure?"
Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed red, his beast gnawing in his head to break out. "I know."
Kikyo gave a light laugh at the revelation. "Your beast is just as delusional as you."
Inutaisho stood calmly, considering the news that had been given. Honestly this was what he expected Kikyo to say. What he hadn't expected what Kikyo's cold façade. Yasahiro turned to Kikyo, silently pleading her to say it was a lie. He gripped her shoulders firmly.
"Naraku isn't here, sweetheart. You can tell me the truth. I won't get angry. I'll protect you from Naraku. I know I haven't made the right choices, but please Kikyo, but don't say Kagome is gone."
At first, Kikyo looked remorseful, almost willing to say all she knew, but when her father mentioned Kagome, her face twisted in malice.
"I told her to leave twice, and she decided to ignore my pleas. She was a fool to challenge Naraku and she paid the ultimate price. She is dead. She was fatally wounded, poisoned, and she fell in a river. She couldn't have survived."
"She isn't dead-"Sesshoumaru countered.
"I watched her die! When she fell, her eyes were closed; she was already dead! She is the second person in my family that I've had to watch die and she is the cause for both deaths. She's brought me nothing but heartache, even now. Because she tried to be a hero, Naraku gives it to me even harder now. I must live with the pain alone and she is still loved! When will I be loved and longed for too? I tried to save her. I tried! Where is my love? You spent months searching for Kagome, but you always knew where I was. Why only now have you come when it's too late?" Kikyo touched her stomach.
Inutaisho looked at her shocked. "You mean you're already-?"
"Two months along now. Even now you have no sympathy for me." Kikyo stated coldly.
Yasahiro hugged her tightly. "Come with us. I'll accept you back, I'll even accept his child within you. You don't have to stay with him, Kikyo."
Sesshoumaru turned away and looked to see his father's reaction. Inutaisho looked sadly at the two. He locked eyes with Sesshoumaru.
"I believe it's best if my son and I wait for you in the carriage. We hope you will be joining as well, Kikyo."
Inutaisho walked out with Sesshoumaru, who hadn't spoken since Kikyo's outburst. The sun was setting soon. There looked to be only an hour or so of daylight left and Inutaisho hoped they would be heading back before night came.
"So Sesshoumaru, what is troubling you?" Inutaisho asked after too much silence had gone by.
Sesshoumaru told him of Naraku's antics, the demon woman shifting to Kagome and Naraku's words to him. Inutaisho listened giving a long sigh when his son finished.
"He really wants to start a war, it seems. He seems rather adamant in his actions though to make it seem that he is faultless, only defending himself from us. Why else would he provoke you and Yasahiro and then hide in the shadows?"
"I don't understand Lord Yasahiro, Father. Why would he welcome Kikyo back?"
"As a father, he feels that he's failed her. He has to show he loves her unconditionally because she doesn't see it. Also she is now his only daughter."
Sesshoumaru seethed. "Father, you believe Kagome is dead as well? It's obvious Kikyo was only saying that to get a rise out of us."
Inutaisho shook his head. "No, I think she was telling the truth. Her eyes changed from before. That's why Yasahiro wants to fix things. He saw it too."
Sesshoumaru turned his head. He knew everyone would stop looking for Kagome soon and then Naraku could do whatever he wanted to her. Sesshoumaru walked away from his father and towards the woods. He just wanted to think. Inutaisho watched him leave and stepped in the carriage. His son was stubborn and he would have to come to terms with all that's happened in his own way.
Sesshoumaru continued walking through the forest, listening to the birds sing as the orange hues in the sky darkened to blue. He kept his eyes alert, looking for any threats when he spotted someone lying on the ground. Whoever it was, their aura was nonthreatening. Still Sesshoumaru approached the person cautiously. He recognized the dull red kosode immediately and saw it was the same girl from earlier. She was still, lying face down in the dirt. Sesshoumaru sniffed the air lightly. She was dead.
"Why didn't she go back to her parents like I told her? How did she die when her injuries weren't serious?" Sesshoumaru pondered to himself.
He noticed a stab wound in her back and understood. He turned to leave, but paused when he felt his Tenseiga pulse. This piqued his interest. Tenseiga never willed him to save a life before and yet this human child was deemed worthy. He thought back to her gift and her trusting smile. Sesshoumaru took out Tenseiga and cut through the demons of the underworld that had gathered around the young girl. After a moment, the girl blinked and rose slowly wiping the dirt from her face.
"This is the second time I've had to save you. This time return to your family."
The girl locked eyes with Sesshoumaru and hugged his pant leg. She smiled brightly. Sesshoumaru frowned at the grass stains and dirt this child was getting on his white pants.
"You saved me again. Thank you!"
"How did you die?"
The girl lowered her gaze and her smiled faded. "Bandits. Villagers said my family was killed by bandits too, when they were away. They came for food after you left. I caught them and they chased me."
Sesshoumaru could only imagine the pain this little girl suffered just to run away with such a wound.
"Why did you run into the forest? Why not to a nearby village?"
The girl gave a small smile. "I was looking for you to help me and you found me."
"What's your name?"
The girl smiled even more. "Rin!"
"Rin." Sesshoumaru repeated.
The girl was odd. She had been dead only a few minutes ago and she thought nothing of it. She spoke of having villagers around her, but they obviously weren't watching her correctly. It was already dark and not one person had come to see about her.
"What is your name?" Rin asked earnestly.
"Sesshoumaru, Prince of the Western Lands."
Rin's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Wow a prince! Prince Sesshoumaru."
Rin bowed to him, grinning like a cat.
'Such a strange girl. She has a strong will though.'
His beast agreed. Something about Rin called to Sesshoumaru's protective side. He didn't know how a young human girl could survive much longer without help. He chuckled to himself. This was not the girl he intended on rescuing from the Southern Lands, but fate saw differently. He turned around to return to the carriage, calling out to Rin over his back.
"Come Rin."
Rin spun around and ran after the demon, sensing he was not a person who liked to repeat himself. "I'm coming, Master Sesshoumaru!"
I think this my longest chapter so far. I must say despite the fact that I hate Kikyo, I really kinda feel pity towards her, at least with the standpoint of no one coming to save her. When they do come, they only want to know where Kagome is. It's still Kikyo's fault, but at least she has more reason to harbor hatred. Anyway in the next chapter I will either show how Kagome and Shippo meet and show more advanced training or I will do a time skip and have Sesshoumaru reacquaint himself with kickass Kagome after four years. I can't decide. Well like always don't forget to favorite, follow and review! Let me know what you liked, didn't like, etc!