Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha
The tachi crept silently through the desolate, burning hills leading up to Sesshomaru's fortress. The ground was scorched, the land littered with the blackened, smoldering trunks of trees where once stood an ancient forest. There were no sounds of wildlife, no birds chirping overhead or even the slight rustle of rodents scurrying across the ground. Nothing lived.
Kagome peeked at Sesshomaru behind her lashes. His face had hardened, his lips drawn tightly into a scowl. His aura thrashed around him angrily, effectively keeping everyone else at a good distance. All but Kagome.
She couldn't help but feel for him, the fury he must be struggling against. To think that such devastation could occur in such a small amount of time. The hum of the earth broke her heart and she bowed her head in reverence, respect and grief for the life ripped from the very ground.
As they came into view of the stronghold still a good distance ahead, the tachi came to a silent halt as they tried to process what they were seeing. Winged dragons, black as charcoal, speckled the darkening sky. Plumes of flame erupted occasionally, alighting the space around it to reveal the black shapes of the Karyu in their true forms, their bodies angled sharply and slightly distorted, their spines lined with treacherous-looking spikes.
Large mounds of earth had been gathered outside the gates, along with huge piles of wood Sesshomaru guessed the dragons had flown in from his lands. Lines of slaves poured in and out of the open gates, some gathering the fresh earth in wooden buckets while others were forced to carry great piles of wood.
Several platoons worth of the demons in their human forms marched about, carrying spears, swords, shields and whips as they forcefully ordered Sesshomaru's men and, to their outrage, women around. They lashed them with black, leather whips lined with sharp, curved blades on the end, poked them with spears, ushering them back in line, shoving ropes in their hands to lift great stones into a massive retaining wall to support the first and only outer wall that housed the gates. They were definitely expecting an attack.
The once white marble walls of the stronghold were scorched black and on various places at the top, one could make out large chunks of stone missing where a dragon had landed and then propelled itself away, its massive claws freeing the material with its ascent.
On the roof of the fortress lay a massive black dragon, surpassing exponentially all the others in size. His tremendous voice snarled an unintelligible command at the closest soldiers in front of him that shook the earth with its force.
Kikyo panted, her hands cleaving to her chest as if to protect her newborn heart. The sound awakened cold, terrible memories. A nervous sweat broke out across her forehead. She locked eyes with Kagome and with a slight nod of her head, her fears were confirmed.
The large, black dragon, Seiryu, thundered a devastating growl. "Faster!"
Kagome whimpered painfully, effectively gaining the others' attention once again. Her eyes closed as she steeled herself against her nerves. "We have to kill them all."
The shock of her words rang through the air. It was highly unlike Kagome to say something so direct and merciless and the resounding confusion was great.
Miroku suddenly shifted, the rings on his shakugo chiming softly and the sound invoked a feeling a tranquil peace and patience. Seeing he had everyone's attention, he spoke candidly to his friend.
"Lady Kagome, surely you do not mean all of them? What of Sesshomaru-sama's men, the innocent women and children?"
At this, all the effort she had put into training her face disappeared. Her voice broke as her eyes glassed over dangerously with moisture. "Can't you see, Miroku? They're already dead."
Heads snapped back to the scene, looking more carefully this time for the evidence of her claim. Now they could see the somewhat sluggish, robotic movements of the people, the way some of their heads were carried in a distorted way. They lumbered about the place in a strange daze, following orders like mindless zombies and marching together in an eerily synchronous fashion.
If one looked closer, as the demons in the group were capable, they could see the burns across their faces, their clothes blackened and scorched from fire, their flesh clawed open in places and still oozing black poison from various bites on their torso, arms and legs.
"Don't you get it?" Kagome's soft, feminine voice caught their attention again as they were pulled into the understanding of her words. "It's like Kagura's Dance of the Dead. They kill you and then...partially resurrect you. Only some of their soul is returned and it is with this consciousness that they cry for help." She shook her head, as if to dispel what was happening from her mind. Her gaze fell on Sesshomaru and he felt his heart clench when she looked at him with tears in her eyes.
Kikyo trembled involuntarily next to her mate at the sound and he placed an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. Shippo buried his face in the flesh of her neck, wishing for all the world that he could simply hide forever in her silver hair.
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed on the atrocious and tragic scene before him. Seiryu's magic was fiendish, to say the least. The souls' of his people suffering was something he could not bare and the sheer disrespect the Karyu had shown to their corpses was too much. He sprang from his position towards the fortress, intent on rending the slimy reptiles limb from limb for having the audacity to perform such heinous acts on his people, his land and to deliver the peace his subjects were begging for. He felt his control slipping with his rage at the thought of what they'd done to his ward and retainer as the red began to bleed into the amber of his eyes.
Inuyasha was right behind him, brandishing Tetsusaiga while Kikyo followed with Shippo on her shoulder. Kohaku swung his sickle chain while Kagome brought up the rear, using her powers to increase her speed as Kilala carried Miroku and Sango.
Sesshomaru drew Bakusaiga and unleashed a wave of green and yellow light aimed for the first cluster of slaves beginning to head in their direction. The light collided with their bodies and with a great hiss of satisfaction, flesh and clothing alike disintegrated into dust.
Kagome, likewise, was firing sacred arrows into the fray. Her blue energies purified on contact, releasing the fragmented souls from their temporary prisons of flesh and sending them back to the afterlife to become whole again.
As Sango's Hiraikotsu tore through another wave of them, Inuyasha unleashed the windscar, disintegrating the wave that was moving in behind the first.
The guards at the gate spotted them and gave the call that the Lord had come to take back his flock. Seiryu rose and gave a massive, earth shattering roar of outrage. His great, leathery wings spread out before him and began to flap, slowly taking him into the air with each heavy thrust and lift.
He barreled over the fortress and headed straight for Sesshomaru, a shadow of a nightmare against the darkening, twilight sky.
'So be it,' The taiyoukai thought to himself with resolve as he relinquished his control. His eyes bled a deep scarlet as his mouth elongated into one filled with fangs. His moko moko took to the air behind him as his body took the shape of his true form, a massive, white Inu that bore his markings. The ground shook beneath them as his enormous paws took their first steps onto the earth.
The dragon hissed tauntingly above him, revealing a set of grotesque looking fangs yellowed with the stains of blood.
Sesshomaru's chest rumbled low and threatening in response, a snarl lodged deep in his throat. The sound thundered furiously across the sky, trembling the ground beneath his paws. White fur bristled, standing on end imposingly while his lips were curled back thinly, revealing a line of dark purple gums, a set of immense, iron jaws filled with deadly sharp, colossal sized fangs and a mouth salivating with pure acid. It plopped in great heaps onto the ground, melting deep into the earth until an abysmal hole was all that remained of the area. He sat low on his haunches, poised and still as death. Small, dark green pupils encased in enormous, almond shaped eyes of blood red remained fixed on the approaching form of Seiryu, following his rhythmic movements up and down as the beast's wings propelled him forward.
Around them, the light of day was almost completely gone as the sun finally slipped completely below the horizon. The first stars began to twinkle against a pink canopy of sky, the last residual light of the sun's efforts that quickly faded to a deep royal purple and finally, a rich, midnight blue.
With a viscous, cacophonous snarl, Sesshomaru lunged his massive body in one, powerful thrust from the earth, his paws outstretched to take in his victim. With a great, calamitous crash, they collided against one another in a blur of barred teeth and gargantuan, acute claws, billowing waves of fire and expanding clouds of poisonous gas surging together in a symphony of shimmering black scales and immaculately white fur.
Graceful and disciplined but feral and calculating, each had significant advantages over the other given their contrasting inherited abilities.
For one, Sesshomaru in his full form was more than twice the dragon's size. Were it not for the creature's ability to fly, he would tower over him by several yards. His teeth and claws carried a poison the Karyu was in no way immune to. If he managed even a single bite or slash, he was doomed to die eventually anyway. But Sesshomaru had other ideas for the King of the Karyu, for the man he once claimed brother and a slow death by poison was not even close.
His speed was no match either, despite the encumbrance of his size, the taiyoukai knew he could out maneuver the fire dragon.
But Seiryu was not defenseless, either. His fire breath was the strongest of his kind, devastating everything even at a far range with a staggering diameter of flame. As strong as he was, Sesshomaru was not immune to fire and should he endure a direct hit, even he wasn't positive he would survive.
The dragon's hide was also incredibly thick and difficult to pierce. His blood carried a toxic poison but Sesshomaru was immune to all of them and his was devastatingly more potent in comparison.
Massive claws tore through the flesh of the creature's leathery wings, pinning him to the ground. Seiryu responded by clawing frantically with all four of his legs, serrated edged talons catching and ripping through the flesh and fur of Sesshomaru's stomach.
Sesshomaru endured, one paw lifting from his wing to his throat. Before he could step down and crush his neck, however, Seiryu took a quick breath and snarled fire into the face of his opponent.
While he was temporarily blinded, the dragon swept out from under the great Inu to release another wave of fire, cursing as Sesshomaru dodged it with ease, coming straight for him.
Meanwhile, Sango, Kilala and Miroku handled the dragons flying in the air with a combination of Hiraikotsu, his sutras and some strong demon repellent that acted as a great stunner.
Kohaku guarded Kagome and Kikyo from behind, allowing the women to focus and concentrate on their powers. As Kikyo fired her bow over and over, her aim immaculate, Kagome concentrated on sending large blasts of purifying energy at the organized demonic militia forming ranks in front of them. They were preparing for an assault!
"WINDSCAR!" Inuyasha's voice suddenly boomed and out of her peripheral, she saw him bring down the blade of Tetsusaiga with a practiced ease, the yellow light of the windscar tearing through nearly four ranks of the entire platoon.
'Well, there's one less problem,' she thought dryly.
The fortress itself suffered under the attack, the foundations trembling as the blow receded into the scattered dust in the air.
Their numbers were dwindling. Hardly any remained in the sky and what did were quickly being targeted by the monk and slayer.
On the ground, Kagome, Kikyo, Inuyasha, Kohaku and Shippo all unleashed attack after attack. They were pushing into the gates of the fortress, breaching the walls. The remaining soldiers had not the chance to close the gates and fight the intruders at the same time without their leader to give them orders.
There was a scream of pain from overhead and Kagome turned to see Hiraikotsu embed itself into the ground at her feet, glowing red hot like an ember. Her worried eyes found Kilala to see Miroku steadying Sango, who grimaced in pain with her arm held to her chest. The fire cat deftly dodged another wave of fire from the last dragon in the sky, nearly knocking both riders off her back in the tumble.
Sango hissed through clenched teeth at the pain engulfing her hand. Her Hiraikotsu had burned it when she caught it, having only just flown through a wall of flame. Miroku could not dispel his sutras and steady Sango at the same time.
The dragon lunged for them, hoping to swipe them clean out of the air with his massive claws.
Kagome freed her bow from her shoulder and threaded an arrow, pulling it tight until the wooden shaft grazed the tip of her ear. Taking aim, she charged it with her purifying power and released. The dragon gave an indomitable roar, its attention fixated on the fire neko. It did not sense the arrow coming until the sharp head had embedded itself into the leathery hide of the reptile's belly. With a brilliant flash of blue light, it turned to dust that disappeared on the wind.
Miroku beamed down at her. "I owe you one, Kagome!"
She grinned back sheepishly in response as Kilala descended. She was taking Sango's hand into her own the minute the fire cat's feet had touched the earth. An orb of white light surrounded the injured area and Sango sighed deeply with relief as the burn faded from her skin.
"Thank you, Kagome," she said as she hugged her friend gratefully. Kagome just smiled and turned to follow the others into the fortress.
Once inside the inner wall, they were faced with Sesshomaru's soldiers, moving to the orders given by the remaining dragons. They charged and the group proceeded to send their souls back to the after life, one swing at a time.
Kikyo was forced to use her claws, her Inu instinct taking over as so many began to assault them from the front. She tore into the approaching bodies with a ruthlessness she was not accustomed to but felt a grim satisfaction when they fell under the blows, knowing that she had saved their souls and her own recently-given life. Their bodies moved against them but their eyes held a desperation and shame that infuriated her. It was as if they were saying 'I'm sorry, I have no control. Please, kill me.'
Kohaku swung his chain, embedding the tip if his sickle in the neck of another fallen soldier and yanking it back, taking the head clean off. Kikyo stood next to him, snarling and sinking her claws into the closest opposing thing nearby while Inuyasha continued to brandish Tetsusaiga, decimating the remaining dragon forces. It was almost over.
Shippo followed Kohaku closely, careful not to get in the slayer's way and watching his back. Whenever the boy was threatened from behind, the kit would unleash a wave of foxfire. It was not enough to kill but it did buy the time needed for Kohaku or someone else to take it out before it did any damage.
Kagome had just taken out a good twenty with a well placed blow from her staff when she suddenly tripped over the stone pieces of a large, clay vase that had shattered on the floor of the courtyard. She could tell they had been painted ornately and bent to pick one of the fragments up.
"Rin." The name fell from her lips with a quiet wonder as flashes of memory passed over her sight. Rin's voice, laughing. Rin's hands, holding the vase. "Flowers," she muttered softly, her eyes unfocused.
"What?" Sango called worriedly. "Kagome-chan?" She made to step towards her friend in concern but was halted by a soft hand settling around the crook of her elbow.
"Wait," the monk whispered, his violet eyes trained on his friend curiously.
Kagome's eyes remained unfocused, staring off into space. Her lips moved slightly, the sound of her words soft and barely understood. "They had always been her favorite. This vase was her favorite. This was the vase she was holding when they came."
Inuyasha and Kikyo, flanked by Kohaku and Shippo protected the three in the middle.
The vase was falling. Tumbling through the air. Time meant nothing. The wake of the storm was silent. And then...
Her eyes opened and the monk beside her inhaled sharply at the glowing blue that shone in them. His holy training recognized the vision for what it was and he told Sango quickly not to interfere. They flanked her, protecting her from any oncoming enemies.
She saw the young, innocent child housed in a dank, wet cell, her body curled into the corner frightfully. Her clothing was torn in several places and she was dirty all over. Even her black hair had streaks of dirt running through it.
Before her stood another Karyu, whose scorched fingers were quickly untying the obi at his waist and leering down at her in a condescending manner. He had long, jet black hair, pale skin and a pair of shining black eyes like obsidian.
His horai and hakama disposed of, he stood before her bare skinned and knelt, forcefully pulling the knot at her waist open. When her tiny hands made to fight him off, he back handed her hard into the opposing wall. The side of her head crashed against the stone with a sickening crack.
She ceased fighting, then, muttering a soft word that made the Karyu darkly laugh his amusement.
"Sesshomaru isn't coming for you, little one," he crooned as he parted her knees, placing his large manhood at her entrance. Her head fell over to the side, revealing a large spot of blood beginning to drip down the side of her face. "No one is."
He embedded himself to the hilt in her waiting sheath. Her high pitched screams filled the cell, full of pain, fright and broken modesty.
He began to thrust, panting as his member breached her tight opening. As he felt himself fully seated inside her at the end of every stroke, he released his seed.
The child was fertile and with the fortress coming down around their ears, this may be his last chance to sire an heir.
When Kagome came to, she was still screaming the child's name and fisting a shard of the vase in her hand so hard her palms were bleeding.
Outrage. Fury. The goddess in her threw back her head and moaned, a strained, longing sound that spoke of the deepest grief, fury and mourning. Her voice stretched out to the ears of all those living in the fortress and it struck their hearts with the feeling conveyed behind it.
The wind howled its misery, filling the space around her. The ground beneath her feet trembled in outrage. The sky thundered threateningly, the sound rolling above them and into the distance. The temperature of the air suddenly rose, fed by heat coming from the ground as the humidity thickened, making everything seem heavier, suddenly.
Kagome felt her mind slipping, succumbing to the wonderful darkness that beckoned her. Since she had connected with the earth, she had merged with the Mother of creation, became one with the innocence of the Maiden and with that came the manipulation of elements, the love and trust she held for the world. But there was another side of this realm that she had resisted, avoided and it called to her, invoked her and it was with this moment that she would finally embrace the last element that would complete her form, the darkness that called to her with the sparkling luster of mystery.
The aging, wise form of the Crone loomed before her and she felt her heart clench with the sorrow she would know. Still, she felt a respect and love in this creature she could not deny and fell trustingly into her waiting arms.
The pain harvested by generation after generation of grieving mothers that lost their children to war, famine, disease and slavery filled her heart, delivering a clawing ache of excruciating delirium. She was the widow living in solitude, content to wait for death rather than make an attempt at living. She was the daughter, raised into slavery and rape, dying in childbirth at such a young, tender age, her heart filled with the injustice and sorrow of the world.
She was the guardian of the household, protector of everything newly born, mother of the craft. She wept openly, tears of blood staining her cheeks. The others looked on in shock, helpless to stop the vision that fell before their friend's eyes.
She felt the black energies take hold of her life force, freezing it in time and place. The sensation forced the breath out of her lungs. The flesh of her skin paled to a while luminescence, hardening. Her insides suddenly felt frozen over. Black tresses lengthened to the back of her knees, the color shifting to that of a dark, rich blue that caught the light supplied in silver reflections.
On her forehead, the mark of the Wheel of Rebirth appeared in dainty, black lines. It looked like a tiny circle housing a cris-crossed star, settling right on the top, middle portion of her brow.
Sesshomaru felt the tremor that passed through the earth, heard the agonizing, outraged cry torn from Kagome's throat. Amber eyes narrowed in her direction at the sound, knowing something terrible had happened but the distraction only served to give Seiryu an opening. Instead of fire, a large orb of thrashing, orange light grew in his mouth. He expelled it forcefully with a great booming sound, like that of a cannon and Sesshomaru had to put all his concentration into dodging the blast.
Kagome seemed to rise in stature until she towered over all. Her once sapphire eyes were bright blue, glowing with an otherworldly luminescence, flames of topaz light swirling rapidly in cerulean depths. Long, wavy blue hair fanned around her knees, swathing her in darkness and contrasting her pale skin, making it glow with an otherworldly light.
The blade of her staff pointed at a slant towards the ground and she spun, swinging it in a swift, full circle around her. A line of blue power followed the blade's path, exploding as she completed the circle to fill the room with the bright, blue light of her power. The remaining dead souls were purified and the room fell quiet as Inuyasha and everyone else turned to see what was going on, having nothing else to fight.
Her fury trembled and the earth followed suit, channeling her feelings of anger. As she closed her eyes to calm herself, a line of bright blue remained to mark the top of her lids. Her heart reached out to Rin in her moment of need, placing her spirit at her side while at the same time, opening a link to Sesshomaru so he could hear and see what she did.
The Karyu, literally right in the middle of raping the girl, felt a draft of wind behind him. His head turned and he was so frightened by what he saw, he stumbled away from Rin, trying to regain his balance by catching himself clumsily on the bars of her cell.
Kagome lifted her arm and with a flick of her wrist, he was encased in a strong spiritual barrier, still naked.
Rin did not look at her savior. She remained curled into the adjacent wall, staring blankly at nothing in the stone facing her.
Without warning, one massive paw swiped hard, catching Seiryu across his reptilian face. Sesshomaru's claws ran deep into the dragon's skin, pumping his blood with a large dose of his poison as he raked them clear across his face.
Deciding to leave the wounded Karyu king until later, he then sprinted in the direction of his ward's scent.
Kagome's spirit form reached out to Rin and the little girl finally ran into the warmth of her light. With a brilliant flash of blue, Miroku and Sango gaped as the form of a disheveled Rin appeared in Kagome's arms. She clung to her neck, her tiny legs wrapped around her waist and a head of bloodied, black hair rested on her shoulder. There was another brilliant flash of white that left them blinking to regain their vision as Kagome healed the child of all her wounds.
Sesshomaru transformed into his human form to speed towards his ward. He crashed through the gates into the outer courtyard, his eyes falling on the form of Kagome on the ground, holding a tiny human child tight to her chest. The others had taken care of what appeared to be the remainder of the Karyu as only bodies littered the ground.
His legs propelled him forward, grateful for the swiftness with which they moved aside, until he knelt beside the pair. Kagome gave him a soft, pitying look, her own eyes filled with tears. His eyes quickly roamed over her new markings, her even paler skin, the blue-black of her hair and the sparkle of topaz and sapphire in her eyes that were also now lined in bright blue.
He knew the last step of her transformation and had known whatever initiated it would be terrible. He felt his heart clench in sympathy and respect to know that it had been her outrage at seeing Rin defiled.
Her cheery voice belied the pain he knew she was feeling. "Rin, honey, there's someone here that would love to see you."
The child stirred in her arms, her little hand coming up to move a strand of black hair out of her eyes shyly and tucking it behind her ear. Sesshomaru found the almond peaking at him through midnight black tresses.
"Sesshomaru...sama?" her little voiced asked tiredly, full of hurt.
He felt his heart break in his chest. "Rin," he called to her softly, his face full of concern, love and regret that he hadn't gotten to her sooner.
Kagome felt her body heave as the child sucked in a breath.
"Sesshomaru-sama!" she cried loudly, finally.
'Her first words,' Kagome thought with a lump in her throat as she watched the child open her arms in a silent question for him to pick her up with tears making tracks down her puffy cheeks.
His arms encircled his child, pulling her to his chest as her tiny face immediately hid in the white silk of his horai, sobbing her little broken heart out. She wailed, she cried openly and all the while she clung to him, desperately needing his support.
His hands stroked her hair affectionately. "Everything's alright now," he assured her softly and she nodded her head against him timidly. Placing a finger under her chin to guide her face up and look at him, he gave her the rare gift of a soft, loving smile. "This one will never let anything happen to Rin, his musume."
Chocolate eyes widened with astonishment before her face broke out in a bright, loving smile. Sesshomaru thought it felt like a ray of light shining directly into his heart. His daughter would smile again.
"Oyaji!" she cried, burying her face into his chest and sobbing again. Though this time, he was sure it was for a much better reason.
His eyes flickered to Kagome and in her loving, tear-filled gaze he felt gratitude rise in his gut on a level he had never thought possible. She had created this moment, he realized, by opening his mind and heart up to the world of emotions. By enabling him to know what they felt like on a deep, personal level, by sharing her own emotional experiences with him, he was able to detect and unlock feelings buried deep within his psyche. He would not have been capable of offering this comfort now to his ward if she had not done so.
For so long, he had thought the knowledge of such things was a foolish indulgence into weakness and could never be so important as to serve him convenience or wisdom.
Now, as he held his child in his arms, comforted by the scent of her proximity and the subsequent knowledge of her safety, he knew no other thing in his life could mean so much or be so important. With the walls of his stronghold falling around them, there was no time for anything other than his ability to comfort and console the heart of his frightened, traumatized child. His ability to do so held in the dainty, feminine hands of the woman sitting in front of him.
She rose suddenly and walked out into the middle of his courtyard. Her arms spread open wide to the fragmented souls that lingered on this plane. The sparkling orbs moved to hover around her as she called upon the winds of the underworld.
An icy draft began to pour into the stronghold from all directions, centered on Kagome's position. Sesshomaru wrapped Rin in his moko moko against the surge of wind, as Inuyasha held Kikyo against him while Miroku held Sango and Kohaku, Kilala and Shippo all huddled together.
The wind swirled around Kagome, sending her hair flying into the air around her as the orbs followed the swirling currents, gaining momentum as they spun round and round her form.
Her pale fingers reached out to stroke each one tenderly, as if to say goodbye. The speed of the winds intensified as Kagome rose her arms to the sky, the orbs were sent rocketing towards the stars in a brilliant pillar of light.
She continued to gaze at the heavens with her head fallen back, her face mourning their loss. Her cheeks sparkled with tears as the light around her slowly ebbed back into the soil at her feet and she closed her eyes to whisper a solemn prayer.
"River, o river, flow gently for me, such precious cargo you bear. Do you know somewhere they can live free? River, deliver them there..."
The orbs scattered about the horizon, twinkling as they settled into their new homes, glittering above the others as permanent reminders of their sacrifice in that realm.
The winds died as Kagome dropped to her knees before falling face forward into the charred ground below her.
AN: Reviews are my fuel