A/N: Long time no write...
Discussion With An Immortal
Kagome shifted in her bed, her hand reaching out to grab her blanket and shield her from the cold chill of the air. To her annoyance she met nothing but the hard floor, a surface which seemed more solid than that of the wood boards. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked in surprise as her vision was met with a strange sight.
A stone wall loomed at the far end of a small room which she found herself within, from which a heavy wooden door stood within a small crevice. A stub of a candle lay on her left, the flicker of the light her only source of comfort in the dank area. No windows nor any other area of escape could be seen, and she assumed she was a prisoner.
"Oh, my head" Kagome muttered as she slowly sat up, one of her hands reaching up to hold the said injured body part. "Where am I...?" she asked herself aloud, looking about and realizing she had been lying upon a wooden board placed upon the floor.
"You are within my castle once more" a voice suddenly spoke, startling her from her confused thoughts as her eyes shot to the dark corner off to her right.
Within the shadows she could barely see the outline of a man, their features hidden by the darkness. However, by his words and features, Kagome knew where she now sat. The monster had rescued her from the forest only to have taken her within his keep, to do with her however he pleased.
"Why did you rescue me?" she questioned, her suspicions of his honor rightly placed.
"You still have a use" he merely stated as he stepped into the light of the candle.
"Other than your spy?" Kagome sharply asked, her eyes growing hard as he made not a single sign of emotion across his face. "You are the reason for my exile, are you not?" she wondered aloud, though her accusation was broken as her head suddenly swam.
Kagome leant her back against the wall and groaned, her vision growing foggy as she could only hear the door to her room open. The sound of tiny footsteps reached her ears and she knew the young girl, Rin, had entered.
"Kagome-chan!" the girl cried as she rushed to her side and placed a plate of food upon the ground. "Are you feeling better yet, Kagome-chan?" she asked in a concerned tone, her small hands rapping around the young woman's in some comfort.
"A...a little, Rin" Kagome lied, hoping to sooth the girl's worries. The air around the girl seemed to exude her doubt, so the young servant squeezed her tiny fingers and smiled upon her shining face. "Just give me a little more time" she added as her vision cleared slightly and she was able to see her little friend nod her head in agreement.
"I brought Kagome-chan some food" she announced with pride as she released her hold and took the tray in her hand. "Here, it will help you get better" she encouraged as she placed the plate upon Kagome's lap.
"Rin" Sesshoumaru suddenly spoke, catching the young girl's total attention. "Leave us for a moment."
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama" Rin hesitantly replied, giving Kagome one last worried glimpse as she walked to the door and closed the heavy object behind herself.
After the footsteps of her tiny feet had disappeared from her hearing, Kagome looked with sad eyes upon her captor.
"I'm not going to live, am I?" she quietly asked, a few tears in her eyes as she sorrowfully smiled.
For a long moment the monster seemed to hesitate, his own orbs flickering with some indistinguishable emotion.
"No."
"You used me for my position in the manor, and now you're going to use me for my blood, right?" she presumed, receiving a silent affirmation for her question. "Have I...how long will it take?"
"My blood flows in your body" he slowly explained, his cold golden eyes looking down upon her with the same strange expression. "Your body will reject the blood in your veins within a few days, or I may kill you before then."
"And what have you decided to do?" she asked, turning her gaze away and looking to the flickering candle beside herself.
"Rin will never forgive me if I were to kill you now" he hesitantly admitted as Kagome noticed one of his hands clench in vexation.
"But you have already killed me" the young woman noted, shaking her head at her fate while the monster said nothing. "Though, strangely, I feel no hate toward you." She laughed a little at her odd words, not knowing quite what she was saying. "I feel only pity for such a creature as you to exist in this world."
Again silence reigned in the small makeshift cell as the two were left to their thoughts, one pondering her mortality and the other pondering his immortality. Finally the quiet was broken by the movement of the monster as he knelt in front of his captive and looked into her entranced gaze.
"But I was not always this 'creature' you know me as" he informed as Kagome seemed to become lost in his bewitching eyes.
Suddenly Kagome seemed to be transported to another world, another time. She found herself standing within a great hall with festive decorations and merry people walking, talking, and laughing amongst themselves. Within the center of the great room sat a noble king with long white hair, his bright eyes peering out upon his banquet with approval and gladness.
"My friends" he spoke as he suddenly stood and held a chalice to the audience. "A toast to a new beginning, as my son is soon to succeed my army as the new general."
Everyone cheered with glee as Kagome watched in utter amazement as Sesshoumaru, clothed in similar attire to the speaker, suddenly arose from his place beside the monarch. He merely bowed his approval and sat back down, a modest reply to a grand position. However, the young woman could feel an ominous presence among the crowd and her eyes fell upon a sour-looking young man who stood off from the groups of people.
He was dressed in an officer's uniform and appeared to be in high rank, though his features were young for one of his stature. Kagome could only guess he was quite versed in the art of war to have made such a high position at so young an age, but his looked were marred by the ugly expression within his eyes. She could see nothing but venom as he looked out upon the king and his young son.
The scene flashed forward to another night when Sesshoumaru stood in a hallway outside a large door, his face showing concern as he listened in to a loud conversation within the room.
"You have not the military discipline to take command" the voice of the king could be heard.
"Your son has barely more experience than I, yet you have chosen this child over myself?!" she heard an angered voice answer, one which she could only assume belonged to the officer from the previous evening.
"I will hear nothing more of this" the king spoke, evidently concluding the conversation.
"No, you will not, you old fool" the officer coldly answered as suddenly the sound of a scuffle could be heard.
"Father!" Sesshoumaru yelled as he barged into the room with Kagome close behind.
The young girl covered her mouth as before her stood a picture of murder as the king lay in a pool of his own blood, the officer standing above the corpse with a look of triumph upon his face.
"You will pay for this outrage" Sesshoumaru snarled as he unsheathed his sword and charged the officer.
"I think not" he cooly replied as he snatched up the king's sword from the puddle of blood and parried the young prince with his own. "You have forgotten not to trust your emotions, my dear prince" he spoke as he slashed Sesshoumaru's stomach open with one fell swoop, dropping the elegant royalty to his knees as blood spilled from his abdomen.
"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome screamed, but she could do nothing as her feet seemed rooted to the spot.
She could only watch as the scene unfolded.
"A fine end to such a pathetic family" the officer announced as he kicked the mortally wounded prince toward his father, all the while laughing at his triumph. "Perhaps you two should have a final time alone in this world" he noted as he threw down the king's sword, turning his back and exiting the room.
"F...father" Sesshoumaru murmured, one of his hands reaching out for his dead kin. However, his eyes suddenly grew cold as he noticed his own father's sword lying close by, the object of his undoing. He looked again at his beloved father, his eyes showing both regret and the flames of revenge. "Forgive me" he said as he suddenly dipped his hand into the puddle of blood beneath his kin.
Kagome then watched in horror as Sesshoumaru took the life liquid and carefully began to lick his hand clean of the blood. He coughed on the iron taste but did not stop as his features seemed to grow more pale, but his strength was gaining. Finally his eyes shut as his body appeared to be wracked with pain, both his hands digging into the stone floor as a scream of agony escaped his lips.
Then all fell silent and Kagome thought the blessed end had come, but her hopes were not to be. To her amazement and revulsion Sesshoumaru's body began to twitch, then his eyes suddenly snapped open. His orbs burnt with the golden glow she knew well while when he snarled his fangs were revealed. He slowly stood to his feet, uncertain like a child at first but growing in confidence as he looked down upon his father's body.
"I will bury you with honors, father" he promised as he turned toward the door, his eyes shamefully looking away. "But first I have revenge to seek" he informed as his gaze glowed with hatred and he rushed out the door.
The next images were as nothing Kagome had ever seen. She could hear the screams of the castle's inhabitants as the military, led by the traitorous officer, hacked down the loyal servants of the king. Loyalty was judged by who lived as a few switched to the winning sides in order to live while the faithful defended and died.
The night seemed victorious for the officer as he walked into the throne room, the chair his awaited prize as he brazenly sat upon the king's couch.
"A good life is the spoil which awaits me" he spoke to himself as he smiled widely. "And I will be immortally remembered on this throne."
However, his glee turned to confusion as suddenly the screams of his men reached his ears. Their cries of terror were repeated over and over again as the terrible noise grew closer, finishing outside the door to the room in which he sat. Then the sound suddenly ceased, though whether for ill or good he could not guess.
The great doors to the royal throne room burst open with great force as a dark shadow seemed to rush into the room, extinguishing the candles and causing the room to be thrown into darkness. The traitor looked about himself in fear as a figure stepped into the doorway, the tall frame dripping with the blood of his enemies as he slowly stepped toward the traitor.
"What is this?!" the officer cried out as he unsheathed his sword. "Who dares disturb my victory with loss?!"
"I dare, traitor" the figure answered, revealing his identity as he stepped into the light of the long windows upon the side of the room.
"B-but...but you are dead!" the officer cried out as Sesshoumaru smiled wickedly upon his coming victim, his fangs glistening in the moonlight. "I killed you with my own hands!"
"Death did not stop me" Sesshoumaru answered as he suddenly appeared before the traitor and grabbed his throat in his strong grasp. "Nor will life be given to you."
"I...I will not let you...kill me" the man rasped as his air was cut off from his lungs.
"I will not allow death to come to you, but neither will immortality be yours" the prince replied with a wicked smile upon his face. "More has been given to me then the power of strength, and you will pay with a curse of life with the coming of death." Mists of green power began to swirl about them both as he spoke, the man in his grasp writhing in agony as the clouds touched his body. "I will increase your life, and give you the knowledge that within two centuries you will die with only the taste of immortality upon your lips."
"You can't do this to me!" he screamed in agony as his features changed.
Kagome was once more shocked to look upon the officer as his physical appearance transformed his brownish short hair into a jet-black long mane, his eyes growing into dark orbs of hatred as his skin paled in the moonlight. He now held the appearance of her former master, Naraku.
"You must choose a new name for yourself, Onigumo" Sesshoumaru ordered as he flung the traitor to the floor. "One which will now suit your new life as a damned soul." The former prince looked out upon his ruined court, drenched in blood and piled high with bodies. "But I will not choose your title, nor will I allow you to remain within this hallowed hall."
A few scattered images replaced the scene as Kagome watched Sesshoumaru drop the newly changed traitor at the edge of the green forest, not yet overgrown with years of neglect.
"The woods you are barred from entering until a time comes when your death approaches" the prince informed as he turned his back upon the man's prone body. "Then I wish to see you die with my own eyes."
The scene ended and Kagome found herself back upon the floor of her cell, Sesshoumaru standing over her in quiet expectation. However, what the former prince did not expect was the young woman to suddenly burst into tears as the emotions built inside burst free, her sobs wracking her worn body as she held her face in her hands. The joyful banquet, the scene of murder and horrible resurrection, and the final confrontation; she could barely take the feelings which threatened to overwhelm herself.
"How?" she asked through her sobs as she shook her head in disbelief. "How could you survive alone all these years?"
She received no reply but silence, and expected nothing more, but she could feel a sense of deep sorrow emanating from the strange creature before herself. The former prince seemed unwilling to divulge more of his life to her ears, and she doubted she could handle more of the harrowing tale. The centuries were no doubt filled with the blood of many innocents...
"And what of Rin?" Kagome asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "How did she come?"
"An orphan I had found a few years ago alone in the woods" he slowly responded. "She was not afraid of me and would not leave my side, nor will she now."
"Will she...is she doomed like me?" the young woman asked, earning herself a flicker of anger from her captor.
"Rin will live her life as she wishes" Sesshoumaru sharply answered. "Though she has said many times she wishes to be with me forever" he added, his eyes weary with his years.
"Then why haven't you changed her?" Kagome softly asked, her eyes turning to his golden gaze.
"Because she does not know what she asks" he replied. "Immortality is not for the pure." His eyes then turned on her, their soft glow replaced with a less kind look as he reverted back to his former cold self. "But you have no such option before yourself."
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" the two suddenly heard Rin yell from the hall.
Sesshoumaru rushed through the closed door, blasting the timbers to pieces in his wake, and was in time to catch his ward as she flew into him.
"There are men coming, Sesshoumaru-sama!" she informed, pointing back from whence she had come. "They are coming through the woods with strange talismans upon their necks!"
Sesshoumaru snarled at her words and looked to where she had come, his eyes flashing in anger.
"Stay with Kagome, Rin" he ordered his ward as he gently but firmly pushed her into the room.
Kagome caught the little girl in her arms and they both watched as the monster lifted the remains of the door and slammed the wood into the frame. A few loose fragments of timber flew at them, but the way was barred from both those outside and the two inside.
"I will return shortly" Sesshoumaru informed as they could see his form disappear from the other side of the newly established door.
"Kagome-chan?" Rin asked quietly after a short moment, her brown eyes turning to the woman's in worry. "Will he be okay?"
"I think he will" Kagome tried to sooth as she set the small child upon her bent knees and hugged her close. "He has to be."