Ruby Red

Chapter 12

***Ruby Red***

Sweat dripped from his brow and made his body feel sticky in places he'd rather not consider having the ability to sweat at all. This battle was far different from any other he had engaged in previously.

He'd faced down the guns of this land; slow and inaccurate as they were, it was easy to stop their bullets with his whip. But these monstrous designs were relentless and spewed projectile after projectile almost as fast as he could move. The worst part was that the almost endless barrage was nearly deadly accurate.

The key to all of this was that it was almost endless, nearly accurate, but in the end it was not enough to defeat him. He would come out of this alive, but there were many here today that would not survive.

Unless they discovered a way to get close to those pale faced men that were controlling the machines, they would never be able to stop them. Even the archers had difficulty reaching their ranks with their long-ranged weapons since the armor that these humans carried were large metal shields.

Once he found a place out of the range of their projectiles, Sesshoumaru stood and watched their tactics once more. The machines were heavy and required many men to pull them through the land and at least three were needed to operate them. There was a disadvantage to that, but only if they were caught off guard before they had a chance to prepare the weapons. That was something no one had been able to do so far.

He squinted his eyes and watched as a tall white man walked side by side with a slightly familiar, shorter, Japanese man just behind the line of fire. They walked casually, leisurely, as though there was not mass bloodshed and murder taking place mere footsteps away from them.

The thought made him sick.

He searched the grounds for his troops and found his younger brother in a tree off to the left of the enemy's flanks, hiding much as he was now. Only his brother was directing several of his men with jerky gestures and hushed whispers. It made him wonder what exactly he was saying, but he would not give up his brother's position. The enemy's line was close enough to him that they might get caught in cross fire if they were to be revealed.

He stood still and watched with interest as the four demons conversing with Inuyasha suddenly took off in opposite directions, two to one side and two to the other. The two in front ran fast and hard, directing the attention of the left most of the enemy's flank to follow and fire at them.

They kept the humans engaged for several minutes and Sesshoumaru stood watching in curiosity for the other two to show up and reveal their plan. Not a moment later, one of the first two demons fell in front of the line of fire, the barrage having caught him in the leg. One mistake like that, just one minor slip, and the demon existed no longer. His body was filled with the metal and fire of their enemy in mere seconds.

His other soldier did not stop to watch, instead choosing to live by continuing to engage the other two machines in a deadly dance while the first machine stopped spitting its projectiles long enough for the wicked humans to celebrate taking down one of the more powerful of their adversaries. That would be their downfall.

In less than the blink of an eye, two of his soldiers were upon them, shredding and maiming their bodies in indescribable ways. The screams heard across the battlefields were emboldening and gave his soldiers hope.

Sesshoumaru noticed another group of demons from Kouga's tribe pulling the same stunt on the right flank of the enemy lines. He had thought the tactic would not work twice, but apparently these humans were dumber than he gave them credit for. They put too much faith in their incredibly large weapons.

As the soldiers finished the lines of the enemy that controlled the large weapons, his remaining soldiers, along with the others that had come along for this go round began to move forward with more confidence.

Once across enemy lines, all hell broke loose. Sesshoumaru was standing atop one of the machines, his eyes searching for the two humans he had seen earlier. He did not find them amongst the carnage, but neither could he find them within the remaining numbers of the enemy that were now being corralled as prisoners of war.

Sesshoumaru slowly stepped off of the machine and all but floated his way to the circle of imprisoned humans. Their shouts and taunts meant nothing to him. These humans would fall with one swipe of his hand if he so wished it, but he did not. Answers were needed and he would start with these humans.

As he neared the group of humans, the shouts and calls died slowly and were replaced by the occasional grunt or whimper. Fear was such a wonderful tool in times of war.

"Stay back demon!"

Sesshoumaru raised his brow at the pale faced intruder. The fact that he spoke Japanese, no matter that it was broken and heavily accented, was surprising.

"Your request is noted vermin"

He was slightly satisfied when the vermin began sputtering.

"You – you talk!"

He talked? Of course he talked. What else would one do when addressed with speech? Did the dolt think that he could not speak?

"They're morons, plain and simple"

Sesshoumaru slid his eyes to the side and waited for his brother to reach his side. While stating the obvious was not his favorite of pastimes, he was aware that his brother had done it to confuse the simpering fools they had just captured.

"What would you suggest we do then?"

Inuyasha shrugged and turned away from him, his eyes scanning over the humans in front of them and pointed.

"That one, bring him here"

Sesshoumaru followed his brother's line of sight and had to approve. There was one of higher ranks within the group of captured fools. If any of them would have useful information, it would be those of higher ranks.

Once his soldiers had hold of the captive, he pushed him out of the circle by the scruff of his neck and threw him to the ground at Inuyasha's feet. His soldier bowed to Inuyasha before moving back into ranks to guard the prisoners. That was new.

While Sesshoumaru would normally demand that he be the first to interrogate any war prisoners, it had been his brother's tactical commands that had brought this little bloodshed to an end this day. It had been very clever and tactful; it was so very unlike him. He was curious to see what he would do next.

He watched as Inuyasha walked around the human, nudging him with his toe in various places before looking up and catching his eyes.

"He looks like a human and feels like one, but he's the dumbest thing I've met in a long time"

Sesshoumaru smirked.

"Don't forget the scent"

He wanted to laugh when Inuyasha wrinkled his nose in an overly dramatic display before covering it with his sleeve.

"You're right! They smell like waste and dirt"

Sesshoumaru stepped forward and kneeled down in front of the prisoner, still lying prostrate on the ground, and cracked his knuckles to bring attention to his claws. It had the desired effect, the amount of fear radiating off of the human was almost unbearable. He grabbed the human by the hairs on his head and pulled up so that he would have no choice but to look at him.

"Why are you here?"

The male sputtered and attempted to speak, but all that came out was a raspy cry and spittle.

Sesshoumaru sneered at the human while wiping his clothing to rid it of the disgusting fluids. He lowered his voice to dangerous levels of calm and malice.

"Your life will be forfeit the next time you are bold enough to do something so stupid"

Sesshoumaru looked up when his soldiers cried out in alarm. The captives began dropping one by one to the ground, shaking wildly and spewing an acidic concoction. Slowly, each of them began dying off. Sesshoumaru looked at the group of dead captives and back down to the one still living.

Oh the things he had to do.

He yanked back on the humans head harder and looked inside his mouth. He noticed a small blue capsule tucked in the socket of what would have been a tooth.

"Attempt to bite down or touch me in any way and you will die a much worse death than any of your brethren"

As the human could not formulate a response in his current position, Sesshoumaru did not wait for one. He reached a hand inside his mouth, carefully plucked the capsule out and examined it. He pulled the human's head down to peer into his eyes and had to wonder at their stupidity.

"Suicide when captured; a dangerous game you play. What exactly did they tell you about us?"

With that done, Sesshoumaru dropped the man's head and signaled for his soldiers to gather the prisoner and get back to camp. They were heading back in the morning.

***Ruby Red***

Inuyasha stood apart from the camp and watched a lone figure sitting in a tree just outside their perimeter. It was strange to be on level terms with his brother, but in the end he much preferred it to being on his brother's hit list.

He leisurely made his way to the tree and called out a casual greeting to let him know that he wanted to talk. When his brother dropped from the tree, he had to take a step back and consider that he had not been maimed for interrupting his quiet time.

They stood together and watched the sun set behind the trees. The significance of the moment was not lost on either of them.

"You've earned the respect of the soldiers. Your tactics were…smart"

Inuyasha nearly choked. It was a compliment! His head was spinning with the implications behind that gesture.

"I did what had to be done. I certainly wasn't up for dying today. You?"

"Hn"

Inuyasha chuckled and leaned back against the tree, his arms folded over his chest. He was uncomfortable still with this subject, but this was about the only time he was going to be able to say anything.

"She's real uncomfortable with the way things are going"

"I am aware"

"Yeah, but she really does love you. Don't know why, but she does"

"Hn"

Inuyasha smiled and closed his eyes.

"Listen, I just wanted to let you know that you guys got my support. If you need me… you know"

"Hn"

"Yeah, you're a real talker aren't ya?"

He pushed away from the tree and stepped out of Sesshoumaru's bubble of personal security.

"I'll see you in the morning"

"I still don't like you"

Inuyasha smiled and continued walking.

***Ruby Red***

Kagome pulled her arm back and stared in muted concentration. Her fingers opened and she listened with rapt attention to the satisfying twang of the bowstring snapping back into place. The arrow hit the target, but not the mark. How annoying.

She was approximately 100 meters (a little over the length of an American Football field) from the target. It was impressive that she could hit the target at all, but she wasn't satisfied with impressive…she wanted perfection!

She lowered her arms and slung her bow over her shoulder before making her way across the field to the target area. There were several arrows she'd had to collect along the way that did not make it to their target, but that was less than half of the arrows so it didn't sting as much as it might if she had not hit the target at all.

When the last arrow was finally in her quiver once more, she turned and looked over the crest of the hill the soldiers had left from. Four days. It had been four days and she had not heard even a whisper about the battle or the soldiers. The lack of information was beginning to make her nervous.

She dropped her eyes to concentrate on the uneven ground in front of her and slowly made her way back to the armory. After depositing her weapons in their temporary place, she turned around and stared at the door. She could still see him standing there, his eyes blazing with anger and betrayal.

She never meant to hurt him by talking with Inuyasha. It was just so confusing and Inuyasha had inquired; she couldn't not answer him!

The wind blew against the armory and Kagome wrapped her arms around her body. Though she couldn't feel it directly, the winds still brought a chill to her bones. The air was foreboding and angry.

She opened the door and stepped out to find The Great Wolf sitting across from her and staring at her expectantly. With a sigh, she dropped her eyes to the ground and trudged over to sit with him.

"You are troubled Little One"

"Yes"

"Please, do share sometime this century. I am old and impatient about many things"

"But it's such a long story Uncle!"

"Child, I am old, but not that old. Regale me with your tale. It has been long since I last heard a good one"

Kagome smiled and lay back against the side of the hill. She summarized everything that had happened since she returned to the Warring States Era, ending with a grimace at how scandalous it sounded once she'd said it all aloud like that.

She waited a few minutes for a response of any type.

"Oh, that is a good tale. Very immoral and righteous all at once!"

"Uncle!"

"Child, I only speak the truth. Now then, about Lord Sesshoumaru…what you say is true, there is a law preventing completed mating between reigning Lords and humans. However, do not despair that which cannot be changed."

"But what am I supposed to do Uncle? I can't live with him, and I can't live without him!"

"Well now, that could not be truer about every relationship in this world. Still, there is something you must consider before you decide anything at all"

Kagome sat up straight again, her curiosity peaked.

"What is it Uncle?"

"What happiness will you bring to yourself? It does not matter if the young Lord is or is not a part of your life. What you choose to do with your life is not about whom you choose to lay with. It is about whom you choose to be. Then, and only then, should you decide whether or not you want your young Lord to be a part of that life."

Kagome blinked and stared out at the hills in front of her. She already knew what she wanted to do with her life. She wanted to save Japan, humans and demons alike. She was their champion because that was what the fates had decided and she had accepted it.

So did she want him to be a part of that? Yes. There was no question to that. But would he want to be a part of it? That was a different question altogether. If he did not support her cause, then there would be no future for them. She would not give up her journey for his, and he should not give up his for her.

"It would seem that he and I need to have a discussion about this"

She heard the rumbling voice of Uncle's laughter and smiled.

"Well then, now would be your chance. Your lovely bird of prey returned a while ago to inform us that the troops would arrive before sunset."

Kagome stood up in a flurry and looked out over the horizon. The sun was already beginning to set, which meant that they would arrive at any moment. She had to hurry to prepare her items for their return. Who knew what sort of condition they would be in when they arrived?

***Ruby Red***

It took almost a full day for the soldiers to trudge those awful machines along with them back to the village. The weapons would be thoroughly investigated once they had rested and recovered their strengths. For the most part he was fine, but there were many amongst the troops that would require medicinal assistance. This new weapon brought a new sort of problem for them.

Still, even knowing what lay ahead, he did not want to wait to arrive. He would rather have flown there and held her in his arms before the chaos of their return wrapped her up in her duties. What was worse was that he was sure that his little brother was aware of his ire and the reasoning behind it.

"Relax, would ya? Doesn't matter if we get there in a day or a second. She's going to be there waiting for you either way"

He curled his lip back over his teeth and unleashed a low growl, a warning for his brother to back down. Sometimes he truly hated being right. When did he become so easy to read?

Luckily for him, they were cresting the hill to the village and he could leave behind these simpering idiots. As the thought crossed his mind, his feet left the ground and he sped towards the huts where he thought she would be. When he arrived, however, he found no traces of her scent.

"Se-Seshoumaru-sa-sama, how can I help you?"

He stood tall as the slayer bowed low before him. At least she treated him with proper respect…sometimes.

"Where is she?"

His voice was all but a snarl, which only served to frighten the slayer. Unintentional as that might have been, he had no desire to take back his actions.

"She's at the training grounds my lord!"

He watched as his previous ward came running up to the slayers side and patted her on the back, presumably to assist in relieving some of her tension. Rin's eyes remained on him, a knowing glint hidden in those deep chocolate pools. How annoying!

"She hasn't moved from them since you left"

She never left the training grounds? How did she eat? Where did she sleep? What did that foolish woman think she was going to accomplish?

He left the females standing in their stupor at his aggressive demeanor. He even heard the slayer ask Rin what it was all about. He didn't wait for Rin's reply as he wasn't too certain his ire would survive much more antagonism.

When he arrived at the training grounds, he found her walking along the side of the hill near the armory. She was staring at him with a deep longing echoing in her aura.

He ran to her and crushed her in his embrace, wanting to show her how much he missed her and also how angry he was with her for staying at the training grounds this entire time.

"Foolish woman!"

Her gasp of surprise was almost cute…almost. Except that it wasn't cute because he knew that she was aware of what she had done.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't leave. I didn't want to face everyone yet. There was…a lot to think about"

He allowed himself a deep sigh and closed his eyes, relishing in her clean-ish scent.

"You need a bath"

"Thanks jerk, I missed you too"

He smirked and pulled her back to look into her eyes. Yes, the longing was there, as was a lack of confusion. Perhaps she had finally come to a decision.

He pressed his lips to her forehead and turned around to walk away from the armory, pulling her along with him.

"Where are we going?"

"To the infirmary. You're skills are going to be put to the test during this war"

"How do you mean?"

"Many of the projectiles are still within the soldiers and I do not know how they would react"

She seemed to think about that for a minute and shook her head, causing her hair to splay in different directions around her face as though he were carrying her on his cloud of ki again; he rather liked the sight of her so unkempt.

"Well, with humans it's disastrous. A lodged bullet can cause all sorts of problems up to and including death long after the fact. But with the demons or even half demons, I'm not so sure. I suspect your bodies would reject the bullets eventually, but I don't know if they would cause further damage in the process. I imagine they would be dirty, carrying all sorts of diseases, maybe even poisons. You can't be too careful"

He watched as she considered all of the possibilities, getting so lost in her thoughts that she was moving wherever he took her. He could make use of that sort of distraction later, but for now he had to get her prepared for the soldiers. Already some of them were entering the grounds and heading towards the infirmary.

When he released her hand, she looked up and around, her eyes slightly glazed over. It seemed that she was ready for this though because as soon as her sight cleared, she was milling about and pulling down various tools, herbs, towels and basins of water. When she looked up at him, the first few injured soldiers arrived.

She sat them on the bed and turned towards him.

"Please, would you have someone retrieve Rin, Sango, and Kaede for me?"

He hated being told what to do, but at least she didn't expect him to fetch the females his self. That was only slightly better though. Before he had a chance to walk out, she called out to him again.

"And please don't go too far. We need to talk when I'm done"

The last part was barely a mumble, but he heard her loud and clear, just like the several soldiers that were near had heard. He left the tents in an angry flurry, a growl slipping from his barely parted lips.

***Ruby Red***

"Hold him down! I have to get this out or it's going to get worse"

Her eyes were pinched as she held the blade to the poor soldier's hip. The skin had already knitted itself over the wound and she had to slice it back open to get the bullet out. Unfortunately, this soldier was no more than the equivalent of a fifteen year old boy.

Without the luxury of any real numbing agents, these soldiers were being forced to go through operations full force and it was beginning to wear on her nerves. She had already had several close encounters with the demons that couldn't control their more basic bestial nature when injured.

It was dangerous to say the least.

"Almost done. Hang in there. Almost, almost…oh you little bastard. Got it!"

She pulled the bullet out and dropped it into a container at her side. Sesshoumaru and Raiku wanted to examine all of the bullets to ensure there were none with poisons on them. It wasn't a sure-fire thing, but it was better than not checking at all.

Kagome backed up and let Sango clean the wound she had inflicted on the poor boy before turning to see what was left of her patients. A line was somewhat formed at the front of the first tent and continued down the length of all five tents that currently made up the infirmary.

She wiped her arm across her brows and sighed. She had been working on the soldiers for hours now and she was dying for some food and rest. But the soldiers could not remove these things themselves.

Kagome turned to her basin and cleaned her utensils as best she could before walking to the next bed. It was going to be a long night.

***Ruby Red***

With little to distract his mind from the questions burning their way through him, he had decided to talk with the prisoner. It was best to get it over with as quickly as possible so that they could decide what to do with the dreadful little maggot.

Throughout the first hour, he spoke and the prisoner listened. There wasn't much choice in that since the prisoner had been gagged. But once that obstacle had been removed, the most he got from the fool was how surprised he was with how civilized they were.

Truly, he wondered what these pale humans were being told. What stories…what lies were they being fed?

It hardly mattered at the moment. The prisoner had long ago passed out, probably from the exhaustion and stress of his day. Still, how did one fall asleep while being interrogated? It was unheard of!

With nothing more to gain from the prisoner, and honestly having not gained much at all, Sesshoumaru left the chambers that had been designated for prisoners. It was too comfortable in his opinion, but one of Kagome's more strict 'requests' had been that prisoners were only tortured or maimed in the event that it was deserving based on the individual's actions. Her logic had been sound and took around three hours to debate. In the end he had clearly assented to her request.

Still, if he gave him even one reason, anything at all, then the prisoner would be free game for his torturing pleasure. His hands flexed in anticipation.

The sight of the infirmary came into view and he had to stop himself from covering his nose. The amount of blood and herbs oozing from that place was nauseating to say the least. On the up side though, there were no soldiers waiting outside to be treated any longer, meaning she would be done soon.

The down side to that was that it was nearly dawn. If she had worked through the night then she would be exhausted and their conversation would have to be delayed even longer. How troublesome.

He took slow and deliberate steps toward the infirmary, trying his best to acclimate his senses to the overwhelming scents. When he reached the flap to the main tent, he was fairly certain that he would not pass out if he took a deep breath.

His brother on the other hand would pass out in less than a heartbeat. The thought of dropping him on the ground in the middle of all of this and watching his reaction was strongly appealing, bringing a small smirk to his otherwise stoic visage.

He folded the flap back and found Kagome at the end of the last row of the last tent wrapping a wound on a soldiers arm. It appeared that everyone was asleep, except for her of course; even the slayer had found a cot to rest on for a while.

He walked over to the cot and shook her awake, satisfied when her heart beat rapidly out of rhythm for a few seconds. His eyes never looked at her, but he knew that hers never looked away from him.

With that, he began to walk towards Kagome.

"She is done. You will stand guard"

He didn't wait for her reply as he did not care in the least what she might have to say. Instead, he made his way to Kagome and turned her towards him once she was finished putting her supplies away.

The action must have made her dizzy because he had to catch her before she hit the ground. He watched as her eyes fluttered a few times before finally settling on him.

"Oh, Sesshoumaru, I didn't see you there"

Her yawn was wide and made him wonder what he could fit into that mouth of hers. He cocked his head to the side and watched with a dirty fascination. Truly remarkable.

With a smirk, he lifted her up until she was standing on her own and led her out of the infirmary. They would sleep for now, but after that they were going to have a talk.

***Ruby Red***

Oh yeah… two in one day. I'm the best! Just kidding! Actually this was only part two of chapter 11. It just happened to be long enough to be its own chapter; however filler-esque and short it might seem (compared to other chapters). Enjoy my kiddies J