Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of "InuYasha" by Rumiko Takahashi nor do I own the world as put in place by Saranne Dawson's Secret's of the Wolf.

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A/N: Now back to the main story—sorry about the wait. I would like to give a huge thanks to my reviewers from the previous chapters, Crow Skywalker, larkagurl2, Carmen, mangafreak16, Fluffy's Lady, Jerabear, and SundayBlackbird. Also thanks to Rhys Enigma who took the time to also help me with some proofreading issues I've had. (I tell you, senioritis is awful! . ) Thanks again to everyone—including my readers—you all are really too much for me: flattery, constructive criticism, encouragement . . . I'm so happy!

Now, onto the real reason you all are putting up with my jabber and sentimentalism: chapter eleven!

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« Behind Ancient Mists »

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Chapter Eleven

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For a while, the wind blew silently and the two: Kagome and Sesshoumaru, continued to gaze at each other longingly; Kagome longing to run away from his cold eyes and Sesshoumaru longing to squash something. Still, neither reacted to the other . . . that is until InuYasha was completely out of sight.

Kagome looked back suddenly the direction she had come and then back to the lord who now stood a few steps closer to her upon the steps. She noticed how his gaze had softened slightly but he did not smile and his eyes were certainly not merry. "Follow me," was all he said and enraptured by the complete strangeness of it all, Kagome did as she was asked. There was no secretive hand motioning forming shapes like the ones that had haunted Kagome's dreams, just a light request hidden behind his stiff, molten eyes. As they rounded the tower only halfway to the rusted old exit she had used to escape earlier, Sesshoumaru stopped suddenly at what appeared to be a normal portion of the wall. He gave a light knock and what appeared stone opened up to the bustle of the kitchen. Steam and smoke poured out from the newly open doorway as well as the most delicious aromas, enticing both their anxious stomachs.

The round woman that had opened the wall for him lowered her gaze briefly before formally requesting what he would like. "My lord? The kitchen is almost ready to serve the evening meal—shall I tell the kitchen staff to prepare you and your guest for dining?"

Kagome watched Sesshoumaru closely and although he did not smile towards the woman, his eyes had not regained their coldness. "That will not be necessary. Miss Higurashi and I are headed out tonight, so would you kindly provide us with some of your finest cooking for our short journey?"

The woman's' eyes widened excitedly; she bowed lightly before him and gently shut the doorway with his consent. "Right away my lord!"

Once the door had closed, Sesshoumaru headed off only a few meters away into the shadows, but brought out the finest looking workhorse she had seen her entire stay in the mountains. She had seen several pictures of stallions and many other thoroughbreds from other lands, but while those were flashy, the horse Sesshoumaru now led towards her was equally as stunning, but ruggedly beautiful. The horse was made for the steepness of the mountains, but never wavered in class. 'This must be the horse InuYasha had spoken of so enviously,' Kagome thought.

"Lord Sesshoumaru . . . are we to reach this destination by horse?"

The man seemed to ignore her completely as he continued to bring the horse closer to the tower. Finding a pillar of wood, which she had not previously noticed, Kagome saw him tie the creature to it and instead of mounting it he merely took from its satchel two warm-looking wool blankets. Still, he did not hurry to answer her question, but in somewhat a response to her wonderings he replied, "It's getting cooler—we will need them."

After settling the blankets into his arms and flinging them across his back leisurely, he turned again to the doorway hidden within the wall just as it opened. He took from it a large basket that Kagome assumed was filled with food and handed it to her. At first the load was heavy for her, but after repositioning it aside her body her balance tapered out and the two begin their walk, Sesshoumaru leading the way and Kagome blindly following.

This of course had happened close to a half hour ago and by now the two had found themselves again deep into the woods. Kagome spied what looked like yet another courtyard entrance similar to the one she had found InuYasha in, but they began to pass it assuredly. After such a walk Kagome had felt herself relax—as much as she could in his presence. Attempting to form something of a conversation, she turned to the courtyard.

"I found InuYasha teaching combat to many young boys in a courtyard like that before he brought me back here. What is its purpose here, lord Sesshoumaru?"

Kagome over the walk had relaxed—yes—but as the sound of a light chuckle echoed from the lord's throat she had not realized just how much she had. 'He's laughing?' she thought, 'That does it—he's going to kill me . . . he's brought me out where no one can help me, and he's going to kill me!'

"So— my idiot of a brother hasn't spilled everything involving these Mountains?" His eyes glistened in sly mirth as he faced her. "Well, then I suppose I should tell you this now before we reach our stopping place nearing the clearing up ahead. Miss Higurashi—I will tell you now and only once—these mountains are not the calmer world you are used to back down there with your friends, and what may appear is left of your family. Do not confuse this place with your own. These mountains are not safe here for you if you attempt to run off again; only perhaps the main tower and our current destination are perhaps reserved and assured safe havens for you."

Slowly the treetops cleared to reveal yet another tower, this one remarkably smaller in width than the main tower, but towering with the treetops in far greater height than it had. What remained most strange, however, was that no windows assailed the structure except for a few small openings near the top. "Ah—we're here. We will continue this conversation later, for now we climb."

If Kagome's emotions had been jumbled before they certainly were now. Sesshoumaru, the 'heartless' lord who had imprisoned her and whom seemed to hold the embodiment of ice was treating her differently than he had before; he seemed almost hospitable while still seeming a jerk all at once. He baffled her and so she foolishly gaped her mouth open to question him. "But . . ."

His eyes tightened at her muttering and this time repeatedly coldly, "I said, we will talk later." The sudden harshness piped her down into submission and he smirked lightly. "Now, walk woman." He held the short, wooden doorway open for her and she was forced to duck her head slightly as the lord did so after her.

'So much for being hospitable . . . at least he held the door open for me.'

Although the tower seemed tall, Kagome was greatly surprised as to how easy a climb it was. The steps were numerous, but not daunting. Halfway up they reached a small door and Sesshoumaru rested his palm upon it, yet seeing her attempts to enter he halted her with a tight grip onto her shoulder.

"That is a separate room than where we are going. You are never to enter into that room—do you understand me?" The grip in he shoulder seemed to tighten with every word and the cacophony of each ending sound hissed out from his mouth. Only when Kagome made a light gasp from his grip did he release her and nudge her along. Many more steps followed and the spiral effect had only just begun to cause Kagome to become dizzy when, moments later than when they had passed the forbidden door, the top had been reached. Just feeling the wood of its doorway Kagome was remarkably shocked that how cool it was to the touch, compared to the rest of the tower.

Sesshoumaru placed the wool blankets from his shoulders down except one, which he wrapped around her and then preceded to wrap himself. He took a pair of keys from his pocket and opened the door. Amongst the jangle of keys Kagome muttered a soft, 'Thank you' that she was sure he had not heard, but a small twinkle in his eye that she did not see revealed that he had.

The room was small and beheld only one small fur rug in its middle, the first of its kind that Kagome had seen. Around the walls were the small openings she had seen earlier, but only now could she notice from her current height that in the direction of each opening was another tower far off in sight. Still, the reason Kagome was thankful for the wool blanket was not because of those windows, but because the tower in fact had no ceiling whatsoever. There was evidence that the opening could be shut as hinge-like mechanisms could be seen at the rim of either side and two large planks of wood lay on side of it, but in its current position now, the tower was exposed to only one thing: the stars.

Kagome gasped in realization. He had brought her to an observatory tower— and by the look of it, his own private one.

"Miss Higurashi, as we are now here— we may dine, unless you wish to further grace me with the sound of your growling stomach."

Blushing on instinct, she found a seat upon the soft fur and gently opened the basket and passed its contents to him, whereupon he generously relayed it back onto her once he had found his fill.

The meal carried on leisurely as both chose to enjoy the silence as the stars remained their amusement, but soon Sesshoumaru grew restless and knew that it was time to continue that which he had started.

"Now then—Miss Higurashi . . . we have finished our meal and it is now time that I finish what words I had begun." He waited for her to swallow her last bite and gaze up to look at him before he continued. "These mountains are not safe here, especially once the elders arrive—I assume my brother at least has mentioned the festival to you?" To this she nodded. "These elders are not my people and as such they will not always respect my wishes to not have you harmed. These men are outside my control to that degree—if they find you unattended by myself, InuYasha, Miss Aya or anyone else that I trust most around you, they may just kill you. Even the young ones within these mountains are not adverse to this effect—why else do you believe them to be the ones my brother has taught to fight?"

Kagome almost believed his reasoning except one aspect did not add up; True—InuYasha taught the young boys defense, but only the silver-headed ones—only them.

"Your brother—he teaches them to fight . . . but why only your people that have silver hair. There are many—perhaps the majority of your people that do not, both male and female— why are they not chosen for the honor?"

As she turned back to him, she knew that for one brief moment, she'd caught him off guard. It was an observation he hadn't anticipated. Finally he merely nodded, offering no explanation.

"Why is that?" she demanded.

"It is tradition. Those with silver hair like mine and my brother's are supposed to be . . . favored . . . we share a destiny the others do not." He chose his words carefully and then said nothing more.

"Destiny? What destiny is there in segregating your own people?"

To this he remained silent and chose instead to redirect his gaze to the few stars that had begun to appear.

"Is the leader always chosen from among the men with the silver hair?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, but not for the reason you think. The leader is chosen generational as my father before me and his before him all held that same silver hair—all back to the first Great Sesshoumaru."

"You're not telling me all of the truth, lord Sesshoumaru. What about the wild dogs?"

She saw him become rigid briefly, and a bone-deep chill ran through her. She yearned to take back the words, though she wasn't sure why. But it was too late, so she pursued further.

"My uncle and I found relics beneath the sea, and they showed these dogs living with people. You must have kept them as pets at one time."

"No. We do not keep pets of any kind."

"But you must have trained these wild dogs at least then," she persisted, fighting the growing coldness inside her. "A pack of wild dogs prevented me from—"

"These dogs are sacred to us," he replied in a clipped tone, made callous by his accent. "We have a ... unique relationship with them."

"Especially the silvery-white ones?"

"With all the wild ones—but especially the silvery-white ones." Then he turned abruptly toward the door. "I—I must return to the men."

Kagome's chill ran deeper momentarily as child-like fears of the dark and monsters under her bed crept in. Shaking her head to remove the thought from her she repeated to herself, 'My uncle couldn't have been right about this . . . he couldn't have been. The Youkai people are just strange and aloof . . . really attached to wolves—but not werewolves. The people can't be—'

"Now—" his tone while still clipped held the calmness as one desperately trying to change subjects. "I believe that is enough questioning for now. There are many things you will not understand Kagome, but as for this tower . . . you may come to this room anytime you like."

Kagome's eyes bulged at the thought of such an honor—it showed that he trusted her. Perhaps he was foolish to trust her, but remembering the calm attitude he held that first night when she had stole his own knife, she highly doubted that he was foolish. If anything—she was the only one with anything to worry about.

"I will be gone for training this next week with my brother InuYasha and his young men. We will be returning prior to the beginning of the festival, so I will see you again then."

With that he rose from his relaxed position and made for the doorway. "Miss Higurashi, unless you believe yourself cocky enough to find your way back in the dark, I suggest you follow me."

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Days had past and Kagome had seen nothing of Sesshoumaru, or InuYasha. She assumed they had already left for their training as most all the young children with silver hair were no where to be found. Since Sesshoumaru's words to her, Kagome had resigned herself to visiting the observatory tower quite often, but today she would find her circumstances in visiting to be fairly different.

"Miss Kagome!" Aya shouted back at her, temporarily distracting Kagome from her work hanging lanterns and all sorts of confetti strands.

"Yes, Miss Aya? I'm almost done here with these decorations—do you need anything in the kitchen?" Kagome again saw Aya appear from the cooking hut only a few meters away—still close enough within ear's reach.

"We're a little low on herbs. Would you be a dear and go find me some from the garden—the one near the lookout tower you've been visiting?"

"I'd be happy to," Kagome smiled, "but I'm not sure I know the way completely."

"That's alright." Her speech abruptly changed directs and pitch, as she seemed to be conversing with someone inside the hut before calling back to her. "I've got a friend in here that can come with you and show you the way!" Again silence except for the light clanging of pots and the hiss from steam was heard until a small little boy, with brown hair appeared out from the doorway. Spotting her he glistened in excitement and immediately ran to her.

"My name is Shippou! Miss Aya told me so much about you when you first came, but I haven't been able to see you—me not being one of the guard and all, but I'm so happy to finally meet you Miss Kagome!"

Although he appeared quite young— barely younger than many she had seen as part of the 'white' guard—his height came nearly to her chin. He was tall for his age—like most of the people Kagome had noticed in the clan. He grabbed her hand and quickly led her along.

After they had walked for a good distance, Kagome asked the boy beside her, sweetly, "Could we go up to the observatory tower as well? It doesn't appear to be too far from the greenhouse." She wanted to see that spectacular view again she had seen weeks past, only this time in broad daylight.

To her surprise, Shippou shook his head. "We'll have to ask the lord before we can go up there. The tower belongs to him. Oh—but he's still off away with his training isn't he? No one goes up there without his permission, except for the ones who signal—and they go at set times."

"Oh, but he's given me verbal permission to visit anytime I like—" Kagome grinned broadly. "I just wanted you to come along with me—company, you know."

Shippou's face glowed with confusion and doubt as he carefully muttered as if he believed himself to have not heard properly. "The lord has given you permission . . . as in you may go unaccompanied?"

Kagome grinned and rolled her eyes playfully at the young boy before furrowing her brow in curiosity. "Of course I can go alone—why?"

"Well . . . it's just I've known the lord to enjoy his privacy and I'm sure he would have never agreed to have strangers wandering where they are not supposed to . . ."

Suddenly realization dawned on Kagome and she grinned to reassure him. "Oh! You're worried about that first room aren't you? Heh, don't worry a thing about it—I've been warned. It's not as if I have a key anyways."

Shippou nodded. "Oh—well in that case we can go up there while he's gone. Sure!"

"Where have he and the others gone in the first place?" Kagome asked curiously. "Sesshoumaru said that the defense force would be away from the fortress for some time."

"Lord Sesshoumaru," the little child stressed his title, which only made Kagome grin at his antics. He obviously held a respect for him, but that did not mean that she was to that point yet. "And lord InuYasha always go out with the guard just out into the mountains—almost the very tip of the tallest peak this time every year. Still, he should be back anytime— what with the festival only days away. He has to come soon to meet the elders—they've already begun to arrive."

The two had begun to talk so freely that they hardly registered where they were and as Kagome and Shippou made their way around one of the areas of greenery, that separated the various por­tions of the courtyard, they came face-to-face with a small group of the visiting elders. They were dressed in the same black clothing and each wore a single gold chain with the piece of black rock that she now recognized as being nothing more than the stone that was all around her here. Kagome's breath hitched as the words spoken to her earlier recounted in her mind: the warning. Was she to meet up with an elder she could be killed if a proper escort was not with her and Shippou was just a child.

The elders stared at her as well as Shippou, and their ex­pressions indicated the first true hostility she'd seen since her arrival in this place. Kagome, however, was surprised to see that these people were nothing in appearance like that of those she had met on the mountains. She had expected them to be whites, just like Sesshoumaru and InuYasha, but now she realized that they were neither that, nor did they hold the normal Youkai brown hair. Their hair shone as black as hers, but they were not from her homeland. They, like the Youkai people, were otherworldly and their very presence spooked her. Still, she would show them no fear, especially not in front of a child.

She lifted her chin and stared right back at them as Shippou tugged at her arm and reminded her that they had a long walk up to the greenhouse. Slowly, Kagome took a few steps back in the mindset to leave, but the familiar sound of fury stopped both her and Shippou. Then, Sesshoumaru appeared in the open archway that led into the central portion one of the many gardens. Kagome's gaze shifted to Sesshoumaru in time to see him look from her and the young boy, to the visiting elders again with a very grim ex­pression. The elders immediately looked again at them, this time fearfully, and then turned away from her and bowed to the lord. Sesshoumaru favored them only with a brief nod before turning to go back the direction he had come, which seemed to be off in the near direction of the main tower. The elders Kagome and Shippou had spotted had to scurry to keep up with his long strides.

"He doesn't seem very happy to see them," Kagome remarked as they walked on.

"He isn't, but they're here for the festival and at his order; they wouldn't come otherwise. Sesshoumaru is far less tolerant of them than his father was when he was leader." Shippou pressed his lips together as he slowed momentarily to gain his bearings, but then brightened, as it appeared he spotted their destination already.

"Then why did he summon them?"

Shippou offered a shrug. "I don't know. No doubt he has some business with them." Giving yet another sly grin up at her he replied, "It might even be about you." Kagome grinned lightly at this, but on the inside her stomach curled at the thought for she indeed had also thought about that. What the child did not know, perhaps, is how foreboding that thought was.

She thought about the elders, as they began the long climb up to the greenhouse, and she belatedly realized that while they certainly weren't pleased to see her there, neither did they seem at all surprised. Clearly they must have known of her presence somehow and to that effect she felt like a burden to all those around her.

A short time later, Shippou pushed open the big doors into the greenhouse, and warm, humid air filled with a alluring mixture of fragrances and rich, moist soil rushed out at them.

"We grow some things in here year-round," Shippou explained. "But most vegetables are grown outside in the summer months."

They strolled along the neat rows of raised beds, with Shippou pointing out the various herbs and ex­plaining their purposes. "My father told me before he left these mountains that centuries ago, the elders made their living by trading the herbs we gave them for the other things they needed. They wandered all over, from peak to peak and valley to valley, selling their herbs and picking up information for us."

Kagome walked over to the wall of glass and rubbed away some of the moisture, then drew in a sharp breath at the sight. The Dark Mountains had always seemed like they marched off forever and it seemed their snow-covered peaks were always lost in mist.

'What a delightful place this is,' she thought. Day by day, it seemed that the beauty and peacefulness set­tled more deeply into her. But it frightened her to think that such a thing could happen, because it sug­gested that she had resigned herself to being a pris­oner here forever. 'I must not let that happen,' she told herself. 'I can­not let myself forget that despite what he says, Sesshoumaru is surely responsible for many deaths—including Uncle Jira's.'

After Shippou had snipped some herbs for himself he also took some for Kagome to take back for the beginning festival preparations. As the two headed back the scent from the herbs Kagome carried in a damp burlap sack tickled her nose satisfyingly. She'd al­ready forgotten what they were called, but Shippou had said that Aya and the others assisting in the food and decorations would be pleased to have them.

She waved goodbye to Shippou as he ran off towards the more rural residence of the clan while she headed back to where the festival would be taking place. She crossed the courtyard to the walkway that ran along the exterior of the fortress in this sec­tion, and was about to turn the corner to where the tower and the hut, where Aya was currently awaiting her, was in plain view when she suddenly heard Sesshoumaru's voice again. Startled at his harsh tone, she stopped, realizing that he must be just ahead of her out in the clearing. Peeking around the corner of the bushes and trees, she could see both him and what appeared to be that same group of elders. What surprised Kagome the most was how he was choosing to speak to them.

He was speaking in a language she had not heard since perhaps her nightmares. The syllables were raspy and while they were spitting from his mouth in hisses, Kagome shook her head at the consciousness of how they resembled growls. She couldn't understand any of what he was saying, but it was clear that he was angry, and she assumed that his anger must be directed towards the group of elders she'd seen earlier; they had been following her and Shippou quite meticulously, it seemed.

She stood there unnoticed in the shadows, wondering just what they'd done to warrant his fury. Their at­tempts to pacify Sesshoumaru undoubtedly weren't effective as his tirade continued and sounded all the harsher in the rather throaty Youkai tongue. Kagome smiled a bit, rather enjoying the thought that the ar­rogant elders were the recipients of his wrath.

Her thoughts again turned to the deaths that seemed to follow these mountains and because of that, she frowned. Was it pos­sible that the elders were also behind the deaths of her colleagues—and of her uncle?

'No,' she thought, 'that can't be the case. If it were, they surely would have killed me as well without a thought. I really need to stop blaming everyone for this—pretty soon I'll even come to believe that I murdered him—honestly!' In remembering what both Shippou and InuYasha had said her conclusions only intensified. The elders—despite what motives they may have to dislike Sesshoumaru— were obviously terrified of him. They seemed to be under his orders more than Sesshoumaru had let on and as far as enacting a murder, it didn't seem likely that they'd do such a thing unless they'd received orders. Still, the more Kagome had been around the lord— ever slowly— the more she had also begun to doubt his complete involvement. He had often reminded her not to place her ideals onto his clan's traditions. Perhaps there were things she would never understand—he seemed to desire her protection after all. Locking her thoughts back within her mind she put on a smile and after readjusting the sack of herbs in her arms, she made way to finish her path back to the kitchen.

She attempted to cross past the archway to the other walkway and avoid being seen, but no sooner had she begun walking did she collide straight into Sesshoumaru.

"Sorry," he murmured, blushing madly. She quickly adverted her eyes and went down to pick up the sack of herbs that she'd dropped, but a strong, yet gentle hand stopped her. Without a word Sesshoumaru gathered up her satchel and after bringing her back to her feet, handed it back to her with what almost looked like a smile, before it disappeared into his impassive exterior.

"They're for the festival," Kagome told him, fight­ing the conflicting emotions that always accompa­nied aconfrontation with him. "Shippou took me up to the greenhouse." To her surprise he sighed at her antics before pulling a small satchel she had not seen him carrying onto his back and outstretched his hand to her.

"You'll need to be more careful now that the elders are here, Kagome—a small child such as Shippou cannot properly protect you."

Kagome's eyes widened in childish 'school-girl giddy' at the hidden implication: He could.

Sesshoumaru noticed her reddening cheeks and lifted a delicate eye at her before Kagome chastised herself. Her emotions were getting out of hand and she thought to herself that this was the very reason prim young women do not resign themselves to murder cases; it makes them scatter-brained and attracted to their capturers and—

Kagome immediately blushed even more intensely, once again, before Sesshoumaru chuckled and lead her on back to the location of the future festivities. "Come—I'm sure Miss Aya and the others will need help finishing the festival preparations."

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Well, I am so glad that I split this chapter—it would have been way too much.

Summer's here! Woot!!! Just forewarning you—my readers—I will be gone for vacation the next two weeks, so there will be no updating on anything for a while. Since I'll have a long plane ride and access to a computer, with dial up, (my second week) I will be working on the next chapter, but do not expect and update until I'm back home. This is one of the reasons I tried my best not to leave you all on a cliffhanger right at the very end (I hope I succeeded). Of course there are unanswered questions yet to be answered in my story, but at least I didn't leave you off on a death or 'murderer revealed' or something like that. I wish everyone the best start to summer and for those that may not have begun yet— hold tight because it's right around the corner!

As always, reviews are just lovely—darlings—lovely to have, but not required for an update (they do, however, stir my muse). I hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I loved writing it!

Truly yours,

Mickey-the-Mouse