Iris, Brothers in Arms, What's Left of Me, Stole.

It's my story and I'll post if I want to~ Slow chapters like last one tend to work out best when reading the story as a whole, not when you're waiting on updates, so what the heck? I'm updating again. I'll probably update again on Friday too, but who knows? I'm getting ready to start working, and the sequel project is, as of yesterday, on its fourth draft, so I need some stress-relief xD

Title is totally an in-joke with my family that I don't expect anyone to get, but it fits the chapter even without the background.

Restoring the Wind

My Mountain

These men didn't speak the language she'd learned to associate with the humans and spirits of Thrace, they were invaders from the south and east. Their presence only highlighted for Kagura just how far west she was that they bore no resemblance to any human civilization she'd ever encountered.

"Stop babbling!" She shrieked, spinning once in the air and aware of the low ceiling of the cave as she whipped her fan around and unleashed a blade of wind that screamed up the steps. Finally! She killed the last fighter- a man armed with a spear that had tried to cut through her arm but been foiled as she vanished and reappeared within the wind. She took his head off and let his body bleed out on the tomb steps, turning on his stupid monk friend: the last of their little hunting party.

They didn't call them monks here, but Kagura forgot the word right now as the man babbled incessantly, flipping through his wood-bound velum book. It was something else that she wasn't used to seeing; these large manuscripts that burned her hands like monk seals, talismans that were read out loud instead of applied. She couldn't afford to remove the monk's head: she'd need something bare of those horrible crosses and star-bursts in order to drag his body out after he was dead.

"Get back here!" Did she speak her mother tongue or the new language of this hateful place? She didn't know, didn't care, but as the monk went fleeing down the cave steps she snarled and followed. Her body merged with the wind and sped right past him, intentionally billowing out with a gust that she hoped would send him crashing down the stone steps and snap several important bones. Instead, when she reformed on the small smooth platform just in front of the slumbering Dog General, the monk was still on his feet and screaming something incomprehensible in fear.

Of course he was afraid, as soon as she transformed she doused the torches down here. If he could see anything at all, it would be Sesshoumaru's ominous glow behind her, and whatever light her crimson eyes were giving off.

Now, deliberately, in Greek:

"Leave this place now, and I may not kill you." More babbling, nonsensical to her ears and comprised of sounds she had no interest or patience to learn.

With both hands wrapped around the heavy tome, the human abruptly thrust the manuscript at her chest, Kagura not expecting this as a sudden burst of energy ripped from the pages and shoved her back. It was a botched spell that failed to cause her any harm, but maybe it did something worse.

Her back hit the ice, and the wind witch felt herself go stiff and still, acting only to release the winds curled around her hand and slice the pathetic little monk to pieces in front of her. He wasn't her problem anymore after that, but the book was beginning to glow and howl, letting off an energy signature she'd felt a few times before, but never this close or with the tome resting in her arms. It felt heavy and wouldn't let her move, even when she kicked her feet against the ice and struggled to get away- damn it! Damn it! Damn it! If the ice spread to her then she-!

A loud cracking sound behind her startled the wind demon enough that she managed to fling the awful book out of her arms and onto the ground. Gold light was spilling from the thick pages, as she felt the wind circle around and help her up. Kagura braced her bare feet against the ice and pushed herself off of the berg, soaring over the wretched book and ripping it apart with several fast-moving blasts of air. The light stopped once the spine was properly shredded, the wooden pieces flying off as the velum warped. She'd burn the pieces later, but right now-

"Sesshoumaru! ?" She landed on the steps and spun around to see him. Cracks had formed and begun to rip the ice apart, a deep pulse radiating from the centre where a growing white light had consumed the inside. The only thing she could see for sure were two red rays of light pouring from his opened eyes.

Snapping her fan open again, Kagura gave several repeated slashes with the poorly crafted weapon and let her much-improved skill with the wind make up for the defects in the materials. She had tried to use wind blades to cut away they ice before, at moments of desperation or simple frustration as the years passed, but this was the only time she had any real reason to expect it would help- and it did.

Her wind collided with the cracks and helped force the gaps wider, lifting and pulling on shards of the lifeless blue crystal until one clawed hand ripped itself free- laced in green energy. There was a terrible sound, and she noticed now that the entire mountain was moving: grit and sand spilling from the reinforced roof and suddenly making her nervous.

He was grasping for something but Kagura wasn't stupid enough to rush down to him, listening as the ice split and broke, the entire cave beginning to warp and break down now as she was aware of the Demon Lord thrashing madly inside his prison. When his face broke through his eyes were crimson, fangs sharp and protruding from his gums as he snapped and snarled trying to release the rest of his body. He was gasping heavily, the air hissing and bubbling with spittle as it hissed through his teeth.

"You!" Between the accusing word and his terrifying face, Kagura felt herself take a step back. He must have been in an extraordinary amount of pain still, and she didn't know what she was supposed to do now in order to help. Blue and green energy was crackling around him, Tenseiga and Bakusaiga screaming at his side as both blades seemed to properly wake up for the first time in years. He looked positively terrifying, but somehow nothing like himself as he continued to flail and fight with his prone body. "YOU!"

"I get it!" Gripping her clumsy fan between her hands and pressing it shut, Kagura turned and quickly fled up the stairs, away from him, his agony, and his temper. Away, she wanted away from him when he was like this, not about to stand right on the edge of the ice when he that brutal, murderous look about him. Forget kisses and longing for a moment, he was a wounded Demon Lord- he'd kill her right now and not even regret it afterwards. Just before she left Kagura waved one hand and let the wind pick up the shattered book. She didn't want him to step on it and be become further enraged when the thing tried burning him!

"What are you doing out here?" Huh? No, not today!

Shutting her eyes tight as she came up into the daylight, Kagura couldn't growl, but she still felt the wind pick up and tug at her clothes. Her element was trying to restrain her, to hold her back as fear was burned away by intense hatred: today, the copper-haired huntress was here today? And she didn't just walk up to the plateau either, no, she came charging up the mountainside in her blue tunic. Two of Artemis' faithful bitches were running at her heels too, tongues lolling and black and white tails wagging furiously back and forth. Kagura wanted to slaughter all three of them for looking so elated.

"Will you just go away?" Kagura snapped, shoving a hand down on her hip and tucking her fan into her belt. Speaking of belts- she glanced back down the stairs, still able to clearly hear his struggling gasps and snarls. She hadn't thought of the East Wind's rod until right now, but the noises and vibrations puncturing the air and rock warned her from going back down. He didn't want anyone to see him right now: the light from his demonic aura was visible all the way up here, and he wouldn't hesitate to use it like a weapon.

At least the rod itself wasn't urgent. It might have helped him, but Kagura wouldn't risk approaching him and didn't need it for herself. She'd touched the ice, yes, but she already knew it hadn't spread to her. She would be fine as soon as the huntress could be turned around and sent back down into the forests, she'd be fine as soon as he stopped sounding like he was dying...

"How dare you abandon him alone down there!" The goddess shouted, breaking Kagura's concentration and causing the elemental's eyes to try burrowing through the huntress' green ones. At least, at least Artemis lacked any elemental affinity, or a beast form, Kagura taking hold of her anger and using it to give herself enough presence and grace to merely check her nails in the sunlight. Every muscle in her hand and arm was tensed up, but trying not to look tense, and doing their best not to shake or tremble either. She wouldn't give Artemis the satisfaction of seeing her frazzled.

"Explain yourself, Witch!"

"It's the same answer I always give." She answered in a bored tone, hackles rising as the cave rumbled again and a few pebbles came skipping down the mountainside in response. She'd kill him, or maybe just complain vocally, if he caused a slide. "If he wants someone to help him, which I can swear he never will, he'll call."

What did this goddess care anyways? She was still just thinking in terms of making Sesshoumaru her pet. Did she expect Kagura to go back down and give the poor, tired Demon Lord a belly rub? Should she scratch him behind the ear until he rolled onto his back and started kicking his leg like a puppy? Maybe the idea had appeal when you had nothing to do to entertain yourself all day and night, but right now it made Kagura throw up a tinsy bit in the back of her mouth.

"Heartless bitch!" Hah! Not anymore, Artemis! "Quickly you two, go down to him." The bitches had been waiting for their mistress's command, standing at her heels and growling ineffectively at the wind witch. Now they both perked their ears up and chased one another down at a full-on sprint to get into the cave.

Kagura moved away from the cave mouth, leaning against the stone wall of the small abode she'd constructed for herself. It was only two walls and a slanted roof, just someplace to store her meagre belongings and give her protection from the cold or sun. She was plucking stray threads off her sleeve as she stood there, focused both on keeping her panic from showing through, and on following his condition. There was a flare and waver in Sesshoumaru's aura as the bitches reached him... then:

"...? NO!"

The goddess screamed just before there was a burst of poison gas and an eruption of infuriated demonic energy. It reminded her of the monk's wind-tunnel, just set in reverse as the diced up pieces of Artemis' dogs were ejected from the cave mouth. Kagura hid her disgust behind her fan, watching as the goddess screamed and fell to her knees, broken as she touched the lifeless corpses.

"KAGURA!" ...He actually called her name?

"Excuse me, honourable guest, but I must go and attend to Lord Sesshoumaru." Collapsing her fan again quickly, Kagura clasped her hands and gave a proper and respectable bow- except it was neither proper nor respectful. She kicked a lifeless piece of dog out of her way as she moved back over to the cave entrance, except-

'Shit- he's still fast.' -he beat her to the top of the stairs, and Kagura kept her fan up over her mouth and nose because she wasn't sure what her face was doing right now. He'd called her- first just screaming at her and then actually using her name. And now he made himself move? In his condition?

She didn't like looking at him like this, because he didn't look like himself. It had taken Sesshoumaru years to build up enough energy to free himself from the ice and rid his body of the pervasive frost that had caused him so much pain. This meant, obviously, that none of that energy had been spared to actually heal any of the damage.

His long, perfect silver hair was bedraggled and stained with blood from his scalp- she assumed just by looking at him that he'd surrendered at least a few locks and a considerable amount of skin to the ice in his frenzy to escape. His eyes were a brilliant red with no visible pupils that she could see, the marks on his cheeks jagged like broken glass as his jaw was noticeably distended- part-way through his transformation. His claws were longer than normal, and oozing green toxins into the air even though he wasn't actively attacking anything. If she looked where his hand was gripping the edge of the cave mouth, he was already wearing finger holes into the rock.

As for the rest of him, his clothing was in a horrible state after his skin had been shredded by the ice- and most of those welts were either still open and bleeding along his chest and arms, or were just a bright pink. The ice had been possessive of his body, even his legs were partially exposed through his torn pants, holes pocketing his black boots. His armour had been split cleanly in two across the chest, and the pauldron was missing. His fur was shredded and bloody, hanging limp around his arm where it had slipped and clung weakly to his elbow. It had gone grey, not silver or tan, but dreary, desperate grey.

Every breath he took was heaving and ragged, a snarling growl gushing out of his chest like fresh blood from a wound. She wasn't even sure if he could see her clearly in this state, but made sure she didn't step away or back down under that electric gaze. Fine, yes, she was scared, let him know she was scared- but she'd damn well stayed here so she wasn't going to just turn and run away now! His aura was still flying wild, white, green, and blue light surging over his body like high flames. There was only anger and hatred in him, but she spoke, somehow, and thought of Naraku to make the sight less terrifying.

"Do you want to rest here, or clean up down at the lake?" Her words didn't have the desired effect. Instead of bringing him back from the edge of whatever melt-down was threatening to rip him apart, Sesshoumaru pushed away from the cave wall and took several unsteady, lumbering steps towards her before stopping again. He couldn't speak and talk at the same time, and that worried her just as much as his appearance.

"Why are you here! ?" Oh, screaming, she didn't like that and Kagura felt herself shrink back for a moment before she found herself getting mad at him. How dare he treat her like this? And in his condition too! Selfish wretch, she hadn't just wasted a decade of her new life waiting for him to wake up and then keel over!

"Why do you think! ?" She shouted back, pulling the fan away and scowling at him indignantly, matching that furious red glare. "If this is how Lord Sesshoumaru wants to conduct himself then by all means, M'lord! Carry on as you were and I'll just wait here for the real Demon Lord to climb out of that hole!"

That had an effect on him, but she wasn't able to watch it before hearing the familiar twang of a bowstring. Artemis said something, but Kagura was too overcome with rage and fear to bother discerning the words before her physical body was torn apart by the wind. It didn't hurt, it was an innate ability she had picked up since her rebirth, second nature now as the offensive arrow cut through the space where she'd been standing and bit into the dusty rock next to the cave mouth.

She whipped right past Sesshoumaru, letting the gale that followed her hold him fast to the spot where he was standing so he didn't do anything to interfere. Striking the mutilated corpses of Artemis' dogs, Kagura pulled the two bitches up and made their corpses dance and snap at their mistress- dismembered claws and fangs biting into the goddess' exposed calves. Artemis shrieked something in outrage and tried to bat the corpses off with her bow, or to kick them, and her distraction gave Kagura enough time to draw in as much wind as she could, focusing on the space just in front of the huntress' stomach.

Reforming with her fan out and palm bracing the fragile tool, Artemis was staring at her with their noses almost touching.

"Get off my mountain."

Kagura hissed the words through her teeth and then unleashed the wind. This goddess had a place of principle, not element. She had no bestial powers to counter Kagura's wind, and no elemental ones to come to her aid. The only reason the witch hadn't attacked her sooner was because of the goddess' damn brother who carried the sun, and her father who flung lightning bolts and raped whatever woman caught his eye. No thank you, to either of them.

But Kagura wasn't going to be in Thrace much longer, so she took a sick satisfaction in watching Artemis' expression as her sandalled feet were torn off the ground and she was flung, like a discarded toy, straight off the side of the mountain. The Goddess arced high in the air and then crashed down far, far away from this place, and every moment she was gone would be one Kagura would savour.

"There." That felt so good...! Shutting her fan with a horrible little smile on her face, Kagura turned around again. "And now for you- you ungrateful..." Oh no... "...Sesshoumaru."

She thought it was just an enraged twitch in his face, now recognizing it as an agonized tremor that wouldn't leave his body. The Demon Lord took a step towards her, one clawed hand raised and oozing poison like he intended to strike her- or was he reaching for her? But it didn't matter, attempting to walk again caused his balance to go. She'd never seen him on his knees before, but that was where he wound up: down and braced on his hands as he opened his mouth and vomited a thick stream of red blood onto the dry ground.

At least he'd kept it together until the goddess was out of sight. The thought struck her as incredibly cruel, but then she realized it was probably the same thing he was thinking right now, the Demon Lord too weak to finish spitting out the crimson.

"Come inside." She said calmly, but lowered her voice from the defensive and angry tone she'd been using before now. Walking up to him cautiously, there was always a chance he would attack her, especially wounded as he was now, but he let her come close enough that she could feel the hot blood he'd spat up sticking to her toes on the rocks.

Holding one hand out, carefully, she made sure it wasn't turned palm-out to him like she expected him to grab onto her. She knew better than to offer, he'd just reject himself to death in order to preserve his intense standards. That was fine, if he collapsed then she would carry him, and if he could carry himself then that worked too.

No, what she did with her hand was very simple: she reached out to his face and brushed the back of one finger against his cheek. Not his marks, or his eye, just his cheek. Not his bloodied lips, not his rough hair, just a simple touch on his face so he knew, so he understood, that she was still with him.

"...Why?"

"Stupid dog, don't try and speak." She lectured, but her voice was soft. She said the words slowly, watching him carefully in case he began to list to either side and fall, then slowly removed her touch from his face. He had, maybe, begun to lean against it. She enjoyed that knowledge but refused to indulge in it. If things weren't done on his terms, then they wouldn't happen at all. Kagura had learned that while trying to convince him to slay Naraku: he'd done it in the end, but not because of anything she'd offered or bribed. His actions could always be understood in terms of his pride.

He did, eventually, find the strength to rise again on his own; summoning his pride like a crutch that carried him into the tiny cottage. He did it on his own, yes, and under his own power... But, he did wait until she whispered the words 'I thought I belonged to you?' to him before he found those hidden reserves.

She would tend to his pride first, and worry about the rest later...

I went and watched the Third Movie for the first time while writing this chapter. I've become such a fangirl while working on this story!