For The One She Loves

Written by: Sparrow's Mistress

Chapter 21: Battle of Emotions at the Shrine House

Kimora, Rentaro, and Seri quickly approached their destination. They came across the barrier that surrounded the village and Kimora came to a halt. She raised her hand to signal the others to do the same. Kimora squinted to see the barrier and saw it flicker a few times. It was quite easy to miss since the sun was so bright. She smiled, nevertheless, knowing that getting into the village would be no problem at all.

"Kagome cant even concentrate enough to keep up a simple barrier." She motioned forward, and the three of them passed through while the barrier fell for a mere second.

The three intruders looked upon the quiet village. Kimora found this quite unusual since it was the middle of the day. She smirked as she didn't find Inuyasha's aura anywhere. 'This will be easier than we thought.'

She turned to Seri and gave a quick nod. Seri nodded back and widened her stance. Seri closed her eyes and focused on the task at hand. She took a deep breath and when she opened her mouth she emitted powerful sound waves that created a shrieking noise. The waves reached the huts of the village and began to tear them apart while dirt and debris flew around in the air. The few villages outside fell to the ground covering their ears, dropping anything and or everything they were carrying.

Kagome who was still in the shrine house, also fell to the floor, with a splitting headache. She quickly picked herself up and ran outside. She looked down at the village she was supposed to be protecting and saw her people on the ground, and the destruction that was taking place. Her eyes narrowed as she picked up on the strong wind causing all the mess, and her mind first jumped to Kagura. "No, that wouldn't explain the screeching. These are sound waves."

She searched for the origin of the sound and powerful force and her eyes immediately locked on Kimora and the other two figures with her. That's when she noticed the little girl standing next to Kimora with her mouth open and waves coming out of it. 'So she's the one.' Kagome thought as she pulled an arrow from her quiver and released it from her bow. The soaring light cut through the sky and headed straight for the girl.

Kimora sensed the familiar energy of a scared arrow and saw Kagome's arrow heading straight for them. Kimora jumped back several feet, tipping off the other two to do the same. She motioned for Seri to close her mouth then smiled. "She's over there. On top of the steps." Kimora pointed to the shrine. And without any further chit-chat they bounded off toward Kagome and landed right at the bottom of the stairs leading to the shrine.

Kagome readied another arrow, pulling back on the bowstring and aimed it at the demons. "Kimora," she said with a dangerous tone, her brows furrowed and hair whipping in the wind. "Where is my daughter?"

Kimora narrowed her eyes. And with malice she said, "Kagome, you know what Raiden wants. We'll make it a trade, you for Raina." Kimora saw the flash of pain in Kagome's eyes and grinned. "So what is your decision?"

Kagome went silent and thought about the promise Inuyasha made her make to him. 'I gave him my word that I wouldn't sacrifice myself to get Raina back.' Kagome nodded and looked at Kimora dead in the eye. "I'm not going with you. You better tell me where Raina is right now or I'll kill you right here."

Rentaro laughed loudly. "And how will you do that? I'm surprised you could even create a sacred arrow considering that you can't even seem to keep up a simple barrier."

Kagome frowned and her brows furrowed even more, as she stared intently at Rentaro. 'What did he say? "You cant even keep up a barrier." What does that mean?'

Kimora wore a smug look on her face. Taking pleasure in seeing Kagome distressed.

Seri took a step forward and spoke up in her childish voice. "How do you think we got in here silly? A barrier is to keep unwanted demons out and protect what's inside it. You're barrier wasn't nearly strong enough to do either."

Then it hit her. She remembered that her miko powers were controlled by her emotions. And as of lately she has been under great amounts of despair and pain. Kaede had told her that maintaining a barrier wasn't the most difficult thing but you needed to stay calm and you're miko powers would keep it up unconsciously. Especially Kagome since her power was so raw and came naturally.

'That would explain how Sesshomaru had gotten in.' Kagome looked passed Kimora and the others and saw the village that she was supposed to protect; her village. The huts were destroyed and villagers laid on the ground still in pain from Seri's sound waves. She fell to her knees and put her hands on the ground "How could I let this happen?"

Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango rode Kirara as they tried to find any scent that would lead them to Raiden and/or Raina. Inuyasha was facing the wind trying to find any trace of Raina's when his nose came across a familiar scent laced with guilt and sorrow.

"Kagome." Inuyasha breathed.

"Did you say something Inuyasha?" Sango turned around.

"Something's wrong." Inuyasha said as he jumped off Kirara and bounded from tree to tree back to the village. Miroku and Sango exchanged looks then told Kirara to turn around.

Kagome was kneeling on the ground. Kimora looked at the pitiful figure at the top of the steps. 'Looks like she has finally dropped her guard.' She thought as she stared at Kagome with disgust. 'Why does Raiden lust for her? She's nothing but a half-breed. She wasn't even born half-breed. I should been the one at Raiden's side. What's so special about her?' She asked herself as she narrowed her eyes and felt Rentaro's gaze on her, awaiting orders. She nodded and cracked a small smile. "Do what must been done, but don't kill her. Remember our orders, to bring her back to Lord Raiden, alive. But if she is wounded it will easier for us to take her."

Rentaro nodded. He held out his hand and it suddenly burst into flames. He lifted it up to eye level, his palm facing him and concentrated on the flames. Kagome sensed something and looked down at Rentaro. She squinted to see him and his hand that was on fire. She concentrated on the flames that were licking at his fingers and they started to change shape. The flames moved from his hand to the tips of his fingers and took the form of a dagger. Rentaro grinned and held the dagger of flames between his index finger and middle finger. Then held it up to his left ear and gracefully threw the dagger at Kagome.

Kagome's eyes widened as she saw the dagger flying at her. She tried to pick up her bow, but her body wouldn't move. She thought about the villagers and how she let them down. And Raina, how she let her daughter down. 'Inuyasha, I know I promised to stay in the village and not leave you, but I've let too many people down.' Kagome closed her eyes and awaited the hit. ' Please save our daughter Inuyasha.'

Seiji jumped from the trees to the right of the shrine house and landed right in front of Kagome, on the next step down. He unsheathed his sword and blocked the dagger, which pushed against the sword then burned out. Seiji lowered his sword and looked at the tree demons down below. Then he looked over his shoulder and down at Kagome. She slowly raised her head and stared back at him.

"Priestess Kagome, I'm a friend of your daughter. You must not give into these demons. You'll only be giving them what they want." Seiji looked forward, back at Kimora, Rentaro, and Seri. He turned his full attention to Rentaro and narrowed his eyes. "That was a cheap shot. Intending to harm someone while they're down. How cowardly."

Rentaro gave a short sarcastic laugh. "It's not cowardly. It is taking advantage of the situation." Rentaro opened his mouth again but Kimora held up her hand, cutting him off. Rentaro shut his mouth and looked to her in question.

Kimora dropped her hand and stared at Seiji intently. "Who are you? And what is your business interfering here?"

Seiji smirked and cocked an eyebrow. "You don't need to know that information. All you need to know is that I'm here to aid Priestess Kagome." Seiji felt several auras coming up from behind Kagome and him and thought it might be comrades of the three at the bottom of the steps. But as they came closer he realized that they were not with Kimora.

Kenji and the others emerged from behind the shrine house holding weapons. Kenji, Ryosuke, and Robin holding their swords, Makoto holding his staff and Emiko with her Hiraikotsu on her back and Mika in her arms. They took in the scene before them. Kagome on the ground, Seiji standing in front of her, sword raised, and the three demons at the bottom of the stairs. They looked at Seiji again and all five of them were confused. For each of them had strongly believed that Seiji was the one that had kidnaped Raina. But from what they could see, it looked like he was actually the good guy, by protecting Kagome.

Kenji stepped forward towards his mother. He raised his sword and stood next to Seiji. "Kaa-san, are you okay?" Kagome looked up at her son's back. Then felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked behind her and saw Ryosuke, Emiko, Makoto and Robin, who had put her hand on Kagome for support. To let her know they were here.

"How cute, the half breed pups and the human children want to protect you, Kagome." Kimora said in a girly voice. "Are you going to let them down too?" Kagome winced and lowered her head as she balled hands into fists. 'She's right. These teens are willing to risk their lives for me. Am I just going to sit here and let them die? But what if I fail and they die anyways? No, if you try they won't Come on Kagome, your son, nieces and nephews need you. Your daughter needs you." Tears escaped Kagome's eyes, and she just wanted to die. 'I cant. Im not strong enough.'

Kimora's smiled was gone and her eyes were challenging. "Do you kids think you can take us?" She half laughed, her face wicked but beautiful all the same.

"Even without Kagome, it's 6 against 3. That's two of us for one of you. So I implore you to tell us where Raina is, or I doubt that you will go back to your Lord alive."

"You talk big oh mysterious one. But if you kill us, you might never find out where Raina is."

"Oh, you'll definitely tell us before you die." Said Ryosuke stepping forward and standing on the other side of Seiji.

"We're not here to fight with you losers," said Rentaro. "We're here to bring Kagome back with us. And we wont leave without her. So if that means killing you all to get to her, then so be it." With that both of Rentaro's hands bursted into flames and he grinned. Kenji smirked too, anticipation washing over him, he was itching for a good fight. He wanted to make them pay for taking Raina away from her family.

"Enough talk, come at us already." Said Kenji.

Then, a bright light cut through the space between the two sides and pierced through Rentaro's right shoulder. Rentaro's head snapped from his shoulder to the culprit who fired the arrow. His fierce gaze landed on an even more fierce gaze. Kagome was standing up with another arrow already notched on her bow.

"You fucking bitch!" Rentaro yelled as the flames went out and he grabbed at his shoulder.

"You know, I've heard that a lot in the past few years. And it does get quite tiresome."

Kimora smiled. She had to give Kagome a little credit. "Kagome, since when did you become so fiery? A couple minutes ago you were having a breakdown. Why don't you just give up and come with us willingly before any of your loved one's blood is spilled."

"This coming from the side that already has a wounded fighter."

"I'll show you how wounded I am!" Rentaro's hands lit up again as he made to jump forward. But once again Kimora held up her hand in front of him.

"You're no use to people here. You're only hurting them. If you weren't in this village all those villagers wouldn't be hurt. Think about your family. You're supposed to protect them and this village. How can you do that if you cant concentrate enough to create a barrier and keep even the weakest demons out?"

"I can't concentrate because you took my daughter away from me!" Kagome's aura flared around her in anger making the ones closest to her flinch.

Seiji narrowed his eyes and looked to Kagome. He looked behind him and saw that Raina was indeed missing. His eyes flew down to the demons and his anger boiled inside him.

"I've had enough of this." Said Kenji. "You've taken my sister now you want my mother? I don't think so." Then Kenji jumped off the step and flew down the stairs at the three demons. Rentaro bounded forward to meet him in the middle. He molded his flames to make a sword and then swung it at Kenji. Kenji also swung his sword and the two met, clashing against each other.

Ryosuke and Makoto bounded down the steps to help Kenji, while Robin and Seri also engaged in a sword fight. Emiko held Mika in her arms trying to shield her as best as possible. She wanted to fight too but resisted knowing she couldn't just put Mika down and fight. She would be in danger then. Kagome feeling Emiko's dilemma looked to her and frowned.

"Emiko put Mika in the hut. I will put a barrier around it. Her being out here, even in your arms is dangerous." Emiko nodded as she ran into the shrine house to put Mika down, a barrier instantly covering the hut, and ran out with Hiraikotsu in hand. She threw it at Seri and it would have hit her right in the abdomen if she hadn't of jumped up to avoid an attack by Robin. Emiko drew her sword and her and Robin drove Seri back down the steps.

Kagome now slowly descended down the steps while shooting several sacred arrows at Kimora. 'Kimora's right. I'm putting everyone and everything I love in danger. Who am I kidding thinking I could protect this village?' Kagome paused halfway down the steps and held the arrow against the bow. 'But if I give up now I'll be letting everyone down. I could still get Raina back without giving Raiden what he wants. And I have Inuyasha. Together we'll get our daughter back.' Kagome pulled back on the bow and sent a little bit more miko energy into the arrow. And Kimora found it a little harder to avoid them.

On top of the stairs, Seiji stood watching. He sheathed his sword and turned to leave, the ends of his sash blowing in the wind. "They'll be fine for now, they've got this one." Seiji jumped into the trees and made his way through this forest. "And now to deal with more serious matters."

'Raina.'

Back on the stairs Rentaro was injured from Kagome's arrow and that put a damper on his ability to fight Kenji and Ryosuke. He now had two deep gashes, one on his bicep and one across his back. While Kenji and Ryosuke only had a couple of burns on their clothes and arms.

Seri wasn't doing too good either. Robin and Emiko showed her no mercy despite her appearance of a little girl. Seri had a cut on her cheek that was bleeding profusely and a slash on her thigh. She was blocking the girls' swords with small daggers but fought a lot with her fists. She was more of a hand to hand combat fighter, and she was good at it. Robin and Emiko already had bruises on their sides from her punches and kicks. But they rarely let her get so close inside their defenses.

Kimora was too preoccupied to notice that they were losing the fight. Kagome kept her busy by sending one sacred arrow after another. And Kimora kept throwing dark energy balls at Kagome. But it took Kimora longer to generate dark energy then it did for Kagome to send sacred arrows and Kimora had to dodge the arrows too. Even though Kimora was doing worse than Kagome, Kagome was emotionally spent. And to get an edge, Kimora played on that factor.

"Kagome, just give up. If you don't you'll never get Raina back. Your search and rescue party will never find where Raiden is." Kimora said with a smile.

Kagome lowered her bow and a feeling of defeat washed over her. Kimora took advantage of the situation and generated a larger dark energy ball and aimed it at Kagome. She realized too late that one of Kimora's attacks her racing towards her. She turned to the side to avoid it and it just graze the side of her waist. Kagome fell to the ground it pain. She could feel the dark energy tainting her body. But Kagome lifted herself up and tried to get to her feet. She felt an enormous rush of power flowing through her and her body became engulfed in pure miko light, just like it had 16 years ago against Naraku. She hair moved around her and her clothes ruffled with the power.

Kimora's eyes went wide with fear and she took a step back. She drew her hands apart and readied another dark energy ball but a flash of blue lightening appeared and hit her. Kimora screamed and collapsed to the ground. Kagome blinked and the miko light receded into her body. She turned to the origin of the lightening to see Sesshomaru in front of the shrine house with Toukijin unsheathed. Kimora's eyes widened and gathered herself up to her feet. She stumbled backwards and then shot a hateful look at Kagome. Kimora turned her back as to leave then whipped around and threw an attack at Kagome. Sesshomaru appeared in front of Kagome and blocked the energy ball with Toukijin.

Kimora scowled and took a step back. "Seri, Rentaro, Let's go!" Then the three demons jumped back into the trees and disappeared.

Kagome's knees buckled under her and she started to fall to the ground, but Sesshomaru caught her before she hit the ground. He put his arm underneath her knees and back and picked her up bridal style. Kagome opened her eyes and smiled at him slightly.

"Thank you Sesshomaru." Then Kagome fell asleep. Sesshomaru looked down at her to assess her injuries. She was pretty battered up and bruised and he could smell the strong and alluring scent of her blood but couldn't seem to find it. He stretched his neck to look on the side facing away from him and saw that she was grazed with a dark energy ball. He concluded that she must have countered it unconsciously when the burst of power rushed over her body since it wasn't spreading.

"Inuyasha will certainly be here soon. I know he must have caught the scent as easily as I did."

And as if on cue, Inuyasha flew from the trees and landed on the ground at the bottom of the steps. He looked around at the village, then to Sesshomaru holding his mate in his arms. Inuyasha felt his stomach drop and his heart rise into his throat. His demon blood flared with a desire to kill the ones who hurt his mate. But he put a hand on his Tetsusaiga and it calmed his blood. In a flash, he appeared by Sesshoumaru's side, Sesshomaru gently handing Kagome over to him. He held her just as Sesshomaru did and looked at her bruised and dirty face. He could hear her breathing and when he put his head to her chest her heart was still beating. He let out his breath and sighed.

"Kagome, I'm sorry. Forgive me." He nestled his head in her hair and breathed in her scent. He drew back pained by the scent of blood mixed with her usually sweet scent. He walked down the rest of the steps that had just been fought upon and proceeded to take Kagome to their hut. When he got to the bottom of the steps he paused. "When I come out I want to know exactly what happened." Then quickly went inside.

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Sparrow's Mistress