Incomplete
- Chapter Twenty-Nine -
Kagome took her time navigating the maze of darkened corridors that led from her room to Sesshomaru's private quarters. She was stalling and she'd been stalling for two months. For a while she'd been content to forget about her obligations to the Sacred Jewel in favour of long days spent training and longer nights wrapped in Sesshomaru's embrace, but she couldn't do it any longer.
She had to go back, if only for a short while, to cut her ties with the Sacred Jewel and put it behind her for good. The only problem was, she couldn't know what would happen to her once the jewel was gone from this world. Would she disappear with it? None of them could know for sure.
The thought of being forcibly returned to the modern world without so much as a good bye, or spending the rest of her days without Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku and the others in her life was unbearable, but she had to try. If some demon, perhaps one even more powerful than Naraku, got hold of the jewel and innocent lives were lost she'd never forgive herself.
These last couple of months had been some of the happiest in her life, which only made it all the more difficult to tell him she was leaving.
Kagome nibbled nervously at her bottom lip and re-adjusted her skirt. Sesshomaru wouldn't be happy. He'd become very protective of her and the idea that she might leave and never come back would not go over well. But she had to find a way to convince him. Somehow, she had to make him see that this was the only way that they could be together the way she wanted them to be. Knowing him, changing his mind was going to be about as easy as pushing a boulder up a mountain.
Sighing in defeat, she prepared herself for a long night and slid open the door to his room. He was usually waiting for her, relaxing by the fire after a long day of meetings and strategy sessions. The wintry chill on the air washed over her skin and she shivered in spite of herself. There was no roaring fire to welcome her, or a smiling demon wearing a hungry look in his eyes.
I thought for sure he'd be back by now...
Rubbing her arms to keep warm she shuffled further into the room and stopped. A cold feeling of panic slowly crept down her spine and she held her breath. Her instincts were screaming danger at her from every direction but she couldn't find the source. Everywhere she looked there were shadows, all dark and impenetrable to her human eyes.
The hair standing up on the back of her neck told her she wasn't alone. Visions of Sesshomaru's former advisor pressing his sword against her wrist swam before her eyes. Would they be stupid enough to try it again? Either way, something was wrong; something was very, very wrong.
Swallowing the urge to call out for Sesshomaru, she spun sharply and searched behind her for any would-be attackers. He or they were there somewhere, she could sense them lurking in the shadows like cowards.
"I know you're there," she threatened. "Come on out!"
With a spark and a hiss a single torch lit up behind her and she turned to face it, prepared to fight. It was followed by another, and then another, until the entire room was surrounded. The shadows receded behind the light revealing dozens of soldiers with their swords drawn. They surrounded her on all sides and blocked the door.
She'd been prepared to take on one, maybe two, but two dozen? Swallowing hard, she took a shaky step back. Sesshomaru was in the centre of the scrum, bound, gagged and caged in by his advisors. He looked murderous, his eyes already glowing a brilliant shade of red.
"What are you doing?" she demanded, angrily glaring at the cluster of advisors standing between them. "Untie him unless you have a death wish!"
She was surprised by the ferocity of her own words and was thankful for it too. It hid the fear that shook her and the sinking feeling of dread that'd settled in her stomach.
One of the younger advisors, she never did catch his name, advanced on her. He grabbed her roughly by the arm and began dragging her towards the others. Summoning what spirit energy she could, she tried to force him away. He grunted in annoyance and slapped her hard enough to make the room spin. She fell to the ground clutching her bruised cheek while Sesshomaru struggled futilely against the chains they'd used to bind him.
Every time he struggled, every time he expended any energy at all, the light blue aura that engulfed the metal brightened and she felt his power dim. The chains were draining his demonic energy! If they left them on long enough or he kept struggling... She shook away the thought, too terrified to think of the consequences.
"Don't try that again," the demon growled at her and resumed dragging her the rest of the way. He tossed her to the floor in front of Mitsushi, one of Sesshomaru's older advisors.
"We warned you about getting involved with this human, Sesshomaru," the elderly demon chided. He grabbed her up by the chin and Kagome's eyes widened at the flicker of lust that flashed through his.
"Even I must admit she is an interesting specimen," he taunted with a carefree air, "but she is still human and a miko as well. Are you willing to risk the future of your empire on this wench?"
With those words he tossed her to the floor as if the mere touch of her skin against his was repulsive.
Sesshomaru aimed a hate-filled glare at the old demon. A threatening growl rumbled low in his throat and his gaze drifted to the far corner of the room were his two swords were being held hostage under heavy guard. His expression told her everything she needed to know to bolster her courage. Once he was free from his bonds they were going to die slow, painful deaths, every last one of them.
"I thought we could handle this easily but you've given us no choice," Mitsushi warned. "Remember Sesshomaru, this is your doing. You have no one to blame for this but yourself."
With a flick of his wrist, two guards came forward and grabbed her up by the arms. They dragged her easily towards the door despite her kicks and screams.
At the sound of commotion behind her, Kagome wrenched her head around to see Sesshomaru trying to free himself while attacking the guards and advisors closest to him. He managed to take down two or three before one of the guards slashed him across the back with his sword. Another followed suit, slicing him across the stomach. A large blood stain bloomed across the front of his torn kimono and he collapsed to one knee.
Mitsushi's next words brought everything to a standstill.
"Sesshomaru. Do not make us kill her."
The cool bite of a steel blade against her naked throat made her gulp. The room turned deathly quiet, everyone anxiously awaiting his next move. Sesshomaru held her gaze and ever so slowly the expression in his eyes faded from rage to regret. Looking away, he hung his head and conceded defeat.
The blade dropped away from her neck and with a rough jerk forward she was carried once more towards the door. Finally finding her voice she began to tearfully scream for Sesshomaru to help her. Above her cries she heard Mitsushi's command of "Finish him".
"NOOO!"
Kagome fought against her captors with renewed vigour as they dragged her out into the hall. Even though she was human and no match for a room full of demons, she had to do something. It couldn't end like this! With a rough jerk of her arms, she managed to momentarily free herself from the guards and made a break for the door.
Before she could reach the handle she was tackled from behind. Her face hit the floor with no small amount of force and the shock ricocheted throughout her body. The sounds of fighting from inside the room slipped out from beneath the door and gave her hope that it wasn't too late.
If I can just get to him in time…
Tired of fighting her, one of the guards struck her in the head with the butt end of his sword. She instantly went limp beneath him. Uttering a grunt of satisfaction, the demon stepped off of her and with the help of the other carried her down the main staircase.
She drifted in and out of consciousness after that, never really sure what was going on or where she was. By the time she became aware enough of the cold and the blinding pain in her head to groan, the dark void would swallow her up again.
It went on like his for hours until eventually all she could feel was the cold. It seeped into every limb, slowly turning her to ice from the inside out.
She dreamed she was the Ice Queen from her favourite childhood story, surrounded by a palace of glistening snow. She dreamed of Sesshomaru slowly dying in a pool of his own blood. A quiet instinct told her to move but she couldn't generate the energy to make her body obey.
She became aware of the sound of rushing water and the fire-like burn in her legs. And then she was aware of nothing at all. And it was okay, because if Sesshomaru was truly dead, then the only thing she wanted to do was join him.
oOo
A whirlwind whipped through the forest announcing the arrival of Kouga, leader of the wolf demon tribe. Wearing a cocky grin that split his face from ear to ear, he planned out what he'd say once he ran into the mutt and Kagome again.
He loved to push the half-demon's buttons. All it took was one charming smile sent Kagome's way, maybe a little hand hold or a few professions of love, and the hanyou was ready to kill anything that moved.
Taking another tentative sniff of the air, Kouga changed direction and headed westward. They were close. He could practically hear the mutt's shouts of indignation already. Picking up his pace, he chuckled to himself as he jumped through the last of the trees and arrived on the grassy bank of a river.
Stopping in his tracks, he looked up and down the riverbank confused. His nose told him that Kagome was there, but he couldn't see her. The scents of the mutt and her other travelling companions were noticeably absent as well. He tentatively called out to her, but only the rush of the river's icy waters answered him.
"What the hell?"
Dread curled in his stomach as he searched the tall grasses that lined the bank. It was an agonizing few minutes before he found her draped across a large flat rock. She was pale enough to be dead and would have been naked were it not for the scraps of water logged silk that clung to her body.
For one, single, earth shattering moment he thought she might already be gone, but there was no scent of death on the air. Even so, he wasn't sure of it until he gathered her up into his arms and felt her body trembling from the cold.
"Where the hell is that mutt face?" he demanded, glowering at the empty forest that surrounded them.
"I'm going to kick his mangy ass next time I see him!"
Brushing wet tendrils of ebony hair from her face he stared down at her blue lips and frowned. This wasn't good. He didn't know a lot about human anatomy, but if plunging into an icy river was enough to kill a wolf she couldn't be doing much better.
"Come on Kagome, hang in there," he pleaded.
Tucking her into the warm furs he wore during the winter season, Kouga took off towards his mountain cave at break neck speed. As the trees whipped by him in a blur, he would have sworn he'd never run so fast in his life. He didn't stop until they were sheltered from the blistering elements within the wolf den and even then, he wasted no time burying her in warm pelts next to the fire.
The other members of the wolf tribe sniffed around the entrance to his private cave hoping to get a closer look, but Kouga's authoritative growls kept them at bay.
Squatting down next to her, he took her limp hand in his and tried to warm it between his palms.
If Kagome was mine this never would've happened! he thought.
"Is sister Kagome okay?" Ginta asked from the cave's entrance, his voice trembling. Hakkaku was right behind him, peering eagerly over his shoulder. Kouga waved them in and felt helpless to tell them anything but the truth.
"I dunno. She's pretty sick."
Ginta's face fell and he exchanged a worried glance with Hakkaku. Kagome had always felt like a sister to them. She'd saved their lives time and again and now that it was her turn to be saved they couldn't do anything for her.
"Hakkaku! Ginta!" Their heads snapped up and they immediately stood at the ready for Kouga's orders.
"I need you two to go find Inuyasha and the others. I need to know what happened out there. It might help us help Kagome."
He gave a meaningful look at the shivering, fur clad figure on the floor and the duo nodded in unison.
"Right Kouga! We'll be back as soon as we can!"
With that they departed, bravely leading a small tracking party into the bitter cold.
When the cave had gone silent again, Kouga pulled down the furs covering Kagome's back and studied at the crescent moon mark on her shoulder. He frowned as he gently ran his finger across it and felt the tell-tale burn against his skin.
"So…" he mused aloud, "I guess it's fair to say you ain't my woman after all."
Whomever Kagome chose to mate with was none of his business, but the mark surprised him. Even more confusing was that it didn't belong to Inuyasha. That revelation brought countless other questions to mind. If it wasn't Inuyasha Kagome was mated to, then who?
Kouga pushed down the sudden wave of jealousy that rose up inside of him. In his mind, marked or not, Kagome was his woman and he was willing to fight whoever he had to to protect her. Whoever her mate was, he'd done a piss poor job of keeping her safe.
He also found it hard to believe that she would've ever willingly left the mutt's side. If that was the case and she hadn't given herself willingly, then who'd dared to mark her by force? Raping was one thing, but marking her so no other demon could touch her seemed too personal to be random.
Maybe Naraku…? No, Naraku had been dead for months and the mark would have disappeared with him. It had to be someone else…
Kouga rested his chin on his fist and mulled over the situation he now found himself in. Seeing no easy solution, he sat back with a sigh and folded his hands behind his head. He wouldn't be able to decide anything until Ginta and Hakkaku returned with more information. Maybe then he'd finally get to the bottom of this. Either way, the hanyou was in for one hell of an ass kicking.
The violent shivers that racked Kagome's body caught his attention. She was no more than a few inches from the raging fire but her body trembled like she was still in that icy river. In one smooth motion he slid to the ground and curled up behind her.
With a hand wrapped securely around her waist he held her close and shared his warmth. It wasn't much, but for the time being it was the best he could do. After a moment's hesitation he dipped his head and softly kissed her shoulder, willing her to draw from him the strength she needed to pull through. When she didn't stir he sighed and closed his eyes.
"Damn it Kagome, fight. You have to fight!"
He'd do everything in his power to keep her alive as long as he had the strength to move, but she had to do her part too. If she didn't have the will, then this was already a lost cause.
Holding her tight in his protective embrace, the leader of the Wolf Demon tribe slipped into an uneasy sleep and prayed for morning.
oOo
It was three days before Ginta and Hakkaku returned to the wolf den. Kouga gave them time to catch their breath and shake dry while he busied himself stoking the fire. His eyes lingered on Kagome and as an afterthought he added another pelt atop of the ever growing mound he'd buried her under.
Though he'd kept her as close as he dared to the fire's roaring heat, her skin had yet to lose its deathly pallor. As leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe, he wasn't accustomed to failure, in any form. Stepping back, he swiped a weary hand over his face and contemplated what to do.
Despite his brazen antics and cocky remarks, he truly did care for her. Seeing her helpless like this tore at him the way the death of his pack had. He'd never been so worried about a human in his entire life. Since he'd found her in that river the knot of panic in his gut hadn't subsided, not even for a moment.
Crouching down he tenderly brushed the hair back from her face.
"Tell me what you found," he instructed.
Ginta and Hakkaku dutifully recounted what they knew of Inuyasha's whereabouts as well as the rest of the group.
"From what we could tell," Hakkaku offered nervously, "they aren't even looking for her."
Kouga's brows drew low at that bit of information. What could've happened? It wasn't like mutt face to not be out searching for her. He was as loyal as a newborn pup. Was it possible they hadn't realized she was missing yet?
He studied her in the firelight and silently pleaded with her to wake up. Only she could answer his questions. Only she could tell him what'd happened and how she'd ended up in that river so far from everyone she cared about. The silence that fell over the cave was heavy and broken only by the sound of wood popping inside the flames.
"Has she woken up yet?" Ginta asked tentatively. Kouga shook his head slowly.
"Alright, it's settled," he said finally, nodding to his two companions.
"We gotta bring Kagome back to the others. I've tried everything I can to wake her but nothing's helped. That miko of theirs…maybe she can do something."
Kouga hesitated before begrudgingly adding, "…and Inuyasha always seems to have an effect on her. Maybe if he's around...it'll help."
He almost choked on those last words. He was loathed to admit that Inuyasha was better than him at anything, including winning Kagome's affections. He'd known for some time that Kagome's heart belonged to the half demon mutt, but it never kept him from trying.
"I don't get it," Hakkaku cut in while scratching his head. "Why do we need to come?"
Kouga gave him a sharp look and the frightened wolf demon took an unconscious step out of striking range.
"You know what happens to people who question him!" Ginta whispered harshly behind his hand.
Hakkaku gulped loudly but was relieved to see that Kouga wasn't in the mood to make minced meat out of him yet. Instead, he sat down on a nearby rock and rested his chin on his hand.
"Well, I could bring her back myself but you know mutt face."
Ginta and Hakkaku nodded understandingly. Kouga and Inuyasha couldn't seem to get within five feet of each other without exchanging blows.
"The last thing Kagome needs right now is for us two to be going to war. We can save that for another day, preferably when she's conscious so she can watch me kick his ass."
"If you two bring her back, it won't look as suspicious," Kouga concluded with a pointed look in their direction. The duo nodded simultaneously, recognizing an order when they heard one.
Kouga stooped and lifted Kagome into his arms. After tucking her into some warm furs he looked at his companions expectantly. They, in turn, looked at the snow storm blustering outside. He didn't really expect them to go out in that did he?
"Come on, time to go!" he announced and then tore out of the cave leaving them to follow.