Chapter 36: Out in the Snow.
Kagome was shivering as she sat by the fire. Even though she had the warmth of the fire and Inuyasha's arms wrapped around her, she was still cold. Miroku just seemed to be ignoreing it as he sat in the snow but everyone could tell he was suffering from the cold too from the way the six rings on his staff were ringing as he shivered. Sango and Rin were both snuggled close to the sabercat form of Kilala.
"How long did he say the lords were going to be there?" Shippo asked as he poked his head out of Kagome's sleeping bag.
"Sesshomaru said that Sozen would be leaving the night after the meeting. And that Kai and his daughter would be gone the next morning." Sango said as she curled up in Kilala's warm fur.
"Well at least it stopped snowing." Inuyasha as he shook his head of the snow that head piled up on his head. It had stopped snowing around night fall. He then stiffened as he sniffed the air. "Kira. She's coming. And i think she's got food."
"Yes i do." Kira said as she came from between the trees. She had a large wrapped package in her arms as she camp into there camp. Jaken was behind her carrying the blankets she had requested of him to get.
"Kira!" Shippo ran out of the sleeping bag and jumped onto Kira's shoulder.
"Hi Shippo. Miss me?" Kira said as she set the food down by the fire.
"Only a whole lot. We've been freezing out here." The fox demon said as he slipped into Kira's arms so she could hug him.
"What brings you out here Lady Kira?" Miroku asked as he smiled at her.
Kira smiled. "I come baring warm food and blankets." She said proudly.
"What about my children?" Miroku asked as he smiled up at her.
"Not if you were that last man on earth Miroku." She said as she glared at him.
The monk sighed at being shot down again. His mood was then changed as Sango slapped him across the face.
"Who's that?" Rin asked as she pointed at the large white dog that came walking into the camp.
"Unfortunatly, that's Sesshomaru." She said as he came to sat beside her.
"THAT'S SESSHOMARU?!" Everyone asked as they stared at the demon lord in disbeleaf.
"Yes of course it's him!" Jaken said as he set down the blankets. "Lord Kai's daughter casted a spell to turn Kira into a dog but the spell bounced off her barrier and hit Lord Sesshomaru."
"Is this true?" Rin asked as she looked up at her lord.
Sesshomaru nodded as he looked at the child.
"He's able to still understand us but he just can't talk back." Kira said as she kneeled in front of the package and started untieing the knot. "Luckily he's able to speak with me because of the mark. I'll have to speak for him during the meeting tomorrow."
"Sounds scary." Shippo said as he went back over to the warm sleeping bag.
"Just a bit but i'm sure i can held it." She said as she finally managed to open the package and reveal the trays of food.
"Oh boy! Food!" Kagome said happily as she was handed a tray of food.
"I had the cooks made some food for you guys before i came out here. I figured you guys were getting tired of have to fish for it." She said as she handed Miroku his share.
"We were just about to run out of Kagome's ninja food." Sango said as she took her and Rin's trays from Kira and handed the child her's.
"And the fishing isn't all that great since it's winter." Inuyasha said as he was handed his tray.
"I figured as much." Kira said as she picked up the last tray and went over to Shippo to give it to him. "By the way, there's a cave behind the waterfall were you guys can stay. Sesshomaru was telling be about it as we walked over here. It's better in there then being out here in the snow."
"Really?" Kagome asked as she looked up from her food.
"Yep." She said as she sat down beside Sesshomaru. "He said that he hid in the cave for a while when he was young." Sesshomaru then let out a low bark which made Kira look at him. "Don't worry. I wasn't going to tell them that. Not in front of your brother anyway."
"Something he doesn't want us to know?" Inuyasha asked as he swollowed a mouthful of food.
"More like it's something he doesn't want me to reveal in front of you." She said as she stratched Sesshomaru behind his ears. "He still has his reputation to up hold and there'd no way i'm bringing it down in front of you Inuyasha."
"He won't have much of a reputation once everyone finds out the he's a dog now." He grumbled as he ate his food.
Sesshomaru growled at his younger brother. "He's says that's not going to happen." Kira translated for her mate. "And i wouldn't say such things in front of him right now. He may be a dog but he can still injure you pretty bad."
Inuyasha growled back at his brother and just continued eating.
Kira sighed as she watched the dog and hanyou growl at each other. "Anyway. It'll be warmer inside the cave and dryer too."
"Wonderful." Sango said as she finished her food and reached over to grab a blanket.
"I also think it's a good idea if you hide in the cave. The water will cover your scent so that Sozen can't find you at all." Kira said as she stratched Sesshomaru's eras to calm him down.
"Lord Sozen is here?" Rin asked as she snuggled in the blanket with the demon slayer.
"Yep. He arrived here around mid afternoon. He'll be leave tomorrow after the meeting. Which will probably be the same time that he arrived. He told us at dinner that he couldn;t stay long and had to leave as soon as possible." Kira said as she looked over her shoulder and glanced at the castle from between the trees. "You can all came back inside, after Kai and Serenissima leave the next morning. Lord Hoku of the Northern Lands is trustworthy enough. In fact, he agreed when we told him that we had you all leave three days before the meeting."
"So i suppose Lord Hoku is okay with humans being around?" Sango asked as she looked at the demoness.
"I guess so. He just wanted to make sure you guys weren't around while Sozen was here." She said as she noticed Sesshomaru was starting to lay down beside her.
Kagome noticed this as she set her empty tray down. "Is Sesshomaru okay?"
"Yeah. His new form is just wearing him down a bit. He feel asleep for a few hours after he had been transformed." She said as she stroked his fluffy fur.
"Is there a way to break the spell that's on him." Shippo asked as he went over to the lord with a fish he didn't eat and nibbled on it.
"From what Serenissima told us, the spell will be broken on the new of the new moon. Which should be in about a week or so." She said as she glanced over at Inuyasha.
"Great. One week until i'm fucking mortal again." He grumbled as he stared at the fire.
"Hey being human isn't all that bad." Kira said as she looked at him. "At least you can ran around in the sun without fearing anything else in the world. Or have anyone stare at you because of how different you look."
"Feh. Whatever." Inuyasha looked away as kira spoke.
Kira just sighed as she looked at him. She then got an idea and sat up. "You could go out on a date with Kagome without people gawking at you."
Inuyasha's ear twitched as she mentioned going out with Kagome. He remained silent as he thought this over. Kira just smirked at him, noticing her little hint had begun to give him some ideas.
"Well anyway. Let's get down to this cave Kira mentioned before we all freeze to death." Sango said as she moved a now sleeping Rin onto Kilala's back.
Miroku nodded as he stood up as well and picked up the firewood they had gathered for the night. Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's bag as she put out the fire with snow. Shippo jumped into her arms as she soon picked up the sleeping bag.
"Lead the way Kira." Kagome said as she placed her sleeping bag over Inuyasha's shoulder.
"Alright. Come on Sesshomaru." Kira said as she stood up and brushed the snow off herself.
Sesshomaru graoned as he too stood and shook himself, following after his mate.
"I'm going to head back to the castle before i too freeze in this harsh weather." Jaken said as he started running back to the casle.
Kira lead the group down the path in the snow that lead them to the river. They walked up the frozen stream until they reached the waterfall. As they got closer, they could see that there was a wide enough gap between the waterfall and the rock wall leading to a dark cave.
"It goes in about 20 feet but at least you won't get wet from the spray." Kira said as she went through the gap and into the cave with Sesshomaru right behind her.
Kagome followed right behind her. "It's kinda dark in here."
"Oh right." A sceond later, a bright purple glow filled the cave as she summoned the light from the jewel. A trick she had learned during her training with Ishiyama.
They soon reached the end of the cave where they set up camp.
"It's actually really nice in here." Sango said as she sat down against the cave wall.
Miroku started the fire and the cave was soon brightly lit with it's warm flames.
Kilala curled up by Sango with Rin still on her back and still asleep. Rin didn't seen to mind that they had moved.
"I'd better get back to the castle. I've got a big day tomorrow with the meeting and translating for Sesshomaru." Kira said after she saw that everyone was settled in.
"Okay. Be careful okay Kira?" Kagome said as she settled in Inuyasha's warm arms again.
"Okay." The demoness said as she smiled at her friend.
"By the way Kira." Miroku said as Kira was about to leave. "We're all heading back to Keade's village soon. Kagome mentioned something about wanting to return home for the holidays."
That made Kira freeze where she was. She had completely forgotten that Christmas was coming soon. "Shit! I completely forgot about that. I've been so busy with my training and studies and welcoming the lords into the caslte that i completely forgot about it."
"Don't worry Kira. Miroku found Hachi the raccoon demon yesterday as he was searching for some fire wood." Kagome said as she looked at her friend. "We were just waiting on you to see when we should head back."
"Really? And this Hachi is able to get us there?" Kira asked as she looked a little confused.
"You'll see. You just worry about tomorrow." Kagome said as she snuggled up against Inuyasha, which made him blush.
Kira laughed a bit at Inuyasha and then noticed Sesshomaru was yawning. "Well i'd better go. Sesshomaru looks like he's about to fall asleep." She said as she smiled at him.
Kagome laughed softly and then waved her friend farwell. "Night Kira. Good luck tomorrow."
Kira waved back and then left the cave with Sesshomaru trotting after her.