Arrows and Scars
Hey everybody, thank you so much for the love and support: NicoleR85, 12345678910 (Guest), MOONWOLF1234, Frances12, KEZZ 1, Tsukikageshi, darkangel0212, Altiria-Aty,Nyac Silver Fang, KawaiiKittyHigh, Dcraus, Lissa (Guest), Katie0324,Perseus12, KibaSin, macklinharmon, Starlightflower, Guest, Dreamscape2181, Rexg, belladu57, Dcraus, KibaSin, son458, airam23, pija and all of my devoted readers. I couldn't do this without any of you staying with me for so long especially with the Walking Dead series...well ya know, being as it is.
I must warn you though, since I've been working on this story for so long I'm gonna break my rule of one project at a time and work on other ideas I have. Please don't be mad if I don't update on my usual schedule. But I swear on the sexiness that is Norman Reedus I will finish this story.
Disclaimer: Why must I keep saying this? I don't own Inuyasha or The Walking Dead. Only my OC Jamie. Now get on with the story already.
Chapter Thirty Eight: A Ray of Hope
Sometimes Kagome hated being right.
The minute Carol came downstairs to the unfinished brownstone, the older woman demanded that the priestess and Denise step away from The Wolf so she could kill him. Carol had her knife up in the defense position, ready to strike at any moment when Morgan came down and stood in front of The Wolf to defend him.
Denise and Jamie were standing behind Kagome for protection.
"Both of you stop," the priestess told the two stubborn individuals. She could feel Jamie's nervous tight grip on the back of her shirt, along with Denise's worried breathing behind her. Regardless of Carol and Morgan's opinion when it came to being merciful or aggressive when it comes to protecting their home, now wasn't the time to fight about it. "We're going to need a clear head if we're all going to get out of here in one piece," Kagome tried to talk them out of their standoff.
Neither Carol nor Morgan made a move to show that they were listening.
"You can drop the knife," Morgan encouraged Carol, wanting this encounter to end peacefully, "We can talk."
"No," Carol said firmly as she could with her body shaking anxiously. She didn't want to kill, but she had to in order to keep her daughter and her family safe. Owen was a part of the group that killed many of their people and nothing was ever going to change that. "This is over," she gritted through her teeth, trying to keep her voice firm.
Kagome rolled her eyes at their stubbornness, 'These two are worse than Inuyasha and Sesshōmaru.'
"We can be better than them," Morgan gestured to Owen, keeping his stance ready to defend the man with his bo staff.
"We are better than them!" Carol snapped at the remark, also ready to attack.
Morgan shook his head, "Not if we kill."
"They made us kill," Carol countered his remark, emphasize the knife to prove her point.
This disagreement was going nowhere fast, and the priestess knew that she had to intervene.
Kagome gently pulled Jamie's grip off her shirt and pushed him back towards Denise, before slowly made her way towards Carol, figuring she could reason with her more quickly. "You don't want to do this," the priestess told her friend, showing with her hands that she wasn't a threat.
Carol shook her head, "We had to stop it...I had to stop it."
"We did stop it," the priestess reminded her, "You helped us stop it."
"With life, there's possibility," Morgan interrupted, "Even if we never let him out."
"I'd get out," Owen voiced in amusement.
Kagome sent The Wolf a glare, "You're not helping," she growled through her teeth.
"Mama," Jamie said in a frightened and unsure voice. He didn't fully understand what was happening with the grownups. All he knew was that Carol smelled angry, Morgan smelt desperate, Denise smelt scared, Owen smelt amused, and his mother smelt worried, which made him worry in return.
"It's okay, sweetheart," Kagome assured her son, knowing he could sense all of the tension built up in this tiny room. She looked back at Morgan and Carol, "This needs to stop. We have bigger problems than both of your morals right now."
Morgan shook his head and continued speaking directly to Carol, "Even if we never let him out, he'd live knowing exactly what he's done."
It took a long time for Morgan to learn this lesson. When Rick had found him, after he had lost his son, the bo wielder had been so determine to clear the world of the dead and kill anyone who got in his way. It wasn't until he met Eastman, who had kept him in his cabin and taught him the ways of Akido, that he finally started to realize that all life was precious.
Even our memories.
Morgan often wishes that he's learned this lesson before Eastman's death from a Walker bite, which he knew was responsible for due to his stubbornness. But even then, Eastman didn't judge him and was grateful that he could help Morgan move on with life. He had originally thought it was Owen that needed that exact same lesson, but maybe it was Carol that needed it the most.
"I don't want to have to kill you, Morgan," Carol threatened with her shaky hand holding the knife.
"You won't," Morgan told her.
"I will," she countered now with both hands on the knife.
Kagome couldn't believe what she was hearing from one of her best friends. Her beloved family member. It's as if she was behaving this was the only way this situation could end. That she was determined to prove that this was the only possible way. As if she were...
The priestess's eyes widened in sudden realization.
"My Kami, Carol Are you...Are you still trying to prove yourself?" Carol didn't acknowledge that she was listening, but Kagome knew she was paying attention. "That's it, isn't it?...You want to prove that you're strong enough for Sesshōmaru, aren't you?"
"Leave him out of this," Carol warned her friend not to cross that line.
Kagome slowly walked over and stood in front of Morgan, to keep her friends eyes on her instead of the bo wielder. "Look Carol, I know it's hard. Sesshōmaru isn't exactly easy to impress...But believe me, you've already done that."
Carol's knife continued to shake, "Kagome, get out of the way."
"He saw it all, Carol," the priestess continued, "He told you that if you wanted to protect Sophia, that you needed to grow stronger. And you've done that...But you didn't grow strong by killing...You did that by protecting our family, our pack, from every threat...That's what impressed him."
Carol shook her head in denial, not want to believe that Kagome was right. She didn't want to be this way to impress someone. There was just one way to keep her family safe, "I don't want anyone else to die."
"You should kill me," Owen spoke up again, "But you're all going to die."
Jamie gasped in alarm.
Kagome turned and glared at The Wolf again, "If you scare my son one more time, I'll gladly prove to you that there are things much worse than becoming a Walker."
Owen smirked at her in amusement before continuing his babbling chatter, "You don't belong here."
Carol's hands continued shaking as she took one hand off her knife, "Tell me you're sure," she told Morgan. "Tell me you know what'll happen. How it will go."
Morgan couldn't answer her, which only proved her point about how Owen was too dangerous to be allowed to live.
"Please step aside," Carol demanded, "I won't ask again."
Kagome let out a sigh in defeat, as she looked back at Carol in mild disappointment, "I can't force you not to kill Owen...But if you do, I don't know how I'll be able to act around you...You've killed before to save us...But I did wonder, for just a moment, if you'd have killed me like the others back at the prison."
"That was different," Carol tried to argue.
"No, Carol," the priestess shook her head before going back to stand by her son and Denise again, "It's really not."
That distraction was all Morgan needed to knock the knife out of Carol's hand with his bo staff.
The older woman spin kicked the bo staff, forcing Morgan to kneel to the ground.
"Stop it!" Kagome yelled at her friends.
Carol dived to the ground for her knife while Morgan tried to drag her away from it. She kicked the bo wielder in the face, to make him let go of her. When Morgan fell backwards, Carol quickly crawled over and grabbed her knife. She managed to try and slash the bo wielder in the torso once, but he over powered her by grabbing her wrists.
Carol put up a fight, but Morgan managed to lift her body up enough to slam her hard into the ground.
"No!" Kagome quickly went over to the now unconscious Carol before she glared at Morgan, "Why! Why couldn't either of you listen!"
Instead of answering, Morgan grunted as Owen grabbed Morgan's bo staff and hit him across the head with the strong wooden weapon.
"Mama look out!" Jamie cried out worried as Owen tried to attack Kagome with the bo staff.
The priestess dodged the attacks by rolling on the ground. She tried to kick The Wolf in the gut, right where his wound was but missed it by only a few inches. This allowed Owen to hit her in the side of the head with the bo staff, knocking her unconscious.
"Mama!" Jamie went over and covered Kagome with his body, and glared at The Wolf. "Don't hurt my Mama!" he growled at the human who dared called himself a wolf.
Owen couldn't help but chuckle at the little boy before he grabbed Morgan's knife and used it to cut his binds.
"Please don't," Denise begged from her place near the wall.
"Don't what?" he asked her.
"Don't kill them," she pointed to the adults and child on the ground. "You said that they were already dead. You said I was...You don't need to kill us. Just let us die." Owen took the knife and backed Denise up against the wall with the blade close to her body. "You are so full of shit," she growled in a strange mix of anger and fear as she braced for the worse.
The Wolf laughed at her expression and halted in movement.
Jamie's hands started shaking in anger. He'd never wanted to hurt someone so much in his life. But he didn't know how to fight yet...at least without killing them.
"You're what I like about people," Owen admitted letting the blade pull back a little.
"Oh hell no," Shippo growled at what he'd walked in on. The garage had led him and his group to the inside of the townhouses. He used his nose to locate anyone hiding in the building. It didn't take him long to find his mother.
Eugene, Tara, Rosita and Sophia came in behind the fox demon and gasped at the situation. The little blonde immediately went to her mother, to make sure she was alright. She glared at The Wolf with hatred, knowing it was all his fault.
Denise eyes widened in small relief when she saw her girlfriend, "Tara."
Owen pulled Denise in front of him like a human shield, with the blade of his knife pressed against her throat. Both Tara and Rosita aimed their guns at The Wolf while Shippo's eyes went slightly red, ready to fight the human who hurt his mother.
"Just be still," Owen told the intruders, showing that he was ready to slice the woman's throat.
"Don't," Denise begged him.
"Lower your weapons," Owen ordered in an almost calming voice. The women quickly did as he asked, along with Eugene's machete. "Good," The Wolf said pleased, "Now slide your weapons over. I want them."
Shippo growled in irritation, wanting to rip the human's face to shreds. But one wrong move, then Denise could be dead. He couldn't do that knowing how much she meant to Tara.
Instead, Rosita, Tara and Eugen slid their guns over to The Wolf.
Owen quickly picked up a gun and aimed it at the group, with a knife still pressed on Denise.
"You don't need her," Tara pointed out that The Wolf had the advantage in every possible way.
Owen smiled mercilessly, "No. I don't," he admitted but still took Denise with him as he exited the building.
As soon as the deranged human had left, Shippo immediately went to the floor to get a good look at his family. The fox demon smiled at his little brother and checked their mother's injury. "Mama's okay, Pup. She's okay," he told the young wolf demon after smelling her.
"But what about?" Jamie began to question before the fox demon shushed him.
"It's okay," Shippo assured the half demon wolf, not wanting him to say anything else.
Jamie lowered his head, and began to cry in slight relief. This whole thing had been so terrifying to him. Pack members shouldn't be fighting each other. That's what both of his mothers had taught him. He didn't understand why all of this had happened. "I want Papa," he weakly admitted out loud.
All of the adults frowned.
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Daryl knew that this was bad.
If not for the guns that these raiders held at their vehicle, which he found after Dwight and Sherry abandoned him in the woods, and managed to find Abraham and Sasha afterwards.
Now they were held at gun point in the road, being blocked by men on motorcycles carrying shot guns and rifles. One of them politely, more like demanded, that they all talk out on the road.
Daryl, Sasha and Abraham looked skeptically at the group of men, but knew that they were out gunned and needed to play smart in order to get out of here. All three of them slowly got out of the gas tank truck and took a few steps towards the group.
The leader of the group nodded in approval, "It's going well right off the gate. Now step two—hand over your weapons."
"Why should we?" Daryl demanded to know from the man.
The leader of the raiders smirked, "Well, they're not yours," he replied as if it were obvious.
"What?" Abraham asked unamused.
"See," the leader began, "Your weapons, your truck, the fuel in your truck, if you got mints in your glove compartment, if you got porn underneath the seats, change in the seats, hell, the seats themselves, the floor mats, your maps, the little stash of emergency napkins you got there in the console...None of those things are yours anymore."
Sasha was a little hesitant to ask, "Whose are they?"
The leader took a few steps forward after stepping off his bike before he answered, "Your property...now belongs to Negan."
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Back in Alexandria Souta was only sure about one thing at this very moment: That this was the grossest thing that he has had ever done in his entire life.
Being covered with a bed sheet completed coated with Walker guts, while walking through the street of the undead. And if he had any say in the matter, Souta wasn't planning on doing something like this ever again.
But at least he wasn't alone in his misery.
One by one, Rick, Sam, Jessie, Carl who was holding his little sister under his bed sheet poncho, Souta, Michonne with Kilala on her shoulder, and Gabriel held hands as they slowly made their way through the Walker infested streets.
It was nerve racking since one wrong move could cost them all their very lives.
The original goal was for them to make it through the herd and over to armory, so they could take down as many Walkers as they could so that Alexandria could be free again.
That plan obviously wasn't going to work now that they saw how just many Walkers were inside the community.
'Man where's the great dog demon when you need him?' Souta wondered, although he knew that the demon lord was scouting farther away from the community to take down any more Walker threats. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if Sesshōmaru actually left to kill the rest of the herd that threatened Sophia's safety in the first place.
Rick led his small group to a secluded area to come up with a new plan. "Flares and a few guns aren't gonna work," he whispered to them, "Too many Walkers, too spread out. We're not going to the armory...We need our vehicles back at the Quarry. All of us drive. We need to round'em up. We leave, we come back."
Carl and Souta nodded at the plan in agreement. Even if all of the Walkers didn't leave to follow them, at least enough of them would so they could take care of the problem later.
Jessie nodded her head in understanding the plan but she had one concern, "But Judith...To the Quarry and back," she said, not needing to finish her sentence.
Rick tried to come up with an idea for his daughter, when unexpected voice interrupted his thoughts.
"I'll take her," Father Gabriel quietly volunteered, "I'll keep her safe in my church until you all lead the Walkers away."
Michonne looked at the priest skeptically, "Can you do this?"
"I'm supposed to," Father Gabriel replied confidently, "I have to."
Carl looked at his sister under the Walker blood coated bed sheet, before looking to Souta, "Go with him." Before the young Higurashi could protest, the young Grimes sternly continued, "It's hard to run and fight with a baby in your arms. And I know you'll protect them."
With that, Souta nodded in agreement, "Fine, but you're taking this," he said while turning Carl around and placing the gun he took from Ron to the back of Carl's pants. "I have my knives. And you might need it later to distract them."
"Take Kilala with you," Michonne gestured for the cat demon to get on Souta's shoulder, which the neko did obediently. "You protect these three, and everyone else who needs it," she ordered her companion.
Kilala gave a single nod in reply to the order.
Carl slowly handed Judith to Gabriel, hiding her scent from the Walkers by keeping her under the blood soaked poncho. The infant was whimpering at the exchange, sensing the uneasiness in the air. A couple of shushing and jiggling in Father Gabriel's arms was enough to calm her down.
"Take Sam," Jessie pleaded to Father Gabriel and Souta, knowing he'd be safe with them.
The young boy protested, "No."
"Sam, it'll be safer," his mother told him.
Sam shook his head, "No, I want to stay with you...I can keep going...Please, let's just go."
Not having time to deal with his stubbornness, Jessie reluctantly agreed to her son's demand.
Gabriel looked over to Rick, "I'm going to keep her safe," he said holding Judith securely to his body.
"Thank you," Rick told the priest, "All of you," he looked at Souta and Kilala for helping protect his youngest child.
Slowly Gabriel and Souta walked the streets to the church they set up for their community. Father Gabriel had to quietly shush Judith's whimpering every now and again but luckily none of the undead took notice.
Once they were out of sight, Rick and his group moved forward into the herd.
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Something had happened.
Daryl knew that from what he heard on the walkie a few hours ago.
Surprisingly, dealing with the raiders in the road, wasn't as difficult as they imagined.
The leader was talking non-stop about how their stuff belonged to Negan and how they'd be killed if they didn't surrender. It gave the hunter enough time to take down one of the men, who was holding at gun point to show what they had in the truck. After that, they used the rocket launcher that was stowed in the truck to kill the rest of the men.
Once that was done, Daryl, Sasha and Abraham went back on the road toward Alexandria.
Twenty five miles was a long trip in this undead infested world, and they'd wasted too much time as it was dealing with those biker men.
According to Abraham, they'd be at Alexandria by night fall.
That wasn't good enough for Daryl. He knew something bad was happening back home. No matter how many times Sasha told him that their people were safe, something in the hunter's gut was telling him that he needed to get to Kagome and Jamie as soon as possible.
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Kagome woke up with two sets of eyes watching her.
Both of them belonging to her sons.
"She's waking up," Shippo told the others in the townhouse development.
Jamie hugged his mother tightly as soon as she sat up, "I'm glad you're okay, Mama."
The priestess leaned down and kissed the top of her son's head, fighting the humongous headache she had from where The Wolf had attacked her. "I'm alright, sweetheart," she told him, trying to keep her voice normal from the strong pain at her head. "But what happened to," she asked them, looking around the room and noticing a few individuals missing.
Tara looked down to the ground with worry for her girlfriend, "He left...He took Denise."
"Can you tell if she's alright?" Rosita asked her.
"She was hit hard in the head," the fox demon reminded her, with hint of venom in his voice.
Kagome reluctantly shook her head, "I don't even know if I could right now," she admitted to them.
Tara looked at her pleadingly, "Can't you try...Please."
Shippo glared at the woman, growing angrier, "She said that she couldn't."
The priestess raised a brow at her fox demon son's behavior before answering Tara, "I'll try."
Kagome concentrated as best she could, praying that her abilities would work properly this time.
It was a bit overwhelming, pushing herself to do something that should have been so simple.
The priestess let out many tired breaths when she was finished, as if she had just run a marathon.
"Mom," Shippo said with worry, especially on how much his mother was sweating.
The priestess nodded at the fox demon to let him that she'd be fine, "She's okay...Denise is okay," she assured everyone.
Tara let out a breath in relief.
"Is that normal?" Eugene asked regarding Kagome's current state.
Shippo shook his head no.
Jamie remained snuggled next to his mother, happy that she was awake and didn't want to let her go just yet.
That's when Carol regained consciousness from the floor.
"Mama," Sophia said in relief when her mother woke up.
"Oh God," Carol groaned as Sophia and Eugene helped her off the ground. Without missing a beat she turned to the army woman, "Rosita, gonna need your gun. Gonna need to do a sweep of the brownstone."
Sophia shook her head in protest, "Mama, you need to rest."
"No," Carol told her sternly, "I want to see what other surprises are in here." She looked down at the unconscious Morgan in detest.
"He's waking up," Eugene mentioned how Morgan started moving.
The priestess scooted over to sit beside the man, "Are you alright? That was a nasty hit to the head."
"I'm fine," Morgan assured before looking around the room and noticing a few people missing. "Where is he?" he asked referring to the Wolf, "Where's Denise?"
"He took her, didn't he?" Carol asked but already knew the answer.
It was Sophia who responded, "Yes."
Kagome glared at her friend's hated expression, "It wasn't Morgan's fault he got away. You're just as much to blame for what happened in here today."
Instead of replying to the priestess, Carol went out of the room to check the rest of the townhouse.
"What do we do now?" Tara asked the group.
The Walkers were still filling the streets.
Even with Kagome's unpredictable power shortage and even with Shippo's abilities, they were outnumbered and out gunned by the dead.
The fox demon could only think of one solution, "We wait for the right moment."
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Both Green sisters had their backs placed against the metal wall as they sat on the guard post.
They feel the boards shaking beneath them, due to the Walkers trying to find a way up to them.
Maggie and Beth were huddled together to try to stay out of the dead's sight, but it wasn't working.
"We're gonna be okay," Beth assured her older sister, "Glenn must have seen what happened, and he'll find a way to get to you."
The brunet nodded, knowing her husband would do something to save her. "And Shippo's looking for the right moment to dash over here and get to you," Maggie assured her younger sister.
Both women held each other tighter when the beams shook again underneath them.
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It was now dark in Alexandria.
Carol had searched the brownstone top to bottom, and found no more surprises that Morgan could have hidden here.
'What was he thinking?' the woman wondered as she looked down at the street.
So many of the dead were spread out in the streets.
Far too many for her family to handle.
"He should have been back by now," Carol thought out loud.
She knew that the demon lord had no idea what was going on, and left to make sure the situation didn't get worse.
But he always came back at night.
A noise suddenly startled her, making her point her gun at the source.
Sophia and Morgan held their hands up in surrender.
Carol let out an annoyed breath at Morgan's appearance and lowered her gun.
"Any sign of him," Sophia asked her mother, referring to the demon lord as she went to stand beside her.
"Not yet," she replied in disappointment.
But the young blonde wasn't as worried, "He'll come back...He always does."
Carol nodded, having to remind herself of that fact.
Sesshōmaru came back when he was needed.
Never before.
Morgan had a feeling on who the mother and daughter were talking about, but didn't feel it was his place to ask. Instead he went ahead and said what he came here to say, "I didn't want to hurt you...I just had to stop you."
The older woman let out an unamused laugh, "You saved him for you, not us. If it was for us, you would've..." Carol paused as she tried to let her anger subside, "I should have killed you."
Sophia looked up to her mother, "We don't kill innocent people, Mama."
"But he," Carol tried to reason with her daughter.
"We don't," the blonde stated firmly, "And Sesshōmaru doesn't either...I asked him not to. And now I'm asking you...Please, don't kill if you can avoid it."
Carol looked from her daughter to out the window when she spotted two people moving through the streets quicker than the Walkers.
It was Denise with The Wolf.
'Oh no you don't,' Carol thought in fury as she went out to the townhouse's balcony, aimed her gun and fired at the Wolf.
"Go!" she called down to Denise, who was still in danger from the dead.
"GO!" The Wolf cried out to Denise as he pushed a Walker out of Denise's way, getting bit in the process.
Carol couldn't believe her eyes and ears.
That man...Did that man, the one whose people killed dozens of citizens in Alexandria and kidnapped Denise, just try and save her.
Once Denise made it to the safety of the infirmary, Carol slowly walked back inside the brownstone.
"Mama," Sophia looked at her worriedly, noting her mother's horrified expression. She had never seen her mother face go so pale before. "Mama, what's wrong?" the blonde asked her in concern.
"I," Carol tried to explain as her hand that held the gun shook uncontrollably before finally falling to the ground.
Sophia could only watch as her mother slowly stopped shaking after a couple of minutes, "Mama?"
Carol nodded her head and struggled with what she was about to say next, "I'll-I'll try...I'll try."
Sophia's eyes widened slightly, not knowing what else to do but slowly nod.
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'Where is he?' Souta thought to himself, knowing something wasn't right.
He was currently looking out the window and saw Rick leading Michonne and a small group of Alexandria citizens fighting in the streets against the Walkers.
Each of them killing Walkers one by one.
But that's not what was bothering Souta.
Carl, his blood brother, wasn't out there fighting with his father.
There was no way the young Grimes stand by and let others do something like this alone.
Not unless something had happened to him.
There was a gunshot earlier...One single shot.
What the hell happened?
Kilala mewed from the side of his foot, smelling his uneasiness. She could tell that her mistress was also in distress, and not from the fighting of the dead.
Souta looked down at the demon cat before making his decision.
It wasn't just the time to fight back.
It was time for the demons to be known in Alexandria.
It was the only way.
"Let's go Kilala," he told her before looking over to Father Gabriel, "Take care of Judith."
The cat demon nodded as they made their way outside the church.
They minute they made it outside, Kilala transformed into her full form.
Souta climbed on her back, "Get above them, close to the group."
Kilala jumped into the air and flew up to the group of civilians in the street.
"The fuck," Heath cursed when he saw Kilala and Souta in the air.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Souta called out, getting the Walkers attention.
Enough of the undead were distracted by the meal above them that they paid no attention the living humans on the ground, giving the people the perfect chance to stab them in the head with their knives and bladed weapons.
Michonne smiled at the boy and her companion and sliced through the distracted dead with her katana.
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Tara came rushing from the back door that led to the street. "It's thinning out there."
"Rick's making a stand," Carol told them after she and Sophia came back from upstairs.
"Kilala's in her full form," the young teenage girl added.
Shippo gave his signature kitsune smile, "It's time to show our true colors then."
"Looks like," Kagome agreed, "Be careful out there."
"Don't worry Mom," Shippo told her.
Carol went over to Tara, "Denise is safe. She made it to the infirmary."
Tara let out a relived breath before finding the courage to go out and fight.
The priestess kneeled down to Jamie who stood next to her, "I want you to stay with Sophia until this is over, okay?"
Sophia went behind the boy and grabbed his shoulder, "I'll keep him safe."
Jamie shook his head in protest, "Mama, I don't want you to go."
"I know, sweetheart," she promised, "But I have to help protect our pack." Jamie still looked like he wanted to protest until she added, "And nothing can take down a Dixon but a Dixon." The little half demon reluctantly nodded, knowing how often his papa told him that phrase every time he went out. Satisfied, Kagome kissed her son's forehead and went with the rest of the adults outside to help the others fight against the Walkers.
The fox demon, however, had a mate he needed to get to.
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Glenn watched as his wife and sister in-law were struggling to stay on the guard post, which was shaking from the Walkers grabbing and ramming into the support beams of the wooden post.
Although a lot of Walkers left to follow the noise that was happening on the other side of the community, the noise was also riling up the ones that stayed.
The Korean was moving as fast as he could, with Enid following behind him. It took a lot of convincing on his end to get her to come back with him to Alexandria, and even more to stay and help him save their home.
They both stopped running when they saw that the support beams were beginning to snap from the bottom of the post.
"No!" Glenn cried out for his family.
They needed to distract the Walkers. It would have to be up to him since Enid would be able to get up to the guard post the quickest, having done so many times to get over the wall.
At least that's what he thought until a giant red demon fox came out of nowhere and began grabbing and throwing Walkers away from the guard post with his powerful jaws.
Glenn smiled in relief, while Enid's eyes stared at the demon in terrified astonishment. "Come on! Go get them!" he snapped Enid out of her trance as he went to help his demonic brother in-law.
"Shippo!" Beth called out to her mate, who was leading a large group of the Walkers away.
"Glenn!" Maggie cried out when she saw her husband on the ground, helping the fox demon by shooting his gun to distract the Walkers away from their wives.
Meanwhile, Enid managed to climb the guard post, using the beams and wall to support her balance. "Maggie! Beth!" Enid called over before she made it to the guard post.
"Enid?" Beth questioned in confusion, "How did you?"
"Forget that," Enid interrupted her, "Let's go." Her and Glenn had made a quick stop by the church building outside the Alexandria walls, and found a gun and cloth material for rope for them to climb down the other side of the wall.
The plan for Glenn and Shippo to distract the Walkers working perfectly.
Unfortunately, their plan was working little too well.
Walkers were closing in on the human and demon, having them back to back with the wall, and the girls took notice very quickly.
"No!" Maggie cried and began banging her unloaded gun at the guard post. "Here!" she tried to bring the Walkers back.
"Over here! Look over here!" Beth tried to follow her sister's example and distract the Walkers from her mate and brother in-law.
But it was no use.
More Walkers were circling in on Glenn and Shippo, since they were easier to feast on. No matter how many shots the Korean fired from his gun or how much snapping the fox demon used to intimidate the Walkers, they were still closing in on them.
Right when it looked like the two males were done for, a series of gun fire suddenly hit the numerous Walkers and made them fall to the ground.
Maggie, Beth, Glenn, Enid, and Shippo looked up on the top of the gate and saw Abraham and Sasha with automatic rifles in hand.
"Can you get the gate?" Abraham asked the Korean in amusement, "Appreciate it, pal."
The fox demon rolled his eyes in his full form, "What took you so long, ya asshole?" the large fox growled.
"Ran into some trouble. Nothing a rocket launcher couldn't handle," Abraham explained before he shot down the rest of the Walkers with Sasha's help.
Beth turned over to Maggie, "We have a rocket launcher?" she asked her sister, who shrugged her arms in confusion.
Once it was safe, Glenn opened the gate and let in the fuel tank truck Daryl was driving inside. Sasha and Abraham were currently standing on top of the tank, which allowed them to aide friends from trouble. They used the top of the truck to help Maggie, Beth and Enid climb down from the guard post.
"What the hell happened?" the hunter demanded from the Korean once he got to the passenger seat of the truck.
"I don't know," Glenn said as he climbed in the truck, "I just got back."
Beth climbed down from the truck, and climbed onto Shippo's back in his fox form. "The guard tower fell on the wall. That's how they got in," she informed them quickly.
"There was gun fire on the other side," Maggie quickly added from on top of the truck.
"They dead are scattered. We have to lead them away," Glenn told the hunter.
Daryl shook his head, "No, we'll get'em altogether. Won't have to lead'em away...We'll need something to distract them."
Shippo looked at the fuel tank of the truck and thought of an idea, "You said you had a rocket launcher, right?"
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The citizens of Alexandria and Rick's family were fighting off all the Walkers one by one.
Kilala dropped Souta to the ground, who was using his knives skills to kill the undead, while the cat demon took down as many as she could with her claws and teeth.
Kagome didn't have her arrows, but she had a knife and fought off the Walkers that got to close to her. It was quickly becoming a tiring task due to the number of the undead. She tried putting up a barrier around her group, but she couldn't find the strength to make it hold. Whatever was wrong with her, was affecting her far more then she feared. 'What do we do?' the priestess thought in anguish, as the number of Walkers were circling around the group of fighters, as they were now close the metal wall.
Suddenly, the sound of an explosion startled both the living and dead beings in Alexandria.
A large fire began to spread across the water of the pond in the center of town.
The flames dancing around were enough to distract the Walkers and led them away from the group of humans.
The priestess didn't know what was going on but let out a relived breath, when a majority of the herd began to move away.
"Don't let up!" Rick ordered everyone, as he took down another Walker.
One by one, everyone took down the dead in front of them.
This was their home, and they were not letting it go without a fight.
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"Now what do we do?" Beth asked the others, as the Walkers started coming towards the flames.
Shippo's plan was to empty the fuel into the pond and use the rocket launcher to set the fire.
Fire had been known to distract Walkers in the past due to the flames movement.
Unfortunately, the fire wouldn't kill the Walkers unless their brains got fried in the process.
A method that could take way too long, even if the fire didn't die down.
So it would be up to them to finish the job.
Daryl, Maggie, Glenn, Abraham, Sasha, Enid, Beth, and Shippo armed themselves for the herd that was about to go through the fire.
"Unless you wish to die, I suggest you step back," the voice of the demon lord startled the group from behind them.
"Where the hell've you been?" the hunter snarled at Sesshōmaru.
The demon lord glared, "Protecting this place from even more corpses. Where were you?" he countered unemotionally. He knew that the hunter had been through some sort of ordeal by the smell of fresh blood dripping from the human's back, but he wasn't going to tolerate disrespect.
Daryl would have cursed Sesshōmaru for his fowl tone, if not for the snarling of Walkers stepping into the flames.
"Can you take them down?" Sasha asked the demon lord. Everyone, minus Sesshōmaru and Enid, looked at the woman with a raised brow. "Sorry, stupid question," Sasha recanted her concern.
As the Walkers emerged from the flames, Sesshōmaru unsheathed his Tensiega and waited for the right moment. He wanted to make sure enough of the corpses were lined up for his attack.
"Any time now," Glenn muttered under his breath.
Sesshōmaru lifted his sword and swung his weapon infused with his demonic energy.
A bright light left the sword slicing through the herd of Walkers, causing the undead all to collapse and die.
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The sun had barley risen when the final Walker was slain in the Alexandria community.
Although the citizens were victorious with only three casualties, it came with a heavy price.
Carl.
His life was on the line for most of the night and on into the morning.
After Sam and Jessie were bitten and eaten by Walkers due to making noise, Ron had lost whatever his stability his mind had left. He blamed Rick for losing all of his family and took the gun from Carl to kill the man. Before he could kill the older Grimes, Michonne ran her sword through Ron's chest and killed him, but not before Ron fired the gun in unexpected surprise.
Ron had shot his gun right at Carl's face.
And just as surprising, the bullet remained in Carl's eye instead of going straight through his skull. Rick had picked up an unconscious Carl in the herd infested street of the undead and ran to the infirmary, with Michonne taking down the Walkers in their path. It wasn't until Carl was safe in Denise's care that Rick took his stand against the undead to take back Alexandria.
The citizens that took a stand along with Rick waited outside the infirmary, hoping for his son to awaken.
Enid sat quietly between Sophia and Souta as they waited for news about their friend.
Gabriel had his head bowed as he prayed for the young man to wake up.
As the humans waited for Carl to awaken, Sesshōmaru and Shippo lifted in secured the breech in the wall in record speed, so the Alexandrian citizens could have a chance to breath.
Rick's family knew that they had a lot of explaining to do about the demons in their group.
But for today, the community was just happy to have survived the night.
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Meanwhile, Kagome was currently sewing up a final stitch in her husband's back in their bedroom as he sat on a chair next to a rustic vanity. Daryl had been stabbed from that encounter with the men on the motorcycles, but didn't complain about it until everything was over. The priestess wanted him to go into the infirmary, but her husband insisted that they take care of it at home.
The hunter didn't want anyone, other than his wife, to see his bare back.
Daryl's scars were for his wife's eyes and hers alone.
And now their son's too, since Jamie refused to leave while his mother helped take care of his father.
"So, where exactly did you find a rocket launcher?" Kagome asked her angel as she finished, wondering how in the zombie apocalypse world he even found such a thing.
"It was in the fuel truck," Daryl told her.
"Of course it was," his wife replied sarcastically, questioning why such a thing even surprised her anymore.
Jamie snickered at his mother's expression from his spot on the bed, "Papa was so cool!" he stated since he saw everything from the balcony with Sophia.
Daryl couldn't help but smirk when the little half demon called him that. His priestess had told him how Aaron and Eric gave their blessing about them adopting Jamie as their own. The hunter couldn't help but agree that it felt right taking in the half wolf demon as their own.
It's like he was put in Alexandria just for them.
Kagome smiled even wider, "Yes he is," she said as she cut the string of the stitch.
The hunter grabbed his wife's hand and kissed it in thanks. "Mama's cool too. Protecting our pack with her barrier," Daryl reminded her son.
The priestess smile instantly went away, feeling like a failure all over again. She put her medical supplies on the vanity and leaned against. It was time to tell her husband about her predicament, "Actually, I didn't," Daryl turned around and looked at his wife in confusion. "I couldn't," she clarified.
"What?" the hunter questioned in concern.
She wiped away a tear that went down her face from guilt, "I-I don't know...Something is wrong with my abilities. I-I tried so many times to do things I've done thousands of times before and I couldn't...Someone could have died because I couldn't have-couldn't have."
"Hey," the hunter embraced her, knowing how remorseful she'd have felt if someone was hurt when Kagome could have stopped it. When she finally calmed down he kissed the top of her head and asked, "Has this ever happened before, Baby Girl?"
Kagome shook her head before pulling back, "Never like this...Normally it's easy to tell what caused my powers to change. But this time I don't know what's wrong."
Both adults were terrified at the thought.
Not having a clue what was going on.
But someone else did.
"Maybe it's the baby, Mama," Jamie suggested innocently.
Both human adults instantly froze at their son's suggestion.
"The-the what?" the priestess stuttered in disbelief, turning to the little half demon.
Jamie immediately covered his mouth after realizing his mistake, "Oops...I wasn't supposed to tell you."
It took a few moments for the couple to recover from shock, "What'cha talkin' about, kid," Daryl tried to say as a demand but it came out more as dumbfounded.
The half demon wolf knew Shippo was going to be upset for telling the secret, but his parents ask him. "The baby in Mama's tummy," Jamie answered them, "You know, like Aunt Maggie. Big Brother said that's why Mama smelt different."
Smelt different?
Like Aunt Maggie?
Big Brother said?
Wait a minute.
"Shippo said I'm," Kagome didn't even fathom, since the very idea was too good to be true. "That I'm...I'm," the priestess couldn't bring herself to say the word.
There had to be a mistake.
It couldn't be true.
Kagome had been told that it was impossible for her.
She wasn't able to have a child.
She wasn't able to get pregnant.
...Right?
'How could this have happened?' the priestess wondered. Yes, she and Daryl didn't exactly protect themselves during their romantic nights together, but any kind of sign of conceiving a child never emerged before. 'So why now?' she continued to wonder, 'What changed?'
That's when Kagome remembered.
The parting words and actions her best friend told her before moving back to the afterlife.
'There's at least one thing I can do for you.'
That was what Inuyasha had told Kagome when she was unconscious at Grady Memorial, after he brushed his hand against her stomach.
Was this what he had meant?
Could it really be...possible?
"You're pregnant," Daryl finally spoke up, having been silent this whole time. One look from Kagome confirmed that what Jamie suggested was real.
The Dixons were going to have a baby.
Both husband and wife gazed at each other feeling surprised, amazed, and terrified all at once.
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It took a full day for the dead Walkers to be move out of the community.
But it will take even more time than that for Alexandria's people to somewhat accept that they live with demons. Some people felt as if the demons would harm them or take over the place, while a majority of them just felt blessed to have strong individuals protecting them.
It was the people of Woodbury living at the prison all over again.
Rick's family knew it was going to take a bit for people to get used to it.
Meanwhile, the news of Kagome's unexpected pregnancy, along with Maggie's, was the real talk of the community.
It was actually Denise, after hearing about Kagome's past injuries, who verified that even though the chances of the priestess getting pregnant was a low percentage, it wasn't impossible either. The Alexandria doctor also guessed that the time of conception was the night that Kagome and Daryl were married since, according to the demon's noses, she was barely a month along when they found out.
And it wasn't until after a few smacks to Shippo's head from both Kagome and Daryl for keeping this information to himself, that Sesshōmaru commented on the priestess's blindness of not knowing she was 'pupped' due to her priestess power's slowly weakening.
"Weakening?" Glenn asked Sesshōmaru, not knowing that this had been going on.
The family was currently sitting all around in Rick's living room.
After receiving the news that Carl would survive, everyone went back to their houses to clean up from that night. Rick and Michonne stayed behind to watch over the young Grimes, but they congratulated the couple on their new addition.
"Wait, you know what's wrong with my powers?" Kagome asked the demon lord in surprise. She didn't even think that Sesshōmaru would have a clue of what was going on with her.
"Wrong?" Sasha asked confused, "What do you mean wrong?"
"Her abilities have been acting up," Carol quickly explained, "She didn't know the reason why."
Souta looked at the demon lord worried, "Is my sister okay?"
"The miko is fine," Sesshōmaru stated firmly, to calm the human's worried expressions. "No harm has befallen her or the pup."
"Don't call my kid that," Daryl warned the demon.
Kagome wanted to roll her eyes but wanted to focus on the matter at hand, "Can you please just tell us?" she pleaded Sesshōmaru.
"Yeah, what's going on with Mom?" Shippo asked, also very confused on why Kagome's powers had faded so suddenly.
The demon lord looked at the other demon in the room, "Kitsune, do you sense the miko's power still in her body?"
Shippo looked at his mother, "Yeah, it feels the same to me." That's what made the situation so puzzling. He can feel his mother's sacred energy, but it seemed to be dormant.
"So does that mean her power is still inside of her?" Beth asked uncertainty, not really understanding it herself.
"The miko's abilities are still inside of her," Sesshōmaru clarified, "But they are no longer her own."
The demon lords phrasing confused some of the adults in the room.
It was Sophia who put the pieces together, "So you mean...her powers were given to the baby?"
The adult's eyes widened in realization as Sesshōmaru clarified the suspicion with a single nod.
"So she won't have priestess abilities anymore?" Gabriel asked the demon.
"Any ability she uses will be little in power during the pregnancy," Sesshōmaru replied, "Once the pup is born, most of her purification abilities should return...But I doubt it would be full strength again."
Beth looked to her mate, "You didn't know this was going to happen?"
Shippo shook his head, "The only priestess I really talked with was Kaede and she never had any children."
Kagome ran her hands through her hair, absorbing the information the demon lord had shared. She was terrified that she wouldn't be as useful to the group and worried for her child, who will the power of a priest or priestess.
But more than anything, Kagome was...happy.
She was a mother in every way with Shippo and now Jamie.
But this...This was going to be 'her' baby.
Hers and Daryl's baby.
Turning to the hunter, Kagome looked as his content expression and smiled.
She knew Daryl was happy too.
WAHOO! YES! Oh I've been waiting for that ending for a chapter for so so so long and now seemed like the perfect moment to do it. Not too bad a chapter I hope. So tell me what you think. Next time: Two months pass, we have a new friend and possibly new allies, and of course, new enemies...You know what's coming.
Till Then My Readers