Chapter 56

Burn

Soft rapping filled the room, looking up from his desk Sesshomaru took in a deep breath then let it out slowly, affixing his features into lines of indifference Sesshomaru leaned back in his seat and looked to the door.

"Enter." at his command the door slide open revealing Miho at its base who then stood without a word, closed the door behind her and entered into the room taking her seat. "speak." he ordered.

"My Lady wishes to inquire about her Lords health." Miho answered.

"You may tell Lady Taree my health is as normal." Sesshomaru replied disinterested, a moment of silence passed between them before he realized that she was waiting for him, he had become so accustomed to Kagome and Rin speaking whenever they liked that he had almost forgotten how to speak formally to servants. "Is there anything else Lady Taree inquires to?"

"My Lady would also like to know if you have heard about any progress on the Miko's behalf." Miho replied.

"All I know is what the Great Lord had told me some time ago, that the Miko was heading north after completing her first task." Sesshomaru answered.

"My Lady will be glad to hear it." Miho replied, it was a lie, a formal lie, but a lie none the less.

"Indeed," Sesshomaru drawled. "Is there anything else?"

"Hai My Lord." Miho answered.

"Speak." he ordered when she was not immediately forthcoming.

"The Shikon No Tama, My Lord." Miho prompted.

"What of the jewel?" Sesshomaru asked indifferently.

"The Miko did not have it with her when she departed; I wonder if she had left it with you." Miho replied as she looked up to him to study his actions to see if he would indicate that he did have it and it was somewhere nearby, no doubt with something that powerful he would keep it around him for most of the day if not all of it and since he spent so much time in his study it was definitely in there somewhere.

"Neither did the Miko have it with her when she arrived." Sesshomaru pointed out even though he knew she had it but it was only after she had revealed it to him, since she had revealed it to no others then they too would not know it was there.

"You are right My Lord, forgive me." Miho bid as she lowered her eyes once more.

"Is that all?"

"Hai My Lord."

"You may leave."

She left.

"Wake up." A sharp voice ordered sternly but its target continued to sleep. Eyes narrowed sharply, the voice repeated the order and jabbed his foot at the sleeping bundle forcefully. A dismal cry came forth as the sleeper shrank away from the offending foot.

"What the hell? That hurt!" A shrill scratchy voice objected.

"You would not wake and I was ordered to wake you." The boy replied nonchalantly.

"You didn't have to kick me!" The Miko glared as she sat up.

"I did not kick you." The boy replied truthfully for he had not kicked her, merely shoved her gut into her spine with his pointed foot.

"You didn't have to put any of your extremities into any of my extremities." Kagome bit back as she slipped her boots onto her feet and wrapped a rather large pelt around her shoulders.

"We leave immediately." Taro informed her as he left.

"Jerk." Kagome whispered as she stuck her tongue out at his back. Slipping her bag over her shoulder she emerged from the small cave only to be assaulted by a large gust of frigid wind that swept dry snow in her face and down her shirt.

"There you are Kagome!" Ayame called out as she came down the path to her.

"Ayame! Do we have to leave today? It's so windy." Kagome called to her as she pulled the fur closer around her head.

"This is the best the weather has been in a good week, if you do not want to leave because of this wind you will never want to leave till midsummer." Ayame replied with a pitiful smile.

"The best?" Kagome repeated as she let Ayame lead her up to the top of the cliff where Kumo, Koishi and Taro were waiting for them.

"Yes, the best." Ayame nodded with a smile.

"Here, these are for you." Koishi offered as he held out a bow and quiver for Kagome.

"Oh, thank you." Kagome replied as she bowed and took the weapons, placing them across her shoulder.

"Ready?" Ayame called over the wind, the three males nodded firmly but Kagome only shrugged before she began to trudge through the snow following after her small entourage of wolf demons.

After several hours of tedious drudging and lagging behind by several yards, which made it hard for any of them to see her, Kagome found herself holding tightly to Koishi's firm back as he carried her up the mountain side. Holding her arms around his neck she tried her hardest to ignore the stabbing pain in her fingers, occasionally she would rub one hand at a time against her pants but it seemed only to make it weather continued to get worse and worse, the wind blew harder and the snow grew thicker making Kagome give up trying to even see where they were going for all she could see was white and the occasional flicker of Kumo's black as night tail but soon that faded from her sight as well. Worry began to boil in her stomach making her shift slight against Koishi's back, she wanted to put all her trust in the wolves for they had never failed her before but her worry got the best of her when Koishi stopped. Leaning forward she opened her mouth to say something but found her voice frozen in her throat, rubbing the bitter cold flesh she swallowed hard and cleared her throat softly before trying again.

"Koishi?" she began, gaining his attention.

"What is it sister?" he asked turning his face in her direction so his words weren't lost to the wind.

"Are we lost?" She asked looking to his face.

"No sister." Koishi replied with a small smile, "We're here." he informed her as he turned to his left and continued on.

"Oh, why did you stop then?" she asked as she leaned over his shoulder so that she could hear him.

"I had to get my bearings." He answered which caused her brow to furrow.

"Bearings? All I can see is an eternity of snow." Kagome admitted making Koishi laugh.

"Yes it's hard to see but when you grow up on these mountains you learn them inside and out." Koishi replied as he stepped out of the elements into a small cave that was already warmed by a small fire and seated around it were their other party members.

"Koishi you made it! I was beginning to worry you had gotten lost." Ayame admitted. "Is Kagome alright?" She asked as she began to stand.

"She's fine." Koishi assured her.

"I'm alright." Kagome replied as she leaned over his shoulder and smiled at Ayame.

"Good." she sighed with relief as she seated herself back down. Coming around the fire Koishi allowed Kagome to alight from his back but as she tried to stand on her own feet she found them to be as strong as shoe string and collapsed into a sitting position under her own weight.

"I wouldn't try walking for a while, it was cold outside and Koishi carried you for a long time." Kumo informed her, concerned that she might hurt herself.

"Of course." Kagome agreed as she began rubbing her legs vigorously trying to bring some life back into them. Soon they began to itch as the blood coursed through the smaller veins of her epidermis, repressing the urge the scratch she rubbed them harder then left them alone to come back to life on their own.

"Kagome," Ayame began then stopped.

"What is it?" she asked as she looked over at the wolf who was in turn staring at her legs.

"Why don't you stay here and let us kill the dragon for you." Ayame offered as she looked up into Kagomes face.

"I couldn't" Kagome declined. "That would be cheating."

"So preserving your life is cheating?" Kumo asked his brows knit slightly.

"Haha well yes I suppose." Kagome replied with an odd smile.

"That's absurd." Koishi scoffed.

"Yes, but understandable." Kagome opined.

"Understandable? How so?" Koishi asked, as he looked up at her.

"I am to prove myself with getting these fangs, how am I suppose to do that if I let you do it for me?" Kagome asked rhetorically.

"You prove yourself with your ability to rally your comrades, a good quality in any being." Kumo offered.

"You're right, but I don't think it counts." Kagome replied with a smile. "Nonetheless I'm really tired, today was a long one so if you'll excuse me I'd like to get some sleep." she added as she got to her feet unsteadily and wobbled over to a dark corner and curled up with one of her furs and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day it wasn't any better, the wind howled, the snow stung and her skin was raw and even more sensitive to the cold then the night before. Gritting her teeth she hid her pain and continued on. Though this day she only made it about an hour of drudging before Koishi started to carry her on his back once more.

"Don't worry Sister, we're almost there." Koishi assured her with a smile but before Kagome could reply there was a terrible roar that shook the very mountain they were standing on causing an avalanche to form under their feet. From above there was a loud clap like thunder and then a lightning bolt of fire came down surprising the small group. Reeling back from the heat that emanated from the fire so hot she had forgotten the pain of her frozen flesh as it was replaced by the intensity of first degree burns. Kagome reeled back so far that she slipped from Koishi's grip as he jumped away from the fire and disappeared into the avalanche beneath without even time enough for a cry of help.

Landing a good distance away Koishi searched the sea of snow fervently for any sign of the young Miko but he could see nothing but the burning whiteness of snow and his ears filled with the sound of the clapping of the dragons wings over head.

"Where is she?" Kumo asked as he arrived by Koishi's side, his eyes turned up to the sky as he watched the dragon attentively for another attack.

"I don't know I don't see her anywhere!" Koishi hissed as he searched harder but the snow continued to fall down the mountain side.

"Koishi!" Ayame called out as she joined the two, her face wide and panic stricken.

"I lost her Lady Ayame!" he replied earnestly as he turned to face her.

"Where's Taro?"

Soft rapping came to the shoji screen, the door was then slide open allowing just room enough for the young maid to slip through then it was firmly shut once more.

"Well, did you find it?"

"Hai My Lady."

"Well?"

"It is in a box by My Lords desk."

"Did he show it to you?" lavender eyes narrowed cruelly.

"No My Lady, he did not show it to me."

"Then how is it that you know?"

"All the wood in My Lords study is of the same kind, this wood is not of any kind I have ever seen, the very grain streams with magic."

"That means nothing except that it is a magical box, that is nothing note worthy."

"Oh but My Lady if you only had the eyes to see," Miho replied and with that her crystal blue eyes shimmered like a thousand tiny fish scales. "Then you would know that that box is only to hide the most precious and strongest of magics and what could our Lord possibly have that would need such profound protection aside from our Lords most vigilant eye." She asked rhetorically with an elegant bow of her head.

"Of course and now how do you presume we get our hands on this?" Taree asked as her eyes lay intently on her faithful leopard cat.

"The Miko obviously left it in Lord Sesshomaru's care for a reason and I doubt that our Lord will be anything but lack in his guardianship over said jewel and for that simple fact alone I cannot see any safe way in obtaining the jewel from him let alone would I want to be the one caught with the jewel if we were able to find a way to get it away from him." Miho informed making it clear that she would not be used in her Lady's schemes of capturing the jewel; she did enjoy living with everything in tact oh so much.

"Will you defy me?" Taree questioned, her eyes narrowed in fierce warning that made all the other girls slink back in fear.

"On this matter yes." Miho replied honestly. Taree's eyes grew wide with furry and rage.

"How dare you disobey me!" Taree seethed.

"I will not die for such a foolish cause." Miho replied firmly, not wavering her Lady's temper.

"Are you saying that serving me is a foolish cause?" Taree questioned.

"If serving you is to cause me to give my life for a foolish cause then yes serving you is indeed a foolish cause." Miho retorted.

"Then you will die a foolish cause for you will retrieve me the jewel." Taree ordered bitingly.

"I will do no such thing; you want it so desperately, fetch it yourself." Miho replied coldly.

"You fool! How dare you speak to me in that fashion!" Taree growled.

"I think you will find that I am not the fool but you are." Miho countered simply. "Lord Sesshomaru wants nothing to do with you and he would be more then pleased to find some fault in your character to make the Great Lords see the error of their choice in you and to send you away. This is a tricky game you are playing Taree and your best chance at winning is to sit here patiently and wait for the opportune moment. Do not make an even bigger fool of yourself then you already have."

"Get out of my site!" Taree ordered fiercely as she turned away from the leopard cat and with that Miho rose elegantly to her feet and left the room onto the veranda.

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Alright so yeah I finally finished this chapter lol this took longer than expected but it definitely gets the ball rolling, sorry for taking so long my brains kinda dead I suppose anyways Enjoy!