Chapter 5
At first light the camp was broken. Thousands of bodies moving together with one purpose: It was a testament to military efficiency. And it was during this time, while the lower ranks and tradesmen did the heavy lifting, that the officers and strategists met one final time with the ruling Lords before they began the nearly two day march.
There hadn't been a formal request for their presence, but Kagome, along with Sango, Miroku, and little Kirara marched straight into the middle of the affair. The conference was being held in a tent easily large enough to have been a shrine. Groups of men were everywhere, all trying to talk over one another in the din. Some looked up as they entered, most did not. A war was coming and they were doing their best to prepare themselves for it.
It wasn't hard to find Kuranosuke. The Lord was standing behind the largest table in the room. He was surrounded by people. Advisors, soldiers, and his right-hand man Uminasoke. The Tokugawa Lord was with him as well. He was a tall man, slim but sharply focused. And beside him, looking so out of place in a room filled with strongly built and steady men, stood the gauntly Priest from the night before.
A Holy man as an advisor to the state was a serious faux-pas in Kagome's eyes. There was a reason for the separation of the Church and state. Too many wars had been waged in the name of the Gods. But in these times she couldn't voice her objection. It was simply the way things were.
Kagome led her little group to the head table. More than a few heads turned to her and it wasn't hard to understand why. With her more formal duties done, Kagome had forgone the cumbersome ceremonial robes. She was dressed in durable denim jeans and a tight-fit athletic top that was more practical for battle than her school uniform. It might have been the hot pink of the shirt that caught their eyes; then again it might have been the skin of her arms clearly visible. The low dip in the front, though, was probably what kept them. But it was summer. It was hot. And the tank was both comfortable and supportive, so what? The only real tell of her status as a Miko she kept secure over her shoulder along with her quiver.
She stepped forward and bowed.
"My Lords, if I may ask for a moment of your time."
Kuranosuke was the first to speak. He was distracted. His introductions were sparse.
"Good day to you, Miko Kagome. I do not believe you have been acquainted with the Lord Tokugawa. And of course his chief advisor, sir Weis."
Kagome bowed again. "It is an honor, Lord Tokugawa."
She spared a glance at the Priest, but she refused to bow. It wasn't necessarily required for a Miko to bow to a Priest that didn't hail from her particular Shrine. It was considered polite, but it wasn't compulsory.
"Forgive me, my Lords," she said, "But there are matters of much urgency that I must discuss with you and your men."
"My Lord, I must object." Of course Weis had an opinion. The little snake leaned into his Lord's ear and hissed his poison. "A woman can not be allowed to speak to your men. What could she possibly know of battle?"
Kagome ignored it. "Kuranosuke-sama," she addressed the man she knew would listen, "You know that Miroku and I are the only ones that managed to get close enough to that Army to see its true face. Please, allow me to speak to the men so that they might prepare themselves for what is to come."
But it wasn't Kuranosuke that answered her. It was the Tokugawa Lord.
"I have heard of your stories of Demons and Dragons in the North," he said. "Tales of woe to frighten children, nothing more. You may do your duty, Miko. Bless the soldiers as they walk towards battle. But that is where your part will end. I will not have my men rattled by ghost stories when it may yet be possible to negotiate. These matters no longer concern you. I suggest you take your leave."
"I beg to differ, Lord Tokugawa." Miroku stepped forward. The warrior monks were not obliged to bow to anyone. Miroku only did it when it suited him, which was on most occasions. This one proved to be an exception. "I saw the Drake with my own eyes, and felt the presence of at least one more. There are Dragons in those mountains. They will not negotiate. Your men must be prepared. We have come to give them a fighting chance."
"One Monk and a Miko to slay a Dragon?" the Lord asked bemused.
"No sir." It was Sango's turn to step forward. She bowed only low enough for the long curve of Hiraikotsu to be seen secured against her back. "Though I am currently unable to fight, in twenty-four hours I can train a division of men to take down a Drake."
"And you are?"
"Tokugawa," Kuranosuke didn't take kindly to the tone of the Lord's voice. "Miss Sango is the most skilled Taijiya I have ever had the honor of meeting. If she says she can train men to slay a Dragon, I trust that she is more than capable."
"Then have it be your men, Takeda." Tokugawa replied. "Mine shall be engaged with the Army we are to face."
"No," Kagome interjected. "They will be dead. That is if you do not allow me to speak to them now."
"My Lord," Again Weis thought to spew his venom, "This woman is-"
"This woman," Kagome cut him short, "Is interested only in the welfare of these men. Which is more than I can say for you, sir. And you will pardon, my Lords, but I have no intention of being silenced. Consider yourselves duly advised: I will speak."
It was a little more direct than Kagome had been going for, but it sure shut the mouths of pretty much everyone at the head table. There were a couple of men that looked at her with mouths agape, but beyond that she certainly had their attention. Improperly Direct and Offensively Outspoken, maybe, but it worked.
Kagome turned from the Lords and addressed the room.
"Gentlemen, your attention please."
A few heads turned but not nearly enough. Kagome could just imagine the look of triumph on that pestering Priest's face. Fortunately though, she had a backup plan.
"Kirara," she called for the little feline, "If you would."
The cat was more than happy to oblige. She hopped down from her mistress' arms and sauntered her way into the centre of the room. In a fiery blast she transformed, and with it she roared a terrible roar.
Kagome had to bite back her grin as hardened men jumped and shouted and scrambled for their blades. She stepped up beside Kirara and rested her hand on her flank.
"Thank you for your attention, gentlemen." she said pleasantly. "As you can see, a Youkai can be a terrible and frightening thing. Thankfully Kirara here fights with us. But when you step onto the battlefield in the next few days you will find yourselves facing creatures you know nothing about. I am here to tell you what to expect, and how to defend yourselves. What orders you may receive are your own prerogatives. How you lead your men is your own affair. But you will listen to what I have to say now so that when the time comes you will know what to do.
"There are Dragons that fight with this Army. Two at the least, possibly more. Sango here is a Taijiya. She will train as many men as come to her on the march to take them down. They are not to be underestimated. One blast of their fire can strip a man's flesh from his bones or set an entire forest ablaze. Shields will be a necessity. Ensure both you and the men you lead are equipped with them.
"The Army itself we believe to be a march of stone soldiers controlled by a Basilisk. They will be hard to take down, but not impossible. Destroy the heads and the bodies should follow. But what is most imperative is that you protect yourselves. The Basilisk, we believe, uses a toxin to infect the bodies of men. It will most likely be in the form of a miasma. Keep all body parts covered at all times. Lash your sleeves and your leggings tight to your skin. Cover your faces. Above all, guard your eyes. One look at this creature and you will be beyond help.
"Should an alarm be raised that the miasma has penetrated the line, do not look for it. Cover yourselves, and be sure to douse with plenty of water. Miroku and I and any other Priests or Monks or Mikos that join this march will do everything we can to purify the toxin before it can reach you.
"And remember: should you be infected by the toxin, the only cure lies within the Basilisk itself. The blood of the Dragon can be made into an elixir to stop the stoning process. Every and all effort must be made to clear a path to the Demon so that it can be brought down.
"That is all."
Kagome couldn't believe she was still breathing let alone standing after her speech. She walked straight out of the tent as soon as she had finished and didn't look back. Her heart was racing a mile a minute. It pounded in her chest like a jackhammer. And her breath came in short, gasping draws.
"That was one hell of a speech."
Kagome gasped and jumped. Her nerves were so frayed that even Sango's voice startled her. She placed a hand over her chest to try and slow her racing heart.
The Slayer smiled. "I think you just got me fifty recruits."
"I think I need a paper bag," was all Kagome could think to say.
"You can get one from home," Sango told her. "You are still going back, right?"
Kagome took a moment to get herself under control before she answered. "Yeah. I need to pick up some supplies."
"Just don't forget about this." Sango held out a single coin for Kagome to take. "Kirara wouldn't buy into your bribes any more if you didn't make good on them."
Kagome actually found it in her to laugh a little. "No, I guess not. Thanks for reminding me."
"No problem," Sango said with a smile. "Well, I guess I better get back in there. We wouldn't want to leave this all up to the men, now would we? I'll have Kirara stay back for you. You two can catch up as soon as you can."
Kagome returned the Slayer's smile. "Thanks. I'll be a quick as I can."
"No hurry," Sango said with a wave of her hand as she turned back towards the tent, "It's not like we're going to war or anything."
vvvvvvvvvvvv
It was nearing sunset by the time Kagome finally made it back from her time. It had taken longer than she thought to barter a price for her coin and get all the shopping done that she needed to do. She had emptied the shelves in three separate pharmacies for all the medical supplies she needed.
Her family had seen what she was doing, but they never asked about it. They embraced her, happy to have her back even if it was only for a short while. Souta told her stories about his summer adventures with his friends. Her mother had her help with dinner. And her grandfather groused about some strange seminar that he had spoken at regarding the proper applications of sutras. It was a normal day in the Higurashi household. The stories, the simple tasks, the love they all shared with one another. Kagome had never been so grateful for it all.
But then the time came for her to go. Kagome held them all, told them she loved them, and then, with her load of supplies and gear, jumped back into the well.
The rope had been Souta's idea. Kagome tied it around the bundle of her gear. She only had to bring one end of the stringer with her on the climb out. Her grandfather had said that Inuyasha shouldn't make her do such heavy lifting. That she should just get him to haul the load. Kagome's mother was quick to silence the old man. She had smiled in a way that was both supportive and understanding and told Kagome that she thought the idea was a good one, that it made her glad to know her daughter could do things on her own without having to beg for help.
It was the things that hadn't been said that had spoken well enough of Kagome's troubles.
With rope in hand she climbed out of the well portal on the other side. A low-level presence buzzed in Kagome's subconscious, but she didn't mind it. It meant her no harm. She braced her feet on the rim of the old well and started hefting the load out of its depths.
The presence still tickled against her senses. It was only a few yards behind her now.
"Kirara," Kagome called out, "Would you give me a hand with this? I could really use the extra muscle."
There was something peculiar about the cat's response. She moved forward, but her steps were too heavy. Even in her largest form the cat had the footfalls of a mouse. Feline grace and agility, not to mention the padded paws. It wasn't until Kagome felt the puff of breath against the back of her neck that she realized.
"You're not Kirara."
Her hands were tied by the rope, so Kagome craned her neck back to see the creature.
"Aiiiya!"
She lost the rope and her footing all at once. She thumped back onto the ground. She lay there looking up, staring into the face of, not one, but two Dragons.
"Fuck me," she cursed. "You could give a girl a heart attack pulling that crap!"
The Dragons only stared. Or to be more accurate, the Dragon heads.
"Ah-Un," Kagome addressed the beast. "What on earth are you doing here?"
It was no wonder she had only pegged the creature as a low-level. The Dragon's scales were almost impervious to her probing. But at least this beast was a tame one. It even wore a saddle and bridle without complaint. Of course, it couldn't talk either. Which was probably why Kagome's question got no response.
"Well, so long as you are here." Kagome fumbled to find the end of the rope and held it up to the heads. She could only pray that her supplies hadn't taken too much damage when they crashed back down the well. "Do you mind giving this a tug?"
Ah, or was it Un? Anyways, one of the heads took the rope from her hand, and together the beasts started moving back with it. Kagome watched them work, but she couldn't help being suspicious. Not of them, the Dragon was friendly. She had known it since she first sensed their presence. Had they been on the attack, Kagome wouldn't have made the mistake of thinking it was Kirara with her in the clearing.
Channeling Youkai wasn't an exact science. Mostly it was an interpretive art. From a distance all Kagome could usually pick up was vague intentions. Combine the impression of a low-level with friendly intent and she had just assumed it was Kirara. For the bigger picture she had to look more closely, using all of her senses.
She was looking now. The Dragon was friendly; there was no question about that. But it had been broken, saddled, and made to follow orders. The question she had to ask was what orders was the beast following now.
Once her gear had reached the surface, Kagome decided she had to ask.
"Are you here to guard Rin?"
With the army gone, and Kuranosuke with them, Rin would have been left alone in the village with only a few women and elders. The men that could fight were either gone with their families or recruited to the march. A guard may have been left for her as a precaution should things go bad in the north, but if things went that badly a single guard wouldn't have been enough. Sesshomaru would have known this. It was possible that he was still watching out for his ward.
Possible, but after Ah and Un shared a look, they shook their heads No.
So that only left one. "Me?"
The Dragons reply came as they turned themselves to the side and crouched down. The message was clear. They wanted her to go with them. Of course, something else became clear in that gesture as well. There, curled up in a little ball of fur on the Dragon's saddle, was one sleeping two-tailed cat.
Kagome let out a laugh of disbelief and shook her head. "Is there anywhere you won't sleep, Kirara?"
The little cat lifted her head at the mention of her name. She blinked sleepily and yawned impressively wide. Then, taking her sweet time about it, she pawed her way out into a full feline stretch. Only after Kirara was satisfied, she decided to amble her way off of her Dragon perch. One graceful leap and she was on the ground at Kagome's feet. She purred and began rubbing her flank up against the young Miko's legs.
"I would almost believe you were happy to see me," Kagome told the cat, "That is if I didn't know you're only looking for your treats."
Kirara gave up the act and sat back on her haunches. She looked up expectantly.
"Yeah, yeah," Kagome relented. "A deal's a deal. They're in the green bag. You can help yourself as soon as you get this gear to Sango. She and Miroku will get it to the army surgeons. I'll have to catch up with you later."
Kirara didn't argue. She didn't even put up a fight when Kagome lashed the bundle of supplies to her. Kagome suspected that the cat had a lot better idea of where she was going and why than she did. The Dragon might not have been able to speak to her, but Kirara was a different story. The language of the Beasts was an ancient one, older and wiser than any words of man.
The only hint of anything Kirara gave her was a soft nudge of encouragement before she left. Kagome thanked her for it with a hug, wrapping both her arms around the thick neck of the Saber.
"You'll let them know?" Kagome asked her friend quietly. "I wouldn't want them to worry about me."
Kirara nodded then pushed Kagome in the direction of Ah-Un. There was a kind of urgency in the gesture. Kagome wondered if it had to do with the battle to come in only a few short hours, or if it was more to do with where she was going. She tried not to let it, but no matter how she tried to shut it out, Kagome couldn't keep the feeling of excitement from building in her chest. It warmed her, spreading out and through her body. Her hands shook with it when she reached for the reigns of Ah-Un.
Sesshomaru had told her he would find Inuyasha. If anyone could it was him. Now his Dragon stood waiting for her, ready to take her to some unknown place, and Kagome couldn't help be excited, hopeful that in a little while she would be with Inuyasha again.
With a shaky breath to prepare, Kagome pulled herself up into the saddle. She wasn't used to riding with a saddle, even less accustomed to the reigns. But Ah-Un didn't need her instructions. As soon as she had found herself a comfortable position on the wide back of the beast he took to the skies.
Ah-Un was much faster than Kirara. He had them clear of the Tokyo basin in just over an hour. Wherever they were going, Kagome had no doubt that the Dragon would have them there before dark.
Still, something about the whole situation wasn't sitting right with her. A feeling, an intuition that something wasn't right kept coming back and overshadowing her expectations. It grew stronger the further West the Dragon took them. By the time the Alpine peaks came into view on the horizon Kagome had been so unsettled by the feeling that she had taken the liberty to tighten the straps on her pack and lift her bow from her shoulder. She held it at the ready, even pulled an arrow from her quiver and laid it against the grip.
The darkness that fell on them as Ah-Un brought them in closer to the mountains wasn't natural. It was too thick to be any kind of shadow or trick of the light. The feeling of it was heavy, sickening; it corrupted the land like a poison. The trees were wilting, the life draining from them. Even the ground was contaminated. It looked black like it had been slicked with oil.
The closer they got the worse it became. Except the trees weren't just wilted, sickened by the darkness, they were destroyed. Some pulled up from their roots, some shattered and broken and lying in splinters. Great scores had been ripped into the rocks and stones. Whole sections of the mountain lay in rubble.
"Why have you brought me here?" Kagome asked her mount.
Ah-Un gave her no answer. The Dragon ignored the tugging on its reigns and set them down in the midst of the destruction. Kagome wanted to yell at the beast, but she didn't dare lift her voice above a whisper.
"Are you crazy? I can't go into that alone!"
Both heads of the Dragon turned on her then. They hissed an angry message that shook through their entire frame. Kagome got the point loud and clear: Get the hell off or you'll see what happens to Human flesh when it gets struck by lightning.
Still she held firm. "I can not just walk into a Youkai den. That's suicide! I didn't sign up for this! I demand that you take me back!"
Ah-Un wouldn't hear of it. Threats didn't work, so he took a more direct approach. The Dragon reared up on his hind legs and shook himself. Kagome was thrown from the mount. She landed hard in a twisted mat of downed branches and debris.
Kagome struggled with the tangled branches. When she finally managed to gain her feet again, she pushed up strongly, ready for a confrontation. Except there would be no confrontation. Ah-Un had distanced himself from her. His heads were looking around him in jerky movements as he backed away. He was afraid, but not of her.
"Ah-Un…?"
Kagome tried to get the Dragon's attention, to ask what he was sensing. But the beast had been spooked. He reared up and bucked his forelegs. He hissed a warning but that was all. A second more and Ah-Un leapt up from the ground. He took to the skies in retreat and didn't look back.
"Ah-Un!"
Kagome called after him but it didn't do any good. The Dragon was long gone.
A shaky breath rattled into Kagome's lungs. It burned her with poison. Her eyes were stinging with it as well. The whole area was corrupted by it. A Demon was the cause, something so terrible it frightened even a Dragon. And she was alone.
The feeling of dread was almost overwhelming. The darkness pressed in on her. Memories from her ancestors warned in primal Human emotions of fear. Survival instincts began kicking in. One by one her systems began to charge up. Adrenaline to feed her muscles. Dopamine to dull the pain. A surge of magic pulsing under her skin. They urged her to make a choice.
Flight was no longer an option. She was miles from home, even further from the front lines of the army she was supposed to lead. She would never make it back to them in time. The only creature that knew where she was had abandoned her. She didn't hold any hope that he would return. So that left only one option: fight.
Kagome breathed deeply to bring calm to her trembling limbs. The poison in the air still burned in her lungs, but it couldn't get past her innate defenses. Her Miko blood was a barrier against most Youkai toxins. Her eyes had started to water from the exposure. Everything began to blur. She brought her hands up to try and shield them. As she did her fingers brushed against the riding shield she word on her head.
It was worth a shot. She lowered the shield into place. The beak fit over her nose perfectly. The black shields curved and hugged the depressions of her eyes. After a moment her vision began to clear. The burning in her lungs lessened as well as she breathed through the beak.
She was protected, but only from the toxic air. Her eyes were quick to compensate for her blindness. Vague images began to take form. The life in the land quivered with fear. It was turbulent, ducking for cover in the few blades of grass and clusters of shrub that hadn't been destroyed. Even the stone beneath her feet was unsettled. It vibrated with strange pulses of warning.
But Kagome couldn't heed that warning. She took a step forward. Careful not to disturb the area any more than it already had been, she began a cautious walk. Her senses were on high alert, but she couldn't detect a presence apart from the scream of anguish from the land. The only thing that stood out was a feeling of such deep, dark hatred that Kagome began to wonder if she was doing the right thing not turning back. No good could come of such furious wrath.
A few more steps brought her closer to something. She stopped in place and lifted her bow. Whatever was out there, it was sensing her presence. She couldn't see it, but she could feel it. The sensation of having eyes on her was so strong she could almost tell from which direction. She turned slowly to face it.
At first glance it was massive, a form of liquid fire so impossibly large it wiped out everything else. An untrained eye would have seen the sickly forest ablaze. But Kagome's eyes saw something else entirely. Within the maddened dance of power a single force commanded it. A Youkai set loose to burn was a thousand times more deadly and destructive than even the largest forest fire.
It surged towards her, a wall of fire moving with purpose and furious intent. There was no way to escape it. Kagome's only option was to smother it with her own power like water to douse a flame. Her bow was strung, the arrow drawn taught in the draw, but something stayed her hand. At the last second she held it back.
The impact was hard but far from full-force. She was carried back by the wave. She felt her body slam against a rough surface. She felt the pressure of an unrelenting grip at her throat. She felt the burn all around her.
But still she held back.
"Sesshomaru…" She choked on the name. Words could hardly escape from her throat held so tightly in his claws. "Wh…why?"
A terrible growl met her words, deep and vicious and unrestrained. Unable to control it, Kagome trembled in fright. She tried to look away from the furious burn but it was everywhere, inescapable.
"P…please…"
She begged him to stop. Much more and she wouldn't be able to keep herself in check. Meditation and training could only take her so far. All that was keeping her together now was a real desire to not do him any harm. A fight with Sesshomaru was destined to end badly. Kagome had no wish to find out for whom. She had never put the full force of her powers against him, nor he against her. A frightening thought, that. He would kill her. That was a certainty. What wasn't clear was how much damage she could do to the Youkai before he succeeded. Or after. A Miko's spirit could drag another soul with it to the Great Beyond. The Shikon was proof enough of that.
What seemed like an eternity passed before he finally relented. His grip didn't loosen, it just vanished. No pomp or circumstance, no threats, no barter; he simply released her, threw her back like one would a fish too small.
"You have no business here," his voice cut sharply through the flames. "Leave."
First threats and then orders. It might have worked on just about anyone else. But not Kagome. She found her footing again and stood up to the angry Dog. She pulled her mask away so that she could see him without the distracting surges of power and fire.
Sesshomaru was walking away from her, but even so Kagome could see that he looked a wreck. His clothing was torn and covered in blood. His perfect silver mane was tossed and knotted. And his steps were all wrong, unsteady, and so uneven it couldn't have been caused by a limp. At one point he actually stumbled. He had to reach out and brace against a nearby tree to keep his feet.
Kagome was having a hard time processing what she was seeing. Sesshomaru was always so controlled, so restrained. Seeing him like…this was just too much. She couldn't imagine what had happened to make him so…so…
A thought came but it was just so ridiculous. Kagome didn't want to think it possible, but it was all she could think of to explain what she was seeing.
"Are you…drunk?" she asked in amazement.
He actually laughed; a deep, mirthless chuckle. "What was your first clue?"
And then he used his strength in a completely unnecessarily disrespectful act to push over the tree he had been leaning on. The poor thing groaned in protest, but it couldn't stand up to the force. Its roots began to snap one after the other. Its branches began to crack and splinter from their tangle in the canopy. In seconds it was crashing down to the ground.
"Why are you doing this?" Kagome asked him.
"Why?" Sesshomaru's voice had darkened again. The anger had returned in force. He looked back and his eyes were blazing with Demon fire, fury and wrath and rage like no other. "Centuries of plans destroyed by one cowardly fool, and you dare to ask why!"
Kagome was shocked still. She couldn't believe Sesshomaru had actually raised his voice. Everything about all of it was just so wrong. He was out of control. He was destroying the land without thought or care, lashing out, speaking without reserve, acting like…like a Demon.
"Please," she begged him to calm down, to listen to her words. She spoke softly, gently, doing her best to hide her own fears that this powerful creature had somehow been corrupted. "There must be something I can do to help."
Her words must have reached him. His anger began to ebb, but that was no better. Without it he looked positively stricken, lost in a grief so terrible that even across the distance separating them Kagome felt it reaching out and squeezing her heart. It left her breathless.
"Help," he scoffed as he turned away once more. "You can't help me. Not anymore."
He walked away. Unsteady and wavering in a drunken stupor, maybe, but he left all the same. Kagome stood where she was and watched him go. She was hesitant to go after him. Sesshomaru wasn't exactly trustworthy when he was lucid. Approaching him now after she had been clearly dismissed wasn't among the wisest courses of action.
But what choice did she have? Ah-Un had left her. The Dragon's unwillingness to face its master's wrath was all too obvious by now. If she wanted any chance at all of getting back to her people before they marched into battle she would have to get Sesshomaru to see reason before the night was out.
There was more, she knew. Another reason why she had to go after him. Such pain she had witnessed in that one moment when he looked at her, she could never walk away from that. Even if he was an enemy, and she couldn't be certain that he wasn't anymore, no one should have to know such aguish. Not alone. The destructiveness of it could be seen all around her. If left to fester it would only get worse.
But she couldn't let her compassion show. He would reject it, reject her for it. He was too proud, too arrogant to ever see the need for kindness. He would see it as a weakness and lash out at her for it. So she would have to hide it. In Sesshomaru's altered state of mind she believed she could. He needed her help even if he couldn't see it. Fears and hesitations were put aside, and Kagome stepped forward with a new purpose.
Her eyes were stinging again. Exposure to the toxic air was taking its toll, but Kagome blinked past the discomfort. If she closed her eyes and went looking for a Demon she had no delusions that she would find one. Sesshomaru had once accused her of sending out a challenge by her mere presence, she wouldn't press her luck by stepping into his den amped up and charged for a fight.
Without proper use of her eyes, it took Kagome nearly half an hour to actually find him. True night had fallen by then. The darkness she walked through had less and less to do with the poison that had been dispersed throughout the area. In fact, the poison itself seemed to be loosing its potency. She wondered about that, but didn't stop to consider the possibilities. There was still a great deal of danger lurking and waiting for her in those shadows.
Kagome found Sesshomaru sitting in a rock hollow beneath a fifty foot cliff. The space wasn't large enough to be considered a cave, more like a nook. But apparently it served its purpose to him. The space was only just big enough to hold him and a rather large supply of sake. He was drinking from one of the bottles as she approached. He didn't even bother looking up.
"Why are you still here?" he asked in annoyance.
Kagome took it as a good sign that he bothered to speak at all. "I came to talk to you."
"Not interested."
Sesshomaru blew her off as quickly as he tossed away his now empty bottle. Purposefully or not he threw it with enough force for the ceramic to shatter into a thousand pieces when it struck the devastated stump of a nearby tree.
Kagome was startled by the sudden impact. She only just managed to keep herself from jumping. But Sesshomaru's dismissal was expected. She didn't let it deter her.
"Like it or not, I'm stuck here," she told him. "And it was your Dragon that brought me to you. Ah-Un is worried about you. As he should be. You're not yourself."
Sesshomaru didn't pay much heed to what Kagome was saying. He found himself another bottle, didn't bother actually breaking the seal when he could just squeeze the top till it snapped, then dropped the contents back. When he was finished he looked at the bottle in disgust for being empty. He threw it too to shatter against the stump.
"Meddlesome beast," he murmured absently.
Kagome wasn't sure exactly whom Sesshomaru was referring to with that statement, but she did know that if he kept drinking like he was that soon he wouldn't even be coherent enough to know his own name.
He reached for another bottle.
"Don't you think you've had enough?" Kagome asked.
Sesshomaru looked up. His eyes were heavily glazed over. The piercing gold was muted, left dull and washed-out as they refused to reflect the evening light. He looked like he was about to argue for a moment, but it was quick to pass. Instead he smiled wickedly, his gaze taking far too long to pass over her before he met her eyes.
"Are you offering me something better?"
Kagome was so shocked at the suggestion that she faltered. Eyes wide and mouth open in a silent gasp, she took a step back from the Youkai.
Sesshomaru only chuckled to himself. "Virgin girls. What poor sport."
He drained his new bottle and sent it flying to join the others. Then he pushed himself to his feet. He was unsteady. He held the wall to keep his balance as he stepped forward. Kagome couldn't help herself, she stepped back again.
"What's the matter, Miko?" he taunted. "Afraid you might like it?"
He had gone too far. Kagome buried her insecurity behind a wall of powerful defense.
"Control yourself," she ordered him firmly. "Or I will not be responsible for what happens to you."
Her challenge hung heavy between them. They both knew that there was nothing Kagome could really do to stop him from breaking through her barrier. He had shown her as much in their little dance. But that wasn't the point. If she had to defend herself, she would. She would fight to her last breath to keep her purity intact. A Man might have stood a remote chance of getting past her defenses, but as a Miko Kagome was built from the inside out to defend against Youkai. They could hurt her flesh, burn or tear her skin. They could take her life. But the Light inside of her would not be taken. Not by force. Not while she still breathed. Not ever.
Sesshomaru must have figured it out. Either that or he just wasn't in the mood for a fight. He shrugged it off.
"I've had better anyways," he said as he turned and made his way back to his stash.
Kagome wasn't sure why, but that last insult had stung more than it should have. It wasn't like she wanted to do go for a roll in the hay with Sesshomaru; it was just really offensive to be told that even if she did she would have been his last choice to do it with. Anger served its purpose though. Kagome used it to get past her hesitations. And, as disorienting as it had been to have Sesshomaru hit on her in his weird and completely drunken way, it had given her an idea.
Kagome was no stranger to turning men down. It had taken Hojo over three years to finally take the hint and move on. And then there was Miroku, who knew he was never going to get anywhere but insisted on continuing to try. Probably not the best examples, but if Kagome had learned anything from her experiences with them it was that guys could be stupidly stubborn when it came to women. She hoped the philosophy applied to Youkai as well as she stepped over to Sesshomaru.
He eyed her suspiciously as she got closer. He had already found himself another bottle of drink but he had yet to sit back down. Kagome was glad for it. She stepped right up to him and reached for the bottle. He pulled it back, but Kagome just held her hand out and waited.
"It's rude not to share," she told him after he took too long to pick up on the hint.
Sesshomaru was still hesitant, but, as Kagome suspected, too intoxicated to understand why. After another short pause he relented and held the bottle out for her. She took it, paused a moment to sniff the brew, cringed at the pungent aroma, then tilted it back and took a draw.
She nearly choked. "Crap that's strong. No wonder you're drunk."
Sesshomaru didn't say anything, but Kagome didn't give him the chance. She lifted the bottle as if to toast and took a small step back.
"Now your armor," she told him. "Off with it."
Drunk but not stupid just yet, Sesshomaru managed to see an inconsistency in her behavior. Or maybe he had been bluffing all along and had no interest in her beyond scaring her shitless. Either way, he called Kagome's ruse for what it was.
"You think me a fool?" He wasn't happy, and getting more agitated by the second. "Your games will not work on me, Miko."
Kagome would have laughed at that, but it wouldn't have served her purpose. Her 'game' was working, if not a little too well. Sesshomaru was just too drunk to know it. She was already past his guard. And though his words were telling her to step back, it was all talk. The rest of him was more than willing to let her stay.
"You can drink yourself into a coma if you want," she told him. "I won't stop you. But I'm not about to let you bleed to death while you're doing it. So, off with the armor. And your shirt while you're at it."
For a moment Sesshomaru looked confused. He closed his eyes tightly as though by doing so he could remember. When he opened them again there was something of the brilliant gold shining through.
He looked down at the blood staining his left side. A terrible slice that had cut straight through his armor and God only knew how deep was spilling so much blood it had tracked down the full length of his leg. He brought his hand to cover the wound. It shook as he pulled it away. Covered in blood, he stared at it as though he hadn't realized before this moment that he had been injured.
It lasted only a second, maybe two, before Sesshomaru closed his hand into fist and with it any emotions that might have come to him.
"Forget it," he breathed out.
Kagome wasn't sure if he was speaking to her or not. He could have just as easily been speaking to himself, telling himself to forget, though what she couldn't imagine. For the moment it was beyond her. All she knew was that whatever it was had been terrible, painful enough to have brought even the Great Sesshomaru to this drunken mess.
She wasn't going to let him get away with it.
"Take them off," she said again, "Or I'll find a way to do it myself."
Sesshomaru finally looked up to meet her eyes. His confusion was gone. He heard her order for what it was and looked at her with enough resentment for her to know it. But still he wasn't himself. His anger melted away in an instant, leaving behind an emptiness that was so much more disturbing.
"It isn't right," he said.
Kagome didn't understand. "What isn't?"
Sesshomaru almost answered. Almost, but before he did he caught himself. He blinked hard and shook his head. He took a deep breath then ran a hand through his hair to pull out the knots and shook off whatever was left of his clouded thoughts.
"Your efforts are wasted on This Sesshomaru."
That was what he said, but it didn't stop him from doing what he had been told. He unlatched the straps of his armor and let it fall away. Then he shrugged out of his blood-soaked shirt. He stood before her bare from the waist up. Every inch of flawless pale skin and battle-hardened muscle exposed. Even the long bands of crimson that streaked downwards from his hips and lower still beneath the cover of his sash were exposed.
"Satisfied?" he asked.
There was a challenge issued in his tone. Kagome heard it, but it wasn't that which made her angry. He would have wanted it to. That was the whole point. But he was looking to distract her from something, to divert her focus away from what he had almost said but didn't. It made her angry to think he thought so little of her that he actually believed a little exposed skin would make her melt and forget the whole thing. Not that it wasn't distracting. There was a reason his name meant Perfection. But Kagome wasn't impressed.
"Not really," she told him.
Then, without another word, she took the bottle she was holding and poured its entire contents on the gaping wound in his left side. It gave her a sick amount of pleasure to see the Youkai wince when the harsh liquid began to burn him. As much as the liquor had been the cause of Sesshomaru's drunkenness, it would also be its cure.
"Better," she said, "But not good enough. It needs stitches. You can stand if you want, but it would be easier if you sat or kneeled."
"If I refuse?"
Kagome only shrugged her indifference. "Do what you want. But don't blame me when your stitches come out crooked. One way or the other, you're getting them."
Kagome didn't wait for him to reply. She dropped her pack and started digging for the right supplies. Her stash was fully replenished from her trip home. It didn't take her long to find what she needed.
By the time she had finished she looked up to find Sesshomaru once again sitting in his nook. He had found himself another bottle of sake, but he wasn't dropping it back in one gulp like the others. He had even taken the time to undo the wax seal on the bottle properly.
Kagome moved to sit beside him. She turned on a battery-powered lantern and set it down so she could work. The wound was bigger than most she had treated. Mostly because it would have killed a Human in about sixty seconds flat. But she had seen worse. At least it had straight edges for her to work with. She used a clean gauze to mop up the fresh blood and hold the bottom edge of the wound tract then began stitching with a practiced hand.
Sesshomaru didn't move the whole time. He didn't even flinch when the needle pierced his skin. He sat perfectly still and allowed her to work. Kagome suspected that his Youkai metabolism was starting to sober him up even though he was still drinking. The old Sesshomaru was taking back control. She breathed a little more easily for it.
The last stitch went in. All that was left was to clean the area and bandage it.
"Are you finished with that?" Kagome asked Sesshomaru with a short gesture to the bottle in his hand.
Sesshomaru spared her a look, but instead of answering he downed the last few drops in the bottle and tossed it to land with the others.
Kagome stared at him in disbelief. "Seriously?" When he said nothing, she rolled her eyes. "God, men are such babies."
Taking it upon herself to get her own bottle, Kagome leaned across Sesshomaru and made a grab for his stash. She only made it about half-way before his arms suddenly clamped around her and pulled her to a stop.
"H-hey!" Kagome protested. "What gives?"
She tried to squirm her way out of Sesshomaru's hold but it was useless. He had her trapped, her face squished up somewhere between his pecs and his abs. She couldn't be sure what. She was too close to see anything but skin. All she could tell for certain was that it was bumpy and hard. So at the very least she hoped she was somewhere between his abs and pecs, because anywhere other than that and she was going to have some serious words with the Youkai.
Only after realizing she wasn't getting anywhere with her futile struggles, Kagome went limp and sighed.
"What?" she asked again.
Sesshomaru didn't answer. Kagome couldn't see what he was doing, but she could feel him shift beneath her. Then she heard a clattering of bottles. The next thing she knew Sesshomaru was pulling her with him to lie back in the little stone nook. She tried once more to get out of his hold, but he held her firm until he had her trapped between himself and a rock wall. When he finally released her it was only enough for her to move a tiny bit. She could shift her upper body, but his arm was still clamped tight around her waist.
"What. The Hell?" was all Kagome could think to say.
"Unless you plan on loosing your head, you will stay put," Sesshomaru told her.
"Excuse me?"
A yawn kept Sesshomaru from answering right away. He stretched a bit, arching his back before settling back down. Then he reached his free arm out and caught the end of his fur boa from his pile of clothing. He pulled it closer and stuffed one end of the fur under his head. The other end he tossed across his chest. It was easily big enough to cover them both.
"This day has gone on long enough," he said just before he closed his eyes. "I intend to sleep through what is left of it. If you wish to keep breathing, stay where you are. I may not be as accommodating of your presence should you choose to move about while I am unaware."
"So this is your answer?" Kagome was shrill. "How the heck is this better?"
Sesshomaru's only answer was to lift a finger and tap the side of his nose.
Kagome wasn't satisfied. "That's it? You can smell me from here? You could smell me from over there! And so what if you're ready to sleep. What about me? I haven't even had a chance to wash my hands, let alone brush my teeth or use the washroom! You can't seriously think I'm gong to just go along with this!"
He said nothing. He didn't move, didn't even open his eyes.
"Damnit, Sesshomaru!" Kagome slammed her fist down hard on his chest. "Answer me!"
And still nothing. Sesshomaru hadn't even twitched when she hit him. He just lay there like a big lump of useless flesh. He wasn't sleeping. He was faking it. Kagome was sure of it as she was the nose on her face. She resented him for it, for not giving her a choice. So, just because she could and because he obviously wasn't going to do anything about it, she smacked him again.
"Asshole."
But with no other options, Kagome resigned herself to her fate. She twisted and squirmed her way into a position that was at least bearable. With Sesshomaru's arm around her waist and clearly not going anywhere, she couldn't lie down properly. She was forced to use him, at least partially, as a bed and pillow. She pulled on the fur covering and put it under her head so that she didn't have to be lying completely on bare skin. Then, with a sigh, she flopped down onto it.
"I hope you're satisfied," she told him in annoyance. "And I seriously hope I snore. It would serve you right."
Sesshomaru gave no response, not like Kagome had been expecting one. She tried to make the best of her situation. It wasn't that it was all that physically uncomfortable. It wasn't even that spiritually uncomfortable. Sesshomaru's power levels were all but dormant, and hers were just as silent. She felt no more of him than his physical presence – the heat of his body, his steady breathing, the beat of his heart in his chest. But mentally and emotionally it was a different story.
Kagome tried to ignore it. She tried to think about something else, anything else, but it was no use. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the obvious. Sesshomaru was calm now, but it didn't change what he had been. Such unrestrained fury, such complete and utter despair; and he hadn't worked through any of it. He had blocked it away, shut it out, and tried to forget. That was no way to heal.
Her focus drifted down to the patchwork of stitches she had forced into him. By morning they would have served their purpose and the Youkai would be whole once again. But it shouldn't have happened. Sesshomaru was too good. In battle hardly anyone got past his guard. The only time he really left himself open was when he set aside his swords and whips and poison and went after his opponent with his claws. There was something so very personal about such an attack, to set aside practiced and proven defensive measures just to rip into someone with your bare hands. Kagome had witnessed it far too often.
Tentatively she brushed her fingers along the line. Straight edges, she recalled. Perfectly straight and perfectly even. A blade had caused this injury. One, she feared, she knew all too well. One that had enraged Sesshomaru in the past. One wielded by perhaps the only person that could get under his skin and hurt him in a way deeper than the flesh.
"Inuyasha…" she whispered softly. "He's not coming, is he?"
Had she not been lying on his chest Kagome wouldn't have known that simply by saying that name she had made Sesshomaru's steady breathing hitch. He caught a breath for a moment before letting it out in a heavy sigh.
"When morning comes, I will join you in the battle," he said.
It wasn't an answer, but at the same time it was. Kagome could feel her stomach drop; feel the way tears began pushing up in its place. Her lips trembled. She had to press them tight together to keep from sobbing.
"That's…really noble of you," she forced herself to say. "And I thank you for trying, but you don't owe me anything, Sesshomaru. Not for him."
Her voice was cracking. She didn't dare say any more. And despite desperately trying to fight back her tears, they fell anyways. She hadn't believed it possible, but Inuyasha had really abandoned her. Even knowing that she needed him, even after Sesshomaru had tried to beat the message home, he had refused to come back to her. After everything, all they had been through together, all they had shared, all the battles and tears and joys and strife; all of it and he would just walk away. He would leave her when she needed him most.
A pressure under her chin forced her to look up, gentle yet firm she had no choice but to comply. Sesshomaru was looking down at her. His eyes had cleared of their fog. His focus was clear and sharp. Kagome shied away from it. She tried to pull back but he wouldn't let her.
"I have never seen a Basilisk. It would be unfortunate to miss such an opportunity."
That was all he said. No apologies, no words of kindness or regret, no disapproval or criticism for her emotional state. He just skipped over it all, acted as if it didn't exist, as if it never happened. And he asked her in a way that wasn't asking to be part of a battle that wasn't his fight for reasons that he insisted were his own and had nothing to do with her.
It wasn't a lie, but it was a sham of the truth. Except…it was something. Wasn't it? What good would an apology be when there was nothing to be done about it? What purpose did regret serve, or even tears? They could only lead to destruction. Sesshomaru knew it. He had been there. He had fought his way through it. And he was telling her that he wouldn't leave her now. That she didn't have to do it alone.
"You…you know…you don't really see a Basilisk," she said on gasping breaths. More tears fell, but a trembling smile had lifted on her lips. "That's…kinda the whole point."
Sesshomaru let go of her chin only to brush away the hot path of her tears.
"Your eyes could see it," he said softly.
"Sometimes I wonder."
Kagome couldn't take it anymore. She looked away. She brought her own hand up to scrub at her eyes. Her breathing was hitched but she managed to control it. She dried her tears before looking back to Sesshomaru. Now wasn't the time. It never was.
"When the Shikon took me, it showed me a life without magic. I was just a normal girl with a normal life. Sometimes I can't help but wonder if what my eyes see is even there. Why can I see what others don't? Is it because I'm not really seeing it? Is that world I saw the real one? Am I trapped there, locked in some padded room and just dreaming all of this? Delusions of a troubled mind: Is this world even real? Or is it something I created because I couldn't believe in a world without strife, without struggle? Because I couldn't just let myself be happy?"
A figment of one's imagination couldn't be the one to say if the fantasy was real or not. Any answer it could give would be questionable. Was it trying to save itself and maintain the façade, or was it telling the truth and trying to bring that person back to themselves?
There was no answer, so Sesshomaru didn't give her one.
Instead, he asked, "Would you regret it?"
"I don't know," and she didn't. "But I don't think I could live with the lie."
"Is that not answer enough?"
"What?"
"You could not live with the lie, so you chose to leave it behind."
Kagome almost smiled. No one could ever truly understand how hard it had been to tell the Shikon she wouldn't accept the life it had shown her. No one would know the sacrifice it had taken to tell the life she had always believed she wanted that it wasn't hers to have.
"Maybe you're right," she said. "It would explain some things."
"Like what?"
"You."
"Me?"
This time she did smile, if only a little bit. "Even if I was crazy, I don't think I could dream you up."
"Am I to take that as a complement?"
Kagome shrugged. She figured no answer was better. If it was a complement, it was only because he was so much more supremely powerful and impossibly arrogant than she could ever have imagined. If it wasn't, it was because he was more confusingly contradictory and off his rocker than she was. Neither seemed like a very good thing to tell a Youkai that had her trapped against him.
Speaking of which… Kagome shifted in discomfort. Her neck was getting sore from having to crane it up to look at Sesshomaru.
"Is this really necessary?" she asked.
Beneath her, Sesshomaru sighed. "If only to put your mind at ease…"
He shifted, reaching out and above his head and brought back a bottle from the scattered stash. He held it up for Kagome to take.
"I don't suppose you're offering me a nightcap?" she quipped as she took the bottle.
"Throw it," Sesshomaru told her. He lay back down and closed his eyes. "Anywhere you wish. I will not watch."
Kagome looked curiously between the bottle and the Youkai. Sesshomaru's eyes were closed. There was no question of that. He didn't see like she did. Behind closed eyes he was truly blind. But he lay there, perfectly still as though at rest, and still he told her to throw the bottle.
She supposed that he planned on using some kind of scent or sound to pinpoint the location of the bottle as it fell. Knowing him, he probably could have pinpointed a mosquito just as easily. So, figuring it didn't really matter where or how she threw the bottle, Kagome just gave it a half-hearted lob out into the open space between the trees.
There was nothing for a second or two, but the instant the bottle touched the ground everything changed. A sizzling hiss like water thrown on a searing hot pan was the only warning before the eruption. Thousands of lines of glowing green energy filled the area, each one cracking and snapping as they cut the air. Not just the bottle, but trees and grass and rock and anything and everything else they touched was slashed and rendered.
Kagome threw herself back from it. She was so shocked that she had reacted purely on instinct. A barrier flew up around her in defense.
Beside her, Sesshomaru growled. "Stop that."
"Me?" Kagome wasn't sure that she could even if she wanted to. "What the hell was that?!"
"A defense mechanism," he answered through clenched teeth. "Much like that damndable barrier. Now shut it down."
It took Kagome a couple of gasping breaths to calm herself enough to pull back on the barrier. But she was still rattled.
"You can do that even when you're asleep?" she asked in astonishment.
"Yes," he answered simply. "Do you still wish to try your luck out there?"
Kagome was quick to shake her head. "Nuh-uh. I'm good right here."
She huddled down next to Sesshomaru and suddenly found it very comfortable. Very, very comfortable. But she couldn't help wondering about that incredible power. She had seen Sesshomaru's whips before of course, but never so many. And to be able to use them even in his sleep? It was a remarkable adaptation. Still, it was curious.
"Would that happen if anyone were to move around out there?" she asked.
Sesshomaru had a question of his own. "Are you ever going to let me sleep?"
"Just one more," Kagome promised. "I really want to know."
"No."
"No what? No it wouldn't? Or no you're not going to answer?"
Sesshomaru didn't answer right away, but Kagome wasn't about to let him get away with it. She pushed herself up so she could look at him properly. His eyes were closed but he had to know she was staring at him. Eventually he gave it up. He opened his eyes, looking not at all pleased, and replied.
"A familiar scent would reach me long before any sound. Even in sleep I can distinguish such a presence and react accordingly. Now enough questions. Sleep."
Kagome tried. She really did. She lay back down. She got as comfortable as she could. She even closed her eyes. But something kept nagging at her. When she finally figured out what it was, she couldn't keep it to herself.
With a mirthful laugh, she gave Sesshomaru slap across the chest. "You dog!"
His only response was an agitated growl. But all it managed to do was make Kagome laugh even harder.
"No, seriously," she said between giggles. "Exactly how many 'unfamiliar' scents had to get wasted before you realized they would keep their heads if you tangled them up beside you?"
"Miko."
Somehow he managed to convey 'shut the hell up or else' with only one word. Apparently Sesshomaru's sex life was not a subject open for discussion, which Kagome thought unfair since he seemed to think himself privy to the details of hers. But he really sounded mad, so she figured she could let him have this one.
"Fine, fine," Kagome relented. "But you really should lighten up once and a while. It can't be good for you to be so grouchy all the time."
Once more Kagome cuddled down into her comfy spot. Strangely enough it was really easy to do. Sesshomaru was a real hard-ass, but that didn't stop him from being gentle and accommodating. It was just another contradiction to add to the long list of them. It made Kagome smile to herself as she lay there.
"You know, I think you're wrong," she said quietly before she closed her eyes. "Like it or not, you do know me. I don't believe that you would hurt me."
"Sleep, Miko," was his only reply.
And still she smiled, because he hadn't denied it. She closed her eyes and settled down for sleep. But just before she drifted off she spoke one last time.
"Goodnight, Sesshomaru."
Silence fell between them then, but it wasn't empty. No life dared tread in the grove of a Demon's destruction. Not even the earth dared to take a breath of wind. But the sound of two hearts beating and the steady breath of two souls was more than enough to fill the silence. Wrapped only in the dark blanket of the night, two shadows started to softly combine.
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