To Court a Miko Chapter 4.
Kagome finished stirring the food in the pot and began to ladle the food into bowls for her companions. She stood and carried the first bowl to Lord Sesshomaru. Setting it on the ground in front of him and bowing as she backed away, she settled into her role as alpha female and handed out the food to the rest of her pack. As she finished handing out their evening meal, everyone glanced at the demon lord, waiting to eat until after he began his meal. Once he had, everyone hmm'ed and told Kagome that the dinner was delicious.
Kagome thanked them for their compliments and went to the fire to begin packaging the meat for travel the next day. She replaced the meat from the fire with raw to cook and set up a wet cloth over the tripod to smoke the remainder of the meats overnight. Sesshomaru took pause in his meal as he observed Kagome preparing the meat for travel. "Miko. Why are you not eating."
Kagome glanced at the lord as she wiped her forehead of the sweat from being so close to the fire. "I'm making sure the meat is smoked and packed away so we can take it with us tomorrow an-" Sesshomaru cut her off as she explained. "Eat now. You can do that. You need to eat for you to keep your strength." The stoic lord closed his eyes, ending the discussion. Kagome sighed as she rolled her head in annoyance. She walked over to a spot near the fire and began chewing a piece of meat from her bowl. Soon, everyone had finished their food and had chipped in to help put the meat away.
"Okaa-san, could you read me and Rin-chan a story?" Shippo pulled Rin with him towards where Kagome was sitting. Kagome smiled and pulled her back pack close, grabbing a few books out of the bag. "Of course Shippo, would you and Rin-chan like to pick out the story we read tonight?"
Shippo and Rin nodded vigorously, as they carefully looked at each cover, discussing which they would rather read quietly between themselves. Kagome took the time to change into her pajamas. As she walked back into the clearing, the children walked up to her holding a book between them. "Can you read this one Okaa-san?" Putting her finger to her chin in thought she looked up in the sky seemingly pondering if she would.
"Hmmm… Im not sure sweeties…" Shock and sadness crossed over their faces. "But, but… PLEASE?!"
"Hmm.. I suppose I can do that for you two. But only if you get into the bed as quick as you can! Hurry!" Shippo and Rin raced across the clearing onto Kagome's sleeping mat. Kagome and the other adult companions giggled at the sight of the children racing for a story. As she strolled towards the bed she glanced around their camp making sure everything was completed for the night. She tossed a few logs onto the fire to make sure it lasted a while longer so they could smoke the remaining meat.
Kagome opened up her blankets and slid underneath them, holding them open for the children to climb in. Shippo dove in right away, circling on his four limbs to make a comfortable spot much in the way a dog or a cat would on a cushion. Rin hesitated however, wringing her hands and glancing up at them from the ground with a conflicted look in her eyes.
"Rin-chan, aren't you going to join us? There are pictures in this book that are very pretty." Kagome opened the blankets more as she shifted her body to reach for the little one. "Are you sure I can sleep with you Kagome-nee-san? Rin has not slept with someone since before she came to be with her lord." "Rin-chan, I wouldn't have sent you to my bed if I didn't expect you to sleep with me darling. Of course I would like you to. Now come here sweetie, its time for cuddling and a story." Kagome gently pulled Rin into the sleeping mat between herself and Shippo, adjusting the blankets high enough over both of the children that they would be warm and comfortable. Pulling the blankets down over her hips, she pulled out the story they had chosen. The adults had settled down into their sleeping bags and sleeping mats so they could listen to the story Kagome read as they drifted off.
"Happy Birthday Moon, by Frank Asch.
One night Bear looked up at the sky and thought, wouldn't it be nice to give the moon a birthday present. But Bear didn't know when the moon's birthday was, or what to get him. So he climbed a tall tree to have a little chat with the moon…."
Sesshomaru observed his pack as Kagome as she read to the children cuddling close to her chest. All had settled down prepared to listen to her soothing voice lulling them to sleep.
'She has a good mothering instinct.. She put Rin's fears and anxiousness to rest quickly by comforting her.. She has made sure everything is complete for the morn and has prepared everything for her companions.. That's an alpha instinct.. Perfect for an alpha bitch..' Sesshomaru allowed his eyes to close as he listened to her voice soften as the story came close to an end.
Soon enough, the story was over and the children were fast asleep. Miroku and Sango fell asleep next to Kilala in their sleeping bags, and Jaken asleep next to Ah Un on a sleeping mat and blanket provided by Kagome. Kagome slid out of her spot next to the children and took one of the blankets that covered her over to the lord. Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow in a silent question as she folded the blanket and set it beside him. "Just in case you get cold Sesshomaru-sama." She yawned and stretched, turning and striding back to the children and laying down. Sesshomaru let his eyes wander over her for a bit before closing his eyes in an alert meditation, staying on guard for the night with no witnesses to when he pulled the blanket over his lap.
========.=============.=================.====================.===================.=====
As the sun rose, the group began to stir. Kagome yawned and stretched, sliding out of the sleeping mat, careful to not disturb the children. Glancing around the camp, she made a mental to do list for the morning as she observed her still sleeping companions. 'Maybe I should make breakfast for everyone.. I wish I had some eggs for us to have with our meat, but those are a luxury while we travel since they're so fragile..' As Kagome stoked the fire and stirred the food left over from the night before, she decided that she would serve leftovers from the night before with some delicious green tea to get everyone going. She looked into the kettle, wiggling it a bit trying to hear a sloshing sound. Hearing nothing Kagome sighed. 'It looks like I need to try and find the stream. Miroku said that Jaken-sama found some for us last night, but I wonder which direction.' Looking over towards Jaken, she saw the imp sprawled out on the ground, foot sticking out from underneath his blanket twitching, and snoring loudly. Kagome giggled as she thought about how it was a wonder no one had woken up from his snoring.. As she glanced up from Jakens sleeping form she saw four black beady eyes focusing on her.
"Good morning Ah, good morning Uhn. How did you sleep last night? Well I hope." Kagome spoke softly to them as she stepped closer to them. They raised their heads and blinked at her in unison as Kagome reached to scratch lightly under their chins. "Do you two know where I could find some fresh water? I would like to prepare some tea this morning." Kagome removed their muzzles from their heads so they could graze before the group departed for their day as she asked. Uhn looked at her then looked at Ah who was purring from the mikos gentle scratches to his chin. Uhn nodded his head towards the way they found the water the night before after craning its neck for some neck scratches.
"Thank you Uhn. Do you and Ah think you can keep a watch over everyone while I am gone? I will be back quickly, but I wont be close enough to protect the children should something happen." Kagome bent down to pick up the kettle as Ah and Uhn nuzzled her sides in an attempt to beg for more scratches. Ah Uhn slowly pulled away from her form and walking quietly (at least for a dragon) over to the children, circling them with their body as they laid down so the children were surrounded by mass of dragon.
Whispering her thanks, Kagome grabbed her bow and arrows and a small katana Sango had gifted her and headed in the direction of the water.
============.=================.===================.=====================.==============
Sesshomaru was striding slowly patrolling the lands surrounding his pack to clear the danger away from them. Stopping mid-step he lifted his nose toward the treetops sniffing delicately. His brow creased in frustration. 'Why is the miko away from the pack..' 'She is unprotected and wandering by herself, curious. Why leave the safety this Sesshomaru has provided?' Sesshomaru startled inwardly, this was the first time his beast had spoken up in quite some time. Pondering the questions he began to stroll in the direction of the miko. 'She has gone far, what on earth is she doing.. Does she not know that there is danger here? She is foolish to wander alone.' Just then his elven ears picked up a roar in the direction of Kagome. 'There is trouble. This one must hurry.' Sesshomaru sped through the trees towards the danger, running faster, jumping from branch to branch with ease. Smelling fresh water and her scent melding together, he stopped just before the edge of the clearing as his mind took a pause at what he saw.
===================.=====================.========================.===================
Kagome had just finished putting water into the kettle when a large boar demon came wandering into the clearing, its snout to the ground scenting. Its small dark eyes lifted up as it caught the sound of movement by the stream and caught her gaze.
"You, you have the jewel shards. Give them to me! A lowly human such as you do not deserve them!" It shuffled closer towards her baring its jowls.
Kagome rolled her eyes at the demon. Many demons that they came into contact with were simply not very intelligient. "I don't think so, please move along. I don't have time for this today." Picking up the kettle she began to walk out of the clearing and towards her camp.
"Pathetic human fool! I shall take the shards from you whether you wish to give them over or not! I might have been nice and just killed you, but now I shall have my way with you and then kill you! Prepare your soul for an eternity of misery." Rearing up on his hind legs he began to charge forward when suddenly a bright light hit the ground before his feet and a loud crack was ringing through his ears forcing him back in fright and shock.
Kagome pulled her reiki whip back from her opponent slowly. 'Well that's new.. Maybe my powers are attempting to form their own version of Sesshomaru-sama's poison whip… effective I must admit.' She looked to her opponent who was landing on his front feet as the sudden shock wore off.
"Please come closer, I do admire your dancing. It is so dainty and ladylike." Kagome taunted the boar as she flicked her wrist, effectively flicking the whip towards him again. The boar demon roared as he charged at her again. Kagome flicked her wrist quickly, causing her whip to wrap around one of the boars front legs, slicing it and cauterizing the wound at the same time.
"I would appreciate it if you moved along. I do not want to harm you any more than I already have." Kagome strolled slowly towards the boar who had fallen to the ground from the wound, flicking her wrist around to keep the whip from dragging in the mud of the river.
==========.=================.========================.========================.========
Sesshomaru listened as Kagome continued to be polite to the boar, asking him to leave her be and only harming him when he tried to attack her. 'Hn.. She is trying to spare him.. Let us observe the miko in battle. It could prove to be interesting, and show us where her skills need improvement. We cannot have a weak alpha female.' He watched as the demon roared and charged towards the miko. With a flick of her wrist the boar demons front leg was burned off and the demon fell to the ground.
'Hn.. It seems as if she has formed something similar to this Sesshomaru's acid whip… I must inquire about this later for future purposes.'
"Now, didn't I say I didn't want to harm you? Didn't I ask you to leave?" Kagome was flicking her wrist as she strolled through the mud slowly. Sesshomaru inhaled deeply as the fear in the boars scent spiked when the whip landed particularly close to his body.
"I do not enjoy killing.. It is the only reason I was willing to let you leave after your first infraction." Her body stilled and her head tilted slightly to the side. She expanded her aura, feeling out the area for others as she heard something. "It seems my alpha has joined us, perhaps he will decide your fate."
Inwardly surprised, Sesshomaru jumped down into the clearing from his perch in the trees bordering the clearing. Looking over the scene he nodded towards Kagome in acknowledgement and glared down his nose at the boar.
The boar sneered at her as he turned his head to look in the direction the mikos alpha had come from. Shock and fear spiked in his scent.
"L-l-l-lord Sesshomaru! I-i-i-i- I am s-sorry. I was u-unaware that this human w-was yours." The boar stuttered as he prostrated himself on the ground as much as he could before the fearsome demon lord.
"Hn.. Imbecile. If you had used your nose you would have smelled this Sesshomaru on her person." Looking towards Kagome he continued "Finish him. The fool does not deserve to live."
A mere human weakling was defeating him, and the lord was defending her! The outrage! He let out a piercing screech that filled the forest around them hoping that his brothers heard him calling out for assistance. "NO PLEASE LORD SESSHOMARU PLEASE—" the boar screeched in panic as he tried to run away from the duo.
Kagome snapped her whip to the boar's neck effectively slicing his head from his body. Kagome let her whip dissolve and walked over to gather the teapot. She barely heard when the demon lord spoke.
"Miko what are you doing away from camp?" Sesshomaru spoke in a low voice, glaring softly at her back. "Why are you away from the children?"
"I wanted to get water for tea. No one else besides Ah Uhn was awake so I came to retrieve it. I left the children with them; they are well protected." She glanced over her shoulder as she stood.
"But you were not." He bit out between clenched teeth. Giggling, Kagome turned towards him.
"Sesshomaru-sama, you don't need to be worried about me. I can protect myself long enough to retrieve some water." She walked by him, heading towards the tree line facing their camp. "But I am sorry for worrying you. Would my lord like to escort me back to camp to be sure that I am safe?" Looking coyly over her shoulder she giggled at him. "Hn." Was all she got in response. She did notice that he followed close behind her all the way back to their camp though.
===============.=======================.===========================.==================
"Okaa-san!" "Kagome-nee-san!" The children cried out as Kagome entered the clearing. They ran to her and gripped her legs tightly. "We were so worried! We heard scary sounds coming from the forest! We thought you got hurt!"
"Good morning Shippo, good morning Rin-chan. You didn't need to be worried; I was fine. I had Sesshomaru-sama there to protect me." Kagome gave the children a small smile as they stared up at them with their tear-filled eyes. Their demeaner didn't change until they saw the lord walk out of the trees behind Kagome. Kagome put the kettle down and knelt between the children so she could reassure them of her well-being with tight hugs and soft kisses.
"Come now, why don't we get breakfast ready? You could wake Jaken-sama up if you'd like." Smiling softly at their faces buried into her chest. Rin giggled and looked up at Kagome. She smiled brightly saying "Jaken-sama is quite loud when he sleeps…" Shippo lifted his head and snickered as he looked over at Jaken he added his to cents with "He's quite loud when he's awake too.."
Sesshomaru watched them unfold into happy smiling faces once again, and looked over at his retainer.
'Hn. He IS quite loud..'