From: "ladyrissa"
Subject: Kanashimi no Hate ni - End To Sorrow - Four
Date: Saturday, February 02, 2002 7:06 PM

(Inuyashu and co does not belong to me, I just like to write about them. This is mainly a Sesshoumaru/Kagome fic, C & C welcome. Also, I'm just putting in that Kagome doesn't know a lot about Inuyasha's/Sesshoumaru's orgins - at least not in detail. If this butts heads with what is in the manga/anime, well gomen! ::grins::Also in this chapter, Kagome rumbles with a demon!)

Kanashimi no Hate ni - End To Sorrow - Four

Emerging Into Feudal Danger


"Aieeeeeeeeeee!!!" Kagome screamed as she abruptly landed with a thump on the ground below.

"Oheeee..." She groaned as she lay sprawled on the grass, the Tetsusaiga beside her. Kagome sat up and looked over her surroundings. The area she was in did not look familar to her at all. Fields and forests surrounded her, and even in the daytime, Kagome could feel a dark foreboding about it. She shivered and got up, taking the Tetsusaiga - now back to an ordinary sword - with her.

"Eh?" She felt something poking at her side and looked. It was the sheath that Tetsusaiga had rested in! She hadn't even see it in the display case at the museum, but here it was now, at her side, securely around her waist. Kagome wondered since the sheath belonged with Tetsusaiga, if it had somehow appeared when the sword appeared in this time. It would make sense. Placing the sword back into the sheath, Kagome looked around again and frowned. Now if she only knew where 'here' was. A pang of lonliness swept through her at the thought of her friends. Where were they and how much time had passed here since she had left? What she wouldn't give for their companionship - Sango, little Shippo, even Miroku's sometimes lecherous ways would have been welcome now.

~Inuyasha..~ Kagome thought as she looked at the green of the grass, the trees that were all around.

~He used to sit in the trees and watch me, even though he pretended not to..~ Kagome looked at one of the taller trees, almost expecting him to be there with that look of disdain on his face.

"Kagome!"

She could almost hear his voice now. Swallowing hard, she wiped a tear from her face. God, when will the pain ever stop? When? Would she still think of him when she was an old lady like Kaede? She shut her eyes fiercely, willing the tears not to come. Too many memories, too many to bear. Was her mother right? It didn't seem so.

And then she sensed something and raised her head, her eyes wide.

"A - Shikon shard?" Quickly she rumaged through her backpack and found the shard that Kaedo had given her. It twinkled in the light and the feeling that Kagome had was even stronger.

~Yes, yes it is a Shikon shard! It's far away but I can feel it..~ Kagome felt an excitement within her. Of course it would take her awhile to get to it, for she had to walk. There would be no hanyou carrying her on her back and no way for her to bring a bicycle from -

"Hey!" Kagome suddenly put her hands on her hips. "I LEFT my bicycle here!"

A fit of laughter came over her at the thought of her bicycle in Kaede's village. Come to think of it, that were where her bow and arrows were and her old school backback too. She thought for a moment, tempted to go back to Kaede's village where at least she knew someone, but then again, she had no earthly idea where she was at all. There were no satellites here in this time to track down where she was, so her Palm Pilot was useless.

"Dammit.." Kagome frowned, feeling eyes upon her. She didn't like this place - did not like it at all. It smelled of something - wait..

~Hanyous..humans.and - and youkai!~ Kagomes eyes went wide as her hand flew up to her shoulder to touch the place where the old wound that Inuyasha gave her was.

She - she could smell them?

*****

"Waii! Look at that woman! Such odd clothes!" Kagome ignored the stares of the village men that had gathered around.

"Maybe she is a miko - come to rid our village of the youkai!"

"Feh! She's no miko. Immodest! Everything shows!"

Kagome looked ruefully down at her blue jeans and t-shirt. They were a little snug but not too much! Still to the people of this time, what she wore was different than the eveloping kimonos that most women and men wore. An old woman approached and for a moment Kagome could have sworn it was Kaede, but upon closer inspection, she was not. However, she must have held a position of importance in the village for the men moved away, their heads bowed in respect.

"You are here to fight the youkai that threatens our village?" The old woman asked Kagome.

"What? I - uh, no..I mean I wasn't sent here or anything." Kagome looked flustered.

"You carry a sword..your clothing..no, you are a miko - a powerful miko.." The old woman nodded sagely as the village men around her bowed.

"Ah, look, this is a misunderstanding. I'm just here to find the Shikon - "

"The Shikon no Tama?" The old woman gripped Kagome's shoulders.

"Yes, I - "

"You are the miko!" The old woman's face broke out in a smile. "You will defeat the youkai who's been attacking our village!"

"But - but - " Kagome sputtered as the old woman propelled her towards a large hut.

"Come, you are our honored guest! It is not often we have such a powerful miko come to the edge of the Western Lands.."

~ Western - Lands?" Kagome blinked.

*****
Dusk was setting upon the village of Suikai and Kagome was settled in the old woman's hut. Kagome learned that her name was Mira and that she held a similar position in the village as Kaede had in her own.

"So a youkai lord rules these lands just beyond your village, Mira?" Kagome asked as she took a bite of the delicious stew that Mira had set before her."

"Hai." Mira replied. "This land has been ruled by youkai for centuries. The youkai lord's father ruled before him - he was kindly towards humans, even had a human wife."

"A human wife?" Kagome looked surprised. ~Inuyasha's father was a demon lord who had a human wife..I wonder..~

"Youkai say they hate humans but they enjoy our women enough.." Mira said bitterly. "This is why we need you to defeat this youkai - he has been stealing our women and girls."

"Does he kill them?" Kagome asked.

"No, we hear their pitiful cries at night so we know they are not dead. But you see, a village with only men, old women and children is not much of a village.." Mira sat across from Kagome and put some more tinder on the small fire in the middle of the hut.

~She reminds me so much of Kaede.~ Kagome sighed. ~ Now all we need is Shippo, Mirkou, Sango..and Inuyasha..~

"We've managed to keep our young women hidden, but it knows we have them and it strikes without warning." Mira added.

"What does this youkai look like?" Kagome asked.

"A frog like creature. Hideous thing." Mira made a noise of disgust.

Suddenly, before Kagome could respond, the hut began to shake.

"He's here!" Mira gasped, springing up and dragging Kagome up by the arm. "Hurry!"

"Yaaaaa! Wait!" Kagome barely had time to grab Tetsusaiga as Mira pulled her outside. The old woman pushed Kagome out to the middle of the village and cried out, "Youkai!! Here is your gift!!! A miko!!"

"Kiiiii! You're GIVING me to that demon?" Kagome's eyes were wide as she saw the impossibly huge demon turn around from demolishing a building. He was indeed hideous and he looked like he could have been a relative to Jaken, Sesshoumaru's little flunkie servant. However this demon looked more formidable. In fact, Kagome saw the Shikon shard embedded in his cheek, glittering in the waning light of dusk.

"Of course! You're but a stranger! It is fitting! We are tired of losing our girls to him.." Mira smiled.

~She's NOT like Kaede at ALL!~ Kagome thought angrily.

"Is this the gift you've brought me, old woman?" The youkai's buggy eyes stared down where Kagome stood, holding the Tetsusaiga by her side.

"Yes! I promised you a powerful miko and as you see I have brought her to you! She even carries a piece of the Shikon no Tama!" Mira slowly backed away from Kagome.

~Me and my big mouth!!~ Kagome thought.

"Oh ho!! Mira-baba! Yes, yes I can feel the Shikon and the power of this woman. A fitting companion to the great and powerful demon Shiraku!" The demon laughed as he peered down at Kagome.

"Ha!" Kagome suddenly pulled out the Tetsusaiga and pointed it at the toweriing demon. "I don't THINK so!"

"What is this?" The youkai looked momentarily surprised and then he laughed, his voice booming. "You are spirited, human!! I like that! But then.." He sniffed the air. "You're NOT human, are you! No, a hanyou! No wonder you have the Tetsusaiga!"

"Waiii!" Mira shrieked. "A Hanyou!!" She made a sign as she ran towards where a group of village men stood, shaking as they aimed their weapons at Shiraku.

"Hahahahahaha! How delicious!!" Shiraku cast his gaze upon Mira. "Here, as promised, are your women, Mira-baba!!" The youkai extended his huge hand, which was clenched in a fist and opened it to where it faced the bare ground of the village. In it were the village women he had stolen away. They fell towards the ground as shrieks of horror came from the villagers. They fell almost lifelessly to the ground as the other villagers tried to catch them.

"You said they would be alive, demon!!" Mira shouted.

"Oh they are, old woman - after a fashion. They were but empty vessels for what I wanted, but this - " He gestured at Kagome, "This is most pleasing. I don't think I shall bother your village any futher.."

Mira looked relived, but Kagome was still angry. She was definitely going to teach this demon a lesson. If only - if only she had a bow and arrow though!

Shiraku suddenly inhaled and let out a burst of fire that tore through the village buidings.

"Noooo!" Mira gasped. "You said you would not bother our village anymore!"

"That's because it won't BE here anymore!" The demon laughed and aimed at blast at Mira, who tried to dodge it, but could not. She screamed as she erupted into flames. It was then that Shiraku felt a sharp pain in his foot. He looked down in amazement to find Kagome had swung Tetsusaiga into his ankle. The demon blade was now a fang and dark blood ran down Shiraku's ankle like a river.

"Come on!" Kagome angrily shouted at the demon. "You want to fight?" Kagome pulled the Tetsusaiga away with an effort, for the blade was heavier than she was used to.

"Spirit!!" Shiraku laughed once more. "I shall enjoy you, hanyou miko!!" The demon leered at Kagome and there was no mistaking the demon's intent.

"Fat chance!" Kagome leaped nimbly away as the demon made a grab for her. Shiraku smiled, showing his teeth. He conmenced to destroying the village, all the while laughing.

"Come to me, hanyou miko! I will destroy everything until I do!!" Shiraku roared as he grabbed some fleeing villagers in his hand. He raised them up and began to squeeze. Kagome ran to some of the village men who were trying to get everyone to safety.

"I need a bow and arrow!!" Kagome cried out.

"There are none, miko! It is forbidden!"

"WHAT? This is the feudal era! You've got to HAVE them here!" Kagome whirled around, wide eyed as she felt Shiraku directly in her path. She saw bones, blood and god knows what else drip out of his clenched fist.

~Those poor people..~ Kagome willed herself not to be sick. She looked at the Testusaiga and felt a strange power run through her arm.

"What will it be, miko? Give me yourself and the Shikon and I won't need to do this." Shiraku extended a finger at Kagome almost playfully as his nail cut into her shirt, parting it.

"Hentai!!" Kagome shrieked and with a surprising strength, swung the Tetsusaiga. The demon howled in pain as several of his fingers were neatly lopped off.

"Bitch! You will pay for that!" Shiraku roared.

*****

He felt it's presence and his eyes widened but other than that he showed no other emotion.

~Tetsusaiga!~ Sesshoumaru thought as his heart raced. He could feel the Tensaiga sword at his side trembled. It too, knew that it's companion, the Tetsusaiga was here. The demon lord quickly strode through the halls of his domain and burst into the room where Rin was playing. Jaken straightened up immediately.

"Jaken you will come with me. Rin you will stay here." Sesshoumaru said shortly.

"But Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin knew that they were going somewhere and she wanted to go.

"Where I am going is no place for you, Rin. I will be back." Sesshoumaru turned away and that was the end of the subject. She knew that the unseen servants of this place would take care of her needs but still she was scared for Sesshoumaru-chan.