Lol yeah, once again sorry for picking on Kagome so much, but that just makes her all the stronger when she picks up her share of the fight in spite of the wounds, right?^_^ Yeah, so anyway, fun stuff, fighting, a bit of Sesshoumaru goodness, an explanation on both the bite and the fang hold, and that about sums it up.^_^ I had fun with this chapter.^_~

NOTE: You may want to notice this for this chapter; you know how the phoenix is a bird, the symbol of eternal life? Well, this fire bird is the symbol of eternal life...through death. Muahahaha!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters in it. If I did I'd be rich, but I'm not... and if I had lots of money I'd probably spend it on anime anyway so pleeaasseee, don't sue me.^_^ lol

Oh, and as always,

_= thoughts *_* = sound/ italicized "_" = speech

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Memories of the Present

Chapter 19: The Mark, the Disease, and the Cure

" Come my children, and claim what is yours!"

With a sadistic laugh, the demon thrust from the safe envelope of the darkness as three figures emerged from their shadow prisons. The demon was about as tall as Sesshoumaru in his youkai form and burned a feral red. Its dark eyes were pools of nothing, floating within glowing crimson sockets, and its body was covered in large, thick, vibrant feathers, each of which faded from black at the top, to red, then had a light blue emblem on the bottom. Around its neck it wore a necklace similar to the rosary, but instead of beads it was compiled of human heads, and around its ankles, if that's what you'd call them, were two bands which consumed the rest of the human bones. The great beast lunged forward, grasping at thin air. With its wings extended, it commanded it's "children" to go forth, and they did.

Each one went to their respective person: a small child to Sango's prison; an older man to Miroku's; a mother to Inu Yasha, and a father to Kagome. Behind them all, Shippou stood, but not alone. He was at the foot of the great beast, curled up with his mother and father. But, out of all whom were there, no one got a warmer "welcome" than Kouga. To each their own person, but Kouga, he did not have but one person; he had two entire tribes of wolf demon, the ones that were killed by Kagura at Naraku's fortress.

Upon reaching their destined, the familiar black sludge secreted from each of their hands. As the clones moved closer, hands and bodies almost touching their prisoners, a scream was heard. It was Kagome.

She couldn't run, she couldn't move. The pain searing up her leg throbbed in her ears. She could see her father, but after seeing him die a few minutes before, she knew it wasn't him. He was after her, but there was nothing she could do. Her head was still blurry; it was a constant struggle to stay conscious. She did the only thing she could think of.

"INU YASHA!!!"

"Kagome!" Spinning on his heels he bolted towards her, but was knocked to the ground by a little black kitsune cub. Shippou had almost been taken. His arms and legs were like Kagome's, and it was obvious that the red vein was everywhere, everywhere except his heart. Being so small, it was no wonder it happened to him so quickly, but now he was costing Kagome.

Inu Yasha couldn't move. All three foxes held him as his mother leaned closer and closer, arms extended to wrap her son in a warm hug, a fiery red one. Black pooled from her hands as they inched closer; every second seemed to take an hour. So many things were happening, how could anyone know what was really going on?

Everything happened in rapid succession; Kagome was on the ground, about to be touched and consumed by the ooze. Without Inu Yasha to save her, all hope seemed lost until another shrill squawk was sounded. Looking up, Kagome saw her "father" sliced in pieces, evaporating on contact with the ground. Kirara stood before her in full demon form. She snarled at the bird youkai and nuzzled Kagome gently. Gratefully taking Kirara's fur into hand, the miko pulled herself onto Kirara's back and held on tightly around her neck. It seemed that cat had made a little stop on the way there to bring Kagome her backpack, and she was thankful. The cat youkai took a minute to purr for the girl as she put the bag over her shoulders before bounding off to take care of the others. In a flash, claws were torn through the woman assaulting our hanyou. He jumped up, slashed at the fake fox demons, freeing Shippou from his spell. Afterwards, both he and Shippou went and helped Kirara take care of the others around their friends.

The last thing that needed to be done in the rescue attempt was to actually cut them out of the cocoons, but how? The edges were light blue, made of a cartilage-like material that only regenerated when hit. In the middle, a red barrier stood, but even though Inu Yasha could easily take it down, his friends were inside and would surely be killed. Both the top and bottom of each capsule was attached to the wall and, though it seemed that it could be cut off quite easily, it offered no way to get inside. Gingerly, Kagome reached out a hand and closed her eyes. Within a minute Sango was out and Kirara ran and nuzzled against her face. Sango held the youkai fondly and hugged it tightly before looking around to see what was going on. Kagome tapped Kirara on the shoulder blade, and the cat nodded, taking off towards Miroku. Once they were all free, they found that there was no time to explain the situation. While busy, a small army had surrounded the bird youkai, attempting to protect it from harm.

Inu Yasha scoffed and lunged at the army. He knew that none of them were real, and intended to use that knowledge to his advantage. He took down Miroku's "father" while the houshi stared in shock. Before he could go onto the next, Inu Yasha's "mother" stepped forward, blocking his attack.

With a startled gasp Inu Yasha jumped backwards; What the hell is WRONG with you?! You know she's not real! Attack her!, his logic argued. But... she looks like... It doesn't MATTER what she looks like! It's not her!

With the inner battle going on in front of him, the youkai decided to take it to his advantage. Instantly, a large, oval shape swung towards Inu Yasha, breaking him out of his shell (no pun intended.^_~) just in time for him to dodge the attack. The oval wiggled slightly, convulsing and squirming until finally it cracked. Large chunks of blue material cascaded down around him, completely covering him in its aftermath. From out of the object, a man appeared, the same one that had just been killed by Inu Yasha's claws. It had been an egg. This "he" wasn't a "he" after all... well, not exactly anyway.

Inu Yasha burst from beneath the shell, and, drawing Tetsussaiga, the fight was on. "Kaze no Kizu!"

One went down and another was born. The bird demon was free to attack as it pleased and the group of fighters could do nothing against it with its "children" protecting it. There were too many for them, even if the group *could* fight the ones they loved. The Kaze no Kizu attack worked for a while; it destroyed the clones and eventually the fighters stopped stalling and just attacked once it was used, but each time the demon just flew upwards or dodged the attack. It had too much warning, too much time to dodge while the others took the brunt of the attack for it. In return, the youkai threw out poisoned feathers. One grazed Sango, causing a deep laceration in her arm. Thankfully, only the tips were poisonous, but the edges were razor-sharp.

The battle raged on, each fighter slowly beginning to wear down. Miroku had, on his last attempt with the Kazaana, sucked a feather in a little too closely and his void was sliced on one side. They all knew what that meant after it happened with the praying mantis a while back, so no one would let him use it anymore. Kagome had long gotten off of Kirara's back, making room for Sango. Miroku and the cub quickly took to Kagome's side, and pulled out her first aid kit. She knew it would do no good when it came to the Kazaana, but it sure wasn't helping either she or Shippou, so she had to try. Kouga, in the meantime, tried to make due without his shards, and tried to get an edge in when Inu Yasha used his attack. At the moment, he had his hands full fighting off clones.

By now even Inu Yasha began to tire. Their strategy wasn't working in the least, and now that they had a few more players out of the game, it was beginning to look rather grim. In a slight moment of contemplation, Inu Yasha failed to notice a feather streaking his way. He smelled the poison and turned just in time to see it almost upon him.

"Never get distracted in a battle half-breed!" An arrow whizzed through the air, hitting the feather and diverting it, though only slightly. The feather burst into flames as it was purified and the demon looked towards the girl.

"Foolish human!," he laughed, gaze now set upon the kneeling miko, "You have barely the strength to breathe let alone the strength to defeat me!" His "children" laughed as she slumped slightly lower to the ground. Shippou tried in vain to help her up, and they laughed all the more.

Attention turned, Inu Yasha took the advantage his enemy had just had, and attacked head-on; "You should follow your own advice bitch!" Both the "children" and the youkai were stunned. Upon taking the cue, both Sango and Kirara had attacked with Inu Yasha, Kouga joining in as well. The combined efforts created a large hole in the demon's chest and it squawked in pain.

This new development made the bird demon angry. It created more clones so that now there were three of each, including three of each wolf tribe member, and attacked the remaining four mercilessly. Sango jumped off of Kirara's back so that the cat demon could move more freely, and Kagome tried desperately to fight Miroku out of using his Kazaana. She was weakening by the second and Shippou was in no better shape. Because he was small, the welts had covered him easily, but his demon blood had warded off the main procession. His little body was taking as beating at the same rate Kagome's was, but she had been hit first.

Two battles of life and death raged on, the outcome for either uncertain.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"RIN!"

Sesshoumaru watched in horror as his charge took off into battle. They had been walking. He had known that the demon was close at hand, but he was afraid to leave Rin alone, for fear of her encountering another demon in his absence. He was about to order her to stay there when she looked up and saw the battle at hand.

"Oh no, that poor stork!," she had screamed. Seeing that Sesshoumaru wasn't going to interfere, she threw herself through the clearing to stand in front of the bird demon, arms outstretched in a protective manor. He hadn't even had the chance to grab her before she was gone.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"How could you?!," a little girl raged onto the battlefield. She threw herself in between the youkai and Inu Yasha's attack, forcing the hanyou to call it off. "How could you attack a stork?!"

"A...what? Hey, aren't you... that means... where's Sesshoumaru?!"

"Inu Yasha," Kagome yelled from across the field, "a stork is a bird that delivers babies. Adults tell that to kids instead of telling them how babies are *actually* made. It makes it easier. She probably saw the clones come out of the eggs and assumed..."

Before she could finish, an all out attack was launched at the little intruder. Eggs, clones, and feathers were aimed for Inu Yasha, but Rin was still in the way! Seeing this, the little girl shrieked and turned. She could do nothing but watch the objects move towards her. How could the stork do this to her when she was trying to help it?

Another arrow flew by, taking out a feather. Shippou threw a top to knock the other one off course, and the rest took care of the eggs. With everyone busy, no one noticed that the clones were surrounding the trembling girl, no one but Sesshoumaru. In an instant they swung a feather at her, poisonous tip aimed for her little head. It missed its target, hitting Sesshoumaru squarely in between the shoulder blades on the spot where Rin's head was only a moment before. He sat a moment, crouched protectively over the girl who was now curled beneath him. Sesshoumaru, the great demon lord of the western lands, had taken the attack, for her, a human girl. (can we say *BIG* thing?)

He turned, eyes blazing with fury. After ripping the feather from his body his face started to deform, creating one not unlike a dog's. Within a few seconds, he was in his full demon form, towering above all but the bird youkai. Careful of Rin, he kicked and ate the clones that had attempted to hurt her, then turned his attention to the youkai before him. In one smooth motion he bit the bird's throat and, with another sharp, fluid movement, ripped its head clean off, spreading droplets of the blackened sludge that was its blood everywhere (and I MEAN everywhere! Muahahaha!), and snapping its necklace of human skulls. Shaking his prize back and forth a bit, he let it fly across the village and off of the cliff that dwelled to one side. (convenient ne?) The others looked to him, awed into silence.

The majestic dog shook slightly; the small droplets of black blood that now spotted his perfect white coat were shaken off, leaving brilliant, soft strands of fluffy fur behind.

"Se... Sesshoumaru-sama?" Her voice was quivering slightly, completely unsure of what to make of this. She had never seen him in this form before, and it would've caused anyone to be speechless.

The dog demon barked softly. Inu Yasha and Shippou's faces fell. His muzzle slowly reverted back into his usual face, eyes going from red, to red with blue pupils, to his regular golden orbs. "Rin," he said softly, kneeling and looking down into her eyes. He was afraid that she might be frightened of him, of seeing him like that. She cowered slightly, then took off in a run, throwing herself into his arms and hugging him tightly.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Rin was so scared! Why did the stork attack Rin?," she cried into his chest.

For telling her that story I'll rip that villager limb from limb!!! Mentally he snarled softly and made the note to himself. He had no idea what to tell her, and much less how to get her to stop crying. Suddenly jolted from his thoughts, he made no motion, but snarled at the intruder before hearing what she had to say.

"Don't worry, that wasn't the stork Rin." Kagome crawled up carefully, and put her hand comfortingly on Rin's shoulder. "The stork is a good bird who brings happiness and love to people. This bird was mean and hurt us instead. Do you understand?" The little girl sat there and thought a minute before nodding.

Turning to Kagome she asked, "Did he do that?" She pointed to the wounds covering Kagome's body, the welts, the red flakes that were once Kagome's skin, and the abrasions across her legs and behind her knee. The miko nodded, smiling gently, and then swayed. Her eyes closed and she collapsed to the ground. Shippou ran to try and help her, but ended up in the same state. Instead, it was Inu Yasha who made it to her first, with Kouga following close behind.

Rin gasped and jumped back in shock. Her eyes began to fill with tears again and she turned to her youkai lord, "Rin wants the girl to be okay! Please Sess-chan, *PLEASE* help her?" Her eyes glazed over with tears, her lip trembling sadly, how could Sesshoumaru refuse?

Sighing, he took out Tensussaiga and raised it towards Kagome. Kouga was automatically on the defensive, but Inu Yasha knew better. He held Kouga at bay with an arm and a stern look, then sent an almost pleading look to his half-brother, much to Sesshoumaru's satisfaction. With a single swipe the marks disappeared from Kagome's body. A minute later the same happened to Shippou, and they both hugged each other tightly.

Kagome was the first to face him, "Thank you, Sesshoumaru."

He looked away boredly, "I did you no favor; I just don't enjoy being indebted to others. Now we're even" With that, he began to walk off and called to his charge, who was now listening intently to a very interesting conversation. When it was apparent that she could not hear him, the demon lord turned and walked over to collect her himself.

"Hey, my neck isn't sore anymore either!" Shippou, Inu Yasha, and Kouga all stiffen. "Hey, what's with you guys? Every time I mention that, you guys are shut up tighter than Seshoumaru's emotions!"

Now, you have to understand, Inu Yasha didn't want to admit that he had been that close to Kagome, even if he didn't know what it meant. Shippou had an idea of what it was, but was afraid of the pummeling he would undoubtedly receive if he were to answer her, and Kouga just didn't want to admit that it had happened at all.

Kagome rubbed her neck nervously, still holding where it had hurt before. Just then, Sesshoumaru walked up, "So brother, can't even successfully mark your mate?" To add to the utter shock and confusion around the group, Sesshoumaru smirked, picked Rin up, and left.

"M...m...m... mate?" Kagome stumbled backwards and looked deeply into Inu Yasha's nervous eyes. The ground seemed very fascinating to him until he looked up and began yelling.

"Um... I don't know what he's talking about! He's just making it up. I mean, he IS Sesshoumaru."

Sango shuddered, "After that smile, I'm not so sure."

"So that's how the hold would work between you two!" Shippou bounced into Kagome's arms and looked back and forth between them, " My mom used to do that to me. I knew the hold was meant for family and children, so why didn't I think of it before?"

Inu Yasha practically choked on his tongue, "Wha...wha...ha..."

"Well dog-turd, you didn't mark her so I guess she's still up for grabs!" He flashed a sweet smile at Kagome, who was now staring intently at Inu Yasha again.

"Wait, so you decided not to?" Kagome stood there and thought a minute, " Hey, why *wouldn't* you want me?! Oh, I get it, you think I'm not good enough!"

"No, *he's* not good enough, but I'll mark you if you'd like." Inu Yasha, as always, got in his face.

"Keep the fucking hell away from her."

"Make me." How many times have we seen this scene? Snarling, growling, etc., etc.

"*sighs* Here we go again."

(NOTE: The fangs pressing into her neck, if he HAD bitten her he would've marked her as a mate. When he held the back of her neck in his fangs, that's a correctional technique used with clan, close family children, and mates. It's kind of an "I'm the leader so obey me" thing, you know?)