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Chapter Six: The Prophesy
"Oh my God. What happened here?" Sango whispered. She, Kagome, Kouga and Kirara were standing at the entrance gate to the servants' village. Where there were once huts and people bustling were now charred sticks and burned grass. They reached Sakura's hut. There was nothing left but ash. They searched the whole village for survivors before turning to search the fields. Among the charred crops they found a small shed, protected from view by a thicket of trees. Sango and Kagome opened the door, hoping not to find another blackened corpse.
"Lady Kagome! Sango! How good it is to see you!" Sakura shouted, her arms wrapping themselves around both of them. Rei raced out and held onto Kagome's leg.
"It's good to see you too, Sakura! We thought no one survived this! What happened here?"
Sakura led them into her makeshift shelter, Rei settling down in a nearby corner.
"We were attacked by a large army of demons. They burned down anything they couldn't rip apart. We waited for Lord Sesshoumaru to protect us when it first started, but when he didn't appear the men of the village took up arms and fought as best they could, the women and children fleeing into the nearby forest. Grandfather stayed to fight, but was struck down. We did not leave him to die by himself." Tears sprang up in Sakura's eyes.
"We couldn't leave him, even when one of the demon's ran past us on his way to another house. Grandfather took us in when our parents died. Now we have no one." She reached for a large sack beside her and lifted out its contents. It was a large scroll, rolled around a bamboo shoot.
"Grandfather was the seer of the village. Here is his last prophecy. His dying wish was that I give it to you." She handed the scroll to Sango, who unrolled it. The characters were hard to read, seemingly in a foreign language. She called for Kouga, who stepped in the hut moments later.
"What is it?" he growled. He flashed a smile to Kagome. Sakura studied her for a moment before shaking her head.
"Lord Inuyasha will not be pleased with him, Lady Kagome," Sakura chided. Kagome blushed, then realized what she called her.
"Why did you call me 'Lady Kagome'?" she asked. Sakura stared at her in open mouthed shock at first, then looked at Sango. Sango tried to tell her mentally that Kagome had no clue how Inuyasha felt about her and not to press it. Sakura nodded and returned her attention back to Kagome.
"Sorry, Kagome. Force of habit."
Kagome stared at them both for a moment before remembering what Kouga was in here for. "Sango, why did you call Kouga?"
Sango shoved the scroll at him. "Do you know this language?"
Kouga studied the scroll for a moment before shaking his head. Seeing his duty was done, he reached down, kissed Kagome's hand and left. Sakura shook her head again.
"I like Lord Inuyasha better."
Before Kagome could respond, Sango tossed the scroll at her, her gaze turning to Sakura.
"What language is that, Sakura?"
Sakura thoughtfully scratched her head. "I don't know. Grandfather said to give it to you. He said one of you could read it."
Kagome unrolled the scroll and gasped. This brought Kouga back into the shed, thinking something was wrong.
"What is it, Kagome?" Sango asked. Kagome's face was ghostly white, her hand shaking as she pulled a pen out of her pocket.
"This is English. How did your grandfather know English?" Kagome whispered.
"What's English?" Kouga asked.
Kagome rubbed her temple a moment before writing on the scrap of paper she pulled out with the pen. "English is a language used far away from here. How in the world did your grandfather know it?" Kagome struggled to translate, her efforts coming to form on the notebook paper.
"I don't know of this English, but it's good you can read it," Sango said.
Kouga hugged Kagome from behind, who was too busy in her efforts to notice. "That's my Kagome! Beautiful as well as smart!"
Sakura scowled at him as Sango sighed. 'If I don't watch Sakura, she's bound to kill Kouga for Inuyasha.' she thought with a small smile. Kagome clapped suddenly, the others around her quickly raising a hand to their ears for protection.
"Oi, love. Warn us before you do that." Kouga gently scolded. Kagome blushed, sending flames to Sakura's eyes. Sango patted Sakura's shoulder in reassurance, attempting to calm the girl down.
It wasn't working.
Kagome held up the notebook paper with a smile as she read the contents. The smile instantly was replaced with a look of confusion.
"What in the world does that mean?" she asked.
Sango leaned forward. "What?"
Kagome remembered that she held the translation, so the others couldn't read the scroll. She blushed and read it aloud.
"The West will be blanketed by the sun's arrival
As the tree at war with itself begins to heal.
And the land will be divided.
But in the land's division comes a greater unity.
Their saving grace
Found in the faces of two flowers
One uncertain in an mysterious energy
The other fortified by the rivers of sorrow."
"What does that mean?" Sango asked. Kagome shrugged and folded the paper, placing it into her pocket.
She rolled the scroll and placed it into her pack. "I don't know what it means, but we'll figure it out when we find Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru."
At the sound of their names, Sakura visibly perked. "You're going to find them?" Kagome nodded and Sakura clasped her arms around her. "That's great! I thought you had given up on Lord Inuyasha and were going with this wolf demon!"
Kouga scowled. "Kagome is my woman, not that dog faced jackass!"
"Uh-uh. Kagome is Inuyasha's woman!"
This reddened Kouga's vision. He jumped toward Sakura, who was reaching under her kimono sleeve for her dagger. Kagome grabbed Kouga's shoulder. "Kouga, please. You can't kill her for being loyal. Besides, I need you to take her and Rei back to Kaede's."
Kouga frowned and sat back down. "Why should I?"
Kagome gave him the sweetest smile she could muster under the circumstances. "Because it would make me happy," she whispered as she leaned closer to him.
Kouga smiled down at her, noticing that she was almost in his lap. "And why should I care about making you happy?"
Kagome's smile faltered a bit before settling in. She expected Kouga to just give in to that one statement. They couldn't leave Sakura and Rei out here, and they couldn't turn around to take them back. She knew Kouga would protect them if she asked, but the only thing was how to convince him it would be worth his time. A brilliant idea came to her and she knew what to do. Kagome's smile widened, and she heard Kouga's heart skip a beat before speeding up. 'It's a good thing he doesn't know I can hear it,' she said to herself. She leaned even closer to him, her lips almost touching his.
"Because, Kouga. When I'm happy, I do things like this."
She kissed the corner of his mouth, sending a chill down his spine. Sango gasped and Sakura snorted, a perfect imitation of her master. Kouga's eyebrows disappeared under his bangs, struggling to at least look controlled. He stood up, bringing Kagome with him.
"Then I'll do it. For you."
He tapped her nose and walked to stand outside the shed door. Sango and Sakura glared at Kagome. She mouthed 'explanation later' and gathered Sakura's things. They came out of the shed and Kouga lifted Sakura and Rei on his back. He sped off, calling out his love in his wake. Sango reached over and-
SMACK!
"OW!"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Its bad enough he's going to be there when we rescue Inuyasha, but now you go and kiss him! Its going to take a lot more than that sit necklace to keep him from killing Kouga now."
Kagome rubbed the knot on her head and sighed. 'Now I know how Miroku feels.'
"Sango, I know what I'm doing."
"Well, kindly explain it to me so I'll know too."
Kagome smiled. "We're at least a week away from Kaede's village, right?"
"Right."
"When Kouga gets there, in four days since he's faster than us, Kaede or Miroku will put him to work, telling him that I'll be so happy if he does it. He'll do it, wanting the same attention he got just now. Which will give us at least another four days to a week to find Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru by ourselves."
Sango was slowly starting to understand her friend's logic. "How do you know he'll do like you said?"
Kagome sighed, a smile spread across her face. "I know Kouga."
She climbed on Kirara's back, motioning for Sango to get on. "Let's go, Sango. Before he comes back to see if he can get a round two."
Kagome's logic finally reached Sango and she smiled. Shaking her head at Kagome's brilliance, she climbed on and they continued east, leaving the servant village behind.
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Sesshou: Keep going. The bird is feeling generous today, so don't look her in the mouth. Where is the preview?
SF: At the end of the next chapter. You may press the purple button now.