a/n: Oh my! I'm SO sorry it's been an eternity since I last updated. I
hope everyone is still reading this though. Thanks to everyone for their
comments and criticisms; they are always welcome. And a special thanks to
Keito-chan for actually reading my lame author notes and actually taking
the time to respond. Kudos for you! Well, I hope this chapter was worth
the wait.
Disclaimer: Star light. Star bright. No matter how I wish tonight...I do not own Inu-Yasha.
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God Amongst Men
.::.Chapter Three: One Step Forward.::.
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It was finally over.
They had fought with all the savage anger and pent up frustration stored within from months of repression.
It was not enough.
Laying on the battlefield among his fellow, fallen brethren, icy eyes began to glaze over as final, irrevocable defeat settled within their depths. Reveling in the heat of the late morning sun pounding upon his bloodied, sweat drenched form, he morbidly hoped Hell would be as pleasantly scorching. He anticipated death, welcomed it after such infinite anguish.
Listening to the silence created by the aftermath of battle, he found his tranquility, if only for this brief moment before his passing. The absolute silence reminiscent of that hateful day months and lifetimes before, yet vastly different. Where silence caused turmoil, resentment, hatred then, it now expressed the utmost respect and devastating grief for what had transpired today, for the dead souls. Dead. As he, too, would be soon.
Voices. Scuffling.
The scavenging had begun. He found himself hard pressed to keep still. It mattered not that his men's bodies would be pilfered as their souls were ushered to the hereafter. Or at least it should not have mattered. But it did. Even at death's door he could not leave behind his pride. He never could. It was what got him into this mess in the first place. Yet he continued to stare vacuously at the endless, blue, blue sky.
A sudden shadow obscured the overhead sun's light and cloudless cerulean sky. Shifting his lifeless eyes to the obstruction of his last view of the world, he met another pair of eyes, equally as apathetic.
A warrior's understanding was reached.
"I will kill you."
"Thank you."
At least he would get the honorable death he thought denied him by the Fates as punishment for his cowardly dealings. Termination by a foe. He could ask for no better foe.
The sharp sound of a blade unsheathed.
It was all he could ask for.
The glint of light against metal as it descended in a downward arc.
His only regret was his inability to take that bastard with him in his descent to hell.
He closed his eyes in preparation.
A distinctly feminine gasp followed by an abrupt disturbance of the air.
Instinctively he opened his eyes. Only to be greeted by flowing waves of black silk.
"Stop." A rich, fervent voice, gentle in tone yet filled with an undercurrent of amazing strength.
The beautiful blackness spread until it engulfed everything around him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As his eyes skimmed over the vanquished field, he felt that hope, flighty in its first discovery of it, growing in strength and solidarity as the prospect of a successful overthrow appeared ever more probable. His first official, uncontested victory over Naraku. Had he been the expressive type, his face would have been beaming with the fullness of his satisfaction. As it was, not all his legendary stoicism could disguise the unmitigated pleasure he felt within from shining through his eyes, though one would have to be expertly attuned to the minutest detail to catch the glimmer of triumph and comprehend it.
Though one insignificant battle did little to dent Naraku's teeming forces, it sufficiently raised the Western Lord's confidence from the cold, dead ashes to raging, ferocious fires to assist the rebellion ten fold, a crucial victory.
He observed from his perch, unmoved, as his men meticulously scoured the field for surviving allies while leaving and ignoring the supplicating enemies to their fatal place.
A crest the likes of which he could never forget caught his eye. As though inflicting punishment unto his own head, he strode over to the figure displaying the despicable, hated crest. Only by sheer willpower was he then able to escape detection of the disgruntling surprise he felt at the sight beside his feet. Though he had imagined just such a scene, with his greatest foe sprawled helplessly at his feet, he found none of the pleasure he hoped to derive at such a point. Instead, a great and unbearably heavy weight seemed to suddenly descend upon his shoulders.
Once the hated fool's eyes finally focused and fixed upon his own, the unspoken hung between them until he broke the silence. Though mortal enemies now, he nostalgically could not forget the past, and as tribute to this past, pesky companionship, he would allow this one honor of death by enemy weapon. To allow a worthy warrior any such cowardly death by bleeding was inconceivable in his proud, noble breast.
Preparing the final strike, final reconciliation, and unavoidable restoration to camaraderie, a sudden green, ivory, and crimson unintelligible blur passed before him.
An amorphous, misguided mass. It was too late. He could not stop.
The next minute iron clashed, sparks flew.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kagome had just crested the hill to see of what assistance she could afford the medics and comfort the dying. Upon reaching the top of the small hill, Kagome stopped short at discerning the sight of the dishonorable scene. To see anybody in need passed and avoided as though they were the black plague personified was incorrigible to one with just such a heart as Kagome, despite the fact that these dying warriors were the self-same soldiers attempting to pillage and pilfer her hometown but a few hours before.
Her eye caught silver.
Noting the manner in which his very posture, though ever poised and straight-backed, seemed to radiate his self-approval of the tragic field before him.
Enraged that anyone could gloat over such pain, horror, and death, Kagome started forward to put the arrogant ass in his proper place. Even when he suddenly shifted his weight and paced across the field, Kagome would not be deterred from her just cause. Her approach unnoted, Kagome's ever ready faculties for empathy soon picked up the vein of Sesshoumaru's evidently surprised and almost horrified state. Before she knew what was happening, the stoic quickly and efficiently unsheathed his sword, lifting his sword above his head.
Appalled, though but only imperfectly aware of why, she knew not what possessed her as she darted forth, grasping a fallen, wayward sword in her path.
Sesshoumaru very uncharacteristically hesitated but a split second; it was enough.
The woman threw herself bodily over the prostrate figure and raised her left arm instinctively to block the incoming blow. When the swords collided, Kagome swore the force behind the blow had shattered every inch of both her arm and the sword; however, she miraculously sustained the momentous blow, doubtful whether by miracle or divine intervention. Just when she believed her arm would collapse beneath such brute force, it was suddenly removed. Looking up, she was engulfed in molten gold that seemed to burn through the very depths of her mind. She would not back down.
"You know not what you attempt" came the surprisingly gentle reproach. Had she not known better, she would claim relief dwelt there.
"I save you from a despicable action you would soon repent. You are not in your right mind."
"So I should thank you?" came the biting response. "No woman will ever understand. What could you possibly know of honor when all that occupies your mind is deceit."
"I know there is no such thing as an honorable death. The phrase itself is a paradox. No form of death is honorable. To forfeit forever-coveted life inspires no respect from any sane personage. Only a simpleton could desire honor through such means."
The rising ire provoked by such a scolding from someone so far inferior from himself would have prompted an iceberg to action. Sesshoumaru had not yet progressed so far.
"You are alone in your revulsion toward Martyrdom." Harsh, derisively bit out.
"You talk of martyrs? To me?" Her words conveyed all the bitterness she had kept to herself and the resentment for her father she had denied for so long "Martyrdom conveys no honor. All martyrs are fools for in death they achieve nothing." And she thought of her own father. His death in vain, only prolonging the inevitable and leaving his beloved family to weep and fend for themselves. "They do not reap the benefits of their sacrifice. They leave only mourners for their cause. They bring more loss than had they chosen life. They are cowards who use their ideals as an excuse, a means of escape from a world they are unwilling to handle, incapable of accepting."
There. She had finally said it. Everything she had ever withheld and checked in the presence of others, out of fear and concern for her mother. Everything came pouring out for Sesshoumaru's ears alone. Somehow she felt infinitely better having gotten that off her chest. For someone so reserved, he was an incredible listener. Perhaps he wasn't so bad.
"So you would not die for what you loved?" Mocking, baiting her.
She sighed. Once again she was too hasty in judgment. Would she never learn?
"No." Certain. "Nothing is worth death."
'Then what are you struggling for?' He could not understand. If she did not believe in the cause, why did she subject herself to so much trouble? Why not just give in? And how, Gods, HOW in Heaven's name had she invoked such hope in others, promoted the overthrow of Naraku so successfully with that careless attitude of hers?
As if comprehending his confusion, she responded.
"Just because I won't die for a cause doesn't mean I won't fight for it."
"It is the same." He had never felt so confused. Figures it would be a woman to cause him such headaches.
"It is NOT." She smirked. His brow had furrowed but a second. She had caught a glimpse. "You could not possibly understand."
She dared to mock him, goad him. He bristled with the effort to contain his frustration.
"While this philosophical discussion is quite entertaining, are you not forgetting the initial subject at...foot?" A well-placed glance down here.
Kagome started.
How could she forget? Sure, she was always somewhat absent minded, but she never once became distracted when a person, like the man beside her, desperately needed help.
It was all his fault.
Fixing him with a glare, she began hastily ripping parts of her obi and her kimono sleeves to shreds and administering first aid to the profusely bleeding enemy General.
Sesshoumaru remained a moment, monitoring all the girl's movements before turning and sauntering away. The girl had presence; he'd give her that. Even sitting in the dirt she had defied him, and he had forgotten her inferiority for the brief interval of their spat. He stifled an annoyed grunt.
'Best leave before the chit...'
"Oh, and my Lord, ALL injured shall be assisted."
Damn. She remembered. He would obey no one. Assist the enemy. What a disgrace. He should hope that he had more common sense than that. Much to his chagrin, his mouth did not agree.
"Very well."
Had he looked back, he would have been stunned by the vivacity and brightness of the smile directed his way. Perhaps it is best that he did not for the rebellion would swiftly fall with the leader out of commission.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kouga painstakingly forced himself out of his restless unconsciousness by lifting his hundred ton eyelids. Without cover, a blur of colors and shapes assaulted his fuzzy brain. Sluggishly he focused in on the white that suddenly encompassed his vision. No, not white. Silver. Comprehension.
"I must be in Hell to have to wake to your ugly mug."
"Only one so lacking in mind would believe himself dead whilst still in the realm of the living."
The flap to the hut lifted as sunlight poured within before being shut out just as suddenly as it fell back into place. In it's stead stood a ragged, worn, village girl holding a tray of water and bandages. Her endlessly cerulean eyes held exhaustion and compassion. Kouga had never witnessed anything more enchanting.
"Do not disturb the injured, my Lord."
'Feisty, too.'
"Perhaps he disturbs me."
A stare and a blink.
Had Sesshoumaru just TEASED the girl? Surely not. It had been too many years. He had been out of practice too long to have correctly read that walking puzzle.
"In any case, he stirs because of you, please leave, my Lord."
'She just ordered THE Western Lord.'
The tent flap once again lifted and fell. Sesshoumaru had exited.
'And he just listened.'
Kouga was temporarily incapacitated by shock at the exchange he just witnessed. Pinching himself for good measure, just to be sure, he winced. He decided. He really liked the girl. He glimpsed the momentary fight within her eyes before the fleeting emotion was once again replaced by kindness and compassion, yet her fiery spirit still lurked in their depths. She walked toward him and set the tray down at the bedside.
"Don't mind him. He must've been born with a stick up his - " Kagome gasped as she quickly clapped both hands over her mouth. Face flushing a becomingly lovely shade of cherry red.
Kouga burst out in laughter.
"I know, trust me."
Kagome's eyes widened; that one statement. How did he know...unless...he knew Sesshoumaru before! And somehow, notwithstanding that he was the enemy or that they had fought a life or death battle mere hours ago, she _did_ trust him. Something in his eyes, cold and defeated, yet warm and inviting.
'That is his true self.'
Kagome would wheedle the details of the other revelation out of the pompous nobleman later.
Smiling blindingly at the injured General, Kagome preceded to change his bandages while his cool blue eyes scrutinized her.
"Your men have also been treated; they are in the tent across from this one." She couldn't help blurting out the information Sesshoumaru had specifically ordered to be kept from him. She had to break the silence and that was the first thing she could think of to say. Besides, she saw nothing wrong with relieving the poor man of at least one worry that seemed to weigh down enormously upon his shoulders.
"Thank-you." She truly had that legendary heart of gold everybody talked of but few ever found. 'She'll definitely be a good influence on Sesshoumaru.'
"Your welcome."
He admired her simple yet undeniably graceful way of accepting compliments she knew were her due. None of the embarrassing attempts at false modesty nor the contemptible digging for more compliments. Silence ensued, but not awkward. Kouga thought nothing could be awkward while she was in the area.
Kagome felt very awkward. Instead, she pushed all thoughts out of her mind and exerted herself in her task to make the patient feel better.
"My name is Kagome, by the way."
"I'm Kouga."
As she continued her ministrations, they grew more comfortable in each other's presence. By the time she finished her task, they had become so amiable, their conversation punctuated by so many bursts of laughter as to draw the attention of several tents' occupants within the area.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'What could possibly be so entertaining and humorous that they could laugh for two hours on end?'
Thoroughly annoyed at such unbecoming behavior, Sesshoumaru resolved to break his silence at the situation.
As Kagome emerged from the makeshift infirmary, she giggled gleefully at Kouga's last anecdote only to halt abruptly at the glowering tower before her.
"Yes, my lord?"
"It is unbecoming for a young lady to be with a young man, alone, for such long periods of time. Furthermore, you are becoming too chummy with the enemy."
'Oh my LORD! Could the man be any stuffier? He sounds just like Ji-chan.'
Whatever reaction Sesshoumaru might have expected at his rebuff, he did not anticipate the loud guffaws that escaped the petite frame before him.
"Did...you...HahaHA...just say, hehe, 'ChuMmY'?"
He was fast learning he could predict nothing from such a spontaneous, brainless girl.
Snort.
Silence.
She had just snorted. He found himself refreshed and strangely invigorated.
"Yes." What was wrong with his diction? In spite of himself, he felt a slight upward tugging at the corner of his left lip. Helpless, a chuckle escaped.
A gasp. Kagome's lips spread even wider in a dazzling display of beautiful, straight, ivory teeth.
Sesshoumaru's breath caught. He told himself it was surprise at his loss of self-control, at hearing his own rusty laugh, anything other than the girl's enticing image as she fairly beamed up at him with a radiance that rivaled the sun.
Clearing his throat in an attempt to regain the cold distance they had maintained since his arrival, he was helpless to return to the impersonal, barely acknowledged tolerance of before. With that one, unjudging, purely humored guffaw, that one slip of his stony facade, a sudden insight, shift, comfort took over the dynamic of their relation, removing all the tension he was helpless to summon back.
Abruptly he stopped, recalling just such another occasion lifetimes ago. When he and Kouga and the Bitch -
His eyes hardened at the memory of his betrayal, their betrayal.
He would not let his guard down.
'Steel.' Kagome's hackles rose at the sight of Sesshoumaru's return to ice- land. But it was too late. She had seen what was under that veneer. A beautiful soul. Just like everyone else. She could not return to her dislike of him. She couldn't even pretend indifference. She knew instinctively. Something had happened to him. Something very painful that made him hide. But he was somehow kindred to her. She would not let him shut himself away and act a coward. He was better than that.
It galled him when she refused to back down, return to mutual contempt. Yes, mutual. He could not possibly despise her without a reciprocal dislike returned. She was just one of those despicably likeable people you wished you could hate because they had everything, understood nothing, lacked nothing yet found you could not hate her no matter what the provocation. So appallingly inexperienced and alarmingly innocent. Impossible to loathe.
"Do not fool yourself into thinking we are on friendly terms now. You cannot befriend someone you do not trust, and all women are deceitful things," he ground out between his teeth. He hated this. A tangle of nerves, emotions...he should not feel so many. He should feel nothing. 'No. This would not answer.'
Kagome seethed. He said it as if he believed it! And he truly did!
"Why do you hate women so much?" She could not hold her tongue. "Past lover left you? Turned bitter?"
Before she could even process the animalistic/feral growl emitted from deep within the man's throat, she found herself pinned to the side of the hut.
"As if I would ever be lured by any bitch." The voice low, dangerous.
Kagome struggled for footing or some purchase away from the strangling hold upon her neck, fingers squeezing her windpipe shut painfully. Spots danced before her vision.
For one terrifying moment, Kagome saw Death.
Suddenly the hand released, without support from the grasp nor her previously dangling feet, Kagome witnessed first hand Newton's Law of Gravity as the ground rose up to receive her.
She remained motionless in the dirt, frozen by fear. Snapping out of it, she prepared to scold the life out of the arrogant Lord. Kagome looked up to find air. He had left.
She let out her breathe and collapsed back onto the welcome earth.
That was too close.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kouga finished gathering and ordering his now scanty troops. Approaching the young woman a few feet away, organizing provisions for the journey, he stood silently by her side. Had he had a heart left, she would have conquered it a thousand times over. As it was, he respected no one more than this tiny slip of a girl he had known but a mere two days. She contained such an enormous store of life within her that she seemed to give it to anything within a five kilometer radius of her person, bringing even the most impossibly injured of his men back to his side, snatching them from the very door of death.
"I think that is everything." The dear, sweet voice he had learned to cherish snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Have a safe journey. Remember, if you need any help..."
"Just write, I know, I know."
'Really, just like a mother hen.'
"Are you sure you don't want to join us?"
Looking deeply into her eyes, he wanted to tell her he would join but for the owner of a pair of golden eyes that seemed to pierce him with their intensity. But he had no right to state anything. This was his damnation. He would have said his hell, but he couldn't possibly be in hell with such an angel beside him.
"No. I'm a lone wolf. Only travel with the pack. But, I'll keep in touch, gather strength. When the time comes, I'll be there, beside you, crushing Naraku beneath the soles of my feet."
"Take care, then, and keep in touch you big oaf." Suddenly pulling him into a bear hug with her back to the village, Kagome failed to notice the appearance of the Western Lord and momentary scowl that flitted across his features upon resting his eyes on the scene.
Kouga, however, did not.
Cool blue met and inferno of silver glinted yellow.
Both recalled the confrontation the day before.
Both defied the other to make this first move. Neither did.
A sexy smirk worked its way onto his features.
Over the head of a not-quite-so-oblivious raven-haired girl, the two men had reached an understanding, a truce, a peace within that split-second collision of wills.
They had taken their first step to reconciliation. To the friendship both were too proud to admit they missed.
Kouga bent his head until his lips were next to one of Kagome's ears.
"Don't worry so much, Kagome, you'll get worry lines. We have formed your precious alliance." He noted the way Sesshoumaru bristled at his proximity, his seemingly intimate overtures toward Kagome. He reveled in them. That block of ice needed a little blood stirring. Kouga deeply inhaled the young woman's pleasant scent just for good measure.
Kagome smiled into Kouga's shoulder before releasing him to his perilous fate. The confirmed alliance made her less hesitant to see him off now that she knew they would maintain contact.
Watching as the meager enemy-turned-ally troops marched into the brilliant mid-morning day, Kagome could not help but think that things were most definitely looking up. They had gained a powerful ally while Naraku had lost said ally. Returning her gaze to the village, dressed in mourning for the passing of many honorable citizens, one thought echoed within her entire frame and filled her eyes with that never ceasing fire that many were beginning to claim heaven-sent, divine.
Their deaths were not and would not be in vain.
She would see this through to the end, starting with this first, decisive step forward.
~*~ end chapter three: one step forward ~*~
a/n: I hope everybody liked the story! Not much of a cliffhanger this time ;op. For those of you who are wondering about the alliance, details will be in the next chapter. Stay tuned! ;op
Disclaimer: Star light. Star bright. No matter how I wish tonight...I do not own Inu-Yasha.
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God Amongst Men
.::.Chapter Three: One Step Forward.::.
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It was finally over.
They had fought with all the savage anger and pent up frustration stored within from months of repression.
It was not enough.
Laying on the battlefield among his fellow, fallen brethren, icy eyes began to glaze over as final, irrevocable defeat settled within their depths. Reveling in the heat of the late morning sun pounding upon his bloodied, sweat drenched form, he morbidly hoped Hell would be as pleasantly scorching. He anticipated death, welcomed it after such infinite anguish.
Listening to the silence created by the aftermath of battle, he found his tranquility, if only for this brief moment before his passing. The absolute silence reminiscent of that hateful day months and lifetimes before, yet vastly different. Where silence caused turmoil, resentment, hatred then, it now expressed the utmost respect and devastating grief for what had transpired today, for the dead souls. Dead. As he, too, would be soon.
Voices. Scuffling.
The scavenging had begun. He found himself hard pressed to keep still. It mattered not that his men's bodies would be pilfered as their souls were ushered to the hereafter. Or at least it should not have mattered. But it did. Even at death's door he could not leave behind his pride. He never could. It was what got him into this mess in the first place. Yet he continued to stare vacuously at the endless, blue, blue sky.
A sudden shadow obscured the overhead sun's light and cloudless cerulean sky. Shifting his lifeless eyes to the obstruction of his last view of the world, he met another pair of eyes, equally as apathetic.
A warrior's understanding was reached.
"I will kill you."
"Thank you."
At least he would get the honorable death he thought denied him by the Fates as punishment for his cowardly dealings. Termination by a foe. He could ask for no better foe.
The sharp sound of a blade unsheathed.
It was all he could ask for.
The glint of light against metal as it descended in a downward arc.
His only regret was his inability to take that bastard with him in his descent to hell.
He closed his eyes in preparation.
A distinctly feminine gasp followed by an abrupt disturbance of the air.
Instinctively he opened his eyes. Only to be greeted by flowing waves of black silk.
"Stop." A rich, fervent voice, gentle in tone yet filled with an undercurrent of amazing strength.
The beautiful blackness spread until it engulfed everything around him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As his eyes skimmed over the vanquished field, he felt that hope, flighty in its first discovery of it, growing in strength and solidarity as the prospect of a successful overthrow appeared ever more probable. His first official, uncontested victory over Naraku. Had he been the expressive type, his face would have been beaming with the fullness of his satisfaction. As it was, not all his legendary stoicism could disguise the unmitigated pleasure he felt within from shining through his eyes, though one would have to be expertly attuned to the minutest detail to catch the glimmer of triumph and comprehend it.
Though one insignificant battle did little to dent Naraku's teeming forces, it sufficiently raised the Western Lord's confidence from the cold, dead ashes to raging, ferocious fires to assist the rebellion ten fold, a crucial victory.
He observed from his perch, unmoved, as his men meticulously scoured the field for surviving allies while leaving and ignoring the supplicating enemies to their fatal place.
A crest the likes of which he could never forget caught his eye. As though inflicting punishment unto his own head, he strode over to the figure displaying the despicable, hated crest. Only by sheer willpower was he then able to escape detection of the disgruntling surprise he felt at the sight beside his feet. Though he had imagined just such a scene, with his greatest foe sprawled helplessly at his feet, he found none of the pleasure he hoped to derive at such a point. Instead, a great and unbearably heavy weight seemed to suddenly descend upon his shoulders.
Once the hated fool's eyes finally focused and fixed upon his own, the unspoken hung between them until he broke the silence. Though mortal enemies now, he nostalgically could not forget the past, and as tribute to this past, pesky companionship, he would allow this one honor of death by enemy weapon. To allow a worthy warrior any such cowardly death by bleeding was inconceivable in his proud, noble breast.
Preparing the final strike, final reconciliation, and unavoidable restoration to camaraderie, a sudden green, ivory, and crimson unintelligible blur passed before him.
An amorphous, misguided mass. It was too late. He could not stop.
The next minute iron clashed, sparks flew.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kagome had just crested the hill to see of what assistance she could afford the medics and comfort the dying. Upon reaching the top of the small hill, Kagome stopped short at discerning the sight of the dishonorable scene. To see anybody in need passed and avoided as though they were the black plague personified was incorrigible to one with just such a heart as Kagome, despite the fact that these dying warriors were the self-same soldiers attempting to pillage and pilfer her hometown but a few hours before.
Her eye caught silver.
Noting the manner in which his very posture, though ever poised and straight-backed, seemed to radiate his self-approval of the tragic field before him.
Enraged that anyone could gloat over such pain, horror, and death, Kagome started forward to put the arrogant ass in his proper place. Even when he suddenly shifted his weight and paced across the field, Kagome would not be deterred from her just cause. Her approach unnoted, Kagome's ever ready faculties for empathy soon picked up the vein of Sesshoumaru's evidently surprised and almost horrified state. Before she knew what was happening, the stoic quickly and efficiently unsheathed his sword, lifting his sword above his head.
Appalled, though but only imperfectly aware of why, she knew not what possessed her as she darted forth, grasping a fallen, wayward sword in her path.
Sesshoumaru very uncharacteristically hesitated but a split second; it was enough.
The woman threw herself bodily over the prostrate figure and raised her left arm instinctively to block the incoming blow. When the swords collided, Kagome swore the force behind the blow had shattered every inch of both her arm and the sword; however, she miraculously sustained the momentous blow, doubtful whether by miracle or divine intervention. Just when she believed her arm would collapse beneath such brute force, it was suddenly removed. Looking up, she was engulfed in molten gold that seemed to burn through the very depths of her mind. She would not back down.
"You know not what you attempt" came the surprisingly gentle reproach. Had she not known better, she would claim relief dwelt there.
"I save you from a despicable action you would soon repent. You are not in your right mind."
"So I should thank you?" came the biting response. "No woman will ever understand. What could you possibly know of honor when all that occupies your mind is deceit."
"I know there is no such thing as an honorable death. The phrase itself is a paradox. No form of death is honorable. To forfeit forever-coveted life inspires no respect from any sane personage. Only a simpleton could desire honor through such means."
The rising ire provoked by such a scolding from someone so far inferior from himself would have prompted an iceberg to action. Sesshoumaru had not yet progressed so far.
"You are alone in your revulsion toward Martyrdom." Harsh, derisively bit out.
"You talk of martyrs? To me?" Her words conveyed all the bitterness she had kept to herself and the resentment for her father she had denied for so long "Martyrdom conveys no honor. All martyrs are fools for in death they achieve nothing." And she thought of her own father. His death in vain, only prolonging the inevitable and leaving his beloved family to weep and fend for themselves. "They do not reap the benefits of their sacrifice. They leave only mourners for their cause. They bring more loss than had they chosen life. They are cowards who use their ideals as an excuse, a means of escape from a world they are unwilling to handle, incapable of accepting."
There. She had finally said it. Everything she had ever withheld and checked in the presence of others, out of fear and concern for her mother. Everything came pouring out for Sesshoumaru's ears alone. Somehow she felt infinitely better having gotten that off her chest. For someone so reserved, he was an incredible listener. Perhaps he wasn't so bad.
"So you would not die for what you loved?" Mocking, baiting her.
She sighed. Once again she was too hasty in judgment. Would she never learn?
"No." Certain. "Nothing is worth death."
'Then what are you struggling for?' He could not understand. If she did not believe in the cause, why did she subject herself to so much trouble? Why not just give in? And how, Gods, HOW in Heaven's name had she invoked such hope in others, promoted the overthrow of Naraku so successfully with that careless attitude of hers?
As if comprehending his confusion, she responded.
"Just because I won't die for a cause doesn't mean I won't fight for it."
"It is the same." He had never felt so confused. Figures it would be a woman to cause him such headaches.
"It is NOT." She smirked. His brow had furrowed but a second. She had caught a glimpse. "You could not possibly understand."
She dared to mock him, goad him. He bristled with the effort to contain his frustration.
"While this philosophical discussion is quite entertaining, are you not forgetting the initial subject at...foot?" A well-placed glance down here.
Kagome started.
How could she forget? Sure, she was always somewhat absent minded, but she never once became distracted when a person, like the man beside her, desperately needed help.
It was all his fault.
Fixing him with a glare, she began hastily ripping parts of her obi and her kimono sleeves to shreds and administering first aid to the profusely bleeding enemy General.
Sesshoumaru remained a moment, monitoring all the girl's movements before turning and sauntering away. The girl had presence; he'd give her that. Even sitting in the dirt she had defied him, and he had forgotten her inferiority for the brief interval of their spat. He stifled an annoyed grunt.
'Best leave before the chit...'
"Oh, and my Lord, ALL injured shall be assisted."
Damn. She remembered. He would obey no one. Assist the enemy. What a disgrace. He should hope that he had more common sense than that. Much to his chagrin, his mouth did not agree.
"Very well."
Had he looked back, he would have been stunned by the vivacity and brightness of the smile directed his way. Perhaps it is best that he did not for the rebellion would swiftly fall with the leader out of commission.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kouga painstakingly forced himself out of his restless unconsciousness by lifting his hundred ton eyelids. Without cover, a blur of colors and shapes assaulted his fuzzy brain. Sluggishly he focused in on the white that suddenly encompassed his vision. No, not white. Silver. Comprehension.
"I must be in Hell to have to wake to your ugly mug."
"Only one so lacking in mind would believe himself dead whilst still in the realm of the living."
The flap to the hut lifted as sunlight poured within before being shut out just as suddenly as it fell back into place. In it's stead stood a ragged, worn, village girl holding a tray of water and bandages. Her endlessly cerulean eyes held exhaustion and compassion. Kouga had never witnessed anything more enchanting.
"Do not disturb the injured, my Lord."
'Feisty, too.'
"Perhaps he disturbs me."
A stare and a blink.
Had Sesshoumaru just TEASED the girl? Surely not. It had been too many years. He had been out of practice too long to have correctly read that walking puzzle.
"In any case, he stirs because of you, please leave, my Lord."
'She just ordered THE Western Lord.'
The tent flap once again lifted and fell. Sesshoumaru had exited.
'And he just listened.'
Kouga was temporarily incapacitated by shock at the exchange he just witnessed. Pinching himself for good measure, just to be sure, he winced. He decided. He really liked the girl. He glimpsed the momentary fight within her eyes before the fleeting emotion was once again replaced by kindness and compassion, yet her fiery spirit still lurked in their depths. She walked toward him and set the tray down at the bedside.
"Don't mind him. He must've been born with a stick up his - " Kagome gasped as she quickly clapped both hands over her mouth. Face flushing a becomingly lovely shade of cherry red.
Kouga burst out in laughter.
"I know, trust me."
Kagome's eyes widened; that one statement. How did he know...unless...he knew Sesshoumaru before! And somehow, notwithstanding that he was the enemy or that they had fought a life or death battle mere hours ago, she _did_ trust him. Something in his eyes, cold and defeated, yet warm and inviting.
'That is his true self.'
Kagome would wheedle the details of the other revelation out of the pompous nobleman later.
Smiling blindingly at the injured General, Kagome preceded to change his bandages while his cool blue eyes scrutinized her.
"Your men have also been treated; they are in the tent across from this one." She couldn't help blurting out the information Sesshoumaru had specifically ordered to be kept from him. She had to break the silence and that was the first thing she could think of to say. Besides, she saw nothing wrong with relieving the poor man of at least one worry that seemed to weigh down enormously upon his shoulders.
"Thank-you." She truly had that legendary heart of gold everybody talked of but few ever found. 'She'll definitely be a good influence on Sesshoumaru.'
"Your welcome."
He admired her simple yet undeniably graceful way of accepting compliments she knew were her due. None of the embarrassing attempts at false modesty nor the contemptible digging for more compliments. Silence ensued, but not awkward. Kouga thought nothing could be awkward while she was in the area.
Kagome felt very awkward. Instead, she pushed all thoughts out of her mind and exerted herself in her task to make the patient feel better.
"My name is Kagome, by the way."
"I'm Kouga."
As she continued her ministrations, they grew more comfortable in each other's presence. By the time she finished her task, they had become so amiable, their conversation punctuated by so many bursts of laughter as to draw the attention of several tents' occupants within the area.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'What could possibly be so entertaining and humorous that they could laugh for two hours on end?'
Thoroughly annoyed at such unbecoming behavior, Sesshoumaru resolved to break his silence at the situation.
As Kagome emerged from the makeshift infirmary, she giggled gleefully at Kouga's last anecdote only to halt abruptly at the glowering tower before her.
"Yes, my lord?"
"It is unbecoming for a young lady to be with a young man, alone, for such long periods of time. Furthermore, you are becoming too chummy with the enemy."
'Oh my LORD! Could the man be any stuffier? He sounds just like Ji-chan.'
Whatever reaction Sesshoumaru might have expected at his rebuff, he did not anticipate the loud guffaws that escaped the petite frame before him.
"Did...you...HahaHA...just say, hehe, 'ChuMmY'?"
He was fast learning he could predict nothing from such a spontaneous, brainless girl.
Snort.
Silence.
She had just snorted. He found himself refreshed and strangely invigorated.
"Yes." What was wrong with his diction? In spite of himself, he felt a slight upward tugging at the corner of his left lip. Helpless, a chuckle escaped.
A gasp. Kagome's lips spread even wider in a dazzling display of beautiful, straight, ivory teeth.
Sesshoumaru's breath caught. He told himself it was surprise at his loss of self-control, at hearing his own rusty laugh, anything other than the girl's enticing image as she fairly beamed up at him with a radiance that rivaled the sun.
Clearing his throat in an attempt to regain the cold distance they had maintained since his arrival, he was helpless to return to the impersonal, barely acknowledged tolerance of before. With that one, unjudging, purely humored guffaw, that one slip of his stony facade, a sudden insight, shift, comfort took over the dynamic of their relation, removing all the tension he was helpless to summon back.
Abruptly he stopped, recalling just such another occasion lifetimes ago. When he and Kouga and the Bitch -
His eyes hardened at the memory of his betrayal, their betrayal.
He would not let his guard down.
'Steel.' Kagome's hackles rose at the sight of Sesshoumaru's return to ice- land. But it was too late. She had seen what was under that veneer. A beautiful soul. Just like everyone else. She could not return to her dislike of him. She couldn't even pretend indifference. She knew instinctively. Something had happened to him. Something very painful that made him hide. But he was somehow kindred to her. She would not let him shut himself away and act a coward. He was better than that.
It galled him when she refused to back down, return to mutual contempt. Yes, mutual. He could not possibly despise her without a reciprocal dislike returned. She was just one of those despicably likeable people you wished you could hate because they had everything, understood nothing, lacked nothing yet found you could not hate her no matter what the provocation. So appallingly inexperienced and alarmingly innocent. Impossible to loathe.
"Do not fool yourself into thinking we are on friendly terms now. You cannot befriend someone you do not trust, and all women are deceitful things," he ground out between his teeth. He hated this. A tangle of nerves, emotions...he should not feel so many. He should feel nothing. 'No. This would not answer.'
Kagome seethed. He said it as if he believed it! And he truly did!
"Why do you hate women so much?" She could not hold her tongue. "Past lover left you? Turned bitter?"
Before she could even process the animalistic/feral growl emitted from deep within the man's throat, she found herself pinned to the side of the hut.
"As if I would ever be lured by any bitch." The voice low, dangerous.
Kagome struggled for footing or some purchase away from the strangling hold upon her neck, fingers squeezing her windpipe shut painfully. Spots danced before her vision.
For one terrifying moment, Kagome saw Death.
Suddenly the hand released, without support from the grasp nor her previously dangling feet, Kagome witnessed first hand Newton's Law of Gravity as the ground rose up to receive her.
She remained motionless in the dirt, frozen by fear. Snapping out of it, she prepared to scold the life out of the arrogant Lord. Kagome looked up to find air. He had left.
She let out her breathe and collapsed back onto the welcome earth.
That was too close.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kouga finished gathering and ordering his now scanty troops. Approaching the young woman a few feet away, organizing provisions for the journey, he stood silently by her side. Had he had a heart left, she would have conquered it a thousand times over. As it was, he respected no one more than this tiny slip of a girl he had known but a mere two days. She contained such an enormous store of life within her that she seemed to give it to anything within a five kilometer radius of her person, bringing even the most impossibly injured of his men back to his side, snatching them from the very door of death.
"I think that is everything." The dear, sweet voice he had learned to cherish snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Have a safe journey. Remember, if you need any help..."
"Just write, I know, I know."
'Really, just like a mother hen.'
"Are you sure you don't want to join us?"
Looking deeply into her eyes, he wanted to tell her he would join but for the owner of a pair of golden eyes that seemed to pierce him with their intensity. But he had no right to state anything. This was his damnation. He would have said his hell, but he couldn't possibly be in hell with such an angel beside him.
"No. I'm a lone wolf. Only travel with the pack. But, I'll keep in touch, gather strength. When the time comes, I'll be there, beside you, crushing Naraku beneath the soles of my feet."
"Take care, then, and keep in touch you big oaf." Suddenly pulling him into a bear hug with her back to the village, Kagome failed to notice the appearance of the Western Lord and momentary scowl that flitted across his features upon resting his eyes on the scene.
Kouga, however, did not.
Cool blue met and inferno of silver glinted yellow.
Both recalled the confrontation the day before.
Both defied the other to make this first move. Neither did.
A sexy smirk worked its way onto his features.
Over the head of a not-quite-so-oblivious raven-haired girl, the two men had reached an understanding, a truce, a peace within that split-second collision of wills.
They had taken their first step to reconciliation. To the friendship both were too proud to admit they missed.
Kouga bent his head until his lips were next to one of Kagome's ears.
"Don't worry so much, Kagome, you'll get worry lines. We have formed your precious alliance." He noted the way Sesshoumaru bristled at his proximity, his seemingly intimate overtures toward Kagome. He reveled in them. That block of ice needed a little blood stirring. Kouga deeply inhaled the young woman's pleasant scent just for good measure.
Kagome smiled into Kouga's shoulder before releasing him to his perilous fate. The confirmed alliance made her less hesitant to see him off now that she knew they would maintain contact.
Watching as the meager enemy-turned-ally troops marched into the brilliant mid-morning day, Kagome could not help but think that things were most definitely looking up. They had gained a powerful ally while Naraku had lost said ally. Returning her gaze to the village, dressed in mourning for the passing of many honorable citizens, one thought echoed within her entire frame and filled her eyes with that never ceasing fire that many were beginning to claim heaven-sent, divine.
Their deaths were not and would not be in vain.
She would see this through to the end, starting with this first, decisive step forward.
~*~ end chapter three: one step forward ~*~
a/n: I hope everybody liked the story! Not much of a cliffhanger this time ;op. For those of you who are wondering about the alliance, details will be in the next chapter. Stay tuned! ;op