AN: Well that was a horrible cliff hanger, huh? I'll try to ease the pain now…

Life Exchange

Chapter 8

Relief

How long did he crouch there? Minutes… hours? He finally managed to lower his hands from his face to brace against the floor, despite the shaking sobs that threatened to overwhelm him again, wracking his normally strong shoulders. It was a strange sensation… crying… with no tears. He hadn't cried since he was a child and he'd dropped a knife on his foot… through his foot. He'd cried with tears back then… but something had changed as he'd grown up. He couldn't cry properly anymore.

But the pain could still bring him to the brink.

He leaned forward, and his hands slid in the slick blood that coated the floor. He looked down and slowly followed the streaked trail with his eyes to the throne where she sat slumped, but stiff, before it. He almost couldn't bear to look at her, but then again he couldn't bare to look away.

She was still wearing her yukata from earlier. The plain, simple one that Sango and Lady Inu liked to scorn. It wasn't very ornate or eye-catching. But on Kagome it was always eye catching. She was what made the dress pretty…

But now it was almost completely drenched red… literally… there wasn't an inch of fabric that wasn't soaked and sodden with blood. She was pale, from what little clean skin he could see. It looked like she'd been bled deliberately…

Only a drawn out, tortured death could produce such affects… and produce that terrible everlasting expression on her face.

One leg was bent at the wrong ankle and her right hand was missing. Oh there it was… under the table in the corner…

And even more cutting, was the dagger that had been shoved into her chest, almost as an after thought. It wasn't the murder weapon. It was just… just another way to mar her body.

Numbly, he managed to drag himself to his feet again, sure that someone had turned off the volume of the world. He could hear nothing but a distant roaring in his ears. And he was sure the world tipped slightly off balance as he neared her body, causing him to stagger and topple onto his hands and knees beside her. He couldn't summon the will or the strength to move further, and instead lightly grabbed her yukata and pulled her towards him.

Here… the blood pooled everywhere. The ends of his hair brushed the floor, staining the strands a startling colour. It was soaked into the material of his hakama… all over his hands. How much blood had she lost? Surely there could be nothing left in her body.

"Kagome…" he whispered weakly, staring at her pale, smudged face which stared back lifelessly. His hand gripped the dagger in her chest and eased it out slowly and dropped it on the floor beside him. He closed his eyes and brushed his hand over her face, shutting her eyes by force. "Look what you made me do…"

He'd left her… left her to this… if only he'd had more sense he would have made sure at least someone capable had stayed behind to protect what he couldn't save.

He opened his eyes with a serenely calm expression, contradictory to the conflict within him. He wanted to shout at her. Tell her how stupid she was. He wanted to cradle her and weep… he wanted to have her alive and look at him in love… not in fear and confusion like she'd been doing lately. Well she couldn't look anymore.

The smell of blood was getting to him and he had to sit up and set her down, put some distance between himself and the substance. But it was all over him. All over his hands, his face, his clothes… his hair…

He wanted to strip it all off… needed to…

The wet tips of his hair stuck to his upper arms and almost in a flash of anger he picked up the dagger and slashed it towards the blood soaked strands at his shoulder. But he stopped before the blade edge lashed through his hair. A vague, obscured memory hitting him like a punch in the gut.

"Don't…" She'd said. "I love you the way you are…"

"I know."

Kagome wouldn't love him if he rid of his hair. He dropped the knife again, passing one hand over his grief stricken expression again. "God… What have I become?"

An insane monster. The thought occurred with amazing clarity. Clarity that, as usual, left his other thoughts scattered and confused and lost. "Monster… preying monster… what I am… what I was… will be… ever…" he pushed himself to his feet, hands clenched tightly in his hair. "Under the bed… in the wardrobe… where pa used to keep his sword… Tessaiga… destroyer… Tenseiga… saviour… save… saviour…"

Save?

Tenseiga.

For a moment he stilled as that second clear thought forced its way to the front of his mind. Tenseiga could revive the dead. Tenseiga had saved him and hundreds of men in one swing. Surely it could save the life of one little girl.

His hands slid from their bunched grip in his hair and dropped to his sides as he looked up with a glazed smile. He couldn't keep the laughter from bubbling out until he was nearly doubling over with it. "This is perfect!"

He could save her. Yes. Save her and bring her back so she could smile and love him again. That was the best way. But he had to find Tenseiga… he couldn't waste time. Tenseiga… the sword mastered by Sesshomaru – it would undoubtedly be with him.

And Sesshomaru had left the island almost a week ago…

He could still track him – but only if he moved fast.

"Kagome." He rushed to kneel beside her and pressed a kiss to her cold forehead. He looked at her seriously. "Wait for me."

With that he ran, for all he was worth. It was dark outside… how long had he stayed in the throne room, grieving? But it was dark now… and it was the night before the new moon – meaning for once his luck was up.

The Sand bridge would have risen and he'd be able to make it to the mainland without having to waste time by swimming. He reigned in the first horse he came across in the stables and swung onto its back, kicking it into a gallop so fast it reared before taking flight.

He pounded across the grassy plateau and heard the distant sound of the Southern army trekking back to the palace. They'd be in for a surprise when they arrived… that was for sure. He ignored it all as he flitted into the forest, aiming surely for the coast where the sand bridge lay… stretching from one coast of the island to one coast of the mainland, revealed only when the tide was at its utmost lowest – around the time of the new moon. Three nights every month.

He didn't dare close his eyes for more than a second as he ran, for every time he did he saw her corpse. Something he didn't want to dwell on. He wanted to picture her healthy, and colourful. Smiling and rosy. That's the way she always was… and always would be once he got a hold of Tenseiga.

And after that, he would make the bastard who killed her pay dearly for taking her life from her body. Priority came to restoring that life – but when he'd done that. The pleasure of killing with revenge could be drawn out for as long as he wished.

This King of the north would pay.

The horse fumbled slight at the transition from firm ground to soft sand, but kept up with the fast pace as they raced along the shore, heading towards that strip of sand he knew was there.

The smell of low tide always made him slightly ill… but this time it seemed to cause a headache. He ignored it as he guided the beast onto the bridge, trying to push it to full throttle.

But the longer he rode, the more intense the headache became. It soon became so much that he was sure that he was blind. He couldn't see the path before them, and the roar of the waves on either side of him became distant as though he was underwater himself. Thankfully the horse had better direction skills than him, and kept the trajectory straight.

After an eternity of hard riding, the ground suddenly became uneven and rose sharply. They'd reached shore. The jolt the horse made was enough to unseat him, he was already unsteady from the pain in his head. The impact on the ground only jarred his brain further.

He didn't hear the horse gallop away, without him, nor did he hear the waves any longer. But he could hear them. Distant war cries, voices jeering and harsh. They were coming for him. He had to protect himself. To him, he saw the blazing sun over head, a stretch of desert sand around him and parched earth. And in the distance… they were coming for him, whoever the hell they were.

His hand blindly groped for Tessaiga. And he stood alone, on the beach, sword raised and transforming as he pulled it back over his shoulder, eyes closed as he thought he saw his enemy. "You wont… GET ME!" he yelled hoarsely and pulled the sword back further, ready to make the sweep. "Bakuryuuha!"

Phenomenal energy was unleashed from the blade in his hands, causing his hair to billow around him as it lashed out towards the sea… towards the sand bridge. The backlash seemed even more powerful than the attack, and his head snapped back as an almost solid wall of air slammed into him and knocked him off his feet.

A tidal wave of salty water plunged over him, and again, the distant sound of tearing and ripping could be heard. But the sound of destruction slowly faded with his consciousness.

^_^

"Oh dear…" Bankotsu tutted as he entered the throne room. "I said make it messy… I didn't say redecorate with a blood theme. You practically painted the walls with the stuff."

"You ask, I deliver." Jakotsu sniffed and scratched the itch on the bridge of his noses. He moved to lean against the wall beside the doorway, looking at his work critically. "One of the most annoying kills ever. She didn't stop screaming. She nearly woke everyone up. Stupid woman"

"Still." Bankotsu went over to the throne and nudged the massacred body lightly with his foot, as if testing if she was really dead. "Did you stick around to see how Inuyasha took it?"

"Mm hm." Jakotsu suddenly smiled with self-indulgence. "Cried like a true man. Completely drenched himself in blood… man that looked hot…"

"I take it, it broke him then?" Bankotsu glanced across at him smugly.

"Actually no… he jumped up about a minute later shouting about how perfect it was and ran off laughing." Jakotsu shrugged, still with a distant smile. "You know he had lovely eyes…"

"Really?" Bankotsu hummed absently and crouched down beside the body, inspecting the damage in more detail again.

"Oh yes…" Jakotsu heaved his sword up onto his shoulder as he looked off into space again. "So much pain in them…"

Renkotsu chose that moment to enter, expression remaining neutral as he surveyed the room. Bankotsu looked up and eyes the sack he was carrying. "What have you got there?"

"Present from Suikotsu." Renkotsu came forward and Jakotsu hurried after him.

"A head?" He bubbled. "Better not be Inuyasha's head – he's mine for the take."

"Not a head." Renkotsu stopped beside Bankotsu and dropped opened the sack with a light smile. "Tenseiga." He said, pulling the sword out… or at least part of it. "In one… two… three… four… and five pieces…" he enunciated each piece by dropping the remains on the floor beside them. "Completely… desecrated."

"Good." Bankotsu picked up the hilt and ran a finger lightly over the shattered edge of the blade. "Now all we have to do is find Inuyasha and Tessaiga… kill him and make it look like an accident… then stage one of our revenge will be complete."

"The guards will come soon…" Renkotsu reminded them evenly. "We have to clean up this mess before they realise."

"Right." Bankotsu looked up to Jakotsu. "Go find Inuyasha, wherever the but ball has run off to. Kill him and make it look like suicide then bring the body back – make sure you destroy Tessaiga as well."

"Can a play with him?"

Bankotsu thought about that. "I suppose… just not too much otherwise the body will look suspicious."

"Right then." Jakotsu grinned and slid his sword back into its scabbard as he wondered off through the back entrance.

"What do we do with this lump then?" Renkotsu asked.

"Burn her." Bankotsu crouched down. "Oh look… your glamour didn't completely work."

"What?" Renkotsu asked sharply.

"The glamour you cast over her… didn't quite cover that scar under her chin." Bankotsu pointed before moving the hair aside to grin. "And her ears are still pointed."

Renkotsu snorted. "Details. I doubt he noticed." He waved a hand over the body like he was brushing off cobwebs, removing the glamour. "It's hard to maintain a convincing spell for a long time. All we needed was her to smell like the human girl and to look like her – like I said. He wouldn't notice scars and ears at a time like this."

Bankotsu picked up the desecrated body of the maid and slung her over his shoulder, her white hair spilling over his back. "It got Inuyasha alone, that's all we needed." He said with a curt nod. "You clean up the mess in here, I'll dispose of the bitch."

^_^

Kagome groaned as she came around to a blistering head ache. "Ow…" she muttered, raising a hand to her forehead. Better yet, she'd been drooling on the floor… wonderful…

Why the heck was she on the floor anyway? She began to sit up and looked around her in confusion. It was her room… the window was open… the door was closed… the bed was rumpled and the materials in her desk were scattered everywhere.

Then she remembered. Inuyasha had cornered her, scared her spitless again and then knocked her out… Normally she'd be angry, but now she was just relieved that she'd woken up at all.

She managed to push herself to her feet and stumbled her way towards the mirror. She gasped at her reflection… at the horrible purple bruise that had spread across her temple and her eyes – turning it black. "That bastard!" she breathed, finding her anger at last.

She heard running footsteps outside and turned just in time to see Miroku shoving her door back. "You ok?" he asked, out of breath.

"I'm fine." She frowned slightly, not understanding what was going on.

"It's incredible – everyone just fell asleep simultaneously." He managed to explain as he caught his breath. "The army's back – it was a hoax. The real target was the palace."

"We were attacked?" Kagome gaped at him.

"No – they returned just in time it seems. They found everyone asleep, but no damage done." He noticed her bruised face. "You fell hard I see?"

"No… it was Inuyasha…" she shrugged.

He stared at her a moment before moving forward. "Shit… he hurt you?"

"No – just knocked me out… he didn't mean it." She frowned slightly. "Well, actually, I think he did mean it… but like you said, I should have stayed away from him."

"Are you ok? Does it hurt when I do this?" he pressed her bruise.

"Ow! YES!" She slapped his hand away. "Jeez… common sense, Miroku…"

"Come on." He grabbed her hand and started dragging her out the door. "We are going to put an end to this."

"An end? How?" she struggled to keep up.

"We're going to lock him in his room. Put ofuda spells on the doors and windows and hope for the best."

"But what about the gnawing on the hand thing?!" she cried.

"Well it's better he gnaw on his own hand than yours, eh?" Miroku shrugged as he let her go when she was capable of keeping up. "Besides… at least he'd heal from the wounds he inflicts on himself."

"I guess…"

^_^

Now here came a funny problem. No matter how hard they looked… they just couldn't seem to find Inuyasha. Bankotsu and the rest of the men claimed that Inuyasha had ran on ahead of them to the palace… but it seemed that he'd never arrived back. The guards and watchmen had all been asleep, and so didn't know if he'd arrived back or not.

They'd spent the whole night worrying about where he might be… and the next day searching all over again. Kagome had begun to panic… pointing out that the new moon would arrive that night, leaving Inuyasha as a vulnerable, weak human.

"Where is he?" Kagome gripped her cup hard as Sango sat down on the opposite side of the low table. "Surely if he was ok he would have turned up by now."

"Well… he is crazy." Sango pointed out, yet again, like that would explain everything.

"Yes, crazy enough to probably take on a rabid demon bear in his human form tonight!" Kagome's fingers slipped on her cup, making the contents spill on the table. Sango eyed the spillage but said nothing. "What if he's hurt? What if he's lying in a ditch somewhere… what if… oh god… what if he's done a Lord Inu? What if he's been capture by a dark miko and held in an invincible prison against his will and being tortured?!"

"Wasn't in your dreams was it?"

"No-"

"So maybe that hasn't happened." Sango tried to calm her. "Maybe he took a walk and got lost. Or perhaps he thinks he's a rabbit and is currently hopping through the forest?"

"Or perhaps he thinks he's a lemming and has jumped off the nearest cliff." Kagome grimaced.

"Stop being so pessimistic. He's probably fine." Sango shrugged as she took a sip of her own warn drink. "Remember the last time we thought we lost him? He was gone longer than one night and one day."

"I remember…" Kagome's eyes darkened slightly.

"Went out and got drunk with Miroku and spent two days getting over their hangovers in a ditch so they'd look normal when they arrived back." Sango sighed. "What on earth made them think they'd look 'normal' after spending two days in a ditch throwing up is beyond me…"

"Well – this is different!" Kagome fretted. "He wasn't insane last time. Just drunk."

"Same effects."

"And he hasn't got Miroku looking out for him either."

"That didn't exactly help him." Sango said flatly.

"I know…"

"Look. He'll turn up." Sango patted her hand. "He's just like Fushi… or a cat. When he's hungry he'll turn up. And when he's hungry for you… he'll turn up sooner rather than later."

"Sango!"

^_^

"Well?"

Jakotsu slowed as he approached Bankotsu at the tree line, just out of sight of the palace. "I'm very well, thank you." he answered.

"Where's his body? Where's Tessaiga?" Bankotsu looked him over. "You don't look like you're carrying any bodies or swords."

"Oh that!" Jakotsu sighed and looked around, scratching his head. "Well I've looked and looked, but I can't seem to find him."

"Are you sure? He's got to be on the island somewhere." Bankotsu folded his arms tensely. "Did you find his trail?"

"Of course." He nodded eagerly. "By the looks of things he took one of the big bay mares from the stables and rode it from there…" he pointed to the palace. "… through this forest and all the way," he pointed off to the North east. "to the coast."

"Northeast coast?" Bankotsu's arms dropped to his sides. "Where the Sand Bridge is?"

"Yep." Jakotsu sighed again. "That's where his trail disappeared I'm afraid. So I think I have bad news…"

"Shit…"

"Seeing as his tracks disappear at the beginning of the Sand bridge, I'd estimate he's no longer on the island. He must have escaped last night, the night before he new moon. But…"

"But what?"

"Something's wrong with the bridge. It appears he escaped last night… but when I arrived at the bridge in the early hours of the morning when it was still dark… the bridge wasn't there."

"Wasn't there?" Bankotsu shifted his weight. "You mean the tide had risen."

"It shouldn't have. It was as low as anything." He shrugged at his leader. "Big piles of sand strewn everywhere… dunes are poking up out of the sea along the channel, and some of the trees just before the sand bridge are shredded…"

There was a moment of silence before Bankotsu caught on. "It's been destroyed. Inuyasha must have done it…"

"To keep us from following him?" Jakotsu wondered.

"No… he's obviously gone in pursuit of his brother… probably to find Tenseiga to revive Lady Kagome…" Bankotsu narrowed his eyes. "He thinks she's dead… but he'll be in for a surprise when he finds Sesshomaru no longer possesses any kind of weapon…"

"But I don't see what would have been achieved by destroying the bridge after him… he can't get back on the island now." Jakotsu pointed out.

"He's insane. His actions are without motive or care." Bankotsu growled angrily. "Left the island… this'll delay things… maybe we shouldn't have made Renkotsu put that stupid curse on him. I didn't think he'd be this irrational."

Jakotsu stood by patiently. "The plans not ruined yet, elder brother."

"I know…" Bankotsu quickly formed a new plan to work around the current situation. "Ok… ok… Jakotsu – you go after Inuyasha – take a boat and make sure you kill him and destroy Tessaiga – bring the sword back. You can leave Inuyasha in a grave."

"Does this mean I can play with him without holding back?"

"Yes, of course. We don't need his body anymore. It's too late now." Bankotsu shrugged. "I'll kill one of the guards and make Renkotsu put a glamour on him to look like the Hanyou… Big funeral and voila… the King's dead. Just make sure you kill the real Inuyasha otherwise he might rain on our parade."

"Don't worry." Jakotsu grinned. "But don't expect me back anytime soon."

"Go now." Bankotsu turned and started back towards the palace. "The sooner you kill him the better – and don't forget to bring back the sword."

^_^

Evening set it and Bankotsu found Kagome sitting up in the library, reading like she did sometimes. She obviously couldn't sleep due to her stress… well… he was going to put her mind at ease now. Pushing an expression of sombre calm and slight despondency. "Lady Kagome…?"

She looked up as her name was called and smiled when she saw him. "Did you find him – is he ok?"

He said nothing, keeping his expression serious. His silence spoke volumes, and her face fell. "What is it… what's wrong?"

"I'm very sorry…" he started quietly. "We scoured the forest… we found his body at the bottom of a ravine-"

"No!" her broken shout cut him off and she tore to her feet, the book she'd been reading fell haplessly to the floor. "He's not dead – he only left yesterday!"

"I'm so sorry…"

She watched him, her expression tight and pensive. Finally she seemed to sag, and her eyes started to gloss over with unshed tears. "Oh god… you're serious… he's really…?"

"Yes." Bankotsu bowed his head, mostly to hide the smug look in his eyes.

Kagome stood at a loss for a moment, before firming up her resolve. "I want to see his body."

Bankotsu's head snapped up to see her. He was shocked at her request… he hadn't expected her to be so… bold… as to ask something that upsetting. "I really don't think you should." He said out of pure reflex. From an outside point of view it might have sounded as though he were concerned for her state of mind. But he knew that Renkotsu's glamour on the unfortunate soldier might not hold up to her inspection.

"I want to… I have to… please, let me see him." Her voice quivered at her request, a stray tear tracked its way down the curve of her cheek.

Bankotsu watched its path for a moment before looking her in the eye. "I really don't think you should see him. He was down that ravine for almost twenty four hours… his body is cut up and wild animals have…" he trailed off.

"I don't care. I have to see him." She stressed her words and clasped her hands together. "Where is he now?"

"He's in a closed casket in the throne room. The palace is in there, at a congregation in grief. He'll be cremated tomorrow morning outside at his funeral. If you want to see him… you should go now." He said evenly.

"Thank you." She brushed away her tears and ran out of the library. He followed at a slower pace, but fast enough so he could see her reaction to the body. Would she see it for the fraud it was? Or would she be too blinded in grief and tears that she'd miss the small differences in the King's appearance. The man in the coffin was slightly taller, slightly wider across the shoulders. The glamour on his face hadn't been perfect… so unfortunately they'd had to cut it up a bit so it was beyond recognition anyway.

However… the ears were a masterpiece and hopefully when she saw them, it would erase any question from her mind. After all… how many Hanyou's were there on this island?

He arrived at the entrance of the throne room just as Kagome was opening the casket with help from two guards. Around the edge of the room, staff, other nobles and servants milled around in silence, looking on in the same kind of grief that hadn't been shown since lord Inu's funeral.

Bankotsu held his breath as Kagome looked inside silently, stiffening up in horror… and/or realisation that it wasn't Inuyasha. He prayed it was just the first. For a long time everything was quiet, no one really dared to breathe, they all knew the relationship between the King and the human girl, even though they weren't officially married.

A missing arm here… a shredded face there… parts of the body that would have been 'eaten away by animals'… would she see through it all?

Suddenly she snapped her head around to stare at Bankotsu he mouth working silently, but no words were produced. He tensed, waiting for her to scream he was a liar, that the body was a fake…

There was no need.

Kagome just slid bonelessly to the floor in a dead faint, immediately swamped by people concerned for a health.

Bankotsu hid his poorly concealed smile and walked out. That was that sorted. If the glamour was enough to convince the one closest person to Inuyasha that he was dead, then it wouldn't be hard fooling the rest of the kingdom who would barely know his face in a crowd.

Jakotsu would kill Inuyasha, that was assured. And then the Southern Kingdom would fall onto him… Bankotsu… and the island would fall to the Shichinin-tai at last.

AN: See – no one's dead ----- yet! Next chapter – 'On Sesshomaru's Trail'