[I know I said I'm not going to answer any more reviews, but I had to:
Deamon Drama Queen: I agree, he could easily beat Inuyasha.]
"And then he took her away," said Inuyasha as he ran along a riverbank. Miroku, Sango, and Shippou, who were riding Kirara as she flew low over the ground beside Inuyasha, were about as surprised as humanly possible.
"Bull."
"Nope."
"Pregnant? Are you sure?"
"...I'm not, but she seems to know."
"How could you let this happen? I thought you loved her, the way you've been acting the last few weeks." Inuyasha paused, mulling this over for a split second.
"I do love her. That's why I'm going after her."
"So, Inuyasha," began Shippou, "If you love her, then why did you let Sesshoumaru get her pregnant?" Upon seeing the confused look on Inuyasha's face, Shippou finished.
"You said that he said 'Your woman is mine.' It makes me think he's the one. (Honestly, Inuyasha, you have to have something under those ears...)"
"That brings up something else," said Sango. "Hadn't her scent changed? Why couldn't you smell Sesshoumaru's scent as well?"
"I don't know. I should have. Maybe it doesn't show up until later on."
"In any case, we should hurry and rescue Kagome. Who knows what Sesshoumaru will do to her?"
***
To make an extraordinarily long list of aggravations short, Kagome was not happy. She sat on a bench in the courtyard, wearing the most expensive kimono that she had ever seen in her life, watching Rin play around in the fallen sakura blossoms. Jaken and Sesshoumaru had gone off into the woods for some reason or other that Kagome did not particularly care about, so she was left there to watch Rin and keep the servants as far away from her as possible.
"Come on, pretty lady, Rin wants to play!" Rin tugged at the sleeve of Kagome's kimono. Kagome tugged said sleeve back as Rin's smile faded.
"Why are you not happy, pretty lady?"
"My name is Kagome, and I'm not happy because I'm here." Rin looked around at the beautiful yard; at the sakura trees, the flowers, and the pond with the beautiful koi.
"Why are you unhappy to be here?"
"Because Inuyasha's not here and Sesshoumaru is, the bastard."
"Lord Sesshoumaru says that that Inuyasha person is a filthy hanyou not worthy of anything but death. Is that true?"
"No. Okay, so he's selfish and belligerent, but he's actually really nice and kind, deep down."
"Lord Sesshoumaru says that—"
"Why do you hang around with him, anyway?"
"Because he saved Rin. Come play!"
"No."
"Please?" Rin smiled as big as she could. Jaken came stumbling through the door, bloodied and beaten, before Kagome could say anything more. Despite her deep abhorrence for the toad, Kagome went to see what happened.
Jaken coughed and cursed.
"Jaken-sama, what happened?" asked Rin.
"We were attacked by the river."
"And what about Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"I do not know." Rin grabbed Jaken's collar.
"What do you mean, you don't know what happened to him? Who attacked you?"
"It was the hanyou brat, Inuyasha." Kagome's eyes shone with hope.
***
When his brother had come hurtling into the clearing, Sesshoumaru wasn't surprised. It was to be expected, revenge for talking his woman, but what was not expected was for Inuyasha to actually win the battle.
Sesshoumaru lay bleeding by the riverbank as Inuyasha stepped on his barely alive carcass. Sesshoumaru gasped in pain as blood pooled around him. Inuyasha continued walking west.
In the forest beyond Sesshoumaru's broken and bleeding body, "Inuyasha" transformed into a dark-furred tanuki.
"I better get paid double since I got wounded," he muttered, walking off towards what was presumably Naraku's castle...
***
Kagome did not have the faintest inkling why she was following Rin through the forest towards the river. Perhaps it was to see whether or not it really was Inuyasha who had attacked Sesshoumaru. Perhaps it was to see the man she loved again and feel safe in his arms once more. Perhaps it was simply because Rin had a grip on her hand and was dragging her out.
Whatever the reason, Kagome and Rin hurried to the river.
'Good God Almighty...' thought Kagome as they came upon Sesshoumaru's nearly dead body. Rin skidded to a halt and nearly retched; blood was everywhere. Kagome had never seen so much blood come from one body...
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin yelled, voice trembling with concern. Turning to the only available person, she yelled, "Save him!" Seeing as Kagome was the only available person, she was forced to do something or risk the wrath of Sesshoumaru when he healed on his own (which he undoubtedly would, given the fact that the Tenseiga would not permit him to die, just was the Tetsusaiga would not allow Inuyasha to die.)
Pulling a small glass bottle out of her pocket, Kagome selected a medium- size jewel shard [see note at bottom]. Taking a breath of semi-fresh air while she could, she stepped up to Sesshoumaru and dropped the shard into one of the many gaping wounds on his torso. Stepping back while the jewel did its job, she comforted Rin, who was crying at the apparent fate of her beloved lord.
[Was gonna end the chapter here, but I think it makes me sound flaky. Plus, I'm on a caffeine rush, so I have extra time to write before I fall asleep.] ***
About a hundred toad-servants came shortly after to carry Sesshoumaru back to the castle. Kagome and Rin followed, Rin still sniffling. Kagome was lost in thought as she herded the little girl back; lost in thought about Inuyasha...he had never before been powerful enough to do something like that to Sesshoumaru.
In spite of herself, Kagome was concerned for Sesshoumaru. It was probably just her kind nature. [If it was me, I'd be concerned because he's the best example of the word "bishounen" I've seen in a long time.]
"Lady Kagome," one of the less-ugly toad servants said, "Lord Sesshoumaru wishes to speak to you."
Even with the help of a Shikon Jewel shard, Sesshoumaru was weak and bedridden. From his extravagantly bedecked chambers, the demon lord could be heard coughing, though he was no longer coughing blood.
The servant left Kagome kneeling by Sesshoumaru's bed; Kagome was surprised that it was a Gaijin bed, since well, frankly, Commodore Perry wouldn't land for about three hundred years yet.
"You wanted to see—"
"Why did you save me?"
"Huh?"
"Why did you save me? You could have easily been rid of all your problems if you had let me die."
"Um...well...I guess I...don't know. Rin was crying for you, and for some reason I'll never understand, I was concerned as well...I really don't know."
"Hn." He rolled over, signaling to Kagome that it was time to leave him alone and go back to her toad-infested room. Kagome was developing a strong dislike for toads.
[A/N: Whew! That took longer to write than I expected. Okay, I had some problems with this chapter. First of all, whether to have Kagome think "God" or "Kami." The Shinto believe in Kami, and she is Shinto, but I am Southern Baptist and whether it's in the Ten Commandments or not, we say "Oh my God" or "Lord have mercy."
The second problem I had was the jewel shards. I know Kagome has the big one on that necklace, but I figure that if they get more jewel shards that fit on the other side of the jewel they obviously can't put those together with the ones on the necklace. Problem solved: put those in a bottle. Problem solved: Sesshoumaru's not gonna die! *does happy dance*
Inuyasha: Damn.
Sesshoumaru: Speak for yourself.
Inuyasha: So if he's not gonna just die on his own...can I kill him?
SPK: No. I need both of you later on in the story.
Inuyasha: *dismayed and disappointed look*
Sesshoumaru: *smug and triumphant look*]
"And then he took her away," said Inuyasha as he ran along a riverbank. Miroku, Sango, and Shippou, who were riding Kirara as she flew low over the ground beside Inuyasha, were about as surprised as humanly possible.
"Bull."
"Nope."
"Pregnant? Are you sure?"
"...I'm not, but she seems to know."
"How could you let this happen? I thought you loved her, the way you've been acting the last few weeks." Inuyasha paused, mulling this over for a split second.
"I do love her. That's why I'm going after her."
"So, Inuyasha," began Shippou, "If you love her, then why did you let Sesshoumaru get her pregnant?" Upon seeing the confused look on Inuyasha's face, Shippou finished.
"You said that he said 'Your woman is mine.' It makes me think he's the one. (Honestly, Inuyasha, you have to have something under those ears...)"
"That brings up something else," said Sango. "Hadn't her scent changed? Why couldn't you smell Sesshoumaru's scent as well?"
"I don't know. I should have. Maybe it doesn't show up until later on."
"In any case, we should hurry and rescue Kagome. Who knows what Sesshoumaru will do to her?"
***
To make an extraordinarily long list of aggravations short, Kagome was not happy. She sat on a bench in the courtyard, wearing the most expensive kimono that she had ever seen in her life, watching Rin play around in the fallen sakura blossoms. Jaken and Sesshoumaru had gone off into the woods for some reason or other that Kagome did not particularly care about, so she was left there to watch Rin and keep the servants as far away from her as possible.
"Come on, pretty lady, Rin wants to play!" Rin tugged at the sleeve of Kagome's kimono. Kagome tugged said sleeve back as Rin's smile faded.
"Why are you not happy, pretty lady?"
"My name is Kagome, and I'm not happy because I'm here." Rin looked around at the beautiful yard; at the sakura trees, the flowers, and the pond with the beautiful koi.
"Why are you unhappy to be here?"
"Because Inuyasha's not here and Sesshoumaru is, the bastard."
"Lord Sesshoumaru says that that Inuyasha person is a filthy hanyou not worthy of anything but death. Is that true?"
"No. Okay, so he's selfish and belligerent, but he's actually really nice and kind, deep down."
"Lord Sesshoumaru says that—"
"Why do you hang around with him, anyway?"
"Because he saved Rin. Come play!"
"No."
"Please?" Rin smiled as big as she could. Jaken came stumbling through the door, bloodied and beaten, before Kagome could say anything more. Despite her deep abhorrence for the toad, Kagome went to see what happened.
Jaken coughed and cursed.
"Jaken-sama, what happened?" asked Rin.
"We were attacked by the river."
"And what about Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"I do not know." Rin grabbed Jaken's collar.
"What do you mean, you don't know what happened to him? Who attacked you?"
"It was the hanyou brat, Inuyasha." Kagome's eyes shone with hope.
***
When his brother had come hurtling into the clearing, Sesshoumaru wasn't surprised. It was to be expected, revenge for talking his woman, but what was not expected was for Inuyasha to actually win the battle.
Sesshoumaru lay bleeding by the riverbank as Inuyasha stepped on his barely alive carcass. Sesshoumaru gasped in pain as blood pooled around him. Inuyasha continued walking west.
In the forest beyond Sesshoumaru's broken and bleeding body, "Inuyasha" transformed into a dark-furred tanuki.
"I better get paid double since I got wounded," he muttered, walking off towards what was presumably Naraku's castle...
***
Kagome did not have the faintest inkling why she was following Rin through the forest towards the river. Perhaps it was to see whether or not it really was Inuyasha who had attacked Sesshoumaru. Perhaps it was to see the man she loved again and feel safe in his arms once more. Perhaps it was simply because Rin had a grip on her hand and was dragging her out.
Whatever the reason, Kagome and Rin hurried to the river.
'Good God Almighty...' thought Kagome as they came upon Sesshoumaru's nearly dead body. Rin skidded to a halt and nearly retched; blood was everywhere. Kagome had never seen so much blood come from one body...
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin yelled, voice trembling with concern. Turning to the only available person, she yelled, "Save him!" Seeing as Kagome was the only available person, she was forced to do something or risk the wrath of Sesshoumaru when he healed on his own (which he undoubtedly would, given the fact that the Tenseiga would not permit him to die, just was the Tetsusaiga would not allow Inuyasha to die.)
Pulling a small glass bottle out of her pocket, Kagome selected a medium- size jewel shard [see note at bottom]. Taking a breath of semi-fresh air while she could, she stepped up to Sesshoumaru and dropped the shard into one of the many gaping wounds on his torso. Stepping back while the jewel did its job, she comforted Rin, who was crying at the apparent fate of her beloved lord.
[Was gonna end the chapter here, but I think it makes me sound flaky. Plus, I'm on a caffeine rush, so I have extra time to write before I fall asleep.] ***
About a hundred toad-servants came shortly after to carry Sesshoumaru back to the castle. Kagome and Rin followed, Rin still sniffling. Kagome was lost in thought as she herded the little girl back; lost in thought about Inuyasha...he had never before been powerful enough to do something like that to Sesshoumaru.
In spite of herself, Kagome was concerned for Sesshoumaru. It was probably just her kind nature. [If it was me, I'd be concerned because he's the best example of the word "bishounen" I've seen in a long time.]
"Lady Kagome," one of the less-ugly toad servants said, "Lord Sesshoumaru wishes to speak to you."
Even with the help of a Shikon Jewel shard, Sesshoumaru was weak and bedridden. From his extravagantly bedecked chambers, the demon lord could be heard coughing, though he was no longer coughing blood.
The servant left Kagome kneeling by Sesshoumaru's bed; Kagome was surprised that it was a Gaijin bed, since well, frankly, Commodore Perry wouldn't land for about three hundred years yet.
"You wanted to see—"
"Why did you save me?"
"Huh?"
"Why did you save me? You could have easily been rid of all your problems if you had let me die."
"Um...well...I guess I...don't know. Rin was crying for you, and for some reason I'll never understand, I was concerned as well...I really don't know."
"Hn." He rolled over, signaling to Kagome that it was time to leave him alone and go back to her toad-infested room. Kagome was developing a strong dislike for toads.
[A/N: Whew! That took longer to write than I expected. Okay, I had some problems with this chapter. First of all, whether to have Kagome think "God" or "Kami." The Shinto believe in Kami, and she is Shinto, but I am Southern Baptist and whether it's in the Ten Commandments or not, we say "Oh my God" or "Lord have mercy."
The second problem I had was the jewel shards. I know Kagome has the big one on that necklace, but I figure that if they get more jewel shards that fit on the other side of the jewel they obviously can't put those together with the ones on the necklace. Problem solved: put those in a bottle. Problem solved: Sesshoumaru's not gonna die! *does happy dance*
Inuyasha: Damn.
Sesshoumaru: Speak for yourself.
Inuyasha: So if he's not gonna just die on his own...can I kill him?
SPK: No. I need both of you later on in the story.
Inuyasha: *dismayed and disappointed look*
Sesshoumaru: *smug and triumphant look*]