Chapter Four finally brought Kagome and Sesshomaru together. I wanted to show you how intelligent I think Sesshomaru is. And even though he doesn't show a lot of emotion, he is completely capable of using other people's emotions against them. Like Kagome. Now, you can learn that Sesshomaru indeed does have strong emotions and convictions. Read on...
For the record (ahem): I do not own, in whole or in part, any part of the Inuyasha franchise. Nor do I own any of the characters from said franchise that are used forthwith. The following story is solely based on the ramblings of a college student at a boring job and are not to be taken or believed as part of the true Inuyasha saga. That being said, please enjoy my first attempt at fan fiction. Feel free to critique ad nauseum. (whew!)
Chapter Five – The Price of Survival
"Ungh!" Kagome hit the ground with a hard thud. This isn't normal. I usually don't land so hard. It took her a moment to notice that she wasn't alone. Something was squirming underneath her. She looked down to see that her hand was on someone's face. She screamed and jumped back, but because she was on her knees she vaulted herself to the other side of the well and hit her head. Hard.
Jaken stood up and shook himself off. That filthy miko pushed my face into the well. I had to inhale the dust of a hundred dead demons. Dead demons! "My Lord, my Lord! She is still down here."
Sesshomaru walked over to the edge of the well and looked in. He saw Jaken jumping up and down to the left. And to the right sat Kagome, dazed from hitting her head on the wall of the well, and looking confused at the dwarf demon dancing beside her. "Do not think you can get away that easily, miko."
Kagome gingerly put a hand to the back of her head. Feh! That stupid toad broke my descent! "What are you doing in here?" She said to Jaken, who was still hooting in jubilation.
Jaken gave her a cursory glance before answering. "I am following my Lord's orders. He knew this would work. He is the greatest Lord in all the world!"
Kagome rolled her eyes. Boy, does this guy have a problem. She looked up to find Sesshomaru staring down at her. Strike that. Boy do I have a problem. She scrambled to her feet. Jaken had stopped dancing at that, and looked a little worried. After all, even Kagome towered over him. "You little toad. I ought to...." She lifted her foot and stomped it so near the toad that he really thought she was going to step on him.
Jaken shook his staff in an effort to appear menacing. But, he knew he couldn't use it in such a small area without hurting himself. He looked up towards Sesshomaru. "My Lord, she is trying to kill me! Help me out of here."
Sesshomaru merely backed away from the well. Jaken quickly scrambled out. But Kagome didn't budge. She will have to come out of there eventually. But, his patience was cut short when another thought entered his mind. Without Jaken in there to cancel her travel, maybe she will go through the portal.
Kagome barely had time to think of how to get out of this new crisis, when Sesshomaru jumped into the well and grabbed her around the waist. She was pulled so close to him that she couldn't struggle. Or breathe. She was choking on plush white fur that hung carelessly from his shoulder. Great. I am going to die at the hands of a white boa. He jumped into the air without really landing on the floor of the well, and she was standing outside of the well before she could blink her eyes. That well is over a hundred feet deep and his breathing didn't even change! Wow, is this guy strong. And he held me so tight that I wasn't even afraid to fall. His arms were so... Stop it! You have other things to worry about, Kagome. Like what to do now... "How did you do that?"
He looked down at her, the smile gone from his face to reveal nothing, as usual. "Do what, miko?"
"Why am I not at home?"
He gave a short sigh. I thought she was smarter than my brother, but now I am not so sure. "It is your miko powers that allow you to travel to wherever you are going. A demon presence in the well, however insignificant, would force your powers to protect you, rather than let you leave this place. So, I sent Jaken into the well to stop your descent."
Kagome looked at him openmouthed. "How did you know that would work? You only saw me come out of the well a week ago."
Sesshomaru turned towards the forest, where Rin was emerging, having finally caught up with the debacle. "I have seen you go in as well as come out. The blue aura around the well when you travel is all the proof I needed to know that your untapped powers help you go to your home. If I had been mistaken, the only thing it would have cost me was Jaken. A small price to pay for such a victory."
Jaken choked on his master's words. "M...my Lord? You almost killed me? But, why? I am your most loyal and humble servant..."
"Quiet!" Sesshomaru stilled the toad without even looking at him.
Rin had come to stand beside Sesshomaru. Kagome could tell that the child was absolutely exhausted, but happy to see him. Why is she so attached to him? He kills humans without a second thought. Although, she has been with him for a year or so, and she seems to be in good health. Except for the fact that she was just used as bait. "You used Rin to lure me away from the well."
"Correct. I had to give Jaken time to get into the well. And time for your friends to get far enough away to be of no help to you." He let those words sink in for a moment before he added, "Real friends would not have left until they saw you disappear down the well."
Kagome was getting angry now, forgetting for the moment that she was in danger. "Hey, wait a minute. She trusts you. How could you use her like that? She is just a kid." He looked down at Rin, who beamed a smile up at him that revealed her recently lost tooth. "I knew you would not be afraid of her." "But, you...used...her...as...bait! Anything could have happened to her in this forest. She could have gotten hurt." Jeez! He really doesn't care about her, does he? She is just some sort of prop to him.
"She was led to the well by Jaken. And you would not have hurt her. I know humans like you very well. You protect others even at the cost of your own life. Which is exactly what you have done this evening."
His words reminded Kagome that she was in very real danger here. She looked around for an avenue of escape, but she was blocked from the well by Jaken and his two headed staff. Rin and Sesshomaru cut off her route through the woods. And she wasn't sure her voice would carry back to the hut. Well, it might, but I bet he has already thought of that.
As if reading her thoughts, he answered the questions in her mind. "You only have two choices, miko. You are too powerful to return to Inuyasha. He does not know how to handle you. If he did, you would not be here." Kagome was about to respond to his talking of her like she was an object, but thought better of it and closed her mouth. "You can come with me, now, and discuss your future. Or I can kill you where you stand."
A shiver traveled up her spine at his last sentence. He isn't giving me much of a choice at all. Finally, her brain kicked in, and she straightened up as a powerful thought shone brightly in her head. If he wanted to kill me, he had plenty of opportunity to have done so already. In the other clearing, before I got into the well, when he went in to pull me out, now... He wants me alive for something. "And if I refuse?"
"There is no refuse. You either follow me or I kill you now." To add emphasis to his statement, he raised his one hand, which began to glow a sickly green.
Acid. Great. I know exactly what that claw can do. "You went to too much trouble to catch me to kill me now." She sounded oh so much more confident than she felt. The sight of that green mist surrounding his hand had her feet shaking in her shoes. She did not relish death through evisceration and poisoning. Not tonight, anyway.
"It is true that you are interesting, for a human. But do not think that it was hard to catch you. You have picked up some bad habits from my brother. Your anger, for instance, which led you to this predicament. And your rash behavior. You act too much without thinking. These behaviors will change if you want to stay alive. There are others like you that I can use instead. It would be a small matter to kill you and find another. But, I will not let Inuyasha have another powerful weapon at his disposal. The Tetsusaiga is enough."
Kagome couldn't help but think she detected a little sibling jealousy in his last remark. He is still upset over that thing. She looked down at his left arm, which was not there because of that night. Okay, maybe I can understand why he is upset. If I lost an arm in a battle, I would probably hold a grudge too. Is that why he wants to kill me? Because I helped Inuyasha by pulling out the Tetsusaiga?
"Answer, human. I grow tired of waiting for you."
Kagome blanched. Her friends thought that she had gone home. They had probably broken the news to Inuyasha by now. She didn't want to die, but she could not go with him. At least, not without knowing why he wanted her. She only had one hope left right now. Inuyasha can also travel the portal. Maybe he will still be angry enough that I disobeyed his orders to come after me. If I can just stall a little longer. "What do you need me for?"
He looked at her, a bored expression on his face. "That is no concern of yours."
"Like hell it isn't. We're talking about my life, here. If you want me to choose between life and death, the least you can do is tell me why I may want to live. Especially since I will be living with you."
The thought struck a chord in Sesshomaru, and he answered without hesitation. "To train Rin."
She wasn't expecting that. "Train Rin? Train her for what?"
"Can you not sense it?" He waited while Kagome looked over the little girl. Rin was confused by the whole conversation, and so tired that she didn't care that they were talking about her now. "Rin has untapped miko powers as well. Had she been raised properly in her village, she would be studying and learning the ways of a priestess. Instead, she landed in my path. She may not have as much power as you, but she could be molded into a powerful weapon."
Kagome was too angry now to remember that she was in deep trouble anymore. "She is a child, Sesshomaru, not a weapon. And if you think that I am going to train her to be a weapon for you..." She couldn't come up with any proper threat at that moment, so she continued with "Well, you've got another think coming."
Inwardly, he smiled. She isn't even afraid anymore. She is standing here at the mercy of the Lord of the Western Lands and she no longer cares what happens to her. She is now fighting for Rin's life. Impressive. "You forget your place, miko."
"My name is Kagome," she said through clenched teeth. She took a breath and continued with her pleading, and stalling. "Besides. I can't train her. I am still in training myself."
He waived his hand at that remark, still laced with the deadly green mist. "You have learned all you can learn from that motley crew. I would allow you to continue to focus your powers under my care, as you teach Rin how to do the same. Two mikos, especially one powerful one, is always better than one little one with no control."
"Oh, so now I am another one of your weapons?" No answer from him. "Think again, Sesshomaru. I am no one's weapon. Not yours, not Inuyasha's, nobody's. You cannot use me do wreak havoc on the lands, killing innocent people. And I will not let you use either me or Rin to destroy Inuyasha. He is your brother!"
Sesshomaru's face suddenly took on an ominous sneer. "You talk too much, miko. You have refused. Now I have no recourse but to kill you. You cannot return to Inuyasha."
He moved his feet wider apart, which Kagome fleetingly noted that placed Rin behind him so she couldn't see what happens next. Which is my death, dammit. Me and my big mouth. Kagome closed her eyes as Sesshomaru raised his claws to strike, unable to think of anything else to do.
But his hand stopped in mid-charge, as something else caught his attention. Jaken turned to his master to ask a question, but stopped as something also caught his attention. "My brother comes. You have stalled too long, miko."
She didn't have the chance to respond to that statement. She did however emit a strangled scream as his arm again trapped her against him. Rin grabbed onto his fluff as he and Jaken took to the sky. A moment later, she heard the distant roar of Inuyasha's voice as he screamed his brother's name.
Inuyasha was livid with the old miko now. Even she had gone against him this time. I know that Kagome and Shippo might do something like this, but I thought for sure that Kaede would understand why Kagome had to stay here. I don't care about my turning human, except that I would not be able to protect her when Sesshomaru comes back. "I can't believe you took her to the well. What if Sesshomaru was there?"
Shippo whined from a corner. "He wasn't there. We went to the well with her, and no one was there at all. It was just as it always was."
Kaede gave her two cents. "It is for the best, Inuyasha. Any more time cooped up here with your sunny demeanor and she would start tearing ye apart. She is just as safe in her own time as she was here. And she will return the day after tomorrow."
As angry as Inuyasha was, he was also relieved that he did not have to worry about her safety anymore. His anger cooled quickly as he knew she was safe. "Well, at least you saw her safely through to the well. No one was there and she went through okay."
Kaede and Shippo looked at each other. The silence stretched uncomfortably, and Inuyasha began to get the feeling that they weren't telling him something. "You did see her go into the well, didn't ya'?"
Kaede spoke first. "She was entering the well when I turned to leave. But I heard nothing as I left, so I know she went through the well."
Inuyasha looked over at Shippo, who would not look him in the eye. He stepped outside and caught a familiar scent in the air. Sesshomaru. I can feel my power draining. The new moon is here. Kagome...
He flew through the village to the woods while he was still able, and made it to the well as the last of his power left him for the night. He immediately saw Kagome's things strewn in disarray around the right side of the well, and a forgotten basket of flowers spilled nearby.
Kaede and Shippo quickly caught up to him, although both were completely breathless. She saw the clothes on the ground and immediately knew that Kagome had not made it home. "She had those in her hand when I left her sitting on the well. I did not sense him anywhere."
Shippo started crying. "I didn't smell any demons near us here, Inuyasha. I swear. I thought Kagome was safe!"
Inuyasha yelled at the little kitsune. "This is exactly why I wanted her to stay in the hut. Where we ALL could protect her. Now Sesshomaru's got her, if she is still alive." He had no idea what Sesshomaru wanted with Kagome, and all sorts of creative images went through his mind. The best he could figure was that Sesshomaru was using Kagome as a trap for him. Then he'll probably kill her, if he hasn't already. Lord knows she would be much easier to handle if she were dead.
He fell to his knees by the well as he realized how powerless he was. I can't even go after her now, not like this. I can barely fight my brother fairly when I am my hanyou self. He would surely kill me as a full human. Kagome! "Sesshomaru!!!!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "If you hurt one hair on her head I will tear you limb from limb!"
Coming soon – Chapter Six – Searchers of the Truth
Miroku and Sango return to find their gang in chaos. Inuyasha takes off on his own for the Western Lands in search of Kagome. As Kagome decides her own fate, Lord Sesshomaru uses underhanded tactics to learn more about her village.