Author: Nefertili
Fandom: Inuyasha
Rating: PG13
Pairing(s): Sesshoumaru/Kikyou, Sesshoumaru/OC
Genre(s): Romance, Angst, Adventure, AU
Warning(s): Battle scenes, betrayal, over-anger (if there is such a word), fluff... What more can I say?
Disclaimer: None of the characters, except perhaps some, are mine. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
Summary: Kikyou, being saved from peril by Sesshoumaru, joins him in a quest against Naraku and one of his allies, who happened to share a past one-sided relationship with the Demon Lord. SesshKik!
A/N: I know I got a little delayed. And I am already telling you guys, I might not be able to update regularly for the next two weeks because we're going on vacation. I hope you'll be patient. Anyway, I know we left Sesshy and Kiky rather upset last chapter, but don't worry, I will make it up! Beware, for there's a battle scene coming ahead!
...o0o...
When his companions woke up the next day, Sesshoumaru knew that he ought to brace himself for yet another question-packed day. Kikyou was gone; Jaken and Rin were not blind or naive to not notice it.
Understandably, when Rin awoke, she immediately searched for the Priestess. But she was nowhere to be seen.
"Priestess Kikyou? Priestess Kikyou, where are you?" the child called, getting out of her sleeping bag and looking behind some trees as though expecting the miko to come out of her hiding place.
"You won't find her there," Sesshoumaru said softly. Rin looked at her master's sitting form, surprised. The Demon Lord had his eyes closed, but his head was still held high.
"Please, Sesshoumaru-sama, where is Kikyou-sama?" the little girl asked meekly, approaching Sesshoumaru in little steps. Reaching the side of her master, Rin dropped to her knees and glanced up at Sesshoumaru with expectant eyes.
Sesshoumaru was silent for a few moments before he answered. Somehow, Rin's reaction might not be to his liking. Without opening his amber orbs or looking at the child, he said, "She had gone away."
The taiyoukai was right in assuming that Rin won't like the last piece of news. Her young face immediately lost all traces of happiness, and her eyes were soon painted with shock and upset. Sesshoumaru still did not look at her. He knew that in the child's face, no matter how young, he will see an echo of Kikyou's expression the night before, and his willpower might crumble over the weight of emotions it gave him.
By this time, Jaken had also awakened, wiping the traces of drool from the corners of his mouth. He heard his master's unexpected statement, and even though he never really liked the Undead Priestess, it did not fail to give him surprise just as it did Rin.
"Why did she go, Lord Sesshoumaru?" his retainer asked, standing up and joining Rin on Sesshoumaru's side.
"For some reasons that are hers alone," Sesshoumaru replied in an even tone, devoid of all emotions. The Demon Lord then opened his golden eyes and stood up fluidly from the cold grass that had started to wither at the coming of winter. He scanned the steely grey skies and he knew they will experience the first bite of snow at least that day. For the sake of Rin, he knew they ought to search for some suitable shelter just in case the weather will be too much for her.
Wordlessly, he began resume his walking stance, thus signaling the others that a new day of journey awaited them. Jaken had at once stood up and untied Ah-Un from where he tethered him to a tree and called to Rin so she can mount the two-headed dragon, but she had stayed transfixed to her spot.
"Come on, Rin!" the little demon said irritatingly, and when she still did not move, Jaken went up to her and took her by the hand, half-dragging her towards Ah-Un. "We are more at an advantage if that Priestess is not with us!"
"But she was so nice to me..." Rin muttered as she slowly mounted Ah-Un with hardly a trace of energy.
Jaken grunted. "She gets goody-goody over children like you, but she becomes fierce towards demons."
"But with Sesshoumaru-sama..."
"Enough buts," Jaken cut her off immediately and he gently slapped Ah-Un's shank to make him stand and walk. "If you wish to see the miko, you are free to leave us as she had done, and follow her!"
Sesshoumaru looked over his shoulder, and at once his retainer was silenced to see the cold stare. However, the coldness in his eyes flickered when he saw Rin, her head bowed slightly and her hand petting the dragon's scaly hide absentmindedly.
"She did not even say goodbye..." she whispered in such a pitiful tone that Sesshoumaru's steely heart slightly softened to realize how saddened Rin was at Kikyou's leaving.
"She would have said goodbye," Sesshoumaru told her. "But she was in a hurry." Having said a rough explanation, he turned and they walked the hilly forest once more. But Sesshoumaru's inner self was not in peace, betraying his calm and composed outer facade.
'Kikyou, I wonder what you're thinking of now,' he thought as a chilling breeze passed through his silken hair, leaving the silvery strands slightly dampened by their moisture. He dared not hope that the miko would want to cross her paths with his again, knowing her fragile emotions and intense pain. He had done nothing to alleviate that pain, or so as he thought. Rather, he had further deepened her wounds by his anger and his attempt to end her life.
But as he recalled the vivid images of her the previous night, though he smelled the fear that emanated from her, Sesshoumaru could not feel any anger radiating from the Priestess. As he sought to remember the look in her mahogany eyes, he saw no ill-feelings cloaking her orbs. Though there was a momentary expression of alarm and shock, never did she let out her temper or even fought back as she would to those who threatened her life. She would have used her miko powers to fight him, but she did not.
Did she do that because she felt that he was too powerful for her? Or is it the reverse? Or even...she couldn't bear to fight him? Sesshoumaru frowned slightly, for he knew that he had mistreated Kikyou, when she had never been anything but benevolent around him. Even though she was stubborn and determined, Sesshoumaru had grown to like those traits of hers, for he knew that deep inside, he carried the same traits.
'Why do I have to repeat to her what I have done to Kikumo?' he thought. 'Why do I have to keep on driving away those who would have filled in the piece missing from my soul?'
...o0o...
In Kikyou's side, she had trekked ceaselessly the entire night to keep her thoughts distracted from the Demon Lord. But by daybreak, she was tired of walking to no place in particular. Kikyou had reached a hill, the tallest point in the hilly region. Climbing the gentle incline, the priestess was able to see most of the land spread down before her. The hill was slightly devoid of trees; its vegetation consisted mostly of tall grasses and bushes, but at its very crown was a large pine that had spreading branches, thus it stood out in the wilderness.
From her elevated point, Kikyou observed the land and sought to plan what course she should take. No village was at sight; the land was untamed, and she was all alone. Setting her weapons at the roots of the large pine, she basked in its rich shade, though the day was extremely cool. The skies have taken the color of steel grey, and Kikyou knew that she had to find shelter from the cold of the winter. She had not any furs or any other clothing save her miko garments. She would surely freeze to death if she was caught out in a snowstorm.
Looking up at the branches of the tree that spread like an intricate map, her thoughts once more diverted to Sesshoumaru.
'Sesshoumaru...do you hate me for stirring up your anger?' Kikyou thought. A cold wind made its way to the hill, gently swaying the stately branches of the huge pine and sending Kikyou's hair a-flutter. She doubted if ever the Demon Lord would ever wish to feel her presence again, after she tasted what his temper could be like. He was a Demon, she knew, and feral instincts are simply a part of his blood. A Demon he may be, but he too has feelings, Kikyou learned, and she cursed herself for not being sensitive to that side of his.
Kikyou ran a hand over her slender neck, and her spine began to tingle recalling how the tips of his claws grazed the skin of her neck...and how fearful and menacing Sesshoumaru looked that night. Those flaming red eyes...they bored their way into her, they expressed his anger on her. He hated her...and it was because she was not considerate of his own emotions. Though she knew that she could use her powers against him, she did not summon them up. Kikyou blamed herself for the predicament she got herself and Sesshoumaru into. She was too inconsiderate of him to ask that selfish question that hurt him...
Kikyou's hand strayed to the grassy ground, and she angrily dug her fingers into the loamy soil. He had tried to kill her, but he stopped himself in the end. Why? He would have done a great favor to her...ending her miserable life and all, but he let her live. Why? Why does he have to let an ungrateful creature such as her live? He had allowed her to come with his group, and he was ever so patient with her stubbornness. Though Sesshoumaru may be cold and distant, he defended her if necessary. But all that she gave him in return was trouble and bother.
'Alas, why do I have to act so foolishly?' Kikyou berated herself. 'He does not deserve to bear my half-life existence the way he does not deserve Kikumo.' She felt her eyelids growing heavy. She had not slept at all, and she had not rested until now. Her shinidamachuu will bring her new souls soon, but for now she has to recover her strength.
Curling up among the strong roots of the pine tree to ward off the chilly breeze, Kikyou wrapped her dark raven hair about her and plunged almost immediately into the realm of dreams.
In her deep sleep, Kikyou was unable to notice the other presence that had just arrived. Deep green eyes observed the sleeping figure of the miko for a minute before jumping up the tree in one graceful bound. Sitting herself in one of the low-lying branches, Kikumo deftly ran a smooth fingertip at the blade of the Hiroko Kama, its silver cutting edge catching the faint traces of sunlight as she waited.
...o0o...
Kikyou gradually opened her eyes after a long sleep. To her alarm, she saw that the sun, burning bright orange and its tip starting to touch the horizon, was already being chased away by the dark trappings of night. She had overslept, and it would soon be night again. When will her body clock ever be righted again?
But something made her sit up even more. She could feel a powerful Demon's aura. She had been around Sesshoumaru long enough to know that it was not his youki that she was feeling. It could only be...
"Had a nice sleep?" a cold, sardonic voice echoed from above.
Kikyou's eyes immediately flew to the branches directly above her, and her mahogany eyes met the emerald eyes of the Deer Demon. She was sitting idly on the pine branch, her slender form almost covered by the thick pine needles that surrounded her. Her fawn hair was tied back again in a loose plait, and she was smiling frostily at the Priestess.
At once, Kikyou spotted the sheathed Tenseiga on the Demoness' waist, and her iron will began to form again within her. 'I will make you return what you have stolen, Demoness,' she thought as she calmly slung her quiver across her back and got hold of her bow.
"Leaving so soon?" Kikumo said softly, running her hand over the polished handle of her naginata. "I don't think so." Her eyes had narrowed considerably, and all Kikyou could see were two deep green orbs peeking through eyelids shaded in dark brown.
"Am I to leave without getting from you what is not rightfully yours?" Kikyou said in an equally cold voice, slowly pulling a finely wrought arrow from her quiver and fixing it her bow. "That, I don't think so."
Kikumo let out a derisive laugh. "Oh, you mean this." Her hand ran over the hilt of the Healing Fang, eyeing Kikyou mockingly, as though compelling her to snatch the sword from her waist. "Did he send you as his champion to get Inutaisho's legacy for him?"
"Sesshoumaru would have gotten the Tenseiga from you if he has to," Kikyou replied calmly, pulling the bowstring taught. She was just waiting for the right moment to fire. "But it just came to pass that I came across you before him, and I will retrieve the Sword of Life from you, by force if necessary, and give it back to its rightful wielder."
"You came across me?" Kikumo said, smirking, her green eyes flashing with malice. "Rather, I came across you, sleeping like a helpless lamb under the shade of a pine tree. I would have slain you, miko, unresisting. But I like challenges, you see. And you are just a perfect wildflower for me to tame." Gracefully, she leaped down from the branches and landed a few feet in front of Kikyou, who stood ready with her bow drawn taut.
'Rather, I think you are a wild deer in need of taming,' Kikyou thought, her eyes narrowing to see Kikumo bend forward slightly and positioned the Hiroko Kama at a perfect angle to combat the Priestess. 'You would have done better if you had slain me while I slept, for I won't stop until your soul is driven to the fires of hell, Demoness.'
"Pity," Kikumo whispered, maintaining her composed stance. "Did you not know that the naginata was made at a time when most of the enemies are archers? My skills are just ideal for a duel with you, Undead Miko."
But Kikyou was silent. She was waiting for Kikumo to make the first move. She knew she won't be able to fire her arrows if the Demoness stood on alert with her Hiroko Kama. Though Kikyou was watchful, she wasn't quite prepared when Kikumo leaped up in the air and swung her blade at the Priestess.
The youkai was so swift that all Kikyou's eyes could see was a blur of brown and red orange, but Kikyou ducked just in time, narrowly missing the shining metal that would have severed her head from her body in one swipe. She swiftly let go of the bowstring, aiming for Kikumo's head, but a graceful swing of her head was all it took for the arrow to miss its target.
Another swing from the Hiroko Kama forced Kikyou to draw back slightly from Kikumo. The naginata's long handle prevented her from approaching Kikumo at a close parameter, and Kikyou knew too well that her opponent could easily dodge her arrows if she shot them from afar. Alas, Kikumo's a tricky foe to handle.
"Give up already, miko?" Kikumo said tauntingly as she launched herself for a new attack. Kikyou had another arrow ready, and she relied mostly on her instincts, knowing that Kikumo's swiftness far exceeds what her physical senses could grasp. When the youkai's blurry form swung past her, Kikyou released the arrow. It tore through Kikumo's left sleeve, but the Demoness was otherwise unharmed. Pain, however, stung Kikyou's face as she did so. The Hiroko Kama had grazed her cheek, drawing blood.
"That was a close one," Kikumo whispered, fingering the torn cloth of her kimono. In no time at all, she lunged at Kikyou again, who dodged the swing of the naginata's shining blade. But this time, Kikumo swung the Hiroko Kama around and smote Kikyou on the shoulder with the opposite end of the weapon. The Priestess grunted in pain and dismay to see blood flowing steadily from the new wound. It was not a mortal injury, but the pain it gave the miko was considerable.
Kikyou unconsciously dropped her bow and the arrow she was clutching, and Kikumo took advantage of her momentary defenselessness and swung Kikyou with her bare hand against the lone tree of the hill. Kikyou barely had time to recover her senses when she felt the cold handle of the Hiroko Kama being pressed against her neck. She opened her mahogany eyes and she saw Kikumo looming over her. The ebony handle of the naginata pressed harder against her neck and Kikyou began to choke.
Kikumo smirked and held out her left hand while keeping the Hiroko Kama's handle on Kikyou's neck with her other hand. Kikyou, through half-closed eyes, saw that the nails of the Demoness' thumb, middle finger and forefinger had begun to elongate and form claws similar to Sesshoumaru's.
"I normally use these claws to play my koto," she said quietly. "But they can be of more use than that." Her claws had begun to puncture their way through Kikyou's cheeks when the Priestess suddenly got hold of Kikumo's shoulders. Kikyou called forth her miko powers and a bright light flashed from her hands and burned the Demoness where they touched.
With a scream of pain, Kikumo recoiled from Kikyou and removed the Hiroko Kama from her neck. She clawed at her smoking shoulders, which were dripping blood. The cloth that had covered her shoulders was singed, and had charred edges that still had a trace of the blue holy flame that Kikyou had used. The Priestess knew that the blue flame was only effective to demons of a lesser power, and it had only scorched Kikumo because she was nearly as powerful as Sesshoumaru. Though she could banish her foe to hell, it would take too much power, and Kikumo might end up taking the Tenseiga with her in the mixed dimension. She needs the help of her Purity arrows if she wishes to defeat the Demoness.
Kikyou was about to dash and recover her bow when she suddenly saw her body glowing white. She was beginning to find it very difficult to move; her body began to sag as though being weighed down by lead. Kikyou was aghast; the souls in her body are about to break free from their prison. Where are her shinidamachuu? She needed souls much more now!
Kikumo, amidst her extreme pain, smiled a twisted smile and said, "My turn." Painfully, she reached into the red box which hung from her sash in a black string and took out a handful of white chrysanthemum petals. Holding them in her palm she blew the petals from her hand towards Kikyou, who knew not of the power of the flower petals. Once the chrysanthemum petals came to contact with the air, they began to change shape, their oblong forms melting to become hard, curved arches that had sharp edges.
When Kikyou finally became aware of what the petals really were, it was too late. Cursed by immobility, she was quite unable to duck the sharp wedges, and to her dismay, one of the curved blades came into contact with her right wrist, cutting clean through her skin. Worse, the white-tinted blade dug deeply into the trunk of the pine tree, thus pinning her to the tree effectively by her wrist.
By then, a number of her shinidamachuu had begun to appear in the late afternoon mist, carrying the souls for their mistress. But they are not to reach her soon. Kikumo had put forth her power and caged the tree where Kikyou was with a barrier that the little demons could not penetrate. Kikyou felt her hopes crumbling, though out of her pride and amidst her immobility, she put on a strong-willed expression which amused Kikumo.
"Doesn't this scene look familiar to you, Kikyou?" Kikumo whispered, hiding the corporal pain which she felt on her body. She touched Kikyou's chin with the pointed metal counterweight of the naginata, forcing her face up to look at the furious eyes of the Demoness. "You once sealed Sesshoumaru's half-brother to a tree, didn't you? Now you have a taste of how it feels to be stuck to one! And why ever did you choose to side with Sesshoumaru? You and I have much in common, priestess. You know how it feels to be hurt out of love, but why can't you fathom my reasons for wishing revenge for my pain?"
Kikyou, through much difficulty, managed to speak. Blood was flowing from her wounded wrist, staining her pure white sleeves. "It is true; I got hurt because I loved. But I have realized that it won't hurt to try to love again. You are fortunate, Kikumo, for Sesshoumaru loved you. But you, worthless creature, threw away that gift! Had you let go of your hate you would have spared yourself and Sesshoumaru more hurt!"
Kikumo's eyes began to blaze red. Kikyou noticed that the two sharp arches above her eyebrows had also begun to glow red, standing out from her fawn bangs. "Spare myself and Sesshoumaru from more hurt? Priestess, I have spared myself from that hurt you're talking about. It caused me extraordinary satisfaction to see him humbled. Sweet it is, to see him cower before me asking for forgiveness and begging that I return his Tenseiga to him."
However, Kikyou said quietly and slowly, for her strength was failing her, "The time will come when you will regret that you have ever betrayed him."
At this statement, Kikumo's eyes flared and she slapped Kikyou on the face with all the strength she could muster. Kikyou did not even flinch. Kikumo, apparently bored with her, then stood up straight and adjusted her ochre shawl in order to hide the worst of her burns and turned to walk away.
"Why are you doing this to me, Kikumo?" Kikyou called out weakly, sagging against the tree with the little strength she had left. "I have done you no wrong!"
Kikumo paused for a while. What she said shocked Kikyou completely. "I am simply doing part of my deal with Naraku, Priestess." Having said so, she transformed into her deer form and galloped back into the woods amidst the horrible weals on its upper front shanks, leaving the miko pinned to the tree.
Kikyou, too shocked for words, could only stare at her desperate shinidamachuu who could do nothing but hover outside the impassable barrier. Her strength was spent, and she could hardly move. 'She betrayed us all to Naraku,' was the angry thought that kept going through her head. As the souls began to leak from her body and out to the unseen dimensions beyond, she knew she was in grave danger. And she was all alone; no one would aid her. The sun had almost sunk fully from the horizon, leaving behind trails as red as the blood that stained the hill's crown.
"Sesshoumaru..." she called out weakly, and she felt her strength fail her as she simply hung there like a lifeless corpse, the blade digging deeper into her wrist. Just as when she had surrendered to despair, one of her shinidamachuu left the others and went out into the forest, as though searching for something, or someone.
...o0o...
Sesshoumaru had felt the clashing auras of the two females. He had ordered Rin and Jaken to stop and make camp in order to further observe the outcome of their duel. Sesshoumaru was, of course, sorry for Rin. She had not smiled at all the whole day, and he knew that it was all because Kikyou had left them. He was both surprised and alarmed to feel Kikyou release some of her miko powers, and furthermore, to feel Kikumo's youki fight back. The taiyoukai knew at once that she and the miko are fighting nearby, but he had let them move in their own business and had not intervened.
Gradually, he felt the two auras calm down after some time of fierce outbursts, and he felt the youki, no doubt, Kikumo's, fade away as she disappeared from the region. But Kikyou's aura, he had observed, was greatly weakened, and on top it all, was stationary. What was wrong with her? He suddenly felt the chill coming from the Priestess' aura, signifying trouble. And had he not felt that before, before he rescued her from the red demon...?
It did not take too long for the answer to come. A white Soul-snatching Demon suddenly appeared from the trees and began to hover over them. Rin had at once jumped up and extended her arms at the demon that she recognized as Priestess Kikyou's. It had another of the firefly-like lights on its claws.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, isn't that a shinidamachuu?" she said excitedly. The white demon ignored her, though. It bravely approached Sesshoumaru and began to hover near his face. It would float back to the direction it came from and back to the Demon Lord again, as though compelling him to come.
The little shinidamachuu's odd behavior alerted Jaken, and he began to wave the Staff of Heads at it, as though attempting to drive it away. "Hey you! We are through with your mistress! Don't bother Lord Sesshoumaru with your sneaky flights!"
Sesshoumaru, however, had stood up on his feet with the words, "Silence. Jaken, Rin, stay where you are. I am going to find out what's upsetting this demon."
"Can't I accompany you, Lord Sesshoumaru-" Jaken muttered, but the Demon Lord had cut him off with a cold glare and went into the forest, with the pearly demon escorting him from above.
...o0o...
Sesshoumaru let the shinidamachuu lead him to Kikyou. He had seen a rough vision of her pitiful state through the little demon's eyes, and before he knew it, he was atop the hill which was brightly illuminated in the failing light by the large number of shinidamachuu and souls that gathered around the solitary tree at its crown.
His heart missed a beat to see the ragged figure dangling helplessly on the tree trunk. His keen sense of smell caught the sickening scent of the Priestess' blood that had spilled on her garments and had even stained the blades of grass at her feet. The scene he saw in the little demon's eyes was but a rough echo of the real thing, and Sesshoumaru's heart reached out at once to Kikyou.
"Kikyou!" her name left his throat in a worried tone before he knew it. Sesshoumaru advanced towards the tree, his platinum hair outshining the glimmer of the Soul-snatching demons and the souls they carried. Suddenly, he felt the energy shield that kept them back. He knew at once that it was Kikumo's doing, and he just knew how to combat it. Holding out his hand, he flexed his talons and plunged it into the barrier. The energy that surrounded the pine rippled once, and was gone.
Moving through the tangle of shinidamachuu that clustered around Kikyou's limp body as they let the souls be absorbed by the miko's body, Sesshoumaru hooked his one arm around her weak form and effortlessly wrenched away the blade that pinned her wrist to the tree. Kikyou at once collapsed against him, and Sesshoumaru knelt on the ground clasping her wilted form close to him. Her blood had begun to stain his garments, but it bothered him not. He laid her head on his shoulder and he held her against his torso as he waited for the shinidamachuu to finish their task of giving her the souls she needed.
Sesshoumaru took the time to observe how injured Kikyou was. He was dismayed to see her smooth cheeks marred by bloody scratches, and her shoulder was pierced by some sharp object. But the worst, as far as he can see, was on her wrist, where the curved blade cut and pinned her to the tree. He had gently taken her wounded wrist and clasped it tightly so as to stop the bleeding, and gradually, the flow of blood ceased, though by that time, his hand was stained by Kikyou's blood. Sesshoumaru felt his own blood boil to see her so hurt. Kikumo will pay double for doing this to Kikyou...
After the last shinidamachuu deposited its soul on her clay body, Kikyou began to stir. She was quite delirious, and the only words that Sesshoumaru could catch from her mouth were, "She's with Naraku...she's betraying us to Naraku..." Sesshoumaru knew at once what she was talking about. Kikumo...she had allied herself with the evil hanyou.
But that was not his problem of the moment. Kikyou was extremely weak, and she might die if she continued to exert herself. With all the gentleness he could muster, he tenderly stroked her wounded cheek, saying, "Save your strength, Kikyou."
Kikyou's eyes had at once fluttered open when his deep voice reached her ears. She couldn't believe it. It was he, and she heard him call her by her real name for the first time. For a brief moment, she forgot the feel of the spasms of pain racking her body.
"Sesshoumaru...I am sorry..." she whispered weakly to him before she passed out. Her weak body sinking into the long piece of fur slung over Sesshoumaru's shoulder. Just then, the taiyoukai's keen eyes caught sight of the shimmering flakes of silver descending from the sky. It was the first snowfall of the year, announcing the start of the cold winter.
Kikyou shivered against him, and Sesshoumaru did not hesitate to wrap his furry pelt around her fragile form to keep the cold from her. He then stood up, carrying Kikyou close to him with his one arm. He felt her weak breath against his neck, and he nuzzled the snowflakes off her disheveled raven hair comfortingly as he carried her back to their camp. Ah, curse his dear brother for hacking off his other arm! He could have carried her easier and more comfortably if he had his both arms intact.
"I won't let her hurt you again, Kikyou," he whispered into her ear, his breath coming in cold puffs. "That, I promise."
...o0o...
Wahh...I don't know if Kikyou could bleed in her clay body, but let's just say she can. Besides, it will help make the scene sweeter, right?