AN: And again! We meet! Greetings all! Sorry for keeping you all waiting, but don't worry... It was worth the wait! We have a darkly action filled chapter right here for you, staring your all time favorites... And surprise visits from a few beloved oldies...
We promise a shorter wait! Seriously, BoomBoomBaby, we shouldn't be making you wait and will update much more often. Drama spices up here big time, so hopefully it'll sate you till next week... Muahahaha... I mean, ahem – nice smile
Sesshomaru's fluff is mine – I love your name. It's so... Wonderful! But then again... I want it. Actually, I want Inu-Papa's fluff... Oh well, anyway glad you liked the previous chapter, hopefully this one will delight you as well!
Drake220.... Yep. We had good moments. This one hopefully will have some more to add!
Hope you all enjoy the newest chapter! Don't forget to review! Tell us what you think! We need your feedback! Enjoy! Ja ne!
Jakotsu sat in the tree and peered down at the group. "Ahhhh.... Inuuuuyaaassshhhhaaa.... I knew you'd return to me. You just couldn't stay away," Jakotsu murmured then stared at his own reflection in his sword, seductively passing his tongue over his lips and blowing himself a kiss. "Wife or not, you're mine. And so are those ears. Ooooooo! How I do want those ears!" Jakotsu drawled on then leapt off of the branch to land on the soft moss covering the ground.
Kagome sat beside the fire and nibbled on berries. "How long have I been throwing up?" she asked, her cheeks red and not from the heat of the fire playing on them.
"About two, maybe three hours. I've never realized morning sickness could be that bad," Miroku observed.
"It was the fish," Kagome insisted.
"Of course," Miroku agreed to play along and he did so, straight faced. "Of course. The Fish."His ears twitched. Inuyasha stood up on the branch, smelling the air, his ears flicking slightly as he tried to pick up on whatever sound it was that had caught his attention in the first place. He couldn't hear anything now. Inuyasha jumped down from the branch, landing and walking to stand protectively over Kagome in a series of movement that made it look like he'd never been in the tree in the first place. "Well, Kagome doesn't like fish. I'm afraid you're going to have to deal with fish and berries, at least for a little while. I could try catching a bunny or something, but I think the meat be a bit too rich for you. When we pass by a town, we'll send Miroku in the get some bread for you, or something."
Inuyasha frowned, sensing something was wrong again. He automatically grabbed Kagome, pulling her out of the way just in the nick of time, as something that resembled a mechanical whip shot out of the forest. "Jakotsu!"
Kagome gasped and leapt out of the way following Inuyasha's initial pull. "Wait! Kimono guy?!" Kagome hissed in surprise, wondering where the snake- like sword had disappeared too. It attacked her like a striking snake and was now no where to be found.
"Inuyasha!" Miroku called pointing in the direction of the densest trees. "I think he's there."
"Right!" Inuyasha nodded. He drew his sword and looked at Kagome. "You stay here, Kagome. This is my fight. Jakotsu's not coming out of this fight alive if I can help it. If he's going to try and hurt you to get to me, the bastard could at least be open about it."
And Inuyasha leapt into the trees, already on the trail of the demon, now that he knew what to look for. Jakotsu was running away from camp? 'Probably to get me alone,' he thought, 'and the sad thing is that it's working.'
Jakotsu seeing his interest approach stood in the middle of the clearing and blew Inuyasha a kiss. "I've missed you. Inuuuuyasha!" Jakotsu shouted and sent his sword flying.
'Fucking psycho.' Inuyasha dodged the attack, and watched as it slashed the tree he had been in. He quickly apologized to the poor tree, landing on the balls of his feet. He easily would have blocked the attack with the large sword, but somehow he was expecting that blocking was not a god idea. If Jakotsu's sword wrapped around his... perish the thought! "I wish I could say the same for you, Jakotsu. I'm rather sad to see that you didn't drown when Shippo threw you overboard."
"Oh... That. Well. I float," Jakotsu said leaping into the air and doing a flip, before landing while unleashing his sword towards Inuyasha again. The sword dangled and curved forward, snapping like a live snake towards him. "You should really go for a skinny dip with me sometime and see," Jakotsu proposed as he landed in a crouched position on the heavily leaved ground of the forest. "Mmm... That's a nice thought..." Jakotsu commented, his violet eyes taking Inuyasha's body in, in one long swift once-over.
Damn it did he hate it when Jakotsu looked at him like some piece of meat! Inuyasha was so off kilter by this movement that before he knew it wood was slamming into his back and the sword was winding around him and the tree, quite effectively immobilizing him as it did cut him. His sword dropped from his hand, once again becoming a rusted antiquity. He glared at Jakotsu. "Okay, Jakotsu. What the fuck do you want?"
Jakotsu grinned. "Have I ever told you how bondage does it for me?" Jakotsu questioned, yanking on his sword, pulling the blades tighter around Inuyasha's form, hugging him impossibly closer to the bark of the tree. "I want your ears. They are just so delicious..." Jakotsu murmured licking his lips and with a twist and pull, he sent the edge of his sword rising up towards Inuyasha's head. "I want them," Jakotsu said simply.
Panting with excitement and lust, Jakotsu couldn't help licking his lips again. "You look SO delicious. And I have so many things to punish you for... Ooooo.... Inuuuyashaaaa.... You'll be my favorite river of blood and remains."
He hissed as the blades pulled tighter, starting to cut into his skin. Let them cut. He could put the blood to good use! Inuyasha's golden eyes looked even fiercer when he stared at Jakotsu. "What is it with the ears?" he roared. His fury was in his voice only, knowing that struggling unnecessarily against the blades would only result in more wounds than he needed.
"What's the matter, Jakotsu? Why so quick to cut me up? You've been after me for years, so what the hell are you doing trying to kill me before you do to me whatever your sick little fantasies have been showing you at night." He nearly rolled his eyes. Great: give the psycho demon ideas. Inuyasha wasn't sure that he was the saner demon, suddenly.
Jakotsu grinned at Inuyasha. "I always knew you would be in to it too.... Forget about that stupid woman. She is, after all, a woman. You don't need her..." Jakotsu purred and tried to calm his heaving chest, fingers pulling the opening of his kimono wider across his chiseled chest. The sexual tension between the two, as far as Jakotsu was concerned, was thick enough to be cut. "Because, Inuyasha... You gave my kimono to a woman and left rather abruptly... That, and I always wanted to know just how dark your blood flows and how wildly it pours...."
Jakotsu ran his fingers down his Adam's apple, the only giveawayto his true sex. Pulling the broach out of his hair, he thought how lovely it would look pierced through one of Inuyasha's ears attached through his dark hair. Yes. A perfect accessory.
"Killing you is only part of the fun." Jakotsu sighed, looking slightly disappointed, even if his lust for the kill and prey didn't ebb. "It's what happens afterwards that doubles the pleasure," Jakotsu purred.
Inuyasha was back to being certain that he was the sanest one there. He felt blood run down his arm, and he tilted his hands to catch it, praying that Jakotsu wouldn't notice the action. All he needed was a little bit more time, and he could do it. Then there was just the trick of getting Jakotsu to step a wee bit closer. Inuyasha didn't want to miss.
"Wouldn't you prefer it if the body was still warm?" Inuyasha growled. "If there was still a pulse? And don't I get a goodbye kiss?"
The next thing he knew, there were a pair of lips pressing up against his that he normally would have beaten someone senseless for suggesting that they would one day meet. The blood running down his arm finally touched his hand, and he leaned into that particular blade a little bit more, encouraging more of it out.
Luckily, a cough made Jakotsu stop. Unfortunately, Inuyasha knew that he would never live it down: the smile on Miroku's face said that clearly enough. "Well, well," he said, and Inuyasha swore - the smile grew. "It's a good thing I told Kagome to watch the camp. I'd hate to know what she would think of this."
"Hey! I know exactly what I'm doing!" He clenched his fist and felt the blood seep under his nails. He wrenched that hand free. "Hijin Ketsusou!" Struggling against the snake-like sword even as they cut into his skin, he only needed a little bit more room, and then he could use the Sankon Tessou.
Back at camp, Kikyo scoffed as she watched the men run off. Naraku was right. If she waited long enough, the timing would come to her. She watched Kagome busy herself about camp for a moment, moving slowly, occasionally holding her stomach, sometimes with a slightly green face and other times with her eyes staring at some pleasant thought as it danced in front of her.
She looked down at the ground. It was lifeless under her feet, but the ground on which Kagome stood: it was green. She gritted her teeth. They were both priestesses! Why was it that the forest was responding to Kagome and not to her? 'I'll have to ask Naraku after I bring him back Inuyasha's whore.' She just couldn't bring herself to call Kagome Inuyasha's wife.
"Excuse me," she said gently, stepping into the little clearing where they had made their camp. Kikyo had lost her priestess robes and wore a simple red dress, no lighter or darker than that of blood. "Might I enjoy the comfort of your fire for a moment?"
Kagome's head shut up in reaction to the Priestess's presence. Holding her breath for a moment, Kagome couldn't help but wonder what another human, female Priestess was doing here... In the demon world. But beyond anything else, Kagome couldn't turn the woman back. "Of course," Kagome offered moving to sit on the opposite side of the fire from her. "I never thought to meet someone like you here," Kagome confided.
She sat down across from the fire, her eyes concealing the anger lurking under the thin veneer of respectability she wore. "Oh, humans sometimes venture into the demon world. We fall here by accident, or escape from our demon captives. I fell here by accident." It was the closest Kikyo could come to telling Kagome the truth. She had fallen into the demon world, true enough, but not the way that Kagome would think she meant. "Myself, I'm surprised to find you here when you are with child, and a demon one at that."
Kagome's head snapped up, her brown eyes wide as she stared at Kikyo, her hand instinctively reaching out towards her bow. "How did you know?" Kagome whispered fighting the urge to shelter her stomach with her hand.
"Can you not look at others and tell that they are with child?" Kikyo quickly asked, each question already with an answer to support it planned out in her mind. She peered over the fire, and gave the tiniest of smiles. "But perhaps I am wrong about the parenthood. All I can sense around me is demons. And why should it not be that way? This is the world of demons; their signature is engraved even upon the smallest rock. Or can you not feel that either?"
Kagome paused, her hand tightening around her bow and bringing it towards her slowly and idly. "I can usually tell when their stomachs are big and fat," Kagome retorted, somewhat jealous inside of the Priestess's power. Looking around, Kagome decided it would be best to keep her child's parentage a secret. For now. It wasn't safe anywhere to go around telling who her husband was. "I sense sadness and death around me. Not demons as much as that," Kagome said then peered at the woman curiously over the flames. "What's your name? How long have you been here?"
She smiled inwardly. Inuyasha picked a weak priestess for his bride! Kikyo could take her easily.... "My name is Eurydice. I have been in this world for a month or so, and have found no way home yet. How in the world did you end up here, Lady...?"
"I'm searching for a friend. Have you seen another woman pass by here? She might've been in the company of demons," Kagome explained, wondering about the feeling of dread she had taking root and building up inside of her. Studying Eurydice, Kagome could practically feel the cold of the woods flowing through her, and the name just didn't seem to fit.... Shaking her head, Kagome wondered where Inuyasha and Miroku were. Why they hadn't returned yet. "Why haven't you returned home yet?"
"Because I have found no way home," Kikyo responded, starting to think that Kagome was not just weak, but a fool as well. And Kagome had given her the perfect opportunity to take her away from Inuyasha. "A woman with long brown hair? There was a human with a strong aura who came through here only just yesterday, bound and gagged to a horse. The demons called her Sango, and said something about a monk..."
Kagome almost jumped for joy. "Do you know where they took her?" Kagome asked hopefully. A nagging voice in her head commenting about the woman sitting opposite of her. Something she should remember about that particular shade of black her hair had.
Nodding slowly, Kikyo explained, "I tried to rescue her, but the demons numbered many. They took her to a castle west of here, one that as heavily guarded. A single Priestess may not be able to break inside, but two might."
Kagome thought about it and looked over to the direction of west. "Perhaps. But I have companions with me," Kagome said, now wondering why the woods were so quiet and Miroku and Inuyasha were still not returning.
"But they are not here, and we are," Kikyo rationalized. "And while we wait for your friends to return, your captive companion might be in mortal danger. Can you risk waiting for them if you know that this girl Sango's death is on your time?"
Kagome studied the woman before her. "I have to. We're a team. I cannot pick up my skirts and go, I need to wait for them. We'll make up for the lost time with them. Don't worry," Kagome said her free hand pawing lightly at the arrows on the other side of her. "You seem more lively then you were a moment ago," Kagome said and closing her hand over an arrow shook her head at the woman. "But still you feel as cold as this forest."
Her eyes narrowed slightly over the top of the dancing fire. Maybe Kagome wasn't as stupid as she seemed.... For the first time since she arrived in the clearing, Kikyo told the truth. "I have been here for a month. My power has been all but drained out of me by the land itself. I have had many sleepless nights, haunted by the fear of demons. And I was very hurt by someone I loved. It was because of him that I fell here."
Kagome felt a pang of empathy for her. "Are you healed?" Kagome asked, drawing bow and arrow close. "My friends and I can help you if you need," Kagome offered, knowing the feeling of potential hurt by someone you loved. "Perhaps, I can help your powers with my own," Kagome offered, knowing too how it felt to have the land drink out her powers. One would think that with all the demons about, the land wouldn't be craving so for magic, but it was, like parched soil seeking water.
Like Kagome, Kikyo felt a surge of empathy. Perhaps, had Inuyasha not become involved, they might have become friends. Though Kagome's power and brains seemed somewhat lacking, from Kikyo's point of view, she seemed to have an honest heart. Kikyo would almost feel guilty about twisting it around, if she didn't already loath it for being touched by Inuyasha. "That's a wonderful thought, but my... retribution must be my own. I shall heal myself. That's the thing I have found about being a woman, about being a Priestess: it's safer, easier, and quicker to be by yourself. You can look out for the people you are supposed to protect equally. You can move around effectively. To be a Priestess is to eternally be alone."
Kagome felt that sentence hit home. Like the prick of a needle it stabbed at her. But the falter in thoughts only spilled over her face for a moment, before she shook her head. "I use to think that too. But to be a Priestess is to give of yourself to others, and you can share that giving with someone you love. Because, we are after all, human. To be human is to love and be loved. If you find someone right, they can help you help others, they can be there for you, and your people when needed. I think being alone deprives our hearts and souls, which we need so much in our task." Kagome whispered softly, somewhat to herself even though it was directed towards Kikyo. Kagome thought about Miroku and Sango, her good friends, about Shippo the little demon who was so sweet and helpful, but most of all loving, and then of Inuyasha and she could feel her power flow through her. Kagome's thoughts drifted to her baby. "Sometimes, we need another anchor in this world to keep ourselves centered."
'Articulate whore,' she spat. Kikyo was quickly finding the words that Kagome spoke were wrapping around her like a blanket, but her anger pushed them away, now rearing its evil head on Kagome too, and not just on Inuyasha. "Well then, Priestess, I hope for your sake you cannot experience the pain that I have gone through. I believe duty should be our anchor, not a man. If it is a man, we start to forget what we are, and our responsibility."
There was a flash of a pulse rush through the air... Was that power? Kagome wondered as she tried to sense out the source of it. Rightfully in these woods there was nothing to give off such an aura, the opposite actually. These woods were sucking off of any that came near them in fact. Suspicion alongside sudden nausea rose within her as Kagome studied the fellow Priestess wearily. "How did you manage to survive so long in this demon world?" Kagome asked speculatively. "Duty can weigh on us till we have nothing to give. Even a Shepard needs help with his herd," Kagome reminded. "To be with someone does not mean to forget ourselves. We are each individuals. We cannot lose ourselves within the arms of another, if we do not let ourselves," Kagome said her brown eyes focused on the other woman. "Do you speak this way because you have lost yourself?" Kagome asked tentatively.
"I did whatever I had to do to stay alive, and I know exactly who I am. I have not lost myself in the slightest," she quickly answered, sounding insulted. This was ridiculous! She had to get Kagome back to Naraku. And if Kagome wasn't going to come willingly, then Kikyo would have to use force. "Are you feeling well?" she inquired gently, knowing the pain that pregnant women sometimes went through.
Kagome swallowed the vile taste rising up in her mouth. "Not really. As you pointed out earlier, I'm expecting," Kagome said, not making the slightest move towards her stomach, feeling like she was being watched by some predator. Any sudden movement would trigger a pounce. "Though I am still early in the pregnancy, it seems my food still does not want to stay down," Kagome said under her breath.
Kikyo nodded, and slowly drew a pouch from the folds of her blood red dress. "Have you a cup and some water? I can give you a drink that will help to ease your stomach, and provide a bit of sleep." She smiled sweetly. "I'm sure that your friends wouldn't be so callous as to deny an expecting mother an hour or so of sleep. Besides, you refuse to leave until they return, and who knows how long that could be!"
Kagome eyed the little pouch wearily. "What is it?" Kagome asked sniffing at the offered cup from the Priestess's hands. "They wouldn't... No," Kagome said thinking back to Miroku making her rest and Inuyasha offering her water and something about a haircut. Holding the cup in her hand, Kagome tried to feel the woman's aura... But she couldn't find anything demonic. Taking a sip, she was desperate for anything to help her swirling stomach, and right now, a Priestess was just who she needed for help. But after the sip slivered down her throat, was when Kagome realized that true she didn't pick anything demonic up from her, but she didn't pick anything else up either. "Wha..?" Kagome whispered feeling her body begin to go numb and her mind tired.
She knelt in front of Kagome, her eyes searching hers. "The dead don't carry auras. Why else do you think that nothing grew on my side of the fire, while yours continued to grow?" She sighed. "You're a strong one. Most people would have been completely knocked out by that potion." Kikyo's face contorted into a sneer. "No matter. I quite like it this way. You can watch for any sign of your precious Inuyasha to come and save you, slipping into hopelessness when he doesn't. How can he really come and rescue you? Do you know what he's out there doing, Kagome? He went off with a miscreant monk! They left you high and dry to visit the brothels and the taverns, too bored with the idea of babysitting a pregnant woman for a child Inuyasha doesn't want."
Kagome coughed and struggled to move. If she could only launch her arrow into.... Her arms were at her side numb, not reacting to the commands. Trying to shift her feet, Kagome only felt her own weight weighing her down. "N-no..." Kagome tried to yell, but it came out a faint whisper, fainter then her gasping breaths. 'Poison?' Kagome thought, panicked, then shot that thought away, if it was she'd feel it. Inuyasha and Miroku going off to a tavern? No. Not with Sango... Not with her... Thousands upon thousands of thoughts ran through her mind, denying the woman's scornful words. 'He'll come. He'll save me.' Kagome thought forcefully, pushing all other worries away. Feeling her fingers uncurl from around the arrow and fall limp, Kagome's eyes stared up at the woman. 'He wants the baby. He wants me. He wants us both. He just didn't want you...' "Kik...yo..." Kagome managed the last aloud.
Her eyes widened slightly. "So. You aren't really as dumb as you pretend to be." With almost demonic strength, she picked up Kagome and threw her over her shoulder. Whistling to herself softly, she began the walk back to the awaiting carriage parked not too far away. Kagome would be in Naraku's hands before the sun settled.