A/N: I feel so special! I have never gotten so many reviews for a first chapter! Don't worry, everyone - next chapter will definitely fill in some answers to pressing questions.
The Broken Miko
Chapter 2: Izo, the Cowardly Vassal
The moon cast a haunting glow onto the palace. It was a traditional Japanese residence for the rich, but Sesshoumaru could see that it had recent additions to the original structure. Not long ago, it had been a very small mansion, if it could have been called as such. The crisp new walls of the added wing allowed him to see the silhouettes of five guards pacing across the property.
"They have pitiful defenses," commented Kagome quietly. "This shouldn't be too hard."
"Nevertheless," responded Sesshoumaru, "we will not allow them to raise the alarm."
"No going in with loud battle cries?"
He cast a searing glance at his hanyou companion. "I have no weapons or armor. It is not advisable to run blindly into battle like my idiot brother."
A soft growl erupted from Kagome's throat, wordlessly warning Sesshoumaru to keep his rude comments to himself.
He waved off the attempted threat and pointed to the two guards at the southeastern corner of the palace. "Kill those two as silently as possible, I will dispose of the other three." Again, he glanced at the girl, who was nodding in agreement. "Do not expect me to protect you, should you get into trouble. That was not part of my oath."
Kagome smiled in a malevolent manner that did not suit her features. Flexing her claws, she said, "You just wait. I'll be saving your life again in no time."
It was Sesshoumaru's turn to growl. "I think not, half-breed," he whispered as he slipped off towards his three oblivious victims.
The hanyou shrugged and turned to face her own opponents. Keeping to the shadows, she stalked her prey, watching as they talked and joked. When their eyes were closed in mirth, she quickly leapt up to the roof above their heads, landing as silently as possible on the slats.
The laughter stopped. "Hey," said the larger guard, "did you just hear something?" He shuffled a bit, peering around the grounds, while Kagome carefully kept hidden from view.
'Damn youkai hearing,' she cursed in her head. She waited until the two guards stepped forward, craning their necks to watch for intruders. Leaping down behind them, she tapped their shoulders.
The two burly youkai turned around with evident surprise, which was frozen on their faces as she used her claws to slice open their throats. They fell forward into her arms and she smoothly laid them down before they dripped too much blood on her clothing.
Lifting her claws to her face, she sniffed delicately. 'Ugh,' she thought, grimacing. 'I definitely smell like those two scummy youkai now.'
She felt a tug on her sleeve and her instincts kicked into place. Kagome swung her sharp claws towards the villain who dared to touch her, only to have her arm caught in a pale, striped hand. Her eyes traveled up the dirty silk-encased appendage, past a furry boa and onto the calm face of Sesshoumaru.
His hand tightened around her wrist, making her wince slightly. It didn't hurt, but Kagome remembered the power of his poison claws when he held Inuyasha's wrist like this. At least she wasn't wielding Tetsusaiga against the Western Lord like the male hanyou had been doing.
"You are in desperate need of training, half-breed," he hissed.
After a moment of furious stares, he released her and turned to the sliding door beside him.
She blinked as the door opened, and light streamed into her sensitive eyes. As they adjusted, her ears continued to swivel around, listening for strangers.
Finally, the Western Lord appeared in her vision. He was studying the intricate paintings on the walls made of thick rice paper overlaying expensive wood. One of them depicted an epic battle and scrolled across ten feet of wall space. His claws traced the armor of one of the demon generals, who was charging towards a terrified human army.
Kagome leaned forward and her eyes widened. "That's… your father."
The golden paint gleamed faintly in the light of the torches, but Sesshoumaru's eyes shone even brighter. "Yes."
Her claws joined his in touching the regal looking demon on the canvas. "I could tell by the fuzzy thing. Must be a family thing, huh?"
He frowned. "It is a tail."
"Really now?" She reached out to the white tail wrapped around his shoulder, but stopped her fingers a few inches away and dropped her hand. "Sorry."
Sesshoumaru watched in amusement as her cheeks flushed slightly. Truthfully, he could care less if she touched his tail. It was not as sensitive as so many women believed it to be. He almost rolled his eyes as he thought of the number of females that tried to excite him by stroking his tail. It was irritating.
No wonder he didn't take as many females to bed as the other unattached, and some attached, demon lords.
On the other hand, he was pleased that he wouldn't be washing out the stench of half-breeds from his fur later.
Now that he had escaped the scents filling the dungeon and the flowering trees, Sesshoumaru could smell the hanyou properly. As she stood there, pretending to become absorbed in the paintings again, he inhaled deeply.
Ignoring the trace surface scent of blood, the scent of mandarin oranges flooded his senses and he arched an eyebrow. It was surprisingly tolerable for the scent of a hanyou. The airy citrus smell imprinted itself into his mind so that he would not accidentally kill her in the midst of battle.
"Who's the woman?" asked the hanyou, pointing to a lithe, pale woman watching the fight from a cliff above the battleground. Her clothes were that of distinguished lineage and she easily stood out among the other females. "She has your stripes."
Sesshoumaru frowned. "No one… My mother."
"Your mother?" she repeated.
He gave her a stony glare and she knew that he would not say anymore about the beautiful demoness.
"There's no one here," observed Kagome, changing the subject and dispelling the sudden tension in the air. "I wonder why he had this wing built." She ran her fingers over the textured rice paper. "It's new, isn't it?"
"Yes. Follow me." He turned away and began walking towards the center of the palace complex.
The silence pounded in her ears. "Doesn't it bother you that no one has tried to stop us yet?" she asked with an edge to her voice.
"No."
Kagome frowned as dark thoughts flowed through her mind. She didn't expect to find huge amounts of soldiers blocking their way, but the hush residing in the palace was gnawing at her mind.
Perhaps it would be an ambush. But no. To try trapping Sesshoumaru now would be ridiculous. Actually, the better word would be 'deadly', or perhaps 'incredibly stupid'.
They twisted through the building, with Kagome trailing behind the demon lord. He seemed to know where he was going, although she had no idea how he knew. Maybe all palaces were built the same way. The Lord of the Western Lands had to have a mansion of his own, right?
Of course, Koga hadn't had a grand home. He lived in a cave with dozens of his kin, which always struck Kagome as odd for a youkai of noble blood.
She felt a familiar tug on her heartstrings as she thought of the wolf prince. Of all humans, hanyou and youkai, Kagome thought he would have been the least likely to leave her. And yet, he had left her, just like the others.
The hall widened suddenly into a large central chamber. To their left sat a high-backed chair, where the vassal probably sat to hear audiences of his peasant subjects.
"In there," the Western Lord murmured, gesturing to the insignificant looking door next to the throne. He moved towards it, his boots making no noise upon the hardwood floor.
"I don't know, Sesshoumaru," Kagome said. Her previous insecurities flared within her once again. "This could be a trap. Are you sure you want to go in there?"
Stopping and turning to face her, he smirked slightly. "Are you showing concern for me, half-breed?"
She scoffed. "Don't count on it. I just don't want to be killed because of your mistakes."
"This Sesshoumaru does not make mistakes," he answered coolly, walking towards the door once again and sliding it open with one fluid motion. The room was dark; its blackness seemed to seep out onto Sesshoumaru's clothing. Kagome watched as his eyes flashed red. "Come out, coward."
Sesshoumaru stepped back to allow a tall, sallow demon to stumble out into the light. His stringy black hair fell into his eyes and the signs of stress and worry hid any indication of his true age. He was wearing clothing similar to what Kagome had seen Jaken wear, but it was loose and hung grotesquely over his thin frame. His crouching form hid the fact that he was probably as tall as Sesshoumaru himself.
The demon immediately backed away and cowered next to his throne. He threw his hands over his face, effectively blocking the hanyou and Western Lord from his sight.
"Some vassal you are," commented Kagome offhandedly. "You caught the guy and now you can't look him in the eye? He's just a powerful demon lord." She approached him slowly, still aware that this could be the trap she feared. "You are the vassal, aren't you? The one who threw Sesshoumaru into that prison?"
"N-n-no!" the demon stuttered, keeping his eyes covered. "It wasn't me!"
"Then you aren't the vassal that owns this place?" Kagome frowned and leaned back, perplexed.
"He is," growled Sesshoumaru. "But he was not the youkai that condemned me that slime pit. He is, after all, just a vassal. I would imagine the true lord of this land was the one who captured this Sesshoumaru."
"I see." She leaned over the vassal once again. "Where is Sesshoumaru's stuff? The swords and the armor?" After a moment of silence, she pried his hands off his face in frustration. This only caused him to cower down more and clamp his eyes shut. "Look at me!" she barked.
He yelped but cracked open one sickly green colored eye. "What do you want?" he croaked.
The inuyoukai ignored the simpering fool and entered the dark room, searching for the deadly Tokijin and life-giving Tenseiga, as well as his armor. It had been broken and repaired so many times, he had become quite used to it battered appearance and was reluctant to part with it. He quickly found all three items on a side table in the small, bare room.
He was displeased to find that none of them had been properly maintained during the last five months, but that was to be expected from such a worthless vassal. The Western Lord would have Jaken clean them upon his return.
When he emerged, Sesshoumaru discovered Kagome interrogating the vassal for his name.
"Tell me!"
"No!"
Apparently, the youkai had gotten a bit more courage in the last few minutes. Not for long however.
Kagome trailed her sharp claws down his cheek, leaving a thin line of blood. "Tell me," she whispered dangerously. "Surely you don't want to die for the pathetic matter of not telling me your name?"
"Izo," he peeped immediately.
She curled her lip in disgust at his cowardice and backed away. "Good thing it's a short name. You probably would have choked if it was any longer."
Sesshoumaru watched this as he calmly fastened the last part of his armor and walked over to the pair. Without pretension, he lifted the vassal two feet into the air by the front of his brown clothing. "Now… explain."
The youkai grasped at a pendant lying on his chest and began to make a clucking noise. The Western Lord arched an eyebrow when Kagome cleared her throat. "I think he's too scared to talk, Sesshoumaru," she scoffed.
"Very well." He moved to the left five feet and roughly deposited the vassal onto his carved throne. "Now you will explain yourself."
Izo seemed to have lost his power of speech completely as he retreated to the back of the chair, pulled his knees up and buried his head in his arms.
"This is getting old," gritted out Kagome. She cracked her knuckles and growled softly. "Answer Sesshoumaru's questions or I'll rip you a new one."
The inuyoukai turned his attention to the female next to him. "What does 'rip you a new one' mean?"
The hanyou's cheeks colored slightly. "Never mind." The red tinge left her face and she spun to face the vassal again. "But I assure you that it will be painful. So answer the damn question!"
A fleeting thought of being the 'bad cop' passed through her mind. But that would make Sesshoumaru the 'good cop' and that would be completely ludicrous.
If it was possible, the vassal recoiled further into the seat. One look at the now glowing eyes of Sesshoumaru and Kagome's deadly claws made the decision for him. "Fine! Just… don't hurt me. This palace used to belong to a human, so my lord told me to take his dangerous prisoner to my own dungeon which disallows demonic abilities."
"Who is this lord of yours?" growled the Western Lord. "Where is he?"
"I don't know! He sent orders that yesterday everyone in my court had to leave except a few guards!" Izo shrieked, throwing his hands over his face once again, clearly expecting an attack.
The female hanyou placed a hand on Sesshoumaru's remaining arm and gently pulled him back, ignoring the glare she received for her actions. "Fine," sighed Kagome, "just keep going then."
The vassal spread his fingers and peeked through. Once satisfied he would not die immediately, he spoke again. "He said that you had a special sword called the Tetsusaiga. He said that your father made it and so his son should now hold it." He paused and seemed to be holding back tears. "But you didn't have it! One of the swords you were carrying possessed two of my men before we could get it into the storeroom. And the other wouldn't cut paper!"
"You captured and held this Sesshoumaru for five months for the sword?" His growl rose in volume and pitch, and Kagome knew he was insulted that his captor had no interest in the actual Western Lord.
She covered a smirk.
"My lord was curious about you too!" whimpered the vassal, sensing Sesshoumaru's anger. He twisted the pendant's chain in his hands. "That's why we kept you alive. He wanted to question you himself, but was busy with other matters."
"What would he have to question Sesshoumaru about?" asked Kagome.
Izo cast a terrified glance at the Western Lord. "I don't know! Really! Probably about the sword… and… and maybe about his lands' defenses."
Kagome suddenly lunged forward to pluck the pendant from the vassal's fingers. He yelped as she yanked and broke the chain. "What is this?" she hissed. "You've been playing with it ever since we got here and I saw the same thing on your guards."
"It's… It's the emblem of my lord… We wear it to show our allegiance to him." He made a weak reach for it, but Kagome just handed it over to the Western Lord. It lay in his open palm.
"Look at this symbol on it," she said with a lowered voice. She traced the indention with her claws. "It looks like an eight-sided star." The bottom tail was elongated further than the others and pierced a sphere. "What does it mean?"
The Western Lord let out a soft growl of frustration. "I feel as if I should recognize it, but I do not."
They looked at the vassal, who just shook his head and buried it into his hands once again.
A wide, wicked smile spread across the hanyou's face. "You know more than what you're saying. Just tell us." She stepped back a few feet and held her arms out. "Don't you see what's going on? Your lord has abandoned you."
She said the word with such vehemence that Izo began to weep. Even the taiyoukai beside her arched an eyebrow.
Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Hardly any guards, in the middle of nowhere with a homicidal demon lord a short distance away. It doesn't scream 'protection', does it?"
But Izo seemed to be past coherent speech or thought.
Sesshoumaru hated useless informants. His eyes glowed a deep red as he reached out and grabbed the vassal's chin. With a vicious snarl, he snapped the youkai's neck in a quick movement. As the red faded back into gold, he glanced at Kagome. To his surprise, she was looking at him with a calm, even pleased, expression. It would be rather unnerving, had he been anyone else.
"Well, I guess he had nothing more to say. Let's go." After retrieving the pendant, she turned away from the dead demon slumped on the chair and began to walk towards the exit.
Looking down at his tattered clothing, he said, "I wish to find more suitable attire before we leave."
She turned around, tilted her head and swept her eyes over him. "You do look rather like a street urchin."
He growled softly. "After we quit this place, we must have a talk about your insolence and your ill-timed comments."
"And how it's all so charming?" Her eyes glittered with cruel laughter. "You can't hurt me, Sesshoumaru. You promised."
"You may convince me to act against my promises for once, half-breed."
"Right, whatever." She walked out of the room, but her voice called back to the annoyed youkai. "Come on, he must have some nice clothing around here somewhere."
With surprising speed, Kagome found the vassal's bedchamber. When Sesshoumaru found her, she was already rooting through his drawers and closet.
He spotted her feet moving behind the large bureau drawer doors. She was humming a cheery tune that the taiyoukai found quite irritating. Peeking around the edge of the door, she pointed to the bed. "I've thrown some clothes on there already. See if they'll fit."
The youkai stared with distaste at the coarse material on the bed.
She poked her head out of the bureau again. "Don't scowl. It gives you wrinkles."
"I do not get wrinkles. And this clothing is unsuitable."
"I can't help it if Izo has… oh sorry, had bad taste." She smiled at him.
"You are insane, girl." He caught another kimono as she threw it at his face, noting that it was equally as bad as the others.
"Possibly," she commented. "But it's my demon blood. I keep telling you that." She took on a pensive expression. "Perhaps it was watching you kill Izo. Got me a bit charged up I guess."
Both of the youkai's eyebrows arched so high that they were hidden by his bangs.
"Hmm. You find that surprising," she commented.
"I do."
"Why?" Her voice was muffled as she turned back to the drawers.
"I recall you once had a aversion towards killing." He caught yet another kimono and was pleased to see this one was at least silk, if not very well made.
"When I was human," she said with a bitter tone.
"It was not that long ago." He joined her at the bureau and reached past her into the piles of clothing. Izo might not have had much taste, but he evidently had bought out several markets' worth of clothing.
"Maybe not. But it seems like it's been forever. Why do you care?"
"It is helpful when I can predict my enemy's actions," he reflected.
"Ah-ha!" she shrieked, as she pulled out a burgundy silk kimono. It was definitely the gem of his entire wardrobe. She spun around, and surprised the inuyoukai by holding the top up against his shoulders. Her fingers accidentally brushed the stump of his left arm, but she didn't flinch.
Brown eyes met his golden ones. "I think this will do nicely. We're lucky he was as tall as you." She draped the kimono over his arm. "And I'm not your enemy, Sesshoumaru. I'm your traveling companion now."
"I do not trust you," he pointed out.
"No, I suppose not. And I don't trust you either. But if you consider everyone you don't trust as an enemy, then everyone in your life is your enemy and you have no friends."
"I am not ashamed of that, nor should I be." He turned away, placed the new kimono on the bed and unwrapped his tail from his shoulder. Glancing over his shoulder, he said, "I suggest that you leave if you do not wish to see me unclothed."
Kagome smirked. "Well, normally my modesty would force me out of the room, but don't you need help?"
He glared at her. "No."
Rolling her eyes, she walked to the door. "Fine. But if you're not out there in twenty minutes, I'm coming in after you. We don't have all day to satisfy your male pride."
She exited the room, shut the doors firmly behind her and sat down in the hallway.
"You irritate me, half-breed," said Sesshoumaru from inside the chamber. Although the walls stood at least six inches thick, the doors could not prevent two creatures with demonic hearing from communicating.
"I think you've mentioned that before," she commented. "But now you know I'm here in case you need help."
"I shall die before accepting your help, wench."
"I've already helped you, so you might as well fall on that sword of yours," she scoffed. "As long as we're here, we might as well discuss something important."
"Tell me why and how you have become a half-breed," he demanded.
Kagome gave the doors a deadly stare. "In due time, I'll answer those questions. I was thinking more about Izo."
"He is dead."
"I know that, Sesshoumaru…" she trailed off for a moment. "That's such a long name. Can I call you Sess?"
"No," he gritted out emphatically.
His mother had called him 'Sess' when he was quite small. As he grew, he requested that she call him by the name given by his father. He remembered the pained look that fleeted over her face that was quickly replaced with one of amusement. She then called him 'Sesshoumaru-chan'.
That was three hundred years ago. Memories of his mother were no longer remembered fondly.
"Fine," she huffed.
'This is without a doubt the most infuriating side of her personality she has shown yet,' he thought grimly.
"Anyway," the hanyou continued, "my point was that a lot of stuff about this place just doesn't feel right." She looked down and started to clean the dried blood out from underneath her nails. "I mean, it's obvious I was right and the lord did abandon his vassal. But why?"
"Look around, wench. It is not difficult to deduce what happened." He was on the edge of growling as he struggled to tie the sash around his waist. After four years, he should have gotten the hang of this.
Kagome frowned in concentration.
After a few more minutes the door opened and the taiyoukai stepped out attired in his new kimono, coupled with his armor and swords.
Her face broke into a smile. "Well, I think it looks better on you than it would on Izo."
An arched eyebrow was her only reply.
"I've been thinking about it, as you suggested, but I can't figure out what happened here."
He stood over her and inwardly sighed. "This lord gave Izo a large sum of money and other treasures. Instead of using it as the lord wished, Izo squandered it on clothes, paintings and additions to his castle."
Kagome nodded in understanding. "So when Izo told him that you didn't have the sword, the lord just left you here. He knew you would eventually break out and kill Izo. And why should he care? You didn't have Tetsusaiga."
The Western Lord began to walk away and listened to the girl scramble after him. "That is what I believe for the most part."
She caught up to him. "For the most part?"
"Most lords would not give up the chance to destroy this Sesshoumaru."
Nodding again, she looked up at him. "Do you have any theories about it?"
His lip twitched slightly. "For once, this Sesshoumaru is in the dark."
Kagome chose to not tease him about his frustration. "There's another question though. Why would this lord want the Tetsusaiga? I mean, he's a demon lord right? How could he even touch it?"
Sesshoumaru remained silent, contemplating the issue. He recalled the first time that he had discovered he couldn't touch the Tetsusaiga and his frustration. Then, the girl beside him had surprised everyone by releasing it from the spell and handing it over to his brother.
His brother, who wielded their father's Fang like a wet rag. How humiliating for the family.
They quickly reached the door through which they had entered the complex. Sesshoumaru stopped in front of it and turned to the hanyou. "We shall go back to my home in the west."
"Okay," she agreed. "You probably need some time to recover."
"I have nothing to recover from," he retorted.
"Well, I'm sure you want to see Rin, don't you?"
He kept a tight hold onto the growl rising in his throat, but he couldn't deny that he would be pleased to see his ward again. Not that he would admit it to the half-breed.
Instead, he observed, "No matter how the lord intends to use the Tetsusaiga, he must not be allowed to have it."
"Definitely," Kagome agreed.
"I do not trust my brother to protect the Fang. On the way to my castle, we shall meet Inuyasha and take Tetsusaiga from him."
"What makes you think you can get it?" Kagome asked indignantly.
Sesshoumaru growled. "It shall be worth the battle. You should not care anymore. He chose the undead miko over you."
"I didn't say he chose her," she whispered. "Besides, I think that Inuyasha would be able to manage."
Her heart began to constrict once again at the thought of the male hanyou, but she refused to let it affect her anymore. She had spent enough time crying over him. There was a new mission to concentrate on and a new nemesis.
"Like I said before, you don't need to worry about Inuyasha."
"I do not agree. My little brother can be quite impulsive in battle and could easily lose the Tetsusaiga to a foe."
Kagome sighed and scratched behind her crimson-colored ear. "Well, let me put it this way. What if Inuyasha didn't have the Tetsusaiga anymore?"
His eyes flashed red and he pushed her into the wall, placing his forearm beneath her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Where is the Fang, wench?"
"Let… let me go!" she choked. "You promised!"
The inuyoukai took a deep breath and backed away while Kagome began coughing and massaging her throat and collarbone.
"Jackass," she wheezed.
"The Tetsusaiga," he snarled.
After a few more moments, the girl straightened up and, without any words, removed her black cloak. Underneath, she was wearing a demon exterminator uniform like her friend Sango's, except fiery red where hers had been pink.
But this was not what Sesshoumaru noticed. His eyes were fixed on the object by her side.
"Tetsusaiga," he muttered. Restraining himself from attacking her again, he spat, "How did you get my father's sword?"
"Inuyasha gave it to me, so don't think that I stole it, okay?" She was still rubbing at her throat.
"You have many questions to answer, wench."
His mind was racing. There was no way his idiot sibling would give the Tetsusaiga away, even if the wench was a hanyou now. However, he always knew when he was lied to, and she was not lying.
Kagome took a risk and stepped towards the angry taiyoukai. "I'll answer them all, if you just let me find a place to camp and clean up." Her ears twitched, as if they alone were aware of the danger she was making for herself. "You could use a bath too, you know."
Sesshoumaru discretely took a few deep breaths. Killing her would not answer any of his questions. And more rage might just scare her off. "Very well."
"Good, I left my bag a little ways to the west. Let's go get it and we'll settle down for the rest of the night."
The taiyoukai watched her form become enveloped into the darkness as she stepped outside. 'She will be the death of me,' he thought as he moved to follow her.
A/N: The first version of this chapter included a battle between Sesshoumaru/Kagome and the guards of the palace… but I felt that this eerie silence scenario would work much better overall. Anyway, keep reading - I love all of you that reviewed!
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