Chapter 22: Rise

Alone. She was alone again. She felt hollow, empty. There was nothing left in the world for her, except hope. The small hope that they would indeed meet again lived deep within her and it kept her going. That hope and her sister kept her alive. When she awoke, she didn't have the desire or will to move. Nothing seemed to matter.

Remembering the demons still lurking in the area, she reluctantly rose, and roused her sister. Eyeing the area, she noted the lurking presence of evil in the area and like a shadow at midday she was gone, her sister in tow.

X

Rise
Throw away
The charade of your life

He hit the ground hard after the last blow. Half-heartedly he tried to lift himself off the ground, but didn't have the strength or will to do so. Somehow, knowing that he would no longer be able to see her, and not knowing when they would meet again, made him lose all will to fight. The half inu-youkai loomed above him and snarled viciously.

"You call yourself a man?… Pathetic! I can't believe I entrusted either of my daughters to you!" the older of the two demons scoffed.

Let the flame of my heart
Burn away
Your complacence tonight
I command you to rise

His words sparked something inside of Sesshoumaru. He used to do the same thing to his little brother. He grunted at the irony of the situation, but quickly pushed those thoughts aside and rose to his feet. He was bloody and his clothes were mangled. He looked like he had been through hell and back.

He glared forward at his slave driver of a sensei with a fierce determination that he had been infamous for in his life. He would not become the prey in this, he would not be weak. He was the predator in life and he would remain such in death. With a defiance that would have rivaled that of his insolent little brother he spat at his sensei when he began to laugh at him.

Wash away
The decay of your life
Feel the light of your eyes

Without warning, Sesshoumaru burst to life, managing to catch his sensei off guard, effectively shutting him up. He landed a solid punch on the older demon, but did not stop there. He lost complete control as he continued to beat on the older phoenix demon. His eyes were blood red and he snarled at the other demon as he tried to fight back in vain.

The older demon snarled and suddenly began to transform, taking on the shape of a giant dog with great wings of flame upon its back. It howled as he caught Sesshoumaru under one of his great paws and began to crush him. The younger demon mercifully lost consciousness as every bone in his body began to groan and then snap under the pressure. The last thing he remembered was the voice of an angel begging for mercy for him.

Find the way
Through the darkness tonight
Fearing no one

X

He groaned as the light stabbed his eyes through his shut lids. He had been swimming in a blissful sea of nothingness, when awareness suddenly smacked him in the face. He heard two voices that seemed to be floating around him in a disjointed sort of way.

Come, take me away
Remove the fear from my eyes
Feel the flame of my heart

"He is strong, stronger than I expected," a male voice stated.

"I told you!" a female voice that reminded him oddly of Kagome in tone and attitude, replied smartly.

"He did not even utter a cry of pain as I crushed his body!" the first voice stated in amazement. "Any other would have been begging for mercy!"

"He is the one," the second voice stated.

"No doubt about it! He has everything we're looking for in a potential…." The rest of the conversation was lost to Sesshoumaru as he drifted away once more.

Burning away
All conversation tonight
Hearing no one

X

Now rise
Turn away
From the shame of your life

He awoke sometime later in excruciating pain. Unable to contain a slight hiss of pain as he attempted to move, he found that it was wiser to assess what was broken before he tried that again.

From what he could tell, his back was broken in several places, not to mention multiple broken ribs. Every bone in both of his legs were completely shattered as was his right arm. It seemed that the only part of him that had gone completely unscathed was his newly restored left arm. Instinctively he flexed his arm, balling his hand into a fist. He continued to squeeze his fist tighter and tighter until his claws pierced the tender flesh of the palm of his hand and only continued to squeeze harder. This was the only outlet he had for the amount of pain he was in.

Feel the light from my eyes
Offering
Consolation tonight
Fearing no one

A soft voice was humming pleasantly in the distance and approaching at a steady rate. With the approaching humming came a scent that was all too familiar and yet different somehow. Sesshoumaru immediately relaxed, knowing that even though it wasn't Kagome he was still in good hands.

Now, I cannot stop this
Pure emotion
Falling from my eyes

Sighing, he allowed himself to drift back to sleep to dream of times not long passed. He delved into the comfort and warmth that he had only felt early in his life before his mother had died. He encased himself in the memories that would have to hold him over for months to come.

You are vindicating
Liberating
Saviors of my soul

X

They had been moving from place to place for days now, only stopping to eat and sleep when necessary. Trouble seemed to follow them at every turn. Kagome desperately longed for the relatively peaceful days she had spent with her friends during the shard hunt. Those were relatively peaceful days compared to her life now, although she knew that those weren't very peaceful times either. She missed her friends, she missed her family and she missed Sesshoumaru.

The past few days had been hell without him and she couldn't imagine any extended amount of time without him. He was the link to her sanity. She knew, however, that she needed to keep it together in order to keep her sister alive. She only prayed that she could.