Inuyasha: Damn straight you don't wench! No one can handle the big dog! (Puffs out chest proudly)
Snapdragon: (Rolling eyes Inu while Kagome enters)
Kagome: Oh yeah?
Inuyasha: (gulp) …yeah?
Kagome: (Grinns evilly)
Snapdragon: (waiting impatiently for the fun part)
Inuyasha: Kagome? (Eyes wide)
Kagome: SIT!
Inu: (BOOM!)
Snapdragon: (Rolling on the floor laughing a$$ off)
Kagome: Who's the big dog now?
Inu: (muffled) You're not even a dog dem—
Kagome: SIT!
Inu: (BOOM! again )
Snapdragon: (Turning blue from lack of air because I'm laughing too hard)
Kagome: I'm sorry, who's the big dog?
Inu: (Sighs) (still muffled) You are…?
Kagome: Damn straight! You can continue with what you were about to say Laveda.
Snapdragon (A.K.A. Laveda): (Continues hysterical laughter and fails at all attempts to breathe)
Kagome: (giggles) well since Laveda's a bit…incapacitated at the moment, I guess I'll have to type out the authors notes.
A/N (written by Kagome): Laveda apologizes the last chapter was so short and she asks you to please not hurt her for this reason, she also asks that you enjoy the second chapter of Freedom?.
Kagome: (turns to Laveda, who, ((Yes I know, I have a laughing problem)) is still rolling on the floor laughing like a mad woman) That's all you wanted in your author's notes right Veda?
Snapdragon: (immediately stops laughing) I TOLD you! Don't call me Veda!
Kagome: (giggles) I know…Veda
Snapdragon: Aaaaaaah! (Starts chasing Kagome around and around the room while Inu laughs his a$$ off, holding himself up on the back of roley chair)
(Chair rolls away suddenly with Inuyasha still on it. Snapdragon stops chasing Kagome to watch.)
Snapdragon: (Sighs) Rini leave Inuyasha alone (Clapps hands and Rini appears out of thin air, pushing the roley chair Inuyasha is on. When she's forced to appear, she stops the chair)
Rini: Awwwwww! You're no fun Veda!
Snapdragon: (clenches teeth at the name) Leave Inuyasha alone for just today Rini, he has to back to the set tomorrow to film more of his show.
Rini: (smiles innocently) Ok
(Then as Snapdragon turns her back…)
Rini: (Pushes roley chair, with Inuyasha still on it, out the door and down the stairs) WEEEEEEEEEE!
Inuyasha: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
(Thump)
I really like these kinds of things too much don't I? Oh well, on with the story…
---
Previously…
Kira stood stock still in the center of her room, eyes wide in something close to fright, and listened with all her might to what was going on in the house overhead. With her demonic sense of hearing she thought she had heard a muffled scream followed by something heavy falling.
With how quiet Danshka usually kept his household, Kira knew something was happening and found her nerves sending jolts of slight panic through her body.
Something was terribly wrong in Danshka's estate and she didn't want to stick around to find out what it was.
Outside her door, the guard finally noticed the silence inside the little room that the dog demon was kept in, and wondered why she was so quiet all of a sudden.
Then he heard it, a floor up, right above where he now stood; heavy objects were being thrown about the mansion's interior. Hardly giving a second thought to his orders, the guard barreled up the hidden flight of stairs and out of Kira's hearing range.
Knowing the guard had left his usual post Kira struggled not to panic. It wasn't typically in her nature to panic or have any fear at all, but the past weeks had heightened her senses and reflexes, including the sense of foreboding she felt right now. Kira fought to keep control of herself and reached out as far as she could with her hearing, hoping against hope whoever was destroying master's home thought to check the basement before leaving with Danshka's jewels or whatever he came here for.
The empty spaces of her cell filled suddenly with the manic screeches of the rabbit youkai captive and Kira clamped her hands over her ears in an attempt to save them from the piercing screams. She couldn't help but silently thank the rabbit for finally noticing what was going on upstairs; the shrieks that tore from her promised the attention of whoever was in the house. Kira waited with bated breath as the rabbit slowly quieted in her screams and finally let up, giving over to the silence that once again filled the entire building.
Bringing her hands down slowly from covering her ears, Kira once again reached out with her hearing as far as she could. She stood perfectly still as she listened and finally heard what she had been waiting for.
Directly above her and a bit to the right Kira could hear the fall of footsteps. Too quiet to be Danshka or any of his lackeys, she wondered who this person could be.
As soon as Kira heard this strange newcomer open the door that led down to where Kira was held, she immediately put herself in a forced calm. She told herself that she wasn't afraid of this person, and as soon as he opened the door of her cell, she would kill him (or her) and escape to her freedom.
Kira backed against the wall of her cell, on the opposite side of the small room to the door, and readied herself for it to open.
As the footsteps traveled down the stairs Kira felt her heart tighten in her chest, once he opened the door, she would be free! The footsteps reached the bottom of the stairs, and Kira realized she couldn't hear the reverberating sound each of his steps caused on the packed dirt of the basement floor and started to panic, but calmed herself as she felt his presence.
Just by the feeling of his aura in the room, she could tell this was a demon, and a very strong one at that. She shifted slightly as she readied herself for her attack against the newcomer.
Following the flow of his presence as he moved along the hallway leading to her cell she wondered if she would be able to fight in her humanoid form, she had never tried to before. She thought worriedly about this and nearly panicked again, but as she probed the new demon's aura, she realized he too was in his humanoid form. She smirked and waited as he stopped in front of the door that led into her cell.
There was no window to see into the little room, so in order to see what was in the cell, the demon would have to open the door to see what it hid.
Kira's eyes widened in surprise when the demon's aura seemed to pulse and a second later, a small area of the door began to melt, glowing a slight greenish color as though acid was eating through it. Kira tried to figure out what to make of this new occurrence as she backed into a corner.
The acid seemed to be eating away at the metal door faster now and soon a hole the size of a fist was formed. Kira stared at the opening as the scent of the new demon traveled into her cell through it. She sniffed at the air timidly and her eyes widened further as she realized this demon was also a dog youkai.
Outside Kira's cell the newcomer sniffed at the air that poured from the hole in the door and noted this was a female inuyoukai, and from the stench of fear that was coming from her, he realized how very young she appeared to be.
Deciding without much thought, the demon raised his hand to the door lock and once again his aura pulsed. His hand glowed neon green and acid dripped from his fingers, burning holes in the ground where it landed.
Placing one slender finger on the lock of the heavy door, the metal started to burn away from his touch, the acid eating it like an uncontrollable beast. Soon a large hole replaced where the lock had once been, and the demon removed his finger from the door. His aura pulsed once again as all evidence of his acid powers disappeared and he calmly reached to open the door, when an unmistakable growl met his ears.
He wondered fleetingly if he should be releasing her, but dismissed the thought as he pulled open the door and scrutinized its interior. The room was completely made of stone, and without windows of any sort it was extremely dark.
The demon wouldn't lower himself to squint to see inside, and waited for his keen eyes to adjust while he listened to the threatening growls coming from behind the darkness.
After only a few seconds, the demon could see into the room. Its spaces were smaller than he had originally thought, and it was completely bare. That is, completely bare not including the angry female in the corner.
The demon raised an eyebrow as he took in her body language and the bloody glint in her eyes.
Kira stood in the corner of the cell, her tail straight out in an attempt to make herself look larger and her teeth bared threateningly. Her hands were balled into fists and her legs were tensed and ready to snap into action should the demon try to harm her.
Kira had been slightly intimidated when she realized the door was melting because of some strange power this newcomer had and she had hesitated in attacking him for fear he would turn his poisoned claws on her. She had stayed in her corner, but resigned to attack him should he come near her or show any sign of being a threat.
Though she didn't give any sign of her intimidation, she had no problem showing her power and strength. Before the door had swung open she had given a very clear warning to the new demon that she was not one to be messed with and she continued with her warning in the native inuyoukai language, knowing full well he would understand her.
Kira couldn't help but look over the new demon when she saw him. He was… beautiful. His fierce amber eyes glowed in the darkness of the cell and the long silver hair that hung past his waist shined brightly by its own accord. He had pointed ears similar to Kira's and the markings their kind was known to have. But while Kira had black stripes above her eyebrows as well as on her shoulders and purple eyelids, this new demon had two red stripes on each of his cheeks under his eyes and a blue crescent moon on his forehead as well as red eyelids.
He wore a white kimono with patterns of red flowers on the left shoulder and on the ends of his sleeves, white hakamas, and a yellow and blue sash tied around his waist. His black chest plate intrigued Kira and she looked at him a bit closer as she halted her growling. Slung over the new demon's shoulder his tail lay, white and fluffy like a fur boa. Kira was curious and longed to touch it with how soft it looked.
The demon was extremely strong and extremely well poised, with a thin and muscular build under his loose-fitting clothes. Looking him over from top to bottom, Kira decided he didn't look a day older than 350 (23 in human years) and smirked at the thought of her being the one to end his life where it was.
What Kira didn't know was that at the same time she was gazing at the newcomer, he was looking her over in the same way.
As the demon took in her appearance and slender physique, he also took note of how she was dressed. She wore an outfit of a style he had never seen before and wondered if she was a common whore with the way she was, rather scantily, clad.
She had metal bangles permanently fastened around her ankles and wrists and she wore a strange spiked collar around her throat. A thinner bangle similar to the ones around her limbs wrapped around her waist and long strips of a brown fabric hung from it in the front and the back, making the unusual garment look like a skirt that was completely missing the side pieces.
As he puzzled this, he took a glance at her shirt. It was made of the same material as the… bottoms, and this tiny bit of fabric simply wrapped around her torso with nothing to hold it up. The cloth looked a bit like a second skin, and he figured that's what its purpose was.
When Kira noticed how the demon looked at her, she immediately got mad. Who was he to look at her like that? She would put him right.
Dashing from her corner with her demon speed, she leapt into the air with her claws aimed directly at the demon's throat, right before she reached him, she growled in victory, the demon hadn't even tried to move away from her attack! She would win her freedom.
At the last second before she brought her claws crashing down onto the demon, he turned to face her calmly. He smirked slightly and before she even had time to react, he leapt into the air in front of her, grabbing her shoulders and using her momentum against her, pinned her to the far wall, right where she had been standing when he had started to melt the door.
Kira growled low in her throat when she realized he wasn't even trying. Sure he had pushed her against the wall to pin her, but he wasn't even attempting to hurt her. If she wanted to fight, it would have to be fair.
"Why don't you fight me dog? Are you scared a female might beat you." she growled, her voice menacing and full of threat. The demon didn't say anything, but once again studied Kira's facial features, his own devoid of any emotion.
"My name is Sesshomaru, and you will call me as such." His silky answer only upset Kira more, and she struggled in his grasp.
"Well my name's Kira and you won't call me anything at all, because you'll be dead by the time I'm finished with you." She snapped, trying to find some sort of reaction in him from her words. He kept his face blank and seemingly uninterested.
"Such strong words from someone who has her back to the wall."
Kira growled angrily and slashed at his face with her claws. He avoided her easily, but had to release her in the process to keep from getting his face sliced.
Striding away from her with a confidence she loathed, Sesshomaru came to a stop in the doorway, his back to Kira, blocking her exit. Charging at him with a power she never knew she had, Kira's panic kept her angry. He was blocking her way to freedom, and she would get through that doorway if it was the last thing she ever did.
Sesshomaru smirked as he felt her presence behind him and turned to face her a second before she reached him. Just as her claws racked against his sleeve, tearing the fabric, he lifted an arm and grabbed her around her throat. He ignored the spikes of her collar that sunk into his hand and lifted her off the ground so her feet dangled in the air. She kicked him in the chest repeatedly in her frustration, but it didn't do anything because of his protective chest plate.
Though she was being held up in the air by her neck, Kira could breathe almost perfectly. Sesshomaru seemed to be just keeping her away from him, and not trying to harm her at all. Kira couldn't help but be annoyed by this. If she attacked him, he was supposed to attack back, that was the way fighting worked. The way he just threw her efforts back in her face royally pissed her off and made her wonder if he even wanted to fight her.
Working herself into a frenzy of rage, Kira pooled all of the anger she had found in herself in the past month of her tortures and aimed them toward him. If the collar hadn't been preventing her from transforming, she would have, despite the fact the little cell was at least ten times too small to accommodate her demonic size.
Sesshomaru allowed her to get as worked up as she was, and wondered what might have happened to her in this cell to make her feel she had to fight so hard against him. He had to admit he was curious about her and let his mind wander as she slashed again and again at his wrist while he kept his expression one of slight boredom.
When Kira ran out of anger, and energy, she simply hung in his grasp, unable to fight any longer.
Lowering her down slowly so she could sit on the stone floor, Sesshomaru released Kira's neck and stood in front of her, his hand already healing from the wounds her collar had given him.
As she sat there before him, he couldn't help but notice how broken she appeared. She had overexerted herself in her struggle against him, and all of her old wounds had opened, spilling blood and draining her sources. As he looked down on her, curled into herself on the floor, he felt a slight pang of some unknown emotion in his chest. He wondered what it could be, but as he looked at her again, he realized he pitied her. She had gone through so much torture and abuse in this place but had somehow remained strong enough mentally to be able to get angry and to fight him with so much power.
He had held her up by her neck for nearly twenty minutes while she fought with all she was worth against him before she was finally forced to stop from exhaustion.
Though he didn't even know this girl, he felt pride in knowing how much strength she possessed and the willingness she felt to fight anyone who got in her way. Kira looked up into the amber eyes of her opponent and wondered why he hadn't killed her yet; she had lost her battle, now it was his turn to take his victory.
As Sesshomaru looked into Kira's deep purple eyes, he saw so much anger and hate in them, but under that he saw so much sadness and confusion. He had been right when he figured how young she had been, and she looked a bit like a lost puppy, trapped inside a full-grown body. Sesshomaru looked calmly down into her face,
"Can you stand?" he asked calmly, and as soon as the words left his lips Kira's temper returned and her expression hardened in dignity.
"Why do you care, you've won, now leave me be."
Forcing her body to keep going in its fatigue, Kira drove herself to stand, though her legs shook dangerously, she regarded Sesshomaru with a scathing look.
"Move out of my way." She whispered dangerously.
Sesshomaru wondered what she could possibly do if he didn't, but didn't have time to think on it before her legs gave way. Sesshomaru caught her before she hit the ground and lifted her into his arms.
Kira punched against his chest, her own heaving in pain and indignity.
"Put me down!"
Sesshomaru rolled his eyes slightly and looked down into her glaring eyes.
"You will hurt yourself if you keep fighting the way you do." He said simply, and Kira couldn't help but roll her eyes as well.
"HAVEN'T I DONE THAT ALREADY," she bellowed, hurting her own ears from the volume. "Now put me down!"
Sesshomaru was curious to see how she would be able to move on her own with the amount of energy she had left, but figured if she had enough to yell in his ear like that, she might be able to stand, and he put her on her feet.
Kira fumbled a bit when she was standing on her own, but righted herself before Sesshomaru found the need to help her again. She made her way slowly to the doorframe and leaned her tired self against it.
"Your wounds aren't healing." Sesshomaru pointed out, his voice indifferent, seeing her injuries were still leaking blood.
Demon's had the ability to heal remarkably fast from their injuries, but it looked like Kira still had wounds from almost two weeks ago that still hadn't healed.
"You think I haven't noticed that?" she asked quietly, she tried to sound angry, but when it came out it sounded almost like she was pleading with him.
Her wounds pained her relentlessly, and any movement caused them to start bleeding again.
Kira sighed at the sound of her own voice and turned her back on Sesshomaru, slowly making her way down the hall in the opposite direction of the stairs and her freedom.
Sesshomaru was confused by her actions and followed behind her, curious to see what she was doing.
When she reached the end of the hall she found a door, and facing Sesshomaru said,
"Melt the lock." Sesshomaru didn't take kindly to her demanding tone and glared at her calmly.
"Excuse me?"
Kira's anger boiled up again and she made her way back to Sesshomaru.
"I said, melt the lock." She demanded again, poking Sesshomaru hard in the chest with one clawed finger.
Grabbing her wrist harshly, he threw her to the ground. NO ONE was going to speak to him like that.
Kira started to growl at him, but couldn't find the energy to and ended up with a sigh.
"Look," she started calmly, "there's another girl in there who's been here longer than me, and I'm not leaving without her."
Sesshomaru continued to glare at her, but found her actions to be extremely noble, if not a little pathetic, and turned his attention to the door. As he made his way past Kira, his aura pulsed once again and his hand started dripping acid from his fingertips. Touching the lock, it melted away easily and the door swung open by its own accord.
The stench of a huge amount of blood met both of the inuyoukai's noses and while Kira shrank away from the smell, covering her nose with her hand, Sesshomaru ignored it and was quick to realize what they would find in the chamber.
Kira stood herself back up shakily from where Sesshomaru had thrown her and peered inside the cell. Sesshomaru came to stand next to her as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness and he followed her line of vision into the room.
There, in the far corner of the empty cell, the rabbit youkai lay crumpled in fetal position and completely without life.
Blood still poured from the wounds on her wrists and her eyes were wide open and glassy in manic terror. Her mouth was completely covered in her own blood and Kira gasped in realization at what the rabbit had done to herself.
Sesshomaru merely watched Kira's reaction to the sight and caught her as she collapsed again, her hand covering her mouth. Turning away from the cell, Sesshomaru carried Kira back down the hall and up the hidden flight of stairs, with her mumbling to herself,
"That could have been me."
--
Once Sesshomaru reached the outside of the estate, Kira immediately stopped her muttering and took in her surroundings. A lush forest surrounded the outside of the estate walls and the scent of the trees filled the air. Kira fought the urge to cry as she realized she was finally free.
She breathed in the scent of her much missed freedom and smiled gently to herself. Curling her long tail around her waist, she unconsciously nuzzled closer to Sesshomaru before her exhaustion took its toll on her and she passed out, cradled in his arms.
He raised an eyebrow at her pathetic state and adjusted her skirt thing so her legs were completely covered in it, acting as a sort of blanket. Sesshomaru glanced down at her sleeping form one last time before striding into the dense trees of the forest, heading due west.
--
Kira lifted her head from where she was laying and looked around. Her head was throbbing painfully and she felt extremely weak. Groaning a bit, she hoisted herself into a sitting position and tried to figure out where she was.
All around her, massive trees rose toward the night sky and their roots rippled under the soil. A fire was crackling merrily near some ten feet away and a dead pheasant sat off to the side, half plucked and begging to be eaten. Kira's mouth couldn't help but water at the sight of some real food and she moved to get up.
"It would be wise to keep still."
Kira jumped at the voice and Sesshomaru appeared in the little clearing carrying a small deer. Kira crossed her arms and scowled at him but didn't say anything.
Dropping the dead doe near the bird Sesshomaru called out behind him.
"Jaken, come here." Out of a bush nearby, a small toad like demon carrying a wooden staff dashed to his master's side.
"Y-yes, lord Sesshomaru?"
Sesshomaru didn't answer and simply nodded toward his kills. Following his master's line of vision, Jaken understood immediately and waddled his way toward the deer. Using his sharp little claws, the imp skinned the doe and sliced the meat from the carcass.
When his work was finished he dragged the clean bones from camp to bury them before he turned his attention to the bird. He didn't need any scavenger demons following them in search of food.
Kira sat in silence and stared at the flames of the fire, pondering their movements and responses to the wind, hypnotized by the grace and fury the fire held. Glancing up at Sesshomaru then back at the flames, Kira noticed how alike they seemed to be. The fire, held tight within the wall of rocks surrounding it, looked peaceful and tempting to the touch, even when the heat that comes from it might be a bit too much. Only when you add more kindling to the blaze would it push up against its stone keep, intent on conquering its boundaries. Sesshomaru was similar; he kept his true self hidden behind his mask. Like the fire, he radiated power but didn't seem too much of a threat with the calm beauty he possessed. Kira could only guess what he might be like when provoked, but with the personality that he had, Kira seriously doubted it was even possible.
Sesshomaru sat quietly, watching her gaze into the flames and wondered fleetingly what she was thinking. He couldn't help but think how similar to the fire she was. She had so much anger. Angry, like everything that had ever happened to her had turned out badly, like she was fighting against an invincible demon who refuses to return what he took. He hadn't even been with the girl for two days and he felt he already knew everything about her. Her anger feasted and grew off of life in general, just as fire feeds off of the air that makes it grow. She had been stolen from her rightful life and thrown into the hell he had found her in. Life in there had been killing Kira, whether she knew it or not.
Sesshomaru could tell she hadn't always been the girl he now saw before him, she was still angry yes, but she was broken. Her fears forced her to believe she had no other choice, that she was trapped. She had been trapped. The walls that had confined her in her cell under the estate had cut off her air supply, cut off the air which she needed to keep the fire inside her stable, growing, and alive. He could tell by looking in her eyes, that before her capture she had known nothing of fear or doubt, she had lived a life untainted by those useless emotions, and now that she had finally discovered their existence, her very soul cried out in refusal.
Kira was oblivious to Sesshomaru's eyes on her and simply sighed, tucking her legs under her and trying to figure out how long she had been asleep. She was fiercely hungry and her stomach clearly made its need known, rather obnoxiously in Kira's opinion.
Sesshomaru was still watching Kira and noted with a bit of unease that her wounds were still bleeding, despite the fact that it had been more than two days since she had gotten any of them. Remembering something his father had told him, Sesshomaru stood and made his way over to Kira. She shifted a bit and watched him suspiciously. Sesshomaru sat down next to her and pressed a finger to a deep wound on her thigh. He had barely brushed against it, but Kira couldn't help but cry out from the intense pain his simple touch brought.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Kira shouted, aiming a slashing blow to his face.
Sesshomaru slid away from her attack easily, because of her inability to get up without aid, and came to stand in front of her. A single drop of blood rested on the tip of his finger, the finger he had laid against her wound. He sniffed lightly at the blood and Kira's scent filled his nostrils, as well as something else. Nodding to himself, Sesshomaru looked back at Kira, who was still glaring at him.
"What did they feed you there?"
Though she was still angry with him, she couldn't help the flash of fear that passed over her features at the mention of the estate. She recovered quickly however and covered her fear with skepticism.
"Why?"
Sesshomaru was irritated by her ignorance and didn't reply, instead flicking her blood off his finger with a practiced laziness. Kira sighed in a sense of defeat.
"Oatmeal and milk for breakfast, soup or meat for lunch, and meat and water for dinner. That's all Iwas ever given."
Kira fixed Sesshomaru with a questioning look, cocking her head slightly to the side as though sizing him up.
"I don't get what knowing what I ate will tell you, but it's kind of hard to give an answer when I don't even understand the question."
Sesshomaru ignored her comment and instead asked another question, keeping his voice as steady as it always was.
"What was the meat that they gave you?"
Kira shrugged.
"I don't know, it wasn't exactly the best tasting food in the world, but it wasn't exactly my choice if I ate it or not."
The subject of their conversation was effecting Kira deeply, but she tried not to show it, and forced her hands to keep from fidgeting. Her life in the dungeon was the last thing Kira ever wanted to talk about, and yet here she was, talking about it, and with Sesshomaru of all people. The more he asked of her, the more she felt like she was being led into a trap, and she did not like that feeling.
Sesshomaru could sense her unease and though he tried to ignore it, he couldn't help but try to get straight to the point.
"Tell me, what did this meat look like?" His tone suggested boredom, but Kira caught the slight waver of interest and a bit of concern under it.
"It looked pretty normal to me. I was always given it raw, and I noticed that the muscle patterns were different. I don't know if that means anything to you, but that's all I got on the subject."
Sesshomaru waited for her to continue explaining and Kira caught the hint with a very obvious roll of her eyes.
"Honestly, can't you ask a straight out question, instead of waiting for whoever you're questioning to keep talking until you get the answer you're looking for?"
At Sesshomaru's silence, Kira sighed.
"Obviously not. Well then, the muscles were thicker and almost wavy in pattern compared to all the other types of meat I've ever seen."
"Blood dragon meat." He said, more to himself than Kira. After waiting a while for him to finish his thought, Kira sighed.
"Is that supposed to mean something to me, or was I not meant to hear you talking to yourself?"
Sesshomaru moved in a flash, and before Kira could react he was right in her face, not a foot away from her. Kira gasped and he smirked in her surprise.
"That is what they fed you." He stated simply.
Kira didn't need to ask who they were, and Sesshomaru figured as much with the way her eyes flashed with some strange emotion that she covered before he could find out what it was. He raised an eyebrow and stood to make his way back to the other side of the fire.
Jaken had returned from burying the deer's bone more than ten minutes ago and he now sat quietly plucking the pheasant, not wanting to get involved with his master's and Kira's conversation. There was something about the female demon that he didn't trust, he thought of her as the wolf in sheep's clothing so to say. Jaken knew she wasn't as harmless as she might look, he had seen the damage she had done to his master's arm in the estate when he had joined him outside the enchanted building's walls after Kira had fallen asleep. Jaken didn't question the power she held, and to him it seemed thatwith a bit of training, she might be able to rival his master in rank.
Kira's eyes widened in understanding at Sesshomaru's words. No wonder her wounds weren't healing, if those bastard's had fed her the meat of a blood dragon.
Blood dragons are extremely fierce and majestic creatures. They hold power over humans and demons alike. There are two different families or variations of blood dragons. On one side there were the dragons who used their abilities to help the other species' they shared their lands with, while the others used their powers to kill off entire tribes or villages for fun. Both of these families hold the same powers over blood and life force and were exactlythe same in appearances, but the differentiating factor was their scale color. While the blood dragons who help others have red scales, the ones who hurt have black scales. If a dragon of the opposite color was born into a dragon tribe, the hatchling was immediately killed. Scale coloring had nothing to do with the parents the offspring had, but what the hatchlings eventual future would turn out to be. Killing the little ones seemed harsh to outsiders, but those were the chances the blood dragon species were forced to make.
If Kira had been fed the meat of a blood dragon that had restriction to her wounds healing, she hardly had to guess which family that particular dragon had belonged to. Thinking about her wounds made them throb uncomfortably and Kira tried to ignore them.
As she shifted her weight a bit to ease to pain of her injuries on her legs, soft leaves tickled her thighs and Kira glanced down to see what she was sitting on.
Apparently while she had been sleeping and the entire time she had been talking with Sesshomaru, she had been on a huge bed of ferns and moss, carefully piled into a comfortable temporary nest for her to recover in. Glancing up at Sesshomaru, she met his gaze and he nodded in the direction in which Jaken sat, still plucking feathers from the pheasant. Kira thought it was strange that the little imp would do anything for her, when he obviously didn't trust her. Smiling to herself Kira looked back at Sesshomaru and he saw a twinkle in her eye that almost unnerved him.
Kira knew Sesshomaru was trying to make it look like it was all the imp's idea, but she knew better. Servants who were vassals to demons much higher ranking than themselves weren't to do anything for guests they weren't told to, so in order for Jaken to have made up a bed for Kira, he must to have been ordered to do it by Sesshomaru.
Kira smirked as she glanced back up at the lord and though his expression remained indifferent to everything going on around him, his eyes flashed inquisitively as he tried to read her thoughts.
Before he had a chance to figure out her hidden meaning in her smirk, Kira imitated Sesshomaru and formed her face into a mask, allowing no emotions to show through. Sesshomaru couldn't help but be a little peeved by her childish actions and averted his eyes from her, turning instead to Jaken as finished plucking the pheasant and moved to begin gutting the bird.
Before he could begin the next step in preparing the meal, Jaken felt a familiar presence turn its attention to him. He could feel his master's eyes on his back and tensed visibly as though Sesshomaru's gaze had burned him and turned his head slowly to look on his lord's face. He fidgeted in anxiety and blinked a few times.
"Y-yes my lord, is there something I c-can do for you?" he asked timidly, fidgeting worse than ever.
Kira fought down a giggle at the little toad demon's jumpiness and looked to see what Sesshomaru's answer would be.
Inclining his head a bit in a positive, Sesshomaru glanced in Kira's direction before turning his attention back on his vassal.
"I want you to gather cherry blossoms for Kira once you are finished with the meat," he said, nodding toward the unfinished bird, "then you will escort her to the hotspring. Do I make myself clear?"
Jaken nodded rapidly and stammered out a yes before hurrying to busy himself with the poultry. Sesshomaru turned back to Kira and smirked at her expression of confusion.
"Why do I need cherry blossoms?"
"They are for your bath." He answered her shortly.
Kira smiled gently as she understood. The cherry blossoms were meant to be used as a sort of perfume or soap and she appreciated Sesshomaru's thoughts, but it dawned on her that she had just taken a bath earlier today (or at least she thought she did, she still wasn't sure how long she had been passed out.), maybe the reason Sesshomaru wanted her to bathe again was because she smelled? Kira turned back to Sesshomaru, an angry glint in her eye.
"I just took a bath this afternoon."
"Yesterday afternoon," Sesshomaru corrected, "and I didn't mean it as an insult, I simply suggested it so you would have a chance to clean yourself of your blood."
Kira looked down at herself and sighed as she noted that some of her wounds were still bleeding and that she was indeed, covered in her own blood. Kira felt suddenly exhausted beyond reason and she glanced up at Sesshomaru, planning on telling him that maybe a bath wouldn't be such a bad idea, but the words never left her mouth.
Sesshomaru watched as Kira inspected her open wounds and looked up at him. He waited for her to say something, but forgot the fact as he noticed her eyes go violently out of focus for a moment before returning to normal.
"Go back to sleep Kira, Jaken will wake you when the meal is ready."
Jaken nodded his little head in Kira's direction quickly without looking at her, before returning to the task of gutting the bird. Kira's stomach growled in response to the thought of food, but she decided Sesshomaru was right and she gave one last lingering glance of suspicion in his direction before she wrapped her tail around her waist once more.
"Alright." She sighed and lowered herself into the bed of ferns, falling asleep as soon as her eyes closed.
---
YAY! SECOND CHAPPY IS DONE! I'm really excited about hearing reviews from this chapter. I have to admit, I'm disappointed about the reviews from last chapter. Only 2! I know for a fact that more than 10 times that amount visited my story, there's no excuse for you guys not to leave comments! lol! Anyway, I finally introduced some1 from the Inuyasha story, so harming me is not allowed and yes, there's more coming. I love Sesshy! He's so sexy... (Zones out at thought of beloved Sesshy)
Rini: Umm...Laveda? (Waves hand in front of Laveda's face) Veda? (Pauses in disbelief) Daaaaaamn...if Veda didn't work, I don't know what will. (Thinking) (Gasps happily and starts jumping up and down)
(Rini runs out of room and returns two seconds later carrying a huge sack)
Rini: (panting) Veda...look what I got...
(Unties top of sack, and Sesshomaru steps out with a death threat in his eyes)
Snapdragon: (Still zoned out)
(Sesshy makes his way to Rini as she backs against a wall)
Sesshomaru: You will pay for your ignorance girl. (Glaring evilly)
Rini: (Eyes wide)LAVEDA! Look who came to play! Turn around NOW! PLEASE!
Snapdragon: (Snaps out of it at Sesshy's voice) What? (turns around and sees Sesshy cornering Rini) SESSHY!
Sesshomaru: Huh? (stops and looks around)
Snapdragon: (Glomps Sesshy in full demon form, pinning him to the ground) (smirks in thought) I am sooooo much stronger than him any day.
Sesshomaru: (somehow reads Laveda's thoughts and reverts to his demon form.)
Rini: It's amazing they both fit in this room. (Shakes head in shame) They might take awhile, so enjoy the third chapter when it comes...should be here at January 16th at the latest. REVIEW!