Enchanted Orbs
Chapter 6 Deathreats and Gifts
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'Be brave Kagome. He won't respect you if he thinks you're weak. Be brave, be brave, you can do this.' This mantra resounded in her head as she saw the demon lord's face. Taking a second to calm her racing heart and steel her resolve, Kagome lifted her head to a confidant level and met his gaze. Their eyes clashed as he stalked towards her.
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'How? How did this wench deceive me? And a human no less. Either she is truly a formidable foe, or she is a fortunate liar. This will be resolved. I will find out how I fell victim to her treachery.' His thoughts ran wild through his head as his face remained as stone.
"I do not enjoy being deceived, miko. It is fortunate for you that I have a sense of honor, otherwise your life would have already ended." 'Yes, fear me, little one. Let's see how useful you are.' His thoughts were never betrayed by this emotionless
"One does what one must to survive. You know as well as I that my life would have been forfeit upon our first meeting if you knew who I was and the identity of my traveling companions." Kagome silently praised herself at how steady her voice was holding. Her entire body was tense, and she felt as if she was about to start trembling. But at least her voice was strong.
'Traveling companions?' Then everything snapped into place. The campsite of his half brother, the wisp of a vaguely familiar scent, and her intense healing powers he witnessed previously all merged with a memory of a defiant girl with a bow breaking his armor.
Supressing a growl, he thought, 'Yes, she would certainly be dead if I had known, but I did make an offer. To retract this would tarnish my dignity, but to employ a human would also accomplish said blemish. This meeting should prove interesting.' His irritation was reaching a high point.
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The breeze swept across the camp. Inuyasha, sitting with arms and legs crossed, breathed deeply. His eyes shot open with the realization that his brother was near. Not even bothering to explain to the others he leapt off as he realized Kagome was not in the camp.
'I have to get to her. Please, don't let me be too late.' He prayed to whoever might be listening.
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Kagome was trying her hardest to act dignified. She was being respectful of someone who had NOT earned it in any way, and the brute continued to make snide comments about her humanity. She ignored it the first couple of times, but this is the last straw!
"Look you, I don't know why you insist on degrading me simply because I am human. I can't help it, so get over it! You're the one who threatened my life if I refuse your little 'offer,' and now I'm stuck being under you until you allow me to leave. Why don't we make this easy on ourselves and forget that we've even seen each other. I'll ignore your proposal and you can claim it never happened. Alright?" She was mad, beyond all reasoning mad, but she managed to keep from yelling at the obnoxious lord.
"My honor does not allow it." His voice was dead, and his face showed nothing.
Which annoyed Kagome to a great extent. "Hmph, well at least there is one good asset you have, even if it is irritating." She half mumbled her words.
But mumble or no, the youkai heard her words and was not amused. "This Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, has killed insignificant humans who have dared to looked at him disrespectfully. Do not think that you are able to verbally insult me and not be punished." His voice remained flat, but the threat was obvious to any who heard.
Kagome smirked, "Your honor would not allow my death until I refuse."
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Finding herself pinned roughly against a tree with claws barely breaking the skin on her neck, Kagome realized this was not Inuyasha who she was playfully bantering. A very angry and dangerous creature would have no qualms about her death at his hands now that he had her in a very compromising position.
He could smell her fear as she realized her position. 'Hmm, delicious.' As a powerful and ruthless demon, he loved the smell of fear, but it did not last long. Seconds later her fear turned to anger once again.
He watched as his hand began to glow white. His eyes widened as his fingers were forced to loosen their grip on her neck. His fingers still touched her skin, but now it was more of a caress instead of the vice it had been.
With his ever stoic façade, he spoke, "You could not stop me if I wanted you dead."
"Yes, I know, but your honor prevents you from killing me now. Plus, I really do not want bruises on neck." Her voice echoed his dead calm, no fear remained within her voice.
Angered, he brought his face closer to her to intimidate her, "What of my offer?"
"I have…" Sesshomaru's eyes narrow as he and Kagome both turned their faces towards the campsite. Inuyasha was coming.
Sesshomaru took a step away from and started to release her neck.
'I must deal with him first. Then we will…' he was stopped by a hand on his wrist.
His eyes dropped to her hand. He stared at it until he was sure she would remove it, but she didn't. She only looked in the direction of the fast approaching hanyou.
"Allow me my Lord." She spoke quietly, but her thoughts were racing. 'Please don't hate me, Inuyasha, but I don't want you to get hurt.'
A flash of red entered the clearing, just as Inuyasha saw Kagome with Sesshomaru's hand around her throat, he made a mad dash for her.
A barrier appeared in front of him, but in his haste he did not realize until he had already crashed into it with brutal force. He staggered backwards to try to keep conscious, but failed as he fell to the forest floor.
"I'm sure that was a bit quicker than what you had planned." Kagome stated as she released his wrist.
Their eyes meet and held each other for some time, each trying to figure out the other's motives.
"Answer me." He commanded.
'Jerk.' She thought. "I will join your services, but I cannot leave my duty now. I have prior obligations to complete first." She was fairly confident he would understand that she was honor-bound to her task, but the taiyoukai had a way of ruining her plans.
"The jewel." He stated more than asked.
"Yes, it chose me as its protector. I am the one who shattered it, and it is my duty to complete it, and my honor requires I complete this task." Her resolve was firm.
"And when you finish, you will give it to the hanyou." He continued, his voice was stone.
Her mouth dropped. "How did you…"
"A ruler must know everything possible about sources of power. If he is surprised by such, his rule will be short lived." His gaze burned through her with his words.
Kagome realized he was also talking about her in that statement, and she couldn't suppress the shudder that worked down her spine. "You are correct. I made a promise to him that he could have the wish."
"You know what will happen." Ever the conversationalist, he pressed her with his words.
Her head drooped. "Yes, I have thought about it. I do know what will occur."
"I will return when your task is completed." He turned to walk away.
"Wait! I would like to know what my position or role will be when I'm under you. I do not know why I would be of any use to you." She couldn't resist voicing her curiosity.
"You have your uses. You will be informed once you are with me."
Her face steeled. "You must know now, I will not kill for you…" His face turned to her slowly, and he narrowed his eyes as she continued. "You may be my Lord, but I am a miko first. I will not kill innocents, demon or human."
He was amused. Did she just refer to demons as innocents? This one was strange. He thought for a moment.
"You will not be required to kill those who do not endanger your life." He answered critically.
"Then what do you want me for?" Confusion and frustration laced her voice.
"In the very least, you could be a practicing tool. The boys do enjoy live victims occasionally on which to practice." The face she made was priceless and he couldn't help but smirk at her recently paled face.
When she saw him smirk, she closed her mouth. She composed and comforted herself, knowing he would not go to so much trouble for a tackling dummy.
"I was not aware you had a sense of humor." She was not answered. A thought crossed his mind. He did want to know how exactly he would use her. He already had a few possibilities, but he still was not aware of her full abilities.
"Let us find out how useful you will be. Prepare yourself." Along with a single step forward, his words were her only warning as he sprinted towards her.
'Huh? Uh-oh.' She barely had time to erect a powerful shield around her.
She opened her eyes to find out he was back across the clearing drawing Toukijin. She shifted her full barrier to just block the front of her, so it would become twice as protective against the evil sword.
She held her breath as what seemed like hundreds of searing lines of red flashed in her view. All were blocked once they hit the shield.
Instantly after his attack was completed, he was behind her where her barrier was absent. Kagome was roused from relief at the swords failed attack when she felt steel against her throat.
"Turn around." The cool voice betrayed none of his thoughts to her.
She obeyed slowly so the sword wouldn't mar her throat. When her gaze met his, he stated, "Your defense is good but lacking for one as powerful as you. Let us try offense."
He was back across the clearing quicker than she could register. Slightly mad that he had so quickly defeated her, she concentrated on making him regret what just happened.
"Try to touch me." He was taunting her now. He knew it, but he wanted to make her mad enough to where her concentration would be affected. He wanted to know if anger made her more focused or if it pushed her to blind fury.
As he watched, three pink orbs of light appeared in front of her. They flew to him. He dodged them easily as they circled back towards him. When they reached his vicinity, they parted and began flying in different directions, each trying to touch him. With little difficulty he ducked in and out of the offensive lights. Three became five, five became ten, and he was impressed that she could hold such precise control over so many orbs at once.
He became so concentrated on avoiding her attacks that he was slightly unnerved when the pink color changed to purple. The shape of the lights changed into sharp discs which were wider than the orbs. This made things a bit more difficult, giving him less room to maneuver. He was beginning to wonder how long this would carry one, when he noticed there was a pattern forming.
'Yes, I see it now.' He smirked as he found a flaw in her attack. 'I'll brake through her pattern and go on the offense.' The fact that he had been on defense for about five minutes upset him. He is usually the one in control. He never dealt well with being put on the defensive for long. He preferred attacking.
As he prepared to leap through the open path out, the pattern changed. Before he could defend he had ten gashes on various places around him. If it had been only one or two discs which found their mark, he would have associated it with pure luck, but every one had found his skin. He knew he had been tricked.
Keeping his anger in check, he looked at the small smirk plastered on her features.
"So tell me Lord Sesshomaru, how useful am I?"
'Intelligent and powerful, my instincts were right about her. She may be a human, but I can certainly make use of her.' He would never deign to reveal this to her. "You would prove a challenging dummy, but I am certain I can find other uses for your abilities."
Kagome didn't know whether to be mad at his insult or pleased that she had passed his test. She schooled her face to look indifferently at the demon lord.
As he turned to leave, Kagome protested, "Wait, let me heal your wounds." Her voice sounded somewhat guilty.
He turned, "There is no need, most have already closed."
"But you still have blood on you, I can change that." She took his silence as approval.
Yellow light surrounded him. He watched as the bloodstains disappeared from his garb. The silk still had holes, and the clothing was destroyed, but at least scent of his blood was gone. It would not attract any unnecessary company on the journey back.
After a few moments, he wondered why he was still surrounded by golden light. The injuries inflicted on him were slight gashes; it would have taken only a moment for her to clean his appearance. He looked down and realized she was giving him back his arm.
His eyes widened and shot to hers. Her lids were half-closed in concentration.
'She's purposely giving it back to me.' He thought, bewildered.
When it was done, he looked at her as if asking why. Though he would not lower himself to ask, he secretly wondered. Did she still consider him an enemy? Was she still upset at him forcing her into his service? Her gift gave those questions a negative response.
When she saw his silent question, she simply replied, "Thank you for your patience in letting me accomplish my quest. I assume you will find me once the battle is over?"
He nodded in affirmation. As he began to leave, once again her voice called out for him to stop.
"I have a family and a home that I was to return to once my mission was over. May I have some time to spend with them before returning with you?"
Silence. "I will give you time, then retrieve you."
"But you don't understand; I need a time frame. I need to know when to come back." She was desperately trying to avoid the subject of her origin, but she couldn't demand anything on him. He would only be angered by such.
"I assure you my tracking capabilities will allow me to find you. You do not need to worry over meeting me." He was beginning to become curious as to her line of thinking. She was hiding something, that was obvious, but what?
She knew this would not be taken well. Taking a deep breath, she continued "Where I am from, you will not be able to reach me, I must come back to you so that you may find me."
Offended by her assumptions, he spoke. "Are you insulting my ab…"
"No," her voice was a little higher pitched than she wanted it to be. 'How to explain without explaining…' "My home is protected by magic. No one can come or leave. I am not sure why I am permitted to travel back and forth…" 'Not a total lie' "I guess the magic chooses who can cross its barrier. Only Inuyasha and I have been allowed through from either side. Unless you want him to come get me, I'll need a timeframe."
He was at a loss for words. Although he did not believe her, he wondered if there was such magic that was strong enough prevent him from her. He also wondered if she would actually come back if she could escape his pursuit. But, no, she spoke of her duty to restore the shattered jewel. She might be human, but she did hold a sense of honor about such things. And she had given her word. "You have a week with your family after you reach it." With that he turned, for what seemed like the tenth time, to leave, but this time he succeeded in exiting the clearing.
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Revised and updated 05/05
