Enchanted Orbs

Chapter 17 Trouble

'THAT BASTARD!! I can't believe he wanted me to...no EXPECTED me to...' She shuddered as he remembered his command.

Kagome was completely undetectable as she walked down the hall towards the dojo.

'I don't care what time it is; I need to blow stuff up!' She thought with a twinge of sadness when she recalled that that's what Souta would say when frustrated right before he excused himself to his videogames.

She approached the door to the dojo and stopped when she saw a guard posted there. 'How stupid. Who would post a guard at the entrance to a training room?' Kagome thought unknowingly echoing Sesshoumaru's earlier thoughts.

She couldn't just open the door and walk in. She may be hidden but the soldier would definitely notice something like that. 'Well, I'm pretty upset, so I have tons of power at my disposal right now. Maybe...,' she thought as she inched around the guard towards the door.

There was about two feet of space between the guard's back and the door. She concentrated and brought her hand to the door. Moments later her hand was sinking through the solid door as if she were a ghost.

'Score one for Kagome!' She thought as she emerged on the other side of the door. She was proud of the trick she just learned until she remembered why she came here in the first place.

'Now how to erect a barrier that no one will notice?'

She stuck her head through the dojo door to look at the guard. She combined her power to suppress her scent to a barrier and posted it over the hallway. The barrier would allow people to walk through, but they would not be able to smell anything for a second as they walked past the dojo door.

'Stupid demons.' She huffed grudgingly. 'At least I can rob them of their sense of smell for a second.'

She watched amused as the guard in front of her began sniffing the air. His face adopted a very worried expression as he brought in a deeper breath trying desperately to catch a scent of something, anything.

She brought herself back into the dojo, erected a power barrier so no one would notice the influx of power that she would soon unleash.

Kagome closed her eyes and began compressing her power into violet discs; she infused those with her purification powers and began spreading her landmines throughout the dojo.

She began training in them. Doing leaps and running, she practiced moving the orbs with her so she wouldn't be harmed next time she used them.

Sesshoumaru couldn't find her. He thought she would just retreat to her rooms, but a quick scent in that direction told him otherwise.

Her aura was no where to be found. 'Where is that cursed girl?'

He walked past the dojo, but movement out of the corner of his eye stopped him.

He watched as his guard, with a horrified expression on his face, was breathing in so deeply he was bound to hyperventilate.

"What are you doing?" Sesshoumaru asked exasperated.

The guard, who had just now noticed his lord's arrival, quickly bowed and mumbled apologies.

"I asked you a question."

"My nose...I-I can't smell anything sir!" The guard said as if his voice was about to crack.

Sesshoumaru scented the air. 'I can't smell anything as well.' He thought quickly. He focused on his mystic senses and felt out Kagome's barrier. 'Interesting, but first I must deal with this imbecile.'

"You are dismissed. Go to your quarters. I will find someone else to guard the door for the time being."

"Y-yes, my lord." The guard quickly walked a few steps, but he paused on the other side of the barrier. He took in a deep breath then donned a look of utter confusion.

Sesshoumaru spared him a bored glance and raised an eyebrow at the soldier.

The guard shook his head and continued down the hall.

Sesshoumaru turned back to the door. Her barrier was powerful, but it only took him a second to break through it. He replaced it with one of his own and entered the dojo.

The girl was standing in the middle of the room with her pink weapons all around her. He walked towards her, but her voice called out to him.

"I wouldn't come any closer if I were you, Sesshoumaru."

She might have been a source of entertainment for him every morning, but this in no way gave her a right to order him around in his manor.

"I give the orders, not you, wench."

He began walking towards her again; he stopped right before the field of orbs surrounding her began. He watched as the orb nearest him flickered from pink to purple. He narrowed his eyes when he felt the power being emitted from it.

"Fine, suit yourself, but its dangerous." Kagome said as she began twisting the lights around her again.

They flew around her faster and faster until a wind picked up from their speed. The wind caught Sesshoumaru's garbs which drifted into her whirlpool.

She realized too late what happened. One of the orbs touched the silk and exploded sending purification energy and shards of solid energy everywhere.

Horrified about what would happen if Sesshoumaru was caught in her purified energy, she threw up a shield for him after the first blast.

Kagome was not harmed by the purification wave, but the shards were slicing through her easily. The shards hit other orbs and set those off. Blast after blast was set off, combining into a colossal explosion.

After about the third blast, Kagome was in tortuous pain, through the haze she managed to try to throw up another shield for herself. Their was so much of her power being thrown around the room, that the barrier was not as strong as it needed to be. Occasionally, shards would pierce it, and shards would rip through more of her skin.

By the time the light receded, Sesshoumaru was dumbstruck, though one couldn't tell by his face. He had burns on several spots on his skin, and blood trailing from many cuts, both shallow and deep, on his body, but otherwise no major damage. No harm that a few days time wouldn't heal.

He looked over to where he had last seen Kagome. She was in much worse condition. She was on her knees struggling to breath. The smell of her blood was extremely strong; he saw her fall over.

He moved to her side; she was still conscious but close to losing the battle.

There was another problem. The barrier he had posted was destroyed by the power blast, and he could feel his four generals on the way.

He had very little time.

"Kagome, can you heal yourself?" He asked as he picked her up and took her to a corner.

She tried to focus her eyes on him, but they weren't working properly. "I think so." She said meekly.

"Good. Do so and stay very quiet." He laid her down, covered her with a spell, and disguised her scent. He added another scent depressing spell to mask the abundant smell of her blood, and an illusion was added to hide most of the blood.

After doing so, he felt completely drained. 'Her attack must have been stronger than I thought if I had to use that much energy to survive the attacks.'

At that point, all four generals rushed into the dojo. The room was in horrible condition. Burn and scorch marks were staining the mats, weapons on the walls were shattered and scattered, and there were partial blood stains scattered were Kagome had been moments before.

Sesshoumaru didn't look much better. His blood was coursing down his body in several areas, his silken robes were in tatters that appeared to be held together only by the many blood stains, and his normal painfully erect posture was drooping ever so slightly.

"My lord, what happened?" Shouron asked after his initial state of shock.

Sesshoumaru took a deep breath. He knew he didn't have much energy, so his generals could tell if he was lying. 'So only partial truths.'

"It was a test of a new attack." His flat tone betrayed no uncertainty.

"If it was your attack, my lord, then why are you bleeding?" Aishi spoke up, in a state of confusion. 'I had no idea Sesshoumaru was that strong. The power that was emitted was incredible, but I have never seen his full fury before.'

Sesshoumaru looked down at the broken pieces of the swords and spears that used to line the walls.

"Pieces of the weapons must have found me as I was protecting myself from the energy."

"You had to protect yourself from your own attack?" Rokoshi spoke.

"The attack is strictly an unleash of energy; it can harm everything it touches and even turn back on its master. Are you done questioning your lord?" Sesshoumaru dared them to detain him further.

"Forgive us, my lord," Shouron spoke up. "but I have never seen such an attack, and I doubt my fellow generals have either."

He nodded his acceptance and watched them leave. As soon as they were gone, he went to check up on Kagome.

She was unconscious. It looked as if she had healed the major wounds, but she was still bleeding profusely.

'The servants' quarters are a ways from here, and I doubt I can carry her that far unnoticed.' Sesshoumaru scowled as he realized he would be forced to take the girl to his quarters until she was conscious and well enough to heal herself.

As he picked her up, a brief thought of how fragile and small she looked flitted through his mind. He felt a need to protect her rise from within, but he quickly squashed it. 'She can protect herself; that is why I chose her for this job.'

He carried her in his arms to the door, paused to assure that no one was near, and then quickly made his way down the hall and into his quarters.

Once, in his room, he decided not to set her on his bed. She was covered in blood, and such a great amount of blood on his sheets would start rumors that he did not need. The last thing he wanted was rumors of great wounds or weakness when there were traitors among him that, most likely, wanted his lands.

Still carrying her, he turned to the door that connected his bedroom to his private hot springs. He set her down gently on the floor and went to retrieve a robe and two towels.

After he returned, he carefully removed her bloody clothes. His task was painfully slow because he didn't want to disturb the clotting blood if at all possible.

He took one towel and dipped it into the warm water and began to clean away the dried blood. He used the other towel to conceal, as much as possible, her state of undress.

He knew, for some strange reason that Kagome would be upset that he performed these actions, but the smaller fit she threw, the better because she would probably need to conserve energy for a time.

Once he had most of the dried blood cleaned away, he draped the robe over her and took her into his quarters.

From this room his could hear her breathing varying. At first it was shallow, which for some reason made him uneasy, though he would not analyze the reasoning behind that. It then became stronger. He thought she was about to wake, but then it became deep and slower. He realized that she was now sleeping instead of in an unconscious stupor.

Now that he knew she would be fine, he took the time to tend to himself. He quietly entered the springs and bathed. He didn't have to be as careful as he was with Kagome because most of his wounds were healed or to the point where they were not easily reopened.

He discarded his ruined silk and donned a robe similar to the one Kagome was wearing. He entered his room quietly in order to retrieve another haori and hakama, but when he entered his chambers, he noticed Kagome was awakening.

She had spent most of that night and half the next day in his rooms. Sesshoumaru spent the night in his front room which consisted of many couches and tables in the off chance that he would want to take his meal here or have guests in his reserve.

He turned and took a seat by the bed; he waited for a short time before she opened her eyes.

She felt like she had been hit repeatedly by a truck. 'Bump bump, then reverse and two more bumps, finally the driver, put it back in drive and took off once more over me.' She thought with a groan.

She opened her eyes, but everything was too unfocused to see. She blinked several times, trying to chase away the fog, but a voice interrupted her.

"How are you feeling?" A smooth, silky yet hard and forceful voice made her jump a bit.

She remembered Sesshoumaru giving her a command right before she passed out. She also recognized the voice as Sesshoumaru's, but why was he in her room, wouldn't that be suspicious.

Her unfocused eyes then were brought into focus. The room she now resided in was much bigger than her little space, even through the post-sleepy time fog, she knew she was not in her room.

She tried to turn her head to study the room more closely, but she couldn't move without pain. It wasn't the pain of an open wound, but more like a soreness throughout her body. Her muscles refused to grant her any movement without that aching pain.

She let out a rather unlady-like groan, and she could have sworn she heard Sesshoumaru chuckle. 'No, it was probably an indignant snort at having a human in his bed.' She thought heatedly.

"Will I not receive an answer, or was that noise all I need to make my assumptions?" His voice called her again.

She only answered him with another groan as she tried to turn towards the voice. Her effort failed miserably, and she heard that snort again.

"How long was I out?" Kagome finally asked.

"About a day, it is now afternoon." He answered her in his ever present flat tone.

"How long is it until dinnertime?"

He realized she needed to eat upon her question. "I will have a meal brought in for you."

Kagome accepted his answer for the time being, but that was not the reason she had asked. Her only duty as a servant was to deliver the meals, but, as of now, she couldn't move at all.

She saw movement to her side, and moved her head towards it. After the wave of pain, she realized Sesshoumaru had left her.

Now, she took the time to try to move. Added to the pain of her sore muscles, she was stiff from her stay in bed. Every movement brought a severe stab of pain, but she managed to assess her injuries.

She was surprised that they had been tended. She also realized that her clothes had been changed, and she had been given a bath.

A deep blush covered her cheeks with the knowledge of who had performed those actions. Her position as servant would not allow for him to have any other tend to her, but she still felt a bit upset and slightly violated.

He returned with a tray of food which he set in front of her. She labored to feed herself while he put forth some questions.

"What happened in the dojo?"

Between bites, Kagome answered. "It was an attack I've only used once before. It takes a lot of concentration, but I thought it would be fine. Your sleeves could have been the death of us both." She said with a slight grimace.

His brow furrowed. "I do not understand."

Kagome explained the workings of her attack to Sesshoumaru. He was unnerved by the concept of a mere touch and her weapons could set off such an explosion only to be repeated by others. At the same time, he marveled at her strategy behind their creation. He knew she was intelligent, but he had underestimated her once again.

"Why did you shield me before yourself?"

"I don't know, habit I guess." Then a smirk crossed her face as she said in a high pitched, somewhat mocking tone, "Besides, my lord, you are my lord; I should risk my entire village to ensure your safety."

His eyes narrowed slightly with her statement, but he said nothing until he reprimanded her for her carelessness.

"Your attack almost killed both of us, and it alerted all my generals to the dojo. You are aware of this, correct?"

She let out a small gasp. "I didn't know about the generals. Did I destroy your plan?"

"No, I salvaged it, but barely. I am sure they are suspicious, so you need to take extra precautions."

"Fine, but I am not serving Aishi anymore."

"Nothing can be change or they will know you are involved."

"I will not risk my virtue for your plan. I would rather die then have that jerk touch me!" She stated heatedly.

"Then you need to figure out a way around his lust. You are intelligent enough to outmaneuver Aishi, so you must do so."

"I don't even know if I can walk, let alone deal with him right now." She calmed a bit with his compliment, but she still would not give in so easily.

"Then try." He retorted as if it was the most obvious solution in the world. He rose and took the tray from her lap.

She pulled back the covers, which hurt, shifted her legs to the side of the bed, which hurt more, and set her weight on the floor, which was unbearably painful.

She almost collapsed in a heap on the floor, but Sesshoumaru steadied her.

"Is the pain that great?" She could have sworn she heard concern in his voice, but once again she dismissed the possibility.

"There is little pain around the wounds, but I feel achy all over."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Have you ever used that much of your power at one time before?"

She shook her head.

He set her back down on the bed. "Do you know what happened?"

She shook her head again.

"Then I shall explain. Your power is held in the core of your being. When you use it, the power flows from your core, through your body, and into the surrounding environment in whatever form you create. Your body was obviously not conditioned to have that strong of a current flowing through it. Thus, your muscles and skin were partially attacked by your own energy. Since your energy recognized you as an ally, you were not destroyed by your power current, but the soreness is attributed to your body trying to rebuild parts that were lost to the current."

Kagome looked somewhat confused so he tried again, "Think of it as a river. Parts of the bank that surrounds it is swept away when the river is flooding, but when the river is calm, only bits of silt and soil are carried away."

"I guess I understand, but how do you know what happened."

"All power is manifested in the same way, Kagome. I was taught at a young age to build up my body's strength by escalating the level of energy in increments. You will need to train yourself in this way, also."

She nodded.

A question irked at him. "Why did you not used that attack against me this morning?"

"It is very hard to control. Plus, as you have seen, it is dangerous to me also. While, the pure energy will not hurt me, the solid is something I don't really like to encounter." She said with a small smile.

He nodded in understanding. "You need to try to walk again. The pain will only go away with use."

An hour was spent in attempt to get Kagome walking unassisted. She thanked her lord, and left to her own room.

Dinner time came, and she did her duty of serving the generals.

She served Aishi first, so she could at least have the excuse that she had others waiting for her.

Dread filled her as she walked towards his room.

"Enter." A harsh voice called to her.

She walked into his quarters as smoothly as she could, but the ache was still there so her movements were stiff.

"What happened to you?" He asked with an evil leer in his voice.

Kagome's head dropped a bit in submission, but she did not answer. He had not asked her to speak.

"I asked you a question. Speak." He demanded harshly.

"I was attacked, my lord." She said meekly.

Unseen by Kagome, a smile slithered across his face.

"Someone else punished you, I see."

Kagome shivered in remembrance of his type of "punishment."

Aishi saw her shiver and laughed. When it had faded he said in a disturbing tone, "I would have loved to have done so, but someone else beat me to it. Pity, you're a pretty little thing."

Kagome shivered a bit in rage, but Aishi only saw it as fear.

He laughed evilly. "You have been tainted, though I might change my mind, you are useless for now. Leave."

'Bastard.' Kagome thought as she exited.

She went to the kitchen to pick up trays for Rokoshi and Samon. She watched them throughout the meal. Every time they called her over for a refill or more food, she remained closer in order to hear their conversation. Nothing special, just tactics for training the men under their care.

Shouron was no different. Nothing regarding any information that could be useful was said. He was polite as last time; they had a pleasant conversation while he dined until he asked her why her movements were stiff.

She said the same thing as last time. "I was attacked." Kagome dropped her head in a quiet plead for him to leave the topic unsaid, but he pressed on.

"Who?" He almost demanded. He didn't know why, but he was angry that someone had hurt her. 'Its probably because I respect her. Why? I do not know. Strange.'

She stiffened. He looked her over, but didn't see any wounds. He could faintly smell the traces of old blood, but they were difficult to scent.

She dropped her head lower. "I would really rather not discuss it." She said firmly but with a hint of pleading in her voice.

"How have you healed so fast?" He saw her stiffen once again. 'Something is going on with this girl. I really should keep an eye on her.'

"I am skilled with healing arts, my lord." She answered in a partial truth.

"Very skilled, I see." He said skeptically. He watched her as she grew rather nervous, but he pressed on. "Magic or herbs?"

'Oh no!' She thought frantically, but couldn't come up with anything but, "Both, my lord."

Shouron narrow his eyes a bit, "You wouldn't have had anything to do with Lord Sesshoumaru regaining his arm, would you?"

He saw her eyes widen in surprise, but she answered quickly. "When was he healed, I don't believe I was present at the manor when he received his arm."

"No, I suppose not." He stated skeptically, 'but neither was Sesshoumaru. Yes, I will follow her. She is acting very strangely for a human servant.'

A/N: Sorry this chapter was a bit shorter (only by half a page...so NO SLACK!) but I really did not have the space to start the next segment. Believe me you would have killed me if I had stopped there. SO be thankful I'll update next weekend.