Enchanted Orbs

Chapter 20

"You idiot." He hissed "What possessed you to add poison to his food?"

"We are planning to kill him anyways, are we not? Why not get that out of the way now?" The other replied with venom in his voice.

"Timing is everything. If Sesshoumaru would have died now, do you know how badly everything would have fallen apart?"

"What could have possibly gone wrong? You are obsessing over one slight setback."

"No! You obviously don't understand why we have a plan. Imbecile! If the Lord would have passed on without an heir, every youkai who thought themselves strong would swarm to the castle to challenge for rule of the lands. We must wait; it will not be long now, but swear to me you will not pull such an idiotic stunt again."

"Fine."

"Good, you are dismissed."

"Dismissed? Who are you to dismiss me? I thought us partners in this ordeal." But his eyes widened at the malice pouring off his counterpart.

"Do you challenge me?"

"No." He dropped his gaze

"Then leave."

With that the general was dismissed from his presence and he was left to his thoughts. 'Sesshoumaru survived. Was the poison ineffective? Did he even eat from the tray provided? I need to find out what happened. Luck may be with us; he might not be aware of the attempt on his life.'

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He had watched her since she was set on his bed. Ever since Kagome had purged herself of the poison, she had been unconscious.

Sesshoumaru could tell she was only sleeping, but occasionally her body would begin to radiate the color of her healing powers. This confused him; the only reason he could think of for her to heal herself was possible aftereffects of the venom.

Perhaps the substance had torn apart the sensitive internal tissues; she could be healing damage caused by the poison. Maybe when she slowed her pulse, her limbs were deprived of precious oxygen and blood to the point of atrophy.

Many scenarios flashed through his thoughts on why she would sporadically begin to heal herself, but he would not be able to answer that himself.

He tuned into the rhythm of her breathing. It was normal but raspy. He realized how torn her throat must be. Expelling acids and poison most likely devastated the vulnerable tissue, but wouldn't she heal that?

Too many questions were left unanswered for him to be comfortable.

Her breathing became shallower; he knew she would wake within the hour, but her breath was still raspy.

He stood and exited his quarters. Sesshoumaru passed one of his servants; the girl stopped and bowed to her lord. He recognized her scent; she was one who had been in his service since the time of his father. Very loyal would describe her adequately.

He stopped and turned to her. "Go to my study; there is a mess to be cleaned. Take the tray that was left there and dispose of it. Speak of this to no one or forfeit your life." He stated as if the threat was no more than a passing hello and continued on his path towards the kitchen.

Sesshoumaru returned to his chambers with water. When he entered, he inhaled deeply.

He had caught himself doing this more frequently, but it was almost a subconscious action. One he didn't openly intend to do, he just did it. Her scent calmed him; he knew this now. He had acknowledged it.

The lord had difficulty placing something near her scent. It didn't match any one thing. It was calm yet exhilarating, parallel to lilies, but she had an exotic splash such as the spices he had encountered while traveling. But none of these were exact, just similar.

When he inhaled upon entering, there was something different.

Every human usually reeked. Besides the common practice of bathing rarely that most humans upheld, every mortal smelled of death. It was a slight scent when young, but it grew as the owner aged.

Sesshoumaru had no knowledge of skin cells that continually duplicate and die, but he did know the scent of death. His nose was sensitive enough to pick up the minute smell of those many cells' deaths. And every human had that slight scent; Kagome had that scent. It disturbed him, smelling death on her.

Why? He usually was not affected by the scent of death. There was a time when he reveled in that scent. Blood and death was an addictive drug which gave him an incomparable high in his adolescence, but death on her was nothing short of upsetting.

Why, because he had come to care for her. He could no longer deny it. She was someone who he could trust. Kagome would willingly put her life on the line to save his. She had done so twice now, so there was no denying this. Kagome had become a companion to him, someone he looked forward to seeing daily. She was someone who kept the ever present boredom at bay with her spontaneity.

'She is... dare I say it, a friend.' Sesshoumaru thought alarmed. He had friends in his naïve youth, but all had either betrayed him or used him as a tool for power or money. But with those betrayals, he had grown wise enough to know not to willingly give friendship to others.

Kagome. She had slipped past that rule. He knew now that he did view her as a friend.

'That would explain why I don't like to smell death laced into her scent.'

But her scent lacked that smell now. It was a gradual disappearance, he realized that now. The scent of death was decreasing as he sat near her, but he was immune to its departure because of his proximity. When he left and reentered, the fading became obvious to him.

Eyes widened with awareness. The answer had been right before him. She was healing her being. Her death was being pushed away by her own powers. Was this a conscious action? Did she realize what she was doing, or did her power make this decision and subject her to it?

Questions solved only brought more questions; now he would be forced to wait until she surfaced from her sleep. Only Kagome could answer whether this was a conscious decision.

Still human? Most certainly, one cannot just change that on a whim, but humans weren't immortal. And from what he could gather, she would no longer suffer a mortal death.

Questions plagued him.

"Sesshoumaru?"

Her timid voice pierced through a haze the questions created around him. He hadn't even noticed the telltale signs of her awakening, but now he was aware of her.

She looked confused. She was looking for him.

"I'm here." He stated and walked towards his bedside.

"What happened?" She choked out. It seemed that she would rather have answers than have her needs tended to. He could relate.

He remained silent and reached for the water he had retrieved. Kagome hadn't realized how thirsty she was until he offered the glass to her. She reached for it, but Sesshoumaru refused to let her hold the cup.

She wanted to tell him off for treating her like a child, but there were several reasons stopping her.

He was taking care of her. Sesshoumaru hadn't sent for someone else, he hadn't said anything degrading her intelligence for consuming the poison, and, from the looks of him, he hadn't slept. Even if those reasons were more than enough to stop her mouth, which they weren't, the last was sure to do it.

Her throat felt awful. From the pain, it seemed like some demented creature had spent the last week sanding down her air passage, so she kept her silence in favor of consuming the proffered water.

Kagome took several drawls of water then let her head fall back down to awaiting pillows. The pain had subsided, but it wasn't gone.

But that was the only place she felt pain. Otherwise she felt wonderful, like she just had the best night's sleep of her life.

Sesshoumaru watched as her hand glowed yellow. She brought it to her throat for a moment. When she was done, Kagome released a brilliant smile and stretched like a lazy cat in the sunshine.

"That was beautiful, well besides the fact that I almost died. I feel wonderful; I think that was the best night's rest I've ever had." Kagome said retaining her full smile.

Sesshoumaru's eyes twinkled with amusement, but stated in a flat voice. "Try two days rest."

"What? I have been under that long?" Kagome said jolting up to her elbows in surprise.

He gave a slight nod in response.

"Oh no. What about my duties?"

With a slight smirk he replied. "It seems your death was premature."

"Thank you for covering for me. Did I delay your trip?" She asked a bit sheepishly.

"I will leave tomorrow morning if you are well."

"Well? I'm more than well. In fact, the way I'm feeling, I bet I could take you down in the dojo." Kagome said with a flirtatious smile and a lilt to her tone.

The taiyoukai raised an eyebrow. "Highly unlikely, but you need to rest. You are still recovering." He rose to leave.

"No, wait, please." She halted him with a timid voice. "If I've rested for two days I won't be able to sleep now, and I'll be bored by myself. I'm not tired Sesshoumaru, and my legs need to be stretched. If you won't spar with me, at least, let me go to the dojo to rebuild the strength in my limbs."

He was silent for a moment then nodded in assent.

"Great! What time is it? I need to change my clothing. Wait, if I'm dead what happened to my things?"

'Her things, that reminds me, I found some very interesting items she was hiding.' Sesshoumaru thought as he turned to her. "Your things are in the adjoining room. There is always a barrier around my quarters, so you will not be sensed here. I've adjusted it to allow you to slip through, so don't try to break it. We need discuss some of your belongings."

'Crap! He found my hiding place; this isn't going to be so easy to explain.' Kagome thought frantically. "Sesshoumaru, may I change first. I will have to think of a way to explain the items you found. The technology behind them is very difficult to explain, and I am not fully aware of how they all work."

"Very well." He replied. "I will meet you outside the dojo."

"Thank you." And with that she got to her feet a bit clumsily.

After changing, she went to the dojo to meet Sesshoumaru.

"Are you ready to fall before me and my amazing abilities?" Kagome said with a haughty voice and her nose stuck up.

"You are most welcome to try, though I doubt I will ever fall for you." Sesshoumaru replied with a smirk as Kagome prepared for his attacks.

Only this time, he didn't attack; he was waiting for her to attack him. Kagome was a bit taken back by this, but decided to go with it.

She formed two solid shields on her forearms and created a sword. Using her power to propel her forward, she lunged at the youkai before her.

Sesshoumaru was not expecting her to be as fast as she was, but he easily countered her attack. He blocked and forced her back with his strength.

He let one hand fall to the side, preparing for his acid whip, but Kagome saw the movement and knew what was coming.

Attacking once more with her sword, she occupied one of his hands to stave off her attacks. Kagome created a small platform behind her with her solid energy while Sesshoumaru was occupied with her sword. The waist-high rectangle hovered behind her unnoticed by the lord.

Sesshoumaru couldn't use his whip in close quarters, so he was forced to block her sword with the claws of his left hand. She released the energy used to create the sword; it vanished. He was caught off balance with the lack, but quickly recovered and swiped at her with his claws.

Kagome jumped backwards onto the floating energy to escape his claws. As soon as her feet landed, she jumped once again to avoid yet another deadly swing from Sesshoumaru. When she was once again on solid ground, she manipulated the platform to become vertical and used it as a temporary shield.

Claws collided with solid energy; Kagome used the distraction to create a slit in the shield. Three palm-sized discs traveled through the slit in attack.

Kagome thought he would sense the attack and block it, but her stomach churned when she heard the sickening sound of flesh splitting and a clang when he deflected the last of her attacks.

'Oh no!' The energies dissipated as Kagome ran to Sesshoumaru. Blood was oozing onto his white robes. She reached forward to see the extent of the damage she had caused, when his voice stopped her.

"May I remind you that the battle is not over."

Kagome pulled her hair to one side and lifted her chin, exposing her fair neck to him. "Now it is." She said with her head still tilted back. "Now let me see you wounds."

"They are not significant enough to worry about." He said with dismissal, but he looked at her and saw the overwhelming guilt she felt. "But you may tend to them if you wish."

She looked at the large splotches of blood; he was still bleeding heavily and the once two had now converged to one large scarlet stain.

"I can't see the wounds, will you..." Kagome couldn't bring herself to ask him. She just prayed to whoever was listening that he understood her request.

Sesshoumaru pulled one arm free of his haori and let the ruined silk fall to his hip. The other side, he pulled away from the wound on his stomach.

Kagome raised her hand to his torso. She removed the drying blood from his skin to reveal his injuries.

His wounds consisted of two palm-sized gashes on his torso, one just below his rib cage and the other through his stomach.

He watched her as she gazed at his injuries. It was almost as if she was burning the damage she had caused into her memory in order to reprimand herself. He saw waves of guilt flowing off of her form.

Sesshoumaru felt the need to distract her; he didn't want her to feel guilt. It wasn't as if she had almost killed him. This was a minor injury; nothing to be concerned about.

"Do you see something you like, Kagome?" He asked with a teasing inflection.

Kagome broke from her guilt-trip and sent a glare to the arrogant demon before her. She huffed quietly and began to heal the internal damage done to his stomach.

Once the gash was gone, she turned to the other wound. She mended the lesion until it was nothing more than a cut marring his flesh.

Before she realized what she was doing, her fingers gently ran along the cut. As her fingertips caressed the blemish, it was healed.

Sesshoumaru felt a cool, gentle touch on his skin, like the kiss of an autumn breeze. He shivered and caught her hand as she began to pull it away.

She was broken from her trance when she felt him snag her hand. Kagome felt his thumb against her palm and his fingers curl around the back of her hand.

On instinct she answered quickly. "Forgive me, my lord. I was not given permission to touch you." She bowed her head in submission.

The feeling passed when she spoke. "You really have been a servant for too long. You are beginning to act like one." He released her hand and waited for her to look up at him. He did not have to wait long. When she did, he continued. "You are not my servant and I expect you to remember this. Have you sufficiently stretched your limbs?"

She stepped back so she wouldn't have to strain her neck to look at him. "Yes."

"Then I believe we are done here." He began to walk to the door but turned his face slightly as he reached it. "And I am still standing, like I said previously, luck."

Before Kagome could respond, he was gone. 'Ooooh, that arrogant jerk. He'll get his.' She cloaked herself and began her daily espionage.

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Sesshoumaru left the next morning to visit his people hidden away at his other property.

Kagome took the opportunity to spend the day following all the generals.

Aishi spent the majority of the day in the soldiers' training area. She wanted to get a handle on his abilities and strength, but unfortunately all he did was critique.

He would perform a few examples of his training, but it was all slow-paced. Education was his goal not flaunting. Kagome learned nothing except that he did seem to have a general concern for his men. Aishi was by no means kind to his inferiors, but he did go out of his way to make sure everyone understood and achieved.

Once again, Aishi surprised her.

Kagome left the dojo to find Shouron. He was in the gardens.

To her, it appeared that Shouron was slightly depressed or bored, but she got the distinct impression that he was moping.

Kagome crept closer; she watched as he shook himself out of whatever stupor he occupied. He spoke so softly that Kagome almost missed it.

"Why am I still trying to figure this out? Accept the facts, Shouron, Sesshoumaru killed a ningen. What is so hard to grasp? But it just sounds wrong. Why?" His voice escalated slightly to a stage whisper.

His gaze fell on a large flat rock. "Maybe meditation will help."

He walked over to the stone and sat upon it; he erected a barrier around himself to block out outside distractions.

'Well I guess I'm done observing him.' Kagome thought as she went to seek out the other to generals.

She continued down the halls toward them, once again they were together. 'I'm beginning to think their gay.' Kagome thought with bitter humor at the inseparable two.

They were just around the corner, and as the neared. Kagome picked up midway through their conversation.

"... and the new soldiers will be arriving in a little over a week. Are we prepared?"

"Yes, Rokoshi, I believe we are. I have sent all the summons."

"To only those who we agreed upon, correct?"

"Yes, we've been over this already. Why do you insist on reiterating constantly?"

"With the recent events, it is important that we summon only those with unquestionable loyalty to us. Lord Sesshoumaru is unaware of the dangers surrounding him."

"I only sent the summons to those we agreed upon. Do not fret anymore about it."

Kagome tuned out of their conversation as the continued further down the hallway. 'Hmm, I wasn't aware that anyone was aware of possible traitors but Sesshoumaru and I, but I guess it is hard to keep intelligent generals in the dark about such things. It is nice to know they are trying to keep those loyal to Sesshoumaru close at this time.' She thought.

After the traumatic poison incident, training with and healing Sesshoumaru, and her current spying, Kagome was feeling sleepy.

It was early evening, so she figured she could take a small nap and spy more during the night. She retired to the room neighboring Sesshoumaru's sleeping quarters, to nap.

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Kagome was walking down the hallway following Aishi. Most were in their quarters asleep at this time, but Aishi decided he wanted to take a casual stroll.

'Casual stroll my foot. He's up to something, and I doubt it is good.' Kagome thought as she noiselessly stalked him.

He paused his progress and straightened. She watched as he looked behind around cautiously then continued forward.

He turned a corner, and when Kagome followed, she was instantly pinned to the wall by her neck.

She stared into Aishi's silver eyes stunned. 'There's no way. I'm completely cloaked. What happened?'

A voice ripped through her thoughts. "Drop your spells."

Kagome remained silent but winced when claws pressed into her flesh.

Aishi saw scarlet trails flow over his fingers. "Why are you following me?"

"It is my job." Kagome answered as forcefully as she could with him holding by her neck.

Even though he could not see it, Kagome smiled in triumph when she saw the shock register across his face when he heard her voice.

"Drop your spells, wench."

Kagome narrowed her eyes at his insult. "When I find proof of what I think you are guilty of, you will die by my hands."

"I would fall upon my sword before I let a woman defeat me." He said through clenched teeth. Then his face seemed to lighten.

Aishi began to laugh evilly and pressed her into the wall behind her. Her air was sufficiently lessened by this. "And it would seem you are in no position to threaten me."

He made to crush her windpipe but was stopped by the feel of something sharp against his own throat.

Kagome turned the disc slightly to slice the flesh covering his throat, and Aishi could feel and smell his own blood trickle down to his robes.

"Interesting, it seems we are at a stalemate, woman." He said forcefully.

"Wrong." Kagome corrected.

Under the cover of her illusions, Kagome's skin began to glow pink.

Aishi felt a searing pain where his hand made contact with the woman hidden to him. He attempted to hold onto her, but it felt as if his fingers were melting away.

He dropped her, and Kagome fell to the floor gasping for air, the disc still settled at his throat.

"This isn't over, bitch." Kagome looked up just in time to see Aishi lean away from her deadly weapon and become a blur.

He practically vanished in his speed to lose his stalker.

"You bet your ass it isn't." Kagome spoke to the empty hallway. She rose and returned to her bed.

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Ok, I know this wasn't the most thrilling of chapters, but I would describe it as the calm before the storm. Things are about to get hectic. Stick around. I'll update again next week. Til then, Syrinx