Protector

This chapter is dedicated to TenshinoHikari88.

Chapter 9: Recruitment

Sesshoumaru eyed her suspiciously, caught in a dilemma of sorts. If he said that he did, he would doubtless be the recipient of more than a few taunts. If he answered in the negative, he would be deluding himself, and that was not a good trait in the ruling taiyoukai of the Western Lands.

"Yes, I do," he replied reluctantly. Rin clambered out of her hiding place and ran over to him, throwing her arms around his leg. Kagome's triumphant grin broadened. Sesshoumaru braced himself for the jibes that would surely be heading his way.

But without a word more, Kagome turned to walk in the direction they had come from, flashing him a brilliant smile over her shoulder. Sesshoumaru stood glued to the spot, too confused by her to do anything else.

----------

Kagome arrived back in the clearing to find Jaken cowering against a boulder, Aun standing over him, fire in the dragon's slitted eyes. Kirara was grooming herself gracefully, sending occasional disdainful glances at the toad-thingy. Kagome frowned. "What is going on here?" she demanded.

"Nothing that concerns you, wench!" Jaken squawked, shuddering when Aun loosed a ear-shattering roar, directed right at him. "Kirara?" she asked, turning to the fire-cat, who shook her head and pointed a small paw at Aun.

Aun swung one head to look at the miko, who stood with arms akimbo. She gazed into his reptilian eyes, then listened as he grunted out something she couldn't comprehend. She held up a hand to halt his 'speech'. Black fire bloomed around her, and her form blurred.

A small dragon with silver scales stood in her place, wedge-shaped head tilted to one side in curiosity. Rin and Sesshoumaru stepped into the clearing and watched with interest. Aun garbled out a few sentences in dragon language, and stepped back as Kagome stalked forward.

The talons on her forepaws glowed blue with her power, and smoke trailed out of her nostrils. Her wings unfurled, and she reared back on her hind legs. Her scales darkened to a fiery crimson and she growled, a menacing rumbling that filled the air and turned Jaken's legs to jelly. Shaking in fear, he collapsed on the ground and futilely tried to curl up in a ball.

Kagome's right forepaw shot out and pinned Jaken to the rock, her talons gouging holes on either side of his green neck. In a burst of power, she was back in her human form, and she lifted a struggling toad into the air, fingers encircling his neck securely.

"What has happened, miko?" Sesshoumaru asked, casting a bored glance at his dangling servant. "Your 'faithful follower' called Rin a filthy human and said that she deserved to die a painful death!" her fingers tightened further. "And Aun has also informed me that this has happened many times before. You did not understand when Aun approached you."

Sesshoumaru glanced down at Rin as the scent of salt permeated the air. Aun smelled it too, and tossed both heads restlessly. Rin hid her face in the white silk of his hakama, and he could feel the wet tears staining them. The salty smell grew stronger and stronger, until he could barely stand it.

He turned his attention to Jaken, who was still whimpering in Kagome's grip. "What have you to say for yourself?" he put one hand on Rin's head protectively, narrowing his eyes at the green creature whom he had thought was faithful.

"My lord, my lord, the miko lies. She seeks to separate us, so that no one will see through her scheme to ensnare you. Rin is only a part of her plan, sire… no good will come of associating with humans. The filthy human lies…" He abruptly stopped speaking, since Kagome's hold had tightened until his eyes were almost popping out. He could barely breathe, and the world was beginning to swim, going in and out of focus. If Kagome were a youkai, she would have transformed by now, or at least let her eyes bleed red. A feral growl was rising from within her, and Jaken was turning blue from lack of air. Her hand glowed pink, and she stabbed Jaken in the shoulder with a dagger of light. The purifying miko power surrounded the wound as she dropped him, and Jaken screamed in agony as he felt his youki crumble away little by little, devoured by the miko aura.

Sesshoumaru could see what Kagome had done. She had left a tiny bit of her aura on the open wound, and Jaken would have a damper on his youkai power and suffer the agony as it was eaten away. "Allow me to dispose of him," Kagome said coldly, eyes flinty. A bright flash of light filled the clearing, and Sesshoumaru shielded his eyes with a sleeve. A golden eagle seized Jaken, talons tearing into his side, and carried him away, flying further and further. A swirl of fire surrounded Kirara as she bounded after her mistress. The forest was quiet, and the only sound was Rin's muffled sobs.

----------

Kagome arrived back, astride Kirara. Her hair was blown back in the wind of their passing, and it reflected the pale moonlight coldly. The moon was a crescent in the sky, closely resembling the crest on Sesshoumaru's forehead. He preferred the night. He had always preferred the night. The soft, pale light of the moon was more suited to him than the harsh bright sunlight that revealed all. The moonlight was alluring and mysterious, whereas the sunlight was open and revealing.

"Did you kill him?" Sesshoumaru asked quietly. He was sitting, leaning against the boulder she had pinned Jaken on. Rin's head was on his lap, and she was asleep, breathing softly, heartbeat slow and steady. Kagome looked at him in surprise. "No, I did not," she shook her head. "He was not worth the time to kill." The night's darkness veiled her face, and he could see only her cool chocolate brown eyes. "Then what did you do?" he pressed the matter further. Kagome glanced at Rin, making sure she was fully sleeping before answering. Aun raised both heads, obviously interested in the punishment Kagome had doled out to the impertinent toad.

Kagome let a cold smirk flitter over her face, although it went unnoticed in the dark. "I dropped him in an active volcano," she replied, sliding off Kirara, who immediately lay down. Kagome sat leaning against her pet, and scratched Kirara's ears. Aun huffed, satisfaction written all over it. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "You are more vicious than I thought you were, miko," he pronounced finally, and was not surprised when he received a cynical look from her. "There is no reason for me to be merciful to those who will not repent," she said, drawing a handkerchief from her pocket. She began to polish her bow, humming all the while.

"I thought that mikos were kind people and obeyed the unspoken law of 'forgive and forget'," Sesshoumaru mused aloud, earning him a second glare. "Am I an ordinary miko?" she demanded intensely, eyes glittering. He shook his head. "Then shut up until you understand more about me," she stowed the piece of silk back and curled up against Kirara, sharing warmth with the cat, who reverted to her small form and slept next to Kagome's head.

Listening to the sounds in the clearing, Sesshoumaru could hear Kagome's breathing patterns and heartbeat. He knew she wasn't sleeping, but was choosing to ignore him completely, going so far as to pretend to do it. Strangely, that fact hurt him more than he thought it would have.

----------

Jaken lay at the bottom of the mountain, having painfully crawled out. It had taken far too long to get out of that cursed place, and the sun had risen an hour ago. He was utterly spent, too exhausted to go any further. But when he saw something that moved deep within the shadows, he sat up, cursing the miko who had injured him. "Who is there?" he asked, voice cracking.

Kariyu stepped out, eyes trained on Jaken. "I am an enemy of the miko," he said, voice melodic and kind. Jaken relaxed. He looked at Kariyu, and found that his mind was growing foggy as Kariyu played with a sapphire pendant on a necklace. As he watched the light bounce off each facet of the cut jewel, he grew a little dizzy.

"What is your name?" Kariyu's voice seemed to come from far away.

"Jaken."

"Are you an enemy of the miko?"

"Yes, I am."

"If I strive to overthrow the miko, will you become my faithful servant?"

Jaken considered this for a moment, then came to a decision as the blue sapphire fogged his mind. "Yes, I will."

"Good." Kariyu swept up to him, and bent down, baring his fangs. With a sardonic smile, he buried them into Jaken's neck, drinking the blood that spurted out. Kami, it tasted horrible. How did Sesshoumaru tolerate this moron? Jaken's body went limp, and Kariyu withdrew his fangs, cleaning off the blood that remained there. His lips were stained red, and as he picked up Jaken's body, he smiled.

'Mine to use – mine to control.' He thought, baring his teeth in a feral grin.

----------

A/N: My way of saying sorry for updating so late the last time. I hope this chapter satisfies everyone. This is not beta-read, as my beta-reader has not replied my last email. Until she does so, I will continue to post per normal.

The trivia question was, what does Kikyou's name mean? A few people got that right. It means a Chinese bellflower. Anyway. TenchinoHikari88 got that right. Congratulations!

This time's question is, "What does Sango's name mean?" I think this one is easier than the Kikyou one, so no hint.

Also, 'A Field of Flowers' by YoukaiAngel99 is very nice. Check it out!

Since I updated so soon, I have not received many reviews for the last chapter. If you have the time, please go back and review – I am trying to maintain at least 18 reviews per chapter. Please do this for me! Thank you! (:

Reviewer replies:

Inuyasha's hun: Oh, nothing much happened to Rin. Don't worry about that. Thanks for reviewing, please continue!

Me: Wahaha. Sesshoumaru will be battered many more times before he gives in and gets that stick out. Until then – well, I have to think of something to torture him with. Thanks for reviewing, please continue.

Aaliyah starnight: Glad you did. Thanks for reviewing, please continue!

Midnight Faerie: Woah! Go easy, girl! Oops, I hope you manage to calm down your dust bunnies soon! Wouldn't wanna have nightmares about them. And I did update very soon, ne/blows kiss back at you/ There! Thanks for reviewing, please continue!

TenshinoHikari88: Well, congratulations! You got it right first. Kagome and Sesshoumaru fights are so cute! Thanks for reviewing, please continue.

Ryu Kaze no the ankoku-no-tsuki ryu Kurohi: You are absolutely right! Thanks for reviewing, please continue.

Won-Won-Weirdo: Bad guys must try and exist for as long as possible. Well, I updated very quickly! Thanks for reviewing, please continue.

Dawnstar28: It's okay! Don't worry about that. Almost right – you missed out the Chinese part. Oh well. Thanks for reviewing, please continue!

1kenshinlover: Hi again! Kagura gets no mention in this chapter… aw. You're welcome… thanks for reviewing as always, and please continue!

Aurora Nyte: Firstly, let me say this – I love your username! Haha! I'm glad you think so! Thanks for reviewing, please continue.

Hope Swings: If that was straight forward, then Naraku is a very sweet and lovely guy. Ohh. It's okay… don't worry about it! My class is like that, and to tell you the truth, so am I, sort of. Haha! Thanks for reviewing, please continue! (And you don't have to be sorry, it doesn't matter.)

Fluffy-sama's Angel: Wow… that's pretty fast. And yes, you're absolutely right! To tell you the truth, I completely forgot about Kouga. /guilty look/ Yes, I admit it. I will try to get him back SOME way. Ah… now what role can he play? Thanks for reviewing, please continue!

Kagome21: Hey there! I was actually online when I received your review. /smiles/ actually, that goes for a lot. When I first checked my mail, I found 8 reviews. Then when I was online, it went up. Lolz. People who update once in a few months are very mean – especially if they leave cliffies. Thanks for reviewing, please continue.

Okay, that's all I've got now! If I receive anymore for the last chapter, they will be answered in the next chapter. Sooo… gotta go now, bye! Have a nice day.

Kyasarinyume07 signing off. (Next time, I may refer to myself as Yukino, because that's my Internet name right now. The numbers are a little hard to type.)