Sesshomaru awoke to the feeling of immense pain shooting through his limbs. His eyes snapped open, and he found himself in a dark, damp room. Cringing, he dragged himself up into a sitting position. The air was stale and stunk of blood. His blood. It ran in red streams down his body, collecting in puddles at his feet. Sesshomaru suddenly remembered the loud explosion and feeling something hit him full force in the leg. He lifted his stained robes from the wounded area and saw something imbedded in the flesh of his left leg. It was an iron bullet, quite small, but extremely painful. Sesshomaru had never seen anything like it, but he knew it had to come out. The yokai got a good grip on the bullet with two clawed fingers and ripped it out. More blood came splashing down his leg as soon as it was removed. Sesshomaru gritted his teeth and bared the pain. He threw the iron ball into a corner and then sat still, drenched in blood, the darkness of the room closing in around him…
………………………………………………….
Kikyo and Aiko exchanged glances. Both were thinking the same thing: what to do now? They weren't allowed out of the hut, because there were eastern men patrolling the village. Kikyo went up to the bamboo curtain and peeked outside. The coast was clear as far as she could see, but at any given moment one of them could come right out of nowhere and spot them. Kikyo closed the curtain and walked back to where Aiko sat, whose eyes were wide and attentive.
"I guess we'll just have to hang out here. You and me" said the priestess, the tone of her voice slightly disheartened.
But Aiko didn't seem depressed at all. She smiled brightly. "This is going to be fun! You can teach me all about flowers and herbs, we can braid each other's hair, and talk about boys!" she blurted all at once.
"Boys?" Kikyo asked, raising her eyebrow at the eager face looking up at her. "Are you fond of someone, Aiko?"
The girl blushed furiously. "Um…maybe…." she said, grinning sheepishly.
Kikyo sat down in front of her. "So who is this guy?"
"No one special…."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to…."
"No! I'll tell you" Aiko said, her cheeks really red. "It's…it's one of the boys at the other village. One in the group of us that you were teaching to read."
Kikyo thought back to the kids at the village by the sea. She pictured their faces in her mind, trying to remember their names. "Is it Hoshi?"
Aiko shook her head. Kikyo thought harder of more kids' names.
"Hidemitsu?"
"No."
"Shinji?"
"No."
"Takehiro?"
"No…."
Kikyo always did poorly with guessing games, but she continued anyway. Aiko was smiling very widely now, her blush fading slightly.
"How about…." Kikyo paused a moment to mull over the possibilities. "…Keita?"
Aiko started giggling, and Kikyo knew that she had guessed the girl's crush. "So, Keita is the lucky guy, eh?"
Aiko only grinned. Her blush had returned.
"Not a bad choice. If I were your age, I probably would have picked him too. He's quite the gentleman."
"He's cute" Aiko said shyly.
"That too" Kikyo said, chuckling.
"Well now that I told you who my crush is, aren't you going to tell me yours?" Aiko asked, pulling the priestess's sleeve.
Kikyo went quiet for a moment. Thinking of the yokai lord always made her edgy. "You know, I think maybe I ought to teach you more about herbs," she said, changing the subject.
Aiko looked a little disappointed, but she didn't protest. The rest of the afternoon, Kikyo taught Aiko all about plants and which ones to use in which circumstances. They talked and laughed and did all sorts of girly things, temporarily forgetting about their troubles in the outside world. Before long, night had fallen. The crickets began their chirping, and the stars came out to illuminate the darkened sky. Kaede still hadn't returned, and it was worrying Kikyo. She decided that maybe it was time to take a risk. Sesshomaru wasn't going to save himself any time soon. He was far too injured. Kikyo had to help him.
Aiko noticed Kikyo's nervous expression. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
Kikyo turned to the little girl and attempted a reassuring smile. "I need to take care of some business, that's all" she said. "You stay here and wait for the wise woman to return. I'll be back." With that, the priestess snuck out of the hut.
It was almost pitch black outside, and extremely cold. The only light came from torches that were placed in random areas of the village. Kikyo edged around the hut to the other side and began to look for any sign of where Sesshomaru might be. She also kept an eye out for easterners. Her heart was pounding. She knew that what she was doing was dangerous, but that was the least of her worries. The sudden sound of footsteps broke the silence, and Kikyo ducked down into the shadows. She watched as two scruffy looking men walked by. One she recognized as the man that tied her to the tree. She scowled at him as he passed. Once they were out of sight, Kikyo continued on her way. Her thin sandals padded against the soft dirt as she moved stealthily through the village. Where is that room Kaede was speaking of? It has to be around here somewhere Kikyo thought with frustration. As she darted in between villager's houses, her foot suddenly splashed in something cold. Kikyo's eyes snapped downwards, and in the dim light she saw that her foot was covered in dark red liquid. It was the blood of a demon. Sesshomaru….
"Hey! What are you doing out here?" came a gruff voice behind the priestess.
Kikyo moaned. This can't be good…
An eastern man stomped up to her, his bushy eyebrows narrowed over his cold brown eyes. "No one is allowed outside. Turn back."
Kikyo hesitated. "But sir…"
"Do not protest, or you will suffer the consequences" the man growled.
Kikyo's fist clenched, but she did not complain. Instead she turned on her heel and began to head back the way she came. She looked back and saw the man still standing there. The priestess quickened her pace and made an abrupt turn behind the nearest hut. There's no way I'm going back now she thought. Kikyo poked her head out and found that the coast was clear once more. The eastern man had left, probably to go patrol another area. Kikyo moved in silence out into the open, and scanned her surroundings. A dark shadow looming in the background caught her eye. It seemed a bit peculiar and out of place. Kikyo headed towards it, feeling like she was finally headed in the right direction. As she walked, she noticed more blood splotches on the ground. Kikyo followed the trail of Sesshomaru's blood, which led right up to the darkened shadow she had seen just a moment ago. Kikyo immediately recognized it as the room where Sesshomaru was being held prisoner. It had scrolls plastered over every wall and door, and on them were written the most powerful demon spells. Kikyo brought her hand up and touched one of the wooden walls, examining a scroll. She used to remove demon proof spells all the time, but she just couldn't think right now. Sesshomaru is in this room, suffering she thought in distress, leaning her head against the wall.
Kikyo suddenly heard footsteps again, and she quickly hid behind a tree expecting to see an eastern guard. To her surprise, however, it was a woman. In fact, it was the person Kikyo least expected to see, or even wanted to see. It was Kagome. In the lass's hands was a wooden slate, on top of which was a tea kettle and a small cup. She was heading straight up to the room in which Sesshomaru was confined.
What the hell does she think she's doing? Kikyo thought angrily, edging out of the shadows. She snuck along the wall, and watched as Kagome slid open the door and entered. Kikyo listened, and only moments after Kagome had entered the room, she heard a low growl coming from inside. Soon after, Kagome emerged once more. Kikyo could not constrain herself. She moved out of hiding and confronted the girl. Kagome dropped the ceramic tea kettle in surprise.
"Kikyo…" she breathed.
Without hesitation, Kikyo slapped Kagome across the face. The lass reeled back slightly, covering her burning cheek with a hand.
"Curse you" Kikyo said, looming over Kagome. "Do you exist to torture me? To torture the ones I love?"
Kagome shook her head with fear. There were tears in her eyes.
Kikyo could feel all her anger boiling dangerously inside. Everything she hated Kagome for was washing over her all at once. Every memory, every feeling, everything…it was all coming back to her. "Don't force me to kill you. It would be quite simple actually. I just don't want to see you set foot in this room ever again" Kikyo said, her voice cold and menacing.
Kagome only nodded, afraid that the priestess would hit her again.
"Get out of here" Kikyo hissed. "And if you let word slip of me being here to a single soul, I will seek you out and rip your skull apart."
Kagome quickly dashed off, tripping on small rocks in the dirt as she ran.