X: The Western Lands in Peril
Author: Nefertili
Fandom: Inuyasha
Rating: PG13
Pairing(s): Sesshoumaru/Kikyou
Genre(s): Romance, Angst, AU, Action
Warning(s): More battle scenes, some violence, fluff... What more can I say?
Disclaimer: None of the characters, except perhaps some, are mine. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
Summary: Two years after IMotC, Sess is challenged to surpass an enemy in recovering a mysterious relic left behind by his mother. But can he protect Kikyou, who now carries his child, at the same time?
A/N: (thwack) Me: - o - yawn... Kiky: Time to wake up, Nefertili! Sessh: You're making them wait, you wench! (hand on Toukijin) Me: (Groggily) What? Oh sure! (eyes Toukijin then gets up and hurriedly goes to the computer with puffy eyes)
...o0o...
They were both silent as they made their way through the grasses. Tears were still flowing freely from Kikyou's mahogany eyes even as they managed to break out of the tall grasses surrounding Mizutori's realm, but she said not a word to Sesshoumaru. He glanced at her many times with concern, but she would not meet his eye, choosing instead to cry silently and keep her thoughts to herself. Sighing inwardly, Sesshoumaru immersed himself with his own thoughts. Going over that wretched bird's words, he slowly began to understand something he failed to see before...
The sun had fully risen from the horizon, but it served little to dissipate the mists blanketing the region. The fog had thickened, and this time it carried a faint smell of decay. Rin and Jaken were greatly relieved to see the former miko and the taiyoukai emerge from the wall of green, but were perplexed to see Kikyou weeping.
"Kikyou-sama, are you all right?" Rin gently asked her foster mother as she helped her mount Ah-Un. The little girl plucked gently at the older woman's sleeve.
Kikyou sniffled and wiped away her tears with her white sleeve. "This is nothing, Rin," she replied quietly with a forced smile, but the anguish in her eyes betrayed her words.
"It's okay, Kikyou-sama," Rin said in an attempt to lift the former priestess' spirits. "Maybe a hug will make you feel better."
Kikyou could not help grinning. This time, her smile was genuine. "I would indeed like that, Rin."
Rin nodded once with that innocent - yet not so - smile of hers. Then she wrapped her small arms around Kikyou's waist and buried her young face in her chest. Rin would very much like to know what upset Kikyou-sama, but her good sense made her decide against asking her about it. It might further hurt Kikyou.
She placed her hands around Rin's little form and hugged the little girl close, bowing her head over the child's smaller one.
'Oh Rin, if only you can understand what I so wish to tell you!' Kikyou's thoughts screamed. She shut her eyes furiously, letting loose a new wave of tears.
Jaken looked up inquiringly at Sesshoumaru, who silently watched the two females without even intervening.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, where did you go off to?" the toady retainer asked the tall Demon Lord.
"Nowhere," Sesshoumaru snapped, which sort of frightened the hell out of Jaken. It was rare of Sesshoumaru to snap; therefore it was clear that his wife crying, or whatever reason that made her to, upset him as well. Kikyou opened her eyes and her tear-streaked vision met her mate's amber oculars which looked at her with an almost expressionless stare. Unconsciously, her thought passed back to the event that brought them together: when she was nearly defeated by a great red shinidamachuu and it was Sesshoumaru who came to her aid (1).
He had also looked at her coldly then, but this time she saw a hint of grief in that normally indifferent gaze. And are those amber eyes really going misty? It must only be the effect of her tears... Kikyou blinked several times. No, she was truly seeing it... His eyes really looked as though there was more than the usual amount of tears there. That rare sight made Kikyou freeze in her crying, and she would not have wondered if she was able to compel her tears to stop halfway down her cheeks.
"Anata..." Kikyou muttered. Sesshoumaru's eyes softened slightly to hear her call him by a term of endearment. He gently reached out and touched her tear-streaked cheek.
"I'm afraid it was a mistake to pull you to this rugged place," he said softly. This time even Rin looked up, surprised at the extreme benevolence in their Lord's tone. "Will you ever forgive me, koi?"
Kikyou felt a twinge of guilt. She felt that she must be the one asking for forgiveness, not him. She caused him great concern throughout the journey; she acted so brashly... Kikyou then recalled how Sesshoumaru clamped his hand around Mizutori's neck to end the bird youkai's life, and a shiver passed through her spine. It was never Mizutori's fault. She tried so much to help them, and Kikyou never intended to provoke her husband to harm Hanazuki's retainer. Kikyou vowed silently to herself that she would ask forgiveness from Mizutori one day soon.
Kikyou opened her mouth to protest, but Sesshoumaru placed a finger over her lips, silencing her.
"You are tired, beloved," he said. "I will make sure we will get home as soon as possible." With that, he sat himself behind her and set the two-headed dragon on its way. Jaken, who for a while was rooted to the marshy ground motionless, let out a note of alarm at the thought that they were leaving him behind. He managed to get a hold of the end of Sesshoumaru's fluffy pelt and with Rin's help, scrambled up to Ah-Un's rear. They must have been a quite a sight, a regal Demon Lord and his Lady with their adopted daughter and toad-like retainer, all riding a two-headed dragon in a boggy landscape.
But Kikyou felt as though she no longer had any humor at all. She felt her mate's arms encircling her somber form, and she let him embrace her. Just then, the unborn child in her womb began to roll over as though it could not find a position to its liking. It caused Kikyou some discomfort, and Sesshoumaru immediately wrapped his cream-colored fur around her as he held her close.
'Sesshoumaru...why are you being so kind to me?' Kikyou thought with sadness as she cuddled up to him, finding some comfort in the warmth of his body. 'I don't deserve it...'
...o0o...
Rin let out a high-pitched scream as numerous malformed youkai appeared out of nowhere and blocked their path. Kikyou awoke at once, and Sesshoumaru sprang up in attack, leaving his pelt wrapped around his wife's shoulders. Amber eyes narrowed; these youkai looked strangely familiar. They were ugly beyond comprehension, but there was a strange human quality on their faces, no matter how malformed. A stench of rotting bodies filled the air. And those bamboo spears...
'Undead humans, possessed by youkai...' Sesshoumaru immediately thought. The memory of his younger self and his mother fighting similar a similar adversary passed through his mind. 'Karatake's minions.'
A swing of the Toukijin, and a great mass of the undead were decimated without the blade even touching them. But there were many more...
The air whistled as a great white light flew past him, making his long silvery hair flutter. Masses more of the pathetic zombies disappeared into nothingness as the holy energy purified their dark malice. The handful that was yet untouched by the Toukijin's kenatsu and the hamaya began to scurry away with frightened shrieks, but Sesshoumaru dispatched of them easily with a swipe of his whip of light. He would not have them crawling back to their filthy Master to report on their whereabouts.
"Cowardly creatures," he cursed under his breath as he made his way back to his company. Yet it was these cowards who managed to mortally injure the Lady Hanazuki... Kikyou had dismounted, and her bow was drawn. Clearly, it was one of her purity arrows that brought the final blow to the pesky minions.
"What are they?" she asked with concern, rushing to Sesshoumaru quickly and looking up at his collected features. "Are they Karatake's underlings?"
"Whose underlings?" Jaken interrogated. He had yet to know of their master's evil uncle.
"It's them, indeed," Sesshoumaru replied to his wife, gently running a hand through her long raven hair. He then looked away with a serious expression in his face. "They have entered the West. War is now inevitable."
Kikyou clasped at her lover's silken haori and her heart felt as though it no longer had the will to keep on beating.
...o0o...
They reached the fortress without encountering another of the evil Moon Elemental's minions. Kikyou (more at Sesshoumaru's request than her own will) and Rin were resting within the comfort of their futons, but Sesshoumaru knew that he was not to take any chances if he was to keep secure the lands his father worked so hard to attain.
"Jaken," he said to his stubby retainer, who was constantly on his heels since the previous attack, pressing him for information which he only vaguely replied to. But Jaken was not as brainless as others would have thought. With just a few words, he was able to understand that the Western Lands are now in great peril, and Sesshoumaru-sama will stop at nothing to exterminate the pests.
"Yes, milord!" Jaken replied with his loyal answer, bowing low before the silver-haired taiyoukai.
Sesshoumaru looked down at his servant coldly for a second. Then he returned his gaze back to the mountains beyond, pondering on something. It was already afternoon, for their journey back home from Mizutori's took them most of the day, and they were slowed at some point by the marauding minions of Karatake's.
"Fetch the Deer youkai and tell him that he is to come before me immediately," he ordered, his amber-gold eyes flashing with a dangerous expression. Jaken immediately understood the person Lord Sesshoumaru was talking about. The other taiyoukai...Isamu, isn't it? The Lord of the Deer Demons who had offered his Clan's allegiance to Sesshoumaru nearly two days past...
Jaken bowed lower to the ground, stammering, "Y-yes, milord! I will go at once! I won't return without him!" With that, he ran as fast as his toady feet can carry him to rouse the sleeping two-headed dragon which was tethered in an inauspicious corner of the vast gardens. Amidst the rather derogatory remarks he spat at the Lord of the Deer Clan when he appeared at their doorstep, Jaken believed that he would indeed make a vital ally in such a treacherous time as this. After all, was not the fighting prowess of the Deer demons impressive during the last battle they fought alongside the Dog Clan, in the war of revenge against the Hyounekozoku?
Sesshoumaru watched as his retainer mounted Ah-Un and set him off in flight to the borderlands. His eyes narrowed slightly. Would it be wise to fly? It might attract the attention of their enemies, who would wonder in no time why Lord Sesshoumaru's vassal is off to call the Royal Family of the Deer Clan to an important meeting...
He shook his dark thoughts away and stood up like the high and mighty Demon Lord that he is. Now was not the time to think of such things. His beloved wife...their unborn child...his departed mother...her unfinished will... They all tugged at his senses, and throughout his life as the Lord of the Western Lands, he seldom felt such a heavy responsibility. His subjects served him without much second thought, and those who hesitated even a moment paid with their lives. They never caused him much of a problem. Such irony! How one can be more challenged as a son and husband than one can be as an all-powerful lord his domain...
Sighing rather dejectedly to himself, Sesshoumaru made his way to the shade of an ancient willow tree rooted at the center of a small island. The island, in turn, was in a large pond located in the gardens of the fortress, which was watered by a natural stream running through the mossy rock and soil. Its path had hardly changed through the years, the clear water ran pretty much the same through the landscape as it had centuries before, when his father first built and took abode in the fortress. Hanazuki came there to dwell after she became his mate, and the place of the willow was a favorite spot of hers.
Kikyou had been very fascinated with their place of dwelling, which was more garden than building. Ordinary humans would have considered it tiresome to maintain the general upkeep of such gardens, but Kikyou spent most her time among the plants, carefully tending each of them with loving care. Her delight was in their flowering, and many a day she and Rin would play hide-and-seek among the age-old trees, or chased the fish as they swam downstream.
Kikyou had remarked to Sesshoumaru that the garden breathed a different life in each of the seasons. The momiji was magnificent in autumn, when their leaves took on glorious palettes of red and gold. The sakura and the ume were at their best in spring, and in the winter the smell of matsu went unhindered. The willow likewise was verdant most in the spring, but it still remained beautiful even at the present season, the rainy days of late summer. (2)
Sesshoumaru stopped temporarily beside the stream. Although there had been a burst of flowering colors among the water-loving plants at the onset of the rainy season, he was indifferent to the beauty of the gardens for most of the time. But now, he can clearly see crystalline droplets of water dripping down the deep green leaves, the violet petals of the shobu and the delicate fringes of the purple-eyed kawaranadesiko. His mother, the Lady Suien, was extremely fond of the dianthus and the water lily because the flowers of the Tsukisawa looked like a cross of the two, and it was indeed a great shame that the hanazuki could bloom in her birthplace alone. She would have wanted to cultivate them close at hand like she did before she met his father.
He stepped near the water's edge and looked at the smoothly rippling water of the stream. Amber eyes looked back at him with the same cold stare before the passing of a fallen hana tachibana petal distorted his reflection. Sesshoumaru turned away and continued to the willow. He stepped over the flat stones which served as a bridge and soon he was beneath the dark canopy of the tree. The long drooping leaves fell about him like curtains, hiding him securely within the deepening shadows.
Sesshoumaru stood still before the great trunk of the willow for a few moments before he sat on one of the massive roots protruding above the ground, closing his eyes and his mind temporarily from the outside world.
...o0o...
Kikyou never felt so restless. For a couple of minutes she lay tossing and turning in her futon, hoping to get some rest as her husband had requested her to do. But she doubted if the present circumstances would grant her any rest at all. Finally, after a few more tosses, she angrily pulled the blanket away from her body and crawled out of the futon. Rin was deeply asleep in a futon beside her. Kikyou gently kissed the sleeping girl's forehead in a motherly fashion before standing up.
Kikyou rarely slept in the same room with Rin, but for security reasons Kikyou had insisted that they do so this time. She had her own room whilst Kikyou and Sesshoumaru shared the spacious quarters. Jaken had stubbornly insisted that he needed no sleeping quarters, preferring to instead spend the night outside beside the stream where he felt most at home. But whenever the weather permitted, he slept in a narrow cot in the inner recesses of the fortress.
Leaning against the wooden panel of the door, Kikyou took in the sight of the gardens in the afternoon. The sun would set in an hour, and the green hues of the foliage gradually began to deepen as the light waned. The skies were gray and told impending rain. She followed the line of the stream and was surprised to see Sesshoumaru standing beside it, seemingly deep in thought.
The former miko chose to keep silent and observed her husband. In that imperious way of his, Sesshoumaru abruptly turned. At one moment, Kikyou thought that he had spotted her, but he gave no indication that he had. Instead, he crossed the stepping stones of the pond nearly covered completely by water lily leaves and their star-like flowers. Soon, he disappeared from her sight as he went into the secluded shadows of the great willow on the island, the only tree of its kind in the whole gardens.
Her curiosity got the better of her, not even thinking if he would berate her for not resting. What was Sesshoumaru up to? Kikyou gracefully descended the several steps leading down the verandah and slowly went his way. The hems of her hakama were dampened slightly by the wet, short grass, but it was the least of her problems. Without a word, Kikyou stepped over the bridge of stones and entered the silent shade just as her husband had.
...o0o...
"Darling?" she called out softly; amber eyes immediately opened like two golden lamps in the darkness.
"Kikyou?" Sesshoumaru answered in reply. Her silhouette was clear against the darkening background, and she let fall the willow leaves about her as she joined him in the silence of the surroundings. Kikyou then went up to him and boldly sat on his lap whilst kissing him tenderly on the lips. His golden eyes softened and he returned the show of affection.
"About what happened in Mizutori's place..." Kikyou said upon breaking the kiss. Uncertainty was in her tone; she didn't know how to phrase her words or where to begin. Sesshoumaru let out a snort.
"Don't even spare a thought for that inconsiderate wench," he said with distaste. "You should have allowed me to end her miserable life."
"Please don't say that!" Kikyou pleaded. "I just lost control; that is all. I doubt Okaa-sama would approve of your actions if you killed her long-time friend, especially because of me!"
But Sesshoumaru knew her well. She didn't 'simply' lose control as she previously claimed. It was the ghost of Kikumo...she still hadn't departed from them, it seems.
"Listen to me, Kikyou," Sesshoumaru said with a serious edge. Kikyou knew that it was a command, and she had learned through the years to obey him, the way he had learned to give in to her as well. "What we saw back there was only a memory. You don't need to be so affected by it!"
"Only a memory?" Kikyou retorted, frowning slightly. "It was your father's memory, Sesshoumaru."
A frown passed across Sesshoumaru's face as well, but he said, "What now if it is his memory? He did not exactly carry out what he planned, did he?"
Kikyou felt frustration rising from within her. She and Sesshoumaru had gotten into some serious arguments when her human beliefs and his youkai nature collided.
"If he found out that you had deserted a beautiful, powerful Demon Princess for a low-class human like me..." she found herself saying.
"So?" Sesshoumaru answered back in a callous tone he rarely used on her. "Father granted me to choose, and that's what I did. And I did not exactly 'desert' Kikumo, as you put it. You know that very well. Circumstances caused us to drift apart; I found you and I loved you. I honestly don't see why you should cry over that matter!"
Tears sprung up Kikyou's eyes then, and Sesshoumaru fell silent. He must have hurt her, and he privately cursed himself. Cupping her cheeks in his hands, he kissed her forehead gently to make up for the unintentional harshness earlier.
Kikyou sniffled, but she managed to hold back her tears and she gave him a pained smile. Sesshoumaru felt a heavy feeling in his heart, the same feeling which made his eyes misty earlier during the day. It tugged more at his heartstrings to see Kikyou hiding her hurt behind a forced smile than when she cried.
"You mustn't...punish yourself for loving me, Kikyou," he whispered in a more docile tone that undid her completely. The strings which had been holding up her smile snapped apart, and she began to cry in the earnest now, digging her face within the hollow of his neck. She vented out all the anguish in her chest. For Kikumo's death. For the tragedy of her parents-in-law. For the grief of ages past. For the uncertainty of the present. For everything...
In silence, Sesshoumaru let her. Personally he was using Kikyou's tears to mourn his own ruined childhood and his thoughtlessness in the past. By now, night had descended upon the land, and the distant chirping of crickets and cicadas began to ring clear in the twilight air. Fireflies appeared about them, and he watched them blink their lighted bodies on and off as they danced among the willow branches. With the appearance of the fireflies, a similar scene returned to his thoughts. A glade in the moonlight. The silence of the trees. How he first entered her body and they became one... (3)
"Yes...you're right," Kikyou whispered, pulling apart from him slightly. Now that she had poured out most of the grief within her, she felt an extraordinary sense of serenity, of relief. Strange it is, to shed a million tears in just one day.
Their eyes met. They smiled, and there was peace between them. She touched his cheek, her fingers brushing his lips. "We never made a mistake in loving each other. Oh, anata, I love you so much..."
"I love you too, koi," Sesshoumaru replied sincerely, caressing her silken hair. "There is something I would like to tell you. Something that might - just might - turn the tide of this impending war."
At once, Kikyou sat up to listen. But even before Sesshoumaru can say another word, a strong wind blew through the garden and made the willow leaves quiver. They both stood up, and soon Jaken's croaky voice reached their ears.
"Sesshoumaru-samaaaa! We have arrived, Sesshoumaru-sama!"
Sesshoumaru turned to Kikyou and took her by the hand, saying, "We are meeting someone, Kikyou."
...o0o...
Uneven footfalls echoed clearly through the rocky, lifeless crags. A troop of hideously formed youkai began to cluster at the base of the dark rock formation which jutted out like a raised fist above the wasteland. They were not the only ones there, for two dragons not unlike the one Kikyou encountered at the start of the week clung to the nearly vertical rock with their sharp claws, snapping at each other with their sharp teeth and forked tongues.
A faint burst of youki from the cold rock, and they all fell silent. In their minds, they heard the voice which had summoned them there, a voice which sounded as though it had come from the grave.
"The time of reckoning is close at hand. Sister, your wretched son will join you soon..."
Additional story notes:
(1) "when she was nearly defeated by a great red shinidamachuu and it was Sesshoumaru who came to her aid" - Chapter One of In Memory of the Chrysanthemum
(2) momiji - maple
sakura - cherry
ume - plum
matsu - pine
shobu - sweet flag iris (purple iris)
kawaranadesiko (I think 'deshiko' is also accepted) - dianthus (the purple fringed type, how I love it!)
hana tachibana - blossom of the mandarin orange
(3) "A glade in the moonlight. The silence of the trees. How he first entered her body and they became one..." – Voices of the Mist
...o0o...
Whoa, I kinda loaded you with Japanese flower names, huh? I hope you don't mind... Kiky: Nef, what exactly is Sesshoumaru going to tell me? Me: (smiles mischievously) That's what the next chapter is for.
Lady Fabmel: Uh-huh, I kinda agree with you about Sesshy's bouts of cruelty (I really do, you know!), but as you said, that's how fans envision him. ;P
Azn kawaii kikyo the devil: Aaaw, I am happy you are hooked! XD Anyway, I wouldn't want you failing your subjects because of my stories... -.- I learned my lesson the hard way, and it's not nice, I tell you.
TheDisruptiveOne: I assure you, Kikumo is actually in this story! In the most unexpected ways (smirks)...
Cold Kikyo: Yay, thanks for the review! I could not quite thank ya enough!
Gossamer Wind: Thank you, thank you!
The East Wind Melts the Ice: Yeah, I am starting to think SesshKiku is cute... XD No offense meant, Kiky, I like you too with Sesshy...
anoniemous: Thanks! I have a feeling I know you... ;P
