XIV: Isamu's Oath and Karatake's Trap
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: My, my, what have we here? Chapter 14 is up, yay! Nothing really much to say, so read on!
...o0o...
Having finished whatever she had to write, Asagao rolled up the paper into a scroll. From the armory rooms of the fortress, she took a spear, the type which could be launched at great distances, and tied the scroll to it. She made sure that the twine was strong. The message had to be tied securely, lest it be blown away by the wind as the spear was thrown into the air.
Once she was satisfied by her handiwork, the demoness went up to the first level of the fortress. Rolling up a blind slightly and opening one of the windows, Asagao can see a bolt of lightning as the great surge of electricity foretold the coming of yet another storm of rain. She had better hurry.
Asagao tucked the scroll and the spear beneath her arm and with her free hands she carried several pieces of heavy wood. These pieces of wood formed a notch, and into this notch she fitted the end of the spear. As quietly as possible, she positioned this structure such that once launched, the spear would fly clear out of the window. She knew that it was worth the effort of dragging such heavy blocks of wood up the fortress, for with them she can throw the spear much farther than she could with her arms alone.
Finally, she stepped on the notched wood with the right amount of pressure, and at once the spear went flying out of the fortress like an oversized arrow. In a perfect parabola, it went clear out of the moat and its waters, finally embedding itself on the trunk of a pine tree growing near the lip of the cliff. Almost at once, a shadow detached itself from the darkness of the tree.
A corpse of a dead bird lay at the roots of the pine, but at once this dead piece of rotting flesh and feathers infested by ants stirred, and with great effort, managed to clamber up the crooked trunk and peck away at the twine holding the note in place. After reading carefully what was written in it, bird corpse and scroll fell motionless down the cliff to be lost in the white tumble of the Shiroitaki. And it wasn't done too soon, for just as the inanimate objects disappeared into the roaring waters, the rain let loose its fury and whipped the lands with its pitiless fingers.
Taking advantage of the deep darkness that had fallen over the land, the creature of the shadows went noiselessly through the forest and passed the information on to his brethren who were made of shadows as he. In a short time, the words on the scroll made their way over the mountains of the West and into a dark pinnacle of obsidian jutting out of a barren wasteland.
"So, Sesshoumaru, you intend to keep the existence of your human mate a secret? If she dies, what do you intend to do next?"
...o0o...
The skies remained overcast. There was yet another violent rainfall the night before, slowing their progress considerably. Sesshoumaru stood unmoving on top of a grassy, gentle hill and observed the skies with a frown.
"How far can we go with this kind of weather, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Jaken asked, pacing impatiently at his heels.
Sesshoumaru snorted, and tore his gaze off the merciless heavens. His amber eyes focused on the area of the West spread before their eyes.
"The weather doesn't bother me," he replied to his retainer. In truth, he was more bothered by the army he now had to take care of. He would have effortlessly gotten to his destination on his own, but to have a whole battalion following him... And what a pain in the neck it is, to have to supervise whatever action those masses had to take.
Gone were the fingerlike limestone hills of the Realm of the Deer youkai, and what beheld the sight instead was a wide granite-littered plain as wide as the eye can see. This was the same plain where he often played hide and seek with his mother in his youth, but the field bore not its brightness in his memory. The grasses looked gray among the boulders scattered throughout the field, sodden and muddy with the rain.
Or perhaps, the Demon Prince thought to himself, he was the only one seeing it that way. Since he was witness to the bloodshed that happened in this place so long ago, to him the beauty in this place was non-existent.
They had departed from the Borderlands the day before, and at his command they marched into the West. The Minetetsu, where Mizutori said his uncle Karatake was sealed, was in the Barren Wastes of his domain, which in turn were located a good distance further north. They would have to pass this grassy plain and a great stretch of forest before they can reach it, and the land had become as unpredictable as the weather.
The Barren Wastes themselves were among the most difficult of places to pass. A wide territory comprising of canyons and crevices of dark obsidian, it was easy to get lost in the natural labyrinth of cold, forbidding rock if one knew not the way...or could not fly, for that matter.
"Are we to make most of the lull in the rain to cut through this field?" Isamu asked, appearing beside Sesshoumaru.
The silver-haired taiyoukai glanced at the other Demon Lord from his peripheral vision, choosing to remain as motionless as ever.
"How swiftly can you manage it?" Sesshoumaru interrogated in a flat tone, as though he strongly doubted if Isamu and his people can do so. Behind him, at the foot of the gentle hill, he can hear several of Isamu's underlings, most of them in their deer form, engaging in constant feats of strength among each other while waiting for Sesshoumaru's orders, locking antlers and seeking to push the challenger backwards.
"We can do it in no time," Isamu replied, ignoring the slight sarcasm in Sesshoumaru's eyes.
To this, Sesshoumaru didn't reply for some time. He continued to stare at the wide field spread before them. The clouds were gathering, promising yet another shower of rain. He'd better hurry in his decision. It wouldn't do to be struck by lightning in the midst of crossing this great plain. But there was something else that the silver-haired taiyoukai can feel, a filth that nearly made his nose wrinkle...
His uncle's minions. They were somewhere close. Masses of them. They'd better prepare for a clash of weapons soon.
"You must miss the Lady Kikyou, Sesshoumaru-sama," Isamu said softly, stepping beside him and surveying the flatland like the amber-eyed inuyoukai.
Sesshoumaru gave an incoherent grunt as a reply, not even looking at his ally.
Isamu smiled slightly and sighed. "I haven't been parted from my own wife for a time as long as this," he told Sesshoumaru. He looked up at the sky, as though by doing so he would see his beloved Umegae's face and their daughter, Yanagi-hime.
Jaken walked up to the dark-eyed shikayoukai and queried, "Are you sure that Sesshoumaru-sama's mate is safe among yours?"
"I am perfectly sure," Isamu replied, but otherwise said no more.
The cold look in Sesshoumaru's golden oculars flickered slightly. He and Isamu were a bit of polar opposites with regards to attitude, him being the cold and ruthless type and Isamu as the rather friendly sort who seeks to understand others rather than subjugate them. It was quite a miracle how they managed to get along at all in the eyes of other youkai.
But with regards to their familial matters, they were not quite that different. They both have children at this time of war, and to be separated from their respective mates... Although Sesshoumaru would never show it in front of others besides Kikyou herself, he in fact sorely missed his beloved wife. Like Isamu, he had never spent a whole day apart from Kikyou in the two years she had been his mate.
To be without her comforting touch and to not feel her loving presence by his side was something that almost drove him insane; the image of her beautiful face and the concern for her safety was present in his thoughts ever since he left her at the gates of the shikayoukai fortress exactly a day earlier.
Kikyou. How Sesshoumaru longed for her. He was beginning to have doubts as to whether he made the right choice in keeping her from standing beside him now. Should he have allowed her to come with him, so as to spare them both from the pains of parting?
Hastily, Sesshoumaru shook those thoughts and doubts from his mind. He knew he made the right decision. She was better safe and apart from him, rather than dead in the same battlefield as he. Even if they may never see each other again in this mortal world, there is always the afterlife. Besides, Kikyou has their child. Sesshoumaru hoped that she would think of him whenever she gazes at the face of their little one, once he or she is born.
Unknown to any soul, when they first settled in the West, Kikyou had given him the white ribbon she used to tie her hair into. That was partly the reason why she didn't tie her hair back anymore like she would in her miko days, and left it instead loose and flowing on her back. Kikyou told Sesshoumaru that her gesture meant that she had fully left her past behind her. She had severed her ties with most of the outside world, especially his younger brother, to be with him. She was his, and he was hers, until the end of time.
Sesshoumaru had kept this white piece of plain cloth all this time, tucked close to his heart within his kimono. In a way, she was with him as long as he kept that intimate item of hers. It served as a reminder to him that should he lose this war, there was so much that would be lost. He must be victorious over Karatake, not only for his mother, but for Kikyou and his child as well.
"Ready them for the march," Sesshoumaru ordered Isamu. "Tell them I want us clear of this field before another drop of rain falls."
"Yes, milord," Isamu said to the other taiyoukai, bowing slightly and turning on his heels to give his soldiers the order.
Jaken stepped closer to his master saying at the same time, "Do you really think, Sesshoumaru-sama, that Kikyou and Rin are safe in the Realm of the Shikayoukai?" The toady demon normally didn't show much concern for his lord's human mate or their adopted daughter, but over the years Jaken had gotten so used to their presence that he couldn't help but be worried that Karatake's minions might find them.
"He will pay if Kikyou and Rin are harmed while they are in his domain," Sesshoumaru whispered coldly, emphasizing the 'he' in the statement. Jaken knew that it could stand for two persons. It could be Karatake, but even more, it could be the Lord of the Shikayoukai, Isamu. It could even be both. Who knows what went on in Sesshoumaru's mind?
But one thing is clear. Sesshoumaru looked over his shoulder and observed Isamu conferring with several deer youkai at the foot of the hill, and with his words the whole army stopped to listen. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes.
If Kikyou died in the hands of his uncle's minions, Karatake would not be the only person to pay the price.
Isamu would have to pay with his life.
...o0o...
The sun was well up before Kikyou awoke. She felt rather cold; her hands went out to grab Sesshoumaru's fur and pull it closer to her, but her fingers touched rich silks instead. The former priestess was awake in an instant, and she sat up on the soft mattress where she slept on for the night. For a while, she was disoriented, but soon memory and realization changed the look in her mahogany eyes. Of course, she and Rin were in the palace of the Deer Demons, and her husband was away, somewhere in the battlefield fighting his uncle.
"Kikyou-sama, you're awake!" Rin's energetic voice made its way into her ears. The little girl was on the verandah, intently observing the misty lights. But noticing that her foster mother had awoken, she went in and hugged Kikyou.
Rin's loving action temporarily appeased the tears that threatened to spill from Kikyou's soft orbs. Sesshoumaru. How she missed him. Did he miss her as much? Was he thinking of her at present? Will he remember her whenever he draws the Toukijin in battle? It was hard for her to spend a night without dreaming of him.
"Well, my timing is very good," Umegae said. The young Shikayoukai Queen entered the room with her baby bundled up close to her chest. She was carrying a tray laden with fruits and a pot of steaming water for tea. "Now we can all breakfast together."
Kikyou put her thoughts about Sesshoumaru at the back of her mind and put on a smile. "Oh Umegae, you didn't have to..." She got up from bed and took the tray from Umegae's hands, setting it on the low table near the door which opened to the verandah.
Umegae brushed the apology aside with a smile, saying that even in her high status she was accustomed to preparing her own meals. Though she sat with them throughout the meal, Umegae didn't take a bite of food until she was sure that Kikyou, Rin and her own daughter Yanagi were comfortable.
Yanagi was still too young to take in such foods, so Umegae made her suckle at her breast. It was then that Kikyou noticed her companion's clothing. Though Umegae still had on the rich wave-and-shell shawl, she was clad much simpler, in a robe that consisted only of two or three layers over which she had tied a black obi. But the lovely plum and violet tones of her clothing combined with the elegant pattern of silver grasses sweeping the hem of her black underrobe set off her regal aura better than many-layered robes.
"Your dress is so pretty, Umegae-sama!" Rin remarked. Clearly, she was as fascinated with the robe as Kikyou.
"Why thank you, Rin-chan!" Umegae replied good-naturedly. "I really prefer these kinds of robes better than the bulky twelve-layered ones. Besides, I have Yanagi-chan here. Many layers of clothing would get in the way if you have someone to nurse."
Yanagi was full by this time, and she let go of her mother's breast to sleep. Umegae fixed her garbs and tucked her daughter securely in the sling on which she carried her baby. Finally, she took a piece of citrus from the bowl and sucked the succulent pulp from the black seeds.
"Was it difficult for you to give birth to her?" Kikyou asked.
"Normally for youkai we don't need assistance when giving birth," Umegae replied. "But in my family we are always assisted by another demoness when our time comes."
"Do you think you can find someone who will be able to help me in the delivery of my own child?" It was their firstborn; Kikyou's joy was mingled with fear at encountering the unexpected. Sesshoumaru may be her husband, and he would strive to be with her, but his knowledge of birth was even less than hers. If she were to safely deliver their child, she would have to get the aid of an experienced healer, even if among youkai.
"I will personally be in your assistance when you need me," Umegae said with a smile. "As a healer I have seen many births, and I believe I can be of help to you when your own time has come."
"You are too kind..." Kikyou muttered, hardly believing her good fortune. It was already one thing to be taken into the wing of the Queen of the Deer Demons in the time of war. To be cared for by the same demoness when she gives birth was something equally, perhaps even more touching. And Kikyou was a human! That doubled the wonder, a Demon Lady looking after a mortal woman...
"My family has been indebted to the inuyoukai for many a long time," Umegae replied, shaking her head slightly. "Perhaps we can repay some of those by helping you in childbirth the way we are now helping Sesshoumaru-sama by taking Rin and you in. Besides, aren't we friends, Kikyou? I am only doing what I think is right."
"Sesshoumaru..." At the mention of her husband, the depressed expression that spread over Kikyou's face was so plain that Rin squeezed her hand gently in concern.
"Where did Sesshoumaru-sama go, Kikyou-sama?" Rin asked quietly. She wasn't yet aware of how serious the situation was, let alone the reason why the taiyoukai left them in Umegae's care.
Kikyou berated herself for letting her emotions slip. She patted Rin on the arm and mumbled an incoherent reply.
"You miss him, don't you?" The sympathy and sadness in Umegae's voice made Kikyou look up. "I can hear you crying his name in your sleep."
Umegae's compassion released Kikyou's grief. She bowed her head and began to cry softly. She had managed to somehow forget about her mate the earlier day when Umegae occupied them by sharing to them her knowledge of the virtues and healing abilities of many herbs and forest plants they never encountered before. She had even given Kikyou a packet of dried herbs she had grown herself, which she said can lessen the pain of any wound. But to be without Sesshoumaru even for a day already seemed like an eternity of torture to Kikyou, and she felt that she would lose her mind if her sorrow didn't find a way out soon.
"I used to be so confident that we would be together until our children are grown," Kikyou said, sniffling slightly. "But now I do not know how many days more are left. As I think of all the days I took his love for granted, I know I would give all that I can to stop time or return back to those days, just so I can hold him...love him...tell him how much I love him..." She broke off and hid her face in her sleeve.
Rin was hugging Kikyou and telling her softly that Sesshoumaru-sama loves her and that they would be together forever, but it served little to ease the older woman's pain. Yanagi awoke and seemed puzzled at the glum atmosphere of the room, but she went back to sleep in a short moment. Umegae rocked her baby for a few times, but she said nothing, allowing Kikyou to vent out her feelings.
Finally, after several minutes, Kikyou stopped crying and bowed apologetically in Umegae's direction.
"I didn't mean to act so badly," she began, keeping her head bowed. "I am sorry for ruining your morning, Umegae. You and Isamu had done so much for us..."
Kikyou gathered the strength to look at Umegae's deep green eyes. The young demoness didn't even flinch. Kikyou was surprised to see both pity and understanding in the Queen's face.
"No, Kikyou, you mustn't apologize over that," she said. Though she wasn't smiling, her tone was not cold. "You aren't alone in your grief. I yearn for Isamu too, and in all these years we have hardly spent an entire day apart. I didn't understand the human nature of mourning before I found love in Isamu, and I admire how much you are willing to stake for the sake of your beloved."
Kikyou looked deeply into those emerald orbs, and she got to see her own sentiments mirrored in them. Umegae, Queen of the Shikayoukai, was not exempt from the pain brought about by her parting from her beloved Isamu. The former miko can see the intensity of her suffering as she cradled Yanagi in her arms.
She doesn't deserve this, Kikyou thought. Neither she nor Isamu deserves this. They, the parents of this little bit of life swathed in cloths, ought to be together and pouring their love and delight over their first child...not apart because of a war that hardly concerns them. How insignificant Kikyou's tears must be compared with their plight...separated in the name of their duty to Sesshoumaru's family.
"I believe Sesshoumaru-sama will succeed in his cause, I really do," Umegae said. "I know he will, for if he can succeed in fighting his past battles with his thoughts focused solely upon himself, I am sure he will further be motivated to think that you are waiting for him."
"I know it is wrong of me to wish for him to worry about me," Kikyou answered. "But I just can't help it..."
"He worries for you, Kikyou. The mere fact that he wants you and Rin to be safe is an act of love in itself. I know Isamu would have done the same should we be in your place."
After a while of silence, Kikyou looked up with renewed determination.
"And I believe that you and Isamu will be able to watch Yanagi grow together. They have to succeed, they have to. There is so much at stake, but perhaps the light will extinguish all the darkness in the very end."
At the pulse of her words, Umegae smiled and kissed her sleeping daughter's brow. Kikyou smiled as well and her arms went around Rin. She looked outside and for a while she was lost in the breathtaking beauty of the sceneries of the Borderlands. Then she happened to notice something.
"Is it just me or the mist is thicker out in that region?" Kikyou pointed out a place further north in the distance. Although fog was a natural compliment to the hills of the Realm of the Deer Demons, the region she just pointed out was indeed different. The fog of the Borderlands was constantly shifting like the water in a boiling kettle, and no view of the land was the same twice.
But that mysterious place to the north was bereft of the hills of the Borderlands, and was covered with a steady kind of mist which was almost opaque to Kikyou's eyes. This mist had a different quality to the fog of the Borderlands, and never even dissipated or thinned out throughout their stay in the fortress.
"Oh, that place?" Umegae said, squinting slightly as she looked at the direction Kikyou was pointing out. "That is considered part of the Western Lands, and my people hardly venture there. They say that the region is enchanted, and not even a youkai can set foot there..."
...o0o...
Hearing the twittering of birds above her, Mizutori stirred from her nap. Several sparrows flew urgently above her head, calling out their distress.
"Whatever is the matter with you?" Mizutori asked, fluffing up her feathers and standing to her full height to listen. When the grave news reached her ears, her eyes widened and at once she understood why her friends were so scared.
Looking around at her pond, she pondered on what she must do, at the same time remembering the time how Sesshoumaru nearly choked her to death. He might not want her to poke her feathers in his family's business again, and he would not hesitate to kill her if she incurred his temper. But she knew that she must do something...
Finally, in a strong gust of wind, Mizutori took off and was airborne. It had been centuries since she last left her safe haven in her pond, but Karatake's minions are on the move. She had to help Kikyou and the Queen of the Shikayoukai before it was too late.
...o0o...
They had barely crossed halfway through the field when numbers of those undead minions appeared out of nowhere and began to attack. At once, Sesshoumaru had whipped out the Toukijin and swung it in a graceful arc before them. The mere pressure of the blow decimated almost all of the filthy beings in the very front of their lines, many more of them went out of the rocks or beneath the ground to replenish the loss.
Isamu at once organized his men in counterattack, and soon the field was overwhelmed by a writhing, struggling mass of deer youkai and possessed human corpses clashing in combat. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow slightly to see the normally nonviolent Isamu skillfully maneuvering his naginata and sending many of their enemies to their deaths, but he was soon occupied in slaying the unwanted assailants that he put the other taiyoukai out of his mind.
Jaken was no less in action, putting the power of the Staff of Heads to good use. Running like a wild horse on the loose, he used his small size to be able to cut through some of the enemy lines and burn many of the undead to ashes. It had been about two years since the Staff of Heads last saw some action during their last stand against Naraku, and though the toady demon wasn't exactly pleased at having to go to war again, his enthusiasm on serving Sesshoumaru fueled his might.
They came upon the company of Karatake's minions just as the sun had risen from the east, but when Sesshoumaru and his allies had managed to finally crush the last remaining resistance, the sun was already a little bit past its noon time zenith. It wasn't the sheer youkai powers of the enemies that gave them a hard time (they possessed no command over the elements whatsoever and had to rely on physical weapons), but rather their great numbers. Isamu had gathered pretty much all of the able male deer youkai in the army, but even then he was temporarily afraid that they were severely outnumbered.
Sesshoumaru, however, appeared to be as indifferent as ever. He inspected the numerous corpses of their dead enemies with not so much a grunt and a remark on how weak they were. Isamu, meanwhile, was quickly checking on his soldiers to see the intensity of their injuries, and he gave a relieved sigh to find out that there wasn't a casualty reported in their lines. Those who were wounded were easily recovering thanks to their full youkai healing prowess and the herbs that many of their fellow shikayoukai used to aid in the healing. Content that they had held up somehow, Isamu walked to Sesshoumaru and Jaken who were still among the enemy dead checking if any of them still drew breath.
"We suffered no losses whatsoever, milord," Isamu reported, stepping beside the silver-haired inuyoukai and his toad-like companions.
But before Sesshoumaru or Jaken can reply, a huge bulk of a corpse lifted itself up from the rotting piles of rigor mortis and lunged at them in a futile effort to bring them down. Sesshoumaru's hand shot out at once and clamped his clawed fingers around the neck of the undead. He would have melted the imbecile right then and there, but the final words of their enemy made the poison stand still in Sesshoumaru's fingertips.
"We know of your human bride," the youkai in the corpse sneered, a twisted grin spreading on his already malformed mouth. "We know that she is now hiding in the Borderlands, and many of our ranks had gone ahead of us to kill her along with anyone who dares to come to her aid."
Sesshoumaru's amber eyes immediately took on a shade of blood red. Though he can hardly believe the foul youkai's words, he gave himself the temporary satisfaction of granting the lower life a slow death, gradually spreading his poison to reduce the body into a pile of toxic meltdown. But once the dreadful screams of the minion died away, Sesshoumaru turned to Isamu and his hand was around the other youkai's neck in a mere blink of an eye, lifting him slightly from the ground..
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken said out before he can help it, but he could say no more. The fury in his master's eyes was unlike anything he had ever seen, and he immediately drew back in fear of Sesshoumaru's wrath.
Several of the shikayoukai saw what the Demon Prince was doing to their own lord, and they immediately ran near to come to Isamu's aid. But Isamu, though he can hardly speak with the squeezing grip on his throat, shot them a glare that meant for them to stay where they are.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't destroy you with my bare hands," Sesshoumaru said in a deliberate and deadly whisper, the pupils of his blood-red eyes narrowing into mere vertical slits.
With great effort, Isamu managed to speak, his own hands clamping themselves around the other taiyoukai's wrist to somehow loosen his grip.
"Because...I can help...Kikyou-sama!" he blurted out, nearly choking on the last word.
At the mention of Kikyou, the angry frown in Sesshoumaru's face deepened.
"You said she is safe where I left her," Sesshoumaru replied, his dangerous tone unchanged. "I have no place for a liar like you."
Isamu felt the cold fingers tighten their hold around his neck, and he knew that he must do something if he was to live a long life.
"Allow me...to go...and save her, Sesshoumaru-sama!"
"Why should I?"
Isamu was barely holding up. He felt the air being squeezed out of him. The image of his beloved Umegae flashed over his mind, and he recalled holding his little daughter close to him. Were these the last thoughts that would go through his mind? Suddenly, the truth dawned upon him: their enemy would kill his own family as well for helping Kikyou. They were all ensnared tightly in Karatake's trap.
"My wife and daughter are in danger as well!" Isamu found himself shouting back. His youki burst forth, surprising even Sesshoumaru himself. "I vow in the name of Umegae and Yanagi that I will save Kikyou-sama at all costs!"
Sesshoumaru felt something snap inside him to hear Isamu mention his own mate and their infant daughter. In his past life, he wouldn't have paid even the least thought to those words, but now that he had his own wife and an unborn child, he knew exactly how Isamu must feel. But should he trust this Deer Demon?
'Sesshoumaru...'
He nearly dropped Isamu. Did he really hear Kikumo's voice in his mind? Sesshoumaru knew his eyes were open, but it was as though everything came into a blur and all he can see was the face of his past lover looking at him with a sad smile, her emerald eyes laced with understanding.
'Let him go, Sesshoumaru. Allow him to help you save your mate. I have been with Kikyou all this time, and I won't let her be harmed. I promise you, Sesshoumaru.
I won't let her be harmed.'
As quickly as it had come, the vision disappeared. As though he had intended to do it all along, Sesshoumaru let go of his hold on Isamu. He crumpled to his knees on the ground, and several of the deer youkai moved beside him to assist him, sparing fearful glances at Sesshoumaru.
"Go and do what you have to do," Sesshoumaru said imperiously. "If you fail this time, my claws will bid you farewell."
Isamu's hand fumbled for his naginata, which he let fall to the ground when Sesshoumaru clamped his hand around his throat. But when he stood up, he faced Sesshoumaru with a fearless gaze and said, "I leave you my oath that I will not stop until Kikyou-sama is safe. It is my vow, and no one will stop me from fulfilling it." He then turned to the other deer demons who now bowed to him. "I leave you in Sesshoumaru-sama's command. You are to obey him just as you had obeyed me."
Jaken, who had been silent all this time, offered to go with Isamu, but he would not hear of it. He only selected a handful of his soldiers to accompany him on his new mission, and in a galloping of hooves, they departed racing against time.
Sesshoumaru watched them go, and his eyes returned to their previous amber luster. Only his pride deterred him from openly expressing his despair at his mate's situation, but he knew that he was needed here. Sesshoumaru would have gone and come to Kikyou's rescue himself, but only he can face Karatake. Such painful and costly choices...and he had to put his full trust on Isamu now.
'Kikyou...'
He turned and faced the steely skies. A steady fall of raindrops began to wash away some of the filth that littered the ground, but nothing could probably wash away his inner tears. He only hoped that Isamu wasn't too late yet.
I won't let her be harmed.
As the trickle of rain began to increase its intensity, soon drenching his long silvery locks, Sesshoumaru knew that it was no use hoping. He had to move on. Severely addressing the deer youkai, he ordered them to carry on with the march and they humbly submitted to his will.
Then, as he recalled the unusual and untimely vision he had earlier, he found himself wondering what Kikumo's words meant.
I have been with Kikyou all this time...
...o0o...
What do you think is the meaning behind Kikumo's vision? She isn't alive...is she? ;P I hope to finish this story in a few weeks' time, so stay tuned!
Lady Fabmel: I know; betrayals are always part of my story soup, ne:3 I am quite amazed I didn't put up any (obvious/official) form of betrayal in TUSotM until now...
Aya.Chaos: It's five (FIVE!) more months before Sess and Kik's baby is born, but I might (MIGHT)write about the birth somewhere in the end.
Azn kawaii kikyo the devil: Hmmm, not exactly a poem, but it sure something has to do with getting rid of Kiky. /tuts/ Bad, bad Asagao...
Cold Kikyo: Kikumo and Umegae are a nice set of siblings, ne? Not at all like Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha. /coughcough/
Gossamer Wind: It's not a curse either. ;P Don't worry, I won't make Umegae die in the manner of Kikumo. We already have too many tragic characters; I don't know if I can make room for more...
The East Wind Melts the Ice: No, Asagao's not writing a diary. ;P But sure, I indeed am reminded of the 'evil' Kikumo whenever I write about her. Ahem, characters like her will reach a certain end... /wink/
Water Faerie: True, true.
(smilies): Thanks for reviewing!
