A/N: Before we start, two things.
Number one: So sorry about the delay! Been embarrassingly unaccosted by muse lately. Turned out she ran away with a cat-boy –let's face it, who wouldn't anyway?- so had to mourn her for a week and then cry a river to get another one. Thankfully, hired new one just on time: a brand new he-muse. We'll see how this partnership turns out! (wink wink).
Number two: Reviews. Thank you thank you THANK YOU for them. Actually, I can't "thank you" people enough as it is. Your constant support truly helps a lot to get little old me typing. And you have me such patience (sniff sniff) Gods, I don't deserve you! Thanks again and I promise we'll celebrate somehow when I hit the 20 reviews! Yay, par-ty!
Now, let's get this started...
---
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha.
----------------
:Last Dream:
-an Inuyasha fanfiction-
by C.o.m.t.e.s.s.a
------------------
"…." talking
(….) thinking
------------------
:Chapter 6: Kyoutei
It is no historical secret that the clans of dragons and dogs were never, in all actuality, on the best of terms.
Ever since the dawning of times, these two encountered forces have fought for supremacy almost on a weekly basis. The wind dragons raging bloody battles with the black dogs for the dominion of the East; the lake serpent Kuukai-kei trying futily for two decades to steal the dog demoness Komoshii no Bara´s enchanted mirror. And how to forget that memorable battle between Jinmu, the golden dragon, and Hafutase Inu, the great wolf dog, in which it was said that the latter bit the dragon's heart out and with it's flowing blood filled the ocean with fishes and delightful treats; the corpse of the dragon becoming what would later be known as the Nishi Island, foundation and center of the Western House.
Dragons and dogs have fought resentful wars for centuries; thus it was no big a surprise for Sesshoumaru to feel so...reluctant in coming. His hatred was engraved on his genes.
His own father had fought a dragon once...Ryuukossei, the dragon of lightening. He had imprisoned it on the side of Fuji-yama at the dire cost of half his powers and the use of his right arm. Not a big deal for any true daiyoukai, but that to him would, nevertheless, later prove to be a fatal mistake when he tried to save the lives of a useless human hime and her dirty hanyou child. But, that was another story.
As of now, Sesshoumaru, standing over the sacrificial boulder, regarded the dripping apparition of the God in front of him. His gold eyes scanned with increasing sourness the humungous serpentine body, coiled deep on its watery nest like the spiral of a snail's shell; the long slim neck, so pompously held high, dripping fountains of salty water and algae. He pursed his lips at the sway of the four undulating whiskers sprouting from the sides of a muzzle that could just as easily chew a killing whale than eat a spoonful of pudding...and lastly stared at those glittering mismatched eyes, so full of contempt.
Sesshoumaru was seriously beginning to regret ever coming here. The ocean breeze hit him wet and salty on the face, making his hair and clothing shuffle to the left and he scented clearly the smell of fish...
He sighed.
By Kami, how he hated dragons.
He looked down at the surface of the honden he was standing over. Tall wooden sticks swayed gently with the breeze; pushed by the colorful little flags they sported hanging on long threads from their tips. The boulder held a wide porcelain plate filled with flowers and candles. Six other decorated plates -this time made of polished wood- held different assortments of what he could only assume to be food and raw meat. There were also some strange square looking vases filled with golden coins...vestiges of the human's tokens.
He couldn't understand what made any species on the face of Earth want to idolatrize anything that smelled like sardine. Really, if you asked him, that was simply stupid. Yet one could never presume to wonder when humans were the topic.
The mountainous form of the dragon yawned and the belly movement created waves that lapped its sides insistently. "Nishi-kei, why did you disrupt my rest?" it grumbled, and it was like hearing a tsunami talking.
Sesshoumaru hissed lowly, the sound reverberating on his sensitive ears like a drill. He scowled at the other, voice flat and demanding. "I seek answers."
There was a pause. The atmosphere felt heavy, the air thickening with suppressed youki.
Ryou-ue raised a scaled blue eyebrow. One could clearly see passing through the visage of its eyes all those battles between the clans being slowly, painfully slowly retraced on its head. The air around it swelled and the sea rippled in more waves. The dragon chuckled.
"Oh, is that so?" it voiced lowly, a statement edged in obvious resentment. "Hn. Never had I imagined there would come a time when one of you would seek my help."
Sesshoumaru´s face was blank, but in the quiet of his mind he rolled his eyes. Dragons were always such pathetically resentful creatures. It was no wonder they reveled in the human's heart-shaped eyed adoration.
"I have not come for a petty verbal spar, God of the Sea. I only want answers."
The dragon cocked its head in mild amusement. "And why, pray tell, should I give them to you? Have you brought me any tokens in repayment? I do not tend to give favors for free." It sniffed the air around Sesshoumaru noisily. "I do not perceive the scent of anything beyond...dog smell."
Sesshoumaru flexed his claws, his lips a thin line on his face. "Beware, serpent. It isn't advisable to disrespect this Lord."
In the silence of the world, the roar of the dragon's laughter echoed like the horn of the Titanic. "Ah, "this Lord" you say!" the laugh boomed again and in the shore the three hunting party had to cover their ears to prevent their heads from blowing up. "So archaic of you, Nishi-kei...Ja-ja-ja-ja. You are the rightful heir of your arrogant predecessor, indeed."
"Be silent!" the other all but snarled.
Ryou-ue´s mouth closed slowly, yet his lips remained retracted with a row of uncountable sharp fangs in full display. It had been enjoying every minute of its encounter with the other, so long had passed since anything amusing had come his way...but no one told a God to shut up. Its eyes held fast unto those of the white demon, measuring. For a second the air sizzled, charged, the whitened crest of the waves evaporating in misty condensation. The anger of the dragon was becoming palpable and this time it made Sesshoumaru smirk. Which is never a good thing, mind.
Meanwhile, on the sandy shores of the Sensoji temple, Kagome was running. Her legs begged mercy beneath her as she moved as fastly as the dunes of sand slipping inside her trainers allowed her, placing ofudas all around the shrine complex. She had been given very specific instructions from a rather demanding demon huntress. "I need you to build a kekkai all around the beach," Sango had said, after shaking her out of her incredulous gawking of the big mean dragon and the creepy white demon.
Kagome´s eyes widened. "Wh-wha-huh!" Yes, she tended to be really smooth under pressure.
"Don't you know how to create a kekkai?" Sango asked urgently, voice muffled by the metallic mask she was strapping round her lower face.
Kagome shook her head. "Umm...hai. I...eh... more or less. A friend of mine taught me. Why?"
"I need you to build one around the coast," she signaled to the temple behind them and to the small crowd that was quietly, to Kagome´s astonishment, forming near. "People are coming and this is bound to get messy. The kekkai´ll ensure no one gets near and that they won't see anything either. I don't want to be the one to explain this to the authorities later," she muttered sourly the last part. Turning to Kohaku she said. "Bring me the tranquilizers, gas poison and my boomerang. They're in the van."
Kohaku nodded and hurried away. Sango pocketed out a stack of slim rectangular papers. "Here, take these," she hurriedly put them on Kagome´s hand. "Use these ofudas to enhance the barrier," and saying thus, proceeded to jog towards the ocean, moving behind the small pagodas and chanting scenario to not be seen.
Kagome gulped, head moving in two separate directions, rice papers firmly held to her chest. (Good God, what do I do now!)
"Go on, then!" Sango yelled over the dragons booming laughter. "Do it now that they're distracted!" she finished, pointing towards the still discussing demons.
And that's how Kagome had ended up running, stopping once in a while to bend down and stick a paper on a rock or branch, all the time chanting oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy in her panicked head.
She raced back to the temple and climbed the outer passage. Her heart was hammering a hole in her chest, and her knees felt weak from what she hopefully wished was only the extreme exertion she had put them under and not fear (No, I can't be scared now. I'm needed, I have to do something...) She could hear the distant voices of awed spectators behind her and the grumbling of the sea God as it told the other -very scathingly, might she add- to stop trampling over his human's offerings. (These people are in danger...I need to concentrate...
Ok, girl, just relax and focus...relax and focus) Her eyes peeked open of their own volition towards the dragon. It was eyeing her suspiciously. She felt her stomach plummet to the wooden floor. (No no no no no, don't look at me, don't look at me!) Kagome´s mind hyperventilated. (Right, close your eyes, don't panic and it won't attack...)
She had never tried making a barrier this big, her practice only being with shielding the doujo were she and Miroku had been standing. (It's not a matter of size but of will, Miroku said... But, do I have a will the size of a bay!)
Taking a calming, if somewhat shuddering breath, she closed her eyes and entwined her hands in front of her, forefingers raised to point towards the ocean.
Raising a kekkai is a psychic process that requires the most profound concentration of aura unto a specific point -in this case, Kagome´s forefingers- from which it'll expand to cover the desired measure of ground. Its only power is that of protection, whether it is for those that reside inside or those outside of the covered area. It is a wall of aura that, once erected, will prevent any damage to take place in the fabric of "reality". If any slight mistake were to occur on it's casting, the kekkai would be obsolete in a matter of minutes, falling to pieces and taking everyone around on the range of 20 kilometers down with it. That's why it was so important for her to get it right...and why she was gladly drilling a hole on her lip if that kept her from being these nervous.
"Mmm. Perhaps you have brought me a worthy token after all, Nishi-kei," the dragon's voice rumbled. It sniffed the coast grandly, the movement of his body creating two sets of waves to break against the sandy shores with a crash. Kagome pushed her eyes closed more tightly, persistently ignoring the alarm screeching on her mind as she realized she was being the topic of a demonic chit-chat (No! I need to concentrate).Her aura flared gently, the soft warmth emanating like a mist from her heart. With a sigh, she let her mind blank...and the world fade.
Mismatched eyes momentarily widened at whatever the serpent's nose perceived from her, long whiskers tensing. It smiled fangedly. "Hmm. Interesting girl..." It blinked and stared at the other beneath it, a strange new glint on its eyes. "What is it you desire to know, Nishi-kei?"
Sesshoumaru raised a pristine brow at this odd change, golden eyes staring back over his right shoulder. In the distance, he saw a girl standing behind the rails of the shrine's outer passage. Her frame was shaking slightly, eyes closed. Something nagged at him, a buzz at the back of his senses. Sesshoumaru sniffed lightly. Beyond the overpowering stench of wet fish and salt, he only perceived the scent of a woman hidden behind a near pillar and those of the other humans approaching curiously at the scene. From the other, he only smelled the sizzle of light and faith. (So... she's a miko, then.) He turned once again to face ahead. The dragon was uncoiling further, its scaled tail swishing, shaking the depths of the oceans like a humungous stirred martini. (Why the sudden interest, anyway? This is its sanctuary, it must have plenty of human priestesses around...) He shrugged. It wasn't his problem anyway. If using the wench as bait was what it required to get what he wanted, then so be it. "Answer me and the miko is yours," he stated simply.
The dragon God smirked, stretching two long scaled paws to his sides in invitation. "Ask."
"What era is this?"
The God remained silent for a moment, stunned. It hadn't been very sure what precisely might the other want to know so eagerly that would force him to ask for it's -a dragon's, no less-aid. But this it hadn't expected at all. An idea struck him and in its mind comprehension dawned. It stretched languidly, the ocean parting around him and lapping hungrily at the shores. "So it was true you had been trapped, after all..." it mumbled low, eyes glinting mischievously. Raising a paw the size of a building, it slowly scratched its chin, salty water falling from it like a cascade. "I believe it is the time of the Sun Goddess."
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Amaterasu protects humans, Nishi-kei," it drawled boredly, mocking eyes slitting. Upon seeing the other's still blank face, it sighed, lowering its paw with a sonorous splash. "What I mean is we are in the time of humans."
This time, Sesshoumaru did roll his eyes. Were those news to him... "I can already smell that," he muttered, resentment poorly concealed on his tone. "What I want to know is what year is this? How much time has passed?..." he paused. "You said you knew I was imprisoned, when was that?"
There was a roar and a sound resembling the cracking of icebergs on the sea. The dragon shrugged. "I don't remember."
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "Don't you, now?" Then he stiffened. He felt a sudden prickle at the base of his neck, the hairs of his tail perking up slightly as if electrified. He turned swiftly.
There was a pulse of pink light coming from the miko and then the shore and all the surroundings were engulfed in a blinding wave. He blinked his eyes open and saw a huge dome-like barrier surrounding them in pink. It pulsed again and stopped shimmering. Now it was as if they were trapped inside a concave crystal glass.
Sesshoumaru raised both his eyebrows, surprised. (Kekkai? The girl erected a kekkai?)
There was a sudden whiz and Sesshoumaru jumped up. A large white object hurled past him towards the dragon's neck.
It was a huge boomerang.
The dragon roared -making the others flinch at the pitch- and pushed the boomerang away before it hit with an angry slash of its claws. It stood up tall and rigid over its own serpentine body, angry brows furrowed. "Humans! You presume to attack me!"
Sesshoumaru fell gracefully over his boulder in a shuffle of silk and hair, facing the coast. He watched amusedly as the dragon slithered past him like a huge shark towards the coast, where two demon hunters -by their clothing he recognized them-were awaiting it.
Kagome opened her eyes slowly and let her hands fall to her sides, looking around in hesitation. When she saw the misty glass of the kekkai and no human around except her companions, she almost cried in relief. (Sugoi! Right. Now I have to go down there and help! The barrier will hold. It'll only fall if I will it to...) she reassured herself in her head with a positive nod. She tried not to think on the other -more nasty- way for the barrier to disappear. She had to die.
Quickly bending down to retrieve her stash of arrows and bow, she trampled down the stairs and off towards Sango and Kohaku.
The monstrous form of the dragon suddenly burst from the watery shore so near them that Kagome almost fell face first from the shock (Kami-sama! when did it get this close!).
"Hiraikotsu!" the huntress yelled unruffled, releasing her bone weapon as efficiently as an expert throws a knife.
The God roared and slashed it away with a swish of its dripping tail. It fastly crawled over the shore towards them, its form shadowing our heroes like the threatening structure of a moving building. It looked fearsome and angry, its body a willowing mass of blue and the yellow of the sand that stuck to it like fine powder.
To her credit –and own surprise- Kagome did not freeze nor scream. She merely turned around very fast and began to run away even faster.
"Higurashi! I need you to distract it!" came Sango´s yell from somewhere in the vicinity of her right.
Kagome grunted, pushing herself to the side and dodging magically the huge paw that came wheezing over her head.
"How!"
She sprang up and ran to the left, bordering the sea...a very big serpent dragging itself fast at her back.
Pushing over a sand mound, Sango took strength and jumped. She remained suspended in the air for a second, and it was all she needed to fire four darts straight to the God's back...
...of course, it was so damningly well protected by its scales that the darts fell useless like mosquitoes biting a rock.
"Damn!" Sango cursed, falling deftly once again on the mound. From its height she perceived the dragon seemed only intent on chasing Kagome. (Why?)
"Ane-ue! What-what do we do?" Kohaku asked, breathlessly scampering over the last steps before standing next to his sister.
The huntress narrowed her eyes. "Come!" she ordered and began descending the mound at a strong run, Kohaku hot on her heels.
Meanwhile, peaceful little waves lapping at his boots, the stoic figure of Sesshoumaru regarded the parodic vaudeville chase scene that was unraveling before him: a mortified miko running away like a twelve-yeared-old from the Big Bad Dog; a pathetic sea serpent laboriously trampling behind her; and the two hunters, trying unfruitful to stop a God by throwing small stingy sticks at it.
Right...
Turning, he began to walk away on the opposite direction. He had gotten –at least partly- the information he was looking for. The God wouldn't help him in his query any further, so there was no sense in him remaining there a second longer.
(There are other things I need to see...) He stared absently at his hip, the yellow sash mocking him. (I should find my swords...
Whatever might've happened to them?) An idea occurred to him. (Inuyasha is no more, then the Fang has no owner anymore... I wonder-)
Behind him there was a yell, the pulse of strong power, and the sound of a fall so big it made the grounds shake.
He turned his head around.
"Now, Kohaku! Remove a scale from the eyelid!" Sango yelled over the indignant growls of the fallen God. She was standing over its belly, her wakizashi pointing directly over an opening in the scales under which the heart was located. She pinched it lightly with its tip every time the other made a move to stand. "Now, I wouldn't try that if I were you..." she warned.
"Human! How dare you...!" it accused with a boom like an avalanche.
Kohaku stood away, beyond the stretch of the God's neck and where its head rested thrashing on the sand, his scythe held high on trembling hands over its massive gray eye. (How! I- I...)
"I-I can't!
"What do you mean you can't! Just push the scythe under it and pull up! It'll unstick!" Sango groaned, laboriously trying to keep the obviously pissed off big serpent at bay with only her wakizashi and a few meters of chain round its neck.
"No!" Kohaku screamed, moving shudderingly back and shaking his head. Fear was written in his face, tears welling at the corners of his eyes.
He clutched his weapon to his heart, as if protecting it. He stared terrified as the dragon thrashed two sand covered paw towards his sister and she deftly dodged them, turning her back towards the oncoming mass of flesh and claws and using her strapped-on-the-back weapon to stop it like a shield. (I-I can't! I can't do this!)
Shaking, he looked pleadingly at Sango so hardly struggling and then at the fallen form of Kagome. (I'm not strong! I-No!) He backed away, the chained knife falling from his hands in a mute thud.
"Kohaku!"
That milli-second of distraction, that atom in time of loosening the hold, was all the God required to snap up. With a roar and the shuddering of the earth, it lounged to the side and up, writhing like a maddened snake.
Its mismatched eyes glittered turquoise and gray as it lowered its body and head to the ground in preparation. Its claws dug the sand and behind it, the ocean moaned its master's rage.
"You have stepped over your boundriezzz," it hissed, like the rushing of air in a cave amplified. "I will have you, then, for food...huntrezzz."
It was at that precise moment that Kagome chose to wake up from the land of the blissfully unconscious.
(By Kami...my head! What happened to it?) She massaged it absently as she sat up, wincing when she felt a growing bump at the back. (Ouch...damn! I'm never fighting Souta again near the stairs, this is getting dangerous!
...huh?...
...wait...)
For someone who had been knocked out cold by the unconscious release of her power, Kagome caught up with her surroundings quite fast.
She looked up.
The God was raging at the shore, its body a tense form of muscles and indignation. In front of it, some feet away, Sango was standing with black-clad legs parted, weapon at her hands, like a shield.
In the distance behind those two, the strange demon was calmly making his way over to them.
The sea serpent drew on itself, roared and in a blink sprang. The huntress tensed, jumping up and back. The dodge would have been outstanding, were it not that it was a second too late.
A slash, the flash of black claws, and Sango´s muted "humph!" as she was slammed hard against a dune. Her body slipped down it, followed by a shower of sand and blood.
"Sango!" Kagome screamed, already scampering up and towards her. She didn't have a plan and she didn't have an anti-draconic gun either-which, she thoroughly wished she had, mind...she wasn't good in strong defense charms, but (Oh Kami, she's bleeding! I need to help her!)
At that moment, the God turned and slithered towards her, instead.
(Just my luck...) she gulped, shakily stopping and standing her ground.
It was looking at her, its body stopping, too. It quaintly nestled on the yellowish sand between hers and the fallen form of Sango.
There was a tense, silent pause.
Mismatched eyes settled on Kagome with unparalleled inscrutableness and the dragon spoke.
"Long time no see, Kikyou."
Kagome stopped choking the wood of her bow and looked at it, startled.
Her conscious mind, the one that predicts every movement before it actually takes place, knew she'd later regret this. Yet not even that part of her could fully control what was coming.
The word flew up her stomach, past her esophagus and tongue in less than a heart beat. She cocked up an eyebrow, opened her mouth. "Huh?"
"I certainly wasn't expecting to encounter you again. Of course, your visit is always a pleasure," it thundered with an odd smirk, not paying attention to its audience's growing bafflement. The tone made Kagome´s nape hairs stand on end.
Her eyes narrowed, puzzled (What's he talking about?) "I...eh—I don't know who this Kikyou is..." she stammered. "I think you mistake me for...someone else?"
The God blinked, seemingly surprised. "Oh?" That single expression conveying a world of meaning, amongst which one could find: "do please remember this is a God you are talking to, human. Gods don't make mistakes." But then the expression was gone and something named common-sense clicked on its brain.
The God laughed.
Kagome covered her ears.
"Oh, of course! How can you be her! It must have been ages since the last time." Recovering, the God lowered its trunk-sized muzzle politely. "I do apologize. It was indeed my mistake."
There was a pause, in which the sea-serpent raised a paw to scratch its chin and Kagome fidgeted, silently wishing she was anywhere else but here. A bad omen was starting to creep up on her. (Why is it looking at me like that!)
"No, you aren't Kikyou..." it drawled, and somehow Kagome felt like huffing at that. It had felt so much like a recrimination. The God continued. "Though you might be one of her maidens...Yes, you certainly resemble her...even your aura pulses with the same energy."
"Really?" she said a second after realizing that that should have been spoken on the privacy of her head, not aloud. (I'm having a chat with the thing that just attacked Sango and followed me through half the bay to eat me! I'm talking to a huge—no wait, monstrous God Dragon who probably has hordes of humans for supper and little maidens for dessert) something struck her then. (Oh, bugger! He called me maiden! He told me I'm this Kikyou´s maiden...no no no no no...)
"I'm going to be eaten..." she hushed, wide eyed, giving two steps back. Distantly, she realized how big of a mistake she had made by ever agreeing to come here in such a short time, so ghastly unprepared. This God could eat her as effortlessly as one might devour an ant.
The other, nevertheless, seemed unpreocupied by her sudden paleness and muted conclusions on its eating habits. It merely nodded –more to itself than anything- and kept on scratching its algae-looking whiskers in thought.
"Such an odd thing you are, child," it grumbled and Kagome thought giddily (Ja! This coming from a giant talking snake...har har hark!) "I do wonder...might you be her reincarnation, then?"
There was silence. The God stared at her quizzically as Kagome bit her lip nervously.
The silence stretched.
The God was waiting for an answer.
(And how the heck should I know that! It's not as if I came with a history book attached to my body detailing the whereabouts of my soul!) "Ehmm...I don't know—sir" she wavered, remembering at the last minute to be polite –although she wasn't quite sure "sir" was the appropriate way to address a sea-serpent.
The other huffed non chalantly. "Of course you don't. It is impossible for you humans to recall your previous lives...That explains your lack of means to survive your present one quite clearly."
"Hey!" she said, lifting a finger in recrimination...but then yipped and covered her mouth with her hand.
The God coiled and uncoiled its tail behind it, forming a massive hole in the sand. It towered over her, looking down with dark amusement.
Behind it, Kagome saw the small, black-dressed quivering form of Kohaku making his way cautiously towards his sister. He kneeled before her and, tears in his eyes, he began checking her wounds.
Sango stirred slightly and Kagome heaved in relief.
An idea occurred to her. (Maybe I can distract it and he'll have time to take her away...
Ehmm...how do I distract a God?)
With the way the dragon was eyeing her and what it said next, she needn´t have worried.
"You know...if Kikyou was your predecessor and you are her descendant, well then, that leaves you, little miko, in a bit of trouble," it said mysteriously.
Kagome couldn't help but ask. "Why?"
The God smiled and its teeth gleamed like sharp pearls. "Because, you see, she was the one that killed my son."
Sesshoumaru neared the form of the dragon with the rush of a sight-seeing snail.
Upon hearing the recently spoken words, though, he raised an eyebrow. Kikyou, Kikyou... mmm...the name rang a bell. Wasn't she the woman that ensnared his half-brained brother to the sacred tree? The supposed "most powerful miko" that had killed as many demons as the legendary Midoriko herself?
Yes, he had certainly heard of her.
There was something else there, too. Some distant, dust filled memory nagging at him; one of those recollections that one just simply cannot put a finger upon and that he felt was oddly...important about her.
He shrugged and kept on.
The God shook its head bitterly. "Yesss, he was a silly pup at the time. Went after her to get his hands on the jewel to gain power and thus overthrow me. Of course, I told him that was utterly preposterous, but he wouldn't hear me. Far too taken by greed, I suppose." The God sighed like the first rafts of a tsunami. "Pictures in the past if you ask me...but you know how all this blood-bond business goes," it made a vague gesture with its blue paw. "Kill one of mine and I'll kill one of yours. Horrible really, but what must be done must be done." It sighed again, taking the pose of the long-suffering and annoyed.
Kagome, on the other hand, felt sick.
(Oh God, I'm going to hurl. I'm going to empty the contents of my stomach in front of a God and ´kaa-san always told me to never be rude to Gods because, well because Gods are sacred and old and one must always be respectful to their elders because old people always know best and...and...they are very wise and give good advises to help you avoid mistakes, like my jii-chan did when I told him I would go dragon- hunting and he said "you'll get killed" and he was right because old people and Gods are always right and, well when they are Gods they also control your fate and that and one never really want to mess with the guy that pulls the strings because that might just get nasty and this is literally going to get nasty because some great-great-great relative of mine probably didn't hear her elders either when they told her that murdering a dragon was just bonkers so she just went and shot Junior down and now she's dead and here I am being blamed for something I didn't do and-and-)
The God stared at the girl whom was becoming progressively the most perfect imitation of a blank sheet it had ever seen.
Kagome blanched as a conclusion was drawn. (I'm going to get killed!) And this wasn't the you-are-being-overly-dramatic getting killed. No, this was the literal one.
But she wasn't going to go down without a fight.
With a rapid movement she hadn't believed she was capable of achieving, she took an arrow from her sash, nocked it on the bow and drew the string taut.
Her eyes were blue and wide, dry. She almost panicked, almost lost her grip on the arrow as her sweaty hands shook in fear...but she didn't. Instead, Kagome forced herself to focus and aimed, right at the Gods heart...
...which was, of course, safely locked under many layers of muscle, skin and several rock-hard scales.
Quickly rethinking, she aimed at its left eye. The faint creak of bending wood gave her a confidence that almost seemed real.
Kagome hated to admit it, but she was thankful her grandfather had compelled her to learn archery. But then if he hadn't also compelled her to assume her role as the Higurashi´s main priestess, she wouldn't be in this mess now.
The dragon stared at the girl in disbelief for a moment. Then, snorted.
"Oh, please. A simple arrow cannot hurt me, girl."
She didn't answer. Merely drew her eyes close, her power flickering in the tip of the arrow like a ghost-flame. Slowly it expanded, until it covered the whole shaft in silvery pink light.
The dragon drew a surprised breath, its long tail instinctively drawing about it like a shield. (A spirit arrow? She can also wield Kikyou´s spirit arrows?) That it hadn't predicted. "You have turned to be more interesting than I expected," it rumbled in feigned appreciation.
Turning its head, mismatched eyes never leaving the fiery tip of the girl's weapon, it addressed the newely statuesque appearance of Sesshoumaru.
"You know, Nishi-kei...she might be the one you seek to help you understand your...current situation better than me."
Kagome´s brow scrunched, her eyes diverting for a second to her right. (Who's he talking to? There's no one...near...) in her peripheral vision, she saw a tall form and the tell-tale flutter of fluffy white.
The creepy demon was standing right next to her.
She began to panic again. (What do I do? What do I do! I'm surrounded! I can't fire at two demons at the same time, its impossible! I'm not that fast...Ok, Kagome, keep cool, keep cool. Maybe—
Maybe if I'm polite enough I might get my way out of this...)
"Serpent, you presume that a mere human can be of help to me?" Sesshoumaru drawled and it was the most unnervingly disdainful, despiteful tone Kagome had ever heard.
Then she thought over the fact it was her he was being spiteful about, and bristled.
"Hey! What do you mean by that?" The arrow immediately changed aim as she whirled around between one and the other. She repented ever thinking about politeness, wanting nothing more than to shoot him right then and there.
Sesshoumaru turned his head and regarded her and the threat she poised for the span of a whole, undivided second; after which he just turned his head away labeling her threat as being as imperious as that of a nuisance.
At that moment, Kagome hated him more than anything.
"Perhaps she does," the God spoke again, eyeing the new development. Though the arrow still pointed at it, the girl's eyes blazed for the other. "You want answers that are now history and the girl is a miko. Mikos are very knowledged in that field..."
Sesshoumaru pondered this silently.
Kagome felt she was being purposely left off.
"Ehmm...if I may?" she began, lamely. "I-eh...I'm not sure what you are talking about here, but," she gave a deep sigh, lowering her arrow and unstringing it from the bow. When you don't know what to say, just deliver the punch directly. "Ryou-sama, my friends and I, we only came here in search of one of your scales. There is a child, she is very hurt...we want to help her..." Kagome drifted. She was rapidly loosing her previous courage under the unblinking glare of two sets of demon eyes. "We need the Sight to enter her dreams, Ryou-sama. Please, just one scale and we won't bother you anymore..." (Ever...) she added mentally.
The God remained silent, exasperatingly so.
Sesshoumaru eyed the exchange critically. A quiet plan was forming on his mind.
After a time, the God spoke. "And why should I consent? What will I get in return?"
Kagome breathed in relief, feeling control over the situation once again slip into her hands. Regretfully, she spoke without mentally processing first. "Anything!"
The God cocked an eyebrow.
Sesshoumaru thought this girl had just instantaneously broken the Human's Most Idiotic Moment record. Hadn't she just heard the serpent say it wanted bloody revenge, most specifically, her death?
"Well," the other hummed interestedly. "That is quite an offer and I would be a fool to pass it up..." Its tone was making Kagome feel very uneasy. The God took a great sniff in her direction, ruffling the folds of her shirt and hair. Kagome shivered, right hand automatically straying to nock the arrow on the bow again. Just in case.
"You will give me the Shikon Pearl," it stated monotously with a single head nod.
Sesshoumaru raised both eyebrows in surprise while still, somehow managing to look supremely bored to the rest of the world. (She has the Pearl?) Again, the nagging feeling of that old memory came back to bug at his mind. Yes, Kikyou, the priestess that could purify anything with the power of her light. The Guardian of the Shikon Pearl... He had met her once.
Now he remembered.
Kagome chocked. "No! I can't!" she said in a rush, taking some steps back. "Wait, how did you-?"
"I am a God, maiden of Kikyou. Nothing can be hidden from me."
Kagome gaped unabashedly. Next to her, the white demon snorted in a "Yeah, right" sort of way.
A knot wrapped and tightened in her stomach, cold dread washing through her veins like chips of ice. "Please, no—not that! I can't give you that!"
The God shrugged uninterestedly. "If you so refuse then I shall have to decline."
Kagome sagged where she stood, all the previous confidence in striking a civilized deal and getting the Hell away from there unscathed, vanishing like fairy dust in the wind. (What am I supposed to do now! I can't fight him! He's a God...it's against the law for priestesses to go about killing Gods...)
Her knees felt weak and a sort of tired dazedness was beginning to cloud her brain. Like the falling of a sudden ton of rocks, all the things that had happened to her in the last four days, all the misery, stress, fear, tension...every little emotion made it present on her head just then and there. She felt as if she'd been run over by a train or a wild bull...no, better yet, a wrathful Ryou-oh-kami.
She sighed. Why nothing ever turned out the way she wanted? Why couldn't she ever get something done like she had planned! And why the Hell was something white blocking her vision!
Tiredly, she raised her head.
In a moment of innocent dizziness, she thought she was seeing an angel. Actually, it was only Sesshoumaru, whom had moved to stand right in front of her.
"Miko, you have the old Pearl?" he drawled, gold eyes boring holes on hers.
Kagome just nodded, feeling numb...or dumb, she wasn't sure which exactly. There was something about this guy that was awfully more unsettling than anything else she'd ever had to face with other demons.
"Have you decided to accept my proposal, then?" the God hissed behind Sesshoumaru, its body slowly untangling up. It was moving towards them.
Kagome stared up at it, her head shaking in negation. Her attention was quickly riveted to Sesshoumaru again when he spoke, "Do you know of its history?" he demanded, as if the approaching slither of a mass of God-ness behind him wasn't at all worth his attention.
Kagome´s head bobbled from one to the other. "H-hai. I...my grandfather keeps records of it since feudal times."
"Feudal times." Sesshoumaru repeated in a distant whisper, tasting his past life's denomination. He liked it.
"It doezzz not matter," the God hissed like poisoned honey, swishing it's body like ripples in a pond as it stood tall just at the other's back. "I'll rip it out of you myself."
Kagome drew back, bow and arrow once again pointing at it's eye. "I-I don't have it with me! It's in the-" she was about to commit another grade-A verbal crime, but she held it in at the last minute. "It's not here!"
"You lie! I can feel it!" The God cracked it's paw and launched down, sharp claws slashing like surgical double-blades.
Kagome screamed, eyes shutting tightly, trembling right hand about to let the arrow fly loose... just a milli-second too late.
But the arrow didn't fly off, and the dragon's claws didn't rip her to shreds of her old little self. There was a strong hand clutching hers and the arrow and the bow string, the empty voidness of lack of ground under her feet, wind rushing through her whole body...
(Huh?)
...eyes opened wide, unbelieving. She was flying, high, high through the salty sea-side air!
Kagome froze.
Then she began to scream silly.
"Aiiieeee!" she bellowed hanging from her right arm like a rag doll as the white demon soared her up. She didn't even dare take a peek down.
"Stop whining, girl," the demon demanded, as he dangled her disdainfully in front of his eyes. "Don't make me regret taking you with me."
Under them, there was a roar like that of a hurricane. It coiled on itself, readying to strike them as soon as they touched ground, poisonous.
The God was not feeling happy.
Naturally, as Kagome heard it roar below, she began trembling and yelping all over again. Until suddenly, a thought struck her. "You saved my life," she gasped, previously ensuing panic attack strictly forgotten. Fascinating! Can demons save the lives of their enemies? Because they were enemies, right? Even though they weren't acquaintances per se, their roles in life made them so. Kagome mentally retraced her grandfather's teachings on that field (Demon vs. Priestess equals gory enmity. Yep, that's about it.)
Sesshoumaru snorted as a response in a "not likely" sort of way.
"I did not. I only wish to peruse a matter with you...
I propose a deal," the demon that had her entire life –and I am being quite literal here- dangling from his claws, suddenly commented.
The phrase came so out of the blue that she could only stare at him, gaping like a fish for a few seconds... after which, Kagome began to ponder the implications of starting screaming her head off once again. After maintaining what to her was an incredibly leveled facade during the entire hunting-down-dragon-and-dangling-unexpectedly-from-creepy-demon´s-mercy business, Kagome truly, really, very much wanted to start screaming again. Thankfully, the obviously more rational, though indisputably less communicative side of her brain, won.
"Huh?" She stuttered, left hand moving past her head to grip at his wrist in case he began to...you know, feel tired and that from having the weight of a human being completely held in the air with only one hand!
"Hn. Help me understand this world, miko, and I'll help you get the serpent's eye."
Another roar from below –obviously Gods had supernatural hearing, too, apart from the cunning capacity of "knowing all"-. The serpentine mass writhed in the sand like a caged animal. "Nishi-kei! How dare you challenge me! Bring her down, the Pearl is mine!"
Sesshoumaru only spared a second-long glance at the dragon, eyes returning immediately to his scared, unwilling charge with their previous intensity undiminished.
Meanwhile, Kagome thought. And thought and thought and...well, thought, deeply and thoroughly. It was a sensible deal, really; certainly the sort of business contract a girl in her...current situation shouldn't pass up. The God asked for the Shikon Pearl in exchange for an eye-scale, which was a definite no-no. The other just wanted some history lessons and he'd give her the entire eye. Hmm...tricky.
"Well?" Sesshoumaru shook her to regain her attention. "What will it be?"
Kagome groaned. She was sure her entire arm was becoming violet-white with the lack of blood coursing through it. (Oh, to Hell with enmity. Let's celebrate inter-species business bonding). "Yes," she croaked at last, biting her lower lip painfully. "Yes, we-we have a deal."
The demon nodded once...
...and just like that she wasn't hanging from certain height-sickness anymore, but in the ground, over her beloved and wrongly taken-for-granted-until-just-now ground. For a second there, she though she might drop down and kiss it. Gratefully, the better part of her consciousness won again. She merely dropped down, period.
Standing like a petrified tree in front of her was Sesshoumaru, the picture of the unperturbed.
Fifty feet from him, writhed and slithered the angry God, the picture of a murderous, building-sized boa.
"How dare you!" it hissed, eyes colored one like ashes and the other like the ocean, blazing. "You... I will have the Pearl and your head for thisss."
Sesshoumaru looked up at it. One might imagine an amused gleam on his eyes, and one might be thoroughly correct.
Suddenly, he was feeling highly amused.
"We'll see." Letting his youki flare, he launched.
--------------------------
Glossary of Japanese words:
Kyoutei: agreement.
Fuji-yama: Mount Fuji
Kekkai: one of any onmyouji´s most basic teachings –and that, because of that, it took Kagome so long to learn to master-, it's a protective barrier. It's usually shaped like a big upside-down fishbowl that traps the fighters inside a dome. Thus, whatever harm that comes to the surroundings will not affect the fabric of reality. This allusion to kekkai was taken from the anime/manga "X-1999" by Clamp. If you care to know more, just ask me!
C.o.m.t.e.s.s.a