Disclaimer; I do not own Inuyasha.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 23:

Two silhouettes sit side by side on the foot of the Goshinboku tree.

"A whisper drifts, on black moon night. Unheard. Unanswered. Echoes linger in the still air. Frozen. Death comes in a shroud of red..." Kouga stops suddenly. "The moon is eeriely red tonight ... ne Inuyasha?"

"Keh! Cross-eyed Ookami! Shouldn't you be trying to get your lands and title back instead of sprouting poetry and getting drunk on sake?"

Ignoring him the Ookami continued. "Blood moon. Blood spilled, tainted night..."

"What are you going on about ya moron? If I wasn't human right now I'd kick your mangy tick infested ass right now!"

Kouga chuckled then sighed heavily.

"My tribe, calls a night like this Blood moon. Tradition says, the moon cries tears of blood for someone on this dark night... My mother died on a night like this."

Inuyasha peers close to Kouga's face, noting the drunken stupor the wolf prince was currently in.

"Hmmmm." He glances up at the reddish-brown moon.

Boink.

Inuyasha punches the unflinching Kouga on the head.

"Cripes! Damn wolf! Creep out someone else in your own f'cking time!"

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Kagome moans in her sleep.

Shadows were chasing her, dark specters reaching out to try and grab her.

"NO!" She bolts up clutching her heart. Her body protesting at her sudden movement.

She bows her head low, clasping it with both hands. A throbbing headache was wracking havoc in her senses and equilibrium.

"What nightmares plagues your mind beloved?"

Kagome gasps audibly, raising her eyes to behold the dark form of Iesu striding toward her.

"Iesu!... My Lord Mate is not present, it is inappropriate for you to be in my chambers! Leave at once Southern Lord." She retorted coldly. He did not answer but continued to walk slowly to where she sat upright on her futon. "Dare you dishonor him and his house by such manner as to approach his Lady wife alone and in my quarters? It is unbecoming of .."

"I came for you and only you, my Lady." He replied softly, stopping a meter from her. He kneeled before her. "Renounce your love for him I beg you dear Lady."

Kagome tries to reach out to Sesshoumaru through the link made by their mating mark.

"He will not come." Iesu remarked ominously while pointing to a dangling blue vial around his neck. "They are all unaware of the happenings within this room. Most convenient do you not think so?"

She jerks back instinctively, as he made a move to touch her face. Wincing slightly as she notices the seeping red blotch in the front of her sleeping yukata-a tell tale sign on her bandages that she re-opened her wound. "What madness do you speak of Iesu? He is my Lord and 'my Mate'." The scent of her own blood assaults her sensitive nose making her reel back.

The Southern Taiyoukai growled low threateningly. "He does not appreciate you! Not like I will."

Kagome could feel the sudden rise in jaki as a dark looming presence engulfs her room, making her vision spin. Shaking her head she opens her mouth to protest. In her weakened state her power cannot be called forth putting her in a dire situation. She whimpers slightly clenching her fists to summon what little power she can muster to erect a barrier around her.

"Do not delude yourself any longer Kagome. I may not be a match equal to Sesshoumaru's power but I am still a Taiyoukai and as such, my power is greater than yours in your present condition." With those words he took one swipe of his blade across Kagome's barrier, shattering it with ease. "I will not tolerate rebellion when it comes to your submission to me!"

Gasp.

With the destruction of her shield, Kagome feels herself dangerously drained of power and worse, vulnerably too weak to resist the Southern Inu Lord's advances.

"Denounce him Kagome! And I will let you live and you will rule by my side!"

Iesu grabs her right wrist roughly, "say it! I have no wish to hurt you."

Kagome looked at him full in the face. His eyes were glazed over, the insane glint in it made her realize that reasoning with him would amount to no avail.

"I'd rather die first." She replied coldly. Her voice and resolve set in determination.

His face fell.

"So be it."

He turned away from her.

"Ahhh!"

"If I cannot have you then no-one shall!"

Iesu pulls his katana free from it's sheath, making one precise cut where Kagome's previous injury had reopened. An arc of crimson blood clung loosely on the walls and silk partitions adjacent to Kagome's futon, the bloody testimony of a night gone so horribly wrong.

Slumping forward onto Iesu's waiting arms, Kagome's limp and unconscious body continues to bleed freely. Her pulse was virtually non-existent. Her body cooling rapidly as the coldness of death enshrouds her form.

"You will be mine, if only in death. Though you chose him I will not relinquish you to him." He kissed her pallid lips. "I will join you too.. very soon. Then we will be together... Forever."

The Southern Lord cradled Kagome in his arms much like a bride on her wedding night, walking towards the shoji screen that connected with the outside garden. Taking one last look behind at the blood splattered room he looks down forlornly at object of his obsession, before calling forth his youki cloud.

"I-nu...yashaa."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

The black-haired Inuyasha shivered unconsciously.

"I told you to creep someone else out ya god damn ookami! Stop blowing on my f'ckin human ears ya stupid ass wolf!" Yelled Inuyasha balling a fist in front of the Ookami's face.

Kouga looked at him seriously. "I didn't mutt! And it's you that's officially creeping me out not the other way around."

Inuyasha takes a step forward, as do Kouga. Both circle each other. Sparks of fire flare in their eyes.

"Inu...yasha."

Two pairs of eyes, one pair gold, one pair blue widened in response.

"Dddid you hear that?" Kouga asked nervously.

"Dumbass! What do you think?"

"I ttthink your clay pot wench is haunting you... "

PUNCH.

"Teme..."

"Inu...yasha."

"Gyahhhh! I'm telling you it's her! Look my freakin fur is standing on end!" Rubs his arms. "Maybe she's trying to posses you!." Shrieked the Ookami moving away from the hanyou.

"Shut the hell up and piss your pants on your own time bakero... it sounds more like..."

"Inu...yasha."

"F'CK ME DEAD!"

Kouga pales. "...you're not serious are you?.. I mean, If you really felt this way toward me then you should have mentioned something bef..."

"Not that dumb shit! That was Kagome's voice!"

"Inu...yasha...help...mmme."

Inuyasha feels a strong tug in his soul though this time it was weaker. She was in great danger.

"She's in trouble!...Damn! I knew my bastard of a half-brother couldn't protect her properly!" Cried Inuyasha running toward the Western palace.

"Matte Inukuro! You won't reach the palace in time!"

Kouga ran along-side Inuyasha, easily keeping pace with him, as the was still on his human form.

"Idiot! Then pick me up and carry me there instead of yapping your flipping mouth ya numbskull!"

Kouga snorted with contempt, picking up the huffing Inuyasha. They sped towards Nishi no Gi'in.

"Hold onto to your loin cloth hanyou, we're outta here!"