And BAM! Here's #2. Yay! Did you like the last one? Well if you didn't you wouldn't still be reading this mess. :) Last chapter was really short so this one will be a little longer.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not the characters and not the story.
Chapter 27: Taken part 2
Once outside, Sesshomaru picked up the scent of both Kagome and Mizuki, but not of the stranger that took them. Following it, both he and Hayate reached the eastern gates, confirming that she was indeed taken outside. Three guards stood by the gate. They immediately took notice of the inu lord and bowed respectfully. "How long have you been out here?" Hayate asked as they approached them.
"Not long. We just started our patrol." one of them replied.
"Did you see anyone leave through the gate?" Sesshomaru demanded.
"No my lord. It's strange though. There was supposed to be two guards out here before us. But when we came to relieve them of their duty, they were already gone."
Sesshomaru clutched his hand into a fist. "Are you sure?"
All three youkais nodded. "The two had offered to take early guard duty. They said they had permission from Hayate."
"I gave no one no such orders." Hayate replied, his eyes growing darker. When he gets his hands on those guards they were going to pay. That is, of course, if Sesshomaru doesn't get to them first. The tori could feel the daiyoukai's fury rolling off in waves. "Lord Sesshomaru, there are two youkai scents following Kagome and the stranger out." Hayate commented from the entrance of the gate. "I have a bad feeling about this whole thing."
"We'll keep moving." Sesshomaru said heading out the gate. His only focus now was to find Kagome and Mizuki. If anyone dared to harm them they would die. No exceptions. He continued following the scent of the miko and pup, his senses on high alert as he got closer to where he felt they were. He sent out a large wave of his youki when he heard the cries of the pup, and a few seconds later he felt a familiar sting from the miko's reiki. It was small and weak, she was in danger.
"You can't have her!" Kagome yelled again as she moved away from the three people before her.
"Why can't I just kill her now?" The snake youkai hissed closing in on her. "I promise that pup won't ever get a scratch."
"Ha! You're an incompetent fool. I won't risk the pup's life on your word. It's best if I take both."
"What?!" The youkai turned to the witch. "You dare break your promise!"
"No but you'll just have to wait longer to kill her."
"Not happening!"
Kagome watch wearily as the two glared at each other. They were still blocking her path back to the palace, so her only chance of escape was through the forest. She looked down at Mizuki to gather her courage and took off as quickly as she could into the woods. She heard a distinct shout from behind her and knew she was found out, but that only made her run faster. Kagome paused behind a tree to catch her breath and look around. She spotted a hole in the bottom of the tree trunk hidden by several of its roots.
"Okay. Okay. It's going to be okay." Kagome knelt down and hugged the pup to her. "Mommy's gonna leave for a little while okay. It'll be okay. You'll be safe." She kissed Mizuki on the forehead and placed her within the hole. She then placed a barrier around the little inu and forced herself to push on. She got up and took off running again. Hopefully that witch wouldn't find Mizuki, and she doubt those two youkai would be focused on the pup.
She heard a snarl behind her and turned to find the bear youkai catching up to her. He reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her toward him. She struggled in his grip. "Running was a very bad idea priestess." He growled out. "I could kill you right now."
Kagome twisted in his grip and used all her strength to slam her head right into his lower jaw. The youkai loosened his grip due to the shock and pain, giving her the opportunity to escape. Once free, her hands grabbed the nearest rock and threw it at his face, hitting his right eye.
"You bitch!" He snarled holding his eye.
Kagome paid him no mind and doubled back the way she came. She could hear the soft whimpering from Mizuki, and knew the other two would as well. She was almost to the tree when the snake youkai appeared before her and knocked her to the ground. She braced herself with her arm, only for her to remember her injured shoulder as a painful shock shot through her.
The snake youkai grabbed her by the neck and hoisted her off the ground. "Finally caught you."
Kagome gasped and tried to pry his hand off of her throat. She could hear Mizuki crying now. The hand tightened and she could feel herself losing consciousness. Then she felt a surge of youki. 'Sesshomaru.' She gripped the youkai's hand in hers and gathered her reiki to her palms.
The male hissed as he dropped the girl to the ground. He held his hand, looking over the now burnt flesh, and glared at the miko. He reached out to grab her again while she was still struggling to breathe when he heard the growl behind him. He didn't have a chance to turn around when he was suddenly impaled by a sword. He collapsed to the ground, the hilt of Tokijin protruding from his back. Sesshomaru retrieved his sword and kicked the corpse away before setting his sights on the girl.
As he pulled her to stand up, Kagome could see the remnants of a red tint in his eyes. 'Was he truly that worried for me?'
"You're hurt." He said carefully tracing the dark marks around her neck.
"I'll be fine." She replied, although her strained voice didn't seem very convincing. She stumbled a little as she moved away from him and to the tree where her crying pup lay hidden. She removed Mizuki from the hole and caressed the pup's cheek, rocking her till she stopped crying. "It's okay. Everything's okay now."
A rustle was heard before Hayate appeared, sheathing his sword. "I found the other youkai." He simply said as he approached them. "Are you okay Kagome?"
"I am now."
He gave her a smile before continuing talking. "Before I ended his life, the guard told me that witch was involved."
"Meichiko. Yes." Kagome answered. "She disguised herself as Lord Sesshomaru and took me away. I realized something was wrong when we reached the eastern gate. I'm sorry."
"You are not to blame. She had help in her schemes." Sesshomaru said firmly. "Did he say anything else?" He asked Hayate.
The tori sighed knowing his lord wasn't going to like what he said. "The witch has been observing us for the last three weeks. Within our walls."
"What?" Kagome felt cold suddenly. This whole time, she was there watching and waiting. "But why now? Why choose now to act?"
"Because neither I nor Hayate was within the perimeter." The daiyoukai said bitterly. If he had known, he would have never left her side. He turned to the object of his still wrecked nerves. He didn't say anything, wrapped the end off mokomoko around her, and lifted her in his arm.
She shouted in surprise. "Se- Lord Sesshomaru. You don't have to do this I can walk."
"Let me," was all he said in response. He wasn't going to tell her that he was worried about her. Nor will he mention how his inner beast calmed when she was in his arm. That wasn't going to happen since he would never admit it, especially to himself.
Hayate followed behind as they headed back for the palace. Once again he noticed the small change in Sesshomaru's behavior, like how his anxiety seemed to fade once Kagome was in his arm. To anyone else it would have been a strange sight. The great terrible western lord carrying a miko and her inu-youkai pup. A few minutes later, they were safely back in the palace gates and continued to the entrance. Hayate almost smiled at the young demoness that was currently pacing back and forth in the courtyard.
"Tsume!" Kagome called out to the female before asking Sesshomaru to let her down. When he obliged she made her way to Tsume, who quickly pulled her into a hug.
"Oh Kagome. I was so worried. Are you alright?" Tsume asked looking over the girl and pup, noting the bruise around the miko's neck. "You're hurt. What happened?"
"I'll tell you later. I'm fine now."
"I'm sorry. I should have known something was wrong. I'm sorry." The youkai hugged her again.
"Please don't blame yourself." Kagome said calmly. "We were both tricked."
Tsume pulled away from her and gave her a small smile. "Thank you. You must be tired. I'll let you go now."
Kagome nodded in agreement before returning to the inu-youkai, who proceeded to once again carry her inside. Hayate stayed behind and approached the young otter youkai. Despite Kagome's words, he knew Tsume still felt guilty. At the moment she probably didn't want to hear him say anything relating to it.
"Tsume," Hayate held his hand out to her. "Feel like joining me for a late night meal?"
"Sure," she whispered before taking his hand and letting him lead her away.
Meichiko watched in dismay as the young girl ran off with the pup. As much as she enjoyed a good chase she wasn't in the right mood to deal with this. She was going to leave the miko alone until the bear youkai decided to give chase. She only felt frustration when the other youkai followed suite, glaring at her as if challenging her. She could go after them and kill them all but her attention was drawn to a certain female youkai watching her.
"What now Kagura? Do you not see I am busy?"
"I'm not stopping you from going after them." The wind witch said with a bored expression.
"Yes but you won't help me to retrieve what I desire."
"Of course not. I am only here to observe. And to warn you."
"About?"
"Sesshomaru knows you've taken the girl and is on the way here." She replied walking up to the old witch.
"And you know this how?" Meichiko questioned.
Kagura motioned toward the small hidden figure of Kanna, who held her mirror. Within it was the image of both Sesshomaru and the head of his guards, Hayate, running toward the eastern gates. "I have no intention of confronting him at this moment." Kagura said as if waiting for the witch to agree.
Another set back in her plans but the wind witch was right. She had no intention of dueling with the western lord. Well at least not until her master was back. "Very well. I will go with you for now. Unless you worry for the girl."
Kagura ignored her and continued away from the area. No sooner had they left, they all felt the youki of the angry inu-youkai. There was no doubt that the inu was going to kill the two youkai guards. Taking the demoness' offer of transport, Meichiko returned to the southern mountain and entered the cave where her master lay.
"Lord Katsurou, I have returned."
"Meichiko. Tell me all that you've seen."
"The girl, Kagome resides with the western lord."
"From what Naraku has told me, this Sesshomaru has a hatred for humans."
"Well he was wrong. He is a guardian for a human girl. Not only does he care for the miko, but also the young inu pup she's raising."
"Is that so? A miko caring for a demon child. How strange. What else? Surely there is more."
"Ah yes. Your followers are pushing the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead. They have attack the miko and pup. You were right, I believe they might be a necessity to your revival. I attempted to retrieve the pup earlier this evening but there were complications."
"Fret not. I am a patient soul. Have you let Naraku know of these developments?"
"Only of the girl's location."
"Well done. As always you never fail me. For now pull away from the western lord and the miko's companions. There are still others that needs to be observed."
"The other youkai lords?"
"Yes. And do not forget about our dear Naraku."
Wow. Katsurou has not appear in quite a while. Had to in this chapter or people will start forgetting he is a threat. Also worrying Sesshomaru is still the cutest. The next chapter should be up this week and the next before the month ends. Then October will have four as well. and so on until the story is done. So even if the updates are days or a week apart (sort of like this one) it'll be four chapters a month. The next chapter will definitely focus more on Kagome's and Sesshomaru's relationship so yeah. Please review :)