Once Upon a Skeleton
Princess of Ikana
Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Inuyasha
Prompt: Pearl
Two
Kagome felt rattled when she slept on their first night, heading towards Jinenji's village.
Unrolling her sleeping bag on the opposite side of Sango and Miroku, she rolled away from them, not wanting them to worry about her. She finally realized their situation and felt lost without Inuyasha, intelligently she knew he wasn't quite dead but it felt like he was.
She also felt guilty that they hadn't been able to completely resolve their differences on the topic of her being okay with staying with him even with the dangerous youkai side of him that could kill her.
He felt so strongly about it because it would just kill him emotionally if he accidentally hurt her or worse, which meant that he cared deeply.
Why was it so hard when they both cared for each other but were too stubborn to admit it?
Rolling back over towards the campfire, she noticed the flames had extinguished and only the coals were still glowing simply in the late hour.
Miroku sat asleep against a tree, like Inuyasha would and Sango was wrapped up in a light blanket across from her with Kirara and Shippo cuddling into her side.
They made a reassuring picture when she was starting to feel a bit hopeless.
It took him a bit longer than he wanted but he was victorious against Ryokotsusei. The dragon was a worthy foe but Sesshoumaru knew he was more powerful. After his corpse had disintegrated, he felt satisfied that he was on his first steps in proving that he had overcome his father's legacy of being one of the most fearsome demons in Japan.
HIs pride intact in this battle, he returned swiftly to the fortress to reclaim Jaken and Rin before resuming his usual patrol route.
There was still a stench of mild miasma hanging off his corpse that Sesshoumaru knew that Naraku had to be involved in his awakening, typically InuYasha was also probably involved but he did not see any signs of him or his friends… and he wondered if Ryokotsusei perhaps had killed his younger and much weaker brother?
The group gathered up their overnight supplies and headed out at first light. Kagome rode with Shippo as Miroku, Sango and Kirara were together gliding behind them.
The feeling of dread hasn't eased overnight and Kagome wondered what they should do if Jineji was no help?
Certainly, Kaede would probably know just as much and not be much help. Also what did Kikyo plan on doing with Inuyasha if she failed?
Kikyo's heart was turned to the darkness in her tragic death and even after finding out that everything was Omigumo's fault, she still cursed Inuyasha and promised to take him to hell with her…
Kagome's thoughts were a jumbled mess and growing darker with every thought of what could happen that she lightly slapped her face with both hands, releasing her growing stress and trying to think optimistically instead… Inuyasha was counting on her to save him.
"Don't worry we'll find Inuyasha help, Kagome." Shippo tried reassuring her from below as they floated through the air.
She smiled at the fox's attempt at cheering her up. He always knew what to say.
The years were getting on, and she was as youthful as the day she descended into her madness and became a dark priestess. Off to the side of her house, she had a candle that was positioned on a vanity, ready to be lit. This candle symbolizes her curse that she had placed on a man who had wronged her a long time ago. A powerful Inuyoukai lord.
Decades had passed and no movement from the candle and she had often forgotten it was there at times.
Till today when it sparked to life and a small green flame appeared. When she noticed it was lit she smiled darkly, finally one of his son's had been bitten by a dragon's poison. They would now sleep for eternity thus ending the Inuyoukai line of the Western Lands.
The dark priestess, known as Tsubaki, smirked widely.
Kagome and the others reached Jinenji by the late afternoon and were invited to eat dinner with them; his mother had made a hearty stew.
Kagome inquired about different types of poisons and if there were any cures out there. Jinenji, like she predicted, was quite knowledgeable about poisons, from human made to that of many demons but he hadn't encountered any dragons in his time so he apologized to Kagome for not being able to help her.
Dragon youkai were almost extinct and the few that remained were forced to hide in wayward places where other demons especially would not come across them so easily.
Kagome hid her hurt tone from him as she didn't want him to feel too guilty in knowledge that seemed to be almost lost and wracked her brains for another solution.
"Do you know anyone that might know the answer to dragons?" she asked as she began to pack up the herbs he had prepared for her journey.
"There is a black jaguar clan you could seek in the north that knows something about dragons, as they have had a rivalry for like a century now, or so I heard" he mentioned with a small smile, happy he could help a little.
Sesshoumaru learned from one of his retainers that came across the battle between Inuyasha and Ryokotsusei that Inuyasha had been pierced by the dragon's jaws and potentially poisoned which greatly bothered him as he knew of a curse their family had been given centuries ago when their father messed with the wrong woman…
"Do you know what has happened to him since the battle?" he asked him, silently wondering if the curse was truly real as there weren't many dragons nowadays left in their territory.
"No, Milord" the retainer replied dully.
Sesshoumaru didn't ask anything else before departing towards where the battle was said to have happened, he would have to seek out InuYasha himself.
Jaken remained behind to lecture the other demon about having more useful information before noticing that the demon lord had left him behind once more…
Seeing little opportunity in catching up, Jaken reluctantly decided to return to where they left Rin.
Historically speaking, Kagome glossed over what she had learnt about writing of dragons in Japan's timeline, but of course there was little information on actual demons as they were erased over time in written word.
"Kagome-chan?" Sango patted her shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Ah, sorry just trying to think of what else I can do to further us ahead." she expressed.
Sango took her hands in hers and shook her head.
"I know you're worried about InuYasha… and wary of what Kikyo's planning to do with him and potentially betraying us… but you also must remember that we can only control what we will do next. InuYasha will understand." She tried to reassure her.
"Thanks, Sango, I needed the reminder," Kagome replied with a smile.
Deciding that all wasn't lost just yet, they headed north seeking out the felines that Jinenji mentioned.
A/N: It's not as long as I hoped but my life has gotten a bit chaotic at work and now I have way less time to write :( I make no promises but I will attempt to keep up with my biweekly updates.
