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Kagome sat astride Ah-Un as they flew through the air. Sesshoumaru flew to the right of her, his eyes focused and alert. Neither one had spoken in the few hours since they had said their goodbyes, leaving Shippo in the care of Kumotaro. The air was thick with tension; the normal sounds of nature, birds and the like were silent as the two of them passed by overhead.
They were being followed and had been for some time. Kagome could feel a vague tingle of strange youki on the edge of her senses. It didn't strike her as someone familiar either, which didn't bode well.
Sesshoumaru turned and glanced at her.
"Are we far enough away from the village yet? All this waiting is making me anxious." Kagome blurted out, breaking the silence between the two of them.
Sesshoumaru motioned for Ah-Un to come to a stop. "I agree. This is getting old."
Kagome gave a huge sigh. "Who do you think it is?"
"A snake. I picked up his scent while leaving the forest."
"Well, let's see what he wants." Kagome said as she pulled on the reins to the massive dragon, urging them towards the ground. They landed on a dirt road covered in grooves from wagon wheels. On either side of the road was farmland with not a house in sight. This was the best place for an altercation if one was going to happen. A cool breeze flowed across the fields swaying tall stalks of grain. Kagome closed her eyes and took in the feel of approaching the autumn weather. A shiver went up her back, interrupting her reverie.
A tall, broad, snake youkai broke through the grain stalks, his thick muscles bulging with each heavy step. He moved sluggishly towards them, his dark scales glinting in the sunlight-a bright comparison to the torn and soot covered clothing he wore.
The stranger stopped within 20 yards of them. He lifted his arm, pointing a finger at them. "It's all because of you!" He shouted. Even from here they could see his fangs protruding from his mouth, twisted into a snarl.
Sesshoumaru leveled a blank stare at him. "Be gone from my land."
Kagome looked between them, slightly confused. Why had this injured youkai followed them this far only to yell at Sesshoumaru? Did he have a death wish? This further confused her, because Sesshoumaru didn't kill him outright...
"Who are you? What do you want?" Kagome called out, her hands still tight on Ah-Un's reins just in case.
"I am the great Goji!" He shouted thumping his chest, sending puffs of soot into the air. "Your death will bring glory to the snake empire!"
Sesshoumaru turned on his heel, and began walking away. This lowly youkai's challenge to his power was absurd.
"Wa...wait! Where are you going?" She sputtered at Sesshoumaru's sudden dismissal of the youkai.
"He's not worth this one's time." He said, not bothering to look back at either of them.
"How dare you turn your back on me! My captain was an idiot, but I will not make the same mistake!" The snake roared, baring his fangs and spitting with rage. There was a surge in his youki, which set off an alarm inside Kagome. In a quick moment, she leapt from Ah-Un as she pulled her bow from over her shoulder, and had an arrow aimed at the deranged Goji. She walked closer to him, blue eyes alert.
Sesshoumaru paused in his step, turning to watch Kagome.
The snake reached into his tattered robes and pulled out a small green jewel. "You mock me now, but you'll see!" The afternoon sunlight glinted off the shiny stone's surface. A slow smile spread across the Goji's face as he laughed. "This look familiar, inuyoukai?"
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, focusing on the strange object. The jewel itself held no meaning to him, but he recognized the scent of it from the dead captain found with Shippo. The snake must have pilfered it from the body after Sesshoumaru rescued Shippo.
"You'll understand soon enough." Goji tilted his head back, dropped the gem into his mouth and swallowed it whole. There were a few tense moments before the snake coughed, drool mixed with venom dripping from his mouth onto the ground before the soil around his feet exploded.
Youki filled the air with a static hiss from Goji's body, sending dirt and rocks flying. In the nick of time, Sesshoumaru grabbed Kagome around the waist, and jumped back, shielding her from the flying debris with his body, Ah-Un running after them.
Dust clouded the air where Goji stood, the ground around his feet a small crater. Kagome watched his shadow, the hairs on her arms sticking straight up from the amount of youki in the air. She watched in shock as his shadow morphed and elongated the sound of crackling bones and skin as Goji left his former body behind.
Goji's shadow rose and rose into the air until finally the dust cleared. He was no longer a lowly snake youkai, his body changed into that of an enormous snake, the size of which Kagome found incomparable with any other youkai she had seen. Without warning, his tail whipped around to strike them.
Luckily, Sesshoumaru moved faster, pulling Kagome to safety. She clutched at his robes, confusion clear on her face.
"I thought only Nagas had the power to change. He didn't seem powerful enough to do this. How?"
"The gem. When he swallowed it, he took in the power it held." He answered, finally drawing Bakusaiga.
Goji reared his head back, and he opened his gaping mouth wide. His needle point fangs oozed venom from his mouth as he let out a cackle that sent shivers up Kagome's spine.
Sesshoumaru jumped into the air, determined to end this battle quickly.
He raised his arm, pulling on his source of power; he swung Bakusaiga in an arc. A wave of toxic youki smashed into Goji's head. Electricity sparked across the air, running down the length of his body.
Sesshoumaru gave a small smirk. The snake had a death wish; one he had no problem granting.
Goji shook his massive head, before leveling a glare at Sesshoumaru. He whipped his tail around, and smashed into Sesshoumaru.
"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome cried out. Sesshoumaru flew backwards, before flipping over to dig his claws into the dirt to slow himself. Blood tricked down the side of his face.
Kagome immediately leveled her bow, and sent an arrow straight for the snake's head.
Sesshoumaru's widened in disbelief, when her arrow pinged against the scales of Goji's neck, and fell useless to the ground. This nobody youkai had become immune to Bakusaiga's corrosive youki, and immune to Kagome's holy powers.
Kagome frowned, and shouldered her bow. It had been a long time since her powers were so ineffectual. She drew the sword at her side. There had to be something that she could do. There was no doubt that Sesshoumaru would have to use his brute strength to kill him.
Sesshoumaru stood, sheathing Bakusaiga. He clenched his fist, infuriated. Youki gathered around him; his eyes bled red.
A chill ran up Kagome's back at the surge in his energy. He was pissed, and there was a good chance he would change into his dog form.
Kagome put two fingers in her mouth, and gave a shrill whistle. On cue, Ah-Un dropped down out of the sky, landing beside her. She only had a split second to hop on its back before Goji thumped its tail down on the place they were at only moments prior.
Kagome held on for dear life as the two headed dragon pulled her high into the sky, out of reach of Goji. She did not want to get in Sesshoumaru's way, but that didn't mean she had given up fighting just yet.
There had to be something she could do.
To her surprise, Sesshoumaru held off his transformation. Instead, he attacked him, slashing with his claws.
It didn't appear that he was able to cut through the hard scales covering Goji. If she were to assume that his source of power came from that strange green gem, then perhaps like the Shikon jewel, once it was removed, the youkai would return to normal.
She watched Sesshoumaru and Goji strike at each other, going back and forth. Goji had not managed to land another attack on Sesshoumaru, but Sesshoumaru wasn't getting anywhere either. Physically, he could not break the scales, and his youki was neutralized. There was something about the whole situation that was off.
When Goji showed them the gem, she didn't think anything about it. It didn't worry her, because she felt nothing from it. It didn't give off any kind of youki.
Her eyes widened. Did Goji swallow a holy object?! How was that even possible?
It would explain why he was immune to reiki, but what about the youki? None of it made sense.
They needed to remove the gem from Goji.
Kagome urged Ah-Un to fly closer.
Sesshoumaru wiped blood dripping from his face with the back of his hand, stealing a glance at Kagome's retreat from the corner of his eye. He was thankful that; He didn't want to worry about protecting her, while also trying to, admittedly, protect himself. This battle would end quickly if he could just get under those scales. Whoever created that gem, regardless of the intent, had made a very powerful weapon.
Movement above them caught his eye. Kagome had flown closer towards Goji. Dangerously close.
Without thinking, he started moving towards them.
Kagome drew her sword.
What was she doing?
Sesshoumaru watched in horror as Kagome launched herself off the back of Ah-Un, throwing herself at Goji.
Goji turned his attention from the dog lord, to the human falling towards him.
It was too easy. Goji just opened his mouth and swallowed.
Sesshoumaru stood stunned. That lowly useless excuse for a youkai ATE her?
He wasn't fast enough. Why would she do such a thing!?
There was no way he could kill Goji before she suffocated to death inside a damn snake.
Fury he had not felt in a long time filled his mind, body, and spirit.
Goji would die.
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Kagome fought her rising panic. For one horrible moment, she thought Goji would bite her in half. Instead, her plan had worked, and he had simply swallowed her.
It was a terrible plan.
Still holding onto her sword, she jabbed it into the side of the snake's throat, stopping her from sliding further. She had to admit, that the inside of a snake was not at all what she thought it would be. She feared she might be crushed internally by his muscles, but she found that not to be the case. Instead, she held onto her sword, stuck in the middle of his throat.
She had to work fast; otherwise she would run out of air.
Kagome pushed on her sword, doing her best to stab him. If she could only open a weak spot, Sesshoumaru would be able to kill him. Or at least that was the plan.
It was proving more difficult than she imagined. In pitch darkness, she inched her way up, gripping the slimy walls for leverage. Leaning back, she found the hilt of the sword with her foot. Using her leg muscles, she pushed hard against the sword, driving it further into the snake.
Goji shuddered, and he moved.
Kagome lost all grip, and went sliding further. His esophagus narrowed, and she lost the ability to move in such a tight space.
She wanted to scream in terror, except she didn't have enough air to.
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Sesshoumaru's youki exploded out from him. His eyes turned red, and his face elongated into a snout. In a fantastic display of power, he transformed into his true form.
Goji hissed and snapped at him. Sesshoumaru lunged at him, raking his claws down his scales. Goji slithered out of the way to turn back and sink his fangs the scruff of his neck.
Sesshoumaru snarled and twisted his body, pinning the snake beneath him. A massive paw held Goji's head against the ground. Corrosive poison streamed out of Sesshoumaru's mouth, covering Goji acidic drool.
Sesshoumaru wondered if he would just chew on him long enough, he would die.
A strange light glinted off of a scale to the side of his left paw.
Intrigued, he narrowed his eyes, focusing on the oddity. He smelled it then. The blood.
Somehow, there was a small puncture wound on Goji's side.
Sesshoumaru shifted his paw to the left, and dug a sharp claw into the weak spot underneath a wedged scale.
Goji hissed, and began thrashing.
Sesshoumaru dug harder, lifting up his scale and exposed skin. Blood poured from the wound.
He leaned his head closer, and bit into the mess he had created.
It only took a moment to rip the snake in half.
The red from Sesshoumaru's eyes faded, and within a moment he reverted to his normal state.
His blood lust had been quenched, but the crushing loss of Kagome choked him. He had to find her. Revive her if he could. She wasn't of this time, and he had no idea if Tenseiga would even respond to his request.
He only hoped he could still find her body.
A sensation he had not felt in years burned in his chest. Desperation.
Sesshoumaru moved closer to the Goji's giant bloody mess of a body.
Using his claws he began to dig, and carve out sections of the snake starting from where he had severed its head.
It only took moments for him to be covered in the blood and gore. The stench was almost unbearable, but he had to press on. After several minutes doubts began to set in. What if he tore the snake to shreds and never found her body?
What would he tell Katsurou? With renewed anger, he furiously hacked and slashed faster. He couldn't sense her. Her power, her smell, anything.
"Kagome!" He yelled.
He saw the pale flesh of a hand. He found her! He worked until he had freed the top half of her body. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her out of the dead snake.
Quickly, he moved to the road, and laid her down. Sesshoumaru couldn't tell if she was breathing. The only thing he could think of was to mimic something he had seen other humans do.
He lightly thumped her on her chest with the back of his hand.
"Kagome." He said sternly. He turned her on her side and thumped her hard on the back.
Kagome's eyes flew open and she gasped. She took gulping deep breaths. Her whole body shook. She shuffled away from Sesshoumaru, vomiting in the grass before she finally caught her breath again.
Sesshoumaru grabbed her roughly, pulling her against his chest. "Have you gone mad?"
"What?" Kagome coughed, clearing her throat, realizing that Sesshoumaru was covered in blood. "Are you alright?"
He pulled her away from his chest to look at her face. It was hard to even make out her features since she was covered so thoroughly in muck. He brushed her matted bangs back away from her face.
"Why?" He calmly asked. "Why did you do that?"
She furrowed her brows. "We couldn't kill him until I got this."
Kagome brought her hand up between them and opened her palm.
Sesshoumaru's eyes widened at the small stone in her hand. Rolling it between her fingers revealed that the gem had a large crack in it.
"I was able to crack it when I pushed enough reiki into it." She explained.
He couldn't believe it. She risked her life for this gem, this victory, his war that he dragged her into.
Kagome's triumphant smile vanished when Sesshoumaru growled.
"What's the matter? We did it!"
He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close.
"Ah...ah Sesshoumaru-sama?." Kagome whispered as the action caught her off guard, but a few moments later rested her head against his shoulder.
"You almost died." He growled against the muck of her hair... He had learned his mother's lesson well when Rin had died. He was not all powerful. He was not a god.
Realization burned through Kagome. The great and powerful Sesshoumaru had been frightened; frightened to lose her.
"I'm sorry. I-"
Sesshoumaru pulled away from her. His eyes were wide. "Why would you treat your life so carelessly? Do you wish to kill yourself?"
Kagome immediately felt offended. "I would never kill myself! Look I calculated the risks and-"
He gripped her shoulders. "You almost died! What if I had not been here to save you?"
She stilled.
"I thought you were dead." He said quietly.
"I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru-sama. I didn't realize how much my actions would affect you." She lifted her hand to his face, cupping his cheek. She had a newfound respect for him: to show what he would consider weakness and allow her to see his fear.
"Your life is valuable to me. Do not be so reckless." He said firmly, his eyes lingering on hers and moving downward toward her lips. She felt herself pulled to him in that moment before she realized they were both covered in blood and gore.
Kagome turned away, feeling unable to face the intensity of his gaze, a blush rising to her cheeks.
"Do you think we could find a lake nearby? No offense, but we're both disgusting." Kagome said standing up, brushing off her clothes in attempt to relieve them of some of the filth.
Sesshoumaru stood as well. "Gladly."
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Author's Note: Holy Crap, it has been forever since I last updated. I'm sorry! I promise I didn't forget. Life just sorta got in the way.
Thank you to everyone who left such nice reviews. I promise the next update won't take months to write :P
And as always thank you to my wonderful best friend and beta, Saruwarui. 3