A/N: Since this is all in italics, bold words will be for when they talk telepathically.

The Other Side

Chapter 31

Embark on a Journey

Kagome blinked, noticing that she was in the gardens. Wasn't she in front of the castle? Memories started coming back to her rapidly before she gasped. Oh god, what had she done? Was Inuyasha alright? For that matter, was Sesshomaru? She glanced around the area, softly smiling at the beauty of the gardens then she noticed Sesshomaru was leaning against a large tree. He seemed to be sleeping or she hoped he was sleeping. "Sesshomaru?" she asked slowly then gaped when his eyes snapped to her. He looked at her then around himself, seeming to come to the same thoughts that she had a few moments ago. Just why were they in the gardens? "Are you alright?"

"I believe so," he answered then added, "I see that anger is your way of accessing your true powers."

"That's how it normally is, especially if Inuyasha pushes me to my limits. And oh my god, I almost killed you two!" She knelt beside him in worry, looking over him to make sure that he was in fact alright. "I'm so sorry—I—feel horrible."

"It is alright."

"The hell it's alright! I—I could have…"

"There is nothing you need to worry about Kagome. What has happened, happened and for the better, mind you," a voice said to the side of them as they glanced over to the voice that said something. Sesshomaru's eyes widened slightly as Kagome's jaw dropped.

"Fate?" she questioned as he nodded to her before allowing both of them to see what he actually looked like. Instead of the transparent figure that she had seen before, he was now a solid figure and colorful. He was blond with violet eyes, dressed in old Greek style with many folds and sandals. "My god, you're so pretty—I mean… ehehe."

He chuckled at her. "Thank you. Not nearly as beautiful as the male besides you but close enough." Kagome flushed as Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow to the male in front of them. "But I am here for a reason; I would not have showed myself if it was anything just." Kagome made a motion that she was listening for him to continue. "Do you happen to know what you did when you were fighting the brothers?"

"Aside from almost killing them? No…"

"Yes, well—that was not expected on my part. Destiny on the other hand, seemed to think that then was the perfect time to bond you two together through mind, body, and soul."

That piece of information slowly sank into their minds then shared a glance with Sesshomaru before Kagome started to worry. "And by saying bond, you mean what?" she asked as Sesshomaru stood up to his full height; Fate barely reached his shoulder. "It's not like any of the bonds that I know of back home?"

Fate shook his head, his eyes settling on her with a small smile on his lips. "The bond that you have caused, binds you to Sesshomaru. I am sure that if you listen closely, you can feel him as he can with you. You two could be miles apart and yet, it would feel like you are in the same room together."

"Is it like the bond that I have with Rin?" Fate smirked at her, causing her to wish she didn't ask.

"No, that bond is different. Rin's bond with you is of a mother and a daughter whereas your bond with your new bond mate, is of an equal. The two of you are one; through and through."

"And there is no breaking it?" Sesshomaru thought aloud as Fate blinked.

The blond merely shared at the larger male like he couldn't believe that he would even suggest such a thing. "It is an unbreakable bond," he started out slow. "If even one of you tried to break it off, the both of you will die."

Kagome looked to the ground, hands in her lap as she fiddled with her sleeve. Was this her life, really? "But how did I make this bond? I didn't have the thought of making one, only to hurt Inuyasha for ordering me to stay where I was."

"That's another thing I should mention; you have no ability to get back to your time. You have to simply wait. The well to your time has vanished and all that is left is a hole in the ground," he explained to her as Kagome felt tears gather in her tears. She really was stuck. She sniffled. "You will eventually will be able to see your family; years from now. It is not the end of the world."

"It certainly feels like it is."

"Yes, for the moment it does. It is a fresh wound that will heal over time with the heal of your bond mate. As for how you managed to bind yourself, well—"

"Wait—are you telling me that I bonded myself to Sesshomaru because—"

"Because you wanted someone to help you heal your wounds, yes." Fate nodded.

Sesshomaru resisted the urge to sigh. Honestly though, how was he supposed to help her heal when he hated anything related to helping? "How are you so sure with yourself that we are bonded?" Kagome and Fate turned to him; he stood there perfectly still, waiting for an answer.

Fate waved his hand, all the color drained from sight. It was like they were in a black and white movie! Kagome had been looking at all the flowers with their grey hue to them that she didn't notice the only color left. "The red string of Fate sound familiar?" Kagome turned back to Sesshomaru before her eyes landed on the red string and gasped. She brought her hand to her mouth in shock as she stood up.

There, in between the two of them, was a single red string wrapped around his ankle and hers. Little specks of red lights appeared out of it as it roared to life, making the bond skyrocket. Kagome could suddenly feel everything about Sesshomaru; she gazed at him with her mouth parted. She almost felt sorry for him; to feel everything that she was had to leave someone breathless. Well, she was human once and humans do in fact have many, many emotions. Hell, Kagome was already breathless.

"So what do we do now?" Kagome asked, taking in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. Fate returned the color making her blink rapidly.

He clapped his hands together. "Excellent question! You two are newly bonded so you don't know understand what the bond can do. You are to go and collect some things for me." Kagome felt her lip twitch; she didn't want to be his errand girl! "Which leads me to another point, you are in between planes. You are neither dead nor alive so you are free to roam the areas that I need for you collect from." Wait—What? What! Kagome decided to panic instead which made Sesshomaru put his hand on her shoulder; she relaxed immediately. Fate grinned. "You are to collect three things in total. A sword, a bow, and a flower that burns."

"Where do we find these items?" Sesshomaru asked, knowing that the female was nowhere near able to talk. He peered at her; she looked conflicted.

Fate held up one finger and said, "The sword is found in Mount Fuji, unfortunately I will not be able to tell you exactly where it is; you will have to find it." He held up a second finger. "The bow is in the east, on top of a mountain only see by the purest of hearts." He held up his third and last finger "And the flower that burns is found only at night in the south grove—you must survive the night before it will show itself to you. Come find me again here when you are done. Have fun!" He disappeared after that; leaving them alone.

"Oh well that sucks," Kagome said after a minute of silence.

"Indeed."

"I'm sorry."

He looked down to her. "For?"

"Bonding you to me…"

"It is fine for now. We will have to work through it. Which do you want to start with?"

Kagome hummed lowly, kind of glad that he didn't get mad at her for doing what she did. "When he said south grove—which south grove? I'm almost positive that you can have a south grove in any part of the four lands."

"That is correct but there is only one south grove where you have to survive the night."

"Oh?"

"It's in the west, which is nice as it is close to here but bad."

Kagome began to feel nervous. "Why is it bad?"

"Once you go in, it is a maze."

"So you go in and get lost and no hope of ever see anything but the maze?"

"Essentially, yes."

"Well shit."

"Indeed."

"Stop indeed—ing me!"

Sesshomaru smirked before turning and walking off. Kagome called out to him to wait up and of course, she tripped. She rubbed her knees before running after him again. She grumbled when she caught up to him and muttered something about demons not helping others when they were hurt.

The walk was quiet and Kagome was bored. She wanted to get this over and done with. She grinned when an idea popped into her head. Kagome took off into a run, passing Sesshomaru, who shook his head before she transformed. She came to a halt and barked for him to do the same. 'Come on, we'll get this over with if we're running and what a great way to like this?' she thought to him as she couldn't talk. He simply walked passed her. Sesshomaru heard her whine and couldn't resist the grin that appeared on his face. 'Oh come on; live a little! I know you wanna!'

He wasn't about to give into her pup-like tendencies. "Just follow like a good pup and leave me be."

A good pup?! Oh she'd show him a good pup! She stalked her prey, having ill thoughts before she used her tail to send another one of her purification balls at his back. The second that his eyes landed on her, she sat there innocently, wagging her tail. 'Did I bark up the wrong tree?' She laughed at her own joke.

"Perhaps I should put you in your place before we continue?"

Her tail kept wagging, unfazed by the threat. 'Have some fun with me! I'm bored!'

"Fun?"

'Yeah, you know like running after each other or playing around in the dirt or—'

"Sounds like what you do before you rut." Kagome's jaw flew open before she decided that she wouldn't say anything to that. Thank god dogs couldn't blush or if they could, she would be a tomato. She got up and walked away—speed walked away. She knew he was following her, smirk set in place.

This only lasted about five minutes before she paused and said, 'Get in front of me, I have no idea where I'm going.' There was suddenly a huge shadow overhead as she added, 'Are we having a storm?' To which, she looked up and saw Sesshomaru ten times bigger. 'I knew you'd see my side!'

'Run,' was her only warning. She mentally paled and ran as fast she her legs could take her. Her legs carried her through the forest, knowing full well that Sesshomaru was flying over her. How was she supposed to out run that? Plus that was totally unfair! She whined again. And damn it, he was supposed to be the one leading her; she didn't know where this grove was 'Turn right,' he said to her but she listened anyways. 'Straight until you come to a cliffside then turn left.'

Oh, he was leading her; some way of showing her he was. Kagome skidded to a halt mere feet from the cliff side and panted; she almost went right off! Sesshomaru flew a little ahead before hovering at her side. He motioned his head to the left and she sent him another one of her purification balls—of course he only dodged it, flicking poison in her direction. Her eyes went wide as she leaped out of the way before she took off again as he flew alongside her.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye. He was majestic; she wished she was like that. Although, she was happy she wasn't that big. She was small and compact. She tripped over her own feet and growled. Of course she would trip; why wouldn't she trip?! Then she was picked up by massive jaws and yelped. Sesshomaru took off faster than she was running and could only stare at the scenery passing her by underneath her.

By the time that they reached the entrance to the grove, Kagome could only gape. Thousands of trees filled the area as the sun was setting. It gave the zone a sense of peace as Sesshomaru set her down and returned to his normal form. Kagome stayed in her dog form for a little while longer. 'So this is it? It's really pretty.'

"Once we go in, we will be teleported to another area," he warned as she looked at him in disbelief. "It will mess up our sense of direction."

'Oh lovely,' she answered as they together stepped in and immediately, they were transported elsewhere. Kagome turned behind herself and saw nothing but trees. At least, she had some heads up before this. 'Couldn't we just fly up and leave the area?'

"No, there is an invisible barrier surrounding the entire place."

'Of course there is,' She sighed then added, 'Have you ever heard of this flower?'

He nodded. "Once—by my father. When the moon is directly above, a flower will bloom, giving off a light only seen by those that have accepted their fate." They traveled until it was pitch black then they couldn't see anything. Kagome transformed back and grabbed ahold of his arm, causing him to growl at being touched.

"I can't see. Holding you is the only thing I can think of so we don't get lost of each other." Sesshomaru mentally agreed with that idea but he wished she didn't have to push herself against him like she was doing. It was making him feel things that he hadn't felt in a long while. "And I'm scared."

"Why?"

"Because it feels like things are watching us…"

"There is; creatures of the night come out now to feed."

"Like vampires?"

"Yes."

"Shit, those are real?"

"Why would they not be real?"

"No reason," she said quickly.

For whatever reason that Kagome couldn't figure out, Sesshomaru was good at moving through the grove. They had yet to not bump into any trees. It was kind of cool except for the red eyes that she keeping seeing. From what she could sense around her; there were good ten creatures coming closer and closer to them. "Be ready for a fight."

"What?" she squeaked. "Why?"

"We have company."

"Of course we do."

Seconds felt like forever before a voice interrupted her thoughts. "Lord Sesshomaru is far from his castle." That didn't bode well with Kagome.

"And he brought a female." Neither did that.

"Delectable." Or that.

'Sesshomaru, why can they see us if we are in between planes?' she mentally thought to him before holding onto him tighter.

'They too are neither alive nor dead,' he replied as she heard and felt those things sniff her. 'Stay calm. Your fear attracted them.'

'Of course it fucking did!'

"You need not fear us yet, my dear," came a male's voice. "We can feel you are bonded to your male. Much pity I assure you; you would have made a wonderful mate… or dinner."

Kagome whimpered before she felt arms around her waist and yelped. "You are upsetting my female." Damn, Sesshomaru's voice was close! Wait… that would mean—he was holding her! At that, the bond was pleased and showed it between the two of them. She gasped as she shivered in pleasure from it.

"You two are looking for something, are you not?" the same male asked, his voice off to the their right.

"Correct."

"The burning bloom, yes?"

Sesshomaru rumbled against her as she felt like a pile of goo. "Yes."

"We can lead you there for a small… price."

"What are your conditions?" No! He was not thinking right! Kagome blinked, confused that Sesshomaru was even considering this.

"A few drops of her blood would suffice." Kagome protested to that before she felt Sesshomaru's mouth on her neck. Then she froze.

He took a moment to answer. "Unfortunately for you, I do not agree to that. She is not to be touch aside from me."

"Understandable. Perhaps a dance then?"

"She is not to be touched."

"You could dance with one of our females."

"Now, wait just a minute—" Kagome started by was silenced by Sesshomaru. He just kissed her! It was an excellent way to silence someone if she was honest. Now was not the time for that though… sadly. She felt the bond, it was pleased. Now she knew why.

"No, I do not agree with your terms." It took a moment for Kagome to realize that Sesshomaru was keeping her quiet for a reason. And whatever that reason was, was huge and behind them.

"Since the smell of your female's arousal has affected all of us," he was saying as Kagome feel her body heat up and Sesshomaru growled, he continued, "I suppose that, that is a small price. Simply follow me; surely you could do that. Big will make sure you follow." Big, who was Big? Was that the person who was behind them? Sesshomaru picked Kagome up, cradling her close to him as he followed blindly after the vampire.

Sesshomaru felt the grove open up to a small area as the vampires gathered around them. He didn't like any of this; this had bad outcome written all over it. "As you can see, the moon is above us and the flower—" This was a female talking and she paused to show them the flower, which just bloomed before she added, "has just bloomed. Do you know what to do?"

'I thought that you said it would give off a light?' Kagome asked, noting that the flower was blooming but not glowing.

'Yes… that is odd.'

'Oh, so that's not normal?'

'No.'

'Shit.'

Kagome felt herself being placed down on the ground as her eyes settled for the flower. "Yes, I know what to do," she said as she stepped forward or tried to, Sesshomaru held her back.

"And how do you know? You've never seen them before?" Sesshomaru questioned, causing the vampires around to whisper among themselves.

"I just do. Let me," she replied, her voice was airy before she looked to him; her eyes were white again.

"Oh my god, is she what I think she is?" That sounded like the male that Sesshomaru had been talking with as Kagome knelt before the flower.

"Oh Dom, I hope you haven't fucked us."

"I hope I didn't either."

Sesshomaru smirked knowingly into the dark, making sure to stay close to Kagome. He could vividly see her outline then saw her when her hands lit up. Dom as he was now called, simply gasped softly before cursing his luck. Kagome placed her hands around the flower, gently cupping around it as her powers awakened the plant. The moment that the flower started to grow flames, the light around it grew tenfold. The vampires merely blinked at the light as they gasped at what she just did.

Kagome had just brought out the flames by a single touch. "You wouldn't happen to be Kagome, would you?" A female vampire approached Kagome, only to be stopped by Sesshomaru. He blocked the vampire's view of his female. She side-stepped Sesshomaru quickly, faster than his senses could pick up and knelt across the flower from Kagome, who watched her warily. "You're that black inu elemental hybrid that Fate mentioned, aren't you?" Sesshomaru growled behind standing behind Kagome, glaring the vampire down.

"W-What?"

The vampire smirked as she bowed to Kagome. "It's an honor to meet you, milady." The woman entire demeanor changed that it caught Kagome off guard. What was going on? Just what did Fate mentioned to her? It made Kagome cautious. "My name is Ion; it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Ion, in the light from the flower, looked like a punk from Kagome's time. That bit through Kagome off though. Ion had silver and blue piercings on her face; one on her nose and three of her left ear with two on her right. Her hair was brown with a blonde stripe off her left side, hiding her silver eyes. She was dressed in a purple jacket with her midriff showing and a black skirt with combat boots with chains.

And for whatever reason, that seemed to have a chain reaction of the other vampires introducing themselves.

A bubbly blonde was suddenly next to Ion with a smile on her face. "My name is Marie Rivervine—ine. Riverine; dang, can't even remember my own name." Kagome resisted the urge to laugh; she was adorable! Marie was a dirty blonde with twin pigtails on either side of her head being held up with blue hair ties. She had dark blue—they looked almost purple with the light to Kagome—and was looking at her with the biggest smile. Marie was wearing a blue long sleeved shirt with a dark purple skirt with frill. She had stocking suspenders attached to her long thigh high socks; they were blue, purple, and maroon colored stripes with a pair of black boots that were loose with her shoe laces.

"Babe…" Ion muttered, shaking her head.

"My name is Derek." Kagome turned her head towards the new voice. Derek wore a white wife-beater, showing off his muscles and tattoo. His tattoo was on his left bicep of a small circle in a larger circle, which then creates a six pointed star with smaller circles in between the points. His hair is longer on his right side and pulled into a small ponytail while his left is dyed and mostly shaved down. He wore a large belt around his waist; it was black, white, and red with slanted stripes and a large silver belt buckle. On his hands, he had black fingerless gloves. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans and black shoes with red shoe laces.

Sesshomaru was not happy that all these people were coming anywhere near them; he growled when a male got too close. The man held his hands in surrender before saying, "I'm Michael, milady." His hair was shoulder length and covered his right eye; his eyes were jade. He had an earring that dangled and was silver and green. He wore a maroon sleeveless undershirt with an off the shoulders grey long sleeved shirt that rested on his elbows. On his right arm were bandages; he obviously hurt himself. He was in a pair of black slacks with black shoes with a white bottom.

"The names Dominick, Dom for short." Dominick had strawberry colored hair with ocean blue eyes. He was wearing a dark blue jacket with a green shirt and light blue jeans. He had many wristbands around his wrists and had his arms crossed over his chest. Kagome guessed that he was the leader of the group.

"We will be meeting up with others when we reach the mountain that contains the bow," Ion informed as Kagome gaped at hearing that. "Oh yeah, Fate also said to us that we will be traveling with you as we help you find the items for him."

"Wait, wait, why do you have to help us?" Kagome asked as Ion hummed, which caused Marie to giggle.

Derek grunted as he stated, "We are the ones that created both sword and bow. If you don't have us with you, you won't be able to find the items."

"And what makes you think that we will agree to allow you to travel with us?" Kagome added, mainly for the benefit for Sesshomaru. She could sense that he wanted to kill something, anything really. She would like to avoid bloodshed if she could help it.

"Milady, you must understand," Michael said, "we mean no harm to you anymore. We are simply vampires that Fate occasionally asks to help out. We want to help you."

Kagome was quiet, letting their words sink into her head before she heard Sesshomaru say, "I refuse to work with any of you." Kagome facepalmed while her hand dragged down her face.

She held up a finger to the group with a smile. "One second!" She whirled around to him, glaring up at him. 'Listen here! If we have the ability to find the sword and bow with their help, then we should use it!'

Sesshomaru leveled a glare himself at her as he felt the bond. From what it was saying, was that Kagome wanted to back down as soon as she said that. He smirked at her, making the vampires wonder what was going on. 'I refuse; we will simply find another way to obtain them.'

'What if there's no other way? Are you going to come crawling back asking for help?'

'I would do no such thing.'

'I want their help.'

'I do not.'

'Well, tough cookies!' Kagome turned back, facing Ion and Marie, who were looking at her with their heads tilted. "You're going to have to ignore him. We accept your help." She smiled at them softly. Marie clapped her hands in joy.

Derek, Michael, and Dom shared a look together before Michael said, "You're—asking us to ignore your male?" Kagome went bright red. "No offense to you—it has nothing to do with you but he is the more dominant male out of all of us so—he does have the final say." Kagome didn't have to look at Sesshomaru; the bond answered her. He was feeling smug.

"So you're saying that I have no say in this?" Kagome questioned, leveling her own glare onto Michael, who chuckled lightly.

"As much as I hate having a dominant male around—one that isn't myself—yeah; that's exactly what we're saying…" Derek half complained, half whined as he grabbed Michael and glared to the small female. "He doesn't want our help so… hey, Marie! Wanna call Fate?"

Marie blinked as Ion growled towards Derek, who returned it with a rude gesture. "Yeah, that would probably be best. I'll be right back." She left with Ion on her tail, following.

"We leave now," Sesshomaru ordered as Kagome huffed. He turned away and walked off as Kagome stayed where she was. The loud growl that echoed throughout the forest caused everyone else to back away from Kagome. "Miko." Kagome stubbornly sat where she was, ignoring the pull of the bond.

"She's tempting death isn't she?" Dom whispered to the guys softly, watching Kagome stare at the flower in her hand.

Michael and Derek merely nodded.

"So… do you know how fun it is to aggravate Sesshomaru the way I can?"

"Oh it is indeed fun," Fate answered, coming into the light as the vampires bowed to him. He waved them off. "So what is this about Sesshomaru not accepting my vampires help?"

"He refused," Kagome said, grumbling to herself.

"He refused?"

"Yes."

"Oh that simply will not do." Fate disappeared and reappeared with Sesshomaru, who was snarling at this point, at his side. "Now then; you are to listen and listen well because I will only say this once." He glowered at Sesshomaru. "My vampires are to help you regardless of what you say. From what I have gathered, Kagome is alright with this—that should mean that you are okay with this as well. And judging by your face, you clearly are not; now why are you rejecting? Answer me."

"And if I refuse to answer?"

"I will hurt your bond."

Kagome paled with Ion and Marie. "But that would hurt me too if you did that."

"Correct; you would not want me to hurt your female, would you?"

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes but didn't answer as Kagome felt her blood run cold. The second that Fate raised his hand, Kagome cried out. She gripped her heart, falling onto the ground whimpering. Sesshomaru's eyes flashed at the sight as he growled. Why wasn't it hurting him or the bond? Why does it only hurt her? What did he want him to do; beg? From Fate's eyes; yes, he wanted him to beg. He watched as Fate made a fist as Kagome gasped before passing out. He took a deep breath and said, "So you made a point; the bond affects her more than it does me."

Fate hated himself right now. He didn't mean to make Kagome pass out. "I am surprised that you did not feel anything. I wonder why…"

"I felt it." Fate mentally gasped at him. He did nothing to help her!

Fate stared at him. "You know what; she does not deserve this." He looked to the ground. "The next time you see me—if you see me—Kagome will no longer be attached to you. You did nothing to help her, to protect her; you simply watched her suffer—"

"What?" Sesshomaru interrupted.

"—perhaps Destiny was right and she was really meant for your brother," he continued as if he was never interrupted. He shook his head as the vampires gawked. "I am sorry that I put you through this and I am deeply sorry that I put her through this. Have a nice, Kagomeless life." He bent down to pick Kagome up but paused, Kagome wasn't where she was. Fate looked around and found her being cradled by Sesshomaru. When did he moved?!

"You will not touch her." Sesshomaru looked to her, she was completely limp. He gazed back to the man that caused this. "I am not one for traveling in large groups."

Fate openly gaped at him. He could honestly say that Sesshomaru had to be one of the most confusing people he has ever met. "Why do you choose now to protect her from me?"

"Why do you choose now to attack the bond?"

"Do you know it is rude to answer a question with another question?"

"Um, Fate, what do we do now? Do we help them?" Marie questioned gently, unsure if she should've even asked.

He looked to her, momentarily forgetting that his vampires were around. Fate sighed, "Well Sesshomaru, would do you choose to do now?"

"First you are going to say that you will never remove her from myself."

"You—want her to be—with you? If that is the case then yes, I will say that I will not remove her from you, ever."

"Good," Sesshomaru answered as Fate's eyes widened. "As long as I am the one in charge of the group then I will not have an issue; is that understood?" The vampires nodded, not wanting to anger him the way Fate did. "We leave as soon as she wakes up."

There was a long pause. "She is not going to wake up…" Fate stated, flinching.

"Why not?" Marie asked.

"The bond is new and I attacked it with the intent of hurting Sesshomaru. She will not wake up until… Sesshomaru, fully accepts the bond." Sesshomaru frowned at this. "I mean; she is not going anywhere; you are just going to have to carry her every place you go."

"Aw poor thing," Ion muttered under her breath, Marie agreeing with her.

"You are going to teleport us at the start of the grove; we leave at first light. You have your plant; let us go."

Fate nodded to the command and transferred them to the beginning of the grove. "I have royally fucked myself." Derek and Dom snorted.

Reviews are welcomed.