So sorry for the very very long update…

So, back to 'normal' things; on my usual Q/A space I'll just write a few things I remember otherwise I'd take me ages and you'd have to wait something like another month.

Sesshoumaru in character? Really? Wow, I'm really happy, I didn't actually think I was portraying him as I really imagined him but maybe I'm imagining him wrong and I wrote him right…lol

Wrong phrases? Yep, you got that right. I'm such a lazy author I don't fully edit my chapters and some stuff come out so messed up I'm really sorry for you who have to read it. The fact is that if I start to fully edit everything through you'd have to wait not months, or like now…nearly a year(omg, I can't believe it, sorry sorry sorry) but more like decades so…you get the point.

Evil and lazy? As I said before. Me lazy? All the way through the skin to the bone and maybe that makes me a little evil. I have so many ideas in my mind too. It's just that if I write them all I wouldn't have any time at all to study and do other things.

Music reading you should listen to: 'Bullet with butterfly wings' by The Smashing Pumpkins - 'Torn' by 'Creed' - 'Points of Authority' by 'Linkin Park'

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha co.

Red isn't only Blood

Chapter XIII: Weeks pass unforgotten

It was a nice morning after all, the sun was shining brightly, and the few clouds were white and puffy. In the forests birds were singing happily and the few passers enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. There has always been something about mornings that humans love, maybe the usually calm appearance, or the first rays of light after the dark of the night. Whatever it was, they could enjoy it, because save from the wild demons, all the rest preferred staying away from humans when entire villages started to wake.

It's under this peaceful and blue sky that two beings so different, a miko and a youkai, walk along the same path tied by the bond of war. Since the hanyou Naraku had started taking in various types of demons to start his project of ruling over all of Japan; not only the youkai one but also the human one the people who fought for their rightful properties and freedom were starting to gather together. Of course humans were going to be much more easy to take over; while youkai were going to be quite difficult for him to conquer since the High Lords weren't going to let him occupy their lands and had already started to organize. But recently word had spread that the ruler of the Southern Lands, Lord Takao had allied with Naraku and the other three Lords had started arming and recruiting new volunteers, just in case the rumors were true.

All of this was also helpful for the generation of youngsters that had lived too many peaceful years to remember what true youkai wars were like. They devastated entire lands and brought madness among so many that it was hard to count.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, it's nearly two weeks we're walking, are we there yet?" Kagome asked. She was getting fed up and starting to take seriously the idea he'd been fooling her all the time. Didn't he have a faster method of transport apart from his 'could' thing? She was starting to feel a bit homesick, being miles and miles from her loved ones. In the end, after that night she'd lost the strong hold she usually kept on her emotions, things had gone like usual. She and Sesshoumaru would walk all the day, him on the front and her on the rear because he hadn't deigned to inform her of their destination and during the night she would eat and sleep while he went god knows where.

"Nearly", was all his highness said; really, sometimes Kagome asked herself was if she was the only person in the world who got so angry because of him. She was staring to get irritated; first Lady Ayame forced her to follow Sesshoumaru to his palace because she thought some more instruction would do her good, second she just had to have a emotional breakdown and third, why was it taking so much time, they could've just used some sort of dragon or whatever…

She had also collected a few jewel shards on the way here and her personal powers, her physical and miko ones had become a bit stronger than before; it never chased to amaze her how much trouble Sesshoumaru attracted when he was alone without Rin and Jaken. She had thought that him being one of the most important and powerful youkai in Japan he would be left alone, instead, these past two weeks her theories had been proven wrong, many were the youkai who sought the Lord's place as the ruler of the Western Lands. It was for that reason that many tried to kill him, yet they all died crushed by his superior strength and self-control. Thinking about it she had never seen Sesshoumaru loose his patience with anyone but herself and Inuyasha. He seemed so apart from the world he walked upon. There had been only one time she had seen him as part of the same earth everybody else walked upon. It had been one day while they walked in the woods; he'd stopped near a pool of still clear water and washed his hands. She could remember clearly what she had thought, the only thing that had come to her mind was that for how powerful he was, like her he too had to wash, eat and breathe.

That was one of the things that kept her going on now, more determined than ever. For how much he claimed to be different from everyone else, deep down he was a bit like the others he despised so much. Inwardly she smirked triumphantly, the great Sesshoumaru-sama was more normal than he thought. She would never say it out loud, or even in her mind, but in her soul, being with Sesshoumaru was starting to heal her. He never talked nonsense and always took things seriously, and for once, having to be with someone only because of her job was good, she didn't have any ties to him. Sometimes she swore she could hear a voice in her mind saying. "With Inuyasha it started the same way…" Yet she pretended it wasn't there, those thoughts didn't help anything and were better left alone. Staring back at the sky she was once again worried by what she had been told two weeks before by a cat youkai. She still couldn't understand why she had answered the way she did. It was scary, like it hadn't been her.

It had been a while since Sesshoumaru had started studying Kagome. The whole purpose of their journey to the Western Lands had been to bring her there and let her meet Kikuta, but during the first two days, after she had so evidently lost control he'd wanted to test her personally, he wanted to see with his own eyes how much she had improved in a year…and as much as he hated it, she had improved…and a lot. He'd been quite surprised when he'd seen her battle a youkai for the first time. The youkai had been a low level one, but he'd held a shard of the Shikon no Tama and his encounter had proven quite entertaining.

-Two weeks before-

"Lord Sesshoumaru, I sense a jewel shard." Kagome said seriously.

"It's demon nearby, not powerful enough to be a problem, we'll just walk by it Higurashi." He answered; the girl was really too stressed for her own well-being. She was so tense just because of a lowly beast. Maybe traveling with his half-brother had affected her more than he thought.

"If there's one thing I've learnt in these two years Lord Sesshoumaru is to never underestimate a youkai with a shard. Apart from that I really can't let it keep the it can I? One less for me means one more for Naraku." Kagome ended with a mischievous smirk on her lips. Just then he felt a rush of power coming from behind them, it had nothing special, he didn't feel anything particularly strange, it was just pure evil, not the terror one was able to make people feel because of well-controlled power; this demon wasn't going to be of any problem. He actually wanted to drag the woman away since she wasn't obeying is orders, but this time it could slip, he was curious as to what Lady Ayame had thought the girl.

He saw her take out her Katana, leaving the wakizashi in its sheath and getting in fighting stance, similar yet so different from Lady Ayame's. She was slightly crouched with her right arm extended in front of her, hand holding the sword; her left arm was slightly bended and her hand was opened some distance from the sword. That's when he felt it, a faint trace of power running through her sword, it was just beneath the surface, humming pleasantly, it wasn't like Toukijin's cold energy, this was warm and welcoming, it was eerie.

Then the youkai that was hiding in the bushes come out. It was a cat youkai that had obtained a humanoid figure thanks to the Shikon shard in its body. The eyes though were still those of a wild beast, red and threatening, those of a stupid creature. The creature had short brown hair and no markings; it had a long slender brown tail and was wearing only a pair of black hakama. It didn't have weapons, but cat claws could be just as good as a knife. Stupid cats Sesshoumaru thought.

"Well, well, what do we have here, a little miko carrying Shikon shards and her doggy" The cat said with a small smile gracing his lips.

"Well, is that any way to speak to a lady? We shall just have to teach you some manners won't we?" Kagome replied with a determined expression as her body prepared to spring forwards.

There was one thing Sesshoumaru didn't miss: the predatory look in her eyes, like something was hiding beneath it, something terrible and untamed that didn't know the laws of Earth. Just then the youkai attacked first and Kagome blocked its attack with her katana, the energy slowly eating away the cat's skin. So the energy her sword feeds off is her own power, Sesshoumaru thought, a sword that purifies has never been seen before… The day was proving quite interesting after all, he was curious as to how long she could go on when her weapon used her energy. Since he didn't want to get caught up in such a meaningless fight he decided to sit on a rock under a tree that was near him and watch how the events unfolded. He was discovering many interesting things by watching her and for once in a long time he was amused. Nobody saw it, but that moment a ghost of a smile appeared on the western Lord's face.

Kagome was feeling like she had never felt, her whole being felt like pure energy was flowing through it and her sword seemed a part of her. She continued blocking the cat's attacks until his arms were bloody and his breath was coming short. Sure, she had practiced with other swords how to make her energy flow on it's surface, but the one her grandfather had given her was nothing like the others. Her power went right inside the metal and created a blue glow around the blade. There was something that worried her though; usually her power was a soft pink. This new light blue color was strange, she was almost afraid, it was the same color her eyes became when she couldn't control herself.

While she was a bit lost in though her eyes continued looking at the cat youkai that was before her with strange interest, his youki had something familiar. Just then he started walking towards her, but what made her really suspicious was the fact that he was recalling his power back inside his body. She could feel he was going to tell her something, it was exactly the same as with Sesshoumaru that night, there was always a different air when people changed intentions. When he was about a meter and a half in front of her she suddenly walked forwards too, pressing the blade of her sword on his throat. "Tell me kitty cat, what is it you wish to tell me?"

His lips curled into a wicked smile as he spoke in her ear, "You may kill me little miko, but you would like to know that Naraku is watching you. His army is starting to form and he is in need of capable generals to lead it. He wants you to lead it, he lets you a month to decide. If you refuse, he will have to force you…" The youkai ended with a sore laugh as he tore away from the girl with a glint in his eyes.

Kagome frowned, what was Naraku up to this time? She ran and knocked the cat over with the hilt of her sword. She sheathed her weapon and kneeled where he was; she plunged her hand in his stomach, successfully taking the Shikon shard he held, "I think I'm not in the mood to kill you, someone as important as you for Naraku should stay alive…" She said as she twisted her hand in his wound and a look of pain crossed the his features; her eyes became azure once again for a minute as she brought her lips to his ear and whispered, "Tell Naraku, I'll be thinking about his offer, Kajaku." She took her hand away from his body smiling victoriously as he was engulfed in blue light and then disappeared.

Sesshoumaru decided that it was the right time to start moving again. His theories had been proven wrong once again, the youkai had a humanoid form of his own and not because of the Shikon shard in his body. There was something strange about Kagome; she was far beyond a normal miko. She'd known the cat's name. He didn't remember him telling her. Standing up he told her it was time to get going and that there was a river where she could was her hands nearby. He didn't doubt for one moment that Kagome had purified the youkai as he started walking away. She had proven capable of defending herself and she had shown him she had changed, she wasn't the weak little girl that followed Inuyasha anymore, she was a warrior.

Kagome ran to catch up with the youkai Lord and again walked by his side silently, still feeling a bit small compared to him.

Somewhere in the Southern Lands there was a castle no one could reach, the air around it was so venomous that even most youkai couldn't reach the courtyard without being infected. The poison surrounding the palace was a particular type of youki; it was the hanyou Naraku's miasma. Truthfully it wasn't really poison: it was like his aura was so tainted and evil that it affected the air as well and this decomposed, becoming deadly for the breathing system. It spread through the lungs reaching all the organs and after a while the body started rotting from the inside. That was, unless you weren't Naraku's enemy, then he would simply use his miasma as acid and burn every piece of you.

Inside the palace Naraku was sitting in front of a low table in one of the wings of the castle only he was allowed to wander watching silently Kanna's mirror. Around all the castle there was very scarce illumination, only a few torches here and there so that the servants wouldn't trip over the lifeless bodies on the floor. Not that he cared what happened to them, but they did many jobs that he wasn't willing to do. Cooking for example, even someone such as he had to eat. If he could feed off from his cruelness, he'd survive for eternity, but that wasn't the case.

Other servants cleared the main floors from the skeletons that lay a bit everywhere; many of the dead were fresh; but just as many were a nearly year old and smelled of rotting flesh. Many of Naraku's subordinates asked themselves why there were so many dead people on his grounds; that was because they didn't know who was their master. They thought he was still their old, right ruler; but that man was already dead. Naraku took his place long ago.

The hanyou don't like mortal servants; they weren't loyal, just a commodity he could afford. The only ones he trusted were his 'offspring', apart from Kagura, who constantly tried to get him killed by someone. That was why he was a master at controlling minds and creating situations in which people had to help him to help themselves; just as with the youkai Lord. He was as stupid as to get himself caught in his web. Sometimes he marveled at his own ability at manipulating people.

After all, he thought that you weren't born intelligent, you had to smarten up during your life and learn what came to your advantage and what didn't, you learned which people you had to crush and which you could use. He was no exception, all the things he knew were the result of many years as a bandit and fifty of planning ways to destroy the ones that had crossed his path when he was after the first Shikon no Tama, the one held by Kikyou. Now, first in the list to destroy was Onigumo, or better, his human heart. It was over thirty years since he'd been trying to rid himself of that man, but to no avail; his pathetic heart still had some power over his body. But he had one reason to thank him. His knowledge as a bandit gave Naraku sufficient material to start building his fame of powerful, merciless warlord when he was just 'born'.

Many sought revenge on him, many wanted to kill him; but personally he really didn't care. He looked back at the mirror. Right now, the only soldier not part of himself that he trusted, Kajaku, was in the woods between the Eastern and Western Lands delivering a message to the miko that always traveled with Inuyasha. It looked as the two, once so near and powerful, one year ago had split up because of some misunderstanding. Inuyasha had believed the miko was dead after she had run away for some reason Naraku still didn't know and hadn't come back. The hanyou had asked Kikyou to join his group since they still had to find the shards and not even the monk could sense them. A year after, the two had met again and the miko had left Inuyasha definitely.

Naraku smiled evilly. He knew for sure that Lord Sesshoumaru had tried to kill the girl a year before, nearly loosing his control. This was a very interesting twist of events and now the hanyou Naraku had a very amusing plan forming in his mind. The miko, what was her name? Kagome? Yes that was it, he had hear Inuyasha shouting it many timed. Kagome had been trained by no other than Lady Ayame of the East and was now a dangerous adversary for many powerful youkai. There was still that little 'alter ego' personality of hers, when her eyes lost all human emotion and she looked like one of the gods of war people talked about. Her eyes had something wild and untamed, like a fire was burning inside of them and was about to come out any moment.

He smiled once again, that was exactly what he needed, a goddess of war to guide his army and take over all Japan. He just had to push the right buttons and he knew that she'd come right his way with all her power…and her purifying sword she was using against Kajaku. He watched the mirror intently as Kajaku told the miko of his offer and she pushed him on the ground, plunging her hand in his stomach taking the shard he had given him. He heard her answer, "Tell Naraku, I'll be thinking about his offer, Kajaku." And smiled looking at her eyes, he was right one of the things that changed her was blood, right now she was in control enough to come back after a few moments, but he had no doubt that in some time she'd be completely lost. The fact she had a few mind reading latent abilities was also very interesting: knowing that Kajaku had to speak before he even said so, knowing his name without hearing it from him, it was all too entertaining. Naraku chuckled as he saw his soldier's body vanishing from the mirror to then reappear on the other side of his table, bloody and exhausted.

"You did a wonderful job Kajaku, wonderful indeed…Kanna, get someone to tend his wounds, this shall be his reward. Feel honored Kajaku, for I do not heal many of my subordinates." He told the cat youkai with and evil smile; he was thinking the many ways he could force the miko to be his faithful servant. Lately the people she cared for had become less and her personality wasn't as vulnerable, but he was going to have fun breaking her pure side. He started laughing and all his human and youkai servants froze, when their master was in that mood, he always got what he wanted.

-In the present-

Kagome sighed once again in frustration, Sesshoumaru's 'nearly' was something like two hours to her; just now they were at the start of a very long road that led to his palace. She was positive she could see it in the distance and that gave her at least one good reason not to start walking the opposite direction of the demon Lord and back to the Eastern palace. The gravel pathway they were treading was wide enough for ten horses to trot side by side. Sighing in desperation Kagome could do nothing but follow the youkai. He was, after all, the ruler of that place…

Hello people, sorry it took so very long to have something ready but this was actually finished two months ago, ups. I wasn't sure o what came out so I let it there and ya know I sorta forgot… So sorry again but I've had a few problems lately. Anyway, I'll try being more quick the next chapters.

-Kayrin