Chapter 2
(A/N: Hello to everyone who's reading this! So far we have 146 readers after the first chapter (AWSOME!) BUT there are only 4 reviews (sad…) so I ask that some people write reviews please I want to know what you think and the reviews mean a lot. I'd like to thank Lozenger12, Angelus, Guest and nipi for their reviews (YAY!), nipi (again) and Jessica Love1 for favorite-ing the story, Hannabus, Jessica Love1 (again), Lady AlyseB630, LadyJadeStar83, LauraP11, Lozenger12 (again), Musa Silver-Hawk, , heartlessangel124, Reader599, maryse87, nipi (again (you are awesome!)), and sc1986 for following the story. Seriously, as sad as it may sound this is such an ego-booster that you guys (and girls) like what I'm writing. Thanks and PLEASE REVIEW!)
"I've done all I can my queen," said the frail and exhausted old woman, as I rose from my bed.
Glancing down, I removed the wet cloth from my side. My flawless skin was marred by a jagged scar running from my left hip to my lowest rib. Running my hand over it, I felt the power of the jewel radiating from inside. A loud boom could be heard echoing from somewhere in the castle.
"I understand," I replied. "I couldn't ask for more, thank you Kaede. Please escape from here. Do not let him catch you."
With a look of protest, the old healer said, "But you are in no shape to fight. You must escape as well! You can leave your kingdom so long as you live!"
With a sad smile, I said, "You know I can't do that. I must stop the Northern King or die trying. At least then I shall die honorably." Another bang shook the room, this one closer. "Leave now. Tell my love, that I-" A louder boom sounded from just outside the door, shaking it almost off the hinges. Dark purple smoke started to leak from the crack beneath the door.
I turned away from the healer and the wisest friend I've ever had and faced the door. With the voice of a Queen, I commanded, "Leave at once," and was satisfied to hear the banging of the servants entrance slam close moments later.
I stood from my bed and made my way to the sword hanging on the wall. Taking it down, I swung a few practice swings. Satisfied, I walked to the door. By now the purple smoke that many villagers called "miasma" was pouring into the room. It was getting harder to breathe. Taking a deep breath of semi-clean air, I opened the door.
And was met with such excruciating pain I screamed.
I bolted up, gasping for air. I struggled out of the sheets smothering me and wound up falling out of bed.
Wait, bed?
I struggled to get the sheets off me and to a standing position, when a crippling pain went through my abdomen and hands. Crying out in pain, I looked down to see that I had no clothes on, stitches sewn into my side and my hands were wrapped in bandages. The first few thoughts that went through my mind were:
Where am I?
What happened to me last night?
What was that dream?
Already forgetting what the dream was about, I felt more hopeless about what was happening to me and why I didn't recognize the room I was in. Starting to panic now, I looked around the room. It only had a large bed and an ancient looking dresser. There was a decent sized painting of some waterfall with birds flying over the surrounding trees, but other than that the room was pretty empty.
Trying not to disturb my mysterious wounds, I bolted over to the dresser only to find that there was nothing but expensive kimonos inside. Grumbling to myself I grabbed a plain dark blue one and dressed as quickly as I could. Tying the black obi around myself, I left the room.
The hallway was just as vague as the room. My side was throbbing, and my breath was slowly becoming labored as I made my way down the maze of a hallway. Several times I came across doors, but I didn't dare take the chance that someone might be in the other room. As I came across another turn, I heard a couple of voices talking to each other. It took me a moment to realize that those voices were coming towards me. Panicking even more I went the other direction, only to realize more people were coming from that way too. Fear starting to sink in, I went to the nearest door and rushed inside.
Deeply sighing, I leaned against the door, attempting to catch my breath. After a moment, I looked up, expecting to see an empty room.
I was wrong.
It was an office.
And I wasn't alone.
Sesshomaru's P.O.V.
Another of group of towns attacked by Naraku, missing priestesses in most of them, half a town burned down, casualties unknown. This is all my men can give me? I was getting too stressed again.
I was sitting at my desk reading over the reports my men had delivered from the surrounding towns that had been hit by Naraku. The stress of being the Western lord was building up but you'd never know with my perfectly blank mask. I looked over the report again.
Damn it! What does he want with those priestesses? I could feel the beginning of a headache coming on. Growling to myself, I went and gathered maps from my book shelf.
After scanning it for a few moments, I decided to place more guards in smaller areas than in huge cities. Grudgingly content with this plan, I stood to put them away when someone rushed into my office and slammed it shut. They were covered in sweat and leaning heavily on the door, as if they were running away from someone. Looking closer, I saw it was that strange woman Inuyasha, Miroku, and I pulled from that burning house. Cursing, I remembered the pitiful, yet successful, escape the Band of Seven had made. The only reason we came out there was to deal with them and yet all they came back with was a half dead miko, who, Kami only knows how, knew my name.
It seemed to take her a moment to realize that she wasn't alone in the room. She looked at me with fear written in her eyes, and tried to turn around to leave. But she was too slow.
I'd already jumped over my desk and pinned her to the wall by the time she could react. She struggled against my grip for a moment before closing her eyes and concentrating. Her right hand had started to glow a pinkish color. What was she doing?
A moment later, she launched her fist right into my jaw. Normally, it wouldn't have hurt, but she had packed that punch with reiki and it hurt like hell. Cursing loudly, my grip loosened, and she slipped out. She turned out the door and ran away. After gaining my wits again, my anger had risen to its peak, and I rushed out after her. I don't even care if she's injured already, once I'm through with her she'll be at deaths door.
Kagome's P.O.V.
DAMN IT! I screamed in my head.
Even after trying so hard to keep quiet and unseen, I still ran into someone. And that someone just so happened to be a demon. If I didn't purify him, he'll probably be after me with murderous intentions.
My side was starting to burn even more as I ran through the twists and turns. After a particularly sharp turn, my foot slipped from beneath me and I went down. Hard.
Struggling to breathe again, I failed to notice the wound on my side had torn threw almost all the stitches, and blood was flowing freely now.
Turning over on my side, I looked up at the ceiling only to come face to face with a demon crouched over me with glowing red eyes that had a slight gold tint to them.
Oh I was scared. I would have screamed if only I could breathe! Man he looked pissed. After a moment of struggling to reopen my lungs, I gasped in a huge breathe and just sat there, waiting for the end to come. Laying there staring as his eyes slowly returned to gold amber, something was ticking the back of my memories, but what that was I had no idea. Something about this man just seemed the faintest bit familiar. As my eyebrows scrunched together, irritated that I couldn't remember, I noticed that his expression was changing, not with his face but with his eyes. The first was confusion and shock, and then it was anger and suspicion.
He barred his canines before asking, "What's your name?"
A little confused I wasn't dead already for purifying him and probably hurting his ego a little, I said, "…Kagome…"
The reaction was immediate. He growled low in his throat and slammed his fist into the floor inches from my head. I gave a small yelp as a few of the scattered pieces flew onto my face. Then as quick as lightning, his hand shot out and wrapped around my neck dragging me up and slamming my head against the wall. His other hand was before my face, radiating a sickly green color.
He snarled angrily. "Where did you hear that name? Who are you working for?" he demanded as his hand was slowly inching forward toward my face.
Fully freaking, I wrapped both hands around the one holding my throat against the wall, trying in vain to stop him from crushing my throat. I was moments away from purifying him into oblivion when suddenly the force closing my throat and holding me up vanished. I was dropped on the floor and looked up in time to see the man snarling as another man held him in a headlock.
It was a little confusing who was who, because they both had silver hair, but I quickly saw differences for the one who wasn't trying to kill me was wearing a bright red kimono and had… dog ears! They both fell to the floor and rolled around on the floor before the guy with ears yelled, "Sesshomaru what are you doing?!"
Acting on pure instinct, I jumped up and ran to help the man who saved from imminent death. I grabbed a hold of Sesshomaru's shoulder and channeled as much reiki into my hands as possible. He instantly screamed in pain and on reflex his hand shot out. Right into my side, the one I didn't even was bleeding until now.
At the feeling of a hand inside my abdomen I immediately let go of his shoulder and screamed in pain as well. When my hand left him, he pulled out his hand from my side. Grimacing at the sight of his hand covered in dark red, nearly black, liquid, my legs buckled beneath me and I dry heaved for a moment. Though I really threw up when I realized he'd pulled something out than just his hand. Barley able to look at him, I almost missed his command to get a healer. My gaze shot toward him, immediately but he was already half-way down the hall. The other guy came over to my side and tries to help me up, but I flinched away the moment his hands made contact with me.
Shaking violently I realized I was in shock. Guess I lost too much blood. As morbid as that thought was, I didn't care. There was still the issue of where I am, and what the hell happened to me to be injured this much?
Glaring at the man before me, even though he saved my ass, I still had no idea where I am or who he was. Breathing faster now, I said, "Where am I?"
He looked confused for a moment, as if the answer was obvious, and then said, "You're at the Western palace."
Okay. Now where is that?
"Who are you people? Why –cough- am I here?" By now it was getting harder to breathe, and I was coughing up blood. But before the he could answer, the healer and her apprentice had finally shown up.
The healer was an old woman with an eye patch over her right eye. Her apprentice was a young girl, no older than 10, who had long brown hair pulled up in an odd fashion. She was carrying a basket full of herbs and glass jars filled with unrecognizable liquids. After a particularly violent cough, the girl reached into the basket, pulled out a jar with a golden liquid inside, and handed it over to the healer. She took it without a word and gestured for me to lean back onto the wall.
After a moment of adjusting, I was sitting back and drinking the rather disgusting medicine. It tasted like roots, dirt and dandelions. When the after taste left faded, my throat and lungs felt as good as new. However, my side was still bleeding.
Looking back up at the woman, I joked weakly, "You wouldn't happen to have any fix-the-hole-in-your-side potion, would you?"
She gave me a warm smile and said, "I'm sorry but you'll have to settle for bandages." Her apprentice had started pulling more things out of the basket. As she was dressing my wounds, the old woman chatted, "You know, you remind me of a woman I used to know who would joke about her wounds almost every time she was in pain. Oh she was such a lovely woman, a great warrior too. Inuyasha here could never beat her in a fight." She gestured to the guy with dog ears, standing over to the side watching.
"He'd get the worst bruises so easily; you'd swear he had hemophilia." She laughed.
I looked over at Inuyasha, missing the look of sadness that passed over the old woman's face, to see his reaction at being beat up by a girl, and was stunned to see that he was almost to tears. When he caught me looking at him, he glared and turned to the healer, "Shut up you old wench."
I was so shocked and angry that he would disrespect such an old and nice woman, I didn't even realize what I was doing until it was over. One minute I was sitting there, being bandaged by the healer. The next, I was sitting on top of Inuyasha, with my hands wrapped around his neck. When I saw the absolute look of terror in his eyes, I immediately let go and jumped off.
After I let go, Inuyasha sucked in a deep, rasping breathe and rolled over, clutching his neck and coughing up a little blood. The little girl ran over to his side and gave him the same gold liquid that I drank. Giving me a glare, he chugged the rest of the bottle, grimacing at the taste.
Turning to the old woman, I took in her shocked and slightly scared expression. I barley heard her when she whispered, "Just like her…"
I couldn't take it anymore, so I ran.
Sesshomaru's P.O.V.
Is it really her? I thought. No. She's not even a demon. Plus they don't even look alike! There's no way, not after 500 years.
I was pacing in the garden, going over my thoughts, trying to prove the evidence wrong. Yet all the evidence that was proving my thoughts wrong was in my hand. Looking down again at my blood stained hand, I saw a small, pink gem resting in the palm of my hand.
The Shikon No Tama.
Rustle... Rustle
Cursing myself for not checking my surrounding before I took out the jewel, I sensed a rather powerful demon somewhere near. I clutched the jewel to my chest and whirled around, elongating my poisonous whip in front of me, prepared for anything.
I saw a hand peak out of a bush to the left of me, and almost instantly I snapped the whip, right when the demon rolled out of the bush. I failed, however, to notice just who the person was, and was startled to hear a female-like scream ring out when the whip made contact.
(A/N: Second chapter. Yeah! I think I'm going to do weekly updates. But I don't know what people think of this story (besides the 4 who reviewed). So I ask that you take a moment of your precious internet time and REVIEW! Said with love, thank you! See ya next chapter! )
