Inuyasha

Fate of the Compassionate

Chapter 7

His Return

January 9, 2018

Kagome had found the spell they needed to reverse Sesshomaru's condition and had made all of the preparations, but the problem was it was all dependent of Kikyou's participation. The spell requires three priestess' by blood to perform the ceremony, Kagome technically qualified because she was Kikyou's reincarnation.

"Why have you bothered me?" Kikyou asked irritated as she glared at Kagome. Kikyou had the notion that Kagome didn't belong here that this wasn't her time to begin with and shouldn't be here. But Kikyou herself was dead and also shouldn't be here in this time.

"We need your help Kikyou, this book say's that the three of us..." Kagome said motioning to herself Kaede and Kikyou. "Have to do this ceremony together to get him back to normal." she said slightly exasperated by Kikyou's unwillingness to help.

"And what exactly makes you think I would help you?" Kikyou asked aggravated by the gall of this young woman to pull her from her quest with false information.

"Because I ask it of ye sister." Kaede stepped into the conversation with her hands folded behind her back as she stared at Kikyou.

"I have no ties to this world any longer." Kikyou said after a moments hesitation then her eyes slid from her younger sisters gaze. She would always see Kaede as her baby sister.

"Ye maybe able to cut off ye ties that easily dear sister but the rest of us it is rather difficult ye see." Kaede said softly as she pointed to the young Rin who was cuddled up to Sesshomaru's leg with pleading eyes.

"Fine Kaede but make this quick I have a demon to take down." Kikyou relented with a sigh, she was too kind hearted for her own good in her opinion.

"We shant take long sister. This way." Kaede said with a warm smile then turned and walked away from the village towards the bone eaters well.

Kikyou looked around curiously, apparently preparations had already been made a small circle had been created with several sacred herbs and the area had been purified of any evil within the circle. She followed Kagome and Kaede curiously what could this spell be it seemed rather complex even without hearing the words yet.

"Alright here are the words Kikyou. Kaede and I already know them." Kagome said as she stopped at a specific spot around the circle and Kaede was off to her left over a quarter of the way around but not quite half.

Kikyou looked at the spell curiously for a moment it didn't seem hard to remember so she took a few moments to remember the words then set the book off to the side and stepped up to the circle halfway between Kagome and Kaede. "Very well lets get this over with." she said with a frown.

"Let go Rin. Stay over by the kit and out of danger." Sesshomaru said softly looking down at the girls still clinging to his leg. Her eyes looked up at him then she nodded and made her way over to the demon hunter, monk and the small fox boy. Sesshomaru sighed then straightened up and made his way into the middle of the circle.

"Ready?" Kagome asked curiously looking at Kaede first, then to Kikyou, and finally Sesshomaru for confirmation to which they all gave a small nod. She closed her eyes letting her powers flow out from her as she reached out to take the other two's hands who had simultaneously done the same thing. Once they could feel each others powers flowing around them they began to recite the spell together.

Return what was stolen,

rewrite the trespass unforgiven,

correct the mistake made,

Demon to Human,

Now Human to Demon,

Return the powers within,

Return this man to his former glory,

Return to your Demon form,

Sesshomaru!

The four of them were enveloped in pure pink bright light which made the others watching look away to protect their eyes. After the first few moments blue light mimicking flames started at their feet and made their way up spreading fast. The blue faded as she circle shrank to where it was only around Sesshomaru to where it was a bright white and it started to disappear slowly showing the Demon Sesshomaru starting with his head his long silver hair and his piercing amber eyes.

Sesshomaru's demon aura spread like a wild fire as the light disappeared and Kagome's flared with it to keep him in check subconsciously, with the other two priestess' backing away at the sure power being shown. Sesshomaru feeling pleased with himself ignored the others but looked straight at Kagome whom was matching his burst of energy to his surprise with ease. 'That is what I was missing.' he thought with a raised eyebrow then started to repress his aura again.

Miroku let out a pent up breath. "Such demonic energy...Without Kagome here I wouldn't have been able to breath." he said quietly to the others around him as Kaede and Kikyou joined them ready to protect them if need be, this had been an extreme gamble to give a demon his powers back.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin yelled happily as she ran over to her protector and father figure.

"Rin, we are leaving shortly do you have everything of yours?" Sesshomaru asked without looking down at the girl he was still watching Kagome curiously.

"Rin is ready." Rin said happily as she stepped back slightly behind Sesshomaru.

"We've got to get to Inuyasha, let me get my bag." Kagome said then turned to walk back to the others who had her bag sitting by them.

"I have no intention of going to Inuyasha's rescue." Sesshomaru said dryly.

Kagome stopped in her tracks and she slowly turned back to face him. "Sesshomaru you owe him will your honor let him die knowing that?" she asked angrily.

Sesshomaru was surprised, though he didn't show it, this Human priestess dared to challenge him and even to lock eyes with him as she glared angrily at his words. "I asked nothing of that half breed." Sesshomaru said dismissively keeping his normal stoic features in place.

"You also owe me! Will you deny how much I have protected, helped, and now returned you to this form?" Kagome asked angrily as she turned to face him fully with her hands balled into fists.

"Kagome..." Sango whimpered wanting her friend not to anger Sesshomaru as she readjusted Hiraikotsu.

"I brought Rin to you for protection not myself." Sesshomaru said arrogantly again dismissing her statement.

"Sesshomaru don't test my patients you know what was said in the future just like I do. You must abide by the promises made. We did all this to protect your lands and my friends. They warned you not to be so damned prideful." Kagome said as she watched him angrily his arrogance was something to be rivaled by Inuyasha's stubbornness.

"This Sesshomaru made no promises Miko keep that in mind." Sesshomaru said then started to walk away into the forest.

"Sesshomaru!" Kagome said warningly as a barrier shot up around the clearing. "We don't have time for your arrogance right now. I need your help finding Inuyasha in time to save him!" Kagome said as she bit her lower lip watching him curiously.

'Ah there it is.' Sesshomaru thought as he stopped by the barrier then glanced back at Kagome with his unemotional amber eyes. "If you intend to save him I suggest Miko that you keep up." he said with a small twitch of his lips and for a second he had a smirk on his face.

Kagome looked at him for a moment confused then turned around grabbed her bag, arrows, and bow then followed after him quickly. "You're a jerk Sesshomaru, you did all that just so I would say I needed you, didn't you?" she asked as she fell into step beside him letting the barrier fall.

"Perhaps, perhaps not." Sesshomaru said without looking down at her continuing to walk.

"Do you know what a thank you is?" Kagome asked curiously as she stared up at the demon lord wondering if he ever considered thanking her for everything she had done for him over the last week.

"Thank you Miko." Sesshomaru said as he again continued to walk without looking at her.

"Rin thanks you too Lady Kagome!" Rin said happily as she bounced along behind them with a huge smile on her face.

Sesshomaru glanced back at Rin for a second then returned his attention to his surroundings. "Your friends will catch up in a moment then we will take flight." he said stealing a glance over at Kagome who seemed to be looking over at him strangely.

Kagome was imagining riding on Sesshomaru like she always did on Inuyasha's back and it made her laugh and turn away from his stare.

"What is so amusing Miko?" Sesshomaru asked confused he could smell the humans, niko, and kit catching up to them pretty quickly.

"Nothing." Kagome said quickly with a dismissive wave. "Sango, Miroku, and Shippou will be on Kirara." she said distractedly as she looked back the way they had came looking for her friends.

"I shall carry you for this journey." Sesshomaru said dismissively as he returned his attention back to where they were going. When he looked away he missed the shocked look Kagome gave him.

"Kagome you can't just walk off like that after the argument you two just had." Sango said slightly irritated with her trusting friend.

"Oh that, he did all that nonsense to make me say I needed his help." Kagome said dismissively with a roll of her eyes.

"Still Lady Kagome that was reckless of you." Miroku said with a frown as he watched Kagome curiously.

"She is reckless what did you expect?" Sesshomaru said abrasively as he glared back at Miroku for a split second before returning to the path ahead of him.

"Honestly I'm not sure which one of you is more of a mother hen." Kagome said with a frown as she crossed her arms and looked away from them all. "I'm not exactly useless you know." she said with a huff and a pout on her face.

"Perhaps Miko but you do take the most risks." Sesshomaru said with a shrug. "Come along Rin." he said suddenly and grabbed Kagome around the waist dragging her against his side with Rin taking a hold of his leg lightly. A moment later he was in the air heading towards the Western/Southern boarder.

Kagome was shocked as she looked up at Sesshomaru with a pink tint to her cheeks. Her body was pressed up tightly against his side and she wasn't quite sure what to do with her hands so she just held onto his kimono top lightly one on his back the other on his chest. "Sesshomaru your clothes and armor are fixing themselves." she said confused as she saw a particular set of stitches she had done undoing themselves and mending as if never damaged.

"Yes my demon energy supplies the self regeneration of my attire." Sesshomaru said as he glanced down to look at her watching his clothes amazed.

"So... all that time I spent fixing it was a waste?" Kagome asked sadly as she looked down at the forest around them slipping by quickly.

"I was able to wear this in my Human form it was not a waste, I thank you for your attention to detail." Sesshomaru said softly as he looked back to where they were going.

Kagome looked up at Sesshomaru shocked yet again, he had thanked her twice now. She looked back at her friends which were keeping up with them easily. 'He's staying slow enough for them to keep up.' she thought as she glanced back up at Sesshomaru's face, which to her surprise was amazing to look at this close. 'Snap out of it girl... you are finding him attractive because of the future you saw.' she thought shaking her head lightly then turned to watch where they were going.

~*~*~*~ Inuyasha ~*~*~*~

Inuyasha had continued his surveillance of the Southern forces camped out on the Western boarder all day long and it was grating on his nerves. If they were going to attacked he wished they would and get it over with this sitting around playing opossum was driving him crazy. 'They are sitting here like this wondering if Sesshomaru will show up to send them on their way... Stupid Sesshomaru...' he thought agitated by the whole situation.

Inuyasha glanced back towards Sesshomaru's castle for the hundredth time since he has sent Myoga to get them to rally their forces for the defense of the Western boarder. 'What the hell is taking so long?' he asked himself curiously, but in reality Myoga had only been gone for a few hours it would take time to gather up a large enough force then drag them all the way here. Inuyasha knew that but it was still grating on his nerves being here alone with an army less than a hundred yards away ready to attack.

Night was beginning to fall so Inuyasha's pulled his sword from his waist and sat down against the tree trunk on the branch he had been standing on all day. He continued to watch and wait all night long, which wasn't his forte at all.

Movement all around, Inuyasha was startled awake apparently he had fallen asleep and he berated himself angrily as he glanced over at the now empty camp then down around him where he could see the Southern forces advancing across the boarder. 'Damn it all!' he thought angrily as he jumped up putting Tessaiga back on his side then dashed through the tree's to get to the head of their forces again.

Inuyasha dropped down on the ground in front of the Southern Lord. "You are trespassing on Western Lands return across the boarder and await Sesshomaru's arrival." he said aggressively hoping it would give the Southern Lord pause.

"Get out of the way half breed. That dog is dead or he would have shown up yesterday." The Southern Lord said dismissively then took another step intent on just going around this no good half breed that dared to block his way.

"Your army will turn back." Inuyasha said aggressively as he put his hand on Tessaiga. 'Can kill a hundred demons with one stroke huh Sesshomaru lets see if that's true.' he thought as he drew his fathers fang sword that had been passed down to him.

"You dare half breed to pull a sword on me?" the Southern Lord said as he narrowed his eyes at the arrogant half demon.

"You are trespassing on Western Lands, you have no right to be here return to your own lands immediately." Inuyasha said as he held his sword ready for what was to come.

"You worthless, flea bitten mutt!" the Southern Lord said as he drew his own sword intent on putting this half breed in his place. And he attacked putting Inuyasha on the defensive.

Inuyasha backed several paces before stopping and throwing off the Southern Lord. "Wind Scar!" he yelled and watched at the Southern Lord dodged easily enough but now there was a large gap in his forces. "I suggest your men retreat before you don't have any left." He said smugly.

"You have a powerful sword half breed where did you get such a thing?" The Southern Lord asked narrowing his eyes at the sword there was something vaguely familiar about it.

"It was handed down to me from my father, it's called Tessaiga." Inuyasha said as he watched the Southern Lord curiously.

"Tessaiga huh? That sword was amazing in Inu No Taisho's hands. You're telling me those rumors about his having a bastard son with a human wench were true. Humph what a worthless waist of time, you'll never be able to pull out the true potential of that deadly weapon boy." the Southern Lord said with a smirk and a dismissive wave.

"We'll see." Inuyasha said angrily as he glared at the Southern Lord. "Wind Scar." he said attacking first this go around.

"That same old trick, pathetic." The Southern Lord said with a smirk then sent a lightening attack of his own back at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha smirked and pulled his sword back and brought it forward. "Backlash wave!" he said and smirked at the shocked expression of the Southern Lord as he tried to dodge his own attack being deflected back at him.

The Southern Lord looked around shocked about a quarter of his troops were now out of commission after just three attacks from this half breed. "How dare you stand against me!" he raged then attacked at close range.

Inuyasha was good at long range attacks that didn't need much skill but one on one contact he was less skillful than he would have hoped. He had never been trained in the nuances of swordsmanship so he manly just threw the sword around as best he could to protect himself. His reward being several injuries to his arms and legs.

"Worthless half breed die already." the Southern Lord said angrily as the two of them separated for a brief moment.

"No chance old man!" Inuyasha said smugly as he tried to catch his breath he had several wounds. He was still able to fight but he was starting to become even more sloppy than normal with his swordsmanship, he had learned a lot from his fights with Sesshomaru but obviously not enough.

The Southern Lord advanced again know this boy's long distance attacks were dangerous and he needed to keep the fight to close quarters if his army was going to be able to subjugate the Western Lands to his rule. He had up until this point been unharmed but now Inuyasha landed a lucky blow creating a deep cut across his cheek. "Damned nuisance!" He yelled as he knocked Inuyasha off balance and shoved his sword through Inuyasha's middle.

Inuyasha coughed up blood as he went down to one knee when the Southern Lord withdrew his sword. With blood streaming form the corner of his mouth now and one eye closed tight due to pain he glared up at the Southern Lord with one eye as he tried to catch his breath again.

The Southern Forces yelled out in triumph seeing this half breed being taken down by their lord. The Southern Lord smirked as he pulled back his sword to kill Inuyasha then swung and was surprised by the Western pups resilience as he yet again blocked him with Tessaiga. He scowled and knocked the sword from him easily enough the boy was beginning to loose consciousness. Again he pulled back to attack but was blocked again by a sword but this one was different it wasn't the boy.

Sesshomaru growled angrily as he propped his half brother up on his knee as he wrapped his arm around his body using his sword to block the down stroke of the Southern Lord. "Taka what is the meaning of this?" he growled out angrily.

"Lord Sesshomaru you are alive..." Taka the Southern Lord stammered out shocked as he back away slightly.

"Of course I'm alive you blithering idiot that much is blatantly obvious. Now explain why you have an army on my lands!" Sesshomaru demanded angrily as he laid Inuyasha down on the ground and stood up to advance on Taka.

"You were rumored to be dead we were checking on your lands." Taka said as he stepped back again slightly then hearing the mummers of his own men he stood firm as Sesshomaru advanced.

"You were taking advantage of my absence to try and take over my lands Taka do not lie to me." Sesshomaru growled out and glared at Taka locking eyes with him. "I shall protect what is mine, if you wish to continue this duel it will be with me!" he said as he stopped right in front of Taka.

Taka for his part was no idiot he knew Sesshomaru was as powerful as his father if not stronger and he had been no match for Inu No Taisho at his peak. "We have ascertained that you are alive and the stability of the Western Lands will be no threat to the South." he said with as much dignity as he could muster and re-sheathed his sword.

"Heed my warning Taka if you ever step a toe across that boarder again without my permission I will kill you where you stand, no questions asked." Sesshomaru growled out lowly as he got right in Taka's face. He knew that he had gotten through to Taka because of the fear in his eyes. "Now get this garbage off my lands!" he said angrily motioning to the Southern forces. Sesshomaru watched for several minutes as the Southern Forces retreated back across the boarder before he turned around to see Inuyasha staring at him with one eye propped up on his elbows.

"...About... time...Sesshomaru..." Inuyasha panted out lightly as he laid his head back down on the ground to stare up at the canopy

"You fool what made you think you could take on a demon lord?" Sesshomaru asked with a roll of his eyes as he made his way over to his stupid half brother.

"I fight... with you... all the time..." Inuyasha said weakly as he stared up at Sesshomaru who was now standing over him.

"Fool, I never go all out against you." Sesshomaru said with a frown then walked over and grabbed the hilt of Tessaiga which as always rejected his touch but he bared it with gritted teeth.

"What... are... you..." Inuyasha mumbled out before finally loosing consciousness.

"Retrieving your weapon half breed." Sesshomaru said as he leaned down and took the sheath at his half brothers side placing the Tessaiga inside easily enough then placing it down on Inuyasha and wrapping both his arms around the sword.

"We have arrived Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken's squeaky voice chimed out as he and the Western Army plus Kagome, Sango, and Miroku walked into the small clearing.

"Late as usual Jaken." Sesshomaru said as he glanced over at his servant just to have his eyes dragged to Kagome to see her clutching her heart as she looked at Inuyasha and all the blood around his body. "He is alive Miko I arrived just in time." he said comfortingly knowing she thought the boy to be dead.

"He's alive..." Kagome whispered as she dragged her eyes from Inuyasha up to Sesshomaru and was surprised to see sympathy and concern there as he looked at her.

"He is. Jaken bring Ah-Un." Sesshomaru said softly to Kagome then his voice changed to ruff and uncaring again as he spoke to his servant.

"Of course my Lord!" Jaken squeaked out and ran forward with the two headed dragon.

"We shall return to the castle." Sesshomaru said as he picked up Inuyasha then laid him down on the back of the two headed dragon. "Himeko put up a defense perimeter make sure the Southern Forces actually leave. Drive them off if you have to." he said as he looked at his top most general then walked away without receiving an answer from her.