Chapter 7: The Demon Lord of the West

By Leoncia (AisuKaze)

Three days have passed since Kagome, Shippou, and Sanosuke left Kaede's village. Their first lead was to head towards the west. Kagome remembered InuYasha saying that his father, and now his half-brother, ruled over the lands of the west. It was probably the best place to start, in her opinion.

And it, in fact, was. Shortly after they crossed over the border into his lands, Sesshoumaru noticed.

He rose from his spot against the tree he was lounging on and lightly tipped his head up, taking in a deep breath through his nose.

"Milord, what is it?" came the voice of his retainer, Jaken, from behind him. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed and he cocked his head a bit to look at Jaken.

"We're leaving, Jaken."

Jaken gave a squawk and nodded his head rapidly. He followed behind his Lord as Sesshoumaru began to move. He was heading east and Jaken didn't miss it.

"Where are we going, Lord Sesshoumaru?" the retainer asked meekly.

Sesshoumaru's response was a noise coming from the back of his throat, almost like a grunt. Jaken knew that was the end of it and didn't bother asking again. The only thing he could wonder was why they were headed towards InuYasha's forest?

Kagome groaned and flopped herself on the ground, taking care that Sanosuke didn't butt her in the head. "Shippou, any trace of him yet?"

The demon in question shook his head, "I'm not for sure. It's been awhile since I've seen or smelt Sesshoumaru. I can't retain the memory of scents like the dog demons can."

Satisfied with his answer Kagome let herself tip backwards and she landed on her back on the grass. The spear lay against her and she could still feel it hum with Sanosuke's soul. She was growing more accustomed to having the spear against her each day that passed and she felt naked when it wasn't around.

Kagome was quite happy to lay there until her legs stopped hurting. She barely heard Shippou say he was leaving to hunt for their dinner. She raised a hand and waved it slightly in response.

"Kagome, is it wise to fall asleep in such a place? You're quite defenseless right now." Sanosuke asked.

"I'm not defenseless. You're here with me." She said with humor in her voice. Sanosuke just chuckled. "Very well. Rest well, then."

And she did. It didn't take long for her to pass into slumber but it was soon disturbed by a threatening aura. She sat up quickly, grabbing Sanosuke in her hands. Rising to her feet she dropped into a defensive stance and waited.

She couldn't sense exactly what was coming for her but she and Sanosuke both didn't like the feel of it. She could tell because the haft of the spear was slowly becoming warmer. Kagome was sensing Sanosuke's feelings through the weapon and she smiled.

Hearing a whooshing sound, Kagome recognized it instantly. The sound of an arrow being shot and she didn't have the time to react. Sanosuke noticed it as well and he too found himself in the same predicament as Kagome. He didn't have enough time to take over Kagome's body and dodge.

The arrow came from behind them and Kagome quickly moved to the right, but the arrow still hit, tearing swiftly through the fabric of her haori and into her arm. With a cry of pain she dropped to her knees, Sanosuke clattering to the ground. Lodged in her left arm, sure enough, was an arrow. Blood began to seep through her haori and she gritted her teeth. She slowly crept her hand to grab the spear again. Tightly her hand wrapped around it as she tried to take her mind off the pain.

Sanosuke yelled out, "Who was that!?" He exploded in anger and projected his soul into Kagome. He took complete control of her without her permission and reached around, breaking the arrow off at the shaft. The arrowhead would remain for now; he knew Kagome was in enough pain from just his act alone. He could feel it. It only made his anger swell more.

In her body, he stood up and grabbed ahold of his spear. Turning to face the way the arrow had come from, he felt Kagome's panic as a woman who resembled his owner step out from the tree lines. "Is this Kikyou?" he asked her.

He didn't need an answer. He could tell it by feeling her panic rise through the roof. The woman in front of them didn't speak, just slowly walked towards Kagome. Her slender hand reached out, towards the almost completed Shikon no Tama that was around her neck.

Sanosuke had enough. He threw back his spear and directed it towards Kikyou's stomach. It failed to penetrate the woman as his body—or Kagome's really—was now frozen in place. Something had stopped his swing in mid-air, and he didn't like it one bit.

Kikyou's fingers briefly touched the Shikon and she pulled it back with a yelp of pain. The Shikon had shocked and burned her.

"Tsk," the sound came from Kikyou as she glared at the offending thing. After a moment she looked into Kagome's now amber eyes thanks to Sanosuke and turned, disappearing as quickly and randomly as she had appeared.

Sanosuke grunted in frustration and tried to return his soul to the spear, but he soon found out it was impossible. Kagome wasn't responding to him and her shared body was still paralyzed. He felt a surge of pain course through Kagome's body and they both screamed; their voices mingling together and echoing throughout the forest.

The paralyzing of her body was gone and Kagome collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain. Sanosuke's soul was forced from her body and back into the spear. "Kagome, Kagome! Answer me, please!" his voice was filled with desperation as he watched helplessly as his owner screamed and cried out in pain.

Now he was just down right pissed off. He couldn't do anything for her except try to calm her down by speaking to her. He couldn't even touch her. The spear had landed too far away for him to even attempt to project his soul into her again; to try and share her pain or take some of it away.

His train of thought was stopped when he felt another, much larger aura in the area. This one even scared him.

"Who's there!?" he yelled out.

As much as he could see from the ground he watched as a tall figure, even taller than he had been, slowly emerge from the shadows of the forest. The man—demon—was clad in a white set of hakamas and haori, sakura print on the sleeves. A large white-silver boa was wrapped around his left shoulder. The boa mingled with his long hair of the same color. The male was wearing metal and bone armor, and was well equipped with two swords on either side of his hips.

Sanosuke watched as he stopped just short of Kagome's form curled into a ball on the ground. His golden eyes were steely but Sanosuke could sense a hint of curiosity within them. From Kagome's description matching the man, right down to the maroon stripes on each of his cheeks and the crescent moon on his forehead, Sanosuke could only guess at who it was.

"Sesshoumaru? You're Sesshoumaru right? InuYasha's half-brother?" the golden eyes of Sesshoumaru flickered around until they landed on the spear on the ground.

Sanosuke saw the demon's eyebrows raise just a fraction, and when he spoke his voice that mimicked Sanosuke's in pitch, was accusatory. "Why is a spear speaking to me?"

"You're him, right? If you are, you have to help her! Please, I'm begging you! I can't do anything like this!" Sanosuke pleaded to the demon. He hated that he had to lower himself to this point, but there was nothing else he could do.

Sesshoumaru seemed not to hear him as he looked back down at Kagome and sniffed. "She's in no danger of dying."

Frustrated, Sanosuke raised his voice, "At least move me closer to her!"

He resisted rolling his eyes and breaking the spear in half. He was surprised when he felt himself move over to the spear and lightly kick it towards the woman. It skidded across the forest floor and stopped as it hit Kagome roughly.

Sesshoumaru felt a rise of energy come from the spear and enter into Kagome. Soon after he saw the ethereal form of a man with long dark red hair, and amber eyes, cradle Kagome to his chest. Now Sesshoumaru was curious as a cat with a new toy—or mouse.

The amber gaze turned to look up at him. "What's wrong with her? Why is she in so much pain? The last time I check an arrow wound shouldn't do this to a person!"

Sesshoumaru moved and kneeled down next to the two, grabbing Kagome's arm and making her wince in even further pain which caused her to pass out. He could feel the glare from the man holding her but he didn't seem to care. Sesshoumaru inspected the wound and ever so slowly a frown crept onto his face.

"She has been poisoned." Sesshoumaru said as he looked to the man. The man in question's face was paler than it should have been. "Who did this?"

Sanosuke shook his head, the low tail at the base of his neck his hair was in swinging back and forth. "A woman named Kikyou."

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed and he looked down to Kagome again. "And where is the half-breed?"

"Half-breed? Oh, InuYasha? He…he's disappeared. So have the others."

Leaning back, Sesshoumaru thought of what others he could mean. He thought over the times he had seen his brother and said, "The demon slayer and monk?" Sanosuke nodded.

Sesshoumaru could feel the Kitsune that looked to the woman as his mother somewhere far off, stalking a deer. He sighed and quickly took a sniff of Kagome. When he did his eyes widen and he jerked back, rising to his feet. "This is impossible."

Sanosuke looked up at him then down to Kagome, his breath catching in his throat—at least he thought it was his breath. He wasn't sure if he could breathe now or not. He had to back out of Kagome and return to the spear after setting her gently on the ground. He didn't know what was going on inside of her body but he had a feeling if he stayed his soul would be obliterated.

Sesshoumaru watched as Kagome's raven black hair slowly took on a tint of dark blue. He kneeled down and rolled her over onto her back. He was shocked at what he saw.

Two jagged, dark blue lines appeared on each of her cheekbones—Sesshoumaru faintly remembered how his father's had looked-and he was shocked when her human ears started morphing and moving to rise and sit on top of her head. They now resembled InuYasha's so much except they were slightly larger and black. He watched as the same color of blue as the stripes appeared and outlined her eyelids, much like how his were tipped in red. He put his thumb on her mouth and gently pushed her lip up.

Her canines elongated into fangs as sharp and deadly as his own. He let go of her lip and grabbed her hand, and by this point he wasn't surprised to see claws replace her dull human fingernails.

"What is going on?" he questioned to mostly himself.

Sanosuke finally spoke, "I'd like an answer to that question, too!"