XII.

Hounded Priestess

A pure, cold rage that she had never before felt the equal of had taken control of all Kagome's movements. The farther she moved into the trees, the closer she came to a place where she had spent a great deal of her time; quietly, impossibly, a scent that gave her wrath a deeper purpose grew stronger around her. In her human days, she had spent too much time close to that scent not to know it for Inuyasha's; she could taste his aura, the strength that filled the air around him. Here it was tainted by darkness, something familiar - it was the scent of old soil, old death; it was the scent of Kikyou.

There was a tug on her soul, a faint, pink pressure that she knew too well; she had always been able to feel it when Kikyou was near, had known even before Inuyasha, sometimes, when her previous incarnation was approaching. She had never said anything; what would have been the point?

The anger that was moving her was directed almost equally between the two of them - Kikyou, and Inuyasha. The scent of blood that had moved her was Shippou's; she was also aware of a distinctly human odor riding in the trail of wind, but to identify it as Sango was beyond her skill.

Shippou she had claimed, had brought close to her heart as if he were her own child. Shippou was hers - and now, he was wounded. She needed no skill, no practice, to identify that odor - the smell of his blood had awoken the Inu, spurred her maternal instinct, the possessive nature of the beast. It was a scent full of madness, the scent that she was now following through a forest whose paths she knew. She was close to Kaede's village, and did not even know it.

The moonlight, faded to pale threads in the sky, sent tangled skeins of blue and greenish light down through the trees. Their leaves moved in an unnatural gust of wind, east to west though the wind of the world was blowing down from the north.

Kagome herself was the wind, running at the command of a panic that pulled at her from the inside with a feeling of danger. If she had been conscious, if she had been asked where she was going and why, she would never have been able to explain it, but she could feel the moving beast under her skin and was shocked by it, the unrestrained urge, the killing desire.

For a moment, she paused at the dark wooded edge, and found herself laughing breathlessly. The farther her feet took her, the greater was the danger, the fury, the feeling that moved her without explanation.

Quite suddenly the trees were thinning around her, and then they were gone. She had come to the meadow between the forest and the village, and deep in the shadows of her thoughts she knew immediately exactly where she was. She had not intended to come back; the scents here were so strong she could barely breathe.

Slowly, very slowly, she approached a darkness in the waving grass, a stain that was the source of the scent that summoned her.

Suddenly, reeling, full of agony, she could identify the center of that as a child, her kit, her Shippou. She knew immediately, remorselessly, why she had been called, pulled, out into the night; she fell into a well of guilty grief, reached out but was afraid to touch him. A pale violet glow was rising at the corners of her eyes, and in the tips of her claws; her breath was coming faster, not slower.

"Shippou, Shippou…"

The Inu, momentarily cast aside for grief, returned with a rush to rage in her flesh, shaking her, grieving as she grieved, seeking for the reason, seeking for –

Prey. Who did this? Who? Who is prey?

It was as if Sesshomaru's voice was in her thoughts, reinforcing her urge, her need, for a life.

"Catch it. Kill it."

She had known nothing but the scent of blood, the scent of the child that pulled her and forced her onward. Now, in her new awareness, she was doomed. The Inu could taste a scent so tangled with the fresh smell of Shippou's blood that they were almost one scent; the Inu knew that scent, just as her greater consciousness did - strong in the wounds that had brought the blood, strong in the air, strong in her memory.

A name escaped her, found itself pouring through the air, a howl, a torrent.

"Inuyasha!"

She felt as though she would be split in two. Half of her was torn by the pulse of blood, the dark urge, the instinct for prey – half of her remembered that name as more than just darkness, as a name that had once had the power to hold her motionless.

But they were the same, they were the same. That name belonged to her prey.

Again, it came out of her throat - as a howl, a cry, a groan. She heard the noise, an inhuman noise, and could no longer restrain herself; the Inu had won. Her eyes clung to Shippou's pale, bloodless face in the dark stain, and then she was ripped away, forced along the cooler scent that had retreated from this place of pain. Where was the one who had killed her child, where was he?

"Inuyasha…"

The third time it came to her as a whisper full of blood; it came from the inner-hunter that was both new and somehow familiar. She was a visitor in her own flesh now that the Inu held sway, and she tasted many scents, submerged in this new release of consciousness – trees, beasts, the clean scent of flowing water, the scent of this her prey – easily, she could follow that scent, stalking with willing intent. Her blood was growing bright with power, illuminating the new, more sparkling redness of her eyes. There was death there, sleeping a the tips of her claws, for the one who had wounded her Shippou, the one she had claimed – the one who called her mama in dreams that she had heard, and smiled at.

There could be no forgiveness and no turning back. Soon, she came to a low overhang of rock that was partially hidden by flowers; the scent was both cold and warmer there, doubled back on itself and turned through the trees.

In another time, another life, she had come here with friendly intentions, the bringer of gifts, a visitor - now, she peered into the darkness with youkai-bright eyes, and growled a deep and bloodthirsty growl.

Den of Prey, but Prey is moving. Moving -

There was a noise in the darkness, the sound of a dragging step, and her eyes focused towards the back of the small cave. What was that?

Smell of blood. Human.

Kagome turned away, the thoughts of the Inu already moving outward, into the night -

A broken voice sounded from behind her.

"Kagome - "

She whipped around, eyes wide, just in time to see confusion, horror and hopelessness unwind across Sango's face. The figure in the light of the door, the silhouette, had been precise - but what was left of Sango's senses screamed a mocking scream at her.

Youkai!

"Sango - Sango!"

The woman toppled into her arms, eyelids fluttering; her face turned to the side, and Kagome saw bloody claw-wounds there, a darker stain where she had bled from somewhere just above her hairline.

"Inuya - Inu - Inu - "

Sango slipped into the flat darkness; Kagome's eyes darted over her friend's body, saw the wounds that Inuyasha had inflicted - wind rushed into the cave from outside, freshening the original pressure of her protective drive as it freshened the scent of Shippou's blood.

With a snarl, she left Sango where she was, and disappeared from sight into the darkling woods.

Sesshomaru could not only smell his brother, he could smell his brother's blood, feel it in the wind like an unclean hand, snatching at him. He could also feel the internal pressure of Kagome's wrath, moving inside him like a tide. He had quickened his pace, feeling danger in the nothing of the air, danger in the prowling distress of Kagome's presence in his thoughts. He had to travel far into the trees behind her before he was struck again, strongly, with the scent of unfamiliar blood, something other than the scent of his brother.

The waiting time is come to an end.

In an afterlife of which he was not afraid, he might suffer for the stain of his brother's blood, but it had been his father who had made the choice that led him to it.

"We will suffer together. I am coming, Inuyasha."

His thoughts were suddenly full of grief, grief that rose up and then crashed down as rage. Half stunned, he heard strange laughter, and then returned to himself, found that he was holding his throat and that the sound was his own. Kagome - Kagome, overflowing -

She will drive me mad! She feels too much.

He became aware of deeper pain, anguish, and forced himself to return to the path, feeling a hot blade of anger that was entirely his own grow up from his chest into his throat. She was being harmed, as she was harmed when she dreamed, as she had been harmed by her nightmares, by the poison fever, by that youkai -

He did not even realize that he was running red-eyed, running faster than he had traveled in…ages.

The shadow of the trees engulfed him. The scents that he followed were strengthening, and mixed with them were human scents, village scents. The trail was leading him along the forest edge, and a path in the distance wound up around the curve of the hills like a dusty snake. Meadow-grass spread out like rippling water, silver in the night-wind under a cloudless sky. Ahead of him, he heard movement, a shaking in the branches that was moving towards him, and he slowed, and then stopped. There was a dark spot in the meadow that flickered under the slender moonlight, shining with wetness. A shape lay in it, and he stepped to the side of the shape and stared down for a long moment.

The kitsune -

Now, he understood.

Part of him was pleased; it was good for her to be protective over what was hers, good for her to have such strong maternal feelings. Part of him was greatly displeased; the source of her anguish was obvious, and if she was always so…emotional when she was distressed -

I will go insane, or I will kill her.

Somehow neither option appealed to him.

Curious, he knelt, and looked down at the kit. He wore the remains of a vest that was as dark with blood as the grass; blood stained the side of his head and was sticky on his face, the scent of it almost familiar now. Those injuries had not given him trouble; it was his side, the torn and scattered flesh, that had brought him down.

"So, Inuyasha killed you, kit. Shippou - "

As he said it, the kit beneath him took a breath that was loud enough for him to hear. Sesshomaru's eyes opened wide in surprise, and he stood silently, watching, thinking. Moments became a minute, and then two.

Compassion was not a demon strength: it was not his blood emptying onto the ground, but his mate had chosen this kitsune as her own.

She seeks my brother's blood; she seeks vengeance.

He doubted the strength of her will.

Abruptly, he knelt and rolled the boy onto his uninjured side. With Shippou laying this way, the full extant of the wound became visible; he could see tissues shifting in the small body, perhaps organs.

"You should not be alive, kit."

Carefully, Sesshomaru slit his palm with his own claws and let the thick blood spill into the deep gash, coating the glitter of ribs, the dark tear of muscles split wide. He did it without letting himself think – he gave of himself and closed his eyes to the thousand protests of his own mind. Eagerly, Shippou's veins reached for each other, sealing, holding in the precious fluid of which so little was left. Again, and then a third time Sesshomaru gave his own life, replacing what had been lost, and then he stood, breathing deeply.

"For your mother's sake, kit – because that is what she must be. It is up to you – live, or die."

He swayed, half-dizzy. The wind was cold, waked his nerves and widened his eyes. His intentions were clear in his mind now, the things he must do. He would go back into the trees, and seek out his half brother, and send Kagome back to this kit…

I will end Inuyasha's life, and then…

The thought never had an end. Some distance down along the forest-fringe, the trees were parted with a scream of protesting wood, and Inuyasha fell out of them, snarling, running; the madness was obvious in him, and Sesshomaru stepped forward quickly, his fingers cracking in anticipation. He took only one step towards his brother, and then the trees opened again with a rustle like hurricane winds, a shower of leaves that showed in the moonlight.

"Kagome!"

She was at the center of the whirlwind, half-glowing with power, and the moment after he called for her he regretted it. Confusion showed in her features, made her stumble and turn in his direction.

"Not another step, demon!"

A third figure was proceeding calmly from the shadows, and Sesshomaru's eyes widened completely out of his control.

"Kago - no. No. You are the undead miko, you are Kikyou."

Her name came off his tongue with equal parts dismissal and disgust. It was the work of a moment to review his memory, the things he knew about this…woman. Certain things were beginning to make sense to him - the darkness in the dreams of his mate, the names on her lips when she turned in that darkness…and in the past, hadn't there always been a distance between them? Between Inuyasha, and Kagome. This woman - no, this…creature had been that distance.

I see. There is a resemblance between them…or rather, there was. Was that why he chose my Kagome?

For a moment his smile was greedy as his eyes flickered over Kagome, the pulse of her youki, the hot-metal flicker of her eyes. Ignoring the undead miko, Sesshomaru took a few quick steps towards Kagome, but Inuyasha was also moving and Sesshomaru could see his face now, the expression of mad cunning, the red-glazed eyes. Blood stained one of his brother's arms, wet and scarlet.

The kit wounded him?

Sesshomaru shook his head and took another step towards his mate, but a snarl moved over Inuyasha's face and he was halted by a sharp, sudden sound, a ssthss that passed just in front of his face. The light that crossed his vision along with the sound momentarily blinded him.

Miko!

A low growl escaped his control and vibrated through his body.

"Demon! I warned you not to move!"

There was a laugh with demonic sounds in it from a direction that no one expected; Kagome. Sesshomaru had seen anger on her face, rage, when she had come out from the trees after his brother. Now…now, he saw the open arms of death, spread wide beneath that laughter, and suddenly he saw what she found so funny.

"Woman, which one of us do you want to stay still - myself, or my mate?"

Silence penetrated the air between them; he saw shock on the undead features and would have smiled but did not think her worth it. At another time, he would have killed her and been through with it, but the extra edge in Kagome's ferocity had already told him that the undead miko was her prey.

Interesting. She will kill this un-woman, but she could not kill her own food. Why is that?

He watched Kagome's movements, slow, stalking, and turned his own attention towards his brother. Even in the madness, Inuyasha could choose his enemy, and Sesshomaru saw him flee away from Kagome with something akin to relief showing through the darkness in his face. He rushed toward Sesshomaru as blindly as he always had, and Sesshomaru sidestepped gracefully, narrowed his eyes as his vision swept his brother's body.

"What you have done with our father's fang, Inuyasha? Why have you abandoned Tetsusaiga?"

His answer came not from Inuyasha but from the undead miko; a lilting sound, laughter - it grated in his ears, like his Kagome but not.

"Demon, the sword is with humans, where it can do no harm. Shall I purify you, I wonder, before Inuyasha? You are family. It would be kind, would it not?"

He saw a smile begin to form on her face as she drew back her bow, and there was something horrible in it. He contemplated his own danger. It was possible - extremely doubtful, but possible, that she could kill him…but it was more likely that she might do some small amount of harm to him. And -

A blur of green and white flashed in front of his face, and he drew in his breath.

Kagome!

She stopped in front of the other priestess, and even Inuyasha became suddenly still, so thick, so obvious was the tension between them.

"Kikyou. You don't recognize me, do you?"

Kagome smiled, and Sesshomaru was sure the teeth in it, the glittering fangs, were purposeful.

"It's not like looking in a mirror anymore, is it?"

Sesshomaru saw shaken expressions, none of them whole, march in succession across Kikyou's face.

"You - you cannot mean - you don't expect me to believe - "

"I don't expect anything, not from you. I am Kagome, Kikyou, Kagome - the girl you wanted to use, and hurt, and break…and take everything from. I am her, Kikyou. And I am not."

There was a flicker in Kagome's expression that came from the strain of suppressing the Inu, the beast, the ravenous hunger for blood, and Sesshomaru saw it and was suddenly flushed with an answering pressure, not only watching her but feeling her, bright in his thoughts. Just that evening, he had brought her out for the first time, shown her the possibility of her own speed - now, without any urging at all, she tested her strength and found it more than adequate to the task.

Her fingers, her sharp, shining claws, wrapped themselves tightly around Kikyou's throat, and lifted her. The undead miko still held her bow and an arrow, but as he watched, he saw glittering power rise, and then wash away from Kagome's skin like water, leaving her unhurt.

"I don't think you can hurt me, Kikyou. Are you not thinking, because you're afraid? You are me."

And she smiled that demon smile again.

"Only two things are possible, Kikyou, because the fact that we share a soul can't be denied. Either you were youkai, as much as I am…"

She paused just long enough to watch Kikyou's face wrinkle in terror and denial.

"Or being youkai, being human, is something that has nothing to do with the soul. It's only flesh…or maybe something else."

"Im - possible -"

Kikyou's voice was cracked and thin around the pressure of the hand on her throat; her face had shattered with horror. Despite her attempt, she could not deny Kagome's logic; she and the girl - this demon - did indeed share a soul. Had she been wrong all along? If associating with youkai was not evil, was not the reason, then why… Why? It couldn't be true...

"I only want one thing from you, Kikyou. Tell me, what did you do to Inuyasha?"

"Ahh…ha -"

It was not a laugh, but a wheeze, as Kagome's fingers twitched around her throat.

"Inu…Inuyasha. I didn't do anything to Inuyasha. Inuyasha always loved me, always loved me more than anyone else."

She actually smiled, despite agony in the touch of Kagome's fingers, Kagome's claws.

"He would do anything for me. Anything…"

There was nothing worse she could have said, and she knew it…and then she knew nothing. In a single movement, a spasm, Kagome's hands drove into Kikyou's clay body, cutting into the false throat, the hollow abdomen.

Kikyou screamed, and screamed; suddenly, time was moving again, and Sesshomaru heard a roar of anger from his brother, the tones rising up and almost matching the volume of the scream.

The illusion of flesh crumbled so easily, it was almost possible to believe that it had been nothing. Looking down at it, at what was left of Kikyou, Kagome blinked and felt almost silly. She felt like a child who had been afraid of a monster under the bed - and now that she had looked…there was dust, and ash, and...

Nothing. She was nothing all along.

There was a sudden, painful pulse in her chest, and she looked down to see struggling blue light melting into her body, fading into gold as it touched her skin. It was like a pale echo of what she had felt when Sesshomaru had first changed her, that pain; she knew immediately what it was.

"Kagome!"

"No - it's alright, Sesshomaru. This…is mine. It has been missing for a long time."

"What - "

But the dust at their feet, the rapidly fading scent, the disappeared presence of the other priestess had made its final impact on Inuyasha's shattered consciousness. Sesshomaru's sharp question was interrupted by Inuyasha's howl, the woman's name like a ripple in the night air.

"Kikyou!"

Suddenly, he was stalking them again.

Inuyasha's eyes moved back and forth between them, his features intent, and Sesshomaru stepped forward at once, his features darkening with the intent to kill. For a second time, he was distracted from his brother's death, but this time the cause was more worthy. An ear-splitting howl broke into the night, spilled over his ears, loud but not unlovely.

Mate.

He had been training himself to think of her that way, but this time the thought came easily; enraptured in the glory of her kill, in her pride, in her victory, Kagome was beautiful, pure Inu - and then Sesshomaru flickered three steps backwards with a snarl, prevented himself from raising his hand to his shoulder only with will.

His brother's claws had struck deep into his flesh; that second of distraction had cost him first blood.

Snarling, flicking drops of Dokkasou from the tips of his claws, Sesshomaru advanced.

A/N: HA! And Kikyou is dead. Dead dead dead dead dead! Ultra, super, totally, finally, (for the second time) DEAD. And may she never come back. (She won't, I wrote this. :D)

Ahh, that feels so good. The manga tries to make her much less irritating, and the anime tries to make her a little less irritating...but out of all of Inuyasha, the Kikyou bits were the only ones that consistently annoyed me. I got it, that when Inuyasha first saw her resurrected he was all confused and lovey-dovey...but at the same time, he had to be aware that she was a CLAY body possessing only the appearance of Kikyou. And never mind that, but EVERY TIME he sees her, she either A) tries to kill him and drag him to hell; B)tries to kill everyone else and drag him to hell; or C) attempts to give Naraku exactly what he wants, because...well...that part never did make any sense. Just the stupid kind. AHHHH!

Phew. Sorry, rant over! Anyway, much thanks for reviews to: blueminx87 - continued!; Ichisakuraki, thanks not only for reviews but how to use polls! obviously I didn't make a kikyou-death poll, but that was because then I would have had to wait for responses and this chapter would have been delayed...so...not too bad, right? oh! And you know, I considered Sesshomaru-dono, instead of Sesshomaru-sama...but then I wondered how many people would know what I meant. probably shouldn't have, huh? But I think I might use it for some of his vassals, so, yay!; wrecklessangel, don't be confused! if you tell me what, exactly, I can try to explain...because if you're confused it means I messed up, so let me know! Also thanks to Exiled Rain; praise like that keeps me writing (or makes me go faster)! glad to hear that you enjoy it so much!; Thanks to birdy22 - soon! Ta-da! Anime Lady PIMP and Kouga's Older Woman, behold: Kikyou's death! And my rant about it! HA!

Wow, longest A/N yet, sorry! Updates tomorrow during my 10 hour shift at work...me=sold my soul to Sesshomaru, you=Please Review!

Final Revisions...Complete! R&R! This is hard work – yours is easy! :D