Chained: In More Ways than One
Function
Inuyasha didn't know where his brother was actually taking Kagome but he knew his best bet to pick up on their scents was to go in a western direction.
Sesshoumaru might be bringing her back to his castle. If so hopefully they'd reach them before his half brother managed to have back up from the entire royal inu army. It would almost be impossible to retrieve Kagome from him then.
Sango felt like she'd never see Kagome again at this rate. Inuyasha wasn't as good at tracking as he boasted about. Shippo proved that fact today. She glared at the back of the hanyou's head as he slowly tracked with his nose to the ground as to not miss nothing.
At this rate she'd actually be happy to ask for Koga's help. As a full demon he had a better nose and somehow always managed to find Kagome no matter where they where. As the wolf prince's concern for the Miko was a little more than personal he'd probably send his whole pack of wolves out also.
Koga may be as annoying as hell but he was handy in some situations.
There was also the speed thing because as of right now Inuyasha was going about 2 miles per hour and it was making her really impatient and antsy.
Koga always liked to go everywhere as fast as he could and had the help of the jewel shards in his legs to accomplish amazing speeds even for a demon. Probably still not fast enough to best Sesshoumaru though.
Inuyasha froze when he felt a light weight on his back. Shippo had jumped from Sango's shoulder to land on top of him as he was still on all fours.
"What are you doing?" Inuyasha questioned the fox kit in complete confusion.
"Playing horsy. I have to do something to keep me from dieing from boredom. Now giddy up." Shippo commanded as he pulled on the two locks at the front of Inuyasha's hair like reigns.
"Get off!" Inuyasha reared back like a horse to knock Shippo off as he stood to his feet again.
The fox kit went flying but luckily the demon slayer managed to catch him. "Inuyasha I think we may be going in the wrong direction. How could they have gone this far without leaving a trace of their scent behind?" Sango tried to convince Inuyasha.
"That's not true. There was some of that purified ogre a little while back." Inuyasha said confident that he was going in the right direction.
"Inuyasha that could have been left by anyone. I'm sure a lot of the wildlife also went through that area. For all we know you may be tracking a squirrel for god sakes." Sango berated him.
Inuyasha turned back to look at the demon slayer while still walking forward without looking. "I'm sure if we keep going in this direction I'll find…"
"Inuyasha look out!" Sango tried to warn him but it was too late. He'd already fallen over the log and disappeared over the other side.
"…Found it!" Came the half-demons voice from the other side of the log.
"What?" Sango asked in confusion.
"The scent!" Inuyasha head popped back into view as he examined the area closer. Sango was so relieved to hear that.
"This is where they must've made camp for the night. Kagome's scent is strong on this side while Sesshoumaru's is on the other. I wonder why they both slept so close together? Even if Kagome is my brother's prisoner he would have been able to stop her escape from almost any distance." Inuyasha started to scent the area more thoroughly.
When Inuyasha reached the outside of the clearing he started to dash in that direction quickly not even waiting for the demon slayer to catch up. "Where you going and what about Miroku?" Sango yelled.
"Their scents goes off in this direction and it's fading fast. We don't have time to go back and fetch Miroku. He'll just have to wait." Inuyasha yelled back.
Sango quickly jumped on the transformed Kirara as to not lose Inuyasha as he started to disappear out of her view who was following the trail to the demon lords and Miko's former destination.
Sesshoumaru and Kagome had been flying for a little while when they landed to give Ah-Un a break and walked from there.
After all the excitement of finding out that the chain wouldn't release either of them and their peace agreement she'd forgotten about the reason they stopped in the first place.
Kagome was finding it really hard to concentrate on walking and kept shooting the demon lord looks but didn't want to be a bother and ask. They'd just come into good terms with each other.
Sesshoumaru pretended to not be bothered by the questionable looks the Miko was giving him like she wanted to ask a question but kept stopping herself. He was more concentrated on how it was almost evening and they'd only made a little more than half the distance he wanted to accomplish that day.
Kagome was painfully aware of how hungry she was. Her stomach rumbled as she walked and could think of nothing more than hunger. She hoped the demon lord couldn't hear the embarrassing noises her body was making.
She stumbled on her hurt ankle and knew she was going to fall. "Please stop!" she yelled as she waved her hands around to try and catch her balance. Then she gasped, took in a hard intake of breath and tumbled to the grass.
"What is the problem Miko?" Sesshoumaru asked as he help her back to her feet by grabbing both her hands. 'There's that strange feeling again?' He thought as he felt the pin prickling sensation when his skin came in contact with the Miko's.
"I'm hungry. I can't function on empty. I'm like a car." Kagome rolled her eyes as she saw the demon lord raise an eyebrow at her in confusion not understanding her comparison.
He knew that humans couldn't survive without food but Sesshoumaru wasn't risking another incident like the pot one so he decided it best if he went hunting. Usually he would have just been like 'wait here and I'll bring it back' but he stopped himself when he remembered their problem.
"Get on." Sesshoumaru commanded the Miko as he offered his back for her to climb on to. He'd never had anyone ride on his back before to use him like a pack animal but had decided to take a page out of his half brothers book.
"What?" The Miko looked at Sesshoumaru in confusion. That was definitely a move she expected to come from Inuyasha but not from the demon lord.
"I'm going to need to go hunting but because of the chain your going to have to come with me while we leave Ah- Un here to wait so he doesn't scare off the game." Sesshoumaru gave her his reason without looking back.
Kagome shrugged before climbing on to the demon lord's back.
Sesshoumaru'd taken only a couple steps before the Miko let out a yelp of pain and slithered to the ground. "I think I impaled myself on your armor?" Kagome complained as she checked over her left elbow for injury.
He groined in frustration not wanting to waste anymore time as he took off his armor and placed it beside Ah-Un. "Unless you'd rather carry on traveling and not eat I suggest you get on." Kagome quickly climbed on with no more complaint.
Before Sesshoumaru couldn't feel her body through his armor but now he could feel every curve which made him believe that his brother may have ulterior motives other than transportation.
Sesshoumaru waited to make sure the Miko had a strong hold on his body before bolting into the forest for he needed his only arm to hunt. In no time using his senses he'd managed to find a dear and kill it without the Miko even noticing being too jolted from his inhuman speed.
"I though we were going hunting?" Kagome asked in confusion as she noticed after the demon lord slowed down that they were heading back in the direction they'd left the two headed dragon in.
"We were and I did." Sesshoumaru held up the dear for the Miko's inspection. Kagome hid her head in the demon lords hair not wanting to look into its lifeless eyes.
Sesshoumaru didn't know why human females were so skirmish when it came to death. Most demonesses liked to dance in the blood of their kill.
Once they made it back to the clearing that he left the two headed dragon in he dropped the Miko before preparing the dear and putting it on the fire to cook.
Kagome keeping her eyes tightly closed the whole time. "Can I look now?"
"It is safe." Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes. He didn't see why it was ok with her once it was skinned.
Sesshoumaru wanted to sigh as he watched the sun begin to set. They wouldn't be able to get very far before they would've had to stop again. 'I guess we'll be staying here for the night.'
Once the smell of the cooking dear started to waft Sesshoumaru had to try and control himself. Being able to go without food for a long period of time was necessary to learn when becoming a lord.
It was all he could do to hide his emotions from the human under normal circumstances, he didn't think he could do it on an empty stomach.
Kagome was just about to bite into a piece of dear meat when she noticed Sesshoumaru's eye twitch. She knew that she'd only been traveling with the demon lord for a little under two days but she could swear she could read his slight facial expressions and body language better.
Right now, it was telling her that he was also probably as hungry as she was but was just too proud to admit it. "Do you want any?" Kagome offered.
"No." Was the demon lords one syllable response.
Kagome narrowed her eyes. " I can tell that your almost dieing to have some meat. You haven't eaten a thing since you've been in my company. You know what, when was the last time you slept let alone eaten?" She questioned him.
"…"
"I won't give you any till you tell me." Kagome threatened. She received no response for some time before the demon lord finally broke. It just smelt so good.
"About a week." Sesshoumaru admitted so the Miko would hand him the plate which he immediately started to devour.
"You know even though your this big bad demon you still need the same things as every other living creature on this planet to live and function properly. Food, rest, and air to breath…" Kagome berated the demon lord as he continued to eat.
"We said that we were partners and they look after each other. I'm not going to let you do this to yourself any more. Tonight your going to sleep." Sesshoumaru paused and gave the Miko a suspicious glare as she started to eat herself.
How was she going to make him do that?
"Not possible. Who's going to keep watch over the camp." Sesshoumaru made an excuse which the Miko immediately countered.
"Ah-Un can do it. If anything's wrong he'll wake us. Won't you?" Kagome turned her question to the two headed dragon. The demon lord glared as they both shook their heads in agreement.
"Traitors." Sesshoumaru mumble to himself low enough to be unheard. The Miko had only been traveling with him for two days and she'd already managed to turn his dragon against him.
The rest of the evening Sesshoumaru was cautious around the Miko but it seemed he wasn't cautious enough.
As soon as night hit when Sesshoumaru had his back turned Kagome managed to crash all her body weight into the demon lord and causing him to trip over the chain and her to tackle him to the ground.
The pair struggled for a couple of seconds. The demon lord tried to untangle him self but had no success. The silver chain jingled before Sesshoumaru stilled. "What are you trying to do?"
"I told you I was going to make you sleep and this is the best way that I came up with to accomplish it." Kagome answered still trying to keep the demon lord down on the ground; which if he actually tried to get up wouldn't stop him at all.
"Did you ever think of asking me?" Sesshoumaru raised an unbelievable eyebrow at the Miko.
"That was the first idea that I threw away knowing that you'd probably be too stubborn to listen. Now go to sleep." Kagome commanded as she rolled off of him to the side and closed her eyes.
Sesshoumaru just starred at the Miko for a couple minutes as her breathing started to slow before he finally decided to give into the demands of his body to function and closed his own eyes to sleep.