Took a little while longer than I originally thought to get this update ready for posting but finally we are here.
The Wolf and The Blossom
Chapter Six
At first it was a scent, just a wafting breeze that carried with it something abnormal. But the further up the mountain side the marching pair traveled, the more intense the smell became. Until it wasn't just a passing confusion, but capable of being seen with one's own eyes.
Smoke as black as coal and as potent as the very air you breathed. It poured from the rocky peaks and with it the stronger developing scent of blood, and lots of it.
All to quickly Kouga's feet had taken flight barely sparing a moment to secure Kagome upon his back before he was launching up the stone face of the mountain like a bullet. Day had barely broken and he had yet to set foot back in the familiar caves of his home seeing as he and Kagome had only now returned from the valley floor.
Narrowly they had made it halfway up the winding path before the disturbing scent caught his attention. Little did he know it was only the beginning of his dread.
Shooting towards the overhanging cliffs that loomed just above the main cave entrance, his terror was all to suddenly realized.
Fire tore at his home, scattered ash and hot blood splattered amongst the rock. The once serene image of the massive waterfall leading into the belly of the mountains glowing orange with the wild reflection of the flames blazing at its rim.
Fired arrows and blunted spears scattered around the burning pool and the gut wrenching sight of several wolfs laid slain and shredded marring his home.
The rock face torn and crumbled from obvious heavy impact, and the scent of an all to familiar enemy thick in the already war torn air.
Kouga took in the sight of his home, his sanctuary with a look of horror and shock. A hard disbelief washing over him, at the realization a mere day ago he had left the mountain perfect. His own personal version of paradise, only to return to this scorched obis hell.
Kagome equally as shocked at his side. Her hazel eyes scanning the damage of the outside cliffs and rock peaks with complete confusion and terror. What was capable of doing something so awful.
The wolf demons were the most powerful demons her entire village had come to fear, what in the world would dare to attack them? In fact what possibly could?
"Kouga!" A familiar voice called distraught and obviously drained.
Kouga spun towards his name the mind searing sight of Ginta limping up the broken pathway towards him Hakkaku slumped over his shoulders clearly struggling to withstand his own weight.
The two of them looked like they had just survived hell. Dry blood caked on either side of their faces and any visible skin only where dirt and ash did not.
A small mixed group of both wolves and other tribesmen at their sides, all looking as equally as worn as his right and left hand men. Some even more worse off.
Kouga felt words build in his throat, but nothing formed past his lips. What could he possibly say? Returning to something like this, knowing what his tribesmen had endured without a single word between them.
It left him struggling for his next breath.
"The birds of paradise…they-" Ginta rasped his throat dry and his body weak from the havoc he had just so narrowly survived.
Kouga felt fury like he had never before experienced. Blood coated through his blood so hot he felt his very eyes began to glow crimson. So those winged bastards still lived, still lived and obviously had now acquired a taste for bitter revenge.
And they had found it.
Even now with wave upon wave of utter rage pumping through him, he still couldn't find the words. Nothing, nothing came to fulfillment.
But several amongst the crowd staring to their silent leader, did indeed find their voices. And all wanted to know one thing and one thing alone.
"Where were you?"
Memories of her were everywhere. That's how it seemed through the eyes of a grieving mother. Little reminders even in the most smallest of things.
Sitting here outside the hut she called her own she thumbed the petals of a few stay wildflowers that had somehow managed to break through the dry earth. The color, a soft pink that matched the blush of Kagome's cheeks almost perfectly.
From the moment she cradled that little raven haired beauty after hours of agonizing labor, she knew her two things that day. She loved her more than she ever thought physically possible. And second her beauty would be her curse.
Such a thing was to be expected in such brutal times as these. If she hadn't caught the eye of a lord looking to seduce and discard her, she knew eventually something worse would come.
And it had.
Her poor daughter had been thrown to the wolves and she was powerless to do anything but pray. Pray that one day soon they would be reunited. In this world or the next. She didn't know, but the hole that grew in her chest day after day seemed all the more unbearable as time carried on without her.
But she wasn't allowed to show remorse, to show her own misery not when there was so much surrounding her once tranquil home.
Her father was sick with worry, the absent of his beloved granddaughter slowly taking its toll on his aged body. While Souta remained ever distant with schemes and plots of revenge.
It was only quiet moments like this in the dark of night while those she loved slept that she was able to let her own dismay out. Weeping softly at the beautiful growth outside her home that once would have filled her with joy.
The memories and reminders, as painful as they were, seemed to be all she had now after all.
So she cherished each and every one.
Beyond exhausted Kouga emerged into the welcoming sight of his cave. The weight of his spear and armor falling from his already half undressed body the moment his bare feet crossed over the threshold.
He reeked of death, dry blood splattered randomly over his harden face. Even now he could still feel the wet mud from the previous nights storm caked upon his feet and hands as he tore through the mountain side.
Those winged bastards had unleashed hell upon the mountain in his absence. What made that brutal fact impossibly worse was that this much chaos couldn't have been done with just a handful of oversized birds.
It had to have taken a small army to turn the cliff sides into such a slaughter. Which proved to Kouga that there were still far to many of those demonic pigeons lurking in his territory than he first thought.
God he was so drained. He had lost count of just how many scattered wolf corpse's and fallen brethren he had retrieved from the mountain and valley side. Dozen of bodies mangled and partially devoured others left broken upon the rock from falling from the demon birds claws.
Even now he could see their faces. Those ghostly eyes open and gray staring blankly at nothing, he doubted he would ever forget the look. Or the lingering feeling of failure every fallen comrade provided him with.
He should have been here.
The losses would have never been this great. Blood undoubtedly would have fallen but he could have saved them! Or hell, at least died trying! But he had been miles away cozy and safe on the valley floor while his brothers were left for the slaughter.
He wouldn't forget that. And he would make damn sure the pain inflicted on his mountain would be repaid ten times over. He swore it.
For now though he knew he had better get some thing to eat and manage what little rest he could. It would be a long night after all. He had every intention of returning to the healers wing where the wounded that had survived the raid where being cared for, as well as patrolling the mountain.
"Kouga-" Kagome whispered climbing to her feet from her sitting position before the burning fire place. Her hazel eyes instantly scanning over the disheveled state Kouga currently trudged in with.
He looked like hell, and judging by the hatred burning in his eyes. She knew all to quickly he had plans to unleash just that.
"How is everyone?" She questioned as Kouga marched right by her almost as if she wasn't even there before he collapsed in front of the fire place. His inhuman eyes staring ahead to the burning flames cold and hard.
It was a ridiculous question to ask. Kagome knew that, the answer undoubtedly nothing good. But she still wanted to know how everything was outside the cave. After all ever since returning from the valley Kouga had shoved her inside the cave without barely a word as to what was happening out there.
She was a lot of things but slow wasn't one of them. She had pieced together on her own that the wolf demons where at war with some type of creature. Though she had no idea what sort, she had gathered that they were demons. And judging by the chaos they had left behind, strong ones.
"How'd they look?" Kouga began sarcastically and dry.
Kagome stared down at him silently, she didn't blame him for being upset. She didn't know how he could be any other way seeing his home destroyed the way it had been.
"Most are dead, others worse off-" He stated flatly thinking back to just how many of his comrades had been managed by the birds of paradise claws and jagged teeth.
Seeing them today, it would have just been better that they died on the cliff side then live with what had been done to their bodies. Demon or not, limbs weren't something they were accustom to replacing.
Kagome curled her hand to her chest tightly. This couldn't have been easy on him, even in the short amount of time she had known Kouga. She knew well enough he was a prideful demon.
Feeling helpless as he no doubt did right now, couldn't have been easy.
Taking a seat by his side she tucked her knees to her chest her hazel orbs staring ahead to the same flicking embers he did she tried to think of something comforting to say.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered.
She didn't know these demons and honestly she knew anyone else would think the world would undoubtedly be a better place without their kind in it. But she didn't feel that way. Demons though they may be, they were still living creatures. And they didn't deserve to have their lives stolen from them.
No one did.
"No you're not." Kouga sharp tone cut through her sympathetic words like a knife as he turned to face her, his face hard and tense with aggravation and rage.
"You don't care about them." He stated accusingly and harsh.
Kagome's grip tightened around her knees as she stared into his hateful eyes. Trying to find the right words, but she knew Kouga well enough to know. Nothing would console him right now. So she wouldn't try.
"No. But you do." She replied calmly. She didn't know these demons, and she knew given the chance they would probably do worse to her than Kouga ever had. But that didn't mean she wanted to see anyone or anything suffer unnecessarily.
Especially when it hurt someone she did slightly admire. Kouga was callous and sometimes down right cruel to her. But she had come to respect him, and it was that mutual understanding that made her feel badly.
Though deep down the thought emerged that he might deserve it, She didn't want to see him hurt. It just wasn't in her nature.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" She offered.
"Just stay the hell out of it!" Kouga snapped back in response clawing his way to his feet to stare down at the recoiled priestess just below him.
"This is wolf demon business!" He spat his lips peeling back in a snarl to reveal his bared white fangs.
"If it weren't for you, none of this would have ever happened!" He barked stomping away almost fearful he might physically lash out at the girl if he didn't distance himself.
Kagome stood up confused and hurt by his words. How could this possibly be turned around on her? She knew nothing of this attack or even the demons responsible for it? Yet he would accuse her of such a thing?
"I should've never left." Kouga swore under his breath combing his calloused hand through his messed hair in utter exhaustion.
"I should have been here! But because I took you to-" He stammered thinking back to the valley floor he had oh so naively spent the day lounging upon.
"My comrades are dead and its all-!" He roared his piercing eyes turning towards Kagome with accusing and malice intent.
"My fault." Kagome completed his hateful words emotionlessly, her hazel orbs meeting his solemnly.
Kouga swallowed the remainder of his words bitterly. It was obvious he was doing no good here, and rest was no longer and issues. Not with this amount of fury pumping through him.
He wanted blood, and he feared if he didn't leave the cave now he might just achieve it from the wrong source.
"It might as well be." He whispered harshly brushing past her without so much as a second glance, he didn't care how much time or energy it took. He wanted revenge, and fates be damn he would have it.
One way or another.
The sword the village elder had spoke of might as well have been a myth. That or a very well guarded secret. Souta had combed the village one uncaring inhabitant to another for information of such a weapon.
But each and every time the answer had been the same.
To give up, to let go.
Frustrated and fighting back hot tears his youthful hands pounded the hard earth of the outskirts of the village. Why didn't anyone care? Why did every single person want to give up so easily?
Kagome had saved this village dozens if not hundreds of times, fighting famine and disease along demons of every shape of shadow. Yet no one wanted to come to her rescue! How could they all be so selfish?
It was all falling on him, and the burden was crushing him. Kagome had always been there in times like this, when he felt like giving up. Her face had been the source of comfort he had always gone to when defeated as he was now. Yet even now her image seemed hazy. Hard to recall after such a long time away from the village.
That alone hurt far worse than the callous words of the villagers. He couldn't forget her! He refused! She was alive, she was out there and she needed help. And if every soul she had so selflessly sacrificed for turned away from that fact. Then he would do this alone! He had to!
His sister had always been there for him, so he would be there for her!
No matter the cost.
Dawn was approaching, and with it the promise of a new day. A new day full of shit and misery, that the drained wolf demon wasn't prepared to face without a least an hours worth of sleep.
He just wanted to close his eyes for a little awhile, just forget the hell the mountain had been reduced to before facing his tribesmen again. He feared like they would easily see how drained and utter worn he was if he didn't at least try to manage some rest.
Though returning to the cave wasn't something he was entirely thrilled about. Being here meant he would have to face Kagome again as well. An even more exhausting thought than gathering the tribe but he knew it had to be done.
He had avoided her for more than a day now, and in that time he had time to roll over their last encounter. His frustrations had gotten the better of him and as usual she had been the brunt of anger. He had no intention of apologizing to the women but he would try and make peace between them.
What had happened to the mountain wasn't her fault. He knew that, if anyone was to blame it was him. He had been the one to drag her to the valley after all, away from the tribe. Though it was a place he never would have been had she never made him feel so damn guilty!
The fault came full circle but he didn't have the energy to loop around once more. He just wanted to sleep, and make sure the girl wasn't wallowing in the misery he no doubt created.
After all there wasn't much entertainment in waiting for his return, which was most likely what she had been doing all this time.
Coming over the threshold of the cave he peered ahead to the expected sight of Kagome laying either on the silken pallet of his bed or before the fireplace, but surprisingly her presence was absent.
Kouga hesitated for a moment in surprise, so she had decided to bathe then had she? He would leave her to it.
"Kagome," Kouga called lowly tossing his armor down loudly as he began to shed the furs of his clothing away tiredly.
"I want to talk to you." He added letting loose his raven locks as he ran his calloused hands through his thick raven tresses.
But not a single sound followed in response. Not even the sound of water sloshing, or short breaths being taken. It was just still, quiet.
"Kagome?" Kouga questioned.
Letting his impatience get the better of him he strolled forward uncaring of the modest the girl no doubt still held as he rounded the stone wall leading to the hot springs.
But the moment his eyes met the empty pool, his jaw almost slacked in complete disbelief.
The cave was empty.
Kouga felt rage flood through him like a tide breaking a damn of barely maintained restraint. She had left the cave. Again!?
The unbelievable nerve of the wretched girl! At a time like this she would defy him! Had she no respect for him at all!? Oh, the hell she had just unleashed.
Forgetting his otherwise crippling exhaustion he flew from the cavern with nothing but the secure wrapping of his fur waist pelt. A sickening feeling of deja vu pumping through him with every step he took. He remembered this same amount of fury coursing its way through him last time she had dared to leave the den without his permission.
Though he didn't intend to have the same outcome as before, no matter the utter feeling of betrayal rampaging though him. He wouldn't strike the girl. But that didn't mean he was above reducing her to a pile of tears and wounded pride!
Bolting through the labyrinth of caves he followed her scent faint as it was. With his heighten senses and agility it was a simple enough task and with each step he could feel himself closing in on her nearing form.
Oh the absolute hell he would unleash on her as soon as she was within reach.
He could see it now, almost even taste it drawing closer with every heavy step he took. Each thought darker than the last…until finally he found her.
Almost dumbfounded by the sight he had to take several seconds to compose himself as to the sight he was currently faced with.
Here he was standing basked in the shadow of the one of the largest caverns in the maze of tunnels of the eastern mountains, the dark stone dome filled with the scent of herbs and fresh blood.
A wing he had come to know all to well, the recovery cave. A place where the demons of the mountain came to be healed or cared for after misfortune had visited them.
And seeing as there was no shortage of that thanks to those accursed birds, he knew fully well why it was as full as it currently stood.
Row upon row of his injured or maimed brethren laying scattered around the vast cave while and handful of healers rotated between the lines of blood and carnage they attempted to repair.
At the center of the chaos and carnage the focus of his determined mission the girl he had only a moment ago considered unleashing his rage upon.
Kagome stood along side middle of the cave, her once loose raven locks pinned tightly in a high rise messed bun. Her porcelain skin stained with dried and fresh blood alike, none of which seemed to be her own. Her fingers stained with the paste of herbal brew he could smell even standing this far away.
The kimono he had gifted her with tattered and messed with countless stains as she shifted from one injured wolf to the next.
Her exuberant eyes tense and focused as she dipped a blood soaked rag into a pail of water at her side before continuing her mending treatment of the mangled wolf demon laid out before her.
Kouga stood there only now realizing he had forgotten to breathe with the sheer realization the only reason his captive had disobey his command was to do this. To aid his fallen comrades.
It almost didn't seem real.
Why? Why would she help his kind? She hated them. Didn't she? She had every right to. Humans were nothing to wolf demons. A means of amusement if not food. They would never show such kindness to her.
So why then? Why was she here?
He couldn't bring himself to ask. Couldn't bring himself to step into the ward he had narrowly just escaped from mere hours ago. What good was he here? He couldn't heal his comrades. Couldn't share in their pain, only watch as they lay in their own suffering.
The only thing he was capable of doing was avenging their misery, and he had every intention of doing just that. But not until he succumbed to his own exhaustion.
Now more mentally drained then ever physical.
Without a word he turned tail, and drifted back into the darkness of the tunnels.
The long casing of porcelain shined even through the heavy coating of dust. Withered hands slid across the crimson surface of the thick box as the reflection of aged eyes met the holders stare.
The elder sighed a dry sound holding such a forgotten artifact. A treasure that had been passed down for generations to be treated so filled him with remorse.
How long had this blade been buried beneath the flooring of his home? A distant reminder of days long since past. Oh how he wished he had never unburied such a link to the brutality that was the village's past.
But words had come time and time again of the seeker of this very object. The youthful and stubborn boy that would surely be the death of him.
He was a fool for abiding such a blind ambition. What good could a boy do against an army of savage monsters? He would likely get himself killed. But he couldn't turn a blind eye to the boys struggle any longer.
If this was the path he was going to trudge there was no stopping him. And he knew he could not embrace the life after this one if he didn't give the lad a fighting chance.
So here it was. The encased hope of a bull headed child's dream. May it serve him better than its previous masters.
Though he knew deep down, with a certainty he could not explain it wouldn't.
As it turns out Kouga wasn't the only wolf demon capable of exhausting her. Kagome couldn't remember a time she felt more drained than right now. Her hidden knees trembling with utter threat of collapse and her throbbing fingers planted limply at her side as she trudged into the cave weakly.
Hours upon hours had dragged on oh so slowly as she went from one howling wolf demon to the next. Each seeming more damaged and pleading than the next as she tried her absolute best to ease each and everyone of their pain.
It had become painfully obvious early on she was out of practice tending to the dying and wounded, just how long had she been held in the mountains to become this lax in her life's practice?
She swore she could have tended to ten times as many wolf demons as she did today had she been freshly plucked straight from her village and set to the task of healing them.
Never before had she been this exhausted and rigidly sore from simply tending the helpless. But it was surprising considering she hadn't been exactly able to hone her skills of late.
Still she had done what she could for those poor souls, applying as much herbal remedies to their wounds and mind to ease the pain they no doubt endured.
All this aside she just wanted to bathe and sleep, she was sure she would be needed again once she managed a few hours of rest.
Already stepping towards the springs of Kouga's cave she only managed a step or two before the sound of the azure eyed wolf voice cut through the silence.
"Why?" Kouga whispered from the darken corner of the cave.
The torches of his chamber long burned out leaving him basked in the dark shadow of the stone room. His animalistic eyes glowing in the direction Kagome currently stood.
Not surprised when she didn't turn to face him, undoubtedly having not a clue where to look in the pitch black cave.
Taking a strong gulp of the jar of sake he currently cradled in his palm Kouga turned towards the unlit candle mere inches away. Deciding if he was ready or not to be face to face with the priestess before him once more.
Kagome stared off into the blackness of the room not entirely sure which direction to set her gaze in the blacken cave. Not until the soft glow of a now freshly lit single candle caught her attention.
Her widen hazel orbs softening at the sight of Kouga sloped at the far stone wall opposite to her, a weary look on his handsome face as he sloshed back the bottle he cradled.
His legs splayed out lazily out before him as he stared down at the rock flooring with an expression that matched how exhausted Kagome currently fell.
"Well," He whispered dryly not even bothering to meet her gaze as he broke the developing silence between them.
The once sharp appearance of his inhuman eyes soft and bleary from the effect of the sake that now scorched its way through his veins.
"Why did you help them?" Kouga asked thumbing the round lid of his bottle deciding if he wanted to continue sipping the hot brew or just chug the entire thing down.
Kagome took a slow steady breath. No surprise Kouga had followed her to where the injured wolf demons were being cared for. In all honestly she didn't know which outcome shocked her more, the fact that he didn't seem to be angry with her at all for leaving the cave. A crime she knew full well he punished ruthlessly for.
Or the fact that, he seemed for lack of a better word. Calm.
He looked as beaten as she felt sure, but all the same composed and level headed. A thing she hadn't known him capable of. Especially after their little 'talk' today.
"They wouldn't have for you." He started finally bringing himself to lock eyes with the motionless woman standing a mere stone throw away from him.
"They would have let you die. Or worse." Kouga confessed taking another hard gulp of his drink his jaw clenching the moment the hot liquor burned all the way down.
He knew full well what his men were capable of. Whatever torment Kagome thought he had forced her to endure was nothing compared to the savagery of his men. Their appetites far exceeded his own, and their mercy was far more non-existent.
So the questioned remained.
Why would she help the very beast that would have gladly tore at her flesh rather than make any attempt to heal it?
"I know that." Kagome whispered. She wasn't an idiot she knew full well what wolf demons were capable when gifted with opportunity. But that dark fact aside, it didn't change what she was.
She was a priestess, she had been sworn to heal the sick. No matter how fowl a creature, her vow stood all the same. Though in truth that hadn't been her only motivation.
"Then why?" Kouga shot back coldly but with a low tone that she didn't miss.
Kagome watched Kouga with a solemn expression. He wasn't hiding it well, the crack in his façade that he rarely ever let her peer past. What had happened to his land, to his men. It had done until this very moment what she thought was impossible. It had actually hurt him.
Not physically, but something deeper something even more painful.
Kagome smiled weakly before mustering the strength to inch forward until she was planted at the unmoving wolf demons side.
Tired and far to exhausted to try and gather the strength to make it to the springs after all as she slid down the wall until she was sitting side by side with the off staring wolf demon.
Her head falling back weakly against the rock wall supporting the both of them as she stared up to the blacken ceiling.
Sighing deeply she pulled her knees to her chest wrapping her badly sore and stained arms around her legs securely as she replaced the black ceiling above them with the night sky in her mind.
How she missed the stars, the smell of the outside world and the wondrous glow of the moon.
"Because, it was the right thing to do." She whispered softly unmoving as Kouga continued to stare down towards the jug cradled in his lap.
"And I don't like seeing you hurt." Kagome confessed as she thought back to the earlier events of today. The way he had snapped at her, it was brief but despite his harsh words. She had seen it. The same look she was capable of seeing right now.
His pain, his undeniable guilt.
Kouga chuckled humorlessly as she took another hard drink.
"Why not? I've done worse to you." He started lowly. Weren't humans suppose to be vain vindictive creatures. Here he thought she would have liked the payback, to see him squirm in disdain after all he had inflicted upon her.
"Because," Kagome whispered. The answer felt so simple, yet finding the right words seemed difficult. She doubted Kouga understood, considering even right now. She barely did.
"Despite what you might think." She breathed turning to face him, her soft hazel orbs finding his inhuman azure eyes as he did the same.
An oh so soft smile forming across her pouted lips it was barely visible at all.
"We're friends."
Large fierce golden eyes stared up towards the endless black sky and the shimmering dots that carpeted it, a large fur covered tail swishing softly from side to side as the monstrous sized wolf sat on the cliff side.
The mountain seemed quite, far quieter than this beast was use to. How long had it been since he tasted a fresh kill or heard the screams of dying pray.
It had been a common enough thing when the old master was alive. But now, with this one. The blue eyed one. It had started out as it had always been, the strong thriving and the weak being devoured. But lately it felt different.
There was a change in the air, something this wolf wasn't accustomed to. It felt strange and unfamiliar but not in a completely bad way.
It just felt different, but then again. Nothing stayed the same forever, especially here.
Even the mountains, old and ancient as they were. Eventually would crumble away.
The moonlight lit the beaten path extraordinary well for such a ungodly hour. Since leaving the cave Kouga hadn't spoken a word, he had only done what he was doing now.
Holding Kagome's hand in his own as he led her deeper and deeper into the cliff side. In all honestly Kagome was both to exhausted and nervous to question the azure eyed wolfs intentions.
Had she upset him with her confession earlier? That she thought of the wolf demon as her ally and not just her captor? If that was the case he was making his malice intent very hard to read.
He was silent, guarded and moving at a steady pace that with the lack of proper rest Kagome was finding harder and harder to keep up with.
She didn't really know how much more of this mysterious journey she could take until finally a clearing from the dark broken tunnel she and the raven haired demon hand traveled began to shine through.
Feeling his hand slip away, Kagome stepped out from behind the broad shoulder demons shadow to face the scene that had been unveiled so secretly before her.
They were high, very much so given the amount of wind she could hear whistling beneath them on the open cliff side.
A vast empty plain of rock and a small trace amount of grass seeping through the stone floor all leading to a very narrow stream of rushing water pouring off the rock face above.
The crystal water filling a deep pool so flawless and clear the moon and starlight reflected its glass like surface with perfect clarity.
"It's beautiful." Kagome spoke thinking out loud at the sheer glory of the sight before her. She had never seen anything like it before. This place, it felt untouched. Sacred, the very energy seemed to surge with pure and calming aura.
Not a place she would have ever thought would be found deep within a demons territory.
"What is this place?" She whispered turning towards Kouga who hadn't spoken a word since leading her out of the caves and through the mountains.
"Come with me." Was his hushed reply as the azure eyed wolf stepped towards the rim of the water beckoning Kagome to follow which she timidly did.
Walking until she reached the edge of the unworldly pool she stared down to the mirror like reflection of the water. The stars and the moon shimmering off the water like crystal as her own appearance slowly emerged onto the water.
Her chocolate orbs, her pale skin and shimmering pink lips. Her bond raven hair and her messed face from the hard labor of the day staring back at her.
While Kagome gauged the woman she so seldom got to come face to face with Kouga crept behind her still form his hands softly ghosting her shoulders to the meeting of her tight kimono.
Kagome instinctively froze at his touch.
"Kou-" She began in a fearful whisper.
"Shh," He hushed her, his calloused fingers grasping the fine material heavily as he began to slide it down the reluctant priestess body.
Stopping just shy of the roundness of her breast Kagome sunk her pearl teeth into her bottom lip to stifle a discomforting cry.
Her arms folding defensively over her exposed cleavage preventing the kimono from being pulled down further than it already had.
So she had upset him with her admittance? Now this was her punishment? She thought they had overcome this? That he had decided to respect her wishes for modesty until she asked for his touch upon her.
But even so, his moves didn't feel aggressive. Even now he exuded no presence of anger or rage. He was calm, gentle in his movements. Which only begged the question what was he planning?
"Relax," He whispered in a soft tone until this point Kagome thought him incapable of.
"I'm not going to hurt you." He promised, and something in his voice reassured Kagome that he meant it. Which only brought more questions floating to the surface. If he wasn't going to harm her, then what was his intentions?
Weighing her options silently and finding it easier to go down the path of least resistance, she released her hold on her chest. Letting her arms fall softly to her side her head turning slightly in surrender. She didn't know what Kouga had planned, and as secretly worried as she was of the events unfolding before her.
Some small part of her was also, curious.
Kouga gauged her acceptance of his touch as permission to continue sliding the kimono from her shoulders and down the fullness of her breast until finally the entire garment pooled at her feet.
Kagome shivered from the cold midnight air kissing her skin as she resisted the urge to sheild herself from the wolf demon in her shadow.
It didn't matter how many times Kouga had seen her in a state of undress, it never felt natural and though he had told her numerous times she had nothing to be ashamed of. She still felt that twinge of insecurity right beneath the surface.
Kouga followed suit ridding himself of his armor and furs with ease and precision before stepping back towards Kagome. A calloused hand on her naked hip he guided her into the deep water of the springs and she willingly followed.
They submerged together until the pool wrapped around her hips all the while Kouga always in her shadow. The water felt even more incredible then it looked. It was cool, but not uncomfortable. It was soft and rich and left her entire body tingling with a lasting sensation.
She had never felt water like this before, and though she wanted to questions its origins the feeling of Kouga sweeping her hair to the side brought her spiraling back to the present.
Kouga inched them towards the fall until they were just inches from the heavy stream pouring down from the rock face. The water falling over their bodies in a light spray and making Kagome's breath quicken and her heart race.
At this point she was expecting to be ravished, thrust against the stone wall and rippling tide of water pouring down before them and taken in whatever way the wolf demon holding her saw fit.
After all what could be expected from a delicate situation such as this one? She was afraid of the possibilities but she didn't dare speak them out loud. Kouga couldn't have forgotten that night in the cave already, his promise. But she didn't have the will to remind him if he had, what would be the point if his words had really been hollow.
Taking a deep breath she surrendered herself to the fate she knew was about to come crashing down upon her.
But instead, she found herself pressed to Kouga's chest, her back molded to his front and his arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace.
Kouga buried his hot face in the cool slope of her shoulder breathing deeply, not an erotic sound one would make when aroused. But it was a more of a heavy sigh, a tired sound from someone who life had put through quite an ordeal and they were just now recovering.
For a moment they just stood there letting the cool water wash over them, enjoying the feeling of the heat their bodies exuded under such crisp spray.
Kagome couldn't help but lean against Kouga's chest, her body was sore from the days labor and the water trickling down her body seemed to ease the tension still remaining in her muscles.
Warm lips pressed against her shoulder, easily felt from the cold of the water running the length of their bodies. Traveling up her neck and to her ear where she had to strain to hear them of the roar of the water fall consuming them.
"I'm tired," He breathed.
Kagome stood there for a moment truly lost on what to say in response. So Kouga really didn't have any dark intent for this evening? Everything about his body language confirmed it. He wasn't crushing her in his embrace, or unconsciously pawing at her. He was literally just holding her, softly. Gentle and almost in a venerable like state.
Then why bring her here? If he really wanted to rest, they could be doing just that? Was he…was he actually trying to show her some sort of appreciation for what she had done for his clansmen today?
As strange as it might seem from the outside looking in. She had come to expect this type of thing from Kouga. He, and for all she knew his entire race wasn't good at describing their emotions. He was a physical being, preferring to show what building beneath the surface than express it in words.
"We could go back?" Kagome suggestion quietly her hand finding his on its resting place against her. She knew how he felt even if he wouldn't say it. Seeing his friends, his home in the state of chaos he had. It would stand to reason even Kouga would be affected.
Brutal as he could sometimes be, there was still a heart under the surface. That right now she could tell, had been damaged from the misery that had fallen his people.
The arms crossed over her stomach slid apart so his hands could grasp her hips. He turned her around to be greeted by those hazel orbs he had come to know so well.
Kagome stared up at demon holding her. His long raven locks wet to his handsome face, his glowing azure orbs even more impossibly bright with the reflection of the starlight still visible in the water.
Water droplets rolling down his face and off his strong jaw, unthinking but cautious all the same she slowly extended her hand upwards. The soft palm of her hand cupping his cheek gently, feeling the warmth of his skin just beneath her touch.
Kouga sighed contently leaning into her touch as he held her just a bit tighter.
"I'm sorry," He breathed.
Kagome fell silent in total surprise. He actually apologized? Who was this demon standing before her. He was far to gentle, far to level headed to be the demon she had come to know. But at the same time being able to see this side of him. It opened up an entire new world for her.
Unthinking, unable to really think of any other catharsis she retracted her hand only to lean fully into Kouga's chest her arms crossing over his strong back as she laid her head against his pectoral.
She felt him stiffen for a moment in her arms, almost as if he was truly unsure of how to react. Like he had never been held in such a way before, and in all honestly it was something new to Kagome as well.
She and Kouga had done much in the realm of passion, but this. Real intimacy. It was something alien to her, before Kouga she had never embraced someone like this. Felt another in her arms the way she currently was.
And it felt…nice.
Silently after a soft pause Kouga's arms coiled around the woman against his chest tightly. He couldn't ever remember holding a woman like this.
Not without seeking some sort of baser pleasure in return. But being here, standing right here with Kagome in his arms. He didn't want anything else. He just wanted this. To cradle her to him, to have her hold onto him the way she currently was and never let go.
It made something inside him stir, something strange and unfamiliar but not necessarily in a bad way. Just feeling her, it felt…
"Kagome," Kouga whispered for no other reason than just to feel her name on his lips as he rested his weary head on top of her own.
"I want to stay like this, just for a little longer?" He breathed, his question soft and unsecure if she actually felt the same. But much to his relief the priestess he held, didn't want to let go either.
Kagome couldn't find the words, afraid if she spoke that this dream. This total alien blissful place she had fallen into might melt away.
So instead she only did what every part of her truly wanted to do.
She just held him tighter.
Next update shouldn't take me quite as long, but time will tell. Hang in there guys, shouldn't be that long of a wait.