~•o•O•o•~

The sweltering heat of summer caused her head to swim, as Kikyo stood up shakily from Onigumo's arms, and looked around herself anxiously.

"I have to... go home!" She stuttered out, and backed away from him. Onigumo stood up quickly, grabbing the sacred jewel and putting it in his pocket before grasping her by the arms desperately.

"Kikyo, stay with me!" He whispered, and she struggled to get out of his grip.

"No- I must, I must go and perform purification rites... I must go home to Kaede!" She said sternly, then shoved off him. Onigumo was left stunned as she whirled around and stormed off to return to her horse, holding her colorful yukata close around her body.

He gulped, feeling his throat had become parched, and shouted: "I won't let you go! Kikyo, I must be with you!" He cried, feeling his throat tightening at his words. She turned back sharply, and glared at him with her hardened chocolate eyes that shimmered in the light.

"If you must, follow me. But do not think that I am all yours to claim. What happened here today... was a slip in faith." She said, then turned back, leaving him to feel the ache in his heart from her hurtful words. Onigumo lowered his head and closed his eyes, thinking back to Reika, her betrayal to him with the half demon, and knowing that he could not allow history to repeat itself. He would follow Kikyo, even if that meant she would spite him now, he would make it his duty to never again allow a half-demon to steal away the woman he had so quickly grown affected by.

Kikyo found her horse, and hiked up her skirts, not caring as the villagers stared at her, quickly throwing herself up onto the saddle with skill. She found her quiver, and slung it over her shoulder. She had gotten carried away, swept up into the fantasy where for just a fleeting moment, she was simply an ordinary woman, and he, an ordinary man.

~•o•O•o•~

Ancient floorboards creaked, as Kaede curled into a dark corner of the old temple. She hid while the terrible sounds outside grew even more frightening, clutching the packing to her bleeding eye, her entire body shaking with her shock. The bandits she had been so wary of had taken their opportunity, and attacked, killing most if not all of the villagers, besides a small few children, their parents, and elders huddled in the temple with Kaede, an elderly woman that had been beaten mercilessly sobbed softly as her daughter tried to comfort her. Kaede watched through a small hole in a knot of wood, and one brown eye widened, taking in the sight of the demons outside fighting.

Sesshomaru backed up slightly as InuYasha fell to the ground in a sodden heap, blood leaking through his shredded robe of the fire rat, and spilling on the ground. They had fought violently for longer than Kaede could bear to watch, as InuYasha had relentlessly slashed his claws at Sesshomaru, only to have the older brother dodge them swiftly, taking the length between InuYasha's overdrawn attacks, and using it to deliver heavy blows with his fist, backhanding him with his poison claws and sending InuYasha tumbling backwards, only to make the same desperate attempts again and again, until they got to where they were now.

"You won't be able to stand much longer now, dear brother. Your fragile mortal skin cannot contain our father's demon blood that stirs within you, it's a pity, really, to waste such refined blood on a half-breed like you." He sneered callously, covering his nose with one white and red sleeve to mask the pungent odor of bloodshed.

InuYasha slowly got to his feet, his legs trembling, and his head lowered, his teal and red eyes concealed by wild masses of silvery white hair, partially stained ruby.

"Rrrr...rrgh... Sessho...maru.." InuYasha snarled, nearly incoherent, and then pounced, leaping into the air with incredible agility, claws poised to attack as Sesshomaru looked on, his aristocratic nose wrinkling from over his sleeve with the temptation to transform, and battle his brother to the end, youkai to half-youkai. He secretly smirked, forming a glowing green poison whip in his hand, and lashing out with it violently, ensnaring InuYasha by his throat. He hissed, clawing at his throat and bloodying himself further in desperation to remove the burning whip, as Sesshomaru only coiled it tighter, pulling him closer.

"It's time at last InuYasha, I will end your pathetic existence!" Sesshomaru snarled, and pulled the whip tight, making InuYasha's eyes flash white a moment before closing, his growling turned to gagging, helpless in Sesshomaru's tight ensnarement.

"No! You can't! InuYasha!" A voice suddenly rang out, tensing Sesshomaru's grip on his brother's choking throat. He turned his face slightly, narrowing his eyes on the horse rider behind him. He snorted out her fetid air with a scoff, smelling the heavy scent of human on her, not recognizing Kikyo as a priestess in her purple and red kimono covered with falling Kikyo flowers. She smelt, and looked like a newly wed bride to him that had just left her lover's bed.

"And who are you to InuYasha, a human wench? Why am I not surprised he would entertain the likes of you?" Sesshomaru sneered, dropping InuYasha carelessly to the ground, dissipating his whip in favor of nothing other than his claws to do away with the human woman. Kikyo was silenced, how did she answer him? Were they just friends now, or were they something more?

Sesshomaru picked up InuYasha by the scruff of his neck, and struck a merciless blow to the back of his head, making InuYasha drop with a grunt of pain, limp and bloodied. His face turned up to Kikyo, then his teal eyes turned amber upon seeing her, one hand weakly reaching out to her.

"Ki...kyo..." He rasped, before falling faint.

Kikyo watched, her heart sinking with dread as InuYasha lay bleeding on the ground, her face growing so pallid and washed of vitality, that Sesshomaru chuckled softly with his amusement, slowly sliding his sword from his waist.

"It's worse than I thought, not only do you reek of another male, it appears you have misguided affections for my brother."

Kikyo gasped, then her features hardened with anger, braving his hurtful words, no matter how truthful they were.

"Why have you done this to InuYasha? Who are you?!" Kikyo snapped, pulling an arrow from her quiver, and aiming her bow at Sesshomaru. She saw the bodies all around, and how the white haired demon gestured with one hand at all the massacre surrounding them, scoffing.

" I, Sesshomaru, followed the foul stench of the pitiful half-demon InuYasha for miles. What I came upon was him, causing this massacre. Clearly, he has no perceived tact; or he would've chosen a demon female. He is just as foolish as our father, and he will only succumb to the same fate as he, dying over a human woman. I shall take him out of this world, do you wish to join him?" Sesshomaru seethed, his eyes flashing red in the corners, his hair, floating upwards from his back as Kikyo jumped off her horse, and neared closer.

"Kikyo!" A man called, and his amber eyes, flashing crimson with rage honed in on Onigumo, riding desperately towards the village to stop Kikyo. She looked back quickly, turning her back on Sesshomaru and InuYasha, her arrow slowly loosening it's tension as she turned to see him.

"Onigumo... You shouldn't have followed me!" She said, clutching her bow. He jumped off his horse, and ran to her, pulling her back from Sesshomaru, holding her safely away as he pulled his katana free from his belt, posing his mirror-like to Sesshomaru's.

"Can't you understand what has happened? This is the price of playing with demons! Look what InuYasha has done here!" Onigumo scolded her, moving her forcefully back from Sesshomaru, as he simply stared; assessing the situation with reddened eyes, and contemplating if two mere humans, and an incapacitated half-demon were worth transforming over.

"This man is a liar! You would believe the words from his mouth, over mine?"

"Sister Kikyo! InuYasha did not do all this! It was the bandits! He was only trying to stop them!" Kaede called out, running towards them. Kikyo saw the bloody rag clutched to her face, and gasped, turning back quickly to Onigumo. His eyes widened with his surprise, and he backed up a step.

"My men...? You're telling me, my men did all this? But, it's not possible.. I have never allowed that type of behavior, to pillage and kill undeserving villagers? It's... impossible.." Onigumo grit his teeth, shaking his head as Kikyo freed herself from his arms, and ran towards Kaede, dropping to her knees to hug her.

"Kaede! You must hide! It's still not safe here!" She said, holding her sister's face in her hands, to gently inspect her injury.

"How did this happen? Kaede, tell me the truth!" She said sternly, and Kaede gulped.

"It was a bandit. I'm telling you the truth! InuYasha did not start killing the bandits until they attacked him. Then he turned.. scary like that other one." Kaede pointed to Sesshomaru, and Kikyo nodded, understanding. "Good girl, now go and hide in the temple until I say it's safe." She whispered, and Kaede nodded quickly, turning away and stumbling towards the temple in her fear.

"Aren't we all in agreement, then?" Sesshomaru seethed, red tendrils swirling around his white hakama pants.

"Either way, it doesn't matter. The fact of the matter is, InuYasha will die." Sesshomaru hissed, pointing his blade down to the ground where InuYasha stared up lifelessly, only the red of his black lined eyes showing.

"No!" Kikyo shouted, and pulled her arrow back into position.

"Step back from him, this instant, or be purified by my sacred arrow!" Kikyo shouted with an immense rush of power, her kimono flying out around her as the arrow began to glow, Onigumo looking on at her in amazement. The arrow soared through the air, and struck Sesshomaru in his spiked demon armour, blasting away the steel, and making him drop his blade in anger. Sesshomaru's eyes widened, the irises turning teal, his face beginning to change and grow unnaturally, as he quickly began to transform. The red slashes under his eyes furrowed, and lengthened along his jaw, while his fangs began to sharpen, the air around him grew red with his youkai, then shot up into the sky, becoming a white orb of light, from which a thundering boom was heard, as he quickly enlarged, and landed one great paw onto the ground beside InuYasha.

"InuYasha!" Kikyo cried, surging forth towards his prone form before it could be crushed, but Onigumo jumped in front of her, holding his blade steady as he challenged the great dog demon. They stared up in amazement, as the dog demon turned to them, and growled, gnashing his sharp teeth. Onigumo readied his blade, and Kikyo her arrows, as Sesshomaru lept, making the old huts shake with the force of his weight. He swung his tail, and the roof of the temple was taken clean off, the people hiding inside, screaming as Sesshomaru turned, hearing their cries, and began to approach the temple.

"Kaede! He'll kill the villagers inside!" Kikyo cried out, and Onigumo ran forward, and attempted to slash for him, but the blade scraped off, useless, and he just barely missed being bitten by Sesshomaru's teeth. A thick green miasma swirled out from his fangs, combined with poisonous purple saliva, that spilled, and splashed down to the ground, burning wherever it landed. The villagers screamed as the miasma dripped down, and they saw the red eyed demon staring down at them.

"Sesshomaru!" Kikyo shouted, catching his attention. She loosed an arrow, and shot him in the eye, making him rear back, howling in pain. Sesshomaru tried to rub his eye with his paw, shaking his head, removing the arrow. He squinted one eye shut and roared, infuriated by his injury.

The green mist swirled around Kikyo's legs, as she looked down, and seemed unharmed. Onigumo surged forth, covering his mouth with his sleeve from the pungent miasma.

"Stay back, Kikyo! His breath is poison! I have heard the tale of the young Lord of the Western Lands, all demons in his domain fear him, for he is a most powerful and legendary demon!" Onigumo hushed in her ear, and she shook him off, pushing him away forcefully with her aura. Onigumo was pushed back by a burst of electricity, the front of his kimono singed.

"Kikyo, I'm only trying to protect you!" He said, one hand over his heart where the skin was scorched.

"I don't need to be protected! My sacred arrows will purify this demon!" She shouted, and loosed an arrow. "Strike!" She ordered, and Onigumo surged forth, jumping up, and attacking where the arrow landed, making Sesshomaru bellow out in agony, as the combined force of the blade, and Kikyo's sacred energy cut through his arm. Onigumo fell back in surprise, watching as the great demon howled, blood spraying from his limb in gallons, as Onigumo looked at his sword, and saw it glowing lilac. He turned to Kikyo, and saw she was panting, her energy nearly spent from imbuing his sword with her energy. He caught her before she could fall, and they watched, as Sesshomaru reverted back to his humanoid form, and flew away quickly, leaving his severed arm useless on the ground.

"InuYasha!" Kikyo cried, and ran out of his arms, and towards InuYasha, falling down to wrap her arms around him. Onigumo tensed, seeing her display of affection for the half demon, his fist clenched. Kikyo's arms glowed lilac, her hair floating upwards, as she used the last of her power to heal the most mortal of his wounds. Onigumo hesitated to stop her, knowing Kikyo's kind heart, he hoped it was only out of her goodness that she healed the half-demon, and not for love.

He flinched, feeling a heat burning in his pocket, and wrapped his fingers around a glowing jewel. It was magnificent; sparkling in his hand, as the sobs of Kikyo, and the other villagers could be heard, coming out at last to surround Kikyo, whom they saw as their savior. Onigumo stepped forth, seeing she had pulled back from InuYasha to embrace her sister. Her and Kaede sobbed, and Onigumo felt guilt twisting in his chest. If it weren't for him giving into Kikyo's flight of fancy, perhaps they would have returned in time to stop all this. Perhaps, InuYasha would have died fighting Sesshomaru. He took a sharp intake of breath, after thinking such a thing, and looked down at the object in his hand. It was glowing, but now swirls of black were coming up from within, and he quickly dropped it, allowing it to roll towards Kikyo.

"I believe this jewel is yours, Lady Kikyo. You may do with it, whatever you wish. I leave you, so that you may mourn your loss, but I will leave, with just this thought for you. If I take it, and you still choose a life with half-breed InuYasha, I will be tempted to come back, and steal you away from him, and perhaps even hurt you in my anger. That's why I cannot allow myself to carry that cursed object. I leave it up to you to decide what to do. I have loved you, and I will continue to love you... No matter what you choose." He said, lowering his gaze away from her in shame.

Kikyo was silent, taking the jewel. It quickly purified in her hand, and she clutched it to her chest.

"Thank you... Onigumo. I appreciate that you have given me this option, but... In light of the events here today, I am afraid your presence here is unwelcome. Please...you must leave me to mourn our dead. I wish to return to my duties now." She said, choking back a sob. Onigumo nodded solemnly, and turned away, an elderly woman watching, placed one hand on Kikyo's, and patted it.

"Be you absolutely sure, Lady Kikyo? This man fought bravely for your honour. If you take his hand in marriage, we will not be upset with you. This village has long been protected by your family, may be it time to move along to a new settlement, and start over. You should take his hand. Be free." She urged, her small wrinkled hand clinging to Kikyo's with urgency. Onigumo had paused, listening for her response.

"Don't... don't be silly, Oba-San. I have too much work to do here. I couldn't simply leave you to be with this man. Good luck, Onigumo. May you find peace in your travels." Kikyo said, unable to look back at him for fear he would see her tears.

"Farewell, Kikyo." He said softly, and with that, he left her, walking back down the dirt path he had come, about to mount his horse. Suddenly, a loud clanging was heard, and he turned, bewildered.

"Here, Lord Onigumo. These are yours. You should take them, to keep you safe." He looked down, and saw it was Kaede that was holding up his dragon helm. He nodded, and took it, along with the other armour she kindly helped him into, until he was fully suited.

"I thank ye, little girl." Onigumo said, kneeling down to brush her hand back from her eye. He smiled, and reached into the armour, pulling out a small medallion, and hovering it over her mutilated eye, where it covered the worst of it.

"This should make a suitable eye shield for you, Kaede." He said, allowing her to examine it.

"An iron tsuba?" Kaede questioned, taking the metal piece, with small engraved lines, and three cut outs.

"This sword guard came from the first sword I learned to use as a little boy. I would like to give this to you, as a token of my gratitude for your kindness." He said, and patted her head.

"Thank you, sir." She said softly, and held it close to her heart with both hands.

"Thank your sister, she is the one who taught you those morals. I'm sure one day, you will grow to be as strong and beautiful as she." He said gently, then turned, and jumped back up onto his horse, whipping the reins, and taking off with a thunder of hooves, the red tassel on his helm flying. Kikyo watched, cradling InuYasha's head in her lap, and sobbed at last, though she didn't know whom it was for, she felt her pain tenfold when Onigumo left; a man who she had barely known and yet, his soul seemed an old friend to her, but perhaps nothing more, as she stroked InuYasha's bangs back from his forehead.

"I'm so terribly sorry, InuYasha. I should have never left you like this." She said, and kissed his brow. InuYasha opened his eyes slowly, and blinked, pulling himself quickly from her lap as he regained his consciousness.

"What's that fetid stink?" InuYasha spat, covering his nose with a sleeve. Kikyo looked startled, her eyes wide as others looked around in their confusion.

"What stink?" Kaede asked innocently, and Kikyo urged InuYasha with her eyes to not reveal to Kaede that it was in fact the scent from Onigumo's lovemaking.

"You betrayed me, Kikyo? With that... bandit man?" He said, hurt evident in his voice.

"InuYasha, I- It was a mistake!" She shouted, but he would have none of it, backing away from her.

"You chose him over me, admit it Kikyo, you don't want to be with me, a half-breed!" InuYasha cried out, his eyes wide, one hand clutching hard over his heart.

"I- I told you before, I cannot! Not unless we were to use the jewel, to make you human. Only then." She whispered, and InuYasha furrowed his brow in anger at her.

"A human?! With no strength to protect you, what if Sesshomaru came back, would Onigumo save you then?" He questioned bitterly, watching how her features paled.

"InuYasha!" Kikyo cried, the villagers holding her back, as he turned, and ran away from her to collect his thoughts.

"InuYasha, please! Let me explain!" She cried, but the others only shushed her.

"Shh, he is a half demon, that is how he wishes to stay, Lady Kikyo." A man said, holding her back.

"You should be wise not to fall for his demon tricks!" Another villager hissed, and she nodded, turning back from him.

"Let's count our losses. We should dig the graves before more demons come, attracted to the blood scent." She said lowly, hiking up her sleeves.

"But my Lady, what of your beautiful robe?" A young boy asked, tugging on the sleeve.

"I don't care. I'll burn it afterwards." She spat coldly, and stormed away from the others.

Kikyo's kind heart had been broken; she had lived as an ordinary woman for a day, and lost everything she'd taken for granted before. She wouldn't make that mistake again.

~•o•O•o•~

A/N:

This isn't the end, don't worry. More will be coming soon. I hope that my readers will return, please leave your thoughts, and favorite and follow if you haven't done so already. Things will be taking very dramatic turns, I hope I can keep your attention. If you enjoy this, you may also enjoy my story, Kikyo, Captured.