Kagome's name was ripped from Inuyasha's lips in a strangled cry, his voice cracking as he dug his claws into the beast's tail. He caught the underbelly, and it roared in pain, shoving him away as it continued with its meal. Kagome's eyes had gone blank, but she was still upright, power flowing out of her mouth as the gills rippled.
Ah-Un swopped low, going for the beast's eyes as they attempted to rescue her. The distraction gave Inuyasha enough time to ready his sword, diamond shards covering Tessaiga a moment before he let them fly. A few ricocheted off the beast's back, but others caught it in the neck and face, one managing to pierce the biggest gill, and Kagome was dropped from its talons.
It scrambled to retrieve its prize, but the dragon was too quick, blasting it in the face as their front legs wound around her waist and lifted her to safety. Kirara's flames erupted from behind them, Sango's boomerang sailing through the air to force the shards deeper into its chest.
Kohaku's chain wrapped around one of the beast's five horns, and he yanked hard, managing to turn it on its side. Its tail whipped around, trying to dislodge him, but the boy was too quick, avoiding swipe after swipe, the grip on the chain never wavering.
Another wave of shards went up the underside of the beast's stomach, bursts of reiki escaping once they hit the gills, and as Sango retrieved Hiraikotsu, she motioned to its neck. "We have to cut off its food supply!"
Inuyasha didn't need to be told twice, and Tessaiga pulsed, shifting back to its original form before he slashed through flesh and bone. Power flared, and he tried to find where it converged, but he'd never used the wind scar against reiki before.
Youki was different. It was untamed, vines tangled with lightning, but Kagome's reiki had never done anything but heal or purify. And he'd never wanted to attack her before. Even chest-deep within Kikyou's delusion, he'd still heard her voice and come to her rescue.
He'd never get the image of her power being forcibly ripped from her out of his head.
A back leg attempted to take out his knees, and Inuyasha struggled to decipher between the different energies crackling around him. Another blast from Kirara kept the beast from getting to its feet, and Kohaku tightened his grip on his chain, keeping the head against the dirt.
He eventually went for a more direct approach. Yanking the blade away from the beast's neck, he slashed upward. Tornadoes of power erupted from his sword, finishing the job and severing the beast's head from its body.
The gills flapped as they struggled for air, and everyone remained on edge, waiting for the slightest twitch of scales as the iridescent glow slowly receded from the head's five separate eyes. And even then, their weapons remained poised for a backlash. They were all breathing hard, covered in sweat and dirt, and now the pungent scent of the beast's blood covered their clothes and shoes.
Inuyasha grimaced, covering his nose with his sleeve as they all backed up. "Is that it? Did we get it?"
Kohaku nudged the beast's head with his foot, but the once deadly jaws remained dormant, its serpent-like tongue hanging between glistening teeth. "I don't sense anything."
"Me neither," echoed Sango, finally shouldering Hiraikotsu. "But we should stick around in case someone shows up looking for it."
"Do you really think someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes?" her brother asked.
"There's always a bigger fish," she replied, stepping over a particularly large puddle of blood as she approached the beast's chest. A frown marred her brow as she inspected the gills. "I've never seen anything like this. There had been objects that absorb power, and Naraku absorbed people, but a creature of this magnitude couldn't have come out of nowhere."
As she reached to trace the lines of the slitted appendages, Inuyasha grabbed her by the wrist, yanking her away. She opened her mouth to argue, but the pinched expression on his face had the words dying in her throat. Flushing slightly, her movements stiff and awkward, she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck, sinking against him.
"I'm alright," she murmured.
"No thanks to me," came his guttural reply. Her grip tightened, and she ran a reassuring hand through his hair. They stood like that long enough for Kohaku to give them space, and Inuyasha breathed heavily in her ear. "I won't let you down next time," he vowed.
"You didn't let me down this time," she argued. "We didn't know what we were up against."
He nodded, basking in her unbridled comfort, but his mind raced. He'd never seen the beads around his neck as a weakness before. They'd brought him back from the brink more times than he could count, but the image of Sango, and then Kagome, being bested by the unknown creature had sent his instincts spiralling.
He'd felt his demon blood rise, the need for revenge clawing at his insides as he could do nothing but watch the light of he cared about dwindle. It had demanded to be let out, to be let loose, and his hands still trembled with the need to dismember the beast for going after them in the first place.
Would things have been different if the beads hadn't held him back?
He shook his head. This wasn't the time to have an existential crisis. Kagome had been gravely hurt, and they still didn't know the extent of those injuries. She'd probably be out of commission for a long time, and they needed answers so it didn't happen again.
Content that the beast was, in fact, vanquished, they made their way over to Ah-Un, Kagome's prone form curled up against their side. Inuyasha moved to grab her, but Kohaku yanked him back, the snap of twin snouts barely missing his face.
"What the hell? We gotta make sure she's okay!"
Ah-Un's heads bobbed up and down, snarling at the trio as it tightened its grip on the woman. Inuyasha tried again but was met with fire this time. "Damn it, Kohaku! Call off your guard lizard so we can check on her."
Kohaku shook his head. "I can't. They've imprinted and think they're protecting her." He held his hands out to the dragon, even going as far as to lay his weapon on the ground, but Ah-Un was having none of it, switching between snarls and spitfire whenever any of them got close.
Kagome's breathing was laboured, that much was clear from the unsteady rise and fall of her chest, but she was twitching at random intervals, as if she was being electrocuted, and her reiki was getting weaker by the minute.
Inuyasha cursed viciously. "Don't make me hurt ya! I know you're worried, but we can't help her if you won't let us near her!" He was starting to get desperate. They didn't know the creature's origins or if the energy it had stolen had been released back to her. And even if it had, it might've poisoned her, making it a struggle to even breathe.
He was about to raise a sword to the misguided dragon when a familiar but not-so-welcome youki tingled on the edge of his senses. Scowling but not bothering to turn around, Inuyasha tried to find a better opening to reach his friend. "You're a little late, asshole."
"You had the situation well in hand," Sesshoumaru replied cooly.
He whirled on his brother. "No thanks to you! You got what you wanted, so why did you bother coming back?"
"Rin is safe," he said matter-of-factly. "She was the top priority."
"Your priorities are fucked if you think you can waltz back in here like you didn't just abandon us in the first place!" He shouldn't be surprised at Sesshoumaru's actions; hell, if he weren't so righteous, he would've taken off as well, but he was, so he hadn't, and it was his best friend who was currently lying in a crumpled heap, barely clinging to life.
"My priority was Rin," he repeated.
"And now?"
Sesshoumaru's eyes flitted over Inuyasha's shoulder, and he brushed past him, zeroing in on the dragon and its treasure. "She has been drained."
"No shit. Did you come to gloat about it?" He stepped in between them. He needed to get her away from Ah-Un, but he wasn't about to hand her over to his brother, either.
But Sesshoumaru's gaze didn't waver. "The miko has never required aid in her fight before."
"Well, this time she did." His hand slid toward the hilt of his sword. "So if you'll excuse us, we have a friend to see to. Not that you'd know anything about that." He could feel the slayers at his back, Ah-Un's growling slowly getting louder with each step his master took.
He fully expected Sesshoumaru to rub the fact that he hadn't been able to stop the attack, but his mouth was pulled into a grim line, eyes unblinking. Youki rolled off of him in purposeful waves, lapping against the dragon's claws, and the beast whimpered, heads curling around their fallen mistress.
Kohaku lay a hand on Inuyasha's arm when he tried to intervene. "He might be able to get through to Ah-Un. He's imprinted on Kagome-san, but Sesshoumaru-sama was their first master, so pack dynamics might win out." He gave Inuyasha a meaningful look. "We just need them to release her long enough so they realize we're trying to help."
Inuyasha's hands clenched into fists, and he nodded stiffly. It ate away at him that his bastard of a brother might be able to help more than him, but he knew when to step back. As long as they could get to Kagome, that was all that mattered.
Sesshoumaru kept his eyes fixated on the bobbing heads, ensuring his movements were slow and calculated. The miko was barely breathing, the slow, shuddering rise of her chest making his own tighten.
He'd never planned on coming back. Rin was safe; their quest complete. But as soon as they'd touched down in the older miko's village, he'd felt a wave of unease wash over him. He should've been too far away to feel her, but the sudden lack of her power had been stifling. Instincts kicking in, his youki had encased him, and he'd been racing back to where the woman had been rescued.
He hadn't bothered with remembering any face or name—none had mattered but Rin—and he'd fully anticipated lingering in the village until he was sure she was unharmed, but the buzz of the miko's power had been a constant even he hadn't been aware of, and now that it was gone—
The carcass of whatever had taken his ward, or at least what was behind her disappearance, lay in two distinct pieces in the middle of the courtyard, unmoving and inconsequential. All he cared about was the fact that the miko currently shared the same fate. She was still in one piece, but the piece was broken, and the dragon trying to protect her was doing her more harm by keeping her from her comrades.
Sesshoumaru increased the flow of his youki, forcing the beast to fall in line and remember who their master was. He'd never imposed his will on them before, but he needed them to release the miko so she could focus on healing.
He was chagrined to admit he wanted her to heal. She had yet to reveal everything she knew about Rin's disappearance, and for all he knew, she was aware of the strange creature's intentions and killed it to cover it up—
No. The miko would never put the lives of innocents at risk. Even he knew that. She'd likely been fighting for her life, and the lives of all the women who'd escaped the beast's clutches. Another wave of youki pressed down on the dragon's shoulders, and with a whine, it finally pulled away from the miko, allowing Sesshoumaru to pull her into his arms. They slowly got to their feet, nuzzling his elbow as they followed behind him.
Her three packmates breathed a collective sigh of relief, letting him carry her down the long, winding staircase. He was careful not to jostle her, but he could sense her reiki slowly ebbing away. When they were far enough away from the desecrated shrine, he took shelter in a neighbouring cave. Sesshoumaru settled against the inner wall, the miko still in his arms.
She twitched again, and he grabbed her hand to keep her still. Once she stilled, he intertwined their fingers, his youki doing the same as it sought what was left of her reiki. It was dangerously low now, a pale glimmer of what he knew her to be capable of.
His youki dug deeper, searching for her regenerative abilities, but her remaining power was being used to keep her heart beating, and as Sesshoumaru pushed, she only pulled away, flinching in pain even in her unconscious state.
His brother stepped closer, eyes wary, as Ah-Un lay curled up beside them, and he stuffed his hands into his sleeves. "What does she need?"
"Nothing you can give," he replied curtly. Inuyasha bristled, but Sesshoumaru cut him off. "She requires power. And you are still recovering from battle."
Inuyasha's gaze flickered between them, shoulders tense when he saw their connected hands. "But you aren't?"
"Hnn." He stopped pushing and started replenishing, easing his power into her slowly so as not to be rejected. It was surprisingly easy, and it made him wonder if all the times she'd melded her power with Inuyasha hadn't been a fluke.
Reiki and youki were fundamentally opposed, two sides of an ever-spinning coin that were never meant to exist simultaneously. Yet the miko was strangely adaptive, and now that she'd realized he wasn't a threat, the syphon had opened willingly, sucking up as much as it could.
It was a while before the soft flush of life was brought back into her cheeks, but her heartbeat had evened out, and once his brother was convinced she would survive, he left them alone. It was a reluctant trudge over to the other side of the cave, but the slayer welcomed him with open arms, laying her head on his shoulder as a means to comfort both of them.
Sesshoumaru remained still, even as their eyes dipped and they succumbed to slumber. The miko was stable but still unconscious, and he didn't want to chance waking her before she'd fully recovered. Kohaku offered to secure them sustenance, hunting down several rabbits within the near vicinity.
He made sure to light a fire far enough into the cave that it couldn't be seen from the surrounding forest, then finally allowed himself to rest. Once they were convinced the miko was out of significant danger, Ah-Un shifted positions, creating a protective circle around the young slayer and shielding him from the elements.
Even with his power being syphoned from the very core of his being, Sesshoumaru refused to sleep. He wasn't sure how long he'd need to replenish her or how long her recovery would take, but there were details still to be revealed.
And this time, she would not escape.