Disclamier:i do not own inyasha or this story it is from some one at fanfiction.com

Chapter 1

“Inuyasha! Either claim me as yours or send me away! Don’t keep me hanging here. Can’t you see it’s tearing me to pieces?”

Inuyasha just crossed his arms and looked away from the yelling Kagome. He grunted, “Hmpff...”

“Argh!” exclaimed Kagome at the top of her lungs, grabbing her bow and arrows and storming out of the group’s camp. Shippo, Sango, and Miroku just watched as Kagome practically ran into the nearby trees.

Kagome kept going deeper into the woods, tears streaming down her face. “Stupid Inuyasha!” she muttered to herself, “Why can’t you just get over Kikyo? She died 50 years ago and that corpse walking around isn’t really her! Why must you always put me second to that thing?”

The hairs on Kagome’s neck bristled as she sensed something up in the trees behind her. She whipped around, notching an arrow to her bow as she did so. “Show yourself! I know you’re up there!” she called into the peaceful night, now silently cursing herself for getting so far away from camp.

A figure jumped down from a high tree branch and landed lightly in front of Kagome. Kagome took an unconscious step backward away from the frightening figure. “Sesshomaru...” she gasped. She had every reason to fear for her life- Inuyasha’s half-brother had already tried to take her life before.

‘You do not need to fear. I will not hurt you,” said Sesshomaru, but his promise did not make Kagome feel any more comfortable, as Sesshomaru had spoken in his usual emotionless, cold, and frightening voice.

“Who says I’m scared? asked Kagome, her boldness coming back in an instant.

“I can smell fear, disgusting and reeking off of every human,” answered the dog demon. He sounded bored.

“Why are you here?” demanded Kagome forcibly, ignoring the fact that Sesshomaru had just implied that she reeked.

Avoiding the question, Sesshomaru asked one of his own, “Why are you crying, woman?”

Kagome blushed as she lowered her bow and tried to wipe the tears on her sleeve. “It’s nothing really,” she said, “Inuyasha is just...difficult sometimes.”

A silence passed between the two and Kagome took it as a sin for her to continue, “Sometimes Inuyasha acts like he wants me, other times he can’t even look me in the eyes. He won’t claim me and yet he won’t let me go on with my life and move on to other people. It’s just...difficult,” Kagome repeated, still blushing from the fact that she had just told one of her inner secrets to this cold individual. She had never actually talked to him before, usually just running for her life or trying to save Inuyasha from him had been their relationship.

“Indeed,” responded Sesshomaru, turning to leave.

“Wait!” called Kagome, “You never answered me! Why are you here?”

Sesshomaru paused, barely turning his head to glance at her, “That is only my business.” He then disappeared into the night’s darkness.

“Oh great!” thought Kagome, “he left even before I could ask him which way camp was, because, admit it Kagome, you’re, girl.” All she said aloud was, “Damn!” She turned around until she found a direction that seemed right.

After walking along for about 10 minutes, she came to a slow moving stream. Kagome ran her fingers through her hair in frustration as she realized that she had not passed this stream on her way into the forest and, therefore, she was heading in the wrong direction. She weightily sat down on a nearby boulder, deciding to just wait for Inuyasha to find her. She hoped he would come after her...and soon. the night was starting to get a little cold and creepy. After what she had said to him, she realized she would be waiting a long time for him to come. Her eyes watched the water dancing in the moon light. A light steam was coming off it meaning that the water was warmer than the night air. “Might as well a bath while I wait,” she murmured.

O0o.o0O

Sesshomaru had smelled his half-brother and his friends in the air and had gone to do some reconnaissance when he had spotted his half-brother’s woman running through the forest in tears. Naturally, he was curios and so followed her in the trees. This being had aroused his curiosity even at their first meeting- though he had tried to kill her then. Her scent was so strange. It was unlike everything else in this era, as was her clothing, speech, and supplies. Whenever he sensed his brother around, Sesshomaru always felt the need to search out the group and watch this girl-no! Listen for clues about the location of Naraku, he corrected himself. But the girl did fascinate him. Several times he had seen the girl vanish down the bone-eaters well in Inuyasha Forest. When Sesshomaru tried to follow, he always just ended up landing in the bottom of the well.

Sesshomaru was now once again watching the girl. After he had walked away from her in the forest, he noticed that she was lost. “What a bothersome, clumsy human,’ he thought, yet was still drawn to follow her. She came to a stream where she sat for a few minutes, obviously aware that she wasn’t going in the right direction. Then, she started undressing. Something inside the demon lord clenched. He forced himself to look away from the woman, an unfamiliar heat of a blush coming to his cheeks. He put his clawed hand up to his face, noting the heat and blaming it on the night air, though he knew the night was chilly.

O0o.o0O

Back at camp, Inuyasha was silently fuming. “What is Kagome’s problem? He protected her, didn’t he? What else could she want from him?” he thought to himself. His other half answered, “She wants you to take her as your woman. She wants you to forget about Kikyo.” But his other side argued back, “But I can’t. I know Kikyo’s dead, but as long as her spirit walks this Earth, I still filled tied to it. I fear to choose one in fear of losing the other.”

On the other side of camp, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo sat whispering to each other. “Do you think Kagome will come back?” asked Shippo sadly. Kagome was like an adopted mother to him.

Sango said, “Of course she will. She always does. Though, I’ve never seen her so mad before. She didn’t even yell ‘sit.’ Why does Inuyasha always sneak off the visit Kikyo?’

“I wonder if Inuyasha is going to follow her?” added Miroku to the discussion. “Inuyasha needs to be careful. I understand that he loves Kikyo, but I also believe he desires Kagome. If he doesn’t make a choice soon, he could end up losing both of them.”

“Yeah, you’re right Miroku,” agreed Sango, “I doubt Kikyo likes Inuyasha traveling and protecting Kagome all the time. She’s probably jealous.”

All three nodded as Shippo said in his regular voice so that Inuyasha could hear, “I hope Kagome’s all right. It’s awfully late and she’s still not back. You don’t think a demon got her, do you Miroku?’

The three laughed silently as Inuyasha got up and walked off into the forest, following Kagome’s scent. Kagome had already bathed and had fallen asleep when Inuyasha found her. “Hey wench! What are you doing sleeping out here?” he asked her roughly, waking her out of her peaceful slumber.

Sesshomaru had been watching her sleep from a tree branch and felt his fist clench when Inuyasha spoke to her in this demeaning way. Sesshomaru couldn’t understand why he was feeling like this- protective.

Kagome looked around confused, “Oh...it’s you, Inuyasha. I got lost.”

“Stupid wench. You seemed surprised to see me. Who else do you think would follow you?”

Kagome shrugged, “Strangely enough, I kind of thought Sesshomaru was around. I don’t know, maybe that’s just because I ran into him earlier in the forest.”

Sesshomaru sank deeper into the forest. “Interesting,” he thought, “that girl is unconsciously sensing my demonic aura. That must mean that she has great priestess powers, but she hasn’t trained them yet. Hmm...” With that Sesshomaru slipped back through the forest, heading back towards Rin and Jaken at his camp. Both of them were asleep so he sat down against a tree to keep watch-as a demon, he didn’t need much sleep. Though of a certain human kept going through his mind.

Inuyasha had crossed his arms behind his head and was walking back towards camp saying, “I thought I smelled that jerk in the air. I wonder what he wanted.”

Kagome followed and said, “He wouldn’t tell me, so I left it at that. You know, he didn’t seem to much like a jerk to me.”

Inuyasha sniffed, “hmpff...just try being related to him.”

They walked the rest of the way to camp in silence.



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Chapter 2

The next morning Inuyasha and group prepared to leave. They were still in search of the jewel shards because that search always led them to straight to Naraku.

“Hey, Kagome! Do you sense any jewel shards today?” Inuyasha asked Kagome who was preparing some ramen for their breakfast.

Kagome looked up at Inuyasha and he looked away from her- he still was unable to meet her eyes. “No, Inuyasha. I sense nothing,” replied Kagome with the hint of a sigh in her voice. Inuyasha was pretending that they didn’t have a fight last night. He was once again completely ignoring her feelings and even worse, he was ignoring her all together unless he was forced to speak with her. Kagome almost wished some demon would try to attack her. At least then Inuyasha would sweep her off her feet and it would be like him returning her emotions. She knew he was just scared of any commitment, but ignoring her wasn’t helping anything.

After their breakfast they headed South, back to Kaeda’s village. Kagome needed more supplies and the group itself needed a short break from their travels. They all hoped some news of Naraku had reached the village. The journey would take two days and so that night, Miroku ‘sensed’ a demonic aurora around a rather well-off lord’s mansion. They would stay in comfort that night.

Around supper time, Inyuasha fell asleep. He and Kagome were supposed to be keeping watch of the grounds’ front gate to earn their night’s stay. Kagome watched the snoring Inuyasha. He still wouldn’t talk to her, not even on their long watch. He just sat there in silence. Kagome had tried to start a conversation a few times and failed at that. Inuyasha would just grunt ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or shrug his shoulders.

“Maybe I was too forceful in our relationship, telling him to make up his mind right there on the spot last night,” she thought. “No, forceful, me? I’ve been waiting on him and he knows it. He must’ve chose Kikyo over me,” she felt her heart in her chest starting to crack, “I bet he didn’t send me away only because he needs my jewel-detecting abilities. He doesn’t want me!” She suddenly had an idea, she crept over to the sleeping Inuyasha, “Inuyasha,” she whispered into his ear, “Who do you love? Kikyo or Kagome? Choose now.” She had read about this. A person cannot lie in their sleep. If Inuyasha answered her, then it would be what truly lays in his heart and he’d be forever unaware that he had said anything at all.

Kagome put her ear to his lips to better hear his answer. “Kikyo...” he murmured lightly, almost out of hearing range.

Kagome’s heart crumpled in her chest. She had to get away, she backed away from Inuyasha as if her were the plague and searched around for some place to go. the river. They had passed by a river on their way here and it wasn’t too far away. Water always made her feel better. She ran out of the Lord’s grounds and into the wilderness, towards the river. From there? Well, she decided where she wanted to go once she was at the river. Unknown to Kagome who was running off, Inuyasha was still whispering in his sleep, “...and Kagome. I love both of them...” Inuyasha shifted his head and continued sleeping, unaware that Kagome was running away from him.

The river had cold, crisp water flowing through it. Kagome had already taken off her socks and shoes and was bathing her feet into it and as she sat on a rock jutting into the flowing water. She stared at the bubbling rapids a little further off without really seeing them. She was thinking, “What had been my original plan? Sit here till he came a took me back again? No. He chose her. I don’t want to stay with him anymore if he’s just going to use me to find his jewel shard and then, in the end, run off to her and leave me in tears.” She promised herself she wouldn’t cry. Why were her cheeks wet. She closed her eyes and gave into to pain that threatening to swallow her up alive and leave just a ghost of her behind. A cold shell.

With her eyes closed, she didn’t notice the eyes pop up in the water nearby. She didn’t notice the frog demon sizing her up, that is, until it spoke to her, “Oh my sweet dear. Is life that difficult to cause you to shed such tears. I can fix that, dear. A few swift crunches and you will never have to worry about anything again.”

Kagome jumped to her feet and reached for her bow. Her fingers only caught air as she remembered it was still back at the mansion she had ran from. She backed up as far away from the slimy demon as possible, to the rock’s other side. The frog demon approached her, wicked radioactive-green eyes never leaving the girl’s figure. It pulled itself up onto the broad rock and slid its sickeningly long pink tongue out of its mouth licking its lips and showing a row of sharp teeth. “My, you looked tasty. Now this will only hurt a bit..”

It threw it’s long tongue out in a frog-like manner, hoping to wrap its tongue around her and catch her. Its tongue missed as Kagome did the only thing possible for her to do at that moment. She fell backwards into the swirling waters allowing the current to sweep her a way from the foul demon. Once far enough away, she tried to swim back to shore, but the current was too swift and her arms were too tired from fighting the water to stay up. The water was pulling her faster and faster to the rapids she had noticed earlier. At a distance, they seemed mildly dangerous, but here in the roaring water, they seemed so much more...deadly. The rocks sticking out of the water and those hidden underneath the surface of the water would kill her if the water slammed her into one.

“Inuyasha...!” she yelled at the top of her lungs as the water pushed her directly at the edge of one such boulder in the water. She was frantically trying to scramble out the of the rocks way, but he current was just too strong. Two seconds before she was driven into it, she closed her eyes, hoping that if she didn’t see the damage it caused her, then it couldn’t hurt her. Suddenly she felt the someone grab her arm and pull her from the water. The same person also picked her up bridal-style and easily jumped to shore from the rock in the rapids. Kagome kept her eyes shut, hoping that she wasn’t dreaming and that Inuyasha had actually had come to save her. She feared to open her eyes as she might have found that really she had been dreaming and was really being torn apart by the never-ceasing waters. She felt a soft touch on her forehead, Inuyasha checking to se if she was okay. Good. It wasn’t a dream then. She finally opened her eyes to find Sesshomaru’s face above her.

She squirmed and tried to crawl away, but Sesshomaru had a good grip on her. “I’m just checking for injuries. You do not need to fear.”

“I’m not afraid. And don’t you even say that you can smell it,” she warned as Sesshomaru let go of her, done checking for injuries.

“You seem to be fine. Why were you in the water?” asked Sesshomaru, still cold and almost distant.

“Well, I didn’t want to be, if that’s what you’re asking,” huffed Kagome, “It was the only way to get away from the frog demon trying to eat me.”

“You could learn how to make a barrier. You’re a priestess, that’s obvious from your purifying arrow, but you can do more than that if you train your powers. Not that I care, but Inuyasha may not always be around to protect you. If you go to another priestess, I’m sure she’ll be able to show you how to focus your power and make you stronger. Just in case Inuyasha’s being, what you call, difficult.” Sesshomaru had already risen from where he had tended to Kagome and was once again walking away.

Kagome was confused as to why Sesshomaru had told her this. “Did he know that she intended to leave Inuyasha? No. Impossible, he was just giving friendly advice. Hmm...friendly and Sesshomaru in the same sentence. Amazing,” she thought. Kagome had to admit she was growing rather fond of explaining her problems to Sesshomaru. There was just something about him. Meanwhile, he was receding into the trees again, “Wait!” she called after him, “thanks.”

Sesshomaru paused for a moment and nodded. Then, he was gone.

Kagome peered after him for a few moments before following the river upstream to her shoes and socks. Luckily, the frog demon was not around anymore. She put on her socks and shoes thinking that she would return to Inuyasha’s side for now, until she was strong enough to protect herself. She returned to the front gate she was supposed to be keeping a watch on and sat next to the still slumbering Inuyasha. Her clothes were almost dry so she saw need to tell Inuyasha of her exploits, or of Sesshomaru rescuing her, or of his advice.

Sesshomaru just couldn’t explain it to himself. Why had he felt the need to follow that girl? Why did he want to save her and protect her? Why had he allowed a civil conversation to come to pass the two? And why was he helping her leave his half-brother with his advice? It was complicated. Something inside himself awoke in that girl’s presence. He decided he would have to keep a closer eye on that part of himself in the future if he was to continue being his cold self.

Sesshomaru arrived at the girl’s shoes and socks before her. He went over to the water’s edge. He could smell the frog demon lurking beneath the river’s surface.

“Come out,” the dog demon lord demanded.

The demon surfaced, “Ah, you don’t look as tasty as the last, but you’ll do nicely in my stomach.”

“You will die,” said Sesshomaru boredly, swiping his claws through the frog demon’s body. The carcass was carried under by the current. Sesshomaru turned his back on it and made his way to the waiting Rin and Jaken as always.



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Chapter 3

The following afternoon the group arrived in Kaeda’s village. Kagome rushed off as soon as they got there to speak with Kaeda alone. “Lady Kaeda,” she called out, entering the old woman’s hut, “We’re back.”

“Find any new shards?” asked the village shrine maiden. She was sitting by a flat rock and seemed to be preparing some sort of herbal medicine upon the rock. She paused in her task to speak with Kagome.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t sense any jewel shards. We also haven’t heard any rumors of Naraku’s whereabouts. Lady Kaeda...” Kagome trailed of as if unsure how to continue.

“Yes? What do you need, Kagome?”

“Ah...um...well I wondering ...could you maybe...teach me to control my powers better..You know..Train me so that I can make barriers and heal people. Stuff like that.”

Kaeda stood up from where she was working and walked over to Kagome, “Why the sudden need to train your powers?” she asked while looking deep into Kagome’s eyes-she sensed something was up.

“I just want to become stronger that way Inuyasha doesn’t always have to protect me.” It was true. Kagome just failed to mention the bit about wanting to leave Inuyasha’s company once she was strong enough. However, Kaeda must’ve not seen the trace of guilt in Kagome’s eyes as she stopped critiquing Kagome’s intentions and sat down of the floor, beckoning Kagome to sit in front of her facing her.

“Does this mean you’ll teach me?” Kagome asked excitedly.

Kaeda nodded and said, “I’ll teach you all that I know. My spiritual powers were never great enough to use what I learned as a child from Kikyo, but yours may be enough. It will still be hard work that requires lots of energy and lots of practice. Let’s first begin by strengthening your spiritual senses...”

O0o.o0O

“I wonder why we’re staying here so long,” Sango told Miroku a week later.

“I also wonder that, and why Kagome keeps disappearing with Kaeda. It’s rather mysterious,” Miroku commented.

Shippo jumped up onto Sango’s shoulder nodding, “Kagome usually just returns to her time when we come back here, but she hasn’t even gone back yet.”

“Bah, who cares?” growled Inuyasha, “Kagome just does what she wants anyway. Why should we worry about it?”

“I think Inuyasha’s still mad at Kagome from that fight a while ago. Haven’t they made up yet?” whispered Shippo.

“I don’t think they have,” said Miroku, “They’ve been avoiding each other for a very long time. Inuyasha should just learn to lighten up on Kagome. She just wants him to...” Miroku finished his sentence with a demonstration- he grabbed Sango’s rear. SMACK! “Sango, come on. I was just demonstrating!” pleaded Miroku, his cheek still had Sango’s hand print on it.

“Cool it, lecher. That’s what you want, not what Kagome wants, or, for that matter, what I want.” She gave Miroku a frosty glare. Miroku visibly shivered and Shippo hid behind Kirara.

“She’s almost as scary as Kagome when she’s angry,” whispered the young fox demon.

“Speaking of Kagome, here she comes,” announced Miroku, changing the subject quickly, Sango’s anger subsided as Kagome approached.

The demon slayer gasped, “Kagome, you look exhausted!” There were deep black circles under Kagome’s eyes, along with drooping eyelids. Kagome looked on the verge of passing out.

“Uh...I’ve been having trouble sleeping,” lied Kagome. She was so tired because she had been training with Kaeda and meditating nearly all night and day for the entire week. But she had to make her training a crash course. She knew the group would be moving on soon and she wanted to keep the training a secret for now, until she was truly ready to leave. “Anyway, I’m going home for the night. I’ll be back mid-morning tomorrow and we can continue our jewel shard search then..”

“Okay, Kagome. Make sure you get some sleep tonight. And can you bring me one of those sweet sticky things on a stick? Please, Kagome?” begged Shippo.

The little fox demon looked so cute with his puppy-eyed expression, Kagome grabbed him up into a hug. “Of course I will, Shippo!”

With that, she placed Shippo back onto the ground and took her leave, pausing only to pick up her bag, bow, and arrows. Inuyasha silently got up and followed her. Kagome didn’t respond to his presence until she reached Inuyasha Forest.

She turned around and said, “Inuyasha, you don’t have to come. I’ll be fine by myself.” She turned without giving him time to argue and began to trot off deeper into the woods. Inuyasha caught her arm, forcing her to face him.

“Kagome,” he said almost tenderly, but it didn’t quite overpower the rough quality of his speech. “I wanted to talk.”

“Do you?” asked Kagome in an I-could-care-less manner.

Inuyasha nodded, a slight blush coming to his cheeks. He had expected Kagome to want to talk to him-she normally never shut up.

“What did you want to talk about?” asked Kagome, placing her hands on her hips and drumming her fingers on her sides after Inuyasha had released her from his grip.

“Er...well...You’ve just seemed distant lately. I was wondering what was wrong.”

“Oh, so now that Inuyasha feels lonely because someone else is being distant towards him, he recognizes how painful it is. You see what you’ve been putting me through. Inuyasha, I gave you a decision to make. Me or Kikyo. We both know you didn’t choose me!” Kagome started to walk off again.

“Kagome, wait! Don’t leave yet!” He grabbed her wrist this time and swung her into his embrace. “I’m serious Kagome. I don’t want to lose you.” His lips started to move towards Kagome’s. Kagome’s breath caught in her chest. This is what she had wanted Inuyasha to do for so long, but right now, it felt so wrong. He didn’t love her, he loved Kikyo. He was just trying to make her stay. “He always does something like this. He knows how to make you crawl back to him, Kagome. Don’t believe he’s sincere. He’s controlling you,” thought Kagome. Their lips were about to connect. She did the only thing she could and turned her head so that he could only kiss her cheek.

“Kagome?” he asked, sounding hurt.

“I’m sorry Inuyasha. You’ve waited too long. I don’t love you anymore.” Kagome tore herself from Inuyasha’s grasp and starting walking towards the well.

Inuyasha just stared after her in shock. He had lost Kagome. “Kagome! Are you coming back?”

“Yes Inuyasha, but only for Sango’s, Shippo’s, and Miroku’s sake. Not yours.”

Inuyasha backed into a tree trunk and slid to the ground. For the third time in his adult life, he cried, tears falling silently down his cheeks.

“I don’t think we should’ve followed them. That was a nasty break-up,” whispered Miroku who was hiding behind some bushes next to Sango and Shippo.

“Kagome had every reason to. A girl can only wait so long for a guy,” whispered Sango.

“At least she’ll keep traveling with us,” said Shippo, looking towards the sunny side of the two’s argument.

“That’s going to be awkward,” both Miroku and Sango said.

They retreated from the crying figure without a noise. No need for Inuyasha to know that they had seen him crying.

Kagome hadn’t shed a tear. She had been embracing the idea that she and Inuyasha would break-up for a while, that is, if you could break something that was never truly together. She had just reached the well and was peering into the thing that had started it all. She smiled when she felt a familiar presence behind her.

“If I didn’t know you any better, I’d accuse you of stalking me,” said Kagome, not even turning around.

“I see you took my advice and started to train your priestess powers.” It was Sesshomaru..again, his cold and serious usual self.

Kagome turned around to face him, nodding, “Yes, Lady Kaeda was able to help me train my sensing powers. She also taught me the basics of healing and how to produce a barrier, though both those powers aren’t very strong yet. I have to meditate to make them stronger and speak with stronger priestesses to learn more. But I can now sense demonic auras a lot better.”

Sesshomaru appeared emotionless as always, yet there seemed to be a certain gleam in his eye- curiosity, maybe, “woman, why are you about to jump into that well?” He really wanted to know the secret to this well.

‘Oh, I was just about to go home.”

“You live in a well, woman?”

‘No, I don’t,” a little outraged at the accusation, “and stop calling me ‘woman’ all the time! I have a name, you know. Or maybe you don’t. We’ve never been properly introduced. I’m Kagome Higurashi.” Kagome bowed to the demon lord, which Sesshomaru returned with the slightest of a nod. He had known the girl’s name from his eavesdropping on her...no, eavesdropping on Inuyasha’s group, not just her, he corrected himself. He hadn’t called her by her name so far because then he’d have to admit to this eavesdropping.

“Tell me,” Sesshomaru said, still as cold and serious as ever, “does everyone who lives in a well talk as much as you do? Or dress as strangely?”

Kagome stamped her foot in frustration, “I told you I don’t live in a well. And someone here has to talk enough to make up for your silence. And hey! What’s wrong with my clothes?”

“They make you look like a harlot,” answered Sesshomaru calmly.

“How rude!” exclaimed Kagome with a blush, “This happens to be my school uniform!”

“Women are allowed to go to school in your village?”

“Not in my village, but in my time. I’m from the future, five centuries to be exact,” Kagome explained, embarrassed because she knew he would think her crazy.

“And you live in a well in the future?” asked Sesshomaru. He was still expressionless, but Kagome had the feeling that this was his attempt at humor.

Kagome sighed deeply, tired of explaining the confusing concept. “I got it,” she announced suddenly, “I’ll just show you.”

And with that, and without a second thought to the fact of whom she was doing it to, she grabbed Sesshomaru’s hand and dragged him to the edge of the well and jumped in. Sesshomaru didn’t resist and unconsciously gripped her hand tighter.

It was a weird sensation for the demon lord. He was both amazed and confused at the same time. He was amazed that he was being led to the future by this strange girl, but was confused at the fact that he had to admit he was enjoying the touch of her hand. He was grateful it was dark on the other side of the well, for he felt that unfamiliar heat come to his cheeks again. They must’ve been in a building, for it had been only late afternoon when they had left the feudal era.

Sesshomaru released Kagome’s hand and jumped out of the well, Kagome climbing up behind him. He looked around- he was in a shed-like building. Kagome brushed passed him on her way to the door.

“You coming?” she asked as she opened the door. He began following her, taking his first steps in the future along side this human.


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Chapter 4

With Sesshomaru’s first step into the night air outside the Higurashi Shrine, his senses were assaulted with a million new scents and noises. Though his face showed no discomfort, he was silently fighting the urge to pass out. A growl escaped his lips and Kagome gave him a curious look.

“Too many scents and sounds,” explained Sesshomaru. He began to look around, blocking his other senses. It was rather simple-a house, shrine, small shrine store, and the building he had just exited from- but their construction seemed more advance, and there was light. Light without the use of fire. It seemed magical. The demon lord then spotted the Goshinboku tree.

“Is that the tree Inuyasha was pinned to for 50 years?” he asked Kagome, though it seemed like he couldn’t really care less.

“Yes. That tree connects Inuyasha with this time, which is why he can come through the well-portal to this time. The only reason you could pass through the portal is because you were touching me- I became your link to this time. I still don’t quite understand it all myself.” The two stayed in silence for a few moments.

“Well, come on, then,” Kagome beckoned, breaking the silence, “I can smell mom cooking dinner. You’re in for a treat.” She was just about to enter the house, but then had second thoughts. “Oh, and Sesshomaru, no matter what, don’t attack anything or anyone in the house, or well, anywhere. Nothing with hurt you in the future.”

Sesshomaru nodded, but she knew he didn’t care what she said. He would do what he wanted anyway. With the house door opening and then closing behind him, Sesshomaru’s sense of smell began returning. He was getting use to all the new odors of the future. He noticed a young boy immersed with a gadget of some kind connected to a box of moving pictures. Odd noises were escaping the box, annoying noises.

“Hey Souta, I’m home.”

“Sis, we’ve been expecting you for a while. It’s been a long time since you last returned.” The boy’s eyes never left the screen.

Sesshomaru was contemplating ripping that box issuing sounds to shreds to end the annoying pops and beeps. He tensed his claws.

Kagome saw this and made calming gestures with her hands to Sesshomaru while telling Souta, “Hey, Souta, why don’t you turn off your video game. Can’t you see we have a guest?”

Souta was still glued to the screen, “If it’s Inuyasha, tell him to come join me. He’s always easy to beat.”

“No, Souta, it isn’t Inuyasha. This is Lord Sesshomaru.” Souta was now interested in their guest. He turned off his game and the TV and came over inspecting Sesshomaru. That’s when he saw the demon lord’s long bushy tail. He put out a hand to pet it, “Boy, don’t touch me if you value your life,” growled Sesshomaru.

Souta jumped back and hid behind Kagome, “eek, sister! You should’ve brought Inuyasha. He’s nicer.”

“You just don’t know Lord Sesshomaru well enough yet. Why don’t you take him up to the bathroom to clean up before supper.” She then turned to Sesshomaru whispering, “please don’t kill him.”

Kagome walked to the kitchen to find her mom cooking, “Hey mom, I’m home.”

“Welcome home Kagome. Inuyasha with you?”

“No, mom. Lord Sesshomaru is. You’ll meet him at dinner. Do you need any help?”

Kagome helped her mother finish dinner and set the table while her grandfather came in and placed himself at the head of the table. “Welcome back Kagome!” he greeted.

“Hi Grandpa,” said Kagome cheerfully, placing the food on the table. Souta then entered with an annoyed Sesshomaru behind him. Kagome’s grandfather jumped to his feet faster than any man his age should be able to.

“Look out Souta! There’s a demon behind you. Be gone demon!” Grandpa shouted, throwing a sutra at Sesshomaru’s head. Sesshomaru just caught it in the air, burning it with his poison and looking ready to attack the old man.

Kagome jumped between the two, “Grandpa, how many times must I tell you that you can’t go around attacking innocent visitors? This is Lord Sesshomaru, and he will be staying the night here.”

“Lord Sesshomaru, eh? What happened to Inuyasha?” Grandpa eyed Sesshomaru fearfully, as if the demon lord had eaten Inuyasha.

“Inuyasha’s fine. Lord Sesshomaru is Inuyasha’s half-brother.”

“Oh, why didn’t you just say so. I remember this pair of half-brothers from my youth in the spring of...” Kagome’s grandfather went into a long and pointless story that was most likely made-up anyway. Everyone just ate their supper, no one really listening to the old man. Sesshomaru never usually ate human food. He detested it. Yet he forced himself to sample the cuisine from the future, mostly out of curiosity. He found that not even he could find much bad to say about it.

After dinner, Kagome took a long bath. “This is what I miss from this time the most.” She thought the same thing again when she collapsed on her bed and fell instantly asleep.

Sesshomaru was sitting on what Kagome’s mother had called a “sofa.” It was mildly comfortable, yet Sesshomaru didn’t desire sleep. He wished to explore the area and sneaked out of the house to do so. Hours later he returned after seeing so much technology and advancement. He had to believe that this really was the future. With that in mind, Sesshomaru fell into a Kagome-filled dreamland.

“Sesshomaru, it’s time to return. Are you ready?” asked Kagome the next morning, still stuffing items into the huge bag she carried with her.

Sesshomaru got up silently and followed her when she walked to the well-house. Back in feudal times, the dog demon prepared to just walk off without saying a word.

“Sesshomaru, where are you going?” Kagome asked curiously.

“I have matters to attend to,” Sesshomaru answered vaguely.

“Will I see you again?” Kagome inquired with hope in her voice.

There was a long silence. Sesshomaru had paused in his tracks with Kagome staring at his back. “Yes,” he answered after some time. Silently, he yearned to take Kagome into his arms...well, his right arm. He was missing his left arm do to that encounter with Inuyasha. Secretly, Sesshomaru had fallen for a human. He silently cursed himself for it, yet it couldn’t be helped. He began to slip into the forest again.

Kagome stared after him for a few minutes, even after he was out of sight. She wanted to do something for him and she couldn’t understand exactly why. She had an idea, but her powers weren’t strong enough yet. She would have to see another village priestess and learn some more. She sighed to herself then turned back to Kaeda’s village to join the group.


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Chapter 5

“Master, why are we here? We’ve heard no rumors of Naraku dwelling in such an...undesirable place.” Jaken was complaining once again. They had been traveling for three weeks straight, talking to the strangest demons, a tree, and even a few humans. Sesshomaru was searching for something, Jaken was sure of that.

Jaken nearly ran into the back of the dog demon as he stop in his tracks, listening to the night. They were in a swamp and it stank of decay. Jaken was covered in swamp mud and sludge up to him middle, Rin was clean and riding on Ah- Un, while Sesshomaru flew above the swamp using his demonic powers.

“Lord?” asked Jaken tentatively.

“Stay here and protect Rin,” Sesshomaru’s command was like ice.

“Yes, my Lord,” Jaken bowed, only succeeding in getting his nose covered in swamp sludge as Sesshomaru had already flown off above the filth. “Oh, Master, why do you always leave me with this human girl?” Jaken spoke only to himself and the wind.

After Jaken, Ah-Un, and Rin were out of sight, a fire came into view. Sesshomaru couldn’t tell if this was what he was searching for, as the swamp gases prevented him from picking up her scent.

He approached the flickering flames, conjured by some magic into the water itself. There was a...well, it was hard to classify what she was exactly. She had gray hair in muddy dreadlocks, heavy lidded eyes, a flat nose that ended right above her thin lips, and scaly black skin. Sesshomaru had the impression that she was some kind of eel demon and believed her to be the one he was searching for.

The woman was hissing in an unfamiliar language. She stopped abruptly and seemed to go into a trance, slightly rocking back and forth while staring into the flames as if she could read something by them. “I know what you seek, but you seek in vain,” she said in a monotone hissing voice, not even turning to the approaching dog demon.

“And what is it I seek?” asked Sesshomaru.

“You seek the means to turn a human into a demon. Is that not true?”

“It is true. Why do I seek in vain?”

“You seek the only means to achieve your goal- the Drink of Anomede. The Drink of Anomede is made from the leaves of the tree of Emoceba Anomede. Yet to make this drink, you need 200 years for it to ferment. That is long beyond the life span of a human. That is why you have come in vain.”

“Where can I find this tree?” asked Sesshomaru, not heeding the eel-soothsayer’s advice.

“You shall seek it though it is in vain? Then I will tell you. You must travel to the top of Mount Efil-Denahetaed off the coast of the East shoreline. Travel by the Path of Niotami Erofstran up the side of the mountain. Along this path you shall be tested. I cannot say what the tests will be. They are different for each traveler. If you make it to the top, pluck 13 leaves from the tree, each one from a separate branch. That is all I can say of your journey.”

“And how would I make the Drink of Anomede?”

“Boil the leaves in a kettle of water retrieved from the spot a spring first pours out water from the ground to form a river. Boil the leaves the entire night of a full moon. Let it cool the whole next day and, at sunset, add a drop of blood from the type of demon you desire the transformation to be into. Contain the liquid in a silver flask and bury it in the ground, three feet deep- one foot of soil for each part of a person’s being- mind, body, and spirit. Let it stay under the ground for 200 years so that it shall ferment into the Drink of Anomede.”

“And what would happen if the drink was underground for more than 200 years?”

The eel-demon woman contemplated this question for a while before answering, “The drink should become stronger, and the transformation would yield a stronger demon, though isn’t 200 years too long a time to wait for a mere mortal human?”

Sesshomaru ignored the question. “How much does the human need to drink?”

“A mouthful is all that the human would need to swallow to achieve a full transformation. The transformation itself is gradual, taking seven days to reach full effect. Once the transformation begins, the effect is permanent.”

Sesshomaru gave the woman a slight bow, which meant she had told him all he needed to know. He returned to his followers deep in thought only pausing to say, “Come,” before making his way out of the swamp. Jaken, Rin, and Ah-Un followed the receding figure.

O0o.o0O

“Close you’re eyes. Now, feel your power. Search your soul, find your power in your inmost being. Collect it and push it to your hands . Open your eyes and lay your hands on this man’s wound, not only release, but push the power from your hands into his body. Imagine the wound closing, the skin re-knitting itself. Bring the leftover power back to your body and there! Good job Kagome! I think you have this healing thing mastered.”

“Thank you so much for teaching me Priestess Relaeha!” exclaimed a cheerful Kagome and giving the village healer a hug over their patient- a man who was injured working in the fields by a tool. The group had finally reached a village with a priestess whom Kagome could learn from.

Relaeha returned the hug and told Kagome, “Just do your meditation every day to increase your power and soon you’ll be able to heal every type of injury.”

“Thank you again,” said Kagome, waving goodbye to the healer and heading out the door of the infirmary to rejoin her traveling companions. It had been an awkward couple of weeks, after her and Inuyasha’s “break-up.” They wouldn’t speak to each other, though when Inuyasha did try to apologize to her, she would give him the cold shoulder and he would give up anyway. The rest of the group pretended not to see them fighting, and treated them just the same as always, though Sango’s smile seemed forced, thought Kagome.

Every time they set up a new camp for the night, Kagome would sense the woods around her, searching for Sesshomaru’s aura. A week after Kagome had left the healer’s instruction, she once again felt that familiar aura.

Kagome pretended to go to sleep with the rest of the group, but once they were all slumbering peacefully, their snores echoing in the darkness, Kagome got up from her sleeping bag, being careful not to wake Shippo up in the process. She walked a little ways from camp, not focusing on anything in particular, until she knew she was close enough to Sesshomaru for him to hear her.

“I see you keep your promises,” she said softly, speaking of his parting answer last time they spoke to her question, ‘Will I see you again?’ It was a inferred promise at best. Sesshomaru came into her view. The moon was at it’s quarter, so there was just enough light to dance off his silver hair.

“I have finished the business I had to attend to...for now. I was just passing through,” said Sesshomaru. He seemed a little distant, but Kagome was used to this by now. She understood the Sesshomaru kept his emotions (if there really were any) locked deep down inside.

An awkward silence fell between the two, though neither made any notion as to wanting to leave. Kagome decided to break the silence. She had been training for weeks for this moment. “Uh...Sess...Sesshomaru? I have something for you.”

Sesshomaru revealed nothing that he was thinking so Kagome took it as a sign to continue. She approached him and he didn’t withdraw. Another good sign, for a human. That meant the dog demon wouldn’t kill you...normally.

“May I see your arm?” she asked tentatively.

Sesshomaru hesitantly held out his right arm.

“No, your other arm. I need to see what’s left of it,” said Kagome, reaching up and sliding the left side of his kimono down below his arm. She didn’t even think of the fact that she was practically undressing him. Sesshomaru did, and tensed his body, suspicious of her now.

Kagome put a hand to her mouth when she saw the stump of an arm he had left from that fateful encounter a long while ago with Inuyasha at their father’s grave. Back then, Sesshomaru had tried to kill her. Now, she was standing next to him, a hair’s breath away, and felt no fear from his presence at all. She looked into the dog demon’s calm gold eyes that reflected only curiosity and a slight hint of suspicion. “This might hurt at first,” she whispered, closing her eyes and finding her power within her like the Healer Relaeha had taught her too. She pulled almost everything she had from her inmost being, leaving only her soul to sustain herself. She pushed all of her other power to her hands. She opened her eyes and was astonished to find them glowing a light pink. She placed her glowing hands on what was left of Sesshomaru’s arm and pushed the power out of herself , remembering everything from her school’s anatomy class as she did so. She imagined the bones being formed and heard Sesshomaru growl as the new bones grew out of his arm. She was astonished that it had worked so far, but she didn’t lighten up, still pushing the healing powers from herself into this demon. The two beings were engulfed in the pink light as Kagome imagined the muscles, tendons, veins, blood, and finally the skin of the missing arm forming, knitting itself together and connecting to the place it had been missing from for so long.

When the light faded, Sesshomaru looked down at his new left arm and experimentally moved and flexed it. It looked exactly like his right, from his clawed fingers to his demon markings. There wasn’t even a scar. He stared at the nervous human woman standing before him.

Kagome stared back at him. He was giving her a look she had never seen before on his face. Was it appreciation maybe? Or caring? Or Love? She didn’t know. She was too tired to think, she had used too much power to reform his arm. She felt her knees collapse and braced herself to hit the hard forest floor. Yet she never felt the ground. Sesshomaru had caught her and was holding her up with his new arm. He brought her into his embrace and softly kissed her lips. Kagome wasn’t sure if that had happened at all, for as quickly as it had come, their lips parted and Kagome fell unconscious.

“Foolish girl, you used too much of your power.” Yet the anger in his voice wasn’t reflected in his eyes. Something was stirring within himself that he had kept suppressed since he was a child. This emotion...unfitting for a demon of his stature. Yet he knew his father had felt it too. It led his father to die for Inuyasha’s mother, saving her from death. However, Sesshomaru wasn’t ready to express this emotion, especially not to some human. He picked up the unconscious woman and carried her to her camp, silently placing her in her sleeping bag.

He walked off through the woods in anger- angry at himself for showing such emotion, no, for kissing that human girl. He had yet to locate the Tree of Emoceba Anomede, he was not sure yet that it even really existed. The eel demon said it did, yet he never took anyone’s word. He looked at his new arm. Once she was a demon, he would have no problems taking her as his mate. Now, he continued on his way to the east shore to find Mount Efil-Denahetaed, leaving even his faithful followers behind to wait on him to return.



A/N: I hope this chapter wasn’t too confusing, or too cliché. Oh, and you’re probably thinking right now that Tiki Rane Gobell comes up with the weirdest names. Not even Japanese names. That’s true. Most of the names I used were just words that described the objects or people backwards, sometimes with an extra ‘i’, ‘e’, or ‘a’ added so that it was possible to pronounce them. For example, the healer, Relaeha, is just ‘A healer’ spelled backwards, and the Tree of Emoceba Anomede, “Become a (extra a) demon (extra e).” Oh, and that Mount Efil-Denahetaed, ‘Life and Death’ with two ‘e’s added. Yeah, there were more in this chappie, and will probably be more later on.

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Chapter 6

Inuyasha and gang were not-so-uncommonly traveling from village to village looking for news of Naraku. At each village, Kagome picked up new techniques for her powers, learning to erect barriers around herself and even this neat thing where she focused her purification powers on her hand so that she could throw a wave of purification with just a flick of her wrist. Kagome still decided to keep her training and new powers secret from the others. She had also kept her meeting with Sesshomaru a secret, which included that kiss they had shared. She hadn’t seen Sesshomaru since and was beginning to wonder if he was avoiding her.

The group had reached the far west shoreline and were about to return to Kaeda’s when they stumbled across a desolated village. Everything was dead: people in the streets and homes, chickens in the yards, horses in the stables, even the plant life had withered away into crunchy brown-ness. The strangest thing of all was that there were no marks on the bodies of the dead. Nothing to suggest what had killed them.

“What could do all this?” gasped Kagome, holding Shippo closer to herself.

“Naraku. His stench is everywhere making it impossible to tell exactly where he is,” growled Inuyasha, his lip turned in disgust.

Suddenly, a pot flew out of a nearby hut doorway, shattering on Inuyasha’s head. They could hear the shuffling and clinking from inside of someone rummaging as two more pots flew out of the door, both crashing on Inuyasha’s head. The half-demon lost his temper, drawing Tessaiga from his side and transforming it into it’s fang mode. He was about to destroy the entire hut with his windscar when Kagome shouted, “Inuyasha, sit!”

Inuyasha fell to the ground, barely missing the sharp edge of his own sword.

“Kagome!” Inuyasha yelled, but Kagome made hushing motions with her hands saying, “Inuyasha, you can’t just kill innocent people. I don’t sense a demonic aura, so it’s probably only a human. Maybe they can tell us what happened.”

True to Kagome’s suspicions, a dirty head, yet a human head nonetheless, peeked out of the doorway.

“I’m warning you, demons! I’m armed!” the person in the hut threatened, though the voice was shaky. It was a gruff male voice.

Kagome took over this diplomatic situation, “Sir, please. We are not demons and we are not here to hurt you. Can you tell us what happened here?”

The man came out of the hut, still casting the group suspicious glances. He was pulling a wooden cart loaded with miscellaneous valuables which Kagome suspected he had pilfered from the surrounding huts. The man himself was thin and rough-looking- his ribcage was clearly visible beneath his torn weather-beaten and dirty clothes. Everything was evidence to the fact that he was homeless.

“Aye. I saw what happened. Never will forget it, I won’t. I was live in the woods, see. Good thing too. The cloud of poisonous gas missed me. But these people weren’t so lucky. It came rolling through, like a thick fog. A cloud of miasma it was. Killed everything, then rolled on to the sea, taking many souls with it. I’m just here to salvage what I can.”

“You mean pick the valuables off the villagers’ corpses,” accused Inuyasha rudely.

“They wouldn’t be needing them anymore,” argued the man without shame.

“Never mind that,” stepped in Miroku, preventing Inuyasha from punching the man, “Did you see where the miasma came from?”

“Just follow the trail of death. It leads to the cliffs and to that cave,” the man said, pointing to a cliff face behind him. Even from their distance, they could see a black mouth of a cave entrance. The man went on with his pilfering, ignoring the group as they buried the dead bodies, Miroku saying a brief prayer over each mound of earth. It was mid afternoon when they finished and they began to journey to the distant cliffs. the way was easy enough, the followed the path of dead plants, speeding their trip along. However, they walked slowly so that they could rest their energy. There was no telling what they would meet at that cave.

They had an uneasy night, camped below the sheer wall of rock. They had reached the cliff at sundown and dared not climb the cliff until it was light. Kagome kept turning in her sleep, uneasy about something.

Sango asked, “What’s wrong Kagome?”

“I can’t sense any shards of the shikon jewel. If it was really Naraku, I should be able to sense his shards.”

“Maybe there’s a barrier,” Miroku said knowingly.

“Maybe...” trailed Kagome, turning over again to try to go asleep. She was slightly upset that, even after all the training she had put herself through, she still couldn’t sense past Naraku’s barrier.

The next morning they began to go up the wall of the cliff. Sango and Miroku on Kirara; Kagome on Shippo in his bubble form; Inuyasha jumping from rock to rock.

“This cave reeks of Naraku. He’s in there, all right.,” said Inuyasha when they reached the cave entrance, holding his sleeve up to his nose trying to block the smell.

“It could very well be a trap,” reasoned Miroku.

“Bah, doesn’t matter,” spat Inuyasha, “Naraku is going to die today no matter what he has planned. Well, what are we waiting for? I’m going to go kill that bastard!”

Inuyasha took off into the cave and was instantly thrown back as he hit a barrier.

“Barrier, eh?” Inuyasha pulled his Tessaiga out, transforming it into it’s red barrier-breaking form. “Take this!” he shouted, throwing himself at the barrier only to be thrown back again as the barrier resisted his Tessaiga. “What!”

“Try this,” Kagome said, placing her hand on Tessaiga’s blade and causing it to glow pink, essentially merging her own powers with Inuyasha’s. “Now it has a protective purification shield. The two attacks together might break Naraku’s barrier.”

“Since when has she been able to control her powers like that?” Miroku whispered to Sango. Sango just shrugged as she watched Inuyasha try the new attack. The barrier broke allowing the group to enter the cave. Inside, there was a single passage, like a tunnel. It sloped downward and had torches lit every ten feet or so allowing the group to see bones and carcasses on the ground. It just added images to the gore-reeked air smelling of death.

The group continued walking down this path, as it had no other paths branching off of it. An eerie silence fell over the group only broken by a distant drip of water. The further they traveled, the closer this drip of water sounded. Eventually, the tunnel ended and they came to a huge cavern. There was an underground lake in the middle of the open space. The lake was in constant ripples due to one huge stalagmite forming a stone tornado shape above the cavern that had a thin stream of water running down it. This water eventually dripped off into the lake. The rest of the ceiling could not be seen because of the hordes of flying demons- Naraku’s usual entourage.

Standing on top of the water in the middle of the underground lake was the most hated enemy of the small group- Naraku!

He wore an evil smile and dangerously dancing eyes. He sneered, “Inuyasha...”

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Interseting...stupid miroku unable to sense sesshomaru at all!

Me:You call yourself a monk!

Miroku: I am it's just I was...to..busy with my love sango!

Chapter 7

Kikyo’s eyes narrowed. She has just sensed Naraku’s aura as if his protective barrier had been suddenly broken by force. She picked up her bow from the ground and began walking in Naraku’s direction, her soul collectors drifting around her.

O0o.o0O

“Naraku,” gasped the group in one collective breath.

Naraku sounded playful as he said, “I’m so glad we could meet here today, though I will admit to being a little surprised that you were able to break the barrier without Kikyo’s help. I’m sure she’ll be here soon anyway. It’s amazing how one little destroyed village can attract my enemies just as a flame can a moth. And just as that flame licks at the body of the moth, torturing it and killing it, so will I kill you, Inuyasha!”

As if Inuyasha’s name were a signal, all the demons hovering on the ceiling on the cavern suddenly sped at the group. At the same time, Kagura and Kanna appeared from nowhere and stepped in front of the tunnel to the cave entrance, cutting off any retreat. Inuyasha pulled out his sword, preparing to use the windscar.

“Inuyasha, don’t!” yelled Miroku, purifying demons with sutras and with his staff, “You could destroy this cavern with your windscar and kill all of us!”

Inuyasha spat at the ground, lopping the head of an attacking low-level demon. “That bastard, Naraku. He brought us down here just so I couldn’t use my sword’s windscar. Coward!”

Inuyasha continued killing the demons, but at a slower rate than he was accustomed too. It was slowly wearing him out, just like it was the rest of the gang. Sango was now using her Hiraikotsu as a club, swinging it around at any nearby demons. She was too tired to throw it. Miroku was out of sutras and was doing what damage he could with his staff. He could not use his wind tunnel as there were Saimyosho along with the demons and the situation was not yet desperate enough to sacrifice himself…yet. Kagome seemed to be the only one not feeling the fatigue. She was shooting arrow after arrow. The rest of the group was too busy to notice that these arrows were so much more powerful than her normal ones. They were purifying whole sections of the demons, reducing their numbers greatly. Naraku ordered Kanna and Kagura to move in and attack. Distract Kagome with her friends having their souls sucked so that Naraku could kill her in front of Inuyasha, who was being held back by Kagura- that was the plan.

Kanna held her mirror forward, drawing Miroku and Sango’s souls from their bodies forcibly. They began to fall to their knees, Shippo slapping their faces trying to get them to wake up. Kagome tried to make her way over to them, but a horde of demons got in her way, momentarily blocking the pair from sight as she purified them. When she was able to see them again, it was just in time to see a pink streak of a purification arrow, hitting Kanna’s mirror and causing it to break.

“Oh...” was all Kanna said before disappearing- she was no use in battle without her mirror, so she had probably returned to Naraku’s castle.

Everyone’s head turned to see Kikyo arriving in the room, bow still drawn and held up from shooting the arrow. Sango and Miroku’s souls returned and they stood to resume the fight, panting heavily.

Inuyasha jumped back from where his sword was locked with Kagura’s fan. He had been attempting to get to Kanna and kill her when Kagura had attacked him with her blades of wind.

“Kikyo, so glad you could make it,” said Naraku, smiling evilly.

“Do not waste your pleasantries with me, Naraku,” Kikyo returned, coldly and bitterly.

“Very well, I shall just kill you!” With that, three sharp tentacles flew forward faster than anyone could react to and buried themselves in Kikyo’s clay body. Inuyasha tried to run towards her, but more tentacles flashed out, driving themselves all the way through Inuyasha’s mid section and pinning him to the cavern wall. Kagura stepped in front of Kagome, keeping her from Kikyo as well. The group could only watch as the tentacles dug deeper into her body, widening the hole in the clay. Kikyo finally found the strength and concentration to purify Naraku’s tentacles, but it was too late. Her body still crumbled as her collected souls rushed out of her body. The last soul to leave was part of Kagome’s. Kikyo’s final breath was, “Inuyasha...” before her body turned to dust and was blown away by an unseen wind. Inuyasha screamed, “Kikyo!” at the spot where she had been only moment before. Kagome’s face was illuminated as the part of her soul that had originally been stolen by Kikyo flew at her and entered her body. Kagome felt more complete than she had been in years. Her senses seemed to sharpen as she saw past Naraku’s barrier constantly around his being. She saw the almost complete jewel shard in the left side of his chest. With Inuyasha so injured, it was her turn to use her new powers to destroy Naraku.

“Naraku! Your battle is with me now!” she called out boldly in uncharacteristic anger.

“Pathetic, human priestess. You were never as strong as Kikyo, and look what I did to her.”

“Maybe you just have misjudged my power,” retorted Kagome, finally revealing the hidden power within her like taking a basket from off the flame of a candle.

Only Miroku could tell that she had done such, feeling her near palpable powers coming to the surface within easy reach of the priestess before him. He had never realized she held such power. Naraku gave smile, meaning he could feel her dramatic increase in power. If he had felt Kagome’s power, Miroku thought, he would surely be retreating, not trading vicious taunts with this seemingly weak individual.

Naraku turned to Inuyasha, still pinned to the wall, his eyes out of focus from the loss of blood and Kikyo. “Inuyasha, see what you get? I made you watch Kikyo die by my hands and now you must watch Kagome do the same. You’re too weak Inuyasha, to have found either of their love. You can’t protect them from me.” Inuyasha’s eyes suddenly focused from hearing Naraku’s taunts, finding a second wind from the need to protect Kagome. He began fighting at the tentacles pinning him and the one holding his sword from doing any damage. His broke his sword free from the tentacles’ grasp and used it to cut Naraku’s tentacles holding him to the cavern wall.

He landed on the ground just in time to see Naraku’s tentacles shoot out at Kagome.

“Ah, too late Inuyasha. You’ll just have to watch her die,” taunted Naraku

“You bastard-!” shouted Inuyasha, preparing to use his windscar, even if it would kill them all.

He was stopped by Kagome’s voice, “Don’t Inuyasha! I can take care of myself.”

Inuyasha watched with baited breathe as Naraku’s tentacles headed straight for Kagome’s heart. Inches before they connected with her flesh, Kagome erected a barrier around herself, destroying the tentacles.

Naraku now turned to face this girl. “A barrier,” he said in surprise. Then his evil smile returned, “So you can protect yourself. Can you protect your friends?” With that, a gust of miasma along with pointed tentacle’s stretched out and headed at Kagome’s friends.

It was moving too fast to draw an arrow so Kagome quickly focus her purification powers on her hand, flicking her wrist in the direction that would intersect Naraku’s attack. Naraku’s eyes grew wide as he saw this, but had no time to stare in wonder as Kagome notched an arrow to her bow. The arrow was already glowing with purification powers before it had left the bowstring. Kagome shot it straight at Naraku’s nearly complete jewel, hoping to purify it and Naraku’s being. The arrow struck Naraku’s barrier, shattering it and Naraku had just enough time to straighten his form up so that the arrow could only strike his abdomen, not the Shikon jewel. His body swirled in the air as it was purified, and then Naraku disappeared. Kagura watched in amusement as her despised master retreated. She followed suit, yet still hoping that this Kagome could finally put an end to Naraku. She disappeared as well.

“Is he dead?” asked Shippo uncertainly.

“No,” answered Kagome turning to her surprised friends. She was already forcing her power back deep down inside her so that the outside world couldn’t sense it. “He has just retreated.”

“How do you know?” asked Miroku.

“Check your hand. The hole is still there,” answered Kagome. She seemed sad.

“What’s wrong?” Sango asked, worry in her voice.

“I just...couldn’t save her. I may not have liked her, Kikyo, but I never wanted her to die.”

The group passed into silence as they made their way out into the sunshine at the caves entrance. Inuyasha seemed even moodier than usual.

Finally, Inuyasha broke tee silence. “Fine, if no one else is going to ask. I will: What the hell was that back there?”

“What?” asked Kagome confused? She looked Inuyasha in the eyes and could see that he was on the verge of crying, he had just lost his Kikyo. But there was something else there. Feelings for her?

“That barrier and that thing you did with your hand. And your arrow. It was much stronger than usual.”

“I guess my cover’s blown. I’ve been secretly training my abilities. Here, watch.” She placed a hand on the wound on his chest and he watched in wonder as if healed before his very eyes.

“Where are we going now?” asked Miroku.

“Kaeda’s village, then to Naraku’s castle. I can sense past his barrier now. We might be able to catch him before he fully heals.”

Kagome started walking in the direction to Kaeda’s village, but the rest of the group was still frozen in shock.

“Come on, then,” Kagome ushered when she saw no one was following her.



thanx guy's

o_O kagome is in charge?! OMg IT"S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!!!! *runs in cirlces*

AWESOME UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!! i love this story!!!!!

KOOL!!!! its about time she learns to protect herself!!!! loved the update...can't wait for the next!!

Chapter 8

The east coast was bright and beautiful-untouched white sand, colorful seashells dotting the shoreline, and cold, crisp waves foaming on the water. The beauty was only minutely noticed by Sesshomaru. He was searching for a mountain off the coast and none of the locals had ever seen, or even heard of it before.

The dog demon walked in the cold, wet sand, looking out towards the ocean. He couldn’t believe- no, he didn’t want to believe that he had traveled all this distance to discover his destination, Mount Efil-Denahetaed, did not exist.

Turn his sight back inland, a rock formation in the distance caught his attention. The wind had chiseled away at the tall standing rock, leaving only two sheer sides and a hole through the middle, looking strangely like a gateway!

Sesshomaru approached the structure, now intently using every sense granted him by his demonic blood. He found that this area of ocean had no scent. The surrounding area smelled of moist salt and fish, yet here, nothing. “A barrier,” thought the dog demon.

He now studied the stone structure. It stood like two pillars and a mantel piece, perhaps creating a door into the protected bit of ocean Sesshomaru hoped was the mountain. “But how to activate it?” growled Sesshomaru to himself. The dog demon’s gaze shifted to the top of the “gate.” there, on the mantel and weathered so much by the elements that Sesshomaru could barely read, “Entrance to the path to the top of the mountain. Speak path’s name to enter.”

“Niotami Rofstran,” pronounced Sesshomaru confidently. The shielding barrier melted away, revealing a long narrow path over the ocean water leading to a green mountain on the horizon. Sesshomaru followed the path, stepping through the gateway.

O0o.o0O

Kagura was the last of Naraku’s servants to arrive at Naraku’s castle. Kohaku mindlessly guarded Naraku’s door, his mind and free will belonging to Naraku. He had no sense of self, everything that he had been was blocked by the shikon jewel shard’s power, embedded in his back and keeping him alive.

“Where’s Naraku?” Kagura asked the boy. He didn’t so much as blink.

“He is waiting for you,” said someone behind the wind sorceress. Kagura turned to see Kanna slowly approaching the door, sill holding the broken mirror. Kagura silently wondered if the mirror was actually attached to the entirely white little girl emanating a false sense of innocence.

The door to Naraku’s room slid open silently and Kagura entered the room, followed by Kanna. Naraku was in the room, or at least part of him was. The entire left side of his stomach just below the shikon jewel had been purified, leaving him unable to regenerate properly. The rest of his body seemed to float around inside his barrier, now erected to keep himself intact.

“Kagura, you take joy in seeing me in this state.” It wasn’t a question, just a harsh statement by the evil half-demon before her. Kagura stayed silent, knowing he could probably read her mind anyway.

“That priestess has grown powerful, powerful enough to see past even my barriers. She will lead Inuyasha and his gang to this castle.” Naraku seemed to be talking more to himself than to those gathered.

Kagura saw a gleam of hope. If she could convince Naraku to let her kill the priestess, then she could instead insure she reached Naraku’s castle and finished Naraku for good. She put on a face that she hoped seemed to be apologetic and suggested, “Then I will go and kill her before she reaches the castle, my lord.”

Naraku’s eyes narrowed dangerously, “Do not waste your breath with such a sugestion. You wish to see me dead ad this priestess has the power to purify me. You wouldn’t even stand a chance against her, even if you were serious. No, I will send someone I trust more than you.”

“Kanna? What can se do without her mirror?” asked Kagura, fishing for information to pass onto the Priestess Kagome.

“No, Kagura, I have a special job in mind for both you and Kanna.” Naraku smiled evilly. Kagura face drained of all color as she forecasted her own demise from that evil smile.

“I will send someone Inuyasha and his gang are looking for,” continued Naraku, “someone they will accept into their group without hesitation- the demon slayer’s missing brother, Kohaku. As for you two, your usefulness outside my body has come to an end. I will absorb you and make my body whole again.”

Kagura tensed and opened her fan to protect herself, but one of Naraku’s tentacles ripped through it and continued to extend until it had wrapped itself around the wind sorceress, crushing the breath out of her. Kanna didn’t resist as she had always had the morbid acceptance that she was no more than one of Naraku’s tools. The small white girl allowed the tentacles to wrap around her, encasing her and then bringing her into Naraku’s body. Kagura shared the same fate a few moments later and Naraku’s next step was one of a whole, complete body. He examined his newly regenerated side in approval before sliding his door open and addressing Kohaku, “Kohaku, how would you loke to visit your dearly beloved sister?”

O0o.o0O

Sesshomaru was reaching the end of the path over the water and the mountain loomed before him. An old man sat upon a flat stone, his eyes closed in a meditative stance. He was an odd looking man: extremely pale skin, yet everything else was green- kimono, sandals, markings on his face and wrists, even the few hairs left on his balding head were a faded pale green.

As the dog demon approached, the man opened his eyes which Sesshomaru was not surprised to see were a dark forest green. As demonic as this man appeared, his ears were rounded in a humanoid fashion.

“And why would a demon seek out the path of Niotami Rofstran?” the old man asked, pure joy in his voice and eager curiosity on his face. ‘Maybe he doesn’t get many visitors…’ mused Sesshomaru.

However, aloud he only said, “My business is my own.” Sesshomaru ignored the man, looking up to see how tall the mountain was: a good day’s march for a human, just a literal hop, skip, and a jump for a demon such as Sesshomaru. Yet the old man intruded in Sesshomaru’s calculations.

“You may keep your business your own,” considered the old man, but then he suddenly turned serious, “if you decide to turn back now. However, if you wish to continue along the path, you must make your business mine, for I am the guardian of this path. Sasarg is my name and I control everything along this path. Now, tell me your business.”

“If you truly control everything, guardian, then I should kill you right now so that I can forego the upcoming dangers and trials,” said Sesshomaru, eyes flashing dangerously while he flexed his clawed hands visibly.

“I do control everything,” repeated the guardian with no fear in his voice, “but how would you kill me in your state?” Sesshomaru was only confused for a second before a wind picked up and seemed to blow right through the dog demon’s body. He watched, eyes wide in shock, as his claws became no more than short fingernails; his demonic marks disappeared from his wrists and his hands flew up to his ears only to find round human ones. He then pulled a clump of his hair forward and was shocked to find it was a light chestnut color instead of his silver. Had he been able to see his eyes, he would’ve seen them fade from his demonic gold to a murky brown.

“I’m…” whispered Sesshomaru, unable to complete his own sentence.

“…human. Now tell me your business for coming to this path,” finished the old man.

“What are you?” asked Sesshomaru, eyes narrowed.

“I am…complicated. Neither demon nor human and I’m not in between. I am ancient, even beyond the elders’ memories, and I possess archaic magic. I guard this path against those to weak of heart or mind to bare it. Do you wish to take the path or what else could be your business here?”

Sesshomaru could see no other choice but to answer this guardian. He had to get to the top of the mountain now to save his own demon powers with the drink as well as accomplish his original goal. “I am searching for the tree of Emoceba Anomede. I wish to make the Drink of Anomede.”

It was the guardian’s turn to be shocked. “It has been many a century since a traveler has found this path, much less known of the drink. I had begun to believe it had passed out of knowledge of the living world. What would you do with Drink of Anomede? Take it to increase your own powers? Answer truthfully if you ever want your demonic powers back.”

“I will not use it to increase my own powers. I will only ever use my own strength, never that of trinkets, shards, or drinks. I shall never dishonor my father’s blood with such a scheme.”

“Why then?” asked the guardian leaning forward as if he were about to hear a really juicy secret.

“There is a…woman.”

“A human woman?” gasped the man.

“She is,” answered Sesshomaru shortly, that heat of blush coming to his cheeks in an ever increasing familiar way.

“How romantic…even if it is in vain. The drink will take too long to ferment. She will die before she is a demon.” The guardian sighed, staring into open space as if he could see old memories before his eyes.

“Let me worry about that,” replied Sesshomaru coldly, effectively snapping Sasarg out of his reverie.

“So you wish to continue?” asked the guardian joyfully, then, without giving Sesshomaru time to answer he said, “I give you permission to begin the path…and its tests. If you come out alive, you will be both stronger and wiser than one went in. If you do not make it, I shall toss you into the ocean as a burial.”

“What are the tests?” asked Sesshomaru, not as confidently as before as he was now a human, not a powerful dog demon.

“They are different for each, based upon your faults. You have searched all your life for an ultimate battle so that you can achieve ultimate power. I have seen it in your soul. You have fought your brother over your father’s sword and have always wished your father wouldn’t have died, just because you wanted to face him in battle. Your greatest weakness is you focus too much on finding this ultimate power that you ignore the people around you. You care too much for your reputation and your abilities that you forget to truly live. I will not tell you how to live to life’s fullest. You must discover that for yourself along the path to reach its end. Therefore, for your tests along this path, you will lose what abilities you have now. You will become powerless. Along the path are three posts. At each post, one of your abilities will be stolen away, just as your demonic powers were. Between these poles are dangers you must face. If you survive to the end of the path and find the top of the mountain, touch the tree of Emoceba Anomede and your abilities shall all be returned to you, even your demonic powers. You may choose to turn back from the path at any time, but know that if you turn back, you will not have any or your lost abilities returned. I will let you live, but you will never be able to rewalk the path. That is all I will say of your journey. You must discover the rest for yourself. Do you choose to take the path?”

“I shall never turn back,” replied Sesshomaru, his familiar coldness returning to his voice.

“Then begin your journey…” said the guardian Sasarg, his body disintegrating, seeming to dissolve into grass blades swirling away in a sudden gust of wind.

O0o.end of chapter.o0O

sweet!! very great update!! can't wait for the next one...keep up the good work!!

really nice !! :kittylove:
update fast !!

Great update!!!!! Update soon...I really like this story so PLEASE!!!! update soon PLEASE!!!!

YES THAT KIKYO DIED :kicking: :kicking: anywas i loved the update :kittylove: please update soon :bigeyescry:

Chapter 9

Kagome suddenly stiffened, searching out mentally. The group was almost to Kaeda’s village where they had planned to rest before heading out to Naraku’s castle. They would be led by Kagome who could, at last, sense the Shikon Jewel through all of Naraku’s barriers. But now she stopped walking- she had suddenly sensed something.

“Kagome?” asked Shippo from her shoulder, causing the rest of the group to turn around to face her.

“I just…I wasn’t paying it any attention before…and now….I think he’s in trouble….or maybe he’s attacking,” muttered Kagome, still fazed out from the rest of the group.

“Kagome! What are you trying to say?” barked Inuyasha, not angry at Kagome, but worried for her.

Kagome seemed to come to herself, “I sense Kohaku’s jewel shard. He’s pretty close and heading our way. I think he’s running away from Naraku…or…he could be attacking with Naraku’s horde of demons. I’m not sure, I only just sensed it, I was, er, not paying much attention,” she finished weakly. True, she hadn’t been paying attention to Naraku and his minions, yet she had been paying attention- focused on searching for a certain demon lord’s aura. She couldn’t sense Sesshomaru’s aura anywhere and was beginning to worry.

“Kohaku?” whispered Sango tentatively, staring at the woods surrounding her as if he were hiding behind one of the trees. Miroku closed his eyes until he could feel the evil demonic aura approaching with speed. There was definitely a horde of demons coming in fast. Inuyasha sniffed the air, catching both the scent of the demon horde and Naraku.

They all stood around nervously until Kagome suggested, “Let’s go see what’s happening. We may be able to help.” The group nodded as one and Kirara transformed allowing Miroku and Sango to travel on her back. Kagome took her place on Inuyasha’s back, though it no longer felt so…intimate to her. Now, it was just a necessity to be able to travel faster.

The group took off towards the speeding demonic aura. Inuyasha stopped just outside a clearing, Kirara landing beside him to figure out exactly what was going on.

They didn’t have to wait long before Kohaku broke into the clearing, his clothes ripped and tattered. He tripped and fell, adding more scratches to his already battered body. He stumbled back to his feet, looking fearfully behind him as the demon horde entered the clearing, gaining on him. He began running again, his breathing frantic and Inuyasha could hear the boy’s heart pounding in his chest. Miroku was restraining Sango from running to her little brother.

“Wait,” mouthed Miroku to her.

Kohaku tripped and fell again, the demon horde getting closer, now upon him.

“Trying to run, boy? We shall eat you!” hissed a flying centipede-like demon, diving for the boy.

Hiraikotsu!” yelled Sango, throwing her boomerang as soon as Miroku released her. Her weapon flew through the air, ripping off the centipede’s head. The rest of the demons paused from shock at the first death. Inuyasha jumped into the clearing, drawing his Tessaiga. He landed between Kohaku and the horde of demons.

“You’re all going to die! Wind Scar!” threatened Inuyasha, swinging his sword and releasing the wind scar. The powerful attack blasted apart all of the attacking demons.

Sango ran to her brother as Inuyasha sheathed his sword. To the surprise of them all, Kohaku ran to meet Sango yelling, “Sister! I finally broke free of Naraku!”

Later that night, the gang plus Kohaku were sitting in Kaeda’s village eating ramen. Kohaku was explaining his story. “Naraku came back to the castle in pieces. He couldn’t regenerate due to the purification. Being as weak as he was, he finally lost control of my mind. I finally came to myself and ran for it. Naraku was too weak himself to follow me, so he sent that horde of demons after me instead. I’m really free of him Sister!”

“Kohaku,” said Sango, her voice no more than a squeak as she tried to keep her voice even. Tears began to splash down her cheeks as she gathered her little brother in her arms, hugging him tightly.

“Humans are so pathetic,” grunted Inuyasha before turning away from the scene and closing his eyes to sleep.

Kagome sighed at his back while Miroku sighed at Sango, just wishing he could be in Kohaku’s place at that moment.

O0o.o0O

“How do humans live this way?” growled Sesshomaru to relieve his stress. He had followed the path only to find that, instead of going up the mountain, it traveled downwards until it came to a near sheer cliff face. He was currently pulling himself up it, sharp hand-hold by sharp hand-hold. The rough rocks had torn his skin away, leaving raw skin. He had already wasted hours of the day climbing and his once useful and beloved swords hung from his waist now hindering him rather than helping. He put his hand up to find his next hand-hold and found it completely flat. That meant he had reached the top of the cliff, finally. He pulled his sore body to the top and collapsed to the ground thinking, “So this is what it feels like to be human. So much pain and so many intense emotions.” Yes, Sesshomaru had been hit by human emotions. First, he had felt determined, then he began to feel frustrated as he climbed. Now, he was on the verge of anger as he had just wasted so much time to only progress about 30 feet up the mountain vertically. He tried to calm himself down so that he could think rationally. All he could think was, “This is unbecoming of a demon, especially these emotions.”

He fell into an uneasy slumber and awoke feeling stiff near dark. He ripped part of his kimono off and tore it into two long shreds. He used these to bandage his hands and protect them from…well…he didn’t know what yet. He continued on his way, starting to feel how heavy his feet were, and longed to kick off his ankle-high boots, yet he resisted this urge and kept pushing himself to make it to the first pole. He would rest there, he promised himself.

The path now rose to a steep slope, and Sesshomaru pushed himself doggedly on. He finally reached the first pole and saw Sasarg waiting for him. The once-great-dog-demon flung his human body to the ground.

“So, you have survived your first day as a human. Have you learned anything yet?” asked the guardian.

Sesshomaru nodded, “Humans are so frail. It amazes me that they even dare to venture out of their own homes.”

“So, in other words, you are amazed at what humans have accomplished, even though they are so weak. They do not let fear keep them from living,” summed up the guardian, earning him a dark glare from Sesshomaru. “Now, you have reached the first pole. I’m sure you’ve been anxious to know which of your feeble human abilities I will take. Yes? I will take the one you have relied on the heaviest so far- your ability to see!”

“What!” yelled Sesshomaru, once again unable to control his emotions due to the now human blood in his veins. Before he could get in another word, however, that strange wind picked up again and seemed to rush through his very body. When it had passed, Sesshomaru was staring into a world of blackness. He tried to blink the darkness away, but everything was still a blanket of nothingness. He was now human AND blind!

Sasarg the guardian informed him, “Oh, and by the way, the path next leads through the trees. Be sure to stay on the path, for the creatures in the woods are not all friendly. Learn to trust your other senses.”

Sesshomaru felt a small swirling of wind and imagined that the guardian had once again disappeared. On a logical train of thought, he bent down and felt out for some lose rocks to point the way to take on the path, so that when he woke up the next morning, he could be sure he was heading in the right direction. He fell into and uneasy and cold sleep, in which he dreamed of Kagome mating with Naraku.

He awoke abruptly and felt the sun warming his body. His dream still haunted him. He couldn’t explain why, but he felt some sort of anger. “This must be jealousy,” he told himself, “How irrational to feel this way when I know she would never do that.” Yet now a feeling of doubt hung over him as he felt for the rocks he had placed before he had fallen asleep.

He continued along what he hoped was the path. The path itself seemed to be more smooth with small gravels on it. At it’s first curve, he accidentally stepped off the path, but instantly knew it as he stepped on the dewy grass. Suddenly, he felt that he might be able to get to the top after all. Not having sight wasn’t too bad- until he came to the trees. Without warning Sesshomaru walked right into a tree. If he had had sight, he would’ve seen it growing in the middle of the path. However, he did not and as a result, he was now picking himself up off of the ground, rubbing his rear indignantly. “What do I care if I look weak? Who is around to judge me now?” he reassured himself. This time he continued along the path, stepping around the tree. He put his hands out in front of him to ward off anymore trees. Yet, no matter how sure he was that there was no tree in his next step, he always hit another tree. His nose was hurting, as was his pride. He fell down three more times before concluding that the trees were moving. He decided to focus his remaining senses. Taking a deep breath, he caught the smell of the trees bark. It had a woodsy scent, mixed with dirt, and fall leaves. He had never noticed that trees had a scent before. He also noticed that the scent seemed to swirl slowly, adding more evidence to his theory that the trees were actually moving. Next, he brought his hands back to his body-no longer were they fanning out looking for trees he might hit. They lay by his sides casually. Sesshomaru concentrated on sensing the trees- not in the ordinary way. No, he was feeling for the warmth off their bark, letting it hit his skin until he had a mental image of the woods around him. He now began stepping forward again, this time being able to sidestep the trees, moving or not. He continued on his way until he heard a rustling behind him.

His ears strained until he caught what it was saying, “A traveler has wandered off the path. How unfortunate for him. If he continues the way he is going, he shall fall into one of our traps and we will eat him.”

Now that Sesshomaru’s ears were straining, he could hear more voices in the woods. He silently cursed himself for not staying on the path, but in the woods, there was no difference between the surface of the path and of the forest floor. He listened to the other voices.

“He hears us now. Let us lead him back to the path.”

More voices called out in front of him, “Here! Come this way! We shall lead you back to the path!”

Sesshomaru almost obliged and followed the voices until he remembered the guardian’s warning of the evil creatures. He also remembered the earlier voice saying something about a trap up ahead.

“I will not trust you creatures,” he called out into the woods. He heard the voices laughing at him.

They continued speaking, “Don’t you understand? There is no path through these woods. You may stumble around in the dark till you die of hunger and thirst or you could follow us now and die a quick death.”

“I shall never give up,” replied Sesshomaru coolly. The voices laughed again.

“Yes you shall. Death will force you to.” They continued to laugh, but stopped abruptly when a stout wind blew through the forest. Sesshomaru could smell grass in the air.

“Sasarg. Is that you?” he called out.

“Indeed it is. So you’ve strengthened your senses. Good for you. Not many people ever get this far into the trees. Most of them only get a couple of feet.” Sasarg was taking too much joy in his pain, Sesshomaru decided.

“Guardian, where is the path? There is a path right?”

Sasarg sighed, “No, there never was a path through the trees. You must make your own path. Listen to the voices that you trust. They come from your own mind. I hope you know at least one person you trust, but judging by that expression on your face, you’ve never trusted anyone with your life, or less. You must learn to trust someone if you are to make it through these woods alive. If you make it through, you’ll find another pole on the other side.”

With that, the wind picked up again and Sesshomaru knew he was by himself again, except for those voices and the creatures they belonged too. He tried focusing again, trying to find a voice he trusted.

“My Lord,” said a voice behind him. It was Jaken. “My Lord,” he repeated, “Why do you stand such trials for a human? It is beneath you. Go back, my lord. Save yourself, don’t worry yourself over their sakes. Come back this way and turn away from them.”

“Sesshomaru!” came Inuyasha’s voice from his right, “You kissed Kagome! You bastard! She’s mine! Come this way and I’ll show you a sure way out. You lying, cheating, stealing bastard! I’ll kill you myself, just come this way!”

“Lord Sesshomaru! Will you remember me when I die? Come Lord Sesshomaru, I can show you a tree! A tree that will allow me to stay with you forever! This way!” It was Rin’s voice, he took his first step in her direction, to the front and a bit to the left. He continued to follow her voice, finding himself stumbling less as she led him through the trees. But then he came to a ravine. He almost fell as his foot tried to step into air. He pulled himself back from the edge quickly.

“Rin?” he called out into the woods. All the other voices were still calling his name and directions for him to follow. He tried to focus on her voice, but all he could hear was her sobs. “What’s the matter Rin?” he asked.

Rin answered pitifully, “I’m sorry Lord Sesshomaru! I’m not strong enough to save you! I don’t know how!”

“That’s why I’m here,” said a new sweet, soft voice.

Sesshomaru couldn’t explain why it comforted him so much. “Kagome?” he whispered hoarsely.

“Of course it’s me silly. Why would I not be here? Do you not trust me?” asked Kagome voice.

Sesshomaru thought about it, and suddenly realized that, without a doubt and by no logical explanations, he undeniably trusted Kagome. “I do trust you,” he whispered.

“With your life?” she inquired. All his focus was on her voice now. He didn’t even recognize that the other voices were still speaking to him.

“With my life,” he answered.

“Then jump,” she commanded.

“Jump?” he asked skeptically.

“I thought you said you trusted me. Jump!” Kagome’s voice said sternly.

Sesshomaru took a deep breath and jump into the ravine. He felt the air go by him on his way down, stopping quite abruptly as his feet hit the bottom. The ‘ravine’ had only been about four feet deep, and had he been able to see, he would’ve called it a ledge, for it had no other side leading back up and he was now standing back on the path. He could feel its gravel beneath his feet. He began to smell the air, walking forward slowly. He was defiantly out of the woods now, he could no smell the trees’ bark, and the voices had disappeared.

“Over here!” he heard Sasarg calling him. He walked towards him. The guardian looked him over. “I’m impressed,” he said, “Not many have ever made it to the second pole, and you’re the first blind human to ever do such. What have you learned?”

Sesshomaru’s old coldness came back, and he refused to answer, choosing to remain silent than to speak of his realization in the woods. It would hurt what was left of his pride to have to say it aloud.

“Oh, not this again,” scorned the guardian, “Remember, I control everything. Speak now before I choose to take even more away from you or make the path more complicated.”

Sesshomaru closed his blind eyes while speaking, as though it would make everything go away, “I must be going soft to say it, but I learned that I have people in my life that I trust. Are you happy now?” said Sesshomaru all very quickly sounding a lot like Inuyasha. “Stupid human emotions,” he cursed himself silently once more.

“Ah, so you did,” chirped Sasarg, obviously happy. “You also learned the value of an ability you took for granted before- sight. AND you strengthened your abilities of smell, hearing, and touch, even if it was unconsciously done so.”

“How do you know?” asked Sesshomaru.

“I can read your soul, and your mind, even your memories.”

“Then why did I have to tell you what I learned if you already knew?” bitterly asked Sesshomaru.

“Because I want you to admit it to yourself out loud. Any more questions before I take your next ability away?”

“Just a few, like, what were those things in the woods?”

“Those were creatures created by me who could take on the voice and form of people in your memory.”

“What is the next danger?”

“I can’t tell you that. IT would ruin the..um...surprise.”

“Then, what is the next ability you’re going to take?”

“Your ability to smell, of course.”

“Of course,” repeated Sesshomaru bitterly. “Just one more question then.”

“Ask away!” exclaimed the guardian.

“Where can I find some food? I’m starving,” said Sesshomaru, his stomach giving a sudden grumble in agreement. He had been trying to ignore the human’s need for 3 square meals a day, but now he could no longer stand the feeling of emptiness. He also had a raging thirst.

This seemed to amuse Sasarg. “I’m afraid I have none with me, but there is food at the end of this trial. Humans can go 18 days without food. You’ll be fine for a while. And if that’s all, then I’ll be taking your ability to smell.”

The wind blew through and Sesshomaru was left alone, now only able to hear, speak, and feel. He started following the path again, seeing no reason to pause as it would only make him focus on his hunger. So, he continued on the path that went at a steady inclining angle until the noise of water reached his ears. He stumbled along, his weariness leaving him as he found a fresh steam to fuel himself. He fell to his knees at the water’s edge, scooping up a mouthful of water and bringing to his mouth.

After satisfying his thirst, he rested by the side of the stream, though by the sound of it, was more of a mess of swirling rapids. The path had ended by its bank, so he assumed that must mean that he had to cross the flowing water to find the rest of his path. He ears listened to the melody of the waters, crashing on rocks and swirling around them. “That must be it,” he thought. He had to cross over the stones in the rapids to get across. He stood back up and turned his ear towards the water. The peak of the waters crashing should be on the edge of the stone- a small jump to the first one, he judged. Taking a leap of faith, quite literally, he landed on the sleek stone, nearly losing his balance and falling into the swirling water. He took a deep breath and listened for his next jump, this time prepared for the slimy surface, lest he would fall. He slowly made his way over the broad stream, which he had decided must really be a river. The further he went, the faster he caught the sound of the water crashing around the rocks and the better his balance became. Soon, he was nearly gliding from rock to rock carefree. He reached the opposite bank some time later, quickly finding the path again, well, quickly for a blind human with no sense of smell.

“You still hungry?” asked Sasarg all of a sudden, spooking Sesshomaru who couldn’t smell him in the air. Sesshomaru nodded, following the voice of the guardian. The old man continued, “I thought so. You have made it across the river. I must say I’m impressed once again. You picked up on the stone thing quite quickly, perhaps I underestimated you when I set up this challenge. Never fear. There will be plenty more chances to challenge you in the path ahead. But now, you may eat. There are two whole bushels of apples here.”

Sesshomaru searched around when his hands until he came in contact with the basket and then the plump, firm fruit. He grabbed one and went to take a bite but was stopped by Sasarg, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the guardian warned.

“Why not?” asked Sesshomaru, barely able to keep his hungry lips away from the fruit.

“Apples have a way of attracting bugs..worms and such. I just happen to know that all of the apples in these two bushels have insects crawling within them,” informed the old man.

“Is that all?” asked Sesshomaru nonchalantly, so hungry, a few bugs would taste good. He again went to take a bite only to have Sasarg interrupt him again.

“No, that is not all. The worms in the apples are poisonous. One bite, and you’d be dead in a few hours. Take my word for it, I created them,” finished Sasarg smugly. Sesshomaru threw the apple away from his mouth. He wasn’t feeling too hungry anymore.

“Why did you show me the apples if I can’t eat them?” asked Sesshomaru angrily, what little patience he had was now gone.

“Let me finish,” responded the guardian, “Anyway, as I was saying, all of these apples have poisonous worms in them, all except one. Consider it a challenge. I’ll see you when you’re through.”

Sesshomaru was left alone with a grumbling stomach and two bushels of delectable apples he couldn’t eat. “How unfair,” he thought, grabbing one of the bushels and pulling it towards him, wondering what would be the best way to distinguish them.

First, he separated them into three piles on the basis of how firm they were. The squishy ones got marked off the list and thrown into one pile, medium ones were thrown in another pile and the really firm ones had their own pile as well. Then Sesshomaru went through the abilities he had left: he had already used the ability to feel, or touch; he still had the ability to speak, though that wasn’t helping him any, and the ability to argue wasn’t getting him anywhere either. He silently wondered if he might be able to shout at the apples. It might not help him find the right apple, but it would make him feel better at least. Pushing that thought aside, he came to the conclusion that the only ability he had left of any use was his sense of hearing. Maybe the bad apples sounded different than the one good one.

He tentatively put an apple up to his ear, already aware of how stupid he looked. He allowed his breathing to settle as his tried to find anything out of the ordinary. Seconds, went by, maybe minutes even, yet he intently listened to the apple. He could hear...munching. He could hear the worm eating away at the inside of the apple. His heart leaped for joy at his discovery. He threw that apple away, turning to the pile of the firmest apples. He did the same thing for each of them, yet in the end, he had thrown all of them away.

Now he turned to the pile of medium firmness. One by one, he threw each of them away too. So it was down to the pile of mushy apples. All this work for one mushy apple. He found it on his third try, yet checked the rest anyway, just to be sure. The apple felt bruised yet Sesshomaru got ready to hungrily take a bite out of it until-

“Sir, please mister. Could I have your apple? I’m so hungry mister.” It was a small boy’s voice yet it reminded Sesshomaru of Rin.

Sesshomaru was not fazed. There couldn’t be a real human child up here. Sasarg had told him that he was the first in centuries. Besides, he was hungry too, and he had been the one to do all the work to find this apple. Yet the child went on whining and pleading.

“Sasarg, quit the games,” ordered Sesshomaru fiercely.

“Oh, I’m not playing,” answered Sasarg, coming in on a wind. “I nabbed him from a local village when you completed the last challenge with such ease. A little urchin he is, and very much alive and real...for now. I expect he won’t last another day if he doesn’t get something to eat soon. Could you live with the fact that you had the chance to save this little boy’s life and you let him die?” inquired Sasarg.

Sesshomaru thought about it while he licked his lips. He could live with it, he was pretty sure he could, but then, if he actually accomplished what he had set out to do, what next? He would turn Kagome into a demon and then take her as his mate. What would he tell her of his journey? “I let a little boy die so that I could eat an apple and continue along the path?” The thought just turned his stomach in something he imagined must be guilt. These human emotions were still so new, so different. He wished for his demonic control over them to be returned so badly.

Finally, he had made up his mind, handing the apple to the little boy while asking Sasarg, “So, how long did you say a human could go without food?”

Sesshomaru couldn’t see the guardian’s smile as he answered, “May you never have to find out. Eat, there is now a full meal in front of you. I shall return the boy to his village now.”

Sesshomaru was left in the silence of nature as he ate the best-tasting meal he had ever had. He soon fell asleep on a full stomach, thinking about a new type of pride he found in himself- the pride that he a done the right thing without expecting any profit to come from it. He was coming dangerously close to creating a conscience.

Sesshomaru awoke the next morning Sasarg’s humming.

“Stop that infernal noise,” growled Sesshomaru, trying to stretch out the soreness in his limbs.

“Ah, you’re awake! You had no idea that you were sleeping right next to the third pole, did you? No, of course not,” Sasarg answered himself not giving Sesshomaru time to respond. The guardian continued, “Well, welcome! Now, that you have had time to sleep on it, can you tell me what you learned since the second pole?”

Sesshomaru moaned, yet answered tonelessly anyway, “I learned that there is more than one kind of pride.”

“Congratulations!” exclaimed Sasarg, “and I didn’t have to threaten or beat it out of you. You have always shown pride, in your heritage, in your blood, in your powers. However doing the right thing, such as giving up your apple to save the little boy, gives you a deeper, more meaningful, earned pride. It’s a pride you can have in yourself for the decisions you’ve made. Okay, so now you have one stretch of the path to finish. I’m sure you’ve realized the pattern of the trials by now: each part of the path tests and strengthens one physical aspect of your body while teaching you a new emotional skill. The first quarter of the path tested your brute strength, improving it, while teaching you to be more understanding of humans and their faults. Then, you lost your sight, and you had to improve you sense of hearing, smell, and touch to get you through the trees. You also had to consider what trusting someone with your life would mean. Next, you lost your sense of smell and saw vast improvements in your hearing and balance which allowed you to make it across the river. Then you arrived at the apples which taught you another form of pride and sparked something near a conscience, if I’m not mistaken. The last quarter will not follow this pattern. It will test your heart and help you discover who you truly are, perhaps even re-evaluate your priorities in life. Now, it’s time for you to continue on your journey, so you must lose another ability- hearing this time. Now you’ll be human, blind, unable to smell, AND deaf. You will still be able to hear me though, if I decide to speak to you, that is.”

The familiar wind picked up and soon the world was completely black, odorless, and silent for Sesshomaru. He stood back up and searched for the soft gravels of the road under his feet. Finally finding it, he continued on his way.

O0o.o0O

Kohaku was awoken in the middle of the night by a gentle buzzing. He looked around to find its source and found some Saimyoshu above him. They were holding something. “My Kusarigama,” he thought as he reached out to grab it. The instant it was in his hands, he felt a pulse in his back.

“Kill her,” Naraku’s voice whispered to him.

Kohaku’s eyes glazed over as he stepped over his sleeping sister who turned in her sleep. He made his way to Kagome’s sleeping bag. He raised the chain-blade weapon above his head, his hand shaking.

“Do it,” whispered Naraku’s voice again.

Kohaku closed his eyes as he brought the Kusarigama down on Kagome’s heart. There was a soft cling of metal through flesh before Kagome’s blood splattered onto the floor of the hut the group was sleeping in. She had never even woken up to feel the pain.

“Kohaku!” Sango’s voice rent the night air in a ragged breath. “What have you done?” she asked desperately, hoping that she was just dreaming.

Her voice woke up the rest of the gang. As Inuyasha jerked awake, the smell of blood instantly met his nose. He jumped to Kagome’s side, knowing it was too late already. He punch Kohaku into unconsciousness as he ran past. Inuyasha was in too much pain, too much grief. He had lost Kikyo just a few days before and now...”Kagome..” he whispered taking her cold, dead hand in his, “...I couldn’t protect you...”

O0o.end of chapter.o0O

WHAT!?!?! oh no!!!!!! plz update i have to know what happens...KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!

:cryriver: :cryriver: please dont kill kags :cryriver: PLEASE :cryriver: OTHER THAN THAT PLEASE UPDATE SOON :bigeyescry: GOOD UPDATE

:oooo: holy crap! *faints* come on sesshy! kagome is dead! save her damn soul!

Chapter 10

Sesshomaru was lost and confused. He had no sight, no hearing, and he couldn’t even smell the air he was taking into his lungs. At first, Sesshomaru had been able to follow the path just by feeling the gravel beneath his feet. It had run straight and even for the first bit, but now it was no longer under his feet. He must’ve stepped off it by accident, he thought. When he tried to retrace his steps, he couldn’t find it again though.

He had grown aggravated when he finally heard Sasarg’s voice in his head after a half-hour of trying to find the path again. “Hard, isn’t it?” said Sasarg, “Stumbling around in the dark must be horrible for you. You’ve impressed me so far along the path and so I will help you now. This path is like a...physical representation of your life- you have the memories of the challenges and choices behind you, you know the path WAS there, but once you moved forward and accidentally lost your way, you could no longer turn back and change the moment when you first stepped off the path. And now what do you do?” Sasarg’s voice was like a whisper in Sesshomaru’s head. The whispered continued as Sasarg answered his own question, “You can only go forward. Think of the path before you as your future. If you go on with your life, and with your journey, you may still stumble across the correct path again. You may have a second chance, but never rely on it. The future is uncertain. Never leave anything undone, unsaid, unfelt...you might regret it all your life. There may be people that guide you, try to show you what their life was like to save you the trouble of having to discover it, just as your father tried to teach you to find someone to protect, and like I will lead you back to the path, but there comes a time when you have to make a decision for your life that no one can help you with. Now walk forward, back onto the path.”

Sesshomaru took a few steps forward and felt the gravel beneath his feet once again. Sesshomaru cautiously but a foot forward-he felt the path end and grass beneath his foot. He felt around himself and discovered that he was at a branching of two paths forming a “V” shape before him. Both of the branches of the path proceeded forward, and he did not know which path to take to advance.

“Sasarg?” Sesshomaru beckoned for more help.

“Which path will you choose?” answered Sasarg’s voice in Sesshomaru’s head.

“Where do they each lead?” asked Sesshomaru wisely.

Sasarg chuckled, “Not even the wisest could tell you, not even I can. But I can tell you that this ‘parting-of-the-ways’ symbolizes a choice for your future. One can never know the complete outcome of a choice.”

“Then what choices do the paths symbolize?”

“Now you’re asking the right question, Sesshomaru. You must choose what path you will travel on now, based on how you want to precede in your life. The left path symbolizes your quest for the ultimate power. You have been walking upon that path for most of your life. Your priorities have always been and will always remain focused on finding an ultimate opponent and to increasing your power to its height.”

“And the other path? What does it symbolize?”

“The path you fear to tread. A life of acceptance, of trust, to live life fully, to love someone to the point that you would die to protect them, or suffer just to see a smile on their face. It’s an uncertain path, constantly changing, full of adventures- both small and great. Yet it is also the path of heartache and pain and troubles. It’s a risky path.”

“And how do I decide which path to take?”

“I can not help you there. The decision must be yours and only yours.”

“But could you help guide me?”

“A guide can’t choose for you either. It must be your own heart that decides. But I shall tell you this, so listen up: Think of your life thus far. If you died on this mountain, would you be happy? If not, then ask yourself which path you would prefer to die on. How do you want to be remembered and who do you want to remember you. Life is fragile, here on minute, gone the next. Would you die happy and fulfilled?”

Sasarg fell silent once again as Sesshomaru’s mind raced. ‘Death. I had never given it much thought before. Why should I have? I was a powerful demon, a Taiyoukai, death had been nowhere near my mind. But I’m human now, and weak. My life could easily end so suddenly. Would I be happy?’

Sesshomaru thought back on his life, when was he happy? His quest for power had left him cold and emotionless, alone and uncaring. He had ignored the people around him, killing anyone who got in his way. Happiness? He had never felt happy on his quest, merely determined. Happiness had come to him without him searching for it and had nothing to do with his power. He thought of Rin and her smile. He had met her when he was at his weakest, reduced to licking his wounds in a forest. She had made him happy, even if he never had showed it. She would never know that, because he had never told her.

Then he thought of Kagome, the clumsy yet irresistible priestess. She was so innocent, so happy, so pure, and so beautiful. She was the human girl that had given him back his arm and repaired the one thing he despised about himself. She didn’t look down on him because he was a demon, or even on the fact that he had tried to kill her when they had first met. She even defended him against her brother when the young boy had said Inuyasha was nicer than the dog demon lord. She had no reason to stand up for him, he wouldn’t have done the same for her at that moment in time. Now though, well...now he was on this mountain, struggling to reach the top for her. She didn’t even know what he was doing for her, in danger, and could possibly lose his life. And it was all for her, so that she had the option of living with Sesshomaru forever. She didn’t know, and it was entirely his fault. He had the feeling that she would’ve been by his side the entire time if he had told her. If he had just opened up to her, but now, he may never have the chance. It suddenly didn’t matter to him if she was demon of not. He only wanted her by his side forever more. He didn’t know why, or even how or when, but Sesshomaru had fallen for a human...and it didn’t even matter to him. He loved her, though he couldn’t exactly say why. “If only she knew,” he berated himself. It had been his own selfish pride that had kept him from telling her. He had just kissed her and walked away. He didn’t even allow her to tell him what she felt.

Now, he must choose a path, and he promised himself he would not regret it. Which path would he prefer to die on? A little morbid, yet the question evoked the correct frame of mind.

“I choose,” he said aloud, knowing that this was the only decision that he would never forget, “to take the path on the right, to the uncertain end, dangerous yet exciting journey, and to live life to its fullest, as my father always wanted.”

Sasarg’s voice said, “I have looked into your heart and you have indeed chosen that path, with all of your being. May you never regret it. Now, step forward and touch the tree. Your journey is at it’s end.”

Sesshomaru did as the guardian’s voice commanded and reached forward and felt the cold bark of the tree of Emoceba Anomede beneath his fingers.

His body pulsed with energy as his demonic powers returned and the world was once again full of color, sound, and smell. He saw his markings return and his claws grow out. His hair turned back to his silver, tucked behind pointed demonic ears, and his eyes brightened into their rich gold. The tree before him rustled in the wind. It had snow-white bark and only 13 branches. The leaves grew directly out of these branches, as there were no smaller sticks blemishing the bark’s surface. And the leaves, such beautiful leaves. Each one was perfect, scarlet on top and a deep plum on the bottom with edgings and veins of gold. The leaves glittered in the moonlight as they hung graceful down. They were each a foot long and blade-like in their narrowness. They seemed to cover the tree like hair, making the tree seem more like a bush as it was barely taller than Sesshomaru.

Sasarg appeared beside the demon lord in his wind of grass and Sesshomaru turned towards him. “How did I come to stand by this tree? I could not have reached it yet if I had been following the path.”

Sasarg smiled mischievously, “The path is more like a fluid than anything else. It changes its shaped based on what I see in my head. For each traveler it is different and for each it is a different length. You can only reach the tree if you can change your heart along the path into something pure and noble. If you had realized your true self on the first quarter of the path, you would not have needed to complete the other challenges. But don’t worry over that. Pluck the leaves you came for and be on your way. I’d imagine you’d like to see some certain people after your time along the path.”

Sesshomaru nodded, a feeling of happiness swelling his chest. He put an uncertain hand on his heart, worry written on his face.

Sasarg, with his ability to read the hearts and minds of all those upon his path answered Sesshomaru’s unasked questions. “So you thought these human emotions would end once you got your demonic control over them back? It’s not that simple. Think of the emotions like a really bad cold- once you have them, its hard to get rid of them. It’s a whole lot easier to embrace how you feel and show your emotions to those that you care about.”

Sesshomaru doubted Sasarg’s advice. It wasn’t easy to just suddenly start feeling everything and