Evolution of a Taiyoukai

By Danyealle

(FanFiction/MF/angst)

Chapter 12

…One Week Later…

Even though the path was fairly smooth, the dragon demon’s gait still jarred him a bit but it didn’t seem to bother the little onna sleeping cradled to his chest.  Looking down at her face, Sesshomaru sighed heavily.  The poor onna was beyond exhausted; one look at her pale, drawn features and the almost black circles under her eyes was a vivid testament to that. 

For the last week she had gotten very little restful sleep.  In fact, he doubted that she had gotten more than two hours of sleep at a stretch, not enough to fall into a deep sleep and get the rest her body truly needed.

That first dream that had her waking up screaming had been the harbinger of the real nightmare.  The following night, no more than two hours after she had fallen asleep, she once more woke up screaming.  He tried to calm and sooth her through their bond but it hadn’t worked.  The only thing the bond seemed to help with was that he seemed to be able to wake her a bit more easily.  He had done what he had up to that point to calm her down and get her back to sleep but that was all he had really been able to accomplish.  When he was sure she was soundly asleep he allowed himself to slide there once more as well.  But, unlike the other nights, a couple hours later he was once again rudely yanked into the waking world by her screams.  Unfortunately, that was the start of the pattern.  After that she couldn’t go more than two hours at a stretch without being awaked by the nightmares.  As it turned out she didn’t even have to be in a deep sleep for it to happen.  Exhausted, she spent the following day riding on the dragon curled up to him, dozing.  But if she slipped from a doze into a real sleep she was woke up soon after by another one.

That night they had tried a sleeping draught and she was able to fall into a deeper sleep fairly quickly but that didn’t stop the dreams.  The only thing it did seem to help with was she was able to fall back to sleep quicker.  The following night they made the draught stronger but that didn’t help either.  Afraid to make it even stronger they kept giving it to her to try to help her at least get some restful sleep.

Nuzzling her head, he sighed again.  Never had he felt so helpless!  He had tried everything he could think of to help her but nothing he could come up with had helped.  The first thing he tried was using their mating bond to try to sooth her.  It hadn’t seemed to help at all nor had anything else like that he had come up with.

By the third day another problem had poked its ugly head up.  There mating bond was allowing not only what she was feeling during those dreams filter through but he was also catching small snippets of the dreams themselves.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t getting much more than she was and it was no damn help in figuring out the dream and what it had to do with.  Well, honestly, he was sure at this point that these were no dreams, that indeed these were some event yet to come.  That gave birth to a very foreboding feeling in him. Whatever this was and whatever it was trying to tell them he knew it wasn’t anything good.  In fact every time it started a sick knot of dread would form in his stomach.  He just kept hoping that he would get some kind of clue as to what was going on or at least what it was related to.  Yes, he knew Naraku but he needed more than that to work with than that.

Rubbing his eyes, he tried to focus on the path they were following.  At this point he was about as tired as she was.  No, he didn’t need as much sleep as she did and usually what sleep he got between the nightmares would be enough but he had started getting what could only be termed nightmares as well.  Like hers he was sure these weren’t dreams but a premonition as well.  No, they didn’t happen at the same times as hers but they were, he was sure, the same vision.  The fist few times he wasn’t sure if they were wholly a vision for him or if it was just something his mind was making up because it keying off of her but he knew it was a vision now that just had dueling perspectives.

At first he was getting it from her perspective and felt her terror from it.  At one point he could even feel sharp, jagged objects hit him and felt as though they were tearing him apart, explaining why she felt as though she had been hurt.  Each time it ended the same way, a voice telling him that everyone would be alright.

When the dream changed perspective the emotion of the dream changed.  Instead of terror there was a sickening dread at watching something he was powerless to stop.  Not only was there dread but an almost overwhelming emotional pain.  He could remember the emotional pain but the only other details he could remember was screaming Kagome’s name at the top of his lungs then a soothing woman’s voice telling him everything would be alright.  Now, he did know it was the same voice that he heard when he saw the vision from the other perspective, the one Kagome identified as her grandmother.

As far as he could tell, none of this meant anything good but, at this point, his main concern wasn’t interpreting the dream but Kagome.  He was well aware that humans needed sleep and she most certainly wasn’t getting what she needed.  She was grouchy, irritable and overly emotional at this point but that was nothing he couldn’t handle, especially since he knew where it was coming from.  What he was worried about was her getting so run down she ended up ill.  Because of that concern he had wanted to take her to the fortress to have one of his healers to look at her.  She had declined.  Then he had mentioned returning to Edo or even, as much as he didn’t like it, her going home for a few days. Again, she had said no.  Then she had insisted that they keep moving the direction they were.  Nothing any of them said could change her mind so they didn’t insist.  Instead they did everything they could think of to help her but they kept moving.  All of them had traveled with her long enough to know if she said to keep moving there was a reason so, although not happy about it, he acquiesced and they kept going.

Shutting his eyes, he held her as tightly as he dared and allowed himself to slip into a light doze as they moved. It would be enough to take the edge off his weariness yet he would be awake enough to be aware if there was danger or a problem.  Just for a short time, he assured himself as he slipped into a doze.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Acutely aware that Kagome needed all the rest she could get, the others in the pack tried to keep the noise level down so that they wouldn’t wake her.  As would be expected her friends were worried about her and were trying to come up with something, anything, to help because they weren’t sure how long she could keep going like this.

From his normal place at the front of the pack, Inuyasha kept glancing over his shoulder at his half-brother and the miko.  Quite frankly, he was worried about both of them.  Mostly he was worried about Kagome but he was starting to worry about the demon lord as well.  For as long as he’d known his half-brother he had never seen him look tired but now he was looking that way.  No, it wasn’t really overt like it was with Kagome but his features were a bit drawn and tight, speaking of lack of sleep.  That could mean nothing good.

Quietly, he and the others had discussed the situation and their consensus was that something big was coming with Naraku.  That was the only thing they could think of to cause this kind of reaction.  From what they had heard they knew Kagome’s nightmare involved Naraku but she wasn’t sure how.  But all of them would admit they didn’t like this at all.  At this point all of them were on edge and were getting a gut check from it.

Once more he glanced back at the two sitting on the dragon.  Seeing the taiyoukai dozing off, he decided they needed to stop.  It was almost lunch time anyway.  Running a bit a head he found a small cave not far away that would be a perfect place to stop for while.  Hurrying back, he gave the houshi and slayer directions then went off to find some wood and collect water.

When they were within sight of the cave Sango sent the others on ahead.  Because she was female she’s the one that usually had the task of waking the taiyoukai because he was less likely to view her as a threat if he was a bit disoriented when he woke.  Taking the dragon’s reigns, she stopped the creature and said Sesshomaru’s name softly.

Knowing that voice well, he opened his eyes and looked down at her.

“We’re stopping for a while to get something to eat.”  She told him, nodding to the cave over her shoulder.

Nodding, he slid gracefully off the dragon’s back.  He grabbed her blanket then walked into the cave, leaving the dragon’s care to the slayer.  Kagome was still asleep and he didn’t want to jar her any more than he had to, he was sure the slayer knew that.  Once inside, he found a flat, smooth place then laid out the blanket.  Holding her with one arm, he shed his armor and swords then seated himself on the blanket and made himself comfortable.

“Get some rest, we’ll save you both some food.”  Miroku told him, pulling things out of one of the bags.

Stoically relieved, Sesshomaru nodded then shut his eyes.  Holding her as close as he dared, he then covered her with his mokomoko.  When he was sure she was as comfortable as she could get he allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Finally, he was drawn back to the waking world by the smell of cooking meat.  When he opened his eyes he was a bit disoriented.  When he had shut them it had been midday, now it was full dark.  Looking down, he saw the priestess was still asleep in much the same position as when he had shut his eyes.

Seeing his brother awake, Inuyasha slid over to him.  Knowing he had to go take care of some business, he walked over and crouched down in front of him and held out his arms.  “I’ll take her while you do what you have to.”  He told him quietly.

Narrowing his eyes, Sesshomaru just looked at him, saying nothing.

“Nothing fun, you have my word.  She’s sleeping good for the first time in days.  If you put her down she might wake.  If I hold her there’s a chance she won’t wake.   I’ll hand her back when you return.”  He told his half-brother quietly.

Seeing the logic in what the boy said, he gently handed the sleeping onna over to him the exited out of the cave to take care of what he needed to.

When he came back in the slayer handed him a plate of food she had quickly prepared for him.  Quickly, he devoured it, not realizing how hungry he was until he took the first bite.  When he was done he retrieved his still soundly sleeping mate from the whelp, who gave her up without an argument.  Putting her on his crossed legs, he waited for her to shift around and get comfortable then relaxed.  “She didn’t wake up at all?”  He asked those sitting there.

“No, As far as we saw she didn’t even stir.  Neither did you.” Inuyasha told him.

“We decided to stay here for the night when it became apparent both of you were going to get some real sleep.”  Miroku told him, keeping his voice down so he didn’t disturb the still sleeping miko.

Nodding, he then asked, “Any sign of nightmares?”

“Nothing.  Only thing we heard from you two was an occasional snore.”  Sango said with a grin.

Giving a snort about the snoring comment, he said nothing.  He sat there trying to remember if he had any dreams at all but couldn’t recall any.  And that mad exactly no sense!  After a week of nightmares they just turn off instantly?  That was strange and he didn’t like it one bit.  There was a deep sense of foreboding about it.  There was something wrong, very wrong and he could feel it but didn’t know what it was.  Finally, he was drawn out of his thought by the whelp’s voice.

“Why don’t you and her lay down?  We’ll make sure we save her something to eat.”  He told him quietly.  “You two haven’t gotten shit for sleep for days.  We’ll keep an eye on things.  If there’s trouble we’ll let you know.”

There was logic in that Sesshomaru would admit.  Though he had slept all day he could easily fall back to sleep.  Kagome would also probably be more comfortable if she were on the sleeping bag and had her pillow.  Nodding, he asked, “Where’s the bedding?”

“I’ll lay it out for you, just stay put.”  Sango said, scrambling to her feet and grabbing a couple of the bags.

Within just a few minutes she had laid out a makeshift pallet for them at the back of the cave where they were less likely to be disturbed by any noise.

When she was done Sesshomaru gave her a nod of thanks then picked Kagome up, grabbed his swords and carried her back to the bed.  Laying her down he put his weapons within easy reach then slid onto the pallet behind her.  Because they weren’t out in the open and there was only one entrance to the cave, he decided to allow himself the luxury of lying down rather than sleeping sitting up as he usually did.  Wrapping his arms around his miko, he pulled her to his chest then shut his eyes.

Just before sleep claimed him that now familiar voice from his dreams once more spoke up.  “The time is almost here Sesshomaru but don’t forget everything will be alright.”  It said quietly.

He tired to ponder what it could have meant by that but before he could delve into it too deeply into it sleep claimed him and he slowly drifted away.

~~~~~@~~~~~

The rest of the pack sat around the fire play a couple games Kagome had taught them, talking quietly so they wouldn’t disturb the demon lord while he was trying to fall asleep.  When they heard his deep, even breathing and an occasional snore they relaxed a bit and the conversation returned to its normal noise level.

While making a play Sango looked at Inuyasha and asked, “What do you think is going on?  Do you have any ideas beyond what we’ve already talked about?”

Sighing, the hanyou shook his head.  “No, nothing.”

“I have a very bad feeling about this.”  Miroku said quietly.

“That makes two of us.”  Inuyasha added, tone serious.  “I agree with what has already been said on the topic, Naraku is up to something but we probably won’t know what it is until were in the middle of it.”  Looking down at the ground, his ears flattened a bit.  “I do know I don’t like the gut feeling I’m getting though.  I have a feeling whatever’s coming is very bad.  For one I wish that flea-bitten wolf had stuck around.  I have a feeling we’re going to need him.”

~~~~~@~~~~~

Feeling the soft wind blow through her hair, Kagome pumped her legs when she felt the gentle push against her back, making the swing soar higher into the cornflower blue sky.  She had always liked this old wood and rope swing and had played on it for hours when she was a child.  It had always made her feel like she was flying.  As she swung back and forth she could smell the soft perfume of the many different kinds of flowers that bloomed nearby bushing by her on the gentle breeze.  As she soared back and forth the first stanza of the children’s poem The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson came to mind.

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

But, unlike when she was small and swinging seemed to fix everything and make her happy, no matter the problem, she was frightened.  “I’m so scared grandma!”  She said.

“I know dear.”  The older woman comforted as she gave her another gentle push.  “You have every reason to be scared but like I’ve been telling you; everything will turn out just fine in the end.  Just let it happen the way the Kamis dictate dear and things will be fine.”

“It’s so hard!”  She whispered, looking up at the white cotton ball clouds.

“I know.  But in the end it’ll be worth it, you’ll see.”

With a soft whimper, Kagome wrapped an arm around Sesshomaru and pressed tighter to him, brow furrowed and sweat beading on her upper lip.  Shivering, she clutched onto him as the dream passed.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Staring at the scroll she held in her hands, Kikyo’s eyes widened.  Reading over it again, she wanted to make sure she understood it correctly.  After looking up a couple other things to make sure she had all the information she needed, she returned everything.  Thanking the priest who ran the temple she left.

Once she was out of the temple gates and she was sure that no one was watching her, she took off towards the woods, running as thought the hounds of hell were on her heels.  When she was deep in the trees and she was sure there was no one else around she called her soul collectors.  They picked her up and headed the direction she knew Inuyasha and his pack were headed.  It was going to be the longest distance her demons had ever carried her and she wasn’t sure they would be capable of the long journey but she had to try.  It was imperative that she find the pack!

She knew that there would be problems when she showed up and that what passed as her life would be in danger if Sesshomaru saw her but she had to get to Kagome as fast as she could!