Evolution of a Taiyoukai
By Danyealle
(FanFiction/MF/angst)
Chapter 13
Sesshomaru hadn’t been awake for more than a couple minutes, and was pondering getting up, when he felt Kagome stir and sensed her slide into the waking world. Looking down at her, he watched as her eyes fluttered open. “Good morning.” He said quietly, aware that their other companions were still sleeping.
Snuggling up to him, she draped an arm over his waist and rested her head against the front of his shoulder. “Good morning Sesshomaru.” She said with a yawn. Seeing how dark it was still, she asked. “Is it morning?”
“Very early, a couple hors before dawn I believe.” Kissing her on the forehead he then slid out of her grasp and stood up. Holding his hand out to her, he said, “Come. I’ll take you outside so you can take care of what you need to.”
Taking his hand, she stood up then stretched before following him outside. When she finished they slipped back into the cave and sat down by the fire to eat the food that had been left out for them and talked quietly. Once they had their fill he grabbed her pack and led her to a small hot springs he had detected not far away so she could get cleaned up.
While she was perched in his lap in the bubbling water he felt like something was troubling her. “What’s wrong Kagome?” He asked her quietly.
Sighing, she shook her head. “I don’t know. I have a very bad feeling is all. Like something very big and very bad is coming. I just don’t have clue one as to what it is.” She told him quietly.
Rinsing her back, he then pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her bare middle. “I am as well.” He told her quietly. “I believe the others are on edge too. It would be my guess that they are sensing whatever it is like we are.”
Sighing, she just shook her head. “This isn’t good.”
“Probably not but we’ll deal with it as it comes.” He told her stoically. “Perhaps, since you’re finally rested you will be able to sort though things and be able to figure out what it is. Or at least be able to get some kind of grasp on what that dream was trying to tell you.”
“Maybe. But don’t get your hopes up on that count.” She replied with a dejected sigh. She had a feeling that she wasn’t meant to know any more about that dream until she was in the middle of whatever it depicted.
When they finished and returned to the cave, Inuyasha was awake even though it was still dark. A transformed Kirara was with him and he was talking quietly with her.
“What are you doing half-breed?” Sesshomaru asked quietly without the usual rancor or disdain in his voice.
“I’m going to send her out to see if she can find Kouga. My gut’s telling me we’re going to need that mangy wolf and his goofy side-kicks.” He said softly.
Knowing the hanyou and ookami didn’t get along well, Sesshomaru figured if the boy’s instincts were telling him they would need the wolf demon there was probably a good reason for it so he nodded and said nothing.
Looking at Kagome Inuyasha asked, “Could you write something up for me to explain it the best way possible and give directions where we’re headed?”
“Of course.” She replied then ducked into the cave to grab a pen and notebook.
“This is going to be bad.” Inuyasha said quietly once the miko was out of earshot.
“That’s my feeling as well.” The taiyoukai confirmed.
~~~~~@~~~~~
Although everyone was awake and alert all the members of the group were subdued while they traveled. Because the fire cat was off hunting for the ookami the monk, slayer and kit couldn’t ride which meant they were moving a bit slower than they had been lately. Sesshomaru rode with Kagome even though she was awake and fine. His protection instincts were at an all time high and he felt he had to be as close to her as he could possibly get. Holding her closely, her presence and smell soothed him slightly but he still felt wasn’t sure why. All he knew was he felt an almost overwhelming need to be as close to her as he could get without actually crawling into her skin with her. And if that was possible he would have done that as well.
Sitting side-saddle, Kagome leaned back against his chest, being mindful not to impale herself on the spikes of his armor, with her arms wrapped around him. Like him, she was feeling the need to be close to him and feel his touch. It was the only thing that seemed to comfort her a bit and offset some of the dread she was feeling. Though the vision kept telling her clearly everything would be OK she was still scared about whatever it was that was coming.
About midday, when they were stopped to have something to eat and take a bit of a rest for a while, Kirara showed up with Ginta and Hakkaku on her back followed closely by the whirlwind that was Kouga. After exchanging the normal barrage of insults with Inuyasha and looking completely heartbroken when he found out Kagome had become Sesshomaru’s mate, he settled down to find out what they had wanted him to join up with them for. Though the pack had very little real information what he heard from them was enough that he agreed to join them. Especially after he found out it was Inuyasha that had sent for him. With the way they got along if the hanyou asked for his help then he knew it had to be big. Plus, he could sense the high level of stress and anxiety from all of them. That was enough to tell him something big was coming their way.
They waited to set out after they ate for the wolves to catch up to him and for them to rest a bit. Once they were off the mood was lightened a bit. As usual Inuyasha and Kouga couldn’t help themselves and started to snipe and argue with each other. Things might be stressful and there was a foreboding feeling hanging over the group but it seemed that the two couldn’t resist the opportunity to take after each other. Of course, as always, everyone else found the exchanges highly amusing and entertaining.
When it came to the argument there seemed to be a single topic that dominated the whole afternoon: the mating between the taiyoukai and Shikon Miko. No, as was usual with the ookami, Kagome didn’t catch any flack from him. In fact, he congratulated both her and Sesshomaru and wished them all the happiness in the world. He also made it a point of saying much of what Inuyasha had about retribution if the little priestess were hurt in any way, something the demon lord took with his usual stoic grace. But, for the hanyou, it was a whole other story. It seemed that Kouga blamed him, not the couple, for the mating. As he saw it Inuyasha was asleep at the switch and let someone else slither in and steal her away. Of course Inuyasha took exception to this, like he did almost everything that came out of Kouga’s mouth, and the argument was on for the rest of the afternoon. As what also usually happened, everyone else had an entertaining afternoon listening to the two go at it.
It was dusk when they stopped for the night finally. Kouga, as it turned out, was the one who found the ‘perfect’ site for them to camp, much to Inuyasha’s disdain. In the end they had probably one of the best meals they had ever had while traveling. While Inuyasha had gone hunting for the meat Kouga, Ginta and Hakkaku had gone out and come back laden down with fresh fruits and vegetables of all kinds. It seemed to everyone that even though Kagome was mated Kouga was still doing his best to impress her and prove he was far more useful than Inuyasha. Again, as it always did, that drove the hanyou absolutely crazy and he let the ookami, and everyone else, know it. At least, for the rest of the pack, it was an amusing evening.
After supper, Kagome and Sesshomaru slipped away for a while. Kagome had said, with a bit of a giggle and a twinkle in her eye, it was so he could help with her homework. Sesshomaru had said nothing but the smirk on his face and the look in his eyes said if there was any kind of homework help that was coming it was probably in the area of sex education. But the rest of the pack said nothing but all of them with the exception of Kouga and Inuyasha grinned knowingly.
Indeed, that part did come but mostly they had just wanted to have some alone time without all the extraneous noise that was present when the pack was together.
Before they were going to head back they slipped into a nearby hot springs to clean up. Sitting on his lap, he was gently washing her back. When he had to move that necklace he had made as a joke to wash her neck, he said, “You don’t have to wear this thing Kagome. It was a joke, nothing more. I never intended for you to wear it all the time.”
Reaching up, she fingered the beads and smiled, “I think I’ll keep them on.”
“Why?” He asked, genuinely bewildered.
“Because you made it. Joke or not you made them and put them on me. So I’ll keep them.” She said, looking over her shoulder at him.
Nodding, he kissed her on top of her wet head. “I believe I understand.” He told her with a nod. Also, he made a mental note that on their next trip to the fortress he would have something beautiful crafted for her to replace them with.
That necklace jogged another thing he was going to have to deal with: her clothes and how she dressed. Thankfully, she had given up wearing that ultra short skirt of hers long ago but the way she did dress wasn’t how a title holding lady would or should. Yes, with what they did and all the traveling they had to do anything nice or the kind of kimonos a titled lady would wear would probably end up stained or ripped to shreds quickly. But should he insist that she dress more lady-like or formal while they were traveling? What if they were to stumble across some being that they would meet in court or that were regular visitors to the fortress? How would it look to them seeing the Lady of the West dressed in such a way?
In the end he made a decision about the matter quickly. To hell with anyone who saw her and didn’t like her manner of dress! She had been like this long before they had become a couple. He wasn’t going to force her to change just because they were now mates. Yes, there were going to be several aspects of her life that were going to be turned upside down because of it so he wasn’t going to force a change in small areas like this. Nor was he going to do so at the fortress. Instead he was going to ‘bribe’ her into it by buying her all the beautiful clothes she could ever want. Knowing her the way he did she would gladly wear them if they were a gift. That would solve that problem very easily. In their chambers he really didn’t give a damn how she dressed but he would also ensure that she had plenty of beautiful night clothes and robes as well. After all, nothing was too good for his Kagome.
~~~~~@~~~~~
When they returned to camp things were pretty much the same as when they had left. Though the remnants of the meal were gone and everyone had laid out the bedding in preparation for sleep, Inuyasha and Kouga were still going at it.
Because it was much later than normal everyone was making the final preparations for bedtime and there wouldn’t be any time to just sit around and play games. As was usual the humans plus Shippo set up their bedding near the fire. Kouga and his two underlings found a comfortable place a bit further away, grouped together. The ookami ordered his wolves to spread out around the perimeter of the camp to ensure no surprises came their way. The taiyoukai and the miko found a place at the edge of the clearing the camp was in. They curled up together like they always did. Like his normal habit, Inuyasha found a tree to perch in, clutching tetsusaiga to his chest.
Once everyone was settled in for the night sleep soon followed. Soon, the camp was quiet and the only sounds that could be heard aside from the crackling fire and various nocturnal bugs were the various sounds of the sleepers.
About 1:00 a.m. as all the sleepers were in what was a deep sleep for them, all the insects and other night time creatures went silent as though they had sensed something they didn’t like and decided to vacate the area for somewhere safer. Once the area was silent except for the fire crackling each of the sleepers were visited by an odd dream.
Everyone except Kagome and Sesshomaru had basically the same dream; a vision of a battlefield with fighting going on everywhere then a woman’s soft voice telling them to do what they had to but to remember that in the end everything would be alright. To remember that above all.
For Sesshomaru, the dream was different. He got that same vision of a battlefield the others did. Also, he once more was gripped by that unfamiliar feeling of dread and horror and he screamed for Kagome at the top of his lungs. Then that now familiar voice told him soothingly not to worry, everything would be fine. Though he didn’t wake up during this vision, it greatly disturbed him and a knot of anxiety formed in his chest. Despite the assurances of that soothing voice, dread filled him. He didn’t like this, not at all.
Shivering in her sleep, Kagome let out a soft whimper of fear. While her grandmother pushed her on the swing she told her that the time had finally come. That she needed to let the fates play out their hand the way they needed to. There was a purpose for all of this, she explained gently to her granddaughter but reassured her that in the end everything would be fine, that things would turn out the way they should. At that pronouncement Kagome felt fear and a touch of terror bloom in her chest. No, she didn’t know what was coming but her gut told her whatever it was would be something she wasn’t going to ‘like’. Unlike with the other’s dreams, the old miko stayed with her grandchild for a long time, trying to calm and reassure her the best she could.
In her sleep, the little miko pressed tighter to her mate, clinging to him, trying to take comfort in his strength. Though it didn’t dispel all her fears it calmed her enough that she was able to slide into the deeper recesses of sleep.
~~~~~@~~~~~
Finding a safe little cove, Kikyo sunk to the ground, exhausted. She had traveled continuously since she had left the temple, both by walking as well as being carried by her soul collectors. Yes, she had come a long ways since she had started but it wasn’t far enough nor had she found any sign of the hard hunting group. The only good thing was that she at least knew she was traveling in the right direction. She had found out they were headed this way from one of the villages she had passed though.
Resting back against a large boulder, she shut her eyes while her soul collectors did their jobs. Up to this point, because she had felt traveling had been her first priority; she had ignored that and pressed on. But now she had to let it happen because she was about ‘dead’. While she waited, her mind raced over what she had learned and just how she needed to do this.
The information, she had found she organized into some semblance of order so that it flowed correctly in her mind. That was the easy part of this whole thing. The hard part was how she was going to go about explaining this to the group in such a way that it wouldn’t panic them and would also allow for the fates to play out their hand in the way that they needed to.
Now, just how was she going to go about this? That was the million yen question. But even more than that was the question of how was she going to get anyone besides Inuyasha to even listen to anything she had to say. Or even open her mouth without the taiyoukai sending her on to the next world. Kagome, she knew, was forgiving or would at least listen if she had something to say to her but Sesshomaru probably wouldn’t’ even let her open her mouth before he attacked. Though Inuyasha was a match for his half-brother at most things she didn’t think this time he would be. If the miko and taiyoukai weren’t already mated it was probably coming soon and the demon lord would probably view seeing her as defending his mate, then go on the defensive. There was no way the hanyou was powerful enough to stop a youkai in full protection mode. She was sure Sesshomaru would get through Inuyasha with ease then she would be a sitting target that he would probably stop at nothing to get to. So she was going to have to go about this with the utmost caution and care.
Though she felt the need to get to the pack as quickly as she could she really didn’t know when the scenario she had found out about would take place. Yes, it was her assumption that the event was coming soon but she couldn’t be sure about that. For all she knew it could be years in the future. Showing up and telling the story she had and adding she didn’t know when this was going to happen, if it even was, wasn’t going to look good either. Gone were the days when she cold just say something and people would listen and believe her. Now she would have to have proof of it of some kind.
Sighing, she decided that while finding the pack was top priority she better made sure her ducks were beak to tail and she had to find a way to get their attention then explain it. But first, she needed rest she though as she drifted off to sleep.
~~~~~@~~~~~
Unlike most mornings, Kagome was already awake when Sesshomaru opened his eyes. She was laying there with her backside pressed firmly against him, staring into the fire. Sliding an arm around her waist, he gave her a light squeeze and a kiss on the top of the head. Already he could sense fear and anxiety twisting in her aura. Remembering the dream he had he didn’t ask what was troubling her. He assumed that she had a similar one as well. Once more he felt helpless because there was really nothing he could do to ease her anxiety, just to be there for her to lean on, both physically and metaphorically.
When she felt his arm slide around her, she leaned against him and gave an almost inaudible sigh. Something, somewhere in her was telling her that this was the day all those dreams were telling her about. Whatever was going to happen was coming and there was no way to stop or delay it.
During breakfast and as they traveled the little priestess didn’t talk or even want to speak to anyone. All she wanted to do was cling to her demon lord. Each kilometer they moved the more intense and bigger her feelings of dread and fear grew.
It seemed that the rest of her traveling companions seemed to be keying off her because they were a subdued bunch. Even Kouga and Inuyasha didn’t engage in their normal verbal exchanges. Most of the pack kept glancing back at her from time to time. They weren’t sure what they were more worried about; how she was acting or an increasing feeling of dread all of them seemed to be getting.
When they final stopped for lunch no one ate much of anything but Kagome ate next to nothing, only nibbling absently on her sandwich. Her stomach was roiling and clenching so tightly that she was sure if she ate too much it would be making a return appearance. Part of her wanted to put off what was coming as long as she could but another part seemed to be of the opinion that the quicker it happened, the faster it would over with. But mostly she wanted to burst into hysterical tears she was so scared.
~~~~~@~~~~~
When Kikyo woke she felt a great urgency to find the shard hungers. Something was telling her she had to find them now before it was too late. No, she didn’t want to stop what was coming but if they were forewarned much pain and anguish could be avoided. Once more she had her soul collectors pick her up and carry her the direction the group was thought to be traveling. While she watched for any sign she prayed to any Kami that might still listen to her that she made it in time.
~~~~~@~~~~~
After lunch, when they started moving once more, Kagome’s level of fear was rapidly climbing to an all time high. It was all she could do to keep herself from bursting into tears. In fact, a couple times she couldn’t stop them and a few wayward drops slipped from her eyes and trickled down he cheeks. Keeping her face turned into Sesshomaru’s chest she hoped that no one noticed but she knew any of her fellow travelers with youkai blood would probably be able to smell the salt water.
At this point she just wanted the whole thing, whatever it was, to be over because she really couldn’t take much more of this! If it didn’t end soon she was sure that she would go absolutely stark-raving mad!
~~~~~@~~~~~
Holding her closely, Sesshomaru was in absolute emotion agony. Holding her like he was and feeling powerless to fix whatever the problem was left him feeling enraged. Normally he would fix or deal with the problem and that was that but he couldn’t do that this time and it left him feeling helpless, something he most certainly didn’t like. When he could smell her tears he wanted to let out a roar of pure rage and tear something apart but he didn’t. Instead he held and comforted her the best he could. All he could think of though was this had to be a form or torture.
As they moved, he could see both Kouga and Inuyasha both glance back at them from time to time, worried looks on their faces. Their anxiety level also soared through the roof as time slowly seemed to drag on.
Finally, just as he was sure he could take no more and was going to insist that they make camp for the night, Kagome stiffened up then pulled away from him, seeming to scan her surroundings.
“Kagome?” He asked quietly, putting a hand on her back.
“We have to head that way.” She told him firmly, pointing a bit west of the way they were traveling.
“Is it a shard?” Inuyasha asked, ears twitching a bit.
“No.” She said quietly, swallowing around the huge lump that seemed to form in her throat. “It’s Naraku.” She said in a quivering voice.
That sentence changed everyones mood instantly. Weapons on the ready, they changed course, apprehension rippling off of all of them.
After giving his miko a hug and a tender kiss, Sesshomaru hopped off the dragon and began to walk by it, ready for whatever may come. “Stay near Ah-Un Kagome, he’ll help protect you, alright?”
“Alright,” she said quietly, clutching her bow tightly in one shaking hand.
~~~~~@~~~~~
In under five minutes, they stepped out of the trees they had been traveling though into a small meadow. There, standing flanked by Kanna, Kagura and Kohaku, was the spider hanyou himself in all the handsome glory his stolen body would allow him. With a small grin on his face, he looked at the rag-tag group and said, “Well, well, well, we meet again.” Voice its usual smooth and cultured tone.