…From the Ashes the Phoenix Rises

By Danyealle

(FanFiction/Angst)

Chapter 13

After dawn, when everyone was up and moving, a breakfast of sorts was being prepared.  Kouga and Sesshomaru slipped away while everyone was too busy talking.

Finding a place close enough they could hear if there was a problem yet far enough away they had privacy.  Sesshomaru then turned to face the ookami, his arms folded over his chest.  Eyes narrowed he said, “Explain.”

Knowing what the taiyoukai was talking about, Kouga gave him chapter and verse of the relationship with Kagome and how she was viewed by both him and his pack.

By the time Kouga was done talking Sesshomaru had relaxed considerably, finally understanding that the ookami saw her as his little sister, someone to be protected, not as a potential mate.  Indeed, he could understand and appreciate where the wolf demon was coming from as well as what he had been talking about the night before.

“It’s my understanding that Kagome has no family here.  Also, that she has no father, only a grandfather who is a bit on the senile side in her time.  Is that correct?”  Kouga asked.

Nodding, Sesshomaru replied, “Correct.  From what her mother has told me Kagome’s father died when she was quite young.  Her grandfather, though I don’t know about senile, is a bit unhinged.  Though he is a priest he has no spiritual powers that I can detect.  It’s her mother that really runs most things and makes most of the decisions.”

“That’s always been my understanding of the situation from what I had been told.  So, I’m sure you have no objections to me assuming that role then?”  Kouga asked, locking his gaze with Sesshomarus’.

“Absolutely none,” the taiyoukai replied smoothly.  In the case of Kouga it was more of an honorary role, Kagome’s diction would be the final one, but it did mean she was seen as a member of his pack and the sister of the leader, giving her the same protection as it would the real thing.  She would also be given the same respect as if she were the real thing.  That would mean she was seen as a titled lady of the wolf demon tribe, a being that others in the nobility would see as an acceptable mate for him.  Of course it went without saying that the fact that it was Kouga’s ‘sister’ that was mating with the powerful Western Lord would boost the way others saw the ookami prince and help him.  Honestly, Sesshomaru had no problem with that part of things either.  Kouga had treated Kagome with respect and protected her.  It was obvious that she saw him as one of her good friends.  If it boosted his ranking, that was fine with him. 

Relaxing a bit because the ‘tough part’ was over, Kouga asked, “Is there anything I can help the two of you with?  I assume you aren’t wanting anyone, especially Inuyasha, to find out.”

Nodding, Sesshomaru sighed, “True.  The half-breed, though an outcast in Kagome’s life at this point, would not react well to our relationship.”

“Throw the world’s biggest temper tantrum and make everyone miserable would probably be a more accurate description,” Kouga snorted, rolling his eyes.

“Indeed,” Sesshomaru agreed, nodding.  “All I really would like is to be able to spend some time alone with her,” he then added smoothly.

Nodding, Kouga replied, “I’ll do what I can to help.”

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~

Like most days they spent traveling, the day was uneventful.  The most excitement that happened was stopping at a couple villages to see if anything odd had been occurring.  If anything was then no one seemed to be hearing about it because they had heard nothing that was at all helpful about either Naraku or jewel shards.

They stopped about the normal time that night and while Kouga’s underlings were out hunting for their dinner Sesshomaru led Kagome to a nearby clearing.  His intent was to work with her a bit so she could keep her newly-increased powers under control.  He had no desire to have any member of the pack accidentally purified because her powers had gotten out of hand.

Although his powers were different and he really wasn’t all that familiar with how miko powers worked he assumed he could use the same type of technique as with demonic powers.  First thing he did was have her notch an arrow and pour her power into it like she had done the day before. Like always the energy bled out of the arrow and surrounded her body once more.  Slowly, he had her work to try to focus all that extra energy into the arrow.

After about an hour she was able, with some real effort, to pour almost all of it into the arrow.  All that was left surrounding her was a soft, fuzzy pink aura that barely glowed.  Nor did it have enough power to do more than make his skin tingle slightly.  He was pleased with her progress.  Though it would take some time, soon she would be able to do it automatically and the threat of accidental purification should be mostly eliminated. 

When he had worked with her all he was going to for the night was work with her arrows but an idea began to tickle him.  Having her put her bow and arrows down, he pulled out tensiega.  After having her take the katana he showed her how to properly hold it then took a couple steps back. 

“See if you can focus your energy into the blade Kagome,” He explained to her quietly.

After giving him a puzzled look, she nodded then began to try to pour her energy into the katana.  To the surprise of both of them it worked very well indeed.  Quickly, the blade was glowing the same shade as her arrows had without any ‘energy bleed’ around her.  Slipping behind her, he could feel none of the almost painful aura he had felt before.  Gently, he put his hands over hers on the pommel.  Again, there was none of the aura, it all seemed to be focused in the blade its self.  Having her relax her arms he, with her hands still over hers, swung the blade at a couple saplings close by.  As her pink energy passed through the trunks they were sliced neatly in two.  Though tensiega didn’t cut anything, nor could it, her powers did. 

Chuckling, she grinned a bit then said, “Wow!  Neat!  I made my very own light saber!  Use the force Luke!”  she said, doing her best Obi Wan Kenobi voice.

Smirking because he had seen the movie the quote came from, he said, “That was a very bad imitation Kagome!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know but I couldn’t resist,” she chuckled, grinning.

“Indeed,” was his only reply.  After taking the katana and sheathing it, he said, “I think we should see about getting you a sword to use for self defense.  It appears the metal is a great conductor of your powers.  I don’t think a demon-crafted blade would be wise so we’ll see if we can find you a human-made one.”

“Hmm…” she said, a far away look in her eyes.  “If I remember right Sango’s village is only a couple days away from here.  They have plenty of weapons there.  Maybe they would have something I could use.  Because of the purpose they were made for they might be better suited for me.  What do you think?”

Nodding, he agreed, “Yes, that sounds like a good plan.  A weapon like that should work well.”

After pulling her into a gentle hung and kissing her tenderly, they went back to the camp.

While eating, Sesshomaru explained the change of plans to everyone and why.  Sango, of course, was agreeable to the plan.  That would give her a chance to do some repairs on her weapon.  She confirmed that there were a couple swords there and that Kagome was more than welcome to have them.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~

With the help of her remaining soul collectors, Kikyo was able to make it to the old exterminators village quickly and easily. 

Although everyone had been killed there years before, demons and the like still gave the place a wide birth.  Yes, the monk that traveled with Inuyasha had fortified the place but what the place had been used for and whatever was in the cave there, she didn’t know what it was because there was a barrier at the entrance of it she couldn’t get through, seemed to keep demons away from it.  Whatever the reason, at least she was a bit safer and wasn’t the walking target she had been up to that point.

Settling down in one of the better maintained huts, she sent her soul collectors out to do their jobs while she tried to figure out how to contact Inuyasha and let him know he needed to come to her.  Usually, she would have sent on of her soul collectors to do the job but with only two of them left she couldn’t risk anything happening to them.

In the end she decided that she would just sit tight and do nothing, to wait and see what happened before she attempted to contact the hanyou.  Because she was in a fairly safe place she could sit tight until something would come to her.

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~

After eating, the two women in the pack took their usual long, leisurely soak in a nearby hot springs.  They got out and finished dressing just as Kagome stopped cold.  Brow furrowed, the miko got a far away look on her face and stared at the ground.

“Kagome?  What’s wrong?”  Sango asked quietly, concerned.

After a minute Kagome looked at her friend, “Go get Sesshomaru.”

Knowing if she was asking for the demon lord something big was up Sango asked no questions then grabbed her stuff and tore off towards camp as fast as she could.

It seemed like only seconds after she vanished that the taiyoukai appeared.  Stepping into the clearing by the spring, he looked at the little priestess.  It was obvious from the expression on her face and the far off look in her eyes that something was drawing her somewhere.  It was probably her miko powers that were tickling her in some way.  Stepping closer, he asked calmly, “Kagome?  What’s wrong?”

Quietly, without looking up at him, she asked, “If we set out now, how fast can we get to the slayer’s village?

Brow creased, he looked down at her.  “If we travel all night and make minimal stops, sometime late tomorrow afternoon.  Why?”

Sighing, she looked up at him.  “Kikyo is there right now.  Apparently she’s in trouble and is trying to find a way to get a hold of Inuyasha.  From what I’m getting she needs him to protect her because her powers are almost completely gone.”

His face hardening, he was about to snarl when she went on, voice quiet.  “Something at the village doesn’t want her there and it’s calling to me to help,” looking up at him, face calm, she said softly, “I know what’s there Sesshomaru, I’m needed there as fast as I can get there.”

Looking down at her, his mind began to work at supersonic speed.  Since traveling with the pack he had heard what was in that cave in the village.  Midoriko, the mother of all mikos.  If she said something was calling her there he believed her without a doubt.  All he was now doing was trying to figure out how to go about it.  Humans didn’t have the night vision youkai had nor could they travel as fast.  They slayers fire cat could only carry two of them at a time, even then he wasn’t sure how long the neko youkai could carry them.  After a couple minutes, he looked at her.  “Come Kagome, we have to get moving.”

Giving him a smile, she took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, “Thanks Sesshomaru.”

Pulling her close, he hugged her then gave her a soft kiss. ”You’re welcome.”   Backing away he said, “We have to get moving.”

~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~

When they returned to camp, Sesshomaru began barking out orders.  Quickly, camp was broken down after hearing what was happening and where they were headed.  Sango, upon why they were heading to her village so quickly, was furious!  Her and Miroku took off first on Kirara because the fire cat couldn’t fly as fast as the rest of them could move.  Kagome was hoisted onto Sesshomaru’s shoulders then, with orders for the rest to meet them at the village, he was off running.  Yes, he could have gotten there faster by his cloud but he wanted the pack to be together when they went into the village.  Ginta and Inuyasha would be bringing up the rear of the pack.  The hanyou was off looking for firewood, Ginta had just found them when they got the orders, thankfully, so he didn’t know why they were going just that they were.