InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kagome! Where are you?! ❯ to kill or not to kill... ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter 12

To Kill or Not to Kill . .

In this chapter Kagome references, in passing, my stories, "Kagome's First Kill" and "What to Do About Evil" Hopefully I wrote this chapter so the reader doesn't need to read those stories, but, in case I'm wrong, you'll know what Kagome is talking about in this chapter.

Rated R for violence . .

Corrected by Angelica Birmingham

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She readies her bow and they go into the primeval forest.

The trees are types of pine trees neither have seen before.

There are large ferns and other unknown plants.

Buzzing in and around the trees are large insects. Running around the ground are small lizard-like dinosaurs. Rat-like or squirrel-like mammals scurry along the branches of the trees.

Kagome closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. 'The smells . . . the flowers . . . even in the deepest forests of feudal Japan, I knew that humans were around, but here . . . pure unspoiled, untouched nature.' she thinks.

The cries of the various dinosaurs and other animals ring through the forest. "I wish I had a recorder, Sesshomaru. In the movies you only hear roars. But dinosaurs make different noises than just roars." she says.

'Is that footsteps that I'm hearing? Creatures, I suppose I can call them dinosaurs, are approaching.' he thinks as he scans the surrounding forest.

Kagome stops and takes an occasional picture of the trees and of the animals that are around. 'I wonder, that mammal,' she is looking at one of the rat-like squirrels, 'what does that turn into in the future?'

"You know, Sesshomaru, the books on dinosaurs always emphasize the largest dinosaurs. But there had to be a lot of the smaller ones. Hmm . . . looking around, I think, that they are missing a lot by emphasizing the big dinos."

'Hmmm . . . whatever these creatures that I'm hearing are. They are smart. They are making sure that the wind does not carry their scent to me.' He fingers his sword. 'Good, mindless monsters are boring. Intelligent foes are better.'

She reaches out and picks a flower from a bush. She places it behind her ear. "I wish . . . " she shakes her head, "I wish I could take one with us, but . . sigh . . . "

"Why are you not wanting this Sesshomaru to capture one of these lizards?"

"Because, Sesshomaru, I have no idea how to care for it." she pauses, "Although, if we can find some ripe seeds. I would like to gather some of them. Hopefully, when we get home, I can get them to grow."

'It's not just a couple of dinosaurs. It's a pack of them. Some of the sounds that I am hearing have to be cries from them. Hmmm . . . if so, very complex cries, far more complex than the simple wolf pack cries, I'm used to.'

"It is late spring or early summer, woman, finding ripe seeds will not be easy."

She shrugs. "I'd like to find some, but if we don't, we don't."

"Woman."

"Yes, Sesshomaru?"

"Be prepared."

"Huh, why?"

"The dinosaurs that have been surrounding us are moving into attack positions." His mouth twitches into what might be a smile. His hand is caressing the hilt of his sword.

Kagome twirls around and tries to find out what Sesshomaru is talking about.

Screeches ring out around them. Suddenly, from the shadows of the trees, a large number of dinosaurs appear and charge Sesshomaru and Kagome.

"Raptors!" Kagome screams.

The dinosaurs look similar to the ones she saw in the movie Jurassic Park. They do not look identical to the ones in the movie. But, they are moving and attacking fast enough that Kagome isn't exactly sure how many they are or about any of the details such as how big or how small each individual dinosaur is.

Zziinng! The sound of Tokijin as it leaves its sheath rings over the cries of the dinosaurs. Sesshomaru growls, "Don't move, woman." And he moves and attacks the Velociraptors.

Kagome opens her mouth to yell . . . but she closes it with a snap. The fight is a massacre.
Sesshomaru is using his inhuman speed, combined with his supernatural agility to spring from tree to tree.

He is killing them, effortlessly.

'Hmmm . . . from her stories, I had expected a challenge, but this, well it is harder than a pack of wolves, but it is still easy.' he thinks as he kills.

Kagome's face hardens, her anger rising, and she rushes Sesshomaru. She grabs his arm. "NO! Sesshomaru! Don't!"

He stops and shakes his arm, trying to get her off. She grimaces, but hangs on, her fingernails digging red gouges in his forearm. "Bitch!" he hisses in anger. "Stop interfering!"

"NO! You can fly! You don't have to kill them!" she screams into his face. "This is not necessary!"

He suddenly flies straight up into the air.

Kagome cries out in pain. The claws of a raptor hit her side. She can feel blood flow down her thigh.

The raptor screeches its frustration from the ground below the pair.

"That, woman, was your penalty for interfering with this Sesshomaru." he says in cold voice as he stares down at Kagome. She is still clinging to his arm.

Kagome grimaces from the pain in her side. "Sesshomaru that fight wasn't necessary. Killing those raptors served no purpose." she says through gritted teeth.

"It did too serve a purpose. They attacked this Sesshomaru." He starts to fly toward the river. 'She'll need to clean that wound.' he thinks.

Kagome interrupts, "And you could have and should have, avoided that fight!"

"This Sesshomaru does not back down from a fight." he says in a bored voice.

"You don't have to go looking for a fight, either!" she screams at him.

"You knew that they were gathering. And don't say you didn't. I know how good yours and Inu-yashas senses are. You could have warned me and we could have left." She waves down at the forest roof below them, "and those dinosaurs would still be alive."

"According to you, they were going to die anyway." he says still in that same bored voice.

"Sesshomaru," she says in a very tight angry voice, "you cold blooded, heartless, murderous, disgusting idiot, that does not matter! They are alive now! And you will not kill just because you want to!"
"You do not order this Sesshomaru, human bitch." he growls back out her.

"Finally! A reaction!" she cries. "You know, Lord Sesshomaru, I used to think that Naraku was the most disgusting person I've met. But . . . now, it's you."

Sesshomaru twists and yanks his arm out of her grasp. Tokijin's sharp edge cutting Kagome's arm in the process. "Do not compare me with that half- demon."

Tokijin is back in its scabbard and his hand is around Kagome's throat as he says this. She grabs his hand and tries to pry his fingers away.

Kagome coughs, but says, "Naraku kills because of his plans and because he gets some perverted pleasure from it, Sesshomaru. You, however, kill because you don't care about anything but yourself." A pause as she takes a couple of breaths.

"Tell me, what do you care about? It's you, isn't it. Every thing is about you." She waves her hand at the forest. "You don't care about this, do you? All the beauty, all the majesty, all the life below means nothing to you, except, perhaps, as a way to test your combat skills. Tell me that I'm wrong, Lord Sesshomaru!"

He shifts his head looking around, but doesn't say anything.

"Your brother."

"Do not attempt to compare me with him. He is my inferior in all ways."

"Wrong. He is better than you. He cares. He bitches, he moans, groans and curses, but in the end he cares about people. He helps people. How many people do you care about, Lord Sesshomaru?"

A pause. "I am the Lord of the Western Lands, my rulership."

Interrupting again, she cries, "Your rulership! You've been chasing Inu-yasha, not ruling! So how can you say you care about them!?" she pants, and twists her neck, trying to loosen up his grasp around her neck.

She grits her teeth and says, "Your brother is better than you," with sarcasm, "Lord Sesshomaru."

He lifts her up by her neck and growls into her face. "My brother is a lying thief. He is a killer," pause, "and he's done worse than that, human bitch."

She shakes her head, "I've heard those stories as well, Sesshomaru. All of those stories are from before he meets Kikyo. He might have and probably did do, all the things in those stories, but he's changed."

"I heard those stories from his own lips, woman."
A pause. "Yes, I suppose you did. He was what, a teenager or something like that?"

Sesshomaru nods.

"And he told you those stories as he was trying to impress you that he was powerful, didn't he?"

He nods again. "And you threw him out, after calling him weak, didn't you?"

"No. I killed him."

Her eyes open wide.

"Or rather, I overestimated his human side, and I left him for dead, but his demonic side healed him."

She takes a deep breath and screams at him "You stupid idiot! Why do you think he wants to become a full demon!? So you'll acknowledge that he is worthy to be part of his own family, why else?!" She takes a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

'Of course, human bitch.' he thinks. 'Not that he'll ever convince the family, of course.'

She continues in a calmer voice, "Whatever I feel about her aside, Kikyo was a better miko than I am and she did something to change him, before Naraku began to interfere."

"Made him weaker." he says. 'And I've got a good idea about what she did, miko. And I will not fall into that trap.'

"Yes, I'm sure you would think that caring about people is a weakness, Lord Sesshomaru. You're wrong. It's a strength. Inu-yasha is strong enough, is powerful enough, that he will help people. I'm sure you think that mercy or pity is a weakness."

"It is."

"No! It shows that you are strong enough that you don't care if people think that you are weak." she pauses, "But you care what people think, don't you, Sesshomaru? And you're afraid that people might think you are weak if you show mercy. The great Sesshomaru afraid . . . "

He brings her face up to his and from only a couple of centimeters distance he stares into her face for a timeless pause . . .

"You, all you do is kill. Even your name declares how good a killer you are. Killing is easy, Sesshomaru. Cowards and weaklings kill. A strong person will find other ways to handle problems, not kill everything in sight! Like you do!"

"This Sesshomaru has heard arguments like this before, miko. The human monks bared their necks and allowed this Sesshomaru to kill them rather than admit that killing is a good and necessary thing."
Kagome whispers, "Killing is never a good thing, but it is sometimes necessary, Sesshomaru."

Kagome whispers, "I know that, Lord Sesshomaru, because, I've killed. I hated to do it, but I have killed. There are times when I had no choice."

He stares into her eyes.

He whispers, "You have killed, I can see it."

"Yes. I've planned and executed the killing of humans, demons, monsters and others. I've hated myself afterward." she says in a small voice, looking away from him. She whispers, "I've had to lie to my mother when I've awoken from nightmares about it. I don't suppose you've ever had nightmares, have you?" She shakes her head, "No, you'd never admit to having a nightmare."

He doesn't say a thing.

She looks back at him. "But, unlike you and unlike Naraku, I refuse to revel in it. Killing is wrong. It is not something I want to do. The times I've done it, I made mistakes that left me without any choices. I will be a better person than that in the future. I will find ways not to kill." She brushes her hand up against his face, brushing away a loose strand of hair.

She whispers, "Can you be a better person?"

He releases her neck.

She grabs onto his waist, she doesn't want to fall, they are still flying.

"You are wrong, Higurashi Kagome." he says in a cold voice. "Though, I will limit killing for now, too simple self-defense. Not due to your statements. But because, I will show that you can't show any weakness. And when things go wrong because of that, this Sesshomaru will take great delight in having you beg me to kill."

She reaches up, dragging her body against his as she lifts herself up. Their noses touch. "We'll see, Lord Sesshomaru. I will show you that helping people is better than killing them."

A timeless pause . . .

His eyes flick off to one side. "We are at the river, woman. See to your wound." he says as they land.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru, sir." She staggers off to one side and plops down on the sand, grunting from pain. She looks at the claw marks. They are just long, if bloody scratches, it is nothing really serious.

After a few minutes she stands up, the scratches on her leg healed and her skirt repaired. She frowns. "That raptor ripped my pocket."

"And this is important for what reason?"
"I had my fire lighter in it, Sesshomaru." She grimaces, "I'm sure it got destroyed as the raptor's ran over it."

"There are other ways to start a fire."

"Yes, I know. I've got some matches in a waterproof pouch, so it's not critical, but I just hate losing things." She looks at him.

Sesshomaru is standing a few meters away, standing tall. His clothes have already repaired themselves and the blood stains on them have faded, but blood stains are still visible on his bare flesh.

"You know, Lord Sesshomaru . . . " she pauses.

"Yes, woman, what do I know?"

"That fight with the raptor's . . . while you clothes have cleaned up, you still have blood stains on you. And I'll bet you stink of blood."

He looks down at himself and nods. She says, "Well give me my bag so I can get my soap and shampoo out."

He stares at her in confusion.

"This time you get to bathe." She smiles. 'He got to see me nude. Now I get to see him.' she thinks.

*************

Back in the area where the fight between Sesshomaru and the Velociraptors occurred . . .

A raptor picks up Kagome's lighter. It holds it up to its face, looking at it. Other raptors look at it as well. They call and screech at each other, obviously talking to each other.

The raptor with the lighter begins to scrape its claws along it. After several attempts . . . the flame at the top of the lighter ignites .

The raptor drops the lighter. The fire goes out. It picks it up again. It tries to scrape the edges of the lighter again.

The lighter ignites again. This time the raptor holds it steady.

The raptors talk excitedly between each other.

Controlled fire is a start . . .

The end chapter 12.
Tool using a sign of intelligence, but so is language .

For the readers that want a more realistic explanation for last bit . . This is an alternate earth, with somewhat more intelligent than normal dinosaurs.

Thank you for reading Jeff Shelton