InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ She Who the Prophecy Foretold ❯ A Glimmer of Hope, Growing Worries ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Inuyasha & co. belong to the illustrious Rumiko Takahashi. I do, however, own all my original characters and this plotline.

 

Chapter 6 - A Glimmer of Hope, Growing Worries

 

 

 

Sesshoumaru was moving towards the palace at lightning speed. When he reached the courtyard he saw Rin. As soon as she spotted him, Rin was jumping up and down and cheering. He stopped beside her for a moment and she threw her arms around his leg. “Lord Sesshoumaru! Rin is so happy that you have returned! The priestess Kagome, she healed all the young Lords! That's what the servants are saying. But my Lord, Rin is worried! They took her to her room and the healers have been with her since. Rin saw when they carried her out. She looked like she was sleeping but Rin doesn't think she was.” Sesshoumaru looked down at the girl, placing a hand on her head, and finally noticed Jaken at her side. Apparently he had been speaking all this time as well.

 

“Jaken, what is it?” He didn't have time for this. “It had better be important.”

 

Jaken shivered slightly, knowing that the tone in his Lord's voice meant nothing good for him. “My Lord, the servants! I warned them not to. I told them you would be angry but they ignored this Jaken as always. They show no respect to your loyal retainer.”

“And what is it that you think they have done that will warrant this Sesshoumaru's anger?” Sesshoumaru wanted nothing but to run into the castle and check on his pups and Kagome. Of course he would never admit to himself that he was worried about the girl. No, he was only interested in her welfare because he owed her a debt.

 

“Those insolent servants, they have placed that filthy human miko in the room to the right of your own. They have sullied the sanctity that you ordered maintained. Now the disgusting scent of that human will be impossible to get out!” Jaken huffed while waving his staff around.

 

“Master Jaken, don't talk of Lady Kagome like that!” Rin yelled at Jaken, who merely gaped at the girl. How dare she speak to him as such? Surely Lord Sesshoumaru would put her in her place.

 

“Jaken, the servants followed my instructions. And Rin is correct. Do not speak of the miko in such a way.” Jaken's eyes bulged and his beak-like mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water gasping for breath. “It is time for Rin to retire for the night. Take her to bed now, Jaken.”

 

“B…b…but my Lord?” He didn't get out any more because he found himself squashed face-first into the dirt, a black leather boot on the back of his head for a moment before Sesshoumaru continued on into the palace.

 

“Sleep well, Rin,” was all that he said before he was gone. `Damn that Jaken! He wasted so much time with his babbling.'

 

Sesshoumaru moved quickly through the castle to the room where his pups rested, nearly breaking the door with the force he used to open it. He looked around, carefully checking over each pup. Though they were still unconscious, their appearances had returned to normal. `It is as Rin said. She has healed them.' He gave a sigh of relief and it was then that he realized there was an odd scent in the room, as well as a missing one. He leaned over the pup closest to him and scented him carefully. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he scented the pup again. Surely he was wrong. The results were the same and now he went to each pup repeating the process. His demon pups now carried the scent of pure power, the likes of which he had never experienced on a demon, but he was all too familiar with in miko. `What has she done?'

 

He followed her drastically faded scent into the room he had ordered readied for her. He walked in slowly and looked to his healers who kneeled at both sides of the futon. The girl was deathly pale. He could barely hear her breathing and her heart beat. Her beautiful scent was so weak it was almost non-existent and he could no longer sense the power within her. It was completely gone, as if she had never been a miko. Indeed, what had this girl done?

 

His healers slowly met his eyes, a look of pure mourning in their eyes. They both shook their heads in the negative. `No! No! She cannot die! She saved my pups! I cannot let her die!'

 

“Explain.” One word was all he needed and the healers looked back and forth between them, trying to decide who would be the one to deliver the news. Finally the elder of the two spoke softly, reverently, never removing her eyes from the girl. “She is going to die, Sesshoumaru-sama. She gave a piece of herself to each of your sons. They are now connected to her. They each hold a small portion of her power. Your sons are immeasurably stronger because of her sacrifice. They now all hold some form of holy powers. I'm sure you noticed the pink tear drop each pup now carries. It seems that is her mark. Each boy is now immune to the powers of purification as if they were born to a miko. She did this without decreasing their natural powers in any way. She only added to them. Even now you can feel the power she gave them working with their own natural healing energies to purify and expel the miasma in their systems. She did more than save them. She blessed them and she is going to die because of it.”

 

“Why? Why will she die?”

 

“My Lord, she has spread herself too thin. She only had so much power to use and only so much to give. It would take time for her power to regenerate but it seems she ran out. She gave every last bit in her final attempt to save your heir. With no power remaining she has lost the ability to create more. We found her on the floor unconscious and she has not awakened. I fear that she will not.”

 

“She did not have possession of her complete soul. The undead miko Kikyo holds a portion of this girl's soul. If it were to be returned, could she be saved?”

 

The healers' eyes widened for a moment. This girl attempted the task without her complete soul? “It is possible, My Lord. I cannot be sure but it may be enough to allow her miko energy to return and keep her alive while her powers restore themselves. Until then there may be one way to temporarily give her strength.” The woman hesitated now under her lord's scrutiny. She was unsure if she should mention the option. Her lord despised humans, but then there was young Lady Rin plus the fact that this particular human was responsible for the survival of all of his pups. Maybe he would feel obligated to try.

 

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed at her nervousness. “Go on,” he ordered.

 

“Yes, My Lord. Well, there may be a way to keep her strong enough to stay alive for a short period of time but I do not think My Lord will like it.”

 

“It is not your place to speculate. Now out with it!” He was growling lowly now. He wanted to save Kagome, damn it. It didn't matter what he had to do. She had saved and blessed his pups. She deserved anything he could give her. She certainly did not deserve to die for her generosity and she did not deserve to die because he failed to slay a woman that was already dead!

 

The healer finally decided to just come out and say it. “You could give her some of your youki; share your power with her to keep her alive. I think, My Lord, that it is the only way to save her, to keep her alive long enough for you to find and kill the undead miko.”

 

“Hn.” He frowned to himself. Could he give a human some of his demonic energy, his youki? She did give her miko powers to his sons, so yes, he decided, he could and he would. Never one to second guess his decisions he stepped forward and motioned the healers out. They rushed out the door, closing it behind them. The demon lord knelt beside the barely breathing girl, listening carefully for her heart beat. It was slow, slower already than when he had entered the room and it was so soft he could barely hear it at all. It was now or never. He leaned down, hesitating for a moment before he pressed his lips gently to hers, calling his youki to rise and enter the girl. He gave it to her slowly to be sure not to overwhelm her. She had a human body after all and it was not meant to hold demon energy. If she had still contained miko energy he was sure her body would have fought the invasion, but because of her current state he met no resistance. He could hear her heart beat grow slowly louder as he continued to pour his power into her, waiting for a sign to stop. Her pulse became faster, slowly climbing to a normal speed. When her heart sounded like it once had, he pulled back to look at her. Her color had returned and now she looked as if she was just asleep rather than already dead.

 

He felt himself relax and found himself to be relieved that the girl would not die. He was determined to find the undead dark miko Kikyo and return her to her grave so that Kagome would be returned her soul and survive for him to thank and attempt to repay, if it was even possible to find a way to repay her for all she had done. He wasn't sure that anything would be enough, despite the fact that she had asked for no payment for her help. He sighed heavily before rising and leaving the room. He assigned a servant to watch over her constantly, in case of a change in her condition. He also ordered another servant to remain with the pups. Then he retired to his chambers next door to where Kagome was resting, dressing for sleep. He suddenly felt exhausted and even somewhat weak. He realized then just how much youki he had given her. She should not have been able to hold so much without it destroying her frail human body but she was an enigma, who rested comfortably in the next room with more than half of his power flowing through her body.

 

 

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Inuyasha was leaping through the tree tops, still in search of Kikyo. He didn't know why his brother was after her but he couldn't let anything happen to her. He failed to protect her once; he refused to fail her again. He was so distracted by his search for his first love that he completely forgot about Kagome. He was supposed to have returned to the village to greet her at the well at sunset but now sunset had long since passed and dawn was approaching. The trail of Kikyo's scent had been weak to begin with because she was being carried by her soul collectors. Now he had lost all traces of it and was running blind. `Kikyo, please be safe. I will find you. I will not let my bastard brother hurt you!'

 

 

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Kikyo knew Inuyasha had followed after her and was still searching. She was unsure as to why Sesshoumaru was after her but she had a pretty good idea. `Somehow he must have discovered that I was involved in cursing his pups. Damn you, Naraku, you swore you would hide my scent so that he wouldn't find out!' While it was true she had joined with Naraku, it was for her own selfish reasons rather than a desire to help his cause. Kikyo wanted revenge on Inuyasha and Naraku agreed to help her. She also wanted her pitiful reincarnation dead. Naraku promised to bring her back to life fully. All that was needed was for her to obtain her full soul. Causing Sesshoumaru pain was all Naraku's idea but she enjoyed it nonetheless. He was, after all, an evil, heartless demon and all demons deserved to be purified off the face of the earth, at least in her not so humble opinion. Naraku would eventually get his as well, once she was whole and her power was once again complete. Then she would have the jewel and would wish for the extermination of all demon kind. To say she was bitter was a bit of an understatement.

 

She decided to head towards Naraku, certain that Inuyasha had already lost her scent trail. She could hide behind his barrier for a while until Sesshoumaru was dealt with. Naraku did plan on killing him once he was weakened with grief anyway. His pups should be about halfway purified by now. By tomorrow afternoon they would be human and dying from the toxic miasma. Then Sesshoumaru would be lost to himself in a blood rage, losing his calm, collected demeanor and making it easy for Naraku to finally defeat the thorn in his side.

 

 

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Shippo tossed and turned in his sleep. Even in his dreams, he was afraid for his Mama. They were in a dark clearing in the forest surrounded by demons. They covered the sky, all just flying in place, awaiting their orders. Suddenly Naraku's laughter was heard and the group all spun to look in that direction. Shippo watched as Naraku, in his baboon pelt, stood in the tree-line, still laughing. He lifted a hand and the battle was on. The demons flew at them, attacking from all directions. Inuyasha's cry of “Windscar” could be heard over the roar of the demons as golden light filled the clearing for a moment. Sango was throwing her bone boomerang, Kirara was grabbing demons out of the sky in her fangs, and Miroku was throwing sutras and swinging his staff. Shippo was standing to the side, out of the way watching everything. He could see Kagome shooting arrow after arrow, her sacred powers purifying huge groups of demons, but they just kept coming. Shippo continued to watch as the group was separated from each other while fighting until Kagome was standing alone in the middle of the clearing. She had her bow in hand, arrow aimed and glowing with power, when she suddenly collapsed. Shippo cried out for her and tried to run to her, to protect her from the swarm of demons, but in seconds she was completely surrounded and all he could see were their writhing bodies. A moment later they all pulled back, revealing an empty space on the ground. There was nothing left of her. His mama was gone.

 

The kit awoke with a start, screaming for Kagome. Sango immediately woke and tried to console him, but the kit could not be calmed. All he could do was sob and weakly cry for Kagome. Miroku tried to assist Sango in soothing the kit but it made no difference. The kit's anguish finally caught up with him and he drifted into a dreamless slumber. Sango held him close, watching as he hiccupped in his sleep, and looked at the monk.

 

“I think he must have had a nightmare. Miroku, I have a bad feeling about Kagome. I think she is in danger.” Sango glanced from the sleeping kit in her arms to the monk at her side.

 

“I agree, Sango. I believe that something has happened. I wish one of us could go through the well to check on her. I wonder where Inuyasha is. He has never stayed away this long, especially when Kagome was due to return.”

 

“What should we do Miroku? I'm really worried.”

 

The monk wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. “My dear Sango, I do not think there is anything we can do besides await her and Inuyasha's return. I will meditate and attempt to determine where she is and her condition, but if she is a great distance away or if she is still in her time, I may not be able to reach her. I will do my best to detect her aura.” Amazingly, the monk's hand did not stray but stayed wrapped around the demon slayer. She laid her head on his shoulder and drifted back to sleep.

 

Once she had fallen asleep, Miroku tried his best to locate their missing friend but he had no luck. He could not feel her aura, which was unusual if she was anywhere in the area as her aura was large and powerful, unmistakable, so he determined that she must still be in her time. Their ominous feeling could not be further investigated. Eventually he too returned to sleep.