InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Someone To Watch Over Me ❯ Battle Lines ( Chapter 8 )

***Chapter 8***

 

~*~*~*Battle Lines*~*~*~

 

 

He stood tall and silent as he stared up at the house he knew so well. He wanted to go inside and talk to his mother and uncle, make certain that they and their guests were all right, but he didn't dare. He had closed the school early on Friday after Shiro's impromptu visit, canceling all after school programs in favor of going to his childhood home and securing his family's safety. The traffic had been so thick that night that the normally two and one-half hour drive had taken him six. When he had finally gotten to the house though…He could never remember feeling such strong rage as he had the moment he stepped out of his car only to find Shiro's scent around the property, and it was barely an hour old. He had spent the next two hours searching his family's grounds as well as the surrounding forests and dirt roads only to find no trace of the man.

 

He looked down at the silver-grey cell phone in his hand with a sigh. After the fourth phone he'd crushed in his own hand, he'd paid the manufacturer extra to make him a new phone out of titanium. He was a bit surprised that for all this new phone had been through, it didn't sport so much as a scratch from his claws. Looking up when he heard the front door open and close, footsteps whisper in the dew-dampened leaves, he couldn't help the smile that softened his features.

 

“Mother,” he greeted warmly, “I've missed you.”

 

“Kenji,” the woman rushed to her son and held him in a tight embrace smiling when he bent low to kiss her cheek, “I'm so glad you came home.” Ayame gushed happily, “Come, let's go inside.”

 

 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

 

 

 

It was so dark where she was, so cold. She couldn't see anything, no smells; she couldn't taste anything in the air either. She reached out her arms, stretched her fingers to their fullest and turned in all directions - she even knelt down, but aside from the firmness, that couldn't really be described as a floor, beneath her - there was nothing. In fact, she couldn't even feel anything beneath her feet either; it was more like thin air. Turning this way and that, her eyes widened until they hurt as she strained to see anything in the darkness.

 

`Kagome.'

 

“Who's there?” she called out, trying not to be frightened by the hissing whisper.

 

Kagome closed her eyes, tried to calm down, tried to reach out with her power as Kaede had taught her. The only thought in her mind was to find Inuyasha, the desperate need she had to be held within his arms. She knew he wouldn't be here, but somewhere beyond this place…somewhere beyond the darkness.

 

A burning pain, a slashing fire across her shoulder blade, down her arm, caused her to cry out, to scream in pain, in fear. The feel of her blood, hot and thick, tinged with the metallic scent of copper assailed her. The feel of it sliding, running down her arm only to drip slowly and stop in midair as the iridescent purple-pink light of her power gathered from within her blood and flickered horrified and fascinated her.

 

At first the light of her own power blinded her. As her eyes adjusted, she could see a shadow moving around in the darkness beyond the reaches of the light. It frightened her that she couldn't see who or what it was that was moving around her. It scared her even more that as much as her spirit called for Inuyasha, she couldn't feel him anywhere, not even a hint of him. She gasped when she felt another slashing pain, more fire crisscrossing her back as the whispering voice hissed at her, laughed at her.

 

She fell to her knees as more blood spilled out of her, and she cried, her tears spilling down her cheeks. She shook, trembled as she watched the light of her power flicker and dim until it was barely there. She focused on it, not realizing that she was whispering to it, begging it not to leave, not to fade away and leave her lost in the darkness again.

 

Kagome jumped when she felt a hand brush over her hair almost lovingly. It stopped halfway down the length of her hair in a place that was aligned with the single vertebrae that connected the base of her neck to her shoulders and sat in the upper most point between her shoulder blades. Long fingers tightened in her hair, and she could feel the angry scrape of blunted human nails tear at the skin of her neck as the fingers tangled in her hair and suddenly yanked hard, jerking her head so that she was looking over her uninjured shoulder.

 

Her eyes widened, her breath catching in her throat as she looked into the face of her captor, her attacker.

 

“Hello, Kagome.”

 

“Shiro,” she whispered, terrified.

 

Screaming out, Kagome kicked away from him, feeling him release her as her legs connected with his body violently. He laughed at her as she ran, strands of her hair caught in his hand. She had been afraid before, but now she was beyond terrified. She felt the same kind of paralyzing terror now that she had felt so many years ago when Shiro had followed her to that center her mother had sent her to after her father's death.

 

When Kagome believed herself to be far enough away she stopped, falling to her knees as she fought for control over her emotions. Catching her blood in her hand, she spread the red sticky fluid over both palms before folding her hands together as if in prayer and pressing them to her chest.

 

“You told me you would come to me if I needed you. You promised you would protect me when he couldn't. You promised you would hear me no matter where I was. Please, please help me,” she begged unable to staunch the flood of tears that coursed down her cheeks in burning hot rivers, her voice cracking and breaking. “Sesshoumaru, please! Help me!”

 

She screamed again, louder and more desperate when she was seized from behind, long claw like fingers digging cruelly into the wounds made on her shoulder as she was dragged backwards.

 

“SESSHOUMARU!!!!!!!”

 

 

 

 

 

~_~_~_~_~

 

Beyond her world of darkness, deep in the Western lands a youkai lay sleeping within a mass of delicately crafted silk and fur blankets. The grayish watery sheen of moonlight cast eerie, colorless shadows upon him, bringing harsh lines to his smooth face. His golden eyes snapped open as he shot up in the futon, his heart beating madly in his chest, one name falling from his lips as a deadly snarl followed close behind.

 

“Kagome.”

 

Within record time he was dressed, strangely having no memory of the performing the task. Donning his armor and swords, he sped from the castle, his eyes flashing between his own bright gold and the fierce crimson of his youkai. He stopped running as his body dissolved into a ball of shimmering light that disappeared through the trees too fast to be seen.

 

Hold on for me, Kagome, I'm coming for you.

 

 

~_~_~_~_~_~

 

 

 

He couldn't decide if he was worried, enraged or both. He and the wolf at his side had been tracking Kagome's scent for days now only to be led to an empty dirt road that was rarely used anymore. He growled low, crouching down and sniffing at the ground before standing and turning his nose into the wind.

 

Spinning on his heel at the sound of a voice behind him, he came face to face with a human male, a priest or village headman, he wasn't certain which. The man beckoned Ginta and his wolf to follow him through the trees and into the hidden village.

 

“We have many people here, but only one that you have come to see, Guardian. Kagome-sama is within the main house, but beware her mate. The worse her condition becomes, the more vigilant and fierce his protection of her.”

 

Ginta nodded absently to the human as he left the wolf and his canine companion to find Kagome on their own. Kouga had asked - commanded - that he send the wolf back to him once Kagome had been found, but that didn't seem quite right to do. At least not yet…

 

 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

 

 

 

Inuyasha once again paced the length of the room, refusing to allow anyone but his own pack inside. It had been two days and three nights since Kagome had last woken. Whatever her dreams were, they terrified her. He hated this, hated his inability to protect her from this.

 

“Inuyasha,” she cried out for him in her sleep.

 

He was at her side with his next breath, kneeling next to her, leaning over her as he held her hand, stroked her face.

 

“I'm here, Kagome. I promise you I'm here, I haven't left you,” he assured the sleeping girl as he held her cheek, bidding the heat of his own body to warm hers. “Open your eyes, Kagome. Come back to me. Use that fucking command, I don't care…just wake up…please,” his last entreaty spoken in a painful whisper.

 

Slipping his arms beneath her knees and around her back, he lifted her easily into his arms - blankets and all - and sat down on the futon, cradling her in his lap. Looking up when he sensed the presence of another youkai standing just outside the door, he gave a low woof and bid the fox kit entrance.

 

Shippou slipped into the room quietly, his head bowed and his bottom lip held between his teeth in his nervousness. He stayed near the door, uncertain of whether he should move closer or leave. It seemed so long ago to the young child that they had come to this village - so long ago since Kagome had been awake more than an hour or two at a time.

 

Peering at the hanyou through the thick fringe of his bangs, he saw Kagome and thought she seemed thinner now than she had before. No matter what Sango had said to the contrary, Shippou couldn't help but wonder if her condition was somehow his fault. After all, wasn't she always giving him her food?

 

“Come here, Shippou.” Inuyasha's voice brought the fox child out of his thoughts.

 

Over the past two days Inuyasha had grown more worried and frightened by Kagome's deteriorating condition; so, too, had he grown increasingly worried about the kitsune. Miroku had slipped into the room earlier that morning to inform the hanyou of his own worry for the kit. Unbeknownst to the hanyou, Shippou had begun withdrawing into himself more and more as Kagome's condition worsened, even going so far as to refuse his food more than once.

 

“Look at me, pup.” Inuyasha's voice may have been soft, but it left no room for argument.

 

Shippou looked up at him, slowly trying to deny the presence of the tears glistening in his emerald eyes. Inuyasha could both see and smell the exhaustion the kitsune felt.

 

“What happened to Kagome is not…your…fault.” He said the words slowly and seriously as he looked into the child's eyes and studied his body language. “Do you understand me, Shippou?”

 

Inuyasha watched as the child nodded and looked away to study the unconscious woman in his arms as a single tear slipped down his young cheek. In a rare show of tenderness, the hanyou pulled Shippou around to his side and wrapped his arm around the child as the kitsune sniffled and buried his face in the fire rat kimono.

 

“Shippou, what happened to Kagome…none of us could have stopped it or prevented it. None of us knew that danger was there. Shippou,” he waited for the fox child to look up at him before he continued, “Kagome's condition has nothing to do with what you did or didn't do. She loves you, pup; that's why she shares her food with you. The way she talks about you when we're on her side of the well…you're not `Shippou, the kitsune pup' to her…To her you're `Shippou, her son'. That's where the difference is; that's what makes her do what she does.”

 

Shippou hiccupped as tears overflowed from his eyes and ran in hot rivers down his cheeks. Lifting a hand, he stroked Kagome's hair as he leaned heavily against Inuyasha's side.

 

“Why are you being so nice?” Shippou asked a bit soggily as he dashed the back of his hand across his eyes to wipe away his tears.

 

“It ain't about bein' nice, pup,” Inuyasha said as he looked down at Shippou and then at Kagome. “It's about taking care of your pack and knowing what's important.”

 

“Inuyasha…wh - what am I to you?” Shippou asked, hiccupping as he tried to stop crying.

 

“Don't be ashamed of your tears, pup,” Inuyasha soothed, dislodging the ribbon that held Shippou's hair and gently combing his claws through the sunset red locks. “A wise person told me that tears are a measure of strength. Tears show that you'll be ok.”

 

“Who said that?” Shippou asked as he stared transfixed at Kagome's face.

 

A half smile lifted the edges of the hanyou's lips as he gave a soft snort of amusement.

 

“You're looking at her, pup…Shippou…as for your question…” Inuyasha grew serious as he stared at the door across the room from them. “You're a pup. You're her pup.” He tipped his chin at Kagome before looking down at Shippou. “I can't take your old man's place - don't know that I'd make a good father if I tried, but…I'll help you honor him. I'll teach you the things he didn't get a chance to. I'll protect you and train you to protect yourself.” His eyes suddenly grew fierce and challenging as he looked down at the youkai pup at his side. “Make no mistake, I ain't gonna go easy on ya, and we're still gonna fight. You're still an annoying little runt and a damned pain in my ass...” the steam seemed to run out of him as quickly as it had appeared, “but I meant what I said.”

 

The moment was broken by a knock on the door. It opened as soon as Inuyasha called out to those on the other side only to reveal Ginta standing beside Miroku.

 

“Inuyasha,” Miroku said as he entered the room, the rings on his staff jingling as the wooden staff tapped against the floor with a soft series of thuds, “Ginta has brought news. Rather disturbing news…”

 

 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

 

 

 

Blowing out the candle in front of him, he stood and moved slowly from within the intricate geometric design he'd drawn on the wooden floor with a mixture of white chalk and dragon's blood ink. The chuckle that sounded from him was dark and malicious, quickly turning into a near hysterical cackle.

 

“Soon, Miko,” he promised darkly as he stepped outside into the false light of the city night. “Soon you will die, and victory will be mine.”

 

 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

 

 

 

No matter how many times in the past he had traveled in his energy form, Sesshoumaru could never remember having moved quite this fast. He could make out no solid images; all shapes, colors and objects blending into thin strips of nearly blindingly bright colors that changed too fast to make out. The sounds of the animals, the people, and the world around him combined into one voice, one nauseating buzz, and he felt as though he had been removed from time itself.

 

Nothing else mattered to him as he silently spoke to Kagome in his mind, telling her over and over to hold on, to wait for him, that he was coming, like a mantra. The words from his father - so long ago - came back to him in that moment, and he finally understood what the great taiyoukai had been trying to tell him. An inu youkai's strength, their power, is never greater than when they have something to protect.

 

He could feel Kagome calling out for him, her spirit pulling him, dragging him to her as though they were tethered together by a rope. He let the feel of her guide him, and before he had realized he was so close, he felt himself pass through a powerful barrier.

 

Materializing in his humanoid form in the middle of the quiet village was disconcerting, more so for the human male that stood before him as though he had anticipated his arrival. Arching a single silver brow, Sesshoumaru remained silent as he waited for the man to speak.

 

“Welcome, Guardian,” Akira greeted Sesshoumaru with a low formal bow. “The miko is calling her champions to her as she prepares for battle. You are not the fist to arrive.”

 

“For what battle does she prepare?” Sesshoumaru asked curiously.

 

“Kagome-sama bears the mark, she has been touched by darkness.”

 

Sesshoumaru's eyes flared wide as a low deadly growl spilled forth.

 

“Come, Guardian, time is of the essence.”

 

 

 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

 

 

Far across the stretches of time a woman awoke with a start, her daughter's name sounding from her lips.

 

“Kina?” Ginta asked, her sudden movement startling him awake. “What is it?'

 

“I - I don't…” Kina trailed off, her voice as troubled and uncertain as the expression on her face.

 

`Mom'

 

Kina rose from the bed as her daughter's voice whispered in her mind. The billowing softness of the borrowed sweater she wore covered her to mid thigh, the sleeves falling down to hide her hands even as she pushed them up once more. She walked quietly to the window and placed her hands upon the wooden sill, the cuffs of the sweater hiding all but the tips of her fingers from view as she looked out into the surrounding forest.

 

`Mama…Mama, I'm scared…'

 

A soft rustle of cloth came from the bed behind her, followed closely by the whisper of bare feet on the polished wooden floor. She heard his slow deep intake of breath as he stepped up behind her, felt his hands touch her arms, low - near the elbows - to slide lazily up to rest on her shoulders. Dropping a kiss to the crown of her head, his warm breath rustled her soft hair as he rested his chin atop her head.

 

“What is it, Kina?” he asked her, his voice low and soft as though he was afraid to disturb the stillness of the morning.

 

“Kagome,” Kina spoke her daughter's name once more. “She's calling for me…She's scared…”

 

Ginta watched her reflection in the smooth, clear glass of the window. He watched silently as she starred out into the trees beyond as though she believed she could wish her daughter to appear there before her. He saw the worry, the fear, the hopeless desperation she had felt to be with her child etched upon her face. He could smell the salt of her tears as they formed and gathered in her eyes, turning the warm brown depths glassy.

 

Dropping a kiss to her shoulder near the base of her neck, he gently turned her around and held her hands in his as he slowly walked backwards to sit on the end of the bed. Kina stood between his legs, looking into his eyes as he raised one hand to brush his knuckles over the soft skin of her cheek before grasping her hand again.

 

“I can't take you to her, Kina; that's beyond my power. But I can take you to where you'll be more connected to her.”

 

“Please,” she begged him as the first crystalline tear fell upon her cheek.

 

Ginta nodded and raised her right hand, turning it over to kiss her palm.

 

“Get dressed, sweetheart,” he told her as he rose from the bed.

 

Ginta left their room and headed outdoors in search of Ayame and Souta. A smile softened his face as he looked out toward the animal pen to see Souta being run over by two large litters of overzealous, entirely too energetic three month old German shepherd and Labrador retriever puppies.

 

“He's adorable, isn't he?” Ayame asked as she stepped up beside Ginta.

 

Ginta nodded as he watched the boy laugh and play with the pups. He remembered a time, so long ago, when the boy playing with the pups had been Kenji, and his mind played tricks on him, alternating the view in front of him between present and memory.

 

“Souta's excited to help me train the pups. But you're not out here to hear about that, are you?” she asked as she looked up at him.

 

“No,” Ginta said, his eyes and voice serious even as they held a sense of foreboding. “I'm taking Kina to the Bone Eater's Well. Kagome is in danger and is calling out for her mother.” Ginta gave a low tired sigh as he drug a calloused hand down over his face. “Ayame…what Kenji said to us earlier about the perceived threat made against Kagome by that man claiming to be her uncle…”

 

“Shiro, you mean?”

 

“Yeah…I think - I think he's the dark sorcerer. The one that marked Kagome so many years ago.”

 

All at once Ayame's back stiffened, her eyes widened in fury, and Ginta could feel the sudden rage that emanated from her with all the force of a great typhoon.

 

“She nearly died!” Ayame exclaimed, unable to rein in her rapidly escalating temper. “He tormented her for months! And you're telling me that this dark sorcerer is her uncle?!” Ayame railed at him, and Ginta found himself thankful that Souta was out of hearing range. “Why are you still here?! Find him and kill him!”

 

Ginta grasped her arms and shook her roughly once as a growl spilled forth, demanding in the language of the inu that she calm down. He stared into her eyes fiercely and unwavering.

 

“Even if I wanted to, Ayame, I can't! He is for, all intents and purposes, human. By the taiyoukai's decree passed down centuries ago `no youkai or hanyou is to harm or take a human life unless that human is a direct threat'!”

 

“He is a direct threat to Kagome!” Ayame growled as tears stung her eyes.

 

“Kagome isn't youkai, nor is she hanyou,” Ginta stated too calmly for Ayame's liking.

 

“She might as well be!” she argued, impassioned.

 

“But, the fact remains that she isn't. I have to go now, Ayame. Let me handle this. If in two days you still feel the same way, if we haven't returned - go see the Taiyoukai. You know he'll see you personally. Hell, we're all practically family.”

 

Ginta held her close and kissed her cheek before retreating inside the house. Finding Kina waiting for him, dressed in her dark denim flares and his white fisherman's sweater that positively billowed around her, he gave her a smile that was equal parts affection and worry.

 

“Are you ready?” he asked her, not surprised that her fear left her silent.

 

He held out his hand to her, palm up, when she nodded slowly only once. Sliding her smaller, colder hand into his, she let his warmth, his strength soothe her as he offered her an encouraging smile.

 

“Let's go, Kina.”

 

He led her outside the front door and knelt down, telling her to climb onto his back. Holding her like Inuyasha often held Kagome, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

 

“You'll have to hang on tightly, my love. It's faster for me to travel on foot than it is to take the car.”

 

“Go fast, Ginta; she can't wait much longer.”

 

Nodding, he sped off, Kina held securely upon his back.

 

 

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

 

 

“What the fuck are you doing here, bastard?” Inuyasha growled when Sesshoumaru stepped into the room.

 

“Your mate called for me.” Sesshoumaru looked down at the unconscious miko held lovingly in his brother's arms. “How long has she been like this?”

 

“Too long,” Inuyasha snarled. “And what the fuck do you mean, she `called for you'?”

 

“Do you remember that night so long ago, little brother?” Sesshoumaru challenged Inuyasha. “Before you came for her, I promised her my protection, and she will have it.”

 

Sesshoumaru looked around the room at all the others gathered within. Miroku and Sango sat on either side of Inuyasha; Ginta sat in front of the hanyou but off to the side nearest Miroku. The wolf Ginta had brought with him lay directly in front of Inuyasha, her furry head pillowed on the miko's stomach.

 

“We're ready to begin anytime you are, Sesshoumaru-sama,” Miroku stated nodding to the empty space left open between Ginta and Sango.

 

Sesshoumaru sat on the floor and looked to the left of the oddly formed circle they all made to see Kagome's adopted fox kit and the fire neko curled up together asleep.

 

“Begin, monk,” Sesshoumaru commanded as his attention returned to Kagome.

 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*