InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ War's Shadow ❯ Cleansed ( Chapter 20 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 20 – Cleansed

Dark…then…gray…then….

Sesshoumaru’s eyes snapped open to find darkness infiltrating the room. Had he been here all day…? He wasn’t sure what had dragged him out of that half-aware discomfort and back into full reality, but there was still that heaviness hanging over him, as though his lungs were heaving against stacked weights.

And an additional weight…this one slighter. The girl had gone quiet, but only because she had plastered herself across him and decided to sleep. Sesshoumaru eyed Ashitera, who was draped across his stomach, arms flung outward, knees bent as though she was praying at some altar. A terribly awkward position, but she seemed oddly comfortable. Strange, clingy child...

Feeling weary of being stuck in one position for so long, Sesshoumaru disentangled himself from Ashitera and got to his feet, dislodging a sheet of paper in the process. It drifted to the wood-planked floors at his feet, and some unbidden curiosity prompted him to reach down and retrieve it, the air around him creating a disorienting whirling sound in his ears.

He clutched the paper in one clawed hand, glanced at it…saw her attempt to recreate the example of her name he had given her. She had done it repeatedly, each attempt slightly more confident. And then she had moved on to his name. The characters duplicated themselves across the page until they were nearly legible. An inordinate amount of dedication for someone that young.

And…something about it bothered him in some way that he could not name.

He placed her work beside her and then, seized by a desire to just move, left his room, having no clear idea of where he was going. He was aware that his brain was currently useless, locked into concert with a heavily thudding heart that was sending blood to his head in dizzying waves. It made such basic things as moving limbs and forming coherent thoughts troublesome.

His sense of smell and hearing were so off, his mind so distracted, that he did not notice the nearby presence of another until he charged right into the hanyou, who was knocked back several steps by the collision. Inuyasha’s eyes went from wide and surprised…to narrowed and irritable.

“Bastard---!” Inuyasha began gruffly, then changed his tone but added a smirk. “Heh…I thought you’d gone ahead and died in there. You look like shit, ya know, and---“

“Do not speak to me. I’m trying to experience some quiet,” Sesshoumaru said in a confrontational voice that assaulted his own ear drums.

“Quiet doesn’t help, stupid,” Inuyasha responded with airy warning.

“Killing you would,” Sesshoumaru hissed back sincerely, suddenly feeling as though vital arteries were going to start exploding. He wasn’t certain why precisely, but seeing Inuyasha’s face and hearing his voice had pulled him out of that disoriented daze and instead was sending him storming toward a desire to inflict damage…

“Keh! I’m ready whenever you are,” Inuyasha muttered the challenge.

That sound…that careless, obnoxious sound…it made him want to wring the boy’s neck…truly, there was just something that was making him feel murderous….

Sesshoumaru took a few sibling-preserving steps backward, the sounds of his own breaths echoing in and out of his ears….fingers folded in on themselves to keep from…it was tunnel vision, zooming in on that face…that ugly, abhorrent…

“You’re losing it, aren’t you, pal?” Inuyasha questioned curiously. “But, hey, if you wanna fight when you’re like this, I’m willing to humiliate you.”

He couldn’t even think. His senses were overwhelmed with everything hanyou…smell, sound, sight…. Wordlessly, he brushed past Inuyasha, working to clear his head, and he ended up outside, nature flinging all manner of stimuli at him. It was a sensory wreck, but he was determined to make something out of it, and so he moved to the railing, claws digging into the wood until it began to splinter. He could just focus and pick things out as he normally would, discard the things that were natural and belonged….

His focus was turned inward, however, when he heard her voice. Rin was speaking to the miko, whispering, actually, for all the good it was doing, because he could still hear her as if she was standing beside him, saying it into his ear. But it was that eavesdropping that allowed him forewarning of what was coming. He was not surprised at all when another set of hands folded around the railing next to him, this time feminine and not clutching the wood as though to keep herself planted on the earth.

“You’re breaking it, you know,” Kagome’s voice idly chided.

“Better it than you, correct?” he warned in return.

“I healed Inuyasha,” she answered calmly, ignoring the threat.

This time Sesshoumaru’s head swiveled and he eyed her with open condescension as he replied, “Yes, of that affliction. It is a pity you cannot similarly cleanse his childish personality and boorish manners.”

Kagome turned to regard him as well, her chin lifting haughtily as she answered, “He is not the one that is acting like a child here.”

“What did you say?” Sesshoumaru queried in a deadly whisper. His fingers must have tightened their grasp because, suddenly, the wood fractured.

Kagome’s face fell into a delicate frown, but she remained quiet, as though carefully choosing her words. “I can help you. It would be for your own good.”

“You have no need to be concerned with my good,” he snapped back. Honestly, this woman! The moment she permanently left his sight would be one of indescribable gratitude, a relief he could not even fathom at the moment. She was quite possibly the nosiest individual he had ever encountered.

“You’re infuriating,” she muttered back, almost to herself as she broke eye contact and turned to stare out into the darkness once more, watching as a group of fireflies intermittently lit up. This was like some carefully-worded warfare. How was she supposed to get someone as obstinate as Sesshoumaru to relent? Trying to feel for a way in, she chose to switch topics.

“I wanted to thank you for trying to retrieve Tenseiga,” Kagome finally said with sincerity. “I know you did it for Inuyasha.”

“You know nothing. You overestimate his worth to me,” came the quietly growled response.

“And you refuse to let anyone give you credit, especially for the decent things you sometimes do.”

“That,” he bit back, “is because I do not need validation from others. I do as I wish. If you happen to benefit from it, then that is your good fortune.”

All right…that’s not a good train of conversation, Kagome’s mind prompted…and so she turned it again, this time with a purpose in mind.

“Several people came to see you while you were gone,” she began slowly, as the wind picked up and blew past them. “Some to offer help, some asking for it….”

Just the sound of her voice was scraping at his last nerve. She would not shut up, and he could feel that he was only moments away from forcing her to be quiet one way or the other. And those damned dual heartbeats coming from her, it was making it worse…

“Go away, miko,” he warned. “I do not care what they wanted. The only thing that interests me at the moment is for words to stop coming from you.”

Kagome shut her mouth then and remained silent at that. This was more than a bad mood. He seemed disturbed, distracted, as though too many things were pressing in on him at once. She had been around him enough lately to know that he liked his existence to be very ordered; strange for someone who was so prone to wandering, never set on being in one place for very long. But, even that transitory life was order to him, his own, altered at his own whim. He did not like outside influences to interfere in his matters, and so…she tried a different way….

Lowering her voice to barely a whisper so as to keep him from becoming even more irritable, Kagome began, “People from the northern border came to tell you that the jyaki from the mountains is expanding, spreading, and destroying more of the villages. Elif said it is because of Eido’s disturbed grave. She believes that sealing it can put a stop to that. Her father didn’t expect that to happen, but it must make him happy to know that he is effortlessly damaging your territory…”

Fury pricked the backs of his eyes at that, like needles, and he carefully modulated his voice as he replied, “Elif believes that falls into the realm of your abilities. You will need to make yourself useful.”

Annoyed at the rudeness of that, Kagome answered carefully, “Whatever it is that comes from Eido and Ryuujin…it retreats from spiritual powers. Rin’s bow, Inuyasha, you, the mountain, they’re all tied together, possessed by the same force. I can cleanse it. I know I can do it,” she said confidently.

“Then you will go with me,” he surmised.

Kagome smiled victoriously at that. Gotcha. “I’ll go as soon as you’re healthy,” she casually agreed.

She watched as his expression darkened into something angry and petulant, and in that moment, with that sullen look staring back at her, there was no denying that he was Inuyasha’s brother.

“Are you manipulating me, miko?”

“Shamelessly,” she admitted, turning a wide, satisfied smile on him.

His posture straightened, as though suddenly gathering the will to pull himself to his full height. He eyed her as she extended a hand toward him and he regarded the fingers as though they were brandished weapons. And, indeed, for a youkai, they were…

“We will leave immediately.”

“As soon as we’re finished here,” she agreed, then thought of something. “But I would prefer it if you asked Inuyasha to stay behind. He’s still healing and I don’t want you two to fight the entire way…and I know you will.” She caught the suspicious look he was giving her and prompted, “Do you trust me?”

“The better question is whether or not you trust me,” he answered slowly, eyes falling to that outstretched hand again.

“If I didn’t trust you, Sesshoumaru, I wouldn’t have agreed to go at all.”

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Elif felt like she was under the kind of scrutiny she would have had at home. She was seated near the fire, a cup of tea warming her hands, and her mind was still mulling the absurdity of the fact that she was consuming something that had been made by human hands. Occasionally she would look up and across the room at a shadowy corner where a looming youkai form lurked, eyes appearing feral, and it was greatly unnerving her. She was certain Kanaye had not blinked in hours, that he was watching her and waiting for one misstep, one ill-thought word to provoke him.

And so…she had decided to be very quiet. Her eyes roamed the large room, everything was honey-colored from the fire’s influence and it would have almost been a soothing, serene environment if not for those malicious eyes locked on her and examining every breath she inhaled.

Her ears caught the brief war of words between Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, something that had, thankfully, diverted Kanaye’s attention as well; his head unconsciously turned to listen to the sounds. And then Sesshoumaru had swept past them and gone outside and she had followed every movement of that man with shameless admiration.

She then looked on as Rin moved to kneel beside the strangely-clad miko and whisper encouragement into her ear. She wanted the woman to try to overrule Sesshoumaru’s innate stubbornness, apparently. Elif figured the odd miko would need all the luck and skill she could manage for that, but she was surprised that the west had deciphered a way to cure Ryuujin’s strange attack. She wondered if her father knew; he would be displeased….

The miko disappeared into the starlit darkness, pursuing a youkai lord who wanted nothing more than space and quiet. Elif finally turned her attention back to the cup in her hands, now slightly less warm, and felt those loathing eyes on her again. Aside from Kanaye, this place was so very different from her own home. It was a large and sprawling building, built in mostly the typical Japanese style, but it was all a contrast of warmth and cool; mostly dark shadows and a few lit spaces. Something like the youkai that inhabited it, she decided.

Her own home was ostentatious and over-built, too large, too empty, and full of too many strangers, people she could not have been bothered to know before because they were not at her level. Sesshoumaru’s home, though…these people looked comfortable here, and they were here for him, whether he liked it or not. Likely ‘not’, she thought with light humor.

Inuyasha’s red form stalked past her vision, and she turned her head to watch as he hunched down dog-style on the floor, looking bored. Rin leaned over to whisper something into one of his ears, which flicked at the sound and prompted him to turn toward the outside before finally settling in to glare at the fire.

This place had such a strange mixture of people…humans, youkai, hanyou…things her own father, and even she, would not have stood for. But, she could admit that, of all of them, she stood out the most. The lurking reminder of the enemy, although they had not treated her that way. They had simply adapted to her presence and left it at that. I wonder if this is what Sashe felt when she first came to stay with us….

There was a sound of light, shuffling steps, and a rumpled Ashitera wandered into the room, rubbing at her eyes. She stopped to stare at Kanaye as though trying to decide why he was there, a stare he returned unflinchingly, and then she thoroughly shocked Elif by making a bee-line directly toward Inuyasha and Rin, clambering into the human woman’s lap without the slightest hesitance, already half-asleep before she had even settled comfortably.

A stabbing jealousy surged through her at that sight, as well as an intense confusion. Ashitera, also, had become so comfortable here. Only a few months from her father’s death and already…. But Elif was reminded then that a few months was a very long stretch of time for a child, even a hanyou child. Even so, there was still that hurt that the girl had gone to Rin instead of her. There had to be something about that woman she simply did not comprehend….

There was also guilt at being here at all. Back home, they were burying Keito while she was here staring across the room at her father’s enemies, sipping periodically from a cup of human-made tea. Her thoughts refused to give her a moment’s rest….

She sensed that sudden rise in spiritual powers, a prickling current rending the air around them, making her feel uncomfortable in her own skin. The only one who seemed not to notice was Rin, who was frowning at the far wall, appearing lost in thought. Anyone with an ounce of youkai blood in them, though, would surely have felt that. Inuyasha shifted restlessly, Jaken’s eyes snapped open from where he had been half-lulled to sleep. Only Kanaye did not so much as twitch and her eyes brushed over him to find that he was still staring at her with the intensity of a stalking predator.

She diverted her attention once more when Sesshoumaru came back inside, the miko following a few steps behind him. He evaporated from sight and Kagome moved to join the rest of the huddled group.

“Did it work?” Rin whispered over Ashitera’s head.

Kagome nodded, prompting a snort from Inuyasha.

“What…did you have to hold him down? I can’t imagine that guy willingly allowing himself a good purifying jolt without taking the priestess down with him.”

“No…,” Kagome said carefully. She lifted her head then and winked at Rin. “I bribed him.”

“You bribed him?” Rin repeated incredulously.

“Keh…” Inuyasha muttered, collapsing to sprawl out on his back. “I still say it would have been more fun to hold him down…”

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The woman had no sense of time. He was waiting, which was unfortunate for her, because waiting did not bring out his more generous side. Sesshoumaru stood outside, ensconced in the dark, humid night, the very picture of calm composure…however, now that his senses were functioning normally again, his hearing was fixated on the movements within the walls of his home. He decided he was going to give Kagome a few more minutes before he went inside and dragged her out, whatever her state of dress or preparation.

A few steps away from him, Elif was watching him while trying to appear not to, and Sesshoumaru decided that he was just as likely to believe in the healing powers of the miko as he was in the prospect that he was still inside one of those hellish delusions. He could think of no worse fate than being trapped in a mission to revoke Eido’s wayward soul with only Kagome and Elif for company. Truly, the only thing that could make it less palatable was to have the hanyou tagging along, but that was not going to be allowed.

His mood was improved, temporary though that may be. Beyond the uncomfortable purifying experience, he could feel his body lurching back into motion, repairing old damage. It felt like something had been lifted off of him, which only made him more determined to be on his way soon. He was restless and, truly, looking for a fight. He was hopeful that he would find some of Eizan’s people skulking about that cursed mountain.

Rin bounded lightly down the steps and hurried toward him. He knew that she was not pleased at the idea of being left behind, but he had calmly reminded her that she had taken on the responsibility of the hanyou girl and that a poisonous atmosphere was not conducive to good health for either of them.

“You’ll be careful,” she said, as though to reassure herself. He noticed that she swept an uncertain gaze toward Elif, and he could see that, beyond the polite behavior, Rin still did not fully trust the woman. Nor did he, for that matter.

“They should be careful,” he corrected her. “If I come across them, it will not end well for their side. As for the miko,” he glanced up as Kagome exited the house, Inuyasha trailing behind her like a pet, Kanaye following them, “don’t worry overly much for her. Speaking from recent experience, I can assure you that any youkai that touches her will have made a painful error in judgment.”

“Let’s get this over with. I want to get on with tracking down that Kawahira bastard,” Inuyasha grumbled as he and Kagome arrived.

The miko graced Sesshoumaru with a pointed look as she slung her arms through the straps of her backpack, and he recalled the deal they had made outside of his house, a promise he was more than happy to fulfill.

“You intend to come with us, Inuyasha?” Sesshoumaru questioned in an odd tone.

Frowning, Inuyasha replied, “Of course I’m coming with you. Do you really think I’m going to let you wander off alone with Kagome? You don’t like her and I don’t trust you.”

Sesshoumaru nodded at that, appearing agreeable. “Then your health is back in order, I assume?”

“Yeah, why do yo---“

Blurred and swift, Sesshoumaru’s fist plowed into Inuyasha’s face with an audible cracking sound and the hanyou hit the dirt like a sack of rice, sprawled and senseless.

“Liar,” Sesshoumaru pronounced coolly.

“Sesshoumaru!” Kagome exclaimed in horror, “I asked you to leave him behind, not to hurt him!”

“You’re rather difficult to please, aren’t you, miko?” he calmly questioned her. “What do the methods matter? The result is the same.” He glanced at Kanaye then, who was eyeing the scene with vague interest. “Do it again if he wakes up. I intend to be free of his interference in this matter.”

“That’s the best thing I’ve heard you say in decades,” Kanaye sincerely proclaimed.

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That omnipresent creak. That, the sound of shuffling feet, and the skittering of vermin were the only sounds she was accustomed to anymore. Sashe lifted her head to watch as Eizan swept into the dank cell, disturbing the moldy air with his movements. She decided that she preferred the rotting reek to his scent.

He looked around him with unconcealed distaste, as though he had just stepped one perfectly-attired foot into something undesirable. She wondered why he was here at all; the last time she had seen him he had been threatening her with a horrible death and now here he was, striding about, appearing pleasant and at ease, as though his previous consideration of a gory execution had been nothing but a momentary lapse in manners.

“You bastard,” she hissed, and she barely recognized her own voice. It was hoarse and sounded unused. Unconsciously, her wrists continued to pull at the chains that linked them, rubbing already raw skin against cold iron, just praying to get one free long enough to… It was a shame she had not inherited her family’s more acidic traits.

“How do you stand it in here?” he questioned politely, glancing about at the depressing interior. From corner to corner it was littered with deceased creatures and remnants of things he could not be bothered to recognize. The smell was like a smack across the face.

“It is no different from sharing a room with you,” she smirked. “I hardly noticed the difference, Eizan.”

“Ah, you stupid girl,” he gave a mock-suffering sigh as he crouched down across from her, dangling one plated arm across his knee. “You will regret that when you hear what I have come to offer.”

His attention turned upward as droplets of dark water came splashing down from the damp, rocky ceiling, but then he turned back to her, cool smile in place once more. “Imagine my surprise to discover that I was betrayed not by you, but by my own daughter. You will have to forgive my rash judgment---“

“I don’t intend to forgive you for anything,” she quickly replied.

“Not even in exchange for your freedom?” he queried curiously. “You are lovely, even filthy as you currently are, and quite delightful. Smart, strong, intelligent, among other talents that I shall leave unnamed for the sake of propriety,” he said with a wicked smile. “I do miss those things. I can offer you the opportunity to resume your position as my---“

“Your what?” she challenged venomously, golden eyes sparking with fury.

“Potential mate,” he finished graciously. “You see, together, no one can oppose a joint rule over the north and west. It will make things very convenient, it will save your life, and it will allow me the continued enjoyment of waking up to that beautiful face.”

“You wouldn’t wake up at all, Eizan,” she threatened with a depthless sincerity. “And you speak as though Sesshoumaru is already dead.”

“He is, save for the negligible fact that he still breathes, but that will change soon.”

Sashe smirked at him, trying to remember what it was she had seen in that horrible face. She had thought him so handsome and well-mannered and caring, and now she saw only someone that made her certain she would sell her soul for the opportunity to have him alone, unchained, and in a locked room. She had never inherited her father’s blood lust, but for this man…for this creature…she was certain she could summon it.

“Sesshoumaru’s going to kill you and if not him, then my father certainly will.”

Eizan shook his head, as though dealing with an obstinate child. “Then I suppose my offer is declined? Ah, then, I can promise you will be reunited with them soon,” he informed her, rising back to his feet. “When they come, they will be given what is left of you.”

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“You’re not going to hit him again! It wasn’t his permission to give!”

Rin’s chastising voice circled through Inuyasha’s ears, prompting his eyes to fly open as his brain focused in on that last second sucker punch from…you jackass…. Black sky whirled overhead before settling into something more orderly, and he pushed himself up, prepared to do bodily harm as soon as he was able to track down…

One hand moved to feel at his broken nose, as though to make sure it had not been caved into his face….but that only made him feel like sneezing…bastard…. “Where is he?” he finally grated out, turning to eye Rin and Kanaye who were hovering nearby, clearly in the process of a disagreement.

Kanaye turned a lazy look on him, as though just becoming aware that he was there. “Your brother? He’s with your woman, I assume.”

“He took her?!” Inuyasha exclaimed incredulously, fists clenching.

“He’ll give her back, hanyou,” Kanaye patronized as though to someone of sub-intelligence. He eyed Inuyasha as the hanyou made movements to rise from the ground.

“I’m gonna kill him,” Inuyasha promised, turning and sniffing as though trying to discern direction. It was fading, but it was still there, clinging to the heavy, wet air like a beacon.

“I’ve been asked to keep you here,” Kanaye supplied, prompting Inuyasha to turn on him with a warning look.

“And are you gonna decide to start following orders?”

“I do not take orders,” Kanaye smoothly corrected. “I complete tasks that I feel are worth my time. This time, as much as I would enjoy beating your repulsive face into something unrecognizable, I have other more pressing matters to attend to.”

Rin watched as he rose to his feet, looking prepared to leave. “Where are you going?” she asked.

Kanaye glanced sharply at her, looking displeased at being questioned, but he answered her anyway. “I am following them.”

“But…why?”

“If it was your business, I would tell you.”

Rin’s mouth shut into a firm line of consternation as she eyed the two demons. She should stay behind for the sake of Ashitera, but doing that with only Aite, Jaken, and Ah-Un gave her an unsafe feeling. She remembered that last time, suddenly surrounded by Eizan’s army, and….

“I’ll go with you,” she finally said, then turned and ran back into the house to gather Ashitera and her things.

“She’s not very intelligent, is she?” Kanaye muttered. “Odd, considering that humans generally have an inordinate amount of self-preservation within them. Cowardice, for a better term.”

“Shut up,” Inuyasha ordered irritably, catching the look the older youkai sliced in his direction.

“Toad!” Kanaye called in a booming voice, one that quickly brought Jaken running, his short legs making tiny footprints in the muddy ground as he hurried over.

Inuyasha looked on as Kanaye pointed an authoritative finger at the huffing Jaken. “Watch this place. If so much as a blade of grass is altered when we get back, I’m going to make you regret the day you were hatched.”

“Go give orders at your own house,” Inuyasha grumbled as Rin came running back outside, arms full of a still-sleepy Ashitera.

Kanaye turned a sneering look in his direction. “I lived in that house for longer than you’ve been alive, rodent. Refrain from speaking to me.”

Inuyasha blinked and, in that space of time, Kanaye disappeared into the forest, the trees swaying from the wind’s movement. He glanced to his side as Rin arrived and said, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Looking uncertain, Rin replied, “Considering what happened the last time we were left alone at this house, I’d rather be wherever the rest of you are.”

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Never had she felt more out of place. Climbing some of the steeper terrain that surrounded the mountains was challenging enough for a human, but frustrating to the extreme when that human was accompanied by two youkai who scaled the heights with an ease she envied.

Grateful that she had been smart enough to change into jeans, Kagome dug one knee into a ledge and reached upward for the next one, fingers grasping at dead air, then a scrubby bush, then, finally, solid, steady rock, which she dug into with her fingernails. Her arms were beginning to ache from the various ascents and so it galled her to look up to find Sesshoumaru and Elif standing at the top of the ledge as though getting there had been effortless.

And for them, it was effortless, Kagome complained internally, looking down when something dislodged and sent a wave of dust and dirt into her face. She blinked it away and reached for the next hold, slowly crawling her way to the top until she was able to pull herself over the side, breathing heavily from the exertion.

But the air changed here and she could sense it, that same dark energy she had repelled from Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, except on a much grander scale. She pushed herself to her feet and looked out at the slowly lightening horizon. The mountain was coated with a thick, dark haze, like a storm cloud that had settled. It made the air look unhealthy and even in the darkness of very early morning, she could see it, and sense it even more easily.

“There is the issue of keeping her alive long enough to get inside the mountain,” Elif commented, irritating Kagome further by speaking to Sesshoumaru as though she wasn’t even present.

“She has shown in the past that she has more resistance to evil influences than an average human,” he replied in return, and Kagome resented him for speaking of her in just the same manner. “Can you do it, miko?” he finally directed a question to her.

“I can do it,” she said confidently, pushing past her lingering concerns. She was highly aware that she was responsible for more than just herself in her current condition, and it was that that made her wonder if she might back out at the last minute, out of fear or…who else is there to do it, Kagome? People are dying….

“I can do it,” she repeated again, and this time Sesshoumaru heard the uncertainty in her voice.

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He could smell her.

Ignoring the snoring racket that was being provided by Ginta and Hakkaku, Kouga stood and left the cave, his peripheral vision catching the rising of sleepy heads as his wolves woke to watch his movements.

He went outside, noticing first the humidity of the air; it was wet and felt as though it was clinging to his skin, but beyond that….there was Kagome’s scent, definitely. He could pinpoint it despite the interference of that creeping aura that was coming from the mountain.

Without even calling a good-bye to the others, Kouga set off through the tall, reedy grass, picking up speed as he ran, the river chasing his steps with its frothing current and pitching reflected moonlight into his surroundings. His feet pounded into the soft earth with rapid steps, sense of smell working ceaselessly to warn him of a need to alter direction, but…strangely…Kagome’s scent lingered, then began to fade, as though she had moved on. The nose-choking malaise in the air almost seemed to be working to overwhelm it, and it irritated him; it was as though it was purposefully attempting to block his efforts to track her.

He left the river and turned downwind, surging through the forest, sending night-hunters scattering from the unexpected commotion. He hoped to escape some of that unhelpful jyaki and pick up her scent again, but his mind could not help but turn over precisely why Kagome would come to this place with it being so unstable and unhealthy from the omnipresence of the northern dogs.

It had to have been that incompetent mutt that brought her here, he thought irritatedly. For someone as smart as she is, Kagome really made a bad decision when she picked that asshole.

Almost as though summoned by Kouga’s irate thoughts, his nose picked up the stench of that half-bred wretch and he altered his course once more, honing in on Inuyasha’s particular smell as he tornadoed through the trees, dislodging leaves and branches as he went.

He found Inuyasha with another dog youkai, Rin with a child in her arms, and the wolf he had provided for her protection. The young woman looked up at his approach, but for once he did not garner a look of pure loathing from her.

“Damned wolves,” Inuyasha muttered, breaking his attention away from the looming mountain as he turned an evil glare on Kouga, who suddenly came to a stop in their midst. “What the hell do you want?”

“Where’s Kagome?”

“Why don’t you go track down someone that is your business, moron?” Inuyasha challenged defensively.

Kouga’s face darkened irritably, and Rin and Kanaye looked on, one concerned, one barely interested as the two rivals bristled at each other’s presence.

“You lost her, didn’t you?” Kouga accused.

“How stupid would I have to be to lose Kagome, jerk?!”

“You’re completely capable of it,” Kouga answered with disdain, folding his arms together. His blue eyes passed over the unimpressed Kanaye before settling on Rin.

“What happened?”

“Sesshoumaru wanted Kagome to help him seal a disturbed grave. They believe its disturbance is the cause behind the release of the jyaki. He left Inuyasha behind and took her with him,” Rin calmly explained, but the words were barely out of her mouth before the two canines were at each other’s throats again, prompting Aite to growl in agitation.

“You lazy bastard!” Kouga whirled back on Inuyasha. “Just sitting on your ass while your brother and your woman go take care of everything? We all know you’re useless, but really, dog shit, that’s a new level of pathetic.”

Rin winced as Inuyasha’s clawed fist slammed into Kouga’s face and suddenly there was a whirlwind of movement as they worked to beat each other into submission, fists and claws and disturbed earth flying in expressed aggression. The ground shook under her feet and Rin tightened her grasp on Ashitera, who was somehow managing to sleep through it all.

Finally it was Inuyasha who ended up on top, pinning Kouga’s face into the mud as he kneeled on the wolf’s back and growled through clenched teeth, “I didn’t tell him it was okay! My dead brother just took off with her, so mind your own business!”

“He’s not dead,” Kanaye lazily reminded him.

“Details!” Inuyasha hollered back, turning to point an agitated claw in Kanaye’s direction.

Kouga tossed Inuyasha off of him with a quick movement, and both stared warily at each other as they rose to their feet and brushed themselves off.

“Keep sleeping then, Inuyasha. I’m gonna go find her,” Kouga sneered, and they all watched as he rushed off in the direction of the looming mountain, a whirl of dust and leaves marking his trail.

Practically choking on his anger, Inuyasha shook a fist at the disappearing figure, calling a few obscenities as he turned a desperate look toward Rin.

“You’d better follow him, Inuyasha,” she advised, telling him precisely what he wanted to hear.

“I don’t like this situation, either,” Inuyasha grumbled, casting a suspicious look in Kanaye’s direction.

“It’ll be fine. If anyone comes, it’ll be in his best interests to defend himself…which means he’ll be defending us in the process,” Rin replied wryly. “Be careful,” she warned, watching as Inuyasha hesitated a moment longer, then tore off in Kouga’s wake.

------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------

She stood very still, the wind whispering through her hair as she focused intently on the darkly-shrouded mountain. Even from this distance, Rin could feel what was seeping out of that cursed place, a physical representation of a deceased youkai lord's ill will creeping across the ground, destroying life, choking the cleanliness out of the air. It lapped at her skin like faintly scratching claws, and she kept looking past Ashitera's slumped, sleeping form to inspect her arms, as though anticipating there being some physical evidence of what she was feeling.

Her hands tightened around the little girl's body, mirroring the child's own merciless stranglehold. Her arms were locked around Rin's neck, face buried in her shoulder, a dead weight that was growing heavier and heavier with every passing minute. Even in sleep, she wouldn't let go, relax, as though she, too, could feel the lurking of something evil and forbidding.

Or perhaps she was simply reacting to the nearness of Kanaye, Rin thought with slight humor, glancing over at the stoic youkai, who looked as though he was trying his very best to imitate a statue, as he had not so much as twitched a muscle in hours. It was strange how things changed with time. As much as she did not like him for his harsh personality, she was glad he was there. He, however, did not look similarly pleased.

His face was a study of sullen concentration, eyes and ears alert for signs of anyone's return. As nervous as she was for their missing friends, Rin did not feel any true sense of foreboding until that man's expression altered. The wind changed and she watched him as his head turned slightly, posture stiffening some and it was literally like watching a dog bristle at an enemy's presence.

He didn't say anything for so long that Rin finally inquired, "What is it?" She looked down as Aite growled and thwacked her thigh with his tail.

"They're coming," Kanaye said simply, finally casting an unreadable look in her direction, as though judging what to do with her.

"What should we do?"

"You should run," he replied easily, "because I'm not going to fight them."

"What?" Rin exclaimed nervously, eyes casting themselves in the direction he had been watching, as though expecting a storm of armed soldiers to materialize at any second. Aite gave a warning whine again and Rin felt him nudging at her leg. "Kanaye..."

"You really don't have time to stand here and debate this with me," he warned mildly.

"What are you doing?!" Rin exclaimed then, loudly enough to rouse Ashitera, whose head lifted from her shoulder to stare dazedly at her surroundings.

He appeared very composed, oddly peaceful if one could attribute that term to him. "Why bother searching for Sashe when I have a willing escort heading in this direction?" he questioned, golden eyes locking on her as though it was the neatest, most sensible explanation one could expect. “I will not protect you or that girl. You’re wasting time.”

As though to emphasize his point, Kanaye detached his sword and tossed it toward her, but with Rin’s hands full of the half-asleep Ashitera, the weapon hit the ground with a heavy thump, molding an imprint into the wet earth. She felt sick as she realized how very serious he was. He's actually going to just hand himself over?

He cocked his head exasperatedly at her reticence. "And if they catch up with you, don't embarrass me. I've worked with you enough for you to have some idea of what you're doing."

Rin glanced back up at him in astonishment, certain that he was either suicidal or losing his grip on reality. She suddenly wished more than anything that Sesshoumaru would reappear, someone who could handle Kanaye’s penchant for strange behavior, because she had a terrible feeling about what he was planning. "We should stay together...," she said quietly.

"I can promise you, girl, that you don't want Eizan to get a hold of you," Kanaye told her, frustrated with her stupidity. “But do what you like. I do not care.”

Certain that he was being truthful in that, Rin altered her hold on Ashitera so that she could bend and retrieve the heavy weapon. She looked at it hesitantly, something in her feeling terrible for leaving him behind. Aite’s jaws gently latched onto her sleeve and tugged lightly at first, but then with growing intensity.

"If you'll just be patient..." she tried again, but Kanaye shook his head.

"They're nearly here," he cut her off, eyes set and hard.

"Kanaye..."

He turned his back on her to watch for the coming soldiers, but took the time to slyly say, “If you are still there when I turn around, those soldiers will be the least of your worries.”

That must have worked because he listened to the sounds of feet hesitantly moving away, and then gaining speed. Kanaye watched as Eizan's soldiers became visible over the rise, the thunderous stomping of dozens upon dozens of feet assaulted his hearing as they picked up momentum when they saw him standing alone. Within moments, he was surrounded by sword-wielding dog youkai, who were flanked by pelted comrades bearing vindictive expressions and nocked bows.

Kanaye smiled at them in greeting. "It certainly took you long enough. I've been standing here for hours," he chastised, turning to eye the assemblage. "Who's going to be the lucky man?" he asked, extending his arms in greeting.

A particularly formidable-looking youkai stepped forward, looking suspicious, his face creased by a deep scar that carved the skin from ear to jaw, black, silver-streaked hair hung carelessly to his shoulders and his eyes were icy as he inspected his prisoner.

"Are you Keito's replacement?" Kanaye queried curiously, doing his best to ignore the iron tips of weapons that were solidly poking him in the back. The leader responded by plowing a fist into his face, causing Kanaye to stagger back a step, but he managed to correct himself before he was skewered by the soldiers behind him. He shook off the hit and fisted his fingers in an attempt to keep his temper at bay. "You are going to have a spectacularly bad end, my friend,” he assured the youkai with false congeniality.

"Is this the ferocious Kanaye I have heard about?" the youkai questioned with a sneer. "All words, it seems."

"All words," Kanaye readily agreed. He eagerly extended his wrists. "Now...can we move on?"

The leader eyed him for a moment before gesturing someone forward, a soldier who looked as though he had just been summoned to his death. He quickly chained Kanaye's wrists together with the captive admonishing, "Nice and tight. You certainly don't want me getting loose."

Kanaye figured the boy was one flinch away from a heart attack and so took great joy in giving him the evil eye the entire time.

The commander watched him shrewdly, pausing to check that his arms were secured properly. “Don’t try anything.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Kanaye assured him with false piety. Although, truly, it was difficult not to start something; this was simply not in his nature, but the sheer convenience of it was worth the annoyance of handing over an unearned capture. His mind was singularly focused on a different goal, and so he ignored that craving to inflict pain on the boot-licking peons that surrounded him.

He was ordered to sit. He sat. He would be the model prisoner. Kanaye made himself comfortable on a decaying tree stump, stretched out his legs. He listened and watched. He sifted through the words of those around him until he knew that these men were ordered here by Eizan to help find Elif. Ah, will I be a disappointment then? he thought with amusement.

He stared straight ahead, hearing attuned to their voices, the sounds of steps, the clinking of weapons against armor. The commander had ordered several of his men to search the area, likely because he had picked up on the scent of Rin…and possibly the hanyou brat. That would certainly make for an interesting situation, but they were not his responsibility. He would not interfere for them. His focus was squarely on Sashe.

And so he waited, the distant reek of that jyaki still pouring from the mountain. He learned pointless things…the commander’s name was Inochigake….how fitting for him…they were hungry…they were grumbling about not having seen a female in weeks…Kawahira was their god, apparently…you imbeciles, I should kill you for that alone…

He smelled it then, beyond the jyaki and the close proximity of so many other youkai…the smell of wolf blood, and he figured they had found Rin. Then the distant sounds of a screaming child…heavens, don’t bring that wench back here….but they did and Kanaye withheld an irritable exhalation of breath. He turned his head slightly, watching out of his peripheral vision as the soldiers returned dragging an uncooperative Rin. The hanyou girl was firmly clasped in the arms of another and he was certain she was preparing to collapse a lung from the amount of shrieking she was doing.

Inochigake approached, clasping Kanaye’s intricately-detailed sword in one hand. He planted the blade end into the ground within a hair’s width of Kanaye’s toe, which prompted the long-suffering youkai to look up into his captor’s face.

“She had this with her. I suppose this girl must mean something to you.”

Kanaye irked the man by laughing at him. “She must have snitched it when I wasn’t looking,” he smirked and received a backhand to the face, and truly, he was becoming extremely irritable…

“You will be fortunate to make it back to my lord’s castle,” the commander hissed the words into his face.

Strangely, I was just thinking the same thing of you… Kanaye thought, but made no reply.

“Is she Sesshoumaru’s?”

“This is the west. Everything is Sesshoumaru’s,” Kanaye sneered and was certain if Inochigake-baka made a move to strike him again, the man was going to lose fingers.

Inochigake, perhaps wisely, did not respond with violence. Instead, he picked up the sword and placed it with his own at his waist, moving away from Kanaye to approach Rin. Kanaye’s head swiveled to follow him, watching as the hanyou girl continued to stretch out desperate arms toward Rin, who was being held awkwardly by one bleeding, harassed-looking soldier, almost as if he didn’t trust giving her much freedom of movement.

Kanaye tilted his head to inspect the blade of the sword he had given her. It was still in Inochigake’s possession, but was coated with someone’s blood. Heh…good girl. He turned his attention back to the commander’s threatening words.

“I would kill you here,” Inochigake said conversationally to Rin, who was still enveloped by the arms of her captor, “but we’ll take you with us. I won’t deny my lord that privilege.”

------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------

“You called for me?”

Eizan looked up at the sound of Kawahira’s voice, taking the time to finish attaching his weapons and adjusting his armor before turning to speak to him, candlelight casting soft flashes off the metal with his movements.

“I want you to remain here while I see to something,” he said simply, but Kawahira caught that cold expression and frowned, wondering what he had missed while he had been meeting with some of his subordinates.

“May I ask where you’re going?”

Eizan smiled, but not in a way that was reminiscent of any sort of kindness. Outside, the sky was slowly warming from a grim gray to something brighter, but Kawahira had a foreboding feeling, something that nipped at his instincts….

“According to a report I just heard, your sister is leading Sesshoumaru to Eido’s grave. Inuyasha’s mate, if you did not know, is quite a formidable miko from what I have heard. I assume she will attempt to seal the grave.”

“And you intend to confront her,” Kawahira assumed, feeling sudden dread for Elif and her poor decision-making.

Eizan finished snapping a guard around his forearm, and glanced back up as he answered, “She will be fortunate if all I do is confront her.”

------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------

Rin had never considered her childhood to have been a particularly sheltered one. An orphan encountered little kindness from villagers who were already poor and scraping by on their own, so she had heard and seen and experienced many things as a little girl.

And then there had been Sesshoumaru, whose language was generally impeccable unless he was speaking to or about Inuyasha. She had witnessed a great deal of violence during her brief years with him, but he had done his best to keep her safe.

Her years spent in the village with Kameko and Kisho had been comparably mundane, a thoroughly respectable upbringing that had made the more questionable influences in her earlier life seem dim and distant.

Now, though, as she trailed behind the looming form of a contentedly captive Kanaye, Rin’s ears were picking up on language she had never even heard before, not even from Inuyasha’s mouth, and the hanyou was prone to expelling all manner of embarrassing statements. But…Rin had never spent time surrounded by an enemy army.

She tried her best to ignore them and keep her focus on Kanaye, who was trudging forward as though he was welcoming every step. And perhaps he was. It was bringing him closer and closer to his goal, while it was taking her further and further from her own safety.

She would have liked the comfort of having Ashitera with her, but the girl had literally been pulled out of her arms. In a way, it made her feel better to know that she was safe from any harm, since the commander had been quick to confirm her identity, but she would periodically hear her name being cried and it was shattering her heart not to be able to see where she was in the moving mass of people.

She was also trying not to focus on Aite. She had lost sight of him in the flurry of suddenly being surrounded and barraged by Eizan’s men, but she had a terrible clenching feeling in her gut, and she knew that his not following after her could only mean the worst…

The guards directly behind her seemed to be trying to goad her into some sort of reaction, as they continuously uttered human slurs…then gender slurs…and then moved onto Sesshoumaru, but as angry as she was becoming, she knew it would likely be fatal to allow herself to be provoked, so she ignored them completely, which only seemed to irritate them more.

A large booted foot stepped down on the back of her ankle, sending her plowing into Kanaye from behind. She murmured an apology and picked herself back up as the youkai turned, exuding great dignity, to eye her warningly before focusing on someone behind her with a deadly stare. Then, without a word, he turned back around.

Rin was surprised by him, really. He had held his temper in check ever since they had been captured, even when the soldiers had taken their turns at cat-calling him. He had randomly ignored them or sliced them off at the knees with a very even-voiced, impolite response…but no violence. It just made her all the more certain that she wanted to be very far from him when he finally exploded.

When daylight began to break over the horizon, they finally stopped for a few moments, Inochigake taking some of his men off to speak with them. Rin was eternally grateful for the break as her boot-smashed ankles were protesting further movement. She took the opportunity to seat herself on a felled tree stump, feeling unfriendly eyes on her and every movement she made. Somewhere nearby, she heard Ashitera’s voice asking for her again and a barked response. She felt so sorry for the little girl….

She glanced to her right, noticing Kanaye hovering several steps away, very visible in the waning darkness because of his mostly-white attire. He looked displeased, as though this delay was keeping him from more important things.

And displeased he was. Kanaye was determined to maintain his patience, but it was fleeing and quickly. He was weary of listening to Eizan’s peons chuckling to each other and congratulating themselves on their captives.

Fools. I am here because I choose to be and it was that choice that prevented you from being left to rot in my wake.

He heard another cackling laugh and turned his head slightly to watch as one of the most annoying soldiers returned to harass Rin some more. For her credit, she refused to speak to him in return, but this youkai appeared to be particularly belligerent about that and his language became fouler with every word he hurled at her, finally capping off the conversation with a lewd question and an exposition of a body part that made Rin’s expression fall into something that was both repulsed and horrified. She cast a wild look in his direction and he decided to take pity on the girl. How innocent could she be not to anticipate such a thing from a carousing assemblage of female-starved, ill-bred soldiers?

"Not very impressive, is it?" he called to Rin, sounding nearly as bored as he felt, but as expected the brainless youkai whirled in outrage at that remark and abandoned his advances toward Rin in exchange for stalking toward Kanaye, drawing his sword as he came closer.

You clumsy, oafish bastard, Kanaye thought silently as he watched the youkai’s approach. The coming confrontation apparently caught the interest of the rest of the group, because they were quickly gathering eyes and quieting voices.

"You're going to hurt yourself if you keep waving that thing around...and that goes for the other appendage as well, although they are both equally disappointing,” Kanaye calmly informed him.

“You’re an arrogant mutt, aren’t you? Especially for someone who is unarmed. If you were smart, you’d keep your mouth shut,” the soldier sneered into Kanaye’s face. “But we all know you western dogs are all prettiness and no substance.”

Kanaye felt the sword’s razor-sharp edge slide across the skin on his throat, and he responded with his first display of temper. He twisted his bound wrists, freeing his claws to sweep out, quickly castrating the screaming youkai who whirled away from him, shrieking in agony.

Kanaye barely had a moment to enjoy watching the results of his work before he was leveled from behind, plowed face-first into the damp earth with what felt like a half dozen men shoving knees into his back. Someone, or perhaps several someones, took it upon themselves to beat him repeatedly over the back of the head until submission was quite necessary due to darkening vision, since self-defense wasn't much of an option at this point. But then, suddenly, he was hauled back up, the world whirling around him as a claw was pointed into his face and unintelligible words were hollered at him. He restrained himself from detaching that finger as well, but the option was taken from him when they wrenched his hands behind his back and knotted them together again.

He glanced at Rin, who was watching him with open-mouthed horror, and he shrugged carelessly. At least it had alleviated some of his boredom. Sadly, he was being forced to rein in his more aggressive tendencies until he reached his goal, but that had been very satisfying indeed.

He looked on as someone tried to help the still-struggling youkai who had yet to stop shrieking a string of curses. “Ah, he’ll be fine,” Kanaye provided in mock assurance. “If he was waving it at a human woman, he clearly didn’t know what it was for to begin with.”