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Edge of Paradise	By : QueenoftheDream Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Sessh?maru/Kagome > Sessh?maru/Kagome Views: 5324 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor the characters from it. I made no money in writing this fiction.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
In the morning, Kagome and Rin were roused and fed a filling breakfast. On their way out of the headman’s door, they were each given a furoshiki filled with supplies. Kagome was handed a full quiver of quality arrows and a sturdy bow in addition. The girls trekked out of the village shortly after sunrise and joined up with Sesshomaru just past the tree line. He was once more sitting motionless under the birch tree and appeared to have done so all night. The clear morning light reflected off of small beads of dew in the imposing demon’s hair, making it appear as moonbeams spangled with drops of mercury. Those same dew droplets were gathered against the pristine white silk of his clothing and shone like tiny pearls. His armor glinted in the pale light, and he looked like a statue fixed in time. The demon in repose almost elicited a tiny gasp from Kagome, but she refrained and opted for standing in silence, waiting for him to awaken. He opened his eyes, and Kagome averted her gaze shyly.
“I do not require sleep as humans do,” he lowly stated, still seated on the hard ground, and Kagome felt heat creep up her next. So he had been awake after all. Rin, meanwhile, ran up with her arms stretched out to the sides.
“Ohayou gozaimasu, Sesshomaru-yokai-sama!” She leapt in front of him and bobbed down in a bow.
“Hnn,” he replied as he rose to his feet. He let out an invisible pulse of youki that rippled over Kagome’s skin and caused her hairs to stand on end. Simultaneously, all of the little dew drops flew from his body and sprinkled down on the two females. Rin squealed in delight as the droplets dampened her hair and face.
“It knows we are here.”
“Well, with my reiki and your youki, it would have to be completely daft to not know that we’re in its territory,” Kagome glibly mumbled as she headed north. Rin bounded after her as Sesshomaru stared at her aloofly.
Kagome trudged through the thick foliage steadily with a hard look of determination stamped upon her brow. “This thing cannot possibly be around here. I can’t feel anything, let alone see or hear it.”
“The latter would be easily remedied if you would cease the unending flow of drivel pouring from your mouth,” Sesshomaru drily remarked, and Kagome turned to send him a scathing glare with a “harrumph.” When she turned, she saw Sesshomaru gracefully skimming the tops of the plants with his youki cloud. She did not, however, see Rin. There was no trace she had been there: no burst of giggles when she darted after something, no swathe of plants sans their flowers left in her wake. A pang of fear seized in her chest, and Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes as he followed her line of sight into empty space.
She whirled around to face forward and her heartbeat pumped hot panic through her body. “Rin-chan,” she hollered as she darted forward, panting raggedly. “Rin-chan! Where are you?” Her voice was shrill. She could feel Sesshomaru’s youki wash over her in a diluted wave as he presumably scoured the area for a trace.
Just barely audible, as if coming from half a league away, a faint voice echoed, “Kagome-sama…”
Kagome gasped and increased her speed. “Kagome-sama,” the voice repeated.
“Rin-chan,” Kagome called out once more. “Rin-chan, where did you-“ She was cut off as a dark brown blur swooped down from the canopy and grabbed her under its arm before bounding headlong through the trees with an ear-splitting screech that matched her own. Kagome squirmed wildly in her captor’s grasp, and she was able to glimpse the creature in whose claws she’d been snatched up. The demon, presumably her kitsune target, had a cloudy face that was morphing and camouflaging into the rapidly passing foliage. It was formless and transparent but had a solid corporeal body. Kagome writhed and shrieked. She could see no blur of white indicating that Sesshomaru was close on its heels.
Reaching into her flapping sleeve, she wrapped her fingers around her tanto and plunged the blade into the morphing creature’s warm forearm, eliciting a grating screech. It loosened its hold on her torso, and she was able to push herself backward and out of its grip. She fell through the branches, catching herself on a limb before the fall sent her shins spiking into her ribcage. The rough bark bit into her palms, and she let go to fall the remaining distance with a grunt of pain.
She stood on shaking knees, and when she looked up, the demon was standing in front of her, flickering in and out of existence. It appeared in the form of a giant bipedal fox with glossy sable fur and a naked woman between blurring into transparency.
Kagome gripped her bow in her stinging palm, not daring to take her eyes from the enemy. The kitsune continued to flicker between forms before it solidified into the nude woman. Her long hair straggled on the ground, and she raked her nails down her cheeks, screaming as the weight of her lunacy bent her at the waist.
Kagome’s breath hitched in her chest, and in the blink of an eye, the beast resumed the form of a huge, drooling kitsune with seven tails. It sprang on her before she could ready an arrow, and Kagome clumsily threw herself to the side to avoid the demon’s massive paws. One claw grazed her temple, barely splitting the skin before it sliced through her white hair ribbon. She could see a few thin, severed strands floating down as her hair fell around her heaving shoulders. The kitsune turned around and crouched, readying itself to spring again.
The animal’s youki was heavy in the air, and the weight of it dragged Kagome’s heart down and seemed to sap at her strength. It launched at her again, knocking into her bicep with bruising force. Kagome yelped as she was spun from the blow. Before she could right herself, her attacked knocked her backward into a tree trunk. When she fell away with a wheeze, she was pushed forward, landing on her knees that jarred her bones. She was a rag doll in its clutches, and as she struggled to regain her breath, the kitsune disappeared. She quickly reached over her shoulder to her quiver, and her fingers found a single arrow. The others must have fallen out when she was snatched up. With a grimace, she nocked the arrow and looked around. The demon was nowhere in sight, and silence pressed down on her. It was toying with her.
She willed herself to focus, and she pulled in all of her fear, ferocity, and anger and funneled it into the arrow. Her eyes closed, and she stood in the eerie silence and listened for anything to indicate the location of her enemy. The rustling of a bush, the sharp snap of a twig: tiny sounds pinged around her as it clearly attempted to distract her. She kept her gaze down, grasping her arrow and bow tightly. She quickly stepped backward and placed her back to the tree trunk.
She drew back on the bowstring and looked up for a split second. The yokai was standing in front of her. She loosed the arrow and let it blaze forward as time seemed to grind to a halt.
The crazed kitsune woman wailed, her jaw unhinging and hanging open at an unnatural angle. Dark, glimmering blood rolled over the rims of her wide black eyes and tumbled down her cheeks, leaving scarlet tracks down her pale skin. Just as she leapt forward with talons at the ready, Kagome’s arrow struck her in the breast. She disintegrated with a loud, hair-raising shriek, and an explosion of youki flew out into the area, ruffling Kagome’s loose and tangled hair.
Kagome slung her bow over her shoulder with a heavy sigh, and as the adrenaline faded, all of the pain flooded her body. Her knees wobbled and she braced herself against a tree trunk. Her straggling, sweaty hair fell around her face. After a moment, Kagome espied a white figure approaching from the corner of her eye. Her posture straightened, and Sesshomaru came into view with a bundle in his arms. From beneath his billowing sleeves, she could see a tiny arm hanging limp.
“Rin,” Kagome whispered, rushing forward. Sesshomaru placed the tiny form on the ground, and Kagome brushed the child’s hair from her forehead which revealed a long, bruised cut. Her chestnut eyes stared wide open, sightless up at the priestess. “What happened?” Kagome questioned.
Sesshomaru said nothing. Kagome mentally slammed down the walls around her emotions before standing and stepping back from the motionless child.
“I’m going back to the village to see if they can offer a funeral service,” she murmured to nobody in particular. Her feet led her away from the silent demon and the silenced child. She walked through the woods back toward the town, passing a strange burned out clearing. The area still smelled of charred wood and a sickly sweet odor, and the ground was blackened from the remnants of whatever fire resided there.
Upon reentering the village, she headed straight for the headman’s home and found him standing just outside. “Ah, the triumphant miko returns! The demon is dead, yes?” His face cracked into a beaming smile, and he continued before Kagome could get a word in edgewise. “What am I saying? Please, do come inside and join me for some tea.” Courtesy dictated she should follow, so she obliged his wishes with what she hoped was a smile.
The two sat while the headman’s wife poured two cups of tea. As soon as he gulped down the hot liquid, the jovial man set down the cup and squinted at Kagome. “The demon is dead. I would imagine it put up quite the fight! But of course, an illustrious priestess such as you had no trouble, I’m sure.” The sweet words flowed from his mouth, and his eyes crinkled in what appeared to be genuine joy.
“Kind sir, you honor me. I am not so competent a priestess as that. I did manage to take the demon down, yes. However, there has been a casualty.” The headman’s face fell.
“You can’t mean…”
“Yes, the child accompanying me was struck down by the kitsune. If I may be so bold as to ask, is there anyone in this village who could perform a funeral service?” She bowed low, nearly pressing her forehead to the tatami mats, and awaited his answer. When none were forthcoming, she raised her head slightly to look at the headman.
His mouth was set in a hard line, and his eyes seemed distant, like he had locked his emotions away and thrown away the key. “I am afraid that would not be possible, miko-sama. There is nobody here that could possibly fulfil your wishes. My deepest apologies.”
Her brow furrowed. “Forgive me if I am mistaken, but I was sure that there was both a shrine and a temple on the eastern edge of your village. Surely someone there could help me. I do have money to pay for their services of course.”
The headman sighed, and Kagome sat back up. Clearly he was not going to budge on the issue. He snapped his fingers at his wife, who bustled off into the other room. “Forgive me, lady priestess. The people of this village are very leery of any residual hauntings by this kitsune spirit. It had claimed so many of our inhabitants that I simply cannot risk bringing the child down for fear that some of the demon’s corruption clings to her body. You must understand my position, miko-sama. And for your payment for services rendered,” he trailed off before pulling a small string of coins from his sleeve and handing them to the jaded priestess, who thanked him quietly.
Kagome nodded coldly as the headman’s wife padded back into the room with a small package wrapped in spun hemp cloth and bound with twine. “Please accept this as the rest of the payment for your services,” she softly intoned. Kagome accepted graciously and stood with a bow, excusing herself. She was shown out of the home and, with brief goodbyes issued, made her way back to the forest by the fading light of the sunset.
Sesshomaru was perched in the tree above Rin’s motionless corpse. Kagome cast an exhausted stare up to him, and he blinked at her. No words need be said.
- 14
- 15
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Edge of Paradise