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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
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- 5
Eight days and nights passed without gaining headway. Various protective herbs were hung upon lintels to no avail. Kagome tried using a warding spell to set up a protective block around the village. It paled in comparison to the miraculous barrier she had managed to summon on her second night in Edo and quickly fell. All of her attempts were foiled and every night, someone, whether it was a villager or a demon in the area, lost their life to the marauding demon's insatiable appetite for vengeance and destruction.
Kagome could not help but notice that throughout all of her trials, errors, and inevitable bloody cleanups, Kaede had made herself quite scarce. She apparently spent a large portion of that time in a small, secluded hut in the forest just outside of the village. Whilst scrubbing her filthy clothing with which she arrived in Edo, Kagome made a mental note to find some way to confront the elder priestess about her noticeable absence.
After hauling the sopping clothes from the cool stream and up to dry upon a line strung between two low-hanging branches, the young miko returned to Kaede's little hut. Upon entering, she saw that, once again, the old woman was nowhere to be seen. Blowing an errant lock of hair from her face, Kagome turned smartly upon her heel and strode with purpose to the edge of the forest with the intent to firmly confront Kaede once and for all.
She walked past several large lichen-covered trees, having to duck under hanging strings of leafy kudzu vines until she reached a small clearing. Upon the farthest edge sat a dilapidated, unassuming little shack. A tiny seed of doubt took root in the back of her mind and, unbeknownst to Kagome, quickly grew and writhed behind the annoyance and irritation she harbored. Walking forward cautiously, she tripped over a protruding tree root and noticed with a pang of equal parts trepidation and exasperation that the clearing, and therefore the hut, was almost entirely shaded by the tall, overarching canopy above.
"Kaede-sama," Kagome called out. There was no response, so she continued forward. She told herself that the light rustling in the bush nearby was a figment of her imagination as she reached for the rotting door hanging.
"Kaede-sama?"
She stepped just into the hut, holding the bamboo door flap upon her left shoulder as she leaned inside. Quickly she ducked, for above her head hung numerous sagging, dusty cobwebs that looked like a net waiting to ensnare her from above. In the corner of the dimly-lit hut, she could see a huddled form quivering. It abruptly turned around, and Kagome could see wide, luminous eyes sunken into an old woman's wrinkled face, which promptly split into a spine-chilling farce of a grin. As Kagome opened her mouth to inquire about Kaede's whereabouts, the old woman screeched and howled, causing Kagome to unbecomingly shriek and stumble backwards out of the hut, where she tripped and landed hard upon her backside.
As she gingerly got back upon her feet, she realized that the bizarre raving of the hut's inhabitant was, in fact, hysterical, cackling laughter. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Doubt and fear took over, and Kagome began retreating out of the clearing. When she turned around, a moving figure came directly into her vision from behind a copse of trees, and she let out an alarmed yelp.
Her heart was pounding in the back of her throat when she saw that the intruder was merely the village's absentee miko, who was looking at her as if she'd sprouted a second head.
"What ails ye, child? Your face looks as if ye have seen a ghost."
With a deflated sigh, Kagome's racing pulse began to return to its normal state. Ghosts were the least of her problems. "Kaede-sama, may I speak with you? I believe we have quite pressing matters to discuss." She leaned upon her longbow, trying for all the world to look casual and not as if her legs were about to give out from the fading adrenaline rush.
Kaede nodded and simply turned around and headed in the direction of the village. Kagome failed at regaining her composure and clumsily plodded after her. She tried to regain some semblance of composure and dignity as they stepped into the village. She noticed most people turning away, averting their eyes as they retreated into their huts for the evening. Turning away from the blazing sun on the horizon, she followed Kaede into her modest home.
After lighting a fire and starting a basic stew, Kagome wasted no time with her interrogation. She could see the light underneath the doorway was quickly fading.
"Kaede-sama, I will be frank. Nothing has been able to deter the demon. Nothing seems to hurt him or stop him. I fear I may be unable to help you."
The old woman nodded her head sagely. "I had hoped that you would have been able to rid us of this specter. Stay, child, and listen, for it is nearing dusk, and the information I give you is of the utmost importance." Kagome levelled a deadpan stare at the miko, her hands politely folded in her lap despite the impatience roiling inside of her.
"This demon was sealed away by the previous miko of the village. She was indeed quite powerful. Much more adept than me, I must say. The demon had been… trouble, so she took care of it." Kaede stared into the stew as she stirred it, unwilling to turn her brown eye to Kagome.
"Kaede-sama, with all due respect, I already knew this. I do by no means intend to make threats, but I'm afraid that if you do not provide me with more information, I will have to leave and find a more suitable person to deal with this menace." Kagome fidgeted with the hem of her hakui, picking absently at some loose threads.
With a sigh, Kaede continued. "I wish it had not come to this. This demon frequented the village when I was a child. Unfortunately, things became… volatile, and necessary actions were taken." Outside, Kagome could hear that the village had fallen into silence, each inhabitant anticipating the demon's return and fearing that it would be their home it would plague.
"The demon was sealed and its head was removed so that the spell could be completed." Kaede then rose and hobbled over to a pile of dusty belongings in the corner. Gingerly moving scrolls and dried herbs to rest upon the floor, she took a wooden box in her hands and shuffled back over to the fire. She motioned Kagome to move to the side of the fire, and she sat in front of her, gently laying the old box upon the floor between them.
"I had truly hoped that it would not come to such measures. Young Kagome, you must not breathe a word of this." Kagome nodded her head and Kaede continued, her wrinkled hands prying the dusty lid from the box and setting it aside.
Kagome leaned forward to peer inside and saw a large rolled up swath of red silk. "This, child, is the very last resort to dealing with this monster," Kaede stated gravely, reaching into the container to pull out the large bundle. She hesitated, looking to Kagome for confirmation, as if she ever had a choice in the matter. The young woman nodded slightly, and Kaede began unwrapping the bundle, her arthritic fingers slowly unravelling the silk.
From a crease in the cloth, Kagome could see a sliver of something silver or grey. With one final move of her hand, the old priestess cleared away the silk, revealing the object inside. Kagome's breath hitched, and she instinctively recoiled.
Sitting upon the lap of the elder woman was the severed head of a demon.
Kagome gaped for what seemed like an eternity. Long, silvery hair pooled around the head, making it look as if the bloodless face was enveloped by a shimmering cloud. With dread, she discovered the markings: twin crimson stripes on each cheek and a midnight blue crescent moon upon the forehead.
"It's… a daiyokai? H-how…" Kagome floundered for words, looking into Kaede's wizened face for answers. The old woman merely nodded and handed the bundle to the shocked miko.
"You must return the head to its wandering body. It is our last hope," Kaede murmured, and Kagome silently buried her fingers into the thick silver hair and stood up, her free hand shooting out to brace herself against the wall. Fear had made her limbs seemingly turn to water, and Kagome could feel the demon's jaw drop and slide against the side of her thigh in a mockery of speech as she shakily made her way to the doorway. She suppressed a shudder and shifted the head so that it was tucked under her arm, her hand under the jaw to prevent it from moving so unsettlingly again. Just as she slung her bow and full quiver over her shoulder and exited the hut, Sango ran up, dressed in full slayer regalia.
"I've spotted the demon. It's just outside the other side of the village…" Her voice faltered when she saw the macabre sight before her: Kagome, thin-lipped, wide-eyed, and pale as the specter itself, holding the severed head of a demon, whose eyelids had slid open to reveal the whites.
"I… I think I'm going to need your help, Sango," Kagome said lowly, her voice quivering tremulously. Sango nodded dumbly, her grip noticeably tightening upon the strap of her hiraikotsu, and she turned, leading the way through the deserted roads of Edo.
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Edge of Paradise