The Path We Walk
Chapter 2: Demon attacks and flashbacks...
Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of it's characters are property of the brilliant Takahashi-sama and I claim no ownership of them. Only the story belongs to me.
AN: Here are some more not gonna happens: 1. Kagome becoming all powerful. She will get better as she goes of course but none of that endless training and look she's as good as Sess now crap.
2. Shippo choosing to stay with Sango rather than Kagome, this happens in a lot of Sess/Kag fics but really I don't see him choosing anyone over Kagome if given the chance.
3. Kagome getting and using a demon powered weapon like Sess's swords...she's human and that wouldn't work. However her getting a weapon made from demon bone, like Sango's boomerang, is possible.
4. Kagome bringing people into her time, without a necklace like Inuyasha it is not possible for her to bring anyone through.
5. Kagome giving Sesshoumaru a necklace...really do you think she would live longer then five seconds if she did that? I don't.
As EternalLove495 pointed out yes Inuyasha following Kikyo to hell has been done but no where near as much as him betraying Kagome with her in Sess/Kag fics and I thought about using a random demon to kill him off but really Inuyasha dieing cause of some random demon? Can't see that happening and it would have taken the storyline too far away from what I want it to go into detail about a powerful demon. However if others feel this too is way over used let me know and I will edit a bit.
As Solaira pointed out another over used is Kagome really being a demon and long lost heiress to one of the territories. This too will not happen in this fic.
As Silver Volken Raven pointed out Naraku wanting to claim Kagome as a mate...now this one I really don't understand. People think cause his human heart wanted Kikyo that he would want Kagome as well and while I can see that, most seem to forget that Naraku wanted to kill Kikyo so if anything he would want to kill Kagome as well not make her his mate. Really think about it complete evil mating with complete pure??? Just doesn't work.
Question to readers: I know the whole Sess gets his arm back is way over done, but I do have a way it happens that I haven't seen done yet and was wondering what you reviewers think...go ahead with the new idea or just too over done to be worth it?
Edited on 8/13/07 Thanks to Karen TPWW's editor
"Lord Sesshoumaru can Rin go play with Shippo?" Rin asked with a bright smile moments after the two had finished eating. A slight nod was all the answer she needed, and received, and after flashing him a toothy grin she took off away from the camp with the young kit following close behind after a wave to his mother.
"Jaken." Sesshoumaru spoke merely one word, more of a command than an effort to get his attention, and knowing what it meant after all the time he had taken care of the little girl, Jaken nodded his head and ran off after them calling out, "Hai Lord Sesshoumaru." without bothering to turn to him for fear of the children getting too far away.
"Thank you Lord Sesshoumaru. I realize you did it for Rin alone, but poor Shippo doesn't have the chance to play with kids too often." Kagome said with a slight bow as she stood up and began cleaning up after the kids, trying to best not to cringe in pain in front of the demon lord.
After a moment of silence Kagome figured she wasn't going to get a response from him, not that she was really expecting more than a 'ng' anyway, so when he spoke he surprised her, and annoyed her with his words. "It's good you have finally learned your place miko and submitted to this Sesshoumaru." His voice was held in his normal cold indifferent tone which only furthered to annoy her.
Kagome took a few calming breathes while her mind screams things of arrogant egotistical males and tried to restrain herself from snapping at him as she would have in the past. She didn't fear him, no far from it really, but without anyone else there to help she knew she alone could not defeat the demon lord and would not allow herself to cause her son to become an orphan again when it could be avoided. That however, did not mean she would just take it from said demon lord.
"You misunderstand Lord Sesshoumaru. I have not nor will I ever submit to you, I am merely being polite." Kagome replied in a sweet voice when she looked back up at him. A low warning growl issued from Sesshoumaru informing her this was not the answer he had wanted. Alright think fast Kagome. How do you stroke an over-sized ego without getting yourself backed into a corner? Kagome thought to herself quickly as she watched the smallest amount of red tinge his normally golden eyes.
"However..." Kagome started as the perfect plan started to form in her mind and she flashed him a smirk and a challenge clearly visible in her deep brown eyes. "If and I mean if, I ever call you Milord, you will know that I have submitted Lord Sesshoumaru." It was a challenge plain and simple, she knew it, he knew it. Her challenge...keep from submitting, his? Get her to. She knew it was a risk, she could end up just pissing him off more, but if he was anything like Inuyasha, and she figured he was in this aspect if for nothing else other than he's male, he wouldn't turn down a challenge.
To do so would make him look weak, as if he couldn't force one pathetic ningen to submit to him. One delicate raised eye brow and the faintest of faint whispers of a smirk was his only reply to her challenge. You will submit miko. Sesshoumaru thought to himself as he felt his inner demon rattle his cage at the farthest reaches of his mind. It had been far too long since he had a good challenge, he and his inner demon were relishing in the idea of forcing the miko to submit. She promised to be a good challenge for both he and his inner demon. And if not... Sesshoumaru thought dryly as he allowed his normal stoic mask to slip back into place. If not, he could always kill her for wasting his time.
"Oh wow." Rin breathed as she looked around the clearing of wild flowers the three of them had stumbled on. "So pretty." she commented with a toothy grin as she raced off into the field and began her search of only the perfect flowers to bring back to camp.
"What are you going to do with all those flowers?" Shippo asked joining her in the field as Jaken sat down at the edge grumbling about 'onnas and flowers'.
"Rin is going to make a crown for Lord Sesshoumaru and Master Jaken so they can look pretty." Rin informed him glancing up before turning her attention back to the flowers at her feet.
"Can you teach me how?" Shippo asked as he began gathering flowers as well, a certain miko mother on his mind.
"Yeah Rin will teach Shippo. Who's it for?" Rin asked as she started walking back toward Jaken to show him her findings.
"My mother." Shippo replied looking up with a grin as he gathered a few more flowers before trailing after her.
"Look Master Jaken aren't Rin's flowers pretty?" Rin asked with a toothy grin as she held the flowers up under his nose.
"Yes yes pretty flowers." Jaken mumbled not bothering to look at them, he didn't need to, the flowers were always pretty. Not that he would admit that to anyone.
"Why do you call her mother? She's human." Rin wondered as they started back toward camp.
"Well after my father died and I was orphaned Kagome took me in and was always motherly to me. She's just always been momma to me for as long as I can remember."(1) Shippo answered with a shrug after thinking for a moment. He himself couldn't remember when he started calling her momma, but it had just seemed so right to him. She may not have given birth to him but she was his mother none the less.
"Rin is an orphan too. Rin's parents were killed by bandits."(2) Rin said sadly as she tried to picture their faces in her mind, but it had been far too long since she had seen them and had problems remembering what they looked like.
"Well at least you have Lord Sesshoumaru now. He's kinda like your dad right?" Shippo asked trying to get the depressed look off of her face. It just didn't seem right to him for her to be sad.
"Silly Shippo. Lord Sesshoumaru is Rin's lord." Rin said with a giggle before looking over her shoulder to see how far back Jaken was. Then leaned in and whispered, "Master Jaken is more like Rin's daddy."
A loud gasp was heard from behind them and as Shippo turned around he found the toad demon looking at Rin with eyes as large as some of the plates his mother carried in her bag. "Rin!" Jaken shouted in mock horror and began chasing after her as she giggled and started running back into camp.
"Save me Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin giggled as she ran over and hid behind him as Jaken came charging into camp. The demon lord merely looked from the young girl to the toad demon who was currently huffing and glaring at said girl.
"She called..she called me..." Jaken started trying to catch his breath and glare at the girl at the same time.
"What did she call you Master Jaken?" Kagome asked getting everyone's attention. Sesshoumaru merely raised an elegant eye brow at her while Jaken did a double take and momentarily wondered why the miko had added the title. Rin continued to giggle as she looked out over Sesshoumaru's shoulder.
"She called me her daddy!" Jaken screeched causing Kagome to hide her own giggles behind her hand as Shippo joined Rin in laughing and was currently rolling around on the ground. For the first time in a long time, Sesshoumaru had to work to keep his mask in place while mentally he was busting at the seams. Jaken huffed again and went to sit off by himself while muttering 'onna no baka'. But if you looked close enough you could find the slightest of red tinges on his cheeks, and it wasn't caused by anger.
"Time to change your bandages momma." Shippo said after he had finally managed to stop laughing and started toward her.
"Alright." Kagome replied as she took the first aid kit out of her bag and sat down next to the fire pit. "Rin please turn around." Kagome requested as she turned to look over her shoulder at the girl. Rin looked confused for a moment before shrugging and turning around to face the other way.
Both Jaken and Sesshoumaru briefly wondered why she asked the only other female of the group to turn around and ignored the males but shrugged it off as another thing they would never understand about humans.
With her back to the rest of the group, Kagome slid her shirt down to her waist after opening the front of it. Once it was out of Shippo's way, she raised her arms to cover her chest just in case. "Go ahead son." Kagome said softly without turning back to look at him.
"Okay momma." Shippo replied as he began to pull off the bandages to reveal four long gashes across most of her back. Jaken hissed slightly in sympathy pain before looking away. "It's still bleeding a little momma." Shippo informed her as he laid one of his clawed hands on her shoulder.
"Hand me the herbs." Kagome said with a sigh as she reached into her bag for the mortar and pestle. After he handed them to her she began grinding the herbs into a fine powder. "Add a little water to this and apply it to the wounds. It will help stop the bleeding." Kagome explained as she handed him to mortar and cleaned the herbs off of the pestle.
"Okay momma." Shippo said as he did just that and quickly applied the paste to her back when it was thick enough. "Ready for the gauze?" Shippo inquired after he set the mortar back down.
"Hai Shippo." Kagome said with a smile and he began bandaging her wound back up. Once he was finished she pulled her shirt back up and closed it before turning back around to the others. "You did perfect." Kagome assured Shippo with a bright smile before turning her attention to Rin. "You can turn back around now Rin thank you."
Rin turned back around with a smile as she started gathering her flowers and showed Shippo how to make a crowd after he sat down next to her with his own. "Why did you ask her to turn around?" Jaken asked when his curiosity finally got the better of him.
Kagome smiled at the girl before turning to look at Jaken. "The wound is not something she should see." Kagome explained before turning her gaze to Sesshoumaru and catching the slightest hint of appreciation in his eyes before it disappeared and left her wondering if it was ever really there.
"How did you get it anyways?" Jaken asked after a moment once again breaking the silence that had fallen over the group, other then the soft sounds of giggles coming from the children.
"Saving my son." Kagome explained hoping they would drop it, she didn't really want to have Shippo relive through what had happened the day before. However the curious look on Jaken's face and Sesshoumaru's raised eye brow informed her they weren't going to let it drop. With a sigh she turned her attention back to Shippo for a moment while picking up the water bucket. "Shippo can you go get some more water please?" Kagome asked with a smile.
"Sure momma." Shippo said getting up and taking the offered bucket. He had been waiting for it ever since Jaken asked what had happened. He may have been a child but he understood what was going on around him and knew his mother wouldn't want him around while they talked about the battle that she had gotten wounded in. In truth he didn't want to relive it either, he still felt it was his fault she had gotten hurt.
"Rin go with him." Sesshoumaru commanded deciding that if the miko didn't want the kit to hear than he probably didn't want Rin to either. He briefly wondered if the miko would want her to hear it either since she didn't want the girl to see her wound but quickly let the thought pass since he didn't care what the miko wanted.
Once the kids were out of ear shot, that is unless you were a great dog demon who could hear them perfectly well, as they talked about what the best flowers were to use in crowns, Jaken once again brought up his question and Sesshoumaru found himself just the slightest bit interested as well. He had at first figured the 'baka no miko' had let her guard down until she had said she was saving the kit. Kagome sighed again and dove into her tale about what had happened...
Flashback
It was barely after sunset in the small clearing where a young miko and her adopted kit had made camp earlier and at the moment they would normally be fixing their dinner over the small camp fire. However today instead of dusk being met with light chatter and the sweet aroma of cooking, it was met by a shout coming from said miko as she jumped up grabbing her bow after slinging her quiver onto her back. "Get behind me Shippo!" she called out as she readied an arrow, aiming it straight at the incoming pu-ma oni that was charging toward her.
The young kit quickly followed Kagome's directions and moved behind her, making sure he was far enough back to be out of her way while he readied a small amount of fox fire in his hand. He knew it wouldn't do much, but even if it helped his mother only a little, it would be worth it to try. So caught up in watching her prepare to shoot the oni and be ready if she needed any help, he failed to notice the pu-ma was not alone and at this very moment another one was currently coming up behind him.
As soon as the arrow was pulled back as far as she was willing to pull, without the fear of the string snapping, she poured her powers into it and let it fly. The only sound in the small clearing was the 'whoosh' from the arrow until it pierced the flesh of the oni's chest and its scream echoed around them as it was purified.
Turning back to the kit, her sigh of relief was short lived when she saw another pu-ma about to attack said kit. She readied another arrow, but to her horror she realized she would not be able to hit the oni without endangering her son. Thinking quickly, she did the only thing she could do and dropped her bow and arrow, rushing over to jump on top of and cover the kit just as the oni's claws came down on her back.
She screamed out in pain as four long gashes appeared on her back and blood began pouring out of the wounds. As the oni's claws came down for another attack, she grabbed another arrow out of her quiver and, after allowing what little power she could manage in her injured state to seep into it, she reached behind her and thrust the arrowhead into the oni's head, purifying it on contact. Just as its scream die out, her arm dropped back down, having passed out from the pain, she could no longer hold it up.
The young kit, still trapped below the unconscious miko, did the only thing he could think of and turned himself into a large pink bubble and carried her back to camp. When he was hovering over her blanket, he transformed back into the kit and she landed on the ground with a 'thud'. His small clawed hands appeared from under her as he dug them into the ground and pulled himself out from under her. Please be okay momma. The young kit thought to himself as he peeled back the fabric of a shredded white shirt and began cleaning off the dried on blood that caked a young woman's back.(3)
End flashback
They stared at her for a moment once she had finished her story, before turning to see the kids return with the bucket of water and more flowers. After setting the bucket back down next to Kagome, and earning themselves a smile in thanks, the kids walked back over to where they had left their partly done crowns and began working on them again.
"I don't understand why." Jaken said after a moment bringing Kagome's attention back to him.
"Why what Master Jaken?" Kagome wondered as Sesshoumaru slightly raised an eye brow, his only outward sign that he too wondered what the baka toad couldn't figure out this time.
"Why would you risk your life for a demon kit who is not your own." Jaken said a confused expression on his face.
"I may not have given birth to him but he is my son none the less. Tell me Master Jaken, would you give your life for Rin?" Kagome asked with a smile as she looked over at the children who were currently placing crowns on each other's heads.
"Of course, wench!" Jaken all but shouted quite annoyed she would even ask him that in front of Lord Sesshoumaru no less.
"But she is human and you are demon. It doesn't matter does it?" Kagome asked as she saw Rin perk up to listen to Jaken's answer as well.
"No, not anymore," Jaken all but whispered, annoyed he was having to show any kind of care for the girl with others around since Lord Sesshoumaru was here he couldn't very well lie.
"We differ slightly there, for it never mattered for a second to me that Shippo was a demon. But you and I have, if nothing else, this in common. For I would give my life for Shippo's without a second thought if the need arise." Kagome informed him and smiled at Shippo when she noticed he was smiling at her fondly.
"But you're ningen. Ningens only care for themselves." Jaken insisted even more confused than he was at the beginning.
"That may be true for some, but I myself, in my 19 years have never met a parent who wouldn't die to save their child, mine included." Kagome said with a smile, a hint of sadness in her eyes, as Shippo walked over and placed a crown on flowers on her head. She kissed him gently on the forehead and then shooed him back over to Rin who was currently giving Sesshoumaru his own.
"What do you mean?" Jaken asked after taking his eyes off the kids to look back at Kagome. Sesshoumaru was half tempted to tell the toad to shut up but since his other half wanted the answer as well decided to let him go for now.
"My father died saving my little brother Souta from getting hit by a car...carriage."(4) Kagome quickly recovered, briefly wondering if there were even carriages in this time, but if not it would be easier to explain than cars. Sesshoumaru caught the slight slip up, not really understanding the reason behind it, but decided to let it go since Jaken seemed to be thinking over what had been said and finally stopped with his questions.
1. I don't remember if they ever said what happened to Shippo's mother but he joined them after the Thunder Brothers killed his father and they referred to him as an orphan I believe, so it would stand to reason that is mother is dead as well.
2. We find out that Rin's parents and I believe older brother were killed when bandits attacked her village. She ends up living on her own, and we later learn the villagers beat her for stealing food, until Kouga and his wolves kill everyone in the village including Rin. This is of course where Lord Sesshoumaru finds her and revives her with his sword. I have seen some mention her family was killed by wolves, but at least in the show (since I am not up to Rin's entrance yet in the manga) this is incorrect. In fact she mentions in the episode where the monk tries to get her to go back with humans, after saving her from the demon who was collecting children, that bandits are worse than demons since they had killed her parents.
3. You may notice that this ends right about where the first chapter started. Now I edited a bit but I think I have the time frame correct, let me know if it doesn't seem right. It should show as Shippo working through out the night and into early the next morning on her wounds, remember he has small hands so it would take longer, and finishes right before Sesshoumaru shows up.
4. I don't remember if it ever says what happened to their father I simply made up that because it went to show that humans do risk their lives for their family to Jaken.
Translations
Hai-yes
Miko-priestess
Ningen-human
Onna-girl (Onna no baka-stupid girl)
Baka-idiot/stupid (Miko no baka-stupid priestess)
Pu-ma-Puma (Hard to figure out that one huh:P)
Oni-demon
AN: Well there's the next chapter. Please R&R, good and bad reviews are both welcome however I will just ignore flames. Let me know if it sounds to cliché so I can edit it correctly
