Chapter 6: The Undead

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Chapter 6: The Undead

A/N: It seems that the site has caught up with its backlog of alerts and such. Thanks for sticking with me, despite the problems. I hope this gets to everyone on time.

The Once and Future Taiyoukai

Chapter 6: The Undead

The weather turned shortly after noon, when the sun had just started its descent towards the west. One moment it was warm and they could see the blue sky above them, and the next dark clouds of thick, misty gray covered everything and blocked out the sun and any cheer it gave. The air around them felt heavy with impending rain, but not a drop fell. Kagome looked ahead and it was gray for miles and miles, sweeping over the valley they were now entering.

An icy wind curled around them and into their clothes, making Kagome shiver. She had the lightest kimono of the three and although she insisted that she could just wear her sweatshirt, Sesshoumaru handed her his pelt without a word. She wrapped it around and around, until her two companions could only see legs and eyes.

"Someone will think you're a demon," said Midoriko, her eyebrow arched.

"Let them," muttered Kagome, closing her eyes briefly. "I'm very comfortable. It's loads better than my sweatshirt, that's for sure."

"Aren't you cold?" asked the elder priestess. It was the first time Kagome had heard Midoriko address Sesshoumaru directly. She was scowling at the taiyoukai, but Kagome would take what progress she could get.

"No," he replied with a slight smirk that only irritated the priestess.

"Isn't your village nearby?" asked Kagome, heading off any possible nasty retorts from the priestess.

Midoriko nodded grudgingly. "It's that one, just ahead," she murmured, pointing to the only village in sight, just where the road began to run along the flat bottom of the valley.

Kagome paused mid-step at her companion's sullen tone. "We... we don't have to go," she said. "I'm sure there's some other way."

"There's isn't," said Sesshoumaru, stopping to look at her. "Unless you were prepared to take a eight day detour. This is the only pass through the mountains for many leagues."

"We can spare the time," said Kagome, casting an apprehensive glance at Midoriko. Her mouth was set in a firm line as she stared out over the valley. "You said you weren't eager to go to home, Sesshoumaru. It's only a little more than a week extra. What harm would it do?"

He frowned. "We are here. What is the purpose of taking another route if we can pass through this one?"

Kagome opened her mouth to argue, but Midoriko cut her off. "He's right," she murmured.

"He... what?" Kagome stared.

"He's right," repeated the miko, turning to face them again. Her face was pale, but her jaw was set and her eyes were steely. "There's no reason we should not go through this pass. I only ask one favor."

Kagome nodded. "Alright. Anything," she said, ignoring Sesshoumaru's frown.

"May we stay for the night? As you reminded me yesterday, Kagome-san, I have not been here in so very long. If I must be here, I should speak to some old friends of mine," she murmured.

"Of course. You deserve a night at home," said the younger miko, a smile spreading. "As long as you're sure. It looks like it's going to rain anyway, so it'd be good to stop," she added, with a meaningful look at the taiyoukai. He only scowled in return.

Midoriko smiled softly and shrugged. "I am simply nervous of returning after so long, that is all. Don't worry about me, Kagome-san."

Kagome nodded and looked to Sesshoumaru. "Come on, then."

"No."

A flicker of concern passed over her face. "What? Why?"

"I will meet you in the morning," he said, "at the entrance to the pass. I will not stay in that village for the night. I will find my own accommodations."

Kagome frowned, but she nodded again. "I understand."

His eyes narrowed. "I doubt that you do. But I will be close. If you get into trouble, call for me."

"Sesshoumaru, what trouble could a bunch of farmers give me?" laughed Kagome, although her voice was shaking. The thought was amusing, but he looked so much like the future Sesshoumaru in that moment that it chilled her heart.

"We will see," he murmured. He held up his hand as Kagome began to unravel his pelt from around her body. "Keep it. I do not feel the cold."

"It's the only bedding you have."

"I will not be sleeping," he said, turning away. "I will see you in the morning, Kagome. I hope not sooner."

Kagome's frown returned with a vengeance, her hands curling into the fur wrapped around her body. What did he mean? How would she not understand? Only when Midoriko touched her shoulder, did Kagome rouse herself. "Sorry. Let's go," she muttered, casting only one final glance at the taiyoukai's receding form.

"He probably just doesn't want to go to the village where I was born," said Midoriko, the corners of her own mouth turning downwards.

"That's what I thought," murmured Kagome. "But that's not it."

The elder miko shrugged. "I couldn't guess what goes on in his head, but it's probably for the best. Come on, Kagome-san."

They walked down the slope and into the base of the valley in silence. Although the village appeared quite small, its fields stretched out in all directions and they passed several farmers hard at work. A few looked up as they passed, but no one called out and no one came to greet them. Kagome frowned at their brief glances and cold responses. "Don't they recognize you?" she asked.

"I suppose it's possible that they do not," Midoriko replied. "This is where I was born, not where I grew up. I have visited many times and I suppose it's as close to a home as I can have, but it has been a very long time."

They continued on. Every person that they passed paid even less attention to them than the person before them did. Although Kagome was accustomed to seeing downtrodden villagers, this reeked of something more than just the typical problems of a poor town in this era. She could practically smell their sadness. "Something happened here," she murmured.

Midoriko glanced at her companion out of the corner of her eye and sighed. "If you go over that hill right there," she said, pointing to the hill that rose up behind the village, "you will find a small Buddhist temple. But if you go there, you will not notice the temple right away. It is nearly obscured by the hundreds of graves on the hillside."

"Hundreds?" asked Kagome. "But this village couldn't have more than seventy people or so."

"Once, when I was young, this entire valley was covered with homes. It's a good valley for farming, but the mountain pass let it thrive upon trade instead. Then, the entire valley burned and almost everyone died. These are all that's left. Now the valley is considered cursed. Travelers avoid it." She sighed again and shook her head. "I did not want to come this way myself, but it is the most direct route to the witch."

"When did all of that happen?"

Midoriko frowned slightly. "Almost a decade ago."

Kagome looked around and noticed for the first time that every tree in sight was a sapling, no older than ten years. She knew that burning was frequently used to restore soil. It made sense that the villagers that were left would stay for that alone. "I'm sorry. What happened? Was it an accident?" As she asked, she knew that it was not an accident.

The elder miko scoffed lightly. "Hardly. It was a demon, with some followers. He had started to kill any traveler on the road and when the villagers started talking about hiring some demon slayers, he burned the valley. They say it was like an ocean of flame."

A demon. That explained a lot, thought Kagome. She decided to risk another question. "Did... did you lose anyone in the fire?"

"My entire family."

"Oh." That definitely explained it.

"And the man I loved."

Kagome turned sharply. "You... you loved someone?"

"Of course. That is possible for us, you know." Her voice was rigid and angry.

The younger miko nodded. "I do know, yes. Who was he?"

Midoriko took a deep breath and let it out very slowly. Her tone softened once again. "His name was Takumi and he was an apprentice carpenter. We were actually born on the same day. Despite my frequent and prolonged absences with my mentor, he always waited for me." The small smile of reminiscence touched her lips. "He loved me first and he was persistent. I was going to leave my life as a priestess and live as his wife. That was all that we wanted."

"I'm so sorry," she murmured. "He was trapped in the fire?"

The nostalgic expression fled and her eyes turned cold. "No. He tried to fight the demon. I was far away when he died."

"Oh." She lowered her eyes, realizing that Midoriko must have been in her early teens when she had lost Takumi. There was no way a teenage boy could stand against a powerful demon and his gang. "Young love. It must have been..."

Midoriko frowned and looked away. "I don't want to talk about it anymore," she interrupted.

Kagome nodded, swallowing thickly. "I understand."

So that was it, then. Midoriko had lost everything because a demon had decided that mass slaughter was the way to keep a village in line. She felt that she should have expected something like that. She did expect it, really. But a lover? That was a twist that was too close to Kagome's own heart.

It was hard to not think of Kikyo. Two priestesses, separated by three hundred years, had lost the men they loved. And they had been willing - eager even - to give up the calling of a miko for the chance to be wives and mothers. Their only chance had been ripped away and they would never be given the chance to escape again.

Even the loss of love would have been surmountable if they just had the luxury of living normal lives where they could get past the death and destruction. But it was a miko's burden that death was never far behind, wasn't it?

With a heavy sigh, Kagome followed Midoriko into the village, where a few people finally began to take notice of the new arrivals. The pain and sadness was more palpable here. Their eyes were dead and vacant, roaming over the miko and then back to their tasks, making Kagome's skin prickle. She pulled Sesshoumaru's pelt closer to her body.

Despite knowing about the fire, Kagome could not shake the menacing atmosphere that was sweeping over her. If they had been in Inuyasha's time, she would think that they were moving to Kagura's fan. Living corpses, all of them.

Finally, someone called out Midoriko's name and the women turned to see an older woman hobbling towards them. She looked like a starved version of Kaede. The eye patch was only substituted for a crippled hand. Its flesh was burnt beyond repair and had become thick and purplish over time.

"Ah, Lady Midoriko. It is good to see you again," the old woman murmured. Her eyes, not as vacant as most, but just as cold, flickered to Kagome. "You brought company."

"Ruka-san," greeted Midoriko with a bow. "It is good to be home. This is my friend, Lady Kagome. She is a miko as well. We are on a pilgrimage together."

Kagome fought the urge to raise an eyebrow at the other priestess's stretching of the truth and bowed to Ruka. "Good afternoon, Ruka-san."

"Lady Kagome. You are welcome here. Will you be staying with me tonight, priestess?"

"I think so," replied Midoriko.

The old woman nodded. "Good to hear." Her eyes darted towards Kagome once again. "Lady Midoriko, we do have much to discuss. I am assuming your time is limited here?"

"It is, but I have time to spare for you, Ruka-san," said the elder priestess. She turned to Kagome. "If you want, Kagome-san, you can explore the village. Ruka-san and I will just be discussing some village matters that will not interest you."

Kagome didn't really want to be left alone, but neither did she want to be with Ruka. So she nodded. "Alright. I'll just wander around. I'll be back before dark."

"Good. Ruka-san's hut is over there," Midoriko said, pointing to the large hut at the entrance to the village. "I'll be with her for the rest of the day, most likely."

"Okay. See you then," said Kagome, with a smile full of cheer that she didn't feel. She turned and started to walk up the avenue, deciding that she would search out Sesshoumaru. He had headed towards the east, towards the graveyard that Midoriko had mentioned, so she decided to start there first. Knowing him, he would appear just as she left the village. And if he didn't show up, she could always look around the graveyard and give her respects to the dead.

She looked around and saw that the villagers continued to ignore her and went on working in near silence. Kagome realized suddenly that that was what was wrong about them. She'd seen that haunted look in plenty pairs of eyes before, but it was the silence that was truly unnerving. There wasn't a single shout of a happy child, or the calm chatter of neighbors. Nothing. No wonder this place was creeping her out. The image of Kagura's Dance of the Dead rose to her mind again.

She might be going to the graveyard, but the dead were already all around her. These people had nothing to live for, or at least they felt that way. Kagome sympathized, but she wondered if the fire was all that there was to it. It was nearly ten years ago, Midoriko had said. She would have at least expected some sort of rejuvenated hope. Maybe she was asking too much.

Turning down a side street, Kagome saw the first children she had encountered all afternoon. They were playing a quiet game, although she could hear the murmuring of words. One child was sitting in the middle as the rest joined hands and walked around in a circle. She had played this game as a child and she'd always been good at it, but it chilled her heart to watch them play. They were not running and giggling as she had done in her youth with her friends. They were marching like dead little soldiers, sullenly stopping when they ceased their chant.

"Kagome, Kagome, the bird in the cage," they called in unison with thin, harsh voices.

She shivered to hear her name spoken by these ghosts of children. She wanted to scream at them to stop. Even the silent villagers were better than this. She felt shadows falling around her and she turned her head. Was something here? Watching her? She remembered Sesshoumaru's warnings about a creature following them.

"When will you come out?"

Shadows continued to play at the edges of her vision, disappearing as soon as she looked. She would have thought it was a trick of the light if the sky wasn't so devoid of the sun.

"In the evening of the dawn, the crane and turtle slipped," the children continued.

She took a few steps back. The sky was beginning to rumble with the beginnings of a storm and she was suddenly frightened of this alley. She was frightened of this whole village. Ice slid down her spine as a wild thought came into her mind - what if the villagers had taken notice of her?

"Who stands right behind you now?"

Kagome spun around, her heart beating rapidly. She ignored the cry of the child who had been picked as she stared at the men who had been standing behind her. One stepped forward and glared at the miko. "Who are you?" he growled. Unlike most of the people in the village, he was large and imposing.

"A friend of Lady Midoriko's," she replied instantly.

"Lady Midoriko?" murmured another, a skinny, hollowed out man with large eyes. "She's here?"

The first man scowled. "The priestess would never keep company with you," he said. He pointed at the pelt wrapped around her shoulders. "That's a demon fur."

"My friend gave it to me. What does that have to do with Midoriko?" asked Kagome.

"You shouldn't be here," he snapped, ignoring her question. "You don't belong here."

She frowned and took a step back. She could still hear the children's chanting, starting again from the beginning. "I'm only here for the night. Tomorrow, Midoriko and I will be leaving. What's your problem with me?" She watched as their faces turned cold, like the other villagers. Her heart was still pattering at an alarming pace. "What is going on in this place? I'm a miko too, I'll have you know!"

"We saw you," said the skinny one. His vacant eyes crinkled in silent, joyless laughter. "You were with a demon!"

"He's gone now, okay?" She stepped back again. "Just leave me be."

"A miko with a demon and Lady Midoriko, who is famous for her hatred of demons," said the large farmer. "That is interesting. And strange. And we've had enough strange stuff around here. It'll all happen again if you're here."

Kagome's eyes widened. Not only were they half-dead, but they were insane too! "He'll come for me!" she said. "If I call, he'll come and protect me!"

"Call a demon to this place and you will pay dearly, miko or not!" he snapped.

The large man advanced, but a third caught him by the arm. "Lady Midoriko is still here," he said. "We shouldn't. We should just watch for now. The priestess still knows us."

The men stood in silence as their apparent leader hesitated for a moment. "Fine," he said. "Let's go. The demon will leave eventually, by his own choice or ours."

They turned and went to the main street, leaving Kagome sweating and shaking. She pushed the pelt away from her throat, where it was sticking to her skin. She stepped sat down, her head resting on her knees, against the wall of a hut. Nearby, the children had stopped playing and were staring at her, all in a line.

Kagome shuddered again and looked away, listening as they walked away in the other direction. "Oh kami, what is this place?" she murmured.

She couldn't sit for long. The empty avenue was almost as terrifying as the one filled with dangerous men, terrifying shadows and silent children. She scrambled to her feet and went to the main street, nearly running to the hut where Ruka lived. The old woman had been unnerving when they had met, but now Kagome would give anything for her sanity.

Midoriko and Ruka were sitting by the fire, sipping tea, when Kagome came in. Midoriko frowned at the sweat on her face. "Are you alright, Kagome-san? I didn't expect you to be here so soon."

"There was these... these..." Kagome stopped and looked at the pair of women, who were staring back with a mixture of suspicion and attentiveness. "I... I don't know what I saw."

"You can tell us, Kagome-san," insisted Midoriko.

The younger miko opened her mouth, fully intending to demand their immediate departure. But Ruka rose to her feet and stretched out her hands towards her. "You look tired, Lady Kagome, and Lady Midoriko and I have much more to discuss. Perhaps you would like to lie down for a bit?" she asked.

Kagome looked to Midoriko and remembered the men's words. She still knew them. What did that mean?

She shook her head slightly, realizing that Midoriko was not the one to tell about her experience in the streets. She wished that Sesshoumaru were with her. "Yeah," she murmured, "I guess I'm just tired. I'll rest for now."

She allowed herself to be led into the other room and missed Midoriko's frown.

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Midoriko pulled the cloak tightly around her shoulders as she stepped out of Ruka's hut. The clouds had finally parted after dark and she was relieved to see that the moon provided enough light to find her way. It had been awhile since she had made this trip and she did not want to get lost.

She let the mat over the door drop back into its place, holding her breath for a moment when it hit the doorframe. Ruka snored on though and Kagome's soft little sighs were audible. Kagome had been sleeping since the middle of the afternoon, which both surprised and worried the priestess. She hadn't thought of Kagome as the type to laze about like that. But then, she had been so pale when she had arrived in the hut that afternoon. Midoriko had to wonder if there wasn't more to it than Kagome just being tired.

But she had to go. She could not hover about a young miko who would probably just sleep until dawn. Midoriko walked through the silent streets quickly, the cloak catching whatever breeze whipped through the buildings. She huddled down and made her way to the path.

Weaving through some ill-tended fields, she came to the cleft between the hills and began to climb. The villagers had let the path turn rough, a sign that they had not paid their proper respects, but Midoriko could not blame them too much. She pushed back the brush that had grown over parts of the path and swept aside loose rocks that would make her lose balance. When she reached the other side, she was out of breath and she had pushed her hood back so that the wind could cool her neck.

In front of her, graves stretched across the land, dotting the grass every few feet or so. Too many graves for too small of a village, she thought, not for the first time.

The graves were small and crudely made, as if erected hastily and without proper reverence. Midoriko moved through them softly, her hands brushing the tops of a few as she passed by. A few were new. She could see that they were given the proper care that the victims of the fire had not been given. They hadn't had time then. There had been so many bodies, so burned that they had to go through a process of elimination in order to tell who had died.

She went to the grave automatically, knowing that she could return in fifty years and she could still find it among the sea of gravestones. Kneeling down before it, she brushed her fingers over the only word carved on it. Takumi. His parents' and siblings' grave was beside Takumi's. The villagers had given him his own grave because his family's had been filled that day. There was no more room on the slab of stone to engrave any more names.

The priestess prayed in silence over the grave of her dead love, her lips moving without making a sound. Only when she felt the pull of a youkai aura did she lift her head. "What do you want?"

Sesshoumaru moved towards her, his eyes slipping over the graves and reading the names. "Why are you not in the village? You are supposed to protect Kagome in my absence," he said.

"You're her protector. You're the one that left," she said, turning her burning brown eyes upon him.

"I have been trying," he replied, his eyes narrowing. "I have been looking for the creature that is following us. The one I sensed last night."

She frowned. "And? Did you find anything?"

"It has been avoiding me all day," Sesshoumaru murmured. "It only wants Kagome. And you are here! Mourning for some human that is clearly long dead."

"Instead of berating me for something that I could not have known, you should be the one to protect her," Midoriko snapped. "Are you afraid of the villagers? Afraid of this valley, where so many people were lost to your kind that they will never recover?"

He crossed his arms and glared at her. "Why should I be afraid of this pathetic village? Demons kill. So do humans. Life is suffering. Accustom yourself to that reality." He paused. "I must admit that this village suffers more than most. Something odd is going on here. I am beginning to wonder if it has anything to do with what is following Kagome. I think that you know."

"How could I know? I haven't been here in ages," she growled, turning away.

"You keep secrets very well," he replied. "Why should you not know the secret of this village?"

Midoriko scoffed and tried to move away, but he blocked her path. "I have no idea what you're talking about, demon!" she hissed.

"Does it have something to do with Kagome?" he asked, coldly insistent.

"What would a village out here have to do with her?" she retorted. "We're here because we're going to see the witch. You know that, demon."

"What is Kagome's secret?" he asked, leaning close to breathe in her scent. It was drenched in anger and he sneered, unable to penetrate that hatred. "I know she has told you something, something that would explain what we are doing going to a witch. Miko do not consort with witches and yet she readily follows you."

"I'm not betraying any confidences for you." She glared up at him. "Why is a taiyoukai so concerned with the secrets of a girl anyway?"

He drew back slightly. "Kagome is... strange," he said, his voice softening but not losing its dangerous inflection. "That does not bother me. But her strangeness seems to put her in danger that I cannot protect her from and that does bother me."

Midoriko's eyes widened. "You care for her, don't you?" she murmured, her lips twisting into a disgusted frown. "You love her."

"She is human."

"That's not really an answer," said the priestess, the frown deepening. "What makes you think that a miko like her would ever want a beast such as you? You're filth compared to her. Your soul is so weighed down by blood that you should not even be able to touch her! You are only here because her heart is kinder than any miko's that I have ever encountered. She must pity you. It is the only explanation."

Sesshoumaru growled, his fist itching to strike out at the venomous woman. "You're trying to distract me. But you will tell me what you know!"

"Why should I? She didn't tell you, so what makes you think that I would?"

"You are a deceptive wench," he snarled. "You were lying last night, when you said you did not sense anything. Kagome is weaker than you are, but you sensed it! You can feel something following us! Following her! And you are trying to tell me that I should not know what Kagome is hiding from me?"

Midoriko lifted her chin and stared at him, unflinchingly. "As long as one of us knows, we can protect her. You have yet to tell me one good reason that I should tell you anything! Why aren't you asking Kagome, demon? Are you too afraid of her turning you down?"

It was getting harder to not hit the priestess, to have her blood running down his claws. "It has something to do with that well in the village where I found her," he growled. "What is it? Why must she return to her friends so soon? What about the shards she carries?"

The priestess laughed coldly. "I told you, I'm not betraying her confidence. If you want to know, ask Kagome. But she won't tell you. You just try." Her eyes flashed, daring him.

The taiyoukai was about to throttle the information out of her when there was a distant cry. He lifted his head and looked to the path. "Kagome?" he murmured, his brow lifting in surprise.

The priestess's face lost all of its anger. "What is it?" She had heard nothing.

He growled and took Midoriko by the waist, ignoring her surprised shriek as he jumped and sailed across the graveyard. He began to run down the path, taking great leaps where it was rocky and uneven. His footing was swift and sure and Midoriko soon stopped digging her blunt nails into his skin in fear. But he almost fell when he heard another cry. Midoriko stiffened and he knew that she had heard it too this time.

"She's hurt," whispered the miko.

Sesshoumaru frowned and sped up, taking one great, final leap over the roofs of the huts and into the main avenue. He set Midoriko down and his demon eyes narrowed, finding the small crowd of people in the street as easily as if it had been noon.

Men, at least six of them, encircled Kagome. He recognized his pelt, hanging down off one of her arms. "Kagome?" he called, stepping forward. She was standing still, her eyes locked on the large man in front of her.

The men's heads turned as one to look at the demon. One of them said something, but Sesshoumaru didn't hear. He was overwhelmed suddenly by the scent of blood. Kagome's large eyes turned slowly to meet his. "Sesshoumaru," she murmured, her voice carrying to his ears.

The large man in front of her stepped back and Sesshoumaru saw the blade sliding out of Kagome's stomach, dripping blood onto the ground. Without the support of the blade, she fell to her knees, her eyes still wide with what the taiyoukai now recognized as unadulterated fear.

"No," he snarled. He rushed upon the man who had slain his friend, catching him around the throat and slamming him into the side of a hut. Thatching rained down on their heads. "Why did you do this?" he demanded, shaking the large man. Another of the men tried to approach, tried to take the taiyoukai by surprise. Sesshoumaru didn't even look as his poison whip lashed out and split the man in half.

The large man's eyes rolled back in his head. Sesshoumaru was crushing his windpipe too quickly. "Because of you," he managed to reply. "Monster."

Sesshoumaru's vision bled red and he squeezed until all of the life escaped. He dropped him, almost disappointed in the quick death. He should have drawn it out. Made him suffer as Kagome suffered. He became aware of another one of the men and turned on him, ready to take his revenge on him instead. He took perverse pleasure in the way the man's eyes widened, and the way he was scrambling away. It would take a second to catch him and lifetime for him to die.

"Stop it!" Midoriko cried. "You're wasting time! Get over here! She's still alive!"

The taiyoukai paused and turned to see Midoriko bending over the young miko. She was right. He would hunt down and slaughter every member of the gang that did this later and torture them until he felt he had received just revenge. Now, he must look to Kagome.

He knelt down beside the prone girl. She was bleeding out quickly. She had been pierced right below her rib cage, slicing through her liver, and possibly her stomach. He pressed a hand to her forehead and felt that she was sweating profusely and beginning to burn. "Kagome."

Her eyes opened slowly and she smiled. "Sesshoumaru. I think I've gotten myself into a bit of trouble again..."

"You always do," he replied. "When will you learn, girl?"

"Mmm... I don't know." She closed her eyes again and her head rolled to the side. "I'm sorry."

Sesshoumaru frowned, leaning close. "It was not you. Do not apologize."

"But I pulled Tetsusaiga out... made you angry. I didn't mean to..." She took a rattling breath. "And then, your arm... I felt so guilty for days. I'm so sorry... I just didn't know..."

The taiyoukai's forehead crinkled in confusion. "Kagome, I don't understand," he murmured.

"She's delirious. Don't pay attention," said Midoriko. She had been desperately ripping strips from her clothes and from Kagome's hem, pressing them onto the wound. She watched as Kagome's breaths slowed.

"This isn't going to work," she lamented, watching the blood stains spread. "The sword went straight through. She's bleeding too fast. She'll die before I can do anything."

"No. I will not allow that."

The priestess looked up at him and back down to her blood-soaked hands. "And how do you propose that we save her life?" she asked, her voice turning shrill. "Even if I bind the wound with magic, there's no way I can repair this damage!"

"But you can bind it," he murmured.

She nodded. "With some holy power, I can hold back the bleeding. It would stop her at death's door and freeze her there. But it doesn't allow her to heal. You can't bring back the dead," she said. "So what good would that do?"

He stood up and looked up at the stars, noting how far the moon was in its path across the sky. "It would do a lot of good. Do it and I will revive her."

"How?" She looked up at him with doubt plain on her face, but her hands were already glowing pink. He stepped back a few feet.

"I will take her to my father in the West," he said.

Midoriko frowned. "What could he possibly do?"

"She will die, no matter what you do?" he asked, avoiding her question for the moment.

She nodded, grief etching into her features as she looked down at Kagome. Her hands worked quickly and the blood flow was beginning to slow. "It will only hold for a couple days. If you get help before the time ends, she might live, but if you don't, she'll die in that very instant. There is no second chance after this. It's like a dam with water building up behind it, threatening to flood. Or in this case, it will be her blood. And she might die anyway, from the shock. She's already lost so much blood."

Sesshoumaru growled softly. "It will take me at least two and a half days to get to my father's home. I hope that it will be enough."

"She'll be dead by then," Midoriko cried, distressed. Her hands began to shake.

"He has a sword," he said, looking down at Kagome. Her breath was beginning to even out, although each one was rattling and harsh. "The sword gives back life and if I plead with him, he may use it on Kagome."

"Plead? Plead with your own father?"

Sesshoumaru sighed softly. "We do not get along well. But if I must plead for Kagome's life, I will. He does have an affinity for humans. Pleading might not be necessary."

Midoriko's hands steadied. "Can't you get there faster? Her death... it would be pointless. She told me that if she dies, she wants it to be a good death. This is not it."

"I could, if I went in my demonic form," he said, "but I would have no way of holding her. She would fall and we have no time to figure out a way to secure her. It would not shorten my trip by much. I am more agile in my present form."

The priestess nodded and sat back, her hands fading to their normal color, but still stained in blood. "She's ready then." She grabbed him by the sleeve as he bent to pick her up. "If she wakes up, she'll die. Keep her warm and don't shake her about. It will just make it worse."

He looked up into Midoriko's eyes and they suddenly came to an understanding. "When Kagome is well again," he said, "we will return here. You will wait?"

"Of course."

Sesshoumaru swept Kagome into his arms easily, tucking her as closely and gently to his body as possible. Midoriko wrapped the pelt, which had amazingly escaped much of the bloodstain on the ground, around Kagome's body. The young priestess immediately stopping trembling and rested against Sesshoumaru's shoulder with a soft sigh.

"Remember, the instant she wakes up, she will die," said Midoriko.

The taiyoukai nodded. "She will return alive and well." He looked up and noticed for the first time that the villagers surrounded them. They were all rubbing the sleep from their eyes, staring at the demon and the girl in his arms with a mixture of trepidation, disgust and hatred.

"They won't do anything to stop you," said the elder priestess. "They're afraid of you."

Sesshoumaru frowned and looked down at the corpses of the two men he had killed. Humans had one thing in common with demons - the need for vengeance. "If they try to stop me, or if they lay another hand on Kagome ever, no one will be left to bury the bodies in that graveyard," he snarled.

Midoriko closed her eyes briefly. "I'll be sure to tell them, Lord Sesshoumaru. And I'll wait. Go!"

The taiyoukai could only look at the girl in his arms before leaping into the sky.

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A/N: Poor Kagome. She's really not having the best time, is she? Well, some of you asked for Kagome and Sesshoumaru to get some time alone together, and here's their chance! Of course, she's unconscious. Haha. So LOTS of Sesshoumaru goodness in the next chapter.

The game that the children were playing is a real game and I just used the translation of the Japanese that I found online. It really does say "Kagome, Kagome". I've heard a lot of theories and supposedly genuine quotes about how Rumiko Takahashi came up with Kagome's name, but this game is one of the possible sources. It's not really a Japanese name though.

I either love this chapter or hate it. I'm not sure. Review and let me know what you think.