The Portal

Chapter 12 – Greeting the Exalted One


‘Damn that wench. How could she do this to me? How could she do this to anyone? This Sesshomaru once believed this miko to be pure of heart, even if she were extremely irritating. No woman pure of heart could do this to a man.’ Sesshomaru grumbled silently as he leaned against the huge tree trunk. He had tried to divert his eyes. He had tried to busy himself with meditation. Neither worked however, and now he was slowly whittling slices off of a stick of wood with his claws.

Sesshomaru looked over to the miko once again. Each time his eyes leapt to her form he found himself sucking in a sharp breath of air. It was positively scandalous what she was wearing. Scandalous, and rather revealing to the point of down-right awe-inspiring. The inuyoukai quickly averted his eyes back to his dwindling stick.

A descent woman would have worn her dirty clothing rather than put that on to prance around in. The damn short pants she had on were so short that he could actually see the soft curve of her bottom peeking out. Kami forbid the wench bend over. Sesshomaru glanced to Kagome again. His sudden gasp for breath was a symptom of finding the miko doing just that, while she was digging through her bag. She was down on her knees, and Sesshomaru had to fight the urge to move up behind her and shove his engorged member against her.

‘What in the seven hells is this woman doing to me?!’ Sesshomaru once again diverted his eyes from the miko’s round rump. He looked around then, and noticed Naraku sitting atop a pile of rocks. The hanyou was doing the same thing... staring at the miko, but he did not bother trying to be couth about it. No, Naraku made no attempt to appear busy with some menial task. The hanyou simply did not remove his eyes.

Sesshomaru’s golden eyes narrowed as he watched the hanyou lust over Kagome’s body. Knowing that filthy thoughts of the young woman were more than likely playing over in Naraku’s mind, made him feel a spark of anger. Some primal protective instinct began to surface, and Sesshomaru literally had to shake his control back into place. He could not dictate what the bastard looked at. ‘The miko does not belong to this Sesshomaru.’ If she did... then she would not be wearing that ensemble anywhere, except my personal chambers.

“Times up wench.” Sesshomaru declared as he chunked the remainder of his whittling down. He drew Tokijin, and began hacking away at the dense growth. He felt Naraku’s sickening presence fall in behind him, and soon the miko joined at the rear. The taiyoukai mutilated the vegetation in his path, as he thought about the current situation.

Something had been picking at the back of his mind concerning the wall paintings inside the pyramid. There had been a war, and the humans were enslaved by the youkai. If this was still the way of things here, then Kagome would stick out as if she were a mole on the end of one’s nose. Naraku could possibly play through the ordeal without drawing much attention. He was a hanyou, but an extremely powerful one. Kagome however, was nothing but a mortal female.

Sesshomaru was shaken from his thoughts when he caught scent of something. He faltered only briefly in his task as he evaluated the situation. There were humans approaching. Many humans.

Sesshomaru glanced back to his traveling companions. Naraku was glancing around as well. The hanyou had obviously picked up the scent just after he had. Kagome, however, was oblivious. She was simply walking along all wide eyed as she looked up into the forest canopy. She suddenly laughed delightfully and Sesshomaru caught sight of that ridiculous beast of hers hanging upside-down from a limb. The strange creature acted as if he were trying to make the girl break out in laughter.

He pulled his eyes away, and focused once more on the approaching ningen. This certainly confirmed his earlier suspicions that they were being followed. He thought he sensed a human near the waterfall, but the mortal was too far away to be of any concern. Sesshomaru had simply ignored the lone ningen then, as he was of no consequence, and humans could be such a dirty lot of ignoramus beasts. He should have killed the lone man when he had the opportunity. One thing he had learned through his many years was that ningen traveled in herds. Where there is one, there will soon be many.

Could they mean to attack?

Well that would certainly be a foolish thing to do.

Sesshomaru smirked a bit as he sliced through a small tree trunk. Maybe they would attack. He could certainly take out a few frustrations right about now.

“I believe, Lord Sesshomaru, that we have guests approaching, as I’m sure you are aware. Shall we kill them?” Naraku asked in a low silken tone.

Sesshomaru grunted. He and Naraku did see eye to eye occasionally. “As much as it would please this Sesshomaru, I am curious as to their mission. Let us see what they have in store.”

Naraku nodded in agreement. “That could be a wise move, my Lord.”

Sesshomaru looked back curiously, “Wishing to gain my favor, Naraku?”

“Just looking out for my best interest, taiyoukai,” Naraku replied.

Sesshomaru had no doubt of that. The hanyou would gladly let him take the lead, as long as it meant he remained on the sideline and free from danger, being the coward that Naraku is.

“Shall we warn the miko?” Naraku asked quietly.

“No need. She would more than likely request that we stop and prepare a nice brunch for them.” Sesshomaru replied with dripping sarcasm. “I do, however think that we shall stop, and allow them to approach.”

“As you wish,” Naraku sighed.

Kagome bumped right into Naraku’s back. She reached out to steady herself and immediately realized that she was currently attached to the muscular back of her arch enemy. ‘How does he stay so fit while lurking in that dark castle all the time?’ Kagome swiftly jerked her hands away from the toned flesh and muttered a slightly embarrassed, ‘suminasen’ (pardon me).

Tala appeared beside her and promptly managed to thread himself between Kagome’s legs. She was about to shoo the furry four-armed creature away, when the sound of movement in the jungle became very clear. Kagome looked to Sesshomaru, and Naraku, who were standing to her right, in pre-battle posture. “You two kill me, you know that! You could have said something, ya know!” Kagome hurled her accusation to her demon companions, before notching an arrow onto her bow.

Sesshomaru watched as the humans burst through the jungle, completely bypassing himself and Naraku. Instead their eyes were trained on Kagome, who looked rather shocked. The first group began to approach the miko, with wide eyes, and a tinge of fear. Sesshomaru moved to intervene, but found no need, as the creature at Kagome’s feet suddenly made a drastic change. One minute it was the furry peaceful Tala, and the next its needle sharp fangs sprang forth, growing to a full five inches. The large emerald eyes turned completely black, and something rather long and sharp sprang forth from the tip of its tail. Tala was now hissing at the human men, and moving the spiked tail in a rather threatening way.

It reminded Sesshomaru of the poison insects from the mainland, scorpions. Nasty creatures they were, with toxin that is administered through a long sharp tail. He found this transformation to be quite unexpected, and could tell that the miko was a bit shocked as well. She just stood there looking like a young imbecile. Apparently Inuyasha was rubbing off on her.

Sesshomaru stepped up to the humans. “State your business here mortals.”

The humans did just as he expected and fell to their knees, cowering in fear. Just the way he liked it. The miko, however shot him a glare of disapproval. ‘Baka female.’

Kagome finally found her voice after getting over the initial shock of Tala’s hidden assets. Sesshomaru had managed to frighten these poor people into a mild stupor, which was quite un-necessary. Kagome shot him an angry look, before she bent down to pat Tala on the head. Before she could return her attention back to the leader of the group, she heard a whistling sound behind her, and flung her head in the direction of the sound. Naraku had a wicked grin plastered on his face, while he stood there, blatantly staring at her ass! Kagome growled at him, which didn’t seem to effect him in the least, and swiftly stood to greet the middle-aged man who stepped forward on very shaky feet.

“Konbanwa young woman.” The man said through jittery teeth.

Kagome felt sorry for the poor guy. Her companions were so rude. “Konbanwa. What brings you here, kind sir?” Kagome asked. She didn’t think they wanted to fight, but she figured, why not ask?

“We have come to greet the Exalted One, and her pet.” The man replied as they all fell to their knees in a worshipping bow.

Sesshomaru had to catch the chuckle that had almost slipped out. Humans really were just ignorant lowly creatures. This certainly proved that theory. These fools were bowing down in worship to his half-brother’s unruly wench. He shook his head in disbelief, but remained silent in order to hear the miko’s reply.

Kagome had no Earthly idea what he was talking about. ‘This place just gets weirder by the minute,’ she thought. She looked over the huge group of humans bowing at her feet in stunned confusion. Finally she said, “Please, onegai, rise. I am definitely not who you think I am.”

Sesshomaru huffed rather forcefully behind her, and Kagome wished she could kick him in the shin, but instead she smiled at the leader of the humans, who once again stepped towards her. Tala made no qualms about deterring the man from getting any closer. The creature shot out from beneath Kagome’s legs and raised the top half of its body, leaving the bottom set of arms and legs anchored on the ground. It bared its deadly fangs and hissed once more. The dagger-like tail stabbed ferociously at the human, but with no real intention of hitting the target. Kagome was sure that Tala would have no problem striking the man, if he really wanted to. “Tala!” Kagome knelt down and stroked the beasts fur. She looked up to the frightened man.

The man was shaking like a brittle leaf, but he was braver than most. Despite his fear, he ignored the hissing beast, and began speaking again. “Onegai (please), come back to our home village, where the Family will prepare a feast in your honor. Everything will be explained there.”

He was practically begging, and Kagome just wasn’t good at telling a begging person ‘no’. She looked pleadingly to Sesshomaru, and even threw one to Naraku, even though his heart was made of coal. “Sesshomaru-sama, may we go? We may learn something that would help us get back home.” Kagome made sure to pout her lips and give her best sad puppy eyes while she batted her long lashes a few times for emphasis.

Even if he had thought it was a bad idea, there was no fucking way to say ‘no’ to that angelic face. He would have given her the Western Lands and his father’s sword if she had but asked in that same manner. He sighed deeply and nodded in agreement. Naraku’s snickering did not go un-noticed, and Sesshomaru sent him a death glare. “I suppose you could have said no to that?”

Naraku chuckled once more. “This Naraku may have given her his half of the Shikon jewel if she had fell to her knees begging me for it. She is a dangerous liability to us both.”

Sesshomaru said nothing, but he had to agree with the vile hanyou on that point. Kagome was definitely a dangerous little vixen. What she lacks in battle strength, she more than makes up for in negotiation tactics.