Tainted Past, Tainted Future

Saving the Lost[part 2]

The blurred image of the ceiling greeted his groggy eyes. With a groan Sesshoumaru put his hand to his forehead. He wondered who had cursed him so that he would ever have to wake again. Distant voices reached his ears.

“He's waking up..”, he heard a gruff masculine voice.

“Yes, Lady Kagome has asked me to introduce him when he is well enough..”, another masucline voice but smoother than the first.

Turning his head to the side Sesshoumaru tried to see who was in the room with him. He noticed the pinch of pain in his neck, but noticed it was subsided quickly as his muscles healed. He could hardly remember the last time he was allowed to rest and heal...

He squinted his eyes and his vision started to clear. The fog of his deep sleep slowly drifted away. He could make out someone tall with shaggy black hair, wearing a blue top and white hakama. The man standing beside him had longer black hair and was wearing all brown. There was something familiar about him.

“Kouga”, Sesshoumaru rasped as he noticed the scent of the wolf-demon.

“Hey big guy”, Koga said softly, mindful of the fact the Daiyoukai probably had a hell of a head ache. “We thought you were a goner..”

Sesshoumaru frown as the wolf walked towards him, there was a strange metallic clicking, like tiny gear and pistons when the wolf walked. It stopped when he sat down but he couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from.

Kouga frowned as well, noticing the twitch in Sesshoumaru's pointed ears and taking a guess as to the sound he was honing in on. “I'll explain later, Sesshoumaru... you need rest now, just chill.”

Turning his head Sesshoumaru noticed the large window right beside his bed. Eastern exposure he noticed, the heat of the rising sun warmed the blankets on his bed. It felt good, he hadn't been allowed sunlight in so long. He was always kept in cold dark kennels and the arenas never had windows.

“Where is this?”, he asked after staring out over the forest for a long while. He hadn't seen trees and forests for even longer.

“The Lady Kagome's keep”, the smooth voice from earlier answered.

He scowled at the mention of her name. That wasn't what he was hoping to hear. The last time he saw her replayed itself in his mind. The way she cowered and hid rather then fight for her family. The thoughts of her deception made a sour taste on his tongue.

“Lady Kagome is very kind..”, Kiba trailed off hesitantly. The low thrumming growl spoke volume's of Sesshoumaru's displeasure but he knew they were previously acquainted. Why would the mention of her name make him so angry? “I didn't think so at first either..”, he ventured further.

Sesshoumaru lay his head back down on the bed. He didn't have the energy to argue so much now. He closed his eyes and listened. Kiba's smooth voice, despite what he was saying, it was nice to listen to. It had been so long since he was allowed to speak with anyone. So he would just rest and listen now.

“Lady Kagome said the government kept you for quite a while after your capture. They didn't keep me very long. I was auctioned off for study by private corporations.”, Kiba's voice was a strong and measured, he spoke in a very matter of fact tone like this was all information from a book. “After they finished studying me I was sold from the stables. I think in all it was almost fifty years before I was allowed out of their labs.”, a smile crossed his face as he gazed out the window while he spoke. Kouga was silent as well, listening as he had never heard Kiba talk about his past much. No one around them really talked about their past, no one wanted to remember.

“I remember.. sitting in a pen when I first saw her..”, his tone nostalgic and his eyes distant, Kiba was lost in his memory.

[i]Looking out over the bustle in the old market place his eyes met with electric blue. The woman had a scarf around her neck and face, covering all from her eyes down. He felt weighed under her gaze, like he was being sized up and his worth being decided. He felt disdain boil in his gut that she would look at him like an object.

As she walked closer to the man standing in front of his stall he started to feel funny. His body felt lighter and heavier all at once, his vision started to fog. He felt like he wasn't in control anymore, as if he were watching the vision before him on an old movie reel and not from his own eyes.

He saw her speaking with his owner, negotiating, then she handed him money. When she looked at him again everything started to fade. Suddenly he wasn't sitting in a dirty pen anymore, it was a meadow in a forest. Lush grass beneath his feet and vibrant colors swirled all around him. He laid back into the grass and reveled in the warm feel of sunlight on his face.

He didn't think to question how he got there until he was pulled from his dream like place.

He could see a long set of stairs now. He could turn his head to look around but the rest of his body wasn't under his control. He walked up the steps following behind the girl from the marketplace. Off in the forest to one side of the steps he could see and old broken sign that read “Higurashi”.

As he reached the top of the steps he felt the weight on his limbs leave him and his body was his own again. He glared and growled at the girl as she turned to him.

“You can't keep me here..”, he growled, ready to run. No longer under her trance he had the capability to kill her and flee. He didn't want to be studied or kept like someone's pet anymore.

She shrugged, “Run away if you like, but you're welcome to stay. Out there I can't guarantee what they will do if they catch you, where the will take you. Here you are safe and free to roam.” She turned from him then and walked back into the old house on the grounds.

He decided to stay. He would stay in the woods and watch her from the trees, always staying close but never approaching. Finally she approached him one day.

She never asked more than for him to accompany her out of the grounds. Having a guard gave her the facade of a wealthy land owner and she started building on her disguise of a youkai park owner. [/i]

By the time Kiba was finished Sesshoumaru had drifted back into the land of dreams.

Kagome stood outside the room, leaning against the door. She smiled at Kiba's retelling of their first year together. For a while they hadn't gotten along but with just the two of them living at the old shrine they learned to tolerate each other's company and became friends. He was the first youkai she had the chance to save from the hard life of a slave.

Her brow furrowed at the memory of Sesshoumaru's reaction to learning he was in her keep. She expected the cold and aloof Sesshoumaru yes, but what she received was another thing entirely. His aura spoke of pain and desperation and through his dreams she relived his every loss. She had the feeling he wouldn't have minded not waking up from his forced slumber.

Wincing at the idea of him giving up on life so completely, she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. The daiyoukai was in a peaceful slumber now, no nightmares for her to steal away. She crept into his mind, searching for traces of herself and looking for the cause of his hatred.

She could see herself hiding while he was being hauled away. Her and Inuyasha sitting together while they were at dinner. Them at the apartment practicing the beginnings of concealment spells. Different spaces of time and small flashes raced through her mind. Nothing told her what evoked such feelings in him though.

For now she wouldn't be able to approach him. He would be to volatile towards he and she wanted him to be able to socialize with the other people there before putting so much stress on him. Sweeping down the hall in a billowy mass of of wide hakama and her thick cloak she went of back to her office. She resigned herself to watching his progress from afar.

/o.o

He woke to the soft clicking noise of metal gently touching the concrete floor. The same masculine voices from the last time he woke whispered in the cool morning air.

“Jinenji made some more herbal tea.”, wood hit against wood and the clatter of china met his ears.

Sesshoumaru grunted and put his hand to his forehead. When he moved to sit up there was a hand at his back to help him. He nodded his thanks and leaned against the wall beside his futon. Looking to his side Sesshoumaru could make out features more clearly now. Sharp blue eyes stared back into his, shaggy dark hair fell messily over narrow features. Predatory youkai, Sesshoumaru surmised, dog if guessed right as well.

“We have not been introduced...”, Sesshoumaru mumbled. His body was no longer at deaths gate, more like the morning right after a battle so there was only a dull ache and a little rasp in his voice.

“Kiba”, he replied simply, “and this is..”, he motioned towards Kouga but was interrupted by Sesshoumaru.

“We are acquainted. Though it has been some time since we last met.”, Sesshoumaru's eyes swept over Kouga. He took in the changes in his face and eyes, they were more drawn and a little less jovial.

He turned his gaze out the window before he spoke again, “Now.. this is Lady Kagome's keep?” Her name came slowly from his lips, taking time to keep the malice from his voice and testing the title on his tongue.

Kiba nodded with a smile on his face, taking this as improvement from Sesshoumaru's earlier attitude. “Yes, there are many youkai here as well. The Lady Kagome takes in as many youkai as she can to shield from the outside world. It is a safe haven here..”, he trailed off from his enthusiastic rant, “she worked very hard to find you... for many years..”, he continued softly.

He was not prepared for the deep wall quivering snarl that erupted from the being on the bed. Fangs bared and eyes glowing with malice Sesshoumaru threw his feet over the side of the bed and attempted to stand. “That traitorous bitch!”, he hissed emphatically, “has never done anything good for youkai!” Kouga held him up by his arm as he wavered on his feet. Kiba stood abruptly and bared his fangs in return to Sesshoumaru's threatening stance.

Kiba fought to keep his anger under control. It wouldn't do to attack the daiyoukai, but it was hard to stomach such an insult to his lady. He watched with no small amount of satisfaction when Sesshoumaru wavered and fell back onto the bed with a 'plop', the abrupt motion having dizzied him.

Smirking malevolently at the weakened Daiyoukai he decided he could retaliate in a passive aggressive manner. “Since you seem to be well enough to stand I'll show you around the keep.”, he turned and walked to the door, “I will wait for you outside.”, her threw over his shoulder before leaving.

Shaking his head Kouga turned to the tray he brought in earlier and took a cup of tea from it, “Drink this it'll take the edge off the aches.”, he said handing the cup to Sesshoumaru.

Wordlessly accepting the cup, Sesshoumaru took a few sips. It dulled his senses a bit, fuzzying the world around him but he assumed that was a simple side affect as was so often true with remedies for pain. Kouga was silent sitting before him. The wolf didn't want to say anything that would upset him knowing he was a bit temperamental at the moment.

Gazing at the wolf's legs Sesshoumaru's mind was riddled with questions. The clinking and humming of gears and cogs had never stopped and he remembered when Kouga walked it sounded like metal on the floors rather than the soft padding of feet.

A clawed hand swept through jet black hair awkwardly, “I figured you would ask about that soon...”, Kouga wasn't deterred by the mildly surprised look on the Daiyoukai's face. Who wouldn't notice where he was staring? “When the government took me for study... they wanted to know why I was so fast,” looking up at Sesshoumaru's face he could tell he was listening intently but still somewhat befuddled, “How much do you know about what happened? I mean.. what was going on before they started rounding up youkai..”

Shaking his head Sesshoumaru replied simply, “Nothing.” He was kept in absolute seclusion since they took him, first in labs, then in pens, and when they had him fighting in rings no one was focused on explaining to him why he was there.

“They were studying us for years... They had pictures, video clips everything..,” Kouga sighed and ruffled his hair in frustration at the mere thought of all he had seen. “Little slips ups, when someone used their speed for convenience, moments where concealment spells slipped. I guess all the humans that did see little things and report them.. there was enough to cause an investigation.

“First it was a few youkai missing and we never noticed, but that's how they figured out how to make those devices that suppress our energy. Then they decided to capture more for study, then despite that we'd left the humans alone we were deemed dangerous. They captured as many as they could then the 'youkai-control-devices' were sold on the open market.” Kouga scratched the back of his head as he paused, staring with a forlorn expression at his hakama clad legs. “Anyway.. you were wondering about these weren't you?” He pulled back the pant leg revealing a brass colored prosthetic leg. The gears spun lively, glistening in the sunlight through the open window. It was shaped more like the back leg of a dog rather than the humanoid legs he sported before.

“They wanted to study the muscles, they wondered why I was so fast.. So they started with biopsies, taking samples. Looked at the bone marrow, bone structure, blood work. We're remarkably similar to humans in bodily makeup.. and when they couldn't find any reason they just kept looking. Until they just amputated the legs and grafted them onto a human.. like a freaky science project ya'know,” Kouga laughed sardonically at the last part, “and it still didn't even work... the human was just a little stronger but he couldn't run as fast as me.

“These are pretty good though..,” He stretched the false limb, the pumps made a soft hissing noise sliding back and forth. “I can even jump a little higher than before,” Kouga hopped to his feet, his pant leg sliding back down hiding all but the shiny brass paw from view. “You finished?”

Sesshoumaru nodded placing the tea cup back on the tray and getting to his feet. He wasn't near as wobbly and could walk on his own now. He looked down, noticing he had been redressed in clean clothing, a loose white haori and grey hakama. His hair was combed and pulled back, and it looked like someone had bathed him since he didn't still have the scent of that filthy dungeon clinging to him.

“C'mon pretty boy we got some people that want to see you,” Kouga joked in an attempt to lighten the solemn mood. He gently took the crook of Sesshoumaru's arm and led him to the door. Outside they were met by a stoic Kiba who only started walking down hall, silently telling them to follow, without so much as a greeting.