What's A Dragon to Do?

Chapter 35

Kagome lay in bed and watched as Juria pulled her new clothing from her bag. At the strange look Juria shot her she couldn't hold in her laughter anymore. "That's a chemise. You wear it to entice your mate."

Juria held the little scrap of material up and sent Kagome a dubious glance. "There is barely enough material here to cover me how is that suppose to entice Inuyasha?"

"Just trust me. Put it on before he comes into the bedroom tonight and I guarantee that he won't be able to resist you. If he does he's not the hanyou I took him for."

Sango looked at the item that Juria was worried about and was almost afraid to look into her bag. She slowly opened her bag and the first item she found was a black piece of material. Sango gently pulled it out of the bag and studied it. How was one supposed to wear something like that?

Kagome jumped up when Sango pulled her bustier from her bag. She grabbed it from her and pulled Sango to her feet. She held it up to her friend and smiled. "Kitaro will absolutely love this on you."

"But Kagome there is less here than on Juria's. And what are those straps at the bottom for?"

Kagome sighed and dug through Sango's bag and came up with the thigh high hose. "You attach these to the bottom of those." She dug through the bag and pulled out the gladiator sandals and held them up. "And these go on your feet."

Sango gaped at the shoes. "I'll kill myself walking in something like that."

"Sango you’re agile and athletic. If anyone could manage to walk in those shoes it would be you." Kagome heard Masumi snicker and turned to find the wolf blushing like mad and holding something behind her back. "Do you like your outfit?"

Masumi‘s face turned a deeper shade of red and she laughed. "I think Miroku will love it. But you’re going to have to help me put it on."

Kagome smiled at least one of them wasn't balking at the idea of the outfits. "I know, before bedtime we can all come here and get dressed and then you can retire to your rooms. Of course you would have to wear a kimono over it until you get to your room. Can't have you all parading around the palace in those things. Your mates would kill everyone that looked on you and Sesshoumaru and I would like to keep our servants and guards."

She watched as Sango smothered a yawn looked around at the other girls. They were all tired. "Well let's all take a nap until dinner. You all can leave your bags here until after dinner." With that said the girls placed their bags on the floor beside the wall and left to their own chambers.

Kagome sighed when they all left. Now was the perfect time for a nice long nap.

Sesshoumaru felt when Kagome fell asleep. Well there went his plans for the afternoon. He might as well make his patrol and what a good time to teach Inuyasha how to patrol. Of course he knew the hanyou already knew how but if he didn't get to rest with his mate why should anyone else? On that note he swung by the garden and grabbed the monk, went to the dojo and grabbed Kitaro, and finally found his brother walking around the palace grounds. With four of them the patrol shouldn't take nearly as long. They spread out slightly and set off.

They had traveled for about an hour when they came upon a village. Sesshoumaru decided to take a break and landed and waited for the others to find him. Kitaro was the first to arrive and then the hanyou and finally the monk. They headed into the village and were shocked when the villagers ignored them.

Sesshoumaru had been to this village recently so he knew they knew who he was. But the headman still had not come to welcome him. Then he saw the worried stares of the villagers. Something was amiss. He stopped and scanned the area and found the scent of his pups and their nanny. As the scent of Rin and Shippou's blood hit him he growled and took off to find his pups.

Kitaro, Inuyasha and Miroku smelled the blood also and quickly followed Sesshoumaru. This was not going to be pretty. Whoever was dumb enough to harm the lord’s pups where about to find out what a huge mistake they had just made.

Sesshoumaru entered the forest bordering the village and found a small field. His pups, Niche and two other children were at the center of the village surrounded by many of the smaller males and a few of the females of the village and what appeared some of the village males. Niche was in her dragon form and breathing fire at the larger males and smacked the younger attackers away from her with her tail. Shippou and Rin where under her front legs and just laid there unconscious.

Sesshoumaru growled loud enough to catch everyone’s attention and he watched as Niche relaxed but didn't change back to her humanoid form. She obviously wasn't going to relax her guard.

The villagers froze when they heard the growl behind them. They all knew who that growl belonged to. You didn't live in the Western lands and not know the growl of the Taiyoukai that ruled. They turned and saw a very angry Taiyoukai behind them. A few of the more cowardly ones tried to make a run for it but was stopped by one of the male demons or hanyou.

Once all the villagers were encircled and efficiently controlled Sesshoumaru approached Niche.

Niche watched as her lord approached her and returned to her humanoid form. She dropped down into a low bow as he neared. "My Lord I have failed in protecting the pups."

Sesshoumaru looked down at the dragon and with a quick glance saw the many wounds covering her body. "You appeared to have done your duty. Now explain what happened here?"

Niche rose and approached the children beside Sesshoumaru. "We were in the village and a few of the children had asked Rin and Shippou to play with them while I shopped. I didn't smell any sign of deceit so I allowed them to go. I wasn't going to be gone long. Shortly after I smelled Shippou's blood and I ran to find him. I was almost here when I smelled Rins‘. I ran to the center of the village and found Shippou fighting off a few of the older males with the one human boy. Both girls had already been knocked out when I arrived. The older children were screaming at them and saying that they were evil and deserved to die. Before I could stop them they hit Shippou and the boy with clubs and knocked them out. I made it to the children before they could finish their threat but they have not yet awoken my Lord."

Sesshoumaru leaned down and gently picked his pups up. He turned to look at the human adults that had surrounded the center of their village. Motioning to the two human pups still on the ground he turned to the awaiting crowd. "Who do these human pups belong too?"

He watched as a small female and a rather large human male walked forward. The male was brave enough to speak. "They are ours my Lord. May we tend to them please?"

Sesshoumaru nodded his head to the man and watched as they ran to their children. When they went to leave the village center he stopped them. "Halt. You four will return to the palace with me." With an angry scowl at the rest of the village he turned to the village elder. "Your village injured my pups. The parents of the remaining children will step forth." He waited as the wary humans decided to act on his orders. Sesshoumaru turned to Niche and stated his orders. “Inuyasha show Niche which huts these humans dwell in. Niche you will fire each hut. Make sure no human is in any before you do so."

Miroku and Kitaro held back the families as they each watched their homes and all their belongings were incinerated. When Niche was done all that remained was only a handful of huts. She had managed to set fire to the food storage sheds and the barns that housed the animals that the humans kept for food.

Sesshoumaru turned to the village elder. "Remember you brought this on yourselves and be thankful that I dealt out your punishment instead of my mate. You could very well be morning your own pups if that had been the case. And when she sees her pups in this condition I can make no guarantee that it won't still happen. You might be able to rebuild and restock your supplies before winter. The western palace will not help with any request from this village for at least twelve moon cycles. I will also be sending missives out to the other villages in the western land stating that they will not aid your village. Maybe during that time you and your pups will have learned that not all demons are bad just like not all humans are bad." With that said he nodded to Kitaro who had walked over to the human pup’s parents and listened as he spoke to them.

Kitaro spoke to the humans and was happy that he could keep the anger out of his voice. "Do you have any belongings that you wish to take with you?"

The male human shook his head no. "My greatest belongs I already have with me." With that said he pulled his wife to his side as he gently held his son.

Kitaro bowed his head to the man and then told them to hang onto him. With a nod to Sesshoumaru he took flight followed by Inuyasha who bounded through the trees. Niche soon followed being too injured to carry anyone. The monk ran below in the forest and Sesshoumaru soon raced ahead of everyone.

Sesshoumaru landed on the children’s balcony and rushed into the room to place the children on the bed. He went to the door and opened it and was almost run over by his mate.

Kagome had been napping when she smelt her pup’s blood. She rushed from her room and followed the scent to the pup’s room. What had happened to her pups? With a quick order to a passing maid to fetch Uzuki with utmost haste she went to push the door open and was shocked to find her mate leaving the room. She leaned to the side of him and spotted her children covered in blood and pushed Sesshoumaru out of the way. "What happened to my pups?"

Sesshoumaru proceeded to tell her the story as she checked her pups over. He was almost to the end of it when Uzuki ran into the room with a few helpers carrying various trays filled with different herbs and things. "My lady will you please let me by to do my work." Uzuki waited till Kagome moved over to her mate to examine the pups. There appeared to be many bruises and a few knots on Shippou's head. Rin didn’t appear to have many wounds. She had a small knot on her head but not many bruises. Shippou must have put up a hard fight. She set to work mixing herbs to get the right potions and then rubbed them on the bruises and knots. When both children where cleaned and bandaged she turned to her lord and lady. "They will need a lot of rest to recover. I will give them a potion to drink that will ensure that they stay asleep for awhile. They should recover by morning."

Kagome sighed in relief and buried her head in her mates shoulder as she cried tears of relief.

Sesshoumaru held his mate as she cried and then turned to Uzuki. "Your daughter should arrive shortly and will need your attention and Kitaro is bringing two human pups and their parents. The human pups will also require your care." With that said he picked Kagome up and carried her back to their rooms.

Kagome leaned against her mate’s chest when he entered their rooms and sat in a chair keeping her in his arms. "Why bring the humans here to be healed?"

"The human pups went against their friends to protect our pups. They deserve to get the best care possible."

That had to be the last thing she expected him to say. "So what happened to the villagers that attacked my pups?"

Sesshoumaru told how he had Niche fire the village. He expected her to get angry at this part and was somewhat surprised when she didn't.

Kagome sat up and glared at him. "You went easy on them mate."

Sesshoumaru growled at Kagome and pulled her back against him. "I do not see it as such. They will need to rebuild or move onto another village. They can't request aid from us or any other village in the western lands. I will send out messengers on the morrow to inform the other villages what has transpired. They will be lucky if they don't freeze or starve during the winter with what I left standing. They will think twice before they attack a demon child again."

Kagome thought about what her mate said and nodded her head to him to show him that she understood. "Why did you have the humans brought here?"

Sesshoumaru smiled down at Kagome. "It is rare that you find a human that doesn't want demons dead. He would make a good ambassador. He can travel to the other villages in the western lands and mediate between the humans and demons. Of course I would have to appoint a demon to join him and I know just the one that would be perfect for the job."

"Who would that be?"

"The monk would be perfect for that job. With his new powers he would be able to protect them both. And his sense of right and wrong will ensure that each problem is handled fairly." Sesshoumaru placed his hand over Kagome's stomach and caressed the slight bulge. "The pups are growing quickly."

Kagome turned her head to growl at her mate. "Are you calling me fat?"

"No I did not mate. I just stated that the pups are growing. You could never be fat in my eyes while you carry our pups."

Kagome laughed and relaxed back against her mates chest. "I'll remind you of that when I am as big as a hut."

"Since that would indicate that it would soon be time for the pup’s arrival I will welcome that day." He leaned down and licked the side of her neck before moving up to her ear and whispered in it. "Not to mention they say a female’s breasts get bigger when they are nearer to giving birth."

Kagome squirmed out his lap and turned to glare at him. "Are you saying that my breasts aren’t to your liking now?" She looked down at her chest. She wasn't small by any means of the word. And she had enlarged some when she was changed into a demon. What did it take to make him happy? If she got any bigger she wouldn't be able to stand up straight.

Sesshoumaru just sat and stared at his mate. What in the kami's was wrong with her? That's the second time that she took offense at something he said in a few short minutes.

Kagome waited for Sesshoumaru to say something and when he didn't retract his words she stormed toward the door. She was almost to the door when she spotted a vase. “Since my body is so unpleasing to you I will take it elsewhere.” She picked up the vase and threw it at Sesshoumaru before storming the rest of the way out the door.

Sesshoumaru saw the vase headed for him and quickly moved out of its path. As it hit the chair he avoided the debris when the chair exploded. He looked at the scattered remains of the chair and then at the now closed door. What did he do? He would have to ask the other males and see if they knew.