Fallen

Chapter 7

Kagome was baffled. Was the list a collection of the places they had to go? Or was it a list of items they had to collect? Was that the purpose of the journey? Collecting items for a spell, maybe? If so why did it have to be so cryptic? Ugh. All of this situation was confusing and she was beyond frustrated. Really she just wanted to go home not be tied to a youkai no matter how beautiful the specimen. But she kept her thoughts as just that, thoughts.

Sesshomaru kept his opinions like wise to himself. It was not his practice to speak his thoughts and he had no intention of helping the woman fix her own mistake regardless of how he was involved. For as far as he was concerned, this was her problem. He purposely avoided dealings with the Gods for this very reason. All of them were tricksters who when lacking in amusement would select some poor fool and torment them for fun. Well, he was no one's toy. And he honestly had had enough, though if the girls words held any merit this was merely the beginning.

If he'd only known what the spell had said he would have figured out some other way. Silently he admitted to himself that he had been wrong in this matter. But those words would never cross his lips. His father had taught him once, 'that you can lie to everyone else but you must never lie to yourself'. He never lied period. It went against his honor. He either told the complete truth or he didn't speak. But this woman made all his careful lines blur. She disrupted his balance and he hated her for it. Twice now he had lied, to her. And it grated on him.

She fascinated him in a way that also frustrated the hell out of him. He didn't want to be intrigued by her knowledge. He didn't want to long to know all of the secrets she held. He wanted nothing more than to return home and put an end to this nonsense. To soothe himself with the scent of the wind racing through the forest and to forget the presence of the girl that he just couldn't rid himself of.

It really was disconcerting to say the least, to stand in a room and feel like there was an extension of yourself standing nearby that was completely disconnected from yourself. It felt as though just by thinking it her hand would raise by his mental command. On top of that he could feel the steady flow of emotions as the raced through her, and though she had not alluded to such he was certain that she could feel him clearly as well. This bond was far to intimate for comfort. He hated it.

Kagome raised her head and tilted it to one side. “Well?” she asked irritably. He glared back at her tone. The girl took far too many liberties with her speech when addressing him. “Well what?” he snapped his patience nearly gone. Kagome clenched her teeth in further annoyance. “What do you think it means?” she repeated. His lips turned down slightly. “You are asking for my opinion? Can you not do anything yourself?” he questioned pointedly as he took several deep breaths to calm himself.

“Of course I can.” she snapped harshly back. “I just figured that we are supposed to work together.” She held up the scroll pointing at the spell “See it says 'together' so, what do you think?” He narrowed his eyes at her condescending tone. Sesshomaru stood up towering over her. “I think, onna that you forget your place. It is not the job of this Sesshomaru to assist you. I want no part in this. This, was not my doing. I will not help you to correct your mistake.” He walked away from her giving her his back, an Inu form of rejection though she most likely had no idea.

Kagome's face went redder as she jumped to her feet. She clenched her fists and fought a very strong urge to either shake him or hit him, both were equally satisfying in her eyes. As she looked at him standing there with his back to her she recalled that he almost always had his back to her whenever they spoke. Vaguely she wondered if it was a dog thing and what it meant, though if she knew Sesshomaru at all, it was probably an insult. The very thought of another insult from him sent her temper through the roof. “Argh! Yes, it was! You said that you were going to kill us both if I didn't read the stupid thing. It wasn't like I had many options.” she exploded angrily as her aura flared wildly.

Her implied claim of stupidity on his part made him see red. Normally he would never bother to argue anything with anyone let alone a human onna, but the thought of letting her implied insult slide loosed his tongue. “Do not take me for a fool miko, had you said the scroll said nothing of our current situation I would have...” Kagome snorted interrupting his angry argument. “Who are you kidding? You would have thought it a ploy to save my own life. I tried to tell you, remember? You accused me of going back on my word.”

Kagome huffed quietly as she regained her composure. This whole situation was stupid and yelling at each other was not going to help. “Look it doesn't matter now.” she stated somewhat calmer. He also appeared to be calming as he was no longer dripping acid from his claws. She took that as a good sign and continued. “The fact is that to get where ever we are going we have to work together. So are you willing to let bygones be bygones for now and work with me?” she asked.

He sneered. “I would never sink so low.”

Kagome wanted to throw her head back and scream in frustration. What was his problem?! Did she have to be the more mature one with him too? She ignored the pang of heart ache as her time with Inuyasha flashed through her thoughts. Silently she decided that both brothers needed to grow up! “Fine! I'll do it myself because the Kami know, I am not dying for your stupidity!”

Sesshomaru looked at her with an odd look in his eyes. “You will not die. I will not permit it. This bond makes it impossible for one to die without the other. It is I who will not die for your stupidity.”

It was in that moment Kagome decided that he was even more of an idiot than she thought. Just because he didn't want to work with her was one thing. But did he really just say that she was the stupid one? Was he in high school? No. Was he the one from the future who knew the sad fate of this island? No. Had he listen to her about said fate? Obviously not. She wanted to bang her head repeatedly against a wall. Maybe give them both a headache. Then let him suffer, she had painkillers. Oh, but wait wouldn't the pain killers numb his pain too? Ugh. It was so unfair. What the heck did she know about treasures from the sea?

'Hmm, treasures from the sea...what does the sea have that could be treasure? Lots of things. Like fish and sunken ships and...'

“Pearls.” It was so obvious now. He raised his eyebrow. “What does a pearl have to do with anything?” he asked sounding almost tired now that his anger had abated. Kagome spun in a circle doing a very mild happy dance. “Treasure of the sea, gift of the Gods. It's the answer. It is a list but there's a riddle I guess. So I guess that means we need to find a pearl that would be the treasure of the sea and a gift of the Gods. But where should we start?” she said looking around aimlessly.

A soft clearing of a throat startled Kagome as she snapped out of her aimless thoughts. “It would be my honor to take thee to see the marvels of our blessed island. If thou dost wish.” the voice was like warm honey and yet it made her cringe inside as she looked at the younger priest. He was handsome she supposed by a human standard before his blonde hair and piercing green eyes would have made her drool, but unfortunately she had been in the presence of beings like Sesshomaru whose god like beauty had spoiled any interest Kagome would ever have in the males of her species. And even if it weren't for the looks there was also the wildness in the youki that drew her as well and no human would ever carry that appeal.

Kagome mentally cursed her respectful nature that would not allow her to speak rudely or decline his offer, just as she'd never been able to turn down Hojo. With a silent sigh she quietly acquiesced to his offer and as she followed the priest she missed the dark look that Sesshomaru shot the priest.

Oh, how he hated that damned spell. He felt almost like she had a leash on him. And he most definitely did not like that. He would have liked nothing better than to avoid watching the interaction of the human male, the overwhelming stench of the priest's desire burned his highly sensitive nose and infuriated him at the same time. The Miko though seemed pleased enough to be outside. She was looking around at everything with those impossibly wide blue eyes of hers looking delighted and sad at the same time. Like one does when looking at a beautiful sunset that you know will fade and die. Her look puzzled Sesshomaru.

“Miko, why are you saddened?” he asked in her ear finally unable to stop himself and startling her with the sudden sound of his voice. Kagome looked up and met his probing eyes. “I am sad because I know the fate of this beautiful place. And to see it with my own eyes, it feels like a great loss.” She said looking out over the circular roads and water ways that ringed the hills where the group of temples stood proudly. The huge ocher colored volcano rising above everything, felt ominous to her, knowing that in some unknown time from now it would explode and be the cause of a great loss of lives and the total destruction of this beautiful island.

Calix's attention was drawn to her words and he paused waiting for her to walk closer. “Worry not Holy One for our fate on this day. Instead let us gaze upon the stiff mountain peaks and the lush fertile valleys ripe with the promise of life.” He took her hand in his as he spoke his eyes openly wandering over her form. Kagome moved away from the man, as her skin crawled from his touch, and in to a garden over flowing with flowers in every color imaginable. She wiped her hand on the front of her robe. “disgusting.” she muttered under her breath, suddenly feeling like she needed a nice hot bath. Sesshomaru however had not missed the girl's comment and he internally smirked at her reaction, pleased that she had disliked the blatant attention to her person.

“Is not the view most pleasant?”Calix asked though his eyes never left the woman's body. His words made Sesshomaru want to silence the fool but for a reason unknown to himself he was loath to kill in front of the miko.

Kagome wasn't stupid. The priest was obviously interested in her and the very idea made her want to scream and cry and hide all at once. Disturbed her thoughts turned inward as she continued to look around her.

There was one thing Kagome had come to enjoy after traipsing though feudal Japan, it was legends. She couldn't get enough of them after learning herself that some were true. In school she'd absolutely adored her world history class. But the stories that caught her attention most were those of lost cities.

To her, though regrettably sad, this was a dream come true. Here she was walking on the very island that no one in her time was certain ever existed. Well she knew now didn't she. Too bad she couldn't go public with the knowledge. It would probably make her famous. 'But then again...I have too many secrets to be famous.' she thought ruefully. That and the fact that she had no intention of spending the rest of her life in a nut house.

Her thoughts ended abruptly as she walked in to the center of all the activity she had heard from the garden. A market place. There was so much to look at that she was certain she couldn't look around enough and wished she had another set of eyes so that she would be able to take it all in. Colors of cloth made bright splashes of visual noise in the mix of people milling about on their way to where ever they were heading. Ships sailed soundlessly through the canals that ran side by side with the streets. Plethora's of every kind of fruits and vegetables imaginable were displayed in wooden crates and on table tops. The constant ring of a hammer and anvil filled the air with the ring of metal on metal announcing the presence of the blacksmith or sword-smith's shops. Kagome was enchanted. Sesshomaru was just annoyed.

What was it about markets that women found so enthralling? It was noisy and crowded. Humans rushing around like ants drove him crazy. Not to mention that he was not overly subtle, it was maddening when one of the humans spotted them and suddenly there was silence. Every human except the miko was prostrated on the ground with their faces pressed to the cobble stone streets. Then like a wave crashing on a shore there was a collection of praises and holy ones this and holy ones that. Even though part of him found their praise to be food for his ego, another part of him hated it. For once, was it too much to ask that he was not treated like a rare wonder?

Slowly one or two of the humans rose from the ground and stepped closer laying earthen jars or bowls filled with fruit at his feet. Then they approached the miko and knelt in front of her bowing and thanking her for her holy presence. His eyes were drawn to her face. She was an unhealthy shade of red. And he found it amusing. Not to the point that his mask faltered but amusing none the less. The girl was flustered and uttered some nonsense that must have pleased the people because now more were coming forward to place something at either of their feet and praise them before moving away.


The priest Calix, looked very smug as he watched the woman interact with the crowds. She was good. He could give her that, but he was no one's fool she was as human as any of the fops bowing at her feet. But it didn't matter to him. The people saw her as a goddess and a goddess she would be. “My lord. have you at last come to see thy son?” a woman asked as she knelt before the priest a small boy clutched her robes. Turning he fixed the woman with a look so cold it rivaled Sesshomaru's coldest. “Whore, dost thou dare to say that such a wretch is mine?” he asked harshly. “Return to the hovel you call home I shall deal with thee later.” He glanced at a burly grungy man who nodded eagerly and followed the woman.

Sesshomaru watched the interaction with disgust and fury. The child was the priest's blood he could smell it from where he stood. Why did he deny it? It was the act of a coward and unforgivable. If the miko had any interest in the priest, which by her actions and feeling she did not, he planned to dissuade her further. The calculating stare he sent in the miko's direction was both unnerving and repugnant. If the fool had plans on the miko he would find his end on the razor edge of Sesshomaru's claws. Silently Sesshomaru moved closer to the miko and flashed his fangs the general direction of the priest.

“The sun will soon set, we shall return to the temple.” he ordered softly. Casting a nervous glance at her silent silver companion Kagome nodded and turned to follow Sesshomaru. A loud crash filled the the air. Above the crash came a frantic female scream.

“Please somebody save my son!”