Trails of Pain and Love

A/N: Ok, so the crossover begins here, and thanks for the comments thus far.



Updated Disclaimer: I also don't own the works of Kouta Hirano, nor will I profit from them.



Chapter 8



"In here..." came Kohaku's voice from outside.



Kagome glanced upwards, before grabbing Souta's head and pulling it to the side to reveal his neck.



"Sister, what are you doing?" asked Souta in a suddenly worried and almost a little afraid voice.



His eyes saw her fangs and then he started to struggle, to get away.



"No, Kagome, please stop it!" yelled Souta as he struggled against her grip.



"Kagome!" yelled Miroku as he came into the room. He saw the miko sitting up in her cot, hugging her kid brother close to her as she apparently prepared to suck the blood out of his neck.



Sesshomaru had warned him that something like this might happen if he didn't get to Amaru in time, and so Miroku had prepared a few special sutra charms just in case.



"Sacred Sutras." yelled Miroku as he threw his charms onto Kagome's forehead. The miko let out a fierce howl as blue arcs of sealing energy ran up and down her body. Her grasp on Souta lessened, and the boy managed to break free.



"Please, don't hurt her." said Souta. Despite her intentions, he knew she didn't mean it, that she must be under the influence from someone else.



"We won't. Now hurry to safety. Kohaku, go with him. I can handle this." said Miroku. He wished that Sango was by his side, but the demon-slayer was still in healing after the wounds she recieved from those strange wolves.



Kagome's body continued to arch and convulse as the seals tried to contain her power. Then, the seals dissipated, and Kagome lay still, but only for a moment.



With a growl, she rose from the cot, and stood to confront Miroku head on. The monk held onto his staff and looked at Kagome in dismay.



'Those were my most powerful seals. What kind of powers has she gained, for my seals not to be able to work? Unfortunatley, it appears I will need be a bit more physical in order to subdue her.' thought Miroku as he took another few charms out of his robes.



Snarling, her fangs wide open, ready to plunge into his neck, Kagome charged forwards towards Miroku. With a yell, he placed the charms upon her head, before smashing his staff into the same place, reinforcing the powers of the sutra charms.



It appeared that this did the trick. Kagome tettered for a moment, then blinked several times before looking back up towards Miroku.



"Mi...Miroku....what happened to me..." stammered Kagome, before the power of the seals took place and she began to collapse.



The monk ran forwards and caught her, before picking her up and carrying her back to the cot. A nasty bruise was forming on her forehead.



'I hope Sesshomaru confronts that...vampire soon. I don't want to have to confront Kagome like that again...' he thought, settling down to keep a careful eye on her seemingly sleeping form...



* * *



Speaking of the ice devil himself, Sesshomaru had arrived at the cave where he could sense Amaru waiting. He suspected a trap, since he wasn't able to feel the vampire's presence earlier when he had attacked Kagome.



Drawing Tokijin from it's sheath, the dog demon lord entered the cave, eyes scanning left and right, looking for any opponent's who may be laying in wait to ambush him.



He came to a large opening in the centre of the cave. Waiting for him there was Amaru, standing with the robes cloaking his body, his head looking at him with an expression of somewhere between malice and amusement.



"So, you have come." stated Amaru, a hint of a smile gracing his mouth.



"Tell me how to free Kagome, and I may let you live." offered Sesshomaru, wasting no time on pleasentries but getting right down to buisness.



"I hate to dissapoint you, but I am not about to give up my servant. My only purpose in drawing you here was to kill you." replied Amaru, his smile no longer a mere hint but a full feature gracing his lower face.



"What a waste. You would have done better to flee." said Sesshomaru, before charging Amaru with his sword.



The vampire dissolved into his bats again, and reformed some distance away after Sesshomaru sliced through the empty air where he had been standing only a moment before.



"I won't be fighting you. They will." gestured Amaru. All around the edges of the central opening, rock and dirt broke away, and dead villagers, their blood having been sucked away by Amaru, rose from their graves, the ghouls converging upon Sesshomaru from all around.



The dog demon looked bored for a moment, before sticking his Tokijin into the ground. Thinking the dog demon was surrending, Amaru motioned his army of ghouls forward, to attack and devour the lord of the Central lands.



Sesshomaru raised his left arm, his hand glowing green. He began spinning in circles as the poision whip emerged, spiraling around and striking down the ghouls who were converging upon him.



Several revolutions later, the ghouls had all been sliced down. Coming to a halt, Sesshomaru manipulated the whip one last time, lashing out and striking Amaru across the face, before the whip dissipated into his hand again.



"Tsk." muttered Amaru, one of his hands covering the slight wound on his cheek, which quickly healed. Snapping his fingers, he watched with satisfaction as the ghouls stood up again, having not died when Sesshomaru struck them down.



"Persistant bastard, aren't you?" asked Sesshomaru, his golden yellow eyes gazing upon the vampire.



"There is nothing you can do. You will be consumed, and with you out of the way, the conquest of first Tokyo, then the rest of Japan can begin in earnest." gloated Amaru, his eyes glinting evilly.



Suddenly, a white gloved hand, with strange markings on it's knuckles, appeared through Amaru's chest from behind.



The vampire let out a startled gasp, as he tried to turn his head to see who was behind him.



"You...instant vampires make me sick." came the deep voice from behind him, as another being came into view. Amaru took in his newcomer with a glance, noting the eyes and the fangs that indicated he was a vampire too, although one that Amaru had never met, nor knew of.



"And what makes you different from us?" croaked out Amaru, his body starting to dissolve.



Instead of gracing Amaru with an answer, the newcomer pulled his hand out of his chest cavity. With a great sigh, Amaru dissolved into a small mountian of dust.



With their master dead, the rest of the ghouls also dissolved into nothingness.



Sesshomaru eyed this newcomer with suspicion and a hint of anger. The being returned his glance, only the newcomer's eyes were filled with amusement more than anything else.



"You are not one of them. You have nothing to fear from me." again came the deep baritone voice.



"You killed that vampire. I needed to know how to set a servant of his free, an acquitance of mine whom he turned into a vampire servant." stated Sesshomaru in response, now glaring at the other vampire.



"Hmph. Simple enough. With the master dead, the blood of the servant vampire will dissolve. In order to save them from dying from a lack of blood, you or another will need to provide her with blood in order to live." said the newcomer, as he began to turn his back on the dog demon.



"Who are you?" inquired Sesshomaru, in case they should cross paths again. The being was tall, dressed in a red hat and cloak, with black ungarments and pants. His boots were black as well, and he wore the white gloves.



"My name is...Alucard." said the vampire, as he faded away into the darkness of the cave.



'Strange man.' thought Sesshomaru as he exited the cave and started back towards Tokyo...