The Once and Future Taiyoukai By RosieB. (Inuyasha FanFic)

Chapter 16: The Time Demon

ALL RIGHTS TO ROSIE B ON FANFICTION.NET Rosie B [https://www.fanfiction.net/u/38149/RosieB]

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Chapter 16: The Time Demon

The Once and Future Taiyoukai

Chapter 16: The Time Demon

Twenty minutes later, the cloud drifted back down between the trees and the human, the taiyoukai and the fire-cat stepped onto solid ground again. Kagome frowned at the ghostly pine trees. The needles crunched beneath her feet with no grass to muffle the noise. They had gone far up the mountainside.

"I'm guessing the witch lives at the top," Kagome murmured.

"If it is this mountain at all. We are without our guide." He noticed the distress in her expression and quickly added, "But I will find the witch if she exists."

She took his hand for the first time since they had returned to Midoriko's village and nodded. "Okay. Then, for now, we go up."

Sesshoumaru agreed and they began the trek up the side of the mountain. It was advancing towards the early hours of the morning, however, and Kagome's frequent yawns began to worry him. "Do you need to rest?" he asked her.

"I'm fine for a little while."

"If they attack when you are tired..."

"I'll wake up fast," she interrupted. "Don't worry about me. Not yet."

They were both silent for a few moments. "That is one request I cannot fulfill," Sesshoumaru murmured at last. He kept his eyes forward as Kagome stared at him. "Every time I fail to worry, you are injured in some way. Or I am," he added quickly.

Kagome smiled. "Oh. Okay. Well, if that's why you're worried..."

"You know perfectly well it is not," he interrupted.

The miko's smile faded, but her eyes began to shine. He tried not to see it. "I know." She took a deep breath and looked straight ahead again. "Maybe we can get to the tree line before dawn."

"Maybe," he replied.

Kagome looked up to where she guessed the mountain peak would be, if there weren't trees in the way. "I'm so scared that she won't be there. That she can't help me," she murmured. "I'll never see my friends again. I'll never live up to my responsibilities."

He squeezed her hand. "Witches do not monopolize all wisdom in this world. I will take you wherever you need to go to find your way to your friends, Kagome. I know of several wise youkai that might help. There are demons older than this land. One of them will know."

She shook her head. "No, you can't do that. Your father needs you. You have your own obligations. If this doesn't work... well, I'll just search on my own."

"I will not leave you," he said, his tone fierce and soft. "I am bound to your quest as much as you are by now. I cannot abandon it as long as a path exists."

The miko smiled sadly at her moving feet. "I'm not like you, Sesshoumaru. I don't live forever. Eventually, I must abandon my responsibilities, even if it's death that does it for me." She let out a long breath. "It might be sooner than that. I can't wander like this forever. Never mind that I can't, but I also don't want to. I've always prided myself that whatever this quest took from me, I was more than just the miko assigned to it. I have a life aside from these damn shards. I don't want you to think that I would give up. But soon, I would want my life back."

"If you told me what you are doing..."

"You know I can't," she interrupted with a kind look.

He nodded, having expected the answer. "Then... if you do stay here, you could stay with me," he said. He caught her surprised look out of the corner of his eye. "You could stay in the West, I mean. My father and the court will be there too. He likes you. You would be more than welcome and you would have a good life. Friends and a place in the court too. I'm sure that my father would find the advice of a human miko helpful," he added, speaking rather quickly.