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Unexpected Encounters

Chapter 22: Battlefield

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There were only a few men with even an inkling of bravery fighting against the enemy, but even with such courage, their strengths combined were not enough to deter the assault of the demons. Most of the villagers ran a muck, trying to stall their imminent doom or at least trying to make some time until someone came to save them. Many had already died at the hands of the demons, but the shred of hope left in their hearts still rung. Hope had not been lost.

"Isn't there a village of demon slayers somewhere?" One boy whispered to a sister, the duo concealed in the treetops.

"There is. But we would all die before they got here!" The elder girl gasped out, tears escaping her eyes in light of their terrible situation. "Where is our priestess?"

"You don't think they've got her?" The boy asked in horror, "I don't think Lady Kikyou would ever abandon us. She's either fighting demons or dead!"

"Or off with her demon lover!" Just as the young woman finished her hushed exclamation, a blur of white passed by the pair of siblings, ruffling about the leaves on the tree and silencing both of them. The blur stopped further ahead to reveal none other Sesshoumaru and Kikyou, the latter of the two fully armed with her long bow and arrows.

"Thank you," Kikyou began, "I can handle it from here." And she stepped forward bravely, bow armed and ready to attack. With swift steps she came out of the forest and into the village, where the demons had already begun to sense her powerful aura and gathered to where she was. There was a hush then; the wailing villagers grew quiet and the demons quit their chortling to analyze the incoming threat. There was a wave of anxiousness that washed through both sides.

Without even a single mutter of warning, Kikyou hastily got to work – her nimble hand loading arrow after arrow, purifying as many demons as she could, but with a feeling of dread, she realized that what once took her one arrow to purify, took two, if not more: her spiritual powers were muted, the cause of which worried her.

The villagers began to cheer and some even cried at the wonderful relief that coursed through them – their once panic-stricken expressions turning into facades of relief and joy. Nobody noticed the great strain Kikyou's long-awaited purge placed on her petite body. The young female shot her deadly arrows at the approaching demons; her aim never faltering, but she could not keep all of them at bay, as she ducked and dodged their attacks with a speed nobody knew she had ever possessed. Exhaustion was written all over her - the sweat, the slight arch in her back, the quiet panting.

Most of the villagers began to disperse out of the battlefield, with only the bravest and toughest of men staying behind the brave priestess trying to swat away at lesser demons. Sesshoumaru, whom observed the scene from the shade of a nearby tree, was the only one who could detect the fatigue on the young woman's face. He was no fool; he knew that even she, the great protector of the Shikon Jewel, would fall if the army of miscreants did not dissolve soon. And without much of a thought, the powerful lord of the west jumped into the battle, swiping a dozen demons to death with a single swish of his claw, causing the few mortals in the view to gape in awe at the strange man's cooperation, Kikyou included.

"If their numbers do not diminish, all will perish. Including you." Sesshoumaru's voice rang over the snarls of disbelief of the demons, over the gasps of the humans. The demon took a few stepped towards her and whispered into the stillness so softly, that of all the humans, only she heard, "And I cannot allow that."

Kikyou looked straight at him for only a fraction of a second, but in just that glance, all her confusion was swept away; like a violent sway of the wind that makes off with a weak flame, she came to the conclusion she had known all along, but was to afraid to admit. The blur of her feelings was healed within a single moment – Kikyou was in love with him. Kikyou loved Sesshoumaru. And she could not deny it any longer; the feeling had grown too fat from feasting upon all other emotions that lay within her heart, even going as far as to devour her once keen logic.

And with such a clear conclusion, she was able to accept it, stifle it, and get her mind back into the battle. She shot her loaded weapon into the crowd of demons without mercy. Sesshoumaru decimated their numbers easily with his poisonous claws.

"There is no need to endanger yourselves, flee! I have things under control now." Kikyou commanded the remaining group of villagers, and with quick bows of gratefulness, the young men scuttled away, leaving only Sesshoumaru and Kikyou to fight the remaining onslaught of demons.

Sesshoumaru didn't usually pay heed to the complaints and whines of the beings he was exterminating, but as he fought mercilessly, his elevated hearing caught a most interesting dialogue.

"What the hell is going on? That Jaken demon said it was going to be easy!"

"He lied to us, that bastard!"

"He didn't say anything about that demon guy! We're all doomed!"

Jaken? Have my ears failed me or did I hear correctly? But that doesn't make any sense, Sesshoumaru thought to himself as he fought at the same time, never once losing his grace, Jaken acting without my consent.

"Damn!"

Kikyou's out-of-character cry snapped Sesshoumaru out of his cogitation. With his peripheral vision, he saw the priestess cringe as she held her left shoulder in pain; the crimson red blood tainting her pure white haori - the virgin white skin he knew lay underneath, and it drove him mad. To think that anyone would dare mar her in his presence. It was sickening.

Without much of a thought for anything but killing, Sesshoumaru slashed at another large group of demons – that unemotional glare never leaving his sharp features. All the while Kikyou bit down the pain and reassembled herself into her battle stance. The two warriors did not relent – soon what had begun as a whole army of low-grade demons became but a mere sprinkling of injured creatures trying to reclaim their previous glory. The few that remained were among the toughest, but still they were no match for Sesshoumaru and Kikyou. With a few more slashes and arrows, the threat of the demons would subside completely. It was when Sesshoumaru and Kikyou were down to the last two menaces; however, that the duo paused their counterattack; both alarmed by the ungodly wailing of a child in extreme pain. Kikyou let her bow slide out of her hand in horror.

There were a slew of villagers that had up until then, been crowded around something off to the far right of the battlefield. Through the confusion of the cries of the demons, Kikyou had not been able to hear what all the fuss was about and had instead dedicated her focus on the mêlée, but now the villagers had parted to reveal a child lying in the middle, her bloodied orange yukata in tatters.

It was Kaede.

Kikyou forgot all about the remaining two demons as she ran to her sister, leaving Sesshoumaru to easily finish off the threat.

"Sister! I'm sorry! I couldn't protect everyone!" The young Kaede cried as she saw her sister approach; trying to control the wails that threatened to escape her mouth.

"Kaede, what happened to you?" Kikyou's voice fluctuated in fear, shame, and guilt. She immediately crouched down to hold the child in her arms, staring at the young girl's left hand, which covered her eye, where blood spewed out languidly. If it's just her eye, then the wound shouldn't be fatal, Kikyou mused, before her vision strayed down to where the blood was most prominent on Kaede's body. A wave of raw remorse hit the elder woman as she become conscious of the dreadful wound on Kaede's torso.

"She tried to fight alongside us." One somber man replied, Kikyou recognized him as one of the men who had tried hold off the demons before she had arrived. "Forgive us," He spoke, the despair of failure etched unto his face, "We failed to protect her from harm." He finally finished, giving an apologetic bow.

"I've told you many times – " Kikyou began to scold, only Kaede's sad expression stopped her from continuing. "Please, leave us," Kikyou addressed the villagers huddled around them, "I shall begin to tend to the wounded, but first let me speak with my sister." With an air of gloom, the crowd dispersed, all walking off slowly to the wreck that was once their home, making sure to avoid the strange, silver-haired man standing off to the sidelines.

"Kikyou, I'm so sorry…" The young girl's voice began to wane, lacking the energy to shout, yell, or cry, but still it was enough to enable the young girl to deliver non-stop tears. "I-I couldn't stop them… I'm so useless." The girl continued to mutter, the tears making pathways down the dirt and blood that was caked on her face. "I'm sorry…"

"Kaede, you have nothing to be sorry about. If anybody has to apologize, it is me. Forgive me, little one, I am a horrible sister." Kikyou spoke tenderly, her eyes full of sorrow, regret, despondency. Sesshoumaru stood still off to the side where he had killed the last of the demons, and that was where he had planned to stay, but the grief in Kikyou's words beckoned him to come forward.

"No, big sister, you don't need to be sorry…" Kaede coughed as some of the blood from her eye trailed into her mouth. Kikyou cradled the child deeper into her chest, stroking her disheveled mass of hair comfortingly. Sesshoumaru remained composed, only the slight incline of his eyebrows the only indication of any sort of compassion for the young sisters entwined in each other's arms. The blood of their wounds combined, Kaede's gashes bleeding more profusely than Kikyou's single shoulder wound, and for a moment, Sesshoumaru thought them to be one, white cheek to white cheek, black manes combining to form one mass of long, ebony hair – it was a strange sight, and a heart-wrenching one at that. "K-Kikyou, I'm dying…" The young girl spoke softly, her lips trembling with a fresh new onslaught of tears.

"No, Kaede, I won't let you die…" Kikyou's voice wavered in pitch like never before, her eyes shimmering in accordance with the great ache in her chest. "You won't die…" Kaede said nothing, she just let the tears roll down from the eye that wasn't injured. "We must go back to our home, and there I shall restore you to health." Kikyou spoke softly, looking as if she truly believed those words, as if Kaede's fatal injuries could indeed be cured, but even Sesshoumaru knew it – the futility of it all; the child was going to die of blood loss and if she managed to stay alive for even a few days, in the end, he was sure she would just die of infection. Kikyou made an effort to carry the child up into her arms and begin to stand, but she was in no state to exert such force, as she quickly kneeled on the ground again, hissing at the pain of trying to use her arm. The young priestess tried again, but once she failed to hold the child again, she let a few tears escape from her molten brown eyes – knowing her poor sister's horrible fate. "Oh, what have I done?"

Normally, being witness to such tragedy never once triggered anything akin to feelings of pity or compassion, but as Kikyou's resolved weakened, Sesshoumaru felt furious, and deep down, he even felt pity. Pity for the girl who was powerless to stop her own pathetic death. Fury at the demons who had committed something worse than the murder of Kikyou: they had killed her spirit, her strength.

Swallowing his pride, Sesshoumaru was about to stoop down to carry the ravaged girl off the ground, but before he could complete the action, a voice cut through the sounds of sobs and sniffles, "J-Jaken! Y-You liar…" Both adults snapped their heads towards the sound to find Jaken emerging into the scene, a dying demon calling out to him from among the rubble.

Jaken ignored the moribound demon, turning his attention to the regal Sesshoumaru before squawking irritably, "L-Lord Sesshoumaru, I am so confused!"

"What are you talking about, Jaken?"

"You l-liar! You never said that death awaited us here…" The demon continued to whine.

"Jaken, what does that vile creature speak of?" Sesshoumaru persisted, his searing gaze on the little demon, "He speaks as if you were involved in this."

"B-But, m'lord, of course I was! Why do you seem so angry?" Kikyou's eyes blazed behind Sesshoumaru's own fuming stare. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Don't be a fool, Jaken, you've acted on your own account. Must I remind you of who is Lord here?" Sesshoumaru raised his usual monotone voice, Kikyou returning to her wounded sister, sure that Sesshoumaru would handle the impudent little imp accordingly.

"You are my master, Lord Sesshoumaru, and it is for you that I had ordered these demons," He said, motioning towards all the carcasses with a stubby amphibian hand, "to massacre the villagers! But alas, I have failed, and I am confused as to why you killed them, m'Lord."

"Why have you done this?" Kikyou finally exclaimed, still holding onto her sister, as if her sister was her very lifeline.

"Why? Because Lord Sesshoumaru ordered it!"

It took a while for the words to sink in, and when they finally did, Sesshoumaru was able to say with rancor, "I've done no such thing!"

"But you did, my lord! Do you not remember it?" Jaken cried, "You said to kill them all, even the priestess… So the jewel could be yours!"

"Are you mad, Jaken?I have no business with the Shikon Jewel," Sesshoumaru defended, and with a glance back, "Kikyou –"

"You… I should have known… I should have known! What else could a demon want from me? What else but the jewel?" Kikyou shouted in complete and utter defeat. "What else…?" She whispered again, the tears spilling freely, like little rivers running down her face; her beautiful face, contorted with hate, rage, disappointment.

"I had no part in this. If I had wanted to steal your jewel, I would have done so already." Sesshoumaru stood poised, albeit the nasty snarl that betrayed his stillness. "You know that." He said, stepping forward closer to her, but she raised her hand in warning.

"Your minion says otherwise!" She retorted, the hatred resonating from every pore of her body, her hand reaching out to him, ready to release powerful purification energy that could even harm Sesshoumaru and render him momentarily weak. "Your kind is all the same! And I should have known! You foul creature!"

"K-Kikyou… no." Kaede's frail voice withheld the elder woman's assault, at least for a moment as Kikyou reached to her back for an arrow and loaded one onto her bow, aiming at point blank range at Sesshoumaru. Meanwhile, the accused demon lord stood his ground, his amber eyes narrowed, which the young woman mistook for acceptance of his crime. "Kikyou…" the youngest of the group whined, hoping her persistent pleading would get Kikyou to stop her sure-to-come vendetta against Sesshoumaru.

"Hush, Kaede. Do not waste your breath on this despicable demon." Kikyou reprimanded the younger girl, "You bastard. I-I… let you deceive me! Weaken me!" the hand holding the bow straight began to tremble, "I hate you…" She whispered so only Sesshoumaru could hear. The demon's narrowed eyes widened a bit, in a motion similar to that of disbelief, but he kept his mouth shut, and if he had any mordant replies, he kept them to himself. "I hate you." She said again, more bitterly than before, her voice barely above a whisper, as if those three were a great power that she was desperately trying to hold back, a horrible power that she didn't want to wield.

"If not for me you'd be dead," Sesshoumaru retorted curtly, letting her insults get the better of him for the moment; his tone only fueling Kikyou's already raging hurt. "I didn't do this." His voice almost sounded pleading. Kikyou's arrow did not waver, her eyes remained on his, digging through the deep golden, trying to find the lie in his gaze.

"Leave." Was Kikyou's only word as she lowered her bow, the arrow falling to the floor. "Don't ever come back." But Sesshoumaru made no move. " I said leave! Leave before I change my mind!" The young woman snapped, and the demon lord needed no further warning as he sauntered away, his demon imp running after him in terror.

"Kikyou... He..." But Kikyou didn't let the child finish.

"Get better first, Kaede, then you can say whatever you want." Kikyou gently cradled the child in her arms, while the men from before gathered around her.

"Lady Kikyou," One of the men nudged her, "Perhaps we should carry her back to your home."

"Yes, please do that." Kikyou reluctantly loosened her grip on her younger sister before one of the men hoisted the bloodied girl up in his arms. "Don't die, Kaede..."

"And that man, my lady?"

"If you see him, alert me, and I shall kill him."

"There's a thin line between love and hate, they say. Oh Kikyou, I warned you, but you fell in love anyway like a fool..." Tsubaki cackled as she watched the horrid scene from her magic mirror, a deadly smile on her wicked face.

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. Once classes start, my free time dies. And so does my creativity. Yup. True story. New chapter should be coming out soon. It may be short, but it will calm a lot of worries.