Enemies by Alyndrya/Princess Destiny

Prologue

Damn Inuyasha! And damn her too for caring! Kagome stormed through the trees of the forest, barely taking the care to watch out for holes and roots as she glided along the ground, backpack snug against her back. "Why does he have to be such a JERK?!" she shouted, eyes flashing wrath. And what was with calling her 'bitch' all the time? He was damn lucky she was such a nice person, or he'd be wearing a permanent hand-mark on his cheek from her slaps! Kagome was so filled with her rage that she stumbled over something lying in her path. Pain shot up her foot and into her leg. Unable to regain her balance, with arms flailing wildly about her, she fell hard to her knees. Her bag slid from her shoulder behind her, almost shoving her off balance again.

It was then that a low sound, barely discerned in the back of her mind, came to her ears. It made the hairs on her whole body stand upright, not only from the chilling sound, but from it's CLOSENESS. Her scared eyes flew up to find the source of the noise as it became louder, suddenly recognizable as a growl. Kagome spun about swiftly on her knees to look behind her, eyes immediately locking with feral amber eyes, staring at her with hate and warning. For a moment, Kagome crouched there a scant foot from his knees, utterly frozen in blind terror. Those EYES! Whoever this creature was, it was youkai and it wanted her dead. She licked her lips nervously, shivering convulsively as a chill swept over her again. She managed to tear her eyes away, abruptly focusing on it's features. Sesshoumaru! Fear swept over her again and she found herself backing warily away, hands and knees sliding over the grass in an unconsciously-graceful way. The growl intensified and she froze again like a startled rabbit, eyes going to his again. It was the Lord of the Western Lands; definitely. He was laying there, unmoving and for a long minute, the reason didn't hit her.

When Kagome blindly looked away from his animalistic eyes, she suddenly took in his appearance. Sesshoumaru was laying there in a pool of his own blood, his white kimono and armor stained darkly. Absently, she noted that most of the blood on him was dried-which meant that he had been there for some time. The fur wrap over his shoulder was also stained and his beautiful face was scratched and smeared with blood. His silver hair was pooled around him in every direction like a great fan, strangely untouched by the blood. All that she could think of was that he had been wounded and collapsed before his hair could be bloodied. Her perusal led her to his hands....WAIT! HANDS! Sesshoumaru now had TWO hands! Two arms! Had they grown back? Her eyes went wide with shock at the sight. The beautiful youkai Lord would be so much more dangerous to Inuyasha now that his missing arm had been restored. Kagome licked her lips again, crouched there silently like a crab on knees and hands, afraid to move least he slay her. Her eyes went again to his hands, noting that they were red and raw as if a fire had burned them and several of the razor-sharp claws on each hand were torn. Inuyasha's powerful, seemingly-indestructible brother had been and battle-and had been bested. She blinked several times in astonishment when the evidence clicked into place.

"Who could have done this to you?" she murmured, stunned and not really expecting an answer. And WHERE was the youkai that had done it? Her eyes flew to the scabbards at his side and only saw the Tensaiga there. The other one was empty. She looked swiftly about and spotted the Tokajiin laying a few feet away, smeared in blood also. Kagome paled as she realized that this was what she had probably tripped over. Panicked, she looked down at her foot, as if afraid that it wasn't there, even though that was an idiotic thought. Her unharmed foot and shoe reassured her and she realized that she, by some blind luck, must have kicked the hilt. Lucky. A few inches down and she'd have lost her foot completely on the deadly blade. It was probably razor-sharp!

Of course, her answer again was a growl. Kagome's eyes flew back to Sesshoumaru's face, completely startled by his growl, since she'd been lost in her thoughts. OH! That was right, she'd asked him who'd done this to him! She stared at the fallen warrior now, mutely. He'd been reduced to the base instinct of a wounded youkai, which didn't include speech. On some level, she was unworthy of mention in his eyes because she was human, but she was still a threat on another level, because she was also a Miko and had unknown powers. Kagome understood this and treated her unwilling companion with the utmost care and respect.

Sesshoumaru was perhaps mortally wounded, but was still deadly. She had no doubt that he would use the last of his strength to kill her if she made another move towards him. If he could have reached Tokajiin, he would have killed her ALREADY. It was fortunate that he couldn't! So instead of running and possibly getting hunted down and ripped to pieces, Kagome eased herself warily onto her bottom and crossed her legs, her knee brushing the silk of his pants. She met his narrowed-eyed gaze, hers wide and uncertain. Should she try to run? Call for help? How wounded was he really? Could he still kill her? In the golden depths of his eyes she could see hate and loathing that she had seen him this way, so weakened, but also he was in great pain. "I-I can get help. Inuyasha...?" she said to him awkwardly, wondering what she was saying. HELP? Help for the creature who had tried to kill her and Inuyasha several times over? But still...her soft heart couldn't stand to see anyone in pain. A loud growl of utter rage greeted her question, so hair-raising and threatening that she paled and flinched backwards. His hands twitched slightly as if he were going to strike her, but after a terrifying moment, Kagome realized that he COULDN'T strike her. Sesshoumaru couldn't move. At all.

"Not Inuyasha then." Kagome said weakly, her every nerve-ending brilliantly alive. She felt as if she were sitting next to a live-wire and even if he was paralyzed, he was still VERY frightening! "How did a Junor High School student get into such a big mess?" she groaned to herself, suddenly wondering if fate were using her as the brunt of a cosmic joke. It was possible alright! She was traveling with a childish, impossibly rude and arrogant hanyou, a hentai Monk, a child-fox youkai who seemed to see her as a Mother-figure and a youkai-slayer. And now THIS! She cast her face back and glared up at the bright sunlight streaming down through the trees above her. "You! Yes you! What's with this, huh? Did I step on one of your favorite ants of something? Did I burp on you in a past life?" as ridiculous as it sounded, she felt a lot better when she lowered her face to look back to the beautiful youkai. Sesshoumaru was watching her still, dark amber eyes filled with distrust, pain, hate and bizarrely, faint-disbelief.

Kagome gave him a faint smile, blushing slightly and fiddling with a piece of grass. "I'm sorry, I know that wasn't appropriate. I must sound like someone who's headed for the loony-bin. Right?" an icy look of incomprehension greeted her and she shivered from the look. The youkai Lord was NOT amused. In fact, he probably wished with all his heart that she would shrivel up and die and leave him in peace. "Well, I'm NOT going to." she announced to him, suddenly feeling a rush of confidence and determination. She wasn't going to die or walk away from him and let him die or be killed by a passing youkai. Hadn't Inuyasha mentioned that Sesshoumaru had extensive lands and responsibilities, sometime during his ravings about his brother? And was she STARK RAVING MAD?! Kagome's head dropped down, chin hitting her chest and stretching her neck-muscles in a painful way. She groaned and slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand, wondering what the hell she was doing. He was a homicidal maniac! He'd kill her without a thought. She was a bug beneath his magnificence. A human. Vermin. She should just LEAVE him to die!

"I'm not like that!" she growled at him from beneath her waterfall of silky hair. No doubt he thought her mad by now. Inuyasha's nutty shard-detector. Who cared?! She wasn't the sort of person to leave a guy-er youkai in pain, no matter what. She was an independent 20th century girl! She had her own mind! She had her own determinations! She had-her head jerked up as something scuttled in the brush behind her, Sesshoumaru growling threateningly at the same time. Kagome got to her knees quickly, eyes going to Sesshoumaru's face to see which direction the threat lay. He was looking past her, fangs bared, throat and chest reverberating with his warning growl. She shivered, frightened again of both him and whatever was approaching. She swiftly reached behind her and fumbled with the clasp on her backpack, covertly getting out her bow and an arrow, even as a youkai emerged from the brush. WHY hadn't she heard it or at least sensed it approaching? "Stupid Kagome!" she hissed under her breath, paling as the youkai stepped out of the trees and brush until it was a few meters away. It was at least seven feet tall, bristling back spines covering every inch of it, with glowing red eyes and a maw filled with rows and rows of razor sharp teeth.

Sesshoumaru's growl slipped up a notch, sounding very guttural. The youkai approaching them paused, then grinned insanely and began to stalk closer.

Kagome glanced sideways to see the youkai Lord trying to struggle to rise, but he made it no further than his shoulders from the ground before he fell backwards, panting, eyes dilated in utter animal rage. Even thus wounded, his need for self-preservation would outweigh his agony. "Stay down." she ordered him unthinkingly.

Sesshoumaru snarled at her, hands curling into fists. His golden eyes then weren't back to the youkai, who had assessed the situation and deemed them both to be harmless. "I will eat you both." It drooled at Kagome and then Sesshoumaru, gleefully grinning and anticipating an easy meal.

Kagome abruptly revealed her trump, hands flying around to point the bow at the Youkai, even as the arrow slipped smoothly into place. "Care to wager that, ugly?" she said confidently, the power surging into her and her weapon. Something suddenly flew past her face and splashed into the youkai. It screamed in agony as green poisonous liquid ate into it's body. Kagome gasped, recognizing Sesshoumaru's poison. She cast a swift look in his direct and saw with horror that he was laying still, eyes closed and chest not moving. He had apparently sacrificed his consciousness in one last effort to protect himself. She had NO doubt that he had never thought of her in the slightest. He did not care if she died-and what was more irking was the obvious fact that he no longer considered her a THREAT! Eyes blazing with anger, Kagome's Miko powers coalesced about the tip of the arrow and she let it fly, the blazing comet hitting dead-center on the youkai's chest. It howled and then burst into pink flame. She watched, unblinking as the youkai became black ash and fell to the ground.

"I have to get out of here," she muttered to herself, getting quickly to her feet. She thought briefly about going to the Village for help and safety, but a vision of Inuyasha's furious face flashed into her mind. No, Inuyasha would be no help. He'd kill his helpless brother in an instant. She sighed deeply, dropping the bow onto her backpack and looking down at Sesshoumaru. How anyone could looking so haughty and beautiful and mortally-wounded while unconscious, was beyond her. "I wake up looking like death warmed-over every morning and you look your usual gorgeous self, even while dying!" she glared at him balefully, then gasped and blushed when she realized what she'd said. "No, no! Not gorgeous! BAD Kagome!" she berated herself, hands flying to her cheeks. And why was she just standing there, thinking bad, naughty thoughts while he was dying? "Ugh" she muttered, spinning about and bending over to put her bow back into her bag. She picked it up and backed away from Sesshoumaru as if he would wake up and growl at her again. He was silent and she backed into a tree, still watching his still form. She turned and ran through the trees swiftly, making it to the well in record time. She didn't want to leave him there alone and vulnerable for too long.

Kagome threw her bag over the edge of the well, then her leg followed. She paused, one leg over the edge of the well, lost in thought. He needed medical attention and she had fully-intended to go and get medical supplies. But, if she left for that long, another youkai might attack him! And could he really survive in the forest in the cold, with that much blood-loss? "I'll have to take him with me" she realized, eyes widening in apprehension and horror. Take a powerful, beautiful youkai Lord into the unsuspecting 20th century? Her head cocked consideringly as she with drew her leg and reluctantly began to sprint back to where she'd left Sesshoumaru. "He's injured Kagome. He needs help only your time and medicine can offer him," she talked herself into it as she ran, wondering what she was getting herself into. "I must be NUTS! Stark raving MAD!" she panted, falling to her knees beside him. He never woke and that made her even more concerned. Her slender hand reached for him, then paused, groaning at her stupidity. How the HELL was she supposed to carry this large, muscled guy to the well?

"Ooooh, nooooo!" Kagome moaned, twisting her hands together.

Sesshoumaru stirred at the sound, frowning, even while unconscious.

Kagome giggled nervously, inching back in case he suddenly woke and gave her that utterly chilling look of death of his. Obviously, her moan had hurt his sensitive hearing. Inconsequentially, she filed that one away in the back of her mind for future use. She sighed, slapping her forehead again with her hand at her idiocy. She then looked at the Western Lord's huge frame and groaned. "I'll have to drag him." she realized in disbelief, mind boggling at the task before her. How the hell could her petite form carry that much weight? She frowned as she suddenly remembered something else, eyes going reluctantly to his evil sword. She couldn't leave Tokajiin behind, but she also couldn't touch it! How was she going to move it AND him?