Pride & Power

Chapter 1: The Encounter

Kagome tightened her grip on the curve of her bow, aiming an arrow towards Sesshomaru. The bow shook unsteadily in her fingers, her courage threatening to buckle beneath fear. The power to purify was no longer her own and without a guardian hanyou, cursed monk or skillful slayer to aid her, Kagome was nothing more than a frail human with a bow.

"You want revenge." he observed plainly, his expression guarded and unreadable. The robes adorning him were as white as the moon they reflected, matching the silk like strands of his flowing hair.

"Why?" she breathed, swallowing against the painful bulge of grief lodged in her throat. It'd been months since she'd last seen him and time had done little to heal the injuries he inflicted. "Why did you do it? Why?"

Sesshomaru looked to her calculatively, weighing her importance and finding her worthy of an answer. "I suppose if not for you, the events that bore me tolerance for you humans would have never occurred." he mused thoughtfully, lifting a hand to tuck the wayward strands of silver behind a pointed ear. "Inversely," he paused, as hatred frosted his countenance. "...this statement remains true. Be grateful, I have afforded you mercy that wasn't afforded to her."

"Her?" Kagome echoed moments before the answer came to her. Rin. Dark eyes lit with understanding; any harm bestowed against his favored charge would've been enough to produce the red-eyed berserker Sesshomaru from her nightmares.

"What? What happened to her?" she pressed in panic, her bow lowering beneath the weight of her troubled unease. Kagome may not have known the child in length, but Rin was a brave, plucky child she adored. "Is she the reason you snapped?". Her latter question held an accusatory tone without apology. Nothing could excuse the evils he wrought against her.

Nothing.

The stoicism remained unchanged on his lips as clawed fingers gracefully reached into the folds of silk to procure the jewel that called to her. To her surprise the jewel was whole, appearing as perfect as the day it was torn from her side. Idly, he looked to the gem and then to her.

"You happened." he informed.

"M-Me? What a minute!" she said, a splayed hand raising to rest on her chest. "That's not true! Sesshomaru I'd never hurt Rin, you know I wouldn't. "

"That is understood." he affirmed. "However, it was your ignorance that caused such unrest in my lands. If not for you, this jewel wouldn't have returned and Rin would be alive. I have rectified your error."

"Error?!" she repeated with fire. "You consider Inuyasha, my friends-your allies, an error? They didn't kill Rin!"

Sesshomaru said little and his face betrayed the same. Kagome could only wonder how he could live beneath the weight of innocent lives but then again, just as his demeanor suggested, Sesshomaru just didn't care. Heartening memories were soon squelched with harsh reality and Kagome felt sick for it, dropping to her knees.

"Why? She breathed, pressing her palm into her cheek to wipe the tears from her cheek. "Why them? I get why you killed Naraku, but why them? They were your allies."

Again, a terse hum of acknowledgement was made at his lips and after lengthy pause, words followed. "This Sesshomaru will no longer be played for the fool by those who desire the Shikon Jewel." he informed. "Those who seek it will meet their end."

"You killed them, because they wanted the jewel?" she asked, her words rasp and cracked. "We were trying to keep it safe! You can't blame us for Rin's death!" she shouted.

Appearing like white wisps of hot breath on cold air, Sesshomaru appeared before her, closing the distance between them. Startled, Kagome stumbled back, lifting her chin to look to him.

"You who brought the Shikon Jewel to this era, do you take no responsibility for your ignorance?" he inquired with an unmistakable edge of retribution to his words, one that promised violence if answered incorrectly.

"You know?" she inquired meekly, lowering her chin to stare at his ankles..

"Do not insult the insight of this Sesshomaru." he warned. "Little happens in my lands that I am unaware of."

"I..." Kagome faltered. In a sense he was right. If she never arrived in the feudal era, the jewel would've never come with her and Naraku wouldn't have found power. Her appearance into this time set of a catalyst of events that otherwise would've never happened, but still, this wasn't her fault!

"I'm sorry." she offered bitterly, her apology false but necessary. "But why? Why Inuyasha? Why Miroku? Sango, Shippo, Kaede–why?!"

Like before, silence was his answer and arrogance its tone. Having enough words for the both of them, Kagome spoke once more. "Inuyasha was trying to protect the village!" she informed, rising to her feet to stand toe to toe with the Daiyoukai.

"You stormed in there and went all Rambo! Inuyasha knew if you didn't calm down you'd hurt everyone..." pausing, Kagome's words faltered, giving time for a fresh wave of tears to flow. "He was right."

Just as before, Sesshomaru said nothing. If not for his wit when he did speak, Kagome would have thought him dumb. The fact he had no remorse or words to offer was infuriating. A jolt of indignance jerked her arm upward and her open palm raced towards his striped cheek. Before the attack could connect, a clawed hand seized her wrist.

Sesshomaru cocked his head and silver strands spilled from his shoulder onto his chest. "You, a mere human would dare to strike this Sesshomaru?" he inquired.

"You deserve that and more!" she seethed. "I'm sorry Rin was taken from you but you acted like a spoiled brat! You're no better than a kid who got his candy taken from him and selfishly deciding no one else gets to eat just because you didn't get to!"

His grip firmed, threatening to break bone. Kagome shuddered, clasping his wrist with her free hand with the hopes of prying her limb free. Her efforts were useless. "It appears you haven't shed your naive ignorance." he observed. "You court death with your words."

Kagome saw the jewel and on an impulse she reached for it. With a jerk of her arm, Sesshomaru threw her back and the cool evening grass caught her fall. "It's not yours!" she protested. "If you're not going to use it, at least let me go home! There's nothing left for me here, you made sure of that." The latter part of her accusation was unapologetically drenched in bitterness and anger. Yet even in her most biting tone, which admittedly had as much bite as a goldfish, it failed to move even a hair on Sesshomaru's fine brow.

Speaking nothing, Kagome felt the need to fill his silence. "Why allow me to live?" she breathed, searchingly looking to him for any trace of the heart that was found in his brother. None was found. "Why not kill me like the rest? I was there too, I saw it all. Why spare me?"

The memory was as vivid as the gold reflective gaze before her that glowed in the moon's light. Eyes of red, fangs and claws raced towards her at inhuman speeds. A barrier was made and purity expelled from her like a cannon's blast. Eyes cleared and refocused. Fighting against her barrier, the jewel was seized and torn from her neck. In a rush of wind, Kagome was left alone with her dead.

"Do you wish death?" he offered, raising his claws.

With a shake of her head, Kagome knew her answer. "No." she breathed. A succinct sound was made by ways of acknowledgement and goodbye, before the apathetic daiyoukai, turned to continue his unknown journey.

For minutes, Kagome watched his back, feeling the thrumming pulse of the shikon jewel grow fainter with each step he took. In a world that no longer accepted her, that jewel was the last hope she had to reconnect with her former life.

Finding strength to believe for the impossible, Kagome stood and with a quickened step, hastened after the immortal who destroyed her life and with the frail hope to find it again.