Chemical Reaction by Angelic Memories
Blood Moon
This entry is for Saholia’s Blood Challenge.
Prompt: Blood
1000 words minimum for one-shot: 1 043 words used
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Blood Moon
There was one thing that Kagome hated above all things. More than ever she wished she could hide away in a corner, covered by shadow, where prying golden orbs could not reach her. Ever since the night before last, she had been stared at like a piece of meat. At first she had hoped it was her being paranoid, a part of her imagination. But she knew it wasn’t possible now.
Sesshomaru, though usually very good at hiding his interest, was either unable or unwilling to hide his gaze now. She would catch his gaze and stare him down for few seconds before giving up and turning away. Kagome hated that she was letting him win. Though she wasn’t sure why she saw this as a contest in the first place.
“Rin, let’s go for a bath,” Kagome offered, as she began to get the vibe of being closely studied yet again. “We don’t know when we will get the chance to bath in a hot spring again.”
Quite happy to join Kagome for a bath, Rin got up and retrieved a thin blanket, she used as a towel, from the saddle bags on Ah-Un. Kagome retrieved her own supplies and the two females made their way into the heavily wooded area in search of the hot spring that Kagome had spotted earlier that day.
Along the way, Kagome spotted a few plants that could be used for soap. Taking out a knife she dug a couple up and cut the roots to keep. While the rest of each plant went into her bag she held onto the roots so she could make them into a paste later.
“Kagome, how do you know so much about plants?”
For a moment the miko was caught off guard. She never really thought herself good at anything. But Rin brought up a good point. If she could think of herself good at anything it would be her memorization for her trade. She never needed Kaede to repeat any lessons on plants and their uses. She could easily remember what each flower would be helpful for what and when to harvest certain parts of plants.
“I was taught. Everyone gains knowledge through learning. Sometimes you learn it by yourself and sometimes you learn it through another person.”
As soon as they reached the hot spring, Kagome help Rin undress and let her get in, before quickly rushing into the water so that Rin would not notice anything and start asking embarrassing questions she wasn’t ready to answer.
Kagome took the roots into the water with her to soften them, before taking them to a smooth rock near the edge of the spring where she could crush the root and retrieve the juices. When the concoction was finished, the miko help Rin with her hair before she washed her own. After washing, they spent a couple of minutes soaking before they got out and dressed quickly so they would not be exposed to long in the chilly air.
“Kagome, did you hear that?” Rin asked as they were making their way back to the camp.
“Here what?” the woman inquired, straining her ears.
They stopped for a few seconds to listen and a couple seconds later they both picked up on a low growl.
“Run,” Kagome ordered while using her aura to pin point the location of the hidden youkai.
As second nature, she created a barrier around her, blocking the youkai path so he, or she, could not chase after the small girl running back towards camp. From the corner of her eyes she noticed a bush move and Kagome moved to take a defensive stance, a ball of pure reiki in her hand ready to be toss towards the stalker.
A large nekko pounced and she let the ball fly. However, the youkai was more powerful than she anticipated and the energy did little more than sting the nekko. The miko took the few seconds before impact to strengthen her barrier.
“Mine,” it hissed clawing at the pink and purple dome, “I want!”
A flash of white nearly blinded her before she noted that the nekko was now pinned to a tree. His neck was grasped between thin deadly fingers, and he was beginning to gasp for air.
“You trespass on this Sesshomaru’s lands,” the inu growled.
“Mate. Taru wishes for mate,” he growled out, clawing at Sesshomaru’s hand.
“The miko is not yours to claim.”
“I want… I want pretty smelling miko.”
Kagome closed her eyes as she saw Sesshomaru’s hand tighten. A large thud forced her to reopen her lids. The nekko lay at the base of the tree. A thin trail of blood told Kagome that Sesshomaru had hit him over the head with the massive trunk he was pinned to.
“Come,” Sesshomaru demanded suddenly.
“Uh… but what was that all about?”
“Your moon time attracts certain youkai whose natural mating partner’s bleed before going into heat.”
Kagome blushed, taking time to take a step away from Sesshomaru. His bleeding eyes did not help manners at all. She was sort of fearful to ask why he was so unsettled. But she glanced at his hand and noticed the deep gashes and ignored her own worries and fears.
“You’re bleeding,” she exclaimed.
Sesshomaru lifted his hand to eye level and stared at it for a second. “Hn,” he paused, “so it seems.”
“Here… I’ll clean it,” Kagome stated.
She rushed to the inu’s side and pulled him to follow her; careful to make sure she grabbed the uninjured hand to guide him with. Kagome brought the inu lord to the spring she had just left. Tearing her towel to make a smaller cloth, she dipped it into the hot water and then focused on cleaning each of the gashes, cuts, and scratches. She was trying to figure out what to use to wrap the hand when she noticed that the current wound she was brushing her damp cloth against was already beginning to heal.
“Um… I guess this was a little pointless,” Kagome mumbled, dropping the appendage she held and looking up to the inu.
She gasped at the closeness of his face and froze when she felt her lips gently bombarded by his.
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Ja ne
Angelic Memories
© 2009