The Battle of Heart and Land by MissKatt

Redemption

A/N: Bahaha, so many more threats :3 I loved them all so much! Don’t worry, you should be happy with this chapter :3

-MissKatt

DISCLAIMER: All Inuyasha goodness belongs to the amazing Takahashi-san!

The Battle of Heart and Land

By MissKatt

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Redemption

The Lord of the West snarled when he felt a jab at his shoulder as he and his troops rushed at the East. He knew it was from his mate. He cursed the Kamis; Juto had started to use her to get to him. Through their bond he felt the wall she had created in order to keep him out. But why? Did she know he started to feel things from her more intensely now? He swore under his breath when he realized she was being selfless again by keeping her pain to herself.

He let out an echoing growl as they stepped over the boundaries to the East. Almost instantly, they were swarmed with a row of nekos. The deformed creatures did not hesitate to begin their attacks and soon there were glossy bubbles of miasma forming in front of their mouths. Not wanting to deal with the weak creatures, he drew Bakusaiga and sent a large, strong wave of his green youkai towards the youkai. They let out screeches of pain before they withered away from the strength of the blast.

As he made his way towards the manor, he sliced down all in his path. From the corner of his eye he could see his army spreading out to take on the mass numbers of neko youkai as they emerged from their posts.  He could see the wooden stakes begin to form from the ground as waves of miasma fell down to the ground. He would let his soldiers take care of them while he took care of Juto. He would not allow himself to be distracted in any way. His main goal was to retrieve his mate and kill the Eastern lord.

He mentally swore when he stumbled for a brief moment, a sharp pain etching its way into his ankle. His amber eyes narrowed into slits at his mate’s pain. He would make Juto suffer tenfold for what Kagome was going through.

“Sesshoumaru, is Kagome-sama alright?” Taku asked, watching his lord trip. Never had he seen him show any kind of pain, so he knew it was related to the lady.

“We will see.” He replied, his lip curling up into a snarl at the thought.

“We are almost there. I will take care of Hekai once we arrive.” The general stated, running alongside his friend.

Sesshoumaru nodded, already aware of this fact. He had no doubt that Juto would cower behind Inuyasha and Hekai, letting them do his handiwork while he watched. He could not help but somewhat hope that Inuyasha would back down and allow him to save Kagome.

His hand tightened on Bakusaiga’s hilt when he suddenly heard Kagome’s voice echo within his mind.

‘I’m sorry, Sesshoumaru, I’m sorry. I’m trying…’

As she sobbed, her wall faltered and he was hit with full force of what was happening to her. Another vicious growl erupted from his throat. Once again, some male was trying to force himself upon his mate. The difference with this situation was that he would kill the offender. This was going too far, especially for a lord.

With red-tinted eyes he ran faster towards the manor and charged up the stairs, slicing down soldiers with Taku at his side while the army of the West took down those of the East.

*~~~BHL~~~*

Kagome let out a scream of horror when his hand snaked up her thigh to touch her pearl, and then suddenly it disappeared. With tear-filled eyes, she dared to look up at him, her heart beating hard in her chest. She found, however, that his attention was drawn away from her and towards the door behind him. Blinking the tears from her eyes, she tried to focus on the figure at the door. With great disappointment, she saw that it was Hekai, Juto’s general.

“Juto-sama,” he growled, seemingly displeased with what his lord was doing. “The West is here. Sesshoumaru has reached the manor.”

“Sesshoumaru…?” Kagome breathed, almost as if she couldn’t believe the words he had said. As if in response, her bond mark throbbed excitingly. He came! Suddenly she smiled through her pain, a new flood of tears filling her eyes as relief filled her. 

Juto narrowed his emerald green eyes down at her. He leaned in close to her ear and hissed into it, “Do not think you are free yet, little Miko. He still has to win against me.” He gave another growl before he pulled away from her and retied her hakama shut. He was disappointed that he was unable to break her, but he would return to her after he defeated Sesshoumaru.

He stood up from his position and began to redress. Hekai walked over and helped him into the armor he had brought before strapping him into it and handing him his sword. Juto glanced down at the miko and put a devilish smirk on his face. “I will be back.” He fake cooed before leaving the room with Hekai.

The knot in Kagome’s stomach loosened and she took a deep breath. She relaxed slightly that he was gone and was not going to force himself on her, but he was right: she wasn’t free yet. She had to get to Sesshoumaru. She pulled hard on her wrists and let out a whimper of pain when the blade stung at her wrists again. As if a reminder of the pain, her whole body seemed to throb repeatedly and she knew she was still bleeding heavily from her shoulder.

She felt her eyes moisten and she shook her head hard. No! She would not cry again. She had her moment of weakness and now it was time to get over it and do something about her situation. She clenched her teeth tight and fisted her hands before she began to tug hard at the fabric. After a few minutes of pulling, she let out a frustrated wail. All she had succeeded in doing was cut her wrists more. Why was she so weak? Where were her powers?

Taking a moment to rest from her efforts, she turned her head towards the balcony and heard the clanking of metal and shouts of men as the war raged on outside. All of the West’s-no, all of her troops were fighting down there without her. Sesshoumaru would be fighting Juto while Taku fought against Hekai. Should she stay here so she wasn’t a distraction? Should she lay here vulnerable and weak until someone came and saved her?

No.

She would not be the reason someone died again. She, the Lady of the West, would not let herself be defeated so easily. She couldn’t. She had to get out of there and fight: powers or not.

With determination set on her face, she glared up at the knife above her head and began to pull again. She narrowed her eyes at it and hissed through her teeth from the pain. She continued to pull until she saw a clawed hand reach down and grasp the handle. With a gasp and wide eyes, she looked at the person kneeling down beside her.

“I-Inuyasha?” She asked, hardly believing it. Relief filled her once more, but she quickly stopped it. Who knew what he would do now? He was, after all, the reason she was there in the first place. “What are you-?” She cut herself off and winced as he pulled the blade from its place in the stone, the metal biting at her skin a final time, and sliced the cloth from her wrists.

“What does it look like?” He asked and, without looking at her naked form, removed his fire-rat haori and handed it to her as she sat up.

Kagome didn’t waste any time. She quickly dressed in it, sliding her arms through the shoulder slits. She looped the sleeves around her waist twice and tied them together, securing it shut. She was briefly reminded of the other times she had worn his haori in such a manner. She went to stand, but winced when she put pressure on her ankle.

“Hold on,” He growled and moved to her ankle. He ignored her wince when he lifted it into his hands to inspect it. He looked down at her, his amber eyes giving her a warning before he snapped it to the other side.

She let out a scream and clenched the fabric of his haori. She knew he was just resetting it, but damn did it hurt. She bit her tongue as he wrapped it with a scrap from her jeans, binding it tight. She then watched with curious sapphire eyes when he grabbed her shredded shirt and held his hand out for her hands. When she gave them to him, he proceeded to bandage each of her bleeding wrists.

“T-Thanks…” She said quietly when he was done, rubbing one of the bandages on her wrist.

He remained quiet as he helped her to her feet. “It’s payback for all those other times.” He replied lamely, even though he knew it wasn’t the truth. As soon as he had smelt her blood and heard her cries, he knew he had made a mistake. He had brought his best friend into this without knowing exactly what would happen. He shook his head, knowing it was no time to bask in self-pity, and picked up the two swords he had brought.

Kagome blinked when he thrust the swords into her hands. “Hogorokkotsu! And Tenseiga!” She said with a smile and hugged them to her. She then looked up at Inuyasha with a smile. “Thank you, Inuyasha.”

“Keh, don’t thank me.” He huffed, his ears flattening against his hair. “Just go to Sesshoumaru.”

She nodded and tucked the swords into her makeshift obi. “I will,” She went to go towards the door, but stopped and turned towards him. She took two steps forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “I’m glad you did the right thing.” She whispered before releasing him and heading towards the door.

Inuyasha watched as she disappeared through the doors and let out a sigh. He looked down at Tessaiga and frowned. Even if he wanted to, he could not fight the way he wanted. He loved Kikyou and wanted to be with her forever, but his sword was betraying him for betraying Kagome. He had made it work once, when he thought of protecting Kikyou during the war, but since then it refused to transform.

With a deep breath he headed towards the balcony. Sword or not, he still had his claws and strength. He would fight this war his own way. He leapt off the side of the balcony and quickly went in search of Kikyou, knowing she was already fighting on the field.

*~~~BHL~~~*

“Haha! Come on, Pup! Is that the best you can do?” Juto taunted as he clashed swords with Sesshoumaru once more. He easily stood his ground as Sesshoumaru pushed against him. He had to admit, the inu lord was good, just like his father, but not good enough. They had each delivered blows to each other at the same times.

Sesshoumaru did not anticipate Juto to be so well trained with a sword. Imagine his surprise when he had actually been hit. He had been stabbed right above his chest armor, the blade driving deep into his skin. At the same time, though, he had managed to swing Bakusaiga and slice into Juto’s arm to the bone before the neko jumped away.

With narrowed eyes, he pushed hard against their blades, sending Juto back a bit. “Where is she?” He growled, blocking an attack as Juto leapt at him again.

“Ah, your little miko? She is waiting eagerly upstairs for me. I cannot see why you waited so long to bed her, Pup; she has quite the body on her.” He laughed, despite the crushing force of Sesshoumaru’s fist into the side of his head. “Well, well, it seems you actually care for the human!”

Sesshoumaru took advantage of the situation and continued on a horde of attacks. His free fist hit Juto’s face repeatedly, causing his nose to break and crack his cheek bone. When the force of his last punch moved the neko back a few steps, he swung his leg and kicked hard at the armor, shattering it before he hit the floor, his sword scattering away from him. At least now he was unprotected.

“Haha! Is that all?” The neko hissed before he cackled out a laugh as Sesshoumaru pressed the tip of Bakusaiga to his throat.

“Do you not know your defeat when faced with it?” The taiyoukai asked, pressing the edge of his sword harder against his skin, drawing blood.

Juto tossed back his head and let out another loud laugh. “Defeat? Oh, my dear Pup, this is just the beginning!” He quickly grabbed a hold of Bakusaiga and held tight, despite the shocking green waves of energy Sesshoumaru sent through it. His eyes then widened as they filled in with black. His shaggy blonde hair grew long as his nails grew into talons.

Sesshoumaru’s eyes narrowed a fraction as the neko pulsed once, then twice like a heartbeat before he released a sharp, fiery hot, cloud-like miasma. The force was so powerful it made Sesshoumaru’s clothes ripple under his armor, his ponytail billowing out behind him. He tried to pull away from Juto’s grip, but the neko held strong. His eyes then widened when the cloud took a hand-like shape and reached towards his chest. Before he could leap back, he felt the red tinted, translucent hand seep through his armor like it wasn’t there. It disappeared into the skin of his chest before grazing against his heart.

With a snarl, he released his grip on Bakusaiga and when he was in mid-air of leaping back, the hand opened flat and smacked him into the ground. He quickly recovered, but Juto was there, his sword pointed at his neck. He tried to focus on what Juto was saying, but his now irregular heartbeat was interfering with his breathing.

“Do you not know your defeat when faced with it?” Juto mocked and let out another cackle. “Oh, how the tides change. Any last words, Pup?”

“Take this!”

“Eh?” He promptly went to look at the owner of the new voice, but was stopped mid-way when a blade was pierced through his chest. With a mixed looked of horror and surprise, he looked down at the thin blade protruding from his chest before it disappeared the way it came. He watched with mild fascination as the once bound miko now ran over to stand in front of her mate.

“Kagome.” Sesshoumaru said, his tone sharp as he stood up. He was slightly glad for the distraction, but he was not happy to see his mate there, standing in front of him with a protective stance. No. He was lying. Yes, he was very glad to see her in front of him and alive, but not this way. He did not want her to fight. He knew she had gone through much already.

She turned towards him with a small smile, her eyes filled with tears. “I’m so happy to see you.” She truly was. After the week of torture from being away from him and now this current situation, she just wanted to throw herself at him and be held in his arms for a lifetime.

His expression softened for a moment at her words and expression before he was quickly reminded of their environment. “Leave. Return to the West.” He ordered and moved in front of her.

“No! I’m not leaving again. That was the reason for all of this the first time!” She argued, her hands tightening on the grip of Hogorokkotsu.

“Go!” His voice came out a snarl.

“No!” She shouted back and then hurried to turn towards Juto when he started clapping.

“Ah, such affection!” He laughed and raised his sword, his translucent hand creating a fist. “I will make sure to send you both to hell!”

Sesshoumaru put his hand around his mate’s waist before jumping to the side to avoid the hand. He then drew Tenseiga from its sheath on her side and used it to block Juto’s attack. When they touched back down to the ground, he moved away from her to block another series of attacks as Juto swung them.

As soon as Sesshoumaru touched her, she felt as if something in her shattered and she once more felt the familiar warmth of her power inside her. With a newfound strength, she turned towards the hand as it swung at her. She quickly laced her blade with her pink power, the purple sparks soon snapping around it, and swung it at the hand as it tried to close down on her.

With a short wail, Juto abruptly turned towards his hand as it was ripped in two by a holy fire. Rage filling him, he charged towards the miko, but was forced to the ground as Sesshoumaru attacked him from behind. His black eyes narrowed and he raised his hand and slammed it against Sesshoumaru’s chest. As Sesshoumaru grunted, Juto smirked and stood back up on his feet, looking down at the inuyoukai as he put his hand to his heart.

“Ha! You are infected with my poison. It has touched your heart and you will soon die from it!” He laughed and lifted his blade once more. “I suppose I can act like the Kami that I am and end your suffering.”

“Sesshoumaru!” Kagome cried out as Juto swung the blade. She felt that weird, fire sensation fill her veins and knew she was changing again. She easily let it overtake her and felt the new burst of speed as she tackled the neko before he could strike her mate.

When he realized it was the woman that tackled him, he spat, “Miko, I grow tired of you!” He growled and rolled them to the side so that he was on top of her. He was going to strike her, but was startled to a stop when he saw a magenta stripe on each of her cheeks and fangs being bared at him. Youkai?

Taking advantage of his stunned state, she flared her fist with her pink and purple power and swung it hard into his face. With her youkai strength, he flew to the side. And, with her miko power, his skin burned and sizzled in pain. She leapt to her feet, Hogorokkotsu in her hand, and ran at him.

He overcame his pain and got back on his feet. Swordless, he charged at her with his talons ready. She dodged most of his attacks, but managed to gain a few gashes while he sustained a few more gushing burns. He swung at her once more, but found his arm suddenly further away as a new pressure was around his neck.

“Do not turn your back on your enemy.” Sesshoumaru glowered darkly at him from behind. He looked over Juto’s shoulder at his youkai-miko mate and nodded at her.

Following her mate’s orders, she thrust her sword into Juto’s chest and looked up at him as he let out another laugh.

“You think this will destroy me? Have you not learned anything?!” He asked and he coughed out a laugh when the inuyoukai tightened his grip.

“No, but this will!” She shouted and tightened her grip on her blade before narrowing her eyes and sending a large pulse of her energy through the blade and into Juto, filling him with her holy energy and purifying him from the inside out. She withdrew her blade from him as Sesshoumaru dropped him and together they watched as he wailed in pain before his body turned into a heap of ash.

With a grunt, Sesshoumaru fell back, his hand going back to his heart.

“Sesshoumaru!” She dropped down on her knees next to him and pushed his hand away so she could place hers there instead. She had heard Juto talking about his poison, but could see no wound on his chest except for the one on the other side, but it wasn’t the source of it. How could this have happened? She couldn’t let him die! She needed to help him! But how? She closed her eyes in frustration and nearly gasped.

She saw his silvery aura that was tinted with purple and gold, but where her pink hand was, she could see a green and black light radiating within his colors. She furrowed her brows and pushed harder on his chest, earning her a grunt from her mate. She saw her light almost touch the darkness and clenched her teeth together in annoyance. She needed to reach it, but risked burning Sesshoumaru.

Oh well, he would have to deal with it.

Sesshoumaru growled out in pain when he felt her singe his skin with her power before he felt it reach down at touch his heart. He felt the pain in his heart dissipate and his heartbeat returned to normal. That was three times in one day that she had saved him. He opened his eyes, not realizing he closed them, and saw her staring at him intently with glazed sapphire eyes.

“Are you okay?” She breathed, her chest heaving. She felt dizzy, lightheaded. Her limbs began to tingle and she saw black spots blot in front of her eyes.

He watched the color drain from her face and how her lids fluttered shut. He swiftly reached out to catch her as she fell forward towards him. He pulled her to his armored chest and held her to him, nuzzling her hair, unable to help himself. She had beyond proved herself to all and everyone. He never thought she would have exceeded his expectations.

He pulled his head away from her hair and watched as the markings on her cheeks vanished. He looked down at her body and felt another growl rumble in his throat. Not only was she wearing Inuyasha’s haori, causing her to smell like him, but she also smelt like Juto. He was, however, relieved that she had not been defiled. But, she was in bad shape. Her ankle was swollen, blood ran down her arms from three gashes, a hole in her shoulder continued to bleed, and he could smell the blood on her wrists. She needed to be treated and soon.

“Sesshoumaru!” Taku called as he stumbled into the scene. He looked at the two and couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh. Thank Kami they were both still alive. He walked over to the couple and looked down at his beat-up lady. “We must get her to the West.”

Sesshoumaru merely nodded in acknowledgement as he continued to stare down at his mate. He had missed her.

“Kagome!” Inuyasha called as he ran in.

Sesshoumaru’s eyes flashed red and he let out a blood curling snarl of warning as he gripped Kagome closer to him. Even Taku stepped back from the threat. He turned towards Inuyasha and narrowed his eyes before nodding to two of his soldiers.

“Hey! What the hell?!” Inuyasha barked as the soldiers quickly grabbed him and pinned his arms behind his back.

“You, Inuyasha, Son of the Great Inu no Taisho, have committed several acts of treason and will be dealt with accordingly.” Taku said as he approached the hanyou. “You will pay for what you have done, Inuyasha. Your father would have been disappointed in you.”

Inuyasha’s ears flattened against his head. And, ignoring Taku’s threats, looked past Taku at his brother and Kagome. “Is she alright?”

Sesshoumaru lifted Kagome into his arms as he stood up. He shot Inuyasha another glare as he spoke. “It is not of your concern. Do not bother yourself with my mate.” With that final word, his wisped up his cloud and took off towards the West.

The general looked back over at Inuyasha. “Tell me, Inuyasha, where is your mate now?” When Inuyasha simply cast a glance to the side, he shook his head. He walked over to Bakusaiga and picked it up, putting it into his obi so he could return it to his lord. He turned toward the West, ready to go before he looked at his army. “Bring him.” He ordered and nodded at his troops. He sent out a pulse of his energy for his soldiers who were still out there fighting, telling them it was time to go home.

A/N: Yay! The war is finally over! :3

12/3/15