Eternal Rest by Madison

Eternal Rest

A/N: And here we go! Another entry for Tangerine Dream's tournament! This is new for me. No writing tragedy is not new, lol, but I don't know. You'll see... It's quite short if you compare it to everything I've written, but I think the length fits.

Prompt: Agroof (Fall flat on your face). 

Opponent: Priestess Skye

Please, do not forget to read her entry as well before voting!

Thank you Daniella for beta-reading!

Eternal Rest

Oneshot

The deadly silence cast a shadow of fear over the early evening atmosphere while the sky was void of any clouds. The sun was setting low and the moon was shining bright. Bodies were pilled up all over the clearing, both humans and demons together in death. Blood splatters tainted the green grass while death slowly spread its curse around.

On the body of a girl there were two tree trunks, small but still fairly heavy. Despite the injuries, the girl slowly managed to push them off her. She grunted lightly, sweat dripped down her forehead and her pink lips were tightly pressed together. Another small sound of pain escaped her while she managed to shove the trees away from her body.

Her green skirt was torn with patches of dirt all over it. Blood was soaking her white shirt around her stomach and the collar was completely torn off. A large wound on her left cheek was gushing blood and her bangs were glued to her forehead while the rest of her mane of hair was tangled with branches and leaves. Her eyes were barely open as she attempted to wipe some of the blood off her face.

Some of it was hers and some of it was not. There was not an inch of her face or body that was not covered with someone else's death.

She took a deep breath and felt an intense pain throbbing from her lungs while she forced herself to sit up. Her eyes were stinging with tears, her brain was pulsing and her skin was on fire. It took every single ounce of energy she had left, but she finally sat. Her sticky, red palms were pressed against the dry grass as she scanned the vicinity.

Kagome had seen everything, the whole final battle against Naraku, but she refused to believe even an instant of it. All of it was impossible. They had succeeded; they had vanquished Naraku, but at what cost?

Through blurry, teary eyes she dared to glance at her left. All that remained was a giant hole in the ground. She remembered. Kohaku had been there by Naraku's side and the evil being that Naraku was had slowly been torturing him by spreading miasma into his body. And then Sango had come along. Without thinking she had thrown herself in the way to try and save her brother.

But her action had caused another reaction.

Despite the risk, Miroku had opened his wind tunnel to save the woman he loved. It had cracked and tore and… it had swallowed everything – everything except Naraku. The blinding windy explosion had taken Sango, Miroku and Kohaku.

As the next memory hit her, she found herself numbed by the pain.

Inuyasha. The deaths of their friends had sent him into a rage and he had snapped. He was never good at holding back and thinking before going into a battle, but this time it had been worse. He had blindly thrown himself at Naraku as if he had hoped to take him out with one hit despite the odds.

It had not happened.

Instead she had watched as eventually Naraku stopped playing along and ended it. A tentacle went through Inuyasha's heart and his eyes went gone blank. No fiery rage, no passion, no sadness. Before Inuyasha had been able to process that his heart was being ripped out, he was dead.

And then she snapped.

Her shaky fingers had fumbled through to grab an arrow and then she had fired. Kagome's eyes had been burning as if fire leak down her face rather than salty tears. She could not even remember how many times she had fired before a shot had hit. All she knew was that a pink glow had surrounded her, lifted her and charged her with more power she had ever known before.

The blood, the tears and the glows of auras had shielded her from seeing everything. She did kill him, wound him but it had not been the end. She knew parts of his body had flown all over the place and his soul still lingered. As a matter of fact, she had made it worse: she had taken more lives.

When his poison, spikes and tentacles had been thrown around, they had hit people. She had been hit, which explained the blood pouring out of the wound she had on her stomach and the one on the back of her head. And Shippo. He had been hit, but she did not know how deadly – she felt her heart being crushed.

His death was on her.

Though no strength was left in her body, she got on all fours. She wanted to find him; she needed to know he was alive. If he was injured, perhaps she had enough power left in her to heal him – even if she did not know how. Her arms were trembling as they could not handle her weight, but she kept dragging her knees against the mud to move forward.

Then she felt it; a sharp pain under her breasts.

She tilted her head down and moved away what was left of her shirt only to reveal a small branch going through her. A bittersweet smile was on her lips and since she was out of sanity, she chuckled. She lifted one of her hands, weakening her balance, and harshly pulled it out.

Before she could even drop the branch on the ground, she felt it; the air was not coming to her. She had – she had pierced her lung. Kagome swallowed hard and she felt herself giving up. She could not find Shippo, she could not save him; she could not even save herself.

She was about to let herself sink into the ground when a flash of silver caught her eye. Inuyasha. She knew he was dead, but… he – she – she wanted to see him one last time. She wanted to die by his side; it felt right.

Kagome began to heave while digging her fingers in the dirt and pushing herself forward. Layers of dirt, blood and sweat coated her entire body, but she never stopped. It did not matter how many times she tried to take in air; she was always running out. It was as if there was a heavy weight on her chest threatening to crush her.

But her goal was the silver hair.

When it was finally in her grasp, she dropped on her stomach and reached out for it. Her fingers twirled around it and a feeling of home and belonging overwhelmed her. She had started this by his side and she would end it the same way. Unfortunately for her, when she lifted her head to catch a glimpse of his face she was forced to look at the cold truth.

This was not Inuyasha.

Magenta markings.

At that instant, her heart shattered. No, no, no. Sesshomaru? This was whom she was going to die beside?

Wait. Sesshomaru? She could not even remember him being present. Of course, a surge of power like they had launched was bound to attract other demons… unless Sesshomaru had felt Inuyasha die?

Sesshomaru laid motionless near her and her presence was irritating yet soothing, even if it was impossible. He had been near when he had sensed Naraku exploding with power and he had made the mistake to come along and inspect. Actually, that had only been his first mistake; his second had been to let Rin tag along.

When he had arrived at the battle site, the Miko had been firing arrows like a mad woman; no aim, no patience. She had been launching one after the other with the silly hope that one might hit.

Unfortunately he had been her first target. Her sharp, destroying arrow had hit him in the shoulder. At first, he had expected nothing to come out of it, but then he realized that she had more power than the last time he had confronted her. The arrow had not killed him, but it had left a deep gash. Regrettably, it had been enough to distract him.

Because then she had hit Naraku and everything had fallen apart.

Sesshomaru had felt another arrow go through him while parts of Naraku were flying around. It had pushed him towards the ground but before he lay down, he had seen it; Rin's death. A sharp tentacle had aimed for her and went through her tiny body pinning her to a tree.

And then, he had seen nothing.

The arrow pinned him down and he could not fight it. An arrow should not be enough to beat him and immobilize him which meant… she had sealed him. No doubts it had been meant for Naraku, but he had been the victim of it. He had always thought of her as a foolish girl in strange clothing. He had been right.

And now there she was, lying by his side. She reeked of death and he was aware her time was running out. Unfortunately, it meant his was as well. She was the one to seal him and she was the only one who could free him.

If she died, he would lay here in an eternal rest.

The toll of the sealing was already happening and he could feel his soul slipping away. Sesshomaru would fight it as long as he could, but it would be difficult to resist the claim her seal had over his body. His eyes closed and he could feel her heartbeat weaken. She was still twitching – he could sense it. Perhaps, he could obtain her help.

He parted his lips in the hopes of speaking, but his entire mouth felt numb. Grunts were escaping his throat but none of the noises he made were even close to being words she could understand. Frustration filled him and he dug his claws into the ground.

That seemed to get her attention.

Kagome stared at the side of his face in confusion. At first, she had believed him to be dead since she had been unable to sense his aura, but now she was no longer certain. His hands felt like they had moved and sounds were coming from him. It would not do much if he was alive but perhaps, as a dying request, she could ask him to save Shippo?

Or at least find him and bury him properly.

"Ses-sho" It was all she could manage to say.

Her chest was no longer lifting and she no longer felt air inside her lungs. Maybe they had been perforated somewhere else, or she was simply so weak that she could not hold on any longer. She was dying fast – faster than she anticipated.

She tried to rest on the side of her head in case it would help her hear him. As she twisted her neck around, she noticed the arrows in his chest. Her arrows. In spite of the pain, her eyes widened. She had attacked him? There was no way. She could not take down Sesshomaru. Maybe there was something stuck to her arrows that was weakening him.

Since it was obvious he could not take care of it himself, she had to. Many times she begged her arm to lift, but it did not. There was no strength left in her. Even though she could not see her stomach, it was easy for her to tell she was lying in a pool of her own warm blood. At least, she would not die cold, she thought trying to humor herself.

As she felt one of her last breaths escape her, it worked. Her arm elevated above the ground and more tears leaked down her face. She felt so light that she thought her arm would reach but it did not. Instead, it almost fell back down right away. However, it did not resume its original position; her palm fell against his.

It was warm and because of the claws, it reminded her of Inuyasha's. This was not who she wanted to spend her last moments with, but it was all she had. Guilt was eating her up because she was unable to help him, but she knew her body would no longer move.

She could not tell if the wounds were done bleeding or if there was simply no more blood to lose. Her head was light and fuzzy and somehow, she was no longer in this deadly battlefield.

Sesshomaru knew he had lost her, simply by the way she was grabbing on to his hand. It felt extremely small in his and since he had never held Rin's hand in his, he imagined it was how small it would have felt. He had lost Rin once, and he had not shed a single tear. He would not this time either.

He had taken lives before – many times. He had never thought his would end at the hands of a foolish girl. His end was worse than death itself. He would never be dead; he would be stuck, immortalized in this moment forever. Who would save him? Nobody but her and her soul could make him escape this punishment.

Sesshomaru knew deep down, he would not have his half-brother's luck. Her soul would not come back for him. They were strangers, they had barely ever spoken; she had no connection to him.

He would end the way he had begun. Alone.

Yet, he did nothing to push her hand aside. He most likely did not have the strength, but he did not even try. Sesshomaru could not see her face: he could only feel her hand. It was then that Rin's words came back to him; some day, when I die . . . will you promise not to forget about me?

He felt his fingers tightening around Kagome's. What a foolish promise.

On those words, he felt a heavy sleep like never before claim him. He fought it. He lost. And then, his body went limp.

Kagome let the warmth from his fingers spread to her and she smiled through her suffering. This was not Sesshomaru's hand; it was Inuyasha's. She closed her eyes. The battle was over and they were alive. And she would stay; she would stay here with him in this time. They could live the life she had hoped for and the one he deserved.

Kagome's heart skipped a few beats and she felt it – her last breath.

With a mindless smile on her face and an open mouth it was all over. The hold on his fingers slipped and her body dropped. In a fierce motion, her face fell flat on the ground in a puddle of mud.

And then, there was silence.

Fin

Thank you for reading, and don't forget to read Skye's entry, and sent Tangie a PM with your vote!