Stench

"Sister Kikyo?" Keade said, surprised as the long dead priestess came into her hut.

"Keade." Kikyo greeted her though her eyes were on Sango who was glaring at her. "I didn't realize you had company."

"Sango and her companions typically stay in my home when they are in town." Keade wasn't about to apologize for it. She wasn't altogether that surprised to see her elder, though younger looking, sister here in the dead of night. It wasn't the first time she had gotten such a visit.

"Maybe I should come back later." the miko said, not looking away from Sango.

"No, please, come on in." Sango gestured, her face unfriendly. "Don't leave on my account."

"I wish to speak to my sister." Kikyo glared back at Sango. "Alone."

"Just pretend I'm not here." Sango smiled darkly.

"Now you two behave." Keade said sternly. "I'll have no such fighting in my home."

"Sorry, Keade." Sango looked down and away from Kikyo.

"Forgive me." Kikyo looked at her sister. Though technically born after her, Kikyo could no longer think of Keade as her 'younger' sister. For all that she was born later in life, Keade had still lived through more years of it than Kikyo had. And the lined and ancient face was a constant reminder to her that she was dead and life had moved on without her.

"What did you want to speak of?" Keade asked, gesturing for her sister to come in as she yawned wide, her jaw popping from the effort of it.

"Are you tired?" Kikyo asked.

"You should sleep." Sango suggested with a true smile. "That was some impressive spell work earlier. It must have taken quite a lot out of you. Then you helped with my hands. You really deserve some sleep."

"I'm sure I have it in me to converse with my sister." Keade said though she looked uncertain. That fire spell really had been strong and Keade was no longer in the prime of her life.

"Sleep." Kikyo ordered. "Denying yourself rest is as good as poisoning yourself."

Keade nodded, agreeing with her. "Maybe you're are right."

"She is." Sango nodded. "You rest. I'll talk to Kikyo."

"Are you sure?" Keade eyed her carefully. Sango certainly hadn't been welcoming to her elder sister.

"Don't worry." Sango held up her injured hands. "I'm hardly in any shape to fight anyone. It'll be a peaceful conversation."

Her tired will power no match for their combined persuasion, Keade laid back.

"Sleep well, Keade." Sango smiled as she led the way out of the hut, Kikyo a step behind her.

Keade wasn't all that comfortable leaving the two of them alone but Sango was right. She was in no position to fight and Kikyo wouldn't be so cruel as to hurt an injured person. And, more than anything, Keade was tired. Even as she was laying back she could feel sleep pulling at her mind, urging her to give into it.

Outside, Sango and Kikyo walked a fair distance from the hut before Kikyo spoke.

"I have nothing to say to you, slayer." were the harshly tossed out words.

"Yeah?" Sango looked unaffected. "Well, I'm not all that keen on listening to you either. However, Keade saved my life today so I owe her. Why did you come anyway?"

Kikyo glared at her as the two of them stopped. "As if you don't know."

"No, I really don't." Sango raised her hands. "In case you haven't noticed, I've been dealing some really important things lately."

"Naraku's work?" Kikyo asked, looking at the bandaged appendages.

"A couple demons he hired." Sango shrugged not bothering to go into the full story.

"Here." Kikyo reached out and pulled the injured limps into her hands before Sango could stop her. A moment later, Sango felt a delightfully cool feeling soothing the scorched flesh as a pulsing, beautiful pink light began emanating from Kikyo's hands.

"Thank you." Sango's voice was quiet as Kikyo worked. She had to remind herself that, in life, Kikyo had been a kind and powerful priestess. Helping people was probably second nature to her.

"It's not too bad." she answered. "Keade did well bandaging them herself."

"She's a good priestess." Sango nodded. "Not as strong as you were...are...you know what I mean."

Kikyo nodded once, showing she did understand and Sango realized with a start that, in Keade, she and Kikyo had found a common ground to stand on.

"So, why are you here?" she asked much gentler than she had before.

Kikyo didn't respond immediately. She finished her work first. When she finally released her, Sango could move her fingers without pain again.

"You should leave the bandages on until morning but they should be fine by then." she said, not answering the question.

"Thank you." Sango repeated genuinely as she turned her fingers, looking them over.

"I actually wanted to talk about Kagome." Kikyo very nearly whispered as she looked back at the darkened hut her sister called home. "Keade is very helpful about such things."

"Oh..." Sango said, drawing out the single syllable. That explained it. "Listen, I was told I was wrong in the way I went about telling you about...you know. So, I'm sor-"

"Forget it." Kikyo cut her off. "I would have done the same thing were it me."

"What, you're a cold heartless bitch too?" Sango smiled then her face fell. "Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Forget it." Kikyo said again, smiling just a bit as well. As a dead, heartless woman, the words weren't untrue. "Anyway, why are you here alone? Where are the others?"

"Well, me and Miroku were separated." Sango held up her hands, telling her how without words. "And Kagome and Inuyasha should be back in her world."

"Should be?" Kikyo caught the words.

Sango gave a little half shrug. "Things are just...odd. I'm afraid that, maybe...This just isn't the place for a pregnant girl right now. Especially not among us."

Kikyo nodded once, agreeing with her. "Does Naraku know about...you know?" she just couldn't really say the words. The pain was just too fresh.

"I hope not." Sango laughed once. "I was going to go to the well tomorrow, make sure everything was okay just to appease my own paranoia."

"Then?"

"Then I was going to go look for Miroku." Sango sighed as she turned to look into the distance. "He's strong and can handle himself, I know. But still...I worry about him."

"You love him." Kikyo said. It wasn't a question.

Sango blushed as she looked down at the ground in front of her. She didn't deny it.

Kikyo made a split second decision. "I will go with you."

"What?" Sango looked up, surprised. "Why?" she couldn't help but blurt out.

"I will wait by the well." Kikyo said, not answering the question. The truth of it was, she wasn't entirely certain. She had come to ask Keade about Kagome, about whether or not the girl could make Inuyasha happy, ask about the pregnancy. Ask if he was happy with things as they were. But, perhaps, she would get better answers from Sango, the girl who was such a close friend with her reincarnation. "I cannot linger around the village. I doubt the villagers would welcome the sight of me."

"You'd probably be surprised." Sango smiled. "Inuyasha used to think the same thing. He's as much a a part of this village now as any of us. They're a very accepting people."

Kikyo smiled, thankful for that statement. "Still, I'll wait by the well for you."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Kagome smelled the demon long before she saw it.

There weren't words to describe just what it smelled like.

She had smelled rotten eggs, skunk, both dead and alive, the stench from a broken sewer line, even the gut wrenching scent of hundreds of bodies decaying in the summer sun in a battlefield stained black with their dried blood.

And none of those were accurate to describe the odor that wafted to them on the breeze that, just moments ago had been crisp and clear.

It smelled rotten, rancid, somehow worse even than decay. It wasn't exactly a sharp odor, more like a consistence ebb and flow and stink that seemed to morph and change giving her nose no chance to get used to the smell and power past it. Both at once, it irritated her nose making her want to sneeze and made her stomach roll, nauseating, making her want to throw up. Her own body rejected it, treating it like a sickness it desperately wanted to get rid of.

"Kagome. I feel sick." Rin groaned, gripping her belly as her face turned just a bit green.

"Oh, man." Kagome felt the same but this mothering instinct that was just awakening demanded that she help the child first. Blushing just a bit, Kagome pulled her shirt off her back then wrapped it around Rin's face, tying it securely in the back. "Is that better, sweetie."

Rin nodded, moving her hands up and pressing the shirt into her face. It filtered the smell. The shirt smelled mostly of Kagome however that didn't stop the stench entirely.

Kagome held her own hand over her face, trying to block the smell and wishing she had something to cover her own nose with.

Which made her wonder how Sesshomaru was handling the smell.

She looked down from the high vantage point that Ah-Uhn had taken the pair of them to. Standing in his lord's shadow, Jaken was almost invisible. Sesshomaru, however, was clearly visible. He was still standing strong against the stink. Was he even breathing? Kagome couldn't tell. How long could a great demon like himself hold his breath. And if the odor was this powerful to her, how powerful was it to him? Would he even be able to survive breathing it in?

Kagome had a brief flashback to the first few days of her acquaintanceship with Inuyasha. Fighting a human man who used a bottle of cursed ink to call forth demons from his paintings. The strong smell of the ink wasn't enough to force Kagome to cover her nose, though it hadn't been a nice scent. It was, however, strong enough to bring Inuyasha down, making him dizzy and nauseous.

She highly doubted that Sesshomaru could bring this one down without help. But what could Kagome do? She was powerless without her arrows.

"Ah-Uhn!" Kagome leaned forward a bit, speaking to the dragon's left head. "Listen to me," she hoped the beast could understand language as Kirara did, "I need you to find me a bow and arrows. Can you find those?"

The two headed dragon didn't respond but to turn and began to fly away from the stink.

Hoping she wasn't just being a coward and turning to run for it, Kagome leaned turned from Sesshomaru and began scanning the ground for people, people who might have a bow and arrow.

Rin, straddling Ah-Uhn in front of her, didn't question her but she did join Kagome's search.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Where are they going?" Jaken asked from the ground as he watched the group fly away. "They better not be running!"

"Jaken." Sesshomaru silenced his aide with one word. It was better this way. They were out of his way, letting him do as he did best, defeating the weaklings who dared challenge him.

Then again, that scent had reached an overwhelming power. He no longer dared draw breath after one long inhale, drawing in as much air as he could. He would have to defeat the thing, whatever it was, fast. He didn't have to breath for a while, but he would have to breath eventually.

And, even not breathing, his sensitive sense still picked up enough of the smell to make his eyes water and threaten to buckle his knees.

Times like this, Sesshomaru realized that the very things that made him so powerful and unstoppable could very well turn out to be weaknesses.

However, Sesshomaru would never run from a fight, no matter how unpleasant it promised to be. If this was what this thing smelled like alive, he didn't want to smell it dead.

There was, though, the woman carrying a pup to think of. The appearance of such an incarnation of Naraku, one so specifically designed to cripple him, was obviously meant to get him out of the way so that he could get at Kagome.

And Kagome, carried his blood kin. Inuyasha was a complete and total ass, but the unborn babe in Kagome's womb was innocent of any crime both real and perceived.

Though Sesshomaru felt no affection for either of them, the concept alone was so ridiculous it was almost funny, it was his duty as her closest relative and leader of the pack to protect her, protect them both.

And if there was one thing Sesshomaru honored above all else, it was duty.

It was taking a while for the demon to get there. Perhaps, whatever it was, didn't run. More than likely it creeped or crawled or oozed it's way across a distance.

Whatever the case, the thing was in no hurry but Sesshomaru could be patient.

He tensed himself for the fight to come as he looked into the tree line of the clearing where the source of the scent came from.

He was ready for anything.

A pair of eyes flashed across from him.