So Cold by butterflychan

How it all began...and ended

*Disclaimer* I do not own InuYasha!

A/N: Just how stupid am I???? But who am I to deny my muse a new story when she so demands it?

Summary: A surprise attack by Naraku caught the Shard-hunting group off-guard, destroying everyone. Except Kagome. Sesshomaru follows the stench of Naraku to the battlefield and retrieves the unconscious Kagome with questions burning his mind. Will the cold-hearted Demon Lord assist Kagome in defeating Naraku or leave her to fend for herself?

So Cold

Chapter One: How it all began...and ended

Blood. It was everywhere. The strong metallic scent invaded the air, thickening it and making hard for Kagome to breathe. Not that she wanted to.

Tears. They ran down her face in torrents, blurring her vision as she looked upon the bloody battlefield. The sky was dark and cloudy, thunder boomed and lightening flashed, threatening rain. Kagome didn't care.

She got up from her knees and wandered through the piles of bodies aimlessly. The bodies, oh Kami, the bodies! Her friends lay, scattered across the clearing where the majority of the fighting had taken place. Sango, or what was left of Sango, was crumpled up under a nearby tree partially pinned in place by her Hiraikotsu. So much blood! Her face was twisted in pain and a sort of strange contentment, her lips blue and her skin ashy. Her hair was stuck to her face, coated in her own blood and her left arm was all but torn off.

Kagome continued on, more tears rolling down her cheeks as she mourned the loss of her sister figure. Miroku lay not too far from Sango. It was fitting, him being so close to her, even in death. Though he had few injuries he was harder to look at than Sango was. His body was swollen and purple, veins bulging in his neck and on his wrists. His eyes seemed to be popping out of his head, staring directly at Sango. And his face, despite the swelling and discolor, it was still so obviously sad. His hand was outstretched toward the demon slayer, almost as if he was trying to get in one last grope before they passed on.

A choked sob passed Kagome lips as she walked on, tripping on someone's severed arm. She fell onto her front, her arms thrown in front of her in a feeble attempt to stop the ground from rushing up to meet her. As she blankly pushed herself up, her hand slipped in something wet and squishy and she fell back down, straight into the mess. Her face became coated in the substance, chunks of something falling from her face or sticking in her hair as she sat back up violently. Kagome was almost afraid to look down at what she fell in, but she looked anyway and instantly regretted it.

Kagome let out a horrible cry as she madly scrubbed her face with her hands, almost screaming in horror. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight before her. Lying on his back with his head to the side, stomach ripped open and insides strewn around him, was Shippo. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes were wide with fear as his now sightless eyes bore into Kagome's very soul. She could hear his final words, though she had not originally heard them. He had been crying out for her to save him, but she never came and now he was practically inside out.

She sat, rocking back and forth as she dug her nails into her face, screaming while stared back at Shippo. She should have been with him, should have saved him. It should have been HER lying there; Shippo should have been alive and unscathed. But fate was sick and had taken a child's life in such a twisted way. The blood that had been leaking from Shippo's body had trailed toward Kagome and had seeped into her sock, her shoe having been lost earlier. She crawled backwards and forced herself to stand, her mind numb and in shock at the sight of little Shippo's body.

As she made herself walk forward in the battlefield, a cold breeze picked up and Kagome shivered. Her clothes were in tatters, leaving barely anything to the imagination and it was a wonder why she still wore the blasted uniform. It was soaked with her blood and the blood of others and reeked of death. Yet she ignored all of that as she stumbled along, her energy near spent and blood still pouring out of wounds she had gotten from the battle. Eventually she caught sight of a beautiful silver head of hair, thought it was stained in places with blood. Kagome ran, nearly tripping over other bodies, her eyes never leaving the silver hair.

"InuYasha." She gasped out, falling to her knees beside the fatally wounded half demon. His entire stomach was gone, as was his right arm and part of his throat. But his face, his handsome face, stayed untouched despite the drops of blood that had landed on his face.

He was still breathing, though Kagome knew that it wouldn't stay like that for long. Kagome was at a loss of what to do and threw herself onto the half demon's chest, sobbing uncontrollably and ignoring it when her hand had gone through the hole in his stomach. She had hoped that at least he had survived, her protector, her best friend and the first boy she had ever loved.

"W-what'll happen now InuYasha? I can't be alone, I n-need you here with me. Don't l-leave me, PLEASE!" Kagome cried into his chest, her small hands balled into fists.

InuYasha painfully lifted his hand up and stroked Kagome's blood-clotted hair, forcing a small smirk. He gently forced her head back up and looked at her, a strange playfulness in his eye that Kagome had rarely seen before. His statement stopped Kagome's heart and nearly broke it.

"Feh. Don't be getting all weepy now; you still hafta collect the shards wench."

Kagome let out a strangled laugh-sob, sniffling as she listened to his voice take on a serious tone as he continued to speak.

"You always were strong; you can't let Naraku get you or the rest of the shards. We'll always be there to help you, now stop crying. You know I can't stand to see you cry Kagome." His tone was soft and strong, his breath was rattling in his chest as he took what he and Kagome knew to be his last breaths.

Kagome let out a heavy sob and tightened her grip on InuYasha, praying that he would stay with her. But he didn't. Soon, too soon for Kagome, InuYasha took his final wheezing breath and his eyes slid closed, just as the thunder violently clapped and rain began to pour. Kagome's tears mixed with the rain and she stayed where she was, clinging to the dead body of InuYasha underneath the tree.

Despite her weariness Kagome did not allow herself to sleep, knowing that the blood and gore from the battlefield would attract some low-level demons that would mindlessly devour the bodies of the dead. Trying her hardest to sniffle the tears away as she pushed away from InuYasha, Kagome stood on trembling legs and took one last look at the battlefield but mostly InuYasha. There had to have been some sort of sick and twisted God playing out his idea of a joke because, as Kagome looked upon InuYasha's body and lightening flashed, she noticed that he was underneath the God Tree.

Her mind was frozen from all that she had witnessed and her body was numb from the cold rain. She didn't comprehend what she was doing until she was carefully carrying Sango's body to a grave she had dug. Five graves were dug around the God Tree, four of them occupied by her friends. She went about burying the other bodies, demon and human alike and finally collapsed next to the final grave under the God Tree.

It was partially filled with water from the rain but Kagome didn't care, she dropped into it rather ungracefully and lay in a crumpled heap at the bottom. With heaving sobs, Kagome curled into a fetal position, ignoring the demonic presence that approached her position. She was hopeful that the demon would show no mercy and slaughter her where she lay. Finally she slid into unconsciousness, not dreaming, just allowing her body to shut down for the time while the demon continued to approach her.

Sesshomaru was the demon that had been coming toward her, lucky for her. When he caught wind of the blood of his half-breed brother and his companions as well as the stench of Naraku, Sesshomaru had not hesitated to rush from his lands. It was not out of concern, no, Sesshomaru had only wanted to settle the score with the blasted half demon Naraku. Or so he told himself. He knew that the battle was over, even as he entered the clearing where it had taken place. The strong stench of death mixed with excrement, fear and blood all assaulted his nose at once. Had he not been the proud demon that he was, he would have turned tail and left until the smell died down.

Instead, Sesshomaru surveyed the battlefield much like Kagome had, taking note of the graves and lack of bodies. As he found his way to the God Tree, Sesshomaru could see the crudely scratched names in the bark above the graves. His brother, the demon slayer, the monk, the young fox kit and finally the young priestess. He was surprised, though he didn't show it, to find that Kagome was sleeping in one of the graves. He saw the tears that still were flowing and was curious as to how she had survived when the others hadn't. Delicately sniffing the air, Sesshomaru took note of the priestess's despair and heartbreak as well as her many injuries.

Deciding that he had questions for the priestess, Sesshomaru swiftly dropped into the grave where she lay and scooped her up. It was decidedly hard for him to carry her with just one arm, but he managed and quickly made his way back to his lands. He walked right into the home of a lower lord, whom he allowed rule over his lands when he was gone, he strolled casually through the halls, almost as if he didn't know that he had a bleeding girl in his arm. Sesshomaru easily slipped into a nearby room, placing Kagome on a bed and then strolling from the room and making his way down to the nearby village to fetch a healer. The frightened humans he encountered disgusted him but fulfilled their purpose as they pointed out the village healer.

After getting the woman to accompany him back to the large home, Sesshomaru stood in the room and watched as the healer worked. That had gotten him a disapproving frown but the woman did nothing else out of fear. He nearly scoffed at her actions, why would he, Lord Sesshomaru, be interested in a lowly human? Letting it go as some sort of human decency thing, Sesshomaru watched with bored eyes as the healer finished up what she was doing.

He, in a strange way of thanks, spared the woman's life despite the fact that he had retrieved her in the first place. The impassive demon silently slid the door shut to the room in which Kagome slept and strode across the hall to an office-like room. Days went by with him working in the office and seeing to Rin and the goings-on of the dictation of his lands, never leaving the grounds. Sesshomaru had many questions for the slumbering priestess and wanted to be around as soon as she awakened.

Finally, when she did wake up, it happened to be while the maids were changing her clothes and she completely freaked out.

"What's going on?!?!? Where am I?!?!? What happened?!?!?"