Chapter 1 - Poison

Cold. It was so cold.

The sharp chill of wind pierced Sesshoumaru's skin painfully as he got up from his previous position of laying helplessly on the forest floor. Not only was it cold, but it was dark as well, and his untrained eyes made it hard to make out his cruel enemy in the darkness.

For the past twenty minutes now, he had been fleeing from and dodging the snake demon's attacks, his own poison clawed attacks seemingly fruitless in the effort, but he had figured that out long before, and he kept on trying, finding that the snake demon just wouldn't stop lunging at him.

Sesshoumaru's face was covered in a thin layer of sweat – even as a full inu-youkai, he still couldn't strike the demon one good time. It had become a pattern now - the demon attacked, he jumped. Attack, jump; attack, jump. His legs had developed pain in them from the constant effort, and Sesshoumaru found that with each passing dodge, he was getting slower and slower. This was not good.

Sesshoumaru had sped briskly through the cold autumn night, leaping and running toward his foe. His brow was furrowed; eyes narrowed; mind set on his absolute goal.

There was a snake demon in his lands, the western lands. Sesshoumaru had heard from rumours spreading throughout the castle that the demon had two jewel shards which made it undeniably fast and just as truthfully strong. He had also heard that it had been shamelessly slaughtering the others who lived in the western lands - and to Sesshoumaru, that did not go over well.

He sensed the snake demon's presence long ago, and had been quickly and quietly following it ever since, but as he neared the other demon, he found that another presence came into his senses – his brother's group.

Finally realizing he had had enough. He leapt forward into the air swiftly and silently, drawing Toukijin from its sheathe and holding it steadily in front of him. When he reached the unknowing snake demon, he swiped the blade downward, cutting it forcefully through the demon's flesh and bone.

Kagome's lower lip shook.

Soon, though, she got over her fear - after a quick study of the lord, she found that he wasn't paying attention to her at all. Neither was the snake demon - his eyes had locked onto the bigger, stronger newcomer. That was good. He hadn't noticed she was there yet.

Kagome quickly took this shining opportunity. Not wasting any time, she ran as fast as she could behind the demon and picked up her bow and arrow.

Kagome hadn't quite realized how slow she was being until she actually took a look at the battle going on. The snake demon was bleeding profusely, but it seemed to be okay - it continually lunged at Sesshoumaru, who was dodging as best he could.

Then, suddenly, one of the snake's attacks hit, sinking sharply into the junction of Sesshoumaru's shoulder. Kagome gasped and covered her mouth, mentally cursing herself for possibly drawing attention. But as it turned out, neither of them paid any attention to her, and she calmed herself. Squinting in the darkness, she could see that Sesshoumaru had been hit quite a few times - he was bleeding absolute rivers down both of his legs, and the arm that had once been cut off (which seemed to have regenerated itself somehow) was bleeding just as profusely.

And just as suddenly as the last attack had hit, the snake's tail spanned out and the sharp spikes on it hit Sesshoumaru in the sides. Kagome heard a slight, low grunt of pain from Sesshoumaru, and she watched, frightened, as he fell to his knees.

All of Kagome's instincts screamed at her to run - neither of the demons noticed her, so she could get away as best she could. She could return to safety. She could return to Inuyasha. But there was no such luck, her body did not obey her instincts' commands. She couldn't just leave Sesshoumaru there, could she? 'Yes I can,' Kagome thought desperately. 'I hate him. He hates me. I can leave him here!'

But still, Kagome's feet wouldn't obey her commands. She started sweating, and she looked away and then back at Sesshoumaru. 'I can't just leave him here.. Not while he's hurt..' she thought to herself, biting her lower lip. While naïve, Kagome had a heart of gold, and if there was somebody who needed to be helped - well, she would help them… and she always did. It was just her way.

But did it have to be Sesshoumaru?

'You can do this, Kagome. You can do it,' She told herself inwardly, eyebrows furrowed in desperation. Quickly, she studied the demon for a spot of weakness.

There! In his tail! There were two jewel shards. Kagome could sense them easily, and she also noticed that the tail was almost cut clean off already. Closing one eye and raising her bow, she aligned an arrow with the string and aimed. The snake demon was poised and ready to strike at Sesshoumaru again, which Kagome assumed would be a fatal blow - if she didn't interfere first. She took another few seconds to make sure her aim was exactly precise, and then let go of the arrow, letting it fly cleanly into the demon's tail.

As luck would have it, her shot was perfect. The arrow cut off what was left of the snake's tail, leaving a dismembered limb on the ground - and two jewel shards along with it. Kagome looked to Sesshoumaru, who glared icily back at her, and then nodded determinedly. As Sesshoumaru painfully raised himself to his feet, Kagome ran quickly to collect the jewel shards, finding that her strength and speed had been renewed.

By the time Kagome turned around, she found that the job of killing the demon had already been done - Sesshoumaru had done it quickly and easily since the tail had been broken off. Kagome beamed happily at this new revelation, then opened her mouth and turned to where she last saw Sesshoumaru, then inhaled a sharp gasp.

Sesshoumaru was lying on the forest floor, his breathing shallow. From his wounds spilled dark, crimson blood; stains covering the bright white of his haori. He slowly and weakly plunged his Toukijin, which he was still grasping as tightly as he could, into the blood-soaked ground, trying to use it as a crutch to bring himself to his feet.

"Sesshoumaru--" Kagome said hesitantly and with concern. Her twinkling blue eyes caught his emotionless gold ones, and she reached out to him. His grip on Toukijin wavered, and Sesshoumaru fell breathlessly to the ground, sinking unwillingly into the black oblivion of unconsciousness.