The Kinship of Broken Hearts
It had been almost two full years, since the slaughter of her village. Sango sighed as she rode on the back of her nekomatta, Kirara. At her request, she'd left Inu-Yasha, Miroku, Kagome and Shippou behind to spend some time alone in the empty village; alone to grieve for what was lost. She looked up when Kirara made a questioning noise in the back of her throat and glanced back at her with concerned orange eyes.
"I'm all right, Kirara. No need to worry." Sango reassured; smiling somewhat when the feline youkai gave her what seemed to be a dubious look, before returning her attention to where she was going.
"I thank you for your concern, though." Sango murmured, keeping her gaze straight ahead as the palisade for the village came into view. Not hesitating for a moment, nekomatta and taijiya flew over the wooden walls and landed in the center of the village. As Sango dismounted, she felt a small, gentle breeze blow past her; almost as though her family was welcoming her home, after being away for so long.
"I'm home." Sango whispered, as her mind brought to the fore the faces of those who were now buried within the walls. She turned when Kirara (who was now in her smaller form) mewed and gave her a questioning look.
"I'm okay. Are you hungry?" Sango asked, getting a nod from the nekomatta as a response.
"I'll see what I can cook up, then." Sango stated, as she started to enter one of the huts with the intent of getting some cooking done before night fell. Taking that as her cue to go and get some meat for their meal, Kirara reassumed her larger form and took off towards the woods; not realizing that something else other than just regular animals was out there…….
…………………………………
It was official…..he hated life in general. With a grace only the nobility of either the humans or youkai had, he bit back the curses that threatened to spill from his mouth along with the blood from a punctured and collapsed lung. Inwardly, he cursed himself for not having paid closer attention when the miko (an overzealous and somewhat strong miko) had come upon him when he'd been finishing a patrol of the area. Numerous arrows were fired, and he'd managed to avoid all but three. One was buried deep in his right shoulder, numbing it from the site of the wound, all the way to the fingers. Another had penetrated his chest armor on his right side, collapsing a lung as it went. The third had punctured the armor covering his stomach; and it was the lethal combination of these three injuries that had forced him into a rather disgraceful retreat.
"Of all the indignities…..to die out here like this….by some wench's arrow…." Sesshomaru's mind snarled, as he struggled to sit up a bit further; only managing to aggravate his injuries and vomit up blood from his injured stomach, instead. When he was finally able to stop, he sat back against the trunk of the tree he collapsed under earlier and gazed blearily up; growling softly under his breath when he found that tears had formed in his eyes in response to the pain.
"This Sesshomaru does not cry…..and will not cry…..Weeping while in pain is for humans." Sesshomaru thought, angrily, yet was unable to prevent the tears that had formed from flowing down his face.
"Oh, but it hurts, though." One part of Sesshomaru's mind moaned, as the taiyoukai closed his eyes and gritted his teeth; trying his hardest to ward off the agony. What would others say of him, if they saw him now? The great Taiyoukai of the West, weeping from a few arrow wounds? He knew his peers would probably revel in the sight, and most lesser youkai would be overjoyed with the chance to finally kill him. Then, against his will, his mind brought forth the images of Inu-Yasha and his companions. While it was true that Inu-Yasha didn't particularly like him (and the feeling was mutual) there had been a few occasions in the past where the hanyou had actually looked at him with some concern. And then the face of that strange young girl came to him; what was her name? Kagome? Sesshomaru could almost see the look of worry and concern gracing her childish features. And then there was the houshi with the hole in his hand. His face also bore a look of concern, but it was tinged with caution. The forth human, the taijiya, was looking as worried as her companions, while the baby kitsune and the nekomatta shared the humans' emotions.
"Wonder if they truly would care…..and why I am even worried that they won't…." Sesshomaru mused, as he struggled to breathe against the fiery pain in his chest. His body was trying to heal, but the purifying power in the arrows were preventing it and making the pain even worse. He wasn't even aware that he was no longer alone until he felt a coarse tongue gently lick the tears from the left side of his face. Startled, but keeping himself from expressing any surprise, he looked up and found himself face to face with the very nekomatta he'd seen accompanying his brother's group!
"You……" Sesshomaru whispered, coughing a little when the effort of speaking irritated his throat and lung. With a soft growl, the nekomatta tilted her head to one side, then cautiously sniffed one of the arrows; returning her gaze to his face and giving him a questioning look.
"Your strange miko…..didn't do this……" Sesshomaru added, hoarsely, watching in some surprise when the feline gently rubbed her face against the right side of his, ridding it of the last few tears while doing so.
"Thank you……" Sesshomaru murmured, stunned by what the nekomatta did next. Ever so carefully, the feline youkai got as close as she could get to him without hurting him, lay down, and motioned towards her back with her head.
"Are you trying…..to help me?" Sesshomaru asked, getting a nod from the other youkai as a response. Slowly and painfully, Sesshomaru moved from what would have been his death site and laid himself upon the strong back of the nekomatta. He gripped her fur weakly when she uttered a sound in her throat that sounded like her version of 'Are you ready?'
"This is going to be humiliating…..but I need help right now…..I probably will not survive on my own, this time." Sesshomaru thought, holding on as well as he could when the nekomatta took flight, leaving only bloodstains on the forest floor to prove that he'd even been there at all.
……………………………………
"Kirara! Where are you? Kirara!" Sango called, trying to get the attention of her feline partner. It was dusk now; and her partner was late in returning.
"Must have gone a little further afield than I thought." Sango thought, shrugging a little when she remembered that Kirara was a cat, after all; and even she was prone to temperamental moments.
"Just give her some time. She'll return." Sango mused, pushing aside her fears that the nekomatta had been possessed again by some mainland youkai. Just as she was turning around to go back inside, Sango perked up when she heard Kirara's roar, and smiled when the fire-cat landed in front of her.
"I'm glad you're okay, Kirara. Did you have some trouble while hunting?" Sango asked, jumping back when a familiar male voice answered her.
"No…..she was interrupted…." The voice gasped, from the back of the nekomatta. A chill then ran down Sango's spine.
"Sesshomaru……?" Sango said, as she cautiously approached and looked at the youkai whom, she could now see, was lying on Kirara's strong back. She gasped when she saw what kind of shape the taiyoukai was in.
"Kirara, bring him inside." Sango commanded, keeping her voice soft so she wouldn't hurt ears she knew were now overly sensitive. Obediently, Kirara followed her partner into the dwelling, making certain to crouch a little as she entered so Sesshomaru would not be knocked off of her back. When Sango had found an old futon and some extra blankets, she helped Sesshomaru lie down on them and got a better look at his wounds while doing so.
"The arrows in your shoulder and stomach have gone all the way through……And the one in your chest just about went that far. Whoever did this was either a damn good shot, or had an unfair advantage as far as distance was concerned." Sango murmured, noticing the way Sesshomaru cringed when she made physical contact with him.
"That doesn't matter now…..Can you remove them?" Sesshomaru asked, impatiently, as sweat beaded on his brow.
"I don't know. I can try, but I have the suspicion that only a miko can remove them without doing further damage." Sango replied, honestly.
"I thought as much……." Sesshomaru hissed. He looked up when Sango stood up and walked to the corner where her belongings were, watched as she removed something from her travelling bag, and returned to his side.
"I'm going to attempt it. Bite down on this, Sesshomaru-sama. I don't want you to accidentally bite your own tongue off while I am doing this." Sango said, grimly.
"I could do without your sarcasm, taijiya." Sesshomaru said, dryly, eyeing the wrist-guard she held before him with an arched eyebrow and some disdain. Sango only smirked.
"Think what you will, but this is definitely going to hurt. I'd use this, if I were you." Sango said, warning the taiyoukai of what was to come.
"Fine then." Sesshomaru relented, with a sigh. A sigh that was quickly cut off by another ragged cough. Without another word, Sango got right to work. The first arrow she removed was the one in Sesshomaru's stomach; eliciting a pained cry from him as she pulled the bloodied arrow the rest of the way through his abdomen. She shuddered when she heard him gag, but continued pulling until the arrow was free. Then she turned to the arrow protruding from his chest. As carefully as she could, she freed that arrow as well; looking somewhat relieved when she heard the lung re-inflate shortly afterwards. The last arrow she removed was the one in his shoulder, allowing the feeling to return to the limb. Throughout it all, Sesshomaru had clenched his teeth around the wrist-guard; secretly glad that the taijiya had allowed him to use it in that way.
"The pain would have been enough to break my fangs! I never knew arrow wounds could be so painful!" Sesshomaru thought, his breathing sounding harsh even to his own ears.
"Sesshomaru-sama? Can you hear me?" Sango asked, getting a weak nod in response.
"I'm going to clean and bind your wounds now. Hold still." Sango said, as she started removing his armor and lowered his bloodstained gi so she could see his wounds. He flinched when a cloth soaked in poultice touched the wound in his stomach, and wrinkled his nose in distaste when the smell reached his nose.
"Can you feel any lingering power from the arrows?" Sango questioned, her voice low and even.
"No….." Sesshomaru replied, his voice a hoarse whisper, compared to what it normally sounded like.
"Good. You'll be able to recover from these injuries, then. That was what I was originally concerned about. If there had been any residual power from the arrows, then there could have been trouble." Sango said, as she finished cleaning the stomach wound and the started winding the bandages around his abdomen. She got no response to that comment, but she could tell that the taiyoukai was listening. As she got started on tending to the other wounds she could tell that exhaustion was starting to set in on the youkai before her. His eyelids were drooping, and his breathing was starting to even out; signaling sleep was not long in coming.
"I'm almost done. Stay awake for just a little bit longer." Sango murmured, arching an eyebrow when Sesshomaru gave her a semblance of his usual arrogant attitude.
"This Sesshomaru does not sleep." Sesshomaru argued, irritated that instead of sounding imposing, he sounded more like a surly child that was arguing with his parent.
"Maybe not in a normal circumstance, but you'd better sleep tonight and the next couple of nights. Considering how much blood you've lost, you're going to need all the rest you can get." Sango pointed out, not even daring to smirk when Sesshomaru uttered a growl in response to that.
"You are certainly an irritating wench." Sesshomaru grumbled.
"I shall take that as a compliment." Sango retorted, then said, as she looked at Kirara, "Keep him warm, Kirara." With a snort that sounded suspiciously like one of Inu-Yasha's 'Feh's', Sesshomaru allowed the nekomatta to lie down behind him (willingly making herself into a living throw-pillow), and watched as she draped both of her tails across his lap. With a sigh, Sesshomaru allowed himself to relax a little bit, quietly and reluctantly admitting to himself that Sango was right.
"For what it is worth, taijiya…..thank you." Sesshomaru muttered, tiredly resigning himself to the fact that he was going to be stuck there for the next couple of days. It was a few moments before Sango responded, but when she did, he was a bit surprised by how respectful she was toward him.
"You're welcome, Sesshomaru-sama." Sango quietly replied. And a somewhat silent, yet strangely comfortable, companionship began in the silent town amidst the warm glow of a fire between the two completely different individuals.