Part Two
It was almost midnight when Sesshomaru's condition worsened. He was bathed in cold sweat, even though his skin burned with an almost fiery intensity. The bandages bound around his middle were soaked in blood; a sure sign that the poultice wasn't working as well as Kagome had hoped. Even though they had both been expecting this, Kagome had to fight to keep herself from panicking. In just a little less than eight hours, Sesshomaru had declined to a state where even his natural ability to heal wasn't doing any good.
"We've gotta find Sango. Now. Or he won't make it." Kagome thought, knowing that, in this case, the old saying about desperate times and desperate measures really did apply.
"Sesshomaru-sama. Sesshomaru-sama. Can you hear me?" Kagome asked, as she gently shook his left shoulder in an attempt to awaken him. With much effort, the taiyoukai turned his head and opened his eyes, unconsciously trying to take on a semblance of his usual arrogant self as he did so.
"Miko……?" Sesshomaru rasped, softly.
"We're going to have to go and find Sango. I know you don't feel like moving, but I don't know what else to do in this situation." Kagome said, helplessly. Her feelings of guilt weren't helped when Sesshomaru silently pushed himself into a sitting position; his eyes clinched shut and a wince covering his handsome features.
"Sesshomaru-sama?" Kagome asked, getting in closer when he doubled over slightly.
"Jaken is close. He'll have my mount with him. It will make the search for the taijiya at least a little easier." Sesshomaru gasped, gritting his teeth when he again forced himself to his feet. With some help from Kagome, the wounded youkai limped to the door of the hut. For a moment, he paused; cautiously sniffing the air and checking it for any signs that enemies were near (namely Naraku and Kagura). When he found none, he moved forward again, uttering a sound of pain in his throat as he did so. Almost as soon as they had both left the confines of the hut, they heard Jaken's voice close by, and the rumbling steps of the double-headed dragon coming their way.
"Sesshomaru-sama! Where are you? Sesshomaru-sama!!" Jaken called, grumbling something under his breath when Rin echoed him.
"Rin, Jaken." Sesshomaru replied, getting the pair's attention almost immediately.
"Sesshomaru-sama! There you…..are….." Jaken said as he dashed out of the forest, skidding to a halt when he saw Kagome.
"Sesshomaru-sama! What happened?! Why're you bleeding?!?" Rin asked, fearfully, as she ran over to the taiyoukai and looked up at him. He ignored her questions and gave Jaken a piercing glare.
"We need to find this miko's companions. The taijiya most of all. With every moment that passes, I lose more blood." Sesshomaru said, as understanding filled Jaken's wide yellow eyes.
"Poison." Jaken muttered, getting the slightest of nods from Sesshomaru as a result.
"Poison?! Sesshomaru-sama, you're not gonna die, are you? Please tell me you're not!" Rin bawled, as tears flowed freely down her face. To Kagome's amazement, Sesshomaru's face took on an almost gentle look as he looked at the girl and addressed her.
"I won't die, Rin. I'm not going to let Naraku win that easily." Sesshomaru vowed, even though his eyes told Kagome that his strength was quickly waning.
"Let's get going before the weather gets any worse, okay?" Kagome asked. This got a numb nod from Jaken, and a barely heard 'Yes' from Sesshomaru as a response.
"Please hang on, Sesshomaru." Kagome thought, unaware that her thoughts were echoing Jaken and Rin's thoughts exactly.
"Kagome! Where are you? Answer if you can!" Kouga called, as he and Inu-Yasha searched the part of the forest where the girl had been held.
"Why don't you just butt out, wolf? Can't ya see that ya aren't helping matters any?" Inu-Yasha snarled, irritably. Behind them, Kirara, Sango, Miroku, and Shippou also looked around for any signs of the young miko.
"Those two argue like siblings. They more than make up for the lack of that between Inu-Yasha and Sesshomaru." Sango muttered, as she gave both hanyou and wolf youkai a deadpan look.
"I agree with you there, Sango-sama." Miroku agreed. Concern for Kagome had turned into irritation when Kouga had arrived on the scene and started antagonizing Inu-Yasha about letting the schoolgirl get kidnapped by Naraku again. And it wasn't likely to end any time soon. Then, without warning, Inu-Yasha stopped dead in his tracks; a scent had just caught his attention. Ignoring Kouga for a moment, Inu-Yasha exited the grove, following the scent he'd just picked up.
"Inu-Yasha! Wait for us!" Miroku shouted, as Kirara galloped after him and Kouga came along behind them. Since it had stopped raining, the scents roundabout weren't getting washed away, so Inu-Yasha could smell who or what had been there before he and his comrades had arrived (if you could truly count Kouga as being one of them). When the hanyou stopped again, this time in the center of a path, he turned and gave his friends an unreadable look.
"Kagome was here. Just a few hours ago. But I don't know if I can trust my own nose to tell me who'd rescued her." Inu-Yasha said, his voice betraying some of the disbelief he was evidently feeling.
"Whaddayamean, hanyou? Who rescued Kagome before we could get there?" Kouga asked, as he approached and sniffed the ground, his expression changing from irritable to surprised and alarmed almost immediately.
"Sesshomaru." Inu-Yasha murmured, as the wolf youkai nodded numbly and stared at the ground.
"Oh yeah……and he didn't get away unscathed, either. I smell blood….and poison." Kouga added.
"Can you determine what kind of poison, Kouga?" Sango asked. The wolf youkai shook his head.
"The rain had diluted so much of the scent that even I can't determine that. All I know is the fact that the hanyou's half-brother could be just hours away from death." Kouga said, all arrogance gone when he told the two humans that.
"But what kind of poison could do that to someone like Sesshomaru?" Shippou asked.
"Dunno….But it's a pretty safe bet that if we find Sesshomaru, we'll find Kagome. C'mon." Inu-Yasha urged, as he dashed off into the growing gloom.
"Can you follow him in the dark, Kirara?" Sango asked. Kirara growled in response and nodded.
"Good. Now let's get going. We've got no time to waste!" Kouga said, as he tore off after Inu-Yasha.
"For once, we all agree." Miroku muttered, as they plunged headlong into yet another restless night.
Sesshomaru struggled to remain conscious as they searched the growing darkness for Inu-Yasha's group. The pain was almost to the point of being unbearable to the taiyoukai, so much so that his vision was blurring. Yet he refused to lie down for two reasons; one, his pride, and two, his worried companions. Especially Rin. The little girl now watched him fearfully, her large brown eyes showing overwhelming concern for him. And the look was somewhat reflected in Kagome's eyes as well. Even Ah-Un and Jaken looked back from time to time to see if he was all right.
"Feh. Didn't even know they cared." Sesshomaru thought, half-heartedly, as he glanced at his hand. It was covered in blood, a fact that did not sit well with him. His body was dying.
"I think we should go to Kaede's village. If nothing else, we can wait there till Inu-Yasha, Sango, and Miroku return." Kagome suggested.
"Are you out of your head?! Sesshomaru-sama will not condone humans to touch him!" Jaken shouted, unwittingly causing Sesshomaru to wince.
"It's the only way I know to get Sesshomaru-sama some help! We can't keep searching like this. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack!" Kagome retorted, just as loudly.
"Both of you shut up. Which way is the village from here, Miko?" Sesshomaru asked, tiredly.
"Due north. That way." Kagome said, pointing in the direction they were to go.
"Then let's go. It's better than listening to the two of you argue the rest of the night." Sesshomaru muttered, as he took the reigns and turned Ah-Un in that direction, ignoring the fact that Jaken and Kagome were exchanging some not-so-polite faces and gestures. Hours later, they found themselves on the outskirts of the village where Kaede, sister of Kikyo, lived. In fact, the old miko in question was standing there waiting with a lantern in hand!
"Kaede-san!" Kagome shouted, as Ah-Un landed in front of the elderly miko.
"Kagome! What in the world…?!" Kaede yelped, as the schoolgirl jumped down, and Sesshomaru followed after her, collapsing to one knee when he hit the ground.
"Kaede-san, Sesshomaru-sama needs help! He's been poisoned by a more potent version of the poison Sango-chan carries!" Kagome said, desperately, as she watched the stubborn taiyoukai get back up on his own. For a moment, Kaede stood frozen to the spot, then she shook her head as though to clear it, and ushered for them to follow her.
"Come with me. I'll see what I can do in the meantime, Sesshomaru-sama. But I cannot promise anything." Kaede said.
"I understand." Sesshomaru murmured, as he moved to follow. Kagome turned abruptly when she heard a sharp intake of breath, and caught Sesshomaru when his legs gave out from under him for a moment.
"Sesshomaru-sama!" Jaken and Rin cried, both of them looking panic-stricken for a moment, before Sesshomaru stubbornly got to his feet again and gave them what Kagome could only assume was his version of a reassuring look.
"He's trying so hard to keep them from worrying about him……..Sesshomaru, you're more like Inu-Yasha than even you would care to admit!" Kagome thought, as they all followed Kaede to her hut.
