After breakfast, the little group milled about, not sure what to do. Chores had been done, water had been pulled.
In short, they were bored.
As usual, when they were bored and nothing needed to be done, they saw to their weapons, making sure everything was ready.
Kagome was looking over her bow, seated outside on the step to Kaede's hut, testing the string. It needed to be waxed. It had been used out in the rain once too often, gotten wet one too many times. The wood was good wood, and took the water with no problems, but once the string got wet, it could become useless.
DarkWind phased into place beside her, holding the second string for her, that he had gotten from her backpack at her request. She was glad now she had bought the second string last week.
Kagome stood, and placed a leg over the bow, standing with the butt end of the bow against the inside of her left foot, running up under her right leg, and into her right hand. Lady Kaede had shown her how to do this, so it wouldn't spring apart in her hands. There was unbelievable tension in a strung bow.
Cautiously, Kagome bent the bow, letting the string go loose, and pulled the string off the top end of the bow. She felt the pressure in the wood, and carefully let it relax. The wood portion of the bow stretched out until it was almost in a perfect line.
"I don't know if that one can be saved, or if I should just toss it," she said, handing it to DarkWind.
The Kageri took the string, opening it up, looking at it, as Kagome replaced the new string. The original one was starting to look a bit frayed.
"Perhaps you should throw this one out, Kagome. It is beginning to look weak. Once it is damaged, it will never be as good as originally."
"The same can be said about Kageri!" came a voice behind them, and they turned, surprised, and suddenly BloodStar, the Kageri that was bound to Naraku, was in the middle of them.
DarkWind never had a chance to avoid the right hook thrown his way, and he fell backwards, literally crashing through the fence surrounding Kaede's garden, tearing a groove in the ground with his body.
Kagome backpedalled away, screaming, shocked, "DarkWind!"
DarkWind was pulling himself out of the ground, covered in dirt, grass, and a few seedlings, watching, as BloodStar hopped up onto a portion of the unbroken fence, grinning at him.
"You didn't sense me coming?" BloodStar laughed, " . DarkWind, you've become weak indeed."
DarkWind looked thoroughly disgusted, both at BloodStar and with himself, as he brushed himself off, "I fear you may be right on that account. Usually, your foul aura gives you away."
"Just look at you!" BloodStar said, standing on a single fencepost, "Look at your sigul, it's broken!"
DarkWind raised a hand, and lightly touched the symbol that encircled one eye, now with a faint line of skin running through it, as if it had shattered.
"Yes. And yet, I feel so enlightened with it," DarkWind said, voice cool, as he suddenly grinned back at BloodStar, "A pity you would never understand."
"You're Broken, you fool! Why are you still hanging around?! Don't tell me you think you can still be of help to this woman!" BloodStar turned towards Kagome, "He's only endangering you, you know. Once he starts to gibber, you should probably run."
"Nushi has nothing to fear from me," DarkWind replied, "And she knows this."
By this time, of course, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and InuYasha had appeared, and stood, watching. They knew, even InuYasha, that taking on BloodStar would be impossible. InuYasha, although knowing this, would still have leapt at the other Kageri, but at the moment there was only talking going on.
Still, the unmistakable sound of the Tetsusaiga being drawn was loud in the clearing.
"Where's Naraku?" InuYasha demanded, but BloodStar paid him no mind. He was staring at DarkWind, a look of surprise on his face.
" 'Nushi'?" he asked, "What are you doing, DarkWind? Why do you pay this woman the title of your master?"
"Because she is my master."
"You are Broken, idiot, you have no master!"
"Not so," DarkWind said, and he grinned at BloodStar, "For Nushi has reclaimed me." He held up his hand, where the fine chain encircled his wrist and middle finger, physical symbol of the link between him and Kagome.
Now BloodStar looked shocked. He blinked at DarkWind, then at Kagome, then back at DarkWind again.
"You...you were reclaimed?!" he asked, almost whispering, as if asking if the sun had decided to dance that morning.
"That is right," DarkWind, and his voice was strong and proud, "She did. I would say you should ask if your master would do the same for you, but...I think we both know what the answer would be."
BloodStar turned, staring at Kagome with wide eyes, "Why would you do that? Why would you reclaim a Broken One? Are you mentally defective?"
"You wouldn't understand," Kagome said firmly. She would have pitied him, being trapped, the same way DarkWind had been trapped, but she had seen what he had done at the Spire.
"No," BloodStar's face suddenly darkened, "I do not. But it does not matter. Your Broken Kageri will soon be a shattered one!"
He dove from the fencepost, lunging at DarkWind again. This time DarkWind was ready for him, and took to the air, angling upwards.
~I must lead him from the village, Nushi. Our battle here will kill many if I do not!~ ~Go, then, we're right behind you!~ ~You must not follow! You are unable to fight this creature!~ ~DarkWind,~
~Yes, Nushi. Be careful, all of you.~ ~We will.~
DarkWind left the village, heading out towards the forest, BloodStar hot on his tail.
"Where are they going?" InuYasha yelled. He wanted someone to take out his anger on.
"Out in the forest, where no one will be hurt or killed. Let's go!" Kagome grabbed up her bow, and started running in the direction they had last gone. InuYasha took off, Miroku and Sango close behind Kagome.
Miroku literally ran into Kagome when she suddenly stopped, sending her sprawling.
"Kagome, I'm sorry, why did you stop?"
"The white jade arrow, where is it?"
Sango turned, "I'll bring it, go!"
Miroku helped Kagome up, and they started running again. The monk looked at Kagome as they ran, "You're going to use it on BloodStar?"
She nodded, "If I can, yes. White Jade kills Kageri, so if I can get a clear shot, I'll use it."
"Good thinking, but be careful."
"We all have to be careful," Kagome said, "Kageri can't take any action without their master's permission! That means Naraku may be here somewhere!"
They ran, even though the two Kageri were out of sight. It was easy enough to locate them, the sounds of trees falling in the forest was loud. Villagers started to wander out, to ask what was going on, but Sango sent them back to the village with a warning not to go to the forest.
Taking the white jade arrow, she leapt atop Kirara, and sprang after her friends.
She kept an eye out as they ran. If BloodStar was there, then so was Naraku.
Deep in her heart, Sango had always had trouble believing that Naraku could be dead. The man's evil was so overpowering, he seemed eternal, like darkness in the night. It seemed impossible that he was gone.
When they found out he was back, she had been sick, but not all that shocked. Wearily, she had accepted it.
Now that Naraku had a Kageri, it was worse. The last time they had clashed, DarkWind had easily been more than a match for BloodStar. But that was before he had been so badly hurt, before he had been Broken. Now she was worried about what would happen as they fought.
DarkWind claimed at the time that his powers would be lessened. This would be the telling point, she supposed.
As her friends came into sight, Sango watched Kagome. Worriedly, she found herself wondering what would happen to her friend if DarkWind lost.
She wasn't the only one wondering that.
InuYasha was the closest one to the Kageri as they started to brawl, and he found himself in the unhappy position of having to hope DarkWind won. He didn't know what would happen to Kagome if he lost.
He slowed, and stopped, watching.
DarkWind and BloodStar, as before, were fighting mid-air. They seemed to be moving at top speed, flicking about, almost like hummingbirds. DarkWind had drawn his two long knives, that seemed to ripple with a pale light. BloodStar had a long sword, black, and seeming to draw in the light around it.
The weapons flashed, swinging. BloodStar lunged forward, intending to run DarkWind through. DarkWind raised his long knives, catching the sword between his blades, and twisted, causing BloodStar's arm to be flung backwards. DarkWind lunged, but BloodStar rose up, and over, soaring above him.
InuYasha looked over his shoulder as Miroku, Sango with Shippo on Kirara, and Kagome ran up, looking up at the battling Kageri.
"Who's winning?" Kagome asked him, eyes on DarkWind.
"No one, yet," he answered. He studied her, watching how intently she was watching DarkWind, and started to look away, angry. His eyes fell on the arrow in her hands, and he blinked.
"What are you doing with that?"
Kagome looked down at the arrow, then unslung the bow from her shoulder, "If I can get a chance, I'm shooting it."
"And what if you miss?" he asked her, "BloodStar will come straight for you!"
"That's a chance I have to take," she said, nocking the arrow, "We have to get rid of BloodStar, InuYasha. We'll never be rid of Naraku if we don't."
InuYasha kept an eye on BloodStar, taking a step towards Kagome, tense, "Well make sure you hit him the first time, then, don't miss!"
Kagome glared at him out of the corner of her eye, "You say that like it's so easy."
"Just don't be stupid, and you won't miss," he said, angry, and kicked himself. Damnit, why did she make it so hard to be nice to her? Why did he get angry so easy sometimes?
"You can do this," he said again, voice lower, so only she could hear him, "You've shot harder things."
Kagome blinked at him, then nodded, and waited, arrow on the line, and watched.
~DarkWind, I have the White Jade arrow. I'm ready to shoot it the minute you call.~ ~Be careful, Nushi! BloodStar will not tolerate your interference. If you shoot, he will attack.~ ~I know, that's why I'm telling you I'm ready.~
It might have been that he was talking to her, or else some of his powers had lessened. But seconds after she spoke, she saw BloodStar lunge, and DarkWind was a little too slow darting aside. BloodStar's black blade slid along DarkWind's side, drawing blood.
Kagome cried out, upset, then again, shocked, as pain lanced along her side.
"Kagome!?" InuYasha turned to her, but she shook her head. The pain she felt was weak, only a faint trace, almost more of an echo of the pain DarkWind had felt.
~Are you alright?~
~Yes, Nushi, it is a small cut.~ ~See if you can find out where Naraku is.~
DarkWind dodged BloodStar again, "So where is your master?" he called, "Hiding? Does he fight only through you?"
"Don't be a fool, DarkWind. I won't reveal my Master's location. But you can tell your little mistress and her friends down there not to worry. He's busy somewhere else."
BloodStar darted down, and grabbed a hold of a tree. Before everyone's startled eyes, the Kageri literally pulled it out of the ground, his short, red spiky hair seeming like a cap of blood, and turned, throwing it at DarkWind.
DarkWind rose, and flew over it, letting it crash heavily in the forest below, "We both know you did not come here without your Master's order. Were you getting bored, then, and he let you off the leash?"
"You could say that," BloodStar laughed, "He's busy talking to his master, divulging some important information to certain people."
"His Master?" InuYasha said, "Keimetsu. Great. I should have known someone as corrupt as Naraku would fall in line with him."
"It's hard to imagine Naraku letting anyone have power over him," Miroku said, clenching his fist tightly.
"Even Naraku knows when to join a much greater power," Sango said.
Kagome was startled when InuYasha turned to her, her haori in his hands, "Put this on."
"What?"
"Put it on! It defends some against blades, too, not just fire."
"You might need it."
"Put it on, Kagome!"
"I'm fine, I-"
"Put the damned thing on, Kagome!"
"Alright, alright, I don't have time to fight!" She grabbed it, dropping her bow and arrow for a moment, and slipped it on, letting it hang loose.
DarkWind rose, and raised his hands above his head. A small, flickering, black sphere appeared. It grew in size, crackling and hissing. Within seconds it was the size of a watermelon. A few seconds later it was the size of a car. He threw it at BloodStar. BloodStar darted aside, but it turned, following him.
BloodStar looked over his shoulder, and cursed. He dove, darting down, straight at InuYasha and the others.
BloodStar rocketed through them. InuYasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku dove aside, sqwaking in shock. The huge black ball landed on the ground, and continued on, sinking, tearing and destroying everything in its path, until it sank to a depth of 8 feet, and exploded with a loud retort, flinging dirt everywhere.
BloodStar lunged into the air again, diving at DarkWind. One hand out, he rose, and brilliant crimson spheres shot from his hand, like blooddrops. They grew quickly, though, as they closed in on DarkWind. DarkWind dodged, managing to avoid the majority of them, but one managed a hit.
DarkWind was thrown down to the ground, hard, the ground literally cracking in a spiderweb pattern where he hit. Kagome and Sango cried out.
BloodStar hovered, and dove, sword down, hurtling downward.
Kagome was about to raise the bow and try to shoot, to hope she could hit him, when DarkWind managed to phase out, dissapearing a split-second before BloodStar landed, driving his sword deep into the ground.
BloodStar cursed, yanking his sword out of the ground, turning.
DarkWind landed behind BloodStar, throwing a right hook that impacted BloodStar's face, and the other Kageri went rolling backwards, striking a tree hard enough to topple it with a grinding crash.
BloodStar lunged to his feet, and took to the air again.
DarkWind rose, raising an arm to bring his hand eye-level, palm up, before him, as if carrying an invisible tray. A golden glow formed, and within seconds, it lengthened to a long dagger.
The dagger shot out, hurtling at BloodStar.
BloodStar raised his sword, knocking it away, when it struck another tree, and exploded, sending splinters of wood in all directions.
"You're getting slow, DarkWind!" BloodStar laughed.
DarkWind said nothing, merely rose into the air.
BloodStar rose as well, and lunged, sword behind him.
DarkWind threw out his hands, a black sphere forming, and hurtled it at BloodStar.
The other Kageri knocked it away with his sword, and kicked out, striking DarkWind in the chest.
DarkWind was thrown, hard, downwards, crashing into the forest. Trees toppled as his body tore through treetrunks.
~DARKWIND!~
Kagome felt the burst of anger, raw and powerful, before it was suddenly cut off.
"Look out!" Miroku cried, and Kagome turned, and saw BloodStar bearing down on her.
Frantic, she raised the bow with the white jade arrow, aiming it at him, "Get away from me!"
BloodStar blinked, shocked, seeing the arrow, and his face darkened. He darted towards her, then away, left, then right, trying to get her to shoot. Kagome knew she only had one chance, and couldn't afford to lose the arrow.
"Why did you reclaim DarkWind?" he asked, his voice low and angry, as if she had personally insulted him, "Why would you be so stupid as to reclaim a Broken One?"
Kagome heard InuYasha yell her name, horrified.
"He's not a Broken One," she said, angry, "He's my Kageri."
"He was punished, you fool!"
BloodStar continued to dart, back and forth. Kagome kept her arrow beaded on him, following him with the arrow. She tried to check on DarkWind, but there was no answer, and she started to fear for him.
"He wasn't punished by me," she said, lowly, "DarkWind was stolen from me. Naraku somehow stole him. DarkWind never accepted the bonding, he was forced to take it to survive. DarkWind never disobeyed me."
Behind her, she heard InuYasha run up, saw the enormous Tetsusaiga out of the corner of her eye as he stood beside her, looking up at BloodStar, heard him growl, "Back off, parasite!"
BloodStar paid no mind to InuYasha, kept his eyes on Kagome, "It doesn't matter. Once a Kageri is Broken, he's of no use. You're either smarter than anyone thought and you know something we don't, or you're as stupid as hell. Which is it?"
Over his shoulder, Kagome suddenly saw DarkWind in the air, bearing down on BloodStar.
"Neither," Kagome said, keeping a bead on BloodStar, "I just don't throw away friends."
"Friends!?" BloodStar cried, backing up, away from Kagome, eyes wide, "You think DarkWind is a friend? You think he'd stay here if he had any other choice?"
"I don't know," Kagome said, watching him over her arrow, "I can only hope he would."
BloodStar laughed, "The irony! That the Youngest and Eldest of the Kageri would be given to a madwoman!"
He made a negating motion towards her, lightning fast, and she only had time to see crimson crescents flashing out from his hand, before she was knocked sideways, hard, falling to the ground, the breath knocked out of her. Her head rang, and suddenly InuYasha screamed, and a heavy weight fell on her.
Opening her eyes, she saw DarkWind and BloodStar, in the air, wrestling, both fighting for control of BloodStar's long black blade.
InuYasha was lying atop her, on his elbows, and she looked into his face. He was pale, his eyes squeezed shut, teeth bared in a grimace of pain.
"InuYasha!?"
He tried to talk, but couldn't, just lowered his head, forehead on her shoulder, shuddering. Kagome put her arms around him, to support him, and felt his back was hot and wet. Gasping, she pulled her hands back, looking at them over his shoulders, seeing they were covered in blood.
"InuYasha!"
Miroku and Sango came running up, keeping an eye on the battling Kageri, and bent over the injured hanyou. Their faces were pale as they took his arms, trying to help him up.
He grunted, making sounds of pain as they moved him.
Kagome sat up, moving swiftly to look at his back as Sango and Miroku supported him. She locked in the cry when she saw a huge angled slash in his gi, and a similar one deep in his back. His white gi absorbed the blood flowing freely from the wound.
She turned, glaring at BloodStar, hate filling her veins, where he battled with DarkWind, How dare you hurt him!
As she watched, DarkWind grabbed him tight, and dove down towards the ground. They wrestled on the ground, BloodStar trying to lunge into the sky, DarkWind holding tight.
~Nushi! Now!~
Kagome grabbed up her bow and the white jade arrow, running towards where they wrestled on the ground. She nocked the arrow, aiming.
~Roll over, get under him, I'll have a bigger target!~
DarkWind grit his teeth, and did so, rolling onto his back, pulling BloodStar over on top of him, revealing his back to Kagome.
Normally, Kagome would hate to shoot anyone in the back - it seemed such a cowardly thing to do - but this was different. She aimed, held her breath, and shot.
The white jade arrow buried itself in the center of BloodStar's back.
BloodStar screamed in agony, jacknifing. DarkWind let go of him, and lunged to his feet. He grabbed Kagome, taking to the air, backing up, away from BloodStar.
BloodStar tried to rise, but failed, falling over onto his hands and knees. Sounds of pain came from him, and he shuddered.
BloodStar screamed again. A black spot appeared around the arrow, and started to spread outwards, like ink. Kagome wondered if Kageri blood were black, when she suddenly noticed something.
Where the blackness appeared, the skin began to bubble, as if boiling. It spread, burning away skin and clothing alike.
BloodStar screamed again.
The blackness was dissolving into thin air, as if being taken by the wind, smoke rising from the wound.
As Kagome and the others watched, horrified, a deep hole appeared in the middle of BloodStar.
BloodStar tried to crawl, but fell. Screaming again, he rolled over onto his back. Or tried to. With a sickening sound, his upper half and lower half of his body split, separating. His legs stopped moving, kept dissolving.
Kagome locked away the scream that threatened. That's what white jade did to a Kageri?
BloodStar, horror in his eyes, reached out a hand to DarkWind. Kagome noticed the fine chain on his wrist, the link between him and Naraku, had vanished.
"StrongWind!" BloodStar screamed, "Please! Help me!"
"There is nothing I can do for you, BrightStar," DarkWind said firmly, but softly, "You were fated to this the day you walked away from the Spire."
The blackness spread up his chest, towards his neck.
Kagome watched, horror-stricken, until DarkWind gently put a hand on the back of her head, and turned her head to his chest, "There is no need for you to see this, Nushi."
Kagome clenched her fists, her mind broken into pieces. InuYasha, his back sliced open, the screams of BloodStar as the white jade dissolved him. The thought that that might have happened to DarkWind had Kikyo struck him successfully.
The screams went on for a very long time, and when they started to turn wet-sounding and bubbly, Kagome dropped her bow and clapped her hands over her ears.
After what seemed like an eternity, she felt DarkWind sinking down, and she cautiously lowered her hands, looking around.
There was no sign of BloodStar, only what looked like a greasy black smear on the ground. Even the clothing had vanished, a single white jade arrow lying on the ground, stained grey.
"Is he...he...he's gone, right?" Kagome asked quietly.
"Yes, Nushi. He is gone."
He spoke softly, "Rest in Peace, brother."
There was a strange tone to DarkWind's voice, and she looked up, to see the Kageri looking at where BloodStar had lain, a look of regret on his face, and even a little anger.
Is he angry at me? she wondered, Because I killed him?
~No Nushi,~ his voice was gentle, ~I am angry he had to be killed, but not at you for killing him. Do you understand the difference?~ ~Yes, DarkWind, thank you.~
She told DarkWind to put her down on the ground, and she ran to where InuYasha was still standing, supported by Sango and Miroku. His head was hanging, but he was looking at her through his bangs, face covered in sweat. When she ran to him, he tried to speak, his voice weak, "You..got..him."
"Shh, don't talk. We need to get you back to Kaede's, that wound has to be looked at."
"Be..fine..."
"We don't know that! Sango, can Kirara take him?"
"Of course."
The Demon Slayer called for the giant feline, and Kirara walked to her, crouching. InuYasha was laid over the cat's back, unable to sit up.
Kagome jumped on behind InuYasha, laying her hands on his lower back, to steady him, "Nice and easy, Kirara, please."
The cat rumbled a low growling sound, and took to the air, just above the ground, moving swiftly, but levelly and smoothly.
Kagome kept her eyes on the wound, horrified. It looked so deep. The back of his gi was totally soaked in blood.
That'll never come out, it'll have to be thrown away. At least he has another one. Once his back is healed, he'll use his newer one, and we'll get him another extra, just in case.
She angrilly wiped away the tears that clouded her vision. She refused to let herself think about the wound itself, it was too terrible. It had been a long time since she had seen him so wounded. And those black blades always seemed to have something in them that slowed his healing process. Injured by those blades, either the one the Shadelings had, or the one BloodStar seemed to have, his wounds took a long time to heal, as long as human might.
At Kaede's, the old woman came out, and helped Kagome bring him down, and back into the hut. They laid out his sleeping mat, removing his torn gi and laying him down on his stomach. Kagome shrugged out of his haori.
The wound looked terrible, the edges of the injury black, almost as if they were coated with something.
Kaede brought hot water, and Kagome washed the injury as best she could, using herbal water to try and keep infection away. The blackness seemed to ooze from the wound itself, like tar or molassas. InuYasha shuddered and made quiet sounds of pain as she worked, his hands clenched into fists.
It took a very long time, but eventually she managed to get all the blackness clear, revealing the wound better. The only good thing about it was that the injury had been made with a very sharp blade. The edges were clean and neat, with no tearing or jagged sides.
Under Kaede's direction, they packed the top of the wound with a mixture of ground up herbs and a lotion, making a sort of gooey paste. This they spread liberally on top of, and in the wound, and then bandaged it. Kaede wasn't sure if stitching it was a good idea. If it became infected, they would have to reopen it to clean it out. Best for the next little while, to leave it, and stitch it when they knew it was healing cleanly.
Kagome bent over, peering into his face.
His eyes were half lidded, face pale, a faint sheen of sweat.
Kagome brushed his bangs back from his face, "It's all cleaned now, InuYasha, it's done."
"Yeah...ok...thanks," his voice was weak. The injury was worse than she thought.
"What possessed you to do that?" she whispered.
"Don't...ask..stupid questions, Kagome." Even hurt, he managed to give her an exasperated look, "You're...just a ...human."
"I was wearing your haori!"
"Didn't...know...against that ... blade."
Kaede leaned over, handing her a steaming cup, "Try to get him to drink this. It'll made him sleep, lessen the pain."
Kagome thanked her, and handed the cup to him, "Here."
InuYasha took it, taking a gulp, and made a face. He took another, though, and Kagome realized he must have been in more pain than she thought.
DarkWind remained outside, awaiting Sango and Miroku. He didn't think the hanyou would want to see him just yet.
"Are you cold?" Kagome asked quietly, "Or too warm? We can move your mat if you rather be away from the door more."
"I'm fine," he said, and finished the drink, handing her back the cup. Kagome took it, leaning away for a moment to hand it to Kaede. When she looked back, he was resting his left cheek on his forearm, eyes closed.
Kagome sat next to him, not sure what to do. She gently brushed his hair off his back, making sure it didn't lay against his injury. She paused, putting a hand on his shoulder. His skin seemed so warm, and she found herself again wondering if hanyou just naturally had higher body temperatures.
"That was a good shot," he almost whispered.
Kagome looked into his face. His eyes were almost closed, the medicine working. She lightly rubbed his shoulder, "If I had missed that I would have to give up my bow. I was less than 5 feet from him."
"Nice...and deep...though."
"Yeah...I guess." She watched his face as he seemed to sink into sleep. She reached out again, brushing his bangs back from his face, watching for any sign of pain.
"Nice," he whispered, eyes not opening.
Kagome blinked, leaning down to whisper, "What?"
"Fingers...in my...hair."
Kagome suddenly felt a great, crushing sorrow. Why had it all gone so wrong? Why had he taken the Shikon and offered it to Kikyo? Why had she finally had enough? Why did Kikyo even have to come back at all? Why, why, why? When they had been together, it had been so good. So right.
Why does everything good have to die? she wondered.
Quietly, Kagome gently ran her fingers through his hair, gently, over and over, brushing his bangs back, brushing his hair from his temples, until his breathing deepened and she knew he was truly asleep.
She slowly stood up, glancing to Kaede.
"I'll keep an eye on him," the old woman said, and Kagome thanked her.
She walked to the doorway, and pushed back the door covering, to see Miroku, Sango, and Shippo had finally caught up with them and were talking to DarkWind.
"How is he!?" Shippo asked, worried.
"He's badly hurt," Kagome said, softly, "But he'll be ok. It'll be a few days before he's up and walking around on his own, though. Those blades..."
Sango nodded, "They slow his healing."
Kagome nodded, and fell silent. She glanced at DarkWind, who watched her, quiet. He had felt her emotions inside.
"We'll take the secondary hut," Miroku said to Kagome, "Sango, Shippo and I, so InuYasha can get the rest he needs. I'll just grab our things."
He slipped in past her.
Kagome sighed deeply, rubbing her face.
"He'll be fine, Kagome," Sango said softly, touching her shoulder, "InuYasha is very strong. If Kaede thinks he'll be ok, I'm sure he will."
"This wouldn't have happened if he hadn't..."
"No, it wouldn't," Sango agreed, but spoke, "We'd probably be burying you instead."
"Again," Kagome said moodily.
Sango was quiet.
Kagome shivered. No matter how long ago it was, she couldn't get past the thought that she had been dead for several days. Dead and buried. It was long ago now, but still...that was hard to get past.
"Sometimes I get so angry at him, because he does stuff like this. I mean, I know I probably would have died. Yet I still feel guilty. That makes no sense, does it?"
Sango shook her head, "No. But the strongest emotions never do."
Miroku came out, carrying his and Sango's backpacks. DarkWind spoke to Miroku, "Is it alright if I join you for tonight? I think InuYasha-Warrior may sleep better if I am...not in the same hut."
Miroku blinked, but spoke, "Of course."
"I will join you in a moment, then."
DarkWind and Kagome watched as the monk lead the Kitsune child and the demon slayer to the other little hut across the way.
"Are you alright, DarkWind?" she asked.
He looked at her, confused.
"I mean...BloodStar."
DarkWind sighed, "He was as my brother, at one time, Nushi. I grieve BrightStar. But not BloodStar, no. He would have killed you, and your friends, without batting an eye. And yet...now that I have experienced this...freedom, of a sort...I pity him, for he was not even truly aware of what limitations have been placed upon us."
Kagome reached out, and lightly touched his hand, "I...didn't know that shooting him with that arrow would...do that to him."
"In truth, nor did I. At least it was somewhat quick."
It was quiet, sun setting over the village.
"I'm glad I got hit with that arrow, instead of you."
He looked at her, shocked, "Nushi! You must never say such a thing!"
"I only bled, DarkWind. You would have..." she shuddered.
"Nushi-"
"No. DarkWind, I'm giving you an order. And you won't find any loopholes, back ways, nothing. Nothing that will allow you not to do as I'm about to instruct you. Understand?"
DarkWind looked at her, alarmed. Kagome's face was pale, but her eyes were intense, as she looked up at him. Her mouth was set in a line; determined.
"Yes, Nushi," he said quietly, "I understand."
"If you see Kikyo, if you hear her, if you even suspect she's anywhere nearby, you are to dissapear. Go away. Go to one of your other worlds, phase to another location miles away, I don't care, just go. No matter what is going on around you. Go."
DarkWind looked at her, wide-eyed, "Nushi, if you are under attack, I cannot just abandon you!"
"You can and you are. And if you don't I will be angry at you."
He watched her face.
She looked up at him, and he saw she was trembling, "I won't have that happen to you, DarkWind. I won't."
He said nothing, unable to argue with his master. He just nodded, unhappy, "I hear and obey, Nushi."
"Good." She tried to smile at him, but it was a weak one, and it died.
"Go on, now, head over with Sango. I'll call you if I need anything."
He nodded, and she slipped back inside. Kagome picked up InuYasha's haori, and gently laid it over his back, then sat down beside him, and set vigil over him.