Chapter 2: Smart Remarks and Beef Jerky

Sesshomaru shook his foggy head, groaning inwardly at the pain in his midsection. He was sitting up against a tree, his hands folded together on the ground. Everything ached, though he would never admit it. What happened? Where's that damn wench who did this to me?

He tried to stand but with no sucess. His hands wouldn't budge, not matter what he did. Past the pain in his midsection and the pain in his head he had just began to notice, he glanced at his hands to assess the situation. A small statue pinned his hands to the ground, an irritating ofuda attached to it.

"Unless someone pulls that scroll off, you'll never move from that spot." a voice called to him from the dark. " And I don't think any of us would do that, so it sucks to be you."

Rain emerged from the bushes, carrying a bag over her shoulder, her skin ghostly pale in the dappled moonlight. " I came to check up on that wound of your's. How I punched through that armor, I'll never know."

Sesshomaru glared at her. " You will not touch me, wench."

She laughed, only irritating him more. " You are not in any posistion to make demands. The others would like to kill you and get it over with. I guess you attacking everyone and poisoning me didn't exactly go over well with them.

She dropped the bad beside him. " Asked them to at least let you live long enough so I could give you this."

Rain pulled her hand back and smacked him across the face as hard as she could. " Thanks for poisoning me ya' big idiot!"

"You- you- you bitch!!!" he cried, a little of his cold fascade breaking.

"Thank you for such a wonderful compliment." she spit back, kneeling beside him.

Her smell reached him. As much as he wanted to gag, he couldn't. Her natural scent wasn't as bad as he had first thought, with a slight over lay of raspberry. He watched her as she unpacked bandages and various other things from her bag. Her hands made swift little movements, a signs of some sort of training, ending in long nails painted deep crimson. Her face had wide,expressive features unlike any he'd ever seen. Maybe it was the moonlight, or the bump forming on his head, but for a moment she almost looked like a youkai lady, carrying herself proudly.

"I thought you'd like to know that we found Jaken and Rin." She looked up at him as she spoke, not a trace of fear in her wide moonlit eyes, like those of a curious animal. " We had to tie them up I'm afraid, so they wouldn't let you up. I'm sorry about that."

" You are very calm for someone who will die."

She looked him dead in the eye. "I do not fear death. Do you?"

" I will not answer such a foolish question from an equally foolish human filly. Stupid little girl."

Her eyes blazed with silent rage. " My name is Rain Freemark. I would prefer you call me that. And I am an adult thank you."

Sesshomaru had to supress a laugh. " Why should I, the lord of the Western lands, address you, a little worm, by name? You're barely as tall that Kagome girl and she's not even two decades old."

"Because I'm going to help you heal faster." she raised one eyebrow at him as he turned away from her."And I've been twenty for six months to the day. Height has nothing to do with it." Stubborn old dog...

Rain grabbed a bottle of disinfectant, something she could tell he didn't like the smell of. Under his suspicous eye, she glopped some ot the disinfectant onto a large rectangular bandage that also smelled odd, even to her. "Sesshomaru-sama?"

He turned only slightly, an icy stare greeting her. " What, wench?'

"This is gonna' help keep your wound clean and prevent infection, okay?" Rain held out the bandage for him to examine. " I learned you youkai heal faster than humans, but that was still quite a wound. I still don't know how I did it. Maybe it was Tokijin's influence. I have another bandage for your back."

Sesshomaru gave her what seemed like a skeptical look. " How can such a small thing stay on? It's not like you can tie it."

" There's a glue around the edge to hold it on." she replied, inching closer. " Now I just have to put it on you. Doesn't do you any good just sitting here. Now there's just one problem...your haori..."

Sesshomaru glared at her again. " I told you you will not touch me, so don't bother."

She made a growling sound in her throat then muttered something in English. " Dang stupid idiotic doggy boy..."

Without warning, Rain nearly tackled him, managing to open his haori just enough to slap the bandage over his wound. As she did so, he let his fangs grow and sunk them into her arm. She merely winced and stared up at him through her eyelashes. He stared back, his golden eyes warning her that he would gladly remove her arm if she didn't stop what she was doing. He didn't get the reaction he expected though. She punched him as hard as she could in his wound, he doubled over, groaning over so slighly. That was enough for Rain to retrieve her arm from his mouth.

She moved to his back with another bandage. " So are you going to give me trouble again, or will you be good? I'd hate to do that again."

He said nothing, but did nothing to hinder her as she pulled his haori free of his hakama and placed the bandage carefully over the hole in his back. He fumed silently, refusing to admit defeat. Why of all creatures did I get stuck with this crazy wench? I'd take my baka brother over this one...

"I'm sorry I had to be a little rough." she sighed. " I hope it helps a little."

Sesshomaru glanced at her again, suprised to find a bit of pain in her eyes, not from her arm, but something else. " I guess it might speed my healing along. "

Even more surprising was the smile she gave him. Not a full blown grin, just a little smile. He found it strangely comforting to see her like that. She was still smiling when she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. " Be right back. Kagome has dinner ready. I'll bring you something, if you'd like. Surely we have something you can eat without hands."

Rain strode away from the trapped youkai, sighing deeply. Why am I doing this? He's just an angry, selfish brat-man who deserves nothing but to have my boot up his butt...but I can't do that. Part of Christianity is loving everyone as Jesus loves them. I guess that includes stubborn youkai. Afterall, God did make them. I just didn't know He did...

Rain turned her head suddenly at the sound of a strangled cry just outside the camp. There in a clump of grass lay Rin and Jaken, bound and gagged. She knew she couldn't untie Jaken. He was too loyal to his master and would let the angry youkai loose. She could at least untie the gag. Rin on the other hand was just a little girl, sobbing her large brown eyes out.. Why did they tie her so tightly? Why?

Rain knelt between the prisoners, first ungaggin Jaken, then untied Rin, tossing the hateful roped and gag into the brush. " Are you okay Rin?"

The little girl looked up, big tears running down her cheeks. Rather than answer, she leaped into Rain's arms, sobbing even harder. Rain gathered her up and slipped into camp.

Sesshomaru started a bit at the sound of raised voices at the campsite of his captors. His keen youkai ears told him it seemed to be the weird wench against his hanyo brother. Since he lacked anything to do, he listened in on the screaming war.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT BRAT?" Inuyash roared at Rain when she appeared with Rin in her arms.

" She's a little girl. You don't just leave a little girl out in the woods like that!" Rain spat back, careful not to scream in Rin's ear. The little girl was already terrified. The raised voiced weren't helping. " If the other were back from getting Kaede, they would beat you senseless! What if something grabbed her while you were too absorbed in your Ramen to notice? Not even that spell scroll would keep Sesshomaru from ripping you limb from limb!"

From his spot by against the tree, Sesshomaru smirked. She may be weak, but this Rain wench is not dumb.

" He's not that great!"

Rain growled. " He wouldn't have to be. There would be little left when I was finished with you."

Sesshomaru was taken aback, as he saw Rain gather a few things and head back to his tree. Why would she help Rin when I could easily convince her to free me? Is this girl not right in the head? It must be one of those female weaknesses...

A little ways into the woods she stopped and layed a blanket over Jaken, then continued toward him. She carried Rin and several bundles of items. He could smell some unusual food scent from one of the bundles. Has he been able to get up, he would have helped her. She may be a human, but honor would not let him watch any female struggle so much.

When she'd reached him, she set Rin down and began to unpack everything she had lugged with her. Rin watched her every move. Despite her tear-blotched face, the little girls seemed in awe of the older girl as she unrolled her sleeping bag. " You can sleep in this Rin."

"What is it?" the little girl's eyes grew wide as Rain unzipped it.

"It's called sleeping bag." Rain explained carefully, in a gentle voice." You crawl into it and zip up so you're nice and warm. It's a bed for camping."

" Where will Sesshomaru-sama sleep?"

Rain chuckled a bit as she poured hot water into a Ramen cup. " Sesshomaru-sama is kinda' stuck as he his right now. So he'll have to sleep like that. Don't worry though. I brought a blanket for him."

Rin sat with her Ramen cup between her legs, eating carefully. " What about you, nice girl?"

" I'll be fine as I am." Rain smiled as she stuck her arm into a bag, producing a bag of beef jerky, then pulled at the front over her oversized black hoodie. " I have this big heavy shirt that will keep me warm."

The older girl sat cross-legged next to Sesshomaru, who raised his eyebrow a fraction of inch. " I can't eat that cup food."

" I was aware of that." she rolled her eyes. " Hence why I brought this."

She opened the bag of beef jerky, letting the sweet and spicy teriyaki scent escape fully. " I hope you like beef. There weren't a lot of hands-free options so I brought this. You should be somewhat familiar with teriyaki, right?"

" How would I get it out of the bag?"

Rain fished for a piece and held it under his mouth. "Don't take my fingers with it."

Sesshomaru plucked it smoothly from her fingers. " I would never eat your fingers. I don't know where they have been."

Rain sighed. " You're a jerk."

Miroku navigated the bushes with caution. He wished he hadn't been sent out to check on Rain. He would have preffered to watch Sango sleep. Granted, Rain was an interesting girl to him, but it wasn't her that was his problem. He worried that some how the youkai lord had broken free and ripped Rain apart. I didn't even get to ask her to bare my children yet. It would be a shame...

The scene he walked up on wasn't gory, but wasn't any less shocking. Sesshomaru was still in his spell bound spot, a blanket thrown over his shoulders. He didn't sleep, and only gave Miroku a fleeting glance that warned him not to wake those who slept. His ward slept in Rain's sleeping bag, pulled close to Sesshomaru's side. Rain had fallen asleep with her head resting on the end of the sleeping bag. She had no blanket, just a thick black shirt with a hood. She as curled into a tight ball.

" All is well. I shall leave you alone. " he whispered to the youkai, knowing well he heard every word. "Unless you would like me to move the lady."

" She is fine where she is." Sesshomaru whispered back. " She had the decency to care for Rin. She will stay."

" Yes, Sesshomaru-sama." Miroku turned to leave, " but do find a way to keep her warm. She must be freezing out here."

As Miroku slipped back into the brush, Sessshomaru stole a glance at Rain. Stupid little human. You're going to freeze like that. And for what? A trapped youkai lord, a little girl and an ugly toad? She didn't even eat...so we could...what kind of creature is this?

After a bit of manuvering, he wrapped his long fluffy white tail around Rain. That done, he slipped into a dreamless sleep while he was trying to convince himself it was not a human woman under his tail, but a powerful yet gentle youkai woman. Even sleep gave him no solace from grim reality, the reality that he may not hate this woman as much as he'd like to.

I know it's not really his tail but what the heck is it? For my purposes, it his tail.