Chapter 3. Month 1, part 2: Into The Woods

Sesshoumaru noted the demon aura inching closer to his campsite and decided to take the matter into his own hands. Leaving the human miko and the rest of his group beside the fire, he jumped into the forest to investigate the scent.

He stopped near a clearing and looked skillfully around. The aura wasn't large at all, but it was powerful.

Before he could react, a whizzing sound flew past him and left a deep cut on his cheek.

Where had that come from? Sesshoumaru hadn't seen anything fly by him just yet. He jumped back and scanned the clearing once more, instincts on high alert.

Another whizzing sound came up beside him, only to have his lordship move immediately. A soft, inaudible snicker was heard in the shadows.

The demon mocks this Sesshoumaru.

"Can you not see me, Lord Sesshoumaru? Can you not see from where I attack you?"

What is this? It is as if the being is… invisible.

Another buzzing sound flew past, cutting into his arm. Blood slowly began to dye his white haori.

"Show yourself to this Sesshoumaru, demon."

A snicker filled the clearing.

"Oh? But I am, my lord. Can you not percieve me?"

This demon was testing his patience. The wounds were not much, as he was a full-blooded demon, but if it continued on like this, Sesshoumaru could be in danger.

"Could it be because I am too fast for you? Would you like me to uncover the mystery?"

Silence ensued. Sesshoumaru glided about, feeling the demon's aura as a guiding point of places to avoid. It wasn't an exact science, though. Just as he turned his face, he was met by the sudden apparition of the insect demon as it made contact with his eyes.

"Sesshoumaru!"

Kagome led herself into the forest where Sesshoumaru's and the demon's presence currently resided in. The demon had a small aura, but surprisingly, she could sense that most contact had been made against Lord Sesshoumaru.

Once she entered the clearing, she could sense something was very wrong. Sesshoumaru stood with his hand holding his face, blood trickling down towards the dirt ground.

Kagome stood there, unsure of what to do, or what was happening at all… until she saw the demon causing all the commotion.

It flew out of Sesshoumaru's face rapidly, opening its razor-sharp wings and beginning to fly away from said Taiyoukai. Shock marked her face.

Kagome looked around. There were no arrows she could use to purify the demon, a sad truth finally dawning on her. An eerily-hybrid face attached to the bug laughed as it began to make a final disappearing act. Its intentions were short lived, however, as a clawed hand took a hold of its person and squeezed.

There were no words to describe the sound of the venom and force destroying the insect, and leaving it become a part of the poison seeping from Sesshoumaru's hands.

Shock left the raven-haired miko immobilized for a second, before shaking her head and becoming one with the present. She ran to the demon lord still standing as still as a stone statue in the middle of the clearing, his back turned towards her.

"Sesshoumaru!"

She only had a split second to react before a poison-filled, clawed hand made its way to her chest.

"Gahh!" Kagome screamed as she fell to the ground, dodging the attack.

"Do not come any closer, human. You have been warned."

She steadied herself on her elbows, looking stunned at the white figure a few feet from her. Poisoned claws found their way back to the sides of their owner, as his feet steadied a pace away from the priestess, guiding him deeper into the forest.

She noticed his haori was decorated with more red than it had intentionally been made with.

Kagome was worried. The insect had buried itself into the face of Sesshoumaru, and judging by the blood on his clothing, it had been a large wound. Even if he was 'enemy' her protective instincts would not go. And she wouldn't either.

Getting up from the ground, she searched for the shard and settled it into her pocket. Now, she would proceed with the necessary.

Returning to the campsite, she awoke the snoring green toad and told him about the bloody encounter.

"I must go find my lord!"

"No!" She softly exclaimed, hoping not to awake Rin, "You're going to go and find me the ingredients for a salve!"

He looked up at her defensively.

"You are simply a human! How dare you tell me what to do, wench!"

Kagome, hands on her hips, was not in the mood for any sort of commentary regarding her species.

"I'll tell you what to do with this!"

After a good beating, Jaken rode Ah-un out of sight for ingredients.

Sesshoumaru leaned against a tree, one eye closed as the other bled. He had been careful to move once he saw the demon insect, letting him reach one eye instead of the intended two. It had been the only other option at the time.

Why hadn't he seen it?

The wounds on his cheek and arm were very much cured, but the one on the left side of his face would take some time to heal. After all, the invisible bug had pierced through his eye and most of his face.

Concealing his scent, the Taiyoukai lay against the tree and focused his energies on healing his wounds. This was not a time to think of how his pride had been hurt by a lesser demon.

The demon toad had returned rather quickly and handed Kagome the ingredients he had been so reluctant to find.

"Thank you, Jaken."

The toad grunted in response, moving over to watch Rin and make sure she didn't wake up to the scene of Sesshoumaru's disappearance.

Kagome quickly finished up the salve, after grinding quite a few herbal ingredients against a rock, and turned to face the toad.

"What do you want now, human?"

Kagome decided it wasn't time to worry about things like degrading commentary from a green imp, and continued on what she was going to say.

"Do you have a cloth I could use? Of any kind?"

Jaken looked around the campsite.

"Only the clothes we are wearing now. If it's for my lord's sake, I would so willingly take the clothes off my back for him…" Jaken began to tear from his clothing but Kagome stopped him.

"No, that's fine. Your clothes would only allow infection in the wound. I'll see what I can do."

She ran past Jaken, and entered the forest, letting her priestess powers guide her to Sesshoumaru. Soon enough, a faint demon aura reached her.

Sesshoumaru? But he's a full-blooded demon, not a mere insect. Why is his aura so small?

Unless he…

She ran fast to the source and found him slumped against a tree, meditating. Relief swept her face. He hadn't been dying. He had probably concealed his scent and aura while he healed.

She walked around the tree, as she had only been seeing his back, and proceeded to position herself in front of him to check his wounds.

Kagome let out a gasp of shock. The left side of his face was very bloody, not to mention his 'eye'. It would take a few days for this demon to cure himself completely.

She placed the leaf of salve besides her and began to do her job. Her fingers trembled as she wiped his face with her white handkerchief. This was the first time she had been able to touch him, even though it was indirectly so, with a cloth. Kagome prayed to the kami above that his meditational stance did not break, for she was aiding him in his recovery and she had been warned. She trembled at the sudden memory and his voice back at the clearing. But he did not stir at all, even when she finished cleaning his very bloody wound.

"The salve will sting…"

Hopefully, Sesshoumaru would not rouse once the ointment was placed on his face. Since the wound was very deep, it would surely create pain, and that did not mix well with an already injured youkai.

Kagome sighed. She had no choice. It was now or never.

She reached for the ointment, stopping once she realized there was no clean cloth to administer it to his face. Kagome looked around, searching for something to apply it with, but everything was extremely dirty.

Now what?

She looked down at her hands. They were probably the cleanest things around for miles. Kagome scooped the ointment into her hand and leaned closer to the Lord. It suddenly dawned on her that she would be touching his majesty's face directly, no cloth held in between.

It wasn't the time to be thinking on how soft his face had looked every single time she had encountered him, and if it was true. It was the time to worry if he would wake up from the sting of the ointment, and if she would die. But somehow, she couldn't bring herself to think of anything but.

Her hands caressed his face lightly, applying the ointment to his open wounds. A sudden twitch of his good eye made her stop and pale, but once nothing more happened, she continued.

The ointment was like the handkerchief, protecting him from her touch and preventing her from feeling anything.

His majesty's asleep. I might as well use the opportunity…

The ointment had been placed neatly on his wounds, her job done. If she was going to try anything, it better be now. Taking a deep breath, she wiped the salve residue on her clothes and proceeded to touch his nose for just a second.

She gasped. It was unreal. Was that even skin? The smoothness of it was nothing she had ever encountered before.

Damn Lordship and his good genes. It must be nice to be that perfect.

Pain etched his features, creating a small crease above his brow. involuntarily, Kagome found her finger easing it out and calming his face.

At least he didn't wake up when I was treating him.

The crescent shaped moon a few centimeters from her finger grabbed her attention.

I wonder if it feels the same…

Her finger glided over his skin and hovered above his marking, deliberating on whether to stop or continue.

You're already here, Kagome. Might as well.

She shrugged and shut the space of air between his marking and her finger.

A powerful current passed by her and Kagome was unconscious.