The early morning rays poured into the quiet hut, outside the birds sang their morning song. The occupants of the hut remained in deep slumber, their steady breathing being the only sound made. Shippo shifted a bit as he curled closer to Kagome, who tightened her hold on the young kitsune in response. Kirara lay curled by Sango's head; her nose buried beneath her tails. Her ears twitched each time anyone so much as shifted. Miroku lay at fair distance from the girls; his staff propped up against the wall nearby.

They were pulled roughly from their slumber as a pained cry escaped Yusuke's lips. His bangs stuck to his forehead because of the thin sheet of sweat, the cloth on his forehead lay beside his head having fallen off. His fists swung in the air attacking an invisible opponent. Kagome leapt up from her previous position to see to Yusuke who let out a strangled cry.

Miroku moved quickly to restrain the still flailing fists before Kagome was hurt. Inuyasha burst through the straw flap thinking someone had been injured or attacked.

"Inuyasha," Miroku beckoned him over. Though he had his arms restrained, Yusuke's legs threatened to flail around next. Inuyasha wordlessly held down the hanyou's legs as Kagome tried to figure out what was wrong. She wiped his forehead with the cloth after dipping it into the bowl of water that had been placed nearby the previous night. She whispered comforting words to him in hopes of calming his subconscious. Despite Kagome's attempts Yusuke did not calm, his body convulsed as he started coughing uncontrollably. Not only did he cough up blood, but also a pale green substance that had Inuyasha and Shippo covering their noses in disgust. The very smell of the substance burned their noses; Kirara seemed affected as well when she let out a displeased sound.

Sango wiped up the substance from Yusuke's lips with a cloth and inspected it, her eyes suddenly darkened.

"What is it Sango?" Miroku questioned. She hesitated a moment before finally speaking, not lifting her gaze.

"It's inhuman," she sounded horrified. "This is a poison demon slayers used to use on demons in order to extract information from in war times, but what it did to them was absolutely inhuman. Once they found out exactly what it did it was banned from used. Any caught using it on anyone were immediately stripped from power and imprisoned." She shook her head as if in disbelief. "Who would want to wish such a thing on anyone?" She spoke almost as if to herself.

"What does it do Sango?" Inuyasha asked as he removed his hand from his nose in order to restrain Yusuke's legs again.

"It's just as damaging as miasma, but it acts far slower. First the victim is rendered paralyzed and, most of the time, their vision is affected as well. It causes excruciating pain to course through their body as if lighting is striking them over and over again when they try to move. Once it spreads through their system they slip into unconsciousness, but the pain follows them to their dreams. To them whatever they feel within their dreams is as extreme as if they were awake and the line between fantasy and reality seems to disappear. It begins to damage their innards, slowly shutting down their body from the inside out. The victim will tend to run an imaginably high fever; will be prone to sudden fits, and extreme illness symptoms most commonly vomiting. As the body begins to shut down the poison begins to affect them mentally for unknown reasons. They'll act out though they'll be unconscious. They die within a month and a half, if they're lucky." Kagome had placed a hand over her mouth looking as if she was about to be sick; her face began to turn slightly green. During Sango's explanation Yusuke's frantic movements had calmed.

"That's horrible," she gasped.

"Is there anyway to reverse the poisons effects?" Miroku wondered. No living being should have to suffer such a fate.

"Yes, there is. That's where things get complicated… the plant I need is a good two days travel not counting the way back. But, in order to help flush the poison from his body, we need to get him to the healing springs," Sango explained.

"Let me guess, they're conveniently in opposite directions?" Inuyasha grumbled. He huffed as Sango nodded. Inuyasha suddenly lifted the unconscious man and headed outside, asking Kirara to transform. The others followed him out, watching as he placed Yusuke on Kirara's back.

"Look, the sooner he's taken care of the sooner we can send him back and start looking for Naraku," he defended guessing what Kagome was thinking by the look on her face. He didn't want her to think he was starting to go soft or anything, he just didn't like to see her so upset over something like this. Sango opened her mouth, ready to tell Inuyasha that it would take two extra days without Kirara. She was surprised when he spoke again.

"Sango and I will get the plant; you and Miroku go take him to the springs. He'll get you there; he probably knows exactly where every single spring in Japan is."

"I don't know if that was an insult or not…" Miroku sighed. Ignoring Miroku, Kagome nodded and climbed upon Kirara's back. Inuyasha knelt down in front of Sango; the slayer simply stared at him slightly agape.

"Well?" Inuyasha huffed.

"Um…" Her words died on her tongue. She stepped back a little bit, fully prepared to tell Inuyasha she wasn't so sure about this way of travel. Not wanting to be delayed any longer, Inuyasha suddenly pulled her onto his back and secured his arms around her legs. He grunted in surprise at the unexpected weight of the Hirikotsu, it looked lighter than it was.

"Damn, how do you carry that thing everyday?" He muttered under his breath. Before Sango could reply he asked for the directions. Once she had given him the necessary information he bounded off opposite of the direction the others had gone.

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Silence reigned dominate between the two as Kirara flew smoothly above the ground. Miroku kept his attention to the ground below, urging Kirara to change direction every so often. Kagome, however, kept her attention to the unconscious male in her arms who was slumped forward so his cheek brushed Kirara's fur. Because of the summer weather she wore her short sleeved uniform shirt; she could feel when he started to heat up or become chilled. Sometimes he would make a strangled noise in his sleep as if he were in immense pain…she knew he was. She was very relieved that he hadn't started flailing around like he had earlier. It wouldn't be easy to control him in the air; most likely he'd fall over and drag her with him.

Many questions about him filled her mind. How did he get there, why was he at the shrine in the first place, why wasn't he wearing a shirt, and how did he get injected with a poison that is nearly forgotten? If those in this time barely remembered it then who in her time would have even heard of it? Unfortunately none of her questions would be answered until he woke up. Even then it would depend on how he reacted to waking up in a different time that had demons roaming around.

'So much for keeping this a secret,' she thought with a sigh. 'If he does get back to our time he could tell the whole world about this! Then the well would be roped off, I'd be questioned, and it'd probably be under such close watch that I'd never be able to return here again! Then Naraku would have a larger advantage to finding the shards because I'm the only one who can sense them and he seems to find them just as well as me. If he ever gets his hands on the complete jewel then…' She shook her head violently in order to rid herself of her thoughts. Now she knew why her mother told her to take things one step at a time. You never know what will happen so dwelling on any one thing would be a waste of time because it could turn out completely different. 'Right now I have to concentrate on helping him survive this.'

Kirara suddenly let out a loud pained roar as she lost altitude; she caught herself and stayed airborne for the sake of those on her back.

"Miroku, what happened?" Kagome asked in a tight voice.

"A demon," he replied. He removed a sutra from the inner folds of his robe and tossed it at the demon, unfortunately it moved quickly and swiftly in order to avoid it. Kagome was inwardly freaking. If she let go of the man in order to shoot an arrow he'd undoubtedly fall off should Kirara suddenly jerk away from another attack. But if she didn't help then the demon would attack Kirara and force her to the ground where they'd all be in trouble.

Kirara roared as she reared back as sharp talons ran across the underside of her belly. Kagome threw her body forward and clung onto Kirara's fur, using her body to keep Yusuke on the fire cat. Once she righted herself Kagome saw little choice and released Yusuke in favor of shooting at the pesky demon. She mentally prayed that he wouldn't fall off. The demon let out an ear piercing screech as the glowing arrow pierced one of its wings. Kagome and Miroku covered their ears as the sound continued. Its effects were equivalent of nails on a chalkboard.

"Land Kirara!" Miroku barked out as he tossed another sutra in the demons direction, this one actually making contact. Another wail pierced the air causing Kirara to suddenly stop as she cringed. The demon took advantage of their distracted state and rammed into Kirara's underside causing her to barrel roll, throwing anyone not able to cling on off. Kagome cried out in surprise as Miroku clutched her close to him effectively keeping her on Kirara's back, her arrows weren't so lucky as they fell out of her quiver quickly followed by her bow. Her surprise quickly turned into alarm as she watched Yusuke's body plummet to the ground. Kirara bolted after him, but the chances of reaching him before he hit the ground were very slim.

A red blur sped through the air and snatched Yusuke from the air, saving him from the nasty fall. Unfortunately it wasn't an ally.

"Wake up!" Kagome shouted to the unconscious man. Maybe if he woke up, even for a second, his alarmed movements would cause the demon to release him. Kirara followed the demon as it flew away from them, happy with its bounty. "Hurry Kirara!" Kagome urged. Kirara replied with a loud roar as she sped up, almost able to grab onto the demons tail feathers with her teeth.

"Ngh…stupid…"

"Did he…" Kagome trailed off wondering if she had imagined it.

"Le-go…"

"He did," Miroku said when he too heard the slurred words. "He may be waking up."

"Sick o'….you…" A bright blue blast tore off one of the demons wings causing it to shriek in pain. It decided he wasn't worth the pain and released him before wobbly flying towards the tree tops. Kirara dove for Yusuke, managing to get him by the waistband of his jeans before he met the ground. She landed in a fairly spacious area, but stumbled a bit due to her bleeding injuries. Kagome and Miroku slid off as she gently placed Yusuke on the ground.

Kagome gently urged Kirara to lie on her side so that she could inspect the stomach wounds the fire cat received from the bird. Miroku could only watch as Kagome removed supplies from her bag and tended to Kirara's wound best she could.

"I don't think she will be flying or walking until her stomach wound is healed," Kagome informed him. "Both would irritate it, we'll have to walk." Kirara let out what sounded like a sigh, as if agreeing.

"We are left with no choice," Miroku said. "The spring shouldn't be too much further from here." He lifted Yusuke on his back, slightly grunting from the dead weight, and began to walk. Kagome had opened her mouth to speak, but silenced herself as she followed. Kirara, she could tell, felt bad about this. She stroked her fur as she walked, trying to comfort the little fire cat.

"Do you think he had been awake?" Kagome wondered after a long silence. Miroku knew what she meant.

"Logically I should say yes….but somehow I doubt he was," Miroku replied. He was baffled; did that large blast come from the man? If so, how could he have done it while sleeping?

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Sango was unusually quiet, never speaking save for the few directions she would give to Inuyasha, but even she seemed too far gone in her thoughts. Had he been able to see her face he would be further troubled by the graveness that was set into the lines of her face. Every so often he would feel her grip on his robe tighten ever so slightly before she caught herself and loosened her grip. It didn't take much to know she was attempting to unravel something and was frustrated that she could not.

He leapt through the trees with practiced ease; Sango had long ago relaxed upon realizing that it wasn't much different than traveling on Kirara, if not a bit rougher. He stayed silent a while longer, concentrating instead on the terrain before him. It's when she tightened her grip again that he decided to speak.

"What's wrong Sango?" He questioned awkwardly. Talking to females was Miroku's forte, not his. Asking one what was bothering her was a bit embarrassing for he didn't know how to come across it to begin with. It became obvious he said the correct words for she began speaking.

"It's nothing really," she sighed. "I'm just….stumped."

"About what?" It seemed his curiosity took over his mouth as the words formed before he could stop them. She fell silent for a long while and he let the subject drop thinking she didn't want to speak with him about it, but she surprised him by answering.

"The poison…it's reacting far too quickly," her brows furrowed. "Running a fever or becoming chilled and unconsciousness is one of the first stages, but the way he reacted this morning and coughing up blood…that usually doesn't come until the final stages of the poisons reaction. No matter how many times I run it through my mind I just can't figure out why the poison is reacting so quickly! Even in its most potent of form it takes nearly as long as any other way it can be prepared," her voice had become tight. "It's almost as if…it were injected directly into his bloodstream…a large dose of it." Inuyasha stayed silent as he digested the information. Normally he wouldn't give too much of a damn, if it was the man's time to go then so be it, but remembering Sango's description of the poison's effects made him think otherwise. It sounded too much of a cruel way to die, especially if he hadn't done anything to deserve such a fate.

"How much longer does he have?" he ventured.

"Two days….if he's lucky. If Miroku and Kagome get him to the spring soon he has a larger chance of surviving, but still very slim if we are delayed." Inuyasha caught her meaning; he would keep going until he had absolutely no choice but to stop. He could keep going far longer than Sango could, she could sleep on his back if she absolutely had to. The reminder of her ancestor's dark mistake obviously pained her. She would save this man even if it killed her just to redeem them in the eyes of the gods. She was the last, right minded, demon slayer. It was because of her ancestors that the poison was made and thus it was her responsibility to help the innocent man on the receiving end of this terrible fate.

'He must be a demon,' she thought gravely. 'Else wise he'd still be conscious.' She didn't speak of it to the others before because it was far too cruel to mention before Inuyasha and Shippo, even the thought of it seemed like a sin. While the poison was still deadly to humans, it was more so for demons for a good reason. She didn't see Yusuke's chances of survival without the spring even if they did acquire the plant in time. One of the key ingredients that had been added to the poison was holy water, it was lethal to demons on contact, but the effects were decreased due to the other ingredients. However, it was the main reason so many demons died during the war. It was the main reason the poison reacted as it did, it was why they were eaten away from the inside out, and it was why the poison was so cruel. It deserved its name without a fault, Creilhanai….Cruel Holiness.

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Tijiya: Nasty sounding poison eh? So for those of you who had been wondering what Yusuke had been shot up with, now you know. My mother thought the poison sounded cruel and diabolic, which is just what I needed. He's been unconcious the entire time and other questions, good ones at that, will answer themselves in time. Trust me. But don't be disuaded from asking them, I like hearing them, questions mean that I'm doing my job. I should crank out the next chapter soon, until then!

Inuyasha (c) Rumiko Takahashi

Yu Yu Hakusho (c) Yoshihiro Togashi