Bleeding Crescent Moon

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Inuyasha…

btw, there's gonna be some brother bonding time in this!

Chapter 3: Some Recovery

"There they are!" Inuyasha cried out, pointing past some trees and to a clearing.

Miroku whirled in the directing Inuyasha pointed to. There in the clearing, sat a little girl wearing a reddish-orange kimono and a little green imp with a staff nearly three times as tall as he is. The imp was grumbling about something, and the little girl sat with her head on her knees. She had bags under her eyes, proving that she hadn't slept for a while.

The moment the little girl caught sight of Inuyasha, her face lit up and she shouted with joy, "Lord Inuyasha!" then she paused. "Where's Lord Sesshomaru?"

Inuyasha waited a little bit, pondering what he was going to say.

"You should come with us and see," Miroku said casually.

The little girl, whose name was Rin nodded, smiling. She thought her lord would be perfectly fine.

"You know where Lord Sesshomaru is?" Jaken, the toad, asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

The stupid look of the little imp caused him to get a fist slamming down on his tiny skull.

"YES, I know where Sesshomaru is!" Inuyasha grumbled in annoyance. "Now will you just follow me?"

After Jaken managed to clear his vision of stars, he scrambled up and ran after the group that was leaving him behind.

OoOoOoOoOo

Sesshomaru's head felt like it was cracked like a coconut (which it probably was). His abdomen burned and ached where the bolt from Natsumi when right through. His limbs felt like they were lead. To top it off, every inch of his body throbbed with pain, and breathing hurt...a lot.

Sesshomaru actually didn't want to wake up. Waking up would just be painful. The only thing stopping him from staying in his new black dimension was...

Rin.

Consciousness slowly leaked into the demon lord.

Then he suddenly felt something cold and wet being applied to his forehead. A wave of strange smells made its way to Sesshomaru's nose, making it crinkle. "This must be the miko's medicine," he vaguely thought.

Then another scent came...it was the scent of Inuyasha's fire rat robe. Sesshomaru forced his eyes to open just a crack. He realized that he was lying on the ground, and it was morning...no...it was probably late in the afternoon. He felt the robe of the fire rat on his body and knew that Inuyasha had lent him his robe. The world spun around him. Sesshomaru felt dizzy and he hadn't even moved yet. He realized that whoever was around him didn't know he was conscious yet because his eyes didn't look like they were open.

"Is Lord Sesshomaru okay?" an all too familiar voice came to his ears. Rin!

Rin dashed into the room just in time to see Kagome finish applying a wet cloth to Sesshomaru's face.

"LORD SESSHOMARU!" Rin squealed, and started to dash forward. Sesshomaru was actually scared for a moment. Luckily, Inuyasha held the little girl back, or else she would've jumped on Sesshomaru and possibly killed him. =P

"Are you well my lord?" Rin asked after being warned by Inuyasha not to jump on Sesshomaru.

"Does he LOOK well?" Inuyasha answered for Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru realized that he had closed his eyes, and forced them back open.

Then Jaken came dashing into the room, screaming "Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru!"

"Great..." Sesshomaru murmured in his mind.

"Are you well my lord?" Jaken inquired.

"Do I LOOK well?" Sesshomaru managed to choke out. His voice was raspy and weak. He hated sounding like that.

Kagome walked away from Sesshomaru's side and hurried Rin and Jaken out. "Sesshomaru needs to rest," she said.

"Who are YOU to know what our lord needs!" Jaken screamed. Inuyasha thumped him on the head. After the two little "children" were on the other side of the clearing, Inuyasha was alone with his brother.

Sesshomaru stared at Inuyasha, not knowing what to expect. He felt like falling asleep again, but he didn't want to show weakness. He already had so many times already.

"So...how are you doing?" Inuyasha said casually.

"Fine..." Sesshomaru replied, narrowing his eyes. He also hated lying down, but it wasn't like he could get up.

"Keh, you WOULD say that," Inuyasha smirked.

Sesshomaru tried to do his best superior glare at Inuyasha, but it wasn't easy when you're covered in bandages and lying on the ground.

Sesshomaru's attempt made Inuyasha smirk even more.

"I AM fine..." Sesshomaru snapped.

"Yeah, you said that yesterday and passed out right after!" Inuyasha doubled over laughing. The others looked over at their side of the clearing, curious. Sesshomaru actually felt himself go red. This was totally not going well. The argument was actually making him throb more. Sesshomaru cursed in his head.

Inuyasha wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "Alright, alright, I'll drop it," he grinned widely. He sighed. If he was in Sesshomaru's position, HE'D probably insist he was fine when he wasn't, too.

Sesshomaru sighed. He felt exhausted, and he hadn't even done anything yet. If Naraku were to strike right now...

Well, that would be bad. Inuyasha was almost all healed, since his wounds weren't that deep. But as for Sesshomaru...

"Lunch time!" Kagome's voice rang through the air.

"OOOOOH! Ramen!" Inuyasha licked his lips and bounded toward Kagome.

"Sesshomaru, would you like something?" Kagome asked.

"I don't eat human food," he muttered.

OoOoOoOoOo

Little did everyone know...that far away, at a dark castle, they were being watched...

"It seems you have failed to kill the brothers," Naraku's voice echoed through the halls.

"They ran away like cowards," Natsumi protested.

"Sesshomaru...ran away?" Naraku stopped in his tracks, and a smirk pulled on the corners of his mouth.

"Well, his brother carried him away," Natsumi shrugged.

"Carried?" Naraku smirked wider.

"He was unconscious," Natsumi looked at Naraku. "Why?"

"Oh...nothing," Naraku chuckled deeply. "This is good...very good..."

Natsumi cocked an eyebrow. He had no idea why Naraku was so pleased.

"It seems you've done pretty well," Naraku addressed Natsumi. "You did a number on the inu brothers. Sesshomaru seems to be very wounded and Inuyasha is not quite healed yet. This could be my chance to absorb them and take their powers."

"Well...whatever," Natsumi yawned, bored. "What's your next move?"

"Well, I will just attack as soon as possible, leaving them with very little time to heal. Natsumi, I applaud you."

"Ehh...sure," Natsumi shrugged like it was nothing. They reached a fork in the hallway and Natsumi walked to the opposite passage Naraku was going, leaving him.

Naraku stood there smirking widely. "Natsumi...after you're done helping me, I will have to steal your powers too..."

A dark and deep chuckling echoed through the black halls.