Though the wolves did not know what was wrong with Kagome they did know that she was sick. She stayed asleep next to Kouga for nearly two days, nothing could wake her and she trembled and shook most of the time.
Ginta helped move her away from Kouga and then had the wolves curl around her to warm her up. It was the morning of the second day, wolves all around Kagome that
Kouga awoke to a tail hitting him in the face. As soon as he recognized what it was he growled ferociously at the offending tail and the wolf it belonged to immediately moved away. Kouga tried to sit up to only feel a burn up and down his entire body, groaning out in pain Ginta rushed to his side.
"Hey there Kouga, you're awake! Do you remember what happened to you?" Ginta wanted to help Kouga sit up but knew he could not touch him until he ordered it.
"Of course I remember. I went to track that human that Kagome was worried about only to find her the slave of a stupid Snake half demon who had too much power for his own good. I killed him but he tore me up pretty bad in the process. Kagome found me the next day still bleeding and I called for help before passing out. Help me sit up man." Kouga offered his arm to Ginta who grabbed hold and pulled him to sitting position.
"Damn I look terrible. How long has it been? Wait, where is Kagome is she okay?" Kouga looked around him but saw no trace of her, though he smelled her scent close by.
"You have been here for a day and a half unconscious. Kagome, Katchi and Linu brought you back during the afternoon in a rainstorm. Kagome spent a couple of hours fixing you up and re doing your bandages. But she had been in that rain and never changed or got dry so by the time she was finished she had started shaking and turning blue boss. She passed out immediately and hasn't woken up since. The wolves are trying to keep her warm cause she keeps shivering." Ginta waited for the oncoming yelling and death sentence for not taking better care of Kagome but it never came.
Kouga was looking at his bandages and pulling a few off to see how he was healing and only looked up when Ginta told him Kagome was ill.
"Kagome, I bet she didn't say a word about her own discomfort at all did she? Send someone to watch over Aisu and Shippo when he returns; they might require help getting meat. Is that Kagome under that pile of fat over there?" Kouga looked at the mound of wolves a few feet away from him.
"Yeah, she keeps shivering boss. We don't know what's wrong with her at all."
"Get those mutts off of her and bring her here. Also go and get her friend Aisu." Kouga scooted back to lean against the wall and watched his friend move the wolves off of Kagome.
Despite how pale she seemed Kouga had to suck in a breath at how lovely she was, lying on a fur with a tight long dress on that hugged every curve.
"Why is she in that?"
"She bloodied up her clothes treating you boss. We had to put her in something, is it bad? I can find her something else boss if you want." Ginta pulled the fur Kagome was on over to rest next to Kouga's before looking back up.
"No its great Ginta, thanks. Now go do as I said."
Ginta ran off while Kouga pressed his hand to Kagome's forehead, cool and maybe a little damp. Since he knew he could do nothing for her but wait Kouga continued unwrapping his bandages and stared intently at the wonderful woman lying next to him.
Almost every injury was healed except the large gashes on his back and chest. He closely admired the neat stitches running the length of his chest from right shoulder to lowed left abdomen and the other smaller lines of thread that showed him his worst injuries. A noise from his elbow made him look down to see Kagome moving her head slightly back and forth, some kind of pain disturbed her sleep. He gently brought her to him, lifting her so that her head lay on his shoulder and he stroked her hair while rubbing circles on her neck, calming her movements.
Aisu found the two in the same position when she arrived, both asleep.
"Lord Kouga!" She snapped her clawed fingers in front of his face, making sure his eyes snapped open before leaning back.
"Aisu, you're here. Kagome is ill in some way and I hoped you had learned enough to recognize the symptoms." Aisu leaned forward, poking and moving Kagome's head and eyes before listening to her chest.
"I can't tell what's wrong. You need the old priestess from the village over the mountain; Kaede. I will return with her before dark, do not move Kagome too much and try to put water in her." Kouga nodded, remembering the old hag.
"And Kouga, if she gets worse, does not survive or is hurt in any way I will kill you myself, and many will help me." With her threat hanging in the air she left the den, allowing Kouga to fall back asleep with Kagome in his arms not worried about her dying at all; he had a back up plan.
Waiting was all he could do, wait on food, and wait to get up, wait for the priestess, and wait for Kagome to get better. Just as promised though; Aisu returned causing uproar when Kirara dove through the waterfall with both on her back.
"Where is young Kagome then? Ye can't see a thing in the cave." Following Aisu's white robe Kaede found a lit palate with Kouga and Kagome upon it.
"I heard she was ill. What has befallen Kagome then? Ye shall tell me whilst I examine her." Kaede pulled Kagome out of Kouga's arms while he told her of the wounds he had received and her care of him, and the resulting symptoms.
Kaede felt her face and checked her heart and lungs, sensing her soul. What she found in the child was disturbing.
"Can ye order your wolves away, out of the range of our voices? Ye must be the only one told." Kouga growled out a long sharp note and every wolf in the den left through the waterfall.
"What is it priestess?"
"Kagome suffers from three things. One is the sick from being cold; another is the weight of stress and exhaustion that crashed upon her when she finished taking care of ye. The last is poison."
"Poison? I would have smelt poison or infection Kaede. What do you mean?" Kouga had already guessed the first two but sniffed at Kagome, sure that the old woman was wrong.
"Somehow Kagome has tasted your blood wolf. It is in her system even now, trying to change her. To her mortal body with out enough energy to control the bloods effects she is perishing. We cannot remove the blood; it has already spread and has affected her in ways unknown. Nor will I allow ye to give her your own energy wolf, not without her consent and knowledge of her actions. I know not what can be done for her now." Kouga growled low in his throat at the woman, hating her words.
"I could give her just a little, just enough to re awaken her own powers, they will give her energy."
"Ney. I know of mating wolf; she would be tied to you forever, whether ye forced yourself upon the child or not she would never be free to find her own love. The blood in her system might have already caused too much damage. Does she yet smell of ye at all wolf?" Kouga sniffed and shook his head, she still smelt of Kagome. He was very upset now, trying to figure out how to save her.
"Is it possible she could wake on her own? Or maybe we could trigger her powers another way, stage a danger where her senses would kick in and save her instinctually?" Kouga knew before the old woman shook her head that he was grasping at straws.
"If she cannot pull out of her own sleep before the sun falls today she will stay in this state till death, which is not far off I am afraid." Kaede stood, walking out of the den and leaving a mourning wolf behind her. Kouga knew he couldn't let her die, no matter what the priestess said and he would push his energy into her if he had too, but he would wait until just before sunset.
Curling back around Kagome in the furs of his bed he placed his nose to her hair and held her tight, whimpering his distress into her ear before drifting off to sleep. If she did not wake, this was his last chance to be close to her.
Kagome was lost in her own dreams. She had no idea how long she was in this dream land, wandering through the forests of Japan searching for lost friends and fighting enemy after enemy. She could tell she was getting weaker, she knew that there was nothing she could do about her body slowly dying while she fought feebly to regain control.
All of her energy had been spent tracking and caring for Kouga, and she could not regret it. She knew inside her safe warm mind that he would care for Shippo and Aisu if she were to fail, and that he would keep every promise he had made to her. In her heart she made peace with herself, expecting the end at any moment as even the light of her own mind grew weaker. She admitted that she could never really deserve the love Kouga gave her, his friendship and courage and his wanting to listen to her. She admitted that it was love that he felt, and she cared for him deeply also; she was just afraid. Afraid of not being worthy, of holding him up with her weak human nature, of turning his tribes against him or purifying him by accident, of losing him as soon as she had a hold. She imagined his strong arms wrapped around her waist, one hand gently pushing the cloth covering her chest away, she imagined his hot breath against her cool skin as he bent down to bury his face in the exposed skin there.
That was what she thought she imagined before the pain came. Sharp and swift she felt his fangs sink into the soft flesh between her mounds, and the energy began flowing into her.
She could feel every single nerve awakening from the black they had sank into as she died. The demonic energy collided with her powers, forcing them into submitting in there weak state despite how hard they fought. As her mind lit up once again and she fluttered her eyes open to find the pain she felt Kouga withdraw his fangs, cutting the energy off as it healed her and gently brought her dress up again.
"I am sorry, Kagome." His voice was a sigh as she fell back into the world of dreams, knowing that she would awake again.
Dark had come upon him and he told his people to leave again, knowing they might hate him for what he was going to do. He slowly lifted Kagome off of the bed, putting one of his arms behind her to hold her up. He had been raised with the knowledge of what he was about to do, all of the customs and instincts of his heritage; he now ignored all of them.
As softly as he could he pulled the arm down on her dress, freeing her chest from the furs and leather. He knew that at any other time the sight of her exposed chest would awaken a beast within him, but his grief at what he would do to her crushed anything like it down into nothing. He chose the place, the exposed area just below and between her breast, leaning in and breathing her scent in he pressed his lips to the spot. An exhale; before he sank his fangs into the soft skin below her bones, feeling her blood flow through his throat; his only thought to push as much energy into her as he could.
He could feel her weak powers respond to the intrusion, and he pushed them aside, letting the energy that kept him alive flow and heal her. A shudder ran through her body and he heard her breath increase, her heart picking up from the sad pace it had been in. Not wanting to hurt her more than he had Kouga removed his fangs; he did not seal the wound, trying to mark her as little as possible with what he had done he pressed cloth to the area before pulling her dress back up to cover her exposed flesh.
"I am sorry, Kagome." He whispered to her, seeing her eyes flit open for a second before he settled her back onto the furs, knowing she would live.
The dreams did not last long enough; she was safe in them from the changes overcoming her own body. The pain and numbness was remarkable, trading places as they wracked through her body doing any number of things. When the pain slowed, fading away her body relaxed against the fur of a palate. She opened her eyes again, looking around before moving her head. To her left a few feet away she saw Kouga, staring at her intensely. The way his eyes looked deep into her made her think of hundreds of things she usually never considered and it was those thoughts that made a horror and anger filled growl rip through her throat.
Sitting up abruptly she moved her hand to her mouth, terrified of the sound.
"What happened? Why am I doing that Kouga; explain!" Her anger boiled into her from a vast pit of roiling emotions deep inside.
"You saved my life, remember? But you did not care for yourself and illness grabbed you. Stress and exhaustion, cold and hunger brought you into a sleep. What kept you there was blood, my blood which had found its way into your body. I don't know how..." Kagome's eyes widened in horror at the memory of what she had done, and she listened with dread to his next sentences.
"Kaede came and tried to save you, you had already slept for almost two days and you were just getting colder no matter what we did. She felt the blood and told me what she could. She forbade me from saving you; I ignored her." A pause as Kouga breathed and looked down from her eyes, ashamed of doing this to her.
"You needed energy, and there was no way to give you any that Kaede knew of. I had a way; I could bite you, marking you and letting my energy revive you. I did so five days ago. I sank my fangs into your soft flesh and pushed my demonic energy through the wound, healing and cursing you Kagome. I am more sorry than I can ever say." Kagome saw the tears in his eyes as he painted the picture before her of his actions, trying to make them as bad as he could and succeeding.
"Cursing me?" Kagome had an idea what he meant, and feared it.
"I marked you Kagome. I gave you my life energy and cursed you. To any who come near you they will feel that energy that mark, smell the wolf on you and will believe you mated. They will see you as my mate from now until you die. Nothing will change a demons sense of this. I have cursed you to a life without the ability to find your own love, not even a mortal's love will you find; you will live much longer than any mortal can. To save your life I stole your life, there is no excuse. I could not let you die and especially not because of me." Kagome felt the weight of his every word like a stone on her heart.
The sob that came from her was the very essence of her fate.
Any feelings she had towards him shattered, the broken shards cutting her as she looked at him. Kouga repeated his apology one last time before standing.
"I will leave you now, I know you hate me and will always hate me. If there is ever anything you need, or want I will do my very best to help, I can never give you anything that will ease this curse I know, but I am here should you need it. I will tell my tribe to steer clear of you and out of your way, though by nature they will always be close to protect you. Goodbye Kagome." Kouga left, walking slowly away from the scent of salty tears and the sounds of broken sobs. She watched him leave, a coldness growing inside her even as she saw the still red and stitched gash on his back that slowly bled out.
Kouga had every wolf leave the area, sending them off to hunt for food so that Kagome could leave in peace. He left Ginta and Linu at the entrance as sentries, bearing under there disappointed gazes. Everyone knew what he had done, though they all were angry at him for it they knew why he had and not one of them hated that he had. Kagome had healed there Prince time and time again, had saved pups, fought and protected them; and even if she would now hate them they loved her. He went to a smaller cave above beside the waterfall, lying upon the bed there on his stomach knowing he would have to take more time to heal.
Kagome arose from the bed she was on, just noticing the dress she wore as she stood. Even in her state of emotional turmoil she admired the dress, loving the way it felt on her skin. She carefully walked out side, her body sore and protesting from everything it had gone through.
She saw Ginta hiding in the rocks and ignored him, she could not ignore Linu who stood and gave her a nudge in the hand before walking off again. Kagome did not know what to think about that, she had too much in her head already. Walking stiffly she made her way to her cave, taking hours on the journey which was usually only twenty or so minutes.
No one was inside, the cave was devoid of her friends, lonely with just there things. At least she knew they hadn't left her, as all of Shippo and Aisu's possessions were still present. Though all she wanted was to lie in her bed, Shippo in her arms and cry her self to sleep Kagome knew she needed food and made herself a hearty and meaty meal, drinking and eating till she thought she might puke to help regain her strength.
It did not go unnoticed her more pronounced taste for less cooked meat, and more of it than usual.
Kagome laid down flat on her back, spreading her arms and legs out and relaxing as best she could, crying silent tears that the life that she felt was ripped out from under her.