"Kabu! What should we do Kabu?" Yuko asked. The who men were breathing hard, Kabu holding his ribs where he had been struck by an arrow. Not a purifying one thankfully and his yokai energy was healing it as quickly as possible. Leaning his head back, wincing as the cold rain hit him Kabu looked around the boulder that the two of them were hiding behind, holding up a hand to silence Yuko. His eyes narrowed as he listened, humans could be careless and none of them knew how to walk quietly.

"Yuko. Get a grip. On my signal I want you to run ahead you will then be my cover as I follow you." Yuko looked at Kabu in surprise. He wasn't used to the man taking charge the way that he did.

"Are you sure about this Kabu? What if I leave you here by yourself and." Kabu held up his hand again, in the dark both of the yokai could see clearly. The rain had begun to wash away most of the scents on the air but Kabu could still detect them, if only slightly. The footsteps were still faint, though still growing closer. Those damned humans just weren't giving up. Sesshomaru-sama was not going to be happy about any of this.

"Do as I say Yuko. One of us needs to get out of here alive and if I'm calling the shots, besides you are faster than I am, also while you might have a few bruises." Kabu grimaced holding out the hand against his ribs, flashing the crimson to the other yokai. "You aren't injured, if anything happens to me I want you to run. Run and report what we've learned to Sesshomaru-sama. He needs to know." Yuko swallowed, not liking the idea that anything would happen to Kabu. The young yokai smirked cockily. "Nothing is going to happen though." He stopped listening once more. "Now go!"

At Kabu's order Yuko hopped up, sprinting expertly, with a grace not even most yokai had. He was quick and lithe, dashing through the trees with ease. Getting just to where Kabu still remained in his site Yuko pounced up in a tree. He could see the villagers from this height, his eyes narrowed, when they had come upon the mountain something hadn't been right. Neither of them had known what they were in for though. Yuko drew his bow as to cover Kabu before giving a low long whistle, signaling to Kabu.

Hearing the whistle Kabu groaned, pulling himself up regardless of the pain and began to dash through the forest. He wasn't as quick as Yuko and it took him longer to get there. Using his arms mostly Kabu pulled himself up into the tree, his breath coming uneasily. "Kabu?" Yuko asked, the yokai was beginning to look very pale and it worried him, he felt even worse knowing that Kabu had only taken the arrow because he had been protecting Yuko. "Are you alright?" Yuko asked steadying him.

"Hai." Kabu nodded at Yuko, though he limited his words not feeling that he'd be able to talk much more. "Yes I'm fine." He wasn't though, his yokai powers should have heeled the wound by now, at least have stopped the bleeding but it hadn't. Touching his hand to it once more Kabu looked at the blood, feeling lightheaded. Both of the yokai smelt it then. Poison. A strong one. "Yuko." The other yokai steadied Kabu from falling off of the tree limb. Kabu's skin felt hot despite the cold rain falling on the two of them.

"Kabu." Yuko's voice was low but held a note of panic in it.

"I don't think I'm going to be alright after all." Kabu swallowed hard before falling out of the tree completely, Yuko hadn't been able to catch him. Dropping from the tree Yuko quickly pulled Kabu's armor off. The yokai wasn't breathing well and he didn't need all the extra pressure on him.

"I'm going to get you back to the manor. You're going to be alright." Yuko told Kabu as the yokai's eyes fluttered as he gasped for breath. Picking him up, Yuko hefted the yokai on his back piggy back style, typing him there with a piece of fabric from Kabu's armor, making sure to grab his swords before he dashed off. They were a ways from the manor and Yuko had to move slower but he was sure he'd make it there before sundown the next day. Yuko had to. Kabu probably didn't have much time.

(Kagome)

"No. Absolutely not." Kagome tossed the sai down standing up hurriedly missing the smirk that Temai was giving the girl. "I'm not going to chance purifying you just so that I can learn." She shook her head thinking about it was giving her a head ache. No she wasn't going to do it, it was suicidal. The young girl had begun to pace and Temai stood up as well a grin on his face. "Crazy, absolutely crazy." Kagome muttered to herself.

Temai put his hands on Kagome's shoulders stopping her mid pace. He looked down at her seriously, his lips set in a line. His hands moved down from her shoulders to her upper arms, rubbing them slowly, he had to calm her down. The girl got herself worked up too often.

"Kagome. If I told you that nothing would happen if you put too much energy into the sai then you wouldn't work as hard to make sure that you didn't put too much energy into it. Plus I don't think you'd be very happy when I disintegrated in front of you." Temai gave a little smirk, his joke pulling a small smile out of Kagome.

"No. No I wouldn't like that at all, that's why I'm not going to do this training." Kagome reiterated making Temai shake his head. He would get her to do the training whether or not she liked it.

"Listen to me Kagome. We're going to do this and you're not going to purify me. I've given you this warning of what could happen, because of that I'm sure you'll probably come up short most of the time until you feel it." Kagome arched a brow at him.

"Feel it?" Temai grinned at her leaning close, oh how he loved when her face flamed up the way it did. He could hear the girl's heart give a thud as his grin widened.

"Yes. Feel it, you'll feel the right amount of energy. Remember energy get's hot. If your hands start to heat up back off with the energy a little bit. It's that simple." Temai backed away from her and went back to where they were sitting, patting the spot in front of him. Kagome swallowed hard, her head down so her bangs would cover her red cheeks.

"I'm not sure about this." Kagome said softly walking over to Temai. He shrugged his shoulders leaning back on his elbows.

"I am. I have faith in your abilities. Now, sit down, pick up the sai, and begin to channel your energy. If it's just a charge I'm telling you now, it won't penetrate my jaki. It's going to be a constant flow of energy." Temai instructed as Kagome sat down, crossing her legs and picking up the sai.

"I still don't think that this is a good idea." Kagome said once more. Temai gave an exasperated sigh as the girl closed her eyes.

"I am well aware of how you feel Kagome. Now get on with it. Channel your energy. Imagine it as a water flowing from your fingers into the metal, sliding over it completely, surging your energy deep within the minerals." Temai's voice was low, trying to be soothing. Kagome too ka deep breath, nodding as she pictured a pink water sliding over her hands to the sai.

Already it felt different than her miko arrows. With her arrows Kagome could feel them pulsing with her energy as she pushed it into them, it was different with the sai. They didn't pulse, instead a soft hum seemed to come off of them. Kagome smiled opening her eyes.

"I did it!" She exclaimed. The moment Kagome stop focusing though the hum disappeared. Kagome gave Temai a sheepish smile. "I did do it anyway." He nodded ushering for her to try again.

"You've got to remember to maintain focus on the sai and energy as well as whatever you're doing. After all the battle field isn't going to be quiet and your enemy isn't going to wait for you to meditate. They're going to attack." Temai told her. Kagome took another deep breath. She understood, the key was not to lose focus but be able to focus on two things at once. Tightening her grip on the sai slightly Kagome began to visualize the energy once more before the hum returned. As he spoke Temai's voice was soft, closer to her than before.

"Now. I want you to hold that energy and open your eyes, look at the sai." Kagome was unsure about it, not wanting the energy to disappear as it had before. "Do it Kagome." Temai instructed a bit more harshly making the girl flinch. The hum wavered but didn't disappear. "Now Kagome." Temai implored her. With a sigh Kagome opened her eyes, looking at the sai. The metal looked the same to Kagome though with pearly sheen to it.

"I don't see anything." Kagome said, her words were slow though Kagome had a grip on it now, the hum didn't waiver at all, it seemed to grow slightly as Kagome looked at them.

"Exactly. The more energy you channel into them the more pink the sai should become. Now, with your eyes open I want you to push more energy into the sai and attack." Kagome licked her lips looking up at Temai unsure. He gave her a smile, though his eyes were stern.

"Temai." He shook his head not letting her finish the sentence. He didn't want to hear any of her excuses.

"You can do this Kagome. If you couldn't Sesshomaru wouldn't have asked me to train you. He believes in you and so do I." Kagome's eyes widened in shock. She didn't know how to feel about that. Sesshomaru believed in her? Looking down at the sai Kagome felt a sense of happiness slide over her heart. Sesshomaru believed in her! She couldn't let him down.

Nodding as her resolve returned to her, Kagome looked down at the sai pushing her energy out a bit more quickly than she had before. As Temai had said the sai did begin to glow in a soft pink. The humming increased in Kagome's hand, heating up a little but Kagome didn't pay any attention to that. It wasn't hot after all.

"Now. Attack me." Temai said making Kagome look up at him. A green wall had erected between the two of them, about three inches from Temai's skin. It was his jaki, Kagome knew that already, she could feel it crackling in the air against her own energy.

"Are you sure about this?" Kagome asked once more surprised when Temai smirked at her before egging her own.

"Trust me. You couldn't put a scratch on me with that small amount of energy." Kagome's eyes narrowed as she glared at Temai. Was he saying that she wasn't strong enough? Kagome felt more energy rush out of her hands with her anger, heating up against her palm.

"You asked for it!" Kagome reminded him before thrusting the sai at him, she could feel as it sliced through his jaki with ease. Kagome's eyes widened with terror. She had moved quickly and Temai wasn't moving, she was going to hit him. When the sai made contact Kagome gasped as Temai yelled out in pain. Immediately Kagome dropped the sai.

"Temai! Temai! I'm so sorry." Kagome moved to the yokai holding his side. "Let me see. Maybe I can help." Kagome was beginning to panic, though part of her was glad that he was still alive. "Let me see it." Kagome urged moving Temai's hand. "Temai?" There was nothing there, instead Temai was grinning looking up at her, wrapping his hand around hers.

"I told you, you wouldn't be able to get through my jaki. The one you saw was just for show. I've got an invisible barrier around me for this exercise." Temai said poking her on the nose. Kagome smacked Temai on the shoulder.

"That wasn't funny! I really thought that I had hurt you." Temai laughed at Kagome's pouting face sitting back up.

"Cheer up kid, you did cut through the first barrier with ease." He reminded her. Kagome smiled. She had, hadn't she? She didn't have time to bask in the glory of this achievement though as Nami burst in the door breathless. Temai's attention snapped to the girl immediately, standing up as he let go of Kagome's hand.

"Temai-kun!" She said desperately, folding over as she tried to catch her breath.

"What is it?" Temai asked going over to her, helping her stand up. "What is the matter Nami? Is it Sesshomaru-sama?" The girl shook her head. Kagome stood up, walking closer to the two of them.

"It's Yuko. He has returned with Kabu." Kagome arched a brow unsure of who they were talking about. Temai seemed to know though, a steely look sliding over his face. "Kabu. He's been hurt. Poison."

"Where is he?" Temai asked ignoring as Kagome stepped up beside him.

"He is in the infirmary. I figured you would want to know." Nami said leading the way. Temai stopped looking back at Kagome, a tight look in his eyes.

"I might be able to help." Kagome offered softly. He nodded once, motioning for her to follow.