A/N: things are just going to get more intense here on out! Their enemies are becoming desperate…

Also, I just wanted to point out that in the last chapter at least 5 people died. 5 innocent people that probably had backstories and names and lives. But I don't think any of you cared, if you even noticed…'^^ such is the life of a soldier, to not be missed.


The first thing the young servant girl became aware of was a set of footsteps. They seemed familiar, but she couldn't place them…they stopped nearby her and she heard low murmuring. She couldn't understand what was being said, as if it were gibberish or some other language, but she knew it wasn't. Her ears weren't scrambled, but her brain was. She had hit her head…or something had hit her head…she honestly couldn't quite remember right now. It wasn't important. The voice—no, voices—they sounded familiar too, somehow, but again, she couldn't remember why. She panicked for a moment as she tried to open her eyes and thought she had gone blind, before she realized that she hadn't managed to open them. She was too weak to even open her eyelids, it seemed. She tried to talk but her mouth wouldn't open and her throat wouldn't work. Oh no…what if I'm dead? I don't like this… She managed to think, struggling harder to move. She didn't want to be buried—or worse, burned!

"She is recovering," The healer told Sesshomaru calmly as they both stood beside the raised cot Azumi was laying in. "It will take time for her to wake, and her broken leg to heal, but I think she shall recover fully in due time." They both turned to her in shock at an urgent whisper from the girl's lips.

"shina…nai…" She managed to inform them. 'I'm not dead!' The oddity of the sudden statement startled a soft chuckle from both men. "Don't worry, young one, we know," The healer replied in a warm tone. "You're going to be just fine. Just rest." She let out a sigh and went back to breathing deeply, satisfied that someone had understood her urgent message. "I must return to Lady Rin," Sesshomaru told the healer with a small bow. "Are any of the others showing improvement?"

The healer shook his head somewhat sadly. "Six fell where they stood, during the attack, and another two succumbed to their wounds shortly after being brought to me," He informed his master woefully. "Of the 3 that remain, I do not have much hope of any of them lasting the night. Though of course I will do everything in my power to keep them from crossing the Fields." Both men turned to the other side of the room to the other 3 occupied cots. The men—all 3 guards—could barely be seen under the bandages they were covered in, some soaked with blood. Kneeling next to who Sesshomaru knew was one of his most senior guards was a servant woman and a half-grown child. He turned quickly away respectfully as he could hear the woman praying for her mate's survival in utter despair.

"Some of the families have requested pyres in place of graves, with your permission," The Healer said, nodding to the space in between his patients, where the 8 bodies of the guards, plus the berserker who had caused all this carnage, lay neatly wrapped, already prepared for whatever fate awaited their mortal forms. He gave a deep nod. "Of course. These men deserve every honor possible for their service."

The healer bowed and moved to start the preparations as Sesshomaru turned away, the fervent prayers of the soon-to-be widow still ringing awfully in his ears.


Surprisingly, two of the three men did survive the night and begin to show signs of improvement. All who died earned a pyre just outside the manor's gates, and the families of the fallen stood with lady Rin, who wept for each life lost on her behalf, just as much as the families did. Within two weeks, Azumi and the two guards who had survived their brush with death were back on duty, and everyone else who had been injured was completely healed. Rin was sitting out under the cherry tree in the garden, singing children's songs and whatever else came into her head as Sesshomaru sat on a limb above her, gazing into the distance as he thought about the continued messages of raids. Just yesterday he had gotten word of the death of the Mori Daimyō in an ambush by the rogue wolves very near his capitol. His last child, the thirdborn son, was going to have to be put in as the new Daimyō at the whelping festival in a few weeks' time…if he lived that long.

He looked down at the sound of feet running toward the tree to see a messenger stop and bow before looking up at him. "Sesshomaru-sama! There has been an attack reported in the northern edge of your land by a group of wolves!" He quickly reported. Rin stopped singing and looked up in concern as Sesshomaru jumped down from the tree with a deep frown. "Should we send men, sir? How many?"

"No. Do not send any men. I will take care of this personally." Rin's hand was grasping his sleeve in an instant as she pulled herself to her feet. "NO! Don't go! What if it's a trap?" She asked, clinging tightly to her beloved with a worried frown.

"I believe that it is a trap," He told her calmly, "Which is why I must go alone. I will not condemn any more of my allies to early graves when they are so difficult to come by in the first place."

"But…" Rin whined, still clinging to his sleeve, her other hand resting on her belly as their pup kicked her with tiny feet the size of a pinky nail. "Please, don't go alone…What if…What if you don't come back?" She trembled slightly in fear of the very thought.

Sesshomaru turned to his beloved and embraced her briefly. "That is a risk I must assume sooner or later, Rin. It is my duty as the heir and will continue to be so when I become the Taishōgun. I must fight for the safety of the lands and my people, and to protect those I care for." He stepped back and gently stroked her cheek before turning away to go to the armory. "I will return, Rin. You have my word."


Sesshomaru chose to travel in his humanoid form to the place stated in the report, with his armor on and bakusaiga at his hip. It was late morning when he arrived to find 4 heavily scarred wolves ransacking a small village that had been evacuated already, looting whatever they could get their hands on. One of them spotted him and straightened up, picking up a club that had been laid by their feet.

"Who goes there?" He called to the white-haired newcomer, glaring suspiciously.

"I am Sesshomaru of the Tsuki clan. These are my lands, and you don't belong." The man laughed mockingly at the newcomer's words, slapping his palm with the heavy club.

"Funny, we were told these lands had no master, and we were to take as we pleased and kill anyone who said otherwise," The wolf informed the man with a wicked grin. 3 more wolves, another with a club and two with spears, appeared from the houses. At a signal, all four leaped at the white-haired man, attacking from all sides before he could draw his weapon.

Luckily, Sesshomaru had been expecting this and was able to use his whip to repel the first attack, felling one of the attackers and injuring the other 3 as they leaped back out of range. He was startled at a sudden rain of several arrows from nowhere and a snarling flurry of blows from all sides as several more wolves appeared as if from thin air.

Sesshomaru had been absolutely right. It was an ambush.

He quickly managed to draw his sword and fight back several of the attackers with two powerful, sweeping blows, but they seemed to just keep coming. A club put a crack in his armor, knocking him sideways into a bruising blow to his upper arm. Another volley of 3 or 4 arrows flew into the mess and two bit his left shoulder as he couldn't be bothered to deflect them with so much else to deal with. He lopped the head off his nearest attacker and managed to get free of the ring of assailants, seeing there were at least twelve of them now, every one heavily scarred and armed with weapons none of them should have had. They charged him again, pinning him against a small cliff, and one managed to catch him in the thigh with a spear, making Sesshomaru roar in pain and take out several more of them in another mighty swing.

Another few arrows flew, two striking his chest just above his armor and one bouncing off. Another club cracked the armor further and someone lunged with a spear for the hole left behind, quickly being killed before he managed to land the blow. The last few attackers were blood-mad, out of their minds with the need to kill. As Sesshomaru swung again, killing one of the 3, another brought a crashing blow with a club down on his right wrist, making him drop his sword as his hand suddenly went limp. He turned and swung with his left fist, sending the wolf flying and cutting off the third wolf's head with just his claws before picking up his sword and going after the archers to also dispatch them.

After a few minutes that felt like eternity, the fight was over. Though he had at first seen only four wolves, 20 bodies lay strewn in the village's streets. Sesshomaru cleaned his blade and sheathed it, immediately starting back home, leaving the dead for the scavengers. He hardly noticed the pain he was in, or the awful trail of blood he left with every racing footstep. He had been gone too long, and he had to get back to his beloved. That was all that mattered.

It was late afternoon when the guards stood at attention, sensing something coming in fast. They quickly identified their leader, though they were dismayed at the shape he was in.

as soon as he stopped running and stepped through the gates, Sesshomaru was suddenly dizzy, and his vision blurred and spun. He distantly heard his sweet Rin's voice and felt gentle hands on his shoulders as the world around him slowly faded and the soft grass seemed to come up to meet him…

Sesshomaru! Sesshomaru! Someone get the healer!


A/N: okay, now to go on hiatus for 6 months! ^^' I'm kidding, I'm kidding! If it takes more than two weeks for the next bit to come out, feel free to pm and yell at me!