Author's note: I am so sorry for how long it took me to upload this I promise it won't hinder this week's chapters in any way. I had a craft show this past weekend and a sick kid and spent all week either with my kiddo or preparing for my craft show. Hopefully, it was worth the wait, and lucky you all cause there will be another upload tomorrow and Thursday!

Chapter 8

It had been two days. Sesshomaru had not moved from the spot at the base of the pine tree in the meadow, save to shed his armor due to the Miko's comfort. Kagome slept mostly, she would wake for short periods of time and he would make her drink some water and tried to feed her some of the strange foods she kept in her pack but she wouldn't eat anything. He was getting hungry. He dared not leave her to hunt. The smell of a sick human had been attracting all sorts of wildlife. With her luck, the moment he was out of earshot a bear or a wolf would come sniffing by. Luckily no yokai had come and all of the animals were easily scared off with a billow of his yoki and a menacing growl. Sesshomaru took a drink of their water, noting that it was getting low. If the wolf didn't return with the monk and taijiya soon he would be forced to either leave her to get sustenance or perhaps just carry her down to the river with him.

A noise and pressure of yoki alerted Sesshomaru to a yokai coming in from the south. He tested it to see if it was the wolf returning, moments later a man walked into the clearing.

"Ah. I thought I smelled a dying human. And you, inu-yokai, is she your kill?"

Sesshomaru snarled, warning the intruder to back off.

"I shall take that as a no." The man stepped to the right, circling, testing defenses. Their yoki clashed against one another and Sesshomaru could feel the weakness from lack of food affecting his strength. He growled again, this time allowing his beast to blaze red in his eyes. The man took pause, "I see you are no stranger to power, however, you seem weakened, when did you last hunt?"

Sesshomaru silently cursed himself for not keeping himself at peak condition. The stranger drew his sword, Sesshomaru eased Kagome off his body, rising to his full height and cracking his knuckles. His claws drawing poison into a long whip. For the first time, he realized he had allowed Jaken and Rin to leave with Bakusaiga still lashed to Ah-Un's saddle. He cursed himself again. This woman had him doing so many things out of his character. The stranger lunged, Sesshomaru leaped gracefully in the air and lashed his poison whip around the yokai's sword arm. The man's scream of agony ripped through the gentle evening, startling Kagome awake. Her fear was immediate, her scent put Sesshomaru on edge. His instincts were drawing him to assure her, to comfort her, to fight for her. He leaped again, this time the yokai ducked his attack and sliced his sword across Sesshomaru's back. Kagome yelled something, but Sesshomaru's rage left his ears pounding with the sound of his blood. The man turned on Kagome and she used every bit of her strength to push herself back up against the tree. The yokai lunged, Sesshomaru tackled him. They landed beside the Miko's pack and Sesshomaru saw Tessaiga's hilt sticking out of the folds of InuYasha's robe. He couldn't use it to its full power, it had never allowed him as it's master, but any sword was better than no sword. Sesshomaru drew Tessaiga and his father's fang pulsed twice and transformed in his hand, the winds of their battling yoki immediately visible, and Sesshomaru sliced right down the middle, the wind scar tearing through the strange yokai and leaving a gash in the hillside and trees behind him. Sesshomaru straightened, staring down at the sword in his hand. It had responded to him! All his life he had desired nothing more than to be the master of his father's fang. It had always been his biggest vexation that the sword only responded to his hanyou brother. Sesshomaru bent to sheath the Tessaiga, something like pride bursting in his chest. He had always been proud, he knew his skill, he knew his prowess, he knew his might. This was different. This was an accomplishment beyond himself. He allowed himself a moment to revel in this feeling. His instincts were to protect and defend. He looked back at Kagome, crying in the grass, and possessiveness and protectiveness surged through him. He half growled, and was beside her in a moment, lifting her, sniffing her, checking to make sure she wasn't hurt. Kagome laid her head against his chest crying.

"You're hurt?"

"No..." she sobbed..."you are." Sesshomaru assessed his body and found the wound from the sword slashing his back to be a nuisance at the most, definitely not anything life-threatening.

"I am well." Kagome tilted her head back to look at him, her eyes hazy with fever. And she passed out again. Sesshomaru wrapped his pelt around her once more, settling into a seated position at the base of the tree once more, angling to keep the bark from scraping his wound.

A crash of thunder signaled an oncoming storm, Sesshomaru dared it to come. He had never felt so elated in his life. Is this what it felt like to have someone to protect? Is this what his father was offering him all those years ago? The rain started, pelting the ground like thousands of tiny hammers. Sesshomaru billowed his yoki creating a sort of bubble of safety beneath the tree, blocking all wind and rain from entering. He looked back down at the unconscious Miko, exhaustion from the days of the watch, the lack of food, and the fight, finally overtaking him and he curled into her, protecting her from the environment, and he slept.