Poison

Kagome knelt next to a promising path of herbs, reaching between the weeds with both hands and a short, sharp knife. With practiced motions she removed some of the leaves and dug for a particular root to add to the basket sitting on the grass next to her. Her next visit to the River Village was approaching and she wanted to make sure her supplies were restocked.

The trees rustled around the small clearing she was in, not too far from Inuyasha's den. Warm breeze carried a multitude of forest scents and a promise of rain later today. Kagome couldn't help but smile. The forest spirit always got a tad grumpy when it rained and only a gentle rub of his ear could lighten his mood. Rain also meant that Shippou and the dogs would e rowdy in the yard, enjoying the downpour, and would need a scrub before they could be let back in the den.

Only yesterday she'd woken after the battle with Sesshomaru, but it felt as if weeks passed since that day. She pushed the removed dirt back in the hole to cover the rest of the root of the plant, her thoughts going back to the events of the last day.

When Inuyasha and her had finally left the sleeping room and had joined her mother and Shippou for dinner, the headman and some of the elders had joined them too. They had been treating her like she was a lady of noble birth or miko of great power. Their deference hadn't disappeared when Kaede and her had discussed the battle and had come to the conclusion that neither of them had had any clue from where her sudden power had come from. Even now, as Kagome focused inwards and reached for her reiki, all she could sense was a mere shadow of what had gone through her to create the barrier.

After the dinner they had left the village. Shippou had been perched on her shoulder as she'd walked beside Inuyasha, just like usual. What hadn't been usual had been the cheering crowd that had looked like all the villagers gathered to clap their hands and yell their gratitude for saving the village. They'd called for the forest spirit and for the forest miko. - at least until Shippou had complained that he'd been there too.

Kagome laid her dirty hands on her knees, remembering the daze she'd been in as they had made their way through the village and towards the forest. So much admiration, so much gratitude and joy - and it all directed at her, the one many of them had been calling cursed and had been ignoring for years. It had been so overwhelming, so new... She'd blushed and had lowered her head, uncertain how to act in such a situation. She'd been a failure of a miko for so long, she'd been unused to such respect and awe.

And her forest spirit had seen her discomfort with these keen yellow eyes of his. He's grabbed her hand in front of everyone and had tugged her closer to his side. His youki swelled to hide her in its warmth.

"Oh shut up and go to your shit already!" he'd barked at the crowd. "It's not like it was the first time she saved your asses!"

Kagome giggled at the memory of stunned faces all around her. Someone had started to ask what the noble forest spirit had meant by that, but the impatient hanyou had scoffed, had pointed to Kaede and had told them to ask her instead of bothering them.

And then they had gone to the Sacred Tree, followed by some of the braver boys. They'd gone back to the village when Inuyasha had threatened to practice his sword magic on them. Kagome shook her head and reached for her basket. Inuyasha and her had spent a while under the tree, adorned with colorful plaits and bells as if someone wanted to make it a part of a festival. She was glad that the villagers took time and effort to adorn the Sacred Tree, to visit it and pray under it, but a part of her wasn't that pleased. That part of her saw this tree as her and Inuyasha's special spot, no one else's. It was the tree that had protected him for decades in his slumber. It had witnessed their first meeting, it was where Inuyasha passed and judgment where the village left the monthly offerings to Inuyasha. And now some people came there too. She pushed this thought back, it was wrong to think like that. The tree was not their to keep, others had the right to visit it as well; now it wasn't a scary place since Inuyasha's awakening.

She would've lied if she said she wasn't a bit scared of the strange surge of power she'd experienced. Her mother had performed a few tests before Kagome had left, but all they had found had been the usual slow trickle of power, not that tidal wave that threatened to overflow her. Her mother had promised to send a message to the shrine where she and her elder sister had trained in their youth, but for now all Kagome could do was to watch her reiki carefully and try not to fret.

Kagome rose to her feet, one hand clutching at the basket, other brushing grass and dirt from her hakama. That was when she realized that something was amiss.

Birds didn't sing in the branches overhead. The only sounds she could hear were creaking of tree limbs and loud buzz of insects. There was no youki, but there was something else, a thick aura that seemed to hang like thick smoke. Slowly, trepidation making her muscles tense and a cold knot tightening in her gut, Kagome turned round and looked to where the aura seemed to originate from. Three shapes hung in the air, wings buzzing, eyes glimmering like gems filled with malice.

The basket fell from her suddenly lax fingers. No wasps should be that big.

.

Shippou raided the coop. Well, it wasn't like a normal fox raid, he was forbidden to pounce and play with the chickens, but he was allowed to collect the eggs. The chickens, after some time of wariness, seemed to accept that their world contained a no-threat fox. And for hos hard work Kagome rewarded the brat with tail brushing with a special soft brush.

Of course he, Inuyasha, was not jealous of that. It would be foolish to be jealous of the time his intended spent with the idiot fox. So, it was totally mature and normal that when Shippou collected the eggs to make Kagome smile at him and pull out the stupid brush, Inuyasha restocked the firewood and gathered wild greenery to go with the meats he caught for her. It was only right he provided for his intended and their stupid ward. And it was also wise to restock the pantry. Really, there was no reason to be jealous, even a tiny bit, for when Kagome was done with Shippou's tail, she always turned t smile at him and brush his hair with his own brush - he'd be dammed if he let her brush the kitsune stink in his hair. And it was he who was allowed to groom his future mate's hair in turn. Afterwards she'd snuggle against his side and they'd watch Shippou practice his tricks until she fell asleep - these were his favorite evenings in his den. He couldn't imagine going back to not having Kagome living with them.

Inuyasha, the mighty forest spirit, the hanyou that graciously allowed humans in his domain and accepted their offerings in exchange for his protection, ran through his forest, a bag filled with wild onions and edible roots bouncing against his back.

He was smiling as he ran, the sense of freedom, awareness of his power and peace in his territory were filling his heart, along with the sheer joy of not being alone. At the end of his run there was Kagome - and Shippou, and his pack. He wasn't alone anymore, he was not distant from everyone, apart from others because of what he was.

Inuyasha stopped bu the Tree of Ages, adorned in the multitude of plaits and cheap bells the villagers could afford. He smirked at the tree that had held him in its protection for five decades until Kagome came along to enter his life. He caught a faint wisp of incense and approached the tree to find a small stone bowl containing cold, but still fragrant ashes. Ears twitching, Inuyasha wondered what the villagers were up to now. During his rule over the forest they had never done that - burning incense and adorning the tree were new practices. Sure, they left their offerings hanging in trees for him to grant his protection, but they kept the incense and bells for the land kami that took care of their fields and river. To most of them the Tree of Ages held no other meaning than being the tree he favored, a very old one at that. Only a spiritual person could sense the energy the tree held within itself.

The forest spirit came closer to the tree and put a hand against its bark where he'd been sleeping a year ago. The spirit of the tree, the not-really-sentient being of growth and energy, flexed under the touch of his youki, like a napping dog shifting under a hand stroking its back.

"Whatever," he shrugged and lifted his hand away from the warm bark. He had enough on his mind without adding the bizarre behavior of some dumb humans.

He'd mastered Tessaiga. Well, he wasn't able to practice the Kaze no Kizu after he'd wiped the floor with his asshole brother. He hadn't been keen on leaving Kagome's side, even with her mother being around. But something deep within him told him he had it under his belt. It was pretty easy, once you used your nose to sniff out where your youki clashed against the energy of another. Then you just had to cut there and admire the view. His hand laid on the hilt of Tessaiga - the sword was now always on his hip, not only when the full moon threatened his transformation. It was no longer an useless blade, it was capable of dealing a daiyoukai a few nasty wounds, guided by his hanyou hands. This was also thanks to his Kagome, thanks to her he was no longer virtually powerless against his brother. He stood a chance.

Which was great, because he now had lots more to protect than just his hide.

Inuyasha turned to leave, he already wasted enough time. He had to go hunt for Kagome on her weed scouting mission and bring her back tot he den. His forest was quite peaceful as of late, with all the youki from his recent battle with Sesshomaru any youkai with two working brain cells would think twice before entering his domain. But it was still best to make sure Kagome didn't get herself in trouble, aside of youkai there were other dangers a human could get themselves into. The hanyou frowned as he ran, thinking about his intended mate.

He was following Myouga's advice. There hadn't ever been a miko-youkai mating, at least to the flea's knowledge. There was no telling what Kagome's reiki would have done upon him transferring some of his youki in her to mark her - it was weak reiki, but Inuyasha didn't want to take any chances it'd reject his youki.

So, he'd done as the flea had told him, once in a while brushing his youki against her reiki, passing a tiny bit with a kiss or a touch, not much to actually count. All it'd done was a ton of nothing, at least as far as Inuyasha's senses were concerned. According to Myouga as soon as his youki touched her reiki within her it was pulled in and vanished without a trace. And it wasn't like her reiki was purifying it, it just disappeared.

But at least her reiki didn't try to fight his youki, that was something Inuyasha was thankful for.

The wind shifted and swayed the branches of the trees around him. Inuyasha paused, his ears perking up, his nose lifted to inspect the shifting breeze. Then, suddenly, he was gone from the path in a blur of red and white, the bag falling on the ground, forgotten.

There was the scent of blood on the wind.

.

Kagome screamed in pain and fear. The basket was bleeding shreds of carefully collected herbs as she flailed it to ward off the wasps that buzzed about her. She tucked her other hand to her chest, pain pulsing in her palm where she'd tried to make a barrier to stop an attack from one of the beings. The creature had broken the barrier and had dug it's sting in her palm deep. Now her hand felt at the same time hot and numb. Blood seeped fro the wound, trickling down her arm and dripping on the grass.

The heavy buzz of the wasps was surrounding her, the aura thick and suffocating. She tried to run, but her head spun and her ears were full of the rush of her blood. Kagome blinked away tears and swatted at one of the attackers, thankful for the fact that apparently they couldn't pierce the fire rat kimono she wore. It didn't stop them fro hitting her full force and leaving bruises, each such hit akin to a blow of a stick that tore another yell of pain from her. And no matter how hard she hit them, they just rose from where they'd landed, intent on driving her to the ground and filling her veins with poison.

Why were such beings in Inuyasha's Forest? She'd never seen any youkai like them and they had no reason to attack her so viciously.

"Inuyasha!" she called out, choking on the smoke-like foul air that seemed to be created by the wing beats of the wasps.

"Kagome!" came a responding cry, echoing through the forest somewhere behind the wall of miasma. With a sob of relief Kagome tried to go towards that dear voice calling her name, but one of the wasps hung in front of her, eyes gleaming red in the cloud of miasma. With energy she no longer had she swatted it away with her half-destroyed basket, then staggered forward and sank to her knees when her foot caught on a root hidden in the grass.

"Sankon Tessou!" she heard and saw Inuyasha appearing in front of her, his claws cutting the miasma along with one of the wasps. The others moved to attack, their heavy buzzing full of anger. But the forest spirit, cursing up a storm, clawed them to shreds as he danced around her to make sure none of them tried to get to her when he was busy.

Kagome took big gulps of the fresh air that smelled not of decay and malice. The basket rolled out of her grasp and she immediately clutched at the wrist of her injured hand, trying to focus and send her reiki there to heal it. Her power seemed to be more sluggish in obeying her than usual, or maybe it was because it was so hard to focus with the pain radiating from her limb and all the places the hornets had hit all over her back, arms, and legs.

She gasped when Inuyasha's youki pressed around her like a blanket of security and warmth. She felt his hands on her, helping her to straighten up where she knelt. She looked up into his face, grim lines softening as he looked down at her. As soon as she saw that he was really there, that he once more saved her, a wave of relief and guilt washed over her. She'd not defend herself, she'd not killed even one of the wasps, but she was so thankful that she didn't have to deal with them on her own. The mysterious power didn't see fit to come to her aid this time and it was Inuyasha who she could rely on in any situation. He always came to help and comfort her beloved forest spirit.

"Oh, Inuyasha," she choked out and fell against his chest, clinging to him as she shivered, adrenaline leaving her cool and numb, and so fatigued. "I was so scared... It hurts so much!"

The hanyou wrapped his arms around her and she felt him lift her from where she'd been keeling.

"It's okay, Kagome," he grumbled, his voice still raspy from yelling curses and shaking just a bit. "I'll take you to Kaede. Just hang on."

Kagome nodded weakly and closed her eyes against the rush of wind as he leaped from tree to tree. She could feel vaguely the shifting of their weight as he leaped, the moment of weightlessness between each step, the world spinning as she tried to stay awake. Her hand pulsed and so did the pressure in her temples, her breaths shallow from where she'd inhaled the dark, foul air. She tried to focus on Inuyasha's heartbeat, steady against her ear, but it was of no use. She slipped into darkness before Inuyasha reached her mother's hut.

.

Jaken was outraged. It was actually amusing, if one ignored the indignant shrill yells of his retainer. Lord Sesshomaru was quite adapt at tuning out the voice of the kappa that followed him.

But there was a new voice behind him as he walked and he found himself idly listening to it.

"Begone, foul human spawn!" yelled Jaken, no doubt swinging his arms like a windmill.

"Oh, hush, Master Jaken!" chimed a girl's voice. It was pleasant and full of life. It lacked any kind of fear, despite the fact that a youkai was screaming at her and a daiyoukai was not a dozen paces in front of her. "Rin is following her lord. She was given to him and he didn't send her away."

The odd child actually spoke now. Correction, she was quite talkative, which was intriguing. Before, she hadn't said a word, she hadn't even cry when the wolves had chased her. But now, now she was asking questions, making up silly songs and apparently enjoyed bickering with Jaken.

It was new to him to be around children. Even when he himself had been a pup he hadn't spent much time in company of other youths. And all that he actually had interacted over the years had been well-bred and well-behaved offspring of lords. They'd been taught how to behave, how to fight and how to survive practically from the day of their birth, their training augmented by their natural instincts and skills.

It came as no surprise that the girl - Rin was her name - was helpless and defenseless. All humans were weak and powerless. But, instead of running back to her kin as soon as she could, this girl saw it perfectly normal to seek protection and comfort from him, the Lord Sesshomaru, who had never paid much attention to yapping pups.

And in her defenselessness, in her total lack of fear and complete trust in him, Rin achieved what many hadn't - she captured his interest. She was obedient to a fault, but seemed to express that virtue only towards him. She'd obey his retainer only if it was by his own command.

She had the audacity to name his dragon steed Ah-Un and proceed to spoil the beast with mane brushing and scale polishing. And, for some reason, Ah-Un didn't bite off her fingers, but rather allow her pamper him. She had the dragon wrapped around her finger in no time at all.

He didn't know what to make of this situation. He always stood by the belief that pups that couldn't take care of themselves were weak and if they couldn't improve with training should be discarded. Weakness or body, mind of heart should not be allowed.

Yet there, skipping between a kappa and a dragon, laughing as the kappa tripped over a rock, was a human who had once been mute and full of fear (admittedly, not towards him) smelling of joy and happiness. Any other human in her place would have cowered in fear and cried for help, but she did not. When she found a problem she couldn't solve she didn't shy from asking about it either Jaken or himself, polite and patient.

And the look she gave him when she looked at him, as if she was genuinely happy to see him, as if she didn't want anything more than he himself was willing to offer. She didn't try to influence him, get favors or use him to gain political power.

She didn't complain, she didn't cry, she expressed no fear. She was respectful ad obedient, full of life and innocence. She was nothing like that beaten up silent creature that had ran from the dwelling of her race to find solace at his feet. She was a human and yet for some reason he didn't understand Tenseiga saw it fit to revive her. It had prompted him to draw it, it had showed him the beings of the netherworld, it had made him to swing the blade - for her. What was with this human that made the sword that didn't cut actually deal wounds to the bearers of souls and bring her back to life? He'd told Jaken he'd tested the blade on her, but deep within himself he knew it was but an excuse, brought forth by the fact that he knew not the reason for his actions.

That was so strange.

"My lord, can Rin go and drink some water from that river? She will be quick," the child said, suddenly losing interest in her discussion with Jaken.

He made no move to look back at her as he walked across the gentle curve of a hill that the river ran at the foot of.

"Silly human, stop pestering my lord with your demands! You just ate juicy fruits a coupe of hours ago!" Jaken scoffed.

"But Rin is thirsty. And Master Jaken, you will feel much better after you take a dip in the river, Rin heard kappa always cheer up in water," the girl argued. Jaken cried in outrage.

"Jaken," he spoke and the kappa straightened up to attention.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Boil some water," he said plainly, not ever bothering to look behind.

"But... But... Why, my lord?" Jaken was bewildered.

"This one has no business explaining himself to you. Do as you were told," he commanded and walked towards a rock that rose over the riverbank, a perfect spot to sit on. Rin ran towards a cluster of flowers growing nearby and Jaken went about gathering water and boiling it with his staff.

Not an hour later Sesshomaru peered into his cup where a handful of twigs and leaves floated. He never liked the tea brewed in a hurry in the middle of nowhere, but it'd suffice. Rin sat near him, cupping her little hands around her own cup, her fingers stained green from the juices the weeds she'd picked had spilled over her skin. She glanced his way and when he gave a barely there nod she took a sip of her tea.

His mokomoko fluffed out, just a little and the Lord Heir of the West once again wondered what it all meant and how to deal with this strange human.

He couldn't drag her around. With him she'd lose her innocence, see death and desolation that he left in his wake. For some reason he wasn't fond of dousing the spark of youthful joy in her eyes. He most certainly didn't want to leave her in the first human dwelling they came across - humans had proven to be poor caretakers for her in the past. In the short time she was in his company she'd expressed an array of behaviors and emotions he'd never seen in any of her kind.

Only one human female had come close to what Rin appeared to be. Brave and stubborn, but well-behaved and kind. As much as he despised that woman she'd been much similar to Rin in many a way.

He was for once uncertain what to do. He couldn't leave her - she had nowhere to go and in a way she was his responsibility, being given to him by her own kin. But in his company, what human could survive walking in his footsteps? He couldn't take her to his mother's estate, she'd be killed in an instant, if not for her race then to spite him.

The not so pleasant realization that he'd seen a human similar in behavior and feeling to Rin made an idea come to his mind. He took a sip of his barely passable tea. Yes, this was a good plan - he had to go there soon anyway.

.

A man with long dark hair sat in a corner of a shadowy room. He glared at a mirror held in the lap of a pale girl kneeling in front of him on a tatami mat. The girl sighed as the image in the mirror faded away and she lifted her gaze to the red eyes of her master, who glared at the mirror now reflecting his own visage.

"That half-breed," he hissed. "I remember him. I, Naraku, had destroyed him, with the hands of the whore that had betrayed me."

"He is alive. He killed the wasps," the girl said softly

"I shall mend this." The man promised darkly and waved the girl to leave him alone to plan.