Kabuto finally moved and jerked away from Seraphina, scooting back so he was no longer touching her, gasping for air and Sesshomaru smelt blood. Focusing on his pack mate as her eyes slowly opened to look at the dark ceiling above. He saw wounds across her neck from Kabuto's claws that were not healing and her rapid breaths all but stopped, her chest barely even moving. A tremor wracked through her body and as she started to fall backwards, Sesshomaru caught her and pulled her into his lap as her body went limp but crimson eyes remained partially opened.
"Kabuto," Sesshomaru frowned as a pained cry escaped the healer.
"Ryuu link... more emotionally personal... than sprite link..." Seraphina whispered weakly.
"How so?" Sesshomaru felt a brow raise and amusement filled her eyes as she look nodded.
"He felt everything... as if he were me... where as you... saw as if... a bystander... The phantom pains... of my injuries... are coursing through him..."
"How... are you... not constantly... screaming in pain...?" Kabuto gasped and Sesshomaru found himself humored by the healers reaction as he was writhing on the floor.
"That's what you get... for barging in..." Seraphina snorted as she nudged the healer with her foot and he saw a spark of electricity jump to the healer and he immediately stilled, though his breathing was still fast.
"What did you just do?" Kabuto frowned, confused as he sat up.
"Grounded you... to reality..."
Sesshomaru adjusted her so she was sitting in his lap and her back was pressed to his chest and felt her claws dig into his thighs, hissing in pain as a violent spasm coursed through her. Pushing her hair away from the right side of her neck, he buried his face against her marked skin and bit into her to send several pulses of jaki into her body. Feeling her body go limp as it took hold, he licked away any stray blood and pulled back from the bite mark as it healed, though the skin around the bleeding scratches that had yet to heal were still angry red.
"If jaki fuels your gems and eases your pain," Kabuto spoke, "what does holy energy do?"
"Unbearable pain... and saps seals..." Seraphina murmured softly.
"That must be difficult considering what I felt from your ward, Lord Sesshomaru."
"How is it you sense something that this one cannot?"
"As a healer, I've become more attuned than most to the energies of those around me. It is mostly due to her having been apart of your pack for so long that your own scent had overpowered the ability to sense her holy energy for most."
"Hn."
"Now for your injuries, I would like to get visual imaging of them," the healer spoke as he moved to kneel beside them and Seraphina lifted her arm to grab Sesshomaru's haori at his shoulder as if knowing what was going to happen as the healer's hand pressed to her abdomen. Ash flew from the fire to his free hand and Sesshomaru watched as it formed into a floating image of her internal organs. Following the ashen scar, golden eyes could see thin scars decorating her womb as if from small claws trying to escape as well as two scarred over circular holes. "Your child had been strong to have caused so much damage."
"Scarring... less than weeks ago..." Seraphina spoke quietly.
"Any pain when Lord Sesshomaru beds you?"
"None... though had been... concerned at first..."
"I do not blame you, young one, after seeing this. Meeting Nordic sprites, the procedure they used is quite common for troublesome pups so I'm surprised they did not remove your womb."
"Nymph... bloodline."
"I see."
"Explain," Sesshomaru ordered and crimson eyes looked up as she tilted her head back.
"Any pup... despite being... hálfur púki..." she glanced at Kabuto and asked a question.
"Hanyou," Kabuto answered and she nodded.
"Pup would be... sterkari... um... stronger."
"Nymphs absorb energy passively and would also take in the energy of their pup's sire so in a sense, the energy of any pup born from a female carrying nymphic blood would be felt as if they were pure blood. No offense to you, young one, but nymphs make fantastic breeders for any race to create almost pure pups if unable to find a mate of their own race."
"None taken..."
"Was that why you were offered to bring new life into your village?" Sesshomaru inquired and crimson lifted to gold once more.
"Benefit... but not factor..." she spoke simply though he could see that her mind was troubled.
"Let us continue," Kabuto spoke.
Seraphina focused back on the floating ash image as his hand against her stomach moved. Sesshomaru watched as the image changed to show her skeletal structure from hips to shoulder and inhaled sharply as he finally saw the true extent of damage. From where her floating ribs started all the way down to the end was covered in visible cracks.
"How extensive was this damage?!" A gasp escaped Kabuto as he spoke.
"Spinal cord... had been damaged... could not feel... below... bringubein..." she spoke as she brought her hand down pointed to the sternum within the ashen image.
"Your pup must have been a powerful sacrifice for them to save you."
"Only half jaki... had been used for me..."
"And they devoured the other half?"
"Yes," Seraphina whispered. "Was in sealed sleep... two seasons..."
"Long enough to heal the life threatening injuries and your spinal cord. Had you been able to absorb the jaki of humanoid Youkai, your injuries would have easily been finished healing by now," Kabuto commented before he lifted his hand to press against her brow and the image changed to one of a skull but Sesshomaru saw no fractures. "Any pain from those eyes?"
"Vision starts... blurring... if too long... between blood rituals... Minimal discomfort..."
"What blood do you use?"
"Have had access... only to lesser Youkai... Would use those... for food and eat... heart and liver."
"There is not much jaki that can be consumed by lessers," Kabuto frowned as he pulled away and the ash flew back into the fire. "Your sprite gems are struggling and you are suffering worse because of that."
"Yes."
"Do you know what happens if you do not do regular rituals to charge those gems?"
"Life around me... starts dying..."
"That's a dire consequence," Kabuto commented and she simply nodded. "Lord Sesshomaru..."
"Proper precautions are already in place," Sesshomaru spoke coldly as he recognized the tone Kabuto had taken, one to advise him to remove such a possible threat from his presence.
"My lord, no matter how much jaki from lesser..."
"Do you have a way to help or not?" Sesshomaru growled threateningly.
"She would need regular rituals with Youkai blood similar to yours in strength. Even if she were able to fully charge them, that would have to continue until she was fully healed."
"Then you are... a tímasóun..." Seraphina murmured, sounding bored.
"My time has never been..." Kabuto spoke, showing he had been insulted by whatever she had said.
"You are dismissed, Kabuto. Return to the castle," Sesshomaru interrupted before the healer could say anything else.
"Y-yes my lord," Kabuto bowed, obviously fighting to not loose his anger before getting to his feet and silently left.
"What did you say to insult him?" Sesshomaru inquired, amused and she turned her head to meet his gaze once more.
"He um... waste of..." he saw her thoughts trying to find the right word, "tíma..."
"Time?" He offered, thinking of what Kabuto had said to her and she nodded. "The more you take from this one, the easier it will be for you to translate your language."
"It's hard..." she huffed and he smirked at her as she pouted, crawling out of his lap to sit at the table once more and began eating her peach desert.
"It has been less than a week and you've shown an ability to learn quickly," he complimented her as he began eating his own desert.
"Can I ask something...?" Seraphina's voice dropped to a whisper and he glanced at her to see her staring at her half eaten desert with a foreign emotion in her eyes that he could not name.
"This one wishes you to always speak your mind rather than keep silent," he spoke calmly and she nodded as she pushed the plate away from her.
"What is Rin's story...?" She frowned. "I can't read her... I see only happiness... she's always smiling... but there's something... that feels off..."
"This one was injured when first meeting her, she was only six summers then," he began and her crimson eyes met his. "After witnessing bandits killing her entire family, she became mute and had been ousted by her village, resorting to living in the ruins of her former home and stealing to survive. When coming across this one, she'd come daily and try offering food though none which would help and she was constantly turned away. One day she showed up, having visibly been beaten by those in her village and covered in bruises and cuts, when asked about her injuries, she only smiled as if that simple question was the most kindness she ever had. Then she stopped coming and this one had finished healing."
"What happened?" She asked softly as memories stirred.
"A pack of lesser okami had attacked the village, leaving no one alive, not even her," he frowned and watched as horror filled her eyes. Pulling her closer, she turned in his lap so her legs were over his left leg and his arm wrapped around her. Propping his elbow against the low table, he rested his head against his palm and focused his eyes on her, "The blade this one one inherited by the sire shared with Inuyasha is unable to cut the living. It only can destroy that which is dead, including the pallbearers that carry a soul to the netherworld, but requires its wielder to be able to show compassion."
"Something... you struggled with once?" She asked and he nodded. "But you saved her...?"
"There's been good as much as there has been bad, but she has been with this one since."
"I wish... I could see... into your mind..." she whispered softly. "To help understand... you both..."
"Would a Sprite link not work?" He frowned.
"No," she shook her head. "You would have to... know of Sprite magic...for it to work... the same..."
"There is another way, though it's one you do not believe in," he spoke and saw understanding fill her eyes as she realized what he was referring to and adverted her gaze. "There is no need to be ashamed of your beliefs, Seraphina."
"I know... it's just..." she frowned slightly as she moved to lay her head against his chest and sighed. "Even being simply pack... different beliefs can clash badly..."
"There has never been anything simple about being a part of a pack, Seraphina," he frowned, bringing his hand up from around her waist to lift her head to look at him.
"Yeah..." she murmured as he stroked her cheek before moving his arm to fall back around her waist. "How much work...do you have left?"
"There is still several documents to go over."
"I should go then..." He tightened his arm around her waist as she tried to move and her slitted eyes constricted as she frowned. "Sho..."
"Can this one not simply enjoy your company for a little longer?" He smirked.
"The sooner you finish...the quicker you can... just be done... for the day," she retorted.
"This one is aware."
"You've never really... acted like been... a lord... was something you wanted..."
"A necessary burden to care for the lands this one's sire worked hard for. This one was raised from birth to one day take over."
"That's not fair..."
"In positions of power, it never has been."
"Sorry..."
"There is no need for you to apologize, Seraphina. Had this one truly not wished for these responsibilities, they would have been given to another."
"Any male heirs... would be... heilaþveginn..." Sesshomaru watched as her brows furrowed once more as she worked to figure out the translation. "Brain... wash...? to one day... take title..."
"The lands are in an era of peace for the first time and this one has no intentions of dying, but to ensure that peace ensues, there must be one who could take over on the chance this one does. It would be any heir's inheritance."
"Still not fair..." she huffed and he nodded, lifting his head from his hand to press a kiss to her full lips and let his arm fall from around her waist. "What would happen... if you had no heir...?"
"As the eldest of this one's pack, the lands would be passed to you," he murmured as she got out of his lap and saw her nose scrunch up in disapproval. "This one's councilors and scholars would assist you as females usually do not assume control unless under dire circumstances."
"Guess you better... not die then..." she spoke gently as she started to gather the dishes.
"Yuki can do that."
"I not mind. Want to be useful," she hummed and grabbed the tray as she stood. "Raised to learn... that everyone helps... no matter their station..."
"Do what you want," he spoke as he returned to his feet and she smiled up at him before exiting his study and he returned to his desk.