Chapter 21, enjoy!

It almost feels strange for there to be a bag slung on my shoulder, and my hands to be free. Luckily, the bag is light, containing only a change of clothes, some food, some bandages, and my flashlight. As an afterthought, I snag the notebook I've turned into a foliage guide and a pencil. Then I glance again at the sketchbook in Rin's hands and sigh. I'd like to bring it, especially after how long I've gone without it, but Rin seems to have taken a liking to drawing, and all the supplies would just be deadweight anyway. If Miroku has half the endurance Sesshomaru has, we'll only be stopping to sleep. There won't be any time for art.

Sesshomaru.

My fingers tighten on my arms as my gaze shifts to him. He still sits upright against the wall in the same spot he's been almost the entire time we've been here, his eyes fixed out the window across from him and his arm resting on his leg. I swallow hard.

"I'll be off, then."

"Have a safe trip!"

I nod to Rin, and, with only the quickest furtive glance his way, I head for the door.

"I will accompany you."

I freeze, Sesshomaru standing. For once I'm thankful for Jaken's antipathy when he begins to sputter, "B-But My Lord! There's no reason to trouble yourself! I mean, I don't understand your decision to stay in the village, but the humans here will serve you whatever you please, lest they unleash your wrath upon them! To travel merely for this girl's sake—"

"Jaken, you will stay here with A-Un to take care of Rin."

"M-My Lord! If you've truly decided to go, at least let me come with you!" Tears gather in the imp's eyes, but something like that would never move Sesshomaru. Without another word, Sesshomaru passes me and exits the building. At this point, Jaken is blubbering, and although Rin is still smiling, a slight look of loneliness colors her eyes. I force myself to give her a half-hearted smile before I trail after Sesshomaru. He didn't wait for me, already a ways down the path to where Miroku's staying. I start after him without any hurry.

Last night...is still a little fuzzy to me...but I remember enough to dread him coming along with us to the temple. Even before that wretched spirit possessed me, I was hoping for a little distance from him to think, but this morning I woke up desperate to get on the road. What am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to act around him after I literally threw myself at him last night? I can't remember exactly what came out of my mouth, but I'm well aware I was inviting him for more. My jaw clenches, and I stare hard at the dirt path under my feet. Why does this have to happen to me?

When I arrive at Miroku's hut, the monk instantly brightens, having been looking more than a little uncomfortable standing next to Sesshomaru. Breathing becomes a bit more taxing as I'm struck by the fact that he's literally the only other person who saw how I acted last night, and Miroku begins to laugh.

"There's no reason to be shy, Ms. Ren. I doubt I saw the worst of it. I must say, though, that shade of red looks lovely on your cheeks."

"Ah, Lord Sesshomaru, are ye going along, as well?" Kaede asks, approaching. He doesn't reply, and the old priestess smiles. "I am glad. I was quite worried about leaving Ren in the hands of a lecher such as Miroku."

Miroku's shoulders slump. "Lady Kaede…"

"Ye should get going. The sooner ye know what's inside ye, Ren, the better. I wish you luck in your travels."

"Thank you, Kaede." I wish she was coming with us. It would be nice to have someone I could talk with without last night looming over my head.

"If we're all ready, let's go."

Miroku leads the way, Sesshomaru for once lagging behind. I speed up to walk beside Miroku, not knowing where else to stand. This earns me a curious glance from him. I acknowledge him with a slight nod, then keep my gaze trained ahead. We delve into the woods, heading for the mountains. I try to let my mind get lost in nature, but my hand never quite stops fiddling with the silk bow tied around my wrist.

A short ways into our journey, Miroku comments, "So I'm guessing something happened last night between the two of you." My fingers freeze inside of one of the bow's loops. Taking in my silence, he continues, "I won't ask for details, although I'm all ears if you want to share.

"...I don't."

"Oh well, maybe another time."

Definitely not.

Thankfully he changes the topic after that, telling me about the temple we're headed to, and his master, Mushin. He also asks me a few questions about my supposed powers, like the possibility of a trigger, or how it felt to use. I can't really think of any trigger except that my life was in danger, but I explain to him how chilled my hands became, and I also tell him about how the light seemed to absorb into the spirit, as if infecting her. The first time we pause for a short break, Miroku takes both of my hands in his and studies them. I search his expression, waiting for him to find something out of the ordinary. When his mouth screws in thought, I ask, "What is it?"

"According to the lines of your palms, you will have great luck in love, and your love should prove extremely fruitful. Say, would you possibly consider bearing my children?"

I immediately remove my hands from his.

"This isn't the time for your jests, monk."

"On the contrary, Lord Sesshomaru, I don't see anything wrong with making a few jokes at the present, although I can't say I was joking just now." A hard glare from Sesshomaru convinces Miroku to lift his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I'll keep my hands off of her."

Somewhere inside of me I thank the powers that be that the demon possessing me last night didn't make me attack Miroku, because something tells me he may not have been so inclined to refuse.

Around sunset, we stop to make camp at the edge of a rivulet. I put away the plant book I'd been studying and help Miroku with the fire. He's surprised I don't know how to create a spark until I explain Jaken's staff. He teaches me how to judge if a stone is good for striking, then moves on with how to strike them. I watch intently as he sparks an ember, then coaxes it into a fire, suddenly very thankful for Jaken's previous help. He might be a hateful little creature, but he's perhaps more useful than I gave him credit for.

Miroku manages to catch himself a frog, which he skewers on a stick to roast. I gag and try not to think about it, having hardly been able to withstand Rin teaching me how to catch and cook fish. I take out a container of pre-cooked, air temperature rice from my bag and eat that along with some nearby plant leaves. The meal passes in silence.

I'm putting away the empty container when Miroku leaps to his feet, grabbing his staff. I look to Sesshomaru, who stares off in the same direction as the monk, and follow his lead as he slowly rises off the ground.

From the depths of the fallen darkness, a crackling voice demands, "Give me the jewel shard, and perhaps I will let you live."

"Show yourself, demon!"

The voice simply laughs. Miroku begins to turn wildly.

"Damn! He's hidden his presence!"

Sesshomaru unsheathes his sword.

A moment later, air puffs my hair in my face and the body of a spider the size of a cat thumps to the ground just shy of my left, Sesshomaru suddenly a mere foot away. My breath catches and I stumble back. A curse from Miroku then turns my attention his way, and he slaps a sutra on the spider's disconnected head, causing it to dissolve. As Sesshomaru replaces his sword in its sheath, Miroku turns his arm over in inspection, and I realize there's a slight rip in the sleeve.

"A-Are you hurt?"

"Its tooth grazed me when its head flew my way." He turns up a glare at Sesshomaru. "I can't say I'm too pleased about that little surprise."

"I assumed you could handle it," Sesshomaru dismisses, refusing to look at the monk. "I'll be sure not to overestimate you again."

I step over to Miroku, hands held out hesitantly towards his arm. He moves it into my reach. "Was it venomous?"

"The spider probably was, but I have no way of knowing if any venom got into my system until symptoms show up."

I chew on the inside of my lip, digging my plant book back out and flipping through. I stop at a page with a drawing of a large, thin leaf with a pointed tip. "Kaede said that the seeds of the plant with this leaf can combat venom if made into a paste and spread on the bite." Of course, I'm grasping at straws here. There are so many types of venoms, and I don't even know if any sort of plant can actually work against lethal bites. It's all I have to go on, though. Even if I knew how to make an antivenom, the spider head literally just evaporated, so I don't even have that to work with!

Miroku examines the page. "Okay, I'll go look and see if I can find any."

"No! You can't! The more you move, the quicker it'll spread! And what if you collapse while looking? You stay here and try not to move, I'll go and look!"

"If you go off on your own, you're just begging to be attacked," Sesshomaru scolds.

"I've gone off on my own before to gather food! I'll be fine!"

"Stay put."

"I can't just—"

"Ren." I clam up at the command in his tone, suddenly hit with the fact that I'm arguing with him. "Stay put."

I gnaw on my lip as he disappears into the forest, Miroku grinning.

"Protective, isn't he?"

If only that were the case. "Sit down," I order in a quiet voice. Miroku obediently sits, and I lower myself onto my knees. I stare at his arm, turning my mind back to his injury. That's what's important right now. "I hope venom didn't get in the wound."

"I hope the same. It's possible none did. Even if it did, though, we've got your remedy for it. I'll be fine, so don't look so worried. Such an expression doesn't suit your pretty face."

But I still don't know if the 'remedy' will do him any good. I'd honestly never heard of anything helping venomous bites except antivenom before coming to this era. I mean, if simple herbs could solve everything, wouldn't we just be using those?

I assure myself that if Kaede believes it works, she's probably seen it work before. Sesshomaru quickly returns with a handful of small, strawberry-like seeds, and I get to work crushing them and breaking their crisp shells inside my empty rice container. It's by no means entirely paste-like when I'm done, and their little shells are still mixed in, but time is important for stuff like this so I go ahead and start pressing the medicine into Miroku's wound. He grimaces, and I apologize softly as I continue to apply it until its all on his arm. Then I carefully wrap the medicine and wound in bandages and pull his sleeve back down over it.

"Wow," Miroku marvels, gently flexing his arm. "You're quite the caretaker, aren't you?"

"It's...nothing. I'm the reason the spider attacked us in the first place."

"I told you not to worry," he chides, patting my head. He almost immediately withdraws his hand, however, eyes flying elsewhere. "Well, I don't know about you two, but I feel like it's been a pretty long day, so why don't we catch some shut eye so we can be ready to go again tomorrow?"

"You're...really going to be okay?"

"Trust me, Ren. If I died this easily, I'd of been buried in the earth a long time ago."

I take a deep breath, nodding as I let it out. "Okay. See you in the morning, then."

"Yep. Sleep well!"

I was honestly kind of stuck on how to write this chapter after what happened last chapter, but then I realized Ren would be just as lost as I was! All in all I think it turned out well. As always, thoughts, hopes, criticisms, and all sorts of comments are welcome. And thanks to everyone who's read this far! This is definitely turning into one of my longer works, and I won't be surprised if it turns into my longest! It's proving to be a sort of adventure for me, as well! So thanks to everyone sticking along for the ride! See you again next chapter!