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Chapter 15

There was no time to rest as of yet, even in such a distressed state. Survival was the key in his mind right now. And the safety of the two women behind.

In moments those thoughts were correct as more demons emerged from the pathway up head. Hurling any arrows they had with snarls following.

Sesshomaru sharply swung his sword destroying any before they reached them, flinging himself forward. Slicing through the small crowd. He was blur to the two women watching in worry, a white cloud shrouded in screams as the green oozing blood flew against the sides. Staining it.

In a moment they were all down, the bodies decorating the ground by them. Though his back was turned she could tell Sesshomaru was breathing hard and quickly. Painting in exhaustion.

"Sesshomaru?," She called.

His head snapped back glaring at her, the red apparent in them while he bared his fangs at her in a hiss.

Kagome inhaled sharply at the fear that struck from it. Being on the brink of exhaustion and pain had sent him into a demonic state. She gulped hard as they both took steps towards him.

He turned away recognizing their scents, following the path back. Things would not last long as he could feel his body steadily losing energy. The burn pulsed per step stretching far up his back.

He staggered a bit leaning his weight onto the sides of the mountain. The sweat was forming along his body and it was becoming harder and harder to manage. A wound from a priestess, even for a demon as strong as he would take time to heal. That's if it did really. And the companions were in no state to fight. He wasn't sure if anymore would show. But if that be the case then he was barely in any condition to fight. Allowing them to see him in such a state was absolute misery to the Lord's stoic ego as well. And if that damned women pulled another stun in order to protect them, he was certainly done for.

He stopped, holding the palm of his hand out to let them know to stay there. They complied tensing in anticipation. Falling onto his hands and knees he let out a fierce snarl. His body writhed, transforming into the true form of the beast. Throwing its head back with the last amount of power left inside.

They stepped back out of the way staring in amazement.

He snarled out thrashing around, destroying parts of the structuring in the walls. Blocking any path one would take. He breathed heavy pausing for a moment. Before turning and with one hard kick he busted in a cave for shelter for now. It was the best he could offer in his state. The beast whimpered, crying out in exhaustion as it grew into a ball of light back into the humanoid form. He sat back on his knees, breathing ragged as he slowly fell face first into the dirt.

Kagome gasped in shock running over to him, falling into her legs as she grabbed his body. Rolling him over and placing his head in her lap.

"Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru wake up!," She screamed at him but received no response. He lay out cold on her thighs. Rin fiddled with the ends of her clothes watching with tears forming in her eyes. The Lord was never so injured that he lost consciousness like that. To say she was scared was an understatement. A-Un sniffed his hand, whining in worry.

Kagome wiped the dirt off his face gently with her fingers while pulling the white bangs back to feel his forehead. A fever was present.

He knew he was gonna pass out so he made us a cave, and crushed the path in case more would show…. He thought about us even in agony..

Placing him off of her, she struggled to raised him in order to grip under his arms. With all her might she began to drag him into the small cave. Within a few feet she was in, heaving a hard grunt needing to use so much strength. But it wasn't enough, considering the back was the injured area.

Using one last burst of energy she rolled him over again. As gently as possible sliding him back onto his stomach.

Breathing hard she quickly undid the shirt he had given her, sliding it down her shoulders and folding it. In order to place it underneath his face. Less not to be laying flat on dirt.

Rin was crying in the opening of the cave. The sobs trying to remain quiet not to attract unwanted attention. A-Un nudged her but it did nothing. Kagome weakly stood, walking over to her. She bent down and carefully wrapped her arms around the little girl to comfort. Rin hugged back crying into her shoulder. Petting the little girls hair to calm her down.

"Rin listen," She whispered into her ear. "I need you to take A-Un and go."

She shot back staring into kagomes eyes in offense. "No! I will not leave Lord Sesshomaru alone!"

"Rin.. He's really hurt. But should be okay. In the meantime, I can't take care of you and him. There can be more demons. And I don't even know if my powers will come back if needed. Please. Go back to the village. Do you know the way?," She asked.

"But what if he needs me! And will wake up to me not being here!?," She pleaded.

Kagome smiled sadly at her. Knowing how hard this must be.

"He will not. I'm staying behind to watch over him. I can't protect you Rin… neither can he. We'll come back as soon as he wakes up I promise."

The little girl was deep in thought at the words. She knew Kagome was right. But she did not want to leave her Lord alone. Not knowing if he was gonna make it. Also it was pretty scary to go and travel alone. Not even with Jaken.

She walked past her to her Lord, bending down to his level and hugging his head tightly.

"Please," She sobbed. "Please be okay Lord Sesshomaru…"

Standing, she slowly backed away with her eyes never leaving him. The heartbreak shown clearly on her face.

"Come straight back when he walks up.," She said with a somewhat angry tone before striding over to A-Un. Undoing the water container and tossing it over, then taking her time to mount him.

When she finally did, she could not bring herself to look at Kagome. Though she wasn't mad at her personally, it still hurt her to leave Lord Sesshomaru behind.

"Be careful Rin.. And don't worry. When has he ever let you down?," She said trying to seem happy.

Rin only nodded sadly before flicking A-Uns reins, having him lift off the ground. With quick speed they were off. Being seen over the highest cliff along the mountain before disappearing.

Kagome sighed feeling awful. And hating herself more. Partly ruining a trip she had anticipated for some time now. Injuring a man that was everything for this child. Then sending her off like that. She felt like a monster.

Please don't hate me Rin.. I'm so sorry…

Picking up the water container she took a large sip before closing it and leaning it down against the wall. They had no supplies aside from the small bit of water. No food. No medicine even to treat him. Well, if demons used human medication that is.

Looking back to check, he lay there grimacing in pain while asleep. His hands twitching a little along with his eyelids. Letting hushed moans out.

"What the hell am I supposed to do? Another reason I sent her off is because I'm not sure if he'll even make it… if she saw him die it'd be more traumatizing than anything…," She said to herself.

Walking over to him she bent down. Sitting on her knees over him. Gently she peeled his hair away from his back, feeling the soft silk through her fingers.

Okay. I'll try and be tender in dealing with this.. I gotta check though at least.

Then wondering how to go about his moko moko. Could it attach whenever or only when he wanted? These questions made her feel stupid. But. It was necessary. Not wanting to cause anymore pain really.

So she grabbed the end of it and gave a small tug. Pulling out as much as she could. Then struggling to rip the other end out from under his shoulder. He groaned in agitation at her movements but she didn't stop until it completely came out from under, landing with a hard thud on her behind. Cradding the soft fur. It wiggled a little in her arms.

She exhaled at the stinging pain but scrambled to get up covered in the thick fur. He growled loudly in his sleep. Looking at him she wasn't sure what his problem was until she glanced down, noticing she was stepping all over his tail.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!," She yelped hopping over it.

Gathering it all up and placing it down by him.

The only thing left was to peel the tattered clothing out from the burned flesh. Which would definitely hurt.

She breathed in with determination before carefully pulling it, earning another fierce growl but continued until it was all off.

"I'm all done with all that okay? Oh gosh..how do I help a full demon heal?," she asked herself.

oooooo

The sun began to set as the dusk air hit her bare skin. It was getting to be cold out. She stared at the orange sky for the last remaining light. Knowing the night would be spent in darkness since there was no supplies for a fire.

Her stomach growled loudly. It was ignored as she rubbed her sore ankles from all the running.

Glancing back at him she noticed how ragged he was breathing, along with the sweat forming along his features. The goosebumps traveling over his skin from the cold. He was weak.

She gulped crawling over to him. Sitting up once again by his side on her knees.

She studied him seeing all that was wrong. And it was all her fault to begin with. The same as everything else wrong that happened around.

Fist balling in her lap the tears formed in the corner of her eyes as she closed them. Bowing her head in shame.

"I-I.. I'm so sorry Sesshomaru… it's m-my fault. I w-wouldnt blame you if you k-killed me for this…," She cried out.

The air blew slightly over her shoulders and she shivered. But in this point in time even though she deserved to feel this way, he did not.

She opened her eyes looking at his moko moko. The soft tail would serve as it always did. She went to grab it, gently pulling it over. It fell over his bare back and body with much remaining.

Motioning herself next to him laying on her side and sliding an arm through his to warm herself while the other was used for a pillow. She stared at his face as he slept.

Remembering the first night they slept under the stars together. At how she did the same then, making an attempt to feel the strips along his cheeks. And he caught her.

But they were so mesmerizing. And this night would be the first they lay side by side with no distance between. Just the two of them.

She blushed through tears at the thought. Unsnaking the arm from his, she slowly brought it up. Hesitating closely, she carefully traced her fingertip over one of his strips. Following the pattern all the way to the end of it. But the movement didn't stop. She swallowed hard, tracing the cheek until she got to his lips. Placing one finger on his bottom one. Her eyes grew wide at the touch.

He's so soft…. For a cruel creature to be so breathtaking in this state…

Her heart began to race as she pulled her hand away from him. Scooting closer to his face. Her lips an inch away from his, she could make out the small strains of hair fallen over his eyes. The perfectly rounded moon crescent pressed on his forehead. The outline of his nose. How absolutely stunning this man was.

She nibbled the bottom of her lip feeling his gentle breathes on hers. It was intoxicating.

Her eyes fluttered closed as she pulled away returning to her original spot from him. It was her fault he was in this state. And here she was, almost taking advantage of him in such a vulnerable state. What was wrong with her?

She covered her eyes in embarrassment while quietly kicking her feet in frustration. Whatever was going on with her she'd have to put an end to it. This man would never in a million years look at her with the eyes she continued to have at him in certain moments.

She huffed into her hands. Maybe distancing herself would be best. And with such behavior she deserves to sleep in the cold anyways.

But as she went to completely pull away from his body heat she was stopped. The moko moko wrapped around her legs and back, and roughly dragged her back. Pressing her flush against his side.

He wore a scowl on his face, but was quickly covered with calm ease at the feel of her body.

She yelped as they came into contact, her face madly flustered. He wanted her.. Near him.

Poor thing… He's probably so cold right now…

She smiled to herself, wiping any tears that still stained her face and wrapping her arm back over his. It felt so warm and comfortable to be by him like this. The moko moko stroking her exposed skin. All along the upper arm. She sighed in content, closing her eyes to sleep.

In all she was absolutely exhausted. But like this it was hard to fight sleep when things felt so right for her.

She settled on allowing herself to enjoy this state, with him, at least this one time.

oooooo