DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

Italic: thoughts
-- --: locations
"...": spoken words
~*~*~*~*~: time gap
*...* : noises


AN ELVES' CHILD

-by Kittymui-


Survival

Previously:
"Hold onto me Kagome, we'll jump out of this dreadful place." Inuyasha said.
Kagome nodded in reply and wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's neck.
Inuyasha responded by gently lifting her in his arms bridal style.
"Ready?"
"Yeah..."
Then Inuyasha jumped over the city wall into the forest with Kagome in his arms. And they walked deeper into the forest together in the middle of the night...

~*~ Several hours later ~*~


Kagome and Inuyasha were walking in the forest. They didn't know exactly where they were heading but they knew they had to get away as far as possible.

As they continued to walk next to each other, Kagome noticed the increasing sweatdrops on Inuyasha's forehead. It's winter and we aren't exactly exerting ourselves...then why...

She stopped walking as realization struck her.

"Matte Inuyasha." she halted him.

Inuyasha stopped walking and turned around to face Kagome.

Kagome gasped. She didn't notice it before but now that he was facing her, she saw his pale skin color and his eyes that were losing concentration.

"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked with a pant.

"Why...why are you pushing yourself this much!?!" Kagome asked with a trembling voice.

Inuyasha's expression became annoyed. "Damn it Kagome, don't argue with me! There's no time for that!" He wanted to growl but ended up panting the last sentence.

Kagome wanted to argue with him but stopped when she watched him collapse to the grass. "Oh my god!! Inuyasha!! Are you okay!? Say something!!" she cried out worriedly as she knelt down beside Inuyasha, who was now lying flat on his stomach.

"Talk to me Inuyasha!! Please!! Don't fall asleep!!"

"S-shoul..." he groaned faintly with his eyes closed.

"What did you just say??" Kagome asked as she lowered her ear to his face.

"B-burning...s-shoulder..." Inuyasha managed to whisper before he lost consciousness.

"No!! Inuyasha!! Stay with me!!" Kagome cried.

Calm down Kagome! Panicking only makes the situation worse!! her conscience reminded her.

"Okay...calm down..." Kagome said to herself. "We'll need shelter first before I examine his wound...but where..."

"Where can I find a safe place?"

I'll just have to follow my instincts on this... Kagome decided after thinking a moment.

Kagome flung Inuyasha's arm over her shoulder and pulled him up using all her strength. Okay, here we go... she thought as she successfully steadied his limp body against hers.

Just when she was about to walk, soft whispers echoed through the rustling leaves of surrounding trees.

"It's him...he's hurt..." the whispers repeated several times.

Kagome perked her head up.

"Fire...firestone...kowai..."

"Who's there?!" Kagome asked cautiously as she looked around above her. "What do you want?!"

"Have to take it out...firestone...or else he'll die..." they continued, ignoring Kagome's presence.

Then the leaves stopped rustling and everything became silent.

What the hell was that?! Kagome thought puzzled but shook her head. No time for this...Inuyasha needs to lie down. she said to herself inwardly and started to walk into a direction.

~*~ Later ~*~


About an hour later, Kagome finally reached a cave.

It was not a very big or deep cave, but it was enough to provide protection against the harsh weather.

Kagome gently and carefully laid Inuyasha on the floor and panted heavily of having to carry him for an hour. It was a tough job for a pregnant girl to carry an unconscious youkai. She looked down at Inuyasha's figure that was half lit up by the moonlight. Good, he's still breathing... she thought relieved as she heard Inuyasha's heavy pants echoed through the cave.

Kagome stood up again after resting a while. We need fire to warm up the cave. she concluded and left the cave to search for dry wood.

It didn't take long for her to return with an armful of dry wood and a couple of sharp edged stones.

Within minutes she had made a sharp point on a thin twig with the sharp stones and began to make fire using the most basic method.
Kagome relaxed when she picked up the smell of burning wood and quickly blew at the origin of the smoke to lure out the fire. She straightened herself up as a medium sized campfire was burning in the center of the cave, wiping the sweatdrops on her forehead.

Kagome turned to Inuyasha, who was lying on the floor next to her kneeled form near the flame and almost gasped.

She didn't realize it before since it was so dark but the stone floor beneath and around his body was colored red with his blood. Oh my god! Inuyasha!! she cried inwardly.

Kagome gently but quickly lifted Inuyasha's upper body from the cold floor and turned him to his side, so that his wounded shoulder was on the topside. She carefully moved away his clothes around his shoulder and looked at the wound.

It wasn't a very big wound, only a little bit bigger than an average marble. Streams of dried blood ran from the small hole to everywhere around it on Inuyasha's back.
Kagome was slightly relieved when she saw that he was still breathing. Calm down and think... she said to herself in her mind.
She realized something as she recalled what she had heard back in the forest a while ago.

"Have to take it out...firestone...or else he'll die..."

Kagome looked around mindlessly until her eyes caught a small sharp edged stone that she had picked up a while ago. Without thinking anything else, she determinedly grabbed the stone. "You can do this..." she said to calm herself as she held the stone in the fire.


~*~ Later ~*~

Fortunately the so-called firestone wasn't buried too deep in Inuyasha's shoulder and Kagome managed to remove it without causing too much loss of blood. It even surprised Kagome herself with how she had managed to do this successfully for the first time. She was quite glad that Inuyasha was unconscious during the whole process.

Kagome had ripped her coat in long thin pieces in order to make some bandages for Inuyasha's wound. She knew it wasn't wise since it was winter, but she couldn't bear to see her only family die of infection.

Exhausted as she was; Kagome immediately fell asleep as soon as she settled herself against the nearby wall near Inuyasha.


~*~ Dawn ~*~


Kagome woke up when the first rays of sunlight shone on her face.
It was quiet inside the cave and a thin line of smoke flowed diagonally from the ashes at the center.

Kagome quickly opened her eyes and looked around. She stopped when her eyes caught Inuyasha's figure lying on the floor and relaxed as she saw his shoulder rise and fall.
She narrowed her eyes after watching him a while. Something's wrong... she thought suspiciously and moved closer to Inuyasha.

Kagome looked more carefully at him and widened her eyes as she saw Inuyasha shiver. H-he's trembling!! she realized and quickly put her hand on his forehead. She withdrew her hand as soon as she touched it; as if she had touched a needle.

He's burning with fever!! she thought shocked.
"Baka!! You shouldn't have pushed yourself this much!!" she cried out of frustration but dropped her face as she recalled it was herself whom he had risked his life for.

Without saying or thinking anything else, Kagome moved Inuyasha to a wall and put the remaining of her coat under his head to function as a pillow. She walked back to the center of the cave again and began to start make a new campfire.
As soon as the fire was burning, Kagome got back to her feet again and walked to the entrance of the cave.

Before she walked out of it, Kagome looked over her shoulder to Inuyasha. I won't let you die too...because of me... she thought determined and left the cave.

It was time to pick up her old methods of survival again...

Kagome successfully made herself a sturdy bow and several arrows and a short stone knife for close battles.

She didn't know why but Kagome felt a nostalgic excitement than fear as she entered the forest with her equipments. It was as if she was back to where it all started. Having this thought, she couldn't help but feel a heart throbbing sadness in her heart.


~*~*~*~*~


Kagome returned to the cave after a couple of hours. She had a proud and satisfied look on her face as she entered the cave.
Her face and white dress was extremely dirty. The long white dress that covered her feet was now ripped to her knees and her knees were now full of scratches but she didn't care. She had managed to kill a wild boar and several wild rabbits during her hunt. On her back, she was carrying a small bag, woven with blades of grass. She had found disinfecting herbs on her way back and other plants of which her instincts told her that they would help Inuyasha with recovering.
Kagome had also found a small creek nearby and she had taken some water with her using a shoot made of strong big leaves.

She knelt down next to Inuyasha and moved some strands out of his face.

Inuyasha was breathing heavily and sweatdrops could be seen on his forehead.

"Don't worry Inuyasha, I will make sure that both of us survive through this." she whispered and turned to the fire that was still burning.
She sat down on the floor and began to untie the trophies of her hunt.


~*~*~*~*~

By nightfall, Kagome had successfully removed the fur from the boar and the rabbits. As they were drying near the fire, Kagome cleaned up Inuyasha's wound with water and bandaged it again with the remaining of her coat together with the herbs that she gathered.

Inuyasha was now lying on the floor with his head and shoulders on Kagome's lap. A thick brown blanket made of the fur of the boar and rabbits together was covering his body from chest to toe.
As for Kagome, although she was only wearing her dirty white dress to her knees, she wasn't cold at all, surprisingly enough.

"You must be protecting me from the cold weather, aren't you?" Kagome smiled as she stroked her belly. She turned slightly to the fire and picked up a wooden bowl filled with warm liquid in it.

Kagome knew that Inuyasha wasn't in the condition to eat something as hard as meat, but she also knew that he needed the nutrients to recover from the fever as well as the huge amount of blood loss. So she mixed the juice of the meat with the juice of the herbs that she gathered into a broth and warmed it up with the fire.

This should contain enough nutrients. Kagome thought as she looked down at Inuyasha. But how can I make sure that he swallows this without spoiling a single drop? she pondered as she knew how valuable the broth was.

Instinctively, Kagome took a sip of the broth, put the bowl on the floor and lowered herself to Inuyasha's face. But Kagome snapped out of it and stopped when her mouth was just about an inch above Inuyasha's. She widened her eyes as she realized what she was about to do. What the hell am I doing?! she thought shocked but her thoughts were cut off when she heard the heavy pants coming from Inuyasha.
Her eyes softened as she saw the sweatdrops that formed on his forehead. Inuyasha...I...I...
She shook her head slightly. Saving him is the most important thing right now...I'm sure he would also have agreed with that if he was here... she concluded sadly and lowered herself to Inuyasha's face once again.

This time, she didn't stop halfway and gently lifted Inuyasha's head up until their lips met. After she made sure that their lips were connected correctly, she carefully parted his lips with hers to let a small portion of the broth slip through her mouth to his.

With her free hand, she touched his throat to make sure he had swallowed the portion before she gave him the next one. Come on Inuyasha...please swallow... she begged inwardly.

She was relieved to feel Inuyasha's throat move after a short moment.

After her mouth got emptied completely, Kagome took another sip of the broth and continued to feed Inuyasha in small portions until he was given every single drop of it.


Kagome wiped her mouth and Inuyasha's after the bowl was empty and moved herself closer against the wall to lean against it. She did it carefully so that Inuyasha would hardly feel the movements.
After she settled herself comfortably against the wall, she looked down at Inuyasha's sleeping face that was lit up by the calm fire.

Suddenly she saw a drop of water land on his cheek. Rain...? she thought surprised and looked around.
But then she raised her hand to her cheek and realized it wasn't a raindrop...it was a tear...her tear...

More tears welled up in her eyes. The longer she looked at Inuyasha, the more he reminded her of him.

Kagome dropped her face and stroked her belly.

"Sesshoumaru..." Kagome whispered his name softly as the tears started to flow down her cheeks. "I miss you...so...much..."

And sleep claimed her.

Vocabulary:
Matte: Wait!
Kowai: Scary
Baka: Idiot

Posted: 4 October 2003
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)
Spelling check: YES