Winter's Chill (Chapter 1)
by IronRaven

Discalimer: Inuyasha and company aren't mine. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi-sama.

Warnings: Kirara is too cute, Shippou busts Inuyasha's chops, and Sango and Miroku have a micro-fuzzy.

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Clinging to Inuyasha's shoulder, Shippou watched as their friends made sure that the pack was snugly on Kagome's shoulders as she sat on the lip of the well, Kirara's head poking out of the front of her jacket. "Get better soon, Kagome."

The wind had picked up a little, small, faint clouds coming in from the west. The first flake of snow fell on Kagome's cheek, melting as it first brushed her skin.

"I will, Shippo. And I will remember to bring supplies, Miroku, like you asked, and books for you and Kaede on the illnesses of my time. Just in case." Kagome reached, giving Sango a one-armed hug, before looking Inuyasha, then Shippou in their eyes. "And you two behave. Someday you might need eachother."

With that, she was gone, down the well, forward in time, leaving the two demons looking at each other, cries of protest on their lips. "Never," cried Shippou as he sprang to the ground, swallowed nearly to the shoulders in the snow that had drifted around the well, while Inuyasha's ears swung back, a look of disgust on his face at the thought of depending on the fox child. His legs tensed as he started to leap to the trees, when Keade broke her long silence, her eye boring into each of the young people.

"If 'tis the winter sickness, I shall need yea to help me, all of yea. Inuyasha, your nose can find herbs even though the snows, can it not? I'll show you what to gather. Shippou, go with him- two sets of hands are faster than one, and yea are light enough to not slow Inuyasha. Miroku, Sango, I need you two to gather some the tips of the spruces down by the river, and willow bark. I fear we shall shall need more of both than was gathered."

---

Well, there's nothing in there that will be hurt if it freezes. Kagome had sat for several minutes at the dry bottom of the well, catching her breath before climbing the ladder she had left behind, debating if she had the strength to carry herself and her backpack. Letting it slide from her shoulders, the bag thumped dully against the packed clay floor of the well.

"Wha? Kagome, is that you?"

"Yes," cough, "jiichan. And I have a friend," she called as she made her way up the ladder, breathing heavily when she reached the top. Pausing for a couching fit, she leaned on her elbows on the top of the well, giving Kirara a chance to hop down, sniffing Kagome's grandfather curiously.

The old man stooped, petting the cat, studing her. His eyes grew wide as he traced the two tails, each tipped with tiny spirit flames. "So they do exist…." His voice trailed off as he reached into his robes for an ofuda, murmuring the beginnings of a chant, while Kirara in her kitten form wound around his ankles, purring. "But she's just a kitten, isn't she…."

"Hai, jiichan," panted the breathless girl as she leaned against the side of the well itself, brushing the dust of the well from her clothes before disarming the "fastest ofuda in the East", smiling softly as she pocketed the seal. "Fire cats really do exist," shivering now, hugging herself though her winter coat. "I'll tell you about Kirara, but first, I want to get inside. I don't need to get any sicker…."

---

"Inuyasha, the bag won't hold any more, and it's starting to get colder. We should head back to Keade-sama's hut." The kitsune's hair was matted with snow from wading chest deep in the drifts, and from digging in them for the frozen remnants of the herbs Kaede had shown them. "I hope it's enough."

"It'll have to be. If not, well, too bad. Humans breed fast, they'll make more," brushing the snow from his mane, glaring at the flakes with contempt, Inuyasha made sure his bag was tightly tied. The snow fall had intensified, as had the winds, threatening to become a full fledged storm. "They always do. War, illness, nothing can wipe them out. Them and rats."

Scrambling up his companion's clothes, clinging to his shoulder, Shippou shook himself, snow caught in the folds of his clothes falling from him. "Maybe they just don't quit. Maybe that's their strength."

"Feh! Stupidity as a strength! And you call me baka!" Crouching deeply into the snow, Inuyasha sprang for the tree tops, planning on running across them to the village, despite the increasing winds and snow. Fallen limbs hidden under the snow had already shown that Inuyasha couldn't move on the forest floor at his accustomed speed. "It doesn't take a genius to know that there are times you should just admit you weaker, and let your betters kill you, mercifully and quickly!"

"Is that why you hide like a pup in a thunder storm every full moon, running away for the world?"

Growling loudly, directing a wave of pure menace at Shippou, Inyasha had only one rebuttal. "Shut up."

"So next time you fight Naraku, you are just going to stand there and let him slaughter you, then Kagome and the rest of us? Or maybe your brother can do it, and take the Tessaiga!"

Inuyasha's head twisted around to glare at the fox cub, snarling in anger as he pushed off again, aiming for a tree scores of meters away. "What the hell does that mean, runt! I should just throw you off, right now, and make you walk. With them, it's revenge, pure and simple!"

Sighing softly, taking an expression of pure peace that he had learned from watching Miroku, Shippou's voice was calm, "So your anger and hate is stronger than anything else? Is that why your father gave you the Tessaiga and your brother the Tensaiga? Because he's angrier than you are, and that makes him stronger, so you need a' edge?"

"Shut up! What does a little kid like you know, any way? Huh? What makes you think you know so much."

"I'm young, I'm not stupid, Inuyasha. And… LOOK OUT!!!!!!!!" Inuyasha snapped his head around, feeling the younger demon's claws sink into his shoulder. The last gust of wind had shoved them away from the branch Inuyasha had aimed for in his last leap.

"Oh, shit," was all the dog demon could say before the leg-thick tree limb clipped his forehead. He felt Shippo's hands torn from his haori, the boy's squeal of fear cut by a dull, soft, sick thump, before the long-haired demon was plunged into bone chilling whiteness, then even colder blackness.

---

The demon hunter and the monk had worked in near silence, each lost in thought.

Winter sickness… "Houshi-sama, have you ever seen winter sickness in your travels?"

"Fortunately, no, but I did see the aftermath, once. Many of the children who did survive will find their lives cut short from the fever's effects. The old people where the hardest hit. Many of them died from the sickness, but others had their lungs weakened by it, quite badly. Not many of them survived," rising from the willow limb he'd been scrapping, the monk turned to look at his friend. "You said that it came to your village, once."

"Yes, when I was young. We lost many hunters, and many others. The taijiya seemed to be able to fight it better. Their mates and families weren't so blessed." Crossing her arms across her stomach, Sango held herself tight as old memories flooded her mind. The faces of the lost, the smothering smell of sickness. Okaa. Her body flinched when she felt the hand on her shoulder, tensing slightly, waiting for it to move lower.

"You lost someone very close, didn't you," his voice quiet, sympathetic, while his hand simple rested on her shoulder, comforting her. She just nodded, eyes closed, as her hand covered his in silent thanks. Their fingers twined together in a tiny embrace, the closest that the haunted hunter would allow herself to come to leaning against the cursed monk.

Kami-sama, why did you put the soul of a good man with the hands and eyes of such a hentai?! "I'll be alright, houshi-sama."

"I know, Sango, I know. But you don't have to be alone with the memories anymore," he said quietly. His hand gently squeezed her shoulder, gripping the armour she wore under her normal clothes, the muscles of her jaw showing her smile. "Come on, it will be dark soon, and the storm is getting worse."

"Don't worry, I was taught to count my steps and turns without thinking about it. I can find our way to the village, even in the dark."

From a low bush, a high, laughing cackle rippled towards them. Reflexes long tuned to ambush, they turned as the branches parted before the source of the voice. "Really, butcher? Then find your way back from HELL!!!" cried the bird demon as it sprang towards the girl.

The crazed youkai's sudden charge left Sango sprawled in the snow, reaching for hiraikotsu where it had landed. Miroku's staff swung towards the beast, but the demon was set on her target- anything else was a distraction. With a contemptuous flick of a feathered wing, the monk was cast in the direction of the river, ice breaking under him on impact. But that tiny distraction was all that was needed. As the giant sparrow turned to face Sango, the heavy bone wedge of the hiraikotsu landed on it's enemy's neck, snapping it with the soft, wet crack of vertebrate.

Just one demon, and not one trained to fight. What made her do this? And why me? Did I kill it's child? Mate?

Miroku!

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Author's notes:
Good as place as any to leave you all hanging. :)

About Keade's errands: Willow bark contains sylasalic (sp) acid, which is the origional form of asprin. Spruce and pine needles contain various vitamins, including C, even though they taste like something that should be used to degrease machine parts.

Jiichan: Grandfather
Ofuda: Ritual seals, wards.
Baka: minor insult, kind of like idiot
Houshi: A minor monk, and Sango's way of refering to Miroku
Okaa: Mother

I know, Shippou feels out of character here. I have to try hard to not make him like me at that age. But he isn't stupid, and he and Kaede are about the same age if I understand the aging process of youkai. In that many years, you learn a lot, even if your emotions don't quite keep up with your knowledge. So maybe all youkai kids are mouthy little smart asses. *ruffles Shippou's hair*

And I KNOW jiichan is a little OOC. But you have to figure, he's probably seen Inuyasha enough to know that Kagome's friends aren't evil.