Disclaimer - It's not mine. Never was.
A/N - Okay people, I'm back. Hope you're enjoying this so far. So, on with the story.
Kuarasama paced up and down the timberline near the Bone Eater's Well. Kouga had sent her to watch over the well in case the female human came back. He had given her strict instructions not to be found by the hanyou, or anyone else for that matter. Kuarasama had accepted the order and changed into her wolf form before departing from the cave. She had been there since noon, and was starting to get annoyed. There had not been a sign of the girl all day. She wanted to go home, but her loyalty to the leader of her pack forced her to stay.
The demoness sat down on her haunches and looked up to the sky. The moon was clouding over with the rain clouds of summer. It had been unbearably hot the past few days, and the evening showers were a welcome, albeit brief respite from the heat. The stars were shining in all their glory, trying to get their brightness through the impending clouds that worked to cover them. She shook her head and settled down onto the grass. The hanyou had left out earlier that day, and had not come back yet, so she had no worries about being caught.
Her thoughts drifted over to the leader of her pack, Kouga. The wolf prince was in love with a human girl. She shook her head, knowing that it was an impossible combination, but hoping that it would work out in some way. Kouga really loved the miko girl. Anytime he would come back after running and she sensed the girl's smell near him, she noticed that he was in a better mood. Unfortunately, she did feel a bit sorry for the young prince. The girl was hung up on that ridiculous hanyou Inuyasha. 'Some females have no taste in males.' she thought dryly.
The demoness actually liked the girl, as did most of the pack. She remembered the last time she had seen the girl, and a smile graced her face.
After one particularly rough battle with an opposing pack, Kagome had helped Keiko to heal some of the fallen members of their family. Of course, the hanyou had objected, but Kagome had shut him up rather quickly. The demoness had to give the girl credit, she could handle that stubborn hanyou as well as she could handle injured wolves. The girl had cared for the injured members with a loving demeanor and gentle hands. Even the pups, who normally shied away from strangers, had wound up playing with the miko girl. Kouga had stood back, watching the interaction between the miko and his followers with a happy spark in his eyes that was only apparent to those that had known what it meant.
It was love. Pure and simple. Kouga loved the miko. Kagome was the love that Kouga lacked in his life.
Kuarasama shook her head in annoyance. It was starting to rain, and she did not want to stay in the woods. She growled and walked further into the forest.
'If he wants to see her so bad, why doesn't he come get her.' Kuarasama thought. The wolf demoness found a shaded spot as the rain began to fall mercilessly. After pushing some leaves around to form a some what soft bed, she lay down to wait until morning, when her time would be over with and someone else would come. She was about to doze off into a peaceful nap when a sharp scent came across the soaking wind. She picked her head up carefully and sniffed again. Sure enough, the sweet smell was there.
Kagome had come back. 'She could have picked a time when it wasn't pouring down rain.' Kuarasama thought dejectedly. The wolf left the confines of her shaded area and walked out into the pouring rain, following her nose to the scent. 'Well, at least Kouga will be happy to see her.' she thought.
Kagome pulled herself out of the well and looked around, clutching her shirt to her more tightly as the drops of rain pounded onto her. It was pouring down rain. The lightning flashed and lit up the night time sky like a light bulb lights up a darkened room. It was pitch black, no moon or stars visible at all now. 'I'll wring Shippou's neck the next time I see him.' she thought. 'No more waiting until night fall to come back.' The wind was howling and she started shivering as she began to walk towards Kaede's village. As she turned towards the well trodden path, something jumped out in front of her. She jumped back, taking in a large wolf with amber eyes in front of her.
"Oh man," she said quickly, "where is Inuyasha when I need him?" The girl began to back up slowly, hoping the wolf would back down and go away. There was no such luck, the wolf walked forward towards her. When Kagome was backed up against the well, the wolf stopped. Kagome, not knowing what to do, stood shock still. There had never been wolves this close to the well before. The lightning cracked again, and Kagome took in the amber eyes before the next flash of lightning showed a woman with waist length black hair and almond shaped eyes standing in front of her.
"What the…..?" the surprised miko asked. "Who are you?" Kuarasama bowed and stood up tall, her black hair plastered to her face from the wind and rain.
"I am one of Lord Kouga's followers." Kuarasama said gravely. "I was sent here to wait for your return." Kagome looked at the demoness and frowned.
"I remember you." she said suddenly. "You're Keiko's daughter." Kuarasama nodded with a small smile on her face.
"Yes, Lady Kagome. You are correct. Keiko is my mother." Kuarasama said.
"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Kagome asked suddenly. "I got this letter saying that Kouga and Shippou had something to tell me about Inuyasha." The older demon looked at the girl carefully, no expression on her face. Kouga had explained to her what had happened, but it was not her place to tell the miko.
"I know nothing, Lady Kagome." Kuarasama said. "However, I do believe that Lord Kouga has the explanation you desire. I will take you to the pack if you want."
"Why did the letter tell me not to search out Inuyasha?" she asked. Kuarasama only shook her head.
"I know not why, Lady." she answered. "As I said before, I am sure Lord Kouga has the explanation you desire." Kagome frowned and nodded.
"How long will it take to get to the cave?" she asked.
"Only a few moments if I carry you. The rest of the night if we walk." the woman said.
"Well, I definitely don't want to be standing in the rain all night." Kagome said. "So I'm voting for you carrying me." Kuarasama smiled. "I won't be too heavy, will I?"
"No, Lady." Kuarasama said, scooping the girl up. "You will be fine." Kagome nodded and found herself being pulled through the forest at an alarming speed. Kuarasama held tight to the girl, not wanting her to fall. The demoness smiled happily. 'Yes, Kouga will definitely be happier to have her back.' She dodged through the trees with great ease.
Five minutes later, Kuarasama pulled up sharp in front of a large cave. Another sharp smell cut through to her, a coppery smell that turned her stomach.
Blood.
The rain was still pounding on the two females, and she quickly urged Kagome inside and out of the elements. Kagome, only too happy to agree, went through the opening of the cave, only to be greeted by the sight of about five beaten and bloody bodies of demons lying on the ground floor.
She gasped and nearly fell to the floor as she made out what was going on. Lying on the floor was a small youkai with red fur and a fluffy tale. Kuarasama, noticing the body also, held onto the girl. She growled and looked over to another member of the pack.
"What happened here?" she barked out. The younger wolf looked at her and frowned.
"Kouga went to go get that little kitsune, Shippou, I think his name is. He took a few others with him just in case trouble arose. Anyway, after they got the kid, he was on his way back when a couple of youkai's attacked. Kouga and the others got away, but not before getting badly beaten." he said. Kuarasama growled and held on tighter to the now struggling Kagome.
"SHIPPOU!!" she screamed. She fought against the wolf demon that held her. Shippou was hurt, and she needed to get to him. She finally felt the claws of the female demon loosen and she sprinted to the side of the little kitsune. The members of the pack backed away and let her go, knowing who she was and what she could do. She kneeled down and looked over the damage inflicted on the child. His vest was torn and the pants he usually wore were ripped to shreds. There were a set of marks on his body that began at his left shoulder and went diagonally to end on his right thigh. 'Claw marks!' Kagome thought quickly. She took inventory of the rest of his injuries. Nothing to major was apparent. The claw marks were the worse, and they were already starting to heal by themselves.
"Shippou, can you hear me?" she asked, pulling his head into her lap and stroking the blood soaked hair gently. "Shippou, it's Kagome. Come on sweetie, talk to me."
His body was unresponsive and Kagome felt the tears well up inside of her. She hung her head, knowing he was only sleeping but wanting him to be jumping up and down like before. A gently clawed hand grasped her shoulder gently, and Kagome turned around and faced the aging Keiko.
"He has been out since they brought him back." she said sullenly. "He will wake in a few hours, Lady. Let him rest." Kagome looked up at the woman through bleary eyes and nodded, knowing that the little youkai would heal in a matter of hours. She placed the boy back on the small bed and grabbed a wet skin from near by, using it to wipe the matted blood off of his face.
"My Shippou." she said gently. "Be well soon, my son." Kagome, now somewhere back on planet Earth looked at the bodies of the others. One was a female and the other three were males. The female was awake and trying to sit up, but having no luck as another member of the pack made her lie back down and rest. She looked around and took in the three male youkai lying on the floor. They were the most beat up. She looked at their faces and gasped when she saw that Kouga was one of them.
Keiko heard the girl's intake of breath and looked up as she stared at the fallen wolf-prince. Kagome had never seen the prince hurt this bad, even when he battled Inuyasha, the worse he got was a bruise and wounded pride. There were bite marks, claw marks, and bruises all over the place. A deep gash on his head was still trying to clot. Keiko looked up at the girl and handed her a skin.
"Help me clean them up, child. These wounds much be tended to before they become infectious." Kagome took the skin and fell to her knees beside Kouga as Keiko called out to the pack.
"Kuarasama!!" the woman yelled.
"Mother?"
"Bring me my bag of herbs. Then get another skin and help clean up Shama." she said urgently, pointing to the other fallen wolf. The woman nodded and Keiko soon had her bag of herbs by her. Kagome took one look at the face of the old woman and suddenly went onto auto pilot.
Kaede had taught her how to treat many types of wounds and such with the native herbs of the land. Keiko laid out the necessary plants and began to mix them together to form a paste. The female youkai had regained some of her senses and had hobbled over to the working women.
"What kind of youkai was it?" Keiko asked quickly.
"It was a spider youkai." the girl answered. "There were hundreds of them. Another bear youkai caught me and the kid when we tried to get away." Kagome looked down at the prince of wolves and frowned. He was badly beaten, and his breathing was getting shallow. She pushed his head band back and breathed deep. There were to small holes right above his ears.
"He's been injected with the venom." Kagome said quietly. Keiko looked up at her in surprise. She had already checked all of them for puncture marks and found none.
"Are you sure, Lady? I found no puncture wounds." Kagome moved aside and nodded. She gestured to the site and frowned.
"Look here." she said, pointing to the two holes. Keiko nodded and quickly got to work checking the other two men. They too had the puncture marks. Keiko, Kuarasama, and Kagome quickly went to work treating the men. They made a drawing paste out of different herbs that would take the venom out of the blood stream. Each of the women worked quickly and carefully, covering the puncture wounds with the black salve. They cleaned the scratches and waited as the men's body's healed themselves slowly.
The girl who had been caught in the cross fire had told Kagome that she had been ordered to take Shippou back to the cave. That's why neither of them had been bitten. Kagome only nodded and continued to work with the other two women to save the men. They worked for hours, and Keiko and Kuarasama finally went to take a nap while Kagome watched over the men.
Hours later, Kagome was standing outside the cave, stretching in the morning sun when a certain kitsune's voice came ringing through the cave. Kagome turned around and was almost barreled over by one very over-excited fox demon.
"KAGOME!!!" Shippou wailed happily. "YOU'RE BACK!!" Kagome picked the young child up and hugged him.
"Yes, Shippou." she said. "I'm back. Now quiet down. There are others still sleeping."
"Not anymore." Keiko said with a grin, coming out of the cave. "I believe your pup woke them all up." Shippou looked down in embarrassment and blushed.
"Sorry." he said quietly. The old woman smiled and continued to walk towards the nearby spring to gather some fresh water.
"Is Kouga awake, yet?" Kagome asked, hoping the prince would have awoken by now. Keiko frowned and shook her head. Kagome said nothing and continued to look at Shippou.. It is all right about the noise, child. The pups will have them up in no time." Shippou smiled and hugged Kagome even harder. Kagome suddenly frowned and looked down to the child.
"Shippou." she said gently. "I have something to ask you. Do you promise to tell me what it is?" Shippou looked up at her and nodded, knowing what was coming.
"Is it about the letter?" he asked. Kagome nodded, pulling out what was left of the letter from her pocket.
"What's going on, Shippou? What's wrong with Inuyasha?" she asked gently. The little kitsune stared at the ground, pondering how he was going to break the news to his surrogate mother.
"Kagome…..Inuyasha has been….well…" the little kitsune stuttered. He looked up at Kagome with wide eyes and frowned. "You're not going to be mad at me when I tell you this……are you?" The miko smiled and took the little boy in her arms.
"Of course not, Shippou. I just want to know what is going on?" she said. "Is Inuyasha hurt or something? And what does Kouga have to do with all of this?" Shippou looked down at the ground and shook his head.
"No, the stupid baka is still alive!!" Shippou said fiercely. Kagome looked at the little boy and frowned, waiting for him to continue. " Kagome, when Inuyasha made his wish, he brought back some people that didn't need to be brought back," Shippou began carefully. "He's been…….."
"KEIKO!!!! LADY KAGOME!!!!" came an urgent scream from inside the cave. Kagome looked back to the entrance as one of the men who had been hurt ran out.
"Shama, what's wrong?" Kagome asked quickly.
"Ah, Lady Kagome." he said. "Lord Kouga is sick. He is thrashing about uncontrollably! You must do something! The fever is making him delirious!" Kagome looked towards the cave and shook her head. She and Keiko had tried all night to draw the venom out of the men. Shama and the other man had woken up, but Kouga was still out of it. She nodded and ran back into the cave, Shippou on her heals. She ran to the closed off area and knelt down by the sick youkai. He was tossing and turning violently, muttering incoherent things the whole time.
Kagome looked down at the young man before her and shook her head, her fear mounting moment by moment. She reached out and touched him gently. He was pale and cold, but there was sweat all over his face. His breathing was shallower and the herbs hadn't seem to be help any. She shook her head again.
"There is still venom in his body." she said weakly. "I don't know what to do." About that time, the curtain to the area was pushed aside and Keiko came in. She knelt down and checked the prince's temperature. When she pulled back, there was a look of hopelessness on her face.
"The venom is still there." she said quietly. "Unless we can find a way to get it out in the next few hours, he will die." Kagome looked up at her with wide eyes.
"He's a youkai. He can't die." she said. Keiko frowned at the young girl.
"Yes, my child. He can. The venom injected into him is slowly working it's way through him. It is destroying what ever it comes in contact with, and his body is so weak he can't fight it off. There's more damage being done that can be repaired." Keiko said sadly. Kagome looked down at the young man and started to cry.
Kouga was a dear friend to her. He had helped them in the search for the shards many times. He had always been kind to her, even when Inuyasha was being a jerk. And, he always made her feel better. She clutched her shirt and shook her head.
"There has to be another way." she said quietly. "He can't die like this." Keiko looked carefully at the girl.
"I know of nothing, Lady." she said. Kagome slowly began to cry. All of the memories of her encounters with the kind prince flashed through her head. The first time they had ever seen each other, the fight with the demons for the shards, the elated look on his face only days before when he had come to thank them for bringing back his pack members. She looked down at his body again, remembering how vital and healthy he had been only days before. She dropped her head in sadness. He could not go like this.
Keiko watched the girl carefully. She was crying. Keiko was confused immensely. She knew that the girl did not love Kouga. Respected him, yes. Loved him, no. Of course, she could have been wrong. Figuring that there was nothing left she could do, she gathered the kitsune in her arms and left Kagome with the wolf prince, ordering that no one was to bother the girl.
Kagome was crying full out now. Kouga did not deserve to die. He was too nice of a person to have to go through this. She placed her hands on his and sighed.
"Kouga, come on now." she said through her sobs. "You can't go out like this. Wake up. You have a pack to lead." The prince stirred and began mumbling things.
"Dog-face…..miko bitch……kill……him…" Kagome listened, trying to find out what he was talking about. She knew it was Inuyasha he was referring to, that was the only person he called dog-face. He started thrashing around and Kagome held his hands to his side, intent on finding out what was going on.
"Kouga." she said gently, trying to sooth the demon's erratic thrashing. "It's Kagome. Come on now, talk to me. What's going on?" He shifted around again, but seemed to calm down. She felt him grasp her hand and he weakly opened his eyes.
"Kagome…."
"Kouga," she said. "Rest, you need your rest so your body can fight the venom."
"Kagome…you need to know….Dog-turd and…..the miko….together." Kagome shook her head as the words sunk in. Inuyasha and Kikyou were together? 'Impossible. The fever is making his delirious.' she thought quickly. She frowned and shook her head.
"Kouga. Inuyasha isn't with Kikyou." she said. He said nothing to her. His head rolled to one side and Kagome panicked.
"Kouga! Kouga! Don't do this to me, you wimpy wolf!" she said, using the name Inuyasha had often called him and hoping it would elicit a response from him. The wolf prince looked up at her through glassy eyes and tried to grin at her.
"I'm sorry, Kagome." he said. "You need to know."
"Well, if it is true, which I don't believe, mind you." she said with a weak smile and a soft voice. "Then you're going to have to show me to prove it." Kouga looked at her and nodded. "And to do that, you need to get better." She pushed his hair out of his eyes and used a wet skin to wipe his face off.
"I'll prove to you." he said weakly. Kagome shook her head and held his hand tightly. He was fading in and out of consciousness.
She had not noticed yet, but her hands had started to glow a soft pink light, the purifying power of the Shikon jewel. As she talked to the young man, the light spread and slowly outlined his body. When she did notice, she felt the power of the jewel erupt from somewhere deep inside of her. 'The jewel. Of course!'
Kouga felt his body being purged of the venom as Kagome spoke with him. He clasped her hand, wanting her to know how much he cared. The more she talked, the better he felt. He could see her outline against the darkness that threatened to envelope his conscious. He was a warrior, a protector, and he would fight to protect this woman who was healing him. He waited until he had enough energy to speak again before saying the one thing he truly wanted to.
"I love you, Kagome." he whispered.
Kagome was concentrating her miko powers on healing the young man when her mind once again began to drift to another place. She was once again standing in front of an old man with flowing white robes. He nodded at her and she frowned.
"What am I doing here?" she asked him.
"You are here because of your wish on the Shikon jewel." the old man replied gravely.
"I don't understand." Kagome said. "What has this got to do with the Shikon jewel?"
"It is because of the jewel that your friend now lies at the steps of these gates." he said. "Your wish has caused him much grief. And as a result, he sought you out."
"Sought me out?" Kagome said. "He was on his way to find Shippou, not me." The old man nodded. "But there is more to this story than you may see now."
"What is it?" she asked. "And how do I find out?"
"Heal the wolf; he will explain this to you."
"Why can't you?" she asked stubbornly.
"Because it is not my fight you are about to embark on." he said. "It is your own."
"Who am I going to fight with?" she asked. The man only smiled and bowed.
"Heal the wolf." he said. "And take care of the pup."
"Shippou?" she asked. "Wait, what does he have to do….."
"Heal the wolf." he said. "And take care of the pup." Kagome blinked as he slowly began to dissipate into thin air. Her mind was a blur and she felt like she was spinning out of control. Right before she felt like she was about to hit ground, someone jerked her back to reality.
Keiko looked at the girl in surprise. She had come back to get Kagome away from the prince for a while, but when she had come in had made her breath leave her. The two of them were enveloped in a soft pink light, and Kagome looked as though she were in another world. It had lasted only a moment and when the light had left, Kagome had slumped over onto Kouga. Keiko pulled the girl up into a sitting position and then laid her on the floor next to Kouga. Looking over her, she noticed that the girl was just sleeping, but what amazed her the most was the change in Kouga.
The prince was breathing easier and his color was coming back. There were no sweat beads on his face and he had stopped thrashing about. She looked at the two of them and shook her head in disbelief. The miko had healed him. She had used the purifying power of the Shikon jewel to separate his demon blood from the venom and purify the venom from his body. Keiko smiled and got up to leave. 'Let them sleep.' she thought. 'I can do nothing for them now. They will heal on their own.'
A/N - Okay peeps. I'm sorry, but that was a stinky chapter. I just decided to throw some weird twist in there. Hope is was believable. Anyway, leave me a review to tell me what you think. Later.
Oh, and I know that in the last chapter, I put Sango's mom in there. I don't really know if she has a mom in the series, or more appropriately what happened to her, so just deal with me on this please. I figured putting a scheming mother into the group would relieve some of the tension. Later.
