Chapter 9

At the same instant in a different forest Sesshomaru froze in mid stride and gripped his chest in pain. Clenching his teeth tightly he closed his eyes for a moment to recompose himself. The source of his pain felt like a demon bite, but that was impossible…unless.

"Lord Sesshomaru are you alright?" Jaken asked his voice filled with concern. Sesshomaru straitened up and took in a deep breath. It was the first signal he had received in years, but there was no mistake about it.  His daughter was still alive. Sesshomaru winced as the pain in his chest spread to his shoulder and from there throughout his body. It felt as though his blood was on fire; the tell tail sign of black viper demon venom.

Sesshomaru opened his eyes and waited for the pain to diminish. Like she had done so many times as a child, Shura was summoning him by unconsciously projecting her pain into his mind. Considering this was the first time in nearly twenty years that Shura called to him in this manner, Sesshomaru imagined her life was in grave danger.

Sesshomaru glanced down at Jaken who was still waiting anxiously for an answer. If Shura really did need his help that badly, he would not hesitate, but even so, there was no sense in him doing what Jaken was just as capable of. Calmly the demon lord pulled a dark, twisted, vine like herb out of his robe.  

"Jaken do something useful for a change and gather more of this herb." As he spoke, Sesshomaru tossed the plant at his servant. Jaken jumped awkwardly from one foot to the other as he tried to catch the herb without dropping it.

"More of this….?" Jaken questioned in bewilderment as he glanced over the herb. "wha…whatever for?" it was a logical question. Jaken recognized the plant as the only know curative agent of black viper demon venom, but why the sudden demand? Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes. Trying to explain the situation to his half whit companion would take days, and time was the one thing they didn't have.

"In the time you spend asking questions, you could have already finished your task. Now move…we leave at sundown." Jaken bowed obediently and began the search. Somehow he knew by the seriousness in his masters voice that his numerous inquires would have to wait.

"I'm afraid I owe all of you an apology," the innkeeper said quietly as she knelt down and continued to tend to her daughter who was lying motionless in bed.

"Uh yeah I would say so!" Inuyasha snapped. His impatience at such an inappropriate time drove Kagome over the edge.

"Sit boy!" Inuyasha didn't have time to protest as he was once again squished to the floor. "Honestly you're so rude!" Kagome turned to Mia who had a rather puzzled look on her face. "Don't mind him," Kagome assured her as she directed her voice to the half demon sprawled at her feet, Mia looked down at the floor.

"I should have told you about Shura." Mia didn't need to say it directly for everyone to know what was going through her mind.

"None of this is your fault Mia," Sango tried to reassure her. "You were just doing your job."

"Yeah," Kagome chimed in "if anything its Miroku's fault, he was the one who stepped in on her uninvited!" Mia's raised an eyebrow in the monk's direction. Suddenly the target of several evil stares, Miroku tried desperately to defend himself.

"How…was I supposed to know she was a demon….I mean….er…" Miroku scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. Since there really was no good explanation he could offer concerning his behavior he decided it was safer if he just shut up. His remark though unnerving to Mia, did raise other points. How was Shura able to make herself look human anyway? It was Kagome who finally posed that question.

"Well as you've probably guessed by now, I'm not Shura's real mother," came Mia's reply "Although I don't know much about her parents I'd guess that one of them was probably a witch demon." 

"Ah I see," Sango nodded in understanding as she recalled her lessons on such creatures. "So she used sorcery. That explains how she was able to change her scent and appear human, and why Kirara was so apprehensive of her at first."

"Yeah that's all very interesting…" Inuyasha grumbled sarcastically from his position on the floor. "So how did she wind up here?" Mia sighed sadly.

"I took her in when she as just a toddler. I won't go into to much detail, but lets just say I rescued her from a very gruesome bunch of demon trappers."  

"Demon trappers!" Sango's face went pale when the title of the hideous butchers came up in Mia's retelling of Shura's history.

"Yes." The innkeeper nodded as she set a wet compress on her daughter's feverish head. "I'm afraid so." Sango lowered her eyes in shame. She now understood why Shura had showed such a disliking towards her profession, and she felt horrible for trying to sway her otherwise.

          "I've never heard of demon trappers before," Kagome admitted "What are they?" Sango sighed quietly.

"They're rouge exterminators who either failed or quit their training and decided to go off on their own. They slaughter demons and sell them piece by piece for medicine and weapons." Kagome and Shippo both grimaced in disgust.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Miroku commented his opinion.

"Yeah," Inuyasha chimed in as he got to his feet "What makes these trappers different from any other demon slayer?" Sango forced eye contact with the both of them.

"Because these trappers don't just target the dangerous or wicked demons, they'll take anything that falls into their traps. Young, old, good, bad, royal…even hybrids. No demon is safe from them." That got Inuyasha's attention. It was one thing to slaughter troublesome demons, but killing innocent ones…that got him mad. Seeing Inuyasha's fury, Mia rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Don't get too upset Inuyasha. Most of the demon trappers were wiped out years ago, at least the major groups of them anyway." There was a sudden quietness in Mia's tone, which suggested she in fact knew more on that matter then they realized.

"What happened to them?" Kagome asked out of her own curiosity. It was a seemingly harmless inquiry, Kagome simply meant to continue on the conversation. But as it turned out, it was the one question the innkeeper dreaded to answer. Mia's response came with no words, only a solemn expression filled with fear and shame. Somehow, Sango knew what Mia feared to tell; that Shura had sought revenge for her childhood mistreatment and had been brutally successful.

"She killed them…" Sango said under her breath, but in the sudden quiet that had instilled, everyone heard the chilling remark. Mia looked away in sorrow.

"Please don't think unkindly of Shura, she wasn't in her right mind when it happened." Inuyasha was about to spit out a smart-alecky comment, but Miroku silenced him with a bash in the head and himself provided a more appropriate response.

"What do you mean 'not in her right mind?'" the innkeeper sighed.

"I don't know how to explain it, but sometimes Shura's powers escalate suddenly to a level beyond her logical control," she paused briefly to brush a tear from her cheek "I don't know what causes it, but once she's in that state…." Mia breathed in hard to try and hold back more tears. She was clearly having difficulty finishing the conversation; an action that told everyone better then words just how horrific the consequences were. 

"No wonder the villagers are paranoid," Inuyasha mumbled. Mia shot a glance at the half demon.

"They don't know about what happened and you mustn't tell them ever!" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. Mia's logic confused him. Denying Shura's power didn't seem to be getting them anywhere.

"Why?" he asked, "It would sure teach them a thing or two about respect." The innkeeper narrowed her eyes. Playing on peoples' fears may have worked for Inuyasha, but her daughter was a much different demon.

"Because Shura isn't proud of what she's done! In fact, after that terrible night of rampage she was so frightened by what she had become she begged me to keep her sedated until she was able to tame her powers and keep them in check. She never meant to kill anyone, even if they did deserve it." Mia's gaze shifted from her group of guests back to her ailing daughter. Even though the black vipers fangs had been pulled from her shoulder, their venom was still working with deadly efficiency. Shura had an incredibly high fever, and her breathing was rapid and exaggerated. She would also go through violent fits of shivering and coughing out blood. Despite Mia's composure, the worry in her face was just as painful for the others to watch.

To pass time, and perhaps help as a distraction from her daughters suffering, Mia finished her telling of Shura's past and the memorable experiences of raising her. By the end of the narrative both she and Kagome were close to tears.

"I'm sorry," Mia finally managed to blurt out. She was on the verge of breaking down but trying desperately not to show it. "I'm just so afraid of loosing her!" Inuyasha sighed heavily. Mia's love and compassion reminded him a lot of his own mother and he couldn't help but feel pity for her situation. The half demon crossed his arms and avoided all eye contact, but when he spoke, his tone was genuine.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Mia looked over at Inuyasha in surprise, as did everyone else.

"I know Shura mentioned that there was a curative herb for black viper venom. She must have it written in her notes. If you want to help then go quickly and fetch Soma, she'll know where to look for the information."