[A/N]
 I hope that everyone likes this next chapter. I worked really hard on it! Please review!

Chapter Three – Healer

Izayoi awoke with the sun shining in her eyes. She sat up quickly, looking around the unfamiliar tent that she had fallen asleep in late last night. After a few seconds she realized that it was noon the next day and that her charge had already left the tent. She got up and walked out of the tent, scowling slightly as she went to look for him.

When she exited the tent, she saw that many of the inu youkai were bustling around the hastily prepared camp, making food and helping the others. A few of the men were sitting with their mates, who had apparently come out searching for the camp so that they would be able to see if their husbands were safe. A few females were sitting alone and sad, one of them large with child as she whined softly at the side of her mate's body, holding his cold hand in her small one. Izayoi felt sympathy for her as she walked by.

As she approached the edges of the camp, she frowned. Lord Inutaisho hadn't been anywhere and she was getting frustrated with her attempts to find him in the immediate area. Sighing softly, she walked out into the woods that surrounded the campsite.

In these woods, the trees grew tall and proud, their leaves already turning brilliant shades of red, orange and gold as the fall season set in. As she got closer to the edges of the forest, she heard voices talking on the other side. She recognized the voices of both Lord Inutaisho and Lord Sesshoumaru. When she got to the edges of the woods, she hid in the bushed, listening carefully to the conversation.

"Are you feeling well, father?" Sesshoumaru asked, turning to the Lord. Izayoi looked at him, a slight blush on her face.

His long, silvery white hair was longer than Sesshoumaru's, but was tied back in a high ponytail. He had the same, brilliant golden eyes as his son, as well as the crescent moon marking on his forehead and the two marks on each side of his face. He was much taller than the young lordling, she could tell, even if he was sitting at the edge of the cliff. He hadn't replaced the armor that she had had to remove from his body the night before. She blushed as she remembered the lean, taut muscles of his torso and arms. He wore a kimono of white with small red designs along the edging and white pants (don't know what they're called). Over the white kimono he wore a haori of a bright red color. Izayoi could've sworn that she had seen that color before, she just couldn't remember where. Over both shoulder there was a thick line of floor that, if he stood, would've flowed all the way to the ground. Izayoi recognized it as the mark if an inu youkai.

"I'm feeling fine, thank you, my son." He smiled slightly, closing his eyes and enjoying the sweet wind on his face. It seemed like so long since they had been without battle. "And though these wounds will be long in healing, they are nothing more than an ache, pretty much without any pain."

"I'm glad that this healer is competent at least, father." The adolescent said quietly, sighing. "For a ninque."

Inutaisho frowned slightly at his son. "She is probably better than any of the youkai healers that I have encountered. She knows her stuff, this one. What did you say her name was, Sesshoumaru?"

Izayoi smiled slightly at the frown that had crossed the younger youkai's face. She knew that he would be able to answer that question well. "I think her name is Izayoi. She was the only healer that I found willing to come to the aid of a youkai. She also had an attitude problem." He muttered softly under his breath, but not soft enough to hide from the sharp ears of his inu father.

"And how is it that she has such a problem?" He asked quietly, turning curious gold eyes onto his son. Sesshoumaru blushed slightly, unable to meet his father's gaze. "You called her by those names, didn't you?"

"Yes, what of it?" He crossed his arms over the white and red haori that he wore. "She got angry and started yelling her name at me, telling me not to call her such."

Inutaisho smiled slightly, picturing his son being scolded by the young ninque woman that had tended his wounds the night previous. A chuckle escaped his lips as he saw the adolescent being yelled at by someone so much smaller than he was.

"How many did we lose during the battle?" He asked quietly, rubbing his sore shoulder with a grimace. "I noticed that a few of the women and children were pining for their mates and fathers."

"Only a few, but their loss is regrettable." Sesshoumaru sighed as his own thoughts turned to the sobbing bitch who had clung desperately to her diseased body, her belly thick with the pup that was to be born any time now. "More than one whelp will be left without a father."

The Lord sighed. He too remembered how the poor woman would fare. The inu youkai mated for life and love. His own mate had died sixteen years earlier, during the birth of their son. "We'll have to find another male that would be willing to care for her until she recovers from the loss. You can begin searching."

Sesshoumaru nodded and walked off through the trees in the direction of camp. He would begin the task immediately – the sooner that he had this over with the better. Inutaisho watched his son leave before closing his eyes and speaking quietly.

"You can come out now, Izayoi . . ."



[A/N]
How am I doing? Please tell me, I don't want to make a huge mistake or anything! Reviews are very much appreciated!