Hey you guys, I'm sorry, it's been sooooo hard to write anything, lol. I don't have internet and I won't have it until Friday or Saturday…*sighs*. Oh well, I decided to upload from a floppy disk, hopefully it works!

Chapter Five: Forging an Alliance…of Sorts

Sesshoumaru sat down on a stump as he tried to clear his mind of all of his thoughts. He was sorting between his own thoughts and memories, and Inu Yasha's. Sesshoumaru had been shocked to discover that one of Inu Yasha's goals or desires, was to earn his acceptance…his respect.

This jumble of thoughts irritated him to no end. However, what seemed to bother him the most was not the mix of thoughts, but the voice. The voice and the visions that had haunted him ever since they had been shown to him.

His remembrance of a crumpled, bruised, and bloody Rin enraged him. The pictures that had been entered into his mind filled him with anger and hatred toward the one who had caused her pain. Yet, that wasn't the end of it.

Surprisingly, the image of an unconscious, quiet Jakken, was disturbing to him as well. Sesshoumaru was uncertain as to when this change in himself had occurred, but he was slowly beginning to acknowledge his attachment to his companions.

Jakken had served him for years, always bellowing his uncertainty about his master's concern for him. It was strange not hearing his complaints or constant chatter and it wasn't until now that Sesshoumaru understood his reasoning for constantly reviving and retrieving him. That reason, much to Sesshoumaru's chagrin, was the fact that things didn't feel right without his incessant talking and presence.

And Rin. Rin, who couldn't hurt a fly and never complained. He found it odd that after only a short time of traveling with him, he had actually begun to…what? 'Could it really be, that I, Sesshoumaru, care for a human?' he questioned himself, already knowing the answer, but he'd be damned if he were going to say it out loud.

~~~

Sango looked on as Kagome, Inu Yasha, Kirara, and herself sat resting for the night. The moon was out, shining brightly. It seemed to illuminate everything from the top of the highest tree to the grass on which she sat. They had been traveling for nearly two days straight with very little rest.

Inu Yasha had seen into Sesshoumaru's mind and told them that they would be heading South instead of West. 'South is where the leader is. If we take him down, the rest'll follow quickly,' those had been his exact words, and they made sense. Their leader had to be the most powerful. Killing him off would leave the rest venerable…easy targets. Besides, when they weren't in numbers, they were relatively easy to kill anyway.

Sango moved her gaze to Kagome and Inu Yasha. She wondered if they knew she was aware of their 'relationship'. They sat at least four feet apart, if not more, and they refused to show their affection in front of her. She thought it was funny, actually. She had never known them to be that shy. She would, however, catch them exchanging glances every now and then when they thought no one was looking. She let out a sigh of boredom. She needed to do something…

"I'm going to go down that stream we passed earlier. I need some time to think and I'll fill our canteens while I'm there," Sango smiled as she stood from her sitting position.

Inu Yasha and Kagome exchanged glances, then shrugged their shoulders. "Just don't go too far, and holler if you need us," Inu Yasha directed.

Sango smirked, 'the born leader,' she mentally rolled her eyes, then smiled. She wouldn't have it any other way, "I'll be fine."

Kagome had a concerned expression as she thought to herself, 'I hope she'll be okay out there alone. She didn't even take her weapons. We haven't seen any of those demons for two days, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there…'

Inu Yasha nodded and Sango turned toward the trail that led to the stream. When she made it there, she took in the sight. The large, bright moon and the small, but shimmering stars reflected beautifully on the water. She spotted a large boulder that edged out over the stream, hovering low and close enough that she could dip her feet in the water.

Smiling, Sango made her way to boulder. She took off her shoes as she sat down. With a relaxed sigh, she dipped her feet into the cool, clear, flowing stream. The feel of the water swirling through her toes reminded her of a time she had spent with Kohaku.

There had been a lake not far from their village. When she and Kohaku weren't training, they would walk up the trail together. Every time they made it to the top of the hill that led down to the lake, they would race to the shore. She had always let him win. Then they would take off their shoes and dip their feet in, just as she was doing now, and talk about training and father.

Those days seemed so far away to Sango now. She had been alone for a long time. It never occurred to her until now, but as she thought about Kohaku and the rest of her family, she realized just how alone she really felt. "Father…Kohaku…" she whispered. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Since she started this new trek she hadn't thought of it. She had forced herself not to, but now…now there was no escaping the emptiness inside of her.

She took a deep breath, but it did nothing to ease her need to cry. "Oh Kohaku, father, mother…I wish I could-" Sango stopped mid-sentence when she suddenly felt a presence. She quickly wiped the unshed tears from her eyes and purged her current sorrows from her mind.

She felt eyes on her back, and mentally cursed herself for not bringing her weapons with her. Swallowing hard, she slowly drew her feet from the water and stood. She kept her back to whatever lurked behind her.

"You should never leave your weapons behind when you're in the middle of a demon hunt," the being from behind her informed.

Sango's eyes widened as she recognized the voice behind her and turned to face the owner of it…"Sesshoumaru."

~~~

Inu Yasha tightened his grip around the frame of the sleeping Kagome. He took in the scent of her…she always smelled of lilacs and honey. As he absent mindedly threaded his fingers through her hair, he thought of what he had seen in his brother's mind two days before.

That small girl, Rin, had been there. Her body was hunkered and trembling. What had surprised him, is the that the cold, emotionless Sesshoumaru had vanished in that instant. The instant they had been shown the beaten girl, Sesshoumaru had filled with anger and rage, Hell, even sadness. It amazed him of how little he really knew his brother.

What he did know, however, and what he hated to admit even to himself is that if they were going to take out the leader, then they would need Sesshoumaru. However, he had told Sango and Kagome that he wanted to enlist his help, but for some reason, it annoyed him when he thought about it to himself. Sesshoumaru was the only one who had encountered…'What was his name?' Inu Yasha tried to recall the name he had heard escape from Sesshoumaru's mouth.

'What was it…' He thought back to that day. He tried to remember as he searched his thoughts. Finally, after many minutes, his eyebrows furrowed, 'Sorikata. That's it.' He didn't know what this Sorikata was capable of, but Sesshoumaru did. Somehow, Sorikata had managed to keep that information from him during relay of memories and images.

Inu Yasha had to find a way to convince Sesshoumaru to work together. 'Yah right. Since when does Sesshoumaru forge alliances? Especially with his half-demon brother,' Inu Yasha sighed again before turning his attention back to Kagome.

She stirred and Inu Yasha found himself pulling her closer. He breathed out slowly as he relaxed himself against her. She always seemed to be able to calm him. 'Kagome…' he thought before drifting into the deepest sleep of his life.

He didn't notice however, the set of hypnotic, red eyes sending forth a spell of restful and uninterruptible sleep.

~~~

Sango gazed as bravely as she could into the cold eyes of Sesshoumaru, "What do you want?"

Sesshoumaru's expression changed from cold to icy, "Information."

Sango felt her insides tremble at his low, rumbled reply. 'What is going on with me?' she hesitated, "Wh-what Information?"

"Why have you changed direction? You were headed West two days ago. Now you are headed South," he inquired.

Sango's eyes faltered, trying to think of what to say. Inu Yasha had changed directions because he knew the leader was in the South, not the West. He had seen it in Sesshoumaru's mind. Sango swallowed. She didn't think Inu Yasha would want her to tell that to his brother. She jumped when she heard him speak again.

"I'm waiting," he said coolly.

"I d-don't know," she stuttered, naively hoping he would believe her.

"You're lying," Sesshoumaru said disgustedly as he rushed her, knocking her down and pinning her back to the boulder they had been standing on. "The truth!" He demanded as he readied his claws to spew their poison.

Sango's eyes were wide with fear. She was frightened beyond all reason. Sango had never fought Sesshoumaru. Hell, until a couple days ago, she had scarcely even spoken a word to him. Now, though, here they were, so close they could feel the other's breath on their face. Sango's breath was strained and uneven while Sesshoumaru's was calm and steady.

Sango opened her mouth to speak. 'Why was she frightened? Hadn't she been about to wish that she could join her family. Sango changed her expression from wide-eyed shock to determination, "If you intend to poison me, then I suggest you do so."

She bewildered him, but instead of showing it, he narrowed his eyes in scrutiny, "Do you wish for death that badly? That you would sacrifice your life over such a trivial thing?"

Sango gasped, "You…How?" she felt her eyes stinging, but she refused to let them water.

"Hmph," he breathed disgustedly, "Pathetic human. You wear your emotions as if they were clothes."

"I'm pathetic for having emotions!?! How dare you. Let me tell you something Lord Sesshoumaru! I would rather be capable of feeling emotions and setting them on display than being incapable of having any at all!" she spat back.

Sesshoumaru snarled at her response and tightened his pin on her, "Enough of this. Answer my question," he demanded, skillfully avoiding her accusation.

Sango let out sigh of disappointment. He wouldn't kill her for some reason, so what was the point? "Inu Yasha saw in your mind that the leader of this new horde of demons resides in the South."

"So he wishes to follow me, is that it?" he questioned, still not releasing her.

"I hardly think he intends to follow you. Rather, he intends to beat you to the kill…as usual," she rolled her eyes at Inu Yasha's constant competitive streak when it came to his brother.

Sesshoumaru found it all very believable, but if Inu Yasha didn't want something from him, the why was he following so closely to his proximity? Sesshoumaru looked down at the girl beneath him, "There's something else…"

Sango glared up at him. How does he always know? Letting out a breath she gave up trying to hide anything from him. He was far too intuitive to be so easily deceived, "He wants your help. He believes we will need you as an ally in order to defeat the enemy."

Sesshoumaru thought quietly to himself, 'That makes sense, little brother. You have yet to encounter Sorikata for yourself. You wish to learn of your opponent.' Sesshoumaru nearly forgot about Sango as he submerged into his own thoughts. Her nervous squirming though, brought him back to reality and he realized he still had her pinned to the boulder, his deadly claws inches from her face.

Sango locked eyes with him, "Sesshoumaru," she spoke quietly, clearly afraid of something, but not necessarily himself. She wriggled a hand free of his grasp and reached up to touch his face, she then moved her focus from his eyes to something else. A being who clearly thought he had caught the two in the middle of something, "Behind you," she whispered so inaudibly that he barely even heard it himself.

He took the hint and quietly breathed in the air, picking up the scent of one of the *satsubatsu. Sesshoumaru could feel it approaching and in the blink of an eye he was up and facing the demon.

Sango, still shocked from how quickly Sesshoumaru moved, struggled to her feet. She looked on as the two faced off. Sesshoumaru smirked at the demon before him as he drew tokijin from it's sheath. The demon let out a sinister laugh, before dodging Sesshoumaru's initial swing and heading toward Sango.

Sesshoumaru intercepted it's path and amputated the demon's left arm with Tokijin. He was about to finish the job when he felt pain grip his chest again. He couldn't move as the pain paralyzed him. He felt his sword fall from his grasp and claws scratch into his chest as he fell to the ground. "Damn it…"

Sango looked on in terror as the demon began to slash away at Sesshoumaru.

Something overcame her and she felt herself charging at the demon, "Let him alone!" She shouted as she tackled the demon to the ground.

It quickly shoved her off, then picked her up and threw her back onto the boulder. "Fool!" it shrieked before diving at her with it's razor sharp claws.

Sango rolled out of the way and into the shallow part of the stream. She let out a pain filled protest as her back came into contact with the sharp edges of the rocks that lined stream's floor. She stood despite the pain and charged the demon.

Sesshoumaru breathed heavily as he tried to regain control over his limbs. The pain was increasing and gripping his heart. He looked on through his blurry vision, observing the grit of this human girl. She wasn't displaying the same type of hatred that she had shown toward Naraku, but it was the same type of determination.

Sango ducked another blow and circled back up to execute a side kick. She made contact, sending the demon flying backwards into a tree. She ran up behind it before it could regain it's footing and grabbed either side of it's head. She yanked it violently to the right, snapping it's neck in one swift motion.

The determination and need to survive subsided within her and she stood staring down at her hands. She had never killed with her bare hands. She had always found it savage and hostile, yet having just done it, she was surprised at the way it made her feel. Strong; Powerful; Animalistic.

She was brought out of her trance when she caught Sesshoumaru in her peripheral vision. She instinctively hurried to his side, "Sesshoumaru…what happened?"

His breaths were labored and his forehead dripping sweat. He was bleeding from three semi-deep scratch marks in his chest. He looked the same as he had two days ago. "It was him wasn't it? How is he able to do this to you?"

He continued to ignore her questions. Sango let out a sigh as she came to realize it was useless. She looked around. They were venerable here out in the open like this. She had to get him inside the forest under the shield of the trees. Making her decision, Sango moved behind him and wrapped her arms around his waste. She felt his body tense at her touch, which she figured was out of disgust at being touched by a human.

Sesshoumaru growled at being dragged into the forest. He despised having to be dragged, but he couldn't move. His body was stiff, paralyzed from the pain he was feeling. He was unable to concentrate on anything else. The pain was there, fresh in his mind, holding him prisoner.

Sango made it into the forest and leaned Sesshoumaru against a large tree. She came around to face him, "Sesshoumaru?" She could see nothing as she stared into his eyes. Nothing but pain. She had to find a way to distract him from the pain.

She pulled out her canteen and emptied the contents onto his head. Nothing. No change. Sango knelt before him and thought. What could she do? She moved her gaze back to his face, thinking quietly for a moment. NO! She couldn't. Sango pursed her lips, but it would work.

Taking a breath she leaned forward, closing the space between them. She slowly reached one hand out to gently brush away the silver hair that adorned his face, before resting it on the side of his face. She swallowed before softly pressing her lips to his. 'This has to work…although it will probably get me killed.'

Pain gripped strongly at Sesshoumaru's heart as he felt his insides cringe at it. Through the cold, retched pain though, he felt something warm. Where he felt it, he wasn't sure, but he did feel it. It was soft and comforting. Warm and delicate. He began to wonder where it was coming from, and as he did, his concentration moved from the cold, agonizing pain to the new warm sensation.

He felt it on his lips, and on his cheek. His sense of smell began to function again…Sango. His eyes snapped open and he then he knew. She was kissing him. He pushed her away, sending straight onto her ass. He gave her a death glare as he pinned her to the ground for the second time that day. This time his golden eyes glared into her startled, fearful, sierra orbs.

"Never touch me again, human," he growled, tightening his grip on her wrists unaware of his blood that dripped from his wound.

"I-I'm sorry," she whimpered, honestly, "but it worked, didn't it? I had to distract you from the pain."

His eyes changed from hatred to emotionless. He released her as he stood, then wiped his mouth before spitting in disgust. He turned away and retreated into the forest, but before he did, he turned his head back toward Sango, "Tell Inu Yasha that I will not travel with him, but that I will fight along his side in the impending battle with Sorikata."

Sango nodded as he continued to walk away, fading into the shadows. He hadn't killed her. She was definitely going to leave out the details when she told this to Inu Yasha. Sango's head shot up, 'Speaking of Inu Yasha, where the Hell was he when we got attacked? That's never happened before.'

Sensing that something definitely wasn't right, Sango made haste back to camp. She knew something was up. 'I hope I'm wrong…'

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*satsubatsu: It's from the first chapter. I've decided that it will be the name of the new clan of demons. It means blood thirsty, if you don't remember.

Okay, that's eight pages! I don't know where any of this came from, seriously. I hadn't intended for the kiss to happen, but I…I don't know, actually, lol. Oh well, Please review and tell me what you think!!! I WANT EVERYONE TO REVIEW!! DO YOU HEAR ME!! C'MON PEOPLE, PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZZEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

:p Pammi