Sesshoumaru was walking through a forest. It was getting dark but he didn't seem to want to stop for the night. Suddenly he stumbled a little, without any visible reason, and supported himself with his hand to a tree. He took a few deep breaths and continued walking, wobbling at first.
'I haven't heard that sound in 80 years... I'm not so close to that village, and I'm feeling so bad already? Since the source of the sound seems to be there, I can't even imagine how my brother is doing...' the dog demon thought. At this moment this was the only thing that could make him feel better – the thought that his brother was suffering more than him. The sharp and loud sound was getting even louder the more he approached the village.
Not too far behind him were walking three dark figures. The two smaller ones were on the bigger one's back. They'd been following Sesshoumaru the whole day and it seemed that they weren't going to quit. Thankfully the bigger creature was quiet enough to compensate the other two's constant moving and whispering.
"I don't like that, Rin." Jaken's words made the girl frown.
"Me too, Jaken-sama. Good that we followed Sesshoumaru-sama." the girl whispered and leaned toward one of the creature's heads to whisper something to him. Ah-Un immediately slowed its peace.
'When I think about it, the time when I wanted him to suffer and die is long over...' the dog demon's thoughts trailed off as he caught three familiar scents. He frowned but that was making his head hurt more and he tried to relax. 'With or without them, it's all the same to me. I can't really trust Jaken to protect Rin while I'm away, and on the other hand she is always in danger when she's with me.'
Sesshoumaru continued walking without making any sign to have noticed them and they were happy. This one time they thought they had outsmarted the great Sesshoumaru-sama. Well, at least Jaken thought so. Rin was too worried about the dog demon to think about such things.
In Kaede's village every man had been 'mobilized' to search for the source of the sound that was torturing Inuyasha. Sango, Miroku, Kirara and Shippo were out too. They had searched the whole day but had no luck. Only Kaede had remained in the hut with Kagome and Inuyasha. The sun was slowly setting when the old Miko entered the hut.
"How is he, child?" she asked.
"He's calm now. But he doesn't say anything anymore." Kagome answered. She was sitting in the back of the hit. Inuyasha was curled on the ground with his head rested in Kagome's lap. She was holding his ears and was massaging them from time to time. His hands were on hers and she could feel them trembling. The only sound that could be heard from him was a soft constant growling and a quiet whimpering from time to time.
At first the sound in his ears was hurting Inuyasha but he soon got used to it and even went out to search for the source. But the more time passed the more the sound got stronger and sharper. Finally he couldn't hold on and returned to the hut. He didn't want to admit he was feeling bad, but as if to make him, the sound suddenly grew louder and almost knocked him unconscious. There was nobody in the hut at that time and if Kagome hadn't returned Inuyasha had thought it was the end of him.
It was dark outside and the men from the village had returned to their homes. Miroku entered the hut, followed by Sango, Shippo and Kirara. Kagome made them a sign to be quiet and they sat around the fire.
"So?" the girl whispered.
"We didn't find anything." Miroku whispered back.
"Tomorrow morning we'll continue. But let's hope it stops by then." Sango whispered too and the others nodded.
During the evening nobody dared to talk, afraid that they might hurt Inuyasha. Kagome even didn't eat, not wanting to release Inuyasha's ears. "When will be the next time I touch them?" she joked quietly.
The others went to bed but Kagome stayed by the hanyou. They quickly fell asleep, tired of the long day. 'I wonder what's going on... All those visions and dreams, now this sound...' she thought, her look on Inuyasha's face. 'It's not a coincidence, I'm sure. We have to find the source of that sound.'
Suddenly Inuyasha trembled all over and whimpered. He gripped Kagome's hands tighter and pressed himself closer to her. Startled she tried to push him away to see him better but he just gripped tighter and leaned into her more. He wasn't growling anymore, he was only whimpering, and his body trembled more and more.
"Guys..." Kagome said and the others stirred. "Guys, wake up..."
"What is it, Kagome-chan?" Sango asked sleepily.
"Something's not right with Inuyasha..." Kagome said with shaky voice – she was barely holding her tears, she just couldn't watch Inuyasha suffer like that.
The others immediately went to her and looked concerned at the hanyou's trembling body. Miroku and Sango tried to move him away from Kagome but he just wouldn't let go of her.
"Oh, my God... Oh, my God!" Kagome was panicking with every minute.
"Calm down, child." Kaede said but that didn't seem to work as tears ran down the girl's cheeks.
"There's... There's..." Kagome couldn't continue as blood streamed down her fingers and Inuyasha's hands. "Blood..."
The others tried desperately to move the hanyou away from her. They asked her if the blood was hers or his but she was so in panic that she just continued crying. Suddenly Inuyasha's body convulsed one last time and he relaxed. His hands loosened their grip and Miroku and Sango were finally able to move him away from Kagome. When they turned him on his back on the ground they saw that the blood was from his ears.
Kagome was hiccupping and shaking all over. Sango went to her and hugged her to calm her down. Kaede and Miroku carefully cleared the blood from Inuyasha's ears and examined them.
"It seems he's unconscious now." Kaede said.
"It's better that way." Miroku sighed and looked at the two girls.
"Kagome-chan, calm down. Inuyasha's ok. He's just unconscious." Sango said stroking the other girl's hair.
"We have to do something fast." Miroku stated. "If it things continue like that Inuyasha might..."
"I think I have an idea." Kaede interrupted the monk. "But I'll need your jewel shard, Kagome, and your help, Houshi-dono."
As Sesshoumaru was walking thorough the forest he suddenly flinched and supported himself with his hand on a tree, again. This time he didn't continue and sat on the ground, under the tree. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, breathing heavy.
'My brother must've died by now... if he's in the village...' the dog demon thought. '...he must be there since the sound is coming from there...'
"Sesshoumaru-sama isn't looking good at all." Rin whispered. She, Jaken and Ah-Un were hiding behind some bushes not far away from Sesshoumaru.
"I've never seen him like this..." Jaken said.
'I have.' Rin thought and remembered the first time she met him. 'But he was hurt then. He looked good before he left us, and we followed him all the way...'
"Jaken-sama, do you think we should go to him?" the girl asked.
"No!" the green demon almost screamed. He then lowered his tone. "Sesshoumaru-sama is going to kill me! I'm practically leading you into danger."
'I'm going to kill you if you don't shut up.' the dog demon thought and Jaken shivered all over, as if he had heard him. 'At this speed I'll be at the village tomorrow evening...'
TBC