Hakisuma ran panting into a thick forest. Jaken's bloody and beat-up body was dragged behind her unmercifully. She snickered and stopped at a thorn bush. She quickly disposed the body and covered and stuck thorns in his sorry body. Hakisuma glanced back to the fighting. Inu Yasha was being chased by Sesshoumaru. They were running so fast it looked like they were teleporting. 'I thought Sesshoumaru was faster than Inu Yasha...' Hakisuma thought. She shrugged and starting walking back to where Kagome was.

A dark shadow leapt overhead. Hakisuma looked up, startled. There was a demon crow, the size of an eagle. It swooped and attacked Hakisuma. She grabbed her katana but the talons already met her arm. A gash the size of a ruler was bleeding steadily. Hakisuma looked back at the crow with fury. Her ears and claws popped up. She snarled and grabbed her katana. The crow dived again. This time, however, she reflected the attack with the blade of the katana. She narrowed her eyes and slashed madly at the crow. The crow's foot fell off. It screeched and tore at Hakisuma's flesh. Hakisuma put up her arms to protect herself when a figure leapt in front of her and cut the bird cleanly in half.

Hakisuma stared at the remains of the twitching body on the ground. The twitching grew worse and the crow's body reassembled itself. 'It's got a jewel shard!' Hakisuma thought. She swiped at it again and dug in its decapitated body for the shard. 'Aha!' Hakisuma thought as she pulled out a diamond shaped object. It gleamed from the dappled light streaming through the canopy of leaves. Hakisuma turned to her rescuer. It was gone. Hakisuma's eyes wandered around the trees and she shrugged. 'I wanted to thank who ever it was who saved me...' Hakisuma stood up and walked slowly back to where she was headed.

Kagome squinted through the trees. "Hakisuma's coming back!" she exclaimed. She got up and ran to Hakisuma, who was swaying as she walked. Her arms were ripped in several places and she had blood all over her short kimono. Her right hand was clenching something tightly. "Hakisuma! You're hurt!" Kagome exclaimed. She looked Hakisuma up and down again. She swung Hakisuma's arm around her shoulder and supported her back to the group. Shippo bounded over and leapt onto Hakisuma's shoulder. She winced slightly.

"Hakisuma! Are you OK?" Shippo asked nervously.

Sango and Miroku asked, "What happened?"

"What did you do with Jaken's body?" Shippo added.

They all stared at Hakisuma intently, waiting for an answer.

A clanking noise steadily increased. Inu Yasha and Sesshoumaru's figures gradually became larger. They were still at it. Hakisuma glanced up wearily. "Inu Yasha needs to end the fight one way or another!" she said. Her vision blurred. "Where's Hikari?" she added.

"She has gone to look for you," Kagome said gently. Indeed, a dirty and grouchy looking Hikari appeared out of the trees. Kagome let go of Hakisuma gently. Hikari walked over quickly and looked Hakisuma up and down as Kagome did. She snarled and plopped down on the cloth Kagome had set up. Hakisuma swayed again and whimpered. Her vision blurred again and then she blacked out. A red blur shot through her closing eyes and caught her before she landed on the ground.

"She needs to be more careful," Miroku commented. Inu Yasha looked back over his shoulder. Sesshoumaru was glaring at Inu Yasha while tapping his foot. (.)

Inu Yasha growled and set down Hakisuma. He rushed over to Sesshoumaru and swung his Tetsusaiga where the demonic and natural powers collide. "WIND SCAR!" he roared. Sesshoumaru jumped back and snapped his fingers. A two-headed dragon soared out of the sky and took Sesshoumaru away before the attack hit him. The Wind Scar grazed his side.

"Damn you!" Inu Yasha snarled at Sesshoumaru, who was disappearing into the sky with his monster. He sheathed his blade and ran back over to Kagome, who was taking care of Hakisuma. Inu Yasha stared down at the pitiful Hakisuma. Kagome was bandaging her up the best that she could. Kii was curled up against Hakisuma's chest. "What happened?" Inu Yasha demanded. Kagome looked up at him.

"She's been attacked," she replied dryly. Inu Yasha snorted.

"I know that!" he shouted. "But what attacked her?!" he was beginning to be a tad impatient. Shippo glared at Inu Yasha.

"HOW WERE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!" he shouted. Inu Yasha took a step back. Shippo huffed and plopped down next to Kirara. Sango looked at the wounds. "It looks like she's been attacked by a bird demon of some sort. Look at the gashes in her arm." Miroku nodded.

"I think it was a bird who attacked her too." he agreed.

Inu Yasha noticed Hakisuma's right fist. It was trembling. He stooped and pried open her fist. A Shikon shard gleamed in the glare of the sun. "Ha! Looks like she's useful after all!" he commented airily. Kagome glared at Inu Yasha.

"Give 'em!" she commanded. She held out her hand. Inu Yasha wilted under her glare and surrendered the shards. She took the shard and put it in the bottle she had around her neck.

Inu Yasha sat down and stared at the rest of the group. They were all lost in their thoughts. "Now what?" he asked. They all shrugged. Shippo was playing with Kirara's ears absently. Kagome was fingering her arrows. Sango was rubbing some dirt off her boomerang. Miroku sighed and put his chin on his palm. His staff jingled.

"That's it!" Kagome and Sango exclaimed in unison. "I'm going to look for a hot spring! I need a bath," Kagome said. Sango nodded and followed Kagome into the forest to look for their hot spring.

Inu Yasha glanced at Miroku's direction. He was staring dreamily off into space. Inu Yasha's eyebrow twitched. He grabbed Tetsusaiga's scabbard and knocked the dirty thoughts out of Miroku's head. Shippo shook his head sadly and said, "He never learns."

"You've got that right," Inu Yasha noted.

(Kagome and Sango)

Kagome and Sango wound their way through the trees. A source of water was trickling down moss-covered rocks. Sango stooped down and placed one finger in the water. "It's warm," she commented.

"The spring must be close then," Kagome said. There was silence for a moment. The only sound was their footsteps and an occasional bird chirping.

"Do you suppose Hakisuma will be all right?" Sango asked Kagome, who tended the wounds.

"Yeah, she'll be all right, but she lost a lot of blood." Kagome replied. She looked at her hands. They were covered in the dried blood of Hakisuma and the crow. Her school uniform was also covered in blood in the front. Sango sighed.

"These times are too dangerous," Sango said. "Naraku will pay for all the torturing and suffering her has brought to these times!" Kagome nodded in the front. 'Poor Hakisuma,' she thought. 'She is an orphan now. Her parents were killed by Naraku's demons. How sad.' Kagome clenched her fists.

"Kagome!" Sango said sharply. "Stay still!" she warned.

Bahahaha! R&R! And thank you to: HikariLunar, Rene Descartes, Ajisuke Kuniyo, and cyclonegal12 for reviewing! Thank you again!!!