Fallen Star
by Jessa

Chapter 5: ...And what have you done with Sesshoumaru?

"Baka!" Sesshoumaru muttered under his breath. She's going to get herself killed, he thought. Then, What does it matter? It's not like she's of any importance to me.

He felt a tug on his pants and looked down.

"Rin wants to know where Hoshi-neechan is going," the little girl asked.

"She's going elsewhere."

"Elsewhere? Rin wants to go, too. Onegai, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

He was going to say no, but caught a glimpse of the child's face.

She'd hit his weak spot. Puppy-dog eyes. Just as Inuyasha would do anything to stop a girl from crying, Sesshoumaru could not resist the puppy-dog-eye stare. Especially from Rin.

The little girl's huge brown eyes bored into Sesshoumaru's golden ones, begging him to take her to Hoshi. "We will find her," he said with a sigh.

"Arigatou, Sesshoumaru-sama!" the child cried excitedly. "Arigatou! Arigatou! Arigatou!"

:o:o:o:o:o:

Inuyasha picked himself up off of the pile of half-rotted, half-eaten carcasses he'd landed on. The hole he fell through was high above him, within jumping range of his hanyou muscles, but far out of his current range.

"Kuso!" he swore as he looked around the grotto. The rough rock walls were damp, and, here and there, trickles of water fell out of cracks in the walls. Patches of luminescent fungus dimly lit the area, giving off a sickly green glow, highlighting his dark hair.

A mound of fur drew his attention when it moved suddenly. A dozen pairs of blood-red eyes blinked out of the fur at him.

The mound began to squeak.

A few moments later, Inuyasha could make out the sounds of movement coming towards him fast. Within the next moment, he could see the source of the noise.

He was greeted by razor-sharp teeth tearing into his arm.

:o:o:o:o:o:

Hoshi practically flew through the forest, following the somewhat familiar human scent. She leapt over a hole in the ground just as an agonized wail rose from its depths. She sniffed the air as she landed, and her expression changed from intent to surprise.

Fire-rats, here? This isn't their territory. They shouldn't be here. And Inu-baka, ningen? Now all I need is Sesshoumaru to follow me here and I'll know I'm in someone's demented dream. She mentally shrugged and leapt down the hole.

The first sight she was met with was a squirming pile of fur. The next was said pile of fur sorting itself out into at least twelve separate furballs and swarming toward her.

The third sight her eyes took in was a very angry female fire-rat youkai mauling a weakly-struggling, very human, Inuyasha.

"How do you get yourself into these messes, Inu-baka?" Hoshi asked. The sound of her voice pulled the mother rat's attention from the hanyou. (er, human?)

"Leave, now, and you won't die," it grated out, just barely understandable.

"Let the ningen go, and maybe I won't kill you," Hoshi returned.

"Iie. Cannot let ningen go. Was trying to hurt babies. Must suffer now. Suffer much pain. Die!"

"Have it your way." Hoshi set herself into the typical 'I'm gonna kick your ass' stance and readied herself to spring.

Her view of the fire-rat was suddenly obscured by a blur of white. A calm, cultured voice called out, "Take Inuyasha and get out. I will take care of this pitiful excuse for a youkai."

Hoshi pinched herself as she leapt over to Inuyasha. Ouch! Okay, maybe this isn't someone's sick dream. She carefully gathered him up and jumped out of the hole. She was met by an overly excited Rin.

"Hoshi-neechan!" the girl cried, running up to the woman.

An unearthly wail rose from the pit, as well as the sounds of thrashing, then Sesshoumaru came flying out of the youkai nest. He landed on his feet a few yards away from Hoshi, though it looked to her that he swayed a bit before completely regaining his balance. His usually pristine white kimono was ripped and stained with blood in places, and part of his bone armor was missing. Obviously the fire-rat had been an able opponent for the youkai lord.

"It is dead, and its young as well," the taiyoukai stated. His voice had a slight waver to it, as if he was hiding pain. "Is Inuyasha alive?"

"If his wounds aren't treated quickly, he won't be for long. I can bandage his cuts, but I believe he has some broken bones. And he's not breathing well, so I assume something's wrong with his lungs, too."

"His companions are not too far away. We should take him to them. I doubt they can help him, but perhaps they would like to try."

Hoshi looked at the youkai in front of her curiously. "Okay, who are you, and what have you done with Sesshoumaru?"