Torie-san: Review Response time!

InuyashaKogaRULZ: thanks!

Desy: thanks to you too. And about the Kilala/Kirara thing....right you are. But it is kinda confusing. I mean, in the beginning of the series they call her Kilala and after a few episodes it's Kirara. I'll leave it like that in the Prologue (just cuz I'm lazy...) and fix it in this chapter.

Marnika: Well here's your more!!

The Darkness Before the Dawn

Chapter One: Rin's Tale

Looks of disbelief hung in what seemed a permanent fashion on InuYasha, Sango, Miroku, Kagome, and Shippo's faces at this piece of news.

"What the hell do you mean he's in 'danger'?" InuYasha yelled.

Rin stared up at her Lord's half-brother. "We were attacked by some demons..." a fearful looks appeared in the young girl's eyes. "Please, you have to come help him...I don't want Sesshomaru-sama to die!"

"Feh. I ain't helpin' him." With this, the hanyou leapt into the branches of a tree.

Kagome glared up at the tree into which InuYasha had disappeared, then turned her gaze back to Rin. As soon as she saw the tears spilling down her cheeks as the brown-haired girl stared up at the tree, Kagome resolved to do all she could. No matter how much I hate his brother...

"InuYasha.......SIT!"

The next moment, InuYasha became intimately related to the dirt. He lifted his head from the ground, spat some dirt out of his mouth, stood up, and yelled, "What'd ya do that for?!"

Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Rin stared on in amazement as Kagome proceeded to yell at the bewildered hanyou.

"I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU HATE YOUR BROTHER, YOU'RE GOING TO HELP HIM!!!"

InuYasha, his sensitive ears flat against his head, yelled right back, "WHAT MAKES YOU SO EAGER TO HELP, HUH? WHAT'S THAT BASTARD EVER DONE FOR YOU?!"

"I DIDN'T SAY HE'D DONE ANYTHING FOR ME!!" Here the raven-haired girl lowered her voice. "I just can't let her down."

InuYasha growled and turned to go back to his tree...but then..."SIT!!!"

He crashed once more into the ground. "Would you quit doin' that?!"

"InuYasha, I think it would be wise if you helped your brother," Miroku spoke up, observing the look on Kagome's face.

"And why's that monk?"

"Because Lady Kagome looks like she's about to 'sit' you into what she calls the 'center of the earth'."

InuYasha glanced nervously back at Kagome. "Okay fine," he said somewhat reluctantly.

Kagome looked back at Rin. The girl's tears had dried and the next second she leapt upon InuYasha shouting, "YAY!"

"Yeah yeah," InuYasha said uncomfortably, pushing Rin off if himself.

"Just tell us how it happened as we go," Sango said.

"Lord Sesshomaru, Jaken-sama and I were just walking through the forest earlier in the day. We weren't doing anything, just walking," Rin began, "when suddenly we were attacked by these lizard-things. They ran on two feet and had long tails and scaly bodies. Jaken-sama ran behind the cover of some brush and I followed him. Lord Sesshomaru began battling the demons..." here her voice faltered, and Kagome urged her to continue. She began again saying, "But then one of the demons lashed out and struck him across the back. He nearly fell forward, but regained his balance in time to kill that one. Then," she paused again, "Sesshomaru-sama drew Tokijin." She stopped as if that were the end of the story.

"Is that it?" asked Sango

Rin reluctantly shook her head. I am not sure Sesshomaru-sama would want his despised half-brother to hear of his full defeat...

"Then please, continue," Miroku spoke up. InuYasha moved in front of the group since he could smell Sesshomaru.

Hesitantly, Rin continued with her tale: "But after a while, even after the tide of the battle had turned Lord Sesshomaru's favor, it turned against him again. The lizard demons scored many hits upon him, knocking Tokijin from his hand. Soon...he could do nothing to fight back. At that point a scream split the air. It seemed like a signal to the demons, who raced away. I ran over to Sesshomaru-sama...After leaving him in Jaken-sama's care, I ran to get you. But right now I'm sure the only thing keeping Lord Sesshomaru alive is his Tenseiga."

"How'd you find us anyway?" InuYasha asked over his shoulder to her.

"We've been traveling several days ahead of you for several days for some time now. I knew just to back-track until I came to your camp," Rin responded.

"You have to give her credit for that InuYasha," Sango spoke up.

"Feh."

They traveled in silence until Shippo spotted something white through the trees. Pointing, the small kitsune said, "There he is!"

InuYasha, with Kirara and Miroku behind him, skidded to a stop in the clearing. Rin immediately jumped off the hanyou's back and rushed to the silver-haired man lying in the center of the clearing. Jaken looked up as she ran toward him.

"Rin you're back. Did you..." he started asking, then looked up to see the group of five Rin had brought along approaching. "Ah." The half-breed's in the back I see. He was probably forced to come.

Once Sango, Shippo, Miroku, Kagome and InuYasha got about five feet away from the fallen dog demon, they stopped. Kirara, still transformed, stood at the edge of the clearing. However, after a nod from Sango, she returned to her normal form and crept forward beside Shippo.

And uncomfortable silence reigned between the two, as it were, "rival" groups. In the end, it was Kagome who stepped forward with the question, "What can we do?" proceeding from her lips.

"Well, it's been several hours since the battle and M'Lord still hasn't woken up. He's breathing, but shallowly, and his heart's beating slowly. M'Lord's wounds seemed to have healed, but I...I daren't check for fear of what he may do when he awakes." This full and slightly fearful report came from Jaken.

"Well, you'll have to take the consequences," Sango said, stepping forward next to Kagome. "Where are the worst of his wounds?"

Jaken blinked at this bold address and then said, "On his back."

"Do you have any bandages Kagome?" Sango asked Kagome.

"Of course."

As one, the two girls walked to the Lord of the Western Lands and knelt down beside him. Kagome pulled out the bandages. Most of his armor was already off because of the attacks. Sango slipped his kimono ((THE TOP PART)) off and gently turned him halfway over, ignoring Jaken's sputtered protests. She winced at the six long gashes across his back that were still trickling blood. Kagome silently started winding the bandages around his chest, sighing slightly as she did so. InuYasha better not start getting insanely jealous...she thought.

InuYasha, his arms crossed, twitched his ears furiously several times as Kagome began bandaging his brother's chest. Dammit, it's like helping Kouga!

Miroku glanced over at InuYasha and saw his furiously twitching ears. Containing his laughter for the moment, the monk said quietly to him, "Something on your ears bothering you, InuYasha?" The hanyou's ears stopped twitching and he shot a "say-that-again-and-die-a-painful-death" look toward the amused monk, accompanied by a low, short growl.

Halfway done with the bandages, Kagome froze. She had heard InuYasha's low growl, and, not having seen the scene behind her, mistook it as jealously. Calmly she spoke, "Sit." She heard the thud signifying the introduction of InuYasha to the ground, and went back to bandaging. Sango glanced at her, wondering why she'd 'sat' him. Shippo leapt onto Miroku's shoulder and they both stared down at InuYasha's prostrate form...which didn't stay prostrate for long. He jumped to his feet and opened his mouth to yell, but Sango, who had turned around, caught his eye and shook her head. The irate half- demon snapped his mouth shut and crossed his arms again.

After a few more minutes of winding, Kagome finished. Sango slipped Sesshomaru's kimono ((the TOP)) back up. The two girls stood and walked back to the group of InuYasha, Miroku, Kirara, Rin, Jaken, and Shippo.

Rin looked anxiously up at them, her eyes asking the unspoken question.

"He should be fine. We just have to wait until he wakes up," Kagome said.

"But for now we should set up camp here," Sango suggested.

Five minutes later a fire had been built with Sesshomaru placed near it and the others, all but InuYasha, who had disappeared into a tree, grouped around it.

Torie-san: The end of the first chapter! Will Sesshomaru wake up? Find out...! And you guys got five pages! Rejoice!

Next Chapter:

The Awakening

And a hint: that's talking about more than a person!