Thanx for the reviews! Well, you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours, so here's the next chapter. And thanx for telling me how to delete anonymous reviews, but I think I'll leave Hey Man's reviews there just because I'm stubborn and don't wanna look like a weak person who can't take a little flaming. I roasted some marshmallows and Jaken with the recent one.

I don't like frog legs, though. Gave em to my sis. heh...

Anyway, I sorta have to reply to a review.

Sesshoumaru's mother has not been mentioned at all in the series or manga. She may be, but as of yet, there is nothing on her. Anything about her is in fanfiction, which is strictly fiction within fiction, if you know what I mean. Even the whole "Lord of the Western Lands" thing is fanfiction. No one knows if Sessh ever took after his father's role or if he's a nomad, but he does seem to have a home to go to, as in volume 14 of the manga, he tells Jaken he wants to go home.

Okay, I'm done being an Inuyasha brain. Go read the story and have fun.

Kagome could sense that she was warm. This surprised her as it interacted with her dream, and she woke up to find herself buried in the snow.

At first, she started. Flailing madly, she caused snow to cave in on her and found that she could no longer breathe well.

I think I messed something up! I could breathe before, but now…

Suddenly, she noticed that Sesshoumaru's tail was keeping her warm, causing her to sweat in fact.

He had set her up in this hole. And as she realized that, she felt her insides squirm.

So what had happened to him!

Frantically, she dug herself out of the snow, which had seemed to pile up endlessly in the time she had slept. Had she really slept through to the next day? Yes, she must have, for when she broke through the snow, it was daylight, and when she had fallen asleep, it had been becoming evening.

"Sesshoumaru! Where are you!" she cried. "Are you okay!"

"Kagome!"

"Inuyasha!"

The young miko was in time to see Inuyasha return, and he was in the company of a handsome man.

"Inuyasha…who's this?" she asked curiously.

"My name is Rojin, and I'm the second healer in Sesshoumaru-sama's castle. I'm also his cousin. Pleased to meet you," the Inu-Youkai told her, bowing.

"Nice to meet you too, Rojin. I was expecting a girl, but…"

"Yes, well, I am just as good as Ayumi, I only lack her powers of sedation…"

"I'm sorry to have sounded rude, I didn't mean it like that," Kagome said.

"It's quite all right. So where's my dear cousin?"

"He's…um…well…his tail was in this hole I was in…"

"He is under the snow?"

"Yeah…I mean…he tried to keep me warm…"

"He tried? That seems out of character for him…"

"Okay, ladies, lets get digging!" Inuyasha snarled. "At this rate, all we're gonna find is a Sesshoumaru-sicle by the time we dig him out…"

With that, Rojin stooped down and began to dig in the snow. Inuyasha joined him and they soon uncovered a frozen looking Sesshoumaru. His hand was covering his stomach wound and his face, already mauled by Inuyasha's claws, was contorted into a painful look, not to mention his exposed skin had turned very blue and his lips purple.

"Oh, shit…he looks awful…"

Rojin put his ear to Sesshoumaru's heart.

"..Hmm…he's still got a weak heartbeat…but I don't know what we can do in the middle of the snow, and he can't be moved, his wounds are too severe…"

"We don't have a choice, do we Rojin?" Kagome said.

"No, it appears we don't. However bad his wounds are, he'll need to be moved. Inuyasha, let's get to it."

"Hey, Inuyasha…how did you get into Sesshoumaru's shiro with no trouble?" Kagome had to ask.

"It wasn't easy. The guards found me before I could find Ayumi…"

Flashback

Inuyasha ran down the halls, trying to escape the youkai guards that had found him suspicious. They knew that the brother of their lord was not commonly welcomed with open arms.

In fact, he was never welcomed with open arms.

"AYUMI! Ayumi, get your ass out here! I need some help!" he yelled.

Instead, he remembered Rojin standing to bar his way.

"Inuyasha," he said evenly. "What brings you here? You know as well as I do that you are less than welcome in these doors…"

"Rojin, I don't have time for this shit! Sesshoumaru's real sick and hurt and there's some hell-blown blizzard out there!"

"Sesshoumaru is in peril? Lead the way!"

"Uh, there's a bunch of guards…"

"Ha! Caught you, hanyou filth! Your time is up!"

"Fools! You cannot realize that Inuyasha would not be so drastic as to come to our lord's castle unless he is severely injured!" Rojin managed. "Come, Inuyasha! Let us go!"

End Flashback

"And that's how it went."

"Lucky I was there, hanyou. You'd be dead otherwise."

"Feh! Those guys kill me? I coulda taken them, I just didn't think Sesshoumaru would appreciate it!" Inuyasha scoffed as he lifted his brother's upper body.

"Sure…" Rojin said. "You're also lucky I took a liking to you."

"Yeah, otherwise I really would be dead."

It didn't take long for the group of misfits to find a hut. Rojin, demon that he was, soon chased someone out of their hut and they were able to take refuge. Of course, that was after Rojin told the people he meant no harm, that he only wanted to use their herbs and shelter.

"Ah, well…I suppose that there's no help for cowards," he said nonchalantly. "Come on, Inuyasha, let's get Sesshoumaru warmed up."

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"Hmm, such brotherly concern," Rojin sneered playfully as he examined his cousin's body. "Why so eager?"

"I made a vow, and I plan to make good on it," Inuyasha said.

"Vow?"

"He's a Were-Dog, Rojin."

"A Were-Dog?" hissed the Inu-Youkai. "A Were-Dog…how did this happen?"

"He got in a tangle with an Infected Dog. From what I gather, this mutt broke loose from the hideout of the Were Hunters. Real jackasses, actually."

"You met the Were Hunters?" Rojin said incredulously. "He was taken by them and lived to tell the tale? Ah, yes, I see. A Subduction Collar."

"Hey!" Inuyasha growled. "How do you know about that thing?"

"Inuyasha…I…I used to be a Were-Hunter…"

"WHAT!" spat the hanyou. "You were one of them!"
"Yes, Inuyasha. I was one of the first Were-Hunters. However, when my first leader Kinirotoko was killed by his grandson, I left…"

"Grandson?" Kagome said.

"I see I shall be relating this sad tale of the Were-Hunters to you," Rojin said softly. "Well, what must be told will be told."

He took a deep breath.

"The Were Hunters were established to protect demonkind and even mankind from the savage animals that you know as Were-Dogs. Our first leader was Kinirotoko."

R & R pretty please!