Chapter 6: Near Death of a Demon

"Inuyasha you're not gone, you're still alive right?" Kagome whispered softly, her trembling hands whipped at her tear soaked cheeks. Leaning over his body she pressed her ear against his chest and listened closely for any sign of a heartbeat. A short faint rhythmic thumping deep inside his body sent a smile across her worried face. "You aren't dead!" She exclaimed lifting her head from on top of him then touched his cold cheek. The arrow that had put him through so much agony caught her eye and she glared at it with intense anger. Wrapping her hands tightly around the stick of wood she pulled at it using all the strength she had until is came completely out from his chest. With one last boost of strength it slipped out, strings of blood sticking to the stone head. A grunt escaped his mouth as the weapon was removed from his body and Kagome tried to shush him, to let his unconscious self aware that she was still by his side. "It's okay Inuyasha I'm here." She whispered while whipping the sweat that had gathered on his forehead away with the sleeve of her tattered dress. Sitting back on her heels she watched his still body as he fought in silence against the poison that had entered his blood stream. 'What do I do? I don't have any antibiotics to clean up the wound but if I don't do anything soon, he'll die…I have to get him to Miroku.' Picking up his hand she pressed it against her cheek and spoke. "Inuyasha, I need you to get up now. We've got to get you away from here and cleaned up." She leaned closer to his ear. "Can you do that for me?" Her question went unanswered as his mouth made no attempt to speak. Kagome bit her lip when even his head didn't nod. She knew he was still alive so why was he making things so difficult for her, it was defiantly not the time to play dead. Not bothering to ask again, she slipped her arm under his shoulder and lifted him into a sitting position, his head flopped around as she did. Kagome pulled him into her chest so he wouldn't fall forward and whipped her face with her hand. As she drew it back, the blood from Inuyasha's wound that stained it caught her eye and she tried her best not to gag. 'He's lost so much blood.' "Inuyasha we need to go now." She instructed, lifting them both to their feet. She didn't care if he answered or put any effort into moving, all she cared about was keeping him alive and the way to do that was to get back to the castle. Resting his arms on her shoulder and tucking hers behind his back she led him into the forest on a search for the end where the castle would be.

Kagome carried him for over an hour without any of his help and she was soon quickly overcome by exhaustion. "Inuyasha…you have to help me." She said through gasps for air. Still no answer or any sign that he had heard her and understood and so she stopped. She needed to rest badly if she was to continue with his weight on hers. Leaning his body against her own, she crushed her face into his chest and dropped her burning arms to her side. To her, it felt like there was even no use to go on. It had taken her so long to get to only a short distance from where she had started. Hot tears from the thought of him dying because she couldn't help stung her eyes and she let them fall. "I tried to help you Inuyasha but I can't anymore. I'm too tired." A small crystal tear slipped off her cheek and soaked into his wound.

Inuyasha's eyes slowly fluttered open and he stared down at the crying girl at his grasp. He felt no pain anymore from his wound, just extremely weak. So weak that he couldn't even lift his arms around her shoulders, or take her hand into his. So weak that he could hardly even keep his eyes open or move his mouth properly to speak. "Kagome, why are you crying?" He asked, trying to move his lips from sealing his mouth.

Kagome's head shot up and she stared into the golden eyes of the demon she thought had died. "Inu…yasha? You're…alive!" She exclaimed happily, smiling brightly and helping him stand up straight.

He nodded and looked around the trees that surrounded them both. It wasn't the same place as before where he had fallen with Kagome and when Sesshomaru came to take her away from him. "Where are we?"

"Um, I don't know exactly where we are but," She put her arm back around his back. "Can you walk?" He shrugged when she put his arm over her shoulders and started moving. "We have to get you to Miroku."

Inuyasha dragged his feet along the ground with some difficulty but the fact that she never left him encouraged him to keep going. She had brought him all the way here by herself and he needed to push himself to go the rest of the way, for her sake. Looking down at her focused face he smiled and kept moving.

The castle was only a few steps away and the pain in his wound had increased dramatically, almost to the point of collapsing but he wouldn't allow it, and he tried harder to hold on a bit longer. Kagome had kept him awake the whole time by her worried questions about him being all right and he was thankful for them. They used to bother him so much but in this case they were appropriate and he even gave her a decent answer, which she obviously appreciated by the way she smiled and looked up at him. As they took their first step up the stone stairs that led to the castle, his leg completely gave out and he fell head first into them and was knocked out immediately.

"Inuyasha we're almost there, come on, get up." Kagome said, struggling to lift him up to his feet again. His body didn't move, nor did he tell her he was ok and she began to panic. Kneeling by his side she rolled him over onto his back and gasped as blood from a new cut dripped down his forehead and stained his silver hair. "No Inuyasha, you're still here with me, get up!" She whispered sitting him up. She tried to lift him up but her legs could hardly even carry her own weight anymore. Stumbling as she walked behind his head, she took him by the wrists and began to slowly drag him up the rest of the way.

"Now you listen here you worthless wench, Sesshomaru wants a new, better weapon than any other before. He's going to finish what he started once and for all." Jaken explained to the young woman who walked behind him. His master had asked him to accompany and order the weapon maker around, set her straight is what he said and that was exactly what he was doing. Grinning to himself he continued marching her back to her room.

Sango nodded her head sadly as she followed behind the toad, all her new materials tucked in her arms. "Yes Jaken." As they passed the front door, the faint cry of Kagome's entered her ears. 'She's still alive!' She stopped and pressed the side of her head against the cold wood and listened carefully. 'They're both alive!' Her mind shouted when she heard Kagome again telling Inuyasha to get up. 'Maybe they need my help.'

Jaken turned when her footsteps were no longer heard behind him and he became very angered when she not was obeying his order to head back to her quarters. He frowned and stomped over to her side. Hitting her arm with his staff to catch her attention he shouted angrily. "I told you, you have to come back! You're not allowed to wander, no one is!"

Sango removed her ear from the door and glared at the toad demon who was much smaller than she. The sudden urge to kick his little green ass overpowered her worries and fear of Sesshomaru. "You know what Jaken?" She started, dropping the materials onto the ground in a cluttered mess. "I'm not obeying anyone this time so screw you!" Snatching the staff from his hand she whacked him across the head before his high pitched scream filled the whole castle and awoke Sesshomaru from his rest. She watched him fall to the ground, cross-eyed and a fresh new bump on his head. Dragging him by his ankles she tossed him into a closet and locked him inside. "Take that." She congratulated herself, whipping her hands against one another. 'Now for Kagome and Inuyasha.' Jogging to the door she threw it open and saw Kagome pulling frantically at Inuyasha's haori, her eyes a glossy ice. "Oh my, Kagome what happened to him?" Sango shouted running to the other side of Inuyasha.

Kagome lifted her head up to look at Sango and felt relieved that someone, her friend was there to help her out. "Sango!" She exclaimed in an exhausted breath for air. "He got shot by Sesshomaru. Please, he's going to die if we don't get him to Miroku!"

Sango nodded and they both lifted his arms over their shoulders and carried him inside the castle.

"Is he going to be ok?" Kagome asked almost in tears as she stood above Miroku and watched the whole process. After her and Sango brought Inuyasha here, Miroku went straight to work to heal the dying half demon.

Miroku dabbed the last of the ointment over Inuyasha's chest and taped up the cotton bandage to cover it so to reduce the risk of infection. He sighed and whipped his forehead with his arm. "He'll be fine now. It was close though." He stood to his feet and walked to Sango who held onto a large bowl of water to clean his hands with.

Kagome smiled and knelt down by his head. The sound of his soft breathing was comforting to hear. She didn't show him any signs of how scared she was when she carried him through the forest. To tell the truth, she was terrified that she might've lost him back there and wouldn't have been able to do to anything to help him. She sighed and tucked his hand into hers and waited for him to awake.