Servant By: OtakuSailorV
Chapter 16: PureYuhi stumbled into the clearing, not even noticing that Naraku was there until her senses informed her that she was being watched by a familiar.
Her light brown eyes darted up and she halted, gasping for breath as she stared into his dark crimson gaze. He was covered in blood, his own this time, and watching her emotionlessly. She thought she spied something in his shoulder, for he held it with his opposite hand very tightly, as if stifling some pain.
"Naraku-dono. . ." she breathed, not quite sure how she felt. She was relieved to see he was ok, but distress overcame her at his appearance. He seemed even paler than she remembered, and the blood covering him did not bode well, nor did the way he clutched his shoulder.
Yuhi came closer slowly, trying to keep herself upright. Her body was begging for rest. Her eyelids were heavy, her head ached, and her muscles were all sore. "Naraku-dono, are you. . .hurt. . . ?"
Tentatively, unsure and tripping a bit every now and then, Yuhi came forward. He pulled back from her hand that reached toward his wounded shoulder. Yuhi backed down for a moment, thinking that she was being too straightforward and the memory of waking in a forest far from the castle haunting her in the back of her mind.
After a brief moment's deliberation, she found herself walking back over to him.
Naraku just continued stared at her, a number of emotions and thoughts swarming through him at one time. What was Yuhi doing here? He had banished her, sent her away. How had she known where to find him? He was sure he had sent her a decent distance away, so it would be impossible for her to be here now. But here she was, in plain sight, watching him with small tears of relief at the corners of her eyes. What was that, had she been. . .worried. . .about him? This thought struck him as odd and left him wondering. It was impossible though, he highly doubted anybody worried about his safety, least of all she, who had seen him slaughter her friends.
Before he could protest, or she could check herself on being too impertinent and assuming, she had slid one shoulder under his arm and pulled the arm around her neck so that she could support him.
She supposed later on that her youkai self's confidence had somehow leaked through in that moment, allowing her to help him without second guessing her movements, like she had done in other instances. The said dark being was nowhere to be found at the time though, either observing or scheming in a dark recess of Yuhi's mind.
Naraku allowed this, having lost too much strength to support himself much longer. He still had his pride though, and would not let her carry him like he was some frail old man. He still held all his weight, occasionally leaning on her when his footing was lost.
"I know somewhere you can lie down and heal, Naraku-dono." Yuhi said in a small voice, a hint of fear lacing her tone. He didn't reply.
To tell the truth, Yuhi had only just thought of the little hollow by the God Tree, with the moss-covered entrance. Had her mother known that this was going to happen? She smiled softly to herself at the thought, trying to retrieve some memory of her mother. She could no longer remember a face though, it was a sad, but the years since her death had done a number on the already broken memories.
Another thought crossed her mind as she thought back on her mother – what was she going to do with Naraku's wounds? She didn't have anything to suture them with, no kind of bandages or anything of that nature. She became worried, she knew he was half-demon and his wounds would heal swiftly, but she still wanted to bandage him and clean the wounds to prevent disease. Would she have to get the things from the villagers again? She hated the thought of stealing again, but she wanted to help Naraku too. . .
Deciding that she would worry about such things when she actually had to get them, she put it aside for now, concentrating on walking slow enough to keep pace with Naraku.
Yuhi directed Naraku to the little dugout hollow and tried to help him inside as well, but he seemed to be adverse to any kind of help she might provide. Leaning against the dirt wall in the back, his red eyes glowed in the dark, watching her steadily, almost as if calculating her every move.
The coyote hanyou glanced at his shoulder, which he had pulled his arm away from and which now sagged limply, the wound clearly exposed. It looked like the wound created by an arrow. From the looks of it, he had broken off the shaft as much as he could and now all that was left was the arrowhead, oozing pure waves like that of a miko and a small piece of the wooden shaft that was still attached on the inside.
It looked nasty and very painful, she could tell that the miko's magic was draining him to a dangerously low level, she would have to act fast and not waste time wondering if it was the right thing to do or not.
It would be hard, she hated killing and stealing, having been tutored at a very young age by her parents that it was wrong and was never to be done. It was what she had to do now though, despite the fact that she hated it. She swore secretly that she would pay the villagers back when she saw Naraku returned to health and to his castle.
Her mind on other things, Yuhi came to his side, investigating the wound and the space that enclosed them. "Rest, stay here, I'll be back." She said shortly as she drew up a list of needed items in her head and took off into the night air again.
Naraku stared after her, still silent. There was nothing to be said, she obviously was determined to help him, despite whatever her impression had been when she had woken up abandoned in that forest.
He glared, his shoulder aching and the miko's energy lashing through him painfully, drawing out each blow and adding to his discomfort. He let out a light growl as he shifted and closed his eyes, knowing he had no strength left to cast any kind of shielding spells. He could only rely on Hakudoushi and Kagura to keep the band of warriors led by Inuyasha away.
Slowly, he let his mind drift, getting him as close to sleep as he dared at this moment, though he was tempted to let the dark black night take him and ease his pain for at least a small amount of time.
As he sat there, blood starting to clot and dry in the open wounds, his mind went once to the hanyou girl that dared stay by his side despite the horror of what she had encountered. Smirking, he wondered how such a timid girl, who dared not fight or harm others and was repulsed by the idea of killing could have lived for so long during such troubled times. . . .
Yuhi was on her last leg, several times she had had to halt because her breath had hitched and she had had a coughing fit that had made her ribs and stomach ache. When this had happened, she had been sure she would vomit, as sharp pangs would flood through different pressure points on her body, and she would tremble violently. Her feet were bleeding, unused to racing through the rough terrain for so long.
She ignored it though, following the smell of humans that was thick in the air.
When she came to it, she stopped, leaning against a tree to catch her breath and reaching out with her senses to pick up where she could gather the things she needed.
These said senses had grown stronger in the few days that she had had to rely on them, and she felt a steady bond growing between herself and her youkai half, though it was very subtle. She could never fully live in harmony with it, she knew that, but she had grown stronger in an area that she had felt lacking in before. Maybe, possibly, she could get the youkai's murderous voice to disappear forever. She dared not lean too heavily on that fleeting hope.
Sneaking, she hid in the shadows, her strangely colored eyes glowing in the bright moonlight that shone down. Her tail wagged steadily from side to side as she sniffed the air and crept as quietly as she could. Her ears turned toward every night noise and she alert all the while, waiting for a human to come by and notice her.
The first thing to get would be cloth for bandages, a bone-needle and thread for mending tears in clothing, a wooden bowl for clean water, and hopefully some food stuffs as well. It would be hard to carry, but she was sure she could manage if she balanced them right.
There was an old storehouse where horses and the like were stabled, and she went there first in search of the items. She found nothing there but a human guard who was sleeping on his duty, his head nodding heavily with every breath, chin-on-chest.
Making a voice, she made sure not to spook the horses as she crept off again. An open hut intrigued her and carefully she poked inside, finding that the bandages, thread and bone-needle she needed were in plain sight inside. The bowls were over on the other side of the room; she dared not chance going that far into the human's lair.
A woman lay on a futon beside her husband, oblivious to the nighttime visitor that spared them only a small look before disappearing again.
"I'm sorry, I'll bring the needle back." Yuhi whispered under her breath as she left.
That left food and the bowl then, she checked off the items as she tucked the threads and needle safely inside of the bandages and held them tightly to her chest.
Taking back to the shadows, she clambered up on the roof of a hut and surveyed. She knew there had to be some fields around here somewhere, and surely the farmers would have several good bowls that would hold clean water from the stream.
She found it immediately and she darted from rooftop to rooftop toward it, making sure not to loose her precious parcels as she went.
Arriving, she dug up the roots and herbs, taking as much as she dared. Sniffing at a few of the things, she chose what she thought was best and the most ripe. From the trees she gathered some fruit and then she hid this all in a safe spot before darting back to the village to get the bowl.
Yuhi's heart skipped a beat as she saw that a candle was lit and that a human was walking around, a sheathed sword in his hand as he looked about, a suspicious look on his face. Had she been figured out?
At the sight of the blade, her eyes flashed gold briefly and she felt a small snarl rise in her throat. She choked it off before it could be heard and watched the human man uneasily from the shadows, hoping his light would not reflect in her eyes and betray her.
He walked away from her, stopping every now and then to investigate something on the ground. Yuhi puzzled over his actions for a moment before she realized what he saw. Her blood!
Her heart skipped again and she looked quickly snuck from shadow to shadow, heading for the farmer's house.
A dog barked somewhere, and her fur stood on end. Her teeth bared and her muscles began to become pumped with adrenaline again, though the ache was coming back as well, haunting her every fiber.
Quickly she went in and snatched at the first bowl she found, unfortunately this rose a clatter, her hasty actions had caused a jug of sake nearby to tremble on the shelf and then, inevitably, go crashing to the ground.
She tensed, unable to do anything as it tumbled, almost in slow motion to the ground and smashed the alcoholic liquid inside spilling everywhere. Some of it touched her feet and she hissed against the pain as it hit her open wounds.
Immediately the man with the sword was alerted and the dog started to bark as if it were already starting to track her. Yuhi, thinking quickly, managed to dart away, but she had already been spotted by that time; the man had turned just in time to see her form before she had slid away and melted into shadow. It would only be a matter of time now before the village was alerted to her presence.
Yuhi took off to the forest bordered and retrieved her other items as the call went up in the village of a youkai intruder. Her blood boiled in her veins, and there was a coppery taste of blood in her mouth as her fangs started to grow, cutting the gums that were so used to human-sized canines. She quickly shook off the youkai instinct to turn on them and fight, rushing to make sure that she confused the following humans and make it back to her Lord who waited in the underground for her return.
Finally updated, sorry about the long wait everyone.I'm a bit of a slacker and very lazy, so I have been shirking my author's duties lately. repeated bowing Gomen nasai!
Anyway, I'm planning on getting another new chapter up while I'm on spring break here in the next week. Also, if you think Naraku is getting OOC, please feel free to pelt me with random garbage until I'm unconscious. I want to keep him as IC as I possibly can during the course of this fiction, or at least explain his actions enough if he becomes suddenly OOC. le sigh Thanks minna-san.
Thanks for the reviews and your patience, minna-san. I appreciate all your support and help as I continue with this little fiction here. Also, I'd like to thank all of those out there that give me constructive criticism. It helps me a lot and keeps me level-headed when I steer too far off course. bow Arigatou!
See you all next chapter! Happy Easter!