Title: Behind the Blue Moon
Author(s): SkyFire
Rating: PG13
Summary: An unfortunate accident has unforeseeable consequences for the Lord of the Western Lands.
Genre: Drama
Warnings: Possible slash/yaoi ahead. Not sure, but maybe. WIP.

Author's Notes: (1) I have a vague idea where this is going. Let me know if you want to see more.
(2) My first Inuyasha fanfic, though not my first fic (I write for "Lord of the Rings" and "Pirates of the Caribbean"). Ideas and suggestions are always welcomed. Flames will be force-fed to the youkai in my basement; what he decides to do with them is none of my business.

I want to say thanks to my reviewers! I'm so happy with your response, thank you so much! I hope you like future chapters as much as you liked the last one! I'd reply to every one of your reviews, but FFnet doesn't allow that anymore, so I'll just have to settle for the collective thanks. I'll be re-posting this in my livejournal (see link in my bio page) so if you want to write me there, I'll answer you!

Just a quick note: Everything I know of the Japanese language I know from reading IY fanfic, so if you see me use something wrong, please let me know so I can fix it! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha series, movies, or manga. Though if someone would kindly donate a Sesshomaru, I wouldn't turn him down... ;oP

oOoOo
Part 2: Two Days Later

Two days had passed.

The group had set up camp in a sheltered spot not far down the road from where they had fought the demon.

Sesshomaru lay --as he had for the past two days-- in a blanket on the ground near the fire, wrapped up in what seemed to be miles of bandages. Nearly every part of him was covered by the bands of white cloth.

Sango sat on the ground beside the unconscious demon, methodically checking on his wounds.

Thanks to his powerful youkai blood, most of the hurts on his body had healed enough not to need the wrappings, and most of the bruising on face and body had disappeared.

More serious by far was the injury to his head. Two days after the accident and the bandages around his head were still soaking up the oozing blood. The source of the bleeding was a severe gash at the base of his skull. Shattered bone had started healing, the concussion faded, but still Sesshomaru had yet to regain consciousness.

It was strange in an uncomfortable way for the group to see the powerful demon as he was; lying pale and still in the blankets, looking helpless, innocent, and vulnerable for the first time since they had known him.

Even worse than seeing the proud lord laid low was the knowledge that there was nothing they could do to change it. All they could do was try to keep him warm and watered, keep the bandages clean, and wait for his healing powers to do their work.

Sango continued on her self-appointed task, checking the wrappings and wounds, re-wrapping those that needed it, discarding those from wounds that had healed enough not to need them. Trepidation rose in her when she went to check the last of it --the head wound-- but a sigh of relief escaped her when she saw that the once-terrible wound was mostly closed, and healing nicely.

"So?" came an unexpected query from Inuyasha. "How is it?"

"It's finally healing," Sango reported, the relief she felt mirrored on nearly every face there. "He might wake up soon."

Inuyasha just hmphed, seemingly unimpressed. "It's about time."

Almost as if her words had been a cue --not that the lord would have heeded such if he had been aware-- one of Sesshomaru's hands twitched slightly, more movement than the injured one had made since they pulled him from the rubble.

They watched him for a while to see if that small motion had been a sign of impending awakening, but the passing of time gave lie to that hope as he reverted back to motionlessness.

The day died a new death in a wash of firey orange and reds, purples and deep blues creeping quickly across the sky. A sprinkling of stars appeared, twinkling faintly high above.

As every night, the order of the watch was decided and those not on first settled down in their blankets to sleep. A round of "good night"s was spoken and, one slap and 'pervert!' later, the camp grew still and quiet as they, one by one, surrendered to slumber.

Inuyasha, who had first watch, made a circle around the camp, his sharp eyes --as well as ears and nose-- making sure that there was no one nearby before leaping up into a large tree that had a good view of both the camp and surrounding area. Making himself comfortable, he settled in.

Rin, as she had since the accident, slept cuddled up against her lord, waking every so often to check on him, drip droplets of water onto pale lips, one after the other, until she was satisfied that he had drunk at least a sip.

Even during the day she never went far from his side; leaving only to fetch more water, eat, or relieve herself. She had mended the rips in his clothing, her stitches surprisingly delicate and nearly invisible, then washed them. She did what she could, but there were a few stubborn bloodstains that resisted even her surprisingly knowing hands. The fact that she knew, at her young age, so many different ways to remove blood from cloth spoke volumes about the kind of life she had lived thus far. She was also surprisingly quiet; answering any questions with as few words as possible, yet never coming across as curt or disrespectful.

Quiet as she was most of the time, she seemed to have no problem finding her voice when the topic was anything at all relating to Sesshomaru. She defended him strongly in the face of Inuyasha's tactless remarks, or an offhand note by one of the others; she would hear nothing uncomplimentary about her savior without arguing long and hard against it.

It was nearing dawn-time --the sky just the faintest hint lighter in the east-- when Rin awoke. As she had four other times that night, she reached for the little cup of water nearby, dipping a finger in before letting the drop fall to the pale lips, seeping slowly into the mouth.

Unlike the other times, a pink tongue licked the lips after, even as the forehead wrinkled slightly in an unaccustomed frown, head tossing somewhat restlessly even as arms and legs moved at their owner's behest for the first time in days.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked, forgetting to keep her voice low in her excitement. "Are you waking, my Lord? Lord Sesshomaru?"

Rin kept her gaze on her lord's face, ignoring the morning grumbles of a camp roused too early. A smile spread across her face as familiar golden eyes opened at first only a crack then, with an unintelligible murmur of distress, more fully.

"Lord Sesshomaru, I'm so glad you're awake! I was so worried!" Rin said.

Sesshomaru stared silently at the girl at his side before pained golden eyes slid away to focus on the others --Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, and Shippo-- who had gone over to see their charge wake.

"It's about time you woke up," Inuyasha said gruffly. For all his posturing, though, his friends could detect the faint --very faint-- hint of genuine relief in his voice.

Sesshomaru made no reply; just kept glancing from one person to the next, frown only deepening on the normally-expressionless face.

They had nearly decided that Inuyasha had been right in the first place --that not only was the demon lord not showing gratitude, he would not even deign to speak to those who had rescued him-- when he spoke.

If the words he spoke were not enough to tell them something was wrong, then the tone alone ave it away. Small and weak, near-quavering with uncertainty, a flood of the unexpected spilled forth.

"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I so sore?" A small pause, then, in a near wail: "Where's my mother!"

As they stared at him in stunned disbelief, he tried to curl up into a ball under the blankets, only to give up and lay back down straight with a tiny whimper.

He glared at them then, that angry stare a mere shadow of its former self. "If you hurt me, my father will hunt you down and rip you to pieces."

As before, a small tremor gave lie to the otherwise brave words.

"We didn't hurt you," Kagome said at last, after seeing the demon lord shrink away from them more and more as they gaped. "You were caught in a rock fall; we dug you out."

"Really?" Seeing the truth in their eyes --and knowing that their scent betrayed no lie-- he calmed. "You helped me. Thank you. Father will probably want to thank you, too." That settled, he snuggled back down in the blankets, blinking sleepily.

Rin, still at Sesshomaru's side, looked worried at his strange behavior. She decided to get answers to at least one of her questions. "I'm Rin," she said quietly. "What's your name?"

"I'm Sesshomaru," came the tired reply. "My father's the Great Dog Demon InuTaisho, Lord of the Western Lands. Someday, I'll be big and strong like him, and the Western Lands will be mine."

"Oh." A small pause. "How old are you, my Lord?"

A tired, fang-baring yawn. "Six," he mumbled, then sleep claimed him.

A long moment of stunned silence passed as they stared down at the sleeping lord.

Dawn chose that moment to arrive, sunlight spreading across the land even as night's dusky blanket withdrew. Songbirds awoke, shook the dew from their feathers, began their first morning cheepings.

In the camp, Kagome concisely summed up their feelings with a concerned: "Oooh boy."

Miroku arrived then, walking into the clearing with a cheerful "Good morning, everyone!" Then he seemed to see them all, every one awake and still clustered around the --he checked quickly-- still-sleeping Sesshomaru. Still, something had happened, judging by their stunned expressions. "What did I miss?"

TBC...

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