Disclaimer: I could only wish to own something as cool as Inuyasha. Okay, well I'd rather own Sesshoumaru and Rin, but what can ya do, right? Rumiko Takahashi is the rightful owner, not me.-(

Prologue

'What the hell was happening?!'

He had been in his study, reviewing some urgent documents when his vision suddenly began to blur. The man rose to his feet and went for the door. His hand was on the knob when a severe dizzy spell caused his legs to give way, bringing him to his knees.

With the room spinning, he, unable to stand without assistance, relies on his sense of smell to guide him through the long hallway and to his quarters. He had just reached the door when he recognized the scent of his retainer scurrying toward the room. The closer the creature got, the stronger the scent of worry poured out of it.

"M'Lord! M'Lord! What's the matter?" he cried.

"Not, Sure," he muttered, struggling to open the door. The problem was, there were three knobs to choose from, or so his vision suggested. "Jaken," he began.

"Hai, M'Lord. I have it." The toad-like creature opened the door, allowing the demon access.

He stepped in only to be driven to the ground by a severe wave of pain.

"M'Lord, I shall retrieve the healer." Not waiting for a reply, Jaken hurried down the hall toward the healer's room.

He found, upon his return, that his master had nearly reached his bed. He was on the floor, back against the bed, blinking his golden eyes repeatedly, hopefully trying to clear up his vision rather than see everything in triplicate.

"Master Sesshoumaru," the healer began, "tell me what ails you."

The Great Demon opened his mouth to answer, to only be silenced by another wave of pain. Deciding to check him over, he helped the injured Taiyoukai into his bed and undressed him.

"Sir Jaken, please leave us."

Not knowing what else to do, he exited the room, only to run into a very worried 7-year-old human child.

"Jaken, what's wrong? Is Lord Sesshoumaru not well?" she asked.

"No Rin, he is not."

"Can Rin- I mean, can I see him?"

"Not now."

"But I-"

"I said no, you foolish human!" The young girl looked hurt, but said nothing as she sat by her master's door.

A few hours later, the healer opened the door, only to be met by an anxious toad and a sleeping child, oozing worry in her slumber.

"Well?"

"It took a whole lot more medicinal herbs than I ever thought possible, but he is finally asleep." He paused. "I can't find anything physically wrong with him. It is almost as if it is a spell of some sort, but I can't for the life of me figure it out."

"So now what do we do?"

"For now, we will keep him asleep. I will just keep giving him the herbs until I can find out what is wrong." With that, he left.

Jaken began pacing back and forth in front of the room until he stopped suddenly, remembering something he had seen on the battlefields and, against his better judgment, woke Rin and told her that he had somewhere to go and that she should stay.

"Does it have to do with Lord Sesshoumaru?" came her sleep-filled voice.

"It does."

"I wanna come, too."

"If you don't allow me to come with you, I will tell Lord Sesshoumaru that you leave me alone when he tells you to watch me."

"But you are the one who runs from me!"

"He doesn't know that." She cheered when he finally gave in and agreed to let her accompany him.

The two went to the stables to retrieve Ah-Un. They hopped on his back and took off toward the East.

"Where are we going, Jaken?"

"To see someone who may be able to cure Lord Sesshoumaru."